GARNER, Iowa  A Mason City man will stand trial for over a pound of raw marijuana discovered in Hancock County.

Nathan Ray Veal-Cox, 20 of Mason City, has pleaded not guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm and OWI-1st offense.

Law enforcement says Veal-Cox was pulled over on March 10 while driving on State Highway 17, just south of 170th Street. Authorities say the smell of marijuana was detected and Veal-Cox admitted to smoking the drug.

Court documents state that a search of Veal-Cox vehicle found over a pound of raw marijuana in the trunk, along with an unloaded handgun, ammunition, several bundles of U.S. currency, a digital scale, and other items used in selling marijuana.

Veal-Cox trial is scheduled to begin on June 9.
Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings once represented a near-perfect political allegiance.

The country owes them for securing the seismic Brexit victory and guaranteeing its delivery, following numerous pathetically meek failures by Theresa May.

United, it felt like nothing could topple them  the future of the UK was in exciting hands.

The rulebook was shredded. Anything could happen! What a ride

Carrie Symonds (left, with Boris Johnson) and Dominic Cummings need to bury the hatchet, writes Dan Wootton

Dom, the Westminster-destroying outsider who would take no prisoners in his mission to turn 'the system'  from the terrified BBC to the institutionalised civil service  upside down and inside out.

Boris, the affable public face, who could win support for his steely-eyed political partner's revolutionary agenda.

Perhaps it was that power that so threatened Boris' real-life partner Carrie Symonds, who hated Dom's sheer force of personality and his ability to ruffle feathers and control her fiance.

After all, as a former Tory spin doctor herself, why the heck did Boris need this 'madman' taking the reins?

Especially after the palaver of THAT trip Barnard Castle at the height of the pandemic where Boris expended what little political capital he had left at the time to save Dom's job, at what felt like any cost.

But Dom and Boris divided, as they are now, is a political horror story. Toxic and immature, they seem to be trying to tear each other apart. It's a battle that does neither side any good.

According to seemingly coordinated front page stories in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun today, Boris has only one suspect about who is responsible for 'systematic leaking' about him: It's Dom!

A No10 source told The Sun: 'The Prime Minister thinks Dominic Cummings is responsible for a series of damaging leaks about his personal communications.

'He is deeply disappointed and saddened by what he thinks his former adviser has been doing, and believes he is attempting to undermine the Government and the Conservative Party.'

MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton

Cummings totally denies being the so-called Chatty Rat, incidentally.

You would have hoped a global pandemic, never-ending lockdowns and an economic catastrophe would be enough to focus minds and stop this sort of carry on.

However, in politics, personal rivalries and bitterness trumps everything.

The leaks in questions have not in themselves caused Boris too much harm yet.

This week text messages between Sir James Dyson and the PM were released, showing Boris pledged Dyson would not be forced to pay extra taxes if they helped deliver ventilators at the height of the pandemic.

In one message, Boris wrote: 'James, I am first lord of the Treasury and you take it that we are backing you to do what you need.'

Ironically, far from being damaging to Boris, it showed him as a highly engaged, hands-on PM prepared to do whatever it took to save British lives. That's something to celebrate in my books.

And I don't think the public see it as anything close to a scandal, despite Keir Starmer's opportunistic attempts to whip up a storm.

So should Dominic Cummings, if the rumours are to be believed, be leaking? Obviously Number 10 Downing Street think not and have launched a formal investigation.

They wish Dom would celebrate the enduring popularity of Boris  the man he made PM  and the supreme success of the UK's vaccine rollout, which owes its genesis to Brexit.

Former ITV News star Allegra Stratton gave up her very promising gig running the image of Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch White House-style daily briefings for Boris, at the personal request of the PM, only to be discarded without a second thought this week

But Dom has reason to be furious, given his brutal departure from Government after falling out with Carrie, despite the fact he was central to delivering Boris his Brexit and red wall victories.

By all accounts, Dom was rude, difficult to deal with and disrespectful while in power. Cabinet ministers, MPs, advisers and long-time public servants despised him.

But that's why I adored the bloke and think Boris should have done far more to keep him peeing inside the tent, rather than all over it from the outside as he is now accused of doing.

When Dom was running the Government, he brought out the best of Boris.

After years of unfulfilled promises, the Tories were finally going to crack down on the dominance of the outwardly left-wing BBC, for example. Without him, it's back to business as usual  moderate thinking and a distinct lack of ambition.

This week text messages between Sir James Dyson and the PM were released, showing Boris pledged Dyson would not be forced to pay extra taxes if they helped deliver ventilators at the height of the pandemic

Boris also has to take some responsibility about the way he treats people.

Former ITV News star Allegra Stratton gave up her very promising gig running the image of Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch White House-style daily briefings for Boris, at the personal request of the PM, only to be discarded without a second thought this week.

It's politically unwise to treat staff aware of the good, the bad and the ugly inside Government in such a cavalier manner.

Should we care about any of this nonsense political infighting? The answer is obvious: Of course not.

The public is rightly concerned about what matters post-covid; jobs, education, health, housing and the future of the Union.

Navel-gazing by politicians and their advisers who should know better is not high on the agenda.

But, believe me, this story matters because it's these sorts of long-running behind-the-scenes bitch-fights that consume huge attention of the people who are entrusted with making some of the biggest political decisions since World War Two.

Transformation to a post-Covid world is an even bigger feat to tackle than Brexit.

So this behaviour is deplorable and pathetic  and all parties need to immediately snap out of it to concentrate on what matters.

Carrie Symonds should immediately invite Dominic Cummings and his wife around for a private dinner in the Prime Ministerial flat at Number 11 Downing Street.

She was rightly furious about alleged leaks by Cummings' allies last year describing her as 'Princess Nut Nuts' but there's something much more important at stake now.

Carrie and Dom can have it out and then agree a respectful path forward that works for both sides.

Dominic should be offered roles that tap into his transformational ability and passion for levelling up Britain and making us a science and technology hub.

Then they should all shut the hell up forever more about their petty differences and put the interests of the United Kingdom before their egos.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised African countries to retain Covid-19 vaccines that have reached the end of their expiry date. They have urged the countries not to destroy the vaccine that may have passed their expiry date. Countries have been asked to wait for further instructions.

WHO advises not to destroy expired vaccines

The organisation has appealed the countries after Malawi and South Sudan had said that they would throw away more than 70,000 doses of the expired Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The WHO said that Ghana and Sierra Leone had also not used all of their vaccines due to the expiry date. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's Africa regional director, urged countries to "store vaccines safely so that WHO gets time to study and give definitive advise.

LIVE @WHOAFRO #COVID19 press briefing. Dr @MoetiTshidi is joined by #Botswana Health Minister, Hon Dr Edwin Dikoloti, & Sierra Leone Health Minister, Hon Dr Austin Demby https://t.co/EpRc1PVRsD  WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) April 22, 2021

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in a news conference said that WHO is working to mobilise vaccines and countries should vaccinate their citizens. He called the vaccine landscape "extremely challenging" and said that the Serum Institute of India had advised Africa CDC that the vaccines can be used after nine months. He added that 15 million people have been given vaccine doses in Africa.

"My appeal to member states is: if we are doing our part to mobilise these vaccines, you do your part and use the vaccine."

The COVAX Facility has delivered vaccines to over 100 countries since its first delivery to Ghana. COVAX has delivered more than 38 million doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Serum Institute of India (SII) to 61 countries, as per the press release of the World Health Organization. COVAX aims to supply vaccines to all participating countries in the first half of 2021. According to a press release of WHO, more than a hundred countries have received COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX.

(Image Credits: HAKAN NURAL/WHO/Twitter)
[April 23, 2021] Nokia and NewCore Wireless bring essential broadband to remote tribal nations in U.S.

Press Release

Nokia and NewCore Wireless bring essential broadband to remote tribal nations in U.S. Next generation broadband solutions empower economic opportunity for rural areas

Network buildouts will enable 4.9G/LTE and 5G private wireless access for unserved and underserved communities to support e-learning, telehealth and remote work during the pandemic

Initial deployment will see more than 15,000 tribal members in remote areas of the U.S. put on a path to 5G 23 April 2021 Espoo, Finland  Nokia today announced it is working with NewCore Wireless to enable next generation private wireless connectivity using the Tribal Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum to empower rural, unserved and underserved Native American communities throughout the U.S. The first wave of deployments cover over 12,000 square miles and will provide broadband connectivity to more than 15,000 tribal members. The program leverages up to 117 MHz of the Tribal EBS band, made available by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to serve tribal lands with a license for broadband and wireless networking buildouts. Spectrum is very valuable and can be used to deploy carrier-grade voice or broadband connectivity. The 400 Native American tribes awarded this spectrum in 2020 cover tens of thousands of square miles  often in remote or rural areas  and include millions of members. Nokias wireless technologies for rural broadband connectivity, such as 4.9G/LTE and 5G, allow for rapid and cost-effective wireless connectivity across large areas and provide the scope for multiple home and business connections from a single base station. Private wireless, which is based on 4.9G/LTE technology, opens the door to services such as high-speed internet to the home or business up to 1 Gbps, mobile phone options where cellular coverage is not available, or educational enhancements such as distance learning. The initial buildouts with NewCore and Nokia will focus on North and South Dakota, Oklahoma and California. The Native American communities involved include the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. John Pretty Bear, Councilman for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes Cannonball District, said: This initiative with Nokia and NewCore will go a long way to leveling the technology playing field for the people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. All members of our community, including our elders whom we pride ourselves in helping, will benefit from more affordable and accessible connectivity. This is critical for the well-being of our people, especially during the pandemic where information about mass testing or vaccinations needs to be shared in real time. From online schooling, to telehealth, o affordable mobility and cellular phones, we look forward to improving the quality of life for everyone in our community.



Reggie Wassana, Governor for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes said: The CARES Act that provided money directly to the tribes made it possible for us to establish three separate cellular towers in the region. It has not only allowed us to provide internet to the tribal emergency programs, but also to the tribal citizens within our service area. This partnership leverages the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) alongside NewCores integration and operational capabilities to bring an integrated network of 4.9G/LTE and 5G radio and core elements, capable of serving every state in the U.S.

Albert Kangas, COO and General Manager, NewCore Wireless, said: In rural communities across the U.S., mobile coverage is already scarce  with few small carriers left dedicated to serving those regions specifically. Many of the Native American reservations tend to be in rural areas of the U.S. What we hope to bring to these communities through our work with Nokia is a renewed sense of control over their future, by building out next generation broadband solutions to expand internet and mobile access for the most remote areas of North America. Raghav Sahgal, President of Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said: Millions of Americans lack basic broadband connectivity  particularly rural and tribal communities. Making spectrum available to tribal nations brings these communities into the next generation of connectivity and allows them to take advantage of the benefits of broadband. By enabling access to 4G and 5G through Nokias technology and partnership with NewCore, each tribe can improve their quality of life with new economic opportunities, and educational and health care access. The 2.5 Ghz band of spectrum offered by the Tribal EBS program is mature and can be found in the majority of mobile phones, telephone switching equipment and add-on device in the market today. Because current networks are already designed for this spectrum, it allows new carriers to deploy services immediately  using already available hardware. Being able to access more than 100 MHz of that spectrum is well suited for 4G, and a viable transition into 5G when communities are ready. Nokia Digital Automation Cloud platform offers reliable high-bandwidth, low-latency wireless connectivity, local edge computing capabilities, and a catalog with applications such as voice and video services. It is a compact, easy-to-deploy platform, comprising private cellular network equipment and a cloud-based operation monitoring system. Read the Nokia news story: Nokia extends broadband to remote Native American tribes in the US Resources Website: Nokia Industrial-grade private wireless

Website: Nokia Digital Automation Cloud

Website: New Core Tribal Spectrum

Article: Private Wireless Explained About NewCore Wireless

NewCore Wireless provides project design and construction managements services as well as consulting services to rural operators. NewCore Wireless has focused on ensuring that Tribal carriers are equipped with the essential knowledge needed for building and operating voice and broadband networks. About Nokia

We create technology that helps the world act together. As a trusted partner for critical networks, we are committed to innovation and technology leadership across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. We create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs. Adhering to the highest standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world. Media Inquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Phone: +358 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com





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The Miami police department has announced that a senior husband and wife policing team have been 'relieved of their duty', after a whistleblower reportedly accused the pair of a cover-up involving her crashing a police vehicle 'under the influence of control substances'.

Deputy Chief Ronald Papier and his wife, Commander Nerly Papier, were suspended with pay on Friday afternoon.

'Deputy Chief Ronald Papier and Commander Nerly Papier were relieved of duty, with pay, effective April 23, 2021, pending the outcome of an internal investigation,' said Miami Police Department in a statement.

'No further comment will be made by the department related to this matter.'

The police department did not say why they were suspended, but the action comes three weeks after an anonymous source sent an email to several city officials, alleging corruption on the part of both Papiers and several other high-ranking officers.

Nerly and Ronald Papier, two of Miami's highest ranking officers, were suspended on Friday

Nerly and Ronald Papier were among the highest-ranking Miami officers

Last month, Nerly Papier was featured as a star who has 'shattered the glass ceiling' in a CBS special.

'I'm able to keep a good balance between work and family time. My husband, when we're at work it's sir and ma'am, and Chief and Commander,' she told the channel.

'It's very personal when we're at home, we try not to discuss work.

'He is my mentor, I've learned a lot from him, he's helped me grow a lot.'

The couple are parents to a young son and daughter.

Earlier this month, Art Acevedo, the chief of Miami police; Francis Suarez, mayor of Miami; and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office were all sent an encrypted email by someone calling themselves 'Bill Schahwartzman', Miami New Times reported.

The author of the email accused Ronald Papier of covering up a traffic crash involving his wife.

The email, sent on April 4, alleged that Nerly Papier - a 22-year veteran of the force - was driving 'under the influence of control substances' and crashed a police vehicle into a curb 'at approximately 40 miles an hour' on April 2, blowing out both tires on one side.

The paper obtained a crash report, via a Freedom of Information Request, showing that Nerly Papier was involved in a crash on the morning in question.

The report said she was only blocks away from the police headquarters, and swerved to avoid another vehicle, hitting the curb.

Ronald Papier was continuing with his police work up until his suspension on Friday

Nerly Papier was seen as a star of the force, celebrated for her long service

She then, according to the author, drove the white 2020 Ford Explorer to police headquarters before calling her husband.

'Any reasonable person would have knowledge that after striking a curb at a high speed, with two blown tires and cracked rims, the vehicle would be unsafe to drive,' the author wrote, according to the paper.

'You would definitely feel the instability in the steering wheel as well as loud sounds coming from the rims grinding against the public road as well as loud sound and vibrations from the blown out tires.'

According to the email, Ronald Papier then contacted MPD Capt. Javier Ortiz to have the vehicle towed and repaired, claiming it had been vandalized.

The crash occurred at 9am, the report states, but it was not reported until 1:45pm.

Nerly Papier may have violated police rules by not reporting the crash immediately.

A police sergeant allegedly wrote a report on the crash without inspecting the vehicle or taking photographs, and the report was supposedly signed off on by a police major without proper review.

Nerly Papier was never tested for alcohol or drug use, according to the report, because none was suspected.

'The actions of the deputy chief, police commander, police captain, and police major constitute criminal official misconduct as well as untruthfulness, completely tarnishing the image of the Miami Police Department,' the author concluded.

Nerly Papier was featured just last month as a star who has 'shattered the glass ceiling' in a CBS special

Nerly Papier is a Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) commander for Little Havana

'Everything that's alleged will be investigated,' Acevedo told New Times.

'Whatever allegations are, they're being taken seriously.'

It is unclear if the Papiers were relieved of duty based on the investigation into the crash, or another investigation.

Neither Ronald Papier nor Nerly Papier responded to phone calls and text messages from New Times requesting comment.

Ronald Papier was previously acting as interim chief of police for the MPD after the previous chief, Jorge Colina, retired earlier this year.

Ronald Papier was one of eight finalists to replace Colina as chief during an interview process this January, but the job eventually went to Acevedo, who was hired from Houston, Texas.

Acevedo, who took over in April, has said he intends to address concerns about corrupt officers and has plans to fire ten or more problematic officers.
According to the most recent data issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of 218,947,643 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered in the United States. Almost 27% of the adult population is fully vaccinated  66% of those are aged 65 or over. New infection cases are also on a downward trend, with the seven-day moving average dipping for the tenth consecutive day. It begs the question, is the battle against coronavirus being won and if that is the case, when will we arrive at a point when wearing face masks, both indoors or outdoors, is no longer necessary?

CDC recommends the use of face masks

For the time being, the CDC is advocating that everyone over the age of two years should keep wearing face masks and continue sticking to social distance guidelines. They advise that masks should still be worn in addition to staying at least six feet apart, especially when indoors around people who dont live in your household. And masks also need to be worn while travelling (plane, bus, train... etc.) both within the United States or on outward journeys, at airports and stations.

However, the CDC will be revising those guidelines with a view to easing Covid-19 restrictions and eventually no one will be expected to wear a face covering while out in the fresh air - although that might not happen for some time.

Yesterday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Savannah Guthrie on NBC News Today programme, There are numerous studies now that are starting to emerge that give us important data. We know that the vaccine is somewhere between 85-95% effective, and some of the questions are, does that mean that youre not getting sick or youre not getting the virus. The MMWR released data about a month ago that demonstrated that with screening, we are actually finding that people are not getting the virus at all. No vaccine is perfect and ultimately this is going to be a matter of risk, what I can say is that a 95% effective vaccine is extraordinarily effective. If we can have a 95% effective vaccine and we can get our caseloads down, then well be in really good shape.

As for the issue of wearing face masks out in the open air, Dr. Walensky added, This is a question that we are looking at. One of the things I think is really important to understand is that while there is wonderful news and we are getting more and more people vaccinated every day, we still had 57,000 cases of Covid yesterday, we still had 733 deaths. We still have hot spots in this country and we will be looking at the outdoor mask question. But also in the context that we still have people who are dying of Covid.

Its a cautious view, one which is shared by Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci who suggested that there is a possibility that public health officials could continue to recommend wearing face masks well into next year.

Mask mandates in the US

Currently, 31 US states or territories have a mask mandate in place. These include: American Samoa, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, US Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday courted controversy after he tweeted that former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has passed away at 78. He was soon corrected by BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who informed via Twitter that Mahajan is "hale and hearty." Tharoor then deleted his tweet and posted a new one saying, I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people.

The Lok Sabha Speaker herself reacted to the false news saying, "How could news channels run a report on my so-called demise without even cross-checking with the Indore administration? My niece refuted Mr Tharoor on Twitter but what was the urgency in announcing without confirmation?" she added.

Falling for fake news, Tharoor had said in a tweet: "Saddened to learn of the passing of former LokSabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. I remember many positive interactions with her, including when she &the late Sushma Swaraj asked me to lead a Parliamentary delegation to BRICS in Moscow. My condolences to her family and prayers: Om Shanti!

            https://t.co/bQQMp9BqUv  Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) April 22, 2021

Thanks @kailashOnline. I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra jis health and long life.  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2021

Tharoor's tweet soon went viral following which several other political leaders including Supriya Sule and Sharad Pawar offered their condolences.

As per reports, Sumitra Mahajan had complained of fever and was subsequently tested negative for COVID-19.

Tharoor apologises for spread fake news about PM Modi

In a similar instance back in March, Tharoor had apologised for his comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modis speech on the Bangladesh war. The Congress leader had tweeted indicating that PM Modi did not acknowledge former Prime Minister Indira Gandhis contribution to liberating Bangladesh in 1971.

Taking to Twitter to Tharoor admitted that his remark on PM Modis Dhaka speech was based on some hasty reading of newspaper headlines and thus erroneous. Apologising for the same, Tharoor said, Yesterday, on the basis of a quick reading of headlines, I tweeted  everyone knows who liberated Bangladesh - implying that PM Modi had omitted to acknowledge Indira Gandhi. It turns out he did. Sorry!
Bill Schmick is registered as an investment adviser representative of Onota Partners Inc. in the Berkshires. He can be reached at 413-347-2401, or email him at billiams1948@gmail.com.
A young Zimbabwean woman who found herself battling a rare form of cancer for someone of her gender and age, is now a champion for her fellow citizens who suspect they may have cancer, but dont know what to do.

Marlene Chiedza Gadzirai was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer last year, after ignoring symptoms for years. She has now turned her regret for not reacting sooner, to a mission to help spare others the pain.

"I was not the model patient, I was not the model person. I was, I am one of the people who actually got their cancer diagnosed when it was at a very critical stage, and yet I'm thinking if I had gone to see a doctor and sought a diagnosis, that cancer would have been caught maybe at stage one, Gadzirai confided to VOA Zimbabwe Service.

Shocked by the diagnosis at the young age of 33, after years of ignoring crucial symptoms of colon cancer such as prolonged constipation, Gadzirai had to endure six months of painful radiotherapy and chemotherapy, that brought on early menopause and took away her chance to one day be a mother.

The intensity of this treatment maybe would not have happened, maybe I'd have a chance of having a baby which I don't have anymore because of the menopause that Im going through, coming from the side effects from the treatment, explained Gadzirai.

Instead of withdrawing into her herself in self-pity for not having acted sooner, Gadzirai took to social media to share her ordeal, and was overwhelmed by the number of people who reached out to her, seeking advice and guidance.

She said she felt a special connection with those afflicted with cancer.

So, I started talking to different people and, and going to the extent of you know, saying let me book for you, let me talk to this doctor for you. And sometimes Id actually just go to my oncologists rooms, sit with patients and start talking and laughing and joking with them. So that's part of my healing, being a catalyst, trying to understand what are you going through? I am here, I understand what you're going through because, sometimes as human beings, if someone has not been in an accident and you are in an accident, you feel like no one understands. You feel like the whole world doesn't understand. I felt bad when I was going through, but I was, like, no, you don't understand what cancer is. This is painful, said, Gadzirai, gripped by emotion.

Self-described as stubborn and independent, Gadzirai recounted her own paralysis when her doctor gave her the devastating news.

"So, I got out after finishing with the doctor and I sat in my car and I started crying. I cried, I cried for ooh, I cried for literally an hour or so, really crying, you know, heavy sighs, I would run out of breath, there was a lump in my throat and I didn't know what to do.

Though both her parents are living, Gadzirai chose to share the news first with her best friend, instead, fearing causing her parents too much distress. The friend decided they needed to know, and told them despite her objection.

And so my friend is like no I think you actually already in panic mode, theres no way you're going to keep a cancer diagnosis away from your parents. And I said, no, no, no I'll be fine, let me handle it alone. You know over these last years, remember I was on painkillers so I can handle these, I don't want them to know. I didn't want them to stress. But then my best friend, he did what he did, called my mother and, yeah, that's how my parents got to know. It was my friends who told my parents, and because I, I just didn't know what to do, she reflected.

Some of the side effects of her treatment, explained Gadzirai, in addition to the physical reactions to the treatment, was depression, something she said she continues to fight off, though with difficulty.

"I did mention that I went through depression. I'm still trying to get over it. Yeah because I felt like somehow at some point I really couldn't mourn myself, and you know when the reality set in that I'll probably never have a child, I started questioning God and saying, so I fought this cancer only to spend the rest of my life alone without a child, without a husband. So, I started thinking in sadness and started feeling worthless. But then I then had to sit with my doctor, my advisers from church, my friends as well and, you know, try and step out of it and snap out of it. And then, I then have been trying to just occupy my time and trying to stay positive.

Staying positive has not come easy, though, admits Gadzirai, who said she lost faith in God during her ordeal.

My faith was shaken and I'm working on my spirituality. I'm not going to be one of those people who say, you know, God is good, I just felt the presence of God. But, I was angry with God, I was furious, and so I feel like I'm trying to get back that relationship with God and trying to get back on my spirituality.

Gadzirai credits her oncologist for pushing her to choose to live, and trust God. She recalled how her doctor responded to her question about how long she had to live, after her diagnosis.

She said the oncologist told her that cancer is not always about, you know, you have three weeks to live or you've got three months or six months to live. Let's walk the journey together and the first thing he said to me was, I need you to want to live. I'm here so that I journey with you, but your willpower is what I'm going to bank on. Your willpower and God. And he said you know, the ultimate, ultimate decision lies with God, but I am here, as you know, someone who is going to be a catalyst towards this, but I need you to walk with me in this journey because I was a mess, I was a total mess."

She underwent many radiotherapy sessions, which she nearly quit due to pain and the weight loss also scared her.

In terms of radiotherapy, I needed, is it 40 days, 40/40 sessions of radiotherapy. So sometimes I would, to be honest, sometimes, I would call my doctor and just say the pain is too much, I can't, I can't get up. I cant go for radiotherapy today. And so if I miss a day, he would call me, talk to me sternly and counsel me about, you know, how tough cancer treatment was. Sometimes I wanted to give up because chemotherapy as well, it was, it was very tough on me. I lost a lot of weight from a nice 65kg, I was down to 45-point something kilograms. And sometimes I hated looking at myself in the mirror without, without my hair. I actually cut off my hair because I was anxious about waking up and seeing chunks of hair falling out, so I didn't want that experience. I cut my hair. So, in essence it took six months.

She completed radiotherapy and chemotherapy last year and is currently going for regular checkups.

I finished radiotherapy in 2020, chemotherapy as well. Chemotherapy finished a few months later. And so, what was happening from there, I've been going  I have had to go through scans every three months, but within those three months I also go for regular checkups with my doctor. They are looking at my iron levels, my blood count, just to check, if, you know, there is no recurrence of cancer because there is always a risk after cancer treatment especially in the first two years of remission for the cancer to come back. So, my doctors are keeping a close eye 
Gold was little changed on Friday but was set to post a third straight weekly gain after U.S. President Joe Biden's proposal to hike capital gains tax weighed on U.S. Treasury yields, while a weaker dollar also supported.

Spot gold was steady at $1,783.24 per ounce by 0723 GMT. The metal jumped to its highest since Feb. 25 at $1,797.67 on Thursday, and has added about 0.4% so far this week.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,785.60 per ounce.

"The knock-on effect from the tax hike (proposal) is attracting bond investors and the yields have dropped, and this is providing a little bit of lift-off for gold," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at financial services firm Axi.

"The big question now facing gold is a decision on how the U.S. Federal Reserve is going to play next week."

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower on that Biden will roll out a plan to raise taxes for high earners.

A subdued dollar also raised gold's appeal for other currency holders.

Underlining a revival in Asian bullion demand, shipments to India leapt to their highest since 2013, driving Swiss gold exports to a 10-month high.

Despite signs of strong pent-up demand for physical gold in India, rising coronavirus cases and renewed lockdown measures are threatening to kill off that revival, ANZ analysts wrote in a note.

India recorded the world's highest daily tally of COVID-19 infections on Thursday.

Palladium rose 0.4% to $2,847.63 per ounce but was off a record $2,891.50 hit on Thursday. Many analysts expect a further run towards $3,000 as automakers ramp up purchases of the metal, worsening a supply shortage.

Silver was down 0.4% at $26.06 per ounce, but set for a third straight weekly gain.

Platinum gained 0.5% to $1,209.11.

(Reporting by Shreyansi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill combating surging hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senate approved the bill in a 94-1 vote and sent it to the House, which will soon take up their version of the legislation. The lone nay vote was cast by Missouri GOP senator Josh Hawley.

"By passing this bill we say to the Asian American community that the government is paying attention to them, has heard their concerns and will respond to protect them," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, where anti-Asian violence has especially been running high.

Sponsored by Hawaii's Democratic senator Mazie Hirono and New York's Democratic congresswoman Grace Meng, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to designate an official to review coronavirus-related hate crimes. Hirono and Meng are both Asian Americans.

The bill also directs the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance raising awareness of hate crimes amid the pandemic, and work with other agencies to establish an online platform for reporting those crimes.

Hirono said that the bill's passage "sends a clear and unmistakable message of solidarity" to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

The bill gained momentum after six women of Asian descent were killed in mass shootings in the Atlanta area in March.

Senators locked in a final deal on the bill late Wednesday night, allowing for several GOP-proposed amendments to get a vote. All of those changes would need 60 votes in favor in the now evenly-divided Senate, and it turned out none of them got added.

Susan Collins, GOP senator from Maine who managed to work with Hirono to change the language of the bill over the administration's guidance, said that with the passage of the bill, "we can send an unmistakably strong signal that crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our country will not be tolerated."
Washington: Throughout last years campaign, former president Donald Trump issued a series of increasingly dark predictions about what would happen if Joe Biden were elected.

If he gets in, you will have a depression the likes of which youve never seen. Your 401(k)s will go to hell and itll be a very, very sad day for this country, Trump said in the October 22 candidate debate, referring to the American equivalent to superannuation accounts.

Instead, the rebounding economy is headed for its best year since 1984, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Us President Joe Biden. Credit:AP

The US economy likely expanded in the first quarter at an annual rate of 6 per cent and should accelerate in the months ahead, economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics told clients this week.
Greta Thunberg has poked fun at Prime Minister Boris Johnson, changing her Twitter profile to 'Bunny hugger' after he used the phrase in his speech at Thursday's Climate Summit.

The change came just hours after Johnson used the phrase in his address at the virtual summit held on International Earth Day.

The prime minister said: 'It's vital for all of us to show that this is not all about some expensive politically correct green act of 'bunny-hugging' or however you want to put it,' he said.

'Nothing wrong with bunny-hugging but you know what I'm driving at.'

Greta Thunberg has poked fun at Prime Minister Boris Johnson, changing her Twitter profile to 'Bunny hugger' after he use the phrase in his speech at Thursday's Climate Summit

Boris Johnson, speaking at the virtual global Leaders Summit on Climate from Downing Street, urged the world's richest nations to embrace climate action

Thunberg rarely misses an opportunity to mock world leaders in their efforts to stop climate change

Greta Thunberg's profile change gags December 2019: After being named as Time Magazine's Person of the Year, Thunberg changed her profile to 'A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend,' - mocking then-President Trump's response. December 2019: Thunberg changed her Twitter profile to 'pirralha', the Portuguese word for 'brat', after she was called it by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after she condemned the slaughter of indigenous environmental protectors in the Brazilian Amazon. October 2019: Thunberg changed her profile to 'a kind but poorly informed teenager' after being labelled as such by Russian President Vladimir Putin. September 2019: Thunberg changed her profile to 'a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future' in response to then-President Trump's mocking of her UN speech. Advertisement

Thunberg rarely misses an opportunity to mock world leaders in their efforts to stop climate change.

The 18-year-old Swede warned US lawmakers Thursday that history will hold them accountable for climate catastrophes if they do not stop subsidising the fossil fuel industry before it is too late.

Thunberg made the comments as she testified virtually to a House of Representatives panel on the day President Joe Biden began a virtual two-day Earth Day summit pledging to slash US greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

'The simple fact, and uncomfortable fact, is that if we are to live up to our promises and commitments in Paris, we have to end fossil fuel subsidies ... now,' Thunberg said, referring to the international 2016 Paris Climate Change Agreement.

'The fact that ... we are still subsidising fossil fuels directly or indirectly using taxpayer money is a disgrace,' she added.

Thunberg, whose activism began at age 15 when she started skipping school on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish parliament for climate change, also voiced pessimism over pledges to cut fossil fuel emissions in half by 2030.

'I don't believe for a second that you will actually do this,' she lectured the lawmakers of the House Oversight Committee's environmental subcommittee.

'You still have time to do the right thing and to save your legacies, but that window of time is not going to last for long,' Thunberg said.

'We the young people are the ones who are going to write about you in the history books ... So my advice for you is to choose wisely.'

Thunberg, who was Time magazine's person of the year in 2019 for her work on climate change, has denounced the 'madness' of government subsidies for fossil fuel use.

She says pledges by various countries to halve greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade are insufficient.
Tensions continued to mount in the eastern Mediterranean this week, after the Turkish Foreign Ministry formally called in the Greek and French ambassadors for talks on Monday over a Franco-Greek naval excursion into waters claimed by Turkey. The incident points to mounting tensions among NATO member states in the eastern Mediterranean and across the Middle East and Africa, as French imperialism backs Greece against Turkey.

On April 15, Greece had provocatively posted a three-day NAVTEX announcement that the French oil exploration vessel LAtalante would conduct research south of Crete and Rhodes. These waters in the eastern Mediterranean are claimed by both Turkey and Greece, whose claims have French backing. Athens provocatively timed the announcement to fall as Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu for what were billed as confidence-building talks in Athens.

A Greek Navy Ship at Malonas Bay, Rhodes. (Credit: Flickr.com/seligmanwaite)

Ankara replied with its own NAVTEX declaring that the area in question is in Turkeys continental shelf, and that it did not recognize Greeces authority to issue such an announcement. Ultimately, LAtalante and the Greek frigate Elli entered the region despite the Turkish warning, on April 17, though they left the area after being intercepted by two Turkish frigates.

On Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Greek Ambassador to Turkey Michael-Christos Diamessis and French Ambassador Herve Magro in protest. Remarkably, this summoning of ambassadorsa step reserved for serious diplomatic incidentsdid not receive significant coverage or comment in French and international media, though it was widely reported in Turkish and Greek media.

Nonetheless, the Turkish Defense Ministry extended an offer on the same day to Athens to resume talks with Greek military officials on new confidence-building measures.

Athens rejected the olive branch offered by Ankara, however. On Tuesday, a Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed that the LAtalante had been operating in a zone that Athens claims as its territorial waters under the terms of a Greek agreement with Egypt. The spokesman reported that the NAVTEX station at Iraklio, on Crete, had issued an announcement formally reiterating this position. The Greek embassy in Ankara also issued a formal protest to the Turkish authorities.

The Dendias-Cavusoglu talks during which Athens launched the naval provocation themselves blew up, after reportedly cordial discussions, when Dendias surprised Cavusoglu by publicly denouncing Turkey in the concluding press conference.

In fascistic language, Dendias denounced Turkey, alleging that it had failed to respect its reactionary deal with the European Union (EU) to prevent Middle Eastern refugees from fleeing via Turkey to Europe, by instead encouraging refugees to storm the Greek border. He said, Concerning migration, I honestly believe that after last years incidents, Turkey should not try to teach Greece on anything about migration.  I believe the storming of our border was not the right thing to do.

Dendias continued by rejecting Turkish proposals for demilitarization of the Greek islands off the Turkish Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, through which refugees have arrived via Turkey to Greece. We have the army stationed on our islands because there is a threat, Dendias declared, continuing: Can anybody say there is no threat of landing units near our islands? If there is no such thing, please notify us.

Dendias also reiterated that Athens rejects the agreement on territorial jurisdiction in the Mediterranean signed between Turkey and NATOs Libyan puppet regime in Tripoli. Athens advances instead an alternative agreement on Mediterranean waters that it signed with the Egyptian military dictatorship of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Cavusoglu replied that Ankara wants to continue this dialogue without preconditions and we want to develop our relations with Greece in every field, as two neighbors and allies, adding: We wanted this first meeting to continue in a more positive atmosphere, but in his remarks, Nikos Dendias, unfortunately, made extremely unacceptable accusations against my country.  Turkey is capable of protecting its rights, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, and the rights of Turkish Cypriots.

Greek media hailed Dendias provocative statements for having surprised and humiliated the Turkish government. The Greek City Times gloated that Cavusoglu was so taken aback by Dendias response that he could only mutter out that the Greek foreign minister withdrew from a positive dialogue.

The provocative role played by Athens, supported by Paris, reflects mounting divisions inside NATO inflamed by three decades of imperialist war in the Balkans and the Middle East since the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The region has been set aflame by NATO wars launched in Libya and Syria in 2011, after the revolutionary workers uprising in Egypt, and the 2014 NATO-backed putsch in Ukraine. Disputed eastern Mediterranean waters are not only coveted for their oil, but their strategic value for conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Libya and Africas Sahel region.

France and Turkey have backed rival militias in the Libyan civil war between rival Islamist militias NATO had used to topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafis regime in 2011. This embroiled the eastern Mediterranean in far-flung conflicts between shifting rival alliances of imperialist and regional Middle Eastern powers. As these conflicts mounted, French and Greek warships nearly clashed with Turkish warships last summer in the eastern Mediterranean.

Paris has stoked these conflicts as it faced the debacles of the NATO war for regime change in Syria and its wars in Libya and Mali. Its support is critical in encouraging far smaller Greece, (population 10.72 million, gross domestic product $194 billion), to provoke Turkey (population 82 million, GDP $649 billion).

This policy exposes the reactionary and politically criminal role of European imperialism. Billions of euros are being spent on conflicts and border provocations that threaten to unleash a bloody military escalationeven as France, Greece and Turkey see a new wave of COVID-19 infections and insist on herd immunity policies, claiming there is no money for lockdowns.

This week, reports broke that Greece plans to purchase six more French-made Rafale fighter jets, after negotiating a multi-billion-euro deal to purchase 18 Rafale jets last year. Greece also signed a record $1.65 billion contract with Israel for training Greek pilots last week, as well as an agreement on Patriot missiles and unspecified regional issues with the Saudi monarchy when Dendias visited Riyadh on Wednesday.

Last week, Ankara announced it would hold talks with the Sisi junta in Cairo, which has close ties with Paris and has defended Khalifa Haftars militia in Libya against the Tripoli regime. This was reportedly prepared by talks between Turkish and Egyptian intelligence. Cavusoglu said, A Turkish delegation led by the deputy foreign minister will visit Cairo at the beginning of May, and after this visit, I will meet Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry. Egypt is an important country for the region, and we hope to take our relations to another level.

This doubtless intensified anger against Turkey in ruling circles in Paris, which is reeling after one of its key allies in its war in Mali and the Sahel, Chadian President Idriss Deby, was killed in fighting with a Chadian rebel militia based in Libya.


Worldwide attacks of online extortion called ransomware is hurting local governments, hospitals, and businesses.

In such attacks, criminals infect the computer systems of organizations with bad software. The software hijacks data files and leaves them unreadable. The attacker then demands payment in exchange for returning the data to a readable state.

Law enforcement has been largely powerless to stop it.

Ransomware attacks mostly come from Russian-speaking cybercriminals. Security researchers and U.S. law enforcement say some of these criminals are protected, and sometimes even employed by, Russian intelligence services.

The administration of President Joe Biden has taken new action against Russia in an effort to reduce such crimes.

On Thursday, the U.S. placed sanctions on the Russian government. The Treasury Department said Russian intelligence has permitted ransomware attacks by supporting and protecting criminal hackers. The costs of ransomware attacks have reached into the tens of billions of dollars.

The value of Russian protection is not lost on the cybercriminals themselves. Earlier this year, experts found a Russian-language website about a cybercriminal known as Bugatti. Bugattis group of hackers had been caught by U.S.-Interpol investigators.

Members of the website accused Bugatti of being technically careless. Even worse, some said, Bugatti had permitted Western authorities to seize ransomware servers that could have been protected in Russia instead.

Mother Russia will help you, the member wrote. Love your country and nothing will happen to you.

Like almost any major industry in Russia, (cybercriminals) work kind of with the tacit consent, sometimes explicit consent, of the security services, said Michael van Landingham. He is a former CIA computer expert.

Russian officials have one rule, said Karen Kazaryan, head of the Internet Research Institute in Moscow. Just dont ever work against your country and businesses in this country, Kazaryan said. If you steal something from Americans, thats fine.

There is no evidence that the Russian government receives money from ransomware crime. But experts say President Vladimir Putin may see the problems caused by attacks as helping Russia in some way.

Last year in the U.S. alone, ransomware attacked more than a hundred federal, state and local agencies. In addition, attacks hit about 500 hospitals and other health care centers, around 1,680 schools, colleges and universities and hundreds of businesses, said cybersecurity company Emsisoft.

Some cybercriminals have demanded as much as $50 million to give back data. If the victims do not pay, the criminals may publish their data on the internet.

The idea that the Russian government assists cybercriminals is nothing new, said Adam Hickey, a U.S. deputy assistant attorney general. He noted that cybercrime can provide good cover for espionage.

Back in the 1990s, Russian intelligence employed criminal hackers for that purpose, the Internet Research Institutes Kazaryan said. He added that many of those hackers are now working as ransomware criminals.

Russia sometimes hires arrested criminal hackers by offering them a choice between prison and working for the state, said Dmitri Alperovitch. He is the former chief technical officer for the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.

A Russian Embassy spokesman would not answer questions about his governments possible ties to ransomware criminals.

At least one ransomware criminal has been linked to the Russian government. Maksim Yakubets is head of an organization called Evil Corp. The 33-year-old worked for the FSB security service as a computer expert in 2017. The U.S. has accused him of being a major ransomware criminal and offered $5 million for information on his whereabouts.

The U.S. Treasury says he has stolen at least $100 million from cybercrimes in more than 40 countries.

Many experts believe that while this weeks U.S. sanctions send a strong message, they will likely not lead to any changes unless there is a real financial cost to Russia.

Another possible way to stop cybercrimes has been identified: allied countries could identify the banks that accept ransomware money and cut them off from the worldwide banking system.

Following the money, and stopping criminals from getting it, would go a long way in stopping ransomware attacks, said John Riggi. He is a cybersecurity expert at the American Hospital Association and a former FBI official.

Im Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

extortion  n. the crime of getting money from someone by the use of force or threats

sanctions  n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country,

hacker  n. a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage,

tacit  adj. expressed or understood without being directly stated

consent  n. to give permission for something to happen or be done

explicit  adj. very clear and complete

espionage  n. the things that are done to find out secrets from enemies or competitors

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" " The router distributes the internet signal and creates a network. Log in to the router from your computer to create a password and make it secure. deepblue4you/Getty Images

With WPA2 security enabled, it's unlikely anyone will ever piggyback on your network. But there's an easy way to spot squatters: Since every device connected to your network has a unique IP address and MAC address, you can easily see a list of connected devices  often listed as "clients"  on one of the settings pages for your wireless router. Many devices broadcast an ID because they've been named by their owners, so if you see "John's Laptop" connected to your network and you don't have a John in the house, you've found trouble! Even if a device doesn't show a name in the router's client list, you can count the number of devices connected and compare to the number of devices you know should be there to see if the numbers are off.

Want to make absolutely sure no one's going to figure out your password and worm their way onto your network? You have a few options. Your router can hide its SSID, meaning it won't show up for anyone searching for connectable networks. The address will have to be entered manually.

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You can also set up a wireless MAC filter to "whitelist" devices you own, disabling access for anyone else. Of course, this makes it a bit tougher for welcome guests, such as friends, to get online at your house.

But that still leaves the burning question  what do you do if you think someone is routinely using your WiFi without your permission?

If you suspect someone's stealing your WiFi, you have a number of detective tools at your disposal. For starters, you could simply shut off all of your WiFi devices, like your phone and your laptop  and then watch for blinking lights on the front of your router. If the router seems to be showing data transfer even with your family's devices powered down, you may have a piggybacker nearby.

You can also smartphone apps like WiFi Thief Detector or for iOS users, WiFi Guard, which help you spot intruders.

Internet monitoring software is another option. A program such as Wireless Network Watcher lets both Windows and MacOS users keep tabs on all connected devices and potential suspicious activity. When you launch the program, you'll see your computer nicknames, as well as manufacturer brands of the devices that are connected. If you're still confused (perhaps because you have so many devices), you can turn off each one and watch as it disappears from the list. If you power down all of your WiFi gadgets and still see active devices, you're a step closer to identifying a potential problem.

If you can't identify a device on your network, simply change the password. You'll have to reauthorize all of your WiFi devices with the new password, of course, but this is quickest and easiest way to resecure your network and get peace of mind [source: Gordon].

As long as your network has a strong and unique password, only a hacker using specialized software is going to get past your security. A simple Google search will reveal just how many password hacking resources are available to criminals.

For example, technology site Ars Technica has detailed how a $2,500 program called Silica can be used in conjunction with websites containing dictionaries of millions of words to connect to a secured network and crack its password.

Hashcat is another popular password hacking tool. Like Silica, it's paired with databases of millions of the most popular password combinations until it figures out the correct password. It works  and it's extremely easy to do, even for novice hackers [source: Porup].

But there's still an effective and efficient way to stop most hackers in their tracks: Use a secure password. The longer and harder to guess, the safer your network will be. With a strong password, you shouldn't ever have to worry about keeping tabs on who connects to your network. Piggybackers will have to find someone else to mooch off of.

Originally Published: Apr 30, 2009
ALBANY  When he resigned from office last month, Albany County Judge William Carter was under investigation for allegedly trying to have a friend's application for a pistol permit assigned to him, according to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The commission, whose top administrator called Carter's behavior a violation of judicial ethics, ended the probe after Carter  who had previously been disciplined multiple times by the panel  agreed to leave the bench.

"Judge Carter denied the allegations in the complaint. Nevertheless, he vacated judicial office effective March 30, 2021, and agreed never to seek or accept judicial office at any time in the future," the commission wrote in an announcement made public on Friday.

The commission said it disclosed the investigation to the judge in March after receiving a complaint that, after a friend of Carter's filed for a pistol permit application, the judge attempted to have the application assigned to him and "initiated a conversation about the matter with the judge to whom the case had been assigned."

The identity of the friend was not released by the commission. Carter did not return a call for comment on Friday.

A judge is ethically prohibited from exerting the influence of judicial office for the personal benefit of others," Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in a prepared statement Friday. "The complaint that Judge Carter did so as to a gun permit application was serious. In view of his having been censured twice and cautioned twice before for misconduct, it is well that he chose to resign and agreed never to return to the bench.

The investigation had not come to light when the 61-year-old judge announced in March that he planned to leave the bench at the end of that month. At the time he announced his retirement, Carter said he started the retirement process in January. He said he was considering retiring in September, when he turns 62.

"On many days, working through the pandemic, I felt like I was already retired," Carter said. Last spring, coronavirus forced the state to close its courts. Once they reopened, surges in cases twice prompted postponement of jury trials.

Calling the matter "a complete misunderstanding," Carter's attorney Stephen Downs said the investigation was not the primary reason for the judge's decision to retire.

"He was planning to retire already, and I think this pushed it ahead a little bit so he didn't have to spend time on it," said Downs, who insisted Carter did not discuss the gun case with another judge but rather mentioned it in the clerk's office.

Downs also disputed the commission's characterization of Carter's relationship with the permit applicant as a friendship. He said they knew each other in grade school and had "spoken maybe twice in 50 years." He declined to disclose the friend's name.

Tembeckjian offered a brief response to Downs' assertions:

Had Judge Carter not resigned, the commissions investigation would have continued, and I believe the facts would have been different than what his spokesman is suggesting," he said.

The disclosure of the investigation came as a shock inside the county courthouse where several people said they found Carter's retirement abrupt but that it came with no hint he faced a new allegation of wrongdoing.

In 2006, the commission censured Carter for leaving the bench to physically confront a defendant in City Court. In 2020, he was censured a second time for improperly engaging in a phone conversation with a sheriffs deputy who was set to testify before the judge the next day in a pre-trial hearing in a murder case.

The commission said Carter was privately cautioned  a lesser sanction than censure  two times: in 2004 for failing to disqualify himself in arraignments of unrepresented defendants, and in 2012 for appearing as a guest of honor at a fundraising event for a civic group.

Carter, a former state trooper and graduate of Albany Law School on the bar since January 1992, has served as an Albany County assistant district attorney, chief assistant district attorney, assistant attorney general, defense attorney and judge. He has also served as an adjunct Albany Law School professor and was an acting County Court judge handling domestic violence cases.

In January 2002, Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings appointed Carter to the City Court bench, making Carter the first Black judge to serve the city. Carter was re-elected and remained there until 2016, when he was elected to County Court to replace retiring Judge Stephen Herrick, now the county's public defender.

Carter's tenure on the bench has included several disagreements with Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office, including one spat over Soares' decision not to prosecute Occupy Albany protesters that reached the state's highest court.
Scott Distler: Finding a way out of 'the cave'


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Efforts to rescue a person at a north Georgia state park have transitioned [to] a recovery mission, according to emergency services officials.

Crews arrived at Tallulah Gorge State Park on Thursday after officials say a person fell or jumped from a high ledge, WSB-TV reported, citing Habersham County Emergency Services.

Several agencies remained on scene late Thursday afternoon, including the Tallulah Falls Police Department, Rabun Fire and Georgia Department of Natural Resources park rangers, officials said.

Described as one of the most spectacular canyons on the East Coast, the Tallulah Gorge is two miles long and, at its highest point, is nearly 1,000 feet deep, according to the parks website.

Crews have to rappel down the massive canyon to recover the victims body.

This will be a long process and crews will be on scene for an extended period of time, Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

No other details about the victim were released.
EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. -- When Luciene Ott was an armorer for the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, he found ways to make plane-mounted guns prone to jams more reliable in combat when others couldn't.

This skill garnered him more than one offer to be promoted from corporal to sergeant, but as the story goes he turned them down because he wanted to continue hands-on work rather than move up to a more supervisory role.

On Wednesday, his grandson, Nate Foster, was promoted to colonel in the Washington Air National Guard in a ceremony at Kirby Billingsley Hydro Park near East Wenatchee. The promotion was hosted locally to allow Ott to pin new rank insignia to Foster's uniform.

His first act as colonel: to surprise his 99-year-old grandfather with an honorary promotion to sergeant.

"That made a tear flow," Ott said in an interview following the ceremony.

Foster's heard the story of the shunned promotions a few times. He thought it'd make a fitting show of respect.

"He didn't know anything about it -- I figured he'd say no if I told him," Foster said.

The two have long shared a tight relationship.

"They have always been close, like gone hunting together. Duck hunting was the big thing because Nate seemed to keep missing them," said Mardi Foster, Nate Foster's mother and Ott's daughter. "So it got to be a joke."

Ott grew up in North Central Washington and joined the Air Corps in 1942. He said his enlistment lasted "three years, three months and 20 days." Within that, two years were spent in England.

The Air Corps preceded the U.S. Air Force, which was formed in 1947 after World War II.

He worked on P-47 planes at Royal Air Force Station Martlesham Heath in southeast England, said Col. Kenneth Borchers with the Air National Guard's 194th Wing during Foster's ceremony.

Following his service, Ott worked at Alcoa's Wenatchee Works for more than 30 years and has lived in the same house in East Wenatchee for almost 70 years, Mardi Foster said. He was married to his wife Leila for 73 years before she died last month.

This wasn't the first time he pinned his grandson in a promotion: He also affixed Foster's 2nd lieutenant insignia when he earned his officer's commission in 2000 after graduating from Central Washington University's ROTC program.

Ott was joined Wednesday by Foster's father, Chuck Foster, to pin the spread eagles to the shoulders of his coat. Foster's children, Garret and Sadie, did the same to his shirt.

Foster left active duty in 2005 and is currently a sergeant with the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office while serving in the Air National Guard.

A veteran of three deployments to the Middle East -- Afghanistan in 2002 and Iraq in 2003 and 2004 -- he recalled asking Ott how long he expected his service overseas to last. In Foster's experience, airmen were told beforehand how long to expect a deployment to last.

Not the case for Ott.

"I asked what I asked Grandpa one day ... when you deployed, when did they tell you you were coming home?" Foster said in a speech. "And he looked at me with a straight face and said, 'Well, when the war's over.'"

For Foster, the promotion ceremony was a humbling experience.

"I'm just amazed at the things that he did and the ingenuity that they had and the fighting spirit," Foster said in an interview. "I mean that's ... the best way to categorize it, just that fighting spirit of that generation was amazing."

This article is written by Pete O'Cain from The Wenatchee World, Wash. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Last March, we saw evidence of how these vulnerabilities in financial players that arent traditional banks can take the existing stress in the financial system and amplify it, Ms. Yellen said last month at her first Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting as Treasury secretary. It is encouraging that regulators are considering substantive reform options for money market mutual funds, and I support the S.E.C.s efforts to strengthen short-term funding markets.

But there are questions about whether the political will to overhaul the fragile investments will be up to the complicated task. Regulators were aware that efforts to fix vulnerabilities in money funds had fallen short after the 2008 financial crisis, but industry lobbying prevented more aggressive action. And this time, the push will not be riding on a wave of popular anger toward Wall Street. Much of the public may be unaware that the financial system tiptoed on the brink of disaster in 2020, because swift Fed actions averted protracted pain.

Division lines are already forming, based on comments provided to the S.E.C. The industry used its submissions to dispute the depth of problems and warn against hasty action. At least one firm argued that the money market funds in question didnt actually experience runs in March 2020. Those in favor of changes argued that something must be done to prevent an inevitable and costly repeat.

Short-term financing markets have been driven by a widespread perception that money funds are safe, making it almost inevitable the federal government provides rescue facilities when trouble hits, said Paul Tucker, chair of the Systemic Risk Council, a group focused on global financial stability, in a statement accompanying the councils comment letter this month. Something has to change.

Ian Katz, an analyst at Capital Alpha, predicted that an S.E.C. rule proposal might be out by the end of the year but said, Theres a real chance that this gets bogged down in debate.
From feel-good foods to clever furniture for any-sized home, as well as nifty solutions for you and your baby, here are Checklist's 10 top brands for families.

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Wipes that care for little ones and the planet

From clearing up after meal times to keeping adventurous hands clean when you're out and about, baby wipes are essential for parents everywhere.

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Aqua Wipes are 100% biodegradable and completely plastic-free. The compostable fibres they're made from will break down in your compost over the course of 15 days. Plus, they don't contain any harmful chemicals and are made with 99.6% purified water.

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Welcoming a baby into your home is a magical time. But with your little bundle of joy comes a whole load of different gadgets, toys and devices which take up a whole lot of room you can't spare.

However, you don't need all of these bulky items if you have one multi-functional one such as The DockATot Deluxe+ dock.

This award-winning docking station for babies 0-8+ months old is the ideal spot for little ones to enjoy supervised lounging, playing, cuddling, nappy changes, tummy time and more - and all in optimum comfort.

It also comes with a number of nifty accessories to make it as functional as possible to your needs while minimising your need for additional baby items.

For example, you can add a toy arch to convert your dock into a cool and compact play gym, or even pop on the cabana kit to create a little sun lounger that offers protection from UV rays and insects.

DockATot has recently launched their new Sun and Sea Collection which uses Japanese-dyed Shibori and Chambray made of 100% woven cotton in a bright, spring palette to liven up your decor and add style to every room in the house, all while ensuring your baby is as happy and cosy as can be.

The Info: Click here to find out more.

Stylish and comfortable sofas for any space

Have you ever had to settle for a less attractive, less comfortable sofa because of available space in your home? Never again with Snug!

This 'sofa-in-a-box company' is transforming the furniture market with their premium, flexible sofas, which are delivered in boxes that can tackle even the tightest door frames and stairways.

All of Snug's stylish sofas are completely customisable thanks to their modular design meaning you can build the chair you want for your home, be it an armchair or a corner sofa. And if further down the line you decide you need a larger sofa, this design enables you to simply add elements on.

There are other clever features, too. The Cloud Sundae range, for example, is Snugs most premium collection with deep seats, no-edge seams and pillows backed with vegan-friendly feather cushion filling to ensure a squishier feel. However, it also comes with innovative sofa storage space, making it ideal for families with lots of toys to hide away.

What's more, all Snug sofas are made with stain-resistant fabric in an array of trendy colours, so you can keep your sofa looking as beautiful as the day it arrived (regardless of what your children get up to).

The Info: Click here to find out more about Snug. Prices start from 799.

Fine fish without the fuss

Eating well has never been more important, and ensuring the ingredients we cook with are responsibly sourced is key to both great-tasting and nutritious food.

Seafresh is a family business founded on this principle, and delivers high quality frozen fish straight to peoples' homes.

Their products are individually blast frozen to lock in freshness and nutrition, and some of their fish is frozen at sea for super freshness which is particularly brilliant for histamine intolerance sufferers.

Customers have a wealth of fish to choose from on the website, which is all packaged in recyclable and biodegradable packaging, making it a greener alternative to many supermarket alternatives. All food is available with next-day delivery and delivery is free on orders of 50 or more.

Their success to date has earnt them the title of Number One online fishmonger on Trustpilot.

The Info: Click here to find out more and use discount code MAILTWENTY to get 20% off all fish and seafood on your first order.

Meat that cares

If you eat meat regularly, you want to make sure that it's not only responsibly bred, but that in buying it you're also supporting British farmers that adhere to good practices, too.

Meatbox.com enables meat-lovers to do just that. These carefully selected premium and free-range poultry, pork, lamb and beef boxes are all supplied by local farmers who genuinely care about the animals and the meat they're producing.

All cuts are expertly prepared and packed in recyclable and re-usable specialist packaging to keep it in tip-top condition for when it gets to you. Plus, ALL Meatbox.com meat arrives fresh and is never frozen.

Every meatbox is completely customisable. Simply choose the number of cuts you want to a minimum of 30 then Meatbox.com will deliver it straight to your door. Simple.

The Info: Click here to find out more and use discount code CHECKLIST to get 15% off your order.

Plan your pregnancy with the best

The number of women going for NHS pregnancy scans dropped last year during the pandemic. Studies showed those who had planned to have a child in 2020 were going to postpone it.

However, with restrictions easing, many wannabe parents are trying to conceive again - and for those who need assistance in their pregnancy journey, Apricity is there to help.

Their world-class medical team organises most treatments at home or close to home, meaning procedures such as semen analysis, scans and video consultations can be done from the comfort of your own home, reducing clinic visits from nine, on average, to two (per IVF cycle).

With advisors on call seven days a week for extended hours, all of whom can be contacted via the Apricity app, getting the support you need during this important life stage has never been easier. Plus, all costs are covered in their all-inclusive price packages, so you won't get any expensive surprises.

The Info: Click here to find out more and book your free consultation.

WIN! A 100 voucher for maternity clothing and baby items Watching your body change as your baby grows inside you is one of the most exciting things about pregnancy. However, finding maternity wear that's comfortable, stylish and that doesn't cost the Earth is another matter entirely. This is what inspired mum-of-four Kerry Brown to launch Allaboutthebump. After many nights at her sewing machine, Kerry came up with a range of maternity wear for plus-size, tall and petite women, which are stylish, affordable and cosy, so you can look your best all day long without compromising comfort. Allaboutthebump is also home to baby clothes and gift hampers for baby showers, offering personalised items that are all made in the UK. And, in this exclusive competition, you could win a 100 voucher on Allaboutthebump goodies. Find out how to enter below. The Info: Click here to find out more and use discount code MAIL10 to get 10% off your order. PLUS, click here for your chance to win a 100 voucher.

Laundry power

Keeping school uniforms, towels and bedding pearly white isn't always easy when you've got a family. But there is one product that can give you a helping hand.

ACE Ultra for Whites can bring faded or dull white laundry back to its original bright white appearance.

Specially developed to brighten white laundry, ACE UltraI contains sodium hypochlorite bleach, which serves to banish grey, yellowing laundry for good.

But that's not all this bleach can do. It has also been recommended by the ECDC and WHO as a way to deactivate viruses on textiles when mixed with water, which means it will keep your family safe as well as dazzling in their freshly laundered whites.

The Info: Click here to find out more.

Delicious bakes that fit through your letterbox

Giving the gift of delicious cake is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face. But transporting baked goods is often easier said than done.

Fortunately, that's where the Simply Cake Co can help.

Their range of gooey and moreish artisan brownies and bakes are all handmade with local free-range eggs and butter and real Belgian chocolate. Plus, they have the added bonus of being letterbox friendly, so they'll arrive on the doormat perfectly formed and ready to devour.

Every box can be personalised with a printed message and sent straight to a friend, loved one, colleague (or even yourself!), and there are a huge variety of scrummy goodies to choose from, including amazing gluten-free and vegan options so everyone can enjoy a treat.

It's guilt-free gifting as well as tasty, too. Over 90% of Simply Cake Co's packaging is paper-based and recyclable.

The Info: Click here to find out more and use discount code HELLO10 to get 10% off your first order.

If you've enjoyed reading this article and are interested in more inspiration in everything from food and drink, health and wellbeing to family life, why not follow Checklist on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ChecklistSocial, or sign up to the newsletter.
YEREVAN.  As of Friday morning, 715 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 212,114 in the country, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Also, 15 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,984 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 995 now.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 1,123, the total respective number so far is 192,281, and the number of people currently being treated is 14,854which is a drop by 427 in one day.

And 4,015 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Armenia over the past one day, while 955,515 such tests have been performed to date.
ATLANTA, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As a company dedicated to empowering people through the value of opportunity, Insight Global is proud to welcome Viola Maxwell-Thompson and DeWayne Griffin to the company's Board of Directors. Combined, Viola and DeWayne bring over 55 years of experience in executive level management in both corporate and nonprofit organizations and are masters of their leadership craft.

Insight Global

Insight Global knows that empowering people starts with diversity of thought, experiences and backgrounds, and therefore, with this recent expansion of the Board, is taking action on a longer-term commitment to ensure no voice goes unheard.

"This the time to be intentional," said Insight Global CEO, Bert Bean. "Insight Global will continue to make intentional investments in diversity, equity, and inclusion, because we know that we are a stronger company when all voices, backgrounds and perspectives are heard and all employees are treated equally."

As people of color, Viola and DeWayne understand that their experiences have positioned them to gain a unique perspective and vast insight for navigating these efforts in the corporate world.

Inspired by Viola and DeWayne's passion for diversity, equity and inclusion, Insight Global will continue to mature in ways that create meaningful experiences for its people, knowing that top leadership within the company must pave the way for real change.

Backed by confidence in Viola and DeWayne's expertise and care, Insight Global will continue to foster a space where people bring their full, authentic selves to work and offer unique perspectives from which everyone can learn. While there is still room to grow, our hope is to become an example for other companies also wanting to implement company-wide change in their goals around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

About Insight Global:

Insight Global isn't just a staffing company. We're a company that cares for others. It might sound lofty, but it's the idea that gets us up every day, determined to make it true. Insight Global is a company that people can anchor to in moments of triumph, struggle, and every time in between. Whoever you are and wherever you come from, you matter to us and we have your back. Whether it's finding the right candidate for a job or seamlessly managing a project end to end, our conviction and commitment to our consultants and clients runs deep. With 60 field offices across the US and Canada, putting to work over 50,000 Consultants annually, we believe; together, anything is possible.

Public Relations Contact

Sara Swanson

[email protected]

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Welcome Viola Maxwell-Thompson & DeWayne Griffin

SOURCE Insight Global
A motion passes that does not bind the government. The US, Canada and the Netherlands have made similar declarations against the Chinese government. Chinese Embassy: They are falsehoods. Johnson executive: it is up to the courts to determine if what is going on in Xinjiang is genocide.

London (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Uyghurs and other Turkish-speaking minorities of Islamic faith in Xinjiang are victims of "genocide" by the Chinese state. This was recognized yesterday by the House of Commons with a vote that does not bind the government.

The lower house of the British Parliament joins the United States, Canada and the Netherlands, according to which the Communist Party of China is committed to destroying, in whole or in part, the population of Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz origins.

Those backing the motion include Iain Duncan Smith and Nus Ghani. They have long accused Beijing of committing humanitarian crimes in the autonomous region, a position for which they have been sanctioned by the Chinese authorities.

According to expert data, confirmed by the United Nations, China holds or held more than a million Muslims in Xinjiang concentration camps. Recent media revelations have highlighted the existence of labour camps in the region, where hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz are forced to work, especially picking cotton. Some researchers also claim that the Chinese government is conducting a forced sterilization campaign in Xinjiang to control the growth of the Uyghur population.

China has denied the accusations, claiming that the camps in Xinjiang are vocational centres, part of a plan to reduce poverty while fighting terrorism and separatism.

The Chinese embassy in London has dubbed the accusations of British parliamentarians as false: "An insult and an affront to the Chinese people, and a clear violation of international law". Beijing diplomats added that their country strongly opposes the "blatant interference" of foreign forces in China's internal affairs.

The British government has been cold towards the motion passed by the House of Commons. Asia Minister Nigel Adams said it was up to a "competent national or international court" to determine whether the current case in Xinjiang is a case of genocide.

Adams said, however, that the Johnson administration has increased pressure on China through the United Nations. Last month, London imposed a series of sanctions on Beijing for the violation of human rights in Xinjiang, punitive measures also adopted simultaneously by the European Union, the US and Canada.
Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com.
If youve watched one film about malpractice in nursing homes this year, odds are its I Care a Lot, a slick black comedy starring Rosamund Pike as an unscrupulous lawyer defrauding seniors. I Care a Lot is a pulpy thrill ride that earned Pike a Golden Globe, but the nursing home film that really deserves more attention, and might just take home an Oscar this weekend, is The Mole Agent.

One could be forgiven for not having heard about a Chilean documentary filmed in a nursing home, but its become something of a phenomenon based on its 2020 premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, after which Indiewire called it the most heartwarming spy movie ever made. It picked up nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards, Goya Awards and was named to the National Board of Reviews list of top five foreign language films, then was broadcast on PBS in January before coming to Hulu (and for rent on Amazon Prime Video). And its got a good chance at winning the 2021 Academy Award for best documentary.

Directed by Maite Alberdi ("The Grown-Ups"), the film opens with an older man named Sergio replying to a quizzical newspaper job listing.

I bought the newspaper and saw an ad that said, Man needed. Between 80 and 90 years old, says Sergio Chamy (his Spanish dialogue is subtitled in English). And I thought, am I crazy, or what? Because it didnt make sense to me. Between 80 and 90 years old?

Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

It turns out the ad was posted by a private investigator hired by a woman to look into wrongdoing against her mother, who lives in a nursing home. The PI wants to enlist a mole to go undercover for three months to snoop out any suspicious behavior by the staff. A film crew was already embedded at the nursing home under the guise of another project, allowing unfettered access to Chamy and the rest of the residents and giving The Mole Agent the polished aesthetics of a feature film rather than a run-and-gun doc.

Recently widowed, Chamy sees this as an opportunity to help process his grief by living in a new environment. Hes an unlikely spy, one who needs lessons on how to operate a smartphone and it seems like it would only take a tap on the shoulder to get him to reveal that hes wearing eyeglasses fitted with a camera. However, he makes up for his inexperience with affability. Chamy is the ultimate lovable grandfather who causes one of the residents to fall in love with him and makes so many friends that hes crowned king of the nursing home at its anniversary party.

Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

Throughout the film, Chamy sends daily WhatsApp voice memos to his handler detailing the conditions of the nursing home. Its not exactly a palace; the bathrooms are littered with dirty clothes and stink of urine, and one resident does steal some jewelry. Chamy notices that his target doesn't receive her medication one day, but the nature of the discrepancy is unclear. The most suspicious actions by the staff appear to be driven by empathy. Nurses sometimes fake phone calls pretending to be family members of residents suffering from dementia in order to ease their anxiety. In Chamy's final report, he questions the motivations of his mission itself, wondering why the daughter doesnt just take a more active role in her mothers life instead of hiring an 83-year-old spy.

Indiewire called it the most heartwarming spy film ever made, but Id say its more like the most subtle. The term spycraft usually brings to mind subterfuge and coercion, but in The Mole Agent, spying is basically just people watching. Despite Chamy's status as a mole, theres no sneaking around. He makes phone calls to the PI in broad daylight sitting on a bench in the courtyard. The most tense moment is a conversation where Chamy has to decline a potential marriage offer by explaining that hes still grieving, which he does in stoic silence.

Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

Sergio Chamy may be the most boring spy alive, but also the most lovable. He dresses with immaculate grandpa style; his periwinkle blue sweaters and gray blazers would fetch three figures in a San Francisco thrift store. The women at the nursing home gush over him, calling him a gentleman and dreaming about a potential wedding with him. Although the Spanish-to-English translation likely colors his dialogue a bit, he speaks like a man at peace with himself and his life, without any doubt or self-consciousness. In other words: the perfect mole.
A top aide to Boris Johnson has tonight quit after only two months in his role, amid the ongoing row over lobbying.

Lord Udny-Lister - a trusted political advisor to the Prime Minister and who worked alongside him during his time as Mayor of London - is to step back from his role as special envoy for the Gulf.

It comes after a series of stories about the 71-year-old peer's previous work within the private sector.

These includes reports in the Mail on Sunday last week that Lord Udny-Lister owned shares in a company that has won nearly 1million in Government and NHS contracts.

A source told the Telegraph that there were 'no links between the disclosures and Lord Lister's departure'.

The source also told the paper that the timing of his departure was linked to Mr Johnson's trip to India - which was cancelled due this week due to Covid.

Meanwhile, Downing Street spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The Prime Minister is hugely grateful for Lord Lister's dedicated service over many years.

Lord Udny-Lister, a top aide to Boris Johnson, has tonight quit after only two months in his role, amid the ongoing row over lobbying

Lord Udny-Lister - a trusted political advisor to the Prime Minister and who worked alongside him during his time as Mayor of London - is to step back from his role as special envoy for the Gulf

Boris Johnson is shamed into paying 58,000 bill for the Downing Street refurbishment himself after the Tory Party settled it then tried to disguise the truth Boris Johnson has been shamed into paying for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat after the Daily Mail exposed how the Tory Party settled the bill  and then tried to disguise the truth. The Mail first revealed in February that the Prime Minister had asked Tory donors to contribute to the cost of redecorating, amid fears that spending ordered by his fiancee Carrie Symonds was out of control. His bid to sweep the scandal under the plush carpet collapsed on Wednesday, when the Mail published damning emails sent to party chairman Ben Elliot, a nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall. In one, sent in October, Tory donor Lord Brownlow said he had given 58,000 to cover payments the party has already made. Lord Brownlow added that the donation should be attributed to the soon to be formed Downing Street Trust. A second email showed that the multimillionaire, an ex-policeman turned entrepreneur, had been asked to run the trust by Mr Johnson personally last June. The proposed trust was purportedly intended to preserve the entire Downing Street estate, but it did not exist at the time of the donation  and still doesnt. Critics claim the idea was a ruse to recoup money spent on the Number 11 flat. Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds live there as it is larger than the space above No 10. Miss Symonds was reportedly eager to get rid of the John Lewis furniture nightmare inherited from Theresa May. This led her to commission the modish  and expensive  eco-friendly interior designer Lulu Lytle, whose work includes rattan furniture, gold wallpaper and wrought-iron finishings. Admirers of her decor include Prince Charles, who visited her Leicester workshop last year. Multiple sources at senior levels of the Government and Conservative Party have expressed outraged that Mr Johnson, 56, and Miss Symonds, 33, not only refused to pay for their revamp, but also wanted Tory donors to bail them out. The Government appeared to try to bury Mr Johnsons climbdown yesterday by having it announced in the House of Lords by Cabinet Office minister Lord True. He said the cost of work on painting, sanding and floorboards in the flat would be met by the taxpayer, but any costs of wider refurbishment in this year have been met by the Prime Minister personally. Those sixteen words are likely to have cost Mr Johnson around 58,000. The Government did not say how much he paid, or when. Lord True said the Government had been considering the merits of setting up a trust for future refurbishments, but the legally complex plans remain ongoing. Despite his 161,000-a-year salary, Mr Johnsons friends claim he has struggled to make ends meet since entering Downing Street. Confirmed to have at least six children, he has been through an expensive second divorce. Advertisement

'He has been an outstanding servant to the country, to the Government and to the Prime Minister when he was mayor of London.'

A key Johnson ally, Lord Udny-Lister was only revealed as the Government's special envoy for the Gulf in February.

It was reported at the time that the role will focus on strengthening links with the region, as well as driving investment to the UK.

Speaking at the time of his appointment, Mr Johnson said: 'The Gulf is a pivotal region both economically and geopolitically. I'm very pleased to be sending Lord Udny-Lister to work with our partners there and to unlock its potential.

'His appointment marks my ambition to achieve a wholescale modernisation of our Gulf relationships, creating jobs and driving prosperity at home while delivering on our priorities and values overseas.'

Lord Udny-Lister had been acting chief of staff in No 10 until former Treasury official Dan Rosenfield relieved him of the role.

Last month reports emerged that the peer held talks over taking a six-figure second job with a lobbying firm with interests in the Gulf.

Lord Udny-Lister held discussions with Finsbury Glover Hering over combining his governmental role with a private one.

He rejected the offer from Finsbury earlier this month after being approached by the Times, the newspaper reported at the time.

The paper reported the firm as saying Lord Udny-Lister's role would not have involved Middle Eastern clients.

The report came after the peer was caught up in a conflict of interest row over claims he helped broker a deal for China's new embassy on behalf of the Government while being paid by two of the companies involved.

The Sunday Times reported that Lord Udny-Lister helped the Foreign Office lead talks with China over its 255million deal to buy Royal Mint Court - near to the Tower of London.

But while working on the talks, which took place between 2017 and 2018, the-then Sir Edward Lister also worked for two of the companies involved in the deal, according to the paper.

He worked as a paid consultant for American commercial real estate giant CBRE.

The company was hired by China to identify and buy a site for its new embassy.

He was also a paid adviser to London property firm Delancey, who owned the Royal Mint Court, while the talks were in place, according to the Sunday Times.

Both companies told Sunday Times that Lord Udny-Lister took no direct part in the negotiations.

A spokesperson for CBRE told MailOnline earlier this year: 'Sir Edward Lister did not have any involvement with CBRE on the Royal Mint Court transaction.

'He was employed as consultant with CBRE between October 2016 and December 2017.'

A Government spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Sir Eddie Lister undertook this work as a Non-Executive Director of the FCO at the request of the government. There was no conflict of interest.'

Delancey bought the site from the Crown Estate - company behind the Queen's public estate - for 51million in 2010.

The historic building, which is opposite the Tower of London, was home to the former Royal Mint.

The building was bought by the Chinese government for 250 million in 2018.

It is now planned to be the new home of the Chinese Embassy and is set to be one of the biggest in the world.

Last week the Mail on Sunday revealed how the Tory peer had more than 50,000 worth of shares in Johnson Controls, a US-based engineering firm whose UK branch has secured six public contracts since Lister joined the No 10 team as Chief Strategic Adviser.

Lord Udny-Lister helped the Foreign Office lead talks with China over its 255million deal to buy Royal Mint Court - near to the Tower of London. Here he is pictured with Chinese ambassador Liu Xiamoing

The historic Royal Mint court building, which is opposite the Tower of London, was home to the former Royal Mint and will be transformed into the new Chinese Embassy

Four years ago, Johnson Controls merged with Tyco, where Lister worked for more than a decade as 'director of government relations' before Mr Johnson brought him to City Hall and then Downing Street.

Last week the Mail on Sunday revealed how Lord Udny-Lister had more than 50,000 worth of shares in Johnson Controls, a US-based engineering firm whose UK branch has secured six public contracts since Lister joined the No 10 team as Chief Strategic Adviser

A total of 998,000 worth of contracts have gone to the company in the almost two years since Lister became the PM's adviser  the latest was awarded this month.

They include work for a Birmingham Children's NHS hospital, the NHS-owned North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative, HM Land Registry and South Tees Site Company Limited.

The biggest contract - 521,000 for fire alarm systems - was awarded in January 2020 to Johnson Controls through an arrangement with the Cabinet Office.

Last week a Government spokesman insisted Lister had 'no involvement' in awarding the contracts.

Last year, Lord Udny-Lister was also accused of a possible conflict of interest over a payment of nearly 500,000 from a luxury property developer while working for a government affordable housing body.

He received the six-figure payment from Malaysian property developer EcoWorld between 2016 and 2019.

But at the time he was also Chairman of Homes England - a government body that funds affordable housing projects.

The consultancy fees paid to Sir Edward totalled 487,000.

This far exceeded his annual salary of 68,000 which he received while working for Homes England.

MailOnline has contacted Lord Udny-Lister for comment about his departure.
Dan Sperber in Psyche:

Jean-Francois Raffaelli (1850-1924) did his best work painting or drawing the modest inhabitants of the suburbs of Paris, where he himself lived for a time. The engraving Le Cantonnier (1881) below depicts a roadman, or a road sweeper, sitting on a milestone, his arms crossed, his broom on the ground behind him. An arrow on the milestone indicates the direction of Paris and the distance: 4.1 kilometres. Significantly, the man is facing in the opposite direction. His face is illuminated by a late-afternoon sun after a rainy day, but his expression is cheerless.

The composition of the picture is peculiar: the left half, behind the mans back, is occupied by a meagre leafless shrub, nondescript houses in the distance, and the broom on the ground. The man sitting on the milestone occupies the right half and is facing the edge of the frame rather than its centre. This picture elicits a sense of empathy for this humble worker who seems to be enjoying his rest but to have little else to look forward to. The spatial composition of the picture contributes, I want to argue, to its poignancy, and it does so in part because of an evolved psychological disposition, a disposition that humans are likely to share with many other animals.

More here.
Lazio region to become a yellow zone from Monday says Zingaretti, ahead of formal announcement from health ministry today.

The Lazio region around Rome will turn 'yellow' from 26 April, under Italy's tiered system of coronavirus restrictions, the region's president Nicola Zingaretti announced on Thursday afternoon.

Lazio's move to the lower-risk yellow zone, set to be confirmed later today by Italian health minister Roberto Speranza, comes as Italy prepares to 'open up' many of its closed businesses next week.

"From Monday we will be in the yellow zone, finally," Zingaretti said on Italian television programme Oggi e un altro giorno, however he warned that people must not let down their guard.

The move to yellow will mean that restaurants, bars and all catering venues will be able to serve people at outdoor tables - for lunch and dinner - however the nationwide curfew of 22.00 remains in place.

It will also mean that Rome's museums and archaeological sites can reopen from Monday (or Tuesday, given that most Roman museums are closed on Mondays), under strict visiting protocols and with the addition of one important novelty:

Museums in Italy's yellow zones will now be permitted to open at weekends - with reservations required at least one day in advance - as confirmed on 22 April by the Italian culture ministry.

Yesterday's announcement from Zingaretti comes as the Lazio region opens a covid-19 vaccination hub at Rome's fabled Cinecitta film studios.

Photo credit: Boris-B / Shutterstock.com.
Many Americans realize that there is a cultural and political war underway in America. The outcome of this war ultimately will determine the nation's continued existence as a constitutional republic or become something else, God forbid, such as a socialist/communist totalitarian state. Thus, this article argues that this is no time for members of the so-called conservative "silent majority" to remain silent.

As discussed herein, there is a pressing, urgent need for many millions of this majority (estimated to be between 50 and 80 million American adults) to take an active role in overcoming the callous and nefarious agenda of the woke cancel culture mob. Overcoming this agenda includes actively supporting and voting for candidates for political office who hold bona fide conservative values and cherish the freedom birthrights of all Americans as listed in the Declaration of Independence and America's Constitution.

It is believed that the mob is a relatively small minority of the American population. But this mob is highly vocal, highly energized, and very well funded by both domestic and foreign sources. Further, as Founding Father Samuel Adams famously once said, "it does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority."

Unless the mob is confronted and overcome by a more forceful and energetic coalition of patriotic Americans desiring to protect and preserve their freedom birthrights, the eventual outcome may be disastrous for American liberty.

The principal weapons deployed against America's republic, purposely setting one segment of the population against another, are unfounded charges of ongoing systemic racism and white supremacy throughout the land. Such tactics are directly drawn from the Marxist, communist playbook of "divide and conquer." In fact, Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza is a known communist protagonist and proponent of Marxist ideology, causing many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of black American youths and others to despise America and riot in the streets.

Proof of the mob's callousness and nefariousness (and blatant disregard for the safety and welfare of American citizens) is its support for the transportation of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of undocumented, unaccompanied, COVID-untested illegal alien children to destinations throughout America. Most if not all of these children speak no English and have to rely on the kindness and goodness of the American people to safeguard and take care of them wherever they are sent in the United States.

The mob supports such despicable activities, believing that ultimately, these children will become voters for the Democrat party. In doing so, the mob and its supporting radical leftist elites show their true despotic nature; lust for power and control; and absolute disdain for America, its citizens, its founders, and its founding documents.

The movements of undocumented, unaccompanied illegal alien children throughout America became evident during a recent trip to the southern border by United States congressman John Katko (R-N.Y.). In a recent television interview, the congressman described how he witnessed these children being placed on commercial aircraft with brown envelopes in their laps. One side of the envelope listed the flight numbers the child was to take; the other side had a written message stating the following: "Please help me. I do not speak English. What plane do I need to take? Thank you for your help."

Doctor Ben Carson, while campaigning as a presidential candidate in 2016, stated, "There are a group of people who would like to silence everybody and have everybody go along to get along, but that's not going to be very helpful for us in the long run. Somebody has to be courageous enough to actually stand up to the bullies." Fast-forward to 2021, and the bullies of five years ago have become today's woke cancel culture minority. They are openly hostile toward Americans' freedoms of speech and religion, 2nd Amendment rights, and other cherished freedoms.

Members of the silent majority, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, religious beliefs, etc. must band together to confront and defeat the mob of leftist bullies. Their onslaught on America's unique constitutional republic and individual freedoms, using unfounded charges of ongoing systemic racism and white supremacy as their primary weapons, must be effectively challenged and overcome.

Writing in the journal of the World History Institute, Dr. Marshall Foster recently agreed with the statement of Samuel Adams presented above in that "[t]he testimony of history is that ... the critical mass sufficient for cultural change resides in the minority ... and often in only one individual."

In conclusion, it is time for many, many members of the silent majority (and other truly patriotic Americans) to form their own "tireless minority" and go on the offensive to challenge and overcome the lies and actions of the mob and its radical leftist supporters. Leadership and funding for this coalition of concerned, highly energized citizens might be provided by an organization such as Heritage Action for America. Citizens would have numerous opportunities in their respective states to get actively engaged to save America's unique republic.

Paul S. Gardiner is a retired Army officer; Vietnam veteran; and grateful citizen of the greatest country on Earth, the United States of America. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Alabama, and the United States Army War College.

Image via Max Pixel.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Australian Army soldiers run during Exercise Chong Ju at the Puckapunyal Military Area on May 9, 2019 in Seymour, Australia. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Royal Commission Into Veteran Suicide Supremely Important: RSL

The Returned and Services League (RSL) has welcomed the Australian governments announcement of a royal commission into veteran suicide rates, saying it was supremely important and a matter of urgency.

RSL National President Major General Greg Melick said the organisation looked forward to providing input, advice, and support to the federal government on this issue.

The issue of veterans mental health and veteran suicide is supremely important and must be addressed as a matter of urgency; the RSL is calling for immediate action with no further delay, Melick said.

The RSL and its veteran members will continue to provide support to find solutions that deal with the scourge of veterans suicide which impacts severely on the entire veteran community.

Mellick noted that in previous inquiries past federal governments had only managed to implement one-quarter of their recommendations, which had no significant impact on the rates of veteran suicides.

While the suicide rate in the armed services is well below the national average, among veterans, it is four times the national average. That is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue, he added.

An Australian war veteran wears his medals, including a service medal from the Vietnam war (Far-L), at the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service in Sydney on Aug. 18, 2016. (Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the federal governments Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide on Monday, after community calls for a national inquiry to focus on the systemic issues faced by Australian Defence Force members and veterans.

Every single day, the service of our veterans is something that has pressed on my mind because the very fact that we can live in a country that we can live in here in Australia is as a result of their sacrifice, Morrison said.

Its as a result of their service. Its as a result of the decision they took to join the Defence Forces and to serve and to defend our values.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, accompanied by his wife Jenny, lays a wreath in the Hall of Memory during Anzac Day Commemorative Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on April 25, 2020. (Sean Davey/Pool/Getty Images)

Morrison said this meant that the death of any Australian Defence Force member or veteran is one death too many, and this includes when that death is from suicide.

We have always recognised that the rate of suicide of Australian Defence Force members and veterans is unacceptably high, the prime minister said.

In recognising the sacrifices made by our serving and former members and their families on behalf of the nation, we owe it to members, veterans and their families to continue to take action.

The royal commission will be given the mandate to look into any systemic issues and themes in past deaths by suicide of Australian Defence Force members and veterans. It will also look at the experience of members and veterans who may still be at risk of suicide.

The Commission will also look into all aspects of the Australian Defence Force and the experiences of ADF members who are transitioning from active service. This includes the impact on veterans by the availability and quality of health and support services, the effect of social and family issues, as well as housing and employment.

A spokesperson from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) told The Epoch Times that the Royal Commission provides veterans and their families an opportunity to tell their story and a chance for families to heal.

The spokesperson also noted that the DVA would continue to provide all support and services and reminded any veteran and their family members who are currently struggling and need help to contact DVA to access support.

The Government provides more than $230 million a year to support veteran mental healthwhich is uncapped and driven by demandpart of an $11 billion annual spend for services and support for veterans and their families, the DVA spokesperson said.

DVA provides access to free comprehensive mental health care services to anyone with a single day of continuous full-time service in the ADF, as well as reservists with disaster relief or border protection service or those injured in a service-related training accident. The clinicians and counsellors are also all specifically equipped to understand the unique nature of military service.

In Australia, if you are a veteran or serving member of the Australian Defence Forces, you can reach out to Open Arms on 1800 0011 046, or you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can also visit the Lifeline website at lifeline.org.au.

Australian youth can contact the Kids Helpline by phoning 1800 551 800 or visiting headspace.org.au/yarn-safe. Additional organisations include beyondblue 1300 22 4636, and 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

If you are a veteran or a serving member in the U.S. you can contact the Veterans Crisis Line on 1800 273 8255 or call 911. You can phone the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1 800 273 8255. Youth can call the Kids Help Phone on 1800 668 6868.
The centennial celebration for the founding of the Communist Party of China will be a major highlight at the 37th Shanghai Spring Music Festival, which will take place from April 28 to May 10.

Established in 1960, the festival is hosted by the municipal cultural and tourism administration. This year's edition will feature 26 concert productions and two dance shows, the majority of which will be presented by artists and groups from Shanghai.

The opening will take place at Shanghai Grand Theater on April 28. According to Zhang Songhua, director of the Shanghai Grand Theater Art Center, the opening celebration will last seven hours starting from 2 pm.

The event will commence with an outdoor performance on the stairs in front of the theater, where dozens of young violinists will play Sing A Song for the Party, composed by Zhu Jian'er in 1963. This will be followed by a series of workshops, dialogues with artists and video events.

The performance, as well as other activities of the day, will be livestreamed on more than 20 web platforms.

At the opening concert starting at 7:30 pm, leading performing art institutions in the city, such as the Shanghai Opera House, Shanghai Ballet, and the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, will present a gala show. With the help of livestreaming and video-sharing technology, the Chinese music groups will collaborate with renowned overseas institutions such as the Orchestra de Paris in France, Opera Australia and the Israel Camerata Jerusalem.

Student music groups from three universities in Shanghai-Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University-will jointly present a large-scale concert production of the Suite of Songs for Long March at the opera house of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music on May 4.

According to Feng Lei, director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the music school had, since last October, brought together all the departments and kicked off rehearsals for a new production of the suite, which consists of a series of chorus pieces created in 1965 depicting the Red Army's Long March in 1934-36.

The production subsequently embarked on a national tour in China. This year, the school will join hands with the 108-member chorus of Fudan University and the 113-piece student orchestra of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to create a larger and more spectacular edition of the suite.

Feng says the new interpretation will be faithful to the original creation, musically and lyrically, but the digital art department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music will create new visual presentations and new stage settings.

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is currently touring six Chinese cities with three new commissioned music pieces, The Forefathers, by Yang Fan; Let's Go to the Sea and Look up at the Starry Sky, by Hao Weiya; and Ode to China, by Yu Yang. The tour, which kicked off on April 15 and will run until May 6, is a special part of the Shanghai Spring Music Festival.

The orchestra started its tour in Beijing, where the concert was conducted by Yu Feng, director of the Central Conservatory of Music. The plan is to take the three new pieces, alongside a series of red-themed repertoire, to Hangzhou, Zhejiang province; Ganzhou, Jiangxi province; Changsha, Hunan province; Wuhan, Hubei province; and eventually Yan'an, Shaanxi province, an important center for the Chinese revolution.

In June, upon returning to Shanghai, the orchestra will perform at its home concert hall, when young conductors will take the baton. According to Zhou Ping, director of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the young musicians have pledged to "carry on with the idealistic faith and patriotic passion that is reflected in the music creation".

The festival will present two dance productions-a gala performance featuring emerging choreographers' creations, as well as The Burning Youth, a new dance theater production by Shanghai Ballet. The latter tells a story about a group of young people from different backgrounds meeting in Yan'an in the 1930s before becoming revolutionary soldiers.

According to Xin Lili, head of Shanghai Ballet, the new production will feature innovative stage designs and present a highly aesthetic production of the revolutionary theme.

The Burning Youth will be presented at the Shanghai Grand Theater from May 7 to 8.
(CNN)  If you're pregnant and infected with COVID-19, there is an increased risk of negative outcomes for both you and your baby, according to a new study published Thursday in JAMA Pediatrics.

Expectant mothers with a Covid-19 diagnosis from 18 different countries were at higher risk for adverse outcomes, such as preeclampsia, infections, admission to hospital intensive care units and even death.

The risk of death for pregnant women with Covid-19 was 1.6%, which was 22 times higher than pregnant women who were not infected, according to the study.

Babies born to mothers infected with the novel coronavirus were also at somewhat higher risk of preterm birth and low birth weight, the study found.

"The results reported are sobering," wrote pediatrician Dr. Catherine Mary Healy in an accompanying editorial. Healy is an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases.

'High risk of poor outcomes'

The study, which began in March 2020, and ended in October 2020, enrolled over 2,000 pregnant women from 43 medical institutions in 18 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK and the United States.

Healy wrote that she believed the study to be one of the largest to date, capturing reports from the different countries "in real time as the pandemic evolved from the earliest cases detected."

Of the 2,130 women in the study, 706 were diagnosed with Covid-19 -- the remaining 1,424 women who were not infected were then matched by pregnancy gestation and demographic characteristics to reduce error.

Nearly 60% of the infected women were asymptomatic, meaning they had no fever or other signs of the virus. Still, Healy wrote, those women "were at higher risk of poor outcomes, such as preeclampsia or eclampsia, severe infections, admission to an intensive care unit ... and maternal death."

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys. Eclampsia is a severe complication of preeclampsia that causes seizures.

Pregnant women diagnosed with Covid-19 who were overweight or living with diabetes, heart disease, hypertension or chronic respiratory diseases were almost four times more likely to develop preeclampsia, the study found.

Why is pregnancy risky?

Why would pregnancy put women in greater danger from the virus? One reason is a decreased lung capacity for the woman as the baby grows.

"You can develop respiratory compromise, to the extent that you can't recover from it," Dr. Kjersti Aagaard, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Texas Children's Hospital, told CNN in January.

In addition, Aagaard -- who is also Meyer professor chair in obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine -- said a pregnant woman's heart pumps 1.5 times harder than it would normally to provide adequate blood for the baby and the placenta.

"That overaction of the heart, which we call a higher cardiac output, also renders pregnant women at risk from having heart failure problems, which can be a manifestation and potential cause of death from Covid-19 disease," she said.

Pregnant women may also be more likely to have an overenthusiastic immune system designed to protect the developing fetus, which can lead to the so-called cytokine storm -- an overblown response by the immune system to Covid-19 that signals more severe disease and often the need for intensive care, Aagaard said.

And finally, there is an increased likelihood of blood clotting during pregnancy, which Covid-19 is known to make worse.

"Humans, like all placental mammals, run the risk of bleeding to death after that placenta separates off the wall of the uterus," Aagaard said. "So 4.5 million years of evolution is at our backs, helping us clot a little bit more effectively when we're pregnant."

Risks from Covid-19 vaccine appear low

On Wednesday, a study of 3,958 pregnant women between 16 and 54 years old who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine found few serious side effects from the vaccination.

The most common was pain at the injection site, which the study found occurred more frequently in pregnant vaccine recipients. However, expectant mothers who were vaccinated reported fewer headaches, muscle aches, chills and fever.

As part of the study, data gathered by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) between December 14, 2020 and February 28, 2021, was analyzed.

There were 221 pregnancy-related adverse events reported during that time frame, including 46 miscarriages. The study compared those events to data on negative pregnancy outcomes before the pandemic.

"Although not directly comparable, calculated proportions of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in persons vaccinated against Covid-19 who had a completed pregnancy were similar to incidences reported in studies involving pregnant women that were conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic," the study said.

Major medical groups in the United States have been urging pregnant women to consider being vaccinated against Covid-19.

"US regulatory bodies and medical experts have clearly stated that all eligible pregnant individuals should have the choice to receive the vaccine," said Dr. Christopher Zahn, vice president of practice activities for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, in a prior CNN interview.

"There's really no theoretical reason to believe it's going to cause harm to either the mother, or her unborn child, and we're very confident it's going to provide considerable benefits to both the mother and the baby," added Dr. Richard Beigi, who sits on ACOG's Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group.

For any pregnant woman who is hesitant to be vaccinated, "adherence to public health guidance regarding mask wearing, handwashing, and social distancing are first and necessary steps," Healy wrote.

Pregnant women should also avoid crowds and activities with high risks of transmission, such as eating in restaurants, she added.
The arrest in recent months of at least seven Tibetans apparently on charges of anti-state activity underscores Beijings continuing drive to destroy the influence of men and women whose views of life in Tibetan regions of China go against official narratives, a Tibetan rights group in India says.

If these intellectuals can no longer influence the Tibetan public, that public can be more easily manipulated and fooled, says Pema Gyal, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

Beginning in 2008when widespread protests against Chinese rule swept Tibetan regionsand until 2010, nearly 60 influential Tibetan poets, writers, and other literary figures and academics were arrested by Chinese police, with the whereabouts of many still unknown, Gyal said.

And the reason usually given for the arrests was that they had all threatened national security and stability.

But what these arrests really show, Gyal said, is that Tibetans have been deprived of their freedom of academic expression, and that the Chinese authorities can arrest them at any time simply by calling them a national threat.

Previously reported by RFA, the arrests in recent weeks in Sichuans Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) and Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures of at least five Tibetans considered prominent in their communities, and of two others in Qinghai toward the end of last year, show the crackdown is continuing.

Many held before

Gangkye Drubpa Kyab, a well-known writer in Tibetan areas of Sichuan also called Gangme Thak, was arrested in Kardzes Sertha (Seda) county on March 23, and had been jailed on political charges before.

Also arrested in Kardzes Sertha county was writer and environmental activist Sey Nam, who was taken into custody on April 2.

Long-time activist and former political prisoner Tsering Dolma was also arrested in Kardze on April 2, and had been detained at least twice before in 2008 and 2012 after she took part in protests against Chinese policies and rule in Tibetan areas.

Political activist Gangbu Yudrum was taken into custody in Kardze on March 22, and had previously served a three-year prison term beginning in 2008 for his role in a protest in which he raised the banned Tibetan national flag and called for the return to Tibet of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

He was arrested again in 2012 and released in 2014, receiving a warm welcome from people in his village, who hailed him as a Tibetan fighter for the truth. Upon his release, he wrote and distributed copies of a letter to local Tibetans urging them to work to free Tibet from Beijings rule.

Go Sherab Gyatso, a 46-year-old monk at Kirti monastery in Sichuans Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was taken into custody by state security agents on Oct. 26 in Sichuans capital Chengdu. He had authored a book, We Need to Wake Up, and published several articles describing restrictions on Tibetans freedom of expression under Chinese rule.

Unauthorized views

In Chinas neighboring Qinghai province, Kunsang Gyaltsena native of Qinghais Mangra (Guinan) county and researcher at Tibet University in Tibets regional capital Lhasawas arrested in June 2020 for circulating booklets containing unauthorized views of Tibets political history. Word of Gyaltsens arrest was delayed in reaching outside contacts, and his present whereabouts are still unknown.

And in Qinghais Rebgong (Tongren) county, Gendun Lhundrubformerly a monk at Rebgongs Rongwo monasterywas arrested on Dec. 2 by police who had monitored his activities for signs of political dissent. In October, Lhundrub had released an anthology of poetry, and had written on social media that writers and artists should be allowed the freedom to express their thoughts and emotions without restriction.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against Chinas rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Lobsang Gelek for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Friday said the fire incident at a private hospital in Virar, which killed 13 COVID-19 patients, was "not a national news".

However, the minister later made it clear that earlier in the day when he was speaking to reporters about the issues he would be discussing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was suddenly asked a question related to the Virar fire tragedy, to which he had responded.

Talking to reporters earlier in the day, Tope said, "We will be speaking about oxygen, Remdesivir...the Virar incident though is not a national news."



"We will provide all the support and financial assistance to the families of victims who died in the accident. The way we have extended similar help to the Nashik victims, we will do it here as well," he said when asked about the incident.

"The municipal corporation and the state government will extend Rs five lakh each to the families of victims in the Virar fire accident. There will be fire audit as well as structural and electrical audits of the hospital," the health minister said.

"If the audits were not conducted properly, the implementing persons will face strict action. We will seek an in-depth report on the incident in the next 10 days. Those persons responsible will definitely face legal action," he said.

Later, while speaking to reporters, Tope appealed that his comments about the Virar tragedy should not be distorted and taken out of context.

"I was asked about what topics I will be discussing with PM Narendra Modi. It was already decided that oxygen supply, Remdesivir and vaccine availability will be the topics of discussion from the state side. As I was completing my answer, I was interrupted by the question related to Virar fire tragedy."



"The Maharastra government has taken all the necessary decisions regarding the incident, including announcement of inquiry, hence I was explaining this part. Everyone has seen my work, even when there were some personal losses, I never shied away from my duty," he said.

He was apparently referring to the death of his mother in August last year, who was bed-ridden for several months when Maharashtra was heading towards its first peak of COVID- 19 cases.

"It is not possible that one person is sensitive one day and insensitive the next day. I should be judged on my track record of the last so many months," he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Carl Alderson remembers how Hurricane Sandy devastated Staten Island in 2012, causing immense flooding and two dozen deaths. Two decades before, he witnessed how a 1992 noreaster slammed the borough and brought with it ravaging inundation.

In both cases, one fact is indisputable, said Alderson, a former Staten Islander and the Mid-Atlantic restoration coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Associations Fisheries Habitat Restoration Center: The site of the former GATX oil storage terminal, which was a vacant low-lying basin of roughly 650 acres in the Old Place Creek corridor on the boroughs North Shore, helped absorb storm surge that would have otherwise breached into neighborhoods.

Since then, 20% of that receiving lowland has been taken out of the complex environmental equation that works to receive flooding water and absorb its impacts due to multiple developments that have since been constructed there.

Now, a new development, a BJs Wholesale Club that includes a gas station and 838 parking spaces, threatens a part of the Graniteville wetlands  a 28-acre plot that is part of the network of wetlands that has demonstrated the ability to protect Staten Islanders in the past, Alderson and multiple advocates have said.

Construction there could begin this year.

The site sits just thousands of feet from the Old Place Creek Tidal Wetlands that were recently rehabilitated  an area that sits adjacent to the Amazon and Ikea warehouses that have been erected in recent years.

The continued march of new construction, Alderson said, will further throw off the environmental balance that delicately dampens the impact of major storms. With less areas to receive water and more areas shedding it because of the developments, that ratio has been altered significantly since Hurricane Sandy hit the Island.

Your ratio of basins to range has changed, and it now favors more range  more shedding, less receiving, said Alderson. And we dont know what impact that will have necessarily on the next storm.

A map shows the proposed construction site of BJ's Wholesale Club and other retailers in Mariners Harbor and Graniteville.(Courtesy of Staten Island Coalition For Wetlands & Forest)EXT

The swath of wetlands etched out for the BJs Wholesale Club serves as a headwaters to Old Place Creek. While only a small section of the larger ecosystem, it has unique benefits that are not common elsewhere in the area.

The Graniteville swamp, which comprises the area that will be affected by the development, is soft and permeable with a significant amount of tree cover, said Alderson. Those trees delay water hitting the ground and use root systems to store water.

Thats a very large benefit that you dont have a lot of in that watershed, added Alderson.

Advocates have echoed those sentiments and believe specifically that the destruction of the acres of woodlands, which play a pivotal role in maintaining the nearby wetland ecosystem, could have a net-negative impact on the Island.

Additionally, greenery that grows in these areas absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, while the soil filters pollutants and toxins, protecting indigenous animals and fish, as well as the people living in the surrounding area, said advocates.

Baby pin oaks blanket the ground at the Graniteville swamp forest.

A DEVASTATING EFFECT

Ellen Banks, the conservation chair of the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental group with chapters in all 50 states, said the Graniteville wetlands undoubtedly play an important role in flood mitigation, which led the organization to put forward a resolution opposing the construction.

We in the Sierra Club consider it very urgent to do anything we can to stop this development, said Banks, who contended that the measures proposed by the lands developers to counteract the environmental impact of the construction will not be adequate.

Josif A LLC, the project developer, claims the project will actually enhance the nearby wetlands due to concessions made by the developer to plant additional trees and install bioswales to offset any potential negative impacts on the environment.

Banks said planting trees and installing bioswales, channels designed to concentrate and convey runoff, might be sufficient for normal rainfall, but are unlikely to help in a more severe weather event akin to Sandy.

Alderson explained that manmade infrastructure, however modern, will not perform in the same way naturally-occurring wetlands operate.

No matter how much additional infrastructure that commercial enterprise builds in, it cannot rival the absorption capacity of 24 acres of a forest, its just not physically possible, he said. No amount of modernization of systems is going to be able to delay the water coming off the roofs and the asphalt enough to not have some extraordinary negative effect.

Even without the BJs development, the Department of City Plannings Flood Hazard Mapper shows the northwest section of the borough will gradually experience higher levels of flooding in coming decades.

While the developers plans might work during a daily rainfall, Alderson said, a combination of a historic rainfall event and storm surge would be devastating.

If theres a surge, the water coming into the pipes from rainfall will have nowhere to go, he said.

Mitchell Korbey, lead counsel to the owner of the site, said the environmental impact of the site has been exhaustively vetted.

Staten Island environmental activists are joining forces to fight the proposed development of a BJ's Wholesale Club and other retailers in Mariners Harbor that they fear would inadvertently harm the wetlands. (Staten Island Advance/Thomas Erik Bascome) Staff-Shot

A FERVENT LEGAL BATTLE

Gabriella Velardi-Ward, the leader of the Staten Island Coalition of Wetlands and Forests (SICWF), has been battling in the courts to stop the development.

In 2017, the New York City Council approved the development despite an outpouring of concerns from the conservationist community. Then, in October 2019, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved an Article 24 Permit for the controversial development, paving the way for its construction.

The decision met firm criticism from City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who called the wetlands a miracle that spared a community the worst of Sandy.

Construction hit a hitch in January 2019, when it was believed that the eastern mud turtle, which is on the New York state list of endangered species, may reside in the area carved out for construction. However, the turtle was not found to be living within the space, the Advance/SILive.com reported.

Velardi-Ward said the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, which took on the case, most recently challenged the Queens Supreme Civil Courts 2017 ruling that her organization missed the date to file an appeal and contends the DEC should conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) of its own for the site.

The Department of City Planning (DCP), the initial lead agency overseeing the project, conducted an environmental assessment statement in 2016 that determined the proposed project could have the potential to result in significant adverse environmental impacts.

After public hearings did not raise any significant issues with the project  hearings that Velardi-Ward said she was not aware of at the time  the DCP issued a completion of its EIS.

On Sept. 6, 2017, NYC DCP issued the formal set of written findings reflecting that NYC DCP had taken a hard look at the environmental consequences of the proposed project and stated that the project would not result in any unmitigated significant adverse impacts, the DEC wrote.

Thats when I got involved in this, said Velardi-Ward.

In 2019, the DEC received more than 1,000 letters requesting a public hearing on the land, but the agency later said a hearing was not warranted.

Velardi-Ward said courts have since kept us busy with technicalities rather than presenting the merits of the case and slammed the lack of transparency she contends has surrounded the push to develop on the Graniteville wetlands.

A request to stop work at the wetlands as a court decision is awaited was voluntarily agreed upon by both parties and is expected to halt construction at the location until at least May 1, 2021.

We have so many reasons to stop this, said Velardi-Ward. And nobodys listening, nobodys listening.

The DEC, which said it does not comment on pending litigation, said it subjects all permit applications to a rigorous review to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.

Despite the legal challenges, Korbey previously told the Advance/SILive.com that the developers remain confident in our approvals, having received a full and complete sign-off and a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation based on our wetlands protection program and well-designed site plan and having completed the ULURP process and its own environmental review and Planning Commission approval.

We look forward to providing hundreds of new local jobs with advancement potential and excellent, lower-cost shopping for Staten Islanders, he said previously.

Residents of Kissam Avenue in Oakwood Beach surveyed the flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. (Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimo) Staten Island Advance

LONG LASTING IMPACTS OF FLOODING

Flooding from Hurricane Sandy displaced thousands of New Yorkers, and Harriet Festing, executive director of the Anthropocene Alliance, the nations largest coalition of frontline communities fighting for climate and environmental justice, said those impacts can last long after a new place to live is secured.

Theres a strong correlation between flooding and mental health impacts, and depression, and we have many members who are facing depression post-flooding, said Festing. Emotionally, those impacts could last forever.

While some devastation caused by nature is inevitable, Festing said the nation is going rapidly in the wrong direction, not just in terms of climate change mitigation but also adaptation.

The destruction of wetlands is happening everywhere at a terrible and horrifying rate, she said.

Despite the city and federal government doling out vast amounts of money to fund green infrastructure, Festing said pieces of the environment are being destroyed elsewhere in a confusing practice that stumbles efforts to adequately address climate change.

People will say, why are you concerned about, this is just one woodlands?, but its the impact of multiple small environmental concessions that creates issues like dangerous flooding scenarios, said Festing. Thats why its kind of so hard to fight.



RELATED COVERAGE: Environmental news on Staten Island
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 23:39:55|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- When Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced restricted movement in and out of five counties and closed places of worship and restaurants partially to contain the spread of COVID-19, many citizens were hopeful that normalcy would return soon.

But a month since the measures were put in place, there is no let-up in COVID-19 cases as daily incidences and deaths surge.

The East African nation has in the last one month been recording an average of 1,000 cases daily and about 20 deaths.

The cases have been on the rise in both counties under partial lockdown namely Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Machakos, and Nakuru, and those that are open.

The rising incidences are dashing citizens' hopes that the country would be reopened sooner for normal life to resume.

"I was working at an eatery and we were stopped when the government ordered only takeaway services should be offered. The owner gave us a 30-day break, with the cases rising, I don't think we will get back our jobs sooner," Kevin Onyango, who works at an eatery in Nairobi said on Friday.

While he remains hopeful, Onyango knows that the rising cases push back chances of the government considering reopening the country.

"Schools are to reopen next month but I don't see that happening if the current COVID-19 infection trend is sustained. This disease has disrupted our lives," lamented Jennifer Ngunjiri, a parent.

On Thursday, Kenya recorded 904 cases from a sample size of 5,673, bringing the total caseload to 154,392. This was a positivity rate of 15.9 percent.

The Ministry of Health, similarly, recorded 20 deaths as the fatalities maintained a higher daily trend. The rising deaths have put the death rate at 1.7 percent.

The capital Nairobi bears the biggest burden of the disease, with over 71,000 people infected, followed by the tourist resort city of Mombasa.

Since the start of the pandemic, the country is currently recording the highest number of patients admitted in hospitals, which stood at 1,507 on Thursday.

On the other hand, Kenya as of Thursday had vaccinated some 778,254 persons against COVID-19, with the number comprising 446,329 aged 58 years and above, 148,358 being health workers, 119,161 teachers, and 64,406 security officers.

While the number of those vaccinated has been rising, the increasing cases of infections and deaths threaten to erode the gain.

Alfred Mutua, Machakos County governor, observed that the COVID-19 situation is not getting any better, particularly in counties.

"The situation is not good and basically every village in Kenya has regular COVID-19 victim burials," he said, adding most hospitals including in counties are full of COVID-19 patients.

Ahmed Kalebi, a consultant pathologist, noted that Kenya's COVID-19 third wave is lingering on because community transmission is intensifying outside the five locked counties.

"The burden of COVID-19 is shifting away from the five locked-down disease-infected zones of Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Machakos, and Nakuru, which in March contributed over 70 percent of the caseload in the country. But they are now only contributing to less than 50 percent," he said. Enditem
Mediterranean fruit flies, an agricultural pest, have been modified in a lab experiment so more males are born than females, reducing their numbers.

The experiments suggest that the modification could be developed for use in a range of other agricultural pest species, or insects that carry human diseases.

Agricultural pests like the Mediterranean fruit fly, or medfly (Ceratitis capitata), cause significant crop losses, so finding new ways to tackle infestations is crucial for feeding a growing global population.

The study, carried out by researchers at Imperial College London and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is published in BMC Biology.

Impacting global agriculture

It has been predicted that the world's population will increase to over nine billion people by 2050, and that global food production will need to increase by around 70 percent to match this rate of change.

Lead researcher Dr. Angela Meccariello, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: "Currently, medfly infestations are estimated to contribute towards a loss of up $298 US million annually due to crop damage across a wide geographic area and in over 250 different species of fruits and vegetables.

"Due to factors such as climate change, the spread of invasive species and pesticide resistance, there is potential for the negative impact of the medfly on global agriculture to increase if left unchecked. We therefore need new technologies to fight these pests, and our modification could be one such tool."

The team's modification works by using a DNA-cutting enzyme to destroy the X chromosome during the production of sperm, leading to predominantly male offspring, as females require two Xs. In their experiments, they managed to produce populations of the flies that were 80% male.

As well as leading to fewer flies overall as there are fewer mating opportunities, biasing the population towards males would have added benefits in the field. As part of the medfly life cycle, the females break the skin of fruit with a needle-like appendage called an ovipositor during the process of egg deposition, which causes a significant damage to the integrity of the fruit regardless of the viability of the deposited eggs.

Exciting and urgent challenge

The team's work represents the first time a sex-distorting modification has been applied to a 'non-model organism." Model organisms are those that have been extensively studied and used in many experiments, so their biology is well characterised and findings using them are often thought to be applicable to a wide range of other organisms.

The genomes of non-model organisms are generally less well known, so the team will further study the genetics of the medfly to improve their modification. Although the end goal is to release these modified flies into local populations in areas where these flies are causing a problem for crops, the team say they first need to spend time further optimising the technology and ensuring any eventual use would not have unintended side effects and would be safe for release.

However, proving the technology can work on such a non-model organism also opens up the possibility of designing similar modifications for closely related pest species, such as other species of fruit flies.

Senior author Dr. Nikolai Windbichler, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: "Developing genetic rather than chemical approaches, as a species-specific and sustainable way to control agricultural pest insects, is an exciting and urgent challenge.

"In the present study we have also created a set of genetic tools for us or others to use and take the next steps in moving such technologies towards application."

Explore further Young male fruit flies make females fight each other more

More information: Angela Meccariello et al. Engineered sex ratio distortion by X-shredding in the global agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata, BMC Biology (2021). Journal information: BMC Biology Angela Meccariello et al. Engineered sex ratio distortion by X-shredding in the global agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata,(2021). DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01010-7
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The global mens personal care market size is anticipated to reach USD 75.8 billion by 2027 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2020 to 2027. Growing popularity among men for daily skincare routine coupled with rising awareness in respect to personal grooming and hygiene is the key factor driving the market. Availability of a wide range of skincare routine products by key players and guidance by industry experts is driving the market.

Millennial men nowadays are becoming more conscious of their physical appearance and looks and are willing to experience innovative products that are proven to work for skin nourishment. Prominent players in the beauty and cosmetics market have been collaborating and launching innovative products specifically designed for men. For instance, in September 2018 Loreal China partnered with Tmall to gain traction of millennial men. This partnership is bound to provide insights from Alibabas 600 million users for the product development process and further launching innovative products in the mens personal care category.

Most of the companies in the market have been relying on social media platforms including YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook to promote their products as one of the prominent strategies to pique consumer interest. Besides, launching the product on their official website, the companies use popular social media influencer or celebrities who usually have millions of followers as marketing media to build their brand awareness among the consumers. For instance, Loreal Paris in February 2017 changes its slogan Because youre worth it to We are all worth it with respect to catering to a more diverse and inclusive audience. In the following year, the brand for the first time featured a male model- Gary Thompson blogger and makeup artist in a cosmetics campaign for its True Match Foundation campaign.

Browse Details of Report @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mens-personal-care-market

North America dominated the market and accounted for over 29.2% share of global revenue in 2019. Growing consciousness, personal care routine, and use of natural and organically sourced products that are free from chemicals and are nontoxic in nature are the key driving factor for the growth of the market in the region. In addition, the growing adoption of business strategies such as mergers and acquisitions among the key players is propelling market growth. For instance, In November 2019, Estee Lauder Companies announced an agreement to acquire mens grooming brand Do The Right. This deal would strengthen and help to expand The Estee Lauder Companies leadership position in countries such as South Korea and the U.K.
New Delhi, April 23 : The Supreme Court on Friday expressed dissatisfaction at the accusations levelled at its move to redirect to itself all Covid-related cases, which were being by various High Courts across the country.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice L.N. Rao and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said members of the Bar without even reading the order or it being released, "non-existent" intentions were being imputed.

The bench queried senior advocate and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Vikas Singh, "You have read the order. Is there any intention to transfer the case?" The bench said: "Is this the way orders are spoken of outside even when no orders passed?"

Expressing its dissatisfaction, the bench further added that even before reading the order, there was criticism about something which was not there in order. "This is how the institution is being destroyed", said the bench.

On Thursday, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the "confusion and diversion of resources" caused when six High Courts simultaneously hear cases connected with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The six High Courts where similar matters are: Delhi, Bombay, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Calcutta, and Allahabad.

The bench told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association, "You have imputed motives to us without reading the order." Dave replied that it was apparent that the top court will transfer the matters from the High Court to itself. Dave added that it was a matter of perception, and they have a genuine concern, as the top court had done it in the past.

Justice Bhat shot back, "We never said a word and did not stop the High Courts." He added that the bench asked Centre to go to High Courts and report to them, and the High Court's went ahead and passed orders.

Justice Bhat said: "What kind of perception are you talking about?" The cases before the High Court's largely concern the availability of oxygen, essential drugs, vaccination process, and various restrictions imposed to contain the spread of infection.

The bench emphasized that its intention was only to look into the interstate movement of oxygen, which was a major bone of contention between many states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. The top court adjourned the hearing in case to April 27 after the Centre sought time to file a response.

The top court had asked the Centre to come up with a national plan on oxygen supply, supply of essential drugs and the vaccination process.

On Thursday, the top court, in its order, had said: "They (High Courts) are exercising jurisdiction in best interest. But it is creating confusion and diversion of resources." The bench noted that drugs, oxygen and vaccination availability and distribution must be done in an even-handed manner according to the advice of the health authorities which undoubtedly take into account relevant factors like severity, susceptibility, the number of people affected and the local availability of resources.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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Posted Thursday, April 22, 2021 6:32 am

Republican leaders in the Washington State Legislature are pushing back on recent comments from Gov. Jay Inslee, saying their efforts to rein in executive power in Washington are for the people and not directly an attack on the governor.

On Wednesday, April 21, state Senate Republican leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and state House Republican leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, offered a rebuttal to statements made by the governor the week prior. Inslee said legislative and legal challenges to his use of executive power during the COVID-19 pandemic are an attempt to gut the ability of the governor to try and save lives, adding all of those efforts ultimately ruled in his favor.

In their statement, Braun and Wilcox wrote the governors claim they were trying to gut his ability to do anything was ridiculous, adding it seemed as if Inslee doesnt grasp what our proposals would do.

We have been clear from the start that our bipartisan effort to reform the executives emergency powers has nothing to do with the governor himself, the lawmakers wrote. Its also not a commentary on how he has used those powers. This is for the people  about having a process that allows for the proper representation of their will.

The lawmakers wrote Democrats in the state Legislature abdicated what little legislative oversight there was, giving the governor unchecked power indefinitely.

Despite members of the Senate and House offering multiple legislative solutions, the Democrats have been entirely unwilling to even discuss the issue, Braun and Wilcox wrote. That undermines the people.

The two GOP leaders acknowledged Inslee did some good work in response to COVID-19, but its stunning that he presents himself as a lifesaver, yet seems afraid to even consider opinions that arent his own.

Its one thing to issue proclamations while you still collect a sizable paycheck, but its entirely different to live by those proclamations when they leave you unemployed, unable to pay your bills, unable to feed your children and unable to be present when a loved one dies in a hospital or nursing home, the lawmakers wrote. The credit here belongs to the people of Washington. Not Jay Inslee.
The new Marz location appealed to him, Marszewski said, because he lived in the neighborhood after moving to Chicago after college, when it was a radically different place. Though the neighborhood has been gentrified since he lived there, he said he was heartened to see neighborhood institutions such as Arturos Tacos and Lazos Tacos endure across the street.
Mark Nye, 34, from Stanwell, Surrey, pictured, told police his name was Conor in an effort to pass himself off as the MMA fighter Conor McGregor

A drug dealer who impersonated UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been jailed for almost three years.

Mark Nye, 34, from Stanwell, Surrey even had business cards made up with McGregor Enterprise printed on the front.

He was stopped by police in Stanwell on February 11 who spotted him trying to throw away a package of drugs and two mobile phones he was carrying.

He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs and driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Guildford Crown Court heard Nye gave false details when he was stopped, claiming he was called 'Conor'.

He was also carrying several hundred business cards used as part of his drugs business featuring 'McGregor Enterprise' on the front and 'best drops in Surrey' on the back.

Officers seized Nye's phones and found hundreds of messages linking him to his drugs business.

He was also carrying several hundred business cards used as part of his drugs business featuring the brand McGregor Enterprise' on the front and 'Best drops in Surrey' on the back

Nye tried to pass himself off as the Dublin-born MMA fighter Conor McGregor, pictured

He was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on April 9.

PC McGill, who was investigating the case said: 'A search of the address Mark was staying at revealed a large amount of boric acid, a cutting agent which is used by dealers to cut drugs and can have serious health implications for users themselves.

'Officers also found a large cleaver readily accessible by his bed.

'Thanks to the work of our proactive drugs teams, we have taken yet another dealer off our streets and prevented Mark from causing further harm to the victims of his crimes.'
President Xi Jinping talks with officers aboard a submarine during an inspection of a submarine unit in Qingdao, Shandong province, in June 2018. LI GANG / XINHUA

President Xi Jinping's close attention to the People's Liberation Army Navy can be traced back to his first days as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in late 2012.

On Dec 8, 2012, less than a month after Xi was elected the Party's general secretary and the military's commander-in-chief, he boarded a guided-missile destroyer that took him to the South China Sea.

It was his first inspection of a PLA unit as the armed forces' top commander. In the next nine months, Xi paid two visits to separate PLA Navy units, boarding new naval vessels such as a new-generation nuclear-powered submarine and the aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning.

In May 2017, Xi visited the PLA Navy headquarters in Beijing. He said that the Navy should continue to speed up its transformation into a world-class force, ordering all Navy commanders to honor their mission of building a modern and strong force.

During the inspection, the president said that the Navy's development is strategically important and crucial to national interests and security. He asked the Navy to focus on strengthening its combat capabilities and carry out joint operation exercises in line with modern naval warfare. He called on the Navy to use systematic thinking in making development plans.

Innovation in science and technology must be used to inject momentum into the Navy's sustainable growth, he said.

In April 2018, Xi presided over his first sea parade, which took place in the South China Sea. Addressing more than 10,000 naval personnel from a giant combat ship, he ordered the Navy to seize every minute and second and spare no effort to become a world-class force, because the country needs a powerful navy as an essential pillar of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi told the Navy to continue to focus on combat training and stay on high alert to safeguard national interests and make more contributions to the peace and stability of the region and the world.

Two months later, during an inspection tour of the naval headquarters under the PLA Northern Theater Command in Qingdao, Shandong province, the president said that the Navy should use allout efforts to improve its combat readiness and focus on operational planning, training, hardware development and optimization of its command chain.

Navy units should carry out more large-scale exercises on combat capabilities and enhance targeted and realistic training, he said.

Moreover, Xi stressed that the Navy should take advantage of the country's military reform to implement its transformation and beef up the construction of elite combat units. He asked the Navy to give attention to building naval aviation forces.

During the inspection tour, the president visited a submarine unit and boarded a new-generation nuclear-powered submarine that participated in the sea parade in the South China Sea.

Talking with the submarine's crew, he said submarine forces must be given priority and make big strides in their development. He said that the sea-based nuclear force should achieve stronger growth.

During his most recent inspection tour of a Navy unit in October 2020, Xi visited the headquarters of the Marine Corps in Guangdong province.

The commander-in-chief urged the Marine Corps to turn itself into an elite force that must be integrated, capable, flexible and fast-responding.

He said that to achieve this goal, the Marine Corps should fully implement the Party's military thought and strategies for the new era, study and explore its own management and operational patterns, speed up its transformation and improve its combat capabilities.

National sovereignty

He said that the Marine Corps bears significant responsibilities in terms of safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity, marine rights and overseas interests.

The president ordered that the Marine Corps must enhance strategic planning for its growth and ensure that it can better serve the country's development, security and military strategies. He added that the force should keep pace with the PLA's modernization endeavors, the interservice joint combat system and the Navy's transformation efforts.

Timeline

Dec 2012 South China Sea

May 2017 Navy headquarters in Beijing

Apr 2018 South China Sea

Jun 2018 Qingdao, Shandong province

Oct 2020 Guangdong province
Oprah Winfrey has admitted she was 'surprised' that Meghan Markle 'went all the way there' with allegations of racism against the royal family during her bombshell interview.

The TV host, 67, said she had 'no idea' that the meeting would 'reverberate' the way it did, adding the couple wanted to be able to tell their story in a way that 'allowed them to be as truthful as possible.'

The tell-all chat with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex aired on March 8, when Prince Philip remained in hospital with a pre-existing heart condition. He died a month later.

The explosive interview sent shockwaves through the royal family, with Prince William later speaking out during a school visit to insist the Firm 'is very much not racist.'

Harry had hinted at a deep-rooted rift between the brothers during his chat with Oprah, saying the relationship was now just 'space. Time heals all things, hopefully.'

The brothers made their first joint appearance since the interview at their grandfather's funeral last Saturday, and were spotted chatting animatedly as they left St George's Chapel.

A friend told People that although the meeting was a 'good start and lovely to see', the rift 'runs so deep. I don't think there is any quick fix.'

Shocking! Oprah Winfrey says she was 'surprised' by how forthcoming Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were during their interview

Praise: She credits the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for being 'willing to be as open, as vulnerable, as truthful, as they were'

Oprah reflected on the explosive interview during the launch of Nancy O'Dell's Channel on talkshoplive, where she was promoting her book 'What Happened To You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing.'

'I had no idea that it would have the reverberating impact it has had and continues to have. I did a lot of preparation for that,' she said.

When asked if she was 'surprised' that Harry and Meghan were so open and forthcoming in the interview, the TV host admitted that she was.

In particular, she said, she was shocked when Meghan claimed there had been 'conversations with Harry about how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born.'

In the moment, Oprah's jaw dropped, and she paused for a moment before incredulously responding 'What?'  a reaction that has since become a meme on social media.

'I'm like, "What? You're going there? You're going all the way there,"' Oprah said of her thought process at that time.

Oprah said that she had only texted with Harry and Meghan before the actual interview, and her only understanding was that they were focused on sharing the truth.

'Whenever I'm doing interviews with anybody for anything that is significant, I have a conversation with them before,' she said.

'I didn't see Harry and Meghan before but I did text them and say intention is very important to me, tell me what your intention is, so that we can be aligned in our goal. And our shared intention was the truth.

'They wanted to be able to tell their story and tell it in such a way that allowed them to be as truthful as possible.'

Wow! In particular, she said, she was shocked when Meghan said that royal family members had had 'conversations with Harry about how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born'

Truthful: She said Harry and Meghan 'wanted to be able to tell their story and tell it in such a way that allowed them to be as truthful as possible'

She continued: 'The reason why it was such a powerful interview  first of all, I know how to ask questions, and you [Nancy] know how to ask questions, we all know how to do our jobs, but what makes it powerful is when you have someone else who is willing to be as open, as vulnerable, as truthful, as they were,' she continued.

'So, I don't give myself credit for that, I give myself credit for asking the questions, but the reason the interview was what it was, was because they answered the way they did.'

Certainly, the fact that no one knew how much the couple would reveal before the interview actually aired also contributed to its bombshell-like impact.

'It was really important to me that what we put out there in the world was put out at the time everyone could see it and that things didn't leak, and things weren't misconstrued before the actual interview happened,' Oprah said.

'So I remember when we finished doing the interview and that interview was 3 hours and 20 minutes I think, and I stood up and said to the crew, we all know what was said here, and how important it is to have the trust of the people who just shared that, and so I'm hoping you all will not go out into the world and share what has happened here. And nobody did.

'And so, as we were releasing clips to CBS, we were releasing them in such a way that whatever was being put out there could not be exploited. So a lot of time and effort and energy went into it on my part.'

Of the bombshells dropped during the interview, Meghan and Harry's accusation that a member of his family expressed 'concern' over Archie's skin colour was the most shocking.

'At the time it was awkward. I was a bit shocked,' said Harry, who refused to share further details about the conversation or with whom he had it.

Reunion: Tensions between the Sussexes and the royal family were understood to have been at an all-time high when Prince Harry returned home to attend Prince Philip's funeral last week

Making amends: It has since been reported that Harry met the Queen privately 'at least twice' during his trip, and that he spoke with his father Prince Charles and brother Prince William

The couple also spoke candidly about Meghan's struggles with depression, with the Duchess admitting there was a point where 'I just didn't want to be alive anymore'  but though she asked times for professional help, she was told she couldn't pursue it.

'I said that, "I've never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere." And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution,' Meghan said.

Other striking revelations included Prince Harry's claim that his father had stopped taking his calls, while Meghan contradicted reports that she had made her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, cry leading up to her wedding  saying it was actually Kate who had made her cry.

Tensions between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family are understood to have been at an all-time high in recent weeks in the wake of the primetime sit-down.

However, the rift was said to have been set to one side when Harry traveled to the UK last week to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip.

It has since been reported that Harry met the Queen privately 'at least twice' during his trip to the UK, and that he spoke with his father and his brother after the funeral at Windsor Castle on Saturday.

Charles and William are understood to have met together with Harry within the grounds of the castle after the funeral, so that nobody's words could be misconstrued afterwards.

That meeting came after the royal brothers had taken 'baby steps' towards healing their fraught relationship while walking back to the Queen's home from St George's Chapel.

O-cash! Oprah also revealed the way she has been silently helping people who have been struggling during the pandemic by mailing out $15,000 checks to individuals

During her interview with Nancy, Oprah also revealed the way she has been silently helping people who have been struggling during the pandemic by mailing out $15,000 checks to individuals.

'I literally have been, people don't know this, going through the newspaper finding stories of people who weren't doing well in their life, sending them money, trying to help because I know I have been blessed,' she said.

Guilty: Oprah said she 'was full on into the boo hoo cry' when she saw people reacting in the streets after Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict

'I literally, at the beginning of the pandemic last year, sat down and made a list of people who I knew were not going to be working and I sent the maximum amount that the government allows you to give a person, which is $15,000 dollars per person, and saying I know it's going to be awhile before you're working let me help you out,' she went on.

'I called it my personal pandemic relief package for friends. So, I think it has made me more thoughtful, the more blessed I become the more I think about people who are not and what can I do to help them.'

Oprah also shared her reaction to the guilty verdict handed down in Derek Chauvin's trial earlier this week.

'I didn't watch [the whole trial] because ... I didn't want to have to continue to relive the trauma, because I realized that I had watched the tape too many times,' she said.

'I was surprised that hearing the first guilty verdict, I could feel myself welling up, and then I saw photographs of people in the streets. And then I was full on into the boo hoo cry,' she continued.

'This feels like it's more than just for a verdict, it feels like validation, it feels like this time we were seen, we were heard in a way that we hadn't been.

'I thought about Emmett Till, I thought about all the names that we have seen, protesters in the street talking about Breonna Taylor, and Mr. Castille.

'I thought about all of those people who didn't get justice in the way they deserved and how those lives seem somehow, in this moment, justice was served for all of them by this verdict. It was bigger than this moment'
Bob Balaram wanted to fly on Mars. Now, NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab at Cal Tech explains how he will be the chief engineer behind the Mars helicopter en route to the Red Planet. (jpl.nasa.gov photo)
Florida Supreme Court Rejects Ballot Initiative Aimed at Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

The Florida Supreme Court on April 22 rejected a ballot initiative (pdf) aimed at allowing people to vote on the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it would be misleading to voters.

In a 5-2 ruling, the Supreme Court said the initiatives languagewording that people see when they cast ballotsthat it permits marijuana use by adults misleads voters into believing that the recreational use of marijuana in Florida will be free of any repercussions, criminal or otherwise.

The ruling came after Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the court to advise whether the potential constitutional initiative would be suitable for a future ballot.

The proposed initiative, sponsored by Make it Legal Florida and titled Adult Use of Marijuana would have left it up to voters to decide whether or not to make it legal for Floridians 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.

It would also permit Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers to sell, distribute, or dispense marijuana and marijuana accessories if clearly labeled and in childproof packaging to adults.

However, it would prohibit advertising or marketing targeted to persons under 21 and use of marijuana in defined public places.

Sponsors of the initiative, backed by the Florida medical marijuana industry, had collected more than 556,000 signatures of the 891,589 needed by February to make it a ballot initiative in 2022. The effort also raised $8.2 million, according to the Miami Herald.

A constitutional amendment cannot unequivocally permit or authorize conduct that is criminalized under federal law, said the majority opinion shared by Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justices Ricky Polston, Carlos Muniz, John Couriel, and Jamie Grosshans. And a ballot summary suggesting otherwise is affirmatively misleading.

Justices Allen Lawson dissented.

Todays decision underestimates Florida voters, Lawson wrote in his opinion, and adds hurdles to the citizen-initiative process that are not supported by the plain language of the governing law or our precedent.

Lawson also argued that there is the practical matter of not knowing how federal law will change in the years between the drafting of any ballot summary and a vote on the amendment. The House of Representatives passed a bill in December to legalize marijuana at the federal level for the first time.

Justice Jorge Labarga also dissented but did not write an opinion.

Meanwhile, Moodys office praised Thursdays opinion.

We thank the Florida Supreme Court for their time and attention to this issue and respect their ruling, a Moody spokeswoman said in a statement to Newsweek. Floridians must fully understand what they are voting on when they go to the ballot box.

The decision by the Florida Supreme Court comes as several states such as New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and New Mexico have moved to legalize recreational marijuana.

In March, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he and other Democrats are ready to advance the controversial marijuana legalization cause, regardless of whether President Joe Biden supported the effort.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Permanent Representative of Armenia at the UN Mher Margaryan addressed a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regarding the incendiary rhetoric of the President of Azerbaijan containing threats to use force against the Republic of Armenia.

Such statements come to demonstrate, once again, Azerbaijans blatant espousals of ideology of warmongering, violence and incitement of anti-Armenian hatred, and constitute a clearly detectable indication of threat directed not only against the Armenian people and their right to life in their homeland, but also to the peace and security of the region as a whole. They also manifest, in most explicit terms, that Azerbaijan, indeed, unleashed the war and destruction amidst global pandemic in 2020, in an attempt to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by force, contrary to its pre-eminent obligations under international law, which prohibits the use of force to resolve disputes, and in flagrant violation of the UN Secretary-Generals appeal for an immediate global ceasefire.

Armenia condemns the promulgation of incendiary rhetoric, racist ideology and threats to use force, which only serve to destabilize the situation in the region, and reaffirms the imperative of the full and timely implementation, in good faith, of the commitments under the international humanitarian law, in particularly related to the release of the prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons, Ambassador Margaryan writes in the letter published by the Permanent Representation of Armenia at the United Nations.

He emphasized that Azerbaijan continues holding numerous Armenian POWS in gross violation of international humanitarian law, while celebrating violence, racism and dehumanization of ethnic Armenians in the military trophy park in Baku, which bears a most striking resemblance to the nazi-era propaganda imagery.
(Corrects figures in paragraphs 2, 12 to 1.4 mln from 1.2 mln and 700,000 from 596,618 respectively)

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is effective at preventing symptomatic and severe disease in people with some chronic illnesses, like diabetes and heart disease, the biggest real-world study showed on Thursday.

The analysis of almost 1.4 million people by Israel's largest healthcare provider will offer further hope for countries as they get shots into citizens' arms, particularly those considered vulnerable, and curb the pandemic that has killed more than 3.1 million people.

The vaccine was 80% effective against symptomatic infection for people with heart or chronic kidney diseases, 86% for people with type 2 diabetes, 75% for cerebrovascular disease, and 84% for people suffering from immunodeficiency, according to the Clalit Research Institue study.

For people who were vaccinated and were already suffering three or more chronic conditions or risk factors, such as heart disease, neurological disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, smoking, pregnancy or obesity, the research shows it was 88% effective in preventing symptomatic infection.

It was more than 90% effective against severe disease for people with type 2 diabetes, heart or cerebrovascular disease and 100% for people suffering from immunodeficiency.

The data is the latest from Israel where a universal and digitised healthcare system and the speedy vaccination programme have allowed researchers insights into the vaccine's potency. Clalit covers more than half of Israel's population.

The results were lower than the 96% overall vaccine effectiveness seven days or more after the second dose, found by the study and the 95% effectiveness found in clinicial trials last year.

But researchers said they offered some optimism that the vaccine still offers protection against severe illness in people who become infected after they get their shots.

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"Protection is mildly reduced among patients with several co-morbidities. These results are very encouraging, as they suggest that most COVID-19 cases will be prevented by vaccination even in the elderly and chronically ill," said Ran Balicer, Clalit's chief innovation officer.

"People with chronic diseases, multiple chronic or severe chronic diseases, should get vaccinated because the vaccine is very effective in protecting them against the high rates of complications that are expected," Balicer said.

The research was also carried out by Harvard and the University of Michigan and published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday.

The Clalit study compared about 700,000 people vaccinated between Dec. 20, 2020 and Feb. 14 against the same size group of unvaccinated people, matching age, gender and other characteristics.

The subgroup of the people with chronic diseases was about 130,000 people, Balicer said.

More than half of Israel's 9.3 million population has been fully inoculated since its vaccination drive began in late December. COVID-19 cases have dropped continuously since a mid-January peak as the economy has largely opened.

Until mid-April, Israel has documented 98% fewer coronavirus cases, 93% fewer critically ill and 87% fewer COVID-19 deaths, according to Eran Segal, data scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Balicer said that although Israel was not yet at "herd immunity," the sharp drop was "proof of the potential of mass vaccination to really take us out of harm's way and shows the light at the end of the tunnel".

OBESITY, HYPERTENSION AND OVERWEIGHT

The large sample size allowed researchers to look more closely at subgroups of people with specific chronic diseases which would not necessarily be examined in a vaccine clinical trial, the researchers said.

It also found the vaccine to be 92% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 among people over the age of 70, 96% for overweight people and 93% for those suffering obesity and provided 90% protection for people suffering from hypertension.

Danny Altmann, an immunology professor at the Imperial College London, said the study was among the first real world research to offer such granular data into vaccinated subgroups.

"Transitioning into real-world application, the effectiveness still looks terrific, but inevitably there are people who make poor vaccine responses," he said in an email to Reuters.

"We need to know who they are, why, and what can be done to rescue immunity. Next, we need to see the results from each of the big cohort studies for the various patient groups."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said that of the 84 million people who have been fully vaccinated in the United States, fewer than 6,000 have got sick with COVID-19 more than two weeks after being fully dosed.

Of those, nearly 400 were hospitalised and around 75 died, according to CDC data. Some of the hospitalisations and deaths were not due to COVID-19 infections.

Pfizer's late-stage clinical trial included people with co-morbidities. The most frequently reported co-morbidities were obesity (35.1%), diabetes (with and without chronic complications, 8.4%) and pulmonary disease (7.8%), a spokesman said.

(Additional reporting by Steve Scheer in Jerusalem and Michele Gershberg; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Josephine Mason in London)
Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny trained over 1,676 entrepreneurs and 1,133 businesses availed of mentoring last year, figures show.

Local Enterprise Offices were to the fore in supporting small businesses across the country in 2020, helping thousands through new Government supports introduced as part of the July Stimulus Package. The LEOs approved 13,091 Trading Online Vouchers to assist businesses get online to trade or improve their existing online offering. Locally, 302 trading online vouchers were approved to Kilkenny based businesses and proved to be a vital resource for many helping to reach their customers.

On Wednesday, Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar announced the annual results of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) for 2020 which showed that over 7,500 companies employing over 35,000 people are now supported by the LEOs nationally.

Our Local Enterprise Offices play a really important role in fostering enterprise across the country. In the face of unprecedented challenges, our LEOs managed to pivot and adapt quickly, to help their network of local businesses endure the crisis of the pandemic. When small businesses needed help more than ever, their virtual door was always open and they were able to train, fund and mentor more businesses last year than ever before," said the Tanaiste.

LEOs are at the very heart of business in communities across the country. The work they do is invaluable and I want to express my particular appreciation to all LEO staff for their professionalism and commitment. I know 2020 was a really difficult year for them and for the businesses they help. The coming months will be similarly busy as we reopen our economy and help businesses get back on their feet. I know LEOs will be to the forefront as we rebuild after the pandemic.

Supported by the Government, Local Enterprise Office-supported companies created 5,585 new jobs in 2020. Despite the new jobs created, there was a net jobs loss of 1,494 across the LEO portfolio of client companies in what was a challenging year for small businesses.

The Local Enterprise Offices are now supporting 35,236 jobs across 7,529 companies. 2020 also saw the successful transition of 133 companies from the Local Enterprise Offices to Enterprise Ireland as they continue to scale and look to international markets.

During the summer of 2020, Kilkenny based company LoanITT Ltd transferred to Enterprise Ireland as a High Potential Start Up and secured investment through Enterprise Ireland and the Halo Business Angel Network South East based syndicate managed by the South East Business Innovation Centre.

The LEOs provided significant training and mentoring to small businesses in 2020 to help them navigate the particularly difficult trading environment created by Covid-19 and Brexit.

In 2020, over 22million was approved by Local Enterprise Offices nationally to clients for projects across the year to help improve their businesses in a range of areas. This figure was up from 20million in 2019 and is the largest amount of approved funding by the Local Enterprise Offices to small businesses to date.

Fiona Deegan, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny, said 2020 was a challenging year for everyone, and small businesses were no different.

"The Local Enterprise Offices were to the fore in trying to help these companies pivot or adapt their businesses to sustain through the issues caused by Covid and Brexit," she said.

"The figures show the level of support that was given, both financially and through training, mentoring and significantly, the work done in getting small companies online to ensure they could continue to reach their customers. While the challenging environment still exists for many, we have also seen the best of Irish business. Whether that is in their innovations to help in the fight against Covid or companies pivoting their businesses quickly to adapt and survive or seeing that strong sense of local pride with companies helping each other in their own communities and the Local Enterprise Offices have tried to help where we can along the way.

The Local Enterprise Office as part of Kilkenny County Council and funded through Enterprise Ireland are the first stop shop for entrepreneurs and small businesses in providing a range of supports including financial, mentoring, training and sector specific expertise to help guide businesses at any stage of their development. For more information visit www.LocalEnterprise.ie/ kilkenny.
Chennai, April 23 : The health authorities are worried over the huge surge in the number of Covid cases in Chennai with the city accounting for a majority of the infections in the state, recording 33 out of the 59 deaths reported in Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

By Thursday evening, almost 80 per cent beds in the five government-run tertiary care hospitals were filled up.

A senior pulmonologist with a prominent private hospital in Chennai told IANS on condition of anonymity, "Things are getting out of hand, beds are getting filled up fast even though we are shifting patients who need utmost care to the tertiary care hospitals. On Thursday, there were instances of 100 per cent occupancy of beds in some private hospitals, while some others reported 70-80 per cent occupancy." Director of Medical Education, Narayana Babu, said that 20 per cent of the patients who are occupying hospital beds don't require them beds as their condition is not that serious.

"We are advising these patients to get admitted to the Covid care centres or even go for home isolation," Narayana Babu told IANS.

Accordingly, the health department is taking measures to move patients in the tertiary care hospitals whose conditions are not that serious to the Covid care centres, besides reccommending home isolation.

Oxygen supply is, however, almost normal in the state, according to health authorities.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Photo: The Canadian Press A box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is shown in a refrigerator at the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Toppenish, Wash., Thursday, March 25, 2021. Oregon health officials said Thursday, April 22, 2021, that federal officials are investigating the death of a woman in her 50s who developed a rare blood clot and low platelets within two weeks of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Oregon health officials said Thursday that federal officials are investigating the death of a woman in her 50s who developed a rare blood clot and low platelets within two weeks of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19.

The Oregon Health Authority learned of the probe on Tuesday, two days after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began the investigation, the agency said. The woman, whose name was not released, received the dose before the CDC ordered a pause on the vaccine amid concerns it could cause dangerous clots.

The woman developed a rare but serious blood clot in combination with very low platelets, OHA said in a statement.

Dr. Shimi Sharief, senior health advisor for the state's health authority, said the woman's symptoms were consistent with other cases  severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath .

Health officials declined to release any further details, including the date the woman got the vaccine or where in Oregon she lived, citing patient privacy. The woman was hospitalized before her death and got the vaccine in early April, Sharief said.

Until the investigation is complete, which health officials predict will take a week or more, it's not certain that her death is related to the vaccine, the agency said.

Federal and state agencies paused the J&J vaccine rollout on April 13 due to concerns about blood clots.

For most people that received the (J&J) vaccine, we are nearing the end of that time of where they need to be monitoring for symptoms, Sharief said. The CDC warned that if people have symptoms within three weeks after receiving the vaccine they should contact their health care provider.

Federal officials already were examining six reports of the unusual clots, including a death, out of more 8 million Americans given the one-dose vaccination so far.

The CDC also told Texas health authorities Thursday that a woman in that state was hospitalized with possible blood clots associated with J&J vaccine recipients.

A government advisory committee on vaccines is expected to meet Friday and could make a recommendation soon after on whether and how to resume use of the J&J vaccine.

Sharief said whether Oregon resumes distribution of the J&J vaccine will be a reflection of the committee's decision.

We have the utmost confidence that it would be a decision made with thorough investigation and consideration of the potential benefits and risks, in relation to each other, as we go through this pandemic," Sharief said.
Native American women and girls know their heritage puts them at risk. They tell each other to take care. They all know it is easy for someone to take them and kill them and get away with it.

Preyed upon by attackers, rapists and killers familiar with the empty reaches of reservations, the patchwork of jurisdictions, the disregard of some and the silence of others, they are in danger just for being a Native woman or girl.

The statistics are grim.

A report from the National Institute of Justice found that more than four out of five Native American women have experienced violence in their lives. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control reported that homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native American women between the ages of 10 and 24. The Department of Justice has reported Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than other Americans.

On the 1.3-million-acre Yakama Reservation, women have passed down stories from as far back as the mid-1800s of rape and murder by miners, by soldiers, by other outsiders. The passage of time does not diminish the terror of these assaults, which continue today.

No one knows exactly how many Native girls and women have gone missing on or near the Yakama reservation.
SANTA ROSA, Calif., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The North American Deck and Railing Association (NADRA) hosted their 11th Annual Awards Celebration on April 22, 2021 to announce winning entries to the organization's 2020 National+ Deck Competition. Among the winning entries is the Harrison Lake House project featuring an expansive redwood deck from Humboldt Sawmill.

Built by DBC Construction Ltd. of Mission, B.C., Canada, David Cameron is the company's President. "We are extremely honored that this special deck was selected as the first-place entry across three of the four categories we entered," stated Cameron.

The Harrison Lake House redwood deck was entered in the following categories:

Wood Deck $50k-$100k (First Place)Open Porch (First Place)Railing (First Place)Limitless Creation $50k-$100k (Second Place)

According to Humboldt Sawmill's Director, Marketing, Jessica Hewitt, the Harrison Lake House project is one-of-a-kind. "I first saw images of the deck when it was under construction. I knew then it was the ideal project to enter in the annual NADRA National+ Deck Competition. The combination of the natural beauty of the Clear grade redwood, the crystal blues of the lake, and the spectacular scenery, the deck wins all around."

The homeowner could not agree more. "We bought the home for its spectacular views. By upgrading it with additional outdoor living space, and using long-lasting redwood for the decking, this is a space we will enjoy for years to come. We couldn't be happier with how it all turned out."

About the Mendocino Family of Companies

The Mendocino Family of Companies include Allweather Wood, Humboldt Redwood Company, Humboldt Sawmill Company, Mendocino Forest Products, Mendocino Redwood Company.

In aggregate Mendocino Companies owns 440,000 acres of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC C013133) certificated timberland, constitutes the largest waterborne wood treater in the Western USA, and is the largest producer of redwood lumber in the world. Humboldt Sawmill produces large timbers and custom cuts in redwood and Douglas-fir for "program" business. Additionally, Mendocino Companies owns and operates a 25-megaWatt biomass Cogen plant and largest wood pellet plant in California.

For more information, please visit www.MendoCo.com.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/redwood-deck-wins-big-in-nadra-national-deck-competition-301276199.html

SOURCE Humboldt Sawmill Company, LLC
BATTLE CREEK, MI -- The family of Mexican gray wolves are getting a new home at Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek.

The new exhibit will be open in time for the zoos opening day, Saturday, May 1, according to a press release.

Named in honor of its donors, the new Dr. Edward Drew & Dr. Pamela Buitendorp-Drew Wolf Den will be located on the east side of the zoo.

The zoos current family of wolves will be moved from their longtime habitat near the Binda Conservation Carousel into the area of the zoo named North America, which is home to American black bears, Canada lynx and a newly constructed aviary that will house the zoos bald eagles.

The newly constructed exhibit is the second largest at the zoo and is built to exceed the standards of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. The exhibit features a large and natural space for the wolves, a breeding den and holding area as well as multiple viewing spots for guests.

The current wolf pack is a family consisting of a male named Flynn, a female named Izzy and their offspring Luchadora, a female born at Binder Park in the spring of 2019. Two Mexican gray wolf pups at the zoo died in the fall of 2019. One cub was confirmed to have died from the rare mosquito-borne illness Eastern equine encephalitis.

Related: Wolf pup dies of mosquito-borne illness at Binder Park Zoo

The exhibit will also feature video monitors displaying information about the wolves and their conservation story. Mexican gray wolves are the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf and one of the rarest animals in the world, the zoo said.

The zoo is committed to conservation and protecting what has been entrusted to us, including saving wildlife, said Diane Thompson, president and CEO.

We would not be able to accomplish our mission without our generous donors and community. The generosity of our donors made it possible for the zoo to continue the construction of a major new exhibit amid a pandemic. Their generosity and commitment to the zoo are significant and of great value.

The zoo broke ground on the new exhibit in late 2019. The project was also funded with support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Paul Tomich and Che-Shen Tomich, Joan Higgins, The Santo, Maria, Frank & John Zanetti Foundation and the Calhoun County Visitors Bureau, the zoo said.

Although once common in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, the wolves were nearly eliminated by ranchers who saw them as a threat to their cattle. A Species Survival Program began in 1979 to restore the wolf population.

Binder Park has participated in the Mexican gray wolf Species Survival Program for nearly 30 years. The first wolves of their kind arrived to the zoo in 1992.

The Dr. Edward Drew & Dr. Pamela Buitendorp-Drew Wolf Den gives us the potential to make a greater contribution to the Mexican Gray Wolf Species Survival Program through breeding than ever before, said Brett Linsley, manager of wildlife, conservation and education at the zoo.

Not only does it continue our long history of working with this remarkable species, it elevates the impact we can make, which is very exciting.'

The zoos 44th season kicks off at the start of May. COVID-19 safety protocols for the safety of guests, staff and animals will remain in effect for the 2021 season.

Also on MLive:

Whitmer commits to all renewable energy for state facilities by 2025

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Cancer center at expanded WMU business park set to open in September
HOUSTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) announced the results of the voting by shareholders at its 2021 annual meeting held today. Shareholders approved the following proposals:

The election of Leslie D. Biddle , Milton Carroll , Wendy Montoya Cloonan , Earl M. Cummings , David J. Lesar , Martin H. Nesbitt , Theodore F. Pound , Phillip R. Smith and Barry T. Smitherman to serve on the company's Board of Directors for one-year terms;

, , , , , , , and to serve on the company's Board of Directors for one-year terms; The ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021; and

An advisory resolution on the compensation paid to the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the proxy statement.

As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned approximately $33 billion in assets and also owned 53.7 percent of the common units representing limited partner interests in Enable Midstream Partners, LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops strategically located natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With approximately 9,500 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information contact

Media:

Communications

[email protected]

Investors:

Phil Holder

Phone 713.207.6500



SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.centerpointenergy.com


Some of the items that comprised the donation from CIBC.

As the region rallies to assist the thousands of people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines displaced by the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano, CIBC FirstCaribbean has sent a shipment of much needed supplies to the island.





The shipment which was coordinated by the Barbados Coast Guard left the island on Thursday (April 15) evening aboard the Admiral Bay and arrived in St. Vincent early Friday (April 16) morning , for presentation to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO).





The relief supplies which include over 40 pallets of food, water, cleaning supplies and sanitary items were purchased by funds donated by the banks charitable arm the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation.





The foundations Chair and the banks Chief Executive Officer Colette Delaney said the bank shared a "deep concern for the wellbeing and safety of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as they are confronted with the twin threats of an erupting volcano and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.




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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Jack Vermillion anticipated a lot of students would come back to S.Y. Jackson Elementary School when they could. The longtime principal initially guessed upward of 85%.

Turns out, nearly 100% of the students ended up returning, according to data released by Albuquerque Public Schools this week. The data is a snapshot reflecting students who were in classrooms last week, according to APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta.

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I think the community really trusts the teachers that theyre going to look out for their kids and I think when you put all that together, they felt very good about sending their kids back to school, Vermillion said.

Meanwhile, there were some schools that had just 15% to 20% of enrolled students attend in person.

At the beginning of the month, APS campuses opened their doors, allowing all students who chose in-person learning to come back full-time  a first since last school year.

APS had been facing mounting pressure to open during the COVID-19 pandemic from some parents and students, the governor and eventually the state Public Education Department, which called for all public schools to open fully by April 5.

How many kids took the district up on face-to-face schooling differs broadly school by school.

Districtwide, 35,403 K-12 students are learning on campus out of 70,083, or 50.5%. That means more than 34,000 students are still learning at home.

There are fluctuations in that  but that is probably a pretty good approximation of what our daily counts are, Superintendent Scott Elder said during a Board of Education meeting Wednesday night.

Thats in line with statewide numbers. PED officials reported that about 51% of New Mexicos public school students were learning from the classroom last week.

PED instructed districts to offer families the option of remote learning even as schools reopened.

But that hasnt been easy as teachers juggle instructing students in front of them and those learning through a screen. Elder said he shared that with Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart recently.

We are strongly advocating for a decision that does not continue this model in the fall, Elder said.

S.Y. Jackson has 98.7% of students learning in person, the APS data shows. Vermillion, the principal, said that roughly 20 children are still learning remotely.

Our average class has most kids except for one or two, he said.

Having a high percentage of the student population back on campus has warranted some COVID-safe adjustments. For instance, recess and lunch happen with smaller groups of kids.

Other schools in APS had lower participation rates with in-person learning.

West Mesa High School had 322 students on campus out of 1,775, or 18%, according to the APS spreadsheet.

Principal Mark Garcia said the schools aim is to support families in whatever they choose while communicating all the measures that were put into place to make the school safe.

We want to support their academic achievement either way, he said.

Garcia said some seniors have kept learning online because theyve built their work schedules around that model and it works better for them. And other students chose to come back on campus because they didnt do well with virtual schooling.

Garcia said the number of students at desks fluctuates. For instance, some have had to quarantine and learn remotely.

The principal said he expects more students will return as more young adults get vaccinated for COVID-19.

There are about 20,000 students at APS who are 16 and over, according to Elder, and theres been a recent push in the district and state to get those students vaccinated.

Garcia said he is grateful he can welcome back students who do want in-person learning right now, saying he missed the sounds of a busy school and the bells echoing in the hallways.

It just reminds you why school is such a special place, he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A former worker who shot and wounded another man in a Mariners Harbor barbershop 16 months ago, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Montel Milbry, 38, became embroiled in an argument with the victim at Good 2 Go barbershop on Dec. 28, 2019, said authorities.

The confrontation became violent when Milbry, who was once employed at the Forest Avenue establishment, shot the victim, 38, in the forearm, officials said.

The bullet shattered the bone, requiring the man to undergo surgery in Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, said authorities.

At the time, officials said it wasnt immediately clear if the victim worked at the barbershop.

Likewise unclear was the nature of the dispute, police said then.

Milbry stole a 2018 Ford F-150 pickup truck with New Jersey license plates and sped off, said authorities.

The Mariners Harbor resident was later nabbed by police and arrested.

A source with knowledge of the investigation has said police recovered a shell casing in front of the shop.

Milbry was indicted on charges of attempted murder, first-degree assault, criminal weapon possession, grand larceny and stolen-property possession.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder, the top count against him.

In exchange, hell be sentenced on May 7 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to 10 years in prison and five years post-release supervision.

Milbry is being held without bail pending sentence.

Defense lawyer Joshua Benjamin declined comment on the case.
Credit: www.shutterstock.com

An expensive IVF technique, routinely offered in fertility clinics around the world, offers no extra benefits to standard IVF in the vast majority of cases, our new research shows.

The technique, known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI, was developed to help couples where the man has a low sperm count. But it is now the main fertilization method clinics use in Australia and New Zealand, even when sperm counts are normal.

In an article published today in The Lancet we show that when there's a normal sperm count, ICSI does not improve the chance of a baby when compared with standard IVF. So why do clinics routinely offer it?

What is ICSI?

In IVF, several thousand sperm compete to be the one to fertilize an egg. However, for the small percentage of couples with what doctors call severe male-factor infertilityfor instance, where there is a very low sperm count or the sperm doesn't look or move normallyIVF is not an option.

In 1992, ICSI was introduced, where a single sperm was injected into the egg using a glass needle. This allowed the expansion of IVF to people where low sperm counts or poor sperm quality was an issue.

Its introduction across the world has helped thousands of couples have biologically related children, who otherwise would have needed donor sperm or remained childless.

How common is it?

ICSI was expected to be used only where male infertility was an issue, but over time it has become the most used method of fertilization even when it isn't.

In the United States, between 1996 and 2012, ICSI use increased from 15% to 67% of couples where the male has a normal sperm count; in Europe about 70% of cycles use ICSI.

In Australia around 60% of cycles used ICSI in 2018. This is even though only 30% of infertile couples have male infertility and 15% severe male infertility.

Clinics in Australia use ICSI to different extents. For instance, in Victoria in 2019-20, ICSI was used between 34% and 89% of the time, depending on the clinic.

What we did and what we found

Today we report, with our collaborators in Vietnam, the results of a large study in which more than 1,000 infertile couples with a normal sperm count were randomly allocated to ICSI or IVF. We found couples in either group were just as likely to have a baby.

With IVF, thousands of sperm compete to fertilise an egg. But with ICSI, a single sperm is injected into the egg. Credit: www.shutterstock.com

This adds to evidence from other large observational studies in as many as 15,000 women that the widespread use of the more expensive and technically demanding ICSI does not offer any benefit to couples where the man has a normal sperm count.

Excellent clinics internationally and in Australia perform ICSI in fewer than 35% of their treatments, while achieving success rates equal to or better than clinics using ICSI more commonly.

How did ICSI become so popular?

There are a growing number of fertility treatments that aren't backed by reasonable evidence.

Some are relatively cheap, such as vitamins and antioxidants. Others are invasive or expensive. These include endometrial scratching (where the lining of the uterus is scraped with a thin tube, which is said to improve the chance of an embryo implanting), video microscopy of embryos, and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for potential chromosome abnormalities (where an embryo is tested for genetic disease before being implanted).

In fact, ICSI is about A$500 more expensive than standard IVF, although costs vary between clinics, and some costs can be claimed on Medicare under specific circumstances.

So why are these so-called "add-ons" or "adjuvants" so common?

Fertility treatment, especially IVF and ICSI, is overwhelmingly practiced in the private sector in Australia and New Zealand. It is strongly marketed to the public and promoted in social media by individual doctors, clinics and corporations. Doctors and clinics also compete for patients, often offering unproven therapies.

Couples may overlook a doctor seeking to practice fertility medicine based solely on evidence, and instead find a nearby clinic or doctor prepared to offer add-ons they believe will improve their chance of a baby.

In the case of ICSI, doctors may recommend it for fear of patients' reactions if the eggs don't fertilize, even if ICSI doesn't improve the ultimate chance of a baby for those with a normal sperm count.

Unproven IVF 'add-ons' lift desperate parents' costs, researchers warn https://t.co/0StfmihmHv via @theage  A/Prof Mark Green (@mpgreen13) November 5, 2019

What can we do about it?

Infertility is distressing and, in most cases, can be easily treated with good advice, simple drugs and, if needed, quality assisted reproductive procedures such as IVF.

However, unrestrained, unnecessary use of ICSI is a salutary example of why we need to act on widely accepted evidence.

Until now, the fertility industry has promoted self-regulation over being made to follow government-imposed, evidence-based guidelines of which fertility treatments are needed. And there's a growing concern the industry is not doing enough to combat unproven and expensive treatments.

Couples with infertility belong to a very vulnerable group who will do almost anything to achieve a pregnancy. They deserve our dedicated care and evidence-based treatment.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Three Brooklyn men have been arrested on money laundering charges for an alleged 'Hollywood-style' heist where they used high-tech equipment to steal $30million in valuables from bank vaults across Europe.

Val Cooper, 56, Alex Levin, 52, and Garri Smith, 49, allegedly targeted more than two dozen banks in seven countries over the course of four years, and then sent the profits back to the US, prosecutors say.

The trio posed as legitimate customers and rented their own safety deposit boxes in 'foreign banks that appeared to lack certain security features, including video surveillance cameras in certain areas', according to the federal indictment.

Once inside the vault, they used high tech camera equipment like a borescope, which is typically used in medical procedures, to photograph the inside lock mechanisms of other people's boxes, prosecutors said.

Those photos were allegedly used to make duplicate keys, allowing them to return to the vault and simply open other people's boxes to steal the items inside.

The group made off with currency, gold bars, jewelry and other valuables, and sent the proceeds to bank accounts in the United States, according to court documents.

Smith and a co-conspirator were allegedly caught on security cameras in a bank vault during a heist in Riga, Latvia.

An unnamed co-conspirator (left) allegedly breaks into a safety deposit box in a Riga, Latvia bank on Dec. 19, 2017. Garri Smtih (right) allegedly returned the following January.

Smith return to the Latvia bank on Jan. 15, 2018 and emptied multiple boxes into his bags, according to federal prosecutors.

'The crimes we allege in this indictment read like something straight out of Hollywood fiction,' FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said in a statement.

'The thieves used sophisticated tools to thwart security systems at foreign banks and tried to cover their tracks by laundering money through U.S. banks.'

The three men executed the same scheme in more than two dozen banks in the Ukraine, Russia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Latvia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan between March 2015 to October 2019, prosecutors told DailyMail.com.

When asked, federal prosecutors said they couldn't comment on the exact number of banks they hit, their exact locations, or how they were ultimately caught.

But prosecutors laid out a timeline of one of the alleged robberies in the federal indictment as an example of how the scheme works.

The target was a bank in Riga, Latvia. Cooper allegedly emailed a video of a safety deposit box for sale to Levin on July 11, 2017.

An unnamed co-conspirator bought Smith a plane ticket and hotel room in Riga on Dec. 31, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018, respectively, according to the indictment.

Smith allegedly went into the Riga bank with duplicate keys and inspected all the safety deposit boxes on Jan. 4, 2018.

Between Jan. 4 and Jan. 15, 2018, a plane ticket and hotel room were bought for Cooper, according to the indictment.

On Jan. 15, 2018, Smith, 'together with others' allegedly stole property in the safety deposit boxes and left.

They later met with Cooper at the Riga hotel, where they split the proceeds before flying back to the US, according to the indictment.

An unnamed co-conspirator (whose face was redacted) and Val Cooper (right), who prosecutors named as the head of the four-year scheme, met in a Latvia hotel to split the proceeds, which were then sent to United States bank accounts.

They traveled around the world committing modern day bank heists using fake passports, according to court documents.

Officials say agents raided Coopers home on Tuesday and discovered safe deposit box keys with no numbering on them, cash, jewelry and high-end handbags.

Agents also searched a storage unit allegedly belonging to Cooper in Brooklyn and found a borescope and a safe deposit box lock.

Prosecutors named Cooper as the group's ringleader.

'Mr. Cooper is innocent until proven guilty,' his attorney Tony Mirvis told CNN. 'There is a lot more to this case than the government has presented in its press release and as the case progresses, I anticipate his innocence will become clear.'

Levin was allegedly the moneyman behind the scheme, and purchased the high-tech camera equipment, according to court documents.

Levin's attorneys told NBC.com that their client might have bought some of equipment but said it doesn't make him a criminal.

The suspects allegedly used high tech camera equipment, such as a borescope (left), to photograph the inside lock mechanisms of victims' safety deposit boxes and then made duplicate keys to get inside.

'Levin's actions of obtaining the items, however, without the knowledge of what the items were going to be used for, is not a crime,' his lawyer, Nicholas Dayan, told NBC.com.

Smith was ordered held without bail following his arrest Tuesday, according to defense attorney Jeremy M. Landolo, who declined comment.

There were also unnamed co-conspirators listed in the indictment.

If convicted of money laundering conspiracy, the defendants face up to 20 years in imprisonment.

They only face money laundering charges in the US, rather than theft, because the alleged heists were carried out in other countries.
In Their Opinion: What the U.S. did right in vaccinations
Veteran diplomat Jeffrey Feltman has been appointed US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and will lead the United States' response to the crisis in the region, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) Veteran diplomat Jeffrey Feltman has been appointed US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and will lead the United States' response to the crisis in the region, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday.

"This appointment underscores the [Biden] administration's commitment to lead an international diplomatic effort to address the interlinked political, security, and humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa," Blinken said.

The Secretary of State noted that Feltman has held senior positions in both the US State Department and the United Nations and said he is "uniquely suited" for his new role given his decades of experience in Africa and the middle East, particularly in multilateral diplomacy.

Feltman would be engaged in negotiation and mediation to develop and execute an integrated strategy to address the complex issues afflicting the region, Blinken said.

"Of particular concern are the volatile situation in Ethiopia, including the conflict in Tigray; escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan; and the dispute around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam," Blinken said. "At a moment of profound change for this strategic region, high-level US engagement is vital to mitigate the risks posed by escalating conflict while providing support to once-in-a-generation opportunities for reform."

The European Union on Friday announced a $180 million humanitarian assistance package for the region, which aside from Ethiopia and Sudan, include Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, South Sudan and Tanzania.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene resorted to name-calling on Thursday as she continued to challenge Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a debate on the Green New Deal .

If she chickens out, then she shows exactly who she really is, a scared little girl that is pretty stupid and doesnt know anything about the economy or economics, Ms Greene said in a video she posted to social media. The Georgia congresswoman has been badgering the New York progressive for days to join her in a debate of her proposed climate legislation, of which Ms Greene has been harshly critical.

AOCs Green New Deal will destroy the USs oil and gas industry just after we became energy independent from President Trumps #AmericaFirst policies, she tweeted on Wednesday.

Later that day, she tweeted a photo of herself approaching a somewhat puzzled-looking Rep Ocasio-Cortez.

Im glad I ran into you today @AOC to plan our debate about the Green New Deal, Ms Greene wrote in the caption. After I finish reading all 14 pages, like we agreed, Ill schedule time for our debate.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez has not publicly agreed to or refused the debate, and has made no response to Ms Greenes tweets.

She and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Green New Deal in Congress in 2019, as a way to combat climate change and make the US economy more sustainable.

On Thursday  Earth Day  Ms Greene continued her assault on the plan.

Were going to debate. She asked me if I had read her 14-page Green New Deal, she said in her video. I said Ive read some of it. And she said, Well, when youve read all of it, then you can challenge me to a debate.

Well, the good news is Ive read all 14 little pages, and Im very ready to debate her on the House floor, she added.

Then the name-calling began.

Observers on Twitter noted that Ms Greene appeared to be mocking the shortness of the document, while simultaneously admitting she hadnt read it.

Wait. Let me get this right one user tweeted . You constantly attack the bill and everything it stands for... but you have never actually read it?

So youve been attacking it all this time without reading it  all 14 pages? Qrazy, another user wrote .

Ms Greene has expressed support on social media for a number of conspiracy theories, including QAnon. In February, the House of Representatives voted to strip her of her committee positions as punishment for those posts, many of which were antisemitic or Islamophobic.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez has not yet responded toThe Independents request for comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 19:33:55|Editor: huaxia

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April 23 marks the 72nd anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN. What is it like, 6,500 km away from home in the Gulf of Aden, for the PLAN crew onboard the Changsha Destroyer?

Produced by Xinhua Global Service.
Experts are not surprised that a bidder recently paid $3.1 million for the 'Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong' by Mai Trung Thu.

The masterpiece set the highest bidding record for a Vietnamese painting after it was bought by an unknown buyer at the Sotheby's Auction House in Hong Kong last Sunday.

Vu Tuan Anh, general director of the Chon Auction House in Hanoi, said the $3.1 million price tag was "appropriate," since the painting is rich in historical value and done by one of Vietnam's most prominent modern art painters.

"That figure is completely normal since the artwork was created by a leading Vietnamese painter, associated with local art history and put up by one of the most reputable auction houses in the world," he said.

In fact, he added, the current price of Vietnamese paintings is even cheaper than in some Asian countries. Some contemporary artists from Indonesia or South Korea have works fetching several tens of millions of dollars.

'Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong' by Mai Trung Thu. Photo courtesy of Sotheby's.

The quality of the artwork is the deciding factor for the value of the work, he noted.

On its website, Sotheby's described that the painting as "monumental, yet remarkably tender and intimate."

"The beguiling portrait also captures Mai Thus deep admiration of its sitter, a noble lady rumored to be the artists love interest. Encapsulating his affections for Ms. Phuong, this work is special within Mai Thus oeuvre, as there are only two known works painted of this subject," the auction house wrote.

Fine arts researcher Ngo Kim Khoi said the 'Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong' was the "Mona Lisa of Vietnam."

He first saw the work 30 years ago at the house of Dothi Dumonteil, his neighbor, the former owner of the masterpiece, in Paris, France.

Dothi's real name is Do Thi Tuyet, a French woman of Vietnamese origin. Her husband, Pierre Dumonteil, is an art collector who owns many works by Vietnamese artists. But Khoi did not think then that the work would one day fetch millions of dollars.

He said the painter used gentle colors to depict a pure and beautiful girl, easily connecting with the viewers heart. Khoi said that when he looks at the painting, he believes that Phuong is looking at him as though she had many things she wishes to share. The work clearly depicts the image of a Vietnamese woman, from the way she wears the traditional ao dai and headdress to the shape of her face and her sitting posture.

"Paintings during the Indochina period of women wearing the ao dai are always more valuable than other genres," he said.

'Beautiful and rare'

Art researcher Pham Long said the painting was done when Mai Trung Thu had just graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de lIndochine in Hanoi, known now as the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. It showcases the artist's talent and style, using cool colors and a "triangular composition" to create a sense of peace and freedom.

"This is a beautiful and rare work in the early period of Mai Trung Thu. The painting has more collection value than speculative value," he said.

The name and fame of Mai Trung Thu has boosted the value of the picture, Long felt.

The painter graduated from the first course of the Indochina Fine Arts College (1925-1930).

In an interview with the RFI radio station in France, artist Le Pho once commented that Thu was the best artist of his class.

That is no small praise. Pho is one of the four most prominent artists of the golden age of Vietnamese modern art along with Thu, Vu Cao Dam and Le Thi Luu.

For most of his life, Thu lived and worked in France. According to Khoi, Thu's living environment and past experience play an important factor in promoting his creativity and talent.

Thu's paintings have been exhibited in many parts of the world including Rome (1932), Milan and Naples in Italy (1934), Brussels in Belgium (1936) and San Francisco in the U.S. (1937). In 1964, he organized the exhibition "Les enfants de Mai Thu" in France, which was acclaimed by experts. Many publishers have purchased the right to print cards and prints of his work.

The artists works have fetched handsome prices earlier. His "Tea party" and "Elegant lady overlooking the balcony" sold for HK$815,500 ($105,000) and with HK$600,000 ($77,000), respectively.

The high demand for paintings by artists of the Indochina period also boosted their prices, the researchers said.

"Vietnamese art has become more and more valuable. But high prices can only be obtained for the works of artists graduating from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de lIndochine," Khoi said.

Tuan Anh said there are many reasons why this work of art is highly valued.

First, the artist was the first of many to step out of the cradle of artists training in Indochina and was lauded by domestic and foreign experts.

In the 1930s, Thu held exhibitions in France that attracted a lot of attention abroad. Secondly, the artist captured a volatile historical period, in Vietnam as well as the world, making their works a witness of history.

"Over time, the number of paintings by Indochinese artists is becoming increasingly rare in the market. They are expensive because of the French training factor and the historical factor, resulting in the masterpieces carrying a piece of history. More importantly, world auction markets like Sotheby's have continuously pushed prices in recent sessions, which helps drive the demand even higher among bidders," Tuan Anh said.

The high prices are also a typical business tactic of auction houses, several experts said.

"When putting down a sum of money, collectors and investors must know if they can get returns on the investment. The price of a painting can't be pushed to a higher level if it is not beautiful or does not have any value behind it. The aesthetic value is another factor that boosts the economic value of the painting higher," Khoi said.

There used to be many fake paintings detected in the Vietnamese market in the past, and collectors and investors did not dare to spend large sums of money on them. But now, experts say, fakes have been eliminated, more or less, and buyers have a team of highly qualified advisors.

Artist Le Thiet Cuong said that according to some sources, the new owner of the 'Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong' is Vietnamese.

"This is a good sign. In the end, all the best artworks should go back to Vietnam, not only paintings but also antiques," Cuong said.

He said many works of this period are owned by foreign collectors. Before 1945, the Vietnamese people did not have the wherewithal to bid, except for a few aristocrats. Therefore, the paintings were mainly purchased by the French in Indochina. Some artists lived or held exhibitions in France, so the paintings are kept by collectors there.

Tuan Anh, who works in the auctioning business, believes that million dollar bids will start to pop up in Vietnam in the future.

"I want my colleagues and me to one day hold auctions for the million-dollar works."
Mumbai:

The Maharashtra government has decided to fully fund the phone-an-ambulance service across Maharashtra, a government resolution (GR) issued today said.



It was partially funded by the Centre, and now state government has decided to bear its total expenditure, said the GR.



Under Maharashtra Emergency Medical Service (MEMS), the Maharashtra government had provided hundreds of ambulances across the state with a common emergency number of 108.



One has to dial it from mobile or landline number and the ambulance service was available free of cost.



The scheme, which launched during the tenure of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, was expanded in the subsequent years by the present BJP government.



The government resolution stated that the partially funded Centre's scheme will now be handed over to the state government and all types of expenses will be borne by the state government.



"It is a routine procedure and it happens with most of the schemes. The Centre helps the state government to launch a particular scheme, funds it and eventually withdraws its funding so that it could take up new projects," Archana Patil, director of state health department told PTI today.



The Maharashtra government has sanctioned Rs 15.34 crore for the MEMS to be used till March 2018, the GR stated.



The GR has also restricted the health department not to make any fresh purchases of ambulances or equipment. The sanctioned funds have to be used mostly for running the ambulance service such as salaries of the staff, diesel expenses among others.



There are 233 advance life support ambulances and 704 basic life supporting ambulances across the state serving under MEMS, the GR stated.
April 18th is widely celebrated as the International Day for Monuments and Sites every year. Established by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and adopted by the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983, the day aims at increasing inclusion and diversity while conserving monuments, ancestral sites and indigenous domains in line with the Venice Charter.



As EU Today writes, on March 30th, the International Criminal Court awarded a symbolic 1 to Mali and UNESCO for the damage suffered by the Malian people as a result of the destruction of Timbuktus cultural heritage in 2012. The Hague-based Court had sentenced a Malian jihadist for the destruction of the UNESCO-listed site back in 2016 in a historic decision, which condemned attacking a nations historic and cultural heritage as a war crime for the first time.



But there will be hardly any justice, even symbolic, for the destruction of the Buddha statues of Bamiyan in Afghanistan or the ancient Roman sites in Syria. Not so long ago, the world was appalled by the news that the 2,000-year-old Greco-Roman monuments in Palmyra were brought to ruin by ISIS. The images of the explosion of the Temple of Baalshamin and the Temple of Baal, two of the historical sites most important buildings, shocked the conscience of humanity.



The destruction of cultural and religious monuments in occupied territories is regarded as a war crime under international law. The Hague Convention of 1954 obligates occupying forces to respect and preserve cultural property while preventing the theft of property in the event of an armed conflict. According to the World Heritage Convention, deterioration or disappearance of any item of the cultural or natural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all the nations of the world  however, cultural heritage continues to be in danger around the world and the international community is not doing enough to stop this.



This was once again brought to the international communitys attention by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan on April 19th, which expressed grave concern over the destruction of its cultural heritage on territories liberated from Armenias occupation in a 44-day war in autumn 2020. Following heavy fighting that erupted in late September last year, the trilateral ceasefire signed among Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on November 10th, 2020 put a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh back under Azerbaijans control. Since the ceasefire, the negative effects of the 30-year Armenian occupation started to be brought to daylight.



According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, "almost all historical, cultural and religious monuments were completely destroyed during the period of occupation. As of today, the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan has identified more than 400 monuments that have been destroyed in the liberated territories. The total number of monuments in these territories is up to 3,000. Cultural and religious property belonging to Azerbaijan has been looted, desecrated, altered and illegally exported to Armenia. Twenty-two museums and museum branches with over 100,000 artefacts on the liberated territories have been destroyed."



Western observers echoed this condemnation. Emmanuel Dupuy, President of the Paris-based LInstitut Prospective et Securite en Europe, noted that the full scale of Armenias occupation on cultural sites, in breach of UN resolutions, is only now being realised. Over decades, Azerbaijani cultural artefacts in Karabakh have been systematically vandalised, misappropriated and destroyed, he said. Cemeteries have been demolished, sacred sites desecrated, and other cultural artifacts have been ransacked or left to crumble.



During a visit by the Head of the UN General Assembly on April 10th in Baku, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev urged international organisations, especially UNESCO, to visit the region and to witness the destruction of Azerbaijani historical, religious and cultural monuments by Armenia. Armenian brutality and vandalism are obvious in the liberated lands, Aliyev added.



Although being internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and its seven adjoining provinces were occupied by Armenia for 30 years. Following the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the 1990s, the Azerbaijani side had claimed that the Azerbaijani heritage, such as mosques, monuments, museums, art galleries, libraries, music schools and theatres were neglected and even destroyed under the Armenian occupation. This was especially the case in the town of Aghdam, which was described by the British writer George Mitchell as a ghost town and the Hiroshima of the Caucasus. Aghdam is perhaps the saddest and most striking example, said Dupuy. A once lively Azerbaijani town, it was entirely destroyed by Armenia in 1993, and left in desolation.



For 30 years, Azerbaijans repeated calls for a fact-finding mission to evaluate cultural destruction in Nagorno-Karabakh remained unanswered by UNESCO or other international organisations. It is questionable that such a mission would be deployed now despite recent announcements regarding the countrys readiness to accept an international mission to assess the damage caused to cultural and religious monuments in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.



One can only hope that the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh will not resemble those of Timbuktu, Bamiyan or Palmyra.
PITTSFIELD  How many cups of bad coffee can a man take? For a local chef and worker in the restaurant industry for 25 years, too many to count.

"The big thing was to create coffee that people would enjoy and that would impact the food industry," George Shoemaker, founder and co-partner of Currency Coffee Co., said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I would go out to eat and hated the coffee. The restaurants don't focus on it. It's the last thing you have, you shouldn't be left with a bitter taste."

Shoemaker began what is now the Currency Coffee Co. in 2013  then named The Biz of Coffee  and over the years he's grown his operation from selling coffee equipment, and offering remodeling and consulting services to businesses in the food industry, to creating a national coffee brand with the same footprint as the U.S. currency he took inspiration from when first working out of the Stationery Factory in Dalton. Currency Coffee Co. currently offers 14 different blends, organic and single-origin coffees, also flavored and decaffeinated coffees.

"I wanted to honor the town's heritage with the branding  all U.S. currency begins in Dalton," he said, explaining how he and Doug Crane of the New Dalton Group (which Crane had started following a 30-year career at Crane & Co.) created Currency Coffee between their neighboring offices at the Stationery Factory, a converted industrial building that most recently housed the former Crane & Co. stationery division.

Shoemaker used images of currency within the public domain for marketing the new coffee line and sent bags of it to Crane & Co. factories, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury. "They didn't object, so we must be in trademark compliance," he joked.

On its signature Justice Blend coffee  the first coffee developed and branded; a dark coffee with coffee beans from Ethiopia, Sumatra and Brazil  a picture of Lady Justice, taken from a 1880 $50 gold certificate, is used. For its single-origin coffees, Currency Coffee displays currencies from the coffee beans corresponding country of origin, such as Puerto Rico, Colombia and Ethiopia.

Shoemaker's business partner David O'Neill joined the company in 2018. "He had spent decades in the toy industry and I needed someone with a more global knowledge and view of business," Shoemaker said. "He understands larger scale business."

They reorganized and rebranded the business as Currency Coffee Co. in 2019. "We dumped the old name, embraced the new and hired more people," Shoemaker said.

He said his coffee philosophy is to select the best individual beans. "Coffees that can be brewed and stand on their own  and then we can use them to create the best blends possible." He added, "Twenty-five years of my life were spent as a chef and in the restaurant business. I find the best ingredients and use them. I won't buy substandard products."

The coffee beans used by Currency Coffee include organic and Fair Trade, although, Shoemaker said, he personally isn't a fan of the Fair Trade organization, preferring to deal directly with the coffee bean farmers. "I can offer the farmers more money than Fair Trade does. I'm picky how I buy coffee and who I buy it from."

Not only does Currency Coffee honor Crane & Co. and its currency division, Shoemaker said, "We're trying to do what the real currency does. It starts here and is distributed across the United States. The distribution model we use is the proven Federal Reserve model."

To that end, Currency Coffee is available in cities where there are Federal Reserve branches, offering Atlanta, Boston, New York Federal Reserve coffees in those cities and personalized regional coffee brands, like the Great Lakes Reserve Coffee in Michigan. "As we grow, we can reorganize and localize the branding, but like all U.S. currency, it starts here," he said.

In April 2020, the company left Dalton, and moved to a location in the Allendale Underground in the Allendale Shopping Center just off Cheshire Road in Pittsfield.

"There were numerous obstacles to overcome in the Stationery Factory [the business's former location]," Shoemaker said. "There were no large spaces, so we were in several different places in the mill and there was no foot traffic. We were strictly wholesale, not retail."

The relocation proved to be a bold move in the early days of the pandemic lockdown. "There was no one out and about," he said. "However, we were labelled an essential business because we supplied grocery stores [and could remain open]."

He said that while the pandemic was hard on many businesses, Currency Coffee, at that time mostly a wholesale coffee and equipment business, was particularly hit hard. "We lost 80 percent of our customers in one day when all the restaurants and cafes closed," he said, adding that when they did slowly reopen, restaurants and cafes shifted their coffee orders to their larger suppliers in order to fulfill minimum order deliveries.

Opening a coffee lounge added another facet to the business, Shoemaker said, creating three different divisions for the business  the coffee lounge, wholesale coffee, and equipment sales and service. A full ecommerce website feeds all of the divisions.

At the same time it relocated, Currency Coffee began its Give One, Give One program, through which customers could buy a box of coffee to donate to a frontline worker or organization of their choice. Currency Coffee would then donate a second box to another organization.

"We would deliver it in your name and we would deliver a second to another first responder," Shoemaker said. "We did it for four months."

Over 1,000 gallons of coffee were bought and matched. Shoemaker said coffee was delivered daily to the Berkshire Medical Center Emergency Department  10 gallons in the morning and 15 at night. The matching ones were distributed throughout the county. "It gave the customer an opportunity to connect with community; to make donations and thank people, as well," Shoemaker said.

Currency Coffee also began offering free home delivery in Berkshire County and expanded it to the Pioneer Valley. Shoemaker said he and an employee each have put 30,000 miles on their vehicles making the deliveries.

During the pandemic, Shoemaker said, "People found us. Customers came and supported us in ways we couldn't imagine. Customers came in volumes. People who bought donated coffee came back to support us. It meant the world to us."

Shoemaker is currently teaching a course at Berkshire Community College, based on a lecture he has given at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., "The Chemistry of Coffee."

Another class, a coffee training course for people looking to get an overview of the business, those looking to get into the coffee industry  as a barista or working in a coffee shop environment  also is being eyed.

Of specific goals for the future, Shoemaker said, "How do we take it from here to across the United States? How do we become a regional, national brand?"
As part of its CSR commitment, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has partnered with the NGO, SayTrees, to support afforestation efforts. Together SPN and SayTrees have planted over 8000 native varieties of tree saplings through the dense afforestation method in three acres of land in the drought prone Satara district of Maharashtra which will soon grow and become a natural canopy cover. The project focuses on environmental sustainability and improving quality of life by tackling climate change.

The collaboration with SayTrees amplifies Sony Pictures Networks Indias effort to advance the cause of environment protection and further sensitise others on the importance of conservation by nurturing the planet. This afforestation project will ensure that each sapling planted gets unique and individual attention by providing a well-planned location to foster the growth of trees and preserve the environment.

Comments:

N.P. Singh, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN):

At SPN, we constantly strive to build a sustainable world that helps in mitigating the impact of climate change. We stand committed to a better tomorrow, through this ecological initiative, under the environment pillar of our CSR initiatives. We are pleased that SayTrees has joined us in our mission of nurturing a healthier planet as we come together to expand the green cover. As part of this initiative, SPN will also dedicate tree saplings to several environment conscious stakeholders, industry, and non-industry members to raise awareness by creating a larger community of people to support the cause.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 04:52:49|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday that they were "disturbed" by reports of almost 130 illegal immigrants drowning in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast.

"UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply disturbed by reports of a tragic shipwreck off the coast of Libya. Fears are that this latest incident could have claimed the lives of up to 130 people," said a joint statement issued by UNHCR and IOM.

The migrants' rubber boat is believed to have departed from the city of Al-Khoms, some 120 km east of the capital Tripoli, and have capsized because of bad weather and stormy seas, the statement said.

"This would be the largest loss of life recorded in the Central Mediterranean since the beginning of the year. So far in 2021 alone, at least 300 other people have drowned or gone missing in the Central Mediterranean. This is a significant increase compared to the same period last year when some 150 people drowned or went missing along the same route," it added.

UNHCR and IOM reiterated their call on the international community to take urgent steps to end avoidable loss of lives at sea, including the reactivation of search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, enhanced coordination with all rescue actors, ending returns to unsafe ports, and establishing a safe and predictable disembarkation mechanism.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores, in order to escape insecurity and chaos that have plagued Libya since the fall of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, IOM estimates, noting 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the Central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them. Enditem
LITTLE RIVER  A Little River man who is facing multiple charges in connection with the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots will remain in custody, according to a judges order.

FBI agents searching Nicholas Languerands Little River home found tactical gear, drugs and weapons  including an AR-15 assault weapon with a 60-round capacity.

Languerand appeared virtually before Federal Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Rogers III on April 20 for his preliminary and detention hearing, but no decision was made at that time.

In his April 21 order, Judge Rogers wrote that Languerand has a history of committing assault, battery and threats of violence.

An order of protection was entered against him in Vermont and January 2020 which included a finding of threat of future abuse, the order said.

According to the order, Languerand has made previous comments directed at law enforcement that showed disrespect and a willingness to be confrontational and threatening.

Judge Rogers said the reason for the defendants continued detention was the weight of evidence against him, history of violence and his use of alcohol or substance abuse.

Languerand is charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon, theft of government property, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds.

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According to a federal criminal complaint, the FBI received a tip on Feb. 25 that Languerand posted a picture on Instagram of himself at the U.S. Capitol during the riots.

In response to a user on Reddit, the accused man later posted, My name is Nicholas Languerand and I am a proud Patriot. Where We Go One, We Go All. Only true fascists censor and slander the opposition. You are doing precisely what SS soldiers and sympathizers wouldve done to Jews in 1940s Germany. God is watching.

The complaint said that pictures and videos taken from the Capitol building that day show Languerand throwing objects at law enforcement including a large orange traffic barrier, a canister of pepper spray and a stick-like object. He is also accused of holding a police shield and hitting it against the ground.

In his order, Judge Rodgers ordered U.S. Marshals to transfer Languerand to Washington, D.C. so future proceedings can be scheduled.

Languerand has requested court-appointed legal counsel, the order said.
Four ponies detained at Belfast Port for almost five weeks due to issues with Northern Ireland Protocol paperwork have been released to their new owners.

Their arrival at the family farm near Ballygowan, Co Down, came after a judge ordered their release on Thursday.

The animals, which had been bought from a seller in Wales, had been detained as a result of errors in new veterinary forms required to ship them from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the terms of post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements.

With missing information on the forms subsequently provided to the authorities in Northern Ireland, a judge decided against sending them back to Great Britain and ordered their release.

Ashleigh Massey and friend Lisa Booth had sourced the animals as a birthday gift for Ms Masseys daughter, Alia. Due to be delivered a week before Alias third birthday, they finally arrived on Friday  four weeks after it.

Never in a million years did we think it was going end up like this, Ms Booth told the PA news agency.

The ponies were taken into the port on the Sunday (March 21) and we couldnt see them, didnt know anything about them. It wasnt until the Thursday night we were allowed in to see them and thats the only time we saw them.

Its just been so stressful and Ive felt for the ponies as well, because they came from a stud and they were out at grass, so they havent really had too much handling or anything like that.

Ms Booth added: They were for Alias birthday and one was called Cupcake.

And they were to arrive the Sunday before her birthday and we kept thinking we would get them for her birthday. And she kept asking, bless her, Wheres Cupcake? Wheres Cupcake? And in the end, Cupcake we said just was at the boat.

So weve got them eventually, four weeks after her birthday.

Edwin Poots and Lisa Booth with the four ponies (David Young/PA)

DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots, a vocal critic of the NI Protocol, was introduced to the ponies on a visit to the farm on Friday.

It is an indication of the problems that are coming out of the Protocol, Mr Poots told PA.

Lots of people are being stopped at these docks, paperwork is turning out to be a nightmare, even qualified vets are struggling to identify how they can do this right, vets of considerable experience.

And this is a demonstration of the impracticality of what is going on here in Northern Ireland with goods being received from Britain.

We have more checks than Rotterdam port, as the 11th largest port in the world. That is just an outrageous situation, an unacceptable situation.

And this is a demonstration, that this family have had to go through just to get four ponies that they had acquired in Wales.
The Land Forces military, through all that they have done throughout its national history, have brought a significant contribution in growing the prestige of the Romanian army, implicitly its reputation throughout the world, the minister of National Defence, Nicolae Ciuca, said on Friday.

"The Feast of the Great Martyr Gorge, The Bearer of Victory", represents a special occasion for the Romanian army of honoring the military of the Land Forces. During this moment of celebration, it is our duty to praise the memory and sacrifice of all those who served with devotion all Romanians. I express, this way, the homage and gratitude in front of the martyrs fallen on the battlefields, for the defence and unity of the country, for which the duty for the Country and Flag represent the supreme goal. Through all that they have done during the long national history, the military of the Land Forces, the laregst force category, have brought a significant contribution in growing the Romanian Army's prestige, and implicitly, Romania's reputation all over the world," Ciuca wrote, on Facebook.

The Minister of Defence congratulated the military of the Land Forces for the dedication and patriotism they are proving in fulfilling constitutional missions of defending the country, highlighting that they, along with other force categories, are the image of Romania's Army today, capable of taking missions that are assigned to them, for both inside the national frontiers, as well as beyond them.

According to him, another valence is given by the hopes placed in transforming Romania's Army, and especially the way in which the Land Forces contribute today in developing Romania's capabilities.
A state funeral was held for Chads slain President Idriss Deby Itno in the capital N'djamena on Friday.

His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, head of Chad's transitional government, presided over the ceremony, which was attended by several heads of state.

The late president who ruled the Central African nation for 30 years died at age 68.

An important ally to Western nations in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa, he was fatally wounded this week while visiting the front lines of the battle against the rebels, according to a military spokesman.

French President Emmanuel Macron was present at Friday's ceremony, along with several prominent African leaders including Togo President Faure Gnassingbe and Niger President Mohamed Bazoum.

After the state funeral and prayers at the Grand Mosque of NDjamena, Debys body will be flown to Amdjarass, a village about 1,000 km (621 miles) from the capital.

The country faces an uncertain future.

Both opposition leaders and the rebels accused of killing Deby say they aren't happy with what they say amounts to a coup after power was handed over to Debys son, 37-year-old Mahamat Idriss Deby, to lead an 18-month transitional government.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Daniel Banyai, the owner of Slate Ridge Vermont, speaks to supporters on Saturday, April 17 in West Pawlet during a Second Amendment Day Picnic at the unpermitted gun range and firearms training center. A judge has ordered the owner of Slate Ridge to survey the property and demolish any unpermitted structures. Banyai said he would not comply with the judge's order.
The $500 million Obama Presidential Center, announced in 2016 as a sprawling campus in the storied Jackson Park, was hailed by supporters as a catalyst for economic development on the South Side, but many longtime community members and activists said the arrival of such an ambitious project would surely push out low-income residents. Those organizers, including Lavender, formed the Obama CBA Coalition and in June took over a vacant lot in Woodlawn with a dozen tents as a symbolic message to Lightfoot about their concerns of worsening homelessness without an agreement. A month later, they reached such a deal with the city.
George Clooney has revealed that rewatching ER with his wife Amal has proved disastrous for their relationship due to his characters many dalliances.

The actor, 59, joked that Dr Doug Ross' antics have been met with disapproval from his wife, who keeps questioning when his character will 'settle down'.

During a reunion for Stars In The House, Clooney said: 'This has been a very, very disastrous thing for me because I forgot all of the terrible things I'd done as Dr. Ross!'

Ha! George Clooney has revealed that rewatching ER with his wife Amal has proved disastrous for their relationship due to his characters many dalliances

He added: 'My wife keeps going, 'Is that it? Are you done? Season 3 - do you finally settle down with Nurse Hathaway? It's been a disaster for my marriage.'

George was joined at the reunion by his former co-stars Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle and Gloria Reuben.

It's now been 11 years since the final episode of the hit medical drama series ER aired on NBC.

Uh oh: The actor, 59, joked that Dr Ross' antics have been met with disapproval from his wife, who keeps questioning when his character will 'settle down' (pictured in May, 2019)

Back together! Former onscreen IT couple Julianna Margulies and Clooney reunited with some of their ER castmates for a virtual reunion on the web-series Stars In The House

On Thursday, Clooney and Julianna, who were once one of the hottest onscreen couples of the 1990s, came together with some of their former co-stars for a virtual reunion on the web-series.

Laura Innes, Goran Visnjic, Ming-Na Wen, C.C.H. Pounder, and Alex Kingston were also in attendance at the reunion event.

During the chat, the show's leading couple were united in not being in favour of a possible ER revival due to the high bar that was set during the original show's run.

Clooney didn't hold back in expressing his reverence for the cast and crew, all while expressing his concerns about the idea of an ER revival.

Time flies: It's now been 11 years since the final episode of the hit medical drama series ER aired on NBC

STAT! All the big stars from the hit medical drama were together again virtually

'When you look at the show, it'd be hard to say that we could do it [again] at the level that we did it,' Clooney, shared via TV Line.

'Because boy, I've actually been watching it a bit because my wife's been watching it, which is very odd, and I have to say, it's such great television.'

'I think it was classy of [creator John Wells] not to franchise it and do 'ER: New York' or 'ER: L.A', Wyle added.

Marguiles agreed, and said: 'I don't think you can reboot it,' she said. 'I think it's what George said - you can't capture lightning in a bottle twice. I think you have to leave what was so beautiful and move on. It feels like it would cheapen it for me.'

Oh, the chemistry: Margulies and Clooney starred alongside each other as nurse Carol Hathaway and Dr. Doug Ross from 1994-1999; they are seen in April 2008

His take; Clooney didn't hold back in expressing his reverence for the cast and crew of ER, all while seeming to shoot down a possible show revival; the former ER couple seen in 2018

This has been a very, very disastrous thing for me because I forgot all of the terrible things I'd done as Dr. Ross!'

Ming-Na Wen, who played Jing-Mei Chen on the series, added: 'I would love to do a reboot only to be able to hang out with this group of people.'

The two-time Oscar winner also made a point of bringing up season one's episode Love's Labor Lost, where Dr. Greene (Edwards) misdiagnoses pre-eclampsia as a minor bladder infection for a pregnant woman, putting her life and her unborn child's life in jeopardy.

The actor, who played the role of Dr Ross from 1994-1999, called the episode 'as good a piece of television as I've ever seen' before confessing 'It's hard to catch lightning again.'

Margulies, 54, agreed with Clooney, saying: 'You can't capture lightning in a bottle twice. I think you have to leave what was so beautiful and move on, because it just feels cheap It would cheapen it for me.'

Honest: Clooney said it would be 'hard to catch lightning again', in reference to an ER revival; Clooney and Margulies are pictured with Anthony Edwards, Sherri Stringfield, Noah Wylie, Eriq La Salle, Gloria Reuben, Laura Innes, Maria Bello, Alex Kingston, Kellie Martin and Paul McCrane in a photo from the early seasons in the mid-1990s

In a recent interview, Margulies revealed that she and Clooney had crushes on each other while they filmed the show.

'That can't happen if you don't have a crush on each other,' the actress, who played nurse Carol Hathaway, recently told People of their steamy on-camera connection.

'And with George and me, it was so organic.'

She went on to reveal that she was supposed to be 'a guest star' on the series pilot, and that it turned into a six-season gig on what turned out to be one of the hottest drama's on television at the time.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 16:03:04|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia resumed its mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on Friday after the arrival of a batch of vaccines it purchased from China.

Mongolia launched its national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its 3.3 million population. So far, 649,000 people have been vaccinated against the virus.

The government on April 10 suspend COVID-19 vaccinations to avoid crowds amid the current nationwide lockdown, which is set to expire on Sunday.

"Our country received Chinese-made vaccines on Thursday night to advance the national vaccination. Therefore, the government has decided to resume the vaccination from Friday," Tseden-Ish Ganzorig, head of the government's press office, said in a statement.

Mongolia is expected to receive more doses of vaccines purchased from China on Friday, the official said.

As of Friday, Mongolia has registered 27,956 COVID-19 cases, with 76 related deaths.

The number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Mongolia has risen sharply since the beginning of April.

About 1,000 cases have been reported per day in the country in recent days, mostly in the capital Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country's total population.

The Asian country reported its first imported COVID-19 case in March 2020 and confirmed its first locally transmitted cases in November last year. Enditem
Fidele, 35, his wife Brigitte, 28, and their children get ready to move to their shelter in Modale site, in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Twice in five years, Fidel, 35, has had to flee the Central African Republic (CAR), across the Ubangi river, into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His latest crossing to safety was tragic.

This time, I lost my five-year-old son. He drowned in the river, he said.

While crossing the river from his home in Bema last January to Yakoma in the DRC, he had left his son Eric on the CAR side of the rivers shores  his dugout canoe was too small to carry his entire family of seven across the river at once, so he had to make several trips back and forth.

When he reached the shore, he couldnt find Eric. Panicked, he asked the fishermen who were around, and they confirmed his worst fears as they were able to identify his body.

I was in total shock, he recalled.

How do you start over when you have lost so much? Central Africa refugees moving to safer areas need support (Arnold Temple, videographer/ Linda Muruki, producer / Fabien Faivre, producer )

Like other Central African refugees, Fidel and his family fled the violence and insecurity that surrounded last Decembers elections with barely any belongings. So far, over 117,000 people have spilled into neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and the Republic of Congo, with the majority finding safety in the DRC. Some 164,000 more are displaced inside CAR.

I lost my five-year-old son. He drowned in the river.

Once they reached Yakoma, in the DRCs North Ubangi province, Fidel, his wife Brigitte and their six children were welcomed by a Congolese family that took them into their modest home.

Most Central African refugees have been generously hosted by local communities, themselves struggling to share whatever little resources they have.

Last week, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and partners started relocating refugees further inland, away from the border area of Yakoma to a safer site in Modale village that can accommodate up to 10,000 refugees.

Fidels family was among the first group of 335 refugees who arrived at the new site this week, where they will begin the process of settling down among the local Congolese communities, which have generously offered land to refugee families and welcomed their children into their schools.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi meets with Micheline (left), a refugee from the Central African Republic living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

Central African refugees arrive in Modale site, after traveling in trucks for several hours from Yakoma, at the CAR-DRC border.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

A Central African refugee holds her sick son as he is attended to at a health center in Modale, Democratic Republic of the Congo.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

People walk within a section of Modale site in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where UNHCR is relocating Central African refugees from the border area.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

UNHCR is setting up new water and sanitation facilities and expanding health and education services while reinforcing existing infrastructure so as to reduce the strain on services resulting from the influx.

On a visit to Modale this week, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi applauded these efforts which will assist refugees to start rebuilding their lives.

It is really an inclusive effort. Refugees can grow their crops alongside the host community, become self-reliant, use the health services and go to school, he said.

He also called on the international community to urgently support these efforts.

We need to show greater commitment towards this country and its communities that continue to open their arms and shelter refugees with the little means they have, he added.

The refugees I met want to return, but only if there is durable peace and security.

Grandi also met Fidel and Brigitte, who shared their tragic experience with him.

The refugees I met want to return, but only if there is durable peace and security. They are understandably scared after having been forced to flee repeatedly, he added.

He recalled his last visit to the CAR in December 2019 when there were hopeful signs of peace and expressed his wish for a solution to be found for all the refugees scattered in this very inaccessible region.

He also appealed to the international community to help CAR come out of the spiral of violence and unrest that has characterized its recent history.

It is especially important for its people, so they dont have to flee, he said. While they feel more secure here in the DRC, more resources are needed. This is a very underfunded situation which requires more attention from the international community.

UNHCR has received just 16 per cent of the US$ 204.8 million needed for operations in the DRC. Together with the Congolese Governments National Commission for Refugees (CNR), UNHCR has registered nearly 53,000 new arrivals from CAR in Bas Huele, North Ubangi and South Ubangi Provinces, as of 22 April. Registration is still ongoing  authorities in the DRC estimate that 92,000 refugees have arrived from CAR since last December.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yeraly Tugzhanov took part in the release of the first batch of Kazakhstans homegrown vaccine QazVac (QazCovid-in) produced at the Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems, Kazinform reports citing the prime ministers press service.

During his visit to Zhambyl region, Deputy Prime Minister Tugzhanov said the creation of the vaccine allowed Kazakhstan to become one of five countries in the world which had developed their own anti-coronavirus vaccines, proving high potential of domestic science. Last October President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave specific instructions related to the development of the homegrown vaccine. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that implementation of all Presidents instructions is monitored by the Kazakh Government.

The first 50,000 doses of QazVac vaccine will be distributed among SK Pharmacy hubs and delivered to all regions of the country. Vaccination with QazVac vaccine is expected to kick off on April 26.
Chattanooga State Community College has announced that its 2021 Commencement ceremonies will be held throughout the week of May 10 and, we have a lot to celebrate, said Brad McCormick, assistant vice president of Enrollment Services.



Thirty-five smaller in-person ceremonies will encompass all academic divisions including Business, Engineering and Information Technologies, Humanities and Fine Arts, Mathematics and Sciences, Nursing and Allied Health, and Social and Behavioral Sciences, and which also will include Collegiate High and University Parallel graduates.



The smaller in-person ceremonies will provide graduates with the opportunity to walk across the graduation stage with up to six guests per graduate in attendance during the private ceremonies. Each ceremony will be streamed live online. A commemorative video that includes all ceremonies will premiere about two weeks after the in-person events.



Our graduates have so much to celebrate, and these in-person ceremonies are all about celebration, said Mr. McCormick. The smaller format allows us to celebrate while also honoring our commitment to keeping everyone safe.



The Class of 2021 is composed of 1,460 graduate candidates. Sixty-seven percent are female while 33 percent are males, and 360 grads, or 28 percent, have become the first member of their family to attend college. The largest percentage of graduates are over 25 years of age at 42 percent, while the second largest number at 25 percent belongs to Generation Z grads who are under 20 years of age. The Gen Z age group also includes 402 Tennessee Promise students. Chattanooga States oldest graduate candidate is age 69, while our youngest is 16.



The following countries represented in the graduating Class of 2021 include Brazil, Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Tajikistan, United Kingdom and Vietnam.



For questions about accessing campus, see https://chattanoogastate.edu/campus-access-instructions or if you have questions and need additional information, email graduation@chattanoogastate.edu.
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Getty Images

Nearly every industry has felt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and the farming and agriculture industry in Illinois is no exception.

In light of the challenges faces by farmers this year, SIU Medicine in Carbondale along with the Illinois Department of Agriculture has launched a new program called the Farm Family Resource Initiative. The goal of the pilot program is to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of Illinois farm owners and their families.
Columbus police released body camera footage and two 911 calls in fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant. Police say they were called to the scene around 4:30 p.m. on a report of someone attempting to stab others at a home. The bodycam footage shows that as soon as police pulled up, Bryant tackles another female to the ground and had what appeared to be a knife in her hand.Bryant can then be seen charging at another female while raising the purported knife in the air, at which point the officer opened fire. The officer, identified as Nicholas Reardon, fired his weapon several times while Bryant and another girl were struggling against the side of a parked car. A knife could be seen next to Bryant's body after the shooting.
If Azerbaijan shows a reasonable approach, a peace treaty might be considered. This is what Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan told RIA Novosti.

According to him, its impossible to resolve the conflict [Nagorno-Karabakh conflict] by force or with the threat of use of force.

By launching military aggression in September 2020, Azerbaijans leadership violated one of the fundamental principles underlying the peaceful settlement of the conflict, that is, the principle of no use of force. There are principles that have been agreed upon for years and on which the settlement of the conflict must be hinged. The co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group agree with us in this regard. Aliyev not only refutes the fact that the conflict remains unresolved, but is also trying to use all means to deepen the hostility between the two peoples. For instance, when he opens a so-called war trophy park, when he makes absurd statements about Zangezur, when he destroys Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage in the occupied territories of Artsakh and when he desecrates not only Armenian monuments, but also the monuments dedicated to heroes of the Great Patriotic War. How is it possible to think about a peace treaty in these conditions? Grigoryan said.
A new vaccine against malaria has proven highly effective in trials, raising new hope that one of the world's deadliest diseases could be brought under control. According to the World Health Organization, malaria sickens around 230 million people a year and kills around 400,000, the majority of whom are children under the age of five.

"These are very exciting results showing unprecedented efficacy levels from a vaccine that has been well tolerated in our trial programme," said Halidou Tinto, director of the Institute of Research in Health Sciences and the trial's lead investigator, said in a statement put out by Oxford University.

The new R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by Oxford University's Jenner Institute, has shown up to 77% effectiveness against the disease in Phase II trials. Scientists at The Jenner Institute also developed the coronavirus vaccine produced and distributed by drug company AstraZeneca.

450 children from Burkina Faso, aged between five months and 17 months, participated in the trials, which took place over a 12 month period. The participants were split into three groups, with one group receiving a high dose of the vaccine, one receiving a low dose, and one group getting a dose of a rabies vaccine as a placebo.

Researchers reported 71% vaccine efficacy in the low dose group and 77% efficacy in the high dose group, making R21/Matrix-M the first malaria vaccine to meet the World Health Organization's goal of a malaria vaccine that is at least 75% effective against the disease, the statement said.

Researchers, in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India and Maryland-based vaccine maker Novavax, have started recruiting for Phase III trials. They're looking to recruit 4,800 children between the ages of five months and 36 months across four African countries, according to the statement.

"We look forward to the upcoming Phase III trial to demonstrate large-scale safety and efficacy data for a vaccine that is greatly needed in this region," Tinto said.

Story continues

"Malaria is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in Africa ... These new data show that licensure of a very useful new malaria vaccine could well happen in the coming years," said Alkassoum Maiga, a professor and minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in Burkina Faso. "That would be an extremely important new tool for controlling malaria and saving many lives."

Panel to rule on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

Biden addresses world leaders on final day of climate summit

Biden says climate change presents "opportunity" to create green jobs
Among that group, and new to the Mortal Kombat lore: a scrappy but tender Mixed Martial Arts competitor named Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who hails from Chicago (the movie was shot in Australia) and bears the trademarked Mortal Kombat logo for a birthmark. Hes plagued by visions of his ancestral past, blood, fire, prologue stuff, everything. Cole leaves wife and child behind for a bit so he can team up with Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee, flat of vocal affect but a stickler for posture); Blades fellow Special Forces veteran Jax (Mehcad Brooks, outshining his material); and a few others who go fist to fist, blade to blade and splurch to geeehaaah! against the Outworlders, including a giant invisible lizard.
Congress Presses Postal Service After Report Agents Are Monitoring American Social Media Accounts

Members of Congress on Thursday asked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to provide information about an alleged group in the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that has been monitoring Americans social media accounts.

The United States Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. The inspection service has a group called the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) that has been monitoring activity on social media, including posts on Parler and Telegram, according to Yahoo News, which says it obtained a March government bulletin on the matter.

If the reporting is accurate, iCOP raises serious questions about the federal governments ongoing surveillance of, and encroachment upon, Americans private lives and discourse, House Oversight Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), along with 30 other Republican lawmakers, wrote to DeJoy.

According to the bulletin, iCOP recorded the locations and times of protests. Social media websites Parler and Telegram are mentioned by name, described as right-wing leaning platforms on which people were coordinating events. Analysts with the USPS law enforcement arm were told to keep an eye out for inflammatory postings and share them with other government agencies.

The type of amorphous, broad mandate under which iCOP is allegedly operating is particularly troubling because it is unclear why the USPS, of all government agencies and the only one devoted to the delivery of Americans mail, is taking on the role of intelligence collection, the lawmakers wrote.

They want a briefing from Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale no later than April 28.

United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy departs following a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 24, 2021. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

USPS and House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not deny the existence of the reported surveillance program.

The spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that the service occasionally reviews publicly available information in order to assess potential safety or security threats to Postal Service employees, facilities, operations and infrastructure.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the primary law enforcement, crime prevention, and security arm of the U.S. Postal Service. As such, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has federal law enforcement officers, Postal Inspectors, who enforce approximately 200 federal laws to achieve the agencys mission: protect the U.S. Postal Service and its employees, infrastructure, and customers; enforce the laws that defend the nations mail system from illegal or dangerous use; and ensure public trust in the mail, the spokesperson added.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service also employs uniformed Postal Police Officers who are assigned to protect select postal facilities, including postal employees, postal assets, and U.S. mail, at those facilities.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 06:23:43|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie said on Thursday that he is concerned about the ability of the Afghan military after U.S. troops withdraw from the country in the coming months.

"My concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground that they're on now, without the support that they've been used to for many years," McKenzie said during a Senate Armed Services hearing.

"I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave - the ability of the Afghan air force to fly, in particular, after we remove the support for those aircraft," he added.

The general also noted that the United States would bring additional military capabilities to the region to cover U.S. forces during the withdrawal, without providing details.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that McKenzie had requested the Pentagon to deploy an aircraft carrier to help protect NATO troops in Afghanistan as they withdraw.

President Joe Biden announced last Wednesday that all U.S. and NATO troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan before Sept. 11, a decision to end the longest war in American history.

The decision drew criticism among some analysts and lawmakers, who warned the withdrawal would lead to worsening security satiation in Afghanistan with a possible revival of terrorism.

There are roughly 3,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and about 7,000 NATO troops in the country rely on U.S. logistics and security support. Enditem
World / Culture

Fruits of Failure: Lasting Legacy of the Owen-Maclure Community of New Harmony, Indiana

Join us and our guest, Dr. Bill Elliott as we kick off another year of Virtual Community Conversations!

Join us and Dr. Bill Elliott as we kick off another year of our Virtual Community Conversations! This program has been made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In January 1826, the passengers of the Philanthropist arrived in New Harmony, Indiana to participate in a social experiment led by Robert Owen and William Maclure focusing on communal living. Although this experiment dissolved by 1828, the community continued to innovate through art, education, music, printing, scientific investigation, and social justice. Specifically, the children of Robert Owen found success in a diversity of endeavors, attracting many well-known artistic, political, and scientific influencers of the day.

Dr. William Elliott earned a B.S. degree in Geology (1995) from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and an M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2002) in Geology from Indiana University. He started his teaching career at Southern Oregon University in 2002 and joined the Geology and Physics Department at the University of Southern Indiana in August 2009 as Chair. Since 2009, Dr. Elliott has developed a passion for the history and philosophy of Geology, and in particular, the historical significance of New Harmony, Indiana to scientific investigations conducted in the mid-nineteenth century. In 2014, Dr. Elliott installed a new museum exhibit entitled "New Harmony, Indiana: Crossroads of Geology" at the Working Men's Institute unveiled at the towns Bicentennial Celebration. This work is supported by generous funding from Historic New Harmony and the Bingham Award of Historic Southern Indiana. Dr. Elliott also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Historic New Harmony and continues to be engaged with research highlighting the historical significance of New Harmony.

Please register in advance for this program. To do so visit usi.edu/250virtual. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 27: Members of the Australian Defence Force walk through the city on July 27, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Australia Looks to Establish a Pacific Islands Regiment to Counter Foreign Threat

Australia and its neighbouring countries are seeking to establish a Pacific Islands Regiment to strengthen defence ties and protect regional sovereignty, as the Pacific areas security continues to come under the growing China threat.

The new land-based military force, which is raised within the Australian Army, would carry out peacekeeping missions and intervene in the regions extra-constitutional crises if necessary, according to a proposal made in a parliamentary inquiry.

It is time for the Australian government to step up its military relationships with Pacific Island states by innovative and practical means, the MPs suggested, such as increasing integration on combined training and operations. Members of the regiment and their families could also be granted Australian residency and eventual citizenship.

However, the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade subcommittee acknowledged the associated challenges, including consideration of the status of forces agreements, pay and conditions, and veterans affairs.

The push for closer Australian-Pacific Islands defence ties comes as China is tightening its grip in the Pacific region by trade, debt trap and infrastructure investment under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

BEIJING, CHINA  MAY 16: Fijis Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet at the Great Hall of the People on May 16, 2017, in Beijing, China. (Photo by Damir Sagolj-Pool/Getty Images)

Australia has been anxious about its proximity to the Pacific Islands, the regions vulnerability to penetration by potentially hostile powers, and its distance from its major security allies (first the United Kingdom, later the United States), the report said.

In parts of the IndoPacific, including in Southeast Asia, Chinas power and influence are growing to match, and in some cases exceed, that of the United States.

Excluding Papua New Guinea, The Pacific regions two-way trade with China has surpassed that of Australia since 2013.

A 2019 Lowy institute report identified Pacific Island nations as some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to debt sustainability problems and Chinas possible dept trap diplomacy, highlighting clear risks in Chinas intense investment in the region.

In reality, the BRI initiatives have turned six Pacific governmentsCook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatuinto Beijings debtors.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australias Minister for International Development and the South Pacific, in 2018 criticised China for pouring money into useless buildings that the island countries couldnt pay for. China replied by calling her comment full of prejudice and bias.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (L) arrives for the opening of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Apia, Samoa, on September 5, 2017.

(Keni Lesa/AFP via Getty Images)

Concerns over security in the Asian-Pacific region also grew in February 2021 after a Chinese company put forward a multi-billion-dollar plan to build an industrial city on an impoverished island of Papua New Guinea, close to Australias northern border. A similar move was seen in Vanuatu in 2018, where the Chinese government built a wharf for commercial cruise ships but with the capacity to service military naval vessels.

The growing influence and presence of China in the Pacific have laid the foundations for China to lean on the island countries to meet its longer-term ambition of establishing a military base in the region, said a Foreign Policy report.

China is acutely aware that the fledgeling democracies of the Pacific are prone to shortsightednessand in some cases, outright corruptionand, as a result, are at risk of manipulation that goes against their best interests.

Taiwan Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Wu has warned that Beijing is planning to militarize the South Pacific and transform it into another South China Sea.

We have seen reports that China is interested in reopening this radar station in Kiribati and building a naval base in the Western Province of Solomon Islands, he said during the 2019 Pacific Islands Dialogue.

The director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institutes defence program, Michael Shoebridge, said the Pacific Islands regiment would enhance the Pacific nations cohesion and protect them from Beijings takeover.

The attractive thing about it to Pacific Island states is it would be a functional and better way of training and equipping them so they can do disaster relief and peacekeeping, he told The Financial Review.

Built on the Morrison governments Pacific Step-up, the inquiry looks to boost ties among Pacific Island countries

in protection and surveillance, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, fisheries management, intelligence collection and sharing, environmental issues and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Pacificis our home, so it is understandable that the Australian agencies of the state are deeply invested in engaging and working closely with our Pacific partners. Thats reflected in the nature of Defence programs in the regions, the report stated.
Investigators found a knife in the apartment and determined that one of the children may have had stab wounds, Sgt. Carlos Nieves of the Police Departments public information office said on Thursday. Ms. Kilpatrick also faces a charge of criminal possession of a weapon, officials said.

The 911 call came from a relative who was concerned about the childrens safety and was outside the apartment when police officers and Fire Department personnel arrived and knocked on the door, Chief Barrere said. Ms. Kilpatrick let them in, he said.

After finding the child in the crib, officers asked Ms. Kilpatrick about the second child, Chief Barrere said. She pointed towards the sink, he said.

Sergeant Nieves said on Thursday that Ms. Kilpatrick had made statements and spontaneous utterances when the police arrived.

Except for a summons, Ms. Kilpatrick did not appear to have a criminal record, Chief Barrere said.

A spokesman for New York Citys child welfare agency, the Administration for Childrens Services, said it was investigating the case along with the police.
Netflix's upcoming influencer reality show Byron Baes has seemingly garnered huge backlash from angry locals - before the show has even aired or revealed their cast.

But as protests for the show continue to make international headlines, some conspiracy theorists believe the fury is actually part of a well-planned publicity stunt, designed to drive excitement for the series by generating media attention.

While it's clear some Byron Bay residents fear their coastal paradise may be ruined by the show, some suggest the 'very Instagrammable,' televised protests are only building hype for the show and the sign-holding 'locals' may be paid actors.

Conspiracy Theory: After Byron Baes garnered huge backlash and hit headlines across the globe, some sceptics are questioning if the 'protests by locals' are in fact a publicity stunt arranged by the Netflix show's producers

'Producers of #ByronBaes must be rapt with all this free promo for their new series - no-one would have given a rats about this corny idea until the #ByronNaes got on the case,' one theorist commented.

'Are the #Byron community sure there is not a mole amongst them creating these media ops for the show?'

'This couldn't be a better setup/publicity if they tried,' another wrote, with someone replying: 'Genius marketing'.

A fan account dedicated to the show added: 'The more of this exposure, the better for the (already approved) show. We invite you all to be a part of the filming. Byron Bay is a very special location and many of the cast, crew & businessmen are locals!'

Intrigue: While it's clear some Byron Bay residents fear their coastal paradise may be ruined by the show, some suggest the 'very Instagrammable,' televised protests are only building hype for the show and the sign-holding 'locals' may be paid actors

Speaking out: Many sceptics took to Instagram and Twitter to share their opinion on the protests this week

One fan believed the televised protests could make their way onto Byron Baes: 'I have a feeling this will make the Netflix doco. Seems very Borat like. What is the chances the doco is about the people blowing up about the proposed show?'

'Any publicity is good publicity,' summarised another.

Meanwhile, genuine criticism continues to pour in for the show: 'For some people Byron is nothing more than a theme park to be exploited. For others it is home, where grandparents live, friends and a social network.

'RIP Byron,' another added, alongside two crying emojis.

A media expert recently acknowledged that some locals were genuinely annoyed, but said Netflix will be 'loving' the publicity regardless.

Defence: It's clear some people are furious with the plans, with one writing: 'For some Byron is nothing but a theme park to be exploited. For others, it is a home'

'Byron deserves better': Angry revellers have even created a petition to halt the show's production

The plot thickens: Indeed, while it appears that the locals are legitimately annoyed with the series coming to their shores, a media expert recently said Netflix will be 'loving' the publicity regardless

'It's getting them a lot of free publicity and coverage on television networks,' Head of the University Of Technology's marketing faculty Professor David Waller, told ABC.

'It's a clever strategy, a lot of companies will use controversy to build awareness... if you're getting your opposition to talk about you, you must be doing something right.'

When approached by Daily Mail Australia regarding the growing conspiracy, Netflix declined to comment.

It comes after a handful of so-called Byron locals paddled out into the ocean to protest the show, while others stood by with placards that read 'give Netflix the flick' and 'consult traditional owners'.

Ben Gordon, owner of The Byron Bay General Store, led calls to snub production - and is asking other local businesses to do the same.

'They've simply turned up unannounced and they are proposing to drag our name through the mud, and make millions of dollars without offering anything back to the community,' he told Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon on Tuesday.

Mr Gordon said the prospective reality series is 'a complete misrepresentation of who we are as a community'.

'Today, what we've seen, is the real Byron, the community coming together for issues that we believe in,' he said.

Meet your Byron Baes! According to a new report, born and bred locals Kathy and Ralph Brauer (pictured) will star in the show. And while they do have quite the following on their social media, they're nothing like the bikini-clad Instagrammers locals believed to be in-line to star

Netflix is yet to confirm those taking part in the upcoming season - but according to The Daily Telegraph the first two rumoured cast members are not 'vacuous, fake' influencers as predicted, but rather 'born and bred' locals Kathy and Ralph Brauer.

The husband and wife own homeware, furniture and ladies fashion retailer Bisque Traders in Bangalow.

And while they do have quite the following on their store's social media, they're nothing like the bikini-clad Instagram stars first linked to the show.

Others rumoured to be joining the li influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews, Zac Efron's now ex-girlfriend Vanessa Valladares and The Block's Elyse Knowles.
The grand final of the National Beauty Pageant - "Miss Ukraine - 2021" will take place in October 2021 at the National Palace of Arts "Ukraina".

To the 30th anniversary a new team of the contest with outstanding ideas and creative vision starts its run-up to the "Miss Ukraine-2021" show along with Veronika Shchiptsova, the new Head of the committee. The team plans to involve famous Ukrainian and international companies as partners in order to raise the contest to a higher level.

The prize fund was increased to UAH 1 million in 2021. 25 finalists from different regions of Ukraine will compete for the most coveted "Miss Ukraine 2021" title, exclusive crown and UAH 500 000. Winners of the titles "Miss Earth" and "Miss International" will get prize money in the amount of UAH 250 000. Also, the organizers of the competition prepared special prizes and gifts for all contestants.

The age-limit change is an important innovation of this year. From now on ladies in age between 17 and 26 are able to apply for the contest, therefore, even more Ukrainian women will have a unique opportunity to participate in the national contest "Miss Ukraine". Besides, the competition committee is going to a country tour to scale the "Miss Ukraine 2021" casting. Odesa will be the first city to host a regional casting.

This year competition jury will comprise both Ukrainian representatives and international stars - experts of beauty, fashion industries and television. Its already known that one of the jury members will be Jacob Arabo, the founder of the international jewelry company Jacob & Co. And also Johan Nilson - a famous explorer and Global Non-Violence Ambassador. Other members of the jury will be announced later.

For the first time in competitions history a reality show will be filmed before the Grand Final. This reality show will reveal exclusive information about contestants and backstage of the "Miss Ukraine-2021" for all viewers.

"Miss Ukraine-2021" winner will represent Ukraine at the "Miss World" pageant in December 2021 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Follow the contest news on the official website missukraine.ua, and on Instagram page (missukraine_official), Facebook (missukraineofficial) and Youtube (MissUkraine).
FILE - In this March 19, 2021, file photo, nurses fill syringes with a COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Kansas City, Mo. Demand for the coronavirus vaccine has fallen off in some places around the United States to the point where some counties are turning down new shipments of doses. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File) PHOTO:AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File

Some U.S. Counties Turning Down Vaccine Doses

By The Associated Press

JACKSON, MS - Demand for the coronavirus vaccine has fallen off in some places around the United States to the point where some counties are turning down new shipments of doses.More than half of all U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose.But administering the shots remains a challenge.In Iowa, nearly half of its counties have declined new shipments of doses.About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the coronavirus vaccine at least once over the past month.And the state of Louisiana turned down new shipments this past week.Said one pharmacist: I would like to have some on hand, but I dont want them to go out of date because theyre just sitting there.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred American Express and Diners Club from onboarding new domestic credit card customers from May 1 for violating the central bank's norms on storage of payment systems data.

Through a circular in April 2018, RBI had asked payment system providers to ensure that within a period of six months the entire data (full end-to-end transaction details/information collected/carried/processed as part of the message/ payment instruction) relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India.

Besides, they were also required to report compliance to RBI and submit a board-approved System Audit Report (SAR) conducted by a CERT-In empanelled auditor within the timelines specified.

However, RBI said American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International Ltd were found to be non-compliant with the directions on storage of payment system data.

Accordingly, RBI "imposed restrictions on American Express Banking Corp. and Diners Club International Ltd. from on-boarding new domestic customers onto their card networks from May 1, 2021".

However, the order will not impact the existing customers of the company, it said.

In a statement, American Express expressed its disappointment on RBI's action and said it is working with the central bank to resolve the issue.

"We have been in regular dialogue with the Reserve Bank of India about data localization requirements and have demonstrated our progress towards complying with the regulation. While we're disappointed that the RBI has taken this course of action, we are working with them to resolve their concerns as quickly as possible. This does not impact the services that we offer to our existing customers in India, and our customers can continue to use and accept our cards as normal," the company said.

Also read: HCL Tech Q4 results: Net profit down 6.1% at Rs 2,962 crore

Also read: COVID-19: Defence Ministry to airlift 23 oxygen plants from Germany
TICKERS: CYP; CYDVF; C1Z1

Source: Peter Epstein for Streetwise Reports (4/23/21)

Peter Epstein of Epstein Research discusses whether the lithium price surge is a "flash in the battery metals pan" or whether the price will stay stronger for longer, and what this means for Cypress Development Corp.



In listening to and reading commentary on lithium (Li) prices, analysts, journalists and management teams are quick to point out a doubling in the lithium carbonate (LC) price (in China) from last year's multiyear lows. While that's certainly bullish news, prices should be viewed over a longer period than just nine months.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) recently tweeted the above chart. This indicative index of LC prices is well suited for analysis. If the dates at the bottom are too small, they begin in October 2006. This weighted-average LC index, which picks up prices from around the world, topped at ~$21,500 per metric tonne ($21.5k/Mt) in late 2017, before bottoming at ~$8k/Mt last summer.

Readers are reminded that before 201516, there was virtually no electric vehicle (EV) market to speak of. LC prices were ~$5k6k/Mt in many of the years leading up to 2016 (see chart; price began a second, much larger spike in Q3/2015). Back then, global EV penetration had only reached ~0.6% (1 out of 167 of the world's passenger vehicles were electric).

Last year, it clocked in at a still modest 2.9%. In four years time, global EV penetration is expected to quadruplequintuple to 1215% (see chart below). Although 2025 is very interesting, look at Morgan Stanley's estimate for 2030 of 31.5% penetration! Note: Global EV penetration forecasts for 2030 range from 25% to 40%.

Earlier this year, top Li producer increased its demand forecast for 2025 to 1.4 million metric tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per year. Based on my observations of the Li market since early 2016, there's no way the industry can deliver that much growth in the next four years.

Yes, Li prices will be stronger for longer

Given that 2020's LCE demand was ~375k Mt (estimates range from 350k to 400k Mt), even if every existing producer doubled their output, it would take 16 new 25k Mt LCE/year projects to reach 1.14 million Mt/year. Yet, there are fewer than 12 projects that propose to deliver equal to or greater than 25k Mt LCE/year in the next four to six years.

A key takeaway: Each and every project takes two to four years to ramp up to nameplate capacity, or longer if a project is developed in stages. For example, Millennial Lithium Corp. (ML:TSX.V; MLNLF:OTCQB) has a six-year ramp up to full battery-grade LC production. Galaxy Resources Ltd.'s (GXY:ASX; GALXF:OTCMKTS) high-grade Sal de Vida brine project in Argentina is coming online in three stages. Both projects are forecast to reach full capacity around 20282030.

Therefore, supply of 1.14 million Mt/year won't arrive by 2025. In any event, that daunting figure pales in comparison to the anticipated need in 2030. RK Equity's Rodney Hooper is forecasting demand of 2.9 million Mt/year. Earlier this month, UBS increased its demand level in 2030 to 4.4 million Mt.

I strongly believe that unconventionalprojects (i.e., not brine or hard rock) will get funded out of sheer necessity. Several direct lithium extraction (DLE) projects will get developed, such as Standard Lithium Ltd.'s (SLL:TSX.V; STLHF:OTCQX) innovative brine project in Arkansas. But, we need a lot more than a handful of DLE projects.

Sedimentary deposits, such as clay-hosted mineralized zones, offer the best examples of an alternative to hard rock or brine. Globally, there are five or six large, clay-hosted Li projects (at preliminary feasibility study (PFS)-stage or beyond) in the pipeline. Note: No DLE or clay-hosted Li project has ever reached commercial scale. A few western U.S. states and Mexican clay-hosted juniors have projects that are pre-preliminary economic assessment (PEA) stage.

All hands on deck: Even unconventional projects desperately needed

Where does that leave readers who want to invest in the battery metals space? I believe that one clay-hosted (sedimentary) Li junior offers a very compelling risk-reward proposition. It's high-risk like the DLE plays, but has equal or better upside potential.

For clay-hosted Li extraction to be viable, commercial successes at Bacanora Minerals Ltd.'s Sonora and Lithium Americas Corp.'s (LAC:TSX; LAC:NYSE) Thacker Pass projects will be critical. These two, both well-funded and slated to reach production in 2023 or 2024, will blaze a path forward for those who follow.

That's why I remain quite bullish on Cypress Development Corp. (CYP:TSX.V; CYDVF:OTCQB; C1Z1:FSE). By standing on the shoulders of trail-blazing first movers, it will learn from their mistakes, gaining the confidence of stakeholders. To be clear, Cypress is interesting in its own right, not just for riding on the coattails of Thacker Pass.

Like other sedimentary projects, Cypress has a giant Li resource (Measured and Indicated of 6.3 million Mt LC Or 7.1 million Mt Li hydroxide). The strip ratio is very low at 0.3:1.0, compared to an average of 5.6:1.0 among several other sedimentary peers.

More important, CEO Dr. Bill Willoughby, his technical team and third-party advisors believe they've found a better mousetrap (operating flow sheet).

As it stands, all clay-hosted Li projects, including Cypress's, plan to use sulfuric acid to liberate lithium out of host claystone into solution. However, Cypress is carefully studying the use of hydrochloric (instead of sulfuric) acid as its leaching agent. Admittedly, companies in Nevada and elsewhere have been trying to crack the clay-hosted Li code for decades.

What's different this time? Three things.

Cypress Development Corp., at PFS-stage, well positioned in Nevada

First, Cypress is greatly benefiting from expert geologic, engineering and metallurgical consultant groups, plus the considerable efforts of various Nevada state and federal agencies dating back to the 1970s.

Second, Li prices are double their long-term average and trending higher, introducing a much-needed margin for error.

Third, I count 30-plus publicly-listed original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with market caps greater than CA$3 billion that are (collectively) relying on 1 million+ Mt LCE/year, by the middle of the decade.

If Cypress can operate with hydrochloric acid, it would eliminate the need to make, move and consume sulfuric acid, and there would be no need for a $102 million sulfuric acid plant. Preliminary thoughts are that this new flow sheet should generate better project economics, but it's impossible to quantify without further work.

Management believes that greater operating flexibility could potentially be achieved, allowing for the ability to produce (if warranted) more battery-grade hydroxide than is contemplated in the PFS.

A new flow sheet would make the project less logistically complex and more environmentally friendly. It would require a lot less wateralthough it would need more power. If Cypress could tap green-energy sources (wind/solar/geothermal), that would be really big news.

It's no exaggeration to suggest that Cypress could have (subject to a third-party BFS/DFS) the best clay-hosted sedimentary Li project in the world, due to its uniquely favorable combination of 1) geology, 2) proximity to sustainable sources of brine and/or geothermal fluids, 3) relatively modest use of water, and 4) very low strip ratio (0.3:1.0).

Thacker Pass clay-hosted Li project valued by analysts at ~CA$1.7 billion

Cypress is a few years behind LAC and Bacanora, but those companies will presumably pave the way forward for the company's eventual success. If Willoughby and his talented team can partner with an industry heavy-weight like Albemarle, then time (and technical/funding risk) to first production would be reduced.

The market is valuing Thacker Pass at ~CA$1.0 billion (CA$1.0B). Analysts are valuing it as high as CA$2.4B. If Thacker Pass is worth anywhere near the midpoint of ~CA$1.7B, then Cypress is arguably worth a lot more than its paltry (fully diluted) enterprise value of CA$132M.

Assuming that Cypress has a 75% chance of success, and discounting a potential CA$1.7B valuation by two-thirds (for Cypress being earlier stage on permitting and largely unfunded), that's still a prospective CA$438 million valuation.

Conclusion

I hope that readers can see that lithium demand will be strong to extremely strong over the next 10 years. If one agrees, one should consider buying shares in Cypress Development Corp.

Not only is Cypress compelling as a "second" mover behind Thacker Pass and Sonora, it could have a superior flow sheet and possibly the strongest economics of any Li project on the planet, except Neo Lithium Corp.'s (NLC:TSX.V) Tres Quebradas project in Argentina. Please see the peer comparison chart above.

Cypress has the second best IRR (internal rate of return), second best EV (enterprise value)/capex ratio and lowest market valuation. And, its ratio of EV to after-tax NPV(8%), of just 6.6%, is 84% below the peer average (42.1%) for the same ratio of eight similar-stage Li peers.

Cashed up with ~CA$22M, the PFS behind them, a pilot plant being fired up next month, water rights being negotiated and a fully-funded BFS/DFS expected in 1Q/2022this story has been meaningfully de-risked (albeit, still high risk).

As the (fewer than) 15 projects that could reach production by mid-decade begin to get tied up via off-take agreements, and as OEMs and Li producers acquire projects and/or Li juniors outright, Cypress will rise to the top of the list of investment vehicles well suited to play the unstoppable battery metals theme.

Earlier this week, Orocobre Ltd. (ORL:TSX; ORE:ASX) announced a AU$4 billion merger of equals with Galaxy Resources. Industry consolidation has barely begun. Obtaining security of battery metal supply will grow ever more urgent in coming years.

Peter Epstein is the founder of Epstein Research. His background is in company and financial analysis. He holds an MBA degree in financial analysis from New York University's Stern School of Business.

[NLINSERT]

Disclosures/Disclaimers: The content of this article is for information only. Readers fully understand and agree that nothing contained herein, written by Peter Epstein of Epstein Research [ER], (together, [ER]) about Cypress Development Corp., including but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts, calculations, etc. is not to be considered implicit or explicit investment advice. Nothing contained herein is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. [ER] is not responsible under any circumstances for investment actions taken by the reader. [ER] has never been, and is not currently, a registered or licensed financial advisor or broker/dealer, investment advisor, stockbroker, trader, money manager, compliance or legal officer, and does not perform market making activities. [ER] is not directly employed by any company, group, organization, party or person. The shares of Cypress Development Corp. are highly speculative, not suitable for all investors. Readers understand and agree that investments in small cap stocks can result in a 100% loss of invested funds. It is assumed and agreed upon by readers that they will consult with their own licensed or registered financial advisors before making any investment decisions.

At the time this article was posted, Cypress Development Corp. was a recent (not current) advertiser on [ER] and Peter Epstein owned shares in the company.

Readers understand and agree that they must conduct their own due diligence above and beyond reading this article. While the author believes he's diligent in screening out companies that, for any reasons whatsoever, are unattractive investment opportunities, he cannot guarantee that his efforts will (or have been) successful. [ER] is not responsible for any perceived, or actual, errors including, but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts and financial calculations, or for the completeness of this article or future content. [ER] is not expected or required to subsequently follow or cover events and news, or write about any particular company or topic. [ER] is not an expert in any company, industry sector or investment topic.

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A man and woman have been found dead at an apartment block on the Gold Coast in a suspected murder-suicide.

Police were called to the unit in Labrador at about 10.20am on Friday after a 53-year-old man was found dead.

Officers then located the body of a 48-year-old woman at the home in the Sapphire at the Broadway apartment building.

A man and woman have been found dead at an apartment block on the Gold Coast in a suspected murder-suicide

The apparent murder-suicide happened at the upmarket Sapphire at the Broadway

A crime scene was established at about 11.40am at the upmarket Sapphire apartment building.

Queensland Police said initial investigations indicate the man's death is not suspicious.

However, the woman's death is being treated as suspicious.

A local told the Courier Mail the man was a 'really nice guy'.

'He was always really happy and really smiley,' she said.

Forensic officers were seen at the scene amid investigations into the two 'sudden' deaths

A post-mortem will be conducted at a later date. Police investigations are continuing.

Forensic officers were seen at the scene amid investigations into the two 'sudden' deaths.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 20:36:13|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Marcos Orellana, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, has said that the disposal of contaminated Fukushima waters into the Pacific Ocean will bring enormous uncertainty regarding the move's potential impact on the global environment.

The prejudicial decision of Japanese Prime Minister Suga's cabinet to dump over 1.23 million tons of contaminated Fukushima Daiichi waters has drawn widespread condemnation from environmental organizations, civil societies, China, South Korea, and the UN.

"At this time, scientists are warning that risks of certain radioactive substances, such as tritium, that are present in the Fukushima waters have been underestimated," the UN expert told Xinhua on Thursday, this year's Earth Day. "There is still significant uncertainty regarding the potential impact."

Although the Japanese government has collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Orellana stressed that the support of IAEA alone "does not mean that Japan is discharged from its other international legal obligations."

"Modern public international law establishes a keystone obligation to prevent environmental harm to other countries or to the marine environment," he noted. "This obligation requires due diligence on behalf of Japan, which means Japan must do everything within its ability and capability to prevent damage to other countries and to the marine environment."

The UN expert warned that the existing technical standards of IAEA "may not offer adequate protection." "The so-called Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) applied by Japan does not remove certain radioactive substances, such as tritium and carbon-14," he said.

"Organic tritium is tritium that binds in the molecules of species, plants, and then fish, and then goes up the food chain, and can eventually harm humans," the expert added.

"The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas requires state parties to protect the marine environment and to prevent pollution," Orellana said.

"Regional conventions in the Pacific reiterate the duty to prevent transboundary environment harm... It is clear that high and low radioactive wastes can pose significant transboundary threat to the marine environment," he said.

The expert also mentioned that states need to carry out an environmental impact assessment study that will look at risks in detail, potential alternatives in detail, and will enable consultations in detail.

However, no such information has been shared by the Japanese government. "To my knowledge, the Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights has not received information regarding the carrying out of an environmental impact assessment in this case," he said.

The expert also emphasized the duties of consultation between nations, which are stipulated by international environmental law, when plans, projects, or decisions threaten to cause environmental harm.

"These consultations are very important, because they enable and inform the exchange of views regarding possible risks and alternatives," he noted.

"At the same time, international human rights law establishes a duty on states to consult people, communities that may be potentially affected by their decisions," he added.

Orellana also mentioned the triple crisis the Earth has been facing -- toxic pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. "If we continue to pollute the planet, we are putting human existence in jeopardy."

"I would also like to say that human rights require a clean and healthy safe environment. A healthy life is not possible where the environment is polluted," he said. "That's why governments have a duty to prevent exposure to toxic substances. Everyone has the right to live in a healthy environment." Enditem
The man had been in self-isolation since being identified as a close contact and tested positive on Thursday. Loading The first leak prompted West Australian Premier Mark McGowan to push for a reduction in flights from India at Thursdays national cabinet, remarking that 40 per cent of his states overseas cases in the past month had been travellers from the country. There are 29 active COVID-19 cases in Western Australias hotel quarantine system, compared with 90 in NSW. In Sydneys CBD, there have been two reported instances of possible transmission of COVID-19 within the hotel quarantine system in the past week: one at the Adina hotel and one at the Mercure.

Both remain under investigation and involved a single instance of transmission between people staying in adjoining hotel rooms. The Mercure transmission involved a recently returned traveller from Malaysia who was infected with the B.1351, or South African, variant of the virus. The other transmission involved the B1.17, or UK, variant from a traveller whose country of origin has not been made public. Meanwhile, NSW has so far avoided a possible local transmission of the virus following an incident at Port Botany involving an overseas ship crew last month. On March 31, a group of 15 Port Botany workers boarded a ship on which crew members later tested positive for COVID-19, including a man whose body washed ashore in Vanuatu nearly two weeks later.

All 15 Australian workers who boarded the Inge Kosan bulk liquid ship have now been tested for COVID-19, with 11 negative results received so far, NSW Health confirmed on Friday. The ship left Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and docked in Sydney for 24 hours. It left for Vanuatu the next day and no crew members disembarked. NSW administered 3570 COVID-19 vaccines to frontline workers and their families on Thursday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Friday afternoon the COVID-19 vaccine rollout was going from strength to strength, as Australia approaches 1 million vaccinations administered by GPs. According to data released on Thursday, 947,504 shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been delivered in primary care settings since the start of the rollout.
Even before the COVID crisis struck South America, the continents nations held overwhelmingly negative views about their respective governments economic performance. According to the reputable public opinion survey Latinobarometro, only 16% of the entire regions populace considered their economic performance to be satisfactory before the onset of the pandemic. For obvious reasons, straining countries healthcare systems, destroying jobs and decimating demand for various goods will only exacerbate popular discontent with how things are going both economically and politically, alerting analysts to the possibility of another Pink Tide (initially the Hugo Chavez-inspired rejection of neoliberal dogma in favour of state socialism, with a various levels of leftist zeal).

If the new tide ever happens, it would germinate from a set of parameters very different from those of the mid-2000s: COVID has stunted hopes for another commodity boom, the United States is largely disinterested in how Latin American countries are faring provided they do not trigger other socio-political challenges to America (i.e. the farther out the less interest there would be in how nations cope with the consequences of COVID) and China will also be much less inclined to inflate comradely economies with asset purchases and pre-financing deals. Thus, facing a juxtaposition of little international interest/intervention and increasingly worsening fiscal balances, the Pink Tide might in fact become a Red one. In one Latin American country, a recent presidential election shows that such seemingly farfetched visions of the future might not be that outlandish.

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Perus presidential elections took place on April 11, five months after the impeachment of Martin Vizcarra (for alleged cases of corruption). The ballot had no evident favourite, still, not many Peru-watchers could have estimated that Pedro Castillo, a primary school teacher and union leader from the rather impoverished region of Cajamarca on the Ecuadorian border, would win the 1st round. He did so, garnering more than 19% of the votes and leaving behind several heavy-hitting politicians, including Keiko Fujimori (the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, currently behind bars), Hernando de Soto (a neoliberal economist) and Ollanta Humala (former President of Peru). Becoming the frontrunner in the presidential race, Castillo will face-off with Fujimori in the second round of elections on June 06.

Before we set on to deconstruct the prospects of Perus oil and gas industry, it would be politic to assess how and why could a far-left candidate overpower professional politicians from Limas couloirs of power. First, it needs to be noted that Peru has the second-worst per capita COVID death rate from all of Latin America (1 716 deaths per million citizens, with almost 56 000 deaths in total). Second, most of the center-to-right presidential elections were hard to vote for  apart from the association with her incarcerated father Keiko Fujimori herself was serving a sentence for money laundering as recently as 2019, Hernando de Soto was Alberto Fujimoris lead economic advisor and thus responsible for the austerity measures and market deregulation that has pauperized Perus poorer regions.

Related: The Era Of Lithium Is Only Just Beginning



Against such a background it is perhaps more understandable how a rural candidate who only a month ago polled 5% nationwide surge to national prominence  radical solutions usually spring up in times of universal disorderliness. This is also corroborated by the fact that albeit voting is mandatory in Peru, almost 30% of voters did not turn up at the ballot box and another 19% spoiled their voting slip. Be as it may for readers of OilPrice, the main question arising from the above would be: what would Pedro Castillos win translate into in terms of energy policy? The election program of Pedro Castillo explicitly states the revision of Perus 1993 Constitution, with the aim of maximizing the states revenues from the nations plentiful strategic resources.

The resource recovery would trigger the renationalization of natural gas and oil fields, though providing for a compensation to respective acreage holders. It is an open question whether all Peruvian hydrocarbon deposits are to be considered as strategic or some might be considered to be conventional and thus left with their current owners. The department of Cajamarca that Castillo hails from wields ample gold reserves so perhaps the task of nationalizing mining rights would take precedence over oil and gas, being closer to heart and easier to present politically. Moreover, Peru is certainly no Latin American heavyweight in terms of its crude production  traditionally crude output would hover around 50kbpd. This has dropped even lower, to 34kbpd in March 2021, in recent months as the 3 largest Peruvian oilfields remained closed on the back of indigenous protests.

Were Pedro Castillo to win the 2nd round of presidential elections, he might still lack the clout to put the idea of energy nationalization into practice. Although his Peru Libre party is poised to take 37 seats in the concurrent general election (out of 150), all the political parties that rank from 2nd to 5th are right-wing and if combined can form a supermajority that could easily derail the presumed presidents vision for Peru. Moreover, if Castillo cannot garner the support of at least one more political party apart from the centre-left Juntos por El Peru, he could be subjected to the same impeachment process that has debilitated so President Vizcarras tenure. Thus, Perus immediate political future will be most probably fragmented, with an increasingly palpable segregation of interests along urban-rural lines.

Talks of a Peruvian Evo Morales or Hugo Chavez notwithstanding, Pedro Castillo lacks the nationwide support that could aid him in consolidating power over a longer term. The capital Lima is still firmly liberal and were it for a different set of rivals Castillo could have fared much worse than he did. For international investors this might be good news, at the same time there is one factor of risk that keeps on increasing in importance - local communities, be they indigenous or otherwise. The extent to which every new project will be assessed to when it comes to water or soil pollution, infrastructure build-up or simply revenue allocation is almost certain to increase over time.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
WASHINGTON  In his first prime-time address to the nation last month, President Joe Biden promised a new website to help people navigate vaccine availability at the time every adult is eligible in May.

That eligibility timeline was then moved up by the White House with the guarantee that anyone over the age of 16 who wanted to get a Covid-19 vaccine would be eligible by April 19. But that date came and went without the pledged federal government site.

Some of the presidents health advisers considered releasing more federal tools this month, given the widespread supply of vaccines and now few restrictions on who qualifies, but the consensus was that most of the effort's energy and resources should be devoted to combating vaccine hesitancy, according to two people familiar with the strategy discussions.

The decisionmaking showcases new challenges confronting the Biden administration as the pandemic enters a new phase. No single tool will be a cure-all for achieving herd immunity but the focus has morphed into simply making it easier for people to get their shots, according to health officials involved in the planning.

The Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with other federal agencies, has been working on converting vaccinefinder.org to a .gov destination for several months but the project was ultimately not fast-tracked for earlier completion.

A senior administration official defended the decision not to roll out a site simultaneously with extensive eligibility, arguing that the issue that plagued many earlier this spring was an inability to secure an appointment.

Now, officials say, the concern is mostly about a decrease in demand.

We knew we were going to hit this point, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NBC News on Thursday. Now comes the hard work of working with our community corps, trying to understand why people may be hesitant.

The White House met its goal of getting 200 million shots in arms in the first 100 days more than a week early, which is why it is now pivoting to urge employers to offer paid time off for vaccinations and any after-effects.

Story continues

Details are scarce on what will be unveiled by next week, to meet the presidents March promise. Officials said there would be new tools rolling out but declined to offer more specifics.

During his prime-time speech, Biden guaranteed a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones.

On the same day, the White House released a fact sheet with various pledges, including a 1-800 number that would serve as a resource for those who lack internet access. We will launch a call center by May 1st to provide guidance and assistance with finding a vaccine, the announcement said.

That has not been launched yet, despite the increased push by the Biden administration this month to reach people in more rural, remote areas, where they may lack broadband access. An administration official said the phone project was still in the works and could be debuted next week.

The new government website is expected to work similarly to the current Vaccine Finder, which is a partnership between the CDC and the Boston Childrens Hospital, along with help from the Harvard Medical School and Castlight, a health care navigation company.

It allows users to put in their ZIP code and find a range of options for appointments within a 50-mile radius. Once the list is produced, it redirects people to various sites, so they can be book appointments through local pharmacy chains and providers independently. Officials declined comment on the cost and contractors involved in the process.
The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would help combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a bipartisan denunciation of such violence during the coronavirus pandemic and a modest step toward legislating in a chamber where most of President Joe Bidens agenda has stalled.

The measure would expedite the review of hate crimes at the Justice Department and provide support for local law enforcement in response to thousands of reported violent incidents in the past year. Police have seen a noted uptick in such crimes, including the February death of an 84-year-old man who was pushed to the ground near his home in San Francisco, a young family that was injured in a Texas grocery store attack last year and the killing of six Asian women in shootings last month in Atlanta.

The names of the six women killed in Georgia are listed in the bill, which passed the Senate on a 94-1 vote. Biden applauded the measure, tweeting, Acts of hate against Asian Americans are wrong, un-American, and must stop. The House is expected to consider similar legislation in the coming weeks.

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, the legislations lead sponsor, said the measure is incredibly important to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who have often felt very invisible in our country, always seen as foreign, always seen as the other. She said the message of the legislation is as important as its content and substance.

Hirono, the first Asian American woman in the Senate, said the attacks are a predictable and foreseeable consequence of racist and inflammatory language that has been used against Asians during the pandemic, including slurs used by former President Donald Trump.

Illinois. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs during a 2004 attack in Iraq, said she had been asked what country she was from while wearing her U.S. military uniform. Duckworth, the first member of Congress born in Thailand, said there is more work to be done, but the bills passage tells the community that we will stand with you and we will protect you.

Its unclear whether the bipartisan bill is a sign of things to come in the Senate, where Republicans and Democrats have fundamental differences and often struggle to work together. Under an agreement struck by Senate leaders at the start of the year, Republicans and Democrats pledged to at least try to debate bills and see if they could reach agreement through the legislative process. The hate crimes legislation is the first byproduct of that agreement. Some said it doesnt need to be the last.

Hirono said it is her sincere hope that we can channel and sustain the bipartisan work done on this important piece of legislation to a larger bill that would change policing laws, which Senate Republicans are negotiating with House Democrats. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, said ahead of the vote that he hopes the bipartisan example of the hate crimes bill will extend to an infrastructure package that has so far divided the parties.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the legislation shows that the chamber can work in a bipartisan fashion, and he aims to make that happen as much as possible. That doesnt mean we forgo our principles. It doesnt mean we cut back on the boldness that is needed, he said. It means we try to work with our Republican colleagues wherever we can.

But unlike many of the larger, more controversial policy issues Democrats hope to tackle in their new majority, efforts to combat the rising violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have almost universal backing. More than 3,000 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting center for such crimes, and its partner advocacy groups since mid-March 2020.

Republicans said last week that they agreed with the premise of the legislation and signaled they were willing to back it with minor changes, an unusual sign of comity amid frequent standstills in the polarized Senate. Hirono worked closely with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to incorporate some additional Republican and bipartisan provisions, including better reporting of hate crimes nationally and grant money for states to set up hate crime hotlines.

The revised bill would also replace language in the original legislation that called for guidance describing best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID19 pandemic. The legislation would require the government to issue guidance aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes during the pandemic to address some GOP concerns about policing speech.

Republicans agreed to back the bill after the Senate also voted on and rejected a series of GOP amendments, including efforts to prevent discrimination against Asian Americans in college admissions and reporting about restrictions on religious exercise during the pandemic.

Only one Republican, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, voted against the bill. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on why he opposed it.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who earlier this month was one of six senators voting against consideration of the bill, saying it bypasses the committee process and emphasizes creating a political narrative, voted in favor of it today, according to news reports.

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., introduced a similar bill in the House, which she says is expected to be considered in May.

For more than a year, Asian Americans all across our nation have been screaming out for help, Meng said, and the Senate showed that they heard our pleas.
President Joe Biden convened a global summit of leaders from 40 countries Thursday, in a two-day event filled with empty promises from the worlds largest producers and consumers of fossil fuels that they will change and do betterby 2030, or 2050, or 2060, or some deadline even further down the road.

As for a genuine global plan to tackle the dangers of global warming and climate change, that is nowhere to be found, since the affairs of world capitalism are determined by two factors: the profit interests of giant corporations and the super-rich, and the strategic interests of rival nation-states. Both these fundamental characteristics of world capitalism prevent an event like the global summit from having any real significance.

President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

For the Biden administration, the event was a step toward the reassertion of American leadership on the issue of climate change, which was abandoned during the Trump administration, when US policy was subordinated to the outright denial of climate change that is the prevailing politics of the Republican Party. Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, an action which Biden has reversed, while appointing former Secretary of State John Kerry as his climate envoy to the world.

The claim of global leadership was somewhat compromised by Bidens performance Thursday morning, when he addressed the leaders of 40 countries, including China, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, France and Britain, as though he was speaking to an election rally of AFL-CIO bureaucrats in Pittsburgh.

He began by declaring, I see an opportunity to create millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs, and went on to cite the supposed benefits of his policies for electrical workers, oilfield workers, coal miners, autoworkers and construction workers.

Biden went from there to emphasizing the critical importance of slowing global warming, declaring that the current decade is the decisive decade according to scientists. This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of a climate crisis. We must try to keep the Earths temperature to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But while warning about the implications of an increase beyond 1.5 degrees, in terms of fires, floods, droughts, heat waves, and hurricanes tearing through communities, he echoed all previous US presidents and their counterparts worldwide in insisting on reliance on the private sector, i.e., the capitalist class.

At times, Bidens remarks were so incoherent that it was doubtful they could have been scripted, although he was reading from a teleprompter. Consider this paragraph, provided by the White House website, which must be taken as the official, authorized version. He was describing the financial resources that must be mobilized for the battle against climate change:

Those dollarsthose dollars being invested are often the hard-earned savings of our workerspensions. We cant take steps to protect our workers if we dont step up. We have to be able to move forward from the downside deal, then into the upside, and strengthen the resilience of our financial system. I have directed my team to develop an approach to do exactly that.

One does not envy the French, Russian or Chinese translators seeking to tackle this.

The keystone of Bidens address was his much-publicized pledge to reduce US emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2030, compared to 2005, a level which has been criticized by climate scientists as inadequate, especially given the outsized role played by the United States as the worlds biggest polluter over the past half century. This was combined with a pledge to reduce net total emissions to zero by 2050.

The supposed grandiosity of Bidens pledges swept some of his media admirers entirely off their feet. CNN climate correspondent Bill Weir gushed that Bidens proposal was on the scale of President Kennedys pledge to go the Moon in ten years, World War II and the Industrial Revolution all combined.

This is rather a lot to load on the shaky shoulders of a 78-year-old US president.

The WSWS has published an extensive analysis of Bidens plans for climate change, and the details need not be repeated here (See: The Biden climate plan, Part One: A drop in the ocean). Suffice it to say, that any plan that bases itself on the voluntary cooperation of the giant oil and chemical companies and the Wall Street banks is doomed from the start.

The half-measures proposed by Biden are likely to founder due to domestic political opposition. The fossil fuel industries dominate the Republican Party and significant sections of the Democratic Party, particularly in states like West Virginia (coal), and Ohio and Pennsylvania (fracking). There is little chance of passage of even fragments of Bidens proposals through the 50-50 Senate, and action in the House is also in question.

Even more critical is the question of global coordination. Biden himself admitted that the United States, with 15 percent of the worlds emissions, cannot resolve the issue of climate change on its own. The US is the largest producer of fossil fuels, with Russia second, Iran third and China fourth.

Comparing that list with the directives of American foreign policy makes clear the absurdity of pretending that the global summit can have a significant effect. Biden was seeking the collaboration of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he recently labeled a killer, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose government has been officially accused of genocide by the US State Department.

As for Iran, the third-largest producer of fossil fuels, it is being systematically blockaded by the United States, and its leaders denounced as terrorists and targeted for assassination by Israel, Americas top ally in the region.

Iran was of course not invited to the summit. If Putin and Xi nonetheless attended the summit and made statements in support of a global effort against climate change, these were just as perfunctory, if less incoherent and parochial than those of Biden.

The European powers attended the summit and made dutiful salutations to the return of American leadership on climate change under Biden. Japan and South Korea did likewise. Their contributions expressed relief that Biden and not Trump was representing the United States, but did not go beyond that.

The empty promises exchanged by all concerned cannot alter the fact that the main thrust of American foreign policy is to build up military and diplomatic pressure against Russia and China. The climate change initiative is itself an element in this global conflict, as the administration brands China the worlds leading polluter and criticizes Russia for exploiting newfound oil resources in parts of Siberia accessible because of global warming.

The logic of American foreign policy is to prepare for war against Russia, China or both. If such conflicts escalated to the use of nuclear weapons, and there is no reason to think otherwise, climate change would take on a new and terrible meaning, threatening the extinction of humanity.
The Armenian deaths were once considered the first genocide of the 20th century (many historians now say the German Empires 1904-1907 campaign of killings and persecution of the Herero and Nama people of Namibia, then known as German South West Africa, was the first).

For many Armenians, the genocide in their homeland is a scar carried down through generations, still evoking strong emotions, aggravated by Turkeys insistence that the genocide is a fiction.

Why has Turkey denied this was a genocide?

Turkeys government has acknowledged that atrocities were committed during that period but has argued that a large number of Turks were also killed and that the Armenian casualty figures are wildly exaggerated. A succession of Turkish leaders have denounced the genocide as a falsehood intended to undermine their account of the creation of modern Turkey.

Turkeys denial of genocide is ingrained into Turkish society. Writers who have dared to use the term have been prosecuted under Section 301 of Turkeys penal code, which bans denigrating Turkishness.

The denial is taught at an early age, with school textbooks calling the genocide a lie, describing the Armenians of that period as traitors and declaring the actions by the Ottoman Turks as necessary measures against Armenian separatism.

Why had U.S. presidents refrained from calling the Armenian killings a genocide?

Some have come close. President Ronald Reagan tangentially referred to the genocide of the Armenians in an April 22, 1981, statement commemorating the liberation of the Nazi death camps.

But American presidents have generally avoided describing the killings this way to avoid any backlash from Turkey that would endanger its cooperation in regional conflicts or diplomacy.
Guwahati, April 23 : The Covid-19 pandemic, the resultant economic fallout and the ensuing restrictions could not foil the spirit of around two lakh tourists, including 570 foreigners, from visiting the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNP & TR), considered as one of the best conserved wildlife reserves in India.

The Director of the UNESCO world heritage site, Karmashree P. Sivakumar, said that since the park-cum-tiger reserve was re-opened on October 21 last year, as many as 1,98,595 tourists, including 570 foreign nationals, have visited KNP & TR in the six months till Wednesday (April 21).

"Around 1.74 lakh tourists, including 11,595 foreigners, had visited the park during the corresponding period of 2019-20. Thousands of more tourists are expected to visit Kaziranga before it is closed ahead of the monsoon," Sivakumar told IANS.

The park-cum-tiger reserve was closed for three months last year due to the pandemic -- from March to May -- before the annual floods inundated around 95 per cent of the 1,302 sq km area of KNP & TR for four months (June to September).

The authorities of KNP & TR, extending across Assam's five districts -- Golaghat, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Karbi Anglong -- along the Arunachal Pradesh border, earn Rs 5 crore on an average each season.

Earlier this month, the officials had successfully translocated three rhino calves, two females and one male, which were rescued two years ago during the floods, to the Manas Tiger Reserve (MTR) in western Assam.

Like previous years, the floods in Assam badly hit the KNP & TR between June and September last year, with 18 rhinos and 135 other wild animals dying due to the deluge.

Sivakumar said that 172 wild animals were rescued from the flood waters last year.

In 2019, 263 animals, including many endangered rhinos, were killed in the floods while 169 animals were rescued.

"Maximum efforts are being made, including construction of highland, to take care of the animals in the national park during the floods and other calamities," Sivakumar said.

Set up in 1908, the KNP & TR is one of India's seven UNESCO world heritage sites in the natural and environment category since 1985. It is home to more than 2,400 Indian rhinoceros.

Besides rhinos, the KNP & TR has 121 tigers, 1,089 elephants and large numbers of Asiatic buffalo, swamp deer, wild boar, hog deer, porcupine and other endangered animals and reptiles.

Renowned environmentalist and wildlife expert Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar said that KNP & TR is a natural wonder and a great treasure of the planet.

"People from all over the world give utmost importance to this universal property of mother earth. Kaziranga not only protects rich biodiversity and diverse wildlife, but it also carries the identity of the Assamese people and their culture. It must be well protected for future generations and preservation of nature and wildlife," Lahkar told IANS.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
New Zealands first government funded space mission has taken a giant leap.

Auckland Universitys Te Punaha Atea-Auckland Space Institute has been announced as the permanent host of the New Zealand based mission control centre for a global methane tracking satellite.

MethaneSAT is a really exciting opportunity to showcase New Zealands science and research expertise on the world stage, while making a significant contribution to climate change by mapping agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases. Its great to see Auckland University, with the help of Rocket Lab, playing such a key role says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods.

Mission Operations Control Centre (MOCC) for the mission will be managed by Rocket Lab. Once it is running smoothly, it will be transferred to Te Punaha Atea-Auckland Space Institute as the host.

This international partnership will accelerate our capability in our rapidly growing space sector, increase our reputation for future space missions and provide vital data to support our own climate change policy, Woods says.

The mission will see the New Zealand Space Agency partner with one of the worlds leading environmental NGOs, The Environmental Defense Fund, which will also include a team of leading New Zealand atmospheric science and remote sensing researchers led by NIWAs Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, Woods continues.

In addition to its agricultural emissions research, the New Zealand science team will work with the US based science team thats leading the missions science on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The US team is led by the University of Harvard in close partnership with The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Local Fianna Fail Senator for Roscommon/Galway Eugene Murphy said the Government must give more banking powers to Credit Unions and the Post Office network in light of the recent exit of KBC Bank from Ireland.

Senator Murphy said that the exit of KBC from Ireland will be a huge blow for their customers and their mortgage customers in particular.

KBCs rates were the lowest in the Irish market. Now they are selling their mortgage book to a bank which has the highest mortgage rates. There is less choice for customers- we are rapidly heading towards a situation where we will only have two major banks in this country with little or no competition which is not good for customers, said Senator Murphy.

Senator Murphy pointed out that if a KBC customer with a 90% loan-to-value mortgage is paying a variable mortgage rate of 3.3% and they move to a bank charging 4.5% for the same mortgage it will mean a significant increase. On a mortgage of 300,000 over 20 years, on a higher rate of 4.5%, customers will pay about 45,000 more than they would have paid with KBC. So many people and businesses are already struggling to keep their heads above water in these difficult economic times and a hike in mortgage rates could be disastrous for many people, said Senator Murphy.

The Fianna Fail Senator said that the Government must seriously examine the provision of giving greater banking powers to both the Credit Union movement and the Post Office network.

Also read: Leitrim TD says Coroners system requires urgent reform
New Delhi:

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said that armed as well as para-military forces will be able to make calls to their families using satellite phone for Re 1 per minute from Thursday.

The current call rate for most of such connections was Rs. 5 per minute, although some subsidised ones paid Re 1.

"On the eve of Diwali, we are announcing that Armed forces and para-military forces stationed in remote areas and tough terrains on borders will be able to make satellite phone calls at the rate of Re 1 per minute, instead of Rs. 5 applicable on it. This will enable them to talk their family for longer duration," Mr Sinha said.

The minister also announced that no rental will be charged from security forces from Thursday.

"At present, Rs. 500 monthly rent is charged for satellite phone connections from security forces. From tomorrow onwards, they will not need to pay any rental," Mr Sinha said.

Satellite phone service was earlier being provided by Tata Communications but now it will be provided by the state-run telecom firm BSNL.

The call charge was Re 1 in 2009-10 to begin with, to be revised every 5 years.

"We have decided that charges will be Re 1 only per call and not increased to Rs. 5," the telecom minister said.

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the cost will have an impact of Rs. 3-4 crore per annum which will be borne by the government.

At present there are 2,500 satellite phone connections operational in the country.

"We have capacity of 5,000 connections. We are informing the defence and the home ministries that more connections can be given. The total capacity can be further increased, if required, in six months," Mr Sinha added.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Results spewed from sophisticated and expensive machines inside Michigan marijuana testing labs have a huge impact on the bottom lines of marijuana businesses.

They can make the difference between a lucrative harvest or its total destruction.

They establish how potent the products are and ensure that vaping cartridges arent laden with heavy metals, that marijuana is free of mold and that more than 50 different pesticides or potentially deadly salmonella arent in edibles.

Michigans stringent testing requirements are looked upon as a nuisance by some in the cannabis industry, but illustrate a main function of marijuana regulation: product safety and consistency.

At Jacksons Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs that opened in July 2020, hundreds of colorful gummy candies containing THC lay atop each other in a cardboard box awaiting very serious scientific analysis. Once-white lab coats smeared with brown hash oil hang from a nearby rack.

On average, we get between 200 and 500 samples every week, said lab director David Egerton.

Marijuana in a sealed bag that resembles what one might find in a police evidence room, complete with a chain of custody, is peeled opened by a woman wearing rubber gloves in a lab coat. After crushing and breaking apart the pungent buds, theyll be put through the cryo-grinding process, submerged in liquid nitrogen, made brittle and shaken by a machine that pulverizes the marijuana to a consistent dust.

The cryo-grinding machine does the same to infused edibles, topicals or any marijuana product thats not in liquid or concentrate form. The samples are portioned and quarantined in containers for pesticide, solvent, microbial, THC and other testing.

The results are logged in what is called a certificate of analysis and tied to the batch of product back where it originated. If a marijuana sample tests at 25% THC, the same percentage will appear on every portion of the product that is made available on retail shelves.

The test results will be permanently tied to that batch, said Egerton, who previously worked for marijuana labs in California,. Theres really not a whole lot of opportunity for fraud.

But that doesnt mean that sloppy quality standards, faulty equipment or contamination cant play a role in results.

I can guarantee if you take 10 samples to 10 different labs youll will get 10 different numbers, Egerton said. When were talking about contaminants, there are a lot of things that can come into play when were talking about very low levels.

The Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs machinery, valued at more than $5 million, needs to be tested nearly daily to ensure theyre calibrated properly and producing trustworthy, accurate results, Egerton said. This is done by frequently running known control samples to make sure the tests are generating results properly.

There is a phenomenon known as lab shopping, which entails companies testing their product at several labs to find which issues the most desirable results, for instance, the highest THC levels.

Companies are allowed to submit research and development samples for testing that arent tied to a specific product batch. Usually this is to help hone products to desired specifications, but it may also be used to feel out lab results before having product tested with binding results.

Related: The science of weed: Ann Arbor lab makes sure dispensaries sell high-quality bud

An employee performs testing on the solvent and impurity levels of Michigan-grown marijuana at Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs in Jackson, on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

The Michigan Regulatory Agency, which oversees and audits marijuana labs, has fined or otherwise disciplined at least five testing facilities since the recreational cannabis industry opened in December 2019. Over that time, the number of labs licensed to test recreational product has increased from about three to a dozen statewide.

Viridis Laboratories in Lansing was fined $2,500 after the MRA determined it had been testing concentrates without approval between Feb. 9 and Feb. 19, 2020.

ABKO Laboratories in Warren was fined $4,500 after the MRA found it possessed marijuana product samples that werent properly logged and lacked quality standards that contributed to improper failing test results and complaints being made against the lab in March of 2020.

Iron Labs in Walled Lake was fined $1,000 for failing to submit certain annually required proficiency tests.

PSI Labs of Ann Arbor was fined $12,000 in February of 2020, although the specific actions that led to the fine are not contained in public records available on the states disciplinary action website.

The Spott in Kalamazoo was cited in January 2020 after the MRA determined it had tested product after it had already been packaged, contrary to state rules, and produced test results that were suspected of being erroneous due to a lack of accurate analytical testing methodologies.

The labs are the key to health and safety and so state labs are held to a higher standard, said Robin Schneider, director of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association trade group. The testing is key to making sure the products are safe and I believe thats why the state is very serious when it comes to making sure those labs are reporting accurately and that their machines are working.

Being that were a new industry, sometimes you have machine malfunctions and you have to get those fixed.

Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs has a crew of employees referred to as sample technicians who drive around the state picking up random samples from customers and return to the whirring, white-walled lab where theyre checked into the states marijuana tracking system, called METRC.

Samples are counted, weighed, photographed and labeled upon removal from their tamper-proof packaging, helping to ensure product doesnt vanish between facilities and the lab.

The lab requires a minimum of 15 grams or about a half-ounce of marijuana flower to complete the full regimen of tests, but the Marijuana Regulatory Agency sets minimum sample size requirements based on the total amount of product harvested or processed. For instance, 0.5% of an entire marijuana harvest must be provided for testing, meaning grow operations harvesting hundreds or thousands of plants at a time are required to offer up significant amounts of product samples.

Whatever isnt used up in testing ends up in a hazardous waste bin thats collected by a hazardous waste disposal company.

Full testing of a single sample of marijuana regularly costs companies in excess of $500. Infinite Testing Chemical Labs with 23 employees turns around testing for flower in about 4-6 days, according to Egerton. Results for oils, concentrates and other products that dont require microbial testing can be completed within three days.

Failures are rare, but do occur, said Egerton who moved to Michigan from California for the job.

Butane levels are shown on a computer screen inside the gas chromatography room at Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs in Jackson, on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

Egerton said customer response to testing failure varies.

Ive had clients come to me like, Oh, yeah, we knew that was going to fail. Other times, they are shocked and aghast, Egerton said. Usually in those situations, we try to explain where the failure is potentially coming from and it could be a number of sources.

Vape carts could be failing for heavy metals -- thats usually from the actual vape cart hardware -- if were talking about residual solvents, its usually a result of not purging for for long enough, if its pesticides, thats usually a little bit harder and involves taking it back to the actual plant material and understanding where it was grown and under what conditions.

In one instance Egerton recalled, a grower failed tests because the facility had been fogged with a pesticide bomb and the residual chemicals were bound to the plants. The entire crop had to be destroyed.

In other cases, weve seen microbial contamination come from filters within the ventilation system, Egerton said.

Entering one of the testing rooms, Egerton points to a square machine on the counter.

Thats a really expensive microwave, he says, announcing the $300,000 price tag.

The machine breaks marijuana down to its atomic level to test for nickel, copper, mercury, cadmium and other contaminants.

In the gas chromatography room, 31-year-old Dr. Joe Maricelli of Jackson looks at charts on a computer screen that are representative of butane levels in product. Butane and other solvents are used in the marijuana concentrate extraction process and residuals can be cause for testing failures.

Its very rare to have a fail, Maricelli said. Id say less than 5%. Now, to say theres absolutely zero stuff that we see in there, thats a little bit more rare, but typically the levels were seeing are so low that its not even going to be quantifiable from the states standards.

If a product fails testing and cant be converted for use in other products -- for instance, failed flower may broken down for oil extraction -- it must be destroyed according to state rules. How often that occurs isnt clear.

We do not currently track this information, said Marijuana Regulatory Agency spokesman David Harns. Some licensees opt to destroy product rather than remediate it -- these are voluntary destructions based on business decisions. Some products are destroyed once they reach expiration. Although destructions are documented in METRC, we do not have reports that drill down into this data.

Depending on the nature of a failed test, there are options short of total destruction of a harvest. A retest can be requested; however, the samples must pass whatever test they failed twice before they will be approved for retail sale.

Marijuana flower may also have oil extracted for use in edibles, oils, vaping cartridges or waxes, although its less lucrative to sell in that manner. Because some microbial testing limits are more lenient for recreational marijuana, the product is sometimes transferred from medical marijuana inventory to recreational use.

There are methods for preventing fungus and microbes before they appear on plants and for addressing them after they appear.

I do know people will use peroxide treatments, but thats before harvest and its used to mitigate some of the microbial load thats on there, Egerton said.

John Laskowski, who operates a 1,000-plant grow operation in Bay City, said the techniques used to ensure product passes state standards are usually undesirable when it comes to quality.

I cant believe people smoke remediated weed, Laskowski said. They cook that stuff under a UV light. If its that bad, theyll send it to a processor and press it into hash and that way its cleaned. Its a good way to wash bad product.

If contamination requires converting flower to an extract in order to pass testing, Laskowski said that can mean a loss of nearly 80% of the original value.

On one occasion, Laskowsi said his flower failed testing for high metal content.

It was because we had a fire in our flower room, he said. We had a bulb explode. It fell, hit the table deck, started the table deck on fire and burned (everything) on top of the table.

It failed, so we threw it out.

The following recreational marijuana safety compliance labs are licensed in Michigan:

North Coast Testing Laboratories, 1725 W. Beecher, Adrian

Viridis Laboratories, 2827 E. Saginaw St., Lansing

Oxford Natural Laboratories, 4433 Manchester St., Kalamazoo

Therapeutic Health Choice, 903 N Euclid Ave., Bay City

Cambium Analytica, 1230 Woodmere Ave., Traverse City

Iron Laboratories, 1825 E. West Maple Rd., suite A, Walled Lake

ACT Laboratories, 617 E. Hazel St., Lansing

The Spott, 550 E. Cork St., Kalamazoo

Viridis North, 1424 Straits Dr., Bay City

Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, 4400 Ann Arbor Rd., Jackson

Steadfast, 21928 John R. Rd., Hazel Park

PSI Labs, 3970 Varsity Dr., Ann Arbor

More on MLive:

Lawsuit accuses Detroit licensing program of discrimination

Michigan communities to split $10 million in tax revenue

Glimpse inside recreational retail experience

Marijuana stock market may be coming to Michigan

New taxes, stock market proposed to boost minority investment

Michigan to increase access to marijuana market

Michigan businesses licensed tow grow over 500,000 plants

Marijuana thrives in market changed by the coronavirus

Spouses of licensees may be able to work for government

A prior marijuana conviction could be a good thing
Great British Bake Off 2018 star Manon Lagreve celebrated seven months of pregnancy on Thursday as she shared new radiant snaps.

The French baker, 29, who left the show in week eight in 2018, took to Instagram as she displayed her growing baby bump in a pink gingham dress.

Manon, who is set to welcome her baby in June, teamed the item of clothing with a beige jumper and a stylish cropped denim jacket.

Lovely: Great British Bake Off 2018 star Manon Lagreve celebrated seven months of pregnancy on Thursday as she shared new radiant snaps

Adding some finishing touches, the influencer opted for espadrilles and a straw handbag.

Manon left her blonde highlighted locks loose and added a slick of radiant make-up with tortoise shell sunglasses.

Writing a heartfelt caption, the French baker celebrated seven months of pregnancy as she joked about having 'baby brain'.

Manon penned: '7 months pregnant, can't believe in 2 months we'll be parents, and we'll have our own baby!!!

Radiant: The French baker, 29, who left the show in week eight in 2018, took to Instagram as she displayed her growing baby bump in a pink gingham dress

'I kept telling friends that I have tended to so many babies, that it is going to be so interesting to see how I react to ours hi hi.

'Also baby brain is going strong, and I feel like I forget 10 times a day what I am meant to do.'

Manon announced she was expecting her first child with fiance Luke Bennett in March during a sweet interview with Hello! magazine.

The French baker told the publication: 'I grew up knowing I wanted to be a mum so I'm very happy and relaxed with being pregnant.'

Happy couple: Manon announced she was expecting her first child with fiance Luke Bennett in March during a sweet interview with Hello! magazine (pictured in November)

And Manon revealed she's keen to have a baby baker in the house to help her create culinary showstoppers.

'The baby will be with me in the kitchen from the day it's born. We are so happy to be having a summer baby and the due date is on Luke's birthday - it feels like it's meant to be.'

The former Great British Bake Off contestant also explained how much she wants to raise her child to be bilingual.

Manon added: 'That is one of the best gifts we can give them, so we're going to work hard at it. I'd like the baby to be French speaking at home and then use English outside the home.'

Delight: Manon is planning to get married to her fiance Luke next year in her hometown of Louvigne-De-Desert, Brittany, France (pictured last year with her stunning engagement ring)

Manon is planning to get married to her fiance Luke next year in her hometown of Louvigne-De-Desert, Brittany, France.

Her boyfriend popped the question last November while the couple were on a romantic trip to Barbados.

The French baker confirmed at the time that her boyfriend had 'dropped to one knee' with a stunning sapphire ring shortly after they arrived at their boutique hotel during the Caribbean holiday.

Manon admitted it had not been a surprise, saying: 'We'd been talking about getting married for a while. It was love at first sight...

'We were boyfriend and girlfriend after two weeks and I moved in with him within four months. When you find the one, you just know.'
By David Ljunggren and Allison Lampert

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's government said it would temporarily bar passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days starting on Thursday as part of stricter measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The center-left Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acted after prominent right-leaning politicians complained Ottawa had not done enough to combat a third wave of infections ripping through Canada.

The ban, which takes effect at 11.30 p.m. (0330 GMT Friday), does not affect cargo flights.

India on Thursday recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 COVID-19 infections amid fears about the ability of crumbling health services to cope.

Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that while Indian citizens accounted for 20% of all international arrivals, they represented over 50% of the positive tests conducted by Canadian airport officials.

"By eliminating direct travel from these countries, public health experts will have the time to evaluate the ongoing epidemiology of that region and to reassess the situation," she told a news conference.

The conservative premiers of Ontario and Quebec - the most populous of Canada's 10 provinces - wrote to Trudeau earlier on Thursday urging him to crack down on international travel.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Canada would not hesitate to bar flights from other nations if needed.

Britain said earlier that India would be added to its "red-list" of locations from which most travel is banned due to a high number of COVID-19 cases.

In addition, France is imposing a 10-day quarantine for travelers from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and India, while the United Arab Emirates has suspended all flights from India.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Allison Lampert; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Peter Cooney)
In November 2000, Los Angeles entered into a consent decree that affected almost every aspect of policing in the city. The decree created a database to track police use of force and police discipline, among other actions. It required police to record information with regard to every stop. It changed how police use of force was to be investigated. It altered control of the anti-gang units; it was an anti-gang unit in the Rampart Division that led to the scandal. A monitor was appointed and for 12 years, until 2013, a federal judge oversaw the operation of the consent decree.
A tanker carrying liquid oxygen, which was travelling from Panipat to Sirsa in Haryana, has gone missing after which police have registered a case and launched investigations.

Panipat police said on Friday a case has been lodged on the complaint of district drug controller.

After being filled with liquid oxygen from Panipat plant on Wednesday, the truck had left for Sirsa, but it did not reach the destination, Station House Officer (SHO), Matlauda, Panipat, Manjeet Singh said.

"We are investigating the matter," he said. The demand for medical oxygen has escalated due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

In another incident, Haryana minister Anil Vij had on Wednesday alleged that a tanker carrying medical oxygen for COVID patients in hospitals, which was going from Panipat to Faridabad, was ''''looted'''' by the Delhi government when it was passing through their territory.

Also read: Oxygen crisis in Delhi: Ganga Ram Hospital cries for help, Max Hospital sends SOS to Kejriwal govt
Salt Lake City, UT, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- C.R. England, one of the nations leaders in transportation solutions, has announced its largest driver pay raise in company history and third historic pay increase for drivers since 2018. The pay increase will benefit C.R. Englands line haul drivers in the Over the Road Division (OTR) and drivers in training and takes effect April 22, 2021.

I am thrilled to announce our biggest OTR pay increase in company history, said Chad England, C.R. England CEO. This increase benefits every OTR driver that is paid mileage pay, which makes up the vast majority of our OTR fleet. It applies to drivers at every seniority level and to our current length of trip pay bands. Raising driver pay is another indicator C.R. England is committed to providing our employees with a long-term career path they can count on financially. We truly value the people that make our company great and will continue to find more opportunities to give back to the driving professionals who make C.R. England what it is today.

C.R. Englands OTR group already offers some of the best miles in the industry, and paired with these new pay rates, it adds up to substantial paychecks. This represents the largest percentage overall pay increase in company history and combined with other increases since 2018, means average C.R. England driver pay checks have increased 50 percent during that time. Additionally, C.R. England projects new drivers could expect to make more than 35 percent more in compensation compared to what their counterparts made last year.

This increase aligns pay to be consistent with the highly competitive pay rates in C.R. Englands Dedicated and Intermodal Divisions, where drivers already receive substantial compensation.

Through the company-sponsored One Initiative, C.R. England drivers are also able to give back to the community. With each load delivered, a meal is donated to one of 22 food banks to provide a meal to a hungry child. Since 2018, funding for more than 6.4 million meals have been donated to food banks nationwide.

About C.R. England

Founded in 1920, C.R. England, Inc. is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT and is one of North Americas premier transportation companies. C.R. England is an industry leader in Dedicated, Over-The-Road, cross-border Mexico, and Intermodal services. C.R. England has also been regularly recognized for management excellence, including the 2020 Glassdoor Top Places to Work, the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Award as well as a 2021 US Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal. For more information visit www.crengland.com.

C.R. England subsidiary England Logistics offers a vast portfolio of non-asset based transportation solutions including full truckload services, intermodal, dry and temp controlled LTL, parcel, and complete supply chain management. The company has often been honored in the industry, including recent recognition as one of the 50 Best Companies to Sell For by Selling Power magazine and being ranked in the Training Top 100 by Training magazine. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, the company also has offices nationwide. For more information visit www.englandlogistics.com.

About One Initiative

To learn more about C.R. Englands goal of providing one million meals to children each year, visit www.oneagainstchildhoodhunger.com.

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Oregon has opened applications for a second round of grants to support small businesses that have fallen behind on rent during the coronavirus pandemic.

Business Oregon, the state agency administering the program, will award $42 million to landlords across the state to cover the outstanding rent of their small business tenants. The money comes from a second round of funding for the states $100 million Commercial Rent Relief Program.

The application process opened Thursday and will run through May 6. Since the state expects applications will exceed available funding, it will choose from among the applicants through a lottery system.

Small business owners with 100 or fewer employees can apply together with their landlords for funding. The state will award grants of between $500 and $100,000 per business tenant for a maximum of $3 million going to each landlord.

Landlords must complete the initial application, but both the businesses and property owners need to participate in the application process and sign the grant agreement in order to qualify.

Business Oregon has made some minor changes to the program for the second round to expand eligibility. Under the new requirements, eligible landlords can be publicly-traded businesses and sole proprietors do not need to register with the Secretary of State to apply for funding, if they are not already required to do so.

During the first round of funding, Business Oregon funded nearly 87% of applicants, approving grants totaling nearly $50 million to cover the outstanding rent of 2,605 businesses statewide. The average grant size was $19,058.

Eligible applicants who werent chosen to receive funding in round one are automatically being considered along with new applicants during the second round.

Business Oregon has begun sending out checks to landlords who were approved for funding to cover their tenants outstanding rent in round one, but the agency is also still in the process of finalizing many of those grants. Nathan Buehler, a spokesperson for Business Oregon, said the agency is still waiting to receive paperwork from roughly 800 applicants approved for funding in round one, which has prevented them from finalizing those applications and getting the money out.

The Oregon House approved a bill earlier this month that would give businesses until the end of September to repay missed rent accumulated during the heart of the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers said at the time that it was important to extend the repayment deadline to give the state more time to get rent relief to struggling businesses. The bill still has to gain approval in the Senate.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg
Online propaganda promoting extremist activities is what the law enforcers and policymakers in Australia are after. Now, social media giants want to take part in the collaboration to stop the spread of radicalism in the country.

Tech Giants Reaches Out to Australian Policy Makers and Police Force

What is happening in some parts of the world, is also taking place in Australia at the moment. The country has been finding ways to exterminate terrorism and radicalism.

This time, social media will do their part in stopping extremist activities through their platforms.

Several promotions that spark fear and attacks are circulating online, as the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force said to the committee. These activities continue to be an outlet of worldwide terrorism which aims to cover the Western regions.

The NSW Police said that the extremist groups are using the power of technology to recruit more persons who want to join in their actions.

Read Also: US Top Secret Data Gets Leaked to Lebanese Terrorist Group: Minnesota Suspect Pleads Guilty

"Digital platforms, including social media, encrypted messaging applications, live-streaming platforms, and the dark web can be used effectively by extremist groups. These innovations have allowed new types of communities to emerge, where ideological affinity overcomes a lack of physical proximity," NSW Police added.

With just a single click on the internet, the groups could easily reach their target. The widespread promotion can infiltrate even the parts of the web which are rarely visited.

Facebook submitted an inquiry via PDF about the extremist groups promoting vast terrorism-related undertakings online. Moreover, the company wants to help the authorities in downing content that validates such activity.

The social media giant spoke to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) that countering hate is a must besides halting extremism to manifest.

For the protection of the Australian citizens, Facebook noted that its end-to-end encryption will guarantee their security against cyber attackers.

Meanwhile, the company said that WhatsApp is also using the same feature to prevent terrorism from growing in the platform. It added that it is willing to extend help to the authorities for this issue.

On the other hand, Google also submitted a PDF inquiry concerning the scope of the threat to the public. Annually, the firm received about 4,000 requests from the law enforcement departments when it comes to users' data.

What Google will utilize is also the encryption that is similar to what Facebook has presented. Similarly, Twitter has also passed its inquiry in PDF format. We could recall that it has already made a move in stopping terrorism over the past years.

Young People Are the Frequent Targets of Terrorism Online

ZDNet reported that 33% of young persons have already viewed online content about terrorism promotion. More than 50% of the young population had witnessed the "real" happening including racist statements linked to religion and culture.

The Office of the Australian eSafety Commissioner spoke to PJCIS that education will be the best weapon to fight extremist actions.

Most importantly, educating people about the prevention of unnecessary and malicious experiences online will lead to healthier and safer online experiences.

Related Article: Facebook, Google Tuning Systems To Eradicate Extremist Content: How Will It Work?

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Film Review: My Octopus Teacher: A Love Letter to the Perfection of Nature

TV-G | 1h 25min | Documentary | 7 September 2020 (USA)

I have intense arachnophobiaI hate anything thats got eight, fast-moving legs. This fear used to extend to the similarly eight-legged octopus. Then, one day my brother brought home some octopus sushi and ate it. I forced myself to try a piece. Tasty! My horror of the octopus family instantaneously evaporated. I began to find octopi fascinating, hilarious, and adorable. Thanks to the stunningly beautiful documentary My Octopus Teacher, I now love them.

Whats become apparent via a myriad social media posts is that the vast majority of animals enjoy a good animal-human cuddle. My favorite is a leopard enjoying a head-scratch, using its giant paws to maneuver its hoomans hand: More scratches on this spot here please, all the while emitting industrial-strength purring, like an idling Camaro.

What this film reveals is that a wild octopus (which is a mollusk, basically a shell-less snail) is unbelievably intelligent, and also likes a good human-cephalopod cuddle. Which makes you wonder whether there isnt something to the Buddhist concept that many animals are really incarnated human spirits who got shunted down a few levels due to an overabundance of karma.

A human-octopus cuddle in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

Healing Via Octopus

Told from South African filmmaker Craig Fosters perspective, My Octopus Teacher is about his transformative relationship with a common octopus that he discovered living in a little rock cave near the beach bungalow where his family stayed when he was a child. Foster had spent countless hours playing in the nearby tide pools and diving in the shallow kelp forests that are home to a vast array of marine flora and fauna.



Craig Foster and film directors navigate a kelp forest in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

This is the first documentary to chronicle almost the entire lifespan of a solitary ocean-dwelling animal, and in so doing, describes the storytellers personal healing (due to that animal) as well as showcases animal behaviors previously unknown to even marine biologists.

The story kicks off in an area off South Africas Western Cape. The ocean is primal and powerful there, but the otherwise dangerous currents are thwarted by a thick kelp forest that creates a relatively calm sanctuary. The water however, is freezingbelow 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Its this rare, challenging world that Foster hopes will cure his midlife crisis. He outdoes Navy SEALs by free-diving and snorkeling in swim trunks, without the use of a rubber wetsuit or scuba breathing apparatus. As he says, one eventually comes to crave the invigorating cold, which upgrades the brain. He also doesnt want to disturb the environment or impose his presence in any way.

Foster explains that he turned to diving, one of his main childhood joys, when he came to this crossroads. Hed burned himself out as a filmmakerphysically, emotionally, and mentallyand was unsure of his next step in life. He had nothing left to give in art or in his human relations. The desire to heal himself, in order to be a strong presence in his son Toms life, led him to this drastic measure of what archetypally is an extended, underwater, oceanic version of a vision quest.

A vision quest was the boyhood-to-manhood rite of passage for most Native American tribes. Its four days and four nights in a 10-foot circle, with no food. For modern folks, thats also no phone, no computer, no books, no writing utensils, no tent, and no people around. Uncomfortability and deprivation are paramount. In the silence, nature teaches the quester.



Filmmaker Craig Foster in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

Man Meets Mollusk

In one of his early forays, Foster sees a strange-looking cluster of shells sitting on the sand. As he observes, suddenlypoof!an octopus, which had been using all of its 2,000 suction cups to hold all those mini-shields in place around its body, drops them all at once and explodes away in search of another hiding place. Who knew an octopus could do such a high-intelligence thing?

Fosters interest quickly growsso many fascinating mysteries to learn about, so little time. He decides to visit this kelp sanctuary, and in particular this one little rubbery, shape-shifting, color-changing denizen, on a daily basis.

Filmmaker Craig Foster in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

Soon, Fosters inspired to pick up his camera again and start filming, and the resulting footage in turn inspires directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, as well as his buddy and cinematographer Roger Horrocks, to eventually get in on the action for a year and a half, resulting in this wondrous tale.

Early on, Foster fumbles and drops his camera, which scares the daylights out of the octopus; it flees and disappears. Luckily, Foster had spent time in his youth around Kalahari tribesmen master trackers and is able to track the barely noticeable, telltale signs of octopus activity, tiny remnants of crab meals and such, to find it againliving in a new cave.

Filmmaker Craig Foster finding his octopus friend in a new cave in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

E.T.

Theres more than a little resemblance between the octopus and Spielbergs E.T., as they are both brownish and a bit homely. But discoveries and surprises abound, such as the myriad of shapes and colors the octopus can morph into for camouflage. It can produce tiny hornlike spires on top of its eyes, as well as twirl its legs into little ornamental spires.

Filmmaker Craig Fosters little octopus friend, which has conjured up ornamental spires on top of its eyes, in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

Theres octopus crab-hunting, and octopus-on-land escapes from sharks. Theres the at first incomprehensible flinging up of the arms at schools of fish. What is that? Thats an octopus playing with fish is what that is. Theres a learning curve we get to observe as the octopus figures out how best to trap tricky-to-catch lobsters.

Theres also nail-biting drama as an encroaching pyjama shark (so named because of its stripes) causes the octopus to pull its seashell-shield move, which almost works, but which then calls for a subsequent kung fu move of maneuvering up on top of the sharks back and rodeo-riding around up there, undetected. You can almost hear the shark going, Whered that sneaky piece of lunch disappear to? while wearing an octopus on its head.



Octopus in a twirly mood in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

Of course, instances such as the above-described scenario are due to tinkered-with, re-created action, enhanced and somewhat emotionally dictated by the movies musical score. The glass-half-empty take would be that this is artificial and manipulative; the glass-half-full take is that its dynamic storytelling.



Simply Amazing

The octopuss level of intelligence is a revelation. Its abilities for camouflage and survival are nothing short of amazing, and its trust in Fosterespecially when it reaches out a little tentacle to gently touch his facemay make you tear up.

Filmmaker Craig Foster shakes hands with his octopus friend in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

The hypnotic imagery of this ecosystem is enchanting, especially the shots looking up from the sandy ocean floor, past the tall silhouettes of treelike kelp, to the eternally rippling surface, which looks like the Milky Way in motion.

Fosters specific reasons for feeling personally and professionally lost are left somewhat unclear, and therefore were also left a bit clueless as to how his close encounter of the octopus kind specifically changed his emotional, psychological, spiritual, and familial circumstances, other than he felt less self-involved and more able to put others needs first.

But it matters little. My Octopus Teacher is a reminder of how ridiculous it is for humans to be bandying about concepts of inhabiting Mars when we know so little about the miracles of life right under our noses. Especially using the long outdated and flawed-from-the-start Origin of Species theory, and our self-involved notions of how high the human rung on that cockamamie evolutionary ladder sits.

Most of all, My Octopus Teacher is a crazy, octopus-appreciation 101, love letter to the perfection of nature, so mind-blowing that it leapfrogs all Darwinian foolishness and points straight to the Creator.

Filmmaker Craig Foster diving with his octopus teacher in My Octopus Teacher. (Netflix)

My Octopus Teacher

Directors: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed

Starring: Craig Foster (a filmmaker), his son, and his octopus friend

Rating: Documentary

Running Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 7, 2020

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Mark Jackson is the senior film critic for The Epoch Times. Mark has 20 years experience as a professional New York actor, a classical theater training, a BA in philosophy, and recently narrated the Epoch Times audiobook, How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World: https://www.thespecterofcommunism.com/en/audiobook/

Rotten Tomatoes page: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/mark-jackson/movies
BRUSSELS, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that 12 abstracts on bimekizumab, an investigational IL-17A and IL-17F inhibitor, in the treatment of adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, will be presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting Experience 2021 (AAD VMX), April 23 - 25, 2021. This will include 11 e-posters and an oral presentation of late-breaking data from the Phase 3b BE RADIANT study evaluating the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab compared to secukinumab in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The safety and efficacy of bimekizumab have not been established and it is not approved by any regulatory authority worldwide.

"We are proud to join the dermatology community at AAD VMX 2021 to share the latest data from the clinical development program of bimekizumab in psoriasis. The breadth of bimekizumab data being shared across 12 abstracts reinforces our commitment to advancing research and science in psoriasis. It is a privilege to share these findings and we look forward to engaging with the dermatology community in our efforts to address the unmet needs of people with psoriasis," said Emmanuel Caeymaex, Executive Vice President, Immunology Solutions and Head of U.S., UCB.

Data being shared at AAD VMX include the presentation of pooled results from three Phase 3 trials (BE VIVID, BE READY and BE SURE), that compared the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab to ustekinumab, placebo and adalimumab, respectively, in adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Additional data from BE SURE to be presented include an assessment of bimekizumab efficacy in patients receiving continuous bimekizumab treatment or switching from adalimumab and the relationship between treatment efficacy and quality of life in patients receiving bimekizumab or adalimumab.

Two other bimekizumab abstracts will include the first disclosure of data from the novel, validated Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) from the BE VIVID and BE SURE studies.

UCB data presentations at AAD VMX 2021:

Bimekizumab Late-Breaking Oral Presentation:

Bimekizumab efficacy and safety versus secukinumab in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Results from a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, active comparatorcontrolled phase 3b trial (BE RADIANT), K. Reich, R. Warren, M. Lebwohl, M. Gooderham, B. Strober, R. Langley, C. Paul, L. Peterson, V. Vanvoorden, C. Madden, A. Blauvelt (abstract #29010)

Bimekizumab e-Posters:

Bimekizumab response maintenance up to 1 year in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Pooled results from three phase 3 trials, A. Blauvelt, Y. Tada, L. Iversen, U. Mrowietz, M. Lebwohl, M. Wang, V. Vanvoorden, E. Cullen, F. Staelens, K. Papp (abstract #27383)



A. Blauvelt, Y. Tada, L. Iversen, U. Mrowietz, M. Lebwohl, M. Wang, V. Vanvoorden, E. Cullen, F. Staelens, K. Papp (abstract #27383) Bimekizumab efficacy for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis across patient subgroups: Pooled results from three multicenter, randomized, double-blinded phase 3 trials, B. Strober, R. Warren, P. Foley, M. Gooderham, D. Thaci, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, C. Madden, A. Armstrong (abstract #25934)



B. Strober, R. Warren, P. Foley, M. Gooderham, D. Thaci, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, C. Madden, A. Armstrong (abstract #25934) Speed of clinical response and improvement in psoriasis with bimekizumab: Pooled results from the multicenter, randomized, double-blinded phase 3 BE VIVID, BE READY and BE SURE trials, M. Lebwohl, P. Hampton, A. Morita, K. Reich, J. Lambert, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, M. Wang, C. Madden, R. Langley (abstract #27376)



M. Lebwohl, P. Hampton, A. Morita, K. Reich, J. Lambert, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, M. Wang, C. Madden, R. Langley (abstract #27376) Bimekizumab efficacy in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving continuous bimekizumab or switching from adalimumab: Results from the phase 3 BE SURE trial, B. Strober, A. Pinter, R. Warren, A. Blauvelt, M. Sebastian, D. Cuyper, V. Vanvoorden, M. Wang, C. Madden, M. Gooderham (abstract #27374)



B. Strober, A. Pinter, R. Warren, A. Blauvelt, M. Sebastian, D. Cuyper, V. Vanvoorden, M. Wang, C. Madden, M. Gooderham (abstract #27374) Bimekizumab for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis of the scalp: Post-hoc analysis from the BE SURE phase 3 trial, K. Reich, J. Merola, B. Elewski, K. Papp, L. Puig, P. Rich, C. Cioffi, E. Cullen, L. Peterson, A. Gottlieb (abstract #25800)



K. Reich, J. Merola, B. Elewski, K. Papp, L. Puig, P. Rich, C. Cioffi, E. Cullen, L. Peterson, A. Gottlieb (abstract #25800) Bimekizumab versus adalimumab in plaque psoriasis: Higher efficacy translates into improvements in quality of life in the BE SURE multicenter, randomized, double-blinded phase 3 trial, A. Blauvelt, D. Thaci, K. Papp, J. Merola, E. Cullen, V. Vanvoorden, V. Ciaravino, L. Peterson, K. Gordon (abstract #27464)



A. Blauvelt, D. Thaci, K. Papp, J. Merola, E. Cullen, V. Vanvoorden, V. Ciaravino, L. Peterson, K. Gordon (abstract #27464) Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) responses from the BE SURE bimekizumab in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis phase 3 trial, R. Warren, M. Augustin, A. Gottlieb, K. Duffin, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, A. Blauvelt (abstract #27373)



R. Warren, M. Augustin, A. Gottlieb, K. Duffin, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, A. Blauvelt (abstract #27373) Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) responses from the BE VIVID bimekizumab in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis phase 3 trial, R. Warren, R. Langley, A. Asahina, M. Augustin, J. Merola, A. Gottlieb, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, M. Lebwohl (abstract #27368)



R. Warren, R. Langley, A. Asahina, M. Augustin, J. Merola, A. Gottlieb, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, M. Lebwohl (abstract #27368) Bimekizumab efficacy in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis during the randomized withdrawal and retreatment phase of BE READY, a phase 3 trial, A. Blauvelt, J. Wu, K. Reich, M. Gooderham, M. Lebwohl, K. White, N. Cross, C. Cioffi, K. Papp (abstract #27380)



A. Blauvelt, J. Wu, K. Reich, M. Gooderham, M. Lebwohl, K. White, N. Cross, C. Cioffi, K. Papp (abstract #27380) Bimekizumab short-term and longer-term anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation/behavior in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Analysis of pooled data from eight phase 2/3 clinical trials, B. Strober, K. Papp, A. Blauvelt, M. Lebwohl, J. Wu, D. Deherder, C. Madden, K. Wixted, M. Wang, M. Augustin (abstract #27505)



B. Strober, K. Papp, A. Blauvelt, M. Lebwohl, J. Wu, D. Deherder, C. Madden, K. Wixted, M. Wang, M. Augustin (abstract #27505) Bimekizumab short-term and longer-term infection rates in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Analysis of pooled data from eight phase 2/3 clinical trials, K. Reich, Y. Okubo, K. Gordon, A. Blauvelt, A. Armstrong, D. Cuyper, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, M. Lebwohl (abstract #27468)

About Bimekizumab

Bimekizumab is an investigational humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that selectively and directly inhibits both IL-17A and IL-17F, two key cytokines driving inflammatory processes.1 IL-17F has overlapping biology with IL-17A and drives inflammation independently of IL-17A.2,3,4,5,6 Selective inhibition of IL-17F in addition to IL-17A suppresses inflammation to a greater extent than IL-17A inhibition alone.5,6 The safety and efficacy of bimekizumab are being evaluated across multiple disease states as part of a robust clinical program.

About Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease with primary involvement of the skin. This skin condition affects men and women of all ages and ethnicities.7 Psoriasis signs and symptoms can vary but may include red patches of skin covered with silvery scales; dry, cracked skin that may bleed; and thickened, pitted or ridged nails.8

Approximately 125 million people worldwide are living with psoriasis, nearly three percent of the world's population.9,10 Unmet needs remain in the treatment of psoriasis. A population-based survey identified that approximately 30 percent of psoriasis patients reported that their primary goals of therapy, including keeping symptoms under control, reducing itching and decreasing flaking, were not met with their current treatment.11 Psoriasis has a considerable psychological and quality-of-life impact, potentially affecting work, recreation, relationships, sexual functioning, family and social life.12

About UCB

UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With approximately 8,400 people in nearly 40 countries, the company generated revenue of 5.3 billion in 2020. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news.

Forward looking statements UCB

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will", "continue" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and beliefs of management. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial information, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices and other such estimates and results. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions which might cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of UCB, or industry results, to differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Important factors that could result in such differences include: the global spread and impact of COVID-19, changes in general economic, business and competitive conditions, the inability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or to obtain them on acceptable terms or within expected timing, costs associated with research and development, changes in the prospects for products in the pipeline or under development by UCB, effects of future judicial decisions or governmental investigations, safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, product liability claims, challenges to patent protection for products or product candidates, competition from other products including biosimilars, changes in laws or regulations, exchange rate fluctuations, changes or uncertainties in tax laws or the administration of such laws, and hiring and retention of its employees. There is no guarantee that new product candidates will be discovered or identified in the pipeline, will progress to product approval or that new indications for existing products will be developed and approved. Movement from concept to commercial product is uncertain; preclinical results do not guarantee safety and efficacy of product candidates in humans. So far, the complexity of the human body cannot be reproduced in computer models, cell culture systems or animal models. The length of the timing to complete clinical trials and to get regulatory approval for product marketing has varied in the past and UCB expects similar unpredictability going forward. Products or potential products which are the subject of partnerships, joint ventures or licensing collaborations may be subject to differences disputes between the partners or may prove to be not as safe, effective or commercially successful as UCB may have believed at the start of such partnership. UCB' efforts to acquire other products or companies and to integrate the operations of such acquired companies may not be as successful as UCB may have believed at the moment of acquisition. Also, UCB or others could discover safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with its products and/or devices after they are marketed. The discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of UCB's products that implicate an entire class of products may have a material adverse effect on sales of the entire class of affected products. Moreover, sales may be impacted by international and domestic trends toward managed care and health care cost containment, including pricing pressure, political and public scrutiny, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, and the reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers as well as legislation affecting biopharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement activities and outcomes. Finally, a breakdown, cyberattack or information security breach could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of UCB's data and systems.

Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any of such forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labelling in any market, or at any particular time, nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be or will continue to be commercially successful in the future.

UCB is providing this information, including forward-looking statements, only as of the date of this press release and it does not reflect any potential impact from the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, unless indicated otherwise. UCB is following the worldwide developments diligently to assess the financial significance of this pandemic to UCB. UCB expressly disclaims any duty to update any information contained in this press release, either to confirm the actual results or to report or reflect any change in its forward-looking statements with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless such statement is required pursuant to applicable laws and regulations.

Additionally, information contained in this document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of 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 such jurisdiction.

For further information, contact UCB:





Corporate Communications Investor Relations Brand Communications Laurent Schots, Antje Witte, Eimear O'Brien, Media Relations, UCB Investor Relations, UCB Brand Communications, UCB





T+32.2.559.92.64, T +32.2.559.94.14, T + 32.2.559.92.71 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]







Investor Relations



Isabelle Ghellynck,



Investor Relations, UCB









T+32.2.559.9588,



[email protected]



References:





1 Glatt S, Helmer E, Haier B, et al. First-in-human randomized study of bimekizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody and selective dual inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F, in mild psoriasis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2017;83(5):991-1001. 2 Yang XO, Chang SH, Park H, et al. Regulation of inflammatory responses by IL-17F. J Exp Med. 2008;205(5):10631075. 3 Hymowitz SG, Filvaroff EH, Yin JP, et al. IL-17s adopt a cystine knot fold: structure and activity of a novel cytokine, IL-17F, and implications for receptor binding. EMBO J. 2001;20(19):53325341. 4 van Baarsen LG, Lebre MC, van der Coelen D, et al. Heterogeneous expression pattern of interleukin 17A (IL-17A), IL-17F and their receptors in synovium of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis: possible explanation for nonresponse to anti-IL-17 therapy? Arthritis Res Ther. 2014;16(4):426. 5 Maroof A, Okoye R, Smallie T, et al. Bimekizumab dual inhibition of IL-17A and IL-17F provides evidence of IL-17F contribution to chronic inflammation in disease-relevant cells. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(2):213. 6 Glatt S, Baeten D, Baker T, et al. Dual IL-17A and IL-17F neutralisation by bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis: evidence from preclinical experiments and a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial that IL-17F contributes to human chronic tissue inflammation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2018;77(4):523-532. 7 National Psoriasis Foundation. About Psoriasis. Available at: https://www.psoriasis.org/about-psoriasis/ . Last accessed: March 2021. 8 International Federation of Psoriasis Associations. Available at: https://ifpa-pso.com/our-cause/ . Last accessed: March 2021. 9 Griffiths C, van der Walt J, et al. The global state of psoriasis disease epidemiology: a workshop report. Br J Dermatol. 2017;177(1):e4 e7. 10 World Health Organization. Global report on psoriasis, 2016. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/204417 . Last accessed: March 2021. 11 Lebwohl MG, Kavanaugh A, Armstrong AW et al. US Perspectives in the Management of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: Patient and Physician Results from the Population-Based Multinational Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (MAPP) Survey. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2016;17(1):87-97. 12 Moon HS, Mizara A, McBride SR. Psoriasis and psycho-dermatology. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2013;3(2):117-130.

SOURCE UCB, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ucb.com


 Close Watch live as Ghislaine Maxwells lawyers arrive at court

Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty to new indictments during her first in-person court appearance since being arrested on sex trafficking charges.

While she had previously faced the court via video link from the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Centre, today marked the first live appearance in a US District Court in lower Manhattan.

The new indictment, which adds a victim and extends the timeframe of the charge, supersedes the previous charges that Ms Maxwell had also pleaded not guilty to.

The brief exchange took roughly 15 to 20 minutes. Ms Maxwells sister was in the courtroom, but her two brothers remained in England due to Covid travel restrictions.

Defence attorney David Markus said outside the court that a "courageous and tough" Ms Maxwell was looking forward to the trial so she could fight.

"Shes hanging in there, its not easy," Mr Markus told reporters. "Ive never seen anything like how shes being treated. Its the Epstein effect. Its the Epstein effect. Shes been treated horribly because of the negligence and what happened to Jeffrey Epstein."

One of Epsteins victims said after the appearance that it was incredibly vindicating to see Maxwell sitting in court for the first time.

The unnamed survivor, who appeared with her lawyers David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, said she was too afraid to sit through Epsteins appearance.

This is a new feeling for me to sit there and accept a lot. Its hard to sit through it, and its painful, but its good too. Its healing, she said.

Her lawyer, Mr Boies, said Epsteins victims were looking forward to a trial. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Everybody felt like they were cheated by Mr Epsteins death, I think that everyone was looking forward by holding him to account in a court of law," he said. I think now, that Ms Maxwell is going to go to trial, I think that is something that theyre looking forward to.

Federal judge Alison Nathan did not rule out delaying the 12 July start date of Ghislaine Maxwells trial, which the defence wants to postpone until the fall or winter for time to review evidence.

Without ruling on the motion to delay the start date, Ms Nathan said "everyone should assume that its July unless they hear otherwise.

She urged prosecutors to provide disclosures to the defence seven weeks before trial  or 24 May - the allow time to prepared.

Theres a lot to do for everyone and well get it done, Ms Nathan said.

Read more:
Apr. 23Starbucks managers from the region took a pause Thursday from their regular duties to give back to the community by joining forces with the Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity on Earth Day.

Thursday marked the country's 51st Earth Day, an annual celebration that's sparked global environmental protections for a more sustainable future. Earth Day was established in 1970 by the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., as part of a grassroots movement to protest against pollution, toxic drinking water and pesticides.

The first Earth Day was a success in that it was recognized by 20 million Americans and led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to tackle environmental issues. Each April, Starbucks lends a helping hand in its communities for 30 days as part of the company's Global Month of Service.

Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization that covers the Jasper County area. It's built 170 homes since beginning as an affiliate in 1989.

More than a dozen Starbucks managers worked with the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and at an ongoing build project on the corner of Eighth Street and Ozark Avenue. Volunteers installed vinyl siding to the front of the house while others completed landscaping.

"It's really just a fun day and a great time," said Scott Clayton, Joplin Habitat's executive director. "People from various workplaces can get out of the workplace ... and enjoy each other's company. It is nice when people have that giving spirit."

Earth Day also aligns well with Starbucks' effort to cut its carbon, water and waste footprints in half by 2030, according to a statement by Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer. The coffeehouse chain has also pledged to donate 100 million disease-resistant coffee trees by 2025 to help farmers and their communities.

"All of our cups are recyclable now, and we have green initiatives in each of our stores, including our home offices," said Jenny Woody, a manager of the store at 3324 S. Range Line Road in Joplin. "We're doing strawless lids, which has really made a big impact."

Story continues

Charlie Brown, another manager of that store, is the volunteer coordinator for the workday and helped hammer down siding. Brown said Starbucks employees from Joplin, Springfield, Branson, Arkansas and Kansas came together Thursday for the first time in more than a year.

"I wanted our store managers to feel like they've really contributed something that's going to be lasting and meaningful to someone else," he said.

Woody said it's fantastic to be together again and show up to support the community. Many of the volunteers said they'd like the opportunity to volunteer again.

"It's a beautiful day, and this is a fantastic organization," she said. "Starbucks has been involved in the community for years for the Global Month of Good. This is our first volunteer activity since COVID."

Shanelle Rullman, a store manager in Springfield, moved cement blocks and helped prepare a garden bed for mulch. Rullman said they've been aiming to host a regional event in order to build a broader Starbucks community. She's also passionate about Earth Day and sustainability.

"Starbucks has been calling it Earth Month, and we've been doing stuff all month long," she said. "I may not be from here, but being out here for Earth Day and for the community (is) still important to me. We have a Habitat for Humanity in Springfield too. I've never worked with them, but since working with the local Habitat, I'm excited to build that relationship in Springfield and bring something like this back home."

Two Starbucks volunteers also assisted with the Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore by storing wood stain in single-gallon buckets and sorting flooring. The ReStore, 5201 N. Main St., offers the opportunity to give, resell and recycle with the goal of providing support, broader access to low-cost items, and divert construction and household materials from landfills.

"We've worked with so many big companies and organizations over the years," said Terry Booth, ReStore manager. "It's been really helpful, especially during our spring cleaning."

Carla Edge, district manager/temporary lead over Starbucks in the region, said the Earth Day workday reiterates what the coffee company stands for, which is creating a place where the community feels welcome.
BOISE - Idaho parents who advocated for Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarras in-person learning bill joined the superintendent in celebrating Thursday afternoon when Idaho Governor Brad Little signed the legislation into law. The bill encourages school districts across the state to provide in-person learning to the greatest extent possible during an emergency.

Superintendent Ybarra thanked the governor for his support in making sure students can be with their peers and their teachers whenever safety concerns can be met at the local level. Lawmakers in the Idaho House and Senate overwhelmingly supported in-person instruction as an essential part of an effective education, especially for students with the greatest needs, such as students with disabilities and English language learners.

Over the past year, I heard from many parents worried about the toll remote learning was taking on their students academically, and also in social interaction and emotional wellness. I heard from teachers, too, who were anxious to get back in the classroom with their students.

Parents Tiffany Grant and Kim Glineski, who testified in favor of the bill at legislative hearings, attended the signing ceremony.

We all had a common goal to support our schools and students to achieve, and this bill  which is now the law in Idaho  will ensure that our students have the instruction they need to achieve and succeed, Superintendent Ybarra said.

Idahoans can watch video of the signing ceremony at the State Department of Education Facebook page and read the bill online.
[April 23, 2021] Archean Capital Closes Fund II Over $425 Million

Archean Capital Partners, a private equity firm that provides strategic anchor capital to newly formed private equity firms, announced the close of Archean Capital Fund II, L.P. at over $425 million. Archean was established in 2017 by Veritable, L.P. and Moelis Asset Management to provide initial limited partner capital and value-added support to emerging managers. Across its first two funds, Archean has deployed $350 million to four private equity managers, namely Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management, MiddleGround Capital, Equality Asset Management and Invictus Growth Partners. The firm is actively deploying capital and seeks seasoned investors who have both domain expertise and proven ability to execute their strategy. Rob Lazaroff, Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager of Archean, said, "We are grateful to our Limited Partners and managers for their trust and support. We recognized a unique market opportunity to invest in first-time private equity funds and our success would not be possble without the shared vision of our investors and managers."



"The Archean team has built something special," said Tadd Wessel, the Founder and Managing Partner of Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management. "Archean has been a key partner in our success. The anchor commitment to our fund enabled immediate new investments and their strategic advice has been invaluable. I could not be more excited for the platform they are building and their future." John Stewart, a Founding Partner at MiddleGround Capital, said "our strategy requires a large team. Archean's early commitment helped us build the right team to execute our strategy and accelerated our business plan. Partnering with Archean was one of the best decisions we made."

"The challenges of raising a first-time fund are numerous. The strategic capital and support of Archean can help new firms distinguish themselves in a crowded fundraising market," said Chris Keller, a Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager of Archean. "Our investors benefit from anchoring talented and entrepreneurial managers, who are highly incentivized to make their new firms successful." About Archean Capital Partners Archean Capital Partners is a joint venture between Veritable, L.P. and Moelis Asset Management LP. Archean is a private market investment platform that seeks to deploy capital with highly qualified portfolio managers who are interested in starting their own firms. Archean is focused on opportunities in such specialties as buyout, growth, restructuring and turnaround. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005321/en/

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BAY CITY, MI  Shaheen Development wants to reenergize our cities by investing in mid-Michigans city centers.

And its doing that, in part, by developing new residential rental units within walking distance of downtown business districts, restaurants, bars, retail shops, farmers markets and other amenities would-be renters might find attractive.

One of Shaheen Developments core goals for our region is to reenergize our cities, said Al Warr, director of development for Shaheen Development. The best way to do that is to bring residents back to our cities by creating timeless living opportunities in the heart of our wonderful urban communities.

Earlier this year, the firm completed construction of a three-story mixed-use development at 218. S. Washington Ave., in downtown Saginaw, near Valeries Downtown, dawn of a new day coffee house, Erikas Flowers, and the SVRC Marketplace. The first-floor commercial space is now home to State Bank, and the upper two floors house Goodridge Lofts, an homage to Saginaws Goodridge brothers.

Related: See inside Goodridge Lofts, downtown Saginaws newest apartments

Now, about 15 miles north, also near the banks of the Saginaw River, crews are making progress on a project that will bring 100 new residential units to the burgeoning Uptown Bay City development.

We are really excited about this next phase of residential construction at Uptown, Warr said. Our development team and our interior designers at Pinnacle Design have been working hard over the last few years in the thoughtful planning and design of the various living options available and we are excited to share these details with the community.

The project includes urban apartments, townhomes and luxury riverfront apartments.

There is something for everyone within this diverse range of residential offerings, Warr said.

Sara Dimitroff, Bay Citys economic development project manager, said these residential units are vital to the increased demand to live downtown and on the water.

To continue to see our young professionals stay or move back to our area we have to have adequate rentals that will make them want to live here. A lot of young professionals are not ready or wanting to buy houses so having housing that is appealing will bring them back, she said. We also see a lot of retired or empty nesters who are wanting to downsize and not have the upkeep of a house want to live in the downtown where all of the action is.

The first phase of The Greystones at Uptown is now fully leased, and nine more Greystone units will be available later this year, Warr said. The next available units will be the West Village Apartments, which are expected to be move-in ready in July. Applications for the Village Apartments and the luxury riverfront units in Rivers Edge are now being accepted.

Prices for these new units range from $975 to $2,300 per month.

Our residents love living at Uptown and enjoy being able to walk to all of the local shops and amenities in both downtown and Uptown, Warr said. Its also exciting to see the 60 unit Rivers Edge apartments construction progress...the views from the apartments to the river and parklands as well as the city are absolutely stunning.

Learn more at uptownbaycity.com/live or by calling 989-799-5700.

Read more on MLive:

Bay City modifies agreements with United Bridge Partners to focus on leasing Independence and Liberty bridges

Local Eats: Pendulum Lounge offers craft cocktails, small plates and mid-century modern vibe

Century-old Tudor mansion on Bay Citys historic Center Avenue listed at $459K

Bay City approves $132K contract for City Hall window repair project

New boutique in Bay City offering an exclusive one-on-one experience

Fig & Honey Cheese Co. opening in Old Town Saginaw with bistro-style seating
A Texas dog groomer has been accused of choking a Shih Tzu dog until its eye 'popped out', leaving the dog in need of emergency surgery. Pictured Mia after surgery

A Texas dog groomer has been accused of choking a Shih Tzu dog until its eye 'popped out', leaving the dog in need of emergency surgery.

Laly Moreno, the distraught owner of Mia, claimed her beloved pooch almost lost her eye after visiting the Flash Pet Salon & Hotel in Mission, Texas, last month.

Shocking footage posted on social media last week by Moreno's niece shows Mia's swollen eye following the surgery.

She also posted a clip of surveillance footage taken from inside the salon which appeared to show the animal latched onto the gloved arm of the groomer as he tries to pull the dog off.

The salon owner has denied allegations of animal abuse and released extended footage claiming to show the dog was biting and being aggressive toward the staff member.

Surveillance footage taken from inside the salon appears to show the animal latched onto the gloved arm of the groomer as he tries to pull the dog off

The incident unfolded back on March 13 when Moreno said she dropped off Mia and her other dog at the Flash Pet Salon & Hotel for grooming.

Moreno told Fox 2 Now salon owner Arturo Tapia called her telling her Mia was being aggressive so they could not groom her but did not mention the dog had been injured.

'He never told me it was something serious. I just thought she (Mia) was not in the mood or whatever,' she said.

Moreno said her daughter went to pick up the two dogs and was shocked to find Mia injured.

The owner took Mia to the vet the following day, who told her 'she needs emergency surgery or else she's going to lose her eye,' said Moreno.

Moreno said her pooch has now been left recovering from the surgery while she has been left with an $800 vet bill.

When she contacted the salon and asked for surveillance footage of the incident, she said she was only given five seconds worth of video.

Laly Moreno, the distraught owner of Mia, claimed her beloved pooch almost lost her eye. Her niece posted a one-second clip on social media

Her niece then posted a one-second clip on social media, writing: 'If you live in McAllen/mission PLEASE don't take your pets to flash pet salon in mission tx!!!! They choked her so hard her eye popped out!!!!'

In the video, the dog appears to be latched onto the gloved arm of the male staff member with its teeth and is dangling with its entire body in the air above the table in the salon room.

The man uses his other arm to pull the animal off and sets it down on the table.

Tapia told Fox 2 Now the dog was biting the employee's glove and he was trying to get his arm free but insisted neither he, his business or his staff would intentionally hurt any animals.

The salon owner shared other clips of the dog's visit to the salon with this clip appearing to show the Shih Tzu trying to bite the groomer

One clip shows an extended version of the moment shared by the owner's family member, with the groomer shaking his glove off his hand after releasing it from the dog's grip

Another clip shows the moment the two dogs are picked up by Moreno's daughter

In a video posted on Facebook Tapia shared other clips of the dog's visit to the salon.

One clip shows an extended version of the moment shared by the owner's family member, with the groomer shaking his glove off his hand after releasing it from the dog's grip.

Another clip shows the Shih Tzu appearing to be trying to bite the groomer when he approaches it while another captures the moment the two dogs are picked up by Moreno's daughter.

'In no moment did my employee's hands strangle Mia like it is made out to be on social media,' Tapia said.

'I have a love for animals. All of the animals that are brought to me I treat with love as if they are my own dogs.'

The alleged incident unfolded back on March 13 when Moreno said she dropped off Mia and her other dog at the Flash Pet Salon & Hotel (above) for grooming

Salon owner Arturo Tapia (above) claims the dog was biting and being aggressive toward the staff member

The salon did not explain what may have happened during the visit to have injured the dog with the cause of Mia's eye injury unclear.

Moreno questioned why the salon did not call her and tell her what had happened right away.

She said she is not pressing charges but is asking the salon to cover Mia's vet bills.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Mission Police Department for comment.

The department's investigator Art Flores told Fox 2 Now they are investigating the incident but there are currently no complaints against the business itself.
(JNS)  Anyone who is willing to look up for a moment from the hardships of politics and the coronavirus and examine the success of the project called the State of Israel from a broad historical perspective knows that it deserves to be crowned a resounding success.

Anyone who prefersand there are quite a fewto assess the state of the nation based on the media headlines will soon find themselves longing for the Stone Age. It seems that complaining is very fashionable these days in the political-media sphere. Im not the first one to say this: Our national sport is grumbling. But re...
The European Medical Agency (EMA) said on Friday that people who received the first dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should get the second one, reiterating that the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.

The big picture: EMA's decision comes after several countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the agency's assessment of a "possible link" between the shot and rare blood clots. EMA recommended the condition be listed as a "very rare" side effect.

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The Swedish Health Agency said this week that people under 65 who have received their first AstraZeneca dose should get an mRNA vaccine as their second dose instead.

The U.K., which has relied heavily on AstraZeneca in its world-leading vaccine rollout, has recommended that people under the age of 30 receive either Pfizer or Moderna.

What they're saying: EMAs human medicines committee "considered recommendations to give the second dose of Vaxzevria [AstraZeneca] after a longer interval than the recommended 4-12 weeks, to not give a second dose at all, or to give an mRNA vaccine as a second dose," the agency said.

"However, there has not been enough exposure and follow-up time to determine whether the risk of blood clots with low blood platelets after a second dose will differ from the risk after the first dose. At present there are no or limited data to change current recommendations."

EMA also said there was not enough data to determine who might be more susceptible to blood clots.

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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A 2018 lawsuit targeting New Mexicos child care assistance program could be nearing its end, after a state agency agreed to take additional steps aimed at making it easier for families to know income and eligibility guidelines.

Under the settlement agreement awaiting court approval, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department would temporarily continue allowing families that make up to 200% of the federal poverty level  or roughly $53,000 annually for a family of four  to participate in the program.

And families making slightly more than that can remain in the program if their children are already enrolled, under a separate change adopted by the agency.

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But new eligibility requirements would have to be codified by the department via the rule-making process by the end of this year.

The 2018 lawsuit was initially filed by several parents who were denied child care assistance, along with a nonprofit group that advocates for low-income New Mexicans, against the Children, Youth and Families Department, which at the time ran the program.

While a 2019 agreement identified some steps to resolve the lawsuit, the implementation of those changes has largely been inherited by the early childhood department, which was established in 2020 under a bill signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

As of the end of March, there were 13,418 New Mexico kids participating in the childcare assistance program, according to the agency, a number that was down from past years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Access to high quality early childhood education is critical to the development of our young children and vital to the economic stability of our families, Early Childhood Education and Care Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky said Tuesday.

Tim Davis, an attorney at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, said the department sought out input from parents in crafting the changes, which he described as groundbreaking.

In addition to the eligibility guidelines, the settlement agreement also calls for more transparency by requiring that information on how the state uses income levels to determine co-payment amounts be posted on the departments website.

A 2019 legislative report on the program found New Mexicos state-subsidized child care program had not improved educational outcomes for participating children, although it has succeeded in helping families boost their income levels, among other benefits.
A record-breaking number of children have been hospitalized this week with COVID-19 in Michigan as the state struggles with a spike in the virus.

Statewide, 70 children were hospitalized between Monday and Thursday with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.

That is the highest-ever number of hospitalized children at one time in the state, according to state records.

Officials are blaming the surge in hospitalizations on the UK coronavirus variant, also known as B.1.1.7, which is more transmissible and appears to spread faster among young people.

It isn't clear why the variant has taken such strong hold in Michigan.

Health experts said most children who have been hospitalized are likely to survive.

'The vast majority will recover because we have learned a lot during this pandemic on how to manage these kids,' Dr Bishara Freij told NBC News.

A record-breaking number of children have been hospitalized this week with COVID-19 in Michigan, data shows. Emergency room nurses are seen in Michigan

Statewide, 70 children were hospitalized this week with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. Michelle Elkhoury's daughters Juliana (center) was among the children who suffered severely from complications of COVID-19

About 10 children or teens have died from the disease in Michigan since the pandemic hit the US last year.

In some Michigan hospitals, children have suffered multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a rare and dangerous complication from the coronavirus.

Michelle Elkhoury said her daughter suffered from the complication.

She told NBC that her four-year-old daughter, Juliana, spent nearly a week at Beaumont Children's in March after the inflammatory syndrome attacked her organs.

'It was probably the worst week of our lives as parents. We were in the hospital and we didn't know what was going to happen,' Elkhoury told the news outlet.

Juliana is said to have developed a high fever, bloodshot eyes and a rash.

Michigan's daily case rate has led the US for weeks. Nearly 9,000 cases and 40 deaths were added last Friday.

But on Wednesday, the state's seven-day average of daily new coronavirus cases had fallen by more than 1,200 in a week, a sign that the outbreak may be subsiding in the state.

More than 2.6 million people in Michigan have been vaccinated, but more than a quarter of the state's vaccine supply was still unused as of Thursday morning

The increase in the share of Michigan's population that initiated vaccination (gray) as of last week was 83 per cent smaller than the increase seen the previous week, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Michigan health department data

The state health department reported nearly 5,600 cases and 45 deaths in the most recent 24-hour period. That brought the seven-day case average to 5,742  down from the third surge's peak of around 7,000 on April 13.

The seven-day average of tests coming back positive, 13.4 per cent, was down from 15.5 per cent a week before.

About 46 per cent of residents ages 16 and older have gotten at least one vaccine dose, including 31 per cent who are fully vaccinated. That equates to more than 2.6 million Michigan residents being vaccinated.

Earlier this week Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer also confirmed that her state could be seeing a drop in infections.

Whitmer has extended a pandemic order that limits business capacity and requires masks in public, but the Democrat has avoided further restrictions in place during previous surges, including suspending indoor restaurant dining.

Whitmer has urged a voluntary pause on activities like dining out and pushed for more vaccinations from the White House, which has said it would help with other logistics but continue allocating based on population.

In Michigan, more than 18,100 people have died with confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases. Nearly 900,000 confirmed or probable infections have been reported.

More than 31.9 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in the US since the start of the pandemic last year

Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations among older Americans have plunged more than 70 per cent since the start of the year, and deaths among them appear to have tumbled as well, dramatic evidence the vaccination campaign is working.

Now the trick is to get more of the nation's younger people to roll up their sleeves.

The drop-off in severe cases among Americans 65 and older is especially encouraging because senior citizens have accounted for about 8 out of 10 deaths from the virus since it hit the US, where the toll stands at about 570,000

COVID-19 deaths among people of all ages in the US have plummeted to about 700 per day on average, compared with a peak of over 3,400 in mid-January.

'What you're seeing there is exactly what we hoped and wanted to see: As really high rates of vaccinations happen, hospitalizations and death rates come down,' said Jodie Guest, a public health researcher at Emory University.

The best available data suggests COVID-19 deaths among Americans 65 and older have declined more than 50 per cent since their peak in January. The picture is not entirely clear because the most recent data on deaths by age from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is incomplete and subject to revision.

But the US faces challenges in conducting mass vaccinations because of its far greater size, diversity, geography and health disparities.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced new federal funding for small businesses so that employees can take time off with pay to get vaccinated or recover from the shot's side effects.

The challenge will be quickly vaccinating younger Americans, who feel they are less vulnerable to the coronavirus but are mainly the ones spreading the disease.
The Romanian Farmers Club and the Romanian National Potato Federation propose to the authorities the implementation of a National Strategic Potato Plan, to save an economic sector in great difficulty and harmonise the trade balance, which now registers a deficit of 60 pct, the representatives of the two organizations say.

The main limiting factors in potato cultivation in Romania are excessive division of the land, often low technical level, small size of agricultural holdings, poor quality of seeding material and, above all, lack of adequate storage space.

"Romania should hold the second place at European level in terms of the arable area for potato cultivation, but the low yield and lack of individual warehouses of the Romanian farmers cannot give us this prestigious position in the continental ranking. Unfortunately, Romanian potato producers have to sell their production immediately after harvest at low prices, due to the lack of storage space in optimal conditions throughout the year. In this way, massive potato imports take place in our country every year," said Laszlo Becsek, vice-president of the Romanian Farmers Club.

According to a release of the two organizations sent to AGERPRES, the Romanian Farmers Club and the National Potato Federation had a first meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Adrian-Nechita Oros, in which the proposal for the implementation of a National Strategic Potato Plan was presented.

The two organisations argued for the need for the ministry to re-analyze the partial distribution of the amounts allocated to the support coupled to the early potato measure for industrialization and the seed potato. The Club and the Federation carried out an analysis in this regard and provided the ministry with detailed economic and technical data.

"We believe that the repeated redistribution, each year, of the amounts allocated to this crop to other measures seriously harms potato growers, very few in fact, growers who have already suffered significant losses to the potato crop for consumption, sold in 2020 below the cost price. The low price of potato for consumption will also be directly reflected on the few seed potato producers left in Romania, who are practically without customers and are in danger of drastically reducing the area forecast for the current year," says Romulus Oprea, president of the Potato National Federation in Romania.

The two organisations are asking the ministry to analyse the very short-term predictable major impact on this staple food, which is already in decline, with the areas cultivated with potato in a continuous decline over the past 8 years, according to APIA (Agency of Payments and Intervention in Agriculture) data. In these conditions, potato cultivation being unprofitable, Romania will become even more dependent on imports, the share at the current level being about 50 pct, with visible consequences within the trade balance at the national level. With regard to the seed potato of higher biological categories (Elite and Super Elite), the import already represents a share of more than 95 pct.

The two organizations maintain that Romanian producers are the only ones able to work to harmonise the trade balance on this culture, while being able to obtain higher commercial income, a very important aspect concerning the contribution to the state budget.
THE Irish Nurses and Midwives' Organisation (INMO) has called for an urgent investigation into the continuing overcrowding situation at University Hospital Limerick.

The union is calling for HIQA to investigate what is going wrong at the hospital and make recommendations to alleviate pressure.

UHL, it says, has been the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland every day this year despite significant recruitment and the opening of more than 100 additional acute beds

Frontline staff are at their wits end. The hospital has recruited extra staff and secured a hundred extra beds. But it hasnt made a dent in the runaway overcrowding. 52 patients were on trolleys in UHL this morning, more than treble the number in any other hospital in the state," said Mary Fogarty, INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations.

Something is clearly going wrong in UHL. We are calling on the healthcare inspectorate, HIQA, to urgently investigate and make recommendations. Overcrowding adds stress for staff and worsens patient care. It is high-risk in normal times, but doubly so during an infectious pandemic. The HSE have pledged not to tolerate overcrowding during Covid  its time for them to live up to that promise," she added.

The UL Hospitals Group has been contacted for comment.
(Newser)  American help is on the way for Indonesian rescuers desperately trying to find a missing submarine before all hope of finding survivors disappears. An American reconnaissance aircraft has been sent to the search area in the Bali Sea as the Pentagon says it is "deeply saddened" by the disappearance of the sub with 53 people on board, the BBC reports. A sonar-equipped Australian ship with a helicopter joined two dozen Indonesian ships searching for the KRI Nanggala 402 Friday, reports the AP. They are focusing on an area where an oil slick was found. The Indonesian military says the search is being "maximized" now because if the sub, which vanished during a torpedo drill, is still intact, oxygen will run out around 3am Saturday local timeFriday afternoon in the US.

story continues below

Theres been no conclusive evidence the oil slick was from the sub. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarines fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessels weight so it could surface. Margono said an unidentified object exhibiting high magnetism was located at a depth of 165 to 330 feet and officials held out hope it is the submarine. The navy said it believes, however, that the submarine sank to a depth of 2,000 to 2,300 feet, much deeper than its collapse depth, at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand. The vessels collapse depth was estimated at 655 feet by a South Korean company that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012.

(Read more Indonesia stories.)
India's physical gold demand faltered this week as strict restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 kept buyers away, while activity in other top hubs remained largely muted due to higher prices.

Many Indian states have imposed curbs amid a record surge in infections.

The second wave has been badly affecting demand as many showrooms are closed due to restrictions, said Harshad Ajmera, the proprietor of JJ Gold House, a wholesaler in the city of Kolkata.

"Suddenly, demand has gone down. Consumers are also not willing to step out of their homes due to the outbreak," he said.

Premiums eased to about $2 an ounce over official domestic prices, inclusive of 10.75% import and 3% sales levies, from last week's $4.

"Jewellers have been reducing purchases because of weak retail demand. It seems demand would remain weak for the next few weeks considering the way cases are rising," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a bullion importing bank.

This was in contrast to March, when Swiss monthly gold exports to India touched their highest since 2013, amid a gradual pick-up in demand.

In China, premiums of $8-$10 were charged over benchmark spot gold prices, against $7-$9 last week.

With premiums at these levels, "we don't see anyone rushing to jump in. I expect a dip down to $3/$4 in order to trigger more buying interest," said Bernard Sin, regional director, Greater China at MKS Switzerland.

In Hong Kong, premiums of $1.2-$1.8 an ounce were charged versus $0.50-$2 last week.

In Singapore, premiums stood around $1.6-$1.8, from $1.8 previously.

"Prices are higher so people are sitting on the sidelines," said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central.

Wholesalers are rather quiet as supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 measures have pushed up premiums, Lan added.

In Japan, premiums of $0.50 were being charged, amid weak demand.

(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.)
Kuleba: Withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian borders will ease tensions, but Kyiv calls on intl partners to monitor situation, take measures to deter Moscow

Ukraine is grateful to its international partners for the decisive response to Russia's aggravation of the situation near the Ukrainian borders, which helped induce Russia to curtail military exercises, but urges not to let the guards down and continue to monitor the situation, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"Shoigu's statement itself is a welcome development. If Russia really pulls back from the border with Ukraine the enormous military force it has deployed there, this will already ease tensions. But we need to remember that this step would not put an end neither to the current escalation, nor to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in general," the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry quoted Kuleba as saying.

He also noted that Ukraine would like to see consistent constructive actions confirmed by Ukrainian intelligence and NATO intelligence.

"Secondly, these forces have not just arrived at our border and now have to go back. They have held dangerous drills and created a real threat for Ukraine. Russia still owes an explanation to Ukraine, OSCE and international community of why it really needed to bring such numerous forces equipped with some offensive weapons at the border with Ukraine in such excessive number of troops," Kuleba said.

He also noted that Ukraine is grateful to our international partners for their resolute and timely reaction to Russia's escalation. According to him, this has helped motivate Russia to take the decision to end its unprecedentedly dangerous exercises.

"Ukraine calls on our partners to not lose vigilance for now, keep closely monitoring the situation and take further active steps to deter Russia," the minister said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said earlier he decided to finish the combat preparedness check in the Southern and Western Military Districts once its objectives were attained and ordered the troops to start returning to their permanent bases from the southern part of Russia.
Constitutional carry proponents usually start their defense of legislation with the U.S. Constitution, specifically the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The debate over constitutional carry inside the state of Texas is no different, said Danny Anderson of SK Arms.

The second amendment is quite clear, Anderson said. That is the only argument you need.

Currently, a constitutional carry bill has cleared the House and remains in political limbo in the Texas Senate. The Texas Tribune reported this week that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he currently lacks the votes to pass permitless carry of handguns. In the same story, it was reported Kel Seliger, Midlands representative in the Texas Senate, suggested he may not be immediately supportive of the proposal. Seliger told The Texas Tribune that his office was still researching the issue and he tends to support just about all bills related to gun rights, but the system that we have now works. He said it was too early to say whether he would block the bill from coming to the floor or vote against it if it made it to the floor.

Anderson expressed his disappointed that Texas leaders, which he said includes Gov. Greg Abbott, havent shown the enthusiasm to get constitutional carry legislation passed like Anderson said he has seen in Tennessee, where Gov. Bill Lee signed a similar bill earlier this month. In fact, Anderson said Texas is not at the forefront on the issue.

I understand Texas is a gun-loving state, Anderson said, but when we pass (constitutional carry) we would be the 20th state to pass this.

Matt Stringer, whose involvement in politics includes the Midland Liberty Leadership Council, complimented Rep. Matt Schaefer of Tyler for authoring House Bill 1927, which he said respects the constitutional rights of Texans. Schaefer, according to a report from Austin TV station KETK refers to HB 1927 as common-sense carry and that it provides an opportunity for people to protect themselves if they get into a situation where they feel unsafe.

The Texas House approved HB 1927, by a, 84-56 vote.

This bill has nothing to do with AR-15s, rifles or shotguns, Schaefer said in the KETK report. Places like bars, schools, college campuses, the prohibitions they have there will remain in place.

Anderson said that the training that some say is lacking with constitutional carry isnt an issue as the state-required training (that currently exists) is laughable. He also said that the amount of training necessary for those wanting to carry would be blatantly

unconstitutional.

Anderson also stated he believes stricter measures in other states have not been shown to work.

Anderson said SK Arms is planning an initiative that provides a discount for those who come into the store and make a call to Sen. Seligers office in support of constitutional carry.
(Newser)  Texas high school senior Trevor Wilkinson made headlines in December after he was suspended for wearing nail polish. Now the gay teen is making headlines again, this time for a personal win. Wilkinson, who served an in-school suspension after he was caught wearing nail polish at Clyde High School, has been urging the Clyde Consolidated Independent School District to update its "discriminatory" dress-code policy. It had different rules for males, who weren't allowed to paint their nails, and females, who were. "Why is it against dress code for a man to be comfortable with his masculinity and defy the gender norms that society has imposed on us," the 17-year-old asked the school board in December, per NBC News, noting the ACLU of Texas had previously flagged the policy as unjust. Since then, his Change.org petition has received more than 400,000 signatures.

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His win came Monday as the school board unanimously approved a new dress code for the 2021-22 school year. Gone is the rule barring males from wearing nail polish or makeup. In fact, all references to males and females are eliminated. The new "Dress and Grooming Policy" is gender-neutral, referring only to "students," per KRBC. For instance, it notes "students are not allowed to have facial hair" and "students may not wear strapless, spaghetti straps, tank or cut tops, half, or mesh shirts." "I'm so happy. This is what I wanted all along, and this is what I was fighting for," Wilkinson tells KTXS. He tells KRBC that people have been coming up to him at school to show him their painted nails. "I think that I will always look back on this experience and know that what I did was right," he says. (Read more Texas stories.)
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India's spiraling Covid-19 crisis could lead to outbreaks and lockdowns in Australia because the hotel quarantine system is 'not fit for purpose' and flights from the high-risk nation should be immediately banned, doctors and politicians have warned.

In the last 24 hours alone, India recorded 332,730 new coronavirus cases and one in three people are testing positive in the capital, New Delhi, many suffering from highly infectious and more deadly mutant strains of the virus.

The disastrous outbreak, which has pushed hospitals to breaking point and required the mass burning of bodies in the streets, is already affecting Australia with a huge spike in cases among travellers from India in quarantine.

India's Covid death toll could be ten times higher than is being officially reported, according to analysis of the numbers being burned in crematoriums. Pictured: A man walks past a burning funeral pyres of people who died from Covid-19 at a crematorium ground in New Delhi

Relatives and family members carry the dead body of a Covid-19 victim for a cremation at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium, on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday

Sydney recorded 18 new cases in quarantine on Friday and the Northern Territory recorded 12, of which 11 were from India.

The alarming rise has prompted Scott Morrison to cut flights from India by 30 per cent and require anyone travelling to get a negative test in any transit country before flying on to Australia.

However, medical experts are warning these moves are not enough - and that major quarantine changes need to be made to prevent outbreaks.

Australia has suffered 14 outbreaks caused by leaks from hotel quarantine since November, including six in Sydney and three in Brisbane. Sydney's Northern Beaches Christmas lockdown is believed to be caused by infected travellers but no direct link was ever found.

Dr David Berger, an emergency flying doctor who practices in Lightning Ridge, NSW, published a paper in the Medical Journal of Australia on Wednesday which called for regional worker camps to be used instead of high-rise hotels and called for flights from India to be banned.

He has written an open letter to the government, signed by 350 colleagues, which calls for experts to recognise that Covid transmits in the air, not through contact or droplets as currently believed.

His paper says that between November and mid January 'approximately 1 in 200 hotel quarantine cases led to infections outside the system' causing outbreaks in Sydney, Melbourne Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth.

Another 314,835 infections were reported on Thursday, the world record for a daily cases figure. Pictured: A graph showing India's 7-day-average daily new coronavirus infections

Funeral pyres at a makeshift crematorium in the capital Delhi on Wednesday, the city of 29 millions is rapidly running out of hospital beds for patients, oxygen supplies and even basic medication

Discussing his paper on 2GB radio, Dr Berger said: 'Almost all of those are variants. This virus is airborne. There is no documented case of transmission from contact such as lift buttons or surfaces. It can be transmitted over significant distances and ventilation is critical to this.

'Unfortunately these hotels that we're using were never designed for people to be cooped up in them for two weeks with no opening windows.

'They have gaps under the doors, the ventilation is not designed to be infectious disease proof. They're just not suitable. These facilities are just not designed for it.'

He said the quarantine system needs a total overhaul, adding: 'We need to move to a situation where we have air-gapped quarantine like they do in the Northern Territory. Australia is full of mining camps and such like.

'It is not beyond the wit of Australia to establish mini caravan parks or mining camps close to major cities, where they can have access to fresh air and there is zero risk of cross contamination.

'Until we do that we are not going to be safe. We are going to have to pause travel and get better facilities.'

What measures has Australia taken to stop Covid-19 spreading from India? National Cabinet agreed to place additional restrictions on Australian citizens and permanent residents seeking to enter Australia from high risk countries which are experiencing rapidly increasing COVID-19 outbreaks. The Commonwealth will work to establish a list of high risk countries. Going forward:  Anyone entering Australia who has been in a high risk country in the last 14 days before entering Australia and is transiting through a third country will need to return a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to entering Australia from the final point of embarkation.  The Commonwealth will further restrict outbound travel exemptions to high risk countries to strictly essential travel only. Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) has put in place a series of measures to stop Covid entering Australia from India and other high-risk countries To address the significant increase in COVID-19 positive case numbers in returned travellers from India, National Cabinet agreed to:  Reducing the number of passengers on Government facilitated flights into the Centre of National Resilience at Howard Springs for all flights departing India, until the rate of positive cases has decreased to acceptable levels.  An approximate 30 per cent reduction in passenger numbers for Australians returning from India on Government-facilitated flights during May 2021. In addition, four of the scheduled facilitated flights will be rescheduled from May to June 2021.  A 30 per cent reduction on commercial flights direct from India to Australia, as soon as it is practical. In addition:  National Cabinet will seek advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) regarding the benefits of having aircrew vaccinated as a priority cohort.  The Commonwealth will seek Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) for Australians returning on direct flights from high risk countries. Advertisement

Dr Berger said flights from India, which is being ravaged by wildly infectious mutant strains of Covid should be stopped.

'Given the risk that India currently presents with its highly transmissible, highly infectious variant, which is absolutely out-of-control, I think there is an argument for a very temporary cessation of travel from India,' he said.

'We need to revamp hotel quarantine so it is safe. Our line of defence is very thin.'

Poll Should Australia suspend ALL flights from India? Yes No Undecided Should Australia suspend ALL flights from India? Yes 814 votes

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State leaders have also expressed concerns about the increasing number of cases coming from India into Australia.

Western Australia premier Mark McGowan said on Thursday: 'India's is obviously full of Covid. We are very concerned about India and that's why we have suggested a suspension, a reduction, in the number of people returning from India.'

He said he feared the quarantine system would not be able to cope after the virus was transmitted between guests in closed opposite rooms at the Mercure Hotel Perth, including to a man who tested positive after leaving the hotel and returning to Melbourne on Friday.

The man, who is asymptomatic, arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday after completing 14 days of quarantine at the hotel.

Genomic testing has confirmed the virus spread in the corridors of the hotel from a couple who had returned from India.

A pregnant mother and her four-year-old daughter who were staying across the corridor have also tested positive and remain in quarantine at the hotel.

The premier said: 'Obviously [the situation in India] is a big risk to the broader community and the integrity of our hotel quarantine system. It's not zero-risk environment. It's not perfect. As we have seen, somehow between two rooms that had closed doors, there has been transmission.'

Mr Morrison said on Friday it was not necessary to overhaul the quarantine system but explained why he cut flight capacity from India.

'The total number of cases that are occurring in quarantine are about the same they have been all year.

'So, we haven't seen a spike in the number of total cases over that period of time. There's been a slight increase in the last week or so - the quarantine system is not failing because of that at this point.

'So, we need to put if place the risk management that protects it going over the next few weeks.'

Use worker camps NOT hotels and wear N95 masks: Dr Berger's plan to shore up the quarantine system  Reinforce the border through improved ventilation in quarantine facilities, vaccination of workers and the use of airborne PPE  Replace high-rise quarantine facilities with accommodation modelled on the Howard Springs facility, in which residents are separated by open air  Update all COVID-19 guidance to emphasise the risk of aerosol transmission of SARSCoV-2  Mandate and fund ventilation assessments and upgrades of essential public institutions, such as hospitals, schools, aged care facilities and prisons  Promote strategies to reduce transmission risk through clear public health messaging and education  Ensure the availability of fit-tested P2/FFP2/N95 respirators for anyone in contact with a potential COVID-19 patient  Replace the harmful concept of 'aerosol generating procedures' as the sole risk for airborne spread with the knowledge that airborne spread is likely the norm in all situations, given SARS-CoV-2 containing aerosols are readily produced by breathing  Fast track research into indoor air quality, including the study of carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring as a surrogate measure of indoor air quality and airborne pathogen risk  Include recommendations on the usage of indoor air cleaners such as appropriately sized portable air filtration (HEPA) units or simple, practical and low-cost homemade devices using MERV-11/13 filters and box fans  Develop clear national ventilation standards for indoor environments  Broaden the diversity of people advising on infection control, by including experts from aerosol science, engineering, HVAC, occupational hygiene, occupational health and safety, and organisational psychology Source: MJA Advertisement

India's Covid tsunami: AMRIT DHILLON's harrowing dispatch reveals a nation living in terror as it's hit by 'double and even TRIPLE mutation' Covid variants that don't show up in tests - so should Australia let in ANYONE from the subcontinent?

The terror that blighted the final hours of Swapnil Rastogi's father Raj is something his son will never forget.

That, and his own desperation as he drove around Lucknow, the capital of India's populous Uttar Pradesh state, searching for a hospital bed.

Earlier, he had managed to source precious oxygen from a friend as his father's coronavirus symptoms worsened. But it was not enough to save him: Raj, just 59, died in the back seat of Swapnil's car, leaving his grief-stricken son bewildered and angry in equal measure.

Pictured: A view of a crematorium ground where mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at a crematorium in New Delhi on April 22, 2021

A mass cremation of victims who died of Covid-19 is seen at a crematorium ground in Delhi on Thursday, April 22, 2021

Relatives of a Covid-19 victim mourn during a cremation at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium, on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi in the early hour of April 22, 2021

'It wasn't the virus that killed my father, it was the lack of treatment,' he says. 'I ran around to a dozen hospitals but couldn't find a bed for him. The system has collapsed.'

Few would dispute his words. Today Mr Rastogi's anger is matched only by the sense of fear stalking India's population of almost 1.4billion as a second wave of the pandemic overwhelms the country's hospitals, leaves citizens dying on the streets and sees not only desperate families but even hospital managers appealing for oxygen supplies on social media.

Epidemiologists here are reporting virulent new variants driving this surge, including a 'double mutation' variant B1617 that does not always show up in tests even in those patients with full-blown symptoms and whose CT scans show all the tell-tale signs of coronavirus damage.

There is even more frightening talk, too, of a 'triple' mutation variant. Will vaccines be effective against such variants?

That would be more of a worry here, perhaps, if more people had been vaccinated  it stands at less than 10 per cent of the population so far.

It is no exaggeration to say that it feels near calamitous at times. Government and hospital helplines ring out unanswered while the streets of cities and small towns are thronged with panic-stricken daughters, sons, husbands and wives doing what Mr Rastogi did  driving for hours to find oxygen or a hospital bed.

The health ministry said there were 2,074 fatalities on Thursday, a new record for the country, but believed to be vastly under-reported

A man pays his respects to his relative as he performs the last rights at a crematorium on the outskirts of New Delhi on Thursday

Multiple funeral pyres of those patients who died of COVID-19 disease are seen burning at a ground that has been converted into a crematorium for mass cremation of coronavirus victims, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Meanwhile, crematoria work through the night  contrary to Hindu custom which dictates that no bodies be burnt after sundown  to cope with the rising body count, the lines of funeral pyres sending black smoke into the horizon of every major city.

Even so, the backlog of bodies is such that families have to wait hours in the baking 35C heat before they can cremate their loved ones, huddled in groups alongside the makeshift platforms built to accommodate the shrouded corpses.

India's horrifying state of affairs has led journalist Iram Hussein to label the situation nothing short of 'a holocaust'.

She had to beg for her parents  both critically ill with Covid  to be given a hospital bed only to find there were no facilities to treat them. 'They have got nothing to fight this. No medicines, no oxygen,' Ms Hussein said. 'I am seeing biblical scenes.'

They are scenes which are unfolding everywhere, from the most affluent corners of cities to the poorest rural communities, overwhelmed by both the savagery and speed of the virus.

And the fact that these tragedies are occurring in a country which, until as recently as a month ago, appeared to have weathered coronavirus better than many in the West, makes them all the more astonishing. Wind the clock back a year and epidemiologists were predicting that India, with its vast community of rural and urban poor, faced unprecedented challenges as the first wave of the pandemic rolled across the globe.

We were told people would die on the streets of our cities, while rural villages would have too many deaths to document. Yet none of this happened. While around 114,000 died up to September/October last year when the pandemic peaked, India's vastly underfunded and fragile healthcare system coped.

Quite why India escaped relatively lightly remains the subject of mystery and conjecture among ordinary people and experts alike.

At its peak, the country was still reporting only 90,000 cases a day  a relative sliver of its vast population, and a number that had dropped to 20,000 by January.

Was it the relatively young demographic and low rate of obesity? Was it the BCG jab routinely given to Indian children to guard against deadly tuberculosis? Or perhaps the population had stronger immune systems developed to cope with the widespread lack of sanitation?

An aerial view of a crematorium ground in Delhi on Thursday shows the scale of the devastation caused by Covid-19 in India

Oxygen, hospital beds and vaccines are running low in India, where some patients have been turned away from hospital because of shortages. Pictured: A cemetery worker in PPE collects logs to be used in funeral pyres

Despite huge numbers of infections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said lockdowns are a last resort. Pictured: Funeral pyres blaze ar a crematorium ground in New Delhi

The reality is that, aside from a harsh but effective lockdown, nobody really knows. What is clear, however is that as January ticked into February and cases dipped for the thirtieth consecutive week, complacency set in among both the population and its leaders.

From January onwards, most restrictions were relaxed, and since then many Indians have been celebrating one Hindu festival after another, mingling in vast crowds with little in the way of social distancing.

In March, a crowd of 57,000 gathered at the Narendra Modi Stadium to watch India play England in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

From April 1 onwards, millions gathered on certain days at the annual Kumbh Mela festival, despite calls by doctors alarmed by an uptick in figures from early February for it to be called off.

Among them was Dr A Fathahudeen, a highly respected medic who is part of Kerala state's Covid taskforce. 'I said in February that Covid had not gone anywhere and a tsunami would hit us if urgent actions were not taken,' he said recently. 'Sadly, a tsunami has indeed hit us now.'

It is a prediction that India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, certainly chose to ignore. Lax, complacent, over-confident, and lulled into a false sense of security by India's moderate first wave, he made few preparations for a second wave despite the overwhelming evidence from Europe and America that it would come.

Nor has he led by example: for the last two months he has been driving election campaigns for local state assemblies, which involve mass rallies attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

Funeral pyres of people who died from the coronavirus are seen at a crematorium ground in New Delhi on Thursday

India's healthcare system is buckling under the strain of a vicious second wave. Pictured: A cemetery worker pulls a cart of wooden logs to be used in funeral pyres on Thursday

An Indian boy carries an empty oxygen cylinder for filling at oxygen filling centre in Bangalore on Wednesday. There is a shortage of oxygen cylinders in certain COVID-19 affected areas but the Karnataka state government has said that it will do its best to make sure the distribution of liquid medical oxygen is smooth and there will be no shortage

Even so, the speed with which the latest wave has spread through the population has surprised everyone.

Against a backdrop of pictures of near-empty Covid wards, and news that the temporary hospitals and isolation centres hastily erected during the first wave had been decommissioned, we started meeting outdoors in cafes and parks again.

Yet a month later here we are, thousands are dying daily, and not just because of the virus alone but because they cannot get life-saving treatment. India's healthcare's system is on its knees, and the consequences have been heart-rending. People are dying on park benches, in car parks, and in ambulances outside hospitals.

For once, the rich are as helpless as the poor. In a country where money and connections could always ensure access to some of the best healthcare in the world, the second wave has come as a rude shock. Money has no currency now.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, some of the top private hospitals in New Delhi said they had only a couple of hours of oxygen left, after which its patients would start dying  those on ventilators within minutes and other patients within hours.

When a truck with oxygen cylinders arrived at one New Delhi hospital at 1.30am  half an hour before it was due to run out - doctors and nurses there wept with relief.

It's little wonder that people are palpably scared: if you call for an ambulance it will not come, and even if it does there is nowhere to take you.

It's a visceral fear I have succumbed to myself this week, having woken up yesterday with Covid symptoms that have confined me to my bed. As I am in my late fifties, I've already had one Covid vaccination, and so far my symptoms are not severe, but I cannot shake off the lingering fear that should I deteriorate there is little that can be done. If I wake up at night struggling to breathe, I have no plan of action.

Nor are the young immune. While most serious cases and deaths have predominantly involved the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, younger people are also suffering.

Just this week, the 34-year-old son of a prominent Indian politician died from Covid.

The backlog of tests in laboratories  four days worth  does not help. Without the Covid-positive test, you can't be admitted to hospital even if you manage to find a bed, so people are dying while waiting for a test or the result.

Vaccination cannot be relied on either: while some 2.7million vaccine doses are given daily, less than 10 per cent of the population has been vaccinated so far  a number that must rise exponentially to make a difference.

A crematorium worker checks a burning pyre of a Covid-19 victim at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi in the early hour of April 22, 2021

Multiple funeral pyres of those patients who died of COVID-19 disease are seen burning at a ground that has been converted into a crematorium

President Modi's response has been startlingly ineffectual. This week, as evening bulletins broadcast images of grieving and desperate citizens, his only real intervention has been to declare that oxygen supplies can no longer be used for industrial purposes but must be given to hospitals instead.

How much difference that will make remains to be seen, and at the moment it is social media that people have turned to for answers, with citizens tweeting links to hospitals they have heard may have a bed, and WhatsApp groups trying to source oxygen supplies or construct makeshift isolation units in empty houses.

On Twitter, anti-Modi hashtags are trending, along with the phrase: 'You are responsible Mr Modi'. And beside herself with grief, one young woman, who cremated her mother on Tuesday, asked a question many are pondering this week: 'May I ask Modi and Amit Shah [the equivalent of the Home Affairs minister] why they are campaigning in West Bengal? Are they not seeing people dying here in the capital?'

Incredibly, Mr Modi was due to visit West Bengal today for another political rally, instead of staying in the capital to monitor the scourge that has engulfed the country.

Belatedly, he cancelled it last night  but not before an impression of heartless indifference had been created.

No wonder a customised image of Mr Modi's party's symbol, the orange lotus, is doing the rounds on Twitter. Instead of petals emerging from the leaves, it shows the blazing orange flames of a funeral pyre.
[April 23, 2021] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Reminds Investors of Looming Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against Champignon Brands Inc. (SHRMF)

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") reminds investors of the upcoming June 9, 2021 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Champignon Brands Inc. ("Champignon" or the "Company") (OTC: SHRMF) securities between March 27, 2020 and February 17, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). If you suffered a loss on your Champignon investments or would like to inquire about potentially pursuing claims to recover your loss under the federal securities laws, you can submit your contact information at https://www.glancylaw.com/cases/champignon-brands-inc/. You can also contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or via email at shareholders@glancylaw.com to learn more about your rights. On June 22, 2020, Champignon announced that the Company had "been selected for continuous disclosure review by the British Columbia Securities Commission (the "Commission") and "in connection with the review, the Commission had issued a cease trade order suspending in the securities of the Company pending the filing of business acquisition reports." On this news, the Company's stock price fell 24% to close at $0.500 per share on June 22, 2020, thereby damaging investors. On September 15, 2020, the Company issued a press release stating, amongst other things, "the Commission issued a replacement cease trade orer . . . , pending the filing of a revised material change report . . . in connection with the acquisition by the Company of AltMed." Champignon further stated that "the acquisition of AltMed should be treated as a reverse-takeover."



On this news, Champignon's stock price fell 5% to close at $0.271 per share on September 16, 2020, thereby damaging investors. On February 17, 2021, Champignon announced that it would restate its financial statements for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2020. Specifically, "the Company previously recognized intangible assets in connection with" certain acquisitions, and "management determined that . . . 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." Champignon also stated that "a shareholder and contracted consultant (the 'Consultant') of the Company was a related party with respect to" those acquisitions.

On this news, Champignon's stock price fell 10% to close at $0.687 per share on February 17, 2021, thereby damaging investors further. The complaint filed alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) Champignon had undisclosed material weaknesses and insufficient financial controls; (2) Champignon's previously issued financial statements were false and unreliable; (3) Champignon's earlier reported financial statements would need to be restated; (4) Champignon's acquisitions involved an undisclosed related party; (5) as a result of the foregoing and subsequent reporting delays and issues, the British Columbia Securities Commission would suspend Champignon's stock from trading; (6) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Champignon securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than June 9, 2021 to request appointment as lead plaintiff in this putative class action lawsuit. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Charles Linehan, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005069/en/

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A patient arrives at hospital with chest pain. Doctors suspect heart attack and rapid diagnosis is important, but the tests to confirm it can be invasive and it could easily be something else. Could a simple blood test help to non-invasively rule heart attack in or out? A new study in open access journal Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine certainly suggests so. The study identified telltale markers in the blood of heart attack patients that distinguished them from patients suffering chest pain with other causes. The researchers hope that the results will lead to new diagnostic tests for heart attacks.

If you have ever suffered chest pain, the possibility of a heart attack may have popped into your head. While chest pain is an important symptom for heart attacks, there are a variety of other conditions that can cause similar symptoms, and many of them are not serious. If a patient presents with chest pain at hospital, doctors need to quickly determine if a heart attack is the culprit. Early treatment is important in limiting the damage that occurs.

At present, this may involve coronary angiography, where a catheter is placed into the blood vessels of the heart. While effective, angiography is invasive, and not something you would like to undergo if unnecessary. In addition, in busy or poorly resourced hospitals, angiography may not always be available in time. Another test involves taking a blood sample to check for proteins that indicate damage to the heart muscle. However, these markers are sometimes unreliable, and can be elevated by other conditions.

These issues inspired these researchers to look for new markers in the blood that form a unique fingerprint for a heart attack. They turned to small molecules called metabolites that are produced during biochemical processes within our bodies.

"We analyzed circulating metabolites in blood plasma samples from cardiac chest pain patients, including heart attack cases and other cardiac chest pain cases, to identify potential markers for heart attack diagnosis and early warning," explained Dr. Xiangqing Kong of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, corresponding author on the paper. "Such markers could be helpful in confirming heart attack in a timely manner when angiography is unavailable."

The researchers collected blood samples from 146 patients who presented at hospital with chest pain and 84 healthy volunteers. Of the 146 chest pain patients, 85 were later confirmed to have suffered a heart attack and the remainder had chest pain from other causes.

Strikingly, on analyzing the samples, the researchers found an array of metabolites that were present in different amounts, and the differences were significant enough that they could successfully distinguish between the samples from heart attack patients, those with non-heart attack-related chest pain and the healthy volunteers. Three metabolites showed particular promise as diagnostic markers.

"Even after accounting for other cardiac risk factors such as hypertension, smoking and diabetes history, the metabolites deoxyuridine, homoserine and methionine scored highly as potential diagnostic and risk markers of heart attack," explained Dr. Jiye Aa of the China Pharmaceutical University, another author on the paper.

In reality, a suspected heart attack patient will likely undergo various tests before a heart attack is confirmed, but expanding the available arsenal of reliable tests will be useful for doctors in narrowing things down quickly. The researchers plan to conduct further research to assess why and how these biomarkers are involved in heart attacks.

Explore further Heart attack diagnosis missed in women more often than in men

More information: Plasma metabolites alert patients with chest pain to occurrence of myocardial infarction, Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.652746 , www.frontiersin.org/articles/1  2021.652746/abstract Plasma metabolites alert patients with chest pain to occurrence of myocardial infarction,
(Newser)  A high school track meet in Utah notched a relay time over the weekend just short of a Usain Bolt recordbut the victor was on four legs, not two. During a 4x200 Grizzly Invitational race Saturday that Logan High School runners seemed set to win, senior Gracie Laney was in the lead as she rounded the final turn, until a surprise competitor suddenly jumped into the race from out of nowhere, reports the Sacramento Bee. It was Holly, a goldendoodle belonging to Kate Heywood, a junior who was on the sidelines prepping for her own race. The dog sprinted onto the track and caught up to Laney from behind as she neared the finish line, as seen in this video of the event.

story continues below

"At first, I thought it was another runner and I was surprised because we had a pretty good lead," Laney says of what she was thinking as she heard footsteps coming up behind her, per KSL. "As it got closer, I thought, 'That's too small to be a person.'" That's because it was Holly, who passed Laney and won the race, nearly tripping the high schooler as she followed right behind. Laney, not Holly, was given the official win, with a time of 1 minute, 59.27 seconds, though Holly's time was actually pretty noteworthy: She ran the final 100 meters of the race in 10.5 seconds, which is just one second behind Usain Bolt's world record, set in 2009. "Lol I can't believe I got beat by a dog," Laney wrote on Instagram. Heywood, meanwhile, says Holly often goes on runs with her, though she usually gets tuckered out after 5 miles or so. More on Holly here. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
A new VR platform enables the display of huge amounts of data. This can be helpful in the study of rare genetic defects, among other things.

Networks offer a powerful way to visualize and analyze complex systems. However, depending on the size and complexity of the network, many visualizations are limited. Protein interactions in the human body constitute such a complex system that can hardly be visualized. Jorg Menche, Adjunct Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Professor at the University of Vienna and research group leader at Max Perutz Labs (Uni Wien/MedUni), and his team developed an immersive virtual reality (VR) platform that solves this problem. With the help of VR visualization of protein interactions, it will be possible in the future to better recognize correlations and identify those genetic aberrations that are responsible for rare diseases.

The larger and more complex networks are, the more difficult their visualization on the screen becomes. Conventional computer programs quickly reach their limits. This challenge was addressed by network scientist Jorg Menche and his research group at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. They developed a VR platform for exploring huge amounts of data and their complex interplay in a uniquely intuitive fashion.

The body as a network

The representation of complex data can be particularly important in the search for the cause of rare diseases, because the human body, with its approximately 20,000 proteins that are encoded in the human genome and interact with each other, represents a huge complex network. Whether movement or digestion - at the molecular level, all biological processes are based on the interaction between proteins. If the protein interactions are illustrated in a network, a barely representable picture of about 18,000 dots - proteins - and about 300,000 lines between these dots will be created. Menche and his research group used the virtual reality (VR) platform they developed to make this image "readable" and, in collaboration with St. Anna Children's Cancer Research, succeeded in making the entirety of protein interactions visible for the first time. This makes it possible to interactively explore the vast and complex network.

Approaching the cause of rare immune diseases

For their study, published in Nature Communications, first author Sebastian Pirch and Menche's research group identified connection patterns between different protein complexes in the human body and linked them to their biological functions. In addition, the scientists used global databases to identify specific protein complexes associated with a particular disease. "While conventional forms of representation would look like a proverbial 'hairball', the 3-dimensional representation enables the precise analysis and observation of the different protein complexes and their interactions," says study author Pirch. This can be particularly important in the identification of rare genetic defects and crucial for therapeutic measures. "On the one hand, our study represents an important proof of concept of our VR platform; on the other hand, it directly demonstrates the enormous potential of visualizing molecular networks," says project leader Menche. "Especially in rare diseases, severe immune diseases, protein complexes associated with specific clinical symptoms can be analyzed in more detail to develop hypotheses about their respective pathobiological mechanisms. This facilitates the approach to disease causes and subsequently the search for targeted therapeutic measures."

About the VR platform

The platform developed by Menche's research group is designed for maximum flexibility and extensibility. Key features include the import of user-defined code for data analysis, easy integration of external databases, and a high degree of design freedom for arbitrary elements of user interfaces. The researchers were able to draw on technology normally used in the development of 3D computer games, such as the globally popular game Fortnite. By publishing the source code, the researchers hope to convince other developers of the potential of virtual reality for analyzing scientific data.

###

The study "VRNetzer: A Virtual Reality Network Analysis Platform" was published in the journal Nature Communications on April 23, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22570-w.

Authors: Sebastian Pirch, Felix Muller, Eugenia Iofinova, Julia Pazmandi, Christiane V. R. Hutter, Martin Chiettini, Celine Sin, Kaan Boztug, Iana Podkosova, Hannes Kaufmann & Jorg Menche

Funding: This work was supported by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) through projects VRG15-005 and NXT19-008, and by an Epic MegaGrant.

Jorg Menche studied physics in Leipzig, Recife and Berlin. He did his PhD with Reinhard Lipowsky at the Max-Planck-Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam (Germany), and was a postdoctoral fellow with Albert-Laszlo Barabasi at Northeastern University and at the Center for Cancer Systems Biology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He joined CeMM in 2015 as a Principal Investigator. In September 2020, he received a joint professorship at the Max Perutz Labs and the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Vienna, and became CeMM Adjunct PI.

The mission of CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is to achieve maximum scientific innovation in molecular medicine to improve healthcare. At CeMM, an international and creative team of scientists and medical doctors pursues free-minded basic life science research in a large and vibrant hospital environment of outstanding medical tradition and practice. CeMM's research is based on post-genomic technologies and focuses on societally important diseases, such as immune disorders and infections, cancer and metabolic disorders. CeMM operates in a unique mode of super-cooperation, connecting biology with medicine, experiments with computation, discovery with translation, and science with society and the arts. The goal of CeMM is to pioneer the science that nurtures the precise, personalized, predictive and preventive medicine of the future. CeMM trains a modern blend of biomedical scientists and is located at the campus of the General Hospital and the Medical University of Vienna. http://www. cemm. at

The Max Perutz Labs are a research institute established by the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna to provide an environment for excellent, internationally recognized research and education in the field of Molecular Biology. Dedicated to a mechanistic understanding of fundamental biomedical processes, scientists at the Max Perutz Labs aim to link breakthroughs in basic research to advances in human health. The Max Perutz Labs are located at the Vienna BioCenter, one of Europe's hotspots for Life Sciences, and host around 50 research groups, involving more than 450 scientists and staff from 40 nations. http://www. maxperutzlabs. ac. at
SALEM, Ore.  Three siblings in Oregon foster care are missing and may be in danger, according to officials from the Oregon Department of Human Services.

The agency has asked for help from the public in locating 1-year-old Kyden Cantu, 6-year-old Trulee Cantu, and 10-year-old Robert Mena III. DHS said that the three went missing with their parents, Whitley McGrady and Jeremy Cantu, from the Eugene area on April 22.

"ODHS asks the public to help in the effort to find Kyden, Trulee and Robert," the agency said.

The children and their parents may be in Grants Pass or in Terry, Montana, DHS said. Anyone with information about their location should call 911.

State officials gave the following information about each of the children:

Kyden Cantu

Pronouns: He/him

Date of birth: Sept. 14, 2019

Height: 30 inches

Weight: 23 pounds

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Dark brown

Eugene Police Department case #21-06148

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children #1418621

Trulee Cantu

Pronouns: She/her

Date of birth: Nov. 21, 2014

Height: 3-foot-7

Weight: 41 pounds

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Dark brown

Eugene Police Department case #21-06148

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children #1418621

Robert Mena III
In an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle, a San Antonio rapper said he will eventually donate 10,000 cans of water to children and families in need.

Phillip Hodge, known by his stage name Thuggizzle, will give away nearly 2,000 bottles from his new canned-water business to the San Antonio Food Bank and the rest to homeless shelters, churches, sports leagues, foster families and more. He has already started passing out his "Thuggizzle Water" to kids.

"It's the right thing to do. It is getting hot out there and I want to make sure the kids are staying hydrated," Hodge said.

During production, about 3,000 labels were misprinted, he said. Instead of wasting the water, Hodge bought the palettes plus more to donate.

"The Food Bank always does such amazing things. You always hear about the stuff they do for the community and that's what's important to me," the rapper said. "I knew if I gave them my water, it will actually go to those in need."

For Hodge, growing up on the East Side of San Antonio wasn't easy. Because of his mother's drug issues, he and his sisters ended up in the foster care system. His experience has inspired him to give back in hopes of showing kids in a similar situation that "if he can make it out, so can they."

The rapper also hopes the water will help kids make healthier choices like choosing water over sugary drinks.

"So many rappers do beverages, but they usually always do soda and these other things that aren't healthy for kids," Hodge said. "So I want them to see my name and get excited to drink water instead. I want to go against the grain to push water and push positivity on our youths. I think if I had that kind of influence as a kid, I would have made healthier choices."

He worked with San Antonio-based Artesia Springs to create Alkaline Water and pure spring water lines that will come in an eco-friendly can. The can was a conscious choice to reduce plastic waste and allows kids to recycle for extra money.

The rapper also runs his non-profit Thuggizzle Cares, which brings awareness and raises money for breast cancer, sexual assault victims and domestic violence support.

Hodge, who has performed with major names like Snoop Dogg and DMX, says he will continue to help those in need in San Antonio.

"This is so important to me and now I actually have the means to help," he said. "I have to go hard for these kids who are still stuck."

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
Washington, April 23 : The US House voted to pass a bill that would make Washington, D.C. the nation's 51st state, a Democratic priority that will face an uphill battle in the Senate for final passage even as the party controls both chambers of Congress.

H.R. 51, the Washington, DC Admission Act passed in the House in a party-line vote of 216-208 on Thursday. Its fate in the Senate, however, is almost certainly doomed, given that overwhelming Republican opposition will make it next to impossible for the measure to cross the 60-vote threshold for passage, Xinhua news agency reported.

The legislation was introduced by Eleanor Holmes Norton, the sole delegate representing the District in the House who, because the District is not a state, may draft legislation but has no voting right in the chamber. A member of the Democratic Party, Norton has long been an advocate for DC statehood.

The Democrats, thanks to whose majority in the House the bill was passed in the lower chamber last year, have framed the long unresolved and controversial issue from the perspective of equal representation and voting rights, arguing that the status of "taxation without representation" for the total of over 700,000 Washingtonians should end.

"Taxation without representation" is on Washington license plates because residents pay taxes but are not represented with a vote in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted during a Wednesday news conference at which she wore a mask with the number "51" on it.

"Washingtonians ... pay taxes, fight in our wars, contribute to the economic life of our country. But for centuries, they have been denied their right to representation," the California Democrat said.

Republicans, who in the last Congress held a majority in the Senate, blocked the bill's advance in the upper chamber last year by denying a vote on it. They have argued that the legislation mounts to a partisan effort by Democrats to pursue a progressive agenda and tip the scales in Congress in their favour.

If it becomes the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth -- as dubbed by the bill to commemorate Frederick Douglass, a 19th century American social reformer -- Washington, DC, whose population is larger than that of Wyoming or Vermont, will have one voting representative in the House and two US senators.

"The Democrats' DC statehood scheme is about two things: consolidating power and enacting radical policies," House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday on Twitter. "The American people see right through this blatant power grab." The bill will leave places like the White House, the US Capitol, the Supreme Court and the National Mall out of the newly-created state, letting them remain as federal grounds and as the seat of the US government.

The bill has already got the backing of the administration of President Joe Biden, whom 92 per cent of DC voters voted for in the 2020 election, compared to just 5 per cent who voted for then-President Donald Trump.

Congress should "provide for a swift and orderly transition to statehood" for DC residents to have full voting representation in the House and Senate, the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement on Tuesday, formally offering the White House's support for the Democrats' long-shot bid.

Census Bureau data showed 46 per cent of the District's residents are African Americans, potentially making the nation's capital the first state with a plurality Black population. That's why some advocates, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser -- herself a woman of colour -- view the issue from the angle of racial justice and civil rights.

Noting that DC statehood has strong backing of the White House and that 45 senators have signed off on the legislation, Bowser in a tweet following the House vote urged "the 55 Senators who have not yet signed on in support of #DCStatehood to fulfill their responsibility to build a more perfect union."
On Thursday, The Delhi High Court dismissed pleas by social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp, challenging Competition Commission of Indias (CCI) order directing a probe into WhatsApps new privacy policy.

The Court found no merit in Facebook and WhatsApps petition challenging the order. The CCI contended that it was not examining the alleged violation of individuals privacy which was being heard by the Supreme Court.

The CCI argued before Court that WhatsApps new privacy would lead to excessive data collection which is used for targeted advertising to bring in more users and therefore is an abuse of its dominant position.

Facebook and WhatsApp challenged the CCI order dated March 24.
After three weeks spent largely in empty hotels and halls, broken up by last weeks tour of some of the citys best West African and Caribbean restaurants, Top Chefs first Portland season finally took advantage of Oregons natural beauty Thursday, with cheftestants heading to the northern flank of Mount Hood to cook a savory dish made with fresh-picked fruit.

Episiode 4 marked more strong performances for the shows two Portland-area chefs, with Soter Vineyard chef Sara Hauman and Mama Bird owner Gabriel Pascuzzi performing well in the Quickfire and Elimination challenges, respectively. It also featured more awkward product placement, though at least this weeks Campbells soup-inspired dishes were more interesting than last weeks Talenti-backed desserts.

(No cable? Live stream Top Chef on fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial; or Sling TV)

Read on to find out what happened in Top Chef Episode 4, but be warned: Much as this weeks chefs had to dodge bees while cooking outdoors, anyone wishing to avoid spoilers should pause here.

Quickfire challenge: Look, this is a judgement free zone. So if you found yourself glopping a can of cream of mushroom soup into some tater-topped casserole early in the pandemic ... well, we get it. And when host and judge Padma Lakshmi talks about the importance of keeping our pantries very well stocked before revealing a cabinet filled with more red-and-white Cambells soup cans than an Andy Warhol retrospective, it almost makes sense.

After the requisite Willamette River bridge drone shots, the 12 remaining chefs get to work creating a dish that evokes a food memory, only elevated. Take us back to that special place, not just classic casseroles and pot pies, Lakshmi says. The prize for the winner: A cool $10,000. Inexpensive R&D for the Campbell Soup Company is just a byproduct.

One of the first meals that I made in the pandemic was a cream of mushroom soup, stroganoff-y thing, Hauman says, designing a grandma-chic dish around smoked mushrooms and, impressively for a 30-minute challenge, some scratch-made German spatzle. Pascuzzi, who claims that in Oregon, theyre always eating chanterelles, chanterelles on anything, everything, all things, turns to memories of foraging with his father as he prepares his own grilled beef with roasted delicata squash and chanterelles in a miso-madeira pan sauce.

Avishar Barua, a Columbus, Ohio-born chef with Bangladeshi roots, details the famous back story of chicken tikka masala, an Indian fusion dish most likely created in London by a South Asian chef combining tandoori chicken with a can of Cambells tomato soup. Baruas version adds another layer of fusion, riffing on CTM and shrimp toast for his Chicken Toast Masala.

Shota Nakajima, one of this seasons most accomplished chefs, has a misstep with his broken mushroom chawan mushi, a Japanese custard, though he downplays the mistake well before the judges table. Nelson Germans cod is hammered, Lakshmi says. And in a sign of things to come, Kiki Louyas Swiss chard is undercooked. On the plus side, Gabe Erales had a hit with his own Mexican-influenced fish, while Haumans mushroom stroganoff drew praise from Lakshmi, who says she loved that you made your own spatzle in 30 minutes, and from guest judge Dale Talde, who says it reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner with my mother. In the end, the grilled cheese panzanella with tomato vinaigrette from New Hampshire chef Chris Viaud, who had struggled early on with two bottom-3 finishes in Elimination challenges already, won the judges over (and $10,000 along the way).

"Top Chef" head judge Tom Colicchio grilsl Portland chef Gabriel Pascuzzi on his Elimination Challenge plans.David Moir/Bravo

Elimination Challenge

Now lets move on to something that will definitely throw you for a loop, Lakshmi says, delivering a line that could launch a thousand eye rolls. Lakshmi explains that Oregons fruit loop is a 30-mile scenic route through the Hood River Valley (and Im not talking about the cereal, Lakshmi adds). When the show filmed here last fall, orchards were filled with peaches, apples and a variety of pears, Lakshmi tells us. Instead of ordering online from Whole Foods, chefs will pick their fruit directly from the trees, then cook a savory dish with no vegetables.

The chefs head east in a four-car convoy of red BMWs to Mt View Orchard, a picturesque fruit farm between Hood River and Mount Hood. Now I understand why people want to live in Oregon, Louya says, marveling at the views. And boy are those views picturesque, particularly the shots of a sun-dappled Mount Hood that almost look like painted backdrops from an old Hollywood movie.

Chefs arrive, jog out to the orchards, pick fruit, then return to their stations where they have to deal with a breeze and the occasional bee. Pascuzzi, who has been given the Big Ego edit by the shows producers, gets the Homer Simpson treatment this week.

Ow, son of a! I got stung by a bee, Pascuzzi exclaims, dancing and dodging away from the invisible (to us) insects. Come on, bro, you already got me once today!

He manages to soldier on, and continues his so-far successful strategy of keeping things simple, topping three nicely shucked kumamoto oysters with a trio of fruit-based mignonettes. Hauman, meanwhile, decides to craft an attractive dish from shrimp, quinoa and little curls of apple that might look familiar to fans of her work at the Pearl Districts Arden.

Head judge Tom Colicchio chats with his former employee Pascuzzi, then warns Louya that her counter-top fryer might not have enough juice to deep fry her wings, suggesting grilling them instead. Thats what we call foreshadowing, kids.

After presenting her dish, which Hauman describes as lightly grilled shrimp, with quinoa, apples, plums and peaches...some different sauces in there.

Whats your purple sauce? asks Gregory Gourdet, the former Top Chef contestant and owner of the upcoming Portland Haitian restaurant Kann. who is serving as a recurring guest judge this season.

Roasted plums, sesame oil, peanut butter and, of course, yogurt, Hauman says, noting an ingredient that has appeared in several of her dishes so far.

Peanut butter? Gourdet says with a smile.

Guest judge Melissa King argues Haumans dish had too much going on sauce-wise. Back outside, Hauman wonders aloud whether Gourdets question was a good thing or a bad thing. In the end, Haumans dish lands in the middle of the pack.

Pascuzzis oysters, meanwhile, represent the Portland chefs third top-3 finish so far, with Colicchio crediting the dishs success to the attention to detail. Viauds seared scallop with peach butter, smoked and seared plums, pickled pink pearl apples and grapes also draws praise. Between the Quickfire and Elimination challenges, Episode 4 has been a nice turn around for the New Hampshire chef. The best dish of the night goes to Erales, who transformed gently smoked and glazed plums into the centerpiece of a dish with a mole-inspired gravy of fruit juice, chicken and pork. Even Nakajima, whose cold salmon nanban with sour apple sauce and duck fat crumbles had some successful elements, acknowledged that Erales dish was better.

When will these chefs learn their lesson  never cook risotto on Top Chef! Unless youre a true master of the form, theres rarely enough time to cook it well, and the judges love nothing more than picking bad versions apart.

Barua absorbs this commandment in real time, following up his bland rice from Episode 1 with a risotto that A) failed to incorporate much fruit, B) had too much bacon flavor and C) was somehow undercooked and mushy at once. German has another misfire, overwhelming scallops with a rich, heavy Bearnaise. But it was Louyas apple-glazed chicken wings, which arrived half raw, that had her packing her knives.

Undercooked chicken, you cant get past it, Colicchio says. Well see you in Last Chance Kitchen.

More of our coverage:

 Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell
Lynette Yiadom-Boakyes show at Tate Britain (Getty Images)

Although lockdown has been disastrous for Londons creative industries, with many forced to leave the business and a years worth of work, audience development and income lost, theres been one upside: time to reflect. After more than a year of darkness, arts bosses have been turning their minds to how things should look when the lights go back on.

Two branches of the sector have had particular cause to examine their navels and their consciences. As keepers of the narratives that nations tell themselves and each other, our museums and galleries  along with the heritage sector  have become embroiled in what people keep calling the culture war around representations of gender, race and Empire.

Theatre in London and the wider UK, meanwhile, has reasons both to congratulate and chastise itself. It often pioneers change that eventually seeps through to opera, ballet, film and television. There would be no Bridgerton without the pioneering colourblind stage productions of the Eighties, for instance. But progress has been slow and piecemeal, and the cost and challenge of a visit to the theatre still excludes large swathes of the population.

Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte in BridgertonLIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

Both sectors, too, are facing up to the impact of a long-term hit to international tourism, and the difficulty of luring older, wealthier UK residents back into an enclosed space full of strangers. One of the big changes that was already in the works is the question over the sustainability of the blockbuster model, says Dan Hicks, Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford and the author of The Brutish Museum: the Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution, of the big shows that bankroll museums and galleries. In the Nineties, the idea that arts and culture could be instrumentalised for tourism shaped what our big international institutions became. But are we ever going to see the visitor numbers we used to again?

Hicks foresees a decentralisation and humanisation of the way artefacts are shown, with less hyper-concentration of art and culture and funding in London and local communities co-opted as co-curators of regional collections, which is a move away from the traditional model of the white, male, English curator. He adds that its hard to think of a publication that has dated faster than A History of the World in 100 Objects, in which the former director of the British museum, Neil MacGregor, had all the answers and knew all the history, used the objects to illustrate it but didnt really need them.

Story continues

Questions of how we address our imperial past resound at the British Museum. The culture department of Germanys foreign ministry recently pledged to return to Nigeria bronzes looted from Benin, while Lambeth Palace confirmed it was currently in discussions about returning two of the bronzes that were given as a gift to then Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie almost 40 years ago (though it has since been pointed out that they were almost certainly made in the Eighties, and not looted at all). The BM is forbidden by law from restoring their Benin Bronzes or the controversial Parthenon Marbles (Hicks also points out that the vast majority of its collection is not even on display).

One of the plaques in the collection of the British MuseumPA

Inclusion and diversity have always been at the heart of what we do, a British Museum spokesperson responds. Work on the Museums masterplan project has continued to develop during lockdown and provides a unique opportunity to reconsider the display of the collection, broadening the diversity of voices present in the interpretation of objects in the collection. We have already started to do this through our exhibitions programme. The statement adds that the institution continues to work with community organisations in our home borough of Camden and beyond, with museums in this country and across all continents.

At Tate, too, the pandemic has arguably accelerated changes to working practices that were already underway. The diversity of museum workforces has been slowly improving for years, but everyone understands that a more significant shift in mindset and gear change is urgently needed across the sector, says Frances Morris, director of Tate Modern. She adds that the organisations Race Equality Taskforce is working to make Tates workforce reflect the diversity of London today. She stresses the gallerys links to the local community and points out: Our exhibitions, commissions and solo displays have been 50/50 gender balanced for years, deliberately shining the spotlight on lesser known female artists, demonstrating unequivocally that generations of great women artists have been unfairly discriminated against.

Frances Morris, director of Tate ModernDave Benett/ Getty Images for Debrett's 500

The director of Tate Britain, Alex Farquharson, says: Art has the power to lift our spirits in these tough times and I believe it will play a crucial role in bringing society back together after the pandemic. His gallery, which will shortly reopen with a show by British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, distributed ten bursaries to artists during lockdown, and the work they generated showed a noticeable interest in the idea of care care for oneself, or care for each other and the community one identifies with, often in the face of hostility, threat or vulnerability. I think everyone can relate to that right now.

In the theatre world, slow progress has been made over several decades to improve representation, access and diversity. The past year alone has seen some encouraging signs. The National Theatre reopened its Olivier auditorium in November  and closed it again the same night when the second lockdown began  with Death of England: Delroy, a one-man show performed by black actor Michael Balogun. That felt like a very positive line drawn in the sand, as did the subsequent appointment of the plays black director and co-author Clint Dyer as the Nationals deputy Artistic Director. Looking forward, Cush Jumbos Hamlet has been confirmed for the autumn at the Young Vic, while Nabhaan Rizwan will star alongside The Crowns Emma Corrin in Anna X in the Harold Pinter Theatres Re:Emerge season in July.

Clint DyerPhoto by Dave Benett

The director of the Royal Ballet, Kevin OHare, recently told the Standard that diversity, race and gender were the most important issues his organisation has to deal with (not to mention finding ways to work around a spate of lockdown pregnancies and new births among his dancers). In the commercial sector, Andrew Lloyd Webber has made the Theatre Royal Drury Lane as accessible to those with issues of mobility or hearing as its Grade 1 listing allows, during refurbishments before Disneys musical Frozen moves in.

Things have definitely improved, according to Stephanie Steel, Chair of the campaign group Act for Change, which has argued for greater representation on stage and screen since 2014. It feels like the debate on diversity ended 18 months or two years ago, she says. You can no longer say, yeah, its rubbish to be diverse unless you want to end up sounding like Laurence Fox, being contrary and provocative for the sake of it. But even if the argument has been won (see Bridgerton, again) it can take a while for change to work through in a meaningful way. George Floyds death and the elevation of Black Lives Matter to a really mainstream narrative means weve got to stop talking about this and start doing it, Steel says.

A first step towards how this might be achieved was the creation of an anti-racism rider developed by the theatre companies High Tide, New Earth, Eclipse and English Touring Theatre. Its effectively a practical toolkit that ensures prejudice is removed from every aspect of a production, from concept to auditions, to curtain call. An obvious example is that actors of colour should be accorded the same level of awareness and service in hair and makeup as white performers.

Royal Ballet dancers Marcelino Sambe, Matthew Ball and Lauren Cuthbertson in The CellistBill Cooper

But it really does cover everything, from support in finding digs to the welcome from theatre staff, says High Tides Executive Producer Rowan Rutter, who led the project, as well as only being eight pages long, so that people actually read it. The rider has been adopted by the Independent Theatre Council and Rutter hopes it will be taken up the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, but they are bigger organisations and the cogs take a little longer to turn.

For Clare-Louise English, we have this ability to go back to zero and start again. This is a critical point in theatres history when we can look at things differently. English lost her hearing as a teenager and in 2012 set up Hot Coals Theatre Company, which with another company, the DH Ensemble, now makes up the Strive Collective led by D/deaf, hearing, neurodiverse and disabled artists. Shed like to see accessibility factored into every aspect of a production rather than regarded as a bolt-on or added extra. Its not just about fairness: Its another colour in your palette, another layer of creativity.

Hadley Fraser also believes the industry needs complete structural change. The actor  who has a four-year-old daughter with his wife and fellow West End star Rosalie Craig - is an ambassador for Parents and carers in Performing Arts (PIPA). This group lobbies for greater flexibility of working hours, job sharing and a greater sensitivity to the needs of those in the business caring for dependents, especially those on low incomes, among other things. Again, structural inequalities were highlighted in lockdown, when the burden of childcare fell disproportionately on women. We need to draw a line in the sand and say we can do much better as an industry, Fraser says.

Hadley Fraser and Rosalie CraigAFP via Getty Images

Indeed, but how do we pay for it? The oft-voiced fear about the post-lockdown arts world is that cash-strapped museums, galleries and theatres will resort to crowd-pleasers to tempt frightened (and also impoverished) punters back. Might the hard-won work already done to improve diversity, access and representation be put on hold, or worse, rolled back, until the coffers are filled again?

Steel says she is optimistic that the present generation of arts leaders really believe in creative diversity and the absolute case for it, both economic and artistic. But she fears many of the most economically vulnerable may already have left the profession. On the more positive side, the arts world has shown how flexible it can be, pivoting to video performance and online exhibitions and adapting to new technology. (When everyone was first on Zoom and complaining about Zoom fatigue, the deaf community were like: welcome to our world, says English.) Plus its hard to argue for the return to a status quo that has been so comprehensively upset. And maybe we cant afford not to make things better.

The one thing the pandemic has taught me is there is value in what we do in the arts way beyond what can be quantified in figures, says Fraser. Its about mental health and cultural importance. There is a pent-up demand from people to get back into a theatre. Lets make sure that everyone who should be there in the room there is there, telling stories.

act-for-change.com, strivecollective.org, pipacampaign.org

London Rising: Reboot Our Capital

Join us for the Evening Standards London Rising first online event (28-29 April, 12pm-2pm) as we explore the challenges and opportunities ahead; championing the people, ideas and emerging trends across business, the arts, fashion, hospitality, retail, sport and politics that will help London soar again. The future starts now. Register for a free eTicket: https://londonrising.standard.co.uk #LondonRising

Read More

Museums and galleries reopen as coronavirus restrictions ease

Be still my beating art! Our critics first week back in the galleries

Saatchi Yates interview: Mayfairs youngest old-fashioned art dealers
Existing Investment in Ethereum grows to $823,065 from $47,200

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / First Growth Funds Limited (CSE:FGFL) "(Company") is to provide an update on its investment portfolio and advisory business activities. In the first quarter 2021, Company invested $1.06M in ASX listed Magnum Mining and Exploration Limited and the investment is now valued at $5.08M, a gain of over $4M.

Magnum Mining and Exploration is a mining company with operations in Nevada, USA. Magnum has secured major permits for the long-term production of 232 million tons of high-grade magnetite concentrate grading +67.5% Fe. The project is well situated to existing rail, power and port facilities.

Magnum recently announced that it is accelerating development of its magnetite mine development and compressed its Project timeline by signing an exclusive Green Hydrogen supply agreement with AVF Energy Inc ("AVF"). AVF is a registered company in Nevada that will produce Green Hydrogen from waste on a commercial scale for the Magnum steelmaking facility. AVF is very active in the green hydrogen market having executed MOU agreement with NYSE listed Dominion (U$60 billion infrastructure Co) as equity partner in a green hydrogen production project in the United States of America.

AVF has agreed to fund and build a commercial scale green hydrogen plant on the Magnum site in Nevada. The agreement provides Magnum with Green Hydrogen, at a 10% discount to market rates, for the manufacture of 'green friendly' Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) and High Purity Iron (HPI) products for supply to the US domestic steel market and battery industry.

Magnum has also signed a non-exclusive sales and marketing agreement with M Resources Trading Pty Ltd to act as Magnum's sales agent in the United States in relation to sales of all Magnetite, HBI, HPI, pig iron and steel produced from the mine or Integrated Steel Complex.

Ethereum

First Growth Funds is also pleased to announce an update on its existing investment in cryptocurrency, Ethereum. First Growth Funds holds 255.5 Ethereum tokens now valued at $823,065. The Company is currently recording the Ethereum investment at $47,200 on balance sheet.

First Growth Funds plans to continue to hold Ethereum for the medium term. The price of Ethereum has risen by 1264% over the past 12 months compared to Bitcoin that has risen by 668% during the same period.

About First Growth Funds Limited

First Growth Funds Limited invests across a broad range of asset classes including listed equities, private equity, blockchain and digital assets. The company also operates an advisory business providing corporate advisory, capital raising and capital markets support to its portfolio. www.firstgrowthfunds.com

THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by management of the Company.

Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the Canadian Securities Exchange. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: First Growth Funds Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641906/First-Growth-Funds-Makes-4M-Gain-From-Magnum-Mining
Pictures show people piling into beer gardens to make most of sunshine today after Covid restrictions eased

almy temperatures are forecast for West Midlands, North-West England, South and West Wales and Ayrshire

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Thirsty Britons have piled into beer gardens and pack the streets of Manchester, London and Leeds after a day of glorious 66F (19C) sunshine, with more warm weather expected to come tomorrow.

Balmy temperatures have the West Midlands, North-West England, South and West Wales and Ayrshire this afternoon with sunshine for most parts on Saturday, according to the Met Office.

Bookmaker Coral has slashed the odds to 2-1 on next month being the hottest May ever, and also made it 11-8 that the UK will record its highest ever temperature at some point this year.

This month is on course to be one of the driest Aprils on record with the UK seeing just 18 per cent of its average rainfall, putting the month in line for a place in the history books if the weather continues in this vein.

But the dry conditions could lead to wildfires, with the Scottish and Fire Rescue Service (SFRS) issuing an extreme warning covering Southern and Central Scotland, and warning of a very high risk across North West Scotland.

The warm break comes after the UK shivered through the coldest start to April since 2013. The Met Office said mean temperatures were 2-4C cooler than average for the time of year between April 1 and April 18.

Pictures show people flocking to beer gardens and making the most of the sunshine today after Covid restrictions were eased on April 12, allowing pubs to reopen for outdoor dining and drinking.

LONDON: Thirsty Britons have piled into beer gardens to bask in the glorious 66F (19C) sunshine today and into the evening, with more warm weather to come tomorrow. Pictured: A large crowd gathered in London's Soho district

LEEDS: A group of men in Leeds enjoy some points in the warm weather on Friday, with warm temperatures expected to continue over the weekend

MANCHESTER: Following a day of sunshine, crowds of people fill Cutting Room Square on a Friday night in Ancoats, in the north of Manchester City Centre, as bars and restaurants reopen for outdoor service

Pictured: People are seen relaxing today in London's Soho district, making the most of the relaxation of Covid rules and the warm weather

People enjoy drinks at a pub's beer garden while enjoying the sunshine in Canonbury, North London today. There has been an average of 12.8mm of rain across the UK up to April 22, much lower than the April average of 72.53mm

A man in a rowboat travels along the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames in Surrey. Much of the nation can expect to bask in daytime temperatures in the mid-to-late teens on Friday

Visitors to Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, make their way past bars and restaurants on the riverside promenade by Kingston Bridge. Picture date: Friday April 23, 2021

A group of people in a motorboat travel past people picnicking on the banks of the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. Picture date: Friday April 23, 2021

People are seen enjoying the warm spring sunshine on the beach at the seaside resort of West Bay in Dorset on a day of clear blue skies

A man swims in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, south London, the first of its kind in the world. Picture date: Friday April 23, 2021

Pictured: Large numbers of people enjoy drinks in London's Soho district, where tables and chairs have been set out on the roads

A map from the Met Office showing the maximum temperatures forecast across the UK for Saturday. Much of the nation can also expect to bask in daytime temperatures in the mid-to-late teens today

There has been an average of 12.8mm of rain across the UK up to April 22, much lower than the April average of 72.53mm, according to Met Office figures.

A typical April in the UK would have had 70 per cent of its rainfall by now, but it instead has just had 18 per cent.

The driest April on record across the UK was in 1938 when 14.1mm of rain was recorded, followed by April 1974 when 14.6mm of rain fell.

In more recent years, the driest Aprils in the UK have been in 2007 when 26.6mm of rain was recorded and 2020 when the average was 29.1mm.

The South East has seen just 7 per cent of the average rainfall this month, with 4.1mm of rain falling. The driest April in the South East was in 1912 when 4.8mm was recorded.

SFRS' local senior officer Bruce Farquharson said: 'We are asking the public to exercise extreme caution and think twice before using anything involving a naked flame.

'Many rural and remote communities are hugely impacted by wildfires, which can cause significant damage.

'Livestock, farmland, wildlife, protected woodland and sites of special scientific interest can all be devastated by these fires - as can the lives of people living and working in rural communities.'

Ta-da! A woman balances a bottle of beer on her head in Leeds as revellers make the most of relaxed coronavirus restrictions

A man in Leeds gives a friend a piggy-back as people make the most of out-door drinking and the warm weather on Friday

A number of tables, chairs and marquees had been set up on the streets of London's Soho to accommodate late-night drinkers

Thirsty Britons have piled into beer gardens to bask in the glorious 66F (19C) sunshine today and into the evening, with more warm weather to come tomorrow. Pictured: A large crowd gathered in London's Soho district

In London's Soho, tables have been set up on the streets outside bars for people to enjoy out-door drinks permitted under relaxed coronavirus rules

People enjoy drinks in a pub's beer garden in the sun at Canonbury in North London. Covid restrictions have been eased across England, meaning pubs, cafes and restaurants are now open for outdoor drinking and dining

People enjoy drinks out side pubs around Borough Market, London, on Friday. With restrictions ease, people are allowed to meet up to six people or two households, and can sit outside pubs and restaurants

People enjoy drinks out side pubs around Borough Market, London on Friday

People are seen at a pub's beer garden in North London. The South East has seen just 7 per cent of the average rainfall this month, with 4.1mm of rain falling. The driest April in the South East was in 1912 when 4.8mm was recorded

People celebrating St George's Day enjoy a drink at the outdoor seating area of Leadenhall Market in London, following the easing of lockdown restrictions across England

Two people enjoy drinks at a pub's beer garden in Canonbury, North London, today after Covid restrictions were eased on April 12

A group of people seen sat at an outdoor table in North London. Forecasting today's weather, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: 'That sunshine will soon lift temperatures, and it's looking like a very similar day to Thursday'

Pictures show people piling into beer gardens to make the most of the sunshine today after Covid restrictions were eased on April 12, allowing pubs to reopen for outdoor dining and drinking (pictured: Canonbury, North London)

Punters enjoy drinks outside a pub in Islington, North London, this afternoon after the easing of lockdown restrictions

People are seen drinking outside in Islington today. The warm conditions will give way to a chilly evening, before the mercury picks back up again on Saturday

A group of four are seen dining and enjoying beverages at a pub's beer garden in Islington, North London, this afternoon

He added: 'These fires can also have a hugely negative impact on the environment and the release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

'Human behaviour can significantly lower the chance of a wildfire starting, so it is crucial that people act safely and responsibly in rural environments, and always follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.'

Much of the nation can expect to bask in daytime temperatures in the mid-to-late teens on Friday, however the north-eastern coast of Scotland will struggle to get out of single digits.

Forecasting today's weather, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: 'That sunshine will soon lift temperatures, and it's looking like a very similar day to Thursday. Widespread blue skies, just some additional cloud there for central and northern Scotland. For the vast majority it is dry and light winds for most.

'But we keep that keen breeze over the South West. Again, gusty conditions over the moors and western parts of Devon, as well as Cornwall.

People are seen on the beach and seafront enjoying the warm spring sunshine on the seaside resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset this afternoon on a day of clear blue skies

Sunbathers pictured on the beach in Lyme Regis, Dorset, today. A typical April in the UK would have had 70 per cent of its rainfall by now, but it instead has just had 18 per cent

Harvey Clitheroe and Sophie Hergot enjoy a dip in the North Sea this afternoon as beachgoers enjoy the sunshine at Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside

People relax and enjoy the sunny weather in Potters Fields Park in central London near Tower Bridge, pictured in the background, on April 23

A man paddles a racing canoe along the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames in Surrey. This month is on course to be one the driest Aprils on record with the UK seeing just 18 per cent of its average rainfall

A woman walks beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park in the Spring sunshine in London on April 23, 2021. Under the relaxing of the Covid-19 rules, gatherings of up to six people are allowed in England and limited indoor mixing in hospitality premises will then be permitted from mid-May

People feed the birds beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park in the Spring sunshine in London on April 23, 2021

A swan swims past people using pedal boats on the Serpentine in Hyde Park in the Spring sunshine in London on April 23

The warm break comes after the UK shivered through the coldest start to April since 2013. The Met Office said mean temperatures were 2-4C cooler than average for the time of year between April 1 and April 18. Pictured: A woman makes bubbles while using a pedal boat on the Serpentine in Hyde Park, April 23

People sunbathe in the warm spring sunshine at St James' Park in London as forecasters predict warmer weather over the weekend with higher temperatures

A woman reads a book on the grass in Hyde Park in the Spring sunshine in London on April 23, 2021

A cyclist takes a break on a bench in Hyde Park in the Spring sunshine in London on April 23, 2021

Visitors to Westgate Gardens in Canterbury, Kent, enjoy the warm spring weather both on and off the River Stour

Commuters in central London jog in the sun this morning as the capital enjoys warm weather today. Balmy temperatures are forecast for the West Midlands, North-West England, South and West Wales and Ayrshire this afternoon

Kayakers paddle along the River Tyne towards the Millennium Bridge on Newcastle Gateshead quayside this afternoon while enjoying clear blue skies and sunny weather

Commuters walk across London Bridge in the sunshine this morning as fine weather hits the capital. Bookmaker Coral has slashed the odds to 2-1 on next month being the hottest May ever

Commuters cross London Bridge his morning. Covid restrictions have eased across England with cafes, bars and restaurants now open for outdoor drinking and dining

Two joggers bask in the sunshine as they go for a run in central London this morning. The warm break comes after the UK shivered through the coldest start to April since 2013

The sun hits the Shard, London's highest building, as commuters cross London Bridge today. The Met Office said mean temperatures were 2-4C cooler than average for the time of year between April 1 and April 18

People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London, Friday April 23, 2021

'Feeling cool where we've got the onshore breeze, 10C (50F) to 13C (55F), perhaps around some particularly exposed coast, but inland 14C (57F) to 17C (63F) fairly widely, 18C (64F) or 19C (66F) possible in some favoured spots.'

The warm conditions will then give way to a chilly evening, before the mercury picks back up again on Saturday, though the weather service said it would remain cooler in the east of England.

Mr McGivern said: 'For most it's another sunny day to come on Saturday. Bit more of a breeze there across southern parts of the UK, especially across the South West, but actually perhaps a slightly warmer day in one or two spots around the South coast for example.

'16C (61F) to 19C (66F) but feeling notably cooler, especially where we've got cloudy skies around North Sea coast on Saturday.'

SFRS' local senior officer Bruce Farquharson said: 'We are asking the public to exercise extreme caution and think twice before using anything involving a naked flame'

A woman poses for a photograph in an avenue of blossom trees in bloom in Greenwich Park, south London, ahead of BlossomWatch day which takes place on Saturday

A woman poses for a photograph with a rainbow umbrella in Greenwich Park. The National Trust has encouraged members of the public to share images online and 'spread the joy of spring with others' ahead of BlossomWatch day

People go for a walk in the early morning sunshine at Blackhouse Woods in Reading today. The dry conditions could lead to wildfires, with the Scottish and Fire Rescue Service (SFRS) issuing an extreme warning for Southern and Central Scotland

The sun rises over the River Avon in Warwick this morning. Britain is set for a mini-heatwave this weekend with temperatures forecast to soar and high pressure expected to shift around northern Europe over the coming days

Two people enjoy the early morning sunshine in Warwick. The warm conditions will give way to a chilly evening, before the mercury picks back up again on Saturday

People go for a walk as the sun rises over the River Avon today. The high pressure shift around northern Europe is expected to bring hot air towards the UK this weekend for a 72-hour heat blast

A young girl attempts to feed Egyptian geese chicks beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park in the Spring sunshine in London on April 23, 2021

People enjoy the sunshine on the river Thames in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Picture date: Friday April 23, 2021

People enjoy the sunshine on the bank of the river Thames in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Picture date: Friday April 23

Sisters Chelsea-Lea Stokes and Taylor Lisa Stokes enjoy the hot weather on Formby beach, Merseyside, Friday afternoon

People enjoy the sunshine on the bank of the river Thames in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, as a person kayaks along the river in the background. Picture date: Friday April 23, 2021

Kayakers paddle along the River Tyne towards the Millennium Bridge on Newcastle Gateshead quayside on Friday afternoon with clear blue skies and sunny weather adding to the spectacle

The dry and sunny conditions are expected to persist on Sunday, but forecasters said England's east may have a little more cloud cover.

Conditions should remain fine in the south heading into early next week but will likely turn more unsettled elsewhere with rain and showers spreading south-east.

Meanwhile, Coral's Harry Aitkenhead said: 'We've come through a frosty start to April and the thermometers are going to continue to rise now. We think there's a chance of next month entering the record books as the warmest May we've ever had.

'Looking further forward, our odds show there's a possibility of our warmest ever summer as well as the UK maybe seeing 40C (104F) recorded for the first time ever.'
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The pandemic is raging around the world and I dont expect this to be the last time when we have to make such a decision, he said. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the medical advice was constantly being adjusted in response to changing conditions around the world to keep Australia an island sanctuary. You can see that there are parts of Latin America or Eastern Europe that have had very large numbers of cases and if theyre growing and if we think that the community transmission is just at the level that even those very competent national authorities may not be able to detect, then well make decisions, as weve done with India, he told Brisbanes 4BC radio. The national cabinet decision to restrict travel from India was heavily backed by Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan amid two instances of COVID-19 transmission in a Perth quarantine hotel, which prompted parts of the state to go into a three-day lockdown on Saturday. Mr McGowan said 40 per cent of his states overseas cases were from India. While record numbers may be occurring interstate - where hotel quarantine programs were suspended for periods or fewer flights land - the number of overseas COVID-19 cases in NSW over the past month is much fewer than has previously been recorded.

In the four weeks to January 9, as expats rushed home for an Australian summer, 165 overseas travellers tested positive to COVID-19 in NSW, data from NSW Healths weekly COVID-19 surveillance reports shows. In contrast, the state only had 109 overseas acquired COVID-19 cases in the four weeks to last Saturday, April 17. Recent NSW case numbers from India, despite Sydney being the only city with a direct flight, fall short of cases in travellers from the US across December and January. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video There were 23 cases travelling from India in the four weeks to April 17, constituting 21 per cent of all overseas acquired cases in NSW. Bangladesh (16 cases), the US (15 cases) and Pakistan (10 cases) were the next most likely countries of origin.

Across December and January, the number of COVID-19 cases from the US constituted 41 per cent of overseas infections. In the four weeks to January 9, a high of 64 US cases was recorded (37 per cent of all overseas infections during the period). Part of the concern around returned travellers from India relates to the prevalence of multiple highly transmissible COVID-19 variants in the country. Nine of the 23 cases from India tested positive to what NSW Health has termed a variant of concern. Numbers were only higher during the four-week period among travellers from Bangladesh (11 of 16 cases). Over the course of the pandemic, arrivals from Lebanon have made up the highest number of these variant infections, with 28 cases. However, the country was the origin of just two recorded variant arrivals in the latest four-week period.

Asked if there would be any changes to operations in light of the rise in the number of variant cases, NSW Health said Sydney Local Health District is continually reviewing its health hotel capacity in partnership with the State Health Emergency Operations Centre (SHEOC) and is currently assessing additional accommodation for suitability, if needed, and recruiting additional staff. The ministry has about 750 bedrooms in its Special Health Accommodation, a three-hotel operation that is used to house recent arrivals with COVID-19, who have COVID-19 symptoms or otherwise require medical supervision during their 14-day quarantine. Investigations continue into two possible transmissions of COVID-19 within Sydney quarantine hotels in the past week: one at the Adina hotel, involving the UK variant, and one at the Mercure, involving the B1.1351 variant (also known as the South African variant). Both involved a single instance of transmission between people staying in adjoining hotel rooms.
Police are reportedly investigating the death, on April 6, of an 89-year-old female resident at Regis Healthcare Limiteds Nedlands Aged Care home in the Western Australian capital of Perth. The death followed those of two other residents in the past three months that were the subject of police investigation and reports of neglect and abuse.

One was 86-year-old Brian Hunter, who died on January 20. Two days before Christmas, according to an investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Corporations 7.30 program, he was discovered to have been left on the rooftop terrace of the nursing home, unsupervised, for nearly two hours in the middle of a heatwave where temperatures peaked at 40 degrees Celsius.

Hunter was rescued around 3:05 p.m. when a visitor saw him on the roof unconscious. Hunter was a double amputee having lost both of his legs from complications arising from diabetes, suffered serious blisters and burns, and was found to be dehydrated and in a state of delirium.

Police reported that CCTV footage showed Hunter sitting in a wheelchair inside by the doors when, at 1:10 p.m., a Regis staff member entered the access code and opened the doors, letting Hunter on to the roof terrace.

Hunters daughter, Lea Hammond, said her fathers cognition was failing due to a fall at Regis the month before that left him with a black eye and a brain injury. Remarkably, after the fall Regis had not sent Hunter to hospital. It was only at the insistence of his daughter that this was done.

After being found burned and unconscious, Hunter was bedridden in hospital for four weeks. According to Hammond, nobody from Regis called her while her father was hospitalised. At the end of his life, Dad barely spoke, she told 7.30. He wasnt speaking at all. They had to feed-tube him because he couldnt swallow. And he barely recognised us.

Hammond commented: He was just a great father, wonderful grandfather, fantastic husband. This is just so distressing to see him being treated in that manner. I think he was just totally neglected, its awful.

Hammond wrote to Regis CEO Linda Mellors. On the day her father died, she received a reply. The letter apologised for your experience, and that we did not meet expected care standards. Mellors promised an internal investigation.

A week later, the police from Western Australias Major Crime Squad reported that there was no evidence of criminality. Hammond told 7.30 she was really shocked to me this is criminal abuse but theres no charges laid against anyone.

In the days before Hunters death, six nursing students from Edith Cowan University were sent to Regis Nedlands for their first clinical placements. Between January 11 and 13, the students reported abuse, widespread neglect, rough handling and sexually inappropriate behaviour at the nursing home.

One case the students reported was that of Dik Lee, whose family had paid $500,000 in March last year for his residence at the centre. Lee, 94, died the day after Brian Hunters death. He had allegedly been abused and improperly cared for by staff. One of the trainee nurses reported that she had found Mr Lee (who is always in a wheelchair) on the floor near the entrance of his room completely unclothed and sitting in his faeces with [a carer] standing over him.

A few days later, Lee came down with a fever and was bedridden. The doctors attending the home prescribed antibiotics and rest. Lee was taken to hospital where he fell into a five-day coma and suffered liver failure. He was dead within 24 hours.

Lisa Chan, Lees daughter, told 7.30: Just imagine if a child is being abused at schoolthat teacher would be held accountable for the abuse of the child but my dad actually died due to the abuse, so why cant it be a criminal investigation?

In November 2019, the Regis Nedlands facility was placed under sanctions for putting the health and safety of residents at serious risk. However, in February 2020, the facility was given a 100 percent score by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Regis Healthcare Limited is one of the countrys largest sharemarket-listed aged care companies. According to its 2020 annual report, it has been dedicated to aged care with dignity for over 25 years. It has grown to own more than 7,000 operational places at 65 residential aged care homes, as well as six home-care services, five day-therapy centres and eight retirement villages across Australia.

The annual report says the companys profit after tax was $3,764,000, a sharp fall from $50,897,000 in 2019. According to 7.30, Regiss 65 nursing homes last year received a total of $471 million in government subsidies, its two co-founders are worth more than $1 billion and its CEO is on the federal governments Aged Care Advisory Group.

Families hoping to provide high-quality medical care and support for their elderly loved ones are required to make down-payments of up to $1.4 million to secure a residency at Regis Nedlands. However, these huge prices do not ensure adequate staffing levels.

A Regis worker at a different facility told 7NEWS that it was so severely understaffed that residents were sometimes left in soiled clothing for 12 hours. We try to attend as much as we can but still we dont have time, she said. Two staff looking after 50 residentsits not possible.

7NEWS last month reported the death of 89-year-old Norma Palmera resident of the Regis Birkdale facility in Brisbane, Queenslandlast July. She was reportedly neglected while suffering from sepsis, which led to terrible tissue degeneration in sores on her lower leg and back.

The latest federal government Royal Commission into Aged Carethe 24th such inquiry in the past three decadesrevealed dangerous levels of understaffing, low rates of registered nurses and inadequate training of personal carers, which has created a disaster for residents and their families, producing the conditions where the alleged neglect and abuse can take place.

Over the past 30 years, chronically low staffing levels have become part of the business model of the profit-driven aged care sector. The consequences have been seen most sharply in the COVID-19 pandemic. Aged care homes became death-traps for vulnerable residents. So far, 678 have died from the coronavirus, amounting to 75 percent of the national total of 910 reported deaths.

Successive Liberal-National Coalition and Labor Party governments have enforced this corporate-dominated aged care regime, brushed aside all the previous inquiry recommendations and slashed funding. The Royal Commission calculated that efficiency dividends and rationing of nursing home places since 1997 had reduced federal government aged care spending by almost 50 percent, or $9.8 billion a year by 201819.

This will not change as a result of the latest Royal Commission, none of whose 65 recommendations are even enforceable. Residents care will continue to be sacrificed in the interests of private profit.

Prime Minister Scott Morrisons Coalition government reportedly plans to allocate $10 billion over four years in this years May 11 budget for as-yet unspecified reforms to the sector. That amount is far less than the $10 to $20 billion a year estimated by the Royal Commission to be needed to implement its recommendations.
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Renovation

23 April 2021

The newly renovated property brings fresh, modern design to the New York Capital Region.

Crowne Plaza Albany - The Desmond Hotel is now open following a full renovation. This family-owned and operated property has provided superb accommodations, outstanding service and a unique guest experience since 1974. Located a half mile from the Albany International Airport and adjacent to premier shopping and business destinations, the hotel is now entirely transformed to meet the evolving needs of modern business travelers and leisure guests.

While showcasing a contemporary, refined design with 323 guest room and suite options, including spiral staircase duplexes, suites with private entrances and patios, and ADA accessible rooms, long-time fans of The Desmond can expect the same exceptional service and friendly staff they have always been greeted with - all backed by a guarantee of quality, consistency and safety as part of IHG Hotels & Resorts.

The property houses Plaza Workspace, Crowne Plaza's flexible work and meeting design, as well as nearly 25,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space that has been adapted to new expectations for responsible gatherings that prioritize guest safety and well-being. The two iconic indoor courtyards have been fully renovated, featuring 30 and 36 high ceilings with large atrium skylights, koi pond with fountains, and guest room balconies that overlook year-round, park-like landscaping. The hotel's indoor heated pool has been modernized, and the 24-hour fitness center was completely redesigned and expanded to triple its previous size.

The Desmond has also invested in a state-of-the-art filtration solution with the installation of the Aerus - IOT - Shepherd Air Purification and Filtration system. This product, slated to be fully operating by later this spring, will provide a new level of service and comfort for guests, event attendees and coordinators as well as enhanced environmental protections for employees and staff members who work at the hotel.

While the hotel has been fully modernized, the celebrated architecture throughout the property designed by the original owner, John K. Desmond, Jr., remains intact to his original vision, which was revealed when the hotel opened in the early 70's. Nods to Desmond's affinity for aviation and the Capital Region can be found woven throughout the property's new bright and open spaces.

For more than 45 years, the hotel's dining options have been a popular culinary destination for both locals and hotel guests. The award-winning restaurant, Mr. D's Restaurant & Lounge, will feature a new menu including property staples such as the Pancetta Wrapped Shrimp and their famous off-menu, cult favorite Desmond Bread Pudding. New dish standouts include The Drunken Clams with garlic ale house butter and the Grilled Grouper with tequila lime butter and parmesan cheddar polenta. The sleek, new restaurant design features a fireplace, marble-top bar with built-in wireless phone chargers and several unique seating sections, including an outdoor patio, to fit any party size and occasion.

The property will continue to be independently owned and is managed by the third generation of the Desmond family. As part of IHG Hotels & Resorts, guests can rest easy with the IHG Clean Promise which guarantees every room will be clean to their satisfaction upon arrival. If the room does not meet standards upon check-in, Crowne Plaza promises to make it right. Learn more about IHG's cleanliness initiatives and guest programs here.
Chennai, April 23 : A 27-year-old aeronautical engineer working in a city based information technology (IT) company was arrested for smuggling narcotics drug, said Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport on Friday.

In a statement issued, the Commissioner said the department got information about some narcotics drugs that are likely to be smuggled through postal parcels from Africa.

Five parcels, one declared as containing flower vases and the other four declared to contain rosemary and dried spices from Nairobi, that arrived at the Foreign Post Office, Chennai were held back.

There were eleven wooden vases that were sealed and on opening them, Khat leaves were found concealed inside. The remaining four parcels also contained Khat leaves.

An amount of 46.8 kg Khat leaves valued at Rs 1.17 crore were seized, the statement said.

An evergreen shrub mainly cultivated in east Africa and South Yemen, Khat (Catha edulis), also known as Miraa, is a stimulant drug and is prohibited under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

It contains alkaloids cathinone and cathine, amphetamine-like stimulants, which cause euphoria.

Khat is mainly chewed for its soporific effect but some boil it in water and drink it like tea and it has a dependence producing ability.

In March 2020, the Chennai Air Customs had seized 15.6 kg of Khat leaves valued at Rs 40 lakh which had arrived from Addis Ababa at the Foreign Post Office here.
ROME, APR 23 - The EFI association representing Italian funeral directors has filed a complaint to criminal prosecutors in Rome over the chaos regarding burials in the capital, sources said on Friday. Thousands of corpses are waiting to be laid to rest or cremated in the city. AMA, the agency in charge of burials and which also handles the city's trash, said the backlog has formed because of an increase in deaths linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and new procedures imposed by the health ministry due to the health emergency. Andrea Romano, an MP for the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said this week that he has been waiting for two months to be able to give his late son a burial. An undertaker's firm near the Vatican has put up a sign reading "they won't let us bury your loved ones". Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi publicly apologised in a Facebook post on Friday and said she had called Romano. "I have summoned the agency that manages the cemeteries to ask what has happened," said Raggi, a member of the 5-Star Movement (M5S). "Aside from the reasons of the delays linked to the COVID emergency, I was promised an extraordinary intervention to address the increase in the number of burials". (ANSA).
President Joe Biden, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks to the staff of the U.S. State Department during his first visit in Washington on Feb. 4, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The Anti-American Administration

Commentary

Take a look at the following quotes from the Biden administration and Chinese Communist Party officials. Can you guess which countrys government made these statements?

Systemic racism  is a stain [on] our nations soul.

America has a long history of systemic racism.

In order to lead abroad, America must continue to address racial injustice and inequities at home.

Ive seen for myself how the original sin of slavery, weaved white supremacy into [Americas] founding documents and principles.

Racism in the United States is a systemic and persistence [sic] existence.

The challenges facing the United States in human rights are deep-seated. They did not just emerge over the past four years, such as Black Lives Matter. It did not come up only recently.

All of these claimsmade by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi, respectivelyhave a surprisingly similar theme. According to the Biden administration and the Chinese Communist Party, systemic racism, hatred, and bigotry are deeply ingrained within American society.

As the CCP continues to imprison and enslave Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, eliminate freedom in Hong Kong, and cover-up the origins of the China virus pandemic, its shocking that one of the only areas of agreement between the Biden administration and the CCP is how terrible America is.

The statements by Biden, Harris, and Blinken were issued following the verdict in Minnesota. Instead of emphasizing that the American justice system served its purpose in upholding the rule of law, they focused on criticizing America for its allegedly inherent suppression of minorities.

Also, just last month, during the U.S.China meeting in Alaska, Yang spent nearly 20 minutes condemning the hypocritical United States and claiming America has no legitimacy to criticize communist China. He said, So we believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world. Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States, and they have various views regarding the Government of the United States.  the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.

Apparently, Biden, Harris, Blinken, and Thomas-Greenfield agree.

The anti-Americanism of the Biden administration is not only a sobering departure from the Trump administrations America First policy, but is dangerous and demoralizing. Consider Russias recent military mobilization along the border of Ukraine, Chinas incursions against Taiwan and attempts to control the South and East China Seas, and Irans continued steps toward obtaining a nuclear weapon. The United States, our partners, and our allies, currently face many real challenges and threats from adversaries around the world.

Yet, the Biden administration is morally disarming free countries and giving our enemies tools to use against us. The false statements from the Biden administration that America, the worlds leading champion of freedom, isnt actually free empowers brutal dictatorships and regimes.

Clearly, as the competition with communist China continues, the recent statements of the Biden administration reveal that the CCP will have no need to prepare long-winded lectures or create original content for their propaganda outlets. The Chinese Communist Party will instead only need to quote the Biden administrations attacks against the United States.

Chinese Communist Party propagandists would be wise to start looking for new jobsperhaps with CNN or The New York Times.

From Gingrich360.com.

Newt Gingrich, a Republican, served as House speaker from 1995 to 1999 and ran as a presidential candidate in 2012.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now listed below Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, as well as the Princess Royal and the Duke of York on the official royal site. The Prince of Wales' growing role as an active heir preparing to ascend to the throne is reflected in his own promotion to the top of the 'Royal Family' section. The Queen has been removed from the section and is instead featured higher on the page. Despite the reshuffle, the website still claims the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be 'balancing their time' between the UK and the US. It comes as Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex took part in their first major interview since their marriage in 1999. The couple shared a laugh over Harry and Meghan's controversial Oprah interview as they insisted the royals remain a family 'no matter what happens'. It was recently revealed Sophie is one of four loyal, discreet and 'utterly trustworthy' women of the Queen's inner circle who are offering crucial support as she faces life without her beloved Prince Philip, who died on April 9, aged 99.
?? En vivo | La presidenta del Consejo de Ministros, junto con el titular del @MineduPeru, brindan conferencia de prensa para informar a la ciudadania sobre los avances en la lucha contra la pandemia.https://t.co/QO8lK1wXKo
O2 Slovakia, the provider of mobile service in Slovakia, has tapped Ericsson as its technology partner for commercial 5G rollout and modernisation of existing 2G, 3G, and 4G radio access network (RAN) infrastructures.

The Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company said in a press release that the contract follows a multi-vendor trial that took place across the service providers 5G pilot networks in Bratislava in late 2020.

In the same period, O2 Slovakia successfully acquired spectrum in key 5G 700MHz, 900MHz, and 1800MHz frequency ranges, it said.

"Ericssons 5G RAN technologies, from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio, will enable O2 Slovakia to deliver improved mobile broadband (MBB) and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) customer experiences, as well as support new, high-capacity Fixed Wireless Access business cases such as consumer TV services," claimed the release.

Jenny Lindqvist, Head of Northern and Central Europe, Ericsson, said: "5G is a transformative platform that will have a major impact on Slovakias post-COVID economic revival. In addition to delivering on this promise, the Ericsson Radio System will also help O2 Slovakia meet its sustainability targets to reduce power consumption and contribute to continued decarbonization within the ICT industry and across other sectors. To do that by 2022, we are committed to making our 5G product portfolio 10x more energy efficient than 4G per transferred data, helping break the energy curve in mobile networks.

According to Igor Toth, CEO, O2 Slovakia, through this contract, his company will drive next-generation mobile experiences for its customers meeting the growing demands of data traffic and enabling new services, such as superior connectivity for households with Fixed Wireless Access.

"In addition to rolling out 5G, modernization of the 2G, 3G, 4G network with Ericssons leading products and solutions, will deliver major benefits in energy efficiency enabling us to build a more sustainable digital future for Slovakia, he added.

According to a recent Analysys Mason report, 5G use cases are forecast to generate EUR 771million in net benefits for the Slovakian GDP across smart rural, smart production, smart urban, and smart public service sectors.

With the O2 Slovakia deal, Ericsson now has 137 commercial 5G agreements and contracts with unique operators, of which 78 are publicly announced 5G deals, including 85 live 5G networks on five continents.
With yet-another new date on the calendar for a now-phased reopening of the Jersey City Public Schools, administrators and teachers must make sure this one sticks.

All spring, families who want their children to return to the classroom have been making and remaking plans because of the school districts inability to come through on multiple promises. And students who havent set foot in a school building in more than a year, if ever, have had to deal with a constant stress of not knowing when their first day back will be.

Moving the goal line over and over is unfair to all involved.

The latest plan is for a soft reopening suggested by school board President Mussab Ali.

Under it, students from pre-kindergarten to third grade who selected in-person learning will return to school buildings on Thursday four days a week with a 12:45 dismissal. May 10 is the tentative return date for students in fourth through eighth grade and high school.

The heart of the issue appears to be whether and how the school district should allow as many as several hundred teachers to continue to work remotely, at the teachers medical request, while the bulk of their colleagues work in-school.

After much finger-pointing this week, it was good to see parents demand better and Ali, Superintendent of Schools Franklin Walker and Jersey City Education Association President Ron Greco work together on the current plan.

Now, they must keep their word and safely reopen the schools for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year.

Send letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com.
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

Prof. Dawkins had tweeted messages denying that people could choose their gender

Two could be counted coincidence

And three a play of chance

Four is stretching it too far

Five has definitely crossed the bar

By six we resort to causal sense

--- the dancers must define the dance.

From Pate Pay Pair by Bachchoo

Richard Dawkins is our worlds best-known atheist. In the West, where he lives, publishes and pronounces, this is not a crime. I am sure the religious believe that he will get whats coming to him when he dies. But not on earth.

It wasnt always thus. One story goes that the playwright Christopher Marlowe was on the verge of being arrested and executed for his atheistic remarks but contrived to disappear and reinvent himself as the author of Shakespeares plays. (Thats my story, anyway, in my novel called Black Swan, which How many times have I told you not to advertise your trashy books here? --Ed)

In other societies in our diverse world, a proselytising atheist would probably have his or her head chopped off. In the West, there are no punishments threatened for saying that God doesnt exist, that virgins dont give birth, that God doesnt dictate books, that the earth goes around the sun, that vaanar armies of the Indian epic were probably adivasis (sure of that last one? --Ed) -- and other pronouncements from which the taboo has been removed. But even in these societies new heresies are born.

This observation, gentle reader, has been occasioned by the fact that Prof. Dawkins has been stripped of the Humanist of the Year award he was given in 1996 by the American Humanist Association. They withdrew it because Prof. Dawkins had tweeted messages denying that people could choose their gender.

Prof D is an evolutionary biologist and knows that every human being is born with either XX chromosomes, contained in each of more than thirty trillion cells in their bodies, which make them grow as females, or XY chromosomes, which determine that they are male. Thats biology. It cant be changed, not by hormone treatment or by surgery to chop off penises and testicles and devise artificial vaginas or by the surgical removal of breasts. Obviously, if one ignores biology and asserts that people can choose their gender by saying so, then men who assert that they are women and vice versa have to be accepted as such. But assertion has never been the criterion for truth.

Prof. Dawkins recognises that unharmful assertion has to be respected. Is trans woman a woman? Purely semantic! If you define gender by chromosomes, then, no! If by self-identification, yes. I call her she out of courtesy.

Reacting to the news that his award had been withdrawn, Prof. Dawkins said hed erase it from his CV but couldnt find it as he had no record or recollection of receiving it.

The continuing debate about the recognition of people who assert that they have transitioned to the opposite gender has had several feminists objecting to trans-women entering womens toilets and changing facilities, being sent to womens prisons and participating in womens sporting events. The trans lobby has denounced these feminists as reactionary bigots. Joining or informing the debate was the case of Keira Bell, who sued the Tavistock Clinic for encouraging her as a teenager to undergo hormone blocker therapy, claiming that she was much too young as a pre-teenaged girl to take an informed decision about transitioning to being a male. Other similar cases have been launched by parents who claim that their children have been misled by institutions which facilitate gender transformation.

In the debate, advocates of transgendering point out that some males, estimated at one in 500 or one in a thousand, have an extra X chromosome. In most males with an extra X, there seem to be no symptomatic effects, though in some there is a decreased creation of testosterone -- which doesnt according to most medical science amount to any trans state of being. A male is a male for all that.

One of the pernicious fallacies I have heard in India is that our population of eunuchs, known as hijras, are transgender. A learned medical practitioner tells me that hijras are born males whose testicles are trapped in infancy in their bone structure and therefore dont develop. This makes their bodies produce male and female hormones and they manifest secondary sexual features of both genders -- but are bodily male with penises. The reason we dont find hijras in, say, Europe, is because infants receive medical attention from nurses and doctors and the obstruction to the testicles descent and growth is detected and easily dealt with.

As Prof. Dawkins recognises, people who are trans should be afforded the courtesy of being recognised as such out of fundamental decency. That there should be no socio-political discrimination against such people goes without saying.

I dont think someone like Michael Jackson actually imagined that he was born in the wrong-coloured body. Nevertheless, he underwent all sorts of treatment to change his features, to lighten his skin and to make his hair Caucasian rather than Afro. His efforts could be seen as insulting to black features and identity but there were no voiced objections.

Evolution has determined that we dont live inside but are our bodies. That some dont want to be their bodies has in this day and age to be tolerated if not respected.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High 82F. NNE winds shifting to SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has imposed a weekend curfew in the entire state and a night curfew during weekdays in all districts having more than 500 cases. The move is aimed to curb the Covid-19 spread.

While the night curfew in the districts with 500-plus cases will be effective from 8 pm to 7 am next day starting Tuesday, the weekend curfew will be enforced from Friday 8 pm to Monday 7 am, during which all non-essential activities will be restricted. Officials stated that those caught without wearing a face mask will be fined Rs 1,000 for the first time and Rs 10,000 if for the second time.

According to the state government, the marriages on Saturday and Sunday can take place as scheduled, however it must be done with restrictions. Only 50 people will be allowed in closed spaces and 100 in open spaces. Organisers will have to ensure COVID-appropriate behaviour.

All pre-scheduled examinations including the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam have also been allowed during the weekly closure.

The examiners and candidates have to show their identity cards to authorities to go to their exam centres.

Public Transport will also be allowed to run with 50 percent capacity, especially state transport buses.

Medical and health-related emergency services will also remain open during the weekly closure.

For funeral services at cremation or burial grounds, not more than 20 persons shall be allowed.

Live TV

#mute
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket is in final preparations to launch the NROL-82 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to support national security. The launch is on track for April 26 from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Launch is planned for 1:46 p.m. PDT. The live launch broadcast begins at 1:26 p.m. PDT on April 26 at www.ulalaunch.com.

"ULA is proud of our long-standing history supporting national security space. The unmatched performance of the Delta IV Heavy is essential for launching some of our nation's most critical national security space missions and we look forward to delivering this critical asset to space," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. "It takes a cross-functional team to support a national security launch and we would like to thank our mission partners for their continued trust, collaboration and teamwork."

The Delta IV Heavy is the nation's proven heavy lifter, delivering high-priority missions for the U.S. Space Force, NRO and NASA. The vehicle also launched NASA's Orion capsule on its first orbital test flight and sent the Parker Solar Probe on its journey to unlock the mysteries of the Sun.

This Delta IV Heavy is comprised of three common core boosters each powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine producing a combined total of more than 2.1 million pounds of thrust. The second stage is powered by an AR RL10B-2 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine.

This will be the 42nd launch of the Delta IV rocket and the 13th in the Heavy configuration. To date ULA has launched 142 times with 100 percent mission success.

With more than a century of combined heritage, ULA is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 140 missions to orbit that aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, unlock the mysteries of our solar system, provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, deliver cutting-edge commercial services and enable GPS navigation. For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321).

Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch and instagram.com/ulalaunch.

SOURCE United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Related Links

http://www.ulalaunch.com


Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

REGENT is building the seaglider, an electric flying ferry that will bring people across coastal cities.

The seaglider can shuttle passengers 180 miles at up to 180 mph.

Investors include Mark Cuban, the Founders Fund, Thiel Capital, and James Park, Fitbit's founder.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Gone are the days of slow ferries and seasickness, if REGENT - an acronym for "regional electric ground effect naval transport" - has its way.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

The Boston-based startup is building the "seaglider," an electric flying vehicle that will bring passengers to different coastal cities.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

The seaglider fits somewhere in-between an aircraft and a boat.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

Seaglider's ground effect allows the vehicle to hover just a few feet above the surface of the water.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

And its speed is comparable to that of an aircraft, while its operating costs are more similar to a boat, according to its makers.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

The vehicle will also be six times faster than a ferry with its ability to travel up to 180 mph with a 180-mile range 

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. Regent

 while its "next-gen batteries" will allow the seaglider to navigate up to 500 miles.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

This means the aerodynamic flying ferry will have twice the range of an electric aircraft at its size, according to its maker.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

REGENT is looking to use the flying ferry to shuttle passengers between Boston and New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and across different Hawaii islands, to name a few route options, according to a report from CNBC.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

Source: CNBC

Similar to other EVs, the electrification of the seaglider means relevant costs - such as maintenance, taxes, and environmental "costs" like emissions - will be significantly decreased.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

But unlike other forms of electric transit that are reliant on the rapid expansion of new infrastructures, the seaglider can use docks that already exist.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

This concept isn't as futuristic as it seems: REGENT's flying ferries will be on the market by 2025.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

And by the end of this year, REGENT will be testing its first prototype at a quarter-scale, which will weigh 400 pounds with its 15-foot wingspan, according to CNBC.

Story continues

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

Source: CNBC

All of this work is the brainchild of two MIT graduates Billy Thalheimer and Mike Klinker, who now serve as REGENT's CEO and CTO, respectively.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

Both formerly worked at Boeing's Aurora Flight Sciences, which specializes in autonomous aircraft.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

The company recently raised $9 million in a seed round with Founders Fund - which previously invested in Airbnb, SpaceX, and Facebook - and Caffeinated Capital, which has invested in Clubhouse, Boom, and Wish.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

Source: Caffeinated Capital, Founders Fund

Other investors have also included Mark Cuban, Y Combinator, Thiel Capital, and James Park, the founder of Fitbit.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

REGENT's first vehicle will likely be overseen by the US Coast Guard, and the company is currently in talks with both the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration with the goal of working with both for the mass use of Seagliders.

Renderings of REGENT's seaglider. REGENT

Read the original article on Business Insider
#TomCruise talking about the motorcycle stunt they did in Norway for #MissionImpossible7, on the #GrahamNortonShow. Can't wait to see that. pic.twitter.com/yrikKuKHpp  Tom Cruise News (@TomCruiseNews4) April 17, 2021

Thats more than a year from now, assuming everything goes well and theaters open at full capacity. In the meantime, fans of the long-standing franchise and the near-sextagerian actor have on-set photos and footage to keep them going. Given the interest in the film, theres plenty of both.The latest comes from Yorkshire in the UK, where Cruise and the team are again shooting scenes on top of speeding trains. This one is apparently chased by a helicopter, so God knows what Ethan Hunt got himself into right now. The Daily Mail has photos, both of Tom and co-star Hayley Atwell in action and from the set, which was flooded by fans eager to get a photo or an autograph from Cruise.The same publication has photos of an on-set incident that seems incredibly dramatic, and that puts the spotlight on the kind of work the crew on MI7 also puts in. One cameraman standing on a ledge of the train car to get the best shot at Cruise in action lost his footing and nearly slid off.He was never going to fall all the way down, of course, since he was secured to the car, but he could have still hurt himself and damaged the equipment. Cruise, ever the action man, sprang into action and grabbed him before he slid off. He then pulled him up on the roof of the car to safety. Phew. All in a days work of a hero.It is the second time Cruise has been seen on top of a speeding train as part of the MI7 production. Based on online footage alone, this film will be packed with all manners of stunts, from the aforementioned train sequences to BASE jumping off a mountain on a motorcycle, to all manners of car chases and helicopter stunts.
Everyone in Kilkenny is backing Cartoon Saloon for an Oscar win this weekend with their latest film, Wolfwalkers.

Set in medieval Kilkenny, the film is a triumph on many levels and sends out a powerful message about friendship, hope and the magic of nature in a time when it is desperately needed.

Humanity is currently facing unprecedented challenges and needs to take positive and meaningful environmental actions. Woven throughout Wolfwalkers are themes of hope, healing and the beauty that exists between people and nature when we choose to respect and cherish this symbiotic relationship. It is an uplifting and incredibly beautiful film that celebrates freedom and strength of spirit and it feels relevant and timely at a time when nature is under threat and our basic freedoms are curtailed.

It is the fifth time that the Kilkenny-based animation studio has been nominated for an Oscar and the third time for Tomm Moore, who co-directs Wolfwalkers, with Ross Stewart.

Many feel that this small, independent studio which is a significant player in the animation industry, is a deserving recipient and that Wolfwalkers  perhaps their greatest offering thus far  is in with a chance in what appears to be a two-horse race against Pixars Soul.

In a world of industry giants it appears sometimes difficult for smaller players to get just recognition for their work. Cartoon Saloon have been invited to the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre for over a decade and it seems timely that on this their fifth outing the studio might be called up to the podium, albeit virtually.

This past year has been one like no other and for the team at Cartoon Saloon there will be no red carpets or award ceremonies to attend and mingle and mix with their peers.

Instead it has been a mish-mash of pre-recorded speeches, virtual Zoom ceremonies and other alternative forms of ceremony.

While the Oscars will take place in Los Angeles this Sunday, none of the Kilkenny crew will be in attendance due to Covid. Initially, it had been mooted that directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart would attend an Oscars hub in London but now the nominees and technical staff will attend a Kilkenny broadcast while the crew will link in virtually from home.

Fingers crossed come the early hours of Sunday morning, Kilkenny time, the Cartoon Saloon community will be celebrating their first Oscar win!
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.
This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong!
A Seattle father has been left stunned after discovering a samurai sword left unattended at a homeless camp right outside his son's elementary school.

Ryle Goodrich told America's Newsroom Friday that he discovered the dangerous weapon during a walk through the encampment, which has sprung up outside the unidentified school.

'The encampment is completely unmanaged and out of control so I have to go through there every night and see what's going on,' a concerned Goodrich stated.

'This Sunday I walked through and I found a samurai sword lying upright next to a tent unattended.'

The dad snapped photos of his shocking discovery, with the images showing the sword stabbed into the ground beside a row of tents.

The father of a Seattle student has been left stunned after discovering a samurai sword left unattended at a homeless camp right outside his son's elementary school on Sunday

Goodrich claimed that the police and fire department have shown up at the encampment on four consecutive nights within the past week, due to instances of 'fighting, defecation and drug use'.

With Seattle's schools finally reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, Goodrich says he and other parents are concerned for the safety of their young kids.

'[On Thursday] At our encampment, a parks worker was attacked by two people living there and again the police had to come,' he stated.

'This is a very unsafe environment. There is a lot else that's going on there. Doesn't belong anywhere near schools and again the attack yesterday happened during school hours for all the kids to see at recess. They've got a front-row seat,' Goodrich proclaimed.

He also told America's Newsroom that there was a shooting at a separate homeless encampment in Seattle earlier this week.

Goodrich claimed that the police and fire department had shown up at the encampment four nights in a row the previous week, saying that there had been instances of 'fighting, defecation and drug use'

Goodrich's complaints come just three weeks after it was revealed that the homeless population in Washington state rose in 2020 by more than six per cent - or about three times the national average

Seattle and King County ranked third in the country among urban areas in the number of total people experiencing homelessness, according to the report

Goodrich's complaints come just three weeks after it was revealed that the homeless population in Washington state rose in 2020 by more than six per cent - or about three times the national average.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a report which revealed the shocking figure.

Seattle and King County ranked third in the country among urban areas in the number of total people experiencing homelessness, according to the report.

Seattle mayoral spokesperson Kamaria Hightower admitted after the release of the report that the issue was plaguing politicians.

Hightower said the city has increased the amount of resources it has devoted to the problem, though 'we know that Seattle is serving more and more individuals from outside of Seattle and King County, especially individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.'

'There is a great need across the region and Seattle cannot be the only city investing in affordable housing, supportive services, and shelter resources,' Hightower said.

There are reported to be at least 4,500 'chronically homeless' people in Seattle, but that number is believed to have ballooned during the past year

Outdoor camps in Seattle appear to have proliferated throughout the last year as shelters have been forced to downsize and space people out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are reported to be at least 4,500 'chronically homeless' people in Seattle, but that number is believed to have ballooned during the past year.

However, the exact figures will not be determined because this year will be the first since at least 1980 there won't be a count of people living outside in Seattle.

The homeless census happens every January and provides a snapshot of how many people are living outdoors and in shelters within King County.

However, HUD granted permission to King County to not conduct the count over concerns around exposing volunteers and people being counted to the coronavirus.
Nines former television tower in Willoughby is to start being dismantled within days following the networks move to North Sydney in November.

The 233 metre tower was one of three in the area erected across the 1950s and 1960s but will take some 9 months to dismantle.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a crane nearly 200 metres tall will be erected on-site over two months, with cables stretching to the ground attached to the surrounding bedrock.

Specialist crews will gradually take the tower apart in sections. The narrower top half will be removed over two months. A second heavy-duty crane will then be used to remove the wider lower half in larger sections over three months.

Willoughby mayor Gail Giles-Gidney said the tower absolutely divided local opinion. I think while the towers an iconic landmark, its also one where if you can return the site to its natural state, people are supportive of that. Its pretty exciting.

Mirvac Group purchased Nines 3ha site in February 2020 in a deal worth about $227 million. The site was originally sold in 2015 for $147 million to a joint venture party formed by Australian property fund the Lotus Group and Hong Kong-based fund managers Euro Properties.

The demolition of the tower is expected to be completed in early 2022.

Photos: Neerav Bhatt

Related
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  Only 2.45% of over one million individuals who received COVID-19 vaccines in the country have experienced side effects, Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo reported on Friday.

He said 497,837 have received their first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine made by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac, while 508,674 got their first shot of the vaccine developed by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca.

Ninety-five percent or 24,330 showed minor and non-serious side effects, such as temporary high blood pressure, headaches, pain in the injection side, dizziness, rashes, or fever. The FDA also reported 344 serious adverse events.

There were also 24 deaths recorded after immunization, but Domingo said 19 were found to be coincidental or not related to the vaccine. Of the 24 fatalities, 11 contracted severe COVID-19 before the full effect of the vaccine set in, eight died of heart attack or stroke, three succumbed to other infectious diseases, while two are still under investigation.

Still no vaccine indemnification guidelines

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is fast tracking the guidelines for the compensation of vaccinees who will experience adverse effects following immunization (AEFI).

Almost two months since the government rolled out its vaccination program for priority groups, the state insurer has yet to release the regulations. But Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said PhilHealth expects the guidelines to be released next week.

Cabotaje added that despite the absence of the indemnification guidelines, those who need urgent help are given assistance by PhilHealth through its case rates.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February to speed up the immunization program. It allocated 500 million for the COVID-19 National Vaccine Immunity Fund.

The country has vaccinated over 1.5 million Filipinos since it began rolling out the immunization program on March 1.
Lisa Vedernikova divides her personal history into two eras: Before Harry and After Harry.

Before Harry, she kept her life mostly to herself, prioritizing her work, she said, often at the expense of her social life.

After Harry, she began to find joy in everyday acts, like making dinner. Come evening, she might choose a wine bar meet-up over a memo.

This is all despite the fact that the very first exchange between Ms. Vedernikova, 26, who is the chief of staff to the publisher and chairman of The New York Times, A.G. Sulzberger, and Harry Khanna, 35, an independent lawyer and a voter protection software engineer for the Democratic National Committee, was, it has to be said, rather awkward.

The couple met in November 2017 at an engagement party at Fedora, a snug restaurant in Manhattans West Village. (The restaurant closed last year.) Mr. Khanna saw Ms. Vedernikova standing at the bar. He knew he wanted to talk to her, but he didnt know what to say. So he said the first thing that came to his mind. Unfortunately, it was this sentence: You seem like youd be good with computers.
"That my team was able to flourish amid these unusual [COVID-19] conditions speaks volumes about our Vantagepoint family bond and our exceptional leadership team. As a local, family business, were honored to be recognized...alongside some of the titans of business in our country."

On April 21, Vantagepoint AI was recognized as #4 in the Tampa Bay Business Journals Best Places to Work, Large Workplace category. Moving up the ranks over the years, Vantagepoint AI, the first company in the world to give independent traders the power of artificial intelligence to forecast the markets up to three days in advance on their home computers, was recognized alongside many national firms doing business in the Tampa Bay Area.

Weve been recognized more than eleven times, said President Lane Mendelsohn, but this years win is especially meaningful to us. COVID-19s impact on our community and the challenge of maintaining our company culture while our team was deployed to working from home required creativity, ingenuity, and innovation. That my team was able to flourish amid these unusual conditions speaks volumes about our Vantagepoint family bond and our exceptional leadership team.

The Business Journal surveys employees of local companies. Those companies that meet the survey thresholds set by the Journal are then ranked by employee feedback.

Tampa Bay is an up and coming, dynamic U.S. market; were proud to be a part of the foundation of our community, noted Mendelsohn, As a local, family business, were honored to be recognized for our care of our team and our culture alongside some of the titans of business in our country. Honoring the people who are part of our family is an investment with high returns!

About Vantagepoint AI, LLC. Headquartered in Wesley Chapel, Florida, VantagePoint software forecasts Stocks, Futures, Forex, Options, Cryptocurrencies, and ETFs with proven accuracy of up to 87.4%. VantagePoints patented artificial intelligence processes predict changes in market trend direction up to three days in advance, giving traders insight into optimal times to make their trades.

Founded over 40 years ago, Vantagepoint AI is a second-generation family-owned business that employs over 90 team members and has traders in more than 160 countries. The company is actively committed to giving back in the Tampa Bay community, regularly donating a portion of revenue to Shriners Hospitals for Children and The Childrens Cancer Center as well as other small charities. To see how artificial intelligence can help traders trade smarter, schedule a demonstration at http://www.vantagepointsoftware.com/demo


During a House Administration Committee hearing on Wednesday, it was revealed that those attacking the Capitol on January 6 were aided by what were described as illogical security decisions from then House Sergeant at Arms (SAA) Paul Irving.

The revelation came in the course of a question-and-answer session between the ranking Republican on the committee, Rodney Davis of Illinois, and Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton. Davis told Bolton that an email was uncovered this week that revealed, a US Capitol Police directive initiated by then House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving to the Architect of the Capitol sent on January 5.

US Capitol Police at The Supreme Court (Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons)

Davis said the email from Irving asked the Architect of the Capitol, J. Brett Blanton, to move approximately 500 bike racks serving as security barricades away from 1st Street Northeast and Constitution Avenue to the east front.

Davis asked Bolton if he was aware of this extraordinary request, to which Bolton replied that he was not aware and that he had not delved into that.

Davis continued his line of questioning, stating that, this week weve uncovered emails from the Architect of the Capitol where it is clear that this was directed by the House sergeant at arms against the legitimate security concerns from the AOC [architect of Capitol] where the AOC Blanton called it illogical.

This is yet another example of the dysfunction of the security decision-making process of the Capitol Police Board, Davis added.

This is a stunning revelation. Irving demanded that security barriers be repositioned less than 24 hours before a mob of Trump supporters and fascists would descend on the Capitol from the very direction where the barriers were removed. There is no innocent explanation. It adds further evidence of the active role of highly placed security officials in facilitating the security stand-down of the Capitol in support of Trumps coup attempt.

The email recalls similar memos issued by highly placed officials in the Department of Defense to District of Columbia Guard Commander William Walker, in the days leading up to the coup, which effectively prevented Walker from deploying his troops. In both cases the effect of the unusual (Walker) and illogical (Blanton) requests was to clear a path for Trumps mob to attack Congress.

The day of the attack the Capitol Police Board was comprised of Irving, Blanton, Steven Sund, then Capitol Police chief, and then Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger. The board oversees the Capitol Police and has final say over security matters, including when to declare an emergency and request National Guard support. After the attack, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the resignation of Sund and Irving; Stenger also resigned after Senate leaders of both parties demanded it.

In congressional testimony in February, Sund alleged that the Police Board had prevented him from seeking National Guard support prior to the attack. Sund alleged that the Police Board denied his request for Guard support on January 4 and delayed subsequent requests the day of the attack.

Sund testified that he had spoken to Irving specifically on January 6, and requested he declare an emergency and request Guard support at 1:09 p.m. Sunds request would not be honored by the Police Board until 2:10 p.m. However, further delays at the Pentagon meant that Gen. Walker would not be granted permission to deploy his soldiers until 5:09 p.m., well after the worst of the siege had ended and Trumps objectives failed.

During the February 23 hearing, Irving disputed Sunds timeline and alleged that he did not receive a call from Sund until around 1:28, 1:30. In a follow-up hearing with the House Appropriations Committee, acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman confirmed through telephone records that Sund actually first called and spoke to Irving to request Guard support at 12:58 p.m. the day of the attack.

In another revelation further implicating the Capitol Police leadership in facilitating the attack on the Capitol, Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat, alleged that radio communications made during the morning of January 6 by an unnamed Capitol Police officer, recently found by the Office of Professional Responsibility, advised all outside units to not look for any pro-Trump in the crowd. Instead the voice said, Were only looking for any anti-Trump who wants to start a fight.

Lofgren did not identify the Capitol Police officer who issued the directive. Neither the Capitol Police nor Congress have released audio of the broadcast despite requests to do so from major media organizations.

The Capitol Police department, which has yet to hold a public news conference since the attempted coup over three months ago, issued a statement on Thursday attempting to refute Lofgrens allegation, stating that the radio call, has been misquoted and is lacking  necessary context.

In their statement, the department included what it says is the transcript of the broadcast, which reads: With regards to pedestrian traffic onon the grounds today, we anticipate aa large presence for pro-Trump participants. What were looking for is any anti-Trump counter protesters, the transcript reads, according to the Capitol Police statement.

As the Capitol Police departments own statement makes clear, the police were looking for any anti-Trump counter protesters. This is despite the fact that the departments own intelligence report issued on January 3 warned that unlike previous Make America Great Again rallies held in November and December in D.C., the pro-Trump mob assembled on January 6, comprised of fascist militias and white supremacists, would be targeting Congress, not antifa or anti-Trump protesters. The intelligence report even said that those gathered on January 6 saw the stopping of the congressional certification of the Electoral College vote as the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election.

The latest revelations come on top of a mountain of evidence of state complicity in the attempted coup that was revealed during last weeks House Administration Committee hearing. It was revealed that:

 Capitol Police were directed by at least one assistant deputy chief of police not to use heavier crowd-control devices, such as 40 mm launchers or sting ball grenades, out of concern that their misuse could cause life-altering injury and/or death.

 Rank-and-file police were not briefed on intelligence reports that warned that Congress itself would be the target on January 6.

 Capitol Police were woefully unprepared for the crowd. Inspector General Bolton found that unlike previous protests, Capitol Police failed to preposition ammunition caches within the Capitol or set-up a decontamination area for officers who were attacked with chemicals.

 The Capitol Polices equivalent of riot police, the Civil Disturbance Unit, did not have access to riot shields which were apparently locked on a bus.

The latest revelations conclusively demonstrate that the attack on the Capitol on January 6 was not simply an intelligence failure compounded by unprepared police and exuberant Trump supporters duped by Trumps big lie of a stolen election. It was a deliberate attempt to stop the certification of electoral votes, seize hostages and maintain Trump in power as a dictator-president.

The growing evidence of the complicity of elements of the state with Trumps coup has been met with deafening silence in the corporate media, which has reported very little from the House Administration Committee hearings. Nor have the Democrats who run the committee sought to highlight this evidence or draw public attention to it.
It appears to be the end of the line for some formerly popular restaurant chains, including Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet and Ryans Buffet.

The chains operators, based in San Antonio, closed the restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic and filed 15 bankruptcy petitions this week.

The pandemic really took the legs out from this company, as it has many other companies in many different sectors, but particularly in the restaurant sector, said Jason Brookner, an attorney for the bankrupt companies, during a Thursday court hearing in Dallas.

The restaurants couldnt overcome shelter-in-place orders and restrictions that limited restaurant operations to takeout and delivery. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had advised restaurants not to offer self-serve food and drink options, such as buffets.

Fresh Acquisitions LLC, owner of Furrs Fresh Buffet, and Buffets LLC, parent of Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryans, Fire Mountain and Tahoe Joes Famous Steakhouse, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization for themselves and the chains.

Its the fourth trip into bankruptcy for some of the companies since 2008, the last time occurring in 2016 in San Antonio.

Prior to the pandemic, the companies operated 90 locations in 27 states. None of the restaurants were in San Antonio, however. Before the 2016 bankruptcies, there were more than 300 of the restaurants in 35 states.

Brookner said the restaurants open to customers have now been whittled down to six  Tahoe Joes locations, all in California.

There is a hope and expectation that coming out of Chapter 11 that there will be an opportunity to grow the brands back to some degree, and take advantage of the post-COVID recovery, he said.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan approved a request to reject 57 of 71 restaurant leases, eliminating about $1 million in monthly expenses. The keys already had been turned over to the landlords, Brookner said.

He said the plan is to sell the six Tahoe Joes locations in a process overseen by the bankruptcy court. The remaining eight locations have operated as Furrs Fresh Buffet restaurants, which Brookner said the companies also intend to sell.

We are teed up for a sale process, he told the judge during the hearing, which was conducted remotely.

San Antonio-based VitaNova Brands, which has managed the chains and provided back-office services, is expected to make the initial bid  known in bankruptcy parlance as a stalking-horse bid.

VitaNovas bid amount will be based on financing it has provided the debtors, plus the assumption of liabilities. VitaNova loaned $500,000 to the debtors last week, and the judge signed off on it providing $1 million in additional financing. VitaNova may ultimately provide as much as $2 million more.

An auction will be conducted to generate the highest return possible for creditors, Brookner said. The financing requires approval of a sale within 75 days of the bankruptcy filings, a court document stated.

In a statement, VitaNova CEO and co-founder Jason Kemp sounded bullish about the future of Tahoe Joes and Furrs.

We are looking forward to emerging from bankruptcy as a stronger operator with a focus on the Tahoe Joes and Furrs AYCE Marketplace banners, Kemp said. These great brands serving great food will create a platform for future growth. ACYE stands for all you can eat.

The six Tahoe Joes restaurants generated about $21 million in annual revenue before the pandemic, not enough to sustain all the operations, according to a court filing.

VitaNova manages other chains, including Zios Italian Kitchen and Sushi Zushi.

Buffet-style restaurants took the brunt of the loss of sales during the pandemic among their peers, Kemp said.

Fresh Acquisitions and another entity in February defaulted on a credit agreement with a secured lender thats owed about $13.5 million. But the lender agreed not to take any immediate action. Unsecured creditors are owed more than $10 million, documents show.

Buffets received approval for a $10 million Paycheck Protection Program loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration last year. Fresh Acquisitions received approval for a nearly $3 million PPP loan. The money was earmarked to cover payroll costs. If the money went to pay employees, the loans can be forgiven.

The bankrupt companies employ almost 800 people, though many have been out of work with the restaurants closed. The Tahoe Joes locations have 440 employees.

pdanner@express-news.net
NEW YORK, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Practising Law Institute (PLI), held on April 21, 2021, the following individuals were elected:

Devereux Chatillon, Chatillon Weiss LLP, was elected Chair of the Practising Law Institute Board, and Carol Anne Been, Dentons US LLP, was elected Vice Chair of the Board.

The following Trustees were newly elected for three-year terms: Dawson Horn, AIG; Lynn K. Neuner, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP; and Hon. Dianne T. Renwick, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. They join the following Trustees who were reelected: Hon. Marc Marmaro (Ret.), Signature Resolution; Samuel W. Seymour, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; John S. Siffert, Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP; and John W. White, Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

The following PLI staff members were elected: Craig A. Miller, Interim President and Senior Vice President; Alan G. Cohen, Chief Business Officer; Kara L. O'Brien, Vice President; Christopher Rousseau, Chief Information Officer; Emilia Sima, Vice President; David M. Smith, Vice President; Joan Sternberg, Senior Vice President; and Samantha Goldsberry, Secretary.

The Trustees also elected the outgoing Chair, Hon. Angela M. Mazzarelli, Chair Emerita, and elected Hon. William F. Kuntz, II, former Chair of the Executive Committee, Trustee Emeritus. The Trustees thanked Judge Mazzarelli and Judge Kuntz for their decades of service and contributions to the Board.

About Practising Law Institute (PLI)

Practising Law Institute is a nonprofit learning organization dedicated to keeping attorneys and other professionals at the forefront of knowledge and expertise. PLI is chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, and was founded in 1933 by Harold P. Seligson. PLI provides the highest quality, accredited, continuing legal and professional education programs in a variety of formats. This content is delivered by more than 4,000 volunteer faculty, including prominent lawyers, judges, investment bankers, accountants, corporate counsel, and U.S. and international government regulators. PLI publishes a comprehensive library of treatises, course handbooks, answer books and journals, also available through the PLI PLUS online platform. The essence of PLI's mission is its commitment to the pro bono community.

Please visit www.pli.edu to learn more.

SOURCE Practising Law Institute

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UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi meets with Micheline (left), a refugee from the Central African Republic living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called today for stepped up international support and solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)  a country struggling with one of the largest internally displaced populations in Africa and a generous host to half a million refugees fleeing conflict elsewhere in the region.

During a three-day mission to the Central African nation, the High Commissioner travelled to the DRCs northern region bordering the Central African Republic (CAR) where according to local authorities 92,000 refugees have arrived in the past four months, following post-election violence in CAR. Meeting with refugees in this remote area, Grandi heard accounts of brutal violence, and personal loss.

He also praised the crucial role played by Congolese communities on the border that have taken in those fleeing armed groups in CAR: In this isolated area where poor road conditions make delivering humanitarian assistance a huge challenge, local villagers have provided life-saving assistance by sharing their modest shelters and limited food with the refugees."

Grandi added, We need greater commitment and solidarity with this country and local communities that continue to open their arms and their homes to refugees, despite having very limited resources.

As the security situation remains volatile, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working to relocate refugees away from the border, to safer sites.

Grandi commended local communities at the new sites who have offered land to the newly arrived refugees and welcomed children into their schools. Refugees can grow their crops alongside the host community, become self-reliant, access local health services and schools. This is real inclusion.

The High Commissioner was received by President Felix Tshisekedi at his office with whom he discussed the forced displacement challenges facing the DRC  the 5.2 million internally displaced people, refugees from the region hosted in the country and Congolese who have sought asylum abroad.

They agreed that protection of civilians in conflict-affected areas of the DRC, especially in the eastern provinces, had to be strengthened, and that development interventions had to be more strategically targeted. These issues were discussed also with the Prime Minister and other government ministers.

The High Commissioner will travel to Goma, in North Kivu province on Friday to meet people displaced by the ongoing violence in the north-east of the country.

The humanitarian response in the DRC has been impacted by severe underfunding. UNHCRs 2021 appeal of US$204.8 million is just 16 per cent funded.

News footage is available for media and broadcasters: B-ROLL

Photos are available here.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
The Indonesian navy said no contact had been made with the crew but it hoped a sonar finding on Thursday afternoon could lead to the submarine with the help of an echo sounder being installed on a warship in the area. What we found today is a high magnetism at a point within 50 to 100 metres deep and its floating, Navy chief Admiral Yudo Margono said. We hope it is the KRI Nanggala. The oxygen supply in a blackout condition that we predict is sufficient for 72 hours or three days. So it lost contact at 3am yesterday and will last until Saturday at 3am. Hopefully, it can be immediately found before that so that oxygen supply is still available. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The navy chief said the other vessels that had been involved in the drill including 21 warships, two submarines and five planes had joined the frantic search.

If the submarine had sunk too deep, however, the outlook was grim, according to Indonesian defence analyst Connie Rahakundini Bakrie. If it lies at that depth I have to say with a heavy heart that the steel structure of the vessel wont be strong, she said. Former submariner Frank Owen, who is secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, said another complicating factor was there were more people on board than the normal crew capacity of 34 and oxygen reserves would be depleted faster than usual. An Indonesian search and rescue crew launches from Benoa harbor in Bali. Credit:AP He also said the Type 209/1300 vessel was not fitted with facilities to allow a rescue vessel to be attached to enable the crew to escape.

So the only system they have is to get to the surface and abandon the submarine on the surface; or if theyre in water that is less than 180 metres in depth they could put a special suit on so they can breathe and not burst their lungs and they can get to the surface, Owen said. Its still risky but its doable. Owen said this mode of escape could be achieved via the submarines air-locked tower. A free ascent - where you flood the whole submarine and everybody would get out as quick as they could - was possible from about 60 metres. Loading Navy spokesman First Admiral Julius Widjojono told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Indonesia did not have its own submarine salvage equipment and two rescue ships, Singapores MV Swift and Malaysias Mega Bakti, were on their way. But he said the Singaporean ship would not arrive in the area until at least Saturday and the Malaysian vessel would not get there until Monday.

The Indonesian navy said Australia was also providing assistance but it was unclear how. Australias own submarine rescue system is managed by James Fisher Defence Australia and based in Western Australia. Fronting a press conference late on Thursday, Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto said the submarine had been seaworthy but there was always an element of danger with any equipment in defence. Its the way of life for a soldier. Operating a submarine is one of the toughest jobs in the military, he said. We are now praying to rescue them safely. Hopefully they have enough oxygen for a few days. We are hoping for the best.

Australia has also offered to support the rescue effort with Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeting on Thursday evening that Australia stands with Indonesia at this challenging time. Defence Minister Peter Dutton said he had spoken to Prabowo to offer assistance. But the only reports that I can confirm at the moment are those that are public  and that is: [it] looks like, obviously, a terrible tragedy and its in a very deep part of waters  700 or 800 metres deep potentially  and it makes it very difficult for the recovery, Dutton said on Sydneys 2GB radio. But authorities still hoped the submarine may have merely been out of contact due to a communications malfunction. The Singaporean MV Swift comes equipped with an eight-bed high-dependency ward, a re-compression chamber for 40 people and a helipad. However, its submersible DSAR 6 rescue craft can only dive 500 metres.

Singapore Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen said the MV Swift was dispatched on Wednesday as fast as she could get ready. Indias navy, meanwhile, announced on Thursday night it was sending a search and rescue vessel as well. Michael Shoebridge, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institutes defence, strategy and national security program, said this is a situation where time is critical. Accidents involving submarines on the sea floor are some of the most horrific and human situations to deal with because surviving at that depth for any length of time is pretty tenuous and rescuing people from that kind of depth is just technically really hard, he said.
(Natural News) On Thursday, April 15, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen warned her people that the communist regime in mainland China has launched a psychological warfare campaign against her country. This latest attack against Taiwan was intended to cause division in its society and make the people turn against the independent-minded president and her administration.

Tsais warning came as a fake document circulated and went viral in Taiwan. This document claimed that her government was planning to import water from Japans Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for processing and disposition.

The document used the official format used by Tsais office for public statements, it even attempted to copy the way her office writes announcements. This meant that any passing observer could easily mistake the document for official policy.

But Tsais office quickly spotted it, and it was able to identify three flaws that made it obvious that the document was fake and most likely made by Chinese Communist Party operatives. Tsai mentioned these three key flaws on a Facebook post.

First, the document began circulating on Twitter on April 15, but the issue date on it is April 16. Second, the document said the decision to import nuclear water was made during a cabinet meeting. Tsai pointed out that the government of Taiwan does not hold cabinet meetings.

Finally, the document used one word in simplified Chinese characters. Taiwan does not use the simplified Chinese script, it uses traditional Chinese characters.

Thanks to these three key mistakes, especially the use of simplified Chinese characters, Tsai concluded that the fake document was an act of psychological warfare. She believes the release and spread of this false document were orchestrated by organized elements working in communist China in an attempt to subvert her administration.

Tsai: Chinese military activities threaten regional stability

Right before Tsai released the information regarding the CCPs attempts at psychological warfare, she met with a visiting delegation from the United States. This delegation was led by former Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and former Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg.

The delegation was sent to deter adventurous maneuvers and provocations from the CCP. (Related: U.S. Admiral expresses worry about communist Chinas future invasion of Taiwan.)

While these diplomats were in Taiwan, Tsai told them that Chinese military activities seriously threatened the regions peace and stability.

We are very willing to work with like-minded countries, including the United States, to jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific and deter adventurous maneuvers and provocations, said Tsai during the meeting with the American delegates.

She vowed, during the meeting, to continue cooperating with countries like the U.S. to counter cognitive and psychological warfare threats and targeted misinformation attacks coming from the mainland.

In recent weeks, Taiwan has been subject to almost daily incursions of its airspace by Chinas air force.

On April 12 the country experienced the single largest incursion when 25 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwans Air Defense Identification Zone.

China conducted this flyby in response to concerns expressed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken towards Chinas increasingly aggressive actions against Taiwan.

This is the most that Chinese warplanes have crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait which separates the island from the mainland since 1990. Both Taiwan and China previously had an agreement to not venture beyond this line of control. But China recently announced that it no longer recognized the sanctity of this median line and now regularly sends warplanes over it.

Tsais administration has responded to the Chinese threats by saying that, in the event of a Chinese invasion of the island, Taiwan would fight to the very last day.

Follow CommunistChina.news for more on Beijings aggressive moves against Taiwan.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

CNBC.com

NewBloomMag.net
Former President George W. Bush told People magazine that he wrote in Condoleezza Rice when he voted for president in the 2020 election.

The big picture: Bush also clarified comments made earlier this week in which he called today's GOP "isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist." The former president told People that he "painted with too broad a brush" and excluded "a lot of Republicans who believe we can fix the problem."

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"Really what I should have said  there's loud voices who are isolationists, protectionists and nativists, something, by the way, I talked about when I was president," he said in a wide-ranging interview for next week's issue about his new book of oil paintings, "Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants."

What he's saying: Bush said Rice, who served as his secretary of state from 2005 to 2009, knew he wrote her name on his ballot.

"But she told me she would refuse to accept the office," he added.

Worth noting: While Bush has largely avoided talking about his successors, he said the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege by supporters of former President Trump "disgusted" and "really disturbed" him.

"I was sick to my stomach ... to see our nation's Capitol being stormed by hostile forces," he told the Texas Tribune in February.

Go deeper: George W. Bush wants "more respectful" tone on immigration

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Washington: When Nepal welcomed foreign climbers back to Mount Everest for the northern spring climbing season, many feared it was only a matter of time before the coronavirus made its way to the worlds highest peak.

Sure enough, just weeks into the season, symptoms of the virus have been found at Everests base camp, sparking a renewed debate about whether Nepals reliance on the mountain as a source of revenue is getting in the way of safety.

On Wednesday, Outside magazine first reported a climber at base camp had been evacuated by helicopter for what was believed to be high-altitude pulmonary edema and tested positive for the coronavirus upon arriving at a hospital in Kathmandu last week.

Tents are seen set up at Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Credit:AP

The New York Times subsequently revealed that in fact there had been multiple climbers who tested positive after being flown out of base camp.
One member of the jury panel that heard the case against Derek Chauvin has admitted to being intimidated. The jury panel on which she sat found him guilty on all charges (second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter) with only a few hours deliberation in a complex, technical case. During its deliberations, the jurors asked no questions and sought no evidence to review.

As it happened, the juror who spoke out to KARE-TVs Lou Raguse, Lisa Christensen, had no idea that she was one of two alternates until the judge dismissed her right before the 12 jurors were sequestered, so she didnt the opportunity to vote guilty on all charges, as she said she would have done, had she been in the jury room.

Raguse tweeted:

I just had a fascinating sit-down interview with one of the alternate jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial.



Lisa Christensen was the juror who lived in Brooklyn Center. One night she could hardly make it home after testimony ended because of protesters blocking intersections. pic.twitter.com/KUtHSOGm8N  Lou Raguse (@LouRaguse) April 22, 2021

Christensen thought Derek Chauvin was guilty.



Dr. Martin Tobin was the witness who influenced her the most toward that conclusion.



That demonstration where the jurors felt their necks? Extremely effective.



Much much much more to come after I start putting this together. pic.twitter.com/HwOi3tFBRr  Lou Raguse (@LouRaguse) April 22, 2021

Daniel Horowitz highlights the key admission, found in the interviews that is covered on KARE-TVs website:

"I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again and I was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict."

One juror: "I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again and I was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict." https://t.co/6TYkXO7LW8  Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) April 23, 2021

Coming in the heels of attempts to influence the jury by President Biden and Rep. Maxine Waters, this latest admission places the burden on the appellate process. There can be little doubt that Chauvin did not receive a fair trial, given the personal fears members of the jury inevitably felt after watching Minneapolis partially destroyed in rioting, after the local newspaper, the StarTribune, shamefully published biographical information that made identification of jurors possible even without naming them, and after the presumed home of an expert witness for the defense was smeared in pigs blood.

Will any appellate court have the guts to declare a mistrial? I rather doubt it, including even the United States Supreme Court.

Derek Chauvin is no Alfred Dreyfus, a man whose unjust conviction (known to history as the Dreyfus Affair) is a landmark of injustice. Dreyfus was innocent of the charges for which he was imprisoned. Chauvin was guilty of brutality and maybe some actual crimes, all caught on video. But he did not receive the consideration of a fair and impartial jury, and his trial is a landmark of injustice. Common sense, the shameful statements of high-ranking politicians, and now the admission of a member of the jury panel all point to a verdict based on fear not the facts.

Photo credit: Twitter video screengrab

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
INDIANAPOLIS, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Wealth, home to the next generation of elite advisors, is enhancing its position in the San Antonio market with the addition of JDK Wealth Advisors as the latest team to choose its partnered independence business model. The four-person team, managing and advising on approximately $400 million in client assets, is the seventh firm to join Sanctuary this year, and the second in San Antonio. The firm is led by Managing Partners Brad Johnson, Randy Daniels and Jonathan Klug, who collectively spent more than 30 years with Merrill Lynch, ably assisted by Director of Operations Martha Ortega.

"With JDK Wealth Advisors being the seventh team to join Sanctuary already this year and the strong pipeline we have in place, our growth this year will surpass our very strong results from 2020," said Jim Dickson, CEO and Founder of Sanctuary Wealth. "I knew Randy, Brad and Jonathan to be highly respected by their peers at Merrill. They have the entrepreneurial spirit and drive to succeed that characterizes all the teams that have joined Sanctuary to date."

"I know Randy, Brad and Jonathan incredibly well; in fact, I hired Randy and Brad and worked closely with Jonathan at Merrill. I have seen firsthand how the three of them personify the character, integrity and attitude that defines the Sanctuary culture. They care deeply about their clients and are a pleasure to be around," said Vince Fertitta, President, Wealth Management, Sanctuary Wealth. "They have long wanted the flexibility to provide the best solutions to clients without any outside interference or the need to answer to anyone other than their clients. We look forward to working closely with them as they continue to grow their business."

"Sanctuary's platform is very broad and allows for a lot of different optionality from an investment standpoint, so we're not restricted in terms of what we can offer clients," said Jonathan Klug, CIMA, CFP, Managing Director, JDK Wealth Advisors. "We now have so many options available to us, not just one solution. And we already have strong relationships with many of the executive team at Sanctuary through our mutual years with Merrill."

JDK Wealth Advisors takes a goals-based approach to wealth management that places the client at the center, not the market. The team is designed to provide a customized, consistent experience that helps clients not only with wealth accumulation and preservation but also with every aspect of their financial lives.

"There were multiple reasons why we decided to move, but the biggest was that we wanted to provide our clients with a truly independent and consultative relationship," explained Randy Daniels, Managing Director, JDK Wealth Advisors. "We want to be able to offer what's best for our clients and not have to answer to shareholders or worry about proprietary products or services."

"We didn't want to make a parallel move. We wanted to make a move that would have a positive impact on our clients and would allow us to build a legacy," added Brad Johnson, CFP, Managing Director, JDK Wealth Advisors on the decision to join Sanctuary Wealth. "We wanted to make a move that would allow us to build a business of our own. We got calls from a number of firms but once we talked to Sanctuary, we knew that was our best fit. By joining the Sanctuary network, JDK will be able to grow alongside a partner we respect and who we know we can trust."

About Sanctuary Wealth

Sanctuary Wealth ( sanctuarywealth.com/ ) is the advanced platform for the next generation of elite advisors, who have the entrepreneurial spirit to build and own their own practices and desire the freedom to deliver the tailored service their clients deserve. Sanctuary's ecosystem of partnered independence provides a complete technology and operations platform, as well as support from a community of like-minded advisors and the resources of invaluable affiliated businesses. Currently, the Sanctuary Wealth network includes 48 partner firms across 19 states with over $15.0 billion in assets under advisement. The Sanctuary Wealth Group includes the fully owned subsidiaries Sanctuary Advisors, a registered investment adviser, and the broker-dealer Sanctuary Securities, as well as Sanctuary Alternative Solutions, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Global, and Sanctuary Global Tax and Family Office.

CONTACT:

Michaela Morales

JConnelly

973 224 7152

[email protected]

SOURCE Sanctuary Wealth
Gloria Giraldo (center) of Latino Health Access discusses COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness with agricultural workers at a farm in Irvine, California. Credit: Latino Health Access

Getting vaccinated may be everyone's best protection against COVID-19. But giving everyone fair access to vaccines will take more than just providing needles and vials, community health experts say.

Vaccines have not been reaching everyone equally, statistics show. Overall, Black and Hispanic people have been receiving smaller shares of vaccinations relative to their population and their portion of COVID-19 cases and deaths, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis from mid-April. Levels of disparity vary by region, but overall, white people have received a disproportionately high number of vaccines. Asian people in most states have received doses that tracked with their levels of cases and deaths.

"The populations hardest hit by the pandemic, which unfortunately are communities of color, were not prioritized at the forefront of the vaccine distribution and resource allocation," said Dr. LaPrincess Brewer, a preventive cardiologist and health disparities researcher in the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Solving the problem, Brewer and other experts say, will require taking down obstacles that keep people from understanding, signing up for and receiving vaccinations. It will take partnerships between medical experts and people who know their communities. And, they say, it will take trust.

The roots of the structural inequities that cause the problem are complex, said Brewer, who also is an assistant professor within Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. But she dispelled the idea that such groups should be labeled "hard to reach" with vaccines.

"Communities of color are not necessarily hard to reach," she said. "We oftentimes have not tried hard enough to reach them."

Such communities have to be addressed in culturally appropriate ways, she said. And vaccines have to be made available in ways that do not create inadvertent barriers.

Isabel Becerra has seen such barriers. She's chief executive officer for the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers based in Santa Ana, California. Her county has a large percentage of Hispanic and Asian American residents, but Hispanic people have been vaccinated at much lower rates than others.

Among the most affected communities were the cities of Santa Ana and Anaheim, which are predominantly Hispanic. One of Orange County's initial vaccination efforts was in Anaheim, at Disneyland. Becerra said it was a well-intentioned idea.

"But it's such a massive site," she said. To get there, people needed transportation. To get an appointment, they needed an app, which meant they needed internet access. And initially, the app was available only in English.

Becerra said things began to improve once vaccines were available through her group's community clinics, which are in medically underserved areas. But the clinics could not do it alone, she said. They relied on others who specialized in driving people to vaccination sites. Other groups served as trusted links to the community.

Latino Health Access of Santa Ana was such a group. It helped set up, staff and spread the word about several vaccine events. Gloria Giraldo, the group's COVID-19 education and field coordinator, said the organization is built on a network of neighborhood health workers, or promotores.

They not only help educate the community, they offer crucial feedback. They suggested, for example, that local high schools would be convenient vaccination locations. The Anaheim and Santa Ana school districts worked with Latino Health Access to open school gyms, and now eagerly line up early on weekend mornings to get their shots.

"We are very prone to listen to experts" who have lots of letters behind their names, Giraldo said. But the people who need help also have expertise, she said. "In their communities, they are experts in what works."

Geography is not the only barrier. Some people don't understand vaccines, while the politics of immigration has driven others away from the health care system, said Giraldo, who has a doctorate in public health and has done field work, literally, to help with that.

To reach workers in Orange County's strawberry fields, she worked with their employer to speak with them during a break. She was told interest was low, and that only eight had expressed interest in the vaccine.

But she went. And at the end of her talk, about 80 workers signed up for a shot. That led to a vaccination event that drew more than 160 agricultural workers.

In Minnesota, Clarence Jones also has served as a connector between people and experts. He's a community health strategist with the Hue-MAN Partnership, where he's worked closely with Brewer and Mayo Clinic on health programs in Black churches around Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rochester.

Black Americans know the health care system has a long history of racism, neglect and abuse, he and Brewer said. Through a Mayo Clinic project called FAITH! (Fostering African-American Improvement in Total Health), Brewer has built ties with more than 100 churches.

She first approached Jones and his group as a potential partner several years ago. "We vetted her for about a year and a half," Jones said. "And we asked her to vet us. Because one of the things that we have in our community is a real distrust about academics and researchers."

The partnership between Mayo Clinic researchers and local churches was well-established when the pandemic broke out. Brewer said communication has been key to solving problems. FAITH! has, for example, surveyed churchgoers and made regular phone calls to leaders to learn their vaccine concerns.

"Throughout the pandemic, we have simply asked our partnering congregations, "How can we work together?" and "What do you need?'" she said. Guided by the answers, Mayo Clinic created relevant information. FAITH! also participated in a virtual "Barbershop Talk" forum hosted by a local pastor that let people ask physicians of color about the vaccine.

"Because we were a trusted and reliable source of information, our community members instilled their trust in us about the COVID-19 vaccine," Brewer said.

Jones said large organizations can't provide instant trust. But they can start by looking for community partners and approaching them honestly about their shared goals.

Giraldo said a similar attitude has helped her group throughout its history.

"We're not saviors," she said. "We're not here to do anything that is not in partnership."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
A Chinese airline has dismissed as "rumor" a report circulating on social media that one of its cabin crew was ordered by a branch secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to entrap two high-ranking officials by embroiling them in a sexual scandal.



"We have taken note of reports that are circulating about certain unsavory text messages sent to one of our employees," Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines said in a statement on its official Weibo account on .



"Following verification, we can confirm that these reports were deliberately fabricated and are malicious slander," it said.



The statement came after screenshots of chat messages circulated online in which a provincial-level CCP official from Jiangsu surnamed Tian was shown to have called on China Eastern cabin crew member Ni Gaoping to set a honey trap for another official.



China Eastern said Ni, a manager in its cabin crew division who has been designated a "model worker," was the victim of the incident, and has since reported the matter to the police.



A police officer who answered the phone at the Hongqiao Airport police station, where Ni made her report, declined to comment when contacted by RFA on .



Repeated calls to several departments, including the publicity department, of China Eastern Airlines' Jiangsu branch rang unanswered during office hours on .



A person familiar with the matter told RFA that "Tian" could refer to Tian Hong, currently party branch secretary of China Eastern's Jiangsu division.



Pressure on platform operator

Several screenshots of related chat exchanges had been circulating online from , attached to a post claiming that Ni had been ordered to approach the high-ranking official, surnamed Qiu, and had contacted him.



Explicit screenshots, purportedly of a subsequent conversation with Qiu and a second, high-ranking figure in aviation, had also circulated, before being deleted, the person said.



A journalist who gave only the surname Yang said the story had quickly gone viral on China's tightly controlled social media platforms.



"That content really proved quite popular," Yang said. "We're not sure if Qiu was from [the airline's] Shanghai headquarters, or from the Civil Aviation Administration of China."



"This kind of thing is so common; it happens all the time," he said. "Just that this time, someone went public with it."



Chen Jun, who runs the blogging platform Jinrizhiyi.com, said the authorities had been keen to delete any reference to the viral story.



Chen said that he had received a call from Kou Lingnan in the CCP branch office inside China Eastern Airlines' Jiangsu division asking him to delete the post."



If he didn't play ball, Chen might have a hard time ever running a media business in Jiangsu in future, it was suggested.



"Yes, definitely a lot of pressure," Chen said. "The CCP office at China Eastern Airlines told me that this matter had had too much of an impact, but they didn't say it was fake."



"Then I found out that Cyberspace Administration officials from my hometown were trying to contact me," he said. "They are trying to intimidate me; it's a very common way for them to get posts deleted."



Reported by Xiaoshan Huang and Chingman for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Longstreth will discuss his book this Sunday, April 25th at 4 p.m. in a virtual event hosted by the Desmond Fish Public Library in Garrison. Register at https://www.crowdcast.io/e/7irwct3o/register

New York, NYGeorge Washington and other founding fathers are burned into the annals of history, with every American child learning about their feats of valor and the heroic actions that led to the founding of the United States. History remembers bold, grand events such as the Boston Tea Party, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Washington crossing the Potomac, and the horrors endured during the winter at Valley Forge. But sometimes, it is the less dramatic figures, the ones lost in the shadow of bigger events, that change the course of history forever.

Chains Across the River, a thrilling new book by veteran historical fiction writer Bevis Longstreth, tells the story of Thomas Machin, a British-trained engineer on whom General George Washington placed a huge wager in 1776 by summoning him to imagine, design, and install obstructions to block the British armada gathering in New York Harbor. "Control of the Hudson River was believed by both sides of the conflict to be essential," says Longstreth.

Revolutionary American history is rich with close calls, lucky breaks and in the case of 'Chains Across The River' a brilliant tactic implemented by George Washington that may have saved this rebellious upstart of a country from an early demise. John Kelly, Detroit Free Press, 5-stars

An illuminating reflection on our history and a major literary feathighly recommended. Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame Top 50 Reviewer, 5-stars

"I had so many questions about who Thomas Machin was," says Longstreth. "What drove him, with enormous risk to his life, to desert the British army? What drove him to engage so importantly in the American battle for independence? Did the shame of being labeled a deserter outweigh the pride he could claim in joining the Continentals? Questions like this triggered my imagination, invoking a desire to complete his tale."

A retired lawyer with a love of historical fiction, Longstreth masterfully melds fact, fiction, and contemporary ideas in his books.

"Why do historians devote so little attention to Machin?" says Longstreth. "It's because of what didn't happen on the Hudson. The British cut the first chain without testing it, and they never sailed against the second. Washington and Machin understood that the chain could deter without being tested at all."

Without Thomas Machin, the revolution may never have achieved victory. And without Longstreth, Machin and his chains across the river may have remained lost in the shadow of history.

Chains Across the River, ISBN 978-05787-50507. Published by Honeycomb Publishers, April 2021. (268 pages) Available on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Kindle $9.99, Hardcover $29.00 or via the author's website: www.BevisLongstreth.com/

About Bevis Longstreth: Bevis Longstreth is the author of four historical novels: Spindle and Bow, Return of the Shade, Boats Against the Current, and Chains Across the River. He combines his passion for history with a unique, contemporary perspective.

Mr. Longstreth is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He practiced law in the New York City law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, becoming a partner in 1970. From 1981-84 he served as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. After returning to Debevoise & Plimpton in 1984, he retired from the practice of law in 1993 to teach at Columbia Law School and pursue other interests, among which was writing. He lives in Manhattan, New York with his wife, Clara, and their dog, McKenzie. They have three children and nine grandchildren.

See www.BevisLongstreth.com/ for further information about the author and his writings.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Chains Across the River or to arrange an interview with Bevis Longstreth, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist
New Delhi: Indian Navy has invited applications for the posts of Artificer Apprentice (AA) and Senior Secondary Recruits (SSR). The application process will commence on April 26 and will last till May 5, 2021.

The interested candidates can apply through the official site of the Indian Navy at joinindiannavy.gov.in. To apply, candidates can enter their registered Email Id and fill the form on the official website by clicking on the tab Current Opportunities.

Indian Navy has opened applications for 500 Posts of Artificer Apprentice and 2000 Posts Senior Secondary Recruits.

Eligibility criteria for AA-

Candidates should be qualified in 10+2 examination with 60% or more marks in aggregate with Maths & Physics and at least one of these subjects: Chemistry/Biology/Computer Science from the Boards of School Education recognized by MHRD, Government of India.

Eligibility criteria for SSR-

Candidates should be qualified in 10+2 examination with Maths & Physics and at least one of these subjects: - Chemistry/Biology/Computer Science from the Boards of School Education recognized by MHRD, Government of India.

Only those born between February 1, 2001, to July 31, 2004 can apply for the aforementioned posts.

Keeping in mind the pandemic, approximately 10000 candidates will be called up for written examination and PFT. "The shortlisting of the candidates for written examination and PFT will be undertaken on the basis of the percentage of qualifying examination (10+2 examination). The cut off marks may vary from state to state as vacancies have been allocated in a state-wise manner," the official notification read.

Live TV
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Ayvazian met with French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and his delegation. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, Ara Ayvazian thanked his French partner for arriving in Armenia in the status of the special representative of the French President and participating in the remembrance events of the Armenian Genocide victims. The French representative noted that this years commemoration of the Armenian Genocide anniversary has a special symbolism, since 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the French recognition of the Armenian Genocide, reads the statement.

Minister Ayvazyan and Secretary of State Lemoyne referred to a number of bilateral issues. The interlocutors expressed satisfaction over the unique inter-state relations between the two countries based on the friendship of the two peoples and emphasized readiness to continue efforts for further deepening and strengthening bilateral cooperation.

Ara Ayvazian and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne exchanged views on regional security and stability issues. The sides highlighted the resumption of Nagorno Karabakh peace process in the sidelines of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs format. In this context, Minister Ayvazian drew the attention of his French partner on the Armenophobic activities of the Azerbaijani leadership and the threats to use force against Armenia, emphasizing that by such actions Azerbaijan jeopardizes the efforts of the international community for regional stability and security.

Among issues that need urgent solution in the context of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the sides highlighted the immediate return of POWs and civilians kept hostage, as well as the implementation of the international efforts aimed at the preservation of Artsakhs historical-cultural heritage.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  Two Muntinlupa courts granted detained senator Leila De Lima an immediate furlough or leave for three days to get a medical examination after she experienced headaches and weakness, which her doctor said could be a mild stroke.

An order from the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 stated that after an evaluation, De Lima's on-call physician Dr. Meophilia Santos-Cao "left an impression" that the lawmaker experienced a transient ischemic attack or a mild stroke and prescribed to get an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) which was not available at the Philippine National Police General Hospital.

The court initially allowed De Lima to start her furlough on Saturday, but Regional Trial Court Branch 256 later modified the order to permit her to leave at the soonest time possible after a review of her motion. The recent order noted that De Lima had been experiencing symptoms since April 20.

The jail warden of the police's Custodial Service Unit was likewise ordered to bring De Lima to the Manila Doctors Hospital, during which no media interviews shall be entertained. The court also told De Lima's lawyers to submit a report on the senator's medical status before the furlough ends.

De Lima also took a one-day medical furlough in February to get a check-up. The 61-year-old senator has been detained since 2017 on drug-related charges, which she describes as trumped up. One of the three charges against her has since been dismissed.
US President Joe Biden may hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, ANKA news agency reported.

Diplomats are currently working to set up a telephone conversation between Biden and Erdogana first since Biden took office in January.

Biden, however, has not yet responded positively to Turkey's respective request.

The two leaders telephonic conversation is expected on the eve of Biden's anticipated recognition of the Armenian Genocide in his April 24 address on the 106th anniversary of this tragedy.
Fujian streamlines business plan to boost market

From:ChinaDaily | 2021-04-23 13:38

Fujian issued an implementation plan recently to optimize its business environment and invigorate the market.

The plan consisted of general requirements, main tasks and safeguarding measures. It had six aspects, including improving the level of investment service, lowering the threshold of market access and entrepreneurship and simplifying the approval procedures of enterprises.

The implementation plan sorted out problems in the business environment of Fujian, with the aim of breaking barriers. The effective practice of serving enterprises in Fujian during the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control was further promoted in the plan, which included identifying business locations for mobile vendors and sharing workers between factories.

The plan also focused on exchanges and cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan, canceling the restrictions on Taiwan-funded construction that required Taiwan investment to exceed 50 percent. Another measure improves the recognition of nine types of professional qualifications in Taiwan, including doctors and guides. It was designed in part to protect the well-being of Taiwan compatriots.

Sun Siyan in Beijing contributed to this story.
Microsoft has made a couple of important announcements for Mac and iOS-using enterprises, including moves toward a new perpetual version of Office and improvements to its popular Teams collaboration app.

Why it matters: Anything Microsoft does with its productivity suite has a consequence for enterprise professionals, even those using Macs, iPads, and iPhones. After all, 650,000 US companies have standardized around Office, and Microsoft has more than 258 million monthly Office 365/Microsoft 365 users, including plenty who use the suite on Apples products. Boosted by COVID-19 and the shift to remote work, the company in October told us that its collaboration tool, Microsoft Teams, now sees 115 million daily active users.

So, whats new in Office?

Not every consumer or enterprise wants, needs, or can make use of the companys subscription-based Microsoft 365, but the company wants to retain those customers, so it typically offers what it calls a perpetual version of the suite that doesnt require a subscription and doesnt receive feature updates.

With this in mind, Microsoft in February told us it would introduce a pay once, use for five years version of Office to replace Office 2019. Both Mac and Windows versions of Office 2021 will be made.

Microsoft also confirmed a business-focused product, Office LTSC, which is basically the same thing, but aimed at enterprises who keep systems offline.

The next perpetual version of Office for commercial customers is built specifically for organizations running regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates for years at a time, process control devices that are not connected to the internet in manufacturing facilities, and specialty systems that must stay locked in time and require a long-term servicing channel, the company said when it announced its plans.

Both Office LTSC and Office 2021 for Mac have now been made available to enterprises in Microsofts official preview channel, which suggests that the products should be made available in the coming weeks. Office 2021 Standard for Mac (Preview) includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive, and Teams. The preview will be updated approximately once a month during the preview period and works natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Enterprises can trial Office 2021 for Mac here.

The company hasnt yet told us when it intends to launch Office 2021 for Mac.

So, whats new in Teams?

Microsoft has also updated Teams for iOS (with some Android improvements). For iOS users, the most important change is the introduction of new ways to manage conversation streams. iPhone and iPad users will be able to view, pin, and manage pinned chats.

The update also introduces new emojis and catches up with Zoom by adding the ability to change the background in calls and meetings. Another new feature lets iPhone and iPad users invite distribution lists and groups when scheduling a meeting.

What else is new?

One recent Microsoft move may not at first seem Apple-focused. The latest Windows 10 build for Insiders lets Windows users run Linux applications natively thanks to the first preview of GUI app support on the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Now, this isnt especially interesting to Mac users, except, of course, when you consider the continued speculation concerning Microsofts plans around Windows for ARM.

The reason I think the prognosis seems positive is because Microsofts Linux GUI support represents the extent to which the companys PC strategy has changed. It doesnt want to be the OS for every computer but does want to provide software, services and infrastructure within every ecosystem. Within this context, it makes sense for it to make Windows for ARM available to Mac users running Parallels. It might also make sense to Windows users, given that M1 Macs run the OS faster than most PCs.

Of course, Microsoft may have other plans to make its OS available as a cloud-based client system, but its Office plans show it recognizes that not every user wants to be exposed online. Indeed, a recent Microsoft article concerning hybrid workforces stresses the need for flexibility.

Apple is rapidly increasing its share of the enterprise market. Its recently announced spring products will appeal to millions of remote workers, so it makes sense to anticipate that Microsoft will want to come along for the ride. One year since we learned Apple planned to migrate Macs to Apple Silicon, might the official introduction of Windows on ARM be one of the highlights for announcement at WWDC 2021?

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
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"We are proud to be an Edison Award recipient for the third consecutive year. Axalta's focus on continuous innovation of our coating solutions is the key to our company's success. Receiving three Edison Awards for innovations in three different categories is further validation of Axalta's commitment to developing new technology to serve our customers," commented Robert Roop, Axalta's Chief Technology Officer.

Enabling advancements for autonomous vehicles

In the Innovative Services category, Axalta's LiDAR Gonio-Retroreflectometer System (ALGRS) won a bronze 2021 Edison Award. This patented optical system measures the LiDAR reflectivity of vehicle coatings for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) or autonomous vehicles. ALGRS allows Axalta's chemists and designers to create LiDAR-compatible coatings without compromising appearance or color.

ADAS, like emergency braking and collision avoidance, depends heavily on LiDAR technology to improve vehicle safety and advance autonomous vehicles. The novel coatings analysis provided by ALGRS enables new color development and formulations that assure the LiDAR detectability of painted coatings over the wide range of traffic conditions that exist in the autonomous environment.

Roop said, "ALGRS represents a major advancement in the technologies that are required to attain high levels of vehicle autonomy in a safe and responsible manner."

Reducing emissions in bodyshops

In the Sustainability category, Axalta's Spies Hecker Permahyd 5650 sealer won a bronze 2021 Edison Award. The sealer provides collision repair shops with a sustainable premium waterborne application system with lower solvent emissions. Axalta's Spies Hecker Permahyd 5650 sealer applies in a single coat giving refinishers the ability to improve productivity with a sustainable solution.

"The combination of improved productivity and higher performance continues to drive technology roadmaps for the collision industry," said Roop. "The Spies Hecker 5650 application system not only helps our customers grow their businesses, it is also environmentally friendly and protects the communities in which we live and work."

Technology simplifying manufacturing processes

Axalta's Universal Titan Primer and Enamel Coating also won a bronze 2021 Edison Award in the Engineering and Materials Sciences category. This coating is designed for the kitchen cabinet market offering processing efficiency and superior appearance. Only one coat of primer and enamel are needed compared to the standard four coats. Universal Titan is also optimized to eliminate the need for two separate products for horizontal and vertical applications saving cost and simplifying the manufacturing process.

"Universal Titan enables customers to lower oven settings, which reduces energy costs for improved sustainability. We are honored that Axalta's novel technologies have been recognized with Edison Awards. This is truly a reflection of the dedication of Axalta's scientists and engineers in delivering solutions that benefit our customers and the environment," says Roop.

Frank Bonafilia, Edison Universe Executive Director, said, "We were very impressed by the level of collaboration and discovery in this year's entries. Somehow, while facing the unprecedented challenges of this global pandemic, companies around the world figured out how to work safely and smartly and still innovate at an award-winning level."

Visit www.axalta.com for more information.

About Axalta

Axalta is a global leader in the coatings industry, providing customers with innovative, colorful, beautiful and sustainable coatings solutions. From light vehicles, commercial vehicles and refinish applications to electric motors, building facades and other industrial applications, our coatings are designed to prevent corrosion, increase productivity and enhance durability. With more than 150 years of experience in the coatings industry, the global team at Axalta continues to find ways to serve our more than 100,000 customers in over 130 countries better every day with the finest coatings, application systems and technology. For more information, visit axalta.com and follow us @axalta on Twitter.

About Edison Awards

Over the last 34 years, being recognized with an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a product can receive in the name of innovation success. The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose inventions, new product development methods, and innovative achievements changed the world. The Edison Awards are operated by Edison Universe, a 501cs non-profit organization with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators, and are hosted in Fort Myers, Florida.

Axalta Coating Systems 2001 Market Street Suite 3600 Philadelphia, PA 19103

Contact Jessica Iben C: +1-267-398-8163 [email protected]

SOURCE Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 23:38:53|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese doctor Sun Shuang organizes medical records at the Zimbabwe-China Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Center in Harare, Zimbabwe, April 15, 2021. Last year, the Zimbabwe-China Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Center opened at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the capital Harare to offer Zimbabweans an affordable alternative to medical care. TO GO WITH "Feature: Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic offers Zimbabweans alternative option to medical care" (Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang)

by Tafara Mugwara

HARARE, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A newly opened Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic is offering Zimbabweans an affordable alternative to medical care in a country where access to quality healthcare remains a challenge to many people.

Last year the Zimbabwe-China Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Center opened at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the capital Harare. Since its opening, more than 150 people suffering from various ailments such as hypertension, lumbar spine pain, diabetes, hernia, and other health problems have received assistance free of charge.

Sun Shuang, a Chinese TCM doctor at the clinic, said the facility is providing much-needed relief to locals.

"Usually when people come here, they don't come here with new problems, usually they come here with old problems and unsolved problems, and very difficult problems," she told Xinhua.

Sun said while western conventional medicine and TCM are different, they each have a place in today's health care landscape, adding that TCM can play a complementary role to modern treatment methods.

"If painkiller can help you to reduce the pain in 5 minutes, why you should wait for a decoction in three days to work?" she said.

"But the painkiller only can keep you without pain maybe in one day and another 24 hours, you need to take another pill. But with 3 days of Chinese traditional medicine decoction you will get free of the pain totally," she said.

Sun said the center aims to train more local medical professionals to administer TCM to Zimbabweans.

Fifty-nine-year-old John Mbondoza is one of many Zimbabweans who have turned to TCM to address their health challenges.

Mbondoza has been battling muscle contraction challenges on his leg for 5 years before attempting TCM.

After reading an article in the local press about the opening of the center, he decided to give it a try.

Before coming to the center, he had tried different conventional medical treatments with little results.

"I have been taking medication but there was no result," he said, adding that after his first acupuncture session with Sun there was a notable improvement.

With his second acupuncture session, he felt even better, and he expressed confidence that he will be healed.

Karen Gurure, a China-trained Zimbabwean medical doctor who is interning at the clinic, said the major advantage of TCM is that it has fewer side effects compared to conventional medicine.

Gurure, who studied at Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said more benefits can be derived from adopting TCM locally.

While western medicine tends to focus on diagnosing and treating illness based on a patient's symptoms, TCM uses complex patterns of imbalance within the body to determine a diagnosis.

"TCM focuses on the whole body, while conventional medicine focuses on one certain part of the body. If you have back pain, conventional medicine would treat you for just the back pain, with TCM it treats the whole body," she told Xinhua.

Gurure said there is room to incorporate TCM within Zimbabwe's traditional medicine practices, adding that collaborative effort between the two will contribute to the transformation of the local medical healthcare system.

"So if we cooperate our work conventional medicine and TCM together, working along together, the prognosis will be so amazing, because we are tackling the western medicine and the traditional medicine," she said.

Gurure said China offers valuable lessons to Zimbabwe in terms of modernizing and codifying traditional medicine.

Zimbabwe has a long history of traditional plant usage for medicinal purposes and traditional medicines still play an important role as an affordable and easily accessible source of treatment for many people.

Traditional medicine is recognized as a formal part of the country's healthcare system and is regulated by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, the state body responsible for ensuring that medical treatments used by the public are safe.

Zimbabwe and China share a long history of cooperation in the health sector. Since 1985, China has dispatched 18 medical teams to Zimbabwe.

China has also recently stepped up its efforts in capacitating Zimbabwe's health delivery system and enhancing its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by providing various donations of medical supplies, and most recently with COVID-19 vaccine donations. Enditem


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More than 50 sailors aboard a missing Indonesian Navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea are feared dead as the vessel is believed to have run out of oxygen.

Rescue teams had been battling against time to find the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 which vanished on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill.

If the submarine was still intact, officials said it would only have enough air to last until around 3am Saturday morning - 8pm Friday BST.

An American reconnaissance plane, P-8 Poseidon, landed early Saturday and is set to join the search, along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft.

Singaporean rescue ships are also expected later Saturday, while Malaysian rescue vessels were due to arrive Sunday, bolstering the underwater hunt.

'We keep doing the search until we find it and whatever the result,' Indonesia military spokesperson Djawara Whimbo said.

Oxygen levesl aboard the 44-year-old German made KRI Nanggala-402 are believed to have ran out at 3am local time- 8PM BST

A member of Indonesian Navy personnel walks past a map of the searching area for the submarine KRI Nanggala-402

The submarine lost contact after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and the navy chief has said it was expected to run out of oxygen early Saturday morning.

An Indonesian air force pilot said six tonnes of equipment had been flown to a base to help with the search including underwater balloons to help lift a vessel.

But Whimbo said Indonesia's hydrographic vessel was still unable to detect an unidentified object exhibiting high magnetism that was earlier detected located at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet).

'The object is floating in the water, so maybe it is moving,' he said.

Indonesian military, navy and police chiefs are due to hold a news conference later Saturday.

The country's navy has previously said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres, well beyond its survivable limits.

There have been no signs of life from the submarine, but family members of the 53 crew members have held out hope that the massive search effort would find the vessel in time.

'The family is in a good condition and keeps praying,' said Ratih Wardhani, the sister of 49-year-old crewman Wisnu Subiyantoro. 'We are optimistic that the Nanggala can be rescued with all the crew.'

Berda Asmara, the wife of crew member Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who has sailed on the Nanggala for 10 years, said: 'I hope that they will be found alive.

'We had a video call. He told me that he would go sailing and asked me to pray for him.'

A military officer looks at pictures of the crew members on the missing KRI Nanggala which is feared to have ran out of oxygen

Indonesian SAR Agency (BASARNAS) vessel arrive at pier Tanjung Wangi for the search of submarine KRI Nanggala 402

Indonesian Navy's KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 is seen while preparing to dock at Tanjung Wangi port, as it is being prepared for rescue operation of the KRI Nanggala-402

The KRI Alugoro seen yesterday as it helped search for the missing submarine which is feared to have been lost with all hands

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered all-out efforts to locate the submarine and asked Indonesians to pray for the crew's safe return.

The search focused on an area near the starting position of its last dive where an oil slick was found but there is no conclusive evidence so far the oil slick was from the sub.

Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono has said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarine's fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessel's weight so it could surface.

The navy however, believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth of 200 meters (655 feet), at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand.

The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface.

The submarine was conducting a torpedo drill in waters 60 miles north of the island of Bali

On Friday, the Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday the 'United States would do everything possible to support Indonesia's search and rescue effort,' a spokeswoman said.

Two Australian Navy ships were heading for the search area including a frigate with special sonar capabilities, the defence department said.

Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia as well as the United States and Australia are also among the nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen warships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres).

Indonesia operates five submarines - two German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels.

The military said it picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 165 and 330 feet (50 and 100 metres)

Despite hopes for a miracle, an oil spill (pictured) spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage

It has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years.

Late yesterday, the military said it picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet).

Ships equipped with specialised tracking equipment were deployed in the hope that the object could be the KRI Nanggala 402.

Yesterday, the US military said it would send airborne teams to help in the search, while Australia said two ships were on their way to assist.

Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have already dispatched ships that are expected to arrive at the weekend, including the city-state's MV Swift Rescue - a submarine rescue vessel.

Officers prepare a helicopter before taking part in the search operation for the missing Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala

Berda Asmara is married to Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who had been expected to return home from the submarine training mission at the weekend

India said Thursday it had sent a ship to assist in the hunt.

'If there is serious damage on the boat itself, it could potentially mean a few things, for example, there will be very limited spaces for the crew with very limited oxygen,' said Collin Koh, a naval affairs specialist and research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

A hydro-oceanographic survey ship equipped with underwater detection capabilities also was on its way to the torpedo drilling site, where an oil slick was found.

Margono said the oil slick may have been caused by a crack in the submarine's tank after the vessel sank.

Indonesia's navy said it was possible an electrical failure occurred during the dive, causing the submarine to lose control and become unable to undertake emergency procedures that would have allowed it to resurface.

Indonesian rescue workers (above) search for the missing submarine as Navy chiefs fear the worst.

Indonesian marines are out in full force to track down the submarine that has sparked an international rescue operation

French navy vice admiral Antoine Beaussant has warned that the submarine was not built to withstand such a depth.

'If it went down to rest at 700 metres the likelihood is it would have broken up,' he said. 700 metres is around 2,296ft. The submarine is only built to withstand depths of up to 820ft below sea-level.

Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing Navy submarine have found an oil spill near the vessel's dive location in the waters off Bali.

Officials fear the vessel sank to the bottom of a trough with a depth of 2,300ft during a torpedo military exercise. The navy has deployed a number of warships to search for the missing crew.

Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, also said the submarine could be at too great a depth for a rescue team to operate.

'Most rescue systems are really only rated to about 1,970ft (600m),' he said. 'They can go deeper than that because they will have a safety margin built into the design, but the pumps and other systems that are associated with that may not have the capacity to operate. So they can survive at that depth, but not necessarily operate.'

Owen, a former submariner who developed an Australian submarine rescue system, said the Indonesian vessel was not fitted with a rescue seat around an escape hatch designed for underwater rescues.

He said a rescue submarine would make a waterproof connection to a disabled submarine with a so-called skirt fitted over the rescue seat so that the hatch can be opened without the disabled submarine filling with water.

Owen said the submarine could be recovered from 1,640ft (500m) without any damage but couldn't say if it would have imploded at 2,300ft (700m).

The Malaysian Navy have provided a submarine rescue ship, the MV Mega Bakti, to help find the KRI Nanggala near the island of Bali

The marines (above) patrolling the waters will be supported by ships from Singapore and Malaya

The Indonesian Rescue Agency are part of the hunt for the vanished submarine

The hunt for Nanggala-402: Rescuers prepare to set off from Bali on a search mission with 53 submarine crew members missing

The fate of the 53 sailors hangs in the balance as Indonesian marines search for the missing submarine

An aerial search by a helicopter found an oil spill in waters where the submarine (file photo) was thought to have submerged

In 2018, authorities found the wreckage of a missing Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier.

Crushed from an implosion, the ARA San Juan was located at a depth of more than 3,000ft (900m) in a desolate area of undersea craters and canyons 250 miles (400km) off the coast of Argentina.

The accident took the lives of 44 sailors.

Then, in 2019, a French submarine that went missing in the western Mediterranean over 50 years ago was found.

The diesel-electric Minerve submarine was lost off France's southern coast with 52 sailors on board on January 27, 1968.

The Minerve was on a training mission in bad weather when it went down while returning to its base in Toulon, France's main Mediterranean naval port.

Experts have speculated that the disaster was caused by a problem with the Minerve's rudder, a collision with another boat, the explosion of a missile or torpedo, or a fault with its oxygen supply systems.
You do not belong here!

Where do I belong and who should belong to America?

The horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, and shocking footage of an attack against an elderly Asian during broad daylight are selected examples of recent crime directed toward Asian Americans. Apparently, the underlying motive for repeated stomping on this elderly woman in New York City was that the perpetrator claimed the victim should not belong to America.

While Whites have been responsible for most historical hate crimes reported, the latest attacks came from other people of color. I am impelled and even empowered to express my opinions on widespread violence against Asians.

Fundamentally, Black Americans are native-born while Asian Americans are viewed as perpetual foreigners regardless they were born and raised in America. Academic research identified that African Americans are particularly hostile to Asian Americans because of immigration policies and economic disparities that have pitted them against each another. The LA riot in 1992 showed that profound resentments between Black and Korean communities has existed. Compared to other minorities, Asians experience less racism since they are portrayed as a model minority. Some may argue that the term is a convenient way to reject the demands of other minority groups. Frequently, this term is abused to define African Americans as deficient people by illustrating Asian Americans as a proxy. Nevertheless, I conditionally agree that Asian Americans are model minority based on higher college graduation rates, fewer crime rates, family values and investment in their children.

I am a naturalized American citizen from Korea who arrived in this great country nearly 40 years ago with two suitcases along with two-semester college tuitions. While I was taught that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights, I immediately learned that there is a racial hierarchy in America especially when some were labeled as marginal members of the human race. I have no ability to alter my national origin, but I realized that I could change my social and economic status. I even adopted an American nick name so that my legal name may not be a subject of bullying or ridicule. Like any other human beings, I wanted to be as close to the top of the pecking order as possible. I had unquenchable desires to exceed the average White Americans standard of living.

I also learned that achieving the American dream required laborious effort and the ability to tolerate prejudice and public humiliation resulting from my appearance and accent. I tried to be quiet and walked with tiptoe so that I may not disturb the status quo of Americans. Therefore, as much as whites rarely raise a voice on racism, I was also radio silent. When I observed systemic racism, I voluntarily tried to ignore the existence of it to agree with opinions of others. I thought emulating the lifestyle of white American was a fast-track option to succeed in America. Therefore, I did not want to be their competitor or a threat to their beliefs.

At a family dinner, I did not allow discussion of racial issues because I did not approve of my children to think that they are victims of racism when they encountered challenges. I advocated that they could overcome racial barriers by exceeding an average standard of living of white Americans. However, I realized that it was difficult to be completely free from racial bias regardless of my socioeconomic status.

Fortunately, I am surrounded by people who can tell what is right from wrong. Americans have observed diverse ethnic groups marching together to pay respect for George Floyd's senseless death. Personally, I am confident that America is a safe place to work, live and study, but I am still afraid of potential aggressors who do not explicitly express antagonistic emotions toward Asians. Some Asian families fear undue repercussions after mass killings, and they are shivering with dreadful anxiety that they could be the next victim from latent assailants. I am further frightened by people who still believe Asians to be perpetual foreigners, and even more so by those who partake in Anti-Asian rhetoric that has been fueled by misinformation and prejudice surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeing so many injustices against my community, I have decided not to be silent anymore. " If I do not belong here, where I should belong, and who should be eligible to belong to America?"

Eugene Y. ROH, Ph.D., is a professor in the Central Michigan University College of Business' Department of Marketing and Hospitality. He can be reached at roh1y@cmich.edu.
Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Council on Friday approved conclusions reaffirming Team Europe's full commitment to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and its health, social, economic, humanitarian, security and political impacts
House Passes DC Statehood Bill; Senate Fight Looms

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation's capital the 51st state.Approval came by a 216-208 vote along strict party lines. Republicans oppose the idea given that the new state would be overwhelmingly Democratic, and the proposal faces a far tougher road in the Senate, where even full Democratic support isn't guaranteed.The legislation proposes creating a 51st state with one representative and two senators, while a tiny sliver of land including the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall would remain as a federal district. Instead of the District of Columbia, the new state would be known as Washington, Douglass Commonwealth  named after famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who lived in Washington from 1877 until his death in 1895.An identical statehood bill passed the House in 2020, but died in the then-Republican-controlled Senate. Now, with the 2020 elections leaving Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, Republican senators may resort to a filibuster to stymie the statehood bill.The Senate is split 50/50 with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker. But it takes 60 senators to break a concerted filibuster attempt. Senate Democrats could vote to tweak the filibuster rules and slip the statehood issue through a loophole  but that would require total unity and some moderate Democrats have expressed opposition to that strategy.Perennial swing vote and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia had already publicly stated that he will not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. Manchin is also one of a handful of Democratic Senators who has not openly supported the D.C. statehood initiative.For now, though, Democrats and statehood advocates are celebrating their House victory.D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tied the statehood issue to America's ongoing reckoning over police brutality and longstanding issues of racial injustice.This vote comes at a critical time when Americans nationwide are eager to deliver on the promise of liberty and justice for all, Bowser said in a statement. For centuries, an incremental approach to equality in America has delayed this promise for too many. Now is the time for bold action.Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer called the measure flatly unconstitutional.It wont withstand judicial scrutiny, but it will cause massive confusion for years as its reviewed by the courts, Comer said in a statement. Democrats are pushing D.C. statehood to pack the U.S. Senate with two progressive senators so they can end the filibuster, pack the Supreme Court, enact the Green New Deal, and create the socialist utopia the Squad dreams about.The bill received strong support from the White House, which has called Washingtons current status an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded.During Thursday floor debate, a succession of Republican representatives decried it as a cynical and unconstitutional power-grab. The country's founding fathers, "never wanted D.C. to be a state and then specifically framed the constitution to say so, said Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice.But Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerald Connolly pointed out that Kentucky was once a part of Virginia, and was carved out as a state by Congress.Connolly argued that the federal district was a theoretical concept when first conceived, not a community with a higher population than two U.S. states.When the constitution was written, this place didnt exist, he said. When people say this is not about race and partisanship, you can be sure its about race and partisanship.During a March hearing by the House oversight committee, GOP representatives claimed D.C. was unfit for statehood and proposed a variety of alternatives that included absolving Washingtonians from federal taxes and retroceding most of D.C. back into Maryland.Opponents also contend that Congress lacks the authority to change D.C.'s status, despite every state other than the original 13 being admitted to the union via congressional vote.Zack Smith, a legal fellow at the Heritage Institute, a conservative think tank, said the measure becoming law would unleash a wave of lawsuits.You're basically looking at a lot of litigation, Smith told The Associated Press. "Every legislative act of this new state would be called into question. Things would be in a state of flux for years."D.C. has long chafed under its relationship with Congress, which has the power to essentially veto or alter any local laws. Its population is larger than that of Wyoming or Vermont and its estimated 712,000 residents pay federal taxes, vote for president and serve in the armed forces, but they have no voting representation in Congress.As recently as 2018, nationwide polls had shown the majority of Americans to be lukewarm at best on the topic, but proponents claim those poll numbers have changed in the past two years.
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Detectives investigating the death of scaffolder Matthew Tester have said he knew his alleged attacker and was not the victim of a road rage attack.

The scaffolding firm boss, 49, died after witnesses said he was 'repeatedly run over' by a motorist in a BMW following an argument involving a group of men in the car park in Walton-upon-Thames, Surrey.

Police have appealed for witnesses who might have seen a white Series 1 BMW leaving the car park at Marks and Spencer after a confrontation.

Sergeant Pat Bauer from Elmbridge's Safer Neighbourhood Team said: 'There have been some reports speculating about road rage but initial enquiries do not support this and it is believed some of the parties were previously known to each other.'

Friends today paid tribute to Mr Tester and his heartbroken wife Kim who is said to be 'absolutely devastated' as she is comforted by relatives.

The driver of the BMW was last night arrested on suspicion of murder after he allegedly mowed down and killed Mr Tester and left a second man seriously injured at 2.15pm yesterday.

A family friend told MailOnline: 'It's absolutely awful. I was speaking to his wife Kim. She is absolutely devastated. She told me Matthew was run over repeatedly outside M&S. I just can't understand it.

'Matthew is a really nice, hard-working family man. He runs a scaffolding company and his wife Kim does the books. They have twin daughters who are in their teens. Everyone is so shocked. I just feel so sorry for Kim and the girls.'

Matthew 'Tik' Tester, a scaffolding company boss and classic scooter enthusiast, has been named locally as the victim of the attack, which sparked a huge response from police and ambulance crews in Walton-on-Thames yesterday afternoon

The 49-year-old scaffolding company boss leaves behind wife Kim, pictured together, and daughters Maddy and Pippa

Friends have today paid tribute to Mr Tester and his heartbroken wife Kim who is said to be 'absolutely devastated' as she is comforted by relatives at their semi detached house less than half a mile from the M&S foodhall

Mr Tester, or Tik as he was affectionately known, was an avid fan of scooters. A sign on a gate outside his home in Walton on Thames read 'Lambretta parking only'

Police are again at the scene in Walton-on-Thames this morning as investigations into the suspected murder continue

A police officer stands beside a cordon at the junction of Cloister Court and Church Street, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey today

The family lived in a 450,000 semi detached home in a quiet street about half a mile from Walton-on-Thames town centre, and the scene of the attack, for 18 years

Shocked neighbours also described Mr Tester as a family man devoted to his two teenage daughters, Maddy and Pippa.

The family lived in a 450,000 semi detached home in a quiet street about half a mile from Walton-on-Thames town centre, and the scene of the attack, for 18 years.

The front driveway, where he parked his Range Rover car, was made up of broken paving stones.

A sign pinned to a wooden gate at the side of the property gave a clue to his passion for scooters and read 'Lambretta Parking Only' - a reference to the famous Italian scooter maker.

Police said the white BMW was later found unoccupied about four miles away from the scene in Addlestone, Surrey.

Sergeant Bauer added: 'I understand how concerning this will be to our communities and I would like to reassure residents that we believe this to be an isolated incident.'

A Surrey Police spokesman said: 'The first victim has now been formally identified as Matthew Tester, known locally as Tik, aged 49, from Walton-on-Thames.

'The second victim, who is also in his 40s, is being treated in hospital where his injuries have been assessed as serious but not life threatening.

A 26-year-old man arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder remains in police custody.

A police officer stands beside a cordon at the junction of Cloister Court and Church Street, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, where the incident took place yesterday

Floral tributes were this morning left at the scene of the attack, in memory of the 49-year-old classic scooter enthusiast

Detective Chief Inspector David Springett, who is leading the enquiry, said: 'We are working hard to build up a picture of events yesterday afternoon and I would like to thank all those who have come forward so far to help us do this. If you witnessed this incident or have any information relating to it and have not yet spoken to police, I would urge you to do so.

'A local man has sadly lost his life and our thoughts are very much with his family who are being supported by specialist officers at this difficult time.

'We are particularly interested in speaking to anyone who may have seen a white 1 series BMW in the area during the immediate period beforehand or afterwards as it left from the scene on Church Street at around 2pm, driving towards the High Street.

'A white BMW, suspected of being the vehicle involved, was later found unoccupied at Temple Field Close in Addelstone and has since been recovered.'

Mr Tester, or Tik as he was affectionately known, was an avid fan of scooters. A sign on a gate outside his home in Walton on Thames read 'Lambretta parking only'.

One neighbour said: 'He and his wife Kim were always so friendly. He was into some sort of martial arts and helped out with one of his daughter's football team

'No one can quite believe that he had been killed. I only saw him a couple of days ago and he was very chatty.'

Another neighbour said: 'He drove a Range Rover and his wife a BMW X5.

'They have lived in the road almost 20 years and were here when we moved in. I know he ran a scaffolding company and was a hard worker. He has two teenage daughters and was very proud of them'

Contacted by phone, his wife Kim said: 'I've got nothing to say at this time.'

Meanwhile, floral tributes in memory of the 49-year-old have been left at the scene of yesterday's tragedy.

One note read: 'Tik, We are totally devastated. The scootering community and friends have lost a true mate, and we are all thinking of Kim and your daughters tonight.'

One tribute read: 'Tik, We are totally devastated. The scootering community and friends have lost a true mate, and we are all thinking of Kim and your daughters tonight'

The police investigation has entered its second day, while the 26-year-old suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder remains in custoday

Other friends remembered Mr Tester, a classic scooter enthusiast, as a 'brilliant guy' and an 'inspiration' as tributes flooded in from neighbours and members of a local 'chopper club' following the tragedy, which struck just days before his 50th birthday.

One wrote: 'It is an absolute shock, great person, thoughts go out to his wife and daughters.'

Another added: 'No words can express how shocking and tragic this devastating event is.'

The 49-year-old leaves behind wife Kim, who is listed on Companies House as a director of his Sunbury Scaffold Services business, and daughters Maddy and Pippa.

At 2.15pm yesterday police were called after a disagreement outside the M&S store on Church Street dramatically escalated, before a car slammed into two men at around 2.15pm.

Emergency services rushed to the supermarket loading bay, but efforts to save Mr Tester failed and he was declared dead at the scene. Another man had to be airlifted to hospital with serious injuries - but he is expected to recover.

The owner of the vehicle was handcuffed and led away by police and remains in custody today.

Meanwhile, a local church has today invited those who saw the tragedy to pray and seek 'refuge'.

Jonny Blair, vicar of St Mary's Church in the town told GetSurrey: 'The church is open for people if they have witnessed the incident, or if they have lost a loved one, the church is open for private prayer 9.30am to 2.30pm so they can find a refuge and a place of prayer if they want to.

'If people have witnessed something I can imagine it being quite an ordeal, not to mention the families of those involved, so absolutely we will be available to those who wish to contact the church and we will be praying for them in the coming days.

'Both for those whether directly involved or whether witnesses, as that is traumatic in itself.'

The supermarket car park was yesterday closed although the M&S store continued trading as normal while officers swarmed the area and experts tried to establish what had happened.

A spokesman said: 'We would respectfully request that you avoid this area if possible while we continue to carry out further enquiries.'

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Springett said it was understandable the death would 'cause a lot of concern'.

Officers were called to an M&S car park on Church Street in Walton-on-Thames at 2.15pm yesterday afternoon after 999 was called because of an 'altercation between a group of men'

Surrey Police said a man died at the scene and another was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after it appeared a driver got into his vehicle and drove at two of the men in the group

The car park was closed yesterday although the M&S store continued trading as normal while officers swarmed the area and experts tried to establish what had happened

The owner of the vehicle has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder - as the second man is expected to recover

Markings showed key locations where evidence was left as investigations continue into the death

Police flocked to the scene as investigations into how a man died continued yesterday evening

He added: 'From our initial enquiries, it appears that an altercation has taken place, leading to a physical confrontation, which then resulted in one of the group getting into his car and driving at two of the other men.

'Tragically, this has resulted in the death of one man and left another seriously injured and our thoughts are with their family and friends at this extremely difficult time.'

'To assist the investigation, I would encourage anyone who has any information, particularly anyone who witnessed the incident, or anyone who has any mobile phone or dashcam footage, to come forward, quoting incident reference PR/P21083894.'

Earlier today traffic news service INRIX said: 'A3050 Church Street in both directions closed, very slow traffic due to accident investigation work from High Street to Sidney Road. The road has been closed for investigation following an accident near the post office.'
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday proposed the U.S. government offer temporary work visas and eventually citizenship to those who would take part in a huge reforestation program.

Lopez Obrador said he plans to expand the said effort to Central America during a White House virtual climate summit.

The tree-planting program was his administration's signature "Sembrando Vida" or "Sowing Life." He said the program is planting 700,000 trees, according to a Reuters report.

The Mexican president called the effort the largest reforestation effort in the world, noting that it would generate 1.2 million jobs and plant three billion additional trees on expanding to southeastern Central America.

"I add a complementary proposal, with all due respect, the US government could offer those who participate in this program that after sowing their lands for three consecutive years, they would have the possibility to obtain a temporary work visa," Lopez Obrador said as reported by Today Online.

The Mexican president added that perhaps after another three or four years, those who participated in the reforestation program could obtain residency in the U.S. or dual nationality.

Lopez Obrador has been criticized for his stance over the pro-fossil fuel energy policy. During the climate summit, he did not make new commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Lopez Obrador said that Mexico is modernizing its hydroelectric plants to reduce the use of oil and coal to generate electricity. He said it would allow them to take advantage of the water from the reservoirs to produce more energy without causing any damage and building more dams.

READ NEXT: New Study Shows Climate Change Intensifies Tropical Storms, Depletes Oxygen

Biden's Climate Summit

During the climate summit, the U.S., Brazil, Japan, and South Korea announced new goals of cutting their emissions and achieving climate neutrality by 2050, according to the La Prensa Latina.

President Joe Biden is trying to reassert U.S. leadership in the fight against climate change three months after rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement. Biden said that this is the time to make decisions that will avoid the worse consequences of a climate crisis.

The new U.S. commitment consists of reducing emissions between 50 and 52 percent by 2030 from the 2005 levels, which is double the initial objective under the Paris Accord.

Biden said that the signs of climate change are unmistakable and the science is undeniable and the cost of inaction keeps mounting.

John Kerry, Biden's global climate change envoy, said he believes that the U.S. will meet and possibly exceed the new goal, according to The New York Times.

Other world leaders who also joined the summit were Chancellor Angella Merkel of Germany; Russian President Vladimir Putin; and Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

Both progressives and conservatives have criticized the administration's plans. Progressives argued that the U.S. should aim for at least a 70 percent reduction as compared to 2005 levels to address climate change, according to The Hill report.

On the other hand, Republicans claimed that new targets would be bad for U.S. workers. The Biden administration has explained that the transition to clean energy will bring new jobs to replace fossil jobs lost in the transition.

READ MORE: Climate Change Affects Mexico's Cradle of Corn

WATCH: The Mexican Village Planting 5 Million Trees - From Freethink






Strict measures are reimposed in the Japanese capital until 11 May as coronavirus cases rise. For the Archbishop, it is also essential for the Church to be even more careful; meanwhile, all other church activities, except for Mass, are suspended.

Tokyo (AsiaNews)  Japan is once again in high pandemic mode. The government today declared a state of emergency in metro Tokyo and the prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto, following a surge in the number of cases linked to SARS-CoV-2 variants.

For the country, this is the third state of emergency after those of January and April 2020.

Under the tighter measures, which will remain in force until 11 May, establishments that serve alcohol and operate karaoke equipment will close as will businesses with a floor space of a thousand square metres or more.

The most serious situation is in Osaka, where more than a thousand daily cases are reported with 15 deaths yesterday.

In Tokyo, the number of daily cases has also been rising steadily, with 752 in last 24 hours, a trend that has fuelled doubts about the Olympics, which the Suga government still wants to hold in July.

In such a situation, the Archdiocese of Tokyo is trying to do its part to stop the new wave.

In the name of religious freedom, the government has not issued specific regulations for places of worship, but Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo today released a message for the faithful recommending what to do.

Since 30th January last year, the Archdiocese of Tokyo has made a commitment that we will not be infected, nor will we allow others to be infected. Thus, we have implemented various precautionary measures and have taken seriously our responsibility to protect the lives of one another as we prevent the spread of infection to protect not only our own lives but also the lives of others.

During the first emergency declaration, church activities were suspended including public masses. However, on the second emergency declaration [. . .], the celebration of public masses was continued while carefully implementing precautionary measures against COVID-19 infections. To date, we have received reports of parishioners who have been infected or have died due to COVID-19, but none of them have been reported as originating from Church activities.

In his message, the prelate cites an interview with the Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Yasutoshi Nishimura who expressed fear of a new surge of infections in May. for this reason, it is also essential for the Church to be even more careful.

Specifically, Archbishop Kikuchi wants the faithful to follow certain guidelines, such as not moving from one prefecture to another, even for those who travel to the parish where they are registered; celebrating only Mass while suspending other activities or broadcasting them online; wearing masks; keeping social distance of at least one metre; and providing adequate ventilation. Where this not possible, Masses should not be held.

As far as possible, people over the age of 75 and those who live with them should pray at home.

[F]or the time being, all the faithful of the Tokyo Archdiocese are dispensed from their obligation to attend Sunday Masses. Some churches, he notes, broadcast Mass online every Sunday, like the Sekiguchi Church and the Kojimachi Church.

It is unfortunate that we are once again under a state of emergency. Let us keep in mind that it is an important duty for us to protect not only our own lives but also to protect all those who have received Gods gift of life.

During these times of difficulties, let us put our trust in our Lord Jesus who promised us, I am with you always, until the end of the age and let us reaffirm our spiritual bond in the one body centered on the Lord.
Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola. This riding includes the communities of Kelowna (specific boundaries), West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Keremeos, Olalla, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake. Albas is a member of the Conservative caucus first elected to Parliament in 2011.
A 31-year-old Glen View man lost his gold Toyota Corolla Bubble and US$200 cash to armed robbers who forced out his two children sitting in the car at their home on Tuesday night.

The man had left the keys on the ignition while his two children were playing in the car at around 9pm.

Police say the money was stashed in the dashboard of the car, when the two armed robbers attacked. They confronted the two children before ordering them to get out of the vehicle and drove off. A report was made to police.

No arrests have been made so far and investigations are in progress. National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi warned motorists against leaving their vehicles unattended or leaving the keys on the ignition as the vehicle might end up being stolen.

Members of the public are warned against complacency. On April 20, 2021 at about 2100hrs, a Glenview man aged 31 parked his gold Toyota Corolla Bubble vehicle, registration number ADV 6423 at his home with the keys on the ignition and leaving two minors playing in the car.

Two unknown suspects approached the car and ordered the infants to disembark before they stole the vehicle with US$200 in the dashboard. Investigations are underway, he said.

Asst Comm Nyathi said police will remain firm on the ground to thwart any criminal activities such as armed robberies which are on the rise.

This year, police have arrested some serial armed robbers behind a spate of criminal activities countrywide. Many were recently released on bail pending appeal at the High Court.

Last week, two suspected armed robbers who were part of a gang that recently blocked a motorist in Harare before robbing him of over US$5 700 were arrested in Mbare.

The robbery occurred on April 11 along Glenara Avenue in Harare around 2am and the two suspects are Simbarashe Maonera (25) and Nerbson Katsande (49).

One of Zimbabwes most wanted armed robbery suspects believed to be part of Musa Taj Abduls gang, Conwell Junior Kasambarare (26) was rearrested last week on allegations of committing a spate of heists countrywide.

Kasambarare of Budiriro 2, Harare, was arrested together with his two alleged accomplices, Luckson Mudyara (47) of Budiriro 1 and Mike Chiyangwa (32) of Old Highfield.

In February, police launched a manhunt for Kasambarare after he was released last year on bail and is believed to have been part of a gang committing armed robberies countrywide. His other suspected accomplice, Spicer Takawira, was recently arrested on charges of house housebreaking and theft.

Kasambarare, Takawira together with Leo Mandaza, Godwin Kusikwenyu and another one only identified as Chamu, recently committed seven cases of housebreaking and theft in Harare.

Takawira, Musafare Mupanhanga and Kasambarare are also alleged to be part of the gang that raided Mashwede Holdings last year and got away with over US$100 000, R42 000, $14 000 worth of fuel coupons, firearms and 20 live rounds of ammunition.

They were released on bail pending appeal at the High Court last year and have since gone into hiding.

Kasambarare, Mudyara and Chiyangwa are being implicated in an armed robbery case which occurred in Highfield where they stole 17 car batteries. Herald
Etawah:

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav was seen with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav in Saifai on the occasion of Diwali.

While there has been friction between the members of the SPs dominant clan in recent past, party veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed on Thursday that there was no discord.

My entire family is united and there is no discord. This is the reason that we have come to the village (Saifai) to celebrate Diwali, Mulayam Singh Yadav said.

Saifaithe native place of the clanwitnessed Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, MPs Dharmendra Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav interacting with each other for nearly two hours.

SPs principal general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, who had met Mulayam Singh Yadav yesterday, however, did not participate in todays meeting.

After the nearly two-hour-long meeting, all the clan members came out and sat in the lawn. Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav were part of the group even though they were not seen sitting next to each other, as there was a gap of a few chairs between them.

Shivpal Yadav said, Our entire family is one, as he moved ahead.

On October 5, Akhilesh Yadav was unanimously re-elected as the Samajwadi Partys national president for a five-year term, consolidating his grip over the party even as Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav appeared sidelined.

His re-election was announced by senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav at the SP national convention in Agra. The partys constitution was amended to extend the tenure of the party chief to five years from the earlier three.

Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav skipped the event just as they had stayed away from the state executive meeting of the party in Lucknow on September 23.

Akhilesh Yadav had personally invited his father for the national convention. In his address the former UP chief minister had said, I requested netaji (Mulayam) to attend the convention. Everyone would have liked it (his presence).

I talked to him...before coming to the convention. I told him that it is a big convention and amendments in the party constitution will also be passed and without your blessings the party cannot progress, he had said.

Akhilesh Yadav had claimed that Mulayam Singh Yadav, has given blessings to all of us over phone and wished that the party is strengthened in UP and throughout the country.

The SP has witnessed a bitter feud between Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav and this infighting adversely affected the party during the UP Assembly polls in which it performed poorly earlier this year.

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Film guru Ronan O'Meara has been scouring the TV schedules to find movies to watch as we approach the May bank holiday weekend

Here are 17 to choose from over the next week....enjoy!

Dark Lies The Island: Saturday, RTE1 @ 9.40pm

The Mannions run the lakeside town of Dromord and they all hate each other. The type of hate that leads to all manner of nefarious going's on. A hate that leads to a dark night of the soul for many of the townspeople. This Irish comedy thriller is as black as they come, scathing, biting, nasty but also in places hilarious. It's not fully successful but it's worth your time. Peter Coonan, Pat Shortt and Tommy Tiernan all nail their parts.

We're The Millers: Saturday, ITV2 @ 10.05pm

David's in a spot of bother. He's being forced to smuggle weed from Mexico and it's a tough call for a man on his own. But if he has a family around him he'll be a lot less conspicuous. So he puts together a plan. A fun film for a Saturday night. Broad, silly, amusing stuff that may offend some but it's heart is always in the right place. Jason Sudekeis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts and a very game Will Poulter work well together. Stay for the end credits.

The Innocents: Saturday, Talking Pictures TV @ 11.15pm

When she's hired into the position of governess in a country estate, a woman called Miss Giddens begins to suspect something ghoulish is menacing the children she's supposed to look after so she sets out to protect them. This stylish and intelligent horror is 60 years old and still creepy as hell, evoking the power of suggestion in a brilliantly effective manner. Deborah Kerr and Michael Redgrave do great work.

Saturday Night Fever: Sunday, RTE1 @ 12.25am (midnight)

Tony Manero lives for the weekend. On the dance floor he's a god and there he can forget his humdrum Brooklyn existence. Life away from the music is tough though. This 1977 classic is probably a LOT grittier than you remember. The dance sequences still amaze and the music will get you going but it's the depiction of young adult alienation that will rattle you. And quite possibly appall you. John Travolta leads the film with a career making performance.

The Descent: Sunday, Film4 @ 12.45am (midnight)

Six women go on a potholing expedition into an underground cavern. Things go arseways. First off, if you are claustrophobic don't even bother with this. You'll be terrified and out of breath before the horror elements of the film even hit. If you are able for it you're in for a treat. A horrifyingly intense treat. Shauna McDonald and Natalie Mendoza are believable leads and Neil Marshall's direction is first class.

Dangerous Liaisons: Sunday, BBC2 @ 10pm

Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are rich, decadent and bored. To fill their time they play games and when young Cecile de Volanges catches their eye things get rather complicated. Stephen Frears' 1988 drama is a fine watch, a sensual, complicated, mature drama about rich folk with too much time on their hands that's powered by splendid turns from Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman.

Get Shorty: Monday: Sony Movies @ 1.20am

Hollywood's a dark and shifty place and when mobster Chilli Palmer rocks into town to collect a debt he realises he fits right in. So he decides to make himself at home. Barry Sonnenfeld's comedy drama is an absolute joy to watch and it's easily the best utilisation of John Travolta's talents since his 90's career renaissance. The cast also includes Rene Russo, Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, Danny Devito and many more and they all bring their A-game.

Babel: Monday, TG4 @ 9.30pm

Four disparate groups of people are spread across three continents. A stupid mistake reverberates around the globe and ties each and every one of them together when a bullet strikes flesh. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2006 drama is an impressive piece of work. It's a bit full of itself in places but it's cumulative effect is a stunning one. Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Gael Garcia Bernal and Rinko Kikuchi do well leading a big cast.

Ray & Liz: Monday, Film4 @ 11.20pm

The Billingham household was a place of extremes - boredom, oppression & emotion wise. Son Ray goes home to the place that made him and looks back at the times that defined him and his family. An unusual, almost experimental watch, that will remind you of just how rancid 80's Britain, suffering under the yoke of Thatcher, was. It's hard going and definitely not for everyone but it's powerful. Ella Smith as Liz is immense.

The Scarlet Claw: Tuesday, TCM @ 3pm

Tuessday afternoon. Time for a whodunnit. A woman is found in a pool of blood. Supernatural foul play is suspected but none other than Sherlock Holmes thinks something far more down to earth has happened. Basil Rathbone, who played the best version of the famous fictional detective is in fiery form in a Holmes tale not actually written by Arthur Conan Doyle and it's all the better for it. Funny, twisty, atmospheric. A grand afternoon watch

Benjamin: Wednesday, Film4 @ 1.15am

Lack of confidence is killing Benjamin. His first film did well but too much time has passed since. He's doubting himself into the grave. Then he meets Noah. Is he a catalyst for change? You might know Simon Amstell as an annoying music quiz show host but the man has talent and this charming comedy drama directed by him is proof of it. Downbeat, hysterical and led by a couple of super turns from Colin Morgan and Phenix Brossard.

Dial M For Murder: Wednesday, TCM @ 3.25pm

When he discovers his wife is being unfaithful a man decides to murder her to inherit her riches. These things never go to plan though. Especially when he underestimates her. One of Alfred Hitchcock's most ingenious & darkly humorous films is one that also manages to overcome it's inherent staginess with clever writing, first rate dialogue and sublime performances. Ray Milland and Grace Kelly are perfectly cast.

Enough Said: Thursday, Channel 4 @ 12.55am (midnight)

Eva is dreading the thought of her daughter going to college but then she meets both an interesting fella and a new friend through work. Little does she know both of them share a past. This is a joy of a film, warm and humorous and filled with characters who feel genuine. Julia Louis Dreyfus and the late James Gandolfini are both mighty and the always reliable Catherine Keener offers lovely back up. Record and keep for when you need a pep in your step.

Pacific Heights: Thursday, The Horror Channel @ 9pm

A couple buy a big beautiful house in San Francisco and struggle to pay for it so take in a lodger. It's the worst mistake they will ever make. 30 years later I still twitch when I see Michael Keaton onscreen because of this. It's a nerve-wracking warning about always vetting the people you let into the places you feel the safest. Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith hit the spot as the home owners but this film is Keaton's by a mile.

Savage: Thursday, Film4 @ 11.15pm

A pair of cops called Wang and Hun live and work under the shadow of Mount Baekdu on the China-North Korea border. A trio of vicious criminals out to rob an armored car ruin their day. This modern day Chinese homage to the Spaghetti westerns of the late 60's is a crunching, suspenseful and relentless affair laced with well shot violent action and likable performances from Chen Chang and Liu Hua.

Sisters: Friday, RTE2 @ 9.30pm

The home Kate and Maura grew up in is being sold and they are not one bit happy about it. They decide to throw one last party and invite everyone they went to school with 20 years previously. Things get rather wild. An overlong but enjoyable film that builds the action to a fever pitch at the end. The always excellent Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are fun as the sisters and get pleasing support from Maya Rudolph, James Brolin and John Cena.

The Blair Witch Project: Friday, BBC1 @ 11.35pm

A small camera crew heads into the woods of Maryland to make a documentary about a series of ghostly events that are legendary in the area. They get lost fast. Then the darkness comes. You'd think years of rip offs and spoofs would have dented the effectiveness of this film and you'd be very wrong. It's still fantastically fashioned exercise in terror and less is more. Heather Donahue is a dtrong lead.

As always visit hamsandwichcinema.blogspot.com/ for more film and tv chat.
Jung Ba Reum's (Lee Seung Gi) hidden identity was finally revealed in episode 15.

Something triggers his brain and brings back all the memories he had years ago.

Jung Ba Reum's Past Memories Haunt Him

All the kindness he showed before were fake to hide his true colors. In the flashbacks, it was revealed that he's been a predator from the start - even before he met Go Mu Chi (Lee Hee Joon).

Jung Ba Reum was the one who stabbed his friend Na Chi Kook (Lee Seo Jun), and he cried out of guilt.

One of his childhood friends Koo Dong Koo (Woo Ji Hyun) informed him that Na Chi Kook woke up after years of being in a comatose state. This gave Jung Ba Reum a bigger problem, knowing that only the two of them know what really happened years ago.

Jung Ba Reum arrived at the hospital. He was surprised when Na Chi Kook hugged him for the reason that he missed him. This triggered Jung Ba Reum and wanted to surrender to the police.

He was also the mastermind behind the death of Oh Bong Yi's grandmother, the brutal death of Go Mu Chi's brother Go Mu Won (Kim Young Jae), and all the murders that happened in their city.

Jung Ba Reum was being haunted by his past and the only solution he had in mind is to kill himself. When he was about to take his life, Daniel Lee (Jo Jae Yun) stopped him.

Jung Ba Reum confessed to Daniel all the innocent people he killed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Song Joong Ki and Lee Seung Gi are the Most Buzzworthy K-drama Actors, According to Good Data

Sung Yo Han is 99% Innocent and Jung Ba Reum is 99% Psychopath

Daniel Lee said that he should not die irresponsibly. If he really cares for the dead victims, he will face all the consequences give them the justice they deserve.

According to Daniel, Jung Ba Reum should kill all the predators to prevent the psychopaths being born.

It was also proven that Sung Yo Han (Kwon Hwa Woon) is one percent psychopath, according to Daniel Lee's DNA results year ago. He underestimated the result since Sung Yo Han is Han Seo Joon's (Ahn Jae Wook) son.

During the brain transplant, it was not the bad memories that were passed to Jung Ba Reum's brain but rather various emotions that will give him the opportunity to be a normal human again.

The next day, Jung Ba Reum visited Nam Chi Kook in the hospital. His friend remembers all that happened to him and he asked Jung Ba Reum to turn himself to the police so that everyone could live peacefully.

After hearing those words from his friend, Jung Ba Reum immediately went outside the room, that's when Go Mu Chi went to check Nam Chi Kook. He was shocked, however, to see him having a hard time breathing. The doctors rushed to the room, but Nam Chi Kook died.

Go Mu Chi looked for Jung Ba Reum inside the building, knowing that he was the only person who visited Nam Chi Kook. When he saw him, his tone was serious and full of authority, having the hunches that Jung Ba Reum is the real psychopath.

What can you say about the ongoing thriller-suspense "Mouse"? Don't forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins
CLINGMANS DOME, Tenn.  A Tennessee Army National Guard medical flight crew responded to an emergency air evacuation mission after a victim suffered a stroke while hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park area, April 15.

At approximately 9 a.m., the Tennessee Military Department and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified of a possible stroke victim near Clingmans Dome along the Appalachian Trail, needing immediate medical care. At 9:40 a.m., the Tennessee National Guard received the official mission request.

A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from the Tennessee National Guards Detachment 1, Company C, 1-171st Aviation Regiment based in Knoxville assembled in under an hour and launched to the incident site at approximately 10:03 a.m.

The flight crew consisted of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Backus, Pilot in Command, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Trailson Moore, Pilot, Staff Sgt. Donald Sweet, Crew Chief, Col. Robert Ross, Flight Surgeon, Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Banta, Flight Paramedic, and Sgt. 1st Class Giovanni DeZuani, Flight Paramedic.

At 10:18 a.m., the aircraft arrived on the scene, and the flight crew began rescue hoist operations. Ross and Banta lowered to the patient and performed a brief medical assessment; the patient was then mobilized onto a litter and hoisted safely into the helicopter.

Once onboard, the flight crew continued medical aid while enroute to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

The administrative portion of the pre-launch process was flawless, said Col. Jay Deason, the State Army Aviation Officer. The flight crew immediately jumped into action and began preparing for the mission; everyone was in sync, and that's the primary indicator that we have a very streamlined process.

This is the first search and rescue mission by the Tennessee National Guard this year.
By Juarawee Kittisilpa

RAYONG, Thailand (Reuters) - Pedigree cats confiscated by Thai police during a drugs raid have found a home with a feline fanatic after being put up for auction.

All six pets, five of the Scottish Fold breed and one Bengal, were sold to Nutch Prasopsin, who runs a Facebook page followed by 3 million cat lovers, who helped her raise the 100,000 baht ($3,186) winning bid.

"I was very excited. I had very much hoped that the cats would end up in my care. I've been following their status since the very first day," she told reporters.

The auction was held after a 30-day window expired for the owner, who remains at large, to come forward and claim the cats and prove they were not purchased with drug money.

The confiscated cats will share their new home with Nutch's 20 other cats.

Pornthip Jampong of the regional narcotics control board said the cats had suffered an ordeal and it was important they be auctioned off as a group.

"They were living together so they would be familiar with each other," she said. "If we separate them, this may cause them to stress or have psychological effects."

The money generated at the auction will be held by police as a seized asset.

($1 = 31.3800 baht)

(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alison Williams)




Haiti - FLASH : The kidnappers release 3 religious after 12 days of kidnapping





Thursday 22 April 2021, 12 days after the kidnapping of 10 people by the "400 Mawozo" gang https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33471-haiti-politic-religious-kidnapped-by-deviant-elements-of-society.html the kidnappers freed 3 of the 9 people held captive.



These are 3 Haitian religious (out of 5) : Sister Anne-Marie Dortellus, Father Hugues Baptiste and Lovely Joseph confirmed Father Loudger Mazile Spokesperson for the Conference of Bishops of Haiti.



The two French religious : Father Michel Briand (67) and Sister Agnes Bordeau (80) as well as 2 Haitian religious and 2 lay people are still under hostage.



Let's recall that on April 14, the kidnappers agreed to release against ransom one of their hostages (the mother of father Jean Arnel Joseph), after his family had managed to raise the sum of $50,000.



It is not known if a ransom was paid for the release of these 3 hostages. Recall that the kidnappers initially demanded 1 million dollars of ransom to free all their hostages.



For its part, the Church excludes any ransom payment "a life cannot be bought like a commodity" declared Father Gilbert Peltro, Secretary General of the Haitian Conference of Religious.



S/ HaitiLibre


















The decades-long push to rescind the medals gained new momentum last year amid a broader national wave of reckoning about historical and systemic racism, with Confederate monuments coming down, the military backing efforts to rename military bases in Southern states that now honor Confederate generals and demonstrators holding large protests against the killings of Black men and women by the police.

The U.S. government did everything they could to exterminate and assimilate the Indigenous population in our country, Mr. Heinert said. Our ancestors fought and died to keep our language, keep our tradition and keep our ceremonies, and I think the climate has put us in a space and time that allows us to have a frank conversation about public policy and what it means to be Indigenous in this country.

Kevin Killer, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said the push to rescind the medals honored the wishes of elders whose calls went unheard for generations. Mr. Killer said it was important for future generations to know an injustice was addressed.

It was one of the largest atrocities in the history of this country, where mostly women and children were massacred because they were trying to have peace, Mr. Killer said. History tries to retell it and say there was a misunderstanding, but it was an atrocity any way you look at it.

Bernardo Rodriguez, a tribal council representative for the Wounded Knee District of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said that the community was reminded every day about the tragedy by a memorial to it  and that action by the government to rescind the medals was more than 100 years overdue.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Saugatuck Brewing Co. announced Thursday that its buying Creston Brewery in Grand Rapids, which has been shuttered since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Michigan in March 2020.

Saugatuck Brewing Co. President and CEO Ric Gillette said hes been interested in expanding Saugatucks presence into Grand Rapids, and when Creston came up for sale, we thought this would be a really good fit.

Were not gong to really change anything, he said. Were going to keep as many past employees on as possible

The sale, including all assets and licenses of Creston, is subject to final approval by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC). Gillette declined to disclose the sale price, but said he first began informal talks with Creston shortly after the pandemic hit Michigan in March 2020.

This wasnt quick, he said. Weve been in discussions for several months --- many, many months.

Creston Brewery, 1504 Plainfield Ave. NE, was opened in August 2016 in the former DeKorne Furniture store by co-owners Scott Schultz and Vincent Lambert. Schultz served as the brewmaster, while Lamber was the chief financial officer, Crestons website shows.

Neither Schultz nor Lambert could be reached for comment.

Creston will maintain its name as well as its charming and welcoming neighborhood atmosphere, according to a press release from Saugatuck Brewing Co. announcing the purchase. The brewery, once it reopens, will offer former Creston mainstays along with current and seasonal releases from Saugatuck.

We just thought it was a really good fit, Gillette said. We love the location, we love the building, we love everything they had there.

Saugatuck Brewing Co., located at 2948 Blue Star Highway in Douglas, opened in 2005. In addition to its main brewery and taproom, Saugatuck in 2019 purchased Gonzos BiggDogg Brewing in Kalamazoo and reopened the brewery as Saugatuck Brewing Company  Kalamazoo.

Creston would be the companys third location.

Im very excited about adding the third location in, Gillette said. Im relatively aggressive to our approach to West Michigan. We think we have really good craft beer, and we want to share it with people.

He added, We like to expand, and well probably continue to look at other opportunities if they come up in West Michigan.

Gillette said he would like to reopen Creston as soon as possible. However, because the sale must be approved by MLCC, its unclear when that will happen.

If you had a crystal ball, you could tell me, he said. Its all up to the MLCC.

He said it took Saugatuck over a year to get MLCC approval to purchase Gonzos BiggDogg Brewing in Kalamazoo. Based on that, Gillette said he estimates it could take between three months and nine months to reopen Creston.

Gillette said he does not plan to change anything at Creston, though he did say the Grand Rapids taproom would serve beers from Saugatuck Brewing Co. in addition to Crestons. He said the eventual goal with Saugatucks three locations would be to offer some of the bestselling food items at all three locations.

If you go to Kalamazoo and you like the fish and chips, for instance, youre going to get the same fish and chips at all three locations, he said.

Youre going to get basically the same beers at all three locations, although Creston will have more of their own beer. Were probably going to bring some of Crestons beers down to Kalamazoo because we can do that. So were going to try to blend all three together.

Read more:

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Pregnant Alex Jones looked sensational as she presented an Oscars-themed episode of The One Show on Friday night.

The TV star, 44, who is expecting her third child, wowed in a chic monochrome outfit alongside a glamorous Clara Amfo, 36, for the special show.

Alex was showing off her sense of style in a buttoned black blazer with statement white lapels which she wore over a plunging black top.

Radiant: Pregnant Alex Jones looked sensational as she presented an Oscar-themed episode of The One Show on Friday night

She completed her look with wide-leg white trousers and black high heels as she got to work.

Meanwhile Strictly star Clara upped the glamour in a thigh skimming gold mini dress and strappy heels.

The pair looked like they were having a great time as they filmed the show ahead of the Oscars on Sunday.

Incredible: The TV star, 44, who is expecting her third child, wowed in a chic monochrome outfit

Dynamic duo: Alex was filming alongside a glamorous Clara Amfo, 36, for the special show on Friday

Wow: Alex was showing off her sense of style in a buttoned black blazer with statement white lapels which she wore over a plunging black top

Later in the show Alex interviewed award nominee Riz Ahmed who will be hoping to scoop a prize later this weekend for his role in Sound of Metal.

Earlier this month Riz spoke of his pride at being able to connect with a wider audience after being the first Muslim to be nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.

The actor, 38, is up for the award for his role as drummer Ruben Stone in Sound of Metal - a musician who slowly loses his hearing after playing in a rock band.

Lovely: She completed her look with wide-leg white trousers and black high heels as she got to work

All dressed up: Meanwhile Strictly star Clara upped the glamour in a thigh skimming gold mini dress and strappy heels

Chat: Later in the show Alex interviewed award nominee Riz Ahmed who will be hoping to scoop a prize later this weekend for his role in Sound of Metal

Riz said that he hopes both the Muslim and deaf communities will appreciate his appearance at the ceremony later this month.

Riz told the BBC: 'What matters to me is, as many people as possible can find themselves in this moment.

'So some people really connect with the idea that I was the first Muslim nominated for lead actor, that's beautiful and I support that.

'If some people are overjoyed to see it's a film that focuses on deaf representation, which is something really lacking in cinema and they connect more with that, then that's beautiful.'

Interview: Riz appeared via video link to chat to Alex and Clara about the Oscars

Happy days: The pair looked like they were having a great time as they filmed the show ahead of the Oscars on Sunday

The Four Lions star added: 'If for some people they're rooting for the fact that it's someone from Wembley ... then that's cool.'

Riz believes that his history-making recognition from the Academy is down to society moving forward as this year's Oscars features the most diverse group of nominees to date.

He added: 'But I think what's really important is looking at the whole field of nominees and seeing there are so many firsts.

'Steven Yeun is the first Asian-American actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins is the oldest, Chadwick Boseman's posthumous nomination  first time for a black actor in that position.

TV: Alex and Clara had teamed up and wore their most glamorous outfits for the special show

Commanding attention: Clara had her incredible legs on display in the gold dress and opted for glamorous makeup

'So I just think it is nice to be part of a moment where we all seem to be moving forward together as a culture.'

Riz  who has earned critical acclaim as a rapper - also revealed that he will be wearing ear plugs at gigs in the future having seen the effect that hearing loss had on his character.

He said: 'It's certainly made me realise I need to take ear plugs with me into venues.

'It's something I started doing years ago when I realised friends of mine, DJs, had started, kind of sadly, losing bits of their hearing. It's very, very common within music.'

Live TV: Alex and Clara were outside the BBC studios in central London as they filmed the red carpet segment

Riz won rave reviews for his depiction of Ruben Stone, a rock-and-roll drummer and recovering alcoholic whose life goes into a free-fall when he loses his hearing.

The US actor Mahershala Ali was the first Muslim to win an Oscar when he was named best supporting actor for Moonlight in 2017, and won the same prize in 2019 for Green Book.

On hearing the news Riz tweeted earlier this month: 'Wow! I'm honoured to be nominated by my fellow actors alongside such inspiring performances, and am grateful to the Academy for their support and encouragement.'

Character: The actor, 38, is up for the award for his role as drummer Ruben Stone in Sound of Metal - who slowly loses his hearing after playing in a rock band
Do Van Quen, Vann Nath and Nguyen Van Khai stand before the An Giang Province People's Court, April 22, 2021. Photo by Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper.

Three men were sentenced to jail in An Giang Province on Thursday for helping migrants illegally enter Cambodia.

Do Van Quen, 35, and Vann Nath, 38, were sentenced to three years in jail, while Nguyen Van Khai, 56, was sentenced to 2.5 years, all for "brokering illegal exit in Vietnam", according to An Giang Province Peoples Court, local media reported.

The Mekong Delta province borders Cambodia.

On June 18 last year, the trio was caught carrying migrants by boat from Vietnam to Cambodia in An Phu District and Khanh An Commune. This happened as Vietnam and Cambodia shut down their borders as a Covid-19 prevention measure. Those allowed to cross the border must enter quarantine.

Following their arrests, the three confessed to having successfully smuggled 12 migrants into Cambodia on three separate occasions. Quen got paid VND1.2 million ($51.90), Nath VND2.4 million and Khai VND600,000 for the ordeal.

It's not revealed what the migrants were coming to Cambodia for. But similar groups have been caught en route to sneaking to Thailand for work.
Director of Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) Jeremy Fleming attends an event to mark the centenary of GCHQ, the UK's Intelligence, Security and Cyber Agency, at Watergate House in London on Feb. 14, 2019. (Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images)

West Faces Moment of Reckoning Over Chinese Tech Threat: UK Intelligence Chief

A senior British intelligence official has warned that Chinas tech growth is posing a serious threat to the security of the UK and the West in general.

Jeremy Fleming, director of Britains GCHQ intelligence agency, said on Friday that the West is facing a moment of reckoning as China and Russia increase their malign activities in cyberspace and other fields of technology.

Technology development was largely driven and owned by the West, but now we can see that significant technology leadership is moving east, causing a conflict of interests and values where prosperity and security are at stake, he said at the Vincent Briscoe Lecture for the Institute for Security Science and Technology, Imperial College London.

Chinese soldiers work at computers. (mil.huanqiu.com)

While Russia remains the most acute threat to the UK, Fleming suggested that China poses a much more systemic challenge, saying Russia is affecting the weather, whilst China is shaping the climate.

The threat posed by Russias activity is like finding a vulnerability on a specific app on your phone. Its potentially serious, but you can probably use an alternative, he said. However, the concern is that Chinas size and technological weight means that it has the potential to control the global operating system.

Fleming said the UK is a global cyber power and a big animal in the digital world, but historic strength does not mean we can assume we will be in the future.

Cyber security is an increasingly strategic issue that needs a whole nation approach, he said. The rules are changing in ways not always controlled by government.

And without action it is increasingly clear that the key technologies on which we will rely for our future prosperity and security wont be shaped and controlled by the West. We are now facing a moment of reckoning, he said.

To respond to the challenge, he said, the UK will have to develop sovereign technologies in areas such as quantum, to protect sensitive information and capabilities.

GCHQ, which gathers communications from around the world to identify and disrupt threats to Britain, has a close relationship with the U.S. National Security Agency as well as with the eavesdropping agencies of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand in a consortium called Five Eyes.

Flemings speech comes at a time when Britains relations with the Chinese regime are deteriorating due to disputes over Hong Kong, Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Chinese cyber-attacks on UK institutions, and allegations of Chinese human rights abuses including genocide.

On Thursday, the UK Parliament unanimously passed a non-binding motion declaring that Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities in Chinas Xinjiang region are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide, and called on the UK government to use international law to bring it to an end.

Reuters contributed to this report.
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ROME, APR 23 - Four people were detained by Carabinieri police on Friday in relation to the homicide of a 61-year-old man who was killed on Monday following a row over a parking spot near Naples, sources said. Maurizio Cerrato, a guard at the Pompeii archaeological site, was attacked and killed with a stab wound to the chest at Torre Annunziata. Cerrato's daughter said on her Facebook page that her father had died after defending her, "the light of his eyes". The young woman was in the car that was the subject of the parking dispute while her father went into a shop to get groceries. He was killed after defending her from a man who wanted to park there. (ANSA).
But he was told he couldn't use staff loo unaccompanied at stores he didn't work

A Tesco delivery driver who was sacked for taking a toilet break at home during one of his shifts has won a 17,000 payout for being unfairly dismissed.

Billy Fitzsimmons, from Kilmarnock, Scotland, suffered from a number of medical problems that meant he frequently needed access to a bathroom at very short notice.

But he was told he couldn't use the staff loo at stores where he didn't work without being accompanied.

His solution was to return home while out doing his deliveries, if he was nearby, and use the toilet there. A tribunal heard that the supermarket giant banned employees from taking company vehicles home.

And when his employers found out what he had been doing they alleged he 'deliberately disregarded and abused Tesco policy' at a 'level never seen before'.

Billy Fitzsimmons, from Kilmarnock, Scotland, suffered from a number of medical problems that meant he frequently needed access to a bathroom at very short notice (file photo)

The hearing in Scotland was told that Mr Fitzsimmons was diagnosed in 2018 with a urinary tract infection and enlarged prostate which meant he needed to use the toilet 'increasingly frequently'.

The tribunal heard that all Tesco delivery vans were fitted with tracking systems that recorded the speed and location of the vehicle every five minutes.

While the company was aware that Mr Fitzsimmons had prostate problems they weren't aware he occasionally experienced episodes of incontinence.

When Mr Fitzsimmons' health problems gradually got worse he tried to use other Tesco stores on his route but on one occasion he was told because it wasn't the store at which he was based, he would need to be accompanied to the staff toilets.

The tribunal heard that, given the nature of his health issue, this was not an option.

Instead, in periods between deliveries, when he was near to his home, he would return and use the toilet there. Once he had done so, he would sit in the van until it was time to travel to the next customer.

On some occasions Mr Fitzsimmons would also have to go home because he needed to change his clothes after an episode of incontinence.

Despite his serious health issues, he still always made his deliveries on time and no complaints about his service were ever made.

Eventually, after he was brought in to speak to his manager about an unrelated matter, his bosses discovered that over a three month period Mr Fitzsimmons had stopped at his home address 34 times for a total of 795 minutes.

She decided to conduct a formal investigation and questioned Mr Fitzsimmons about the discrepancies.

Employment Judge Melanie Sangster concluded that Mr Fitzsimmons was unfairly dismissed with his dismissal amounting to discrimination arising from disability (file photo)

Mr Fitzsimmons he explained the full extent of his health issues were and said he hadn't told anyone as he was embarrassed.

Despite his plea for leniency, Mr Fitzsimmons was dismissed for gross misconduct for the 'deliberate disregard and abuse of Tesco procedures through the unauthorised use of tesco.com vans.'

In the letter outlining the reasons for his dismissal, his manager wrote: 'It is my belief that there has been a complete disregard and abuse of Tesco policies at a level I have not seen in my career.'

Employment Judge Melanie Sangster said however, that by the time of his dismissal Tesco was fully aware that Mr Fitzsimmons had urinary and bowel problems.

She added: 'It was accordingly clear that [Mr Fitzsimmons] had genuine health issues which required ease of access to toilet facilities.

'That ease of access could be guaranteed at [his] home, but not elsewhere and was accordingly, latterly, the reason for [him] returning home to use his own bathroom facilities, in periods when he would otherwise have been parked up in the local area.

'No reasonable employer would have dismissed the claimant for returning home to use his own facilities in these circumstances.'

She concluded that Mr Fitzsimmons was unfairly dismissed with his dismissal amounting to discrimination arising from disability.

However, she dismissed his claims of discrimination arising from disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments and wrongful dismissal.

She ordered Tesco to pay 15,613 compensation and a further 2,020 for injury to feeling.
Editors note: Kevin Richert writes a weekly analysis on education policy and education politics for Idaho Ed News.

On Day 102 of the third longest legislative session in Idaho history, Gov. Brad Little and his State Board of Education tried to take back the narrative Thursday.

A bit. And carefully.

Little  who has stayed silent as a social justice furor has brought the education budgeting process to a screeching halt  urged parents to bring any concerns to local educators, and urged the state to refocus on the needs of students, families, teachers and businesses. It is time to get back on track.

Two of Littles State Board appointees, outgoing President Debbie Critchfield and newly named President Kurt Liebich, tried to strike a balance between acknowledging legislators social justice concerns and downplaying the problem. I have personally not seen any evidence of systematic indoctrination, Liebich said during a Thursday afternoon news conference.

However, the narrative has long since gotten away from Little and the State Board this session. Maybe, as Liebich suggests, the national debate over critical race theory and social justice would have inevitably spilled over into Idaho. For three months, though, Little and the State Board have helped the issue catch fire by publicly staying out of the fray.

During Thursday mornings board meeting, State Board member David Hill could not have summed up the situation more concisely. In the absence of clear voices, those that shout will be heard.

Thursday morning brought things to a head  and in the starkest terms.

In the Statehouse, the House completed its 24-hour push to pass a bill aimed at curbing critical race theory. Introduced Wednesday afternoon, House Bill 377 now heads to the Senate.

Meanwhile  in a conference call originating at State Board offices across the street from the Capitol  board members and college and university leaders vented and commiserated. It was, at times, almost an exercise in group therapy:

Story continues

When critics suggest indoctrination is rampant in the schools, Liebich said, it constitutes a direct attack on this board. And the damage goes beyond that. Its had a significant impact on how our education system is perceived in this state.

State Board member Linda Clark drew upon her 47 years in public schools: I never at any point saw one single issue of indoctrination.  Frankly, (teachers) have all they can do to teach the skills and help students grow and mature.

When the State Board called on college and university presidents to weigh in, Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee urged the board not to lose focus. I just think that the real issue is combating what is just completely inaccurate misinformation and hyperbole that exists out there.

Strong words, largely unheard.

Because many interested Idahoans were instead listening to the debate on the House floor.

When Liebich and Critchfield talked to reporters, they said nothing that contradicted Thursday mornings board discussion. But the sharp tone  and perhaps the fight Idahoans needed to hear  was notably lacking.

During the news conference, Critchfield rejected the idea that the State Board had been outflanked.

I dont believe we came too late to the party on this, she said, saying the board has continued to press its same education priorities, such as literacy and college and career readiness.

But while the State Board has routinely endorsed or opposed education policy bills in past sessions, it did not do so this year.

It took no position on HB 377, although Critchfield was involved in behind-the-scenes discussions about the bill. She noted, accurately, that the bill passed the House before the State Board could have weighed in. We were not in a position to have a position.

Even when the State Board had time to take a position, it didnt. The board took no stance on House Bill 352  a ban of instruction of racist and sexist concepts, aligned in ideology with HB 377. The board also stayed silent on House Bill 364, the House-passed Protecting Critical Thinking in Higher Education Act. The board remained neutral on these bills, Critchfield said, because it wanted to leave the debate to lawmakers.

But as the 2021 session nears the end  perhaps  the social justice debate will continue in a new venue, posing a new challenge to the State Board.

Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, not an ideological ally of Littles, is moving forward with her plans to convene a task force to examine indoctrination in education. The group could begin meeting in May.

I get really concerned when the word indoctrination is thrown around, Liebich said Thursday afternoon. When you throw that around loosely, in a way that undermines confidence in the education system, that causes me great concern.

Liebich expects the State Board to be involved in the task force process. However, he also said Thursday that the boards first priority should be to tweak its policies on freedom of expression on college campuses, and figuring out how to quantify complaints or concerns throughout the education system.

Both goals may be sound. But neither are likely to capture the attention of whatever McGeachins task force has to say.

By losing the narrative, the State Board might have also missed an opportunity this year.

Liebich recounted the sessions struggles: a $6 million-a-year federal early education grant program, a $1.1 billion public school teachers budget, a $315 million higher education budget, all torpedoed on the House floor, over claims of indoctrination.

It wasnt what Liebich expected in January, when he expected the 2021 legislative session to focus on learning loss, and helping students make up the ground they lost during the coronavirus pandemic. There has been precious little to no conversation about that.

He has a point. The social justice debate has taken up a lot of oxygen. But that didnt just happen overnight. Its been 102 days in the making.

Analysis: By staying silent, the State Board loses the education narrative

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on April 22, 2021

On Day 102 of the third longest legislative session in Idaho history, Gov. Brad Little and his State Board of Education tried to take back the narrative Thursday.

A bit. And carefully.

Little  who has stayed silent as a social justice furor has brought the education budgeting process to a screeching halt  urged parents to bring any concerns to local educators, and urged the state to refocus on the needs of students, families, teachers and businesses. It is time to get back on track.

Gov. Brad Little speaks in a basement studio during a State Board of Education news conference Thursday. Sami Edge/Idaho EdNews

Two of Littles State Board appointees, outgoing President Debbie Critchfield and newly named President Kurt Liebich, tried to strike a balance between acknowledging legislators social justice concerns and downplaying the problem. I have personally not seen any evidence of systematic indoctrination, Liebich said during a Thursday afternoon news conference.

However, the narrative has long since gotten away from Little and the State Board this session. Maybe, as Liebich suggests, the national debate over critical race theory and social justice would have inevitably spilled over into Idaho. For three months, though, Little and the State Board have helped the issue catch fire by publicly staying out of the fray.

During Thursday mornings board meeting, State Board member David Hill could not have summed up the situation more concisely. In the absence of clear voices, those that shout will be heard.

Outgoing State Board of education president Debbie Critchfield speaks at a news conference Thursday announcing the appointment of her successor, Kurt Liebich. Sami Edge/Idaho EdNews

Thursday morning brought things to a head  and in the starkest terms.

In the Statehouse, the House completed its 24-hour push to pass a bill aimed at curbing critical race theory. Introduced Wednesday afternoon, House Bill 377 now heads to the Senate.

Meanwhile  in a conference call originating at State Board offices across the street from the Capitol  board members and college and university leaders vented and commiserated. It was, at times, almost an exercise in group therapy:

When critics suggest indoctrination is rampant in the schools, Liebich said, it constitutes a direct attack on this board. And the damage goes beyond that. Its had a significant impact on how our education system is perceived in this state.

State Board member Linda Clark drew upon her 47 years in public schools: I never at any point saw one single issue of indoctrination.  Frankly, (teachers) have all they can do to teach the skills and help students grow and mature.

When the State Board called on college and university presidents to weigh in, Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee urged the board not to lose focus. I just think that the real issue is combatting what is just completely inaccurate misinformation and hyperbole that exists out there.

Strong words, largely unheard.

Because many interested Idahoans were instead listening to the debate on the House floor.

When Liebich and Critchfield talked to reporters, they said nothing that contradicted Thursday mornings board discussion. But the sharp tone  and perhaps the fight Idahoans needed to hear  was notably lacking.

During the news conference, Critchfield rejected the idea that the State Board had been outflanked.

I dont believe we came too late to the party on this, she said, saying the board has continued to press its same education priorities, such as literacy and college and career readiness.

But while the State Board has routinely endorsed or opposed education policy bills in past sessions, it did not do so this year.

It took no position on HB 377, although Critchfield was involved in behind-the-scenes discussions about the bill. She noted, accurately, that the bill passed the House before the State Board could have weighed in. We were not in a position to have a position.

Even when the State Board had time to take a position, it didnt. The board took no stance on House Bill 352  a ban of instruction of racist and sexist concepts, aligned in ideology with HB 377. The board also stayed silent on House Bill 364, the House-passed Protecting Critical Thinking in Higher Education Act. The board remained neutral on these bills, Critchfield said, because it wanted to leave the debate to lawmakers.

But as the 2021 session nears the end  perhaps  the social justice debate will continue in a new venue, posing a new challenge to the State Board.

Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, not an ideological ally of Littles, is moving forward with her plans to convene a task force to examine indoctrination in education. The group could begin meeting in May.

I get really concerned when the word indoctrination is thrown around, Liebich said Thursday afternoon. When you throw that around loosely, in a way that undermines confidence in the education system, that causes me great concern.

Liebich expects the State Board to be involved in the task force process. However, he also said Thursday that the boards first priority should be to tweak its policies on freedom of expression on college campuses, and figuring out how to quantify complaints or concerns throughout the education system.

Both goals may be sound. But neither are likely to capture the attention of whatever McGeachins task force has to say.

Newly named State Board of Education President Kurt Liebich speaks Thursday. Sami Edge/Idaho EdNews

By losing the narrative, the State Board might have also missed an opportunity this year.

Liebich recounted the sessions struggles: a $6 million-a-year federal early education grant program, a $1.1 billion public school teachers budget, a $315 million higher education budget, all torpedoed on the House floor, over claims of indoctrination.

It wasnt what Liebich expected in January, when he expected the 2021 legislative session to focus on learning loss, and helping students make up the ground they lost during the coronavirus pandemic. There has been precious little to no conversation about that.

He has a point. The social justice debate has taken up a lot of oxygen. But that didnt just happen overnight. Its been 102 days in the making.

Each week, Kevin Richert writes an analysis on education policy and education politics. Look for it every Thursday.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021

Abandoning the Suicide Club To Create a Real Future

April 22 , 2021 (EIRNS)The Biden White House celebrated Dearth Day by dragging together world leaders for a shared discussion about committing suicide by forcing the world to engage in a carbon-dioxide hunger strike. As the EU, U.K., and U.S. tried to outdo each other by cheerily announcing yet earlier dates to achieve various goals of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, John Kerry insisted that even carbon neutrality was too limited a goal. Well have to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, he gravely informed his bored audience.

While general statements about loving nature and living in harmony with it came from all attendees, some of whom represent countries with true pollution problems that have very real health impacts, when it came time to drink the Kool-Aid, many demurred. Xi Jinping pointed out that the responsibilities of the worlds nations are common but differentiated, continuing a theme of nations from the BRICS and the Global South insisting that their growth would not be sacrificed to meet climate goals set by the trans-Atlantic nations.

But the real threat to the future of the people of this planet is not climate change. It is nuclear war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met for hours with MI6 Chief Richard Moore last year, insists his nation is ready to stand up to Russia and should become a member of NATO. American think-tank lunatics insist on sending additional troops to Ukraine to counter the purported Russian threat. A thwarted coup attempt in Belarus is followed by the U.S. Ambassador to that nation meeting with the opposition leader, in a third country. A Greek diplomat implores President Biden to prevent a new war by participating in a summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

The situation with Taiwan remains intense, with numerous hawks pushing for additional support for Taiwanese independence, an impossible course and far worse for Taiwan than to move towards negotiations on resolving the cross-Strait relations to create a single China with great autonomy afforded to Taiwan.

Driving the urgency of these military provocations, suicidal climate arrangements, and domestic U.S. fascism imposed by controlled-mob rule, is the exploding trans-Atlantic financial system, whose eruption backed by endless money-pumping is being treated euphorically as a period of immense growth. But as the upper part of the explosion propels finance upward, the detonation destroys the physical economy on which actual life depends.

To reverse it, the reins of power must be seized from Wall Street, which must be put under strict control and allowed a salubrious visit to bankruptcy court. National credit towards productive (read anti-green) investment in science, infrastructure, and manufacturing can carry the United Statesand the worldtowards the kind of economic paradigm largely being implemented presently by China, informed both by the previous success of the American System and the ongoing organizing of Lyndon LaRouche, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, and the LaRouche movement.

The Schiller Institute Conference of May 8 will bring together a thoughtful and active discussion on charting a course towards a Renaissance, to escape the war, banality, and ugliness of a culture which, though having abandoned the outlook that drove its past glories, insists on maintaining a now-unearned supremacy through crushing the rise of others.

We must work to collectively outgrow this infantile identity.
In a rare exchange, scientists and water resources engineers from Iran and Utah are collaborating on a bold scientific study to restore one of the world's largest saline lakes.

Lake Urmia -- a massive salt lake in Iran's northwest and a sister to Utah's Great Salt Lake -- has lost nearly 95 percent of its volume over the last two decades. As water levels drop, salinity spikes, threatening the lake's brine shrimp population and the flamingos and other bird species that depend on the shrimp for food. Lake levels are so low that at some coastal resorts, tourism boats must be pulled a kilometer (0.6 mile) or more from shore by tractor before reaching suitable depths. In addition, new land bridges are forming in the drying lake bed which allows mainland predators to threaten endangered mammals living in the southern islands. The vast, dry lakebed imposes a growing dust problem for the five million residents who live in the Lake Urmia basin. What's more, the area's ecotourism industry has collapsed, and now experts fear an environmental disaster awaits if drastic changes are not made.

"We're at the tipping point," said assistant professor and lead author Somayeh Sima of Tarbiat Modares University in Iran. "Every single step matters. We have to take action now." Sima's work will be used to update Iran's $1 billion Lake Urmia Restoration Program. In 2018, she traveled to Utah on a visiting scholarship from the Semnani Family Foundation to collaborate with Utah State University water resources professor David Rosenberg who studies integrated water management and water conservation in Western U.S. river basins, including rivers that feed the Great Salt Lake. Prof. Wayne Wurtsbaugh, Sarah Null, and Karin Kettenring from the USU Quinney College of Natural Resources also collaborated in the limnology and ecology parts of this multidisciplinary research.

The team synthesized 40 years of data to define eight metrics that define the health of Lake Urmia and its many ecosystems. Their findings were published in the latest edition of the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. One key finding shows that setting a target water level will not necessarily solve Lake Urmia's problems.

"We can't say that restoring the lake to some magic number will improve the overall situation," said Rosenberg. "Instead, we need to consider how the lake's ecosystem services are interconnected and how a varying lake level will impact those systems over time."

"We have to embrace lake level variability and focus our restoration efforts where it makes sense," Sima added. "Restoration is not an easy task. It is everyone's responsibility, and we'll need public support to make meaningful change."

The problems facing Lake Urmia are not unique to Iran. Water levels at the Great Salt Lake are also at their lowest in recent years, and similar problems of land bridges, dust, changes in salinity, and ecological damage have experts concerned.

To promote transparency and reproducibility in science and encourage further collaborations, the researchers published their article open access (free to readers) and shared their data and code on the HydroShare.org repository.

"This partnership between U.S. and Iranian researchers is valuable because we have so much in common on this topic, said Sima. "Only together can we begin to understand how to solve these problems."

###
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-22 22:36:54|Editor: huaxia

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People visit different zones in Space Exploration Center Nine in central China's Hubei Province on April 21, 2021. (Photo provided by Commsat)

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- An immersive and interactive museum opened to the public recently in central China's Hubei Province to promote aerospace science popularization, ahead of China's sixth Space Day.

The opening ceremony of the museum, Space Exploration Center Nine, was held Wednesday as a part of a space science popularization week jointly organized by China National Space Administration (CNSA) news center and the Jingzhou municipal government.

At the opening ceremony, CNSA news center director Meng Hua said the great cause of aerospace begins with dreams and advances based on innovation. She hoped the museum could open a door for children to explore and sow the seeds of their love for science.

Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization secretary-general Yu Qi said the museum is a new landmark for children's space dreams and hoped it would become a model of popular science education for teenagers in China and the Asia-Pacific region.



A group of students participate in a science class about satellite in Space Exploration Center Nine in central China's Hubei Province on April 21, 2021. (Photo provided by Commsat)

Co-founder of Commsat, a private satellite company, Peng Yuanyuan, wished young people can improve their knowledge of space science and technology in this museum, cultivate a systemic and engineering way of thinking, and abilities to face challenges.

Located in Songzi, Hubei's Jingzhou City, the museum was developed by Commsat and a local state-owned enterprise. It covers 20,000 square meters and provides more than 40 immersive and interactive activities in five zones of astronaut training, the Moon, Mars, deep space, and cosmic origins.

In the museum, visitors can experience the dialogue between space and Earth, receive the flight status information of actual satellites, check data such as orbital altitude and satellite temperature, and design and assemble satellite models.



Zhao Chuandong, one of China's first batch of astronauts, puts on magnetic shoes and tries to walk upside down to simulate walking in a spaceship in Space Exploration Center Nine in central China's Hubei Province on April 21, 2021. (Photo provided by Commsat)

Visitors can put on magnetic shoes, walk upside down, and experience how astronauts feel when moving. In the weightless sink, they can carry out underwater weightlessness training like real astronauts.

After the opening ceremony, Zhao Chuandong, one of China's first batch of astronauts, gave a science lecture about space exploration.

The museum also held an exhibition titled "A Life Story of Qian Xuesen," the pioneer of China's space exploration.

In 2016, China set April 24 as the country's Space Day to mark its first satellite launch, "Dongfanghong-1", into space on April 24, 1970. 
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Market Research Future Published a Half-Cooked Research Report on Formulation Additives Market Research Report.

Market Overview and Growth Factors:

Formulation additives are used in small quantities to improve or modify the properties of various formulations. The use of formulation additives enhances the performance and improves the processing characteristics and properties of the materials. These additives offer better pigment dispersion, improved slip, substrate wetting, levelling, anti-settling, and plasticizing characteristics.

Get a Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6339

Competitive Analysis:

Some of the manufacturers operating in the global Formulation Additives Market are:

BASF SE

Eastman Chemical Company

Evonik Industries AG

Altana

DowDuPont

Cabot Corporation

Allnex Group

Arkema

Momentive

Munzing Corporation

Lanxess

Honeywell International Inc.

The global Formulation Additives Market has been segmented by type, end-use industry, and region.

By type, the global Formulation Additives Market Size has been segmented into dispersing agents, defoamers, rheology agents, wetting and leveling agents, and film forming agents. Dispersing agents are surface-active ingredients that prevent flocculation and ease the incorporation of pigments and fillers in the liquid. Anti-foaming agents are responsible for breaking down foam film, which, if present, may cause poor dispersion of fillers, defects in coating, creation of scum, product separation, and inhibition of permeation and wetting. Rheology agents are used to improve the flow properties of paints and coatings. Wetting agents ensure that the paint spreads uniformly over the surface whereas leveling agents help control surface tension and provide a flat and smooth appearance. Film forming agents, also known as coalescing agents, are often used to support the process of film formation by reducing the minimum film forming temperature of the binder polymer in use.

Based on end-use industry, the market has been segmented into paints and coatings, construction, automotive, electronics, printing and packaging, furniture, and others. The paints and coatings industry is leading the market due to the high demand in major industries. Rapid industrialization and increasing commercial and residential construction across the globe is expected to drive the demand for formulation additives during the forecast period. Furthermore, the demand for automotive OEM and refinish coatings is likely to propel market growth.

Browse key industry insights spread across 140 pages with 35 market data tables & 10 figures & charts from the report, Formulation Additives Market: Information by Type (Dispersing Agents, Rheology Agents, Wetting & Levelling Agents, and Film Forming Agents), End-Use Industry (Paints & Coatings, Construction, Automotive, Electronics), RegionForecast till 2023 in detail along with the table of contents @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/formulation-additives-market-6339

Regional Analysis

The formulation additives market has been analyzed with respect to five regions, namely, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The market in Asia-Pacific dominated the global formulation additives market in 2017 on account of the high demand in major end-use industries such as paints and coatings, automotive, construction, and electronics in the region.

The North American market is expected to witness significant growth due to the demand in the packaging, construction, and automotive industries.

The market in Europe is expected to drive product demand due to the high production and trading of automotive parts in countries such as Germany, the UK, France, and Italy.
Norbert Feher in the Spanish court which found him guilty of three murders

After fleeing justice in Italy over a double murder, a notorious Serbian gunman was on Thursday convicted by a Spanish court of killing another three people, two of them policemen.

Believed to be a former soldier, Norbert Feher was found guilty of three murders that took place in Spain's northeastern Aragon region in December 2017 in which he gunned down a livestock farmer and two Guardia Civil police officers.

A notoriously violent criminal, known in both Italy and Spain as "Igor the Russian", Feher went on trial on April 12 at a court in Teruel, with a jury delivering the guilty verdict which made headlines on Spanish television.

Prosecutors have called for him to face life in prison, with sentencing due to take place next week.

The same court in Teruel had in January 2020 found him guilty of two counts of attempted murder and sentenced him to 21 years behind bars for firing at another two men in the Teruel area shortly before his arrest in December 2017.

Considered extremely dangerous, Feher assaulted four prison officers with a sharp piece of tile just before being transferred to court to begin his trial, the prison authorities said.

He went on the run in April 2017 after killing a barman and a guard in northern Italy, fleeing to Spain later that year to escape the Italian manhunt.

In April 2018, he was convicted in absentia for the double murder by an Italian court which sentenced him to life in jail.

During his time in Italy and Spain, Feher used up to 23 aliases and allegedly boasted he had previously been a former Serbian paramilitary, an ex-Russian spy who was exiled to China and a male escort in Spain, El Pais newspaper reported.

tpe/hmw/ds/pvh
French media reports identified the attacker as a 37-year-old French resident with no criminal record or record of radicalization. A French judicial official said the suspect was born in Tunisia and that witnesses heard him say Allahu akbar, Arabic for God is great, during the attack. The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about an ongoing investigation.
Angela Harrelson (R) aunt of George Floyd, talks to supporters at George Floyd Square after a guilty verdict was announced at the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 death of Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 20, 2021. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)

Activists Occupying George Floyd Autonomous Zone Refusing to Leave Until Demands Are Met

Far-left activists who have occupied Minneapolis George Floyd autonomous zone for nearly a year are allegedly refusing to leave unless their list of 24 demands is met.

The group of protestors have taken up an area surrounding the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, where Floyd took his final breath on May 25, 2020.

Protestors have shared a list of their demands online. They include recalling Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, firing several employees of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, requiring law enforcement officers to maintain private, professional liability insurance, and providing accountability and transparency of several cases.

The group is also asking for $400,000 to be invested into the George Floyd Square Zone through the neighborhood associations to create new jobs for young people, which will help deter violence, and a further $300,000 investment into the George Floyd Square Zone through the neighborhood associations to provide Undoing Racism training for the black community.

Other demands include dropping charges against non-violent protesters from 2016-2017 and continuing the closure of the autonomous zone until after the trial of the four officers charged for the murder of George Floyd.

Protestors have allegedly threatened to expand and create new zones if their demands arent met, according to journalist Andy Ngo.

George Floyd Square has been closed since late May and the corner has become a makeshift memorial to Floyd. The area has been blocked by barricades and activists allegedly do not allow police inside the zone.

A sign has also been erected inside the memorial with special rules for white people, asking them to decenter themselves and to be mindful of whether your volume, pace, and movements are supporting or undermining your efforts to decenter yourself, among others.

A Twitter account that claims to post on behalf of the zone, Twin Cities Encampment Responders, posted on Wednesday, We dont need the mayors permission to make decisions about our city. 38th & Chicago will be held until our demands are met.

In February, city leaders said that the intersection would reopen after the trial of white former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Neighbors told the Washington Times that they have tried working with protesters, and asked that traffic not be disrupted but were met with threats from activists.

Earlier this month, the city of Minneapolis passed a $1 million bailout plan for businesses suffering from inside of the autonomous zone, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died after Chauvin held his knee against Floyds neck and back for approximately nine-and-a-half minutes as Floyd laid handcuffed and face-down on the pavement and despite his repeated shouts that he could not breathe.

On Tuesday, Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Raipur: In the wake of increasing coronavirus infection, the Chhatisgarh government has taken a big decision in which all the examinations of the current educational session will be conducted online.

In view of the COVID-19, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had given instructions to get all the examinations of the current education session in state and private universities online. The higher education department has issued this order in the same context.

The order mentions that the way the number of patients infected with the coronavirus is increasing in the state. In view of this, examinations of private and government universities will be conducted online. All schools have also been asked to prepare for this by the Higher Education Department.

Earlier, the Chhattisgarh Board had also postponed the examinations of class 10th and 12th. These examinations were to be held in April and May. But now these conditions will be held as usual.

However, the Chhattisgarh Board is also considering not to conduct examinations of Class 10 students. According to the media report, the final result of class 10 students can be prepared by the board on the basis of internal assessment. It can be announced soon.

Live TV
CARWAY, Alta. - A long line of cars was backed up at the Carway border crossing in southern Alberta this week as First Nations members and others took advantage of free COVID-19 vaccinations from the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana.

A pharmacist fills a vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, Dec.15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

CARWAY, Alta. - A long line of cars was backed up at the Carway border crossing in southern Alberta this week as First Nations members and others took advantage of free COVID-19 vaccinations from the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana.

James McNeely, the public information officer for the tribe, said that despite a slow start in getting vaccines for the reserve's 10,000 residents, 98 per cent of those eligible have been vaccinated.

Many members of the reservation, 150 kilometres south of Lethbridge, Alta., have relatives in Canada and, with a lot of extra vaccine, they decided to see if they could help, he added.

McNeely said the health administrator at the tribal clinic in Browning said she had a lot of shots that were going to expire if they weren't used.

"She's very spiritual and said it would be a sin to waste, so we started playing with the idea on how could we vaccinate our relatives up north," McNeely said Thursday in an interview with The Canadian Press.

He said it took about a week to get approval from the tribal administration and both the Canadian and United States governments to set up the mobile clinic on the U.S. side of the border.

"We were joking about it. We were laughing. 'Could we actually do this?' And it happened. It really happened," he said.

Canadians who attended the clinic were given exemptions from having to quarantine for 14 days. They lined up in their cars, drove through a loop, received their shots through the window, were monitored for 15 minutes and went home.

McNeely said those who need second Pfizer shots were given them, while others were offered the Moderna vaccine.

More than 450 people went through the two-day clinic and it was opened up to any members of the local community, he said.

"There were people lining up from Cardston that were crying as they drove through because they didn't think they were going to get a vaccine," said McNeely.

The clinic is expected to return next week and again in 21 days so everyone can get their second shots.

"We still have a lot of doses to share, but we see this as a number of things. No matter what race, creed, colour, it's about saving human lives," he said.

Pam Blood, the communications spokeswoman for the nearby Blood Tribe, said a number of residents took advantage of the clinic, especially those who were awaiting their second Pfizer shot.

"It did help out with the Pfizer, because a lot of tribal members got their first Pfizer shot so they were able to get their second shot," Blood said.

"Then they opened it up to community members in Cardston who wanted to get their first shot who weren't on the list in the phases. So a lot were able to access that as well," she said, adding it was a wonderful gesture.

"It think it's just wanting to see how everyone can be protected the best that they can."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021

 By Bill Graveland in Calgary. Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter.
For Huerta, and others who expressed similar sentiment in their artist statements, creating art helped destress from or process the busy nights as a nurse. For her, as for many intensive care unit staffers, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an entirely new kind of work. She was used to treating patients she knew how to help, like someone who gets in a car crash on their way to work.




Korea's top diplomat had phone talks with the leader of the World Food Program (WFP) on Friday and agreed to continue joint efforts to resolve hunger and other international humanitarian crises, the foreign ministry said.







Speaking to Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, WFP Executive Director David Beasley took note of Seoul's role so far in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and major humanitarian problems, including that in Afghanistan.







He requested Seoul's continued contribution to the WFP's activities, according to the ministry.







Chung cited the U.N. aid agency's efforts to overcome a food crisis in the midst of the pandemic and reaffirmed Seoul's commitment to continued support.







The two sides also agreed to work closely together on helping North Korea. Beasley briefed the minister on the country's food situation.







The WFP earlier announced that it could suspend its operations in North Korea this year as restrictions on imports remain in place due the global outbreak of the coronavirus.







According to the report, the WFP has been confronted with difficulties in deploying its staff in the North, with its physical monitoring activities being curtailed for a prolonged period of time. (Yonhap)


The Child Rescue Ireland Alert (CRI) for missing Dundalk teenager Svetlana Murphy has now been stood down.

14-year-old Svetlana, who was missing from her home in Blackrock. Co Louth, has been located safe and well in the Belfast area.

She is in the safe custody of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and will be re-united with her family tonight, Thursday April 22nd.

An 18 year old male has been arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and is currently in custody.

Gardai appeal that the privacy of the family be respected at this time.

Gardai would like to thank the public, media and other agencies for assistance provided during this alert.
Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo is urging OPEC members to lobby with the United States that a NOPEC bill against the organization would harm American interests, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting a letter Barkindo had written to the oil producers.

The United States has tried several times in the past to pass antitrust laws targeting OPECs market-fixing policies.

This week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the NOPEC bill, officially referred to as the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Act of 2021.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said before the vote at the committee that the NOPEC Act would be expressly authorizing the Justice Department to pursue antitrust enforcement actions against OPEC members, should it choose to do so, and by ensuring that American courts have jurisdiction to hear such cases.

OPEC is now encouraging its producers to reinforce diplomacy with the U.S. and stress that if the bill becomes law, it would hurt both U.S. interests and U.S. oil producers.

It is essential that member countries reinforce diplomatic bilateral contacts with government officials in the U.S. ... and explain the disadvantages for the U.S. should the NOPEC bill become law, Barkindo wrote in the letter Reuters had seen.

According to Barkindo, the disadvantages of a NOPEC bill for the United States could be weakening the immunity principle at a global level, putting at risk U.S. interests overseas, and the protection for their personnel and assets. In addition, a NOPEC law would raise the risk of more volatile oil prices, which directly hit U.S. oil producers, Barkindos letter says.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce does not support a NOPEC Act, its Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley said in a letter to the Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler last week.

Although NOPEC is intended to be limited to restraint of trade in oil, natural gas or petroleum products, the Committee should be wary of the precedent it could create. Once sovereign immunity has been eliminated for one action of a state or its agents, it can be eliminated for all state actions and the actions of agents of the state. Under reciprocal legal regimes the United States and its agents throughout the world could be tried before foreign courts  perhaps including the military  for any activity that the foreign state wishes to make an offense, Bradley said.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Cory S. Johnson, 28, of 209 West St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:18 p.m. Wednesday on charges of theft and possession of methamphetamine.

 Troy A. Thomas, 37, of 142 Spaulding Place was booked into the Morgan County jail at 8:32 p.m. Wednesday on a disorderly conduct charge.

 Michael T. Davidson, 32, of 135 Walnut Court was booked into the Morgan County jail at 9:43 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and delivery of methamphetamine.

THEFTS, BURGLARIES

 A forest-green adult bicycle valued at $450 was stolen from a yard in the 600 block of Hardin Avenue, according to a report filed at 8 a.m. Thursday.

 A bicycle was stolen between 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday from the front porch of a residence in the 700 block of Hardin Avenue.



Greene County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Charles R. Young, 53, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday on charges of speeding and driving under the influence.

 Gail S. Watkins, 61, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:19 p.m. April 10 on charges of driving under the influence, illegal possession or transportation of liquor and improper lane use.

Carrollton Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Michelle R. Hay, 44, of Alton was booked into Greene County Jail at 1:03 a.m. April 14 on a charge of possession of a controlled substance and on a Greene County warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court.

 Pamela J. Large, 52, of Carrollton was booked into Greene County Jail at 3:52 p.m. April 7 on a battery charge.

 Amanda M. Kuhn, 31, of Carrollton was booked into Greene County Jail at 3:26 p.m. April 7 on a battery charge.

Greenfield Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Kayla R. Whitley, 30, of Fairfield, Iowa, was booked into Greene County Jail at 10:09 p.m. Tuesday on charges of having no valid drivers license and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

 Richard S. Burton, 39, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 6:55 p.m. April 15 on a charge of possession of a narcotic instrument and on a Pike County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court.

 Jenna E. Brogdon, 32, of Greenfield was booked into Greene County Jail at 6:14 p.m. April 14 on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended.

 Cathleen A. Krehely, 33, of Virginia was booked into Greene County Jail at 5:17 p.m. April 11 on a charge of having no valid class drivers license.

Roodhouse Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Kurt C. Costello, 26, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 7:24 p.m. April 16 on charges of battery and criminal damage to property.

 Jason K. Sprague, 43, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 4:53 p.m. April 12 on a petition to revoke probation and a Pike County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court.

 Reagan C. Stewart, 44, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 1:18 a.m. April 7 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

State police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Robert L. Sprague, 48, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:28 p.m. Sunday on a charge of driving under the influence.

White Hall Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Dawn M. Phillips, 43, of Brighton was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:43 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

 Travis A. Winningham, 41, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:21 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

 Brandi R. Fisher, 47, of Carrollton was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:51 p.m. Saturday on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended.

 Denise L. Pluester, 54, of Hardin was booked into Greene County Jail at 1:16 a.m. Saturday on a charge of driving under the influence.

 Casey L. Dossett, 29, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:26 a.m. April 8 on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
The son of a former county official faces a new assault accusation years after sexual assault charges were dropped in a case that led to a bitter fight between State Police and local prosecutors.

Ian Schweizer, 38, has been charged with simple assault for attempting to cause bodily injury to another, according to Sussex County Sheriffs records. He is currently in the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Institute ahead of a Superior Court hearing.

In 2017, a woman accused Schweizer of attacking her outside a bar. Troopers arrested him, but the Sussex County Prosecutors Office decided there was not enough evidence to bring to court, which led both sides to accuse the other of misconduct.

A 101-page review of that case released last month didnt find evidence of corruption by officers or prosecutors, but it faulted the two departments for an immediate and clear breakdown of communication.

A voicemail left with Schweizers lawyer was not immediately returned. The new charge was first reported by Newsweek.

While Schweizer is being held in Sussex County, his new case will be handled by prosecutors in neighboring Morris County.

When we learned about the new complaint yesterday the Prosecutor and I immediately contacted the Prosecutor Supervision Unit of the Attorney Generals Office to request that they supercede in the matter to avoid any appearance of conflict given the prior baseless allegations, First Assistant Sussex Prosecutor Gregory Mueller wrote in an email.

A request for more information from the Morris County Prosecutors Office was not immediately returned.

News that Schweizer was accused of another assault years later was upsetting, said Lauren Fraser, attorney for Laura Gallagher, who previously accused Schweizer of assault.

Obviously these are charges and nothings been proven yet, but if these pan out, it kind of goes to exactly what Laura was trying to prevent by coming forward in the first place, Fraser said in an interview.

Schweizers father is the one-time Executive Director of the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority.

The state attorney generals office hired an outside law firm last summer to investigate allegations that Glenn Schweizer influenced the earlier decision not to charge his son.

The report ultimately cleared all parties, including the head of the State Police.

That review will likely cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a million dollars, according to records obtained by NJ Advance Media through a public records request.

New Jersey hired the firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC in June 2020, according to the retention agreement. The group ultimately billed the state for more than $268,800, according to invoices. Half that amount was still pending approval early April.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Blake Nelson may be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.

Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
Foreign companies account for 95 percent of Vietnams electronics exports, according to the Industry Agency.

A worker inspects a printer circuit board at a factory in Bac Ninh Province. Photo by Reuters.

In the first quarter this year, exports of phones and components were worth $14.1 billion, 99 percent of it by foreign firms.

Exports of computers and parts topped $12 billion, with foreign companies accounting for 98 percent.

The agency said the rate of use of local parts in the industry is 5-10 percent, with Vietnamese businesses in the supply chain mostly producing low added value products.

There are several domestic smartphone brands like Vsmart produced by VinSmart, a subsidiary of conglomerate Vingroup, and Bphone by cybersecurity company BKAV, but the market is dominated by foreign brands.

The agency said: "The products made by domestic firms do not meet the demand in terms of quality or design. The linkages between foreign firms and their local counterparts remain weak."

But it admitted Vietnamese businesses have been striving to improve quality so that they could enter the supply chains of foreign companies, pointing out for instance that the number of local tier-1 suppliers (who supply products directly to a company without going through intermediaries) of Samsung had increased from four in 2014 to 35 last year.

Local electronics firms should identify their core products, target their market segments, stay ahead of consumer trends, and keep up with the global technological development to create competitive products, it said.

"They should take advantage of trade deals such as the EUVietnam Free Trade Agreement," the agency stressed.
One Killed, Two Injured in Marshall Collision

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MARSHALL COUNTY - A two-vehicle collision in Marshall County left one person dead and two others injured.The Marshall County Sheriff's Office said the crash happened at around 2:00 pm on Tuesday at the intersection of Aurora Highway and Commerce Street. Deputies said a car driven by Lovella Pace was stopped at the stop sign at the intersection. Pace then made a left hand turn and proceeded onto Aurora Highway.According to police, Pace pulled onto the highway into the path of a westbound vehicle driven by Harold Henson. Henson was unable to avoid the collision and struck Pace's vehicle.Pace was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Henson was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. A passenger in Henson's vehicle was flown by helicopter to an out of state hospital for treatment. Police did not release the passenger's name.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 18:27:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 illegal immigrants have drowned when their boat capsized off Libyan coast, Eugenio Ambrosi, chief of staff of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), revealed later Thursday.

"Reports of at least 100 lives lost in the Central Mediterranean today," Ambrosi tweeted. "These are the human consequences of policies which fail to uphold international law and the most basic of humanitarian imperatives."

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the IOM said, adding that 381 died and 597 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route last year.

The rescued were sent to overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centers. Enditem
AnnaLynne McCord has opened up about her battle with dissociative identity disorder, which is formerly known as multiple personality disorder, saying she 'wanted to die' for most of her life.

The 90210 alum sat down with Good Morning America for an interview that aired on Friday, three days after she first publicly spoke about her diagnosis and the importance of removing the stigma that is attached to the disorder.

'I wanted to die for so much of my life. I didnt want to be here,' McCord, 33, said. 'And now I wake up every day and I say thank you Im alive again.'

Scroll down for video

Opening up: AnnaLynne McCord, 33, discussed her struggle with dissociative identity disorder in an interview that aired on Good Morning America on Friday

Struggle: McCord described having DID as having 'fragments of yourself,' saying she 'wanted to die' for most of her life

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is characterized by alternating between multiple identities, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

A person with the disorder may feel like one or more voices are in their head and have gaps in memory of events, including trauma.

McCord, who is a sexual abuse survivor, said she realized she needed help a decade ago on the set of 90210 after she filmed a scene in which her character Naomi was raped.

'My whole body like just went into panic mode as if I was living out my life on camera. These moments were coming to light through my work. I didnt understand anything about the mind or the brain at the time, I was just trying to do my job and I couldnt. And it was very scary,' she recalled, adding: 'I found a way out.'

The Nip/Tuck star previously revealed she was raped at the age of 18, which then triggered memories of the sexual abuse she suffered between the ages of five and 11. Before she went to therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the rape, McCord had no recollection of the childhood abuse.

'When the memories started to come in, I just started saying, "No, no, this did not happen,"' she explained. 'It [her dissociative identity disorder] had put into a bubble all of the dangerous, toxic, harmful memories [and] locked it away.'

Looking back: The actress, who is a sexual abuse survivor, said she realized she needed help a on the set of 90210 after she filmed a scene in which her character Naomi was raped

Many people with dissociative disorders like DID struggle with memory loss or amnesia around traumatic events or experiences.

'Trauma can impact people in a variety of ways, particularly those who experience sexual abuse or neglect or physical abuse in youth,' Dr. Panagiota Korenis, associate professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einsteins College of Medicine, told GMA.

'As a complicated way of coping with the trauma, theyve identified these alters in their personality, who take on a variety of personas or personalities.'

McCord said it was 'so destabilizing' to have those traumatic memories come flooding back to her, explaining: 'My whole life means something different now.'

Dissociative identity disorder was previously called multiple personality disorder, but the name was changed in the 1990s to better reflect the condition, which is characterized by a lack of a unified identity.

'You don't have multiple personalities. You have fragments of yourself,' McCord explained. 'Theres AnnaLynne, whos talking to you right now, right? And then theres the part of me that this trauma happened to that's still, if you can imagine it, like trapped in Pandoras box, and I just opened Pandoras box.'

The star said she is sharing her story to help fight the stigma surrounding the disorder while she focuses on healing.

Candid: McCord publicly revealed her diagnosis on Tuesday in a new YouTube video she filmed with brain disorder specialist Dr. Daniel Amen

Not here for it: McCord said she's 'absolutely uninterested in shame' in speaking up about the disorder

'The brain doesnt care about quality of life,' she said. 'It just cares about going on to continue living. I want my quality of life to get better and thats why I stepped into this healing processI want to thrive.'

McCord first revealed her DID diagnosis in a YouTube video that was shared by brain disorder specialist Dr. Daniel Amen on Tuesday.

'The way this is talked about has so much shame. I am absolutely uninterested in shame,' the Atlanta native said in the clip. 'There is nothing about my journey that I invite shame into anymore.'

What is dissociative identity disorder? Dissociative identity disorder (DID) was previously known as multiple personality disorder and is classified by the presence of two or more distinct personality states in those who have it. Dissociative disorders - including DID - usually develop as a reaction to trauma, as a means of keeping difficult memories at bay. As well as the presence of alternate identities, DID symptoms can also include amnesia and other mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. The most commonly used treatments for DID are talk therapy and medication; however, other methods may be suggested depending on the individual and their symptoms. Advertisement

'That's how we get to the point where we can articulate the nature of these pervasive traumas and stuff, as horrible as they are,' she added. 'So, however, we can get it out there, I am wanting to do it.'

McCord is now examining how the sexual abuse she suffered may have led to her dissociative identity disorder.

While speaking to Dr. Amen, the actress opened up in more detail about her own memory loss, explaining that she doesn't remember anything about her life before the age of five, and after that, she can only remember several 'incidents' of abuse, recollections that were triggered by her rape at age 18.

'I don't have anything until around five, and then from five to 11. I recount incidents throughout,' she said, noting that she also has gaps in her memory after the age of 11.

'And then when I was 13, I have a singled-out memory that was just one thing, that I don't have a sense of anything else at that time.'

However, McCord does remember having a split personality when she was 13.

'She was a balls to the wall, middle fingers to the sky, anarchist from hell who will stab you with the spike ring that she wears, and youll like it,' she told Dr. Amen. 'Then shell make you lick the blood from it.'

The actress added: 'She was a nasty little creature, but I have so much gratitude to her because she got me out of the hell that I was in.'

McCord, who received her DID diagnosis before meeting with Dr. Amen, revealed that her doctor told her she suffered from it 'pretty seriously,' and that she likely had 'definitive splits' prior to her memory returning.

Although McCord can now identify she had a split personality from the age of 13, she can look back on her childhood behavior and see evidence of the disorder at an earlier age, before her memories came back.

'Before my memories came back, I had definitive splits. In my history, youll see me, I would just show up with the black wig and a new personality and I was this tough little baddie, and then Id be the bohemian flower child,' she explained.

The anti-trafficking activist now believes that her disorder also played a part in her work as an actress, explaining that all of her roles, in one way or another, were 'splits' - split personalities - although she was not aware of it at the time.

Repressed memories: The Nip/Tuck star said that a sexual assault she suffered at the age of 18 triggered memories of child sexual abuse she suffered

Educational: McCord was engaged in an in-depth discussion with the doctor about the brain and how it works

Sign: The actress said she first became aware of her DID symptoms while filming 2012 movie Excision, explaining she struggled to let go of the 'disturbed, strange' character she played

Difficult: Hours after wrapping the movie, McCord had to return to playing her bubbly 90210 character Naomi Clark, but she 'couldn't get out' of 'dark' role she'd played in Excision

It was not until she took part in the 2012 independent movie Excision that she began to become aware of the symptoms that she now recognizes as signs of DID.

'All of my roles were splits, but I didn't even realize I was doing it at all until I did [Excision],' she shared.

In the movie, which she filmed while on hiatus from the hit Fox series 90210, McCord played the role of Pauline, a 'disturbed, strange girl.' She recalled struggling to let go of that character and return to her day job playing a rich Beverly Hills teen.

'I played a very, very cerebral, disturbed, strange girl, that was very close to who I feel I am on the inside,' she said. 'And it was very exposing, confronting, and a little bit re-traumatizing without realizing it...and even healing as well.

'The crazy thing about it was that I wrapped that film at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday and had to be happy, crazy Beverly Hills blonde bombshell on Wednesday at noon and I couldn't find her, she was not accessible. I was dark, I was very deep into this character Pauline, and I couldn't get [out].

'When I look back in hindsight, I'm like...oh my dear God.'

McCord went on to recall that there was one moment when she 'experienced [her split personality] consciously' when she was 'co-conscious' with a split she referred to as 'little Anna.'

'I could be co-conscious with my "little" and was very clearly defined that I was me, anchored in real time, and "little Anna" was popping up,' she explained, although she added that she has 'spent a lot of her life as the [anarchist] split she was [from] 13 and on.'

Dr. Amen explained that he scanned McCord's brain and the results are 'not like many of the other multiples he has seen,' before questioning whether the actress has ever been given a bipolar diagnosis, which she confirmed she had.

'In 2017, I actually went [to a psychiatrist], knowing for years that I felt like I was [bipolar], considering the fact that I have family history and the symptoms seemed to line up,' she said.

Candid: McCord, pictured with her mom (front) and sisters, previously revealed she was raped at age 18, and the trauma of that attack brought back memories of childhood sexual abuse

Honest: McCord opened up about a number of identities she has taken on in the past during the discussion

Expert: Dr. Amen explained that he scanned McCord's brain and the results are 'not like many of the other multiples he has seen'

Using her voice: McCord said that her goal is to shift the way society views people dealing with the disorder

McCord said she had struggled with symptoms of bipolar disorder for years, but admitted that she actually relied on her 'manic' behavior as a means of pulling herself out of a depressed state.

'I would use my manic symptoms to get me out of depression, I would kind of manipulate my symptoms,' she explained. 'I knew that if I went on a crazy sex spree, or a shopping spree, or any kind of heightened thrill-seeking type things, I could always manipulate myself out of depression so I never really got too stuck.'

However, in 2017, she 'went down a depression spiral' that she could not bring herself out of 'no matter what she did.'

'I tried to go on no-sleeping benders to activate my mania, I tried sex, spending [sprees], I tried traveling all over the globe the first part of that year but I could not get out of the depression.'

Referring to McCord's brain scan, Dr. Amen said that he believes the actress used her split personalities as a means of 'managing' her childhood sexual trauma.

'When you've had intense childhood sexual trauma, you split as a way to manage it,' he said. 'And the brighter you are, the more you split.'

He also suggested that the actress may have had an undiagnosed brain injury, which could also be an underlying cause of her condition.

McCord, who noted that there is a 'massive spectrum obviously' of disorder in how it impacts people battling it, said that her goal is to shift the way society views people dealing with the disorder.

'For me, my heart is to change this narrative around these behaviors that follow trial of the trauma, and not treating someone or responding to someone or judging someone from their actions but asking, "What happened to you? How did we get here?' she said.

If you or someone close to you is in need of mental health help, text 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to speak to a certified crisis counselor.
DARPA-funded fabric protects against chemical, biologic threats

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing new fabrics and protective equipment that can reduce the risk of chemical and biological threats to service members and responders.

FLIR Systems was awarded a contract potentially worth more than $20 million under DARPAs Personalized Protective Biosystems program. Under the PPB award, FLIR will rapidly develop fabrics with embedded catalysts and chemicals that can be incorporated into boots, gloves and eye protection, company officials said. Teams led by Leidos and Charles River Analytics were also awarded PPB contracts.

The PPB program aims to reduce the weight, heat and physiological burden of the current personal protective equipment soldiers and health care workers must wear. By combining lightweight protective materials with prophylactic medical technologies, FLIR aims to mitigate chemical and biological threats to the eyes, skin and lungs, company officials said. The complete system will enable troops and first responders to operate without the burden of carrying and wearing PPE, which can cause heat stress and reduce time spent completing the mission.

In this recent 60 Minutes episode, Matthew Hepburn, a DARPA program manager and infectious disease physician, said research agencys goal is to stop pandemics from happening. Hepburn told the program that when he was hired at DARPA eight years ago, his mission was to take pandemics off the table.

This is not new work for FLIR. The company has been working on what it calls an Integrated Soldier Protective System. The fabrics that FLIR will develop under the DARPA contract are part of that system.

One goal is to create protective gear that is lightweight and cooler to wear.

The complete system will enable troops and first responders to operate without the burden of carrying and wearing PPE, which can cause heat stress and reduce time spent completing the mission, FLIR said in a statement.

The contract has two-year base, a two-year option and then a one-year final option. Most of the work will be performed at FLIR facilities in Pittsburgh.

This article was first posted to Washington Technology, a sibling site to GCN.
New Delhi:

A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to fade away Taj Mahal controversy after BJP leader Sangeet Soms comment, BJP parliamentarian Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday paddling the controversy said that Mughal-built monument was originally a Hindu temple.

Katiyar said, Taj Mahal is originally a Hindu temple and should be renamed Tejo Mahal.

Katiyar is a Rajya Sabha member and a prominent figure in the campaign for a Ram temple at Babri mosque site in Ayodhya.

The BJP parliamentarian asserted that the Taj Mahal was built on the ruins of an ancient Shiva temple.

Katiyar said, Taj Mahal is a Hindu temple. There are many symbols of Hindu gods and goddesses in Taj.

He added,  It was known as Tejo Mahal and water was used to drip from its ceiling.

Katiyar added that UP CM Yogi Adityanath should go into Taj Mahal and see the Hindu signs inside it.

He added that, If Taj was only a grave then why are so many rooms built here? There is no need to demolish any structure anywhere. Its name should be changed to Tejo Mahal.

Adityanath announced visiting the Taj Mahal to control the damage after BJP legislator Sangeet Som said that Taj Mahal was made by traitors.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
This update is important if only because the weekend is upon us AND streets are becoming increasingly crowded with people with diminished driving skill overall thanks to the pandemic.

Read more . . .
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has pitched in to supply oxygen to several parts of the country amid rising COVID-19 cases. Air Force's C-17 and IL-76 aircraft airlifted cryogenic oxygen containers from Air Force Station Hindan to Panagarh in West Bengal for recharging.

Earlier, DRDO's oxygen containers were airlifted by IAF from Bangalore for COVID centers at Delhi.

Other than Oxygen, it has airlifted doctors and nursing staff from Kochi, Mumbai, Vizag, and Bangalore towards setting up DRDO COVID hospital in Delhi.

Last year also, amid the first wave of the pandemic, the Indian Air Force had pitched in supplying essentials across the country.

Meanwhile, all the IAF officials have got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 90% have got 2nd dose of the vaccine. Amid the pandemic, the Air Force reported 8159 cases and 36 deaths due to the COVID-19.

In the other two services, the Navy has also given the first jabs to all of its personnel, while the Army has given first jabs to 95% of its personnel.

Live TV
Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain
A committee within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on Friday to discuss the future of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.

The meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. and adjourn at 5 p.m. with a vote on updated recommendations concerning the one-dose vaccine.

Ten days ago, the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration called for the immediate pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six people in the U.S. developed a very rare blood clot disorder within two weeks of vaccination.

In the six reported cases, six women developed cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in combination with low levels of blood platelets. One of the women died.

Since the pause, the CDC and FDA have been reviewing data involving the six reported blood clot cases but also any potential new cases.

According to CNN, the committee will hear of at least one new case, after Oregon health officials said Thursday night they were investigating the case of a woman in her 50s who died after having received the vaccine and who had symptoms of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Before the pause, 6.8 million Americans received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.

About 9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson have been shipped to states but have yet to be used, according to the CDC.

The meeting is set to discuss the risks and benefits of utilizing the one-dose vaccine as well as the rare blood clot condition thrombosis with thrombocytopenic syndrome.

The meeting will conclude with a vote on the committee recommendation for the future of the vaccine in the U.S.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health ordered all vaccine providers in the state to pause administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine when FDA and CDC called for halting doses. Prior to the pause, more than 181,000 Massachusetts residents received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Initially, the agencies predicted the rollout of the vaccine would continue in a matter of days.

On Tuesday, the European Union ruled that the risk-benefit profile of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine remained positive. Shipments of the vaccine to the European Union will resume, the pharmaceutical company said.

In resuming the vaccine within the European Union, Johnson & Johnson updated its COVID-19 vaccine packet to include information on the diagnosis and management of the rare blood clots. Healthcare professionals, the company said, will be alerted to the signs and symptoms of thromboembolism with thrombocytopenia, as well as the appropriate course of treatment.

Related Content:
Following the death of former Vice President Walter Mondale, the World Socialist Website is republishing a 1972 article by longtime Trotskyist and Workers League founding member Bill Brust, entitled Stalinism and the Farmer-Labor Party of the 1930s.

Mondale, who died yesterday, was a member of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) who began his career supporting fellow DFL leader Hubert Humphreys campaign to purge members of the Communist Party from the Farmer-Labor Party. The Communist Party paved the way for this purge through its full-throated support for Humphrey and its Popular Front policy of an alliance with the imperialist Democratic Party.

In its obituary of Mondale, the New York Times notes:

Steeped in the progressive political views of his father, Mr. Mondale joined the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and became involved in its internal battle to oust Communists and their sympathizers. Mr. Humphrey, at the time the outspoken mayor of Minneapolis, led that fight, and in 1948 Mr. Mondale signed up for Mr. Humphreys first Senate campaign. Mr. Humphrey became a friend who would influence Mr. Mondales rise.

Humphrey went on to become Vice President and a prominent supporter of the War in Vietnam. Mondale was appointed to fill Humphreys Senate seat when the latter was chosen as Lyndon Johnsons vice president in 1965. This article contains critical insight into the role of the Communist Party and Democratic Party and provides a backdrop to Mondales political career.

The essay by Brust is available to read here.
He has left viewers on the edge of their seats as they wait to learn if his character PC Ryan Pilkington has shot DI Kate Fleming after Sunday's dramatic cliffhanger.

And Gregory Piper couldn't look further away from his role as a Line Of Duty baddie as he smiled while stepping out with his girlfriend Becca Fuller on Monday.

The actor, 23, looked loved-up as he shared several giggles with his actress girlfriend while arriving at a West Midlands church where the couple run drama classes for children and young people.

PC Pilkington who? Gregory Piper couldn't look further away from his role as a Line Of Duty baddie as he smiled while stepping out with his girlfriend Becca Fuller on Monday

Gregory opted for a low-key look of skinny jeans teamed with a Jack Wills hoodie, trainers and sunglasses.

While his girlfriend Becca, who he shares a home with, cut a casual figure in a black T-shirt, skinny jeans and pink trainers.

The happy couple regularly share loved-up snaps to Instagram, teasing glimpses of their colourful abode where they have been living during lockdown.

Gregory first joined the Line of Duty cast as Ryan in 2012 when he was just 13, playing the criminal teen embroiled in a world of organised crime, who was part of a gang working with bent copper DCI Tony Gates (Lennie James).

Casual: The actor, 23, looked loved-up while arriving at a West Midlands church where the couple run drama classes for children and young people

Baddie: He has left viewers on the edge of their seats as they wait to learn if his character PC Ryan Pilkington, pictured, has shot DI Kate Fleming after Sunday's dramatic cliffhanger

In a shocking twist the character returned for series six, having trained as a police officer to infiltrate Hillside Lane and hide the OCG's involvement in the murder of Gail Vella.

Sunday's episode of Line Of Duty, which drew in an astonishing 10m viewers, saw DI Fleming (Vicky McClure) and PC Pilkington (Gregory) locked in a tense showdown, with two gunshots heard as the screen faded to black

After viewers learnt that Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Macdonald, was related to gangster Tommy Hunter, the fifth episode ended with a nail-biting cliffhanger.

Soon after the show aired, Twitter was flooded with wild reaction from fans, who demanded bosses show the next episode now, as the suspense was too much to wait another week to see the outcome of the shoot off.

Low-key: Gregory opted for a low-key look of skinny jeans teamed with a Jack Wills hoodie, trainers and sunglasses while his girlfriend, who he lives with, opted for a casual ensemble

Smitten: The happy couple regularly share loved-up snaps to Instagram, teasing glimpses of their colourful abode where they have been living during lockdown.

Fans were also left reeling after fan favourite Hastings was tipped as being the elusive H again.

In typical AC-12 style, a twist emerged in the form of a throwback clue to the 2019 series showing the word definitely misspelt as 'definately' in Jo's messages - a clue that previously suggested Hastings could be one of the bent coppers he is so hellbent on finding.

Although fans were already reeling with the twist, the show ended with the tense cliffhanger seeing PC Pilkington drawing his gun at DI Fleming.

In the closing moments, Kate  a goodie (at least we hope)  and PC Ryan  a baddie through and through  are seen with their guns trained on each other.

Rising star: Gregory first joined the Line of Duty cast as Ryan in 2012 when he was just 13, playing the criminal teen embroiled in a world of organised crime, who was part of a gang working with bent copper DCI Tony Gates (Lennie James)

Leaving viewers on the edge of their seats, the episode then ended after the duo shouted at each other to drop their guns, with two gun shots heard as the screen faded to black.

Has Kate  whom we've watched snaring bent coppers over six series  been killed in the line of duty? Or has she finished off corrupt and psychopathic Pilkington?

And if she's only wounded, will DI Arnott  Kate's partner in crime-fighting  manage to save her?

Kate had managed to send him a text just before the intense final scene, however it remains to be seen if he makes it to her in time to help and catch Ryan.

Line of stress! Sunday's episode of Line Of Duty, which drew in an astonishing 10m viewers, saw DI Fleming (Vicky McClure) and PC Pilkington (Gregory), pictured, locked in a tense showdown, with two gunshots heard as the screen faded to black

On Monday, Line Of Duty fans shared their theory over who survives the shoot out after they claimed the series six trailer gives away a clue.

It came as actor Adrian, who plays Hastings, revealed that there's already been 'a very big clue' about what happens in next week's episode.

Putting their amateur detective skills to the test, several Line of Duty fans took to Twitter after Sunday's show to suggest that the series six trailer had the answers.

They were quick to point out one blink-and-you-miss-it scene which sees Kate standing next to Acting Detective Superintendent Jo - which has yet to air on the show.

Wah! After viewers learnt that Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Macdonald, was related to gangster Tommy Hunter, the fifth episode ended with a nail-biting cliffhanger (Kate pictured)

Fans thus deduced the scene must happen in the aftermath of the shooting - indicating Kate survives. Although nothing is known of Ryan's fate.

One person declared: 'Screen grab from #Lineofduty session 6 @BBC trailer. #katefleming looks p***ed, #jodavidson has her hands in the air. THIS SCENE HASN'T OCCURRED YET. #katefleming lives for at least 1 more episode.'

And another wrote: 'Nah shes no dead! Major spoiler if you Look back at the original season 6 trailer - both Jo and Kate get stopped by armed police, exact same clothes they were wearing just now. I reckon Ryan either missed or the second shot was Jo.'

Adrian appeared to back up the theories as he appeared as the first guest back in the Good Morning Britain studio on Monday, pointing fans away from the misspelt 'definately' but insisting many 'already know' her fate.

Reflecting on Sunday's dramatic show, Adrian said: 'Great cliffhanger again, Jed loves his cliffhangers. And a lot of LOD fans know [what's coming next for Kate].'

Detective work: On Monday, Line Of Duty fans shared their theory over who survives the shoot out after they claimed the series six trailer gives away a clue

Presenter Adil Ray then jumped in asking: 'Theyve worked it out you mean?'

Adrian continued, knowingly nodding his head: 'A lot of Line of Duty fans know whats going on. All will be revealed in the fullness of time.'

Susanna then despaired as she said: 'I feel like you're giving us a really heavy piece of information that I can't for the life of me work out.'

Adrian then dropped the bombshell: 'Yes, theres been a very big clue. Im giving you a scoop. As the first guest back on the show, I am giving you a massive scoop. Theres a clue out there as to what happens next.'

Line of Duty continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.

Interesting: It came as actor Adrian, who plays Hastings, revealed that there's already been 'a very big clue' about what happens in next week's episode on Monday's GMB
The Port Arthur Public Health Department is downsizing its COVID-19 vaccine clinic after the number of people visiting has been cut by about half and an increasing number of events are planned for the current site.

Public Health Director Judith Smith said the department started out vaccinating between 700 and more than 1,000 people each day. However, thats now decreased to no more than about 400.

The Civic Center also will have a few events and they do not mind taking equipment down and putting it up again, but we have the ability to downsize and allow them to schedule events, she said.

That downsizing will transfer the vaccine clinic to the Texas Art Museum building, 3501 Cultural Center Drive.

She said the clinic, which can hold up to about 250 people at one time, still will take walk-in patients.

We want to encourage people to still come here for vaccines, she said. If there is any hesitancy, I will be happy to speak with people to give them that information.

Related: SE Texas hospital returning COVID beds to regular use

She encouraged residents to contact her at (409) 993-8832, (409) 728-1439 or judith.smith@portarthurtx.gov.

Through Thursday, almost 35% of Jefferson County residents 16 years of age and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Just under one-quarter of the same cohort of residents have received both doses, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

However, according to that data, the number of Black and Latino residents who have been vaccinated still lags behind.

Just over 25% of Black Jefferson County residents have been vaccinated and nearly 12% of Latino county residents have been vaccinated. U.S. Census Bureau data shows Black and Latino residents make up 34% and 22% of the countys population, respectively.

As more members of the general population with relatively little hesitancy have been vaccinated, a growing number of groups across the state are working on projects to talk directly to underrepresented and other communities that may be wary of the vaccine.

One such effort will come to Beaumont on Saturday.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

DSHS is partnering with community organizations including the Golden Triangle Minority Business Council and the Jefferson County Medical Society to encourage Beaumont residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible, according to a news release from the agency.

To advance that mission, the agency will host a COVID-19 vaccine outreach display from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Walmart at 4145 Dowlen Road.

The display will feature information about the vaccine and its effectiveness, such as that the vaccines were tested in clinical trials with diverse races and ethnicities. It also will give information regarding the efficacy of vaccination efficacy and its potential to allow residents to get back to normal.

Information will be provided in English and Spanish.

The display is one of 22 parking lot pop-up events taking place around Texas this week. The events are expected to continue in Walmart parking lots through mid-May.

This past year has been hard on everyone, Beverly Hatcher, president of the Golden Triangle Minority Business Council, said in the release. By getting the shot, Texans are doing their part to get our lives back to normal.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
The hearing may not have been packed to the gills, but it was refreshing to hear how citizens, and not just elected leaders, want to spend the Read more
It's April 24, 1915. Some 250 Armenian intellectuals are rounded up in Constantinople and imprisoned by Ottoman police. Known as Red Sunday, it is today a day of remembrance for a murderous yearslong campaign that would see the majority of the Ottoman Empires prewar Armenian population expelled or exterminated. According to estimates, between 664,000 and 1.2 million people lost their lives. A century later, recognition of the killings as genocide is still a divisive diplomatic issue, with Turkey and Azerbaijan -- who share strong ethnic and cultural ties -- officially denying genocide took place. On April 24, a day commemorated in Armenia as Genocide Remembrance Day, U.S. President Joe Biden fulfilled a campaign promise and officially recognized the mass killings as genocide. It was a move that had also been promised by President Barack Obama, but which failed to materialize. Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring," Biden said in an April 24 statement.

In 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate both passed resolutions recognizing the massacres as genocide, but with the April 24 announcement, Biden has become the first U.S. president to adopt recognition of genocide as official policy.



What horrific events happened in Turkey beginning in 1915? And what informed Biden's historic move? Did World War I lead to the killings? A secret pact between Germany and the Ottoman Empire set the stage for the massacres. Agreeing on the eve of World War I to fight alongside Germany against Russia, the Ottomans received a promise that Germany would be responsible for rectifying their eastern borders in a manner suitable for the establishment of a link with the Muslim peoples of Russia. The empires proclamation on entering the war stated that it would establish a new frontier, uniting all branches of our race.

Separating the Muslims of Russia from those of Turkey was a large swath of territory inhabited by Armenians, stretching from the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire into Russian territory in the South Caucasus. That population had lived there for hundreds of years, for the most part coexisting peacefully with the Muslim Ottomans and enjoying a significant degree of autonomy. A number of prominent Armenian families performed important functions for the Ottoman elite, working as architects, gunpowder makers, and administrators of the imperial mint. After a long period of coexistence, what prompted the Ottomans to embark on an anti-Armenian policy? Relations between the Armenians and their imperial rulers were fraught before the outbreak of World War I. Emboldened by support from European powers and major Ottoman territorial losses in both the Caucasus and the Balkans, Armenian revolutionary groups were active both in the Ottoman Empire and across the border in Russia by the end of the 19th century. Groups such as the Dashnaks and Hunchaks organized uprisings, terrorist attacks, and assassination attempts in the Ottoman Empire. Some 100,000 Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Muslims in massacres in 1895 and 1896, foreshadowing what was to come two decades later.

With the Armenian population split between the Ottoman and Russian empires, the start of the war in 1914 saw tens of thousands of them fighting on both sides of the front in the Caucasus. However, a significant proportion of Ottoman Armenians were supportive of Russia, and some had cooperated with Russian forces or greeted them as liberators in previous wars throughout the 19th century, such as the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, in which Russia annexed the regions of Kars and Batum, which both had large Armenian populations. This contributed to the Ottoman leadership's perception of Armenians along the Russian front line as a risk, and their fear was not unjustified. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Sazonov, ordered that arms be smuggled to Ottoman Armenians in September 1914, ahead of the Ottoman Empire's expected entry into the war. A Russian diplomat leaving Erzerum in late 1914 wrote: The Armenian population...is waiting impatiently for the arrival of Russian forces and their liberation from the Turkish yoke. They will hardly risk to stage an uprising before Russian forces arrive on their doorstep, fearing that the smallest delay of Russian assistance will lead to their complete destruction, because, even though they still have weapons hidden in various secret locations, they will not dare to take it because of the state of war proclaimed in the country and the threat of imminent massacres. The Ottomans began to turn on their Armenian subjects after a major defeat on the Russian front, at Sarikamish, in January 1915. Caucasus expert Thomas de Waal writes that after the disastrous failure of this attempt to advance into the Russian-controlled Caucasus, War Minister Enver Pasha ordered the disarming of non-Muslims in the army, who would be drafted into labor battalions. This was followed by British and French landings on the Dardanelles, threatening the Ottoman capital. Faced with catastrophe, the Ottomans began deporting and killing Armenians in regions near the Russian front line in February 1915, according to British historian Christopher J. Walker. The position of the Turkish government is that the Ottomans decided to relocate Armenians living in the war zone or areas near the advancing Russian Army, as well as Armenians in other regions who were suspected of collaborating. The diplomats prediction of an uprising was not too far off. With Russian forces in nearby Persia, Armenians in the city of Van in April 1915 prepared to defend themselves from the Ottomans, who had been searching nearby villages for weapons and arresting suspected rebels. These searches were accompanied by anti-Armenian pogroms. Rafael de Nogales, a Venezuelan mercenary among the Turkish forces, described witnessing a massacre in the village of Adilcevaz. Confronting an Ottoman official over the killings, he was told that the Ottoman forces, assisted by local Kurds, were carrying out an order from the provincial governor to exterminate all Armenian males of 12 years of age and over. About 55,000 Armenians were killed throughout the province.

Greatly outnumbered and outgunned, Armenian forces, totaling just 1,300 men, held parts of Van for about a month, weathering a siege by the Ottomans and taking in refugees from the surrounding countryside, until Russian forces arrived on May 19, 1915.

When did the killings turn systematic? The clash over Van marked a tipping point in the Turkish policy, which became much more radical. A week after Russian forces arrived in the city, the Ottoman government legalized the policy by adopting a Deportation Law. The deportations were conducted openly, with announcements giving local communities a few days to prepare. According to American historian Eugene Rogan, mass murders of these same deportees were secretly ordered in parallel. Regional officials who did not comply, or who asked for written confirmation, could be removed from their posts or even killed: "When one district governor in Diyarbakir Province demanded written notice before carrying out the massacre of Armenians from his district, he was removed from office, summoned to Diyarbakir, and murdered en route."

The U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau Sr., described the situation as follows in a July 1915 telegram: "Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempts to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other, accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. "These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place. The [Muslim] and Armenian populations have been living in harmony, but because Armenian volunteers, many of them Russian subjects, have joined [the] Russian Army in the Caucasus and because some have been implicated in armed revolutionary movements, and others have been helpful to Russians in their invasion of Van district, terrible vengeance is being taken. "Most of the sufferers are innocent and have been loyal to [the] Ottoman government. Nearly all are old men, women, all the men from 20 to 45 are in Turkish Army.... Untold misery, disease, starvation, and loss of life will go on unchecked."

That many of the sufferers were innocent was admitted at the time by the Ottoman interior minister and architect of the massacres, Talaat Pasha. In an interview with the Berliner Tageblatt, he said: "We have been blamed for not making a distinction between guilty and innocent Armenians. [To do so] was impossible. Because of the nature of things, one who was still innocent today could be guilty tomorrow." In the same interview, Talaat Pasha admitted that deportees were being killed -- although he put the blame on individual officials and claimed they had been punished. We are no savages, he told the newspaper. The views Talaat Pasha expressed privately were quite different, however. A German envoy wrote that Talaat Pasha was unambiguous about the Ottoman governments intention to use the world war to make a clean sweep of its internal enemies -- the indigenous Christians of all confessions -- without being hindered in doing so by diplomatic intervention from other countries. In the envoys words, Talaat Pasha intended to annihilate the Armenians. This was echoed in a report from Germanys ambassador to Constantinople, Baron Hans von Wangenheim. The expansion of the deportations to provinces far from the front line, he said, and the manner in which the deportation is being carried out shows that, indeed, the government is pursuing the purpose of annihilating the Armenian race in the Turkish Empire.

As suggested by the barons reference to the expansion of deportations and killings to new provinces, the policy was not carried out evenly throughout the empire. Nor were all parts of the Ottoman state willing participants. Some regional governors asked for their Armenians to be spared or took active measures to save them, and the Ottoman militarys role in the deportations has been described as minimal. Instead of the military, the massacres were mainly carried out by the so-called Special Organization, an outfit of some 30,000 men that was mainly composed of ex-convicts. The German consul in Aleppo wrote that the Ottoman government had released convicts from prison, put them in soldiers uniforms, and sent them to areas which the deportees are to pass. The killings followed the same general pattern, as described by Rogan: A few days after deportation notices were posted, armed men would drive Armenians from their homes. The males aged 12 and up would be separated from the rest and led out of town to be killed. The women, children, and elderly men would be marched from town to town in the blazing heat until they collapsed and died, or would be killed as they fell behind. Most were marched toward Aleppo, from where the survivors were sent on to other cities along the Euphrates River. By some estimates, less than 10 percent of the prewar Armenian population was left in the Ottoman Empire when it finally collapsed in 1922.

Did the outside world know what was happening? The atrocities were well-known to the outside world while they were occurring. In a joint diplomatic note protesting the killings, the Entente Powers -- Russia, France, and Britain -- were the first to use the phrase crimes againsthumanity. Besides diplomatic notes and reports home from envoys and ambassadors, the massacres were widely reported in the press. On July 12, 1915, The New York Times wrote: "Armenians have been pitilessly evicted by tens of thousands and driven off to die in the desert near Konia or to Upper Mesopotamia.... It is safe to say that unless Turkey is beaten to its knees very speedily, there will soon be no more Christians in the Ottoman Empire." A relief movement formed in the United States, and Ambassador Morgenthau was instructed to inform Constantinople that its policy toward the Armenians had aroused general and unfavorable criticism among the American people, which is destroying the feeling of goodwill which the people of the United States have held towards Turkey. Publicity turned the massacres into a significant political issue in the United States and even featured in President Woodrow Wilsons campaign for reelection in 1916. The U.S. Congress adopted a resolution in July 1916 urging Wilson to designate a day on which the citizens of this country may give expression to their sympathy by contributing to the funds now being raised for the relief of the Armenians in the belligerent countries. In response, Wilson declared October 21-22, 1916, as Armenian (as well as Syrian) relief days.

What is the Turkish position on the killings and deportations? Turkey does not deny that many Armenians were killed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, but the governments official position is that the Armenian deaths do not constitute genocide. Highlighting deaths among other nationalities of the empire, Turkey justifies the policy of deportations, with a Foreign Ministry website stating that the Armenians took arms against their own government. Their violent political aims, not their race, ethnicity, or religion, rendered them subject to relocation. It also states that no direct evidence has been discovered demonstrating that any Ottoman official sought the destruction of the Ottoman Armenians as such. After Biden's announcement on April 24, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu immediately criticized the decision. "Words cannot change history or rewrite it," Cavusoglu said on Twitter. "We will not be given lessons on our history from anyone. Political opportunism is the biggest betrayal of peace and justice. We completely reject this statement that is based on populism. #1915Events." And just before Bidens announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the issue has been politicized by third parties and turned into a tool of intervention against our country.
Suicide Watch: Day One of Bidens Leaders Summit on Climate

April 22 , 2021 (EIRNS)Forty heads of state and government and dozens of other leaders of institutions gathered (virtually) today to sing the praises of Joe Biden (Joe to many of them) for bringing America back, as most of them saidperhaps best expressed by the Britains Alok Sharma, appointed full-time President of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference planned for Nov. 1-12 in Glasgow: We welcome America back into the fold, clearly meaning the Malthusian death cult known as the British Empire and its Paris Agreement. The meeting was chaired by climate fanatics Joe Biden, Antony Blinken and John Kerry.

There was a sharp distinction between the presentations of the leaders of the Western world, and those of Russia, China, Mexico, South Africa, and some (but only some) other leaders from the Global South. While Biden, Macron, Merkel, Trudeau, Draghi, et al. described the so-called climate crisis as the greatest existential crisis facing mankind today, they emphasized that all countries must join in the suicide pact of eliminating fossil fuels and shutting down major portions of industry and agriculture to save Mother Earth from the non-existent danger of carbon dioxide.

But the West no longer can dictate to the nations still guided by reason, rather than by Chicken Littles screaming that the sky is falling.

Xi Jinping spoke poetically about the harmony and balance between man and nature, but added that it must follow a people-centered approach, focusing on those longing for a better life. We must follow the UN-centered multi-nationalism (i.e., not the artificial rules-based order made up by the imperialist powers). Most importantly, he and many others emphasized the common but differentiated responsibilities between the advanced sector and the developing sector, insisting that the concerns of the developing countries must be accommodated. It is of note that climate czar John Kerry, speaking today, called on China to give up its intention to allow coal-fired energy production to peak only in the 2030s. Xi did not obey, stating that they would continue producing coal-fired plants, as presented in the 14th Five Year Plan. That plan made clear that moving beyond coal depends on expanding nuclear and fusion power.

Vladimir Putin also insisted on UN-centered policies. He explained that Russia had reduced carbon emissions by half since the 1990s (like China, Russia has a serious real pollution problem, which they are resolving, with the side-effect of reducing carbon emissions). He said Russia is restructuring its energy and industrial sectors, focusing on nuclear power (he reminded the world that there are no carbon emissions from nuclear), as well as petro-gas and hydrogen. He observed that Russias ecosystem absorbs 2.5 billion tons of CO2 per year. He closed by insisting that global development must not only be green, but also sustainable, by fighting poverty and closing the gap between rich and poor. Nary a word about solar or wind.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) began by stating that Mexico had recently discovered three hydrocarbon deposits, all of which, he said, would be used to meet domestic demand. No longer, he said, would Mexico sell crude oil and import gasoline. Hydro plant turbines were being modernized to produce more electricity at less cost. Vast reforestation was taking place700 million trees, heading for a billion, and Mexico would help reforestation in the triangle countries to the south. He offered to advise the U.S. on this successful program. He also called on the U.S. to treat migrants as exceptional people who are willing to work hard, and who should have a path to citizenship if they desire. The State Department had warned AMLO in advance that the issue of migration should not be raised in the context of the environmentthey are two totally different mattersbut he did anyway.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, interestingly, barely mentioned climate, but focused on the financial disaster which, due to the pandemic, is striking countries like his that depend on tourism, and demanded that the nations debt must be forgiven or reorganizedit simply cannot be paid. He praised the fact that not only the U.S., but also China, were setting the pace on the climate issue.

The session was ended by 19-year-old Xiye Bastida, a Mexican version of Greta Thunberg (who was busy testifying at the U.S. Congress), ranting and lecturing the evil white folk in the Global North who caused all the problems, and must now take direction from the brainwashed children. Blinken spent several minutes praising her as one of the leaders of the future who are dedicated to saving us from our folly. Bastida had been scheduled to speak in the session following AMLOs, but she was moved up to provide a direct rejoinder to AMLO, and build her up as an international figure. One pro-AMLO YouTube program, Antonio Villegass Guacamole News, reported on the incident: Biden Ambushes AMLO at the Summit! They Create a Mexican Greta. She Already Attacked Him. From the Soros Group. According to Villegas, Bastida insisted that the world has to recognize that we are at the end of the era of fossil fuels.

The rest of the day included a session on Green Finance genocide with the normal suspects (Yellen, Georgieva, etc.), and another on Green Defense genocide (Lloyd Austin, DNI Avril Haines, Britains Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, NATOs Jens Stoltenberg). Climate is the center of all things, they agreed, and the world must bow down or die, or both. April 23 is more of the same, ending with Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates.
SpaceX's competitor, OneWeb, finally released its Innovation Challenge 2021 on Apr. 23. The independent space agency's latest program focuses on acquiring different ideas from various people, agencies, and companies.



OneWeb explained that it will use the gathered information to improve its internet satellites.

"Space is the future for communications on Earth," said Massimilian Ladovaz, the CTO of OneWeb.

He added that OneWeb is currently working on its roadmap, which would allow the space agency to redefine new innovations, ideas, and partnership opportunities.

"Our space sector is thriving, and this exciting new competition by OneWeb will help it to grow even further by drawing on the best that British industry and the next generation of researchers have to offer," added Amanda Solloway, the U.K. government's Science Minister.

OneWeb's Innovation Challenge 2021

OneWeb's press release stated that the space company's latest Innovation Challenge 2021 aims to harness ideas from academic students, professors, as well as engineering partners, and various research professionals.

Also Read: SpaceX Gets $2.89B Contract from NASA for Artemis Moon Mission to Use HLS Starship Lander Since the Apollo

If you want to share your idea, you need to remember that once you send your work, OneWeb will be entitled to use any information and materials provided by the participants. OneWeb also explained that all submitted information must be written in the English language.

Aside from this, SpaceX's competitor also stated that your information and materials should be original. If OneWeb finds out that your idea is copied from another source, it will automatically lead to disqualification. You can click here to see more details about the rules and regulations of OneWeb's Innovation Challenge 2021.

How to join OneWeb's Innovation Challenge 2021

CISION Pr Newswire reported that if you want to join OneWeb's Innovation Challenge 2021, all you need to do is visit its official Innovation website. After that, you can scroll down at the bottom until you reach the "Register to Enter" section.

Once you are in that area, all you need to do is enter your full name, email address, and your company or organization. You are also required to click the "I Agree" button before you can proceed.

When you are done with these steps, all you need to do is click the Register option, which is located at the bottom right corner of the page. After that, you can now wait for OneWeb's email confirmation.

For more news updates about OneWeb and other SpaceX competitors, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Elon Musk's New Competitor Will Deploy Its Internet Satellites Soon! Amazon Kuiper Secures Nine Atlas V Rockets

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Susan Richman, a former publicity executive at Scribner and other houses and who also served as president of the Womens Media Group and the Publishers Publicity Association, died at her home April 19. She was 80.

Richman began her publishing career after graduating from Cornell University, working as a clerk typist for Charles Scribners Sons. She eventually rose to the position of senior v-p and director of publicity for the publisher. Richman went on to work in publicity at a number of houses including Macmillan, Turner Books, and Warner Books, which is now part of the Hachette Book Group and renamed Grand Central Publishing.

During her tenure at GCP she worked with such authors as C.P. Snow, Jerry Lewis, P.D. James, Alan Paton, Patricia Cornwall, and Jack Welch. She retired from GCP in 2009.

Richman was deeply committed to the Goddard Riverside Community Center Book Fair, a longtime book industry charity partnership. Indeed, she worked with the fair for more than 30 years, organizing the its Meet the Author dinner events and helped to raise millions of dollars to support the nonprofit community center.

Richman was honored for her work at the nonprofit at an event in 2014 which featured tributes from such writers as Lee Child, Robert Caro, Mary Higgins Clark and Calvin Trillin. Richman said that the benefit book fair was one of the best things that ever happened to me. The people who make up the Goddard Community, from the staff and clients to the board, committee members, dinner hosts and volunteers, have enriched my life.
Jersey City Superintendent Franklin Walker decided to reopen schools just days after announcing they would remain in remote learning, so what changed in the time between the decisions?

In a mass email to parents and teachers Wednesday, Walker announced he would reopen the schools on April 29, starting with students from pre-kindergarten to third grade. The district would then bring students from fourth grade through high school on May 10.

It was a combination of a suggestion of a soft reopening  starting with a limited number of students  by school board President Mussab Ali and the news that 100 additional teachers had returned to their classrooms Monday and Tuesday, Ali said Thursday.

At the time I made the (soft reopening) request the superintendent didnt have the figures on how many teachers reported on Monday and Tuesday, Ali said Thursday.

In his announcement Sunday night that the 30,000-student district would not reopen, Walker said that there were not enough teachers returning to school to reopen effectively. Initially, between 450 and 500 teachers said they couldnt safety return to the school because of the coronavirus, but that figure was down to 379 this week, officials said.

Once (Walker) was able to revisit those figures, he made the determination that it would be possible to revisit this, so we started reaching out to the key stakeholders, particularly the unions, and try to see what we could do to provide the flexibility, what the board could do to provide the resources and how could we put this together in a comprehensive way, Ali said.

Walker told The Jersey Journal he would give out additional details about the reopening at Thursdays Board of Education meeting at 6 p.m. Only Walker has the power to decide whether schools reopen or stay remote.

The reopening includes three groups of students, two of them participating in alternating weeks of in-person learning Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The third group will be all-remote students. All students and staff will be remote on Wednesdays while schools are cleaned.

Based on results of a survey and calls to parents, approximately 6,100 students want to return to in-person learning. School officials say they expect that number to rise once kids return to school.

Ali said he met Thursday with Walker, Jersey City Education Association President Ron Greco, and Thomas Macagnano, McNair Academic High School principal and president of the administrators and supervisors union, to work out details of the reopening. He would not provide details, since Walker had not yet made his final decisions.

Everyone was kind of negotiating in that room, Ali said. We were just trading and trying to understand what can work, what cant work.

More than 80 parents who want the schools open demonstrated Thursday morning outside the school districts Claremont Avenue office over the lack of transparency and communication from the district. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop believes it was those parents who convinced Walker to change his decision on the reopening.

I think that the parents should be very very proud of the fact that they were able to change minds and change decisions, Fulop said Thursday at the demonstration. Thats the way it should work in this situation so the superintendent deserves credit for revisiting that decision and the board does and lets work together to make sure that its a success next week.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 21:06:15|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says the country aims to achieve 60 percent herd immunity from COVID-19 with the vaccination of 10 million people by the end of 2021.

So far, more than 300,000 people have received their first doses of mainly the Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, with more becoming amenable to the vaccination program.

Chiwenga, who also doubles as Minister of Health and Child Care, said he was happy with the progress made so far in the vaccination program, the Herald newspaper reported Friday.

He was speaking on Thursday at the Midlands provincial COVID-19 vaccination rollout launch at Kwekwe General Hospital where President Emmerson Mnangagwa received his second dose of the Sinovac vaccine.

"I am happy with our vaccination programs throughout the country which have seen 300,000 people having received their first doses so far.

"Our target is to reach what we call herd immunity by year-end as we seek to get back to normal life after the devastating effects of the COVID-19," he said.

Chiwenga said the increase in the number of people getting their jabs came after Mnangagwa got his first shot last month in Victoria Falls.

"We are very blessed as a nation that we have a listening President who leads from the front.

"The President publicly had his first dose in Victoria Falls and today (Thursday) he is getting another shot.

"I have also received my first and second jabs and this is clear testimony how the government is taking this program seriously as we seek to reach herd immunity," he said.

Chiwenga said the government was in the process of procuring more vaccines as the country moved towards public health security.

"We are grateful to the vaccine donations we received from China, Russia and India, but we are procuring more vaccines.

"The aim is to reach herd immunity before the end of this year. This is crucial towards public health security.

"We want to open our economy, so vaccines are the panacea to this," he said.

Chiwenga warned against complacency in observing COVID-19 World Health Organization guidelines saying this could trigger another infection wave.

"Let me remind you that we should continue to put on our masks properly covering both the mouth and the nose. Masks are no necklaces," he said. Enditem
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rockefeller Foundation announces a $1.49 million grant to the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area to expand access to rapid-result Covid-19 testing to support K-12 schools reopening in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Developed by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, this innovative, but easy-to-implement saliva-based Covid-19 testing program, led by a coalition of Consortium universities, has been up and running in all 26 high schools in the Baltimore City Public Schools system since March 15.

The grant from The Rockefeller Foundation will support the Consortium testing program in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) and DC Public Charter Schools. Initial results of the weekly asymptomatic testing program in use in City Schools have found a .95% test positivity rate  well below the 5.6% positivity rate in Baltimore City overall  while increasing confidence among teachers, parents, and students to return to the classroom.

"Widespread, regular Covid-19 testing remains critical to safely reopening schools, but standing up a program is challenging for many school districts with limited resources," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "Baltimore City Public Schools serves as a model for how other school districts in the Washington-Baltimore corridor can leverage the Consortium testing program to safely reopen America's schools. We are pleased to support the Consortium to ensure that public schools in the area have access to Covid-19 tests, giving schools with limited resources an equal opportunity to keep students, staff, and families safe."

Testing Impact in Action  Baltimore City Public Schools

Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) has been a leader in leveraging breakthroughs in Covid-19 testing technology to help reopen K-12 schools. Since December 2020, City Schools has successfully offered daily, on-site symptomatic testing of all in-person students, teachers, and staff. In March 2021, City Schools added weekly, asymptomatic testing in all its schools, aligning with The Rockefeller Foundation's K-12 National Testing Action Program (NTAP), a critical roadmap that operationalizes the funds from the Biden administration's recent $10 billion allocation from the American Rescue Plan. Recognizing that the Consortium testing program is a vital part of reopening plans for Baltimore's 26 public high schools, The Rockefeller Foundation grant supports the purchase of Shield T3 tests and supplies through the Consortium testing program. The high school testing program began testing ninth grade students and staff on March 15 and twelfth grade students on April 12 for those who have opted into in-person learning. Initial results are promising:

To date, 2,007 high school students and staff have been tested with only 19 positive cases confirmed. Students and staff who tested positive and their close contacts were quickly identified through testing and contract tracing and were required to quarantine. Identifying and isolating these asymptomatic individuals early has allowed schools to continue to stay open while avoiding onward transmission.

"City Schools is proud of the robust health and safety procedures we have implemented to keep students and staff safe," said Dr. Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools. "These measures, supported by the extensive Consortium testing program, have resulted in ongoing growth in the number of students and families returning to the classroom."

Expanding Lessons Learned from Illinois to DC

In October 2020, the Consortium assembled medical and research experts from across member institutions to explore ways to expand access to testing. After a detailed review of options, the Consortium selected covidSHIELD, a successful saliva-based Covid-19 test-and-trace system created by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that offers accurate, affordable, and convenient saliva-based tests with quick results. More than two million covidSHIELD tests have been administered across the University of Illinois System, keeping in-person classes open at its universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield since August 2020.

In February 2021, a coalition of Consortium members, led by American University President and former Obama HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, initiated the program, which includes tests, equipment, rapid results, and on-site support. Launched with a laboratory at Gallaudet University in Northeast Washington, American, Catholic, Marymount, and Gallaudet Universities have tested over 18,500 students, faculty, and staff to protect campuses and the broader communities since March 8, 2021.

"American University is proud to work with our Consortium partners to spearhead Covid-19 testing across the DMV region," said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President of American University and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "By working together with the DC community, which is a priority of our strategic plan, we developed an innovative and collaborative solution to advance in-person activity on our campuses and in our schools while keeping our communities safe and healthy."

The Consortium's saliva-based testing program replicates the approach taken in Illinois with individuals (students, faculty, and staff) filling a test tube with saliva, which is then analyzed at a laboratory at Gallaudet University, and provides results in under 12 hours. Because it does not require medical personnel to collect samples, the test costs significantly less than ones using nasal swab tests. The test is sensitive enough to detect even small amounts of genetic material, including new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that originated in other countries, and was shown to be highly accurate in a clinical study. In addition, the University of Illinois' ShieldT3 laboratory at Gallaudet University allows schools to test onsite, eliminating the time-consuming commute to various testing locations. The samples are then transported to the laboratory for rapid processing.

With the capacity to process more than 50,000 Covid-19 tests per week with results under 12 hours, more organizations across the region can participate in the testing program. Washington, DC-area schools, and institutions are invited to join the Consortium testing program. Participating organizations determine the frequency of testing for their communities.

Based on the success of the testing program in university settings, The Rockefeller Foundation is supporting efforts of both the Consortium and the University of Illinois system to expand the testing program to K-12 settings to support reopening efforts. Through an additional $1.4 million grant, The Rockefeller Foundation also supports this testing program in four schools in Illinois.

"The colleges and universities of the Consortium are grateful to The Rockefeller Foundation for providing the support to allow our region's secondary schools to take advantage of this tremendous resource," said Andrew Flagel, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. "Our collaborative efforts mean many of our region's students can safely return to school."

School reopening amidst a global pandemic is a challenging issue that requires an unprecedented number of resources and cross-sector collaboration. The Rockefeller Foundation has spent the past year supporting cities, suburbs, and rural communities alike in their effort to reopen schools safely and equitably, including:

In December 2020 , the Foundation released a landmark report, which reflected the research and recommendations of 150 experts, that recommended twice-a-week testing for teachers and staff and once-a-week testing for students alongside vaccination and other mitigation measures to safely get students and teachers back to in-person instruction.

, the Foundation released a landmark report, which reflected the research and recommendations of 150 experts, that recommended twice-a-week testing for teachers and staff and once-a-week testing for students alongside vaccination and other mitigation measures to safely get students and teachers back to in-person instruction. In February 2021 , the Foundation released commissioned research finding that that weekly testing of all students, teachers, and staff can reduce in-school infections by an estimated 50 percent and would give teachers the peace of mind to return to the classroom.

, the Foundation released commissioned research finding that that weekly testing of all students, teachers, and staff can reduce in-school infections by an estimated 50 percent and would give teachers the peace of mind to return to the classroom. In March 2021 , the Foundation launched the National Testing Action Program, a partnership with 21 leading testing companies, to help operationalize the American Rescue Plan's $10 billion allocation for school-based testing.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation advances new frontiers of science, data, and innovation to solve global challenges related to health, food, power, and economic mobility. As a science-driven philanthropy focused on building collaborative relationships with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation seeks to inspire and foster large-scale human impact that promotes the well-being of humanity throughout the world by identifying and accelerating breakthrough solutions, ideas, and conversations. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn.

The Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area

Established in 1964, the Consortium is one of the largest and most diverse educational alliances in the nation, providing channels for innovation, efficiency, and advocacy for its members. The global reputation of Consortium members, made up of the 17 regionally accredited colleges and universities based in the National Capital Area, is a focal point for promoting access, social mobility, and equitable economic development. The Consortium fosters transformative collaborative opportunities for its members, the Washington region, and more than 300,000 students. Additional resources, including content and panels on COVID-19 vaccines from Consortium researchers, are at Consortium.org.

SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation

Related Links

https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org


Supporters write messages in chalk at a vigil in Columbus, Ohio on 21 April 2021 in memory of MaKhia Bryant, 16, who was shot and killed by a Columbus Police Department officer ((AFP via Getty Images))

MaKhia Bryants foster mother has revealed that the 16-year-old argued with two other teenagers about an unmade bed and a messy house shortly before being fatally shot by police.

Angela Moore told CNN on Thursday that two of her former foster children, both teenagers, came to her house in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday to celebrate her birthday, arriving while she was still at work.

Ms Moore said that the two former foster children told her that after the two teenagers arrived, MaKhia started squabbling with them about housework, including an unmade bed.

It was over keeping the house clean. The older one told them to clean up the house because Mom doesnt like the house dirty, Ms Moore told CNN she was informed by one of her former foster children, adding: So thats how it all started.

MaKhia moved into the house a few months before the incident, and Ms Moore said that the girls argued all the time, but added: I never thought it would escalate like that.

The fatal shooting of MaKhia by officer Nicholas Reardon took place at 4:45pm on Tuesday when officers were called to a disturbance on the southeast side of the city after reports of an attempted stabbing.

Bodycam footage from the responding officers showed the teenager brandishing a knife and charging towards one female who falls backwards, before moving towards another.

A slow-motion version of the footage showed the second victim falling against a car as the knife-wielding youth raises the weapon as if about to stab her, as officer Reardon opens fire on the teenager. Mr Reardon has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation.

The shooting occurred around 20 minutes before former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of George Floyds murder, a high-profile killing last May that saw sustained protests across the US in opposition to police brutality against Black Americans.

Ms Moore revealed that following the shooting, she received a frantic phone call from one of her two former foster children, saying: Mom, get home! Where are you? Theyre going crazy. She said they shot MaKiah and I said, Huh? It was just crazy.

Story continues

Protesters gathered in downtown Columbus over the last few nights to protest the police shooting of the teenage girl.

A crowd on Tuesday night chanted Bryant as they approached officers outside of the building, while a group of protesters were heard shouting: She was just a kid, according to the New York Post.

At a separate demonstration earlier in the day, members of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children and other protesters gathered in the area of the shooting, with one person reportedly carrying a sign that read enough is enough.

Read More

Jen Psaki addresses tragic fatal police shooting of MaKhia Bryant

White House announces President Biden to visit the UK for the G7 summit in June

Ghislaine Maxwell  live: Jeffrey Epsteins alleged sex-trafficker faces court for first time since arrest
EDITORS NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider is hosting a two-day business and networking conference June 8-9, featuring some of the states most prominent industry leaders. Tickets are limited.

New Jerseys Cannabis Regulatory Commission held its second meeting Thursday afternoon, but much about the new legal weed industry remains a mystery.

The new, five-member commission has lots of authority over the cannabis industry and a four-month deadline to set up its regulations. It will determine when sales can start to people 21 and older, recommend how tax revenue be spent and award licenses to dispensaries, growers and more.

As many as 350 viewers tuned in to the meeting at one time Thursday afternoon. The commission did not answer questions, but heard comment from more than 20 people.

Much of the open meeting Thursday was organizational. The commission discussed adopting interim cannabis lab testing rules from another state as it works out its own regulations. Cannabis must be tested for heavy metals, pesticides and other contaminants that could make it unsafe for consumption.

It is important to establish an infrastructure for patient safety, for consumer safety and allow third-party laboratories to get into this industry, said Jeff Brown, the executive director of the commission.

He suggested New Jersey adopt regulations used in Massachusetts or Maryland on third-party testing as the commission takes time to establish its own. A decision was not made during the meeting.

Brown also said the number of registered medical marijuana patients has surpassed 107,000. The program continues to enroll new patients, but dispensaries have been slow to open. The state only has 16 currently, and they only sell medical cannabis.

Many who testified urged the commission to quickly issue licenses and consider the challenges small business owners  particularly minorities and women  face in securing funding to start a cannabis business.

David July asked if the commission would make available grants for small businesses, to make sure that the little people are able to get in, he said. Not all of us know how to swindle and figure it out.

Federal prohibition of marijuana blocks cannabis businesses from using banks. It can be difficult for many entrepreneurs to obtain financing to get started in the industry, particularly if they are first-time business owners. Entering the cannabis industry requires a tremendous amount of startup capital that can range in the hundreds of thousands to millions for larger companies.

Many testified or asked about growing their own marijuana at home. Commissioners insist they cannot take up talks about home grow because it remains banned under the legal weed law.

The commission did not provide an update about when it will issue licenses to entrepreneurs who applied for medical licenses in 2019. A lawsuit halted that process for more than a year, stunting the medical marijuana program. But a court in February gave the health department the green light to resume the review, and many are eager to know who received one of the 24 licenses.

The [commission] should take up announcing the winners in the process as its highest priority, said Travis Ally, one of people who applied in the 2019 licensing round. He and others have spent tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in that application process with no guarantee they will secure a license.

Justin Escher Alpert called on the commission to prioritize small and local businesses ahead of large corporations that have dispensaries in several states. As people continue to buy marijuana from their local drug dealers, he said the commission should stand up legitimate, local dispensaries and growers quickly.

The law says that the commission must award 25% of the licenses to microbusinesses, which must have 10 employees or fewer.

We should be issued the microlicenses, very, very quickly. he said. To anyone who is local.this is the sort of healthy commerce that should go right out the door as quickly as possible.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj.
'Oxygen dwindling for missing Indonesian submarine'

'Oxygen dwindling for missing Indonesian submarine'

Rescuers continued an urgent search Friday for an Indonesian submarine that disappeared two days ago and has less than a day's supply of oxygen left for its 53 crew.



The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island of Bali, and concern is mounting the submarine may have sunk in waters too deep to reach or recover.



President Joko Widodo has asked all Indonesian people to pray for the crews safe return, while ordering all-out efforts to locate the stricken submarine.



Two ships left a nearby port Friday morning to take part in the search.



More than 20 navy ships, two submarines and five aircraft were mobilised for searches on Thursday and similar massive search operations were expected Friday.



Singaporean and Malaysian rescue ships were to arrive in the area from Saturday to Monday, and other nations have offered assistance.



Our main priority is the safety of 53 crew members, Widodo said in a televised address on Thursday.



To the family of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all crew members on board.



The submarine was expected to run out of oxygen by around 3 am Saturday, navy chief of staff Adm. Yudo Margono has said.



The search has been concentrated around an oil slick found near the location of the submarine's last dive.



But there's no conclusive evidence the oil was from the sub.



Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarines fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessels weight so it could surface.



Margono said an unidentified object with high magnetism was located at a depth of 50 to 100 meters and officials hope its the submarine.



The navy has also said it believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters, much deeper than its collapse depth  the depth at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand.



The vessel's collapse depth was estimated at 200 meters by a South Korean company that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012.



The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain.



The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface.



The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 has been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said. (AP)
TORONTO - Sun Life Financial Inc. has signed a deal to buy U.S. company Pinnacle Care International Inc. for $108 million.

The Sun Life Financial Inc. logo is shown at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto on Wednesday, May 6, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO - Sun Life Financial Inc. has signed a deal to buy U.S. company Pinnacle Care International Inc. for $108 million.

PinnacleCare helps people access an initial or second medical opinion to make treatment decisions for complicated diagnoses.

The company is based in Maryland and has more than 170 employees.

Sun Life says PinnacleCare will become part of its U.S. stop-loss and health business.

The insurer says PinnacleCare's services are currently available to more than two million people and it will look to grow that through its distribution network and employer relationships.

The deal is expected to close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SLF)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 19:20:42|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia will resume all the flights to Egypt's airports, including the ones to Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada after more than five-year suspension to the two seaside cities, the Egyptian presidency office said in a statement on Friday.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "has welcomed the move that constitutes a momentum for promoting the bilateral ties," according to the statement.

It added that the decision has been taken upon the security measures that have been enhanced at the Egyptian airports.

Russia halted civilian air traffic to Egypt in October 2015 after militants detonated a bomb on a Russian flight departing Sharm el-Sheikh, which killed all 224 people on board.

The flight suspension to the Red Sea resorts heavily hit Egypt's tourism industry, a pillar of its economy.

Since 2015, Russian aviation and security experts have inspected safety measures at Egyptian airports. Russia resumed flights only to Cairo International Airport in April 2018 but not to Egypt's Red Sea destinations.

Meanwhile, the two presidents discussed the latest developments in the region, especially the Libyan conditions and the updates of the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the statement added.

The talks also tackled the Russian investment in the Suez Canal economic corridor and the project of building a nuclear power station in the northern city of El Dabaa. Enditem
Our art is central to our being, it is the vehicle and the driver, and the road and the departure and destination of who we are and where we are going. Here lives the oldest surviving culture on Earth, over 60,000 years is a long, long piece of string.

So how to measure the unquantifiable benefits of art making? How to measure the enormous economic value of our industry, and that balm for the consumer of our art?

In 2019, my cousin, the choreographer Vicki Van Hout, on being awarded for her contribution to Australian dance said: I am but a conduit, dancers have come before me and dancers will come after me. This truth is central to all our artistic fields  we are in conversation with our past and our present and our future continually. We carry those creators on our backs, as we too create, while ushering in and stepping aside for the next generation. This momentum is the beating heart of a wider purpose.

Albert Namatjira in 1958: he was the beginning of a recognition of Aboriginal people by white Australia. Credit:Fairfax Archival Library

This is difficult to explain, its hard to write about, I keep cutting these lines back, how to summarise an entire universe with such flimsy tools as words? The artist and the art in so many ways are inseparable for First Nation creatives  from our films, our novels, poetry, theatre, dance, visual arts  that are not only recording history, through song, story and mapping of country, but presenting a civilisation in living art; the woven pituri baskets used on trade routes, ceremonial poles, evidence of our reverence for the dead, our language sung in our contemporary music and the emergence of bilingual literature, the ancient movements in dance and theatre lit on the stage, all of it is the celebration of having survived, of a continual conversation, an act of decolonisation and sovereignty at once.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Albany police officers clashed with demonstrators as they ejected them from a makeshift street encampment outside a police station.

Up to 20 demonstrators had been camped outside the departments South Station for several days to draw attention to police brutality and a recent confrontation with city officers.

A line of officers moved through the encampment Thursday afternoon shortly after Police Chief Eric Hawkins tweeted that for public safety purposes, it is time to end this unlawful occupation.

Police did not immediately provide information on whether there were injuries or arrests.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
Egypt became the center of the worlds attention earlier this month when the government staged the most lavish and unique parade ever seen in the Arab country.

Starting in Cairo's city center on the edge of the River Nile, a highly unusual procession made its way to the south of the capital some four miles away.

Led by two horse-drawn chariots, the cortege was transporting the remains of 22 ancient mummies to their new permanent home at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

Let's look at how Egypt treated the royalty of their past.

Via Facebook

The Pharaoh's Golden Parade

The mummies of 18 kings and three Queens, some dating more than 3,500 years, were being relocated amid much fanfare from the old Egyptian Museum to the new building in customized trucks.

With the worlds press in attendance, the event was beamed live on Egyptian TV for over two hours. The floats, which set off in chronological order according to their reigns, from the oldest pharaoh to the most recent, took about 40 minutes to reach their destination.

Decorated in stylized Egyptian motifs reminiscent of funereal boats of the period, the trucks transporting the caskets were fitted with special shock-absorbers designed to minimize vibration.

Via Facebook

To give an idea how precious the cargo was, some of the roads through which the motorcade traveled had been repaved, especially for the event, while the mummies were placed in nitrogen-filled caskets to help preserve them during transit.

Via Wikipedia

A New Museum Fit For Pharaohs

Among the mummies were the 3,500-years-old remains of Queen Hatshepsut, who built the vast Deir el-Bahari Temple, and King Rameses II considered the greatest Egyptian pharaoh of them all.

Fittingly, when the mummies arrived at their final resting place, they were greeted by the countrys president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, and a 21-gun salute by the Republican Guard.

The nerve-racking operation had been necessary for many reasons, not least the fact that the 120-year-old museum building was no longer fit for purpose.

Not only was space at a premium, but two incidents, in particular, had raised serious concerns about the safety of the exhibits.

During the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the museum was broken into, and some 88 artifacts were either damaged or stolen. This was followed by a more serious incident in 2013 during more political unrest, leading to riots and even greater looting, when two mummies were set on fire, and some 500 artifacts were stolen.

The old museums central location and its proximity to Tahrir Square, a traditional rallying point for demonstrators, made a move to the new building  which had been planned years before - all the more urgent.

In contrast to the old building, the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is located away from the city center in Fustat, the site of Egypt's first capital city near Giza. Covering a massive 870,000 square feet of floor space and offering much better humidity and temperature control, the complex now contains not only the 22 mummies being displayed in the Royal Mummies Hall but will eventually house up to 50,000 ancient artifacts.
New Delhi, April 23 : The Navy's aim is to create an enabling ecosystem that supports blue economy and to support the efforts of the government, Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh said on Friday.

"We have the resources, assets and domain expertise for mapping, characterising, monitoring as well as enforcing a good order at sea," the Indian Navy chief said in a webinar on the 'Role of Maritime Forces in Promoting a Blue Economy'.

He said that as Gunter Pauli, who had initiated the idea of Blue Economy in his 2010 thought-provoking book, put it, the challenge remains not only in harnessing the vast resources of the oceans, but to do it in a sustainable, equitable and efficient way.

"For the Indian Ocean Region, the challenges are significantly more diverse. Home to one-third of the world's population, with 13 of the less developed economies, it is technology, resource mapping, exploitation, as also monitoring that remain the key limitations in harnessing the full potential of Blue Economy," he said.

For India, Blue Economy offers an opportunity to make a transition from the "brown" economy development model on land, where sometimes unsustainable resource extraction constrains development.

"As India aims to emerge as a $5 trillion economy, the only way to achieve this, to my mind, is to move outwards. Here, the oceans provide us with a vast resource pool that can be tapped to spur India's economic growth," Admiral Singh said.

With the anticipated addition of the Extended Continent Shelf, the sea area will equal India's land area.

"Combined with India's location -- a 7,516 km long coastline, 14,500 km length of navigable inland waterways, and 1,382 islands -- I think the seas must become India's 'opportunity' region in the coming future," said Indian Navy chief, adding, "When we talk of Blue Economy opportunities for India, they span the entire spectrum, from energy to ecology, fishing to tourism." He said that there is much to do if India wishes to tap into the economic potential of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Citing instances, he said that of the potential fish resource of 5.3 million metric tonnes in India's Maritime Zone, only about 70 per cent is fished.

"Ninety per cent of this catch comes from fishing in up to 50m contour, highlighting the opportunities for deep-sea fishing. India's offshore wind energy generation potential is more than 300 GW, one-tenth of which is currently planned to be tapped," he said.

Large marine ecosystems in the Bay of Bengal comprise 8 per cent of the world's coral reefs and 12 per cent of mangroves, opening up opportunities for coral reef tourism, apart from ecological conservation, he noted.

"While Blue Economy contributes to about 4 per cent of India's GDP, I think there is tremendous potential to expand its contribution," he said.

The Indian Navy chief also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid emphasis on India emerging as one of the leading Blue Economies of the world, with all maritime stakeholders joining hands to achieve this goal.

The Indian Navy is a key stakeholder in realising this vision and its strength lies in ensuring safety, security and good order at sea. This is critical to enable commerce and trade to thrive in a stable and sustainable manner, he said.

He also talked about how the Indian Navy is focussing on securing the Blue Economy. "In this endeavour, the Navy aims to be both an enabler and an element of national and regional Blue Economy efforts," he said.

In terms of being an enabler, the Navy chief highlighted three ways in which the Navy contributes to the Blue Economy.

The first is by maintaining comprehensive maritime domain awareness. Second, by coordinating with various national and international maritime agencies. And finally, by supporting maritime capability development of littoral nations.

"Seychelles, for example, has made notable strides in developing a strong Blue Economy. However, with an EEZ two-third the size of India's EEZ, maintaining effective surveillance remains a challenge," he said.

The Navy chief said that Mauritius has an EEZ, which is 1000x its landmass. The recent oil spill from MV Wakashio close to a marine park highlights the impact of such incidents on fragile marine ecosystems.

"In this, we support the partner nations through construction of patrol vessels, installation of radar chains, training support, information sharing and joint EEZ surveillance," he said.

"In terms of discharging our role as an element of Blue Economy, our hydrographic capability constitutes the building block for the Blue Economy. Secondly, supporting ship-building. Another area is data collation," the Navy chief said.

The Indian Navy is also lending support to the national Deep Ocean Mission, which aims to send a manned mission to 6000m depth for survey of poly-metallic nodules, hydrothermal deposits, as also research on deep-sea bio-diversity.

"The Navy's experience in operating manned and unmanned submersibles, and our understanding of the underwater domain would pool into this national effort," he said.

The Navy is also supporting organisations such as IORA in their regional efforts. The 23-member grouping has emphasised development of Blue Economy through a "common vision for balanced economic development in the Indian Ocean Rim".

"We support this initiative through participation in various working groups, preparation of HADR SOPs, as also information-sharing on critical issues through an MoU planned between the Navy and the IORA member states," Admiral Singh added.
Perhaps thats why the musical, with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and music by Jeanine Tesori (Shrek the Musical) works so well: it won five Tony Awards, including the coveted awards Best Musical and Best Original Score  the first time a female writing team had ever won that award. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Lisa [Kron] would joke that its an unlikely topic for a musical, this dark story about a family suicide, but most musicals have a dark side, Bechdel says. Thats what makes them so powerful. Thats what makes people want to see them. However, she couldnt imagine how it would work onstage at first. I didnt quite know what I was getting into when I gave up the rights. Didnt really think that through. Bechdel had already been approached to option the book into a film, and she hadnt said no, but shed asked for a lot more money than they had originally offered. She felt relieved when they declined. Shed been worried about having a bad movie made about her story. I didnt have those same concerns about a musical. Somehow that felt like such a very different medium, and I didnt have the same sense of ownership. I was like, well, thats gonna be weird  if they can even do it. Lets see what thats like.

And the first time she saw the show, it was an ecstatic experience. Maybe because of my parents. They were both dead at that point  obviously my father wasnt going to see this, and my mother died just before the Off Broadway production  but they were both theatre people. They met in a play. It had this extra special resonance for me. Emily Havea and Maggie McKenna in rehearsal for Fun Home . Credit:Prudence Upton I might not be a musical person, but my parents were. I was fond of those musical people. And this would have just blown their minds. I mean, its inconceivable in some ways. There would be no play without this terrible tragedy at its centre. But to think that their lives would become the stuff of a beautiful musical was just really delightful to me, apart from my own experiences of pleasure in seeing the story adapted into this other medium so beautifully. For many queer women, a Bechdel work is one of the first times theyve ever seen themselves  their feelings and identities  represented in media. Its a powerful experience.

Loading For composer and arranger Carmel Dean, the musical director of the Australian production, and Maggie McKenna, who plays college-aged Bechdel in the show, they found it in the Broadway run of Fun Home. Both women have been based in the US (Deans musical Renascence recently enjoyed an Off-Broadway run; McKenna, whose star-making turn was as as the title character in Sydney Theatre Company/Global Creatures stage adaptation of Muriels Wedding, was touring with the wildly popular musical Dear Evan Hansen) but both are proud to be at home to work on something so close to their hearts. Id never seen myself onstage before, says McKenna, who decided in her seat, during the show, that she needed to play a role in it one day. Dean agrees, and says its a a huge responsibility to bring a show about queer identity to life but also a joyful one. If Bechdel cant quite relate to people having profound moments of recognition in her own work, she understands the feeling. She had it herself while reading letters from Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf as an undergraduate, an experience she describes in her introduction to Love Letters: Vita and Virginia (Vintage), a collection of their correspondence.

But the line from Woolf to Bechdel and back is even closer than it appears. The now famous Bechdel Test, she says, is really just a very condensed version of A Room of Ones Own. The test started as an idea by a friend Bechdel wrote into Dykes to Watch Out For, her popular comic strip which ran from 1983  2008, in 1985. [The Bechdel Test] has been such a funny phenomenon. I never really thought about it much, it was just this lesbian feminist joke about two women trying to figure out what movie they can bear to go see, because theyre all so dreadful. And one of them says, Well, I have this rule: Ill only see a movie if it has at least two women in it who talk to each other about something besides a man. Decades later, it was resurrected online. It just became this sort of shorthand for a whole view of how you need to treat your women characters as full human beings, Bechdel says. I love that my name is connected to that idea. I dont feel any kind of ownership over it, its sort of bizarre  but at least its not something bad.

The idea Bechdels work can mean to others something like the affirmation and validation she experienced reading Woolf and Sackville-Wests letters is a humbling one for Bechdel, who names Harriet The Spy, a childrens book with illustrations penned by lesbian author Louise Fitzhugh as another influence  she has been deeply informed by the queer canon she has now helped to shape. I just love the idea of being part of a literary chain of readers and writers, being influenced by them. And to think of also influencing others, its almost hard to imagine. Its almost hard to let in, you know? She couldnt even bear to watch audience reactions to Fun Home on Broadway. It felt on the one hand intrusive, like, I dont want to stare at people having an intense emotional experience. And it felt like exposing myself. I felt very conscious that people often knew who I was, I always felt a little awkward and on display, so I kept my eyes on the stage. I felt myself feeling a little envious of how powerful the musical was; it was able to get responses from people in a way that I didnt feel the book had. But of course, a book is a completely different thing. Who knows how people respond to a book. But a musical has live people in a room, you have the music. Its intense.
COLUMBIA  A former state agency director inappropriately gave her husband inside information that helped him win a $600,000 contract with her agency, an investigation by the state Inspector General's Office has found.

Former State Accident Fund Executive Director Amy Cofield potentially broke state ethics laws in helping to shepherd the lucrative government work to her husbands company, according to a 17-page report by State Inspector General Brian Lamkin released April 22.

Lamkin also blamed senior staff at the State Accident Fund for failing to stop the contract from proceeding when they learned of the conflict of interest.

The report cites emails between Cofield and her husband, Jimmy Terrapin, that show them coordinating to ensure he got the job.

Cofield disputes the report's major findings, her attorney wrote in response to Lampkin's probe.

"Ms. Cofield adamantly disagrees with the implication in your report that she and/or anyone at the (Accident Fund) provided preferential treatment" to Terrapin's firm, attorney Jim Griffin wrote.

In a statement April 22, Cofield said, "The report is an exoneration of my actions."

The Inspector General's report does not say if the findings were being sent to the State Ethics Commission or law enforcement.

The findings support Gov. Henry McMasters decision to fire Cofield from the Accident Fund on Feb. 8 after his office conducted its own inquiry into the Jan. 6 contract.

After her firing, Cofield, a Lexington labor attorney, hired a lawyer and pleaded with the governor to reinstate her to her $135,280-a-year job. McMaster declined.

At the time, Cofield explained that the State Accident Fund had struggled to hire a consultant to help it pick and implement a new software program to handle workers' compensation claims and billing.

She said the agency ultimately hired her husband  who has 30 years of information technology experience  because it could find no other bidders who were willing and qualified to do the job.

Cofield said she got approval from state purchasing officials before her agency hired her husband on Jan. 6. They said it wouldnt be a conflict of interest as long as she didnt influence the decision to award Terrapin the contract, Cofield said.

"Gov. McMaster's procurement agency explicitly stated that awarding the contract to a firm which employed my husband was not a problem as long as I did not participate in the process and he did not have any ownership interest in the firm," Cofield said in her April 22 statement. "I did not participate in the process and he had no ownership interest in the firm."

But the Inspector Generals investigation found Cofield and her husband collaborated behind the scenes on the deal, tainting the open-bidding process.

And she didnt recuse herself from the process of awarding his company the contract, the report concluded. Her attorney, Griffin, disagreed, writing that Cofield "did not influence the selection of" her husband's company "in any way."

As far back as August 2020, Cofield forwarded her husband a list of 21 possible vendors for the consulting job. She later explained that she used Terrapin as an unofficial advisor on IT matters at the State Accident Fund.

In early December, a day before the State Accident Fund sent a request for bids on the consulting job, Cofields husband approached one of the potential vendors  Globalpundits  and asked it to submit a bid and hire him to do the work, the investigation found.

Days later, two vendors responded to the Accident Fund that they planned to submit a bid.

One was Globalpundits. The other was a competitor named Random Bit.

Privately, Cofield forwarded Random Bits intention to Terrapin, letting him know of the potential competing offer, the report stated.

Terrapin responded: Yep, thats Gerhards wife. Will we know her per hour rate in time to make sure ours comes under?

Cofields response made clear she wanted the Accident Fund to pick her husband: Hopefully I dont technically have to choose the lowest rate though. I just have to be able to explain why I did not.

The exchange violated state purchasing policies, which forbid agencies from revealing the names or bids of potential vendors until their contract is granted, the Inspector General concluded.

Discussing the incoming bid with her husband, one of the bidders, gave him an unfair advantage, the report stated.

When asked about the exchange, Cofield told the Inspector Generals office that it was a poor choice of words, according to the report.

Cofield took further action to help her husband, the Inspector General stated.

Later in December, Random Bit submitted a list of questions to the Accident Fund to help with its bid. An employee of the Accident Fund told the Inspector General that Cofield instructed him not to respond to Random Bits questions. Random Bit ultimately didnt submit a bid, leaving Globalpundits as the sole vendor left.

Griffin, Cofield's attorney, said the report didn't accurately characterize why the Accident Fund didn't respond to Random Bit's questions. Instead, Griffin wrote, Random Bit was asking for a two-week extension, and the fund declined to answer questions unless Random Bit first promised to submit a bid.

The Accident Fund hired Globalpundits on Jan. 6 in a contract that called for Cofields husband to work nearly 40 hours a week at $150 an hour for the next two years.

The Accident Fund and Globalpundits terminated that contract in February, days after Cofields firing.

Cofield said April 22 that she was very proud of her work at the Accident Fund.

"I went to work every day with a single mission to make the agency more effective and efficient and I was successful," she said. "Nothing in this report will ever change that."
An elderly man has pleaded guilty to raping a middle-aged woman at City Park Forest in Nairobi.

Emmanuel Mateka Malele, 71, was arraigned at the Kibera Law Courts on Thursday, April 22, 2021. He admitted that he raped his victim on Monday, April 19, but asked the judge to be lenient on him because of his age.

The court heard that his victim met the accused earlier Monday in the Nairobi CBD and asked him if he knew of any job openings.

Mateka told the woman to meet him at City Park later that evening for an update on job vacancies he would have found.

At around 5 pm, the suspect lured the woman into City Park Forest, where he allegedly whipped out a knife and raped her.

The rapist then stole Sh300 from the womans handbag and fled.

The victim reported the incident to the police, leading to Matekas arrest.

It is true I committed the offence. But, please dont send me to jail because I would die in custody, given Im elderly, the accused told the court.

Principal Magistrate Derrick Kuto warned Malele that his guilty plea could expedite the trial, but the suspect said the rape accusations against him were true.

The woman is an adult. That is why I havent thought twice about admitting guilt. Im urging the court not to jail me because I am old.

Magistrate Kuto directed that the matter be mentioned on Friday, April 23, with the accused being remanded at the Industrial Area Remand Prison.
Contact Mike Siebol

If you know a relative loaned an object or objects from 1950 to 1966 to the Yakima Valley Museum or its predecessor, Mike Siebol wants to hear from you.

That also goes for the artists who loaned 34 pieces of art to the Allied Arts of the Yakima Valley organization before it disbanded in 2016.

Email Siebol at mike@yvmuseum.org or call 509-248-0747.

Objects and artwork will be returned or may be donated to the museum. The artists with pieces loaned to Allied Arts are:
Huntsville City Schools leaders are working to find more teachers.

On Thursday, the school system held a virtual job fair. People near and far were able to join the job fair online.

"I would love to see more job fairs be virtual," said Miranda Frobisher.

Frobisher is moving from Florida to Huntsville. She said a virtual job fair allowed her to meet school leaders, face to face.

Huntsville City Schools said there's always a need for teachers, pandemic or not.

"Every organization, whether it's a school district or whether it's a business, you want to get as many positions filled as possible and that's ultimately why we're having the hiring fair," said Craig Williams, Huntsville City Schools' spokesman.

Williams said this event allows the schools to plan for the next school year.

Athens City Schools are also looking for more teachers. Beth Patton, Athens City superintendent, said they're anticipating growth in the school district. The schools have opportunities for new positions.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) ("GBT, or the Company) is seeking to conduct business with the US government agencies and has hired a consulting firm for general guidance with the GSA (General Services Administration) application process.



GSA approval status describes an organization that have been approved to sell to the United States Government through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA is an independent agency of the United States Government that was established in 1949 to help manage, approve, and facilitate government contracts, products, bids and verify that product and services are properly sourced under the US Government guidelines. The GSA is the purchasing department of the U.S. Government and lists contracts or schedules that potential vendors can bid on to get government business. To become eligible to bid on a GSA schedule, it is required to complete several important steps, among them are registering in the government's SAM (System for Award Management), and providing previous customer contact information as a means for the GSA to perform a past performance evaluation. More information can be found on GSA web site at: Home (gsa.gov)

The timing is right for GBT to start positioning its technology and solutions, seeking potential business with the US Government. Our company has accumulated vast knowledge, experience, and proven records in the domains of Artificial Intelligence, IoT, tracking, health and radio technologies and is ready to seek government business. We believe our IP, technologies and solutions can be an ideal fit for government-oriented contracts in the domains of emergency rescue, long range secured communication, and remote medicine. GBTs technologies may also have applications for military and security applications especially with its high level of privacy and cybersecurity. Our systems are empowered by advanced AI and include advanced tracking technologies which makes them effective solutions in wide variety of military, intelligence, and law enforcement domains. Our recent development in the field of health and its long-range radio support enable global telemedicine capabilities, and we believe can save lives at any location on Earth. As a proud US corporation, we are looking forward to becoming GSA approved, contributing to our national security, safety, and economy, said Mansour Khatib, the CEO of GBT Technologies Inc.

About Us

GBT Technologies, Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) (GBT) ( http://gbtti.com ) is a development stage company which considers itself a native of Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Enabled Mobile Technology Platforms used to increase IC performance. GBT has assembled a team with extensive technology expertise and is building an intellectual property portfolio consisting of many patents. GBTs mission, to license the technology and IP to synergetic partners in the areas of hardware and software. Once commercialized, it is GBTs goal to have a suite of products including smart microchips, AI, encryption, Blockchain, IC design, mobile security applications, database management protocols, with tracking and supporting cloud software (without the need for GPS). GBT envisions this system as a creation of a global mesh network using advanced nodes and super performing new generation IC technology. The core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology; technology that can be installed in any mobile or fixed device worldwide. GBTs vision is to produce this system as a low cost, secure, private-mesh-network between any and all enabled devices. Thus, providing shared processing, advanced mobile database management and sharing while using these enhanced mobile features as an alternative to traditional carrier services.



Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website ( http://www.sec.gov ). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, governmental and public policy changes, the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all, the Companys successful development of its products and the integration into its existing products and the commercial acceptance of the Companys products. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

Contact:

Mansour Khatib, CEO

press@gopherprotocol.com
The Crew Dragon space capsule astronauts, from front left, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide leave the Operation and Checkout Building on their way to board the capsule for a mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk's rapidly expanding company.

The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX's debut crew last May. They'll spend six months at the orbiting lab.

It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA, after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the company's second astronaut flight.

Embracing the trend, spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew weeks ago wrote their initials in the rocket's soot, hoping to start a tradition.

"If you have rapid and complete reusability, then that is the gateway to the heavens. That's what we're trying to get done, and the support of NASA makes a huge difference," Musk said after the launch.

Just a week ago, NASA awarded SpaceX a nearly $3 billion contract to provide the lunar lander that will deliver astronauts to the surface of the moonMusk's Starship, intended to be fully reusable to attain his ultimate prize of carrying astronauts to Mars and building a city there.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off in this time exposure from Launch Complex 39A Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Flying in a recycled capsule Friday provided a bit of deja vu for NASA astronaut Megan McArthur. She launched in the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did during SpaceX's first crew flight. This time, it was Behnken and their 7-year-old son waving goodbye. McArthur blew kisses and offered virtual hugs.

Also flying SpaceX on Friday: Japan's Akihiko Hoshide and France's Thomas Pesquet, the first European to launch in a commercial crew capsule.

It was a stunning scene: The launch plume glowed against the dark sky, reflecting the sunlight at high altitude.

Despite the early hour, spectators lined surrounding roads to watch the Falcon take flight an hour before sunrise. Liftoff was delayed a day to take advantage of better weather along the East Coast in case of a launch abort and emergency splashdown.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon space capsule lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

"You're seeing a piece of history happening here," said Lance Bryan, visiting from Burnsville, Minnesota. "It's, in this case, good history versus some other things that can happen that have been in our backyard practically."

A masked Musk met briefly with the astronauts at NASA's Kennedy Space Center before they boarded white gull-winged Teslas from his electric car company. The astronauts' spouses and children huddled around the cars for one last "love you" before the caravan pulled away and headed to the pad in the predawn darkness.

"From now on, I'll see you on a screen!" tweeted Pesquet's partner, Anne Mottet.

Visibly weary, Musk later said he doesn't sleep the night before a crew launch and this one was no exception.

"It gets a little bit easier, but still pretty intense, I have to say," said Musk, who started his space company in 2002.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide smiles as he talks to family and friends after leaving the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA limited the number of launch guests because of COVID-19, but passengers for SpaceX's first privately purchased flight made the cut. Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who's bought a three-day flight, watched the Falcon soar with the three people who will accompany him. Their capsule is still at the space station and due back on Earth with four astronauts next Wednesday. It will be refurbished in time for a September liftoff. Another crew flight for NASA will follow in October.

For Friday's automated flight, SpaceX replaced some valves and thermal shielding, and installed new parachutes on the capsule, named Endeavour after NASA's retired space shuttle. Otherwise, the spacecraft is the same vehicle that flew before.

"We're thrilled to have a crew on board Endeavour once again," SpaceX Launch Control radioed just before liftoff.

In this image made from NASA video, astronauts are seen in the cockpit of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft after lift off for the Crew-2 mission from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (NASA via AP)

All four astronauts clasped hands as Kimbrough noted it was the first time in more than 20 years that U.S., European and Japanese astronauts had launched together.

The first-stage booster touched down on an ocean platform nine minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX picked up the station slack for NASA after the space agency's shuttles retired in 2011, starting with supply runs the following year. The big draw was last year's return of astronaut launches to Florida, after years of relying on Russia for rides.

"It's awesome to have this regular cadence again," said Kennedy's director Robert Cabana, a former shuttle commander.

Boeing, NASA's other contracted crew transporter, isn't expected to start launching NASA astronauts until early next year. First, it needs to repeat a test flight of an empty Starliner capsule, possibly in late summer, to make up for its software-plagued debut in December 2019.

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, right, and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough greet family members after leaving the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon space capsule lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, of France, left, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide wave as they leave the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France, adjusts his glove as he talks to family and friends before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough waves as he leaves the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur waves to family and friends after leaving the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon space capsule lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The Crew Dragon space capsule astronauts, from front left; NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and back row European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide leave the Operation and Checkout Building on their way to board the capsule for a mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

In this long exposure photo, photographers watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon space capsule lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

In this image made from NASA video, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off for the Crew-2 mission carrying NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (NASA via AP)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard, Friday, April 23, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via AP)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon space capsule leaves a trail of smoke as it lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Photographers watch SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon space capsule lift off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A SpaceX rocket with the company's Dragon capsule is illuminated by spotlights on the launch pad, early Friday, April 23, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX aimed to launch its third crew a little before sunrise Friday, this time using a recycled capsule and rocket. The four astronauts, representing the U.S., Japan and France, were supposed to fly to the International Space Station on Thursday. But liftoff was delayed because of poor weather offshore. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk, left and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk arrive for the walkout of the SpaceX crew before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Last Friday, SpaceX beat out two other companies, including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, to land astronauts on the moon for NASA in three or more years. They'll descend to the lunar surface in Starship, the shiny, bullet-shaped rocketship that Musk is testing in the skies over southeast Texas, near the Mexican border.

Musk said Starship should be ready to carry people in a couple years, although he expects to smash more of them before getting there. The 2024 deadline for putting astronauts on the moon, which was set by the Trump administration, is doable, he added.

"It's a great time to be here, and we're very excited," said the European Space Agency's Frank De Winne, an astronaut turned manager. The space station eventually will come to an end, he noted, but the partnership will continue amid hopes of "European astronauts one day walking on the surface of the moon."

Explore further Astronauts arrive at pad for SpaceX flight on used rocket

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government made no excuses for strongly protecting the national interest. Loading It is the federal government that decides the foreign policy settings of our country and determines whats in our national interests in terms of bilateral partnerships with other countries, she said. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said cancelling the agreement was the right move, but the Morrison government now needed to manage the fallout with Beijing and deliver on diversifying Australias trade and economy. The Victorian government has accepted this veto decision and thats a good thing, she said. The Morrison government should now engage constructively with states to manage the impacts of these new laws.

The move leaves key Australian exports vulnerable to further strikes from China after trade sanctions on $20 billion worth of products over the past year. By using this domestic law, Australia basically fired the first major shot against China in trade and investment, Chen Hong, a director of the Australian Studies Centre at the East China Normal University, told state media outlet the Global Times on Thursday. China will surely respond accordingly. Perth USAsia Centre trade expert Jeffrey Wilson said China could not be angrier. But they have got themselves into a bit of a problem with all the trade sanctions. There is not much they can do to Australia anymore, he said. Once youve thrown the kitchen sink at someone, in a tactical sense the Australian government is liberated to do whatever the hell it wants. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

But Mr Wilson said the long-term economic prospects from an extended fallout were ominous and education remained vulnerable once borders re-open. You do need an exit visa to get out of China to go and study overseas, he said. So they could basically deny them. Its certainly not on the table today, but there is a different environment in the future where there would be new options for them._ Up to 60 per cent of Australias international $5 billion-a-year student intake is from China. Senator Payne said Australias agriculture sector had shown it was able to diversify its customer base after multiple trade strikes last year over human rights and national security disputes. Australias largest export, iron ore, worth $80 billion a year, remains untouched by Chinese trade sanctions. China, the worlds largest steelmaker also benefits greatly from the quality and the quantity of our iron ore, she said. Im confident that that relationship, despite the challenges we have today, will continue to promote job creation in our country.

Loading Michael Shoebridge, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institutes defence program, said Australia now had a more coherent national policy on economic engagement with China. He said the BRI decision recognised it was not in Australias interest to help the Chinese government create a more Sino-centred global economic order where it has more economic leverage over others including us. The BRI was President Xis signature policy to creating that Sino-centred global economy, and not helping implement that dream of global economic power is a good thing, he said._ Politically it helps Daniel Andrews because this was a running sore for him because he was out of step with the public and the federal government. This gives him an out. This decision is a graphic illustration of the fact that security and diplomatic interests are now intertwined with economic interests, and any decision that misses that point leads to really bad decisions like Victorias two BRI agreements._ James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, said the Morrison government was right to be annoyed with Beijing for striking the deal with a state government, but said it could have just waited for the deal to expire instead of striking it out. He said the decision has come after several months of relative restraint from both sides following relations between the two countries last year deteriorating to their worse level in decades._
Raising alarm that a "big tragedy" may happen due to oxygen shortage in hospitals during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi Chief Minister on Friday said the Centre should take over all oxygen plants through the Army.

In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister on the COVID-19 situation, Kejriwal requested him to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital.

"People in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi," he said during the meeting.

"We need a national plan to deal with the crisis. Centre government should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and every tanker coming out of the oxygen plant should be accompanied by an Army escort vehicle," he said.

"The oxygen supply scheduled to come to Delhi from Odisha and West Bengal should either be airlifted or brought through the Oxygen express started by the Centre," he said.

The chief minister also objected to different rates being charged from state governments and the Centre for the COVID-19 vaccine, and said "one nation, one rate" policy should be followed.

Prime Minister Modi held a meeting on Friday with chief ministers of 10 states with the most number of COVID-19 cases.

The meeting via video conferencing comes amid a huge surge in cases, which have now clocked a daily total of over 3 lakh in the country.

Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi are among those who attended the meeting.

Modi will hold a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conference amid concerns expressed by some states that their supply of the life-saving gas is running short with a number of hospitals sending out SOS.

Meanwhile, sources in the Centre government alleged that "Kejriwal used the entire PM-CM meet platform for playing politics".

"He raised the point of airlifting oxygen, but did not know that it is already being done. He spoke about Oxygen express by Railways but Railway sources say he has not communicated anything about it to Railways. He chose to spread lies on vaccine prices despite knowing that Centre does not keep one vaccine dose with itself and shares with states only. All CMs spoke about what they are doing to improve the situation. However, Kejriwal had nothing to speak on what he is doing," a source 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.)
Richard Dawkins Punished for Inviting Us to Think

Commentary

Walter Duranty was possibly the worst foreign correspondent in the history of the Western press. Reporting on Russia for the New York Times during the 1920s and 30s, he not only lied through his teeth about the death of millions during the Ukrainian famine, but conspired, with some success, to prevent anyone else from telling the truth about it.

He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1934 for his reporting, but ever since 1990, when a biography of him was published that emphasized the extent of his mendacity, there have been efforts to have the prize symbolically rescinded (Duranty died in 1957).

A man may be honestly mistaken, but Duranty had knowingly and persistently lied about matters of world importance. At the very least he deserved the sack rather than a prestigious award, but was never called to account during his lifetime; and the Pulitzer committee has twice decided that the award should not be withdrawn.

I can see the argument for rescinding the prize because Durantys conduct was truly despicable, and the prize had been for what, morally, was a great crime.

But there is also an argument for not rescinding it, for the posthumous withdrawal of an award can look like an attempt to rewrite the history of the awarding authority by an act of auto-absolution. An admission that the Pulitzer committee had made a terrible error of judgment might have been sufficient.

We seem to have advanced greatly since Durantys time. Richard Dawkins, the great popularizer of evolutionary biology, has not had to wait until many years after his death to have an award withdrawn, that of the American Humanist Association given to him in 1996 for his services to public scientific understanding.

He dared (or at least was imprudent enough) to broadcast incorrect thoughts on the matter of transsexualism which were deemed incompatible with humanistic values, and so the association withdrew the award.

What did Professor Dawkins say that entirely vitiated his past contributions to popular scientific understanding that were deemed worthy of reward?

Here is his Tweet: In 2015, Rachel Dolezal, a white chapter president of NAACP, was vilified for identifying as black. Some men choose to identify as women, and some women choose to identify as men. You will be vilified if you deny that they literally are what they identify as. Discuss.

What the Association probably did not know was that, when Dawkins was an English schoolboy, examination questions often took the following form: Lady Macbeth was worse than her husband. Discuss.

No correct answer was required or even implied; what was required was that the pupil answering the question demonstrated intimate knowledge of the subject and was able to construct a good argument, for or against a conclusion, or even no firm conclusion, using evidence and logic.

The question was an invitation to thought, not a demand to parrot a predetermined orthodoxy, and teachers were prepared to give good marks to conclusions with which they themselves disagreed, provided only that they were properly argued for.

Professor Dawkins Tweet was clearly an invitation to people to consider the limits of self-identification as a determinant of what people actually are. You cannot be something just because you say that you are, nor have you any right to demand that others should uncritically accept your self-designation.

The Tweet was certainly not an incitement to intolerance or bad, vicious or illegal behavior. It was, rather, an implicit reminder of the importance of the search for truth rather than resort to political power and intimidation in deciding vexed questions. It was liberal in the best sense.

Let me add that I hold no particular brief for Professor Dawkins. I greatly admire his erudition about the living world and his evident love for it, but I find him crude as a philosopher.

Though I am no religious believer myself, I was appalled by his statement in his book, The God Delusion, that parents who brought their children up in a religion were all but guilty of child abuse. To have condemned hundreds of millions of parents at the stroke of a pen was ungenerous, to put it very mildly.

But my opinion of Professor Dawkins is irrelevant to his right to say whatever he wants. And if no ones virtues are to be recognized unless he has no vices, we are condemned to a poor opinion of everyone except the very few saints among us.

The American Humanist Association, in withdrawing its award to Professor Dawkins for his work, did not in the least revise their estimate of its worth, but rather condemned him for obliquely expressing an opinion contrary to a moral orthodoxy at least as doubtful as any religious orthodoxy. Its closedmindedness is worthy of any totalitarian regime.

The withdrawal of the award, in fact, is reminiscent of Stalinist regimes when people who fell foul of the present leader were not merely criticised but expunged from the record, with books withdrawn from shelves and photographs altered to exclude them, in the mirror-image of the fabricated photographs of spiritualists.

Whereas in the latter non-existent entities such as ectoplasm and ghostly figures were added, in the former lamentably existent entities such as Genrikh Yagoda and his successor as head of the NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov, were eradicated (both were executed), as if they had never existed.

Of course, the American Humanist Association is not in the same league as the NKVD. One does not tremble at its very name. But the idea of withdrawing awards because the recipient has subsequently expressed a wrong idea is, in its own small way, reminiscent of Stalinist manipulation of the past: and the totalitarian assault on the past and its records is the wave of the future.

In several Western countries, people are now allowed to change their sex and even their names on their birth certificates; one Dutchman even tried to get his date of birth changed (for the moment unsuccessfully) because he wanted to be younger so that he might be more attractive to women.

In other words, in our brave new world you can be all you want to be and have an official certificate to prove it.

Theodore Dalrymple is a retired doctor. He is contributing editor of the City Journal of New York and the author of 30 books, including Life at the Bottom. His latest book is Embargo and Other Stories.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The European Commission said it expects to seal the world's biggest vaccine supply deal within days, buying up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for the next few years as a debate rages over unfair access to shots for the world's poorest people.

The vaccines from the U.S. drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech would be delivered over 2021-2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Pfizer's vaccine plant in Puurs, Belgium.

The agreement would be enough to inoculate the 450 million EU population for two years and comes as the bloc seeks to shore up long-term supplies.

This is the third contract agreed by the bloc with the two companies, which have already agreed to supply 600 million doses of the two-dose vaccine this year under two previous contracts. Brussels is aiming to inoculate at least 70% of EU adults by July.

The move comes as the Commission looks to sever ties with AstraZeneca after the drugmaker slashed its delivery targets due to production problems. On Friday it was deciding whether to take legal action against the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company.

An EU official said the supply deal was agreed in principle but that both sides needed a few days to iron out final terms.

"We will conclude in the next days. It will secure the doses necessary to give booster shots to increase immunity," von der Leyen said at a briefing at the Puurs factory.

Pfizer has scrambled to boost output in recent months at its U.S. and Belgian plants to meet growing demand.

Bourla said Puurs is expected to have the capacity to produce more than 100 million doses by May.

Separately, the EU drug regulator said it had approved an increase in batch sizes for shots made there, which von der Leyen said will mark a 20% increase in output.

A company official said it has exported about 300 million vaccines to more than 80 countries around the world.

Still, the deal will likely stir the debate about the widening gap with lower-income countries as the world's wealthiest nations scoop up stocks and race ahead with inoculation campaigns.

The United States has given more than 40% of its population at least one dose, while in India, where infections have hit records, only 8% have had a first dose and many African countries only 1%, according to a Reuters analysis.

On Friday, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccines remain out of reach in the lowest-income countries, in comments made marking the first anniversary of the COVAX dose-sharing facility.

The EU supply deal is also the latest move by Brussels to increase its bets on the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology the companies use and sidelines those using viral vector technology deployed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The Astra and J&J vaccines have been linked with a very rare, but potentially fatal side effect.

Also Read: COVID-19: Pfizer to supply coronavirus vaccine at 'not-for-profit' rate to Centre
At least 61 people have died since 2014 in Chicago buildings where city officials knew of fire safety problems, sometimes for years, yet failed to crack down on property owners in time, an investigation by the Better Government Association and the Chicago Tribune has found.
Along with his co-stars, he's kept fans riveted over the past several weeks with his character Superintendent Hastings' adventures in Line Of Duty's sixth series.

But Adrian Dunbar appeared to be more concerned with enjoying the simpler things in life, when he was spotted going for a solo stroll in the London sunshine on Friday.

The Northern Irish screen star, 61, looked relaxed and upbeat as he stepped out to pick up some goods at the greengrocers.

Sunshine: Adrian Dunbar was spotted enjoying a solo stroll in the London sunshine on Friday

The day job: Adrian is best known for playing Ted Hastings in BBC police drama Line Of Duty

He stepped out in casually cool style for the excursion, donning a dark sweater, which he teamed with black trousers and shoes.

The bespectacled actor donned a patterned face mask as he made his way into the shop to pick up a blue plastic bagful of supplies.

His outing comes as Line Of Duty fans are convinced the series six trailer gives away who survives the shoot out between DI Fleming and PC Pilkington.

Sunday's instalment of the hit police drama  which drew in an eye-popping 10million viewers  saw Kate [Vicky McClure] locked in a tense showdown with Ryan [Gregory Piper], with two gunshots heard as the screen faded to black.

Chilling out: The Northern Irish screen star, 61, looked relaxed and upbeat as he stepped out to pick up some goods at the greengrocers

Casually cool: The Line Of Duty star stepped out in casually cool style for the excursion, donning a dark sweater, which he teamed with black trousers and shoes

Riveting show: Along with his co-stars, he's kept fans riveted over the past several weeks with his character Superintendent Hastings' adventures in Line Of Duty's sixth series

Yet keen fans have claimed they already know the outcome from watching the trailer, while Adrian Dunbar has revealed that there's already been 'a very big clue' about what happens in next week's episode.

Putting their amateur detective skills to the test, several Line of Duty fans took to Twitter after Sunday's show to suggest that the series six trailer had the answers.

They were quick to point out one blink-and-you-miss-it scene which sees Kate standing next to Acting Detective Superintendent Jo Davidson [Kelly Macdonald] - which has yet to air on the show.

Fans thus deduced the scene must happen in the aftermath of the shooting - indicating Kate survives. Although nothing is known of Ryan's fate.

Safety first: The bespectacled actor donned a patterned face mask as he made his way into the shop to pick up a blue plastic bagful of supplies

Huge ratings: The sixth series of his long-running show has proved to be another ratings giant

Fan theories: As Line Of Duty draws closer to its conclusion, fan theories about who the mysterious 'H' is have been running rampant online

Tight-lipped: The cast have done a great job of remaining tight-lipped about the plot as they promote hugely popular BBC show

One person declared: 'Screen grab from #Lineofduty session 6 @BBC trailer. #katefleming looks p***ed, #jodavidson has her hands in the air. THIS SCENE HASN'T OCCURRED YET. #katefleming lives for at least 1 more episode.'

And another wrote: 'Nah shes no dead! Major spoiler if you Look back at the original season 6 trailer - both Jo and Kate get stopped by armed police, exact same clothes they were wearing just now. I reckon Ryan either missed or the second shot was Jo.'

Adrian appeared to back up the theories as he appeared as the first guest back in the Good Morning Britain studio on Monday, pointing fans away from the misspelt 'definately' but insisting many 'already know' her fate.

In typical AC-12 style on Sunday's show, a twist emerged in the form of a throwback clue to the 2019 series showing the word definitely misspelt as 'definately' in Jo's messages - a clue that previously suggested Hastings could be one of the bent coppers he is so hellbent on finding.

Have they cracked it? Line Of Duty fans are convinced the series six trailer gives away who survives the shoot out between DI Fleming and PC Pilkington

Interesting: Adrian revealed that there's already been 'a very big clue' about what happens to Kate in Line of Duty while appearing on GMB on Monday

Drama: On Sunday's instalment of the hit police drama, Kate [Vicky McClure] was seen locked in a tense showdown with Ryan Pilkington [Gregory Piper]

Reflecting on Sunday's dramatic show, Adrian said: 'Great cliffhanger again, Jed loves his cliffhangers. And a lot of LOD fans know [what's coming next for Kate].'

Presenter Adil Ray then jumped in asking: 'Theyve worked it out you mean?'

Adrian continued, knowingly nodding his head: 'A lot of Line of Duty fans know whats going on. All will be revealed in the fullness of time.'

Susanna then despaired as she said: 'I feel like you're giving us a really heavy piece of information that I can't for the life of me work out.'

Adrian then dropped the bombshell: 'Yes, theres been a very big clue. Im giving you a scoop. As the first guest back on the show, I am giving you a massive scoop.

'Theres a clue out there as to what happens next.'

Hints: While appearing as the first guest back in the Good Morning Britain studio, the Ted Hastings actor, 62, pointed fans away from the misspelt 'definately' as they searched for clues

Trying to keep up! Speaking for many across the nation, Susanna told Adrian: 'I feel like you're giving us a really heavy piece of information that I can't for the life of me work out'

Susanna then probed about another huge moment in Sunday's show which saw the misspelt word 'definately' pop back up in messages Jo Davidson was receiving.

She said: 'When Jo Davidson was exchanging texts, they sent back a message that including a spelling mistake. Definitely is not spelled with an A.'

And Adrian told her: 'Correcto. Youre getting there. Youre still not there where this present clue is concerned.'

Elsewhere in his GMB interview, the actor continued: 'Line of Duty does seem to be a bit old school. People are happy to watch it, talk about it, wait for the next episode.

'Jed structures it so its like that, so we have the cliffhangers. Youre going to come across somebody whose talking about it during the week.

Detective work: Several fans made the connection between the trailer and the fact we have yet to see the scene where Kate and Jo are seen walking around a car

'The BBC people send me notes and they say, "you cant talk about this, this and this". Now and again, leaks do happen. Its a show that depends on collusion with the public.'

Adrian also chatted about how the cast are kept in the dark about the show's ending when they start filming, with Jed giving pointers on how they should act.

He explained: 'Once you see the episodes lining up, you think, weve covered that well, the audience knows that know.

'Regarding the ending, Jed always gives himself a bit of leeway. The ending is never set in stone and we dont get that episode until late in the day.

'We dont know for the first three eps. Sometimes he may turn around and decide to say to one of us, can you just do a look over here or a look over there.'

Adrian also remained coy about whether he'd be in another series, telling Adil he has 'no idea', but admitting that 'if the numbers are good and the BBC are happy Im sure there will be [another season]'.

Turning back to Kate, Adrian stayed tight-lipped about her role in next week's episode and beyond when asked if she'll be in another series.

He said: 'Its hard to tell. I wish I could tell you.'

Line Of Stress! Line Of Duty fans were sent wild on Sunday evening as the latest episode ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger as Kate and Ryan were locked in a showdown

Adrian added: 'We have a character whose old school like Ted who puts it out there, we should be adhering to those old fashioned values like loyalty and integrity.'

His interview comes after Line Of Duty fans were sent wild on Sunday as the latest episode ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger with Kate and Ryan locked in a showdown.

After viewers learnt that Jo was related to gangster Tommy Hunter, the fifth episode ended with Kate in a tense showdown with Ryan.

Soon after the show aired, Twitter was flooded with wild reaction from fans, who demanded bosses show the next episode now, as the suspense was too much to wait another week to see the outcome of the shoot off.

Wah! After viewers learnt that Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Macdonald, was related to gangster Tommy Hunter, the fifth episode ended with Vicky McClure's character Kate Fleming in a tense showdown with Ryan Pilkington, played by Gregory Piper

Fans soon flooded social media in both shock and outrage.

Viewers penned: 'The whole of the U.K. right now after another cliffhanger #LineOfDuty... I mean, that cliffhanger is next level. But honestly, this was my fave part #LineOfDuty... #LineOfDuty another cliffhanger...

'I'm fuming after that Line Of Duty cliffhanger...was Kate able to get Jo an almond croissant???!... When #LineofDuty leaves us on another cliffhanger... The Line of Duty producers leaving the episode of that cliffhanger #LineofDuty...

'Having to wait a week after that cliffhanger #lineofduty... Ummm. Excuse me. Im going to need the next episode of that now. That is a cliffhanger. And my mouth does not know how to close. #LineOfDuty...

Look what you've caused: Davidson seemed genuinely distraught when she thought Kate could be shot, however it was her messages that got her in the position

Nail-biting: Soon after the show aired, Twitter was flooded with wild reaction from fans, who demanded bosses show the next episode now, as the suspense was too much to wait another week to see the outcome of the shoot off

What's going to happen next? Fans soon flooded social media in both shock and outrage

'Im in NYC watching every episode. Just finished tonights cliffhanger. You must be a creative internet user. ie seek and ye shall find. #LineOfDuty #lineofdutyday... Another Line of Duty cliffhanger I cant take it anymore Robbie...

'another week of "line of duty", another week of a cliffhanger... So I just watched last nights @Line_of_duty And yet again its ended on a cliffhanger (of course) what an episode honestly absolutely brilliant acting PS; I hope Kate doesnt die...

'Mother of God, I dont think I can take another week waiting on the outcome of yet another cliffhanger literally heart pounding out of my chest at the end of episode 4 and 5...

'Mother of God, I dont think I can take another week waiting on the outcome of yet another cliffhanger for literally heart pounding out of my chest at the end of episode 4 and 5 of #LineofDuty6 Whilst Im here...Patricia Carmichael for H''.

What's next? Although fans were already reeling with the twist, the show ended with shock, with the tense cliffhanger seeing PC Pilkington drawing his gun at DI Fleming
SHANGHAI (AP)  A fire at an electronics factory in Shanghai killed eight people Friday including two firefighters, the city government announced.

The fire broke out at the Shengrui Electronic Technology (Shanghai) Co. in the Chinese business capital's Jinshan district at 6:20 a.m., a government statement said. It said rescue crews found the bodies of six employees and two firefighters who died in the blaze.

The cause was under investigation, the city government said.
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / Tego Cyber Inc. (OTCQB:TGCB), an emerging cybersecurity threat intelligence company, today announced that it has received approval from the Depository Trust Company for its common shares to be accepted into the DWAC/FAST program. With this approval, shareholders of Tego Cyber Inc. will be able to transfer their shares electronically without having to deal with physical certificates.

About DWAC/FAST

DTC's Deposit and Withdrawal at Custodian ("DWAC") service provides participants with the ability to make electronic book-entry deposits and withdrawals of eligible securities into and out of their DTC book-entry accounts using a Fast Automated Securities Transfer service ("FAST") transfer agent as the distribution point. DWAC allows participants to instruct DTC regarding deposit and withdrawal transactions being made directly via a FAST transfer agent. The FAST system eliminates the movement of physical securities certificates for transfers of securities registered in the name of DTC's nominee, Cede & Co, on the transfer agent's books. DTC and its FAST transfer agents reconcile the results of participants' deposit and withdrawal activities electronically on a daily basis.

About Tego Cyber Inc.

Tego Cyber Inc. (OTCQB:TGCB, "the Company") was created to capitalize on the emerging cyber threat intelligence market. The Company has developed a cyber threat intelligence application that integrates with top end security platforms to gather, analyze, then proactively identify threats to an enterprise network. The Tego Threat Intelligence Platform (TTIP) takes in vetted and curated threat data and after utilizing a proprietary process, the platform compiles, analyzes, and then delivers that data to an enterprise network in a format that is timely, informative, and relevant. The threat data provides additional context including specific details needed to identify and counteract threats so that security teams can spend less time searching for disparate information. The first version of the TTIP will integrate with the widely accepted SPLUNK platform to provide real-time threat intelligence to macro enterprises using the SPLUNK architecture. The Company plans on developing future versions of the TTIP for integration with other established SIEM systems and platforms including: Elastic, IBM QRadar, AT&T AlienVault, Exabeam and LogRhythm.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained in this press release, those which are not purely historical or which depend upon future events, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements regarding the Company's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future constitute forward-looking statements. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements because of various factors. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. Prospective investors should also consult the risks factors described from time to time in the Company's Reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and Annual Reports to Shareholders.

Contact:

Tego Cyber Inc.

8565 S Eastern Avenue, Suite 150

Las Vegas, Nevada

}USA 89123

Tel: 855-939-0100

Email: info@tegocyber.com

Web: tegocyber.com

Facebook: facebook.com/tegocyber

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/tegocyber

Twitter: twitter.com/tegocyber
Press Release

April 23, 2021 Drilon wants full accounting of anti-insurgency funds

The senate minority leader says that 2021 GAA provides authority to use anti-red funds for COVID-19 vaccination and ayuda Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon asked the Senate leadership to compel the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to submit a report on the use of P19 billion anti-insurgency funds, saying that the funds could be use "in aid of 2022 election." "Under the present General Appropriations Act, the NTF-ELCAC is supposed to submit a quarterly report to the Senate and the House of Representatives on the utilization of the funds. I will request the Senate leadership to require NTC-ELCAC to submit a quarterly report," Drilon said in an interview with cable news channel One News. "These are not small funds. Magagamit sa pulitika iyan," said Drilon. The 2021 GAA provides that "the implementing agencies and NTF-ELCAC shall submit to the Office of the President, DBM, House of Representatives and the Senate, either in printed form or by way of electronic document, quarterly reports on the utilization of funds and physical accomplishments." Drilon said that while Congress cannot actually defund NTF-ELCAC this year, their budget can be realigned to beef up the country's depleting COVID-19 pandemic response budget. According to Drilon, the President does not need to go to Congress to seek authority to realign the anti-insurgency funds to pandemic response as there is a valid authorization provided in the 2021 GAA for the use of anti-insurgency funds to COVID-19 response and financial assistance to indigents. "Insofar as the funding is concerned, the defunding cannot happen now. It can be defunded when we craft the 2022 budget. However, the President has the full authority to realign the funds. In fact, the present GAA includes as among the projects that fund would be COVID-19 vaccination," Drilon said. "There is authority under the law to use these funds for vaccinations and for indigent individuals. If the President is minded to, he has the full authority under the law to realign these funds from 822 so-called cleared barangays to the much needed and urgent ayuda to residents affected in the NCR Plus areas," he stressed. Under the P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget, over P19 NTF-ELCAC and of which, P16.4 billion will go to its Barangay Development Program, where around 822 so-called barangays cleared of insurgency will receive P20 million each. Meanwhile, Drilon told the controversial and foul-mouthed spokesperson of NTF-ELCAC, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., to resign from the task force amid constitutional questions that hang over his appointment. "A first-year law student will tell you a cardinal rule in the constitution that those who are in the active military service are prohibited from occupying civilian positions. That violates the Constitution. He is illegally occupying his position as the task force's spokesperson. It is one of my disappointments. Hindi na pinapakinggan ang Senado," Drilon said. "Given the fact that his holding of his position is constitutionally doubtful, why doesn't he step down to save everybody from agony?" he said. Drilon also called "disrespectful" Parlade's remarks after a number of senators called for the defunding of NTF-ELCAC amid the relentless red-tagging by its officials. Parlade was reported to have said that the Senate is "stupid" if they defund the task force. "I was objecting to this (NTF-ELCAC budget) from day one. It's on record. I have been objecting to it. It's really disrespectful to say the least if Parlade said that we are stupid for passing this. In the Senate, I questioned this. I placed safeguards. It was accepted in the Senate. In the bicam, however, I am sure Malacanang lobbied that it came out the way it was written today," he said.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Organized by Innovation Norway, the Norwegian Government's business enterprise agency, alongside the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Fisheries, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will conduct a virtual Royal Visit to California. The visit is led by HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and the Norwegian visit will include high-level political representatives such as the Foreign Minister, Ine Marie Eriksen Sreide, the Minister of Trade, Iselin Nyb, and the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tina Bru.

Norway's First International Virtual Visit, Headed By HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

California is the most populous U.S. state, and the world's fifth largest economy. The state has a leading role globally in developing and investing in green technology. At the same time, the state faces huge challenges, such as drought and forest fires, linked to climate change.

"California has paved the way for financing, developing and applying new technology. Through political strategy and actions, the Golden State have shown that they want to be a leader for implementing measures to reach the goals in the Paris Climate Agreement. This gives us a fantastic starting point for enhancing the cooperation between Norwegian companies and partners in California," says Hakon Haugli, CEO of Innovation Norway.

Haugli continues, "The goal of this visit is to showcase Norwegian policy, know-how and technology in areas that we know are of great interest and to open doors for Norwegian companies that can contribute with their solutions and expertise. This is, moreover, a great opportunity for sharing best practice and we have a lot to learn from California as well."

California and Norway have joint ambitions

California and Norway share ambitions for tomorrow's green technology and want closer cooperation on several areas. Both have made ambitious efforts for zero-emission passenger vehicles, and California has set clear targets for the use of renewable energy.

That is the background for the business delegation, which will focus on the net-zero transition, with a primary emphasis on the areas of offshore wind, electrification, smart societies, green shipping, and sustainable finance.

"These are areas in which Norwegian companies have world-leading expertise and experience," says Haugli, "and where Norway has proven to be the ideal test lab for scaling new sustainable technologies."

Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis and the California Energy Commission and the Public Unities Commission, and the California Air Resource Board, and the Office for Planning and Research are among the participants from California. Norwegian companies participating include Equinor, Aker Offshore Wind, Nordea, and Nysn as well as our cluster organizations like SAMS mobility cluster and Norwegian Energy Partners.

Travel restrictions do not end the interest in cooperation

In times of travel restrictions, virtual solutions will help maintain meeting places, conversations, and a feeling of personal presence.

"Businesses in Norway and California show a great interest in each other's ideas and opportunities. That does not stop because of a pandemic, and we want to offer interested companies a whole new way of making contacts in a safe and efficient way," says Haugli.

Interested parties can follow the whole visit digitally, and experience a mixed reality production never before used for a Royal delegation. They, along with media, should register beforehand. Information about the program, participants and registrations information is available on Norway Events.

Kristian Bye, Director

Innovation Norway in Palo Alto

email: [email protected]

phone: (650) 575-1000

Related Images

norwegian-royal-visit-to-california.png

Norwegian Royal Visit to California

Norway's First International Virtual Visit, Headed By HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

SOURCE Innovation Norway
"We are excited about commencing comprehensive planning for drilling our first well in China, said chief executive Tom Kelly

( ) has begun comprehensive planning for the drilling of the Jade prospect in China.

In a statement, the company told investors that it has awarded a contract to AGR which will assist with well planning and engineering.

The company has asked AGR to consider a number of well design options after comprehensive analysis of offset wells, concluding with a recommendation for well design.

Using a software platform AGR will quantify and demonstrate the various risks specific to each operation, to support well planning and to assist in the assessment of quotes for drilling the Jade prospect.

The initial work on well design will be completed in the coming weeks, the company added.

"We are excited about commencing comprehensive planning for drilling our first well in China, said chief executive Tom Kelly.

Drilling the world-class Jade prospect will herald a new phase in the history of the company as we become an operator of an exciting drilling campaign.

Jade will be our first well drilled and is one of three large conventional oil targets next door to a billion barrel oilfield within the energy hungry Chinese market.

We have selected AGR for the well design and engineering project as they have a long and comprehensive experience across 6 continents with industry specialists that have a long history of subsurface expertise."
Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up. In their findings (posted on SSRN/Preprints with The Lancet) they note that they are the first to meet the World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap goal of a vaccine with at least 75% efficacy.

The authors report (in findings in press with The Lancet) from a Phase IIb randomised, controlled, double-blind trial conducted at the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) / Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante (IRSS), Burkina Faso. 450 participants, aged 5-17 months, were recruited from the catchment area of Nanoro, covering 24 villages and an approximate population of 65,000 people.

The participants were split into three groups, with the first two groups receiving the R21/Matrix-M (with either a low dose or high dose of the Matrix-M adjuvant) and the third, a rabies vaccine as the control group. Doses were administered from early May 2019 to early August 2019, largely prior to the peak malaria season.

The researchers report a vaccine efficacy of 77% in the higher-dose adjuvant group, and 71% in the lower dose adjuvant group, over 12 months of follow-up, with no serious adverse events related to the vaccine noted.

Following these results, the Phase IIb trial, which was funded by the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union (grant number RIA2016V-1649-MMVC), was extended with a booster vaccination administered prior to the next malaria season one year later.

The researchers, in collaboration with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd., and Novavax Inc., have now started recruitment for a Phase III licensure trial to assess large-scale safety and efficacy in 4,800 children, aged 5-36 months, across four African countries.

Halidou Tinto, Professor in Parasitology, Regional Director of IRSS in Nanoro, and the trial Principal Investigator said: 'These are very exciting results showing unprecedented efficacy levels from a vaccine that has been well tolerated in our trial programme. We look forward to the upcoming phase III trial to demonstrate large-scale safety and efficacy data for a vaccine that is greatly needed in this region.'

Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute and Lakshmi Mittal and Family Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and co-author of the paper, said:

'These new results support our high expectations for the potential of this vaccine, which we believe is the first to reach the WHO's goal of a vaccine for malaria with at least 75% efficacy.

'With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have major public health impact if licensure is achieved.'

Professor Charlemagne Ouedraogo, Minister of Health, in Burkina Faso said:

'Malaria is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in Africa. We have been supporting trials of a range of new vaccine candidates in Burkina Faso and these new data show that licensure of a very useful new malaria vaccine could well happen in the coming years. That would be an extremely important new tool for controlling malaria and saving many lives.'

Professor Alkassoum Maiga Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in Burkina Faso, said:

'I am proud of Burkina Faso researchers who made a great contribution to reach this important milestone. Hope that the upcoming phase III trial will confirm these exciting findings and that this vaccine could have a real impact on this disease affecting millions of children every year.'

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla and Mr Adar Poonawalla, Chairman and CEO of the Serum Institute of India said:

'We are highly excited to see these results on a safe and highly effective malaria vaccine which will be available to the whole world through an excellent collaborative effort between Serum Institute, the University of Oxford and Novavax Inc.. Serum Institute is committed to global disease burden reduction and disease elimination strategies by providing high volume, affordable vaccines. We are highly confident that we will be able to deliver more than 200 million doses annually in line with the above strategy as soon as regulatory approvals are available.'

Dr Michael Makanga, EDCTP Executive Director, said:

'We congratulate the Multi-stage Malaria Vaccine Consortium on these highly promising results from the Burkina Faso trial of R21. This study represents a key advance in the clinical development of the R21 malaria vaccine towards licensure, and an important step closer to malaria control and elimination.'

Gareth Jenkins, Director of Advocacy, Malaria No More UK, said:

'An effective and safe malaria vaccine would be a hugely significant extra weapon in the armoury needed to defeat malaria, which still kills over 270,000 children every year. For decades, British scientists have been at the forefront of developing new ways to detect, diagnose, test and treat malaria, and we must continue to back them.

'A world without malaria is a world safer both for the children who would otherwise be killed by this disease, and for us here at home. Countries freed from the malaria burden will be much better equipped to fight off new disease threats when they inevitably emerge in the future.'

###

Note to Editors:

About R21/Matrix-M:

For further information, or requests for interview with Prof. Hill, please contact: news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

R21 was produced by expressing recombinant Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) virus-like particles in Hansenula polymorpha, comprising the central repeat and the C-terminus of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP), fused to the N-terminal end of HBsAg. It is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India Private Ltd (SIIPL). R21 was mixed prior to administration with Matrix-M, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant produced by Novavax AB, Uppsala, Sweden.

Development of R21/Matrix-M, a vaccine which targets P. falciparum malaria, has been accelerated by a collaboration between the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd and Novavax Inc. working with many clinical trial units in the UK and Africa. About Malaria:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that malaria causes over 400,000 deaths each year globally and progress in reducing malaria mortality has stalled in recent years. Most deaths are amongst children in Africa where very high transmission rates are found in many countries.

229 million cases of clinical malaria were reported in 2019.

Over 100 malaria vaccine candidates have entered clinical trials over recent decades but none has shown the >75% efficacy targeted by World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap. About the Jenner Institute:

The Jenner Institute is based within the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and operates out of the Old Road Campus Research Building, in Headington, Oxford. The Jenner Institute also supports senior vaccine scientists, known as Jenner Investigators, within many other departments across the University of Oxford, as well as externally within The Pirbright Institute and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The Jenner Institute brings together investigators who are designing and developing numerous vaccines to generate an exceptional breadth of scientific know-how and critical mass, whilst still allowing the individual investigators to remain independent and accountable to their funders and stakeholders.

The Jenner Institute is supported by the Jenner Vaccine Foundation, a UK registered charity and is advised by the Jenner Institute Scientific Advisory Board. About the University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the fifth year running, and at the heart of this success is our ground-breaking research and innovation.

Oxford is world-famous for research excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 200 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past three years.
When we think of an apprenticeship, most of us likely think of the NBC television show or some kind of archaic medieval career that doesnt exist anymore. Falconry isnt a viable career option anymore, but many career fields offer apprenticeships to those willing to do the work.

It may come as a surprise, but not everyone in the military wants to continue their military specialty as a career when they separate. Some service members, like infantry and other combat arms specialties, don't have a direct civilian career path.

For many military members, a traditional two- or four-year degree isnt a viable path forward, either. Luckily, there is an option for those separating veterans who want to pursue a different career without going to school for years on end: apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships are an industry-driven way for companies to train their future employees while providing individuals with valuable experience and a paycheck while they complete on-the-job and classroom training. Theres no guesswork or theory involved. Apprentices work on real-world company projects while learning the skills and tools of the trade and avoiding student debt.

In careers that require special certifications, they are earned and awarded to the apprentice as he or she completes the training requirements. For those interested in pursuing a degree in their field in the future, many apprenticeship programs offer college credit for the instruction.

Most importantly for todays civilian workforce, it allows apprentices to train under and work alongside experienced professionals in their field and to know them as colleagues and friends while building a professional civilian network.

Read: How to Build a Professional Network for Your Civilian Career

According to the Department of Labor, 94% of apprentices who finish their training program get hired, and the average annual salary of an apprentice is $70,000 per year, not bad considering the U.S. governments estimate of the median annual family income for 2020 is $79,000.

The length of any given apprenticeship can vary due to different factors. American companies offer apprenticeships in fields often associated with them, such as engineering, construction, energy and transportation. But apprenticeships are also available in hospitality, manufacturing, information technology, cybersecurity, health care and financial services.

Anyone interested in finding an apprenticeship as a post-military career can start with the Department of Labors Apprenticeship Finder, research and contact a company or a career field of interest to them, or visit a local American Job Center to see the offerings in their area that might not be listed on the website.

Falconry, thatchery and cooperage are apprentice-driven jobs that have been lost to technology, but the latest and most in-demand jobs can still be had through a hands-on apprenticeship.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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Mumbai: A massive fire broke out at the ICU of a Covid-19 Hospital in the Palghar district of Maharashtra in which at least 13 people have died on Friday morning.

According to reports, the fire broke out at the ICU of the Vijay Vallabh Covid Care Hospital located in Virar West in the Palghar district where several COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment.

All other affected patients are being shifted to nearby hospitals. As of now, the identity of the deceased patients could not be ascertained as they were charred beyond recognition.

News agency ANI earlier said, "Fire broke out at a COVID Center in Vasai of Palghar district. Affected patients are being shifted to nearby hospitals. 12 patients have died in the fire at Vasai Covid hospital.''

Maharashtra: Fire breaks out at a COVID Center in Vasai of Palghar district. Affected patients are being shifted to nearby hospitals. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/QfclEgBvvj  ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2021

A short circuit is believed to have caused the fire at 3 AM today. The situation is said to be under control now.

Later, PTI quoted District Disaster Control Cell chief Vivekanand Kadam saying, "The fire broke out in the ICU of the hospital around 3 AM. The fire was preceded by an explosion in the AC unit of the intensive care unit. There were several patients undergoing treatment at the hospital."

Firefighters from the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation put out the fire within an hour, Kadam said.

Confirming the news, Dr. Dilip Shah, official, Vijay Vallabh COVID Care Hospital, Virar, said, "13 people have died after a fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) around 3 am today. 21 patients including those in critical condition have been shifted to another hospital.''

Maharashtra | 13 people have died after a fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) around 3am today. 21 patients including those in critical condition have been shifted to another hospital: Dr. Dilip Shah, official, Vijay Vallabh COVID care hospital, Virar pic.twitter.com/0GNUlHlgt4  ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2021

Meanwhile, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has ordered an inquiry into the fire incident at Vijay Vallabh COVID care hospital, said the Chief Minister's Office.

"This is a big accident. Those found responsible won't be spared. The government will provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakhs each to the families of those who lost their lives,'' Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde said on Virar hospital fire incident.

PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that they were saddened by the loss of lives due to a tragic fire at a Hospital in Palghar, Maharashtra.

They prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. "The fire at a COVID-19 hospital in Virar is tragic. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon," PM Narendra Modi said.

The shocking incident comes a day after 22 people lost their lives due to low oxygen supply after an oxygen tanker leaked outside Dr Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik, Maharashtra.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky may discuss bilateral relations at their possible meeting, but the issue of Crimea does not exist, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"The president [Putin] himself has said that it is bilateral relations that may be discussed with [Zelensky]. A topic such as Crimea does not exist. Therefore, there is nothing to discuss here," Peskov told reporters on Friday when asked what issues may be on the agenda of Putin's possible meeting with Zelensky and whether they may discuss the Crimea issue, which the Ukrainian president continues to bring up.
YPSILANTI TWP., MI  A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a healthcare company contracted by the states prison system after a prisoner was given a lethal dose of antipsychotic medication.

Disability Rights Michigan with the Lipton Law firm filed a federal lawsuit Monday, April 19, in U.S. District Court seeking $5 million in damages against Corizon Health and several medical staff members for the wrongful death of Ashley Harris, 31, who died while incarcerated in the Huron Valley Womens Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti Township in 2018.

The lawsuit claims Harris, who was being treated for mental illness while incarcerated, was given a lethal dose of Thorazine over the course of several days causing her to overdose and die while medical staff ignored her pleas for help, the lawsuit states.

When Ms. Harris needed the most help, she was locked in a cell and poisoned by medication prescribed by those who were supposed to treat her illness, Lipton Law attorney Kyle Kelly said.

A representative with Corizon Health could not be reached for comment.

Harris was incarcerated in the facility after she pleaded guilty in Kent County Circuit Court to intentionally starting a fire inside an addiction recovery home she was staying at in Grand Rapids in 2012.

Woman pleads guilty to setting fire to recovery home

Witnesses said Harris used a bottle of lighter fluid, squirting it on the house, while threatening to harm herself. She damaged a hose to prevent the fire from being extinguished, records show.

According to a mental health evaluation, Harris suffered from mental illness, addiction and was hearing voices telling her to kill her boyfriend, the president and staff in the hospital.

In February 2013, Harris was sentenced to serve six to 20 years in prison for the arson, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

On or about July 7, 2018, Harris was deemed a suicide risk and placed in an observation cell in the womens prison with fellow inmates serving as a Prisoner Observation Aid which are tasked with observing at-risk prisoners, the lawsuit states.

Harris was evaluated by a doctor who determined Harris was suffering from auditory and visual hallucinations as well as delusions leading to her being prescribed Thorazine, the lawsuit states.

The doctor ordered she was to take 600mg at 9 a.m., 600mg at noon and 800mg at bedtime, reaching a daily total of 2000mg a day, the lawsuit claims.

Staff maintained logs to ensure Harris was given her doses as ordered until Sept. 11 when her dosage was ordered to be reduced to 1800mg a day, the lawsuit states.

Records obtained by Disability Rights Michigan investigators showed Harris received a reduced dose of 600mg three times a day plus an additional 800mg dose at bedtime which should have been canceled with the new order, the lawsuit claims.

Harriss daily dose of Thorazine was now at 2600mg a day, a lethal quantity, the lawsuit states.

She was given the 2600mg daily dose for several days, leading to Harriss physical and mental state to noticeably deteriorate to a point where she could no longer get out of bed or communicate, the lawsuit states.

On Sept. 13, Harriss Prisoner Observation Aid told medical staff Harris was doing poorly, was pale and unsteady on her feet, the lawsuit claims.

The aid requested assistance from a nurse 10 times that day, each time being refused, the lawsuit claims.

Harris began breathing abnormally and became unresponsive late that night, leading medical staff to call for an ambulance. She was pronounced dead shortly after the ambulance crew arrived, the lawsuit states.

An autopsy showed Harris died of Thorazine toxicity with her Thorizine levels measured at 2900ng/mL, the lawsuit claims.

Our prison system is not where we should house the most severely mentally ill people in Michigan, said Kyle Williams, Litigation Director for Disability Rights Michigan. We need to reassess how and where we treat women with severe mental illness in this state.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith. No future court dates have been assigned as of yet.

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The project manager for a building operations company in Massachusetts is accused advancing a nearly $40,000 fraud scheme by inflating payroll expenses, billing items to the federal government he actually used in his own real estate properties and illegally giving contracts to a family member.

Benedetto Valente, a 60-year-old Newton man, was charged Wednesday in connection with the alleged scheme to defraud both the company he worked for and the federal General Services Administration by causing expenses to be billed that neither the business nor the GSA actually incurred, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The Newton man has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in Boston federal court. A plea hearing has yet to be scheduled by the court, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

In his capacity as a project manager at the company, Valente supervised a crew of up to eight tradesmen responsible for maintaining building operations, such as HVAC, electrical, heating, plumbing and carpentry support, according to federal court documents.

The business also applied for competitive bids, called additional service requests, for certain GSA projects that were beyond the scope of the companys regular mechanical services contract. ASRs are separate contracts with the GSA that are limited to projects up to $100,000 and awarded at the administrations discretion, court documents read.

Along with having to accurately report the number of hours worked to the GSA, Valente was also tasked by the company he worked for with keeping track of all materials used on ASR projects. He was required to maintain receipts and internal purchase order forms in relation to these materials, according to court records.

From October 2015 to September 2018, Valente is accused of engaging in a scheme to defraud the company he worked for and the GSA by billing expenses to both entities that werent actually incurred on their behalf. Authorities said he inflated payroll charges for ASR projects, billed items to the business and the government that he used for his own real estate and created fake documents to make it look like the items were for the GSA.

For example, on July 3, 2017, Valentue is accused of completing an internal purchase order for the company he worked for that attributed the cost of an air conditioning unit to an ASR project, indicating the unit was installed in a federal building. However, court records claimed, the type of AC unit that was bought isnt suitable for use in the building and was actually installed in one of Valentes commercial rental properties.

As part of the scheme, Valente is also accused of fraudulently awarding scaffolding and masonry repair contracts directly to family. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, he submitted fake bids so one of his family members could be awarded the contracts while making it appear like the required competitive bidding process was followed and by diverting a subcontract for another contractor to his family member at an inflated price.

On Nov. 3, 2016, authorities said, Valente applied for an ASR project that included a subcontract for scaffolding totaling more than $11,000. Three independent bids were received, and Valente said he awarded the contract to the lowest bidder, submitting documentation to the federal company on behalf of the company he worked for alleging so.

However, Valente is accused of never notifying the lowest bidder of the subcontract award, instead hiring a family member to complete the contract at the lowest bidders price.

In total, the overcharges from Valentes alleged fraud scheme amounted to roughly $39,000, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.
The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

9:30 p.m.

Yukon is reporting two new cases of COVID-19.

This brings the total number of infections in the territory to 80.

The territory says both adults are in Whitehorse and in the same household.

It says the source of infection is currently under investigation.

6 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 1,857 new cases of COVID-19.

The province says there have been six additional deaths due to the virus.

There are 518 people in hospital and, of those, 116 are in intensive care.

Officials say there are 19,182 active cases in the province.

A total of 1,275,287 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

5:10 p.m.

The Saskatchewan government says families of residents in long-term care and personal care homes will soon be able to visit their loved ones.

Seniors Minister Everett Hindley says the change will take effect on April 29.

He says the homes will be able to welcome an unlimited number of family and friends, two at a time, to visit fully vaccinated residents -- if at least 90 per cent of the residents are fully vaccinated and three weeks have passed since that second dose.

4:15 p.m.

B.C. is reporting 1,006 new cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths, pushing the death toll to 1,550.

A record-high 502 people are hospitalized with the illness, including more than 160 in intensive care.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says pressure on B.C.s health-care system is immense right now.

She's urging people to take care of health workers by staying local and sticking to safety measures.

Henry adds that coming restrictions on non-essential travel will keep people from visiting COVID-19 hot spots.

3:40 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 254 new cases of COVID-19.

The province says there has also been one additional death due to the virus.

There are 177 people in hospital because of the novel coronavirus and, of those, 48 are in intensive care.

About 53 per cent of residents 40 and older have received a first dose of vaccine.

3:05 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reinstating "circuit breaker" restrictions for the Halifax Regional Municipality amid a rise of COVID-19 cases.

Health officials say starting tomorrow at 8 a.m., outdoor and indoor gatherings will be limited to five people.

Large gatherings such as festivals and wedding receptions are prohibited.

Officials say the restrictions will remain in place until at least May 20.

2:20 p.m.

Ontario has issued two new emergency orders that will help bring more health-care workers into hospitals overburdened by COVID-19.

One order allows workers to provide patient care outside their regular scope of practice, consistent with duties assigned by a hospital.

The other allows out-of-province health-care workers to practise in an Ontario hospital without registering with regulatory colleges in the province.

The government says the orders will allow staff from Ontario health facilities to be redeployed to hospitals and will also pave the way for out-of-province health workers to practise there.

1:55 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 19 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Eleven of new cases are in the Edmundston region, part of which has been under lockdown for the last 12 days.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says the lockdown will be reassessed next Monday.

New Brunswick has 146 active reported cases and 15 patients in hospital with the disease, including five in intensive care.

1:45 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 261 new cases of COVID-19.

Three earlier cases have been removed due to data correction, for a net increase of 258.

The province is also reporting one death -- a man in his 70s in the northern health region.

1:20 p.m.

Quebec is expanding its vaccination program to people with chronic illnesses who don't require regular hospital care as well as to those with intellectual or physical disabilities.

Health Minister Christian Dube says it will be up to people with chronic illnesses -- a category that includes diabetes, obesity and respiratory problems -- to decide whether they qualify.

Dube says he's counting on the good faith of Quebecers and says he hopes people wont take advantage of the system to get vaccinated early.

Caregivers of eligible people are also able to book a vaccine appointment.

12:50 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting three new cases of COVID-19.

The first case involves a man in his 60s in the eastern health region and is related to travel inside Canada.

The other two are in the western health region  a woman between 20 and 39 years old and a male under 20  and both are close contacts of previous cases.

The province currently has 26 active infections.

12:35 p.m.

Deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo says Canada will be making adjustments at the border for incoming flights "very soon."

Njoo says the prime minister and the government are looking at COVID-19 data and a decision to do more at the border is imminent.

Opposition Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says the Liberal government needs to immediately stop admitting flights from COVID-19 "hot spot" countries like India and Brazil.

12:25 p.m.

More than 10 million Canadians have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The milestone was passed this morning.

There are, however, still fewer than one million people who have received both required doses of vaccine.

Second doses are being delayed up to four months so more people can get their first dose earlier.

Canada is vaccinating people more than twice as fast as it was a month ago, but the number of doses given each day slowed this week due to supply issues.

12:15 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Heather Morrison says the case involves someone who travelled to P.E.I. from outside Atlantic Canada.

There are 12 active reported cases in the province.

P.E.I. has a total of 175 COVID-19 infections and no deaths linked to the virus.

11:35 a.m.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet says he supports the federal Conservatives call to immediately block flights from hot spot countries like India and Brazil to cut down on the flow of COVID-19 variants into Canada.

Blanchet says barring those flights from touching down is the responsible thing to do, and should happen rapidly and severely.

He says exceptions could be made for essential services, particularly those involving Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines produced in India.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, who proposed the restriction this morning, did not lay out specifics on how to beef up border protections beyond disallowing planes from certain countries from landing.

11:20 a.m.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says the federal government needs to immediately stop admitting flights from COVID-19 "hot spot" countries like India and Brazil.

He says the move would buy time to figure out a better plan for stopping variants of concern from getting into Canada.O'Toole doesn't have specifics for what he thinks should happen to beef up border protections beyond not allowing flights to land from certain countries.

Health Canada says about one per cent of arriving passengers are testing positive but can't say how many have tested positive after 10 days.

11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,248 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including two in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations have dropped by five, to 711, and 174 people are in intensive care, a drop of four.

The province says 84,837 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the past 24 hours.

Health Minister Christian Dube is holding a news conference later today to provide an update on the provinces vaccine rollout.

10:55 a.m.

Nunavut is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the territory's active case count to 36.

There are 34 cases in Iqaluit and two in Kinngait, which have been linked to the outbreak in Iqaluit.

Both communities are under strict lockdowns, with all schools, non-essential businesses and workplaces closed.

To date, 14,742 adults in the territory of 40,000 have had one dose of the Moderna vaccine and 11,830 people have had the required two doses.

10:45 a.m.

Quebec's premier says a number of premiers are writing to the prime minister, urging the federal government to tighten COVID-19 restrictions for people arriving on international flights and across Canadas land border.

Francois Legault says there are real concerns about overseas flights, notably those coming from countries such as India and Brazil, which are struggling with more transmissible variants.

He says Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia are among the provinces that are behind the letter.

Legault says the provincial leaders are also in agreement that everything must be done to reduce travel between provinces.

10:30 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 3,682 new cases of COVID-19 and 40 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 1,131 new cases in Toronto, 507 in Peel Region and 436 in York Region.

She also says there are 279 new cases in Ottawa and 200 in Durham Region.

Nearly 135,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ontario since yesterday's daily report.

10:20 a.m.

Premier Doug Ford is promising a paid sick-leave program for Ontario workers after months of saying a provincial policy wasn't needed.

He says people forced into quarantine should not have to worry about their jobs or income.

Ford says the province is now working on a solution because the federal government hasn't expanded its own policy.

The emotional premier also apologized for increasing police enforcement powers and closing playgrounds last Friday.

10:15 a.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 38 new cases of COVID-19 today and now has a total of 111 active infections.

Thirty-three cases have been identified in the Halifax area, three in the eastern zone, and one each in the northern and western zones.

Nineteen of the Halifax cases are close contacts of previously reported cases, 10 are under investigation and four are related to foreign and domestic travel.

All of the remaining cases in other parts of the province are related to travel, with four linked to international travel and one to travel outside of Atlantic Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected report. A previous version referred to Njoo as deputy chief public health minister.
Joshua and Shiela McAleer. (Source: Shiela McAleer/Instagram)

A woman from the Philippines who was recruited by a Sydney couple to work in Australia ended up enduring slave-like treatment in the familys home and businesses for three years.

Shiela and Joshua McAleer admitted guilt to several charges including conducting business involving forced labor, harboring an unlawful non-citizen and making a false statement for health benefits.

The couple is facing a maximum of 10 years in jail. They will be sentenced in June.

The husband and wife have offered to pay $70,000 as compensation to the woman they enslaved.

The victim, who cant be named, was lured by the couple in 2013. Hoping for a better life, she flew into Australia with a tourist visa, which didnt allow her to get a job.

But as soon as she arrived, the Filipina worked as a cleaner and carer for the couples children for long hours.

The illegal immigrants passport was confiscated after her three-month visa expired and was told she could not return to the Philippines until she had repaid her travel expenses.

In 2015, the woman was also forced to work, always supervised, in the couples grocery and eatery stores for six to seven days a week.

The victim managed to escape the McAleers in 2016 but they hired a private detective to track her down. She was also threatened by the couple saying they knew people in the higher up and in the police who could harm her or her family in the Philippines.

Shiela McAleer is described by the victim as cruel.

I felt like a slave but didnt say anything I had no power to change my situation, she said in her statement. I did not know when I came that I would have to work 24 hours a day. I did not get paid for my work.

I feel it would have been better not to come [to Australia].

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New Jersey on Friday reported another 2,479 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and an additional 21 confirmed deaths, while statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped further below 2,000 and nearly 4 in 10 adults have now been vaccinated in the state.

Appearing at an unrelated event in Ship Bottom, Gov. Phil Murphy repeated that more reopening steps are on the horizon, saying next week hell announce fairly significant news on what the states gonna look like over the next number of weeks. He has not yet provided details, though he has said any steps would be incremental.

Murphy has been optimistic  though cautiously  about the states numbers improving three weeks after officials declared a third wave of the pandemic was hitting the state.

We keep going in the right direction, were gonna be able to open this place up, said the governor, who noted Memorial Day  the unofficial start of the summer at the Jersey Shore  is a month away.

Please get vaccinated, he added. Continue to so the smart, right things. Were gonna have a great summer on the Jersey Shore.

New Jerseys COVID-19 hospitalizations were below 2,000 for the second straight day, with 1,941 patients across the states 71 hospitals as of Wednesday night.

Thats a big deal, Murphy said.

The states seven-day average for new confirmed positive tests is now 2,700, down 12% from a week ago and 20% from a month ago.

This marks the fifth straight day the state has reported fewer than 3,000 new cases.

More than 2.68 million people have been fully vaccinated in the state as of Thursday  about 39% of the states 6.9 million adult residents. The states goal is to fully vaccinate 70% of its eligible adult population  about 4.7 million people  by the end of June.

Murphy said Thursday he still believes with a fairly high degree of confidence the state will reach that mark despite some vaccine centers have reported dwindling demand.

But the governor also warned the state is beginning to see hesitancy among residents prompt a reduced demand for the vaccine. He said the state is brainstorming ways to proactively reach into communities to drum up support for the vaccine  including possibly using mobile units, public service announcements, working with businesses, and maybe knocking on your door.

In all, more than 6.4 million vaccine doses have been administered in New Jersey, with more than 3.9 million people receiving at least one dose.

The states latest rate of transmission was at 0.93 for the third straight day. The rate had dropped steadily in recent weeks after reaching 1.07 on April 5. 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.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted on Monday, the most recent day available, was 6.49%  which is  as low as its been in weeks, Murphy said.

In all, New Jersey has now reported 870,986 confirmed coronavirus cases out of slightly more than 13 million PCR tests in the nearly 14 months since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 122,428 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 million people has reported 25,328 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  including 22,717 confirmed deaths and 2,611 fatalities considered probable.

New Jersey has the most coronavirus deaths per capita among American states.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 1,941 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Thursday night  56 fewer than the previous night, according to state data.

That included 453 in critical or intensive care (four fewer than the night before), with 247 on ventilators (two more).

There were also 257 COVID-19 patients discharged Wednesday, while 238 were admitted.

By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April and more than 3,800 during the second wave in December.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 254 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,125 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to state data.

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 has said New Jerseys schools are expected to return to full in-person classes for the next school year.

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 (22.7%), 18-29 (19.9%), 65-79 (10.2%), 5-17 (9.7%), 80 and older (4.4%) and 0-4 (2%).

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 (46.66%), followed by those 65-79 (32.91%), 50-64 (15.95%), 30-49 (4.06%), 18-29 (0.39%), 5-17 (0.01%) and 0-4 (0.03%).

At least 8,021 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.

There are active outbreaks at 229 facilities, resulting in 2,805 active cases among residents and 3,626 among staffers. Those numbers have slowed as vaccinations continue at the facilities.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of early Friday afternoon, there have been more than 144.97 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 3.07 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 31.95 million, and the most deaths, at more than 570,600.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
Hyderabad, April 23 : Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has come to the rescue of a temple priest who had tested positive for Covid-19 by allocating him a bed at a hospital run by his organisation.

Narsimhaiah, the head priest of Lal Darwaza temple in the Old City neighbourhood of Hyderabad, could not get a bed in any hospital even as his oxygen level had dropped on Thursday after testing positive for the virus.

The family of the 80-year-old priest of the famous Mahankali temple at Lal Darwaza telephoned Owaisi, who immediately asked his aides to arrange a bed in the Princess Esra Hospital.

Narsimhaiah is being given oxygen at the hospital and his condition is stated to be stable.

The relatives of the priest and the temple committee thanked the MP for the timely help. Owaisi's gesture also came in for praise from the people on various social media platforms.

The Princes Esra Hospital located in the Old City is a part of the Owaisi Group of Hospitals.

Hyderabad has been witnessing a massive surge in Covid cases during the ongoing second wave. The Telangana capital broke a new record on Thursday with the daily spike crossing the 1,000-mark. It was the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year.

The state government continues to maintain that there is no shortage of beds or oxygen in the hospitals.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The work on integration processes in the Union State of Russia and Belarus is going ahead effectively in various areas, including between intelligence services, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday when opening talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

"The work is going ahead well in all spheres, our teams are working rather effectively, I mean the government team and the administration team and as we see now the intelligence services," Putin said. The Russian president added, "cooperation is deepening in the military-technical interaction, and security in the broadest meaning of this word."

The Russian leader warmly welcomed his counterpart in the Kremlin, noting that there are fundamental things in the relations between Russia and Belarus that influence both countries, TASS reported.
South Carolinas stand your ground law, which provides immunity to victims who use deadly force to protect themselves, has a major flaw, and lawmakers are looking to remedy it.

House members are considering a bill that would that would expand the immunity given to people under South Carolinas stand your ground law to victims who point their gun at an attacker, but dont pull the trigger.

Under current state law, a victim can use deadly force against an attacker when a person is presumed to have a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to himself or another person.

S.C. Rep. Mandy Kimmons, the bills primary sponsor, said the states current law only gives people who respond to attacks by using deadly force protection from prosecution. It does not extend to people who only pull out their gun and point it at their attacker to scare them away.

You shouldnt have to shoot someone to get immunity, the Dorchester Republican said.

Her bill, which has the support 16 other sponsors, would close that loophole.

If youre in a situation where you pulled out your gun ... and you didnt pull the trigger, then this would protect you, Kimmons said.

Kimmons called her bill not controversial and said she expects it to receive enough support as it moves through the House.

Kimmons did introduce a similar bill during a previous legislative session, but that bill did not make it out of committee. During a subcommittee meeting Wednesday, lawmakers adjourned debate on the bill, but said they wanted to revisit it once theyd created a few amendments for it.

The bill already has some opponents.

The South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action, a nationwide volunteer advocacy group that champions legislation to cut down on gun violence, took a stance against it. Jackie Shelly, a volunteer with the group, called the bill dangerous.

It would give people carte blanche to escalate situations to potentially deadly ones by brandishing firearms whenever they feel threatened, which is the last thing we need, Shelley said.

Story continues

South Carolinas stand your ground laws have changed throughout the years.

The states castle doctrine gives individuals the right to use deadly force to defend themselves on their property, including their homes. That right to defend oneself with deadly force was expanded in 2006 to include places outside of the home that individuals have a right to be in where they may be confronted by an attacker.

Unlike some other states, South Carolinas stand your ground law doesnt require a duty to retreat; in other words, victims arent required to try to get away from the attackers before resorting to deadly force to be protected from prosecution.

Stand your ground laws have been considered controversial throughout the years, especially after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old who was shot and killed in Florida by George Zimmerman, a man who was acting as a self-appointed community watchman. Though Zimmermans lawyer did not discuss Floridas stand your ground law during his trial, the jury did discuss the law during deliberation. They ultimately found Zimmerman not guilty.

This bill is one of a number of gun-related bills considered by the Legislature this year.

Reinforced by seats won during the November election, South Carolina Republicans have set their eyes on a number of bills that would expand gun rights. The House approved two such bills already this session: one that would allow those with concealed carry permits to openly carry their firearms and a bill that would allow anyone, regardless of whether they had a permit, to openly carry.
There are other indicators of vaccine hesitancy, including religious and political affiliations, early research has shown: 45% of white evangelical Christians, for example, said they planned to receive the shot, making them "among the least likely demographic groups to do so," The New York Times reported. And Americans who identify as Democrats are 27 percentage points more likely than Republicans (83% to 56%) to say they intend to get or have gotten the vaccine already, according to Pew Research Center.

Higher percentages of immunizations among residents could ultimately lead to Napa County "not having to do community mitigation measures," Relucio said, in which the county would have to close sectors of its economy to prevent additional spread. Beyond that, she said, it is an important step toward protecting public health in the county.

It can be hard to convince people who are hesitant that these vaccines are safe, Relucio said. The fact is, it is not just about you  its about protecting vulnerable people you may be exposed to. There are people who cannot get the vaccine because theyre allergic to a certain component  youre protecting those people too.
New Delhi:

Union minister Smriti Irani today sought to put the Congress in the dock on the Bofors issue, citing claims of a private investigator involved in its probe, and asked it to come clean on the involvement of its leaders in the alleged scam.



Targeting the opposition party, she told reporters that its leaders, including its chief Sonia Gandhi, have been shown to be too eager to grab undue benefits whether it is a matter of an air ticket upgrade or a scam like the Bofors deal.



Quoting from private detective Michael Hershman's interviews to some media houses, she said he was asked by then Finance Minister V P Singh to look into the Bofors deal but was later offered bribe and then given death threat when he stumbled on the evidence of bribe.



The then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi shifted Singh to the defence ministry while Hershman was also asked to implicate Singh, she said.



Quoting him, she said the owner of a Pakistani-run Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which had been allegedly involved in money laundering and other financial crimes, or his representative met Rajiv Gandhi with a large suitcase.



Following this, the bank, which was shut after a CBI raid in connection with the Bofors deal, was allowed to open and its detained officials were released, she said.



"Who were offering bribe? Why did a Congress leader (Rajiv Gandhi) choose to silence his own minister (Singh)?



"For too long the Congress has kept conveniently quiet.



It is time that it answers as to what was the role of Congress leaders then and now," she asked, adding that many of them are still around.



The Congress has had a tendency to either bribe or give death threats to people looking into dubious deals involving its leaders, she alleged.



Hershman's interviews have brought to life the "sordid saga" of Bofors.



Irani parried queries asked by the Congress at a press conference in which it questioned then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's, now prime minister, 100 trips in private chartered flights.



She said the Congress was trying to prove its leaders involved in the Bofors case and Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law involved in controversial land deals, innocent. Its leader have not responded to Hershman's claims or fresh charges against Vadra, she said.



To a question, the information and broadcasting minister said the Congress should have filed a defamation suit against Hershman if it believed he was wrong as she noted that Jay Shah, the son of BJP chief Amit Shah, had filed a Rs 100-crore suit against a news portal over a story on his business.



In the press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited the BJP's victory in 1,311 seats against 312 of the Congress in Maharashtra local body polls to claim that people have rejected the opposition's narrative against the Modi government.



"For the BJP, the party is family and for the Congress, the family is party," he said, in a dig at the Gandhi family.

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(CNN)  European Medicines Agency officials said at a news conference on Friday that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks, and that they will continue to review "very rare cases" of blood clots.

"Importantly, the data show that the benefits of vaccination increased with age and increasing levels of infection in the community, said Dr. Peter Arlett, head of Pharmacovigilance and Epidemiology Department at the European Medicines Agency.

"Every day, thousands of people in Europe are dying from Covid-19. The AstraZeneca vaccine is highly effective at preventing infection and therefore hospitalization and death," Arlett added. "Very rare cases of blood clots with low platelets have been reported, and these are listed as very rare side effects of the vaccine."

Arlett also said the European Medicines Agency is stepping back from reporting the numbers on blood clots, as the agency wants to contextualize the numbers and the risk.

Earlier this month, the EMA said a particular combination of unusual blood clots with low blood platelet counts should be listed as a side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but stopped short of recommending its use be limited. The agency previously said the positive benefits of AstraZeneca's vaccine outweigh the risks.

Read more love updates here.
A woman has been ordered to demolish her luxury log cabin eco-home, where she has lived for seven years, after the council ruled it was too big and breaches planning permission.

Brigid Eakins, 66, has said that she will be forced to live on the streets after town hall chiefs demanded she tear down the eco-home she built for herself in St Michaels, near Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, in 2014.

The mother-of-three spent 59,000 of her life savings constructing the cabin from natural materials and applied for planning permission at the time in order to do so.

She was told she did not require permission as there was already a mobile home on the site in the quaint hamlet.

But Herefordshire County Council has since performed a U-turn and told her the wooden structure is unauthorised and in breach of planning regulations.

The local authority has now ordered the divorced languages teacher to knock down her home by January next year following just four complaints from neighbours.

Brigid Eakins, 66, has said that she will be forced to live on the streets after town hall chiefs demanded she tear down the eco-home she built for herself in St Michaels, near Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, in 2014

The mother-of-three spent 59,000 of her life savings constructing the cabin from natural materials and applied for planning permission at the time in order to do so (plans pictured)

The council have said that the building at Redwood Orchard goes beyond what was originally approved - but Brigid claims she has stuck exactly to the original plans.

She estimates the council has spent at least 75,000 of taxpayers' cash on the bitter dispute over a property which cost just 59,000 to build.

Brigid, who is also a Cambridge University examiner, has also been forced to fork out over 100,000 on legal fees during the battle to save her home.

She lives off-grid at the 90ft x 50ft open-plan eco cabin which uses a generator and inverter to make her own electricity for heating and WiFi.

She also treats her own waste water from the toilet with a septic tank and is surrounded by hundreds of trees which she planted herself.

Brigid said: 'I've put everything into this house and now I'm facing homelessness. That's how draconian and inhumane they are.

'I'll be out on the street in the middle of winter. How can they force someone like me who has lived here seven years onto the street?

But Herefordshire County Council has since performed a U-turn and told her the wooden structure (open plan kitchen diner pictured) is unauthorised and in breach of planning regulations

Brigid was told she did not require permission (pictured) as there was already a mobile home on the site in the quaint hamlet

'I'm very frightened and not looking forward to Christmas because knowing you have got to get out five minutes after Christmas is not very nice.

'It's just awful to think about.

'I thought I had permission to build the cabin, I did build it and then it all kicked off.

'All this is going to waste, which is a climate change nightmare, it is all going to be trashed.'

Brigid says she was given a decision notice by the council saying she could replace the mobile home with a log cabin in January 2014.

But they later issued an enforcement notice then an appeal was dismissed by the planning inspectorate and a subsequent judicial review was also rejected.

She added: 'I have lived in the village for 35 years.

'I was in the mobile home for two years and and ran a language school over the road teaching English as foreign language for 30 years.

'Then I had an acrimonious divorce and I didn't have anywhere else to live.

'At the time, I described it as a log cabin to make sure they knew it was a wooden structure and not anything metal.

The local authority has now ordered the divorced languages teacher to knock down her home (pictured) by January next year following just four complaints from neighbours

Brigid (pictured), who is also a Cambridge University examiner, has also been forced to fork out over 100,000 on legal fees during the battle to save her home

'I said I just wanted to replace the existing mobile home where I had been living for two years which had a certificate of lawfulness.

'I was given this formal legal document dated January 23, 2014 that said 'application not required'.

'I built it exactly the same as it looks in the plans I submitted in 2013. It is absolutely identical.

'Then they went to a public enquiry in 2016 after I had been living in it for two years. I just don't know why they decided that.

'Originally there were four complainants over the course of application. Two of them aggressively asked to buy the land from me.

'One of the original complainants withdrew his complaint and we are now good friends and the other one lives a mile away.

'They council are treating me as collateral damage to cover up their mistakes in issuing an unlawful document.

'They refuse to admit that all of this is their fault, they shouldn't have said I could build in the first place.

'They are asking me to demolish my home to cover up their mistakes.

Brigid also said that she has tried to readjust the application to suit the local authority but they had failed to even respond to her most recent application last year

'They council have said there were several complaints but in fact there were four and they have failed to mention there were dozens of letters of support.'

Brigid also said that she has tried to readjust the application to suit the local authority but they had failed to even respond to her most recent application last year.

She added: 'I have begged the council for assistance but they have never replied to my requests.

'They have never discussed any of this with me in plain English for the past seven years.

'I don't want to say how much I've spent on legal fees because I'm embarrassed but they run to six figures.

'I think they must've spent more than 75,000 of taxpayers money fighting me and I have paid council tax since 2013.

'I make no noise and have no objectors since 2013. The cabin is not overlooked by anyone in this very small hamlet.

'I will be forced to sell the land but to sell the land with a toxic enforcement notice on it will only be good for agricultural land.

'And then if you put cattle and sheep on it they will eat all the trees like walnuts and birches I've put in.

'Having spent my life savings, having been and still being on a raft of medication, I am less than a year away from being made homeless.'

The house itself cost 59,000 to build while the landscaping to make the land level cost a further several thousand pounds.

A well, generator, an oil tank to run it and a septic tank also cost a further five thousand pounds.

She added: 'I have owned this piece of land for 35 years and this is a really nice bungalow.

'They could get a lot of kudos for allowing someone to do something as green on their own land.

'We are all being told to be green but I'm not being allowed to build a small eco-friendly cabin on my own land.

'It may well be too late for me but I want people to know what this council is capable of.'

Brigid said her local Conservative MP for Leominster Bill Wiggin has also been sympathetic to her case.

She added: 'He has written to the council and has said he'll do what he can for me because he agrees the house is identical to the plans.

'If the council has its way, I will have to demolish my home otherwise they will prosecute me for a criminal offence.'

A Herefordshire County Council spokesperson said: 'The council has a responsibility to follow the adopted development plan and national planning policy aimed at promoting sustainable development in rural areas, and this has remained consistent throughout.

'The structure built in this location far exceeds the scope of the original plans, and has prompted several complaints from the local community.

'The council issued an enforcement notice for the unauthorised development.

'An appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate and a subsequent Judicial Review was also refused at permission stage.

'The site should have been cleared by August 2019, but due to the pandemic the council extended the time period for compliance until January 2022.

'We would remind all applicants that they build strictly to the approved plans and notify the council should they wish to make changes before undertaking development.'
Dublin, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Ureteroscopes (General Surgery) - Global Market Analysis and Forecast Model (COVID-19 Market Impact)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Ureteroscopes (General Surgery) - Global Market Analysis and Forecast Model (COVID-19 market impact) is built to visualize quantitative market trends within General Surgery therapeutic area.



The model discusses in detail the impact of COVID-19 on Ureteroscopes market for the year 2020 and beyond. The ureteroscopes market is driven by a variety of factors, including a growing aging population, increase in patients with kidney stones, and other conditions of the kidney, ureter, and bladder.



The global population with urological disorders continues to increase with more than 200 million people worldwide estimated to have kidney disorders. Ureteroscopes are devices used to administer medication to these patients. This rising number of patients with urological disorders is expect to result in a larger number of hospitals that require ureteroscopes, resulting in an increase in the market for ureteroscopes.



Each of the covered 39 country's color-coded and fully-sourced market models are equipped with epidemiology based indications with procedure volumes. To increase the data transparency, the interactive excel deliverable covers installed base, new sales volumes, product usage, average selling prices, market size and company share/rank analysis (wherever available). Moreover, analyst comments with qualitative insight offer context for quantitative data.

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Hoya Corp

Olympus Corp

Advanced Endoscopy Devices

Richard Wolf GmbH

Stryker Corp

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Annualized total Ureteroscopes market revenue by segment and market outlooks from 2015-2030.

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Qualitative market specific information is available with global trends further broken down into regional trends. In addition, analysts provide unique country specific insights on the market.

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Drive the understanding of the market by getting the veritable big picture including an overview of the healthcare system. In addition the Market Access segment allows you to delve deeper into market dynamics with information on reimbursement policies and the regulatory landscape.

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Organize your sales and marketing efforts by identifying the market categories and segments that present maximum opportunities for consolidations, investments and strategic partnerships.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/d94bpv
YEREVAN.  There is no need and reason to worry; thats why I urge no panic or any other negative mood to be spread by anyone. Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan on Friday told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am, referring to the shots being fired by Azerbaijan in recent days at the borders of Armenia.

"Everything is being monitored; there is no need to worry. If there is cause for concern, the ministry will issue a statement and take certain actions, which will be visible and perceptible," Sargsyan added.
Blood donations urged as COVID spurs shortage

PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Centre (PRBC) is calling for Thais and foreigners to donate blood with a campaign to give a pack of rice to each donor as the current outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a shortage of blood stocks at Phuket hospitals.

COVID-19health

By The Phuket News

Friday 23 April 2021, 12:10PM

The number of COVID-19 patients has caused a shortage of blood stocks throughout the country, reports the National Blood Centre. Image: PRBC

The number of COVID-19 patients has caused a shortage of blood stocks throughout the country, reports the National Blood Centre. Image: PRBC

Donors in Phuket will be given a 1kg bag of rice, while stocks last. Photo: PRBC

Donors in Phuket will be given a 1kg bag of rice, while stocks last. Photo: PRBC

Donors in Phuket will be given a 1kg bag of rice, while stocks last. Image: PRBC

Mobile clinics will be set up for people to make donations. Image: PRBC

A donor gives blood at the mobile donations clinic at the Tesco Lotus shopping mall on the bypass road. Photo: PRBC

The PRBC explained that people who come to donate blood at its center located on Rattanakosin 200 Pi Rd in Phuket Town from today (Apr 23) until next Tuesday (Apr 27) will receive a 1kg bag of rice.

However, the number of packs of rice to be given away is limited, the PRBC noted.

It was not explained how many bags of rice are to be given away.

The launch of the Phuket campaign follows the National Blood Center (NBC) under the Thai Red Cross Society announcing a shortage of blood stocks in every part of the country.

Those who have already received an injection of the Sinovac vaccine can donate blood one full week of receiving the injection, the NBC noted.

Those with AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccine need to wait for four weeks, the NBC announcement added.

People who have experienced side effects after receiving a vaccine [injection] can donate blood after one week, depending on how severe the symptoms were, the NBC noted.

Those in Phuket who want to donate blood can do so at the PRBC, which is open as follows:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday  open 8:30am to 4:30pm

Tuesday and Thursday  open 8:30am to 8pm

Saturday, Sunday and national public holidays  open 9am to 3pm

Blood donation can also be conducted at mobile stations from today through Apr 30 as follows:

Today until next Thursday (Apr 29)

 2pm-6pm, at Phuket Grocery mall near Nimit Circle (also called the Seahorse Circle) in Phuket Town;

 Midday-6pm, Tesco Lotus Phuket on the bypass road.

Friday (Apr 30)

 Midday to 6pm, at Tesco Lotus Phuket on the bypass road and at Central Phuket department store at the Central Floresta shopping mall.
A heavy winter snowpack along the Kuskokwim River could make flooding likely this year in western Alaska, a federal weather official said.

Im especially concerned about the lower villages along the Johnson River, a tributary of the Kuskokwim, National Weather Service Hydrologist Celine Van Breukelen said.

Her comments came Monday as more than 50 federal, state and local officials and others took part in a teleconference discussing breakup, the term for spring snow and ice melt in Alaska, KYUK Public Media in Bethel reported.

Van Breukelen worries about the tundra becoming saturated with snowmelt, and the water not having anywhere to drain.

Several villages flooded last year, accelerating erosion and permafrost degradation. The tundra village of Nunapitchuk had its worst flooding in years.

A snow monitor in the village of Aniak measured 33 inches on April 1, the most since it was installed in 2013. Last year, the unit measured 21 inches of snow.

Upriver, in the community of McGrath, the snowpack was measured at 41 inches, down 3 inches from last year.

With temperatures rising, residents report the snow is melting fast. They say travel on the iced river has dropped considerably and now is largely confined to early morning hours after freezing overnight.

Most ice near the community of Red Devil has turned slushy, resident Rebeca WIlmarth said.

The augur just went through without very much effort involved, Wilmarth said of a recent ice fishing trip.

Mark Leary, director of operations for the Native Village of Napaimute, said ice there has mostly measured below average thickness, and thinner ice could help reduce ice jams.

However, ice is thicker from Akiak down to the upper end of the Kuskokwak Slough, and that is a concern for possible jams.

That section might be worth keeping an eye on. It might have a hard time moving out, Leary said.

Deseriee Chambers, an emergency management specialist with the state, encouraged communities to prepare evacuation sites in case people need to leave their homes.

We would encourage any evacuation that needs to be done, or movement out of a flood area, to be kept as local as possible, Chambers said.

If people need to leave local areas, the Alaska National Guard armory in Bethel could serve as a regional evacuation site, said Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Joe Sallaffie.

The building could house up to 75 people on cots spaced about 6 feet apart to accommodate pandemic rules.

The guard does not currently plan to station a helicopter in Bethel during this years breakup.

Chambers also encouraged communities along the Kuskokwim River to review emergency response plans and update them as needed.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood Alaska
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Australians waiting for a vaccine jab are not the only ones forming a queue while they consider whether Scott Morrison and his government can drag the nation out of the pandemic and into recovery. There is a political waiting room, too, where voters are sitting in frustration after drifting from the Prime Minister and the Coalition since the last election. They have not opened the door to Labor. Not yet, at least. But they are right in the middle of Australian politics, with the power to decide the next election. If their frustration turns to fury, the government is gone. Scott Morrison is the preferred prime minister for 47 per cent of voters, compared to 25 per cent for Anthony Albanese, according to the first Resolve Political Monitor survey. Credit:Mark Stehle Im waiting to see what happens with the vaccine rollout. It doesnt seem to be getting to GPs, says one voter. Another wants to see results: I just dont see a clear plan or direction at the moment. A third names the speed of the vaccine program as crucial. We need a majority of people vaccinated, and quickly.

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These are just some of the replies to open-ended questions in a survey of community attitudes by the Herald and The Age, which developed the new poll with research partner Resolve Strategic. Loading The headline result in the poll is a cut to the governments primary vote from 41 to 38 per cent since the last election, a swing outside the margin of error. But Labors primary vote is the same as its result at the last election, at 33 per cent, so the story of this survey is about the expanding ranks of those who choose other parties or independents. This is no surprise to Morrison and his team. They know many Australians are disappointed with the missed targets in the vaccination plan. They believe this has not turned into anger. The overhaul of the vaccine rollout, with a faster rollout for people over 50 and more co-operation with the states on mass vaccination centres, is all about heeding that warning. Beneath the headline number, however, is a sea of shifting currents. Voters strongly prefer Morrison as prime minister compared to Labor leader Anthony Albanese, by 47 to 25 per cent. And voters rank the Coalition ahead of Labor on the handling of big issues like the economy and the pandemic. Resolve director Jim Reed, who designed and led the survey, says the swings are complex and benefit Labor in some states but show many voters are reserving judgment.

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The overall national picture is that the vote loss from the Coalition has not benefited Labor and that the parked vote with minor parties is being used to send a message, says Reed. If people were so angry they wanted the prime minister and government booted out, they would not prefer Morrison as prime minister and would be voting Labor. Instead, they are registering their dissatisfaction, waiting and watching. This is what makes Mays budget and the vaccine rollout so important to both the government and the oppositions prospects. Many voters are up-front about their protest. Fifty-eight per cent of poll respondents said their decision was a positive endorsement for one party or another. Another 19 per cent said their votes were protests and 23 per cent were undecided. Migrants are among those who have shifted against the government. While 48 per cent of overseas-born Australians said they voted for the Coalition at the last election, only 40 per cent said they backed the same party now. Support for Labor among this group rose from 30 to 35 per cent. Those identified as non-Anglo Saxon showed a similar shift: 44 per cent said they voted for the Coalition at the last election but only 35 per cent voiced the same support now. Their support for Labor rose from 31 to 36 per cent. This is not a woke backlash against Morrison and his party among people who spend their time at inner-city wine bars. Something else is happening here, and the signs point to it being about competence in the pandemic.

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Voters who might otherwise back a Christian leader and a conservative government are not all happy, either, even though so much commentary paints them as a homogenous base for a prime minister who is socially conservative, staunchly Christian and open about going to Pentecostal churches such as Hillsong. Morrison speaks as prime minister about the importance of faith and prayer in his life, and some assume this means he has a lock on support from people of faith. But it is not so. While 56 per cent of Christians said they voted for the Coalition at the last election, only 49 per cent said they would do so now. The effect boosted support for minor parties and independents from 15 per cent at the election to 22 per cent today. (These voters showed only the slightest move towards Labor, which was up from 28 to 29 per cent, within the margin of error.) Resolve political monitor April 2021. Credit: The recurring theme is the drift away from the government by voters who do not have a firm sense of where they might come to a stop. They reserve their judgment. And the message to Morrison and his government is to lift their game. When asked an open-ended question to nominate the three biggest influences on their responses, Australians name the obvious issue: the pandemic. COVID-19 shapes their views more than anything, but it is figuring strongly as a question of jobs and the economic recovery, not just health and the vaccine rollout. The analysis from Resolve shows these issues sit well above concerns about the treatment of women, workplace relations, the cost of living and climate change.

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While 26 per cent name the economy, 16 per cent name health and aged care, 16 per cent say COVID-19, 13 per cent say employment, 12 per cent say social issues, 11 per cent say the cost of living and 11 per cent name climate change. These are important measures of the most powerful forces in deciding the Australian government. What matters is the velocity of those vote drivers  the issues that move Australians toward one box or another on the ballot paper. Even the appalling stories of sexual abuse in politics in the past two months, beginning with former government adviser Brittany Higgins and her decision to go public on February 15 with an allegation of being raped in Parliament House, are not driving voters to the extent that media coverage might suggest. Questions about the treatment of women, including policies on harassment in the workplace and protection from violence in the community, are vitally important but rank below the economy, the pandemic and health. Asked to name three top issues, in an open-ended question, only 5 per cent of respondents named the treatment of women. In another question, when they were presented with a list of topics including the treatment of women as well as health and the economy, people showed a leaning toward Labor as the best party to manage the issue. While 27 per cent of voters thought Labor best, only 21 per cent named the Coalition. Another 21 per cent chose other parties and 30 per cent were undecided  one of the largest numbers for undecided responses of all issues.

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Americans are proud of their right to property, not enjoyed by people in many democracies. As the Cato Institute puts it, our founding fathers understood that private property is the foundation of prosperity and freedom. But California's 46-year-old Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) violates that constitutional principle, and it even fails to protect farm workers. It allows union officials and pickets to invade farms  for three hours every day, for 120 days a year  and harangue, coerce, and arm-twist farm workers into joining the union and engaging in collective bargaining with growers even when they're happy with their working conditions and pay. The property-owner is powerless to stop the intrusion, as the regulation does not require the owner's permission.

Surprising? That is why a forthcoming decision by the Supreme Court in a case involving a strawberry plant nursery and a packager from California and the state's Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) will be a watershed. It will signal whether or not America will end up with more laws that stifle productivity and bestow overweening powers on Democrat-backing leftist unions.

The law came to be enacted in the first place because unions have been the most powerful force in California politics. Public-sector unions together collect over $900 million in annual revenue. These unions have long controlled the state Legislature, where Democrats have been in the majority for decades. Non-public-sector unions too  such as the United Farm Workers (UFW), founded in 1962, and known to invade private farmlands  have wielded coercive influence disproportionate to their membership. Rather than protect and fight for workers' rights, unions have been busy increasing their power and political clout and pushing leftist agendas. Worse, with misconceived laws that give them extraordinary powers and immunities, they force workers to accept unwanted representation, bully them into paying dues, and inflict what the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation calls "compulsory unionism abuses." They contribute almost exclusively to Democrat causes and give workers no say in how their dues are spent. And the unions trespass unhindered on employers' private properties.

In 1975, the Golden State  which produces about a third of the nation's vegetables and two thirds of its fruits, employing 500,000800,000 farm workers  passed the ALRA and set up the ALRB. The ostensible aim: getting farmhands a fair deal from their employers. Farmers don't sit on the board, nor is their input generally solicited. So there is a reasonable perception that the board was created for  and from its inception controlled by  the UFW. This despite the fact that the union counts only a small percentage of the state's farm workers as members.

The case now before the Supreme Court  Cedar Point Nursery and Fowler Packaging Company v. ALRB  is one of many landmark cases exemplifying the complications of beholden politicians promulgating unions' interests over those of workers and growers. Earlier cases highlighting this issue include ALRB v. Pandol Sons and Gerawan Farming Inc v. ALRB. Here's a synopsis of all three in sequence.

The Pandol case is as old as the law it challenged. Pandol and Sons (AKA Jim Pandol and Company), founded in the 1930s, is a California-based grower, shipper, and distributor of fresh produce, with an annual revenue in excess of $20 million. In 1975, the company filed a complaint with the Superior Court of California, Fresno County, questioning the validity of the ALRA and seeking to prevent its enforcement. The court ruled that the law was invalid on both constitutional and statutory grounds as it deprives growers of their property rights without due process and permits access that constitutes a property "taking" without compensation. But the Supreme Court of California granted ALRB's petition for a writ of mandate for upholding the validity of the law, propounding the "principle that all private property is held subject to the power of the government to regulate its use for the public welfare." Later, the Supreme Court conveniently skirted the issue by stating that there was no "substantial federal question" legitimating its involvement.

The Gerawan Farming case dates back to a union election of 1992, after which the ALRB certified that the UFW was the exclusive bargaining representative of Gerawan's workers. Other than one negotiation session in 1995, which did not end in a drafted agreement, the union stayed out of the picture for nearly 20 years. Then it suddenly made an appearance in 2012, demanding wage negotiations  requiring that Gerawan's 5,000 employees pay union dues  3% of their pay  or lose their jobs. Meanwhile, the workers maintained that they were happy with their working conditions and wages and better off without a union. But the California law disallowed their preference for a non-union workplace.

An election on whether or not to banish the UFW from Gerawan was held in 2013, but the union-controlled ALRB withheld the ballots and refused to count them. Gerawan then pursued a lengthy legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of California ordered a counting, saying the ALRB had "unnecessarily disenfranchised voters." The votes were counted in 2018: the workers rejected the UFW 1,098 to 197, nearly 5:1.

In 2016, Cedar Point Nursery, which grows strawberry starters and employs 100 full-time and 400 seasonal workers, and Fowler Packing Company, which employs 3,000 workers, sued the ALRB in district court. They argued that the ALRA legalizes trespassing and violates the property rights enshrined in the Fifth Amendment. Union organizers had entered the nursery early in the morning, disrupted work, and asked workers to strike even though the workers had no complaints and were being paid well above the minimum wage. Fowler employees, too, weren't interested in union membership, but union organizers had alleged that the company had barred them from the property.

Legal teams of both companies reported to the court that the law dated back to the 1970s, when workers lived on farms and unions couldn't reach out to them without visiting their workplaces. Today, 96% of farmworkers live in off-farm housing and are easily accessible by radio, TV, cell phones, and social media. In addition, the UFW operates at least three radio stations in California that broadcast the union's message to their targeted audiences in farm country.

When the district court dismissed the case, Cedar Point and Fowler appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appellate court upheld the district court's decision, stating that the temporary invasion didn't amount to a "taking" of the private property. Cedar Point and Fowler then petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. The lawyers for the growers argued that union access to properties without owners' permission amounted to a "taking," since it gives the union the ability to enter and remain on the property. They sought compensation proportionate to the time labor representatives were present and apprised the court that the ALRA is a prohibition against the "right to exclude" and thereby amounts to trespassing. Fundamental to property rights, the lawyers maintained, is that owners are free to use and enjoy their property without unwanted intrusions for whatever duration they choose so long as it doesn't violate the law. The Supreme Court will have a decision by this summer.

The Trump administration had affirmed that the ALRA legalized a "taking" of property, but President Joe Biden, who has promised to be "the most pro-union president you've ever seen," takes the opposing view. Should the Supreme Court decision favor the unions, California could serve as a bellwether for the Democrats' proposed Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Such legislation will overturn right to work laws forbidding unionism abuses in 27 states. It will give unions freer workplace access and force employers to enroll proportionately more workers as employees than as flexibly employed contractors.

For the 20192020 election season, labor unions gave 86% of their $67 million in donations to the Democratic party and candidates. Unless the Supreme Court rules against the ALRA, the consequences could translate into unbridled union power and a future of Democrat victories.

Image: Supremecourt.gov, Public Domain.

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OSAKA (TR)  A man in Osaka City who tested positive for the novel coronavirus was forced to wait inside an ambulance for a day and a half before being accepted by a hospital.

The mans condition has deteriorated to the point where he is now experiencing severe symptoms of the disease COVID-19, medical sources have revealed, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (April 23).

According to the sources, the man requested an ambulance from the Osaka Municipal Fire Department on Tuesday morning.

Emergency personnel then used a coordination center for Osaka Prefecture to locate a hospital that would admit him. However, he was rejected one after another. We have no room, one hospital said.

The following day, emergency personnel in the ambulance changed and the search continued. During the ordeal, the personnel administered oxygen to the man.

The personnel finally found a hospital that would accept him outside Osaka City. The man was admitted at 5:00 p.m.

With him experiencing difficulties breathing and his blood oxygen level still low, he is on a respirator.

An Osaka City man who tested positive for the coronavirus was turned away by multiple hospitals earlier this week

State of emergency

As of Thursday, hospital bed occupancy within the prefecture was 82.5 percent. Meanwhile, 9,202 patients are recuperating at home.

Like the aforementioned man, there have been repeated cases where people recuperating at home were unable to find hospitals to accept them after their conditions worsened.

The number of persons testing positive in the prefecture has been trending up over the past month.

Local media reported this week that the government of Japan is expected to declare a state of emergency for Osaka and Tokyo, which has also seen a surge in cases, between Sunday and May 11.
DENVER, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new program headquartered in Colorado gives everyone a chance to make a local difference using their own carbon footprint as their guide.

Carbon Cut Colorado was launched by the Energy Resource Center (ERC), a Colorado-focused non-profit founded in 1979. The Carbon Cut Colorado website offers calculators for determining the carbon impact and carbon cost of things like driving miles, electricity use, gas consumption and flights. Users are able to donate their carbon cost to ERC, an organization that uses the funds to do energy-saving projects for income-qualified households in 27 Colorado counties.

"We are calling it 'carbon balancing' because you can make a local impact based on your own carbon use which will help tip the scale of carbon emissions," says Mike Mazzola, Development Director for ERC. "For example, if you take a drive to the mountains, you can use the Carbon Cut Colorado calculator and make a donation based on those driving miles. We will then use those funds to replace inefficient equipment, upgrade a home to LED lightbulbs, and more, possibly right in your neighborhood, which will decrease carbon emissions."

On average, the work ERC does reduces the carbon footprint of each home by 3,755 lbs per year and reduces the demand on coal-fired power plants by replacing inefficient and wasteful appliances and equipment. By donating to the organization, individuals and businesses can balance their own carbon footprint and support work that reduces carbon emissions. The donations will be used to increase the number of households that ERC works on each year.

"We know that reducing a carbon footprint is the first step to a healthy environment, but when we can't fully eliminate that footprint, Carbon Cut Colorado will balance it by funding work that is proven to reduce carbon emissions in our state," says Howard Brooks, CEO of ERC.

According to Brooks, "ERCs goal is to end energy poverty in Colorado. We can do that if we can expand the number of households we work on every year. This program will help fund that expansion, and carbon emissions will decrease with each home we complete."

Carbon Cut Colorado uses nationally recognized formulas for their calculations, and provides information on how they calculate their impact at www.carboncutco.com.

ABOUT CARBON CUT COLORADO

Carbon Cut Colorado is a program of Energy Resource Center that aims to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the state by providing ways for individuals and businesses to balance their own carbon impact. The program funds the free energy-efficiency work of Energy Resource Center.

ABOUT ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER

The Energy Resource Center is a non-profit organization with offices in Loveland, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Alamosa. ERC serves households across 27 counties. Since 1979, they have helped thousands of Colorado families make their homes safe, warm, and energy efficient.

SOURCE Energy Resource Center

Related Links

https://www.erc-co.org/


President Klaus Iohannis on Friday signed decrees appointing new judges and prosecutors graduates of the National Institute of Magistracy.

Due to the current epidemiological situation, the annual reception event of the 197 magistrates (129 judges and 68 prosecutors) could not be organized at the Cotroceni Palace.

"I congratulate the young graduates, who through patience, hard work, hundreds of hours of thorough study and perseverance have put their careers in the service of justice. You represent a generation of judges and prosecutors who have completed their initial training in difficult times, sometimes marked by uncertainties, with a significant impact on both the judicial system and the justice seekers. All the more so, in this atypical context that we are all experiencing, your perseverance to dedicate yourself to these noble professions is admirable. The values that underlie your activity, your preparation, knowledge, energy and desire to serve justice will be your journey's guides," the president conveyed in his message to the new magistrates.

The president told future judges and prosecutors that, "inevitably", their career path "will be strewn with various challenges, which may cover not only the inconsistency of the normative framework or institutional - organizational aspects, but also elements related to the exploitation of new technologies or even dilemmas of ethical nature".

He states that "the clear and reasoned explanation of the decisions made, the observance of the principles on which a judicial system is built in a democratic state, such as access to justice, equality before the law and the resolution of cases within a reasonable time implies not only a legal responsibility, but also a moral responsibility".

Klaus Iohannis announced that he remains "a strong supporter of the independence of justice and the strengthening of the rule of law, aspects that have been constant elements" in his work as President of Romania.

"I wish that the ideals that have spurred you to embrace these professions will remain alive throughout your career, in the service of common good and justice, and that your integrity and professionalism will be role models for society," wishes the president to new judges and prosecutors.
Part of Vung Ang 1 Thermal Power Plant in Vietnam's central province of Ha Tinh. A South Korean firm last year had confirmed to invest in the Vung Ang 2 plant near the first plant. Photo by Vietnam News Agency.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced on Thursday his country would end all new financing for coal projects in places such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

He said South Korea would soon set a more ambitious schedule for slashing carbon emissions.

Moon made the promises during a video address to a two-day virtual climate summit convened by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The announcement makes official parts of a "Green New Deal" proposed by Moons ruling party last year, which set ambitious goals of net-zero emissions by 2050, an end to funding of overseas coal plants and introduction of a carbon tax.

"To become carbon neutral, it is imperative for the world to scale down coal-fired power plants," Moon said, while noting that developing countries that would struggle due to their dependence on coal "should be given due consideration and access to proper support."

Under Moon, South Korea stopped issuing permits for new domestic coal-fired power plants, but had faced criticism from environmental activists over continued financing of coal plants in places such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

South Korea has already set a target of reducing emissions by 24.4 percent from the 2017 level by 2030 as part of the countrys commitment under the Paris Agreement, known as a nationally determined contribution (NDC).

The country plans to "additionally raise" the NDC and report it to the United Nations later this year, Moon said, without specifying the new number.

Moon has portrayed his Green New Deal, which includes billions of dollars in investment in things such as electric vehicles and hydrogen cars, smart grids to manage electricity use more efficiently and promoting remote medical services, as a way to create jobs and help the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

"With a view to promoting investment in renewable energy facilities, both in and outside Korea, we will actively seek to scale up green finance," he said.
Its not lost on me that this does look fishy, its not lost on me that this has shaken confidence, it is something I personally am concerned about, have been concerned about from the beginning, and we want to make sure that we are public with what happened here and how we make sure this doesnt happen again, Foxx told the Tribune.
The third and major phase of the 13th Shanghai Biennale that opened on April 17 is one of the world's most significant global art shows to take place since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exhibition entitled Bodies of Water features 76 artworks from 64 artists or groups from 18 countries and regions. Among the exhibits are 33 new projects commissioned by the Shanghai Biennale, more than ever since the event was founded in 1996, according to Power Station of Art, a leading museum of contemporary art in the city and host of the biennale.

Since its opening, the main exhibition space at PSA is receiving about 3,500 visitors every day. This is "quite impressive, and a massive number of people", says chief curator Andres Jaque, a Spanish architect, writer and curator now based in New York.

Most of the biennale events around the world have been canceled or postponed because of the pandemic, but "we don't allow the pandemic to silence artists. In fact artists are working extensively during the pandemic, making insightful reflections on the situation and the human existence", Jaque told China Daily on April 19 in a video call from Beijing, where the curator was under quarantine.

In his written interpretation of the theme, Jaque wrote that the 13th Shanghai Biennale "looks into the liquid nature of human, more than-human, and post-human bodies, and into the fluid ways in which they infiltrate, constitute, and relate to one another".

Although the pandemic made the preparation work complicated and difficult, Jaque said that the biennale and its discussion of the pandemic has turned out more relevant than ever. "Bodies of water", its fluidity and interconnections, has been the center of the pandemic, "so we decided not to cancel the biennale", he said. Instead, the first phase of the biennale kicked off right on time as planned, in November, taking an unprecedented "in crescendo" form that will go on for eight months.

According to Gong Yan, director of PSA, when the academic committee of the institution decided after many proposals and extensive discussions, upon the theme of the 13th Shanghai Biennale, "the world was still peaceful, but soon the pandemic broke out", she recalls. At first Gong and other Chinese workers received lots of supporting and concerned messages from overseas colleagues, and gradually it became a global crisis, and the curatorial team, rising from the emotional distress, believed that "we needed to connect and come together more than ever", Gong says. More ideas emerged from this new solidarity."Water is more than just the basic ecological environment, it symbolizes the way people connect heart to heart," she says.

As a result, the pandemic enriched the content of the Shanghai Biennale and strengthened its emotional impact. "We could see at that time that it was impossible to put up an actual showcase in 2020, but still we didn't want to just call it quits." Eventually they decided to extend the event to include two long phases of "idea exchange and clashes of the mind", Gong says.

From Nov 10 to 14, A Wet-run Rehearsal, the first phase of the Shanghai Biennale took place, when artists presented their work in the forms of a performative assembly in the PSA, which was shared by networks of art spaces as well as online platforms.

From mid-November to April 16, the second phase, An Ecosystem of Alliances, was held via livestreaming, social media exposures and university programs.

The third-phase climax of the biennale, covering eight months in total, will see the exhibition run at the PSA and expand throughout the city of Shanghai from April 17 to July 25.

The long duration and unique form will help the biennale "radically infiltrate into the city", as there has been huge need for creation and imagination to be placed, Jaque says.

Aside from the PSA, a series of branch exhibitions for Bodies of Water are going on in the city, such as Sunke Villa on Yan'an Road West, Vanke Center Xinmin Library in the suburban Xinzhuang area and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Among the events related to the main exhibition, Bodies of Water, at Biblioteca Miguel de Cervantes, the cultural branch of the Spanish consulate in Shanghai, a branch exhibition is being held. This features a new interactive video creation by Hu Jieming, and the video record of a concert for plants at Teatro del Liceo de Barcelona in August when the country was under lockdown. This was designed by Spanish artist Eugenio Ampudia.

The chief curator Jaque, being an architect, has different visions, and in his selection of artists for the Shanghai Biennale, he intentionally avoided the usual gallery system, Gong says. "This made it possible for us to see new artists, some from areas that we rarely paid attention to." Among the 68 artists featured at Bodies of Water, one-third are Chinese artists, while artists from France and Japan, usually widely represented at the contemporary art scene, are not found this time. Also a lot of interdisciplinary artists have emerged in this biennale, who built their creations on the wide and in-depth research in the subject they had chosen, according to Gong.

Gong also says that almost half of the artists are women. Actually the biennale's theme, Bodies of Water, was influenced by a book of the same title of Australian philosopher Astrida Neimanis. Neimanis brought to the Shanghai Biennale A River Ends as the Ocean, a performance project she created together with visual artist Clare Britton and Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor, an activist and artist.

The performance is presented at PSA in the form of video projection and pictures on cardboard walls. A group of walkers, led by the three, followed the tide 16 kilometers out of Sydney's Cooks River to its ending at Botany Bay. In Shanghai the biennale will also host a group walk along the city's disappearing water channels, to "help people rediscover the city", Gong says.

Shanghai has lots of locations named after water, but "when you actually go there, you realize there is no longer any water", Gong says."We have built a mini program on the mobile mapping service to lead people on a journey through Shanghai, where lots of romantic cultural connections were achieved through the lost waterways."

The theme Bodies of Water is also rooted in the unique historical and geological characters of Shanghai, Gong says. In the grand hall at PSA, a wood boat that used to serve as a ferry from the Dujiangyan area in Chengdu, Sichuan province, hangs from midair. It is the main part of an installation named Water System Museum created by Cao Minghao and Chen Jianjun. The duo, both in their early 40s, have been working together since 2010. For this project they used tents and discarded building materials of the Qiang ethnic people, to reveal the impacts of local policies and post-disaster reconstruction after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

New York and Amsterdam-based artist Carlos Irijalba drilled 105 meters underground in Shanghai, and presented the earth and rocks that he dug up in an artwork named Amphibian. While soil excavated from areas near the ocean are wet and soft, the more inland excavations are rocky and dry.

The Shanghai metropolitan area is based on the Yangtze River Delta, "an ever-changing, evolving territory, liquid in some sense", says the artist.

By presenting the ecological strata of Shanghai, the artwork "brings to surface the millennia of natural history and how perpetual these transformations are," Irijalba says in a written introduction of his work.

A few historical objects loaned from other museums in the city are among the exhibits of contemporary art, reflecting the close connection between Shanghai and its waterways.

A sedimentary rock, unearthed from the Gangshen Ruins in suburban Shanghai's Maqiao town, is borrowed from the collection of Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Dated from 60,000 years ago, it illustrates how the ocean and waves pushed sand and remains of shellfish together to form the ancient coastline of Shanghai.

Also on exhibition at PSA is the replica of a sand boat, one of the most commonly used boat forms in the city. The flat bottom of the boat made it unlikely to be grounded near the sandy bank of Shanghai, and it sailed steadily on the complex waterways of the Yangtze River Delta. The boat witnessed Shanghai's urban development through the past century. In 1990, the city introduced a new insignia consisting of the sand boat, magnolia blossom and turbo propeller.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott dispatched a top aide to the ERCOT operations center on the night the grid operator made the controversial decision to leave electricity prices at maximum levels  a move blamed for creating a multi-billion dollar mess.

Abbott has squarely placed the blame for the blackout boondoggle on ERCOT, which operates the power grid, and called for its CEO to resign right after the lights started coming back on across Texas on Thursday, Feb. 18. The ERCOT board eventually fired its CEO.

Unmentioned while Abbott was distancing himself from the power outage fiasco and railing against ERCOT on TV: a top energy policy adviser, Ryland Ramos, spent the previous night  and into early Thursday morning  at the agencys operations center in Taylor, outside of Austin. Thats where ERCOTs high-tech control room, handling the flow of power to most Texans, is located.

Also on hand at the previously undisclosed meeting were Public Utility Commission Chair DeAnn Walker, an Abbott appointee who later resigned under bipartisan pressure, along with representatives of four of the major electric transmission and distribution companies in Texas.

Ramos returned to the operations center Friday morning, February 19  right after the price cap was lifted  and stayed there most of the day, according to ERCOT visitor logs obtained by Hearst Newspapers.

Abbott spokesman Mark Miner said neither the governor nor Ramos were involved in any way in the decision to keep prices at the maximum, which contributed to bankruptcies and billions in losses that will reverberate in the Texas economy for years to come. He said Abbott wanted Ramos at the operations center because he felt ERCOT was spewing disinformation about the crisis.

Ramos was in the room relaying information in real time, Miner said. These individuals were working the phones and scrambling to get power back on and keep it on.

IN-DEPTH: This simple paperwork blunder left Texans cold during the deadly freeze

The visitor logs show that Ramos and Walker, along with top regulatory officials from Centerpoint Energy, Oncor, AEP and Texas-New Mexico Power Company  signed in at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17, and stayed there until 8:49 a.m. the next day. Cots were made available for those who needed to rest as the night wore on, officials said.

The timeline in the visitor logs means the Abbott aide was on the scene when ERCOT decided  just before midnight Wednesday  to quit ordering rolling power outages and then, in the wee hours of Thursday, to leave the maximum prices for electricity in place.

Centerpoint declined comment and referred questions to ERCOT. ONCOR, the states largest transmission and distribution company, sent Liz Jones, vice-president of regulatory affairs, to the operations center that night to help officials navigate the grid challenges and manage impacts in ONCORs service territory, said spokeswoman Kerri Dunn. AEP and Texas-New Mexico Power Company confirmed they sent representatives to attend the meeting.

Patrick Woodson, CEO of an electric retail provider that is going out of business after getting more than $65 million in bills it couldnt pay due to the government-ordered price hikes, said the public deserves answers about how and why electricity prices stayed so high for so long  and who all took part in the decision making.

Theres absolutely no justification whatsoever for prices to have been artificially inflated after the emergency conditions ended. That decision added billions of dollars of extra costs to the market, Woodson said. There needs to be a lot more light around how these decisions were made that led to such a massive transfer of wealth.

$16 billion pricing error wont be corrected

Former utility regulator Arthur DAndrea, who resigned after he was caught on tape reassuring Wall Street investors that he was working to protect the profits they made during the storm, told a Senate committee in March that ERCOT CEO Bill Magness had the utility commission chairs blessing to leave the prices unchanged. He said that decision was made at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

Magness told the same committee that he left the prices at the maximum level to ensure that generators had the proper incentives to keep the power flowing and also to discourage big electricity users  loath to pay that much  from starting up operations that could potentially overload the grid and start rolling blackouts all over again.

We needed the maximum incentive to keep every bit of generation on and to keep every bit of load off that was responding to price, said Magness, whose last day leading ERCOT will be May 3. And that seemed like the best course we had to assure that we would stay out of rotating outages.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Ryan Holeywell / Houston Chronicle

But the highly-criticized decision to leave electricity prices at $9,000 per megawatt hour for 32 hours after the outages stopped  300 times higher than pre-storm prices  led to what an independent market monitor described as a $16 billion pricing error, and $3 billion to $5 billion in unwarranted and potentially recoverable overcharges.

It also sparked a public rift between Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who pushed for a repricing bill aimed at undoing some of the damage that occurred over almost a day and a half. Under pressure from the lieutenant governor, seen as a potential Abbott rival, the governor suddenly gave the Legislature emergency powers to reprice but didnt work the chambers to make it happen and at this point the initiative is dead.

Miner said the ERCOT CEO was the one who made the pricing decision, but the Abbott spokesman said he was unable to answer whether Ramos was in the room at the time  or if he told the governor about it. Nor could Miner say whether Abbott supported the decision, then or now, to leave rates at the cap of $9,000 per megawatt hour.

Abbott refuses to release emails, texts

Abbott has been unrelenting in his criticism of ERCOT, despite his perch at the top of the regulatory org chart: His own appointees on the Public Utility Commission oversee every aspect of ERCOT and all three of his commissioners who oversaw the storm response resigned amid the fury over blackouts that have made the top energy producing state in America a national laughingstock.

Barely two days into the disaster, and just a day before dispatching his aide to the ERCOT Operations Center, the governor tweeted that he was ordering an investigation into ERCOT and immediate transparency by ERCOT.

About a month later, though, Abbotts office refused to release emails, text messages and other communications that he and his own aides  including Ramos, the one who spent the night at the grid operations center  exchanged with representatives of ERCOT and the PUC or that were otherwise related to the power outage and its aftermath.

In their denial of a public information request from Hearst Newspapers for those records, Abbotts lawyers claimed a number of reasons they should not be disclosed. They say the messages include privileged communications with attorneys, information about secret incentive packages potentially offered to companies willing to expand in Texas and policy-related communications that, if released, would have a chilling effect on the frank and open discussion necessary for the decision-making process.

ERCOT provided its visitor logs for the days Winter Storm Uri was bearing down on Texas five days after Hearst requested them.

jay.root@chron.com
International

Syrian missile explodes near Israeli nuclear reactor

Israeli soldiers gather as they survey the area after a Syrian missile exploded in southern Israel, April 22.

ASHALIM (ISRAEL), APR 22 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 4/22/2021 12:42:23 PM IST

A Syrian missile exploded in southern Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, in an incident that triggered warning sirens near the secretive Dimona nuclear reactor and an Israeli strike in Syria.

An Israeli military spokesman identified the projectile as an SA-5 surface-to-air missile fired by Syrian forces against Israeli aircraft. He said it overflew its target to reach the Dimona area, 200 km (125 miles) south of the Syrian border.

The missile did not hit the reactor, exploding some 30 km (19 miles) away, the spokesman added.

The sirens that sounded overnight in the Dimona area followed weeks of heightened tension between Israel and Iran, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, amid renewed global negotiations over Tehrans nuclear programme.

For weeks, Israeli media have said air defences around the Dimona reactor and the Red Sea port of Eilat were being strengthened in anticipation of a possible long-range missile or drone attack by Iranian-backed forces. In public remarks on Thursdays incident, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said the anti-aircraft missile was fired from Syria during an Israeli strike there against assets that could be used for a potential attack against Israel.

Gantz said Israels anti-missile systems had attempted to intercept the SA-5 but were unsuccessful. In most cases, we achieve other results. This is a slightly more complex case. We will investigate it and move on, he said. Israeli security sources said the missile exploded in mid-air.

In response, Israel launched further overnight attacks inside Syria, the military spokesman said, targeting several missile batteries, including the one that fired the SA-5.

Syrias state news agency said the countrys air defence system intercepted Israeli rockets over the suburbs of Damascus and downed most of them. Four soldiers were injured and there was some material damage, it said.

A Syrian military defector said the Israeli strikes targeted locations near the town of Dumair, some 40 km (25 miles) northeast of the capital, where Iranian-backed militias have a presence. It is an area hit repeatedly in past Israeli attacks.

Addressing the likelihood of a Syrian anti-aircraft missile overshooting its target and flying a long distance into Israel, Uzi Rubin, an Israeli missile expert, said the scenario was consistent with the characteristics of an SA-5.

The trajectory of a stray anti-aircraft missile on an unintended descent is very tricky to track, he told Reuters.

Israels air defence systems are in theory capable of carrying out such an interception with proper preparation, but it would be at the edge of the capability envelope.
Satellite image from December 2020 showing Woody Island in the Paracel Islands, which serves as the central hub of Sansha City.

For an enhanced version of this story, please follow this link.

Chinese government procurement contracts reveal that Sansha City  which administers Chinas outposts in the Paracel and Spratly islands  has acquired or plans to acquire hardware, equipment, software, and materials from at least 25 different companies based in the U.S. and other countries. These items have applications in maritime law enforcement, information security, land and sea surveillance, and other areas.

For example, the city is currently set to acquire an unmanned surface vehicle  the maritime equivalent to an aerial drone  that includes components from several U.S. companies. Such a vehicle might be used to track and possibly even intercept vessels from rival South China Sea claimants like Vietnam and the Philippines.

In total, 10 Chinese party-state entities associated with Sansha City have acquired or currently plan to acquire up to 66 items worth over 6,540,000 yuan ($930,000) for use in the South China Sea, according to 13 government contracts and other associated documents. All of these contracts were signed between late 2016 and early 2021, with the majority of items coming from contracts inked in 2020.

The Chinese governments long-standing practice of acquiring foreign technology to advance its strategic goals is a major source of tension in U.S.-China relations, with U.S. authorities turning to export controls and other tools to stem the tide of transfers. But according to experts that RFA spoke to, most of the items that Sansha City obtained from U.S. companies are unlikely to be covered by existing export control measures.

But there is one possible exception: the city appears to have acquired a counter-surveillance device from a U.S. company that could be used to protect Chinas communications from unwelcome eavesdropping  including from intelligence specialists in the U.S. military who closely monitor Chinas facilities in the South China Sea. This device and other equipment in the same product line have been supplied to a variety of U.S. government and military customers, contracting records show.

Scooping up foreign tech

China regards Sansha City as having jurisdiction over about 2 million square kilometers (800,000 square miles) of sea and land  the bulk of Chinas claims in the South China Sea, where the Peoples Republic is entangled in maritime and territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei.

From their headquarters on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands, the leaders of Sansha City manage day-to-day affairs on Chinas remote outposts and oversee the implementation of long-term initiatives, working with the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to develop infrastructure, defense capabilities, transportation, and communications.

RFA found that Sansha City has acquired or plans to acquire technology from at least 25 different companies based in the United States, Sweden, Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Taiwan, with the majority of items coming U.S. companies.

And the 13 procurement documents from Sansha City that RFA identified may just be the tip of the iceberg. In 2020 alone, the city generated over 700 bidding announcements, contracts, and other similar documents that could contain evidence of technology transfer.

The city obtains these items through third-party Chinese companies. How exactly these Chinese companies acquire the technology from foreign companies, however, remains unclear.

RFA contacted every foreign company named in Sansha Citys procurement contracts. Of the companies that responded, several said that they do not directly oversee their operations in China, instead working through networks of distributors. Others stated that their contracts preclude them from providing information on specific sales, denied having any relationship with the companies supplying Sansha, or otherwise declined to comment on the story. As such, RFA could not independently verify transfers of technology from foreign companies to Sansha.

Zetron, which is headquartered in the United States and whose products Sansha obtained for use in maritime communications infrastructure, exemplifies this ambiguous procurement chain. Zetron said that it is contractually prohibited from divulging specific customer or system information. But it also said that Zetron systems sold and installed in the Asia Pacific region are done so by Zetron Australasia Ltd., which is a separate legal entity from Zetron, Inc. and is headquartered in Australia. So any Zetron systems sold in that region are done so from there, versus Zetron, Inc. here in the U.S.

Similarly, Airmar, whose weather monitoring device is to be used by Sansha in an unmanned surface vehicle, said that our products are sold and resold through a distribution chain around the world and that Airmar does not always have the ability to track where our products have ultimately ended up.

Many of the foreign companies are multinational corporations, some with sales offices or other subsidiaries in China, which further obfuscates the transfer process. For example, one of Sansha Citys contracts explicitly names the U.S. branch of Navico, a company headquartered in Norway with offices across the globe, including in China.

From maritime patrols to tracking turtles

The foreign technology acquired by Sansha City has applications in a number of different areas, all of which support Chinas interests in the South China Sea.

About a quarter of the items are designated for use in maritime law enforcement vessels: patrol boats, shipborne boats (smaller craft that are deployed from larger ships), assault boats, and unmanned surface vehicles. Sansha City uses these vessels to patrol its jurisdiction and assert Chinas claims at the expense of other claimants.

Other items are intended for less sensitive uses, such as environmental and ecological monitoring, but even those activities may ultimately help strengthen Chinas capacity to control contested areas.

For example, according to a contract from 2017, the city acquired equipment from U.S.-based Strix Systems for a wireless self-organizing network, which was to be used alongside numerous components from Chinese companies for a sea turtle monitoring system in the Qilian Islets in the Paracel Islands. According to the contract, the city planned to integrate this sea turtle monitoring system into a broader monitoring platform on Tree Island, another China-occupied feature in the Paracels. According to reporting in PLA Daily, a paper run by the Chinese military, maritime militia forces use monitoring capabilities on Tree Island to surveil nearby waters and feed intelligence back to a PLA command center on Woody Island.

While in many cases the foreign technology is used in combination with Chinese components, in others Sansha City has procured entire systems from foreign companies. For instance, in 2020, the citys hospital signed a contract with a Chinese company to acquire an automatic biochemical analyzer from Hitachi. This hospital serves PLA personnel stationed on Woody Island and coordinates 5G-based telemedicine services with the Hainan branch of the PLA General Hospital.

Look Out for unmanned vessels

Among the most consequential uses of foreign technology by Sansha City is in the L30 unmanned surface vehicle, sometimes called the Look Out.

The developer, Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligent Science and Technology Co., Ltd, says the 7.5-meter-long vessel can travel up to 310 nautical miles, reach speeds of 40 knots, and operate autonomously or with a human crew. It also can mount an automatic weapon station or a precision missile launcher capable of hitting targets up to five kilometers away.

State-run broadcaster China National Radio reported in 2018 that the L30 is designed to carry out duties including reconnaissance, precision strikes, and guarding islands and reefs as well as their surrounding waters. It touted the vessel as a triumph of indigenous innovation: Chinas first maritime weapons platform jointly developed by a local private military industry company and a state-owned military industry research institute.

And though Yunzhou claims to be a leader in the field of unmanned surface vehicles, the L30 ordered by Sansha City includes 1,635,000 yuan ($233,571) of key components from three U.S. companies and one Austrian company: an automatic identification system (AIS) transponder from the U.S. branch of Navico, a weather monitoring instrument from Airmar, two drives from Mercury Marine, and two diesel engines from the Austrian company Steyr Motors.

Yunzhou is due to deliver a single L30 to Sansha Citys coastguard force before July 2021, at a total cost of 5,102,600 yuan ($730,000), according to the contract. This coastguard force works with Chinas maritime militia, the PLA, and the China Coast Guard (CCG) to surveil Sanshas jurisdiction and uphold Chinas maritime claims.

China National Radio reports that Yunzhou jointly developed the L30 with the Huazhong Photoelectric Technology Research Institute, which belongs to China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), a major state-owned defense contractor. In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce restricted exports to this research institute, also known as the CSSC 717th Research Institute, for acquiring and attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items in support of programs for the Peoples Liberation Army.

This unmanned surface vehicle will be just the latest high-tech system deployed by China to monitor and control contest areas like the Paracel and Spratly islands.

According to J. Michael Dahm of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Chinas outposts in the Spratly Islands are bristling with communications and reconnaissance capabilities, which provide the Chinese military and maritime law enforcement with the same level of knowledge and control in the Spratly Islands that they have in Chinese territorial waters.

And some of these capabilities rely on foreign technology too. A recent investigation published in the Jamestown Foundations China Brief, for instance, revealed that Sansha Citys coastguard force uses a satellite communications system built around hardware from a U.S. defense contractor.

U.S. tech helping China keep secrets

RFAs investigation also found that Sansha City is exploiting U.S. technology to safeguard sensitive state secrets.

Under a December 2018 contract, Landun Information Security Technology Co., Ltd. agreed to provide 640,500 yuan ($91,500) of communications security equipment to the Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Sansha Committee, which is the main decision-making body in Sansha and has overlapping leadership with the citys PLA garrison.

The bundle of equipment includes two pieces of foreign technology: a camera detection device, the Suresafe/VS-125, which is likely from Suresafe, a Taiwanese company; and a digital phone and line analyzer, the REI/DPA-7000, which appears to be from Research Electronics International, a U.S. company.

A document available on Research Electronics Internationals website describes the DPA-7000 TALAN Telephone and Line Analyzer as a state-of-the-art capability to rapidly and reliably detect and locate illicit tampering and security vulnerabilities on both digital and analog telephone systems. It adds that the device provides a suite of tools in a single piece of equipment to accurately analyze phones and lines for faults and security breaches.

In 2017, Research Electronics International launched an updated version of the TALAN, which has the same basic capabilities as the older DPA-7000. The newer TALAN 3.0 has applications in technical surveillance countermeasures, wiretap detection, eavesdropping detection, intelligence protection, surveillance equipment detection, and electronic surveillance detection, the companys website says.

Publicly available contracting records show that Research Electronics International has supplied the TALAN line of products to numerous U.S. government and military customers. These include the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S Coast Guard  specifically the Coast Guard Counterintelligence Service.

This suggests that Sansha City might be leveraging counter-surveillance technology from a U.S. defense contractor to secure the citys communications against U.S. signals intelligence collection efforts.

U.S. intelligence collection in the South China Sea region has long rankled the PLA, which maintains numerous sensitive facilities in the area, ranging from submarine bases to missile sites. Over the past 20 years, Chinese forces have repeatedly intercepted U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms operating in or above the South China Sea. These interceptions have caused major incidents on several occasions, like in 2001 when a PLA fighter crashed into a U.S. EP-3 signals intelligence aircraft, killing the Chinese pilot and forcing the U.S. plane to perform an emergency landing in Chinese territory.

Tech transfer feeding tensions

According to experts, Sansha Citys efforts to acquire foreign technology mirror longstanding Chinese government practices, which have become a major source of tension in U.S.-China relations and emerged as a priority for the new Biden administration.

For several decades, China has systematically acquired technology from the United States, Japan, Germany, and other advanced economies in a bid to boost domestic industries and facilitate an ambitious military modernization program.

Emily Weinstein, a research analyst at Georgetowns Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told RFA that China acquires foreign technology through legal, illegal, and extralegal means.

These can involve everything from M&A [mergers and acquisitions] and investments, to copyright infringement and traditional espionage activities, to gray areas like front organizations and United Front operations like professional associations and overseas scholar returnee organizations, Weinstein said.

According to Ashley Feng, a specialist on U.S.-China economic relations, transfers of technology to China have security as well as economic implications, making them a major concern for U.S. authorities.

The U.S. government uses a range of tools to impede these transfers, including export control mechanisms. Through the Export Administration Regulations, the Munitions List, the Commerce Control List, and the Entity List, the U.S. government can control what technology is exported out of the United States both by where the export will end up and/or whose hands it will end up in, said Feng.

In recent years, the U.S. government has pursued export control reforms aimed at China and repeatedly placed restrictions on specific Chinese entities. For instance, since August 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce has repeatedly restricted exports to Chinese companies for their roles in building artificial islands, militarizing occupied features, and supporting coercion against other claimants in the South China Sea.

Experts told RFA that the items acquired from U.S. companies by Sansha City are unlikely to be covered by existing export control measures. At first blush these appear to be technologies just below the controls threshold, explained James Mulvenon, director of intelligence integration at defense contracting firm SOS International, who described these types of transfers as a vexing problem for the U.S. government.

But the civilian nature of the purchase is simply part of the Potemkin nature of the Sansha political entity, which was only created to give a demilitarized, civilian cover for what is more accurately a military occupation of disputed possessions, Mulvenon said.

But there is one potential outlier: the countersurveillance device that Sansha City appears to have acquired from Research Electronic International. According to the companys website, the DPA-7000 TALAN Telephone and Line Analyzer falls under export control classification number (ECCN) 5A992.b, which suggests that relevant U.S. authorities may view the device as a sensitive item subject to certain export restrictions on national security grounds, though this particular ECCN is outdated thanks to reforms in 2016.

The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to RFAs request for comment.

Research Electronics International told RFA that all of our sales, throughout the world, are made in full compliance with the law and US export regulations and that we have no records of the companies you are inquiring about and we have not made any sales to Sansha City.

If the companys statement is accurate, then Sansha City may have acquired the DPA-7000 through illicit means. According to Mulvenon, China uses a wide array of strategies to get this tech, but the sensitive nature of the South China Sea issue makes it more likely for them to use cutouts and front companies and then divert the technology to the real destination and purpose.

Sansha Citys acquisitions of foreign technology, licit or otherwise, appear poised to continue unabated. In late February, the city signed a procurement contract for three maritime law enforcement patrol boats, which are slated to use outboard engines, communications equipment, night vision devices, and other components from companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Japan.

That means, unless the U.S. government and other relevant authorities take action, Chinas efforts to dominate the South China Sea will continue to be supported by foreign technology.
[April 22, 2021] Update: Pico Named "Best Company" in the 2021 Markets Choice Awards

NEW YORK, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pico, a leading provider of technology services for the financial markets community, has been recognized as the Best Company in Markets Medias 2021 Markets Choice Awards and joins the ranks of leaders, including Citadel Securities, Virtu Financial, Liquidnet and BlackRock, to have held this accolade.

Picos 44-strong data center presence traverses all the primary global market centers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia along with mission critical exchange connectivity. Its resilient proprietary network, PicoNetTM is among the financial markets most globally comprehensive low-latency network interconnecting all major financial data centers around the world and provides access to all major public cloud providers. The combination of Picos global infrastructure and data services with its analytics and machine intelligence solution Corvil Analytics, ensures clients remain nimble, fast and efficient in today's competitive landscape. This prestigious award marks a phenomenal achievement for everyone at Pico and we are honored to receive this recognition. We sincerely thank our clients who entrust Pico daily to provide and support their mission critical systems, said Jarrod Yuster, Pico Chairman, Founder and Co-CEO. Technology is one of the most important drivers of improvement and competitiveness for vrtually all market participants. We continue to advance our globally comprehensive technology solutions to support clients to move fast, access new markets and to harness new opportunities. Our investment in innovative technologies, operational excellence and expanding into new global markets have propelled our growth and enabled us to create and now lead an entirely new category for technology services in financial markets.



Pico has a strong record of delivering market leading, innovative solutions that enable clients to meet the technical demands of an ever-changing landscape. The combination of agile innovation, a world-class team, and focus on execution of its strategic plan has yielded top-notch performance. Pico is well positioned for, and committed to, long-term success through client delivery excellence. Recent highlights include: Pico has expanded its network and connectivity presence building a consistent, seamless client experience around the globe as clients are requiring global access and connectivity to all liquid and electronic markets. Most recently Pico launched in Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and expanded further in Japan, adding access to the JPX colocation ecosystem

Pico has strengthened its Infrastructure-as-a-Service capabilities achieving Google Cloud Partner Certification and added blockchain application support to its cloud services

Pico was named Best Managed Services for Trading for fifth consecutive year in 2021 TradingTech Insight Awards and was recognized as Connectivity Provider of the Year at the FOW and Global Investor Asia Capital Market Awards 2020 Pico provides and operates a technology platform that underpins the markets business of more than 400 marquee clients across leading banks, exchanges, hedge funds, asset managers and trading firms globally. Its mission is to make technology easy for the financial markets community, with the freedom to have their technology needs delivered globally as a service and operate with a new level of agility, accuracy and transparency.

About Pico

Pico is a leading provider of technology services for the financial markets community. Pico provides a best-in-class portfolio of innovative, transparent, low-latency markets solutions coupled with an agile and expert service delivery model. Instant access to financial markets is provided via PicoNet, a globally comprehensive network platform instrumented natively with Corvil analytics and telemetry. Clients choose Pico when they want the freedom to move fast and create an operational edge in the fast-paced world of financial markets.

To learn more about Pico, please visit pico.net. Media Contact

Pico Press Office:

Isabel Dalton

isabel.dalton@pico.net

+353 1 859 1040





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A SpaceX rocket with the company's Dragon capsule is illuminated by spotlights on the launch pad, early Friday, April 23, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX aimed to launch its third crew a little before sunrise Friday, this time using a recycled capsule and rocket. The four astronauts, representing the U.S., Japan and France, were supposed to fly to the International Space Station on Thursday. But liftoff was delayed because of poor weather offshore. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

Four astronauts arrived at their launch pad early Friday morning for a SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, the company's third bon voyage for a NASA crew in under a year.

The two Americans, one French and one Japanese astronaut climbed into white gull-winged Teslas for the ride to their rocket, all courtesy of Elon Musk's companies. Musk met with the astronauts before they headed to the pad, wishing them well from a safe social distance.

SpaceX aimed for a split-second liftoff at 5:49 a.m., an hour before sunrise. Good weather was forecast, not only at NASA's Kennedy Space Center but all the way up the East Coast in the event of a launch abort and emergency splashdown. Poor offshore weather prompted SpaceX to skip Thursday's attempt.

For the first time, SpaceX was using a recycled Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule for a crew launch. The capsule soared on the company's first astronaut launch last May, and the rocket hoisted the second crew in November.

Spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew will replace that second set of astronauts, who will return to Earth next Wednesday in their own SpaceX capsule.

Joining Kimbrough for a six-month space station mission: NASA's Megan McArthur, France's Thomas Pesquet and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide. All have flown in space before.

NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk, center, and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, right, arrive for the walkout of the SpaceX crew before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk, left and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk arrive for the walkout of the SpaceX crew before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide smiles as he talks to family and friends after leaving the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

SpaceX astronauts, from left, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, leave the operations and checkout building for a trip to the launch pad Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide waves to family and friends after leaving the operations and checkuot building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, right, and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough greet family members after leaving the operations and checkout building before a launch attempt Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

McArthur had the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did for SpaceX's debut crew flight. This time, he was the one huddling outside the Teslas with their 7-year-old son, saying goodbye. McArthur blew kisses and offered virtual hugs from a safe social distance.

The other astronauts' spouses and children also gathered alongside the Teslas for photos and "love you's," as Musk and NASA's acting administrator, Steve Jurzcyk, watched from afar. The crowd was kept to a minimum because of the pandemic.

SpaceX picked up the station slack for NASA after the agency's shuttles retired in 2011. SpaceX began supply runs the following year.

Boeing, NASA's other designated taxi service, isn't expect to launch astronauts until early next year.

Explore further SpaceX aims for 3rd crew launch hour before Friday's sunrise

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
[April 22, 2021] bolttech expands Samsung Care+ partnership to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- International insurtech, bolttech, today announced it has expanded its device protection partnership with Samsung to Malaysia. The partnership delivers mobile device repair services to the owners of new Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets through the Samsung Care+ programme. Malaysia marks the seventh market in Asia for bolttech's partnership with Samsung and the fifth in Southeast Asia, following similar arrangements in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan over the last two years. Through the Samsung Care+ programme, bolttech aims to help customers protect their Samsung Galaxy devices against accidental physical, liquid breakage or mechanical breakdown for up to 2 years. The device protection plans also cover repair costs up to twice the value of the device's purchase price[1]. Mark Simmons, Chief Executive Officer of Device Protection, bolttech, said, "We are excited to continue building our device protection partnership with global smartphone leader Samsung in Malaysia, following the success of this offering in six other markets. We hope with this latest partnership, Samsung customers in Malaysia can continue to stay connected by leveraging our next-generation device protection solutions." KM Liew, Head of IT & Mobile Business, Samsung Malaysia Electronics said, "We are pleased to partner with bolttech on our Samsung Care+ programme in Malaysia. With Samsung Care+, our customers have peace of mind and are supported when the unexpected happens with their newly purchased Samsung device. The plan also includes a premium service that offers free doorstep pick-up and delivery, reducing the hassle our customers face when finding time to bring in their device for repair." More information about the Samsung Care+ programme in Malaysia can be found here: https://www.samsung.com/my/offer/samsung-care-plus/







[1] Terms and conditions apply. For details, visit: https://www.samsung.com/my/offer/samsung-care-plus

About bolttech bolttech is an international insurtech with a mission to build the world's leading, technology-enabled ecosystem for protection and insurance. With a full suite of digital and data-driven capabilities, bolttech powers connections between insurers, distributors, and customers to make it easier and more efficient to buy and sell insurance and protection products. A part of Pacific Century Group, bolttech operates in 14 markets across Asia, Europe, and the United States. For more information, please visit www.bolttech.io. About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com. SOURCE bolttech

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OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month must be done to keep Canadians safe.

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OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month must be done to keep Canadians safe.

Trudeau says it was necessary because there has been a concerning surge of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of more variants of concern in certain parts of the world.

"A determination was made that there needed to be further steps taken," he said Friday.

Testing at border entries has shown that half the people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus after arriving in Canada by plane have come from India, federal officials said. There has also been a disproportionate number of positive cases from travellers arriving from Pakistan.

All commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from the two countries were suspended effective 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

The new travel measures were announcedearlier Thursday following pressure from provincial leaders, who said not enough was being done to keep infectious variants out of the country.

Passengers from New Delhi wait in long lines for transportation to their quarantine hotels at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Friday, April 23, 2021. Flights from India and Pakistan to Canada have been suspended for 30 days. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

The B. 1.617 variant that appears to be fuelling widespread infections in India has been detected in several provinces.

The travel measures require people coming from India and Pakistan through indirect flights to get a negative COVID-19 test in the last place they landed before arriving in Canada.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Canada already had significant requirements for returning travellers that has helped reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Canada.

More than a year ago, all non-essential travel by land and air from abroad was banned and the border with the United States was closed.

People returning to Canada are required to present a pre-board negative COVID-19 test, get another test upon arrival and quarantine for two weeks.

There are some exceptions for essential workers.

Blair said the further restrictions were added based on advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

"We will always do what's necessary to keep communities safe from COVID."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.
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Wiener Neustadt / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : The roof was creaking and suddenly everything started vibrating and rattling for a few seconds, while a kind of metallic noise could be heard. You could see light objects move and vibrate, the lamp was moving, the glasses were clinking. Even heavier items and furniture were rattling and vibrating, you could see the vibration when looking at it. | One user found this interesting.

Wiener Neustadt / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : The roof made a creaking sound and suddenly everything started vibrating for a few seconds, you could see light objects vibrating and moving, making kind of metallic noises. The glasses were clinking, even on the surface of heavier items and furniture you could notice the vibrating. | One user found this interesting.

2753 Dreistetten, / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 2-5 s : ...bin gesessen, habe es ordentlich gespurt und das leichte Grollen war auch zu vernehmen. | One user found this interesting.

2763 Muggendorf, Austria / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

18.8 km ENE of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt (reported through our app / not felt

2700 Wiener Neustadt / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Wr.Neustadt / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Glaser und Wandbilder haben gewackelt, es war ein lautes Grollen zuhoren.

Wiener Neustadt / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 1-2 s : Rumpeln, Gegenstande haben sich in Regalen bewegt

595.9 km NNW of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt

Austria Mattersburg, Wieselberggasse (22 km E of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / very short

59.4 km NNE of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s : I felt something right now at 00:38 Vienna time

Oberpiesting (19.1 km N of epicenter) [ Map ] / not felt (reported through our app / not felt

17.9 km NW of epicenter [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / very short

Raach am Hochgebirge / Weak shaking (MMI III)

2803 Schwarzenbach / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating

Neusiedl am Steinfeld / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 1-2 s : It was very loud and short

59.4 km NNE of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s : I felt something right now at 00:38 Vienna time

Grunbuch am schneeberg / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

2763 Muggendorf, Austria / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

6.4 km SE of epicenter [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Neunkirchen (2.6 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 1-2 s : Rattling noise, strong vertical shacking, third floor, the building moved sideways though, not up and down, like some 3 or 4 weeks ago when I was again at that location.

Putzmannsdorf (7 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating (reported through our app / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating

Vienna (61.2 km NNE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Eisenstadt / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short : Barely noticeable

2632 Grafenbach / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

16.4 km NE of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt (reported through our app / not felt

Wiener Neustadt / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating

Krummnubaum / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s : Sehr leichtes vibriere

Wiener Neustadt / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : .

0.7 km SE of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 5-10 s

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

0.7 km SE of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 5-10 s

60.4 km NNE of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt (reported through our app / not felt

50.1 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s (reported through our app / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s

vienna / not felt

Kirchberg Am Wechsel / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Wiener neustadt (17.9 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s Mein doner hat leicht vibriert und den Soe gut vermischt, danke mutter Natur jetzt schmeckt noch lecker (reported through (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Monichwald / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s : Tisch hat gezittert

2620 / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 5-10 s

6.9 km W of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

2823,Pitten / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

Kirchberg am wechsal / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : Slight shaking, rattling of Windows.

Steinhaus am Semmering / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

5 km NE of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt (reported through our app / not felt

Gloggnitz, Silbersberg / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single vertical bump / very short

24.2 km N of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 2-5 s

Pottenstein / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s

wiener neustadt (17.8 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

aspangberg / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Murzzuschlag / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Semmering (20.9 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single vertical bump / 2-5 s

2880 Kirchberg am Wechsel (13.3 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

2.7 km NNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

2870 Aspangberg St.Peter / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s

21.2 km NNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s

2650 Payerbach (118 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Fast schon daran gewohnt,das es hin und wieder beben kann. Trotzdem schon bedenklich was MUTTER Natur so anrichten konnte. bei uns ist bis jetzt noch kein Schaden aufgetreten.

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 1-2 s : bin erschrocken, lautes Knaxen in den Holzbalken

5.5 km N of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

6.9 km SW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Berndorf / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s

Wiener Neustadt / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

Seebenstein / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Korneuburg (73.8 km NNE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / very short

Koettlach / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating : Glaser im Regal klirren Topf am Herd bewegte sich

Wiener Neustadt (16.1 km NNE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : Sofa was vibrating a little bit, as if a cat was scratching its ear.

Breitenau / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short

Wiener Neustadt / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s

6 km N of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 s

2842 Thomasberg / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Pitten / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Wurflach / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Wiener neustadt / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Reichenau/Rax / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Beangstigend

Wurflach / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Bad Erlach / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / very short

Puchberg am Schneeberg / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

2640 Prigglitz / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 2-5 s

Neunkirchen / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s

6.6 km WNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Reichenau an der Rax (19.1 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

Neunkirchen / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

St. Egyden /Saubersdorf / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s

2831 Warth / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

18.2 km NE of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s

Reichental / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

8.1 km WSW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

2620 Neunkirchen (1.9 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : It felt like 5.0 not like 3.5

St.Egyden am Steinfelde / Light shaking (MMI IV) / very short : Sehr lautes, kurzes Beben

Wr. Neustadt (17.5 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) Spurbar (reported through (reported through our app / Very weak shaking (MMI II)

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

1.9 km NNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

Wiener Neustadt / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

2620 / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

2620 Unterdanegg (3.6 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 s

Herzog-Park 114A, 2823 Pitten / Weak shaking (MMI III) / complex motion difficult to describe / 2-5 s

Ternitz / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 s

Vienna / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging

Berndorf / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Es war eher leicht, aber mein Sohn und ich habens gespurt.

Ternitz / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Breitenau (4.2 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 s

Wiener Neustadt, Austria / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 20-30 s : weak swinging that slowly faded out

Oberhoflein (12.2 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s First a kind of light thunder was heard from outside, then everything rattled for a short time (reported through (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Lindgrub 21, 2620 Natschbach-Loipersbach / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

5 km WSW of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating

Wiener Neustadt / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 s

2620 / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 1-2 s

2651 Reichenau/Rax Austria (19.4 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

Vienna / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single vertical bump / very short

wiener neustadt / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Ternitz (5.3 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 1-2 s

Ternitz (7.9 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s : Started as a low rumble, got louder, then the shaking and rattling of furniture and windows started. After a few seconds stopped abruptly.

Pitten

Bad Erlach 2822 (9.1 km ENE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

1.5 km WNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Vienna / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short

Loipersbach / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

2722 Winzendorf, Lower Austria (11.5 km N of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Murzzuschlag / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single vertical bump / very short

Ternitz (4.9 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Graz (86.5 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s Approx 5 weak shakes (reported through (reported through our app / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s

2813 (19.4 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / complex motion difficult to describe / 1-2 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / complex motion difficult to describe / 1-2 s

Reichenau an der rax / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Payerbach (17.8 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

Reichenau an der Rax (20 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Leobersdorf / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

4.6 km SW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : House shaked

Wiener Neustadt (17.5 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Ternitz / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 2-5 s

Gloggnitz (12.6 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Fohrenau (8.9 km ENE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Loosdorf / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s

2870 (10.7 km S of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Sieding / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s : One little shaking, and one big bang

reichenau / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Pottschach (6.4 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

18.1 km NW of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Wiener Neustadt (19.8 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s

Hoflein an der hohen Wand / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

19.4 km W of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Wiener Neustadt / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s

Natschbach (1.5 km NNE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single vertical bump / very short (reported through our app / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single vertical bump / very short

2732 Willendorf (11 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating : Gerumpelt und Lampe gewackelt, laut zu horen, ca. Sekunden

Ternitz / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / very short

Wimpassing im Schwarzatale (6.2 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 2-5 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 2-5 s

Wiener Neustadt (17.2 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s

2620 / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

4.1 km E of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single vertical bump / very short
If you lean Republican or voted for Donald Trump, then you may have gotten a cryptic text message last weekend about J.D. Vance.

The aim of the messages seems to be calling attention to the Hillbilly Elegy authors past remarks about the former president, now considered a behind-the-scenes kingmaker in future Ohio elections.

Never Trumper JD Vance called Donald Trump an idiot; And now he thinks he can represent Ohio in the US Senate???? read one, with a link to a Vance tweet from 2016, the same year he released his best-selling book.

Never-Trumper JD Vance wants to represent us in the Senate but hell just be another Mitt Romney, says another unsigned message. The texts appear to be from a super PAC backing one of the GOP candidates in the race.

Mr. Vance, the 36-year-old venture capitalist whose memoir chronicles growing up in the throes of family turmoil in Middletown, Ohio, hasnt officially launched a Senate bid in his home state, but his presence looms over the race as he weighs a run to replace retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.

Even some conservatives see him as a spoiler in a field without a frontrunner, and some interpret the text blitz as a sign GOP candidates fear that Mr. Vances backstory and fame could pull him through the primary.

He absolutely will be a threat to the other candidates who have already gotten into the race, said David B. Cohen a political science professor at the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. This is going to be a pretty expensive, competitive, and probably pretty brutal Republican primary.

For a shot at winning the seat, Mr. Vance would have to emerge from a pack of far-right presenting candidates clinging to the promise of a Trump endorsement to clear a crowded primary field. His candidacy would test whether a writer and pundit often credited with explaining Mr. Trumps appeal to the white working-class in Middle America understands it well enough to fuel his own victory here.

Despite Mr. Vance having met with Mr. Trump recently at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the Republican field  if the recent text blasts are any indication  will try to skewer Mr. Vance over his past opposition to Mr. Trump, whos still a popular figure in Ohio after two blowout wins.

No way in hell, said Bill Delaney, a former Republican State Central Committee member from Toledo, on potentially supporting Mr. Vance. Ive gotten a few messages about him and the answer is no way. What hes said about [ Mr. Trump] is a nonstarter.

In recent weeks, Mr. Vance has peppered his Twitter feed with overtures to the right  tweets praising Fox News host Tucker Carlson and bashing woke culture and Big Tech censorship.

On Wednesday, the day after jurors delivered a guilty verdict in ex-cop Derek Chauvins murder trial and Columbus police killed 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant, Mr. Vance tweeted, It is apparently now racist to prevent someone from being stabbed, in response to a tweet from Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Mr. Vance traces his roots to eastern Kentucky but grew up in southwest Ohio. He describes in his book how the steadying influence of his grandmother helped him escape from under his mothers addictions and his hometown. He joined the Marines, attended Ohio State University and Yale Law School, and launched a career in Silicon Valley.

Critics argue the bootstraps ethos he seems to espouse in Hillbilly Elegy isnt achievable for most in the lower class, and Mr. Vance has acknowledged as much.

Stories like mine are less and less common today. The prospects of a kid growing up at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and rising to the top is less and less frequent, Mr. Vance told a group of northwest Ohio Republicans a few months after Mr. Trumps inauguration.

His tone on Mr. Trump had noticeably softened by then.

I saw that there was a lot of frustration. And [ Mr. Trump] obviously saw the same thing. I wrote a book about it. He ran a campaign on it, he said.

After living in California, Mr. Vance returned to Ohio in 2017 and by the next year was seriously considering a campaign against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. He ended up not running.

He said at the time that he returned to southwest Ohio, where he lives now with his wife and two children, to be closer to his family, and has since launched business and nonprofit ventures in the state.

Mr. Vances political success may depend on whether voters perceive his return to his roots as genuine, and the degree to which his book and the Netflix adaption afford him name recognition and celebrity status.

You have Trump who arrived on the scene in 2015, and despite the fact that hes a billionaire and lived his whole life with a Park Avenue mindset, he was able to connect with working class people, Mr. Cohen said. I dont know if J.D. Vance can do that in Ohio. It remains to be seen.

A photo posted on Twitter this week showed Mr. Vance back in his hometown, posing with employees at Phillips Tube Group, a manufacturer of welded steel tubes.

He didnt disappoint! There was a definite buzz and excitement around him as ' Middletowns son and our local hometown celebrity, the companys communications vice president, Catherine Martin, said of his trip to the plant.

In his book, Mr. Vance connects the disappearance of jobs at factories to the social issues like poverty and opioid addiction in Appalachia and places like Middletown.

Its all a very flimsy house of cards hes built into this emerging persona, said Elizabeth Catte, the author of What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, a 2018 rebuttal to Hillbilly Elegy that argues Mr. Vances book promotes stereotypes and fails to highlight the vitality of the region.

Even beyond questions about his redneck credibility or Appalachian credibility, hes awash with this kind of phoniness that people pick up on, Ms. Catte said. That can be good if youre trying to sell books, I guess, and go back and talk at Yale. But maybe not so much in politics where people do seem to think that characteristics like authenticity and relatability are important.

In 2020, Mr. Vance and a partner raised $93 million to start a Cincinnati-based venture capital firm, Narya Capital, to fund start-ups outside of Silicon Valley.

The same libertarian tech billionaire who helped fund that project, Peter Thiel, last month gave $10 million to Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC supporting Mr. Vances political ambitions.

Mr. Vance wouldnt be the only Republican Senate hopeful with access to big money. Investment banker Mike Gibbons, luxury car dealer-turned-tech entrepreneur Bernie Moreno, and former state GOP chairman Jane Timken each have personal resources to self-fund at least a portion of their campaigns. Former state treasurer Josh Mandel has been sitting on a $4 million-plus war chest since his 2018 Senate bid.

If Mr. Vance were to make it past the primary, he might be competing against Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat with similar working-class roots  although Mr. Ryan, who hails from Trumbull County, was raised and still lives in one of the 32 eastern Ohio counties classified as Appalachian. Mr. Ryan hasnt launched a bid, but is expected to soon.

I think he and Tim are going to appeal to the same kind of voters, said David Betras, a former Democratic chairman in Mahoning County who has been vocal in his frustration with his party in the Trump era. In 2020, Mr. Trump became the first Republican to win the traditionally Democratic county since Richard Nixon in 1972.

He said Mr. Vance is the Republican hed least like to see in the race.

We cant get killed in rural Ohio anymore. I mean, were not going to win those rural counties, but you cant win Ohio just running in the three cities. Its a losing formula, he said.

___

(c)2021 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)

Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A bill to fight anti-Asian hate crimes passed in a 94-1 vote in the Senate on Thursday.



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The COVID19 Hate Crimes Act, only needed 60 votes and had large bipartisan support. The legislation was introduced in March by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) with Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York), according to NPR.



Asian Americans have been beaten, slashed and spat on. Everybody in our country deserves to feel safe and that includes the Asian American community, Meng tweeted.



Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo) was the only member to vote against the bill, according to NBC News.



Hawley expressed his concern about how the bill was too open-ended, reported CNN.



Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had urged Republican senators not to block the bill, which would establish new ways to report incidents online and conduct public outreach when needed, NextShark previously reported.



The bill will also assist in assigning a designated officer to speed up the review of hate crimes at the Justice Department, especially those reported during the pandemic.



The House, which has created a similar version of Hironos bill, and the Senate will have to come to an agreement on a new bill to present to President Joe Biden to sign.



Members of the Senate expressed their support for the passing of the bill on social media:



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Feature Images via @maziehirono

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On Monday night, Prague Castle blazed neon-blue as the words High Treason were projected onto the walls. The stunt took aim at the Czech president, Milos Zeman, who, in the light of a diplomatic crisis with Russia, has come to embody a battle for the political soul of the Czech Republic.

On Saturday, Czech prime minister Andrej Babis held an emergency press conference to announce unequivocal evidence pointing to the involvement of Russian secret agents in a huge explosion which killed two workers at an arms depot near the Moravian village of Vrbetice in 2014.

It has been speculated that the armaments destroyed in the explosion were bound for Ukraine and for rebel forces in Syria. The two agents accused of carrying out the attack  Alexandr Miskin and Anatolij Cepigov  are the same GRU operatives blamed for the Salisbury poisoning in the UK four years later.
Donna Brock, Military Advisory Committee, Trident University International Donnas leadership record and service to our country are extraordinary. Her unique military community insights will enhance Tridents understanding of how to meet the needs of military-affiliated students. - Travis Allen, Senior Vice President, Trident.

Trident University International (Trident) is proud to announce the addition of Donna Brock to its Military Advisory Committee. Tridents Military Advisory Committee advises senior leadership at Trident University International and the American InterContinental University System on key issues impacting the military community.

The board works to ensure leadership is apprised of key changes within the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and provides guidance and recommendations on how Trident can strengthen and enhance the military student experience.

The committee is made up of respected former senior military leaders past and present, including General (Retired) William R. Looney, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Thomas F. Metz, and SEAC (Retired) William J. Joe Gainey.

Donnas leadership record and service to our country are extraordinary, states Travis Allen, Senior Vice President, Trident. Her unique military community insights will enhance Tridents understanding of how to meet the needs of military-affiliated students.

Brock is a 35-year veteran of the United States Army, all of it in Army medicine. A former combat medic, she rose to the top of her career field in position and rank. She served as the Command Sergeant Major of U.S. Army Medical Command and also as the senior enlisted advisor to the Army Surgeon General.

At the time of her retirement in 2015, she was the longest serving enlisted woman still on active duty in the Army. Her last assignment was at The Office of the Surgeon General, Fairfax, VA.

Brock earned a Master of Science in Health Sciences from Trident. She holds a bachelors degree from Thomas Edison State University and an associate degree from Hawaii Pacific University.

About Trident University International

Founded in 1998, Trident University International is a member of the American InterContinental University System, which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org). Trident uses the EdActive learning approach, which employs case-based learning in an online setting to teach real-world relevant critical thinking skills designed to enhance the lives and education of students. Trident offers quality associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs and certificates, led by a qualified faculty team, over 80% of whom have doctoral degrees. Trident has nearly 27,000 alumni, of which more than 22,000 have a military affiliation and has received acknowledgements from Washington Monthly, Military Times, and Military Advanced Education & Transition for their dedication to student success. Visit http://www.trident.edu or call at (855) 290-0290 to learn more about Trident's wide range of educational options.
Author Gladys J Hildreth, Ph.D., CFLE, a recently retired professor, has completed her new book Leaving No One Behind: An African American Familys Story of Achievement through Education: a work that shares the story of how an African American family was able to escape poverty and go on to live successful lives.

Dr.Hildreth writes, Research and social media are avenues through which information is shared about poverty and the well-being of families and children. African American families are usually described as having difficulties related to aspects of well-being such as income, education, work skills, family relations, child-rearing, and parenting. It is well known that these difficulties exist in many families; however, there is room for improvement in these areas. I believe that there are strategies that can be explored and put into practice that will lead toward reducing some of the problems that exist in families who live in poverty.

Published by Page Publishing, author Gladys J Hildreths insightful work allows readers to learn from her years of experience in the education field.

Readers who wish to experience this informative work can purchase Leaving No One Behind: An African American Familys Story of Achievement through Education at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
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More than a hundred French fishermen blocked trucks carrying fish from the UK on Thursday night in a protest against a Brexit fishing deal they have dismissed as 'a sham'.

Britain's post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union allowed the bloc's fishermen to keep fishing deep into British waters, but only once they had received a licence.

Those licences were expected to be issued swiftly but instead some 80 per cent of the French fleet in the northern Hauts-de-France region - who can see Britain's southern shores from their own coastline - were still waiting, French fishermen said.

'We thought it would be a matter of days. Four months on we've barely moved forwards,' said Bruno Margolle, who heads the main fishermen's cooperative in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

More than a hundred French fishermen blocked trucks carrying fish from the UK on Thursday night, in a protest against a Brexit fishing deal they have dismissed as 'a sham'

Britain's post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union allowed the bloc's fishermen to keep fishing deep into British waters, but only once they had received a licence

The fishermen set fire to pallets and tyres to stay warm at the Boulogne-sur-Mer checkpoint, in France's busiest fishing hub

Protesters spent the night at a checkpoint where lorries carrying fish from Britain into the northern French ports of Dunkirk and Calais are subject to hygiene checks, now that the UK has left the European Union.

The fishermen set fire to pallets and tyres to stay warm at the Boulogne-sur-Mer checkpoint, in France's busiest fishing hub.

Many trucks from the UK changed routes after hearing of the planned action.

British-flagged ships operated by Dutch companies, which often unload fish caught in UK waters at French ports, had also changed course towards Belgium, the harbour master's office told AFP.

A second group of protesters took up positions for a protest at the Boulogne fish market.

'This night of action is a warning shot,' said Olivier Lepretre, head of the regional fishing committee.

'If nothing happens at the European level, we will shift up a gear.'

Lepretre said UK authorities had only granted licences to 22 out of the 120 boats seeking permission to fish between six and 12 nautical miles from the British coast.

No trucks from the UK were present, however, AFP journalists said on Thursday, with some having changed routes after hearing of the planned action

A second group of protesters took up positions for a protest at the Boulogne fish market

Many of the skippers struggling to obtain a licence were unable to meet the British demand for electronic data showing they had fished in UK waters during the five years running up to Britain's 2016 referendum on EU membership

Many of the skippers struggling to obtain a licence were unable to meet the British demand for electronic data showing they had fished in UK waters during the five years leading up to Britain's 2016 referendum on EU membership, Margolle said.

Britain maintained an evidence-based approach to licensing EU vessels using information supplied by the European Commission, the British government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said.

'We do not recognise the figures that have been shared by the French fishing industry and consider this reaction to be unjustified.

'Our concerns regarding the protest action have been raised directly with the French authorities', a DEFRA spokesman said.



The British government had raised its concerns over the protest with French authorities, the spokesman added.

The French government late on Thursday urged the European Commission to take 'firm and determined action' to ensure Britain applies the deal.

'We will act in a spirit of European solidarity and cooperation with Britain, but the urgency of the situation compels us all to speed up efforts,' Europe Minister Clement Beaune and Sea Minister Annick Girardin said in a statement.

British-flagged ships operated by Dutch companies, which often unload fish caught in UK waters at French ports, had also changed course towards Belgium

Local mayor Frederic Cuvillier also offered his support to the fishermen, calling for the EU to 'wake up' and protect the European fishing industry from Brexit's impact.

'The cruel truth is that there is no fishing deal,' said Cuvillier, a former Socialist fishing minister, describing the situation as 'desperate'.

About two-thirds of UK-landed fish are exported to the continent.

In the first weeks of the year, Britain's exit from the EU's orbit led to a chaotic breakdown in supply chains, which used to see Scottish scallops and langoustine in French shops barely a day after they were harvested.

Meanwhile, fishermen in northern France say their livelihoods depend on access to British waters, where they chase mackerel, whiting, squid and other species.

Margolle said French fish stocks risked being depleted if French fishermen could not cross into British waters. Some fishermen were keeping their boats tied up in port, he said.

'It's not worth going out to sea to lose money,' Margolle said.

Fishing became a hugely fraught issue in negotiations late last year over an agreement to govern Britain and the EU's post-Brexit trade relationship (pictured, French trawlers docked in Boulogne-sur-Mer in December)

The UK had insisted it wanted to take back control of its waters while EU coastal states sought guarantees that their fleets could keep fishing in British waters (pictured, fishermen bring in a haul of fish from the English Channel)

Fishing became a hugely fraught issue in negotiations late last year over an agreement to govern Britain and the EU's post-Brexit trade relationship.

The UK had insisted it wanted to take back control of its waters while EU coastal states sought guarantees that their fleets could keep fishing in British waters.

London and Brussels eventually reached a compromise that will see European boats gradually relinquish 25 per cent of their current quotas during a five-and-a-half-year transition period.

British fishermen, many of whom sell their catches in Europe and rely on rapid transport, have also been deeply unhappy with the post-Brexit situation, saying that extra red tape is threatening their livelihoods.
The Russian government has designated the Latvia-based independent Meduza news outlet as a foreign agent -- a move that will require it to label itself as such and will subject it to increased government scrutiny.



The Russian Justice Ministry made the announcement on April 23 on its website, while Meduza confirmed the news in a tweet.

"Hi, everyone! Were Russias latest 'foreign agent!'" the media outlet wrote, though in a later post it said it rejected the designation and will appeal the move, adding that its chances of success "are slim."

In addition, the Justice Ministry added the little-known Moscow-based First Anti-Corruption Media project, which describes itself as a federal media outlet specializing in the fight against corruption in Russia, to the foreign-agent registry.

The Justice Ministry did not offer any explanation for its action.

Russias so-called foreign agent legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as foreign agents, and to submit to audits. Later modifications of the law targeted foreign-funded media.

Human Rights Watch has described the legislation as restrictive and intended to demonize independent groups.

Meduza was formed in 2014 by the former chief editor of Lenta.ru, Galina Timchenko, after she and most of Lenta.rus editorial staff left following an ownership change.

According to the independent Medialogia monitoring site, Meduza was among the top 10 most-cited Russian-language Internet sources in 2020 and was No. 1 in the ranking of most-linked-to social-media posts.

The general director of First Anti-Corruption Media, Dmitry Verbitsky, wrote that he did not understand why his company had been listed since it does not receive any foreign funding. He said the company would appeal its listing.

In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RLs Russian Service on the list, along with six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time, a network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its foreign agents list and to impose restrictions on them.

The Russian state media monitor Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration. The agency has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RLs projects for failure to follow such rules that could result in fines totaling more than $1 million.

RFE/RL has called the fines a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation, while the U.S. State Department has described them as intolerable.

With reporting by Reuters and RIA
STAMFORD  Charter Communications has been ordered by a federal court to pay approximately $19 million to an Arkansas-based telecommunications company, after a judge found Charter had deceptively advertised its services and improperly disconnected several hundred customers.

The judgment comes after a two-year legal battle between Stamford-based Charter  one of the countrys largest cable, internet and phone providers through its Spectrum-branded services  and Little Rock, Ark.-based Windstream Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy in early 2019 and soon after sued Charter in response to the disconnections and advertising.

Judge Robert Drain found that Charter should be held in contempt for violating an automatic stay on actions against Windstream that had been triggered by the bankruptcy filing. Charter breached the stay by terminating last mile connection services to some Windstream customers, based on pre-bankruptcy amounts owed by Charter under the companies reseller agreement, Drain wrote in his decision.

Drain also concluded that Charter carried out a literally false and intentionally misleading advertising campaign to induce the debtors (Windstream) customers to terminate their agreements with the debtors. He agreed with Windstreams assessment that it consequently sustained about $5 million in lost profits.

The ruling was praised by officials at Windstream, which emerged from bankruptcy last September and now operates as a privately held company. The company has alleged in court filings that Charter disseminated false advertisements directly targeting Windstreams strongest customer bases in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Nebraska and North Carolina.

We are gratified that Judge Drains ruling means Charter will have to pay a significant price for its egregious false advertising, Kristi Moody, Windstreams general counsel, said in a statement. Charter knew full well what it was doing when it embarked on a dishonest scare-tactic campaign to lure away our customers. At Windstream, we will always aggressively defend ourselves and our customers against predatory schemes and meritless allegations.

Charter declined to comment on the ruling.

The judgment includes about $9 million in damages for Windstreams litigation fees and expenses. Among other components, there are damages of about $4 million to cover the cost of a Windstream promotional campaign in late 2019 that included customer upgrades, discounts and other pricing promotions. Drain determined that Windstream incurred those costs related to Charters advertising.

Some counts in Windstreams original complaint  including those related to federal and state deceptive trade laws  were transferred to a federal district court, but no hearing has been scheduled, according to a Windstream spokesman.

Improper disconnections

Charter disconnected about 350 Windstream customers on or around March 14, 2019, Windstream said an April 2019 court filing. A smaller number of additional shutoffs occurred in April and May 2019, according to a footnote of Drains decision.

Drain said he considered the companys explanation of the disconnections.

Charters only response is a variation on the inability defense to a finding of contempt, that is, that the termination of service was wholly mechanical, arising from automatic nonpayment protocols programmed into its computerized billing system, or, possibly, that Charter reasonably attempted to comply, he said.

But he was not persuaded by that argument.

It is not really a defense for a large and sophisticated entity like Charter that provides services to many customers, some of whom inevitably will file for relief under the bankruptcy code, to argue that its systems do not have an effective failsafe to prevent it from violating the automatic stay, he said. Charter has not contended that it lacked the capacity to adopt systems to override such automated collection activity.

Charter took from February 25, 2019 to May 9, 2019 to complete their manual analysis and restoration of the debtors accounts that should not have been automatically terminated in violation of the automatic stay, according to Drains footnote.

Literally false and intentionally misleading advertising

Drain found that Charter had misrepresented in an early 2019 advertising campaign the nature of Windstreams bankruptcy.

The evidence also shows that Charter should be held in contempt... for interfering with the plaintiffs customer contracts and goodwill through Charters literally false and intentionally misleading advertising campaign intended to create the impression, using mailings designed to seem as if they were coming from the debtors, that the debtors were going out of business, Drain said.

Among the evidence in its filings, Windstream included a Spectrum ad, which said Now is the time to switch to Spectrum. Windstreams future is unknown, but Spectrum is here to stay  delivering internet and TV services you can count on.

An economist brought in by Windstream for the case estimated that the company lost nearly 1,400 customers as a result of Charters advertising.

Incidentally, Charter had filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and then sued DirecTV for false advertising that Charter said at the time could give customers the mistaken impression that it would be liquidating and that its cable services would soon end.

Drains other cases include management of the bankruptcy proceedings of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, a next-door neighbor of Charter, which is headquartered at 400 Atlantic St., in downtown Stamford.

Charter, however, is planning to open later this year a new headquarters a few blocks away at 406 Washington Blvd., next to the downtown Metro-North Railroad station. The relocation reflects the growth of the No. 71 company on last years Fortune 500 list, with Charter now serving more than 30 million residential and business customers.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
Just like their Manchester United counterparts on Thursday, Arsenal fans are still livid over the attempted European Super League  and theyre taking it out on team owner Stan Kroenke.

Arsenal fans launched a massive protest outside of Emirates Stadium in London on Friday ahead of their 1-0 loss to Everton with a pretty clear objective. They want Kroenke gone.

Arsenal fans during a protest against the club's owner Stan Kroenke over the failed Super League ahead of the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton outside Emirates Stadium on April 23, 2021 in London, England. (James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

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Kroenke first got involved with Arsenal in 2007, and then purchased the club outright in 2018. He also owns the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids.

Arsenal, like the other five Premier League teams, has withdrawn from the proposed Super League after harsh criticism from players, fans and the governing bodies of the sport. Much of the heat is falling on the clubs American owners, too  like Kroenke, Liverpools John Henry and Manchester Uniteds Joel Glazer.

Arsenal fans protest on Friday was similar to what Manchester United fans did on Thursday. A group of fans blocked entrances to the teams facility as players and staff arrived, and about 20 fans actually broke into the facility and protested on the pitch.

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Though the Super League is essentially dead, fans clearly are still extremely angry.

More from Yahoo Sports:
Friday, April 23, 2021

From the New York Times:

In Taiwan, one of the few places in the world to offer marriage leave to couples heading to the altar, a bank employee wed his partner on April 6, 2020.

They got divorced days later, on April 16.

Then they remarried the following day.

Another divorce and a third marriage followed on April 28 and April 29.

After a third divorce, on May 11, they got married for the fourth time, on May 12.

It was all a plot to take advantage of the self-governing islands time-off policy for couples who get married  eight days of leave  the mans employer, a bank in Taipei, said in public records.

The bank refused to approve the mans application for paid time off beyond the mandated eight days for his first marriage. That prompted him to lodge a complaint with the Labor Department for violations of leave entitlements. The bank was fined $700 last October, but appealed the penalty in February, claiming that the employee had abused his rights.

Read more here.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/family_law/2021/04/married-for-the-time-off.html
LONDON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Navigator Holdings Ltd. ("Navigator") (NYSE: NVGS), today announced it has agreed four 12 month timecharter contracts with Mitsui & Co. Energy Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd. .("Mitsui") to be used for Pembina Pipeline Corporation's ("Pembina") new LPG export facility at Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. The four semi-refrigerated handysize vessels are expected to commence their charters to Mitsui from the second half of May 2021. Navigator's semi-refrigerated vessels are capable of loading ambient propane from the rail-supplied export terminal, negating the need for capital intensive on-shore chillers. The vessels will provide an essential part of the Canadian LPG value chain from production to final customer. Navigator will connect the last leg of this value chain by delivering safe, reliable and efficient seaborne transportation services connecting the export terminal to customers across the Pacific Ocean. The vessels, together with Pembina's new export terminal in Prince Rupert, and Mitsui's trading network in the global LPG market, will enable Canadian produced LPG to be exported outside the traditional North American markets.

Dr Harry Deans, Chief Executive Officer at Navigator said, "This exciting development demonstrates that Navigator is perfectly placed to facilitate Canadian hydrocarbons reach novel global markets. I am proud to see that our collaborative, transparent and honest approach over the last three years have resulted in, not only a successful outcome of the project, but a closer partnership between the participating companies."

Oeyvind Lindeman, Chief Commercial Officer at Navigator commented "We are truly excited to finally sign this agreement after many years of assisting the various key stakeholders through sharing our know-how in maritime gas transportation. It is a remarkable project highlighting the advantages of semi-refrigerated vessels. Our capabilities played a key role in reducing capital requirements and project start-up costs as our vessels' own refrigeration systems negates the need for on-shore chillers. What is even more interesting is that the entire logistics, from the processing plants in Alberta, the unit rails to the terminal in British Columbia, and the maritime section from the export terminal to international customers, can be price competitive compared to Very Large Gas Carriers' main route between U.S. Gulf and Asia."

Mitsui's spokesperson said "We are proud to be part of an entirely new trade between North America and international customers. Together with our partners Pembina, Navigator and Fearnleys Shipbrokers, we have overcome logistical challenges and have found a means to create a 'pipeline' from production in Alberta all the way to our end users. This would not be possible without the expertise, competence and ingenuity of our partners."

About Mitsui & Co. Energy Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd

Mitsui & Co. Energy Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd. (METS) is a 100% subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui Tokyo) providing integrated business services to partners all over the world in order to enhance value across their entire supply chain. This is achieved by applying expert knowledge, experience and core skills in market development, finance, logistics, investment and information to solve specific business problems across a broad range of commodities and services. METS was established in Singapore as an energy trading arms of Mitsui Tokyo in 2010 and has been acting as the global headquarters of oil and gas trading of Mitsui Tokyo. Expanding trading activity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, METS established its branch in London in February, 2019.

About Navigator Holdings Ltd

Navigator Holdings Ltd. is the owner and operator of the world's largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers and a global leader in the seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, such as ethylene and ethane, liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") and ammonia and owns a 50% share, through a joint venture, in an ethylene export marine terminal at Morgan's Point, Texas on the Houston Ship Channel, USA. Navigator's fleet consists of 38 semi- or fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers, 14 of which are ethylene and ethane capable. The Company plays a vital role in the liquefied gas supply chain for energy companies, industrial consumers and commodity traders, with its sophisticated vessels providing an efficient and reliable 'floating pipeline' between the parties, connecting the world today, creating a sustainable tomorrow.

For further information:

Investor Relations Department  [email protected]

Dr Harry Deans, Chief Executive Officer, +44 (0)20 7045 4120

Oeyvind Lindeman, Chief Commercial Officer, +44 (0)20 7340 4575

SOURCE Navigator Gas
Bay City Rollers fans have shared photos of their tartan accessories and childhood records as they said goodbye to frontman Les McKeown following his death at the age of 65.

Most of them fell in love with the Rollers as young girls, declaring their allegiance by incorporating the group's tartan outfits, half-mast trousers and stripey socks into their own wardrobes.

Over the last 24 hours they have dusted off their old LPs and dipped into the photo album as they reminisced over Rollermania on Twitter.

Bye Bye Baby! Bay City Rollers fans have shared photos of their tartan accessories and childhood records as they said goodbye to frontman Les McKeown following his death

Some social media users have paid touching tributes to McKeown, describing him as their 'first love'.

One tweeted: 'OMG! I cannot believe it Loudly crying face I am heartbroken at the news that Les has died Broken heart He was our "hearthrob" our first love, our "popstar in sunglasses" Oh Les, how we're all going to miss you.'

Another wrote: 'So very sad to hear that Les Mckeown has died he was my first love/crush since I was 17 RIP Leslie.'

The Bay City Rollers were one of the first boy-bands, a classic of the genre whose appeal and success - including two No 1 hits in America - was immense.

The Bay City Rollers were one of the first boy-bands, a classic of the genre whose appeal and success - including two No 1 hits in America - was immense. Pictured, Alan Longmuir, Les McKeown, Eric Faulkner, Stuart Wood and Derek Longmuir (seated) in 1975

Rollermania: Over the last 24 hours fans have dusted off their old LPs and dipped into the photo album as they reminisced over Rollermania, which took hold in the 1970s

A bunch of bantam-weight, working-class kids from Edinburgh, they burst on to the scene and performed to crowds of screaming fans.

They achieved worldwide success with songs including Bye Bye Baby, I Only Wanna Be With You and Shang-a-Lang before parting ways in the early 1980s after a number of changes to the original line-up.

Now only three of the 'classic five' Rollers line-up remain: founding member and drummer Derek Longmuir, 69, guitarist Stuart 'Woody' Wood, 64, and songwriter and guitarist Eric Faulkner, 67.

The fifth, 'original Roller' Alan Longmuir, died in 2018 after contracting a mystery virus on holiday in Mexico.

Some fans have told how they feel 'lucky' to have seen McKeown, Longmuir and Wood during their short-lived reunion in 2015 and 2016.

The trio performed to seas of tartan, with some of their original fans bringing their own children along to the gigs.


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A UK spy chief has warned the cyber threat from China could see it control the 'global operating system'.

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, said the west faces a 'moment of reckoning' in the race for tech supremacy.

And while the UK is a digital 'big animal', there is a 'pressing need to act' to combat undemocratic nations who are increasingly powerful.

In a major speech today, he warned the digital dominance of hostile states like China threatens our future prosperity and security.

He said: 'The concern is that China's size and technological weight means that it has the potential to control the global operating system.'

And, if left unchecked, this could threaten the design and freedom of the internet and endanger future technologies such as 'smart cities'.

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, said that while the UK is a digital 'big animal', there is a 'pressing need to act' to combat undemocratic nations who are increasingly powerful

Mr Fleming said it was now vital that the UK adapt in order to keep up with the evolving threats, calling it a 'moment of reckoning'.

Giving the annual Imperial College Vincent Briscoe Annual Security Lecture, remotely from GCHQ in Gloucester, he said: 'As an intelligence chief, I am bound to say that Russia and China remain of concern.

'Russia's pattern of malign behaviour around the world - whether in cyberspace, in election interference or in the aggressive operations of their intelligence services - demonstrates that it remains the most acute threat to the UK's national and collective security.

'Previously, I and others have pointed out that in terms of our national security, Russia is affecting the weather, whilst China is shaping the climate.

'That remains the case. But when it comes to technology, I'll use another analogy. The threat posed by Russia's activity is like finding a vulnerability on a specific app on your phone - it's potentially serious, but you can probably use an alternative.'

'States like China are early implementors of many of the emerging technologies that are changing the digital environment.

'They have a competing vision for the future of cyberspace and are playing strongly into the debate around international rules and standards.'

Mr Fleming said the coronavirus pandemic and the increased reliance society had placed on technology had not only benefited the UK and its allies, but also 'our foes', who have exploited 'accelerations in connectivity and poor cyber security'.

In response to this threat, Mr Fleming said the UK must lead conversations with its allies about global cyber defence, safeguarding democracy and how to collaborate in protecting scientific research and supply chains.

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, called for the country to evolve like an animal in a changing habitat as the 'global digital environment' comes under threat from foreign adversaries like China and Russia (pictured: GCHQ centre)

The director called out adversaries for misusing tools meant to bring society together to instead 'fuel division, exploit vulnerable people and peddle extreme views'.

The warning comes amid wider political tensions between powers in the West and East.

Most recently, Beijing's national security law imposed on Hong Kong has been a major source of contention, while concerns have been raised about Ukraine's border due to the recent Russian military build-up of forces there.

He added: 'The UK really is a global cyber power  a big animal in the digital world. But historic strength does not mean we can assume we will be in the future.

'New technology is enabling life online. Cyber security is an increasingly strategic issue that needs a whole nation approach. The rules are changing in ways not always controlled by Government.'

He added 'Without action, it is increasingly clear that the key technologies on which we will rely for our future prosperity and security won't be shaped and controlled by the West.

'We are now facing a moment of reckoning. In the natural world, during a period of rapid change, the only option is to adapt. And it's the same for us.'

Mr Fleming called for the development and protection of future technologies to be a priority for Britain, warning that the pandemic has 'enabled our adversaries' in new ways.

And we will have to work with 'like-minded nations' to find solutions to technological issues, the spy chief added.
Maybe the answer to vaccine resistance or apathy is for private businesses and  once childrens doses are approved  school districts to start requiring vaccinations for users. Schools already have vaccination requirements for incoming students. Just add COVID-19 to the list.

If bars, restaurants and clubs required it, I bet a lot of young adults would suddenly be way more motivated to get their shots. It wouldnt solve the issue of people who dont believe the science or who do believe the paranoid conspiracy theories, but it would definitely take care of a lot of people who otherwise might never get around to protecting themselves and their communities.

Jon Marchant, San Rafael

Not all police are bad

The Chronicle owes an apology for its editorial Chauvin is guilty  so is policing, (April, 21). Derek Chauvin violated a basic rule that has governed American law enforcement for more than 100 years: that once a suspect is in custody, an officer must protect that prisoner with his or her life.

Chauvin committed murder and richly deserves whatever punishment he receives. But The Chronicle, based on a handful of isolated incidents, argues that law enforcement officers are guilty of police violence. In The Chronicles fantasy world, many of the 1,000 annual fatal police shootings are murder or manslaughter.

These statements ignore the fact that American police make more than 10 million arrests a year  most with no use of force at all. The Chronicle even claims that officers cant be broadly trusted to enforce traffic laws without fear of violence or misconduct and that many police officers ... inflict unjust and unnecessary harm.

The Chronicle should apologize to the hundreds of thousands of men and women in American law enforcement, the vast majority of whom are honest and ethical public guardians who risk their lives every day to keep us all safe.

John Boessenecker, San Francisco

Commit to clean energy

This week, thousands of people across the state and nation took action for Earth Day. But while individual action is important, it isnt anywhere near enough to solve systemic problems problems like climate change.

We in California, and especially the Bay Area, know that better than anyone. Last year, California had the worst air quality in the world. My school, UC Berkeley, had to cancel classes multiple times due to preemptive power shut-offs in fear of fires.

We need to move to clean, renewable energy as quickly as possible. For that, individual action cant suffice. California must commit to 100% clean energy by 2030 in order to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change on our state. And Californians have the power to make it happen.

We must call on our representatives  local, state and federal  to act now and to make firm commitments to getting the state off of fossil fuels by 2030.

Emily Woods, Berkeley

Awkward story layout

Thats a nice bit of juxtaposition in the April 22 Chronicle. The article Marin County sets water restrictions is directly above an advertisement Discover the Tranquility of Having Your Own Spa at Home.

Was that intentional?

Jerry Azzaro, San Francisco

GOPs bill is unpatriotic

The article, GOP proposes harsher penalties for protesters (April 22), highlights yet another example of the GOP passing yet more punitive legislation targeting its perceived enemies.

It wouldnt surprise me if these so-called anti-riot laws, which have carve-outs to protect anyone who plows their vehicle into a crowd of protesters, might define the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building as patriots exercising their First and Second Amendment rights, rather than the violent right-wing pro-Trump mob that they were.

John Brooks, Fairfax
Madagascar said on Friday it would receive a first lot of Covid-19 vaccines soon to fight a second wave that has overwhelmed health facilities.

The Indian Ocean island nation is struggling with burgeoning infections with nearly 9,900 cases recorded over the past month, of which at least 194 have been fatal.

The country of around 27 million people has so far reported 34,775 coronavirus cases, including 588 deaths.

The resurgence prompted President Andry Rajoelina to abandon a hard-line stance on vaccines and agree to a rollout.

Health Minister Jean Louis Hanitrala Rakotovao on Friday said the first jabs would arrive "within 15 days".

Hanitrala did not specify the number of vaccines secured but said the supplies would be a combination of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson.

The first jabs will be administered to health and police workers, he added.

"We need to establish a new strategy and organisation to confront this invisible enemy," Rajoelina said in an address to the nation on Sunday.

Government officials have become less vocal about the alleged virtues of a herbal infusion touted by the president as a coronavirus "cure" -- although it is still administered in hospital and distributed freely across the island.

The state has also made other medications such as paracetamol readily available and free of charge.

Hotels and schools are meanwhile being converted into field hospitals to accomodate surplus patients.

Rajoelina has also vowed to provide more oxygen to health centres running out of supply.

Information about the pandemic is rigorously controlled by the government.

An interministerial decree adopted on Thursday has banned radios and television channels from airing programmes and conversations that could "disrupt public order and security".

Only health ministry staff and some media houses are allowed to film inside Covid-19 wards.

AFP cameras have been denied access out of "respect for patients' rights", while state television broadcasts daily interviews with hospital staff and patients praising the health ministry's response.

The authorities have announced that Antananarivo will be placed under complete lockdown every weekend starting this Saturday.

tm/ger/sch/ach
Burma ASEANs Exclusion of NUG in Summit Disappoints Myanmar

From left to right (upper) U Aung Myo Min, Daw May Sabe Phyu, Dr. Tin Maung Than (Below) Ko Tayzar San, U Than Soe Naing and U Ye Tun

ASEAN will hold a special summit on Myanmar on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia, seeking to resolve the deteriorating situation in the country less than three months after the Feb. 1 coup.

A call by the Myanmars parallel National Unity Government (NUG) to be invited to the summit has been ignored, while the junta leader plans to attend the high level discussion.

During the Southeast Asia Peoples Summit, which was held virtually on Thursday, Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, a former upper house lawmaker and now the minister of Women, Youths and Children Affairs of the NUG, called on the ASEAN members not to recognize the coup leaders but to hear the voices of Myanmars people.

She urged ASEAN members to work together in supporting and recognizing the NUG of Myanmar.

Myanmar observers have reiterated that call to ASEAN to listen to the people of Myanmar who are opposing the military dictatorship.



U Aung Myo Min, longtime human rights advocate and the director of Equality Myanmar

There is no doubt that the ASEAN will stick to their diplomatic approach to get on a path to negotiation. But what concerns us is that by citing ASEANs approach, other countries would think of delaying further actions.

Our people cannot wait for a long negotiation if ASEAN says they are working as per the suggestion of the international community including China, but they are taking time. If the ASEAN members are to mediate, they must meet Myanmars new government, the National Unity Government, and they should not meet the junta side alone.



Daw May Sabe Phyu, director of Gender Equality Network (GEN)

Knowing ASEANs history, we know that we cannot rely on ASEAN very much. However because we are neighbors and Myanmars current situation has become a regional issue, we are holding out hope that there will be some ASEAN leaders who will listen to the will of more than 50 million people in Myanmar. Now it is different from past experiences, of course. Also the ASEAN leaders have been saying they would respect the will of the Myanmar people. Therefore, we are watching.

However, ASEAN is neither showing support nor acknowledging the peoples government, NUG. But they invited the junta leader. We are disappointed.



Dr. Tin Maung Than, a veteran political analyst

I think ASEAN would take its stand based on the issues set by the UN Security Council. If possible, they may want to mediate, but for that, Myanmar (the junta) must accept. If not, they cannot do anything. What ASEAN can do is to engage constructively. But there is risk on that and there are boundaries too. There is risk because other ASEAN members are engaging with the alleged genocide criminals of Myanmar. ASEAN must look into the will and interests of people of Myanmar as urged by the UNSC on Feb. 4. The peoples will and interest are the opposite of the juntas plan, including holding elections with the possible marginalization of the National League for Democracy. If ASEAN neglects the peoples will, the ASEANs efforts would be just polishing the shoes of the alleged criminals of Myanmar [accused of] genocide and crimes against humanity.



Ko Tayzar San, a leading striker against the military regime

ASEAN needs to respect the will of Myanmar people and hear the voices of the 55 million population of Myanmar. We have our civilian government, NUG, and we support it as the NUG represents the people. Senior General Min Aung Hliang is a terrorist leader and a criminal. Therefore, if the ASEAN holds talks regarding Myanmar affairs, it should not leave out the NUG. We totally object to ASEANs decision not to invite the NUG. We, Myanmar people, respect the roles of the international community, including ASEAN and the United Nations. We understand our fight is within us, and we will continue our strikes and fight against the military coup and dictatorship. We also request the people in the ASEAN member countries to be in solidarity with the Myanmar people and to hear our voices.



U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst

ASEAN does not have enough power to solve the problem of Myanmar. But countries are pushing ASEAN. What can it do when the UN Security Council is unable to resolve Myanmars affairs? I dont think any significant decision will come out from the ASEAN summit (on April 24). Those decisions may be regarded as objecting to the coup or calling for the release of the detained leaders and bringing them to the negotiation table.

ASEAN invited the Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, but not the civilian National Unity Government. In other words, it means that the ASEAN accepts the juntas State Administrative Council but does not acknowledge the NUG. Thus the invitation is unfair.

Although I dont think ASEAN would be able to make any decision to resolve Myanmars problem, what they might do at the very least is call for an end to the increasing violence and killing of civilians by the junta. We have seen Malaysia and Indonesia being active and taking their stands. We are hesitant to be hopeful of a change in attitude within the bloc.



U Ye Tun, a political analyst, and former lower house lawmaker from Hsipaw

We, Myanmar people, could not expect much from tomorrows ASEAN summit, as the bloc can work only within its principles, including the non-interference policy, as stated in their charter. They would need consensus from all the member nations to even issue a statement. It is true for any bloc that is formed by different nations. They have their limitations. For their neighbor, Myanmar, they must think seriously should they push for sanctions or other actions [against the coup makers], as they have their own interests too.



You may also like these stories:

China Says ASEAN Summit Should Fend off External Interference in Myanmar

Myanmars National Unity Govt Asks Interpol to Arrest Coup Leader

Bangkok Ducks ASEANs Myanmar Challenge
Temple Israel invites the entire community to join the discussion and learn something new.

Two informal chats are scheduled for May. On Sunday, May 2 at 3 p.m., Rabbi Neely will talk about Jewish comedy. Grab a chair in the outside seating area of Zoes Kitchen at 150 S. SR 434 in Altamonte Springs, and get ready to laugh and learn.

On Sunday, May 23 at 3 p.m., the topic is oddball Jewish law, and the discussion will take place at the Roth Family JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave. in Maitland.

These casual chats are open to everyone with no registration required. For more information, call the Te...
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 17:28:31|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official on Friday called for the widespread promotion of publications about the Communist revolution.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended a reading event held in Beijing to mark the 26th World Book and Copyright Day.

Speaking highly of the value of revolutionary classics in the country, Huang particularly urged efforts to promote Party history-themed publications.

He also called for the promotion of more creative reading experiences to form a good reading environment in society, especially for teenagers. Enditem
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting on Friday with chief ministers of 10 states with the most number of COVID-19 cases.

The meeting via video conferencing comes amid a huge surge in coronavirus cases, which have now clocked a daily total of over 3 lakh in the country.

Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi are among those who attended the meeting.

Modi will hold a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conference amid concerns expressed by some states that their supply of the life-saving gas is running short with a number of hospitals sending out SOS.

Also read: India reports record spike of 3.32 lakh coronavirus cases, 2,263 deaths
RIVERTON  A woman accused of killing her husband with a knife in their Pavillion home on Christmas Eve has asked to have her confession removed from trial evidence.

Through her attorney, Bennilee Strock argued Tuesday that she had asked for a lawyer prior to her confession but didnt get one.

According to arguments made during a Tuesday suppression hearing in Fremont County District Court, the following discussion occurred between Strock and Fremont County Sheriffs Office detective Anthony Armstrong after the latter allowed her to review her Miranda rights at the Riverton-based Sh...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state's powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.

FILE - In this July 12, 2019, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom talks with reporters at his office in Sacramento, Calif. On Friday, April 23, 2021, Gov. Newsom announced he would halt all new fracking permits in the state by January 2024. He also ordered state regulators to plan for halting all oil extraction in the state by 2045. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state's powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.

Newsom's order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production.

California needs to move beyond oil," Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would create a healthier future for our children.

California was once one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centred in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles. But by 2020, the states oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985.

Now, one of the state's top exports is electric cars. The state has ordered automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans and, last year, Newsom ordered state regulators to ban the sale of all new gas-powered cars by 2035.

Still, California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with an industry that directly employs about 152,000 people and is responsible for $152.3 billion in economic output, according to a 2019 study commissioned by the Western States Petroleum Association. Friday, WSPA President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd vowed to fight this harmful and unlawful mandate.

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2015, file photo, protesters prepare to take down a makeshift oil derrick that was set up in front of the California State Office Building to protest fracking in San Francisco. On Friday, April 23, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would halt all new fracking permits in the state by January 2024. He also ordered state regulators to plan for halting all oil extraction in the state by 2045. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Banning nearly 20% of the energy production in our state will only hurt workers, families and communities in California and turns our energy independence over to foreign suppliers, she said.

Eliminating California's oil and gas industry won't be easy. The state has more than 60,000 active oil wells, and industry executives and their allies have lots of influence at the state capitol. But in the first quarter of 2021, permits for all types of oil drilling in California plunged 90%, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance, an environmental advocacy group.

The transformation is already happening in front of our eyes, said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Newsom's order directs the California Air Resources Board to figure out how the state can end oil production in a very rigorous, open, transparent, analytical process. The board could decide to do it before 2045, but not after.

When you look at the science, we cant be extracting oil after 2045, he said. Thats the only way we are going to achieve our carbon goals is by significantly reducing and ending extraction of oil.

Fracking  short for hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil and gas embedded in rock deep underground  accounts for a small portion of the states oil and gas production each year. But environmental advocates have long sought its banishment because of its harmful effects on the environment and public health.

Last year, Newsom said he did not have the authority to ban fracking on his own and asked the Legislature to do it instead. Two state senators, both Democrats, tried to do it. But last week their bill died in the Legislature because not enough lawmakers supported it.

Now, Newsom says he can do it himself, but it's unclear what changed his mind. California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said Friday that Newsom believes the best way to ban fracking is to change the law. But, when it became clear that wouldn't happen, Crowfoot said Newsom directed us through our regulatory authorities to protect the environment and public safety to end the practice of fracking.

Newsom did temporarily halt new fracking permits in 2019 after he discovered a sharp increase in new permits since he took office, which also prompted him to fire the state's top oil and gas regulator. That ban lifted in April 2020 after a team of independent scientists reviewed the state's permitting process.

Since taking office, the Newsom administration has issued 291 fracking permits, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance. Still, some environmental groups were hoping Newsom would act faster.

It's historic and globally significant that Gov. Newsom has committed California to phase out fossil fuel production and ban fracking, but we don't have time for studies and delays, said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. Every fracking and drilling permit issued does more damage to our health and climate.

The Newsom administration said the state's rule-making process, while lengthy, is needed to make sure any new rule survives a lawsuit.

We want this prohibition to be durable, Crowfoot said.

The California League of Conservation voters praised Newsom, saying the announcement is the consistent leadership our state needs if we stand a chance of preventing major climate catastrophe.

But some in Newsom's own party were critical, including state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from the Central Valley, who said the fracking ban would lead to higher energy prices that would in turn increase food prices.

The governor's actions could not come at a worse time for the Central Valley, which is already reeling from a drought that  together with this decision  may cause a national food crisis, she said.
The coronavirus vaccine produced by the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company is now called Vaxzevria, the Swedish medicine agency Lakemedelsverket announced based on data from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The vaccine itself remains unchanged, but the Swedish agency considers the new name important, as it is accompanied by other things, such as new labelling and packaging.

The name change to Vaxzevria was approved by the EMA on 25 March, following an application from the company.

The vaccine produced by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company has been the topic of discussion several times since it received the green light from the EMA in late January.

Right after its approval, various countries in Europe  including Belgium  decided to not use it for the elderly, while waiting for more data.

Later, in early March, several European countries temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine because of some cases of blood clots and low platelet counts.

On 18 March, the EMA reconfirmed that the vaccine was safe and effective, and that the benefits outweigh the possible risks, but is still investigating the matter.

Additionally, the company has also been the subject of discussion as it repeatedly reduced its promised deliveries to the EU, resulting in escalating tensions between the EU and the UK.

Sources: The Brussels Times
On Wednesday, team Maanaadu paid a tribute to the late veteran comedy actor Vivek by planting tree saplings. Besides his excellence in cinema, Vivek had also spread awareness on preserving nature and his dream is to plant one billion trees.

But before accomplishing his mission, the veteran comedian passed away. Now, many actors and social workers are taking up this mission.

Silambarasan TR, Venkat Prabhu, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Karunakaran, the film's producer Suresh Kamatchi, and Stunt Silva were present during the event.

The makers of Maanaadu are busy with the final schedule of the film in Chennai. Directed by Venkat Prabhu, SJ Suryah plays the baddie in the film.

Yuvan Shankar Raja is composing the music for the film and Richard M Nathan cranks the camera.

Text & Images: MOVIEBUZZ
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Starting in late May, Humble Bundle plans to test a new store page that will do away with its signature sliders. Since selling its first charity bundle back in 2010, the company has allowed customers to decide how much of what they pay for a collection of games, software or books is split between itself, publishers and charities. It's a system that has historically allowed you to donate everything you pay for a bundle toward a good cause.

Humble Bundle

In a blog post spotted by Kotaku, the company now says it plans to replace that system with a new one where you'll have two options. After deciding on how much you want to spend on a bundle, you can choose to donate either five or 15 percent of your purchase to charity. Either way, most of your money will go to publishers, and the company is capping your charitable contribution to 15 percent. It suggests the change will help unify bundles with its other product offerings where sliders aren't a feature. In turn, that will allow it "to continue to create and expand bundles that power incredible causes around the world." We've reached out to Humble Bundle for additional information and comment, and we'll update this story when we hear back from the company.

5% is not charity. It's tax deduction.  nagi (@nagi603) April 23, 2021

As you might imagine, the change isn't going over well with the company's customers, with many accusing Humble Bundle of turning into yet another storefront service. To make matters worse, when the company first started testing the change last month, it didn't share what it was doing with the community. "We apologize for that and appreciate everyone who wrote in to ask us about it," it said. "The lesson for us was that we should have been more proactive in communicating the test.
Amid all the sadness of the last fortnight after the death of Prince Philip comes a ray of sunshine.

A simple picture of a three-year-old boy with a cheeky grin balancing on his bike and heading for his first day at nursery school. A joyous photo taken by his mum.

Had he not been Prince Louis, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and fifth in line to the throne, the boy with his smart shorts and backpack could have been any child snapped by a proud parent.

As always with the occasional pictures we see of Kate and William's children it was fun and uplifting.

Kate has managed with ease to protect her children from the media spotlight, allowing them as much as possible a normal life, while at the same time honouring an unwritten contract with the public to offer us a welcome glimpse into their lives.

A simple picture of a three-year-old boy with a cheeky grin balancing on his bike and heading for his first day at nursery school. A joyous photo taken by his mum

Oh, what her sister-in-law could learn from her! From the very outset, it appeared that Meghan chose to keep Archie from us.

There was no traditional photocall of mum and baby after the birth  although Meghan later said that was because she was not asked to stage one. When we were introduced to Archie a few days later, we didn't get a proper look at his face. The impression conveyed in comparison to Kate the sharer was Meghan the shielder.

Of course, Harry and Meghan want to guard their family's privacy. One of the main reasons the Sussexes went to Los Angeles was to escape unwanted intrusion from the media.

Oh, what her sister-in-law could learn from her! From the very outset, it appeared that Meghan chose to keep Archie from us

Kate has managed with ease to protect her children from the media spotlight, allowing them as much as possible a normal life, while at the same time honouring an unwritten contract with the public to offer us a welcome glimpse into their lives

Yet the irony is they have suffered more from the paparazzi over there than would ever have happened had they stayed in the shadow of Windsor Castle at Frogmore Cottage.

Only this week, a paparazzi shot of a heavily pregnant and masked Meghan, casually dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt as she carried Archie, appeared on an American website.

Early last year, Meghan was snapped holding Archie in a park by paparazzi. Before long the couple were filing a lawsuit over invasion of privacy.

In comparison to their life in Britain, the U.S. is paparazzi Wild West.

No doubt the first pictures of the proud parents and their new daughter will be released in due course in America, carefully choreographed and taken by one of Meghan's photographers in arty black and white.

Perhaps Oprah Winfrey will be there at the birth!

But give me one of Kate's home-snapped pictures of her children any time.

As the sun shines and we staycationers head for the coastal resorts, news comes that a 17ft great white shark is heading for British shores. Crikey, just when you thought post-lockdown it was safe to go back in the water . . .

Greta's talking Ikea meatballs

As world leaders met to declare their carbon emission targets, up popped Greta Thunberg at a U.S. Congressional Committee no less.

'How long do you honestly believe people in power like you can get away with it?' she fumed. 'Young people today will decide how you are remembered, so my advice to you is to choose wisely.'

Frankly, I'd rather take lectures on such matters from the experts, not a self-appointed Joan of Arc teenager sitting in her parents' kitchen.

It is funny that, despite ordering us all to eat less meat to save the world, Greta defends the inalienable right of her native Swedes to consume vast quantities of Ikea meatballs.

Kate is our top of the crops

Millions of us Line Of Duty fans wait with bated breath for tomorrow's episode to find out if our heroine DI Kate Fleming dies in a shootout with bent copper Ryan Pilkington after being set up by her corrupt boss.

My guess is Kate can't die, but will be left in a coma so the baddies are free to wreak havoc . . . until she recovers.

Millions of us Line Of Duty fans wait with bated breath for tomorrow's episode to find out if our heroine DI Kate Fleming (pictured) dies in a shootout with bent copper Ryan Pilkington after being set up by her corrupt boss

Who knows? But, Mother of God, she has to live  or the thousands of women who flocked to salons when they re-opened to get Kate's signature cropped hairstyle will all be feeling a bit silly.

In a new mini-series about Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn, co-producer Faye Ward explains why the brilliant black actress Jodie Turner-Smith was cast in the lead role because her heritage 'accentuates her position as an outsider'.

But I thought the point of colour-blind casting, as perfectly executed in Bridgerton, is that we don't notice an actor's colour, just their character and ability.

I've long admired Trevor Phillips, a brave man who has spent years fighting injustice, especially on issues of race. Yet in private he and his family had been fighting a 22-year battle against his daughter Sushila's anorexia.

She died this week aged 36. With the number of girls admitted to hospital with eating disorders doubling during lockdown, surely it is time to treat them with the urgency they, and Sushila, deserve.

Give men a break

If Promising Young Woman wins an Oscar tomorrow it will be a complete travesty.

Carey Mulligan plays an unhinged woman hell-bent on entrapping evil men in revenge for her friend's rape and death.

It's Fatal Attraction meets Psycho.

Surely our understanding of the sexes has progressed from the naive 1970s feminist mantra that all men are rapists and all women victims.

They are not and we are not. Time to move on, ladies, and give some credit to men who, in my not inconsiderable experience, are mostly good guys.

Why are we not surprised that David Cameron bombarded the Bank of England and the Treasury to drum up business for the collapsed company Greensill.

At least we now know the answer to the oft-asked question: 'What did Dave do in his 25,000 state-of-the-art shepherd's hut after he left office?' Just cross his own palm with silver!

++Westminster wars++

With hindsight, perhaps it was unwise of Downing Street 'sources' to finger the PM's former adviser Dominic Cummings as the man behind a series of damaging leaked text messages.

Rule No 1 in politics? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. For while Dom denies he is the source, there's no end to the material on Boris he may have stashed away for a rainy day.

Odd that the PM did not take advice to change the number on the personal mobile he'd had for the decade that covers his times as London Mayor and PM  years in which he had affairs with both Jennifer Arcuri and his now fiancee Carrie Symonds, while still married to Marina.

Maybe he was worried that his paramours would no longer be able to engage in late-night sexy texting. If so, he'll be having sleepless nights hoping those messages don't leak.

It's basic, Sharon

Not long ago, Sharon Stone lamented being stereotyped as a sex object after her 'flashing scene' in Basic Instinct, suggesting it led to her being denied serious acting roles.

Now 63, she poses for Elle magazine on a stool with legs akimbo, a sliver of undies preserving her modesty, and still gorgeous.

Not long ago, Sharon Stone (pictured) lamented being stereotyped as a sex object after her 'flashing scene' in Basic Instinct, suggesting it led to her being denied serious acting roles

Now 63, she poses for Elle magazine on a stool with legs akimbo, a sliver of undies preserving her modesty, and still gorgeous

While she believes her career was sabotaged, actresses of a certain age such as Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton and our very own Helen Mirren and Julie Walters thrived.

Just shows you should keep your knickers on!

This week the busy Archbishop of Canterbury announced that a 'Racial Justice Sunday' will be added to the Christian calendar, that he was behind the footy fans fighting the European Super League and that he believes politicians need our compassion.

Surely the Most Rev Justin Welby  who has admitted he was wrong to close our church doors during Covid  should now devote his inexhaustible energy to demanding that the Government ditch the inhumane limit of 30 mourners at funerals.
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Three of the students kidnapped on Tuesday night at Greenfield University in Kaduna State have been found dead, an official has said.

The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, made the disclosure in a statement on Friday.

In an act of mindless evil and sheer wickedness, the armed bandits who kidnapped students of Greenfield University, have shot dead three of the abducted students, Mr Aruwan said.

The remains of three students were found today (Friday), in Kwanan Bature village, a location close to the university and have been evacuated to a mortuary by the Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, and Force Commander, Operation Thunder Strike, Lt.Col. MH Abdullahi.

Kaduna State has a policy of not paying ransom to kidnappers as the governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says it encourages more kidnappings.

Kaduna is one of the states in Nigeria most affected by rampant kidnappings by bandits.

Read the full statement by Mr Aruwan below.

KDSG Security Update: Friday 23rd April 2021

Armed bandits shoot three abducted university students dead

In an act of mindless evil and sheer wickedness, the armed bandits who kidnapped students of Greenfield University, have shot dead three of the abducted students.

The armed bandits on Tuesday night kidnapped an unspecified number of students at the institution located at Kasarami village off Kaduna-Abuja Road in Chikun LGA.

The remains of three students were found today (Friday), in Kwanan Bature village, a location close to the university and have been evacuated to a mortuary by the Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, and Force Commander, Operation Thunder Strike, Lt.Col. MH Abdullahi.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai has condemned the killing of three students as sheer wickedness, inhumanity and an outright desecration of human lives by vile entities. He went on to say that the armed bandits represent the worst of humankind and must be fought at all cost for the violent wickedness they represent.

Evil, the Governor further said, would not triumph over God-given humanity. He appealed to citizens to come together against the forces of darkness challenging national security and the very existence of the Nigerian State.

The Governor, on behalf of the Government and people of Kaduna State sent deep condolences and empathy to the students families and the university community, as he prayed for the repose of their souls.

The Government will keep citizens informed of further developments.

Samuel Aruwan

Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, can discuss bilateral relations but certainly not Crimea, as there is just nothing to talk about, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy invited the Russian leader to hold a meeting in Donbas.

Putin expressed the belief that the Ukrainian government should prioritize talks with the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and said he was ready to receive Zelenskyy in Moscow to discuss bilateral relations.

"The president said himself that it is possible to discuss bilateral relations, there is no such topic as Crimea, there is nothing to discuss," Peskov told reporters, when asked whether Putin is ready to discuss Crimea with the Ukrainian president.
Having married at 17, Luong Thi Dans (33) life has been revolving around her two children and the kitchen for the past 15 years. As a woman from the Xa Pho ethnic group in Dong Ve village of Lao Cai province, she had never set foot outside Van Ban district.

However, her life turned around for the better three years ago when she joined a ramie group  an economic development project launched by the district Womens Union with help from the Australian governments Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT) project to raise up women through financial independence and addressing the backward stereotypes still abundant in rural and remote areas.

The ramie planting project supports local women with training on plantation and organisation to grow ramie, a plant commonly used as textile material that generates many times the economic value of food crops, as well as gender equality.

Since 2019, Dan has participated in many training courses to learn about new economic models, gender issues, and cooperating with other women in the village. The lessons payed out not in her newfound financial independence, but also endowed her with a sense of being stronger and more valuable. She can now cover her childrens tuition fees from her own earnings, take care of her family, and even plan for things she never dared to dream about before  like rewarding herself with her first-ever trip.

Dans story is just one of the threads showing subtle changes in the social weave of ethnic minority communities in Vietnam. More and more women are now taking the initiative to grow from shy and marginalised bystanders into a person of their own. Backward stereotypes that have been holding back not only women but entire communities like the complete financial dependence on the husband or women being inferior are being addressed and rolled back on a growing scale  by women who dare to take the first step.

Proving that poverty needs not be a threat looming over their heads every day and that it can be replaced with the optimism of learning, growing, and changing, pioneer ethnic minority women like Dan are becoming role models for their entire communities.

The right to make decisions

As one of the first six households in Dong Ve village to participate in the ramie planting project, Luong Thi Dien (58) said at first she was very worried about the true efficiency of this cultivar. However, in the past three years, the ramie crop has earned her family thousands of dollars each year  and transformed her from a shy woman who did not dare to speak to crowds into the leader of the ramie group in Dong Ve village, now counting 30 households.

In the first year, we earned VND120-160 million ($5,200-6,700) per hectare from the ramie crop. After expenses, we made a profit of VND40-60 million ($1,700-2,600) per hectare, five times as much as from maize and cassava, said Dien.

Her greatest delight was not the money, but her newfound connection to the women and the narrowing gap between men and women in Dong Ve village  not only from the enjoyment of the fruits together, but from the higher regard earned from men by the womens work and learning.

While the ramie plantation project primarily targets womens economic development, allowing them to be the main participants in planting and taking care of the crop. However, men are nowhere near barred  and males from all 30 households participate in production now, assuming a supporting role.

Under the project, women can join training courses, learn about selling, marketing, and are invited to speak more, shared Dien.

As for Hoang Thi Hue, a Tay woman living in Ma village, Khanh Yen town, wrapping banh chung (traditional sticky rice cakes) has gone from a part-time job into a full-time profession with support and sponsorship from GREAT and her households main source of income, helping them escape poverty and even generate wealth for the larger community.

Hue said that in the past, she prepared a few dozen banh chung each morning to sell to local shops, earning around VND2-3 million ($85-130) per month. In 2018, seeing the increasing popularity of her products, Hue has decided to expand her little side business  and now sells 300-400 cakes a day. Some of her cakes have even appeared on the shelves of minimarts in Hanoi and neighbouring provinces.

With her successful business, Hue can now afford a TV, refrigerators, and a washing machine, and visit the places she had always wanted to see, and could even remodel her home. She could even employ 10 other local workers, paying them VND3-6 million ($130-260) a month. Her banh chung business has gradually made her the breadwinner of the family and her opinions are also heard and respected more than before. Under her persuasion, her husband also gradually gave up farm work to spend more time helping her business.

Women are taking their fates into their own hands

Let go of invisible pressure

As household finances improve through the labours of female members, ethnic minority men and women are slowly but surely sloughing off backward stereotypes and traditions like child marriage, the pressure for women to have many children at a young age, or for them to submit to men.

Growing up in a Dao family with three sisters and a younger brother, Dang Thi Dien, currently living in Phuong Cong village, understands the struggles of a large family and children. Her father died early, so from the age of 12-13, she had to follow her mother to work as a labourer. At 15, she had to drop out of school due to her familys financial difficulties. She got married at the age of 17 and now has two daughters, an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old. She got married early because she thought that there would be more people to share the housework, but if she could choose again, she would rather go to school.

I dont want to walk the same path as my parents. I dont want my children to have a childhood like mine. Although many people are urging us to try for a son, we have agreed with my husband that are our two daughters are enough. We will not keep trying. Instead, we will make make sure our girls have all the conditions to be fully educated, Dien said.

Many ethnic minority women in Van Ban and across Vietnam are gradually seeing positive changes in their power. Instead of looking for approval from their husband, family, or the community first, they now actively negotiate and share their opinions, especially in matters of finance and children.

According to Vi Thi Loan, vice chairman of the Womens Union of Van Ban district, the notions of women being inferior to men or the absolute need to have a son still exist, especially among upland ethnic minority communities. However, through gender equality campaigns and regular activities at womens clubs, these prejudices are slowly being eliminated.

By taking part in training courses sponsored by GREAT, the young Tay, Dao, and Xa Pho women in Van Ban have been receiving new notions that break with tradition. Now they see equality as not simply a 50-50 division of the work and responsibilities with the husband  it is more about empowering everyone to do what they love and are best at.
Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo both will return to the Boston Red Sox lineup on Friday against the Mariners at Fenway Park. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.

Arroyo hasnt started the past two days. Dalbec had Thursday off.

Dalbec has hit well his past nine games, going 11-for-28 (.393) with a .433 on-base percentage, .607 slugging percentage, four doubles, one triple, one run and three RBIs.

Arroyo is 16-for-44 (.364) with a .404 on-base percentage, .523 slugging percentage, .927 OPS, seven doubles, three RBIs and six runs in 14 games.

Martin Perez will start for the Red Sox.

The Mariners have struggled against lefties this season, slashing .183/.291/.331/.622 in 175 at-bats. But Seattles Kyle Seager is 18-for-55 (.327) with four homers and one double against Perez in his career while Mitch Haniger has gone 7-for-21 (.333) with two doubles against him. Perez needs a good start. He has allowed nine earned runs, 16 hits and five walks in 13  innings.

The Mariners beat Boston in the series opener Thursday, scoring seven runs despite just three hits. Seven walks hurt Red Sox pitchers. Bostons bullpen allowed four earned runs in 4 innings Thursday but still ranks fourth in the AL and fifth in the majors in reliever ERA (3.18).

Red Sox lineup:

1. Kike Hernandez

2. Alex Verdugo LF

3. J.D. Martinez DH

4. Xander Bogaerts SS

5. Rafael Devers 3B

6. Christian Vazquez C

7. Christian Arroyo 2B

8. Hunter Renfroe RF

9. Bobby Dalbec 1B

Pitching matchup: LHP Martin Perez (0-1, 5.93) vs. LHP Yusei Kikuchi (0-0, 4.74)

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - UGE International Ltd. (TSXV: UGE) (OTCQB: UGEIF) (the "Company" or "UGE"), a leader in the commercial and community solar sector, announces that its common shares (including those traded on the OTCQB) are now eligible for electronic clearing and settlement through the Depository Trust Company ("DTC") in the United States.

DTC is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, a U.S. company that manages the electronic clearing and settlement of publicly traded companies. Securities that are eligible to be electronically cleared and settled through DTC are considered to be "DTC eligible". DTC eligibility is expected to simplify the process of trading and enhance liquidity of the Company's common shares in the United States.

"By becoming DTC Eligible, UGE International's common shares can be transferred electronically between U.S. brokerage firms," said UGE CEO Nick Blitterswyk. "This is important for American investors, since the DTC system allows participating brokerage firms to electronically settle trades with other member firms. This translates into ease of trading our Company's shares, lower trading costs, and the potential for increased liquidity."

About UGE

UGE develops, owns, and operates commercial and community solar projects in the US and strategic markets abroad. Our distributed energy solutions deliver cheaper, cleaner energy to businesses and consumers with no upfront cost. With over 400MW of global experience, we work daily to power a more sustainable world. Visit us at www.ugei.com.

For more information, contact UGE at:

+1 917 720 5685

investors@ugei.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Market Regulator (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/81549
Media trust is at an all-time low, a majority of Americans believing that, Most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public. An Axios commissioned survey found that only 46 percent of Americans trusted traditional media, the lowest number ever recorded in the 20 years of this survey.

Gallup found similar distrust of the media, with only 40 percent of Americans having a great deal or even a fair amount of confidence that the media reports the news fully accurately, and fairly. The low point was a 32 percent level of trust in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected president and he correctly labeled the media as fake news. 20 years ago, media trust was much higher, in the mid 50 percent range, despite Dan Rather at that time, a major network news anchor, lying about George W Bushs National Guard service.

In other words, the media is lying to us and we are catching on to the lies.

YouTube screen grab

Watch any cable news show or read any of Americas prominent newspapers of record today and see that they are peddling fiction, stories based on anonymous phantom sources or else totally fabricated, designed to influence elections and public policy in a manner that Joseph Goebbels would envy. Lets look at a recent example.

U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died in early January after the Washington, D.C. Capitol rally. Despite not knowing anything, the media was quite certain as to the cause of death.

On Jan. 9, the forensic pathology experts in the New York Times newsroom assured readers that: He dreamed of being a police officer, then was killed by a pro-Trump mob.

The normally sensible New York Post was certain in their headline: Video shows Capitol rioter hit officer with fire extinguisher. The video showed some police officer, identity unknown, being hit in the head, but the Post was quite sure the officer was Sicknick, as they reported, Who died at a hospital Thursday after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher during the melee.

CNN, also now experts in forensic pathology, told their audience: Brian Sicknick died after he was injured while physically engaging with pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol. If CNN reported it, then it must be true. After all, they are the self-proclaimed Most trusted name in news. Thats a whopper on par with President Obamas claims, If you like your insurance/doctor, you can keep them.

This reporting served as a basis for Trumps impeachment, accusing the president of incitement of insurrection. In a pre-trial memo, Democrats claimed: The insurrectionists killed a Capitol Police officer by striking him in the head with a fire extinguisher.

The lies worked. Trump was impeached again with the reliable assistance of a few linguini-spined Trump-hating so-called Republicans, and the accusations sent the rest of the GOP hiding under their beds rather than supporting Trump in his electoral fraud claims and standing up to fake news. They might have well just said Trump himself whacked Sicknick with the fire extinguisher.

It turns out, now revealed when it makes no difference, that Officer Sicknick died of natural causes, specifically a series of strokes the day after the attack, with zero evidence of him being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher. But the damage was done, and the media is now happily driving by to the next story, having accomplished their mission of tarnishing their political nemesis, Donald Trump.

Anyone who challenged that narrative was labeled a heretic and banned from social media and polite society. Questioning the media lies was considered a truther movement on the right. Any mea culpa now from the media? Was anyone fired or ostracized for getting the story so wrong? Was it media incompetence or deliberate? Or did they just want the story to be true, and that was enough for the fact checkers to sign off that it was verified news?

This is only the most recent example. One can harken back to years of breathless reporting from cranks sitting at CNN and MSNBC anchor desks on Trump-Russia collusion, how the walls are closing in, only to have that blow up like an exploding cigar when even Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his merry band of partisans, with two years and an unlimited budget, couldnt find any evidence of said collusion.

And let's not forget another recent whopper from multiple press outlets, the non-stop reportage claiming that Russians had placed bounties on the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan as President Trump stood by indifferently, which was a last-ditch campaign-linked effort to persuade voters to turn agains President Trump. About a week ago, the Biden administration admitted that its intelligence community found that claim faulty.

It has been going on for decades: NBC deliberately edited the George Zimmerman 911 call during the Trayvon Martin shooting to portray Zimmerman as racist. This false reporting birthed the BLM movement and served to escalate racial tensions in America that continue to this day.

CBS did the same last week, deceptively editing the recent shooting of Adam Toledo, cropping out images of him holding a gun, instead jumping to his hands up dont shoot stance as the bullet was already heading in his direction, to further their preferred narrative that police are target shooting young unarmed and innocent black kids.

The Washington Post falsely reported on a post-election phone call between President Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State. This reporting also served as a basis for the second Trump impeachment, yet the Washington Post waited several months before issuing a massive correction, Admitting it wrongly attributed multiple quotes to Trump based on an anonymous source.

Hands up, dont shoot, claimed about the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO, also never happened according to an Obama Department of Justice investigation. Nevertheless, this narrative was repeated by most Democrat politicians, media, sports, and Hollywood, despite it being a lie. This falsehood was the basis of subsequent BLM protests, including the riots and destruction in many American cities last summer.

Just before the Derek Chauvin verdict, another shooting occurred in Ohio. Rather than waiting and reporting the facts, the liars of record blurted out incendiary headlines.

The New York Times, 16-year-old girl fatally shot by police. The Washington Post, Ohio police fatally shoot black teenage girl just before Chauvin verdict.

A few hours later they were forced to walk back their headlines as body camera video showed the black teenager had a knife and was attempting to stab two other black teenagers. That sure changes the story.

An alternative headline could read, Brave police officer stops stabbing of two black teenagers. But rest assured, the media will drive by to the next big lie.

NBC News has already begun that, deceptively edited a video of a 911 call from a woman claiming that "grown girls" were "trying to stab us" in the recent police incident in Columbus, Ohio, attempting to make the perpetrator of the attempted stabbing into a martyr.

The media doesnt care about Brian Sicknick or George Floyd. Or Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown. They are simply props, collateral damage in the resistance, the media pushing a political narrative, defining truth as something that helps advance their agenda.

Journalistic principles be damned, as long as their preferred political agenda and their Democrat party is perpetually cast in a favorable light, facts to the contrary smothered and buried, and all opposition shamed, silenced, and banned from public discourse. This is the tyranny falsely predicted under a Trump presidency but instead is the new normal with Democrats running the country.

As Friedrich Nietzsche said, Im not upset that you lied to me, Im upset that from now on I cant believe you. This is the message to the media and their allies in Hollywood, sports, academia, and corporate America. We dont believe you. Their lying pants are on fire and the flames will spread, burning down the entire country.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. He is on sabbatical from social media.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Malawis Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has approached the countrys operators to address consumer complaints over high data prices.

In August 2020, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology pressured the countrys operators  including Airtel Malawi and Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM)  to reduce their prepaid or unbundled data rates by a factor of four, cutting them from MWK20 (USD0.02) to MWK5 per MB.

TeleGeography reports that since this intervention, MACRA has opened dialogue with operators in a bid to bring the pricing of mobile services in line with the cost of delivering them, with the regulator stating that it is committed to ensuring that services delivered are affordable and of good quality.

Standard bundles are the key target for MACRA, with operators agreeing to cut tariffs for 1GB data bundles by 30%. Larger data allowances will also see reductions but by varying degrees. The changes will be enforced from 22nd April.
Gov. Kay Ivey said today she is working with legislators on how to fund new prisons after two of the banks involved in financing her longstanding plan backed out this week.

Were going to continue to move forward and work with the Legislature to find a way to make this happen, Ivey told reporters after speaking at the opening of a west Montgomery community center. Weve got to have improved prisons, weve got to have new prisons and weve got to have criminal justice reform.

For more than two years, the Ivey administration has pursued a plan for private developers to finance and build three large mens prisons that the state would lease, staff, and operate. The three prisons would hold a total of about 10,000 inmates and replace as many as 11 of the states 13 mens prisons.

But the plan took a setback when Barclays and KeyBanc Capital Markets withdrew from financing two of the prisons, which are planned for Elmore and Escambia counties. Another investment firm, Stifel, declined to say whether it would stay involved.

A developer team led by the national prison firm CoreCivic would build and own the prisons. Ivey signed 30-year leases in February but said the financial terms would not be final until CoreCivic obtained financing, which was expected to happen by June 1.

The governors plan includes a third prison in Bibb County. Ivey said in February negotiations were not finished for the lease on that prison, which would be built by a developer team called Alabama Prison Transformation Partners.

Investments in private prisons have drawn fire from some business groups and activists, partly because of opposition to mass incarceration. The American Sustainable Business Council ended Barclays membership in the organization because of its involvement in the Alabama plan and urged investors not to buy the bonds.

The Ivey administration has distinguished its plan from private prisons because the state would staff and operate the facilities.

Today, Ivey was asked if there would be a different approach, such as asking the Legislature to pass a bond issue. She did not say specifically.

Were going to move forward to solve the prison funding problem whatever method that needs to be, but were still working hard on that so stay tuned, Ivey said.

Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said the Legislature has a bond issue proposal ready as a backup plan to Iveys. The state would own the prisons. No bill has been introduced.

McCutcheon said Thursday the Legislature is still waiting to see what happens with Iveys plan.

Out of respect for the governor and the work thats been done up to this point, were just going to wait and see what shes able to accomplish on that, McCutcheon said.

McCutcheon said the state needs new prisons. The Department of Justice sued Alabama in December, alleging that conditions in mens prisons violate the Constitution because of the levels of violence, sexual abuse, excessive use of force by staff, and failure to provide safe and sanitary conditions. The state disputes the claims.

Theres no doubt about the fact that new prisons are very important to us, especially with the DOJ suit that weve go to contend with, McCutcheon said. So, because of that were going to be supportive to get some new facilities built. And the governor has a plan. And right now were going to wait and see what happens with her plan before we move forward with another plan.

The Ivey administration has maintained that new prisons are the cornerstone of a safer system that would accommodate the education and rehabilitation programs needed to reduce recidivism.

Iveys plan, which would cost more than $3 billion over the life of the 30-year leases, has drawn opposition from some organizations, who say new prisons wont solve the problems of violence and mismanagement cited by the DOJ.

The budget chairmen of the General Fund committees in the House and Senate said this week Ivey needs to stop the lease plan and ask the Legislature to pass a bond issue.

Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, the House budget chairman, said a bond issue approved by legislators would cost taxpayers less than the lease option. The state could build the new prisons on property it already owns, he said. Plus, the state would own the prisons, unlike with the lease plan.

Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, chair of the Senate General Fund committee, said today the Ivey administration has not reached out to him about an alternative to the lease plan.

I hope she is reaching out to some other legislators about finding a path and hopefully a different path, Albritton said.
KINGSTON, New Hampshire  An explosion set off by a family during a gender-reveal event shook homes and was felt in several towns in New Hampshire and Connecticut, according to reports.

Kingston police tell NBC Boston that the family set off the explosives Tuesday night at a quarry in Kingston. A resident in the town tells the news station that the blast was earth-shaking.

We heard this god-awful blast, said Sara Taglieri, who lives in a home that abuts the quarry. It knocked pictures off our walls ... Im all up for silliness and what not, but that was extreme. Taglieris husband, Matt, said the blast cracked the foundations of nearby homes.

The Boston Globe reports the family used 80 pounds of Tannerite in the blast. Tannerite is an explosive target used in firearms practice, according to the Globe, and is available for purchase over-the-counter.

The family holding the gender reveal told police they believed the quarry was the safest place to set off the blast. Police are continuing to investigate and said charges are possible because of reported property damage.
Ava Girard in "Tribute to the Act of Living" opening number for the Olga Dunn Dance Company's one-woman show, which will be held May 15.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Graphical abstract. Credit: Calculation of absolute molecular entropies and heat capacities made simple, Chemical Science (2021). DOI: 10.1039/D1SC00621E

Chemists of the University of Bonn developed a computational tool for the analysis of conformational entropies of flexible molecules. Their method enables the thermodynamic investigation of complicated chemical systems by combination of modern quantum chemical and classical models. In a successful attempt of simplifications, important contributions to the entropy can be calculated with minimal user intervention, even on standard desktop computers. The results are published in the journal Chemical Science and were highlighted as the "Pick of the Week" article.

The term "entropy" was introduced in 1865 by German physicist Rudolf Clausius, who later worked and was rector at the University of Bonn. 2022 will be the 200th anniversary of his birthday and scientific events and celebrations are planned at the University Bonn. Entropy is one of the most fundamental thermodynamic properties of matter and is commonly associated with a state of disorder or uncertainty. Over time the concept has taken hold also in statistical mechanics, as pioneered by famous physicists Josiah Gibbs and Ludwig Boltzmann, and in information theory. Today, entropy is an active area of research across many scientific fields, including computational chemistry.

For molecules the entropy becomes important as part of the temperature dependent description of the internal, so-called free energy, from which many properties such as chemical equilibria or reaction rates are derived. In modern computational chemistry, the entropy of a molecule is obtained from energy levels of atomic vibrations within a molecular structure. Here, due to high computational costs at the quantum chemical level several theoretical simplifications, such as the so-called rigid-rotor harmonic-oscillator approximation, have to be introduced and calculations are mostly conducted only for a single structure. For flexible molecules this leads to the neglect of an important contribution called the conformational entropy, which describes the molecular "disorder" from all thermally accessible conformations. Such flexible cases are common and important for many pharmaceutical drugs.

In a recent attempt to provide accurate themodynamical descriptions of flexible molecules, Prof. Dr. Stefan Grimme and co-workers from the Mulliken Center for Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Bonn developed a new computational tool for the calculation of conformational entropies. While mathematical formulations for calculations of the conformational entropy have been known for quite some time, one main problem is finding and evaluating the huge number of possible structures reaching billions already for medium-sized molecules. Hence, a core component of the newly introduced and freely available software is an efficient algorithm for this task which works with minimal user input, even on standard desktop computers. To achieve the required efficiency, semiemprical quantum chemical methods were applied that are also developed in Grimme's group, together with standard quantum mechanical calculations. In the article it was shown that the procedure is able to treat even large and extremely flexible systems with unprecedented accuracy for the molecular entropy. It's the authors hope that the new computational protocol may help to obtain accurate thermodynamic data more routinely and that it will find wide-spread application in computational chemistry.

Stefan Grimme's research group works on current topics in quantum chemistry with a focus on computational efficiency and large molecules. His co-worker Philipp Pracht is currently finalizing his Ph.D. thesis and is the main author of the program CREST employed for the conformational entropy calculations. This research is published open access in Chemical Science, the Royal Society of Chemistry's peer-reviewed flagship journal.

Explore further New machine learning approach speeds up search for molecular conformers

More information: Philipp Pracht et al. Calculation of absolute molecular entropies and heat capacities made simple, Chemical Science (2021). Journal information: Chemical Science Philipp Pracht et al. Calculation of absolute molecular entropies and heat capacities made simple,(2021). DOI: 10.1039/D1SC00621E
State agencies in North Korea have recently resumed officially smuggling goods from China for the first time in more than a year, indicating that trade between the northeast Asian neighbors could start flowing again, sources in the country told RFA.

Freight by rail and ship has not flowed freely from China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in January 2020. Fearing that the virus could spread into North Korea, Beijing and Pyongyang agreed to close down the 880-mile Sino-Korean border in a move that proved disastrous to an economy already pinched by UN and U.S. trade sanctions.

Many in North Korea who made their living trading in goods from China, including small-time merchants who smuggle goods across the border, were left with no way to support themselves. So-called official smuggling on a larger scale by government enterprises, which mainly served as a means to get around the sanctions, also came to an abrupt halt.

With no imports coming in, food prices skyrocketed, but sources told RFA that prices were going down again this year as the government-run agencies recently began bringing in food ingredients from China.

Since last month, cross-border smuggling activities run by state-run trading companies restarted at a gradual pace, a resident of North Pyongan province in the countrys northeast told RFAs Korean Service Monday.

These days, at local marketplaces here in Tongrim county, the price of imported sugar and flour are falling. Same with Chinese condiments that were in short supply due to the coronavirus crisis. Their prices are going down too, the source said.

The imported dry goods and condiments began to reappear in local marketplaces right before the April 15 birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Uns late grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung. Since then, prices of flour, sugar, and MSG-based seasoning fell by about half, while cooking oil fell by about a fourth.

Another source, a resident of South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, confirmed to RFA that prices for imported food ingredients had been in decline for about a month in the province.

In particular, food factories that produce various types of sweets and instant noodles that are made with sugar and flour are concentrated in the inland areas, so now sugar and flour from China is flowing in via a smuggler ship from Donggang, China, and brought here from Ryongchon port in North Pyongan province, said the second source.

I know that the authorities allowed some trading companies to secretly bring in agricultural products that we desperately needed during the farming season, but for those companies it is difficult to cover the fuel costs with only agricultural goods, so thats why they were eager to also import the more expensive food ingredients and condiments on the market, the second source said.

The resumption of smuggling activities by sea seems to indicate that authorities are getting ready to officially resume trade with China and reopen the Sino-Korean border, according to the second source.

The national emergency quarantine protocol has not yet been lifted in the border area, but we keep hearing that Dandong and Sinuiju customs will soon reopen, the second source said, referring to the Chinese and North Korean cities on opposite sides of the Yalu River border at the point where the river empties into the Yellow Sea.

It will probably take a little more time for official trade to start up again. Only national emergency goods are expected to come in by international freight trains.

RFA reported earlier this month that a Chinese freight train loaded with 300 tons of corn in Dandong entered North Korea through Sinuiju on its way to Pyongyang. It was the first international rail shipment to North Korea since January 2020.

The lack of imports in North Korea did not only affect the poor. The elite in Pyongyang also had to do without certain foreign luxuries, according to a report by Seoul-based NK News.

The report said chocolate, dried fruit, Coca-Cola and Chinese imports reappeared in Pyongyang grocery stores after many months.

A former unification ministry official told NK News that the reappearance was good news not only for North Koreans, but also those who want to send aid to the country.

Life in North Korea without Chinese trade has been harsh.

UN 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.

RFA reported earlier this month that North Korean authorities were warning residents to prepare for economic difficulties as bad as the 1994-1998 famine which killed millions, as much as 10 percent of the population by some estimates.

Kim Jong Un was quoted in state media this month 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.

Reported by Hyemin Son for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
In the wake of yesterdays fatal bus crash in Virginia, in which driver fatigue is blamed, federal regulators announced late Tuesday that Sky Express Bus company would be forced to cease operations. The accident early yesterday morning on Interstate 95 just north of Richmond killed four people and injured at least 50 other passengers en route from Greensboro, N.C., to New York City. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will not tolerate passenger bus companies that endanger public safety, said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. Working side-by-side with our North Carolina state law enforcement partners, we took strong action to shut down this unsafe bus company. Sky Express Bus, which is based in Charlotte, N.C., and has a depot on Chrystie Street, has a dismal safety record and played a starring role in a May 6 Raleigh News & Observer story about the stepped-up enforcement of bus safety by federal authorities. During the first two weeks of May, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies partnered to conduct 3,000 surprise passenger carrier safety inspections that resulted in 442 unsafe buses or drivers being pulled off the road. Authorities issued out-of-service citations to 127 drivers and 315 vehicles as part of the effort, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The driver in the Virginia accident has been charged with reckless driving and is suspected of falling asleep at the wheel. The resulting tragedy has re-ignited scrutiny of New York Citys discount bus companies, which began in March when another companys bus crashed on the interstate in the Bronx. That incident killed 15 passengers who were headed back to Chinatown from a Connecticut casino.

Yesterdays announcement that Sky Express would be parked followed closely on the heels of a call to action to the New York State Senate yesterday afternoon by downtown Manhattan elected officials pushing for passage of a bill that would empower the city to more closely regulate the discount intercity bus services that flourish in Chinatown. The bill has cleared the State Assembly but is held up by the Republican-controlled Senate.

The identities of the passengers killed in yesterdays crash have not been released; the injured are being cared for at 11 hospitals in the Richmond and Fredericksburg areas. Meanwhile, would-be passengers keep showing up at the Sky Express Chrystie Street station.
A high school student who had just completed her KCSE exams escaped a rape attempt while on her way home on Wednesday.

The student told police she boarded a Nairobi bound Matatu in the morning of Wednesday, 21, April, from Mathira East, Nyeri with the intention of connecting to her home in Homa Bay from the capital city.

Her journey was cut short at Kenol at around noon after the PSV driver told her they could not proceed with the trip to Nairobi.

The student identified as Ruth and said to be 21 years old, thereafter boarded another matatu back to Nyeri hoping to connect to Nakuru via Nyahururu.

The vehicle made several stops on the way, but she arrived in Nyeri at 6 pm. The driver of the matatu took her round and round (sic) within Nyeri Town while promising he would take her to the stage where Nakuru-bound matatus are operating, says a police report filed at the Nyeri Police Station on Thursday.

The girl said the driver identified as 52-year-old Washington Kamau Nderitu advised her against travelling at night, citing curfew restrictions.

He promised he would help her get a place to spend the night so that she continues with her journey on Thursday. The two, consequently, exchanged telephone contacts.

The driver asked the girl to wait for her at a spot in Nyeri Town as he completed the days work.

At around 9 pm, the driver picked the student and took her to his house within Ruringu Location. He had lied to the learner that he was taking her to a lodging facility, where shed pay an accommodation fee of Sh600.

On arrival at his house, Nderitu attempted to rape the student but she managed to escape and dialed 999 on her phone while hiding behind an M-Pesa shop near Nderitus house.

Police responded to the distress call and used the student from Gitunduti Mixed Day Secondary School to lay a trap for the driver. They made her call him and the driver fell into the trap.

The driver emerged driving a Toyota Hiace matatu registered under the 2NK Sacco. He picked the girl. However, when he was about to drive off, police emerged from hiding near Riva Petrol Station and flagged down the matatu. Nderitu, however, accelerated in an attempt to run over the police officers. It was then that the officers responded by shooting the vehicles right front wheel, prompting the driver to stop, said the police statement.

Nderitu was arrested as the student led police officers to the house where the attempted rape occurred.

The scene was processed and documented, and the vehicle towed to Nyeri Police Station.

Police said Nderitu will be arraigned once investigations are completed.
As the world marked the 420 marijuana holiday on Tuesday, April 20, DJ Creme De La Creme was among those who celebrated the annual event in Kenya.

The prolific entertainer revealed that he has been smoking marijuana for more than two decades.

To debunk the popular belief that marijuana is harmful, Creme said he is doing well in life.

I have been using weed for the last 24 years and see, my life turned out pretty wellfurthermore I was an A student, he told the Standard.

Creme, however, noted that he does not advocate for the abuse of the holy herb. He said the benefits outweigh the harm.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Creme De La Creme (@thecremedelacreme)



The music producer at the same time called for marijuana legalization in Kenya saying it is long overdue.

This conversation should have taken place like 20years ago. We live in pretense where people smoke in private then come out to castigate marijuana as a deadly drug. Furthermore, how many people have you heard of that have succumbed to overdose intake of the same? he posed.

Creme also recounted his experience in Amsterdam, where coffeeshops act as legal dispensaries for marijuan.

I worked in Amsterdam for some time and believe you me, people just walk into coffee shops where weed is sold and you are given a menu like any other restaurant, then you get the weed of your choice. In addition to that, if you look at their crime rate it is extremely low. If the same was done in Kenya we wouldnt have scenarios of people abusing weed, he argued.

The Esko clothing line founder has since relocated to Kericho. He said gigs have been hard to come by but he still manages to get some shows here and there as he waits for the lockdown and curfew measures to be lifted.

I am mostly occupied with Esko as we wait for the reopening, he said.
The brutal and seemingly unprovoked attack on Ms. Ikram, who was born in the Bronx and is of Pakistani descent, came as Asian-Americans have in recent months been the victims of hate-fueled attacks in New York and across the nation. A mass shooting last month in the Atlanta area, which killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent, and another mass shooting this month in Indianapolis, where four of the eight victims were Sikh, have only stoked widespread fear of the deadly consequences of xenophobia.

This week, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading civil rights group, called for the attack on Ms. Ikram to be investigated as a hate crime.

But Ms. Ikram and her father, who immigrated to the United States from Pakistan 30 years ago, said they did not believe it was racially motivated, in part because it seemed like the attacker waited specifically to target his daughter and not his wife.

A police spokeswoman said any decisions about whether the attack would be investigated as a hate crime would be made after an arrest took place.

Acid attacks occur worldwide, but are especially common in a few countries, including Pakistan, India, the United Kingdom and Uganda, according to the London-based Acid Survivors Trust International. The victims are disproportionately women, according to the group, and acid, which can disfigure someone for life, has traditionally been seen as a preferred weapon of vindictive men who accuse women of disloyalty or disobedience.

The fact that they went for my face is definitely personal, Ms. Ikram said.

The attack on Ms. Ikram began receiving more attention after the television host and author Padma Lakshmi posted about it on her Instagram page this week, asking people to donate to help pay for Ms. Ikrams medical bills and provide any information that could help the police find the attacker. Mr. Ikram, 50, works as a driver for Ms. Lakshmi, he said.

This is the nightmare of any parent, for this to happen to your child, to this innocent, young, promising girl, who has her whole life ahead of her, Ms. Lakshmi said in the Instagram post. I dont know who in the world would do this, with acid like this. I dont even know where you can get acid. I cant stop thinking about her.
U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono speaks at a news conference after the Senate passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 22. Reuters-Yonhap



The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would help combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a bipartisan denunciation of such violence during the coronavirus pandemic and a modest step toward legislating in a chamber where most of President Joe Biden's agenda has stalled.



The measure would expedite the review of hate crimes at the Justice Department and provide support for local law enforcement in response to thousands of reported violent incidents in the past year. Police have seen a noted uptick in such crimes, including the February death of an 84-year-old man who was pushed to the ground near his home in San Francisco, a young family that was injured in a Texas grocery store attack last year and the killing of six Asian women in shootings last month in Atlanta.



The names of the six women killed in Georgia are listed in the bill, which passed the Senate on a 94-1 vote. Biden applauded the measure, tweeting, ''Acts of hate against Asian Americans are wrong, un-American, and must stop.'' The House is expected to consider similar legislation in the coming weeks.



Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, the legislation's lead sponsor, said the measure is incredibly important to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, ''who have often felt very invisible in our country, always seen as foreign, always seen as the other.'' She said the message of the legislation is as important as its content and substance.



Hirono, the first Asian American woman elected to the Senate, said the attacks are ''a predictable and foreseeable consequence'' of racist and inflammatory language that has been used against Asians during the pandemic, including slurs used by former President Donald Trump.



Illinois. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs during a 2004 attack in Iraq, said she had been asked what country she was from while wearing her U.S. military uniform. Duckworth, the first member of Congress born in Thailand, said there is more work to be done, but the bill's passage tells the community that ''we will stand with you and we will protect you.''



It's unclear whether the bipartisan bill is a sign of things to come in the Senate, where Republicans and Democrats have fundamental differences and often struggle to work together. Under an agreement struck by Senate leaders at the start of the year, Republicans and Democrats pledged to at least try to debate bills and see if they could reach agreement through the legislative process. The hate crimes legislation is the first byproduct of that agreement. Some said it doesn't need to be the last.



Hirono said it is her ''sincere hope that we can channel and sustain the bipartisan work done on this important piece of legislation'' to a larger bill that would change policing laws, which Senate Republicans are negotiating with House Democrats. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, said ahead of the vote that he hopes the bipartisan example of the hate crimes bill will extend to an infrastructure package that has so far divided the parties.





Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., holds up his mask that reads #StopAsianHate as he speaks at a news conference after the Senate passed a COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on Capitol Hilll in Washington, April 22. AP-Yonhap
A man lit a fire outside an empty commercial unit under the belief he was helping a woman he knew with her inheritance, a court has heard.

Dubliner Colm Dowling (64) believed this woman was getting a raw deal by way of her inheritance and thought on the night that he might assist her by damaging the empty unit which her family owned. He told gardai he had an alcohol problem and had been drinking prior to the offence.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Dowling that had not drunk alcohol for many years, but relapsed after his brother John Dowling (66) was killed in Paris in 2018.

Dowling of Cypress Avenue, Brookwood pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to arson at Whitechurch Shopping Centre, Ballyboden, on July 27, 2020. He has three previous convictions, including convictions for harassment and minor road traffic offences.

Garda John Dalton told Noel Devitt BL, prosecuting, that two adjoining premises at the shopping centre were damaged by fire, a unit which had been empty for many years outside of which the fire was started and an adjoining Centra shop.

Gda Dalton said the accused man drove to the shopping centre in the early hours of the morning, poured petrol out of a fuel can and lit a fire outside the empty unit which then spread to the Centra. Dowling was identified on CCTV and was arrested at his home the next day.

The total damage caused by the fire was approximately 200 to the empty unit and approximately 2,500 to the Centra.

In interview with gardai, Dowling told gardai that he had an alcohol problem and had been drinking and taking medication on the date in question.

Dowling said he knew a member of the family who owned the empty unit and believed she was getting a raw deal by way of her inheritance. He said in his drunken state he thought he might be able to assist her by damaging the property and this would lead to any dispute regarding inheritance being resolved.

The court heard that he holds the view that if he had not been drinking then he would not have acted in this way.

Gda Dalton agreed with Simon Matthews BL, defending, that his client had genuine remorse for what he had done.

Mr Matthews said his client had not drank alcohol since being convicted of harassment until the death of his brother in late 2018. His brother John Dowling was a lecturer who was stabbed to death while working in Paris.

Counsel said his client had consumed eight or nine cans of Guinness on the date in question. He said his client has not drank alcohol since the offence and submitted that he would not drink again.

Mr Matthews said his client has made two donations of his own accord, one to Alcohol Anonymous and one to the Father Peter McVerry Trust.

Judge Elma Sheahan said she acknowledges Dowling's efforts to deal with alcohol dependence and the fact that he is currently in remission. She said she acknowledged the traumatic effect the death of his brother had on his psychological make-up.

Judge Sheahan noted the view expressed by consultants that alcohol was an accelerant in his behaviour and that his behaviour on the night was impulsive. She said these facts posed a concern about his capacity to control himself when drinking.

She said the court requires further proof of his sobriety before she could dispose of the matter fairly. She placed Dowling on a 12 month probation bond and ordered the Probation Service to carry out regular and unplanned blood tests during the period.

Judge Sheahan also ordered that Dowling remain abstinent from alcohol and undergo residential treatment if deemed appropriate by the Probation Service. She adjourned the matter for finalisation to April 25, 2022.
Gemma Collins revealed her body double to Instagram on Friday as she shot scenes for a secret project and teased a mystery stunt at an unknown location.

The former TOWIE star, 40, captured the crew and set in-between takes before showing the lookalike actress who rocked a floor-length pink dress.

She had long blonde tresses, similar to Gemma, and wore soft dewy make-up.

Mirror image? Gemma Collins revealed her body double to Instagram on Friday as she shot scenes for a secret project and teased a mystery stunt at an unknown location

The body double rested a face mask on her chin while she sat down and gave a sweet wave to the camera. 'Body double, body double,' Gemma said.

In a separate clip uploaded to social media, the self-proclaimed Essex diva filmed a roll of grass leading to a green crash mat.

It was surrounded by high-end recording equipment including lights, multiple cameras and a tracking dolly.

All crew members were seen sporting PPE as Gemma said: 'Big shoot day today. Where is my stunt advisor?' before greeting them: 'Hello!'

'Body double body double': She had long blonde tresses, similar to Gemma, and wore soft dewy make-up while sat down

The upload comes after MailOnline reported on Thursday that Gemma has finally moved on from James Argent by getting back with ex-fiance Rami Hawash, who's now a father.

The former TOWIE star was engaged to Rami, 45, before they split in 2014, but she reconnected with the businessman this year and has been seeing him in secret for over six months.

Since 2013, when he proposed to Gemma by hiding a diamond ring in a Christmas pudding, Rami has become a father to three-year-old son, Tristan.

A source told MailOnline: 'Gemma has been seeing Rami again in secret for the last six months.

On set: In a separate clip uploaded to social media, the self-proclaimed Essex diva captured a roll of grass leading to a green crash mat

Secret project: It was surrounded by high-end recording equipment including lights, multiple cameras and a tracking dolly

'The pair have enjoyed spending time together and getting reacquainted during date nights in London and Essex.

'Gemma suffered a lot of stress and trauma during her relationship with Arg, which has been on and off for years  but she's finally putting herself first and moving forward with her life.'

The GC previously gave her romance with Rami a second chance in 2017 after she was spotted wearing the engagement ring he proposed with.

Sources at the time said Gemma hoped to start a family with Rami and have the baby she's always dreamed of.

New romance? The upload comes after MailOnline reported on Thursday that Gemma has finally moved on from James Argent by getting back with ex-fiance Rami Hawash, who's now a father (pictured in 2013)

A spokesman for Gemma declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

The reality TV star, who rose to fame on The Only Way Is Essex and has since starred in her own series Diva Forever, supported ex-boyfriend James, 33, throughout his battle with cocaine addiction.

She recently spoke on her BBC podcast about how the illness 'ripped through her family' and 'destroyed lives.'

Gemma said: 'I've been where you are, you want to help and you believe them but once cocaine and addiction grabs hold of someone, you are powerless to do it.

'You are not the professional, I've been there myself and it's going to really break your heart.

'I've seen it, I've been there, I've got the T-shirt and I found it too distressing and impacting on my own life.

'I have been in this position myself, it will destroy lives, it will rip through your family, it will rip through your friendship groups, it is a really awful situation.

'I look back now and I did it from love but it really can break your heart in the end.'

James, who recently underwent gastric band surgery, said this week he was finally ready to 'reclaim his life' and 'start a new chapter physically and mentally.'

The former couple endured a devastating loss when Gemma miscarried their baby last year, resulting in her therapist diagnosing her with PTSD.
India has been added to the travel red list after recording the largest ever daily surge in coronavirus cases.

Video Transcript

MILENA VESELINOVIC: These were the last passengers to land in the UK from India ahead of new travel restrictions, and the last to avoid paying for costly hotel quarantine. This family were back from seeing relatives in Delhi and were relieved they managed to change their tickets at the last minute.

- That is we will be having our quarantine at home. That is the best part.

- Yep, yep, the best part.

- And I'm having a child with autism. So it's better that he stays at home with us and can have all his food preferences at home.

- How did you end up back in India?

MILENA VESELINOVIC: But Jetal Zala, who is doing her master's in Scotland, was not so lucky. She's visiting family in India and couldn't get a flight back in time.

JETAL ZALA: I tried calling the airlines, but there was-- I mean, I couldn't connect to them because definitely they were closed. Then I tried making an international calls. I started calling my friends who are already in the UK.

But there was no changes. The flights were as it is. But it was really disturb-- disturbing news for me. Like, I was really sad that I can't go back. And I don't know when I can enter the country.

MILENA VESELINOVIC: Restrictions are disrupting businesses too. Restaurant owner Ranjit Mathrani says most of his highly trained Indian chefs went home during the, UK lockdown, and now they're stuck, which could jeopardize his plans for reopening.

RANJIT MATHRANI: Here we are, after five-and-a-half months of lockdown, losing vast amounts of money, looking forward to limping back to normality in the first place, and we are going to be, you know, struck with the probability and possibility of being unable to open, except probably on a very restricted basis in some of our key fine dining restaurants.

MILENA VESELINOVIC: The UK has deep, historical, and cultural links with India. So putting it on the Red List was a difficult decision, the government said. But some scientists think that it should have happened sooner because of a surge in cases in the country and a concerning new variant.

Story continues

Over 130 cases of the Indian variant, which could be more resistant to vaccines, are already in the UK.

MARK HARRIS: We've seen cases increasing in India for several weeks now, and it would have been prudent, I think, to put India on the Red List earlier. It's obviously a tough decision because there's a lot of communication travel between India and the UK. Well, I think it would have been the right thing to do a few weeks ago.

MILENA VESELINOVIC: With India now the epicenter of the pandemic, it will likely be some time before these tough new restrictions can be eased. Milena Veselinovic, Sky News.
Under the business value of "Technology and Innovation to Inspire the World", we have been running new businesses in the PropTech (Property Technology) field with the applying of digital tech and the support of our experienced agents. Along with the growth of our business, we are also taking more responsibility and active approaches in supporting the benefits and development of the society. Currently, we are starting this project called "GA Sustainability Actions" aiming to support the sustainability of our environment.

In order to protect our environment, we have been taking several actions in reducing the use of paper in our daily business activities. We have achieved a significant result with the reduction of the use of about 2 million sheets of paper (2,074,880) during the past year(*1). We are utilizing several of our in-house developed software such as "INSIGHT by RENOSY" and "SUPPLIER by RENOSY" to support our sales business in order to accelerate the speed of digital transformation of our entire business chain.

In response to April 22, which is "Earth Day" (URL:https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/ ) a day to think about global environmental issues, we have announced our efforts to the paperless activities we are taking in our office starting from last year. We will continue to take on the challenge of solving the world's problems with the power of technology and innovation, and work to create a better future. Through our business, we will strive to create the foundation for a sustainable and new society.

Promoting the prevalence of digitalization in the industry to save our environment

INSIGHT by RENOSY

INSIGHT by RENOSY is a business supporting tool our agents use during their consultations. It is a tool developed in-house where it links with our database directly. It allows our agents to show property information, business proposals, balance sheets simulation in an instant to the customers.

SUPPLIER by RENOSY

SUPPLIER by RENOSY is a real estate procurement process supporting tool developed by our AI engineering department. The tool is especially dedicated to the support of the purchasing step of real estate. It helps with necessary tasks like property search, flooring layout automated reading, property recommendation, and contracts automated generation, etc. The tool provides every feature a real estate agent needs during the purchasing process. To give you a general idea, the entire dealing process of a proprty can be divided to roughly 30 steps(*2), we are able to move the entire process online with a minimum amount of paper works required.

Our strategy for the Digital Transformation movement

We are developing a SaaS business in which our accumulated real estate digital transformation know-how, tools and systems are sold externally by our group company, and we are also working to promote digital transformation in the real estate industry as a whole, such as paperless and more efficient operations. In addition to the management of real estate media, we also utilize our expertise in improving the convenience and transparency of real estate transactions by utilizing technology to build integrated operations for real estate transactions.

Through the group companies, we have also achieved paperless operations by providing the industry with know-how on improving operational efficiency accumulated in each area, and by contributing to the real estate companies in Japan, we will promote the digital transformation of the entire industry.

RENOSY X

ITANDI

Promoting the vitality of the existing apartment market to contribute to the sustainability of our living environment

Along with protecting the environment, we also put more effort into promoting the vitality in the existing real estate industry to contribute to the building of a long-lasting living environment. RENOSY is focusing on the purchasing and selling of compact apartments in the main cities of Japan. The service has been crowded as the top 1 service in the existing real estate investing industry (compact apartments) during the past 2 years(*3). It also won the top 1 service regarding the newly built real estate investing industry for the first time this year(*4). All these actions are with the aim of solving the problem of "vacant houses in depopulated areas" in Japan. The current situation is that there are too many vacant houses without proper management in Japan due to a drop in the total population. The problem has already become a social problem in Japan, which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced this plan of "Vision of 2030 for Real Estate Industry of Japan" in April 2019(*5) to address the issue of the vacant houses in Japan. On the other hand, there is also an oversupply of newly built houses in the market which made the problem worse.

The theory behind the RENOSY service is that the service is able to sort out the proper properties based on previous data by AI from the database. This allows us to purchase property not only faster but also with only 1/3 of the previous cost. The inventory turnover period is about 23 days in GA which is about 1/13 compared to the average(*6). What we want to do is to rediscover the value of existing apartments by addressing the issue mentioned above.

GA Sustainability Actions

GA Sustainability Actions is a measure we apply in the office to contribute to the growth of our business and to the positive contributions to the society. The measure includes three major policies: governance, environmental, society. It composes with 5 themes which are "environment & resources protection", "The building of a long-lasting living environment", "The creation of an energetic workplace", "The strengthen of the aspects of governance, risk management, and legal compliances". Each theme shall be applied accordingly to the relevant aspects of our businesses and workflow.

Link: https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/sustainability/

(*1) The number is calculated based on all kinds of documents required in the entire dealing process during 2020 using our in-house developed software. (*2) The calculation is based on all kinds of documents required during the transaction process. (item-based) (*3) Please refer to the statistics from the following link https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/news/4368/ (*4) RENOSY has only been dealing with existing compact apartments. (*5)Vision of 2030 For the Real Estate Industry of Japan https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001287089.pdf (*6) The inventory turnover period refers to the time it requires for a property to be sold again counting from the point where the property has been purchased. According to a survey done by GA, the average time required is about 313.3 days.

Company Overview of GA technologies Co., Ltd.

Company Name: GA technologies Co., Ltd.

Representative: President and Chief Executive Officer: Ryu Higuchi

URL: https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/

Head Office: Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower 40F 3-2-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6290, Japan

Established: March 2013

Capital: : 720,859,9831 (as of March 31, 2021)

Business description:

- Management of RENOSY, a PropTech (real estate technology) comprehensive brand

(Real estate information media, real estate brokerage, real estate sales, design and construction, real estate management)

- Development of SaaS-based B2B PropTech products

- Research on real estate big data using AI

- Management of overseas PropTech business, including Shenjumiaosuan, a platform for Chinese investors

Main group companies: ITANDI, Inc., Modern Standard Inc., Shenjumiaosuan Co., Ltd, and four other companies

SOURCE GA technologies Co., Ltd.
The system also offers greenhouses the ability to supplement their plants with CO2 consistently throughout the year without emitting CO2 gas to the atmosphere and using up to 95% less CO2 through aqueous CO2 misting

In addition, aqueous CO2 misting offers pathogen Perimeter Protection for plants by slowing the spread of micro pathogens such as E. coli and powdery mildew

( ) ( ) (FRA:4021) is dedicated to increasing the growth and value of all indoor plants safely, naturally, sustainably, and economically using its advanced CO2 Delivery Solutions.

The Toronto-based company's technology helps greenhouses achieve up to 30% more plant yield consistently throughout the year. In addition, aqueous CO2 misting offers pathogen Perimeter Protection for plants by slowing the spread of micro pathogens such as E. coli and powdery mildew.

The CO2 Delivery Solutions system also offers greenhouses the ability to supplement their plants with CO2 consistently throughout the year without emitting CO2 gas to the atmosphere, using up to 95% less CO2 through aqueous CO2 misting.

Proactive recently discussed the company's state of operations, the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and growth plans with CO2 GRO CEO John Archibald.

Exactly what does CO2 GRO do?

GROW sells its CO2 Delivery Solutions systems and licenses its technology to protected agriculture customers, providing them with an up to 30% value increase. As our systems have low operating costs while precisely applying CO2 on leaf surfaces only, a very high percentage of that increased value falls to a growers bottom line. Our technology also suppresses the development of plant pathogens such as E. coli, molds and mildews. Our technologys use has been approved for all growers in Canada and is sustainable and environmentally friendly.

What is the global market opportunity for CO2 GRO?

The global protected agriculture market is 600 billion square feet comprised of 50 billion square feet of greenhouses and 550 billion square feet of open side facilities. (Cuesta Robles 2019 study). However, less than 10 billion square feet of greenhouses can gas CO2 economically for up to a 30% value increase. The other 590 billion square feet of greenhouses and open-sided facilities cannot use gaseous CO2 but can use our CO2 Delivery Solutions technology for up to a 30% value increase, and a much larger percentage increase in profits. We sell our systems with a site technology license for a one-time per square footage payment and offer extended payment terms over 5 years.

What are open-side facilities?

Open-side facilities are any structure that growers use to enhance value increase, both larger plants and faster plant growth. This includes structures ranging from hoop houses, shade houses, tunnel houses, netting houses and other protected agriculture structures.

How does your technology work?

CO2 Delivery Solutions dissolves gas into water to create a saturated CO2 solution that is then misted onto plant leaf surfaces. We use nozzle technology and specific misting modelling patterns to ensure proper leaf surface coverage. The applied saturated CO2 then enters the leaf irrespective of leaf stomata and provides additional carbon for plants to grow faster and larger through photosynthesis. The misting events are very short (5 to 15 seconds) for 2 to 3 times per hour. These short intermittent misting creates a fluctuating pH level on the leaf surface making the leaf surface an inhospitable environment for pathogens such as E. coli molds and mildews to reproduce.

Why is CO2 GROs technology so novel for protected growers and not been done before?

Until our discovery, growers and agriculture service providers did not recognize that the entire plant leaf surface can transfer saturated CO2 into its cells if the CO2 is first dissolved in water and then applied on the leaf. Misting saturated CO2 onto a leaf creates a temporary CO2 rich micro-environment film with only dissolved CO2 molecules being available. Gassing CO2 up to 1000 parts per million (PPM) in sealed greenhouses means only one in one thousand molecules of air is available as CO2 and only to leaf stomata.

How does CO2 GRO carry out its scientific work and proof of concepts for its patents?

GROW has partnered with Dr. Matt Julius at St Cloud State University (St. Cloud) - who is now CO2 GROs chief science officer - and entered into research contracts with the university to establish the veracity of observations of enhanced plant growth using saturated CO2 in mist form. We recognized that a significant part of our business was going to be in the United States so working with a US university that understood our technology, understands plant botany and is nimble with respect to its research made sense. The plant research work being done at St Cloud is owned by CO2 GRO and is critical in driving our patent strategy and supporting our patent filings.

GROWs current management team first filed for a PCT patent recognizing this plant leaf CO2 absorption phenomenon and then scientifically and commercially proved it in 2019 and 2020. Four further PCT patents were filed in 2019 and a fifth in 2020 to protect the core intellectual property.

GROW recognizes that a strong suite of patents protects its market position, helps to accrete value to its shareholders, and gives confidence to its market partners that they will not be copied out of business.

Where is CO2 GRO growing its business?

We initially began our technology roll-out locally in Canada in 2018 and entered the US in 2019. Since then, we have established regional partners in the Middle East, the EU, the UK, South Africa and in Southeast Asia. Our latest focus is Mexico and other Latin American countries. It is our intent to solidify these positions and grow our business directly in North America and with our marketing partners in the international markets mentioned.

How has COVID-19 affected company operations?

It has negatively affected some of our prospective customers plans and timing to adopt our technology as they struggle with their particular constraints in their own markets and the effects of COVID-19 on their workforce. Our existing and potential customer base is fairly labour sensitive. Travel restrictions have not helped. Fortunately, MS Teams, Zoom, and other communication platforms have allowed us to do a lot of virtual global travel to meet with potential customers, partners, government officials, associations and present as virtual exhibitors.

Does CO2 GRO follow ESG principles?

GROW has adopted environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy and practices, recognizing that following ESG principles is becoming increasingly important in Canada and internationally to all stakeholders. Prior to formalizing its ESG policies, GROW was already an equal opportunity and pay parity employer for all like positions regardless of gender or race, or creed. Senior management recognizes the benefits of diversity within the organization.

Tell us about yourself and how you got involved in CO2 GRO?

I am a professional engineer (civil) and have a career spanning over 40 years in engineering, corporate management, and international experience both working and living abroad. I have managed large business units for large companies leading to high productivity and profitability. I have established overseas operations for large companies and have managed and worked with numerous smaller technology firms launching their initiatives into the marketplace. I have also been involved in the transfer, licensing, and patenting of technologies.

I was one of the founders of a company dissolving gases into liquids for various industrial and medical purposes, In 2017 we sold that company. GROW was one of our licensees and had an exclusive license for the use of dissolved CO2 in the growth of all plants. Post that sale, GROWs board asked me to form a team to refocus the firm and implement the use of the dissolving CO2 technology license. We recognized that leaves may absorb CO2 dissolved in water across the leaf surface more effectively than atmospheric CO2 gas. Since early 2018, we have developed a team of professionals dedicated to the corporate mission of enhancing protected agriculture plant yields and profits and to accreting sustainable value for our shareholders.

What is the strategy and outlook for the company for 2021 and beyond?

GROWs management team is relentlessly working to get protected growers to adopt our novel and disruptive CO2 Delivery Solutions technology. Growers are typically very conservative. They do not want to risk their crops on a new technology without trying it first on a small portion of their facilities. Entering Q2 2021, we are finally seeing continuous adoption of the technology and the more success we have, the greater the influx of new business. Our strategy is simply to build on cumulative success and continue to strengthen the management and sales team as business increases. We are likely to maintain our geographic focus as mentioned earlier for 2021 and 2022 while supporting our sales forces and international market partners.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
Lhasa, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a global meteorological outpost, the mechanism and influence of climate change on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are complicated. In October 1998,he led the "Yarlung Zangbo River scientific rafting expedition" drifted 1,600 kilometers from the Jiemayangzong Glacier in Zhongba County, Tibet, the source of the Yarlung Zangbo River, to Pai Township (today's Pai Town) in Mainling County. After that, he crossed the Grand Canyon on foot and spent 35 days crossing the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon. In 2010, he launched another bold project, "Asian Water Tower -- International River Survey on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and spent six months visiting a majority of international rivers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Although he had explored most of the rivers on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 20 years, in this mission, he did a systematic, complete, inch-by-inch survey of the headwaters of Asian great rivers that originate on the Tibetan Plateau.

During the investigation, he felt the benefits that the implementation of the River Chief System in recent years has brought to the protection of both water resources and the relevant environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and he could clearly see the efforts of climate actions such as the layout of clean energy and de-coaling. But the unprovoked accusations, such as artificial rainfall on the Tibetan plateau, are always discouraging. Regardless of the standpoint of science, the well-rounded artificial rainfall, as a very scientific and rigorous scientific practice, has been used in the United States, Australia and other countries. However, many people still believe that artificial rainfall is to release some cold air into the clouds. The most important fact is that the Tibetan Plateau region of China has a small population and the natural ecology has been able to meet the need of local living conditions. Therefore, large-scale artificial rainfall has no practical application scenario and practical significance at all. To top it all off, some people believe that China is just competing with India for rainwater.



U.S.A Sandoval Silver State SeederArtificial rainfall UAV



American Sandoval Silver State Seeder Rainmaking Drones

he have heard similar rumors and prejudices at many South Asian Non-governmental organizations' symposium on international rivers. Most of the participants remarked, "It is amazing how little the media of each country knows about its neighbors." In this environment of lack of communication and political suspicion, debate is often driven by lack of information and political smear, and alarmist media reports are more likely to fan the flames of national conflicts.

There has always been controversy around the discussion of climate change, especially the various claims of the scientific interpretation of the mechanism of climate change. What is even more puzzling is that negotiations on climate action, without strong scientific support, seem to only strive for profit, and humanity will lose its way if it continues like this. The scientific community has long believed that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the frontier of the earth science, with many key issues to be broken through. Tackling climate change will be futile or even disastrous before it is solved.



What are the main causes of climate change and glacier melting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau? In recent years, some researchers have suggested that when the solar system moves out of the Quaternary Ice Age and into a higher background energy field, it is the cause of the temperature rise. However, he believe that the temperature rise at the altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 meters is mainly caused by the fact that a large amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human beings absorb heat in the atmosphere of the Tibetan Plateau in the atmospheric circulation. Therefore, they should face and share the responsibility together instead of making groundless accusations against any one country in order to deal with climate change on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and even over the whole world.

Vice President of the United States Harris pointed out recently, the war for water resources will come soon. In hes opinion, both water resources and the influence of global warming on the Tibetan Plateau are a fait accompli, the unilateral effort of each country is only a temporary solution. Environmental protection is not just a matter of pure science, but if there is too much political manipulation and rancour involved, the problem gets trickier. The growth of all creatures depends on harmony. China and south Asian countries around the Tibetan Plateau create a new win-win cooperation of climate governance in such aspects as scientific research, the meteorological disaster warning, can not only monitor the secondary disasters caused by climate change, to avoid the life and property loss. More importantly, a collaborative and vivid climate action can provide the international community with a set of effective experiences that can be replicated in climate governance.

Climate change is already causing serious environmental problems on the Tibetan Plateau and the Brahmaputra River basin as I have proposed many times in international seminars. The international community should build consensus and join hands in tackling these threats especially the neighboring countries. Partha J. Das, a scientist from the Indian NGO Aaranyak, also pointed out at the symposium that these warnings apply to the Indian government as well. The Indian government plans to build 70 water projects on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River. China and India need face the common threats in cooperation. Referred to the outburst floods from the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra in June 2000, Das said: "Most of the damage could have been avoided if the media in both China and India had reported it widely." Obviously, China and India are both on the same page at environmental and climatic changes on the Tibetan Plateau. He also claimed that China and India should enhance cooperation on flood early warning both in the Government and Non-governmental, signing a bilateral agreement and sharing hydrological observation data.

Contact:

Hengduan Mountain Research Society

themediacontact@gmail.com
Returned travellers in quarantine at a Brisbane hotel have been caught on camera breaking Covid-19 isolation rules.

Three guests staying in different rooms at the Hotel Grand Chancellor were filmed passing items to one another on Thursday, increasing the risk of spreading the virus.

The shocking footage showed a man grabbing something from another guest staying in the room to his right.

He then walked across his balcony and gave it to the person staying in the room next door on his left.

Pictured: People in hotel quarantine sharing items across their balconies, increasing the risk of spreading the virus

The guests were given formal warnings and could face longer periods in quarantine if they continue to flout restrictions, and face an on-the-spot fine of up to $1,334.

A resident also took photos of guests sharing items on April 1.

They told The Courier-Mail the scene was 'really annoying and kind of scary'.

In January, the Hotel Grand Chancellor was at the centre of an outbreak that forced Brisbane into a snap three-day lockdown.

In March, three cases were linked to the quarantine hotel when an infected person was staying on the same floor at the Hotel Grand Chancellor as another infected traveller.

The guests (pictured) have been given formal warnings and could face longer periods in quarantine

Pictured: Police investigating how Covid-19 was able to spread at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane

They went to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where they had contact with a doctor who later became infected with coronavirus, forcing the hospital into lock down.

About 240 people linked to the infected doctor were traced, but all three of her close contacts tested negative.

Returned travellers at the hotel were evacuated to other quarantine facilities after authorities were deeply concerned - and equally puzzled - as to how coronavirus was spreading inside the building.

In January, the Hotel Grand Chancellor was at the centre of an outbreak that forced Brisbane into a snap three-day lockdown (pictured Brisbane residents in January)

'Obviously we're looking at "has someone deliberately done the wrong thing",' Deputy Police Commissioner and State Disaster coordinator Steve Gollschewski said at the time.

'We, being coppers, we always keep our options open in terms of whether someone has done the wrong thing. In that case, there will probably be a separate investigation.'

Mr Gollschewski said the hotel 'has been run very well and I am concerned about the impact on their reputation'.

Results from the investigation are yet to be released.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A Santa Fe man was recently arrested and charged for his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Matthew Martin, 42, was federally charged with unlawful entry, disorderly conduct impeding the conduct of government business, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the capitol buildings, according to court documents.

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If convicted, Martin faces a maximum of three years in prison for the combined crimes. The case will play out in District of Columbia federal court because thats where the alleged crime took place.

Court documents dont indicate Martin has an attorney at this time.

Martin has a security clearance and worked at a defense contracting company in Santa Fe, according to court documents. One of Martins coworkers told law enforcement that Martin had asked to take Jan. 6 off from work.

Protesters on that date stormed the U.S. Capitol and forced members of Congress to evacuate the area after they gathered to count electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election. The protesters-turned rioters claimed the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump  an assertion for which there is no evidence.

More than 140 people were injured in the attack and five people, including a U.S. Capitol police officer, died during the attack or shortly thereafter.

Court documents indicate the FBI got a hold of Martins cellphone records and found that he used his cell service in and around the U.S. Capitol building the day of the insurrection.

On Jan. 20, Martin acknowledged to FBI agents that he went into the U.S. Capitol building during the riot, according to court documents. He told agents that he read Trumps tweets about the election being stolen and that there would be a protest.

Martin said he flew to Washington on Jan. 5 to be part of the protest. He said Capitol guards opened the doors to the Capitols rotunda, but that he also saw smashed glass. He told the FBI he realized the protests were worse than he thought and flew back to Santa Fe on Jan. 7, according to court documents.

Martin gave the FBI photos of himself at the U.S. Capitol and the FBI was able to identify him on U.S. Capitol security footage as well, court documents say. The selfie shows Martin wearing a USA hat and a face mask with Trump written across the front.

Martin is the third known New Mexican to be arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin is also facing federal charges for his alleged role in the riots, along with Shawn Witzemann of Farmington.

Witzemann faces the same charges as Martin. Griffin is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

Both of those cases are still making their way through the District of Columbia federal court.

In all, close to 400 people have been charged with federal crimes connected to the uprising.
Unaccompanied child immigrants are seen at the site of a former oil field workers camp which is being used as a temporary housing facility in Midland County, Texas, on April 8, 2021. (Paul Ratje/Reuters)

Texas Sues Biden Administration for Allegedly Disregarding COVID-19 Rules at Border

The attorney general of Texas on Thursday sued President Joe Bidens administration for allegedly flouting its own COVID-19 rules in handling the surge of illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico.

Administration officials have abandoned the preexisting protections against the introduction into Texas and the United States of aliens infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus during a pandemic, the 34-page lawsuit states.

The disregard for COVID-19 rules violates federal law, including the Public Health Service Act of 1944, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton charged.

By causing an influx of aliens who are or might be infected with COVID into the United States, Defendants unlawful actions imperil the public health of Texas and the United States, and weaken the ability of the economies of Texas and the United States to recover, through reopening, from the effects of the pandemic, he wrote in the suit.

Aliens refers to immigrants.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which is also known as SARS-CoV-2.

Texas is the largest U.S. state bordering Mexico.

Under former President Donald Trump, U.S. officials last year issued a rule that utilized Title 42 to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States and to expel those that did manage to enter and were caught.

Then-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said in the order (pdf) that he was suspending entry because of the serious danger that immigrants could introduce the virus that causes COVID-19 into the United States.

The public health risks of inaction include transmission and spread of COVID-19 to border personnel, U.S. citizens, and others, he added.

But the Biden administration upon taking office in January rolled back use of Title 42, allowing all unaccompanied minors to stay in the country and significantly decreasing the number of family units expelled under the order.

A group of illegal immigrants is processed by Border Patrol after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in La Joya, Texas, on April 10, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Paxton alleged that the U.S. government abandoned its own rules without any meaningful justification or explanation, resulting in the release of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants into the United States.

Texas officials are asking a federal court to block the Biden administration from exempting unaccompanied minors from the Title 42 powers, which started in February, and declare that the administration must return all illegal immigrants, with limited exceptions, to Mexico under Title 41, or detain and quarantine all aliens who could carry the CCP virus for at least 14 days before releasing them into the United States.

The Biden administration did not respond to a request for comment.

The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States shot from under 76,000 in January to over 168,000 in March. Critics say the Biden administrations lax enforcement is primarily to blame.

Some 102,000 illegal immigrants were expelled under Title 42 in March, as well as over 62,000 in January.

COVID-19 outbreaks have taken place in at least several immigrant holding facilities near the border,

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in March that most immigrants are tested, but not all. Theres a proposal for testing all of these individuals as they come across, she told reporters at the White House last month.

Illegal immigrants entering Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, or buildings run by the Department of Health and Human Services, are tested for COVID-19.

Texas rejected a proposal that would cover all expenses for testing and quarantine of immigrants, according to Psaki.

So I think the question is: Why is he standing in the way of local communities getting the funding and support they need to help with testing, isolation, and quarantining efforts? she asked.

Some individuals are released into the country after testing positive with recommendations to quarantine, the administration has said.
A leading travel industry figure has called for all of western Europe to be placed on the low-risk green list when the governments traffic light system for international travel begins.

Peter Liney, chief executive of Great Rail Journeys, told The Independent that companies need certainty about where they will be able to send holidaymakers this summer.

You cant run the business on speculation in the media about what countries will be in green, he said.

Mr Liney was speaking ahead of the government revealing which countries are in which of three traffic light categories in terms of return to the UK.

At present holidays abroad are illegal, under legislation intended to reduce number of people coming into the UK.

When international travel restarts, which is currently planned for 17 May, each nation will be assigned to red, amber or green. Only the last category will not require quarantine on return back in the UK  though they will still need to pay for tests before departure to the UK and after arrival.

Speculation in the travel industry is that only a small number of short-haul nations will be included, comprising Gibraltar, Iceland, Israel and possibly Malta  with Portugal as a outside possibility.

Malta and Israel doesnt save the travel industry, the rail holiday boss said: I want western Europe to be green and I want tests for a tenner.

The government says it will reveal which countries are on which list early in May.

The aviation minister, Robert Courts, told the Transport Select Committee: I anticipate that in the early part of May we will be able to give some more detail into which category each country will fall.

Mr Liney said that the decision will be made so late that even if they say on 3 May all of Europe is going to be green, he would not try to run the planned programme for that month.

Say they say on 3 May all of Europe is green, the whole of Europe is open. Ive still lost all of May.

You cant run a business on speculation in the media as to which countries will be green, he said. Mr Liney called for a very clear list of countries to be revealed, with all the key western European destinations on the green list.

Our customer tell us that amber is a meaningless status. If the government says amber they wont go.

Great Rail Journeys caters mainly for older travellers, and the vast majority of customers will have had both coronavirus vaccinations by the summer.

People are not putting down money to go to Europe this summer. They are in this strange world. Theyre neither in not out.

Theyre very nervous. They dont want to get stuck in some crazy quarantine situation.

What they saw last year were those grandstanding weekly announcements where countries just went into quarantine overnight.

In a bid to reduce the chance of holidaymakers being caught by a change in status, the government has promised a green watchlist of countries that are at risk of changing to amber or red.

Mr Liney also called for the price of tests for returning holidaymakers to be cut. Someone somewhere is making a vast amount of money on testing, he said.

The last time Great Rail Journeys made any money, he said, was in October 2019.

We had almost no business at all last summer, and what we did run was UK  about five or 10 per cent of our business, said the chief executive.

During the coronavirus pandemic, operators of international rail journeys face significant obstacles because of the number of frontiers they cross.

A Glacier Express and Rhine Cruise trip offered by Great Rail Journeys next month includes Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It uses Eurostar, which is currently operating only two trains per day and heavily in debt.
Johnson teaches courses at the intersection of environmental studies and digital and computational studies.

2. Collaborating Toward Climate Solutions

This is funded by a grant from the US Department of the Interior through the University of Maine Mitchell Sustainability Program. While the first grant is focused more on helping socially vulnerable populations, this project looks more broadly at the capacity of municipalities to plan for extreme weather events, said Johnson. Were focusing on the Penobscot Bay and Passamaquoddy Bay region of Maine.

Like the social resilience project, this also explores ways to encourage communities to learn from each other and to build capacity. Theres a long-term network of professionals who have been engaged with adaptation planning work across the state called the Climate Change Adaptation Providers Network (CCAP). Many municipalities have been making progress on adaptation planning at the local level. Our goal is to bring these communities together, help them learn from each other, and provide technical support, said Johnson. We also want to see what kind of useful, customized data we might be able to provide to communities. I have a student working on providing GIS data for these communities, as that visual dimension can be really helpful.

Also collaborating with Johnson on this are Maine Sea Grant, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the University of MaineMachias, and the University of Maine.

Both of these initiatives deal with the disruption caused by extreme events, such as flooding and storms, which are becoming more common as the global climate changes, explained Johnson. So, lets get out ahead of this and help with planning in whatever way we can.

Eileen Johnson teaches courses at the intersection of environmental studies and digital and computational studies. This semester she is teaching GIS and Remote Sensing: Understanding Place (ENVS 2004/ DCS 2335/ URBS2004). The course examines how geographical information systems (GIS) organize and store spatial information for geographical presentation and analysis. Students learn how this technology can be used in a variety of applications, including monitoring and preparing for the impacts of climate change from the Arctic to local-level systems.

Meet the Students

There are three students involved with the two projects. Samara Nassor and Julia Marks, both Class of 2022, are working on the collaboration to increase social resilience in coastal communities.
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
Vincentians and other Caribbean nationals in New York over the weekend rallied around St. Vincent and the Grenadines in its plea for urgent aid, amid continuing explosive eruptions of La Soufriere volcano.





Hundreds answered the call, bringing relief supplies and assisting in the packing of boxes, barrels and crates, on Saturday and Sunday, at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, 671 Prospect Pl., Brooklyn.





"I got a little teary-eyed when I entered FOCH (Friends of Crown Heights), Verna Arthur, chairperson of the Brooklyn-based SVG Relief USA, Inc., organizer of the massive relief drive, told THE VINCENTIAN. "It was very heart-warming.





"Its expected that Vincentians would respond to our countrys clarion call, because thats what we do without hesitation, but the outpouring of support of our Caribbean brothers and sisters, and other countries, is astounding, she added.





"On behalf of SVG Relief USA, Inc., thanks to all who have contributed thus far, and thanks to our volunteers, Arthur continued.





Lennox Joslyn  chairman of the Fundraising Committee of the Brooklyn-based Council of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Organizations, USA, Inc. (COSAGO), the umbrella Vincentian group in the US, an affiliate of SVG Relief USA, Inc.  also told THE VINCENTIAN that he was blown away by the outpouring of support.

"Tremendous turnout! said Joslyn. "The strongest support that a Vincy committee in New York has seen over the years.





New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, were also on hand.





"We all have a responsibility to lift each other up in times of disaster . I urge my fellow Caribbeans, my fellow New Yorkers, to join me in helping to support the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines .,  Williams said.





The Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Progressive Organization of New York, Inc. (SPOONY), the New York arm of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, also urged nationals to chip in in the massive relief effort.





John said his group was expected to collect on Saturday toiletries, blankets, sheets, clothing and monetary donations at Cafe Omar, a lounge, on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, owned by Vincentian podiatrist Dr. Kendall Stewart.





The Orlando-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Central Florida Organization (SVGCFO) organized a Volcano Relief Disaster Drive on Friday, April 16, and Saturday, April 17.





According to public relations officer Lydia Daniel, the group is accepting cash donations, as well as food, bed sheets, towels, toiletries, mask, kids items (pampers, baby food, wipes), cough, flu, allergy medicine, cots, portable potties, blankets, and goggles, among other items.





The Lions of District 20-K, which comprises clubs in Brooklyn and Queens, is also conducting a relief effort on behalf of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Second Vice District Governor Lion Ingrid Andrews-Campbell, a Vincentian national residing in Brooklyn, said the Lions will be donating non-perishable food, pampers, diabetic supplies, hygiene kits, hand sanitizers, gloves, toilet tissues, paper towels, cleaning supplies, masks and water, among other items.





St. Vincent and the Grenadines New York Consul General Howie Prince gave "a loud thank you to everyone for your various contributions to making last weekends mobilization efforts (at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center) a resounding success.  . Special thanks to SVG Relief USA, Inc., COSAGO and all individuals and groups for helping us. Special applause to (Brooklyn-based) SVGDRIP for rising to the occasion as our information clearing house.





Prince disclosed that a 40ft.-container was filled from the weekends initiative, "which has been moved by Standard Shippers for onwards trans-shipment to SVG.





He said a second "40-footer is now in place to be filled, and will be shipped, at no cost, by the Brooklyn-based Square Deal Shippers and Movers.





According to prince the supplies on hand at Friends of Crown Heights will fill two 40ft.-containers. Carl Munro, owner of Standard Caribbean Shippers in Brooklyn, has donated free shipping for a third container.




Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.
Apart from the discussion on oxygen shortage and the COVID-19 situation in the country, the PM-CMs meet on Friday made headlines for something unexpected. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replenish oxygen stock in the national capital. However, the meeting was to be a private one and turns out that neither the PMO nor PM Modi had any inkling that Delhi CM's speech was being televised. Several union ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders accused Kejriwal of using the platform to "play politics" and "spread lies". The CMO however said that there was no instruction to not air the meeting.

In Friday's meeting between Prime Minister Modi and CMs of 10 hard-hit states from coronavirus, the Delhi CM made an impassioned appeal to PM Modi. "Please sir, we need your guidance," Kejriwal said, adding that oxygen tankers were being stopped from entering the city. "I request you with folded hands to direct all Chief Ministers to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi," Kejriwal said.

"Will people of Delhi not get oxygen if there is no oxygen-producing plant here? Please suggest whom should I speak to in the central government when an oxygen tanker meant for Delhi is stopped in another state," he said. "PM Sir, please, do make a phone call to the Chief Minister of the state where maximum trucks (tankers carrying oxygen) are being stopped so oxygen can reach Delhi," Kejriwal added.

Subsequently, PM Modi interrupted Kejriwal and objected to broadcast the private discussion. The PM said, "What is happening... this is strictly against our tradition, our protocol...that some Chief Minister is showing a live telecast of an in-house meeting".

The PM chided the Delhi CM and said, it is "not appropriate, we should always maintain restraint". Thereafter, Kejriwal apologised to the Prime Minister and said, "Ok sir, we will be careful in future".

Meanwhile, government sources told ANI news agency that the interaction was not meant to be televised and accused Kejriwal of "descending to a new low".

"For the first time, private conversations of PM's meeting with Chief Ministers is being televised. His entire speech was not meant for any solution but for playing politics and evading responsibility," said the sources.

"He chose to spread lies on vaccine prices despite knowing that Centre does not keep even one vaccine dose and shares with states only," they said.

"All Chief Ministers spoke about what they are doing to improve the situation. However, Kejriwal had nothing to speak on what he is doing," the government sources added.

After an hour, a statement from Delhi Chief Minister's office said: "Today, the chief minister's address was shared live because there has never been any instruction, written or verbal, from the central government that the said interaction could not be shared live".

The CMO added that there have been multiple occasions of similar interactions where matters of public importance which had no confidential information were shared live". "If any inconvenience was caused we highly regret that," it added.

Also read: Rs 1.5 lakh cr hit on India's GDP due to lockdown; Maha, MP & Rajasthan account for 80%

Also read: India FY22 GDP growth revised down to 10.4% from 11%: SBI Research report
Six Victoria Police officers have been ordered to pay up to $3000 each in compensation to Dani Laidley as part of an internal disciplinary process after photos of the former AFL coach taken while she was in custody were leaked.

A mugshot of Laidley and a photo of her being interviewed by two officers while wearing a wig and make-up were released and published on social media in the hours after her arrest outside a womans home in May last year.

A court sketch of Dani Laidley from last year. Credit:Nine News

The Age revealed in December that a seven-month investigation into the circulation of the images resulted in 39 officers and seven public servants facing internal disciplinary action. A further 224 employees of Victoria Police were cleared of any criminal or internal disciplinary action.

Three officers are facing criminal charges over the unauthorised disclosure of information and their cases remain before the courts.
Tesla, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are all slated to report quarterly numbers next week as US earnings reason reaches its peak

US earnings season will reach its peak next week as some of the worlds biggest tech companys prepare to deliver quarterly earnings.

First up on Monday will be ( ), with the electric car maker coming off a strong 2020 that saw it turn a yearly profit for the first time and enter the S&P 500.

However, the company and its billionaire boss Elon Musk will have little time to relax as the company looks to scale up and retain its profits amid increasing competition from both established automakers and other tech companies. The company is also currently embroiled in a PR storm after one of its Model S electric vehicles crashed into a tree and burst into flames in Texas, resulting in the death of two men inside, with local police saying no-one was found to be in the driver's seat.

Investors will be keeping an eye on the companys margins as it looks to lower prices and draw in more buyers. Outlook will also be crucial as Tesla seeks to maintain its sky-high valuation, which is mostly based on predictions of huge growth down the line.

Alphabet and Microsoft release numbers

Tuesday will bring results from Google parent company ( ), with the company likely to look to reassure investors that it wont take too much of a hit from a possible global tax of tech giants proposed by US president Joe Biden.

Also of interest will be the firms outlook statement amid an easing of lockdown restrictions, which will have the effect of allowing people outside again and by extension spending less time on the companys websites such as YouTube, traffic on which helped it smash earnings expectations last year.

Also due on Tuesday are figures from computing giant Microsoft Corp ( ), which is likely to be eyed for more cloud computing news as well as any commentary on which direction the companys acquisition will take next.

Apple and Facebook to dominate mid-week

Wednesday will see momentum pick up, with results expected from both Apple Inc ( ) and social network ( ).

Given Apple already announced a new suite of products on Tuesday, including new ranges of its iMac desktop computers and iPad tablets, investors may be looking for any details on the rollout of these new products or how the company expects to perform once they hit the market.

Meanwhile, iPhone sales will continue to be a key area of interest, as well as the companys performance in the critical Chinese market.

More cautious investors may be keeping an eye on any comments about a global shortage of computer chips which could dent the firms production capacity.

Facebook has also been unveiling new products recently, notably a suite of audio features including Live Audio Rooms, audio-only group chats that many see as an effort to compete with audio-only chat app Clubhouse after it surged in popularity last year.

Aside from any further product details, investors are likely to focus on the companys key metrics of user growth and ad revenue, as well as how it hopes to deal with increasing pressure from national governments over fake news and its influence on society.

Late week delivery from Amazon

The final tech major to report in the week will be ecommerce giant Amazon Inc ( ), the first results since founder Jeff Bezos stepped back from the CEOs chair.

However, the change of leadership (if you can call it that with Bezos still serving as executive chairman) is unlikely to bring much change in company direction, while new lockdown measures in several countries are likely to have produced increased sales as consumers have found themselves shut out of the high street.

The accelerated shift towards digital services caused by the pandemic is also likely to benefit the firm going forward, particularly its Amazon Web Services cloud computing arm despite it facing stiff competition from both Microsoft and Alphabet.
The death of Chadian president Idriss Deby on the frontline of battle has raised concern about the future of the countryand whether the leaders passing signals the beginning of a downward spiral that could play right into the hands of jihadist fighters in Africas Sahel region.

Whats going on is panic. There is huge concern about the next two weeks, theres already a thought that with President Deby dead, the rebels will now be emboldened, said The Africa Reports Nicholas Norbrook. They are now receiving war materials across the border from Libya. The role that Deby had was to take on, really, the toughest missions in zapping terrorists.

Le Temps Richard Werly was more optimistic about Chads face-off with rebel groups. Because of the French involvement, because of the massive presence of French troops in N'Djamena, I believe they can keep the capital city away from the rebels, he argued.

The Daily Beasts Nico Hines explained how the reaction to the former presidents death speaks to the larger-than-life image he has cultivated over the years: [Deby] had this legendary element, he said. And leaders like Deby have been able to keep control of a country like Chadwhich would otherwise be likely to suffer from factional infighting.

Watch the full episode on France 24.

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SUV

During the mid-1980s, Honda launched Acura in North America as a premium brand that initially marketed the executive class Legend and the compact Integra, available as a five-door and three-door hatchback.The brand's early success encouraged Honda to expand the lineup with high-performance models introducing the innovative NSX in 1990 and the Type R version of the third generation Integra seven years later.Despite the relative success of the Integra Type R, sales of Acura-branded cars were beginning to drop during the late 1990s, partially due to uninspired designs.That led the company to rethink its strategy and introduce redesigned models that combined the exciting driving experience provided by a high-performance model like the Type R with the luxury, comfort, and daily driving characteristics that stood at the core of the brands initial philosophy.The strategy gave birth to Acuras that were more fun to drive, and the sportiest of them were given the Type S moniker.First introduced by Honda on the 1997 NSX and sold exclusively in Japan, the Type S variant was conceived as a middle-ground between the stock trims and the high-performance Type R (or NSX-R). It offered several weight-reducing features to improve performance, but customers could also enjoy the convenience and comfort-enhancing options like navigation, electric power steering, or xenon headlights.So, Acuras research and development team decided that the Type S idea was exactly what their brand needed and started developing their own model. Codenamed AC-R, the Accord coupe-based prototype was capable of 166 mph (267 kph) and 1.0 G of grip, but according to former Honda R&D Americas president Erik Berkman, its real value was getting everyone inside the company jazzed about creating this kind of model under the Acura brand.The show car was followed up by the 2001 3.2CL Type S, which featured a 3.2-liter V6 that made 260 hp, 35 hp more than the standard model. It also had quicker steering, 17-inch wheels, and a sport-tuned suspension.A year after the introduction of the coupe, the sedan also got the same performance-enhancing treatment. Both models were produced until 2003, contributing to Acuras resurgence.That same year, the redesigned fourth-generation Integra, which was now called RSX in North America, got a Type S variant. It was powered by a new 200-hp 2.0-liter i-VTEC four-cylinder connected exclusively to a six-speed manual gearbox. The car received some styling changes and a boost of 10 hp in 2005, a year before it was discontinued.The last Type S of the 2000s was the third generation TL produced from 2007 to 2008. It had a 3.5-liter V6 making 286 hp under its hood, linked to a six-speed manual. The car also came with standard upgrades such as 4-piston Brembo calipers, sport suspension, upgraded wheels, and tires or a distinctive quad exhaust.Unfortunately for Acura, these models never rose to the level of popularity envisioned by the company, so the Type S project was dropped. Potential customers that wanted a sportier variant could now opt for the A-Spec trims.However, the Type S story didnt end in 2008 as the manufacturer revived the performance division last year with the introduction of the second-generation TLX.Soon to be available in dealerships, its marketed as the brands best-performing sedan. The TLX Type S packs a 355-hp turbocharged V6 mated to a quick-shifting ten-speed automatic, torque-vectoring super-handling all-wheel drive, a sport-tuned suspension, and Brembo front brakes.Going forward, the new generation of performance Acuras is also set to include anfor the first time, with the company revealing that its upcoming fourth-gen MDX will receive the Type S treatment.It remains to be seen if the performance division will become more appealing to potential customers this time around, and were definitely glad to see it making a comeback. In our opinion, there can never be enough sporty vehicles out there.
Filipino bishops are encouraging free-food stations run by the people for the poor, to help ease hunger during the pandemic, as these community pantries expand rapidly across the country.

By Robin Gomes

Makeshift community pantries are popping up across the Philippines after the countrys Catholic bishops this week called on people to support the effort in the capital Manila to help the needy during the coronavirus pandemic. The call came after one such stall set up by a woman in Manila last week began replicating across the nation.

Caring for one another

We are happy to know that in recent days  neighborhoods and communities [across the country] have organized themselves to help needy families, especially with food and other basic necessities, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on April 21. He said it was proof of the peoples care for each other.

The idea caught up after Ann Patricia Non set up a small pantry on April 14 in Quezon City in the National Capital Region of Manila, and called on people to give according to their ability and take what they need. The initiative of the 26-year-old resident of Maginhawa Street went viral on social media and inspired communities to set up their own pantries.

Catching on

At least 80 community pantries have already been set up in various places in Metro Manila and more than 300 others across the country. A group of Muslim doctors in the Mindanao region has opened halal community pantries for the poor in Zamboanga province. One such centre has been started in Dili, the capital of Timor-Lest, or East Timor.

The motto of community pantries is: Share what you can, take what you need.

It is not charity, but mutual help, explained CBCP vice president, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookaan. We are responsible for one another, following the example of the first Christian communities. The initiative is educational in the sense of solidarity and charity because it encourages the faithful to think not only of themselves but also of the well-being of others, he told the Vatican Fides news agency.

He estimates more than 5,000 people have been fed through the community pantries. The fact that these pantries have mushroomed spontaneously across the country, he said, is a miracle. It encourages kindness, concern, compassion, generosity, a sense of solidarity and co-responsibility from people of all walks of life.

Caritas Kindness Stations

Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, national director of Caritas Philippines, also encouraged the community pantries, saying they prove that communities can serve as first responders to address hunger and food insecurities. He commended those behind the initiatives, saying that they bring out the innate generosity, kindness, and compassion in everyone even at a time when poverty is most visible.

In April 2020, Caritas Philippines launched Kindness Stations, a national programme aimed at advocating for community-based response that empowers members of the community to take what you need, spare some for others, and give what you can.

The Kindness Station was inspired by a group of friends in Sorsogon City during the first lockdown, who provided half a sack of rice together with canned food, condiments, noodles, vegetables, crops etc. As neighbors and other donors started to share goods, the stations multiplied in other areas. These Caritas Kindness Station are now being implemented in more than 15 provinces.

Bishop Bagaforo encouraged all local Caritas organizations to continue, open or re-activate Caritas Kindness Stations in support of the community pantries nationwide.

According to estimates by "Pilipinas Kontra Gutom", an institution in which public and private organizations come together, at least four million Filipinos are currently suffering from hunger because of lack of food.

The Philippines recorded 8,719 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, April 23, bringing the total to 979,740. With 159 new deaths the casualties now total 860,412.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of the Senate of Belgium Stephanie D'Hose vows to continue the fight for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

In todays world, where tensions and disputes over borders, religious beliefs and political ideas are on the rise, it is more important than ever to look back and remember what the consequences of such tensions might be. Even in times like these, especially in times like these, where the world seems divided and preoccupied, it is still our duty to revisit the past, she said in a video statement to ARMENPRESS.

Today, I keep vigil for those who lost their lives. Hand in hand with the thirty thousand Armenians who live in my country, Belgium; with the Armenian Diaspora around the world; and with those of you in Armenia today.

We come together to remember and to say, never again. To speak truth and have our voices be heard. To find justice for those who once were and for those to come, she said.

The Belgian Senate President stressed the need for continuing to bring awareness of what happened more than a century ago. I am proud to be president of this Belgian Senate which was one of the first to recognize and condemn the atrocious genocide on the Armenian people. I will keep defending and supporting you and your struggle for recognition, both here and with the international community.

So that history will be more than a distant memory or an inconvenient truth. More than a prelude to a repetitive future.

Rather must it be a warning to us all. A call to action to recognize the past and learn its lessons.

Today, we stand in solidarity and mourn those we lost. Tomorrow, we honour them by working to protect the future from the past, Stephanie D'Hose said.

Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan
stands ready to provide its support to in its fight against COVID-19, said French President Emmanuel Macron, as the pandemic situation in the country deteriorated with over 3 lakh infections being reported in a day.

"I want to send a message of solidarity to the Indian people, facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. is with you in this struggle, which spares no-one. We stand ready to provide our support," French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenin tweeted Macron's message on Friday.

has reported 3,32,730 new COVID19 cases on Friday with 2,263 fatalities in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry. The country's caseload has topped 1.62 crores. The death toll due to infection stands at 1,86,920.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation Tuesday evening, called the second Covid wave a "toofan" (storm) that has swept the country.

The worsening COVID-19 situation has seen a surge in the demand for medical oxygen and beds for the COVID-19 patients and many states are reporting an acute shortage in essential medical supplies.

Availability of oxygen is a key element in the treatment of certain medical conditions in the COVID infection.

With the COVID-19 situation worsening, many countries have imposed travel restrictions on travellers from

on Wednesday announced that it will impose a 10-day quarantine for travellers arriving from India in the coming days to prevent the spread of a COVID-19 variant found in India.

The UAE has banned travel from India for 10 days from Sunday. Passengers who have transited through India in the last 14 days are also not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE, the Gulf News reported.

Recently, the United Kingdom added India to its travel "red list" on a precautionary basis after reporting 103 cases of a variant first identified in India.The Russian Embassy's visa section temporarily ceased its operations until further notice due to India's COVID-19 situation, it announced on Monday.

As COVID-19 cases soar, the United States has also issued a 'Level 4 (Very High)' warning for potential travellers to India asking them to "avoid all travel" to the country even if they are fully vaccinated.

Hong Kong on Tuesday announced the suspension of all flights connecting with India for 14 days amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the region. The authorities have also suspended flights from Pakistan and the Philippines.

(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.)
Like Republicans across the country, Texas lawmakers are pushing to enact sweeping changes to state voting laws, including new restrictions on how and when voters can cast ballots.

At the forefront of that campaign is Senate Bill 7, a legislative priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that has already passed the Senate and awaits action in the House. The wide-ranging legislation touches almost the entire voting process, taking particular aim at narrowing the latitude local officials have to control voting. It clamps down on early voting rules and hours, restricts how voters can receive applications to vote by mail and regulates the distribution of polling places in diverse, urban counties.

READ ALSO: Texas House advances bill that would make unsolicited vote-by-mail applications a crime

The original bill has already changed in significant ways  revised to eliminate a provision that would have required some voters to provide proof of a disability to vote by mail. But the 38-page bill would still institute an expansive set of changes and new regulations governing Texas elections.

Below is our analysis of the most significant portions of the legislation, with some added context to help Texans understand some of its key provisions.

Limiting how local officials can expand voting options April 19, 2021 at 1:33 p.m. In drafting SB 7, Senate Republicans made clear some of its proposed restrictions are meant as a response to voting initiatives implemented by Harris County for the 2020 election, but the proposed new restrictions would apply across the state. Regulating voting hours Currently, counties with a population of 100,000 or more must provide at least 12 hours of early voting each weekday of the last week of early voting. In Texas, the early voting period usually runs for the two weeks ahead of Election Day. Hours for that last week of early voting are usually set for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. RELATED: Texas Senate advances bill limiting how and when voters can cast ballots, receive mail-in voting SB 7 would lower that population threshold to 30,000 so more counties would be required to offer more early voting hours between the newly established window of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. But the legislation also sets a 12-hour cap on how long early voting can run during that week, so polling places that stay open until 9 p.m. would have to open up later in the morning. This would directly preempt the expanded early voting hours offered in large, diverse counties last year. Harris County pioneered 24 hours of uninterrupted voting at a few polling places for one day. (Local election officials have indicated they hoped to keep the initiative for future elections.) Harris and other large counties like Bexar County, home to San Antonio, also kept their polling places open until 10 p.m.  three hours past the usual 7 p.m. closing time  for at least a few days last year. Banning drive-thru voting SB 7 also attempts to outlaw the sort of drive-thru voting offered by Harris County last year by requiring early voting to occur inside a building, as opposed to a stationary structure, as specified in current law. It also prohibits polling places from being located in a tent or other temporary movable structure or a parking garage, parking lot, or similar facility designed primarily for motor vehicles. Harris County first tested drive-thru voting in a summer 2020 primary runoff election with little controversy, but its use of 10 drive-thru polling places for the November general election came under Republican scrutiny. The countys drive-thru polling places were mostly set up under large tents. Voters remained in their cars and showed a photo ID and verified their registration before casting ballots on portable voting machines. At the Toyota Center  home of the Houston Rockets  drive-thru voting was located in a garage. Republicans have argued the arrangements amounted to an illegal expansion of what is known as curbside voting, an option long available in Texas to accommodate people who are unable to enter a polling place without risking their health or without some form of personal assistance. Under this method of voting, posted signs at polling sites typically notify voters to ring a bell, call a number or honk to request curbside assistance. The county argued its drive-thru locations were separate polling places, distinct from attached curbside spots, and therefore were available to all voters. Keith Ingram, the chief of elections for the state, had said in an unrelated court hearing that drive-thru voting is a creative approach that is probably OK legally. Drive-thru voting proved popular in Harris County, with 1 in 10 in-person early voters casting their ballots at drive-thru locations. A conservative activist and three Republican candidates sued over the process, but were unsuccessful in convincing a federal judge to throw out those nearly 127,000 votes. The litigation at the time did lead to the voluntary shutdown of nine of the 10 drive-thru locations for Election Day, for which voting is already required to occur inside a building.

Regulating the distribution of polling places in urban areas April 19, 2021 at 1:41 p.m. SB 7 would target the distribution of polling places in the states biggest counties  most of which are under Democratic control and home to a large share of voters of color. In recent years, county election officials have worked to ditch precinct-based voting on Election Day and instead open up every polling place to all voters regardless of where they live in a county. That model, known as countywide voting, has existed in Texas for many years but has been taken up most recently by both blue urban metros and Republican-leaning suburbs. The 2020 election marked the first major election during which the states five largest counties  Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis  all operated under the countywide model. Under SB 7, counties with a population of one million or more that use countywide voting would be subjected to a specific formula for distributing polling places based on the number of registered voters in each state House district within the county. That formula would capture those five, mostly Democratic counties, while the more than 60 other Texas counties that use countywide voting  many of them rural and under Republican control  would remain under the states more relaxed rules for polling place distribution. ANALYSIS: Texas' proposed voting restrictions have more to do with 2018 than 2020 A formula based on voter registration would likely reduce the number of polling places in House districts represented by Democrats  the vast majority of them people of color serving districts that typically have a larger share of voters of color compared to Republican-held districts  where registration numbers are generally much lower than in districts represented by Republicans. In selecting their polling places, counties generally consider a variety of factors beyond voter registration, including proximity to public transportation, accessibility for voters with disabilities, past voter turnout and sufficient space to set up voting machines. In urban areas, election officials also look to sites along thoroughfares that see high traffic to make polling places more convenient. The formula would also apply to the distribution of voting equipment and poll workers, which local officials and advocates have said likely takes away the ability to set up extra-large polling places in stadiums and arenas like those used in November. But the more standard formula could also complicate individual set ups at typically used polling places, including popular polling places located in large venues, where counties generally tailor the setup, including voting machines and check-in stations, based on both space at each location and historical demand.

Requiring paper trails for voting April 19, 2021 at 1:53 p.m. SB 7 would move all Texas counties toward voting machines that offer a paper trail by producing an auditable paper record of ballots cast. That sort of equipment is already in use in many counties, including some of the states biggest, that have modernized outdated, paperless voting machines in recent years. The bill sets a 2026 deadline for all counties to make the switch. The move to require machines with a paper trail has found rare bipartisan support at the Legislature though lawmakers have previously not agreed on how to pay for it. SB 7 sets up a formula for some counties to be reimbursed if they must retrofit recently purchased equipment without a paper trail to comply with the requirement.

Setting new rules for voting by mail April 19, 2021 at 1:54 p.m. SB 7 would create new restrictions on the distribution of applications to request a mail-in ballot and alter some of the rules used to verify returned ballots. Texas generally has strict rules outlining who can receive a paper ballot that can be filled out at home and returned in the mail or dropped off in person on Election Day. The option is limited to voters who are 65 and older, will be out of the county during the election, are confined in jail but otherwise still eligible or cite a disability or illness that keeps them from voting in person without needing help or without the risk of injuring their health. The proposals follow a pandemic-era election that saw a significant increase in voting by mail, particularly among Democrats. Restricting the distribution of vote-by-mail applications SB 7 would prohibit local election officials from distributing applications for mail-in ballots to voters who did not request them. It also prohibits the use of public funds to facilitate the unsolicited distribution of applications by third-parties, which would keep counties from also providing applications to local groups helping to get out the vote. Political parties would still be able to send out unsolicited applications on their own dime. The proposal is a direct response to Harris Countys attempt to proactively send applications to all 2.4 million registered voters last year with specific instructions on how to determine if they were eligible. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately blocked that effort, but other Texas counties sent applications to voters 65 and older without much scrutiny. Though those voters automatically qualify to vote by mail, mailing applications to them in the future would also be blocked. Local election officials have also raised concerns about a separate provision in the bill that prohibits them from attempting to solicit a person to complete an application, which they fear would keep them from offering applications to voters even if they qualify, or even posting about the availability of the vote-by-mail option on social media. Verifying signatures on mail-in ballots The legislation also changes part of the process for reviewing mail-in ballots by expanding the set of signatures that can be used to decide whether to throw out returned ballots. Before they are counted, a committee of local election workers examines returned ballots to determine that a voters signature on the flap of a ballot envelope matches the endorsement that voter included when applying for the ballot. The committee can also compare it to signatures on file with the county clerk or voter registrar that were made within the last six years. If a mismatch is determined, the ballot is tossed. Under SB 7, the committee could compare a voters signature to any known signature on file. This has raised concerns among voting rights advocates and advocates for people with disabilities who worry that it gives untrained workers more room to reject ballots because a persons signature can change over time. The state election code does not establish any standards for review for signatures, and Texas offers voters no recourse if their ballot is rejected based on a perceived mismatch. Creating an online tracker The bill would also set up an online tracker so voters can keep tabs on the status of an application to vote by mail and the processing of their ballot when it is cast. The state is already required to provide ballot tracking for military and overseas voters, and representatives for the Texas secretary of states office previously told lawmakers they already planned to establish one for local voters. Texas is not among the many states that provide voters statewide with the ability to track their ballots, though a few counties have set up their own tracking systems.

Regulating donations to counties April 19, 2021 at 1:57 p.m. In 2020, the pandemic forced election administrators to reimagine the voting process from socially distanced waiting lines to the sanitization of polling places to new additions, like face shields, to their election checklists. The election also required an increased workforce to keep polls running throughout an extended early voting period. To help cover the costs of those measures, counties across the state received private funds from organizations distributing donations by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, and actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. SB 7 would ban direct donations to counties of more than $1,000 unless they are unanimously approved by the governor, the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House.

Setting new rules for removing people from the voter rolls April 20, 2021 at 12:22 p.m. The legislation would set up a new mechanism for the Texas Secretary of State's Office to remove people from voter rolls based on questions about their citizenship status. Currently, local voter registrars periodically receive lists of people who are excused or disqualified from jury duty because they are not U.S. citizens. Registrars are charged with sending notices to those individuals requesting proof of citizenship to keep their registrations. SB 7 would broaden that requirement so notices also go to voters "otherwise determined to be ineligible to vote." That language has raised concerns among voting rights advocates because of its vagueness about how that ineligibility would be determined and the state's previous missteps when it comes to scouring the voter rolls. In 2019, the secretary of state's office jeopardized the voting rights of tens of thousands of naturalized citizens when it flagged them for review as possible noncitizens based on a flawed database and delivered their names to the Texas Attorney General's Office for investigation. Despite walking back some of its claims after errors in the data were revealed, Texas only dropped its botched effort months later after being sued by more than a dozen naturalized citizens and voting rights groups. If a local registrar is found to be out of compliance in sending out those notices, SB 7 also gives the secretary of state the authority to eventually "correct the violation." It also makes registrars liable for a civil penalty of $100 for each corrected violation. In 2019, many counties held off on questioning the citizenship of voters flagged by the state. Those that sent out notices were caught up in the litigation and even blamed by the state for acting too quickly to question voters on their lists, even though local officials followed the state's instructions for reviewing the eligibility of those voters.

Enhancing poll watcher freedom April 19, 2021 at 1:57 p.m. The legislation would widely broaden access for partisan poll watchers inside polling places. One of the biggest expansions in the bill would give them power to video record voters receiving assistance in filling out their ballots if the poll watcher reasonably believes the help is unlawful. Recording inside a polling place, including by voters, is otherwise not allowed. That provision has drawn particular concerns about possible intimidation of voters who speak languages other than English, as well as voters with intellectual or developmental disabilities who may require assistance through prompting or questioning that could be misconstrued as coercion. Under law, voters can select anyone to help them through the voting process as long as theyre not an employer or a union leader. The bill also adds language to the Texas Election Code to allow poll watchers free movement within a polling place, except for being present at a voting station when a voter is filling out their ballot. It also makes it a criminal offense for an election worker to distance or obstruct the view of a watcher in a way that makes observation reasonably ineffective. Currently, poll watchers are entitled to sit or stand conveniently near election workers, and it is a criminal offense to prevent them from observing. SB 7 would entitle them to be near enough to see and hear the election activity. Though Republicans have tried to characterize poll watchers as the eyes and ears of the public, they are not public watchdogs but instead inherently partisan figures who are appointed by candidates and political parties to serve at polling places.
A haunting final photo has been revealed showing the seconds just before two seaplanes collided in mid-air in Alaska, killing six and seriously injuring 10 others.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board released the photo on Tuesday as part of their in-depth review of the tragedy that occurred in May 2019 near Ketchikan.

The image was retrieved from an unidentified dead passenger's Canon EOS Rebel digital camera, which survived the 3,350-foot plunge to earth, providing investigators with invaluable data on how the disaster unfolded.

The NTSB said that the position of the two planes meant that their pilots' views of each other were obscured until the last second, and that tracking systems failed to warn them about nearby aircraft.

The NTSB on Tuesday released this photo, taken by a passenger on Mountain Air's single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 MK 1 Beaver seconds before it collided with a larger de Havilland DHC-3 Otter in Alaska in May 2019, killing six

Investigators say the photo shows how the Otter pilot's view of the other plane was obscured by a window strut

Wreckage is seen following the 2019 collision. The NTSB said that the position of the two planes meant that their pilots' views of each other were obscured until the last second, and that tracking systems failed to warn them about nearby aircraft

Mountain Air Service pilot Randy Sullivan and his four passengers, and a passenger in a plane owned by Taquan Air were killed. Ten people were injured when the aircrafts converged at 3,350 feet.

The NTSB probable-cause finding determined that the limitations of the 'see and avoid' concept - in which pilots are expected to visually identify collision risks - prevented the pilots from seeing each other before the collision. The board also cited a lack of alerts from the planes' display systems.

The board during its meeting also noted the planes' structures or a passenger had limited the pilots' views.

The NTSB, citing information provided by the operators, said the Ketchikan-based floatplanes were on sightseeing tours and both 'converging on a scenic waterfall' before returning to Ketchikan when the crash occurred.

Mountain Airs single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 MK 1 Beaver and Taquans larger de Havilland DHC-3 Otter collided just after noon over the west side of George Inlet following tours of Misty Fjords National Monument.

NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said the 'see and avoid' system that pilots rely on to avoid mid-air crashes doesnt work well in high-traffic areas where the sight-seeing planes were traveling.

Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the pilots didnt see each other in time to avoid a collision.

Killed was Randy Jason Sullivan, 46, who was piloting the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (above) owned by Mountain Air Service that collided with a larger sightseeing plane

Simon Bodie, 56, (pictured) a management consultant from Sydney, was also among those killed when two sight-seeing planes collided in mid-air over the sea in Alaska

Passengers in the Beaver who were killed included 39-year-old Ryan Wilk from Utah; and 37-year-old Elsa Wilk of Richmond, British Columbia

Also killed were 46-year-old Louis Botha of San Diego and 62-year-old Cassandra Webb from St. Louis

Staff members told the board the Otter pilot recalled seeing a white and red flash, then a tremendous collision.

The Beaver pilot's view would have been obstructed by the airplane's structure and a passenger seated to his right during the critical moments before the crash. The Otter pilot's view was obscured by a window post, the NTSB staff said.

William Bramble, the NTSBs human performance specialist, told the board that both planes were equipped with systems that track other planes, but visual and audible alerts weren't working in either plane.

'The Otter pilot seemed to miss seeing the target (the other plane) on the display because he last recalled looking at the display about four minutes before the collision,' Bramble said.

Contributing to the crash were the Federal Aviation Administration allowing new transceivers that lacked alert capability and the lack of a requirement for air-traffic-advisory systems to have audio alerts on planes flown by companies that carry passengers, according to the probable-cause finding.

Board members also recommended Tuesday that the FAA require planes that operate in high-traffic tour areas broadcast their locations to other aircraft.

A Taquan Air plane is seen in Ketchikan, Alaska

Emergency response crews transport an injured passenger at the George Inlet Lodge docks on May 13, 2019, in Ketchikan, Alaska

The FAA said it had begun in October 'a sweeping examination of safety issues specific to the challenges of flying in Alaska.'

The agency said it would 'carefully consider all of today's recommendations from the NTSB as that work continues.'

It said some are similar to recommendations an FAA safety team made after the accident and that the FAA is weighing or implementing the safety team proposals.

Sumwalt, speaking to reporters, said the investigation found systems limitations that werent necessarily known before.

He said before an Otter system was upgraded in 2015, its system could generate visual and aural alerts. After the upgrade, he said there were no algorithms to generate alerts. NTSB investigator Aaron Sauer said the upgrades installed in 2015 met the FAA standard at the time.

Two Coast Guard response boats drift through George Inlet as part of a search effort on May 14, 2019 near Ketchikan, Alaska

A safety issue the board noted was what it said was an 'inadequate checklist' used in Taquan Air operations.

The checklist found in the Otter did not include an item for a device that transmits certain altitude data, and the board recommend the carrier update its checklists, according to a summary of the board's actions. The device on the plane had been off for two weeks, Sumwalt said.

Messages seeking comment were left for Taquan Air on Tuesday.

In documents released earlier by the NTSB, Otter pilot Lou Beck estimated his plane took five seconds to hit the water 10 miles northeast of Ketchikan.

At least three people could be heard saying, 'brace brace brace,' on a camera recording audio before the Taquan plane hit the water.

The Mountain Air Beaver plane broke up in flight, scattering debris across 3,000 feet.

Mountain Air Service closed after the accident.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The latest batch of the government-purchased Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the country on Thursday.

The additional 500,000 doses arrived from Beijing, China at 5:16 p.m. through a Philippine Airlines flight, the flag carrier confirmed.

The shipment was welcomed by some government officials, including vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Prior to the delivery, the country received initial shipments of procured Sinovac vaccines on March 29 and April 11.

The Philippines also earlier received two donated batches of the same brand from China.

Latest government data show that around 1.6 million doses have already been administered in the country.

This is a developing story.
Technical experts from the World Health Organization are due to start the next round of their review of Russias Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 jointly with the European Medicines Agency on May 10, the WHO said on Thursday.

Russia is seeking WHO emergency-use listing for the vaccine developed by Gamalaya Institute. So far COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been listed - an endorsement of their safety and efficacy that helps guide countries regulatory systems.

"Inspections for good manufacturing practices will take place from 10 May to 1st week of June," the WHO told Reuters in reply to a query.

A joint team from the WHO and EMA are currently carrying out inspections for good clinical practices related to Sputnik, it said.

Asked about clinical data from Sputnik vaccine trials, the WHO said: "We are still receiving information from the producer."

Russian deputy health minister Sergei Vershinin held talks in Geneva on Tuesday with WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who later wrote on Twitter: @WHO appreciates Russias efforts to fulfill the Emergency Use Listing criteria for vaccines.
The great work-from-home experiment occasioned by the pandemic has divided opinion in the corporate suite and sparked endless debates about whether employees work as effectively from the kitchen table as they do from the office.

A new study finds that, in fact, remote work does indeed make us more productive.

The work-from-home boom will lift productivity in the US economy by 5 per cent, mostly because of savings in commuting time, the study says. The findings suggest the rapid adoption of new technology amid the pandemic will offer lasting economic gains, helping to boost sluggish productivity that has long weighed on global growth.

Working from home does have its perks, and it also makes workers more productive. Credit:iStock

Not everyone is a fan of remote work. Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon has called the new arrangements an aberration that the investment bank will correct as quickly as possible, arguing that its especially crucial for new recruits to absorb the Wall Street culture.
The Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Raluca Turcan, on Friday told a press conference in Ramnicu Valcea that in Romania the pensions and the minimum salary are very low and, in general, the level of poverty is worrying.

"In Romania the pensions are very low, the minimum salary is very low and, in general, the level of poverty is worrying. And I give you some figures: we have over 900,000 pensioners paid with the minimum pension, we also have 5 million pensioners paid with a medium pension of 1,500 lei and we have 2.7 million pensioners with a pension lower than the medium pension. This means that we have a pension system that makes it impossible for the millions of pensions that receive the money I just mentioned to live a decent life," said Raluca Turcan.

The Minister of Labour also explained the benefits of recalculating small pensions."Therefore, we have started this process which, beyond the inclusion of pension files in an electronic format, will lead to a faster recalculation especially for the lower pensions. This new formula for recalculating pensions that we will propose through changing the legislation will allow small pensions to grow more so that we can reach a balance and equity in the pension system," Turcan said.The Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Raluca Turcan, paid a visit on Friday to Valcea County, to the centres of the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection (DGASPC) and to the Pension House.
Department of Office Furniture (Getty Images)

Thanks to Laocoon for suggesting this tribute to Shirley Williams, who died this month, and who was once secretary of state for prices. I restricted it to the names of actual government departments, rather than ministerial titles or responsibilities (Denis Howell, minister for drought, was a popular one); there was an actual Department of Prices and Consumer Protection, 1974-79. Roy Hattersley was the only other secretary of state.

1. War Office, 1694-1964. Headed by the Secretary at (not for) War, 1661-1794, then by the Secretary of State for War (and the Colonies, 1801-54). Renamed the Ministry of Defence in 1964 by Alec Douglas-Home during his brief premiership. Nominated by Ted Morris, Denis Keefe and Jatroa.

2. Northern Department and Southern Department. In the 18th century a British cabinet consisted of two secretaries of state (compared to 15 today), wrote William Hague in his biography of Pitt the Younger, whose father became Secretary of State for the Southern Department (responsible for domestic affairs, southern Europe and the colonies) in 1756. The Northern Department was responsible for northern Europe, including Russia. The two departments existed from 1660 until they were reorganised as the Foreign and Home offices in 1782. Thanks to Pat Roberts, Jack Tindale, Adrian McMenamin and Tim Durrant.

3. Ministry of Munitions, 1915-21. Created to deal with the shell shortage, with David Lloyd George as its minister, laying his claim to become prime minister in 1916. Thanks to Benjamin Dixon.

4. Ministry of Blockade, 1916-19. Responsible for preventing trade reaching Germany during the First World War. In 1939-45 there was a Ministry of Economic Warfare. Nominated by Mr Memory and Terry Stiastny.

5. Ministry of Information, 1918-46. Based in the Senate House during the Second World War, and the inspiration for the Ministry of Truth in George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nominated by Graham Kirby, Arthur Spirling, Brian Cope and Terry Stiastny.

Story continues

6. Burma Office, 1947-48. The India Office, 1858-1947, was nominated by Rob Jackson and Adam Behr. It included responsibility for Burma since 1937, and a rump of it briefly became the Burma Office, with a secretary of state (William Hare, fifth Earl of Listowel), for a few months until Burmas independence in January 1948. Thanks to Mark Pack and Ryan Flack.

7. Ministry of Materials, 1951-54. Winston Churchill in 1952 responded to a question from an MP who asked what the ministry was for: The duties of the Ministry of Materials continue to be those set out by the late government in command paper 8278. They are, in general, to ensure adequate supplies of the materials there specified. Mr Memory again.

8. Department of Technical Cooperation, 1961-64. An early version of the department for international development. Another from Mr Memory.

9. Department for Children, Schools and Families. (Or for curtains and soft furnishings, as civil servants called it, to try to remember the initials.) Ed Balls the sole secretary of state, 2007-10. Thanks to John Hubbard.

10. Department for Exiting the European Union, 2016-20. The most recent of the oddly named ministries, which had only three secretaries of state: David Davis, Dominic Raab and Stephen Barclay. Nominated by Patrick Rock, Niall, John Oxley, Ian Moss and Right Sided.

Honourable mention for Theo Barclay, who lamented Jeremy Corbyns defeat in 2019, which deprived us of a Ministry for Peace (Fabian Hamilton is still shadow minister for peace and disarmament in Lisa Nandys shadow foreign office team). And for Ryan Flack, who nominated some of Michael Howards shadow cabinet posts: Theresa May as Shadow Secretary of State for the Family; John Redwood as Shadow Secretary of State for Deregulation; and Caroline Spelman as Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs.

Nearly odd enough for inclusion were ministries or departments of or for: Aircraft Production, 1940-45; War Transport, 1941-46; Economic Affairs, 1964-69; National Heritage, 1992-97; Constitutional Affairs, 2003-07; Productivity, Energy, Industry and Science, 2005; and Energy and Climate Change, 2008-16.

There is always one: Vernon Barns pointed out that the Ministry of Sound never had a cabinet minister.

Next week: Joke candidates, so that you will know your Count Binface from your Landless Peasant on 6 May.

Coming soon: Ill-judged breakaways, to mark the sad passing of the European Super League.

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk

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Not enough has changed since Stephen Lawrences murder a reckoning is long overdue
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size At 27, I learnt that my father was not my father. Instead, I am donor-conceived. My world was blown apart. But that seismic discovery would pale in comparison to what happened next. I went on a 10-year journey to discover the truth of my own existence, and what I found out about the fertility industry was truly shocking. I discovered that the fertility clinic of the public Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) in Sydney, which made me, deliberately destroyed donor conception codes: the vital information about which children, and how many, had been made from whom. This included my own donor code. RNSHs fertility clinic later became part of the huge, private IVF Australia. In 2014, I blew the whistle on this in Good Weekend. I would spend years trying to hold those

responsible to account, in vain. And I would realise that RNSH wasnt the only one. I discovered sperm-mixing, egg-swapping, vast batches of siblings and dead women, killed by venereal disease transmitted through donor sperm. I was born in the 1980s, but found studies  including one published as recently as 2013  showing that up to 90 per cent of donor-conceived children in heterosexual families are not even told they are donor-conceived. For many years in Australia, and still to this day in some countries, heterosexual couples were the only ones allowed to use donor conception. In the end, after years of sleuthing, I realised that one of my friends was actually my sister. Rebecca Ronan had first emailed me after she saw me on Australian Story, saying she was also donor-conceived, made at RNSH. She then found out that her donor code, too, was destroyed. We became friends. Shes half Italian. Im half Malaysian Chinese. We look absolutely nothing alike. Two years later, science delivered a truth I would not have otherwise believed: DNA results proved we were half-sisters. Together, Bec and I tracked down the man we thought was our biological father. In 2016, we sent him a letter introducing ourselves and asking him if he was our parent. At the end, we left our email addresses. Sarah Dingle with her half-sister Rebecca Ronan. Credit:Courtesy of Sarah Dingle. That August, an email dropped for Bec and me. It was a reply, a polite, curious mix of the mundane and the earth-shattering. Dear Rebecca and Sarah, Thank you for your recent letter  Sarah, Ive just read the piece about you in Good Weekend in 2014, and was appalled. Not just at the loss of your father, but also at the runaround you got from RNSH.

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He mentioned that his donor code at RNSH was AKH. And he revealed that hed written a letter to his donor children, which he gave to our clinic to pass on years ago, in 1997. It was him. It had to be. Ill call him Steven McKenzie. His donor code was almost the same as the one a former RNSH nurse Id found had dredged from a three-decade-old memory: AKH, not AFH. And  there was a letter? Supposedly waiting for us, for two decades, with IVF Australia? Sarah and Rebecca, I am willing to take a DNA test to determine whether I am your natural father  if the test result is yes, then Ill tell you everything you would like to know. All I could think was: holy shit. Late in 2016, he sent us an email: at 4.30am. Hi Sarah and Rebecca, The DNA test results have arrived. They confirm that I am your natural father. Would you like to meet me? At the bottom of that email was an attachment. It was the letter Steven McKenzie had written to his donor-conceived children. To us. There was even a copy of the photo hed left with the letter. Yes, half of you came from me: your father wanted you but couldnt get you, and it was I who did him the favour he needed most. Yes, I will let you know where that half of you came from. Yes, I will gladly meet you if thats what you want. Yes, I will show you my life, and I will tell you about myself and my relatives. And I will always let you have any medical information you may need 

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That promise of anonymity, so fiercely and maliciously protected by the fertility industry, collapsed. For at least two decades, our biological father had been happy to be identified. He had wanted to meet us, and tell us about our ancestry, his life, our family medical history. He had explicitly consented to all of this, and we had never been told. The problem was not with our donor. The problem was with the gatekeepers, profiteering from our existence, keeping us apart from our own biological parent by dubious means  against both his wishes and ours. In 2020, I would discover that Steven McKenzies original letter to us had been hiding in plain sight. Hed provided a copy to the Donor Conception Support Group, a volunteer-run organisation set up in 1993 which lobbied governments to pass laws protecting donor conception records and to grant donor-conceived people the right to know their biological family. In 2010, the group had included the letter in its lengthy submission to the Australian Senate inquiry into donor conception. (The Senate inquiry came up with some quite good recommendations, none of which were adopted by the federal government. Today there are no federal laws around donor conception, or, in fact, the fertility industry.) My biological fathers personal letter to me, about my own origins, had been on the website of the Parliament of Australia for years. The rest of the goddamn country had received it before I had. I asked IVF Australia and its parent company, ASX-listed Virtus Health, about Steven McKenzies letter and photo, and why he wasnt told that donor-code destruction would make them undeliverable. For reasons of privacy, we cannot make any comment on [Steven McKenzies] specific case, a spokesperson replied. We have never been able to establish with certainty, I wrote to Steven, at what point so many codes were destroyed. The RNSH conducted a somewhat weak investigation and concluded that they were destroyed before March 1984 ... Which would mean that at the time you gave them your letter, they would have known it could never reach anyone.

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Loading My sister, my biological father and me. The three of us arranged to meet in person for the very first time at noon on a sunny spring day. I walked into the Sydney Rowing Club, perched on the Parramatta River, and in the foyer a man stood up. He was formally dressed in a suit and was carrying a briefcase. He had a longish, oval face, a moustache, and wire glasses perched on his nose. Despite all the photos Id seen, I still felt a jolt of disbelief; I saw nothing of me in him. Steven and I sat and made awkwardly pleasant conversation until Bec arrived. Steven was definitely a talker. When Bec walked in, I heaved a sigh of relief: now I could stop trying to hold back the tide. What followed, in fact, turned out to be a tsunami. Steven ricocheted from Brisbane property prices, to medieval history across several countries, to Royal North Shore Hospital and back. It wasnt a free-ranging conversation: it was a free-ranging lecture. Bec and I sat. Around once every half hour or so, one of us would manage a word or two; that would set him off again. He didnt ask us anything about ourselves. I started to get annoyed. Who, upon meeting two of their own children for the very first time, asks them zero questions? Who looks at two of their newly surfaced adult offspring and decides theres nothing to discover? One of the few times he slowed down was when I got a word in and asked him, point-blank, if he was gay. Bec and I had naturally already googled the hell out of him, and Id come across a few hints. I was being provocative, maybe, but I wanted something real, not an unrelenting stream of consciousness. The question made him stop and regard me for a second. Then he spoke more carefully than he had before. Yes, he said. Why do you ask? Well, you grew up in a country town, I said. Was that difficult?

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He relaxed slightly. Yes, he said. I wasnt really open about it until I left. He told us more about that: about his relationship with his parents and his brother. About how he felt upon arrival in Sydneys Kings Cross, a place where nobody asked any questions. And it was good. It was really interesting. He spoke naturally. But gradually he got onto other subjects, the tide rose again, and soon we were riding another impenetrable wave of words. After more than three hours, I made my excuses and left. I went home and shook myself. Later, that night, I spoke to Bec. How long did you stay for? I asked. Oh, probably about eight hours, she replied, in her pleasant way. Eight hours? What on earth did you talk about? Bec said there had been a potted history of France, among other things. I couldnt believe it. Did he ask you anything about yourself?

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Thiruvananthapuram, April 23 : With May 2 fast approaching, when votes will be counted in Kerala, it's all happening as the rival factions have in all earnestness started to do what they know best to rally behind two times former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and present Leader of Opposition and former Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.

"Without doubt, 77 year old Chandy, the last of the pan Kerala popular political personality, on account of the way he carries himself and his vast experience, none can just discount Chennithala, who for the past five years has been doing yeoman service taking on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with ease," opined a media critic.

Moreover, if one looks into the legislative history of the Congress party in the past several decades, it's good news for Chennithala, as all the party's opposition leaders in the assembly went on to become the next Chief Minister, which include, K. Karunakaran, A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy.

Looking back in 2011, when Chandy led the Congress-led UDF in the assembly polls to victory, minutes before the Congress parliamentary party meeting was going to be held to elect the new leader, the call came from AICC headquarters asking Chennithala to inform the media that he is not going to contest for the post and as a result, Chandy without any effort got the post of the chief minister.

Chandy's close aides, however is leaving nothing to chance and has persuaded him at no cost should he willingly move out for Chennithala.

"In the Congress party, the general norm is those who go on to become the parliamentary party leader, when the party's legislators elect, normally gets the green signal from the party high command. In the 92 seats that the Congress party contested in the 140 member assembly, Chandy's well wishers and aides outnumber Chennithala.

Should Chandy's faction get the maximum number of seats, Chandy will definitely go on to become the next chief minister, leaving Chennithala to get the post of deputy CM wielding the Home Portfolio," said a top Congress leader.

Meanwhile Chennithala's camp is burning the midnight oil and is leaving nothing to chance as they know in the scheme of things of the AICC, so far there has been no precedent of sharing the CM's post between two leaders.

Similarly, the AICC has a practise of sending observers to gauge the mood of the winning legislators and also the allies of the Congress-led UDF.

And if there is going to be such an assessment, where the opinion of legislators and allies are taken individually behind closed doors, Chandy is definitely going to be a clear winner and hence, Chennithala and his aides are hoping against hope that the only way is to get maximum winning legislators to raise hands for him.

Meanwhile, Chandy who turned Covid negative last week is presently completing his mandatory quarantine at his residence and his close aides are after him to ensure that he regains his fitness at the earliest, as he was the Opposition's star campaigner, with every candidate requesting his presence, which had drained his energy and with Covid striking, his health was a concern for all.

And with May 2 not that far away, the million dollar question that's going to be there, should the UDF regain power, who would it be, Chandy or Chennithala?

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Significant Growth In State-Sponsored Cyber Attacks

Warfare has entered a new era where attacks are no longer physical but digital, in which nations may deliver cyber attacks with the intent to damage or destroy anothers IT infrastructure.

While the popular perception of hackers are lone wolves operating in isolation, its increasingly common for cyber attacks to have a state-sponsored element, with countries taking to the Internet to wage covert, undercover warfare on others. Whilst the threat of cyber attack was identified by the World Economic Forum in its annual Global Risks Report, they also identified the diminishing willingness to act cooperatively against global challenges. It seems the threat of cyber warfare will not be going away any time soon.

A state-sponsored cyber attack usually has one of three objectives:

Probing for and exploiting national infrastructure vulnerabilities.

Gathering intelligence.

Exploiting money from systems and people.

Some APTs are military or intelligence units under formal state direction, while others are independent hackers operating with tacit government backing.

America First

One of the most sophisticated APTs, the Equation Group, is widely believed to be run by the US National Security Agency, while the Stuxnet worm, believed to be a joint Israeli-American attack against Irans nuclear programme, was able to damage uranium enrichment centrifuges in 2010.

In March 2021 the head of US Cyber Command testified that the organisation had conducted more than two dozen operations to confront foreign threats ahead of the 2020 US elections, including eleven forward hunt operations in nine different countries.

North Korean Cyberwar Exploits

In February this year the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against three members of North Korean military intelligence, accusing them of being members of the Lazarus Group. The indictment details a long list of crimes in addition to the Sony hack and WannaCry. The Lazarus Group has pulled off audacious thefts from banks around the world, hacking into their systems and sending money into accounts it controls.

The Lazarus Group is considered an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), the term given to hacker groups that operate with state backing. Security companies give them names, numbers or both: Lazarus is APT38, while APT37 is another North Korean group that focuses on attacking South Korea.

Nobody knows how North Korea trains its elite hackers. Parts of the WannaCry worm showed signs of being written in Chinese, which could suggest that China helps, or could just be a coincidence. Some North Koreans likely study in the West, too, using South Korean identities and passports.

North Korea is far from alone in sponsoring hacking, but other states have different priorities.

Chinese Espionage

China has the most known APTs, and its state-sponsored hacking tends to focus on espionage, both government and corporate, rather than theft. Recently, Microsoft accused Chinas Hafnium APT of breaking into the email servers of 250,000 organisations since the beginning of the year, including the European Banking Authority and Norways parliament.

Russian Expertise In Cyberwar

Russia's state-sponsored hackers are accused of numerous cyber attacks aimed at diminishing western elections, hacking into key infrastructure and releasing confidential information into the public domain. Most famous of all is APT29, better known as Cozy Bear, was revealed as the perpetrator of a sophisticated hack attack of software company SolarWinds in December.

By installing a hidden backdoor in SolarWinds products, hackers were able to gain access to dozens of government agencies and companies that used the compromised tools.

The louder, brasher cousin APT28, known as Fancy Bear, was behind the hacks on the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons presidential election campaign.

Iranian Shape Shifters

Iranian APTs conduct espionage on military organisations in the Middle East and beyond, trying to steal weapons plans and occasionally sabotaging infrastructure. Iran was accused of trying to poison Israels water last April by hacking into a water plant and boosting the levels of chlorine.

APTs from at least three of these countries were caught hacking vaccine research facilities last year, either to steal data or sabotage development efforts, however, its not only non-western states that run APTs against their opponents.

Ultimately, cyber attacks are a means, not an end . Some APTs are conducting classic espionage and want our data. Some are seeking to sow discord and damage their opponents political systems.

How Should The World Respond ?

The US government has started treating APT groups like common criminals, naming and indicting their members, and arresting them, even if theyre uniformed officers of a countrys armed forces. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has created a National Cyber Force in 2020, pulling experts from MI6, GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence together into a single command.

The UK Integrated Review of security, defence, development and foreign policy, published recently, envisions the National Cyber Force working to impose costs on our adversaries, deny their ability to harm UK interests, and make the UK 'a more difficult operating environment.

Given the growing threat of cyber warfare, there have been calls for a cyber Geneva Convention to oversee the use of cyber weapons around the world. Just as it took the horrors of World War II to bring about the Geneva Convention, it will perhaps take a catastrophic cyber breach to encourage the world to cooperate sufficiently to bring about a cyber specific version.

WEF: Spectator: CSIS: EC Council: Cyber News: Quostar:

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Cyber Warfare Creates Ghosts In Our Machines:
The archive collection of Portarlington historian Ronnie Mathews has been acquired by Laois County Council for the people of the county.

Mr Mathews, a well-known historian and author of several books on Portarlington, had collected documents, maps and artefacts relating to the town over his whole life, and the collection also includes some items collected by his father Jack Mathews Snr and Grandfather George Mathews.

The Mathews family ran a bakery in Portarlington for many years, and the collection includes ledgers and account books from that business, which will shed a fascinating light on many aspects of life in Portarlington in the past.

Among the interesting artefacts are a series of glass negative photograph slides showing all aspects of Irish life dating from around 1910, a cannon ball reputed to be from the site of Lea Castle outside Portarlington, and a hand painted chess board with the crest of the Dawson family of Emo Court. The documents include a map of Patrick Street dated 1889 and a large collection of postcards by Wynne of Portarlington, also showing Maryborough Mountmellick, Monasterevin and more.

More below picture of the late Ronnie Matthews

Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council welcomed the acquisition.

Laois County Council is so grateful to the Mathews family for their dedication to collecting and keeping safe this wonderful archive which tells us so much about life in Laois and in Portarlington in particular, in days gone by. It will be a wonderful resource for researchers and a great way to honour the memory of Ronnie Mathews.

Tim Mathews, Ronnies son, had the honour of presenting the collection to Laois County Council.

My dad had been collecting and researching for over 50 years, and it was a dream of his to establish a museum in Portarlington. He loved the town and all that came with it, like his Grandad George who made the 1920s movie films , and his father Jack snr, who had a museum on the main street in 1966 to commemorate 100 years of family business in the town. On behalf of the family we are honoured to have Ronnie remembered in this way and thank everyone involved in making this happen, she said.

More below picture of Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council pictured with a chessboard painted in oils by Lord Arlington from Emo Estate, presented to Laois County Council as part of the Ronnie Mathews Collection.

The material will now be carefully archived and catalogued by the Laois County Library Service, and arrangements made for any necessary conservation.

Bernie Foran, County Librarian for Laois is looking forward to cataloguing the collection.

We are delighted to be acquiring this very valuable collection of archival material and artefacts for the people of Laois. Funding has been made available through the Creative Ireland Programme for essential archiving and cataloguing work, as we prepare the material to be made available for research and for future display.

"The theme of the Creative Ireland programme in Laois is Sense of Place and we aim to create a county in which culture and creativity are recognised as integral to life with opportunities for everyone in the county to become involved in creativity and culture. The Ronnie Mathews Collection is a perfect example of how cultural material can assist in developing and understanding our sense of place, she said.

The Council says the acquisition of the Ronnie Mathews Collection follows the announcement of funding through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund for conservation and regeneration of the historic Market Square in Portarlington, with plans for the conservation and reuse of the Market House in the square, which has been leased by Laois County Council

Chief Executive of Laois County Council John Mulholland said the collection has value to the entire county.

The heritage of Portarlington and its historic Market House and Market Square are vital parts of the story of the town. This collection will assist us in telling and interpreting the story of Portarlington and I greatly welcome the acquisition of the Ronnie Mathews Collection, which has a countywide and indeed national significance, he said.

Portarlington-based county councillor Aidan Mullins. was also pleased with the move. He looked forward to it being put on public display as the Ronnie and the Matthews family have wished.

"Great news this week with confirmation that Laois County Council has acquired the archive of the late Ronnie Mathews. This extensive paper archive from the local historian and businessman relates to all aspects of the life and history of Portarlington during the last century and before. It was collected meticulously by Ronnie over his lifetime.

"This is of enormous historical value to the town and the people of Laois. Funding from the Creative Ireland fund has been allocated to catalogue and conserve the material with a view to having some of it on public display.

"Tim Mathews, son of the late Ronnie, told me that his father hoped many years ago that the archive would be displayed publicly in the town, and his hope was that the Market House in the Square would be available for this purpose.

"His wishes can finally come true with the proposed regeneration and refurbishment of the Market House as a public space and I believe it will be an ideal location for the display of such an archive," he said.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Several years of research and development are behind the News Evaluator, a tool that teaches an evidence-based method for online source criticism. The tool has now been launched in English and Swedish versions for use by those wanting to teach source criticism, as well as anyone wanting to learn how to evaluate the credibility of online news themselves.

"Research has shown that anyone can be tricked by fake news, regardless of whether they are a professor or teenager. But it has also shown that there is a reliable method for determining the credibility of news, which we have now "packaged" into a free and simple tool for anyone to use," said Thomas Nygren, associate professor at Uppsala University in Sweden and lead researcher for the News Evaluator.

The News Evaluator project started in 2017 as a mass experiment run as part of European Researchers' Night in Sweden, in which thousands of pupils in Sweden helped to assess the credibility of their news feeds. At that time, terms such as alternative facts and fake news were starting to be regularly used in societal debate.

"The results of the mass experiment showed that the Swedish pupils were mainly accessing credible sources, and that they could use the tool to make valid assessments of the credibility of the news items," commented Thomas Nygren.

New self-test

Subsequently, two more mass experiments were conducted, firstly, to assess political news in the run up to the Swedish general election in 2018, and, secondly, with pupils in Denmark in 2019. Parallel to this, the researchers were investigating what the pupils were learning from using the tool, which aspects of source criticism were the most challenging and how to design the tool to produce the best results.

"The whole project has been a close collaboration between researchers, teachers and pupils, in which everyone has contributed to the development of the tool. Now we plan to promote the tool so it can be used more widely both in Sweden and abroad," said Hanna Mellin, Project Coordinator for the News Evaluator at the non-profit Swedish organization VA (Public & Science).

The latest addition to the News Evaluator is a self-test, whereby the user is given the task to determine the credibility of nine real news items shared via social media. Halfway through the test, some feedback is given along with some short instructional videos on how to conduct a news evaluation. The user can then try out their new knowledge on several more news items.

Explore further New tool makes students better at detecting fake imagery and videos

More information: For more information, see For more information, see nyhetsvarderaren.se/in-english/

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A machete-wielding burglar was fought off by a worker with a plank of wood, captured in dramatic CCTV footage.

Haiwa Ezzeddine Mohammed, 35, can be seen fleeing empty-handed after being chased off by the brave worker at an industrial estate in Birmingham.

CCTV footage shows the man arrived for work on the morning of July 25, 2019 and bumping into Mohammed as he used a fence post to smash open a safe.

Haiwa Mohammed captured on CCTV confronting a person arriving early for work with a machete

A brave member of the public fended off a machete wielding burglar with a plank of wood - and his evidence helped police secure a jail term against the violent thief

The crook had been part of a gang who earlier broken into a Birmingham city centre convenience store having cut through the ceiling.

They fled with 15,000 of cigarettes, cash and the security box before Mohammed tried to break open the safe at the unit in the Handsworth area of the city.

The thug attempting to scare off the Good Samaritan as he grabbed a machete from his white Mercedes getaway car and ran towards him swinging the blade.

But he hadn't counted on the fearless man standing his ground and taking him on with a piece of wood he picked up from the ground.

The security camera footage shows Mohammed backing away and then running off before the man called police to report the group.

Officers traced Mohammed's car and seven days later arrested him at his home in Tipton, West Mids.

The 35-year-old tried scaring off the Good Samaritan as he grabbed a machete from his white Mercedes getaway car and ran towards him swinging the blade. But he hadn't banked on the fearless man standing his ground

Haiwa Mohammed was jailed for four years at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, April 19

A search of the vehicle uncovered tools used in the burglary plus cash and Viagra tablets also stolen from the shop.

His phone was also found to contain a video he took of his 32-year-old accomplice, who was previously jailed for 40 months, breaking into the stolen safe.

West Midlands Police found the trainers he was seen wearing in the CCTV at his home.

Mohammed denied burglary, going equipped for burglary and making threats with a bladed article but was found guilty following a four-day trial.

He was jailed for four years at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, April 19.

The courageous worker, who police have not named, has now been nominated for a bravery award by the force.

PC Mat Evans, from Birmingham Police, said: 'He showed incredible bravery in being able to fend off the gang, and ended up chasing them all off despite being outnumbered and facing a terrifying weapon.

'We are nominating him for a police bravery award.

'Not only did he demonstrate incredible bravery in defending himself, but his evidence was vital to pulling the whole case together to secure a conviction against a violent crook.'
The death toll from the killings in Zamfara State is rising as reports from communities indicated that at least 90 corpses have so far been buried while many persons remain unaccounted for after the latest round of mayhem.

Reports of the attacks were given by displaced persons, officials and residents of the affected communities.

The state government has also shut down four major markets to prevent fresh reprisal attacks by vigilante members.

The government was, however, silent on the casualty figures as it called on the security agencies to do more to provide security in vulnerable communities.

Residents of Magami said they buried over 60 corpses on Friday morning, after earlier reporting the recovery of 53 bodies. They said many residents were still missing and feared killed.

The Chief Imam of the town, Sanusi Naibi, presided over the funeral prayer. Most of the corpses were brought in from surrounding villages but some resident said remote areas that could not move their corpses to the town held separate funeral prayers and burials.

Gusau Local Government Area is the worst affected because the assailants attacked to kill and not loot, a local source said.

Closure of markets

Meanwhile, the state government has ordered four markets shut down until further notice, to avert fresh attacks. Vigilante groups usually target suspected bandits at cattle markets to avenge attacks on agrarian communities.

They are Magami Market in Gusau Local Government, Dansadau Market in Maru Local Government, Wanke Market in Gusau Local Government and Dauran Market in Zurmi Local Government.

Security agencies are hereby directed to ensure strict compliance. They are also ordered to deal, ruthlessly, with anyone found violating law and order within and around the affected markets, the states commissioner for information, Ibrahim Dosara, said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Dosara said the government noted with dismay, the callous act of terrorism meted to innocent people carrying out their legitimate businesses.

He said the government had directed its Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to urgently mobilise to the affected communities and provide relief materials to the families of the victims.

The commissioner lamented that the current violence happened when the state government was recording progress in its efforts to restore peace and security in the state.

He said the governor, Bello Matawalle, had also implored security agencies in the state to collaborate to provide security to the areas and across the state.

Absence of security agents

Residents said the attacks had persisted due to the absence of security agents in the most affected areas. They said this has encouraged extrajudicial killings and reprisal attacks between vigilante members and bandits.

They said the assailants carried sophisticated weapons and raided the villages on motorbikes, adding that most of the villages had been deserted following incessant attacks until some villagers started returning for the farming season.

Most of the attacks, which appeared coordinated, happened on Tuesday and Wednesday in Gusau, Maradun, Bakura and Maru local government areas of the restive North-west state.

The affected communities are Gora, Rini and Madoti Dankule of Maradun and Bakura local government areas.

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In the Magami district of Gusau Local Government Area, the affected communities include Kango, Ruwan Dawa, Madaba, Arzikin Da and Mairairai, the closest of which is seven kilometres from Gusau town.

Also affected are Yarzaiga, Yar-Doka and Gobirawa in Dansadau district of Maru Local government Area.

PREMIUM TIMES had, the day before the latest round of attacks, reported apprehension in the Dansadau district of Maru Local Government Area following the killing of 20 people in separate attacks by rival groups in the area.

The sole administrator of Bakura local government, Aminu Suleiman, had told reporters that over 30 people were killed in Bakura and Maradun.

Mr Suleiman said the deaths were recorded over days of reprisal attacks between members of outlawed vigilante groups and bandits.
Behind round, wire-rimmed glasses, Jose Chavezs eyes flicked between his mother and his hands on his lap.

His lungs  new, to him  issued shallow breaths as he spoke slowly about his experience with COVID-19, which he contracted in September 2020. He was 16 then, and only a few days back in virtual high school.

Now 17, Jose underwent a double lung transplant in January, making him one of the youngest COVID transplants in the world, according to his surgeon, Dr. Gabriel Loor, surgical director of lung transplantation at Baylor St. Lukes Medical Center.

The doctors were saying that his lungs were like rocks, said his mother, Ana, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the same time as her son. She was never hospitalized for her infection.

A year into the coronavirus pandemic, COVID transplants are becoming more common for patients who get over the initial infection but cant breathe without the help of a ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO), Loor said.

But lung transplants, even for COVID-19, are exceedingly rare for 17-year-old boys.

Much about Joses case is rare, said Loor. No. 1, hes a younger patient, and No. 2, the patient neither died from COVID, and he didnt recover either, Loor said. He was somewhere in between.

On HoustonChronicle.com: One Houston surgeon. Three sisters. Five knee replacements.

COVID-19 hit four out of five members of the Chavez family last fall.

Though theyre not sure where it originated, Joses father was the first to feel sick and test positive. From there, Jose, his mother and younger brother felt symptoms and took numerous COVID tests.

Compared to Jose, the rest of his family had mild cases. But he ran a 105-degree fever for several days  Tylenol and fluids did nothing to help, his mother said.

About eight days after his positive COVID test, the Brownsville teen was admitted to a hospital. And while he was moved to hospitals in three different cities  Harlingen, San Antonio and Houston  one thing remained constant for the following five months: He lived in a hospital bed.

He lost his ability to discern place and time, his mother said. On the rare occasions when he opened his eyes, Jose would groggily ask where he was.

The answer always came: In the hospital. But he didnt understand why.

Because you got very sick. The COVID never went away, his mother would reply, adding that the condition of his lungs had only worsened.

Even as the infection abated, Jose didnt get better, much to his doctors confusion.

Jose was an active teenager, playing tenor saxophone in his high schools marching band  an activity that requires lung fitness. As a young child, he had mild asthma but never required an inhaler.

Within the first few weeks in a hospital, Jose was intubated and placed on a ventilator that breathed for him. After his transfer to San Antonio, he was placed on ECMO support, which meant he breathed through an artificial lung.

By early 2021, the COVID staff at St. Lukes in Houston had begun developing its own practices for the 100 to 150 longterm patients on ECMO support.

When the process works right, ECMO patients recover slowly, until theyre removed from that machine. Typically, they remain on the ventilator for a while longer. Once theyre removed from the ventilator, they are slowly weaned off additional oxygen, Loor said.

But Chavezs case was a stalemate, Loor said. Though his health wasnt improving, the boy was well enough to be placed on a lung transplant list.

On RenewHouston.com: This man can breathe again through the use of 3D printing technology and a good surgeon

And more evidence pointed toward his need for new lungs. Though the virus was no longer in his body, it wreaked so much havoc that the aftermath on Joses lungs would lead to irreversible lung damage and chronic lung disease, Loor said.

Without the transplants, it was likely Jose would be connected to an ECMO machine to stay alive, Loor added.

Loor began reaching out to transplant programs across the country to learn how they handled similar patients. While there is no official COVID transplant registry yet, everything Loor learned from the small network of transplantation surgeons worldwide leads him to believe Jose could be the nations youngest double-lung transplant.

Joses young age has been a silver lining in terms of his transplant surgery and recovery, Loor said.

He has more reserve than the average person that has suffered from a chronic respiratory illness for many years, Loor said. If he happened to be older, undergoing a transplant surgery stresses the body. Younger patients are up and out of bed in a day or two.

Joses age and activity levels before he was sick helped him take deeper breaths and move quickly, Loor said. His younger body will likely respond better to immunosuppression medications he will need to take for the rest of his life.

About three weeks after his surgery, Jose was finally discharged to live in a Houston rental house with his family for 95 days. He follows up with his doctor every two weeks and practices physical therapy for his newfound balance issues.

Loor believes that younger patients who receive transplants use good judgment and understand the risks of taking immunosuppression medicine, such as having a lower immune response.

They can even go parachuting, on expeditions or hikes, Loor said. He can really go about living a normal life, which is what we really want, if he is cautious and takes his immunosuppression medicine.

On HoustonChronicle.com: 'I was too young.' After a heart attack at 29, a Port Neches man is rebuilding his health

At times, the last seven months have felt unreal to Jose  from the long hospital stay to living in Houston to taking new medications that work to keep his body from rejecting his new lungs.

Hes ready to return to the Valley and attend his senior year virtually, he said. His mother is hesitant to let any of her three sons return to in-person school after Joses ordeal.

From his cellphone, Jose shows off pictures of his transplant surgery proudly. He was interested in the medical field before his experience with COVID, and his surgery has solidified that goal.

I want to be a surgeon, he said.

julie.garcia@chron.com

Twitter.com/reporterjulie
YEREVAN, 23 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 23 April, USD exchange rate down by 0.35 drams to 521.89 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.25 drams to 629.24 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.08 drams to 6.94 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.73 drams to 724.44 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 195.57 drams to 29996.93 drams. Silver price up by 6.25 drams to 441.29 drams. Platinum price up by 372.52 drams to 20369.89 drams.
Joe Biden's first overseas trip as president will be a trip to the UK and Belgium in June, the White House has revealed.

Biden will attend the Group of Seven summit in St Ives, Cornwall, England, set for June 11-13, followed by a visit to Brussels, where he will hold meetings with European Union leadership and attend the June 14 summit of leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The meetings with the United States' closest allies come as Biden has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit in the coming months in a third country, though no date has yet been set.

Most recent American presidents have selected North American neighbors for their first cross-border trips, though former President Donald Trump, whose penchant for unilateral action and open skepticism of the NATO alliance unsettled American allies, made his first overseas stop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For Biden, the first trip is meant to turn the page from Trump's approach to alliances.

President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Friday, April 23, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

'Its both a practical chance to connect with key allies and partners on shared opportunities and challenges,' said Yohannes Abraham, the chief of staff and executive secretary of the National Security Council, in an interview with the AP.

'But also its an illustration of something that the president has been clear about that the transatlantic alliance is back, that revitalizing it is a key priority of his, and that the transatlantic relationship is a strong foundation on which our collective security and shared prosperity are built.'

Biden, for his part, held 'virtual bilateral' meetings with the leaders of Canada and Mexico in February and March, respectively.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson feeds a lamb, as part of a Conservative party local election visit at Moor Farm in Stoney Middleton, England, Friday, April 23, 2021. Biden will meet with G7 leaders in Cornwall, England

The June trip will follow after Biden's first in-person bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the White House last week and next month's planned visit by President Moon Jae-in of South Korea.

The announcement comes shortly after the conclusion of Bidens two-day virtual climate summit, in which he received praise from leaders, particularly those in Europe, for returning the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement and reengaging on a host of other issues of shared concern.

The trip will mark the most ambitious travel schedule yet for Biden since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as the president has sought to model safe behavior for the nation.

It comes as the U.S. has stepped up its travel warnings for much of the world due to the virus. Both the U.K. and Belgium are listed by the State Department under level four, the highest, 'do not travel' advisory, and are the subject of specific prohibitions preventing most travel to the U.S. by noncitizens.

The White House said it is working closely with host countries to ensure the safety of all attendees at the summits.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month lifted quarantine guidance for international travel for those fully vaccinated for COVID-19, but still recommends that vaccinated individuals returning from overseas monitor their symptoms and take a test 3-5 days after returning to the U.S.

Biden has refrained from a heavy travel load amid his 100-day pandemic push  but he has taken multiple trips to his home in Wilmington.

On Thursday, he and first lady Jill Biden will fly to Atlanta, the White House announced Thursday.
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Russia kicked off large-scale military exercises in Crimea on Thursday amid escalated tensions with Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had arrived in the peninsula to oversee the drills involving troops from the country's Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces.

More than 10,000 soldiers and over 1,200 units of weapons and military equipment, including 40 warships and 20 supporting vessels, will participate in the exercises.

The main stage of the drills, part of nationwide combat readiness checks, will be carried out at the Opuk training ground near the Crimean cities of Feodosia and Kerch later on Thursday.
HOUSTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oasis Petroleum Inc. (Nasdaq: OAS) ("Oasis" or the "Company") plans to announce its First Quarter 2021 financial and operational results on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at market close. Additionally, the Company will host a live webcast and conference call on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. Central Time to discuss First Quarter 2021 financial and operational results.

Investors, analysts and other interested parties are invited to listen to the webcast:

Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021 Time: 10:30 a.m. Central Time Live Webcast: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1052/41035

Sell-side analysts wishing to ask a question may use the following dial-in:

Dial-in: 888-317-6003 Intl. Dial-in: 412-317-6061 Conference ID: 4851697 Website: www.oasispetroleum.com

A recording of the conference call will be available beginning at 12:00 p.m. Central Time on the day of the call and will be available until Thursday, May 13, 2021 by dialing:

Replay dial-in: 877-344-7529 Intl. replay: 412-317-0088 Replay access: 10155731

The call will also be available for replay for approximately 30 days at www.oasispetroleum.com.

Additionally, Oasis Petroleum and Oasis Midstream Partners plan to participate in the following energy conferences and investor events:

May 11: Citi 2021 Global Energy & Utilities Conference May 19: Energy Infrastructure Council Conference June 2: Wells Fargo Virtual Energy Conference June 8: RBC Global Energy and Power Infrastructure Conference June 9: Stifel Virtual Cross Sector Insight Conference June 10: TPH Hotter 'N Hell Conference June 22: J.P. Morgan Energy, Power & Renewables Conference

About Oasis Petroleum Inc.

Oasis Petroleum, Inc. is an independent exploration and production company with quality and sustainable long-lived assets in the Williston and Delaware Basins. The Company is uniquely positioned with a best-in-class balance sheet and is focused on rigorous capital discipline and generating free cash flow by operating efficiently, safely and responsibly to develop its unconventional onshore oil-rich resources in the continental United States. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.oasispetroleum.com.

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SOURCE Oasis Petroleum Inc.
In the wake of the leak



tragedy in that claimed 22 lives, the authorities in Pune have asked all the government, civic-run and private hospitals in the district to conduct a third-party safety audit of the supply system located in their premises.

Pune District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh issued an order to this effect on Thursday.

All the government, civic-run as well as private hospitals should carry out a third-party safety audit of the supply system to ensure that the plant, oxygen supply mechanism, and other technical things are safe and in good position, the order said.

The hospitals later need to inform the civic bodies and the district administration by sending letters that their oxygen supply system is safe and secure.

Twenty-two COVID-19 patients, who were either on ventilator or oxygen support, suffocated to death on Wednesday when their oxygen supply stopped suddenly because of a malfunction in the main storage at a civic-run hospital at in Maharashtra.

(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.)
Noting a considerable amount of discomfort with the public and at least one BZA member at the last meeting about the traffic, Fowler presented information on collisions on U.S. 20 in the vicinity and said that between 2015 and 2021, there had been seven collisions and no deaths, and five of those were related to animals in the road. He said there was a fatality in June 2010.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 14:13:15|Editor: huaxia

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Saifullah Khan Nyazee, chief organizer of Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, receives an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on March 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s secret to success in governance over the past decades lies in its people-oriented development philosophy and its walking the talk in a relentless pursuit of happiness for the Chinese people, foreign party leaders and officials said ahead of the 100th anniversary of the CPC's establishment.

Such a philosophy has been specially reflected in remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping that "for the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being," they said.

During a visit to Italy in March 2019, asked about how he felt about being Chinese president, Xi told President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico that governing such a huge country requires a strong sense of responsibility and hard work.

"For the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being. I am willing to be selfless and devote myself to China's development," Xi said.

Saifullah Khan Nyazee, chief organizer of Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has found such remarks particularly impressive.

"I think what he means is that he will work for the well-being of his people selflessly, where he himself doesn't matter," Nyazee told Xinhua.

"Dedicating his life to the people to bring up their well-being, that can only be done by a selfless man. He's a selfless man who has worked for his nation. We need such leaders all across the world," Nyazee said.

Communist Party of Britain General Secretary Robert Griffiths also felt the CPC's strong sense of responsibility and commitment to the Chinese people.

The CPC is "a party of the people that has been very flexible in its tactics and strategies, but also firm in its principles. It is a communist party that aims to build socialism," he said.

In the eyes of former Nigerian Foreign Minister Aminu Bashir Wali, who became interested in China as early as in the 1960s, the CPC has built an effective governing system that allows the party to know what the majority of the Chinese people want.

"The CPC represents the sum total of the aspirations of the Chinese people," Wali said.

To many foreign party leaders and officials, the CPC's people-oriented development philosophy bears great significance not only for China, but also for the rest of the world.

Good governance carried out by the CPC has played a critical role in the country's rapid development and contributed to building a multi-polarized world, said Maria Teresa Mola, vice-president of the Party of the European Left and a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China has provided assistance to countries in need, she told Xinhua, adding Xi's remarks in 2019 were not only spoken to the Chinese people, but also to people around the world.

Politicians across the world also noted that the CPC has put the country's development at the center of its work, and has been playing a crucial role in the country's growth, citing China's success in ending absolute poverty as one of the many examples.

Hailing China's elimination of absolute poverty as a remarkable feat, Juha-Pekka Vaisanen, chairperson of the Communist Party of Finland, praised the CPC's fundamental purpose of "serving the people wholeheartedly."

"Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government has successfully integrated public opinion with policy-making, and promoted people's livelihood through economic development," former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Xinhua.

"I think China could become a model for many countries," added Lula, also founder of Brazil's Workers' Party.

To Olzhas Syzdykov, secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Party of Kazakhstan, the CPC has offered a new governance approach to building a more just society, allowing the country to use the accumulated capital to satisfy more social needs, so as to not only bake a bigger cake but divide it in a much fairer way.

"The Chinese people are united under the leadership of the CPC. They have been able to accomplish what those developed countries cannot do," said Syzdykov. Enditem
Holiness is not only for some specialists of the divine, but rather it is the vocation of all believers, the Holy Father said in a video message addressed to participants in the International Conference Mujer excepcional (Exceptional Woman) which took place on 12-15 April and marked the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Teresa of Avila as Doctor of the Church. The following is a translation of the Popes message, which he offered in Spanish.

I greet the participants in the university congress that is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Teresa of Jesus as Doctor of the Church.

The expression exceptional woman, which gives the title to your meeting, was used by Saint Paul vi .1 . We are before a person who stood out in many dimensions. However, it should not be forgotten that her recognized relevance in these dimensions is nothing more than the consequence of what was important to her: her encounter with the Lord, her determined determination, as she said, to persevere in union with him through prayer,2 her firm intention to carry out the mission that had been entrusted to her by the Lord, to whom she offered herself with simplicity saying, in that simple, and one might even call it rustic language: I am yours, for You I was born, / What do you want of me?.3 Teresa of Jesus is exceptional, first of all, because she is holy. Her docility to the Spirit united her to Christ and she remained all afire with the love of God.4 She expressed her experience with beautiful words, saying: Already I gave myself completely,/ and have changed in such a way,/ That my Beloved is for me,/ and I am for my Beloved..5 Jesus had taught that out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks (Lk 6:45). The audacity, creativity and excellence of Saint Teresa as a reformer are the fruit of the inner presence of the Lord.

We say that we are not experiencing an epoch of changes, but an epochal change.6 And in this sense, our times share many similarities with those of the 16th century in which the Saint lived. As then, today too Christians are called to ensure that, through us, the power of the Holy Spirit may continue to renew the face of the ground (cf. Ps 104:30 ), in the certainty that after all, it is saints who allow the world to advance and approach its ultimate goal.

It is good to remember the universal call to holiness of which the Second Vatican Council spoke (cf. LG 39-42). that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ.... They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. Thus says number 40 of Lumen Gentium. Holiness is not only for some specialists of the divine, but rather it is the vocation of all believers. It is through Baptism that we receive the union with Christ, which mystics like Saint Teresa experience in a special way by pure grace. The saints stimulate and motivate us, but they are not there for us to literally try to copy them. Holiness is not copied, for that could even lead us astray from the one specific path that the Lord has in mind for us. The important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path,7 each of us has his or her own journey of holiness, of encounter with the Lord.

In fact, Saint Teresa herself warned her nuns that prayer is not to experience extraordinary things, but to unite ourselves to Christ. And the works of charity are the sign that this union is real. This is the reason for prayer, my daughters, the purpose of the spiritual marriage: the birth always of good works.8, she said in The Interior Castle. And before that in the same book, she had warned: When I see people very anxious to know what sort of prayer they practise, covering their faces and afraid to move or think lest they should lose any slight tenderness and devotion they feel, I know how little they understand how to attain union with God since they think it consists in such things as these. No, sisters, no; our Lord expects works from us. If you see a sick sister whom you can relieve, never fear losing your devotion; have compassion. This is the true union of our will with the will of God.9 In The Interior Castle, she also said this: in short, a persons perfection is measured not by the information or knowledge they possess, but by the depth of their charity,10 and other similar things.

Saint Teresa teaches us that the path that made her an exceptional woman and a person of reference throughout the centuries, the path of prayer, is open to all those who humbly open themselves to the action of the Spirit in their lives, and that the sign that we are advancing on this path is to be ever more humble, more attentive to the needs of our brothers and sisters, better children of the holy People of God. Such a path is not open to those who consider themselves to be pure and perfect, the Cathars of all the centuries, but to those who, aware of their sins, discover the beauty of the mercy of God who welcomes and redeems everyone, and invites everyone to friendship. It is interesting that the consciousness of ones own condition as a sinner is what opens the door to the path of holiness. Saint Teresa, who considered herself very weak and wretched  this is how she described herself  recognized that Gods goodness is greater than all the evil we can do, and he remembers not our ingratitude.... Remember his words and see what he has done for me, she said, who first wearied of offending him before he ceased forgiving me. We are first to weary of offending God, of walking in strange ways, rather than God of forgiving us. He never grows tired of forgiving. We get tired of asking for forgiveness, and therein lies the danger. The Lord is never weary of giving and never can [his] mercies be exhausted. Let us not tire of receiving,11 opening our hearts with humility. One of her favourite passages of Scripture was the first verse of Psalm 89, which in a sense, she made her motto for life: I will sing forever the mercies of the Lord. That mercy of God.

Prayer made Saint Teresa an exceptional woman, a creative and innovative woman. Starting from prayer, she discovered the ideal of fraternity that she wanted to make a reality in the convents she founded: all must be friends with each other, love each other, be fond of each other and help each other.12 And when I see quarrels in a convent, inside a convent, or quarrels between convents, I am from here, I am from there, I interpret this way, I accept this from the Church, I do not accept this the poor nuns have forgotten their Foundress, what she taught them. In prayer she felt treated as a bride and friend of the risen Christ. Through prayer she opened herself to hope. And I want to finish this greeting with this thought. Like Teresa, Doctor of the Church, we are experiencing a difficult time, one that is not easy at all, that requires Gods faithful friends, strong friends.13 The great temptation is to give in to disappointment, resignation, the foreboding and unfounded omen that everything will go wrong. That infertile pessimism, this pessimism of people who are incapable of giving life. Some people, frightened by these thoughts, tend to shut themselves off, to take refuge in little things. I remember the example of a convent, in which all the nuns had sought refuge in little things. The convent was called Saint ... I will not say who, and was in a city, but they called it the Convent trifle, trifle, trifle, because they were all locked up in trifling matters, as a refuge, in selfish projects that do not build community, but rather destroy it. Instead, prayer opens us, it allows us to appreciate that God is great, that he is beyond the horizon, that God is good, that he loves us and that history is not getting out of hand. We may be walking through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps 23:4); do not be afraid if the Lord is with you. He never stops walking by our side and leading us to the goal that we all long for: eternal life. We can have the courage to do great things, because we know that we are favoured by God.14 And with him, we are capable of facing any challenge, because in reality his company alone is what our hearts desire and what gives us the fullness and joy from which we were created. The Saint summarized this in a well-known prayer which I invite you to pray frequently:

Let nothing disturb you,

let nothing frighten you,

all things pass away

God never changes;

patience obtains all things,

whoever has God lacks nothing.

God alone suffices!



May Jesus bless you, and the Virgin and Saint Joseph accompany you. And please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.





[1] Homily on the Proclamation of Saint Teresa of Jesus as Doctor of the Church, 27 September 1970.

[2] Cf. Saint Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection.

[3] Saint Teresa of Jesus, I am Yours and born for You, The Complete Poetry of St. Teresa of Avila.

[4] Cf. The Book of my Life.

[5] Saint Teresa of Jesus, I am Yours and born for You, The Complete Poetry of St. Teresa of Avila.

[6] Cf. Address to the Roman Curia on the occasion of the Christmas greetings, 21 December 2019.

[7] Cf. Gaudete et Exsultate, 11.

[8] The Interior Castle, VII, 4.6.

[9] The Interior Castle, V, 3,11.

[10] Gaudete et Exsultate, 37.

[11] Saint Teresa of Jesus, The Book of my Life, Chapter 19, n. 15.

[12] Saint Teresa of Jesus, Path of Perfection, Chap. 4 n. 7.

[13] Cf. Saint Teresa of Jesus, The Book of my Life, Chapter 15, n. 5.

[14] Cf. The Book of my Life, Chapter 10.3: Without God nothing can be done  cannot, in my opinion, be purchased with all the labours of the world, because of the great gain it brings us. And what greater gain can we have than some testimony of our having pleased God?.
He was a presence in the childhood of many Australians, and on Friday, Johnny Young returned to TV.

The 74-year-old former Young Talent Time host appeared on Studio 10 to mark the 50th anniversary of the iconic music show.

Sitting alongside one of the show's alums, Beven Addinsall, Johnny reflected on the hit series, which first aired in 1971 and launched the careers of stars such as Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena.

Now and then: He was a presence in the childhood of many Australians, and on Friday, Johnny Young returned to TV

'It wasn't just for five minutes, it was for 18 years, and for 18 years, we were on every week,' he recounted, describing his time on the show as 'fantastic'.

While Johnny first appeared on the show as a fresh-faced 24-year-old and has inevitably aged in the 50 years since it first aired, he still has the same twinkle in his eyes.

Chatting to Studio 10 hosts Sarah Harris and Tristan MacManus, Johnny jokingly asked if he'd have to sing All My Loving at the end of the upcoming reunion special.

'It wasn't just for five minutes, it was for 18 years, and for 18 years, we were on every week,' he recounted, describing his time on the show as 'fantastic'

Turn back time: While Johnny first appeared on the show as a fresh-faced 24-year-old, he's inevitably aged in the 50 years since it first aired, but still has the same twinkle in his eyes

The veteran star was renowned for closing out every episode of Young Talent Time with his rendition of the hit Beatles classic.

'Being a songwriter, I wish I had written it myself. Paul McCartney's made a lot of money over the years,' he joked.

In an interview with TV Tonight on Thursday, Johnny revealed that people still sing All My Loving to him in the street.

Looking back: Sitting alongside one of the show's alums, Beven Addinsall (far right), Johnny reflected on the hit series, which first aired in 1971

Iconic: The veteran star was renowned for closing out every episode of Young Talent Time with his rendition of the hit Beatles classic. Pictured on the show with Kylie Minogue

'I can walk down the street and people will recognise me, but they won't remember my name. But they'll sing, "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you" It's very flattering,' he said.

But Johnny rejected the idea that he was a father figure to the young stars on the show, despite acting as host and being a few years older.

'I formed the idea for Young Talent Time on the Mickey Mouse Club, and they had Jimmie [Dodd], who was like the older brother, and that's the role that I wanted to play... I never felt that far removed from the kids,' he explained on Studio 10.
Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Odarlai Parker has advised members and supporters of the party to avoid commotions over the appointment of Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs) by President Nana Akufo-Addo.



His call comes after some people believed to be NPP thugs stormed a press conference in the Ablekuma West constituency organized by a group which calls itself "Concerned Patriots of Ablekuma West" and created a chaotic situation.



The thugs reportedly kicked and rolled away tables and chairs among other violent disturbances, hence causing the conference to come to an abrupt end.



The incident which occurred at the Praise Tabernacle Church situated at the Old Dansoman Police Station in the constituency was in reaction to the group's protest against the renomination of the Ablekuma West MCE, George Cyril Bray.



The concerned patriots want the President to remove the MCE because, to them, he hasn't done his best for the area.



Chairman of the group, Eric Mensah in an interview with TV3, explained why they want the MCE out saying Mr. Cyril Bray has "a bad interpersonal relationship with the assemblymen, who are party members and also does not recognize them as honourable members".



"He embarked on unnecessary demolition exercise, leading to massive vote reduction in Ablekuma West," he added.



The MCE does not have a listening ear for the grassroots. He categorically stated that the municipality is autonomous [and] not there to serve the party members. This unfortunate statement discouraged most of the members which led to vote reduction against the target set by the Constituency in the just ended elections.



He does not have an iota of respect for the Constituency officers and therefore calling them useless who have sold our time, freedom and right to our party," he further alleged.



But the MCE has vehemently refuted the allegations.



He stated emphatically that, on the contrary, he has outperformed in his capacity.



He stressed his good works have improved the NPP's fortunes, particularly in the Ablekuma West.



Lending his voice to the chaos in the Ablekuma West constituency, the Regional Secretary called on the angry members and supporters to exercise restraint in their actions.



He called for calm and unity among other members and supporters.



To the agitated protesters and their counter-protesters, Mr. Odarlai Parker counseled them to use the appropriate channels in the party to address their grievances.



He asked them not to engage in activities that will arouse unnecessary attention.



The constituency executives of the party also registered their displeasure with the MCE brouhaha.



''We don't know the group calling itself Concerned Patriots of Ablekuma West. They don't speak for Ablekuma West. So, they held the press conference and making statements in their individual capacity. We equally condemn those who attacked them because two wrongs don't make a right. As we move forward, we want every person in our party to note that we will deal drastically with anyone who publicly makes disparaging remarks about the party. We will apply the rules of the party without fear or favor'', the executives warned.



















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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(Photo : Screenshot From Commons.Wikipedia.org) 4Chan Founder Leaves Google: Who is Chris 'Moot' Poole?

Chris "Moot" Poole, the person behind the controversial online community known as 4chan before finally joining Google back in 2016, has officially left the search engine giant after he jumped around to several groups within the company itself. Poole's last day working at Google was back in April 13, according to a certain internal repository.

Christopher Moot Poole

According to the story coming from CNBC, Poole's last role was that of product manager. The reason behind Poole's exit is still unknown. Poole also did not give any response to multiple requests made by CNBC for a comment. Google, however, confirmed that Poole is currently no longer an employee at the company.

Poole, who often goes by the popular moniker "Moot," previously founded 4chan back in 2003 at just 15 years old. It reportedly grew into one of the top influential but also very controversial online communities as of today. Rolling Stones even called him a boy-genius and referred to him as Mark Zuckerberg of the whole online underground.

Hiroyuki Nishimura: 4chan

4chan reportedly became an early internet haven for people practicing free speech online. Over time, however, 4chan faced heavy criticism for hosting obscene imagery, hackers, harassment, and even leaked information, namely about women and even minority groups. 4chan even became a target of a number of lawsuits and even FBI subpoenas for certain threats of violence that were posted to the site.

Back in 2015, Poole took it to Twitter to announce his retirement from running 4chan and even sold the site to a certain Japanese internet entrepreneur by the name of Hiroyuki Nishimura for an amount that remains undisclosed. Poole then revealed back in 2016 that he would be joining Google as a continuation of his own work.

Read Also: 4Chan Sold To 2Channel Founder, Brings Anonymous Forum Back To Its Roots

What happened to Christopher Poole?

Poole reportedly joined Google as product manager in the whole photos and streams unit. He reportedly oversaw social networking efforts working under VP Bradley Horowitz during that time, according to TechCrunch. This reportedly sparked wide speculation that the company had hired him in order to revamp its own social media ambitions. A few claims even noted that the company wanted to compete with Facebook.

Poole had reportedly jumped between a number of different roles during the course of five years. At a certain point, he even reportedly became an official partner at Google's very own in-house start-up incubator known as Area 120, which was just basically getting off the ground back in 2016. He had also become a product manager working for Google's Maps division, according to the article by Crunchbase.

A number of employees and industry workers all criticized the hiring of Poole, since Google reportedly made public commitments when it came to diversity and even viewed the executives' enthusiasm regarding Poole's hiring as "tone deaf." Google+'s Yonatan Zunger, chief architect, reportedly wrote a post that defending Poole and even promising that Google Plus won't become what was called a "den of infamy" noting Poole was going to make something particularly exciting.

Related Article: Feds Looking Into 4Chan Thread Potentially Tied To Oregon College Shooting

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian Buenconsejo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
MAGUI PAYAN, Colombia - From the air, the illegal gold mines look like wounds in the dense jungle of southern Colombia  scars of red, gray and brown dirt surrounding toxic ponds.

National Police officers walk at an illegal gold mining operation as they work to destroy it as part of the Armed Forces' "Operation Guamuez III" in Magui Payan, Colombia, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Illegal gold mining is common in Colombia, especially wildcat mines in poverty-stricken areas dominated by criminal gangs with little state presence. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

MAGUI PAYAN, Colombia - From the air, the illegal gold mines look like wounds in the dense jungle of southern Colombia  scars of red, gray and brown dirt surrounding toxic ponds.

The sound of the police and military choppers lunging in over the hills sends most of the miners below fleeing into the foliage, with only a few staying behind to try to confront the police and soldiers leaping from the helicopters.

They're quickly subdued with tear gas and the authorities began setting fire to the heavy equipment used to extract gold.

The mine is located in the municipality of Magui Payan, a remote zone of southern Colombia where there's no piped water and communications links are tenuous.

One woman about 40 years old shouts at the soldiers and a handful of journalists accompanying them: If the state doesnt let small miners work, I cant feed my children because the state gives me nothing.

The rate of extreme poverty tops 80% in the region, according to Mayor Alejandro Juvenal Quinones.

We are surviving by work and the grace of the Holy Spirit, he told The Associated Press.

There's little piety among those running the mines that are the main source of income. They are controlled or at least extorted by organized crime gangs, in this case rival groups of current or former guerrillas from the still-active National Liberation Front and a breakaway faction of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,

Police Lt. Col. Pedro Pablo Astaiza, who led this month's raid, said armed groups demand a 10% cut of everything produced by each excavating machine.

He said the operation immobilized six excavators worth some $330,000 altogether, machinery that can produce about 6 kilograms (13 pounds) of gold a month.

But he said that six months from now, the miners may have repaired the machines and set them back to work.

The government says it has raided 9,235 illegal mines since the start of 2019, arrested 3,300 people and destroyed or inactivated 450 dredging machines.

We are not talking about basic economies, about common criminals," said Gen. Jesus Alejandro Barrera Pena, director of rural security for the national police. It is important to be clear that the communities aren't part of the illegal organizations; they are used as tools.

Illegal mines like the one in Magui Payan are more the rule than the exception in Colombia  and across much of Latin America, where government forces often have difficulty enforcing laws in remote rural areas where criminals have set up shop.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that that two-thirds of the gold produced in Colombia in 2019 was illegally extracted, and a report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, funded by the Swiss government, estimated in 2016 that revenue from illegal gold exports had grown to exceed that from cocaine smuggling in Colombia and Peru.

U.S. prosecutors in recent years have brought charges involving billions of dollars from gold they say was illegally mined in Latin America and laundered through banks and other institutions.

Just this month, Colombian prosecutors arrested 25 people accused of belonging to groups selling illegal gold and shipping it to countries such as the United States, United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

The wealth they extract leaves devastation behind  unregulated mines that use deadly chemicals to separate the gold from the soil, creating a hazard for local communities that can last for generations.

To produce a single gram of gold, you should use five grams of mercury, and just one gram of mercury can contaminate 500,000 litres of water, Gen. Barrera Pena said.

Its also a major revenue loss for a government that needs resources for its efforts to cement its authority and pacify the countryside following decades of conflict with guerrillas and criminal gangs.

Suarez reported from Bucaramanga, Colombia.
New Delhi: India is in a frenzy due to the corona epidemic. The fear of coronavirus is rampant everywhere in the country. Thousands of people are dying every day due to the dreaded virus. Russia has extended a helping hand to India in this hour of crisis. According to media reports, Russia has proposed to provide oxygen and remdesivir to India.

The process of import of oxygen and remdesivir will start in the next 15 days. According to reports, Russia says it can supply three to four lakh remdesivir injections every week. This number will also be increased later. Tell us that there is currently a shortage of oxygen in India due to which corona patients are dying due to lack of oxygen outside the hospitals. However, the government is trying its best to rectify the oxygen shortage. The country's PM Modi today held a crucial meeting to review the status of coronavirus and supply of oxygen.

The situation in the country is worsening day by day due to coronavirus and there is a huge shortage of oxygen ranging from essential medicines. Corona patients are dying due to a lack of oxygen, and many people are stuck. After the Indian Railways, the Indian Air Force has now extended its hand to help the people.

Metro rail services to remain closed on weekend curfew in the state, ban on many things

Philippines reports 8,719 new Covid-19 cases, total crosses 980K landmark

Central Asia Country Kyrgyzstan witnesses 4 types of Covid-19 strains in spread
[April 23, 2021] Bank Regulatory Expert Deb Bonosconi Joins BRG's Financial Institution Advisory Group

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Research Group (BRG) announced today that Deb Bonosconi has joined the firm as a managing director, further bolstering its Financial Institution Advisory practice. Bonosconi has more than 25 years of experience as a financial services practitioner and regulator and advises clients on a variety of regulatory, enforcement and compliance matters, with an emphasis on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/anti-money laundering (AML), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and risk-focused services. She has conducted numerous reviews of financial institutions' AML, sanctions and fraud programs to identify and implement risk-based operational efficiencies to improve quality and effectiveness. Her experience includes cryptocurrency exchanges and bank-licensing obligations specific to BSA/AML requirements. "BRG has quickly become the go-to firm for all types and sizes of financil institutions, including payments processors, traditional and nontraditional banks, and fintech firms," said Bonosconi. "I'm excited to work with such a deeply data-driven organization that provides the insights that matter for our clients in an ever-evolving business landscape."



Before joining BRG, Bonosconi spent eight years at Promontory Financial Group. She was formerly a director for the forensics practice of a Big Four firm and a director of AML advisory practices at another Big Four firm. She has held AML leadership roles at GE Money, HSBC, eBay/PayPal and Citigroup. Previously, Bonosconi was a federal bank examiner for 10 years, first at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as a compliance examiner and then in the Federal Reserve Board's Investigations and Enforcement Section. About BRG

Berkeley Research Group, LLC is a global consulting firm that helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and performance improvement and advisory. Headquartered in California with offices around the world, we are an integrated group of experts, industry leaders, academics, data scientists and professionals working across borders and disciplines. We harness our collective expertise to deliver the inspired insights and practical strategies our clients need to stay ahead of what's next. Visit thinkbrg.com to learn more. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bank-regulatory-expert-deb-bonosconi-joins-brgs-financial-institution-advisory-group-301276029.html SOURCE Berkeley Research Group, LLC

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There are three possible explanations for Scott Morrisons calculated attack this week on hard working Australians who live in the inner city. One, he thinks that the next election will be a re-run of the last, with the nation irreconcilably divided between the regions and the capital cities. Two, he is uncomfortable with the diversity of his hometown Sydney and its cosmopolitan rival Melbourne, and couldnt hide his feelings on the night. Or both of the above.

Either way, the statement read like something that the ABCs comedian and broadcaster Sammy J would have scripted for the PM; the leader as an old school footy coach who sees democracy as a tribal sport. Were not going to achieve net zero [greenhouse gas emissions] in the cafes, dinner parties and wine bars of our inner cities, Morrison told the Business Council of Australia annual dinner in Sydney on Monday.

Scott Morrison took a jab at the inner city while speaking at the BCA dinner this week. Credit:Wolter Peeters

It was a charmless, counterproductive thing for a prime minister to say. Surely some of the pioneering entrepreneur[s], farmers and scientists Morrison wants to drive Australias clean energy future have a soft spot for the inner city, having studied at sandstone universities.

Still, you had to respect his partisan honesty. We are 13 months into a global pandemic and Morrison is no longer pretending to look for common ground with people who will never vote for him. By pitting the inner city against the regions, Morrison hopes to reprise the miracle of 2019, when he secured re-election for the government with super majorities in Queensland and Western Australia, which offset shortfalls in every other state and territory. It is a double-or-nothing bet on the fault lines that have defined federal elections since 2010.
San Francisco, CA, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FarrInstitute announces the release of the review 10 Best Online Therapy Sites:



Can virtual therapy sessions genuinely help people overcome anxiety, depression, trauma, and more?

Telehealth, also known as online therapy, is gaining popularity and gradually being seen as effective at helping individuals tackle various mental health issues. However, with so many online counseling platforms to choose from, it can be challenging to know where to start.

This article will review and rank the ten best online therapy sites on the market, focusing on the types of therapy and counseling provided and whether virtual therapy sessions can help individuals learn to combat mental health problems.

First look:

Best all-around service - BetterHelp Best for couples - Regain Best for teenagers - TeenCounseling LGBTQ friendly - Pride Counseling Best free options - Online-Therapy.com







How Online Therapy Sites Were Evaluated



The following criteria were used to choose the best online therapy platforms:

Health Care Professionals - A priority on any therapy site should be the availability and expertise of the mental health experts present on the platform. As such, counseling platforms with well trained, licensed, and experienced health care professionals with an extensive range of knowledge regarding different health issues scored higher on this top ten list.

Care - The range of care and treatment available affected each online therapy sites ranking. Counseling platforms that offer care beyond anxiety and depression such as substance abuse, eating disorders, grief, trauma, relationship issues scored higher on this list.

Ease-Of-Use - Regardless of features, benefits, and quality of care provided, websites that are overly complicated to navigate and difficult to use can cause problems for the people in need of support. As such, therapy sites with simple, easy-to-navigate websites scored higher on this list.

Payment Options - Building on ease-of-use, platforms with a range of payment plans and options available ranked higher on this list.

Value for Money - Counseling sites offering their online therapy sessions and treatment at below-average prices or offering care that outperforms the competition at a similar price ranked higher on this list.





The 10 Best Online Therapy Platforms

1. BetterHelp - Best Therapy Site with Rigorously Vetted Therapists

With more than 12,000 licensed mental health professionals, all with three years plus experience, this is the go-to site for anyone looking for counseling. The sign-up process is fast and easy. Users are required to provide a nickname and emergency contact information just in case their team perceives one of their clients is in danger.

BetterHelp also matches a client with a counselor after conducting an assessment. Kindly note that this process is not easy and may take more than 24 hours. All in all, should the client not feel content with the therapist assigned, they can always request a new one.

A key feature of BetterHelp is that it assigns a therapist and their client a secure chat room where the information discussed is private. Most therapists reply on time, and this allows users to speed up their recovery period. BetterHelp charges $65 for the first month, and from there, the fees can range anywhere between $60 and $80 depending on the subscription length.

Pros

The platform has a very easy to use interface

Freedom to change therapists if need be

Multiple ways of communication

Users are given worksheets and homework to track their progress

Cons

They have only one pricing plan  meaning no access to premium features

Response times vary between therapists

2. Online-Therapy.com - Best Free Therapy

Online-Therapy ranks at the top of this list and is one of the best online therapy sites available. This counseling network offers cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) - a popular therapy treatment proven to help people deal with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and other phobias. CBT works by modifying negative behavior, allowing individuals to better react to intrusive thoughts.

Based on cognitive-behavioral therapy, this site uses a wide range of free tools such as providing an online journal, worksheets, and a 30-minute weekly live chat with a therapist for additional support. Users are guaranteed to receive feedback specific to their needs and are given access to an online course that discusses how to manage depression.

Other than depression, Online-Therapy offers support for various mental health issues such as anxiety, insomnia, stress, addiction, and more. New users initially receive treatment for free; however, a subscription plan will need to be selected for continued support. Users can choose from either a $32/per week or $64/per week plan.

Pros

Different course material for various mental health issues

Guidance is offered via video, audio, and online messaging

The network bases its treatment on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Suited for depression, anxiety, addiction, phobias, and more

Cons

Therapists are only available from Monday to Friday

Doesnt accept insurance

3. Regain - Best Therapy Site for Couples

Popularly known as the best online therapy platform for couples, Regain can help two lovebirds address their challenges and rekindle their lost love. During registration, couples are asked to choose their goals and select qualities they would prefer to see in their counselor, for instance, whether a male or female counselor would be ideal.

The love and marriage counselors on this network are licensed and have at least three years of experience. They also specialize in various relationship niches. After opening an account at Regain, both partners are granted access for easy communication. Each partner is also granted the ability to speak to a therapist privately.

At Regain, couples get to choose between long or short therapy sessions. Additionally, the charges for weekly sessions range from $60 to $80.

Pros

Therapists all specialize in relationship counseling

Couples can attend therapy sessions together virtually at no extra charge

Video sessions are recommended

The website is easy-to-navigate

Cons

Matching a couple to a therapist is automated

Response times can sometimes take more than 24 hours

4. Teen Counseling - Best Online Therapy for Young People

Teenagers also experience mental health issues and, as such, will, in some cases, benefit from the support and guidance provided by a mental health care professional. At Teen Counseling, health care experts specialize in helping young people aged 13 to 19 combat mental health issues such as bullying, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, eating disorders, and stress.

This site offers a plethora of experienced and licensed teen counselors specializing in the above issues. To gain access to the service, parents must first fill in some paperwork describing what that teenager is experiencing. The sessions are kept private between the teenager and the counselor. But, if there are any safety concerns, the parents will be alerted.

The network offers mental health support in the form of an app ideal for younger patients. Please be informed that Teen Counseling cannot provide an official diagnosis. However, therapists, practitioners, and health care professionals on this network are licensed, experienced, and more than capable of offering beneficial care and assistance.

5. Pride Counseling - Best for LGBTQ-Related Health Concerns

The LGBTQ community can benefit immensely from the services provided by Pride counseling. From this platform, users are guaranteed affordable and discreet treatment. There are live chat rooms where messages are sent securely and privately. And, it only takes a couple of hours to be mated with a licensed healthcare professional.

Therapy sessions can be arranged based on your schedule and members can switch counselors should the sessions turn out to be disappointing or not as effective as hoped. After signing up, counselors can be reached via video conferencing and over the phone. Membership plans at Pride Counseling range from $60 to $80.

6. Talkspace

Having been in this industry for eight years, Talkspace has amassed the top talented therapists around and offered its services to more than a million people. Starting with Talkspace is fairly easy. Simply sign-up, fill in a questionnaire and wait for one of their operators to match you with a therapist that best suits your needs.

At Talkspace, health experts integrate cognitive behavioral therapy with mindfulness, psychodynamic therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. With over 3,000 licensed therapists, professional mental health support is guaranteed. Talkspace offers guidance with trauma, addiction, anxiety, depression, and even LGBTQ related problems.

Users can choose between three plans, which include; unlimited messaging therapy for $260/month, unlimited messaging therapy premium that costs $316/month, and finally, unlimited messaging therapy ultimate that costs $396/month. Irrespective of the plan chosen, a user can opt for 30-minute live video sessions charged at $65.

Pros

Freedom to choose between various therapists

There is a guaranteed response time from therapists

Availability of live chat sessions

Excellent customer service

Cons

Time zone differences may be a problem for clients outside the US

Matching with a therapist isnt always quick

7. Amwell

Amwell is the go-to telemedicine website for anyone looking for a quick consultation. The site features a mobile app that is available 24/7. To get started, interested members need to sign up and create an account for the app. Unlike other platforms, Amwell allows its members to choose their preferred therapist based on their biography and online profile.

However, this online therapy platform is more expensive than most, with fees ranging from $100 to $110. On the upside, Amwell also offers dermatology, breastfeeding support, cardiology, and urgent medical care in addition to treatment for a range of mental health issues.

Plus, users with insurance coverage can qualify for lower charges. Just be sure to confirm with the sites customer service before paying.

8. 7 Cups of Tea

Unlike other popular therapy sites, 7 Cups of Tea offers members the ability to talk to trained volunteer listeners via a private online chat for free. Communication is anonymous and an excellent alternative for individuals who cannot afford professional counseling.

Moreover, 7 Cups of Tea specializes in treating anxiety, depression, relationship, and LGBTQ related problems, including managing mental health issues affecting teenagers. There are numerous forums and chat rooms where members can get all the support they need at no additional charge.

There is a mobile app available, but the desktop site is equally fast and easy to navigate. For individuals looking for direct access to a therapist, plans start at $150/month.

9. Doctor on Demand

Doctor on Demand is perfect for short term consultations. On this network, members can access a wide range of mental health support. The team of psychiatrists and psychologists offer a free assessment that tests for anxiety and depression. This is accomplished by asking a series of questions that take only a few minutes to complete.

Therapists are available 24/7 and licensed to recommend the best form of treatment. Health care professionals on this site can treat depression, anxiety, trauma, stress, loss, and addiction. Depending on the form of treatment youre interested in, prices may vary.

10. MDLive

This network allows individuals to consult therapists and psychiatrists via phone, video, or mobile app. The therapists on this network specialize in the treatment of stress, sexuality, anxiety, intimacy, and grief, amongst others.

The cost of a single session starts at $99. However, people can qualify for discounts if they put in their insurance. At MDLive, the psychiatrists will recommend the best form of medication for depression, PTSD, and anxiety.

Online Therapy FAQ

Q: What is Online Therapy?

A: Online therapy or telehealth is therapy offered via the internet or on the phone. In many ways, its no different from face-to-face therapy and is equally as productive. Online therapy is offered by licensed health practitioners and can be done via video, live chat, or phone calls.

Kindly note that online therapy doesnt meet court-mandated therapy requirements; also, telehealth cannot provide a full diagnosis of mental health conditions.

Q: Who is Online Therapy Suitable for?

A: Online therapy is perfect for everyone, including both teenagers and adults. It can help manage mental health conditions such as substance abuse, trauma, anxiety, depression, stress, sleep, and eating disorders, amongst others.

Please be informed that online therapy isnt recommended for those with serious mental illness, suicidal ideation, or psychosis. In most cases, online therapy is ideal for those with anxiety or depression.

Q: What are the Advantages of Online Therapy?

A: For starters, online therapy is convenient. Individuals do not have to travel to a doctors office for a consultation. Sessions can be scheduled online or via the phone. Another advantage of online therapy is that its less pricey than face-to-face consultations. Also, unlike face-to-face therapy, a patient can talk to their therapist daily through the internet or via phone.

Anyone interested in online therapy sessions can also take a look at this article detailing 15 of the Best Online Counseling Services.

Q: How Effective is Online Therapy?

A: In 2013, a study done by the Journal of Affective Disorders showed that in-person therapy is equally as effective as online therapy. Later in 2014, a study done and published by Behavioral Research and Therapy showed that online therapy was excellent at treating the symptoms of anxiety disorders.

Two years ago, the Journal of Anxiety Disorder also showed that online cognitive behavioral therapy is effective at treating different types of anxiety disorders.

Q: Is Online Therapy Secure?

A: When it comes to online therapy, a persons details are very confidential. Not to mention, in the HIPAA regulations, health practitioners are required to keep therapy sessions private and confidential. This is why most platforms require their members to use their nicknames. Emergency contacts have to be given for additional security.

Q: What are the Average Fees for Online Therapy?

A: Depending on the platform and condition being treated, the fees for online therapy range from $40 to $100. This is cheaper compared to face-to-face therapists that charge between $75 and $150 per hour. There are some psychiatrists who even charge up to $200 an hour.

Q: Can Insurance Pay for Online Therapy?

In the past, insurance only paid for in-person therapy. However, there has been a growing demand for mental health services. Therefore, to cater to the needs of the modern-day consumer, most insurance companies today have opted to pay for online therapy.

In most cases, health insurance will cover some of the costs of online therapy, for example, phone or live video sessions. When evaluating the best online therapy platforms, consider those that will accept insurance. This will help bring down your medical bills.

Q: Will Medicare Cover for Online Therapy?

A: Back in 2019, Medicare switched from not covering online therapy to paying for Telehealth visits. The numerous demands of its clients prompted this development. Medicare also caters for psychotherapy and consultations offered via audio or video communication channels. The recent 2020 Medicare Advantage Plans feature more Telehealth benefits than its predecessors.

Q: How Often Should an Individual See a Therapist?

A: This will depend on the condition being treated and the terms of the therapist. In most cases, a therapist can schedule two sessions in a week for at least three months. But the sooner one starts feeling better, the duration in between sessions can be extended a bit further.

The Bottom Line

Online therapy is making mental health services more affordable and accessible to people all around the world. Virtual therapy sessions give people the freedom to consult a counselor or therapist from the comfort of their home. As such, virtual visits have grown to be more popular than in-person sessions.

Online therapy is the best alternative for anyone with busy work schedules or living far from mental health practitioners. Online therapy sessions can be offered in different channels ranging from video, live chat, and phone. There is also the added convenience where individuals can communicate with their therapists at flexible hours.

Out of hundreds of online therapy platforms on the internet, the above counseling sites made it on this list of the top 10 best online therapy sites. Every site boasts many licensed therapists experienced in treating anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, and other mental health issues.









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Oklahoma Officer Cleared of Wrongdoing in Deadly January Shooting

Authorities have cleared Nathan Ronan, the Lawton Police Department (LPD) officer who fatally shot Zonterious Johnson on Jan. 17, of any wrongdoing, the police chief said.

The Comanche County District Attorneys Office has thoroughly reviewed the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation report and has cleared the officer involved of any wrongdoing, LPD Chief James Smith said in a statement (pdf) on Monday.

Johnson had been celebrating his 24th birthday in Lavish Lounge, a local restaurant and social club, before the incident, The Lawton Constitution reported.

Officers who were doing a compliance check in the restaurant heard gunshots outside and went out to check. Police found Johnson was engaged in gunfire with another individual outside the restaurant. One of the officers, Ronan, identified himself as a police officer and ordered Johnson to stop. Johnson then fled the scene.

Ronan started to pursue Johnson on foot after the latter failed to comply.

Body camera footage released by LPD shows Ronan ordered Johnson to stop during the pursuit, but he kept running. Johnson can be seen pulling something from his waist area when he finally stops. The officer yells, You better [sic] stop, drop that before he fired several shots at Johnson.

Officer Ronan  observed Johnson with a weapon. Johnson raised and produced the barrel of the weapon despite Ronans command to drop the weapon. Officer Ronan then fired his weapon at Johnson, LPD Chief James Smith wrote in the statement.

Johnson was struck twice in the chest and once in the foot.

His weapon, a Taurus Model 9mm with an empty 12 round capacity magazine, was recovered by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI). Seven spent cartridge casings identified as being fired by Johnson were also recovered outside the Lavish Lounge.

OSBI forensic reports show that Johnsons fingerprint was found on the magazine of his weapon.

The Comanche County District Attorneys Office refused to comment on this case.

The Epoch Times reached out to OSBI for comments.

Johnsons mother, Meyoshia Gray, told KFDX-TV that she felt hurt by the ruling.

Everything, I feel like they said, was a lie, she said.

Robert West, Johnsons grandfather, said that Johnson was running for his life and the officer should not have pursued him on foot in the first place.

Were going to keep coming at you until yall fold, he pledged during an interview with the local media outlet.

The Epoch Times reached out to Michael Washington, a local paralegal and activist who has been working with the Johnson family in the case.
In early 2021 China announced the planned defense budget for 2022 and surprised everyone by increasing spending 6.8 percent to $208.6 billion. The current year spending is a 6.6 percent increase over 2020. The Chinese fiscal year is the same as the calendar year (January 1 to December 31) and despite the covid19 and trade war related problems in 2020, 2021 and 2022 saw defense spending increase more than GDP growth.

There are other defense spending trends that are even more alarming. For example, China is now building warships based on Western designs and apparently matching U.S. warship tech in terms of weapons and sensors. China does this in part because they can do it faster and cheaper. That is a side effect of China becoming the largest shipbuilder in the world. This is a status the United States held during World War II and surrendered as European nations and Japan revived their ship building industries. In the last few decades South Korea and China have become the major ship builders. It is no mystery that nations capable of building the most commercial ships can also produce lots of warships and do it quickly and inexpensively.

Thats why it costs so much more and takes longer for American shipyards to build warships. Worse, the decline in American commercial shipbuilding means there is a chronic shortage of skilled shipyard workers and managers for military ship construction. The U.S. currently ranks 19th in terms of ship building and most of that is smaller, coastal shipping plus specialty items like oil rigs. The U.S. has far fewer facilities for repairing its many large warships and a growing backlog in warship maintenance because of that.

China, South Korea and Japan all have more robust warship construction and repair capabilities than the United States. It works both ways. America maintained its primacy as a builder of commercial aircraft since World War II, which also brought primacy in warplane design and construction. Same with the automotive industry, which creates many essential new technologies needed for military vehicles.

China also has some serious problems that are less often discussed. The most damaging shortage is enough Chinese to operate all the new ships as well as the modernized army and air force. Blame it on the one-child per couple policy that began in the 1980s to limit population growth. The one-child rule was enforced for three decades until population growth was under control and it was time to deal with major labor shortages coming over the next few decades. While you can export a lot of manufacturing jobs to more populous nations, hiring mercenaries was not seen as an option for the modern Chinese military, especially the navy. China soon discovered that while serving in their impressive new army and air force was popular, joining a modern navy where ship crews spent a lot (often half) their time at sea was not attractive at all. While China can build a lot of impressive new warships, they were surprised to encounter growing problems finding enough sailors and officers to take them to sea. This is essential if China is to have effective new warships. Thats a lesson learned by the Western navies that pioneered the development of modern, high seas fleets centuries ago.

There are other problems with the new navy. While you gain a military edge by developing crews that have spent a lot of time at sea, you still dont know how effective your new warships are in combat. While China is the largest commercial ship builder in terms of tonnage delivered, South Korea and Japan often take the lead in revenue because they are more competitive when it comes to building more complex ships. That includes warships. Among the current major naval powers, China is the one with the least historical experience sending large warships, and commercial ships, to sea. In other words, no seagoing tradition. History has shown that this matters. How much it matters for China wont be known until some of their ships experience some combat against a fleet of modern ships with experienced crew. The nations fitting that description all tend to be allied in opposing Chinese aggressive territorial claims. Pick a fight with one and its many allies are obliged to go after China. War at sea means major unemployment and shortages in China. This causes internal unrest that the communist dictatorship running China wants to avoid. Traditional Chinese strategy uses impressive forces in terms of numbers and possibly quality. China is grabbing territory and seeking to be attacked so they can claim self-defense and fight a brief war to test the abilities of their modernized forces and then play the peacemaker by offering to call a ceasefire and negotiate.

There are other mysteries of Chinese defense policies that are easier to explain. For example, how much is China really spending on defense? Official Chinese spending is about 30 percent of what the U.S. spends. Yet China has a larger, by about 53 percent, number of troops on active duty than the 1.3 million strong American military. The Chinese not only build about three times as many warships each year compared to the United States, but also produce more warplanes and armored vehicles.

The situation with China is similar to what went on during the 1947-1991 Cold War when figuring out how much the Soviet Union (communist Russian empire) was actually spending on defense. Until near the end of the Soviet Union, the Russians never published an accurate defense budget. For most of the Cold War the official budget, the one available to most Russians and all foreigners, showed a number that was less than 25 percent of what the U.S. spent.

In the last few years of the Cold War a reform-minded Russian leader published more accurate defense spending data. This showed annual defense spending that was about 70 percent of what the Americans spent. It was worse than that, something most Russians were unaware of. Russia was actually spending about 20 percent of GDP on the military, a percentage more than three times what the U.S. spent. The government went public with the actual defense spending to explain why the Soviet Union had such a low standard-of-living compared to the West. As long as the defense spending remained so high poverty would increase each year. By the 1980s this was visible with growing food shortages and less spending on infrastructure, housing and things that mattered most to the majority of Russians. The Soviet Union was not defeated militarily but economically. The Soviet Union literally fell apart in 1991, with half the population forming themselves into 14 new nations. The Soviet Union didnt fight this because it couldnt rely on the security forces. Most of them were conscripts who knew how bad life was. Even many career officers, especially the younger ones, were not willing to fight to preserve the Soviet Union.

China was alarmed at the sudden demise of the Soviet Union and learned from it. During the last decade of the Soviet Union China realized that the communist economic model did not work, and devised a new system that retained the communist dictatorship but allowed the economy to operate largely free of tight government control. This was similar to the fascist model that emerged after the first World War. During World War II Germany, Japan, Italy and several other smaller nations had adopted the fascist model. China learned from that as well. The World War II fascists destroyed themselves with overambitious military expansionism. The German fascists called themselves national socialists and that meant the traditional German national anthem, Deutschland Uber Alles (Germany over all others) was applied literally and with enormous violence and initial success. The Japanese took a similar approach and like the German fascists eventually suffered devastating losses and total defeat. The Chinese fascist state revved up the economy and built a huge and powerful military but used that force to intimidate rather than wage war on a ruinous and potentially self-destructive scale. Slow-motion and more subtle conquest was actually something of a Chinese tradition developed over thousands of years. The ancient imperial governments basically dictatorships presiding over static, pre-industrial, agricultural economies. Five centuries ago the Europeans did something different, they introduced more applied innovation at a faster rate than ever before. Many of these new technologies were invented by Chinese but never integrated into an expanding economy. Ancient empires, especially the Chinese, discouraged this sort of thing as disruptive to the imperial tranquility. These developments in the West were seen as more barbarian foolishness. Then that Western innovation produced technologies China could not ignore, like more efficient sailing ships armed with many very effective cannon. That was bad enough for the Middle Eastern, South Asian and East Asian empires but it kept getting worse. This became clear with the Industrial Revolution. Starting slowly in the 1700s, but the 1800s the innovations and rising GDPs were alarming to the old empires and some, like the Ottoman Turks and few of the Indian monarchies, tried to copy the European model and found that successfully do so the imperial government would have to deal with an increasingly wealthy class of entrepreneurs who did not care much for the nobility or the monarch. Some monarchies adapted, like the British. But most other adaptation efforts and the empires collapsed. Some evolved into democracies but many tried fascism first, often with the military taking over. Fascist rulers found that to survive they had to pay attention of public opinion, at least for that segment of the population supplied the manpower and money needed to keep it all going. Fascism was another form of monarchy without the reverence for ancient customs. Whenever things go wrong in modern China, there is more chatter on the street and the Internet mocking the failures of their hapless emperor. Often humor from the deposed (many generations ago) imperial rulers is revived and reused. Current Chines leaders are well aware of the dangers they face, and act accordingly.

A Chinese innovation implemented once the market economy was adopted was to make the enemy pay for the Chinese economic and military buildup. Not in the traditional way, with armies being sent out each year to spend a few months plundering enemy territory, or using the threat of that to extort large payments for protection from the plundering. China realized that the most valuable item foreign nations had was technology, especially secret military technology and commercial tech (trade secrets) not protected by patents. To use that patented commercial tech you had to pay for it and the trade secrets were even more difficult to obtain legitimately. But if you stole trade secrets and patents and modified it a bit you could get away with calling it Chinese developed. This tech plunder has been a major factor in the rapid growth of the Chinese economy and the military. One way this became clear was when American intelligence agencies and military researchers tried to build an accurate picture of actual Chinese defense spending and its long-term implications.

This meant using an analytical technique called PPP (Purchasing Power Parity). While the United States alone accounts for over a third of the annual defense spending worldwide, this is not as overwhelming as it appears to be. There are several very practical reasons for this misperception. First is purchasing power parity, which is mainly about using the relative cost of common goods in different countries instead of just what things cost in the United States. If you take into account PPP, those nations with lower costs (like China and India), loom larger as defense spenders. They get more bang for their buck, at least on paper.

Without PPP the top five in military spending are the United States, China, Russia, Britain and Japan. Adjust for PPP and India rises into the top five while Japan falls out. Thats because things like local supplies and labor are much cheaper in India than Japan. Applying PPP also makes American defense spending much less effective compared to what China spends. With PPP American defense spending is closer to 20 percent of global spending.

Adjusting for PPP, Chinese defense spending goes from a quarter of what America spends to over 70 percent. Yet American forces deploy many more high-tech weapons than China. Thats because U.S. defense spending has been the highest in the world since the 1940s. Major items of military equipment (ships, aircraft and armored vehicles) have useful lives of over 30 years. America has had plenty of time to accumulate a much larger arsenal of expensive equipment than China. But that changes in the future because Chinese annual defense spending has nearly tripled in the last decade. If China keeps its defense spending high and relative costs low, it will match the U.S. in many areas within two or three decades.

That probably will not happen because of other factors and trends that do not favor China and many other nations. First, there is the fact that not only has the Chinese economy been growing rapidly since the 1980s, but so have wages and the costs of much else besides. Because of this, over time the PPP advantage diminishes. China also has a greater problem with corruption in the military than the United States and most Western nations. This greatly (by 20 percent of more) diminishes the effectiveness of their defense spending. Corruption in defense spending is found everywhere, but it has, for thousands of years, been particularly bad in China. The Chinese government has, since the late 1980s, been making strenuous efforts to reduce corruption but has had limited success.

What was not taken into account until recently was the value of technical knowledge China has stolen. Western mass media have long been full of stories about Chinese hackers stealing enormous qualities of Western data and using it to gain an economic advantage. When the value of military R&D (Research and Development) is taken into account, and you calculate what it would have cost the Chinese to develop all that military tech it turns out that Chinese defense spending is nearly 90 percent of American defense spending.

The technology angle plays an enormous role in creating military power, something many people fail to take into account. The larger amount of technology and knowledge now used in warfare is why modern weapons are more powerful, and expensive than those of the past. Consider, for example, the differences between a World War II bomber, and a modern one. The principal World War II bomber was the B-17, which weighed 29 tons, had a crew of ten, and could carry three tons of bombs to targets 1,500 kilometers away. In current dollars, each B-17 cost about $2.5 million. But that was because over 12,000 of them were built. If bought in much smaller quantities, as is typical in peacetime, each B-17 would cost over $15 million. Now compare that to a modern bomber of comparable size (or at least weight), the twin-engine F-15E jet. With a max weight of 36 tons, an F-15E can carry up to seven tons of bombs three or four times farther than the B-17. An F-15E has a crew of only two. But this $90 million dollar aircraft is much more than six times as lethal as the B-17. That's because of smart bombs. A B-17 carried a dozen 500-pound (226 kg) bombs, but it took over 300 of these unguided bombs to guarantee a hit on a target below. The smart bombs of the F-15E guarantee a hit with two bombs. Actually, it's not as bad as that but there are occasional system failures with smart bombs. The smart bombs also glide 40 kilometers or more, allowing the F-15E to avoid most anti-aircraft fire.

The big difference between these two aircraft is knowledge, as manifested in more, and better, technology. This tech was expensive to develop, both in terms of time and money. This has been a trend that has been ongoing for over a century and continues. More technology requires putting fewer people in harms way to achieve the same results or results that were impossible in the past. Casualties are also lower. The air force is not the only component of the armed services that is undergoing these simultaneous personnel shrinkages, and increased capabilities. China realized the value of tech and the enormous advantages they would obtain if they found ways to steal and apply this tech on the cheap.

There is another complication when comparing defense spending. This big one is the relative cost of defending your nation versus attacking someone somewhere else. Its much cheaper to defend. Going on the offensive, especially over long distances, is much more expensive. Depending on how far your forces have to travel, equipping an offensive force can be anywhere from a quarter more expensive if you plan to attack a neighbor, to more than twice as expensive if you are prepared to go anywhere in the world.

China does not have global military obligations and, historically, chose not to go that way. Despite the dependence of the modern Chinese economy on imports (oil and ores mainly) from distant places, China still sees itself as a continental power concerned mainly with being military superior to the neighbors and not much concerned with waging war halfway around the world. That means Chinese forces have an additional advantage against American forces, but not against local high-tech opponents like Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea and Japan. These nations muster considerable defense capabilities which, with the addition of some forces from the West and India, keep China on the defensive. Chinese media may play up the power of the modernized forces, but the leadership understand understand , and say as much in accessible military journals and internal discussions that eventually get leaked, that they understand what the Soviets aptly described as the correlation of forces.

Then there is your military leadership. If your generals and admirals know what they are doing and maintain high standards for subordinates and concentrate on training and readiness for combat, the forces at their disposal will be much more effective than when, as is often the case, the military is treated like a jobs program to keep unemployment low and, if there is a lot of corruption, make politicians and senior officers rich. The Chinese military served this purpose for a long time but when modernization got going in a big way back in the 1980s the Chinese military began to shrink while training became more intense and based on proven Western models.

PPP works in other ways. Nations that spend little cash, but have cheap local costs for food, housing and payroll, like Iran and Pakistan, all of a sudden have larger defense spending, Iran is now about six percent of U.S. spending, and Pakistan about four percent. Purchasing Power Parity shows how poor nations can spend only a few billion dollars a year on defense, yet have hundreds of thousands of troops in service. If these soldiers have good leadership and train regularly, they can be a formidable foe even to a high-tech force from the West or China. Most of the poor nations don't have high quality officers and NCOs, and their troops fade quickly when confronted with a well-equipped and well-trained force. Unfortunately, the media is not very keen on examining the quality of training and leadership in anyone's armed forces. Yet, time and again, these two factors have proved to be the most critical ones. And that will remain the case in the future.

All this explains how China was able to become a worldwide military threat in such a short period of time. From the Chinese perspective, this is simply returning China to the status of the worlds most powerful and prosperous nation. This was the status China enjoyed for most of the last three thousand years. China lost that status several centuries ago when the West had the Industrial Revolution and China did not. For China, the good old days have returned. How long that will last under a fascist form of government is as yet unknown.
JERUSALEM  Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians erupted overnight in Jerusalem as hundreds of supporters of an extremist Jewish supremacy group staged a march, chanting Death to Arabs, near the Old City.

The violence was the culmination of building tensions between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem and elsewhere over the past couple weeks. The Palestinian news media reported that 78 Palestinians were injured and 15 of them were treated in hospitals. About 20 Israeli police officers and at least 16 Israeli civilians were hurt as well.

More than 50 people were arrested in the melee, both in predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem and mostly Jewish West Jerusalem, according to the police. The citys mayor, Moshe Lion, said he had asked the police to ban the extremist groups demonstration but had been told that was impossible.

There is no doubt that it was superfluous, Mr. Lion told Kan, Israels public radio. It did not add to the quiet that we need now.
A new study has highlighted that while much is known about the ever increasing uptake of antidepressant medications around the world, there is very little evidence on safe and effective approaches to discontinuing treatment.

In 2020 there were 78 million prescriptions for antidepressants in England and about half of patients treated have taken them for at least two years. Guidelines typically recommend that antidepressants be taken for up to 6 to 12 months after improvement, or for up to two years in people at risk of relapse, but many people take antidepressants for much longer. Surveys of antidepressant users suggest that up to a half of people on long-term antidepressant prescriptions have no clear medical reason to keep taking them. Long-term use can put people at risk of adverse events such as sleep disturbance, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, bleeding, and gastrointestinal problems, as well as feeling emotionally numb and unable to deal with problems in life without their medication.

In this new study for Cochrane, an international research team, including Professor Tony Kendrick from the University of Southampton, looked at the findings from 33 randomised control trials that included 4,995 participants who were prescribed antidepressants for 24 weeks or longer. In 13 studies, the antidepressant was stopped abruptly; in 18, it was stopped over a few weeks (known as 'tapering'); in four, psychological therapy support was also offered; and in one study, stopping was prompted by a letter to GPs with guidance on tapering. Most tapering schemes lasted four weeks or less and none of the studies used very slow tapering schemes beyond a few weeks - in contrast to new guidelines from the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists that recommend tapering over months or years to safely stop.

The authors were unable to make any firm conclusions about effects and safety of the approaches studied and did not have confidence in the results due to the low certainty of evidence they provided.

We know the rise in long-term antidepressant use is a major concern around the world. As a GP myself, I see first-hand the struggles many patients have coming off antidepressants. It's of critical concern that we don't know enough about how to reduce inappropriate long-term use or what the safest and most effective approaches are to help people do this. For example, there are over 1,000 studies looking at starting antidepressants, yet we found only 33 trials around the world that examined stopping them. It's clear that this area needs urgent attention." Dr Ellen Van Leeuwen, Lead Author, University of Ghent, Belgium

Co-author Tony Kendrick, Professor of Primary Care at the University of Southampton is leading the REDUCE trial, testing online and psychologist telephone support for patients withdrawing from long-term antidepressants. He says "More than one in ten adults in England are now taking antidepressants but surveys of long-term users suggest that between a third and a half of these have no evidence-based reason to continue taking them, and they are associated with increasing side effects in the longer term."

A key issue identified by the research team is that previous studies have not distinguished between symptoms of a return of depression and withdrawal symptoms from the medication.

The difficulty of distinguishing between these symptoms presents a real challenge for patients, doctors and researchers alike - often resulting in inappropriate continuation of antidepressant medication and uncertain evidence on which to base healthcare decisions.

Dr Kendrick continues, "Antidepressants are often difficult to stop due to withdrawal symptoms. More research is needed to establish the incidence of withdrawal symptoms in patients, and large randomised controlled trials are needed to test different tapering strategies.

"Ultimately we really need more deprescribing studies - especially in primary care given that's where most prescribing takes place - before we can make more definitive conclusions. In the meantime, we hope this review provides a starting point to help GPs openly discuss continuing or stopping antidepressants with their patients. We also want to raise awareness that withdrawal symptoms from antidepressants are common and can be mistaken for relapse of the underlying condition. Experiencing withdrawal symptoms isn't a sign that the patient has relapsed - it might be that they need to taper more gradually down to much lower doses instead, before eventually stopping."
New Orleans, Louisiana--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2021) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until May 7, 2021 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Workhorse Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS), if they purchased the Company's securities between July 7, 2020 and February 23, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Workhorse and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-wkhs/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by May 7, 2021 .

About the Lawsuit

Workhorse and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On February 23, 2021, the United States Postal Service issued a press release announcing that Oshkosh Defense, not the Company, had been awarded the multibillion-dollar service contract for its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle ("NGDV") project to modernize its postal delivery fleet.

On this news, shares of Workhorse fell $14.88 per share, or 47%, to close at $16.47 per share on February 23, 2021.

The case is Farrar v. Workhorse Group, Inc., et al., 21-cv-02072.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

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To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81516
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 22:25:26|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday held a phone conversation with Laos' new Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh.

Li said that China and Laos are longtime friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, with the friendship between both peoples growing with time, noting that China has always regarded China-Laos relations as a priority in its neighboring diplomacy.

Earlier this year, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith, and reached new important consensus on promoting the development of bilateral relations, Li said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Laos, he said, noting that the Chinese side stands ready to join hands with the Lao side to promote friendly exchanges, deepen practical and mutually beneficial cooperation, and push for new progress in building the China-Laos community with a shared future.

Li pointed out that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) dialogue relations and is also the China-ASEAN Year of Sustainable Development Cooperation.

Both sides, Li said, should put forth efforts to upgrade China-ASEAN relations, work together for the early entry into force and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, safeguard the security and stability of the regional industrial chain and supply chain, and promote free trade and the well-being of people.

For his part, Phankham said that Laos is ready to work with China in the spirit of "good neighbor, good friend, good comrade and good partner" and take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both countries to expand and deepen the traditional friendship between the two parties and countries in an all-round manner, and push for more achievements in building the Laos-China community with a shared future.

Laos is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China in international and regional affairs and push for further development of the ASEAN-China relations, he added.

The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fight against COVID-19. Enditem
Former Big Brother star Skye Wheatley has welcomed her second child, a son, with boyfriend Lachlan Waugh.

The 27-year-old shared the happy news on Instagram on Friday, sharing a sweet video of their older son Forest, two, meeting the newborn in hospital.

In the clip, which was posted on her stories, their family can be seen gazing affectionately at the newborn who is sleeping in his crib.

Skye Wheatley's baby joy: Former Big Brother star has welcomed her second child with boyfriend Lachlan Waugh

Skye hasn't yet revealed a close up picture of the tiny tot or shared his name.

In the early hours of Friday morning, the former reality star turned influencer revealed that she had officially gone into labour and was having painful contractions.

Skye shared a video from her home, informing her fans she was about to head to hospital after doing a live stream from her bedroom.

Too cute! The 27-year-old shared the happy news on Instagram on Friday, sharing a sweet video of their older son Forest, two, meeting the newborn in hospital

Apple of their eye: In the clip, which was posted on her stories, their family can be seen gazing affectionately at the newborn who is sleeping in his crib

Labour pains: In the early hours of Friday morning, the former Big Brother star turned influencer revealed that she had officially gone into labour and was having painful contractions

'Hey guys, so to anyone who missed the live, just letting you know I'm in labour and my contractions are hurting really badly,' Skye said.

'I wish I went to the hospital way earlier because oh my God, I cannot with the pain.'

Skye said Lachlan 's mother was on her way to their Gold Coast home to look after the couple's son Forest.

The waiting game: She then shared a picture of Lachlan relaxing in their birthing suite, with a waterbirth set up in the background and said she was '9cm dilated'

She then shared a picture of Lachlan relaxing in their birthing suite, with a waterbirth set up in the background and said she was '9cm dilated.'

Earlier, Skye asked her followers to put on their notifications for her live stream.

'Guys put your notifications on for me, I'm going to do a live when I leave to go [to the] hospital for regular updates hahahaha,' she wrote on her Instagram stories.

Skye rose to fame on Big Brother Australia back in 2014. She debuted her relationship with tradesman Lachlan in November 2017.


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Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel, a vibrant hotel that connects historic and modern Dubai, has launched a stay package to support the recent government initiative of a Remote Work Visa and Multiple Entry Tourist Visa.

With an attractive monthly rate starting from AED4,350++ ($1,184++) per month, employees and tourists can stay in one of the hotels 384 rooms with complimentary high-speed internet and avail complimentary use of a small meeting room facility once a month, 30 per cent discount on Food and Beverage, 20 per cent off on Laundry and Dry Cleaning, a Dubai Parks and Resorts 30 per cent discount voucher, and access to the hotels gym and rooftop pool.

Those looking to stay longer and moving to Dubai through the Remote Work Visa program can obtain a one-time cashback of their $287 (AED1,100) visa cost when staying for a minimum of three months which can be used as hotel credit for any incremental charges applicable to dining, laundry, and other services utilised during the stay.

We laud the governments recent initiatives that allow employees and other nationalities to stay in the UAE and enjoy the countrys safe and attractive business and leisure environment. Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel is ready to welcome entrepreneurs and talents who would like to call the UAE home without the need for employment. Our facilities and our convenient location will boost their productivity while they experience a positive quality of life that the UAE offers, said Colin A. Baker, Regional Director, Middle East, StayWell Hospitality Group.

The new Remote Work Visa program enables employees from around the world to work remotely from the UAE even if their companies are based outside of the country. The one-year visa allows foreigners to enter the UAE under self-sponsorship and work in line with terms and conditions issued with the visa.

A self-sponsored multiple-entry tourist visas for all nationalities was also approved allowing tourists to enter multiple times on self-sponsorship and remain in the country for 90 days on each visit, which can be extended for another 90 days.

Considered first of its kind in the region, the new visa programs aim to boost the competitiveness of the UAEs tourism sector and support the national economy. - TradeArabia News Service
An international group of scientists from Italy, the USA, China and Russia have studied the relationship between collectivism, individualism and life satisfaction among young people aged 18-25 in four countries.

They found that the higher the index of individualistic values at the country level, the higher the life satisfaction of young people's lives. At the individual level, however, collectivism was more significant for young people. In all countries, young people found a positive association between collectivism, particularly with regard to family ties, and life satisfaction.

This somewhat contradicts and at the same time clarifies the results of previous studies. Russia was represented in the research group by Sofya Nartova-Bochaver, Professor at HSE University's School of Psychology. The results of the study have been published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.

What is this about?

Research shows that cultural factors play a significant role in explaining differences in indicators of subjective well-being and, in particular, life satisfaction.

Life satisfaction is one component of subjective well-being. It is an individual assessment of the correlation of living conditions with standards, a sense of correspondence between desires and needs on the one hand, and achievements and resources on the other.

Cultural factors include the values of individualism or collectivism. In general, an understanding of individualism is based on the assumption that people are independent of each other. It is a worldview centred on personal goals, uniqueness and control. Collectivism, on the other hand, assumes the importance of connections with others and mutual obligations.

Scientists distinguish between collectivism and individualism both at the cultural level (part of the national culture) and at the individual level (the individual's worldview). In this case, within the scope of the approach taken by the American psychologist Harry Triandis, individualism and collectivism can be considered in two dimensions -- horizontal and vertical:

Vertical Individualism (VI) is characterized by a desire to be outstanding and gain status through competition with others.

Horizontal Individualism (HI) is related to the desire to be unique, different from the group and able to rely on oneself.

Vertical Collectivism (VC) is characteristic of people who emphasize the integrity of their group and maintain competition with outgroups (a group of people to which the individual feels no sense of identity or belonging), as well as the possible subordination of their desires to authority.

Horizontal Collectivism (HC) is related to the desire to be like others, to follow common values, and to live interdependently without having to submit to authority.

The study's authors set out to discover how different dimensions of collectivism and individualism relate to life satisfaction in young people during early adulthood.

How was it studied?

The study involved 1,760 young boys and girls aged 18-25 from China, Italy, Russia and the USA -- countries that differ greatly in their individualistic values index. The average age of the respondents was around 20 years old. All of them university students, studying primarily social and behavioural sciences.

According to Hofstede's model, Italy and the United States are individualist cultures, while China and Russia are collectivist.

The study used special methods and questionnaires to identify individual levels of collectivism and individualism -- the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale (INDCOL), as well as the level of life satisfaction -- the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The influence of gender, age and cultural differences on life satisfaction was taken into account.

What were the findings?

At the country level, it was confirmed that individualism is closely linked to the degree of life satisfaction among young people. The higher the country's index of individualistic values, the more satisfied respondents are with their lives. Americans are the luckiest in this regard, as the USA has the highest individualism index, followed by Italians in second place and Russians and Chinese in third and fourth place, respectively.

At an individual level, the results were different -- life satisfaction showed a positive correlation with the two collectivist dimensions (vertical and horizontal) regardless of the type of culture. However, no significant correlations were found with either vertical or horizontal individualism.

The study showed that the degree of life satisfaction among young people is related to interdependence and social communication in different types of cultures. The researchers cite the example of Russians and Italians. For both, although some live in a collectivist country and others in an individualist one, life satisfaction is positively related to the successful fulfilment of social roles and obligations. Although this is to be expected, the transition to adulthood in Italy, as the authors note, is strongly intertwined with family relationships.

Previous research on American samples has not shown a relationship between life satisfaction and mutual social commitment. But this study did, for both levels of collectivism.

Overall, the fact that vertical collectivism, namely family ties and the obligation to take care of one's family, even at the expense of one's own needs, contributes positively to life satisfaction is unexpected and noteworthy, say the researchers. At the same time, the findings show correlation with a recent study proving that family and social relations are important basic components of happiness in different countries, regardless of gender and age.

Why is this needed?

Early adulthood is a period when there are still few social obligations and more opportunities to live out individualistic values. The original hypothesis of the study was that levels of life satisfaction are positively related to individualistic values at a personal level. Concluding this would have confirmed the results of much previous work. However, the results turned out to be the opposite.

The authors note that this study is more age-restricted than previous ones and also looks at the relationship between life satisfaction and different dimensions of individualism and collectivism. The new findings suggest that further research in this area is needed to clarify the particular influence of individualist and collectivist values on different aspects of subjective well-being.

Here, however, the researchers make it clear that this situation can occur not only because Americans and Italians are more satisfied with life, thanks to their countries' individualistic culture, but also because of differences in social inequality, the increased availability of opportunities and future life prospects.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Department of Petroleum Resources to restore four oil mining licences revoked from Addax Petroleum.

The was disclosed in a statement by the presidents aide, Garba Shehu, on Friday.

Addax, owned by the Chinese state-run Sinopec, has a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation.

The Nigerian government, through the DPR, had revoked the four OMLs, citing the companys inability to comply with targets.

Two weeks ago, a committee set by Mr Buhari to investigate Addax submitted a report, accusing the petroleum company of economic waste.

The committee led by a former senator, Magnus Abe, said $1 billion had been invested in the contract but Addax Petroleum called it off over an issue that was totally unrelated to the project. The action put over 3000 Nigerians out of work, the committee said.

The DPR on Thursday inaugurated a team to evaluate the revoked assets of Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Ltd.

DPR had recently revoked the four assets of Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Ltd., namely OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 due to the non-development of the assets by the company, the statement issued by the agencys spokesperson, Paul Osu, said.

Mr Auwalu said team of experts will evaluate the current status (As-is) of the revoked assets, including liabilities post revocation, in order to facilitate takeover of the assets by the new operators- Kaztech/Slavic Consortium.

It was not immediately clear why the presidency intervened on Friday.

Mr Shehus statement said: President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum, a company wholly owned by Government of the Peoples Republic of China on the blocks. The leases belonging to the Federation were revoked on March 30, 2021.

While directing the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR to retract the letter of revocation of the leases, the President also directed NNPC to utilize contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with the extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax, it said.

It said the restoration of the blocks to NNPC would increase crude oil production and revenue to the Federation Account.
A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended lifting the pause on the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for all adults while adding a warning label about a rare but dangerous blood clotting disorder. But a central mystery persists: How might a vaccine that has been given to nearly eight million people cause the side effect in just a few of them?

Theres no clear answer yet, but Dr. Andreas Greinacher, a researcher at University Medicine Greifswald in Germany, is leading one effort to find out. At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that he had reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to inspect the components of the vaccine to see if it could disrupt the normal blood clotting process under certain rare conditions.

We just agreed that we would like to work together, he said.

Its possible, Dr. Greinacher said, that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can cause rare side effects by the same process that he suspects is responsible for similar side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine. The main ingredient in both vaccines are harmless viruses known as adenoviruses, which slip into human cells and deliver a coronavirus gene that will later cause an immune response.

On Tuesday, Dr. Greinacher and his colleagues released a report on how the AstraZeneca vaccines might trigger the side effect. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
Mumbai, April 23 : Actor Zach Braff, who is known for playing John "JD" Dorian in the popular sitcom "Scrubs", said while there is no plan of a reboot of the show yet, talks of a film version with actor Donal Faison is very much on.

"I started this podcast with Donald and it has really taken off. We have had so much fun and we are always asked about a 'Scrubs' reboot by our fans. While there is no such thing planned yet, there are talks of doing a movie together," Braff said on "The Drew Barrymore Show".

"Scrubs" is a medical comedy drama television series, and follows the lives of employees at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital, a teaching hospital. The show also stars Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Neil Flynn, Ken Jenkins, John C. McGinley, and Judy Reyes.

Barrymore asked: "Chemistry is King and I truly believe that. You guys have it which is clearly seen in your real-life friendship. Do you think that is a hook for people and is it what makes it so fun for you guys?" "We get along so well, and we just crack each other up. People listening in on our podcasts really love us," Braff replied on the show, which airs on Zee Cafe in India.
YEREVAN.  Iravunk daily of Armenia writes: According to Vardan Ayvazyan, Head of the YSU [Yerevan State University] Chair of Constitutional Law, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor, constitutionalist, yesterday the heads of Syunik [Province] community were detained on the direct orders of [PM] Nikol Pashinyan.

"I am publicly giving a report on a crime to the fact that abuse of official position, exceeding the limits of his authority have been carried out by Nikol Pashinyan, being called prime minister of the republic.

We draw the attention of law enforcement agencies to this fact, and urge [them] to initiate a criminal case on this fact, and conduct a relevant investigation.

The behavior of the community leaders was completely in line with the Constitution and current laws. This is another political persecution."
Nurses experienced things they could never explain.

People talking, then dead. Replacing family members by holding the hand of the dying. Losing the ability to comfort through a smile.

To process these moments, some picked up a pencil, or a paintbrush.

A new exhibit at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Nurses Relaxation and Renewal Through the Arts, features art by medical workers, including some who used artwork to process what they experienced treating COVID-19 patients. The Gold Coast museums exhibit was supposed to open last April. Scuttled because of the pandemic, it is now open through July 11.

One of the artists is Maribel Huerta. Ever since she was a trauma patient, lying in intensive care after being shot in the head at age 15, she knew she wanted to be a nurse.

Half a lifetime later, she found herself in her dream job in an intensive care unit at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Last year, her role shifted to treating the sickest COVID-19 patients.

On days off, in a basement and isolated from her family to keep them safe, she felt alone with her thoughts. So she went to a closet and dug out her pen and drawing pad.

It really helped, because instead of keeping it in, I put it on paper, she said.

We cant really speak about it, the stuff were going through, Huerta said. It was so other people could see what were going through. I wanted something powerful, so people can really comprehend how bad it is.

The exhibit features a range of topics and mediums  drawings, paintings, photography, a quilt. The artist statements mention efforts to record favorite memories or inspiration. An acrylic artwork of a cup of tea noted how sipping tea can help nurses relax after a shift; another piece, a linocut print of an anatomical heart, was inspired by caring for cardiovascular patients in an intensive care unit.

Creating art can be a way to process emotions or situations and can help reduce stress, said Tony Amberg, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Throughout the pandemic, he led group courses to teach colleagues breathing techniques and meditation; more than 2,700 hospital workers attended.

Story continues

The first thing about creative outlets is one, it accesses parts of our brain that cant be reached by talking, Amberg said. And we are very verbal in medicine, and a lot of whats happening for people is emotional.

Words dont always capture whats happening to us inside, he said. Instead of things being done to us, we are doing. We are making. We are putting something new out there.

For Huerta, and others who expressed similar sentiment in their artist statements, creating art helped destress from or process the busy nights as a nurse. For her, as for many intensive care unit staffers, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an entirely new kind of work. She was used to treating patients she knew how to help, like someone who gets in a car crash on their way to work.

With the COVID patient, its like grandma or your aunt who just went to the store, and all of a sudden this virus is taking over their body and shes passing away slowly, Huerta said. Its also an unexpected death, kind of like trauma, but it was slower. So we really got to know these people.

COVID-19 sent patients to their ward who were very sick for reasons experts still did not fully understand.

We had no idea what we were dealing with, she said. It was just trying to fix what the patient already had. But because theres no actual treatment, it was just trying to fix whatever symptoms they had.

For those first few months, Huerta found herself living alone in the basement apartment she had shared with her 13-year-old son. He lived upstairs with her mother; she stayed away from them to protect them.

On her days off from work, she was unable to see her friends or family members, including her niece and nephew who didnt understand why the aunt they usually saw every day was now untouchable. Faced with free time, she pulled out her drawing pad.

Ive always drawn, ever since I was I think in junior high, she said. The older we get, we lose touch with our creative side.

The first thing she drew was herself, wearing a respirator. She bought the respirator online after her brother, who paints cars, told her that it could protect her while inhaling. The pencil drawing shows her wearing the respirator and a Batman cap. Her eyes have coronavirus spores.

She did not, she said, feel like a superhero.

We just felt hopeless, she said. We were trying everything. We couldnt save everybody.

Knowing that patients were unable to see family, they tried, she said, to become that family for them.

The worst part was coming back to work and not knowing if the patient you took care of the night before was still going to be there or not, she said. It was horrible to watch, because these people, theyd be getting better and all of a sudden, they turn worse.

They found creative ways to bring human contact into a world filled with protective gear and isolation.

Once, knowing patients could not feel the warmth of her hand beneath double gloves, she removed a glove. She held the patients hand, a woman who reminded her of her grandmother. The patient eventually died.

As the pandemic continued, Huerta kept drawing. She painted. She also returned to photography, something she was unable to do when the state shut down and most people stayed inside.

She envisions picking up her pencil again for another self-portrait. Shes not sure exactly what it will be, but the word relief comes to mind.

Im envisioning almost like the same picture that I drew, but without the respirator, and something with the vaccine, she said. Instead of the coronavirus eye, itll be something brighter, like a future, finally hope.

This story has been updated to clarify that the exhibit is open through July 11.

abowen@chicagotribune.com
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The Osun State Government has received the remains of the ex-spokesperson of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin.

Mr Odumakin died of COVID-19 complications on April 3, 2021.

His body arrived at Asejire, in Osun around 2:30 p.m. where he was transported to his hometown, Moro, Ife north, local government area of the state.

Governor Gboyega Oyetolas Chief of Staff, Charles Akinola, led other state government officials to the venue.

He described Mr Odumakin as one of the finest human rights leaders in Nigeria.

His loss is a great loss to the nation generally. The Governor has asked us to receive him into the state and escort his body to his final resting place.

Odumakin was not just a leader of conscience, he is one of the finest human rights leaders. He was not just a nationalist, he was the finest Yoruba nationalist, Mr Akinola said.

Presenting the corpse of her husband, Joe Okei-Odumakin, said she is happy that Mr Odumakins legacy lives on.

Here is Yinkas corpse, he is my friend, comrade, my soulmate and husband. In fact, a part of me means a part of him. If I come back to this world over and over, I will get married to him.

We are grateful to the state of Osun, for the great reception at this sober moment. When a spokesperson stops speaking, you know how heavy it is, but our consolation is that Yinkas ideals and legacy live forever.
When the James Webb Space Telescope, despite repeated delays, finally launches in October, and after some initial calibrations begins its first cycle of observations, these will include an impressive Danish participation. Cosmic Dawn Center - a collaboration between Technical University of Denmark and the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen - will be at work from the very beginning. The primary focus will be on learning more about the Universe's earliest galaxies.

With a diameter almost three times that of the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope will be the largest ever launched into space. It is also being hailed as Hubble's successor. James Webb is built primarily to observe infrared light and will therefore revolutionise our knowledge of the very early Universe in particular -- the reason is that, the longer light has travelled through the Universe, the longer its wavelength becomes, and thus also the more (infra)red it becomes.

At the Niels Bohr Institute and DTU Space's basic research centre "Cosmic Dawn Center" (or DAWN), which conducts research into galaxies, they are particularly excited about the launch of James Webb: the Danish researchers will participate in 2133 hours of the first cycle's 6000 assigned hours of observation time, or over ? of the total time available.

The DAWN centre has a special stake in James Webb, having contributed to the construction of two of the telescope's instruments. As a reward, they have been assigned a number of "extra" observation hours. However, the other over 2000 hours have been achieved in equal competition with researchers from 40 other countries. The earliest galaxies

The overall goal of DAWN's programme is to study the earliest, and therefore most distant, galaxies in the Universe.

The most ambitious observational program has been dubbed "COSMOS-Webb". This programme intends to survey a large part of the already well-visited region of the sky that Hubble has long held in its spotlight. And the expected results will be magnificent: half a million galaxies, many from the period when the Universe was at a mere 5% of its current age.

The telescope's giant mirror allows it to gather large amounts of light; crucial for observing the extremely faint objects in question. But just as a camera deploys a longer shutter speed to capture pictures at twilight, James Webb will also take very long exposures: an impressive 208 hours will be spent creating the deepest panoramic image to date of an unsurpassed population of the earliest galaxies.

"It's unique that such a large and ambitious program is being implemented from the very beginning of James Webb's guaranteed life span, which is just 5 years. This gives us, and all other users of the space telescope, the chance to identify thousands of galaxies of all types and at all evolutionary stages in the earliest Universe, including the rarest ones, which can be studied in detail through James Webb in the coming years," explains Georgios Magdis, associate professor in astronomy at the Cosmic Dawn Center.

Sune Toft, professor and DAWN's Center Director, who like Georgios Magdis is participating in the COSMOS-Webb collaboration, elaborates: "In addition to the galaxies we expect to find, we're convinced that the most exciting discoveries that a large survey like this will uncover, are ones we aren't even yet able to imagine. That's what the history of astronomy has constantly demonstrated". ...and the largest

While COSMOS-Webb is the largest programme, DAWN is also involved in several other programmes, some led by early career researchers at the center. Instead of looking "broadly" at thousands of galaxies, one of these programmes has chosen to focus on five already well-known galaxies; not just random ones, but five galaxies so large and evolved that they challenge our understanding of galaxy formation.

"We will peer back in time to capture the light of these mysterious galaxies, tracing out their stars, gas, and dust inside and out", explains John Weaver, PhD student at DAWN and leader of this project. James Webb sees double

For yet another one of the selected programmes, James Webb is simply not enough. DAWN's postdoc Seiji Fujimoto, who is leading this third programme, will employ a marvellous technique, where gravity itself can deflect and enlarge the image of a galaxy, 28 billion light-years away.

Not only is the light amplified some 100 times; the magnification also allows him to study the galaxy's inner structure to an unprecedented degree. Moreover, because light can take different paths through space, the galaxy can be observed in several multiple places in the sky at the same time.

These observations are not only interesting in themselves, but also increase expectations for future research. "When next-generation telescopes in the 30-metre class are ready, we will be able to study star clusters, and perhaps even individual stars, in the most distant galaxies", affirms Seiji Fujimoto.

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SAN FRANCISCO  The drugs killed them in plain view  in front of the public library, at the spot on Powell Street where the cable car used to turn around. Others died alone in single-room apartments or in camping tents pitched on the pavement, each death adding to an overdose crisis that is one of the worst in the nation.

Drug overdoses rose across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. But in San Francisco, they skyrocketed, claiming 713 lives last year, more than double the 257 people here who died of the virus in 2020.

San Franciscos overdose death rate is higher than West Virginia, the state with the most severe crisis, and three times the rates of New York and Los Angeles. Although overdose data from the past year is incomplete, one researcher found that San Francisco  where overdoses have more than tripled since 2017  has more overdoses per capita than any major city on the West Coast.

The drug deaths in San Francisco  about two a day  stem from a confluence of despair. Fentanyl, an opioid that was not a severe problem for the city just a few years ago, has fully permeated its illicit drug market and was a factor in most overdoses last year. A culture of relative tolerance toward drug use has allowed it to spread quickly. And fentanyl, much more powerful than heroin, has found fertile ground among the citys thousands of homeless residents, who have died of overdoses in large numbers.
The integrated power producer will sell solar power from a plant located in Gujarat to its licensed distribution business unit at a price of INR 2.22/kWh ($0.03/kWh).From pv magazine India Gujarat-based Torrent Power, the integrated power utility of the Torrent Group, has announced it has secured a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for 300 MW of solar capacity that it will build in Gujarat. Under the PPA, the company will supply the electricity produced from the plant to its licensed distribution business unit at a price of INR 2.22/kWh ($0.03/kWh). The project is estimated to cost INR 1,250 ...

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.
On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) to be a pandemic. This disease is highly infectious and is caused by a novel positive-stranded -coronavirus, namely, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Globally, this virus has had a devastating effect on public health and the economy. Scientists believe that only the discovery of effective vaccines and potential drugs can contain the ongoing pandemic.

Despite the commencement of vaccination programs in many countries, there is a need for more immunization strategies as the demand is exceptionally high, and there are certain limitations in the mass production of vaccines.

Many more new vaccines are in the clinical trial stage, but the development of a vaccine is complex. Several detailed evaluations are required at each stage of vaccine production ahead of receiving approval from regulatory bodies such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These evaluations focus on a number of factors, such as adverse effects, efficacy levels, dosing procedures, storage requirements, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, and induction of long-term immunological memory. The above complexities enhance the need for drug repurposing, which deals with the re-utilization of existing drugs where their side effects are well established. This is an operational strategy that could reduce the SARS-CoV-2 viral load and be effectively used for COVID-19 treatment.

While studying the immunopathology of COVID-19, researchers found that it causes non-hemostatic inflammation associated with cytokine storm. The cytokine storm occurs via several mediators such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is also considered a biomarker for disease severity. For drug discovery, computational biology and bioinformatics are the two most powerful tools for repurposing approved drugs or drugs under clinical trials. In the current scenario, some of the strategies employed to discover drugs for COVID-19 disease are as follows:

Identification of host or virus targets, for example, the receptor-binding domain (RBD) present in spike glycoprotein and angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2), which facilitate virus-host cell interaction.

Identification of proteins or enzymes from virus biosynthesis machinery. For example, main protease (Mpro) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp).

Reversal of the host gene expression, which is associated with SARS-CoV-2-infection.

A new study published on the bioRxiv* preprint server focuses on the in-silico predictions to repurpose existing drug compounds, that may have the ability to reverse the SARS-CoV-2 gene expression induced in host cells. These drugs could target proteins or enzymes vital for the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle or inhibit the expression of Interleukin 6 (IL-6) that acts as both a pro-inflammatory cytokine and an anti-inflammatory myokine. Thereby, these drugs could be used as potential agents for the treatment of COVID-19 disease.

In this study, the researchers identified 39 repurposed drug candidates that show promise as effective treatments for COVID-19. These drug compounds are potentially capable of reverting the genetic signature of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells and show high affinity towards viral targets (protein or enzymes). Celastrol was found to be one of the best-matched drugs that can restrain the release of the virion particles and the secretion of IL-6 by SARS-CoV-2-infected cells. Currently, both computational and experimental studies have substantiated the findings of a previous study, which had claimed the effectiveness of celastrol as a potent drug for COVID-19 treatment.

Docking analysis of molecular interactions between viral targets and drugs capable of reversing SARS-CoV-2 genetic signature. (a) Representative structures of the SARS-CoV-2 molecular targets (Mpro, RBD, and RdRp), where atoms are represented as lines and secondary structures as a cartoon with helices highlighted in magenta and sheets in yellow. Colored line circles (red - Mpro; RDB1 - blue; RBD2 - orange; RdRp - green) indicate the binding sites used for docking related to known inhibition of critical regions from each viral target 19,2427. (b) Boxplots illustrate the affinity binding energies (kcal.mol-1) obtained from docking analysis between several structural conformations of 39 drugs and each viral site (Mpro = 83; RDB1= 10; RBD2 = 10; and RdRp = 10 structures). The reverser drugs were sorted based on decreasing order of Qscore that indicated their potential to revert the genetic signature of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Dotted lines indicate median affinity binding energies defined for each viral target (Mpro = -7.3; RDB1= -6.2; RBD2 =-6.7; and RdRp = -7.2 kcal.mol-1) considering all investigated drugs.

This drug possesses anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. Celastrol is a triterpene that is also effective for HIV-1 Tat-induced inflammatory responses. Previous research has revealed that celastrol blocks the production of pro-inflammatory chemokines, e.g., CXCL1. It can also suppress replication of the Dengue virus serotype by activating IFN- expression and triggering downstream antiviral responses. The in-silico predictions have also detrained other drugs, such as CGP-60474, dasatinib, canertinib, geldanamycin, etc., that have the potential to treat COVID-19 disease.

Previous studies as well as the current research, have identified several genes where expressions are altered during SARS-CoV-2 infection. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-, etc.), chemokines (CXCL1 and CCL20), and genes related to the NF-B pathway are modified post-infection. These modifications are directly correlated with the progression and severity of COVID-19. The present research further validated the in-silico findings with in vitro experiments. Researchers have reported that celastrol can reduce the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 infected cell lines.

Detailed chemical interactions between the best-ranked drugs and inhibition sites of SARS-CoV-2 molecular targets. 2D target-drug interaction diagrams for the best structural configurations of viral molecular targets was determined using the Discovery Studio software (version-2020). Celastrol had the most attractive Gbind median values of affinity energy to three targets (Mpro, RBD1, and RBD2) and WZ-4-145 to one (RdRp). The distance between the B-ring C6 and the sulfur atom of the Cys145 residue, which may be related to a possible Michael adduct formation for the best energy poses in each Mpro structure, ranged from 0.43 to 1.33 nm, with average value of 0.63 nm (black dashed line).

Scientists have revealed that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces IL-6 production. Such occurrences were spotted in both COVID-19 patients and in vitro SARS-CoV-2 infection models. Scientists have reported that celastrol could down-regulate the infection-induced IL-6 production, which causes a decrease in the SARS-CoV-2 load. Previous research has also indicated that this drug candidate has many functions. For example, it can down-regulate gene expression in PC-3 prostate carcinoma cells, suppress LPS-induced IL-6 production in RAW264, and express mRNA in influenza A-infected MDCK cells. In addition to these, scientists developed an experimental model of acute respiratory distress syndrome. They reported that celastrol could decrease lung injury by producing IL-6 and pro-inflammatory mediators into the pulmonary airways.

Although several studies have pointed out the effectiveness of celastrol as a therapeutic agent, it has some limitations. One of the limitations is its low solubility that results in poor bioavailability. The cytotoxic studies using the mouse model have shown that it is safe even at a higher concentration. However, more studies are required to assess its toxicity to humans. At present, celastrol is under clinical trials for the treatment of a variety of diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders, different types of cancer, and inflammatory conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn's disease).

*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.
Penguin Randomhouse is still planning to publish Blake Baileys life of Philip Roth in Australia despite his US publisher W.W. Norton halting distribution and promotion of the book after several women made allegations of grooming, sexual impropriety and rape against the biographer.

It said those allegations against Bailey, who has denied all wrongdoing, were extremely serious and concerning. At this stage they are allegations, and we continue to publish Philip Roth: The Biography. We are assessing the situation closely. PRH is still expecting 1800 copies to arrive from Britain in late May for a scheduled June 16 publication date. It did not opt to print locally, although some bookstores have ordered in copies from overseas, where it was released in early April.

These are difficult days for publishers. Baileys biography of Philip Roth was immediately controversial on publication in the US earlier this month as it detailed its subjects attitude to women, both in his books and his personal life. There were immediate suggestions that Roth, long a target of some feminists, was also a worthy target of so-called cancel culture.

Now the spotlight has turned on the biographer himself. As a result of the allegations, Bailey has also been dumped by his literary agent, the Story Factory.
(Natural News) Part of the Biden regimes $1.9 trillion taxpayer-funded relief package for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) includes paid sick leave for individuals who suffer post-injection adverse events and become unable to work.

Should the jab cause an employee to develop blood clots, as one example, China Joe will essentially pay that person to stay home and hope for recovery.

These payments will come through a special tax credit of up to $511 per day, per employee for companies with fewer than 500 workers. Larger employers are being encouraged to pay out of their own pockets for vaccine-injured employees to stay home.

Were calling on every employer, large and small, in every state, to give employees the time off they need with pay to get vaccinated, Beijing Biden recently announced.

According to White House officials, less than half of all working adults in America have received at least one injection for the Chinese Virus. Hunters dad is pushing to get that number up to 100 percent.

Right now, about three million injections are going into peoples arms daily. As time goes on, this figure is expected to plummet as much of the country is choosing to just say no to the experimental gene-altering drugs from Anthony Fauci, Donald Trump and Big Pharma.

Already, states are telling the federal government to stop sending any further batches of the drugs because demand has essentially cratered to zero. In Iowa, for instance, nearly half of all counties have said no more shipments, while in Palm Beach County, Fla., mass vaccination clinics are being shuttered entirely.

In rural West Virginia, a vaccine clinic at a casino / race track parking garage is opening shots to out-of-state residents to address lagging demand, reports explain.

The hope is that people from Washington, D.C., make the hours drive to get vaccinated. In Arizona, a plan collapsed that would have opened a federally run vaccine site in Tucson; demand is slipping and county officials preferred more targeted, mobile locations.

White House doubling down on false claim that Chinese Virus injections are still in high demand

When asked about plummeting demand for Covid-19 injections, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra insisted that fluctuation is not uncommon and that what we want to do is continue to encourage Americans to continue to get vaccinated.

The pace of vaccination isnt linear, Becerra added in an attempt to prop up the governments fake new narrative. We are on a pretty good pace.

According to the Biden regime, more than 90 percent of Americans now live within five miles of a vaccination site, which can be found at more than 40,000 retail pharmacies across the country.

The next phase of Operation Warp Speed involves bringing the injections right to peoples homes. Military and medical personnel are planning to go door-to-door in hesitant areas to push people to roll up their sleeves and get jabbed.

There are also walk-in injection clinics being set up that do not require prior appointments. This, the regime hopes, will encourage more people to stop by on their way home from work or the grocery store to have their DNA permanently altered in a pinch.

Hunters dad has been reluctant to reveal when the country will have reached herd immunity from mass vaccination. The goalposts keep moving, it turns out, with no end in sight to all the madness.

Now that roughly 130 million people living in the U.S. have been injected, Joe Xiden is aiming for 200 million injections as the next benchmark.

The latest news about the White Houses Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injection push can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

ABC7Chicago.com

NaturalNews.com
Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

When you were younger, did you play house or pretend to be a parent to a friend or younger family member? Have you always wanted to have children of your own? Or, as youve gotten older, have your feelings about having a family changed?

Do you worry about the world that you would be bringing children into? Or do you think that children, and future generations, have the potential to change the world and make it a better place?

In Why, Despite Everything, You Should Have Kids (if You Want Them), Tom Whyman explains why some young people might be concerned about having children:

Alfonso Cuarons 2006 film Children of Men depicts a dystopia of childlessness. For the past 18 years, the human race has been completely infertile, with no new babies born anywhere in the world. As the species faces the possibility of extinction, society is in an advanced state of collapse. In the southern England where the film is set, normal life  franchise coffee shops, the empty grind of office work  carries on. But only by pushing to its margins a state of exceptional suffering, as Britains authoritarian government turns what used to be whole seaside towns into hellish refugee camps. In his book Capitalist Realism, the philosopher Mark Fisher claimed that the question Children of Men poses is: How long can a culture persist without the new? In the movie, there is (barring one fragile exception, which drives the plot) no future for the human race. And this makes it impossible for the characters to fully experience either the present or the past. Without a better future to hope for, there is no ultimate point in any of the characters being alive. What hope they have left is senseless. With every step they take, the people in this dying, childless world stand on the threshold of despair. Dr. Fisher was writing not long after the film had come out. But Children of Men has become much cited in our current apocalyptic moment. Its dystopia is one that resonates with how we live now. For with the pandemic has come not only an immense toll of death, sickness and immiseration but also, for many, a loss of joy and possibility  disenchanting our feeling for the future. If we are minimally functioning, we feel grateful for it; who knows if we might ever hope for something more. If you are under the age of 40 or so, this is almost certainly not even the worst global crisis you will face over the course of your life. So is it any surprise that people dont seem to want to have kids? At the start of lockdown, some puckishly predicted that all those couples locked away together would set off a pandemic baby boom. In fact, across the developed world at least, the exact opposite has proved true: In the United States, an estimated 300,000 fewer babies are expected in 2021. And Europe has experienced the most severe slump in its birthrate since the end of the 1970s. What is driving the Covid baby bust? Perhaps some of it can be explained by people simply getting sick of each other, feeling unable to maintain the mystery and romance in their relationship. More profoundly, the pandemic has compounded the material difficulties  low wages, high rents and insecure jobs  faced by the generation that came of age in the wake of the 2008 economic crash. Birthrates have been plummeting in the developed world for some time now. And it isnt just about good access to contraception. Increasingly, young people feel not only deeply uncertain and insecure about the state of their own lives, but also so drastically concerned about the state of the world that they almost feel it would be an act of cruelty to bring new life into it.

But, Dr. Whyman argues, even in the time of Covid-19, climate change and catastrophe, having a baby is an act of radical hope:

What if hope exists not for any individual human being now living  but rather for the members of future generations, who though powerless to redeem us, might nevertheless be able to overturn the injustices we have been subject to and carve out a better existence for themselves? In this view, hope is not for us but it is nevertheless related to us, by means of our connection to other, future human beings. I might not be able to hope for anything. But we certainly can meaningfully hope for a better world  through the actions we might take, through the world and across generations, together. This, at any rate, is how I would answer the anti-natalist position. It makes no sense to think of children as tokens of their parents carbon consumption, inheriting a taste for steak and air travel. And it makes no sense to think that whole generations might simply be blindly condemned to a certain fate, before they have even been conceived. The reason for this is that human action is not determined in any hard sense: Human beings exist transformatively in relation to their world. Another philosopher, Hannah Arendt, referred to this fact with the concept of natality  the new beginning inherent in birth. The world might well be a terrible place, but by having a child, you are introducing something new into it. Of course, this is a sort of gamble with reality: You dont yet know who your child might be. But if we dare to do it, to bring something new into the world, we might hit upon the right path  and then things really could, conceivably, get better.

Students, read the entire essay, then tell us:

What is your reaction to Dr. Whymans essay? Do you agree with his central argument that people who want to have children should? Why or why not?

How do issues like climate change, racism, financial insecurity or the pandemic affect your interest in having children someday?

How do you feel about the statement that having children at this time is an act of radical hope? In what ways do you agree and disagree?

Do you think that having children is a selfish act, as the South African philosopher David Benatar has argued? If you agree, explain why. If not, why do you think people have children?

After reading this essay, has your desire to have children or not changed at all? If so, how? If not, why not?

About Student Opinion

 Find all of our Student Opinion questions in this column.

 Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it.

 Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
SCHENECTADY  The officers who shot and killed a Schenectady man last March will not face criminal charges.

The justification for shooting Michael Wallace could not be disproven beyond a reasonable doubt, according to the findings of a special investigation released by the state Attorney Generals Office on Thursday.

Two officers opened fire on Wallace, 34, after he pointed a pellet gun at him while they were responding to a call at Joseph Allen Apartments in the citys Hamilton Hill neighborhood on March 24, 2020.

The report identified Sgt. James Plowden and Officer Berardino Mancico as the two officers who discharged seven shots at Wallace, three of them fatal, after he pointed a gun at him through the doorway of his apartment.

Moments before, Wallace held the firearm to the back of an employees head, which sparked one of multiple 911 calls.

Mancino appears to have fired the fatal shots, according to the report, including two to Wallaces back - resulting in a bullet that lodged in his neck - and one to his right arm.

The report said the critical factor was whether or not Plowden and Mancino reasonably believed that deadly physical force was necessary to defend themselves from what they reasonably believed to be the use or imminent use of unlawful deadly physical force by another person.

Because it was reasonable for the officers to believe that deadly physical force was necessary to defend themselves, investigators determined that criminal charges could not be pursued.

Yet the report by the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit also concluded that the totality of the circumstances involved underscores the need for communities to develop programs that dispatch mental health professionals  not police  to mental health-related calls where there is no indication that a police response is needed.

That includes Wallaces early-morning 911 call that initially drew officers to the apartment he shared with his fiancee hours before the fatal encounter.

Wallace was somewhat incoherent but the fact that he was experiencing a mental health issue was abundantly clear, according to the report.

During the brief interview, Wallace spoke of suicide, discussed his underlying mental illness diagnoses and said he wanted to avoid going to the psychiatric facility, as well as engaging in other nonsensical behavior - including speaking in quasi-military jargon.

Yet he refused to go to the hospital and officers, accompanied by Mohawk Ambulance employees, left.

If a response protocol involving trained mental health professionals had been available at the time of Mr. Wallaces 911 call, it clearly would have been better suited to his needs, the report said. In fact, based on the information contained in the original 911 call, it is difficult to identify exactly how the police could have helped Mr. Wallace at all other than possibly instigating a Mental Hygiene Arrest.

The Attorney Generals office strongly recommends that the Schenectady police department and its community partners work toward developing this type of response program.

This incident highlights the tragic reality that too many of our communities are ill-equipped to handle emergency mental health crises that demand a response from mental health professionals, not police, said Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.

City Police Chief Eric Clifford said the department agrees with the findings and has started to work on implementing its recommendations, citing reforms implemented as part of the recently concluded state mandate to reshape policing operations.

The department now participates in the Schenectady County Unified Communications Centers protocol of diverting mental health-related calls to support partners like Northern Rivers when possible, and has increased the use of mobile crisis services teams like Catholic Charities when appropriate.

The department would like to thank the New York State Police and the (state) Attorney Generals Office for their professionalism and assistance with the investigation and review of this unfortunate incident, Clifford said.

In the aftermath of the fatal encounter, friends and teachers painted a portrait of someone struggling with mental health issues whose stress levels were exasperated during the then-emerging coronavirus pandemic but didn't rise to the level of violent tendencies.

And in social media posts ahead of the shooting, Wallace appeared increasingly desperate and spoke of going hungry amid the pandemic.

Under a 2015 executive order signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Attorney General's office can investigate police shootings that involve unarmed people. But the law also allows state prosecutors to scrutinize other police shootings.

James office combed through evidence from body-worn cameras, 911 recordings, medical records and hours of police and civilian witness interviews for the investigation.

The 33-page report contained several new details that fleshed out the narrative presented by city police, as well as 80 minutes of camera footage.

Previously undisclosed was that Wallace himself called 911 hours before the fatal shooting. Five officers returned to 780 Albany St. three hours after receiving a call from a security guard who reported Wallace had pulled a gun on an employee. A second call came in about loud music.

Before confronting Wallace, police interviewed a maintenance supervisor who confirmed the naked suspect put a gun to the back of his head, an altercation confirmed by footage.

Upon their arrival, officers kicked the door to Wallaces apartment and announced their presence.

The door abruptly swung open, and Mr. Wallace appeared to be holding a pistol that was aimed at them. SPD officers then opened fire, the report read.

Plowden fired one shot; Mancino, six.

Wallaces fiancee was escorted from the scene immediately, while his body wasnt discovered until robots were sent in nearly two hours later.

Police said they didnt know until afterwards that the firearm was a CO2 pellet pistol, nor did the employee who was threatened by Wallace.
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A bill to reduce the number of cases that can get to the Supreme Court was rejected by the House of Representatives on Thursday.

The constitution alteration bill, sponsored by Luke Onofiok (PDP, Akwa Ibom), was debated and subsequently rejected at the second reading stage.

The bill intended to amend sections 233 and 234 of the 1999 Constitution.

The bill proposed that Supreme Court will determine the type of cases from the Appeal Court it will hear.

However, cases involving determination of the winner of presidential election, governorship, pre-election matters were excluded from the proposed amendment.

In his lead debate, Mr Onofiok argued that the Supreme Court is already overburdened and not fully composed.

He explained that only political cases are getting expedient hearing, while other civil and criminal cases take years to be determined.

At the moment, the court is composed of only just 18 justices. It is these 18 justices that handle all appeals and deliver justice to the population of over 201 million Nigerians, Mr Onofiok argued.

Speaking against the bill, Uzoma Abonta (PDP, Abia) said the bill has the potential to create more harms while curing a defect.

We should not try to cure a defect by creating more defects. Appeal is a right, not a privilege. Telling somebody not to get to the end of litigation is not right, Mr Abonta said.

Also speaking against the bill, the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, called for prudent alternatives.

He also pleaded that the bill should be allowed to go for second reading while the Committee on Constitution amendment can look into the merit of the bill.

We also have to juxtapose that with the need to look at other alternatives to encourage efficiency, he added.

Mr Onofiok replying, urged the House to support the bill, stating that it will take over two years of waiting to get a date at the Supreme Court for a civil or criminal case.

However, when the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Idris Wase, put the bill to vote, the nays had it.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 6, 2021)  The City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on Tuesday announced that Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP) has been selected as the vendor for Cure Violence implementation.

Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. was one of four organizations to submit proposals to the citys Request for Proposals. The organization has a track record of success in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and this partnership will allow YAP to continue its good work here in the community.

YAP has been working with the Countys Department of Criminal Justice Services Youth Recovery Court and Youth and Family Services since 2019 and has been an invaluable partner to us and the families that they have served, said Raynard Washington, Mecklenburg County Deputy Health Director. We are excited to utilize their experience in violence interruption and existing knowledge of our community to better address our residents needs.

Founded in 1975, YAP is accredited by the Council on Accreditation and is a nationally recognized nonprofit that has 45 years of agency-wide experience engaging the highest-risk individuals in neighborhoods deeply affected by violence, poverty and incarceration. In cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington DC, YAP has successfully implemented programs that target specific individuals, neighborhoods and broader violence and crime reduction strategies. Their methods include a combination of proactive and reactive strategies that are designed to interrupt imminent violence while promoting individual and community transformation over the longer term.

Cure Violence is an evidence-based violence interruption strategy that uses data and evaluated methodology (developed over time and that provides consistent results) to interrupt violence on the ground.

Several priority areas have been identified as durable hotspots of violent incidents in Charlotte. By using a tried and tested evidence-based model, which focuses on the individuals in the geographies with the highest risk of being involved in violent crime, Charlotte has the highest likelihood of stopping violence before it occurs and preventing future violent incidents.

Our City has recently experienced a significant increase in incidents of violent crime, said Federico Rios, Assistant Director, Office of Equity, Mobility and Immigrant Integration for the City of Charlotte. By implementing the Cure Violence methodology through a trusted community-based organization that will hire residents from Charlotte, we are centering the expertise of the local community members that will be hired to serve as Violence Interrupters and outreach workers. In so doing, we recognize that those individuals, often most proximate to these experiences, have viable solutions to address them.

The City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have been exploring a partnership with Cure Violence Global for almost two years. Cure Violence worked with the city, county, and community over the summer to conduct an assessment and determined that a locally-implemented violence interrupter program could be viable along the Beatties Ford Road corridor. Cure Violence has a long history of work in cities across the globe. They also have had extensive evaluation from various academic institutions which have found that their methodology is effective when implemented with fidelity.

Cure Violence Global is a non-profit, public health organization that has developed a successful methodology that works to interrupt violence in the place and during the time it happens. Cure Violences methodology includes resourcing community members to work with people who are at the most risk for perpetrating violence. The methodology is specific, based in public health principles, and uses data to target areas and individuals that are most likely affected by violence. Interrupters are community members and trusted messengers who use their credibility and relationships to mediate conflict and stop violence before it happens. Interrupters work in their neighborhoods, talking to people on the street, during the times that violence is known to happen. Outreach specialists maintain a caseload of persons they support in receiving services and resources to prevent future violence.

Cure Violence has helped set up evidence-based violence interruption programs in Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana, Chicago, Illinois; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City, New York; Washington, District of Columbia; St. Louis, Missouri; and Camden, New Jersey.
[April 23, 2021] Thanks to California Climate Credit, PG&E Residential Customers Will See Lower Bills This Month

Pacific Gas and Electric Company ( PG&E (News - Alert) ) residential customer bills will be lower this month thanks to the California Climate Credit. The credit created by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), is part of the state's efforts to fight climate change. The credit will lower bills by $41.82 for PG&E residential customers receiving both natural gas and electric service this month. For natural gas-only residential customers the credit will be $24.62, and for electric-only residential customers, the credit will be $17.20. California requires power plants, natural gas providers and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits from auctions managed by the California Air Resources Board (News - Alert) . The Climate Credit is customers' share of the payments from the state's program. In 2020, the CPUC accelerated the distribution of the Climate Credit in response to increased at-home energy usage due to the Governor's March 19, 2020, stay-at-home order. This year, the CPUC returned the distribution of the electric residential credit to the standard twice-annual April and October schedule. Customers do not need to do anything to receive the credit, it will automatically appear as a line item " CA (News - Alert) Climate Credit" or "California Climate Credit" on their bill with the amount of the credit. Though the credit will offset bills this month, PG&E recognizes some customers continue to struggle financially as lingering impacts of the pandemic remain. For Customers with Past-Due Balances: 'We're here to help' As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic start to subside, PG&E reminds customers with past-due balances to explore available financial-assistance programs now, before the emergency customer protections put in place during the pandemic end on June 30, 2021. In place since March 2020, these emergency customer protections included suspending service disconnections for customers with unpaid bills. Customers are encouraged to act now and not wait until protections expire if they are behind on payments. Numerous programs, tools and tips are available. Please call us today at (800) 743-5000 if you have an outstanding balance. Translated support in over 250 additional languages is available at that phone number. We have been working with customers with past-due balances and will continue these efforts months after the protections expire. Since March 2020, more han 1.6 million payment plans have been created for residential and commercial customers.



Proactive contact with customers during the pandemic has saved customers more than $5 million just by changing their rate plan. Here are some of the ways we are assisting customers as the COVID-19 protections end:

Staggering the restart of the collections and disconnection process with a grace period after the protections end to support customers facing uncertainty.

Helping income eligible renters who have experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19 and have past due rent, or landlords who have experienced a loss in income because of unpaid rent, to find financial assistance programs with their utility bills through federal programs such as the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program.

The recertification and post-enrollment actions that customers will need to take to qualify for the California Rates for Energy Program (CARE), the Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA) and the Medical Baseline Program will be spread out over the rest of 2021.

Providing financial assistance to help offset eligible household energy costs including heating, cooling and home weatherization expenses through the federally-funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). To learn more, dial 2-1-1 or 1-866-675-6623 for LIHEAP income guidelines and a list of participating agencies.

PG&E will launch a new medical practitioner portal for the Medical Baseline program. To simplify the enrollment and recertification process, the portal will enable qualified medical practitioners to certify a customer's eligibility for the Medical Baseline program online. The program provides customers an additional monthly allotment of energy at the lowest price on the current rate. 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/20210423005522/en/

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Indias deadly second Covid-19 wave has brought an abrupt halt to its nascent recovery from the pandemic, with the resurgence expected to drag on for weeks in a setback for the global oil market.

The combined consumption of diesel and gasoline in April is poised to plunge by as much as 20% from a month earlier due to renewed restrictions, including a week-long in the capital New Delhi, according to officials from top refiners and fuel retailers. While major oil processors were still buying crude recently, there are signs starting to emerge that refining operations will likely need to be scaled back to adjust for plummeting demand.

Maharashtra has halted all non-essential services, ordered private companies to work from home, and shut malls and restaurants through April.

Given the grim situation, its likely that the lockdowns could be in place for several weeks or even a couple of months, according to Senthil Kumaran, the Singapore-based head of South Asia oil at industry consultant FGE. Indias total key oil products demand will see a significant pullback.

India has repeatedly shattered records for infections and deaths as the virus sweeps through the nation, stoking fears that the central government may be forced to implement another national to curb the spread. Preliminary industry sales figures show a significant impact to during the first half of April and expectations are that the situation will only get worse.



The sudden spike in Covid cases in Patiala  one among seven districts which have 73% of Punjabs total active cases  has affected the vibrant nightlife of Patialvis

While demand for the motor fuel has been resilient during the pandemic as people shunned public transport in favor of their own cars and motorcycles to avoid infection, new advisories by state governments discouraging people from leaving their homes unless for emergencies or essential services are set to hurt consumption, the officials from the refiners and retailers said.

Nitin Goyal, who runs a filling station in New Delhis bustling eastern district, said fuel sales dropped 90% on Tuesday during the first day of the week-long in the city. He typically sells an average 10,000 liters of gasoline and diesel a day from his Indian Oil Corp.-branded outlet and expects sales to recover to only about a quarter of usual volumes in the coming days.

FGE sees daily gasoline demand declining by 100,000 barrels this month and 170,000 barrels a day in May, while diesel consumption is expected to decrease by 220,000 barrels and 400,000 barrels a day over the same period. Prior to the virus flare-up, motor fuel and diesel sales in March were at about 750,000 barrels and 1.75 million barrels a day, respectively, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official government data.

India so far has instituted localized lockdowns, with the government seeking to avoid repeating the nationwide shutdown seen last year that drove demand to the lowest in more than a decade in April 2020. The South Asian nation is the worlds third-biggest oil importer, which means an extended impact will likely ripple through the global market, even as China and the U.S. rebound strongly.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct high level meetings on Friday to review the virus crisis and wont attend scheduled election rallies in West Bengal, he said in a twitter post. The Indian leader has been campaigning during state elections, despite the ferocious flare-up.



Photo: File

Restrictions are also hobbling the Indias trucking industry -- considered the backbone of its economy and oil demand -- which was slowly clawing its way back from the worst of 2020. Business has halved, said Naveen Kumar Gupta, secretary general of All India Motor Transport Congress, which represents 9.3 million truckers and about 5 million bus and tourist vehicle operators.

The latest restrictions have spurred a fresh exodus of migrant laborers fearing job losses, and Gupta says that small truckers, operators of buses, tourist taxis and school transport are among the worst affected. FGE estimates that commercial vehicles account for almost 80% of the nations diesel consumption, the countrys most used fuel.

Industrial activities have already slowed in some states, said FGEs Kumaran. There has also been a sharp drop in driving in major cities. These cities contribute to the bulk of gasoline and gasoil demand in India.
In June 2016, just before Britain voted to leave the European Union, there was a debate at the vast Wembley Arena. Boris Johnson, leader of the Leave campaign, was asked about the impact Brexit would have on Northern Ireland and its fragile peace process. He spoke instead, irrelevantly, about  the Balkans. He said nothing about Northern Ireland.

His evasion was eloquent. Johnsons triumph in 2016, and his subsequent rise to power, were based on the provision of easy answers to hard questions. The one thing even the most insouciant British politician knows about Northern Ireland is that there are none of those. So the Brexiteers, ironically, adopted the strategy that the poet Seamus Heaney ascribed to Northern Irelands people: Whatever you say, say nothing.

Tuesday, a bomb was placed under the car of a policewoman in County Derry. In the first two weeks of April, dozens of police officers were injured in riots, mostly in Protestant working-class districts. The fears expressed by those who had predicted that Brexit would be profoundly destabilizing are acquiring a dark substance.

No one has been killed. The attempted bombing was the work of a small faction of die-hard Republican dissidents. They have little support, but will try to reignite conflict.

Rioters in Protestant districts have not been profoundly engaged with Brexit. The frustration of long pandemic-related lockdowns has to be factored in. So does the anomie of economic marginalization, and the activities of Loyalist gangs more concerned with protecting their drug dealing patches than with high politics.

Thus Northern Ireland is not yet slipping back into the anarchy of the Troubles. It is, however, in a state of very high anxiety. The relative calm that settled on the place for nearly 20 years after the signing of the peace agreement of 1998 has been replaced by real fear for the future. In divided societies, if people expect violence, they become pessimistic about all the things that might prevent it: engagement, reconciliation, consensus.

For years, Johnson has been deeply mendacious about what Brexit means for Northern Ireland, practicing deceit and denial.

The deceit concerns details of the agreement he made with the European Union. The Irish government and the E.U. insisted the regulatory border between the two entities could not be on the island of Ireland: The only solution was for Northern Ireland to remain for trading purposes within the E.U.s single market. But this means the trading frontier has to be between Britain and Northern Ireland  the so-called border in the Irish Sea.

Goods moving into Northern Ireland from Britain now have to have extensive paperwork. It makes the province obviously different from the country it is supposed to belong to. Johnson swore he would never agree to this. But having agreed to create such a barrier, he has tried to deny that he did so. Just this week, he claimed that ludicrous trade barriers to internal trade had been erected by the E.U., as if this had nothing to do with him.

The denial has to do with the more fundamental issue. Brexit is an English nationalist project that has weakened Britain as a political unit. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted against it. Alienation from Britain has risen in both places. Unionists have to face an existential question: What does unionism mean if the United Kingdom breaks up? Johnsons answer is to wave the union flag and insist all is well. The dishonesty is dangerous. It adds to the angst of a Protestant community that does not know where its future lies. Any responsible democratic leader would know that reassurance begins with the acknowledgment of reality. Johnsons forte is avoiding it.
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New York, April 23 : It is in the world's interest that Americans are vaccinated and the US has to first to take care of the requirements of its own people, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price has said about Washington's restrictions on exporting raw materials for making the Covid-19 vaccines.

Asked at his briefing on Thursday if President Joe Biden's administration had made a decision on the requests made from India to lift the ban on the export of vaccine raw materials to India, Price said bluntly, "We have a special responsibility to the American people." "It's, of course, not only in our interest to see Americans vaccinated, it's in the interests of the rest of the world to see Americans vaccinated," he added.

As for the rest of the world, "We will, of course, always do as much as we can, consistent with our first obligation," he declared.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar discussed Covid-19 and health cooperation last week and it had opened the possibility of Washington allowing vaccine raw materials to be exported.

Earlier this month, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala appealed to Biden to allow the exports of vaccine raw materials. "If we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the US, I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up," he tweeted.

Price first tried to sidetrack the issue of restrictions on vaccine raw materials exports by claiming that the reporter had asked about intellectual property rights for vaccines and that it was a matter for the US Trade Representative (USTR).

But the reporter from a Western news service had in fact asked only about the raw materials.

The question clearly was, "We reported that they (India) have asked the US to lift a ban on the export of vaccine raw materials, which basically threatens to slow the country's vaccination drive. When will the administration decide on that?" Price said, "You asked about intellectual property and certain controls. That was -- is within the purview of USTR." The export controls do not, in fact, come under the jurisdiction of the USTR which deals only with the matters of intellectual property rights.

The Defence Production Act that has been invoked to boost vaccine production in the US is reported to curtail the export of raw materials needed elsewhere.

Price then said, "What I will say broadly is that the US first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people. That campaign is well underway, and we're doing that for a couple of reasons." "Number one, we have a special responsibility to the American people. Number two, the American people, this country has been hit harder than any other country around the world -- more than 550,000 deaths, tens of millions of infections in this country alone," he said.

But Price conceded that the spread of the virus elsewhere is also a threat to everyone.

"The point the Secretary (Blinken) has made repeatedly is that as long as the virus is spreading anywhere, it is a threat to people everywhere." But support his point about the America First vaccination policy he added, "So as long as the virus is spreading uncontrolled in this country, it can mutate and it can travel beyond our borders. That, in turn, poses a threat well beyond the US." Price asserted that the US playing a "leadership role" in "seeking to contain the virus beyond our borders." He cited the US rejoining the World Health Organisation and Washington's contribution of $2 billion to the COVAX facility that provides vaccines to developing countries and the promise of $2 billion more to it.

He also said that the US was sending vaccines to its neighbours Canada and Mexico.

He said, "When it comes to India, (there is the) the Quad and the arrangement with the Quad, including to increase production capacity in India." The leaders of the Quad -- Biden and Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Yoshihide Suga of Japan and Scott Morrison of Australia -- had agreed at their summit last month on a joint programme to supply Covid-19 vaccines to countries in the Indo-Pacific.

The vaccines manufactured by India with US and Japanese funding would be distributed with Australian logistics under the programme.

Biden's Spokesperson Jen Psaki last week also sidestepped a question about lifting the ban on vaccine raw materials speaking instead about the reaction of USTR Katherine Tai to the request from India and South Africa for waiving the intellectual property rights for the vaccine.

While not committing to waiver of intellectual property rights, Tai had given a hint of optimism saying that the inequities in the developing countries' access to vaccines was unacceptable and "extraordinary times require extraordinary leadership, communication, and creativity." India has become the world's main supplier of vaccines because of the license granted to SII by Oxford and AstraZeneca for the vaccine developed by them.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Microsoft Office 365.

Thats what the Portland Police Bureau says it needs immediately to help meet U.S. Justice Department requirements on reporting and reviewing when officers use force.

As the only bureau in the city without the Microsoft subscription software, Portland police have relied solely on staff email to track use-of-force reports and supervisors reviews of those reports.

Its just a terribly inefficient system, said Mary Claire Buckley, the civilian head of the Police Bureaus Office of Inspector General. When you have a million of these things coming in, you lose track of them.

Officers are supposed to fill out reports by the end of their shifts noting every time they use force and why. Their supervisors are supposed to then evaluate each use of force in so-called after-action reviews.

Federal lawyers and the city-hired compliance officer overseeing the mandated police reforms have repeatedly blasted the bureau for delays in filing the reports on time and for their lack of critical review.

The reports are crucial to seeing how Portland police are following terms of the citys 2014 settlement with the Justice Department to make changes after federal investigators found officers used excessive force against people with mental illness. The bureau also faces more than a dozen lawsuits and more than 100 complaints over using tear gas, pepper spray and munitions during social justice protests last year.

The bureau wants Microsofts OneDrive program so the force and after-action reports can be electronically shared with automatic date and time stamps and multiple officers can view and revise a document simultaneously.

Right now, the bureau is using a 2016 version of Microsoft, an assistant chief said.

Hey, its the 21st century, Buckley said.

With summer around the corner and a potential for more mass protests, Now, its even more important, she said. Now I need it as soon as possible.

Buckleys office reviews and analyzes the reports. The estimated cost would be $465,000 over five years, she said.

The Police Bureau, however, hasnt asked for the money in recent years. It also didnt request money for the technology in its proposed budget for the next fiscal year beginning in July, considering the City Council cut more than $15 million out of its current budget, Buckley said.

But police supervisors are now asking the City Council for at least some money for the Microsoft update.

Justice Department lawyers on April 2 issued a formal notice of non-compliance to the city on the settlement. They cited inappropriate police use and management of force during the protests, inadequate training, subpar police oversight and a failure to adequately share an annual Police Bureau report on its operations with the public as required.

The formal notice came after the Justice Department had asked police to produce a plan on how they will properly report, analyze and investigate use of force by officers, but the city argued that such a correction plan wasnt required under the settlement.

The settlement called for widespread changes to Portland police force and Taser policies, training, supervision and oversight, a restructuring of police crisis intervention services and quicker investigations into alleged police misconduct.

The city has until May 2 to respond in writing to how it will meet the settlement requirements.

From May 29 through Nov. 15 during the height of the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Portland police used force more than 6,000 times, according to the Justice Department.

Dennis Rosenbaum, the Chicago-based professor hired by the city to oversee its compliance with the settlement, said updated Microsoft software will help PPB track force reporting, but that alone will not solve the larger problem of managing the use of force in demonstrations or accountability for the mistakes in the use of force by PPB members.

Portland police didnt join other city bureaus in migrating in 2014 to Office 365 because its cloud-based storage wasnt secure enough under FBI guidelines for managing crime information, said Assistant Chief Mike Frome.

Now, Frome said, there are ways to restrict access on Microsoft OneDrive documents that would work for police, he said.

Last summer demonstrated several weaknesses in our tracking process for after-actions and we need to take steps to remedy things, Frome said.

Switching to Office 365 and its OneDrive shared documents will have some initial costs and a slightly higher annual cost than what the bureau pays now to maintain its Microsoft products, Frome said.

But he said, I believe the pros outweigh the costs, even in these fiscally tough times.

Officers and supervisors currently file the force reports manually and share them through email and email attachments, according to Frome and Buckley.

Thats presented myriad problems, they said.

An after-action report sometimes must be reviewed by three levels of police command depending on the unit or officer involved. The three-step review, for example, is required for force reports involving officers with the bureaus crowd control Rapid Response Team. At each step, the supervisor can send the report back to a lower-ranked supervisor or the officer to make revisions.

Each reviewer manually enters a date and timestamp for any changes and then forwards the report to the next level of review, according to the analysts. Some of the dates are incorrectly entered or missing altogether, Buckley said.

And if a reviewer is on vacation, reassigned or no longer works at the bureau, the reviews may get delayed or lost in their email, she said.

Reviewers also sometimes lose track of the revisions leading to misplaced reports, she said.

Microsoft 365 would allow automatic dates and times, electronic tracking and automatic notifications of due dates, Buckley said.

Frome said the Police Bureau anticipates asking for money to help offset initial startup costs, unless the figure can be absorbed in the bureaus budget.

He said he didnt yet have the exact figures the bureau would seek.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner, declined comment on the bureaus push for a Microsoft update, saying its a matter in active litigation, according to his spokesman Jim Middaugh. He said the litigation is the federal settlement and the notice of non-compliance.

Commissioner Mingus Mapps said hed support bringing the Police Bureaus software in line with every other bureau in the city.

We need to be able to work as one City, he said by email. Im certainly supportive of moving the current use-of-force tracking system to a more modern process.

But Mapps said he cant comment on whether the council should provide more money for the project without more details from the Police Bureau regarding its internal services budget, as well as how many other technology projects the city has planned.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian
[April 23, 2021] UiPath Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering

UiPath, Inc. (NYSE: PATH) today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 27,474,393 shares of its Class A common stock, including the full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase an additional 3,583,616 shares of Class A common stock, at a price to the public of $56.00 per share. The offering consisted of 13,000,000 shares of Class A common stock issued and sold by UiPath, and 14,474,393 shares of Class A common stock sold by the selling stockholders named in the prospectus. UiPath did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders. UiPath's Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "PATH." Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan acted as lead bookrunners for the offering. BofA Securities, Credit Suisse, Barclays, and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Securities acted as active bookrunners for the offering. SMBC Nikko, BMO Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, TD Securities, Truist Securities, Cowen, Evercore ISI (News - Alert) , Macquarie Capital, Nomura, and RBC Caital Markets acted as passive bookrunners for the offering. Canaccord Genuity, D.A. Davidson & Co., Oppenheimer & Co., and Needham & Company acted as co-managers for the offering.



The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus may be obtained from: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014, Attn: Prospectus Department; or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at 866-803-9204 or by email at prospectus-eq_fi@jpmorganchase.com. A registration statement relating to the sale of these securities was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was declared effective on April 20, 2021. 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 UiPath UiPath has a vision to deliver the Fully Automated Enterprise, one where companies use automation to unlock their greatest potential. UiPath offers an end-to-end platform for automation, combining the leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution with a full suite of capabilities that enable every organization to rapidly scale digital business operations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005533/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Red Metal Resources Ltd. (OTCPINK: RMES) (the "Company" or "Red Metal") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Rodney Stevens as Vice President, Corporate Finance for the Company, subject to any required regulatory approvals. Mr. Stevens is a Chartered Financial Analyst ("CFA") charterholder with over a decade of experience in the capital markets, first as an investment analyst with Salman Partners Inc. and subsequently as a merchant and investment banker. While at Salman Partners, he became a top-rated analyst by StarMine on July 17, 2007 for the metals and mining industry. Mr. Stevens was also a Portfolio Manager registered with Wolverton Securities Ltd. and over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in assisting in financings and mergers and acquisitions activities worth over $1 billion in transaction value.

Marketing and Investor Relations

Red Metal is also pleased to announce it has engaged Richard Cavelli to provide investor relations and market awareness services to the Company on a month-to-month basis for US$5,000 per month. Mr. Cavelli is based out of Santa Barbara, CA. The Company has also engaged Howard Isaacs to provide investor relations and market awareness services to the Company on a month-to-month basis for US$5,000 per month. At the discretion of the Company, Mr. Isaac's remuneration can be paid in common shares of the company at a deemed price of $0.17 per share for 29,411 shares per month . Mr. Isaacs is based out of Encino, CA.

About Red Metal Resources Ltd.

Red Metal Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on growth through acquiring, exploring and developing copper-cobalt-gold assets in Chile. The Company's projects are located in the prolific Candelaria iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) belt of Chile's coastal Cordillera. Red Metal is quoted on the OTC Link alternative trading system on the OTC Pink marketplace under the symbol RMES.

For more information, visit www.redmetalresources.com

Contact:

Red Metal Resources Ltd.

Caitlin Jeffs, P.Geo, CEO

1-866-907-5403

www.redmetalresources.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81528
It was announced yesterday that Shannon Technical Services, an Irish-owned aviation company based in Shannon, Co. Clare will create 80 new jobs by the end of 2023. Fifty seven of the new jobs are supported by Enterprise Ireland.



Founded in February 2019, the companys services include management of aircraft transitions, redeliveries, CAMO, engine management, and materials and logistics management for global aircraft lessors and airlines. Shannon Technical Services currently employs 40 people at its Shannon office and has utilised over 130 aviation technical consultants globally in the first quarter of 2021.

It will increase headcount to 60 by the end of 2021, 100 by the end of 2022, and upwards to 120 by 2023. The new roles will be across Operations, Commercial, Administration and Aviation Technical Services. As part of the controlled expansion, Shannon Technical Services (STS) will also be opening a new office in Dublin.

Welcoming the announcement yesterday, Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar said, "Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the aviation sector. The Government is determined to help the industry recover and rebuild once the pandemic is over. This expansion by Shannon Technical Services, creating 80 new jobs in Shannon and Dublin by the end of 2023, is a great vote of confidence. Congratulations to the team involved. I wish them every success as their business continues to grow."



Founder and CEO of Shannon Technical Services, Ben Whelan added, "Shannon Technical Services is the most trusted global aviation technical services partner and the foundation to the companys success lies in its people. As we begin to recover from these turbulent times for society and in particular for the aviation sector, we feel privileged to be expanding and providing attractive job opportunities in Shannon and at a new office that we will be opening in Dublin. The aviation industry has demonstrated resilience many times in the past and Im confident that it will, once again, bounce back."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be imported to India for "fill and finish" by June or July, financial daily Mint reported on Friday, citing ANI.

Fill and finish is the final step in the manufacturing process of putting the vaccine into vials or syringes, sealing them and packaging them up for shipping.

India has said it would fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna shots.

This will exempt companies from carrying out local safety trials for their vaccines.

India recorded the world's highest daily tally of coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Friday with 332,730 new cases, while daily deaths from COVID-19 also jumped by a record.

"The Johnson & Johnson vaccines are expected to be imported to India by June-July 2021. Johnson & Johnson is working closely with Biological E to facilitate the ongoing tech transfer to India," Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, told Reuters partner ANI on Thursday, according to the report.

Pharmaceutical company Biological E Ltd told Reuters in February it was looking to contract-manufacture roughly 600 million doses of Johnson and Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine annually.

The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology and a local representative for J&J did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Also read: COVID-19: Pfizer to supply coronavirus vaccine at 'not-for-profit' rate to Centre

Also read: Thief who stole vaccines from Haryana hospital returns vials, leaves note apologising
More than 100 Europe-bound migrants are feared dead in a shipwreck off Libya, independent rescue groups said.

SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said late Thursday that the wreck of a rubber boat, which was initially carrying around 130 people, was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

The aid vessel did not find any survivors, but could see at least ten bodies near the wreck, the group added in a statement.

The rescue ship Ocean Viking released video Friday of an overturned dinghy off the coast of Libya with corpses floating in the water around it.

A statement from SOS Mediterranee said that they had been alerted to three boats in distress but they were about 10 hours away.

When they arrived on the scene of the shipwreck, they found an overturned dinghy and "at least 10 bodies in the vicinity of the wreck."

The European humanitarian organization added that more than 350 people have drowned in the sea so far this year, not counting the victims of this latest shipwreck.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Edgewood:

A Maryland sheriff said that three people were killed apart from two others being wounded during a shooting at an office park in the northeastern part of the state.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler identified the shooter and said that police are looking for him. The suspect and the victims were all associated with a company at the Emmorton Business Park in Edgewood.

Nearby schools have been locked down as a precaution. The business park is just south of the Interstate 95 interchange with Route 24.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Destiny Brown, a senior at the Ohio State University, breathed a sigh of relief in her dorm room on Tuesday when the guilty verdict came down for former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. But the moment of respite proved short-lived. Minutes later, she scrolled on Twitter and learned that a 16-year-old Black girl, MaKhia Bryant, had been shot and killed that afternoon by Columbus police.

I cant even begin to process the fact that we live in a world where peoples lives  regardless of what theyre doing, what they have going on, guilty or not, innocent or not  their lives just do not matter, Brown told Yahoo News. It doesnt make sense to me and never will.

Overcome with a feeling of helplessness, Brown fired off a group text message to her friends Tuesday evening. Im ready to organize again, she told them.

In a matter of hours, Brown and her friends had planned a sit-in to be held the following day at the Ohio Union, the universitys student center in Columbus. Their goal, Brown said, was simple: to demand that the school sever ties with Columbus police over Bryants killing and its mistreatment of students of color.

On Wednesday afternoon, in the midst of finals week, more than 400 Ohio State University students, staff and faculty members attended the sit-in, where attendees chanted, Say her name and Black Lives Matter. The participants also observed 16 minutes of silence to mark the number of years Bryant had lived. Organizers told the crowd that the protest wasnt for police reform but for abolition. Following the demonstration, the crowd marched to the Ohio Statehouse, chanting Bryants name.

Ohio State University students demonstrate Wednesday in reaction to the police killing of MaKhia Bryant the day before. (Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

But with a student enrollment surpassing 60,000 on the Columbus campus alone, many OSU students disagreed with the protests.

A protest can get out of hand just as much as a party can, one student wrote on the OSU Undergraduate Student Government Instagram. Its funny that the peaceful protests get out of hand far more often than parties.

Story continues

As of Friday afternoon, many details surrounding Bryants death remained unclear. Her family says she called police about 4:30 p.m. to report that a group of older kids was threatening her. Police arrived at the home where she lived at 4:44 p.m., and in police body camera footage, Bryant is seen holding a knife while fighting with another girl.

An officer approaches the girls, asking, Whats going on? before yelling at them to Get down! three times.

Moments later Bryant lunges at a second girl as a Columbus officer, later identified as Nicholas Reardon, fires four shots at Bryant.

Shes just a kid, a bystander is heard saying. Damn, are you stupid?

Bryant falls to the ground as Reardon says, She came at her with a knife.

MaKhia Bryant. (Family photo)

Paramedics arrived at the scene in six minutes and attempted lifesaving measures almost immediately, said interim Police Chief Michael Woods, but they were unable to save Bryant.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther called the shooting a tragic day and said the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation will look into the officers actions. Reardon has been taken off street duty pending the results of the investigation.

The shooting took place just 30 minutes before the guilty verdict was read in a Minneapolis courtroom against former Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd. With emotions running high over that case and details of Bryants encounter with police scarce, her death was quickly held up as yet another example of racist policing.

As we breathed a collective sigh of relief today, a community in Columbus felt the sting of another police shooting, Floyd family attorney Ben Crump tweeted Tuesday. Another child lost! Another hashtag.

Columbus police did not respond to Yahoo News request for comment. City officials, meanwhile, have asked the public to avoid drawing conclusions until all the facts in the case come out.

Some conservative commentators, however, have already made up their minds about the incident, hailing Reardon as a national hero.

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"This incident isn't as clear cut as the murder of George Floyd or other police shootings that spurred the events of last summer," Cal Ruebensaal, chairman of the Ohio State College Republicans told Yahoo News in an email. "I personally believe that the officer did what he was trained to do and therefore no blame should befall him."

Brown, however, believes more could have been done to deescalate the situation.

You have a choice, she said. Theres a gun and theres a Taser. He made that choice to pick the gun up.

When Woods was asked by reporters about the policy on the use of Tasers versus handguns, he declined to comment on this specific incident but did offer insight into protocol.

If theres not deadly force being perpetrated on someone else at that time, an officer may have the opportunity to have cover distance and time to use a Taser, he said Wednesday. But if those things are not present, and theres an active assault going on in which someone could lose their life, the officer can use their firearm to protect that third person.

At Wednesdays sit-in event, student speakers called out what they felt was a double standard by Columbus police, which is 85 percent white in a community where 30 percent of residents are Black. Data from Mapping Police Violence, a site that tracks police killings, shows that Black people in Columbus are also five times as likely to be killed by police than their white peers. In 2017, Columbus police ranked No. 1 in police killings of Black people among the countrys 15 largest cities.

A Black Lives Matter activist addresses participants in the mass sit-in on the OSU campus. (Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

So far, the school has not given any indication it will agree to the demands of the student activists to sever ties with the citys police department. In a statement to Yahoo News, the university said it supports both students and faculty exercising their First Amendment rights.

Ohio State supports the right of our students, faculty and staff to peacefully express their views and to speak out about issues that are important to them, the statement read. Freedom of speech and civic engagement are central to our values as an institution of higher education.

The university also explained the nature of its relationship with the Columbus police.

The Ohio State University Police Division (OSUPD) is the primary law enforcement agency on all of our campuses, the statement continued. In Columbus, we contract with the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) for specific services, largely traffic control for athletics events. We also have a mutual-aid agreement in place that allows our OSUPD to assist CPD off campus.

But some students say this isnt enough.

Black students here continue to feel left out as repeated instances of violence against our community go unaddressed and disregarded, said a Black female junior at OSU, who agreed to talk to Yahoo News on the condition of anonymity.

This week was truly, and unfortunately, a perfect example. The beginning of the week saw a largely white OSU student crowd destroying property during ChittFest [a local block party], while CPD turned an eye. The killing of MaKhia Bryant  in the same week really struck a nerve with Black students on campus, she added. All we have asked of our university is to truly make us feel safe, seen and heard by divesting from CPD.

A Black Lives Matter activist at Wednesday's demonstration holds a placard protesting the killing of Bryant. (Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

As a white student, I will never be able to understand the pain and suffering of the Black community, Claire Pitrof, a senior, told Yahoo News. I understand that part of my role as an ally to this movement is to show up, to stand with the Black community and demand justice. That is what yesterday [Wednesdays demonstration] was about.

But Pitrof also acknowledged a split on campus between those who are seeking reforms and those who advocate for something more drastic.

I know there are plenty of students who feel that reform is the appropriate response to police brutality, whereas those of us at the protest yesterday demanded abolition, she said.

For Brown, the divide is stark and was epitomized by the fact that fewer than 1,000 students turned out for Wednesdays demonstration.

The dynamic on campus is clearly divided, she said. The majority of students do not feel like this affects them. The majority of students have this privilege and this entitlement that they only have to exist as students and don't have to exist as Black people that are seeing children and other people just being slammed by police and wondering if they're next.

Not all students agree there is a need for police reform.

In an image from Columbus Police Department bodycam video, Ma'Khia Bryant appears to wield a knife during an altercation before being shot by an officer. (Columbus Police Department via WSYX-TV via AP)

"Its all about following the law and having some respect, one student wrote on Instagram. Im not targeted by police because I dont break laws. Its that simple."

Ruebensaal, of the College Republicans, believes, "If we keep treating justified police actions this way, there won't be any cops anymore...just coroners."

Pranav Jani, Director of Asian American Studies at the university, was one of many faculty members at Wednesday's sit-in.

This [protest] happened for two reasons: the national mobilizations around the murder of George Floyd, and specific local incidents, including the long history of the violence and racism of Columbus police and the targeting of protesters, including our students, last summer, Jani told Yahoo News. Today, people want to see some real change, and part of that is rejecting a system of policing that brings safety only for some of us.

Many students who participated in Wednesdays sit-in and march had final exams to study for and papers to write, but they chose to raise their voices instead.

We should have been studying for finals yesterday, the junior added. None of us want to be activists, none of us planned to spend our afternoon marching to the Statehouse, but we felt we had to to stand our ground and let it be known that the inaction weve seen thus far is unacceptable.

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images (2)

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced results of a study demonstrating that adult Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, were found in beach areas at equal rates to the woodland habitats in parts of northwestern California. Further, researchers, who were testing ticks for up to 5 species of tick-borne bacteria, found that the collective infection rate of all species was as high as 31% in at least one area, which offers a different perspective from previous studies that tested for a single species of bacteria in a specific area or areas. Conducted by researchers at Colorado State University, Northern Arizona State University and Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), and published in the June 2021 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology (AEM), the research points to the need for greater education for both the community at large and healthcare providers about the risks of tick-borne disease.

"The high rate of disease-carrying ticks in the coastal chaparral was really surprising to us. And when looking at all the tick-borne pathogens simultaneously, it makes you rethink the local disease risk," said Lead Author Daniel Salkeld, PhD, Colorado State University. "Previously, we, along with other researchers, may have missed the big picture when we focused our attention on investigating the risk of one pathogen at a time. Now, we have a new imperative to look at the collective risk of all tick-borne pathogens in an area."

Researchers sought to quantify the prevalence of five species of bacteria  Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia americana, Borrelia bissettiae, Borrelia miyamotoi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum -- in Western black-legged ticks (I. pacificus ) across multiple habitats. Habitats included woodlands and grasslands as well as coastal chaparral, which is a habitat that has not previously been studied. Ticks may also carry viruses and parasites, however only bacteria were included in this study.

"Beaches and lizard habitats can no longer be considered havens from ticks. Based on this new data, we are now encouraging residents to take preventative measures in beach areas and encouraging healthcare providers to learn the symptoms of tick-borne infections beyond Lyme disease," said Linda Giampa, executive director at Bay Area Lyme Foundation. "Prevention of tick-borne disease is critical and ecology studies like this highlight the need to be vigilant anytime we are in the outdoors."

This was the first study to characterize bacteria carried by ticks in the chaparral in beach areas. Coastal chaparral is a natural habitat for fence lizards, which have previously been found to carry a blood protein that kills Borrelia bacteria, although studies over the past 20 years have offered differing results.

Authors note that more research is necessary to better understand which animals may be hosts for the ticks in beach areas. It is speculated that the hosts may be rabbits, voles and/or the white-footed mouse. The grey squirrel, which has been known to be the primary tick host in northwestern California, doesn't live in coastal areas. Additionally, the prevalence and role of the fence lizard should be further explored.

More information about preventing tick bites can be found here, and here is the link to the study: https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00319-21

About the Study

Researchers conducted tick drags of public and private areas including California State Parks (SP), County and Regional Parks, and National Parks in in Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma Counties.

Aggregated across all sites, prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato alone was 2.9% (95% CI = 2.3-3.7%), and Borrelia miyamotoi in adult ticks occurred at a lower prevalence than B. burgdorferi sensu lato: 1.3% (95% CI = 0.8-1.8%). However, prevalence of B. miyamotoi in nymphal ticks reached as high as 17.8% (95% CI = 10.5-27.3, n = 90) in some areas. Presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum was sporadic throughout the area with highest rates observed up to 7.8% (95% CI = 3.2-15.4%.).

About Tick-borne Disease

The CDC recognizes 15 tick-borne diseases, and there are at least 9 different types of ticks that carry these diseases. Tick-borne disease has been diagnosed in every state in the country. The most common vector-borne infectious disease in the country, Lyme disease is a potentially disabling infection caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. If caught early, most cases of Lyme disease can be effectively treated, but it is commonly misdiagnosed due to lack of awareness and unreliable diagnostic tests. According to the CDC, there are nearly 500,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year. As a result of the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, more than one million Americans may be suffering from the impact of its debilitating long-term symptoms and complications, according to Bay Area Lyme Foundation estimates.

About Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a national organization committed to making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, is the leading public not-for-profit sponsor of innovative Lyme disease research in the US. A 501c3 non-profit organization based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area Lyme Foundation collaborates with world-class scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. It is also dedicated to providing reliable, fact-based information so that prevention and the importance of early treatment are common knowledge. A pivotal donation from The LaureL STEM Fund covers overhead costs and allows for 100% of all donor contributions to Bay Area Lyme Foundation to go directly to research and prevention programs. For more information about Lyme disease or to get involved, visit www.bayarealyme.org or call us at 650-530-2439.

Media contact:

Tara DiMilia

Phone: 908-369-7168

[email protected]

SOURCE Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Related Links

http://www.bayarealyme.org


Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 23.04.21:

The situation is still tense in Armenia over the detentions following PM Nikol Pashinyan's visit to Syunik Province on Wednesday. The locals did not allow him to enter their communities. Protests were held in various Syunik communities where the people called Pashinyan a traitor and a capitulator of land.

Later Pashinyan instructed to detain all the organizers of protests.

On Wednesday night nearly 50 people have been detained from their homes.

Protests have been held on Thursday evening near the building of Armenia's Prosecutor General's Office. Protesters even threw eggs at the building.

The clashes have taken place between the protesters and the police. Police apprehended dozens of citizens, and they were forcefully taking them, including the woman.

14 people have been detained for violence charges.

Some lawyers warned that those detained are being treated badly in the police stations.

Goris deputy mayor Menua Hovsepyan - who has been released today - told reporters that he was indeed treated badly by the police officers. The footage shared proved that there were slight injuries on his face.

The courts released most of the detainees - claiming that their detention reasons are invalid. However, some of them have been charged with hooliganism. (PAKEL BOXOQI VIDEO)

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan promised to resign by the end of April ahead of snap parliamentary elections scheduled for June 20.

However, the day of his resignation is still unknown.

The leader of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Lilit Makunts told reporters she could not indicate the exact day of the resignation

There are reports from some experts who think the PM is going to resign on April 24 tomorrow following the Armenian Genocide commemoration events.

Some of them think that he will not resign, but is going to cancel the snap elections.

The judicial farce against Armenian captive Lyudvig Mkrtchyan continues in Azerbaijan.

According to Azerbaijani media, the court has extended his detention.

He is accused of "torturing Azerbaijanis captured during the first Karabakh war."

The Azerbaijani authorities have implemented the practice of convicting all captives who may have fought in the first Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war in the early 1990s.

Armenia labor, social affairs minister Mesrop Arakelyan has announced his resignation.

"In the post-war situation, I have taken on this responsibility solely for one objective: removing from the shoulders of our people as soon as possible the social catastrophe we faced as a result of the [recent] war unleashed by the enemy against Artsakh," he wrote on his Facebook. "Today we can record that Artsakh has overcome the social crisis and entered the stage of development programs and housing, in connection with which I express my satisfaction and consider the primary social challenges sufficiently overcome."

Russian MFA spokesperson has spoken about the opening of the so-called 'war trophy park' in Baku.

"Russia hopes Baku and Yerevan aspire to achieve normalization of their relations, not discord," Maria Zakharova told reporters.

When told that Baku is violating the agreement reached on November 9 by refusing to return the Armenia prisoners of war, Zakharova stated that Russia is actively mediating to smoothen the disagreements between Yerevan and Baku and that the country supports solutions to the problems through the all for all formula.

An alarm was made about a terrorist attack near the Blue Mosque in Yerevan.

The information department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations informed NEWS.am that the alarm was false.

The information department of the police also mentioned that materials on the case are being prepared.

As of Friday morning, 715 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 212,114 in the country.

Also, 15 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,984 cases.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 1,123, the total respective number so far is 192,281.
MONTSERRAT, Spain  Sister Teresa Forcades came to public notice years ago for her unflinching liberal views: an outspoken Roman Catholic nun whose pronouncements ran counter to the churchs positions on same-sex marriage and abortion.

She became a fixture on Spanish television, appearing in her nuns habit to advocate independence for her native region of Catalonia, and to debate other hot-button topics, including vaccines. She had trained as a doctor, partly in the United States, and argued that vaccinations might one day pose a danger to a free society.

Now a decade later, with the coronavirus having swept the world, she believes that day is here. She is warning against the use of coronavirus vaccines, even as scientists and elected leaders worry that anti-vaccine sentiment could threaten Europes recovery from the pandemic.

Its always important that criticism is possible, to have dissenting voices, she said of her views, which center as much on her doubts about the vaccines as her right to question them in public. The answer cannot be that in the time of a crisis, society cannot allow the criticism  its precisely then that we need it.
STAMFORD  A Norwalk man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl multiple times over two years.

Efrain Saravia-Cruz, 30, pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor as a part of a plea bargain with the state.

Under the deal, Saravia-Cruz will face up to a 10-year prison sentence suspended after three-and-a-half years on each of the charges, which are both Class B felonies.

Paul Ferencek, states attorney for the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District, said Saravia-Cruz will also be required to register as a sex offender and undergo at least 10 years of probation should he remain in the country after being released from jail.

Saravia-Cruz, an El Salvadorian native, has been imprisoned since his arrest in October 2016.

Saravia-Cruz was arrested by Norwalk police in 2016 after a then-15-year-old family member came forward and accused him of repeated sexual assaults.

According to a warrant, the victim told police that Saravia-Cruz been making advances toward her when she was 7 years old and lived in El Salvador.

When the victim moved to the United States, Saravia-Cruz aggressively continued to fondle her and try to have sex with her, the warrant said.

The victim told police she had been raped by Saravia-Cruz at least three times from 2014 to 2016.

Saravia-Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced during his next appearance in court on May 17.
To the Editor;

We in the US must come to grips with the fact that the US military has the largest carbon and greenhouse gas footprint of any organization in the world. The US well-known history of fighting wars for oil allows the fossil fuel industry to rely on militarization to uphold its operations around the globe.

Militarism and climate justice are fundamentally at odds. If we have a prayer of averting catastrophic climate destruction, we must acknowledge the heavy militarization of our society and devote our time, energy and resources to developing and nourishing a culture of peace with justice. The estimated $1 trillion allocated annually to the military must be diverted to the momentous task of averting climate destruction.

Established in 1970, Earth Day has become a worldwide holiday celebrated on April 22 by over one billion people in over 190 countries. Earth Day is intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the planet and the interdependence of the Earths natural systems, including humans. Not only is it a great time of year to get outside and enjoy the weather, it is a perfect opportunity to teach children how they can both enjoy and take care of their environment for the future. However, if we dont deal with the global climate crisis there wont be an environment to care for. The nationwide Earth Day events in the U.S. must address the greatest threat to the environment: Our Culture of War.

US militarism is the elephant in the room when it comes to the global climate crisis. For example, The Biden Administration has plans to convene a global climate summit on Earth Day. They have identified the summits key themes BUT the devastation to the earth and climate caused by war and militarism is not even mentioned let alone included as a theme

Ron VanNorstrand | Syracuse Veterans for Peace Chapter 51

Write us

How to submit letters and commentary to Syracuse.com
Nevada Secretary of State Finds No Evidentiary Support for Widespread Election Fraud Claims

Nevadas secretary of state this week said her office found no evidence supporting claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, informed the Nevada GOP that a review of records it provided to her office supporting fraud claims showed some of the incidents were already under investigation while others were not interpreted properly.

State officials said the Nevada GOP reported having 122,918 records supporting fraud allegations but that they identified only 3,963 unique election integrity violation reports, which they counted along with three business cards and a USB drive.

The reporters asserted, among other claims, that nearly 17,000 voters were registered at fake addresses or commercial addresses and that nearly 2,500 voters relocated to another state or outside the country in the month leading up to the 2020 election.

Our investigation revealed that these allegations and others are based largely upon an incomplete assessment of voter registration records and lack of information, said Mark Wlaschin, Cegavskes deputy secretary for elections, wrote in a letter to the states Republican Party.

And while the NVGOP raises policy concerns about the integrity of mail-in voting, automatic voter registration, and same-day voter registration, these concerns do not amount to evidentiary support for the contention that the 2020 general election was plagued by widespread voter fraud.

It was essential that we took the time to fully evaluate each complaint and to make a determination based on the merits of each report, added Cegavske in a statement.

However, the letter notes that many of the allegations were not investigated or were dismissed through statistical analyses, instead of a review of each allegation.

Nevada officials said they were not able to probe allegations that illegal immigrants voted in the 2020 election because federal courts have ruled election officials cannot require documentary proof of citizenship as a condition of voter registration. Nevada Republican officials had alleged 3,987 illegal aliens may have voted in the election.

Cegavskes office said that a persons affirmation that he or she is legally allowed to vote is sufficient to establish U.S. citizenship for purposes of voter registration, adding: Without specific evidence to establish that identified individuals were foreign nationals when they voted in the November 3 election, there is nothing further that can be investigated.

The office also brushed aside data showing people who filed permanent change of address notifications with the U.S. Post Office but still received mail ballots for the election, alleging it was probable that many of people keep claiming Nevada as their permanent residence even if they are temporarily located outside of the state and that the issue does not warrant further investigation unless there are particularized allegations and detailed evidence of voter fraud.

And the office said it did not have adequate staffing to conduct in-person investigations of the 8,842 Nevada voters who listed a commercial address, which is in violation of the law if the applicant does not live there. Instead, they conducted a statistical analysis, which showed there were nine addresses that do not have an attached living space. Those cases were referred to clerks and registrars for a more in-depth look.

A similar analysis was conducted on a referral of over 8,000 voters having non-existent addresses. That analysis found most were valid residences, and the office declined to investigate further.

Reports that some Clark County election workers were told to accept out-of-state drivers licenses will not be probed because Nevadas Department of Motor Vehicles did not offer its normal range of services, the letter states. The complaint does not merit further investigation because the allegations are not indicative of voter fraud, it said.

The office also said trying to verify the in-state residency of a separate set of more than 15,000 voters is unreasonable, as it is not likely to lead to the discovery of evidence of a crime or a violation of Nevada election law.

Ten cases of people being dead but having ballots cast in their name and 10 people who allegedly cast duplicate votes are being investigated by law enforcement. Counties are checking on 2,828 other possible double votes.

The Nevada GOP did not respond to a request for comment.

The Nevada GOP censured Cegavske earlier this month, accusing her of failing to investigate all potential fraudulent votes in the 2020 election and issuing irresponsible public statements regarding the fairness of the election.

In response, the election official said, My job is to carry out the duties of my office as enacted by the Nevada Legislature, not carry water for the state GOP or put my thumb on the scale of democracy.
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Column Policy

Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions.

Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
US President Joe Biden, in a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, announced his intention to recognize the massacre of Armenians in the early 20th century in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the talk between the two leaders.

Biden is expected to use the word 'genocide' in his statement on Saturday to recognize the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, fulfilling a promise he made during his presidential campaign. He will become the first US president in 40 years to publicly recognize the 1915 massacre as genocide.

Bloomberg also notes that the White House did not mention the matter in a press release on Biden's phone call with Erdogan, noting only that Biden told the Turkish leader that he was interested in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of differences.
Guy Pearce first won over fans as Ramsey Street's mysterious heartthrob Mike Young on Neighbours.

And this week, he revealed his Academy Award winning co-star Kate Winslet is a superfan of the show and would sing the iconic theme song to him on set of their new series.

The 53-year-old told the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday that Kate, 45, enjoyed serenading him with the song on the set of their new HBO show, Mare of Easttown.

That's when co-stars become good friends! Guy Pearce revealed Neighbours super fan Kate Winslet would sing the iconic Australian soap opera's theme song to him on the set of their crime series, Mare of Easttown

Guy, who also happens to share the same October 5 birthday as Kate, said: 'She (Kate) was a fan of Neighbours when she was 11, so there's that connection as well.'

He shared: 'She likes to sing the Neighbours theme to me quite regularly. That does get old but you think, "Well, if anyone is going to sing that at me, it's fine that it's you!"

The Australian-raised actor was 18 years old and fresh out of high school when he began filming his scenes for Neighbours.

Soap star days: The Australian-raised actor was 18 years old and fresh out of high school when he began filming his scenes for Neighbours as mysterious heartthrob Mike Young

Co-stars: Guy also praised the actress noting the great chemistry they share on the set of Mare of Easttown (pictured)

He starred opposite Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, who played the show's power couple Charlene Mitchell and Scott Robinson.

Guy also praised Kate noting the great chemistry they share on the set of their new HBO crime series Mare of Easttown.

He also spoke fondly about her warm personality off-screen, particularly when talking about their respective family life.

Sharing tips: Guy also spoke fondly about her warm personality off-screen, particularly when talking about their respective family life

He said they spoke about parenting. Guy is father to son Monte who he shares with Dutch actress Carice van Houten.

This comes after Guy admitted that being a father in his 50s has its challenges.

He candidly told Who magazine on Thursday: 'Having a young child at the ripe old age of 53 is a lot.'

Fatherhood: Guy Pearce admitted this week that having a 'young child at the ripe old age of 53 is a lot.' The former Neighbours star is a doting father to a four-year-old son named Monte who he shares with his partner Dutch actress Carice van Houten, 44 (pictured)

'But I am focused on spending all the time I can with him and being the best dad I can be,' the Melbourne-raised star added.

Guy Pearce and his partner, Carice, welcomed their son Monte in 2016.

They started dating a few months after his split from Guy's ex-wife Kate Mestitz in 2015.
A sailor who was forced to live alone on a ghost ship in Egypt for four years because of red tape has finally been allowed to go home.

Mohammed Aisha boarded a plane back to Syria on Friday, describing his elation he told the BBC: 'How do I feel? Like I finally got out of prison. I'm finally going to be rejoined with my family. I'm going to see them again.'

He joined the crew of the MV Aman cargo ship in May 2017. Two months later the ship was impounded in the Egyptian port of Adabiya.

The ship's Lebanese contractors failed to pay for fuel and the owners in Bahrain were unable to stump up the cash.

With the captain ashore, a court declared Aisha the legal guardian of the vessel and he was forced to make the 4,000-tonne container vessel his home.

Aisha flew out of Cairo on Friday, describing his elation on the tarmac at the airport, he said: 'How do I feel? Like I finally got out of prison. I'm finally going to be rejoined with my family. I'm going to see them again'

In March last year, a storm rocked the boat and shoved it from its mooring. A terrified Aisha feared for his life as the vessel drifted for miles before it eventually ran aground five miles from shore. This meant the stranded sailor was able to swim to shore, to buy food, clothes and to charge his phone. Though he risked his life every time he swam across the expanse, he believes it was an act of God which brought the ship closer to land.

The interior of the ship which Aisha was forced to convert to his home for four years

Aisha said he was asked to sign papers by the authorities but wasn't told what they meant until months later when other members of the crew began leaving the ship.

They left Aisha to a desolate existence alone aboard the colossal boat, save for the occasional guard to make sure he didn't abscond.

He would spend his days watching as dozens of freight ships travelled through the waters, many of them heading to the Suez Canal, and he was able to witness first hand the chaos caused by the Ever Given blockage last month.

He even saw his brother, a fellow sailor, pass by on his boat several times, but could only speak with him on the phone as he went past.

Aisha said his lowest moment was when his mother died in August 2018 after he'd spent more than a year stranded.

'I seriously considered ending my life,' he told the BBC.

By the following year, the Aman was out of diesel and therefore, out of power. Aisha said the boat became frighteningly dark after that.

'You can't see anything. You can't hear anything,' he said. 'It's like you're in a coffin.'

In March last year, a storm rocked the boat and shoved it from its mooring.

A terrified Aisha feared for his life as the vessel drifted for miles before it eventually ran aground five miles from shore.

This meant the stranded sailor was able to swim to shore, to buy food, clothes and to charge his phone.

Aisha appealed for help while aboard the vessel and a lawyer from the International Transport Workers Federation took up his case in December

By August 2019, the Aman was out of diesel and therefore, out of power. Aisha said the boat became frighteningly dark after that. 'You can't see anything. You can't hear anything,' he said. 'It's like you're in a coffin.'

Every time Aisha swam across the water he was risking his life in the busy shipping lanes

Though he risked his life every time he swam across the expanse, he believes it was an act of God which brought the ship closer to land.

The Aman's owners, Tylos Shipping and Marine Services, told the BBC they tried to help Aisha but they couldn't due to the legal red tape.

'I can't force a judge to remove the legal guardianship,' a representative said. 'And I can't find a single person on this planet - and I've tried - to replace him.'

Mohamed Arrachedi of the International Transport Workers Federation took up Aisha's case in December and helped to liberate him from the ship.

'This drama and suffering of Mohammed Aisha could have been avoided if the owners and the parties with responsibilities and obligations to the ship had assumed their responsibilities and arranged his repatriation earlier,' he told the BBC.

He would spend his days watching as dozens of freight ships travelled through the waters, many of them heading to the Suez Canal, and he was able to witness first hand the chaos caused by the Evergreen blockage last month

Staggeringly Aisha's case is not unique.

According to the International Labour Organization, there are more than 250 cases around the world where crews have been left stranded aboard ships they do not own.

The group said that 85 new cases were reported last year, twice as many as the year before.

A crew of 19 mostly Indian sailors have been stranded off the Iranian port of Assaluyeh in the bulk carrier Ula since July 2019.

They recently told shipping journal Lloyds that the situation aboard was 'very critical' and that they were depressed and running out of money.


ATLANTA, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc. ("CoastalSouth" or the "Company"), the parent company of Coastal States Bank ("CSB"), and Cornerstone Bancshares, Inc. ("Cornerstone"), the parent company of Cornerstone Bank, announced today the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Cornerstone will merge with and into CoastalSouth. Following completion of the merger, Cornerstone Bank will become part of CSB. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each company and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

(PRNewsfoto/Coastal States Bank)

Cornerstone Bank currently operates three branches in metro Atlanta. The merger will significantly expand CSB's presence in the Atlanta market and, on a pro forma basis, the Company will have more than $500 million in total deposits in the Atlanta MSA.

"We are excited to announce our partnership with Cornerstone and our expansion in Atlanta," said Steve Stone, President and Chief Executive Officer of CoastalSouth and CSB. "This acquisition will significantly enhance our presence in metro Atlanta, one of our primary growth markets. Financially, this is a very compelling transaction for both sets of shareholders. Steven Deaton and the team he has put together at Cornerstone have done a very good job of addressing legacy credit issues and, through the use of a contingent consideration mechanism in the merger agreement, we believe we have addressed the remaining credit issues in a conservative manner" he continued.

Steven Deaton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone, stated, "Our clients, employees, and shareholders will benefit from being part of CSB. This partnership accelerates the implementation of our business plans through the combination with a high-performing community bank that is as committed to community banking as we are."

Piper Sandler & Co. served as the financial adviser to CoastalSouth, and Troutman Pepper served as its legal counsel.

The Burke Group served as Cornerstone's financial adviser and Alston & Bird LLP served as its legal counsel.

About CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc.

Established in 2003, CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc. (OTCQX: COSO) is a bank holding company headquartered in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. CoastalSouth, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Coastal States Bank ("CSB") builds relationships by providing a full range of banking services designed for businesses, their owners, and individuals looking for a local banking partner. CSB has a community banking presence in the Lowcountry of South Carolina (Hilton Head Island and Bluffton), Savannah, and Atlanta, and also serves communities across the country through its Government Guaranteed Lending, Seniors Housing, and Mortgage Banker Finance lines of business. As of March 31, 2021, CSB had approximately $1.2 billion in total assets.

Coastal States Bank  Local. And Proud of It.

For additional information regarding the Company and CSB please visit www.coastalstatesbank.com.

About Cornerstone Bancshares, Inc.

Cornerstone Bancshares, Inc., a Georgia corporation, is a savings and loan holding company established in 2003. Cornerstone Bank, a federal savings association and wholly owned subsidiary of Cornerstone Bancshares, Inc., operates three branches located in metro Atlanta. As of March 31, 2021, Cornerstone Bank had approximately $214 million in total assets.

Media Contact:

Steve R. Stone

President and Chief Executive Officer

CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc.

843.341.9937

[email protected]



SOURCE CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.coastalstatesbank.com


[April 23, 2021] EQT Infrastructure to acquire First Student and First Transit, the market leading providers of essential North American transportation services, for USD 4.6bn

STOCKHOLM, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT Infrastructure will invest in organizational, operational and digital technology enhancement opportunities to further differentiate First Student and First Transit's service offering

First Student and First Transit will benefit from EQT's global advisor network and in-house digitalization and sustainability expertise EQT is pleased to announce that EQT Infrastructure has agreed to acquire First Student and First Transit ("the Company"), two North American subsidiaries of the UK publicly listed company, FirstGroup plc for USD 4.6 billion. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Student and First Transit are market leading providers of essential transportation services to schools and communities in North America. First Student is the largest student transportation service provider in North America, providing over 900 million student journeys a year to approximately 1,000 school districts. Student transportation is a critical component of the educational ecosystem, with student success metrics and funding directly correlated to attendance, and First Student has been driving positive outcomes for students since its founding in 1983. First Transit is a leading public transit management operator that transports 350 million passengers annually across approximately 300 locations in North America. Founded in 1955, First Transit provides essential mobility services to communities, college campuses, businesses, and elderly care facilities that are economical, safe, and environmentally friendly. EQT Infrastructure is committed to building upon the success First Student and First Transit have already had by making investments in organizational, operational and digital technology initiatives to further improve and differentiate the Company's service offering. Additionally, EQT Infrastructure intends to help future-proof the Company by investing in the electrification of its fleet and accelerating its transition to renewable fuel sources in order to support passenger health and reduce environmental impact. Crosby Cook, Partner and Investment Advisor at EQT Partners, said: "First Student and First Transit play critical roles in North America's transportation infrastructure; both businesses are market leaders, offering best-in-class safety, reliability, and service. EQT is excited to partner with the management teams of these businesses and invest in operational technology and fleet decarbonization to provide even safer and more environmentally friendly transportation services to students and communities across the continent." Matthew Gregory, CEO of FirstGroup, commented, "EQT has a strong record of success in the Transport & Logistics sector, and we have been impressed by EQT's vision for investment and growth at First Student and First Transit. I am confident that EQT will be a great partner for the Company to achieve its full potential as it embarks on its next phase of growth. I want to thank the employees of First Student and First Transit for their contribution to FirstGroup over the years and I look forward to following the Company's future success." The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Summer 2021. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as lead financial advisor to EQT Infrastructure in connection with the transaction and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel. Barclays and BMO Capital Markets Corp. also served as financial advisors to EQT Infrastructure in connection with the transaction. With this transaction, EQT Infrastructure V is expected to be 20-25 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication) based on its target fund size, and subject to customary regulatory approvals. Contact US inquiries: Stephanie Greengarten, +1 646 687 6810, stephanie.greengarten@eqtpartners.com International inquiries: EQT Press Office, +46 8 506 55 334, press@eqtpartners.com About EQT EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership. More info: www.eqtgroup.com Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram About First Student First Student is the largest student transportation service provider in North America, providing over 900 million student journeys a year at approximately 1,000 school districts. The Company has 48,000 employees who operate a fleet of over 42,000 school busses and provide an essential service to North American students. More info: www.firststudentinc.com About First Transit First Transit is a leading public transit management operator that transports over 300 million passengers annually across around 300 locations in North America. Founded in 1955, First Transit provides essential mobility services to communities, college campuses, businesses, and elderly care facilities that are economical, safe, and environmentally friendly. More info: www.firsttransit.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-infrastructure-to-acquire-first-student-and-first-transit--the-market-leading-providers-of-essen,c3332012 The following files are available for download:







https://mb.cision.com/Main/87/3332012/1406209.pdf Press Release EQT Infrastructure First Student First Transit 210423

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eqt-infrastructure-to-acquire-first-student-and-first-transit-the-market-leading-providers-of-essential-north-american-transportation-services-for-usd-4-6bn-301275719.html SOURCE EQT

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CAMILLUS, NY  Some students at West Genesee High School plan to rally Friday to express their outrage at a fellow students social media posts depicting whats called the George Floyd challenge.

The posts included a photo where a West Genesee student can be seen kneeling on another persons neck invoking George Floyds murder, said West Genesee Superintendent David Bills.

The stunt typically involves people reenacting on social media the death of Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges earlier this week. Floyds death sparked nationwide protests and calls for police reform.

A second posted photo appears to be someone other than a West Genesee student reenacting the killing, Bills said.

The photo of the West Genesee student appeared to be taken at an earlier time, Bills said, but had been posted Wednesday, the day after the Chauvin verdict.

Bianca Teixeira, a West Genesee junior, said she was helping other students organize the rally to make a statement that this is not what West Genesee is about.

She said the students are making a combined statement they want any students who are making racist comments held accountable,' she said.

We are very upset by this,' she said. We want people to take it seriously.

Teixeria said the photos were shared on Snapchat.

Bills said the administration is aware of the students planned statement, and proud that they are taking a stand.

The posts are deplorable, vile and unacceptable,' Bills said.

He said he understands why students are so upset.

Bills said the district knows the students identity, and said the student will be disciplined. He declined to give details as the investigation continues.

Honestly, its vulgar,' he said of the post.

Similar George Floyd Challenge' social media posts began last summer around the country. West Genesee first encountered posts like this in the district in February. The students involved in the February incident were disciplined, Bills said.

Students need to understand how hurtful acts like this can be, and that posts like this have a lasting impact, Bills said.

West Genesee has a racial problem, but its not exclusive to his school district, he said.

We all have a lot of work to do,' he said. We need to make more opportunities for learning and acceptance.

Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime at 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Central Michigan University has been awarded a $10 million grant as part of the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

"Protecting the Great Lakes is a top priority for Michigan residents, and this grant will help CMU continue its vital research on the health of plants, animals, and water quality in the Great Lakes' coastal wetlands, stated Congressman John Moolenaar, in a news release. I have advocated for funding for the GLRI as a member of the House Appropriations Committee so projects like this can help protect the Great Lakes for the enjoyment of Michigan families and future generations.
Consumer Reports engineers said they easily tricked" a Tesla Inc vehicle to drive via its Autopilot feature without anyone in the drivers seat, just days after a fatal crash in Texas where police said they found no one behind the steering wheel of a Tesla car.

In a test conducted this week, test drivers took several trips on a closed half-mile track in a Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle, the nonprofit research organization said in a statement Thursday. The vehicle -- with Autopilot technology engaged -- was able to steer itself along painted lines but at no time displayed a warning that the drivers seat was empty. The engineer who conducted the test placed a small weighted chain on the steering wheel to simulate the weight of a drivers hand.

In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldnt tell if there was a driver there at all," said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports senior director of auto testing. Fisher was able to reach over from the passenger seat and accelerate the car using a dial on the steering wheel.

Tesla, which reports earnings April 26, didnt respond to a request for comment. The company has come under scrutiny for the way it markets Autopilot, which is a driver-assistance feature. Tesla has rolled out a feature it calls FSD, or Full Self Driving, to early customers who are beta testing" the technology in advance of a wider release.





Two Houston-area men were killed April 17 after a Tesla Model S sedan crashed and erupted into flames. Many details remain unresolved, including whether Autopilot was being used when the vehicle traveled a short distance before hitting a tree. The authorities said that one man was found in the front passenger seat and a second in one of the rear seats -- with no sign anyone was behind the wheel.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk took to Twitter earlier this week to say the vehicles driver-assist features werent to blame.

Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD," Musk tweeted, referring to the companys trial Full Self Driving software. Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have."

(Read More: Musk Says Autopilot Off in Texas Tesla Crash That Killed Two)

Two federal agencies -- the US National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -- are investigating the incident. Local authorities were also seeking warrants to inspect the car.

In a statement, NHTSA said the information presented in CR is concerning, and well take action if we find it poses an unreasonable risk to safety." The agency said that all state laws hold the human driver responsible for vehicle operation.

Also Thursday, Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ed Markey of Massachusetts sent a letter to NHTSA expressing concerns.

The most recent Tesla crash is the latest in a rash of accidents -- the 28th -- that NHTSA is investigating involving a Tesla car," the senators wrote. We fear safety concerns involving these vehicles are becoming a pattern, which is incredibly worrisome and deserves your undivided attention."

Tesla shares fell 3.3% to $719.69.70 on Thursday in New York trading.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin has warned the US and NATO not to cross a "red line" with Russia and condemned what he called a coup plot against the Belarus government. Speaking in his annual state of the nation address on Wednesday, April 21, Putin claimed that the West shouldn't misjudge Russia as tension mounts over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russia's jailing of Putin critic Alexei Navalny. President Putin said Russia wanted good relations with all countries, but there were constant attempts by Western powers to "pick on" Russia.



"We don't want to burn bridges, but if somebody interprets our good intentions as weakness our reaction will be asymmetrical, rapid and harsh." He said: "We'll decide for ourselves in each case where the red line is".

On 17 April the Belarus government announced that they had foiled a plot to assassinate President Lukashenko. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had detained two Belarusians allegedly involved in the plot.



Putin backs Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who faces huge opposition and Russia claims the assassination attempt was backed by the US. The reported coup attempt comes after Belarus president Lukashenko claimed re-election last year, in a vote widely condemned as rigged. Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been exiled since then and the US has placed several sanctions on the Belarus government and Putin says the US is weaponizing its use of sanctions.



In his speech Mr Putin said that "the West didn't think about Belarus or Ukraine, when the Maidan events were going on there". Putin was referring to mass protests in Kyiv's Maidan Square in February 2014 thG led to pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing to Russia.

"The organisers of any provocations against Russia will regret [their actions] in a way they never have before," Mr Putin warned.









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
Foster Parent of MaKhia Bryant Reveals Argument That Led to Officer-Involved Shooting

The foster mother of a knife-wielding Ohio teenager who was killed during an officer-involved shooting earlier this week revealed that an argument about house cleaning triggered the dispute.

Angela Moore, the foster parent of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant of Columbus, said Thursday that the dispute took place when two former foster children were at Moores home.

It was over keeping the house clean, Moore told CNN about what led to the dispute. The older one told them to clean up the house because Mom doesnt like the house dirty.'

Moore continued: Thats how it all started.

Video footage released of the incident showed Bryant attacking several people with what appeared to be a knife. A police officer then fatally shot the teen, leading to Black Lives Matter protests.

At one point in a police body-camera video, Bryant is seen lunging at a woman who was standing in the driveway and forced her to the ground. A man is then seen kicking the woman as she tried to get up.

Moments later, Bryant then lunged at another woman wearing all pink while she was armed with a knife. Thats when the officer, Nicholas Reardon, opened fire, fatally striking Bryant.

In 911 dispatch calls, a woman is heard speaking to authorities. Come up here! the woman yells. We got  grown girls over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put her hands on our grandma, get here now!

Before shots were fired, a voice could be heard yelling: Im gonna stab the [expletive] out of you, [expletive] as Bryant was filmed attacking a young woman with a knife.

Debra Wilcox, Bryants grandmother, said that the behavior exhibited by the teen on the video was unlike her.

The fact that I see what I saw on that video is not how I know my MaKhia, Wilcox told The Associated Press earlier this week. I dont know what happened there unless she was fearful for her life.

Meanwhile, a neighbor of the teen released his own camera footage of the incident, saying he believes officers involved in the incident had no other choice but to shoot.

They were calling each other the B-word, so I figured it was just a girl fight, Donovan Brinson told The Columbus Dispatch on Thursday before the situation escalated.

In an interview with Fox News, Brinson said he believes the officer did what he thought was best given that he only had seconds to react.
Garner has played a key role in transforming the company into a multi-asset, multi-commodity diversified Australian mining company.

Red River Resources Ltd ( ) has thanked director Donald Garner for his contribution to the company following his resignation from the Board of Directors, effective April 22, 2021.

Red River chairman Brett Fletcher said: On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Donald for his hard work and dedication over the past seven years and his key role in the foundation and growth of Red River.

Integral in building company

Fletcher said: Donald has been integral in building Red River into the company it is today  from its acquisition of the Thalanga project in 2014, restarting base metals production there in 2017 and then our acquisition of the Hillgrove gold project in 2019, which has transformed Red River into a multi-asset, multi-commodity diversified Australian mining company.

With Donalds dedication and contribution over this time in the roles of managing director and executive director, Red River has successfully achieved important strategic goals and has laid strong foundations on which it will build over future years.

I would like to personally thank Donald for his part in Red Rivers journey to date.

His perseverance, detailed analysis and guidance will be missed by us all, and I wish him all the best for the next steps of his career.

New non-executive director

Earlier this week, the company appointed Ian Smith, former managing director and CEO of both Newcrest Mining Ltd ( ) and ( ), as a non-executive director.

The company says Smiths appointment marks an important step in its growth into a multi-asset operating business focused on base and precious metals via its Thalanga base metals and Hillgrove gold operations in Australia.

He is a mining engineer with more than 40 years of experience in the mining and services sector and has held some of the most senior positions in the Australian resources industry.

In his career spanning over 40 years, Smith has held various senior positions in the Australian resources industry, including chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia and President of the Australian Mines and Metals Association.

Multi-asset business

Red River is seeking to build a multi-asset business focused on base and precious metals to deliver prosperity through lean and clever resource development.

Its foundation asset is the Thalanga Base Metals Operation in Northern Queensland, which was acquired in 2014 and where Red River started copper, lead and zinc concentrate production in September 2017.

Red River recently started production at the high-grade Hillgrove Gold Mine in New South Wales, which was acquired in 2019.
David and Jonathan: a powerful read that follows the famous Biblical figure David and his best friend, not Goliath, but Jonathan. In this tale, David and Jonathans journey demonstrates that God will always send one someone to accompany them in their life battles. David and Jonathan is the creation of published author Brittany J. Shears, a new novelist with a fresh writing style. Shes currently a masters divinity student and apprentices as chaplain in a hospital. She also has a personal blog where she can thoroughly express her thoughts.

Shears shares, Meet Jonathan, the oldest of King Sauls sons and crown prince to the Israeli throne. Having been groomed on the battlefield, Jonathans greatest allegiance is, first, to the God who has continuously defended him, and secondly, to the nation that his family has been charged to lead and defend. Unfortunately Jonathans adversaries are not quarantined to the battlefield. How is Jonathan supposed to defend Israel from both their advancing enemies and their own kinghis own father? Overridden by fear and greed, King Sauls sanity is slipping, the prophet Samuel is at a loss, and God is on the move.

Meet David, the youngest of eight sons and esteemed family shepherd. Having been groomed for a life in the sheep field, Davids deepest devotions are to, first, the God who protects him, and secondly, to the flock he is charged with protecting. Unfortunately Davids role as the family shepherd marks him as a sort of outcast within his own household. His exclusion from family gatherings largely goes unnoticed and perhaps is largely hoped for by some. Enter Samuel, a divine anointing and the now-shepherd will-be-king David. But how will a shepherd take the throne? Easy, he wont. It will be given to him. Of course, after hes called into Sauls service, the trick will be keeping David alive in the middle of harms way. Thankfully God has made the preparations. The defeat of two giants. The rejection of two fathers. The faith of two best friends. And the heroic host of much needed back up.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Brittany J. Shearss new book is a beautiful read that gives the spotlight to Davids overlooked friendship with Israelis prince Jonathan. This moving story is sure to encourage and inspire others.

View a synopsis of David and Jonathan on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase David and Jonathan at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about David and Jonathan, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Apr. 22Lindsay Dernier's home on Colburn Street badly needed a new roof, but as the single mother of four children, she couldn't afford it.

She turned to the city for help and learned about Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity's home-repair program.

"It's just a big sigh of relief, knowing that the next time it rains or we have high winds, the roof isn't going to come crashing down," she said while construction workers ripped off the home's old shingles Thursday morning.

Ms. Dernier's home is the 250th roof replacement the local Habitat for Humanity chapter has completed, in partnership with the city of Toledo and Owens Corning. Michael McIntyre, Maumee Valley Habitat's executive director, said during a celebratory news conference Thursday the projects are supported through the city's Community Development Block Grant, while Owens Corning donates materials.

The homeowner pays an affordable contribution as well, he said, and by pooling resources from different partnerships, projects like roof replacements are possible. Additionally, Maumee Valley Habitat also serves the community through other types of home repairs and home builds.

"We redeem and we revitalize Toledo's great neighborhoods," Mr. McIntyre said.

Ann Malak, community affairs lead at Owens Corning, said the company has been partnering with Habitat on its home-repair and home-build programs for some time.

"Two hundred and fifty is a huge milestone," she said. "It's great to be a part to bring safe, affordable, decent housing to wonderful families like Lindsay's."

Ms. Dernier said without programs like Habitat for Humanity, she believes more people would live either in homeless shelters or unsafe houses. She grew up in Toledo, she said, and has lived in her current home for 10 years.

"This means a lot," Ms. Dernier said about the roof replacement. "I just can't express how much it means to my family."

With the support of the city and Owens Corning, Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity has over the past four years continued to expand its roof replacement program to meet area homeowners' needs. It plans to replace 65 local roofs by this year's end.

First Published April 22, 2021, 5:51pm
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size When Josephine Perry entered the Margaret River Wine Show in 2014, her Skinnie was met with confusion. Someone pulled it out and said this is faulty and I said, no, its an orange wine, Perry recalls. It is 100 per cent sav blanc but it is bright orange, fermented on skins in an amphora for up to five months, with no sulphur. It stumped them. They didnt have a category they could put my wines in. And so the competitions alternative styles and emerging varieties categories were born. That first year it was just my wine but now there are a few people, beautiful names down here, that are making those kind of styles because they can see its a style people want to drink. Perry is one of a new wave of winemakers in the Margaret River region who are turning the tide on tradition. Over the past decade, a thriving counterculture has emerged in a place primarily heralded for its chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. Machines and mass production have been traded for small batch and sustainability. There is a prevailing attitude of making wines accessible and drinkable, rather than award-winnable. And while they may cover a variety of shades on the winemaking spectrum, these producers all have one thing in common: they are making wine they want to drink, using the method they think is best. And what they are delivering is proving incredibly popular.

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From utilising ancient and natural winemaking methods to exploring lesser known grape varieties and experimenting with different combinations, the next generation of wines from the South West are different and delicious. Dylan Arvidson  LS Merchants, Cowaramup Try: the 2020 Vermentino. A zippy Italian white grown near the ocean in Margaret River. Dylan Arvidson is passionate about flavour. Everything the young winemaker does at LS Merchants comes back to whether the drop is delicious. Sure, he uses low intervention methods and works predominantly with organic growers, but they are part of his philosophy of packing as much natural flavour into his wine as he can. LS Merchants winemaker Dylan Arvidson with his dog Flash. Credit:Dion Robeson

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He makes picking decisions based on first tastes in the vineyard and bottling decisions on how the wine tastes in the tank or barrel. Nothings really done to a strict timeline or a strict analysis, it is just does it taste good, well then lets put it to bottle, he explains. Flavour has always been a driving force for me and wine is so subjective, everyone enjoys different things but I really think we shouldnt try to over-make wine. So many wineries really try and force these wines to be what they traditionally have been out of France, like cabernet out of Bordeaux or chardonnay out of Burgundy. You always look to those wines and they are the shining light I guess in terms of world wine, but at the same time, I want a local wine I can open and say man, thats delicious and it tastes like these grapes from this place. So we make wine by feel, try and work as sustainably as possible and, I guess most importantly, we pay a lot of attention to the right variety planted on the right soil in the right area. At the LS Merchants Cowaramup cellar door, visitors are greeted by a sign that reads taking the wank out of wine since 2015. For a boy from Geelong, inspired by the natural wine coming out of South Australia, Arvidson thinks WA is now leading the charge with interesting, well made, minimal intervention wines.

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Whereas some of the eastern states are a little bit more tied to that idea of natural wine, in WA we have said, were just going to do what we do. Wines are delicious, we make them with love, we make them by hand, we dont have to fit into this, you know, tight definition  were all doing something different because were sick of the standard so there is no right or wrong, it should just be about whats delicious. Sarah Morris and Iwo Jakimowicz  Si Vintners, Rosa Glen Try: the 2020 Sophie Rose. A light skin contact pinot noir rose matured in concrete eggs. Si Vintners Sarah Morris and Iwo Jakimowicz at their property in the Margaret River region. For partners Sarah Morris and Iwo Jakimowicz, its all about the land. At Si Vintners, they craft small-batch wines from estate-grown grapes in Rosa Glen, just east of the small town of Witchcliffe. Chickens and ducks roam the property and babydoll sheep are used to control grass among the vines and provide a natural fertiliser.

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Since buying the mature vineyard in 2010, they have used organic and bio-dynamic farming principles and gently produce wines that are naturally fermented in a range of vessels. When we started we knew we wanted to farm organically and we dont want to use any additives in winemaking, Jakimowicz says. Now this place has had 10 years of biodynamic love and its so much healthier and more resilient. The couple, who met while studying at Curtin University is really obsessed with acidity and work with chardonnay, cabernet and pinot noir grapes, among others, to produce bold, avant-garde wines. We love natural acidity and we love the tension that creates in a wine, Jakimowicz says. We spent a lot of time in Europe and love making wines that seek to compare to the French wines we drink. Morris says those wines are popular with city drinkers too. During the time we chat at the winery, one young couple roll through for a tasting and leave laden with cases. We are blown away by how well educated this younger crew are about food and wine. They are hungry for knowledge and so many of them know so much about our philosophy, its quite impressive, Morris says.

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Google doodle celebrates the letter n on Spanish Language Day (Google / Min)

Beyond just pinata or pina colada, the letter n is entrenched with the history of the Spanish languages across the globe.

On Thursday 23 April, the Google doodle celebrates the origins and influences of the letter that looks like another but sounds like no other.

Pronounced "enye, the n is the only letter in the 27-letter Spanish alphabet that originated in Spain, as noted in the doodle artwork by Barcelona guest artist Min: "The Ns story started with 12th-century Spanish scribes. While hand-copying Latin manuscripts, these scholars of the Middle Ages devised a plan to save time and parchment by shortening words with double letters," it says.

"They combined the two figures into one and scrawled on top a tiny n  a symbol now known as a virgulilla or tilde  to signify the change. Thus, annus, Latin for year, evolved into the Spanish ano.

In the 800-odd years since writers first began using n as a shorthand symbol, it travelled the world on the decks of Spanish ships from the Iberian peninsula to the Americas and as far as the Philippines.

Distinct in sound and service, the n has done more for the Spanish heritage and identity than just give its alphabet a single-letter edge over its 26-letter English counterpart.

It appears in more than 17,7000 words in the Spanish language used by 586 million people and spoken as the official language in 20 countries. Its influence goes beyond the Spanish language, however, and has been absorbed into other dialects, like Tagalog.

The letter was officially adopted by the Royal Spanish Academy's dictionary in 1803, and was enshrined into law when, in 1993, Spain legislated its inclusion on computer keyboards due to its cultural significance.

That significance was recognised in 2010 by the United Nations, when it declared 23 April its annual "Spanish Language Day" to celebrate one of the most unique characters from one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world.

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The year is 1900, and on a chilly February morning, a group of men in heavy woollen suits are deep in conversation in the Congregational Memorial Hall on Farringdon Street in London.

Exasperated by the existing political parties, these grizzled trade unionists have come together to form a group of their own, the Labour Representation Committee. In the future, it will be better known by the name it adopts six years later  the Labour Party.

Labour's rise was extraordinarily swift. In less than 25 years, it had overtaken the Liberals to become one of the two great forces in British politics.

In 1924, Ramsay MacDonald, the illegitimate son of a farm labourer and a housemaid, became its first prime minister.

In 1945, Labour reached its peak, winning a landslide victory under Clement Attlee and establishing the NHS and the modern welfare state. It governed for two stretches under Harold Wilson in the 1960s and 1970s, and enjoyed another halcyon period under Tony Blair in the 1990s and 2000s.

Today, such victories seem like ancient history. Labour has known its fair share of disasters, but rarely has it seemed so feeble, so utterly pointless, as it does in the spring of 2021.

Labour's rise was extraordinarily swift. In less than 25 years, it had overtaken the Liberals to become one of the two great forces in British politics. In 1924, Ramsay MacDonald (above), the illegitimate son of a farm labourer and a housemaid, became its first prime minister

Of course, political fortunes can turn in the blink of an eye. The national mood has rarely been more unpredictable.

All this week Labour has been hammering the drum of so-called 'Tory sleaze', clearly hoping that revelations about David Cameron's lobbying efforts on behalf of collapsed financier Greensill Capital, as well as the furore over the leak of Boris Johnson's text exchanges with Sir James Dyson, will shift the polls in their favour.

'Sleaze, sleaze, sleaze!' cried Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons on Wednesday, trying to revive the spirit that carried Blair to victory in the mid-1990s.

Yet as the former New Labour Svengali Peter Mandelson argued yesterday, accusations of sleaze are simply not enough. He's almost certainly right, not least because there's little evidence the public are listening.

With Mr Starmer facing his first electoral test in the forthcoming Hartlepool by-election on May 6  where Lord Mandelson has been campaigning  he needs a more positive message to sell to voters. But as Labour activists take to the streets of Hartlepool this weekend, the underlying facts make for excruciating reading.

In 1945, Labour reached its peak, winning a landslide victory under Clement Attlee (above) and establishing the NHS and the modern welfare state

Labour governed for two stretches under Harold Wilson (pictured) in the 1960s and 1970s, and enjoyed another halcyon period under Tony Blair in the 1990s and 2000s

Sinking to its lowest level since 1935, in December 2019 their party won a pitiful 202 seats.

Under Jeremy Corbyn it had become associated with national self-loathing, economic illiteracy and the hideous poison of anti-Semitism. And in great swathes of its industrial northern heartland it haemorrhaged votes and seats to the Conservatives.

Mr Starmer, Corbyn's former Brexit spokesman, has been leader for a year now. A grammar-school boy from a humble background, with a measured, lawyerly style, he was supposed to be the man who would purge the poison and make Labour relevant again.

Yet now it looks like Labour is going backwards. And nowhere is that more apparent than in Hartlepool.

Labour has known its fair share of disasters, but rarely has it seemed so feeble, so utterly pointless, as it does in the spring of 2021. (Above, a poster from the Tory party campaign in 1979)

The North-East port town has not sent a Conservative to Westminster since 1959. Yet, earlier this month, one of the first polls ahead of the by-election suggested Labour was heading for defeat, with its candidate seven per cent behind his Tory rival. While that finding was disputed by Labour, anecdotally the view is that the Tories are in with a good chance.

A Tory victory would be an extraordinary achievement. No government has taken a seat from the opposition in a by-election since 1982, when the Falklands War propelled the Tories to victory in Mitcham and Morden.

Labour might still squeak home on the night, of course, but the fact that it is struggling so badly in its own heartland, after 11 years of Conservative government, could hardly be more ominous.

For Mr Starmer the small print makes painful reading. His net favourability among Hartlepool's voters has been recorded at minus 14 per cent. Boris Johnson, by contrast, was on plus 19 per cent.

Despite his forensic Commons performances, the new Labour leader has failed to impose himself on the national imagination.

His supporters praise his earnest manner and lawyerly style. But I am increasingly reminded of George Orwell's cutting remark about Stanley Baldwin, prime minister in the 1930s: 'One could not even dignify him with the name of stuffed shirt. He was simply a hole in the air.'

Focus groups paint a similar picture. 'Keir Starmer has been a massive letdown,' remarks one voter in a survey of former Labour seats in northern England. 'He sits on the fence, and in wanting to appeal to everybody he is appealing to nobody.'

But we should not be too hard on Mr Starmer, who seems a decent enough fellow. The truth is that he inherited a party in dreadful long-term decline, and it may well be impossible to fix.

One obvious problem is the Corbyn legacy. The bitter row about Mr Corbyn's brief suspension from the Party last autumn is a reminder that in some parts of the Labour Party, factionalism, sectarianism and conspiracy theories continue to flourish.

The cultists of the far-Left make no secret of their loathing for the new leader. A recent Guardian column even declared that he was facing 'political death' and that Labour MPs were already 'preparing for life after Starmer'.

Ever since the 1960s, Labour has been increasingly dominated by a high-minded, well-heeled Left-wing elite, from Michael Foot and Tony Benn to Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn (above, in 2020)

That tells a wider story. Labour has never been a stranger to cults and factions, but its activists are now so divided it is hard to see how they can ever come together.

Their trade union paymasters seem to have learned nothing from the 2019 election. Len McCluskey, boss of the giant Unite union, appears outraged by the new leader's moderation. In a recent radio interview, he said Starmer was heading for the 'dustbin of history'.

Even Mr Starmer's greatest supporters, the ultra-Remainers who see this North London lawyer as their natural champion, appear to be living in a fantasy world.

Almost incredibly, some 59 per cent of Labour members think he should campaign to rejoin the European Union. Yet that would surely destroy any prospect of winning back working-class voters in the North and Midlands.

Then there's Scotland, where Labour is on to its fifth leader in barely a decade. To win a majority nationally without making major gains in Scotland seems almost impossible. Yet a recent poll for Holyrood's parliamentary elections put Labour on just 18 per cent, a pitiful total by historical standards.

All this is bad enough, but the deeper historical picture is worse.

The original Labour Representation Committee was born at the end of the Victorian era, when millions of men worked in mills, mines, factories and shipyards. Its heartlands were places like the South Wales valleys, the towns along Scotland's River Clyde and the great industrial areas of Lancashire, Yorkshire and County Durham.

Its aim was to 'promote legislation in the direct interests of labour'  meaning ordinary working-class people, impatient for better pay and conditions, proper holidays, unemployment benefit and decent pensions.

For decades Labour's purpose was clear. Not everybody agreed with it, of course. But even its critics could see what it stood for.

Yet who would say the same today?

All this week Labour has been hammering the drum of so-called 'Tory sleaze', clearly hoping that revelations about David Cameron's lobbying efforts on behalf of collapsed financier Greensill Capital, as well as the furore over the leak of Boris Johnson's text exchanges with Sir James Dyson, will shift the polls in their favour. 'Sleaze, sleaze, sleaze!' cried Sir Keir Starmer (above, on Thursday) in the Commons on Wednesday, trying to revive the spirit that carried Blair to victory in the mid-1990s

Just look, for example, at the collapse of Labour's position in Hartlepool. Back in 1997 it piled up more than 60 per cent of the local vote. Yet in 2019, the Labour candidate, Mike Hill, scraped home with less than 38 per cent. Had the Brexit Party's Richard Tice not been standing, there is a good chance that Hartlepool would be true-blue Tory already.

In scores of other Northern working-class constituencies, the picture is the same. For decades, Labour has been haemorrhaging votes in seats such as Bassetlaw, Dudley North, Blyth Valley, Workington and even Tony Blair's old seat of Sedgefield. All fell to the Tories in 2019.

Brexit is part of this story but it's not the only factor. Time and again, working-class voters have told pollsters that they are repelled by Labour's apparent contempt for patriotism, softness on immigration, indifference to law and order and general scorn for their cultural and social values.

But the party's leaders have simply refused to listen.

In a bleak interview with the Observer recently, one of Labour's most thoughtful MPs, Jon Cruddas, talked of his despair at the party's plight. A sailor's son who worked his way up the ladder, Mr Cruddas is appalled by the party's detachment from the 'traditions and memories' of its old heartlands.

As he sees it, Labour has abandoned the British working classes, and is becoming the party of a narrow metropolitan elite, obsessed with 'individual rights and equalities'.

The 'radical Left', he thinks, 'are writing the working class out of history', cruelly indifferent to the things that ordinary people love and value: family, community and the dignity of work.

Mr Cruddas wants the party to change before working-class Britain loses faith in it for ever. But I suspect it's far too late.

Ever since the 1960s, Labour has been increasingly dominated by a high-minded, well-heeled Left-wing elite, from Michael Foot and Tony Benn to Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.

Even Mr Starmer is basically another metropolitan lawyer with preachy, pro-European instincts, with little feel for the 'small-c' conservatism of ordinary people. It is supremely telling that, according to reports, he had to commission a focus group to decide whether Labour would use the Union flag in its promotional materials.

Would the working men who founded the Labour Party have needed advice about whether to wave their national flag? Of course not.

Even more telling was Labour activists' horror when the report was released to The Guardian. To embrace the Union flag, declared the Left-wing MP Clive Lewis, was to embrace the 'language and symbols of the Tory Party'.

Reading those words, I was reminded of Orwell's observation that many Left-wingers think 'there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution'.

In the 1940s, when Orwell was writing, the self-loathing of the intellectuals was outweighed by the instinctive patriotism of their working-class colleagues. These days, however, Labour MPs with experience of manual working-class backgrounds are vanishingly rare.

From Brexit and the monarchy to flags and statues, senior Labour figures are utterly at odds with the silent majority. As a Grimsby man told Mr Starmer's focus group, Labour has become 'the voice of the students. They have left real people, taxpayers behind'.

For Mr Starmer, the trap is obvious. By pandering to the bien-pensant Left in places such as Brighton and Bristol, he shores up his support among the Labour membership.

But there are not enough such seats to win a general election. He needs places like Hartlepool.

Yet how to do that, without antagonising the 'woke' enthusiasts who dominate so many local Labour parties?

And how can a former human rights lawyer, who campaigned for a second Brexit referendum, reassure ordinary people who are sick of being smeared as racist bigots because they backed Brexit?

To make matters worse for Labour, they face a ruthlessly pragmatic Conservative Government determined to hold onto its gains in the North and Midlands. And with Boris Johnson banging the patriotic drum and Rishi Sunak doling out the cash, why would working-class voters choose to ally themselves with the statue-topplers, flag-deniers, cranks and cultists? What would they get out of it?

Labour insiders insist the predictions of doom are overstated. They point out that the party was in similar holes in the late 1950s and early 1990s, but managed to haul itself back from the brink.

But no institution has an automatic right to exist. If you keep straying close to the cliff edge, you'll probably fall off eventually.

In my lifetime only one man has taken the Labour Party from opposition into government. That was Tony Blair, whom the activists now deride as a traitor. Even in my father's lifetime only two men have done it  Blair and Harold Wilson.

By contrast, the list of Labour losers stretches on and on: Gaitskell, Callaghan, Foot, Kinnock, Brown, Miliband, Corbyn . . .

The underlying reality is that the Labour Party was created to serve a world that no longer exists. Even its name, redolent of the factories and foundries of Victorian Britain, reflects an industrial landscape that has long since disappeared.

Like so many Victorian institutions, then, the Labour Party has outlived its usefulness. Perhaps the kindest thing would be to put it out of its misery, and start again from scratch.

After all, it is very hard now to see what the party is for, and even harder to imagine it winning another majority. So why not furl the red banners, and call it a day?

I don't seriously expect Mr Starmer to wind it up, of course. Win or lose in Hartlepool, he'll stagger on, insisting he can win even though most people know he won't.

So the Labour Party will drift on, burning with righteous passion. Further and further from the concerns of ordinary voters, ever more irrelevant, ever more insignificant...

And what then? Well, just look at the party Labour replaced. A hundred years ago, Britain had a Liberal prime minister in David Lloyd George.

Millions of people had grown up under Liberal governments, and thought of themselves as natural Liberals.

Then, suddenly  annihilation.

Divided, fractious, out of touch with ordinary voters, the Liberals fell from grace. Once Lloyd George left Downing Street, on October 19, 1922, they never won another election.

Their time had come and gone. They no longer mattered. It was over.

A century on, the end may well be coming for Labour, too.
Over 1,700 doses of COVID-19 vaccine that were stolen from a government hospital in Haryana's Jind district on Wednesday night were returned hours later by the unidentified thief with a note that stated that he did not know that these were jabs.

A total of 1,270 doses of Covishield and 440 doses of Covaxin were stolen from the hospital, SHO of Civil Lines police station Rajender Singh said on Thursday.

The matter came to light after a sanitation worker of the hospital found the locks of the store and deep freezer broken this morning.

"The accused did not touch any other vaccine, medicine, cash, etc. in the store," Singh said.

Later, a man came on a motorcycle and left the vaccines at a tea stall outside the Civil Lines police station. He told people at the stall that the package contained food for a police official at the station, the officer said.

The thief also left a note in which he expressed regret over stealing the vaccines. He said that he did not know that these were COVID-19 vaccines, he added.

"It is possible that he wanted to steal some other vaccine or drug and returned what he had stolen after learning that it wasn't that," Singh said.

A case has been registered in connection with the incident, he said.

"We have got some clues and hope to make an arrest soon," he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Courtesy of Oakland Police

Oakland police are asking the public for tips in the unsolved homicide of an 18-year-old man who was hit by a stray bullet from a shooting on April 10, authorities said Thursday.

Demetrius Roosevelt Fleming, who would have turned 19 Thursday, was a passenger in a truck with friends who were traveling in the area of 68th Avenue and International Boulevard at 6:37 p.m. when a stray bullet from a unrelated shooting struck him, police said.
All right. Its a real pleasure to welcome Kris Bowers, our composer, who has written a concerto, For a Younger Self. Welcome. [APPLAUSE] Can I ask a question? All right, Granddaddy. Can you tell me, just what is a concerto? So its basically this piece that has a soloist and an ensemble, an orchestra. The two are having a conversation. And so sometimes that conversation can be this person speaking, and now this person speaking. Sometimes the conversation  Its a question.  is at the same time. Yeah. And it really depends on how the composer wants to, or how I want to frame that conversation. Did you ever picture yourself doing what youre doing now? Huh. [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] Im very aware of the fact that Im a Black composer, and lately actually Ive been wondering whether or not Im supposed to be in the spaces that Im in, or supposed to have gotten to the point that Ive gotten to. Well, I can tell you one thing. Never think that youre not supposed to be there. Cause you wouldnt be there if you wasnt supposed to be there. It goes back to slavery. [MUSIC PLAYING] My grandfather, who I found out has cancer a little while ago, I wanted to spend some more time with him and talk to him about his life, about our family, ask him as much as I can before he passes. [BELL RINGING] Granddaddy. Mm-hm? Need a bit of help with this. Do what? Getting this seamed out for the show. OK. Dont step on the pedals. Push it right in the corner. OK. Wow. OK. Were going to make it real handsome here. Youre going to be ready to go. Thank you, sir. Growing up in the South was quite a thing for me. Bascom, Florida, as far back as I can remember, I think the plantation was the Bowers plantation. All 13 of you all grew up in that house? Mm-hm. Wow. How all of us stayed in two rooms, I dont know. We would start on the porch singing. And there were people, I dont know how they could hear it that far, would come drive in the front yard and listen to us sing at night. People in that area was, the Blacks were Bowers, and the whites was Beavers. Beavers had the grocery store. But when Dad would walk in the store, this kid about my size, small kid  How old were you about this point? Like how old? I probably was 6 or 7 years old. Oh, wow. And he would go up to my dad and say, what could I get for you, boy? That stuck with me forever. Why are you calling my dad a boy? And Daddy would answer him, sir, yes sir, no sir. But it was something that stayed with me because I knew then when I got of age I was going to leave there. I didnt want no parts of the farm. I didnt want no parts of that part of the country. I just wanted to leave. Wherever I could get a ride to, thats where I was headed to. [MUSIC PLAYING] What was that process like, hitchhiking as a Black man in America in the 1940s? I had to be crazy. Now, the first place I remember being is in Detroit. A man picked me up. He was saying that he could get me a job and a place to stay and all this. I asked him, does it snow there? And he said yes. And that was the end of that, because I didnt want to be any place that was cold. But I hitchhiked from there to Denver, Colorado. And I was in this Greyhound bus station, cause they had two counters, white and Black. So I could get something to eat. And I heard somebody say, Los Angeles, California. I said, thats where I want to go. Never heard of Los Angeles before. I had $27 or $28. I didnt know how I was going to make it, but I knew I was going to make it. So I said well, Im going to pretend to be an employment agency and call around to get a job. Wow. I got the telephone book, started at the As. A Cleaners. And I dont think I made more than five calls, and the phone rang, and it was the A Cleaners, and they said they needed a presser. I got all the information. I said, OK, Ill send someone right out. And that was me. [LAUGHING] Thats where I met your grandmother. [MUSIC PLAYING] How old were you when you bought the cleaners? I was 20. Wow. So within two years I had gone from homeless to I was in business. [MUSIC PLAYING] But I never could get a loan. And I owned the place. I said, something wrong with this picture. I told them I come in for the loan, and he said no, I dont have anything. And I left later, and picked up an application, and I mailed it in. A few days later, I got a call, your loan is approved. I said, its the color of my skin. I said in the South they tell you. In Los Angeles they show you. From then on we started buying property, I would get things at the cleaner, everything, but nobody ever saw me. Everything was done by mail. People are constantly throwing up things to stop you in life. But youve got to know you cannot stop me. [MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Kristopher Bowers, and I want to play Shining Star in Atlantic City. My parents decided before I was born they wanted me to play piano. Literally, I think its called like Piano Sampler No. 5 that they used to put on my moms stomach every day. Actually, one of the first pieces of music I ever wrote was on this piano. And I remember, you know, just playing around here all the time. But we were up at a restaurant one, I believe it was a Sunday. At Marie Callendars? Marie Callendars. They had a piano in there, and I asked the guy could you play it. And they said yes. I carried you over there, and you were playing it, and I was proud of you. [LAUGHING] [MUSIC PLAYING] There arent that many opportunities for young kids of color to showcase their talents or to interact with other kids of color playing music and doing those things, and you talking about being my manager, essentially, from the very beginning. If I didnt have that, I probably wouldnt have been as confident pursuing music. I remember  where were you in school at that I was up there? What, in New York? At Juilliard? Juilliard? Wherever it was, you enjoyed it. So thats all I was thinking. If you enjoyed making a living at it. I knew that, boy. And the winner is Kris Bowers. Green Book. [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] What do you think your biggest challenge is today? My biggest challenge today, being honest, is my health. Its just trying to stay healthy. That would be my challenge today. [MUSIC PLAYING] Ive got a few more years to go, but Im almost to the top. [LAUGHING] Ten more years, Ill be at the top. [LAUGHING] So now I just keep trying to do the best I can. Yeah. And enjoy seeing my children and grandchildren being successful. Thats glory in itself. Its just something that I hope I had a little something to do with it. [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] (SINGING) Then sings my soul, my savior, my God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. You did it! You did it! You did it! [LAUGHING] See, it surprised you. [LAUGHING]
Most of Orange Countys School Districts Are in Debt

Commentary

Of the 27 school districts in Orange County, just one has restricted net assets.

The remaining districts have unrestricted net deficits, meaning their liabilities exceed their assets.

To help understand the solvency of school districts, Ive provided a chart. It shows the unrestricted net position from the June 30, 2019, audited financial statements from each of Orange Countys 27 school districts. (The June 30, 2020, audits are not yet online.)

Each school district serves a population. Dividing that population into the unrestricted net position provides a per capita, which is ranked. Ive also provided the same information for the year ending June 30, 2018.

Only one district, Fountain Valley Elementary, has unrestricted net assets. Fountain Valleys elected trustees put the sale proceeds of excess real estate into an escrow and have not used these funds for ordinary annual expenses. A wise move.

Two-thirds of the districts have pretty much maintained their positions year-over-year.

However, Los Alamitos Unified dropping 12 places is the years surprise. It increased its unrestricted net deficit by $15.4 million in one year, or 36 percent. This district reports a negative investment in net capital assets on its balance sheet, which is highly unusual. It also notes that $14.3 million in new assets were acquired during the fiscal year.

The districts management needs to explain this unusual reporting when it releases its 2020 fiscal report.

Irvine Unified was founded in 1972, shortly before Prop. 13 was approved by voters in 1978. Being a new and conservatively run district at that time, its current state locked-in funding percentage level determined back then is lower than most districts. Fortunately, Irvine Unified has been blessed with a foundation that has been the beneficiary of The Irvine Companys generosity.

Both Laguna Beach Unified and Newport-Mesa Unified are basic aid districts. Because housing prices are so high in these coastal districts, they have elected to keep the excess property tax revenues instead of participating in the states average daily attendance (ADA) funding methodology.

Laguna Beach has been able to keep itself at the top of the rankings with this extra revenue opportunity. However, Newport-Mesa is near the bottom of the rankings. The per capita based on enrollment for the 27 school districts finds Newport-Mesa in dead last.

If you decide to purchase real estate in Costa Mesa, you may find yourself being charged a property tax assessment or sales tax rate increase in the future if the city, the school district, or both dont improve their financial status. Full disclosure: I am a Costa Mesa homeowner.

Santa Ana Unified has been at the bottom of the rankings for some time. For a district serving some of Orange Countys poorest residents, it needs to keep a keener eye on its fiscal situation.

The dirty little secret in Orange County is that the teachers unions in each school district participate heavily in selecting the elected trustees with whom they will be negotiating for raises. Its your responsibility to elect trustees that are there to represent you and not the bargaining units.

The union campaign mail pieces will identify that they are the source of the funding for their chosen candidate(s). Yes, we should pay our teachers a fair wage, but not at the risk of having the district go into default.

Districts facing insolvency are bailed out with loans from Californias fiscal crisis and management assistance team (FCMAT). It usually comes in and takes over the day-to-day management of the district. It sets the elected board to the side and runs the district until a sufficient cash reserve level is achieved. The chief executive officer of FCMAT is a former chief business officer of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. How ironic it would be if FCMAT had to pay a visit to Newport-Mesa.

Every school district has a different story.

But how yours performs financially may impact your personal and financial wellbeing. With a new home, your property tax bill will be high enough.

And theres more to homeownership than just mowing the yard and making minor repairs. You dont need to be blindsided by additional tax increases.

Please become acquainted with your districts trustees and those candidates running in the next school board election. Your checkbook may be dependent on it.

John Moorlach is a former Orange County Supervisor who most recently served as a state senator. He previously spent 12 years as Orange Countys Treasurer-Tax Collector, and led the county out of bankruptcy.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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The terror that blighted the final hours of Swapnil Rastogi's father Raj is something his son will never forget.

That, and his own desperation as he drove around Lucknow, the capital of India's populous Uttar Pradesh state, searching for a hospital bed.

Earlier, he had managed to source precious oxygen from a friend as his father's coronavirus symptoms worsened. But it was not enough to save him: Raj, just 59, died in the back seat of Swapnil's car, leaving his grief-stricken son bewildered and angry in equal measure.

Pictured: A view of a crematorium ground where mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at a crematorium in New Delhi on April 22, 2021

A mass cremation of victims who died of Covid-19 is seen at a crematorium ground in Delhi on Thursday, April 22, 2021

Relatives and family members carry the dead body of a Covid-19 victim for a cremation at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium, on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday

Relatives of a Covid-19 victim mourn during a cremation at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium, on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi in the early hour of April 22, 2021

'It wasn't the virus that killed my father, it was the lack of treatment,' he says. 'I ran around to a dozen hospitals but couldn't find a bed for him. The system has collapsed.'

Few would dispute his words. Today Mr Rastogi's anger is matched only by the sense of fear stalking India's population of almost 1.4billion as a second wave of the pandemic overwhelms the country's hospitals, leaves citizens dying on the streets and sees not only desperate families but even hospital managers appealing for oxygen supplies on social media.

Epidemiologists here are reporting virulent new variants driving this surge, including a 'double mutation' variant B1617 that does not always show up in tests even in those patients with full-blown symptoms and whose CT scans show all the tell-tale signs of coronavirus damage.

There is even more frightening talk, too, of a 'triple' mutation variant. Will vaccines be effective against such variants?

That would be more of a worry here, perhaps, if more people had been vaccinated  it stands at less than 10 per cent of the population so far.

It is no exaggeration to say that it feels near calamitous at times. Government and hospital helplines ring out unanswered while the streets of cities and small towns are thronged with panic-stricken daughters, sons, husbands and wives doing what Mr Rastogi did  driving for hours to find oxygen or a hospital bed.

Another 314,835 infections were reported on Thursday, the world record for a daily cases figure. Pictured: A graph showing India's 7-day-average daily new coronavirus infections

The health ministry said there were 2,074 fatalities on Thursday, a new record for the country, but believed to be vastly under-reported

A man pays his respects to his relative as he performs the last rights at a crematorium on the outskirts of New Delhi on Thursday

India 's Covid death toll could be ten times higher than is being officially reported, according to analysis of the numbers being burned in crematoriums. Pictured: A man walks past a burning funeral pyres of people who died from Covid-19 at a crematorium ground in New Delhi

Multiple funeral pyres of those patients who died of COVID-19 disease are seen burning at a ground that has been converted into a crematorium for mass cremation of coronavirus victims, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Poll Should Australia suspend ALL flights from India? Yes No Undecided Should Australia suspend ALL flights from India? Yes 814 votes

No 33 votes

Undecided 18 votes Now share your opinion





Meanwhile, crematoria work through the night  contrary to Hindu custom which dictates that no bodies be burnt after sundown  to cope with the rising body count, the lines of funeral pyres sending black smoke into the horizon of every major city.

Even so, the backlog of bodies is such that families have to wait hours in the baking 35C heat before they can cremate their loved ones, huddled in groups alongside the makeshift platforms built to accommodate the shrouded corpses.

Such images are the devastating proof backed up by ever more startling statistics: in the last 24 hours India recorded 314,835 new coronavirus cases, while deaths rose by 2,104.

In the capital, New Delhi, one in three citizens are testing positive. These are the official figures. The unofficial ones are likely to be much higher, as several states are under reporting their real death toll.

Either way, it means India now has the highest rate of Covid-19 in the world  one which, at the current rate, could see the country recording half a million new cases daily within the next ten days.

It is these alarming figures that have led Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reduce direct flights from India to Sydney and charter flights from India to Darwin by 30 per cent.

Australia is also now requiring anyone travelling from India to get a negative test in any transit country before flying on to Australia.

The prime minister has also tightened the outbound travel rules to prevent people getting exemptions to go to India for funerals and other family events.

What measures has Australia taken to stop Covid-19 spreading from India? National Cabinet agreed to place additional restrictions on Australian citizens and permanent residents seeking to enter Australia from high risk countries which are experiencing rapidly increasing COVID-19 outbreaks. The Commonwealth will work to establish a list of high risk countries. Going forward:  Anyone entering Australia who has been in a high risk country in the last 14 days before entering Australia and is transiting through a third country will need to return a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to entering Australia from the final point of embarkation.  The Commonwealth will further restrict outbound travel exemptions to high risk countries to strictly essential travel only. Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) has put in place a series of measures to stop Covid entering Australia from India and other high-risk countries To address the significant increase in COVID-19 positive case numbers in returned travellers from India, National Cabinet agreed to:  Reducing the number of passengers on Government facilitated flights into the Centre of National Resilience at Howard Springs for all flights departing India, until the rate of positive cases has decreased to acceptable levels.  An approximate 30 per cent reduction in passenger numbers for Australians returning from India on Government-facilitated flights during May 2021. In addition, four of the scheduled facilitated flights will be rescheduled from May to June 2021.  A 30 per cent reduction on commercial flights direct from India to Australia, as soon as it is practical. In addition:  National Cabinet will seek advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) regarding the benefits of having aircrew vaccinated as a priority cohort.  The Commonwealth will seek Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) for Australians returning on direct flights from high risk countries. Advertisement

The measures were implemented following a nation cabinet meeting where premiers raised fears their hotel quarantine systems would be overrun the virus would break out in the community if too many Covid-positive people arrived.

India's horrifying state of affairs has led journalist Iram Hussein to label the situation nothing short of 'a holocaust'.

She had to beg for her parents  both critically ill with Covid  to be given a hospital bed only to find there were no facilities to treat them. 'They have got nothing to fight this. No medicines, no oxygen,' Ms Hussein said. 'I am seeing biblical scenes.'

They are scenes which are unfolding everywhere, from the most affluent corners of cities to the poorest rural communities, overwhelmed by both the savagery and speed of the virus.

And the fact that these tragedies are occurring in a country which, until as recently as a month ago, appeared to have weathered coronavirus better than many in the West, makes them all the more astonishing. Wind the clock back a year and epidemiologists were predicting that India, with its vast community of rural and urban poor, faced unprecedented challenges as the first wave of the pandemic rolled across the globe.

We were told people would die on the streets of our cities, while rural villages would have too many deaths to document. Yet none of this happened. While around 114,000 died up to September/October last year when the pandemic peaked, India's vastly underfunded and fragile healthcare system coped.

Quite why India escaped relatively lightly remains the subject of mystery and conjecture among ordinary people and experts alike.

At its peak, the country was still reporting only 90,000 cases a day  a relative sliver of its vast population, and a number that had dropped to 20,000 by January.

Was it the relatively young demographic and low rate of obesity? Was it the BCG jab routinely given to Indian children to guard against deadly tuberculosis? Or perhaps the population had stronger immune systems developed to cope with the widespread lack of sanitation?

An aerial view of a crematorium ground in Delhi on Thursday shows the scale of the devastation caused by Covid-19 in India

Oxygen, hospital beds and vaccines are running low in India, where some patients have been turned away from hospital because of shortages. Pictured: A cemetery worker in PPE collects logs to be used in funeral pyres

Despite huge numbers of infections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said lockdowns are a last resort. Pictured: Funeral pyres blaze ar a crematorium ground in New Delhi

The reality is that, aside from a harsh but effective lockdown, nobody really knows. What is clear, however is that as January ticked into February and cases dipped for the thirtieth consecutive week, complacency set in among both the population and its leaders.

From January onwards, most restrictions were relaxed, and since then many Indians have been celebrating one Hindu festival after another, mingling in vast crowds with little in the way of social distancing.

In March, a crowd of 57,000 gathered at the Narendra Modi Stadium to watch India play England in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

From April 1 onwards, millions gathered on certain days at the annual Kumbh Mela festival, despite calls by doctors alarmed by an uptick in figures from early February for it to be called off.

Among them was Dr A Fathahudeen, a highly respected medic who is part of Kerala state's Covid taskforce. 'I said in February that Covid had not gone anywhere and a tsunami would hit us if urgent actions were not taken,' he said recently. 'Sadly, a tsunami has indeed hit us now.'

It is a prediction that India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, certainly chose to ignore. Lax, complacent, over-confident, and lulled into a false sense of security by India's moderate first wave, he made few preparations for a second wave despite the overwhelming evidence from Europe and America that it would come.

Nor has he led by example: for the last two months he has been driving election campaigns for local state assemblies, which involve mass rallies attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

Funeral pyres of people who died from the coronavirus are seen at a crematorium ground in New Delhi on Thursday

India's healthcare system is buckling under the strain of a vicious second wave. Pictured: A cemetery worker pulls a cart of wooden logs to be used in funeral pyres on Thursday

An Indian boy carries an empty oxygen cylinder for filling at oxygen filling centre in Bangalore on Wednesday. There is a shortage of oxygen cylinders in certain COVID-19 affected areas but the Karnataka state government has said that it will do its best to make sure the distribution of liquid medical oxygen is smooth and there will be no shortage

Even so, the speed with which the latest wave has spread through the population has surprised everyone.

Against a backdrop of pictures of near-empty Covid wards, and news that the temporary hospitals and isolation centres hastily erected during the first wave had been decommissioned, we started meeting outdoors in cafes and parks again.

Yet a month later here we are, thousands are dying daily, and not just because of the virus alone but because they cannot get life-saving treatment. India's healthcare's system is on its knees, and the consequences have been heart-rending. People are dying on park benches, in car parks, and in ambulances outside hospitals.

For once, the rich are as helpless as the poor. In a country where money and connections could always ensure access to some of the best healthcare in the world, the second wave has come as a rude shock. Money has no currency now.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, some of the top private hospitals in New Delhi said they had only a couple of hours of oxygen left, after which its patients would start dying  those on ventilators within minutes and other patients within hours.

When a truck with oxygen cylinders arrived at one New Delhi hospital at 1.30am  half an hour before it was due to run out - doctors and nurses there wept with relief.

It's little wonder that people are palpably scared: if you call for an ambulance it will not come, and even if it does there is nowhere to take you.

It's a visceral fear I have succumbed to myself this week, having woken up yesterday with Covid symptoms that have confined me to my bed. As I am in my late fifties, I've already had one Covid vaccination, and so far my symptoms are not severe, but I cannot shake off the lingering fear that should I deteriorate there is little that can be done. If I wake up at night struggling to breathe, I have no plan of action.

Nor are the young immune. While most serious cases and deaths have predominantly involved the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, younger people are also suffering.

Just this week, the 34-year-old son of a prominent Indian politician died from Covid.

The backlog of tests in laboratories  four days worth  does not help. Without the Covid-positive test, you can't be admitted to hospital even if you manage to find a bed, so people are dying while waiting for a test or the result.

Vaccination cannot be relied on either: while some 2.7million vaccine doses are given daily, less than 10 per cent of the population has been vaccinated so far  a number that must rise exponentially to make a difference.

A crematorium worker checks a burning pyre of a Covid-19 victim at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi in the early hour of April 22, 2021

Funeral pyres at a makeshift crematorium in the capital Delhi on Wednesday, the city of 29 millions is rapidly running out of hospital beds for patients, oxygen supplies and even basic medication

Multiple funeral pyres of those patients who died of COVID-19 disease are seen burning at a ground that has been converted into a crematorium

President Modi's response has been startlingly ineffectual. This week, as evening bulletins broadcast images of grieving and desperate citizens, his only real intervention has been to declare that oxygen supplies can no longer be used for industrial purposes but must be given to hospitals instead.

How much difference that will make remains to be seen, and at the moment it is social media that people have turned to for answers, with citizens tweeting links to hospitals they have heard may have a bed, and WhatsApp groups trying to source oxygen supplies or construct makeshift isolation units in empty houses.

On Twitter, anti-Modi hashtags are trending, along with the phrase: 'You are responsible Mr Modi'. And beside herself with grief, one young woman, who cremated her mother on Tuesday, asked a question many are pondering this week: 'May I ask Modi and Amit Shah [the equivalent of the Home Affairs minister] why they are campaigning in West Bengal? Are they not seeing people dying here in the capital?'

Incredibly, Mr Modi was due to visit West Bengal today for another political rally, instead of staying in the capital to monitor the scourge that has engulfed the country.

Belatedly, he cancelled it last night  but not before an impression of heartless indifference had been created.

No wonder a customised image of Mr Modi's party's symbol, the orange lotus, is doing the rounds on Twitter. Instead of petals emerging from the leaves, it shows the blazing orange flames of a funeral pyre.
SACRAMENTO  Gov. Gavin Newsom is preparing a plan to phase out the oil extraction method known as fracking in California, according to environmentalists who were briefed on the effort.

Newsom is facing pressure to act from environmentalists who oppose fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, after a bill that would have banned it and some other extraction methods died in the Legislature last week.

Several members of environmental groups told The Chronicle on Thursday that they had been notified of an imminent announcement by Newsom to rein in fracking. Politico, citing unidentified environmental, legislative and industry sources, said the governor would ban new fracking permits starting in 2024.

The governors office said it had no information to share and did not respond to a request for further comment.

Fracking, in which high-pressure liquids are injected into the earth to release oil and gas deposits, accounts for only about 2% of Californias oil production, according to the state Department of Conservation. But its long been a controversial method because of what climate activists see as unacceptable dangers, including the possibility that it can contaminate groundwater.

Several environmentalists said Thursday that they would be disappointed by any fracking measure that does not eliminate new permits well before 2024 and restrict existing operations.

Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute, said that although she had not been briefed on the plan, she was skeptical of what shed heard about a potential 2024 timeline.

A fracking ban is essential, she said. But we need it now, not years down the line  2024 doesnt make any sense.

Alexandra Nagy, California director of Food & Water Watch, said in a statement that fracking is especially problematic now because operators use large amounts of water, and the state is in a drought.

Banning new fracking permits three years from now does nothing to help people whose communities are being drilled and fracked today, she said. Now that the governor finally acknowledges he can take this action, he needs to do it now.

Newsom asked the Legislature last fall to ban fracking, on the same day he said the state would end the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

The governor said he would support legislation to halt new fracking permits by 2024. At the time, he said he could not ban fracking without legislative approval, although many environmentalists disagreed.

Democratic state Sens. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Monique Limon of Santa Barbara responded by introducing a bill that would have halted new fracking permits next year and gradually prohibited several more common forms of oil extraction by 2035.

Wiener and Limons legislation, SB467, was met with resistance from the oil industry and labor groups, which said it would eliminate nearly all California oil production and cost thousands of jobs. The bill failed to clear its first committee hearing last week.

Wiener is now considering introducing a pared-down version of the bill that would require 2,500-foot buffer zones between oil wells and homes, schools and other public places. A similar bill stalled in the Legislature last year.

Dustin Gardiner and J.D. Morris are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com, jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner, @thejdmorris
EU countries agree on technical elements of Digital Green Certificate

Xinhua) 09:25, April 23, 2021

Flags of the EU fly in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

"We are on track towards our goal of having the certificate in place by June -- to enable Europeans to travel safely this summer with minimum restrictions," said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice.

BRUSSELS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) members states' representatives have agreed on the technical specifications for the implementation of the Digital Green Certificate, the European Commission said in a press release on Thursday.

The Commission proposed the creation of the certificate last month, in a bid to ease COVID-19 related travel and movement restrictions for people who can prove that they have either been vaccinated, developed natural immunity, or received a negative test result.

The agreed technical specifications cover data structure and encoding mechanisms, including the QR code, which will ensure that all certificates, whether digital or on paper, can be read and verified across the EU.

Passengers walk in the departure hall at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

The guidelines also describe the EU gateway which will allow the sharing of electronic signature keys so that the authenticity of the certificates can be verified anywhere in the bloc.

Describing it as a "further crucial step," the Commission encouraged the member states to deploy the needed technical solutions at a national level to ensure the rollout of the unified system by June.

"We are on track towards our goal of having the certificate in place by June -- to enable Europeans to travel safely this summer with minimum restrictions," said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice.

Vueling Airlines flight prepares for landing at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
The SEIS seismometer package from the Mars InSight lander has collected its first continuous Martian year of data, revealing some surprises among the more than 500 marsquakes detected so far.

At the Seismological Society of America (SSA)'s 2021 Annual Meeting, Savas Ceylan of ETH Zurich discussed some of the findings from The Marsquake Service, the part of the InSight ground team that detects marsquakes and curates the planet's seismicity catalog.

Marsquakes differ from earthquakes in a number of ways, Ceylan explained. To begin with, they are much smaller than earthquakes, with the largest event recorded at teleseismic distances around magnitude 3.6. SEIS is able to detect these small events because the background seismic noise on Mars can be much lower than on Earth, without the constant tremor produced by ocean waves.

"For much of a Martian year, from around sunset until early hours, the Martian atmosphere becomes very quiet, so there is no local noise either," he said. "Additionally, our sensors are optimized and shielded for operating under severe Martian conditions, such as extremely low temperatures and the extreme diurnal temperature fluctuations on the red planet."

Marsquakes also come in two distinct varieties: low-frequency events with seismic waves propagating at various depths in the planet's mantle, and high-frequency events with waves that appear to propagate through the crust. "In terms of how the seismic energy decays over time, the low-frequency events appear to be more like earthquakes" in which the shaking dies away relatively quickly, Ceylan said, "while the high-frequency events are resembling moonquakes" in persisting for longer periods.

The vast majority of the events are high-frequency and occur at hundreds of kilometers of distance from the lander. "It is not quite clear to us how these events could be confined to only high frequency energy while they occur at such large distances," he said. "On top of that, the frequency of those events seems to vary over the Martian year, which is a pattern that we do not know at all from Earth."

Only a handful of marsquakes have clear seismic phase arrivals--the order in which the different types of seismic waves arrive at a location--which allows researchers to calculate the direction and distance the waves come from. All these marsquakes originate from a sunken area of the surface called Cerberus Fossae, about 1800 kilometers away from the InSight Lander.

Cerberus Fossae is one of the youngest geological structures on Mars, and may have formed from extensional faulting or subsidence due to dike emplacement. Recent studies suggest extension mechanism may be the source of the Cerberus Fossae quakes, Ceylan noted, "however, we have a long way in front of us to be able to explain the main tectonic mechanisms behind these quakes."

The biggest challenge for The Marsquake Service and InSight science team has been "adapting to unexpected signals in the data from a new planet," Ceylan said.

Although there were significant efforts to shield SEIS from non-seismic noise by covering it and placing it directly on the Martian surface, its data are still contaminated by weather and lander noise.

"We needed to understand the noise on Mars from scratch, discover how our seismometers behave, how the atmosphere of Mars affects seismic recordings, and find alternative methods to interpret the data properly," said Ceylan.

It took the Service a while to be "confident in identifying the different event types," he added, "discriminating these weak signals from the rich and varied background noise, and being able to characterize these novel signals in a systematic manner to provide a self-consistent catalog."

The InSight seismicity catalog and data are released to the public via IPG Paris, IRIS, and PDS on a three month schedule, with three month data delay.

###
Almost 5.7 million Pennsylvanians have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, including nearly 3.6 million people who are now fully vaccinated.

That breaks down to 45% of the states 12.8 million residents with one shot, according to data from the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia health departments.

The state health department reported 4,188 new coronavirus infections and 59 new deaths in its daily report Friday, bringing the total cases to 1.26 million and 25,938 lives lost since the pandemic was first detected in March 2020. The majority of those who have died are over 65 with more than half living in nursing homes.

(Cant see this chart? Click here.)

Here are your coronavirus updates for Friday, April 23,2021

The COVID vaccine rollout

Friday data from the state health department and the city of Philadelphia, which receives its own allotment, show approximately 45% of Pennsylvanians with one dose. Eleven counties outpace the state, including Northampton County (49%) and Lehigh County (47%).

The states been vaccinating 101,000 people a day on average over the last week as anyone 16 and older is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania now ranks 10th among all 50 states for first doses administered by percentage of population and fifth for total doses administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Cant see this map? Click here.)

About 28% of Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated, having received all required doses, which can mean one or two shots depending on the brand of vaccine. The Lehigh Valley is keeping pace with the state here  both Lehigh and Northampton are 27% fully vaccinated, ahead of all adjacent Pa. counties.

Full protection sets in two weeks after the booster shot.

Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam has said the state is aiming for an 80% vaccination rate.

Lehigh Valley vaccine providers report a softening demand for appointments, so they are tweaking outreach strategies to make vaccination more convenient.

Hospital networks like LVHN and St. Lukes have mass-vaccination sites. Shots can also be scheduled through pharmacies, some nonprofits and special events coordinated through churches and other community groups.

Pa. coronavirus cases

The state is now averaging 4,050 new infections and 45 deaths a day on average over the last week. New cases are down nearly 8% from the rate two weeks ago, a welcome development after weeks of increase. This is the fifth day in a row the average daily rates fallen.

And while cases are showing a decline, changes in hospitalizations and deaths typically take weeks to follow  and both are currently still trending upward.

Deaths are up 48% from two weeks ago, while hospitalizations are up 17% with 2,740 patients a day over the last week.

In the Lehigh Valley, 292 new cases were reported Friday by the state, bringing the local total to 71,120 cases. One new death was reported bringing the regions toll to 1,515 people.

(Cant see the table? Click here.)

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg says electric vehicles have become a status symbol in her country, with widespread adoption spurred by government policies.

Why it matters: As shown in the viral Super Bowl commercials starring Will Ferrell, Norway is a potential model for implementing policy incentives that other countries might choose to follow to increase the adoption of electric vehicles.

Norway has the highest rate of EV adoption as a percentage of the auto market, with at least 54% of new cars sold being EVs.

The big picture: In a wide-ranging virtual interview with Axios on Thursday, Solberg said government policies have long treated cars as luxury items subject to certain taxes. But even before EVs were widely available, policymakers decided to provide subsidies by making them tax-exempt.

"It's of course huge incentives when you both take away value-added tax and the special car taxation, and you give them free entry on toll roads, which we have especially in the cities," Solberg said.

"What happened was that especially ... a family's number two car became electrical quite early because that would used to be used for going to work in a city and not for long-distance driving."

Catch up fast: Solbert said over the past five or six years, the country saw "basically a Tesla revolution in the beginning, because they were the first one with real cars, as some of my male friends would say  real cars, not just the small ones."

"When they came into the market, you suddenly could get a good, nice looking car with a longer range, which was a symbol, you know, a status symbol. And because of the tax exceptions we had, it became much cheaper than buying a comparable fossil fuel car," she said.

Solberg also touted the renewable power sources in Norway, mainly stemming from hydroelectric facilities, that make EVs cleaner there than other countries that generate more electricity from coal or gas-fired power plants.

The intrigue: As for those Super Bowl commercials, Solberg said Norwegians thought they were funny, and noted that it was a huge opportunity for publicity in the U.S.

"We know that the Super Bowl commercial is probably the time you meet the most Americans," she said.

Solberg, who has led Norway since 2013, also discussed how to strike a balance between the country's extensive fossil-fuel production activities and its ambitious climate targets.

On Thursday, for example, Norway announced it was joining a multinational initiative that will work with the private sector to reduce deforestation in tropical countries.

But Solberg said there are reasons to be wary of using such initiatives as carbon offsets, and that Norway has not been registering them as such. It has, however, been monitoring its projects using satellites, she said.

She noted that Norway had been supporting efforts to reduce rainforest destruction in Brazil, but stopped in 2019 in light of evidence that deforestation has increased there.

Between the lines: When it comes to U.S. credibility to lead on the climate issue, Solberg said she tries to look at the U.S. as a whole, rather than just Washington.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge on Thursday withdrew a Trump administration policy proposal that would have let federally-funded single-sex homeless shelters deny service to transgender people on the basis of their biological sex even if their gender identity matched those served by the shelter.

HUD said the 2020 proposal would have allowed for HUD-sanctioned, federally funded discrimination against transgender people, who face disproportionately high rates of homelessness and extreme risk in unsheltered homelessness, and would have created insurmountable barriers to shelter access for transgender and gender non-conforming people who already face serious discrimination and difficulty in safely accessing shelters.

Access to safe, stable housingand shelteris a basic necessity, said a statement from Fudge, a former Warrensville Heights mayor who represented Cleveland and Akron in Congress. Unfortunately, transgender and gender non-conforming people report more instances of housing instability and homelessness than cis-gender people. Today, we are taking a critical step in affirming HUDs commitment that no person be denied access to housing or other critical services because of their gender identity.

The Trump administration proposed the rule last summer, arguing that requiring single-sex shelters to house people who arent biologically that sex discouraged some religiously run shelters from participating in HUD programs, and did not consider the shelters need to take care of the mental health and privacy concerns of at-risk clients, particularly the special needs of program residents who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Advocates for transgender people said Trumps policy would endanger those who need emergency housing. The Human Rights Campaign cited studies that show nearly a third of transgender and non-binary people experience homelessness during their lifetime, including half of those who are Black, Middle Eastern, multiracial, and/or undocumented immigrants. It said more than 20 percent of transgender people who stay in shelters reported being physically or sexually assaulted, and nearly half of those who were assaulted returned to the streets rather than remaining in the shelter.

Safe housing is an essential right for every American, no matter their gender identity, and we celebrate HUDs decision to preserve and implement the Equal Access Rule and protect trans lives across our country, said a statement from the organizations president, Alphonso David.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, also praised Fudges action.

In Ohio and across the country, transgender people face discrimination and violence, and instead of offering support, the Trump Administration advanced a housing rule that undermined their humanity and their ability to access shelter during a pandemic, said a statement from Brown. The federal government should be ensuring they get the housing and services they need, not funding and reinforcing the cruel idea that transgender peoples humanity and rights are second class.

Read more:

Ohio anti-fracking activist joins Greta Thunberg to decry fossil fuel subsidies at Earth Day congressional hearing

Dont hold your breath on passing marijuana banking legislation, says Senate banking chair Sherrod Brown

Sen. Sherrod Brown hopes Biden package will extend Medicare buy-in option to people 50 and over

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez resumes push to let college athletes make money from their names and images

Rep. Dave Joyce introduces bill to let VA prescribe medical marijuana

U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez has double the campaign war chest of Trump-backed challenger Max Miller

Rep. Jim Jordan clashes with Anthony Fauci over freedom at House hearing

Rep. Jim Jordan joins effort to cancel Major League Baseballs antitrust exemption after its decision to move the All-Star game

Cleveland nonprofit gets federal grant to help local manufacturers respond to the coronavirus pandemic

John Boehners political memoir disses Trump and Tea Party but avoids Ohio controversies

White House says Biden infrastructure bill would improve Ohios roads and bridges

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge releases $5 billion to fight homelessness
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) steps off the Senate subway on his way to a vote in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 12, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Sen. Tim Scott to Deliver Republican Response to Bidens First Address to Congress

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott will deliver the Republican partys response to President Joe Bidens first joint address to Congress on April 28, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday.

We face serious challenges on multiple fronts but I am as confident as I have ever been in the promise and potential of America, Scott said in a statement.

I look forward to having an honest conversation with the American people and sharing Republicans optimistic vision for expanding opportunity and empowering working families.

Scott, 55, a first-term senator, is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, and last month received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump for his reelection bid in 2022.

Trump at the time described Scott as both an outstanding senator and person who works tirelessly for the people of his great state, and the USA.

Strong on the military, law enforcement, loves our vets, protects our Second Amendment and our borders. Tim will continue to do an OUTSTANDING job for our country! Trump said in a statement via email.

Biden on April 13 accepted an invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to address to a joint session of Congress next weekthe night before his 100th day in office.

The president has faced criticism for delaying his first address, in contrast to his predecessors. Trump delivered his first speech to Congress on Feb. 28, roughly two months earlier than Biden.

Presidents usually use their first address to celebrate their early accomplishments and chart a course for their administration for the years ahead. Biden is likely to celebrate the passage of the pandemic stimulus bill, which cleared the Senate without a single Republican vote. The president will also likely speak about the torrent of executive actions he took in the early days of his term.

Bidens early actions included the reversal of more than a dozen key border and immigration policies of the Trump administration. The reversals triggered a flood of illegal immigrants at a pace unseen in decades that Biden recently called a crisis.

McConnell in a statement described Scott as one of the strongest leaders in the Senate Republican conference, and one of the most inspiring and unifying leaders in our nation.

As Sen. Scott likes to say, he is living his mothers American dream, and he has dedicated his career to creating more opportunity for our fellow citizens who need it most, McConnell said.

He is a conservative optimist with the right vision for a stronger, more united country, McCarthy added.

Todays Republican Party is a growing coalition of working Americans who value freedom in pursuit of the American dream. No member in Congress epitomizes the essence of todays Republican Party more than my friend and colleague Sen. Scott.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
Three of the largest tech innovatorsHewlett Packard Enterprise, Facebook, and Microsoftnow have free access to patents under the Low-Carbon Patent Pledge. This patent can support scientists and help them develop low-carbon solutions and will be available royalty-free.

Innovators developing low-carbon technologies now have free access to patents from three of the worlds largest tech companies under the Low-Carbon Patent Pledge, a commitment to help tackle climate change.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Facebook, and Microsoft are making available key patents to accelerate the adoption of low-carbon technologies.

Under the HPE-led initiative, hundreds of patents that could support technologists developing low-carbon solutions for generating, storing, and distributing low-carbon energy will be available royalty-free.

The Low-Carbon Patent Pledge says breakthrough technologies will be vital to cutting emissions fast enough to avert climate disaster. Roughly half the reductions needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 require technologies that are not yet commercially available, according to the International Energy Agency.

The listed patents cover a broad range of preventative or adaptive technologies that can help combat climate change.

These include power management, enablement of zero-carbon energy sources, efficient data centre architecture, and thermal management.

John Frey, Chief Technologist for Sustainable Transformation at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, says: The world needs radical collaboration to meet this critical moment in the climate crisis.

He explains: To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, we need to work together to innovate faster. By opening up these patents, we hope to help accelerate and encourage innovation by enabling others to build upon our work.



With well laid-out corporate sustainability plans of their own, the coalition partners hope that granting public access to free patents will spur researchers and scientists to unlock the technological solutions the world will need to create a lower carbon economy and a sustainable future.

Intellectual property law expert Jorge L. Contreras, Presidential Scholar and Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, says:

"History has shown that voluntary pledges of patents can help to promote new technologies and encourage their adoption around the world.

This is precisely the kind of initiative that's needed to combat the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change, he concludes.

The list of pledged patents and terms of use are available at www.lowcarbonpatentpledge.org and will grow as the companies add more to the list and other tech companies join.
Out of the seven members of the Catholic clergy that were abducted in Haiti earlier this month, three were already released, according to a Church spokesman.

According to AFP News, the seven members of the Catholic clergy were among the 10 people who were kidnapped in Croix-des-Bouquets on Apr. 11.

Five of the Catholic clergy were Haitian and two of them were French - a priest and a nun. Father Loudger Mazile, the spokesman for the Bishop's Conference for Haiti, told AFP that the French citizens remain in captivity.

The kidnappers had demanded $1 million as a ransom payment after they abducted the group, according to BBC News. The island nation is currently struggling with rising violence and ongoing political crisis.

READ NEXT: Haitian Migrants Suffer from Discrimination and Deportation in Bahamas

The Kidnapping of the Catholic Clergy

The members of the Catholic clergy were on their way to attend the introduction of a new parish priest when the attack took place. A source said the gang behind the abduction could be the 400 Mazowo.

Kidnapping for ransom has increased in recent months in Haiti, especially in Port-au-Prince.

"The CHR (Haitian Conference of Religious) expresses its deep sorrow, but also its anger at the subhuman situation through which we have been wading for more than a decade," the group said as reported by The Guardian.

The group added that not a day goes by "without weeping and gnashing of teeth," yet the leaders of the country clinging to power are "increasingly powerless."

Bishop Pierre-Andre Dumas of Miragoane in south-western Haiti said the time has come for these inhuman acts to cease.

Gang Violence in Haiti

The government of Haiti had declared a state of emergency in March. This was to curb gang violence and restore the state power.

The move was prompted by the armed gangs' scheme to kidnap people for money, as well as their stealing and looting public and private property.

The rise in gang violence and political instability have recently caused an uproar from protesters on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Protesters rallied against the growing power of gangs in the city.

"The nation must stand up to fight these thugs," Father Gilbert Peltrop, secretary-general of the CHR, said in an Aljazeera report.

Political Crisis in Haiti

Meanwhile, opposition leaders disputed that the term of Haitian President Jovenel Moise was over as it was said to have ended on Feb. 7, according to legal experts and civil society groups.

However, the president and his supporters argued that his five-year term only expires in 2022, another Aljazeera report said. Moise made clear that he would not yet leave the presidency, with government officials alleging a failed coup took place.

In November 2015, Moise won in the first round of elections. The result was not acknowledged due to voter fraud. Moise was re-elected in November 2016 and he officially took office in February 2017. Thus, there was a dispute over whether Moise's five-year term began in 2016 or 2017.

Moise has formed an electoral council and consultation committee assigned to prepare a new constitution and he plans to hold a referendum on April 25.

According to Moise, the current constitution is one of the sources of the economic, social, and political crisis that Haiti is currently experiencing.

READ MORE: Haiti Suffers from Economic Collapse After Political Protests

WATCH: Crisis in Haiti: Seven Catholic Clergy Kidnapped, Held for Ransom - From FRANCE 24 English






The US government has withdrawn a Trump-era proposal which would have given homeless shelters the right to refuse transgender people.

The suggested policy - which would have been for taxpayer-funded shelters - was still being debated last autumn when Donald Trump was voted out of office.

But on Thursday, the Department of Housing and Urban Developement (HUD) announced it will be officially scrapped.

Access to safe, stable housing  and shelter  is a basic necessity, Marcia Fudge, the departments new secretary under President Joe Biden, said.

"Unfortunately, transgender and gender non-conforming people report more instances of housing instability and homelessness than cisgender people.

Announcing the move, she said the department was taking a critical step in affirming its commitment that no person be denied access to housing or other critical services because of their gender identity.

The HUD said the proposal would have weakened a rule ensuring individuals - regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity - have equal access to government-funded housing programmes.

But under Mr Trump and his housing secretary, Ben Carson, the US government put forward a change to the rule which would have allowed single-sex homeless shelters to deny transgender people access.

This proposal would have let shelter providers subject transgender individuals to inappropriate and intrusive inquiries, deny them accommodations, and subject them to greater harassment, the HUD said on Thursday.

Jennifer Wexton, a Democratic congresswoman who clashed publicly with Mr Carson over the issue in 2019, hailed its withdrawal as an expected but necessary step to ensure protections for one of the countrys vulnerable populations.

Housing saves lives, especially for the trans community who face disproportionate rates of violence and homelessness, she said, adding it was a relief to see the proposal officially off the table.

Kate Scott from Equal Rights Centre - a civil rights group fighting against discrimination in housing, employment public accomodation - welcomed the move on Twitter.

The organisations executive director said the departments change in position would literally save lives.

The latest move on housing comes just weeks after the Biden administration reversed Trump-era rules banning transgender and non-binary individuals from serving in the US military.
The thirteenth season of MasterChef Australia is well and truly underway.

And on Wednesday, select stars from previous years of the Channel Ten cooking show stepped back into the spotlight to celebrate a hotel's $35million refurbishment.

Tessa Boersma, Harry Foster, Nicole Scott and Christina Laker joined 2020 My Kitchen Rules winner Jake Harrison at the JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa.

Remember us? Former MasterChef stars Nicole Scott (far left), Christina Laker (left, Tessa Boersma (right) and Harry Foster (far right), reunited at the newly refurbished JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa on Wednesday night

Nicole, who placed fifth in the 2019 season, showed off her trim figure in a sleeveless pale pink frock and black pointy-toe heels.

The event caterer swept her blonde locks back off her face, and opted for minimal yet elegant makeup.

Nicole embraced Christina Laker, also from the 2019 season, who donned an apricot playsuit and wedge heels.

Ex contestants: The former stars of the Channel Ten cooking show looked pleased to be back in the spotlight as they posed for photos

Wined and dined: They were treated to delectable cocktails and a five course feast including freshly caught seafood, roasted beef tenderloin and a citrus dessert

The recipe developer and stylist secured her blonde locks at the nape of the neck, and her makeup was radiant.

Tessa who placed second in the 2019 season and seventh in last year's All Stars series, cut a chic figure in a white wrap shirt, black pinstripe trousers and blue heels.

She styled her blonde locks out, and mingled with Harry Foster from the 2019 and All Stars seasons, who dressed casually in a shirt, shorts and sneakers combination.

Glamorous: Nicole (left) showed off her trim figure in a sleeveless pale pink frock and black pointy-toe heels, while Tessa (right) donned a white wrap shirt, black pinstripe trousers and strappy blue heels

Smart casual: Harry kept things more on the smart casual side, opting for a white T-shirt, a black shirt left unbuttoned, ripped black denim shorts and sneakers

Rival program: The former contestants were in great company, joining 2020 My Kitchen Rules winner Jake Harrison (pictured)

The former contestants were in great company, joining 2020 My Kitchen Rules winner Jake, who paired a patterned silk shirt, with grey trousers and black loafers.

They were treated to delectable cocktails and a five course feast including freshly caught seafood, roasted beef tenderloin and a citrus dessert.

MasterChef Australia kicked off its 2021 season on April 19, fronted by judges Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen.

They helmed the series together for the first time last year, which resulted in an incredible ratings smash.

Unique style: Jake sported a patterned silk shirt, tucked into grey trousers. He added black loafers to the look
Whats new: The high court in Guangdong province upheld a lower courts order to jail a former ZTE Corp. labor union leader for 20 years on charges including illegal fundraising, court documents showed.

He Xuemei, who was arrested in 2017, was charged with fundraising fraud, embezzlement and misappropriate. As the Chinese telecom equipment makers labor union chief, she illegally raised 2.1 billion yuan ($323 million) from 8,819 people, mostly ZTE employees, between 2015 and 2017 citing high-yield investments, court documents showed.

A court in Shenzhen sentenced He to 20 years in prison. Several of Hes subordinates also received jail terms of four to six years. Some of the defendants appealed.

The background: He, 52, was chairwoman of ZTEs labor union between 2000 and 2017. She joined the company in 1998.

Following Hes detention, ZTE used 899 million yuan of its own funds to compensate some victims who failed to receive repayments from He and associates.

The case rattled ZTE, sparking market concerns over its internal controls and financial management capacity.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@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.
Narges Asefifeyzabadi, a doctoral student in chemistry and biochemistry at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, works in the laboratory recently. She represented the university online at the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools conference in March after winning SIUs Three-Minute Thesis competition. (Photo by Russell Bailey)

Doctoral chemistry student wins 3MT communication contest, represents SIU at conference

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill.  A Southern Illinois University Carbondale doctoral student in chemistry and biochemistry represented the university at a regional contest after winning a local competition for the most compelling thesis in the Graduate School.

Narges Asefifeyzabadi, who is earning her doctorate, won first place in the SIU Graduate Schools Three-Minute Thesis competition. Asefifeyzabadi received an $800 award and represented SIU online at the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools conference in March.

Asefifeyzabadis research area examines the interplay between chemistry, biosensing, bioelectronics, biomaterials, and bioengineering as it relates to breakthroughs in wearable sensors. She also has worked on developing low-cost biosensors using printing platforms for point-of-care diagnostics and biomedical applications.

Teaching communication skills

The Three Minute Thesis  also known as the 3MT competition  was developed by the University of Queensland to celebrate the exciting research conducted by doctoral students. The exercise is aimed at cultivating the students academic, presentation and research communication skills and supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in language understandable to anyone.

Twenty-two doctoral students participated in the event, said Stephen Shih, associate dean and director of the SIU Graduate School. Three faculty members acted as judges.

The 3MT competition provides our graduate students with a superb opportunity to sharpen their skills in articulating complex and sometimes esoteric research subject areas clearly and effectively, Shih said. It will increase graduate students ability to effectively communicate with people from other disciplines or even nonacademic, nonspecialist audiences and to explain the key points and significance of their research in layman's terms within a short period of time.

A different kind of challenge

Asefifeyzabadi said the competition differed from presentations she often gives at research conferences, and it helped her grow as a communicator.

Not only did it required me to effectively explain a compelling discussion on my research topic and its significance to the general public, but it also was a fast-paced competition that demanded summarizing my four-plus years of research in only three minutes and with only one slide, she said. It was an exciting, one-of-a-kind opportunity. I believe this competition helps graduate students to develop such valuable skills that are not perhaps addressed properly elsewhere.

Second and third place winners

Ryan Crawford and Ali Parizad placed second and third, earning $500 and $300 cash awards, respectively. Crawford is earning his doctorate in English, while Parizad is earning his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering.

Each student gave a brief spoken-word presentation using only a single, static PowerPoint slide. Judges assessed participants presentations in several areas, including comprehension and content, communication and research significance, among others.
In a big development to the West Bengal coal smuggling case, the CBI on Friday issued summon to prime accused TMC leader Vinay Mishra, a day after he was granted bail by the Calcutta High Court. Vinay Mishra will have to appear before the agency on May 3 to join the interrogation on the multi-crore coal scam case.

He was granted bail in connection with the cattle smuggling case till May 3 on the condition that he appears before the CBI on the same date. Justice Subhasis Dasputa, hearing Mishras petition seeking to quash the proceedings against him, directed the TMC leader to be present before the CBI on May 3.

Vinay Mishra, an alleged close associate of Mamta Banarjee's nephew Abhishek Banarjee is an absconding accused in the contentious coal smuggling case that is being probed by two central agencies - Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI has already recorded statements of Abhishek Banarjee's wife and other relatives in the case.

The ED on Tuesday arrested Vinay Mishra's brother Bikas in connection with the coal smuggling case. Bikas Mishra was arrested from Delhi after a brief interrogation. A designated court in Delhi later sent him to the ED custody for 6 days.

Arrest warrant issued against Vinay Mishra

Earlier, the CBI had issued an arrest warrant against Vinay Mishra in the case and a designated court in Kolkata issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him. Vinay Mishra has been summoned by the central agencies multiple times to date but has failed to join the investigation in the cattle smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border.

The CBI had earlier carried out raids at multiple locations in West Bengal, including Mishra's premises. A lookout notice was also issued against Vinay Mishra and all the airports, ports and borders have been alerted regarding the same.

(With inputs from agency)
Migrants: 'like navigating among bodies', rescuer says 'Six-meter waves and no aid from States', NGO president says

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 23 - The president of NGO Sos Mediterranee Italia, Alessandro Porro, who was on board the Ocean Viking vessel that carried out a search mission after the shipwreck off Libya of a boat carrying over 100 migrants said it was "like navigating in a sea of bodies".



"In the afternoon, the ship My Rose saw the rubber dinghy, we got closer and it was like navigating in a sea of bodies.



Literally. There was little left of the ship, of people". Porro spoke about waves that were six meters high and recalled search operations "without help from States. If an airline had crashed there would have been the Navies of half of Europe, but they were only migrants, fertilizer of the Mediterranean cemetery".(ANSAmed).




The University of Minnesota is one of two institutions in the United States to host a new center established by the Biostasis Research Institute (BRI) aimed at creating human organ banks through the cryogenic storage of organs donated for transplantation.

BRI is launching and funding the Organ and Tissue Preservation Center at the U of M, which will focus on technologies to safely and rapidly rewarm cryopreserved organs and other living systems. This center will be housed within the U of M Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM) and will be led by IEM Director John Bischof and Medical School Department of Surgery faculty member Erik Finger.

"We applaud the BRI for spearheading a research effort that aims to address some of the most critical bottlenecks in regenerative medicine," said Bischof, a faculty member in the College of Science and Engineering. "By funding a new Organ and Tissue Preservation Center at IEM, BRI is accelerating research and technology development that will positively impact millions of patients, including children on transplant wait lists and people with neurodegenerative conditions."

Together with a sister research center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Organ and Tissue Preservation Center will develop new technologies to store tissues, and organs for biomedical research as part of a larger "Apollo Program" in cryopreservation (extreme cold storage) and suspended animation (safely slowing and stopping biological processes). This national research effort has now reached well over $100 million in funding from U.S. science agencies, philanthropic donors and industry partners.

By funding biostasis research, we are investing in the future of organ donation and transplantation. This initiative advances the LifeSource mission: to honor the heroism of every organ donor by maximizing the impact of their life-saving gifts." Susan Gunderson, CEO of BRI founding supporter LifeSource -- the Organ Procurement Organization serving Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Western Wisconsin

In addition to being supported by BRI, the University's Organ and Tissue Preservation Center will be bolstered by our new NSF Engineering Research Center ATP-Bio, which aims to develop and deploy breakthrough bioengineering technology to preserve a wide range of biological systems.
Russia-occupation forces have violated the ceasefire ten times in the area of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) in Donbas since the beginning of the day, the JFO headquarters has said on Facebook.

"In particular, not far from the settlements of Novoselivka, Novhorodske and Shumy, the enemy opened fire from 82 and 120 caliber mortars. In the suburbs of Avdiyivka, Pisky and Maryinka, Russian invaders fired from grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms," the report said.

In the area of the settlement of Pivdenne, mercenaries fired from an anti-tank missile system. Near the village of Novhorodske, the militants also carried out remote mining from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers with POM-2 mines.

There are no combat losses among Ukrainian servicemen.

The Ukrainian side of the JCCC informed the OSCE representatives about all the facts of violations.
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen targeted with a drone a facility of Saudi Aramco in the southwestern Saudi city Jizan, a military spokesman for the rebels wrote on Twitter, as carried by Reuters.

The Houthis also targeted the King Khalid air base with two drones, the spokesman said.

Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed a drone attack on the Jizan facility.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday that the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, strongly condemned the Houthi militias failed attempts to target civilians in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using three bomb-laden UAVs, which had been intercepted and destroyed by the forces of Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen since 2015.

The Houthis have claimed numerous drone and drone-and-missile attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, including oil facilities of the Saudi state oil giant Aramco.

Last week, the Houthi rebels claimed yet another attack on Aramco facilities, involving 17 drones and two ballistic missiles. Three weeks earlier, a petroleum products distribution terminal in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, was attacked, the Kingdom said, blaming the Houthi movement and vowing to take measures to preserve the stability of global oil supply.

Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported, citing three officials, that Saudi Arabia and Iran held direct talks in Iraq this month. The talks reportedly involved the proxy war in Yemen and the recent increase of attacks from the Houthi rebels in Yemen on oil facilities and oil infrastructure targets in Saudi Arabia.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh declined earlier this week to either confirm or deny talks with Saudi Arabia were held, while a senior Saudi official denied to FT that any talks with Iran had been held.

Potential de-escalation of the Iran-Saudi relations could defuse some of the tension in the Middle East, a critical oil-producing region, which also hosts the most important oil chokepoints along the sea routes.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Biden administration is seeking to institutionalize critical race theory in American education. Thus, on Monday Bidens Education Department promulgated a proposed rule on American History and Civics Education. The rule proposes two priorities for the American History and Civics Education programs, including the Presidential and Congressional Academies for American History and Civics (Academies) and National Activities programs. More broadly, it shows the direction the administration will go as it influences primary and secondary education.

That direction is basically anti-American. It seeks to inculcate a distorted version of American history in our children:

The Department recognizes that COVID-19with its disproportionate impact on communities of colorand the ongoing national reckoning with systemic racism have highlighted the urgency of improving racial equity throughout our society, including in our education system. As Executive Order 13985 states: Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism. Our Nation deserves an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face.

***

For example, there is growing acknowledgement of the importance of including, in the teaching and learning of our countrys history, both the consequences of slavery, and the significant contributions of Black Americans to our society. This acknowledgement is reflected, for example, in the New York Times landmark 1619 Project and in the resources of the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History.[2]

As history, the 1619 Project is a bad joke. As propaganda, it is working pretty well for the Democrats.

Accordingly, schools across the country are working to incorporate anti-racist practices into teaching and learning. As the scholar Ibram X. Kendi has expressed, [a]n antiracist idea is any idea that suggests the racial groups are equals in all their apparent differencesthat there is nothing right or wrong with any racial group. Antiracist ideas argue that racist policies are the cause of racial inequities.

So racist policies re the reason why Asian Americans earn so much more money, on the average, than whites. I would like to see the Biden administration explain those racist policies to me.

In its application, an applicant addressing this priority must describe how its proposed project incorporates teaching and learning practices that (a) Take into account systemic marginalization, biases, inequities, and discriminatory policy and practice in American history; (b) Incorporate racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse perspectives and perspectives on the experience of individuals with disabilities; (c) Encourage students to critically analyze the diverse perspectives of historical and contemporary media and its impacts; (d) Support the creation of learning environments that validate and reflect the diversity, identities, and experiences of all students; and (e) Contribute to inclusive, supportive, and identity-safe learning environments.

There is much more, but you get the drift. The idea is to mis-educate Americas youth so that they grow up hating their country and its history. This will make it easier to bring about the radical changes that the Democrats have in mind for us.

Comments on the proposed rule are open until May 19. You can see how to submit comments at the link.
Chile's President said on Thursday that climate change was just as dangerous to mankind as the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Climate change has not been quarantined, but has continued its advance at a speed that urges us to take actions today so mankind can have a tomorrow," Pinera said, in a taped message during a US-led, virtual climate summit.

The Chilean leader pledged his country's support to lower green house gas emissions.

During the livestreamed world leaders' White House summit showcasing the U.S. return to the fight against rapidly worsening climate change, Pinera said his government is ready to join forces with neighboring Argentina to establish a "marine protected area in Antarctica."

He also said that Chile is undertaking measures to become a carbon neutral country.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The logo of car manufacturer Tesla is seen at a branch office in Bern, Switzerland (Photo : REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Thursday the federal investigators are still gathering "information" in a probe of Saturday's fatal Tesla Inc crash in Texas in which local police said no one was in the driver's seat.



"We are following this very closely," Buttigieg told reporters at an event in Washington, saying the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) special crash investigation team "is still gathering facts and information" and is in touch with Tesla and police.



Advertisement

There is growing scrutiny over Tesla's semi-automated driving system following recent accidents and as it is preparing to launch its updated "full self-driving" software to more customers. NHTSA has opened 28 crashes into Tesla crashes to date, with four pending.



Police, NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash in which two men died after their Tesla Model S, which was believed to be operating without anyone in the driver's seat, crashed into a tree on Saturday night north of Houston.



Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said company checks showed the Autopilot driver assistance system in Saturday's crash was not engaged.



Autopilot is a driver assistance system that handles some driving tasks and allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel at times, but Tesla says its features "require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous."



Buttigieg said it was "an important time to stress" that automated driver assistance systems "continue to depend on the expectation that an attentive driver is behind the wheel.



U.S. magazine Consumer Reports, however, said its engineers were able to operate a Tesla vehicle without anyone in the driver's seat, and the system failed to send out a warning or indicate that the driver's seat was empty.



Over several trips across half-mile closed test track, a Tesla Model Y automatically steered along painted lane lines, the magazine said.



"In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldn't tell if there was a driver there at all," said Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports' auto testing.



"Tesla is falling behind other automakers like GM and Ford that, on models with advanced driver assist systems, use technology to make sure the driver is looking at the road."



Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.



Separately on Thursday, Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey sent a letter asking NHTSA the agency to thoroughly investigate the Texas accident and produce a report outlining corrective actions to prevent future accidents.



Markey in 2019 cited videos of Tesla drivers who appeared to fall asleep behind the wheel while using Autopilot, and others in which drivers said they could defeat safeguards by sticking a banana or water bottle in the steering wheel to make it appear they were in control of the vehicle.



Tesla told Markey in a letter in 2020 its revisions to steering wheel monitoring meant that in most situations "a limp hand on the wheel from a sleepy driver will not work, nor will the coarse hand pressure of a person with impaired motor controls, such as a drunk driver."



NHTSA said Thursday it would review the senators' letter.


Press Release

April 23, 2021 De Lima opposes PNP proposal to make police clearance for labor-related transactions mandatory, urges DOLE to protect workers Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima is opposed to the Philippine National Police's (PNP) proposal to require a national police clearance (NPC) for labor-related transactions which she said not only violate the rights of local workers but also erode the country's democracy. De Lima, a social justice and human rights champion, said it is clear that the real intent in proposing that the PNP clearance be made mandatory for various DOLE transactions is to allow the police force to harvest data from employees and labor unions. De Lima likewise urged DOLE to "not be complicit" to PNP's effort to violate the rights of applicants, employees and labor unions by approving such request, saying it needs to fulfill its mandate of protecting the workers. "Ang pagrequire ng PNP clearance para sa labor-related transactions ay violation ng karapatan ng tao sa privacy ng kanilang personal information at ng kalayaan nila na sumali sa mga labor unions at organizations," she said in her Dispatch from Crame 1060. "Wala pa mang nagagawang krimen, gusto nang kunin ng PNP ang mga pribado at personal na impormasyon ng mga job applicants at mga labor union officers na siyang hinihingi pag mag-aaply ng police clearance," she added. In a letter acquired by Rappler, PNP Chief General Debold Sinas asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Sec. Silvestre Bello III to require national police clearances for "various transactions," which would supposedly help DOLE gain "broader information" on an individual. Sinas claimed that as of Jan. 19, the PNP were already able to arrest a total of 55 individuals who applied for NPC after they found out that the said applicants had outstanding warrants of arrest. De Lima said that the PNP cannot demand the data from the DOLE without cause or warrant because it would be a violation of our data privacy laws so they are indirectly doing so by asking DOLE to require job applicants, employees and labor union officers to give their information to the PNP for a "clearance" that she finds "ultimately useless." "We all witnessed what PNP did and is still doing to labor union officers. Some of them are being painted as communists without any proof and then proceeds to summarily execute them claiming that they fought back or 'nanlaban', she said. "Does DOLE want to take part in this bloodbath? DOLE should protect our workers. They should also protect the labor union leaders who are our partners in protecting employee welfare. This is DOLE's mandate," she added. The lady Senator from Bicol further lamented how the proposal for a police clearance adds a new burden to Filipino workers, many of whom are currently out looking for work because of the recession brought about by the government's failed COVID-19 response. "Hindi pa ba sapat ang NBI clearance para sa mga taong may pending na kaso o kaya may outstanding warrant? Bakit kailangan pa ng PNP clearance? Dagdag pasakit, pahirap, at bayarin pa yan sa milyon-milyong Filipino na ngayon ay naghahanap ng trabaho. No rhyme. No reason. Except possibly some sinister motivation," she said. "This suggested PNP clearance for DOLE transactions will not help our people or our economy. What it does is violate the rights of our workers and erode our democracy. The DOLE should not be complicit," she added.
NPP General Secretary, John Boadu, has met party communicators in the Volta regional capital Ho over plans to become the first party to win three consecutive general elections.



To prepare the way for this, the General Secretary has begun a thank you and Familiarization tour of the party, acknowledging the sacrifice that ensured the re-election of president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



Since our hard-fought victory in 2020, we have not yet had the opportunity to convey thanks to those who really matter, which is you, the grassroot, he said.



I am here to let you know that your sacrifice is not taken for granted. And I am here to take first-hand feedback on your concerns about the 2020 general elections he said.



The tour has seen John Boadu hold meetings in Ahafo, Bono East, Ashanti, Western regions. At the latest meeting in Ho, stressed that it is too early for communicators to be taking sides in the upcoming presidential primaries.

He explained that the only guarantee for victory in 2024 is the success of the Akufo-Addo governments second-term.



If the government is able to implement her manifesto promises to Ghanaians, the electorate would keep faith with the government in 2024, he said.

The party must be ready to take advantage of the goodwill the NPP enjoys among Ghanaians by maintaining well-oiled party machinery that can turn this goodwill into good votes, he explained.



He said for this to happen, individual interests must not be encouraged to cloud the focus of the party and therefore key party stakeholders such as communicators must focus their attention on propagating the work of the Akufo-Addo government.



John Boadu announced that the NPPs immediate task is the upcoming registration exercise of party members.



John Boadu reserved special praise for the entire Volta regional branch of the party for finally breaking through to win an NDC stronghold seat, Hohoe, won by John Peter Amewu. It was the only seat won by the NPP in the 18 constituencies of the region.



He said that feat is a prelude to the party breaking the 8 in 2024. If we can do this in Hohoe, we can do this across the country he rallied the party.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Visualize for a moment the worst drivers youve encountered on the road lately, the ones who swerve in and out of lanes and cant be bothered to use a blinker, the ones who treat I-10 like Texas Motor Speedway, the ones who can kill you and your loved ones in the back seat with one errant turn of the wheel.

Imagine how much worse those people would drive if they werent even required to take a class, or pass a test or obtain a license to operate that hunk of menacing metal. Thankfully, no lawmaker is reckless enough to propose that idea.

Now picture those same folks  the careless, the clueless and the just plain dangerous  operating a loaded pistol instead. And imagine that there are indeed Texas lawmakers reckless enough to argue they shouldnt have to take a single safety class, or demonstrate any level of proficiency with the weapon, or make any effort to obtain a license at all.

You dont have to imagine. To the horror of many Texans, including responsible gun owners, firearms trainers and law enforcement officials, the Texas House has passed for the first time legislation allowing Texans over age 21 to carry a handgun in public without a permit. It excludes those already prohibited by law from owning a firearm.

Why this permitless carry bill, HB 1927, has even gotten a hearing in a session that should be focused on life-and-death issues of power grid failure and health care access we cannot say.

How lawmakers chose to align themselves with the radicals peddling it, including one who threateningly showed up at a former speakers home last session and another affiliated with the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys, is beyond defending.

That House members are embracing this legislation amid a hail of deadly shootings and pandemic-related crime spikes across the state is unconscionable.

Supporters who call the legislation constitutional carry in their effort to argue it merely removes needless barriers to a right enshrined by the Founding Fathers conveniently omit, as they always do, that the late Justice Antonin Scalia insisted reasonable regulations were allowed even under the most robust reading of the Second Amendment.

For years, gun owners in this state have worked to distinguish themselves as law-abiding and responsible  and the vast majority no doubt are. But what responsible gun owner cant be bothered to take a four-hour class on firearm laws, safe gun storage and conflict resolution?

Untrained gun owners pose untold risk to everyone around them, including their own families.

Firearms instructor Lon Krieger summed up the situation best at a press conference last week to oppose the bill:

Whats the downside of being trained? he said. Theres a downside of people walking around with dangerous weapons who dont know how to use them.

Where past efforts to weaken the states gun permitting requirements were blocked by House speakers, Texans who favor common sense gun laws will find no help from Speaker Dade Phelan, a former author of permitless legislation. Instead, we find our hopes rest in the unlikeliest of hands: those of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls the Senate.

A reliable champion of red meat GOP causes, Patrick surprised many when he announced after the House vote that the Texas Senate didnt have the votes to take up the bill. He had expressed reservations before in 2015 and again in 2017 when he referenced concerns among law enforcement about anyone being able to walk down the street with a gun and they dont know if they have a permit or not.

Officials with police and sheriffs offices across the state, including Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, gathered at the state Capitol last week to tell lawmakers the bill only makes them less safe.

Police labor and police executives have spoken out loud and clear, tweeted Art Acevedo, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and former Houston police chief. He challenged Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott directly, writing, Do you back the blue enough to push back in the fringe. Most Texans do not support this nonsense.

Hes right. A recent poll by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler showed 58 percent opposed to permitless carry, compared with 26 percent in support.

Of course, many Republican lawmakers dont care about what most Texans want. They care about what their potential primary opponents would say and what their primary voters will do.

Thats why those who have also pledged to back the blue face a dilemma.

Think about it, state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, told the editorial board. When this came up before, law enforcement was totally against it, totally. And usually when law enforcement is against something in the Texas Senate, it fails.

He said the bills fate comes down to one thing: how many arms Patrick can twist.

Patrick has shown a willingness in the past to stand up to the NRA and has indicated support for expanded background checks. Beyond the politics, he understands how dangerous this legislation would be for Texas and that it couldnt come at a worse time.

We urge sheriffs and chiefs to keep the pressure on. We implore senators who oppose unlicensed gun ownership in Texas to stand strong, and for Patrick to stand with them: kill this bill, lieutenant governor, before it kills us.
Critical Race Theory has become one of the loudest buzzwords since the tragic death of George Floyd in 2020. While his unnecessary death deserves justice, and past injustices deserve restitution, they should not be used as excuses for violence and illegal protests.

In summary, the way CRT is taught is to lump all white people into the "inherently racist" category and that their privileges and entitlement are deeply embedded in the U.S. Constitution, in the government, and other institutions. Even if they work hard to unlearn their racist's inclinations and to dismantle institutional discrimination based on skin color, their 'whiteness' will still rouse suspicions.

Taken into extreme, CRT devotees think that the ways to correct historical injustices are through defunding the police, protest by looting and ransacking the neighborhood, and by proposing to abolish private ownership of properties.

All these taken into consideration, it's important to understand three points concerning CRT, as noted by J. Lee Grady:

1. Racism is a human problem, not just a "white" problem.

For Grady, it's a denial of the collective history to insist that all white people are racists without leaving any possibility of a Black, Asian or Latino person to be racist because they are not in power or privileged positions. He claims that he has travelled all over the world and firsthand witnessed racism in every culture.

"White Europeans mistreat the Gypsies; Indians have marginalized Indians from lower castes; in Africa, various tribal groups oppress each other, sometimes brutally (for example, in Rwanda in 1994, members of the Hutu tribe slaughtered up to 600,000 of the Tutsi tribe.) In Latin America, white Spaniards mistreat indigenous people; in China today, mounting evidence shows the government is brutalizing the Uyghur people, a Turkic minority," he explained.

Grady also quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a 1966 speech where he reportedly said that "doctrine of Black supremacy is as dangerous as a doctrine of white supremacy."

Case in point, people have a common ancestry regardless of skin color and ethnicity.

"Acts 17:26 (NKJV) says: "He has made from one blood every nation of men." We are all created by God, and because of Adam and Eve's sin, we all share in a fallen nature. Any fallen human being is capable of oppression and racial injustice,"" wrote Grady.

2. Racism is a sin that can be confessed and forgiven.

Grady pointed out that Jesus' first apostles were all Jews who were schooled to think that they are an elite people group. But after they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Jewish-only mindset was broken, and the first century church soon learned that God's global family embrace all tribes, tongues, and cultures.

But "in today's 'woke' debate, there seems to be no hope of unity," observes Grady.

"The implication is that our entire society must be burned down and rebuilt in order to right the wrongs of the past," he said.

This mindset, of course, is a total denial of the redemption of Jesus Christ. And to Grady, the sin of racism was also paid at the cross. He would rather encourage a change of heart than to endorse a divisive theory.

"That means that when people trust in Jesus, and embrace His love and mercy, their sins are washed away, and their hard hearts are transformed."

3. To heal racism requires forgiveness and restitution, not revenge.

Using force and pressure to dismantle institutional racism is not helpful. It could even backfire. For Christians, it's best to stick with what Jesus taught on praying and loving their enemies. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has always advocated for peaceful protests. He preached forgiveness in his 1960 speech: "He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

"America has reached a critical junction: Will we choose the narrow path of Christian love, non-violence and forgiveness? Or will we embrace the wide road of hatred, division and woke political theories that have no power to transform us?" Grady wrote.

"I pray we will walk in the footsteps of Jesus," he concluded
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YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Members of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Bulgaria have discussed the topic of the Armenian Genocide during the plenary session on April 23.

MP Arman Babikyan has announced that back in 1975 the lower house of the US legislative body has recognized the Armenian Genocide. The citizens of Bulgaria have known the truth and have send us for protecting it. Parliamentary group Rise Up! Thugs Out! calls the murders of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Thousands of Armenians wait for that grateful step. We should be grateful to the Bulgarian people who hosted the forebears of Armenians who have survived, he said.

Tsetska Bachkova from the Democratic Bulgaria group has made a statement on behalf of the coalition about the tragic incidents that happened in the Ottoman Empire. Bulgarians have demonstrated generosity and compassion by opening their doors before refugees. Thousands of Armenian refugees have received the hospitality of the Bulgarians and decided to stay here. They became a part of the Bulgarian people within the course of the time, she said, adding that their faction supports replacing the term mass killings of Armenians with the term genocide in the Bulgarian documents.

Bulgaria, which speaks about murders, must recognize the Genocide with a decision or a statement of the National Assembly, as it has been done by dozens of states, the Rise Up! Thugs Out! parliamentary group said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the United States President Joe Biden for rejoining the Paris Agreement. The action was one of the ...





President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the United States President Joe Biden for rejoining the Paris Agreement.

The action was one of the first orders Biden signed as he erased some actions of former President Donald Trump.

The agreement, signed in 2016, is within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance.

Speaking at a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate Change, the President said the fight to redress climate impact is the responsibility of all countries and stakeholders.

I would like to express my profound appreciation to the President of the United States, His Excellency, Joe Biden, for convening this Summit at a time the world is experiencing tremendous vulnerability from the COVID-19 pandemic and Climate Change impacts, among several other global challenges.

The issue of Climate Change has taken the front burner globally, as its effects can be seen and felt all around us; ranging from increased atmospheric temperature to irregular rainfall patterns as well as sea-level rise owing to the melting of glacial ice.

Nigeria commends the Biden Administration for the positive decision of returning the United States to the Paris Agreement. In addition to bringing about abundant green economic opportunities to the US economy, the move further complements the larger transition process of global economies to low carbon development pathways, he said.

The President said the summit would prove instrumental in galvanizing high-level political support for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and its Katowice Rulebook as well as inviting more countries and stakeholders to take more climate-oriented responsibilities.

President Buhari told world leaders that Nigeria was one of the most vulnerable nations, and it had started undertaking major environmentally sound and climate-friendly programmes while treading the path of sustainability.

We are expeditiously implementing programs that stimulate gradual transition away from the use of wood stoves to kerosene, Liquefied Natural Gas, biogas and electricity. The immediate effects include healthy competition among private sector players leading to higher productivity, employment and faster service delivery.

In the Agriculture production and supply chain sector, we are targeting improved efficiency and productivity through the provision of accurate and timely weather forecasting to farmers, supply of drought tolerant and early maturing crop varieties and promoting empowerment towards the diversification of sources of livelihoods.

Beyond ending gas flaring by 2030, the oil and gas sector has undertaken steps for diversification; risk management system; insurance hedging; research and development and emergency/crisis planning, the President added.
BEIRUT - Two children were killed and a third was wounded in an explosion in Syria, in the region of Golan south-west of Damascus, Syrian news agency Sana and the National Observatory for Human Rights said. The three victims were brothers, according to the same sources.

They said the attack took place near the division line between the area of the Golan Heights controlled by Syria and the area under Israeli control. The two children killed were four and five. The third, who was injured and is now in hospital, is 14. The NGO said the bomb was in their father's car.


Lucknow/Varanasi, April 23 : Over the years, these cities have swelled in size but their cremation grounds have not - not till the second wave of pandemic arrived a few weeks ago.

The cremation grounds in Lucknow, Varanasi and Prayagraj are now unable to cope with the rush of bodies for cremation and pyres are now being lit on any open ground available nearby.

In Lucknow, the cremation grounds in Bhainsakund-renamed Baikunth Dham- and Gulala Ghat can no longer bear the burden of bodies that are coming in at an alarming frequency.

The cremation site has been expanded to the river bank adjacent to the site and people are even performing the last rites on the outskirts of the state capital.

"My grandfather succumbed to Covid on Monday and there was a long queue of bodies at Bhainsakund. We were told that we would have to wait for at least ten hours for our turn. We quietly brought the body to near our house in Chinhat area, arranged for wood and held the cremation at night in a barren piece of land. At least we could ensure that the body was cremated properly and the ashes were also collected," said Mohan Yadav, a local businessman.

Shri Ram Agarwal, whose wife died earlier this week, said that with the rush of bodies for cremation, he was unable to collect the ashes for immersion from Gulala Ghat.

"The workers said that they could not wait for the embers to cool down a because bodies were lined up for cremation. They said they would collectively immerse the ashes at the end of the day," he said.

Lucknow Mayor Sanyuka Bhatia said that three greenatoriums are coming up soon and this would solve the problem to a great extent.

A greenatorium is the option for people to go for a traditional way of performing last rites for their loved ones without damaging the air quality of the city as it will have characteristics of both electronic and traditional way of cremation.

Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) officials said that the machine will have a cascade where the body will be kept along with wood and pyre. After performing last rituals, the pyre will be lit up and the chamber will be closed for burning the body.

To stop toxic gas emitted by the burning of the body for getting contaminated with the atmosphere, the gas will be mixed with water to be turned into vapour before getting released to air through a chimney. It is also less time consuming as compared to the traditional way of cremation.

In Varanasi, the famous Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats, known as 'maha-shamshan' (cremation grounds), are also proving to being insufficient in size and capacity for holding last rites of bodies following the second wave of Covid-19.

In view of the massive increase in influx of dead bodies leading to long queues for cremation at these two ghats, where pyres are said to burn round the clock, the district administration and Varanasi Municipal Corporation have now earmarked a new cremation ground at Samne Ghat in Ganga upstream.

Municipal commissioner Gaurang Rathi said, "Bodies of Covid-19 patients dying in hospitals are mainly taken to Harishchandra Ghat as it has both CNG crematorium and wooden pyre cremation facility. If CNG crematorium is operated round the clock, 25 bodies can be cremated here while additional arrangements for cremating 25 bodies have also been made at this ghat." The arrangements have been made for cremation of mainly the bodies of persons dying due to Covid or other ailment during treatment in hospitals.

"As a huge number of bodies are reaching at Harischandra and Manikarnika Ghats, the queue for cremation is stretching longer. In view of the increased load on these two ghats, it was decided to make additional arrangement at Samne Ghat. Under the new arrangements made so far, at Samne Ghat 10 bodies can be cremated in a day. This new site of cremation was started on Tuesday with the cremation of five bodies of Covid patients," he added.

Gulshan Kapoor, manager of Mahashamshan Nath temple at Manikarnika Ghat said, "In normal days around 80-100 bodies are cremated at Manikarnika Ghat while these figures go up to three time in harsh weather condition during summers, winter and also flood seasons every year. But, despite no extreme heat conditions more than 250 bodies are reaching here on an average per day, due to the surge in Covid-19 menace." Mahesh Babu a worker at Manikarnika Ghat said the number of bodies coming for cremation have increased by three times in recent days.

In Prayagraj, cremation of bodies is now being done at undesignated banks of the rivers.

With long waiting hours at Rasoolabad and Phaphamau Ghats is now forcing people to cremate the dead under the Phaphamau bridge and on the banks of the river on the outskirts.

Wood, in these makeshift cremation grounds, is expectedly being sold at a premium but no one is complaining.

"At least, we get to cremate our family members in peace," said Mohit Kumar, who recently lost his elder brother to Covid.

The kin of the deceased mostly carry the bodies in private vehicles because ambulances are scarce.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Health and wellness brand Dance2Fit goes beyond simple workouts. It seeks to deliver an accessible, inclusive exercise experience for all and sundry. The brand is focused on fostering health through an environment that also cultivates a deep sense of individual confidence and participation in a like-minded community.

For many, working out is a private affair. Even at the gym, everyone wears earbuds and focuses on avoiding eye contact or engaging in conversations. It's an area where Dance2Fit is working hard to break the mold.

The Knoxville-based company launched in 2018 and quickly gained traction with its message to "inspire and motivate people to make positive changes in their lives." The enterprise was created by Jessica Bass James, a 24-year-old mother of three who couldn't find a fitness program that worked with her hectic parenting schedule. Taking matters into her own hands, Jessica Bass James created her own brand which focused on more than grueling, repetitive workouts and obsessing over measuring results.

Sure, countless individuals from Dance2Fit's hundreds of thousands of members have touted weight loss and other health goals that they're meeting through the program. However, the brand is focused on creating more than just a good workout. Jessica Bass James's company encourages its members  many of whom operate as the selfless, busy-yet-unseen parent  to take hold of their health again. Dance2Fit does this by offering both online and in-person workouts. These can be live (including live streaming) or they can be done via DVD on a member's own schedule.

Along with making the workouts accessible, this versatile approach incorporates an intense desire for confidence building and community. Every member of Dance2Fit is part of the brand's international network. They collectively come together  both digitally and literally  to join in a communal campaign for their own health.

The positive, inspirational, and motivational delivery of Dance2Fit's program has provided one of the most unique and inviting fitness solutions on the market. The uplifting experience is inclusive and leaves no woman, man, or child behind in its quest to create confident, connected, and healthy individuals.

About Dance2Fit: Dance2Fit was founded in 2018 by Jessica Bass James. The health and wellness enterprise operates out of Knoxville, Tennessee, where it provides a variety of products and services, including online workouts, pre-workout supplements, and exercise apparel.

Please direct inquiries to:

Noah Paracelsus

(954) 586-4996

[email protected]

SOURCE Dance2Fit
SAINT JOHN'S, NL, April 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Budget 2021 is the Government of Canada's plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery that is inclusive of all Canadians.

Today, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, met with businesses to discuss investments from Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.

The COVID-19 recession is the steepest and fastest economic contraction since the Great Depression. It has disproportionately affected low-wage workers, young people, women, and racialized Canadians. For businesses, it has been a two-speed recession, with some finding ways to prosper and grow, but with many businessesespecially small businessesfighting to survive. Budget 2021 is an historic investment to address the specific wounds of the COVID-19 recession, put people first, create jobs, grow the middle class, set businesses on a track for long-term growth, and ensure that Canada's future will be healthier, more equitable, greener, and more prosperous.

Many businesses have been shut down outright by necessary public health restrictions or deeply limited in what they can doand many of these highly affected businesses have been our small businesses. We need them to get back on their feet. They are the backbone of our economy, our main streets, and our communities.

Budget 2021 is a plan to make targeted investments in Canada's businesses so they can hire and train Canada's workers, who will then have more money to spend, spurring our recovery and growing an economy with more opportunities for everyone. It is a plan to help our businesses, especially small businesses, adopt new technologies. Restoring permanent and long-term economic growth means that we must help our businesses come back stronger than ever before.

The Government of Canada's top priority remains protecting Canadians' health and safety, particularly during this third, aggressive wave of the virus and its variants. Vaccine rollout is underway across Canada, with federal government support in every province and territory. Budget 2021 invests in Canada's bio-manufacturing and life sciences sector to rebuild domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity, and has a plan to put in place national standards for long-term care and mental health services.

Story continues

Budget 2021 is a plan to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through the crisis and toward a robust recovery. It is a plan to drive economic growth, a plan to secure women's place in the workforce, and a plan to offer each and every child in Canada the best start in life. This plan will aim to reduce fees for parents by 50 per cent on average by 2022, with a goal of reaching $10 per day on average by 202526 for all regulated child care spaces in Canada. It proposes to extend business and income support measures through to the fall and to make investments to create jobs and help businesses across the economy come roaring back. It will support almost 500,000 new training and work opportunities, including 215,000 opportunities for youth; support businesses in our most affected sectors, such as tourism and arts and culture; and accelerate investment and digital transformation in small and medium-sized businesses. Budget 2021 is a plan that puts Canada on track to meet its commitment to create 1 million jobs by the end of the year.

Canada entered the pandemic in a strong fiscal position. This allowed the government to take quick and decisive action, supporting people and businesses, and put it in the position to make historic investments in the recovery.

Quote

"Small businesses are the heart of our cities, towns, and villages across Newfoundland and Labrador, and the rest of our country. We know small businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic and many of them are at risk of closing permanently without support. With Budget 2021, we are helping small businesses and other hard-hit sectors make a robust recovery and come roaring back."

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett

Quick facts

Budget 2021 includes $101.4 billion over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of Canada's growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key measures include the following:

Related links

Associated links

SOURCE Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

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View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2021/23/c6030.html
The Senate has passed a hate crime bill on Thursday targeting attacks against Asian-Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure has earned bipartisan support, with a 94 to 1 vote. Democrat Mazie Hirono worked with some of her Republican co-lawmakers to ensure support on the bill.

A Republican lawmaker from Missouri, Josh Hawley, was the only senator to vote against the said hate crime bill, according to The Guardian report.

The legislation will then head to the Democratic-controlled House. It is also expected to be passed, while U.S. President Joe Biden said he will sign the bill once it is on his desk.

"This long-overdue bill sends two messages. To our Asian-American friends, we will not tolerate bigotry against you," the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, was quoted in a report.

Schumer added that those perpetrating anti-Asian bigotry will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

READ MORE: Elderly Asian Woman Attacked in San Fransisco Donates $1 Million to Fight Anti-Asian Crime

Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill

Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, introduced the legislation, seeking to direct the Department of Justice to expedite the review of hate crimes related to COVID-19 that were reported to law enforcement agencies, according to an NBC News report.

The bill would also help create a way to report incidents of hate crime online and perform public outreach.

In addition, the bill would also direct the attorney general and the Health and Human Services to issue best practices guidance on how to reduce racially discriminatory language during the pandemic.

Schumer said that racism has always existed in America and that anti-Asian statements go back centuries, citing incidents during World War II with Japanese citizens.

"By passing this bill, the Senate makes it very clear that hate and discrimination against any group has no place in America. Bigotry against one is bigotry against all," Schumer was quoted in a report.

Asian Hate Crimes

About 150 percent surge in anti-Asian hate crime in 2020 were reported by police department statistics across the U.S. cities.

Despite the increase in hate crimes targeting Asians, overall hate crimes decrease by seven percent.

New York City saw the highest peak, rising to 28 from three cases. Boston and Los Angeles followed the list, with an increase from six to 14, and seven to 15, respectively, according to a CBS News report.

In Los Angeles, Hong Lee was approached by a man who asked her out for lunch while standing in line at a restaurant.

Lee declined the offer, saying that she is married. The man told her then to "go back to f-----g Asia."

Lee said that the man was using a lot of derogatory terms, adding that she was asking anyone near her to help her.

However, employees and patrons around did not know what to do.

Anne A. Cheng, a comparative race scholar and professor at Princeton University, said that it is very disturbing.

Cheng added that it is part of a very long systemic cultural discrimination against Asians in the U.S.

The group Stop AAPI Hate said that more than 2,800 of these hate incidents were focused on AsianAmericans since the start of the pandemic.

Asian women are attacked almost 2.5 times more than men.

READ NEXT: California Universities Condemn Hate Crimes on Asian-Americans, Increase Efforts to Curb Racism

WATCH: News Wrap: Senate passes bipartisan COVID hate crimes bill to protect AAPI community - from PBS NewsHour






Agencies | Manama/Quetta

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain yesterday condemned the terrorist car bomb attack at a hotel in southwest Pakistan, killing four and injuring eleven. The blast ripped through the parking of a luxury hotel where Chinas ambassador to Pakistan was staying.

Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed its condolences to the families and relatives of the victims and the government and friendly Pakistani people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

Bahrain affirmed solidarity with Pakistan to combat terrorism and reiterated rejection of all acts of violence, extremism and terrorism, irrespective of the motives or justifications. The Kingdom called for concerted efforts to confront terrorist acts that aim to create chaos and affect security and stability.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility yesterday for a deadly suicide blast at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in the southwest of the country, as officials raised the death toll to five.

Beijing said it strongly condemned the attack, although the Taliban said Pakistan security officials were the target of the blast. The bomber detonated the explosives late Wednesday while inside a vehicle in the car park of the Serena hotel -- part of a five-star chain popular with diplomats and aid agencies -- in the city of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, police and the interior ministry said.

Pakistan is fighting several low-level insurgencies in the impoverished province, waged by Islamist, separatist and sectarian groups. The suicide bomber hit the security officials exactly as it was planned, the spokesperson for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said in a statement.

The countrys interior minister confirmed a suicide bomber had carried out the attack, as he pinned the blame on a foreign hand. Our agencies will fight the efforts which are being made in the neighbouring country to reorganise the TTP, said interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Describing the blast as a terrorist attack, Chinas foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in Beijing that the Chinese delegation was not present when the bomb detonated.

Gu Wenliang, an agriculture commissioner at Chinas embassy in Pakistan, told the Chinese newspaper Global Times that the bomb had detonated 10 minutes before their expected return.

I was walking through the car park when I heard a sudden loud sound and the earth shook under my feet, said Khuda Baksh, a guard at the hotel. Everyone was running for their lives before I lost consciousness, he told AFP.

For years the TTP unleashed deadly attacks on urban centres across Pakistan from their bases along the Afghan border, where they provided shelter to an array of global jihadist groups including Al Qaeda.

But a massive military offensive launched in 2014 largely destroyed the groups command and control structure, dramatically reducing insurgent violence throughout Pakistan. We will not allow this monster to re-emerge, tweeted Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan.

We are on full alert and keeping an eye on all internal and external threats. Analysts warn, however, that Pakistan has yet to tackle the root causes of extremism. Balochistan is Pakistans largest and poorest province despite being rich in natural resources.

Resentment has been fuelled by billions of dollars of Chinese money flowing into the region through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) -- a key part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative -- which locals say gave them little benefit as most new jobs go to outsiders.

In 2019 gunmen stormed a luxury hotel overlooking a flagship CPEC project -- the deep-water seaport in Gwadar that gives China strategic access to the Arabian Sea -- killing at least eight people.
On Friday, three priests and seven lay people who were killed for their faith in Guatemala become "blesseds". Bishop Rosolino Bianchetti of Quiche recalls their example of courage and faith in an interview with Vatican News, highlighting that it is a source of inspiration for the people of Guatemala.

By Vatican News staff writer

The beatification Mass for ten martyrs of Quiche takes place in the cathedral of Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala, on Friday. It will be presided over by Cardinal Alvaro Leonel Ramazzini.

Among those to be beatified are three priests of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart: Jose Maria Gran Cirera, Juan Alonso Fernandez and Faustino Villanueva; and seven laymen: Rosalio Benito, Reyes Us, Domingo del Barrio, Nicolas Castro, Tomas Ramirez, Miguel Tiu and 12-year-old Juan Barrera Mendez. All ten of them were killed in hatred of the faith in Guatemala between 1980 and 1991.

Missionaries on the move

In an interview with Vatican News, Bishop Rosolino Bianchetti Boffelli of Quiche diocese recalled the lives of the ten martyrs against the backdrop of the history of the country.

Our martyrs were truly missionaries on the move, Bishop Bianchetti affirmed. They went from house to house, keeping the faith alive, praying with their brothers, evangelizing, imploring the God of life. They were men of great faith, of great trust in God, but at the same time of great dedication to bring about a change, a different Guatemala.

Between 1960 to 1996, Guatemala struggled through a conflict between its military regime and various leftist groups, during which time over 200,000 people were killed. Around the 1980s the Church began to undergo systematic persecution for its role in the defense of the dignity and rights of the poor.

Following in the footsteps of Jesus

Bishop Bianchetti noted that the ten martyrs did not hesitate to join the process of new evangelization which was being promoted by Catholic Action as a method, a way, a style of living the faith following Jesus of Nazareth. He added that in spite of the threats, they embraced their cross and were persecuted and eventually killed by those who considered the teachings of the Gospel a danger to the interests of the powerful.

They were men of greater stature, he said, adding that with the Word of God and the Rosary in hand, they would go around communities assisting those in need. The priests would act as guides for the people, while the laypeople visited the sick, served in the church, and, after finishing their jobs as farmers, would help the peasants recover lands that had been unjustly stolen from them.

Significance of the beatification

Speaking on the significance of the beatification of the martyrs for the Church in Guatemala, and in particular, the diocese of Quiche, Bishop Bianchetti said that it is the culmination of a long journey that Jesus called these men to undertake.

He also noted that for the people, the beatification is a sign to be enthusiastic and to become more passionate in following Jesus, while preserving the torch of faith left behind by the martyrs.

I call them contemplatives in action with that faith they carried in their hearts, with that vision, or spirituality inherited from their ancestors that combined a deep faith with a total trust, a limitless dedication to Jesus in the service of their brothers, he said.

Juan Barrera Mendez

Bishop Bianchetti went on to hail the example of Juan Barrera Mendez, also known as Juanito who, though being only 12 years of age, showed deep spiritual maturity as a catechist for children preparing to receive their first communion, and even received the sacrament of Confirmation.

He recounted that according to the testimonies they were given, Juan was passionate in following Jesus and even wanted to build a church near his house so that his father, who was not a firm Christian, could participate.

He added that Juanito was tortured the day he was captured in an army raid in his community and they cut off the soles of his feet. Then they made him walk along the riverbank. He stood firm, testifying with his life, with his blood. He was hung on a tree and shot.... Like Jesus crucified on a tree. And Juanito shines today. His testimony went viral, here the boys call him the Carlo Acutis of Guatemala, the Bishop said.

Peace, unity amid challenges

Bishop Bianchetti highlighted that the example of the martyrs is a source of inspiration for the communities in Guatemala today as they face the challenges of our time, including poverty, unemployment, exploitation and forced migration.

At this point in the third millennium, there are still many communities without electricity, including some that are very close to hydroelectric plants. There is also the suffering of our migrants, most of whom leave for the United States and from there contribute to the construction of societies, schools and the development of communities.

The Bishop added that the beatification also serves as a call to build a reconciled Guatemalan society with joint efforts from all.

There is not a single testimony that says this one took revenge for the death of the martyrs, he said. No one took revenge because they killed his relative, his father or his friend, or because they burned their own houses. No testimony of revenge. But there is a lot of suffering and open wounds. That is why we must continue to make a journey to heal these wounds with our eyes and hearts fixed on Jesus crucified and risenThis is our task.

Finally, in the face of the ongoing pandemic, Bishop Bianchetti pointed out that the people of Guatemala are struggling to survive with dignity in spite of the challenges. He also highlights that, The Church here in Quiche, humbly, but with much hope, is walking and wants to continue building hand in hand with our martyrs, new heavens and new lands, with much faith, with much hope and with much passion for the Kingdom of God.
SANTA ANA, Calif. and NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Behr Paint and UM, the global media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, today announced that UM has been named media Agency of Record for Behr in the U.S. UM will lead all media strategy, planning, buying, and data and analytics duties for the Behr Paint DIY, Professional and KILZ brands.

"We are excited to work with UM, a dynamic agency with a proven track record in enhancing growth strategies," said Jodi Allen/Global Chief Marketing Officer, Behr Paint. "We look forward to collaborating and creating data-driven plans that forge new pathways for our brands to connect with both do-it-yourself and professional painters in new and exciting ways."

"We are so proud to partner with Behr, a proven leader and trusted brand in the hyper-competitive home improvement sector," said Lynn Lewis, US CEO, UM. "By combining a Futureproof approach, an unparalleled team dynamic and data-driven capabilities, we are excited to help drive Behr's growth today, and in the future."

About Behr Paint Company

Founded in 1947, Behr Paint Company is one of the largest manufacturers of paints, primers, decorative finishes, stains, surface preparation and application products for do-it-yourselfers and professionals in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Santa Ana, Calif.-based company and maker of the BEHR, KILZ, WHIZZ and E&J brands is dedicated to meeting the project needs of DIYers, professionals, architects and designers with an unwavering commitment to quality, innovation and value. For more information, visit Behr.com. Professional contractors can visit BEHRPRO.com to learn about BEHR products and BEHR PRO services. Behr Paint Company is a subsidiary of Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS).

About UM

UM is a global media agency committed to Futureproofing our clients' businesses for the now and the next. We leverage the transformational power of rich business analytics and real-time intelligence to maximize growth and activate the full consumer journey across content and connections. Our consultative approach and agile model, rooted in diversity, equity and belonging, drive better business outcomes for brands. As the leading global media network in IPG Mediabrands, UM operates in over 100 countries, with more than 3,000 people innovating on a roster of global clients including Accenture, American Express, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, Fitbit, GoPro, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co, Mattel, Sony and Spotify. For more information, please visit https://www.umww.com/.

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The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Thursday said that only the symptomatic health care workers will be tested for COVID-19 and only those testing positive will be isolated and the quarantine of asymptomatic contacts will be discontinued.

The decision has been taken in view of the current situation of COVID-19 leading to insufficient resources for contact tracing, and shortages of staff.

In a statement, said "In view of the current situation of COVID-19 leading to insufficient resources for contact tracing, and shortages of staff, the risk assessment and contact tracing of exposed HCW and quarantine of asymptomatic contacts should be discontinued. Only the symptomatic HCW should be tested and only those testing positives be isolated and managed as per the clinical condition."

Delhi further said that asymptomatic HCW may join work 10 days from the date of the first positive test

"HCW who test positive may be able to join work after 10 days period from the onset of symptoms, provided that they are afebrile for at least last 24 hours without the use of antipyretics and symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) have improved. Those who are asymptomatic may join work 10 days from the date of the first positive test," the statement added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the COVID-19 Task Force has requested his colleagues from other departments to provide 80 per cent of the resident doctors and faculty members for COVID-19 management.

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(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.)
She is due to give birth any day now.

And on Friday, heavily pregnant influencer and Keep It Cleaner founder Steph Claire Smith took part in the viral Baby Momma Dance challenge.

The 26-year-old, who is 39 weeks pregnant with her first child, shared a video of herself dancing around her bedroom while showing off her burgeoning baby bump in a crop top.

Ready to pop! Heavily pregnant Steph Claire Smith showed off her burgeoning baby bump in a crop top as she did the Baby Momma Dance challenge on Friday

'Something's coming to Keep It Cleaner (her fitness brand) and it's not just my little baby boy,' Steph captioned the clip.

In the video, the mother-to-be is glowing in a crop top and black leggings.

She also shared another video of herself dancing in her bedroom in a sports bra and shorts.

She's glowing! In the video, the mother-to-be is glowing in a crop top and black leggings

'I'll need a nap in the afternoon': She also shared another video of herself dancing in her bedroom in a crop top and shorts

'I'll need a nap in the afternoon after this morning,' she said with a laugh.

In February, Steph revealed she and her husband Josh Miller are expecting a son.

'We cannot wait to meet our little dude,' Steph captioned a video from their gender reveal party.

Baby joy: In February, Steph revealed she and her husband Josh Miller are expecting a son

The couple revealed their baby news in October, when Steph told her Instagram followers: 'Mini Miller due April 2021.'

Steph and Josh tied the knot in November 2019.

They held a festival-themed ceremony on the banks of the Murray River, in country Victoria, at her parent's estate.
Bafoussam becomes Cameroon's first Smart City Benedict Ndinwa

Bafoussam is Cameroons first Smart City following a framework agreement signed Thursday, April 22, 2021, between Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL and the Bafoussam City Council.

The framework agreement that makes Bafoussam Cameroons pioneer digital city was signed in Bafoussam by CAMTELs General Manager Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi Achu and Bafoussams City Mayor, Roger Tafam.

Bafoussam Smart City, CAMTELs General Manager said, is one of those small steps, which mark the history of an institution, a community, a region.

The signing of this framework agreement marks the beginning of an era of innovation that will gradually lead to the transformation of the City of Bafoussam into a Smart City, said Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi Achu.

She said the implementation of the framework agreement will make Bafoussam an innovative city, which uses ICT to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, the efficiency of urban management and urban services as well as the significant improvement of competitiveness in the economic, social, environmental and cultural fields.

Through the Smart City initiative, Bafoussam will meet the requirements of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for which Cameroon has committed itself, said CAMTELs General Manager.

The Lord Mayor of the City of Bafoussam, allow me to commend you on this pioneering role you have set which will certainly be emulated by your colleagues in charge of the management of Cameroon cities, said Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi Achu. We are committed to seeing that this commendable initiative you have taken will succeed; making you a reference, thus encouraging your fellow municipal administrators from near and wide to come and learn from Bafoussam how to build a digital city.

Bafoussam City Council, CAMTEL sign Smart City deal (c) Benedict Ndinwa

That Bafoussam chose to become Cameroons first Smart City in collaboration with CAMTEL, the countrys lone incumbent national operator in the field of electronic communications, Mrs Achidi Achu said it will be a win-win partnership for both institutions.

Her words: We consider this a win-win partnership for both the Bafoussam City Council and CAMTEL. For this reason, I want to assure you that CAMTEL shall put at your disposal its best and latest technical skills and expertise to ensure a resounding success of this partnership. Its success is our pride. Together, we will build a connected city, a digital city, a Smart City for the well-being of the people of your friendly city.

To City Mayor Tafam, making Bafoussam a digital city is a dream that is nourished by the Very High Will of the Head of State, His Excellency Paul BIYA, who, in the design of Cameroon's strategic vision, contained in the National Development Strategy Cameroon 2020-2030, has made the promotion of the digital economy an important lever for the emergence of our country.

Aside from providing the Bafoussam City Council with equipment and tools likely to empower its operations and, in turn, improve its performance, they seek to, through the Bafoussam Smart City, offer to the population an environment conducive for their development.

In addition, TOTAL African Cup of Nations Cameroon 2022, of which we will have the honour to welcome one of the pools, calls on our part, for significant efforts on our part, as much for the inhabitants of the city as for the thousands of visitors who will make the trip to Bafoussam, Tafam said.

Pledging his commitment to make Bafoussam Smart City a reality, City Mayor Tafam said the initiative will improve the quality of the services of the Bafoussam City Council, and impact urban governance in the domains of youth employment, tourism, culture, education and much more.

Together we will make this city, the heart of digital Cameroon, the "Silicone Valley of Central Africa, in particular by setting up an incubator for digital projects and businesses, he said.
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
New Delhi, April 23 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a meeting with the Prime Minister has urged that vaccines to states should be given at the rates of the Centre.

"Provide vaccine availability action plan to the states for operating vaccination campaign for the age group above 18 years soon. Producing states should not obstruct supply of life saving medicines," Baghel had said which is mentioned in the statement issued by the state government.

Earlier on Thursday, Baghel wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate information on the availability and cost of vaccines to be provided to the State as part of the third phase of the Covid vaccination drive commencing May 1.

The chief minister in his letter said that pursuant to the Centre's decision making everyone above 18 years of age eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the state government has decided to arrange free of cost vaccines for its people in addition to the vaccines available from the Government of India.

Stating that there are only a few days left for the commencement of the third phase of the vaccination drive, Baghel said it is necessary to prepare a detailed action plan before organising a vaccination drive on such a vast scale.

He sought information regarding the number of vaccines to be provided monthly to the State by the Centre, approximate number of vaccines to be provided to the state monthly by the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech and the cost of vaccines provided to the Centre and the states by the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech.

The chief minister wrote that it is expected that the cost of vaccines is uniform for the Centre as well as the states. Since Covaxin has been developed with the assistance of the Government of India, therefore Bharat Biotech should supply its vaccines at lesser rates compared to the one by the Serum Institute.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Madam Akosua Frema-Opare, the Chief of Staff has advised Regional Ministers and Regional Chief Directors to establish and maintain strong and peaceful relations with Chiefs, Opinion and Religious leaders in their various jurisdictions.



She said the peaceful co-existence between government representatives, administrators and traditional authorities in the regions were the easiest way to facilitate development in the areas.



Madam Frema- Opare gave the advice at the maiden conference of Regional Ministers, Regional Chief and Coordinating Directors and Deans of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chiefs from the various regions.



The two-day conference, which is on the theme: "Deepening Decentralisation and Local Governance for Accelerated Development in Ghana: The Role of Key Stakeholders." is to take the participants through Ghana's Decentralisation policy document and how to achieve the document targeted goals.



She said government was aware of the problems of the various Regional Coordinating Councils and assured that the administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was working hard to reduce the burden on Ghanaians and improve their living conditions.



Dr Nana Ato Arthur, Head of Local Government Service said the theme brought into sharp focus the social contract that exist between the local Government Authorities and the citizens.



This, he said means that local government authorities must galvanize the energies of all stakeholders to live up to expectation by being aware of their rights and responsibilities and their unique roles towards achieving the desired development.



Dr Ato Arthur said there was the need for local authorities to engage and dialogue with stakeholders through every available avenue to engender trust and confidence.



"It is also important to draw stakeholders attention to the mandate of the RCCs which appears to be limited given modern day dynamics of Local Government Administration".



The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development said the theme for the conference highlighted the critical role of decentralization and democratic Governance in the transformational agenda of local development.



He underscored the need for the leadership of the Regional Co-coordinating Councils to find innovative and creative ways for efficient, effective and excellent service delivery to the citizenry both at the Regional and District levels.



Mr Henry Quartey, Greater Accra Regional Minister in his welcome address urged his colleague regional ministers and Chief Directors to provide strategic direction for accountability and transparency.



He said the theme acknowledged the need for a RCCs to leverage on the existing resources and expertise of stakeholders to accelerate development to bring some appreciable level of comfort, wealth and security.



Dr Janet Ampadu Fofie, Executive Director of the Public Service Commission was the Chairperson of the conference.









Source: GNA









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Prosecutor seeks 16 years in prison for crime lord murder case defendant

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

11:37 23/04/2021

MOSCOW, April 23 (RAPSI)  A prosecutor demanded 16 years in high-security prison for Kakha Gazzayev, a defendant in the case over the killing of crime lord Vyacheslav Yaponchik Ivankov in July 2009, RAPSI was told in the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow on Friday.

The man stands charged with murder and arms trafficking.

According to investigators, Gazzayev gave his accomplices a rifle for the killing. He personally participated in its transportation and storage. In the moment of thecrime he was on the scene and observed its border territory.

Currently, a case against two other defendants Dzhambula Dzhanashia and Murtaza Shadaniya is pending in the Moscow City Court. It is to be considered by jury.

Ivankov, the so-called thief-in-law, who at the time was the top boss in the criminal hierarchy, was murdered on July 28, 2009.
Mohit Raina In The Hospital After Testing Positive For Covid-19 Last Week, Says, 'Will See You Guys On The Other Side'

Actor Mohit Raina on Friday informed fans that he has tested positive for Covid-19. The actor shared the worrying bit of news through his official Instagram account sharing that he is been in the care of the state doctors since last week.

With his post, Mohit shared pictures from the hospital where he is admitted and getting treated for the disease. The Devon Ke Dev Mahadev actor wrote: As I look outside and inside I say a small prayer for everyone. Dad always said prayers work magically.I would request all of you to stay safe and pray for humanity. After testing positive for COVID-19 last week I have been in safe medical hands of the Doctors of the state where I am based since last month . Everyday I see a gamut of human emotions. we are okay coz of them . Least we could Just stay indoors. Will see you guys on the other side . Love MR"

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mohit Raina (@merainna)

His fans and followers prayed for his speedy recovery in the comments soon after he shared the distressing news. Actress Dia Mirza was one amongst his many well wishers who wrote, Stay blessed and get well soon!!! Sending lots of love and good wishes for a speedy and full recovery .
While economic ties between Baku and Jerusalem are strong, the coronavirus has led to a decrease in bilateral trade following a $1.4 billion high in 2019. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov are set to discuss kick-starting bilateral trade in a meeting of the Israel-Azerbaijan intergovernmental committee to be held next week. In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom from his bureau office in Baku, Jabbarov said, "Israel remains Azerbaijan's third-largest export destination. It's no secret that the oil and gas fields are taking a central place in bilateral trade, but I want it to expand even more."

- In what fields are you interested in expanding trade?

- Tourism, agriculture, and agrotech in particular. I would also like for us to cooperate in the fields of cyberdefense, education, water resources, and health. We're interested in renewing the activity of the forum for bilateral economic cooperation that was established in 2019 and quickly had a positive impact. The opening of a tourism bureau in Israel would send an important message. Likewise, in the field of technology, we're interested in further improving ties with Israel.

- How do you intend to expand trade?

- We can often give businesses a push, but that's harder to do without removing red tape. In the private sector, ties are quickly growing stronger. Likewise, we even hope to open a trade bureau in Israel next year.

- How often are you in touch with Israeli government ministries?

- We hold frequent talks on the professional level, and we have very good ties. Our collaboration with the Israeli Embassy in Baku is excellent. We also maintain ties with various ministries in Israel.

- How do you explain Azerbaijan's special bond with the Jewish community?

- We have lived together for hundreds of years, and Azerbaijan's values are built on respect for every religion and every ethnic group. The secret is simple: We believe every ethnic group living in Azerbaijan is part of our society. This is a relationship that is based on a history in which we lived together, a culture of not harming one another, respecting one another, having fun together, and dealing with crises, celebrating religious holidays, fighting side by side, without exception. Azerbaijan is a relatively young country, but we have a long history. [Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev really looks out for the Jewish community, just as he looks out for all the minority groups in the country.

Azerbaijan is set to mark 30 years to its independence and 30 years to its Israel ties next year.

Jabbaraov, who noted he has visited Israel a few times, both on personal trips and within his role as a government minister, said, "I think Israel has exceptional qualities. There is a great deal of respect for studies, research, and hard work. There is critical thinking. These are qualities that transform Israel from a young state to one with a quality economy, with a high gross domestic product, and extensive higher education. The Azerbaijani government has also been impressed with Israel's unprecedented vaccination campaign, which has earned global accolades. "We're fairly confident Israel's successful campaign can be replicated in Azerbaijan," Jabbarov said.
Britain accepting its delayed order of five million Indian-made doses of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine would now be 'ethically dubious', a scientist said today.

Vaccines ordered by the UK from the Serum Institute of India were blocked from leaving the country in order to prioritise India's own rollout at the end of March.

The delivery was originally supposed to arrive in Britain on March 18 before being postponed five weeks to April 15, and it is understood the doses still haven't been shipped.

India is now in the grips of a raging second wave with hundreds of thousands of people getting infected each day and even some of the country's best hospitals running out of oxygen - experts have dubbed it a humanitarian crisis.

Given the devastating situation in the South Asian nation, Reading University microbiologist Dr Simon Clarke, said it would be wrong to accept vaccines made there.

The University of Reading professor told MailOnline: 'Politically, it's highly likely the Indian government won't let them out and it would be ethically highly dubious for us to accept them.

'What we would be doing is saving those least likely to get ill at the expense of people who would otherwise die.'

Hospitals are overloaded in India as hundreds of thousands of people test positive for coronavirus every day. Even some of the country's best medical centres have started to run out of oxygen (Pictured: People wait on stretchers outside a hospital in New Delhi)

India has discovered a new variant of coronavirus that has come at the same time as a massive surge in infections, although it is not clear if the mutated strain spreads faster (Pictured: People queue outside a Covid test centre in Uttar Pradesh)

The initial delivery disruption meant the UK had to temper hopes of rattling through its vaccination programme ahead of schedule and focus on giving second doses in April - four out of five jabs being given at the moment are booster jabs.

Britain has enough AstraZeneca vaccines stockpiled or being made in the UK to hit its target of vaccinating all adults by the end of July, but ministers had hoped they could go faster.

There are now, however, far fewer doses available for first-time patients.

The UK can take solace in the fact that coronavirus cases, hospital admissions and deaths are now back to levels last seen before the second wave.

But in India, the situation is worse than it has ever been. Doctors are being forced to turn Covid patients away and yesterday saw another record-breaking rise in cases and deaths.

According to the World Health Organization another 332,730 people were diagnosed with the virus yesterday - three million have tested positive in just two weeks.

Along with its commitment to the UK, the Serum Insitute manufactures AstraZeneca jabs for the Covax program  a 1.1billion-jab project to vaccinate the world's developing nations  and for India itself.

Dr Clarke said he thought it unlikely the UK would be seeing its missing order any time soon.

He added that because the UK has offered the vaccine to all over-50s, NHS staff, carers and the clinically vulnerable, the order would be better used in India where daily deaths are still in their thousands.

'We have enough doses to give second doses to people who have already had Oxford-AstraZeneca and should have enough Pfizer and Moderna jabs for people right down into their early twenties.

'Frankly if the situation continues to be good in the UK, pushing the delivery back even by a couple of weeks would be the ethical thing to do given the toll it's taking in India.'

Vaccines ordered by the UK from the Serum Institute were blocked from leaving the country in order to prioritise India's own roll-out at the end of March, according to the institute's chief executive Adar Poonawalla

India's daily infections hit 332,730 today, up from 314,835 on Thursday when India surpassed a grim record set by the United States in January.

Delhi reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.

Doctors in the city of 29million have no more beds left and police have been deployed around hospitals to prevent oxygen from being looted as infections stand at more than treble their peak last year.

Sky News captured images of dozens of people lying on stretchers outside one overcrowded hospital in the capital. In the minutes of the short live report, at least three dead bodies were seen being wheeled out of the front doors of the medical centre.

DO WE HAVE ENOUGH JAB STOCKS TO REACH UNDER-50s? Government sources told The Times the NHS will 'ease into' the next age groups in spite of supply shortages. Delays to a delivery of five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine expected from India threw a spanner in the works of the UK's rollout last month. And Pfizer's jab has been used up so quickly that first-dose appointments were halted in March so supplies could be preserved for giving people their second jabs. The vaccination programme peaked at an average of 500,000 new patients every day in mid-March but has now slumped to around 83,000 per day as stocks are going through a bottleneck and the demand for second doses is higher. There are now around five times as many people getting second doses as first jabs, with a record 475,230 given out on Saturday, April 10. The addition of a third vaccine to the UK's clinics  made by Moderna  will help the NHS to get through younger age groups but is not expected in huge numbers. Moderna's jab will be given out in England this week for the first time, but supplies are expected to trickle in at only around 160,000 doses a week, according to leaked plans from the Scottish Government in January. And the UK has only bought 17million  enough to vaccinate 8.5million people with two jabs each. A fourth vaccine could become part of the programme soon, too, with approval for Janssen's one-shot vaccine expected from the British regulator within days. Supplies may not come until summer, though. The UK is understood to still be using AstraZeneca's vaccine for its limited first doses and Moderna's jab will add to this, with more becoming available in the following weeks. The Department of Health continues to refuse to comment on the technicalities of the rollout or supply chains, but hinted plans it would move on were correct. A spokesperson said: 'Our vaccination programme continues at pace  with over 32million people having now received a first dose. 'Our target is to offer a jab to over 50s by 15 April and all adults by the end of July, and we are on course to meet that. 'We will be setting out more details later this week.' Advertisement

But while northern states like Gujurat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing coronavirus infection rates which are more than quadruple what they were in the first wave, others to the south, like Andrha Pradesh, and in the far northeast, like Assam, have not yet experienced a second wave and aren't under lockdown rules.

This suggests that though the overall numbers for India are colossal, they could still climb higher, putting further strain on the country's overwhelmed healthcare system which is running short of basic anti-viral medications.

Britain banned travel from India today amid fears that a new variant is causing the virus to spread faster and hitting young people harder.

The Serum Institute has delayed increases to its monthly output up from 60million to 100million until July.

The factory previously set a timeline timeline of the end of May, Mr Poonawalla told CNBC-TV18.

He said: 'We were supposed to export [our vaccines] and get the funding from export countries, but now that that is not happening, we have to find other innovative ways to build our capacity.

'We are prioritising the needs of India at the moment, and we are still short of being able to supply every Indian that needs it.'

Earlier this month, Matt Hancock claimed the Covid vaccine roll-out will expand to everyone in their forties 'in line with supplies', leaving millions of adults left to guess about when they will be invited.

England's campaign was today officially expanded to all over-45s after No10 hit its other vaccination milestone three days ahead of schedule, with everyone in the top nine priority groups now invited for their first Covid jab.

But with a supply shortage of AstraZeneca forcing the NHS to focus on second doses, ministers haven't been able to widen the scheme to those under 45.

The Health Secretary gave no further details, telling MPs that Number 10 was 'on track' to deliver on its ambitious promise of inviting every adult for their first vaccine by the end of July.

NHS bosses warned the number of first-time appointments would plummet this month because of the delayed shipment from Serum and the need to focus on top-up jabs. Deliveries of Pfizer's jab are currently being rationed for second doses.

But with supplies of Moderna's vaccine finally coming on stream in England today, officials have expanded the roll-out to over-45s.

Only 20 sites will get supplies of the US firm's jab this week, with deliveries trickling in at around 150,000 a week.

Department of Health bosses suggested the roll-out would be slow, saying the rest of the 40-49 age bracket would receive texts inviting them to book an appointment in the 'coming weeks and months'.

Ministers have bought 17million doses of the vaccine, which is the third to be added to the NHS' 'armoury'. Moderna's jab  as well as leftover supplies of AstraZeneca and Pfizer that haven't already been reserved  will be used in the next phase of the roll-out.

Boris Johnson today claimed No10 was 'very confident' about supplies and reiterated that April was 'always going to be the second dose month'. The Prime Minister also hailed the 'hugely significant milestone' of offering jabs to everyone in phase one.
NRL boss Peter V'landys has slammed the Sydney academic who claims to be the game's 'gender adviser' - saying not only does she not represent the game's 'values' , but she has no official role with rugby league.

Catharine Lumby told Seven's Sunrise she was 'hitting her head against a wall' trying to change the code's toxic culture after a Parramatta Eels player was filmed having sex in a toilet stall - and she'd never met or spoken to V'landys since he took over as chairman in October 2019.

But V'landys hit back hard at the professor of media, branding her an 'attention seeker' who does not speak for the game in any way.

NRL boss Peter V'landys (pictured) has slammed the league's 'gender advisor' as an 'attention seeker'

He said he had no need to contact her as she no longer had a role with the league.

'All committees she was on have been disbanded. She just seeks attention... she is not a spokesperson, she doesn't represent us,' he told

'She criticised me for not contacting her, why do I need to contact her? She has no role with us.

'I have no time for her. Her values do not agree with ours.'

However, Lumby told Sydney Morning Herald she'd not been informed her role with the league had come to an end.

She said she has worked on a pro-bono basis as the NRL's gender adviser for the last 15 years, and wanted to sit down with league leadership, even just to hand over her role.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo was 'less than impressed' when he called her on Thursday with her concerns about her comments.

Lumby said it was fine if V'landys and his executives didn't want her in the job - but someone should be.

V'landys appeared on 2GB on Friday morning and explained why he believes Lumby's values are not aligned with the NRL.

'She thought that we shouldn't penalise a player for intimidating and bullying and threatening a woman,' he told Ben Fordham.

'That's not our values. We don't agree with her and she should not use the NRL to seek attention.'

A high-profile rugby league player is at the centre of a newly leaked sex tape, which the Parramatta Eels claim was filmed without his consent (pictured, an image from the video)

Lumby on Thursday morning said it often felt like she was 'hitting her head against the wall' trying to change the culture among NRL players.

'I don't see the same level of commitment I once saw. I am really reconsidering my position,' she told Sunrise.

Her comments came after video emerged on Wednesday allegedly showing a Parramatta Eels player having sex with a woman in a public toilet cubicle.

The footage, which was filmed over the toilet door by a bystander, only lasts for five seconds. The player allegedly involved said he did not consent to the filming.

Lumby said she would likely speak to Abdo about the issue, but had never met V'Landys - the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission.

'I was pretty impressed before with the leadership but I wonder whether they are really committed to this,' Lumby said.

'It is interesting because we are going through a reckoning, a cultural reckoning on the issue of sexual assault and harassment of women.'

Catharine Lumby on Thursday morning said it often felt like she was 'hitting her head against the wall' trying to change the culture among NRL players

Lumby said the previous ARLC chairman Peter Beattie listened more to her concerns.

'It is not about me, it is about the issue, but Peter Beattie definitely picked up the phone on the regular to me and I appreciated that because it showed me he cared,' she said.

Lumby said while an NRL player having sex in a public toilet wasn't 'great', it was not illegal.

'Distributing material without people's consent is what concerns me here,' she said.

The Parramatta Eels on Wednesday confirmed the video involved one of its players.

'We understand that those on the video have been illegally filmed by another person without consent and that an attempt has been made to distribute the video to media outlet and on social media platforms,' the club said.

Pictured: ARLC chairman Peter V'landys. Lumby said she doesn't 'see the same level of commitment' to changing the NRL's culture from the sport's top executives

The club said it contacted the NRL Integrity Unit, who are investigating.

Both the Eels and the NRL Integrity Unit are taking the matter 'very seriously' as the video is a 'potential invasion of privacy of those involved'.

There were two other men in the bathroom when the player was having sex with the blonde woman, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The woman involved was topless during the act.
President Joe Biden talked Friday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said, ahead of an expected announcement that Biden will reject Turkish objections and recognize the Armenian genocide.

In a readout of the call, the White House did not mention the controversy, saying only that Biden urged a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements.

The two leaders also agreed to meet one-on-one during the NATO summit in Brussels this June.

The administration has not confirmed the genocide recognition plans, but Biden promised during his presidential campaign that he would make the move.

Officials have hinted strongly at the announcement happening on Saturday  the annual day of remembrance for the mass deaths of ethnic-Armenians in 1915-1917.

State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said on Friday that when it comes to the Armenian Genocide, you can expect an announcement tomorrow.

Turkey insists that the killings and expulsions of ethnic-Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire were not genocide but a result of the wider conflict in World War I.

Turkish pressure has not stopped some major countries, like France and Germany, from declaring the episode to have been genocide, but many states have held back from fully official recognition.

Despite decades of lobbying by the US Armenian community, successive US presidents have skirted the controversy out of worry about a rupture with NATO ally Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned in an interview that Bidens move would sour bilateral relations.

If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs, he said.
A 31-year-old Delaware man whose 2-month-old daughter died while he and the childs mother were visiting another man in Monroe County, Pa., has changed his story and admitted to killing the baby, authorities say.

Lamont Bacchus, of New Castle, is now charged with homicide in the death of Reann M. Bacchus on April 19 in an apartment in Barrett Township, the county district attorneys office said.

He, along with the babys mother Amanda Green, 29, and the friend with whom they were visiting, Tony Kristiansen, 29, had been charged with child endangerment and held in lieu of bail in Monroe County jail.

The trio had spent days together in March after Bacchus and Green came north to settle items after the death of Greens father, authorities said. They used drugs several times, and Kristiansen was asked to repair their car, authorities said.

Bacchus was sleeping on the couch with the baby in the apartment of Route 447 while Green and Kristiansen slept in the bedroom, authorities said.

When Kristiansen woke up early the afternoon of April 19, the baby was dead and Bacchus was gone in search of heroin, authorities said.

Green tried to revive the child but failed, authorities said. The two didnt dial 911 immediately, instead tracking down Bacchus on an app on his phone, authorities said. Bacchus said the baby was fine when he left and, after Kristiansen cleared the apartment of most of the drugs, they called police, authorities said.

An autopsy determined the child suffered a gaping skull fracture on the left side of her head and died from traumatic brain injury in a homicide, the district attorneys office said.

After repeated interviews with police, Bacchus changed his story to say he was carrying the baby, tripped over a bag and dropped her, court papers say. But after waiving his rights to self incrimination, Bacchus on April 9 told police the baby was crying early in the morning and out of frustration he slammed her head into a table and she stopped, police said.

He knew right away she was dead, but Bacchus put the baby back on the couch and went back to sleep before getting up and going in search of drugs, authorities said.

Green is being charged with involuntary manslaughter as a result of her recklessness and gross negligence in the care of her daughter, the district attorneys office said, as well as child endangerment and delivery of drugs. The child endangerment charges against Kristiansen were elevated from Felony 3 to Felony 1 and Felony 2, the district attorneys office said.

Bacchus is also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, assault and drug counts, authorities said.

All remain in jail in Monroe County awaiting further legal proceedings. Bacchus and Green were being held without bail, and Kristiansens bail was $100,000.

Court papers did not list an attorney for Bacchus.

Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.

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Apple has been threatened with a public leak by a group of hackers that claimed to have stolen files using a ransomware attack against a Taiwanese company known to be its manufacturer. The hackers have been known to extorting Apple for money, in exchange for the leak not going public and showing the world of different plans of the company.

The Cupertino giant has not been the center of recent attacks from the different threat actors out there, as most were focused on Microsoft, WhatsApp, and Facebook. However, Apple remains impenetrable from attacks as these hackers have not attempted to steal from the company, but it does not mean that there can be no backdoor entries to them.

Read Also: Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike Hacks Cellebrite Which Is Known for Partnerships with Police Investigations on Cybersecurity

Apple Ransomware Attack Against Manufacturer

According to NBC News, Apple's partner from Taiwan called "Quanta" has been the recent focus and victim of this attack, which has resulted in gathering sensitive information that was not disclosed by the company. Quanta is known for manufacturing computer products and has been Apple's partner for products such as the Mac Pro.

While the iMac Pro was discontinued last March 2021, the company is still a valuable asset for Apple, which could have files for transactions and future ventures between them and the manufacturer. Additionally, Quanta may have renders or designs from Apple which are slated to be released soon but have not yet been revealed by the company.

Apple staying quiet on this incident gives the public no knowledge of whether the company's leak and ransomware attack are serious, as the threat actors' obtained files yet remain unknown. The ransom letter was published via a blog on the dark web, which has been detailing what they have against Apple and wants to be compensated to prevent leaks.

Ransomware the Main Focus of the Government

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple was attacked by ransomware amidst this period where the administration is focusing on combating extortion threats and hacks that demand from its victims. The government is well aware of the different ransomware attacks that have been launched in 2020, amidst the time of the pandemic.

Additionally, the 2020 pandemic has caused people to heavily rely on putting everything online, and the power of the threat actors over this is immense, as they can take from whoever they want. Ransomware has become more apparent, as well as malware and phishing scams that have threatened the safety of people and corporations.

Related Article: Apple Releases Plan for 2030 to go Carbon Neutral with Progress Report Detaling Use of Alternative Power Sources

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Turkish authorities on April 22 launched a probe against an Istanbul-based cryptocurrency exchange founder who froze trading and fled the country. Faruk Fatih Ozer, founder of Thodex cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly absconding with $2 billion in investors' assets.

On April 21, the Thodex exchange suspended trading after posting a mysterious message. The message said that the firm needed five days to deal with an unspecified outside investment, according to The Straits Times.

The Turkish authorities have released a photo of Ozer passing through passport control at the Istanbul Airport. Ozer was heading towards an unspecified location, as per the daily. Local media reports have said that he flew either to Thailand or Albania.

Thodex website froze after running a promotional campaign in which the firm claimed to sell Dogecoins at one-fourth of their trading price on other cryptocurrency exchanges. It then locked in these investments and did not allow the coins to be converted to other cryptocurrencies or to be sold.

"Why don't you allow my coins to be transferred?" Dogecoin investor Kaya Dinar asked Thodex in a tweet. As per reports, the website and the exchange froze while still holding at least $2 billion from around 3,91,000 investors.

"There has been no access to Thodex website for more than 24 hours. Hundreds of thousands of users cannot get access to wallets holding their crypto assets or cash money," investors' lawyer Oguz Evren Kilic told news agency AFP. "We have started the legal procedures and lodged a complaint at the prosecutor's office".

The Thodex website has since started working again. "We kindly inform you that the negative news on the internet does not reflect the truth," a message on the website reads. However, Thodex has failed to provide the location of Ozer or explain why the website was shut down.

"The process will continue in court. One would hope that (Thodex) takes positive steps and the problem is resolved quickly, but the situation is getting grave each passing minute," Kilic said.

(Edited by Mohammad Haaris Beg)

Also Read: Bitcoin plunges below $50,000 as cryptos slip over US Prez Biden's tax plans

Also Read: Bitcoin hits record high at $62,741
HONOLULU, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced the United States' support for the Local2030 Islands Network during a virtual event in support of the Leaders Summit on Climate Change hosted by President Biden this week.

"The (U.S.) Department of State, NOAA, and Department of Energy, are supporting the Local2030 Islands Network, an innovative and peer-to-peer network that connects U.S. islands with our fellow islands around the world on local solutions and common challenges." U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry

The Local2030 Islands Network brings together a diverse set of major and emerging island economies  nations, states and communities  from all regions of the world. Through their support the U.S. announced their commitment to partnering with small islands in their efforts to combat the climate crisis in ways that reflect their unique cultures and development challenges by building resilience in the face of a changing climate.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm further reinforced U.S. support to building island resilience with a focus on community-driven solutions appropriate to island-specific cultures and development challenges.

The Network, managed by Hawaii Green Growth Local2030 Hub and the Global Island Partnership , includes U.S. islands Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Hawaii Governor David Ige joined the event to discuss the leadership of islands globally on energy and climate, and highlighted the Aloha+ Challenge, Hawaii's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework grounded in local values. In his remarks, Hawaii Governor David Ige encouraged island leaders and island jurisdictions to become involved in the innovative Network.

"American islands are stepping up together, with islands like Guam and Puerto Rico joining the Network in addition to the Marshall Islands and other island economies." Hawaii Governor David Ige

Through the Global Island Partnership, the Network will connect to existing leadership from islands around the world including the Micronesia Challenge , Caribbean Challenge Initiative , and the European BEST Challenge.

"We recently celebrated the success of the Micronesia Challenge and will be joining the Local2030 Islands Network." President David Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands

The Local2030 Islands Network serves as a central resource for island-led solutions and links islands in new ways to address sustainability, climate change and clean energy issues.

The U.S. Department of State will support this unique island-led partnership and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will work with the network and other partners to enhance the capacity of island nations to integrate climate data and information, and apply effective coastal and marine resource management strategies to support sustainable development. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Low Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership ( LEDS GP ) will provide technical assistance, and support peer learning via island communities of practice.

The U.S. support of the network emphasizes the important role that U.S. islands can play in surfacing solutions and working with other islands as peers. Hawaii was recognized in 2019 as a U.N. Local2030 Hub - a center of excellence for SDGs - for its innovative work on local sustainability and resilience. Hawaii also pledged the first U.S. carbon neutrality target to decarbonize its energy sector by 2045. In 2019, Guam released the Guam Green Growth Action Framework, a 10-year strategy aligned with the SDGs. Other island members and partners of the network include the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Bonaire, Ireland, Curacao, and the UN Foundation.

The April 20th virtual event was hosted by the countries of the Friends of the Ocean and Climate and supported by the United Nations Foundation and Ocean Conservancy. It featured remarks from 13 world leaders, including U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. The event included global leadership, actions, and commitments from diverse island communities to advance ocean-based climate solutions and the Paris Agreement. A recording of the event and complete list of speakers can be found here.



NOTE:

White House Fact Sheet can be accessed via the following link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/23/fact-sheet-president-bidens-leaders-summit-on-climate/

To watch the recording of the event, please visit this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJArCX7t1U4

B-roll, images, and speaker quotes can be accessed via the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JdQ_GNvZ_RIrY3stXDK88eE_IfyJO8vF?usp=sharing

To learn more about the Local2030 Islands Network, please visit this link: https://www.islands2030.org/ , Link to 2-pager

SOURCE Local2030 Islands Network

Related Links

https://www.islands2030.org


U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, may be fined $5,000 after evading the metal detectors off the House floor earlier this week.

Clyburn, the lone Democrat representing South Carolina in Congress, confirmed the violation to CNN on April 22, saying he had "no idea" what happened and added that "it's just somebody on the other side trying to cause mischief."

The House Majority Whip did not clarify his comments during the CNN interview. He plans to appeal the infraction.

Congressman Clyburn respects the rules of the chamber and he disputes the characterization of this incident, a spokesperson for Clyburn said in a statement.

Following the violent rioting at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi instituted a wave of security protocols, including hefty fines for members who go around the metal detectors.

All members who avoid going through the metal detectors are fined $5,000 for their first offense and $10,000 for their second. Notably, Clyburn was in favor of the effort when it was instituted.

He was caught going around the detectors after he used the bathroom during a vote on April 20, Politico reported.

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He exited through a different door to go to the restroom that is outside of the Speaker's lobby. When he left the bathroom, Clyburn walked to his Capitol Police detail and they went around the metal detector before returning to the House floor, Politico detailed.

Capitol Police have referred the incident to the Sergeant at Arms, who will determine if the fine should be levied. Clyburn would be the first Democrat to be fined under the new security rules.

U.S Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, took to Twitter after news of the fine broke and took a swing at Pelosi's security protocols. She also offered to assist Clyburn with the fine.

"I agree, Mr. Whip, the metal detectors are a bit much (unconstitutional actually)," Mace tweeted on April 22. "The fine? Even worse. Who wants to help me chip in for him?

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, was the first to be fined under the new rules.
Former Bachelor winner Cassie Randolph has broken her silence on her ex Colton Underwood, a week after he came out as gay on Good Morning America and publicly apologized to her for his behavior after they broke up.

The former couple met on the reality show in 2018 and continued dating until April of 2020, but things took a tumultuous turn when Colton, 29, allegedly began 'stalking and harassing' Cassie, 25, sending unrelenting messages to both Cassie and her friends and family, and even placing a GPS tracker on her car  all of which led her to request a restraining order against him in September.

Then, on April 14, Colton revealed that he is gay on GMA and spoke candidly about his struggles to come to terms with it, saying that he is 'sorry for how things ended' with Cassie' and that he 'made a lot of bad choices.'

Now Cassie has briefly addressed Colton's interview in a new video on her YouTube channel, thanking her fans for being supportive but admitting she is now focusing on moving forward.

Speaking: Cassie Randolph has broken her silence on her ex Colton Underwood after he came out as gay and publicly apologized to her for his behavior after they broke up

'There's a lot of layers to it, and I just feel like the best thing for me at this time is to move forward and just focus on going forward,' she said

'I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the kind comments and messages from you guys. I really appreciate it,' she said

Cassie shared the message with her fans at the beginning of a vlog about her new home on April 22.

'I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the kind comments and messages from you guys. I really appreciate it,' she said.

'Regarding the topic in the media that brought my name up this week, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not gonna be further discussing it or commenting on it for now.

'There's a lot of layers to it, and I just feel like the best thing for me at this time is to move forward and just focus on going forward. So, if I do decide in the future to say anything or make a comment at all, you guys will be the first to know,' she concluded. 'I feel very loved and supported.'

On the day of Colton's interview, Cassie  who was vacationing in Mexico  thanks 'everyone for all the kind comments and messages' on Instagram, but otherwise kept mum on the subject.

Still, her name along with Colton's dominated headlines after he dropped the bombshell that he spent years hating himself as he struggled with his sexuality and even attempted suicide.

Shock announcement: Former Bachelor Colton, 29, dropped a bombshell last week when he came out as gay

From the heart: He also publicly apologized to his ex for how he treated her, saying: 'Id like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up. I made a lot of bad choices'

'I found somebody I wanted to be with,' he told People when the pair first got together. 'And I wasnt willing to give up.'

Speaking to Robin Roberts, the ex-NFL player addressed his breakup with Cassie, saying: 'I got into a place with my personal life that was dark, and bad, and I can list a bunch of different things, but theyd all be excuses. Id like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up. I made a lot of bad choices.'

Cassie and Colton met during the 23rd season of The Bachelor in 2018, but their relationship was tumultuous from the start. After reaching the final three, Cassie broke things off with Colton and left the show, a decision that devastated Colton so much that he jumped over a fence to run after her.

Colton ultimately picked Cassie as the winner, and though he didn't propose, the two continued to date, with Colton moving to Los Angeles to be near her.

'I found somebody I wanted to be with,' he told People. 'And I wasnt willing to give up.'

But even as Cassie helped nurse Colton back to health when he contracted COVID-19 in March of 2020, their relationship wasn't long for this world.

In mid-April of 2020, the pair broke up, announcing their split the next month on Instagram.

'Its [sic] been a crazy few months to say the least, Cass and I have been doing a lot of self-reflecting,' Colton wrote. 'Sometimes people are just meant to be friends  and that's okay. We both have grown immensely and been through so much together  so this isn't the end of our story, it's the start of a whole new chapter for us.'

Lovebirds: After Colton picked Cassie as the winner of season 23, they dated through early 2020, with Colton moving to Los Angeles to be near her

It's over: In mid-April of 2020, the pair broke up, announcing their split the next month on Instagram

'Colton and I have broken up, but have decided to remain a part of each others lives,' Cassie wrote, insisting they were still friends

Reflecting: In July of 2020, Cassie briefly discussed the breakup on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons  Ever!

Angered: After it aired, Colton took to social media to chide Cassie for speaking about their breakup at all

Meanwhile, Cassie also wrote that they were staying friends.

'Colton and I have broken up, but have decided to remain a part of each others lives,' she wrote.

'With all that we have gone through, we have a special bond that will always be there. I love Colton very much and have an enormous amount of respect for him. We have both learned and grown so much these past couple years, and will always have each others back. Always.'

A source told People it was a 'mutual' and 'amicable' breakup, and they were 'still good friends,' while another source later added that in the months following their breakup, they saw each other several times.

But things weren't to remain friendly for much longer.

First, in July of 2020, Cassie briefly discussed the breakup on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons  Ever!

'I think going through any breakup is really hard but going through one in public comes with a whole new set of challenges,' she said. 'I mean, Ive never gone through any of this before so were both kind of learning to navigate it. Were on good terms and hanging in there.'

After it aired, Colton took to social media to chide Cassie for speaking about their breakup at all.

No you don't! Cassie fired back, accusing her ex of 'subtly engaging in a tactic that peppers in aggressive comments' to make her look like 'the bad one'

Uh-oh: She said Colton said he 'intends to monetize our breakup by writing a new chapter to discuss your experience with COVID,' she said

'This seems a bit unfair to me. Colton, you can do what you want, but please do not have a double standard,' she wrote, asking that they just 'move on peacefully and successfully'

'When our relationship ended we agreed to handle things as privately as possible as we attempted to navigate our new relationship as friends. I chose to do that since we were living in this interim period, but obviously a lot changed this week,' he wrote.

Cassie then fired back on Instagram, writing: 'I would like to state that I do not wish to create an online petty war. Colton, as you know we made an agreement to not publicly discuss our break up. I have honored this, as have you thus far.

'I didnt see any harm in doing the interview, as I wasnt going to dish out details about our relationship to them,' she went on, saying Colton's post 'saddened' and 'frustrated' her.

She accused her ex of 'subtly engaging in a tactic that peppers in aggressive comments' to make her look like 'the bad one.'

'I would like to place on public record & ask you politely to refrain from discussing our relationship, as we agreed. I would also like to ask that you dont cloud our great, 1 1/2 year relationship with a messy breakup.

'On Monday evening [July 6], you informed me you intend to monetize our breakup by writing a new chapter to discuss your experience with COVID (where you stayed in my familys house during your recovery) & about our breakup,' she went on.

'This seems a bit unfair to me. Colton, you can do what you want, but please do not have a double standard,' she wrote, asking that they just 'move on peacefully and successfully.'

Scared: Then, on September 11, 2020, the split took a dramatic turn when Cassie filed a request for a restraining order with the Superior Court of California

Creepy: She accused Colton of stalking her and harassing her and was granted a temporary restraining order

Evidence: She shared several screenshots of the numerous text messages he would send her

Messages: He also sent messages to Cassie's friends, and knew when a male friend had come to her home

Then, on September 11, 2020, the split took a dramatic turn when Cassie filed a request for a restraining order with the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. In the request, Cassie asked that Colton be legally barred from approaching her, her home, her workplace, her school, her car, or even her parents.

In documents filed with the request to the court and obtained by DailyMail.com, Cassie cited abuse that allegedly occurred in 'various incidents since June 2020.'

The documents allege that Colton was 'stalking and harassing' her, sending her 'unsettling text messages,' repeatedly calling her, and placing 'a tracking device on her vehicle to track her whereabouts'.

The restraining order request also said that Colton had been seen outside her parents' home in Huntington Beach, California, on several occasions, including one time he was outside Cassie's bedroom window at two in the morning.

'Mr. Underwood also watches Ms. Randolphs apartment in Los Angeles. Mr. Underwood admitted to his roommate and his roommates girlfriend (who is also Ms. Randolphs friend) that he goes on multiple walks a day to Ms. Randolphs apartment building,' the document continued.

Colton 'obsessively called and sent text messages' when Cassie had a male visitor, leaving Cassie 'startled that he knew who was coming in and out of her apartment, and felt like she was being watched.'

He sent similar messages when she visited her family and friends, indicating that he knew where she was, the documents read.

Obsessed: Cassie accused him of sending incessant messages to her friends and family

She even started getting harassing messages from unknown numbers, which Colton later admitted he was sending

More evidence: She submitted several screenshots of the messages from fake numbers

Attention: What's more, he allegedly used those same fake numbers to send harassing messages to his own phone number

In addition to sending her frequent text messages from his own number  and also texting members of her family  Colton also allegedly 'used alias phone numbers to anonymously send harassing text messages at all hours of the day to Ms. Randolph and to her friends.'

What's more, he allegedly used those same fake numbers to send harassing messages to his own phone number.

Suspicious that Colton might be tracking her car, Cassie and her family investigated on August 19 and found a 'tile tracking device taped to the bottom of the back bumper of her car.'

Two days later, Cassie confronted Colton and told him she called the police and hired a private investigator over the car tracking, according to the documents.

'Mr. Underwood admitted that he was the one who put the tracker on her car and had been the one sending text messages to her, her friends and himself, under the alias phone numbers described above,' the restraining order request reads.

He also reportedly admitted as much to mutual friends.

Cassie filed for the restraining order due to 'fears for her safety and the safety of her family and friends and wants to ensure that the harassment and stalking behavior cease when he returns to Los Angeles [from a trip to Denver].'

Several screenshots of text messages, as well as photos of the car tracker, were included in the report.

Following: Cassie and her family investigated on August 19 and found a 'tile tracking device taped to the bottom of the back bumper of her car'

It's him: Two days later, Cassie confronted Colton, and claimed he admitted that he had placed the device there

Cassie was ultimately granted a temporary restraining order that forced Underwood to stay at least 100 yards away from her, in addition to her car, home, workplace, and school.

Later, however, Cassie dismissed the restraining order against Colton, and requested to drop the police investigation.

'Today Cassie asked the court to dismiss the temporary restraining order against me, Colton reportedly told TMZ on November 3.

'The two of us were able to reach a private agreement to address any of Cassies concerns. I do not believe Cassie did anything wrong in filing for the restraining orders and also believe she acted in good faith. I appreciate everyones respect for privacy regarding this matter.'

Now, Colton has finally copped to bad behavior in his new GMA interview.

In addition to saying he 'messed up' and 'made a lot of bad choices' while apologizing 'for how things ended,' he also said he was sorry for continuing a relationship with her even though he is gay, admitting he was still struggling with how to come to terms with his sexuality.

'Yes [I was in love with her],' he insisted. 'It... made it harder and more confusing for me, if I'm being honest. I loved everything about her and it's hard for me to articulate exactly what my emotions were in going through that relationship with her was, because I obviously had an internal fight going on.

Moving on: Later, however, Cassie dismissed the restraining order against Colton, and requested to drop the police investigation

Bombshell: Colton's emotional interview this morning also revealed details of his ongoing struggles

Struggle: Colton admitted that his struggle with his sexuality drove him to attempt suicide, explaining that there was a 'moment in LA... [when he] didn't have the intentions of waking up'

'I would just say that I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry for any pain and emotional stress I caused. I wish it wouldn't have happened the way it did. I wish that I would have been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else.'

Colton's emotional interview also revealed details of his ongoing struggles.

'Obviously this year's been a lot for a lot of people and it's probably made a lot of people look themselves in the mirror and figure out who they are and what they've been running from or putting off in their lives, and for me, I've ran from myself for a long time,' he explained. 'I've hated myself for a long time.'

When asked whether he ever attempted to harm himself, Colton admitted that there was a 'moment in LA' when he tried to take his own life.

'There was a moment in LA [when] I woke up and I didn't think I was going to wake up,' he revealed. 'I didn't have the intentions of waking up and I did.'

Colton said he had thought that being chosen for The Bachelor was a sign that God was 'making him straight'.

'I literally remember praying to God the morning I found out that I was a Bachelor and thanking him for making me straight,' he recalled.

'I remember that vividly, saying, like, "Finally you're letting me be straight. Finally you're giving me a wife, a fiancee and then I'm going to have the kids then I'm going to have the house and have all this."'

Since the interview, Netflix is rumored to be working on a reality show with Colton  though a Change.org petition has amassed over 33,000 signatures from people demanding that the streaming service abandon it, pointing to Colton's 'abusive behavior' toward Cassie.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court sentenced a senior lecturer at an aviation institute to 20 years in jail on Friday after finding him guilty on treason charges, it said, the latest in a series of such cases.

The Moscow City Court said it had found A.G. Vorobyov guilty of illegally exporting technology or technical information that can be used to develop weapons. RIA news agency identified him as Alexei Vorobyov and said he worked at the Moscow Aviation Institute.

He was also found guilty of involvement in contraband of weapon parts, the court said. It did not disclose further details of the offences. The trial was held behind closed doors.

Interfax news agency cited a source as saying Vorobyov denied the charges.

A number of Russian scientists, soldiers and officials have been charged with treason in recent years, accused of passing sensitive material to foreign countries.

Critics of the Kremlin say the arrests are often the result of unfounded paranoia and complain the charges cannot be scrutinised because of their classified nature.

The Interfax news agency reported last week that an academic studying aerodynamics had been detained on suspicion of state treason for allegedly passing secrets to a NATO country.

Russia also sentenced a former state official to 12-1/2 years in prison for treason last week.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Frances Kerry)
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2021 / Radiko Holdings (CSE:RDKO) (the "Company") announced today that the Company is halting its cultivation activities at its indoor facility in Carson City, Nevada. Management, in conjunction with Jeff Malinovitz and Clyde Story, the operators of record at Carson City, have concluded that despite ongoing efforts to rectify matters, the current facility is not performing as expected and it is extremely challenging to produce the type of premium product the operators specialize in. As a result, the Company does not believe it can achieve profitable cultivation operations at the Carson City facility without substantial modifications.

Accordingly, Management is of the view that the Company needs to focus on maximizing the value of the Carson City assets, which may include building an adjunct facility and repurposing the current facility to be used for mothers, clones and drying space. Alternatively, the proposed changes may include utilizing the licenses at another location. The Company has initiated discussions with the vendors of the Carson City assets in order to evaluate all options and formulate a plan. The transaction was structured as a vendor take-back financing due December 31, 2024, so the proposed changes necessarily require their involvement.

Messrs. Malinovitz and Story have indicated they are willing to work with management on a new plan, and would also be willing support Management's efforts to raise the capital required to finance the reboot in Carson City. Jeff Malinovitz said, "We have really enjoyed working with Radiko and would be happy to be involved with a new approach that allows us to do what we do best."

Steve Gormley, CEO, said, "We are grateful for Jeff's expertise as he was able to identify the performance issues with the facility and allow us to react. We are also thankful for his commitment to help Radiko in its efforts to address this and move forward."

The Company also wishes to announce a number of key steps it is taking during the production hiatus in order to streamline the Company's operations while it evaluates its options and focusses on obtaining the funds necessary to move forward:

Management has reduced salaries paid to senior management of Radiko Holdings, Inc. by US$38,000 per month

the Company has settled amounts owing under its employment contracts with employees and retained key persons on an "as-needed" consulting basis

the Company has reduced its operating debt by a total of CDN$772,000, consisting of an aggregate write-off of CDN$415,000 and the settlement of additional operating debt in the aggregate amount of CDN$357,000 at CDN$0.05 per share. The Company expects to issue an aggregate of 7,134,000 shares later this week once the paperwork is finalized. The shares will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of issue.

Steve Gormley, CEO, said, "Importantly, the Company has restructured its immediate debt and will be working to sort out the path forward in Carson City. The Company is in a better position to raise more capital on what we hope to be acceptable terms."

About Radiko Holdings

Radiko Holdings Corp. (RDKO) is a CBD and cannabis-focused brand portfolio, leveraging the potential of the plant by offering best of breed products that naturally complement today's consumer lifestyles. The Corporation's mission is to build and market a diversified portfolio of cannabis and CBD brands, with strategic manufacturing and distribution partnerships to support better EBITDA and margins.

For further information:

Steve Gormley

Chief Executive Officer

Radiko Holdings Corp.

12655 W Jefferson Blvd

Los Angeles, CA, 90066

Ph: +1-(323)-828-4321 or steve@radikoholdings.com

Media Inquiries: media@radikoholdings.com

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Disclaimer concerning Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" relating to the operations of the Company and its business prospects within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties regarding the Company are described in its publicly-available disclosure documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Company's expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.

SOURCE: Radiko Holdings Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641915/Radiko-Announces-Halt-in-Cultivation-at-Carson-City-and-Restructuring-of-Operations
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - CENTR Brands Corp. (CSE: CNTR) (FSE: 303) (OTCQB: CNTRF) (the "Company") today announced a U.S. distribution agreement with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits ("Southern Glazer's) - the world's preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol. Under the agreement, Southern Glazer's will distribute CENTRTM and CENTRTM Sugar Free, the Company's sparkling, citrus beverages infused with hemp-derived CBD.

"We are thrilled to be one of Southern Glazer's first CBD beverage suppliers," said Company CEO Joseph Meehan. "As the premier distributor of beverage alcohol in the U.S., Southern Glazer's will introduce CENTR to tens of thousands of retailers and on-premise clients. CENTR has the best sales team in our category and deep experience with traditional distribution. Southern Glazer's is our ideal distribution partner."

Southern Glazer's will initially launch distribution of CENTRTM and CENTRTM Sugar Free across seven states, with additional states in the months to come, and on its industry-leading Proof e-commerce platform at sgproof.com.

About CENTR Brands Corp. CENTR Brands Corp. develops and markets non-alcoholic, functional beverages for the global market. The Company's first product, named CENTR, is a sparkling, low-calorie, CBD beverage. For more information visit www.findyourcentr.com, and follow on Instagram at @findyourcentr.

About Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits. Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits is the world's pre-eminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and a proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. Southern Glazer's has operations in 44 U.S. States, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Southern Glazer's urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com, and follow on Twitter and Instagram on @sgwinespirits and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SouthernGlazers.

For further information, contact Joseph Meehan at jmeehan@centrcorp.com.

On behalf of the Board,

CENTR BRANDS CORP.

/s/ Joseph Meehan

Joseph Meehan, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

This press release may contain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Actual results may differ from those indicated as a result of finalization of the Company's financial statements as well as other risks and uncertainties. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81594
Sen. Tim Scott will represent the Republican party's reaction to President Joe Biden's first address to Congress, scheduled for April 28. This was mentioned by the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy last Thursday.

Sen. Tim Scott will get the first crack at Biden's first address to Congress

According to South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, the Republican's response to the first Congress address is relevant to the party, which will give an idea of what the president has in mind, reported the Epoch Times.

He was quoted saying this statement via NPR.

"We face serious challenges on a lot of issues, but I am as hopeful as I have ever been regarding America's promise and potential."

He added, "I am looking forward to providing an open and frank conversation with the American people and communicating Republicans' optimistic vision for expanding opportunity and empowering working families."

Scott, age 55, is on his first term and one of the possible choices as a 2024 presidential candidate. He holds an endorsement from former President Donald Trump to boost reelection in 2022.

Trump describes him at the time as "both an excellent senator and a person who works tirelessly for the people of his great state, as well as the United States."

In an email statement, Donald Trump wrote this in his endorsement.

"Strong supporter of the military and law enforcement, values our vets and protects our Second Amendment and borders. Sen. Tim Scott will continue doing the amazing job for our country!"

Last April 13, President's first address to congress was welcomed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) invitation to address a joint session of Congress the night before his 100th day in office.

Sen. Tim Scott Says the Left Hates Dissent, Democrat or Not

President Biden has been a target for delaying his first address; critics crucified his avoidance of the address. Compared to ex-President Trump, his first speech to Congress on Feb. 28, two months before Biden.

Presidents typically use their inaugural address to showcase their early achievements and set the tone for the entirety of their administration. Biden is expected to praise the Senate's passage of the pandemic stimulus bill, which passed with just a single Republican vote. The president is also encouraged to reflect on the surge of executive actions he took in the early months of his presidency.

More than a dozen key Trump administration border and immigration regulations were reversed as part of Biden's early steps. The policy changes triggered an influx of illegal immigrants at a never-before-seen pace that Biden recently dubbed a "crisis."

In a statement, McConnell called Scott "one of the most inspirational and unifying leaders in our country" and "one of the best leaders in the Senate Republican conference."

Mitch McConnell said that Scott is living his mother's American dream. He wants to help others have more opportunities for those who needed it.

Rep. McCarthy added," The Republican Party of today is a burgeoning group of working-class Americans who value liberty in search of the American dream. Senator Scott Brown, my friend, and colleague embodies the spirit of today's Republican Party more than anybody else in Congress."

Sen. Tim Scott and his slated speech about Joe Biden's first address to congress is upcoming; McConnell and McCarthy are confident of their endorsement.

Sanders Mulls about Defying Parliamentarianism, Force Vote to get $15 Minimum Wage

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ANN ARBOR, MI  Students living on the University of Michigan campus in the fall are required to have a COVID-19 vaccine, officials announced Friday.

Students must provide proof of their vaccination or an approved exemption by July 15 to be permitted to move into their assigned room, officials said on April 23.

The requirement applies only to students living in residence halls and other university housing and also provides exemptions. About 31%, or about 12,100 students, live in university-owned, operated or affiliated housing.

This is not a mandate to be vaccinated, but rather a choice to live in communal living and therefore make the choice to get vaccinated, Martino Harmon, UM vice president for student life, said in a statement.

For the fall semester, university residence halls are expected to operate at about 80% capacity, with expanded use of shared spaces and other activities, officials said.

We know that widespread vaccination will be the only way to facilitate a return to normal and robust campus life. And we would like to provide a living environment for students this coming fall that is as close to the fall of 2019, pre-COVID-19, as possible, Harmon said.

UM recently asked all students to voluntarily share their vaccination information by using a self-report tool to upload an image of their COVID-19 vaccination card or other appropriate documentation confirming vaccination.

That information will be used by campus officials to make decisions in relation to student experiences on campus within the residence halls, as well as aid in granting exemptions from weekly testing and quarantine requirements.

As of April 22, more than 2,790 students have voluntarily shared their COVID-19 vaccination records with the university, UM data shows.

Students who are fully vaccinated will not be required to quarantine following a close-contact exposure to COVID-19, and vaccinated students will only be tested for COVID-19 if they display symptoms, officials said.

We strongly encourage all students to get vaccinated because we know the vaccines are highly effective and extremely safe, Robert Ernst, University Health Services executive director, said in a statement. While young people are less likely to die or be hospitalized from COVID-19, they can still catch coronavirus and transmit it to others.

Community immunity can only be achieved if a high percentage of our campus community is vaccinated.

Before UMs announcement, the only other public university in the state to require vaccination for on-campus students was Oakland University. Five other schools, including UM, were still considering requirements as of April 15, according to Dan Hurley, president of the Michigan Association of State Universities.

One public Michigan university is requiring COVID-19 vaccination for students. Will others do the same?

Michigan Medicine recently invited all patients 16 and older who live in the state and have not already been vaccinated to schedule an appointment. The health system also is offering first-dose walk-in appointments from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at Michigan Stadium.

Michigan Medicine has administered more than 108,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Friday, officials said.

The university is also partnering with Kroger and Meijer to offer more than 4,100 appointments to the UM community to receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

READ MORE:

Michigan Medicine hosting walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Michigan Stadium

Mandatory COVID vaccination for students, staff, faculty urged by University of Michigan group

We cannot be bystanders: University of Michigan leaders issue statements on Derek Chauvin verdict
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to celebrate Diwali 2017 with troops of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on the China border in Uttarakhand on Thursday.

The PM today took to Twitter and extended Diwali greetings to the countrymen. According to reports, the PM may pay a visit to the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on October 20 - his second visit in less than five months.

The PM is scheduled to visit the holy shrine a day after Diwali where he will inaugurate a number of projects including the temple protection wall which has been built to prevent 2013-like floods from hitting the temple devoted to Lord Shiva, media reports quoting government sources as saying.

However, there is no official confirmation yet regarding the PM's Kedarnath visit.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The science tells us the vaccines are 95% effective, so if you have a vaccine quite honestly what do you care if your neighbor has one or not? Johnson said. What is it to you? Youve got a vaccine and science is telling you its very, very effective. So why is this big push to make sure everybody gets a vaccine? And its to the point where youre going to shame people, youre going to force them to carry a card to prove that theyve been vaccinated so they can still stay in society. Im getting highly suspicious of whats happening here.
Midlander Bob Fu is one of 43 men and women profiled in former President George W. Bushs book, Out of Many, One  portraits of Americas Immigrants.

The ChinaAid founder said it was a great honor to be profiled in the book, which also tells the stories of immigrants including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, former California Gov. and motion picture star Arnold Schwarzenegger and baseball superstar Albert Pujols. Fu is not the only Midlander profiled as the book also features oilman Javaid Anwar.

Fu this week talked about his familys close relationship with the former president and former first lady Laura Bush. He said President Bush was the first president to meet with dissident writers and lawyers from China. He called Bushs concerns for religious freedoms genuine whether he was office or out of office.

Fu has enjoyed multiple visits with the former president whether it was in the White House or at the launch of George W. Bush Presidential Center's Freedom Collection in 2012.

The George W. Bush Institute profiled Fu in 2020, offering in The Catalyst  a journal of ideas from the Bush Institute  a conversation with Fu that it titled, Religious Freedom is a very real issue for Bob Fu.

ChinaAids mission also was front and center when Fu accompanied Chinese freedom advocate Chen Guangcheng to meet with the former president and first lady in April 2013.

He gave me the nickname, Bobby the fighter, said Fu, who also noted that Laura Bush wrote an endorsement of his book, God's Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom.

Fu complimented former President Bush for efforts made to call out China for its suppression of religious freedoms, including noting that the former president has not returned to China since leaving the White House because my brothers and sisters are being persecuted.

Not one but two paintings

Being profiled in Out of Many, One included the presentation of a painting by the former president of the 43 immigrants. Fu noted that the painting in the book is not the first one President Bush completed. Fu told the Reporter-Telegram that the first actually hangs in ChinaAids office in Midland.

It is stated in the book that men and women from 35 countries are featured and their stories show how hard work, strong values, dreams and determination know no borders or boundaries and how immigrants embody values that are viewed as distinctly American: optimism and gratitude, a willingness to strive and to risk, a deep sense of patriotism and a spirit of self-reliance that runs deep in our immigrant heritage.

Fu talked about becoming a citizen in 2003 and the feeling of voting in his first presidential election in 2004 (he voted for Bush for president).

That vote in the presidential election meant so much, Fu said.

Fu said that from his point of view, America is a beautiful melting pot where an individuals identity can flourish.

No one tries to force you to become one ethnicity or one culture, Fu said. You feel acceptance, mutual respect and love. That is my familys experience.

Fu added that racial tensions are not part of the mainstream story about immigration. He knows about coming to America as a refugee  that was the case he recalled when he, his wife Heidi and their 2-month child  came to the country having escaped China in 1997.

We dont have social elite status, Fu said, but we are still embraced with love. He said that love exists because of those that have supported his family and ChinaAid  the people of Midland, those around the country and even those in his residential and business neighborhoods.

There is that melting pot flavor, Fu said. That is the story I want to speak of and contribute to further  that this is a great county. We have nothing but gratitude and thankfulness. Even as we travel to countries about the globe, it is different. You dont feel like it is here. America is our home.

Editors Note: The Reporter-Telegram is also attempting to reach Javaid Anwar about being included in former President Bushs Out of Many, One
The U.S. target is relative to 2005 levels and the White House says efforts to reach it include moving toward carbon pollution-free electricity, boosting fuel efficiency of cars and trucks, supporting carbon capture at industrial facilities and reducing the use of methane. To the disappointment of the summit's organizers and environmentalists, the world's two most populous countries, China and India, made no new commitments on Thursday.

"Is it doable? Will we probably exceed it? I expect yes," John Kerry, the administration's climate envoy told reporters when asked about the U.S. goal Biden announced. "Is it enough? No. But it's the best we can do today."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Biden's announcement as "a game-changer," saying "it will have a transformative impact in the global fight against climate change."

"This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis," said Biden on Thursday, calling on others, in particular the world's largest economies, "to step up."

Saying the world must "overcome the existential crisis of our time," U.S. President Joe Biden announced a new goal of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas pollution by 50-52 percent by 2030 as he kicked off a virtual global summit on climate change with dozens of other world leaders.

 International Pledges

Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country will strictly control coal consumption in the next several years and "phase down" the fossil fuel during the 2026-2030 period. Xi also reiterated China's pledge to peak carbon emissions before 2030.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a partnership with the United States for a 2030 clean energy agenda "to help mobilize investment, demonstrate clean technology and enable green collaborations."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the summit: "We need a green planet -- but the world is on red alert. We are at the verge of the abyss. We must make sure the next step is in the right direction. Leaders everywhere must take action."

The two-day summit is part of Biden's efforts to restore U.S. leadership on the issue after his predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew the United States from the legally binding Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2017. Biden reversed the decision shortly after taking office.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced a goal of cutting emissions by 40-45 percent by 2030 below 2005 levels. Europe will apply emissions trading to buildings and transport, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the summit, saying, "Carbon must have its price, because nature cannot pay the price any longer."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed delight that the United States is cooperating again on climate politics. "Thank you for this, and thank you for organizing this summit," Merkel told Biden. "This is a herculean task because this is nothing short of a complete transformation, a complete change of the way we do business."

The online event, with the participation of more than 40 leaders, was not without technical glitches. There was a distracting echo during the introductory remarks by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as at the start of Biden's statement.

Pre-taped remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron were halted in mid-statement for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to repeatedly introduce a visibly impatient Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sat in silence for nearly two minutes.

The Russian president said his country might introduce preferential terms and conditions for foreign investment in clean energy projects. Following Putin's speech, the remainder of Macron's remarks were then aired in which he called for international regulations, saying, "If we don't set a price for carbon, there will be no transition."

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced a new target for the world's third biggest economy and fifth-largest carbon dioxide emitter. "It will certainly not be an easy task," said Suga of the new goal for his country that some environmental groups are finding disappointing. "The Japanese government has raised its 2030 emissions reduction target to 46 percent from 2013 levels, but this is a paltry move compared to the large increases in reduction targets by other countries and it has dampened the reduction efforts of the international community," said Greenpeace Japan in a statement.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who has asked the United States for $1 billion in economic assistance in exchange for cutting deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 40 percent, told the summit his country should achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

 Vulnerable Nations

Smaller nations were also heard on the summit's first day, including leaders of some of those most vulnerable to climate change, such as Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, Gabon in Africa and the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Noting his Himalayan country is not only carbon neutral but carbon negative due to hydropower, Bhutan's prime minister, Lotay Tshering, called on all countries "to set more ambitious targets."

A Biden administration official told reporters in a briefing Wednesday that with the new U.S. target and those set by Japan, Canada, Britain and the European Union, "in aggregate, major economies accounting for more than half of the world's economy will now have committed to the pace of emission reductions required globally to limit warming to 1.5 degrees."

 Combating Global Warming

World leaders agreed to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius in the 2015 UN Paris climate agreement and to aim for 1.5 degrees Celsius. Averaged over the entire globe, temperatures have increased more than 1.1 degree Celsius since 1980. Scientists link the increase to more severe heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms and other impacts. And they note that the rate of temperature rise has accelerated since the 1980s.

There is skepticism about the commitment announced Thursday by Biden and there is certain to be partisan political battle over his pledge to reduce fossil fuel use in every sector of the U.S. economy.

"Toothless requests of our foreign adversaries and maximum pain for American citizens," reacted the top Republican party leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, calling Biden's climate plan full of "misplaced priorities."

The Washington Post newspaper, in an editorial published Thursday, said while the president's promise is a big one, delivering will be much harder. "The United States will require new transmission lines to send electricity from where the wind is blowing and the sun is shining to where it is not," said the newspaper's editorial board. "Huge amounts of new wind, solar and, potentially, nuclear and hydropower infrastructure must be built in a short time, and fossil fuel plants must be forced offline before their natural retirement dates. The electrification of vehicles is an even larger challenge. All this will require tremendous amounts of public and private investment."

The new U.S. goal "is a significant step forward," according to the Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis monitoring government climate action. But the international consortium added it is "still about 5 to 10 points short of a 1.5C compatible 2030 target."


EYOTA, Minn. - This Earth Day The People's Energy Cooperative took a tour across Southeastern Minnesota driving all electric vehicles to highlight the practicality of owning an electric vehicle - even in rural areas.

Marty Walsh with Peoples Energy Cooperative explains, It's not for everybody - and we don't want to say it is for everybody. But we want for the people who do want to drive electric to know that they can charge - they can get power everywhere. It's not just a big city thing - it's a rural thing too.

People's Energy Cooperative stopped at Bennett's Market in Eyota demonstrating how energy efficient it is to drive an electric vehicle.

The car they drove is a Chevrolet Bolt - with over 220 miles of range per charge.

Walsh says between hybrids and battery electric, there are over 600 electric car drivers in Olmsted County alone, and that number is growing every day.

You'll see more Teslas - more Chevy Bolts, we have a Ford Mustang fully electric vehicle driving along with us today - it's growing regularly, if you pay attention you'll see 'em everywhere you look, Walsh explains.

The cars run off electric energy generated virtually anywhere - from wind, solar, to even coal.

The owner of Bennett's Market is considering adding an electric charging station to his business to better meet the needs of travellers.

Local people, plus tourists, people going down 90 - we're just that place that we get to see different people all the time and we want to be able to be here for the people, Owner Eric Bennett says.

And with the popularity of these vehicles on the rise, people's energy hopes today's tour will encourage more drivers to leave combustion engines behind and go electric.

Its here it's practical, there's people who wanna do it - and we wanna show that it's possible, Walsh says.

Some benefits of driving electric include the motors have less heat and noise, and batteries are improving over time - with new cars having up to 350 to even 400 miles of range.

People's Energy cooperative is selling chargers and discounted rates to its service members. If you are considering the switch, visit their website at https://peoplesenergy.coop/.
[April 22, 2021] GA technologies reduced over 2 million sheets of paper in iBuyer business in 2020.

TOKYO, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GA technologies Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato City, Tokyo; President and Chief Executive Officer: Ryo Higuchi; Securities code: 3491; the "the Company"), which runs PropTech comprehensive services "RENOSY," has achieved the goal of reducing the use of more than 2 million sheets of paper last year with an active approach of applying technology into the workflow(*1). Overview Under the business value of "Technology and Innovation to Inspire the World", we have been running new businesses in the PropTech (Property Technology) field with the applying of digital tech and the support of our experienced agents. Along with the growth of our business, we are also taking more responsibility and active approaches in supporting the benefits and development of the society. Currently, we are starting this project called "GA Sustainability Actions" aiming to support the sustainability of our environment. In order to protect our environment, we have been taking several actions in reducing the use of paper in our daily business activities. We have achieved a significant result with the reduction of the use of about 2 million sheets of paper (2,074,880) during the past year(*1). We are utilizing several of our in-house developed software such as "INSIGHT by RENOSY" and "SUPPLIER by RENOSY" to support our sales business in order to accelerate the speed of digital transformation of our entire business chain. In response to April 22, which is "Earth Day" (URL:https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/ ) a day to think about global environmental issues, we have announced our efforts to the paperless activities we are taking in our office starting from last year. We will continue to take on the challenge of solving the world's problems with the power of technology and innovation, and work to create a better future. Through our business, we will strive to create the foundation for a sustainable and new society. Promoting the prevalence of digitalization in the industry to save our environment INSIGHT by RENOSY INSIGHT by RENOSY is a business supporting tool our agents use during their consultations. It is a tool developed in-house where it links with our database directly. It allows our agents to show property information, business proposals, balance sheets simulation in an instant to the customers. SUPPLIER by RENOSY

SUPPLIER by RENOSY is a real estate procurement process supporting tool developed by our AI engineering department. The tool is especially dedicated to the support of the purchasing step of real estate. It helps with necessary tasks like property search, flooring layout automated reading, property recommendation, and contracts automated generation, etc. The tool provides every feature a real estate agent needs during the purchasing process. To give you a general idea, the entire dealing process of a proprty can be divided to roughly 30 steps(*2), we are able to move the entire process online with a minimum amount of paper works required. Our strategy for the Digital Transformation movement We are developing a SaaS business in which our accumulated real estate digital transformation know-how, tools and systems are sold externally by our group company, and we are also working to promote digital transformation in the real estate industry as a whole, such as paperless and more efficient operations. In addition to the management of real estate media, we also utilize our expertise in improving the convenience and transparency of real estate transactions by utilizing technology to build integrated operations for real estate transactions. Through the group companies, we have also achieved paperless operations by providing the industry with know-how on improving operational efficiency accumulated in each area, and by contributing to the real estate companies in Japan, we will promote the digital transformation of the entire industry. RENOSY X ITANDI Promoting the vitality of the existing apartment market to contribute to the sustainability of our living environment Along with protecting the environment, we also put more effort into promoting the vitality in the existing real estate industry to contribute to the building of a long-lasting living environment. RENOSY is focusing on the purchasing and selling of compact apartments in the main cities of Japan. The service has been crowded as the top 1 service in the existing real estate investing industry (compact apartments) during the past 2 years(*3). It also won the top 1 service regarding the newly built real estate investing industry for the first time this year(*4). All these actions are with the aim of solving the problem of "vacant houses in depopulated areas" in Japan. The current situation is that there are too many vacant houses without proper management in Japan due to a drop in the total population. The problem has already become a social problem in Japan, which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced this plan of "Vision of 2030 for Real Estate Industry of Japan" in April 2019(*5) to address the issue of the vacant houses in Japan. On the other hand, there is also an oversupply of newly built houses in the market which made the problem worse. The theory behind the RENOSY service is that the service is able to sort out the proper properties based on previous data by AI from the database. This allows us to purchase property not only faster but also with only 1/3 of the previous cost. The inventory turnover period is about 23 days in GA which is about 1/13 compared to the average(*6). What we want to do is to rediscover the value of existing apartments by addressing the issue mentioned above. GA Sustainability Actions GA Sustainability Actions is a measure we apply in the office to contribute to the growth of our business and to the positive contributions to the society. The measure includes three major policies: governance, environmental, society. It composes with 5 themes which are "environment & resources protection", "The building of a long-lasting living environment", "The creation of an energetic workplace", "The strengthen of the aspects of governance, risk management, and legal compliances". Each theme shall be applied accordingly to the relevant aspects of our businesses and workflow. Link: https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/sustainability/







(*1) The number is calculated based on all kinds of documents required in the entire dealing process during 2020 using our in-house developed software. (*2) The calculation is based on all kinds of documents required during the transaction process. (item-based) (*3) Please refer to the statistics from the following link https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/news/4368/ (*4) RENOSY has only been dealing with existing compact apartments. (*5)?Vision of 2030 For the Real Estate Industry of Japan? https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001287089.pdf (*6) The inventory turnover period refers to the time it requires for a property to be sold again counting from the point where the property has been purchased. According to a survey done by GA, the average time required is about 313.3 days.

Company Overview of GA technologies Co., Ltd.

Company Name: GA technologies Co., Ltd.

Representative: President and Chief Executive Officer: Ryu Higuchi

URL: https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/

Head Office: Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower 40F 3-2-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6290, Japan

Established: March 2013

Capital: : 720,859,9831 (as of March 31, 2021)

Business description:

- Management of RENOSY, a PropTech (real estate technology) comprehensive brand

(Real estate information media, real estate brokerage, real estate sales, design and construction, real estate management)

- Development of SaaS-based B2B PropTech products

- Research on real estate big data using AI

- Management of overseas PropTech business, including Shenjumiaosuan, a platform for Chinese investors

Main group companies: ITANDI, Inc., Modern Standard Inc., Shenjumiaosuan Co., Ltd, and four other companies View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ga-technologies-reduced-over-2-million-sheets-of-paper-in-ibuyer-business-in-2020-301275556.html SOURCE GA technologies Co., Ltd.

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Globally regarded soft tissue sarcoma therapy has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for Australian patients

YONDELISO (trabectedin) demonstrates 45% reduction in risk of disease progression or death versus dacarbazine1

SINGAPORE, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A GLOBAL sarcoma therapy shown to improve progression free survival1 has been approved for Australian patients by the country's peak medicines regulatory agency.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the use of YONDELIS (trabectedin), marketed by Specialised Therapeutics, "for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma who received a prior anthracycline-containing regimen".2

News of the TGA registration has been welcomed by leading doctors and the Australian sarcoma community, who say it means patients whose disease has progressed will have access to a new line of therapy.

"Sarcoma is a relatively rare cancer and treatment options are limited for those with advanced disease," said Associate Professor Jayesh Desai, Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and Deputy-Chair of the Australia New Zealand Sarcoma Association (ANZSA)

"We welcome news that this therapy is formally approved for use in Australia and look forward to seeing advanced sarcoma patients being provided additional benefit."

YONDELIS is already approved and has been available to patients in the United States since 2015,3 and in Europe since 2007.4

STA Chief Executive Officer Mr Carlo Montagner said TGA registration was a first step, with the company now seeking to have YONDELIS made affordable for all eligible Australian patients via a listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

A reimbursement submission is expected to be considered at the July 2021 meeting of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. In the interim, YONDELIS is being made available to Australian patients under a Co-Pay Special Access Program.

Mr Montagner commented: "We are pleased to successfully register YONDELIS in Australia, after being initially approached by oncologists and patient groups to bring YONDELIS to this country.

"Prior to our involvement, YONDELIS was only available internationally and was being imported by hospitals at great cost with complex logistics.

"We look forward to continuing our work with the sarcoma community to ensure that this therapy is not only available, but is affordable for all appropriate patients who might benefit."

STA markets YONDELIS under an exclusive license arrangement with international partner, PharmaMar.

About Specialised Therapeutics Asia

Headquartered in Singapore, Specialised Therapeutics Asia Pte Ltd (STA) is an international biopharmaceutical company established to commercialise new therapies and technologies to patients throughout South East Asia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. STA and its regional affiliates collaborate with leading global pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies to bring novel, innovative and life-changing healthcare solutions to patients affected by a range of diseases. Its mission is to provide therapies where there is an unmet need. The company's broad therapeutic portfolio currently includes novel agents in oncology, haematology, neurology, ophthalmology and supportive care.

Additional information can be found at www.stbiopharma.com

About PharmaMar

Headquartered in Madrid, PharmaMar is a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and committed to research and development, taking its inspiration from the sea to discover molecules with antitumor activity. It is a company seeking innovative products to provide health care professionals with new tools to treat cancer. Its commitment to patients and to research has made it a world leader in the discovery of antitumor drugs of marine origin.

PharmaMar has a pipeline of drug candidates and a robust R&D oncology program. It develops and commercializes YONDELISO in Europe and has other clinical stage programs under development for several types of solid cancers: lurbinectedin (PM1183), PM184 and PM14.

About YONDELIS (trabectedin)

YONDELIS (trabectedin) is a novel, multimodal, synthetically produced antitumor agent, originally derived from the sea squirt, Ecteinascidia turbinata. The anti-cancer medicine works by preventing tumor cells from multiplying and is approved in 76 countries in North America, Europe, South America and Asia for the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcomas as a single-agent, and in 69 countries for relapsed ovarian in combination with DOXIL/CAELYX (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection).

The approval was based on the results of a pivotal phase 3, randomised, open-label controlled study which evaluated YONDELIS versus dacarbazine in over 500 patients with unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma (LPS) or leiomyosarcoma (LMS) previously treated with an anthracycline and at least one additional chemotherapy regimen. LPS and LMS are subtypes of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) and represent more than 35% of all STS cases.5

The median progression-free survival (PFS) among the YONDELIS treatment group was 4.2 months compared to 1.5 months in the dacarbazine treatment group, representing a 45% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death with YONDELIS (HR=0.55; 95% CI: 0.44 - 0.70; p<0.001).1

Among the 340 patients who received YONDELIS and were included in the safety analysis in the randomised trial, the most common (20%) adverse reactions were nausea (73%), fatigue (67%), vomiting (44%), constipation (36%), decreased appetite (34%), diarrhoea (34%), dyspnoea (25%), peripheral oedema (24%) and headache (23%). The most common (20%) laboratory abnormalities were neutropenia (49%), increased alanine transaminase (ALT) (45%), anaemia (39%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (35%), thrombocytopaenia (30%) and increased blood alkaline phosphatase (20%).1

About Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Soft tissue sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that forms as a painless lump (tumour) in any one of the soft tissues connecting all the organs and body structures  including fat, muscle, nerves, deep skin tissue, blood vessels and the tissue surrounding joints (synovial tissue). Soft tissue sarcomas commonly develop in the thigh, shoulder and pelvis and may sometimes develop in the abdomen or chest.6

Metastatic or locally advanced STS is generally considered incurable, with the mainstay of treatment being systemic chemotherapy. For some patients with limited disease burden however, long-term remission can be achieved through a multimodality approach involving medical, surgical and radiation therapy.6

Further Enquiries:

Emma Power, Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager, Specialised Therapeutics Asia +65 3158 9940 or +61 419 149 525 or [email protected]

References

Demetri G. et al. J Clin Oncol. 2016; 34(8): 786-793 YONDELIS (trabectedin) TGA Approved Product Information Barone A. et al. Clin Cancer Res ; 2017; 23(24): 7448-7453 YONDELIS (trabectedin) European Medicines Agency Summary of Product Characteristics Toro JR, et al. Int J Cancer. 2006; 119:2922-2930 Cancer Council Victoria Fact Sheet - Soft tissue sarcoma. Available at https://www.cancervic.org.au/cancer-information/types-of-cancer/soft_tissue_cancers/soft-tissue-cancers-overview.html

SOURCE Specialised Therapeutics Asia
Automotive wiring harness is often split into two types: main wiring harness and small wiring harness. As new energy vehicles emerge, automotive wiring harness is also divided into low-voltage and high-voltage types.

New York, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global and China Automotive Wiring Harness Industry Report, 2021" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p0191577/?utm_source=GNW

Conventional fuel-powered vehicles use low-voltage harness while new energy vehicles employ the high-voltage harness.



The boom of new energy vehicles will fuel the demand for high-voltage wiring harness. On our estimate, the global new energy vehicle high-voltage wiring harness market was valued at RMB4.69 billion in 2020, 41.4% more than in the previous year, sharing roughly 3% of the entire automotive wiring harness market. In future, the new energy vehicles promoted by governments and automakers will see a rising sales share, which in turn will give a big boost to the high-voltage wiring harness market in the years to come.



Globally, there are four echelons of automotive wiring harness companies: the first-echelon players are Yazaki and Sumitomo Electric Industries; Aptiv, Leoni and Lear are typical second-echelon players; the third-echelon players are led by Draexlmaier, Kromberg & Schubert, Furukawa Electric, Yuratech, Kyungshin and Fujikura; players in the fourth echelon are a number of other small wiring harness firms.



In current stage, the global automotive wiring harness market is almost carved up by the first three echelons which have built stable supply relationships with automakers. Furthermore, international wiring harness manufacturers deploy the promising Chinese market by way of acquiring or establishing wholly-owned companies or joint ventures with local companies, hoping to support co-funded auto plants and homegrown automakers.



Local companies edge into the supply chains of international automakers.

In China, typical automotive wiring harness companies include Kunshan Huguang Auto Harness Co., Ltd., THB Group, Shenzhen Deren Electronics Co., Ltd., Shanghai Jinting Automobile Harness Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Etern Co., Ltd.), Mind Electronic Appliances Co., Ltd., Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Qiaoyun Electronics Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Huakai Wire Harness Co., Ltd. and Keboda Technology Co., Ltd.



As more homemade auto parts tend to be purchased, some domestic harness companies with years of technical expertise and synchronous development experience have gained far more strength and edged into the supply chains of world-renowned automakers by virtue of timely and effective services and reliable products. Examples include THB Group, Kunshan Huguang Auto Harness Co., Ltd., Shanghai Jinting Automobile Harness Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Deren Electronics Co., Ltd. and Keboda Technology Co., Ltd.



The more functions are added in vehicles, the more wiring harnesses are demanded, which directly causes a surge in length and weight of wiring harnesses and further much heavier automobiles, and makes it too much harder to deploy wires. Optimizing wiring harnesses from quality to wiring is a must for meeting the soaring demand. We argue that automotive wiring harness will head in the following directions:



Trend 1: lightweight

Automotive wiring harness is a key component that makes up around 5% of vehicle curb weight. As vehicles become lighter, lightweight automotive wiring harness already holds the trend. Currently, there are mainly three ways to reduce the weight of automotive wiring harness: thinner wire insulation layer; improved process for smaller harness cross section; use of more lightweight materials.



Trend 2: E/E architecture design optimization

Lightweight automotive wiring harness can reduce weight, but fundamentally less use of harness will pay off more in optimizing harness. The adoption of new E/E architecture is a key to improving automotive wiring harness. A new architecture can lessen wires used for various vehicle functions through simplifying wiring design, also reduce weight to favor automated production and lower cost.

Take Tesla as an example. Its application of new E/E architecture leads to a sharp cut in harness length from 3km of Model S to 1.9km of Model 3. In addition, its patented technology released in 2019 upgrades the wiring layout where harness can be as short as 100m. Yet current Model Y falls short of the goal. In future, the mass adoption of flexible circuit boards to replace current wires may achieve the length cut goal.



Also, Aptiv announced its smart vehicle architecture (SVA) that allows for the integration of multiple ECUs into a small domain control unit. The architecture can thus save multiple microcontrollers, multiple power supply devices, and multiple housings and copper wiring harnesses but still maintain or even improve the vehicle computing power, which contributes to a 20% reduction in both harness weight, and the weight and size of computing-related hardware.

Trend 3: production process automation



Wiring harness is a typical labor-intensive industry where 95% harnesses are handmade products and productivity is low, because automotive wiring layout is complex. Labor cost therefore has been a critical constraint on capacity expansion and scale effect. At present, most automotive wiring harness manufacturers still rest on advanced equipment to automate just some production links. Intelligent manufacturing has not yet become widespread.



As automotive wiring harness tends to be integrated and production technology advances, intelligent manufacturing will have the potential to penetrate the whole process of automotive wiring harness from design, production, warehousing and logistics to management and service. Automotive wiring harness players such as Aptiv, Lear and Kunshan Huguang Auto Harness all are promoting the automated production process.



Trend 4: apply wireless communication to reduce the use of wiring harnesses



The application of wireless communication will reduce the use of wiring harnesses.



A patent Yazaki obtained in 2018 involves an extended systems electronic device and ECU that are configured to send and receive signals with each other via wireless communication. This avoids the necessary addition of communication circuits to the extended system, simplifying wiring layout and lessening harnesses.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p0191577/?utm_source=GNW



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



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Manitoba church fined $10K for violating COVID-19 gathering rules; 2 restaurants fined $5K

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A church in the Canadian province of Manitoba was fined $10,000 while two restaurants in the province each received fines of $5,000 in response to violating gathering restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

From April 12 to April 18, Christian Church of Morden received two fines, each totaling $5,000 for allegedly violating provincial lockdown orders.

Flea Whiskey's in Winnipeg and Original Joe's Restaurant and Bar in Brandon were also fined $5,000 during that time, with 14 persons also fined $1,296 each for similar violations, CTV News Winnipeg reported Tuesday.

The public is reminded that abusive and aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated, and criminal offences will be reported to police and investigated, stated province officials, according to CTV.

On Easter Sunday, Christian Church of Morden held what local news media outlet The Winkler Morden Voice described as a full in-person service on Easter Sunday.

In a statement posted online that has since been taken down, the church defended its decision to hold the service, arguing that it was not an act of rebellion or resentment towards our government but an earnest desire to minister to our society during this crisis.

Churches have been a place of refuge for people in difficult times where they may receive help for spiritual, emotional and physical suffering, stated the church, as quoted by the Voice.

At the moment, we find ourselves in a crisis, and, as a church, we are more than ever required to pray and have open doors for anyone looking for fellowship, help and support.

Christian Church of Morden also stated that they were taking precautions, such as reminding our congregation not to attend church services if someone is sick and contagious.

According to current provincial public health orders, updated on Monday, Manitoba prohibits gatherings of more than five people indoors and more than 10 people outdoors unless otherwise permitted.

Houses of worship are permitted to hold regular worship services, provided they do not exceed 25% of the usual capacity of the premises or 50 persons, whichever is lower and follow public health guidelines like social distancing and wearing face masks.

This Order does not prevent the premises of a church, mosque, synagogue, temple or other place of worship from being used by a public or private school or for the delivery of health care, child care or social services, continued the order.

Last December, Christian Church of Morden was one of seven congregations to sign onto a lawsuit against the province, challenging the legality of the public health orders.

The churches, along with a couple of restaurant owners and an attendee of a protest, were represented by the Calgary, Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.

The lockdowns are devastating society on multiple socio-economic and constitutional levels, and harming the well-being of citizens, said Allison Pejovic, staff lawyer at JCCF, in a statement last year.

It is past time that the constitutionality of these restrictions and prohibitions are adjudicated by a fair and impartial court that looks at facts and evidence.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, declared on Friday, within a special session of the Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral, where the heads of diplomacy from Georgia and Ukraine will attend, will highlight the "firm" commitment of Bucharest for continuing the assistance granted to the two countries for consolidating the defence capacities and will reiterate the support for their European and Euroatlantic aspirations.

"I also discussed about our partners - Georgia and Ukraine. This year, for the first time in the trilateral dialogue format, at Romania's initiative, I invited out counterparts of Tbilisi and Kiev and we will meet with them in the following hours. I am convinced that we will have a substantial dialogue. Therefore, Romania hosts these days four Foreign Ministers in Bucharest, Romania's important partners. The talks will be in the 3+2 format, which will be a good opportunity to reaffirm the support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two states within their internationally recognized borders," Aurescu said, at the end of the plenary session of the Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral.

He added that he will highlight Romania's firm commitment for continuing the assistance for Georgia and Ukraine, for consolidating the defence capacities of these states, for increasing resilience in front of the challenges and threats they are facing.

"Furthermore, I will reiterate the support for the European and Euroatlantic aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine, at the same time with encouraging the two partners to continue the reform process in this sense," Bogdan Aurescu highlighted.

Within the special work session where Ministers David Zalkaliani and Dmytro Kuleba will be a part of, there will be an exchange of opinions on the security situation regarding the Eastern Vicinity, including from the Black Sea.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 11:49:05|Editor: huaxia

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Firefighters try to extinguish the fire at a chemical warehouse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 23, 2021. One person was killed and 14 others were injured as a fire broke out at a chemical warehouse in the old part of Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka early Friday. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and 14 others were injured as a fire broke out at a chemical warehouse in the old part of Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka early Friday.

The fire originated on the ground floor of the five-storey building where the chemical warehouse is located at around 3:00 a.m. local time, Md Shahin Fakir, officer-in-charge of Dhaka's Bangshal police station, told journalists.

He said 19 firefighting units managed to bring the fire under control after hours of fighting. The body of the victim was recovered from the building after putting out the fire, who was believed to have died of asphyxiation by the toxic gas.

Of the 14 injured, 10 were sent to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, he said, adding that their respiratory organs might have been damaged to some extent.

The cause of the fire remained unclear.

Fires are common in parts of old Dhaka where hundreds of thousands of people are crammed in congested houses.

A devastating fire in the old Dhaka area killed at least 124 people in 2010, causing a public outcry to relocate chemical warehouses and stores from the area. Enditem
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Italian MEP Alessandro Panza urges those holding positions in European structures to do so that those who deny the extermination of 1.5 million Armenians 106 years ago in the Ottoman Empire should be no longer tolerated, the MEP told ARMENPRESS in a video-conference.

''Dear Armenian friends, April 24 is the Remembrance Day of the genocide of the 1.5 million Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Despite the fact that many years have passed, there is still someone that says it never happened. And that one is Turkey, is dictator Erdogan, is the country that denies that the Armenian Genocide ever took place. People like me, who work in these structures, in the European structures should use their role and responsibilities to put an end to all this, to make sure that those who deny the extermination of 1.5 million people can no longer be tolerated', the MEP said.
New Delhi:

The special investigation team (SIT) of Bengaluru Police on Tuesday has released a sketch of a suspect in connection with the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Police team have made the sketch with the help of CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts.

The SIT is looking out for suspect in white shirt and black trousers riding a bajaj pulsar ride. According to the sketch released the suspect can been seen wearing hand-gloves and face masked with a helmet.

The Bengaluru Police suspects the biker was doing a recce prior to Lankeshs killing.

Lankesh was shot dead by unknown bike-borne criminals outside her residence on September 5 evening. Her killers had pumped in at least seven rounds of bullet into her body from a close range.

Police then had said that a man wearing a helmet was recorded on cameras as he was shooting her.

The Bengaluru Police last week had released CCTV footages and sketches of the suspect.

The sketch released by the SIT is an enhanced close-up. The picture shows shows the facial features of the killer.

Also read| Gauri Lankesh murder: SIT holds press conference, releases CCTV footage of one suspect



Last week, the Karnataka government had said that the killers have been identified but evidence is still being collected to prove their guilt.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The chairman of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, declared on Thursday night for the private TV broadcaster Antena3, that he will propose to his party colleagues to launch a parliamentary strike, if the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) will not be presented in Parliament.

"If they will not come with the PNRR to present it in Parliament, (...) I will propose to my colleagues to launch a parliamentary strike. To be specific, we will be in Parliament, at the parliamentary groups, we will take part in the committees, but we will not take part in the plenum. And Mr. Iohannis should manage his Government and Parliament without Opposition in the Parliamentary plenum (...) We will not participate in the final vote. At the first National Standing Bureau (BPN) I will propose this to my colleagues," CIolacu said.

The PSD chairman also said what the reaction from Brussels was regarding PNRR.

"I am telling you, they said: It is clear that you cannot finish this because it was poorly made. Go home and try to... You do not have the philosophy of the plan, you did not understand what this plan consists of," Ciolacu said.

Asked if Romania could miss the PNRR, the PSD leader said: "Currently, we are not on track".
WTF?! It's probably not unusual for individual users to get banned from contributing to Linux for making poor decisions. However, for the first time to my knowledge, the Linux Foundation has soft-banned an entire domain. Any user submitting commits from a umn.edu (University of Minnesota) address will be "default-rejected" until further notice.

The Linux Foundation has banned the entire University of Minnesota from contributing to the Linux kernel. The expulsion comes after researchers from the school published a paper titled "Open Source Insecurity: Stealthily Introducing Vulnerabilities via Hypocrite Commits." The paper details how Qiushi Wu and Kangjie Lu, both students at U of M, intentionally submitted code with security flaws to "test the kernel community's ability to review 'known malicious' changes."

Linux Foundation fellow Greg Kroah-Hartman did not appreciate the "bad faith" experiment. He mentions in an email to other kernel maintainers, including Linus Torvalds himself, that from now on, they should reject all submissions from users with a umn.edu email address.

Follow up removing almost all of these changes: https://t.co/wLnQxwKfyk  Greg K-H (@gregkh) April 21, 2021

"I'll take this through my tree, so no need for any maintainer to worry about this, but they should be aware that future submissions from anyone with a umn.edu address should be by default-rejected unless otherwise determined to actually be a valid fix," Kroah-Hartman wrote. He said that maintainers are still free to approve submissions, but only if "they provide proof and can verify it." So it is essentially a soft ban.

"But really, why waste your time doing that extra work?" Kroah-Hartman added as an afterthought.

The two researchers' actions were not the only factor in determining to ban the entire school. A third U of M user had several submissions of junk code that did nothing. Kroah-Hartman ordered that all past commits coming from the university be reverted and re-reviewed. He started the work himself and listed scores of code that he has already reverted.

In response to the ban, UMN leadership issued a statement promising "remedial action."

"Leadership in the University of Minnesota Department of Computer Science & Engineering learned today about the details of research being conducted by one of its faculty members and graduate students into the security of the Linux Kernel. "We take this situation extremely seriously. We have immediately suspended this line of research. We will investigate the research method and the process by which this research method was approved, determine appropriate remedial action, and safeguard against future issues, if needed. We will report our findings back to the community as soon as practical."

This is worse than just being experimented upon; this is like saying youre a safety researcher by going to a grocery store and cutting the brake lines on all the cars to see how many people crash when they leave. Enormously unethical; I hope @UMNews has an IRB that takes note!  Jered Floyd (@jeredfloyd) April 21, 2021

The researchers also issued a statement denying they ever intentionally submitted bugs into the kernel. They said that flawed patches were introduced to maintainers for feedback via email. Once they got a reply amounting to "looks good," they informed the maintainers of the intentional bug and told them not to make the commit. However, the whole controversy started after someone found at least four vulnerabilities that made it through review submitted by someone with a UMN email address.

While not apologizing for their work, the students did express regret for the extra effort it caused maintainers.

"We would like to sincerely apologize to the maintainers involved in the corresponding patch review process; this work indeed wasted their precious time," Wu and Lu explained. "We had carefully considered this issue, but could not figure out a better solution in this study."

The issue has understandably provoked heated exchanges within the Linux community. Kernel developer Laura Abbot condemned the frivolous nature and conclusions of the study, pointing out that the possibility of malicious code being intentionally introduced is already well-known in the community.

Images credit: Stanislaw Mikulski
Mozambique's humanitarian crisis from the extremist insurgency in the country's north is rapidly spiraling, with more than 950,000 people in urgent need of food aid, the United Nations' World Food Programme said Thursday.

An estimated 50,000 people fled their homes amid the rebels' five-day siege of Palma earlier this month, swelling the numbers of displaced and hungry.

Many have fled to Pemba on boats, making a treacherous trip in stormy seas, and thousands are still trapped in Palma and the nearby settlement of Quitunda.

WFP said it is delivering food to those areas as well as to coastal islands.

Many of the displaced in Mozambique have been taken in by other families, who are already poor. The host families are also experiencing hunger, aid workers said.

Children are worst affected by the rising rates of malnutrition.

There was a joint, a recent survey that we did with UNICEF, where they're accounting for a high percentage of children amongst displaced, amongst the displaced community, as well as the host community as well, said Shelley Thakral, WFP's regional spokesperson for southern Africa.

Almost 21% of displaced children under 5, and 18% of children of host families, are underweight, according to a recent survey by UNICEF and WFP.

The rates of chronic malnutrition, which has lifelong consequences, are at an alarming 50% of displaced children and 41% of children from host communities, according to the survey.

WFP's emergency food distributions provide rations to feed a family for two weeks with supplies of high-energy biscuits, rice, pulses, vegetable oil, water, and canned foods such as sardines and beans.

In response to the growing crisis, WFP is scaling up its response, with plans to assist 750,000 internally displaced people and vulnerable members of the local community across the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa and Zambezia.

WFP said that it urgently requires $82 million to respond to the crisis and support the vulnerable, largely women and children.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
An ice jam on the Buckland River has sent water over the village of the Buckland in Northwest Alaska. Buckland, a village of about 400 residents, is 75 air miles southeast of Kotzebue. Photo courtesy of Charles Esmailka
China strengthens data protection in facial recognition

By Wang Jingyue (People's Daily Overseas Edition) 09:22, April 23, 2021

Foreign students at the Nantong College of Science and Technology, east Chinas Jiangsu province, enter their dormitories after a temperature test via a thermos-detector that supports facial recognition, March 6, 2020. (Peoples Daily Online/Feng Kaimin)

China has enhanced efforts to ensure data security in facial recognition as the technology has raised increasing concerns over users privacy and information leakage while being more and more widely used in Chinese peoples life and work, including such scenarios as unlocking mobile phones, verifying identity, and clocking in.

The procuratorate in Cixi city, east Chinas Zhejiang province, recently received a tip-off that some real estate businesses installed cameras that support facial recognition at their sales offices to secretly capture and store the facial features of buyers without giving explicit indication of the information collecting behavior.

According to a survey report jointly released by Chinas National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee and other institutions last October, more than 90 percent of the respondents have used facial recognition systems, and over 60 percent of them believe that the technology seems to become overused and is frequently faced with problems such as forced use and illegal collection of users information.

Experts pointed out that some people are vigilant against facial recognition because in the era of the Internet, they attach more importance to protecting their privacy like personal data, and compared with other biometric information, facial features can be more easily collected before people realize it.

Besides, unlike other personal data that can be easily changed, such as user name, mobile phone number and e-mail address, facial information is unique and can't be changed. Once their face data is collected by companies, theres no way consumers can know if these companies will guarantee long-term and secure data management and prevent illegal use of the data, explained experts.

Therefore, it is of great significance to use facial recognition systems properly and store safely people's face data with their consent.

In fact, facial recognition has played a positive role in fields like public service. During the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, contactless facial recognition devices, which can accurately and efficiently identify people's faces and take their temperature, have been widely applied in shopping malls, restaurants and office buildings, actively contributing to the containment of the virus.

With the development of facial recognition technology, some devices can effectively identify people even with their facial masks on. In a huge face database with 300,000 images, such devices can have an accuracy rate of as much as 90 percent in identifying people with their masks on, suggested a research report initiated by China National Information Technology Standardization Technical Committee and jointly compiled by many companies and organizations in December 2020.

Obviously, it is inadvisable to neglect the advantages of facial recognition and simply abandon the technology.

To ensure data security, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China issued a draft law on personal information protection in October 2020, formulating provisions on the installation of facial recognition equipment in public places.

The draft law specified that image capturing and ID recognition equipment installed in public places should suit the need for safeguarding public security, comply with relevant regulations, and be accompanied by noticeable marks to remind users.

The images and personal information collected by the equipment can only be used for safeguarding public security and never be made public or available for other people, said the draft law.

Various areas of China have launched policies to regulate the collection of personal information via means including facial recognition.

In October last year, Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, revised its property management regulation, stipulating that property service providers are not allowed to force proprietors to use public facilities and devices and share their bio-information such as fingerprints and facial features.

North Chinas Tianjin municipality implemented a social credit regulation on Jan. 1, which made Tianjin the first Chinese city to publicly ban the collection of facial recognition information.

Experts believe that as relevant laws, regulations and standards gradually improve, the application of facial recognition technology is expected to be brought under good control, and continue to play an active role on the premise that peoples privacy and personal data are kept safe.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Russia has expelled five staff members at Poland's embassy in Moscow in a tit-for-tat move after Warsaw declared three Russian diplomats in Poland personae non gratae for violating their diplomatic status.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 23 it had summoned Poland's ambassador to Russia, Krzysztof Krajewski, to the ministry in Moscow where he was informed of the decision.

It said the move, which gives the Polish diplomats until May 15 to leave Russia, was made because Warsaw was "consciously pursuing a course toward the further degradation and destruction of our bilateral relations."

Poland's Foreign Ministry described Russia's decision as another example of aggressive policies and a deliberate gesture meant to inflame relations with the neighbors and the entire international community."

The ministry said it reserved the right to an appropriate response."

The Polish government expelled the three Russian Embassy staff members on April 15 for violating their diplomatic status and "conducting activities harmful to Poland."

Russia's move to expel Polish diplomats came as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania ordered the expulsion of a total of four Russian diplomats.

The three Baltic countries said they acted in solidarity with the Czech Republic, which is engaged in a tense diplomatic showdown with Moscow involving the expulsions of scores of diplomats over Russia's alleged role in a deadly 2014 explosion at a Czech arms depot.

The Czech Republic, the Baltic states, and Poland are all European Union and NATO members.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks with members of the National Guard in the US Capitol Visitor Center in Washington on March 5, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Whitmer Appeared to Lie About Florida Trip Before Disclosure

Michigans governor appeared to omit an out-of-state trip when questioned about what she did during spring break, in an interview just days before it emerged she traveled to Florida in March.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told MIRS, a Michigan news outlet, in a podcast interview on April 12 that I was here in town the whole time over the past year.

When a reporter asked where she would have gone over spring break if she had traveled, she said she did not know.

The last trip Ive taken was to Israel, she said.

Whitmer went to Israel in the fall of 2019.

Whitmer went to Florida last month to visit her father, her office acknowledged this week. The acknowledgment came after MIRS reported on the trip.

The Michigan Republican Party said Whitmer lied about her trip.

The issue is not that Gov. Whitmer visited her father, its that she lied about it and continues to hide key facts, said Ted Goodman, communications director of the Michigan Republican Party, in a statement.

Its also hypocritical as Michiganders were denied the same opportunity through her rules that locked people from visiting their loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes, he added.

Whitmers office has not responded to requests for comment.

During an appearance on Washington Post Live on April 20, the Democrat said she has taken three trips out of Michigan in the last six months, two of which were to D.C. for President Joe Bidens inauguration and for visiting with Michigan National Guard troops there. The third was to Florida to visit her father, who she said it battling some chronic illness.

And hes a very private person. I feel terrible that Ive even had to share that much, but it was certainly not spring break. I was doing both my job as governor from a distance and being that of a daughter who was helping out a parent who needed a little help, she said.

Whitmer called the criticism over her trip maddening, because a lot of these same people would accuse me of not having family values if I didnt show up when a family member needed some help, right? She added: It was a two-day trip. I wasnt out partying in Miami. Its a very different situation than what theyre portraying.

Whitmer spokespersons told news outlets that Whitmers father was fully vaccinated when the governor traveled. Whitmer was not, having received her first of two shots on April 6.

Two top government officials in the state have also traveled out-of-state recently, to Florida and Alabama.

Whitmer has called criticism of those trips partisan hit jobs.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. MP Tim Loughton, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Armenia in the British Parliament, has prepared an Armenian Genocide recognition bill which will be submitted to the Parliament in May.

In a video message for ARMENPRESS, the British MP expressed hope that there will be considerable support for that bill in both Houses of Parliament.

On April 24 hundreds of thousands of Armenians will lay flowers around the eternal flame in the Genocide Memorial Complex in Yerevan, which will be one of the numerous ceremonies across the world marking the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. This year, however, the emotional feelings from the symbolism of the day are much stronger as the pain from the last years war in Nagorno Karabakh, in which the Turkish side played a significant role, is too fresh, he said.

Tim Loughton regretted that he will not be able to participate in the commemoration events in Yerevan this year, but stated that he will be laying a wreath with members of the Armenian community at the Cenotaph in Whitehall in London.

The tragic symbolism is that the invasion to Nagorno Karabakh in 2020 took place 100 years to the day since the Turks invaded the newly independent republic of Armenia against the backdrop of the Armenian Genocide, the British lawmaker said.

Mr. Loughton reminded that on May 24, 1915 the allied governments of the Great Britain, France and Russia issued a joint declaration, describing the committed atrocities as crimes against humanity and civilization, which was the first time ever for that definition to be aired on such a high level. In 1915 the issue was raised and discussed in both Houses of Parliament. In 1916, by the efforts of the two brilliant British historians and diplomats Sir James Bryce and Arnold J. Toynbee the collection of eye-witness accounts on the Armenian Genocide was published by the British government in 1916 under the title The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-16 (also known as Blue Book), which remains one of the most notable collection of documents and witnesses of the Armenian Genocide.

Despite all these and many other facts, the British government has yet to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. I believe that it is time, at long last, for our government to recognize a century-old outrage in which 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottomans, in the first Genocide of the modern age. And we will continue to lobby for that in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the MP said.

He expressed confidence that in doing so and by joining other nations, who have already recognized it, the United Kingdom will not only ensure that the 'Never Again' retains its full meaning and significance, but will also vividly demonstrate the Global Britains mission as a force for good in todays world.

As a friend of Armenia in the British Parliament and admirer of the achievements of the vibrant Armenian community in the UK, I want to express my solidarity with Armenia and the Armenian people around the world, on this Day of Remembrance, Tim Loughton stated.

Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan
HIGHLIGHTS

Second drill rig at Eastmain doubling drilling capacity at the project

Multiple targets from the 2020 FLEM campaign and ongoing DHEM surveys

Acquisition of two FLEM surveys completed - processing and interpretation imminent

Shipping of samples to Australia underway after delays from COVID-19 and industrial action

40,000m of drilling budgeted for 2021 still to be undertaken

First assays for 2021 drilling still awaited with results anticipated shortly

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Benz Mining Corp. (TSXV: BZ) (ASX: BNZ) (the Company or Benz) is pleased to give an update on activities at the Eastmain project.

The second drill rig, which had been booked to start in February, is now drilling at Eastmain after delays mostly due to COVID-19 restrictions in Canada and rig and driller availability pressure from increased winter drilling activities in the country over the first quarter of 2021.

CEO, Xavier Braud, commented: "The second rig will certainly help us accelerate our efforts at Eastmain but, more importantly, it will allow us more flexibility to balance our drilling between extensional, infill, step-out and regional drilling. We still have multiple untested and undertested targets from our 2020 fixed loop and down-hole electromagnetic surveys and we are still generating more targets. Additionally, several new discoveries we made last year need follow up. We have recently completed the acquisition of 56 line-km of fixed loop EM and we are looking forward to updating the market on those surveys shortly. The pressure on laboratories and services companies means that we have had to wait longer than expected to get results but we believe that we can restart the news flow from Eastmain where we have been incredibly active since January. We are well on track to continue growing the footprint of the Eastmain project in line with the discovery rate we have had for the past 12 months."





Figure 1: Second drill rig being delivered at the Eastmain project, April 2021

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1818/81511_ffc2e2f5a4c50923_001full.jpg

Fixed Loop and Downhole electromagnetics

Since January, Benz has been drilling conductors identified by the 2020 fixed loop and downhole electromagnetic surveys as well as targets from the ongoing systematic DHEM surveying of all completed holes.

Two new large regional fixed loop electromagnetic surveys have been recently completed and Benz will update the market as soon as processing and interpretation are completed and available.

Rejects from 2020 drilling shipped for PhotonAssayTM - in transit to Australia

All of the laboratory rejects (the fraction of samples unused in the assays process) from the 2020 drilling campaign have been sent to Australia to be analysed by PhotonAssayTM.

This assay method is non-destructive and is better suited to systems where gold is nuggetty (in coarse gold particles). There are multiple occurrences of coarse gold at Eastmain. This innovative analytical methodology is an environmentally friendly replacement for fire assay and allows for a more accurate measurement of gold grades where coarse gold is present.

This technology is not yet available in North America.

Shipping was affected by lockdown measures in place in Canada as well as industrial action at the port of Montreal.

Samples are now in transit and have been booked in the laboratory schedule to be analysed shortly after delivery.

This press release was prepared under supervision and approved by Dr. Danielle Giovenazzo, P.Geo, acting as Benz' qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

About Benz Mining Corp.

Benz Mining Corp. brings together an experienced team of geoscientists and finance professionals with a focused strategy to acquire and develop mineral projects with an emphasis on safe, low risk jurisdictions favourable to mining development. Benz is earning a 100% interest in the former producing high grade Eastmain gold mine, Ruby Hill West and Ruby Hill East projects in Quebec.

The Eastmain Gold Project is situated within the Upper Eastmain Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada and currently hosts a NI 43-101 and JORC (2012) compliant resource of 376,000oz at 7.9gpt gold. The existing gold mineralization is associated with 15-20% semi-massive to massive pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite making it amenable to detection by electromagnetics. Several gold mineralization occurrences have been identified by previous explorers over a 10km long zone along strike from the Eastmain Mine with very limited testing outside the existing resource area.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benz Mining Corp.

Xavier Braud, CEO

For more information please contact:

Paul Fowler

Head of Corporate Development (Canada)

Benz Mining Corp.

Telephone: +1 416 356 8165

Email: info@benzmining.com

Xavier Braud

CEO, Head of Corporate Development (Aus)

Benz Mining Corp.

Telephone +61 8 6143 6702

Email: info@benzmining.com

Forward-Looking Information: Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on plans, expectations and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to certain factors and assumptions, including, that the Company's financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events and that the Company obtains regulatory approval. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not to be valid or reliable, that occurrences such as those referred to above are realized and result in delays, or cessation in planned work, that the Company's financial condition and development plans change, and delays in regulatory approval, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company as set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable 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 ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Competent Person's Statements: The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on and fairly represents information and supporting information compiled by Mr Xavier Braud, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG membership ID:6963). Mr Braud is a consultant to the Company and has sufficient experience in the style of mineralization and type of deposits under consideration and qualifies as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr Braud holds securities in Benz Mining Corp and consents to the inclusion of all technical statements based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

The information in this announcement that relates to the Inferred Mineral Resource was first reported under the JORC Code by the Company in its prospectus released to the ASX on 21 December 2020. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81511
The Importance Of Being Earnest (importanceofbeingearnest.com)

Rating:

Verdict: Going Wilde at Nandos

Bring On The Bollywood (nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk)

Rating:

Verdict: Love hurts

Private Peaceful (barntheatre.org.uk)

Rating:

Verdict: Sweet, but still harrowing

Contrary to my persistent belief, Oscar Wilde did not say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

It certainly sounds like him, but it was in fact a line from the much lesser-known Victorian man of letters, Charles Caleb Colton.

Even so, it was a sincere form of flattery  if not folly  for Yasmeen Khan to produce a pastiche of one of Wildes best-loved and most-quoted comedies, resetting it in modern uddersfield, the northern town that lost its initial letter.

Wildes original features a series of improbable mix-ups involving two men sharing the pseudonym Ernest. Khan replaces metropolitan young cards Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff with vain romcom actor Algy (Tom Dixon) and desperate out-of-work thesp Jamil (Gurjeet Singh).

Wilde times: Mina Anwar (left) and Melanie Marshall. Filmed at Huddersfields Lawrence Batley Theatre and The Dukes, Lancaster, its spoofed to the max on a garish white set with Sixties-style Pink Panther music between scenes

They fall not for polite young ladies Gwendolen and Cecily, but for Gul (Nikki Patel) and Safina (Zoe Iqbal), in a plot that, like the original, defies description. Youre left not with Wildes souffle wit, but with Khans tongue-in-cheek masala.

On the one hand we have Wildes aphorisms, such as one must be serious about something to have any amusement in life, or by remaining single, a man converts himself into a permanent public temptation.

On the other, we have Khans Yorkshire epithets such as: You cant even have a natter without everyone nebbing! Or you believe owt you read on social media!?

Still, Wildes famous handbag line is arguably upgraded to: A holdall  in Huddersfield?!

Tom Dixon and Divina De Campo are pictured above in the show. Its spoofed to the max on a garish white set with Sixties-style Pink Panther music between scenes

The show is otherwise regrettably subject to juvenilia, including a toe-curling turn from comedian Hugh Dennis as a daytime TV host with flatulence. And theres a completely gratuitous run-out for RuPauls Drag Race UK winner Davina de Campo, as Algys surly PA.

But there are humorous moments, too, with Paul Chahidi as a pretentious director, and a TV quiz spoof Who Wants To Be A Suitable Boy?, in which Jamil is grilled by Mina Anwar as prospective mother-in-law Ms Begum (amazingly, never referred to as E Begum).

Filmed at Huddersfields Lawrence Batley Theatre and The Dukes, Lancaster, its spoofed to the max on a garish white set with Sixties-style Pink Panther music between scenes.

And it ends not with the amuse bouche of another Wildean quip, but a date for two with a box of peri-peri chicken and chips from Nandos.

You'll need to be an indulgent devotee of Indian film to get much joy out of Bring On The Bollywood. Air-head heroine Katrina, who claims to be a doctor, has a bust-up with grieving Ronny on a flight to Mumbai.

But in the fairytale spirit of the movies, after much contrived conflict, dislike turns to love and a predictable wedding.

During the two-hour slog to the nuptials on the mandap, there is some sweet warbling in the style of old-school Bollywood classics. But generally its electronic pop, with routine choreography running the gamut of hip shuffles, head wobbles and air wiping.

The best bit is the kaleidoscopic set and richly coloured costumes  spangly vests barely covering the boys torsos; shimmering saris exposing the girls midriffs.

Michael War Horse Morpurgo may have only one story to tell, but he tells it well, by getting into the head of his heroes. Private Peaceful is no exception.

As young Tommo, Emily Costello has a big bright smile and eyebrows almost as chatty as his character on his journey from enchanted childhood to trauma in the trenches.

James Demaine impresses, too, as Tommos protective older brother, and adds period atmosphere by playing folk songs on ukulele, harmonica and melodion.

The show, which is a co-production between the BoxLess Theatre company and Cirencesters Barn Theatre, is neatly staged by Alexander Knott, with tea chests, shafts of light and a booming bodhran drum for artillery.

But be warned: the ending may still be too dark for viewers under the age of 12.
Caitlyn Jenner announced that she has filed initial paperwork to run for governor in California.

The news comes as state election officials appear ready to approve a recall election of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. Jenner plans to make a formal campaign announcement in the coming weeks. In running, Jenner has arguably become the most prominent transgender person to seek elected office in the country (transgender politicians like Sarah McBride in Deleware and Danica Roem in Virginia have won state legislature seats in recent years).

Im in! California is worth fighting for. Visit https://t.co/a1SfOAMZQ3 to follow or donate today. #RecallNewsom pic.twitter.com/9yCck3KK4D  Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) April 23, 2021

In a statement posted to Twitter, Jenner wrote: California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision.

Jenner went on to criticize Newsom for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, calling out the states over-restrictive lockdown measures and tax rates.

Californians want better and deserve better from their governor, Jenner said. For too long, career politicians have over-promised and under-delivered. We need a leader with a vision and the resolve to see it through. This will be a campaign of solutions, providing a roadmap back to prosperity to turn this state around and finally clean up the damage Newsom has done to this state.

Jenner is a registered Republican who has described herself as a fiscal conservative and social liberal. She previously supported Donald Trump for president, but withdrew that support in 2018, penning an op-ed for The Washington Post in which she expressed her dismay that the Trump administration had not done more to help the LGBTQ community as Jenner had originally expected. Despite her political ambitions, Politico recently noted that Jenner has voted just nine times out of 26 statewide elections in California since 2000 (despite supporting Trump, she did not vote in 2016).

Jenner appeared to be teasing a gubernatorial run in recent weeks as the recall movement gained momentum. Politico also noted shes met with top Republican strategists, including former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, while The Los Angeles Times said shed also been in touch with a fundraiser associated with the Washington, D.C., rally that took place before the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The recall election in California is expected to be validated next week after Republicans across the state gathered over 1.5 million signatures supporting the effort. Along with Jenner, other Republican hopefuls include former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former Representative Doug Ose, and businessman John Cox. While whatever Republican secures the nomination will likely face an uphill climb in deep blue California  Newsom won in 2018 with 61.9% of the vote  Newsom has made himself vulnerable with gaffes like dining out with a lobbyist during the pandemic.

The recall, if approved, would be the second in Californias history, after Democrat Gray Davis was recalled in 2003. The winner of that election was another Republican celebrity and political newcomer: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Police officers hunting for a mystery vandal who chopped down 50 trees along the banks of the Thames in Surrey have arrested a 24-year-old man who was found with chainsaws in his van.

Council officials and detectives had been left baffled by the series of tree axing which started on Sunday, March 21 and a hunt for the phantom lumberjack was launched.

Despite increasing night-time patrols with the help of a newly-formed residents action group and scouring CCTV footage police had struggled to catch the culprit, until last night.

Around 50 to 60 trees have been hacked down - many of them mature trees more than 20ft high - in a two-mile stretch between Walton-on-Thames and Weybridge, both of which are in the Elmbridge borough in Surrey.

Surrey Police arrested a 24-year-old man with chainsaws in his car after officers stepped up patrols when a phantom lumberjack cut down between 50 and 60 trees

Surrey Police shared photographs of the trees which have been cut down in the most recent spate of mysterious attacks

A map shows all the locations where chopped trees have been reported in Walton-on-Thames and Weybridge in Surrey

Some of the trees were felled and left lying across the road, causing traffic chaos, police said.

It was believed that the phantom tree feller was striking at night by pulling up in his vehicle, starting a chain saw and using it to slice through robust tree trunks.

His motive was not known.

The area is home to some of the UK's highest earners with the average home selling at around 900,000 and some going for up to 14million.

Among the celebrity residents - past and present - include Gary Lineker, Andy Murray, Ronnie Wood, Kate Winslet, Peter Crouch, and Chris Tarrant.

At the weekend, eight more trees were chopped down - four on the same road, after the phantom lumberjack struck again.

Residents have said the tree massacre is causing distress in the surrounding community when green space is much needed

Surrey Police confirmed this morning that they had arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of criminal damage. Pictured: Chopped down trees in Walton-On-Thames

A statement from Surrey Police this morning confirmed officers had arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of causing criminal damage and going equipped.

'Officers were first alerted on Sunday, March 21, after local residents had noticed that a number of trees had been cut down overnight.

'Throughout the past month, more trees were cut down, some of which were left across the road, causing disruption to the area.

'Surrey Police received a fantastic response from residents who contacted us with information, allowing investigating officers to identify a vehicle they believed to be connected. Last night, this vehicle was stopped.

'Searches carried out in the suspects car and home address found several chainsaws and wood chippings. The man was arrested and remains in custody.'

Inspector Bert Dean, Borough Commander for Elmbridge said: 'This is an encouraging development in this investigation.

A jogger looks at modest stump that remains after a tree was chopped down with a chainsaw on the banks of the river Thames

The phantom lumberjack caused extensive damage with a series of attacks on a picturesque stretch of land near Thames

'We continue to piece together the evidence we have. Thank you again to the local community for their ongoing patience and support.'

Before the 24-year-old man was arrested Surrey Police revealed officers were 'reviewing CCTV' in the area in the hope of nailing the crook.

Speaking on Tuesday, Inspector Bert Dean asked members of the public to keep an eye out and send over any CCTV footage, adding: 'Local officers are requesting any CCTV footage to be uploaded that may assist in identifying the suspect(s) who is committing this damage to trees in Elmbridge.'

Anthony Cilia, a retired kitchen-fitter from Weybridge, was among the first to spot the damage to the trees, one of which was sliced into several pieces.

He said: 'Why this person is doing it is beyond me. There are plenty of wooded areas nearby to go to, but for some reason they are choosing to do it in a public area on the banks of the river.

'Not only is it a blight on an area the council has spent several millions of pounds on improving, but more importantly, it's dangerous.

'Several of the trees have been downed on to the road running past the Thames by Walton Bridge, which has very little light in the evenings so could cause a car accident.

One local who lives in the area said: 'I heard the buzzing of a chainsaw early this morning and raced out to confront the culprit but it was actually council workers slicing up one of the trees which had been felled overnight so they could remove it'

Two women walk past the scene of one of the mysterious tree attacks, which has left branches floating in the river

'None of the trees look to have been chopped up for firewood, could it be someone with a grudge against the council? I don't know, perhaps this person has mental health issues.

'What is worrying is that whoever they are, they have access to a chainsaw, powerful enough to slice through a 60cm tree trunk.'

Another local resident, Christine Elmer, said that trees which had been grown specially in memory of loved ones who had died were also targeted.

She tweeted: 'Really important if anyone has any info on who is going around our town and wider Borough cutting down trees, including Memorial trees, to get in touch with the Elmbridge Police.'

The founder of the Elmbridge Tree Patrol Facebook site, which now has more than 900 members, wrote: 'As you all know there's a maniac going around Weybridge, Walton on Thames and Cobham chopping down trees ruining the environment, eco system, habitats and making everyone upset.

Elmbridge Borough Commander Inspector Bert Dean, of Surrey Police, added: 'I do not underestimate the impact this mindless damage has on the local community as well as the risk it has posed to motorists by obstructing roads'

Two frustrated locals look at the devastation caused by the phantom lumberjack on the riverbank in a leafy part of Surrey

'I have set up this group so we can all as a community volunteer to patrol the area at night to try and hunt down and video record this lunatic.'

It states that the 'Group Rules' which members must follow include never giving the location of where they are patrolling, adding: 'Do not confront this person for obvious reasons but instead record everything including his red car and pass it over to the police using the reference number.'

Concerned resident Rachel Young said: 'This is causing major distress to the community at a time when we need our trees and green spaces more than ever.'

Susan Reynolds wrote: 'It's very worrying that someone is wandering around with a chainsaw and appears not to know how to use it properly.

'Let's hope that he/she is caught quickly before someone gets hurt, possibly the culprit!'

Kirstie Ahern added: 'Looks like you have a serial feller on your hands', and Kath Bennett joked: 'I think it's a case for Special Branch.'

Martin Deacon said: 'Hopefully the next one will land on them.'
Musical bonanza as two major orchestras get together

More than 100 musicians from the HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) and Hanoi Symphony Orchestra will perform together for the first time ever in Saigon.

Featuring the best and largest number of artists from both orchestras, the "Great German Three Bs" concert will introduce music from Ludwig van Beethoven, Max Bruch, and Johannes Brahms on April 24-25 at Saigon Opera House.

Music lovers will have a chance to listen to masterpieces, including Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Max Bruch's virtuosic Double Concerto, and Brahms Symphony No. 4, under the baton of conductor Tran Vuong Thach.

Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera takes a bow. Photo courtesy of HBSO.

Leading artists like Bui Cong Duy, widely considered to be Vietnams premier violinist, and Pham Vu Thien Bao, the leading viola player in the country, will join the concert.

Duy won first prize at international violin contests in Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg in 1993 and 1995. He also won the Tchaikovsky International Music Competition for violinists under 18 in 1997. Duy was later admitted to the Virtuoso Moscow Chamber Orchestra, becoming the first foreign member of the world-famous group in its 24-year history.

Pham Vu Thien Bao studied viola in Paris for many years and has joined many performances in France, Italy, Austria, and Spain.

The musical collaboration aims to mark the 46th anniversary of the Reunification Day on April 30, and 65 years since the establishment of the Vietnam National Academy of Music.

Ticket prices range from VND150,000-1 million ($6.49-43.26).
An organization of 2,270 volunteer workers is helping Venezuela boost its industrial capacity, devastated by years of U.S. economic sanctions.

by Leonardo Flores

We dont just repair machines; we repair consciences, says Sergio Requena of the Productive Workers Army (EPO by its Spanish-language initials) in Venezuela. The EPO is a group of 2,270 volunteers with a broad range of technical expertise. They go from factory to factory repairing broken machinery. Their mission is to recover Venezuelas industrial production by empowering workers to take matters into their own hands.

Venezuelas productive capacity has declined precipitously due to U.S. sanctions. The country is impeded from accessing the international financial system, leading to a fall in investment. Even importing spare parts or industrial equipment is next to impossible. As a result of this, factories have trouble completing regular maintenance and repairs.

In 2016, Requena and others were invited to help La Gaviota, a fish meal plant and sardine cannery that was paralyzed due to a broken oven. They traveled 500 kilometers, spent five days sleeping and working inside the factory, and successfully repaired not just the oven, but five other pieces of damaged machinery as well. After their visit, the factory went from producing nothing to producing 260 tons of fish meal.

This might seem like a small achievement, but it is a strategically important one, with powerful symbolism. Fish meal is used in animal feed, and when La Gaviotas production stopped, it was replaced by more expensive soybean meal imports paid for in dollars. The U.S. sanctions have caused Venezuelas foreign currency earnings to drop by 99 percent. The impact of these sanctions goes well beyond mere economics; they have had a devastating effect on the whole population of Venezuela, according to a report by a United Nations special rapporteur.

The biggest impact sanctions have had on my life [and that of my family is] the destruction of normality, of our daily reality, the routine we had as a family, Requena explains. He describes spending days in a queue to purchase gasoline in 2019. Much of his wifes family has left the country in search of better opportunities. This has been caused by the sanctions, he adds.

The EPO organized formally after the experience at La Gaviota, but its roots go further back. Between 2008 and 2014, workers took control of three companies in the remote state of Bolivar, where much of Venezuelas manufacturing capacity is located. These plants stopped producing as the owners began divesting and planned to liquidate assets and carry out massive layoffs. In response, workers occupied the factories, restarted production and were eventually granted legal recognition as worker-managed companies after protracted court battles.

Having emerged victorious from this struggle, Requena and others from these three companies sought to help workers across the country do the same. He sees the work being done by EPO as a step toward offsetting the impact of what he identifies as a U.S.-led hybrid war on Venezuela aimed at destabilizing the state and polarizing society.

The role of the EPO in this hybrid war is to contribute to organizing the Venezuelan people to neutralize these attempts and destabilization [of the state] and to strengthen the productive infrastructure of communes, he says. They are strategic in their efforts and have prioritized three sectors to work in: food production, natural gas distribution and hydrocarbon refining.

To date, EPO has carried out 14 of what it calls productive battles, which is a direct intervention in the production process of a paralyzed or semi-paralyzed work unit by teams of workers. Nine of the 14 have been in their priority sectors. This includes the Paraguana Refinery Complex, the third-largest oil refinery complex in the world, where it helped to increase the processing capacity of crude oil and gasoline additives. Another company is Nutrivida, which produces a beverage for children fortified with vitamins and minerals. This drink is provided to a government-run school meal plan that feeds 4.6 million children. These sectors are intimately linked to [ensuring] the living-well of Venezuelans, and thats what the hybrid war is trying to break, Requena explains.

He also emphasizes the work done at El Maizal, one of Venezuelas largest communes, where 3,200 families participate in direct democracy to make decisions about their community and its businesses. This includes the largest worker-controlled industrial farm in the country. There, the EPO fixed freezers for storing pork and increased the farms capacity to plant and harvest.

If they [the U.S.] want to fragment our industries, we must strengthen them. If they wont let us import, we must produce here, create here, design here, manufacture here, Requena notes. Hes convinced that U.S. sanctions and threats will continue, while expressing confidence that the Venezuelan people can overcome the difficulties they face.

For him, the bigger victory at La Gaviota was not the restarting of production, but the impact on the companys workers. People have been touched by their experiences with us because they understand that society can be transformed, he notes.

After two years of showing up to work and not being able to produce, workers at La Gaviota were demoralized and skeptical of Requena and his colleagues. By the third day, after seeing all that was being done through self-management and despite scant resources, the workers began to buy into the EPOs vision of winning the productive battles in Venezuela. Once the EPO repaired the fish meal equipment, the workers took it upon themselves to fix the sardine mincer and canning machine.

As the hybrid war on Venezuela continues, it will be up to ordinary peopleworking togetherto mitigate its worst impacts.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Leonardo Flores is a Venezuelan political analyst and peace activist with CODEPINK. He is a Globetrotter/Peoples Dispatch fellow.
The United States Coast Guard is searching for a 28-year-old man who was swimming Friday morning off Crane Beach in Ipswich, authorities said.

Officers were sent to beach around 9:30 a.m. after park rangers found an unattended backpack, according to a statement from Ipswich Chief of Police Paul Nikas.

After investigating the scene, police determined the bag belonged to the 28-year-old man and identified a car outside the gate that he owns as well, the statement said.

Officers contacted the mans friends, who told police he planned to go swimming that morning. Authorities believe, based on the location of his car, the man arrived at the beach around 8 a.m., before the park opened, according to the police chief.

The search effort is active and ongoing, and more information will be provided when it becomes available, Nikas said.

Those helping with the search include the Ipswich Police and Fire Departments, the Quincy Police Marine Unit and Massachusetts State Police as well as two boats, a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a HC-144 ocean sentry crews from the Coast Guards Air Station Cape Cod, according to Nikas.

Forty-seven-foot motor lifeboat crews from the Merrimack River, Gloucester and the Ipswich Fire Department Marine Unit are helping as well. The Massachusetts Environmental Police have also provided equipment to support the search effort, authorities said.
Trinidad and Tobago can see a reduction in the number of people dying from Covid-19 on a daily basis if the drugAzithromycinis immediately stopped, says Dr Ravi Ramjanak.

Ramjanak is a consultant in obstetrics gynaecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery.

It is my view based on the pharmacodynamics of Azithromycin that the death rate will fall if we stop using this drug in Covid-positive cases. Azithromycin has no effect on viruses, yeasts and fungi, said Ramjanak in an interview with the Sunday Express last week.
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Oxygen reserves on a missing Indonesian submarine are down to the final few hours as officials from the country desperately hone in on a radar signal detected from an unidentified object today.

The ramped-up hunt comes as Australia and the United States are set to join the search off the coast of Bali where the sub disappeared more than two days ago during training exercises.

Late yesterday, the military said it picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet).

Ships equipped with specialised tracking equipment were deployed in the hope that the object could be the KRI Nanggala 402, which was equipped with oxygen reserves that could last until around 3am local time on Saturday (8pm BST), authorities said.

There are only a few hours of oxygen reserves left on a missing Indonesian submarine as rescue teams desperately hone in on a signal received from an unidentified object today. Pictured: A military officer looks at pictures of the crew members on the missing KRI Nanggala

On Thursday, the US military said it would send airborne teams to help in the search, while Australia said two ships were on their way to assist. Pictured: The KRI Alugoro seen yesterday as it helped search for the missing submarine

Late yesterday, the military said it picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 165 and 330 feet (50 and 100 metres)

'We've only got until 3am tomorrow (Saturday) so we're maximising all of our efforts today,' said Indonesian military spokesman Achmad Riad.

'Hopefully there will be a bright spot.'

Berda Asmara is married to Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who had been expected to return home from the submarine training mission at the weekend.

'Our last communication was on Monday when he was going to work,' the mother of one told AFP in Surabaya, a port city in Java.

'He said "pray for me that I'll come home soon"... He told our daughter to listen to me and study hard.'

Despite hopes for a miracle, an oil spill (pictured) spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage

Ships equipped with specialised tracking equipment were deployed in the hope that the object could be the KRI Nanggala 402 (pictured), which was equipped with oxygen reserves that could last until around 3am local time on Saturday (8pm BST)

Pictured: Officers prepare a helicopter before taking part in the search operation for the missing Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala

Despite hopes for a miracle, an oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage.

Yesterday, the US military said it would send airborne teams to help in the search, while Australia said two ships were on their way to assist.

Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have already dispatched ships that are expected to arrive at the weekend, including the city-state's MV Swift Rescue - a submarine rescue vessel.

India said Thursday it had sent a ship to assist in the hunt.

'If there is serious damage on the boat itself, it could potentially mean a few things, for example, there will be very limited spaces for the crew with very limited oxygen,' said Collin Koh, a naval affairs specialist and research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

'It could also mean that the reserve tanks for the oxygen might potentially be damaged as well. So it will further reduce the oxygen level.'

Submarines are equipped to prevent carbon dioxide buildup, but if the equipment was damaged that could also pose a serious risk, Koh added.

'It's not just about whether there will be enough oxygen, but it's also about the level of carbon dioxide within the interior that could determine the fate of the submariners,' he said.

Yesterday, rescuers searching for an Indonesian submarine have found an unidentified object with high magnetism at a depth of 165 to 330ft (50 to 100 metres) that officials hope is the missing vessel.

Indonesian navy ships were today continuing to scour the seas off Bali amid fears the sub may have sunk too deep to save after it went missing in 2,300ft-deep waters on Wednesday.

Berda Asmara (pictured) is married to Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who had been expected to return home from the submarine training mission at the weekend

She said that her last communication with her husband had been on Monday when he asked her to pray for his safe return

Authorities said oxygen in the submarine would run out by early Saturday, making it a race against time to find the 53 sailors on board.

The German-made KRI Nanggala-402 was conducting a torpedo drill in waters 60 miles north of the island of Bali but failed to relay the results as expected, prompting an international search operation.

Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono has said the sailors have enough oxygen to last them until 3am on Saturday.

'The submarine's oxygen reserve capacity in a blackout is 72 hours', Margono told reporters. 'There's time until Saturday around 3am. Let's hope we can find them before then.'

But a glimmer of hope had emerged, he said, after authorities found an item with 'high magnetic force' at a depth of 165 to 330ft.

The military said more than 20 navy ships, two submarines and five aircraft were searching the area where the submarine was last detected.

Indonesian rescue workers (above) search for the missing submarine as Navy chiefs fear the worst.

The German-made KRI Nanggala-402 submarine (file photo of the submarine) is missing with 53 sailors on board

Indonesian marines are out in full force to track down the submarine that has sparked an international rescue operation

A hydro-oceanographic survey ship equipped with underwater detection capabilities also was on its way to the torpedo drilling site, where an oil slick was found.

Margono said the oil slick may have been caused by a crack in the submarine's tank after the vessel sank.

Indonesia's navy said it was possible an electrical failure occurred during the dive, causing the submarine to lose control and become unable to undertake emergency procedures that would have allowed it to resurface.

French navy vice admiral Antoine Beaussant has warned that the submarine was not built to withstand such a depth.

'If it went down to rest at 700 metres the likelihood is it would have broken up,' he said. 700 metres is around 2,296ft. The submarine is only built to withstand depths of up to 820ft below sea-level.

Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing Navy submarine have found an oil spill near the vessel's dive location in the waters off Bali.

Officials fear the vessel sank to the bottom of a trough with a depth of 2,300ft during a torpedo military exercise. The navy has deployed a number of warships to search for the missing crew.

Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, also said the submarine could be at too great a depth for a rescue team to operate.

'Most rescue systems are really only rated to about 1,970ft (600m),' he said. 'They can go deeper than that because they will have a safety margin built into the design, but the pumps and other systems that are associated with that may not have the capacity to operate. So they can survive at that depth, but not necessarily operate.'

Owen, a former submariner who developed an Australian submarine rescue system, said the Indonesian vessel was not fitted with a rescue seat around an escape hatch designed for underwater rescues.

He said a rescue submarine would make a waterproof connection to a disabled submarine with a so-called skirt fitted over the rescue seat so that the hatch can be opened without the disabled submarine filling with water.

Owen said the submarine could be recovered from 1,640ft (500m) without any damage but couldn't say if it would have imploded at 2,300ft (700m).

Indonesia Navy submarine KRI Alugoro takes part in the search for KRI Nanggala, another submarine that went missing on Wednesday

The Malaysian Navy have provided a submarine rescue ship, the MV Mega Bakti, to help find the KRI Nanggala near the island of Bali

Indonesian warship Suharso prepares the join the search for the missing submarine, over 24 hours after it went missing, as fears mount for the 53 sailors on board

Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said on Thursday that search teams were focused on an area around the oil slick, but that the exact location of the vessel had yet to be pinpointed.

'It has not been found yet,' Widjojono said. 'But we've detected the area...Today, around 400 personnel have been deployed.'

Six warships and a helicopter have been sent out to look for the sub, the navy said.

'We are obviously very concerned about these reports. It's very distressing for families and particularly for the Indonesian navy,' Australian foreign minister Marise Payne told broadcaster ABC.

'We've indicated that we will help in any way we can.'

Indonesian President Joko Widodo asked all of the country's people to pray that the submarine and crew could be found.

'Our main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members,' Widodo said in a televised address. 'To the families of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all of the crew members on board.'

The marines (above) patrolling the waters will be supported by ships from Singapore and Malaya

The Indonesian Rescue Agency are part of the hunt for the vanished submarine

The 44-year-old submarine had asked for permission to dive to conduct the live torpedo exercises.

'After permission was given according to the procedure, the submarine lost contact and could not be reached,' Indonesia's Defence Ministry said.

An aerial search by a helicopter later found an oil spill in waters where the submarine was thought to have submerged. The navy deployed two vessels with sonar capability to assist the hunt, the ministry said.

The navy requested help from other nations with submarine rescue vessels and Australia, Singapore and India have responded, the ministry said in a statement.

Rescue ships from Singapore and Malaysia are expected to arrive between Saturday and Monday. The Indonesian military said Australia, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, India and Turkey have also offered assistance. South Korea said it has also offered help.

'The news of the missing submarine is deeply concerning,' Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said during a visit to New Zealand. 'We will provide any assistance that we can. There's no question that submarine search and rescues are very complex.'

Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton called the incident 'a terrible tragedy.'

He told Sydney Radio 2GB that the fact that the submarine is 'in a very deep part of waters' makes it 'very difficult for the recovery or for location.'

'Our fervent prayers and hopes go out to the crew of KRI Nanggala, for their safety and resilience,' Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on Facebook.

There are fears the submarine is not able to withstand depths as low as 2,296ft without 'breaking up'

The hunt for Nanggala-402: Rescuers prepare to set off from Bali on a search mission with 53 submarine crew members missing

The submarine was conducting a torpedo drill in waters 60 miles north of the island of Bali

TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said contact with the submarine was lost at around 4.30am local time on Wednesday morning.

'We are still searching in the waters of Bali, 60 miles from Bali, (for) 53 people,' military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters in a text message.

He added: 'Tomorrow I will immediately go to the location.'

The military chief confirmed that assistance in the search for the submarine and missing crew members had been sought from Australia and Singapore.

Representatives of the defence departments of the two countries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Commander Marshal Tjahjanto will hold a media briefing to share further information about the search on Thursday from Bali, a spokesman said.

An oil spill in the area of the submarine could be responsible for the disappearance, as marines continue the hunt

Indonesian marine police (above) preparing to join the search for the missing submarine

Missing Naggala 402 Age: 44 years after being built in 1977 Top speed: 25 knots (46 km/hr) Range: 8,200 nautical miles (15,200 km) Maximum diving depth: 843ft Weight: 1,395 tons Length: 65 yards Fuel: Powered by four electric deisel engines Armaments: 14 torpedoes located in eight tubes. It is also equipped with a CSU-3-2 suite type sonar Built in: Lubeck, Germany Advertisement

Military analyst Soleman Ponto said it is too early to determine the fate of the submarine conclusively.

'We don't know yet whether the communication equipments were broken or the submarine has sunken. We have to wait for at least three days,' he said.

The 1,395-tonne KRI Nanggala-402 was built in Germany in 1977, according to the defense ministry, and joined Indonesian fleet in 1981. It underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.

Indonesia in the past operated a fleet of 12 submarines purchased from the Soviet Union to patrol the waters of its sprawling archipelago.

But now it has a fleet of only five including two German-built Type 209 submarines and three newer South Korean vessels.

Indonesia has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment still in service is old and there have been deadly accidents in recent years.

In 2016, an Indonesian air force transport plane crashed into a mountain, killing all 13 people board, during a training exercise in the remote region of Papua.

In 2015, an Indonesian military transport plane crashed into a northern residential area two minutes after takeoff, killing more than 100 people.

While the Southeast Asian archipelago has not previously suffered a major submarine disaster, other countries have been struck by accidents in the past.

Among them was the horrific sinking in 2000 of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet.

The submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000 when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others.

The fate of the 53 sailors hangs in the balance as Indonesian marines search for the missing submarine

An aerial search by a helicopter found an oil spill in waters where the submarine (file photo) was thought to have submerged

In 2018, authorities found the wreckage of a missing Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier.

Crushed from an implosion, the ARA San Juan was located at a depth of more than 3,000ft (900m) in a desolate area of undersea craters and canyons 250 miles (400km) off the coast of Argentina.

The accident took the lives of 44 sailors.

Then, in 2019, a French submarine that went missing in the western Mediterranean over 50 years ago was found.

The diesel-electric Minerve submarine was lost off France's southern coast with 52 sailors on board on January 27, 1968.

The Minerve was on a training mission in bad weather when it went down while returning to its base in Toulon, France's main Mediterranean naval port.

Experts have speculated that the disaster was caused by a problem with the Minerve's rudder, a collision with another boat, the explosion of a missile or torpedo, or a fault with its oxygen supply systems.
Image: HoneyRock

A few years ago, I wrote an article, Why Girls Need Camp. In it, I reflected on my daughters and how camp has benefitted them. The response was surprising and encouraging. Last year, camp was hit and miss, with good reason. But, now people are asking about camp in summer 2021. Well, one of the leading camp experts in the world happens to work with me at Wheaton College. He both leads HoneyRock, our Outdoor Adventure and Leadership Center (aka camp), and is a professor at Wheaton. We had a successful camp last summer, and I wanted him to share a bit more on how Christian camps are theologically valuable. You can read his previous article on Christan camps and what summer 2021 may look like, here.

On the final Sunday of Epiphany, The Anglican church reads the account of Christs Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, this year from Mark 9. It is an appropriate transition into Lent later that week, the 40-day preparation for Easter in the Church Calendar. In the Mark narrative, the Transfiguration came soon after Jesus started to teach his disciples about his coming death (Mark 18:31). As they descended from the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until he arose from the dead (Mark 9:9). The Transfiguration, bookended by these teachings, was, among other things, intended to prepare the disciples for the mystery of the coming death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and its salvific power. Years later, Peter would write about this from a position of better understanding stating, Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets (2 Peter 1:19).

The Transfiguration account was a formational encounter for Peter, James and John. It contains several key elements of Temporary Community, an essential component of Christian camping. Firstly, Jesus selected a small subgroup of disciples from his band of twelve to accompany him on this mini-expedition. Temporary communities by design have limited numbers of participants, allowing for more meaningful engagement among participants and with their facilitator. In Christian camping, larger groups of campers are divided into small units, often cabin groups of 8-10 that eat, sleep and engage in activities together for this very reason.

Second, the Transfiguration was a hyper-experience; an intense encounter. The disciples caught a glimpse of Jesus divine appearance, and chronos linear time was overtaken by a kairos event as Moses and Elijah, historical figures from hundreds of years apart appeared in one space. A flummoxed Peter blurted, It is wonderful for us to be here! (Mark 9:5). Though obviously not to the same extent, camp is often a hyper-experience with activities, relationships, and experiences, mediated by the Holy spirit, coming together to impact participants in extraordinary ways. It is no wonder that Peter suggested setting up permanent shelters to extend the experience ad infinitum, which would have violated a third element of temporary communities: time boundaries. Sweet and transformational though they be, temporary communities are events that have defined beginnings and endings, further intensifying the Kairos significance of the moment.

Another characteristic of the Transfiguration that is also true of temporary communities at Christian camps is this: Encounters with transcendence. This encounter brought together exemplars of the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), and the awe-inspiring presence of God the Father as he audibly affirmed his Son. Christian camps are places for transcendent encounters too, where participants experience the eternal Word through study, activities, relationships and facilitated reflection, all in the mountain top context of Creation. Campers learn about themselves and their gifts, make life changing decisions, and are impacted in ways that reverberate the rest of their lives.

Dazzling, a poem by Jan Richardson in her text on church seasons, Circle of Grace, beautifully personalizes the Transfiguration as a temporary community experience:

But this blessing

is built for leaving. This blessing

is made for coming down

the mountain. This blessing

wants to be in motion

to travel with you

as you return

to level ground. It will seem strange

how quiet this blessing becomes

when it returns to earth. It is not shy.

It is not afraid. It simply knows

how to bide its time. To watch and wait,

to discern and pray



until the moment comes

when it will reveal

everything it knows,

when it will shine forth

with all it has seen, When it will dazzle

with the unforgettable light

you have carried

all this way.

The Transfiguration is a paradigm for temporary communities leading to transformation and renewal. It is one of many examples in Scriptures of God drawing his people away from "normal life" for a season or time to stir them to new or renewed awakenings, perspectives, or approaches to life. He commanded the Israelites to observe temporary community celebrations such as the Passover and Festival of Shelters to remind them of his redemptive work and provision. The forty years of wandering in the desert was itself a kind of temporary community to transform them from a slave mindset into a nation of Gods people, ready to conquer the land.

After the resurrected Christ was raised to the heavens in Acts chapter 1, the disciples retreated into temporary community as they awaited the Pentecost to bring about the birth of the Church. Across the globe, a vibrant Christian camping movement capitalizes on this dynamic. In 2018, Christian Camping International reported over 23,000 member camps hosting 11.5 million campers in 70 countries, all utilizing temporary community.

At HoneyRock, Outdoor Center for Leadership Development of Wheaton College, lifelong relationships are kindled and nurtured, life-on-life discipleship takes place, and the Word is encountered in the context of his Creation. Our camps and programs are designed to point children, students, and young adults to Jesus Christ in his full majesty, seated at the right hand of the Father.
[April 23, 2021] First Bancorp of Taylorville, Inc. to Acquire Mackinaw Valley Financial Services, Inc.

First Bancorp of Taylorville, Inc., parent company of First National Bank in Taylorville, announced today that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby it will acquire Mackinaw Valley Financial Services, Inc., parent company of First Security Bank. The proposed transaction will expand First National Bank in Taylorville's branch footprint to Tazewell County and McLean County with the addition of offices in Mackinaw, Danvers and Deer Creek, Illinois. The combination will result in an increase in First National Bank in Taylorville's asset base to approximately $310 million based on financial data as of December 31, 2020. Linda Crawford, President & Director of First Bancorp of Taylorville, Inc., commented, "We are very excited about the proposed merger with First Security Bank. Our companies share similar values and our partnership will reinforce the foundation for an extraordinary community bank that puts our customers, employees, and communities first. We look forward to entering attractive new markets that are a logical extension of our existing operations." "We are proud to partner with First National Bank in Taylorville, and believe the merger is an excellent fit," said Mark McGrath, Chairman of the Board and President of Mackinaw Valley Financial Services, Inc. "We belive this combination will better align our resources, enhance our financial strength, and expand our product offerings and technology solutions, all of which will allow us to better-serve our customers and communities."



The proposed transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies but remains subject to customary closing conditions as well as approval by Mackinaw Valley Financial Services, Inc.'s stockholders and by applicable bank regulatory authorities, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021. Olsen Palmer LLC served as financial advisor and Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. served as legal advisor to Mackinaw Valley Financial Services, Inc. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP served as financial advisor and Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC served as legal counsel to First Bancorp of Taylorville, Inc.

About First Bancorp of Taylorville, Inc. Founded in 1956, First National Bank in Taylorville has total assets in excess of $217 million and operates two branches within Illinois - Taylorville and Mount Auburn. More information about First National Bank in Taylorville can be found on at www.fnbtaylorville.com. About Mackinaw Valley Financial Services, Inc. First Security Bank, founded in 1907, is based in Mackinaw, Illinois with an additional office in Mackinaw and offices in Danvers and Deer Creek, Illinois. As of December 31, 2020, First Security Bank had total assets of $94 million, $70 million in loans, and $81 million in deposits. For more information on First Security Bank, please visit www.fsb1.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005281/en/

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Following the guilty verdict on Derek Chauvin, faith leaders offer words of encouragement, prayers, and few reminders about how to respond as believers.

It's a pivotal moment for America says Charisma News after the conviction of Derek Chauvin appeased many who were angered by the injustice.

Sharing the same sentiment of those who gave their responses on Tuesday, civil rights leader Martin Luther King III said that "this may be the beginning of the restoration of believing that a justice system can work."

Faith leaders also stepped in to toss their two cents on George Floyd's death and Chauvin's trial.

According to Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, the case "highlighted and amplified the deep need to see the sacredness in all people, but especially those who have been historically oppressed."

"Whatever the stage of human life, it not only matters, it is sacred," he said.

Echoing the same thought, Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House Church is relieved by the jury's verdict.

"A nation that purports to be a beacon of law, justice and equality is better than what we saw in that video," he said on a Facebook post.

"My prayer is that this will ignite a safer society where justice is equally allocated to absolutely everyone irrespective of socio-economics, race, religion or gender," he continued.

The Bishop also thanked the many officers who do not resort to needless acts of violence and are honestly working toward protecting people every day.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church prayed for racial reconciliation while urging believers to not be paralyzed by pain, fear, and anger.

"May we learn, as the Bible teaches, to "love not in word and speech but in truth and in action," truth and action that leads to justice and healing," he tweeted.

"O God, you have bound us together in a common life," prayed the Bishop. "Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Atlanta Pastor Garland Hunt urged the church to lead by demonstration what oneness and healing look like.

"What's a Christian response in this, and one is prayer," Hunt told CBN News. "Number two, the church must demonstrate racial unity, racial oneness, racial healing. The church leads the way the country will follow."

Evangelist Franklin Graham hopes that all of America & the law enforcement will learn from the tragedy toward becoming a better nation. His prayer is also about unity plus a quote from John 15:12 about loving one another.

"George Floyd's life mattered-every life matters to God," he tweeted.

Noting that there will probably be another George Floyd and another Derek Chauvin, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez commented that the march toward justice is still a long way. Still, he maintained that only love could heal the soul of America.

"The remedy-politically and judicially speaking-is the blind eye of justice guiding our legislators and judges, but the remedy for the soul of America is empathy, understanding and love of one's neighbor whatever the color of their skin," he affirmed.
BILBAO, Spain, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Data on Kubernetes (DoK) community today announced the first Data on Kubernetes Community Day, to be held at this year's KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2021. The DoK community was founded in June of 2020 to bring practitioners together to share their experiences in running Data on Kubernetes. Since then, the DoK has grown extremely quickly with more than 60 scheduled meet-ups in three languages and 550 registered members.

The Data on Kubernetes Community Day will be held on May 3rd as a free co-located event at KubeCon. Companies such as DataStax, Percona, MayaData / OpenEBS and Kubesphere will discuss the technical challenges around running databases and data management on Kubernetes, while end users like Digital Ocean, Flipkart and Yelp will be sharing their knowledge and experience around solving these problems in real-world environments.

The event will start at 10am CEST and will be co-chaired by the DoK Community's Visual Learning Coordinator Nellie Tobey and the community leader and CNCF Ambassador Bart Farrell. "The response to the community has been absolutely phenomenal. We're contagiously enthused by our growth, the quality of our speakers, our entry into the CNCF, and celebrating our first annual event," Farrell said.

The full schedule is available here and those interested in participating can register on the main KubeCon registration site here .

The community was started in July 2020 with the inaugural talk given by Patrick McFadin, Vice President of Developer Relations at DataStax, and has now hosted over 50 meetups in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Patrick will kick off this year's co-located event with a quick talk tracing the technical journey involved in going from a traditional Database Administrator (DBA) role to becoming a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE). DataStax is currently working with the CNCF, DoK and DoK founding sponsor MayaData to create learning resources that can make this journey simpler so more people can become SREs and fill skills gaps in their organisations.

There will be more than ten talks at the event, touching on the following:

Observability - Feynman Zhou, Kubesphere

Databases and Kubernetes operators Sergey Pronin , Percona

, Percona Running Kubernetes and Cassandra together with K8ssandra - Christopher Bradford , DataStax

, DataStax Container attached storage - Eric Zietlow , MayaData

, MayaData Running data on Kubernetes at scale - Neeraj Bisht and Praveen Kumar GT, Flipkart

and Praveen Kumar GT, Flipkart End user presentations from Digital Ocean, Yelp and others.

In the spirit of paying it forward, The Last Mile , an NGO that helps incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals learn programming, will also be featured in the event.

You can win an all-exclusive pass to KubeCon & attend the DoK Community Day as well by answering a few simple questions at https://go.mayadata.io/dokc .

About DoK.community

DoK.community is an openly governed and self-organizing group of curious and experienced operators and engineers concerned with running data-intensive workloads on Kubernetes. DoKC takes inspiration from the CNCF and Apache foundations and aims to be open, vendor-neutral, and extremely inclusive.

Registration- https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe/program/colocated-events/#data-on-kubernetes-day

DoKC Homepage- http://dok.community

Schedule- https://dok.community/dokc-day-schedule/

Linkedin- https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-on-kubernetes-community

Twitter- https://twitter.com/DoKcommunity

Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnXJbHQ89R2uSfKsqQwGvQ/feature

Media and Analyst Contacts:



Data on Kubernetes Community (DoKc)

Bart Farrell

[email protected]



DataStax

Valerie Beaudett

[email protected]



MayaData

Nisanta Sahoo

[email protected]a.io

SOURCE Data on Kubernetes community
Indonesia's desperate search for a missing submarine and its 53 crew was focused on a signal from an unidentified object Friday, with just hours to go before the stricken vessel's oxygen reserves ran out

Bali, Indonesia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :Indonesia's desperate search for a missing submarine and its 53 crew was focused on a signal from an unidentified object Friday, with just hours to go before the stricken vessel's oxygen reserves ran out.

Nearly two dozen warships were taking part in the ramped-up hunt, as Australia and the United States joined the search off the coast of Bali where the sub disappeared more than two days ago during training exercises.

The military said it had picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet).

Ships equipped with specialised tracking equipment were deployed in the hope that it may be the KRI Nanggala 402, which was equipped with oxygen reserves that could last until early Saturday, authorities said.

The search zone covers an area of about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres).

"We've only got until 3:00 am tomorrow (Saturday) so we're maximising all of our efforts today," Indonesian military spokesman Achmad Riad said earlier.

But by Thursday afternoon, there was still no word on whether the object was the missing vessel.

"There was a strong magnetic field detected there," Riad said, but he added that "we've yet to find the exact location".

Berda Asmara was among those anxiously awaiting news.

Her sailor husband Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, had expected to return home from the submarine training mission at the weekend.

"Our last communication was on Monday when he was going to work," the mother of one told AFP in Surabaya, a port city in Java.

"He said 'pray for me that I'll come home soon'...He told our daughter to listen to me and study hard." - 'Very limited oxygen' - An oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster.

There were also concerns that the submarine could have sunk to depths believed to be as much as 700 metres (2,300 feet) -- well below what it was built to withstand.

The German-built vessel was scheduled to conduct live torpedo exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after.

On Thursday, the US military said it would send airborne teams to help, while one of two Australian ships in the region that have been deployed arrived at the search location.

India as well as neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have already dispatched ships that are expected to arrive at the weekend, including the city-state's MV Swift Rescue -- a submarine rescue vessel.

Indonesia is also relying on a pair of its own submarines -- among the five in its fleet -- to aid in the hunt.

But hopes of finding the crew alive were fading fast.

"If there is serious damage on the boat itself, it could potentially mean a few things, for example, there will be very limited spaces for the crew with very limited oxygen," said Collin Koh, a naval affairs specialist and research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam school of International Studies in Singapore.

"It could also mean that the reserve tanks for the oxygen might potentially be damaged as well. So it will further reduce the oxygen level." Submarines are equipped to prevent carbon dioxide build-up, but if the equipment was damaged that could also pose a serious risk, Koh added.

"It's not just about whether there will be enough oxygen, but it's also about the level of carbon dioxide within the interior that could determine the fate of the submariners," he said.

- Deadly disasters - While Indonesia has not previously suffered a major submarine disaster, other countries have been struck by accidents in the past.

Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet.

That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others.

Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days -- with a few keeping heart-breaking diaries written in blood to their loved ones -- before suffocating.

In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises.

Five years later, 20 people were killed by poisonous gas when a fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated on a Russian submarine being tested in the Sea of Japan.

And in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard.
A golf cart drives past an entrance to the Long Beach Convention Center on April 7, 2021 in Long Beach, Calif. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

First Group of Migrant Children Set To Arrive in Long Beach

LONG BEACHAs many as 150 migrant children were expected to arrive at the Long Beach Convention Center April 22, beginning its operation as a shelter that will house unaccompanied minors from the U.S.-Mexico border until they can be reunited with family or placed with sponsors.

According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the children will receive medical checks, clothing, toiletries, food and snacks. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said they will also receive schooling and have recreational opportunities.

We absolutely should ensure that these facilities are quality and are places that are focused on the child and are really centered around helping, Garcia said.

He noted that the migrant children often are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border with no parents, no adults. They dont have their family with them.

Such unaccompanied children can then wind up in detention facilities.

These humanitarian shelters are opening up here in California and across the country to bring children into a more humane setting, and hopefully reunifying them with [family], Garcia said.

Similar facilities are already operating in cities including San Diego and Dallas, and one will soon open at the Pomona Fairplex.

The Long Beach Convention Center will be able to house as many as 1,000 children. According to HHS, it will house girls aged 17 and younger, and boys under age 12.

Providing unaccompanied children a safe, healthy place is both our legal and moral obligation, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HSS) Xavier Becerra said. In the past month, weve made great strides expanding our capacity to meet those obligations while we work to safely and swiftly unify children with a family member or responsible sponsor. I want to express our deep appreciation to Mayor Robert Garcia and the civic leaders and community of Long Beach for the respect and hospitality extended to the children and the team at HHS. While the work has only begun, were on the right path with reliable partners to get this done right.

Garcia said the HHS has a goal of reuniting children at the shelter with family or sponsors within seven to 10 days, but some cases can take longer.

The convention center site will place the children in cots for sleeping. It also has indoor and outdoor recreational space and a full-size medical clinic operated by UCLA.

Garcia noted that he was 5 years old when he came to the United States with his family, poor and without a lot of support from the federal government.

For me its very personal that each child is welcomed, he said.

Garcia said he was grateful there were welcoming Americans who showed us kindness and love and eventually guided us through a very complex process to become citizens.

It breaks my heart we have a system today where children cannot receive the same opportunity I received, he said.

The city has established an online portal through its website, providing details of ways residents can support the unaccompanied children.

The Long Beach Community Foundation has also set up a Migrant Children Support Fund for people to donate money to offer assistance or other resources to the children. The shelter operation itself is being fully funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The city and Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau on April 21 announced a book drive to collect reading materials for the children.

Long Beach is known for being a welcoming community and the donations of new books will truly enhance the childrens stay, Long Beach Public Library Director Glenda Williams said.

Federal officials say the goal is for the children to remain at the shelters for no more than 30 to 35 days.

Bonnie Preston, acting regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said earlier this month that a majority of the unaccompanied children arriving at the border come with names and phone numbers of sponsors in the United States to show border patrol agents after turning themselves over.

However, before a child can be placed, the sponsor has to be vetted, and it takes time, Preston said.

In some cases, if the sponsor doesnt seem like a safe option, the children end up staying in HHS custody in a long-term care facility that provides additional services, including county services to find a non-relative guardianship or foster placement, according to Preston.

The Long Beach Convention Center is also being used by the city as a COVID-19 vaccination site, and the shelter is not expected to impact that operation.
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Africa and Nigeria have questions to answer: Will they quietly accept the coup detat and the 18-month transition period announced in Chad? What has happened to the African Unions tradition that in situations of coup detats, especially involving the killing of Heads of State, they would generally intervene swiftly against the putschists..?

On December 2, 1990, Deby shot his way into Chads presidential palace after an epic battle with his former boss and mentor turned enemy, Hisene Habre. For his 30 years in power, it was a series of rebellions, bloody conflicts, intrigues and coup attempts. Alongside the instability, elections have been holding and he was killed the day after he was declared winner of the recently concluded election, and was to be sworn in for his sixth term. Alas, the self-declared Field Marshall is no more. But then as we all know, old soldiers never die, they only fade away; so his 37-year old son, General Mehemet Idriss Deby, organised a coup the same day, suspended the Constitution, dissolved Parliament and set up a ruling military council, for which, he is the supreme commander.

Human rights groups and opposition parties in Chad and other African countries immediately opposed the coup, in conformity with the Charter of the African Union. The African Union was quiet. The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, immediately justified and supported the coup, due to what he called the exceptional circumstances in the country.

Maybe there can be no deep sentiments that a coup had occurred in Chad because there was no democracy in the first place. Nonetheless, we cannot continue to talk about zero tolerance for unconstitutional change in power and openly or tacitly support coup detats. In the run up to the recent election, Deby set the tone by killing a political opposition leader and presidential candidate, Yaya Dillos 80-year old mother, in a brazen attack on his home on February 28, while wounding five other family members. Dillo got the message and immediately withdrew from the contest.

Chads security forces ruthlessly cracked down on protesters and the political opposition in the lead-up to the countrys April 11 presidential election, making it clear to Chadians that the choice was between death and re-electing Deby. The people are never stupid, they re-elected him, after all, almost the entire opposition and human rights leaders who had not fled the country, were in jail. Seventeen candidates submitted their applications to contest the presidential election. On March 3, Chads Supreme Court stated that only 10 of them were qualified, rejecting the remaining candidates on grounds that their parties were not legally constituted. Following the deadly raid on Dillos home, most of the remaining candidates withdrew.

The outcomes of the Deby years have been instability, repression and death. Chad has an appalling rate of poverty, despite the countrys vast oil resources. Chad came last in the World Banks 2020 Human Capital Index, while the United Nations Development Programme ranked Chad 187 out of 189 countries in its 2020 human development index. The president and his many children, who occupy virtually all the plum positions in the countrys governance structure are, however, extremely wealthy, which is a banal statement, after all is this not the African reality?

Debys death is bad news for Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger because Boko Haram may become emboldened and increase its attacks. Last year, Deby personally led his troops to the Lake Chad zone after some attacks on Chadian soldiers, he battered the insurgents and the remnants ran back to Nigeria where, apparently, they feel more at home.

Deby only knew war and was a graduate of Muammar Gaddafis World Revolutionary Centre. He had made his reputation in what was known as the Toyota War between Chad and Libya, which lasted for nine months from December 1986 to September 1987. That was just one of the long running series of conflicts between both countries that stretched back to 1978. It was a decisive victory for the heavily outnumbered Chadian forces and the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was impressed by Debys military skills, so he recruited him, with the offer of support to seize power in Chad in exchange for Libyan prisoners of war. In November 1990, Deby attacked Hissene Habres government from Sudan, and by early December, had seized power.

The Chadian army has remained extremely strong as a fighting force and has been playing a significant role in the fight against the insurgency in the Sahel. We should remember that when the Jihadi insurgents were marching to takeover Bamako, the Malian capital, it was French and Chadian troops that stopped them, and Africa has since regretted the end of Nigerias capacity as a fighting force to help its neighbours. In the Lake Chad countries, Chad has also been noted for the effectiveness of its battles against Boko Haram, even if it had been unable to win the war.

Debys death is bad news for Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger because Boko Haram may become emboldened and increase its attacks. Last year, Deby personally led his troops to the Lake Chad zone after some attacks on Chadian soldiers, he battered the insurgents and the remnants ran back to Nigeria where, apparently, they feel more at home. Niger then negotiated for the deployment of Chadian forces in the country to contain the activities of the insurgents.

ISWAP, which is the Boko Haram faction operating in the Lake Chad zone, might use the opportunity to consolidate the area as a staging area for the insurgents, from where attacks would be launched on towns and military bases. Over the past couple of months, there have been repeated attacks on Damasak and Dikwa, the Nigerian towns close to the Chadian border.

President Deby had visited President Buhari on March 28, for bilateral talks around security issues in the region. His death, at a time when Boko Haram attacks are increasing, is concerning. The rebels from Libya currently marching towards the Chadian capital are engendering an even higher level of concern.

Deby, the son, apparently has real challenges securing his power. The rebel forces that apparently killed his father have announced that they will continue their march on capital and rout out the Deby clan from power. Meanwhile, we are just assuming that Deby was killed by the rebels, as there are rumours of internal fights within his own regime that might have led to his death, even if this thesis is still a speculation fuelled by the lack of information on the circumstances that led to his death.

President Deby had visited President Buhari on March 28, for bilateral talks around security issues in the region. His death, at a time when Boko Haram attacks are increasing, is concerning. The rebels from Libya currently marching towards the Chadian capital are engendering an even higher level of concern. Do they have links with other jihadist groups in the Sahel and what would their attitude be towards Boko Haram?

One year before his death, Deby had led his men on an offensive to the Goje-Chadian area of Sambisa forest, a stronghold of Boko Haram, killing many of them, and recovering a lot of their arms. The success of the war against Boko Haram is dependent of effective collaboration within the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF). Increased instability in Chad can only harm the effort. The Chadian rebels seeking power may also increase the arms flow in the sub-region.

Africa and Nigeria have questions to answer: Will they quietly accept the coup detat and the 18-month transition period announced in Chad? What has happened to the African Unions tradition that in situations of coup detats, especially involving the killing of Heads of State, they would generally intervene swiftly against the putschists, even if in this case, there is the complication that the rebels, who might have killed the President, were not the ones that took over power? Will the African Union read continuity of father to son, even if the son is a coup maker?

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.
I watched as the verdict against Derek Chauvin was read out. Then I wept into my hands.

My first thoughts of George Floyd were, I hope mama heard you. For among George Floyds last words, as he hung between life and death, was a call to his mum.

George Floyds brother, Philonise Floyd, wipes his eyes during a news conference after the verdict. Credit:AP

I have a son, a black son. If my son called out to me in such pain, I am not sure there is any justice that could plaster together the pieces of my broken self.

When people proclaim Black Lives Matter, they do so because even when a black man, in handcuffs and already on the ground, is begging for his life, a policeman with his hands casually still in his pockets can kneel on the black mans neck until he dies, then walk away.
WASHINGTON  World leaders joined President Joe Biden Friday to close his virtual climate summit with stories of their own national drives to break free of climate-wrecking fossil fuels  Kenyans leapfrogging from kerosene stoves to geothermal power and Israeli startups scrambling to improve battery storage.

"We're gonna do this together," Biden exhorted, speaking live to a Zoom-style screen of leaders of national governments, unions and business executives around the world.

Biden's closing message echoed the sentiments of Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, who told the summit: "We cannot win this fight against climate change unless we go globally to fight it together."

The second and final day of Biden's summit of 40 world leaders made the case for massive investment now  in the U.S. and around the world  for prosperous as well as cleaner economies in the long run.

Compared with the United States and other wealthy but carbon-dependent nations, Kenya stands out as a poorer nation closing the technology gap despite limited financial resources. It has moved in decades from dirty-burning coal, kerosene and wood fires to become a leading user and producer of geothermal energy, wind and solar power, all aided by mobile-phone banking.

The summit's opening on Thursday saw a half-dozen nations, including the United States, pledge specific, significant new efforts to cut emissions. Other summit speakers, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is the world's top climate polluter, held out the possibility of deepening their commitments, in China's case by easing back on building of coal-fired plants.

Biden's own pledge, nearly doubling the U.S. target for cutting emissions from coal and petroleum this decade, depends on his keeping political support from voters and securing more than $2 trillion for a nationwide infrastructure overhaul.

"The commitments we've made must become real," Biden said Friday, speaking to the home audience as much as the international one. "Commitment without doing anything is a lot of hot air, no pun intended."

He wondered aloud if there was "anything else you can think of that could create as many good jobs going into the 21st century."

The coronavirus pandemic forced the summit into its virtual format, with a TV talk show-style set created in the White House East Room. Cabinet secretaries stepped in as emcees to keep the livestreamed action moving.

It was all in service of an argument officials say will make or break Biden's climate vision: Pouring trillions of dollars into clean-energy technology, research and infrastructure will speed a competitive U.S. economy into the future and create jobs while saving the planet.

While technological development and wider use has helped make wind and solar power strongly competitive against coal and natural gas in the U.S., Biden said investment also would bring forward thriving, clean-energy fields "in things we haven't even thought of so far."

Republicans are sticking to the arguments that then-President Donald Trump made in pulling the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate accord. They point to China as the world's worst climate polluter  the U.S. is No. 2  and say any transition to clean energy hurts American oil, natural gas and coal workers.

It means "putting good-paying American jobs into the shredder," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Thursday in a speech in which he dismissed the administration's plans as costly and ineffective.

Much of the proposed spending to address climate change is included in Biden's infrastructure bill, which would pay for new roads, safe bridges and reliable public transit, while boosting electric vehicles, clean drinking water and investments in clean energy such as solar and wind power.

Biden's plan faces a steep road in the closely divided Senate, where Republicans led by McConnell have objected strongly to the idea of paying for much of it with tax increases on corporations.

The White House says administration officials will continue to reach out to Republicans and will remind them that the proposal's ideas are widely popular with Americans of all political persuasions.

Friday also featured billionaires Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, steelworker and electrical union leaders and executives for solar and other renewable energy.

"We can't beat climate change without a historic amount of new investment," said Bloomberg, who has spent heavily to promote replacing dirty-burning coal-fired power plants with increasingly cheaper renewable energy.

Biden envoy John Kerry stressed the political selling point that the president's call for retrofitting creaky U.S. infrastructure to run more cleanly would put the U.S. on a better economic footing long-term. "No one is being asked for a sacrifice," Kerry said. "This is an opportunity."

Global leaders described their own investments and commitments to break away from reliance on climate-damaging petroleum and coal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described scientists at hundreds of Israeli startups working to improve crucial battery storage for solar, wind and other renewable energy. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark renewed her country's pledge to end oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, switching from offshore oil and gas rigs to wind farms.

On the summit's opening day Thursday, Biden pledged the U.S. will cut fossil fuel emissions as much as 52 percent by 2030. South Korea, Japan, Canada and South Africa also joined in specific new emissions efforts timed to the summit.

Biden's new goal puts the United States among the most ambitious nations in curbing climate change, the Rhodium Group, an independent research organization, announced overnight.

Different nations use different base years for their emission cuts so comparisons are difficult and can look different based on baseline years. The Rhodium Group said using the U.S.-preferred 2005 baseline, America is behind the United Kingdom but right with the European Union. It's ahead of a second tier of countries including Canada, Japan, Iceland and Norway.

___

Seth Borenstein contributed from Washington. Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City.
A longtime Unum employee who was arrested by federal authorities for embezzling almost $54,000 has gotten three years probation after paying the money back.

Federal Judge Curtis Collier directed that Sandra Jean Weaver also serve 160 hours of community service.

She earlier pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud.

She had been employed by Unum in Chattanooga since January of 1986 and worked as an enrollment specialist II.

The criminal information says, "She was a customer service representative who handled policy administration.

Her duties included updating policies, applying customer payments, and processing loans. She had the authority to transfer funds from company suspense accounts into insurance policies. She entered data in two older, legacy computer systems called CJ.A. and Life 70, systems in which she was considered an expert because of her long-term familiarity with the systems. Her work included name and address changes on policies, changing beneficiaries, loans, and surrenders. These changes were made at the customers' requests. She had personal insurance policies on herself and her family members, which have cash value, so loans could be taken on the policies.

"Beginning in or about August 2019 and continuing until on or about October 25, 2019, in the Eastern District of Tennessee, the defendant did knowingly devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money by false and fraudulent pretenses from UNUM Group in the Eastern District of Tennessee, by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, and with reckless disregard for the truth of such pretenses, representations and promises, such scheme to defraud and to obtain money by false and fraudulent pretenses being in substance as follows:

"It was a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, using the C.I.A. system, utilized external policyholders as a "pass-through." She changed the names of life insurance policyholders and other policy data, and improperly applied money from suspense accounts to the policies, which caused UNUM to issue checks via Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company payable in names similar to her own, or payable to others.

"It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant sometimes asked the mailroom via email to hold the checks cut using this scheme for her to pick up; sometimes the checks were mailed in the ordinary course of business.

"It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant when she picked up checks from the mailroom, sometimes negotiated them at the branch of a local bank or credit union. It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, when she picked up checks from the mailroom, sometimes sent the checks via FedEx to others.

"It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant used the Life 70 system to divert funds from personal policy loans - during the time frame of the scheme, the defendant's policies had existing loan balances.

"It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant moved money from UNUM suspense accounts and applied it to her and her family members' policies as loan payments. She paid off existing loans with fraudulent payments from the suspense account so she could issue a new loan off the policies.

"It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant took the money she obtained from these new loans, converted it to cash, and then sent the money to others via FedEx.

"It was further a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant embezzled from UNUM Group (as part of the overall scheme with the two subschemes) approximately $53,910.19."
South Africa: No place for bullies

Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Pinky Kekana, has called on parents to reinforce the message of zero tolerance towards bullying in their homes.

Lets not assume that our children are completely innocent always. Make sure they know how cyber bullying feels by instilling empathy and empowering them to make good choices. You will reduce the likelihood that they will engage in this damaging behaviour, the Deputy Minister said.

Addressing a webinar on the impact of cyberbullying amongst the youth on Friday, she advised parents to teach children to be responsible digitals citizens by not posting content that could have a negative consequence for others.

There is a rule that we should teach our children, so that they become responsible digital citizens: If they cant say it to someones face, dont post it, Kekana said.

This webinar takes place after recent incidents of bullying at Mbilwi Secondary School in Thohoyandou, Limpopo; Dinwiddie High School in Germiston, Gauteng and Mathole High School in KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2015, the Film and Publication board did a research study at University of South Africa to look at what happens to children when they watch movies or play games that are full of violence.

Children from across South Africa were surveyed and the outcome was that our children were becoming immune to violence across all the age groups from 10-15 year olds. A 100% of the children interviewed said they have watched a film or played a game that has some violence in it, the Deputy Minister said.

As at April 2018, the last statistic data revealed that South Africa was at 88% and the fourth in the world of being aware of cyber bullying behind Chile, Italy and Sweden.

This means that South Africans have a good understanding of cyber bullying, which is defined as a form of harassment in digital communications mediums, such as text messages, internet forums, chatrooms and social media

As opposed to real life bullying, online bullying takes advantage of the anonymity of the internet, as well as the possibility to quickly spread rumours, gossip or misinformation to large groups of people, Kekana said.

She said cyber bullying can affect the victim their entire lives, as it has psychological effects.

According to the South African College of Applied Psychology, more than 60% of children and adolescents surveyed in South Africa agreed that cyber bullying is worse than bullying face-to-face.

The sad reality is that at least one in four kids has been bullied more than once, with 43% of kids having fallen prey of cyber bullying. Seventy percent of cyber bullying activities are happening on Facebook.

In the last quarter of 2020, Facebook removed 22.1 million pieces of content with hate speech. This is more than double the 9.6 million they removed in the first quarter of 2020, the Deputy Minister said.

The social network defines hate speech as a direct attack based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disease, social status or disability.

Dealing with GBV

In South Africa, citizens continue to battle with high levels of GBV .

[In 2020], sexual offences increased by 1.7%, which translates to 53 295 reported cases. This is the type of environment that many of our children are growing up in, especially children in communities where poverty and unemployment place added pressure on the adults that are meant to be caring for our children.

It is safe to say, we are a nation subsumed by violence and hate, and this is why I plead with adults to do better, be intentional in our goals to deal with [things], Kekana said.

Department of Justice Senior State Law Advisor, Sarel Robbertse, highlighted the Films and Publications Amendment Act, 2019, and the Cyber Crimes Bill as two pieces of legislation that address cyber bullying.

The Films and Publications Amendment Act, 2019, provides that a person may lodge a complaint at the Film and Publications Board regarding offensive content. The board may investigate the matter and if the content is found to be offensive, a takedown notice may be issued, Robbertse said.

In addition, the Electronic Communications Service Provider must furnish information to identify the perpetrator. This information can be used to institute criminal proceedings.

The Films and Publications Amendment Act also prohibits communications with sexual content without permission, depicting sexual violence and violence against children that incite imminent violence or advocate hatred that is based on identifiable group characteristics, and that constitutes to cause harm.

The Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill aims to rationalise legislation dealing with cybercrimes. Certain provisions in the bill deal with cybercrimes by criminalising the disclosure of data messages without consent, and incite damage to property or violence; threaten another with violence or damage to property, and are of an intimate nature, Robbertse said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Democratic state lawmakers once again unsuccessfully proposed to do away with the states property tax on motor vehicles as part of a wide-ranging effort to shift the tax burden from lower- and middle-income families to the states wealthiest residents.

The argument for getting rid of the car tax is rooted in addressing inequality in the states taxation system, proponents say, citing the wide-ranging mill rates across cities and towns.

The owner of a car registered and garaged in Westport, for example, is taxed at a much lower rate, 16.71 mills or $16.71 for every $1,000 of property assessed, than the owner of a car registered and garaged in Bridgeport, home to one of the highest mill rates, who is taxed at 45 mills.

Its hard to justify why somebody in Bridgeport pays hundreds of dollars more in taxes than someone in Westport, said Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, one of the bills main backers.

But those who would benefit from the elimination of the tax are car owners who more often than not are more well off residents.

Census data shows that in Connecticuts largest cities, vehicle access often relates to income.

In Hartford, where the median income is $36,762, nearly 30% of homes dont have access to a vehicle.

Whereas in Stamford, which has a median income of $100,713, only 10% of homes lack access to a vehicle.

Statewide, the median income is $78,833 and 8.8% of homes are without vehicle access.

A part of the reason some of the folks who live in cities dont own a car is because our tax structure makes it prohibitively expensive, said Haskell.

Getting rid of the car tax would help attract more young people to move to the state and its ubran areas, the 24-year-old senator said. The bill is often a shock for new residents who are not aware Connecticut is among the 27 states that have the levy, Haskell said.

Cities with higher mill rates also have a higher share of homes without vehicle access.

Twenty percent of homes in Bridgeport and Waterbury, where the mill rate is 45, have no access to a car. The median income in those two cities is $44,035 and $42,754, respectively.

Thats in comparison to Norwalk, where 6.8% of homes dont have cars. The citys median income is $89,881.

Haskell and another leading proponent of the bill, Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, who wants to do away with the car tax except on rental vehicles, did not describe the proposal as a tax cut.

Calling it a tax simplication, Haskell said families will appreciate paying one tax bill a year instead of multiple.

Collecting the tax is often time-consuming for officials. Cities such as Waterbury have hired investigators to ensure cars parked in the city are also registered there, but in many towns, officials dont have the resources to ensure cars are valued appropriately or registered in the right place, Haskell said.

The simpler solution is to get rid of the tax all together, he said.

But the tax is a major revenue generator for the states 169 towns and cities, bringing in more than $900 million annually, according to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

To make up for the gap, the bill proposed giving municipalities the option of assessing other property, such as land, buildings and equipment, at a higher rate. Currently, most property must be assessed at 70% of its market value.

Haskell said hes all ears to other suggestions.

We all agree theres a problem here, he said. We need to come together to find a solution.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
India has never been prepared for a public health emergency of the scale of Covid-19. No country has. But the governments dislocated priorities have left the nation particularly vulnerable. It is now running short of basic infrastructure including oxygen tanks, ventilators, antiviral medication and hospital beds, with hundreds of thousands of new infections being recorded every day. On Thursday, the country added 314,835 cases, the highest daily tally in the world since the pandemic began.

Public health spending was dismally low to begin with, at just close to 1% of Indias gross domestic product. The country ranks 179th out 189 when it comes to prioritization of healthcare in the government budget. It spends as much as donor-dependent nations like Sierra Leone on a per capita basis. The countrys medical facilities are so inadequate that overall hospitalization rates for the sick are among the lowest in the world: 3% to 4%, compared to an average 8% to 9% in middle income countries and even higher elsewhere.

The country has never quite focused on its public healthcare infrastructure  which is perpetually on the brink, making its apparent success holding down infection numbers last year remarkable. But the country is having no such luck with the enormous numbers emerging right now.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has encouraged the growth of private hospitals by providing them with land and tax exemptions, creating a healthcare market expected to be worth $133 billion by 2022. Most Indians now depend on private sector medical facilities. The problem, of course, is that the financial burden ends up being shouldered by households: Indias health-related, out-of-pocket expenses are some of the highest in the world, and continue to rise.

A significant amount of the governments health budget is spent on subsidies for private service providers, which does little to build out the countrys medical infrastructure needs or further its healthcare goals. Private hospitals are built to make money without outwardly committing to outcomes like lowering mortality rates or disease.

Fundamental health infrastructure doesnt even make it onto the political agenda. The public investment necessary to effect change has limited returns for ambitious politicians over the short-term. The Modi government enables this abdication of responsibility. The countrys latest economic survey noted that better health infrastructure is no guarantee that a country would be able to deal better with devastating pandemics like Covid-19 because the next one could be different.

As an example, the government will probably point to Brazil. The Latin American nation has been posting tens of thousands of new cases a day and has one of the highest virus-related death numbers in the world. Its population is around the same as that of Indias largest state; and the country spends over 16 times the amount India does on a per capita basis on health care. Yet its medical system is overwhelmed.

But thats exactly why India should be worried now. If India falters, its failure will be many times the disaster in Brazil.

So here we are, a year on from the beginning of the pandemic. Countless infected people in India have been denied a chance to recover because the government hasnt built a system that will get them the medical supplies they need.

A country of 1.4 billion people needs a system to support their most basic need: survival. The idea that a private health system focused on profit could adequately attend to almost 18% of the world is ludicrous. A real healthcare apparatus wouldve ensured the populace understood risks, remained vigilant and received care.



Instead, overwhelmed hospitals have just hours of oxygen supplies available, antiviral medications are hard to find and intensive care units are close to capacity. Ad hoc measures may well help India slowly make its way out but it wont guarantee things stay that way. Just as they didnt when the country thought it had miraculously fought off the virus.

Indias paltry public healthcare spending isnt guided by holistic, national-level priorities. Spending varies by state and each ends up funding far more than the central government does, leading to unequal outcomes for people in different regions. The differences have become political as federal and provincial governments do battle over who is responsible for specific needs.



All this means India isnt set up to survive the Covid-19 waves that are bound to follow as they have elsewhere in the world. Blame who or what you want, the reality is India needs to assess how prepared it is for future surges. The Modi administration will have to do far more than just invoke unity, as the prime minister did in his Tuesday night national address.

Negligence  individual to bureaucratic  is being blamed for the latest wave. That is true. Itll be even truer if India doesn't start to go back to the basics of building out its healthcare infrastructure. Its pointless being the pharmacy of the world when you cant heal your own people.
[April 23, 2021] BDA Launches Climate Risk Finance Initiative

As part of its strategy to foster sustainable, equitable growth in Bermuda, the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), led by Government and in collaboration with the private sector, has launched an initiative to establish and promote the jurisdiction as the world's climate risk finance capital. The aim is to make climate risk finance an additional leg on Bermuda's economic stool, one that is highly aligned with, and complimentary to our key market strengths: re/insurance, Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) and our professional services expertise. BDA CEO, Roland Andy Burrows, said, "It is a natural fit for Bermuda to become a major base of operations for the global climate risk finance sector. Not only do we already have many of the world's leading experts on weather-related catastrophes based here in our globally significant property catastrophe reinsurance market, we also have a financial services regulator, in the form of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, which understands the importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concerns. "We applaud the Bermuda Government for its many decades of and ongoing commitment to climate and environmental initiatives," Mr. Burrows said. "Bermuda has for years punched above its weight, playing a disproportionate role on the world stage for a jrisdiction of our size. By extending our global reinsurance leadership to climate risk finance, Bermuda can again prove to be a collaborative partner to the world's key markets, a leading member of the worldwide family of responsible communities, playing a major role in delivering solutions to one of the most important challenges of our time."



A core team of leaders from Government, the BDA and its partners have been preparing for virtual and, in due course, in person engagements to educate capital allocators, entrepreneurs and other key stakeholders about Bermuda's key competitive advantages in climate risk finance, and the exciting options Bermuda affords to accelerate and support strategies in this sector. "We will work to bring climate risk finance firms to Bermuda, thereby providing a new landscape of exciting and innovative career opportunities for Bermudians," BDA Chair Stephen Weinstein added. "While it will be challenging, and can only develop over time, we have the goal of encouraging a new economic pillar of analogous scale to reinsurance. That is, substantial, international market firms, characterised by substantial domestic physical presence employing Bermudians, hiring vendors and service firms, and generating visits and activity in the hospitality and leisure sectors.

"By reaffirming Bermuda's commitment to one of the world's top priorities, the effort also generally reinforces our global relevance and appeal to investors, businesses, and capital allocators alike. "I would also like to thank Government for their leadership, and engaging with the Bermuda Business Development Agency and our private market stakeholders to build an exciting, knowledge based sector providing new opportunities for Bermuda's talented pool of human capital." CONNECTING BUSINESS

The BDA encourages direct investment and helps companies start up, re-locate or expand their operations in our premier jurisdiction. An independent, public-private partnership, we connect you to industry professionals, regulatory officials, and key contacts in the Bermuda government to assist domicile decisions. Our goal? To make doing business in Bermuda smooth and beneficial. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005507/en/

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Vaccination is a right and also a responsibility, according to Romania's Prime Minister Florin Citu, who says Romania is with UNICEF in the World Immunisation Week celebrated late April.

"Vaccines save people's health and lives! They were and remain the only way for humanity to protect themselves from deadly diseases such as polio or smallpox. Now, vaccines are the only way to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and return to normal safely. Vaccination is a right and also a responsibility. It is up to each of us to make sure we take care of our health and the health of our loved ones. I want to thank once again the healthcare workers for the superhuman effort they make to both treat patients and support the mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19! The Romanian Government is with UNICEF in the World Immunisation Week, which we celebrate at the end of April, and it supports the access of children and adults to vaccines that protect their own health," Citu said on Friday in a Facebook post.
Gigi Hadid rang in her 26th year around the sun with glowing tributes from her mother Yolanda and sister Bella Hadid, among others.

The model  who became a first time mom last September  was showered with love on her special day from her friends and family who gushed at her 'extraordinary' presence in their lives.

Yolanda called Gigi a 'sweet angel' and Bella remarked, 'thank you for being born,' as they shared throwback snaps with the renowned cover girl over the years.

Showered with love: Gigi Hadid receives glowing tributes from her mom Yolanda and sister Bella Hadid on her 26th birthday

Motherly love: The Dutch model called Gigi her 'sweet angel' before thanking her for making her a grandmother

The Palestinian-Dutch stunner's mom shared a carousel of images of her model protege over the years, and additionally thanked Gigi for making her a grandmother.

'Happy birthday to you my sweet Angel..... I have always been so very proud of the young woman you grew up to be every step of your life time but watching you give birth and become a mother yourself has given 'Proud' a whole other meaning....

'You are extraordinary!!! Thank you for giving me this greatest gift, I wasn't sure how to get by without my mamma but loving Khai awoke a part in my heart I never knew existed,' she wrote.

And Bella continued to lay on the love as she wrote 'it's my besties bday,' before sharing snippets of their close sister bond. She later was seen dropping off a colorful bouquet of flowers.

Proud mom: 'I have always been so very proud of the young woman you grew up to be every step of your life time' Yolanda wrote

'Bestie': Her model sister Bella also laid on the love as she shared a carousel of images to ring in her 'besties' birthday

'Thank you': Her younger sister thanked her for 'being born,' as she re-posted a few throwback snaps from their younger years

Protector: Gigi was seen cradling her younger sister after she was born as Bella thanked her for 'protecting' her since the womb

Flower power: And partner Zayn Malik surprised her with a stunning bouquet of flowers that took her breath away as she marveled 'WOW'

Full hands: Bella showed up to her sister's neighboring condo with a stunning bouquet

Happy colors: The model wore white pants as she brought a bouquet that was sure to make Gigi smile

'Shining light': Anwar called his sister a 'shining light' in his life

National holiday: Her brother Anwar's girlfriend Dua Lipa was quick to celebrate 'national @gigihadid day,' writing 'Happy birthday sweet thing!!!!!'

'Thank you for being born because technically I wouldn't be alive if you weren't born so yes, thank you,' Bella humorously wrote. And she thanked her eldest sister for 'protecting her since the womb' in a childhood snap.

And partner Zayn Malik surprised her with a stunning bouquet of flowers that took her breath away as she marveled 'WOW.'

Her billionaire father Mohamed also wrote about his love for his daughter. 'The sweetest baby you are and you made me a sweet baby Khai. Love you my child. And a very happy birthday.'

The real estate developer caused a stir when he called his daughter 'self made' despite his insurmountable wealth and her mother's Real Housewives platform which helped launch her to the top.

'Self made': The real estate mogul caused a stir when he called his daughter 'self made' despite his insurmountable wealth and her mother's Real Housewives platform which helped launch her to the top

Beautiful words: Hailey Bieber called Gigi the 'most beautiful' in her tribute

'Self made...never took a single Dollar from her parents,' Mohamed wrote when asked to share '20 things' that were unknown about Gigi.

But people were quick to hit back that it seemed many aspects of her life were funded in part by her wealthy family including her first apartment in NYC, the move-in and decorating process being documented on her mom's hit Bravo show.It was listed in 2015 for $1.45M.

Having moved upwards and onwards with regards to her digs amid her successful modeling career, a bevy of birthday deliveries were seen making their way to her door.

Special delivery: A cake from Magnolia Bakery was seen delivered to the model's NYC condo

Balloons: A hefty bunch of balloons that read '26' along with others were seen being ushered into her Soho space

Stylish stroll: Bella made her way out of a Porsche with a custom bouquet

Something special: Bella rocked all white with a leather jacket and black boots as she picked out a gift for her sister

Tall order: She was sent an overwhelming about of balloons as a delivery man struggled to fit three large bundles through the doors of the condo

A special birthday cake from the famed Magnolia Bakery was seen arriving ahead of a large bundle of balloons that read '26.'

Her brother Anwar also penned a social media tribute, writing that Gigi was a 'shining light' in his life as he thanked her for being his sister.

And his girlfriend Dua Lipa was quick to celebrate 'national @gigihadid day,' writing 'Happy birthday sweet thing!!!!!'

Fashion vets Donatella Versace and Irina Shayk also wished Gigi a happy birthday. 'Gigi, not many people can be superwoman, supermodel AND supermom, but you simply run the show doing all three. I hope @zayn and baby Khai are spoiling you today!! Happy Birthday, I love you so much,' the Italian designer wrote.

Early wishes: Her Maybelline family sent her Sprinkles cupcakes a couple days early to start the festivities off strong

'Oma': Yolanda will be referred to as Oma by Khai as Gigi and Zayn opted to bring their heritages into nicknames for relatives

Coos: The former Real Housewife was seen removing her face mask to coo at her granddaughter

And mom Yolanda proved the ultimate gift was allowing Gigi some alone time with Zayn as she stepped out with Khai in a stroller.

Earlier in the week her Maybelline family sent her mylar balloons that spelled out her name and Sprinkles cupcakes as she started the festivities early.

Last year on Gigi's birthday she celebrated at her mom's Pennsylvania farm with the Hadid clan and partner Zayn Malik.

She was treated to a custom everything bagel cake from 'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro  later revealing to Jimmy Fallon that bagels were her biggest pregnancy craving once news she was expecting was out of the bag.

Bagel cake: Last year she was treated to a custom everything bagel cake from 'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro  later revealing to Jimmy Fallon that bagels were her biggest pregnancy craving once news she was expecting was out of the bag

Well wishes: Gigi's famous pal Blake Lively wished her a happy birthday on social media...
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-22 23:18:47|Editor: huaxia

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Video: "We need a green planet -- but the world is on red alert," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 22, 2021 says during a U.S.-hosted virtual event. "We are at the verge of the abyss. We must make sure the next step is in the right direction." (Xinhua)



Antonio Guterres asks countries to put a price on carbon, end subsidies for fossil fuels, ramp up investments in renewable energy and green infrastructure, stop the financing of coal and the building of new coal power plants, phase out coal by 2030 in the wealthiest countries and by 2040 everywhere else, and ensure a just transition for affected people and communities.



UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on developed countries to contribute more to defeating climate change during a U.S.-hosted virtual event.

"Let us mobilize political leadership to move ahead together -- to overcome climate change, end our war on nature and build lives of dignity and prosperity for all," the UN chief told world leaders attending the Leaders Summit on Climate.

The top UN official underscored that the past decade was the hottest on record. "Dangerous greenhouse gases are at levels not seen in 3 million years. Global temperature has risen 1.2 degrees Celsius -- racing toward the threshold of catastrophe."

"We need a green planet -- but the world is on red alert," said the secretary-general. "We are at the verge of the abyss. We must make sure the next step is in the right direction."

He called on leaders to take action to conquer climate change, and reiterated his position to build a global coalition for net-zero emissions by mid-century.

He urged countries to make this "a decade of transformation," calling on them to submit new and more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions for mitigation, adaptation and finance, to lay out actions and policies for the next 10 years aligned with a 2050 net-zero pathway.

Guterres also called for efforts to "translate those commitments into concrete, immediate action."

Moreover, he asked countries to put a price on carbon, end subsidies for fossil fuels, ramp up investments in renewable energy and green infrastructure, stop the financing of coal and the building of new coal power plants, phase out coal by 2030 in the wealthiest countries and by 2040 everywhere else, and ensure a just transition for affected people and communities.

Lastly, the secretary-general urged countries to make a breakthrough on finance and adaptation, stressing "this is critical for trust and collective action."

Developed countries must deliver on public climate finance, including the long-promised 100 billion U.S. dollars for climate action in developing countries, at the G7 Summit scheduled for June in Britain, he underscored. 
It is not important at the moment to relocate Ghanas national capital from Accra, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Dan Botwe has said. In his view, enough measures have been put in place to make Accra work efficiently as the national capital, thus, it will be too expensive to move the capital now.



I do not think the relocation of the capital city is important now because it costs so much, Mr Botwe told journalists at the Regional Ministers and Chief Directors Conference. In his estimation, now that we have expanded services with leadership and well-trained capacity-building, we should be able to deliver.



Mr Botwes comment comes on the back of repetitive clamouring for the national capital to be moved to a different part of the country. Earlier this month, one of the capital relocation advocates, the Omanhene of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong, revived the debate, saying Accra was made Ghanas capital by accident.



He suggested that Accra be made a commercial capital while administrative functions of the country are moved to areas around Kintampo in the Bono East Region. I have spoken about this before, he said, adding: We can be thinking of relocating the administrative capital somewhere near Kintampo while Accra remains the commercial capital.



[We can] have an administrative capital away from Accra, somewhere within the interior, near Yeji, where theres water, Nana Akuoko Sarpong suggested.



He added: We must plan ahead because Accra was not planned to be a capital.



Accra, the chief noted, became a capital by accident around 1875 during King Tackies time because Accra is very close to the sea and is below sea level, he explained after a ceremony to celebrate his 45th-anniversary as the Omanhene of the Agogo Traditional Area.



Accra became the capital of the British Gold Coast colony in 1877 with the transfer of the seat of government of the colonial authority from Cape Coast.

Source: classfmonline.com









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A year after U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen's death, Fort Hood named a gate after her to honor her memory.

Vanessa Guillen was murdered at Fort Hood, and her death exposed an environment of sexual harassment and deaths in the military base, according to a We are Mitu report.

I know we will never get you back but at least we will ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU  #vanessaguillen pic.twitter.com/K45GbjgUXy  Johnny (@alday_johnny) April 19, 2021

In a press conference at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Thursday, Natalie Khawam, an attorney representing Guillen's family, highlighted the contrast on how George Floyd's case and that of the former Fort Hood soldier were handled.

Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin was convicted early this week for Floyd's murder and manslaughter last May. Khawam said on Guillen's case, they still "don't have a trial for this" a year later.

"We don't have anything, nothing, a year later," she noted. Khawan said the "country stands today" begging for Congress and the Department of Defense to change how the way the military handles sexual harassment and assault.

She also cited Floyd's case, wherein his family received a $27 million settlement.

"Everyone says to me, 'How much did this family receive?'... They received nothing," Khawam said as reported by Fox News.

Khawam further noted that victims of sexual harassment and assault get nothing when they serve in the Army because they are not entitled to any compensation for wrongful death.

She said members of the military are not afraid to die for the country, but they fear reporting sexual harassment. Shen then went on to call the attention of President Joe Biden over the matter and asked him to support the "I Am Vanessa Guillen Act."

RELATED STORY: Vanessa Guillen's Entire Fort Hood Chain of Command Fired

Women in Military

One female soldier, who refused to give her name, said that she shared the same distrust in her leadership.

The female soldier said they want to do their best wherever they "are planted." However, she noted that is not always the case when "you don't have the support and trust from your leadership."

Dr. Roslyn Schoen, a professor of sociology at A&M-Central Texas, said that when something like this happens close to home, it is easy to build a level of distrust with people, KXXV reported.

The female soldier said they are still working hard to make the things right on the things that are currently happening to them and correct the culture that has wronged them many times.

The soldier added that they are "really just working hard to make the military a place where women are welcomed."

According to a 2018 study, workplace violence is underreported partly due to a lack of trust in the system and the organization's ability to protect the victims' safety, dignity, and confidentiality.

The study further noted that reporting violence is important to mental and occupational health for both victims and nonvictims.

Lupe, one of Guillen's sisters, said that the problem is not the aggressor but the system that holds those accountable. She added that the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act should be made into law to protect military service women and men from sexual assault and retaliation.

Vanessa Guillen's Death

Vanessa Guillen disappeared on Apr. 22 last year, which caused an uproar from Central Texas to Washington.

Army officials found the remains of the 20-year old Fort Hood soldier last July. Her remains were found near the Leon River in Bell County, which is 20 miles east of Fort Hood.

The day that Guillen's remains were found, Spc. Aaron Robinson killed himself. Robinson, 20, reportedly killed and dismembered Guillen, The New York Times reported.

Robinson had her body disposed of in nearby woods. According to state and federal officials, Robinson allegedly conspired with his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, to make the killing.

Aguilar, 22, has been charged with three counts of conspiracy to tamper with evidence related to Vanessa Guillen's death. Aguilar pleaded not guilty to those federal charges. She was not granted bail.

Unlike Biden, Vanessa Guillen's family has already met former President Donald Trump over the matter.

READ MORE: 'We Won't Stop': Trump Vows Justice for Slain Soldier Vanessa Guillen

WATCH: Fort Hood unveils gate named in honor of U.S. Army Soldier Vanessa Guillen - from KRPC 2 Click2Houston




As Leon Wieseltier writes in the magazine Liberties, James Madison was an optimist and a pessimist at the same time, a realist and an idealist. Philosophic liberals  whether on the right side of the political spectrum or the left  understand people have selfish interests, but believe in democracy and open conversation because they have confidence in the capacities of people to define their own lives, to care for people unlike themselves, to keep society progressing.

With their deep pessimism, the hyperpopulist wing of the G.O.P. seems to be crashing through the floor of philosophic liberalism into an abyss of authoritarian impulsiveness. Many of these folks are no longer even operating in the political realm. The G.O.P. response to the Biden agenda has been anemic because the base doesnt care about mere legislation, just their own cultural standing.

Over the last decade or so, as illiberalism, cancel culture and all the rest have arisen within the universities and elite institutions on the left, dozens of publications and organizations have sprung up. They have drawn a sharp line between progressives who believe in liberal free speech norms, and those who dont.

There are new and transformed magazines and movements like American Purpose, Persuasion, Counterweight, Arc Digital, Tablet and Liberties that point out the excesses of the social justice movement and distinguish between those who think speech is a mutual exploration to seek truth and those who think speech is a structure of domination to perpetuate systems of privilege.

This is exactly the line-drawing that now confronts the right, which faces a more radical threat. Republicans and conservatives who believe in the liberal project need to organize and draw a bright line between themselves and the illiberals on their own side. This is no longer just about Trump the man; its about how you are going to look at reality  as the muddle its always been, or as an apocalyptic hellscape. Its about how you pursue change  through the conversation and compromise of politics, or through intimidations of macho display.

I can tell a story in which the Trumpians self-marginalize or exhaust themselves. Permanent catastrophism is hard. But apocalyptic pessimism has a tendency to deteriorate into nihilism, and people eventually turn to the strong man to salve the darkness and chaos inside themselves.
Annette Torres felt at home as she navigated her SUV through the tall, black ornate gates of the Ella Austin Community Center for a monthly health care event.

She grew up near the East Side center that co-sponsored the WestCare Community Blood Drive & Drive-Thru Resource Fair on Wednesday. Even so, accompanied by her mother, Rosa Diaz, 71, and brother Raymond De La Rosa, 43, Torres was surprised by the level of support at the free, one-stop event recommended by a friend.

The South Texas Blood & Tissue Centers mobile blood donation bus was at the lot. Curb-side tables stretched in a half-moon formation from the front to Eva Ellas, a new thrift shop across from the center. Masked volunteers greeted her at each of the 17 stations that offered services, including COVID-19 vaccination registrations, free kidney health screenings and free HIV and hepatitis testing.

Plus, there was a bonus  details about medical services that could benefit her mother.

There are a lot of resources here, Torres, 53, said. I plan to come back.

On ExpressNews.com: East Side business owner donates life-saving equipment to San Antonio community

Torres and her family were among the steady stream of visitors from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the monthly resource fair thats part of the centers revitalization campaign as the city starts to reopen during the pandemic. The multi-social service center, at 1023 N. Pine St., offers programs for all ages. Services include childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 11 years; after-school and summer programs for students 6 to 14; and meals and wellness programs for seniors 60 years and older.

The center sits within a 22-square-mile area that President Barack Obama designated one of the first five Promise Zones across the country in 2014. The 10-year designation was designed to revitalize the community and provide opportunities to East Side residents.

Elizabeth Franklin, the centers interim CEO, said COVID-19 opened her eyes. No matter what, she said, the center will continue to provide services.

On April 10, they opened a 2,000-square-foot thrift store stocked with furniture, books, and clothes. Theres a digital resource hub that offers computer and internet access and new lights installed in the gymnasium.

We figured out how to keep the community safe and get the resources to them, Franklin said. We are now offering services that are designed to keep us safe and reintegrate into a shared, physical space.

On ExpressNews.com: Community volunteers taking back San Antonios East Side one block at a time

More than 24 organizations took part in the health care event, and organizers said last month they distributed 750 face masks, 400 hand-sanitizer bottles and 170 cases of bottled water to 130 families.

The center was founded in 1897 when Ella Austin took orphaned children into her home at 1920 Burnet St. The orphanage evolved, and a former middle school on Pine Street was transformed into a multi-service center offering programs that range from child care to senior nutrition.

Rosie Baca, 57, and Rita Bethany, 67, greeted drivers at the gate Wednesday with sign-up sheets and information bags, but the duos work extends beyond the center. Each week they spend 3 to 4 hours in nearby communities, knocking on doors to let residents know there is help at the campus and document their concerns.

Inside the gym, Gloria Lampley-Simmons, 85, led students she calls her children through a series of exercises. Mondays at 10:30 a.m., Simmons offers chair yoga classes. Participant Susie Flores, 69, said the classes helped immensely during the past year of political controversies and the pandemic.

It fixes our bodies and our minds, Flores said. We need this as a community.

Outside the building, Leonetta Green, 44, said Bexar County is the third leading county in Texas with HIV/AIDS diagnosis.

We want to combat those numbers, said Green, an HIV lead navigator for WestCare. Its educating people about unsafe sex practices within the community. When you know your status, you can safeguard yourself and the community and not spread the virus.

The campus holds a special place for San Antonio native Beverly Watts Davis, chair of the Ella Austin board of directors. Her sister and a close friend once led the center.

I want to be able to help the nonprofits who serve this community, Davis said.

Here on the East and West sides, we have the highest health disparities, highest rates of crime and most food deserts and food swamps, she said. If one of us is strong, all of us get strong.

vtdavis@express-news.net
Queen Letizia of Spain cut a regal figure today as she and King Felipe VI prepared to present the Cervantes Prize on World Book Day in Madrid.

The mother-of-two, 48, recycled a 70 blue knit Massimo Dutti ribbed long sleeve midi dress featuring a stylish bow belt for the occasion, and draped a long elegant white coat by Spanish fashion designer Felipe Varela over her shoulders to guard against the morning chill.

Ever glamorous, the royal completed her outfit with matching shoes, opting for blue snakeskin stilettos from Spanish brand Magrit, and a subtle pair of Bvlgari white gold and diamond earrings.

Letizia also accessorised with her Karen Hallam ring, and wore her signature brown smoky eye make-up, along with a protective face covering.

Queen Letizia of Spain cut a regal figure today as she and King Felipe VI prepared to present the Cervantes Prize on World Book Day in Madrid

The mother-of-two, 48, recycled a 70 blue knit Massimo Dutti ribbed long sleeve midi dress featuring a stylish bow belt for the occasion

Letizia draped a chic white coat by Felipe Varela over her shoulders to guard against the morning chill

Ever glamorous, the royal completed her outfit with matching shoes, opting for blue snakeskin stilettos from Spanish brand Magrit

The queen let her sleek dark hair, which sported chic silver streaks, sit loose on her shoulders.

Meanwhile husband King Felipe, 53, looked dapper in a grey pinstripe suit and a colourful floral tie.

The couple arrived at the Instituto Cervantes in Alcala de Henares this morning ahead of a commemorative ceremony to mark International Book Day.

As well as celebrating reading and literature in general, in Spain the work of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists, is particularly remembered in the country on April 23.

Miguel de Cervantes is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work often cited as both the first modern novel and one of the pinnacles of world literature.

Letizia also accessorised with her Karen Hallam ring, and wore her signature brown smoky eye make-up along with a protective white face covering

King Felipe VI, 53, looked dapper in a grey pinstripe suit and a colourful floral tie beside his stylish wife

The couple arrived at the Instituto Cervantes in Alcala de Henares this morning ahead of a commemorative ceremony to mark International Book Day

The happy couple, who have been married for 17 years, smiled and chatted to each other as they posed for photographs

The glamorous queen accessorised with a subtle pair of Bvlgari white gold and diamond earrings

King Felipe VI Queen Letizia pictured visiting the Heritage Library at Cervantes Institute where an event was held on occasion of International Book Day

Every year in the Column Room at the Circulo de Bellas Artes academy in Madrid, there is a non-stop reading of the masterpiece, which involves 48 hours of uninterrupted reading by figures from the world of culture and politics, as well as anonymous citizens.

The king and queen will today present a prestigious prize which bears his name to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language.

Yesterday Letizia and Felipe were joined by their lookalike daughters Princesses Leonor, 15, and Sofia, 13, for the launching ceremony of a new submarine.

The family were gathered together at Navantia, a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company in Madrid, to preside over the launching ceremony of S-81 Isaac Peral.

The Isaac Peral, named after a 19th century Spanish submarine designer, is one of four vessels that will enter service in the Spanish Navy in the coming years.
A handout photo made available by the US Embassy in Seoul shows US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, left, signing a guest book and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong watches at the Foreign Minister's residence in Seoul, April 17. EPA-Yonhap



The foreign ministry on Friday denied media reports speculating that South Korea was not included on the U.S. list of potential foreign vaccine support because it has taken a negative stance about joining the U.S.-led Quad forum.



Major local dailies carried such reports, quoting the remarks by U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Thursday (local time) that the U.S. is willing to help other countries with vaccine supplies but it is more focused right now on first containing the disease domestically.



Explaining the U.S. position, Price mentioned Canada and Mexico as the countries with whom Washington has discussed vaccine arrangements, along with the Quad, a regional forum involving Japan, India and Australia.



The reports also cited the outcome of the U.S.-hosted Quad Vaccine Experts' Group that took place this week, in which it pledged efforts to make at least one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines available globally by the end of next year.



They, in particular, blamed the government for being unable to secure U.S. help with the vaccines because Seoul has remained reserved about joining the Quad forum seen aimed at keeping China's influence in check.



On Friday, the foreign ministry rebutted the reports as "not true."



"The Quad vaccine cooperation is intended to accelerate vaccine production and support underdeveloped countries," the ministry said in a message to press.



"Certain media reports claiming that U.S.' foreign provision of its surplus vaccines is related to the Quad participation are not true."



Possible vaccine cooperation with Washington has drawn attention in Korea after Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong revealed early this week that Seoul has been seriously discussing the matter with the ally, including a "vaccine swap deal."



Chung has expressed hope that the U.S. will help Korea address its vaccine shortages just as Seoul helped its ally last year by providing test kits and face masks. Chung later said that Washington has explained to Seoul there is yet little room for sharing its stock at this stage. (Yonhap)


Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen is yet to make his debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but that doesnt mean that he isnt made to feel at home at the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Led by Team Indian captain Virat Kohli, RCB are currently the only unbeaten team in IPL 2021 with four wins on the trot  the latest being a massive 10-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (April 22).

Azharuddeen, who was bought by RCB during IPL mini-auction in February for Rs 20 lakh, posted a pic with Indias power couple  Virat Kohli and his Bollywood star wife Anushka Sharma. So happy to be amongst such humble, down to earth people, Azharuddeen captioned the picture tagging the RCB skipper and his wife.

So happy to be amongst such humble, down to earth people @AnushkaSharma @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/MmDPKbiaLw  Mohammed Azharuddeen (@Azhar_Junior_14) April 22, 2021

Meanwhile, Virat, Anushka and their daughter Vamika recently returned to Mumbai from Chennai, where the RCB played the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). They were clicked at the airport where Anushka was seen carrying their daughter in a baby sling.

Azharuddeen made headlines earlier in the year owing to his stunning performance in the 2021 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In the tournament, the 27-year-old scored a stunning 214 runs from just five games at an average of 53.50 and strike rate of 194.54. His best performance came against Mumbai during the tournament as he scored an unbeaten 54-ball 137 against Mumbai, taking his team to an eight-wicket victory.

Just two minutes after the IPL auction on February 18, Azharuddeen received a text from skipper Virat Kohli and fellow RCB member welcoming him into the squad reading-- "Welcome to RCB, all the best. Virat here."

According to Azharuddeen, the text was too good to be true, hence he refused to believe it was from Kohli, rushing to Sanju Samson to confirm if it was really his number.
SpaceX is set to launch its second operational commercial crew mission to the International Space Station for NASA, with a liftoff time of 5:49 AM EDT (2:49 AM PDT) on Friday morning. The flight will carry four astronauts, including two from NASA, one from JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and one from the ESA (European Space Agency), to the station, where they will begin a regular tour of duty conducting science experiments and maintaining and upgrading the orbital platform.

This is the second commercial crew mission for SpaceX, which officially qualified its Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket for human flight last year. NASA then launched four astronauts using SpaceX's human-certified launch system later that year in November, becoming the first private company to deliver people to the ISS, and the first American vehicle to do so since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. Since the end of that program, NASA has relied on buying rides aboard Russian Soyuz rockets to keep up its representation on the ISS.

There's already a SpaceX Crew Dragon at the Space Station from that Crew-1 launch last year, and it was relocated to another port on the station earlier this month in preparation for the arrival of the one flying for Crew-2. The Crew-1 Dragon capsule is set to return to Earth with astronauts on board once they're relieved by this flight's crew, likely later this month on April 28.

One major notable change for this launch is the use of a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket booster. SpaceX has previously used new boosters fresh from the factory for its human launches, though it has a spotless track record when it comes to booster re-use for its cargo flights. It's also the first re-use of a dragon spacecraft, and both components of this launch system actually previously supported human launches, with the first stage serving during Crew-1, and the Dragon capsule providing the ride for Demo-2, which flew astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

The astronauts on today's flight are Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur from NASA, as well as Akihiko Hoshide from JAXA and Thomas Pesquet from the ESA. As mentioned, liftoff time is set for 5:49 AM EDT, but SpaceX will begin streaming live hours in advance at approximately 1:30 AM EDT on Friday (10:30 PM PDT on Thursday).
This is Greco's third year to be selected to the list (2011, 2018, 2021). To compile the list of the best lawyers, the publication asks lawyers with a valid Texas Bar number to nominate two lawyers outside their firm and one within their firm across all voting categories, keeping the following question in mind: "Which local lawyers, of those whose work you have witnessed firsthand, would you rank among the current best?" After the votes are tallied, a panel of eminent lawyers meet with their editors to evaluate the Best Lawyers list.

Amy Witherite, personal injury attorney and founding partner of Witherite Law Group, said of Greco's recognition, "Shelly continues to be recognized as a distinguished attorney and leader in our field. The fact she was selected by her peers makes it an even greater honor. Our firm and clients are fortunate to have the benefit of her 17 years of car and truck wreck expertise and knowledge." For more information on Greco's expertise, please visit: https://www.witheritelaw.com/attorneys/shelly-greco/

In addition to D Magazine Best Lawyers, Greco has been named a Texas Super Lawyer and Texas Rising Star (a Thomson Reuters service) and is a recipient of the prestigious Howie Award that recognizes lawyers and their clients for their pursuit of justice in the face of adversity.

Greco is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

ABOUT WITHERITE LAW GROUP

Witherite Law Group is a Dallas-based personal injury law firm founded in 2001 with offices in Dallas, Fort Worth and Atlanta, GA. The firm's attorneys specialize in helping those injured in a car or truck accident and can be reached by calling 1-800-TruckWreck or 1-800-CarWreck, 24 hours a day. https://www.witheritelaw.com/about/

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In the wake of the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar and the ensuing government crackdown on anti-coup protests, which has grown steadily more deadly, with more than 700 killed by the military so far, supporters of the protests around the world have taken to Facebook, using a new method that they call social punishment to fight back against the junta.

Social punishment is a form of protest that consists of essentially doxing family members of officers in the military (which is called the Tatmadaw in Myanmar). The revealed information often includes pictures of the person and details of their businesses and family connections.

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In a struggle where, on the ground in Myanmar, protesters with slingshots are often pitted against soldiers and police with guns, social punishment is a powerful way to fight back. The only requirement is an internet connection and a social media account. But targeting individuals for the crimes of their relatives is also a controversial tactic, with a high risk of mob justice and unintended consequences.

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The campaigns most organized form involves a database set up by anonymous activists that lists targets in the military, their photos, their locations, and how they have offended. Offenders are ranked by traitor level, from elite to low. Individuals have also taken social punishment into their own hands by creating Facebook groups and viral posts that share the identities of military family members or supporters. For the anti-coup population living abroad, the main objective is to get generals family members living outside the country deported and their assets frozen. Within Myanmar, the goal is social and economic pressure, with boycotts on businesses and brands, and hopes that social shaming will convince military affiliates to work against their families and support the Civil Disobedience Movement.

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This has played out in several cases across the United States, where the Burmese diaspora is uniquely positioned to target military associates living abroad, because often they personally know them. In Pennsylvania, the owner of an organic skincare line shut down her social media accounts after social punishers identified her as the daughter of the juntas auditor general. Her former business, which still bears her name, has been the target of threats. A Goldman Sachs executive, who social punishers identified as the grandson of Gen. Ne Win, the military dictator in Myanmar from 1962 to 1988, and the cousin of Aye Ne Win, a military ally despised by anti-coup protesters, has had his address published online. The New York Burmese community has also targeted the deputy permanent representative of Myanmar to the United Nations, U Tin Maung Naing, whom the military named as the replacement of Myanmars envoy to the U.N., U Kyaw Moe Tun, after he signaled his support for the protests by giving the movements three-finger salute on the floor of the U.N.

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Many of us started punishing him and his family, said Moe Chan, a leader of Burma Point, a community-based organization, who is involved in social punishment.

In addition to bombarding the deputy permanent representatives Facebook page, Burmese activists in New York made plans to defend the mission should the Myanmar military attache based in D.C. arrive in New York to force the ambassador out. (A similar situation happened in London in April). I am ready for the Battle of 10 East 77th, one of the protesters wrote on Facebook, referring to the address of Myanmars permanent mission on New Yorks Upper East Side.

Mind you, some of our people in the community and I have met with the deputy public representative before the military coup, said Chan. We knew him.  We dealt with him a few times. He was welcoming us to their mission. We even donated COVID money [to him] for the people of Myanmar.

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Naing has since resigned.

Social punishment is the latest result of the divided society in Myanmar, where the military has always been at odds with the civilians. Since military rule began in 1962, the military has killed, imprisoned, tortured, and displaced millions of people. As internet access increased in Myanmar, citizens were enraged to see not only the violence of the Tatmadaw but the wealthy and glamorous lifestyles of their families, while the population of Myanmar living below the poverty line has consistently been well over 20 percent. In 2006, a precedent to social punishment was set when dissidents published Enemies of the Burmese Revolution, a list of more than 1,300 military hardliners that were part of the Tatmadaw (Creatures from Hell invaded in Burma since 1962.) Later that year, there was nationwide furor when a grainy tape was leaked of the extravagant wedding of Thandar Shwe, the daughter of Gen. Than Shwe, the head of the junta.

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Theres a long history of this, but social media has totally changed it, said David Scott Mathieson, an independent Myanmar analyst.

Over the past decade, internet access and cellphone ownership has surged in Myanmar. Up until 2011, when internet censorship began to loosen, only 0.25 percent of the population used the internet, there were fewer than 1 million cellphones in the country, and SIM cards, which were few and far between, cost hundreds of dollars. By 2020, after five years of democratic governance, internet access skyrocketed to 41 percent, there were more than 68 million cellphones (in a population of 54 million), and the price of a SIM card shot down to less than $2. Data shows that 21 million people are on Facebook. In Myanmar, Facebook is pretty much where people get the news from, especially in the past 10 years or so, said J, an activist from Myanmar who lives in the U.S. and is participating in social punishment with his wife, Y. (For concerns of the safety of their families still in Myanmar, J and Y asked that their full names not be used.)

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The power of social networking, both within Myanmar and outside of the country, has made the 2021 strife different from previous times of turbulence. Social media has become a highly effective weapon in fighting the junta.

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Online activism within the Burmese community expands past social punishment. Those resisting the coup have started deplatforming campaigns to take down Tatmadaw accounts, and after years of pressure, Facebook and Instagram announced a ban on Tatmadaw pages and ads. If big tech can deplatform Trump, they should not have any problem deplatforming the junta and their websites, said Keith, who works in cloud computing in the New York area and is involved in deplatforming efforts. People have turned to social media for less antagonistic ways of resistance as wellcalling out and debunking fake news, creating parody accounts, and sharing information on public pages using the hashtag #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar.

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In Myanmar, the Tatmadaw has cracked down and restricted internet usage, which has made efforts like social punishment more difficult. During the coup, the military cut off internet access, cutting wires and holding technicians at gunpoint. In the weeks that followed, the military shut off the internet overnight when protests were held in the streets and blocked Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where demonstrators had been organizing online. At first, people got around the blockades by using VPNs, but on April 1, the Tatmadaw entirely cut off mobile data and broadband internet in the country.

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With internet access limited in Myanmar, the diaspora has enthusiastically stepped in to help. For some, social punishment feels more useful than staging rallies abroad or nontangible methods of protest like donating money.

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Social punishment is something that we can definitely do in a more effective way than the people who are in the country, because the people who are in the country have a much higher risk of getting tracked down and arrested, said J. I think the advantage that people outside the country have is that we also have some kind of power and opportunity to track down these people who are being socially punished and living abroad.

But leaders and analysts worry about the ethics of these tactics, and their impact on their targets livelihoods, social lives, and mental health.

Its different when you look into Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said Chan, referring to the junta chief, whose children have been not only socially punished but sanctioned. But some junior-ranking military members, we dont know their kids.  All of a sudden, they pop up on Facebook because somebody knows him or her. So do I go ahead and punish that major generals daughter without knowing who she really is? Its very sketchy at times.

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Proponents say these people are still worthy targets, pointing to their wealth, the ease at which they obtain visas to live safely abroad, and the generational nature of the military in Myanmar, where oftentimes the grandchildren of generals go on to support the military years down the road.

The current situation right now in Myanmar is that the militarys killing everyone, said J and Y. They kill kids, they kill old people, they torture them. They dont really care about who should be punished. So I think its very fair for us to keep doing the social punishment.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
[April 23, 2021] 1st Source Elects Two New Members to its Board of Directors

1st Source (News - Alert) Corporation announces the election to its Board of Directors Tracy D. Graham, Managing Principal of Graham Allen Partners, LLC and Chief Executive Officer of Aunalytucs, Inc., and Ronda Shrewsbury Weybright, President and Chief Executive Officer of RealAmerica, LLC. Mr. Graham brings unique experience in enterprise technology, cybersecurity, cloud and data center, data analytics and artificial intelligence while Ms. Shrewsbury Weybright offers experience in multifamily, commercial, land and office development, and strategic direction to 1st Source Corporation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005528/en/ Tracy D. Graham (Photo: Business Wire) "We are pleased to add these two Board Members who bring us greater diversity of thought and perspective. Their backgrounds and experience will blend well with our already strong Board and their strategic guidance will surely add value to the future of our organization," states Chris Murphy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 1st Source. Tracy Graham has 25 years of experience in the information technology industry as an entrepreneur and executive. He leverages his long history of successfully acquiring and operating businesses to provide strategic and operational support to a growing portfolio of small- and middle-market companies. He is currently focused on leveraging analytics and artificial intelligence to help companies evolve via digital transformation. He has been a member of the 1st Source Bank Board of Directors since 2012 and previously served on the 1st Source Corporation Board until 2015. He also currently serves on the boards of Lippert (LCI Industries), the Horton Group, Davenport University, and the Regional Development Authority of Northen Indiana's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Mr. Graham holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame and attended the Indiana University (News - Alert) Graduate School of Education.



Ronda Shrewsbury Weybright has over 30 years of experience in multifamily, commercial, land and office development serving as President of RealAmerica Companies for 26 years. As the sole owner and founder, Ms. Shrewsbury Weybright provides strategic direction and vision for four Women Business Enterprise-certified, vertically integrated companies. She holds an active Indiana Principal Brokers License and seeks opportunities to live out her passion of providing quality, affordable and supportive housing. She is founder of Legacy25, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support and services for affordable housing communities. She serves as Past President of the Indiana Affordable Housing Council and Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee and also serves on the Executive Board of the Indianapolis Zoo, Near North Development Corporation, Young Presidents Organization, and other philanthropic boards. Ms. Shrewsbury Weybright holds a Bachelor of Science Finance/Real Estate from Indiana University School of Business. Mr. Murphy went on to say, "We are pleased our shareholders voted to add these strong leaders to our Board of Directors. We know they will help the Company deliver on its mission to help our clients achieve security, build wealth and realize their dreams by living our values and keeping our clients' best interest in mind for the long-term."

These elections come as two longstanding colleagues and Board Members enter retirement. Jim Seitz, former President of 1st Source Bank and Vice Chairman of the 1st Source Bank Board of Directors, and John Phair, Chairman of the Board of Holladay Properties and member of the 1st Source Bank and 1st Source Corporation Boards have both served the organization well for many years and offered valuable guidance during their tenures. Colleagues within the 1st Source organization and the Board recognized them for their remarkable service and extend their gratitude and congratulations to Mr. Seitz and Mr. Phair as they enter retirement. Two current members were also reelected to the Board of 1st Source Corporation by shareholders. Melody Birmingham serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Duke Energy (News - Alert) , which is a role she was recently promoted to with expanded responsibilities for IT, Administrative Services and Supply Chain Organization. Ms. Birmingham brings 26 years of leadership and managerial experience in the electric and automotive manufacturing industries. Mark D. Schwabero retired as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Brunswick Corporation in 2018 and brings nearly 43 years of experience in the automotive, marine and commercial vehicle/manufacturing industries. Mr. Schwabero and Ms. Birmingham both qualify as audit committee financial experts under SEC (News - Alert) guidelines. All four above mentioned directors have been elected to terms that end April 2024 and will be subject to reelection at that time. 1st Source Corporation, parent company of 1st Source Bank, has assets of $7.5 billion and is the largest locally controlled financial institution headquartered in the northern Indiana-southwestern Michigan area. The Corporation includes 79 banking centers, 18 1st Source Bank Specialty Finance Group locations nationwide, nine Trust and Wealth Advisory Services locations and 10 1st Source Insurance offices. For more than 155 years, 1st Source has been committed to our mission of helping our clients achieve security, build wealth and realize their dreams. For more information, visit www.1stsource.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005528/en/

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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Retirement looks very different to Albuquerque Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dow.

He may be stepping away from the department where he has been since 2000, and his role as chief since 2018, but he does plan to keep an iron in the fire at the service.

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Dows last day will be Friday. Deputy Chief Gene Gallegos will serve as interim chief.

Dow began his career as a volunteer with the Rio Rancho Fire Department in 1996 and was hired there a year later. He joined the Albuquerque Fire Department in 2000. As chief, he oversees 729 firefighters, 22 fire stations and a budget of nearly $100 million.

Im retiring just because its time, he said during a recent conversation. After 25 years, you start doing the math and there are some obvious (financial) benefits to retiring.

Dow, 44, has three children, one of whom is in the Navy, another in high school and the youngest in elementary school. I just wanted to spend time with them. I think it really hit me when my oldest son went off to the Navy. It was hard and I missed him, and I kind of looked at my other kids a little differently and thought, Wow, this lifes short. 

Dow and his wife both grew up in New Mexico and have been talking about a change of scenery, he said. They have family in the North Dallas area, coupled with an opportunity in the housing market, so they decided, as a family, to relocate there.

In addition to his regular job responsibilities for the past 13 years, Dow has taught in the fire science program at Central New Mexico Community College.

I want to go back into teaching in the fire service, and there are lots of colleges out there, and Ive had offers to teach online for different organizations. So Ill find something that I like to do, he said.

Starting in 2010, he took the lead in shaping the departments professional development program, which provides career education and training for members of the department.

We are no longer following other departments; in my opinion, were leading others in the fire service, he said.

He noted that AFR is the first department in North America to have a mobile ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, unit for use on people experiencing cardiac arrest. Similar to a heart-lung machine, it pumps and oxygenates a persons blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest while the individual is transported to a hospital.

As chief, Dow points out he created 44 additional sworn firefighter positions and a number of additional civilian positions to help staff new programs or expand existing ones. The department has added a behavioral health specialist and several fire inspectors, instituted teams to monitor abandoned and unsafe properties, and created a public affairs office.

Dow also said a hallmark of his administration is a policy that encourages any AFR member from any rank to suggest the department look at new equipment.

All I asked is that they do a little research, tell me how much it costs, why we should get it, the benefits of it and what training we would need to implement it. And thats really worked really well, because weve had a lot of great ideas come from multiple levels and (have) improved the service that we can provide, he said.
(Newser)  The people should be pleased to know that the fifth person in line for the British throne can ride a bike. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have released a new photo of a smiling Prince Louis on a small red bike in honor of his third birthday on Friday and first day of preschool on Wednesday. The photo was snapped Wednesday by mom Kate Middleton just before Louis took off for his first day at Willcocks Nursery School, per CNN. Louis' sister, Princess Charlotte, also attended the nursery school, which is a short walk from London's Kensington Palace. Charlotte, 5, now attends the nearby Thomas's Battersea school with her older brother Prince George, 7, who is third in line for the throne behind grandfather Prince Charles and father Prince William, per People. (Read more Royal Family stories.)
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union

Many of us welcome the transition to a greener New York. Unfortunately, far too many folks are unaware of the crushing consequences of a disrupted climate. We have had glimpses such as the horrific 2018 fire in Paradise, CA, where almost 90 people died, or the rapidly intensifying Hurricane Maria that devastated Puerto Rico and claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Simply stated, we must dramatically reduce emissions because these climate-related events will only intensify if we fail to mitigate our climate problem effectively.

The list of problems we face as our climate deteriorates is long. Humans will be adversely affected by both water shortages and extreme flooding. Unstable climate will negatively impact food production, and rising seas will inundate coastal areas. Increasingly, warm and acidic oceans are likely to be less productive with regard to both food and oxygen. Its a scary list.
New Delhi: Taking note of alarming rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases in India, the World Health Organization on Friday (April 23) said that reducing transmission in the country looks quite difficult.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating COVID situation, WHO Emergencies director Mike Ryan said that India needs to reduce mobility in order to contain the spread.

Reducing transmission in India is a very difficult task, Ryan was quoted as saying by Reuters.

We have got to reduce mixing in whatever way we can to reduce infection. The Indian government is looking to do that, he added.

India recorded the world's highest single-day spike with 3,32,730 fresh infections of COVID-19 on Friday. The data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare suggested that the overall caseload has reached 1,62,63,695.

Adding to the woes, acute shortage of oxygen supply have been reported from several hospitals across the country.

The oxygen crisis has led to the death of many patients. The crematoriums are running out of capacity. The top courts of the country had to step in to take stock of the worrying situation prevailing in the country.

Several hospitals in Delhi have approached the High Court complaining that they have very little oxygen left which would last only a few hours and consequently many patients could die.

Elsewhere too deaths due to lack of oxygen have been reported. In Nashik 24 people died after a leak in oxygen tanker. On Friday, death of five patients was reported in Jabalpur due to disruption in oxygen supply.

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His Excellency Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey, His Excellency Mohammad Haneef Atmar, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and His Excellency Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan held a Trilateral Meeting in Istanbul, on 23 April 2021.

On the occasion of the Trilateral Meeting, the three Foreign Ministers,

Reiterated their commitment to support a peaceful, sovereign, independent, democratic and united Afghanistan,

Recognized that a sustainable peace can be achieved only through an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political process that aims a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire along with an inclusive political settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan,

Emphasized their support to the Afghanistan Peace Process and the ongoing Afghanistan Peace Negotiations in Doha for the achievement of a just and durable political settlement,

Recognized the efforts of Turkey, Qatar and the UN to hold a high-level meeting in Istanbul aimed at giving momentum to the ongoing Afghanistan Peace Negotiations,

Recalled that the Istanbul Conference had been postponed after extensive discussions with all relevant parties with a view to holding the Conference when conditions for making meaningful progress would be more favorable, therefore called on all parties, in particular the Taliban to reaffirm their commitment for achieving an inclusive negotiated settlement leading to lasting peace in Afghanistan desired by the Afghan people, the region and the international community.

Deplored the continuing high level of violence in Afghanistan, especially regretted the high number of civilian casualties and particularly condemned attacks targeting civil service employees, civil society activists, human rights defenders, journalists and media workers,

Emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire both to end the existing high level of violence and to provide a conducive atmosphere for the peace talks,

Recognized the importance of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) as a substantial platform that contributes to regional stability in fields ranging from political and security cooperation to economic integration,

Reiterated their common resolve to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,

Acknowledged the role of the regional and neighboring countries, in particular Pakistan and Iran in hosting Afghan refugees for more than four decades and called for creating conducive conditions in Afghanistan for their voluntary, safe, dignified, expeditious and sustainable repatriation through a well-resourced plan,

Urged international community to continue to assist host countries in taking care of the essential needs of Afghan refugees and to provide support to the repatriation and reintegration efforts of the Government of Afghanistan,

Expressed their determination to enhance cooperation on regional connectivity in transport, trade, energy, people-to-people contacts, education, social and cultural exchange, tourism,

Discussed the far-reaching implications of the COVID 19 pandemic on economic growth and public health, agreed to exchange information, research, expertise and best practices, and called for enhanced international cooperation and solidarity to effectively address the challenge, keeping in view financial and capacity limitations of developing countries,

Recognizing the contribution of the Trilateral Summit Process to regional dialogue and cooperation, agreed on planning for the revitalization of the said Process in order to deepen bilateral as well as trilateral cooperation among the three countries to address common security threats and work on existing regional economic opportunities,



His Excellency Mohammad Haneef Atmar, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and His Excellency Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan conveyed their thanks to His Excellency Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey and to the Government and brotherly people of Turkey for hosting the Trilateral Meeting.
April 23 : Young talent Tara Sutaria, who was launched by Karan Johar in Student Of The Year 2, has been winning hearts of fans since her debut film. The actress has not only floored her fans with her beauty, but also grab headlines time and again for her relationship with Aadar Jain, who is related to actor Ranbir Kapoor.

Tara, an avid social media user, also drop sizzling pictures of her photoshoots and from her vacay dairies. In just a short span of time, Tara has ruled millions of heart. Today, the Marjaavaan actress took to her Instagram stories, and shared a good news with her fans and followers.

The Student Of The Year 2 actress is in a celebration mode at her home as she hits 6 million followers on Instagram. Expressing her excitement with a post, she wrote, Thank You for everything, my beloved Insta Family, 6 Million kisses and hugs to you all!!, Be safe, be well, and be happy, We will get through this time together. A fashion trendsetter on social media, the actress today crossed six million followers on Instagram. In the picture, she can be seen surrounded by balloons and flowers to mark the occasion.

Image Source: Instagram/tarasutaria Tara Sutaria shared on her Instagram story

Ever since her debut film, where she shared screen space with Tiger Shroff and Ananya Panday, the young actress gained a lot of attention and eventually created her own niche position in Bollywood.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Tara was last seen in Marjaavaan along with Sidharth Malhotra. She will be next seen in Tadap, a Hindi remake of the Telugu hit film RX 100. Helmed by Milan Lutharia, Tadap will also mark the debut of Suniel Shettys son, Ahan Shetty. The film is scheduled to hit the theatres on September 24, this year. Besides this, Tara has also started shooting for Ek Villain Returns with John Abraham, Arjun Kapoor and Disha Patani. Directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Ekta Kapoor, Bhushan Kumar, the film is slated to release on February 11, 2022.
New Delhi: At least twenty-five "sickest" COVID-19 patients have died at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the last 24 hours, and the lives of another 60 such patients are at risk, the hospital said on Friday.

This comes amid a serious oxygen crisis unfolding in the national capital.

A source said, "low-pressure oxygen" could be the likely cause for the deaths. "The oxygen stock will last another two hours. Ventilators and BiPAP machines are not working effectively," a senior official at the hospital said.

"Lives of another 60 'sickest' patients at risk. Major crisis likely," he said. Meanwhile, oxygen tankers have now arrived at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital after the hospital sent an SOS to the Health Minister.

Delhi: Oxygen tanker arrives at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital after the hospital sends SOS pic.twitter.com/MLDiFm6vmq  ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2021

The hospital authorities are resorting to manual ventilation in ICUs and the emergency department, according to the official. There are more than 500 coronavirus patients, including around 150 on high flow oxygen support, admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital located in central Delhi.

On Thursday night, the hospital officials had sent an SOS to the government, saying there's only five hours of oxygen left at the healthcare facility and requesting that it be replenished urgently.

"At 8 pm, oxygen in store is for five hours for peripheral use till 1 am and less for high flow use. Need urgent oxygen supplies," an official had said.

The hospital had received some oxygen around 12.30 am, but the stock had to be supplemented later, sources said. "A tanker carrying two tonnes of oxygen is stuck near Ambedkar Hospital," a source said.

Several private hospitals in the city have been struggling to replenish their oxygen supply for the last four days. Some of them have even requested the Delhi government to transfer patients to other healthcare facilities.

While some hospitals have managed to make short-term arrangements, there is no immediate end to the crisis in sight, a government official had said on Thursday.

In a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said six private hospitals had exhausted their oxygen supply by Thursday evening.

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WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. --- The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission set the 2021-22 migratory gamebird hunting seasons, heard a preview of the hunting season regulations, and updates on Asian carp and chronic wasting disease (CWD) at its April meeting which concluded Friday at Cedars of Lebanon State Park.

The migratory gamebird seasons are set each year. All changes are within the federal framework and include simple date changes for the 2021-22 calendar. There is a modification to the crow season which will allow it to coincide with phase 1 of the dove season. All sandhill crane tags will be issued by computer drawing.

The changes include additional language for veterans and active military personnel waterfowl hunting days. During the veterans and active military personnel waterfowl season, non-veteran or non-active military personnel may be present, however, only veterans or active military persons may hunt. When other migratory bird seasons (e.g. goose seasons) are open during the veterans and active military waterfowl season, any properly licensed youth or adult not accompanied by veterans or active military may harvest legal game.

The 2021-22 crow season is June 12-July 12 (phase 1), Sept. 1-first Sunday in September (phase 2), second Friday in September-Dec. 20 (phase 3, Friday, Saturday, Sunday only) and Jan. 1-Feb 28 (phase 4, no day restrictions).

Slight adjustments to the hunting seasons proposals include adding Henderson County and applicable WMAs therein to Unit CWD, clarification of eligible test results to the Replacement Buck Program, and the addition of Beech River and the Henderson County portion of Natchez Trace State Forest to the August deer hunt. The other items on the proclamation included the addition of events at Buffalo Ridge Refuge in Humprheys County and the movement of a youth dove hunt from Owl Hollow WMA to the nearby Mingo Swamp WMA for safety reasons.

The full proposals will be posted soon on the TWRA website. A comment period will be open to the public and the TFWC will vote on the proposals at its May meeting. Hunting seasons are set every two years. However, the commission is allowed to make amendments to the proclamation.

With five new commissioners on board, a review of CWD was given. Since CWD was discovered in Tennessee in late 2018, a response team was enabled. Goals for management include to keep the disease from spreading, keep the number of infected deer to a minimum, and reduce prevalence rates where available. Dr. Krysten Schuler, from Cornell University, joined the meeting via Zoom to provide an overview of a collaborative CWD-modeling project of which TWRA is a member.

TWRA Chief of Fisheries Frank Fiss presented an overview of the Asian carp problem and ongoing control efforts. Asian carp are still abundant in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and in the lower reservoirs of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. There are no new reports of carp in upper Tennessee River reservoirs.

Control of carp by commercial harvest continues on Kentucky and Barkley lakes, where more than 7 million pounds have been removed through TWRAs Asian Carp Harvest Incentive Program (ACHIP) since September of 2018. Recent grants for the construction of additional cold storage have increased purchasing capacity. As a result, commercial fishers harvested 930,000 pounds of carp in March 2021, which is nearly double the highest harvest recorded in previous months. TWRA and its partners continue to monitor carp populations and their movements while developing strategies to reduce or stop their upstream movement through locks.

A report was given from the Boating and Law Enforcement Division. The process will begin soon to interview candidates for six current wildlife officer positions.

Representatives from the Tennessee Wildlife Federation made a presentation on the Scholastic Clay Target Program. Award-winning past participants Eli Christman and Minmay Pup also spoke of the benefits they have experienced as a result of the program.

---TWRA---
Pliskova fights back to set up clash with Barty in Stuttgart Karolina Pliskova celebrates her second-round win over Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart on Thursday

Karolina Pliskova will face world number one Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart's WTA clay-court tournament after seeing off Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set battle on Thursday.

Pliskova, the sixth seed, recovered from losing the first set in a tie-break by firing down 21 aces, 10 of which came in the last set alone, for a 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3 second-round win.

"I like spending time on this court," joked Pliskova, the 2018 Stuttgart champion, after needing almost two and a half hours to claim victory.

"It was a really good match, because there was not many easy mistakes from both sides.

"It was a far better performance from me," she added, having laboured in Wednesday's victory over lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch.

Thursday's result was almost identical to Pliskova's win over Latvian Ostapenko in the 2018 quarter-finals in Stuttgart when the Czech went on to capture the title.

Former French Open champion Ostapenko hurled her racquet in anger in the second set, while Pliskova broke one of hers as she regained control of the match.

"It always helps me when I break a racquet," the Czech said.

Pliskova, ranked ninth in the world, plays top seed Barty of Australia in the last eight Friday.

"She's on a good run and has won a few tournaments, but I have nothing to lose," added Pliskova.

Barty, who won a pre-Australian Open tournament in Melbourne and the Miami Open earlier this month, breezed into the quarter-finals Wednesday by overpowering Laura Siegemund following a first-round bye.

She is using the Stuttgart event as part of her preparations for next month's French Open, where she won her first Grand Slam title in 2019.

She sat out the 2020 tournament at Roland Garros because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Second-seed Simona Halep needed less than an hour to power into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Marketa Vondrousova.

The world number three Romanian admitted having been nervous after losing her two previous meetings with the 21-year-old Vondrousova in 2019.

Story continues

"I had to wait a few days to play and I was a bit nervous as she won our previous matches, but I had a good plan," said Halep.

On Friday, the 29-year-old faces either Swiss Belinda Bencic or Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina earned her seventh straight win over Germany's Angelique Kerber claiming a 7-6(7/4), 6-3 victory in a high-quality tie.

Kerber fought hard before succumbing to the Ukranian who she last beat in Montreal back in 2016.

"It's always a battle against her, but she just brings out the best in me," said Svitolina after her seventh win over the German.

Svitolina faces Petra Kvitova, the 2019 Stuttgart champion, in the quarter-finals.

Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus plays Anett Kontaveit in the last eight after her 6-4, 6-2 win over German qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Estonian Kontaveit is looking to knock out another big name after shocking Sofia Kenin of the US, ranked fourth in the world, in the second round on Wednesday.

ryj/pb
Islamabad, April 23 : Pakistan President Arif Alvi has said that India is using Afghanistan's soil to carry out terrorist activities in Balochistan.

The Pakistani President was speaking to the US media on various issues on Thursday. On ties between New Delhi and Islamabad, he said that Pakistan cannot move towards normalisation of ties with India it rolls back its August 5 decision to scrap Indian-occupied Kashmir's autonomy, the Geo TV reported.

He commented on the Afghan Reconciliation Process, saying that the US' decision to withdraw its forces from the war-torn country is a positive step towards peace in Afghanistan.

"Pakistan will try to persuade the Taliban to take part in the Turkey conference," said the President.

On India's involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan, Alvi said that Pakistan has informed the global community of India's designs.

"India is using the Afghan soil to meddle in the affairs of Balochistan and carry out terrorism there," he said.

Alvi also said the relations between Pakistan and the US are improving.

He touched upon the topic of Pakistan's internal affairs, stating that when it comes to reconciliation between the government and the Opposition, the matter of accountability is of primary importance.

"Due to the Opposition's lack of cooperation, the government has failed to pass a lot of legislation," he said.

Alvi said that he completely trusts the judiciary which is why the Justice Qazi Faez Isa reference was sent to the Supreme Judicial Council.

A couple of days ago, a session of the National Assembly was called during which a PTI lawmaker passed the resolution to debate on the expulsion of the French ambassador.

Violent protests staged by the proscribed organisation Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) triggered clashes which led to the deaths of four police officers, while 800 were wounded. One of the main demands of the TLP from the government is to expel the ambassador of France after French President Emmanuel Macron supported blasphemous sketches published by French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.

Following the clashes, the government held talks with the TLP and decided to submit a resolution in the National Assembly seeking the expulsion of the French envoy.

Alvi said that Pakistan is a democratic country and a resolution demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador is presented in the lower house for debate.

"I don't have the right to say something which, under the garb of freedom of speech, injures the sentiments of others," he said.
(Israel21c) An innovative optical technology that can instantly and non-invasively detect and distinguish between different types of skin cancer has been developed by an Israeli scientist at Tel Aviv University.

The new method created by Professor Abraham Katzir at the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, employs infrared sensors and optical fibers in order to determine the properties of various lesions on the skin, and to successfully identify them based on their coloration within the infrared spectrum.

We figured that with the help of devices that can identify these colors, healthy skin and each of the benign and malignant lesions would have different colors which would enable us to identify melanoma, says Katzir.

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Currently, between 2 to 3 million non-melanoma skin cancers and 132,000 melanoma skin cancers occur globally each year. One in every three cancers diagnosed is a skin cancer and, according to Skin Cancer Foundation Statistics, one in every five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.

Early diagnosis is vital. If a skin cancer is found early, the five year survival rate for melanoma is 99 percent.

This new detection method has been successfully tested on 100 patients at a major Israeli hospital, with the study being published in the International Journal of Medical Physics Research and Practice. Following the success of the initial trial, Katzir and his team plan to confirm the evaluation method on hundreds more patients.

One of the reasons this new technology is potentially revolutionary is that it gives dermatologists the means to visually diagnose potentially life-threatening cases of skin cancer instantly and non-invasively without the need for a biopsy and further diagnosis by a pathologist. This will save doctors and patients valuable time that can be diverted to treatment.

Melanoma is a life-threatening cancer, so it is very important to diagnose it early on, when it is still superficial, said Katzir, adding that the new technology has the potential to cause dramatic change in the field of diagnosing and treating skin cancer, and perhaps other types of cancer as well.

While this new method has potential to be a real game changer, saving countless lives thanks to early detection, it is still very expensive. The real challenge, according to Katzir, will be to develop the technology to the point where it can be used in every hospital and clinic in the world.


NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) - 65471 new coronavirus cases were reported in the United States on Thursday, taking the national total to 31930271. This is higher than the 7-day average of 61774.



911 new deaths were reported in the country on the same day. With this, the COVID death toll in the U.S. increased to 584226, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The 7-day average of COVID deaths is 719.



Michigan, which had been the worst COVID hot spot in the country for weeks, recorded 120 deaths Thursday, the worst in the country.



Florida recorded the highest number of new COVID cases - 6684 - among U.S. states.



The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to meet at 11 AM ET Friday to vote on updated recommendations for use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The advisers will examine if a few cases of blood clot reported in women who received the vaccine are connected to a rare blood clotting syndrome called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).



Six women between the ages of 18 and 48 presented these symptoms 6 to 13 days after they were vaccinated, and one of them died recently. These incidents prompted CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration to recommend suspension of using J&J vaccine in the country.



Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Washington Post in collaboration with Kaiser Family Foundation has found that about 3 in 10 medical professionals in the U.S. have considered leaving the job after suffering trauma, burnout and disillusionment in the fight against COVID-19. About 60 percent of doctors, nurses, technicians, administrative staff and other health-care workers who were surveyed said stress from the pandemic has harmed their mental health, while more than half reported burnout.



According to the poll, about 6 in 10 health-care workers say most Americans are not taking enough precautions to prevent the spread of the pandemic.



India, struggling to cope up with the devastating second wave, broke the record for the highest number of daily cases globally for the second day in a row. The country, which is only behind the U.S., reported 332,730 new cases on Thursday. As per the Indian Ministry of Health records, the total number of people who were infected with coronavirus in the country has crossed 16 million. More than 1 million cases were reported in the last four days.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton addresses media in front of the Subiaco War Memorial in Perth, Australia on April 19, 2021. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

Australia Will Not Surrender to Beijing: Defence Minister

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton has declared that the country will not surrender its sovereignty to appease Beijing following outrage over the cancellation of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreement with Victoria.

The comments come after the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson threatened retaliation if Australia did not wind back its decision.

Were not going to have our values compromised. We arent going to surrender our sovereignty, Dutton told Nine News on Friday.

We are standing up for who we are. Weve got very important diplomatic relations with many countries, including China, but we arent going to be compromised by the principles of the Communist Party of China.

Dutton also took aim at the Chinese regime for its build-up of military bases in the South China Sea and for launching cyberattacks against Australia.

One of Chinas man-made islands in the South China Sea, May 21, 2015. (U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters)

All of that is not the actions of a friend, he said.

We need to make sure that yes, weve got an important trading relationship, but China and others need to understand that Australia is not going to be bullied.

On Wednesday night, Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the cancellation of four agreements signed between Victoria and foreign countries, including Iran, Syria, and China.

I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australias foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations, Payne said.

Two of those deals were signed between current Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Beijings National Development and Reform Commission.

The first cancelled arrangement was a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2018 that saw Victoria pledge to work on infrastructure projects within Beijings Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, commonly known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The second axed Framework Agreement was signed by Andrews in 2019. A third was supposed to be signed in 2020 but did not eventuate.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 16, 2021. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

The Chinese Embassy in Canberra criticised the move, labelling it unreasonable and provocative. While Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin urged Australia to revoke the decision or Beijing would resolutely take strong actions.

The Federal Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles said Australia needed to stand up for its values but criticised the governments approach to foreign policy, saying it needed adults in the room.

Its a difficult relationship, though, and it needs to be managed properly, he said.

You need adults in the room when it comes to foreign policy. This is not something you do in the schoolyard, Marles said. The prime minister doesnt do foreign policy, and weve got a foreign minister who is basically in hiding.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Richard Marles addresses a media conference in the press gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on December 07, 2020 (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

The BRI agreements were cancelled under Australias Foreign Relations Act 2020, which was passed in December last year amid increasing concerns over Beijing-backed foreign interference.

The law granted the foreign minister the power to void agreements signed between foreign entities, and subnational Australian governments and public universities.

Experts predicted Victorias BRI agreements with Beijing would be the first target of the law.

Other controversial agreements that could come under scrutiny include sister-city arrangements, Confucius Institutes, and academic partnerships.

The BRI is Beijings trillion-dollar global infrastructure fund that has been accused of being a vehicle for the CCP to expand its global hegemony.

Some developing countries have struggled to pay off loans under the BRI, and in some cases, have been forced to hand over control of key assets and infrastructure to Beijing.

In early April, the European Commission announced it would not assist Montenegro with paying off a $1 billion euro loan it owed Beijing for the construction of its Bar-Boljare highway.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday, April 22, 2021, the Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor (VSA), Omar Ottley visited the Methodist Agogic Center, John A. Gumbs Campus of which he is an Alumnus. The Minister was invited by Group 3s teacher who disclosed that the current topic of discussions in class is Leadership. Minister Ottley informed the class of what his job entails and what he plans to do as a leader for the country.

During the question and answer segment, he was astonished by the questions the group 3 class had prepared for him. One of the questions that stood out the most from a grade one student was How does it feel to be a Minister? Minister Ottley replied,  It feels good, now I'm able to step out and do more for the people and the country.
Tamil Nadu: Fishermen protest against hatcheries being too close to high tide line

April 23,2021 | Source: The Hindu

Fishermen organisations on Wednesday urged the government not to permit shrimp hatcheries to set up structures too close to the shore. Staging a protest at the office of the Fisheries Department at Nandanam, where the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) is also located, representatives of the Tamil Nadu Meenavar Iyakkangalin Orunginaippu Kuzhu alleged that the hatcheries that grew shrimp seeds meant for farms were setting up structures too close to the high tide line. These units have approvals only from the CAA and have no other regulating authority. They let out effluents, they alleged. They said vast tracts of common lands meant for use by fishing villages were being usurped by these industries. D. Ramraj, president, All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association, said the shrimp larvae were mostly fed algae and compound feed and not any chemicals. They are very sensitive live organisms and cannot be given any chemicals.



The discharge from the hatcheries are monitored and are well within limits. Breeding fish, shrimp or any marine species requires sea water and sea front access and therefore a hatchery has been notified as a permitted activity under the CRZ regulations right from 1991 onwards, he said. Sources in the CAA said most shrimp hatcheries were located within 2 km of high tide line. All these hatcheries fell under its jurisdiction and it regulated all their activities, starting from construction to monitoring their operations. Over 10 hatcheries that violated the provisions of the CAA Act, 2005, and its rules and regulations had been deregistered and closed by the CAA.

 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD.
Like so many other things over the past year, much of the activism around Earth Day 2021 is virtual, unfolding as a livestream celebration at Earthday.org.

Earth Day is today, April 22. But events marking the day stretch way beyond 24 hours, and include President Bidens two-day climate summit. This year will be missing the enormous protests that have been a hallmark of the climate movement but some groups gathered in smaller ways to drive home their messages.

On Wednesday, groups of activists came to Washington, including 350.org, US Youth Climate Strike and Build Back Fossil Free. They brought portable versions of climate clocks. These devices, some of them enormous, count down, by some measures, the time left to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

A group of climate-focused officials from capital cities across Latin America known as Mayors of the Americas also held an event in Washington on Wednesday to discuss their own cities commitments to reach carbon neutrality before 2040; one group left a clock at the White House. In New York City, three protesters from Extinction Rebellion NYC glued themselves to the windows of NBCs Today show studio during the live broadcast.
New analysis indicates a specific immune repopulation pattern in people treated with MAVENCLAD, which may contribute to their ability to fight infections and develop protective antibodies from vaccines

Independent study from Israel showed MAVENCLAD-treated patients receiving COVID-19 vaccine were able to mount antibody response similar to that of healthy subjects

Updated safety data show MAVENCLAD-treated patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 continue to have a disease course similar to the general population

Not intended for UK and U.S. based media

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced a new analysis from the MAGNIFY-MS sub-study showing a specific immune repopulation pattern in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) treated with MAVENCLAD (cladribine tablets), which may contribute to their ability to fight infections and develop protective antibodies from vaccines. The data were presented at the 2021 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting that was held virtually 17-22 April 2021.

In the MAGNIFY-MS study, reduction of memory B cells occurred as early as one month after MAVENCLAD initiation with lowest levels sustained for up to 12 months, while naive B cells, which are typically required for the generation of antibody responses following vaccination, began recovering immediately. Previously shared data from MAGNIFY-MS indicated that patients receiving MAVENCLAD are able to mount responses to influenza and varicella zoster vaccines, irrespective of lymphocyte count.

"The findings presented at AAN further our understanding of how MAVENCLAD impacts the immune system, and how it may exert a therapeutic effect in patients with multiple sclerosis while repopulating cells which support immune responses," said Heinz Wiendl, MD, Department of Neurology with Institute of Translational Neurology, University of Muenster, Germany. "These important data indicate that in addition to addressing MS relapses and progression, patients treated with MAVENCLAD may be able to simultaneously mount a proper vaccine response a particularly important finding at this time."

In addition, a recent independent study conducted by Anat Achiron, MD, PhD, FAAN and colleagues, The Multiple Sclerosis Center at Sheba Medical Centre and Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University, Israel, and recently published in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, shows that patients who have taken MAVENCLAD were able to generate COVID-19 antibodies following the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech administered 4.4 months after last MAVENCLAD dosing. The observational analysis showed that all 23 relapsing-remitting MS patients treated with MAVENCLAD who received the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine developed a protective SARS-COV-2 IgG antibody response [antibody titer >1.1 is considered positive; median=7.0], which was similar to the comparison group of MS patients not receiving any immunomodulatory treatments and healthy subjects. Humoral response to the COVID-19 vaccine was independent of lymphocyte count. These findings appeared unique to MAVENCLAD across other high-efficacy MS therapies. No unexpected safety findings post first and second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination were identified in MS patients, according to another recent publication in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal

"Bringing MAVENCLAD-treated patients into a state where they can live their lives as normally as possible during a global pandemic is of utmost importance to us," said Danny Bar-Zohar, MD, Global Head of Development, Healthcare business of Merck. "Beyond the convenient oral dosing schedule, proven efficacy, and well-characterized safety profile of MAVENCLAD, newly generated data now show encouraging initial evidence for these patients' ability to generate adequate antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination, which is so important for patients."

The ability to mount an adequate immune response is critical as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts patients living with chronic disease around the world. As presented at AAN, and also published in MSaRD, an updated post-approval safety analysis provided a look at outcomes from cases of COVID-19 in MAVENCLAD-treated patients. The safety database analysis included cases of confirmed (n=160) or suspected (n=101) COVID-19 in MAVENCLAD-treated patients. Based on the analysis, the majority of patients had mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and none required mechanical ventilation. MAVENCLAD-treated patients had a similar disease course with COVID-19 compared with the general population who acquired COVID-19.

About MAVENCLAD

MAVENCLAD is a short-course oral therapy that selectively and periodically targets lymphocytes thought to be integral to the pathological process of relapsing MS (RMS). In August 2017, the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization for MAVENCLAD for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS) in the 28 countries of the European Union (EU) in addition to Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. MAVENCLAD has since then been approved in over 80 countries, including Canada, Australia and the U.S. Refer to the respective prescribing information for further details.

The clinical development programme for cladribine tablets includes:

The CLARITY (Cladribine Tablets Treating MS Orally) study: a two-year Phase III placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cladribine tablets as a monotherapy in patients with RRMS.

The CLARITY extension study: a Phase III placebo-controlled study following on from the CLARITY study, which evaluated the safety and exploratory efficacy of cladribine tablets over two additional years beyond the two-year CLARITY study, according to the treatment assignment scheme for years 3 and 4.

The ORACLE MS (Oral Cladribine in Early MS) study: a two-year Phase III placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cladribine tablets as a monotherapy in patients at risk of developing MS (patients who have experienced a first clinical event suggestive of MS).

The ONWARD (Oral Cladribine Added ON to Interferon beta-1a in Patients With Active Relapsing Disease) study: a Phase II placebo-controlled study designed primarily to evaluate the safety and tolerability of adding cladribine tablets treatment to patients with relapsing forms of MS, who have experienced breakthrough disease while on established interferon-beta therapy.

PREMIERE (Prospective Observational Long-term Safety Registry of Multiple Sclerosis) study: a long-term observational follow-up safety registry of MS patients who participated in cladribine tablets clinical studies.

In the two-year CLARITY study, the most commonly reported adverse event (AE) in patients treated with cladribine tablets was lymphopenia (26.7% with cladribine tablets and 1.8% for placebo). The incidence of infections was 48.3% with cladribine tablets and 42.5% with placebo, with 99.1% and 99.0% respectively rated mild-to-moderate by investigators. Adverse Events reported in other clinical studies were similar.

About the MAGNIFY-MS sub-study

The MAGNIFY-MS sub-study was conducted to evaluate the peripheral immune cell subset dynamics and repopulation patterns in the first 12 months of MAVENCLAD therapy in 57 patients. Absolute cell counts and percent change from baseline were assessed for adaptive immune cell subtypes and immunoglobulins. Results found that there is an early onset of action, with most B cell subtypes reaching nadir (or lowest achieved) levels by month two. T cell subtypes showed reductions at later time points (mainly between months three and six) and no changes were seen for other natural killer (NK) cell subtypes. Reduction in memory B cells was sustained to month 12; regulatory B cells recovered by month three, and then increased over baseline levels.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the central nervous system and is the most common non-traumatic, disabling neurological disease in young adults. It is estimated that approximately 2.8 million people have MS worldwide. While symptoms can vary, the most common symptoms of MS include blurred vision, numbness or tingling in the limbs and problems with strength and coordination. The relapsing forms of MS are the most common.

Merck in Neurology and Immunology

Merck has a long-standing legacy in neurology and immunology, with significant R&D and commercial experience in multiple sclerosis (MS). The company's current MS portfolio includes two products for the treatment of relapsing MS Rebif (interferon beta-1a) and MAVENCLAD (cladribine tablets). Merck aims to improve the lives of patients by addressing areas of unmet medical needs. In addition to Merck's commitment to MS, the company also has a pipeline focusing on discovering new therapies that have potential in other neuroinflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

All Merck Press Releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck generated sales of 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck's technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science and EMD Electronics.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005342/en/

Contacts:

Tone B. Fritzen

tone-brauti.fritzen@merckgroup.com

+49 151 1454 2694
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India to expand COVID-19 vaccination but supplies run short, imports delayed

Under fire for his handling of the world's worst COVID-19 surge, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened vaccinations for all adults from next month, but supplies are already running short. Public forecasts by its only two vaccine producers show their total monthly output of 70-80 million doses will increase only in two months or more, though the number of people eligible for vaccines will double to an estimated 800 million from May 1.

Delhi HC dismisses Facebook, WhatsApp pleas against CCI order to probe new privacy policy

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed pleas by social media platforms, Facebook and WhatsApp, challenging India's competition regulator CCI's order directing a probe into WhatsApp's new privacy policy. The court said it saw no merit in the petitions of Facebook and WhatsApp to interdict the investigation directed by the CCI.

Fire breaks out at Virar hospital leaving 13 COVID-19 patients dead

A fire broke out at a hospital in Virar leading to deaths of as many as 13 people. The fire broke out early Friday morning at Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar in Mumbai. 13 people have lost their lives in the blaze. The blaze started due to a short-circuit in the air conditioner in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Industry in recovery mode, several Budget proposals on course: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the industry is in recovery mode and several Budget proposals are on course, including disinvestment, despite a fresh wave of coronavirus infections and local lockdowns. The government, the minister said, has been taking steps to deal with the second wave of COVID-19 with regard to supply of medicines and oxygen.

Coffee drinkers drive strongest Nestle quarter in a decade, shares rise by 2%

Coffee drinkers, pet owners and home bakers helped to drive the biggest rise in quarterly sales at Nestle for 10 years, as the world's biggest food group outshone Danone and set a high bar for Unilever. The Swiss group has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic well so far, as consumers have bought more packaged foods. Nestle's ecommerce business also fared well in the first quarter, with sales up 40%, and its health science business benefitted as people bought more vitamins and supplements.

Farm laws can lift India's GDP growth: Fitch Ratings

The agriculture reforms undertaken by the Indian government, which are facing oppositon from farmers, can increase the country's economic growth if implementation risks are addressed, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday while affirming India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook. The rating agency said the Indian government remains reform-minded as evidenced by the passing of agricultural and labour market reforms.
Australias largest telcos have spent more than $600 million on crucial radio wave spectrum that will help them build 5G networks and dramatically improve mobile and internet speeds.

Telstra spent $276.6 million on buying 1000MHz of 26GHz spectrum, which is highly sought after because it can be used to build high-speed mobile networks. TPG Telecom will pay $108.2 million for licences in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, while Optus was awarded licences in most capital cities for $226.2 million by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Including smaller providers Dense Air Australia and Pentanet Limited, the group of telcos spent $647.6 million.

More than $600 million was spent by the telco industry at the latest spectrum auction. Credit:AP

Just imagine you are stuck in traffic at rush hour and suddenly 50 more lanes open up, Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. [Spectrum] gives you so much more capacity to be able to let the data flow through.

Mr Penn said the spectrum would allow the $40 billion telco giant to invest in building standalone 5G networks for specific industries such as mining.
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: Back on March 11, new opposition figure, leader of the Third Power party Artak Tovmasyan (Artak of Dvin) literally announced: "We will achieve the resignation of the government within 44 days."

Tovmasyan's promised term expires tomorrow, April 24, whereas the government does not seem to intend to resign before that. And Artak Tovmasyan himself has already appeared in the pro-government field.

Our government sources also assure that [PM] Nikol Pashinyan's formality resignation will most likely take place after April 24.

Moreover, yesterday we even received news that Pashinyan has changed his mind after returning from Syunik [Province], and is negotiating with the [parliamentary opposition] PAP [(Prosperous Armenia Party)], he wants to achieve at all costs to form a coalition with [PAP leader and business tycoon MP] Gagik Tsarukyan, and cancel the [snap parliamentary] elections [slated for June 20].

It is becoming more and more evident the fact that neither will he [Pashinyan] be able to be fully conduct the [election] campaign, nor he has as many votes as they try to inspire the public. And especially after the events in Syunik, he is on the verge of losing the standing he has.
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Brussels, April 23 : European Union (EU) members states' representatives have agreed on the technical specifications for the implementation of the Digital Green Certificate, the European Commission said in a press release.

The Commission proposed the creation of the certificate last month, in a bid to ease Covid-19 related travel and movement restrictions for people who can prove that they have either been vaccinated, developed natural immunity, or received a negative test result, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The agreed technical specifications cover data structure and encoding mechanisms, including the QR code, which will ensure that all certificates, whether digital or on paper, can be read and verified across the EU.

The guidelines also describe the EU gateway which will allow the sharing of electronic signature keys so that the authenticity of the certificates can be verified anywhere in the bloc.

Describing it as a "further crucial step," the Commission encouraged the member states to deploy the needed technical solutions at a national level to ensure the rollout of the unified system by June.

"We are on track towards our goal of having the certificate in place by June -- to enable Europeans to travel safely this summer with minimum restrictions," said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice.
When Navy veteran Shane Christensen started ShThats Hot Hot Sauces, he was working on a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. School was, of course, a good teacher, but he needed a little extra direction. He was looking for another veteran business owner to talk to.

Hed done all the legwork to get the company up and running, was churning out the product and, with the help of his wife, keeping the companys books. But when he went in search of other vet-owned businesses, they saw him as competition, not a comrade.

It really shocked me to find that some owners saw me as a threat, Christensen told Military.com. But there were other companies that understood the big hot sauces like Tabasco and Texas Pete own 90% of the market and us little guys need to work together to get a piece of that.

The first bottle of ShThats Hot hot sauce rolled out in 2017. Christensen, a former Navy logistics specialist and recruit division commander, had left the service the previous year. He was dissatisfied with his first post-military job at the Social Security Administration, so he left to be a stay-at-home dad with his new daughter, attend graduate school and -- eventually -- began to brew up distinctive hot sauce flavors whenever he could.

His wife, Shelli, fully supported the move. Shelli and Shane are the Sh in ShThats Hot.

Hot sauce has always been a passion, Christensen says. I was doing all the work to create a fictitious company for school, and I looked at my wife and said, I've done all this research. Why don't we just launch a company?

A year later, they were in business. Now based in South Carolina, the sauces they create are made of ingredients sourced in the United States, and a portion of every sale goes toward Hope for the Warriors, a national veteran service organization that creates support programs for service members, veterans and military families.

Christensen says another key aspect to success is the uniqueness of the products offered. His favorite is a citrusy Habanero Hop Infusion. The company won a 2019 award with its sweet and spicy jalapeno matcha tea sauce called Mariachi Ninja. It offers a fresno pepper-based mild sauce for the less adventurous and a Carolina Reaper sauce for those who like extreme heat.

Sh'That's Hot offers a unique array of hot sauce products. (Courtesy of Sh'That's Hot)

While some veteran business owners were hesitant to help get ShThats Hot off the ground, others were more than willing to help Christensen with advice, counsel and, eventually, business. Through some connections, he met venture capitalists and distributors who are all about helping others.

Christensen and ShThats Hot take every opportunity to pay that kind of cooperation forward by helping out other new veteran entrepreneurs. He says that kind of mentorship and teamwork can make all the difference.

It's all about helping your brother out, whether it's sourcing, distribution or anything else, Christensen says. Of course, you have to work hard, but if you get a reputation of being a good person, it's free marketing because people spread the word.

Like many businesses, ShThats Hot struggled during the pandemic, but Christensens recipe of hustle, unique products and cooperation with others have made for a stunning recovery. Things are looking good and ShThats Hot routinely features other specialty hot sauce brands on its social media pages.

You have to think outside the box, be different and find mentors, just like in the military, he says.

To learn more about ShThats Hot, its products or its donations to Hope for the Warriors, visit the website.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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Ogilvy Johannesburg's work for Cadbury Dairy Milk South Africa, titled 'The Little Generosity Shop', was recently awarded the Purpose-Led Marketing Award at the Marketing Achievement Awards (MMA), during a virtual ceremony hosted at the beginning of the month.

Ogilvy Johannesburg CCO Matthew Barnes to depart from agency for new venture Ogilvy Johannesburg's chief creative officer, Matthew Barnes, will leave the agency at the end of July 2021...

The Marketing Achievement Awards celebrate the marketers and brands who have promoted the value of marketing in driving strategy and business growth.The Little Generosity Shop is a campaign that aimed to highlight the plight of orphans in South Africa, who do not have access to toys, books and games, and demonstrates how with a little generosity, we can all make a real difference.Nadia Mohamed, marketing director at Mondelez International (Africa): The Little Generosity Shop is one of the first campaigns that we launched to showcase Cadburys new positioning of generosity, moving away from the previous positioning of joy.Generosity is more than a marketing campaign, its a perception shift that has to take root in the hearts of consumers to affect positive change. The Cadbury brands traditional rhetoric has been replaced with a tangible touchpoint that taps into the ethos of the moment, which is kindness, says Mohamed.Through The Little Generosity Shop, Cadbury raised over 100,000 toys, books and games in its first year, and has since inspired their social mission of igniting a love of reading in children under 10 years old.Matthew Barnes, chief creative officer at Ogilvy Johannesburg: The idea of generosity means different things in different markets. In South Africa, it taps directly into the hyperlocal notion of ubuntu  a long-held belief that the individual flourishes only when the community around them flourishes.Generosity is a message that is founded from Cadbury Dairy Milks brand promise  a glass and a half of milk in every pound of chocolate. The idea that just like their ingredients, there is a generous, giving spirit in every one of us, says Barnes.Mohamed adds: Cadbury, as a brand, is all about goodness, and how Cadbury shines a light on the generosity of others. One of our three anchoring values as a business is to do whats right, and at the heart of this lies our goal to become more consumer centric in our marketing efforts. Relevance and resonance are guiding lights  particularly when trying to tap into the modern currencies of kindness and sustainability.Tracey Edwards, managing director at Ogilvy Johannesburg: As an agency partner, we believe in creative excellence (giant ideas) that drive giant growth for brands. The Little Generosity Shop is a remarkable piece of work; the success of the campaign speaks volumes. Were excited to extend the concept of generosity this year, through more impactful brand storytelling. Well done to Mondelez and the Ogilvy team for the outstanding achievement.
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Another 2,729 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,398,431, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country also reported another 18 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,345. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

More than 33.2 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

Earlier Thursday, the British government said coronavirus passports, or health certificates, will be available "as soon as possible" in the country.

Under the government's roadmap exiting the lockdown, foreign holidays for people living in England could be allowed as early as May 17.

Many tourist hotspots will require visitors to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide proof of a recent negative test before entering the country.

A British Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We are working on a solution to enable residents to prove their COVID-19 status, including vaccination status, to other countries on the outbound leg."

"We are working on this as a priority and intend to have the solution ready as soon as possible," she added.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.

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.
In a Pasadena warehouse, roughly 20 miles south of the Battleship Texas berth at the San Jacinto State Historic Site, a group of seven volunteers is hard at work restoring the historic ships anti-aircraft guns.

Twice a week, these volunteers, many of them veterans, show up at the warehouse for the tedious and unglamorous labor of helping, bit by bit, to restore the Battleship Texas to its majestic splendor. More than two dozen guns were removed from the ship over three days in March 2020 by a barge crane and hauled to warehouse space donated by NRG, where they have been disassembled, sandblasted, cleaned and repainted a sleek cadet blue.

Amid the hum and clangor of tools in the warehouse, Bruce Bramlett, the executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation  the nonprofit that manages the ships museum  marveled at the progress.

Its pretty amazing, truly, to get to say, while were dealing with the (ship repairs), Let's get all this off and let's get it restored so that when we're ready, we'll put it back on the trucks, take it to the shipyard, and put it all back on the ship, Bramlett said.

Now Playing: Video: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle

The 106-year old battleship, the last surviving dreadnought that fought in two world wars, has been closed to the public since August 2019 due to its decaying condition. The proud ship that once shelled the Normandy coast during D-Day and bombarded Okinawa in the Pacific has seen its steel hull laid waste by years of saltwater corrosion. A system of pumps constantly pushing water out of the hull is the only thing keeping the ship upright at its current berth in the Houston Ship Channel.

Texas Parks and Wildlife has spent at least $54 million maintaining and repairing the ship since 2009. The work included two phases of critical repairs to engine rooms as well as the installation of an emergency generator, additional pumps, and fuel storage to help address leaks.

A bill passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2019 provided $35 million to tow the battleship and repair it at a dry dock, a potentially risky operation. At one point, dry docks in Louisiana, Mobile, Ala., or Tampa, Fla. were floated as possible repair destinations. Bramlett said the foundation is discussing towing the ship to a dry dock in Galveston for repairs, though an agreement hasn't been finalized.

A portion of the state appropriation has gone toward getting the ship in good enough condition to tow. From July through December, a salvage company was hired by the foundation to begin a process called foaming  where the hull of the ship is fulled with polyurethane to ensure insulation and buoyancy.

With the state appropriation, we're gonna make the ship watertight, said Travis Davis, the vice president of ship operations for the Battleship Texas Foundation. We went from, this time last year, 2,000 gallons per minute of water coming in the ship, and were less than five (gallons per minute) right now.

Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Making the voyage

The towing of the ship will likely have to wait until after hurricane season, Bramlett said. He acknowledged that while theres always some risk to towing a vessel as old as the Texas, hes not overly frightened by the prospect. The foundation has run two different virtual simulations of the towing operation for marine engineers, the Coast Guard and the Houston Pilots Association, as well as the ships insurers. Bramlett said all parties came away convinced that the ship could be towed safely.

I hear people say, Oh my God, were gonna blink and its gonna sink to the bottom. No, its not, Bramlett said. If the absolute worst happened, wed run her aground and wed figure out how to fix it and pull her back out. The insurance companies are convinced thats not gonna happen, or they wouldnt insure any of this, and we cant move (the ship) an inch without it being insured.

But before the ship can be safely towed 40 miles down the Houston Ship Channel there is still much more restoration work to be done in the Pasadena warehouse. Outside the warehouse staging area, rows of anti-aircraft guns and spotlights from the battleship are lined up, paint chipping and showing rust from years of wear and tear. The ships massive propeller, tucked away in a corner of the lot, will cost $100,000 alone to restore.

The volunteers toiling away restoring the ships artifacts show up at the warehouse every Wednesday and every other Saturday. While some have a mechanical background, they acknowledge that a lot of the restoration work is trial by fire.

Most of the work were doing doesnt take too many special skills, said Calvin Bongers, 81, a Navy veteran.

Or common sense, joked Ward Slack, 66, also a Navy veteran. Ive never worked on a 3-inch (anti-aircraft) gun before.

Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Vets pitch in

Many of the volunteers are marine buffs who are eager to see the battleship restored to pristine condition  as well as to tinker with outdated machinery and artillery foreign to most modern-day ship engineers. Some of the fruits of their labor will be on display at a Battleship Texas exhibit at the Lone Star Flight Museum in south Houston in the coming weeks.

One of the great things about this work is we get to see parts of this ship that the public has never seen, said Ron Lewis, 72, another Navy vet.

Where the battleship ultimately ends up after the dry dock repair is anyones guess. Bramlett, for now, is keeping its future berth close to the vest. In January 2020, the battleship foundation solicited proposals from various organizations and cities to be the ships new landlord.

Galveston was among the cities floated as a possibility. The foundation commissioned an economic study by Deloitte in 2016 that projected as many as 283,000 visitors and $3 million in annual revenue if the battleship moved to Galveston. Before closing to the public, the battleship typically attracted about 88,000 visitors annually and generated $1.3 million in revenue at its current location near LaPorte and in the shadow of the San Jacinto Monument.

One of the conditions of (the bill passed by the Legislature) was that if were gonna fund these repairs, when you take (the battleship) out of San Jacinto, you cannot bring her back, Bramlett said. The state's been pretty much supplementing the cost of operations and maintenance of the ship against a revenue stream that never got close to what the need was. And so they realize weve got to have much more business and more bodies paying to come on board.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the Battleship Texas would be towed to a dry dock in Galveston for repairs. The Battleship Texas Foundation has discussed moving it to Galveston but an agreement hasn't been finalized.

nick.powell@chron.com
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 15:54:41|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The right to a healthy environment will help achieve an ecological civilization, which can be a catalyst for more ambitious climate action and also a powerful tool for holding governments accountable for their commitments, a senior UN human rights and environment expert said.

"I am convinced that everyone, everywhere, has the right to live in a healthy environment ... one of the things we all share in common is that we depend on this beautiful blue-green planet for our existence, prosperity and survival," David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment, said in an interview with Xinhua on Thursday, also the Earth Day this year.

He believed that recognition of the right to a healthy environment by all states is one of the most important and systematic contributions to solving the global environmental crisis, as such a recognition has proven to be a catalyst for stronger environmental laws and policies, and to improve the implementation and enforcement of those laws and policies.

"Recognizing the right to a healthy environment and the rights of animals, rivers and ecosystems can help humans understand that we are part of an extraordinary community of life we call Nature," he stressed.

"Despite our scientific and technological brilliance, Earth is thus far the only planet we know supports the miracle of life. Treating Nature as a community, rather than a commodity, would be a catalyst for achieving the goal of an ecological civilization that China has so eloquently articulated," he said.

Speaking of China, the UN expert said that China's per capita emissions are still lower than wealthy states, including the United States, Canada and Australia.

In Boyd's eyes, China is leading the world in generating solar and wind electricity as well as in sales of electric vehicles, and air quality in China has improved substantially in the past decade because of strong policies.

On the international cooperation in addressing climate change, Boyd believed that the world really needs China and the United States to play leadership roles in tackling the climate emergency, as their leadership will encourage other states to cooperate as well.

"China's increased commitment, as reflected in the pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060, has already sparked more ambitious commitments from the UK and the U.S.," he said.

He suggested that China move to depend less on coal-fired electricity generation to tackle climate change better.

Envisaging the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference to be held in Kunming, China, later this year, Boyd said that the proposed target of protecting 30 percent of the Earth's lands and waters by 2030 is ambitious, and efforts should be made to achieve that. Enditem
The wife of an Acadiana man who was aboard a commercial lift vessel when it capsized in the Gulf of Mexico has sued the ship's owners for alleged gross negligence and violations of federal maritime law, according to NBC News.

Hannah Daspit, the surviving spouse of Dylan Daspit, who is presumed dead after the Seacor Power capsized April 13 near Port Fourchon filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Houston. She is seeking damages in excess of $25 million.

Seven of the Seacor Power's 19 crew members, including Dylan Daspit, were still unaccounted for as of midday Thursday. The bodies of six crew members have been recovered.

The remaining six aboard the Seacor Power were rescued in the hours after the lift boat capsized in a storm that produced hurricane-force winds. No one else aboard the boat has been rescued since.

Remembering the victims of the Seacor Power lift boat disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Five people were killed and eight others are missing and presumed dead after the lift boat Seacor Power capsized April 13 during a storm in th

The lawsuit, which seeks damages "in excess of" $25 million, alleges violations of the Federal Jones Act, which governs maritime law; and negligence, gross negligence and unseaworthiness.

The Daspit family has been outspoken about how the U.S. Coast Guard and Talos Energy have responded to the capsizing in stormy waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Scott Daspit, who is not a party to the lawsuit, tried taking matters into his own hands early on in an attempt to rescue his 30-year-old son.

"I'm here for all the people missing," Scott Daspit said in a tearful Facebook video published Thursday. "I want everybody to know Seacor has been trying. They really have. But I'm here to tell you Coast Guard sure needs an uplifting in their organization. Number two: The operating company they're working for, Talos Energy, they should be ashamed of themselves. The CEO  no one has tried contacting or has sent a representative down here. The families are hurting, and no one in that operating company has the compassion to come down here and visit with us, nor did they think about trying to help us with sea planes."

'Swamp People' star gets emotional about Seacor Power search as families' frustration grows With hope diminishing with each passing day, the loved ones of the still missing Seacor Power crew members have taken to social media to expre

Scott Daspit also said the people who work offshore have been providing more useful information than the officials as families continue their desperate attempts to locate their loved ones.

On Monday the Coast Guard called off its an intensive search of over 9,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, but divers continued to search the overturned vessel and found a sixth body on Tuesday, that of Quinon Odell Pitre of Arnaudville.

Read more about the lawsuit from NBC News.
U.S. needs consistent policies and multilateral cooperation to patch up its fragile climate effort

17:04, April 23, 2021 By Dennis Meng ( People's Daily Online

Vast as it is, our great ocean has too much to handle. Unwillingly, it acts as garbage bins for humankind, an inexhaustible fish pool, and soon, one countrys nuclear waste dumpster. But one of its major roles in the resilient yet fragile global ecosystem is to absorb greenhouse gases (GHG), which it is struggling to do. Nearly half of GHG that cant be taken up by oceans and the terrestrial biosphere will eventually leak into the atmosphere, trapping and holding heat and consequently causing glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise.

The progressing climate change fueled by mounting greenhouse gases constitutes a looming crisis that ripples out into nearly every aspect of our lives, ranging from rampant wildfires and extreme weather to coral bleaching and shrinking ice sheets.

With all those visible and invisible tolls the crisis has disproportionately inflicted on everyone, it should come as an enormous relief that US President Joe Biden has decided to reverse his predecessors course of inaction, staging a comeback on combating the incessant crisis. But one big question remains: can Biden proceed with his climate push against Republicans disapproval, or will he let it descend into another partisan impasse or geopolitical gamble?

Return to the fold

On June 1, 2017, former U.S. President Donald Trump, a long-time climate change skeptic, dramatically declared Americas withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, leaving many nations puzzled and global mitigation efforts shattered.

His excuse was ludicrously straightforward: the disaster deal, as he called the agreement, would have hurt the competitiveness of the U.S., and put the country at a permanent disadvantage.

By letting the U.S. become the first and only country to quit the climate accord, he did, in a sense, regain Americas edge in an imaginary solo competition. But the billionaire president seemed to have ignored a simple fact: Americans werent living under a giant dome, isolated from the rest of the world and immune from climate change-related consequences.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his inaugural address after he was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

1,329 days later, fortunately, President Joe Biden returned the U.S. to the Paris climate accord just hours after his swearing-in, pressing the pause button on his predecessors four years of denial and counteraction on climate issues. Nevertheless, as an Obama-era veteran, President Biden knows all too well that signing executive orders with the stroke of a pen is one thing, and turning around Americans skepticism and putting climate actions into effect is another.

A national poll by the Pew Research Center published on April 21, 2020, the 50th Earth Day, showed how divided Americans have become on climate change. More Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (85%) think protecting the environment should be a top priority for the president and Congress than do Republicans and GOP leaners (39%), read the survey, which also highlighted that Partisanship is a stronger factor in peoples beliefs about climate change than is their level of knowledge and understanding about science.

Even with a majority in the U.S. Congress, Joe Biden would probably still find it difficult to sell his climate plans. On March 31, President Biden unveiled his ambitious 2 trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, which was heavily focused on climate-related infrastructures such as clean energies. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, slammed Bidens plan on the same day, saying he was not likely to support the proposal, while Senator Ted Cruz denounced it as the Green New Deal-lite masquerading as an infrastructure plan.

Especially in states like Texas, which had just been hit hard by a power crisis back in February, lawmakers and politicians are downplaying the role climate change plays in natural disasters such as unprecedented winter storms while scapegoating renewable energies for a disastrous power-out.

Even if Joe Biden can secure his infrastructure proposals and take action on the climate during his tenure, it is no safe bet that three or seven years down the line his successors wont change course. Robert N. Stavins, a Harvard environmental economist, put it very accurately: Something countries of the world are very familiar with is this whiplash of going from a Republican to a Democratic to a Republican administration That goes to the heart of the long-term credibility."

Not a bilateral race

In promoting its climate proposals, the Biden administration is pulling the China card in the hope of reaching an unlikely bipartisan consensus and gaining support from Americas allies at large.

According to Politico, Joe Biden described his climate-focused $2 trillion infrastructure plan as a way to promote our national security interests and put us in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also remarked ahead of the White House climate summit that the U.S. is falling behind in the green economy, noting that its difficult to imagine the United States winning the long-term strategic competition with China if we cannot lead the renewable energy revolution, according to the Financial Times.

Indeed, the upgrading to renewable energy could evolve into a full-blown global revolution while meeting targets set in the Paris agreement--limiting global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels--is supposed to be a race. The only problem is that it is not a zero-sum, two-person revolution, nor is it an arsenal-piling, win-lose race.

People participate in a march calling for action against climate change in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 20, 2019. (Photo by Riccardo Pareggiani/Xinhua)

Living under the same sky and breathing the same air, one should become aware that one nations failure (in combating the climate crisis) is every nations failure, and the success of humankinds climate mission wont be guaranteed if one of the worlds largest emitters keeps flip-flopping on its climate policies. Instead of applying its trademark zero-sum mentality to a crisis we are all in together, the U.S. should formulate consistent climate policies and join hands with major countries to address the climate crisis that is underway.

The cracking and melting of ice shelves might be irreversible, but luckily, the melting confidence in Americas credibility on climate issues and the cracking prospects of the global climate mission can still be restored.

On April 22, US President Joe Biden convened a virtual Earth Day summit, in which he outlined an ambitious goal to sharply reduce the countrys greenhouse gas emissions. Chinese President Xi Jinping also delivered a speech via a video link at the summit to showcase Chinas resolve to address the global crisis.

Aerial photo taken on Aug 19, 2020 shows wind turbines in Jiucaiping scenic spot in Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action. We need to act with a sense of responsibility and unity, and work together to foster a community of life for man and Nature, Xi remarked. Citing the recent China-U.S. climate talks, at the end of which a joint statement was issued, Xi also stressed that China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process", and the country "looks forward to working with the international community including the United States to jointly advance global environmental governance.

But in working together, the U.S. and its allies in the developed world should also be aware of the disproportionate onus they intend to put on developing countries on climate issues. Developed countries, which benefited tremendously from the industrial revolution from an early stage and have much higher per capita carbon emissions, should not put undue pressure on the developing nations, which have just lifted all its people out of poverty, or, like many Least Developed Countries (LDCs), still have trouble meeting the basic needs of their citizens. Just as President Xi put it, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate governance, and developed countries need to help developing countries strengthen their capacity and resilience against climate change.

Back in 2014, then US President Barack Obama said in a tweet that we are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it. After three years of partisan battle on the issue and a four-year vacuum, his former colleague will carry his torch to do something about the crisis. It wont be easy. And Joe Biden should not squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but should dare to pursue consistent climate policies and seek multilateral cooperation to patch up Americas climate effort.

People take part in a climate change protest in Times Square in New York, the United States, on Sept. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
UPDATE 6:15 p.m.: In a dizzying day, county exec forces sheriffs hand on body cams: Well pay for them

UPDATE 1 p.m.: Sheriff Conway wants body cameras now after Syracuse.com reports of promised money

Syracuse, N.Y.  The New York State Police this month started to equip troopers with body cameras.

Sheriffs deputies in Erie, Monroe and Albany counties  three of the biggest Upstate counties  wear body cameras. One department has had them for six years.

In Onondaga County, at least 10 of the countys 15 police departments  including the Syracuse Police Department  use the cameras.

But the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office, the second-largest police force in the county, does not use body cameras and has no plans to add them.

Why?

Its not a priority, Sheriff Eugene Conway told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Conway said the cameras are expensive and he wants to spend money on other things such as bulletproof vests, stun guns and patrol cars as well as filling empty positions. The sheriff said there are no discussions or plans under way to add body cameras.

Body cameras are important, Conway said. But where do they fall in the overall necessity?

Onondaga County is the only county among Upstates most populous counties to not equip its deputies with the cameras.

County leaders, including the county executive, district attorney and the head of the legislatures Public Safety Committee, said they all want the deputies to wear the cameras.

We live in a world today where accusations can happen, and they need to be taken seriously, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. Having these cameras empowers the community with confidence, but also it gives us the ability to go back and see what happens in very tense moments.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick wants the deputies equipped with body cameras.

If you have the technology, why not use it? he asked.

Getting body cameras for the sheriffs office is a priority, McMahon said. To make that possible, he said, he will include money in the countys 2022 budget to pay for a program.

The sheriff, however, is an elected official who does not report to the county executive. McMahon can ask the county Legislature to set aside money for the cameras, but he cant order the sheriff to buy the cameras or use them.

Not equipping officers with body cameras defies both national and state trends: Each year more and more departments have opted to outfit officers with the cameras.

Nearly half of the countrys more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies had body cameras as of 2016, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the most recent estimate available.

A body camera displayed by the Syracuse police when they started using the cameras in 2018.Patrick Lohmann | Syracuse.com

The number of police agencies using body cameras increased after the high-profile deaths of unarmed Black men in 2014 and 2015  including Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island after an officer placed him in a chokehold, and Walter Scott, who was fatally shot in the back by an officer as he ran from a traffic stop.

Protesters hoping to end police shootings, increase transparency and build public trust asked for cameras to be added to officers uniforms. Many departments answered that call.

A second national push for cameras came last year after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minnesota after then-officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over 9 minutes. Decrying police brutality, people across the nation  including in Syracuse  protested and called for reform.

Chauvin, who was found guilty Tuesday of murder, was wearing a body camera when he killed Floyd. Witnesses also took video of the former officer kneeling on Floyds neck as Floyd repeatedly said he couldnt breathe. The videos were used in the trial.

The camera footage was crucial in Chauvins case, DA Fitzpatrick said.

The question arises: Absent that video, would you have had a conviction? he asked. You might not have even had charges filed (against Chauvin).

Body cameras protect police, too. In Onondaga County, Fitzpatrick said many of the countys recent police shootings where officers have fatally shot armed suspects have been captured on video. The footage backs up officers actions, he said, and gives grieving families a chance to see what happened.

Body cameras benefit the public and police, experts say.

Complaints about officer misconduct steadily decline when police wear cameras, a study released in November by the Urban Institute found. Knowing a camera is present, experts said, tends to improve the behavior of everyone involved.

Watching and studying archived footage also serves as a powerful learning tool for police departments, said Eric Piza, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former crime analyst.

Far too often, police departments wont really look at body camera footage until something bad has happened  until use of force is used, until a citizen complains about officer behavior, he said. Research has shown police should observe footage before something happens because they can learn about how to handle small problems.

For example, use of force incidents typically happen 6 minutes after an officer and a subject meet, Piza said. Reviewing videos of old encounters can show officers how to use those vital minutes to defuse future tense calls, he said.

Body cameras give investigators and the public a chance to review police shootings and weigh whether an officers decision to use force was justified.

That was not possible in the death of Judson Albahm, a 17-year-old boy fatally shot by officers in Jamesville during a mental health call in early March.

Four officers from three agencies  the DeWitt Police Department, the sheriffs office and state police  shot at Albahm March 4 after he pointed an airgun at officers, police said. None of the four officers was wearing a body camera, Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard found.

At the time of the shooting, DeWitt only equipped patrol officers with cameras. But the two DeWitt officers who fired at Judson were investigators and did not yet have the cameras. (The department is expanding its program this year to ensure the entire force has cameras.)

Conway said he once tried to bring body cameras to the sheriffs office.

When Joanie Mahoney was county executive, the sheriffs office asked the county for $50,000 to $75,000 to launch a pilot program, Conway said. The request  included in the departments proposed budget  got axed before the countys full budget was sent to legislators, he said.

Conway said he hasnt asked for funding for the cameras since McMahon took office in 2018.

McMahon told Conway in a letter sent Feb. 25 that the county will provide to the department money for the cameras. He asked Conway to send his office a plan for outlining how the sheriffs office would make the program happen.

Weeks after the letter was sent, county officials said Conway had yet to respond.

Fueling a body camera program is expensive, Conway said, estimating it could cost as much as $2 million to run. Along with buying 200 to 225 cameras for the departments police force, Conway said, the sheriffs office would need money to cover related costs like storing the video footage and paying for the staff needed to redact footage requested by the public.

To be fully operational, its a substantial cost, the sheriff said. I dont want the body camera program to be in lieu of something else.

The sheriff said he doesnt want to roll out a body camera program before ensuring it can be continuously funded.

The experience at other departments suggests the cost would be lower.

The Syracuse police department, for example, spends $1,907 per camera annually, not including staffing to run the program, according to Joe Cecile, police first deputy chief. That would put the sheriffs department costs at $429,000 a year if it equipped 225 people.

A national police policy group, Police Executive Research Forum, estimated the total cost at $5,000 a camera a year including staff to run the program. That estimate would put the sheriffs departments cost at $1.1 million.

Money is the top reason police departments cite for not pursuing programs: Over 70% of the agencies without body cameras in 2016 said the cost of storing video footage and replacing equipment made the programs unpalatable, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Grants from the state Office of the Attorney General have helped police departments in Upstate  including the Syracuse Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriffs Office and the Albany County Sheriffs Office  jumpstart and expand body camera programs.

But finding money for a body camera program in Onondaga County appears possible.

As next years budget is drafted, McMahon said the county itself is pricing options. Storing the videos is the most expensive part of body camera programs, he said, and could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But residents consider body cameras a vital part of police reform  a tool that can benefit the public and officers, McMahon said.

The county executive said his office will make sure the money needed to fund body cameras is available. From there, its up to the Legislature and the sheriff, he said.

County legislator Christopher Ryan, chairman of the Legislatures Public Safety Committee, said he supports body cameras.

I think it makes police agencies better, more responsive, he said.

Ryan said he would vote to fund a program  particularly if the county and the union for patrol deputies can come to an agreement during upcoming contract negotiations.

It would be up to the Legislature to approve or reject money for the cameras. David Knapp, chairman of the Legislature, did not respond to inquiries from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
British Columbia has had to grapple with twin health emergencies: a deadly pandemic and deaths from drug overdoses. In 2020 alone, there were more than 1,724 deaths in the province from drug overdoses, or an average of about 4.7 deaths a day, according to the British Columbia Coroners Service.

The vaccination program comes as British Columbias health care system is under severe strain because of the pandemic with hospitalizations reaching new heights. As of Friday, the province had recorded 123,000 cases of Covid-19, of which 1,550 people have died.

Meanwhile, in the Downtown Eastside, the virus appears to have been largely contained. In mid-February, the neighborhood had about 75 cases of the coronavirus in one week, according to the local health authority. Today, about 7,500 local residents have been vaccinated and cases have trickled down to about five this week.
THE Department of Social Protection is to consider activating a community employment scheme to accommodate those people whove lost their jobs at Rehab Enterprises in Raheen.

Limerick TD Willie ODea has held talks with Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys and the Minister of State Joe OBrien on the matter, with the Fianna Fail man raising the matter through a parliamentary question next week.

The disclosure came from Mr ODeas secretary, Cllr Catherine Slattery at a special meeting of the local authority on the job cuts at the electrical assembly plant, which had employed staff with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Cllr Slattery said: Theyve agreed to consider setting up a disability community employment scheme to accommodate those people whove lost their jobs. Hopefully it will be some good news, if this disability employment scheme is set up.

Confirmed in February and activated on Good Friday, the job losses were blamed on the plant becoming loss-making, with lockdown compounding the issue.

But there is anger among staff and unions, who claim an attempt by Rehab to slash their redundancy pay by up to two-thirds.

Labour and two Independent councillors called a special meeting where a motion was passed to formally write to Rehab to protest these conditions.

Proposing the motion, Cllr Conor Sheehan said: Its disgusting the way these workers have been treated by the Rehab group. These workers deserve a fair redundancy package. Many of them have given decades of service to the Rehab group and they cannot understand why this is happening.

Seconding. his Labour colleague, Cllr Elena Secas added: Rehabs values include dignity and justice. What is happening here is not about dignity and justice at al.

Fianna Fail councillor Jerry ODea said: The issues here is the question of fairness, while Cllr Frankie Daly, Independent added the fact staff are not getting their full redundancy due is gut-wrenching stuff.

I know personally several of the workers had given 30 years of service and to be treated in such a manner is quite shocking in the 21st century, Cllr Daly added.

Rehab have not responded to a request for comment.

But previously on this issue, a spokesperson for the firm defended its record in supporting the staff in Raheen, adding it would work collaboratively for a viable outcome for them.
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded the two UoC researchers Professor Dr Michael Bollig and Professor Dr Stephan Schlemmer with an ERC Advanced Grant. Bollig is being funded with approximately 2.5 million euros for his REWILDING project. Schlemmer will also receive 2.5 million euros in funding for his project 'MissIons'. The ERC Advanced Grant is considered the most important funding award in the European research landscape.

ERC Advanced Grants are awarded to outstanding scholars and scientists for projects that are associated with uncertainties due to their innovative approach, but which may open up ground-breaking new paths in their respective fields. Funding is granted to researchers who have worked consistently and successfully at the highest level for many years. Professor Dr Michael Bollig / Project: REWILDING

Michael Bollig is a professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology and spokesperson of the Global South Studies Center (GSSC). One focus of his research is human-environment relations. With his project REWILDING, Bollig aims to contribute to the increasingly important field of environmental anthropology in general, with a particular focus on the complex and ever-changing interactions among humans, flora, and fauna in the Kavango-Zambezi Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA, involving the states of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) in southern Africa. Established in 2011, the KAZA TFCA is the largest transboundary nature and landscape reserve in the world. The area, known around the world for its pioneering conservation, bears traces of the region's colonial and post-colonial past. Repressive colonial conservation efforts, large-scale (successful) control of insect-borne diseases, and extensive human resettlement structure current human-environment relations as well as conservation efforts.

REWILDING is a unique attempt to capture the changing socio-ecological relationships between humans and other species in one of the largest and most comprehensive conservation experiments in the world. REWILDING consists of six field studies, addressing, e.g., elephants, various carnivores, and also microbe-borne pathogens in their dynamic relationships with human-made environmental infrastructures and technologies, organizations, and also scientific activities against the backdrop of comprehensive conservation efforts.

REWILDING cooperates closely with Collaborative Research Centre TR228 - Future Rural Africa, which explores the impacts of changing land use, ecological dynamics, and changing societies in eastern and southern Africa. Together with the CRC's projects, REWILDING is interested in the socioeconomic impacts of the rapid commercialization of diverse flora and fauna and the social consequences of rapidly increasing tourism. REWILDING is uniquely positioned and was specially designed to provide new empirical insights for future monitoring and planning of large-scale conservation efforts.

Funding from the European Research Council (ERC) contributes to the further consolidation of the research area Environmental Humanities at the UoC's Faculty of Arts and Humanities, which focuses on human-environment research within cultural studies and the humanities. The Faculty has already strengthened this area by establishing a professorship at the interface of different disciplines conducting research on the topic in January 2021.

Michael Bollig studied social and cultural anthropology, history, African studies, and agricultural sociology at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne from 1981 to 1986. He received his doctorate from the Institute of Ethnology at the University of Tubingen in 1991. He then came to the University of Cologne, where he completed his Habilitation in 1999 and where he has been a professor of anthropology since 2000. He has also served as deputy speaker of the CRC TR - Future Rural Africa since 2018, and as spokesperson of the Cologne Global South Studies Center (GSSC) since 2020. In 2017, Bollig was awarded the Leo Spitzer Award, with which the University of Cologne recognizes excellent top researchers. Professor Dr Stephan Schlemmer / Project: MissIons

Stephan Schlemmer is professor of experimental physics at the University of Cologne's Institute of Astrophysics. In his laboratories in Cologne, the colour spectra of molecules are recorded in high-precision measurements. These spectra are as clearly associated with the molecules as fingerprints can be uniquely assigned to a person. In this way, numerous molecules have already been found in space for the first time through laboratory investigations in Cologne. The ERC Advanced Grant for the 'MissIons' (= missing ions) project is being used to search for specific ionic molecules. These ions are missing keys to understanding the evolution of the interstellar medium, i.e., the space between stars. Thus, it is conceivable that building blocks of life are formed from precisely these ions in interstellar space.

Schlemmer's team is developing experimental and theoretical methods that make these studies possible in the first place. One challenge is to make these highly volatile substances available in sufficient quantities for those colour analysis. Here, the working group has already made some major breakthroughs in the past. Another challenge is that the spectral fingerprints for these special ions consist of thousands of snippets that must first be assembled into an image. This painstaking work not only produces the template for observation with telescopes. Rather, the fingerprints can also be used to infer the structure of the molecules. Until now, this was impossible for the molecules in question, but the MissIons project will make it possible for the first time. The project thus connects the world of the smallest (molecules) with the world of the largest (outer space), both of which still pose great mysteries.

Stephan Schlemmer studied physics at the universities of Wuppertal and Gottingen, where he earned his doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Flow Research, for which he was awarded the Otto-Hahn-Medal. He then held postdoc positions at the Universita degli Studi di Perugia (Italy) and at the University of California at Berkeley (USA). He completed his Habilitation at TU Chemnitz in 2001. In 2003, he joined the faculty of the Observatory of the Universiteit Leiden (Netherlands), and came to the University of Cologne in 2004. At the Institute of Astrophysics, he serves as speaker of Collaborative Research Centre 956. He heads the Molecular Physics Section of the German Physical Society. In 2009 and 2011, he was also a visiting professor at the Universite Paul Sabatier in Toulouse (France) and received the Gay-Lussac-Humboldt Prize from the French Ministry of Research in 2016 for his research.

###

Media Contacts:

Professor Dr Michael Bollig

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

+49 221 470-3501

michael.bollig@uni-koeln.de

Professor Dr Stephan Schlemmer

Institute of Astrophysics

+49 221 470-7880

schlemmer@ph1.uni-koeln.de
Aligarh, April 23 : As many as five Covid patients lost their lives at a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh in the wee hours of Thursday.

Their families have alleged that they died due to lack of oxygen support and negligence of the hospital.

The District Magistrate, Chandra Bhushan Singh, has ordered an inquiry even as the hospital administration claimed that the patients' condition was already critical and they succumbed to the infection.

Singh has asked the sub-divisional magistrate to inquire into the deaths and submit a report within three days.

He told reporters that further action will be taken on the basis of the report.

According to officials, five patients - mainly in their fifties - died within 24 hours at the hospital.

One of the deceased patient's son alleged that his mother was fine till 8 pm on Wednesday and suddenly he was informed that the hospital was running out of oxygen.

"We had arranged the cylinder and by the time we could reach the hospital, she died," he said, adding that he had given this to the district magistrate in writing.

SJD hospital's Covid unit in charge, Sanjeev Sharma, claimed that the deaths were not due to lack of oxygen.

He said, "All these patients were admitted in a critical condition after being infected by Covid-19. Their lungs were not functioning and so they were on oxygen support." He added that oxygen was available in the hospital.

Aligarh city magistrate Vineet Kumar Singh said that they had received a call from the hospital around 9:43 pm and within 45 minutes, 40 cylinders were dropped at the hospital.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Inmates at Reform and Rehabilitation centres in the Kingdom are not refused of their rights to remain in contact with their families, despite the concerning rise in COVID-19 cases, said Interior Minister.

However, some inmates who faced legal actions for blocking corridors between cells and hindering services had adopted a negative attitude by refusing to call their families., said General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.

Interior Minister was talking to MPs Hisham Al Ashairi and Khaltham Al Haiki on the situation in the Reform and Rehabilitation centres in light of the exceptional circumstances caused by the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

The minister shared a proposal to enable inmates to work and earn money while serving their sentences as part of the alternative penalties law and the revision process of the open prison experience. The minister thanked those in charge of the Reform and Rehabilitation centres for adhering strictly to the COVID-19 protocols.

This has contributed to eliminating infections in the centres, said the minister. He added: These efforts also confirm the professionalism of the centres in dealing with the current situations. In the event of cases appearing in the future, Covid-19 protocols will be enforced, the minister added.

The Chief of Public Security and Director-General of Media and Security Culture attended the meeting.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 04:35:20|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on April 2, 2021 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The bill's passage "sends a clear and unmistakable message of solidarity" to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, Democratic senator Mazie Hirono said.

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill combating surging hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senate approved the bill in a 94-1 vote and sent it to the House, which will soon take up their version of the legislation. The lone nay vote was cast by Missouri GOP senator Josh Hawley.

"By passing this bill we say to the Asian American community that the government is paying attention to them, has heard their concerns and will respond to protect them," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, where anti-Asian violence has especially been running high.

Sponsored by Hawaii's Democratic senator Mazie Hirono and New York's Democratic congresswoman Grace Meng, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to designate an official to review coronavirus-related hate crimes. Hirono and Meng are both Asian Americans.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, Feb. 2, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The bill also directs the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance raising awareness of hate crimes amid the pandemic, and work with other agencies to establish an online platform for reporting those crimes.

Hirono said that the bill's passage "sends a clear and unmistakable message of solidarity" to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

The bill gained momentum after six women of Asian descent were killed in mass shootings in the Atlanta area in March.

Senators locked in a final deal on the bill late Wednesday night, allowing for several GOP-proposed amendments to get a vote. All of those changes would need 60 votes in favor in the now evenly-divided Senate, and it turned out none of them got added.

Susan Collins, GOP senator from Maine who managed to work with Hirono to change the language of the bill over the administration's guidance, said that with the passage of the bill, "we can send an unmistakably strong signal that crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our country will not be tolerated." 
(Newser)  The House sergeant-at-arms has accused Rep. James Clyburn of a metal detector violation, imposing a $5,000 fine. Timothy Blodgett wrote to the House Ethics Committee that Clyburn avoided metal detectors Tuesday on his way to the House floor, the Hill reports. A filing by US Capitol Police said Clyburn wasn't cleared when he returned to the floor from the restroom, adding that he "deliberately avoided being screened." A spokesperson for Clyburn said the South Carolina lawmaker "respects the rules of the chamber, and he disputes the characterization of this incident," per Politico. He plans to appeal, per CNN.

story continues below

The new safety protocols were put in place after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Clyburn voted to approve new fines, which are deducted from the lawmaker's pay, for going around the metal detectors. The first violation costs $5,000 and the second $10,000. If the fine stands, it would be the first levied against a House Democrat. Several Republicans have been fined, including oneRep. Louie Gohmertwho was returning from the same men's room. Asked about the accusation, Clyburn said, "It's just somebody on the other side trying to cause mischief," per CNN, though he didn't say what that statement was based on. (Read more James Clyburn stories.)
Imperial Valley News Center

Second Trash Company Executive Charged With Bribing San Francisco Public Regulator

San Francisco, California - John Francis Porter, the former Vice President and Group Manager of Recologys San Francisco Group, has been charged in a federal criminal complaint unsealed with bribing former Director of San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) Mohammed Nuru and with money laundering, announced Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Hinds, Internal Revenue ServiceCriminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Daniels, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair.

The complaint unsealed today alleges that Porter, 37, of San Francisco, bribed Nuru and participated in laundering the proceeds of the bribe as part of an alleged years-long scheme to defraud the public of its right to honest services. Porter was Group Controller and later Vice President and General Manager of Recologys San Francisco Group, which provides refuse collection and disposal services in the City of San Francisco. Porter was a central player in the scheme detailed in the complaint that provided Nuru, then the DPW Director, with a continuous stream of money and benefits to influence Nuru to engage in official acts benefitting Recology.

Nuru resigned as the Director of San Franciscos DPW after being charged in a January 16, 2020, federal complaint with honest services fraud for a scheme to bribe a San Francisco Airport Commissioner. The prosecution of Nuru remains underway.

Porter is the second Recology employee charged. Paul Giusti, the former Recology San Francisco Group Government and Community Relations Manager who reported to Porter, was charged in a November 18, 2020, federal complaint with bribery and money laundering for his role in the same conduct described in todays complaint allegations against Porter. Giustis prosecution is continuing.



Once again a person employed by a company contracting with San Francisco has been charged with bribing a San Francisco City Hall official with more than $1 million of funds and benefits, said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds. A person who pays a bribe is as criminally liable as the public official who takes it. Our investigation of San Francisco City Hall corruption continues. If you have information about corruption among San Francisco public officials or contractors with San Francisco, reach out to the FBI. Your cooperation is important.

Rooting out public corruption remains one of the highest priorities for IRS  Criminal Investigation, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Daniels. IRS  Criminal Investigation provides financial investigative expertise in our work with our law enforcement partners. Pooling the skills and resources of each agency makes a formidable team as we investigate allegations of criminal wrong-doing.

"John Porter is the eleventh individual charged in the FBI's probe into public corruption in San Francisco City Hall," said FBI Special Agent in Charge D. Fair. "This complaint reflects the FBIs commitment to hold corporate executive leadership accountable for their actions. The FBI will continue to investigate all individuals, regardless of their position, who seek to improperly influence public officials for corporate gain at the expense of the public. If you have any information on bribery, corruption, or other illegal acts, please contact the FBI."

The specific charge of the complaint alleges that in the summer of 2018, Recology sought to raise the tipping fees it charged the City of San Francisco for dumping materials at the Recology Sustainable Crushing facility. During the summer and fall of 2018, the complaint alleges, Porter sought Nurus assistance with Recologys efforts to increase the tipping fee. Porter enlisted the help of his subordinate Giusti, who had a close relationship with Nuru.

The complaint states that Porter emailed Nuru seeking assistance in obtaining the tipping fee increase on November 26, 2018. Thereafter, Giusti agreed to give Nuru a bribe of $20,000 to influence his official actions on the proposed increase. The complaint describes that Porter gave written approval for Recology to issue a $20,000 check described as a holiday donation to the Lefty ODouls Foundation for Kids, a non-profit organization to help underprivileged San Francisco children run by Nick Bovis. Giusti provided the bribe money to the Lefty ODouls Foundation, and Bovis used the Recology money to pay for Nurus elaborate DPW holiday party, not to help underprivileged San Francisco children. Despite the bribe, the attempt to increase the tipping fee was ultimately unsuccessful. Bovis pleaded guilty to honest services fraud in May 2020 for bribing Nuru.

The complaint further describes Porters role in the Recology San Francisco Groups efforts, acting through executives including Giusti and Porter, to direct benefits to Nuru totaling over $1 million to influence Nuru, who was Recologys regulator. Recology had an ongoing need for Nurus approvals, including for rate increases for residential garbage collection. The complaint cites an email that Porter sent in 2015 to a colleague at Recology: Mohammed is the Director of the DPW who ultimately signs off on our rates. Needless to say, keeping him happy is important.

To keep Nuru happy, the complaint alleges that Giusti, with the approval of Porter or Porters immediate predecessor, arranged for Recology to provide Nuru with a stream of benefits over years. Porter ultimately approved $55,000 to fund Nurus DPW holiday parties in payments disguised as charitable Lefty ODouls Foundation donations. The complaint also describes Porters role in approving hundreds of thousands of dollars over years in Recology payments made, at Nurus directions, to a San Francisco non-profit, ostensibly for a DPW program called Giant Sweep. That non-profit held the money for about a week or two, then took a 5 percent cut and sent the money at Nurus direction to accounts controlled by Nuru at another non-profit. Recologys payments to Nuru were closely tied in time to specific needs for Nurus assistance and approval.

Porter is charged with one count of bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C.  666(a)(2), and one count of laundering the proceeds of honest services fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1956(a)(1)(B)(i). If convicted of bribery, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. If convicted of concealment money laundering, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, or both. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C.  3553.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are mere allegations. As in any criminal case, the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Porter is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on April 20, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley.

Thus far in the San Francisco City Hall corruption probe, 11 defendants have been charged, and multiple defendants have pled guilty. Most recently, Sandra Zuniga, 45, of South San Francisco and the former Director of both the San Francisco Mayors Office of Neighborhood Services and San Franciscos Fix-It Team, entered her plea of guilty to a charge of conspiring to launder money with the former DPW Director Muhammed Nuru. Zuniga entered her guilty plea in a plea agreement that remains partly under seal in which she agrees to cooperate with the FBI in the public corruption investigation relating to San Francisco government.

The case is being prosecuted by the Corporate Fraud Strike Force of the U.S. Attorneys Office. The case is being investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI.
Six Victorians who may have been exposed to the South African strain of Covid-19 in a Sydney hotel have been forced into isolation for 14 days.

The interstate travellers have been identified as close contacts of three Covid-19 positive people who were staying at the Mercure Hotel in Sydney.

The three positive cases, including two who are related, returned from overseas and were placed in adjacent rooms on the 10th floor of the hotel to quarantine on April 3.

They later returned positive results for the South African strain of Covid-19 and fears were raised the virus could spread after it was revealed dozens of travellers who stayed at the hotel had already travelled interstate.

The Department of Health said the Victorian travellers were contacted and tested on Thursday.

It comes as the state broke its Covid-free streak on Friday when a Melburnian who had returned from overseas via hotel quarantine in Western Australia tested positive after a similar outbreak in a Perth hotel.

The interstate travellers have been identified as close contacts of three Covid-19 positive people who were staying at the Mercure Hotel in Sydney

The six who had been in Sydney had been staying at the Mercure Hotel where two other residents contracted the UK variant of the strain from a third traveller.

They are among 40 returned travellers who stayed at the busy Mercure hotel in Sydney anytime between April 7 and 12 being urgently tracked by NSW Health.

Officials have successfully contacted 36 hotel guests but are still desperately trying to reach four remaining people.

They are all being directed to get tested and self-isolate until 14 days after they left quarantine.

The three infected returned travellers, including two who are related, touched down in Australia on April 3.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant on Thursday said they all travelled on the same plane and were seated in the same section of the aircraft.

But as they all tested negative during their first Covid swab on day two of their hotel stay, it appears they were not infectious while in transit.

Dr Chant said the trio stayed in adjacent rooms on the 10th floor while completing their mandatory two-week quarantine.

NSW Health is also urgently tracking 40 returned travellers who stayed at the busy Mercure hotel in Sydney anytime between April 7 and 12

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant on Thursday said the three people travelled on the same plane and were seated in the same section of the aircraft

'What we are concerned about is there could have been transmission,' Dr Chant said.

'If that transmission event occurred in the hotel, the question is, could other people have been exposed?'

The hotel quests tested positive to the virus on day seven, 10 and 12 of their stay.

Dr Chant said officials are taking a 'precautionary' approach with their latest health advice as they do not have a 'definitive conclusion' on how the three people contracted the virus.

There were about 40 people staying on the same hotel floor as the Covid-positive travellers, before they were moved to a health hotel.

'We have managed to contact 36 of those individuals, a number have gone into other states and territories and those states and territories have been alerted,' Dr Chant said.

Health authorities are 'urgently escalating' contact with the remaining four hotel guests.

Officials have successfully contacted 36 hotel guests but are still desperately trying to reach four remaining people (stock)

Meanwhile, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the state's first mass vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush will be open for business by mid-May.

'We're expecting this hub to be able to dispense around 30,000 vaccines every single week,' she said.

'This has not been done ever, to my knowledge, in NSW,' Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.

GPs will remain the first port of call for those receiving the AstraZeneca jab, but those who want to be vaccinated in a state facility or don't have a GP will be able to get vaccinated at the hub.

Those with underlying health issues are particularly encouraged to go through their GPs.

The Homebush hub will predominantly administer Pfizer vaccines, which are trickier to store and distribute because they have to be stored at extremely low temperatures.

Some other vaccine sites across the state that have been distributing AstraZeneca jabs will be converted to allow them to dispense the Pfizer vaccine.

More than 180,000 COVID vaccinations have already been administered by NSW Health.
Seguin, Texas (78155)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 76F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
NAVAL BASE GUAM (April 18, 2021) The amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) makes preparations to enter Naval Base Guam. The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit are operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations as part of a scheduled deployment to the region. As the U.S. Navys largest forward-deployed fleet, 7th Fleet routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific Region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael J. Lieberknecht)

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The outbreak of a foreign animal disease fatal to rabbits has state wildlife officials concerned about a potential spread to South Carolina.

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus-2 was detected last year in southwestern states and has spread to Florida. And while no cases have been reported in the Palmetto State, wildlife officials want residents to stay vigilant.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources said humans are not susceptible to the disease, but it is highly contagious for rabbits and nearly always fatal.

Both domestic and wild rabbits are at risk. Infected animals could experience loss of appetite, lethargy, high fever, seizures, bleeding, jaundice, difficulty breathing and sudden death.

Michael Hook, DNR's small game project leader, said RHDV2 can persist in the environment for a long time, which makes disease control efforts challenging once it is in wild populations.

Humans could be a means for spreading the disease, and Hook said that is the biggest concern. People can move the disease on their clothes or hands.

Hook said moving rabbits  dead or alive  can contribute to the spread. Moving live, sick rabbits is especially a risk.

"Contact is a good way to spread it among rabbits," he said. "Rabbits are friendly, friendly animals, and they're sort of gregarious, so they can spread it pretty easily."

The disease could wreak havoc in the wild and pose a big problem for domestic rabbit populations, too. Many people in the state own rabbits as pets. And rabbit shows are popular across the nation.

"If your rabbit starts acting tired, or especially starts bleeding from the mouth or anything like that, that should be cause for concern, and they need to call their vet," Hook said.

People who come across multiple dead rabbits in the wild should contact DNR. Sick or dead rabbits should not be collected or handled.

To help prevent the spread of RHDV2, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said domestic rabbits should not be released into the wild. Rabbit owners are recommended not to allow other pet or wild rabbits to have contact with theirs or gain entry to the home.

In addition to Florida, RHDV2 has been detected in states including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Chinas prestigious Tsinghua University has established a specialised chip college to train much-needed semiconductor engineers, showing its commitment to the national goal of chip self-efficiency amid a global shortage exacerbated by the tech war between Washington and Beijing.

The new school of integrated circuits (ICs) is based on the original department of microelectronics and nanoelectronics and department of electrical engineering, according to state news agency People.cn. The university introduced the semiconductor major back in 1956 and the school has cultivated more than 4,000 undergraduates, 3,000 postgraduates, and 500 PhDs in the IC field, the report said.

A Chinese flag near a logo atop the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) headquarters in Shanghai, China, March 23, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

The setting up of a school of integrated circuits at Tsinghua University comes amid the countrys significant strategic needs, the new school said in a statement posted on its official WeChat account. We focus on key areas the country is looking at and this is an important step for us to develop and groom high-level IC students in this talent-starved industry.

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The move comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping, a Tsinghua alumnus, visited the campus on Monday. During the visit, Xi said that Chinese universities should explore the frontiers of technology, improve their ability to innovate, and encourage an inquisitive mindset that challenges existing scientific theories, according to state news agency Xinhua.

[We] must continuously improve the quality of training, [we] must think of what the country thinks of, worry about what the country worries about, and meet the needs of the country, Xi said, who also invoked a Mao-era phrase to praise Tsinghua for its tradition of producing students who were both red and professional.

Story continues

The lack of semiconductor talent is proving a drag on Chinas attempts to catch up with the West in advanced technologies. To fill the gap, it has been trying to lure talent from Taiwan, especially senior executives with experience in managing chip plants.

Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, the most advanced chip maker on the mainland, for instance, last year more than quadrupled the salary of its 69-year-old co-chief executive officer Liang Mong-song, a semiconductor veteran from Taiwan.

A widely cited report published by Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2018 said the country faced a talent shortage of 320,000 engineers, but Chinas universities could only train 30,000 qualified engineers a year.

Gavekal Dragonomics analyst Dan Wang wrote in a report this week that Chinese chip firms would be talent-constrained even if they had sufficient funding.

Because of their lack of production experience, their engineers do not have the same process knowledge as their peers elsewhere, Wang wrote. Much of the knowledge required to create chips is not embodied in the tools and cannot be written down in explicit instructions.

Beijing made innovation a top priority in its five-year plan unveiled last month, identifying seven sectors to be given priority for research funding, including artificial intelligence, quantum information, integrated circuits, brain sciences, genetics and biotechnology, clinical medicine and health care, as well as deep earth, sea, space and polar exploration.

The US-China tech war and Covid-19 pandemic have distorted the demand curve in the capital-intensive semiconductor industry, resulting in chip shortages which analysts say could last through 2021 and into 2022 given the multiple factors at play.





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Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2021 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando this summer.

For more than 30 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award, said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last years recipient was Hank Katzen. Former recipients have included Sarah Stern (2017), Howard Lefkowitz (...
Creekwood Dental Arts Voted Local Best Dentist in Waco, TX Three Years Running Our team strives to go above and beyond all year long to ensure every patients dental experience is the best it can be in terms of clinical excellence and comfort.

Creekwood Dental Arts has been voted the Best Dentist in Waco, TX for the third year in a row by Locals Love Us. This website welcomes members of the community to vote in more than 200 different categories for their favorite local businesses, with a maximum of five winners per category. The Best Dentist in Waco, TX title is one of the most sought-after and competitive categories on the list. Locals cast their votes and the top five practices throughout the region with the most votes are awarded this coveted title.

We are pleased Creekwood Dental Arts has received the Best Dentist in Waco, TX for the third year in a row. Our team strives to go above and beyond all year long to ensure every patients dental experience is the best it can be in terms of clinical excellence and comfort, said Dr. Donna Miller.

Dr. Miller, Dr. Austin Green, Dr. Michelle Hinds and the entire team at Creekwood Dental Arts focus on building long-lasting, trusting relationships with their patients. The team leverages sophisticated technologies and techniques to provide state-of-the-art family, general, cosmetic and sedation dentistry customized to each patient, including crowns and bridges, porcelain veneers and dental implants in Waco, TX.

Dental implants are considered the gold standard tooth replacement solution due to their longevity, functional benefits and natural appearance. The restoration consists of a titanium post that replicates the natural tooth root, covered by a customized crown that resembles a natural tooth. Dental implants fuse with the jawbone, creating a permanent and secure fit which patients can enjoy for decades.

The compassionate team of dentists in Waco, TX enjoy seeing the life-changing benefits dental implants afford to patients suffering from the negative side effects of missing teeth. Its incredibly rewarding to witness the transformation that takes place in patients that receive dental implants at Creekwood Dental Arts. Seeing them smile widely and enjoy life again reflects the core reasons why we chose dentistry as a profession, said Dr. Green.

To learn more about why Locals Love Us voted Creekwood Dental Arts as the Local Best Dentist in Waco, TX and the comprehensive dental services offered by this experienced team, visit CreekwoodDentalArts.com or call 254-870-9026.

About the Dentists

Creekwood Dental Arts is a general dental practice offering personalized dental care to patients in Waco, TX. Drs. Donna G. Miller, Austin Green and Michelle Hinds provide an array of services with state-of-the-art technology. Dr. Miller was voted the Texas Dentist of the Year from the Texas Academy of General Dentistry as well as accomplished The Mastership Award from the Academy of General Dentistry, the highest and most respected award in general dentistry. Creekwood Dental Arts is also an award-winning team, over the last two years they have received The Best Dentist Award by Locals Love Us Waco. To learn more about Drs. Miller, Green and Hinds or the services they offer, please visit their website at CreekwoodDentalArts.com or call 254-870-9026 to schedule an appointment.
An Alabama woman has been charged with submitting an altered COVID test to the territorys online travel portal, according to a statement released Thursday night by the Virgin Islands Police Department.

Franketa A. Taylor, of Birmingham, is facing charges of fraudulent claims upon the government, access to a computer for fraudulent purposes, use of false information, and filing or recording forged instruments. Taylor submitted an altered negative COVID-19 test result into the travel portal, the statement said.

Bail for Taylor was set at $5,500, which she was unable to post. She was turned over to the Bureau of Corrections pending her advice-of-rights hearing.

Taylor is the seventh person to be charged with entering an altered or forged COVID-19 test in the travel portal, which is intended to screen incoming travelers for illness to prevent the spread of the virus. Users of the online travel portal must acknowledge a statement that they could face prosecution if they knowingly submit false information to the government.

___

(c)2021 The Virgin Islands Daily News (St. Thomas, VIR)

Visit The Virgin Islands Daily News (St. Thomas, VIR) at www.virginislandsdailynews.com

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Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon: Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon combines the sweet, fruity notes of single-origin Colombian cold brew with juicy lemonade made from real Sicilian lemons sourced along the Mediterranean coast. Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon contains 90 mg of natural caffeine, 60 calories, and is gluten-free, dairy-free, kosher, and vegan. It is available now at La Colombe cafes, at www.lacolombe.com , on Amazon, and at Whole Foods Market nationwide in early May, for $2.99 a can.

Hazelnut Draft Latte: La Colombe's newest seasonal coffee, Hazelnut Draft Latte, offers the delicious taste of hazelnuts and cold brew coffee with the beloved frothy texture of a Draft Latte. This newest Draft Latte has 100 calories per can and 120 mg natural caffeine and is gluten-free, kosher, and lactose-free. Available now through May, at La Colombe cafes, at www.lacolombe.com , Wegmans, Whole Foods, Schnucks, Amazon and Allegiant Air. Hazelnut Draft Latte retails for $2.99 a can.

"At La Colombe, we live by the mantra 'nothing is ever finished' which is why we are always innovating," said Todd Carmichael, CEO and Co-Founder of La Colombe Coffee Roasters. "This spring, I'm proud to show off three great new drinks that I think everyone will enjoy. From expanding our multi-serve lineup to include Extra Bold with a kick of more caffeine to pair with dairy or non-dairy creamers, or drink on its own over ice; to the deliciously refreshing Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon which is a favorite around the La Colombe offices; to the rich and nutty Hazelnut Draft Latte that's the perfect complement to our entire Draft Latte line. Our fans always expect something new from us, and we truly delivered with these great new drinks."

This innovation is coming off the heels of a successful year for the brands ready-to-drink business. The total ready-to-drink coffee category is $2.0 billion in annual sales, and is growing at an average rate of 24% across all channels. In the grocery channel, La Colombe's ready-to-drink beverages are one of the category growth leaders at +66%. Since 2019 La Colombe has ranked number 1 in dollar shares at Whole Foods, beating out competitors like Califia Farms, Bulletproof, Starbucks and Stumptown. Since the inception of the Draft Latte in 2017, Draft Latte has gained over 99,000 points of distribution nationwide and has achieved more than 64% ACV (Total US MULO).[i]

For more information on these products, the nutritional value, or to find out which retailer near you carries them, visit our website or follow us on social at @lacolombecoffee .

ABOUT LA COLOMBE

La Colombe (www.lacolombe.com) is a leading coffee roaster known for ethical, long-term trade practices with growers. Considered one of the pioneers of the third wave of coffee, it provides signature classic blends and exceptional single-origin coffees to cafes, hotels, restaurants and retailers around the world. In addition, the company owns and operates 30 cafes in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.  with additional locations and new markets scheduled to open in 2022-2023. The company has also made headlines in the ready-to-drink business with its DRAFT LATTET  the world's first-ever textured cold latte.

[i] *Source - IRI - Total US Mulo - Latest 52 Weeks Ending 03.21.2021

SOURCE La Colombe

Related Links

http://www.lacolombe.com


Australia has not seen a post-lockdown consumer recession, the chief executive of Associated British Foods has said, giving the company hope of similar trading conditions elsewhere when other countries more fully emerge from Covid-19 lockdowns.

Speaking to analysts after ABF published its first-half financial results, CEO George Weston was asked what trends the business was seeing in Australia, where it sells brands including Tip Top bread, Don cooked meats and Twinings tea.

Two things I think to call out. The first one is the return to much more normal levels of volume in foodservice, led by QSR  quick-service restaurants  in particular, where we have good representation both with Tip Top and Don. Then the second thing that were seeing is  well, what were not seeing, which is recession, Weston said.

The absence of a recession in Australia  which I thought was a nailed-on certainty  I think is giving us oxygen in our more premium-priced businesses. I think if we were sitting together six months ago, I think John and I would have said were going to have the mother and father of all recessions around the world and Twinings in particular is going to have a miserable time of it because of that. And were not seeing that at all  and I think were more likely to have a consumer boom than a consumer recession.

In the 24 weeks to 27 February, revenue from ABF's global grocery business rose 9% to GBP1.83bn (US$2.54bn), with higher demand through the retail channel offsetting pressure on sales to the foodservice sector. On a constant-currency basis, revenue was up 8%. The company said the "adjusted operating profit" from its grocery arm increased 5% to GBP199m.

ABF's business in Australia saw "market share gains" for its Tip Top bakery business and "substantially increased volumes" for its Yumi's unit. By contrast, the group's Don meats operations in Australia were affected by government Covid-19 restrictions, Weston said.

"The only difficult part of the entirety of our business in Australia and New Zealand has been the consequence of the Victorian Government putting very severe restrictions on all meat producers in Victoria during lockdown, not just us but the whole industry," he explained. "We were very restricted, when we were allowed to be opened, in the volumes that we can produce and the staff we could employ, and we have lost business as a consequence to other Australian states, which will take a little while to come back, although we're working on it."

The company's AB World Foods arm "is growing well internationally", Weston said. "It's had a very encouraging period in the United States, where we think the interest in Indian food is increasing quite quickly." Profits from ABF's Mazola edible oil business, meanwhile, came under pressure from commodity costs.

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Speaking to just-food, ABF finance director John Bason said the company expects annual profits from its grocery business to fall. "I don't think profit will be up," he said. "It's a softer second half than we had in the first half. I think we will see volumes lower and that's lapping the bigger volumes of last year and then the other thing that we've highlighted is corn oil costs in the United States. We've seen a big ramp-up in those and the effects of that we'll see in the second half."

In December 2019, ABF acquired Al'Fez, a UK-based brand inspired by north African and Middle Eastern foods, from Elondale Ltd, trading as First Quality Foods. Last year, the group bought Larodan, a Swedish manufacturer and international marketer of research-grade lipids to help the company "better serve" the pharmaceutical, nutritional and industrial market sectors, ABF said in its earnings statement.

Asked about ABF's acquisition strategy on the call with analysts, Weston said the pressure on cash flow brought about by the closure of the group's clothing retail business Primark during the pandemic made the business circumspect.

"The scale of the cash outflow at the height of the [Primark] closures this year I think would give any sane combination of chief executive and finance director pause before they committed the rest of their balance sheet to an M&A venture," he said. "GBP650m of cash outflow in the period because of closures is just an enormous number. We don't have anything like enough certainty to say that there won't be another [UK] lockdown in the autumn, or when those important markets of Germany, France, Italy and Ireland will come back to normal. I think we just have to be cautious for the time being."

However, Weston suggested ABF would be open to making smaller purchases. "In the meantime, if there are modest levels of expenditure required for particularly strategic M&A opportunities, we will take them. The kind of multi-hundred-million pound expenditures, I don't think we're in the mood for it," he explained. "I think another reason though for not being in the mood [is] there is a really nice pipeline of business development opportunities based around capital and other areas developing across the portfolio."

Bason told just-food ABF could consider investment behind some of grocery brands that are growing internationally. "If you are looking over the medium term, our volumes have gone up in things like Patak's and Blue Dragon, things like noodles and so on," he said. "I think we will be putting in more capital because we have been building those brands so well. In the very short term, a year or so in the future, yeah, we're fine [but] I think you'll find us putting more capacity behind a number of these [longer term]."
Themed "Restoring Our Earth," the 52nd Earth Day falls on Thursday, with countries worldwide making commitments addressing the common environmental challenges the planet faces.



China has taken steps toward a low-carbon transition, with progress made in tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity -- two urgent agendas that call for global collaboration, said Beate Trankmann, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in China.

"As the world attempts to build back better from the pandemic, concerted global action is needed to address climate change and safeguard the capacity of the Earth to support life by protecting the balance of ecosystems," Trankmann said in an interview with Xinhua.

In its exploration to address the environmental challenges, China aims to work closely with its global partners, and honor its commitments while encouraging others to do so.

Addressing climate change



Facing the global climate problem, China has announced its goal to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060.

The country has reaffirmed its climate commitment with clear targets in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the country's social and economic development roadmap.

According to the plan, China aims to significantly lower the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and its carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 13.5% and 18%, respectively, during the 2021-2025 period.

China's recent climate pledges could accelerate the global fight against climate change, and could set an example to other countries, encouraging them to step up their commitments, too, said Trankmann.

Last year, an ultra-high-voltage (UHV) line that only transmits clean power, including wind, solar and hydro energy, from northwest China's Qinghai province to Henan in central China went into operation.

As the world's first UHV to transmit only carbon-free electricity, the line could offer as much as 40 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually to central China, reducing 29.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

"China is a driver of much of the technological innovation needed to fight climate change," said Trankmann, adding that the country is now a global leader in renewable energy.

Last year, power generated by renewable energy sources hit 2.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 29.5% of the country's total electricity consumption, up by 9.5 percentage points from 2012.

China has also carried out institutional innovations, from launching carbon-trading schemes to developing green finance.

Since 2011, China has piloted the trading of carbon emissions in provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hubei, to draw on a market-based mechanism for greenhouse control.

Looking ahead, China's investments into innovation and experimentation in the green economy certainly offer opportunities to make green growth more viable, said Trankmann.

Protecting biodiversity



After a journey of over 5,000 km across mountains and rivers, the Siberian white cranes land at Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi province, the place they call home, each winter.

Rated as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, the Siberian white crane, also known as the snow crane, have seen their numbers dwindle to 4,000, with only a single migrating route left -- the east route to Poyang Lake.

Thanks to sustained efforts to preserve the habitat for the birds, the country's largest freshwater lake saw an increasing number of feathery visitors, attracting more than 680,000 wintering birds in 2020, 11,000 more than the previous year.

"The species and population of migratory birds have increased significantly in some important lakes and wetlands along the Yangtze River, which reflects an improvement in the local ecological environment," said Chen Jiakuan, a professor specializing in ecology with Fudan University.

China has made significant progress in protecting its wetlands with the help of its global partners. Local governments have been working with international institutions such as the Global Environment Facility and UNDP to finance and implement environmental projects.



As a result of UNDP-China cooperation, China's protected areas increased by 1.9 million hectares across six provincial regions, Trankmann noted.

She said that biodiversity protection is very much related to the fight against climate change, as intact ecosystems help absorb carbon and maintain animal habitats and food security.

As another attempt to draw global efforts to restore ecology on Earth, China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming of the southwest Yunnan province this year. Countries are expected to work out concrete plans for post-2020 global biodiversity protection.

"This needs to include taking environmental issues into the heart of economic and financial decision-making and rethinking how public and private finance can co-generate positive effects for biodiversity. As the host, China has an opportunity to push this agenda," Trankmann said.

Challenges ahead

Coal-fired power remains a major energy source in China, and the country vows to bring the share of coal in total energy consumption to under 56% in 2021.

To reach the country's climate pledge, Trankmann believes that China should further accelerate its energy transformation, and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix.

According to an industrial report released by the China National Coal Association, the country's annual coal output will stand at no higher than 4.1 billion tonnes by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The annual coal consumption will be kept to around 4.2 billion tonnes at the end of 2025.

"We look forward to more targets and strategies for how to achieve a reduction in total emissions in the five-year plans for different sectors later this year including curbing coal consumption," she said.

In terms of addressing the challenges of protecting biodiversity, Trankmann said more could be done.

"Policies for biodiversity protection should be strengthened and tailored to different ecological contexts along with integrated approaches to land and resource management, including coastal and river basin management," said Trankmann.

Additionally, China can expand on its Grain for Green program, whereby people who live in ecologically fragile environments receive compensation for protecting ecosystems and conserving biodiversity.
Japanese auto major Honda Cars has decided to shift away from traditional ICE vehicles and step on the gas to move faster towards electric cars. Honda's new CEO Toshihiro Mibe held his first press conference after taking charge and outlined his plans for the company, core to which is its pursuit to become carbon neutral.

Mibe said that Honda aims to sell only electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles by 2040. He said, "Honda will work comprehensively to address challenges in the areas of the environment and safety. At the same time, for the future, Honda will strive to lead advancements which will be made in the areas of mobility, the power unit, energy and robotics."

He also provided a breakup of how Honda aims to achieve the target. The Japanese carmaker will first try to increase the ratio of battery-electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles in all major markets to 40% of its overall sales within 2030, to 80% by 2035, and finally stop selling any vehicles run on conventional fuel by 2040.

Though the target seems a bit ambitious, Mibe said, "These are challenging targets, and to attain them, we must put forth a collective effort of our entire value chain. However, we decided to set high goals so that all of us share the vision of what we are trying to accomplish and take on challenges toward the realisation of our goals."

Honda launched its first electric vehicle Honda e last year. It is a small, compact model meant solely for city driving, with a battery capacity roughly half that of the Model 3, driving just 280 kilometres per charge. Earlier this week, the Honda e won the World Urban Car of the Year award. Honda e and Honda Jazz e:HEV are currently playing important roles in the Japanese carmaker's commitment to electrify 100% of its mainstream European automobile range by 2022.

Honda has also unveiled the SUV e: prototype at Shanghai Auto Show recently. It is the first of the 10 EV models the carmaker plans to launch in China in the next five years.

Besides four-wheelers, Honda will also focus on electrification of its two-wheeler range as well. It also aims to launch three new EV models in the category in the next three years.

Mibe said, "For personal-use customers, we must not only enhance our product lineup but also make a large number of battery-swapping stations available and ensure convenience to users by making them compatible with EVs of other makers. To this end, Honda has established a consortium with other motorcycle OEMs in Japan and Europe, respectively, to develop technology standards for swappable batteries. Honda has a vision to expand Mobile Power Pack applications beyond motorcycles to power products and micro-mobility products. With this vision, we have begun demonstration testing in India using rickshaw" type tricycle taxis."

Besides these initiatives, Honda also plans to reduce traffic collision fatalities to zero by 2050. To meet the target, Honda aims to strengthen its research on safety technologies that enable motorcycles and cars to 'safely coexist and lead the way in realising a collision-free society'.
Russia says it has started moving troops from the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea to their permanent bases following a major buildup around the areas of eastern Ukraine that had raised concerns in Kyiv and the West.

A senior U.S. defense official said on April 23 that the United States is seeing some Russian personnel withdrawing, but added: "It's a bit too soon to tell exactly what forces are withdrawing and exactly what equipment appears to be left behind.

Moscow's announcement of the troop redeployment alone is "insufficient to give us comfort," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But I can just tell you, we're looking very, very closely," the official said.

The Russian troop buildup came amid stepped-up violations of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014, and prompted the West to urge Moscow to pull its forces back.

Ukraine and many other countries refuse to recognize Russias annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and consider it a violation of international law and Russian-signed agreements safeguarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on April 23 that "military units and groups [in Crimea] are moving to railway stations and airports, boarding military vessels, railway platforms, and military aircraft following the conclusion of large-scale military drills.

The ministry also announced that more than 20 ships from its Black Sea fleet had returned to their permanent base after taking part in military exercises near Crimea.

The statements came a day after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the withdrawal from areas close to the Ukrainian border, where thousands of military personnel had been brought in recent weeks for what Moscow described as a "snap inspection of military personnel."

Shoigu said that the objectives of the snap inspection "have been fully achieved" and that the troops would return to their bases by May 1.

However, it was unclear from Shoigu's announcement if the return order covered all of the troops involved in the buildup near Russia's southern border and in Crimea.

The Defense Ministry has said that its drills involved more than 60 ships, over 10,000 troops, around 200 aircraft, and about 1,200 military vehicles.

But the military hasn't reported the total number of additional troops that have been moved to the region.

Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said on April 19 that Russia had massed some 100,000 troops near the border, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned on April 20 that the Russian buildup across the border was continuing and was "expected to reach a combined force of over 120,000 troops" in about a week if it didn't stop.

Russia has argued that it has the right to deploy its forces anywhere on its territory and claimed that they don't threaten anyone.

Shoigu said the military had to be ready to respond quickly in case of "unfavorable" developments arising from NATO's DEFENDER-Europe 21 exercises, an annual, U.S. Army-led, multinational joint exercise across 26 countries in Europe and Africa, including Estonia -- which shares a border with Russia -- Bulgaria and Romania.

Last week, Russia announced the closing of large areas of the Black Sea near Crimea to foreign naval ships and state vessels until November, prompting protests from Ukraine and raising Western concerns.

Moscow also announced restrictions on flights near Crimea this week, arguing that they fully conform with international law.

Moscow also warned Kyiv against trying to retake by force its territories controlled by the separatists, saying that Russia could step in to protect civilians in the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on April 21 signed an order allowing the call-up of reservists for military service without announcing a mobilization.

With reporting by TASS, Interfax, Reuters, AP, and AFP
Epic damage and destruction was caused by a 67-year-old man who put a couple through a living hell when was a tenant in their Ballinspittle house and today he paid for the remainder of the 16,000 in damage which he caused.

The couple described the living hell they were put through by the cruel behaviour of tenant, Denis OConnor from Hillside, Cappagh, Kinsale, County Cork.

As well as causing an estimated 16,000 in criminal damage by sawing rafters out of the roof and other acts of destruction, he refused to pay rent for 16 months he was in the house.

The owner of the house, Audrey OMahony, believed OConnor cut the rafters on the roof of their Ballinspittle house and caused other damage in an effort to make the property unsellable so they would be forced to sell it to him at a reduced price.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain said, I am aware of the devastation and damage he caused to the householders who were very much at risk from Denis OConnor.

He was left in there in good faith with their consent and the damage he caused and the distress he caused to them was epic.

The judge said the owners had their suspicions about why OConnor caused all this damage and the judge remarked that they were probably right about this.

Judge unimpressed

Judge O Donnabhain repeated that he was singularly unimpressed by the attitude shown by the accused at an earlier hearing. The judge said that between this attitude and the failure to come up with the full sum of compensation at the first sentencing hearing in February that the accused man wanted to go to jail.

However, noting the time spent in custody and the full amount of compensation now furnished, he was prepared to impose a two-year prison sentence, backdated to when OConnor went into custody on February 4, the balance of which was suspended from today.

Ms OMahony testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that OConnor said the 67-year-old put herself and her husband and family through a never-ending nightmare by what he did from the time he began renting their house from them in 2015.

I believe that it was Denis OConnors intention to get permanent possession of our house without paying us and that he is not the least bit sorry for what he has put us through.

"His actions against us are inexcusable, cruel and downright wrong, she said.

Guilty plea

He pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to the house by removing roof rafters and damaging floors and various fittings at the OMahonys property at Duneen, Ballinvredig, Ballinspittle, Co Cork between December 5 2015 and July 23 2018.

Garda Cormac Dineen told how the OMahonys moved from the single story cottage in Ballinspittle to their new home in Clonakilty and put the house up for rent and OConnor, a handyman, began renting the property in 2015 and agreed to carry out some minor repair works with their consent.

However, the OMahonys gave him no permission to remove 27 roof rafters to use to put a V-shaped roof on a portable building and take up a hall floor and other actions which left the OMahonys with a bill for damage totalling 16,000.
Rep. John Katko is facing a serious threat to his political future after Onondaga County Conservative Party members decided they will no longer support the four-term Republican.

The party committee said it wont endorse Katko next year because of his January vote to impeach Donald Trump and other recent votes supporting measures opposed by conservatives.

While we believe he is acting in what he feels best represents the needs and wants of his constituents, it is clear that he no longer accepts or supports the values we hold dear, the Onondaga County Conservative Party said in a statement.

We will be recommending to our state chairman, Jerry Kassar, that we would prefer the endorsement for this position be either granted to someone more worthy of our support or that the line should remain vacant for this position during the upcoming congressional race in 2022, the statement said.

Kassar has said he will likely defer to the local Conservative Party committees in Katkos congressional district when it comes to endorsements.

Katko, R-Camillus, won the partys endorsement in his four previous elections for Congress, and consistently won more votes on the Conservative ballot line than on any third-party line.

The Onondaga County committee is the largest and most influential of the partys committees in the four-county 24th Congressional District, making it unlikely Katko will be able to win the partys endorsement in 2022.

Katko had already lost support from Conservative Party committees in the other three counties in the district  Oswego, Cayuga, and Wayne counties.

The Oswego County Conservative Party had not publicly announced its decision until now. But party chair Ronald Greenleaf said Thursday that Katko will not receive the committees endorsement.

We told him we will never back him again, Greenleaf told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in an interview. John, personally, I think is a good man. He votes his conscience. Ill give him that. But as a party, its hard for him to carry our banner.

The Wayne County Conservative Committee already said it will not support Katko again for any elected office. The party committee passed a resolution expressing no confidence in Katko on Jan. 16.

The Cayuga County Conservative Committee refused to give Katko its endorsement last year and that position only hardened after the Jan. 13 impeachment vote.

Katko had no response to the loss of the endorsements. But campaign spokesman Dan Kranz noted that Katko has enjoyed broad support in previous elections.

A recent analysis from the Cook Political Report found the congressman was the top overperformer in the 2020 House elections, outrunning Trump at the top of the ticket by 19 percentage points. Biden defeated Trump in the district by nine points, while Katko won his election by 10 points.

Less than six months after a record setting election, in which Congressman Katko was named the top overperformer in the nation, he remains focused on governing, Kranz said. Hes been named Republican leader on the House Homeland Security Committee and is committed to upholding his ranking as one of the most effective lawmakers in Congress.

Katko was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as members of Congress met to certify the presidential election vote for Joe Biden.

Before the vote, Katko said members of Congress had a constitutional duty to impeach Trump.

To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy, Katko said.

Bernie Ment, chairman of the Onondaga County Conservative Committee, said Katkos impeachment vote was the first of three controversial decisions that convinced members to give up on the congressman.

Katko won the committees endorsement in his four previous elections.

The one thing we all agree on is that John Katko no longer represents us, Ment told syracuse.com in an interview.

We feel this action is necessary because some of the votes that John did this year just slapped us in the face, Ment said.

He said Conservative Party members were upset Feb. 25 when Katko voted for the Equality Act. The bill would expand legal protections for LGBTQ Americans, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Katko was among only three House Republicans to vote for the Equality Act, marking the second time since 2019 that he supported the measure.

Katko also upset Onondaga County Conservative Party members when he voted Feb. 4 to rebuke Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her racist and violent rhetoric.

He was among only 11 Republicans who voted with Democrats to punish the GOP congresswoman by taking away her committee assignments.

Ment said any decision about Marjorie Taylor Greenes future should be left up to voters in her Georgia congressional district.

Katkos loss of local Conservative Party support comes two months after about 40 Republican and conservative leaders met privately in Syracuse to discuss whether to back a primary opponent against Katko next year.

So far, no Republican or Conservative Party member has emerged to challenge Katko.

Greenleaf, the Oswego County Conservative Committee chairman, said the party will actively try to recruit opponents to Katko.

Without the Conservative Party backing, he cant win, Greenleaf said, referring to the general election in November 2022. We are seeking another person to run. Pretty much anybody that steps up with conservative values, well back.

He said its unlikely Katko could do anything to redeem himself with party members.

Everybody that I have talked to locally about John Katko who previously supported him are just disgusted by his impeachment vote, Greenleaf said.

Katko received 21,086 votes on the Conservative Party line last year, while winning the 24th Congressional District election over Democrat Dana Balter by about 35,000 votes.

The Conservative Party has grown at a time when Republican voter enrollment rolls have been declining in Central New York.

The 24th District had 9,103 enrolled Conservative Party members as of February, up from 8,872 on Nov. 1, according to the state Board of Elections.

During the same period, the districts Republican enrollment declined from 144,544 to 144,206.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
The body of a woman who is believed to have died in a suspected murder-suicide lay in a storage unit for more than a week before police made the grisly discovery.

Police were called to the unit in Labrador on the Gold Coast at about 10.20am on Friday after a 53-year-old man was found dead.

Officers then located the body of a 48-year-old woman at the home in the Sapphire at the Broadway apartment building.

Forensic officers were seen at the scene on the Gold Coast on Friday after the suspected murder suicide of a man, 53, and woman, 48

The apparent murder-suicide happened at the upmarket Sapphire at the Broadway on the Gold Coast

A note was found next to the man who died in a bedroom while the woman's body was found rotting in the storage unit, the Courier Mail reported.

Police believe the woman may have died around a week ago with the man believed to have died a few days later.

A relative had sounded the alarm to the building's management after not being able to reach the couple for several days.

The couple, originally from Victoria, had only moved to the Sunshine State in the last few years.

Queensland Police said initial investigations indicate the man's death is not being treated as suspicious but the woman's death is.

Police were called to the unit in Labrador (pictured) at about 10.20am on Friday after a man was found dead. Officers then located the body of a woman at the apartment

Police are still investigating the incident and working to determine if the couple had a history of domestic violence.

Residents said the man was a 'really nice guy' and they were shocked to hear of something so horrific happening in their neighbourhood.

'He was always really happy and really smiley,' she said.

'I only knew them to say hello to but he was always lovely.'

A post-mortem will be conducted at a later date. Police investigations are continuing.

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Belgium's health ministry warned Friday intensive care units are struggling to cope with a third wave of coronavirus infectionsbut authorities still stuck to plans to ease restrictions.

Health official Marcel Van der Auwera said intensive care staff were "exhausted, pushed well beyond their limits" as the country battles to curb the virus.

He said caregivers had been working at "130 percent" capacity for a month and that the situation would likely continue for "two or even three weeks".

Authorities say roughly 900 of Belgium's 2,000 total intensive care beds were occupied by COVID patients, a figure that has remained stubbornly unchanged for two weeks.

That means hospitals are facing problems dealing with other emergency cases including serious burns victims and road accidents.

Van der Auwera said that on Friday there were only "82 beds available" in these units across the country.

He said Germany stood ready to take patients from Belgian hospitals following a request from Brussels.

Belgium sent patients for treatment in its larger neighbour during an earlier wave of coronavirus infections in November.

Despite the dire warning from health officials, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo confirmed Friday that restaurants and cafes would reopen outdoor terraces from May 8, with four people allowed per table.

The hospitality sector has been clamouring for a reprieve after being shuttered for everything but takeaways for months.

De Croo insisted that restrictions could be eased because the country's vaccination drive was progressing "better than expected".

He said cultural and festive events of up to 50 people would also be allowed in the open air from May 8.

But he put off until June at the earliest the prospect of reopening theatres despite pleas from the battered sector to restart sooner.

Belgiuma country of 11.5 millionhas reported an average of just over 3,500 new COVID cases daily during the past 7 days.

It has so far given at least one jab to over 2.5 million people, or 22 percent of the total population.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

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Jim Sadler is celebrating his 90th birthday (April 24) and he knows just about everybody in Chattanooga. Mr. Sadler has worked in the funeral home business for over 50 years conducting thousands of funerals. He was raised in North Chattanooga on E. Manning Street and graduated from Central High School in 1949.

Jim always has a story to tell. He remembers when President Franklin Roosevelt came to Chattanooga for the Chickamauga Dam dedication. Mr. Sadler was present at the train station and saw the President arrive. He answered his countrys call in 1949 and joined the Navy, serving in the Korean War. Mr. Sadler was in basic training when General Douglas MacArthur came to Chicago and there was a big parade. He said he was glad to stand at attention when the famous general passed by.



Jim said he accepted Christ as his Savior at a young age. Most of his life he belonged to the North Chattanooga Church of God. Sadler said when he returned home and went back to church he noticed this cute brunette in the choir and a friend told him she wasnt married. As they say the rest is history and after dating eight months he married Peggy Jo Merrill. She was from Florida but grew up in Beersheba Springs, Tn. Rev. Bill Brown performed the ceremony at the church where Jim raised his family and attended most of his life. After 67 years of marriage Peggy recently passed away.

Jim worked at the Chattanooga DuPont plant in the textile division for 33 years. Also, he moonlighted at the M and J Supermarket on Ashland Terrace. One of his customers was Bob Coulter, operator of Coulter Funeral Home just up the street. Mr. Sadler said Mr. Coulter would talk to him every time he was in the store. Mr. Coulter told him one day, Son, Im impressed with the way you handle people, why dont you come to work for me. Mr. Sadler said, I wasnt every excited about going to work for a funeral home but Id tried everything else so why not.

In 2002 Jim Sadler moved to Chattanooga Funeral Home to work for his longtime friend Gene Pike. Jim is one of the most trusted and loyal employees Ive had in all my years at the funeral home, noted Mr. Pike.

Mr. Sadler and his wife Peggy had four children - two daughters and two sons who were twins. He said one of the twins died at 16 months old. Mr. Sadler said at the time he didnt realize it but God was preparing him to help those grieving through their sorrow.



Mr. Sadlers coworkers say he must wake up every morning looking forward to come to work. Tom Tallent, North Chapel manager, said, Its a blessing to work with Jim and have him as a friend." Mr. Tallent said Mr. Sadler "wants to be here every day."

Mr. Sadler has always found time for his community. You might find him painting a widow friends house or helping a neighbor get their car started. Hes a life member of the VFW, and a member of the Kiwanis Club and Lions Club where hes proudly sold thousands of pecans at Christmas. Mr. Sadler was given the Quilt of Valor from the Chattanooga Chapter Freedoms Foundation. He said he looks forward to driving a limousine of dignitaries in the annual Armed Forces Day Parade. Mr. Sadler said hes loved all his pastors but the late Rev. Marshall Roberson was very special to him. Jim drove the North Chattanooga Church of God bus for over 20 years. Jim is known for his sense of humor. He said while working a service years ago he shook a good friends hand. The friend responded, You didnt check my pulse.

Jim recently toured the Medal of Honor Museum with his daughter Cynthia Sadler Reynolds. She said her father was very impressed with the Charles Coolidge and Desmond Doss displays. The Navy seaman saw Coolidge and Doss while driving limos in the annual parade. During the museum tour, he told his daughter while in high school hed bagged groceries for members of the Coolidge family working at North Chattanooga Supermarket. Mrs. Reynolds said her dad is a very patriotic person and felt it was his duty to serve in the armed services. She said her dad has lots of stories about his time at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Mrs. Reynolds said her father is the hardest working man shes ever known and he taught that work ethic to his children.

Mr. Sadler remembers City Court Judge Russell Bean coming by the funeral home one time and asking for him. The secretary said Jim is out. Judge Bean said, Ive got a warrant for his arrest. The lady was stunned and Judge Bean had to let her know it was only a joke. Mr. Sadler said he looks forward to going to his wifes home place for the annual reunion although this year wont be the same as Peggy will be missing.

When Mr. Sadler was asked who is the most famous person hes buried, Jim responded, They are all famous.


Alexei Navalny has ended his hunger strike after three weeks of refusing food to protest his conditions in prison.

The jailed Kremlin critic said his demands had been met and that he had been examined by civilian medics.

He was swayed by an appeal by doctors who examined him, and others joining him on hunger strike.

The opposition leader ended the strike after his medics claimed he could die at 'any minute' despite leaked footage showing him doing pull ups in prison.

'I don't want anyone to experience physical suffering because of me,' he said.

'Taking into account the progress and all the circumstances, I am starting to come out of the hunger strike.'

Earlier on Friday, a video, presumably released with official approval, was released showing Navalny exercising, aimed at countering claims of his ill health.

It was spread among pro-Kremlin social media on Friday although it is not clear when the footage was taken.

Leaked footage of Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny in jail apparently shows him doing pull-ups, despite spending the past three weeks on hunger strike

A video, presumably released with official approval, is aimed at countering claims he could die at 'any minute'

The footage was spread among pro-Kremlin social media on Friday. However it is not clear when the video was shot

One claim is that it was filmed yesterday in a recreation yard of a prison where Navalny, 44, is currently held in a hospital facility.

It comes two days after tens of thousands of his supporters protested on the streets across Russia demanding the Kremlin critic be allowed to see doctors.

Pro-Kremlin blogger Sergey Kolyasnikov called it 'a unique video, in which a man with a sore back, twice poisoned with a deadly military-grade poison, with his failing leg and kidneys ... pulls himself up on a horizontal bar.

'Either we are witnessing a miracle of Biblical proportions or ... the Russian opposition, as always, went into frenzied lies about Navalny's health.

'And I'm sure you know the correct answer.'

He claimed that the Western media was 'hysterical' about Navalny's health.

Pro-Kremlin blogger Sergey Kolyasnikov (pictured)said: 'Either we are witnessing a miracle of Biblical proportions or ... the Russian opposition, as always, went into frenzied lies about Navalny's health'

Another Telegram channel Kremlin Prachka said the video clearly contested Navalny's doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva's claims that 'he had minutes to live'.

'On 22 April this year Navalny was pulling himself up on a bar, not quite twirling around it, which confirms the widespread lies about his physical illness,' Prachka said.

The apparent leak breaks a number of prison and inmate privacy rules.

After Navalny announced he was ending his hunger strike, his team posted on social media: 'Alexei is coming out of hunger strike.

'We made sure that civilian doctors were admitted. They performed an independent examination and did all checks.

'Navalny will continue to demand that his personal doctors be allowed in, but without a hunger strike.

'It's getting too dangerous.'

The statement said 'the worst is over' after 24 days on hunger strike.

'We rejoice at this victory, but we must not forget for a second that Alexei must be free. And we will continue to pursue this.'

Navalny's personal doctors had urged him on Thursday to 'immediately halt the hunger strike to preserve your life and health'.

The Russian opposition leader's health had been failing since he declared a hunger strike on March 31 to demand proper medical care for a range of ailments, including back pain and numbness in his limbs.

Alexei Navalny's personal doctors on Thursday urged him to 'immediately' call off his hunger strike as the jailed Kremlin critic said he was full of 'pride and hope' after nationwide protests

'If the hunger strike continues even a little longer, we will simply have no one to treat soon,' cardiologist Yaroslav Ashikhmin (left) Pictured: Navalny's doctors talk to media on Tuesday

Navalny's doctors have warned that Navalny's health is failing so rapidly he could die at 'any minute,' as the United States threatened Russia with 'consequences' in the event of his death

'If the hunger strike continues even a little longer, we will simply have no one to treat soon,' cardiologist Yaroslav Ashikhmin and four other doctors said in a statement published by Mediazona, an independent news website.

The physicians said it was thanks to 'huge' public support that Navalny was taken to a civilian hospital in the central city of Vladimir on Tuesday and received access to 'something that looks like an independent examination'.

The doctors added that they had received the results of Navalny's health assessment and his medical tests earlier Thursday and would inform the opposition figure of their opinion the following day.

Navalny's right-hand man Leonid Volkov said the 44-year-old's doctors had received information about his health only because the Russian authorities responded to public pressure.

'It is very sad that one has to refuse food for 23 days to achieve such a result,' Volkov said.

Last weekend Navalny's doctors said he could die at 'any minute', pointing to the opposition politician's high potassium levels.

A team of physicians including Navalny's personal doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva (pictured) travelled to the new colony on Tuesday morning and was once again barred from seeing him

His lawyers and allies are demanding he be transferred to a regular hospital, instead of the IK-3 penal colony (pictured), but the Kremlin has said Navalny is not entitled to special treatment

The protests came after doctors warned Navalny's health was deteriorating after he went on hunger strike three weeks ago, on March 31

Thousands of people had marched through central Moscow near the Kremlin chanting 'Freedom' and 'Putin is a thief!', just hours after the president delivered his annual state of the nation address

Navalny himself said in an Instagram post that he was full of 'pride and hope' a day after protesters rallied in support, calling them the future of Russia.

'Yesterday you walked together with me, and today I will be lying on my cot and imagining myself walking with you and for you,' he said.

Thousands of people had marched through central Moscow near the Kremlin chanting 'Freedom' and 'Putin is a thief!', just hours after the president delivered his annual state of the nation address.

Although large crowds gathered, the protests were not on the scale of pro-Navalny demonstrations seen in January and February, when tens of thousands rallied and more than 10,000 people were arrested.

The Kremlin downplayed Wednesday's demonstrations, which saw more than 1,900 people detained across Russia.

There are concerns Navalny is close to kidney failure or cardiac arrest as a result of his hunger strike, but doctors have been refused access to assess him (pictured, protesters rally in Kaliningrad)

Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia joined tens of thousands of Russians at protests calling for the opposition leader's release on Wednesday, as police arrested more than 1,700 demonstrators

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that he saw 'no reason' to comment on the rallies.

In Russia, participation in unauthorised demonstrations can lead to a fine or a brief jail term, and prosecutors are now seeking to declare Navalny's Anti-Corruption Fund and the network of regional offices 'extremist' organisations.

The majority of the detentions - more than 800 - took place in Saint Petersburg, where police violently dispersed crowds with shock sticks.

Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh was among those detained and was given a 10-day stint behind bars for calling on people to join unauthorised rallies.

Key Navalny aide Lyubov Sobol was also taken into police custody ahead of the rally in Moscow.

Rights group Amnesty International condemned the 'crackdown on peaceful protesters' and the use of 'excessive force, including tasers' in dispersing the crowds.

Navalny was arrested when he returned to Russia in January after months recovering in Germany from a Novichok poisoning he blames on the Kremlin - an accusation Moscow rejects.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years over an old fraud conviction and has been serving time in a penal colony about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Moscow

Riot police remove a protester from demonstrations against the detention of Navalny in St Petersburg on Wednesday night
IRVINE, Calif., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative Tech start up Xidas has joined forces with The World Alliance for Efficient Solutions to be a part of their Solar Impulse #1000 Solutions portfolio. The Solar Impulse Foundation, its experts and partners have identified, assessed and labelled 1,000 technological solutions capable of protecting the environment in a financially profitable way. Xidas's innovative products of energy harvesting solutions have been deemed crucial in making this happen.

Xidas

"These solutions are clean, efficient, cost-effective... and available today," stated by Bertrand Piccard of the Solar Impulse Foundation. "They reduce the environmental impact of construction and mobility, industry and agriculture, water and energy consumption, while ensuring economic development and social prosperity for all. Not in a century, nor a decade, but today."

Xidas's input to a greener planet is their reduction of use of rare earth and a reduction of pollution of soils due to their technology. Their Vibration-Based Energy Harvesting generators tackle the IoT Industries biggest issue with Wireless Sensors - Battery Replacements. With battery life currently averaging only 1-2 years, there is an excess of battery waste due to constant replacements. Xidas technology extends this wireless sensor battery lifespan to up to ten years.

"This Solution can be a viable replacement leading to relieving a big pain of legacy battery disposal due to toxic metals, lead, lithium etc. posing a threat to the environment," says one expert of the Solar Impulse Foundation. "This Solution of self-charging batteries can reduce the battery-landfill by increasing the lifetime of the battery and reduce the times of replacement by batteries up to 10 years of lifespan, and hence reduce battery waste." To learn more about Xidas initiative for a greener planet visit www.xidasiot.com

About Xidas IoT

Xidas IoT leverages its breakthrough patented technologies and multi-disciplinary expertise to design and produce edge solutions that combine intelligence, zero-power (energy harvesting), sensor fusion and integration. With decades of 3D manufacturing and micro engineering breakthroughs and deep expertise on industry, Xidas is a proud partner of the US National Science Foundation for IoT innovation. The company was one of five to testify in front of US Congress on the value of IoT technologies. Our products are first of their kind and shatter the conventional limitations that hold back the potential of a society powered by IoT.

To learn more, please visit www.xidasiot.com or contact Sourabh Dhillon at [email protected]

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Position Objective: Provides a professional level of technical expertise and leadership for planning, budgeting and executing the maintenance, repair, and daily operation of all buildings, structures, grounds, and roads. Coordinates the assigned duties for the operation of the Medical Center in-house staff assignments, outside contractors, and parking facilities. Manages and assures department compliance with The Joint Commission requirements in areas related to Life Safety, facility maintenance and departmental training. Essential Job Duties: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Provide frontline leadership to the staff including orientation, competency assessment and skills training. Provide frontline supervision and performance management of staff. Conduct and supervise daily corrective and preventive maintenance activities for AAMC managed facilities and grounds. Ensure proper utilization of available resources to allow for work to be completed in a timely manner. Prioritize, assign and follow up on work orders to ensure efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction of work achieved. Establish effective means of communication with staff, peers, and all key stakeholders. Work with outside contractors as needed to complete repairs and projects. Manage supply needs ensuring proper stock is kept and supplies are ordered on time. Assist in all phases of renovation as needed to include scheduling, cost monitoring, and code compliance. Assist in developing department operating/capital budget needs. Maintains pertinent records of all inspections, job cost and regulatory requirements. Assist with the supervision of Life safety and other audits to ensure that the physical environment meets established quality and applicable safety. Educational/Experience Requirements : The minimum level of education and experience for this position includes: High School Diploma/GED or equivalent

Five years' supervisor experience working in the management of a Facilities Engineering Department preferred Required License/Certifications: Preferred Certified Healthcare Facility Manager ( CHFM)

CHFM) Must have a valid Maryland driver's license and a driving record with no more than two (2) points. Working Conditions, Equipment, Physical Demands: There is reasonable expectation that employees in this position will be exposed to blood-borne pathogens. Physical Demands - Heavy Heavy work . Exerting up to 100 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 50 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 20 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.


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San Antonio, there will soon be a new place to get toasted ... sandwiches.

Cheba Hut, the marijuana-inspired sandwich franchise, announced on its website that it's opening a location in the Alamo Ranch area soon. According to its Facebook page, the new joint will be located at 11911 Alamo Ranch Pkwy. The business wrote in a post that it plans on opening in May.
New Delhi, April 23 : Senior advocate Harish Salve on Friday sought Supreme Court's permission to withdraw as amicus curiae from the suo motu case to distribution of essential supplies and services, including oxygen and drugs, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Salve submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said it is a "very sensitive" matter and he did not want the case to be decided under the shadow, where statements were made that he knew the Chief Justice from either school or college days. Justice Bobde is demitting the Chief Justice of India office on Friday.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested Salve not to withdraw from the case as the amicus, as nobody should succumb to such pressure tactics. Reportedly, several counsel had written criticizing court's decision to appoint Salve as amicus curiae in the matter.

The Chief Justice told Salve it was a collective decision of the bench to appoint him amicus curie and there was nothing more to understand. Salve, who appeared for Vedanta on Thursday before the top court, submitted, "I did not know our Bar is divided among industries we appear for. Please allow me to recuse with all humility." Accepting Salve's request for withdrawal as amicus from the matter, the bench said that it did not like reading what some senior advocates had to say, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. "In future, we will have to look for someone as amicus who we don't know", added the bench.

The bench added it understands that Salve was pained. Mehta submitted, "We are not in a position in the country to have a maligning competition in media and electronic media. Someday somebody from the judiciary has to take cognisance of this trend. Salve should reconsider. It is a question of principle." On Thursday, while appearing for Vedanta, Salve had submitted the company could produce oxygen at its Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu to make up for the shortage amid COVID-19 crisis.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Several former aides have revealed that they tried to stop Donald Trump from talking at the coronavirus task force press conference on 23 April 2020, where he encouraged health officials to study the benefits of injecting bleach to fight Covid-19.

During the press conference last year, Mr Trump spoke about recent updates he and his team had received from the task force about research on how to treat the virus, before turning to talk about bleach.

I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? the president asked officials during the press conference.

You see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number [on the] lungs, so it would be interesting to check that, he continued, appearing to refer to the disinfectant idea. Were going to have to use medical doctors, but it seems interesting to me, Mr Trump added.

A senior health official, under questioning from reporters later, confirmed that federal laboratories were not considering or trying to develop such a treatment option.

Speaking to Politico in the days before the one year anniversary of the widely mocked and roundly condemned incident, former-aides said that they attempted to stop the then president from addressing reporters that day.

The aides said that in the morning before the press conference, Mr Trump was briefed on the most recent findings on the virus, which had only been in the country for around two months, but they felt he had not properly taken the information in.

As Mr Trump walked through the White House to talk to reporters, a few of us actually tried to stop it in the West Wing hallway, one former senior White House official told Politico.

I actually argued that President Trump wouldnt have the time to absorb it and understand it. But I lost, and it went how it did, they added.

During the press conference in April 2020, Mr Trump also spoke about the possibility of using ultraviolet or just very powerful lightto treat Covid-19, which he suggested could be used through the skin or inside the body.

Another former official claimed to Politico that Mr Trumps remarks about the disinfectant and ultraviolet light became a running joke during his last few months in office.

People joked about it inside the White House like, are you drinking bleach and injecting sunlight? People were mocking it and saying, oh let me go stand out in the sun, and Ill be safe from Covid, they said.

The former aide added: It honestly hurt. It was a credibility issue  It was hurting us even from an international standpoint, the credibility at the White House.

The incident was mentioned throughout the next year after being mocked on Saturday Night Live, with Mr Trump even having to defend the comments during the live televised presidential debate.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden also mocked the comments, while speaking during a roundtable discussion with Black essential workers on the public health crisis in the US.

I think theres a growing awareness that, you know, injecting bleach into your system doesnt do it for you, the Democrat said.

He added: Im being serious. I mean think about all the ridiculous things, and there is online still there are those who are the vaccine ... deniers, and telling all these stories about it that arent true.

The Independent has contacted the Trump organisation for comment.
AEWU has always made it clear that it will take legal action against tenants if required, particularly well-resourced companies"

( ) was today claiming a victory over two more listed companies that refused to pay rent during lockdown when their premises were shut by the government.

In October, the REIT reportedly took Cineworld PLC ( ) to court over around 300,000 in unpaid rents even though the cash-strapped cinema chain had been closed for months.

In a statement today, the trust said: AEWU has always made it clear that it will take legal action against tenants if required, particularly well-resourced companies that it believes are able to pay their rent and have sought to take advantage of government legislation intended to protect financially vulnerable tenants.

The trust added that in this latest case the court had ruled in its favour against the two tenants and ordered that rent due for the periods claimed must be paid.

The total amount to be recovered pursuant to the legal action is 602,489, it said.

In addition, AEWU added it will be writing to the tenants to claim the outstanding rent arrears since the claims were issued and intends to seek repayment of its legal fees.
Interview: Right to healthy environment helps achieve ecological civilization: UN expert

Xinhua) 16:56, April 23, 2021

GENEVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The right to a healthy environment will help achieve an ecological civilization, which can be a catalyst for more ambitious climate action and also a powerful tool for holding governments accountable for their commitments, a senior UN human rights and environment expert said.

"I am convinced that everyone, everywhere, has the right to live in a healthy environment ... one of the things we all share in common is that we depend on this beautiful blue-green planet for our existence, prosperity and survival," David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment, said in an interview with Xinhua on Thursday, also the Earth Day this year.

He believed that recognition of the right to a healthy environment by all states is one of the most important and systematic contributions to solving the global environmental crisis, as such a recognition has proven to be a catalyst for stronger environmental laws and policies, and to improve the implementation and enforcement of those laws and policies.

"Recognizing the right to a healthy environment and the rights of animals, rivers and ecosystems can help humans understand that we are part of an extraordinary community of life we call Nature," he stressed.

"Despite our scientific and technological brilliance, Earth is thus far the only planet we know supports the miracle of life. Treating Nature as a community, rather than a commodity, would be a catalyst for achieving the goal of an ecological civilization that China has so eloquently articulated," he said.

Speaking of China, the UN expert said that China's per capita emissions are still lower than wealthy states, including the United States, Canada and Australia.

In Boyd's eyes, China is leading the world in generating solar and wind electricity as well as in sales of electric vehicles, and air quality in China has improved substantially in the past decade because of strong policies.

On the international cooperation in addressing climate change, Boyd believed that the world really needs China and the United States to play leadership roles in tackling the climate emergency, as their leadership will encourage other states to cooperate as well.

"China's increased commitment, as reflected in the pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060, has already sparked more ambitious commitments from the UK and the U.S.," he said.

He suggested that China move to depend less on coal-fired electricity generation to tackle climate change better.

Envisaging the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference to be held in Kunming, China, later this year, Boyd said that the proposed target of protecting 30 percent of the Earth's lands and waters by 2030 is ambitious, and efforts should be made to achieve that.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
The official trailer for the upcoming film Edge Of The World was released on Thursday via the official Samuel Goldwyn Films YouTube account.

The Jonathan Rhys Meyers-starring film centers around Sir James Brooke, who left his position in the Bengal Army to lead a settlement in the jungles of Borneo and became the first White Rajah of Sarawak.

The forthcoming feature is set to be one of the troubled actor's more recently-released projects since his 2020 arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, which followed his last stint in rehab in 2017.

In the wild: Jonathan Rhys Meyers was featured in the newly-released trailer for the upcoming film Edge Of The World

The trailer begins with the 43-year-old actor trekking through a jungle with a group of other explorers, and he can be heard remarking, 'I can only hope to make some great discovery here that will bring credit to my family's name.'

Brooke's team is then captured and brought before a local authority, who welcomes them and grants them permission to sail up a nearby river, on which they are assaulted with a flurry of arrows from unseen archers.

After the adventurer tells his team, 'we are on a voyage of discovery, not conquest,' he is convinced to take his armaments further up a river, where they use them on a small village.

However, after Brooke notices that the inhabitants of the settlement are unarmed and vulnerable, he begins protecting them, and saves one from execution.

Source material: The forthcoming feature is based on the life of Sir James Brooke, an adventurer who became the first White Rajah of Sarawak

Setting the scene: The trailer begins with the explorer's group being ambushed while trekking through a jungle

Getting around: After meeting with a local authority, Brooke points out to his followers that 'we are on a voyage of discovery, not conquest'

For his sympathy, the British explorer is made the head of a settlement, which brings him into conflict with Pengiran Indera Mahkota, played by Bront Palarae, who questions his authority.

Afterward, Meyers' character is seen addressing his subjects, where he ominously tells them, 'to have peace, we must make war.'

Brooke is then advised by Colonel Arthur Crookshank, played by Dominic Monaghan, that he is not really a king and that the team should not be involved in the affairs of the local inhabitants.

Clashing personalities: Brooke quickly becomes a focus of attention for his view of the area's local inhabitants and saves one from execution

One way or another: Although he was seen by many of his followers as an explorer, Meyer's character slowly becomes more ruthless and remarks, 'to have peace, we must make war'

Moving up in the world: The adventurer is eventually given a position of authority, which brings him into conflict with several figures

To that effect, the adventurer attends a tribal dance where he is heard remarking, 'I've been living in a fantasy of my own making.'

A rapid-fire montage of shots is then shown, during which a group of local inhabitants attacks a settlement and an overturned lamp sets off a fire that engulfs many of the surrounding buildings before a native's neck is slit by another soldier.

The trailer ends with Brooke, covered in soot, screaming and chopping at an unseen subject while he expresses, 'I must love the jungle, the beauty and the blood.'

Edge Of The World is currently set to be released on June 21st.

All over the place: A rapid-fire montage is included near the trailer's end, where an overturned lamp is shown engulfing a settlement in fire

Used to it: The trailer ends with Brooke mentioning that he 'must love the jungle, the beauty and the blood'

Future release: Edge Of The World will have its wide premiere on June 21st

Although Meyers appears to be keeping himself busy with work, the troubled actor has been dealing with the fallout from his November DUI arrest and previous stints in rehab for alcoholism.

The performer has been in and out of recovery programs ever since 2005, when he originally entered a treatment center for his struggles with substance abuse.

His subsequent stints in rehab over the years, with the most recent occurring in 2017, were intermingled with public incidents, including an instance where he was arrested after assaulting an airport lounge employee in Paris.

In November of last year, Meyers was arrested after he was involved in a single-car crash in Malibu and failed a sobriety test after officers arrived at the scene, although he was later released shortly after being booked.

The following January, Us Weekly reported that he had been formally charged with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and another count of driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more.
New analysis indicates a specific immune repopulation pattern in people treated with MAVENCLAD, which may contribute to their ability to fight infections and develop protective antibodies from vaccines

Independent study from Israel showed MAVENCLAD-treated patients receiving COVID-19 vaccine were able to mount antibody response similar to that of healthy subjects

Updated safety data show MAVENCLAD-treated patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 continue to have a disease course similar to the general population

EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada, announced a new analysis from the MAGNIFY-MS sub-study showing a specific immune repopulation pattern in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) treated with MAVENCLAD (cladribine) tablets, which may contribute to their ability to fight infections and develop protective antibodies from vaccines. The data were presented at the 2021 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting that was held virtually April 17 22, 2021.

In the MAGNIFY-MS study, reduction of memory B cells occurred as early as one month after MAVENCLAD initiation with lowest levels sustained for up to 12 months, while naive B cells, which are typically required for the generation of antibody responses following vaccination, began recovering immediately. Previously shared data from MAGNIFY-MS indicated that patients receiving MAVENCLAD are able to mount responses to influenza and varicella zoster vaccines, irrespective of lymphocyte count.

In the U.S., the MAVENCLAD label states that all immunizations should be administered according to immunization guidelines prior to starting MAVENCLAD.

"The findings presented at AAN further our understanding of how MAVENCLAD impacts the immune system, and how it may exert a therapeutic effect in patients with multiple sclerosis while repopulating cells which support immune responses," said Heinz Wiendl, MD, Department of Neurology with Institute of Translational Neurology, University of Muenster, Germany. "These important data indicate that in addition to addressing MS relapses and progression, patients treated with MAVENCLAD may be able to simultaneously mount a proper vaccine response a particularly important finding at this time."

In addition, a recent independent study conducted by Anat Achiron, MD, PhD, FAAN and colleagues, The Multiple Sclerosis Center at Sheba Medical Centre and Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University, Israel, and recently published in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, shows that patients who have taken MAVENCLAD were able to generate COVID-19 antibodies following the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech administered 4.4 months after last MAVENCLAD dosing. The observational analysis showed that all 23 relapsing-remitting MS patients treated with MAVENCLAD who received the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine developed a protective SARS-COV-2 IgG antibody response [antibody titer >1.1 is considered positive; median=7.0], which was similar to the comparison group of MS patients not receiving any immunomodulatory treatments and healthy subjects. Humoral response to the COVID-19 vaccine was independent of lymphocyte count. No unexpected safety findings post first and second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination were identified in MS patients, according to another recent publication in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal

"Bringing MAVENCLAD-treated patients into a state where they can live their lives as normally as possible during a global pandemic is of utmost importance to us," said Danny Bar-Zohar, MD, Global Head of Development for the Healthcare business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "Beyond the convenient oral dosing schedule, proven efficacy, and well-characterized safety profile of MAVENCLAD, newly generated data now show encouraging initial evidence for these patients' ability to generate adequate antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination, which is so important for patients."

The ability to mount an adequate immune response is critical as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts patients living with chronic disease around the world. As presented at AAN, and also published in MSaRD, an updated post-approval safety analysis provided a look at outcomes from cases of COVID-19 in MAVENCLAD-treated patients. The safety database analysis included cases of confirmed (n=160) or suspected (n=101) COVID-19 in MAVENCLAD-treated patients. Based on the analysis, the majority of patients had mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and none required mechanical ventilation. MAVENCLAD-treated patients had a similar disease course with COVID-19 compared with the general population who acquired COVID-19.

About MAVENCLAD

MAVENCLAD, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 29, 2019, is the first and only short-course oral therapy for the treatment of adults with relapsing-remitting disease (RRMS) and active secondary progressive disease (SPMS). Because of its safety profile, use of MAVENCLAD is generally recommended for patients who have had an inadequate response to, or are unable to tolerate, an alternate drug indicated for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), and MAVENCLAD is not recommended for use in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). Patients should follow healthcare provider instructions including cancer screening, contraception and blood tests. The approved dose of MAVENCLAD is 3.5 mg per kg body weight over two years, administered as one treatment course of 1.75 mg per kg per year, each consisting of two treatment weeks. The mechanism by which cladribine exerts its therapeutic effects in patients with multiple sclerosis has not been fully elucidated but is thought to involve cytotoxic effects on B and T lymphocytes through impairment of DNA synthesis, resulting in depletion of lymphocytes. MAVENCLAD causes a dose-dependent reduction in lymphocyte counts followed by recovery.

Because cladribine is cytotoxic, special handling and disposal instructions should be followed.

MAVENCLAD has been approved in over 80 countries, including the European Union (EU), Canada, Australia and Switzerland, for various relapsing MS indications. Visit www.MAVENCLAD.com for more information.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING: MALIGNANCIES and RISK OF TERATOGENICITY

Treatment with MAVENCLAD may increase the risk of malignancy. MAVENCLAD is contraindicated in patients with current malignancy. In patients with prior malignancy or with increased risk of malignancy, evaluate the benefits and risks of the use of MAVENCLAD on an individual patient basis. Follow standard cancer screening guidelines in patients treated with MAVENCLAD

MAVENCLAD is contraindicated for use in pregnant women and in women and men of reproductive potential who do not plan to use effective contraception because of the potential for fetal harm. Malformations and embryolethality occurred in animals. Exclude pregnancy before the start of treatment with MAVENCLAD in females of reproductive potential. Advise females and males of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during MAVENCLAD dosing and for 6 months after the last dose in each treatment course. Stop MAVENCLAD if the patient becomes pregnant

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Patients with current malignancy.

Pregnant women, and women and men of reproductive potential who do not plan to use effective contraception during and for 6 months after the last dose in each treatment course. May cause fetal harm.

Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Patients with active chronic infections (e.g., hepatitis or tuberculosis).

Patients with a history of hypersensitivity to cladribine.

Women intending to breastfeed while taking MAVENCLAD tablets and for 10 days after the last dose.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Malignancies: Treatment with MAVENCLAD may increase the risk of malignancy. After the completion of 2 treatment courses, do not administer additional MAVENCLAD treatment during the next 2 years. In clinical studies, patients who received additional MAVENCLAD treatment within 2 years after the first 2 treatment courses had an increased incidence of malignancy. The risk of malignancy with reinitiating MAVENCLAD more than 2 years after the completion of 2 treatment courses has not been studied. Follow standard cancer screening guidelines in patients treated with MAVENCLAD.

Treatment with MAVENCLAD may increase the risk of malignancy. After the completion of 2 treatment courses, do not administer additional MAVENCLAD treatment during the next 2 years. In clinical studies, patients who received additional MAVENCLAD treatment within 2 years after the first 2 treatment courses had an increased incidence of malignancy. The risk of malignancy with reinitiating MAVENCLAD more than 2 years after the completion of 2 treatment courses has not been studied. Follow standard cancer screening guidelines in patients treated with MAVENCLAD. Risk of Teratogenicity: MAVENCLAD may cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. In females of reproductive potential, exclude pregnancy before initiation of each treatment course of MAVENCLAD and prevent by the use of effective contraception during MAVENCLAD dosing and for at least 6 months after the last dose of each treatment course. Women who become pregnant during treatment with MAVENCLAD should discontinue treatment.

MAVENCLAD may cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. In females of reproductive potential, exclude pregnancy before initiation of each treatment course of MAVENCLAD and prevent by the use of effective contraception during MAVENCLAD dosing and for at least 6 months after the last dose of each treatment course. Women who become pregnant during treatment with MAVENCLAD should discontinue treatment. Lymphopenia: MAVENCLAD causes a dose-dependent reduction in lymphocyte count. In clinical studies, 87% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients experienced lymphopenia. The lowest absolute lymphocyte counts occurred approximately 2 to 3 months after the start of each treatment course and were lower with each additional treatment course. Concomitant use of MAVENCLAD with hematotoxic drugs may increase the risk of adverse reactions because of the additive hematological effects. Monitor lymphocyte counts before and during treatment, periodically thereafter, and when clinically indicated.

MAVENCLAD causes a dose-dependent reduction in lymphocyte count. In clinical studies, 87% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients experienced lymphopenia. The lowest absolute lymphocyte counts occurred approximately 2 to 3 months after the start of each treatment course and were lower with each additional treatment course. Concomitant use of MAVENCLAD with hematotoxic drugs may increase the risk of adverse reactions because of the additive hematological effects. Monitor lymphocyte counts before and during treatment, periodically thereafter, and when clinically indicated. Infections: MAVENCLAD can reduce the body's immune defense and may increase the likelihood of infections. Infections occurred in 49% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients compared to 44% of patients treated with placebo in clinical studies. The most frequent serious infections included herpes zoster and pyelonephritis. Single fatal cases of tuberculosis and fulminant hepatitis B were reported in the clinical program. Administer live-attenuated or live vaccines at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to starting MAVENCLAD. Screen patients for latent infections; consider delaying treatment until infection is fully controlled. Vaccinate patients antibody-negative to varicella zoster virus prior to treatment. Administer anti-herpes prophylaxis in patients with lymphocyte counts less than 200 cells per microliter. Monitor for infections. In patients treated with parenteral cladribine for oncologic indications, cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) have been reported. No case of PML has been reported in clinical studies of cladribine in patients with MS.

MAVENCLAD can reduce the body's immune defense and may increase the likelihood of infections. Infections occurred in 49% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients compared to 44% of patients treated with placebo in clinical studies. The most frequent serious infections included herpes zoster and pyelonephritis. Single fatal cases of tuberculosis and fulminant hepatitis B were reported in the clinical program. Administer live-attenuated or live vaccines at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to starting MAVENCLAD. Screen patients for latent infections; consider delaying treatment until infection is fully controlled. Vaccinate patients antibody-negative to varicella zoster virus prior to treatment. Administer anti-herpes prophylaxis in patients with lymphocyte counts less than 200 cells per microliter. Monitor for infections. In patients treated with parenteral cladribine for oncologic indications, cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) have been reported. No case of PML has been reported in clinical studies of cladribine in patients with MS. Hematologic Toxicity: In addition to lymphopenia, decreases in other blood cells and hematological parameters have been reported with MAVENCLAD in clinical studies. In general, mild to moderate decreases in neutrophil counts, hemoglobin levels, and platelet counts were observed. Severe decreases in neutrophil counts were observed in 3.6% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients, compared to 2.8% of placebo patients. Obtain complete blood count (CBC) with differential including lymphocyte count before and during treatment, periodically thereafter, and when clinically indicated.

In addition to lymphopenia, decreases in other blood cells and hematological parameters have been reported with MAVENCLAD in clinical studies. In general, mild to moderate decreases in neutrophil counts, hemoglobin levels, and platelet counts were observed. Severe decreases in neutrophil counts were observed in 3.6% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients, compared to 2.8% of placebo patients. Obtain complete blood count (CBC) with differential including lymphocyte count before and during treatment, periodically thereafter, and when clinically indicated. Risk of Graft-versus-Host Disease With Blood Transfusions: Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease has been observed rarely after transfusion of nonirradiated blood in patients treated with cladribine for non-MS treatment indications.

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease has been observed rarely after transfusion of nonirradiated blood in patients treated with cladribine for non-MS treatment indications. Liver Injury: In clinical studies, 0.3% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients had liver injury (serious or causing treatment discontinuation) compared to 0 placebo patients. Obtain serum aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and total bilirubin levels prior to treatment. Discontinue if clinically significant injury is suspected.

In clinical studies, 0.3% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients had liver injury (serious or causing treatment discontinuation) compared to 0 placebo patients. Obtain serum aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and total bilirubin levels prior to treatment. Discontinue if clinically significant injury is suspected. Hypersensitivity: In clinical studies, 11% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients had hypersensitivity reactions, compared to 7% of placebo patients. Hypersensitivity reactions that were serious and/or led to discontinuation of MAVENCLAD, occurred in 0.5% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients, compared to 0.1% of placebo patients. If a hypersensitivity reaction is suspected, discontinue MAVENCLAD therapy. Do not use MAVENCLAD in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to cladribine.

In clinical studies, 11% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients had hypersensitivity reactions, compared to 7% of placebo patients. Hypersensitivity reactions that were serious and/or led to discontinuation of MAVENCLAD, occurred in 0.5% of MAVENCLAD-treated patients, compared to 0.1% of placebo patients. If a hypersensitivity reaction is suspected, discontinue MAVENCLAD therapy. Do not use MAVENCLAD in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to cladribine. Cardiac Failure: In clinical studies, one MAVENCLAD-treated patient experienced life-threatening acute cardiac failure with myocarditis, which improved after approximately one week. Cases of cardiac failure have also been reported with parenteral cladribine used for treatment indications other than multiple sclerosis.

Adverse Reactions: The most common adverse reactions with an incidence of >20% for MAVENCLAD are upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and lymphopenia.

Drug Interactions/Concomitant Medication: Concomitant use of MAVENCLAD with immunosuppressive or myelosuppressive drugs and some immunomodulatory drugs (e.g., interferon beta) is not recommended and may increase the risk of adverse reactions. Acute short-term therapy with corticosteroids can be administered.

Avoid concomitant use of certain antiviral and antiretroviral drugs. Avoid concomitant use of BCRP or ENT/CNT inhibitors as they may alter bioavailability of MAVENCLAD.

Use in Specific Populations: Studies have not been performed in pediatric or elderly patients, pregnant or breastfeeding women. Use in patients with moderate to severe renal or hepatic impairment is not recommended.

Please see the full Prescribing Information, including boxed WARNING for additional information.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the central nervous system and is the most common non-traumatic, disabling neurological disease in young adults. It is estimated that approximately 2.8 million people have MS worldwide. While symptoms can vary, the most common symptoms of MS include blurred vision, numbness or tingling in the limbs and problems with strength and coordination. The relapsing forms of MS are the most common.

EMD Serono, Inc. and Multiple Sclerosis

For more than 20 years, EMD Serono has been relentlessly focused on understanding the journey people living with MS face in order to create a meaningful, positive experience for them and the broader MS community. However, there is still much that is unknown about this complex and unpredictable disease. EMD Serono is digging deeper to advance the science.

About EMD Serono, Inc.

EMD Serono the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada is engaged in the discovery, research and development of medicines for patients with difficult to treat diseases. The business is committed to transforming lives by developing and delivering meaningful solutions that help address the therapeutic and support needs of individual patients. Building on a proven legacy and deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, EMD Serono is developing potential new oncology and immuno-oncology medicines while continuing to explore potential therapeutic options for diseases such as psoriasis, lupus and MS. Today, the business has approximately 1,500 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005353/en/

Contacts:

alice.mcgrail@emdserono.com

1-781-681-2886
(CNN)  Four astronauts from three countries are preparing to leave Earth this week aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, marking the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk's company, and the first from SpaceX to make use of a previously flown rocket booster and spacecraft.

Friday's SpaceX launch will make use of the same rocket booster that powered the 2020 Demo-2 mission, as well as the same spacecraft, dubbed "Endeavour." SpaceX has long made reusability a cornerstone of its business plan, hoping that recovering and refurbishing hardware will drive down the cost of spaceflight. Though the company has re-flown boosters and spacecraft dozens of times on satellite and cargo launches over the past several years, this will mark the first time the company will reuse hardware for a crewed mission.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will be joined by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide from Japan. They'll spend six months aboard the International Space Station after their Crew Dragon capsule docks early Saturday morning.

The journey is slated to begin at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, when they'll board the capsule atop one of SpaceX's 200-foot-tall Falcon 9 rockets. And, if looming thunderstorms don't intervene, the rocket will take off at 5:49 am ET.

The astronauts' Crew Dragon will separate from the rocket shortly after reaching Earth's orbit  traveling at speeds topping 17,000 miles per hour  and the crew will spend nearly a full day aboard the spacecraft as it slowly maneuvers toward the 21-year-old International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles above ground.

The Crew Dragon is expected to dock with the ISS around 5:10 am ET Saturday.

Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet, and Hoshide will join seven astronauts already on board the station, four of whom arrived on a different SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in November. That'll put the space station's total staff at 11  one of the largest crews the ISS has ever hosted. But that number will quickly drop back down to seven when four other astronauts hitch a ride home from the station on April 28.

NASA has spent more than a decade working to boost staffing aboard the 21-year-old space station after the retirement of its Space Shuttle program in 2011 left Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as the only option for getting astronauts to and from the ISS. The United States had been paying Russia as much as $90 million per seat for those trips.

For years, SpaceX worked under a $2.6 billion fixed-price contract to develop its Crew Dragon spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew program, which for the first time in space agency history handed over the task of building and testing a crew-worthy spacecraft to the private sector. SpaceX made history last May with the first crewed launch of a Crew Dragon on a mission called Demo-2, which carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS for a four-month stay. A second crewed SpaceX mission took off in November.

(Boeing is working under a similar contract to develop its own capsule for the program, called Starliner, though it is still in the testing phase.)

A prime focus of the astronauts' mission will be to study "tissue chips," or "small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body" and that NASA hopes will advance the development of drugs and vaccines, according to the space agency. That work will build on years of studying biological and other scientific phenomena aboard the ISS, where the microgravity environment can give scientists a better fundamental understanding of how something works.

McArthur is a Space Shuttle veteran and is married to Behnken, who co-piloted SpaceX's historic Demo-2 mission last May. McArthur told reporters over the weekend that she was able to get "years of experience" with the Crew Dragon vehicle as Behnken worked alongside SpaceX during the Crew Dragon development process.

"I had several years, really, of learning from him along the way," McArthur, who will pilot the Crew-2 mission and holds a doctorate in oceanography, said.

McArthur will be joined by NASA's Kimbrough, a retired Army colonel and a veteran of two previous ISS missions. Their crewmates, Japan's Hoshide and France's Pesquet, both have prior spaceflight experience as well.

Pesquet said he appreciated the chance to fly aboard the refurbished rocket booster that helps lift the capsule into the void. The weathered hardware still covered in soot from their prior flights, allowed him and his crewmates to to "draw our initials" on the side of the vehicle.

"I don't know if [the writing] is gonna stick, but I've found it really cool," he said.

This story was first published on CNN.com SpaceX is sending a capsule back to space, this time with different astronauts
MUSKEGON, MI  An abstract sculpture featuring blue and green glass rings atop steel beams now greets visitors to Muskegons Pere Marquette Park.

Celebrating Muskegon was installed this week at the center of the roundabout at Beach Street and Lakeshore Drive.

The 22-foot sculpture is the third commission from the MuskegonCity Public Art Initiative (MCPAI)  a community-driven effort that aims to bring 10 works of art to the area.

I think this will be a wonderful thing for our visitors to see and a wonderful moment of delight for them, MCPAI director Judy Hayner said

North Carolina-based artists John Littleton and Kate Vogel designed and built the sculpture to pay tribute to Muskegons industrial past, landscape and people.

The steel beams represent the strong, supportive community, Littleton said.

Intertwining textured glass rings lined with LED lighting are meant to embody the character of the city, and colors showcase the lakeshores trees, water and sky.

Muskegon resident Jeanie Holstrom attended Thursdays dedication ceremony, and said it is her new favorite sculpture in the city.

Its absolutely gorgeous, Holstrom said. I think its going to be a really big surprise to anybody for the first time to see it.

Related: Delay of Pere Marquette beach parking, tree removal project up for vote by Muskegon commission

The artists, their son and four volunteers took four days, working through rain and snow, to complete the installation.

Vogel said this was the first time she saw the sculpture fully assembled.

We view the rings as something that holds the energy of here. Its symbolic of that and all the people who came together to make Muskegon the community that it is, Vogel said.

Littleton and Vogel have built public works across the country and their work is displayed at museums in New Orleans, Milwaukee, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and the Muskegon Museum of Art.

Related: Four more public art installations coming to Muskegon this year

A Patroncity fundraiser collected $50,000 from 106 community donors last year to fund the sculpture. The money was matched by a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Two other MCPAI projects have already been completed, Moxie, a mastodon sculpture at the Lakeshore Museum Center and A City Built on Timber installation at the entrance to Heritage Landing.

Three more projects are expected to be finished this year, including four murals on railroad bridges over Seaway Drive, a sculpture in front of the Van Dyk Mortgage Convention Center, and a mural on Mercy Health Arena.

I think itll surprise people, Hayner said. When people really get to know Muskegon and start to see things like this or discover the art museum or the Heritage Museum, the whole town takes on a different tone, a different meaning.

More on MLive:

Electric Forest cancels 2021 festival due to COVID-19 pandemic

Parties in the Park in downtown Muskegon canceled this summer

Carnival company shakes off the dust and institutes safety guidelines for hopeful return of summer season
With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in India, the Indian Banks Association has issued an advisory that the working hours of bank officials will be cut down and the number of professionals working for banks should be reduced to 50%.

According to a Mint report, the working hours of banks will be shortened and that will eventually affect the operations of the banks and more restrictions can be expected in the near future.

Reportedly, IBA has asked banks to cut short the working hours from 10 am to 2 pm and reduce the staff attendance to 50% in these tough times. We are going through the challenging period of resurgence of the mutant virus with several states reporting record high daily numbers of new infections and there are serious concerns about the economic activities," IBA said in a letter to State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) convenors on April 21.

However, it has been clarified that banks will continue with their services like accepting deposits, cash withdrawals, remittance, and government businesses. The SLBCs of each state and union territory will review the situation in their respective locations and decide whether to start additional services or not.

Employees may be called on a rotational basis or be allowed to work from home as the case may be depending on the nature of the job, staff position and size of the establishment, ideally 50% of the employees may be called for in-person" duty and on a rotation basis," it said.

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Thirteen people died when a broke out Friday morning at a hospital treating Covid-19 patients in Virar in Palghar district of Maharashtra, a state worst affected in the pandemic.

Images tweeted by news agency ANI showed patients being shifted from the Vijay Vallabh Hospital. PTI adds the engulfed the intensive care unit (ICU) on the second floor of the four-storied hospital after 3 am. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at 5.20 am, according to an official.

There were 17 patients in the ICU when the broke out, the official said.

Vivekanand Kadam, who leads the District Disaster Control Cell, told PTI the fire started after an explosion in the AC unit of the ICU.

"I got a call at around 3 am from a friend whose mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital. As I reached, I saw fire engines outside the hospital. The intensive care unit at the second floor was engulfed in smoke. Only two nurses were there, couldn't see a doctor. It took firefighters about half an hour to put out the flames. We could see eight-ten bodies there," Avinash Patil, an eyewitness told reporters, according to NDTV.com.

Dilip Shah, the hospital's chief executive officer, said there were around 90 patients in the hospital, according to NDTV. Patients outside the ICU were not affected.

"Doctors were present", he said, rejecting claims there were none at the hospital, which is 70 km north of Mumbai, Thursday night. He said the hospital followed fire safety norms.

The fire is Maharashtras second disaster this week involving Covid-19 patients. At least 22 patients died in a hospital after they lost oxygen supply due to a leak on Wednesday at the Zakir Hussain hospital in Nashik city.

Ten infants died in a fire at Bhandara district hospital in Maharashtra on January 9. Nine people died after midnight on March 25 when a fire broke out at Mumbai's Dreams Mall, which housed a Covid-designated hospital on its third floor.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered a probe into the fire at Virar.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
STERLING, N.Y.  Eighty-three-year-old Vern Bishop says he has been reading the Post-Standards House of the Week articles since we started doing them.

When he and his wife, Jean, decided to sell his lovely ranch at 16269 Ontario Shores Road in Sterling, with its 133-feet of waterfront along Lake Ontario, he thought he would send in his nomination.

Its just a nice house, I think, Bishop modestly said during the interview.

He finds living on the water to be refreshing.

It is uplifting to see the lake every morning, Bishop said, adding he enjoys watching the fishing boats and other activity on the lake.

It was the water which brought the CNY natives back to the area in 2005, after a circuitous route which included a stint in the Army and homes in Vicksburg, Mississippi and Altoona, Pennsylvania.

While living in the Keystone State, the couple enjoyed vacationing along the Atlantic Ocean at Bethany Beach in Delaware.

When Vern retired and planned a return to Central New York, Jean asked if it could be on the water, hoping to recreate the feeling they had at the beach.

What is the closest thing to the ocean, he asked. Lake Ontario!

He purchased a 1.4-acre lot on a quiet and peaceful dead-end road and then studied home designs, looking for the best one for them.

They chose a ranch-style with an open-floor plan.

Bishop wanted lots of windows so that the house was bright and airy.

The home features hardwood floors, cherry cabinets, and gorgeous views of the water.

The stunning family room has a wall of windows and the views of the water are the first thing that people see when they enter the front door.

The large room has a cathedral ceiling, access to a screened-in back porch, and a wood-burning fireplace.

We have plenty of wood here, he jokes.

The home has three large bedrooms, but Bishop believes the home could be easily converted to have four or five.

The master suite has his-and-her walk-in closets, access to the back deck and a Jacuzzi tub.

Outdoors, Bishop has planted trees and enjoys watching the nature all over the property, including birds, wild turkeys, and deer.

There are daffodils everywhere, he excitedly announces during the interview.

The home has enough space, inside and out, to host the annual family reunion, which regularly includes 50-60 people.

The property is moments away from Fair Haven, Nine Mile Creek and Oswego.

Bishop admits that it is going to be hard to leave his home of the past 15 years but thinks that the property has become too much for them.

An open house is scheduled for Sunday, April 25, from 1-4 p.m.

THE DETAILS

Address: 16269 Ontario Shores Drive, Sterling, N.Y. 13156

Price: $509,000

Size: 2,598 square feet

Acreage: 1.4 acres

Monthly Mortgage: $1,752 (based on this weeks national average rate of 3.16 percent, according to Freddie Mac, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Fees and points not included.)

Taxes: $8,548 (Based on assessed value of $284,000)

Built: 2005

School District: Hannibal

Kitchen: The kitchen features cherry cabinets and has easy access to both the family room and formal dining room. The dishwasher and refrigerator have been purchased recently. There is a dining area which looks out over the water where Vern and Jean Bishop eat most of the time. There is space to sit at the counter.

Living areas: Bishop purchased this home to be close to the water and most of the home has gorgeous views of Lake Ontario. Visitors open the front door and can see the lake from the family rooms large windows and glass doors. The ranch-style home was designed to be open and bright and airy. They enjoy watching the sunsets. There are Marvin windows, hardwood floors throughout, forced air and extensive lighting updates throughout. The stunning family room has cathedral ceilings, a wood-burning fireplace and access to a screened-in back porch and back deck. A formal dining room can seat six people and has vaulted ceilings. A home office could be made into another bedroom.

Bedrooms: There are three bedrooms. The master bedroom features his-and-her walk-in closets and access to a back deck.

Bathrooms: There are two full bathrooms and one-half bathroom. The master suite has a Jacuzzi tub and a shower, and double vanities.

Outdoors: The home sits on a 1.4-acre lot on a quiet dead-end road in a private neighborhood with just five houses. It features 133-feet of lake frontage along Lake Ontario. Bishop has planted many new trees on the property. The couple enjoy walking and the nature there. Engineered coastal erosion protection was put into place in 2014. There is a screened-in back porch and composite decking off the family room and master bedroom. The home features a two-car garage, which includes a bonus room above it. Bishop keeps his boat in the garage. The property is just minutes from Nine Mile Creek, Oswego, and Fair Haven for boating and fishing.

Agent: Jason Maddison

HUNT Real Estate ERA

Address: 8196 Oswego Road, Liverpool, N.Y. 13090

Phone: (315) 412-8503

Email: jason.maddison@huntrealestate.com

Website: jasonmaddison.huntrealestate.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.
Arsalan points to a poster at a workshop on the risks of exploitation and trafficking in Belgrade, Serbia. The workshop is for unaccompanied children.  UNHCR/Shubuckl

Arsalan* knows about the risks of violence and exploitation firsthand. Armed groups used to barge into the shop where he worked in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and threaten to kill him.

When he fled the country to seek safety abroad, he saw smugglers beat and mistreat other children fleeing alone. He was just 16 himself. Now an asylum seeker in Serbia, he draws on his experiences to teach a course for young people like himself, who have traveled alone to seek asylum.

I try to convey this knowledge to my peers in the asylum centre in Krnjaca [a neighbourhood of the capital Belgrade] ... I am certain they will find it useful, he said.

Through 16 sessions over three months, participants from several different countries are taught about their rights, how to recognize abuse, and how to get help. The course includes sessions on trafficking, exploitation and discrimination as well as the importance of reproductive health.

"The course was useful."

Once they complete the course, they can volunteer to become peer educators as Arsalan did. I had no notion of gender-based violence, gender norms or LGBTI rights when I enlisted for the training last year, said Arsalan, who is now aged 19.

The course was useful, the examples easy to understand and our discussions [were] lively.

Recently, some of the participants from the latest course met to reflect on what they had learned in the training and how to improve it. They agreed to make the sessions for their peers in the centres and in homes for unaccompanied children more engaging through better visual aids.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, piloted the project in 2018 with the Danish Refugee Council, the Centre for Crisis Policy and Response and the Centre for Research and Social Development -IDEAS, in response to the increasing number of unaccompanied children arriving in Serbia. Around 2,000 unaccompanied children arrived in Serbia in 2020.

This represented a sharp decrease compared to previous years, likely due in part to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Numbers had been on the rise in the years before that. The vast majority came from Afghanistan, with Syrians making up the second largest group.

In past years, many viewed Serbia as a staging post and hoped to reach northern Europe but that situation is changing. The training aims to help young people process the experiences they have had on their journey so far, but also to inform them of the risks associated with onward movement, which includes exploitation and abuse at the hands of smugglers.

Peer educators like Arsalan are best suited for talking about those risks and the advantages of remaining in Serbia, said UNHCR protection officer Ljubimka Mitrovic.

Typically, this type of training focuses on girls and young women, but sessions with boys are vital, not least because it helps promote their integration, said Bojana Balevic, a project coordinator with the Danish Refugee Council who brings a decade of experience to the work.

The percentage of unaccompanied children who stay in Serbia after their arrival rather than moving on to other countries is on the rise. This is in part due to perceived opportunities in Serbia itself, but also due to border controls that deter onward movement.

"They can get all they need."

Karoh, 20, an Iraqi Kurd who arrived in Serbia four years ago and was granted refugee status in 2019, has trained as a peer educator and now joins efforts to persuade new arrivals not to travel further.

I talk to my compatriots and others in accommodation centres almost every day. I tell them that whichever border they try to cross, they will be returned to Serbia. They can stay in any of the centres and get all they need, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of trafficking for young people, not least because it makes them more economically insecure, said UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

Those now faced with lost livelihoods and abject poverty can be targets for traffickers that are unscrupulously exploiting and profiteering from their vulnerabilities, Triggs added.

Today, Arsalan is awaiting a decision on his asylum application. In the meantime, he is using his Farsi and Serbian language skills to work as an interpreter at the Centre for Crisis Policy and Response.

I would like to continue working  learn a trade and start living on my own. At the same time, I would like to join one of the local choirs and maybe even land a role in a local movie, he said.

*The name of the boy has been changed for protection purposes
Washington, April 23 : The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill combating surging hate crimes against Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Senate approved the bill in a 94-1 vote and sent it to the House on Thursday, which will soon take up their version of the legislation. The lone nay vote was cast by Missouri GOP senator Josh Hawley, Xinhua news agency reported.

"By passing this bill we say to the Asian American community that the government is paying attention to them, has heard their concerns and will respond to protect them," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, where anti-Asian violence has especially been running high.

Sponsored by Hawaii's Democratic senator Mazie Hirono and New York's Democratic congresswoman Grace Meng, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to designate an official to review coronavirus-related hate crimes. Hirono and Meng are both Asian Americans.

The bill also directs the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance raising awareness of hate crimes amid the pandemic, and work with other agencies to establish an online platform for reporting those crimes.

Hirono said that the bill's passage "sends a clear and unmistakable message of solidarity" to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

The bill gained momentum after six women of Asian descent were killed in mass shootings in the Atlanta area in March.

Senators locked in a final deal on the bill late Wednesday night, allowing for several GOP-proposed amendments to get a vote. All of those changes would need 60 votes in favour in the now evenly-divided Senate, and it turned out none of them got added.

Susan Collins, GOP senator from Maine who managed to work with Hirono to change the language of the bill over the administration's guidance, said that with the passage of the bill, "we can send an unmistakably strong signal that crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our country will not be tolerated."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gives the thumbs up after receiving his COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccination in Ottawa on Friday April 23, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday Canada has reached an agreement with Pfizer for 35 million booster shots next year and 30 million in 2023 in case the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines fades with time and need to be reinforced.

He said the country of 38 million also has options for tens of millions more in future years should they be needed. He said the government is talking with other vaccine manufacturers about their plans for booster shots, too.

The vaccines are so new that experts don't yet have firm data on how long their protection will last, or if they will be affected by emerging variants of the virus.

So far, Pfizer's ongoing trial indicates the company's two-dose vaccine remains highly effective for at least six months, and likely longer. People who got Moderna's vaccine also still had notable levels of virus-fighting antibodies six months after the second required shot.

"Canadians expect us to be ready for whatever happens. There is certainly a hope that booster shots might not be necessary, but we are much better to ensure that we are prepared in case they are," Trudeau said at news conference in Ottawa.

Trudeau made the announcement shortly before he and his wife Sophie were scheduled to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine that some people have been reluctant to get because of reports of rare blood clots.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau receives his first COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccination in Ottawa on Friday April 23, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

The province of Ontario recently dropped eligibility for AstraZeneca for people 40 and above.

The prime minister says 30% of eligible adults in Canada have received at least one vaccine. All eligible Canadians are expected to be able to get at least one dose by the end of June.

Vaccinations have ramped up in Canada, but health experts say more-contagious variants and mistakes by the most populous province, Ontario, have contributed to a third wave of infections there. Ontario reported more than 4,500 new cases on Friday.

Canada banned all flights from India and Pakistan on Thursday after saying that half the people who testing positive for the new coronavirus after arriving in Canada by airplane came from that region. India set a global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gives the thumbs up after being receiving his first COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccination in Ottawa on Friday April 23, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau receives his first COVID vaccination in Ottawa, Friday April 23, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Pacific Coast province of British Columbia, meanwhile, restricted nonessential travel between three regional health districts to try to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, who is also the minister of public safety, said the order forbids recreational travel between the districts, but allows trips for essential reasons such as school, work, health care or commercial transportation.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Its her day off and even though the restaurant is closed, Ashley Hebel is at work.

Its her day off and even though the restaurant is closed, Ashley Hebel is at work.

Shes sitting in the empty dining room of the Frenchway Cafe and Bakery on a Monday morning while we talk on the phone. Every so often, her attention is pulled away by a far off voice asking questions about menu items and product deliveries. The questions keep coming because Hebel, 38, knows all the answers.

Shes been head chef of the eatery on Lilac Street for four years and has found equal parts freedom and belonging in the bounds of its small kitchen.

"Larissa (Webster) has been nothing but accommodating for me," Hebel says of Frenchways owner. "Im just creative, so I need a rubber band around myself, I need to be able to stretch but I also need somebody to be able to, like, pull that rubber band in a little bit, you know, and shes been very helpful for that."

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chef Ashley Hebel is early to bed and early to rise, so she appreciates quick dishes.

Its been a winding journey to get here.

Hebel grew up in the southeastern corner of Manitoba, a stones throw from the United States border (she was actually born at the nearest hospital in Minnesota and describes herself as an American by necessity, not by choice).

As a kid, she loved eating and standing next to the stove while her mom and grandmas whipped up soup and tourtiere. Out of school, she took a job flipping eggs at Smittys and eventually made her way to the Cat Sass Tavern in Richer, where she discovered her passion for creative cooking  although the owner was more interested in boilerplate pizzas than her fancy Denver sandwiches.

Culinary school at Red River College confirmed what Hebel had already begun to suspect, "I realized (cooking) was literally what I was born to do."

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hebel puts a finishing touch on her Pasta Aglio et olio with Gamberi.

She worked at fishing lodges and banquet halls before landing a job at Mona Lisa Ristorante Italiano, where she spent three years as head chef. It was a demanding position in a high-pressure kitchen and Hebel eventually had to step away for her own mental health.

"Then I worked at a daycare because every now and then the kitchen will kill ya," she says.

Cooking food for toddlers was an eye-opening and surprisingly rewarding experience.

"You get attached to these kids because they love your food, theyre so stoked to see you when you literally have a plate of bananas," she says. "Theyre not as demanding as really fancy, high-end rich people, but theyre almost the same; except these ones will thank you at the end and tell you youre amazing."

You get attached to these kids because they love your food, theyre so stoked to see you when you literally have a plate of bananas. Theyre not as demanding as really fancy, highend rich people, but theyre almost the same; except these ones will thank you at the end and tell you youre amazing.  Chef Ashley Hebel

With her cup full, she re-entered the world of adult dining, working briefly at Marion Street Eatery before arriving at Frenchway.

Hebels passion for her job is palpable. After nearly 20 years in the industry, shes still excited about the opportunity to feed people and come up with new daily specials. Her passion is also all-consuming.

"I eat, sleep, breathe the food and the restaurant," says Hebel, who estimates 80 per cent of her recipe testing is done at home, often after having worked a 10-hour day. "Ill go home and be like, Oh man, that sandwich sold really well, I wonder if we should put it on the menu. Should I change some things about it?"

Between work, keeping house and taking care of her cats, Pimento and Scheifele (Hebel is a big Winnipeg Jets fan), cooking for herself is pretty low priority. Pasta Aglio e Olio  essentially noodles with garlic and olive oil  is her go-to.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The simplicity of the dish doesn't mean presentation can't be beautiful.

"Im up at 4 a.m. everyday, so if Im not in bed by 9:30 p.m. its a detrimental day for everyone involved, so I have to make something very quick," she says. "As long as it takes the pasta to cook, you can do everything in-between."

Hebel learned how to make the dish at Mona Lisa and, like most things, has added her own twist to the recipe with the addition of shrimp, red onion and banana peppers.

"I have a really, really bad time bastardizing authentic recipes (but) I have to learn the tradition before I ever mess with it," she says. "I think every dish should have a sweet, a salty, a vinegary bite; all five senses, youve got to hit em all."

While Hebel isnt precious with recipes, she is adamant about good quality ingredients.

"Dont use shaker parm," she says, almost yelling. "Go to the fancy cheese section in your store and get a nob of parmesan cheese that youve gotta grate, thats the important part, everything else you can MacGyver."

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney

Pasta Aglio e Olio with Gamberi by chef Ashley Hebel

Free Press food and arts reporter Eva Wasney makes Frenchway Cafe head chef Ashley Hebel's recipe for Pasta Aglio e Olio with Gamberi, pasta with garlic, olive oil and shrimp.



Ingredients

45 ml (3 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic

1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) chili flakes

Spaghetti or linguine pasta

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Fresh basil

40 g (1/4 cup) red onion

15 g (1 tbsp) butter

Shrimp

Banana peppers

Directions

Boil a pot of salted water and mince garlic.

Warm olive oil slightly and toast three cloves of the minced garlic until just toasted.

When the oil is warm add the chili flakes and red onion. You dont want a lot of colour on the garlic, just cook until fragrant. Take off heat and transfer into a large bowl. (You can also leave the garlic raw and toss it minced into the bowl and let it sit in olive oil.)

Add pasta to water and boil until al dente.

Chiffonade the basil and add to the bowl with the oil, garlic and chili flakes.

Grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese finely.

Heat the butter and the remaining clove of garlic and saute the shrimp.

Add pasta to the bowl with a little bit of pasta water and stir together.

Add cheese until your hearts content.

Plate, then top with shrimp and banana peppers.
One of the largest reports on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy bolsters evidence that it is safe although the authors say more comprehensive research is needed.

The preliminary results are based on reports from over 35,000 U.S. women who received either the Moderna or Pfizer shots while pregnant. Their rates of miscarriage, premature births and other complications were comparable to those observed in published reports on pregnant women before the pandemic.

The new evidence from researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

None of the women involved received Johnson & Johnsons one-shot vaccine, which became available after the study, and is now in limbo as U.S. authorities examine reports of blood clots in a handful of women.

Separately, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine on Tuesday endorsed vaccination in pregnancy, based on evidence it has been evaluating for over a year.

Everyone, including pregnant women and those seeking to become pregnant, should get a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines are safe and effective, the society said in a statement.

A society representative said the group has not evaluated the latest evidence on Johnson & Johnsons vaccine.

An American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists representative said the CDC report is promising but that longer-term follow-up is needed. That group has said previously that COVID-19 vaccination should be available to pregnant women and to those who are breastfeeding, and many pregnant U.S. women have chosen to be vaccinated.

Although pregnant women were excluded from studies that led to emergency authorization for the vaccines, evidence showed no harms in women who were unknowingly pregnant when they enrolled.

Dr. Laura Riley, ob-gyn chair at New York's Weill Cornell Medicine, said the new results are reassuring.

It is great to have data to share with our patients who continue to weigh the risks and benefits of vaccination," she said. They know the potential complications of COVID infection in pregnancy and now there is some safety data in human pregnancies.

Pregnant women who become infected with the coronavirus face elevated risks for complications including intensive-care hospitalization, premature births and death.

The study authors, led by the CDCs Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, said continued monitoring and more evidence is needed including on women who get COVID-19 vaccinations in the early stages of pregnancy.

Their study included information on 35,691 pregnant U.S. women who participated in a voluntary smartphone-based vaccination surveillance system and who received Moderna or Pfizer vaccines between mid-December 2020 and late February.

It also included reports on pregnancy complications from almost 4,000 women enrolled in a U.S. vaccine safety registry. Of these, 86% or 712 resulted in a live birth, mostly among women vaccinated in the third trimester.

Most women in the surveillance group reported injection site pain but more serious reactions were less common. Pregnant women seemed more prone to injection site pain with both vaccines but less likely to experience other reactions than non-pregnant women.

In the vaccine registry, about 13% of pregnant women reported miscarriages, less than 1% stillbirths, 9% premature births and 2% birth defects. Those rates are all within the same range observed in reports in pregnant women before the pandemic.

___

Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner at @LindseyTanner.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  A Washington-based think tank said the presence of Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef did not just start in recent months but has been ongoing since February last year.

Chinese boats did not just start gathering there over the last few months. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows that significant numbers of vessels have been at Whitsun since at least February 2020a fact earlier reported by Radio Free Asia, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said in a report.

It noted that the number of boats just fluctuated for the past year and never entirely disappeared. Moreover, they were also observed to bounce between the reef and other parts of the Union Banks, it added.

AMTI said it cannot conclude how many boats are present due to limited visibility, but majority of those they recognized are Chinese fishing vessels 50 meters or more in length.

The think tank was also able to identify 14 ships based on photos and videos taken by Philippine patrols at Julian Felipe. Of these, five were discovered to be from the same operator of the Chinese boat that damaged the Filipino fishing boat Gem-Ver in 2019.

A photo taken during the initial Philippine patrol on March 7 shows six Chinese vessels tied together at Whitsun Reef By cross referencing this information with vessel profiles in the commercial AIS database Marine Traffic, AMTI can identify them as the Yuemaobinyu 42881, 42882, 42883, 42885, and 42886, AMTI said.

These names will sound familiar in the Philippines. In early 2019, the Yuemaobinyu 42212so named because it operates from the same port as these fiverammed and sank the Philippine fishing vessel F/B Gem-Ver 1 at Reed Bank, it added.

Earlier, AMTI discovered that Yuemaobinyu 42212 had a history of government contracts and suspicious AIS activity but could not conclude that it was part of the militia.

Last month, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea reported the presence of around 200 Chinese vessels at the reef. Also known as the Whitsun Reef, it is located close to Bataraza, Palawan, well within the Philippines 200-mile exclusive economic zone in the Kalayaan Island Group.

The government has already filed diplomatic protests against China and even summoned Chinas envoy to settle the issue.
Lisa Josephy,

Dominic Hawkins

Clyde Group tabs Lisa Josephy to lead its healthcare practice and brings on Dominic Hawkins as VP president. Josephy joins the agency from GCI Health, where she served as group vice president, leading campaigns for companies including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Amgen, Celgene, and AbbVie. She was previously a senior vice president at Spectrum, group senior vice president at Marina Maher Communications, and a vice president at Edelman. Prior to her career in communications, Josephy was a healthcare policy consultant working with the federal government. Hawkins joins Clyde Group from Deloitte, where he led external communications for the companys priority regions and advised executive visibility on topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion, life sciences, and healthcare. I have no doubt that Lisa and Dominic will exceed our clients unique needs and become trusted partners in their strategic communications, said Clyde Group partner and managing director Aubrey Quinn.

Diana Gardner

Kellen hires Diana Gardner as VP, marketing and communications. Gardner was previously VP of client development at IPM Advancement. At Kellen, she will help lead the firms communications practice for its healthcare vertical, leveraging her background supporting organizations such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Autism Speaks, San Francisco Aids Foundation, ASTM, U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce.

Kristin Harrer

Vans appoints Kristin Harrer as global chief marketing officer. Harrer comes to Vans from Dollar Shave Club, where she was CMO. She has also held executive marketing positions at Samsung, Nike and Wieden + Kennedy. At Vans, Kristin will lead the companys global marketing and creative teams, with a focus on empowering creative self-expression in youth culture across action sports, art, music and street culture. In addition to being an outstanding leader with a proven track record at other global brands, Kristin is a passionate and true brand expert in digital and direct to consumer experiences, said Vans global brand president Doug Palladini.

Jill Clancy

History Factory recruits Jill Clancy as business development director. Clancy comes to History Factory from Dale Carnegie Training, where she was client experience specialist. She was previously business development manager at Second City Works, the B2B professional services arm of the Second City comedy theater. She will collaborate with the History Factory team to spearhead development of clients in a broad spectrum of sectors. Jills track record working with large enterprises to implement both traditional and highly creative learning and development solutions brings a new perspective that will serve our clients and future clients well, said History Factory president Jason Dressel.
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday termed the vaccine policy regressive and asked the states to form committees to negotiate price of the vaccines.

"The central government's decision to allow multiple prices for vaccines is discriminatory and regressive. States must unanimously reject the decision," Chidambaram said.

He suggested that the best way forward is for the State governments to jointly form a Price Negotiation Committee and offer to negotiate a uniform price with the two vaccine manufacturers.

"The joint purchasing power of the State governments will force the manufacturers to agree to a uniform price. States must take the initiative. The central government has abdicated its responsibility and surrendered to corporate profiteering."

On Thursday Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the government has not learnt any lesson from the past and its vaccine policy is arbitrary and discriminatory.

In her letter to the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi said, "It's surprising that despite the harsh lessons of last year and pain inflicted to our citizens, the government continues to follow an arbitrary and discriminatory policy which promises to exacerbate existing challenges."

The Congress President said that the policy implies that the government has "abdicated" its responsibility for free vaccination to all.

She asked why the government is allowing profiteering by the companies manufacturing the vaccine in the country.

The Congress demanded that there should be free vaccination for all regardless of the economic condition and the policy should be reversed as there should be uniform pricing of the vaccine.

--IANS

miz/skp/

(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.)
Following weeks of tensions over Russia troops assigned along Ukraine's border, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered several units in the area to return to their bases. According to the EU, over 100,000 Russian troops had gathered near the border as well as in Crimea, which Russia captured and annexed in 2014.

Shoigu said in Crimea that units on exercise will return to base. He added that the goals of the "snap checks" had been met.

Russia withdraws troops in Ukraine border

The decision to "de-escalate" tensions at the border was accepted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had previously challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit him in the conflict zone. Last week, President Zelensky discussed the troop build-up with European officials. Russian military units have been pushing into the Rostov, Bryansk, and Voronezh areas, as well as Crimea, said Ukraine's armed forces commander, with battalion tactical groups deployed on the border.

Following Shoigu's announcement, Nato stated that any attempt to de-escalate the situation would be vital and long overdue. The Western military alliance remained vigilant, according to the statement.

Russia to Expel 10 US Diplomats in Response to Biden's Sanction

NATO leaders have scheduled a summit in June, with Russia at the top of the agenda. Despite dismissing the build-up as training exercises in reaction to threatening Nato's behavior, Russia is said to be preparing to close off parts of the Black Sea to foreign shipping. Ukraine is concerned that its ports will be affected, as per the BBC.

Military exercises involving tens of thousands of troops and scores of warships near Ukraine were called off by Russia's defense minister on Friday, escalating tensions with the West. Following weeks of intensified violence in Ukraine's east between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists, President Vladimir Putin welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Moscow for negotiations.

However, the Russian leader seemed to dismiss Zelensky's plan to meet in war-torn eastern Ukraine, saying that talks about the years-long conflict should be held directly with separatists. The West has consistently urged Putin to withdraw troops, and the US said on Thursday that it will wait for Moscow to follow through on its declaration that military exercises near Ukraine would stop, IBT reported.

President Joe Biden to Meet Russia's Vladimir Putin 'When the Time Is Right'

The US watches Ukraine border as Russia withdraw troops

On Thursday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US is closely monitoring Russian efforts to withdraw troops from its border with Ukraine, bringing an end to a volatile few weeks in which Moscow and Kyiv seemed to be on the verge of war. Russia's defense minister requested troops to return to permanent bases on Ukraine's eastern border and on Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, which Moscow secretly occupied in 2014, as per The Associated Press.

The United States has consistently voiced concern about Russia's military activity near Ukraine, describing it as the country's biggest military buildup since 2014, when war erupted in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region with Russian-backed separatists and Moscow annexed Crimea. At least 100,000 Russian forces were reported to be massing along the border by the European Union, and a Wall Street Journal report revealed more warplanes, troops, and weapons than had previously been revealed.

Price stated that the US will continue to watch the situation, working with Ukrainian officials and other allies to keep an eye on Russia's troop withdrawal plans. "We have made it clear in our engagement with the Russian government that it must refrain from increasing measures and immediately halt all offensive activity in and around Ukraine," Price said, referring to Russia's recent military buildup in occupied Crimea and along Ukraine's border, as well as its plan to block those vessels in parts of the Black Sea.

Price reaffirmed his support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Russia's declaration that it would pull forces, writing on Twitter that the decision reduces tension.

Is Russia Set On a Large-Scale Invasion of Ukraine?

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A terrorist was made a peer mentor to fellow inmates in a high-security jail despite intelligence he was radicalising prisoners and potentially planning an attack, an inquest has heard.

Usman Khan was serving a sentence for preparing acts of terrorism at HMP Whitemoor when he was allowed to join Cambridge Universitys Learning Together education programme in 2017.

Two years later he launched a terror attack, murdering two people at an alumni event held at Fishmongers Hall in London.

The inquests into their deaths are examining how Khan was allowed to join the Learning Together programme and attend the event on 29 November 2019.

Thursdays hearing was told that Khan applied to join a creative writing course starting in November 2017, which was run for both university students and inmates of HMP Whitemoor.

On his form, the convict said he was very interested in creating writing and circled numbers indicating that he was able to complete necessary tasks such as building relationships that help me to work with people who seem different to me.

Khan was allowed onto the course after being interviewed by Learning Together staff and vetted by the prisons security team.

Dr Amy Ludlow, one of the founders of Learning Together, said she had not been told about Khans offending history and prison behaviour at that stage.

Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the inquests, said that prison intelligence indicated that Khan had a history linking him to violent incidents, bullying, serious disruption and radicalisation including forced conversions.

As recently as July 2017, there was prison intelligence describing him as the main inmate in the area [of the prison] for radicalisation, he added.

Dr Ludlow said she was not given that information and believed it would have been taken into account by prison officials who allowed him to join the course.

Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were murdered during the 2019 terror attack (Metropolitan Police)

I trusted that colleagues in Whitemoor knew about those behaviours and made the decision it was safe for him to work with us, she added.

The inquests heard that Khan was a high-risk category-A prisoner at the time, indicating that he was unusually dangerous. Prisoners in this category account for less than 0.1 per cent of the prison population.

Dr Ludlow said no categories of inmate were automatically excluded from Learning Together and that other terror offenders have taken the course.

Khan completed a creative writing course and did further courses within the programme, on education, criminal justice and probability.

In late 2018 he became a peer mentor for the probability course. Dr Ludlow said the post involved providing informal support and encouragement to inmates during lessons and on the wings.

Mr Hough said that by the time of Khans release on 14 December 2018, there was intelligence indicating that he intended to return to extremism and may attempt an attack.

Dr Ludlow said she was not told of the concerns, and was not worried by an essay that Khan wrote shortly before his release.

The essay was entitled A study of radicalisation in modern Europe and claimed to highlight the real fuel of radicalisation and extremism.

An image shown at the inquest, showing Usman Khan and Saskia Jones sat at a table together at the Learning Together event where Khan later killed her (Metropolitan Police)

Khan wrote that most research had missed the route of radicalisation/extremism, which is personal injustices and grievances found by individuals on a daily basis.

Mr Hough asked whether the essay could be read to justify terrorist radicalisation, but Dr Ludlow said it was consistent with other research evidence, adding: There was nothing that alarmed me about it.

Reverend Paul Foster, chaplain for HMP Whitemoor, said Khan had also taken part in a victim awareness course.

He wrote a report in December 2018, shortly before Khan was freed, describing him as motivated and saying he engaged extremely well with his index offence of terrorist offences.

Usman was able to show empathy towards victims, the report added. He also recognises the impact his index offence had on the community, both in general and the Muslim community.

Rev Foster said Khan had also displayed a willingness to learn all aspects of the Islamic faith properly and was engaging with an imam inside jail.

He told the inquests that he was not informed of the intelligence on Khans activities during the period, including radicalising other prisoners and possibly planning an attack.

If that intelligence is correct, he was obviously presenting himself in a way that was likely to deceive the likes of myself and others, the chaplain added. I'm open to say I am wrong, and it is possible I have been conned. The inquests continue.
The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) has received a donation of two thousand six hundred (2600) cases, i.e. one 40ft. container, of bottled water from the Coreas Distribution Limited.





In a brief handing over ceremony on April 19, 2021 at the Old Montrose Police Training School compound, Mr. Jimmy Forde, Chief Executive Officer of Coreas Distribution Limited, said that the donation was, in keeping with his companys commitment, "To assist the population of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to cope with the effects of the eruption of La Soufriere volcano.





Forde added that it was an honour for his company to make such a tangible donation to the policemen and women of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF).





According to him, in this time of disaster the police have been called upon to provide security and humanitarian work and can be easily forgotten under the prevailing circumstances.





Forde also commended Commissioner of Police Mr. Colin John and the members of the RSVGPF for an excellent performance so far. and urged the constabulary to continue along that trajectory.





Receiving the donation on behalf of the RSVGPF, Commissioner of Police John thanked Mr. Forde and Coreas Distribution Limited for their "well thought out donation.





He concurred with Forde sentiment that in times of disasters, the police can easily be placed "at the back of line where relief efforts are concerned.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 03:40:13|Editor: huaxia

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A man wearing a face mask is seen in Tunis, Tunisia, April 22, 2021. Tunisian Health Ministry on Thursday announced that the death toll from COVID-19 rose by 70 to 10,063. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)

TUNIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Health Ministry on Thursday announced that the death toll from COVID-19 rose by 70 to 10,063.

According to a ministry statement, 2,305 new COVID-19 cases were detected, raising the total number of infections in the country to 294,138.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the North African country reached 2,630, including 498 in intensive care units, while the total number of recoveries reached 244,517, it said.

A total of 1,257,117 lab tests have been carried out in Tunisia so far, said the ministry.

Since the start of the national vaccination campaign against the coronavirus on March 13, a total of 265,365 Tunisians have received the vaccines, according to the latest figures published by the ministry. Enditem
New Delhi:

In yet another crime incident, six people have allegedly robbed jewellery worth lakhs in rupees from a jewellery shop at Crossing Republik in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Six people, in a group of two, came to the Vaishvi Jewellers at around 11:15 am on Wednesday and looted the shop.

The robbers had done meticulous planning to effect the crime. They engaged the shopkeeper by asking him to show them some jewellery pieces.

When the shopkeeper left his counter, the robbers took no time in picking up a jewellery box without coming to the shopkeepers notice.

The theft was recorded by the CCTV cameras installed in the shop.

ALSO READ | PMLA: Gems, jewellery dealers get exemption from reporting requirement
by Xinhua writers Wang Changshan, Zhao Jiasong and Zeng Wei

KUNMING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- In the 1990s, French photographer Yann Layma stunned the Western world with images of cascading rice terraces in southwest China, and till today, the agricultural wonder remains as grand as ever, while the people there are living more radiant lives.

The terraced fields in Yuanyang County of Yunnan Province made it onto the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013.

They were created by the local Hani, an ethnic group that mostly inhabits the area across the Ailao Mountains.

"I'll show you how to catch fish," Ding Jinan, a 24-year-old Hani, introduced life on the terraced fields to audiences across the country via a short-video platform.

Ding quit her job years ago and returned to her hometown, setting up a new media team introducing ethnic traditions and local landscape online to the outside world.

In March 2019, the team uploaded their first video, in which Ding, resplendent in her traditional Hani clothing, shared the process of making local pastries.

The rural lifestyle has attracted an increasing number of viewers to her channel, and the young woman has come to be known as a spokesperson of the Hani rice terraces.

Ding's efforts have further raised the profile of the agricultural heritage, and at the same time, transformations have been taking place.

In 2016, 49-year-old Yue Shao returned to Yuanyang and established a company dedicated to the research and development of breeding on paddy fields.

Yue's company launched a platform that allows purchasers to trace the origin of the agricultural products. In addition, a smart service platform was developed to facilitate unmanned monitoring of seedlings and remote consultations regarding crop diseases for the paddies where ducks and fish are bred as well.

The creative ecosystem has been proven a success.

Statistics from authorities show that since 2017, more than 35.64 million yuan (about 5.46 million U.S. dollars) has been invested in the heritage site to facilitate the transition to the rice-fish-duck ecosystem on over 2,100 hectares of farmland. It has driven 7,320 households to embrace modern farm life, generating more than 152,600 yuan per hectare.

CONSERVING TRADITION

New projects, new agricultural modes, new ways of life... Despite the sweeping changes taking place, the Hani people still proudly embrace their traditional culture.

Azheke, a village located in a core area of the heritage site, is a living museum displaying the Hani people's traditional housing -- mostly consisting of mud and wood with straw roofs.

In the past, the income of the villagers was so meager that most young people chose to work outside their village. The old houses were crumbling, posing a threat to the inheritance of the Hani traditions and culture.

In January 2018, a team led by Bao Jigang, a professor with Sun Yat-sen University in the southern province of Guangdong, came to investigate the traditional housing at the invitation of the Yuanyang government.

The team proposed an "Azheke Plan" -- motivating villagers to protect their traditional houses via a dividend system.

A tourism company was set up in 2018, with 65 households receiving 70 percent of its share. In 2020, the per capita net annual income of the villagers through the system exceeded 6,300 yuan.

In late March, villagers received the latest dividends totaling 168,000 yuan.

Wu Canxi, a senior at Sun Yat-sen University, has seen remarkable changes in the lives of the villagers since she came to the village to conduct a field study and survey in January.

Now, most can speak Mandarin, and some also speak a few words of English and skillfully use computers to settle accounts.

The passionate student has provided advice for the tourism company's operation and training programs for villagers.

"The key is that everyone knows that they can protect their culture while earning a living, so they voluntarily devote themselves to it," said Wu.

[ Editor: WXY ]
Of all the characters Kate Winslet has played, Mare of Easttown  a troubled, traumatised, touchy detective in a grimy small town outside Philadelphia  has been the hardest to let go. Even now, with the seven-part television series ready to roll, she can hardly bear to speak of the fictional Mare Sheahans grief for her dead son; during the shoot, which lasted on and off for 15 months thanks to COVID-19, this complicated, stony-faced heroine became her full-time alter ego.

Ive given up trying to keep life and work separate because they always merge; they just do, she says. Everything crashed into everything else. For Mare, it was better, but there were days when it would just feel messy and terrible to be her. Winslets husband, Edward Abel Smith, would venture to suggest a family brunch on her day off. And Id be like Are you high? On Monday Ive got this seven-page thing with the therapist and you have to test me on the lines! I cant just go out and have a happy brunch! I was honestly awful. My husband is a saint.

Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown. Credit:HBO

Winslet says she knew she wanted to play the lead in Mare of Easttown as soon as she read Brad Ingelsbys script. Shes a life force, but shes also quietly dying inside. Id never come across that juxtaposition of things before, and she just seemed so real. She also took up the reins as executive producer, which meant she was involved in re-writes and casting; she was thus able to ask her old sparring partner Guy Pearce to play the man who comes closest to cracking Mares tough shell.

In the 2011 adaptation of the melodrama Mildred Pierce, he played the louche rake who ignites Mildreds dormant passions. He said at the time that he and his then-wife had a running joke that he was off to work to have more sex with Kate Winslet. In the new series he is courting Winslet once again, this time as a visiting creative writing teacher at the college at the leafy end of the town where Mare turns up corpses. Richard Ryan comes into this womans life to offer her a slightly different perspective, says Pearce. She gets a sense that nobody else respects her the way he does, nobody else sees that she is worthy of love the way he does.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council expressed concern Thursday about humanitarian conditions and human rights in Ethiopias Tigray region, marking the councils first collective comment on the conflict that has raged in the region for six months.

The statement made no mention of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray, though U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock and Amnesty International said last week that the troops remain weeks after Ethiopia said they would leave. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Wednesday that we havent seen any evidence that Eritrean troops are withdrawing from Tigray.

In November, political tensions between Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmeds government and Tigray leaders exploded into war. Eritrea teamed up with neighboring Ethiopia in the conflict. Thousands of people have been killed.

The United States has alleged ethnic cleansing in the western part of Tigray, a claim that Ethiopian authorities dismiss as unfounded. The term refers to forcing a population from a region through expulsions and other violence, often including killings and rapes.

Ethiopia has said that life in Tigray is returning to normal.

Lowcock, meanwhile, told the council last week that some 4.5 million of Tigrays 6 million need humanitarian aid and that there is no doubt that sexual violence is being used in this conflict as a weapon of war. He cited alarmingly numerous reports of rape and other sexual attacks, mainly by men wearing the uniforms of various forces.

In Thursdays statement, the council conveyed deep concern about allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including reports of sexual violence. It welcomed an agreement by the U.N. and an Ethiopian rights agency to conduct a joint investigation into reported abuses.

The council also acknowledged Ethiopias humanitarian efforts but called for a bigger response, unfettered humanitarian access to everyone in need and a restoration of normalcy.
How primates get from A to B gives vital information about their cognitive evolution, say researchers in a new study looking at the travel paths of animals in the wild.

How primates get from A to B gives vital information about their cognitive evolution, say researchers in a new study looking at the travel paths of animals in the wild. Using data from 164 wild primate populations, the global survey examines the mental abilities that primates, including ourselves, use to know where and when to travel in the most efficient way. A birds eye view

Co-author Miguel de Guinea, expert in Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University commented: "Imagine looking down on a huge outdoor market from high in the sky, perhaps from a drone hovering quietly above. The people below move in different ways. Some wander haphazardly among the stalls: they are learning what's available but are clearly not busy. Others take bee-line routes across the market to a destination they obviously wanted to reach, then, after buying what they need, head back in much the same way.

"If you could distinguish individuals, and watch them on many occasions, these patterns are likely to change, sometimes dependent on fruit and vegetables in season. We would also begin to learn about social aspects, as networks of repeated contacts show who is friendly with whom. We can get a good idea of people's knowledge, their needs, their ability to think ahead and how they learn over time - just from watching their travel paths. The same observations have been made by the research team using data from GPS devices and in-field studies of wild primates, giving us fascinating information about their development." Travel decision-making adds to picture

The original data was gathered from small GPS devices, used routinely in primate fieldwork: sometimes these are attached to the animals themselves, but in many studies a researcher follows the animals, usually noting a rich variety of background information on what they are doing and for how long.

The international team developed a conceptual framework to highlight ways in which these data can be analysed. Currently, primate cognition is studied by comparing measures such as brain size, or conducting experiments with artificial problems to primates in captivity. The evidence from travel decision-making amongst wild populations will enhance these approaches and give a fuller picture of the cognitive development of these species. An urgent vision for primate research

Lead-author Karline Janmaat from the University of Amsterdam said: "Our ultimate dream is to set up a consortium to support data sharing and collaboration among primatologists. Hopefully this attracts MSc and PhD students from around the world to share and compare their collected data to these existing datasets."

The researchers say that further research is urgent, because so many species are now threatened with extinction in the wild. Since 1970, two-thirds of all vertebrate populations have been lost, and large, day-living animals like primates have been significantly impacted.

Miguel de Guinea stressed: "Time is fast running out - if we don't act now we may never be able to understand the drivers of cognitive evolution. By applying our research methodology and findings we can make use of previously collected valuable data from wild populations and apply that to our understanding of the cognitive evolution of primate species."

The research Using natural travel paths to infer and compare primate cognition in the wild is published in iScience.

###
Barcelona, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Apr, 2021 ) :Rafael Nadal needed to go the distance for the second successive day in Barcelona, defeating Japan's Kei Nishikori to make the last-eight and stay on course for a 12th title at the tournament.

The world number three triumphed 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 over 2014 and 2015 champion Nishikori and next face Britain's Cameron Norrie, a fellow left-hander, for a place in the semi-finals.

Nadal, who suffered a surprise quarter-final exit at the Monte Carlo Masters last week, had also required three sets to beat Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka, ranked at 111, in his Barcelona opener on Wednesday.

Former world number four Nishikori, now down at 39 in the rankings, was left to regret converting just two of 13 break points carved out against the man who also beat him in the 2016 Barcelona final.

World number 58 Norrie progressed when Belgian eighth seed David Goffin retired with an injury in the second set.

Nadal defeated Norrie in their only previous meeting in straight sets in the Australian Open third round in February.

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, the champion in Monte Carlo, eased into the last-eight with a 7-5, 6-3 victory Australian 14th seed Alex de Minaur.

Tsitsipas next faces 11th seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime who got the better of compatriot Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-3.

"I was happy with my level today," said Auger-Aliassime.

"It's never easy to play against him and it's great to have won in straight sets. The next match won't be easy, a tough challenge." Russian third seed Andrey Rublev, the runner-up to Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo, claimed a 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 victory over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas in two and a half hours.

Rublev, who has a tour-leading 26 wins in 2021, fired 35 winners past the Spanish clay-courter.

He has an intriguing quarter-final against red-hot Italian teenager and 11th seed Jannik Sinner who defeated fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (11/9), 6-2.

It was Sinner's third win over the veteran Spaniard this year.
Media, 11 countries tell EU to back off on social policy Among them Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, APR 23 - Eleven EU member countries issued a statement in the form of a non-paper warning Lisbon and Brussels "to respect national authority over policymaking in areas such as labor and employment, pensions, education and childcare," Politico reported. Portugal is organising a May 7 summit on labor, welfare and other related issues.



"Targeted EU-level action can complement national action, but any action on EU-level should fully respect the division of competences of the Union, its Member States and the social partners," the statement reads, Politico reported. "Any EU initiative in these areas should be in line with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and needs careful consideration of different national starting points, challenges and institutional setups. Setting EU-level headline targets could help to steer national debates, policies and reforms." The statement is endorsed by Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden. (ANSA).





 Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
Uganda Revenue Authority has ordered former Presidential candidate, Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi to pay an extra Shs 337,698,776 of tax before he can get back his armored car.

URA confirmed that the car was armored and was cleared as a normal vehicle and not as an armored car.

Bobi Wine has however condemned the message from URA and called it very shameful. He revealed that the vehicle was cleared and the process was very easy because it wasnt in his name.

The vehicle was taken to the Directorate of Interpol in Kololo and they cleared it. It was then taken to the forensics department of police in Naguru, and they too cleared it. Then we took it to URA and they did their own independent verification and levied the relevant tax which we paid, he said.

The reason we did all this very easily was because my name hadnt come into the picture. For several months, they did not raise any issue. Indeed, if the car belonged to any other citizen, there wouldnt be any issue, he adds.

Earlier this month, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) ordered former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, to return his bulletproof car for a fresh tax re-verification.
Burma Myanmar Junta Forces Detain Senior Citizen and Loot Village in Mandalay Region

Regime security forces were searching for supporters of the administrative body set up by elected lawmakers from the ousted NLD government.

Military regime security forces arrested an old man and looted personal belongings from civilians in the village of Letpan in Kyaukse Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday.

The junta forces were reportedly searching for low-level supporters of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), an administrative body formed by lawmakers elected in the 2020 general election.

They came to search for the CRPH supporters by name. Informants in the village must have given their names, said a Letpan resident.

Junta forces came initially for the owner of a shop in the north of Letpan village at around 3.30pm on Wednesday. After they could not find the man they were looking for, they stole a light truck and other things from the shop, said a villager.

They came in three military trucks and there were over 30 of them. They took 10 barrels of gasoline, 30 sacks of rice, three motorbikes as well as snacks and some other things of value, said a resident who asked for anonymity.

At least 20 shots were fired by the junta forces when they moved into the rest of the village, before they surrounded and searched the house of a former local administrator of the village.

They fired shots as they came into the village. Villagers fled. They surrounded the house of a former 100-household administrator. They came straight to the houses of activists as informants had given them the list of activists in our village, said a Letpan resident.

Security forces detained one man, who villagers did not want to name. The detainee is almost 70 years, said a villager. He remained in detention on Thursday.

A motorbike was taken from the house of the former administrator. Another motorbike and four PSI satellite dishes were also taken from his neighbor. Junta forces searched all the houses in the village that had PSI satellite dishes.

Satellite dishes have provided access to independent news for people across the country since the regime shut down broadband and mobile data access to the internet.

Many of the villagers have fled following the incident out of fear that junta forces will return. Residents of a nearby village, Kyauk Masik, have also fled from their homes.

The CRPH is setting up an interim administrative mechanism at different levels to rival the military regime that seized power in a Feb. 1 coup. On April 16, the CRPH announced the formation of a National Unity Government.



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Greer Hogan, the smart, self-reliant narrator of M.E. Hilliards first-rate debut, The Unkindness of Ravens, left her executive job at a New York City cosmetics firm to become a small-town librarian. One night, while insuring that no stray patrons are still on the premises at closing time, Greer discovers her friend Joannas lifeless body. Everyone, including the police, wants the death ruled an accident. But Greer disagrees and brings her skills as a keen observer to her investigation, tipping off readers when all the clues are in place with more finesse than Ellery Queen.

From the earliest incarnation of Nancy Drew, the girl detective has been a fixture in childrens and young adult literature, and her numbers have only multiplied. Inquisitive and adventurous, smart and self-reliant, these young women model self-determination and a willingness to question authority. These traits dont disappear during their teens and 20s, when the pressure to conform grows strongest. They remain, emerging with greater force as women approach middle-age, caring less with each passing year what people think of them. Every decade brings more confidence and less patience with societal nonsense, until finally, gray hair and wrinkles confer the freedom of invisibility, as Jane Marple will attest. There are many grown-up girl detectives to choose from. Here are 10 of my favorites, ranging in age from 30-something to dead.

1. Gethsemane Brown Classically trained musician Dr. Gethsemane Brown lives in southwestern Ireland in a cottage haunted by the ghost of a temperamental dead composer, which takes steady nerves. Shes the music director at a boys school, which takes even steadier nerves. Though a reluctant detective and ghost-whisperer, Gethsemane never ducks a challenge. Cold-cases, live murderers, and cranky village Gardai are no match for this smart, stylish, and self-reliant amateur sleuth.

2. Jo Wyatt Detective Jo Wyatt has just been passed over for promotion in favor of her smug ex-husband, to whom she now reports. The daughter of a cop who wanted a boy, she navigates the testosterone-heavy Echo Valley police department with wit and grit, relying on dark humor and solid friendships to get her through. Jos a team player, respected by her peers, but shes willing to follow her instincts down unpopular paths when clues at a crime scene dont add up.

3. Harbinder Kaur Harbinder Kaur describes herself as the best gay Sikh detective in West Sussex. Out at work but not at home, the 30-something detective sergeant lives with her parents, having decided she prefers her mothers traditional cooking and time with her family to takeaway and messy roommates. Sometimes snarky and judgy, always observant and astute, Det. Sgt. Kaur is willing to take the imaginative leap that separates plodding police work from inspired detection.

4. Jacqueline Kirby Middle-aged librarian turned romance novelist Jacqueline Kirby, Jake to her friends, travels the world armed with her wits, her charm, and an enormous handbag, the contents of which are a mystery even to her. Once a librarian, always a librarian, she says, using her research skills and natural curiosity to unmask villains of all kinds, from those who take themselves far too seriously to murderers. With humor and style, the alluring Jacqueline always gets her man.

5. Elouise "Lou" Norton L.A. homicide detective Lou Norton has a no-good ex-husband, an estranged father, and a group of girlfriends who keep her grounded and sane. A native Angeleno, Lou shows us the city from the ghetto where she grew up to the parks and mansions around them, because no neighborhood is safe from the monsters that walk among us. Tough but never insensitive, Lou lets the personal inform the professional without overwhelming it, not losing sight of the victims and the reason for seeking justice.

6. Agatha Raisin After a successful career in public relations, Agatha Raisin sells her firm and retires to the Cotswolds. There, the type-A Agatha turns her energy and ambition loose on her new home. The residents of Carsely find her, by turns, both obnoxious and endearing. Agatha solves her first murder in order to clear her own name, but crime after crime, she proves that her success owes more to skill and determination than luck. When the entrepreneurial Agatha launches her own detective agency, no Cotswold criminal is safe.

7. Vera Stanhope The brilliant and badly dressed Det. Insp. Vera Stanhope is a loner by nature. Shes loyal to her team, who are in turn loyal to her. Her mother died when she was young. Her father, an often neglectful petty criminal, imparted an understanding of the natural world in the north of England and the people who inhabit it. Short and frumpy, shes underestimated by suspects, who realize too late that a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye mean shes about to unwind whatever tale theyre spinning.

8. Aunty Lee Rosie Aunty Lee is a lady of a certain age and even more certain girth. A Singaporean restauranteur with a passion for cooking and a nose for news, Aunty Lee can always smell something off in both food and life. Quick-witted and energetic, shes as happy solving crimes as she is inventing new dishes for her cafe. Rosie Lee is the aunty you want to have or to bethe kind who has your back, helps solve your problems, and then feeds you to speed your recovery.

9. Gladdy Gold Gladdy spends her days at pool exercise, early-bird specials, and the occasional bingo cruiseuntil the suspicious deaths in her Fort Lauderdale retirement community start mounting up. The septuagenarian sleuth and her pals leap into action to catch the killer before any more of them are picked off. Eventually forming her own detective agency (motto: Never Trust Anyone Under 75!) Gladdy solves crimes ranging from missing handbags to missing persons with ingenuity and joie de vivre. Willing to joke about old age but unwilling to be limited by it, Gladdy is on the case.
Full Text: Remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping at Leaders Summit on Climate

Xinhua) 08:47, April 23, 2021

At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday.

Please see the attachment for the translation of the full text of the speech.

Full Text: Remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping at Leaders Summit on Climate

For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the Peoples Republic of China

At the Leaders Summit on Climate

22 April 2021

Honorable President Joe Biden,

Honorable Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to join you at the Leaders Summit on Climate on Earth Day. I wish to thank President Biden for the kind invitation. It is good to have this opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views with you on climate change, and to discuss ways to tackle this challenge and find a path forward for man and Nature to live in harmony.

Since time of the industrial civilization, mankind has created massive material wealth. Yet, it has come at a cost of intensified exploitation of natural resources, which disrupted the balance in the Earths ecosystem, and laid bare the growing tensions in the human-Nature relationship. In recent years, climate change, biodiversity loss, worsening desertification and frequent extreme weather events have all posed severe challenges to human survival and development. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has added difficulty to economic and social development across countries. Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action. We need to act with a sense of responsibility and unity, and work together to foster a community of life for man and Nature.

 We must be committed to harmony between man and Nature. All things that grow live in harmony and benefit from the nourishment of Nature. Mother Nature is the cradle of all living beings, including humans. It provides everything essential for humanity to survive and thrive. Mother Nature has nourished us, and we must treat Nature as our root, respect it, protect it, and follow its laws. Failure to respect Nature or follow its laws will only invite its revenge. Systemic spoil of Nature will take away the foundation of human survival and development, and will leave us human beings like a river without a source and a tree without its roots. We should protect Nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and Nature can both prosper and live in harmony.

 We must be committed to green development. Green mountains are gold mountains. To protect the environment is to protect productivity, and to improve the environment is to boost productivity  the truth is as simple as that. We must abandon development models that harm or undermine the environment, and must say no to shortsighted approaches of going after near-term development gains at the expense of the environment. Much to the contrary, we need to ride the trend of technological revolution and industrial transformation, seize the enormous opportunity in green transition, and let the power of innovation drive us to upgrade our economic, energy and industrial structures, and make sure that a sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social development worldwide.

 We must be committed to systemic governance. Mountains, rivers, forests as well as farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts all make indivisible parts of the ecosystem. Protecting the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach. We need to follow the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balance all elements and aspects of Nature. This is a way that may take us where we want to be, an ecosystem in sound circulation and overall balance.

 We must be committed to a people-centered approach. The environment concerns the well-being of people in all countries. We need to take into full account peoples longing for a better life and a good environment as well as our responsibility for future generations. We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty all at the same time, so as to deliver social equity and justice in the course of green transition and increase peoples sense of benefit, happiness and security.

 We must be committed to multilateralism. We need to work on the basis of international law, follow the principle of equity and justice, and focus on effective actions. We need to uphold the UN-centered international system, comply with the objectives and principles laid out in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, and strive to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We need to each take stronger actions, strengthen partnerships and cooperation, learn from each other and make common progress in the new journey toward global carbon neutrality. In this process, we must join hands, not point fingers at each other; we must maintain continuity, not reverse course easily; and we must honor commitments, not go back on promises.

China welcomes the United States return to the multilateral climate governance process. Not long ago, the Chinese and US sides released a Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis. China looks forward to working with the international community including the United States to jointly advance global environmental governance.

 We must be committed to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate governance. Developing countries now face multiple challenges to combat COVID-19, grow the economy, and address climate change. We need to give full recognition to developing countries contribution to climate action and accommodate their particular difficulties and concerns. Developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action. At the same time, they need to make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen the capacity and resilience against climate change, support them in financing, technology, and capacity building, and refrain from creating green trade barriers, so as to help developing countries accelerate the transition to green and low-carbon development.

Colleagues,

The Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between man and Nature as well as observance of the laws of Nature. It has been our constant pursuit that man and Nature could live in harmony with each other. Ecological advancement and conservation have been written into Chinas Constitution and incorporated into Chinas overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. China will follow the Thought on Ecological Civilization and implement the new development philosophy. We will aim to achieve greener economic and social development in all aspects, with a special focus on developing green and low-carbon energy. We will continue to prioritize ecological conservation and pursue a green and low-carbon path to development.

Last year, I made the official announcement that China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This major strategic decision is made based on our sense of responsibility to build a community with a shared future for mankind and our own need to secure sustainable development. China has committed to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries, and that requires extraordinarily hard efforts from China. The targets of carbon peak and carbon neutrality have been added to Chinas overall plan for ecological conservation. We are now making an action plan and are already taking strong nationwide actions toward carbon peak. Support is being given to peaking pioneers from localities, sectors and companies. China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Moreover, China has decided to accept the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and tighten regulations over non-carbon dioxide emissions. Chinas national carbon market will also start trading.

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China is firmly committed to putting multilateralism into action and promoting a fair and equitable system of global environmental governance for win-win cooperation. China will host COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity this October and looks forward to working with all parties to enhance global governance on biodiversity. We support COP26 to the UNFCCC in achieving positive outcomes. As we in China often say, It is more important to show people how to fish than just giving them fish. China has done its best to help developing countries build capacity against climate change through various forms of results-oriented South-South cooperation. From remote sensing satellites for climate monitoring in Africa to low-carbon demonstration zones in Southeast Asia and to energy-efficient lights in small island countries, such cooperation has yielded real, tangible and solid results. China has also made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt and Road cooperation. A number of green action initiatives have been launched, covering wide-ranging efforts in green infrastructure, green energy, green transport and green finance, to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries.

Colleagues,

As we say in China, When people pull together, nothing is too heavy to be lifted. Climate change poses pressing, formidable and long-term challenges to us all. Yet I am confident that as long as we unite in our purposes and efforts and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, we will rise above the global climate and environment challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations.

Thank you.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
NC House passes bill to end twice a year time change

RALEIGH  The N.C. House has approved a measure that could pave the way for ending the states twice-a-year ritual of setting clocks forward and back.

After less than five minutes of discussion, House members voted 99-16 to approve House Bill 307. It could lead to the end of spring and fall time changes within the state.



The standard time of the State and its political subdivisions is the time designated by the United States Department of Transportation pursuant to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the bill explains. If authorized by Congress, the State and its political subdivisions shall observe Daylight Saving Time  at all times throughout the year.



Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, has led the legislative charge to keep daylight-saving time all year long in North Carolina.



It simply asks Congress to pick a time  in this bill, its daylight-saving time  and use that as our standard time so that we dont go forward or backward twice a year, Saine explained to colleagues. As Ive told folks in committee, this is probably the most popular bill weve ever run through this body.



Saine recounted a morning phone conversation with an employee in Lincolton. He had promoted the time-change bill in a local interview. She said, By the way, boss, weve got a lady named Jane up in Boone who said she just heard you on the radio. And she loves you.'



We have seen on Twitter and Facebook social media, phone calls to our office  just so many folks across this state going, We really need this,' Saine added. Their internal clock is messed up. If youre like me, it takes you about anywhere from two weeks to a month to adjust.



The idea for legislative action started for Saine during a conversation several years ago with lawmakers representing other Southeastern states. This is one of the issues we talked about that maybe we could work on together, he said. South Carolina, Florida  I believe that Georgia has passed this already. I know that Tennessee has as well.



If H.B. 307 becomes law, the permanent time change still would require federal action. Its simply asking Congress to act, Saine said. I realize that may be a tall order, but you do have to start somewhere. Some of our U.S. senators have acknowledged in the press that they are willing to support such a move.



Saine acknowledged one criticism of the proposal: School buses could be picking up children in darkness during part of the year. Its certainly a concern, he said. Its not something we want to make light of. But it is something that I think we can adjust to as well.



None of the bills opponents offered a critique on the House floor, but the measure sparked a couple of lighthearted quips.



I dont get the reason behind switching to daylight-saving time, said Rep. Matthew Winslow, R-Franklin. I guess Im still in the dark.



The following members have designated me to shed a little daylight on how they would vote, said House Majority Leader John Bell, R-Wayne, before casting five proxy votes in favor of the measure.



House Bill 307 now heads to the Senate, where a similar measure died in 2019.






Rambouillet: A man fatally stabbed a police administrative worker as she walked into a police station in a Paris commuter town on Friday, and President Emmanuel Macron said France had again been the victim of a terror attack.

The attacker stabbed the woman in the throat, two security sources said.

Macron identified the victim as Stephanie and said the nation stood by her familys side.

We will stop at nothing in our resolute fight against Islamist terrorism, Macron tweeted.

The attacker was shot dead by police officers.
UW student Cody Pridmore, who is part of new research investigating crustal melting in western North America, examines igneous rocks in the Coyote Mountains of Arizona. Credit: Jay Chapman

A group of University of Wyoming professors and students has identified an unusual belt of igneous rocks that stretches for over 2,000 miles from British Columbia, Canada, to Sonora, Mexico.

The rock belt runs through Idaho, Montana, Nevada, southeast California and Arizona."Geoscientists usually associate long belts of igneous rocks with chains of volcanoes at subduction zones, like Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer," says Jay Chapman, an assistant professor in UW's Department of Geology and Geophysics. "What makes this finding so interesting and mysterious is that this belt of igneous rocks is located much farther inland, away from the edge of the continent, and doesn't contain any evidence for producing volcanoes. In fact, all of the melting to generate the igneous rocks originally took place deep underground, five to 10 miles beneath the surface."

Chapman is lead author of a paper, titled "The North American Cordilleran Anatectic Belt," which was published online in February in the journal Earth-Science Reviews. The print version will be published this month.

The paper is a result of a special course taught by Simone Runyon, an assistant professor in UW's Department of Geology and Geophysics, and Chapman. Runyon, six UW graduate students and one undergraduate student, who took part in the course, are co-authors of the paper.

"It was really fascinating to start with a scientific question in a classroom, then collect and analyze data, and eventually publish our results," says Cody Pridmore, a UW graduate student from Orange, Calif., and co-author of the paper. "It's a process most college students don't get to experience."

From left, University of Wyoming students Shane Scoggin, Adam Trzinski and Jessie Shields are part of new research investigating crustal melting in western North America. Here, they examine igneous rocks in the Snake Range of Nevada. Credit: Jay Chapman

One clue to the origin of the belt of igneous rocks is that the rocks chiefly formed 80 million to 50 million years ago, during a mountain-building event called the Laramide orogeny.

"The Laramide orogeny created most of the major mountain ranges we have in Wyoming, and the name actually comes from the Laramie Range," Chapman says. "Although there are no igneous rocks of this type and age present in those mountains, we suspect that the tectonic processes that created the mountains also contributed to melting Earth's crust."

The researchers have several working hypotheses about what caused the rocks to melt. One hypothesis is that water infiltrated the deep crust.

"The geochemistry of these rocks indicates that melting may have occurred at relatively low temperatures, below 800 degrees Celsius," says Jessie Shields, a Ph.D. student at UW from Minneapolis, Minn., who is working to solve this mystery. "That is still very hot, but not hot enough to produce very large volumes of magma. Water lowers the melting point of rocks, similar to how salt lowers the melting point of ice, and could increase the amount of magma generated."

This work has implications for what causes rocks to melt and where specific types of magmas can be found.

"Many of the igneous systems in the study area contain economically important ore deposits," says Runyon, who specializes in ore deposits. "Understanding the large-scale igneous processes that form these provinces helps us to better understand how ore deposits form and to better explore for natural resources."

Explore further Study shows Southern Arizona once looked like Tibet

More information: James B. Chapman et al, The North American Cordilleran Anatectic Belt, Earth-Science Reviews (2021). James B. Chapman et al, The North American Cordilleran Anatectic Belt,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103576
Scientists identified cases of human-to-cat COVID-19 transmission in the UK

A team of scientists at the University of Glasgow has identified two known cases of human-to-cat COVID-19 transmission in the UK.

In the study, led by the University of Glasgow and published today in the Veterinary Record, researchers describe two cases of human-to-cat SARS-CoV-2 transmission, found as part of a COVID-19 screening programme of the feline population in the UK.

The cats, both different breeds, came from two separate households and displayed mild to severe respiratory signs. Researchers from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) in partnership with the Veterinary Diagnostic Service of the Universitys School of Veterinary Medicine, believe both cats were infected by their owners, who were also displaying COVID-19 symptoms prior to the cats becoming unwell.

The first cat was a four month-old female Ragdoll kitten from a household in which the owner developed symptoms that were consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection at the end of March 2020, although the owner was not tested. The kitten was presented to its veterinary surgeon in April 2020 with difficulty breathing. Sadly, the cats condition deteriorated and it later had to be put down. Post-mortem lung samples later revealed damage to the lungs consistent with a viral pneumonia and there was evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The second cat was a six year-old female Siamese from a household where one owner tested positive for COVID-19. The cat was taken to the vet with nasal discharge and conjunctivitis, but these clinical signs remained mild and the cat later recovered. COVID-19 infection was demonstrated in the cat as part of a UK-wide COVID-19 feline screening programme and this was confirmed by the APHA.

Researchers at the CVR completed full genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in cat 2 and found that it was very similar to viral genomes circulating in humans. The researchers found no evidence of species adaptation in the cats viral sequences and concluded that any mutations present in cat 2s viral genome were likely also present in the owners virus, although the genome sequence from the owner was not available for comparison.

At present, there is no evidence of cat-to-human transmission, or that cats, dogs or other domestic animals play any role in the epidemiology of human infections with SARS-CoV-2. Whether cats with COVID-19 could naturally transmit the virus to other animals, or back to humans, remains unknown.

However, scientists believe these two known cases of human-to-cat transmission in the UK are likely to be an underestimate of the true frequency of human-to-animal transmission, as animal testing is limited.

Professor Margaret Hosie from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, lead author of the study, said: These two cases of human-to-animal transmission, found in the feline population in the UK, demonstrate why it is important that we improve our understanding of animal SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Currently, animal-to-human transmission represents a relatively low risk to public health in areas where human-to-human transmission remains high. However, as human cases decrease, the prospect of transmission among animals becomes increasingly important as a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 reintroduction to humans. It is therefore important to improve our understanding of whether exposed animals could play any role in transmission.

Since the pandemic began there have been reports of cats from COVID-19 households in Hong Kong, Belgium, the USA, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Japan, Italy, Chile, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland and Latvia that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were presumed to be infected from their owners.

Naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in cats, non-domestic cats and dogs. Scientists have also shown that cats, ferrets and hamsters are susceptible.

This study was funded by Wellcome ISSF COVID Response Fund and supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk / 0141 330 6557 or 0141 330 4831
It is both so wrong and yet so right to be talking to Judy Blume about masturbation.

The treasured author has long kept young readers up past their bedtime with her novels that tackle puberty, sexual desire, contraception and menstruation including Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Deenie (1973) and Blubber (1974).

Shes sold more than 85 million books around the world and will make her debut appearance at the Sydney Writers Festival on Friday via video link from her home in Key West, a small island off Florida.

Judy Blume will appear at the Sydney Writers Festival next week. Credit:Dana Hawley

Her most famous novel, Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret (1970), which remains on the American Library Associations list of frequently challenged or banned books, is being turned into a film starring Rachel McAdams, Benny Safdie and Kathy Bates.
There are fears Melbourne could be facing another snap lockdown after the city's major airport was declared a exposure site due to an infected traveller arriving from Perth.

A man arrived at the airport in Tullamarine on Wednesday evening on Qantas flight QF778 after being in close contact with a man who was infected with coronavirus in Perth.

He acquired the virus after serving hotel quarantine in Perth's Mercure Hotel, in an adjacent room to someone who was positive.

On Friday the Victoria Department of Health declare both the flight and the airport's Terminal 1 public exposure sites.

Anyone on the flight must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days, while anyone at the airport terminal must get tested and isolate until receiving a negative result.

There are fears Melbourne could be facing another snap lockdown after the city's major airport was declared a high-risk exposure site due to an infected traveller arriving from Perth

The infected man arrived on Qantas flight QF778 and was in Terminal One between 6:30pm and 7:30pm on Wednesday

The infected traveller has been placed in hotel quarantine and is currently asymptomatic.

VICTORIAN EXPOSURE SITES SITE: Qantas flight QF778 - Perth to Melbourne EXPOSURE DATE: 21 April 2021 ADVICE: Tier 1 - Get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from exposure SITE: Melbourne Airport- Terminal 1 DATE: 21 April 2021 7:00pm-7:30pm ADVICE: Tier 2 - Get tested urgently and isolate until you have a negative result Advertisement

The man becomes the second person to acquire coronavirus from another serving hotel quarantine after a Perth man caught the virus from a person at the same hotel then infected his friend.

Those two cases have sent Perth into a snap three-day lockdown.

He arrived on Qantas flight QF778 and was in Terminal One between 6:30pm and 7:30pm.

The Victorian Department of Health are requesting anyone who was aboard the flight to immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days unless told otherwise by government officials.

'If you were on this flight, you must isolate, get tested and remain isolated for 14 days  unless otherwise formally advised by the Department of Health,' a health department statement read.

'The Department is contacting over 250 individuals on this flight using information obtained from comprehensive flight manifest data, and border permits.

'While the individual returned directly to his home in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, he did pass through the airport.'

Victoria Health are investigation other potential sites they could add to a high-risk designation.

Millions of Western Australians have been plunged into a three-day lockdown after one local case of coronavirus

From midnight residents in the Perth and Peel region will be locked down until Tuesday morning, meaning Anzac Day dawn services are cancelled

Earlier Friday millions of Western Australians were plunged into a three-day lockdown after two cases of coronavirus were recorded.

From midnight residents in the Perth and Peel region will be locked down until Tuesday morning, meaning Anzac Day dawn services are cancelled.

The lockdown was introduced after a 54-year-old man who was released from quarantine at Perth's Mercure Hotel and spent four days in the city tested positive in Melbourne on Friday morning and a friend who he stayed with tested positive in Perth.

The man had caught the virus while in hotel quarantine from returned travellers, who had arrived from India and were staying in a nearby room on the same floor.

Mr McGowan revealed the positive man, who had travelled from Shanghai, left quarantine on April 17, stayed with a friend and her two children in Cardinia and went to Elysian restaurant that night.

The friend had a rapid Covid test today and returned a positive result.

On April 18 the Victorian case visited a swimming pool in the southern suburbs.

He had a coffee and dinner in Northridge and stayed at Saint Catherine 's college at WA University.

On April 19, he visited a Chinese traditional medical doctor, went to Northbridge again and stayed at Saint Catherine's college that night.

The next day, he visited Kings Park and Northbridge again. On April 21 he had breakfast in a common area at Saint Catherine's college before being driven by his friend to the airport.
That poor boy must have been in so much pain. The striking resemblance between the cases has called into question whether authorities have done enough to tackle the systemic failings underpinning Mr Braess death. This week a nurse told Mr Braess inquest she has a great fear the same thing could happen again because resourcing issues at the heart of the tragedy have not been addressed. Registered nurse Elizabeth Keft told the inquest nurses were still being run off their feet. I dont think its safe, she said.

A separate NSW parliamentary inquiry has heard hospitals across country NSW are experiencing crisis conditions as they battle chronic staffing shortages. The inquiry was launched after the Herald exposed three deaths and a series of near misses in western NSW. Broken Hill teenager Alex Braes, who died of septic shock after being sent home from hospital three times. Mr Carter, a tradesman, was holding an angle grinder that sliced through his thigh in August 2019. It left a wound 15 centimetres long and six centimetres deep. Bleeding heavily, Mr Carter arrived at Broken Hill Hospital. The doctor irrigated the wound, stitched it and told him to return in a week to have the stitches removed.

I asked if I needed antibiotics and they said no, Mr Carter recalled. I thought that was a bit strange because it was a dirty old grinder. Mr Carters lawyer, Niall Connolly of Slater and Gordon, said their expert advice was that a dirty wound was prone to infection and should have been surgically explored for foreign bodies. The wound became swollen and painful over the next five days. Mr Carter returned to the emergency department and tests showed he had a low grade fever, an elevated white blood cell count and cellulitis, swelling that indicates bacterial infection. He was given intravenous antibiotics and sent home. The doctor marked out the cellulitis with a pen and asked Mr Carter to return if it expanded beyond the marked area.

I honestly put my faith in the decision of the doctor and the attitude of the hospital, Mr Carter recalled. Three days later Mr Carter woke in excruciating pain. The swelling had ballooned from his knee to his hip. Broken Hill Hospital. Credit:Google I knew I was in trouble, Mr Carter said. Hospital tests confirmed Mr Carter had necrotising fasciitis caused by an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus infection. A surgeon cut away some infected tissue before Mr Carter was airlifted to Adelaide.

Mr Carter went into septic shock and was placed into a coma. His brother flew from the US to be at his bedside. To the surprise of doctors Mr Carter pulled through, after swathes of skin from his back were grafted onto his leg. He had lost 33 kilograms and his kidney cancer  due to be removed when the accident occurred  had now metastasised to his lungs. Once a very fit, strong man, he was a train wreck. Mr Carters doctors originally told him he was likely to make a full recovery from the cancer but, because of the treatment delay, now his prognosis isnt good.

He has also developed blood cancer linked to the potent treatments for the infection. Mr Carter believes hospital administrators, rather than front line workers, are responsible for his ordeal. People that make big decisions are behind the closed doors and the poor buggers who have to enforce it, theyre the ones you see face to face, he said. A spokesman for the Far West Local Health District said it was not appropriate to comment while the case was before the courts. The district undertakes a review of all significant clinical incidents to identify any systems issue that may have contributed to an adverse outcome, he said. Recommendations are then considered and implemented either locally or statewide in order to continually improve the delivery of healthcare.

Loading Mr Braess cause of death was inconclusive because there was no autopsy. However Dr Phillip Braslins told the inquest on the balance of probabilities it was caused by necrotising fasciitis. Dr Braslins had seen about three to five cases annually working in the United States as an infectious diseases expert. He happened to be working as a locum at Broken Hill Hospital when Mr Braes deteriorated on his final visit and took over his treatment. The only way to save him at that point would have been amputation, which was not possible at Broken Hill Hospital, Dr Braslins said.
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 81F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
New Orleans, Louisiana--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2021) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until May 17, 2021 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against CytoDyn, Inc. (OTCQB: CYDY), if they purchased the Company's securities between March 27, 2020 through March 9, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of CytoDyn and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/otc-cydy/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by May 17, 2021 .

About the Lawsuit

CytoDyn and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On March 5, 2021, the Company issued a press release purporting to tout the positive trial results of its product Leronlimab, stating in part, that "the Phase 3 trial of leronlimab for the treatment of severe-to-critical patients with COVID-19 demonstrated continued safety, substantial improvement in the survival rate, and faster hospital discharge in critically ill COVID-19 patients"; however, as subsequently highlighted by industry analysts in the following days, the Company also disclosed that "[a]mongst all patients in mITT, the primary endpoint (all-cause mortality at Day 28) was not statistically significant."

On this news, shares of CytoDyn plummeted.

The case is Lewis v. CytoDyn, Inc., No. 3:21-cv-05190.

Story continues

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81517.
This report on the Global Hotel Business Intelligence Solutions Market assures a treasure of information on a plethora of growth opportunities. The study includes expansive research by expert analysts. All the growth factors revolving around the Hotel Business Intelligence Solutions Market across the assessment period of 2021-2027 have been systematically included in the report. The research strives to present a granular assessment of the key consumer propositions targeted by various 
'I'm vaccinated and I'm outside. Do I really still need to wear a mask?'

'If I'm on a run and not near a lot of people. Do I need a mask?'

'If I'm walking down the sidewalk and pass someone - should I put my mask on?'

As the warmer weather months arrive and the percentage of vaccinated Americans gradually ticks upwards, these are some of the questions a growing number of Americans are asking.

If you're vaccinated, 'I'd say for the most part, you don't need to wear a mask outdoors,' Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Thursday on CNN's New Day.

That's because it's known most viral transmission doesn't happen outdoors.

A November review in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found that the odds of viral transmission are 18.7 times greater indoors than out, and less than 10% of Covid-19 infections studied occurred outside.

Nooshin Razani, one of the authors and an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, told Slate the true number of instances of outdoor transmission was 'probably lower' than 10%.

Current guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes it clear masks might not be needed outside. 'Masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household,' it says. The CDC does not say anything specific for vaccinated people.

On Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the agency is considering revising its mask guidance.

'We'll be looking at the outdoor masking question, but also in the context of the fact that we still have people who are dying of Covid-19,' Walensky said on NBC's Today Show.

To Mask or Not to Mask?

As with most Covid-19 discussion, the evidence on whether it's advisable to wear masks outdoors isn't black and white, and should be based on a variety of factors such as vaccination status and community transmission rates.

'If you're vaccinated and not in a vulnerable category, it's probably fine not to wear a mask outdoors,' Linsey Marr, an expert on the airborne transmission of viruses at Virginia Tech, told CNN in an email.

For unvaccinated people, Marr recommends masks in situations when people are clustered closely together, like in a bar, a crowd or a line.

'If you're unvaccinated and constantly passing by people close enough that you can reach out and touch them, then you should wear a mask,' Marr told CNN.

Vaccinated or not, an important factor in deciding to unmask outdoors is the levels of transmission and positivity in your area, Gupta said.

'The real question you need to try to answer is, what is the likelihood I'm going to breathe in someone else's air? That's basically it. The number of people, type of setting and what is the overall viral spread in their community,' Gupta said.

A hodgepodge Response

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNN's Abby Phillip on Inside Politics Sunday that he expects masking to become only an indoor thing soon.

'I expect, over the next few weeks, states to start lifting outdoor mask mandates,' Jha said, adding that most infections happen indoors, so people will need to wear masks inside for a while longer.

Several states such as Texas and Alabama have already eliminated statewide mask mandates, and some others are planning to loosen outdoor mask requirements.

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee announced Thursday that, starting May 7th, masks will only be required indoors or when it is not possible to maintain at least three feet of space outdoors.

Covid-19 restrictions are ending in Connecticut on May 19th, and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont is advising people to still be cautious and wear masks indoors.

'There won't be any requirements regarding masks outside. We still strongly recommend wearing the mask inside, unless you've been vaccinated, we'll find some balance there,' Lamont said.
Andrew Torba, CEO of free-speech platform Gab, called for the American people to support an American Populist movement ruled and unified by the Lord Jesus Christ.

In his Gab article, Torba urged Christians to fight the rising "Communist Color in America" by taking part in a movement centered on God.

He said that Chauvin's trial showed "that law and order no longer reign in the United States of America."

He was saddened that some "Republicans" and "conservatives" were "praising" the "clown show trial," giving an impression that "domestic terrorists" can keep on doing what they think are right, people he described as "more dangerous than The Enemy."

"Anarcho-tyranny has taken over on behalf of the Globalist American Empire. These people have totally subverted our country, our media, our banks, our schools, our churches, and the minds of many of our children," he continued.

"None of us want any violence, the Democrat-run cities can keep and retain all the "benefits" of multiculturalism, critical theory, and "diversity" to themselves. We want no part of it. Our people, the American people, just want to be left alone to raise our families and worship God," Torba added.

He said that to make the "American Populism movement" successful, it must be operated "spiritually centralized" but materially decentralized. The movement should not have a centralized group or figurehead so that the "Globalist American Empire" will not be able "isolate, target and destroy" it. Instead, it should be "centralized and unified only around Jesus Christ."

"Christ is the only way. Let the Enemy try and attack Jesus and Christianity, which will only galvanize our base and wake more Christians up to what is going on. If they have no central person or group to attack, they must attack us all collectively or even worse: attack Jesus Christ Himself," he further stated.

Torba pointed out that the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement failed because it had a "centralized attack vector," which was former President Donald Trump. Having him as a centralized figurehead, it was easy for the "Globalist American Empire" to destroy the movement by targeting Trump, as well as the people around him.

However, he said that the main reason of the MAGA movement's failure was that, it did not have "Jesus Christ as its guiding leader and King."

Further, he stated that for the American Populism to succeed, it should be a Christian movement. It must have a type of Christianity guided by Biblical truth and not false gospel, adding that this "is the only way forward."

He also observed that the people in Trump's "orbit" have "transformed" him from being a movement leader into becoming a "fundraising machine" for Republicans that advocate COVID vaccines, benefitting pharmaceutical companies.

Torba added that his statements may sound offensive to Trump's supporters but he just had to tell the truth because he voted for Trump himself and supported the "America First Agenda."

"I tell you the truth only because I love you and want you to shift your worship, focus, and attention from former President Trump to the King of Kings Jesus Christ. Christ is the only path forward," he also said.

He went on by saying that people must make themselves right with God.

"First and foremost get right with God yourself as an individual. Repent. Call on Christ. Believe. Read God's Word. Get yourself in a good church. If you're in a woke church, take it back for Christ and if it can't be taken back then leave, find, or start a new church," he said.

Torba claimed that he is optimistic of the future because of Jesus Christ, encouraging believers to serve Him and make disciples. He called Christians as "reformers" and "builders."

"Read your Bible: we can and will overcome," he declared.

Moreover, he said that they have already overcome challenges numerous times before and he is confident that they will be victorious again today "by the Grace of God."

"May His Will be done and may He grant us the strength and wisdom to rebuild from the ashes of societal ruin," he further stated.

He ended the article by highlighting the relevance of Jesus Christ in the journey to progress.

"At this point I think it's obvious to most of us that peaceful secession and establishing dominion in the name of Jesus Christ, His Gospel, and the Biblical Christian worldview is unequivocally the only path forward," Torba concluded.
This file photo taken on June 17, 2014, in Washington, DC, shows bitcoin medals which use peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks. Korea's financial authorities are moving to impose an income tax on cryptocurrency trading from next year. AFP



South Korea's financial authorities are moving to impose an income tax on cryptocurrency trading from next year, but investors in digital tokens have raised a nagging question about the proposed taxation.



A growing number of cryptocurrency investors have cried foul over whether the government will collect a tax on virtual currencies while top policymakers see no intrinsic value in crypto assets amid a lack of regulations to protect cryptocurrency investors.



Like many governments around the world, South Korea has been struggling with how to regulate cryptocurrency trading as daily cryptocurrency turnover recently surpassed 20 trillion won (US$17.9 billion).



So far, the government has defined a cryptocurrency as a "crypto asset with no intrinsic value," and few rules have been set on regulating cryptocurrencies.



Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo repeated the view on Thursday.



"A cryptocurrency is a crypto asset with no intrinsic value and a highly speculative (investment)," Eun told lawmakers.



Eun said the government could not protect cryptocurrency investors because digital tokens are speculative markets with little regulatory oversight.



Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol has also denied cryptocurrency's utility as a means of exchange or payment, citing its high volatility.






By Edward McAllister and Madjiasra Nako

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) -Thousands of people attended the funeral of Chad's slain leader Idriss Deby on Friday, with French President Emmanuel Macron leading tributes to the long-ruling strongman whose death in a battle with rebels has thrown the country into crisis.

Macron said France would not let anyone threaten the stability of its former colony - a reflection of worries that more turmoil will hamper the fight against Islamist militants across the Sahel region.

Deby, a lynchpin in Western security strategy, was killed on Monday in a battle against a rebel army led by dissident army officers who are not linked to jihadists, according to Chadian authorities.

France also supported a transition to democracy in Chad, Macron said in his speech to mourners, after a military council took power following Deby's death.

A source at the French presidency said France and regional countries were pushing for a mixed civilian-military transitional government. A prominent opposition leader, Succes Masra, endorsed that approach, calling for a civilian interim president with a vice president named by the military.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council expressed "grave concern" about the military takeover and urging the authorities to "expeditiously" move to hand power over to civilians.

The military council has said it intends to oversee an 18-month transition to elections while leading the response to the rebel offensive.

The rebels said on Friday their command centre was bombed on Wednesday night in an attempt to kill their leader.

They have swept south across the vast desert nation from their bases in Libya, and have said they are about 200-300 km (125-190 miles) from the capital, N'Djamena.

Despite warnings from the rebels not to attend for their own security, African presidents and prime ministers joined dignitaries and ordinary citizens in the city's Place de la Nation for the funeral ceremony.

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Deby's coffin, draped in a national flag, was carried on a military truck flanked by a motorcycle escort. Weeping swelled from the crowd and a 21-gun salute boomed across the city.

PEACEFUL CHAD?

Macron was seated for the ceremony next to Deby's son Mahamat Idriss Deby, who was appointed interim president for an 18-month transitional period by the military council.

"France will not let anybody put into question or threaten today or tomorrow Chad's stability and integrity," Macron said in his speech.

"France will also be there to keep alive without waiting the promise of a peaceful Chad creating a place for all of its children and components," he said, calling the late president a friend and courageous soldier who had given his life to his country.

Human rights groups have accused France and other Western powers of turning a blind eye to government repression during Deby's 30-year rule because of his co-operation on security matters.

As the funeral took place, Masra, wrote on Twitter that the police had surrounded his party's headquarters. He posted a photo of several police cars parked outside.

"In the middle of the ceremony honouring Idriss Deby, the son sends the police to encircle the Transformers headquarters," Masra wrote, referring to the name of his party. "The world therefore sees that the system has not changed."

The authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.

Nonetheless, many Chadians were deeply upset by Deby's death.

"He protected us for so long that today we have come to wish him eternal rest. A deserved rest," said N'Djamena resident Hassan Adoum.

SEEKING REGIONAL STABILITY

Before the ceremony, Macron and regional leaders met with the 37-year-old Mahamat Idriss Deby and members of the military council.

The French presidency source said France and the G5 Sahel nations had offered support for a civilian-military transition. The G5 are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger - all beset by Islamist militant threats.

Masra said in a Facebook post that he and other Chadians had met with Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.

He said the Chadians proposed that the transitional government be modeled after the one in Mali, which was created after a military coup last August. The president would be a civilian and the vice president would be nominated by Deby and responsible for security and defence issues.

There would also be a prime minister at the head of an inclusive government resulting from multi-party talks.

In its statement, the African Union's Peace and Security Council urged Chadian authorities "to respect the constitutional mandate and order, and to expeditiously embark on a process of restoration of constitutional order and handing over of political power to the civilian authorities".

Opposition leaders, labour unions and civil society organisations in Chad have all denounced the military takeover, and an army general said this week that many officers are opposed to the transition plan.

ON THE FRONTLINE

The rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) said warplanes bombed their centre on Wednesday night in an attempt to kill their leader, Mahamat Mahadi Ali. They accused France of supporting the raid with aerial surveillance.

The group did not specify where the command post was located or give details of any casualties or damage.

The French army said it had not carried out any air strikes this week in Chad. Chad's army did not respond to a request for comment.

France has about 5,100 troops based across the region and has its main base in N'Djamena. The United States also has military personnel there.

(Reporting by Edward McAllister and Madjiasra Nako; Additional reporting by John Irish and Tangi Salaun in Paris; Writing by Hereward Holland, Angus MacSwan and Aaron Ross; Editing by Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)
China Aid has been documenting abuses by the country's communist regime and today, it released its 2020 Annual Persecution Report which covers last year's crackdown on churches as well as persecution of Chinese Christians.

"We are excited to release this report documenting the stories of Christians the Chinese Communist Party targeted for living out their faith," said Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid.

"We are dismayed, however, at the increasing number of persecution cases year after year. ChinaAid will continue to advocate for our brothers and sisters in China by sharing their stories of faithfulness and seeking justice against their oppressors," he added.

The report reveals that between January and December 2020, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) systemic harassment of Christians, other religious practitioners, and activists has steadily increased and intensified. Under President Xi Jinping's orders, Chinese officials executed the "Five-Year Plan for the Sinicization of Christianity" which is now in its third year.

Said campaign seeks to uphold Chinese traditions by regulating the teachings of faith groups to promote Marxist philosophies. Churches are also ordered to put up Chinese flags in their places of worship as well as sing patriotic songs in their services.

In the name of economic and social contributions, churches under CCP's Three Party Movement are ordered to make Xi Jinping the center of their theological teachings. Bible stories were also maliciously altered and distorted.

Also during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, the CCP used it as an excuse to shut down all places of worship and to ban any religious gathering or activity throughout mainland China. Both state-run and house churches suffered more harassment including the pillaging of properties and total demolition of church buildings. Anyone who dares challenge the authorities end up suffering ugly consequences.

ChinaAid said that overall, 100% of house churches have experienced some level of persecution in 2020. Every house church's core leader was summoned for questioning by the police, with some detained longer and in danger of being criminally prosecuted under false charges.

Other findings from the report were summarized as follows:

CCP authorities completed nine documented church demolitions, disconcerting more than 5000 members and attendees.

In addition to demolishing churches, CCP authorities forcibly commandeered and repurposed an unknown number of churches and religious sites.

CCP authorities raided Christian families' gatherings and interfered with parenting decisions. Numerous officials sued Christians for homeschooling their children or sending them to church-run schools.

Persecution adversely affected more than three million Christians in China during 2020.

As more victims and their families come forward to recount their stories of abuse in the hands of Chinese authorities, ChinaAid's report for 2020 confirms that China's persecution of Christians and of those professing any belief has escalated compared the previous years. While the government tries to suppress such information, the truth about their abuses of power will always come out.

In publishing their report, ChinaAid hopes that the outside world will pay more attention to the increasing religious persecution in China as well as promote religious freedom for all.

For more details, read the complete report here.
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Appointed Commissioner Paulette getting feel for the roads

JOEL ANDREWS/The Lufkin Daily News Recently appointed Pct. 1 Commissioner Rodney Paulette comes into the position not necessarily with road repair experience, but with the experience of running a $500 million corporation. And hes learned he likes the road repairs, too.

A new face has appeared on the Angelina County Commissioners Court representing Precinct 1: Rodney Paulette was appointed by County Judge Don Lymbery after former commissioner Steve Allen resigned in March.

Paulette comes into the position not necessarily with road repair experience, but with the experience of running a $500 million corporation. And hes learned he likes the road repairs, too.

Private business does not operate like the government does, he said. But the closer we can get government to operate like private business, the better off we are.

Paulette was born and raised in Lufkin, graduated from Lufkin High School and came back to work at Texas Foundries after college. He was there for 10 years before leaving to work at Citation Corp, a Birmingham, Alabama-based company.

We had two foundries and before I went to work for them they were almost bankrupt, he said. I didnt know it at the time. It was kind of a rude awakening when I got there.

He went into one foundry and redid its operations so it was making a profit and eventually the company would purchase Texas Foundries, Paulette said.

It was like the minnow swallowed a whale, he said.

He returned as president of the company in 1989. He stayed with Citation and moved to Birmingham on the corporate level as the executive vice president of sales and engineering product development and manufacturing.

He came back to town as the company began selling out and spent his last three years at home, he said.

Paulette didnt seek the commissioner position but was recommended to it and later asked to consider it by Lymbery, he said.

I didnt really think Id enjoy it as much as I do, but what I really enjoy is seeing my people get pride and say, You know, we can do this and we did a really (darn) good job, he said.

He tries to work through each of the complaints as they hit his desk and said if he cant get someone by the phone, hes not shy about showing up on their doorsteps to talk to them.

He believes the county has good business practices put in place by county auditor Janice Cordray, but said it doesnt permeate down to the road and bridge departments. So Paulettes goal has been to follow the guidelines in place and streamline the road-repair process along the way.

The precincts dont seem to understand that (county leadership) put good systems in place down to (the precinct) level, he said. They make it to keep up with the budget, to make good decisions on how to spend money, what they can and cant do. So consequently were pushing that all the way down to the precinct level, in my precinct.

Hes helping the county employees understand the importance of their work to the community, he said.

Paulette learned rather quickly the staff didnt know what to expect to do on a day-to-day basis. So he put together a planning schedule.

What were able to do, we know day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month what were going to do, he said.

This allows him to know what materials he needs, how much he will spend on any particular day and more. He learned at the precinct level the employees only knew they ran out of money when the auditor called and said not to spend any more money.

Paulette hates taxes, probably more than most, he said. So hes trying to find ways like this to improve functionality while saving money for the county so it has the cash to repair more roads. He is categorically against the tax note the commissioners approved in 2020, but said it is what it is and will make it work.

Ultimately, hes in support of the unit-road system because its what Angelina County citizens voted into place. Paulette believes a good, qualified engineer will be able to address some of the major road issues.

And the sooner we do it, the better off well be, he said.

He pointed to McKnight Road in his precinct. The road is notorious in its disrepair and the county budgeted a little over $22,000 to repair 900 feet, he said. Paulette took county staff to the road, pulled all the ditches, which had good road materials, to the middle of the road and smoothed it out.

Then he got a big roller and graded the road, then rolled it, then graded the road, then rolled it, he said.

Three point two miles we completely reconstructed, and you can drive about 40 miles per hour down McKnight Road now, Paulette said. I wouldnt do it, but you can.

The ditches were created to run into a stream which would take the water away from the road. There is only one point he repaired that he thinks needs some more work. But he believes a road engineer would be able to fix the low point properly.

What we need is a certified engineer that understands that activity. I do not, he said. So I made the decision to say, You know what? Were going to build this low-water crossing where we get the water to drain and when the road guy gets here, the engineer, well let him look at it and let him make the judgment. Because thats what hes educated for, thats what his experience is.

They did the whole thing for less than $8,000, he said. And he doesnt believe the county will need to return for more repairs, except for at the low point, for three years.

His goal, until an engineer takes over, is to get the materials and personnel down to a one-to-one ratio. He has vacancies on his crew but doesnt believe they really need to be filled because the team he has is getting at least as much work done as they did before, he said.

As far as hiring the road engineer, Paulette wants another chance to interview Chuck Walker  the sole applicant for the position  so he can make up his own mind.

He sees hiring Walker as a low risk because: one, the county didnt pay a headhunter to find Walker; two, Walker is already local so the county doesnt have to pay to move him into town; and three, Walker has good recommendations.

Everybody has got a few warts  everybody does, he said. I think the risk is so low, I think it is worth taking. At the end of the year, we can do something else if it doesnt work out.

But its a bad look for a county that voted this system in in November and hasnt implemented it by April, Paulette said.

And as far as claims he wont run for office at the end of the term, Paulette said 21 months (the rest of his term) is a long time. Hes enjoyed the work and hopes to bring some semblance of professionalism back to the court.

In regard to the number of times people told him the job was too much, it would stress him out, he just laughed.

You aint ever gonna stress me out. I sat at the top of a $500 million company with bullets whizzing by your head every day, Paulette said. You think this is going to stress me out?
ROSEVILLE, Calif., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PRIDE Industries is partnering with Safeway and the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) to host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for people with disabilities. Eligible individuals can receive a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on April 24 at PRIDE Industries' corporate offices in Roseville, Calif. A second dose will be administered on May 5.

People with disabilities often face significant barriers to receiving vaccinations. Transportation may not be available, or a site may not be fully accessible. In addition, websites are not always easy to navigate, making it harder to obtain information or make an appointment. For these reasons, PRIDE Industries joined the effort to create a vaccination clinic specifically for people with disabilities and their families.

"We are pleased to partner with PRIDE Industries and Safeway on this vaccination outreach effort," said California Department of Rehabilitation Director Joe Xavier. "Throughout the pandemic, our administration has made health equity a priority across the state. We want to ensure that people from high-risk populations have access to the vaccine. I encourage the DOR consumers whom we serve and all eligible members of the disability community to register for this vaccination clinic and help California make COVID a thing of the past."

Safeway pharmacy staff from Roseville, Calif., will be administering the Pfizer vaccines.

"Throughout the pandemic, the communities we serve have trusted our pharmacy teams to play a critical role in maintaining their health and wellness," said Narayanan Ramachandran, Director of Pharmacy for Safeway. "We are proud to partner with PRIDE Industries to administer the vaccine safely and efficiently."

As the nation's leading employer of people with disabilities, PRIDE Industries wanted to protect its employees, their families, and other people with disabilities in the community. The company has hosted two previous clinics where over 900 people received vaccinations.

"Localized vaccine clinics bridge the vaccine gap by reaching underserved members of our communities," said Dawn Horwath, Director of Rehabilitation Services at PRIDE Industries. "Collaborating with state agencies to reach individuals with disabilities and their families was something we knew was needed."

PRIDE Industries hopes to vaccinate hundreds of local people with disabilities from the Department of Rehabilitation, other local agencies and its own staff.

About PRIDE Industries

PRIDE Industries delivers business excellence with a positive social impact. A social enterprise, we provide facilities operations and maintenance services, custodial services, contract manufacturing, supply chain management, packaging and fulfillment services, and staffing and recruitment services to private and public organizations nationwide. Founded in 1966, PRIDE Industries' mission is to create employment for people with disabilities. Through personalized employment services, we help individuals realize their true potential and lead more independent lives. PRIDE Industries proves the value of its inclusive workforce model through operational success across multiple industries every day. Learn more at https://PRIDEIndustries.com.

About Safeway

Safeway has been proudly serving Northern California since 1926. Today, the company operates over 280 stores across Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii, under three banners, including Andronico's, Safeway, and Vons. In 2020, the Safeway Northern California Division donated over $30 million in food and financial support to charitable organizations in the communities it serves. Safeway Northern California is a division of Albertsons Companies.

About the California Department of Rehabilitation

The California Department of Rehabilitation works in partnership with consumers and other stakeholders to provide services and advocacy resulting in employment, independent living, and equality for individuals with disabilities. For more information, please visit the California Department of Rehabilitation Website.

Media Contact:

Kat Maudru

[email protected]

1-916-753-4339

SOURCE PRIDE Industries

Related Links

https://PRIDEIndustries.com


Joe Biden's first overseas trip as US President will be to the UK in June when he attends a meeting of the G7 in Cornwall, the White House has announced.

Mr Biden will come to the UK for the summit from June 11-13 before then heading to Brussels where he will take part in a NATO meeting.

He will then hold a joint US-EU summit to 'underscore our commitment to a strong Transatlantic partnership based on shared interests and values'.

The White House said Mr Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Boris Johnson while attending the G7.

Joe Biden's first overseas trip as US President will be to the UK in June when he attends a meeting of the G7 in Cornwall, the White House has announced

The fact that Mr Biden's first overseas visit since winning the keys to the White House will be to the UK will be viewed in Whitehall as a diplomatic victory for Mr Johnson.

The fact that Mr Biden's first overseas visit since winning the keys to the White House will be to the UK will be viewed in Whitehall as a diplomatic victory for Mr Johnson.

The UK has taken on the presidency of the G7, with Mr Johnson due to welcome his counterparts from the US, Japan, Italy, Germany, France and Canada to Carbis Bay in Cornwall.

Mr Biden's visit to Europe will inevitably be viewed as an attempt by the new US President to repair relationships which were damaged during Donald Trump's time in the White House.

Mr Trump had engaged in a bitter trade row with the EU and also slammed NATO members for failing to spend more on defence amid fears that he could pull the US out of the alliance.

The ex-President also sparked anger in European capitals after he formally withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change. One of Mr Biden's first acts after taking office was to rejoin the agreement.

Confirming Mr Biden's attendance at the G7 summit, the White House said in a statement: 'President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to the United Kingdom and Belgium in June 2021. This will be the first overseas travel by President Biden.

'This trip will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure Americas interests.

'President Biden will attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall, U.K., which is happening from June 11-13, where he will reinforce our commitment to multilateralism, work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change, and demonstrate solidarity and shared values among major democracies. He will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow G7 leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

'From the United Kingdom the President will travel to Brussels, Belgium, where he will participate in the NATO Summit on June 14.

'President Biden will affirm the United States commitment to NATO, Transatlantic security, and collective defense.

'NATO leaders will discuss how to orient the Alliance to future threats and ensure effective burden sharing. The President will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow NATO leaders.

'While in Brussels President Biden will participate in a U.S.EU Summit, which will underscore our commitment to a strong Transatlantic partnership based on shared interests and values.'
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Andrew Yang, the 2020 Democratic presidential contender who is running for mayor of New York City, lost the endorsement of a prominent LGBTQ political group Thursday.

In an interview Wednesday night with the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC, an influential LGBTQ political group, Yang offended members with his remarks.

"It was like he never met a gay person his life, even though he kept reminding us people on his staff were gay," filmmaker Harris Doran, who attended the endorsement meeting as a member, said Thursday. "It was like tokenizing us."

He added, "We're involved, smart people, and you can't show up like you haven't studied for the exam."

The Yang campaign had not responded to a request for comment by late Thursday.

The New York Times first reported the development.

Yang enjoys high name recognition in the crowded race, and early polling suggests he has a slight edge in the Democratic primary field. Yang, who promised a monthly universal basic income of $1,000 as a presidential contender, announced his mayoral campaign in January.

Doran said Yang showed very little familiarity with the issues facing LGBTQ New Yorkers, such as jobs and homelessness, but talked about "going to a lesbian bar over and over."

"He was talking to us like we were children or aliens," Doran said.

Doran posted a partial recording of the meeting on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.

"I genuinely do love you and your community," Yang said, according to a video recording of his remarks that was shared on Twitter by Doran but recorded by another group member. "You're so human and beautiful. You make New York City special. I have no idea how we ever lose to the Republicans given that you all are frankly in, like, leadership roles all over the Democratic Party."

He added: "We have, like, this incredible secret weapon. It's not even secret. It's, like, we should win everything because we have you all."

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The group, however, ended up endorsing his opponent, City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

A recent poll found that 22 percent of likely Democratic voters favored Yang. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was second, with 13 percent, followed by Stringer, at 11 percent, and Maya Wiley, former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, in fourth, at 7 percent.

It is not the only issue plaguing Yang's campaign. On Wednesday, more than 400 Asian Americans in New York City had signed a petition and launched a website, Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers Against Andrew Yang, opposing his campaign, arguing that "representation alone is simply not enough."

The group cited his "pro-police" policies in the wake of calls for widespread reform and racial justice, his appearances on right-wing media and his Washington Post op-ed urging Asian Americans to show their "American-ness" during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The group, which includes community leaders and local officials, also cited a report that Yang had said that the nonprofit fellowship program he started, Venture for America, might not be the best fit for Black applicants.

"In 2022, New York City needs a leader who can truly grapple with the complex racial and economic injustices and the needs of Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers in the pandemic's aftermath," the petition says. "There are candidates more aligned with social and racial justice values, with deeper commitments to APIA and BIPOC communities, whose mayoralty would actually benefit our communities, and they are not getting the attention they deserve."
New Delhi: Central government sources on Friday said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal used his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation as a platform to ''play politics over a serious issue and evade responsibility.''

Govt sources said Delhi CM Kejriwal raised the point of airlifting oxygen but did not know that it is already being done. They added, "He spoke about Oxygen express by Railways but Railway sources say that he has not communicated anything about it to Railways."

"Kejriwal has descended to a new low. For the first time, private conversations of PM's meeting with the CMs were televised. His entire speech was not meant for any solution but for playing politics and evade responsibility" the govt sources said.

During the meeting, the Delhi CM raised an alarm that a "big tragedy" may happen due to oxygen shortage in hospitals during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Minister Kejriwal stressed that the Centre should take control of all oxygen plants through the Army. During the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation, Kejriwal requested him to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital.

"People are in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi," he said during the meeting.

"We need a national plan to deal with the crisis. Centre government should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and every tanker coming out of the oxygen plant should be accompanied by an Army escort vehicle," he said.

"The oxygen supply scheduled to come to Delhi from Odisha and West Bengal should either be airlifted or brought through the Oxygen express started by the Centre," he said.

The Delhi chief minister also objected to different rates being charged from state governments and the Centre for the COVID-19 vaccine and said the "one nation, one rate" policy should be followed.

Prime Minister Modi held a meeting on Friday with chief ministers of 10 states with the most number of COVID-19 cases. The meeting via video conferencing comes amid a huge surge in coronavirus cases, which have now clocked a daily total of over 3 lakh in the country.

Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi are among those who attended the meeting.

PM Modi will hold a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conference amid concerns expressed by some states that their supply of the life-saving gas is running short with a number of hospitals sending out SOS.

With the COVID cases rising at a rapid pace in the country, PM Modi has been chairing regular meetings to review the situation. He had also addressed the nation on Tuesday.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, PM Modi had urged people to follow the right discipline to safeguard everyone against the novel coronavirus. He also urged states to let lockdown be the last resort and to instead focus on micro-containment zones to handle the pandemic.

Creating a world record of the highest single-day surge, India recorded 3,14,835 fresh coronavirus infections, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,59,30,965 on Thursday, as per data by the Health Ministry.

The country's total COVID-19 caseload climbed to over 1.59 crore, of which, 22.91 lakh (22,91,428) were active cases. India also witnessed 1,84,657 deaths due to the deadly infection.

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Few artists can convey infinity in a brushstroke or can tease out presence from the void. The source of Korean artist Lee Ufan's work begins in childhood, where he was raised with strict Confucian ideals and schooled in poetry and calligraphy.

In the early Sixties, having moved to Japan to study philosophy at Nihon University, he emerged from a creative milieu as a leader in the Mono-ha (School of Things) movement; an aesthetic theory that rejected Western modern art. The movement also explored the properties of natural and industrial materials to show their dismay at the rampant industrialization of Japan... - NOWNESS

9-year-old boy causes traffic accident in Japan

NHK - Jun 06

A 9-year-old boy has crashed a car into another vehicle in northern Japan, injuring himself and one other person. Police say no one else was in the car he was driving. A 9-year-old boy has crashed a car into another vehicle in northern Japan, injuring himself and one other person. Police say no one else was in the car he was driving.

Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life

Japan Times - Jun 06

Over the decades, gaming arcades in Japan have faced a series of challenges. Typically, theyve been in the realm of technology  namely high-tech video game consoles that first promised arcade machine-level graphics and then, eventually, surpassed them. Now, Japanese arcades are facing a new menace, one that the entire world has been combating: COVID-19. Over the decades, gaming arcades in Japan have faced a series of challenges. Typically, theyve been in the realm of technology  namely high-tech video game consoles that first promised arcade machine-level graphics and then, eventually, surpassed them. Now, Japanese arcades are facing a new menace, one that the entire world has been combating: COVID-19.

English teacher arrested in Japan for smuggling cannabis oil inside hair treatment bottles

soranews24.com - Jun 06

Despite cannabis becoming more widely accepted in many countries around the world, in Japan its still considered a major crime to have or use any amount. Despite cannabis becoming more widely accepted in many countries around the world, in Japan its still considered a major crime to have or use any amount.

7 Crazy Japanese Gifts

Vat19 - Jun 06

The White Elephant Show is BACK! And we're doing it in person! Thank you, science. In this episode of the White Elephant Show, our crew opens awesome gifts from Japan. The White Elephant Show is BACK! And we're doing it in person! Thank you, science. In this episode of the White Elephant Show, our crew opens awesome gifts from Japan.

Saitama police chief resigns after drunken theft of 5 rolls of toilet paper

tokyoreporter.com - Jun 04

SAITAMA (TR)  The chief of the Fukaya Police Station has resigned after an investigation revealed his alleged theft of toilet paper last month, police said on Thursday, reports TBS News SAITAMA (TR)  The chief of the Fukaya Police Station has resigned after an investigation revealed his alleged theft of toilet paper last month, police said on Thursday, reports TBS News

Boy suspected in murder of sex worker at love hotel planned suicide

tokyoreporter.com - Jun 04

A 19-year-old boy suspected in the murder of a sex worker at a love hotel in Tachikawa City earlier this week intended to commit suicide with her, police revealed on Tuesday, reports TBS News A 19-year-old boy suspected in the murder of a sex worker at a love hotel in Tachikawa City earlier this week intended to commit suicide with her, police revealed on Tuesday, reports TBS News

Japanese director among Cannes top prize nominees

NHK - Jun 04

Japanese Director Hamaguchi Ryusuke's "Drive My Car" has been nominated for the Cannes Film Festival's top prize. Japanese Director Hamaguchi Ryusuke's "Drive My Car" has been nominated for the Cannes Film Festival's top prize.

Police officer nabbed for allegedly stealing luxury watches

Kyodo - Jun 03

A 23-year-old police officer was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing luxury watches and a ring worth a total of about 10 million yen ($91,400) from a house in the central Japan prefecture of Mie, police said. A 23-year-old police officer was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing luxury watches and a ring worth a total of about 10 million yen ($91,400) from a house in the central Japan prefecture of Mie, police said.

Kumamoto: President of recycling firm nabbed for growing marijuana

tokyoreporter.com - Jun 02

KUMAMOTO (TR)  Kumamoto Prefectural Police have arrested the president of a recycling firm over the alleged possession and cultivation of marijuana in Yamaga City, reports Fuji News Network KUMAMOTO (TR)  Kumamoto Prefectural Police have arrested the president of a recycling firm over the alleged possession and cultivation of marijuana in Yamaga City, reports Fuji News Network

Everything Wrong with Japanese View on Cannabis

SHUNchan - Jun 01

I have been wanting to make this video, but didnt have big enough balls to go bald and actually do it. I have been wanting to make this video, but didnt have big enough balls to go bald and actually do it.

Speaking Japanese to Girls on Tokyo Streets: Our 14 Dogs Shock Entire City

Oriental Pearl - Jun 01

How do start a conversation with Japanese girls? Get some cute dogs of course! How do start a conversation with Japanese girls? Get some cute dogs of course!

Man, 52, admits to raping acquaintances 10-year-old daughter about 10 times

tokyoreporter.com - May 31

TOKYO (TR)  Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 52-year-old man who is suspected of repeatedly raping the elementary school-age daughter of an acquaintance eight years ago, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 31). TOKYO (TR)  Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 52-year-old man who is suspected of repeatedly raping the elementary school-age daughter of an acquaintance eight years ago, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 31).

Emperor gives online speech at tree-planting event

NHK - May 31

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako made an online appearance at a tree-planting festival in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, on Sunday. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako made an online appearance at a tree-planting festival in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, on Sunday.

15-year-old boy arrested after man stabbed in shopping center toilet

Japan Today - May 30

Police in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture, have arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder after he stabbed a 53-year-old man in the toilet of a shopping center. Police in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture, have arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder after he stabbed a 53-year-old man in the toilet of a shopping center.

Most young Tokyoites plan nonessential outings

NHK - May 30

A survey has found about three-quarters of young residents of Tokyo plan nonessential activities amid the coronavirus state of emergency. A survey has found about three-quarters of young residents of Tokyo plan nonessential activities amid the coronavirus state of emergency.
The central Chinese city of Wuhan, hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic early last year, notched up about 58.4 percent of GDP growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021.



The capital city of Hubei Province managed to stage a strong economic recovery after its GDP shrank by 40.5 percent year on year in the Q1 of 2020 due to a long-period lockdown to contain the epidemic.

In the first three months of 2021, Wuhan's GDP figure reached about 357.4 billion yuan (about 55 billion U.S. dollars), according to the municipal statistics bureau.

The city also reported an overwhelming year-on-year increase of 92.2 percent in its foreign trade during the period. Its exports climbed by 123.4 percent year on year to around 38.7 billion yuan in the period, while its imports gained nearly 68 percent to about 37.5 billion yuan.
SACRAMENTO Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today in response to President Bidens new greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the United States:

Here in California, climate policies and programs have cut carbon emissions, created jobs, catalyzed innovation, and spurred partnerships across the United States and around the world  all while prioritizing public health and equity. We have exceeded our 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target  four years ahead of schedule  while growing our economy 26 percent. We were the first state in the nation to implement a phase-out plan to end the sales of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 while building partnerships with major auto manufacturers to achieve these ambitious goals. With nationally recognized energy efficiency standards, Californians now use 31 percent less energy than the average American, and our appliance and building energy efficiency standards have resulted in $100 billion in consumer savings over the past 40 years.

President Joe Biden pledged Thursday to cut US emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent and meet that goal by 2030, Biden also called for cutting carbon dioxide output by 50 percent compared to 2005 emissions.
Bangladesh flood evacuation nodes. Credit: NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Rising sea levels and more powerful cyclonic storms, phenomena driven by the warming of oceans due to climate change, puts at immediate or potential risk an estimated 680 million people living in low-lying coastal zones (a number projected to reach more than one billion by 2050). In nations like Bangladesh these populations are already moving to escape sea-level rise.

In a new study, "Modeling human migration under environmental change: a case study of the effect of sea level rise in Bangladesh," researchers led by Maurizio Porfiri, an engineer at the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, apply data science to predict how the cascading effects of the migration in Bangladesh will ultimately affect 1.3 million people across the country by 2050. The work has implications for coastal populations worldwide.

The new study, co-authors of which include first author Pietro De Lellis, an engineer at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and Manuel Ruiz Marin, a mathematician at the Technical University of Cartagena, Spain, presents a mathematical model of human migration that considers not just economic factors but also human behaviorwhether people are unwilling or unable to leave and if they later return home. It also considers the cascading effects of migration, as migrants repeatedly move to find new opportunities, and original inhabitants are displaced. The research is published in Earth's Future, AGU's journal for interdisciplinary research on the past, present and future of our planet and its inhabitants

"We are not only looking at a snapshot, but we are trying to reconstruct the trajectory of the migration and looking at its evolution," said Porfiri, who is also an Institute Professor of mechanical and aerospace, biomedical, and civil and urban engineering at NYU Tandon.

According to the new model, the districts in the south along the Bay of Bengal will be the first to be impacted by sea-level rise, causing a migration that will ripple across the country and affect all 64 districts. Some migrants will likely be rejected by the existing residentsor displace themtriggering further migrations. While the population of the capital, Dhaka, initially will surge, the results suggest that movement away from the inundated capital region will ultimately cause its population to shrink.

Bangladesh is especially susceptible to sea-level rise because it is a low-lying country crisscrossed with rivers, and already experiences frequent flooding during the summer monsoon season. Its coastline on the Bay of Bengal measures about 580 kilometers (360 miles), with a large portion consumed by the Ganges river delta. An estimated 41 percent of its 163 million people live at elevations lower than 10 meters (about 32 feet).

The work follows upon a 2020 study by Porfiri and Ruiz Marin that examined population migrations in Bangladesh due to sea level rise as a way to verify an approach to detect spatial associations from small datasets, through the use of specific principles of information theory.

The authors emphasize that the new model can be used to study migration in response to any environmental disturbance that causes unrest, such as droughts, earthquakes or wildfires. Additionally, it is relatively simple and can make reliable predictions based on little data.

An earlier migration model using the same data predicted that the central region of Bangladesh, including its capital, Dhaka, would receive the greatest number of migrants. The new study agrees, but finds that the ripple effects from that migration will ultimately cause people to leave the capital, leading to a population decline.

Porfiri explained that the team's approach to mathematical modeling for reliably predicting environmental migration in Bangladesh can be applied anywhere.

"Droughts, desertification, floods, earthquakes, and wildfire threaten livelihood worldwide; from wealthy to developing economies, every country is vulnerable to environmental change," he said. "Mathematical models can assist in providing reliable predictions of environmental migration, which are critical for devising effective policy initiatives and improving our preparedness for future migration patterns."

De Lellis added that the outputs from the model can help governments plan and prepare for the impacts of environmental disturbances by allocating resources to the most hard-hit regions and ensuring that cities are adequately equipped to deal with the influx of environmental migrants.

"Mathematical modeling is the only way we have to ground our future decisions," said De Lellis. "Migration has lots of sources[environmental disasters,] political tensionsbut in the end, we need to use science to provide useful tools for decision-makers."

Explore further How will people move as climate changes?

More information: Pietro De Lellis et al. Modeling human migration under environmental change: a case study of the effect of sea level rise in Bangladesh, Earth's Future (2021). Pietro De Lellis et al. Modeling human migration under environmental change: a case study of the effect of sea level rise in Bangladesh,(2021). DOI: 10.1029/2020EF001931 Kyle Frankel Davis et al. A universal model for predicting human migration under climate change: examining future sea level rise in Bangladesh, Environmental Research Letters (2018). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aac4d4 Journal information: Environmental Research Letters
A Russian hacking group is claiming to have obtained schematics of several Apple products that are yet to be launched. The hackers are now demanding $50 million in ransom, otherwise, theyll leak all the designs that they have with them.

It is reported that the group got access to confidential data by conducting cyber-attacks on Quanta, one of Apples manufacturers that makes MacBooks and other products. The Taiwan-based third-party manufacturer has confirmed the data leak, according to a report by Bloomberg.

At first, the group named REvil tried to extort Quanta for the stolen confidential information. But the manufacturer refused to pay. After which, the hacking group went after Quantas largest client, Apple, leaking confidential images of Apple products that are yet to hit markets.

For proof, REvil leaked data on the dark web hours before Apples Spring Loaded event that was hosted virtually earlier this week. The hacking group published 21 screenshots depicting schematics of the recently launched slimmer iMac before its launch.

Besides the images of iMac, the group also posted photos of the M1 MacBook Air that was launched in 2020, and manufacturing diagrams of an unreleased laptop. Notably, all the diagrams had a warning that read: This is the property of Apple and it must be returned.

REvil has threatened that the group will leak new data every day until it gets paid $50 million ransom by May 1. The hackers are asking either Apple or Quanta to pay the ransom on time.

Quanta Computer is one of the leading third party manufacturers of consumer electronic devices. The companys clientele includes brands like HP, Dell, Microsoft, Toshiba, LG, Lenovo, among others. REvil claims that the company is having possession of data from other companies as well. Our team is negotiating the sale of large quantities of confidential drawings and gigabytes of personal data with several major brands, the hacking groups post on the darknet read.
Jabalpur: Five patients suffering from COVID-19 died at a hospital in Madhya Pradeshs Jabalpur allegedly due to shortage of oxygen.

The kin of the deceased have alleged that the oxygen supply was disrupted which led to the mishap.

The incident occurred on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday at Galaxy Hospital.

Five COVID-19 patients died in the ICU of the hospital after the stock of the medical oxygen got over according to the family members of the deceased, City Superintendent of Police (Kotwali area) Dipak Mishra was quoted as saying by PTI.

The police arrived at the hospital after hearing the cries of the family members of the deceased patients outside the facility.

"They complained that their loved ones died due to the lack of oxygen supply as the stock got exhausted," the CSP said.

The hospital was waiting for the supply of 10 oxygen cylinders late Thursday, but the vehicle transporting them allegedly broke down.

A police team was rushed to the private agency to collect the cylinders.

"A vehicle was arranged and 10 medical oxygen cylinders were brought to the hospital," Mishra said.

The family members have urged the police to conduct an inquiry into the matter. The police officials are waiting for a written complaint to start a probe.

BJP MLA and former health minister Ajay Vishnoi blamed poor management of the private hospital for the incident.

"Poor management of the private hospital over the oxygen supply led to the incident, Vishnoi said.

The hospital should have made arrangement for the supply of medical oxygen in advance considering the requirement. There is no shortage of medical oxygen in Jabalpur district, he added.

Hospitals across the country have complained of shortage of oxygen used in treatment of coronavirus.

Live TV
Rambouillet: A man fatally stabbed a police administrative worker as she walked into a police station in a Paris commuter town on Friday, and President Emmanuel Macron said France had again been the victim of a terrorist attack.

The attacker stabbed the woman in the throat, two security sources said.

Macron identified the victim as Stephanie and said the nation stood by her family`s side.

"We will stop at nothing in our resolute fight against Islamist terrorism," Macron tweeted from his presidential jet as he flew back from Chad. The attacker was shot dead by police officers.

France`s anti-terror prosecutor said he was leading the investigation because the assailant had previously scouted out the site and because of what he said during the attack.

A judicial source close to the investigation said the attacker had shouted "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest".

The attacker was a Tunisian national residing in France on legitimate papers, the security officials said. BFM TV reported that he had lived in France illegally before obtaining a residency card, which was due to expire later this year.

He was not previously known to France`s intelligence agencies, a third security source added.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said France had lost an "everyday heroine" to an act of infinite cowardice.

FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIST EXTREMISM

The police station was located on a leafy residential street in Rambouillet, a middle-class town about 50 km (31 miles) southwest of Paris.

The victim had two daughters, said Michel Camboulives, whose partner was a colleague and close friend of the victim. He said his partner described her as an adorable woman.

"I don`t know how such things happen here," Camboulives said. "I mean, we`re in France."

"My partner`s just in pieces. This was her best friend. She couldn`t speak on the phone ... She was saying: `It could have been me, or it ought to have been me`."

France has seen several attacks by Islamist militants or Islamist-inspired individuals in recent years that have killed about 250 people.

Friday`s attack came six months after a Chechen teenager beheaded a school teacher in Conflans, another Paris satellite town.

Macron has expressed increasing concern over radicalisation - often non-violent - within Muslim communities, warning that Islamist separatism is threatening to take control in some areas.

He has called for an "enlightened Islam" in France, saying Islam and radical Islamism must not be conflated.

Tackling religious extremism, domestic security and notions of French identity are likely to be important issues in next year`s presidential election.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right and the strongest challenger to Macron`s re-election bid, said the police needed more protection.

"Support the police, expel illegal immigrants, eradicate Islamism," she tweeted.
Editor: The flames of partisan tribalism have infected politics since the 1800 election between Federalist John Adams and his Democrat-Republican rival Thomas Jefferson.

While tensions between political parties ebb and flow, often they have coexisted as loyal opposition to one another, ultimately moving America toward its ideal of becoming a more perfect union. Unfortunately, over the past three decades, with brief exceptions, the leadership and radical wings of the Republican and Democratic parties, inflamed by cable network talking heads, baseless claims questioning basic institutions and more recently conspiracy theorists, have cast those in the other party as un-American and even an enemy of the people over policy differences.

Too many members of Congress, while they may privately agree, are unwilling to take principled stands when controversial legislation originating from the other party emerges, even when it is overwhelmingly supported by their constituents.

Childish name-calling, dead on arrival pronunciations and making someone a one-term president have become catch phrases, drowning out attempts to find common ground and seek compromises on such fundamental and important issues as immigration, health care, voting rights, the environment, climate change, gun safety and justice reform.

Perhaps, while Republicans and Democrats differ significantly on immigration reform, they could strike a modest deal where, in exchange for providing a path to citizenship for those protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, additional miles of border wall would be built. Both sides of the political divide could claim victory without acrimony.

Rather than digging in their heels and demanding all-or-nothing results, the president and members of Congress should spend less time posturing and more time respectfully hearing from, talking to and working with one another. A continued unwillingness to compromise must no longer be an option.

Is it wishful idealism? Yes, until Americans expect and demand no less from them.

DICK NEWBERT

LANGHORNE,

BUCKS COUNTY

Editor: I agree with Nancy Non (Emulate Georgia, April 14) when she asserts that what went on in Pennsylvania in the last election should never happen again.

What Non fails to understand or admit, though, is that the fault lies with Pennsylvanias Republican majority in our bloated General Assembly. Republicans refused to allow earlier counting of legal, mailed-in ballots, as Gov. Tom Wolf requested, while they knew that many Pennsylvanians would cast votes safely and legally, by mail, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Republican majority would only allow the mailed ballots to be counted after the polls closed in the commonwealth.

Meanwhile, Georgias voter intimidation laws will only strengthen the resolve of all people in Georgia who believe in free and fair elections. As for emulating Georgia, I think not.

TERRY PIDGEON

OLYPHANT

Editor: George Clark wrote an elaborate dissertation on the voting protocols adopted by the state of Georgia (Boost ballot access, April 11).

What is most glaring is his omission regarding voter identification. Obviously, he must buy into the narrative spun by some leading Washington denizens that everyone should vote, which I take loosely to mean illegals, felons, dead people, dreamers and other nondescript persons, all purchased by the Democratic National Committee.

You need ID for most anything these days. All of the tinkering around the edges goes away and would give credibility to honest elections.

A definition of an honest voter is, Once he is bought he stays bought. Save the right to establish voting rules. Its called states rights, the cornerstone of a republic.

J.P. DURKIN

PITTSON

Editor: In the wake of a recent police shooting in Minnesota, the mayor of Brooklyn Center, Mike Elliott, said, I dont believe that officers need to necessarily have weapons every time theyre making a traffic stop.

He made this ridiculous statement even though traffic stops are notoriously dangerous for police officers. The Supreme Court, for instance, said in 1997 that traffic stops were inherently dangerous. Every vehicle stop is unique. A 2011 FBI report on law enforcement officers killed and assaulted indicated that 11 officers lost their lives during traffic stops. In 2019, six were killed conducting traffic violation stops and 15 officers died in ambush situations, some involving vehicles.

Now Elliott has been quoted a saying that gassing is not a human way of policing. He did not agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs against demonstrators. Well, when protesters throw projectiles, such as frozen water bottles, set off fireworks and point laser beams at police, it is not a human way of peacefully demonstrating.

Obviously, this mayor is no friend to law enforcement.

EDWARD ZINDELL

JERMYN

Editor: If Democrats feel that the Supreme Court is out of balance, there are other ways of fixing it, without adding more justices.

Of the nine seats on the court, only three are filled by women, resulting in women being disproportionately represented. Both the male and female genders should fluctuate between four and five members of the court  no more and no less, at any given time.

No doubt, we also need more people of color. So as seats open up, it is up to the sitting president to bring more balance to the court.

JOANN LEE FRANK

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA

Editor: If we have room on military bases to house migrant children, how come, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are 60,000 homeless veterans, hungry and cold, sleeping on the streets?

FRED SWINGLE

CARBONDALE
The former NDC MP for Adenta Constituency, Hon. Kojo Adu-Asare has expressed deep frustrations about the internal bickering at ECG in the face of periodic power cuts in selected places in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.



With a stern voice, Hon. Adu-Asare chastised the staff of ECG for not focusing their energies and time on finding lasting solutions to the systemic problems that have bedeviled ECG for ages but rather misapplying their energies to fuel unnecessary rancour among stakeholders.



We are not in normal times; we are battling with a pandemic and Dumsor in some parts of the country and instead of ECG workers to focus on crafting innovative ideas for the efficient running of the organization, they are rather holding press conferences to talk about staff canteen built by the MD in the Asokwa District. What Ghanaians need from ECG is power in their homes and work places and not internal bickering Hon. Adu Asare has said.



For the past two weeks, a faction of ECG workers have waged a serious campaign against their MD, Mr. Kwame Agyeman-Budu, asking for his dismissal from office on alleged charges of corporate governance infractions.



This comes at the back of issues of power cuts to some areas in Greater Accra and Ashanti region due to the ongoing works on the transmission lines by GridCo.



Three days ago, ECG released a timetable to guide the disruptions in power supply in parts of the Greater Accra Region. This follows what it says are ongoing system improvement works on the Pokuase Bulk Supply Point. The timetable which kicked in on Monday, May 10, 2021 is expected to end on May 17, 2021.



He has thus, encouraged the ECG workers to rather work assiduously to keep up with the time table in order not to unduly distract business and domestic activities of Ghanaians in the affected areas.

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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I am conscious of the fact that I will be the main target [of Pashinians attacks] and am proud of having deserved this regimes hatred, Kocharian told supporters at an indoor meeting held earlier this week.

The elections will be bipolar, he said in remarks publicized on Friday. What the authorities are doing now with regard to me or a possible alliance to be led by me is propaganda directed at me. They are thereby contributing to the formation of this pole.

Kocharian again accused Pashinian of misrule and incompetence which he said led to Armenias defeat in last years in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Its going to be like that on all fronts. The government dodging responsibility must be stripped of power as soon as possible, he said.

Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker and close Pashinian associate, shrugged off the ex-presidents claims, saying that the ruling political team does not regard him as a major election contender. His chances of returning to power are very slim, Simonian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

Simonian said this is why Kocharian has failed to cobble together a broad-based electoral alliance. He argued that opposition groups such as businessman Gagik Tsarukians Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) and the former ruling Republican Party have declined to team up with the ex-president.

Kocharian did not shed light on the composition of his bloc. He said only that it will start campaigning immediately Pashinian steps down to pave the way for the early elections aimed at ending the post-war political crisis in Armenia.

The Yerevan daily Hraparak claimed on Friday that Pashinian is again having second thoughts about holding the elections after visiting southeastern Syunik province and facing angry protests there on Wednesday. It said he is now negotiating with Tsarukian on the possibility of cancelling the vote and striking a power-sharing deal instead.

Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of Pashinians My Step bloc, denied the newspaper report. There have been no discussions on election cancellation not only with other parties but also within our political team, she told journalists.

Another senior My Step lawmaker, Nazeli Baghdasarian, said Pashinian will likely tender his pre-election resignation next week.
[April 23, 2021] Panasonic Accelerates the Autonomous Supply Chain with Acquisition of Blue Yonder

Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Blue Yonder, the leading end-to-end, digital fulfillment platform provider. Panasonic (News - Alert) will purchase the remaining 80% of shares (for USD5.6 billion) of Blue Yonder, adding to the 20% which Panasonic acquired in July 2020. Including repayment of outstanding debt the additional investment totals USD7.1 billion, valuing Blue Yonder at USD8.5 billion. An agreement to purchase the remaining shares of Blue Yonder was reached today between Panasonic and the existing shareholders New Mountain Capital and funds managed by Blackstone. Acquisition Accelerates Autonomous Supply ChainTM

The need for more intelligent, autonomous and edge-aware supply chains has been dramatically heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of e-commerce and the proliferation of data. This acquisition strengthens Panasonic's portfolio and accelerates the companies' shared Autonomous Supply Chain mission, empowering customers to optimize their supply chains using the combined power of AI/ML and IoT and edge devices. By unifying supply, demand and commerce solutions with IoT and edge technologies, companies can better utilize predictive business insights to pivot their operations in real-time. Combining Panasonic's strength in industrial engineering, IoT and edge technologies with Blue Yonder's AI/ML-driven supply chain and commerce solutions greatly intensifies the customer value of Blue Yonder's leading digital fulfillment platform. Together, Panasonic and Blue Yonder will deliver a unique competitive advantage for customers to drive more automation and actionable, real-time business insights that reduce waste and improve operations, while creating a more sustainable world. This acquisition builds on the Panasonic/Blue Yonder strategic relationship, established in January 2019 with a partnership, followed by the creation of a joint venture company in Japan in November 2019. In July 2020, Panasonic took a 20% minority ownership stake and one seat on the Board of Directors of Blue Yonder. This acquisition brings the strategic relationship full circle. Blue Yonder: The Pioneer in AI/ML-Driven Supply Chain

Blue Yonder is a supply chain industry leader, providing an end-to-end platform driven by AI/ML that serves as a "system of intelligence" for its global retail, manufacturing and logistics customers. Its cloud-basedLuminateTM platform seamlessly manages all nodes of the supply chain across planning, execution and commerce on one unified platform.



For the year ended December 31, 2020, total company revenue was over USD1 billion, 67% of which was recurring revenue. As of December 31, 2020, SaaS (News - Alert) annual recurring revenue was USD343 million and SaaS net revenue retention rate was 120%. Acquisition Accelerates Panasonic's Supply Chain and Automation Strategic Focus

This acquisition enhances Panasonic's own digital transformation and customer-centric focus. On April 1, 2022, the Panasonic Group will shift to a holding company system concentrating management resources on strategic businesses in key areas such as providing supply chain innovation and automation.

Yasuyuki Higuchi is the CEO of Panasonic's Connected Solutions Company (to become Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd. on April 1, 2022) which leads this business area. Blue Yonder CEO Girish Rishi and the extended leadership team will join the new organization and the Blue Yonder brand will be retained and business will function within the Panasonic Connected Solutions Company umbrella. Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi stated, "I'm extremely happy to welcome Blue Yonder and its associates to the Panasonic Group. Both companies have the same mission to support customers' frontline operations and we have a high affinity in our corporate cultures. By merging the two companies, we would like to realize a world where waste is autonomously eliminated from all supply chain operations and the cycle of sustainable improvement continues. There are still many such losses and stagnation in supply chain operations, so through the drastic reduction of wasted labor and resources, we would like to provide better ways of working, and contribute to customers' management reform and also to the realization of a sustainable society by carefully using limited global resources. I am confident that by combining the power of Blue Yonder and Panasonic, we can create innovation in global supply chains." Girish Rishi, CEO of Blue Yonder stated, "I am thrilled to announce that Blue Yonder is joining Panasonic. This association came about as a result of three years of working together, first with Panasonic as a Blue Yonder customer and thereafter as joint venture partner. We have developed mutual trust and have a shared vision for an Autonomous Supply Chain that delivers a better life and a better world. As the essential platform for essential times, we are relentlessly focused in fulfilling our customers' potential." Peter Masucci, Managing Director of New Mountain Capital stated, "We first began building Blue Yonder over 10 years ago, and the company has grown significantly since then. We're proud to have supported the company's transformation into the world's leading end-to-end, digital fulfillment platform provider. We thank Blue Yonder's management team and associates, Blackstone, and Panasonic for their partnership with New Mountain in this process." Martin Brand, Senior Managing Director of Blackstone stated, "We are proud to have partnered with New Mountain Capital and Panasonic to support Girish and his team in their transformation of Blue Yonder into the supply chain SaaS leader through accelerated investment in innovation and machine learning capabilities. The company will have a bright future as part of the Panasonic Group." The transaction has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both Panasonic and Blue Yonder. The deal is intended to close by the second half of this fiscal year and is subject to receipt of customary regulatory approvals. For related IR disclosure and presentation materials, please see:

https://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/ir/presentation.html About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a global leader developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B sectors. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018, operates 528 subsidiaries and 72 associated companies worldwide and reported consolidated net sales of 7.49 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2020. Committed to pursuing new value through collaborative innovation, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for customers. Learn more about Panasonic:

https://www.panasonic.com/global "Blue Yonder" is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name "Blue Yonder" is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005196/en/

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Credit: Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ (Tiaki reference number 1/4-009458-G)

We think we know a lot about Australian and New Zealand soldiers' health in the first world war. Many books, novels and television programs speak of wounds and war doctors, documenting the work of both Anzac nations' medical corps.

Often these histories begin with front-line doctorsknown as regimental medical officerswho first reached wounded men in the field. The same histories often end in the hospital or at home.

Yet, much of first world war medicine began and ended with the soldiers themselves. Australian and New Zealand soldiers (alongside their British and Canadian counterparts) cared for their own health in the trenches of the Western Front and along the cliffs of Gallipoli.

This "vernacular" medicine spread from solider to soldier by word of mouth, which they then recorded in diaries and letters home. It spread through written texts, such as trench newspapers and magazines, and through constant experimentation.

Soldiers presented a unique understanding of their experiences of illness, developed their own health practices, and formed their own medical networks. This formed a unique type of medical system.

What was this type of medicine like?

Soldiers' vernacular medicine becomes clear when looking at one significant example of war diseasesinfestation with body licewhich caused trench fever and typhus.

The men's understandings of the effect of lice on the body often contrasted to that of medical professionals.

Soldiers described lice as a daily nuisance rather than vectors of disease. The men sitting in the trenches were preoccupied with addressing the immediate and constant discomfort caused by lice, whereas medical researchers and doctors were more concerned with losing manpower from lice-borne disease.

Many men focused on the endless itching, which some said drove them almost mad.

Corporal George Bollinger, a New Zealand bank clerk from Hastings, said: "the frightful pest 'lice' is our chief worry now."

Australian Private Arthur Giles shuddered when he wrote home about the lice, noting it: "makes me scratch to think of them."

Soldiers experimented

Soldiers' reactions to lice, as a shared community, inspired them to experiment and share practical ideas of how to manage their itchy burdens. This included developing their own method of bathing.

When New Zealand Corporal Charles Saunders descended the cliffs to the beaches around Anzac Cove, he would "dive down and nudge a handful of sand from the bottom and rub it over [his] skin," letting "the saltwater dry on one in the sun." He also rubbed the sand across his uniform hoping to kill some of the lice eggs in the seams of his shirt and pants.

In some locations, fresh water was scarce and reserved for drinking. Without access to water, soldiers' extermination methods became more offbeat, creative and original.

Five soldiers delousing ('chatting') their infested clothing outside their tents. Credit: Australian War Memorial (photograph C00748)

Men sourced lice-exterminating powders, such as Keating's and Harrison's, from patent providersretail pharmaceutical sellers in the UK or back home in Australia and New Zealandand rubbed various oils over their bodies.

Yet, one of the most popular extermination methods was "chatting"popping the louse between the thumbnails.

An Australian bootmaker, Lieutenant Allan McMaster, told his family in Newcastle it was "amusing indeed to see all the boys at the first minute they have to spare, to strip off altogether and have what we call a chating [sic] parade."

Corporal Bert Jackson, an orchardist from Upper Hawthorn in Melbourne, took his "shirt off and had a hunt, and then put it on inside out." He said that if he "missed any, the beggars will have a job to get to the skin again."

Soldiers shared their knowledge

These soldiers shared their practices via their own medical networks, such as trench newspapers.

For instance, soldiers wrote humorous poems that also educated their fellow men. Australian Lance Corporal TA Saxon joked about lice-exterminating powders in his poem A Dug-Out Lament:

"[] They're in our tunics, and in our shirts,

"They take a power of beating,

"So for goodness sake, if you're sending us cake, Send also a tin of Keating."

One image from the trench newspaper "Aussie: the Australian soldiers' magazine" came with the caption "Chatting by the Wayside" that drew on the well-trod joke about the double meaning of the word chatting.

What can we learn?

Reflecting on these often-overlooked aspects of the past helps us rethink medicine today.

For marginal groups in particular, access to professional health care can, and has often been, an expensive, alienating, or culturally foreign and abrasive task. So even in today's globalised world, networks of non-professional medicine are as active as ever.

With many people isolated and at the mercy of much conflicting information, informal medical networks (often found on social media) present an opportunity to allay fears and swap information in a similar manner to how Anzac soldiers communicated via trench newspapers.

Perhaps some forms of vernacular medicine are occurring right under our noses.

Explore further Trench fever in urban people who are homeless

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Evidence in Chauvin case contradicted first police statement View Photo

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Moments after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in George Floyds death, copies of the original Minneapolis police statement began recirculating on social media. It attributed Floyds death to medical distress and made no mention that the Black man had been pinned to the ground at the neck by Chauvin, or that hed cried out that he couldnt breathe.

Many were posting the release to highlight the distance between the initial police narrative and the evidence that led to the conviction Tuesday, including excruciating video shot by a teenage bystander of Chauvin with his knee on Floyds neck, even after Floyd had stopped moving.

And while Chauvins conviction is a high-profile case of video rebutting initial police statements, criminal justice experts and police accountability advocates say the problem of inaccurate initial reports  especially in fatal police encounters  is widespread.

If it wasnt for this 17-year-old who took the video, Derek Chauvin would in all likelihood still be on the police force training officers, said Andre Johnson, a University of Memphis professor of communication studies. Sadly, this has been going on for a while, and its just now coming to light for a lot of Americans because of video evidence.

For their part, police officials say they give the most accurate information they can during fast-moving and complicated investigations. But the frequency with which misleading information is published cannot be ignored, critics say.

In 2014, the New York Police Departments narrative of Eric Garners death was that hed gone into cardiac arrest. It made no mention of an officers extended chokehold on Garner, shown in a bystander video that captured repeated pleas that he couldnt breathe. A grand jury declined to indict the since-fired officer Daniel Pantaleo, who said he was using a legal maneuver called a seat belt.

A year later, then-policeman Michael Slager said he shot Walter Scott because hed grabbed for the officers stun gun. But bystander video of the North Charleston, South Carolina, shooting showed Slager chase Scott after he fled a traffic stop and fatally shoot him in the back. Slager was charged with murder in state court, but released after a hung jury. He later pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations.

As the chorus of complaints about misinformation on such interactions grows, so do calls for body cameras for police. Roughly 80% of departments with 500 officers or more are now using cameras, but video storage can be costly.

Official police video is also increasingly showing discrepancies in initial police narratives, though generally the images are withheld for days or sometimes months during internal investigations.

Chicago police were ordered by a court to release dashcam video of the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald more than 13 months after the shooting. It was initially ruled a justified shooting based on an officer narrative that McDonald had approached police while refusing to drop a knife. The video showed then-officer Jason Van Dyke shooting the teen 16 times as he walked away. Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Johnson said it shouldnt take video evidence of Black Americans being mistreated or killed for people to support policing changes. He noted that when there is video evidence, its often scrutinized and still rejected by some as fake or deceptive.

Why does it have to take the video evidence, the activism, the testimony? asked Johnson, who is Black. It takes all that because since the inception of policing, we as Americans have taken the police at their word. But this is nothing new to communities of color.

The question is, Have police now begun to lose the default position that theyre truthful? he said. I think its beginning to erode.

Police and prosecutors in several cities have released body camera videos more quickly after recent fatal encounters. Some experts say thats in part to quell the potential for large-scale protests against racial injustice and police brutality that took place nationwide after Floyds death. Others say its a move to regain the trust of the community amid demands for transparency.

Officials in Columbus, Ohio, released initial body camera footage of the fatal police shooting of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant just hours after it happened Tuesday. More footage released Wednesday showed a chaotic scene where the teen charged at two people with a knife.

The release was a departure from the Columbus Division of Police protocol, and it came as the agency faces immense public scrutiny following two other high-profile killings by city police and one by the county sheriffs department in Columbus since Dec. 3.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, a district attorney came under fire for initially refusing to release body camera video after an officer shot and killed a student in a Knoxville high school April 12.

Activists, political leaders and media outlets had demanded that Knox County District Attorney Charme Allens office release the footage.

Just hours after Knoxville police officer Jonathon Clabough fatally shot 17-year-old Anthony J. Thompson Jr., Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the teen had fired shots as officers entered the bathroom, striking an officer.

But, after Allen released the video Wednesday to comply with a judges order, it showed Thompson was holding a handgun in his sweatshirt front pocket, fired only one shot and didnt strike any of the four officers. It was Clabough who accidentally shot fellow Officer Adam Wilson during the scuttle, officials said.

Allen told reporters she had spoken extensively with Thompsons family, who begged her not to release the video so close to his funeral.

My preference would be not to do this today, but Im under pressure from you (the media), from politicians and activist groups, she said. I get it. You should be able to see the video. I just think the timing, we have to come up with a better process.

In Minneapolis, police spokesperson John Elder previously told The Associated Press that he did not visit the scene on May 25, 2020, as he usually does after major events, and he was not able to review body camera footage of Floyds death for several hours. Elder released the initial description after being briefed by supervisors, who he learned later also had not been to the scene.

After the bystander video surfaced, the department realized the statement was inaccurate and immediately requested an FBI investigation, he said. By then, state investigators had taken over, and he was unable to issue a corrected statement.

I will never lie to cover up the actions of somebody else, Elder said.

___

Associated Press writers David Klepper in Providence, R.I., and Kimberlee Kruesi in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.

By CLAUDIA LAUER

Associated Press
An alternate juror on the Derek Chauvin trial told a local news that she "did not want to go through rioting and destruction again" and "was concerned about people coming to [her] house if they were not happy with the verdict."



The juror, Lisa Christensen, also revealed how the riots which broke out in Brooklyn Center in the middle of the trial were right by her house.

Tensions between police and some protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Daunte Wright, 20, said that he was shot by police in Plymouth on Sunday afternoon before getting back into his car and driving to Brooklyn Center, where he crashed the car and was pronounced dead. pic.twitter.com/9h8QBNKMcx  Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) April 12, 2021



"When I came home, I could hear the helicopters flying over my house... I could hear the flash bangs going off," Christensen said. "If I stepped outside, I could see the smoke from the grenades. One day, the trial ran a little late, and I had trouble getting to my house, because the protesters were blocking the interstate, so I had to go way around."





JUST IN - #BLM crowd starting to jump on police cars after officer-involved shooting in #Minneapolispic.twitter.com/ZgVqapnair  Disclose.tv  (@disclosetv) April 12, 2021



This is the clearest picture yet of the terroristic intimidation jurors faced to ensure Chauvin was found guilty in what was fundamentally a rigged show trial.



That the trial was not moved out of Minneapolis is a sick joke but since Charlottesville this has become the new normal.



From KARE 11, "'I wish it didn't have to happen': Alternate juror reflects on Derek Chauvin trial":

MINNEAPOLIS  A woman who sat as an alternate on the jury that found Derek Chauvin guilty in George Floyd's murder is speaking out about what it was like to parse through nearly three weeks of testimony in the former Minneapolis officer's high-profile trial.



Brooklyn Center resident Lisa Christensen told KARE 11's Lou Raguse about her role on the jury, as another police killing unfolded in her neighborhood.



Christensen, who lives in the city where a white officer shot and killed a 20-year-old Black man during a traffic stop this month, said that if she had been part of deliberations, she would've found Chauvin guilty. But Christensen had no idea that she was one of two alternates until the judge dismissed her right before the 12 jurors were sequestered.



Raguse: Did you know that you were going to be an alternate in this case?



Christensen: No, I did not.



Raguse: Were you disappointed when you found out that you were an alternate?



Christensen: I was. I spent three weeks of my time, getting invested and going through all kinds of emotions. My heart broke a little when he turned and said, Number 96, youre an alternate."



Raguse: When you made it on the jury, how much did you know about the case and what were your thoughts on being a part of it?



Christensen: I saw the video, but not in its entirety. I saw it two or three times on the news. I do not use social media, so I did not post anything or see anything on there.



Raguse: You are the perfect juror in that aspect. You came in with about as clean a slate as somebody can have, considering how big of a case this was.



Christensen: Yeah, I did tell them that I saw the settlement run across the bottom of the screen one day.



Raguse: What did that settlement mean to you?



Christensen: I knew it was a separate case. I knew civil cases are different with different rules, so it did not affect me. I was not surprised there was a settlement, but I was surprised they announced it beforehand.



Raguse: Did you want to be a juror?



Christensen: I had mixed feelings. There was a question on the questionnaire about it and I put I did not know. The reason, at that time, was I did not know what the outcome was going to be, so I felt like either way you are going to disappoint one group or the other. I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again and I was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict.



[...] Raguse: There was another police shooting in your hometown during the trial. Did that impact you at all?



Christensen: It did not impact me as far as the trial went. However, only being about six blocks from the police department, I could hear everything. When I came home, I could hear the helicopters flying over my house... I could hear the flash bangs going off. If I stepped outside, I could see the smoke from the grenades. One day, the trial ran a little late, and I had trouble getting to my house, because the protesters were blocking the interstate, so I had to go way around. I was aware, but it did not affect me at all.

KARE 11 did not include Christensen's statements detailing what amounts to jury intimidation in their video report.







There's no reason to assume her fears were unique. All the jurors who ultimately ruled on the case were facing similar threats.





1/2: Vandals hurl decapitated pigs head & animal blood at one-time home of former @SantaRosaPolice Ofc. Barry Brodd, who recently testified for the defense in ex-@MinneapolisPD Ofc. Derek Chauvins murder trial in the death of George Floyd. Hand statue at @santarosaplaza hit too pic.twitter.com/2DUziho4t3  Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 18, 2021

UPDATE: Its potential that they freshly slaughtered a pig to accomplish this, per @JRKuckerLT re vandals hurling pig head & blood at one-time home of ex-@SantaRosaPolice Ofc. Barry Brodd (pic) who defended ex-@MinneapolisPD Ofc. Derek Chauvins conduct in George Floyd case pic.twitter.com/tCJY19FtHk  Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 20, 2021



Judge Peter Cahill threatened twice to declare a mistrial but refused to follow through -- no doubt out of fear -- and ultimately knelt before the mob.



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By The Corbett Report

Welcome to New World Next Week  the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news. This week:

Story #1: Philip Zelikow, Former Exec. Dir. Of 9/11 Commission, To Chair Covid Commission

https://news.virginia.edu/content/qa-philip-zelikow-911-commission-leader-take-stock-covid-lessons

Zelikow Search On Corbett Report

https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=Zelikow

Zelikow Search On Media Monarchy

https://mediamonarchy.com/?s=Zelikow

Story #2: $74,000 NYPD Robot Dog Hits Streets Of Manhattan

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/74000-nypd-robot-dog-hits-streets-of-manhattan

Video: NYPD Robot Dog Hits Streets Of Manhattan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4hQ87u6S40

Robot Dog Enforces Social Distancing In Singapore Park (May 11, 2020)

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-52619568

Self-Disinfecting Grocery Delivery Robots Hit The Streets Of Singapore

https://www.nyoooz.com/features/technology/selfdisinfecting-grocery-delivery-robots-hit-the-streets-of-singapore.html/5753/

Robotic Dog To Guide The Blind And Visually Impaired

https://theindependent.sg/robotic-dog-to-guide-the-blind-and-visually-impaired/

Giant, Armed Robots Loom Over Streets Of Rebel-Controlled Donetsk As Ukraine Tensions Rise

https://www.the-sun.com/news/2704419/armed-robots-loom-streets-rebel-controlled-donetsk/

Media Monarchys Trend Prediction For 2021: Scamdemic Paves The Way For Smart Gridification

https://mediamonarchy.com/nwnw432-video/

Story #3: Company Sells Sex Robot Clones Of Dead Partners Using 3D-Modeling

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/company-sells-sex-robot-clones-dead-partners-using-3d-modeling-technology

Dont Date Robots!

https://youtu.be/BtqGTn7PCBw

This Sex Doll Rants About How Despicable The Human Race Is

https://nypost.com/2021/04/20/this-sex-doll-rants-about-how-despicable-the-human-race-is/

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RTHK: Alexei Navalny says he's ending hunger strike

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Friday he was ending a 24-day hunger strike he launched to demand medical treatment behind bars, after allies said his life was in danger.

The announcement came after Navalny's personal doctors said on Thursday that he had received treatment at a civilian hospital and urged him to put a stop to his protest.

"Taking into account the progress and all the circumstances, I am beginning to end my hunger strike," President Vladimir Putin's best-known critic said in an Instagram post.

He said that the process would take him 24 days, writing: "They say it's even harder" than the hunger strike.

Navalny's protest in prison had raised the stakes in a standoff between Putin and Western leaders, who said Russia would face repercussions if the Kremlin's most outspoken opponent died in detention.

The 44-year-old trained lawyer announced the hunger strike in his penal colony on March 31, demanding to see an independent doctor for pain in his back and numbness in his arms and legs.

He was thrown behind bars in February for more than two years on old embezzlement charges, just weeks after he returned to Moscow from Germany where he had been recuperating from a poisoning attack that nearly left him dead.

He blames Russian authorities for the attack with nerve agent Novichok, a claim the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.

His allies had demanded he be allowed access to proper treatment and warned in mid-April he could suffer cardiac arrest "at any moment", calling on the authorities to move him to intensive care.

Medical professionals including Navalny's personal doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva made several attempts earlier this month to visit him, but were either detained or turned away.

Navalny said he was guided in his decision by the recommendation of his doctors, whom he "completely trusts", and the fact that some of his supporters also went on hunger strike in solidarity.

"Friends, my heart is full of love and gratitude for you, but I do not want for anybody to suffer because of me," he said.

He added that he had been twice seen by civilian doctors and is getting medical tests, but he stressed he still wanted to see an independent doctor, pointing to the numbness in his limbs.

Thousands of Russians took to the streets of more than 100 cities across the country on Wednesday to demand that Navalny be released from detention and given medical treatment.

The Kremlin downplayed the rallies, which saw nearly 2,000 people detained, but Navalny's allies on Thursday credited public pressure and the protests as having played a key role in securing proper care for the opposition figure.

Navalny's deteriorating condition in the penal colony 100 kilometres east of Moscow drew sharp condemnation from Western countries where leaders called for Navalny to be hospitalised and ultimately released from prison.

US President Joe Biden, who has sought to challenge Russia on a broad range of disagreements including the Ukraine conflict, warned Russia it would face repercussions if Navalny died in jail.

The European Union, United States and other Western countries hit Moscow a series of penalties for the decision to imprison Navalny and his poisoning in Siberia last year. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Security authorities in the Siberian cities of Kemerovo and Novosibirsk say they have apprehended an unspecified number of alleged supporters of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group.

Human rights groups have criticized the government's "abuse" of counterterrorism laws and the use of "secret witnesses" and other methods in prosecuting critics and religious groups to silence dissent.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said on April 21 that alleged members of the group that was banned in the country in 2003 "carried out anti-constitutional activities based on the doctrine of the creation of a world caliphate."

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is also banned in Central Asia, says its movement is peaceful.

The FSB did not say how many suspects have been apprehended.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global organization based in London that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate, but it says its methods for reaching that goal are peaceful.

Russia's detention of some younger alleged members of the group has sparked protests by parents who say their children have been arrested on political grounds.

Based on reporting by TASS and Rossiiskaya Gazeta
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her lobbying for Wirecard during a 2019 visit to China, telling a parliamentary committee that the payments company received no special treatment and that it was in Germany's interest to promote its businesses.

Mrs Merkel said Wirecard's aim of entering the Chinese market overlapped with the best interests of the German economy as a whole.

The company later collapsed in an accounting scandal.

'Despite all the press reports, there was no reason to assume serious irregularities at Wirecard' at the time of the China trip, German news agency dpa quoted the chancellor as telling the committee.

Merkel's appearance marked the climax of a public inquiry into an affair that has tainted Germany's reputation for rectitude, exposed ties between politics and business and prompted resignations and criminal investigations.

The government has said that Merkel did not know at the time of the irregularities at Wirecard, which has since been dismantled after its disclosure of a 1.9billion euro (1.6billion) financial hole triggered its insolvency.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her lobbying for Wirecard during a 2019 visit to China

Merkel told a parliamentary committee that the payments company received no special treatment and that it was in Germany's interest to promote its businesses on Thursday

Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story, although few really understood it.

The company filed for protection from creditors through insolvency proceedings in June after admitting that 1.9 billion euros (1.65 billion) supposedly held in trust accounts in the Philippines probably did not exist.

Prosecutors in Munich are investigating the company's former chief executive, Markus Braun, on suspicion of criminal fraud.

Lawmakers say that the German government was biased in favour of the company, turning a blind eye to allegations of irregularities in the run up to its collapse.

Prosecutors in Munich are investigating the company's former chief executive, Markus Braun (pictured), on suspicion of criminal fraud

Finance minister Olaf Scholz appeared before the committee on Thursday. He denied any responsibility on his or the government's part for failures of oversight

Minister Scholz also rejected suggestions that German regulators or the Finance Ministry, which oversees them, protected Wirecard

Parliamentarians are believed to have asked Merkel why she brought up Wirecard's planned takeover of a company in China during a state visit in September 2019 and why a senior official in her office had also pledged further support for Wirecard.

Asked about a meeting ahead of the China visit with Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a former defence minister whose firm advised Wirecard, Mrs Merkel said she could not remember if Mr Guttenberg had specifically named Wirecard.

Finance minister Olaf Scholz appeared before the committee on Thursday. He denied any responsibility on his or the government's part for failures of oversight.

He also rejected suggestions that German regulators or the Finance Ministry, which oversees them, protected Wirecard. But he conceded that the regulatory structure had not been set up well enough for such a case.

Lawmakers say that the German government was biased in favour of the company, turning a blind eye to allegations of irregularities in the run up to its collapse

Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story

'The Chancellor lobbied for Wirecard with the most powerful man in China,' said Fabio De Masi, one of the lawmakers leading the public inquiry, asking why she gave it such priority.

In power since 2005, Merkel remains popular, although her legacy, such as her 2015 decision to open Germany's borders to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East, divided opinion.

The Wirecard debacle tarnished her government's reputation by shining a spotlight on the lengths some German politicians have gone to in order to support companies.

Stephan Klaus Ohme of Transparency International said had it exposed cracks in Germany's laissez-faire model towards industry, leaving companies largely to their own devices.

'In Germany, you should stick to the rules but if you don't, nothing happens. The penalties are laughable,' he added.

The Wirecard debacle tarnished Merkel's government's reputation by shining a spotlight on the lengths some German politicians have gone to in order to support companies
EBRD President pays first visit to Egypt

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso visited Egypt in person for the first time since taking office for high-level meetings with the authorities and the business community. She met the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of International Cooperation and EBRD Governor, Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, among other key political figures. Supporting Egypts transition to a green economy, Ms Renaud-Basso signed agreements targeting development of sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy in the country.

Learn more here and here

Supporting Egypts largest private solar plant Kom Ombo

During the Presidents visit the EBRD  in cooperation with the OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank signed a US$ 114 million financing package with ACWA Power for the construction of the countrys largest private solar plant, Kom Ombo. The plant will add 200 MW of energy capacity, increasing the share of renewable energy in Egypts energy mix and promoting private-sector participation in the power sector.

Learn more here and here

EBRD Green Cities programme welcomes Egypts 6th of October City

Another highlight during the Presidents visit was the signing of an agreement for 6th of October City, the countrys new city planning entity, to join Cairo and Alexandria as a member of the Banks flagship urban sustainability programme, EBRD Green Cities.

Learn more here and here

Robust buffers helped achieve positive outcome

The Presidents visit attracted very high media interest. She spoke to, among others, Sky News Arabiya, CNBC, CBC Extra, Channel1 and Bloomberg Asharq and Enterprise. TV channel DMC reported after the meeting with President El-Sisi and Channel 1 on the meeting with Prime Minister Madbouli. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly President Renaud-Basso expressed confidence in Egypts economic potential. Our economic growth forecast for Egypt is positive for 2021 and 2022 thanks to the economic and structural reforms it has adopted, which backed its navigation through the crisis and gave it robust buffers that helped it in achieving a positive outcome.

Learn more

Promoting urban regeneration in Zagreb

In Croatia the EBRD made the news this week by publicly announcing its support for an initiative for the urban regeneration of a vital area of Zagreb, the countrys capital. Overall, the plan could attract investment of up to around 1.6 billion over 15 years, a study found. Victoria Zinchuk, EBRD Director, Croatia, said: Now is the time to move forward and advance plans to unleash the countrys specific potential. Urban regeneration in Croatia is also supported by Austrias CREATE Fund.

Learn more here and here

The philosophy of water and a greener future

As the world marked Earth Day on Thursday, the EBRD published its approach to husbanding and preserving the planets natural capital assets, including its simplest and most important resource  water, the source of life  as part of the global finance communitys ever-broadening remit to tackle climate change.

Read more

Marking Earth Day in Serbia

In an interview with the Serbian weekly Nedeljnik published in a special supplement for Earth Day, Zsuzsanna Hargitai, Regional Director for Western Balkans, spoke about EBRD investments in Serbia, focussing on energy sector and energy efficiency.

Learn more

EBRD commits to Ukraine

In an interview with BBC News Ukraine, EBRD Managing Director Matteo Patrone emphasised the Banks support for Ukraine. The Bank was standing by its commitments as the country was implementing new reforms to unleash its potential. Mr Patrone said: Ukraine has many valuable resources, but its most important and precious asset is its human capital.

Learn more

Chernobyl: The next phase

Thirty-five years after the accident on 26 April 1986 Chernobyl is still as well-known as it was a generation ago. The EBRD remains a key partner in the efforts of making the site safe. Following a request by Ukraine, in November 2020, the Bank established the new International Chernobyl Co-Operation Account, aimed at creating an integrated plan for the site to serve as the basis for developing and implementing longer-term projects. The new fund will hold its first assembly meeting on Tuesday.

Learn more

Project signings

Supporting Ukraines Datagroup

In Ukraine, the EBRD is providing a local currency loan equivalent to $65 million to Datagroup, a leading digital services provider in the country. This loan will primarily finance the acquisition of Volia, a pay-TV and cable broadband service provider, to help build a stronger, more competitive telecommunications operator with improved quality of service and an expanded product range.

Learn more

Backing small businesses in Ukraine via Credit Agricole

In Ukraine, Credit Agricole Bank Ukraine will be able to increase the competitiveness of local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, thanks to an EBRD loan of 25 million. The loan is backed by grant funding from the European Union (EU) under its EU4Business initiative.

Learn more

Investing 30 million in Slovak inaugural green bond

In the Slovak Republic, the EBRD has supported the countrys first green bond issuance with a 30 million investment in the senior preferred paper. The total volume issued by Tatra banka, a leading local lender, was 300 million. The Banks investment demonstrates its commitment to promoting green financing market development in the country.

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EBRD supports private operator of Sofia airport

In Bulgaria, the EBRD is backing the transformation of Sofia Airport through a 50 million loan and advisory services. The airport is set to become a modern and competitive European hub and will be operated by a joint venture between the France-based infrastructure-focused equity firm Meridiam, Munich Airport and the Austrian construction company Strabag.

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Introducing First Bus Rapid Transit system in Western Balkans

In North Macedonia, Skopje will become the first city in the Western Balkans to introduce a Bus Rapid Transit system, thanks to the EBRD loan of 70 million under the Green City Action Plan. These funds will support a major transformation towards sustainable transport and address urgent environmental needs in the countrys capital. The news was widely covered in local media.

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Boosting Tajik economy with a $4 million package to Arvand Bank

In Tajikistan, the EBRD teamed up with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to support small private-sector companies, which invest in green technology solutions, and to create new opportunities for women-led small businesses. A financial package of US$4 million organised by the EBRD will be provided to Arvand Bank, which is serving almost 100,000 clients through 72 branches and customer service outlets across the country.

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We continued to highlight our 30th anniversary, showing off the beautiful cakes baked by our colleagues

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Twitter becomes platform of hope amid the despair of India's COVID crisis Spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New Delhi

By Devjyot Ghoshal and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - After spending hours fruitlessly calling government helplines in a search for a hospital bed for a critically ill COVID-19 patient, Indian lawyer Jeevika Shiv posted an SOS request on Twitter.

"Serious #covid19 patient in #Delhi with oxygen level 62 needs immediate hospital bed," Shiv, part of a 350-member COVID-19 volunteer Medical Support Group, said on Twitter late last week.

Help came quickly. The patient found a bed and was soon showing signs of recovery.

"Finally, it was help online that worked as people responded with information," Shiv said.

India is reporting more than 250,000 new COVID-19 cases a day in its worst phase of the pandemic. Hospitals are turning away patients and supplies of oxygen and medication are running short.

In response, people are bypassing the conventional lines of communication and turning to Twitter to crowdsource help for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds and other requirements.

People in need and those with information or resources share telephone numbers of volunteers, vendors who have oxygen cylinders or drugs, and details of which medical facility can take patients using hashtags like #COVIDSOS.

Some users have offered to help with home-cooked meals for COVID patients quarantining at home and to meet a host of other needs like arranging to feed pets.

"Twitter is having to do what the government helpline numbers should be doing," wrote Twitter user Karanbir Singh.

"We are on our own folks."

Twitter is not as widely used in India as Facebook or WhatsApp but it is proving a more valuable tool to get pleas for help out in the coronavirus crisis, largely because of its "re-tweet" function that can quickly amplify a message through users' networks of contacts.

A Google spreadsheet drawn up by a volunteer group that collates information on hospital beds, oxygen supplies, blood plasma and ambulance helplines in various states is being rapidly shared on Twitter and runs into dozens of pages.

Story continues

Bengaluru-based software developer Umang Galaiya, 25, has created a website that allows users to select the name of the city and the requirement - be it oxygen or the antiviral drug remdesivir - and then directs them to results on Twitter using its advance search feature.

His website has received more than 110,000 hits.

"Every other tweet on my feed has been about COVID," Galaiya said.

"I'm glad people are finding this helpful."

But for some, help comes too late.

On Monday, journalist Sweta Dash posted a plea for help on Twitter to find bed with a ventilator for a pregnant woman in New Delhi. Her message spread quickly through more than 100 retweets and a Delhi government official soon suggested a hospital.

But a few hours later, Dash posted another message.

"The patient passed away".

(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by Robert Birsel)
A truck carrying watermelons struck a bridge Thursday night on the New Jersey Turnpike in Mercer County, authorities said.

The crash happened at 9:22 p.m. on the inner roadway of the the north lanes of the highway in Robbinsville, according to the New Jersey State Police.

It was unclear if anyone was injured as of 10:40 p.m. as the serious crash remained under investigation, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Phil Curry told NJ Advance Media.

Only the left shoulder of the northbound inner roadway was getting by late Thursday night.

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.
In an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, Natalia Pasechnikova, the director of the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, which celebrated its 85th anniversary on April 4, spoke about the scientific discoveries and unique methods of treatment developed by the specialists of the institute, about the possibilities of technology transfer in ophthalmology and the prospects for attracting foreign patients.

Text: Hanna Levchenko

The Filatov Institute Clinic is the only highly specialized ophthalmological center in Ukraine, which provides consultations, diagnostics and treatment (conservative and surgical) of all types of eye diseases using innovative technologies.

The clinical base of the Filatov Institute consists of nine highly specialized departments, in which 475 patients can be simultaneously hospitalized.

The Institute employs 200 researchers and doctors, including one corresponding member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, 12 professors, 29 doctors and 55 candidates of sciences. The doctors of the clinic use 240 own methods of diagnostics, therapeutic and surgical treatment, of which 225 are protected by patents.

Five national centers operate on the basis of the institute - the only Ophthalmotraumatology Center in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Center of Inflammatory Eye Diseases, the Center for Pediatric Ophthalmology of Ukraine, the only Center of Eye Cancer in Ukraine and the only specialized Center of Eye Burns in the world. The institute has the only department of eye oncological pathology in Ukraine with 70 beds.

More than 16,000 patients are operated on in the clinic of the institute annually, the polyclinic of the institute annually conducts more than 170,000 consultations. About 2% of patients (about 3,500 people a year) are foreign patients from the CIS countries, the countries of near and far abroad.

In 2020, positive treatment results were recorded in 96.1% of cases.

- What are the main results of the Institute's work in 2020?

- As the director of the institute, I am happy that despite all the difficulties we managed to preserve the most valuable thing - our unique team of specialists who multiply the invaluable experience of previous generations of doctors and introduce the results of our scientific developments into ophthalmological practice.

What does this benefit the patients? Improvement comes faster, recovery time is shorter, and in some cases we get a result that we would not have been able to get if we had not had scientific developments and solutions. Suffice it to recall the operation carried out at the institute to remove a large intraocular hemangioma. Previously, intraocular tumors of this size could only be removed with the eye. For the first time in the world, our surgeons managed not only to preserve the eye, but even to obtain object vision (the patient did not see with this eye before the operation). And this happened only because we use our own development - the use of high-frequency welding of biological tissues in ophthalmic operations.

The Institute has always been the flagship of the national ophthalmological science and, I hope, it will always be so. This hope is supported by our young ophthalmologists. Today, the average age of those defending a candidate's dissertation is 32, but there are also those who have become a candidate of sciences before 30 years of age. The average age of a doctoral candidate is 42, although the youngest person with a PhD degree was 36. Imagine how much they can do, they have their whole life ahead of them.

And the scientific work that they are doing is a very high level and this is not only my opinion. Only in 2020, our surgeon Yakiv Hrytsenko was awarded the Prize of the President of Ukraine for young scientists, and a group of scientists from our institute became laureates of the state prize in the field of science and technology.

Last year was a test of strength for us, as for everyone, but despite the quarantine measures, we continue to work and provide routine medical care as a national health care facility to those who need it, naturally, doing everything possible to protect our patients and our staff.

- To what extent is the institute financed?

- Probably the shortest answer: less than necessary, based on the need to meet the requirements of the time.

- Are other sources of financing for the institute used, besides the budgetary ones?

- Certainly. We have partners who understand the importance of the institute for Ukrainian ophthalmological science and, ultimately, for patients. And they support our projects and endeavors.

Let me give you an example. The clinic of the institute is one of the first ophthalmological clinics in Ukraine, where clinical experience has been gained in the detection and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. This disease occurs due to the fact that by the time the premature baby is born, the blood vessels that feed the retina of the eye do not have time to develop fully. And if assistance is not provided on time, 200-300 blind children will be added annually in Ukraine. Such children can be helped, but subject to timely detection of the disease and timely laser surgery. At present, the level of laser equipment is quite high, and if a doctor has professional skills in performing an intervention, the effectiveness of treatment exceeds 90%. But today there is an acute shortage of ophthalmologists in Ukraine, and there are only a few narrow-profile specialists in retinopathy of prematurity with such skills. And to take a premature baby to such a specialist, even in a reanimobile equipped with an incubator, even accompanied by a resuscitation doctor, is a high risk for the baby.

We have developed a mobile model of care for these patients. Since 2008, the specialists of the Filatov Institute have been saving babies' eyesight directly in the departments for nursing premature children in the clinical hospitals in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. Over the years, we have managed, avoiding risks, to preserve vision for about 500 babies.

And our work did not go unnoticed, since 2016, thanks to partnership with a charitable organization, the program for helping premature babies has continued its development as the joint charitable project "I want to see. Southern Region." Over the years of the project, mobile equipment, unique for Ukraine, was purchased for us, transport, consumables were paid for in the amount of approximately UAH 10 million. And this is not the only example.

In addition to working with partners who support us on a long-term basis, we conduct our own charity events and take part in existing ones. With the money raised, we opened the first office of the Center for Prevention of Childhood Blindness and Low Vision, and we hope to move on.

- How do you assess the prospects of the institute's joining a single medical space and financing the institute through the National Health Service of Ukraine?

- Today it is difficult to talk about it, there are a lot of problems. Although the reasons for many problems are clear to me. A lot of criticism is caused by tariffs, the fact that they do not take into account the cost of medical services. After all, as they believed: they counted the number of nosological forms, the number of cases in each nosology and the available money was divided among all. And it turned out that the tariffs cover the costs of medical institutions, to put it mildly, not completely. On the other hand, how was it to be done? Should the costs of some diseases be fully covered, while others should be passed on to the patients? Or should we calculate everything correctly, realizing that there is no this money in the country?

The current state funding of the institutes of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine allows us to provide medical services free of charge, and part of the drugs is also paid by the state. And some of them are very expensive, such as the anticancer drug we use to treat retinoblastoma, an intraocular tumor in children. This makes our highly specialized, high-tech care available to more patients. And this is the main thing for us.

- What investment projects (development projects) are being implemented at the institute at present? Do these projects have partners?

- The state has always been and remains the main partner for us. For more than 20 years, the unfinished building of a new medical facility, the construction of which was frozen back in 1996, stood on the territory of the institute. And all this time we made efforts to finish building it.

The need for a new building has arisen a long time ago. The main building, which to this day houses five departments of the institute, was built under Volodymyr Petrovych Filatov, like many other objects in Odesa, from materials of shell deposits with wooden floors. For 82 (!) years, the building has never been overhauled. The main reason is that it is impossible to stop the flow of patients: while we were doing repairs, some of the patients would lose their sight.

We won a tender for a state investment project and started construction work. The new building has six floors. The first will house the admission department and a complex of clinical laboratories, which today are located in different buildings. From the second to the fourth floor there will be departments of the clinic, and the sixth floor will be completely given over to operating rooms, an anesthesiology department and recovery wards. Modern materials and technologies are used in construction, while the facility will be equipped accordingly.

We really hope that we will be able to create a completely new perception of the state medical institution by both patients and doctors. We are working hard to complete construction this year.

- How do you assess the prospects for the implementation of the mechanism of public-private partnership (PPP) at the institute? Are there any examples of such projects? What is missing to attract large-scale private investment?

- Today, the PPP mechanism does not provide for participation of state and municipal enterprises and organizations in such projects. This is what the law says - "except for state and municipal enterprises." What is missing? The legislative base, the prescribed mechanisms for returning the invested funds to the investor and making a profit, and, naturally in such a situation, investors.

Today there is another promising mechanism - technology transfer. We are often asked if we use it, implying that we have the technology, that there is interest in it, that we sold or allowed to use it and got money for it. But our technologies are technologies of treatment, operations. This can only be taught, and we do it. People come to us for courses, internships, they pay for them. But for some reason this is not considered a transfer.

Even if we have invented a device or drug to sell it, we first need to protect it, that is, to obtain a patent, and not Ukrainian, but international. Because they will change, say, the screw (or not) and register it at the international level as their development and will make money on it. And all our patents are local. To pass the examination and get it, we need several thousand hryvnias, while an international patent costs tens of thousands of dollars or euros.

In addition, we need an enterprise that is ready to implement a project at least at the level of an industrial design, and this requires drawings, engineering calculations. Who will undertake this without money and who will pay for it?

The idea to sell or transfer technology is great and correct, but there are no mechanisms, no conditions have been created. Probably, at some point all this will appear and work, but it takes time.

- How do you assess the system of training medical personnel, the system of continuous professional education and advanced training? What can be improved?

- For me, the fact that a doctor should study all his life is natural. Moreover, in our time, when science, technology, pharmacology is developing at an incredible speed, something new appears almost every day. A modern doctor should be aware of at least his specialization. More is very difficult, huge amounts of information.

But when you recommend a doctor to your friends, what are you talking about? About his practical experience, and above all about his positive experience: how he helped you, how many he cured, and not about how many courses he took, how many webinars he watched and listened to. This practical point was left aside.

At the present time, I think, there is a need to look at existing medical institutions from the point of view of availability of doctors with positive practical experience in the treatment of specific diseases. This is especially important today, when there are few good specialists left, thousands of excellent doctors have left to work abroad. In addition, it is necessary to create such a register so that every family doctor or polyclinic doctor can see where the necessary specialist is closest to whom he could refer the patient.

And what do we have today? The family doctor sends the patient to a specialist in the district clinic. He failed and sent the patient to a higher level (I mean a hospital, not a doctor), regardless of whether there is a specialist there with the ability to treat this disease or not. There they treated, treated - not cured ... Well, and so on. As a result, time was lost, the patient, God forbid, got complications, and he gets to the right specialist as "difficult." And the state paid for all these stages (the money "goes after the patient") and wasted the money.

Moreover, training should also be not only theoretical, but also practical. How can, for example, an ophthalmologist surgeon learn to do a new operation, just by listening to a webinar? No, he must first stand next to a specialist during the operation, then assist, then operate, but under his supervision. And only then he can be entrusted with an independent operation. This is how I taught my students, and believe me, this is the only way to teach.

- Does the institute have international projects? What are the main areas of international cooperation?

- Our institute is well known in the world ophthalmological community: we are a member of the International Council of Ophthalmology (the European headquarters), we are the founder and member of the Black Sea Ophthalmological Society.

Scientists from the Institute represent our country with dignity at world international congresses, conferences and symposia, reports on our research and achievements have been repeatedly applauded by colleagues. Many of our leading experts are active members of such reputable European and world ophthalmological organizations as the European Society of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of Great Britain, the European Society of Retinal Specialists EURETINA, the European and American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the World Glaucoma Association (WGA), the European Ophthalmic Oncology Group (EOOG), the European Pediatric Ophthalmology Society (EPOS), etc.

We receive offers of cooperation, participation in global international research. We have signed agreements on cooperation with organizations and companies in Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, India, Hawaii. We are collaborating with Linkoping University (Sweden) in the development of an artificial cornea and are participating in a global study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (the United States) in the field of research into hereditary ophthalmic diseases and the development of technologies for their diagnosis.

The demand for ophthalmological medical services is growing all over the world, and the lack of highly qualified specialists has created the preconditions for signing memoranda on the establishment of branches of the institute in other countries (currently in China and Bulgaria). Unfortunately, there are still difficulties in this issue due to the coronavirus pandemic, but I hope that after humanity copes with the pandemic, we will be able to resume these projects.

- What are the main directions of scientific work of the Institute, the most significant scientific achievements of recent times?

- Let's just look at the last decade. The technology of application of high-frequency electric welding of biological tissues in ophthalmology, created by us together with specialists of the Institute of Electric Welding of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, is one of the most effective and is widely used in the treatment of patients with retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy - one of the most severe complications of diabetes mellitus, with intraocular neoplasms. In 2012, a group of our scientists for their research on the use of high-frequency electric welding of biological tissues in vitreoretinal surgery was awarded the II Euretina. Innovation Awards. prize at the XII Congress of the European Society of Retinal Specialists EURETINA.

I have already mentioned our work on the creation and testing of an artificial cornea from synthetic recombinant human collagen. This approach can help restore vision to millions of people who need corneal transplants. The report of our scientists on the use of original collagen implants for the treatment of corneal ulcers was recognized as the best at the 2014 EU Cornea Congress in London.

There is one more important area of scientific work. We have entered an era when antibiotics are losing their effectiveness, and there is an urgent question of finding alternative therapies. The method developed at the Institute for the treatment of inflammatory eye diseases is based on a completely new approach that combines the use of methylene blue, which has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, with laser radiation with a carefully selected wavelength. After four years of research, we have been treating patients with a new method for more than five years, and the results have exceeded all expectations.

In parallel, our immunological laboratory (by the way, the oldest in Ukraine), together with the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, is working on the use of components of the immune system for the treatment of inflammatory eye diseases. A method of using stem cells to increase the synthesis of anti-inflammatory proteins is at the stage of clinical trials, its successful completion will allow creating a new direction for the treatment of recurrent inflammatory eye diseases, which often lead to blindness. Research continues on nanoparticles of gold and silver, which have the ability to increase the regenerative capacity of the body. Unlike antibiotics, patients do not get used to drugs based on them, while they do not develop allergic reactions.

At present, our institute and the Institute of Thermoelectricity of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine continue to work together on the development of thermoelectric ophthalmic equipment. A device has already been developed for measuring temperature in various parts of the eye with the ability to register temperatures in real time. This is necessary to control the heating of the eye tissue during laser surgery.

And this is not a complete list. In our daily practice, we use more than 240 of our own methods of diagnostics, therapeutic and surgical treatment to preserve eyesight for patients and prevent disabilities. Thus, we annually save the state millions of hryvnias of public funds.
PRAGUE -- Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek says the number of people that will be allowed by Prague and Moscow at their respective embassies will be 32, as tensions between the two continue to simmer over Russia's alleged role in a deadly 2014 explosion at a Czech arms depot.



"[The Czech Republic's and Russia's embassies] should have seven diplomats and 25 administrative and technical staff each," Kulhanek said in an interview with Czech daily Blesk.

The Czechs announced a day earlier that Russia won't be allowed to have more diplomats in Prague than the Czechs currently have at their embassy in Moscow.

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -- all of whom are NATO members and former Soviet republics -- said on April 23 they were expelling a total of four Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czechs.



The dispute flared on April 17 when Prague expelled 18 Russian staff, whom it identified as spies. Russia responded the next day by expelling 20 Czech staff from Prague's embassy in Moscow.



Kulhanek said in the interview that Russia has been given until the end of May to cut the number of its embassys personnel by 63 people. He also said that the changes will not affect the number of diplomats and technical personnel at Russian consulates in Brno and Karlovy Vary, as well as at Czech consulates in several Russian cities.



The tit-for-tat moves over the Czech allegations have triggered Prague's biggest dispute with Russia since the 1989 end of communist rule, putting the small Central European NATO member at the center of rising tensions between Moscow and the West.



The Czechs have alleged that two Russian intelligence officers accused of a nerve-agent poisoning in Britain in 2018 were also behind an explosion at a Czech ammunition depot in 2014 that killed two people.

Russia has denied the Czech accusations.

Lithuania's Foreign Ministry said it was expelling two members of Russias Embassy staff to show solidarity over the "unprecedented and dangerous incident" in the Czech Republic, while Latvia and Estonia said one diplomat would be sent home from each of their countries.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised a response from Moscow, saying "the authorities of these countries can rest assured of our response. Their diplomats can already start mulling who exactly will have to pack up," according to the state news agency TASS.

The Czechs pushed Moscow to allow the expelled Czech diplomats to be able return to work by noon on April 22, but the deadline was ignored. Russian officials had called the ultimatum "unacceptable."



"Our offer to Russia to reverse the expulsion of our people was made in good faith. But Russia did not use the opportunity we offered. As the head of diplomacy, I am not at all pleased with the state of Czech-Russian relations," Kulhanek told Blesk, adding that Russia's expulsion of personnel had left the Czech Embassy in Moscow "paralyzed."



Kulhanek noted that Russian Embassy staff members not included in the original 18 expelled could "theoretically" return to the Czech Republic in the future since they have not been given the status of persona non grata.

With reporting by Blesk.cz, Reuters, and TASS
U.S. general concerned about Afghan military after U.S. withdrawal

Xinhua) 09:34, April 23, 2021

Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2020 shows an A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft handed over from the United States to Afghan Air Force during a handover ceremony in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)

"I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave - the ability of the Afghan air force to fly, in particular, after we remove the support for those aircraft," Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie said.

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie said on Thursday that he is concerned about the ability of the Afghan military after U.S. troops withdraw from the country in the coming months.

"My concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground that they're on now, without the support that they've been used to for many years," McKenzie said during a Senate Armed Services hearing.

"I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave - the ability of the Afghan air force to fly, in particular, after we remove the support for those aircraft," he added.

The general also noted that the United States would bring additional military capabilities to the region to cover U.S. forces during the withdrawal, without providing details.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that McKenzie had requested the Pentagon to deploy an aircraft carrier to help protect NATO troops in Afghanistan as they withdraw.

President Joe Biden announced last Wednesday that all U.S. and NATO troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan before Sept. 11, a decision to end the longest war in American history.

The decision drew criticism among some analysts and lawmakers, who warned the withdrawal would lead to worsening security satiation in Afghanistan with a possible revival of terrorism.

There are roughly 3,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and about 7,000 NATO troops in the country rely on U.S. logistics and security support.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
The Senate passed a hate crimes bill Thursday aimed at addressing an alarming spike in violence directed at Asian Americans, and the Asian community more generally, since the pandemic began. The bill heads to the House with sweeping bipartisan support after amendments to the Democrat-sponsored bill addressed a handful of Republican concerns. The bill endeavors to expand Justice Department resources to deal with hate crimes, while also creating state-run hotlines to make it easier to report them, as well as provide additional training on identifying hate crimes for local law enforcement. That was a worthy enough enterprise for the bill to pass 941, an astonishing margin given, well, the world we live in. But you look at the scoreline and cant help but wonder: Whos the one?

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Somehow its not Sen. Ted Cruz, though it sounds like something he would do. Which Republican senator, because its clearly a Republican, could possibly oppose such a bill, one that every other Republican supported? There were six no votes in the vote to advance the original iteration of the bill, but the legislation, officially titled the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, was expanded in some areas and refined in others, such that Republican Sen. Susan Collins was able to corral even the likes of Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, another member of the willing-to-sacrifice-any-principle-for-attention caucus, and therefore possible culprit in the hunt for the lone Republican no vote.

Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

That leaves, you guessed it, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley as the one U.S. senator to oppose the legislation aimed at combating hate crimes against the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Hawleys reasoning? Its too broad, he sorta explained in a statement. Oh right, in that case. As a former prosecutor, my view is its dangerous to simply give the federal government open-ended authority to define a whole new class of federal hate crime incidents, Hawley fretted.

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The Kansas City Star responded to the news with a staff editorial headlined: Of Course Josh Hawley Was the Only No on Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill. Thats His Brand. Sounds about right. In short, there is nothing in the bill that is an overreach, unless you think ethnic assaults and murders are acceptable, the editorial concludes. Saying the measure is too broad makes no sense, except in the context of his ongoing attempts to set himself apart as the most extreme on any issue.

In the seven years Ive been covering news and politics for Slate, Ive written about some of the United States best and worst moments, people, and ideas. Your continued support of Slate Plus will allow me to continue to give our countrys high-stakes struggle to define itself the coverage it deserves. Thank you! Ben Mathis-Lilley, senior writer
The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) collaboration has released its latest scientific results. These results include two studies on dark energy led by Prof. ZHAO Gongbo and Prof. WANG Yuting, respectively, from National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(NAOC).

The study led by Prof. Zhao was recently published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Based on eBOSS observations, Prof. ZHAO's team measured the history of cosmic expansion and structure growth in a huge volume of the past universe, corresponding to a distance range between 0.7 and 1.8 billion light years away from us. This volume had never been probed before.

This study took advantage of a method called "multi-tracer analysis," which mitigated the observational systematics proposed and implemented by Prof. ZHAO and Prof. WANG.

"This work detected the existence of dark energy at a significance of 11 sigma, which is the strongest evidence ever on dark energy from galaxy surveys," said Prof. ZHAO. "The eBOSS observations are consistent with the dynamical dark energy probed by our team using the BOSS survey four years ago."

One of the biggest challenges of the cosmological implications of galaxy surveys is data analysis, especially developing new methods to improve statistical accuracy and mitigate systematics. eBOSS, as the first galaxy survey that observes multiple types of galaxies in a vast cosmic volume, makes it possible to use multi-tracer analysis.

"Cross-correlating multiple types of galaxies is an efficient way to reduce statistical uncertainties, with observational systematics mitigated at the same time, which is key to obtaining robust cosmological results," said Prof. WANG.

Dark energy dominates the current universe, so it is vitally important to reveal its nature. The eBOSS collaboration, which consists of over 30 top research institutes on astronomy around the world including NAOC, was formed to tackle the problem of dark energy. Operating since 2014, eBOSS has taken over 1 million spectra in the redshift range of 0.6.

Although eBOSS has completed its mission, it is a starting point for the next chapter. The experience with eBOSS is valuable for cosmology involving larger galaxy surveys, including the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS).

###

This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The study led by Prof. WANG Yuting was also published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
In Friday trading, Brent crude was priced above US$65 with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) above US$61 a barrel

Oil demand was expected to increase in the second quarter and beyond, but with the setback, refiners will soon be adjusting capacity due to low demand

In a week when the US committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade, the oil market remained volatile as uncertainty rules the day.

The economic recovery continues to be choppy and the pandemic continues to claim thousands of victims every day. In Friday trading, Brent crude was priced above US$65 with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) above US$61 a barrel.

The oil price fell at the close of the week as the pandemic worsened in South-East Asia with record numbers of new cases and increased deaths. India is the worlds third largest oil consumer and with renewed lockdown in place, there are fears that demand for fuel could fall more than 20%.

Oil demand was expected to increase in the second quarter and beyond, but with the setback, refiners will soon be adjusting capacity due to low demand.

Reduce emissions

The US pledged to reduce emissions and combat the growing threat of climate change "to overcome the existential crisis of our time".

The US hosted a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, where the US President, Joe Biden committed America to swift and rapid action to cut emissions by half, laying part of the blame firmly at the doorstep of the oil companies.

The British Prime Minister called it a "game changing" announcement and pledged his on-going support. The US also committed to rejoining the Paris Agreement, promising a net-zero economy by 2050, with a more stringent emissions target by 2030.

Its been a year this week since the oil price fell into negative territory following the initial pandemic lockdown that destroyed global oil demand.

"Black Monday" seems a distant memory as demand slowly returned and confidence quickly came back to the market with the oil price up around 33% this year.

The actions of OPEC+ were hailed as being part of the solution that helped re-balance the market with more than 3 million barrels off the market.

Saudi Arabia reduced its output beyond expectations and with OPEC+, will gradually release oil back to the market until July. The OPEC ministerial monitoring committee is scheduled to meet next week.

Despite the praise for the efforts of OPEC+, the NOPEC bill is back in the headlines after the US House Judiciary Committee cleared the way for a bill that would allow antitrust lawsuits against OPEC over production cuts and what many in the US government believe is manipulation.

The OPEC Secretary General, Mohammad Barkindo has reportedly sent a letter to all members, according to Reuters, encouraging them to engage with their contacts in the US administration and make them realise the disadvantages of such a bill.

This is not the first time OPEC has faced such pressure in the past 20 years, but the bill's never progressed.

OPEC has always maintained that such a bill could undermine essential trade and energy relations. This new bill will also take time and theres no guarantee it will be passed but its progress will be watched with great scrutiny.

Demand from China up

Oil demand from China is on the increase with imports from Saudi Arabia up 9% in March, according to KSA customs figures.

Economic activity around the globe is picking up with encouraging data from the US and from key European countries. Jobless claims are falling in the US for the second consecutive week with many analysts hoping this will remain the trend. The health of the global economy will be the main driver for renewed oil demand.

Fresh lockdowns and pandemic panic will continue to impact global oil demand.

Many international flight routes remain closed and business has been curtailed with economic activity far from what was once normal.

Its a time frame out of everyones control and thats never easy for investors and producers to plan for the future.
The strange contents of a medicine bottle from 19th century Japan have been discovered thanks to a unique x-ray analysis.

Antique glass vials from a medical kit belonging to Ogata Koan, a leading proponent for Western medicine in late feudal Japan, had jammed shut from age.

Researchers at Osaka University bombarded a bottle with muons, which can pass through glass but generates different kinds of light depending on the substances they hit.

They determined the white powder inside was mercuric chloride, a common remedy at the time.

Though often given as a laxative or to treat everything from syphilis to rheumatism, mercuric chloride is highly toxic and can result in kidney failure.

Medical chests belonging to Ogata Koan, a 19th century Japanese physician who popularized Western medicine in the country. The chests were used during housecalls, like a doctor's bag

Osaka University has two of Ogata Koan's medicine chests, which, it's believed, he used like a doctor's bag on housecalls.

One chest, used later in his life, includes 22 glass bottles that still contain medicine.

Researchers hoping to preserve the kits needed to know the containers' contents but, because they're so old and fragile, almost half can't be opened without destroying them.

They decided to use muons, elementary particles that can pass through materials without harming them, to peer through the bottles' 3-millimeter-thick glass.

A glass jar had jammed shut with age, but by exposing it to muons, researchers at Osaka University were able to determine the white powder inside was mercuric chloride, a toxic substance once used a medicine

When muons strike a substance, it generates light with different characteristics depending on the substance.

They chose a bottle marked with a kanji character for 'kan,' the first of two characters that stand for 'kanko,' or mercuric chloride, a common medicine in the 19th century, according to Asahi Shimbun.

They scanned the bottle with muons at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-Parc), a high-intensity proton accelerator facility in Tokai, and were able to confirm the white power was mercuric chloride.

When muons strike a substance, it generates light with different characteristics. Subjecting the vial to muon x-rays confirmed the powder was mercuric chloride. Pictured: The top of the bottle, marked with the first of two characters of 'kanko,' or mercuric chloride

In addition, x-ray fluorescence determined the bottles were made of lead-potash glass.

'This would be a new method for nondestructive analysis of such cultural properties,' the researchers wrote in a paper published in the Journal of Natural Medicines.

For centuries, mercuric chloride was commonly used as a laxative and to treat ulcers.

Before the discovery of antibiotics, the crystalline substance  nicknamed 'salts of white mercury' was also used to treat syphilis.

But mercuric chloride is extremely toxic, ultimately leading to ulcers and kidney failure.

Depending on how it's absorbed, side effects include stomach pain, vomiting blood and a burning sensation in the throat and mouth.

Because of how often it was used to treat the disease, symptoms of mercuric chloride poisoning were often confused for syphilis .

Patients would swallow, inhale, inject, or apply the substance to their skin, depending on their ailment.

Famed US explorers Lewis and Clark took laxatives laced with mercuric chloride to treat constipation, according to Mel magazine, resulting in violent diarrhea.

'It is thought that [the mercuric chloride] was not used by itself,' co-author Kyoko Takahashi told Asahi Shimbun, 'but was blended with other medicinal substances to treat patients suffering from strokes and rheumatism-like symptoms.'

Ogata Koan (pictured) was a leading advocate of Western medicine in Japan, disseminating the idea of disease pathology and opening up the first smallpox vaccination clinics

Mercuric chloride's use in medicine dates back at least to the Middle Ages, when Arab doctors used it to disinfect wounds.

Despite his apparent use of a toxic substance as medicine, Ogata Koan was a leading medical figure during the tail end of Japan's Edo period, an era of prosperity and peace but also strict isolationism.

Koan was a leading advocate of Western medicine in Japan, disseminating the idea of disease pathology.

He built the country's first smallpox clinics, called Ashimori Joto-kan, and established an academy for Western technology and medicine that laid the groundwork for Osaka University.
First, the good news: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings says the murder conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd could help rebuild trust between the public and police, even in Charlotte.

Now the bad: Jennings, a law enforcement veteran of nearly three decades, says the current level of distrust nationally between police and the public, especially in Black communities, is the highest hes ever seen.

So high that Jennings and his department will be trying something radically new.

Soon, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers will begin treating residents with whom they interact, not solely as victims, suspects or perps, but as customers.

I dont want people to walk away from us with a bad feeling, Jennings told the Observer in an interview this week.

Even if we are dealing with a bad incident, it does not have to be a bad experience dealing with the officers.

In a Charlotte divided over its police department, new chief says his job is to listen

On a general level, the approach sounds like the latest iteration of community policing. But Jennings is pushing to do more.

CMPD has hired The DiJulius Group, a national consulting firm, to train its 2,300 employees in the fine points of the firms Customer Service Revolution. The department will pay about $60,000, CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano says.

The company, with a high-end client list that includes Disney, Nordstrom, Ritz-Carlton and Chick-fil-A, has never worked with a police department before, Jennings said. As a result, the course of study for CMPD is still being developed, with the full program scheduled to go public in late summer.

The DiJulius Group, according to Tufano, declined an Observer interview request Thursday.

In a video posted on the companys website, founder John DiJulius talks about the importance of companies having a stated customer service vision that is simple and concise enough for employees to understand and act upon.

Story continues

In the case of former company client Starbucks, the new vision was this: We create inspired moments in each customers day.

Implict in that, DiJulius says in the video, was an emphasis on Starbucks workers better understanding a day in the life of a customer to create greater employee empathy and compassion for the people they serve.

Starbucks employees, according to DiJulius, were taught to connect with customers, anticipate their needs, personalize the exchange and own the outcome.

How that training translates in the world of cops remains to be seen. Baristas, after all, dont carry guns.

CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings says his department will undergo customer-service training in hopes of improving frayed community trust in his officers.

Yet, Jennings, a career-long CMPD officer whose promotion to chief came less than a week before protests over Floyds death began sweeping the country last summer, sees parallels.

For starters, he points to the importance of officers to treat people well and understand the communities they serve.

Moreover, a culture change to a less confrontational style of policing appears to be consistent with policy reforms CMPD already has put in place.

In dealing with the public, we must be cordial even if its not reciprocated, Jennings said. Our officers must always be professional and treat people with respect.

Reaction to the new plan

Early reaction to CMPDs upcoming customer-service training is mixed.

City Councilman Braxton Winston called the approach a waste of money.

He believes Charlotte would be better served by replacing CMPD with an agency of unarmed investigative officers who rely on communication skills, not force, to resolve conflicts.

I dont believe having armed sentries patrol our neighborhoods and hallways and homes makes us safer. It makes it a more dangerous place to live, said Winston, whose political career roots back to the 2016 protests following CMPDs fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.

We cant put lipstick on a pig, he said.

However, Tonya Jameson, chair of the citys Citizens Review Board, which hears complaints against the police, applauded CMPDs turn toward service with more of a smile.

My hope is its going to improve the way police interact with the public, so a routine interaction doesnt escalate into something thats fatal, said Jameson, a former Observer reporter.

I think its more important than having good customer service with Amazon. Because that interaction (with police) can cost someone their life. Communications just critical.

Jameson experienced that firsthand. In 2017, she was held at gunpoint by a police officer in Knoxville, Tennessee, while she was changing a license plate on a newly purchased SUV.

The officer thought she was trying to steal the car, she said.

Distrust in police and vice versa

Meanwhile, the nation continues to be gripped by the fatal shootings of Black people by police. Two such killings occurred after the Chauvin verdict on Tuesday, including one in the eastern North Carolina town of Elizabeth City.

Jennings said something has to change in the way police and the public treat each other.

All you have to do is turn on the TV or read the newspaper, he responded. Trust is at a very low level, the lowest Ive seen in my 29-year career.

Minutes after the interview, Tufano called a reporter to say Jennings was talking about the erosion of trust nationally, not in Charlotte.

But veteran Charlotte attorney George Laughrun, who frequently represents police in court and department matters, said Charlotte is not excluded. He said morale at CMPD, as it is at police departments around the country, is very low.

One reason: Even everyday interactions such as traffic stops carry far more tension, given the outcry over the highly publicized deaths of Floyd and others and the hands of police.

Both sides are waiting for things to escalate, Laughrun said. The public doesnt trust police officers now. Everybody is looking for a gotcha moment. Theres the perception that theyre all bad and thats just not true.

The erosion of public trust in the men and women they hire to protect and serve is a national phenomenon. A 2020 poll by Data for Progress, a progressive think tank, found cratering trust in the American police as an institution on the heels of Floyds death last Memorial Day, when Chauvin kept his knee on Floyds neck for more than 9 minutes even after Floyd had been handcuffed and subdued.

In that poll, 37% of all voters  and 64% of Black voters  said the recent events had made them less likely to trust police.

On Friday, a new Washington Post-ABC poll found that 6 in 10 Americans say the country should do more to hold police accountable for mistreating Black people, despite how those measures interfere with how officers do their jobs.

The level of concern represents a slight drop from the height of the Floyd protests last summer. But it remains at its highest level since 1988, The Post reported.

One likely factor: The relationship between police and the public remains violent.

Since 2015, when The Post and others began accumulating the first credible tracking of police use of violence, about 1,000 Americans have been shot and killed annually by on-duty officers.

All this talk of reforms and were still seeing the exact number of shootings. Things are not getting better, said Bowling Green State University political scientist Philip Stinson, a former cop and an expert in police use of force.

Not all the shootings have been controversial. Yet the number of police prosecutions remains fractionally low.

Since 2005, only 140 officers have been arrested for murder or manslaughter in connection with on-duty killings. Of those cases, only 44 were convicted, often for lesser crimes, Stinson said.

Reasonable use of force? How a Charlotte case could influence jury in Chauvin trial

Part of that is due to what critics describe as police-friendly laws making convictions difficult if not impossible in many cases.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg had 30 fatal police shootings since 2005, which gives it a smaller rate than most U.S. cities of similar size.

However, only one police officer had been accused of an on-duty shooting crime in the past 40 years. In 2013, Officer Randall Kerrick was charged with manslaughter after shooting Jonathan Ferrell 10 times. His 2015 trial ended with a hung jury, and the charge was eventually dropped.

In such controversial recent police shootings as Keith Lamont Scott, Ruben Galindo and Danquirs Franklin, the Mecklenburg County district attorneys office did not bring charges after deciding that under existing laws the chances of a conviction were slight.

While not referring to the CMPD shooting cases, Jennings acknowledged the damage to police trust and credibility when the whole world is watching ... these incidents have happened and officers have not been held accountable.

CMPD post-George Floyd

In a page straight out of the customer service training for Starbucks, Jennings said CMPD will own its interactions with the public, which total about 600,000 a year.

Everything felt like it was on fire. Floyd marchers say they walked into police ambush

When mistakes occur  and no culture change or policy revision stop them, Jennings said  CMPD will acknowledge them.

That enables the public to see that Were not trying to cover up anything or hide anything when officers actions are out of line, he said.

Jennings pointed to the June police ambush of Floyd protesters on Fourth Street, which led to CMPD banning the use of chemical munitions against the public.

CMPD changes chemical munitions policy following outcry over protest incident

He also referred to the in-custody death of Harold Easter, which led to the resignations of five CMPD officers.

Jennings said the Floyd incident led to Charlotte police expanding the departments policy on banned chokeholds to include any tactics that threaten to stop the flow of blood.

DA rebukes CMPD in death of Harold Easter, but will not bring charges against cops

CMPD also now requires officers to intervene when a fellow officer is using an improper tactic that could cause harm.

Post-Floyd, CMPD has also adopted the 8 Cant Wait package, which emphasizes de-escalation and requires officers to exhaust all alternatives before firing their guns, among other reforms.

Veteran Charlotte activist Robert Dawkins said while Jennings and CMPD have not gone as far as hed like on some fronts, the chief has shown a willingness to listen.

Hell sit down, look at something and maybe put something in place, said Dawkins, political director of Action NC.

Maybe not all of the time, but at least hes willing to entertain the idea.

City Council member Larken Egleston, who chairs the councils Safe Communities committee, said hes on board with the customer-service approach.

Im in favor  in all parts of government, and certainly within CMPD  of trying new things. I think its a financial risk worth taking to try some new approaches, he said, particularly when Jennings has displayed an unwavering willingness to be self-critical and be self-improving.

Jennings said the transition to a customer-driven CMPD is his most important change yet, one he hopes can depressurize a fraying relationship.

Now he needs to sell it to all sides.

Laughrun, the police attorney, said he sees value in a return to basic civility between police and the public. But he anticipates Jennings will receive some pushback from his rank-and-file, given the training in de-escalation and other policy changes the department has recently undergone.

I think the officers are probably having sensory overload, he said.

At some point, you have to be out on the street and not in a classroom.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  A key legal adviser to the Dutch Supreme Court on Friday recommended dismissing Russia's appeal against the reinstatement of a $50 billion compensation award to former shareholders of the Yukos oil company.

The Advocate General's advisory opinion is an independent recommendation to Supreme Court judges who are deliberating on Russia's appeal; the judges do not have to follow the advice. No date has been set for the court to issue its final decision.

The advice is the latest development in a long-running legal battle between Moscow and former Yukos shareholders united in a company called GML, which launched arbitration proceedings against Russia in 2005.

Nearly a decade later, the arbitration panel ordered Russia to pay shareholders $50 billion in compensation. A Dutch court  ruling in the case because the arbitration happened in the Netherlands  overturned the order in 2016. It said the arbitration panel did not have jurisdiction because the case was based on an energy treaty that Russia had signed but not ratified.

Later that year, an appeals court in The Hague overturned the lower court's decision and reinstated the compensation order. Moscow then launched its appeal to the Supreme Court.

GML chief executive Tim Osborne welcomed Friday's advisory opinion.

"We are confident that the Supreme Court of The Netherlands will likewise uphold the Court of Appeals ruling, he said in a statement.

The arbitration panel concluded in 2014 that Moscow seized control of Yukos in 2003 by financially crippling the company with huge tax claims. The move was seen as an attempt to silence Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin.

The arbitration ruling said that Russia was not acting in good faith when it levied the massive claims against Yukos, even though some of the companys tax arrangements might have been questionable.

The state launched a full assault on Yukos and its beneficial owners in order to bankrupt Yukos and appropriate its assets while, at the same time, removing Mr. Khodorkovsky from the political arena, the arbitrators said.

Khodorkovsky was arrested at gunpoint in 2003 and spent more than a decade in prison as Yukos main assets were sold to a state-owned company. Yukos ultimately went bankrupt.
LUCERNE, SwitzerlandPayment processing firm Vendo announced Friday that it has created a 10-person task force to build new systems to comply with the new MasterCard rules announced last week regarding adult websites. The goal, Vendo said in its announcement, is to co-create systems that protect vulnerable people while minimizing challenges and easing compliance for acquiring banks and merchants.

The systems include:

Audit and Reporting System

Performer System

Uploader System

Content Review Process Prior to Publication System

Takedown Requests / Complaints System

Appeals System

The Vendo task force includes senior leadership as well as the leaders of service design, payments, software, systems administration, finance, data science and customer support.

The task force is in dialogue with acquiring banks and merchants to co-develop the new systems. The group is also in discussion with third-party service providers that can make compliance easier and faster.

The task force will be meeting with the Vendo merchant advisory board to discuss the new rules and systems. Merchants who are interested in participating can request to join the merchant advisory board here.
Hyderabad, April 23 : Actor Allu Sirish says it was a special moment when his elder brother, Telugu star Allu Arjun, praised him on social media for his work in his debut Hindi music video "Vilayati sharaab". Sirish cherishes his brother's compliment all the more because Arjun is known to be a man of few words.

"His encouragement means the most to me because he is a man of few words. He is not too verbal about appreciation. His praises don't come a lot. So, even a smallest thing like an Instagram story coming from him is a big deal for me because I know for a fact that unless he really likes something, he doesn't praise it on social media," Sirish tells IANS.

He adds: "For a lot of my movies also he has never tweeted the first look or trailer unless he is very impressed. Coming from him is a real endorsement of sorts for me." A few days back, Arjun has tweeted: "BIG Congratulations to @allusirish on hitting 100M Super Proud ! & Congratulations to @darshanravaldz @neetimohan18 @heli_daruwala the entire team of #vilayatisharaab." Sirish, who is known for his work in Telugu films such as "Kotha Janta", "Srirasthu Subamastu" and "Okka Kshanam", recalls Arjun's reaction when he saw the video of "Vilayati sharaab" for the first time.

"He was happy. He said that it's good that I am trying new things and that not many people would want to venture out through a music video. He appreciated the move of doing something. He also liked the video," says Sirish.

The song is composed by Lijo George and DJ Chetas, and penned by Kumaar. The video features Sirish with TV actress Heli Daruwala.

Sirish claims he was surprising by the huge response the song has garnered, and is now encouraged him to do more Hindi projects.

"This is like a huge push to me. I am open to exploring more stuff in Hindi provided somebody gives me the right opportunity. If something interesting comes along on these lines I would surely take it up," says the actor.

He signs off saying: "Now that I have done it in Hindi, I want to do a music video in Telugu or Tamil also, they being my home industries. I am open, if something interesting comes by, I will pick it up."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
- Tuesday, April 27, 2021 2:00 PM Pacific Time -

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / AI/ML Innovations Inc. (CSE:AIML), a company committed to acquiring and advancing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technologies that address urgent societal needs, wishes to invite shareholders to participate in a conference call with Management on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time. The purpose of the call will be to conduct the Annual General Meeting of the Company.

Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, shareholders will not be permitted to attend the meeting in person.

Votes must be registered with Computershare by 2:00 PM Pacific Time, Friday, April 23, 2021 in order to be tabulated during the Annual Shareholder Meeting. The Company will not accept shares to be voted at the meeting. Shareholders may vote their shares via Computershare either by calling 312-588-4290 or via the internet at www.investorvote.com, and entering their designated Control Number as per the voting package mailed to their registered address. The proxy voting results will be as of the proxy cut-off time.

The General Meeting will be followed by an update from Executive Chairman Tim Daniels, and CEO Randy Duguay, followed by a question and answer period from a selected group of active shareholders.

To access the Annual General Meeting Conference Call:

Canada & USA Toll Free Dial-In: 1 (800) 319-8560 Vancouver Local Dial In: (604) 638-5345 Outside of Canada & USA call: +1 (604) 638-5345 When prompted, please enter Passcode: 90513#



On behalf of the Board of Directors

Tim Daniels, Executive Chairman

For more information about AI/ML Innovations :

For detailed information please see AI/ML's website at https://aiml-innovations.com/

or the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com

For further information: Blake Fallis at (778) 405-0882 or info@aiml-innovations.com

Presentations:

Investor slidedeck: https://aiml-innovations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AIML-mini-1-21.pdf

Corporate video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2QSjo7clXc&feature=youtu.be

Official YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCfOj2P_Fu3TOK6Jl1G9vEQ

About AI/ML Innovations Inc .

AI/ML Innovations Inc. has realigned its business operations to capitalize on the burgeoning areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with an initial focus on emerging companies in the digital healthcare space. AI/ML's shares are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "AIML". AI/ML's first acquisition was 70% ownership of Health Gauge.

About Health Gauge

Health Gauge's patent-pending solution is a personal health monitoring & management system, which combines the latest wearable health monitors with sophisticated artificial intelligence software tools and proprietary cloud computing software, to help caregivers, patients, and healthcare professionals access and utilize relevant data, resulting in better recovery outcomes and healthy living objectives through the ability to make immediate and better health choices.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: AI/ML Innovations Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/642020/AIML-Innovations-Inc-Announces-Annual-General-Meeting
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. US Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after reports that the Biden administration will formally recognize the century-old atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians as genocide, marking the 106th anniversary of the atrocities that took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915, Armenpress reports citing the Senators official website.

Its long past time that the United States formally recognized the crimes committed against the Armenian people for what they were  genocide, said Senator Markey. I applaud the Biden administration for taking this step that many have pledged, but none have fulfilled. As we approach the 106th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century, we not only remember the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives, but embark on a new era in history in which the United States formally recognizes the atrocities committed against them.

I and many of my colleagues have been calling for years for the United States to take this step of acknowledgment and place us firmly on the right side of history. The only way to seek to live up to the phrase never again is to honestly and openly accept the past. The Biden administration has rightfully placed human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy and this step will send an important message to those around the world who think they can commit abuses without consequence. I thank the Armenian-American community for their decades of passionate advocacy in their fight for recognition, and I will continue to stand with them as we strive to heal the wounds of the past. Together we can build something positive, something hopeful, something good for the future  an Armenia that is respected and honored by its allies and neighbors, Edward Markey said in his statement.

On March 19, 2021, Senator Markey joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and 35 colleagues in a letter calling on President Biden to become the first U.S. President to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.
A police officer was killed and three others wounded in Venezuela when an armed gang ambushed a patrol vehicle in the middle of a highway.

An officer can be seen running from the scene while suspects fire at him during the disturbing incident which was captured on video by a resident in the Caracas neighborhood of Cota 905 Thursday.

Officer Cesar Castillo died of a gunshot wound to the left side after he was rushed to a local hospital.

Officer Jose Linares suffered a gunshot wound to the left leg; Detective Eduardo Reyes was shot on the right shoulder area; and Reiner Borges was grazed by a bullet. The three remained hospitalized, but their injuries were not considered life threatening.

Members of a gang run loose on a highway in Cota 905, a neighborhood in the Venezuela capital of Caracas on Thursday. The armed men ambushed four police officers in their official vehicles and forced them to step out before they shot at them. The fallen officer was identified as Cesar Castillo, who died of a gun shot wound to the left side after he was rushed to a local hospital. Officer Jose Linares suffered a gun shot wound to the left leg; detective Eduardo Reyes was shot on the right shoulder area; and Reiner Borges was grazed by a bullet

A police officer runs for cover after he and three other agents were ambushed on a highway in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday

Cops seek cover on a Venezuelan highway while they faced fired from gang members Thursday

Separate video footage from a National Guard officers bodycam showed the unit's armored vehicle being attacked as it sped down the highway.

The heavily armed gang managed to shatter the trucks front windshield in the assault. According to local Venezuelan news outlets, stole the police officers weapons that were left behind in the vehicles.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized as the interim president by the United States, Canada, and countries in Latin America and Europe, called on President Nicolas Maduro to stop the violence that has besieged the Cota 905 district.

'If Maduro says he controls something, why doesn't he go to Cota 905 right now to support our officials?,' Guaido tweeted. 'He tries to sell a control that he does not even have in the capital. Meanwhile, our officials cannot even defend themselves due to the dictator's protection of organized crime.'

A police officer searches a vehicle that was attacked by an armed gang on a highway in Venezuela on Thursday moments after the suspects forced four cops to abandon their SUVS and later opened fire on them, killing one of the agents

Gang members in Caracas, Venezuela, are pictured vandalizing police vehicles after they forced four cops off the SUVs and then shot them, including one who died at a local hospital

According to Infobae, the sector is considered practically off-limits to any person who does not live there due to the constant gun battles.

Cota 905 was included in the Maduro regime's 2013 Zone of Peace accord. As part of the treaty, rival gangs were called on to cease attacks and were paid to lay down their weapons and become law abiding citizens.

Worried residents in the Caracas neighborhood also called on Maduro to crack down on the gang's leader, known as 'Coqui.'

According to a 2020 report released in January by non-governmental agency, Venezuelan Violence Observatory, the South American nation ranked No. 1 among all Latin American countries with 11,891 deaths generated by violent incidents.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Richmond University Medical Center is taking a huge step in bettering health care services for Staten Island, particularly the entire North Shore, through extensive upgrades to its physical plant that includes the addition of a new, state-of-the art Emergency Department at a cost of more than $95 million.

The new addition is located adjacent to where the current ED sits and when completed, will contain private treatment rooms, trauma bays, comprehensive specialty areas for pediatrics and urgent care  a total of 47 treatment positions and all types of special sections designed by clinicians as well as management, to include optimum patient flow and design.

The new ER will have a complete pediatric section, a whole new trauma section with complete imaging and a new waiting area with comfortable lounge chairs, and a Behavioral Urgent Care piece as well, said Daniel J. Messina, president and CEO of the West Brighton health care facility. The evidence-based design and the latest state of the art technology have been designed side-by-side with our clinicians to maximize the work flow and advance the patient care experience.

The new ER building will be two stories.

The initial plan was to keep the second floor vacant until the hospital decided a best-use. But as officials studied the needs of the hospital and the community, it became clear that a bi-level facility would go a long way in offering better services to RUMC patients.

The second level will be utilized to upgrade the hospitals surgical unit and provide an increased area for additional services.

An artist's rendering of the new Richmond University Medical Center ER.RUMC

Its the future home of 10 new multi-purpose spacious operating rooms, peri-op and support space with an ambulatory surgery component and an in-patient surgical component, Messina explained.

It also will offer the benefits found in a Surgi-Center and it will create a separate access space for ambulatory and in-patient services, which provides the needs of an in-patient without sacrificing the privacy and support space found in a free-standing Surgi-Center. The new ER will provide Staten Island with the most advanced state-of-the art Emergency Department in New York City.

The project was funded through Staten Islands elected officials, a City Council grant and a private capital campaign, with overall financial assistance from Preston Hallow, a private equity support group.

Weve received great support from all of our local elected officials and the mayor also was instrumental in putting our financing plan together, continued Messina. They believed in us. And they saw we had a solid future of continued growth and development.

With a total investment of more than $200 million, and over $108 million in financial support from the city, state, and private philanthropy, RUMC will be ushering in a revolution in healthcare, complete with the most advanced technology and state-of-the-art surgical equipment to treat all types of acute and chronic illnesses and conditions, Messina said.

From the left, Richmond University Hospital board chair Kathryn Rooney; Brian Laline, executive editor, Staten Island Advance/SILive,; Scott Logan, director BSc (Hons)MRICS and Daniel J. Messina, president and chief executive officer of Richmond University Medical Center, at the site of the new ER. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

The care we are providing at RUMC has been, and continues to be, of the very highest quality, chair of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Johnathon LeBaron said. The new ED will allow us to continue providing that same cutting edge care in a brand new state-of-the-art environment that matches the level of quality and service we provide every day to our patients. The new ED will be a physical representation, a symbol, of the advanced care that the people of Staten Island deserve and should expect when they are faced with a medical emergency.

Another major improvement is a $45-million window replacement to the original hospital.

Though there were upgrades over the years to the former St. Vincents Medical Center, some date back to the original construction over 100 years ago.

The funding for that area totals $14 million and comes through a FEMA grant dating back to Hurricane Sandy. However, it was ultimately increased to $45 million to cover the entire hospital imprint thanks to the support of Sen. Chuck Schumer, former Congressmen Max Rose and Peter King.

The hospital is also undergoing an exterior facade project focusing on the external aesthetics.

The W.T. Garner Mansion is one of the few free-standing pre-Civil War mansions still surviving in New York City. It became the St. Austin's School for Boys in the 1880s. In 1903, it was acquired by the Sisters of Charity and became the original building of St. Vincent's Hospital.Staff-Shot

The original St. Vincents Hospital opened in 1903 as a 74-bed facility under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of New York (1903-1999). The structure was expanded and modernized and had acquired the former U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Clifton -- renamed Bayley Seton Hospital -- where psychiatry, substance abuse counselors and other services were once housed. That site has since been closed.

Richmond University Medical Center, a free-standing hospital, supports the clinical medical education of fellows, residents and medical students. It is a sponsoring institution for accredited residency training programs (Radiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine), one Fellowship program in Hematology /Oncology and an accredited Podiatry training program.

Officials line up for the ground breaking of a project to build the 243-bed Sister Loretto Bernard Pavilion at the then-St. Vincent's Medical Center. The year: 1987.Staten Island Advance

These training programs provide the clinical and educational support for medical students who complete their clinical rotations at the institution.

RUMC is an academic affiliate of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and students and residents from SUNY actively participate in the care of their patients.

On average there are 200 third- and fourth-year medical students per year on core clinical rotations, as well as on electives at the Institution from SUNY Downstate , New York Medical College, St. Georges University and American University of Antigua.

ELECTRICAL PLANT

Also under construction on the campus is a cogeneration plant, slated to run on natural gas, that will provide electricity for the hospital, even during blackouts. The plant will produce enough electricity to power the hospital.

Richmond University Medical Center will join other companies leading the way in energy efficiency when its new cogeneration plant  or Co-Gen  is completed later this year.

The new Co-Gen plant is being constructed in an existing building at the rear of the campus. When completed, it will make the hospital self-sufficient and able to continue operating in the event of an area power failure or natural disaster.

Co-Gen is the use of a power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Excess heat generated from the engines will be utilized to create improved air conditioning capacity for the hospital.

So far, underground duct work, conduits, and piping have been completed. A new roof, cooling towers, and concrete base are also now in place.

The system will convert natural gas to electrical power which allows RUMC to go off the grid and create its own power especially during emergencies and ensures that the hospital will be full power and protected from outages, Messina explained.

ADDITIONAL PARK SPACES AND LANDSCAPING

A new parking lot to accommodate more than 240 cars will be available to the medical centers visitors and staffers located in the rear of the campus on Kissell Avenue.

In addition, special features include natural landscaping to provide added privacy for the local community. The parking lot, designed low grade, is inclusive of a design to help avoid the automobile lights from shining into the houses and is equipped with special parking lot lamps to avoid uplighting and to eliminate annoyance to the local community.

Our focus has been on high acuity services, which is really the prescription for the hospital . . . These projects have been after very thoughtful strategic planning and modeling to ensure that our design is fitting the future. Were also replacing 13 elevators. Were executing a very aggressive master facility plan, he said.

In addition, there will be a renovation of the maternity  mother/baby unit  and conversion to private rooms.

The overall costs break down like this:

Emergency Department Expansion: $95 million

Cogeneration Facility: $29.3 million

Wind Resiliency: $42.9 million

Operating Room Tower: $36.1 million

Medical ICU Renovation: $15 million

Mother/Baby Renovation: $5 million

Total Capital Investment: $223.3 million

The steel beams are set as the new Richmond University Medical Center ER takes shape. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

The current Emergency Department at RUMC, constructed in 1978, is 15,000 square feet and designed to service 30,000 emergency care patents annually. The new ED is 35,000 square feet, an increase of 133 percent, and will accommodate approximately 65,000 patients annually.

The Staten Island community looks to Richmond University Medical Center for their healthcare and I am proud that we will provide that emergency care in the most modern environment with special amenities for our community, chief operating officer and chief nurse officer Rosemarie Stazzone said. It is extremely rewarding to be an integral part of the planning and development of this Emergency Department, a very significant milestone in the history of Richmond University Medical Center and the community of Staten Island.

It is exciting and gratifying to know that our campus will soon be completely transformed, said Kathryn Rooney, chairman of the board of RUMC. Within two years, we will have completed over $200 million of state-of-the-art improvements, including a new emergency room, new surgical suites and critical care units, a co-generation plant and replacement windows throughout the hospital. It is heartwarming to know that these improvements will greatly benefit our Staten Island community.

All of the windows at Richmond University Medical Center will be replaced. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency department treated more than 2,000 people affected by the virus and administered the COVID-19 vaccine to nearly 15,000 individuals, including a grandmother of 98.

Richmond University Medical Center has always been Staten Islands source for its healthcare needs, especially over the past year as we have grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, executive vice president and chief medical officer Dr. Pietro Carpenito said. The many upgrades, modernizations, and renovations being made throughout the hospital ensure that the legacy RUMC has forged with the community over the past 100 years will continue for generations to come.

RUMC is a Level I Adult Trauma Center and Level II Pediatric Trauma Center, certified by The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH).

In addition, the health care center is nationally accredited for cardiac and stroke care and for it neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and maternal health, the only provider of in-patient psychiatric services for adolescents and the only designated Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) center of excellence.

Daniel J. Messina, president and chief executive officer of Richmond University Medical Center, gives the rundown of the ER progress. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

Our Emergency Department will be... a beacon to all of Staten Island that the most advanced emergency care, latest evidence-based medicine, and cutting-edge technology is ... right in their neighborhood, Messina said.

The new Richmond University Medical Center ER site. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)
This country recorded what would be its 12th homicide for the year, with the shooting death of Shane Cabral of Glen.





Unconfirmed reports said that Cabral could well have been at the end of a rapid release of bullets, which residents said they overheard sometime before 9:00am on Wednesday 21st April, in Glen.





Cabral is the third shooting fatality in Glen in recent time.





Keon Scott was reported to have been shot to death at his home in Glen on Saturday 3rd April.





And on Friday 9th April, Dale Holder became this countrys 9th homicide victim when he was shoot in the vicinity of the junction in Glen.





In a related matter, Leroy Cuffy, 30-year-old labourer of Barrouallie, has been charged with the murder of his cousin Mandreca Solomon, also a 30-year-old labourer of the same address.





Cuffy has also been charged with having in his possession one (1) Glock 17 9mm Pistol and ten (10) rounds of 9mm ammunition without a license, and for using the Glock 17 9mm Pistol in the commission of the offence of murder.





The incidents, according to a police report, occurred at Glebe Hill, Barrouallie on April 14, and Cuffy was arrested the same day.





The accused appeared on April 19, 2021 before the Serious Offences Court for an arraignment, and was remanded in custody at Her Majestys Prison.





The matter was adjourned to July 5, 2021 for trial.





Solomons death marked the 10th homicide recorded in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the year 2021.





Meanwhile, police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Cleforin Wyllie, a 45-year-old farmer of Carriere.





Wyllie, according to a police release, was shot during an incident that occurred in Carriere on April 16, 2021.





Wyllies death was listed as the 11th homicide recorded in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for 2021.
President Joe Biden on Friday said he was heartened by Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for collaborative efforts on removal of carbon dioxide to combat climate change, and looked forward to working with Russia.

Biden spoke Friday morning as part of the second day of the White House's Leaders Summit on Climate, which featured appearances from Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates as well.

'Today's final session is not about the threat climate change poses, it's about the opportunity that addressing climate change provides,' Biden said. 'It's an opportunity to create millions of good paying jobs around the world in innovative sectors.'

President Joe Biden said Friday he was heartened that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to work with world leaders to decrease carbon emissions as he opened day No. 2 of the White House's Leaders Summit on Climate

Russian President Vladimir Putin virtually attended day No. 1 of the White House's Leaders Summit on Climate

He touted the great progress the leaders had already made, adding more efforts were needed by governments and the private sectors to ensure a smooth transition to a clean energy future.

'When we invest in climate resilience and infrastructure, we create opportunities for everyone,' Biden said.

The president used that moment to promote his American Jobs Plan, which is still being negotiated on Capitol Hill.

'This is a moment for all of us to build better economies for our children, our grandchildren,' the president continued.

Biden said America 'is once again stepping into a leadership role' and pledged to cooperate with other nations in researching and deploying new strategies to decarbonize key industries.

Biden said future jobs will involve installing electric-vehicle charging stations, manufacturing solar panels, researching sustainable farming practices and working in other new industries.

But he said economic transitions shouldn't leave other workers behind.

He said, 'We must ensure that workers who thrived in yesterday's and today's industries' also have a bright future.

Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who briefly ran against President Joe Biden in last year's Democratic primary, argued Friday that combatting climate change will depend on improving financial transparency about the risks of global warming

Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-New York City mayor who briefly was Biden's Democratic primary rival last year, and Gates, Microsoft's co-founder, helped pitched Biden's climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy on day No. 2 of the summit.

Bloomberg said combatting climate change will depend on improving financial transparency about the risks of global warming.

Bloomberg said Friday that companies need to provide financial disclosures on climate risks, so that investors can direct funding to businesses that are mitigating the threats of climate change.

He said it will take historic investments to beat the challenge of global warning.

Bloomberg said mayors and CEOs tell him they want to do more to tackle climate change but need more help.

The multibillionaire founder of a financial data and news company is a special U.N. envoy on climate change issues.

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thanked President Joe Biden and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry for re-establishing Americas leading role on climate,' which some interpreted as a dig at former President Donald Trump

Gates thanked Biden and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry 'for re-establishing Americas leading role on climate' - which some considered a dig at former President Donald Trump, who pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement in the early months of his administration.

'This is a promising moment,' Gates said.

Gates said activists and young people are rightly demanding action.

He said, 'Governments around the globe are meeting those demands with ambitious commitments.'

Gates said climate change is 'an incredibly complex issue and using just todays technologies wont allow us to meet out ambitious goals.'
Dozens of former postmasters were cheered as they left court on Friday after having their historic fraud convictions quashed followed what prime minister Boris Johnson called an appalling injustice.

Thirty-nine former employees were charged with offences including theft and false accounting due to a defective Fujitsu-developed IT accounting system, which the Post Office knew had "faults and bugs" when it was introduced.

The Post Office "concealed from the courts, prosecutors and defence" evidence of serious defects in the Horizon system in order to protect itself "at all costs", lawyers said.

Many employees lives were "irreparably ruined" as they lost their jobs, homes and marriages after they were prosecuted by the Post Office.

Their convictions were referred to the court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) last year following a landmark High Court case.

At the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Friday, 39 of the 42 former subpostmasters involved in the action finally had their names cleared.

Post Office chief executive Nick Read said he had no doubt about "the human cost" the mistakes had caused.

He added: "Many of those postmasters involved have been fighting for justice for a considerable length of time and sadly there are some who are not here to see the outcome today and whose families have taken forward appeals in their memory. I am very moved by their courage.

"The quashing of historical convictions is a vital milestone in fully and properly addressing the past as I work to put right these wrongs as swiftly as possible, and there must be compensation that reflects what has happened.

Janet Skinner, who was sentenced to nine months in prisonfor false accounting in 2007, left the Royal Courts of Justice in London to cheers from former subpostmasters and their supporters.

She was "relieved" to have finally cleared her name and that to win her case was "amazing".

Mr Johnson welcomed the decision and gave his best wishes to the victims.

He said: "I know the distress many subpostmasters and their families have felt for a very long time now through the Horizon scandal and I'm pleased that we've got the right judgment.

"Our thoughts are very much with the victims and we'll have to make sure that people get properly looked after because it's clear that an appalling injustice has been done.

"Everybody in my profession knows somebody in the Post Office world who has suffered from this and it's very sad what has happened.

Alison Hall, 52, who ran a post office in West Yorkshire, told PA: Its been horrendous, Absolutely awful. My health has had so many issues I cant talk about it, Ive just bottled it up for 11 years.

Her partner Richard Walker said: People think theres no smoke without fire.

Our post office still operates and we live on the premises so you can imagine how difficult that is, every day were reminded of what happened. Its been gruelling.

Ms Hall added: I would like a personal apology from the Post Office but I know Im not going to get one. It all needs to come out.

Its the end of it all after 11 years of hell, now were here now, the day has come. It was so nice listening to it especially when your name got called out and when he said that word, quashed, that was the word we could hear.

Asked what she would do after the ruling, she said: Were going to go find a pub and have a glass of champagne.
ANALYSIS: There are nearly 1.5 million workers and students in Canada. Some 90,000 new permanent residence spots will be available beginning May 6.

Why demand is strong for Canadas 6 new immigration programs ANALYSIS: There are nearly 1.5 million workers and students in Canada. Some 90,000 new permanent residence spots will be available beginning May 6.

Why demand is strong for Canadas 6 new immigration programs ANALYSIS: There are nearly 1.5 million workers and students in Canada. Some 90,000 new permanent residence spots will be available beginning May 6.

Why demand is strong for Canadas 6 new immigration programs ANALYSIS: There are nearly 1.5 million workers and students in Canada. Some 90,000 new permanent residence spots will be available beginning May 6. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canadas recent announcement is being met with great fanfare.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is launching six streams for essential workers and international graduates on May 6. It will provide permanent residence to up to 50,000 essential workers and 40,000 graduates. The programs close on November 5, or when the quotas are met, whichever happens first. There are no quotas for French-speaking applicants.

Canadas rationale for the programs is it wants to transition as many of those in the country now to permanent residence to support its 401,000 new immigrant target for 2021. Those in Canada are more likely to be able to obtain permanent residence now since they are not subject to the same COVID-related travel restrictions that immigration candidates abroad face. The government believes high levels of immigration will support Canadas post-pandemic economic recovery.

The significant demand by immigration candidates in Canada to complete an English-language test is a major indicator of the level of interest in the programs.

Those wishing to obtain Canadian permanent residence under the economic class usually need to complete an English or French language test that has been approved by IRCC. This requirement is in place even if English or French is your mother tongue, or if you have lived, worked, or studied in an English or French-speaking environment (e.g., such as in Canada).

Do you live in Canada? Apply for PR under these news pathways!

IELTS and CELPIP saw their websites crash following the announcement of the new programs. The language testers have not been able to keep up with demand as they also look to protect the health and safety of test takers and staff during the pandemic. Because IRCC did not consult with them prior to announcing the streams, IELTS and CELPIP will not be able to offer enough tests that meet demand in time for May 6.

Another way to measure demand for the new programs is by evaluating the detailed information provided by IRCC on the federal governments open data portal. The programs are available to those who have valid status to work in Canada. Hence, we can look at IRCCs work and study permit data to give us a better sense of what to expect on May 6.

Estimating the number of work and study permit holders currently in Canada

Canada had the following number of people holding valid permits as of December 31, 2020 (all numbers have been rounded for ease of reading):

717,000 IMP work permit holders. The International Mobility Program enables foreign nationals to hold a work permit in Canada that does not require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (the LMIA is used by the federal government to assess how the hiring of a foreign national will affect workers in Canada);

IMP work permit holders. The International Mobility Program enables foreign nationals to hold a work permit in Canada that does not require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (the LMIA is used by the federal government to assess how the hiring of a foreign national will affect workers in Canada); 77,000 TFWP work permit holders. Those who fall under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program need a positive LMIA in order to be eligible to work in Canada;

TFWP work permit holders. Those who fall under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program need a positive LMIA in order to be eligible to work in Canada; 530,000 study permit holders.

In addition, the following number of work permits took effect in January and February 2021:

62,000 IMP work permits;

IMP work permits; 20,000 TFWP work permits.

Assuming the same average of new IMP and TFWP work permits also took effect in March and April 2021 (an assumption of another 82,000 work permits), we are looking at 164,000 total new work permits that will have taken effect in the first four months of 2021.

The grand total of work and study permit holders currently in Canada

The grand total becomes nearly 1.5 million work and study permit holders in Canada when the programs launch May 6. It is important to stress, however, this grand total over-estimates the number of people who will be vying for the six new permanent resident programs.

In fact, it is virtually impossible for IRCC or anyone else to provide a precise figure on the extent of demand for the streams. Reasons include:

There is duplication among the permit numbers due to individuals transitioning between categories (e.g., a graduate transitioning from a study permit to a PGWP);

Not all these people are interested in applying for permanent residence;

Some have already obtained permanent residence or have submitted immigration applications. For instance, we know 52,708 Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates have been invited to apply for permanent residence under Express Entry in 2021. IRCC estimates some 90 per cent of these candidates reside in Canada. Hence, we can deduct this figure from the grand total. The same can be said for the other permit holders currently in Canada who are going through the immigration process (e.g., the partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents living here while IRCC processes their in-land sponsorship application);

Some are not eligible to apply under the new streams. For instance, they do not have eligible work experience or will not be able to get their IELTS or CELPIP test result in time. Or maybe they will not graduate from their Canadian program before the new programs close;

Others have since left Canada or their permits are no longer valid.

Do you live in Canada? Apply for PR under these news pathways!

Permanent residence candidates have over 100 different immigration options to remain in Canada

The number of people who will apply beginning May 6 is uncertain, but, we can say with a great deal of confidence there will be plenty of work and study permit holders aiming to be among the some 90,000 individuals who gain permanent residence under the programs. We should not be surprised if the quotas are met quickly, within weeks or even days of the May 6 launch.

All is not lost if a candidate is not able to be among these 90,000 individuals. Candidates can still apply to other permanent residence programs and they currently have an advantage since IRCC and provincial governments are aiming to transition as many of them to permanent residence as possible during the pandemic.

Express Entry is the main way Canada welcomes economic class immigrants, and 95 per cent of permanent residence invitations in 2021 have gone to CEC candidates. Those looking to remain in Canada as permanent residents should see the new streams as one option, while also considering the more than 100 other economic class immigration options available to them.

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Classes in the Wilkes County Schools will start on Aug. 23 and end on May 25 in 2021-22 as a result of a calendar approved by the Wilkes Board of Education on Feb. 1.
HARRISBURG  A delayed upgrade to the state Department of Corrections dashboard on COVID-19 rates in prisons has revealed that more than 80% of correctional staff and officers who work in prisons are not vaccinated, or have not reported their status.

The percentage is far lower than the general public  according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all American adults have received at least one shot, which is similar to the number of incarcerated people in Pennsylvania who have gotten one.

The department relaunched its public-facing data last week with updated vaccine numbers, one month after its self-imposed deadline. Spotlight PA revealed in January that its data was unreliable, prompting the dashboard to be temporarily removed for an overhaul.

The new site shows that as of Wednesday, out of 15,852 correctional staffers, only 3,133 were fully or partially vaccinated. At facilities in Albion, Fayette, Pine Grove and Smithfield, 90% of staff or more remained unvaccinated.

In contrast, as of the same day, out of 37,245 people held inside facilities, 19,490 have received a vaccine.

Corrections spokesperson Maria Bivens noted that staff vaccinations are self-reported, meaning the number could be artificially low if large numbers of staffers are not reporting getting shots.

The Corrections Officers Association, the union representing prison workers, declined to comment or answer questions on why their members werent getting vaccinated, or what theyve been doing to increase vaccinations.

Incentives offered

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said the contrast puts the officers and their communities at risk, and especially people in prison who either chose not to get vaccinated or are still waiting.

People in prison are dependent on the state for their vaccinations, while all staff are eligible to pursue theirs on their own. Both were offered incentives: paid time off for workers, and $25 in commissary benefits for people living inside the prisons.

If theres a cadre of (corrections officers) in a given facility not vaccinated  that workplace would still have a risk of COVID, just not emanating from the prisoners themselves, Adalja said.

Prisons are COVID-19 hot spots, Adalja said, with shared quarters and cells where people are confined for up to 23 hours a day during lockdown. And though its good for public health that the majority of incarcerated people are vaccinated, if staff fall ill, it could jeopardize safety by depleting staff numbers and would be disruptive to the operations of a prison, he said.

Corrections officials have already struggled with shortages because of the virus, as well as maintaining the right protocols to limit the spread.

Initially lauded for keeping case numbers low, incarcerated people started becoming infected and dying at higher rates than populations on the outside during the second wave in December.

The department applied for $176,000 in emergency funds to hire temporary workers because too many staff were calling out of work. Then, Spotlight PA found that officers were still told by corrections to come back to work before doctors had cleared them.

And now, corrections staff have been diagnosed with more COVID-19 cases than incarcerated people. The departments dashboard shows that as of Wednesday, 125 staff members are currently out for testing positive, compared to only 70 incarcerated people who are currently positive.

Encouraging shots

This struggle spans to other state facilities. A report by the Department of Health last week found only 52% of nursing home staff had received the vaccine, compared to 80% of nursing home residents. In some counties, nursing home vaccinations among staff was as low as 30%, despite a national goal to hit 75% vaccinated inside facilities by June.

Keara Klinepeter, executive deputy secretary for the Department of Health, said that the department is working with staff in areas with low vaccine uptake to address hesitations.

Corrections has also made efforts to encourage staff to get the shot and educate them about its efficacy, but that messaging was complicated in recent weeks.

On April 9, the department reported one death of a person inside SCI-Phoenix who had received a single-dose, Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The department told people living inside prisons that there had been an unexpected death of an inmate that had recently been vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the memo, obtained by Spotlight PA.

Then on April 13, the department had to stop issuing J&J vaccines along with the rest of the state and then the country, as regulators established six cases of rare blood clotting issues, including a Pennsylvania woman.

Corrections officials still have Moderna vaccines, which Bivens said they are continuing to use for staff and other people inside facilities.

Theres already been hesitancy around the vaccine by incarcerated people, with people saying its been rushed ... and corrections officers denying it doesnt instill much confidence for others to get it, said Poornima Rajeshwar, a policy fellow at the UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project. It is a concern to see how the J&J halt might affect people in the future getting it.
If judgment debtors do not declare their assets and income, the punishment for this kind of violation is limited.

Dinh La Thang has received four court judgments

Dinh La Thang has received four court judgments. In addition to a 30-year prison sentence, the highest penalty for fixed-term imprisonment, the former Chair of PetroVietnams Board of Management has also been required by the court to pay compensation of VND830 billion.

On January 4, 2019, Hanoi judicial agencies organized forcible seizure of apartment No 109 + 209, CT4 bloc in the My Dinh urban area of Nam Tu Liem district in Hanoi owned by Thang. This is a duplex apartment with total usable area of 416 square meters. Thang and his wife had agreed to divide the apartment in half.

However, even with the seizure, Thang has only paid VND4.5 billion in compensation as part of court judgment decision.

The civil judgment in the case related to Thang is facing difficulties. The amount of money Thang has to pay is high, while distrained and other assets to ensure the judgment enforcement are insufficient.

Deputy Director General of Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement Nguyen Van Son said the responsibility of judgment enforcement agencies is to continue to verify and trace properties, including real estate and moveable properties and accounts.

The transparency of information about the assets of judgment debtors plays an important role in determining the efficiency of civil judgment enforcement.

But the verification of judgment execution still faces problems because asset information is not transparent in Vietnam.

If the person who owes compensation tries to disperse their properties in ways to avoid the judgment execution, can current laws prevent this?

Law amendment needed

A report from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) showed that from January to September 2020, the total amount of money that needed to be collected for judgment execution was VND75.75 trillion, but execution bodies could collect only VND11.39 trillion, or 23.25 percent.

Article 7a of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement stipulates that judgment debtors (persons the court has decided must pay compensation) have the obligation of truthfully declaring assets and conditions for judgment execution; provide all documents and papers related to their property at the request of competent bodies; and take responsibility before law for the declarations.

From January to September 2020, the total amount of money that needed to be collected for judgment execution was VND75.75 trillion, but execution bodies could collect only VND11.39 trillion, or 23.25 percent.

However, if judgment debtors do not declare their assets and income, the punishment for this kind of violation is limited.

If they deliberately oppose the declaration, it will be very difficult to clarify information about their assets. In addition, it is easy for them to transfer their land, moveable assets or bank deposits to third parties and register the properties under other names.

This is the time when the assets of judgment debtors suddenly "disappear".

Experts say that it is possible to prevent this behavior of dispersing and hiding assets by learning lessons from the experience of other countries.

Nguyen Van Nghia from MOJ said that German laws set regulations on the period of time in which judgment debtors must declare their assets, thereby helping to eliminate phony transactions that try to disperse assets before or after the judgments are made.

The German laws require details about all the transactions between judgment debtors and persons with whom they have close relations, which helps prevent the transfer of assets to these people.

The responsibility of providing information about assets and financial situation is the first legal obligation of judgment debtors. If they do not provide information or if they refuse to cooperate with judgment execution bodies without a legitimate reason, they are immediately arrested and detained so that their obligations for declaration can be fulfilled.

Under German law, there is no need to have an arrest warrant in advance, but it will be shown to them at the moment of arrest.

Since he was arrested in July 2017, Dinh La Thang has received four judgments from the court.

Under the appellate judgment released on May 14, 2018, Thang was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and required to compensate VND30 billion on the charge of "deliberately violating the State's regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences".

In June 2018, the high-level court in Hanoi sentenced Thang to 18 years in prison, and was told he had to pay VND600 billion in compensation.

On December 22, 2020, the HCM City Peoples Court sentenced Thang to 10 years in prison for "violating regulations on the states asset management and use, causing losses and waste".

On March 15, the Hanoi Peoples Court sentenced him to 11 years in prison for "violating the regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences". Compensation of more than VND200 billion was required by the court.

From October 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021, the judgment execution bodies in 63 cities and provinces completed the execution of 178,437 out of 401,574 items, or 44.43 percent, with VND19 trillion seized for execution of judgments made by the courts.

T. Nhung

Former Minister Dinh La Thang accepts jail sentence The former minister of transport, Dinh La Thang, and his deputy Nguyen Hong Truong haven't appealed to their jail sentences given by the HCM City People's Court for their wrongdoings in the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway Project.
Researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) in a pioneering study identify clinical, genetic and histopathological characteristics that may help confirm the diagnosis when nephronophthisis occurs in adults

Tokyo, Japan - Nephronophthisis (NPH) is a kidney disease affecting mainly children. Now, for the first time, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have studied a number of adults with NPH and highlighted clinical, genetic and pathological characteristics that could help in confirming this challenging diagnosis.

NPH is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern and, though rare, is the commonest genetic cause of kidney failure in children. The name is derived from 'nephron', the functional filtration units of the kidney and 'phthisis', Greek for 'wasting away'. Recent genetic studies have highlighted that NPH may also present in adults resulting in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, there are only a few case-reports and no cohort studies, possibly because of rarity and diagnostic difficulties.

The clinical diagnosis of adult NPH is problematic because clinical, radiologic and histologic features are non-specific. Even the extrarenal features are fewer in adults. Because management includes renal transplantation and genetic counselling, an accurate early diagnosis is essential. Takuya Fujimaru, first author, explains further. "At present, molecular genetic analysis is the only practical method for clinically diagnosing NPH. However, as over 25 genes have been identified, Sanger sequencing (one DNA fragment at a time) is tedious; comprehensive mutation analysis using next generation sequencing (NGS) capable of sequencing millions of fragments is therefore required. Unfortunately, NGS is expensive and has limited availability. We therefore aimed to investigate the genetic background of adult nephronophthisis and evaluate the clinical characteristics and pathological changes in these patients."

The research team, drawn from top medical institutions across Japan, studied 18 patients with adult-onset NPH suspected from kidney biopsy using cutting-edge tools such as low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy and capture-based sequencing. They analyzed 69 genes associated with kidney disease and compared patients with and without mutations. Seven of their patients had NPH-causing mutations; they were comparatively young though not significantly different in classic pathological findings. Interestingly however, thick tubular basement membrane (TBM) duplication was seen in many more tubules in these genetically proven patients.

"Our finding that thick TBM duplication is specific to adult-onset NPH is significant," claims corresponding author Eisei Sohara. "The number of tubules showing this pathologic change has potential as a diagnostic criterion for adult NPH. We also observed that older patients are unlikely to have pathogenic mutations; this could be a novel diagnostic pointer, though comprehensive testing against a target panel of associated genes remains necessary."

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The article, "Genetic Background and Clinicopathologic Features of Adult-onset Nephronophthisis" was published in Kidney International Reports at DOI: 10.1016/j.ekir.2021.02.005
Amidst the chaos and a state of fear created by what is proving to be the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, there has hardly been any respite for the helpless people looking for hospital beds, medicines, and oxygen supply.

 Dnaindia

Sleepless and completely worn-out health care workers have been pushed beyond their physical and mental capacities in order to save the lives of patients across the nation.



Now, in such dark times where there does not seem to be a glimmer of hope, we are repeatedly seeing people work for one another, be it through providing medical facilities through social media or through other ways.

One such leading example of this is Ravi, an auto driver in Ranchi, Jharkhand, who is offering free rides for people visiting the hospitals under the coronavirus crisis.

#COVID19 | An auto driver in Ranchi offers free rides to people who need to go to hospitals.



(Images: ANI) pic.twitter.com/zOYIsQX72o  NDTV (@ndtv) April 23, 2021

As reported by ANI, Ravi has been providing free commuting to people since April 15.



He says that he took the decision to carry out the noble deed after he saw a woman being refused a ride to the hospital by all the other drivers.

When the woman approached him for help, he dropped her at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) facility, and since then has been helping anyone who needs a ride to the hospital free of cost.

He says that he has also put his number on social media so that people can contact him when the need arises.

(I have been) doing this since April 15 when I dropped a woman at RIMS after everyone else refused. My number's on social media so people can contact me, said Ravi.

Following Ravi's heroic actions, social media users took to Twitter to express their admiration for him.

Beautiful, this is true India, this is to have a spirit of an Indian.. and theyre are millions like him who are selflessly working to help those in need.. keep it up!! God Bless You All..  Kajal Maan (@MsKajalMaan) April 23, 2021

salaam to this hero...  ShaguftaRafique (@Writersahiba) April 23, 2021

We need to do this because our government cannot.  Tarang Hirani (@tarang9211) April 23, 2021

We need to do this because our government cannot.  Tarang Hirani (@tarang9211) April 23, 2021

Every common man is out helping others exept our damn politicians.. Inke drame, blame game hi end nahi hote. They r fighting for oxygen , medicines and God knows what not.. Shame on them..  Aanchalds (@Anchalds) April 23, 2021

Instead of showing some stupid bollywood heroes, news channels must focus on these real life heroes.  Aakash Tembe (@tembe_aakash) April 23, 2021

People like you are our heroes. Who makes a difference. Thank you bhai!  CiViLiZed BeaZt (@goks1987) April 23, 2021

Humanity dwells at lower places, it goes away from higher echelons of society  Suresh (@Suresh4217) April 23, 2021

To help anyone there is No need to be a rich man.  Peter Tigga (@peter_tigga) April 23, 2021

A samaritan, a much better kind person than these fake politicians  Sunil Chowta (@ChowtaSunil) April 23, 2021

These people are the god gift of the country.....  SHAHID (@SHAHID07189572) April 23, 2021
The Jan. 6 insurrection was a "shock to the system," propelling members of Congress toward the goal of shoring up America's ability to compete with China, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told Axios during an interview Thursday.

Why it matters: Competition between China's authoritarian model and the West's liberal democratic one is likely to define the 21st century. A bipartisan response would help the U.S. present a united front.

Driving the news: Three major bipartisan bills targeting China's influence and strengthening America's response are now working their way through Congress and expected to pass.

The Strategic Competition Act would allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to a raft of new initiatives aimed at helping the U.S. succeed in long-term ideological, military, economic and technological competition with China. It was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday and now heads to the Senate floor.

The Endless Frontier Act calls for $100 billion in funding for technology research to boost U.S. innovation, as China aims to become the world leader in emerging technologies.

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have reintroduced a bill to study the United States "overreliance on foreign countries and the impact of foreign direct investment on the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and DNA analysis industries"  with a special eye on China.

What they're saying: The harrowing experience of Jan. 6, the sharp divisions we saw in our election last year, and the rise of a more aggressive and assertive China and Russia, has really helped focus our country in the urgency in coming together and working to make a difference," Coons said.

The Capitol siege on Jan. 6 was a "shock to the system that both hurt our reputation around the world as a functional democracy and made many of us here in Congress reflect on ways that we demonstrate we can legislate in ways that can solve people's problems."

The Strategic Competition Act passed committee with a final vote of 21-1, which Coons said was "as robust and bipartisan an endorsement of a bill as Ive ever seen here."

Background: While in office, President Trump made countering China a big part of his agenda. And while there was bipartisan agreement Beijing was a growing problem, that didn't result in major legislation because there was so much tension between the two parties.

"President Trump took bold and aggressive steps to confront Chinas economic and intellectual theft of our innovation ... but he did so in ways that genuinely divided us from our allies," Coons said.

He said President Biden's approach focuses instead on bipartisanship and working with allies.

The bottom line: "The first order of business for us is to invest in our own country and in strengthening our own democracy," Coons said.

What to watch: The Strategic Competition Act codifies a bipartisan U.S. position on a range of China-related issues and telegraphs to U.S. allies the federal government is unified.
Chennai, April 23 : There is spring in the steps of Indian Premier League (IPL) team Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after their nine-wicket win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 21.

On Friday, the franchise posted a picture of skipper David Warner dribbling the ball past Vijay Shankar and titled it "David Beckham_Warner", comparing the Australian opening batsman to the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder.

This prompted a fan to warn the Australian about a groin injury he had suffered during the series against India. "Be careful with the groin injury. Still feel he is not 100%".

The wit continued into the programme "Never Have I Ever" hosted jointly by Warner and New Zealand's hotshot batsman Kane Williamson.

Warner jocularly gave a new name to the short skit, "Have I ever never ever, ever", leaving Williamson quite amused with the "tongue-twister".

When Warner asked Williamson if he had "never ever broken a bone?", the New Zealander promptly raised the "Yes" card, but Warner, after a moment of indecision, too raised the "Yes" card.

Williams then asked his skipper if he had "Never ever won a lottery?" Warner was quick to replay with a "No" card, but added without wasting a moment that he'd once won a bet with his wife.

On whether they had cut their own hair ever, Williamson said that he'd never used the scissors "to cut my hair", but Warner raised a "Yes" card, mumbling, "Covid-Covid, yeah cut my hair in the pandemic." On whether they had set something on fire while cooking, the duo answered in unison: "Yes...well barbecues, which automatically get on fire, isn't it." The duo would be looking forward to setting the stadium on fire, like their grills back home, when they take on Delhi Capitals on April 25.

Latest updates on IPL 2021

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
House Democrats pass No Ban Act to prevent future presidents from instituting a 'Muslim ban'

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The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed two bills in response to former President Donald Trumps efforts to stem illegal immigration and limit travel from countries tied to terrorist activity, the latter of which was pejoratively called a "Muslim ban."

Even though President Joe Biden lifted Trump's travel ban by executive order in January, the House passed the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act, also called the NO BAN Act or H.R. 1333, by a vote of 218-208 Wednesday.

This bill imposes limitations on the President's authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States, noted the bill's official summary. It also prohibits religious discrimination in various immigration-related decisions, such as whether to issue an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, unless there is a statutory basis for such discrimination.

In 2017, Trump signed an executive order that limited immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries where individuals were deemed to pose a terror threat to the United States.

The countries that were affected by the travel ban before Biden's revocation included: Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen.

The travel ban was first set in motion by former President Barack Obama, who in December 2015 signed into law the Visa Waiver Improvement Program and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act, which designated Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia as countries of concern.

While Biden lifted Trump's travel ban on Jan. 20, five days later he imposed his own travel ban on non-U.S. citizens from South Africa, Brazil, Europe and the U.K. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A week earlier, Trump had rescinded the entry bans on non-U.S. citizens who had been in the U.K., Brazil and many countries in Europe, but the Biden administration reversed it and added South Africa.

The House also passed the Access to Counsel Act, also known as H.R. 1573, by a vote of 217-207. The bill guarantees that individuals seeking to legally enter the U.S. can contact a family member or adviser if in custody for an extended time period.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a supporter of both bills, said in her speech before the House voted on the NO BAN Act that it made sure that no president or administration can ever again abuse its authority by waging discrimination on the basis of religion.

The NO BAN Act strengthens the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion. And it restores the separation of powers by limiting overly broad executive action to [issue] future religious bans, which are fundamentally un-American, said Pelosi.

Passage of these bills, that both are on the floor  the NO BAN bill and the Access to Counsel bill  should not be controversial. Over 400 immigrants rights organizations, faith based organizations, business groups and civil rights organizations support the NO BAN Act. And many more support the Access to Counsel Act.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., opposed the Act, noting in a speech before the House that the measure hindered national security and anti-terrorism efforts.

Ronald Reagan and George Bush used this authority to protect our country. So too did Barack Obama and even Joe Biden as recently as January 25th, he said.

The Presidents ability to protect against threats, negotiate security protocols and when necessary to retaliate against discriminatory actions by other countries depends on having this power at his immediate disposal.

Trump garnered controversy and litigation when he instituted a travel ban in 2017.

In June 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Trump v. Hawaii that the president could in fact issue a travel ban for the sake of national security concerns.

Then Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy authored a two-page concurring opinion to the slim majority, warning that such travel bans should be respectful of religious freedom issues.

[It] is an urgent necessity that officials adhere to these constitutional guarantees and mandates in all their actions, even in the sphere of foreign affairs, wrote Kennedy.

An anxious world must know that our Government remains committed always to the liberties the Constitution seeks to preserve and protect, so that freedom extends outward, and lasts.
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Downing Street has tonight fired back at Dominic Cummings' astonishing attack on former boss Boris Johnson, as the blistering row rocking Whitehall today broke out into open political warfare.

The former top aide today took a staggering swipe at Prime Minister as he denied being the 'chatty rat' who leaked details about the second lockdown last November or being behind leaks of the PM's messages with entrepreneur James Dyson to the media this week.

Mr Cummings, who was ousted in a power struggle in December, accused Mr Johnson and his team of falling 'so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves'.

What has Downing Street said in response to Dominic Cummings? On the blog as a whole, a No 10 spokesperson said: 'This government is entirely focused on fighting coronavirus, delivering vaccines and building back better.' On allegations regarding the Number 11 flat: 'At all times, the Government and Ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed. 'All reportable donations are transparently declared and published  either by the Electoral Commission or the House of Commons registrar, in line with the requirements set out in electoral law. 'Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in transparency returns.' Regarding claims Mr Johnson discussed dropping a leak inquiry: 'The PM has never interfered in a government leak inquiry.' Advertisement

And he claimed Mr Johnson's 'Wallpaper Gate' revamp of the Number 11 Downing Street flat was 'foolish and possibly illegal'.

But Number 10 has tonight hit back saying all 'official advice has been followed' in relation to the revamp, as a spokesperson tried desperately tried to move focus away from the blazing row by saying the Government was 'fully focused' on fighting Covid.

In a statement, addressing Mr Cummings' claims, a Number 10 spokesperson said: 'At all times, the Government and Ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed.

'All reportable donations are transparently declared and published  either by the Electoral Commission or the House of Commons registrar, in line with the requirements set out in electoral law.

'Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in transparency returns.'

Vote Leave mastermind, Mr Cummings, had earlier denied being the 'chatty rat' who leaked details about the second lockdown last November or being behind leaks of the PM's messages with entrepreneur James Dyson to the media this week.

In an astonishing attack on the Prime Minister he accused him of considering killing off a probe into the November leak because the evidence pointed at Henry Newman, a friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds.

Mr Newman, a former aide to Michael Gove who was brought into the new-look No10 team earlier this year, was has denied being the source of the leak.

Perhaps most dangerously for the Prime Minister, Mr Cummings also waded into the row over how the massive cost of renovating the PM's Downing Street flat was paid for.

The Electoral Commission continues to quiz Conservative chiefs over the flat refit row, which has been dubbed 'Wallpaper-gate', involving cash from donors and Conservative Party coffers.

Mr Cummings said he told Mr Johnson that having it secretly paid for by political donors was 'unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations.'

And Mr Cummings accused new Downing Street Director of Communications Jack Doyle of making 'a number of false accusations' to the media this week.

The Mail understands that the attack on Mr Cummings was personally ordered by Mr Johnson.

Dominic Cummings' extraordinary blog attacking Boris Johnson and No 10 On new Number 10 Director of Communications: 'The Prime Minister's new Director of Communications Jack Doyle, at the PM's request, has made a number of false accusations to the media' On Dyson texts leak: 'I have not found the ones [texts] that were leaked to Laura Kuenssberg on my phone nor am I aware of being sent them last year. I was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts. ' On letting No 10 search his phone: 'I am happy to meet with the Cabinet Secretary and for him to search my phone for Dyson messages.' On the 'chatty rat' leak: 'The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman' On Henry Newman and Carrie: 'The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends  [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' ' On Number 10 flat renovations: 'The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended. ' On a Covid inquiry: 'The proper way for such issues to be handled is via an urgent Parliamentary inquiry into the government's conduct over the covid crisis which ought to take evidence from all key players under oath and have access to documents. ' On Boris Johnson: 'It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves.' On his testimony to an inquiry: 'I will cooperate fully with any such inquiry and am happy to give evidence under oath. I am happy for No10 to publish every email I received and sent July 2019-November 2020 (with no exceptions other than, obviously, some national security / intelligence issues).' Advertisement

One Westminster source claimed Mr Johnson had been put up to it by Miss Symonds, who was said to be incandescent about briefings claiming she had tried to damage the careers of young Tory women. This is Carrie flexing her muscles, the source said.

It came after several papers were today told by an anonymous source in Downing Street that they believed Mr Cummings was responsible for messages between the PM and James Dyson over tax breaks for workers being handed to the BBC.

Mr Johnson also appeared to renege on a pledge to release his own message to Mr Dyson this evening, when Downing Street instead released a statement outlining their communications over ventilators for the NHS.

And he dismissed the swirling story when asked whether on LBC whether he thought Mr Cummings had leaked details of his contacts with the entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, he said: 'I don't think people give a monkey's about this issue.

'What they care about is what were we doing to protect the health of the British public and that's what I care about.'

Asked if he had tried to stop the inquiry, Mr Johnson replied 'No, of course not.'

Mr Cummings' 1,100-word response to the rumours circulating Westminster are likely to prove a huge blow to the Prime Minister, who is fire-fighting allegations that his administration was too open to lobbyists.

Former foreign secretary William Hague said Mr Cummings allegations could be very damaging to Mr Johnson.

He said the former adviser was trying to do as much damage to the PM as possible.

And adding to the PM's concerns will be his willingness to co-operate with the many investigations centred on activity in Downing Street over the past year.

Writing on his blog today, Mr Cummings said: 'I do have some WhatsApp messages between the PM/Dyson forwarded to me by the PM.

'I have not found the ones that were leaked to Laura Kuenssberg on my phone nor am I aware of being sent them last year. I was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts.

'Yesterday some No10 officials told me that No10 would make this accusation and told me what they believe actually happened  that Dyson's office emailed a number of officials, including HMT officials, and included screenshots of the PM/Dyson texts, and that this correspondence, from roughly a year ago, was passed to the BBC. I do not know if this is correct.

'Officials told me yesterday that I was not copied in on this correspondence and I do not remember it (I no longer have access to my official email so cannot check this)..

He added that he would be happy for a probe into the leak to have access to his mobile phone, adding: 'If the PM did send them to me, as he is claiming, then he will be able to show the Cabinet Secretary on his own phone when they were sent to me.

'It will therefore be easy to establish at least if I was ever sent these messages. I am also happy to publish or give to the Cabinet Secretary the PM/Dyson messages that I do have, which concerned ventilators, bureaucracy and covid policy  not tax issues.'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined to say why No 10 insiders suspected Dominic Cummings is behind leaks of his correspondence.

During a campaign visit to Hartlepool, Mr Johnson told broadcasters: 'I think people aren't so much interested in who is leaking what to whom as the substance of the issue at hand. The issue is really the question of the ventilators as you will remember James Dyson was offering to make. Let's be absolutely clear I think it was right to talk to him.'

Boris Johnson made a visit to Hartlepool today. Tory MPs fear he and Dominic Cummings could be headed for 'mutually assured destruction' after Number 10 sources accused the PM's former chief aide of leaking private text messages.

Eye on the ball: The Prime Minister attempted to deflect attention away from the row during an interview with LBC, saying the public did 'not give a monkeys'

Mr Cummings, who was ousted in a power struggle in December (left), accused Downing Street Director of Communications Jack Doyle (right) of making 'a number of false accusations' to the media overnight.

Ex-Fleet Street journalist Jack Doyle is the No 10 official accused by Dominic Cummings of making 'a number of false accusations to the media' The senior No 10 official sensationally accused by Dominic Cummings of making a number of false accusations to the media is Jack Doyle. Doyle, 41, has had a meteoric rise to one of the most senior positions in Downing Street in the year since leaving journalism. Just last week the former senior political reporter at the Daily Mail was appointed director of communications to Boris Johnson. But almost immediately he has been plunged into controversy. Mr Cummings, the PMs former senior adviser, accused Jack Doyle (pictured) of having been the No 10 source who briefed newspapers on Thursday night In an excoriating blog Mr Cummings, the PMs former senior adviser, accused Mr Doyle of having been the No 10 source who briefed newspapers on Thursday night that he, Cummings, had been responsible for a series of damaging leaks. Now father-of-two Mr Doyle will have to use all his communications skills to prevent the damaging intervention escalating into a full-blown crisis for his Prime Minister. Mr Doyle, the son of a policeman, worked at the Mail for ten years, first as home affairs correspondent before joining the political team, where he rose to the role of assistant editor (politics). Last January he was plucked by Mr Johnsons first director of communications Lee Cain to join No 10 as press secretary. Towards the end of the year Mr Cain resigned, to be replaced by James Slack, a former Daily Mail political editor. Mr Doyle became his deputy. When Mr Slack announced this year that he was quitting to be deputy editor-in-chief at The Sun, Mr Doyle was appointed to take his place. A source told PR Week: Jack lacks Whitehall experience but he speaks of continuity and has experience with the media. Advertisement

In an astonishing attack on the Prime Minister Mr Cummings accused him of considering killing off a leak inquiry last November because the evidence pointed at Henry Newman (centre), a friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds (right). Mr Newman has denied being the source of the leak.

Boris Johnson's top advisor Lord Lister quits after only two months as Gulf envoy as Downing Street lobbying row rages on A top aide to Boris Johnson has tonight quit after only two months in his role, amid the ongoing row over lobbying. Lord Udny-Lister, a top aide to Boris Johnson, has tonight quit after only two months in his role, amid the ongoing row over lobbying Lord Udny-Lister - a trusted political advisor to the Prime Minister and who worked alongside him during his time as Mayor of London - is to step back from his role as special envoy for the Gulf. It comes after a series of stories about the 71-year-old peer's previous work within the private sector. These includes reports in the Mail on Sunday last week that Lord Udny-Lister owned shares in a company that has won nearly 1million in Government and NHS contracts. Tonight a source told the Telegraph that there were 'no links between the disclosures and Lord Lister's departure'. The source also told the paper that the timing of his departure was linked to Mr Johnson's trip to India - which was cancelled due this week due to Covid. Meanwhile, Downing Street spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The Prime Minister is hugely grateful for Lord Lister's dedicated service over many years. 'He has been an outstanding servant to the country, to the Government and to the Prime Minister when he was mayor of London.' A key Johnson ally, Lord Udny-Lister was only revealed as the Government's special envoy for the Gulf in February. It was reported at the time that the role will focus on strengthening links with the region, as well as driving investment to the UK. Lord Udny-Lister had been acting chief of staff in No 10 until former Treasury official Dan Rosenfield relieved him of the role. Advertisement

And in an astonishing revelation about the inner-workings of Number 10, he said the probe into the November lockdown leak pointed the finger at Mr Newman.

'Last year there was a meeting between the PM, Cabinet Secretary, the Director of Communications and me regarding the leak of the decision for a further lockdown on the Friday evening immediately after the meeting in the Cabinet Room that made the decision (known in the media as 'the chatty rat story'),' Mr Cummings wrote.

'The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications (Lee Cain) and that ''all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office, I'm just trying to get the communications data to prove it''.

'The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, ''If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends  [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?''

'I told him that this was ''mad'' and totally unethical, that he had ordered the inquiry himself and authorised the Cabinet Secretary to use more invasive methods than are usually applied to leak inquiries because of the seriousness of the leak.

'I told him that he could not possibly cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends.'

His openness about the Downing Street flat is also certain to have political consequences.

This week the Mail revealed leaked emails from Conservative donor Lord Brownlow to Tory Party co-chairman Ben Elliot.

The emails showed that Lord Brownlow told Mr Elliot last October that he had paid 58,000 to Tory HQ to cover the same amount spent by the party months earlier on the flat refit.

The 58,000 was to be attributed as having come not from Lord Brownlow or the Tory Party but from a 'soon to be formed Downing St Trust' that had not yet been formed  and still does not exist, officially.

Well-placed sources said it was proof of an attempt to cover up the way party funds were secretly used to help pay for the refurbishment of Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds' Number 11 Downing Street official flat. The makeover, which included expensive wallpaper, by interior designer Lulu Lytle reportedly cost a six-figure sum.

Writing today Mr Cummings said: 'The Prime Minister's DOC (director of communications) has also made accusations regarding me and leaks concerning the PM's renovation of his flat.

'The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended.

'I refused to help him organise these payments.'

Former Conservative Party leader Lord Hague said Dominic Cummings' latest comments on Boris Johnson, if true, 'would be damaging to anybody, including a prime minister.'

Boris Johnson is shamed into paying 58,000 bill for the Downing Street refurbishment himself after the Tory Party settled it then tried to disguise the truth Boris Johnson has been shamed into paying for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat after the Daily Mail exposed how the Tory Party settled the bill  and then tried to disguise the truth. The Mail first revealed in February that the Prime Minister had asked Tory donors to contribute to the cost of redecorating, amid fears that spending ordered by his fiancee Carrie Symonds was out of control. His bid to sweep the scandal under the plush carpet collapsed on Wednesday, when the Mail published damning emails sent to party chairman Ben Elliot, a nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall. In one, sent in October, Tory donor Lord Brownlow said he had given 58,000 to cover payments the party has already made. Lord Brownlow added that the donation should be attributed to the soon to be formed Downing Street Trust. A second email showed that the multimillionaire, an ex-policeman turned entrepreneur, had been asked to run the trust by Mr Johnson personally last June. The proposed trust was purportedly intended to preserve the entire Downing Street estate, but it did not exist at the time of the donation  and still doesnt. Critics claim the idea was a ruse to recoup money spent on the Number 11 flat. Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds live there as it is larger than the space above No 10. Miss Symonds was reportedly eager to get rid of the John Lewis furniture nightmare inherited from Theresa May. This led her to commission the modish  and expensive  eco-friendly interior designer Lulu Lytle, whose work includes rattan furniture, gold wallpaper and wrought-iron finishings. Admirers of her decor include Prince Charles, who visited her Leicester workshop last year. Multiple sources at senior levels of the Government and Conservative Party have expressed outraged that Mr Johnson, 56, and Miss Symonds, 33, not only refused to pay for their revamp, but also wanted Tory donors to bail them out. The Government appeared to try to bury Mr Johnsons climbdown yesterday by having it announced in the House of Lords by Cabinet Office minister Lord True. He said the cost of work on painting, sanding and floorboards in the flat would be met by the taxpayer, but any costs of wider refurbishment in this year have been met by the Prime Minister personally. Those sixteen words are likely to have cost Mr Johnson around 58,000. The Government did not say how much he paid, or when. Lord True said the Government had been considering the merits of setting up a trust for future refurbishments, but the legally complex plans remain ongoing. Despite his 161,000-a-year salary, Mr Johnsons friends claim he has struggled to make ends meet since entering Downing Street. Confirmed to have at least six children, he has been through an expensive second divorce. Advertisement

'I think, of course, whenever anybody reads something like this, you do have to bear in mind this is somebody evidently very angry about being accused, in this morning's newspapers of being the source of leaks, so he's replying to that there's the retaliation against that so it seems, and clearly trying to do as much damage to the Prime Minister as possible, really, reading and listening to what's in this statement,' he told Times Radio.

Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rachel Reeves, said: 'The government seem determined to continue with their cover-up around the Number 10 refurb.

'The new claims of the Prime Minister's former Chief Advisor raise serious concerns at the conduct of the Prime Minister and government over this matter. This is the tip of the iceberg of Tory sleaze.'

Mr Cummings's allies had earlier appeared to be hitting back at Number 10 after Downing Street sources accused him of leaking the Prime Minister's private correspondence.

Friends of the PM's former top adviser told The Telegraph that he would wage a 'war of attrition' against Number 10 and compared him to the Viet Cong fighting against the Americans, adding 'the rebel always wins'.

Tory MPs fear Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings could be headed for 'mutually assured destruction' after Downing Street sources last night accused the latter of leaking private text messages including messages to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Sir James Dyson.

Allies of Mr Cummings told The Telegraph: 'Dom doesn't care about all this stuff... it's like the Americans going into Vietnam - they may be able to drop big bombs but in a war of attrition, the rebel always wins.'

An internal inquiry has been launched into how messages between the Prime Minister and Sir James were leaked to journalists.

But Downing Street figures are pointing the finger at Mr Cummings, who quit as the PM's senior adviser last year following a behind the scenes power struggle.

The Times, The Telegraph and The Sun all reported comments from an insider naming Mr Cummings. Allies of Mr Cummings have denied he is behind the leak.

The briefing has sparked concern among Tory MPs who believe the situation has the potential to escalate.

They said the briefing against Mr Cummings 'looks like Number 10's revenge' after the Vote Leave maverick's bombshell appearance in front of MPs last month when he claimed the Department of Health was a 'smoking ruin' at the start of the pandemic.

One senior Tory MP told MailOnline: 'It is a bit like Kennedy's response to Russian missiles in Cuba, it is not necessarily mutually assured destruction but that could happen.

'Having said that, quite clearly, Boris has got a lot more to lose than Cummings has and that is the worry.'

Another Conservative MP warned of the potential for the situation to turn into a 'bunch of school children' feuding.

The Prime Minister's Deputy Official Spokesman would not be drawn on the claims at lunchtime as he was grilled by reporters.

He said: 'We have instructed the Cabinet Office to look into the Dyson leak obviously I am not going to comment on speculation and of course it is for the Cabinet Office to take that work forward. I am not going to pre-empt it.'

The accusations against Mr Cummings follow persistent rumours of animosity between him and the PM's partner Carrie Symonds.

Mr Cummings left Number 10 in November after alleged sustained infighting with her allies, and his Vote Leave ally Lee Cain was ousted days earlier following similar reports of disagreements.

Number 10's plan for daily press conferences fronted by Allegra Stratton were also finally axed this week, months after she was hired to present the briefings that were seen as Mr Cain's and Mr Cumming's brainchild.

The bombshell accusations made against Mr Cummings emerged in three different newspapers at the same time late last night.

A Number 10 source told The Times: 'Dominic is engaged in systematic leaking. We are disappointed about that. We are concerned about messages from private WhatsApp groups which had very limited circulation.

'The prime minister is saddened about what Dom is doing. It's undermining the government and the party. It might be that Dominic feels bitter about what's happened since he left but it's a great shame. Dyson was trying to do something for the good of the country.'

The leak of the texts to Sir James, in which Mr Johnson promised the entrepreneur he would 'fix' a tax issue for Dyson staff working to develop ventilators at the height of the coronavirus crisis last year, was not the first time the PM's messages have been made public.

The accusations against Mr Cummings follow persistent rumours of animosity between him and the PM's partner Carrie Symonds.

Who is Henry Newman? Mr Newman is a former adviser to Mr Gove and a close friend of the Prime Minister's fiancee, Carrie Symonds. In the past the PM's fiancee has tagged him in a group photograph of Tory canvassers on Twitter as one of 'four of my favourite people'. He previously ran the eurosceptic Open Europe think tank and was in Mr Gove's team when he famously betrayed Mr Johnson in the 2016 Tory leadership contest. However, he is reportedly often invited to the Downing Street flat by Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds, unlike Mr Gove. Earlier this year he became a senior advisor in No10, leading to fears that allies of Mr Gove and Ms Symonds were muscling into the PM's inner circle. In 2019, Mr Newman wrote of his admiration for Cummings, saying he was 'one of only a few political advisers who understands the importance of, and is truly committed to, reforming the Whitehall machine'. Lord Frost, the negotiator behind Mr Johnson's Brexit deal, threatened to resign over the new appointment over concerns his role as Brexit adviser was being marginalised. Advertisement

Mr Johnson was sent a text message by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a bid to buy Newcastle United ran into difficulties last June.

A Number 10 source told The Sun that Mr Johnson 'fears Dom was responsible for the text message leaks about James Dyson and Mohammed bin Salman'.

The Telegraph said it is understood Mr Cummings would have had legitimate access to the messages while he worked at Number 10.

'If you join the dots it looks like it's coming from Dom,' a source told the newspaper.

A Whitehall source also claimed to The Telegraph that Mr Cummings may have been responsible for the 'chatty rat' leak last year of the PM's planned November lockdown.

The source said: 'There is a widespread belief in Whitehall that Dom Cummings may have been responsible for leaking the details from the proposed lockdown.'

His allies categorically denied that he was behind the leaks and said he had not seen the texts.

Mr Cummings has never been named by journalists as the source of any of the leak-related stories.

Tory MPs fear the accusations made against Mr Cummings could spiral into a damaging back and forth briefing war which could result in 'mutually assured destruction'.

One MP told MailOnline: 'With Cummings, it is not in his nature to go quietly and I don't think he is going quietly.

'The fact that somebody has leaked out that it was supposedly Cummings, clearly it looks like Number 10's revenge. The problem that they have got is that Cummings knows a lot more.'

They added: 'It is a bit like Kennedy's response to Russian missiles in Cuba, it is not necessarily mutually assured destruction but that could happen.

'Having said that, quite clearly, Boris has got a lot more to lose than Cummings has and that is the worry.'

Another Tory MP said: 'When you have a bunch of school children don't they do this sort of thing?'

Is Dominic Cummings REALLY the 'chatty rat' mole? Finger has previously been pointed at Matt Hancock, Michael Gove and a stream of government advisers Downing Street has been hunting for the identity of the so-called 'chatty rat' who has been leaking sensitive material from the heart of Government for six months. Dominic Cummings is not the only name in the frame for the source of damning information that raises serious questions about the conduct of the prime minister and his top team. He was first bounced into announcing November's four-week lockdown early after the plans emerged in the press. The 'rat' told Saturday morning's newspapers that a previous day's meeting of the all-powerful Covid Quad committee had decided to introduce a second national lockdown within days: anti-lockdown hawks in the Government claim that Mr Johnson had intended to spend the weekend studying the most recent and accurate data  and discussing it with the rest of the Cabinet  before deciding whether to extend his regional system of tiered restrictions instead. It came amid a spike in Covid cases last October that prompted calls for a 'circuit-break' shutdown. Mr Cummings was still in post as Boris Johnson's chief aide at the time, and suspicion also fell on other arms of the Government machine. Matt Hancock At the time, anti-lockdown hawks believed that pro-lockdown 'doves' leaked details of a so-called 'quad' meeting of Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Gove and Hancock the previous day to stop the Prime Minister from watering down the shutdown plans. Mr Johnson sent security experts to the homes of Cabinet ministers including Mr Hancock to examine their personal mobile phones as part of a major leak inquiry. The Health Secretary has frequently drawn the ire of hawks during the past year, emerging as a key advocate within Government of lengthy lockdowns designed to save lives. Sources say he has clashed with Sunak and other hawks who would have rather kept the economy open to avoid economic stress. Mr Hancock has categorically denied any involvement in the leak. Michael Gove Investigators into the lockdown leak called at Mr Gove's West London home and demanded to see his mobile phone, before examining his calls, text messages and WhatsApp conversations. It came as a furious Mr Johnson ordered Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to set up the probe. Mr Gove and his advisers were happy to hand over their phones because they had 'nothing to hide'. Despite repeated requests over the past six months, the results of the probe into the 'chatty rat' have never never been revealed. Henry Newman Mr Newman is a former adviser to Mr Gove and a close friend of the Prime Minister's fiancee, Carrie Symonds. He was accused by factions within the Vote Leave movement of being the Chatty Rat, with allegations that he partially wiped his phone after the inquiry began. The claims later turned out to be false and Mr Newman denies being the leaker. Mr Newman has been both Mr Gove's right-hand man and a close friend of Ms Symonds for years. Earlier this year he became a senior advisor in No10, leading to fears that allies of Mr Gove and Ms Symonds were muscling into the PM's inner circle. The Civil Service Suspicion has also been levelled at senior civil servants, with some accused of leaking details of the lobbying scandal to destabilise the Tories and help Labour. They are also suspected of using leaks to try to 'sabotage' the Brexit withdrawal negotiations last year, and to provide advance notice to the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about Government policies in the pipeline  giving him time to structure his responses. Tory spy-hunters believe a 'cell' of Labour supporters, centred on the Cabinet Office, was activated last year after Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson's former senior adviser in No 10, declared that a 'hard rain' was coming for the Civil Service as part of planned reforms to break up Whitehall's grip on the establishment. Advertisement

ANDREW PIERCE: Is this battle between Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings mutually assured destruction?

When the defenestrated Dominic Cummings left No 10 in November, he was ready for his close-up.

Scruffy as ever, a lanyard dangling around his neck, eyes downcast and clutching a large cardboard box, he exited through the famous front door bathed in the glare of photographers' flashes.

The carefully contrived scene, in time for the evening news bulletins, prompted a raft of jokes in Downing Street about what was in the box. Suggestions ranged from stale sandwiches or his collection of nerdy tomes on technology to dirty laundry.

But one senior figure watching the unfolding drama on TV in Boris Johnson's study was not so sure. 'I hope that box isn't filled with stuff that could come back to haunt us,' he observed.

He was only half joking. The Prime Minister, by all accounts, laughed off the suggestion that Cummings, once his trusted and all-powerful chief adviser, might take a noisy revenge for his sacking. Well, perhaps he's not laughing quite so hard now.

The Prime Minister, by all accounts, laughed off the suggestion that Dominic Cummings, once his trusted and all-powerful chief adviser, might take a noisy revenge for his sacking. Well, perhaps he's not laughing quite so hard now. (Above, the pair on Election night in 2019)

The psychodrama that has erupted around Cummings about who leaked what texts and when is potentially hugely damaging for the Prime Minister.

Last year Mr Johnson risked his reputation and that of his Government by backing Cummings despite public outrage at a breach of lockdown rules on the aide's infamous 260-mile dash from London to the North East.

Seven months later, however, the Prime Minister sacked him, worried that his Government was no longer working with the thuggish Cummings at its head, and persuaded by a coterie of senior female advisers  including his partner Carrie  that change was needed.

Now, with Cummings identified on the front pages of three national newspapers  each spoon-fed the story by No 10  as the source of damaging leaks in recent months, Mr Johnson has whacked him. Or, as a senior Tory said last night, he has 'declared all-out war' on Cummings.

Other more cynical observers point to the No 10 claims being a classic 'dead cat' strategy in which spin doctors introduce a dramatic new fact to divert attention away from an embarrassing issue or two.

This week the headlines have been dominated by escalating claims of Tory sleaze after the release of text messages between Mr Johnson and the businessman Sir James Dyson.

Then, on Thursday night, the Treasury released dozens of pages of correspondence from 2020 between David Cameron and the disgraced financier Lex Greensill and the Treasury, further fuelling that scandal.

But, after No 10's intervention to link Cummings to so-called 'revenge leaks', attention has been diverted to the bogey man figure of the former aide. 'There is a sense of exasperation in No 10,' says a source. 'The Government has been doing well in the polls and that has happened post-Cummings. I don't think Cummings could bear it, so he launched his wrecking ball.'

Either way, it is a high-risk PR strategy, with some Westminster watchers describing it as akin to kicking a hornets' nest, with everyone about to get stung.

Last night Cummings issued a bombshell statement rebutting a 'number of false accusations' made by No 10 to the media. He castigated Mr Johnson and his office for incompetence and a lack of integrity, while claiming that an alleged plan to have donors secretly pay for the renovation of the Downing Street flat was 'possibly illegal'.

There is no doubt that when Cummings was in No 10 he would have been copied into many texts and messages sent by Mr Johnson and senior ministers. Did he keep them as an insurance strategy or indeed for revenge? He says not. However, many senior Tory MPs are blaming the Prime Minister for what one said was a 'catastrophic failure of duty of care'.

There is no doubt that when Cummings was in No 10 he would have been copied into many texts and messages sent by Mr Johnson and senior ministers. Did he keep them as an insurance strategy or indeed for revenge? He says not. However, many senior Tory MPs are blaming the Prime Minister for what one said was a 'catastrophic failure of duty of care'. (Above, together in September 2019)

This week the headlines have been dominated by escalating claims of Tory sleaze after the release of text messages between Mr Johnson and the businessman Sir James Dyson. Then, on Thursday night, the Treasury released dozens of pages of correspondence from 2020 between David Cameron and the disgraced financier Lex Greensill (above, with Cameron in Saudi Arabia) and the Treasury, further fuelling that scandal

'Cummings was at the heart of every major Government decision since Boris became PM,' the MP said. 'He saw confidential papers, was the keeper of secrets, and saw Boris's close-up relations with Carrie. It's astonishing Boris never tried harder to keep Cummings on side. He's now paying the price.'

Just how important Cummings was in the court of Mr Johnson cannot be underestimated. When Boris opted to back Leave in the 2016 referendum, he was introduced by Michael Gove to Cummings, then campaign manager for Vote Leave.

It was an inspired pairing  the flamboyant MP who as London mayor had been the most popular politician in Britain and the data-driven strategist with a flair for eye-catching slogans. It was Cummings who coined 'Take back control'.

When Mr Johnson became foreign secretary in Theresa May's government, she stopped him from hiring Cummings. But as soon as Boris became party leader, Cummings was appointed his top adviser, sparking unease among senior Tories. He was seen as a loose cannon, famously described as a 'career psychopath' by Mr Cameron.

Yet Cummings soon proved his worth, coming up with a new slogan ('Get Brexit Done'), successfully arguing for a December 2019 general election, and correctly identifying that Labour's 'red wall' was vulnerable. He targeted it and demolished it.

Secure inside No 10, he and other Vote Leave staffers such as his loyal lieutenant Lee Cain, then head of communications, were on a mission. They took the view that they were Whitehall outsiders battling an entrenched elite.

Cummings would brook no disloyalty to Boris and, somewhat ironically now, dealt with suspected 'leakers' ruthlessly.

Then, at the height of the pandemic last spring, he broke lockdown rules with that trip to Durham. Mr Johnson stood by his unrepentant aide through the furore that followed, but by doing so, he was burning through his political capital  something he belatedly recognised.

When Cummings did finally leave, he rejected all interview requests and apart from giving evidence to a committee of MPs last month, has stayed largely silent. But there is no doubt he is an angry man.

Was he biding his time? Is Downing Street wise to have tried to flush him out? Or is this move, as some Westminster insiders suggest, an act of 'mutually assured destruction'.

Row over Carrie's role at No 10 is set to blow up AGAIN after Dominic's broadside accusing her friend of being 'chatty rat' leaker

Dominic Cummings' very pointed comments about the influence of Carrie Symonds and her friends within Downing Street will fuel more questions about her role in Government.

The role played by the Conservative Party's former director of communications has led to claims of a 'No10 psychodrama' being played out by her supporters and opponents.

She won a power battle with Mr Cummings last year which saw him march out of the front of No10 in December, over messages in which he allegedly referred to her as 'Princess Nut Nut'.

Carrie Symonds won a power battle with Mr Cummings last year which saw him march out of the front of No10 in December, over messages in which he allegedly referred to her as 'Princess Nut Nut'.

There had long been frustration that Ms Symonds was running a shadow PR operation, while she is said to have been incensed at the aggressive behaviour of Mr Cummings and his laddish cadre.

Since the departure of Mr Johnson's chief aide and his close supporter Lee Cain, Ms Symonds has seen one of her friends join No10 as an adviser.

Henry Newman is a former adviser to Michael Gove and was accused by factions within the Vote Leave movement of being the Chatty Rat, with allegations that he partially wiped his phone after the inquiry began - claims he denies.

Earlier this year he became a senior advisor in No10, leading to fears that Ms Symonds's friends were muscling into the PM's inner circle. Mr Cummings' remarks today about the PM considering scrapping a leak inquiry to avoid upsetting his fiancee will add more fuel to this fire.

Writing on his blog today Mr Cummings said that the Cabinet Secretary at the time, Mark Sedwill, had told him 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman'.

'The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, ''If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends  [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?''

'I told him that this was ''mad'' and totally unethical, that he had ordered the inquiry himself and authorised the Cabinet Secretary to use more invasive methods than are usually applied to leak inquiries because of the seriousness of the leak. I told him that he could not possibly cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends.'

Last month it was claimed civil servants were 'collateral damage' in a Downing Street briefing war over Ms Symnonds.

A senior Whitehall source claimed to The Times that reports of Ms Symonds, Boris Johnson's fiancee, clashing with civil servants had been overblown.

The source suggested that senior Whitehall figures were effectively being used as pawns in an internal power struggle.

There have been reports of Ms Symonds clashing with some senior female civil servants.

Antonia Romeo, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, and Helen MacNamara, former property and ethics chief at the Cabinet Office, have both been mentioned in anonymous briefings.

Allies of Ms Symonds have pointed the finger at allies of Mr Cummings for the negative briefings.

Mr Cummings, the former Vote Leave mastermind, worked closely with Mr Johnson on the Brexit campaign and was a major figure in Number 10 after the Prime Minister took office.

Mr Johnson stood by him after Mr Cummings found himself in the eye of a media storm after driving his family to County Durham during the coronavirus lockdown.

But Mr Cummings was subsequently ousted from Downing Street after clashing with Ms Symonds.

The source suggested the Prime Minister was 'saddened' and Mr Cummings was 'bitter' after his exit from No 10. They are pictured together in 2019

Dominic Cummings' damning blogpost in full: The Prime Minister's new Director of Communications Jack Doyle, at the PM's request, has made a number of false accusations to the media. 1. Re Dyson. I do have some WhatsApp messages between the PM/Dyson forwarded to me by the PM. I have not found the ones that were leaked to Laura Kuenssberg on my phone nor am I aware of being sent them last year. I was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts. Yesterday some No10 officials told me that No10 would make this accusation and told me what they believe actually happened  that Dyson's office emailed a number of officials, including HMT officials, and included screenshots of the PM/Dyson texts, and that this correspondence, from roughly a year ago, was passed to the BBC. I do not know if this is correct. Officials told me yesterday that I was not copied in on this correspondence and I do not remember it (I no longer have access to my official email so cannot check this). I am happy to meet with the Cabinet Secretary and for him to search my phone for Dyson messages. If the PM did send them to me, as he is claiming, then he will be able to show the Cabinet Secretary on his own phone when they were sent to me. It will therefore be easy to establish at least if I was ever sent these messages. I am also happy to publish or give to the Cabinet Secretary the PM/Dyson messages that I do have, which concerned ventilators, bureaucracy and covid policy  not tax issues. 2. Re lockdown. Last year there was a meeting between the PM, Cabinet Secretary, the Director of Communications and me regarding the leak of the decision for a further lockdown on the Friday evening immediately after the meeting in the Cabinet Room that made the decision (known in the media as 'the chatty rat story'). The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office, I'm just trying to get the communications data to prove it'. The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends  [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' I told him that this was 'mad' and totally unethical, that he had ordered the inquiry himself and authorised the Cabinet Secretary to use more invasive methods than are usually applied to leak inquiries because of the seriousness of the leak. I told him that he could not possibly cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends. I refused to try to persuade the Cabinet Secretary to stop the inquiry and instead I encouraged the Cabinet Secretary to conduct the inquiry without any concern for political ramifications. I told the Cabinet Secretary that I would support him regardless of where the inquiry led. I warned some officials that the PM was thinking about cancelling the inquiry. They would give evidence to this effect under oath to any inquiry. I also have WhatsApp messages with very senior officials about this matter which are definitive. Shortly afterwards the Cabinet Secretary authorised the PM's then Official Spokesman to tell the media that his inquiry had shown that neither I nor the then Director of Communications were the 'lockdown leakers' and he confirmed to me in writing that he had so instructed the PM's then Official Spokesman (who subsequently left). The PM himself also confirmed in writing that the leak inquiry had shown that neither I nor the then Director of Communications was the leaker, describing rumours to this effect as 'total bullshit'. The PM therefore knows that I was not the source of the leak and that the Cabinet Secretary authorised the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman to tell the media this, yet he has now authorised his DOC to make this accusation. The Cabinet Secretary knows the above is true and obviously can see our messages regarding this on his own phone. He behaved with complete integrity during this difficult incident. These events contributed to my decision to stick to my plan to leave No10 by 18 December, which I had communicated to the PM in July the day before my long-delayed operation. 3. Re the flat. The Prime Minister's DOC has also made accusations regarding me and leaks concerning the PM's renovation of his flat. The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended. I refused to help him organise these payments. My knowledge about them is therefore limited. I would be happy to tell the Cabinet Secretary or Electoral Commission what I know concerning this matter. 4. I have made the offer to hand over some private text messages, even though I am under no legal obligation to do so, because of the seriousness of the claims being made officially by No10 today, particularly the covid leak that caused serious harm to millions. This does not mean that I will answer every allegation made by No10. The proper way for such issues to be handled is via an urgent Parliamentary inquiry into the government's conduct over the covid crisis which ought to take evidence from all key players under oath and have access to documents. Issues concerning covid and/or the PM's conduct should not be handled as No10 has handled them over the past 24 hours. I will cooperate fully with any such inquiry and am happy to give evidence under oath. I am happy for No10 to publish every email I received and sent July 2019-November 2020 (with no exceptions other than, obviously, some national security / intelligence issues). It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves. I will not engage in media briefing regarding these issues but will answer questions about any of these issues to Parliament on 26 May for as long as the MPs want. Advertisement

DAN WOOTTON: Whoever is the Chatty Rat, Carrie and Cummings need to bury the hatchet and get behind Boris for the sake of the country

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings once represented a near-perfect political allegiance.

The country owes them for securing the seismic Brexit victory and guaranteeing its delivery, following numerous pathetically meek failures by Theresa May.

United, it felt like nothing could topple them  the future of the UK was in exciting hands.

The rulebook was shredded. Anything could happen! What a ride

Carrie Symonds (left, with Boris Johnson) and Dominic Cummings need to bury the hatchet, writes Dan Wootton

Dom, the Westminster-destroying outsider who would take no prisoners in his mission to turn 'the system'  from the terrified BBC to the institutionalised civil service  upside down and inside out.

Boris, the affable public face, who could win support for his steely-eyed political partner's revolutionary agenda.

Perhaps it was that power that so threatened Boris' real-life partner Carrie Symonds, who hated Dom's sheer force of personality and his ability to ruffle feathers and control her fiance.

After all, as a former Tory spin doctor herself, why the heck did Boris need this 'madman' taking the reins?

Especially after the palaver of THAT trip Barnard Castle at the height of the pandemic where Boris expended what little political capital he had left at the time to save Dom's job, at what felt like any cost.

But Dom and Boris divided, as they are now, is a political horror story. Toxic and immature, they seem to be trying to tear each other apart. It's a battle that does neither side any good.

According to seemingly coordinated front page stories in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun today, Boris has only one suspect about who is responsible for 'systematic leaking' about him: It's Dom!

A No10 source told The Sun: 'The Prime Minister thinks Dominic Cummings is responsible for a series of damaging leaks about his personal communications.

'He is deeply disappointed and saddened by what he thinks his former adviser has been doing, and believes he is attempting to undermine the Government and the Conservative Party.'

MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton

Cummings totally denies being the so-called Chatty Rat, incidentally.

You would have hoped a global pandemic, never-ending lockdowns and an economic catastrophe would be enough to focus minds and stop this sort of carry on.

However, in politics, personal rivalries and bitterness trumps everything.

The leaks in questions have not in themselves caused Boris too much harm yet.

This week text messages between Sir James Dyson and the PM were released, showing Boris pledged Dyson would not be forced to pay extra taxes if they helped deliver ventilators at the height of the pandemic.

In one message, Boris wrote: 'James, I am first lord of the Treasury and you take it that we are backing you to do what you need.'

Ironically, far from being damaging to Boris, it showed him as a highly engaged, hands-on PM prepared to do whatever it took to save British lives. That's something to celebrate in my books.

And I don't think the public see it as anything close to a scandal, despite Keir Starmer's opportunistic attempts to whip up a storm.

So should Dominic Cummings, if the rumours are to be believed, be leaking? Obviously Number 10 Downing Street think not and have launched a formal investigation.

They wish Dom would celebrate the enduring popularity of Boris  the man he made PM  and the supreme success of the UK's vaccine rollout, which owes its genesis to Brexit.

Former ITV News star Allegra Stratton gave up her very promising gig running the image of Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch White House-style daily briefings for Boris, at the personal request of the PM, only to be discarded without a second thought this week

But Dom has reason to be furious, given his brutal departure from Government after falling out with Carrie, despite the fact he was central to delivering Boris his Brexit and red wall victories.

By all accounts, Dom was rude, difficult to deal with and disrespectful while in power. Cabinet ministers, MPs, advisers and long-time public servants despised him.

But that's why I adored the bloke and think Boris should have done far more to keep him peeing inside the tent, rather than all over it from the outside as he is now accused of doing.

When Dom was running the Government, he brought out the best of Boris.

After years of unfulfilled promises, the Tories were finally going to crack down on the dominance of the outwardly left-wing BBC, for example. Without him, it's back to business as usual  moderate thinking and a distinct lack of ambition.

This week text messages between Sir James Dyson and the PM were released, showing Boris pledged Dyson would not be forced to pay extra taxes if they helped deliver ventilators at the height of the pandemic

Boris also has to take some responsibility about the way he treats people.

Former ITV News star Allegra Stratton gave up her very promising gig running the image of Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch White House-style daily briefings for Boris, at the personal request of the PM, only to be discarded without a second thought this week.

It's politically unwise to treat staff aware of the good, the bad and the ugly inside Government in such a cavalier manner.

Should we care about any of this nonsense political infighting? The answer is obvious: Of course not.

The public is rightly concerned about what matters post-covid; jobs, education, health, housing and the future of the Union.

Navel-gazing by politicians and their advisers who should know better is not high on the agenda.

But, believe me, this story matters because it's these sorts of long-running behind-the-scenes bitch-fights that consume huge attention of the people who are entrusted with making some of the biggest political decisions since World War Two.

Transformation to a post-Covid world is an even bigger feat to tackle than Brexit.

So this behaviour is deplorable and pathetic  and all parties need to immediately snap out of it to concentrate on what matters.

Carrie Symonds should immediately invite Dominic Cummings and his wife around for a private dinner in the Prime Ministerial flat at Number 11 Downing Street.

She was rightly furious about alleged leaks by Cummings' allies last year describing her as 'Princess Nut Nuts' but there's something much more important at stake now.

Carrie and Dom can have it out and then agree a respectful path forward that works for both sides.

Dominic should be offered roles that tap into his transformational ability and passion for levelling up Britain and making us a science and technology hub.

Then they should all shut the hell up forever more about their petty differences and put the interests of the United Kingdom before their egos.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday described the climate crisis as one of the nations existential threats with the potential to profoundly destabilize global security.

"From coast to coast and across the world, the climate crisis has caused substantial damage and put people in danger, making it more difficult for us to carry out our mission of defending the United States and our allies," Austin said in an address at a summit with world leaders focused on climate change.

"As the Arctic melts, competition for resources and influence in the region increases. Closer to the equator, rising temperatures and more frequent and intense extreme weather events in Africa and Central America threaten millions with drought, hunger and displacement," CNBC cited the Pentagon chief as saying.
Earlier this week, Congressman Tom McClintock spoke on the US House Floor.

McClintock was Fridays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Mr. Speaker:

We are way beyond any question of whether we face a border crisis  the question now is whether we have a border at all. When I put that question directly to the President of the Border Patrol, his answer was an emphatic NO.

By abandoning the border wall, rescinding the remain in Mexico policy, and obstructing enforcement of court ordered deportations, President Biden has produced a mass illegal migration of historic proportions, preying most tragically on young children and making the Mexican crime cartels billions of dollars.

The only border security measure he hasnt pulled down is the ability of the CBP to stop illicit activity at our official ports of entry  where large volumes of narcotics and other contraband must pass.

I recently visited our facility at Hidalgo crossing, where thousands of cars and trucks passing through the port of entry must be inspected daily to protect our country from high-volume cartel smuggling. Our officers are experts at spotting suspicious traffic hidden among the high volume of legal crossings without unduly delaying honest commerce and passage. To do this, they wave the suspicious traffic to secondary inspections, where they can locate and stop contraband that is often ingeniously hidden.

This has been a tremendous inconvenience to the cartels. I saw millions of dollars of methamphetamines and other deadly drugs  as well as infected fruits and vegetables heading to American markets  recently seized at these secondary inspections.

H.R. 1573 would grind legitimate trade and travel to a halt by providing that anyone referred to secondary inspection can, within an hour, consult with an attorney and call other third-parties. There are more than 17 million secondary inspections conducted each year at our 328 ports of entry. Can you imagine the effect of this bill? And its not limited to attorneys  a smuggler pulled into secondary inspection could warn confederates behind him that their hiding places had been discovered.

The officers told me they are already overwhelmed, using antiquated facilities and suffering manpower shortages. This bill gives the CBP the Hobsons choice of curtailing inspections or routinely backing up traffic for hours on end.

The inspection itself is not a criminal process  it is a screening process to assure that only legal products enter our country. Only when it becomes a criminal matter is there a right to counsel.

If this isnt actually written by the crime cartels it certainly is entirely in their interest and service. It speaks volumes about the attitude of the Democrats on the security of our border, the safety of our citizens and the sovereignty of our nation.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
The feast of St George is celebrated in numerous countries around the world, including Lithuania, Portugal, Germany and Greece, but it is probably St George's association with England that most people will relate to on 23 April.

Although identified with English ideals of honour, bravery and gallantry, St George was not the first patron saint of England - that honour was originally held by St Edmund in the ninth century. In 1348, Edward III founded the Knights of the Garter, and made St George the patron of the Order and also declared him Patron Saint of England. However, he was not English and he is not thought to have visited Britain.

Even though St George is perhaps one of Christianity's most venerated saints, his achievements have been questioned by the scholarly and his life is something of a mystery. He is believed to have served as a soldier in the Roman army during the latter part of the 3rd century AD, but resigned in protest of the Emperor's persecution of Christians. He was then imprisoned for refusing to renounce Christianity and was beheaded by the Emperor Diocletian on 23 April 303 AD.

It was his supposed taming and slaying of a fierce dragon that set him apart from most of his fellow martyrs. The account of his heroism is found in the Golden Legend, a collection of biographies based on saints and ecclesiastical leaders written in the 13th century. The legend of George and the Dragon was popularised in the middle ages, becoming a favourite literary and pictorial subject and an integral part of the Christian traditions relating to St George.

St George also holds the honour of being patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, while in recent years, he has been adopted as patron saint of the Scouts.

He is not only the patron saint of England, but also of Catalonia (San Jordi), Aragon and Caceres in Extremadura (San Jorge).

The St George's Cross - Creu de San Jordi - is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia; although 23 April is not a public holiday, unlike in Aragon, where it is a fiesta known as the Dia de Aragon.

Legend says that God sent St George, who descended from Heaven riding on a horse, to aid the King of Aragon, Pedro I, in his conquest of Huesca in 1096. To celebrate this victory, Saint George's cross was used as the insignia of Huesca and Aragon.
Providence will no longer wait on partners as it plans to push forward one of Europe's largest untapped oil projects.

( ) shares recovered strongly through Thursdays trade as investors warmed somewhat to the companys new self-help strategy to take forward the Barryroe oil project.

After starting the day falling over 15% the share closed at 3.4p, marking only a 6.8% decline for the session.

Alan Linn, who joined as chief executive in January 2020, believes the new plan for the project will be very beneficial for shareholders.

Indeed, forward looking investors will be hoping that with full control of the project, Providence will no longer be left waiting on the cusp of development.

Well successes back in 2012 saw the Irish oil company soar before frustrations at the deal-making table saw the project stall in subsequent years.

Barryroe contains more than 700mln barrels of oil in place and nine years ago test production rates in excess of 3,500 barrels per day beat expectations.

It remains one of Europes largest untapped oil projects.

Latest development plans value the project at some US$560mln to Providence, meaning it remains a very high impact venture not least as a current market price of 3.4p values the exploration company at just 26mln.

Moreover, the development scenario presently laid out only addresses some 48mln barrels  or in other words 16% of the recoverable resource.

For most of the past nine years Providence has either been negotiating, closing or waiting for payment for farm-out partnership deals.

Amidst a variety reasons, challenges and market conditions none of the prior deals were fully realised. And, today, the most recent tie-up was terminated.

Providence now intends to take all the work it has been doing in the background and go it alone with the project.

The latest farm-out deal was with a Norwegian company called SpotOn Energy which was a vehicle with ties to a number of service providers including Schlumberger and Maersk Drilling.

Drawing inspiration from SpotOns approach and financing model, the company will move the Barryroe project forward.

In a statement, Providence chief executive Alan Linn said work to achieve a funding solution is well advanced.

The Irish company hopes to conclude a financing by the third quarter to allow a crucial drill programme in 2022.

We are looking forward and actively building a revised development partnership with key service providers and a financing package designed to meet the needs of the project, Linn said.

We have been encouraged by the support we are receiving from service providers and banks and the commitments being offered to work with us in progressing the project.

We are currently working with key service providers to structure direct long-term partnerships on a risk / reward basis and we are also in discussions with brokers to raise a Nordic bond.

In the meantime, major shareholder Pageant Holdings has offered to underwrite a US$2.5mln placing, priced at 3p per share.

An issue of warrants could, if exercised, add a further US$2.5mln to Providences coffers.

Linn described the interim funding as very welcome and noted that it confirms the continuing support for the project.

The Barryroe early development scheme is an attractive investment which offers excellent returns, even in a low oil price environment, Linn added.

We look forward to completing the funding process and appreciate the support and patience of shareholders.

The early development scheme will be of considerable benefit to the local economy and contribute to Irelands energy security as we move towards a low carbon economy.
Joe Bidens Cabinet pick for science adviser has been delayed by Democrat concerns of connections to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.

The nomination of Eric Lander to director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy was reportedly paused due to questions around two meetings the geneticist had with Epstein in 2012, four years after the financiers conviction on child prostitution.

Quoting an anonymous official familiar with the situation, Politico reported that Washington senator Maria Cantwell wanted more clarity on the extent of Mr Landers connections with Epstein.

While Ms Cantwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment, she told the outlet "well see what happens with that", regarding the hearing on Mr Landers nomination next week.

Mr Lander was first identified in a 2019 BuzzFeed News investigation as among a group of scientists and professors who met with Epstein in the office of Harvard biologist Martin Nowak.

Photos from one of the meetings, posted to jeffreyepsteinblog.com, show Mr Lander and Epstein talking at the meeting, which Mr Lander described to BuzzFeed News as an informal sandwich lunch to discuss science with various people.

Martin didnt mention whod be attending. I had not met Epstein before, didnt know much about him, and learned that he was a major donor to Martins institute," Mr Lander told BuzzFeed in an email.

I later learned about his more sordid history, Lander added. Ive had no relationship with Epstein.

The Independent has contacted Mr Lander for comment.

The White House confirmed in a statement to Politico on Wednesday that Mr Lander, along with other Harvard officials, met Epstein at two events in the Spring of 2012, and "correctly decided to have nothing to do with Epstein".

As has been previously reported, neither Dr Lander nor the Broad [Institute] solicited nor received any funding support from Epstein or his foundations, nor did he or the Broad have any relationship with Epstein, the spokesperson said.

Mr Lander is currently the director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and previously served as a scientific adviser in the Obama administration.

He spoke about his nomination as White House science adviser to then-president-elect Joe Biden on 15 January, but his hearing wont come before the Senate until almost three months later on 29 April.

"Tremendously excited to work alongside so many bright minds to advise the President-elect and push the boundaries of what we dare to believe is possible," Mr Lander said in a tweet. "#ScienceIsBack."
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up. In their findings (posted on SSRN/Preprints with The Lancet) they note that they are the first to meet the World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap goal of a vaccine with at least 75% efficacy.

The authors report (in findings in press with The Lancet) from a Phase IIb randomised, controlled, double-blind trial conducted at the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) / Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante (IRSS), Burkina Faso. 450 participants, aged 5-17 months, were recruited from the catchment area of Nanoro, covering 24 villages and an approximate population of 65,000 people.

The participants were split into three groups, with the first two groups receiving the R21/Matrix-M (with either a low dose or high dose of the Matrix-M adjuvant) and the third, a rabies vaccine as the control group. Doses were administered from early May 2019 to early August 2019, largely prior to the peak malaria season.

The researchers report a vaccine efficacy of 77% in the higher-dose adjuvant group, and 71% in the lower dose adjuvant group, over 12 months of follow-up, with no serious adverse events related to the vaccine noted.

Following these results, the Phase IIb trial, which was funded by the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union (grant number RIA2016V-1649-MMVC), was extended with a booster vaccination administered prior to the next malaria season one year later.

The researchers, in collaboration with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd., and Novavax Inc., have now started recruitment for a Phase III licensure trial to assess large-scale safety and efficacy in 4,800 children, aged 5-36 months, across four African countries.

Halidou Tinto, Professor in Parasitology, Regional Director of IRSS in Nanoro, and the trial Principal Investigator said: "These are very exciting results showing unprecedented efficacy levels from a vaccine that has been well tolerated in our trial programme. We look forward to the upcoming phase III trial to demonstrate large-scale safety and efficacy data for a vaccine that is greatly needed in this region."

Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute and Lakshmi Mittal and Family Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and co-author of the paper, said:

"These new results support our high expectations for the potential of this vaccine, which we believe is the first to reach the WHO's goal of a vaccine for malaria with at least 75% efficacy.

"With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have major public health impact if licensure is achieved."

Professor Charlemagne Ouedraogo, Minister of Health, in Burkina Faso said:

"Malaria is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in Africa. We have been supporting trials of a range of new vaccine candidates in Burkina Faso and these new data show that licensure of a very useful new malaria vaccine could well happen in the coming years. That would be an extremely important new tool for controlling malaria and saving many lives."

Professor Alkassoum Maiga Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in Burkina Faso, said:

"I am proud of Burkina Faso researchers who made a great contribution to reach this important milestone. Hope that the upcoming phase III trial will confirm these exciting findings and that this vaccine could have a real impact on this disease affecting millions of children every year."

Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla and Mr Adar Poonawalla, Chairman and CEO of the Serum Institute of India said:

"We are highly excited to see these results on a safe and highly effective malaria vaccine which will be available to the whole world through an excellent collaborative effort between Serum Institute, the University of Oxford and Novavax Inc.. Serum Institute is committed to global disease burden reduction and disease elimination strategies by providing high volume, affordable vaccines. We are highly confident that we will be able to deliver more than 200 million doses annually in line with the above strategy as soon as regulatory approvals are available."

Dr. Michael Makanga, EDCTP Executive Director, said:

"We congratulate the Multi-stage Malaria Vaccine Consortium on these highly promising results from the Burkina Faso trial of R21. This study represents a key advance in the clinical development of the R21 malaria vaccine towards licensure, and an important step closer to malaria control and elimination."

Gareth Jenkins, Director of Advocacy, Malaria No More UK, said:

"An effective and safe malaria vaccine would be a hugely significant extra weapon in the armoury needed to defeat malaria, which still kills over 270,000 children every year. For decades, British scientists have been at the forefront of developing new ways to detect, diagnose, test and treat malaria, and we must continue to back them.

"A world without malaria is a world safer both for the children who would otherwise be killed by this disease, and for us here at home. Countries freed from the malaria burden will be much better equipped to fight off new disease threats when they inevitably emerge in the future."
Donald Trump is urging Americans to get their COVID vaccines, revealing he got his second shot in Florida after getting his first before he left the White House.

'I'm all in favor of the vaccine,' Trump told The New York Post.

His remarks came after President Joe Biden made a push to increase vaccine rates amid declining numbers, particularly among white males and younger adults.

The former president and Melania Trump, who live at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, are now fully vaccinated. The couple were diagnosed with COVID in October 2020 and President Trump was hospitalized for a few days at Walter Reed hospital after he had trouble breathing.

Trump told the Post he felt no side effects from his inoculation.

'Not even a bit of arm soreness,' he said. 'It's pretty amazing stuff.'

Donald Trump is urging Americans to get their COVID vaccines, revealing he got his second shot in Florida after getting his first before he left the White House

Donald and Melania Trump are now fully vaccinated for COVID 19

In March, it was revealed Donald and Melania Trump got the COVID vaccine in January before they left the White House after Trump told the audience at CPAC that 'everybody' should get the vaccine.

'We took care of a lot of people  including, I guess, on Dec. 21, we took care of Joe Biden, because he got his shot, he got his vaccine,' Trump said in his remarks. 'So everybody, go get your shot.'

It was the first time he had encouraged his followers to be vaccinated. Many of them are skeptical of the vaccine.

Neither Trump took the vaccine publicly and it's still unclear which vaccine they received although it would have to have been either the Pfizer or Moderna given that the couple received two shots.

Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this month, celebrating her vaccination with pictures posted to her social media accounts.

The former first daughter was vaccinated in Miami, Florida, where shes living with her husband Jared Kushner and their three children. She will get her second shot in a few weeks.

She was the first member of the former first family to post about her vaccination and did so amid rising concern about vaccine hesitancy.

Safety first: Ivanka Trump, 39, received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a CVS in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday

Celebrating: The former first daughter shared two photos of herself getting the shot on Instagram and Twitter after three months of social media silence

'Today, I got the shot!!!' In her caption, she encouraged others to get the COVID-19 vaccine

A source close to Ivanka told DailyMail.com that she has full confidence in the vaccines and wanted to address the hesitancy issue.

Dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt, sneakers, and a face mask, Ivanka encouraged people to get vaccinated.

Today, I got the shot!!! I hope that you do too! Thank you Nurse Torres!!!, she captioned the photos.

She posted about her vaccine because, 'especially during a time of rising levels of vaccine hesitancy, she feels it's vital to underscore the importance of getting vaccinated and to encourage others to do so as soon as they are able,' a source close to Ivanka told DailyMail.com.

'She did so after waiting to be eligible in her home state of Florida and has full confidence in the vaccines available,' the source noted.

Health experts have raised concerns about the number of people hesitant about being vaccinated and many of those are supporters of former President Donald Trump. A PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll last month showed at least 41 percent of Republicans don't plan to get vaccinated.

Ivanka was given the opportunity to receive the vaccine during her time at the White House but wanted to wait until it was her turn to do so, DailyMail.com has learned.

And the current White House is trying to up the vaccine rate.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned Americans may not be able to celebrate July Fourth in small groups if the vaccination rate continues to drop and he pushed employers to give workers paid time off to help get them back up.

'The broad swath of American adults still remain largely unvaccinated. In a number of states, they weren't eligible for the vaccination until this week,' Biden said in a speech marking the 200 million COVID vaccine shot given during his presidency.

'Too many younger Americans may still think they don't need to get vaccinated,' he said.

'Our objective is to reach everyone, everyone over the age of 16 in America,' Biden announced.

Over half of Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine - the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two shots - but the distribution of shots is unequal. New Hampshire has given at least one shot to 59 per cent of its citizens while Mississippi and Alabama are at 30 percent.

133 million, or 51.5 percent, of adults have had one shot of the vaccine and 33.8 per cent are fully vaccinated. 40.5 percent of the entire US population has received at least one shot and 26.4 percent are inoculated, with the rollout yet to include children under 16.

And young adults - many of whom weren't eligible to get a dose until Monday due to their general good health, age and low risk factors - are one of the lagging age groups when it comes to getting inoculated.

Biden warned that the declining vaccination rate could affect guidelines for the upcoming Independence Day holiday. In March, Biden said the nation could see an easing of COVID restrictions to allow small group celebrations on that day.

The president noted the country remains on track to reach that goal but cautioned that could change if vaccination rates continue to decrease.

'If we let up now and stop being vigilant,' he said, 'we're never going to get back to celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4 with family and friends in small groups.'

He reminded people that the COVID vaccine is available in a large number of areas, including local pharmacies.

'If you can go into a busy by your shampoo or toothpaste, you can stop and get vaccinated. The vaccine is free. It's convenient and it's increasingly available,' he said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Several cars were flipped over Saturday night as hundreds of students attending an off-campus party turned destructive, according to reports.

ABC 6 reports about 30 patrol cars responded Saturday night and early Sunday morning and broke up the party on Chittenden Avenue, which was attended by an estimated 2,000 students. At least eight cars overall were destroyed and fires were set, ABC 6 reports.

After the party, the area was littered with garbage, including empty cans and bottles, and a rental scooter was found in a tree, ABC 6 reports. Despite the damage, police made no arrests, according to The Lantern, the Ohio State student newspaper.

Ohio State President Kristina Johnson released a statement on Twitter condemning the destruction.

Last nights behavior and destruction of property just off campus are unacceptable, and for our students who were involved, this does not represent who we are as Buckeyes, Johnson said.

Ben Johnson, the director of communications for Ohio State, called the students actions unacceptable and said the university will work with police to identify anyone who was involved in destructive behavior.

In a normal year, such behavior is appalling and dangerous, Johnson said in a statement. In a pandemic, the risk is even higher. Students should not be gathering in large groups and should be wearing masks and maintaining physical distance.

Melissa Shivers, the senior vice president for Student Life at OSU, released a statement calling the destruction at the party beyond comprehension.

Seriously, I dont understand why any of you would engage in this behavior, Shivers said. This wasnt a party  this was sheer chaos that resulted in damage to property and could have resulted in harm to other people, other Buckeyes.

Columbus Police Commander Dennis Jeffrey tells WBNS Channel 10 said police were aware the party was planned but were caught off-guard by the large number of people who attended.

I hope the university holds some accountable if they can identify them, Jeffrey said. Well work on identifying folks that did the damage and maybe we can get some kids suspended, expelled maybe.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Columbus Police at 614-645-4545 or to submit an anonymous tip, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477 (TIPS) or on Twitter @OhioCrime.
Chijioke Ugwu, who died aged 62 in July 2009, was an astute businessman who started with a pickup truck.

He used the truck to supply wood to construction sites in the southeastern Nigerian city of Enugu. With the money he made from that business, he bought another truck, which he gave out on hire purchase.

A native of Akegbe-Ugwu in the Nkanu-West Local Government Area of Enugu State, Mr Ugwu also owned a garri-processing plant that produced at least 30 bags daily.

A family man, he had two wives and a full house. The first wife bore five children, while the second wife produced three. Every Christmas Eve, Mr Ugwu would drive his first wifeObiageli Ugwuand their five children to the market to shop for clothes, foodstuff, shoes and any other thing they needed for the Yuletide. He also made sure that Obiagelis drinks-and-beverages provision store was always filled with goods, and had begun plans to buy her a car.

Mr Ugwu was popular in his community and loved the tradition of his people. He participated in masquerade festivals and gave money to the masquerades. The Igwe of the community always listened to him because of his reputation as an honest man. Mr Ugwu joined the communitys security team and in his time, incidents of robbery in Akegbe-Ugwu reduced.

On July 17, 2009, Mr Ugwu drove to a friends mechanic shop at Gariki in Enugu to repair his truck. There, a friend, Paul Mba, called and asked for his location.

Arrested

Mr Ugwu disclosed his whereabouts to Mr Mba, and after a few minutes, police officers stormed the place and arrested him. Before then, the police had arrested two other men who Mr Ugwu knew. The men, like Mr Ugwu, were part of the security team of Akegbe-Ugwu. The police officers took Mr Ugwu and the two men to Gariki Police Station.

At the station, Mr Ugwu called his first wife, Mrs Ugwu, and told her what had happened to him. The next day, July 18, Obiageli went to the station but did not see her husband. A police officer told her Mr Ugwu had been transferred to the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) located at Enugu-Onitsha road, New Market.

At the SARS office, the officers insisted that Mrs Ugwu must pay 1,000 Naira before she would be allowed to see her husband. Upon payment, her husbands cell was unlocked.

Bouts of toture

Mrs Ugwu recalls how traumatising the sight of her husband was upon his release: as a result of the beatings he had endured in custody, Mr Ugwus body was full of wounds, his legs were broken, and his jeans soaked with blood.

On July 20, Mr Ugwu was taken to an Enugu Magistrates Court, alongside the two men arrested with him. The court, unfortunately, could not sit because the injuries the men had sustained in custody had left them weak. The judge instructed them to get treatment before appearing in court again.

Bribe demanded for freedom

Later, Mr Ugwu informed his wife that the SARS officers had planned to take him back to the cell, where they were sure to continue torturing him. Fearing the worst, Mrs Ugwu begged the magistrate to send her husband to prison instead of the cell. The magistrate, much to the annoyance of the SARS officers, agreed. Mr Ugwu was taken to an Enugu prison.

The people of Akegbe-Ugwu at that time had a land tussle with Akwuke, a neighbouring community. Mr Ugwu and the two other arrested men were at the forefront of this struggle. Mrs Ugwu believes her husband and the men were targeted arrests. Her first daughter, 25-year-old Nnenna, supports her argument. Nnenna recalls that her father told her that one of the SARS officers had told him to pay five million naira to regain his freedom, as some members of the Akwuke community had ordered his death by paying 500,000 naira to the SARS officers. Nnenna says her father rejected the offer.

And the man died

On July 21, Mr Ugwu died in the clinic of the Enugu prison. His remains were taken to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, where an autopsy was conducted and a verdict reached: He had died from a lethal injection administered to him in SARS custody.

Mr Ugwus family filed a petition against the SARS officers and went to court in March of 2010.

Court orders N5 million compensation, only N1 million paid

In 2011, the court ruled in their favour and demanded that they be compensated with the sum of five million naira. Instead, the family received 1,090,000 naira, which Mrs Obiageli Ugwu shared with her husbands second wife in the presence of their lawyer. The family is yet to receive the rest of the compensation.

ADVERTISEMENT

After Mr Ugwu was buried in June 2012, the family returned to court twice, demanding the remainder of the money. But they kept getting tossed to and fro, and have grown tired of following up.

Mr Ugwus family has struggled financially since his death. His pickup trucks were sold to pay bills. His workers at the garri-processing plant embezzled money and sold some of the machines. His wifes business collapsed.

His daughter, Nnenna, could no longer pursue her dream of becoming a medical doctor and had to get married in 2017 at the age of 22. Nnennas other siblings have dropped out of school, too, and taken up different small-scale businesses.

Nnenna says, I love and miss my father. Most times, I feel like he is still here.

_______

This story is part of a multimedia project by Tiger Eye Foundation and media partners across Nigeria, documenting police brutality in Nigeria, and advocating for police reform.
Medication-assisted treatment in jail is still unusual despite ample evidence that inmates who come in with an opioid addiction are at heightened risk when they leave. The typical jail regimen calls for detox, which puts inmates through a painful withdrawal and lowers their tolerance to the drugs, leaving them more likely to overdose if they resume their use upon release.
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The global malaria vaccines market is expected to reach USD 134.9 million by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 33.2% during the forecast period according to a new study published by Polaris Market Research. The report Malaria Vaccines Market Size Report By Agent (Plasmodium Falciparum, Plasmodium Vivax, Anopheles Species); By Vaccines Type (Pre-Erythrocytic Vaccine, Erythrocytic Vaccine, Multi-antigen Vaccine); By Channel of Distribution (Hospitals, Clinics, Community Centers); By Regions: Segment Forecast, 2019  2026 provides an extensive analysis of present market dynamics and predicted future trends.

According to the World Malaria Report published by WHO in November 2018, the cases for malaria were 219 million in 2017 in more than 90 countries which were up from 217 million cases in 2017. The total deaths due to malaria in 2017 were 435,000 which were registered in the malaria affected regions.

This mosquito-borne illness creates extreme disease in kids and in grownups. Expecting females and kids cannot get away from consequences of this fever. It is reported that malaria-affected expecting females offer early birth or occasionally bring to life dead babies. Different precaution to suppress this fever consist of using insect nets and splashing of pesticides. Existing research studies have wrapped up that a) insects are immune to pesticides, b) pesticides have hazardous impacts to human beings, as well as c) malaria fever ends up being immune to medications.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/malaria-vaccines-market/request-for-sample

The market for malaria vaccines globally has been divided based on vaccine type, agent, channel of distribution and region. Considering the vaccine type, the market is bifurcated into pre-erythrocytic vaccine, erythrocytic vaccine, and multi-antigen vaccine. The channel of distribution used for malaria vaccines include the hospitals, clinics and community centers. Considering the agent used in the malaria vaccines, the global market is divided into plasmodium falciparum, anopheles species, and plasmodium vivax. Geographically, as per the WHO report, nearly half of the worlds population was at risk in 2017, wherein the African region was the most affected one. Along with Africa, Asia Pacific region is also expected to grow at a considerable rate among all the other regions with Middle-east and Latin America likely to be the other potential regions for malaria vaccines market. North America and Europe have lower cases of malaria related diseases with regions such as Africa monitoring some of the highest deaths of children related to malaria globally.

Some of the major factors pushing the market include the expanding occurrences of malaria in addition to the existence of numerous companies that are introducing low profit margin vaccines throughout the world. Increasing awareness associated to the aftereffects of the disease, continuous R&D in this section and increased funding from the government of the developing and developed countries together is pushing the market for malaria vaccines globally. Weak supply chain and distribution network among some of the developing countries which are affected by malaria are creating restraints for the market growth in these regions, however companies and government organizations are working together to overcome this challenge. It is anticipated that the continuous R&D for malaria vaccines and the continuous growth of this disease will help the market to grow in the coming years.

A few key strategies adopted by companies operating in the malaria vaccines market are new technology and product development, and geographical expansion among the developing regions to focus on proving vaccines to the areas highly affected by the disease at lower cost. The leading players operating in the market globally are GlaxoSmithKline, GenVec, Inc., Nobelpharma, and Sanaria. Some other promising vendors are Cadila Healthcare Ltd., CellFree Sciences Co. Ltd., VLP Therapeutics LLC, and Genome ReS Ltd. among others.

Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/malaria-vaccines-market

Polaris Market Research has segmented the global malaria vaccines market on the basis of source type, application and region:

Malaria Vaccines Agent Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015  2026)

 Plasmodium Falciparum

 Plasmodium Vivax

 Anopheles Species

Malaria Vaccines Vaccine Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015  2026)

 Pre-Erythrocytic Vaccine

 Erythrocytic Vaccine

 Multi-antigen Vaccine

Malaria Vaccines Distribution Channel Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015  2026)

 Hospitals

 Clinics

 Community Centers

Malaria Vaccines Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015  2026)

 North America

 U.S.

 Canada

 Europe

 Germany

 UK

 France

 Rest of Europe

 Asia-Pacific

 China

 India

 Japan

 Rest of Asia-Pacific

 Latin America

 Mexico

 Brazil

 Rest of LATAM

 Middle East & Africa

Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/malaria-vaccines-market/request-for-discount-pricing

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities.

Contact us-

Polaris Market Research

Phone: 1-646-568-9980

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com
Washington, April 23 : International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called for a robust price on carbon to fight climate change, warning that without it, "we will not reach our climate stabilization goals".

A robust price on carbon provides "a critical market signal" to producers and consumers in all sectors of the economy, Georgieva made the remarks at the Leaders Summit on Climate, virtually hosted by the United States on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It has proven to advance investments in renewable energy, electric mobility, energy efficient buildings, reforestation and other climate friendly activities - with positive impact on growth and jobs, while reducing carbon emissions," Georgieva said.

"Carbon revenues can also help secure a just transition, compensating households for price increases and helping businesses and workers move from high to low carbon intensity activities," she continued.

According to IMF analysis, a mix of steadily rising carbon prices and green infrastructure investment could increase global gross domestic product (GDP) by more than 0.7 per cent per year over the next 15 years, and create millions of new jobs.

Noting that carbon pricing is gaining momentum, the IMF chief, however, said the average global price needs to rise from the current $2 a ton to $75 a ton by 2030 to curb emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Georgieva said the IMF proposes an international carbon price floor among large emitters, such as the Group of Twenty (G20), as focus on a minimum carbon price among a small group of large emitters could facilitate an agreement, covering up to 80 per cent of global emissions.

Georgieva noted that such a price floor has to be "pragmatic" and "equitable," with "differentiated" pricing for countries at different levels of economic development.

Aside from carbon pricing, the IMF chief highlighted green taxonomy and standardized reporting of climate related financial risks, as well as financial support to developing countries.

Climate change "presents huge risks to the functioning of our economies and offers incredible opportunities for transformative investments and green jobs," Georgieva said.

"We will play our part, integrating climate change into our annual economic 'health checks' of countries and financial systems and actively promoting low carbon and climate resilient growth paths," she added.
New Delhi, April 23 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Friday asked party leaders and workers to help the people in this tough time of rising Covid cases.

"Government is running from its responsibility so the Congress workers should help people with all civic precautions and guidelines," she said in a virtual meet with district and city Presidents of the party.

Priyanka Gandhi has been critical of the UP government's handling of the pandemic and shortage of beds, oxygen and essential drugs and has written to Chief Minister to provide help as cases rise in the state.

UP has come second in terms of new cases with 34,254 reported in last 24 hours.

Ten states -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan -- account for 75.01 per cent of the new cases.
BEIJING, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. ("First High-School Education Group" or the "Company") (NYSE: FHS), the largest operator of private high schools in Western China and the third largest operator in China[1], today announced that it filed its annual report on Form 20-F (the "Annual Report") for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 22, 2021. The Annual Report can be accessed on the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.diyi.top/ and on the SEC's website at https://www.sec.gov/.

The Company will provide a hard copy of the Annual Report containing the audited consolidated financial statements, free of charge, to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to the Company's Investor Relations Department at [email protected].

[1] In terms of student enrollment as of December 31, 2019, according to an industry report commissioned by First High-School Education Group and prepared by China Insights Industry Consultancy Limited.

About First High-School Education Group

First High-School Education Group is the largest operator of private high schools in Western China and the third largest operator in China1. First High-School Education Group has a network of 19 schools, offering 14 high school programs, seven middle school programs and four tutorial school programs for Gaokao repeaters, as of December 31, 2020. All of schools of the Company are strategically located in Western China. The Company aspires to become a leader and innovator of private high school education in China. For more information, please visit https://ir.diyi.top/.

For Investor and Media Inquiries Please Contact:

In China:

First High-School Education Group

Lillian Liu

Tel: +86-13062818313

E-mail: [email protected]

The Blueshirt Group

Ms. Susie Wang

Phone: +86 138-1081-7475

Email: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Blueshirt Group

Ms. Julia Qian

Phone: +1 973-619-3227

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd

Related Links

https://ir.diyi.top/


Microsoft Teams is currently one of the most essential video platforms since most people are now working remotely. Aside from this activity, most users are also relying on various video and audio applications just to communicate with their loved ones during the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

And now, Microsoft Teams has received some new advanced features that could further enhance the video and audio experience of its users. These new capabilities are brought by Microsoft Teams' latest iOS and Android updates.

To help you further, here are the latest features that are currently available on Microsoft Teams:

Microsoft Teams' New Features for iOS and Android

Microsoft Teams received two new batches of advanced features for its iOS and Android versions. Here are the exact new capabilities for each of its versions, as reported by MS Power User:

Also Read: Microsoft's Latest Windows 10 Update Results to Problems in PC Gaming: Problems, Games Affected and Possible Solutions

iOS update

Microsoft Teams now allows you to express yourself using a new set of emojis.

Microsoft Teams' pinned chats can now be managed and pinned.

You can now change your background in video and audio meetings. This means that Microsoft Teams now allows you to choose from its background list or upload your own photo.

Microsoft Teams received Modern Groups and invite distribution list. You can access them when scheduling a meeting.

Android update

Microsoft Teams Android version also has Modern Groups and invite distribution lists.

The video platform now has the latest View-Only Attendee mode. This will allow you to enter meetings with max capacity silently.

Microsoft Teams' Other Updates

Aside from the new iOS and Android features of Microsoft Teams, the popular video platform now supports macOS native notifications, WindowsLatest reported

"Based on learning's from our early rings, we have made the decision to make additional changes before we proceed with the rollout," said Microsoft.

"We will deliver a new Message center post once we are ready to proceed with the rollout. Thank you for your patience," added the tech giant firm.

If you want to know more details about it, all you need to do is click this link.

For more news updates about Microsoft Teams and Microsoft's other applications, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Microsoft and Met Office Teams Up to Build World's Most Powerful Climate and Weather Supercomputer

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Credit: August de Richelieu from Pexels

During the pandemic, Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to experience lost wages or unemployment than whites, according to a new research brief from Rice University's Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC).

"COVID-19 Pandemic in the Houston RegionWages and Employment" provides a snapshot of the early months of the pandemic. The brief details results of a survey conducted between March and September, a collaborative effort by HERC and Connective, a local organization focused on disaster recovery and preparedness.

The survey revealed that one in 10 Black workers and one in 10 Hispanic workers lost their jobs, compared to one in 25 white workers. In addition, people with lower-paying jobs were more likely to lose paychecks or their jobs. Around 75% of workers making less than $20,000 a year reported having their wages and employment disrupted in some way, compared to only 25% of workers making $100,000 per year or more. In some industries (e.g. construction; manufacturing; and oil, gas and chemicals), workers earning less were 2 to 3 times more likely to be negatively impacted than workers earning higher salaries.

"Those who were the least well-positioned to withstand the pandemic were the ones to most often experience the severest disruptions to their paychecks or jobs," said Daniel Potter, an associate director of HERC and an author of the paper.

How many employees were allowed to work from home differed by industry. More than 50% of people in education; oil, gas, and chemicals; and banking and finance industries were able to work at home, compared to only one in five in manufacturing.

"Though many industries shifted to working from home, some, like education workers, have largely been asked to return to in-person," Potter said. "On the other hand, some industries may have been permanently disrupted by the shift to remote work."

How employers engage their employees in the conversation about returning to the office will be an important transition, Potter said, because many people have spent the past year developing new work norms, habits and rituals.

Adults from approximately 9,300 households with children responded to the survey. The brief was co-authored by HERC researchers Gabriela Sanchez-Soto and Kenneth Stice and is available online.

Explore further COVID-19 transmission in nursing homes may be affected by care workers with multiple jobs
Jodie Turner-Smith is every inch a queen in her fierce and passionate portrayal of Anne Boleyn in a gripping new television drama about the second of Henry VIIIs six wives.

Turner-Smiths casting is an ingenious move by producers Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell, because it accentuates her position as an outsider  and makes us more aware of the perils she faced at the hands of her husband and his scheming courtiers.

With writer Eve Hedderwick Turner and director Lynsey Miller, the aim in Anne Boleyn was to challenge the perception of the doomed queen  and even what was taught in schools, said Ward, the creative director of Fable Pictures and a force behind Sarah Gavrons acclaimed film Rocks (now streaming on Netflix).

Jodie Turner-Smith is every inch a queen in her fierce and passionate portrayal of Anne Boleyn in a gripping new television drama about the second of Henry VIIIs six wives

She said the many volumes written about Boleyn  mostly by men  read as if her downfall was her fault, when she was murdered by her husband.

Peterborough-born Turner-Smith has appeared in several TV dramas, such as The Last Ship and Jett. But it was in the film Queen & Slim that she really captured my attention.

She and Daniel Kaluuya (Sundays best supporting actor Oscar will surely have his name on it, for his role in Judas And The Black Messiah) play a couple, on their first date, forced to go on the run after a disastrous encounter with a U.S. cop.

The reason for casting Turner-Smith, Ward told me, was because we want the audience to see the poster for Anne Boleyn and know that your indoctrinated version of the story is going to be rewound and reset.

Turner-Smiths casting is an ingenious move by producers Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell, because it accentuates her position as an outsider  and makes us more aware of the perils she faced at the hands of her husband and his scheming courtiers

The three-part mini-series will be coming soon to Channel 5. Turner-Smith spent much of her childhood in the U.S., where she now resides with Canadian actor Joshua Jackson and their one-year-old daughter.

The actress shot Anne Boleyn last year with a stellar cast that includes Mark Stanley as Henry VIII; Paapa Essiedu as her brother George and other major roles played by Thalissa Teixeira, Amanda Burton, Lola Petticrew, Isabella Laughland, Barry Ward and Anna Brewster.

Heroically, Jodie left America in the middle of a pandemic with her mum and her baby and came to England  and performed as the queen ... while still breastfeeding, Ward marvelled.

Oh, and its worth delving into Miranda Kaufmanns book Black Tudors for stories of Africans who lived in Tudor England.
The always outspoken Chelsea Handler flashed her divine chest to celebrate mother earth on April 22.

The 46-year-old comedienne has a predilection for breast-baring snaps and followed suit on social media by showing off her 'buoys' to demonstrate support for Earth Day.

The former Chelsea Lately host could be seen floating on her back in the pool as she protected her modesty with a pair of globe emojis.

Mother earth: Chelsea Handler, 46, goes topless in the pool to celebrate Earth Day as she dubs her breasts her 'buoys' while celebrating ongoing environmental awareness

'Happy #EarthDay, everyone. I love mother earth and so do my buoys,' she wrote on Instagram.

In recent years, the holiday has become somewhat of a social media phenomenon as celebrities continue to push for the preservation of our planet.

The day was marked by many of Hollywood's brightest  including Kendall Jenner, Gisele Bundchen and Camila Cabello  posting snaps in exotic locations.

And Handler took to her Bel Air pool to push for the ongoing protection of our planet, as she slipped her black bikini top up while basking in the sun in a fedora.

Raising awareness: Knowing that her assets are certainly a way to bring awareness to various social causes, she has bared her chest to push her followers to vote and additionally to wear a face mask amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Travel bug: When asked what she was most excited about doing post-pandemic she replied: 'Travel. I miss the world and the world misses my boobs'

Knowing that her assets are certainly a way to get people talking, she has bared her chest in the past to urge her followers to vote in the November presidential election, and to wear a mask amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

And the comedienne is eager to take to the world after a year of social isolation, telling the Wall Street Journal in conversation that she can't wait to travel freely again.

When asked what she was most excited about doing post-pandemic she replied: 'Travel. I miss the world and the world misses my boobs.'

The New Jersey native had spent the last three months in Canada for work, but is now back in the United States for a myriad of business ventures, including the development of her own podcast called Dear Chelsea.
A vial and syringe are seen in front of a displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken Jan. 11, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Lifted: CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) vaccine advisory committee has voted to lift the pause on the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine with no restrictions, saying the vaccines benefits outweigh the risks, at an emergency meeting on Friday.

Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said that they recommend resuming the use of the J&J vaccines in persons age 18 and older after a robust discussion and examination of the available data on the severe blood clotting syndrome with low platelet levels associated with taking the vaccine.

Members voted on the original motion that was passed by the committee back in February: The Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the FDAs [Food and Drug Administration] Emergency Use Authorization [EUA].

Ten of the members voted in favor of the recommendation, four opposed, and one abstained due to conflicts of interest.

Dr. Sarah Long, professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine, said that she opposed the recommendation because it did not contain guidance for the age group at risk for the clotting disorder.

This is an age group that is most at risk, that is getting the vaccine predominantly to save other peoples lives and morbidity, not their own. And I think we have a responsibility and make certain that they know this, Long told the panel members after voting.

And if they choose to be vaccinated with this, we want to respect that choice. But I am very sorry that we havent chosen to put upfront the knowledge that we have, that this is unique, its clustered, its almost certainly related to the vaccine, and there are options, she added.

Dr. Grace Lee of the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical Work Group, who voted in favor of the recommendation, said it was important to come out with a clear recommendation although she had concerns about the blood-clotting side effects.

I absolutely think this is a serious adverse event and we need to continue to ensure that awareness is raised, said Lee.

But I also think that we have to come out with a clear recommendation. I think that the recommendation number four would have been confusing and that is inconsistent with all of the other recommendations weve done, she added, referring to four policy recommendations for the J&J vaccine the panel was presented with to vote on:

Recommend against the use of the vaccine in all individuals

Recommend vaccine only for adults 50 or older

Reaffirm recommendations for people of all ages and sex, with an updated warning about the clotting disorder on the Food and Drug Administration EUA fact sheet given to recipients prior to receiving a vaccine

Reaffirm recommendations for use in all ages and sex, while advising women younger than 50 years of the increased risk of blood clotting disorders with low levels of blood platelets, medically known as thrombosis thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), and may choose to get a different COVID-19 vaccine

A man receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a site in Chicago, Ill., on April 6, 2021. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro of the CDCs COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force said that 7.98 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered to Americans as of April 21, with reports of 15 cases of confirmed TTS.

Of the 15 cases, TTS occurred at a higher rate in women under 50 (13 cases) while there were only two cases in those aged 50-64. Twelve of the cases were clotting that occurred in the brain, also known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

While there were no reports of TTS in men, there was one occurrence in a young, healthy male in the trial phase.

Johnson & Johnson released a statement following the advisory committees decision.

We are grateful to the Advisory Committee and its medical experts for the rigorous evaluation of our COVID-19 vaccine, said Dr. Paul Stoffels, Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson.

The Committees recommendation is an essential step toward continuing urgently needed vaccinations in a safe way for millions of people in the U.S., he added.

The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration halted the use of the J&J vaccine on April 13 after reports that six women had died from a blood clotting disorder with low platelet levels within two weeks of being inoculated. A seventh woman was identified at the first emergency meeting held by ACIP to discuss the connection between the J&J vaccine and the clotting disorder on April 14.

The panel decided to allow the pause to continue until more data could be gathered and investigated. Members said they may receive more reports related to the severe and rare blood clotting before they met again.

Prior to the pause, 6.85 million doses of the J&J vaccine had been administered to Americans by April 12.

The J&J vaccine was granted an emergency use authorization in February 2021 and is a one-dose shot for individuals aged 18 and older. Emergency authorization allows vaccines still in an experimental phase to be used in the public as its Phase 3 trial has not completed yet.

Typical signs and symptoms of blood clots in the brain are severe headaches, seizures, limb weakness, and reduced consciousness or coma, according to Dr. Michael Streiff, medical director at The John Hopkins Hospital Special Coagulation Laboratory. The vaccine-induced syndrome affects women more than men.

Streiff says the cause of the blood clotting disorder is still unknown and is being investigated and that cerebral venous sinus thrombosis accompanied with low levels of platelets has not been seen before.

Doctors are advised to avoid using heparin, an anti-coagulating (blood thinner) medication, in patients with this type of clotting disorder unless the patient tests negative for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia antibody.
Member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Baroness Caroline Cox has called on Great Britain to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

My first message is a message of thanks and gratitude to the Armenian people, who have always been a frontrunner for freedom in the world, Cox stated.

According to her, Armenians have stayed committed to preserving universal values in spite of great sacrifices and tremendous sufferings and by living next to neighbors who dont have respect for human rights and democracy.

Baroness stated the following as her second message: The international community continues to leave Turkey and Azerbaijan unpunished, and they continue to violate human rights and organize massacres.

Cox talked about three genocides, stating that the first happened in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, and the other two were the genocide in Artsakh in 1990-94 and the recent war in Artsakh in 2020. There were many war crimes committed during the recent war. Genocide Watch has described the recent war as genocide, she stated, emphasizing that while everyone is commemorating the Armenian Genocide, new genocides continue to be committed in the world to this day. Again and again, I call on the Government of the United Kingdom to recognize the Genocide. I am ashamed that this hasnt happened to this day, the Baroness emphasized.

Coxs third message was about love and intimacy. She particularly talked about her visits to Artsakh and the Armenian people and added that the UK will do everything it can to achieve justice that the Armenian people deserve.
Earth Day and the Paris Agreement constitute cogent and compelling evidence that restoring our Earth requires global commitment.

by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal

The Earth is what we all have in common. Wendell Berry

Unbeknownst to many of us Earth Day came by and went on 22nd April this year, unobtrusively and amidst continuing anguish caused by COVID-19. The theme of this years Earth Day was Restore Our Earth. Earth Day started in 1970 with the modern environment movement  the first international recognition of the compelling need and our obligation to protect the environment, and continues as an annual event designed intended to to encourage and demonstrate action and support for environmental protection.

One cannot help but ascribe the impetus that led to Earth Day to Rachel Carsons seminal book Silent Spring published in 1962, which raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and the integral nexus between pollution and public health.

Another fact that many may not be aware of is that the Paris Agreement which resulted from the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where 195 States were parties to the discussions in Paris on the COP 21 Agreement. This Agreement was accepted in general by consensus, was deposited at the United Nations in New York and opened for one year for signature on 22 April 2016Mother Earth Day. It is interesting that that the United Nations calls 22nd April International Mother Earth Day while the United States calls it Earth Day.

The Agreement entered into force after 55 countries that account for at least 55% of global emissions deposited their instruments of ratification. This happened on October 5, 2016, and the agreement went into force 30 days later on November 4, 2016. The overall aim of the Agreement is to maintain a global temperature rise in the 21st century to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to strive to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the lower level recognized as a buffer against worst case scenario impacts of climate change. Another important goal of the Agreement is to strengthen the capacity of States to effectively address and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Article 2 of the Agreement stipulates that the Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by: holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change; increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. Article 2.2. is explicit in stating that the Agreement will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances .

The Agreement also recognizes the need to put in place appropriate financial tools in order to achieve the aforementioned ambitious goals with a view to enabling developing states to face the challenges of mitigating climate change at their own pace and in accordance with their own national objectives.

There was considerable hope that the agreement would truly promote sustainable development. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: We have entered a new era of global cooperation on one of the most complex issues ever to confront humanity. For the first time, every country in the world has pledged to curb emissions, strengthen resilience and join in common cause to take common climate action. This is a resounding success for multilateralism.

The critical areas covered by the COP 21 Agreement are: mitigation  reducing emissions fast enough to achieve the temperature goal; a transparency system and global stock-take  accounting for climate action; adaptation  strengthening ability of countries to deal with climate impacts; loss and damage  strengthening ability to recover from climate impacts; and support  including finance, for nations to build clean, resilient futures The Agreement espouses a long term direction that would enable States to reach a peak in their emissions as soon as possible and continue to submit national climate action plans that detail their future objectives to address climate change.

A UNFCCC Secretariat statement claimed that, in the spirit of the Agreement, 188 countries had undertaken to contribute climate action plans in accordance with the new agreement, which is calculated to dramatically slow the pace of global greenhouse gas emissions. The basic philosophy of the Agreement is that future national plans will be no less ambitious than existing ones, which means these 188 climate action plans provide a firm floor and foundation for higher ambition. It has also introduced nationally determined contributions (NDCs)  updated plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions  once every five years, which will regularly and consistently improve their strategy towards achieving their overall goals in the long-term.

The Agreement also provides for action to be taken even before 2020 where States are required to continue to engage in a process on mitigation opportunities and will put added focus on adaptation opportunities. Furthermore, since reaching the ambitious target of 1.5% below industrial levels would mean keeping at least 75% of the current flow of fossil fuels on the ground, and using renewable energy instead, States will raise climate finance up to $ 100 billion by 2020 that would assist developing countries to develop such energy resources. States will, in this regard, work towards defining a clear roadmap on ratcheting up climate finance to USD 100 billion by 2020 while also before 2025 setting a new goal on the provision of finance from the USD 100 billion floor. A roadmap in this regard will be developed by States. There will also be put in place a robust transparency and accounting system that would allow for special circumstances and respective capabilities of States to be recognized and taken as part of the equation. Support and cooperation are the main themes of this philosophy. The Agreement also strengthens international cooperation on climate-safe technologies and building capacity in the developing world to address climate change.

All States are required to submit adaptation communications, in which they may detail their adaptation priorities, support needs and plans. There is also provision for developing countries to receive increased support for adaptation actions, for which there will be an assessment of the adequacy of this support that will be given. As already mentioned, the Agreement has incorporated a robust transparency framework for both action and support. The framework will provide clarity on countries mitigation and adaptation actions, as well as the provision of support. At the same time, it recognizes that Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States have special circumstances.

According to the UNFCCC Secretariat, the agreement includes a global stocktake starting in 2023 to assess the collective progress towards the goals of the agreement. The stocktake will be done every five years and the agreement includes a compliance mechanism, overseen by a committee of experts that operates in a non-punitive way. From a technical standpoint, COP 21 addressed a number of issues which go to say that there is now a clear and transparent accounting method for carry-over credits for the second commitment period, creating a clear set of rules; and the first round of international assessment and review process (IAR) that was launched in 2014 was successfully completed. A number of technical and implementation issues related to the existing arrangements on technology, adaptation, action for climate empowerment and capacity building were also successfully concluded.

Earth Day and the Paris Agreement constitute cogent and compelling evidence that restoring our Earth requires global commitment.
The failure of the Welsh government to look at the issue of farm payment capping has been slammed as 'shameful' by a Ceredigion sheep farmer.

Most farmers in Wales have supported the capping of farm payments in response to consultations over the past two decades.

A limit on the amount of direct payments a farm business in Wales can receive was introduced in 2015 by then farming minister Alun Davies.

But Ceredigion sheep producer Anwen Hughes has raised concerns that a 'regressive move away' from this policy is being considered by Welsh government.

The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) has highlighted this issue as one of its ten key manifesto asks ahead of the 6 May Senedd election.

The union called on the next Welsh government to ensure payments are capped at levels which favour family farms and prevent money flowing from businesses which support rural communities and economic activity to large landowners, big business and landowning charities.

Ms Hughes, who farms 138 acres outside of Aberaeron, accused the Welsh government of being 'largely silent' on the issue, suggesting it was 'shying away' from the issue.

She said: This, coupled with the proposal to base payments solely on the delivery of public goods risks moving money from actively working family farms to large landowners, big business and landowning charities who are not producing food."

It comes as the European Commission is proposing a reduction on the share of direct payments received by EU farmers above 60,000 per farm.

It is also looking at setting a limit of 100,000 per farm after labour costs have been taken into account - a position backed by the European Parliament during the negotiations with the EU ministers.

Higher levels of support per hectare for small farms are also proposed in the bloc, with both this and the topic of payment capping given a high profile in CAP reform proposals.

Ms Hughes added: By contrast, the Welsh government has been largely silent on the issue of capping payments, suggesting it is shying away from the issue and considering a U-turn.

"In response to the 2018 and 2019 consultations on future payments the FUW stressed the importance of a payment cap which is below the current level that takes full account of labour costs, in order to maximise the amount of money going to family farms."
A family is accused of using explosives at a New England quarry to announce the gender of their baby, rocking several towns from New Hampshire all the way down to Massachusetts in the process, according to news outlets.

Neighborhoods in multiple communities in southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts were rattled by the mysterious explosion Tuesday night, NBC Boston reported.

According to the news outlet, police in the town of Kingston confirmed the explosions were caused by the family revealing the gender of their baby.

The blast was reported at Torromeo Industries on Dorre Road around 7 p.m. Tuesday, Kingston Police Chief Donald Briggs told NBC Boston. Authorities believe Tannerite explosives were used legally and that the people who set off the blast had permission to be on the property, according to the news outlet.

The explosion rattled homes within a 20-mile radius of the Kingston quarry. No injuries were reported. Police are looking for those involved, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.

Obviously, depending on the amount [of explosives] they were using, it could be extremely dangerous, Briggs said, according to the news outlet.

There may be property damage, and charges could be filed in the case, the police chief told NBC Boston.

Police noted they saw the video of the gender reveal  and confirmed the babys a boy, according to the news outlet.

In the wake of the explosion, people as far south as the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts flocked to social media to share their thoughts and questions about the blast, NBC Boston reported.

Some social media users claimed the blast was an earthquake, according to the news outlet. However, NBC Bostons meteorologists confirmed there were no earthquakes reported around the time of the explosion.

Gender reveal parties, in which parents reveal the gender of their expected baby, have become increasingly popular in recent years. They have also increasingly resulted in mishaps and sometimes death as people seek to have more spectacular celebrations. Such parties have already resulted in four deaths this year, Newsweek has reported.

More:

Dad-to-be dies in explosion while making bomb for gender-reveal party: police

Firefighter dies battling California wildfire sparked by gender reveal

Family calls cannon explosion that killed man after baby shower a blameless accident
Taiwan National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin poses during an interview with Reuters in Taipei

By Yimou Lee and Jeanny Kao

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's key semiconductor industry has years of growth ahead of it with no worries about oversupply despite a massive capital investment programme and only a few competitors in the next decade or so, a senior government minister said on Friday.

Kung Ming-hsin, the head of Taiwan's economic planning agency, the National Development Council, told Reuters the business opportunities presented by the global transformation to a digital economy were "very, very enormous".

Kung also sits on the board of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) as a representative of the largest shareholder, the government's National Development Fund, which holds around 6% of the stock of the world's most valuable semiconductor company.

He said between now and 2025, Taiwan companies have planned more than T$3 trillion ($107 billion) in investment in the semiconductor sector, citing expansion plans from chip giants including TSMC and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.

"Once they are built, Taiwan's competitors in semiconductors in the next decade will be very few," Kung said in an interview in his office building, which overlooks the presidential office.

Taiwan's semiconductor firms are ramping up production to tackle a global chip shortage, which has affected everything from carmakers to consumer products, and meet booming demand following the work-from-home trend during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Soaring demand is set to continue, driven by 5G, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, Kung said.

"In the next decade or even longer there won't be oversupply for semiconductors," he added, when asked if the massive investment plans could have a downside.

Taiwan is currently in the grip of its worst drought in more than half a century, but Kung said the impact on chip firms was limited at present, citing the amount of water they are able to recycle and the location of their main factories in Hsinchu in northern Taiwan, and in the island's south.

Story continues

"These two places are okay at the moment. So the impact on semiconductors is not bad."

Still, Taiwan does face other challenges, not least from China where President Xi Jinping has made semiconductors a strategic priority.

Kung named Samsung Electronics as Taiwan's most serious competitor and also able to match TSMC's advanced chipmaking, but said U.S. tech restrictions had for now blunted the Chinese threat.

Intel Corp - both a TSMC client and competitor - last month announced a $20 billion plan to expand its advanced chip making capacity.

Kung said there was perhaps room for TSMC to cooperate with Intel, but "what's important is really how you upgrade yourself".

To that end, the government is helping the industry develop the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing technology like 1 nanometre and beyond with funding support and talent recruitment programmes in the works, he added.

($1 = 28.1070 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Jeanny Kao; Additional reporting and writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Pullin)
Regional Michigan jobless rates display mixed trends in March

Regional Michigan jobless rates display mixed trends in March

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 22, 2021

Caleb Buhs, buhsc@michigan.gov or 517-282-6018

LANSING, Mich. -- Not seasonally adjusted jobless rates edged down slightly in 10 of Michigans 17 major labor market areas during March, according to data released today from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Unemployment rates inched up in three regions and remained unchanged in four areas.

Michigan regional jobless rates displayed little change in March, said Wayne Rourke, associate director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. Nonfarm job levels advanced modestly in nearly all Michigan metro areas over the month.

Michigan regional unemployment rate changes were minor in March, with monthly rate decreases ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 percentage points. Minor rate advances were observed over the month in the Detroit, Lansing, and Ann Arbor metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). The Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Midland MSA rates, as well as the Upper Peninsula region rate, were all unchanged in March.

Regional unemployment rates increase over the year

Jobless rates rose over the year in 15 of Michigans 17 major labor market regions, with a median increase of 1.8 percentage points. The Muskegon metro area recorded the largest over-the-year rate gain of 2.9 percentage points.

Total employment up over month, down over year

Regional total employment levels rose over the month in 14 Michigan labor market areas. Employment advances ranged from 0.1 to 1.7 percent, with a median increase of 0.4 percent. The largest over-the-month employment addition occurred in the Detroit MSA. Employment edged down slightly in the Muskegon and Flint MSAs and remained unchanged in the Grand Rapids metro region.

All 17 Michigan major labor market areas exhibited employment declines over the year with a pronounced median employment cut of 5.0 percent. The Lansing MSA exhibited the largest over-the-year decline, with employment down by 7.2 percent since March 2020.

Workforce levels mixed over month, down over year

Regional labor force levels advanced in 10 Michigan areas during March, with a median increase of 0.4 percent. The largest workforce addition occurred in the Detroit metro area. Workforce levels fell in five regions, led by the Muskegon MSA (-0.5 percent). The labor force levels in Bay City and Kalamazoo remained unchanged over the month.

All 17 regions exhibited labor force decreases over the year, with a median reduction of 3.1 percent. The largest over-the-year percent decline occurred in the Detroit metro area.

Nonfarm employment increases slightly in March

The monthly survey of employers indicated that not seasonally adjusted Michigan payroll jobs edged up in March by 33,000, or 0.8 percent, to 4,090,000. Employment increases were seen in most statewide industries, led on a numerical basis by the leisure and hospitality sector (+13,000).

Payroll jobs advanced in 13 metro areas over the month, with a median increase of 0.8 percent. The Midland MSA exhibited the largest over-the-month job gain of 1.2 percent. Muskegon was the only region to record a minor job decline in March (-0.2 percent).

Michigan nonfarm jobs fell sharply by 284,000 over the year, or 6.5 percent, with the largest percentage job reduction in leisure and hospitality (-76,000). All Michigan metro areas registered payroll job decreases over the year, led by the Monroe MSA (-9.1 percent).

County jobless rates mixed over month, up over year

Forty-nine Michigan counties had jobless rate reductions in March, while 22 counties exhibited rate gains and 12 county rates were unchanged. Over the year, 70 counties had jobless rate increases, led by Muskegon County (+2.9 percentage points).

For more detailed information, including data tables, view the full release.

Note: Data in this release is not seasonally adjusted. As a result, employment and unemployment trends may differ from previously released Michigan seasonally adjusted data.

A breakdown of not seasonally adjusted March workforce estimates for Michigan and its 17 major labor market areas follows, along with a ranking of county jobless rates for March.

Note to editors: Please ensure that the source for state unemployment rates reads Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

###
KALKASKA COUNTY, MI  Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors in a Northern Michigan rollover crash that killed one person and injured two others.

Haley Nicole Stangler, 21, of Kinglsey was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred on Ingersoll Road west of Creighton Road in Kalkaska County around 8:27 p.m. on Thursday.

According to the Kalkaska County Sheriffs Office, Stangler was in a blue, 2009 Pontiac SUV traveling west on Ingersoll Road. The driver failed to control the vehicle upon reaching a curved portion of the roadway and the vehicle rolled several times, police said.

Two occupants who were not wearing seatbelts were ejected, according to deputies. They were taken to Munson Hospital in Traverse City for treatment.

The other occupants of the vehicle have been identified as Christopher Michael Bluer, 23, of South Boardman, Lucas James Garcia, 23, of Fife Lake and Nikolas Anthony Garcia, 26, of Atlanta, Michigan.

The crash is under investigation, but deputies said speed and alcohol are believed to be factors.

The Kalkaska County Sheriffs Department was assisted at the scene by the Michigan State Police, Fife Lake Battalion 6 and Garfield Township Fire and EMS.
When there is talk about encouraging more diversity in craft brewing, people often focus on the financial opportunity it affords. They point out, for instance, that craft beer is an $83 billion industry, employing more than a half-million people, but only 5 percent of those who work in the industry are People of Color.

But as important as these stats are, Jamal Robinson, director of sales at New England Brewing Co. (NEBCO) in Woodbridge, has an additional reason to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to enter the craft beer world: so that they can experience its culture and community. Craft beer has given me so much, from a career to some of my best friends and my girlfriend, to the awesome people that I know, he says. That's what craft beer is about. It's one of the things that drew me to this side of the business. I originally started on the Anheuser-Busch side and kind of fell in love with craft and moved over to the craft side. I want people that look like me to be able to have that same experience.

Robinson is the driving force behind the NEBCO African American Brewers Scholarship and The Connecticut Brewers Guild African American Brewing Scholarship. The NEBCO scholarship will launch this year and provide tuition for one aspiring Black brewer per year to attend the 11-month brewing science certificate program at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, launched last year. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Brewers Guild, with the support of NEBCO and other Connecticut breweries, has embarked on a five-year fundraising effort to create a $250,000 endowment for a second scholarship that can be offered in perpetuity.

Connecticut breweries with representatives on the fundraising committee for that scholarship include Twelve Percent Beer Project, Two Roads Brewing Co., Great Falls Brewing Co. and Rhythm Brewing Co., which is the first brewery in Connecticut to be owned by a Black woman.

The first NEBCO scholarship recipient will be selected in May and start the program shortly afterward as part of its second cohort of students.

The scholarship, like many initiatives in the past year, came as a result of the protests and racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd last May. Due to coronavirus safety restrictions at that time, Robinson was only working at the brewery on alternate weeks. I had a lot of time to self reflect; I was just really caught up in my emotions, Robinson says.

When he talked with the team at his brewery, they enthusiastically agreed to start an internal equity committee focused on diversifying the beer industry, bringing awareness to racial injustice and helping the Black community. The scholarship was conceived as a way of helping to achieve those goals. When Robinson shared the idea with Sacred Heart University and the Connecticut Brewers Guild, it was met with incredible enthusiasm.

The great scarcity of minorities in the industry is stark, says Geffrey Stopper, a professor at Sacred Heart University and director of the 22-credit brewing science certificate program. Now that we intend to be an important part of the pipeline feeding brewers into the industry in Connecticut, were in a position to do something about it.

Stopper had been looking for ways the program could help foster diversity but had no way of getting funds for the scholarship on his own. Never did I dream an avenue to offer that scholarship would open so soon, he says. I feel incredibly proud to be a part of making this happen for young Black brewers year after year, and to play a role in helping increase diversity in the industry.

Robinson says hes thrilled that the state's craft beer community has embraced the initiative. I think it's important for it to be seen and to be known and understood that the craft community as a whole, is a generally very welcoming, open-minded, and maybe it hasn't been framed to look that way, but I think the heart and the bones of it are very much that regardless.

Asked how breweries and beer bars can make their spaces more welcoming to minorities, Robinson says, It's one thing to say everybody's welcome here. But does everybody feel welcome there? Feeling welcome means having people that look like you in that space.

He suggests hiring people of color and says that creating a truly welcoming environment means actively finding ways to be inclusive, as opposed to just saying anyone is welcome.

This article originally appeared in Connecticut Magazine. You can subscribe here, or find the current issue on sale here. Sign up for the newsletter to get the latest and greatest content from Connecticut Magazine delivered right to your inbox. On Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag.
Geopolitics

Fighting continues to intensify around Yemens Marib province, the Saudi-backed Yemeni governments last remaining stronghold. The Saudi-proposed ceasefire is still not being accepted by the Iranian-backed Houthis, though secret talks have been held between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Iraq recently. We have yet to see anything come of that unconfirmed development. In the meantime, the Houthis have the upper hand, and if they take Marib they will be negotiating a peace/power-sharing deal with much more leverage, which makes a ceasefire increasingly less likely--even as it would come with a lifting of Saudi blockades (not the Yemeni governments).

In a continuation of pressure from pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, Friday saw another rocket attack on a Baghdad airport base housing US troops. One Iraqi soldier was wounded on the base, which is a launch point for the US-led anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq. Last week, a rocket attack hit another airbase, wounding five. There has been no claim of responsibility for either attack.

Idriss Deby, the president of Chad for three decades, was killed by a Libya-based rebel group on Monday. He was considered an important Western ally in the fight against ISIS. The rebel group is not connected to ISIS; rather, the rebels belong to FACT, the Front for Change and Concord in Chad, which is based in Libya. The group had made gains moving towards Chads capital, and Deby was killed visiting troops on
JACKSON COUNTY, MI -- Sarah Studley made the tough decision to cancel her 100-person wedding reception in November as cases of COVID-19 began to climb.

That meant the Jackson County native wasnt able to wear her wedding dress to her reception, but she later found a good use for it.

On April 11, Studley put on her wedding dress to get her COVID-19 vaccination at the M&T Bank Stadium Mass Vaccination Site in Baltimore, Maryland.

I wanted to wear my reception dress for the reception that would never happen, Studley said.

Studley, 39, was born and raised in Napoleon Township. After graduating from Napoleon High School, she studied political science and womens studies at the University of Michigan.

After graduation from UM, she moved to New Jersey, went to Washington D.C. for graduate school and came back to Michigan a few times before ultimately moving to Baltimore in 2019 to live with the man who would eventually become her husband.

Studley met her husband Brian Horlor in 2018, during her time in Washington D.C. Their first date was on Nov. 14. He proposed on Nov. 15, 2019, and the wedding was planned for Nov. 14, 2020 -- the anniversary of their first date -- in San Diego, California, Horlors hometown.

But then the pandemic happened, Studley said. And we basically still got married but we had to move it to the county administration building and they are only open Monday through Friday, so we got married Friday, Nov. 13.

The couple decided to cancel their large reception because of the pandemic, Studley said. They had a small eight-person ceremony at the county administration building instead.

We didnt think it was going to be safe to go ahead with a big party in the middle of a pandemic, so we initially postponed it to June of 2021, Studley said. And then, in January, when the vaccine rollout was not looking as good as it is now, we just made the decision to cancel completely.

Studleys retro polka-dot wedding dress is a style she said she is obsessed with.

It took me a long time to find one that I liked that wasnt a bazillion dollars, Studley said.

Luckily, Twitter helped Studley find a new purpose for her dress when actor Ashlie Atkinson posted a picture of herself dressed in a green, sequined dress for her vaccination appointment.

As soon as I saw that I knew that I also wanted to dress up, Studley said.

Studleys action garnered national attention, with news outlets including the Washington Post and Insider covering her story.

As a result, residents from her Jackson County hometown have been reaching out, she said.

My high school principal, my high school drama teacher both reached out, Studley said. Friends from high school have reached out, lots of people have reached out.

Studley hopes that hearing her story will inspire Jackson residents to go get vaccinated as COVID-19 cases have surged again.

COVID-19 surge hits teens, young adults in Jackson Countys third wave

I feel like Im this country mouse from Napoleon all dressed up, Studley said. If I can get one person in Jackson to go get vaccinated, then that will make me feel totally happy with my decision.

For now, Studley and her husband have no plans to try and have a big wedding party again, she said.

The wedding is a party and it doesnt make the marriage, and so the marriage is the thing thats really important and keeping your friends and family safe is also important, Studley said.

Read more:

To wed or not to wed?: How 6 brides are navigating weddings during a pandemic

15 things the pandemic changed for now -- and maybe forever

COVID brides and industry professionals consider how the pandemic could change future weddings
Most people accept the fact that the people at the top are the most expert in the field in which they work.

For example, if you wanted to fix a problem with your computer you might take it to the local PC store or the store where you bought it and ask the local expert for help. If you had a religious question, you go to your local minister or priest.

Point is, the higher you go in rank in searching for an answer, the more precise youd expect your answer to be. A bishop would be more knowledgeable than a parish priest, for example Not necessarily.

Years ago, when I was on active duty in the Navy, I was stationed for awhile at the former Naval Air Station Quonset Point in Rhode Island.

In August 1954, a category 5 hurricane of immense proportions was detected moving up the East coast. Maximum winds were forecasted to reach above 140 mph. It was hurricane Carol.

We on the Naval base were warned well in advance as the meteorologists tracked the storm as it moved northward from the Bahamas. We rapidly made preparations. Several hundred sailors were moved from small (40-person) Quonset huts into a large concrete reinforced multi-story building on the base. All loose gear was moved to safe locations.

One issue for me was where to stow my new car, a 1953 Chevrolet. I thought about it and decided to ask my commanding officer what to do.

I asked him, Skipper where should I park my car in this thing? He said he was going to park his car on the downwind side of our office building where it would be protected from the expected 140 mph winds. The building was a flat-roofed single story wooden structure of large proportions covering more than 10,000 square feet. It was thought to be hurricane proof, and it was where our entire office crew would ride out the storm.

I took my keys and moved my car from the parking lot, right along side of the skippers car ... close to the building on the anticipated downwind side. As I returned to the building, I encountered Chief Scotty Brown.

Chief Brown was a considerably older fellow who had served in the Pacific during World War II. I respected him for his lengthy Naval career. If there was anything Navy, Scotty could explain it to you.

He saw that I had just moved my car and said to me, Where did you park you car Mr. Nelson?

On the downwind side of the office building, right next to the skippers car, I replied.

He immediately said to me, Oh no. You dont want to do that. You should move it to an open field, as far away as you can get from any structure. Come on, Ill show you where.

I returned to the car with him and we drove out to a large vacant field near the edge of the base and chose a location as close to the middle of the open field as we could judge.

The storm approached the Naval station at about 10 in the morning and a group of us looked out the office window at the storm. We watched as the horrendous winds ripped off the roof of the entrance way to our building and destroyed the Quonset huts located in the distance. It was an stunning thing to witness.

The huts were constructed of a curved metal roof that touched the ground on either side. The buildings were some 40 feet in length by 20 feet wide. Fortunately they were empty now as the resident sailors had move the day before to the concrete structures nearby.

It was an amazing thing to watch as the wind would slowly raise the hut a few feet at the upwind end in spectacular attempted somersault. It would then disintegrate when it was fully upright.

I must have watched some 25 Quonset huts destroyed. It was a mesmerizing spectacle. When the storm had subsided, I went immediately to my car in the open field and found it virtually untouched. There was absolutely no damage to it. I got in and drove it back to the office building. I parked in the lot next to the front of the building and then walked around to the downwind side to see my skippers parking area.

There had been about 25 or more cars parked in that reputedly safe area. As I approached I could sense something wrong. It wasnt hard to find out what.

Most all of the cars were without widows and almost all of the paint on the cars had been stripped off, as if from a professional sand blasting job. It turned out that the roof of the office building was covered in small particle gravel. The wind had picked up the gravel and churned itself into a vicious cloud of continuously wind driven stones in the downwind parking site. Ultimately all the cars were effectively destroyed.

I returned to the office building and found Chief Brown where I thanked him profusely. I had learned pretty convincingly that experience beats rank. It was something I would never forget and something that helped my judgement over the many ensuing years.

Tom Nelson is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University. He is retired from Ford Motor Co. engineering management and a former Navy officer. Nelson has held leadership roles in several civic organizations; he resides in Manistee and Farmington Hills. He can be reached at tajnelson@earthlink.net.
How not to misunderstand dyslexia?

By:Zhao Chunyuan | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-04-23 18:14





Stills from I'm not stupid kids, a documentary that looks at the development of dyslexic children

April 23 is the 27th World Book Day. However, for some, reading is not as simple as we think it is. There is such a group of people who have difficulties in reading because of a reading disability, and their lack of reading aptitude is often misunderstood. According to incomplete statistics, about 5% to 8% of school-age children have dyslexia, and, unfortunately, their disability is often mistaken for as being stupid or careless.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Dyslexia is also called a reading disability, which affects areas of the brain that process language.

In dyslexic children eyes, characters are jumping

In our country, public understanding of dyslexia is relatively limited, and children with dyslexia are often misunderstood by parents and even teachers as sloppy learners who don't study hard enough. Tian Yuan, director of the Health Management Department at Shanghai Children's Hospital, advises parents to observe their children carefully. When a child is not significantly behind in areas such as intelligence and cognitive ability, but often skips words, misses words, skips lines, or cannot break sentences correctly in daily reading and writing, parents should consider whether their children might be dyslexic,, said Tian Yuan. She also mentioned that a child with dyslexia tends to reverse or misread letters or words, such as confusing the letter b for d, p for q or reading the number 6 as 9, or 5as 2.

It is important to note that dyslexia cannot be cured, but people with this disorder can learn ways to be successful in schoolwork. With early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, many people with dyslexia go on to succeed both academically and professionally. However, dyslexia is a lifelong condition, not a temporary developmental delay.
NEW DELHI: In view of the prevailing COVID-19 crisis in the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (April 22) cancelled his visit to poll-bound West Bengal and said that he will chair high-level meetings to review the situation.

Informing through a tweet, the PM said that he will chair high-level meetings on Friday due to which he will be unable to visit Bengal.

"Tomorrow will be chairing high-level meetings to review the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Due to that, I would not be going to West Bengal," PM Modi said in a tweet on Thursday.

Tomorrow, will be chairing high-level meetings to review the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Due to that, I would not be going to West Bengal.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2021

As per the PMs schedule, at 9 AM he will hold an internal meeting to review the COVID-19 situation. After the meet, at 10 AM, Modi will interact with the Chief Ministers of high burden states and discuss the ongoing crisis. The PM is also slated to hold a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conferencing at 12.30 pm.

Meanwhile, the PM will address the people of West Bengal through a virtual medium at 5 pm on Friday. He was earlier scheduled to address four rallies across four districts and 56 assembly constituencies in the state.

With the COVID cases rising at a rapid pace in the country, PM Modi has been chairing regular meetings to review the situation. He had also addressed the nation on Tuesday.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, PM Modi had urged people to follow the right discipline to safeguard everyone against the novel coronavirus. He also urged states to let lockdown be the last resort and to instead focus in micro-containment zones to handle the pandemic.

Creating a world record of the highest single-day surge, India recorded 3,14,835 fresh coronavirus infections, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,59,30,965 on Thursday, as per data by the Health Ministry.

The country's total COVID-19 caseload climbed to over 1.59 crore, of which, 22.91 lakh (22,91,428) were active cases. India also witnessed 1,84,657 deaths due to the deadly infection.

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Credit: The Life of a Spy

Rod Barton, Black Inc., $32.99 Right from his teenage years in the boy scouts Rod Bartons dream was to become a secret agent. He got his dream, as his memoir  delivered in often dead-pan, droll style  amply demonstrates, but there must have been times when the old adage about being careful what you wish for would have occurred to him. His specialty was the Middle East and his knowledge of weaponry stood him in good stead as he rose through the ranks of Australian intelligence. But it also led to confrontations with the government and the CIA over what he calls the fiasco of the second Iraq war and the intelligence failure regarding weapons of mass destruction. Much of his career was routine, but there was danger  a lot of it from alcohol when hosting Christmas functions in London and, at other times, in bombed bunkers in Iraq.

Credit: The Beijing Bureau

Eds., Trevor Watson & Melissa Roberts, Hardie Grant, $32.99 When Paul Raffaele arrived in Beijing in 1973 as Australias first journalist in Maos China he felt like he was stepping into a John le Carre novel. And much of his contribution to this terrific collection of articles by Australian journalists who have at various times worked there, reads like one. His arrival is bookended by the departure of Mike Smith, the last Australian journalist to leave China as relations between the two countries sunk to new depths. Both are vivid, evocative and clearly come from intense, lived experience. As does Ali Moores remembrance of being there at a pivotal moment when, as she puts it, the CCP made a deal with the people  wealth for obedience. Likewise, Helene Chungs memories of China in the mid-1980s has real immediacy. Reminiscences by boots-on-the-ground journalists.

Credit: FICTION Fidelity

Marco Missiroli; trans., Alex Valente

Weidenfeld & Nicholson, $32.99 Margherita and Carlo are happily married, but even before we observe that happiness, we are shown that Carlo is attracted to one of his students, as is Margherita to her physiotherapist. Both characters care passionately about their marriage and about each other, but Marco Missiroli, with intelligence and empathy, considers how and why such people might find themselves wandering beyond the boundaries of promises they have made. First published in Italian as Fedelta in 2019 and already in production with Netflix, this subtle novel has been lauded as a revealing study in marital infidelity, but it also moves beyond the theme of fidelity in traditional marriage to explore different kinds of sexual fidelity. And it touches on more abstract notions of loyalty and betrayal, including the idea of faithfulness to a family, an idea, a place, or a sense of ones true self.

Credit: Nick

Michael Farris Smith

No Exit Press, $29.99 This novel invents a back-story for Nick Carraway, the narrator of Fitzgeralds classic The Great Gatsby, and puts him through experiences that would surely produce a deeper, darker Nick than the wry bystander of the original. He sees the trenches of the First World War in horrible detail, has a romantic Paris interlude that turns bad, and then spends some nightmarish postwar time in New Orleans before moving to New York. In the increasingly popular practice of writing a novel that piggybacks on other novels, some writers unwittingly reveal their limitations while others can produce a story that works in its own right or that contributes something new and valuable to our sense of the original. Michael Farris Smith falls over the line with this effort, but more in spite of his Fitzgeraldean inspiration than because of it.

Credit: Ariadne

Jennifer Saint

Wildfire, $32.99 What most people remember about the Minotaur is that it was a monstrous half-man and half-bull, lived in a labyrinth on Crete, and was eventually killed by the Greek hero Theseus with help from the young princess Ariadne. Jennifer Saint has told this story in much greater detail albeit in simple language, from the point of view of Ariadne. In doing so, she is faithful to the details of the original myths but shifts the emphasis of the story to the female characters, of whom there are more than most people might remember, while creating a Theseus who is by no means the hero he is usually cracked up to be. Ariadnes mother Pasiphae has a horrible time of it in all versions of this myth, for she is also the mother of the Minotaur, while her little sister Phaedra also draws more than one short straw. It is essentially a re-telling of the story, but it goes deeper, too.

Credit: The Committed

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Corsair, $32.99 His first novel The Sympathizer won a Pulitzer Prize in 2016 for Viet Thanh Nguyen and The Committed is a sequel, featuring the same unnamed narrator who spent most of the earlier novel as a spy for North Vietnam, first in South Vietnam and then in the US. Returning to Vietnam, he and his friend Bon are captured, tortured, and re-educated before escaping. At the beginning of The Committed, the narrator and Bon have arrived in France as refugees and find themselves in a criminal world of drugs and violence. But this novels spy-thriller appearance is really just the packaging for ideas about colonisation, capitalism, and nationalism, digging deep into the complexities of these things and their often murderously terrible practices. This is that rare thing, an action-packed novel of ideas. Its intellectually subtle and demanding, a brilliant if sometimes difficult read.
Netflix's planned show Byron Baes has caused quite the stir with angry locals, who fumed a program following 'influencers' would damage their beachside paradise.

But residents might be happy to hear the first two rumoured cast members are not 'vacuous, fake' influencers as predicted, but rather 'born and bred' locals Kathy and Ralph Brauer, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The husband and wife own homeware, furniture and ladies fashion retailer Bisque Traders in Bangalow, a 20 minute drive from Byron Bay.

Meet your Byron Baes! According to a new report, born and bred locals Kathy and Ralph Brauer (pictured) will be starring in Netflix's upcoming show

And while they do have quite the following on their store's social media, they're nothing like the bikini-clad Instagram stars locals anticipated.

The loved-up couple founded their company in 2000, which began as a result of Kathy's passion for ethically-sourced homewares and the pair's love for travel.

Their daughter Hannah is the team's co-creative director, yet it's not known if she'll make an appearance on the show with her parents.

Ralph is also a keen photographer, and dedicates his own Instagram page to his art - a page which so far enjoys a modest 1,500 followers.

Netflix declined to comment on the rumoured castmates when contacted. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Ralph and Kathy for further comment.

Skilled: The loved-up couple founded their company in 2000, which began as a result of Kathy's passion for ethically-sourced homewares and the pair's love for travel

Popular: While they do have quite the following on their store's social media, they're nothing like the bikini-clad Instagram stars locals anticipated

Another star? Their daughter Hannah is the team's co-creative director, yet it's not known if she'll make an appearance on the show with her parents

The rumour comes after dozens of protesters staged a paddle out against the docu-soap on Tuesday morning, while other locals displayed placards that read 'give Netflix the flick' and 'consult traditional owners'.

Ben Gordon, owner of The Byron Bay General Store, is leading calls to snub the Netflix production - and asking other local businesses to do the same.

'They've simply turned up unannounced and they are proposing to drag our name through the mud, and make millions of dollars without offering anything back to the community,' he told Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon.

Mr Gordon said the prospective reality series is 'a complete misrepresentation of who we are as a community'.

'Today, what we've seen, is the real Byron, the community coming together for issues that we believe in,' he said.

Speaking out: Ben Gordon, owner of The Byron Bay General Store, led calls to snub the Netflix production during a Today show appearance on Tuesday

Plot: 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'

'What they're proposing is manufactured drama, gossip and bickering about how many likes we have on Instagram. There's no one in the show that's actually from Byron.'

There are now more than 7,000 signatures on a petition named 'Boycott Byron Baes' - but the Netflix series is seemingly undeterred by the campaign.

Byron Bay is known to be adored by a string of high profile celebrities, including Chris Hemsworth, Elsa Pataky and Zac Efron.

Zac and his girlfriend Vanessa Valladares ended their romance in recent weeks - amid claims he wanted to distance himself from her because she could be starring on Byron Baes herself.

Others rumoured to be joining the line-up are influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews and The Block's Elyse Knowles.
Mumbai: A fire broke out at a COVID-19 centre in Palghar district on Friday (April 23), affected patients were rushed to the nearby hospital.

News agency ANI reported that the fire has claimed the lives of 12 patients and fire-fighting operations are underway.

According to reports, the fire broke out at the ICU of the Vijay Vallabh Covid Care Hospital located in Virar West where several COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment.

The blaze was noticed around 3.15 a.m. on the second floor ICU Ward in the 4-storied Vijay Vallabh Hospital of Tirupati Nagar and quickly spread to other wards, according to Virar Fire Brigade.

Several Covid-19 patients were undergoing treatment in the hospital and the staffers managed to shift around 5-6 of them to nearby hospitals.

The Fire Brigade rushed there with three fire tenders and managed to control the conflagration after two hours.

The cause of the fire is not known and further investigations are underway, said an official.

(With agency inputs)

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SD Biosensor's COVID-19 self-test kit / Yonhap



South Korea's drug safety agency on Friday granted conditional approval for two types of COVID-19 self-test kits as a supplementary tool to boost its testing capacity amid spiking cases.



The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said it gave the green light to the test kits, developed by two local biotech firms, SD Biosensor and Humasis, in its first approval for at-home test kits for the coronavirus.



The conditional approval will allow the two test kits to be used domestically until fully approved products roll out.



The move will permit people to collect samples from their noses on their own, and the results come out within 15-20 minutes.



Health authorities said self-test kits should be used as a supplementary tool as their accuracy is low compared with the preemptive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests commonly used here.



If the tests turn out to be positive, people should receive PCR tests, according to the agency.






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On February 5, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a ruling instructing all financial institutions to stop the facilitation of all transactions involving cryptocurrencies. It also goes further asking all the regulated bodies to identify individuals or organizations engaging in cryptocurrency transactions within their system and shut down their accounts with immediate effect. Finally, the circular note that failure to adhere to the directives will attract severe regulatory sanctions on the part of the regulated entity.

Lets face it, cryptocurrency is a big deal in Nigeria. In the last couple of years, there has been astronomical growth in cryptocurrency trading in the country. Nigeria is Africas largest cryptocurrency marketplace and second only to the United States in Bitcoin trading volume in the world. According to data from QZ Africa, an estimated $400 million worth of cryptocurrency was traded in the country last year. Also, in a recent survey of 74 countries by Statista Global Consumer Survey, Nigerians were the most likely to acknowledge to use or own cryptocurrency.

This latest crackdown on cryptocurrency by CBN was met with huge outrage and sparked controversy among the general public as people debated what the ruling would mean for the countrys financial institution especially the burgeoning Fintech sector.

Find out whats in store for Nigerian Crypto investors after the crypto ban in 2021.

Hows the Nigeria Fintech Ecosystem

Nigerias Fintech ecosystem has experienced buoyant growth in recent years and has continued to attract renewed interest among foreign investors. According to the West African Startup Decade Report, the Nigerian bustling Fintech space raised more than $600 million in foreign investment between 2014 and 2019. These numbers amount to 25 percent of the total $490 million raised by African tech startups in 2019 alone. Additionally, Fintech companies also raised $55 million in the first quarter of 2020, all from foreign investments.

Most of the Fintech companies in the country offer cryptocurrency remittance services on their platform which allow users to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, save and invest, facilitate payment transactions, convert digital assets in Naira, and many more.

In a country characterized by strict foreign exchange policy, difficult and exorbitant transaction fees when transferring money in and out of the country, millions of people turn to cryptocurrency to facilitate cheap and fast transactions. Fintech companies such as Buycoin, Piggyvest, Risevest, and many more are thriving on this front, facilitating millions of dollars worth of transactions daily, by fostering a new wave of crypto-based solutions for old financial challenges.

Whats the reaction of the FinTech Sector?

The Central Banks latest directive was met with immediate compliance by all Fintech platforms across the country. Almost immediately after the Central Bank releases the circular, major Fintech companies that offer cryptocurrency processing options on their platform including Flutterwave, Buycoin, and Piggvest amongst others notified their customers of the removal of virtual accounts hosted with Deposit Money Banks (DMBs). They also made it known that they will no longer process cryptocurrency transactions via naira deposit. Thus, they are disabling the option in line with CBNs directive.

These announcements led to huge panic among the public as people scampered to withdraw their funds from these Fintech platforms. This is despite continued reassurance of the safety of peoples money by these companies.

A setback for the Fintech sector

The Central Banks renewed stance on cryptocurrencies, whilst seeking to protect all regulated entities under it has elicited negative reactions in the country. Industry experts say CBNs directive would negatively impact the countrys Fintech sector, especially crypto-based exchanges. They noted that the latest clampdown on digital assets could see the countrys Fintech sector lose out on foreign investment. In an interview with Adeleye Afeez, a blockchain analyst, he explains that In a time when global organizations around the world are increasingly embracing cryptocurrency, the unstable government policies would further reduce investors and venture capitals confidence in funding and investing in innovations in the country.

While analyzing the potential impact of the circular on the Fintech companies, Fejiro Agbodje, CEO of Patricia, a leading Fintech solution in the country explains that the core business operations of crypto-based Fintech platforms have been disrupted. He said Fintechs would not be able to receive money from users who want to buy bitcoin with Naira. Also, they cannot pay out to users who also want to withdraw Naira. He said users can now only exchange cryptos but would not be able to carry out crypto transactions involving naira.

Experts also argued that CBN stopping regulated entities from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions is counterproductive. They pointed out that it might start a mass exodus of these companies to other countries with favorable policies. Thus, redirecting potential revenue to nearby African countries. This goes against the Federal Governments aim to diversify the countrys revenue earning stream.

Are there any positives?

To mitigate the impact of the Central Banks directive, most of the crypto-based Fintech companies have remodeled their operation by implementing P2P models on their platform to connect traders directly. P2P trades are typically done between individuals without intermediaries or third parties. This offering allows the Fintech companies to serve as escrow to coordinate these P2P transactions.

This means that users can now buy bitcoin and other cryptos, sell and exchange on their platforms without going through banks as a third party.

Additionally, this latest clampdown on crypto creates an opportunity for innovation within the Fintech sector. Innovators can leverage this present situation and explore ways to develop new crypto trading models. Innovators can work towards improving existing P2P channels that will allow Nigerians to engage in seamless and secure transactions domestically and internationally. There is already the NGNT, a cryptocurrency pegged to the value of Naira, which is being touted as a potential way to bypass the CBNs restrictions.

One way or the other, time will tell the kind of impact CBNs decision will have on the Fintech sector.
Germany has decided not to impose limits on the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the head of the country's vaccine regulator said on Friday, adding the expert panel that decides on its use will meet next week to evaluate new data.



Europe's drug regulator backed J&J's vaccine this week after examining cases of a rare blood clotting issue in U.S. adults who received a dose. But it left it up to the European Union's member states to decide how to use it.



Germany's vaccine committee, known as STIKO, has limited the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot to those aged 60 and above due to the risk of rare blood clots.



Klaus Cichutek, the head of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, said J&J's vaccine was safe and effective and that the frequency of reports of an extremely rare clotting issue were 10 times lower than with the AstraZeneca shot.



A meeting of STIKO on Thursday to evaluate data around J&J's vaccine had not prompted any restriction on the use of the vaccine, he said.



"There will be further STIKO meetings next week and an evaluation will be made on the basis of the new data," he told a news conference in Berlin.



The EMA examined eight cases of clotting that occurred in U.S. adults under 60, mostly women, within three weeks of vaccination with J&J's single shot. The cases were reported out of more than 7 million doses administered in the United States as of April 13.



EU countries are relying on the vaccine - the fourth to be authorised for use in Europe - to help speed up vaccination campaigns amid a spike in infection that have forced some countries to re-impose lockdowns.
Fear of violence and Israeli police barriers have limited the number of people going to the al-Aqsa compound. Palestinians and young Jewish supremacists from the Lehava group clashed last night, with about a hundred injured, 22 hospitalised, and more than 50 taken into custody. Provocations mar the holy month of Islamic fasting and prayer. Israels occupation is the main problem.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews)  Since the start of Ramadan, the holy month of Islamic fasting and prayer, tensions in Jerusalem and the surrounding area have been progressively rising. Today, new clashes are feared at the end of Friday prayers, said Adel Misk, a Palestinian activist who spoke to AsiaNews from the al-Aqsa compound. At this time, up to 300,000 people usually gather in al-Aqsa added Misk, a neurologist by profession.

Last weekend, things appeared to getting back to normal. Some COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, and tens of thousands of people came to the compound. Today, very few people are around, Misk said.

At least a hundred people were injured in clashes that broke out yesterday evening near the Damascus Gate in the old city. Palestinian protesters clashed with at least 300 right-wing Jewish extremists marching towards them shouting Death to the Arabs. In an attempt to keep the two groups apart, Israeli police attacked the Palestinians who responded by throwing rocks.

The clashes followed days of tension, with a few minor incidents and some injuries.

According to the Red Crescent, at least 22 Palestinians ended up in hospital for medical treatment. Police took into custody about fifty people from both groups.

The march by Jewish supremacists targeted Muslim Arabs, repeatedly calling for their death. Such extremist elements are allied with caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is trying to form a new government.

Palestinians came out to protest because police prevented the usual evening meetings that Muslims hold during Ramadan after the Iftar, the evening meal.

Tensions rose further after a video was posted on TikTok, a video-sharing social network, showing a Palestinian slapping an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man on Jerusalems light rail train.

This angered Israelis and triggered a protest by right-wing Israeli leaders, who are demanding police crack down harsh, as well as the punitive expedition by the Lehava group, who called for a protest in a show of national honour.

Groups of young [Jewish] extremists provoked Palestinian youth in the month of Ramadan, said Adel Misk, who is also a spokesman for the Parents Circle, an association that brings together about 250 Israelis and 250 Palestinians, all related to victims of the conflict,

During the holy month Muslims from across the West Bank, as well as Jordan, try to reach al-Aqsa, the second Makkah, to pray. But Israelis are provoking Palestinians and trying to prevent them from entering the mosque, creating obstacles and putting up roadblocks.

In addition to the groups of young people, hundreds of police officers surround the area and prevent access to the mosque, said the activist.

These restrictions, combined with right-wing provocations, are the reason for the clashes. The situation is serious. Muslims wait for months to devotedly experience this period and fulfil their religious duties, only to be prevented by police and provocateurs. All this ends up making things worse.

Political uncertainty in Israel is not helping either as Netanyahu tries to get the seats needed for a majority (61 out of 120) in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament.

The government is just hanging on and Netanyahu is using an iron fist against the Palestinians to show that only he can keep law and order.

The main issue behind the tensions and violence is the Israeli occupation; for this reason, we need more international solidarity in order to end the deadlock and arrive at a signed agreement.
Additional Investor Webinar and Q&A Will be Hosted on April 29, 202

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / DigiCrypts Blockchain Solutions Inc. o/a DigiMax Global Solutions (the "Company" or "DigiMax") (CSE:DIGI)(OTC PINK:DBKSF) a company that provides artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency technology solutions, is pleased to announce it will be featured as a presenter at the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Virtual Conference held on April 27, 2021.

H.C. Wainwright Conference Details

The event includes 30 corporate presentations, with panels available live and on-demand starting at 7:00 A.M. (ET). The speakers of the conference include pre-imminent figures such as Michael Saylor of Microstrategy, Alexis Glick, veteran media personality and former Wall Street executive, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The event will cover topics such as Crypto Mining and Sustainability, Crypto trading and the evolution of finance and regulation.

Chris Carl, President and Chief Executive Officer and Thierry Hubert, Chief Technology Officer, will provide an overview of the Company's business and technology during this event and will participate in one-on-one meetings with registered investors who join the conference.

If you would like to register for the event and listen to the Company's presentation and or book a one-on-one conversation, you can register here: www.hcwevents.com/crypto

Investor Webinar and Q&A

Following the Conference, at 11:00 AM EDT Thursday April 29, Mr. Carl will conduct a webinar for DigiMax shareholders and other interested parties. This webinar will include a short presentation about the company's current operations followed by a question and answer period. Please use the following link to register and connect to the webinar: Investor Webinar and Q&A

Participants may also dial-in at: 888-506-0062 or 973-528-0011

Conference Entry Code: 626565

Contacts DigiMax:

Martti Kangas

Investor Communications

647-521-9261

mkangas@digimax-global.com

Chris Carl

President & CEO

416-312-9698

ccarl@digimax-global.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements or information". Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: anticipate, intend, plan, goal, seek, believe, project, estimate, expect, strategy, future, likely, may, should, will and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements we make regarding information about future plans, expectations and objectives of the Company.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: the adequacy of our cash flow and earnings, the availability of future financing and/or credit, and other conditions which may affect our ability to expand the App Platform described herein, the level of demand and financial performance of the cryptocurrency industry, developments and changes in laws and regulations, including increased regulation of the cryptocurrency industry through legislative action and revised rules and standards applied by the Canadian Securities Administrators, Ontario Securities Commission, and/or other similar regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions, disruptions to our technology network including computer systems, software and cloud data, or other disruptions of our operating systems, structures or equipment, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, consumer sentiment towards the Company's products and services, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, competition, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions, the impact of technology changes on the products and industry, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE: DigiMax Global Solutions

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641940/DigiMax-Global-Announces-Participation-at-the-HC-Wainwright-Cryptocurrency-Blockchain-FinTech-Virtual-Conference
In this episode of Good Weekend Talks, we take a look at how one woman managed to rip off family and friends to the tune of $30 million, and how this fraudulent financial scheme ultimately brought her unstuck. Its a tale expertly told by Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont in our cover story this week: Vanishing act  the mysterious case of Melissa Caddick, her disappearance and the missing millions.

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In conversation with Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland, McClymont examines the seeds of Caddicks undoing, the mechanics of a classic Ponzi scheme and the wreckage left behind. Among those who lost their life savings were many long-term friends and family members of Caddick.

One of her childhood friends that I spoke to, a woman who we have called Joanna, her extended family lost almost $10 million, says McClymont. And you think you know, this is a single mother, a disability worker, and she was, I think, Melissa Caddicks first victim. This is a friend she has known since preschool.
Demi Rose left little to the imagination when she posed up a storm wearing a deeply plunging bodycon dress on Friday.

Sharing the stunning snap on Instagram, Demi, 26, pouted for fans as she put her ample assets on full display in the racy frock, which featured cut-out detailing.

The social media sensation's long brunette hair cascaded in waves past her shoulders and she wore a full face of glam for the snap.

Wow: Demi Rose, 26, left little to the imagination on Friday when she posed up a storm for her Instagram fans in the bathroom of a luxury venue wearing a plunging bodycon dress

Demi accentuated her exposed neckline with a delicate necklace and also wore two silver rings on the fingers of her left hand.

Behind her was a marble-floored bathroom that featured gorgeous palm print wallpaper.

The new snap comes after the brunette beauty recently opened up to MailOnline about how she shot to stardom at the age of 14 after being bullied in school.

Sizzling: Demi put her famous curves on display again on Monday in a skintight all-black ensemble as she took to Instagram

Demi recalled: 'I was bullied in school, I wanted to make friends outside of it so I ended up spending a lot of time online.

'I was even interested in virtual reality as a kid, I was always on the computer and then MySpace came around and I found my calling.'

She experienced her first taste of fame when pictures of her on the beach as a young teenager went viral on Instagram.

Sensational: The social media star experienced her first taste of fame when pictures of her on the beach as a young teenager went viral on Instagram

Birmingham native Demi shared: 'I only ever got Instagram because someone made a fake profile of me on there with 3,000 followers and I was really envious.

'I was like, "wow, how can someone using my pictures get that much?" And then I started an account and it went from there.'

From the age of 18, the bombshell  who currently boasts 16 million followers  signed with a modelling agency and her career went from strength to strength.

Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels in recent months  including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania.

She is currently residing in Ibiza.
Rritual CEO, David Kerbel, a former CROSSMARK Executive, establishes collaborative program to generate awareness and sales momentum for Rritual Superfoods

VANCOUVER, BC, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Rritual Superfoods Inc. ("Rritual" or the "Company") (CSE: RSF) (FSE: 0RW) is excited to announce the Company's partnership with CROSSMARK Inc. ("CROSSMARK"). The business union represents a foundational leap for Rritual, as it was designed to accelerate brand growth and open up retail channels to reach and exceed 40,000 points of distribution in the USA.

CROSSMARK, headquartered in Plano, TX, is a leading sales and marketing services agency that specializes in growing retail brands throughout nearly every category of the consumer goods industry. For more than 100 years, CROSSMARK has accelerated the world's most powerful companiesultimately driving sales and managing brand success. Their core services include Headquarter Sales, Retail Services, and Marketing Services. This includes eCommerce solutions, omnichannel expertise, insights and analytics, and order-to-cashas well as both in-store and out-of-store consumer engagement. The strategic collaboration is intended to provide actionable insights that drive growth and establish Rritual as a defining brand in the superfoods category.

What CROSSMARK brings to Rritual's Growth Trajectory:

Expertise in Every Channel: Grocery, Drug, Convenience, Natural & Specialty, Mass, Club, eCommerce

Headquarter Sales: Planning, Selling, Execution, Brand Management

Retail Services: Selling, Merchandising, Shelf Management, Audits, Resets

Marketing Services: Experiential, In-outlet Consumer Engagement, Shopper Marketing, Omnichannel Marketing, Digital Marketing, and Media

Insights & Analytics: Proprietary Data Sets, Integrated Insights leading to Smarter Solutions that will drive Faster Growth

"CROSSMARK will accelerate Rritual's development, contributing significantly to our overall strategy to work with national brand leaders, simply, CROSSMARK is best of class," noted David Kerbel, Rritual CEO. "Their expertise and relationships will power the Rritual brand, allowing us to scale more expediently and efficiently on a national level with a streamlined internal team."

According to Jim Badalati, CROSSMARK's SVP of Customer Development West, "We are looking forward to partnering with David and the Rritual team. David and I started at CROSSMARK together over 20 years ago and are aligned with doing things right the first time."

"At Rritual our objective is to have our brand within an arm's length of consumer desire," stated Kerbel. "This will be a highly effective partnership, based on the collaborative execution of our strategic sales plan. CROSSMARK and Rritual are committed to excellence. Together, we are Rritual."

Kerbel, previously a CROSSMARK Executive, has collaborated with CROSSMARK leadership to design an approach that is tailored to Rritual's requirementsrecognizing the early stage opportunities that exist within the superfoods category and what is needed to establish Rritual as a category leader. The relationship has also enabled both parties to value the expertise Rritual brings to the table, allowing the partnership to advance with preferred consideration.

About CROSSMARK

Today CROSSMARK accelerates brands throughout nearly every category of the consumer goods industry. Their team of 25,000+ employees are responsible for servicing all major retailers throughout North Americafrom buying desks to consumer baskets. Additionally, their unparalleled eCommerce and omnichannel expertise continue to innovate the industry, well beyond brick and mortar. Their newly launched proprietary CROSSMARK Accelerator platform delivers state-of-the-art insights and analytics through advanced modeling and artificial intelligence. The results are smarter, faster growth.

About Rritual

Rritual is a functional superfood company that creates plant-based elixirs, which support immunity, focus, and relaxation. The company is poised to dominate a segment where demand and sales are growing exponentially. Under the executive leadership with over 100 years of CPG pedigree, Rritual is launching in North America in Q2 2021 as the company positions itself as a leader in the functional health and wellness industry. Rritual's superfood elixirs can be found online at www.rritual.com.

Follow Rritual on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook , and Instagram .

Functional Foods Market

According to Grandview Research*, it is estimated that the global functional food market is projected to reach $275 billion by 2025, growing at 7.9% each year with consumers putting more emphasis on health and wellness.



*https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-functional-foods-market



Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements") that relate to Rritual's current expectations and views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "expects", "will continue", "is anticipated", "anticipates", "believes", "estimated", "intends", "plans", "forecast", "projection", "strategy", "objective" and "outlook") are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. In particular and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company's plans to leverage third party manufacturing and logistics, the Company's broader retail distribution plans and the Company's other plans, focus and objectives.

Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Rritual's control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the impact and progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors set forth under "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the final long form prospectus of the Company dated February 26, 2021 and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Rritual undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Rritual to predict all of them or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Rritual Superfoods Inc.
A Met Police officer who admitted trying to groom a 13-year-old girl while he was on duty has been found guilty of gross misconduct.

PC Mark Collins admitted six counts of trying to communicate with someone under 16 for sexual gratification and one count of attempting to incite a girl aged 13 to 'engage in sexual activity' back in January.

The 57-year-old resigned from the force a month later and is currently awaiting sentencing at the Old Bailey.

This week, a Special Case hearing was held over claims of gross misconduct, presided over by Met Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball.

The Met said an allegation had been proven against the ex-officer, who was first arrested in November 2019.

Following the hearing on Wednesday, AC Ball ruled that 'having considered all of the evidence...found the allegation proven and had PC Mark Collins still been a serving officer he would have been dismissed' a police statement said.

Met Police officer Mark Collins, who admitted trying to groom a 13-year-old girl while he was on duty, has been found guilty of gross misconduct

The hearing was to answer an allegation that Collins' conduct amounted to a breach of standards of professional behaviour in respect of discreditable conduct.

This conduct was alleged to amount to gross misconduct, Scotland Yard said.

The Met said Collins was attached to the force's South Area command unit that includes Bromley, Croydon and Sutton.

Collins' hearing came just hours after a misconduct case was proven against another officer who previously served with the Met's south London unit.

A Special Case Hearing for PC Dean Cupit, formerly based at South Area Command, took place on Wednesday.

Cupit previously pleaded guilty to a Section 2A offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1979 [stalking].

That offence took place between April and October 2019.

At Guildford Crown Court last month he was sentenced to an 18 month community order, 25 days of rehabilitation around stalking/harassment, 100 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay 500 court costs fine and 95 victim surcharge.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Appnovation is pleased to announce that Iain MacNeil, Chief Revenue Officer, has been awarded a 2021 Report on Business Best Executive Award.

The Report on Business Best Executive Awards is an annual program to celebrate excellence among non-CEO leaders at the SVP, EVP and C-suite (or equivalent) levels.

The 50 winners chosen for 2021 represent the best of Canadian leadership in five functional areas: Finance; Human Resources; Operations; Sales and Marketing; and Technology.

Iain was one of 10 winners in the Marketing category, alongside nine other Canadian Sales & Marketing leaders from companies like Tim Hortons, Telus and P&G.

While Iain has been a valued member of the Appnovation family for over 10 years, his leadership really shone brightly throughout this past year, said Arnold Leung, CEO of Appnovation. He tirelessly led a team to support several provincial governments in executing a Single Site Staffing initiative to lessen the spread of COVID-19 amongst long-term care homes at the start of the pandemic, making a life-saving impact in one of the hardest hit groups. At the same time, hes worked to expand our services capabilities for our clients. On behalf of all Appnovators, we congratulate Iain on this well-deserved recognition.

Since joining the company, Iain has held progressively senior roles in Sales & Marketing. He has played an instrumental role in growing Appnovation into a strategic digital partner for our clients across the globe through his leadership, drive and expertise. His personal passion for health sciences has helped shape Appnovation into a company that cares about patient outcomes and how digital can support them.

Winning executives for 2021 were chosen after a call for nominations for leaders at Canadian public and private businesses, not-for-profits, institutions and/or academic institutions. Nominations were assessed by the Report on Business editorial team based on career background, leadership style, achievements, and impact.

Winners of the Best Executive Awards are profiled editorially in the April issue of Report on Business magazine, out online on April 23 and in print April 24.

To learn more about the Best Executive Awards program, and to see this years winners, please visit www.tgam.ca/BestExec.

--

About The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail is Canadas foremost news media company, leading the national discussion and causing policy change through brave and independent journalism since 1844. With award-winning coverage of business, politics and national affairs, The Globe and Mail newspaper reaches 6.5 million readers every week in print or digital formats, and Report on Business magazine reaches 2.2 million readers in print and digital every issue. The Globes investment in innovative data science means that as the world continues to change, so does The Globe. The Globe and Mail is owned by Woodbridge, the investment arm of the Thomson family.

About Appnovation

Appnovation helps brands thrive through innovative, people-inspired experiences and solutions. By embracing the powerful combination of technology and agility, we seamlessly integrate strategy, experience, design, development and analytics.

We create standout digital experiences by collaborating with brands to understand the individual challenges and goals for every initiative. Focusing on our clients customers, we effectively combine empathy, evidence and real-world insight so that solutions are derived from truth and meaning. Appnovation is an award-winning team dedicated to inspiring possibility.

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SAQQARA, Egypt - Seated in a yellow plastic laundry basket attached to two thick ropes, I was lowered into the earth. The light got dimmer, the temperature colder. A musty smell filled the air. The only sound was from the workmen above handling the ropes and yelling "shweya" - slowly.

One miscue, and I could fall 100 feet.

I was inside a burial shaft in Saqqara, the ancient necropolis roughly 19 miles south of Cairo. In recent months, a series of discoveries have captivated the world of archaeology.

The most significant find came in January, when archaeologists came upon inscriptions showing that the temple they were unearthing belonged to a previously unknown ancient queen. Her name was Queen Neit. She was the wife of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty, which ruled more than 4,300 years ago as part of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

I was descending into the cemeterial netherworld below her funerary temple.

Midway down the shaft, the walls took on a honeycomb pattern, with large shelves carved into them. Thousands of years ago, they held painted coffins and mummies wrapped in linen and reeds. While I descended farther, the shaft narrowed as I passed through a wood frame that supports the walls. Just above the bottom, water glistened on the walls like jewels.

The basket touched ground.

The eyes adjusted to the dark. On the floor were two limestone coffins. Both damaged, their contents looted, perhaps more than 2,000 years ago. Who had been buried here? How and why were their coffins lowered so far into the earth? And how did the thieves know where to look?

"Our civilization is full of mysteries," NeRmeen Aba-Yazeed, a member of the archaeological team, said afterward. "And we have discovered one of these mysteries."

Before the inscription was found, King Teti was thought to have only two wives, Iput and Khuit. But the realization he had a third, Neit, with her own temple, was prompting a rethink of those ancient days.

"We are rewriting history," Zahi Hawass, Egypt's most well-known archaeologist and its former antiquities minister, would say later in the day.

- - -

Ancient history is being revealed in many parts of Egypt these days. In early February, archaeologists found 16 human burial chambers at the site of an ancient temple on the outskirts of the northern city of Alexandria. Two of the mummies had golden tongues, which Egyptian Antiquities Ministry officials said were to allow them to "speak in the afterlife."

That same month, a massive 5,000-year-old brewery - believed to be the world's oldest - was discovered in the southern city of Sohag. The beer, researchers hypothesize, was used in burial rituals for Egypt's earliest kings.

Last month, ruins of an ancient Christian settlement were discovered in the Bahariya Oasis, nestled in Egypt's Western desert. The find sheds new light on monastic life in the 5th century A.D.

And just last week, archaeologists announced they had unearthed a 3,000-year-old "lost golden city" in the southern city of Luxor, a discovery that could be the biggest since the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamen.

With every discovery, the government's hopes rise that more tourists will arrive, bringing much-needed foreign currency and creating new jobs for millions. Egypt's tourism-dependent economy has suffered in the past decade from the political chaos that developed after the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

The Saqqara necropolis is at once a center of the country's aspirations and of its subterranean secrets. It was part of the burial grounds for the ancient capital, Memphis, its ruins now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In Saqqara, 17 Egyptian kings built pyramids to house their remains and possessions for what they believed was the transition to the afterlife. These pyramids include the world's oldest, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built in the 27th century B.C. Recent finds have drawn the world's attention, depicted in the Netflix film "Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb" and National Geographic's "Kingdom of the Mummies" TV series.

In November, for instance, archaeologists dug up more than 100 ornately painted wooden coffins, some with mummies, and dozens of other artifacts, including amulets, funeral statues and masks. Some of the coffins had been found on those shelves I had passed during my descent.

- - -

After I emerged from the burial shaft, Hawass explained how the discoveries were reshaping the understanding of Pharaonic times.

"Now we are writing a new chapter in the history of the Old Kingdom by adding the name of a new queen of Teti that he never announced before," said Hawass, 73, standing in the temple's ruins, wearing his trademark wide-brimmed Indiana Jones hat and a cream-colored safari jacket over a denim shirt and jeans.

But there was more to consider than just the emergence of a new queen. Could Neit have also been Teti's daughter? Hawass's team had found inscriptions that referred to Neit as the daughter of a pharaoh.

Incest would not be new for the ancients. In Egyptian lore, the god Osiris had married his sister Isis. Pharaohs were widely believed to have married their sisters and daughters, but that was during reigns later than Teti's Sixth Dynasty.

"Is she a daughter of a king of the Fifth Dynasty, or is she a daughter of Teti?" Hawass asked. "If she is a daughter of Teti, it would be the first time in Egyptian history to have a king marrying his daughter."

A short walk across the sand was another burial shaft where even more had been discovered about Teti's legacy.

I followed Hawass down a ladder, 36 feet into the ground. At the bottom, in a space the size of a walk-in closet, were wooden coffins stacked in piles. They were painted in hues of blue and red, some with intricate images of gods and goddesses. They still contained mummies, Hawass said, and the names of the deceased were written on the decaying wood. His team had found 54 coffins here.

From inscriptions on the coffins, the team had traced the subterranean cemetery to the 18th and 19th dynasties of Egypt's New Kingdom, from more than 3,000 years ago. The discoveries were shedding light on a little understood period of Saqqara, between 1570 and 1069 B.C.

Teti, it appears, had been worshiped as a god in the New Kingdom. Many of his followers wanted to be buried around his pyramid, often visiting coffin and mummification workshops in Saqqara, Hawass said.

The poor were placed in simple wooden coffins. But the colorful, ornately decorated ones that I was seeing had belonged to Teti's wealthy followers.

- - -

Placed inside the coffins were miniature wooden boats, games, pottery and tiny gold pieces to carry and use in the afterlife. Little statuettes and amulets carry the shapes and names of gods and pharaohs.

Among the artifacts discovered were pieces of a 15-foot-long papyrus that included texts of the Book of the Dead, a collection of spells written by priests to help the deceased pass through the underworld and into the afterlife.

Inside a store room, Ahmed Tarek and Maysa Rabea are placing the jagged pieces of the papyrus together, like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. They are also restoring and studying artifacts to gain more understanding of how Egyptians prepared themselves for the afterlife.

Shards of pottery found in the rubble unveil new details of ancient life. Many were imported, evidence that trade flourished between Egypt and Palestine, Cyprus, Crete and Syria.

Mohamed Mahmoud reassembles pieces of pottery to make them whole. In the tent next door, Asmaa Massoud analyzes skulls and other bones to determine age and cause of death. Next to her, in a small wooden box, is the mummy of a child.

"The excavations and artifacts show how much Saqqara was important in the New Kingdom," Hawass told me. "They tell us more about the beliefs, not only for the rich, but also for the poor."

Some of the discoveries, however, defy explanation.

In a burial shaft, this one 63 feet deep, a 20-ton sarcophagus the size of a Humvee and made of granite sits at the bottom. How did it get there? It, too, was looted by thieves. How did they know where to look?

Hawass expects to encounter more mysteries. It will take 20 years to fully uncover the secrets here, he says. "In Saqqara, we have found only 30 percent of what's underneath," he said. "It is a site that if you dig in any place, you'll find something."

- - -

The Washington Post's Heba Farouk Mahfouz in Cairo contributed to this report.
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The harsh realities of World War One for soldiers around the world have been brought into sharp focus in a series of vivid colourised photographs.

Images show British soldiers at a captured trench pointing at a sign that says 'old hun line', Indian cavalry after their charge at the Somme in 1916, and an Irish soldier in a trench in Mesopotamia.

Other striking pictures show Canadian soldiers in the Battle of Amiens in 1918, the second wave of Russian troops waiting to go over the top in Ukraine in 1917 and the Lancashire Fusiliers on a boat at Gallipoli in 1915.

The original black and white photographs were painstakingly colourised by Welsh electrician Royston Leonard, 56, from Cardiff.

He said: 'We need to remember the lost generation from all parts of the world. Look how young they are and realise we can never let this happen again.

'We did this twice so I urge you to really look at these images and then the rest is up to you.'

A boatload of soldiers from the Lancashire Fusiliers lands in Gallipoli in 1915. The line infantry regiment took part in the landing at Cape Helles by British and French forces that saw the capture of forts guarding the straits of the Dardanelles. The invasion was a bloodbath and there were a number of costly battles for the Allied forces. Six Victoria Crosses were awarded to soldiers from the First Batallion of the Lancashire Fusiliers in the landing. The batallion was evacuated in January 1916

Wounded soldiers perform arms drills at the end of their medical treatment in the Great Nave of the Grand Palais in Paris in a colourised photo first taken in 1916. The large palace served as a military hospital during WWI and local artists were employed to decorate the rooms and make moulds for prosthetic limbs

Indian cavalry pose holding their helmets aloft after their charge at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Two Indian regiments took part in the battle's only cavalry charge between the High Wood and Delville Wood. They were then forced to retreat after heavy fire

A soldier surveys the muddy scene at Passchendaele, Belgium, in 1917. The rural village lies on the last ridge east of Ypres and saw conflict for three months, during which both sides lost hundreds of thousands of lives. Passchendaele was eventually captured by the Canadian Corps in November 1917 although there were later battles in Ypres before the Allies occupied the Belgian coast

British troops stare out of a trench in a French battlefield during World War One, standing in front of spades and poised with guns during the bloody conflict that killed millions across the world

British soldiers smile for a photo and point to a sign reading 'Old Hun Line' as they mark their progression to what was a former German trench. A number of the Tommies are wearing ponchos and appear to be in good spirits despite the awful conditions of the war

Indian soldiers man a Lewis gun in Mesopotamia circa 1918. Other surrounding soldiers can be seen running for cover amid a Turkish air invasion but the gun team remained in position to engage the enemy aircraft. Lewis guns were a WWI light machine gun widely used by the troops of the British Empire

Canadian soldiers are pictured at the vital Battle of Amiens in 1918. The Allied forces advanced seven miles on the first day of the offensive, one of the greatest advancements in the war. The Germans described it as the 'black day' of their army' and it ultimately led to the end of the war

Russian troops wait for the signal to go over the top at Ternopil in Ukraine on July 1, 1917. The city passed from German and Austrian forces to Russia a number of times throughout the war and in 1917, the city and its castle were burned down by fleeing Russian forces

The 50th Aero Squadron from the US Air Force poses for a picture at Clermont-en-Argonne Airdrome in France in 1918. The squadron was only formed a year earlier and flew observation missions in the De Haviland DH-4 over European battlefields. It moved to the Clermont-en-Argonne Airdrome on October 28, just two weeks before the Armistice was signed, signalling the end of the War

A pair of Indian soldiers standing in a trench stare at the camera during World War One. More than a million Indian troops served in the conflict, of which 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. The Indian Army fought along the Western Front and in campaigns in Africa

Irish soldiers from the Royal Irish Fusiliers sleep in a trench in Mesopotamia while another raises aloft his helmet on the end of his gun to tease a Turkish sniper

Soldiers gather in a square along with civilians as flags from the Allied forces, including the French, US and Japanese flags, are raised behind them

The original black and white photographs showing soldiers in action were painstakingly colourised by Welsh electrician Royston Leonard, 56, from Cardiff

Indian troops push bicycles past cavalry on the Fricourt-Mametz Road in the Somme in July 1916. The cavalry charge was carried out by the 20th Deccan Horse, the British Seventh Dragoon Guards and the 34th Poona Horse

World War One was described as the 'war to end all wars' and more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history

An estimated nine million combatants and 13 million civilians died as a direct result of the war, while it is also considered a contributory factor in a number of genocides and the 1918 influenza epidemic, which caused between 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide

Indian soldiers pose during the conflict. Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, a later Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942 said the British 'couldn't have come through both wars [World War I and II] if they hadn't had the Indian Army'

A pair of soldiers show off their cramped living conditions during the war when many troops were forced to live in trenches due to the long stalemate

Soldiers wearing gas masks prepare to go over the top. The war brought about the need for mass produced gas masks because of the use of chemical weapons. The German Army first successfully used poison gas at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915

A moustachioed soldier poses for a camera in his uniform during the conflict. Military losses during WWI were exacerbated by new technological and industrial developments

A team of dispatch riders from the Royal Engineers Signal Service stands ready on motorcycles in Gallipoli in 1915. Signals units are often the first entering action, providing communications from the battlefield
A protester is holding a defund the police sign at a Black Lives Matter protest in Manhattan on July 13, 2020. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

Black Lives Matter Vandalize Central Park Monument, Clash With Police, 6 Arrested

At least six people were arrested by NYPD officers in Manhattan near Central Park as Black Lives Matter-affiliated protesters spray-painted graffiti on a Columbus Circle monument.

The NYPD confirmed that the USS Maine national monument was defaced during anti-police demonstrations on Thursday. Protesters marched from Greenwich Village to Columbus Circle.

The six people who were arrested by the NYPD were charged with assault, damaging public property, and more, officials told local media outlets.

We respects everyone right to peacefully protest, but vandalism is not part of peaceful protest. We are working to de-escalate the situation to prevent further damage from occurring, the department wrote on Thursday night.

Video footage posted by the NYPD showed Black Lives Matter- and Antifa-affiliated slogans such as ACAB spray-painted on the monument.

Critics of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests have noted that protesters and agitators frequently vandalize and deface public property, statues, and small businesseslikening the defacement of statues of historical figures bears similarities to Chinas Great Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, where throngs of Red Guards would chant Maoist slogans as they destroyed temples, statues, and other historic buildings as they tried to eradicate Chinese traditional culture.

We respects everyone right to peacefully protest, but vandalism is not part of peaceful protest. We are working to de-escalate the situation to prevent further damage from occurring. pic.twitter.com/UQ9FVl6f69  NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 23, 2021

Due to a demonstration, please avoid the area of East 59 Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Expect delays in the surrounding area, the department also wrote late on Thursday, adding that New Yorkers should avoid other areas in Manhattan due to demonstrations.

The protest appeared to have been linked to the fatal officer-involved shooting of a teen girl in Ohio who was seen on video apparently trying to stab another girl. According to social media footage, demonstrators were seen carrying Justice for MaKhia Bryant and Black Lives Matter banners, referring to the 16-year-old who was shot, although some noted that the demonstrations were part of the weekly Stonewall Protests for black trans activists.

In one instance on Thursday night, video footage showed a demonstrator apparently trying to flee police in a taxi cab but officers surrounding the car. Its not clear if the demonstrator was arrested.

Other videos appeared to show the demonstrators outside the New York Times building in Manhattan, chanting, [expletive] the New York Times.

Twitter account Protest NYC claimed they were engaged in a night of peaceful protesting before the NYPD descended on them: Over 200 police surrounded the park where the peaceful protest against police violence had already dispersed to arrest organizers.
Democrats seem intent on using the events of January 6 as a sort of Reichstag fire on which they can predicate a one-party state. They have H.R. 1. to federalize election law and facilitate fraudulent voting. They seek to pack the Supreme Court. And they propose turning the District of Columbia into a state.

The D.C. statehood gambit has been around for a long time, but it answers to the moment. It gives proponents yet another opportunity to impute racism to those who think its not a good idea.

Is this really the way to win friends and influence people? Someone might get the idea that these people are not to be trusted with unlimited power.

There is no good argument in favor of D.C. statehood. Not one, unless the accession of two more Democratic Senators to the Senate in perpetuity rings your chimes.

Its a bad idea all the way around. Like so many items of Democrat orthodoxy, however, effectively exploits the ignorance of its intended audience.

In addition to its other defects, D.C. statehood would be unconstitutional. The Wall Street Journal editorial on the subject discusses its other defects and notes, for example:

[T]he creation of an independent state to supplant the District, as the current House legislation proposes, is certainly unconstitutional. The Founders deliberately created a federal district under the control of Congress because it didnt want the federal government to be subject to the sway of any one state. Statehood imposed by statute would strip Congress of one of its enumerated powerseffectively amending the Constitution without an amendment process.

Attorney Hewitt Pate thoroughly explored the constitutional issue in D.C. Statehood: Not Without a Constitutional Amendment for the Heritage Foundation in 1993. I recommend Pates footnoted remarks to anyone interested in the subject.

As I say, the idea has been around for a long time. It had already been around for a long time when Pate wrote his remarks.

The Dems court-packing plan may represent the ultimate solution to the constitutional problem. They give no evidence of any awareness of the issue or concern about legality. Its just the way they roll, as with the imputation of racism to their opponents.

Whatever happened to the cause of statehood for Puerto Rico? Im sure it will be coming soon. The racial/racism component of the D.C. gambit, however, must have presented an irresistible attraction for the Democrats on their current quest for permanent and total power.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest killings by bandits in Zamfara State, vowing that such wanton disregard for life will be brought to an end sooner than later.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how suspected bandits killed at least 83 persons and displaced hundreds of others, including women and children, in attacks on many villages in Zamfara on Wednesday.

The president in a reaction to the incidents via a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday, said that this insane and persistent violence against innocent people must stop.

These criminals should stop pushing their luck too far by believing that the government lacks the capacity to crush them.

Mr Buhari directed the military, security and intelligence agencies to take immediate steps to close all existing gaps in their operations being exploited by criminals to wreak havoc.

He also expressed hope that the Special Operation launched by the military in the wee hours of Thursday from Maru Local Government Area would prove decisive in ridding the state of the frequent and horrifying bandit activities.

The violence against poor villagers who are struggling with poverty and other severe economic challenges is not going to be tolerated by this administration.

He called on the security forces to redouble their efforts in bringing an end to this mindless violence against innocent people.

Lets not give these criminals any opportunity to succeed by taking the war to their own camps and stop them in their tracks before they even have the time to respond under our massive fire power.

The president reassured the people of Zamfara that despite the latest set back in our efforts to protect our citizens, there will be no compromise in our determination to defeat these enemies of humanity. (NAN)
 

At 01:23:40 on 26 April 1986, the failure of a routine test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, caused reactor 4 to explode, releasing parts of its radioactive core. It was the worst nuclear accident the world had ever seen, with far-reaching political, economic and ecological consequences. Thirty-five years on, Chernobyl is still as well-known as it was a generation ago.

Fires broke out, causing the main release of radioactivity into the environment. Wind carried contaminated particles over Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, as well as parts of Scandinavia and wider Europe. The 50,000 inhabitants of the adjacent town of Pripyat were evacuated, never to return.

The accident destroyed reactor 4, killing 30 operators and firemen within three months and causing numerous other deaths in weeks and months that followed. To this day, it remains the only accident in the history of the civil use of nuclear power when radiation-related fatalities occurred. The precise number of short- and longer-term victims remains heavily disputed.

By 06:35 on 26 April, all fires at the power plant had been extinguished, apart from the fire inside reactor 4, which continued to burn for many days. Some 5,000 tonnes of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead were dropped from helicopters in a bid to extinguish the blaze. When the destroyed reactor was later enclosed in a provisional structure  the so-called sarcophagus  these fuel-containing materials were also walled in.

The sarcophagus was built under extremely hazardous conditions and unprecedented time pressure. By November 1986, a steel and concrete shelter was in place to lock away the radioactive substances inside the ruined reactor building and to act as a radiation shield. It was always intended as a temporary measure, with an estimated lifespan of 20-30 years.

The search for a long-term solution started soon after, alongside the massive challenge of cleaning up the accident site. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had dissolved and newly independent Ukraine had been left with the Chernobyl legacy. Following a G7 Action Plan to improve nuclear safety in central and eastern Europe, the Nuclear Safety Account was set up at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 1993. Two years later, the scope of the programme was extended to include Chernobyl.

A breakthrough came with the Shelter Implementation Plan in 1997, which provided a road map of how to the tackle the immediate and longer-term tasks. In the same year, the G7 officially invited the EBRD to set up and manage the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, which became the main vehicle for all efforts to ensure that the destroyed reactor 4 remained in an environmentally safe and secure state.

Emergency repairs in 1998 and 1999 prevented the imminent collapse of the sarcophagus, as well as a vent stack that was endangering the adjacent turbine hall over reactor 3, which was still in operation. It was only at the end of 2000 that all nuclear power generation in Chernobyl ceased. The following year saw a landmark decision to build an arch-shaped steel structure, called the New Safe Confinement (NSC), to seal off reactor 4.

In the subsequent years, several tasks were carried out simultaneously. Detailed technical work on the NSC started. The site had to be stabilised and prepared for the construction work. The first project the EBRD managed was the construction of a liquid radioactive waste treatment plant (LRTP) to handle some 35,000 cubic metres of low- and intermediate-level liquid waste at the site. Meanwhile, the safe storage of the spent fuel assemblies from reactors 1, 2 and 3 came into focus.

All this has been achieved. The LRTP has been operational since 2014. A new interim storage facility for the treatment and storage of spent fuel has been built and, after successful hot tests, is currently awaiting a permanent licence from the Ukrainian regulator. The NSC, the most visible Chernobyl project, was slid into position in late 2016 and then handed over to the Ukrainian authorities.

In total, the Bank has managed close to 2 billion in donor funds through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund and Nuclear Safety Account. Of this, the EBRD provided 715 million of its own resources to complete the Interim Storage Facility and New Safe Confinement.

Today, the New Safe Confinement dominates the skyline over Chernobyl, as the sarcophagus once did. The steel structure is 108 metres high and 162 metres long, with a span of 257 metres and a lifetime of at least 100 years. It was assembled in two stages in a cleaned area near the accident site and, despite its size and weight of 36,000 tonnes, was pushed 327 metres into position. It is the largest moveable structure ever built.

This is not where the story ends, however. The fact that the NSC has a lifespan of 100 years means that the next phase of work now has to be planned, agreed and implemented. The estimated 200 tonnes of radioactive nuclear fuel inside reactor 4 are now shielded by the New Safe Confinement. However, parts of the sarcophagus are becoming unstable and will have to be removed at some point. Once this is done, work will come closer to the reactors interior.

The EBRD remains a key partner in these efforts. Following a request by Ukraine, in November 2020, the Bank established the new International Chernobyl Co-Operation Account, aimed at creating an integrated plan for the site to serve as the basis for developing and implementing longer-term projects. The new fund will hold it first assembly meeting on Tuesday  fittingly one day after the 35th anniversary. The Chernobyl story continues.
April 23, 2021

Covid Say - What Monroe Doctrine? What Commonwealth? - by Debs is Dead

by Debs is dead

lifted from a comment

Covid Say - What Monroe doctrine? What Commonwealth?

The Monroe Doctrine first established in 1823 really continues until today, ostensibly created to "prevent European Imperialism throughout the Americas", the real primary purpose of James Monroe's new foreign policy was aimed at ensuring that only America could colonise the rest of the two continents.

That policy continued through the 20th century - after all what was the 'Cuban missile crisis' about? The Monroe Doctrine that's what, America has consistently refused to allow any administration anywhere in North or South America that they believe may favour a closer relationship with a nation other than America.

This is why Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua & Brazil for example have fallen foul of the American blob whenever they appear to reject America as their closest 'big brother'.

Mexico is copping it big time at the moment, simply because there is currently a slightly left of center administration in Mexico, an administration which sometimes questions when America instructs it how to behave.

Yet there is a completely unashamed lack of reciprocity between America and the other nations of the Americas. Even Brazil, currently suffering under the jackboot of the Bolsonaro mob who appear to exist solely to do as Washington DC instructs, but which is suffering an unimaginable number of Covid-19 deaths each day, is ignored by America. The American vaccination program is only for Americans - close friends and neighbours can jam it up their arses as far as America believes "we're all right Jack - bugger you!" has been the response of America to the people of South & Central America.

England is equally screwed up. Queen Betty and the rest of the royal bludgers have always been big on promoting joints such as Pakistan, India, Nigeria & South Africa for example; as being the closest friends England has, nothing to do with the oil, minerals, cheap labour and burgeoning markets, of course, /snark that is why the Commonwealth matters to England with Queen Brenda at the front, always shouts, yet even as England is getting close to total vaccination, What has England done?

Not only has it hoarded all available vaccines for itself, now it has decided to ban all arrivals from those Commonwealth countries whose inability to secure vaccines have left 'em vulnerable.

I jacked up a few weeks ago when Aotearoa temporarily blocked arrivals from nations where those arrivals were averaging close to 50% Covid positive. Why? because many of those who were coming to Aotearoa were Kiwi citizens - maybe they had been born in Pakistan or India, but they lived and worked here before going back to the villages they had been born in to celebrate a wedding or funeral.

Whack em in quarantine for two weeks & then they can get back into kiwidom just like everyone else coming back.

The government who had implemented a successful Covid elimination program refused to accept the risk of Covid seeping out of hotel quarantine.

I disagree on human rights grounds but at least since Aotearoa is Covid free, I get what they reckon they are trying to achieve,

Covid is rampant in America & England, yet particularly in England, politicians have 'blacklisted' a mob of nations such as Pakistan & India, preventing even Englander citizens from returning to their homes. WTF? Englanders have consistently failed to keep Covid to a minimum and now it seems that both they & America are warping the process to restrict the arrivals of brown people citizens or not?

How low can you go, eh?

Posted by b on April 23, 2021 at 13:25 UTC | Permalink

Comments
New Delhi: One of the most popular authors of India, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana took to social media to celebrate 'World Book Day', citing an excerpt from her last book '12 Commandments of Being a woman' with a hopeful message in these desperate times.

Sharing a picture of herself surrounded by books, Tahira Kashyap wrote, "On #worldbookday quoting a few lines from my book #the12commandmentsofbeingawoman

My practice tells me that the only reason we are faced with an obstacle is to become a better version of ourselves. It is an opportunity to change something in our life and a springboard to achieve greater heights

These are overwhelming times but a combined hopeful spirit will help us sail through. Lets go all out to display humanity by helping whomever we can and if for some reason we cant, lets say a small prayer".

Author, filmmaker and influencer, Tahira has been advocating for women empowerment through various means. Authored multiple books like 'Cracking The Code: My Journey in Bollywood', 'Souled Out' and 'The 12 Commandments of Being a woman', Tahira Kashyap Khurrana demonstrates stories of varied backgrounds.

Having written '12 Commandments of being a woman' solely in the lockdown, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana presents the perfect balance of work and personal life. Tahira Kashyap Khurrana also wrote and directed the short film Pinni last year, which earlier this year got represented on Netflix with Zindagi Inshort.

Tahira is also one of the co-founders of Indian Women Rising, a cinema collective that aims to promote and accentuate female content creators across the globe. Under the initiative, the first project- Bittu was shortlisted in the top 10 for Oscars in Best Live Action Short Film Category.

Tahira Kashyap Khurrana also has a whole host of projects coming up including a show on an OTT platform. Advocating self-love and acceptance, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana is an inspiration to millions, being an influencer to embrace one's scars.
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The chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Shobowale Kehinde, said on Thursday that the ongoing nationwide judiciary workers strike is still in force in the state.

Members of JUSUN have been on an indefinite nationwide strike since April 6 to press for financial freedom of the judiciary from the executive.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Mr Kehinde announced in a statement on Wednesday that members of the Lagos State chapter of the union would be working three days in the week in partial suspension of the strike.

Mr Kehinde had praised the Lagos State government for taking steps to meet his members auxiliary demands and said members of the chapter would be working three days in a week, as a mark of respect and honour for Mr Governor and the Chief Judge of Lagos State.

But in a departure from the said statement on Thursday, Mr Kehinde told PREMIUM TIMES that the idea of a partial suspension was a Lagos State governments proposal that was subject to approval of the national body of JUSUN.

Strike still on in Lagos

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, Mr Kehinde said, The strike is still ongoing in Lagos. I do not have such power to declare a partial suspension of the strike.

He added, It is a proposal, and it has to be ratified and approved by the national body. It has been proposed, so it is the national body that will approve or disapprove. That is why I did not mention any date of commencement in my statement.

When the government sends me to my national leaders, I will deliver the governments message, and when my national leaders send me to the government, I will deliver my national leaders message.

That is who I am in Lagos. I am the state chairman of the union. I am between the national leadership and the state government.

So I deliver messages. That is what the state government wants, and I delivered it to my fellow comrades in Lagos and at the same time sent it to them at the national level for approval. So that is why you saw that I did not put a date for commencement.

When asked if he had informed the national leadership of the union of the proposal, Mr Kehinde said he always briefed the national body on the daily occurrences in Lagos.

He also gave an indication suggesting that the national body of the union had rejected the plan for a partial suspension of the strike.

Well since they did not send me to you, but I know they have given me the answers and as you can see our courts are still closed. And my workers are still at home, he said.

Asked if he would comply with national leaderships conclusion on the directive, Mr Kehinde said, On their mandate I stand.

National officer speaks

Meanwhile, the National Treasurer of the union, Jimoh Musa, who rushed to Lagos Thursday morning to address what was emerging as a crack in the unions fold, told PREMIUM TIMES that the strike is being complied with in the state.

They gave a proposal about partial suspension of the strike. They are asking for the national bodys approval. But I can tell you, I am still in Lagos as I am talking to you. I have met with the leaders of the union in the state, and I can tell you that all the courts remain shut, he said.

Asked if the national leadership of the union had taken a position on the said Lagos chapters proposal, Mr Jimoh said, It will be deliberated on may be next week.
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Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) became extinct about 40,000 years ago. But the now-extinct hominids were once widespread across Europe and Western Asia for quite a long time, starting about 400,000 years ago.

When populations of Homo sapiens arrived in Europe from Africa about 45,000 years ago, things started to change for Neanderthals, according to Smithsonian Institute.

After 5,000 years since the settlement of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals became extinct. But what happened to them? Why did they perish while Homo sapiens continued to thrive even until today?

Some studies suggest that it may be due to interbreeding between the two species, but a recent study reveals that it might be genetic that involves about 900 genes. Neanderthals lack an important skill that experts only found in Homo sapiens.

Neanderthals Lacked Genes For Creativity

According to a new study from a team of scientists led by the University of Granada, entitled "Evolution of genetic networks for human creativity" published in Molecular Psychiatry, neanderthals and chimpanzees lack the creativity that Homo sapiens have that enabled them to survive.

The study examined 972 genes related to personality traits that are responsible for learning and memory. Explica reported that these genes are organized into three brain networks that evolved in stages, with the oldest network that emerged in monkeys and apes about 40 million years ago and responsible for emotional reactivity.

On the other hand, the second network emerged about two million years ago which is responsible for self-control. Finally, the third network that relates to creative self-awareness emerged around 100,000 years ago.

Out of the 972 genes they examined, they found that chimpanzees and Neanderthals do not have 267 of them but Homo sapiens have. These are the genes linked to creative self-awareness that gave the latter their advantage over Neanderthals 40,000 years ago.

Furthermore, most of these 267 genes that distinguished modern humans from Neanderthals are RNA regulatory genes and not protein-coding genes.

Scientists used genetic markers, gene expression data, brain MRI integrated based on AI techniques to identify the regions in which these genes the genes they interacted with were overexpressed.

They found that these brain regions are involved in creativity and self-awareness, like those regions that are strongly linked to human well-being and of the recent phylogenetic emergence around 100,000 years ago.

ALSO READ: DNA Shows Early European Migrants Regularly Interbred with Neanderthals





Creativity Helped Modern Humans Live Longer and Healthier Lives

According to an article posted on the Laboratory Equipment website, the researchers believe that creativity encouraged cooperation between Homo sapiens to ensure the success of the next generation and their community.

It could have started the efforts for technological innovation, behavioral flexibility, and openness to exploration that are all crucial for the survival of Homo sapiens and to spread across the world more successfully than previous human lineages.

The researchers wrote that living longer and healthier together have made learning and accumulating knowledge possible for Homo sapiens.

Relating their study to present times, the researchers believe that it can help promote human well-being and increase creativity to solve and overcome critical situations that modern humans face every day.



RELATED ARTICLE: Neanderthal Contributions to the Modern Man, Six Other Human Species Explained



Check out more news and information on Neanderthals on Science Times.
South Australia's Attorney-General claims baby Kobi was not failed by the system after it was revealed her father was given access to the infant despite his extensive history of violence and threats to kill her and her mother.

The nine-month-old girl was lawfully in Henry David Shepardson's custody when he leapt from the Whispering Wall dam in the Barossa Valley on Wednesday afternoon with her strapped to his chest.

Horrified witnesses desperately did what they could to stop him, and others performed CPR on little Kobi, who initially survived the fall, until emergency services arrived about 4.30pm.

She was declared dead about 15 minutes later, while Shepherdson died on impact.

In the wake of the tragedy, details of Shepherdson's lengthy violent history have surfaced including earlier threats to kill his daughter and partner.

But Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said on Friday that it appeared Kobi and her family weren't failed by the legal system.

Kobi the nine-month-old baby girl was killed when her father Henry David Shepherdson, 38, leapt from the Whispering Wall dam in the Barossa Valley on Wednesday afternoon

Emergency services worked on the little girl for about 15 minutes before she, too, was declared dead at the scene

'It seems that there has been an agreement between the parties as to what is to progress, and what is to remain, in respect of the protective orders,' she said.

'It seems on the face of it, no [the system did not fail the family] but, again, that's a matter that's subject to police inquiry.

'I am not going to pre-judge the circumstances until we get to the bottom of what happened in this case. And we must do that.'

Just hours before Shepherdson committed the unthinkable act a South Australian court had issued an order banning him from going within 200m of his family.

Extraordinarily, the order did not forbid him from having access to the estranged couple's baby daughter.

Shepherdson had threatened to kill Kobi late last year  and was refused police bail due to his 'penchant for firearms', The Advertiser reported.

Henry Shepherdson jumped off a 36-metre high dam with his nine-month-old daughter Kobi (pictured) strapped to his chest. The father had been in court hours before murder-suicide

Despite the outward displays of affection, Shepherdson had a sickening criminal history

Kobi's dad had been accused of imprisoning her mother in SA and had 'an extensive history of violence' in Western Australia, including multiple breaches of bail conditions.

South Australian police have confirmed Shepherdson was legally entitled to see Kobi.

That was despite a criminal history that had kept Shepherdson behind bars from December until March this year.

Shepherdson had appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates' Court that day to fight the exclusion order preventing him from seeing his family, or posting content of them online.

The father-of-one had been in trouble with the law well before Kobi was even born.

In March 2019, Shepherdson was charged with making threats to kill his spouse, assault and false imprisonment.

He was slapped with an intervention order, but breached it just weeks later - something he would do repeatedly over the next year-and-a-half.

As Christmas approached last year, Shepherdson lost his cool and was charged again with domestic violence offences.

By then, he had been subject to court-imposed conditions on his movements and internet use for four months.

On Wednesday, Shepherdson had attempted to have his intervention order varied.

The father-of-one had been in trouble with the law well before Kobi was even born.

Instead, he was referred to the Abuse Prevention Program, which required Shepherdson to participate in counselling and treatment for rehabilitation.

Despite the ban on posting material of his family on the internet, Shepherdson's social media was littered with references to his daughter, including one post in which he drew attention to National Child Protection Week.

He frequently posted videos and pictures of Kobi for the world to see on social media, including a final video showing the little girl babbling and laughing as her dad spoke 'baby talk' to her.

Back in November, Shepherdson uploaded a sweet video of Kobi as she babbled and played in her rocker. It was his final post before he died.

Cases of domestic abuse have been rife across Australia with more than 35,000 defendants facing court last year having breached domestic violence orders.

Around 68 per cent of those who breached family and domestic violence orders were given non-custodial sentences, according to data from Australia Bureau of Statistics.

And out of those 40 per cent received a fine while 29 per cent were instead given community supervision or work orders.

Only around a quarter of those convicted of breaching orders were sent to prison or a correctional facility.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing mental health issues contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

DV Crisis Line 1800 800 098
The Elmo Employee Sentiment Report shows that workers in the information, media and technology (IMT) industry are twice as likely to be actively looking for a new job  inside or outside their current employer  than those in other industries.

Furthermore, those IMT workers are twice as likely to be looking for that new role outside their current company (46%) as they are to be looking internally (24%).

More generally, 34% of Australian workers feel burnt-out (compared with 19% among IMT workers), possibly because 25% of them took on more responsibility at work in the first quarter of 2021.

So it's not surprising that 24% were considering a career change.

Those that are looking for new jobs were more likely to have taken annual leave, chucked a sickie, or felt bored, overwhelmed or burnt-out, the study found.

On the other hand, the fact that 24% arrived at work while feeling unwell should be a cause for concern, especially in the light of COVID-19 health warnings. And IMT staff were big offenders, with 35% admitting to this behaviour.

Whether they are content with their jobs or looking for change, 53% of Australian workers anticipate a pay rise in the next 12 months, and just under half expecting a bonus.

"The COVID-19 induced economic slowdown influenced more than half of Australians in their decision to search for a new job. As the economy continues to improve more workers will stop putting off a job change and begin to see what else is out there in the market," said Elmo Software CEO Danny Lessem.

"Job seeking can rise steeply when economic growth returns. It's important that employers look after their people during the good times and the bad times to encourage them to stay with the company."

He added "Losing good quality talent can be a big set-back for a business and can quickly become a costly situation. Having an in-depth understanding of the workforce to make sure people aren't being overwhelmed with the amount of work they need to do.

"Technology can be a saving grace for many organisations to get the insights they need about their workforce to make sensible resourcing decisions that can help to reduce employee turnover and improve wellbeing.

"It's encouraging to see 88 per cent of Australian workers are either feeling secure or remain neutral about their job security. With greater job security comes greater spending which will truly kickstart our economic recovery."

Download the Elmo Employee Sentiment Report.
Jordan Blair Woods, University of Arkansas. Credit: University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas law professor Jordan Blair Woods challenges the conventional wisdom that only police can enforce traffic laws.

In "Traffic Without Police," to be published in Stanford Law Review, Woods articulates a new legal framework for traffic enforcement, one that separates it from critical police functions, such as preventing and deterring crime, conducting criminal investigations and responding to emergencies.

If not the police, who then would enforce traffic laws? As Woods explains, jurisdictions would delegate most traffic enforcement to newly created traffic agencies. These public offices would operate independently from police departments and would hire their own traffic monitors to conduct and oversee traffic enforcement, including stops. Police officers would become involved in traffic stops only for serious violations that are a criminal offense or public threat.

"Traffic stops are the most frequent interaction between police and civilians today," Woods said. "And because we know traffic enforcement is a common gateway for funneling over-policed and marginalized communities into the criminal justice system, these stops are a persistent source of racial and economic injustice."

Previous research has shown that Black and Latinx motorists are disproportionately stopped by police for traffic violations. Compared to white motorists, these minority groups are also disproportionately questioned, frisked, searched, cited and arrested during traffic stops.

Many of these stops and intrusions are considered "pretextual," according to legal definition, meaning that they enable officers to initiate contact with motorists and to then search for evidence of non-traffic crime without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. In this sense, the traffic stop has functioned as a gateway unfairly targeting Black and Latinx motorists. Pretextual stops sometimes also lead to police mistreatment and abuse.

So far, there is one example of the reorganization that Woods articulates. In July 2020, as part of a comprehensive plan to make structural police reforms, the city of Berkeley, California, voted in favor of a proposal that removes police from conducting traffic stops. The proposal directs the city to create a transportation department staffed by unarmed civil servants who would be in charge of enforcing traffic laws. Other municipalities are considering similar reforms that would remove police from traffic enforcement to varying degrees.

In addition to the social benefits mentioned above, especially for minority communities, removing police from traffic enforcement and adopting traffic law reforms that Woods proposes could put an end to unfair and often subjective reliance on traffic ticket revenue to fund state and local budgets. Likewise, such reform could reduce or eliminate financial and professional incentives that contribute to aggressive and biased traffic enforcement, namely prohibiting the issuing of traffic tickets as a measure of professional performance.
In the times we live in, remote work is a necessity. And this is not just a statement but a fact: the recent financing of the Torre platform for US $ 10 million in a seed investment round, in which executives and investors from companies such as Apple, Facebook and SpaceX participated, confirms this.

The history of this recruitment and remote work opportunities startup dates back to 2019, although its foundations were laid decades ago, when its founder, Alexander Torrenegra, began his career as an entrepreneur. That was the beginning of a destination marked to take off: while Torrenegra began to project what would be one of the most important remote work companies, in the world context the figures for this type of work began to grow exponentially, suppressing the need to move to work in another country.

This is how Torre has established itself as a platform that facilitates the application, recruitment and selection process for remote work. It has made it clear with the seed investment round it obtained, but also with its infrastructure: it has more than 1 million users in more than 180 countries around the world. It is a platform that allows generating the perfect match between the best talent in Latin America and companies with new needs around the world, thanks to the use of Artificial Intelligence, programmatic recruitment and a new concept called professional genome.

Today it is more difficult to migrate than before, but remote work is growing by leaps and bounds, solving all these migration problems. Then, I realized that this causes another big problem: most people do not have a good digitized work profile that allows them to be connected and be found by companies that are offering remote jobs, says Torrenegra.

Alexander Torrenegra, founder of Torre. Photo: Courtesy

During the first months of the pandemic, the search for work from home (home office) in Google increased more than 309% compared to 2019. A figure that will continue to grow, as remote work is here to stay. However, professionals in Latin America do not have access to job opportunities that cross borders, and it is here that Torre functions as a quick, easy and free gateway for millions of people interested in remote work.

Investment for expansion

To continue connecting Latin talent with companies from different countries, Torre will use the investment received to expand into new markets and develop new features on the platform, which will further facilitate the recruitment process, both for applicants and talent seekers. Torrenegra explains that his goal is to build a professional network that humanizes and automates the recruitment and flexible, full-time job search. In the long term they want to be the global platform that enables everyone to find satisfying career opportunities easily and without discrimination.

In this seed round, which stands out not only for the amount of investment but for the participation of multiple individual investors, executives and former executives of the most important technology companies in the world took part: Kass and Mike Lazerow, co-founders of Buddy Media and Velvet Ventures, first investors in SpaceX, Facebook and Pinterest; Diego Piacentini, former Amazon and Apple executive; Mike Shoemaker, a former Uber executive; Haiping Zhao, an engineer in the early days of Facebook, Alibaba and TikTok; Rodrigo Schmidt, director of engineering at Instagram, Fernando Fabre, former president of Endeavor, and Emma Studio, the studio that Torrenegra founded and where Torre was born.

These technology experts were joined by other investors from different countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Greece, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa , United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay, who bet on the growth and development of a tool that allows them to link the best talent in Latin America with opportunities that eliminate borders and limitations in the Human Resources area.

Raising capital from so many different investors took a lot of focus, a multi-person team, and a lot of conversation. We had hundreds of calls with successful entrepreneurs who have created impressive businesses and technology. We learned new and valuable knowledge in every conversation. We are proud to have such incredible investors. Many have created globally recognized technology products, so it is an honor that they believe in us and in what we are building. , Commented the CEO and Founder of Torre.

Torre's success in closing its investment round serves as an example for many growing startups. In this regard, Torrenegra provides some tips for those who are in the process of facing a seed round. Raising capital requires total focus, so you have to be prepared. Most of the meetings will be with people who have created real and successful companies and products in the past, so you have to enter each meeting with the objective not only to raise capital, but also to learn something new .

Torrenegra's curiosity has led him all his life to wonder the why of things and at a time of so much uncertainty worldwide, the answer was Torre. Anticipating the global events and visionary of the evolution of the labor system, he is determined to make Torre the largest network of professionals in the world and thus continue with his mission of showing opportunities without limitations to the talent of the region. "With this investment we will be able to create more value and transparency, both for candidates and for partner companies," he says.

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Three more Australians have been diagnosed with a rare blood clotting disorder that may be tied to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A 35-year-old woman in New South Wales, a 49-year-old Queensland man and an 80-year-old Victorian man were hospitalised with the condition between nine and 26 days after receiving the jab.

After a review of the cases of suspected thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) confirmed they are likely linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

'The VSIG (Vaccine Safety Investigation Group) concluded that all three of the cases were likely linked to vaccination,' the TGA said on Friday.

'All three patients are clinically stable, have responded well to treatment and are recovering.'

Three more Australians have been diagnosed with a rare blood clotting disorder that may be tied to the controversial AstraZeneca vaccine (stock image)

Post-vaccination blood clots - warning signs If you have these symptoms, urgently seek help: A severe headache that won't go away with Panadol OR Breathing difficulties and abdominal pains If you have these symptoms, call 000 central or crushing chest pain lasting more than 10 minutes

unconsciousness or a seizure (fit)

severe difficulty breathing or turning blue

severe bleeding or inability to control bleeding with pressure

sudden inability to move or speak, or sudden facial drooping Allergic reactions These occur quickly - usually within 15 minutes of a jab These are common symptoms - and not urgent: Weariness/fatigue

A mild fever

A moderate headache that responds to your usual painkillers Sources: Burnet Institute/Health.gov.au Advertisement

The three new cases of TTS increase the total number in Australia to six - all believed to be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccination.

Two of the new cases are believed to be treatable after being detected 'very early by the treating health professionals', according to the TGA.

The TGA said the third case came nearly a month after receiving the jab, a diagnosis the TGA say is 'unusually late'.

Five of the six cases have occurred in people aged under 50, and all were vaccinated before the federal government announced the Pfizer vaccine was the recommended shot for people under 50.

There have been 1.1million doses of AstraZeneca adminstered in Australia as of April 22.

Genene Norris, 48, from the New South Wales Central Coast died on April 14 after receiving the jab on April 8.

Ms Norris, a diabetic, developed blood clots the next day and was later placed on dialysis in an intensive care unit until her death.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration's vaccine safety investigation found Ms Norris' case of thrombosis was likely linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The first two cases - a Western Australian woman and a Melbourne man, both in their 40s - are still in hospital but are recovering well.

Professor Michael Poole, an epidemiologist from the Burnet Institut, said severe headaches, or breathing problems with abdominal pains, are key symptoms of a blood clot.

'Any difficulty in breathing with any abdominal pain, or a severe headache that isn't relieved by Panadol,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'These are the symptoms of vaccine-induced blood clotting events.'
This makes it really real, she said, before resting a colorful bouquet of flowers among the many items memorializing Mr. Floyd and other people killed by the police.

It was in many ways a bookend to a singular experience, a front-row seat to one of the countrys most consequential police killing cases. Through 45 witnesses and the arguments of the lawyers, she sat anonymously on the 18th floor of a courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, referred to only as Juror 96.

Her experience ended abruptly after closing arguments, when the judge, Peter A. Cahill, told her and another juror that they were the alternates, who would have stepped in only if another juror was unable to continue serving for any reason.

None of the 12 jurors who deliberated and decided Mr. Chauvins fate have chosen to speak out, so Ms. Christensens description of how she saw the trial is the only insight into how members of the jury perceived the case.

After naming the two alternates, the judge offered to arrange counseling for them if needed and asked for their thoughts on the case. He then sent them home while the remaining 12 jurors were sequestered in a hotel room to deliberate.
DEARBORN, MI  Students, faculty and staff at the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus will need to provide either documentation of a weekly negative COVID-19 test or vaccination to be on campus, the university announced Friday.

The testing and vaccination guidelines take effect Sept. 1 and applies to all students, faculty and staff that will be on campus for any reason, according to a university release. Those who are fully remote will not need to meet the requirement, the release states.

Throughout the pandemic the university has fulfilled its mission of educating our students, while prioritizing the health and safety of our campus community, said Domenico Grasso, chancellor of UM-Dearborn. This announcement allows us to move forward with our plans of a return to on-campus activities, which we know are so important for student success, while continuing to keep our campus community safe and healthy.

UM-Dearborn is planning to have most classes taught fully in-person or in a hybrid format this fall and welcome back on-campus student support services, co-curricular activities and campus services, according to the release.

Leadership of the universitys Faculty Senate, Staff Senate and Student Government have all endorsed the plan, the release states.

More details about how the testing and vaccination verification will be implemented will be announced in the coming weeks, the release states. Classes for UM-Dearborns fall semester begin Sept. 1.

READ MORE:

In-person graduation ceremonies planned at University of Michigan-Dearborn

One public Michigan university is requiring COVID-19 vaccination for students. Will others do the same?

Students at Wayne State offered $10 to get vaccinated against COVID-19
NASA's Perseverance has embarked on its search for ancient life on the surface of Mars, but a new study suggests life may be thriving just below the dusty landscape.

A team at Brown University examined the chemical composition of rocks that blasted off the Martian surface then made their way to Earth - providing a clear window into the Red Planet's crust.

They determined that those rocks, if in consistent contact with water, would produce the chemical energy needed to support microbial communities similar to those that survive in the unlit depths of the Earth.

This reaction called radiolysis, which occurs when radioactive elements in rocks break water into its hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are harvested by microbes for energy.

Since these Martian meteorites may represent a vast majority of the Mars crust, the findings suggest that much of the planet's subsurface could be habitable.

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A team at Brown University examined the chemical composition of rocks that blasted off the Martian surface then made their way to Earth - providing a clear window into the Red Planet's crust

Jesse Tarnas, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who led the study while completing his Ph.D. at Brown University, said: 'The big implication here for subsurface exploration science is that wherever you have groundwater on Mars, there's a good chance that you have enough chemical energy to support subsurface microbial life.

'We don't know whether life ever got started beneath the surface of Mars, but if it did, we think there would be ample energy there to sustain it right up to today.'

For this work, the team pulled inspiration from our own planet, as there have been numerous discoveries of new biomes living in the depths of Earth.

And due to the lack of sunlight, these creatures survive on the byproducts of chemical reactions produced when rocks come into contact with water.

NASA's Perseverance has embarked on its search for ancient life on the surface of Mars, but a new study suggests life may be thriving just below the dusty landscape

One of those reactions is radiolysis, which occurs when radioactive elements within rocks react with water trapped in pore and fracture space.

The reaction breaks water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

The liberated hydrogen is dissolved in the remaining groundwater, while minerals like pyrite (fool's gold) soak up free oxygen to form sulfate minerals.

Microbes consume the dissolved hydrogen as fuel and use the oxygen preserved in the sulfates to 'burn' that fuel.

These type of microbes have been found in places like Canada's Kidd Creek Mine, where they thrive more than one mile beneath the surface.

For the new study, researchers wanted to determine if the ingredients for radiolysis-driven habitats could exist on Mars.

They combined data from NASA's Curiosity rover, which is still on Mars, other orbiting spacecraft and data from a number of Martian meteorites that represent different parts of the Red Planet's crust.

Scientists determined that Martian meteorites (rock that blasted off Mars and landed on Earth), if in consistent contact with water, would produce the chemical energy needed to support microbial communities similar to those that survive in the unlit depths of the Earth

The goal was to find the ingredients for radiolysis: radioactive elements like thorium, uranium and potassium; sulfide minerals that could be converted to sulfate; and rock units with adequate pore space to trap water.

The study found that in several different types of Martian meteorites, all the ingredients are present in adequate abundances to support Earth-like habitats.

This was particularly true for regolith breccias - meteorites sourced from crustal rocks more than 3.6 billion years old - which were found to have the highest potential for life support.

Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a plate tectonics system that constantly recycle crustal rocks. So these ancient terrains remain largely undisturbed.

The team suggests their findings could better help the search for life on Mars, but instead of looking for ancient signs experts could seek out present-day communities.

Prior research has found evidence of an active groundwater system on Mars in the past, the researchers say, and there's reason to believe that groundwater exists today.

Brown University professor Jack Mustard said: 'The subsurface is one of the frontiers in Mars exploration.

'We've investigated the atmosphere, mapped the surface with different wavelengths of light and landed on the surface in half-a-dozen places, and that work continues to tell us so much about the planet's past.

'But if we want to think about the possibility of present-day life, the subsurface is absolutely going to be where the action is.'
Work is underway to develop an image of what a missing 5-year-old who vanished from a Bridgeton park a year and a half ago would look like today.

The news comes as the family of Dulce Maria Alavez prepares to mark another birthday without her on Sunday.

Last year, her family bought two cakes: one for Dulces aunt, whose birthday is also in April, and one for the missing girl they affectionately called princess. They plan to do the same this year, and will commemorate the day at home, away from the park that drew national attention over the disappearance.

Police say they continue pursuing leads in the case and are working on developments. They vowed that the little girls disappearance will not become a cold case.

It was a pleasant, late summer afternoon when Dulce visited Bridgeton City Park with her family on Sept. 16, 2019.

After stopping for ice cream, mom Noema Alavez Perez parked her car and remained in the vehicle with her sister while Dulce and her 3-year-old brother, Manuel, ran off to the nearby playground.

Alavez Perez told police she was checking a scratch-off lottery ticket and helping her sister with homework when she realized they couldnt see the kids. They walked over to the playground and found Manuel in tears. His ice cream was on the ground and he pointed to a spot nearby where he last saw his sister.

After searching and calling family members to assist, Dulces mother called 911 to report the girl missing.

We were here at the park and people said that somebody  probably somebody took her, she tells a dispatcher.

The search that followed scoured the 1,100-acre park and surrounding communities as the FBI joined local, county and state agencies in the effort. Word of Dulces disappearance spread nationwide.

A reward stands at $75,000, but more than a year and a half since she vanished, it remains unclaimed and Dulces whereabouts remain unknown.

Dulces birthday is April 25 and she turns seven this year. She had just started kindergarten when she disappeared and should be in her final months of first grade right now.

Authorities have released this new flier regarding the search for Dulce Maria Alavez.

While Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said he had no new information to report on the case, we do have some developments that were working on.

He declined to elaborate, but said local, county and federal agencies continue collaborating.

We are working on it every week, but we dont have anything to put out there in the public at this point, Gaimari said.

Meanwhile, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has started work to create a rendering of what Dulce would look like now, said John Bischoff, vice president of the missing children division at the center.

To account for changes in growing kids, new renderings of missing children are created every two years, he said, while missing adult renderings are updated every five years.

Over the age of 18, our face doesnt change as much as we would under the age of 18, Bischoff explained.

Forensic artists do this by taking photos of the child and their parents and using software that allows them to age progress images to reach an estimate of how the child would have grown and changed over time.

Its a great investigative tool and another chance to keep the publics attention on the case, he said.

An FBI agent suggested last year that Dulce was likely taken by a stranger in a crime of opportunity, but local investigators cautioned that all theories remain under consideration.

Among ongoing efforts is work to identify everyone seen driving in the area of the park around the time Dulce disappeared.

While there were no surveillance cameras at the playground that would have captured what happened, investigators scoured through hours of footage collected from nearby cameras, including ones located on schools and private homes, for any signs of a suspect vehicle.

The FBI reported last August that they ruled out every vehicle seen on camera except for about a dozen, which could not be identified. Since that time, Gaimari confirmed that all vehicles have now been identified, but that does not mean weve identified all who were operating them, as that is part of the investigation.

Investigators have released this image of someone they want to speak with in connection with the September disappearance of 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez.

Since Dulces disappearance, new surveillance cameras have been installed near the area that provide a view of the playground, but more work is needed to install cameras closer to the play area, Gaimari said. The city is also working with schools adjacent to the park to enhance their systems.

Tips continue to roll in regarding Dulces disappearance, though the frequency isnt as great as in the early days of the case.

We still get tips, either through the FBI number or our own tip line, and we follow up on each and every one, Gaimari said. They come in from across the country.

When those tips are deemed legitimate, the information is pursued, he said, but Dulces whereabouts remain unknown.

Many people were at the park the day Dulce vanished and two descriptions emerged of what investigators believe is the same person  a Hispanic man about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 30 to 35 years old, with acne. That individual could be the abductor, FBI special agent Daniel Garrabrant said last year, noting that the man had yet to be identified and located.

The FBI referred recent questions about the status of the case to local investigators.

Authorities have repeatedly said that Dulces family remains cooperative, including the childs father, who lives in Mexico. Investigators said last year that they had found no evidence of a custody dispute between Dulces parents.

A man claiming to be Edgar Perez, Dulces father, posted a video on YouTube for her 7th birthday that included images of the child taken in the years prior to her disappearance. He stated that he had nothing to do with her disappearance and doesnt know her whereabouts.

Investigators believe Dulce is still alive.

Theres nothing to indicate otherwise, Gaimari said. Absolutely nothing. And thats the assumption that we are going on and thats where the investigation is pointing to  that shes still alive.

Birthdays are another chance to remind everyone that a child is still missing, Bischoff said.

We are always doing media on each and every case, but when it comes to the birthday and when it comes to the anniversary of the missing date, we do added pushes, he said. It is difficult to keep the community engaged, because life does go on for everyone else, except law enforcement, the family and the child.

Thats why its so important to keep her image out there. Maintaining that heightened awareness is always a challenge in every missing child case.

For the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office, the case remains a top priority.

It continues to be at the forefront of our minds, Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said. Every lead continues to be investigated. This will remain an open and active investigation until such time as we determine what happened to Dulce.

She stressed the importance of community members stepping forward with any information they may have.

My appeal to everyone is, any little thing that may have seemed trivial then might be that one piece that we need to break it open.

Authorities ask anyone with information about Dulce to call New Jersey State Police at 609-882-2000, ext. 2554, or Bridgeton police at 856-451-0033. Tips may also be phoned in to 1-800-CALL-FBI and select option 4, then select option 8. Anonymous tips may be sent by text to TIP411 with Bridgeton in the message line or via the police departments website at https://bpdops.com/tips.

Noema Alavez Perez, mother of 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez, looks on during a candlelight vigil is held for her daughter at a home on Burlington Road in Bridgeton, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. Alavez went missing from Bridgeton City Park on Sept. 16.Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media

NJ Advance Media staff writer Rodrigo Torrejon contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
UPDATE: 10:15 a.m.

Effective immediately, people living in the Lower Mainland will no longer be permitted to drive to the Interior for recreational activities, and those breaking the rules could face a $575 fine.

But no enforcement efforts will be put in place to restrict travellers coming west from Alberta.

Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth announced Friday morning that travel between the Interior and Northern health authorities and the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities will not be enforced, but it remains strongly discouraged.

Farnworth said the new measures will see police roadside checks on highways outside of Hope, where officers will determine if travellers leaving or entering the Lower Mainland are doing so for "essential purposes." A list of essential travel reasons can be found here.

"It is not arbitrary or random, and it's not roadblocks. What it is is periodic road checks, similar to what you see with the Counter Attack program at strategic points at the borders between health authorities ... It would be Highway 1, just before it turns into the Canyon route, the Coquihalla, or the Hope-Princeton."

But while Farnworth was expected to provide details Friday on how these road checks will work, he said further information will come next week.

"I want to make sure that it's done right, I want to make sure that we address the concerns that people have," Farnworth said. "I want us to avoid the situation, for example, that happened in Ontario. We are working with police very closely and ensuring that what comes out is right."

Additionally, Farnworth said BC Ferries will be restricting non-essential bookings in and out of the Lower Mainland and reducing the number of daily sailings. He also noted the province has been working with the tourism industry to encourage hotels to not book out of town travellers.

But while the Atlantic provinces have been able to restrict out of province travellers for months, with their "Atlantic bubble" approach, Farnworth said they will not be enforcing any restrictions on Albertan travellers vacationing in the Interior.

"The situation in British Columbian is, I would argue, significantly different than that of Atlantic Canada  the size, the geography of our province," Farnworth said. "There will be signs and signage at the Alberta border discouraging people from non-essential travel.

"We are working with the tourism association to encourage tourism operators, for example in the Okanagan, to not accept out-of-area, out-of-province bookings and to cancel bookings that have already been made, and we've been very pleased with the response."

The new travel restrictions will be in place until at least May 25. Farnworth said more than 60 per cent of eligible British Columbians should be vaccinated for COVID-19 by then, and the province's rising hospitalizations will hopefully have decreased in a month's time.

ORIGINAL: 9:15 a.m.

Friday morning, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth is expected to provide details about British Columbia's new travel restrictions, to slow the transmission of COVID-19.

Earlier this week, Premier John Horgan said British Columbians will be restricted to their own health authorities, and periodic check stops will be set up on the Coquihalla and Highway 3, leaving the Lower Mainland.

The new measures come as COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached unprecedented levels in the province, forcing the postponement of non-urgent surgeries in some Lower Mainland hospitals.

Farnworth will provide the details on how the new restrictions will work during a 9:30 a.m. press conference.
During President Joe Bidens first week in office he signed an executive order directing the federal government to, where possible, procure goods and services within the U.S. before turning abroad. Later, when he announced his $2 trillion American Jobs Plan in Pittsburgh in March, the president called for investing $100 billion in solar and other forms of renewable energy.

These are good ambitions, but there is a conflict.

Polysilicon is a key material in the manufacturing of solar panels. Its the substance that generates electricity from sunlight. The global solar sector has concentrated about 40% of its polysilicon production in the Xinjiang province of China, which is under scrutiny for human rights violations including forced labor and re-education camps for its Uighur Muslim population.

The Biden administration must be aggressive in its championing of human rights by looking elsewhere for its solar materials.

This will be no easy feat, as China produced just over 80% of the worlds polysilicon in 2020.

There are American manufacturers producing their own materials, but not nearly enough to keep up with the increased demand Bidens plan calls for if it passes. Therefore, federal and state governments should buy American where possible and develop plans to incentivize domestic polysilicon production.

Since American production is not currently up to demand, we should turn next to other international manufacturers in places such as Canada or South Korea, both of which host polysilicon producers.

At the same time, the U.S. should use its influence as a potential large-scale customer to create an international consortium to pressure the Chinese to abolish forced labor practices.

Some lawmakers are leading the way in the public pressure campaign. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have asked the U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade association for solar energy, how it and its member companies have responded to allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang, asking for details about how the companies are ensuring that the materials are not being made using forced labor.

Additionally, eight Republican senators have introduced legislation to ban the use of federal funds to purchase solar equipment from Xinjiang. Such a ban could cripple the U.S. expansion of solar power, but if no alternative presents itself and the violations do not stop, it could become necessary in the short term.

 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Beerus BHPian



Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Pune Posts: 41 Thanked: 121 Times

5 satisfying years with a VW Polo 1.2 MPI



Fast forward to May of 2016, the search was on, the budget was tight. The first two weeks of May was spent reading reviews and ownership reports of all the hatchbacks in the 5-7 lakh OTR, endless hours on YouTube looking for every detailed review. Being an automotive enthusiast, the criteria's for selection were very simple. Driving Pleasure & Safety Features & looks Fuel economy In that order.



So accordingly three contenders were short listed by me :-



VW Polo



I had seen the success they had in WRC and how highly regarded the germans were, this left a good impression about the product even before I ordered the test drive.

This was also the first car we test drove, called B.U. Bhandari VW showroom at 12 pm, the TD car was at my doorstep at 3 pm. Test driving the Polo first was a mistake, but a good mistake. The TD was very good, going from a 13 year old 800cc 35bhp engine to a 70 bhp engine, had me already floored when I floored the throttle. The brakes were superior too, this was me experiencing the advancements in the industry. The car was glued to the road, undulations were not able to unsettle it at highway speeds. The fit and finish was top notch too. Mom and younger brother in the back seat liked the car too, a thumbs up from them.



Nexa Baleno



The Baleno had just launched was richer in the features compared to the Polo. Went to a showroom to TD the car, My thought going in was that maybe Maruti is trying to mend their ways and the car will be sorted to drive .For once safety and driving pleasure would triumph fuel economy. But sadly, that was not true, the car at 80 Kmph was being affected by the crosswinds, and I had to constantly correct for it. Undulating roads and crosswinds made the drive very unnerving for me. The waiting period quoted by the sales person was 7-8 months and I was in no mood to wait for that long. I wanted the car before I went back to college, so that I could enjoy a few long drives with my friends in the amazing monsoons of Pune. Things were not looking good for the Baleno, even though the features offered were impressive, simple things like a driver armrest, rear ac vents, a touchscreen infotainment system, things that Polo was missing, and then the final nail in the coffin dropped, during the TD, when my mother from the backseat commented that this feels like a bigger 800 and that was the end of Baleno.



Hyundai i20



We didn't even test drive this one. There were many reasons, I didn't like it much from the online reviews I saw. A well kitted spec was little over the budget and polo already had my heart from the test drive and it was least expensive too. (remember how I said test driving the polo first was a mistake)



Others



Even a second was not spent on looking at Maruti's, their product mantra is in the reverse order of my selection criteria. Fuel economy and features is everything, who care's about driving dynamics. I have driven many swifts, altos and wagon R's , they are just so boring.



I was looking at amaze and jazz too but my mother didn't like the design so they were out.



I didn't like the interiors of Toyota etios, specially the centre mounted speedometer, just a personal thing.



Booking and Delivery



The decision was made to go ahead with the purchase of VW Polo, we visited the B.U Bhandhari showroom, and the experience was pretty smooth, maybe because we took their insurance and VW loan.



What I wanted was a GT TSI, what we could afford was 1.2MPI Comfortline.

At that time petrol was the choice because I knew that the car won't see a lot of running as I would be going to office in company provided transport and the car would be mostly used for weekend getaways and grocery shopping. The only motivation for a TDI was the extra grunt and turbo, and that too would cost 1L extra so pocket constraints and actual review of requirements made us stick to the petrol. Little did I know that I would never work as an engineer and become a photographer who needs to travel to places and would totally miss the power, more to come on this later.



Carbon Steel Grey was selected as the colour, leather seat covers and mud flaps were freebies and reverse parking sensors were the only paid for accessory. The car was booked for 10k if I recollect correctly and the delivery time of 3-4 weeks was promised. Which meant I had a month of road trips to be planned before I went back to college.







The car came home in June exactly 3 weeks later, I had gone for PDI and it passed all the check points.The total on-road price came to 6.80L. Driving it home from the showroom was pretty scary, I was not used to the weight and the power or the lack of power, so stalled it at pretty much all the speed breakers.



Pro's :

- 4 star safety rating

- Sorted handling characteristics, has stayed composed in some hairy situations

- Understated design outside and inside keeps it relevant not the road

- Stock music system is pretty amazing, specially over bluetooth

- Good build quality



Con's :

- 1.2 Mpi engine is a sloth

- Rear seat comfort and space is bad

- Headlights are very inadequate for night highway drives

- Expensive maintenance for it's class

- Brakes are a bit underwhelming



Overall Review (Ride, Handling, Engine, Comfort)









I am going to try to summarise my review of the car here, for a very detailed review readers can head to the



Ride

The car is fairly heavy for it's class at approximately 1 ton and you can feel that in the way it rides. The ride is very planted and confidence inspiring. The suspension is on the stiffer side at city speeds but it shines at highway speeds. On highways the car sticks to the road and doesn't shuffle or bounce around much, which leads to less fatigue overall for all passengers. Can happily cruise at 120 kmph with out any fuss, though getting to these speeds require a bit of work with the lacklustre engine. Long sweeping turns at highway speeds are dismissed without any drama, the body roll though present is well controlled.







Handling

The steering is pretty direct and with an underpowered engine the car usually agrees to all your inputs as long as you respect the laws of motion. The steering is fairly heavy in city and weighs up nicely as the speed increases which inspires great confidence. The feel of the road is also very good, compared to a swift, you can always tell what's the surface like and what the tyres are upto. Push the car a little in the ghats and you really start enjoying the stiffness of the suspension and zero fuss handling, the WRC pedigree shows here. But always be aware of the weight and the braking capabilities of the car. The brakes are just enough for the 1.2 MPI but any more power and torque requires more stopping power. I have been through multiple emergency breaking scenarios over the 5 years of ownership, it has always stopped fairly well. The abs has worked reliably over roads and sand/gravel surfaces.







Engine

Now coming to the elephant in the car, the 3 pot 1.2 MPI engine made for the "kitna deti hai" market. At 75bhp/114Nm it's just adequate for city use and gets to 60 Kmph nicely, above that it requires a bit of work and patience. It starts pulling from 1500 rpms and pulls linearly till 3500 and then all the energy gets converted into noise above these rpms no point going till the redline. Some say that it sounds good some just call it noise, as a mechanical engineer, I like it.

As long as you're in the city everything is comfortable. Even on the highways you can happily cruise at 80-120 kmph and it's comfortable, the engine starts getting vocal in 5th gear at 120 kmph but it's not disturbing, you can drown it by increasing the volume of your favourite songs on the rather amazing music system. The problem arises when you want to overtake trucks quickly on a two lane highway and have to be mindful of two wheelers and the gaps are small. You need to either know the drivetrain very well and be in the right gear at the right rpms and make your move swiftly or just wait for the gap to be big enough where you can slowly build speed and overtake, over long distance the constant shuffling of gears is fatiguing. The 1.2 MPI Polo is best enjoyed at 100 Kmph with minimal overtaking to be done and just cruising to your destination enjoying the scenery and music.



I manage to get 13/14 kmpl in the city and 16-18 kmpl on highways this is what's indicated on the MID. I have not tried the tankful method.



Space



The front is pretty comfortable with big chairs and good ergonomics. The rear space is really bad and is only suited for shorter adults or children as the bench doesn't offer much under thigh support. The rear seat can only take 2 adults, with the floor bump and now an armrest in the front, rear space is really limited.



The boot if packed nicely can easily take luggage of 4 adults. I travel with a team of 4 and all our camera equipment and duffel bags fit in with some adjustments. One camera bag goes on the rear bench seat and acts as a centre armrest. A light in the boot is sorely missed.



Ownership Experience







I consider myself lucky to be based in Pune, where the dealership is run by B U Bhandari and the factory is nearby. I have had my car serviced by them till date and have had no major issues with the car or their service. The service itself is a little bit pricey on an average I end up spending 7-8k per year on annual service. Other thing that I don't like is that the service stations is 30kms away from my residence and it's a royal pain in the behind sometimes.



In the first year of ownership my mother was driving and I was in college, when I got a call at 7am in the morning, I asked her what's wrong and she told me that she crashed the car, my heart was broken, all I wanted to ask was how is the car!?

My mom was fine, she was waiting at a signal and a Mahindra bolero pick-up banged it's rear end in the front of my car as it passed perpendicular to our car and did a slight turn so the rear overhang banged into our car. The damage was a heavily dented hood and a broken headlight, the insurance took care of this. The car was in the workshop for two weeks.



In the second year of the ownership I went over a gutter cover which was not level with the road, the cover was 4 5 inches below the road surface, at 80kmph, which knocked my steering geometry out and resulted in the car getting pulled to one side when steering was held straight. Even though it was very marginal I just could not live with it, this took 3 visits to the service station to correct. This is where I realised that the service mechanics don't really care much or have in depth knowledge of the system they are working on, they are mechanics not engineers. The CRM head to whom I escalated the issue at the third visit and the floor manager both just wanted me to be okay with the pulling, they were very cordial and accommodating, after one or two rounds of steering alignment and test drive they just wanted to me be okay with it. Finally I got it rectified locally, where the mechanic understood what I was trying to tell him and corrected the geometry to be straight.



In the third year of the ownership, I visited Diveagar and travelled through tamhini ghat, for almost 100kms there were no roads just dirt tracks everything was dug up, that years service I had them look at the suspension as something was loose and making noise over bumps, they changed the bushings and said on of the stabilising rods was out of it's bushing and hence was rattling over bumps. The total servicing was 17k, pretty expensive.



The car is in it's 5th year and has covered 27k kms and I enjoy it thoroughly and even after so many years I always look back at it after parking it. I have made so many memories along with her and I hope I make many more, it's truly a wonderful relationship.





The monkey's also share my love of her







Upgrades









- Got the genuine armrest fitted by the dealer itself for 6500/-









- Got aftermarket headlights, they are running a 4700 Kelvin crystal HID's for low beam and 6000 Kelvin LED's for the high beams. This was a DIY upgrade, very easy to do.



- Automatic Headlamp Switch

Got it from



Future upgrades :



- Alloy wheels, second hand original VW one's or maybe mom revenge



- New tyres as these JK vectra's have become hard and are 5 years old now, any recommendations?



- A remap possibly to improve throttle response and some small gains. Enquired about this, a performance garage in Pune is actually doing these, he quoted 15k for the remap and recommended a Piper-cross performance air filter at 4.8k. Do you guys think it's worth it? possible gains of 10bhp/10Nm



- A dashcam



- A ceramic coating, had done this in 2018, need to repeat it



- RCD340G infotainment system It all started when I finally got my driving license in the December of 2015. We had a 5 speed Maruti then, which was Gujarat registered. It was a perfect cash cow for Maharashtra police, and a youngster driving it, made me the perfect candidate for harassment. A new registration was as much as the car itself, so the decision was made to purchase a new car when I return to Pune for my summer vacations. I was pursuing my engineering then and was in third year.Fast forward to May of 2016, the search was on, the budget was tight. The first two weeks of May was spent reading reviews and ownership reports of all the hatchbacks in the 5-7 lakh OTR, endless hours on YouTube looking for every detailed review. Being an automotive enthusiast, the criteria's for selection were very simple.In that order.So accordingly three contenders were short listed by me :-I had seen the success they had in WRC and how highly regarded the germans were, this left a good impression about the product even before I ordered the test drive.This was also the first car we test drove, called B.U. Bhandari VW showroom at 12 pm, the TD car was at my doorstep at 3 pm. Test driving the Polo first was a mistake, but a good mistake. The TD was very good, going from a 13 year old 800cc 35bhp engine to a 70 bhp engine, had me already floored when I floored the throttle. The brakes were superior too, this was me experiencing the advancements in the industry. The car was glued to the road, undulations were not able to unsettle it at highway speeds. The fit and finish was top notch too. Mom and younger brother in the back seat liked the car too, a thumbs up from them.The Baleno had just launched was richer in the features compared to the Polo. Went to a showroom to TD the car, My thought going in was that maybe Maruti is trying to mend their ways and the car will be sorted to drive .For once safety and driving pleasure would triumph fuel economy. But sadly, that was not true, the car at 80 Kmph was being affected by the crosswinds, and I had to constantly correct for it. Undulating roads and crosswinds made the drive very unnerving for me. The waiting period quoted by the sales person was 7-8 months and I was in no mood to wait for that long. I wanted the car before I went back to college, so that I could enjoy a few long drives with my friends in the amazing monsoons of Pune. Things were not looking good for the Baleno, even though the features offered were impressive, simple things like a driver armrest, rear ac vents, a touchscreen infotainment system, things that Polo was missing, and then the final nail in the coffin dropped, during the TD, when my mother from the backseat commented that this feels like a bigger 800 and that was the end of Baleno.We didn't even test drive this one. There were many reasons, I didn't like it much from the online reviews I saw. A well kitted spec was little over the budget and polo already had my heart from the test drive and it was least expensive too. (remember how I said test driving the polo first was a mistake)Even a second was not spent on looking at Maruti's, their product mantra is in the reverse order of my selection criteria. Fuel economy and features is everything, who care's about driving dynamics. I have driven many swifts, altos and wagon R's , they are just so boring.I was looking at amaze and jazz too but my mother didn't like the design so they were out.I didn't like the interiors of Toyota etios, specially the centre mounted speedometer, just a personal thing.The decision was made to go ahead with the purchase of VW Polo, we visited the B.U Bhandhari showroom, and the experience was pretty smooth, maybe because we took their insurance and VW loan.What I wanted was a GT TSI, what we could afford was 1.2MPI Comfortline.At that time petrol was the choice because I knew that the car won't see a lot of running as I would be going to office in company provided transport and the car would be mostly used for weekend getaways and grocery shopping. The only motivation for a TDI was the extra grunt and turbo, and that too would cost 1L extra so pocket constraints and actual review of requirements made us stick to the petrol. Little did I know that I would never work as an engineer and become a photographer who needs to travel to places and would totally miss the power, more to come on this later.Carbon Steel Grey was selected as the colour, leather seat covers and mud flaps were freebies and reverse parking sensors were the only paid for accessory. The car was booked for 10k if I recollect correctly and the delivery time of 3-4 weeks was promised. Which meant I had a month of road trips to be planned before I went back to college.The car came home in June exactly 3 weeks later, I had gone for PDI and it passed all the check points.The total on-road price came to 6.80L. Driving it home from the showroom was pretty scary, I was not used to the weight and the power or the lack of power, so stalled it at pretty much all the speed breakers.- 4 star safety rating- Sorted handling characteristics, has stayed composed in some hairy situations- Understated design outside and inside keeps it relevant not the road- Stock music system is pretty amazing, specially over bluetooth- Good build quality- 1.2 Mpi engine is a sloth- Rear seat comfort and space is bad- Headlights are very inadequate for night highway drives- Expensive maintenance for it's class- Brakes are a bit underwhelmingI am going to try to summarise my review of the car here, for a very detailed review readers can head to the Official Review (Volkswagen Polo 1.0L TSI : Official Review) The car is fairly heavy for it's class at approximately 1 ton and you can feel that in the way it rides. The ride is very planted and confidence inspiring. The suspension is on the stiffer side at city speeds but it shines at highway speeds. On highways the car sticks to the road and doesn't shuffle or bounce around much, which leads to less fatigue overall for all passengers. Can happily cruise at 120 kmph with out any fuss, though getting to these speeds require a bit of work with the lacklustre engine. Long sweeping turns at highway speeds are dismissed without any drama, the body roll though present is well controlled.The steering is pretty direct and with an underpowered engine the car usually agrees to all your inputs as long as you respect the laws of motion. The steering is fairly heavy in city and weighs up nicely as the speed increases which inspires great confidence. The feel of the road is also very good, compared to a swift, you can always tell what's the surface like and what the tyres are upto. Push the car a little in the ghats and you really start enjoying the stiffness of the suspension and zero fuss handling, the WRC pedigree shows here. But always be aware of the weight and the braking capabilities of the car. The brakes are just enough for the 1.2 MPI but any more power and torque requires more stopping power. I have been through multiple emergency breaking scenarios over the 5 years of ownership, it has always stopped fairly well. The abs has worked reliably over roads and sand/gravel surfaces.Now coming to the elephant in the car, the 3 pot 1.2 MPI engine made for the "kitna deti hai" market. At 75bhp/114Nm it's just adequate for city use and gets to 60 Kmph nicely, above that it requires a bit of work and patience. It starts pulling from 1500 rpms and pulls linearly till 3500 and then all the energy gets converted into noise above these rpms no point going till the redline. Some say that it sounds good some just call it noise, as a mechanical engineer, I like it.As long as you're in the city everything is comfortable. Even on the highways you can happily cruise at 80-120 kmph and it's comfortable, the engine starts getting vocal in 5th gear at 120 kmph but it's not disturbing, you can drown it by increasing the volume of your favourite songs on the rather amazing music system. The problem arises when you want to overtake trucks quickly on a two lane highway and have to be mindful of two wheelers and the gaps are small. You need to either know the drivetrain very well and be in the right gear at the right rpms and make your move swiftly or just wait for the gap to be big enough where you can slowly build speed and overtake, over long distance the constant shuffling of gears is fatiguing. The 1.2 MPI Polo is best enjoyed at 100 Kmph with minimal overtaking to be done and just cruising to your destination enjoying the scenery and music.I manage to get 13/14 kmpl in the city and 16-18 kmpl on highways this is what's indicated on the MID. I have not tried the tankful method.The front is pretty comfortable with big chairs and good ergonomics. The rear space is really bad and is only suited for shorter adults or children as the bench doesn't offer much under thigh support. The rear seat can only take 2 adults, with the floor bump and now an armrest in the front, rear space is really limited.The boot if packed nicely can easily take luggage of 4 adults. I travel with a team of 4 and all our camera equipment and duffel bags fit in with some adjustments. One camera bag goes on the rear bench seat and acts as a centre armrest. A light in the boot is sorely missed.I consider myself lucky to be based in Pune, where the dealership is run by B U Bhandari and the factory is nearby. I have had my car serviced by them till date and have had no major issues with the car or their service. The service itself is a little bit pricey on an average I end up spending 7-8k per year on annual service. Other thing that I don't like is that the service stations is 30kms away from my residence and it's a royal pain in the behind sometimes.In the first year of ownership my mother was driving and I was in college, when I got a call at 7am in the morning, I asked her what's wrong and she told me that she crashed the car, my heart was broken, all I wanted to ask was how is the car!?My mom was fine, she was waiting at a signal and a Mahindra bolero pick-up banged it's rear end in the front of my car as it passed perpendicular to our car and did a slight turn so the rear overhang banged into our car. The damage was a heavily dented hood and a broken headlight, the insurance took care of this. The car was in the workshop for two weeks.In the second year of the ownership I went over a gutter cover which was not level with the road, the cover was 4 5 inches below the road surface, at 80kmph, which knocked my steering geometry out and resulted in the car getting pulled to one side when steering was held straight. Even though it was very marginal I just could not live with it, this took 3 visits to the service station to correct. This is where I realised that the service mechanics don't really care much or have in depth knowledge of the system they are working on, they are mechanics not engineers. The CRM head to whom I escalated the issue at the third visit and the floor manager both just wanted me to be okay with the pulling, they were very cordial and accommodating, after one or two rounds of steering alignment and test drive they just wanted to me be okay with it. Finally I got it rectified locally, where the mechanic understood what I was trying to tell him and corrected the geometry to be straight.In the third year of the ownership, I visited Diveagar and travelled through tamhini ghat, for almost 100kms there were no roads just dirt tracks everything was dug up, that years service I had them look at the suspension as something was loose and making noise over bumps, they changed the bushings and said on of the stabilising rods was out of it's bushing and hence was rattling over bumps. The total servicing was 17k, pretty expensive.The car is in it's 5th year and has covered 27k kms and I enjoy it thoroughly and even after so many years I always look back at it after parking it. I have made so many memories along with her and I hope I make many more, it's truly a wonderful relationship.The monkey's also share my love of her- Got the genuine armrest fitted by the dealer itself for 6500/-- Got aftermarket headlights, they are running a 4700 Kelvin crystal HID's for low beam and 6000 Kelvin LED's for the high beams. This was a DIY upgrade, very easy to do.- Automatic Headlamp SwitchGot it from here , it's plug and play- Alloy wheels, second hand original VW one's or maybe mom revenge- New tyres as these JK vectra's have become hard and are 5 years old now, any recommendations?- A remap possibly to improve throttle response and some small gains. Enquired about this, a performance garage in Pune is actually doing these, he quoted 15k for the remap and recommended a Piper-cross performance air filter at 4.8k. Do you guys think it's worth it? possible gains of 10bhp/10Nm- A dashcam- A ceramic coating, had done this in 2018, need to repeat it- RCD340G infotainment system Last edited by Beerus : 22nd April 2021 at 18:44 .
(Alliance News) - A post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and Australia is "now in sight" after "major breakthroughs" in discussions, UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has said.

Her department said on Friday that a consensus had been reached in the "vast majority" of elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement after two days of talks with Australian trade minister Dan Tehan.

Uncertainty had been cast over the discussions this week when allies of Truss described her counterpart to the Telegraph as "inexperienced" ahead of his visit.

Trade deal progress was criticised as "glacially slow", while Truss was said to be planning to sit her guest in "an uncomfortable chair" in the Foreign Office's Locarno Room "so he has to deal with her directly for nine hours".

But in a statement on Friday, Truss said: "We have made major breakthroughs over the past few days and an agreement is now in sight. I want to thank Dan personally for the contribution he has made and for his desire to get this deal done.

"This is a deal that will deliver for Britain and all parts of our economy. It is a win-win for both nations.

"We will spend the next few weeks ironing out details and resolving outstanding issues, with a view to reaching a deal by June."

By Sam Blewett, PA Deputy Political Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Kolkata, April 23 : Addressing political rallies in Suri, Malda, Berhampore and Bhawanipur via video conferencing, after the Election Commission put restrictions on big rallies and meetings following the Covid upsurge in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the BJP government will use technology to transform Kolkata, the City of Joy, into a City of Future.

"Due to the Covid-19 situation in the country, I have been busy in important meetings since this morning. I am connecting with you now through technology," the PM said at the start of his virtual address adding that, "It (The BJP government) will use technology to transform Kolkata, the city of joy, into a city of future". "We will put all our effort to develop a global export centre in the city," he added.

Making it obvious that the election in West Bengal is larger than a mere political change, Modi said "West Bengal elections are not just for a change in the government, I can see the rise of an aspirational and optimistic West Bengal in these polls. Be it villages or cities, I can see yearning for a better life. Bengal yearns for peace, security and development".

"West Bengal has been waiting for governance where every government department works with honesty and carries out its duty as desired. A government that is free of discrimination, extortion, nepotism and full of harmony. The people of West Bengal are voting for such a government," the Prime Minister said.

Hitting out at the Trinamool Congress' disinterest in conducting Panchayat and municipal elections, the Prime Minister said, "People's faith in election is very important for democracy and the BJP government will try to restore the confidence of the people on Panchayat, Municipalities and Corporations. This is the first step of the administration where the people go to register their problems. The BJP government will work so that the people get back their lost confidence".

The Prime Minister said that the 'double engine government' --BJP government both at the state and the Centre -- will work towards a common goal of controlling diseases like dengue and will develop one medical college in each of the three Lok Sabha constituencies.

Modi not only promised to review the sagging transport system of the city but also stressed on the education system of the state. "West Bengal is a place where we have the best teachers in the country. We will try to implement the national education policy in the state as soon as we come to power so that the students of this state can do better at the national level," he said.

The Prime Minister also stressed on women empowerment and said that once the BJP government comes to power it will take immediate steps to develop fast track courts for women so that they can get justice within a short period.
MOSCOW (AP)  Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Friday he is ending his hunger strike after getting medical attention and being warned by his doctors that continuing it would put his life at risk.

In a message posted to his Instagram account, Navalny said he will continue to demand a visit from his doctor to address numbness in his legs and arms - his main demand. But he said he would halt the strike on its 24th day after having been examined by doctors who were not affiliated with the prison, something he called a huge progress.

He also acknowledged the mass pro-Navalny protests across Russia on Wednesday and the support he received from around the globe.

Thanks to the huge support of good people across the country and around the world, we have made huge progress, Navalny said in his message from behind bars. Two months ago, my requests for medical help were prompting smirks. I wasnt given any medications. ... Thanks to you, now I have been examined by a panel of civilian doctors twice.

Another reason he was ending the hunger strike was that some of his supporters were refusing to eat in a show of solidarity with him, Navalny said.

Tears flowed from my eyes when I read that. God, I'm not even acquainted with these people, and they do this for me. Friends, my heart is full of love and gratitude for you, but I don't want anyone physically suffering because of me, said the 44-year-old politician, who is President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic.

He said he would start coming out of the hunger strike on Friday and the process of ending it will take 24 days.

Navalny was arrested in January upon his return from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a poisoning with the nerve agent that he blames on the Kremlin  accusations that Russian officials reject.

He was promptly put on trial for violating terms of a suspended sentence stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction, which he says was politically motivated. He was ordered to serve 2 years in prison.

Story continues

Navalny began the hunger strike March 31, after developing severe pain in his back and loss of sensation in his legs. Prison officials have said he was getting all the medical help he needs, but Navalny insisted he effectively received no treatment.

Navalnys doctors said Saturday they feared he was close to dying because his test results showed sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicated impaired kidneys.

He was transferred Sunday from a penal colony east of Moscow to the hospital ward of another prison in Vladimir, a city 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of the capital.

The day after mass protests demanding his freedom swept across Russia, a team of his doctors released a letter urging him to end the hunger strike.

The letter revealed that Navalny was taken to a regular hospital Tuesday in Vladimir, where he underwent tests and was examined by specialists in accordance with requests from his doctors. It said they were given the results of those tests through Navalnys lawyers and family on Thursday.

The doctors said they would continue to insist on access to Navalny but also urged him to immediately stop the hunger strike in order to save life and health, saying that they considered being examined by civilian doctors from outside the prison and undergoing objective tests enough to end the strike.

In another statement after Navalny announced an end to hunger strike, his team of doctors said more tests were needed to figure out the diagnosis and demanded he be transferred to a well-equipped hospital in Moscow and offered adequate pain relief.

He has been experiencing pain for two months, said the statement, published in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. It's been two months since the symptoms occurred, but a proper diagnosis hasn't been determined so far.

Dr. Alexei Erlikh, an intensive care specialist and one of the five doctors on the team, told The Associated Press that Navalny, who had spent a long time in a coma after his poisoning in August, shouldn't be viewed as just a patient who starved himself.

This is a patient who starved following an unknown damage of his nervous system by an unknown substance, with an unknown degree of further risk, Erlikh said.

Navalny's arrest in January triggered mass protests  the biggest show of defiance the Kremlin has encountered in years. The authorities responded with harsh crackdown, arresting thousands and jailing hundreds. Navalny's aides and associates across Russia were also targeted with detentions and raids. Some of his top allies have been slapped with criminal charges and put under house arrest.

Last week, Russian authorities took the pressure to a new level, with the Moscow prosecutors office petitioning a court to label as his Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his network of regional offices as extremist groups. Human rights activists say such a move would paralyze their activities and expose their members and donors to prison sentences of up to 10 years.

Navalny will face some tough days, his close ally Lyubov Sobol, who spent more than 30 days on a hunger strike in 2019, told the AP: As a person who was on hunger strike for a long time, I know that the coming days will be very difficult. The first week of coming out of the hunger strike is effectively the same hunger strike  you can't eat normal food, it can result in very grave consequences for your heath.

She said it will be especially difficult for Navalny in prison, without access to normal  let alone specialized  food.

It's hard for me to say that we can take a breather and all relax. No, Navalny's life and health are still under threat," Sobol said.

-

Associated Press journalist Kostya Manenkov contributed.
WASHINGTON  A trio of Texans in Congress is proposing a bipartisan bill they say will help handle the influx of migrants arriving at the southern border  a move U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday described as a first step toward broader immigration reform that has eluded lawmakers for years.

This is, we think, the most urgent need, Cornyn said. So thats why were starting with this bill.

The legislation, which Cornyn is pushing in the Senate with U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, would speed adjudication of asylum claims while building new processing centers to address overcrowding in border facilities. U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a San Antonio Republican, are pushing a companion bill in the House.

It is the first bipartisan and bicameral attempt to address the latest surge in migrants arriving at the southern border, which has emerged as the first major political dilemma of Joe Bidens presidency.

LATEST ON THE BORDER: Number of unaccompanied minors hits all-time high

The Border Patrol encountered more migrants at the southern border in March than it had in two decades as the number of unaccompanied children and families seeking refuge in the United States continues to grow. The number of unaccompanied children roughly doubled from February, and Border Patrol reported a record 18,890 encounters with those minors in March.

Republicans have said its a crisis of Bidens creation, blaming the uptick on his shift away from some of the Trump administrations strictest immigration policies.

Biden has said he inherited a mess of an immigration system and has noted that encounters have been on the rise since last April, though the peaks they have now reached have left the presidents administration scrambling to stand up shelters for unaccompanied children while social workers search for sponsors in the U.S. to care for them.

The bill filed on Thursday, entitled the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, is an effort to move beyond those partisan battles, the lawmakers said.

We know this crisis at the border is not a Democrat or Republican problem. Its not a new problem, Sinema said. Its an American problem, and its one weve been dealing with in our border states for decades.

Right now the country is divided in many ways, but this is an area that not one person, not one party can solve alone  we all have to come together, Gonzales said. This bill is at the heart of what does that.

The bill would create at least four regional processing centers in high-traffic Border Patrol sectors to ease overcrowding in U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities, where small children packed into holding rooms have been sleeping on mats on the floor.

Migrants would be able to make asylum claims at those processing centers and the legislation would create a prioritized docket of those cases, putting unaccompanied children at the front of the line. The bill would also add 150 new immigration judges, 300 asylum officers and other staff to speed the processing of those claims. And it would seek to improve legal orientation and translation services at those centers.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

As of Wednesday, there were 20,544 unaccompanied children in Health and Human Services facilities across the country, where officials with the Office of Refugee Resettlement were working to find sponsors to care for them in the U.S.

Another 2,718 unaccompanied minors were still in Border Patrol facilities.

Weve got to have a sense of urgency, Cuellar said. We can either just wait and just let the numbers just keep coming, or do we get a sense of urgency and do something? Weve got to try something.

Its unclear how far the legislation may go, however, as immigration has long been an issue that Congress has struggled to address.

Biden and Democrats are pushing a major immigration overhaul that would offer a pathway to citizenship to up to 1.7 million Texans who are in the country without legal authorization. That bill would also provide $4 billion in aid for the Central American nations to address the conditions that migrants are fleeing.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators, including Cornyn and Sinema, this week restarted meetings on broader immigration reform.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who was in those meetings, told reporters on Thursday that there's some things we could do, if we could just stop the flow and regain control.

I think we would be well advised to try to do this now and then build from there, Cornyn said. We all recognize we need to do more. This is just a start.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to attend a New York court today in her first in-person hearing since her arrest last year.

The British socialite faces an arraignment on new sex trafficking charges added to an indictment three weeks ago and is expected to plead not guilty.

The 59-year-old was granted permission to attend the hearing, which is normally a formality, in-person by Judge Alison Nathan.

Maxwell's lawyers have previously said she was demanding to be arraigned on the new allegations in person after the dial-in phone line on a previous hearing was hijacked by QAnon conspiracy theorists.

Her lawyers have failed three times to convince Judge Nathan to release Maxwell on bail after they claimed their client is living in poor prison conditions and has lost weight.

Today will be the first time she will appear in person after nine months in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center - and the extent of how this has affected Maxwell's appearance.

Ghislaine Maxwell (right with her ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein in 2005) is set to attend a New York court today in her first in-person hearing since her arrest last year

The British socialite faces an arraignment on new sex trafficking charges added to an indictment three weeks ago and is expected to plead not guilty. Pictured: A courtroom sketch of Maxwell from July 14 2020

Her family are reportedly planning to be at her arraignment today meaning that she could see her husband Scott Borgerson in person from across the courtroom.

The alleged 'madam' for Jeffrey Epstein had requested a week's delay to April 23 to formally plead to two additional charges at federal court in New York

A document filed by her lawyers states that this is to enable her 'family members to adjust their schedules and make travel arrangements to attend the court proceedings'.

Judge Alison Nathan is presiding over Maxwell's case

But Maxwell's alleged victims have pleaded with a federal court not to delay her trial because they are suffering from an 'enormous amount of stress'.

Prosecutors said that two women who will give evidence against Maxwell will not be able to rest until the case is heard.

One is feeling 'significant stress' while the other is feeling an 'enormous amount of stress' and intends to give evidence in person despite her personal obligations at the time.

They wrote: 'The longer this case remains pending, the longer the victims suffer the anxiety of anticipating their trial testimony and the uncertainty of awaiting a resolution.

'As a result, multiple victims oppose any adjournment of the trial date. In particular, Minor Victim-3 expressed feeling significant stress during the pendency of this case and a strong desire to have the case brought to a close through trial as soon as possible.

'Similarly, Minor Victim-2 also indicated that she has experienced an enormous amount of stress while this case has been pending, wishes to see the case brought to trial as scheduled, and has already planned to be available to testify at trial as scheduled this summer, despite her

Sources close to Maxwell's family told The Telegraph that her appearance in court today is about Maxwell wanting to 'face her accusers head on', as well as being free from her prison cell for a while.

A rewritten indictment lodged against the 59-year-old British socialite last month added sex trafficking charges to allegations that Maxwell recruited three teenage girls from 1994 to 1997 for then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.

New charges involving the sex trafficking of a minor stretched the conspiracy to 2004.

Maxwell's husband Scott Borgerson could travel 250 miles from his home just outside Boston to show his support while her twin sisters Isabel and Christine Maxwell could also visit from their homes.

Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, in June 2019 (pictured front) 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

Ghislaine Maxwell's older brother Ian spoke out in his sister's defense in a video on the family's new website, realghislaine.com

According to the new indictment, the woman was sexually abused multiple times by Epstein between 2001 and 2004 at his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, beginning when she was 14 years old.

Today, Maxwell is expected to plead not guilty to the new charges in person.

Maxwells appearance will be closely scrutinized after he lawyers claimed that she had lost weight and her hair was falling out because of her poor treatment while in custody.

They alleged she is becoming a shell of her former self because she is being woken up every 15 minutes with a a flash light.

Her lawyers claimed the conditions were more fitting for Hannibal Lecter, the fictional serial killer from the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

It is not clear who from her family will be there to see her Friday. Her husband could travel 250 miles from his home just outside Boston to show his support while her twin sisters Isabel and Christine Maxwell could also visit from their homes.

But her brother Ian, who launched a public PR campaign to have Maxwell freed from custody after she was denied her bail three times, is not able to travel from the UK due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Maxwell's trial is set for July 12 on charges alleging she recruited and groomed teenage girls from 1994 to 2004 to provide sexual massages to her one-time boyfriend.

Last week, her lawyers requested that the trial be delayed until next January, saying the new charges require months of investigation.

Judge Nathan has said the perjury matters will be tried separately but Maxwell wants a delay on the main allegations too.

Lawyers for Maxwell to be in court today could be anyone from Laura Menninger (right) to Christian Everdell

Ghislaine Maxwell, far right, is pictured with Prince Andrew and accuser Virginia Roberts in her townhouse in London. Roberts has filed a criminal lawsuit claiming that she had under-aged sex with Prince Andrew and pedophile Epstein

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan federal lockup as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Due to the coronavirus most hearings in the Southern District of New York are taking place via Zoom or through a dial-in phone line.

The dial-in phone line on a previous hearing was hijacked by QAnon conspiracy theorists, leading to Maxwell's lawyers to say their client is demanding to be arraigned on the new allegations in person.

All 500 spots on the public phone line in the separate civil case were occupied and one person live streamed the hearing on YouTube until the judge told them to stop.

Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim called that hearing a 'debacle' and said that Maxwell is demanding a bail hearing where witnesses can testify regarding the 'purported strength of the government's case'.

As they have repeatedly argued before, lawyers for Maxwell wrote that she is being punished in part because Epstein is out of reach.

'She is no monster, but she is being treated like one because of the `Epstein effect,' they wrote.

Maxwell, has been in jail since her arrest on July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire at her $1 million country home. Pictured: US Attorney for the Southern District Audrey Strauss announced the charges against Maxwell at a press conference last year

Today will be the first time she will appear in person after nine months in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center - and the extent of how this has affected Maxwell's appearance

The lawyers urged the 2nd Circuit to 'test the actual strength' of the government case by insisting on a more thorough bail hearing where they could prove that each story told by the four people who say they were victims of Epstein and Maxwell 'has dramatically changed over the years.'

'At first, none of the anonymous accusers even mentioned Ms. Maxwell. As they hired the same law firm, sought money and fame, joined a movement, and only after Epstein died, did the accusers start to point the finger at Ms. Maxwell. Far from corroboration, this is fabrication,' they wrote.

A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment.

Earlier this month, the judge rejected Maxwells arguments to toss charges that she recruited three teenager girls from 1994 to 1997 for then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.

Judge Nathan denied claims that a non-prosecution agreement Epstein reached with federal prosecutors over a dozen years ago protects Maxwell from prosecution.

She also disagreed that some or all charges should be tossed out for a variety of other perceived flaws.

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 has been in jail since her arrest on July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire at her $1 million country home.

She is accused of enticing girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse and in some cases taking part in the abuse.

Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, also perjured herself in a civil case.

She denies all the allegations.

Earlier this month, Maxwell's family has launched a website in support of the British socialite, insisting she's 'no monster' and protesting her innocence.

The site, realghislaine.com, invites 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.'
Young dolphin found dead at Tri Trang

PHUKET: Marine life experts are investigating what caused the death of a young striped dolphin found with heavy wounds to its body, which was lying on rocks at Tri Trang Beach, south of Patong, yesterday (Apr 22).

marineanimalsdeath

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 23 April 2021, 11:00AM

Officers from the Patong Police were called to the scene at about 1:10pm.

Unfamiliar with investigating dead dolphins, the police officers contacted Kusoldharm rescue workers to take the dolphin to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) based on Cape Panwa in Wichit.

Marine biologists there noted that the dolphin was not full grown. It measured 1.3 metres long and weighed 30 kilogrammes.

The dolphin had many wounds along the right side of its body, to the right of its mouth, under its right eye, on its fins and there were scratches all along its body and underneath its tail.

The officers did note that the wounds may have been caused by the dolphin being stranded on the rocks.

The dolphin was estimated to have died at least 24 hours before its body was found.

Officers at the PMBC will conduct an autopsy on the young dolphins body in the hope of learning more about what caused its death.
Enviro Ministry greenlights extension of radioactive waste treatment facility in Jaslovske Bohunice

The verdict has not pleased the neighbouring municipalities.

New skyline of the Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power station after four cooling towers of the V1 nuclear power station were pulled down. (Source: TASR)

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The Environment Ministry has given a greenlight to the extension of the radioactive waste treatment facility in Jaslovske Bohunice, based on an environmental impact assessment (EIA). This will enable the state-owned facility which handles radioactive waste, Jadrova a Vyradovacia Spolocnost (Nuclear and Decommissioning Company), JAVYS, to double its incineration capacity from 240 tonnes to 480 tonnes per year.

Related article Environment Ministry wants constitutional ban on incineration of foreign radioactive waste Read more

The decision of the Environment Ministry has not pleased the mayors of the neighbouring villages who fear the worsening of the environment. They do not like the fact that JAVYS incinerates not only Slovak but also foreign radioactive waste. Furthermore, they point out that Environment Minister Jan Budaj okayed the project despite the fact that he has been pushing for the adoption of a constitutional law banning the incineration of foreign radioactive waste (RAW) in Slovakia.

We realise that we are responsible for our own radioactive waste, Peter Jancovic, Piestany Mayor told the news channel TA3, adding that it is unacceptable to import radioactive waste from abroad.

On the other hand, the mayor of Jaslovske Bohunice does not have any problem with the import of RAW. Rather, she objects to the storage of burnt highly active fuel from the decommissioned nuclear power plant on the territory of the municipality, according to TA3.

JAVYS in Jaslovske Bohunice serves as a service company to both nuclear power plants in Slovakia, in Jaslovske Bohunice near Trnava and Mochovce near Nitra. Its tasks include storing nuclear fuel spent by both facilities in an interim storage facility, decommissioning the closed nuclear facilities (the A1 and V1 nuclear power plants in Jaslovske Bohunice) and processing radioactive waste generated by the nuclear power plants as well as hospitals, research institutions, labs and other facilities.

As well as this, is treats foreign nuclear waste from, for example, Germany and the Czech Republic. In 2015, JAVYS signed a contract with the Sogin company on the treatment of RAW from the closed nuclear power plant in Caorso, Italy. This plant closed in 1990 due to public pressure following the Chernobyl disaster. Based on the contract, JAVYS should process 865 tons of radioactive waste from the Italian nuclear power plant by 2023, the SITA newswire reported.

To meet the contract, JAVYS needs to increase its incineration capacity. It has thus built a new treatment facility, but has to obtain the nod from the Environment Ministry.

Pavol Stuller, general director of JAVYS explained for TA3 that the capacity of its incineration facility would return to the present level as the current facility is nearing the end of its economic life. He further reiterated that no radioactivity, after the processing of RAW, remains in Slovakia.

Budaj noted for TA3 that they have prepared the draft bill to exclude the further import of radioactive waste to Slovakia. It should become effective after the contract with the Italian company ceases in two years time. But the ruling coalition is not unanimous in this matter. Economy Minister Richard Sulik and his SaS party consider the law to go against Slovakias economic interests and the countrys existing expertise and technological capacities.

23. Apr 2021 at 17:32 | Compiled by Spectator staff
Syracuse, N.Y.  The city of Syracuse is looking for the communitys help to to promote and support Black-owned businesses this summer.

The city partnered with organizers from the Juneteenth Festival and AT&T to launch an eight-week digital campaign aimed at boosting Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in Syracuse. The campaign will replace the annual Juneteenth Festival and parade, which will be canceled for the second consecutive year due to concerns about large gatherings amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The campaign invites community members to nominate businesses in the food, fashion and film industries to be spotlighted in an online campaign. The campaign will highlight two Black-owned businesses from each sector. It will also promote the winner of a short film competition.

AT&T is funding the campaign. City staff will help promote it using their channels.

2020 was such a difficult and tough year with Covid and everything going on, said Kevin Henry, chair of the Syracuse Juneteenth Committee. Just to hear all the support this committee is going to get, its an overwhelming feeling.

The eight-week campaign will lead up to the June 19 holiday, which memorializes the end of slavery in the United States.

Mayor Ben Walsh said organizers are also encouraging businesses to donate to the campaign and partner with Black-owned businesses. Hes also inviting Black entrepreneurs to contact city staff to talk about how the city can help grow their businesses.

Each week, a new contest will begin where residents can visit the campaign website to nominate a business and read about other businesses.

The campaign website can be found at bit.ly/syrignitejuneteenth.
Amid ongoing scrutiny of Pornhub and its parent company Mindgeek, Google is coming under fire for helping direct people to content featuring the rape and sexual abuse of children published on websites like Pornhub and XVideos.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has published his latest expose explaining how XVideos, a rival of Pornhub, has also published illegally recorded content exposing minor girls on the internet.

The prominent writer, who released a shocking piece in December on how Pornhub contributed to horrific forms of sexual exploitation of minors, also explains how search engine Google has helped direct people to this content.

Kristof recounts how a man had enticed a girl who had just turned 14 to engage in sexual play over Skype, secretly recorded her and posted a clip of the footage containing her full name on XVideos.

Source:The Christian Post
The United States is joining a frantic international effort to locate a missing Indonesian navy submarine as oxygen supplies dwindle for the boat's 53 crew.

The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing in 2,300ft waters at 3am local time on Wednesday after diving to perform a torpedo test off the resort island of Bali.

Concern is mounting it may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time, with oxygen set to run out by early Saturday morning.

Indonesia's navy scoured the waters off Bali on Friday, bolstered by the arrival of a sonar-equipped Australian warship with a helicopter.

The Pentagon announced on Thursday evening that the United States is sending 'airborne assets' to assist with the search at the behest of the Indonesian government.

Rescue ships from Singapore and Malaysia are expected to arrive between Saturday and Monday. The Indonesian military said Germany, France, Russia, India and Turkey have also offered assistance. South Korea said it has also offered help.

Search teams are zeroing in on an area 25 miles north of Bali, where an oil slick was seen on the water. Radar searches have detected an object with 'high magnetism' up to 300ft below the surface, which have come from submarine, officials say.

Scroll down for video

Pictured: The KRI Nanggala 402, the Indonesian submarine currently missing

This map shows the submarine went missing off the northern coast of Bali

Pictured: An Indonesian Navy ship conducts its search for the submarine on Thursday

The rescue effort is ramping up in the search for KRI Nanggala 402 (Indonesian plane)

'We are deeply saddened by the news of Indonesias lost submarine, and our thoughts are with the Indonesian sailors and their families,' Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby tweeted.

'At the invitation of the Indonesian government, we are sending airborne assets to assist in the search for the missing submarine.'

Kirby did not specify how many 'airborne assets' would be sent to Indonesia to help out in the race against time.

He also shared that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was scheduled to speak with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto on Friday morning to see how else the United States can help.

The Americans are joining a fight against the clock, with oxygen supply dwindling for the missing crew members.

Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono has said the sailors have enough oxygen to last them until 3am on Saturday.

'The submarine's oxygen reserve capacity in a blackout is 72 hours', Margono told reporters. 'There's time until Saturday around 3am. Let's hope we can find them before then.'

Military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad told reporters: 'We will maximize the effort today, until the time limit tomorrow at 3am,' .

Missing Naggala 402 Age: 44 years after being built in 1977 Top speed: 25 knots (46 km/hr) Range: 8,200 nautical miles (15,200 km) Maximum diving depth: 843ft Weight: 1,395 tons Length: 65 yards Fuel: Powered by four electric diesel engines Armaments: 14 torpedoes located in eight tubes. It is also equipped with a CSU-3-2 suite type sonar Built in: Lubeck, Germany Advertisement

A hopeful sign emerged on Friday when the Indonesian navy detected an unidentified object in their search.

According to CNN, Riad announced that an object was a 'strong magnetic resonance' was detected at a depth of 164 to 328 feet.

One of the country's warships, the Riguel, is set to reach the area on Friday morning. It has a high-tech sonar system, which the navy hopes will help locate the missing submarine.

Twenty-four Indonesian ships and a patrol plane were mobilized for the search Friday, focusing on the area where an oil slick was found after the submarine disappeared during an exercise. Rescuers made similar massive searches in the previous two days.

There's been no conclusive evidence the oil slick was from the sub. Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarine's fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessel's weight so it could surface.

The navy said it believes that the submarine could have sunk to a depth of 2,000-2,300 feet, much deeper than its collapse depth, at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand.

The vessel's collapse depth was estimated at 655 feet by a South Korean company that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012.

The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface.

Officials fear the vessel sank to the bottom of a trough with a depth of 2,300ft during a torpedo military exercise.

The 44-year-old submarine had asked for permission to dive to conduct the live torpedo exercises.

'After permission was given according to the procedure, the submarine lost contact and could not be reached,' Indonesia's Defense Ministry said.

Military helicopters have been searching for the submarine off the coast of Bali

The KRI Nanggala 402 lost contact on Wednesday morning and has been missing since

Pictured: Friday's search efforts. There is fear the crew on the ship could run out of oxygen by Saturday morning, putting rescuers in a race against the clock

In addition to at least one American reconnaissance plane expected to join the search Saturday, a second Australian ship was due soon.

'These two Australian ships will help expand the search area and extend the duration of the search effort,' Australian Navy Rear Adm. Mark Hammond said.

Singaporean and Malaysian rescue ships were also expected in the coming days.

'Our fervent prayers and hopes go out to the crew of KRI Nanggala, for their safety and resilience,' Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on Facebook.

India said Thursday it had sent a ship to assist in the hunt.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo canceled a visit to Banyuwangi port, where some rescue ships left earlier, to prepare for a weekend regional summit in Jakarta, officials said.

A National Search and Rescue Agency rescue ship sails to join the search for the submarine

The Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Alugoro sails during a search for KRI Nanggala Thursday

He asked Indonesians to pray for the crew's safe return, while ordering all-out efforts to locate the submarine.

'Our main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members,' Widodo said in a televised address on Thursday. 'To the family of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all crew members on board.'

Family members are holding out hope that the massive search effort will find the vessel in time.

'The family is in a good condition and keeps praying,' said Ratih Wardhani, the sister of 49-year-old crewman Wisnu Subiyantoro. 'We are optimistic that the Nanggala can be rescued with all the crew.'

Berda Asmara is married to Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who had been expected to return home from the submarine training mission at the weekend.

'Our last communication was on Monday when he was going to work,' the mother of one told AFP in Surabaya, a port city in Java.

'He said 'pray for me that I'll come home soon'... He told our daughter to listen to me and study hard.'

Oil slicks are seen on Thursday in the area where the search operation for the submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing while participating in a training exercise

A member of Indonesian military officials sets the pictures of KRI Nanggala on Friday

Submarine accidents are often disastrous.

In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk suffered internal explosions and sank during maneuvers in the Barents Sea. Most of its 118 crew died instantly, but 23 men fled to a rear compartment before they later died, mainly of suffocation.

In November 2017, an Argentine submarine went missing with 44 crew members in the South Atlantic, almost a year before its wreckage was found at a depth of 2,625 feet.

But in 2005, seven men aboard a Russian mini-sub were rescued nearly three days after their vessel was snagged by fishing nets and cables in the Pacific Ocean. They had only six hours of oxygen left before reaching the surface.

The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 has been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands.

Indonesia has been trying to modernize its defense capabilities but there have been deadly accidents in recent years.

In 2016, an Indonesian air force transport plane crashed into a mountain, killing all 13 people board during a training exercise in the remote region of Papua.

In 2015, an Indonesian military transport plane crashed into a northern residential area two minutes after takeoff, killing more than 100 people.
DUBLIN, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nemysis Ltd today announces the appointment of internationally recognized drug discovery and development expert Linda Cavaletti to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

Since its inception, Nemysis has initiated and developed high-value innovative R&D programs, including one targeting Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten intolerance, with the aim of bringing novel treatments to patients suffering from these conditions.

Nemysis Ltd

Linda Cavaletti, Senior Associate Scientist at Fondazione Istituto Insubrico di Ricerca per la Vita (FIIRV), is a biologist with long expertise in isolation and cultivation of strains for natural products discovery, culminating in a project for identification of a new glutenase by acidophilic actinomycete strains. Since then, she is the leader of the Celiac Disease project in FIIRV, which led to discovery of E40, its patenting in 2012, and the collaboration with Nemysis.

"I am delighted to join Nemysis's board of Scientific Advisors and eager to contribute to Nemysis' corporate development efforts to realize its vision on E40," said Linda Cavaletti. "I believe the company's prospects are excellent. I look forward to working with the team over the coming years to build a broad-based, world-class company."

"We are very honoured and privileged to have established this long-term collaboration with such an expert on enzyme development, who we are sure will be a valuable asset to Nemysis and to those who suffer from gluten intolerance," said Maria Cristina Comelli, chair of the SAB. "We are excited about working closely with her, as we approach the next phase of our company's growth."

"I am personally very pleased to welcome such an outstanding scientist as an advisor to Nemysis," said Danilo Casadei-Massari, Chairman of the Board. "No doubt Linda Cavaletti's expertise will contribute to increasing the value of Nemysis's current and future assets."

About Nemysis:

NEMYSIS LTD, a healthcare and pharmaceutical company, is focused on nutritional and pharmaceutical solutions that can protect against some of the negative consequences of nutrient deficiency, nutrient intolerances and sensitivities, paying particular attention to the need to safeguard the human microbiome.

Nemysis's novel nanoparticulate iron is the first natural ferritin mimic, which can correct human iron deficiency and anemia, without negatively impacting the gut microbiome. Safety and efficacy have been demonstrated in controlled-repeat-dose clinical trials.

Nemysis's novel E40 endopeptidase is gastric, trypsin and chymotrypsin resistant. It has been shown to destroy all the immuno-stimulatory epitopes of gluten, quenching the exacerbated inflammatory response of primed, gluten-sensitive and hyper-responsive human T cells. It is, therefore, suitable for the enzymatic management of gluten intolerance and sensitivity.

www.nemysisltd.com

Danilo Casadei-Massari, Chairman of the Board

Nemysis Ltd - 7 D'Olier Street- D02HF60 Dublin - Ireland +35315313450

[email protected]

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Linda Cavaletti

SOURCE Nemysis Ltd
The Royals have placed right-hander Greg Holland on the injured list and selected the contract of righty Brad Brach, per a team announcement. The club didnt provide a reason for Hollands IL placement.

Holland was largely a great reliever with the Royals from 2010-15, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in the last of those seasons and missed the teams World Series run. The procedure kept Holland out for all of 2016, and he then endured an up-and-down few years divided among the Rockies, Cardinals and Diamondbacks.

Holland returned to Kansas City last year on a minor league deal, which proved to be a steal for the Royals. He reclaimed his old job as the teams closer, went 6-for-6 in save opportunities and pitched to a 1.91 ERA with a 27.7 percent strikeout rate against a 6.3 percent walk rate over 28 1/3 innings.

Hollands bounce-back 2020 performance earned him a guaranteed contract this past winter, when he re-signed with the Royals on a one-year, $2.75MM pact. Unfortunately for Holland and KC, he hasnt been nearly as successful this year. Thanks to a couple of poor outings  including his most recent appearance on Tuesday  the 35-year-old has recorded a 6.43 ERA with three home runs allowed and more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six) in seven frames.

Brach, also 35, joined the Royals on a minors pact shortly after the Mets cut him loose in February. While the well-traveled Brach has enjoyed a quality career (3.39 ERA through 522 2/3 innings), his production and velocity have tailed off of late. Brach amassed a combined 66 2/3 innings with the Cubs and Mets over the previous two seasons and posted a 5.54 ERA with a below-average 9.7 K-BB percentage (24.7 K, 15.0 BB). Worsening matters, Brachs average fastball velo fell from the 94 mph range to a career-low 90.4 last season.
Dozens of new female Marines completed the grueling final exercise required of recruits in boot camp this week, setting them up to become the first women in the services history to graduate from the historically all-male Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

Fifty-three women in the first-ever coed company to train at the Marine Corps West Coast training base completed the Crucible Thursday morning. The demanding three-day event is the culminating exercise at boot camp, and the recruits were presented with the coveted eagle, globe and anchor pins afterward and called Marines for the first time.

The female platoon, which was part of Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, won the final drill competition, said Capt. Martin Harris, a spokesman at the recruit depot. During the competition, drill instructors are given a list of tasks at random that their recruits must perform on the parade deck.

Read Next: After Fatal Accident, Marines in Waterborne AAVs Get Emergency Breathing Devices

Each platoon is evaluated individually by drill masters. Winning the competition, Harris said, requires good teamwork, efficiency and discipline.

The female platoon also had the highest Physical and Combat Fitness Test scores in their company, Harris said. Recruits take several fitness tests throughout the 13-week boot camp curriculum. The female platoon, he said, won all the physical events, he said.

Their scores on the rifle range were also higher than the average female platoon at the Marines' East Coast recruit training base in Parris Island, South Carolina, he said. Previously, all female enlisted Marines have been trained at Parris Island.

Marine officials have said coed companies perform on par with or better than all-male or all-female training companies.

"If anything, it went a little better because there's a little bit more competition with [each platoon] going, 'No, we need to beat them,' or 'We can't let them beat us,'" now-retired Maj. Gen. William Mullen told Military.com the year the coed training began. "So there was a little bit of that effect. But other than that, there was no real difference."

Military.com first reported in December that women would be, for the first time, completing their entry-level training in San Diego.

In February, 59 female recruits arrived on the West Coast to begin boot camp. Some had medical issues that prevented them from starting or completing the training, Harris said.

No other female platoons are currently training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. The Marine Corps is now assessing the first iteration of coed training on the West Coast before determining next steps, he said.

Drill instructors at Parris Island are currently training the 15th coed company there. For the first time last month, men at that training base graduated from the historically all-female 4th Recruit Training Battalion as part of that effort.

The Marine Corps must meet a mandate signed into law in 2019 to make boot camp training coed within five years on the East Coast, and within eight on the West. Marine leaders are also studying whether to close one or both of its entry-level training sites and train all new enlistees in the same location.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: In First, Male Marines Graduate From Historically All-Female Boot Camp Training Battalion
Throughout summer 2020, we surveyed more than 500 people who have a family member incarcerated in Texas  a state that at one point had the countrys worst COVID-19 outbreaks in correctional facilities. Nearly 200 provided personal statements about having a loved one incarcerated during the pandemic.

People conveyed deep concern about the conditions of their family members confinement and struggled to cope with new pandemic restrictions on visits and other communication. Many feared their family member would die of COVID-19, alone, in prison  as 2,564 incarcerated people in the U.S. have already done this year.

With more than 34,000 positive COVID-19 cases in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice so far, infection rates in Texas prisons are 40 percent higher than the national prison population average. Texas has recorded some of the highest number of COVID-19 deaths of incarcerated people nationwide: 187 deaths as of April 16, 2021.

Our study participants belonged to the Texas Inmate Family Association, a nonprofit organization that provides support to people with family incarcerated in the state. The survey was conducted anonymously, so we include only limited personal details about the respondents and their family members here and have not verified their assertions.

Our survey showed that people with a family member incarcerated during the pandemic experienced extreme distress. Seventy-nine percent were very concerned that their loved one would contract COVID-19 in prison. The vast majority were women with a child or spouse incarcerated.

My son has been locked in a cell with temperatures over 100 degrees for up to 23-plus hours a day for weeks on end now due to COVID, one 74-year-old woman who lives near San Marcos told us. I fear he will either perish from the conditions or somehow take his own life.

Many Texas prisons lack masks, soap and hand sanitizer. Yet family are not allowed to bring sanitizer into prisons: It is considered contraband in federal prisons and state prisons in over a dozen states.

One father compared the conditions his child was experiencing in prison to a concentration camp.

Even before the pandemic, a mother told us, having a child in prison was stressful because of the disregard the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system, in general, has for the well-being and rehabilitation of the inmates. Living conditions are deplorable, the food is not nutritious, dental and medical care is too difficult to access, [and] there are too many extended lockdowns.

We dont incarcerate, we torture, she said.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been sued in the past over prison conditions and recently over its coronavirus policies and practices.

Incarceration always physically separates family members; thats part of the punishment. And during COVID-19, it is a particularly harsh punishment.

A woman in San Antonio told us, The hardest part of this pandemic is not having my husbandby my side.

Her husband has been incarcerated for 11 years.

In Texas prisons, all types of contact with the outside world  including video and phone calls  were severely limited and visitation barred completely on March 13, 2020, when Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster. That included juvenile facilities.

Phones have been disabled during COVID and [the] few calls are only 5 minutes, said a Houston woman whose son is incarcerated at the Huntsville Penitentiary in Texas. It is all so hard on inmates, but so, so hard for families.

Texas reopened jails and prisons to visits on March 15.

But the separation will have already taken a high toll on once-intimate relationships, our research shows.

We have lost a part of us being separated for so long. We are not the same people, said one 49-year-old woman last summer, whose incarcerated fiance had been unable to communicate with her. My fiance has lost hope and is struggling, and it breaks my heart.

As criminologists who study the health consequences of incarceration, we know that worry over the well-being of an incarcerated loved one is a common and severe stressor. Studies show that having a family member incarcerated is detrimental to the psychological and physical health of parents, spouses and children.

The stress of knowing an incarcerated family member could become ill with a deadly virus adds to existing fear they will be mistreated or assaulted in prison.

Several family members of the people we interviewed did indeed contract COVID-19. One woman, whose husband had recently tested positive, said she had difficulty getting in touch with nurses to update her on his condition.

I am worried sick, she said.

Some people said they were kept in the dark about their family members illness.

I did not even know he had contracted COVID-19 until several weeks after, said one woman of her husband. He was on lockdown and couldnt call home.

Testa and Fahmy are assistant professors of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This piece was originally published by The Conversation.
MARK TWAIN famously struck the nail on the head concerning the nastiness of people as opposed to the therapeutic effect of cats when he said, If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.

I have kept cats for the last thirty years and the feeling of comfort and affection they give is invaluable. People are fickle  nice one minute, moody and difficult the next, whereas cats are constant in their needs and their behaviour. They have been especially beneficial to us during Lockdown providing us with the sense of being in a protective nest when the outside world seems harsh and cruel.

Cats have become more and more popular in recent decades as the number of people who appreciate and value their worth has increased. There are some people who feel ill at ease talking about "comfort" and "affection" when it comes to cats and who like to focus on their practical use. They talk about the animal's mouse- and rat-catching role rather than focussing on emotions which they consider a bit effeminate and suspect.

Beyond keeping rodents out of your home there is nothing more in practical terms that cats can do for you. They can't be trained in the way dogs and horses can and therefore don't have the same wide variety of roles. They don't provide us with food in the way that cattle, pigs and chickens do. And yet, because of their rodent-repelling ability and the huge comfort, in emotional terms, that they give us they are just as highly valued as our other domesticated animals.

In antiquity there were five cultures which worshipped cat gods and goddesses as part of their religions. These included the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Vikings, the Polish and the Chinese. The Vikings believed that the Goddess Freyja rode in a chariot which was pulled by two spectacular grey cats. Norse farmers left food offerings for cats because they believed that this would bring about good harvests. The Polish god Ovinnik was a large black cat with blazing yellow eyes. In all of these cultures the cat gods and goddesses were often perceived as being benign deities who had the best interests of the people at heart. In ancient Egypt killing a cat was absolutely forbidden and when a household cat died, the whole family would mourn and shave their eyebrows. By contrast other cultures perceived cats in very negative ways. In the Middle Ages cats were associated with vanity and witchcraft and were sometimes burned as symbols of the devil. This barbaric behaviour was condoned by the Popes. In the 1230s Pope Gregory IX announced that there was a rise in devil worshipping and that cats were often part of satanic rituals.

Nowadays we thankfully have left the medieval church's attitude to cats far behind and they have never been so popular. They are the most popular pet in the world, outnumbering dogs by three to one. Being top predators and more independent they are easier to look after than dogs. In a society which can seem very pragmatic, business-like and cold, cats offer us a much-needed outlet for emotional expression. When we return home from our day in the world, with all its challenges and difficulties, as we close our front door we step over the threshold into our safe space. At home there is no need to meet the demands of society's diktats and fashions. We can be completely ourselves; and part of that expression of who we really are includes nesting behaviour with our pets.

I read somewhere that a petowner's children were behaving in a difficult manner because they were in their teens and were being very moody and treating their parents as being terminally uncool. The parent reminisced wistfully about the pre-teen years when the nurturing, protective environment of the home was less fraught. By contrast, her cat hadn't changed and was still responding to her desire to initiate affection. "In a world," pointed out Peter Neville in his book "Cat Behaviour Explained", "where security means a written contract and emotional expression is often seen as weakness, the friendly cat is one of our only real-life outlets for uninhibited expression. How reassuring that on our return home the cat will be pleased to see us, purr and rub round our legs in an unconditional, uninhibited display of affection. And how reassuring that we can feel free to respond to that display without our fellow man belittling us or perceiving our expression of emotion as an opportunity to take advantage while our defences are down. Being affectionate with your dog is socially acceptable. And nowadays people need that as they never have before." He also points out that because cats and dogs provide the type of emotional involvement that we seek they are more fulfilling pets than hamsters, rabbits or goldfish.

The most likely ancestor of our modern pet, Felis catus, is the reddish to grey-brown African Wild Cat, Felis lybica, which has longer legs, a leaner body and a long thin tail. This species tames readily and the earliest records of man's association with any cat date from 2600 BC in ancient Egypt which was part of the African wild cat's territory.

Neville's book is also interesting because it sheds some light on some of my cat's behaviours which have long baffled me; for example kneading our laps. Neville says when the cat is on our laps we are offering it the same attention, warmth, affection and security that she knew as a kitten when suckling or lying next to its mother. The cat responds to our warmth and attention by purring and affectionate rubbing; and by kneading our laps as it used to knead its mother's nipples to stimulate milk flow. We play the role of its mother throughout the cat's life, in the process feeling better ourselves.

And what about the biting and kicking behaviour when I stroke my cat's stomach? You can stroke a cat's head and back for ever but if you try and stroke its stomach it suddenly grasps one's hand and bites, while kicking with a repeated movement of the back feet. "It seems," says Neville, "that the threshold of the reaction is reached when the cat ceases to feel comforted by our mothering-style affection and suddenly feels trapped and vulnerable so close to us while in such a relaxed state....From having allowed himself to revert to his kittenhood he grows up in an instant and, as an adult solo predator, decides that he needs to repel what has become a mild threat and make a distance between us."
A 6-year-old girl from Cumberland County went from being malnourished, over-medicated and wheelchair-bound to bubbly, energetic and very active as soon as she was taken away from her mother, according to authorities.

The girl had gone through multiple painful procedures and treatments before doctors realized something was wrong, and it wasnt with her health, according to documents filed against the girls mother.

Shelley M. Noreika, 47, of Newville, was charged this week with aggravated assault of a victim younger than 13, simple assault, child endangerment and theft by deception, according to online court dockets.

Police say she faked her daughters illnesses for sympathy and to get donations from online fundraisers for medical care.

Doctors and investigators now wonder if Noreika has Munchausen by proxy, a mental health condition that often leads to abusive behaviors out of a desire for attention, according to court records.

Munchausen by proxy was defined in court documents as a condition in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under her care, such as a child or person who has a disability.

In particular, warning signs cited include attention-seeking behavior, striving to appear self-sacrificing and devoted, becoming overly involved with doctors/medical staff, refusing to leave a childs side, exaggerating the childs symptoms or speaking for the child, appearing to enjoy the hospital environment and the attention the child receives.

Repeated injuries, illnesses, hospitalizations and symptoms that dont fit any disease or test result can be red flags, as well as patients who get better under medical care but worse at home.

According to the documents, Noreika took her daughter to multiple doctors for different diagnoses. In some cases, she took the girl to new doctors when she didnt agree with a doctors opinion.

Eventually, this pattern was recognized by someone who called Childline in September 2019, concerned not only about the choices made about doctors but by Noreikas decision to keep the girl out of school.

According to investigators, the source said Noreika would not allow her child to be in school unless she was in a special-needs class.

READ: Victims uncle gives family perspective on apparent discovery of Linda Stoltzfooss remains

Her daughter needed to be evaluated to be placed in that class, but the evaluation found large discrepancies between how Noreika described the girls abilities and what she could actually do, according to the affidavit.

During the evaluation, the girl was separated from her mother and she was able to complete the evaluation without any difficulty, according to the documents.

Months later, while the investigation was ongoing, a Delaware doctor also filed a Childline report, concerned about how Noreika was treating her child. Noreika was requesting a variety of tests in Delaware and demanding her daughter get a colostomy bag, which is surgically attached to the body to aid with bowel-related problems.

Similarly, investigators found a report from Hershey Medical Centers Children Protection Team dated months prior, discussing the girls need for a surgically placed feeding tube. According to that report, Noreika came to doctors telling them her daughters diagnosis, and that she was fed through a tube. She asked for the tube to be changed to a different kind of feeding tube.

The procedure was done and as a result of the new device, there were instances where the girl pulled out the tube and it dislodged, causing her to be very sick from December 2020 until January 2021.

Noreika also would say the girl had seizures, according to the investigation, but no one had seen one and it had not been documented on video to show medical providers. Despite that, the girl was given seizure medication, and the levels were increased based on Noreikas statements to doctors.

After first becoming a patient in Delaware, the doctor said he repeatedly asked Noreikas family to hospitalize the girl for monitoring and further tests. But the mom said she didnt think it was necessary. Instead, she just reported problems the girl was having, but the doctor could not confirm if these problems existed.

In January, the Delaware doctor was able to do a detailed evaluation of the girl, according to court documents. At the time, she was 37 pounds.

While processing the girl, doctors were given a medical history that included 15 different diagnoses, including fetal alcohol syndrome, gastro-intestinal issues, malnutrition and autistic features, according to court documents.

Noreika was asked to leave during evaluation and the girl became a completely different child without mom, doctors told police.

Although doctors had been told the girl could only eat through the tube, she ate chicken nuggets, brownies, spaghetti and other foods through her mouth, according to the affidavit. She had minor digestive issues once, but otherwise was not experiencing the symptoms long-reported by her mother, according to court records.

Doctors quickly determined that not only did the girl not have multiple disorders, she didnt need the procedures Noreika was requesting.

She was seen dancing and jumping around the room and was able to walk around without the use of devices or a wheelchair.

Doctors also said if the feeding tube was being used with the feeding schedule they ordered, it would not cause the malnutrition that the girl was suffering from, according to court documents.

In February, doctors removed the tube and the girl has continued to eat regularly with no issues. Doctors told investigators that she was very excited about the tube removal.

She is also being potty trained with no problems and weaned off her epilepsy medication, according to court documents.

Doctors shared with police that the medical interventions the girl was given were painful and also very restrictive to the girl, according to court documents. Doctors called the request for a colostomy bag totally outrageous, saying there was no medical reason for the bag or for the girl to not be potty trained.

In February, a search warrant was executed on Noreikas house, which uncovered medical supplies and prescription medication, according to court documents.

Police searched Noreikas iPhone and found her internet searches included things such as how many calories were in certain foods, whether a specific laxative would show up in a stool test and another medication used to treat adults with an overactive bladder.

After Noreika was charged, police documented that doctors were able to disprove at least six of the diagnoses she claimed her daughter had.

When the girl was discharged from a hospital in February, she was diagnosed with epilepsy, because it couldnt be ruled out until she was fully weaned off the medication. Her diagnosis also included some back issues, mental health disorders such as anxiety and PTSD, and malnutrition.

She had already gained a few pounds during her hospitalization, and not because of calorie boosters or medical nutrition intervention, doctors noted. She was just eating normally, according to court documents.

While Noreika still had custody of the girl in late 2020, she was posting to social media about the medical problems her family was having, including the girls. Police quoted multiple posts, including one where she discussed the long road/journey ahead and thanked people for their support.

Noreika created a GoFundMe page where she posted updates about these medical concerns, and asked for money, according to court documents.

Shortly after she took the girl to the hospital early this year, Noreika deactivated her Facebook account and deleted posts on her GoFundMe page, then deactivated that fundraiser.

Police found Noreika received money, gift cards, and purchases from her Amazon Wishlist stemming from these medical claims. In all, they believe she received about $5,402.

Investigators have not said how many doctors Noreika went to before the whistleblowers took action, or what prompted the girl to be put on a feeding tube in the first place. It is also unclear how old the girl was when these procedures and claims began.

Noreika was arraigned on Monday and released on $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 15.

READ MORE:
New video and images show groups of migrants being taken from an Arizona Holiday Inn that has been converted into a shelter and being dropped off at an airport.

The footage shared with DailyMail.com by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs purportedly shows children and adults who have recently crossed the border getting onto buses at the hotel in Chandler en route to catch flights.

The hotel is one of seven Immigration and Customs Enforcement have taken over as part of an $86.9million to house 1,200 migrants until September to ease the overflowing detention facilities.

It is not clear where they are getting the flights, but many haven't been expelled from the US and are awaiting immigration proceedings.

Some of these migrants are sent home while others are put into the Alternative to Detention (ATD) program, where they live in communities.

New video and images show groups of migrants being taken from an Arizona hotel that has been converted into a shelter and being dropped off at airports

The footage shared with DailyMail.com by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs shows children and adults who have recently crossed the border getting onto buses at a Holiday Inn in Chandler en route to catch flights

President Biden is facing continued pressure for releasing migrants into the US and is still facing the issue of overcrowded child migrant camps.

The footage was released to DailyMail.com on the day Vice President Kamala Harris, so the White House's border 'czar' travelled to New Hampshire.

It has been 30 days since the Biden administration tasked her with dealing with the migrant crisis - and she still hasn't visited the border.

Congressman Biggs told DailyMail.com: 'Biden's border crisis is real and it's being forced into our local communities. These illegal aliens aren't stopping in border states, they're being given plane and bus tickets to anywhere in the country. We will not sit back and deal with this egregious exploitation of our border.'

Biggs' office also said there was minimal security at the hotel and the residents were free to roam around.

As part of the $86.9million contract with the non-profit division of Endeavors, the Holiday Inn in Chandler was renamed 'La Casa de la Luz,' of 'House of Light.'

The hotel is one of seven Immigration and Customs Enforcement have taken over as part of an $86.9million to house 1,200 migrants until September to ease the overflowing detention facilities

It is not clear where they are getting the flights, but many haven't been expelled from the US and are awaiting immigration proceedings

Some of these migrants are sent home while others are put into the Alternative to Detention (ATD) program, where they live in communitie

The signs at the hotel in Chandler have been covered up and online searches state it has 'permanently closed'

A guard is seen at the entrance to the hotel. Rep. Biggs' office has said there is minimal security at the temporary accommodation

It's located 15 miles southwest of Phoenix and has a lagoon-shaped pool.

A Google search states that the property is closed and photos taken from outside show all the signs have been covered up.

Families are pouring into the US from Mexico on a daily basis and have pushed crossings up to their highest level in 15 years.

In March, Customs and Border Protection released data showing they had encountered the highest number of unaccompanied children in history crossing the Rio Grande.

They were then filing into shelters that were over capacity and cramped. Some children say they are forced to stay in their cots all day, have to sleep in playpens and barely get outside.

There were also reports of COVID and lice outbreaks in the facilities.

Department of Homeland Security has turned to asking staff in other federal agencies, including NASA, to volunteer to foster some of these children to ease the pressure on the intake centers.

An ICE spokesman told DailyMail.com: 'Starting April 9 in Texas and Arizona, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will provide emergency temporary shelter and process families placed in its custody through a short-term contract with Endeavors. The border is not open, and individuals continue to be expelled under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) public health authority.

'The families that come into ICE custody will be housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians.

'Custody is intended to be short term, generally less than 72 hours, to allow for immigration enforcement processing and establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release while their immigration proceedings continue.

'All families will be tested for COVID-19 and receive a health assessment.'

Vice President Harris has insisted she will travel to Guatemala and Mexico in the next month, but won't visit the border wall or the camps in Texas.

The White House has insisted her role is to try and determine the 'root causes' of migration, such as economic strife and violence that motivate people to try and reach America.

The Holiday Inn in Chandler, Arizona, is located 15 miles southwest of Phoenix and has a lagoon-shaped pool

A large room at the Holiday Inn, which is being called the 'House of Light' by ICE

Families are pouring into the US from Mexico on a daily basis and have pushed crossings up to their highest level in 15 years

The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is spiking in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease in crossings thanks to the coronavirus pandemic
TUSCOLA COUNTY  The company that was hired to do building codes, as well as health department issues, dominated a recent six-hour Tuscola County meeting.

For the last few years, a variety of complaints have been about South Central Michigan Construction Code Inspections' service regarding building codes.

On March 31, Cass City Village President Daniel Delamarter wrote to the Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation about issues the village is having with SCMCCI.

The village has received numerous complaints about the excessive requirements and inspections requested by SCMCCI," wrote Delamarter. "As the village seeks to draw new business and grow, SCMCCI is presenting an obstacle that we have no control over, that is stopping economic development."

The village requests the support of the Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation to recommend to Tuscola County to either staff a building codes office with county employees, or contract with an alternate provider, the letter reads.

County commissioners are in the process of developing a request for proposal to find another entity to take over building code duties, and they are also considering the possibility of letting each municipality contract on their own for that service.

The village does not have enough work to support hiring a building codes department or contracting with a company for our limited work," Delamarter said. "The difficulty with subcontracting this type of work is the payment structure. The contractor gets paid based on the amount of work and inspections required for a construction project.

The contractor is a business seeking to make a profit, and the more inspections they do the more fees they charge. This is the problem."

In their effort to make a profit requiring more inspections and fees from the developer and/or investor, they have been obstructing investment and development in the village and Tuscola County, Delamarter said.

Because of that, Delamarter said he would like the county to make changes to avoid that tendency.

In 2001, commissioners approved contracting with SCMCCI, which is a private company, to handle building code issues rather than continuing to operate their own building codes department because it would cost the county less.

That is not the only complaint about SCMCCI. Two new business venues also say they are being stymied by them.

One of the businesses having issues with building codes is Kohl Farms  Agri-tourism at 3062 Hobart Road, Gagetown.

The Kohls want to relocate their operation from Hobart Road two miles to Colwood Road because that road has more traffic.

This move will enable us to expand our operation, hire more employees, and will allow us to have future growth potential, said Amanda Kohl, who owns the business with her husband, Ryan.

Their business plan includes moving an existing building, remodeling a garage into a kitchen, and building an animal barn.

That project has been halted because of issues with SCMCCI and the Tuscola County Health Department each having different requirements.

I also submitted a building plan and permit application to SCMCCI and they told me they would not approve their part until the (Tuscola County Health Department) had given me approval, explained Kohl. The second request from TCHD had a note that SCMCCI will need to assess if my doughnut fryer needs a hood. We used the doughnut fryer all of the 2020 season without a hood and TCHD inspected it multiple times (without issue).

Conflicting information and requirements brought the project to a halt.

As time went by, we lost our electrician and are on the verge of losing our builder," Kohl said. "This process has been frustrating. I have spent hours working on drawings and paperwork for the TCHD and SCMCCI. We are zoned agriculture and have an ag-based business."

I do not feel there should be this much red tape in the process to open, move or remodel a business in the county, she said.

Shelson Industries is also having issues with SCMCCI.

All they need is an occupancy permit, but that is being held up," said county Commissioner Kim Vaughan. "They are located in a former acoustics building. They didnt do any construction changes. The building is zoned light industrial.

Shelson Industries is also a light industrial operation.

The only difference between the company that was there and what Shelson is doing is the product that is being made, said Vaughan. So there was no change in classification, but they still cannot get an occupancy permit.

The differences in rules and regulations between the two departments is creating a loggerhead for business development.

During discussion, it was noted there were several other businesses who were having similar issues but did not want to come forward for fear of retaliation.

Commissioners decided to seek a legal opinion regarding building code enforcement authority and its limit per the contract with SCMCCI.
The owner of the Franco Manca restaurant chain has been viewing a flurry of sites at cities across the UK as it targets further expansion.

Shares in Fulham Shore, which also runs The Real Greek chain, lifted higher after it also hailed a very encouraging first week of outdoor trading.

The group said that 70 of its 72 restaurants under the two brands have now reopened for a mix of al-fresco dining, delivery and collection.

Currently, 37 of its 52 Franco Manca sites are operating for outdoor dining, alongside 16 of its Real Greek sites.

It said group sales from the week to Sunday April 18 were ahead of the same week in April 2019, despite only having outdoor seating available.

Customer demand over the week far exceeded the number of seats available at peak times, it told investors on Friday.

It said that this strong reopening demand has helped encourage it to push forward with expansion plans and has been eyeing potential locations for new restaurants.

Fulham Shore said that it has inspected sites in locations such as London, York, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester for new or additional restaurants.

The impact of the pandemic on hospitality and the resultant insolvencies of some rivals means a number of these potential new sites as pre-existing fitted units with lower opening costs and the group therefore expects a reduction in its capital spending.

The group continues to be presented with a number of excellent potential retail locations, almost on a daily basis, it said in a statement.

The board hopes that Fulham Shore can contribute towards the revival of town centres with new restaurant openings as the Covid-19 restrictions ease.

We look forward to recruiting many new staff members to our great teams at Franco Manca and The Real Greek in preparation for the new restaurants that we intend to open.

Shares in the company were 6.25% higher at 17p in early trading.
As this unusual school year nears its end, we invite high school students to enter our letter-writing competition. Craft a letter to the editor in response to a Times news or opinion article from the past week. We will choose some of our favorites for publication.

Letters should be about 150 to 200 words and include the headline and a link to the article. Include your name, age, high school and grade, city or town and state (for publication), and telephone number (not for publication).

Email: letters@nytimes.com

Please put Student Competition in the subject line. The deadline is Monday, May 3.

For examples of what were looking for, look at the letters published here.

For more opportunities to publish student work, visit The New York Times Learning Network.
Justin Bieber sang his song Lonely about the turmoil of being a celebrity to a group of inmates at California State Prison.

He visited the prison in Lancaster last month and in newly released footage originally obtained by TMZ he is seen performing the new number.

One inmate could be seen moving his head to the beat as Justin sang: 'Cause I've had everything but no one's listening and that's just f***ing lonely.'

Setlist: Justin Bieber sang his song Lonely about the turmoil of being a celebrity to a group of inmates at California State Prison

A small audience of male prisoners, all of whom were masked, were arranged on benches several feet from Justin.

Justin was standing at the microphone accompanied by a single acoustic guitar player, with a priest seen sitting nearby.

'Everybody knows my name now but somethin' 'bout it still feels strange,' begins the song which is about the travails of fame.

'What if you had it all but nobody to call? Maybe then you'd know me,' the former child star sings in the chorus.

At the mic: He visited the prison in Lancaster last month and in newly released footage originally obtained by TMZ he is seen performing the new number

Captive audience: One inmate could be seen moving his head to the beat as Justin sang: 'Cause I've had everything but no one's listening and that's just f***ing lonely'

Precautions: A small audience of male prisoners, all of whom were masked, were arranged on benches several feet from Justin

During his visit to the jail he was companied by his wife and fellow devout Christian Hailey who has since described the experience as a 'life changing day.'

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson told TMZ that Justin visited the prison in aid of religious initiatives.

Justin recently set his fans aflutter by surprise-dropping a new EP called Freedom on Easter just two weeks after the release of his album Justice.

Setup: Justin was standing at the microphone accompanied by a single acoustic guitar player, with a priest seen sitting nearby

Words and music: 'Everybody knows my name now but somethin' 'bout it still feels strange,' begins the song which is about the travails of fame

Lonely, which the pop act wrote with Benny Blanco, was released in October of last year as one of the singles from Justice.

Earlier this month Justin delighted staff and students at a downtown Los Angeles elementary school with an outdoor concert.

In a show of support, Hailey was also seen in the audience making sure to keep her mask on as her husband performed.

Letting it out: 'What if you had it all but nobody to call? Maybe then you'd know me,' the former child star sings in the chorus

The concert was part of the Welcome Back With Baby2Baby event in conjunction with Amazon hosted by Kelly Rowland.

As the month wore on Justin livestreamed a 15-minute miniconcert from the rooftop and interior of the Hotel De Crillon in Paris.

Justin's French concert venue, where he performed selections from Justice, is currently owned by a Saudi prince.
Bodies piling up at crematoriums and burial grounds across India are sparking concerns that the death toll from a ferocious new Covid-19 wave may be much higher than official records, underplaying the scale of a resurgence that is overwhelming the countrys medical system.

Several cities across the South Asian nation have reported shocking details of bodies, wrapped in protective gear and identified by hospitals as virus-related deaths, lined up outside crematoriums for hours. Accounts collated by Bloomberg from relatives of the dead and workers and eyewitnesses at crematoriums in at least five cities indicate that the real number of Covid fatalities could be significantly higher than the deaths being reported by local government health departments.

On Thursday, India blew past the global record of daily new infections with 314,835 new cases. With nearly 16 million cases in total, it is the second-worst affected nation in the world, lagging only the U.S. But while the U.S. caseload is twice as high, its death toll is three times what India has reported. The surge in Asias third-largest economy puts at risk not only its fragile economic recovery but also the global fight against the pandemic.

Deaths in India have always been counted poorly, even before the pandemic struck. The vast majority of deaths, especially in rural villages, take place at home and routinely go unregistered. For others the cause of death listed is often anodyne -- old age or heart attack -- leading experts to estimate that only between 20%-30% of all deaths in India are properly medically certified.

News reports from across India suggest that a combination of poor testing and a health system that is inundated by the crush of those sickened by the virus has meant that counting Covid deaths accurately remains a struggle even a year into the health crisis.

Not capturing death data accurately creates the misconception that media is showcasing anecdotal cases and the overall situation is under control, said Himanshu Sikka, the chief strategy officer, health at IPE Global, a development consulting firm. This damages future preparations and measures needed for a possible third wave.



Relatives pray during the funeral of a Covid-19 fatality in a cremation hall at the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium in New Delhi on April 19.

Data Vs Cremations

In Lucknow, the capital city of Indias most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, the official number of Covid deaths between April 11 to April 16 stood at 145. However, just two of the citys main crematoriums reported more than 430 or three times as many cremations under Covid-19 protocol in that period, according to eyewitnesses and workers, who asked not to be named because they werent authorized to speak to reporters. This doesnt account for burials or funerals at other smaller cremation grounds in the city.

When a Lucknow resident, who asked not to be named, reached one of the main crematoriums with the body of a family friend on Monday morning he was told they could set up the funeral pyre anywhere they could find space. Even so, it took over three hours to find a spot that was far away enough to tolerate the heat emanating from the other burning bodies.

He was not allowed to use the electric furnace set aside for virus deaths because the dead man didnt have a report showing hed tested positive for the virus even though he had a doctors prescription for Covid-19 treatment. No relatives could attend the funeral as they had all tested positive and were under home isolation.

After the patient died in a city hospital, the staff wrapped the body in the protective kits used for Covid-19 deaths. The majority of the nearly 50 bodies the Lucknow citizen saw arriving in the four hours he spent at the crematorium were wrapped the same way but were not cremated in the virus-only electric furnace, he said. That likely meant their deaths werent attributed to Covid.

In the industrial city of Surat, located in Prime Minister Narendra Modis home state of Gujarat, the head of a trust that runs crematoriums said at least 100 bodies have been brought in each day for the last 10 days, wrapped in the Covid-mandated protective covering. Surats municipal body on April 19 reported only 28 virus deaths.

Structures within the furnace, like the metal frames and the chimney, are melting and falling apart, Kamlesh Sailor said. Repairing it and keeping it going is a challenge, but we have no other way, bodies will have to be disposed of as quickly as possible.

The figure of deaths is dynamic, difficult to reconcile from plain reading, said Navneet Sehgal, additional chief secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government. No one is trying to hide Covid-19 deaths. Some of the deaths in Lucknow which are included as deaths because of Covid-19 are actually normal deaths which would have been counted wrongly.

There was no immediate comment from the spokesperson of the Gujarat government.

Sanjeev Gupta, a freelance photojournalist in the central city of Bhopal, said he has consistently witnessed 80 to 120 bodies being cremated each day last week at just one of the citys three cremation centers set aside for Covid cases. The official virus death numbers for the district were below 10 each day. According to news reports, the state government said the deaths were suspected Covid but couldnt be confirmed because of a shortage of testing kits and lab facilities.

Counting Struggles

The speed with which the pandemic swept across the world meant that even in countries with sophisticated health systems, mortality was difficult to accurately assess, especially in the early days. Patients with heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other chronic conditions are at greater risk of dying from Covid-19. Some governments, including Russia, had last year attributed the cause of deaths in some of these patients to the pre-existing condition, raising doubts about the veracity of official mortality data.

Tens of thousands of probable Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. werent captured by official statistics between March and May 2020, a study in July found.

Even without accurate figures, the deadly impact of Indias second wave is hard to miss.

Four pages of the local language Sandesh newspaper in Rajkot, another Gujarat city, were covered with obituaries on Wednesday. A month ago, they took up only a quarter of a page.
Yesterday the pontiff received the prime minister designate. The talks focused on Lebanons political crisis and the delays in forming a cabinet. The pontiff fears that the political row might take on a confessional character. Hariri, a Sunni, highlights the Vaticans role in dealing with the countrys many crises.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - I think the Vatican, more than anyone else, knows about Lebanon's problems, said Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri after he met in audience with Pope Francis, followed by meetings with Secretary of State Card Pietro Parolin and Secretary for Relations with States Bishop Paul Gallagher.

As the prime minister-designate multiplies his international meetings to solve the difficulties and differences that have prevented him from forming a new cabinet for more than eight months, he also wants to warn against parties and factions that reject compromise and want Lebanon to sink.

Hariri, who heads the Future Movement, is trying to convince the Vatican that his battle is purely political, while Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is openly trying to present himself as the champion of Christian rights.

A source close to the FPM, interviewed by L'Orient-Le Jour, has said that the delegation that met the Pope reported [his] desire that the current political row in Lebanon not take on a confessional character.

According to the same source, the pontiff noted that the problem is not about Christian rights, but about the rights of the Lebanese.

The director of the Vatican Press Office Matteo Bruni told reporters that during the private audience granted to Hariri, which lasted about thirty minutes, the Pope reiterated his closeness to the Lebanese people, who are going through a moment of great difficulty and uncertainty.

The Holy Father also appealed to the sense of responsibility of all political forces to work as quickly as possible for the good of the nation.

Reiterating his desire to visit the country as soon as the situation permits, Pope Francis expressed the desire that Lebanon, helped by the international community, should start again to incarnate [...] a great people, reconciled with its vocation to be a land of encounter, living together and pluralism, said Bruni citing a message sent by the Pontiff to the Lebanese people, during his trip home from the apostolic journey to Iraq.

For his part, Hariri said at a press conference that during his talks with the pontiff he mentioned the role that the Vatican can play in helping Lebanon deal with the crises it is going through after eight months of unproductive efforts to form a cabinet.

There are external difficulties in this regard concerning Gebran [Bassil] and his allies said Hariri, in a reference to Hezbollah. I have asked the Vatican to intervene wherever possible.

Many believe that Hezbollah is using the formation of a cabinet in Lebanon as leverage in the standoff between Iran and the United States.

Hariri, knowing that the Pope repeatedly mentioned Lebanon's problems with the French president, went on to say that the French initiative to end the crisis in Lebanon, presented on 1 September 2020 in Beirut by President Emmanuel Macron, is still valid.

I think, he added, that the Vatican knows more than anyone about Lebanons problems.

The prime minister-designate said that Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi supports the formation of a cabinet composed of independent experts. Any statement contrary to this comes from well-known sources, he added in a clear reference to President Michel Aoun and his faction who want a cabinet of experts and politicians.

What is happening in Lebanon, warns Hariri, in a new attack against the president, his son-in-law Gebran Bassil and his ally, Hezbollah, is that one side wants a free economy and another wants to get its hands on electrical power and other strategic assets, and only wants to deal with one side in economic matters.

We are in an extremely bad situation, but the formation of the cabinet will help stop the collapse, except that some people want Lebanon to collapse in order to stay politically afloat.

Finally, responding to criticism from the president and his camp about travel abroad, Hariri, a Sunni , explained that they were intended to find the means to help Lebanon. Perhaps, some people are tourists inside the presidential palace.

He noted that these trips are a step towards the formation of the cabinet, [. . .] to save time. It is like making first the visits that we should make after the formation of the cabinet.

Hariri said the Pope would like to come to Lebanon, but only after the formation of a cabinet.

In Rome, Hariri's agenda included meetings with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.

The Vatican meeting focused on the historic relations between the Holy See and Lebanon and on the role the Vatican can play in helping Lebanon face the crises it is going through, said the prime ministers press office at the end of the audience.

As usual, the prime minister-designate gave the pontiff a gift, a work of art depicting Saint George killing the dragon, made by Palestinian Christians who have lived in Colombia for three generations.

Prime minister-designate arrived in Rome yesterday accompanied by former minister Ghattas Khoury and an adviser. (FN)
Appearing frail with graying hair after months behind bars, Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty today in her first in-person hearing since her arrest last year.

The British socialite was arraigned in a Manhattan courthouse on new sex trafficking charges added to an indictment three weeks ago. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea Friday and a padlocked black sedan believed to be carrying Maxwell was seen driving to the Brooklyn prison.

'Yes, your honor,' and 'I have, your honor' were the only words Maxwell said when answering the judge before waiving to have the charges publicly read.

Today is the first time Jeffrey Epstein's alleged madam appeared in person after nine months in what she described as 'hell-hole' Metropolitan Detention Center and her physical appearance showed.

Maxwell's signature short black haircut was grown out long, showing off the gray at the roots as she appeared noticeably more frail than her last hearing in July.

But there was no sign of the hair loss her lawyers claimed she had experienced in prison and no sign of her husband Scott Borgerson who was anticipated to show up to support her.

Appearing frail with graying hair after months behind bars, Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty today in her first in-person hearing since her arrest last year. Her sister Isabel is seen sitting behind her wearing a beret in a court sketch

A padlocked black sedan with dark tinted windows believed to be carrying Maxwell was seen driving to the Brooklyn prison

Padlocks were seen on the dark Dodge Caravan that is believed to have driven Maxwell back to prison

Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty to new sex trafficking charges added to an indictment three weeks ago. Pictured: A courtroom sketch of Maxwell from today, April 23, 2021

Ghislaine Maxwell's sister appeared at court wearing a black beret to support the accused sex trafficker. Maxwell did not appear to see her sister Isabel who was at the back of the court wearing dark glasses and a beret to disguise herself. She appeared extremely nervous and paced around

Maxwell was wearing a white mask and a blue prison issue top and trousers. Her feet were shackled together as she walked in and sat down between her lawyers with two US Marshals behind her.

She was mostly impassive and only when questioned by the judge.

Ghislaine Maxwell (right with her ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein in 2005) is set to attend a New York court today in her first in-person hearing since her arrest last year

At the end of the brief hearing she waved at a blonde middle aged friend at the back of the court.

Maxwell did not appear to see her sister Isabel who was at the back of the court wearing dark glasses and a beret to disguise herself. She appeared extremely nervous and paced around.

There were only a few dozen people allowed into courtroom 24B of the Manhattan federal court due to Covid restrictions.

Among them were David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, lawyers who represent the second of four Maxwell accusers.

Maxwell's legal team, Jeff Pagliuca, Laura Menninger and David Markus were seen arriving ahead of her arraignment.

The judge presiding said she is considering the defense's request to move the trial to the fall or winter.

Maxwell was confronted in court by an Epstein victim, a blonde woman named Danielle Bensky who sat in the public gallery. Bensky arrived at the last minute to the hearing and craned her neck to see Maxwell.

Speaking outside court afterwards, Bensky said: 'To be honest I was too afraid to come to the Epstien trial so this is a new feeling for me to sit there and accept a lot (of things). I do think it's hard to sit through it (the hearing) and it's painful, but it's good too, it's healing.'

She added: 'After not having a trial for Epstein this will provide closure for the victims.'

David Boies, who represents the second accuser against Maxwell, ridiculed her media blitz which has made her out to be a victim of mistreatment by the federal authorities.

He said: 'I don't believe there is any credible basis whatsoever to assert Ms. Maxwell is the victim. The media blitz the defendant is putting out, I don't believe it's fair to the real victims. I think it's highly undesirable'.

Boies said his clients were feeling 'good' and 'looking forward to the vindication of the trial'.

He said: 'This is a time of great stress for them, but also a time of great hope'.

Maxwell was confronted in court by an Epstein victim, a blonde woman named Danielle Bensky who sat in the public gallery. Bensky arrived at the last minute to the hearing and craned her neck to see Maxwell

Speaking outside court afterwards, Bensky said: 'To be honest I was too afraid to come to the Epstein trial so this is a new feeling for me to sit there and accept a lot (of things). I do think it's hard to sit through it (the hearing) and it's painful, but it's good too, it's healing'

There were only a few dozen people allowed into courtroom 24B of the Manhattan federal court due to Covid restrictions. Among them were David Boies and Sigrid McCawley (pictured), lawyers who represent the second of four Maxwell accusers

Maxwell's lawyer David Markus said that her two brothers had tried to come to court from the UK for the hearing but were unable to due to Covid restrictions

Jeff Pagliuca and Laura Menninger, legal team for Ghislaine Maxwell, arrive ahead of her arraignment on new indictment Friday

Maxwell's lawyer David Markus said that her two brothers had tried to come to court from the UK for the hearing but were unable to due to Covid restrictions.

Maxwell's husband Scott Borgerson did not appear in court Friday to support her

He said: 'Ghislaine is in very, very difficult conditions none of us would wish on our worst enemy. She's staying strong, she's getting ready for trial. Ghislaine is looking forward to that trial and she's looking forward to fighting, and she will fight'.

Markus added that he went to see Maxwell last night in prison and three guards followed him to a small room.

He said: 'I've never seen anything like how she's being treated. She shouldn't be treated like this'.

Markus declined to comment when asked why Scott Borgerson, Maxwell's husband, was not in court.

Maxwell's right arm looked thin and knobbly as she sat down in court at a table next to one of her five lawyers.

Her sister Isabel tried to to avoid being identified in court by whispering her name to a court officer so that journalists would not hear her.

Judge Alison Nathan asked Maxwell if she had received the updated indictment. Speaking in her British accent, Maxwell replied: 'Yes your honor'.

Judge Nathan asked if Maxwell had read it and she replied: 'I have your honor'.

Judge Nathan asked Maxwell if she would like to waive the public reading of the indictment and she confirmed that she would.

Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim told Judge Nathan she wanted to plead not guilty.

Judge Nathan said that while she was still deciding if the case should be put back from its July start date to next January, 'everyone should assume' it is going ahead this summer for the time being.

Maxwell sister Isabel tried to to avoid being identified in court by whispering her name to a court officer so that journalists would not hear her

Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, in June 2019 (pictured front) with her six living siblings. Her sister Isabel appeared in court today. The siblings, L-R, are: Anne, 73, Kevin, 62, twins Isabel and Christine, 70, Philip, 71, and Ian, 64

Pictured is Maxwell's lawyers Bobbi C Sternheim leaving court

Attorney Bobbi Sternheim appears in court during the arraignment hearing in a court sketch

Her lawyers have previously said she was demanding to be arraigned on the new allegations in person after the dial-in phone line on a previous hearing was hijacked by QAnon conspiracy theorists.

Her lawyers failed three times to convince Judge Nathan to release Maxwell on bail after they claimed their client is living in poor prison conditions and has lost weight.

She had requested a week's delay to April 23 to formally plead to two additional charges at federal court in New York

A document filed by her lawyers states that this was to enable her 'family members to adjust their schedules and make travel arrangements to attend the court proceedings'.

But Maxwell's alleged victims pleaded with a federal court not to delay her trial because they are suffering from an 'enormous amount of stress'.

Prosecutors said that two women who will give evidence against Maxwell will not be able to rest until the case is heard.

One is feeling 'significant stress' while the other is feeling an 'enormous amount of stress' and intends to give evidence in person despite her personal obligations at the time.

They wrote: 'The longer this case remains pending, the longer the victims suffer the anxiety of anticipating their trial testimony and the uncertainty of awaiting a resolution.

Protesters hold a banner outside Manhattan Federal Court ahead of Ghislaine Maxwell's arraignment

Protestors stand outside the federal court house ahead of the federal court house

'As a result, multiple victims oppose any adjournment of the trial date. In particular, Minor Victim-3 expressed feeling significant stress during the pendency of this case and a strong desire to have the case brought to a close through trial as soon as possible.

'Similarly, Minor Victim-2 also indicated that she has experienced an enormous amount of stress while this case has been pending, wishes to see the case brought to trial as scheduled, and has already planned to be available to testify at trial as scheduled this summer, despite her

Judge Alison Nathan is presiding over Maxwell's case

Sources close to Maxwell's family told The Telegraph that her appearance in court today is about Maxwell wanting to 'face her accusers head on', as well as being free from her prison cell for a while.

A rewritten indictment lodged against the 59-year-old British socialite last month added sex trafficking charges to allegations that Maxwell recruited three teenage girls from 1994 to 1997 for then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.

New charges involving the sex trafficking of a minor stretched the conspiracy to 2004.

According to the new indictment, the woman was sexually abused multiple times by Epstein between 2001 and 2004 at his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, beginning when she was 14 years old.

Maxwell's lawyers have claimed that she had lost weight and her hair was falling out because of her poor treatment while in custody.

They alleged she is becoming a 'shell of her former self' because she is being woken up every 15 minutes with a a flash light.

Her lawyers claimed the conditions were more fitting for Hannibal Lecter, the fictional serial killer from the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Her husband Scott Borgerson was anticipated to travel 250 miles from his home just outside Boston to show his support but did not make it.

Her brother Ian, who launched a public PR campaign to have Maxwell freed from custody after she was denied her bail three times, is not able to travel from the UK due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Maxwell's trial is set for July 12 on charges alleging she recruited and groomed teenage girls from 1994 to 2004 to provide sexual massages to her one-time boyfriend.

Last week, her lawyers requested that the trial be delayed until next January, saying the new charges require months of investigation.

Judge Nathan has said the perjury matters will be tried separately but Maxwell wants a delay on the main allegations too.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, left, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, spoke in court Friday. She seen during a news conference, in New York, Monday, July 8, 2019 as federal prosecutors announced charges against Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell, far right, is pictured with Prince Andrew and accuser Virginia Roberts in her townhouse in London. Roberts has filed a criminal lawsuit claiming that she had under-aged sex with Prince Andrew and pedophile Epstein

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan federal lockup as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Due to the coronavirus most hearings in the Southern District of New York are taking place via Zoom or through a dial-in phone line.

The dial-in phone line on a previous hearing was hijacked by QAnon conspiracy theorists, leading to Maxwell's lawyers to say their client is demanding to be arraigned on the new allegations in person.

All 500 spots on the public phone line in the separate civil case were occupied and one person live streamed the hearing on YouTube until the judge told them to stop.

Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim called that hearing a 'debacle' and said that Maxwell is demanding a bail hearing where witnesses can testify regarding the 'purported strength of the government's case'.

As they have repeatedly argued before, lawyers for Maxwell wrote that she is being punished in part because Epstein is out of reach.

'She is no monster, but she is being treated like one because of the `Epstein effect,' they wrote.

The lawyers urged the 2nd Circuit to 'test the actual strength' of the government case by insisting on a more thorough bail hearing where they could prove that each story told by the four people who say they were victims of Epstein and Maxwell 'has dramatically changed over the years.'

'At first, none of the anonymous accusers even mentioned Ms. Maxwell. As they hired the same law firm, sought money and fame, joined a movement, and only after Epstein died, did the accusers start to point the finger at Ms. Maxwell. Far from corroboration, this is fabrication,' they wrote.

A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment.

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

Today was the first time she will appear in person after nine months in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center - and the extent of how this has affected Maxwell's appearance

Earlier this month, the judge rejected Maxwells arguments to toss charges that she recruited three teenager girls from 1994 to 1997 for then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.

Judge Nathan denied claims that a non-prosecution agreement Epstein reached with federal prosecutors over a dozen years ago protects Maxwell from prosecution.

She also disagreed that some or all charges should be tossed out for a variety of other perceived flaws.

Maxwell has been in jail since her arrest on July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire at her $1 million country home.

She is accused of enticing girls as young as 14 for Epstein to abuse and in some cases taking part in the abuse.

An alternate sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards shows Maxwell in court

A sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards was sent out on the realghislaine.com Twitter account, which is run by Maxwell's family members

Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, also perjured herself in a civil case.

She denies all the allegations.

Earlier this month, Maxwell's family has launched a website in support of the British socialite, insisting she's 'no monster' and protesting her innocence.

The site, realghislaine.com, invites 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.'
Safer Streets require real-time video analytics

The UK government recently announced a doubling of the Safer Streets Fund to 45 million, as it seeks to reassure the public that safety is a top priority, as the night-time economy makes a return. More than just surveillance While this funding increase is much needed, its vital that the government and local councils use the money strategically, or risk missing out on a great opportunity to deliver real change and enhance safety across the United Kingdom. One of the main strategies cited by the government is to increase the current vast number of CCTV cameras installed across the country, despite the fact that the UK is already one of the most surveilled nations in the world. Investing in video analytics London alone has around 700,000 cameras, but to effectively monitor them all would be an incredibly inefficient use of manpower and require a huge number of staff. Therefore, I believe the clearest and most cost-effective way for this project to succeed in its overall mission, is by investing in smarter technology, such as video analytics. Incorporating video analytics into existing infrastructure is the clear solution This technology offers a more efficient use of resources, faster response times and enables more informed, time-critical decision making, when reacting to unfolding events in real time. Incorporating video analytics into existing infrastructure is the clear solution, as the technology enables legacy assets, such as analogue CCTV cameras, to become more than just after the fact evidence gathering tools and instead be used to help enhance real-time responses to unfolding incidents. Artificial intelligence-enabled solutions Artificial intelligence-enabled solutions are trained using vast datasets of images and video footage, in order to better understand people, objects and vehicles that are captured on film, and they continue learning and improving, while in use. The systems algorithms analyse and prioritise input from video data to decide which inputs are of value, automatically classifying the footage and notifying security personnel accordingly. This reduces response times by notifying CCTV operators of an incident, as it happens, meaning law enforcement and security personnel can react faster and intervene in an ongoing situation. Edge technology and real-time video streaming A key consideration should be choosing a technology that can operate at the edge and deliver real-time video streaming, even at the lowest bandwidths, so it isnt limited to use in areas with good connectivity, which would exclude most remote areas. Quality really does matter and technology that can operate over low bandwidths is crucial for allowing operators to zoom in on areas of interest, such as a car number plate or face, and retrieve full-resolution images that can make a real difference in ongoing investigations. Analytics-based security approach Introducing an analytics-based security approach would also help curtail the rising cost of tackling crime Introducing an analytics-based security approach would also help curtail the rising cost of tackling crime. Research conducted by the UKs Labour Party recently found that the annual cost of crime reached a staggering 100 billion. While statistics show that crime rates in general have been fairly stable over recent years, experts point to the increase in specific types of violent crime, such as knife crime which rose by over 20% during 2020. Implementing smart analytics-based technology Implementing smart analytics-based technology would help maintain staffing costs, as the system can identify incidents without an operators input, as well as reducing the cost of managing crime, as more incidents will be intervened in before they escalate too far. This dramatically reduces the burden on staff and allows a single surveillance operator to monitor many more cameras. On the other hand, this level of automation also reduces false alarm fatigue and operator overload, which can quickly sap efficiencies and reduce operator alertness, if left unchecked. Data driven problem-solving approach to crime prevention Procurement officials should avoid the common mistake of simply doubling down and throwing more staff and security assets at the problem to bring results. Instead, they should take a more data driven problem-solving approach to crime prevention by leveraging technologies that can enhance response and preserve their existing investments in cameras. The smart use of real-time video analytics could make the difference by preventing dangerous situations from escalating into serious incidents.
GB0CMS to take part in International Marconi Day from operators homes Norfolk's radio amateurs will once again contact other enthusiasts around the world with the callsign GB0CMS on Saturday 24 April 2021 as part of the International Marconi Day celebrations.



But this year is different due to Covid restrictions. Operators will work from their home QTHs on a rota basis instead of from Caister Lifeboat, the usual venue.



Ten operators will share the operating time from midnight to midnight and plan to be on everything from 160m to 10m, using CW, SSB and FT4/8.



The Norfolk Amateur Radio Club (NARC) usually runs an all-day special event station with the callsign GB0CMS at Caister Lifeboat Visitor Centre to commemorate the village's original Marconi Wireless Station, which was established at Caister in 1900. The station was in a house in the High Street known as Pretoria Villa and its original purpose was to communicate with ships in the North Sea and the Cross Sands lightship.



The radio amateurs usually manage to contact radio amateurs in more than 40 different countries.



On Saturday, the closest to Guglielmo Marconi's birthday, stations around the world are set up at sites with historical links to the inventor's work. These include Poldhu in England; Cape Cod Massachusetts; Glace Bay, Nova Scotia; Villa Griffone, Bologna, Italy and many others.



Stations closer to home include Marconi stations in Holyhead, Daventry and The Lizard in Cornwall  home to some of the inventor's early work.



Any radio amateur making contact with GB0CMS can request a special QSL card with an historic photograph of the original Caister Marconi Wireless Station on the front.



NARC public relation officer Steve Nichols, who is organising the event, said: It is a shame that we cant be back at Caister Lifeboat, but this seems like a good alternative.



We will aim to make contact with as many amateurs as possible and as we will be operating for more hours I have no doubt that we might break our record for the number of contacts.



Keep an eye on the DX Cluster to find out where GB0CMS is operating in real time.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN  The borough may make Tumbling Run a permanent forest area, limit timbering there in return for carbon reduction payments, and is set to receive more than $500,000 to replace lead pipes.

During Wednesdays council meeting, Kevin Yoder, a representative from The Nature Conservancy, spoke about a proposed woodlands conservation program, discussed at previous meetings.

The borough is considering adopting a permanent conservation easement for Tumbling Run and Panther Valley.

What conservation easement is, is making sure that property stays in its natural forested state, that any forest management that happens out there is done sustainably, that we remove the threat of future development and mismanagement, Yoder said.

Under the agreement, the borough can also take part in a carbon revenue project.

It pays you for increasing the amount of carbon in the woods, Yoder said. The way to increase your carbon is to increase the amount of wood in your forest.

You can do that by letting your forest grow or by reducing the amount of timber harvesting thats done.

The borough would still be able to timber, as long as it is done sustainably, Yoder said, but timbering would decrease the revenue earned from carbon.

The main purpose of the easement is to prohibit any future development on the land to keep wildlife migratory corridors intact.

In my opinion, its not only the right thing to do, conserving our woods, its not going to harm us, Council Member Jerry Bowman said. I dont see a downside.

Council President Kurt Montz said his primary concern was the permanence of the agreement, especially if the borough would ever want to consider selling the land.

However, Montz agreed with Borough Administrator Scott Graver that sale of Tumbling Run would be unlikely.

I dont think the borough will ever sell Tumbling Run, Graver said. Its our watershed and our resource of water for 2,000 customers.

The council agreed to review the proposals for Tumbling Run, but decided not to move forward with Panther Valley, as there would be more possibility of selling that property in the future.

Panther Valley, to the west of Cressona, was formerly a reservoir and watershed.

Yoder said the easement draft would be available for the council to review right away, while more detailed carbon revenue projections would be available in the summer.

Grant awarded

Meanwhile, Graver said the borough was awarded a $529,645 grant from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, which the borough applied for in January.

Schuylkill Haven was the only municipality in the county to receive part of a $117 million investment from the state in water infrastructure projects.

This will replace lead service water lines in the borough, Graver said. We have approximately 55 of them. We gave a really detailed grant application, and we were really excited to hear back.

The replacement project will reduce public exposure to lead in drinking water and unaccounted-for water loss, which Graver said can occur from the degradation of the lines over time.

Like most substances that are buried underground, the effects of weather and time will prompt replacement at some point, Graver said. The water lines in this project area have in fact been in use for many, many years, in some cases 60- or 70-plus.

Graver said most of the lines to be replaced are on North Berne Street, Columbia Street and Parkway, and the project will take place this summer.

He has been in contact with PennDOT about sewer replacement at the Route 443/Columbia Street bridge, he said.

Our project to replace the sewer will require a shutdown of that intersection for two to three days, Graver said. We cannot do the project without shutting down the road.

Graver said he is waiting for PennDOT to approve detour routes, for which signs would be put up two weeks before the road is closed. Graver said he hopes to have the work done during the third week of May.

The borough has also been working to update its code book. However, solicitor Mark Semanchick said there have been problems with the company that was hired to review the code book.

Councilwoman Diane Roeder, who has been working on the update project with Borough Secretary Kaitlyn Tinari, said they thought the company, General Code, was going to review the code book and highlight anything that was outdated for the borough to review before making a final draft.

They told us they would send an administrative review for the boroughs review, Roeder said. All they sent is a final draft.

Semanchick asked the councils approval to arrange a meeting with representatives from General Code to get clarification.

In upcoming events, The Walk In Art Center will hold a Rock the Block concert from 5 to 8 p.m. May 15.

Council also approved allowing the Schuylkill Haven American Legion Auxiliary to place boots with flags around Parkway for Memorial Day to honor veterans and service people starting May 27.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 06:06:31|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland on Thursday urged international support for the first Palestinian elections in 15 years.

"The successful completion of inclusive Palestinian elections is a critical step toward renewing democratic legitimacy of the Palestinian Government," Wennesland told a virtual meeting of the Security Council on the Palestine question, speaking from Jerusalem.

"These elections should also pave the way to uniting Gaza and the West Bank under a single, legitimate national authority, which would be an important step towards reconciliation and could advance Middle East peace," he said.

Preparations continue for the Palestinian Legislative Council elections set for May 22, he reported.

Registration of candidates concluded on March 31, and the final lists are expected on April 30, the start of the official campaign period.

"Since my last briefing, a growing number of young people are expected to participate in shaping their political future and having the opportunity to vote for the first time," he said.

The UN has been supporting the electoral process, engaging regularly with parties and with the Central Elections Committee (CEC).

"To date, the CEC has performed its duties with professionalism and integrity, enhancing trust in the electoral process," he said.

"I also underscore the critical role of election observers to ensure respect for the results of a credible and transparent process," the envoy added.

Wennesland also welcomed the CEC's plans to implement special measures for safe voting during the pandemic.

As of Thursday, there were more than 316,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the occupied Palestinian territory, according to data from the World Health Organization.

Addressing the crisis, he said COVID-19 continues to pose "a formidable threat" across the occupied Palestinian territory and vaccination must be ramped up.

"I am seriously concerned by the significant rise in active cases in Gaza where the daily infection rate is reaching its highest level since the onset of the pandemic. In the West Bank, many hospitals remain at or near full capacity," he said.

The envoy updated the Council on the vaccination campaign which the Palestinian authorities rolled out last month.

More than 300,000 doses have been delivered so far, he reported, and Israel also has continued efforts to vaccinate segments of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Additionally, more than 100,000 Palestinians who have permits to enter Israel, have also been inoculated.

"As the socio-economic impact of the pandemic has significantly exacerbated a seemingly never-ending fiscal and economic crisis in both the West Bank and Gaza, support for the Palestinian Government's response must continue to be a priority," the envoy said.

"I welcome all efforts carried out thus far to vaccinate the Palestinian population, but the process needs to be accelerated and more vaccines are needed," he said. Enditem
First clinical study to assess cannabis as an alternative to morphine

Tetra completes manufacturing of QIXLEEF clinical trial drug for REBORN1 trial

Export permit received from Health Canada for immediate shipping to USA

OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. ("Tetra" or the "Company") (TSX:TBP)(OTCQB:TBPMF)(FRA:JAM1), a leader in cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development is pleased to announce that it has shipped the investigational new drug, QIXLEEF, to the USA for the initiation of the REBORN1 study. The Company has completed the manufacturing of QIXLEEF and has received the cannabis export permit from Health Canada. REBORN1 will investigate cannabis as an alternative to morphine sulfate immediate release in the management of breakthrough pain. QIXLEEF is a botanical drug product with a "fixed ratio" of THC and CBD and is inhaled through a vaporizer.

"We are committed to the fight against the opioid crisis. That is why since the authorization of the clinical trial by the FDA in late January 2021, Tetra has worked hard to prepare QIXLEEF for clinical testing. We are on track to initiate this Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial designed to demonstrate that QIXLEEF can provide pain relief faster than an immediate-release oral morphine." said Dr. Guy Chamberland, CEO and CRO of Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

REBORN1 is a 10-week open-label randomized study to evaluate the effect of inhaled QIXLEEF compared to morphine sulfate immediate release (MSIR) to improve fast onset of pain relief of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP). BTcP is a rapid onset, high intensity, and short duration pain episode, which takes place within stable background pain control. The time to peak intensity of an episode ranges from 3 to 15 minutes with a duration of 30 to 60 minutes. They occur with a frequency of 1.5 to 6 times per day and the majority are moderate to severe in intensity (Portenoy and Hagen 1990; Portenoy et al. 1999; Davies et al. 2011). It significantly affects the quality of life of patients with cancer and their ability to function normally (Zeppetella and Davies 2013).

About Tetra Bio-Pharma

Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX:TBP)(OTCQB:TBPMF)(FRA:JAM1) is a leader in cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development with a FDA and a Health Canada cleared clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. Our evidence-based scientific approach has enabled us to develop a pipeline of cannabinoid-based drug products for a range of medical conditions, including pain, inflammation, and oncology. With patients at the core of what we do, Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing biopharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies.

For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com

Neither the TSX Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company's research and development strategies, including the success of this product or any other product, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

For further information, please contact Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.:

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

Ms. Natalie Leroux

Phone: + 1 (833) 977-7575

Email: investors@tetrabiopharma.com

media@tetrabiopharma.com

SOURCE: Tetra Bio-Pharma

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641918/Tetra-Bio-Pharma-Provides-an-Update-on-its-US-REBORN1-Clinical-Trial
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The Russian forces, which have taken part in the exercise in Crimea, are now returning to base, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"Troops of the Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces, which had taken part in the surprise preparedness check, started their return to base on April 23," the ministry said.

"At the moment, the military units and formations are being deployed to railroad stations and airfields and are boarding landing ships, train cars and military transport aircraft," the ministry said.
Migrants: EU and Frontex denied rescue, Sea-Watch says NGO denounces they 'were aware of emergency'

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 23 - Sea-Watch International tweeted on Friday that the EU and Frontex denied rescue to 130 migrants who drowned off Libya. "130 people drowned - EU authorities and Frontex knew about the distress case, but denied rescue", the NGO wrote on Twitter. "The Ocean Viking arrived on scene, only to find 10 bodies". The NGO carries out search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. On Friday, it published a photo of the crew of the Sea-Watch 4 observing a moment of silence to commemorate the people who died "in this shocking incident".(ANSAmed).




Costa Cruises are now planning a restart of operations in Spain on July 3, having previously announced that this would be June 14. The cruise operator is scheduling a ship to depart from Barcelona on this later date, but there has yet to be official confirmation from the Spanish government that cruise tourism can resume. There has been a ban since March last year, with the exception of the Canaries, where special authorisation was given in late October.

Luigi Stefanelli, the Costa Cruises director for Spain and Portugal, is warning of a loss of market share for Spain, given that other countries, e.g. Greece and Israel, now allow cruise ships. He believes that there is "unfair treatment", as it is possible to enter Spain by plane but not on a cruise ship. Spain, he adds, is "crucial" for cruise itineraries.

The president of the Port of Barcelona, Merce Conesa, recently announced that there are discussions with cruise operators and government authorities regarding permission for cruise ships in time for Sant Joan (June 24). Stefanelli feels that this is "a sign of confidence". For now, the plan is for the Costa Smeralda to sail on July 3 from Barcelona to Palma and then to Palermo, Civitavecchia, Savona and Marseille.

Costa Cruises have developed health protocols, such as the mandatory wearing of masks, reduced capacities and social distancing for shows and restaurants, "bubble" excursions, free antigen tests for all passengers and crew, and replacing paper documents with digital ones.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  The Department of Health said the vaccination of frontline workers under the A4 priority group will have to wait until a set of guidelines is issued.

"We are drafting the guidelines right now...We will soon be issuing this," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a virtual briefing on Friday.

She noted that the final guidelines will be based on recent meetings with other Health officials, including the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, Vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr., the private sector, and other stakeholders.

The Philippines' vaccine rollout started last month with the country's 1.7 million health workers, followed by senior citizens and people with comorbidities.

The government already identified frontline workers in essential sectors, who will be next in the vaccine priority line. Some of those listed were workers in commuter transport, wet and dry markets, food service, news media, education, specific government agencies, and overseas workers.

READ: COVID-19 task force finalizes 4th priority list in PH vaccination drive

It eyes to start inoculating these Filipinos by June.

So far, more than three million doses have arrived in the country, while more than 1.6 million were administered based on latest data.

By the end of the year, the government hopes to immunize up to 70 million Filipinos.
She has been gracing the House Of Gucci set in a series of jaw-dropping ensembles, amid a perfect impression of Patrizia Reggiani.

Yet Lady Gaga proved Rome wasn't built in a day as she was spotted behind-the-scenes on the Italian set of the upcoming movie, while rocking a hairnet and smoking a cigarette outside her trailer.

The songstress, 35, real name Stefani Germanotta, was worlds away from the part she plays as she arrived on-set in scanty, knitted three-piece - complete with a bralet, high-waisted shorts and a matching cardigan.

Smoking up a storm! Lady Gaga proved Rome wasn't built in a day as she was spotted behind-the-scenes on the Italian set of the upcoming movie, while rocking a hairnet and smoking a cigarette outside her trailer

Gaga looked like she had some time to go before transforming into the fashionista as she was seen with her hair tightly packed beneath the net.

She was clearly having some downtime between scenes as she could not resist slipping in a cigarette before turning herself to full transformation.

The story Gaga and her on-screen husband Adam Driver are playing out is that of Reggiani, who was found guilty of paying a hit man 300,000 (240,000) to murder her husband - 46yearold Maurizio Gucci, an heir to the fashion empire.

Her husband had left her for another woman 10 years previously after telling her he was going on a short business trip, from which he never returned.

Cheeky! The songstress, 35, real name Stefani Germanotta, was worlds away from the part she plays as she arrived on-set in scanty, knitted three-piece - complete with a bralet, high-waisted shorts and a matching cardigan

Puffing away: Gaga looked like she had some time to go before transforming into the fashionista as she was seen with her hair tightly packed beneath the net

What a look! She sported a beaded chain to hold on to her silk Maskela mask

Little to the imagination! She did not cover up when she arrived at work

She was also said to be furious her former husband had started seeing other women, and feared her daughters' $170million inheritance was at risk if he remarried before ordering the hit.

She also wanted more than the $650,000 she had been offered in a divorce settlement, the court heard.+

Reggiani eventually hired hitman Benedetto Ceraulo, a debt-ridden pizzeria owner who shot Gucci dead on the steps of his office in Milan as he arrived for work. Ceraulo was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Yum! She opted for typically edgy sunglasses and scraped her brunette locks up

Resentment: Patrizia Reggiani, nicknamed the Black Widow, was found guilty of paying a hit man 300,000 (240,000) to murder 46yearold Maurizio Gucci, an heir to the fashion empire

Bling bling! A crew member arrived with the epic jewels used to make Patrizia's character come to life

Hey there! She is playing the woman who was convicted after her clairvoyant and confidante Pina Auriemma turned informer and told police about the plot.

She was convicted after her clairvoyant and confidante Pina Auriemma turned informer and told police about the plot.

During the murder trial, which transfixed Italy, Reggiani arrived each day wearing head-to-toe Gucci clothes and accessories. The court heard how she had ordered the murder of her husband after he offered her $650,000 in a divorce settlement.

She was initially sentenced to 29 years in 1998, which was reduced to 26 on appeal. She served 18  with her pet ferret Bambi as a companion for some of the time - before being released in October 2014.

Here she is: During the murder trial, which transfixed Italy, Reggiani arrived each day wearing head-to-toe Gucci clothes and accessories. The court heard how she had ordered the murder of her husband after he offered her $650,000 in a divorce settlement

Chic: Her three-piece outfit added a very modern touch ahead of her transformation

Having Bambi by her side was a special privilege negotiated by her lawyers  however he was to suffer an unfortunate demise when a fellow inmate accidentally sat on him.

Well-known for her luxury lifestyle, Reggiani once said: 'I'd rather cry in a Rolls than be happy on a bicycle' and turned down the offer of day release while in prison because it would have meant doing 'menial' work.

In 2017 a court ruled Reggiani was entitled to receive 900,000 a year from her ex-husband's fortune and she was given a lump sum of 16million for her time in prison.

Maurizio Gucci was the grandson of Guccio Gucci, founder of the fashion company made famous with its double G logo. In the early 1990s it was hit by problems and he sold the label for $120 million, just two years before his death.

Chatting away: She was enjoying her cigarette alongside an aide

Touch up: Reggiani was found guilty of paying a hit man 300,000 (240,000) to murder her husband - 46yearold Maurizio Gucci, an heir to the fashion empire
By Christian Kraemer and John O'Donnell

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German chancellor Angela Merkel rejected criticism of her lobbying for Wirecard in China months before it collapsed, telling lawmakers she had no reason to suspect the firm of criminality as she sought to help it do business there.

Her detailed account of events leading to a state visit to China in September 2019 shone a rare light on the inner workings of government and its lobbying for business, marking the climax of a public inquiry into the country's biggest post-war fraud.

Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story, although few really understood it. Once valued at $28 billion, it abruptly unravelled last year.

In her testimony, Merkel outlined how Wirecard's aim of buying a Chinese company fitted in with her agenda of helping German companies on the trip, lobbying she described as a normal part of her job.

"What is known since Summer 2020 ... about Wirecard was not known in 2018/2019," said Merkel, adding: "There was no reason to think that there were serious irregularities, in spite of press reports."

Merkel gave a vague account of her meeting, shortly before her journey to China, with Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a former German economy minister who lobbied on behalf of Wirecard, saying she did not remember if he brought up the company.

Highlighting the fact that EY, Wirecard's auditor, had signed off on the company's accounts and emphasising that she had no reason to doubt the information she had been given by the Finance Ministry, Merkel emphasised her ignorance at the time.

"There is no 100% protection against criminal behaviour," she said.

Merkel is the latest politician to wash her hands of the scandal, after Olaf Scholz, her deputy, blamed Wirecard's auditor, EY, for failing to catch the fraud. EY has said it acted professionally.

Story continues

A host of other officials have rejected responsibility, saying they should not be blamed for the mishaps that led German authorities to pursue the company's critics for years rather than examine Wirecard itself.

Much evidence uncovered by the inquiry suggests German officials acted in ignorance, although lawmakers believe Wirecard's use of former politicians and intelligence officials for lobbying helped shield it from critics.

Germany's fragmented patchwork of regional authorities, all with a role to play in holding Wirecard to account, meant that the company was largely given free rein.

Lawmakers say that the German government was biased in favour of the company, turning a blind eye to allegations of irregularities in the run up to its collapse.

"The Chancellor lobbied for Wirecard with the most powerful man in China," said Fabio De Masi, one of the lawmakers leading the public inquiry, asking why she gave it such priority.

In power since 2005, Merkel remains popular, although her legacy, such as her 2015 decision to open Germany's borders to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East, divided opinion.

The Wirecard debacle tarnished her government's reputation by shining a spotlight on the lengths some German politicians have gone to in order to support companies.

Stephan Klaus Ohme of Transparency International said it had exposed cracks in Germany's laissez-faire model towards industry, leaving companies largely to their own devices.

"In Germany, you should stick to the rules but if you don't, nothing happens. The penalties are laughable," he added.

($1 = 0.8329 euros)

(Additional reporting by Paul Carrel and Tom Sims; Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Alexander Smith and Elaine Hardcastle)
April 23 : Priyanka Chopra may be away in London, but the actress is concerned about her country India as it is battling the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. While recently she begged the people of India to stay at home as a precaution to stay safe, today the global icon shared an adorable picture and sent a virtual hug.

In her new post on Instagram, Priyanka can be seen with her dog Gino. The Sky is Pink actress can be seen donning a beige dress, hugging Gino with her eyes closed. Her caption said a lot as she wrote, Sending a virtual hug, along with red heart and fingers crossed emojis.

Fans loved the viral post and showered love on her. Many dropped heart emojis on her comment section. A fan wrote, Pray for all covid patients worldwide.

The White Tiger actress has been sharing information on COVID-19 resources on her Instagram stories ever since the massive spike in COVID-19 situation in India. Taking to Twitter, she also shared a long message for her fans to take all necessary precautions during the grave situation.

On Earth Day, Priyankas message was powerful when she talked about how much the planet is suffering because of plastic waste. She urged people to recycle or use products that are recyclable. She urged all to protect Mother Nature from being permanently damaged.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Priyanka is stationed in London for quite some time now for her work commitments. She recently shot for Text For You with Sam Hueghan in London. The actress is currently shooting for her upcoming web series, Citadel. The show also stars Richard Madden and is executive-produced by the Russo Brothers of Avengers fame. Priyanka will also be seen in an Indian wedding comedy with Mindy Kaling, which she will co-produce and star in. The actress also has a film based on the life of Maa Anand Sheela and Matrix 4 in the pipeline. The actress also launched her book Unfinished while staying in London.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
In a file photo taken on April 21, 2011, a cyclist wears a protective face mask while riding along a dusty road where dozens of factories processing rare earths, iron and coal operate on the outskirts of Baotou city in Inner Monglia, northwest China. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

Quad Nations Should Work Out Finer Nuances to Coordinate Rare-Earth Supply Chain, Scientist Says

BANGALORE, IndiaThe Quad countriesthe United States, India, Japan, and Australiais seeking to address their dependence on supply chains for critical technologies dominated by China.

The Quads critical and emerging technology working group will convene dialogues on critical technology supply chains for areas including artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, quantum, robotics, and blockchain. A noted scientist and an expert in critical technologies says the Quad nations must ensure they cover all their bases, as critical technology supply chains can be very complex and nuanced.

S. Chandrashekar, a global authority on critical technologies and a former scientist at the Indian Space and Research Organization, told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview that critical technologies have penetrated all aspects of living. Many things, ranging from electric vehicles, to green energy to the big economy, have a strategic significance that needs to be minutely understood if Quad countries decide to coordinate a critical technology supply chain.

We need to understand how we can use this transition period, where all the countries are aligned in common with the purpose to contain or deal with China, which has control [over these supply chains], he said, adding that its an opportunity to actually strategize for an alternate industrial ecosystem for rare earths (RE). So there are some finer nuances that one has to kind of watch.

These critical technologies depend upon the critical RE elements, the processing of which is dominated by China. Even the manufacture of key intermediate products essential to these high-tech growth industries is also controlled by China.

The critical nature of these technologies and their growing indispensability to the global economy has created a vulnerability for advanced nations, and on Sept. 30, 2020, President Donald Trump declared the U.S. dependence on China for RE metals a national emergency.

The Biden administration has also decided to review critical supply chains to reduce dependence on China. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Feb. 24 with the goal of establishing resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure our economic prosperity and national security.

The significance of Chinas control of critical technology supply chains can be further gauged from the economic indispensability of critical technologies such as artificial intelligence that is expected to boost GDP for local economies by 26 percent by 2030, potentially contributing $15.7 trillion to the global economy, according to a report by PWC, a global professional service network.

A mine geologist points to where the monazite reef (darker rock) containing the rare-earth minerals is, underground at the SKK rare-earth mine on July 29, 2019, about 80Km from the Western Cape town of Vanrhynsdorp in South Africa. SKK has been confirmed as one of the highest-grade deposits of rare-earth minerals in the world. (Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Critical Tech Supply Chains

China has established global dominance in the RE industry and controls the entire global supply chain, from mining to the production of important intermediate products that are critical inputs for high growth industries, Chandrashekar wrote in a paper co-authored by Lalitha Sundaresan and Nabeel Mancheri and published by Indias National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), where hes also a professor.

Chinas focus on achieving global dominance in the RE industry was approved under its Program 863, included under its strategic nuclear program, according to the NIAS paper. The objectives include [gaining] a foothold in the world arena and [striving] to achieve breakthroughs in key technical fields that concern the national economic lifeline and national security.

The areas of emphasis identified by Program 863 include biotechnology, space technology, information technology, laser technology, automation, and energy. Program 863 was approved by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1986, and received a boost in 1997 through program 973.

Improve the developments and applications of Rare Earths and change resource advantage to economic superiority, Chinese leader Jiang Zemin said that year, according to the NIAS paper.

Two years before that, China could acquire, with conditions, the General Motors subsidiary Magnequench, with the aim of catching up with the permanent magnet technology.

All assets of Magnequench were moved to China in 2002 after curbs were lifted by the United States. That gave China a global dominance over the powerful magnet industryimportant for the manufacture of wind turbines, electric vehicles, satellites, rockets, and robots.

After they bought Magnaquench, they also merged operations with a Canadian company Neo Materialsthat is involved with RE. Neo Materials has tie-ups with U.S. mining and processing companies to buy basic RE materialthey are sent to China for separation, Chandrashekar said.

Since then, the Chinese have bought major stakes in various RE mining companies including Australias Lynas, according to the NIAS paper. Even less than 50 percent stakes provide China access to information and influence, Chandrashekar said.

Today, China is focused on building a domestic RE industrial ecosystem with a focus on mining and processing, manufacturing and application, and research and development after having already acquired global dominance.

Chandrashekar said the United States initially played a pioneering role in many breakthrough discoveries in RE materials, but allowed its once-dominant position to deteriorate.

Its now dependent on Chinese largesse to make sure enough RE materials and intermediates are available for [U.S.] use. The U.S. today has no industrial capacity in RE, allowing global market dynamics to move all of them to China, the NIAS papers authors said.

After Biden signed the executive order for secure supply chains, the White House said that the secretary of defense, who is also the national defense stockpile manager, will submit a report identifying risks in supply chains for critical materialswhich include RE mineralsand make policy recommendations to address those risks.

A view of mining facilities at the MP Materials rare-earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Complex Rare-Earth Supply Chain

The RE supply chain is complex because each final productsuch as a car or a cellphonecontains thousands of intermediate products or assemblies, each of which may require a supply chain with a high degree of strategic input and coordination.

A windshield wiper in a car may require a small motor which requires a magnet, which in order to reduce the size and power requirements may need a RE magnet. The same car may need a display unit that is like a TV that uses a phosphor coating that provides the lighting for the display. The car may be a hybrid or an all-electric that requires a motor that converts battery power to mechanical powerthat may involve a different kind of RE magnet, Chandrashekar said.

The car may have a battery that is made out of a nickel-hydrogen cell that may require an electrode to which lanthanum [one of the 17 RE materials] is added. The catalytic converter that is attached to the exhaust of gasoline-powered caruses metals like platinum, palladium, and rhodium. These are not RE but have some RE materials added to them to reduce cost and improve the ability to deal with pollutants like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and so on.

A music system in the car may need speakers, which also need RE magnets. The list can go on to include many other items that need RE elements.

The use of the RE can be visualized as a complex network of connections between the RE elements, parts, sub-assemblies, and productsthis network can be represented by what is called an input-output matrixthe network that we counted in our report was one that had 92 nodes, all of which are connected, he said, noting how damaging a supply chain disruption can be to a complex matrix.

Since China has a stranglehold on raw materials as well as many intermediates like magnets, phosphors, catalytic converters, batteries, and many othersthey can if they chose seriously endanger the production chains of the advanced countries. A disruption in the supply will affect many interconnected and inter-linked products and industries.

Over a decade ago, China suspended the supply of RE to Japan for two months over a fishing trawler dispute and recently passed a law that requires case-by-case scrutiny of exports.

Since the Chinese embargo in 2010, Japan has been worried, long before the U.S., about its vulnerabilities in RE. I am pretty sure they have a mechanism in place to reduce vulnerabilities, Chandrashekar said about the strategic nature of RE and why those materials are included in the QUADs agenda.

He said that while some countries such as India could be in a better position to supply RE, others like the United States and Japan would have the required mineral processing and intermediate product technologies that define the supply chain of critical technologies.

As a result of the 2010 embargo, Japan is better prepared to respond to similar situations. While Australia has good trade relations with China, particularly in mining, this relationship has recently turned acrimonious.

Chandrashekar said the United States under Trump took strong action to be prepared for threats to the countrys high-tech economy.

They have in place a strong, fairly integrated program for alternate supplies in case of domestic and international tie-upsthe program also calls for reducing RE content and using alternative materials and designs to bypass RE materials completely, he said.

The U.S. has scaled up and is well on its way to reducing the impact of any Chinese threats. Xi visited an RE center to send a threat to Trump, as per the news media.

India, which has been mostly a raw material supplier, was also forced to develop domestic technology for magnets when faced with embargos, and the country has used these in its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

More recently, a facility to produce magnets for critical security needs is being set up, Chandrashekar said

Chandrashekar says each of the four Quad nations has RE strategies with varying degrees of scale, and it could still be useful to explore cooperation and coordination.

He said for coordinating a sustainable critical technology supply chain, its important for each of the nations to first identify their technology needs, see who can provide the raw materials, who can provide intermediate technologies, and who can manufacture. In this process, Chandrashekar said its important for each country to build assurances and long-term trust because coordination, joint research, and innovation will take time.
Biden expected to recognize massacre of 1.5M Armenians as genocide despite Turkish opposition

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President Joe Biden is expected to officially recognize the Armenian genocide despite opposition from Turkey, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who said the administration will release more details in the coming days.

Saturday will mark the 106th anniversary of when the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey) began to massacre its Armenian Christian minority, resulting in 1.5 million deaths.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Psaki was asked if the Biden administration would observe the anniversary as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

I expect we will have more to say about Remembrance Day on Saturday. But I dont have anything to get ahead of that at this point in time, responded Psaki, not giving additional details.

The question was fostered by an open letter sent by around 100 members of Congress from both parties to Biden asking him to officially acknowledge the Armenian genocide.

The Wall Street Journal reported that unnamed officials said Biden was going to issue a statement on Saturday, possibly including the word genocide.

Officials added no final decisions or briefings have taken place and that Mr. Biden could opt to issue the symbolic statement without describing the killings as genocide, as have other presidents, reported the Journal.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu [of Turkey] told Haberturk television on Tuesday that a declaration by Mr. Biden would only harm ties.

On April 24, 1915, during World War I, Turkish officials began to round up and execute hundreds of Armenian intellectuals due in part to religious intolerance.

After that, ordinary Armenians were turned out of their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water, explained History.com.

Frequently, the marchers were stripped naked and forced to walk under the scorching sun until they dropped dead. People who stopped to rest were shot.

Since the end of World War I, Turkish officials have refused to acknowledge the genocide, claiming, among other things, that the widely accepted 1.5 million death toll is inflated.

Although the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution in 2019 to recognize the Armenian Genocide, the past few presidential administrations have been hesitant to do the same.

Former Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump both issued statements in remembrance of the tragedy, but have refused to call the war crimes a genocide.

At issue are the ties, though at times tenuous, between the United States and Turkey, as both are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that includes 30 countries.
A fire burns as members of the Israeli security forces deploy during clashes with Palestinian protesters outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, April 22, 2021. / Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty

Tel Aviv  There was heightened security in Jerusalem on Friday after a night of violent clashes involving far-right Jewish Israelis, Palestinians and police left dozens injured and under arrest. Additional police forces were deployed near the Old City to brace for what many feared would be a continuation of the violence following Friday prayers as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramadan.

The holy month always brings more worshippers to pray at the mosques in the holy city, and the past week has seen a series of violent assaults on Palestinians after TikTok videos showed Palestinians assaulting Orthodox Jews near Damascus Gate, the entrance to Jerusalem's Old City.

The violence kicked off on Thursday night after an anti-Arab far-right Jewish activist group, called LEHAVA, organized a march in East Jerusalem. The group called it a march to "restore Jewish dignity," and urged people to join, and to arm themselves.

They marched through the streets chanting "death to Arabs" and clashed with police as they tried to enter a Palestinian neighborhood.

Israeli security forces stand guard as Jewish protesters gather outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, April 22, 2021. / Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty

Palestinian activists called on social media for people to come to Damascus Gate to stage a counterprotest against the "settler thugs." Palestinians who heeded the call also clashed with police, throwing stones and other objects in various locations throughout the night.

Police used "Skunk" water cannon  which douse people with strong, unpleasantly-scented liquid  and stun grenades on both groups. The police said 20 officers were injured and at least 40 people were arrested amid the chaos, but the Palestinian Red Crescent organization reported that more than 100 Palestinians were treated for injuries, too, including 22 who required hospitalization.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel, located in Jerusalem, posted a message to Twitter voicing deep concern about the violence and urging "all responsible voices" to "promote and end to incitement."

Story continues

A Statement by U.S. Embassy Jerusalem:           pic.twitter.com/48QQ08N5YJ

 U.S. Embassy Jerusalem (@usembassyjlm) April 23, 2021

The government of neighboring Jordan, meanwhile, called on Israeli officials to respect international law and, as the "occupying power" in East Jerusalem, put a stop to "provocations and aggression" against the city's Palestinian residents, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Haaretz said Israel's Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, had issued a statement on Friday condemning attacks against Jews, but making no mention of Palestinians also being targeted, despite the Red Crescent saying dozens were injured.

Damascus Gate is the main entrance to the Old City used by Muslims entering to pray at the revered mosque on Temple Mount, or the al-Aqsa compound as it's known in Islam. The site has been the scene of many clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police.

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Dame Joan Collins paid another visit to her favourite Hollywood restaurant on Thursday evening.

Stepping out in a timeless leopard print blouse with her husband Percy Gibson, the loved-up couple cut stylish figures as they enjoyed a dinner date at the upmarket LA establishment Craig's.

Joan, 87, teamed her statement-making shirt with a black coat and matching trousers, while former theatre manager Percy, 56, donned a sharp navy suit.

Loved-up: Leopard print wearing Dame Joan Collins, 87, and her husband Percy Gibson, 56, enjoyed a date night at Craig's in LA on Thursday night

London-born Joan added a bold splash of colour to her ensemble with a swipe of pink lipstick and accessorised with glitzy diamond earrings.

The iconic actress added height to her frame with a chic pair of black heels, and wore her raven locks swept back.

Joan later covered her face with a black diamante-encrusted face mask in keeping with pandemic protocol.

Joining his wife of 19 years, Percy wore a blue medical face mask and sported a crisp handkerchief in his left chest pocket.

Joan - whose marriage to Peru born Percy is her longest - recently told the Mail On Sunday's You magazine that she once turned down a pass from Robert F. Kennedy.

Happy: Stepping out with her husband Percy Gibson, 56, the loved-up couple cut stylish figures as they enjoyed a dinner date at the upmarket Melrose Avenue establishment Craig's

Making her look pop: London-born Joan added a bold splash of colour to her ensemble with a swipe of pink lipstick and accessorised with glitzy diamond earrings

'Ethel, his widow, is still alive so I really don't want to go into it too much because I wouldn't want to hurt her,' she added diplomatically.

'That was one of the things I said to him: 'I'm married, you're married.' But he was so charismatic.'

Joan, who once starred in a movie called The B**** adapted by late sister Jackie from one of her own novels, has had a long and successful side-career as a raconteuse.

She has performed one-woman shows about her life with help from Percy and is also the author of multiple saucy books.

Glitzy: Joan covered her face with a black diamante-encrusted face mask in keeping with pandemic protocol

Her memoir Past Imperfect delivered a raft of stories about her career and love life, which included a turbulent engagement to Warren Beatty.

The daughter of a theatrical agent, she enjoyed several affairs in between - and sometimes overlapping with - her various marriages.

Joan was married at 18 to her actor first husband Maxwell Reed, who spiked her drink and raped her on their first date and whom she eventually left after he attempted to sell her for an night to an Arab sheikh for 10,000.

Her later ex-husbands were Anthony Newley, with whom she had her daughter Tara and son Sacha, erstwhile Beatles manager Ron Kass, who sired her daughter Katie, and ex-pop act Peter Holm, whom she dismissively referred to post-divorce as 'the Swede.'
In her time on the board, she has often thought back to Jones example, Gardner said: I remember how effective she was at working with others on the board and very quietly but steadfastly promoting diversity and inclusion  long before they became catch words. ... With her lawyer training, she was extremely persuasive in a quiet way. She knew how to present a case.
Britain's biggest supergrass has a 'target on his back' for life after giving evidence against dozens of gangland criminals who were jailed for 250 years, it can be revealed today.

Fearing he may be killed, the former drug pusher agreed a deal with police after falling into debt to brutal criminals who kidnapped and tortured him.

He has given evidence for the prosecution in six major trials over the past four years  spending 40 days in the witness box. Prosecutors convicted 29 crooks and now hope to claw back millions of pounds from drug gangs.

David Gloyne, left, and Yvan Nikolic, right, known as Mr Big, were both jailed for 21 years as a result of Mr X's evidence against him

Andrew Blake, was later jailed for 14 years on Mr X's evidence, while Alan Smart, right, received a life sentence for arson.

The information he provided prompted other investigations in which 'many other criminals' have been brought to justice.

The man, whose name is being kept secret for his protection, was referred to as 'Mr X'. He confessed to serious crimes before turning supergrass and was prosecuted for them. But his courage in giving evidence against hardened criminals was rewarded when he walked free from court to a life in hiding under a new identity.

His lawyer, who also cannot be named for his protection, told Teesside Crown Court: 'Never before or after has there been such a prolific success story for the undermining of organised crime.' He added: 'The reality is he is in danger and will forever be in danger. One of the consequences of his decision to assist the Crown in this way is for the rest of his life he will have a target on his back.'

Judge Deborah Sherwin gave Mr X a 15-month suspended jail sentence and said: 'I doubt there has ever been a case where an assisting offender has given so much evidence against so many offenders. It is believed the assistance you have provided is the greatest ever provided in this country.

'If your life wasn't in danger before, I am absolutely certain that it is now. Wherever you live you will spend your life constantly having to look over your shoulder and in fear.' She described the help given by Mr X as 'overwhelming'.

During 115 interviews, he told detectives everything he knew about the criminal underworld.

During 115 interviews, Mr X told detectives everything he knew about the criminal underworld

The lifting of a blanket reporting ban means his story can be told for the first time today. Prosecutor Richard Herrmann told the court the man's co-operation came after his life 'spiralled dangerously out of control' and he fell deeply into debt with drug lords. He was beaten, kidnapped and tortured, and death threats were made against his family.

Mr X had begun dealing in cocaine in 2007, supplying the drug, along with at least 25,000 ecstasy tablets and amphetamines, to other crooks. Police estimated he dealt in cocaine worth more than 4million. Although he drove luxury cars and enjoyed expensive holidays, he never made a profit and fell further into debt by 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'.

Mr X used thug Alan Smart, 41, as his 'enforcer' to obtain drugs money owed to him.

One man who owed 10,000 was targeted in 2011 by Smart, who set fire to his house. The man's girlfriend, who was alone in the property, woke up to an explosion and flames. She escaped, but the home was destroyed.

Afterwards Smart told Mr X: 'It's my favourite one  the job's a good 'un son, I'm going to have a pint.' Both were arrested but escaped prosecution through lack of evidence. Police said Smart thought he was untouchable like a 'Teflon Don'. However, Mr X's account of the house arson later led to Smart getting a life sentence.

In time Mr X's debts became huge. In 2014 he was so badly beaten by three drug rivals that he suffered life-threatening injuries. One of the trio, Andrew Blake, 43, was later jailed for 14 years on his evidence. The following year Mr X became involved with drug lords, Yvan Nikolic, 56, and David Gloyne, 37.

Serbian-born 'Mr Big' Nikolic ran a drugs operation in Europe and was described by police as 'top of the tree'. Gloyne took over the operation once the drugs arrived in the UK and Mr X bought them to sell on. Mr X agreed to clear a debt to Gloyne by trying to recover 50kg (110lbs) of cocaine worth 2million from a container in Tilbury Docks, Essex. But he and an accomplice were stopped by police and customs seized the cocaine.

His position became more 'perilous' and in his desperation he and another man stole 27kg (60lbs) of cocaine from one of Gloyne's safe houses. Mr X kept 17kg (37lbs), but suffered merciless punishment. Mr Herrmann said he was the victim of a 'protracted kidnap, false imprisonment and torture'.

Information from Mr X led to the seizure of this large amount of cash in South Hetton

The barrister added: 'He was repeatedly tied up, an attempt was made to cut off his ear with a Stanley knife. He was threatened that he would have his testicles removed with pliers, threatened that his knee caps would be broken with a hammer and a gun, probably an imitation, was wielded.' But he was able to get a message to a family member, who called police and he was rescued.

Terrified Mr X agreed a 'contract' with the Crown Prosecution Service to tell everything he knew. Nikolic, who wore a 37,000 designer watch, and Gloyne were each jailed for 21 years.

Mr X pleaded guilty to drug, arson and burglary charges, but he walked free.

He has effectively been in protected custody for more than four years but the cost to the taxpayer has not been disclosed.
BRUSSELS, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that 12 abstracts on bimekizumab, an investigational IL-17A and IL-17F inhibitor, in the treatment of adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, will be presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting Experience 2021 (AAD VMX), April 23 - 25, 2021. This will include 11 e-posters and an oral presentation of late-breaking data from the Phase 3b BE RADIANT study evaluating the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab compared to secukinumab in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The safety and efficacy of bimekizumab have not been established and it is not approved by any regulatory authority worldwide.

"We are proud to join the dermatology community at AAD VMX 2021 to share the latest data from the clinical development program of bimekizumab in psoriasis. The breadth of bimekizumab data being shared across 12 abstracts reinforces our commitment to advancing research and science in psoriasis. It is a privilege to share these findings and we look forward to engaging with the dermatology community in our efforts to address the unmet needs of people with psoriasis," said Emmanuel Caeymaex, Executive Vice President, Immunology Solutions and Head of U.S., UCB.

Data being shared at AAD VMX include the presentation of pooled results from three Phase 3 trials (BE VIVID, BE READY and BE SURE), that compared the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab to ustekinumab, placebo and adalimumab, respectively, in adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Additional data from BE SURE to be presented include an assessment of bimekizumab efficacy in patients receiving continuous bimekizumab treatment or switching from adalimumab and the relationship between treatment efficacy and quality of life in patients receiving bimekizumab or adalimumab.

Two other bimekizumab abstracts will include the first disclosure of data from the novel, validated Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) from the BE VIVID and BE SURE studies.

UCB data presentations at AAD VMX 2021:

Bimekizumab Late-Breaking Oral Presentation:

Bimekizumab efficacy and safety versus secukinumab in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Results from a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, active comparatorcontrolled phase 3b trial (BE RADIANT), K. Reich, R. Warren, M. Lebwohl, M. Gooderham, B. Strober, R. Langley, C. Paul, L. Peterson, V. Vanvoorden, C. Madden, A. Blauvelt (abstract #29010)

Bimekizumab e-Posters:

Bimekizumab response maintenance up to 1 year in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Pooled results from three phase 3 trials, A. Blauvelt, Y. Tada, L. Iversen, U. Mrowietz, M. Lebwohl, M. Wang, V. Vanvoorden, E. Cullen, F. Staelens, K. Papp (abstract #27383)

A. Blauvelt, Y. Tada, L. Iversen, U. Mrowietz, M. Lebwohl, M. Wang, V. Vanvoorden, E. Cullen, F. Staelens, K. Papp (abstract #27383) Bimekizumab efficacy for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis across patient subgroups: Pooled results from three multicenter, randomized, double-blinded phase 3 trials, B. Strober, R. Warren, P. Foley, M. Gooderham, D. Thaci, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, C. Madden, A. Armstrong (abstract #25934)

B. Strober, R. Warren, P. Foley, M. Gooderham, D. Thaci, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, C. Madden, A. Armstrong (abstract #25934) Speed of clinical response and improvement in psoriasis with bimekizumab: Pooled results from the multicenter, randomized, double-blinded phase 3 BE VIVID, BE READY and BE SURE trials, M. Lebwohl, P. Hampton, A. Morita, K. Reich, J. Lambert, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, M. Wang, C. Madden, R. Langley (abstract #27376)

M. Lebwohl, P. Hampton, A. Morita, K. Reich, J. Lambert, E. Cullen, C. Cioffi, M. Wang, C. Madden, R. Langley (abstract #27376) Bimekizumab efficacy in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving continuous bimekizumab or switching from adalimumab: Results from the phase 3 BE SURE trial, B. Strober, A. Pinter, R. Warren, A. Blauvelt, M. Sebastian, D. Cuyper, V. Vanvoorden, M. Wang, C. Madden, M. Gooderham (abstract #27374)

B. Strober, A. Pinter, R. Warren, A. Blauvelt, M. Sebastian, D. Cuyper, V. Vanvoorden, M. Wang, C. Madden, M. Gooderham (abstract #27374) Bimekizumab for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis of the scalp: Post-hoc analysis from the BE SURE phase 3 trial, K. Reich, J. Merola, B. Elewski, K. Papp, L. Puig, P. Rich, C. Cioffi, E. Cullen, L. Peterson, A. Gottlieb (abstract #25800)

K. Reich, J. Merola, B. Elewski, K. Papp, L. Puig, P. Rich, C. Cioffi, E. Cullen, L. Peterson, A. Gottlieb (abstract #25800) Bimekizumab versus adalimumab in plaque psoriasis: Higher efficacy translates into improvements in quality of life in the BE SURE multicenter, randomized, double-blinded phase 3 trial, A. Blauvelt, D. Thaci, K. Papp, J. Merola, E. Cullen, V. Vanvoorden, V. Ciaravino, L. Peterson, K. Gordon (abstract #27464)

A. Blauvelt, D. Thaci, K. Papp, J. Merola, E. Cullen, V. Vanvoorden, V. Ciaravino, L. Peterson, K. Gordon (abstract #27464) Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) responses from the BE SURE bimekizumab in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis phase 3 trial, R. Warren, M. Augustin, A. Gottlieb, K. Duffin, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, A. Blauvelt (abstract #27373)

R. Warren, M. Augustin, A. Gottlieb, K. Duffin, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, A. Blauvelt (abstract #27373) Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) responses from the BE VIVID bimekizumab in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis phase 3 trial, R. Warren, R. Langley, A. Asahina, M. Augustin, J. Merola, A. Gottlieb, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, M. Lebwohl (abstract #27368)

R. Warren, R. Langley, A. Asahina, M. Augustin, J. Merola, A. Gottlieb, V. Ciaravino, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, M. Lebwohl (abstract #27368) Bimekizumab efficacy in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis during the randomized withdrawal and retreatment phase of BE READY, a phase 3 trial, A. Blauvelt, J. Wu, K. Reich, M. Gooderham, M. Lebwohl, K. White, N. Cross, C. Cioffi, K. Papp (abstract #27380)

A. Blauvelt, J. Wu, K. Reich, M. Gooderham, M. Lebwohl, K. White, N. Cross, C. Cioffi, K. Papp (abstract #27380) Bimekizumab short-term and longer-term anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation/behavior in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Analysis of pooled data from eight phase 2/3 clinical trials, B. Strober, K. Papp, A. Blauvelt, M. Lebwohl, J. Wu, D. Deherder, C. Madden, K. Wixted, M. Wang, M. Augustin (abstract #27505)

B. Strober, K. Papp, A. Blauvelt, M. Lebwohl, J. Wu, D. Deherder, C. Madden, K. Wixted, M. Wang, M. Augustin (abstract #27505) Bimekizumab short-term and longer-term infection rates in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Analysis of pooled data from eight phase 2/3 clinical trials, K. Reich, Y. Okubo, K. Gordon, A. Blauvelt, A. Armstrong, D. Cuyper, C. Cioffi, L. Peterson, M. Lebwohl (abstract #27468)

About Bimekizumab Bimekizumab is an investigational humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that selectively and directly inhibits both IL-17A and IL-17F, two key cytokines driving inflammatory processes.1 IL-17F has overlapping biology with IL-17A and drives inflammation independently of IL-17A.2,3,4,5,6 Selective inhibition of IL-17F in addition to IL-17A suppresses inflammation to a greater extent than IL-17A inhibition alone.5,6 The safety and efficacy of bimekizumab are being evaluated across multiple disease states as part of a robust clinical program.

About Psoriasis Psoriasis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease with primary involvement of the skin. This skin condition affects men and women of all ages and ethnicities.7 Psoriasis signs and symptoms can vary but may include red patches of skin covered with silvery scales; dry, cracked skin that may bleed; and thickened, pitted or ridged nails.8

Approximately 125 million people worldwide are living with psoriasis, nearly three percent of the world's population.9,10 Unmet needs remain in the treatment of psoriasis. A population-based survey identified that approximately 30 percent of psoriasis patients reported that their primary goals of therapy, including keeping symptoms under control, reducing itching and decreasing flaking, were not met with their current treatment.11 Psoriasis has a considerable psychological and quality-of-life impact, potentially affecting work, recreation, relationships, sexual functioning, family and social life.12

About UCB UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With approximately 8,400 people in nearly 40 countries, the company generated revenue of 5.3 billion in 2020. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news.

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Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any of such forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labelling in any market, or at any particular time, nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be or will continue to be commercially successful in the future.

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References: 1 Glatt S, Helmer E, Haier B, et al. First-in-human randomized study of bimekizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody and selective dual inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F, in mild psoriasis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2017;83(5):991-1001. 2 Yang XO, Chang SH, Park H, et al. Regulation of inflammatory responses by IL-17F. J Exp Med. 2008;205(5):10631075. 3 Hymowitz SG, Filvaroff EH, Yin JP, et al. IL-17s adopt a cystine knot fold: structure and activity of a novel cytokine, IL-17F, and implications for receptor binding. EMBO J. 2001;20(19):53325341. 4 van Baarsen LG, Lebre MC, van der Coelen D, et al. Heterogeneous expression pattern of interleukin 17A (IL-17A), IL-17F and their receptors in synovium of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis: possible explanation for nonresponse to anti-IL-17 therapy? Arthritis Res Ther. 2014;16(4):426. 5 Maroof A, Okoye R, Smallie T, et al. Bimekizumab dual inhibition of IL-17A and IL-17F provides evidence of IL-17F contribution to chronic inflammation in disease-relevant cells. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(2):213. 6 Glatt S, Baeten D, Baker T, et al. Dual IL-17A and IL-17F neutralisation by bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis: evidence from preclinical experiments and a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial that IL-17F contributes to human chronic tissue inflammation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2018;77(4):523-532. 7 National Psoriasis Foundation. About Psoriasis. Available at: https://www.psoriasis.org/about-psoriasis/. Last accessed: March 2021. 8 International Federation of Psoriasis Associations. Available at: https://ifpa-pso.com/our-cause/. Last accessed: March 2021. 9 Griffiths C, van der Walt J, et al. The global state of psoriasis disease epidemiology: a workshop report. Br J Dermatol. 2017;177(1):e4 e7. 10 World Health Organization. Global report on psoriasis, 2016. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/204417. Last accessed: March 2021. 11 Lebwohl MG, Kavanaugh A, Armstrong AW et al. US Perspectives in the Management of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: Patient and Physician Results from the Population-Based Multinational Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (MAPP) Survey. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2016;17(1):87-97. 12 Moon HS, Mizara A, McBride SR. Psoriasis and psycho-dermatology. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2013;3(2):117-130.

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Pizza pop-ups have proliferated during the pandemic, with producers putting their personal spin on regional styles found around the world. Nearly a dozen pizza pop-ups have started since shelter-in-place, and now some of these pop-ups are turning into permanent operations, such as longtime Bay Area chef Eric Ehlers Outta Sight, which will be serving slices out of Fig & Thistle Wine Bar in San Francisco starting in May.

This new wave of pandemic pizza pop-ups is enabled in part because of access to portable pizza ovens from companies like Ooni and Gozney. These ovens can reach temperatures up to 950 degrees, allowing for heavily charred pizzas with quick-cook times as little as one minute and promising restaurant-grade quality, according to makers of the Ooni as well as its professional patrons: If I made a Neopolitan out of my Ooni, and I made a Neopolitan out of my oven restaurant, its hard to tell the difference, said longtime pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani of Tonys Pizza Napoletana in North Beach. You get the char, you get the blistering, you get leoparding.

Whereas previous mobile pizza operations required custom-built pizza ovens or trucks, the portable pizza ovens offer an easier and more affordable means to produce pizza, and sales have skyrocketed during the pandemic, a time when people are out of work and looking to make extra cash. Gozney, which is based in the United Kingdom and makes the $499 Roccbox oven, has seen a dramatic increase in sales since the start of the pandemic, according to Tom Gozney. Half of all sales go to the U.S., with the majority coming from California and New York.

We have tracked on average five times the previous year for the bulk of the year, Gozney said. Sales are still climbing now.

Visit a random brewery on any given weekend and youre likely to stumble upon a different pizza pop-up utilizing a portable pizza oven, like Hart House at Standard Deviant in the Mission, Evolution Baking at Ghost Town Brewing in Oakland or Cosmic Pie Pizza at Humble Sea down in Santa Cruz, all of which use a portable pizza oven.

Its a mutually beneficial relationship: The pop-ups provide hungry beer drinkers with food while the breweries provide a home for pizza entrepreneurs without the fixed costs of a stand-alone restaurant.

But not all pop-ups are using the portable ovens nor are all hosted at breweries. Nicholi Ludlows Psychic Pie offers Roman-inspired square pizzas baked in large industrial commercial ovens from a commissary in Santa Rosa. Ludlow debuted the business in March, has experimented with delivery and has plans to debut hot food at farmers markets in the near future. Like many, Ludlow is navigating a fledgling business during an uncertain time.

Who knows what else the future holds? Ludlow said.

Here are some pizza pop-ups to seek out across the Bay Area, ranging from classic old-school New York-inspired versions to those topped with Californias finest seasonal produce.

Pattis Pop-Up

Pizzahacker alum Jamie Nowell started this weekend pizza pop-up when the pandemic hit. He pops up at Gilman Brewing and Federation Brewing, where he does hand-mixed Neapolitan pizza but in a California fashion: The pies use 100% whole grain wheat flour from Community Grains in Oakland and undergo a 50-hour fermentation before going into a Roccbox pizza oven. The result is pizzas that are slightly sour and super charred on the cornicione (or crust as its commonly called).

Nowell does two types: a traditional margherita and a weekly changing special. There might be nutty butternut squash with walnut basil pesto one week, and roasted piquillo peppers, sesame seeds and smoked sea salt the next. Hes not in the financial position to open a permanent restaurant yet, but its a dream.

I would love to have a tiny place with a traditional Italian wood-fired oven one day, he said.

Omar Mamoon

Cost: $15-$17. Website: instagram.com/pattis_popup/

Address: Gilman Brewing, 912 Gilman St., Berkeley; Fridays 3-8:30 p.m. Federation Brewing, 420 Third St., A, Oakland; Sundays noon-5 p.m.

Psychic Pie

Psychic Pie started popping up in Skyhawk Village in Santa Rosa in March, a project from a duo with experience at Del Popolo. Baker Nicholi Ludlow is the bread and dough manager at the restaurant, while his partner Leith Leslie-Miller works in operations at the popular San Francisco pizzeria.

The pizza here is different, though  a Roman-style pizza al taglio. Its a high-hydration, naturally leavened dough thats baked into a thick 9-by-9-inch square. Toppings feature local ingredients like buffalo mozzarella and ricotta from Sonoma and pepperoni from Petaluma.

We want to source all our ingredients completely from within Sonoma County, and were just about there, said Ludlow. The tomatoes come from Yolo County, just a couple of hours east.

The pizzas are made in a commissary kitchen and are twice-baked, first in a large rotational oven with only sauce, and then again just prior to eating with more sauce and the toppings. The crust is light and tender, and the flavor is slightly sour and nutty due to the addition of spelt and durum flours. Though theyre offering only entire pies, the pair plan to sell slices by weight at farmers markets in Sonoma in June. They even purchased a portable pizza oven for that necessary second bake.

Omar Mamoon

Cost: $20-$25. Website: www.psychicpie.com ; instagram.com/psychic_pie

Address: 5755 Mountain Hawk Drive, Santa Rosa.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Manaeesh Lady

Manaeesh are baked round breads traditionally topped with zaatar, cheese or meat and are eaten for breakfast and lunch throughout the Levant. Depending on exactly where the breads are from, people liken them to Lebanese pizza or Palestinian pizza. Though manaeesh are flatbreads and pizza has its roots in Italy, the two foods will scratch a similar itch for many.

They both have the same general structure, dough and toppings baked in a high-temp oven, said Mona Michael (Dyafa, Serpentine), who debuted the Manaeesh Lady pop-up last July. The main difference is that pizza dough has a much more rigorous proofing process because a certain level of gluten needs to be developed.

Michaels manaeesh are made with an extremely high-hydration dough and are baked less than 60 seconds at 750 degrees in a Roccboxx oven. The result is an extremely soft, supple dough reminiscent of the legendary Una Pizza Napoletana pie in texture; instead of tomato sauce, Michael tops hers with zaatar, mozzarella and fresh goat cheese.

Michael has been popping up at Libertine Bar on Saturdays in Oakland, but will soon be serving up manaeesh at Lulu, her new California Palestinian restaurant and cafe opening in May in Berkeley.

Omar Mamoon

Cost: $8-$13. Website: www.themanaeeshlady.com; instagram.com/themanaeeshlady/ Address: The Libertine 3332 Grand Ave., Oakland; Lulu (opening May) 1019 Camelia St., Berkeley

Outta Sight

Outta Sight is a pizza pop-up by longtime Bay Area chef Eric Ehler, who has worked at higher-end restaurants like Mister Jius and Serpentine and most recently consulted for the fast-casual Chinese American concept Lazy Susan. Hes been running the pop-up biweekly, offering a limited amount of pizzas the last few months at Pizzahacker on Mission Street. Beginning in May, hell be moving his operation to the Hayes Valley wine bar Fig & Thistle, where hell be able to produce up to 80 pizzas per day with a focus on large, thin, New York-style pies and slices. Slice culture is beautiful, Ehler said. You can grab a quick slice and walk/skate away with it and crush it in seconds.  It is the ultimate street food.

Ehler does a white pie using a roasted mushroom sauce, and a Madonna, his version of a margherita that gets finished with oregano, grana Padano, lots of basil and a generous glug of California olive oil. I named my pizza after Madonna because it is beautiful, classy but with attitude, graceful imperfections, and not afraid to be individual  each pizza is different.

Cost: $17-$24; $5 per slice. Website: instagram.com/thatsouttasight

Address: Pizzahacker: 3299 Mission St., San Francisco. Fig & Thistle (starting May), 429 Gough St., San Francisco.

Omar Mamoon is a San Francisco writer, cookie dough professional, and founder of nonprofit Libros para Todos. Find him at @ommmar Email: food@sfchronicle.com
Far-right Israelis, Palestinians, police clash in Jerusalem

Xinhua) 09:57, April 23, 2021

JERUSALEM, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Clashes erupted in Jerusalem on Thursday night among right-wing Israeli extremists, Palestinian protesters and the police.

The police said in a statement that "hundreds" of far-right Israelis marched towards the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem's Old City.

The Hebrew-language Ha'aretz newspaper reported that the people on the march chanted anti-Arab slogans. Police forces tried to separate between the march and dozens of Palestinians who protested against it.

The march was organized by Lehava, a far-right Israeli group, according to a statement by the group.

A policeman was wounded in his face by a rock hurled during the clashes, the police said, adding that Molotov cocktails were also hurled during the rallies.

The police fired stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse the crowd, local media reported.

Clashes between Palestinians and police forces have occurred since the beginning of Ramadan last week. The Palestinians said the clashes were sparked by barriers placed by the police outside the Damascus Gate, where Palestinian typically gather during the Ramadan nights.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
Sandy Bay, the largest community north of the Rabacca River suffered tremendous damage, and would have been an open target for looters had there not been a security presence there.

The eruption of the La Soufriere volcano has resulted in an estimated 16,000 people having to be evacuated from the red zone, the northern third, so to speak, of mainland St. Vincent.





A National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) Shelter Report of April 13, indicated that there were 5,208 persons in 85 public shelters, 1,800 in private (rented) shelters, and 6,567 in private (family and friends) shelters.





The evacuation of persons from the red zone has thrown up a security challenge.





In an effort to ward off a repeat of the rampant looting that followed the evacuation of persons from the same areas after the 1979 eruption, patrols by local law enforcement officers, assisted by personnel from the Regional Security Service (RRS) - Barbados, Grenada officers included - and Trinidad and Tobago, have been mounted in the areas.





So much so, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is also Minister of National Security, reported that local security officials had revealed that two individuals, who had arrived in the North Leeward area with nefarious intentions, had been taken into custody by local law enforcement officers.





"We intercepted two persons, through intelligence. They were at one of the communities that were evacuated. The intelligence was that they were there to burglarize homes and take valuables, Dr. Gonsalves told the media.





"The security forces were looking for four persons. However, two are in custody; we did not find anything with those two, he added.





And even as the Prime Minister assured that local security officials were moving to foster even better intelligence, he made it clear that he was not removed from calling in reinforcements.





Government, the Prime Minister said, will do all that is necessary and within the law, to prevent persons of such ill-intent from operating within any space in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Many residents of both the North Leeward and North Windward areas had initially resisted an order to evacuate, citing a need for them to protect their property, personal effects, agricultural crops and livestock.





One resident of Sandy Bay said to the Editor of THE VINCENTAIN on the Friday 9th April after the first eruption, "I air leaving foe dem crooks to come and jus tek my cattle and sheep and goat like dey did to me father in 1979. Ah prefer tek in the ash dan see me hard work go down de drain.





There were numerous reports in 1979 of residents who had to be evacuated losing livestock in particular.





Many persons also reported losing household and personal items which they had to leave behind.





It is this history that has informed the heightened attention being paid by the state to security in the areas, from where there has been mass evacuation.





When THE VINCENTIAN checked back with the resident who had said he was not leaving, he had had a change of heart, encouraged by what he said were "signs dat de police move in to protect de area.
Kathmandu, in the 1980s, was a growing city. As its population started to increase, a lot of problems arose. One of them was the lack of clean drinking water.

To curb the problem, a project was envisioned in the 1980s. The project aimed at bringing water from the Melamchi in Sindhupalchok to Kathmandu. The project was inaugurated in 1998 with the first phase to be completed a decade later. But, nothing went as planned as the project only took off properly in 2007. Even though Melamchis water has started to come to Kathmandu after 23 years, the project is yet to be fully completed.

This is just one example of a national pride project being kept in limbo. Almost none of the national pride projects are completed on time. A reason for the delay has been political leadership and bureaucracy that feel putting projects in limbo helps them earn more. The political leadership does not want to take ownership while the bureaucrats create a bubble where everything goes in the loop. This has wasted both time and taxpayers money preventing people from benefitting from these pride projects.

Here is a list of 12 pride projects which were and are in limbo and the reasons behind it.

1. Sikta Irrigation Project

Sikta Irrigation Project Source: Kalika Construction

It has been 45 years since the pre-feasibility study on the Sikta Irrigation Project was done. As of April, only 65 per cent of the project has been completed. Even though preparations for the projects were done well beforehand, the governments never set aside the budget to carry out the project. The government, however, in 2005, decided that it would invest its own funds and workforce to carry out the project. The project then started in 2007.

The reason that the project has not been completed in time, according to project insiders, is the lack of funds allotted to the project.

Ironically, this is the same project where the embezzlement of Rs 2.13 billion led to a case being filed against former minister Bikram Pandey and 21 others. The case is still being heard at the Special Court where four former chiefs of the projects have been accused of corruption.

The contractor for construction, CTC Kalika Joint Venture Pvt Ltd, is also under probe for undertaking below-par works for the project. Pandey is also the owner of the construction company.

The project now is not moving forward as it lacks a skilled workforce that includes surveyors and enumerators.

According to the 57th annual report of the Office of the Auditor General, there are serious problems with the western part of the canal. But, the contractors have already taken money to construct the canal on the western side. The canal near the Changai Nala area is in dire need of repair, but as of April 2021, no effort has been put forward to repair it.

The projects cost has increased to Rs 25.2 billion in 2021 from Rs 12.8 billion initially.

2. Babai Irrigation Project

The International Development Association (IDA), a body of the World Bank, did a pre-feasibility study in 1975, after which the irrigation project took shape. Like the Sikta Irrigation Project, Babai Irrigation Project is also 45 years old, but only 51 per cent of the work has been completed as of April 2021.

The feasibility study for the project was done with the help of the UNDP in 1977 and 1980. In 1981, a design was made with the help of the IDA, after which a 5.5-kilometre long canal was constructed where water had started to flow in 1994.

According to a report prepared by the National Planning Commission, the canal should have water for seven months a year. The rest of the year (five months) has been kept for canal repair and construction. This, the people involved in the project have said, is one of the reasons that the project has not been completed on time.

But, there are other problems as well, including those regarding the acquisition of land due to social and legal constructs. The project area falls under the Bardiyaa National Park. This has made things difficult such as bringing in machinery and resources to construct the canal. The lack of resources to construct the canal is also creating a problem, say officials.

The cost of the project which was Rs 2.87 billion in 1975 has now gone up nine times and reached Rs 18.96 billion.

3. Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project

The Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project is 100 years old. The project, which was the brainchild of a local Tharu farmer is the Karnali provinces largest irrigation system. The efforts to make the irrigation system modern is, however, going at a snails pace.

The project aims to irrigate over 38,000 hectares of land, which the government only started to include in its budget from the fiscal year 2010/11. It is a reason only 48 per cent of the work has been completed.

The project chief Kedar Kumar Shrestha says the source of the canal falls in an unregistered arable land where people have been living. This has made it hard to acquire the land for the project. Almost all land needed for the project is unregistered and arable, says Shrestha, who adds that most of the land has been encroached upon by locals.

The locals of Chisapani and Lamki, according to Shrestha, are the ones who are encroaching on the unregistered and arable land needed for the project. The project has already handed out compensation. But, in Lamki, the project was affected for a while as it needed to cut trees in the national forest area.

The project also faces problems related to low bidding. Shrestha says that right now there are five contracts set aside for foreign companies and 27 contracts for Nepali companies. Almost all of the contractors have bid lower than they were supposed to and have received the contracts.

The Public Procurement Act forces us to give the contract to the lowest bidder, says Shrestha. If we give it to the highest one, people will say we took a hefty commission.

Like the abovementioned projects, the budget of the project has also increased twofold to Rs 27.7 billion from Rs 12.37 billion.

4. Mahakali Irrigation Project

The project that started in 1981 is currently in its third phase which started in 2006. The project aimed to irrigate over 33,500 hectares of land in the Kailali and Kanchanpur districts. But, only 39 per cent of the work in the project has been done so far. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 34 billion.

According to the National Planning Commission, the main problem with the project is the delay due to compensation issues. Like the Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project, most of the land needed is in unregistered arable land. Nepals law says that the government will not provide compensation to people living on the land. But, locals say they have been living there for generations, hence they need to be compensated if the government wants to use it for the national pride project.

The Council of Ministers is yet to come up with a decision as to what to do in such cases. Until it can take a stand, the completion of this project is in serious doubt.

The sad state of the project can be seen in one example. The project, which had promised to plant 10 trees for every tree it cuts down, is finding it hard to purchase land to do so. Apart from that, the lack of human resource and unplanned river extraction is also causing problems to complete the project on time.

5. Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project

While doing the feasibility study of the Babai Irrigation Project by the UNDP in 1977, plans were also made about a diversion project in the area. That plan materialised with JICA in 1992 while studying the multi-dimensional use of water resources in the Karnali and Mahakali river basins as the officials felt that it could happen and put the diversion project in priority.

In 1998, JICA conducted a feasibility study, and in 2008, the project was given a green light by the Department of Irrigation. Since then, only 40 per cent of the project has been completed. Even though the project had received widespread appreciation for completing the 12.2 kilometres in a short time, little progress has been made since then.

Like in other projects, the planning commission has said that the delay is due to difficulty in acquiring land owned by people and forest committees. The project also needs to cut down trees, but it is not being able to coordinate with government agencies.

The Council of Ministers had given the project permission to use the 5.42-hectare forest area to construct headworks, access tunnels and other infrastructures. But, for that to happen, it needs to cut down 1,023 trees, which it can only do upon receiving permission from the Forest Ministry.

The only thing that is complete is the 12.2-km long tunnel. But, the construction of a powerhouse for the 46.8 MW hydropower project is being done at a relatively slow pace. The initial estimation for the project was put at Rs 16.43 billion, but now due to the pace of the project has gone up to Rs 33.19 billion.

6. Budhigandaki Hydropower Project

The date for the construction of the proposed 1,299 MW hydropower project is yet to be finalised. The government has given Chinese company Gezhouba Water Group the responsibility to handle the project.

Even though the plan to construct a hydropower project was made in 1989, the government has only started to set aside a budget since the fiscal year 2012/13. Since then, the project has handed out compensations to locals of Gorkha and Dhaging whose land will be submerged underwater. As of April 2021, a total of Rs 33.6 billion has been handed out as compensation. A total of 3,000-hectare land needs to be acquired for the project.

The planning commission says that even though there is a budget, the government has not been able to hand out compensation because the compensation rate is yet to be determined. Relocating the people from the project site and problems arising due to the valuation of land during compensation has been cited as reasons for the lack of progress on the project. The government is also unaware of how to build such a big project and where it can manage Rs 260 billion it needs to complete the project.

7. West Seti Hydropower Project

The West Seti Hydropower Project was envisioned by 1980 as a run-of-the-river hydropower project which would produce 37MW electricity. The company that visioned the project, Sograha Consultant, did another study in 1987 when it found a way to increase the capacity of the project to 360 MW by adding a reservoir. The environmental assessment study of the project had been done in 2000, but since then, the government has been signing contracts with various companies cancelling it later on.

The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 273.85 billion as it aims to now produce 1,200 MW of electricity. No work has been done on the project nor has a date been set for its commencement even though the government has been setting aside a budget for the project since the fiscal year 2011/12.

8. Pokhara Regional International Airport

File: Construction works begin for the Pokhara International Airport, in Kaski district, on Wednesday, August 2, 2017. Photo courtesy: Rabindra Adhikari/Twitter

If you look at the history of the project, you have to go back 40 years. The land where the airport is currently being constructed was purchased in the 1980s. But, the project only took off in 2011. That said, it took the Nepal government six years to finalise a loan from the Chinese government to start the project officially in 2017. The agreement between Nepal and China states that the project will be completed at the end of 2021. But, the chances of that happening are very slim.

The aim is to build an airport that will come under the ICAOs 4D standards. Rajan Pokharel, CAANs director-general, says efforts are underway to make sure that the project is completed on time. But, due to Covid-19, things moved at a slow pace in 2020 as most Chinese workers who were an integral part of the project returned home.

The planning commission says that work still needs to be done for bringing a dedicated electricity line into the airport along with setting up a fuel depot. For that to happen, the project needs to acquire more land, say people associated with the project, but locals have been unwilling to agree on the set compensation. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 21.6 billion.

9. Nijgadh International Airport

In 1995, a consulting firm, NEPICO/IRAD conducted a pre-feasibility study on eight areas of Nepal to recommend the best site for a new international airport. Based on the geographical location, topography, distance to the largest cities, road accessibility, forest density and airspace; NEPICO/IRAD suggested Tangyabasti, near Nijgadh, and its surrounding forest area to be the most appropriate site for the construction of the airport.

In 2007, the planning commission even asked the government to set aside a budget to construct Nepals second international airport. In 2008, the government asked a Korean company to compile a detailed feasibility report. But, the government has not been able to move the project further.

According to CAANs director-general Pokhrel, the project is yet to determine a modality and clear the site for construction.

Work also has to be done in regards to relocating Tangyabasti. Were still counting the trees we need to cut down. The project hasnt got the approval to cut down the trees.

The government has started to set aside a budget for the airport since 2014. But, the future of the project, due to constant criticism, is still in doubt. The estimated cost for the first part of the project is around Rs 165 billion.

10. Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway

In the National Transport Policy 2001, a proposal to set up a new highway as an alternative to the East-West (Mahendra) Highway was put in place. The government started to take the proposal seriously and set a budget for it in the fiscal year 2007/08. The highway would be 1,879 km long and would have 121 bridges.

However, the project, which aims to make the lives of over 10 million people better, to date, has only been half done.

Like in all pride projects, the planning commission says that compensation is one of the reasons why the project has not been completed. The other, it says, is having trouble identifying road borders.

There are a few areas where the highway has been forced to divert itself due to it being in the way of hydropower projects. Other than that, the project has also suffered due to the lack of resources for the construction of the highway.

The officials of the project also say they also have trouble with the process of cutting down trees and relocating the electricity poles and drinking water pipes that are on part of the places where the road expansion needs to take place.

The initial cost of the highway was estimated to be Rs 33.36 billion, but now, it has increased to an unprecedented Rs 101.5 billion.

11. Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli visits the Melamchi Water Supply Projects water treatment plant in Sundarijal as the water arrives there, on Saturday, March 6, 2021. Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale and Aryan Dhimal

Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project is another project which was in talks for a long time. Even though the plan to start the project was made in the early 90s, it started to take shape in 1998. Even though the project has somehow materialised, it is yet to be fully complete.

Currently, the project is in its testing phase as it is trying to identify leakage areas. Upon completion, the project aims to send around 17 million litre water daily to Kathmandu.

The project in the past decades has received additional time on a regular basis. But, after Italian contractors CCMC left, the project has been divided into 10 parts. But, coordination among the contractors in these 10 parts is still an issue, claims the planning commission.

Work has also been affected by Covid-19 while a modality regarding profit sharing is also yet to be made. The project has also not addressed the demands of the locals.

The cost which was put at Rs 17.43 billion has now nearly doubled to Rs 31/36 billion.

12. Lumbini Area Development Trust

Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini

In 1977, the government developed a master plan to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. The master plan was later turned into a national pride project. But 42 years on, the visions on the master plan is yet to become a reality even though it should have been complete by 1996.

An auditorium, eight cultural buildings, a water tower and a supply system, a road along with the vihar areas, a pond and various other monuments were supposed to have been made by then.

Apart from that, excavation in areas like Tilaurakot, Gotihawa, Niglihawa, Devdaha and other areas related to the birth of Buddha was also in place. Around 85 per cent work of the project has been completed.

The planning commission says that work would have been completed on time had international donors given the trust the pledged amount. The estimated cost when the project commenced was Rs 5.55 billion, which has now increased to Rs 6.10 billion.

Rs 300 billion cost added

Due to the delay in the completion of these projects, the cost has increased significantly. According to data, the 12 pride projects which are over two decades old have now cost Nepal Rs 300 billion extra. The money, experts say, could have been used to complete a dozen other new similar projects.

Same problems everywhere

The National Planning Commission in its yearly meeting has tried to analyse why these projects are facing similar problems which include being given a budget without proper planning and difficulty in acquiring land.

A former vice-chairperson of the commission, Govinda Raj Pokharel, says mismanagement, bad choices regarding contractors, the lack of skilled workforce and other resources are major problems why these pride projects take time to complete.

He says that the government needs to get better in the management of such projects. He says that if the government treats the project with importance, the projects will be completed right on time.

Longer the project, the more benefit for those involved

Min Bahadur Shrestha, another former vice-chairperson of the commission, says that most of the problems are just excuses to extend the projects. These are national pride projects but sadly no one treats them like one.

He says the pace of these projects started to slow down after the reestablishment of multiparty democracy in 1990. The government started to look at how the money was being distributed instead of looking at how efficient infrastructure development could be.

This resulted in small projects getting more importance than the pride projects put aside citing the lack of budget. Even though newly elected governments announced ambitious pride projects, the implementation has been extremely poor, according to experts.

Shrestha says most of the projects which are being worked on were envisioned either in 1990 or before it.

The current government, however, in its five-year plan, has said it will try to finish most of these pride projects by 2024. The commissions current vice-chairperson Pushpa Raj Kandel says that the commission is going to do everything it can to ensure that these projects are completed on time.

But, looking at how things have been in the past, chances of that happening are slim, say experts.

If work was done based on the plans, none of them would have taken over two decades to complete, says former finance secretary Yubaraj Bhusal.

He says that political parties see these pride projects as the geese that lay the golden eggs.

Why would they want it to stop when they can keep on hiring their own people and receive the reward? he says. As long as this lasts, projects will continue to go in limbo.
A man and a woman have been charged in the weekend fatal bludgeoning of a man inside a Bessemer motel room.

Bessemer police on Thursday announced murder charges against Adrianna Stephen, 28, and Isiah Atkins, 32. They are charged in the April 17 slaying of 46-year-old Sean Coker. Police said he was beaten to death with a kitchen pot.

Coker, a truck driver from Georgia, was found dead Saturday morning inside the Quality Inn on Academy Lane. It wasnt immediately clear when he was killed, authorities said, but he was pronounced dead on the scene at 10:29 a.m.

Coker was discovered by motel staff inside a motel room and was found to have sustained blunt force trauma, according to the Jefferson County Coroners Office.

Bessemer police Lt. Christian Clemons said Coker met the suspects at the motel. The two suspects left at some point, and it was later that Coker was found.

Stephens and Atkins were arrested in Bessemer on Tuesday after a brief vehicle pursuit.

Stephens has a $60,000 bond for murder and Atkins has a $60,500 bond for murder and attempting to elude. Both are being held in the Jefferson County jail.
A councillor in the RM of Cornwallis is alleging that the communitys reeve improperly purchased a trailer for municipal use and violated COVID-19 self-isolation rules while doing so.

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A councillor in the RM of Cornwallis is alleging that the communitys reeve improperly purchased a trailer for municipal use and violated COVID-19 self-isolation rules while doing so.

Ward 1 Coun. Sam Hofer told the Sun this week that Reeve Bill Courtice had made the purchase and then tried to slip it into this fiscal years financial plan for Cornwallis after the fact.

According to Hofer, the municipality had been discussing purchasing a dump trailer since December last year.

In the minutes for Cornwallis transportation committee meeting dated March 16, the need for a purchase was discussed.

"Looking at the trailer  we had previously spoken about 8,000 (pound) axle, we rent a skid steer one / twice a year," the minutes read. "This would be a special order trailer. Emil will work on pricing."

"Emil" refers to Ward 2 Coun. Emil Egert.

After that, Hofer said there was an email conversation in late March in which several councillors voiced approval for the purchase of a trailer being sold by Fast Toys For Boys, a trailer store in Davidson, Sask., for approximately $16,000.

Davidson is approximately 104 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

Hofer said that Prentice then took his own truck to and from Saskatchewan to purchase and pick up the trailer, paying for it with a municipal cheque.

The councillor said that no vote for the purchase of the trailer was held at a council meeting beforehand, but the trailer was added after the fact to the financial plan for the current fiscal year.

"There was no resolution on this," Hofer said. "This vote was taken via email."

That plan was up for a vote at the April 20 council meeting. A copy of the financial plan attached to the agenda for that meeting shows a utility trailer line item under a list of capital expenditures for the 2021 fiscal year at a price of $17,000.

"They danced around many questions about that trailer during the Tuesday night budget meeting," Hofer said about his colleagues.

"They were ready to approve the expenditure (Tuesday) night and actually they scrambled feverishly to get it off the account payable. It was a mass confusion at the meeting."

According to The Municipal Act, a municipality can only make an expenditure if it is accounted for in its operating budget, if it is related to a state of emergency declared by council, if the purchase has been ordered by a court or the Municipal Board or if it has been authorized by council.

Purchases made outside those guidelines are considered a criminal offence under the act.

"Section 171 of The Municipal Act is clear that council members may not spend municipal money without authorization, or contrary to an authorization that has been given," a government spokesperson wrote in an email to the Sun. "While such authorization would typically be provided by resolution or bylaw, it would be up to each municipality to determine their approach for authorizing expenditures within the framework established by The Municipal Act."

Beyond the purchase issue, Hofer is also concerned that Courtice used his own truck to pick up the trailer, which he said could have been a liability issue for the municipality if something had gone wrong.

Also, he said Courcoutice did not self-isolate upon returning from Saskatchewan, which is currently required under public health orders.

"I would not comment on that at this particular point," Prentice said when reached by phone. "Were checking into that. Just mark down no comment for now."

Ward 1 Coun. Kurt Wasserberg said he refuses to speak with the Sun on any issue. Egert said he had no time to speak and hung up.

"I dont really know how he got the trailer," Ward 2 Coun. Bob Brown said.

Asked directly if a trailer purchase had been voted on during a council meeting, Brown said it hadnt. When asked if members of council were allowed to make purchases without prior authorization, he said no, but that the purchase had been "very time-sensitive."

"There were none of these trailers available at the moment, so it kind of had to be acted upon quickly," Brown said.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
A seven-month pregnant driver has captured the terrifying moment a car ran into the back of her vehicle during peak hour traffic.

The accident, which was recorded by a dash cam set up at the back of the woman's car, was captured along the M4, in western Sydney, on Thursday night.

The car is seen tailing closely behind the woman's vehicle as traffic slows to a crawl along the motorway.

The accident, which was recorded by a dash cam set up at the back of the woman's car, was captured along the M4, in western Sydney, on Thursday night

'People are just being completely psychotic,' the pregnant driver says.

'Guy behind me has almost run into me twice. It's going great.

'Run into me twice at 6 kilometres an hour. I don't even know how that happened.'

The driver is forced to bring their car to a stop before the tailing vehicle crashes into the back bumper.

The car is sent forward narrowly missing a silver Mazda stopped in front.

'The f**k,' the driver screams.

'He just f***ing crashed into me.'

Footage of the accident was uploaded to Facebook where social media users have praised the quick-thinking of the pregnant driver.

'She did really well not to hit the car in front of her,' one person commented.

Another person said: 'Sounds like mum-to-be would do an excellent job of applying a lecture, deservedly so.'
NEW HAVEN  Reporting a slack in demand for vaccines that protect against COVID-19, a top medical official with the Yale New Haven Health system said he is worried about the state reaching herd immunity.

Right around 55 percent of the state vaccinated: half is there and half has not yet been vaccinated, said Yale New Haven Heath Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Thomas Balcezak.

A slack in that demand tells us the second half of the state isnt seeking vaccinations with the same ferocity as the first half did. I hope that trend changes, Balcezak said.

Balcezak and other top officials with the health system spokes to the media Friday to share updates on the state of COVID-19 in Connecticut.

According to Balcezak, herd immunity for COVID-19  or mass protection against the spread of a virus  should occur when around 75 percent to 80 percent of a population is vaccinated. He said currently about 80 percent of the Yale New Haven systems staff are vaccinated against the virus.

Marna Borgstrom, the health systems chief executive officer, said the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the system has decreased by 14 in the last two weeks and currently stands at 194 patients. Nevertheless, she said the hospitals themselves are very full. Yale New Haven Hospital, she said, is at 97 percent capacity.

We know at least some of our busyness now is due to delays in care from spring last year and throughout summer and the fall, Balcezak said. Now were playing catch up.

Borgstrom agreed that many of the people currently hospitalized represent a backlog of people who did not seek out medical attention for fear of being in a hospital during a pandemic. She said it is busy in many specialties, especially behavioral health and psychiatric departments.

There are so many people with needs and relatively few resources in some communities to meet those needs, she said.

Despite the relative plateau of people hospitalized with COVID-19, health system staff said they have noticed a shift in demographics.

When we look at the profiles of these patients, which also says to me the vaccine is doing its job, is that we are hospitalizing many, many fewer people in older age groups. Those over 75 and 65 and 55 are declining, Borgstrom said. The in-patient hospitalizations for people between 18 and 54 has been increasing, and that obviously is the group who has been vaccinated latest in the state rollout.

Borgstrom held this up as evidence that the vaccines are incredibly effective at reducing serious illness from COVID-19.

Earlier this week, she said, the health system administered its 300,000th dose of the vaccine.

Balcezak said that in November, about one month prior to the start of the mass vaccination program, 30 percent of the patients in the health systems hospitals were over age 75; today they make up 10 percent of patients. In November, patients between 65 and 74 years old were about 20 percent of the in-patient population, and today that figure is also 10 percent.

As a means of addressing the slack in demand for vaccines, Balcezak said the systems vaccination clinics will drop the barriers and allow walk-up, same-day registration appointments.

Balcezak also confirmed there have been about a dozen cases across the system of people who are fully vaccinated who nevertheless were hospitalized for COVID-19. Balcezak said one of those people later died, although the patient had underlying respiratory illnesses. Borgstrom said those cases are infinitesimal examples, and evidence points to the overwhelming effectiveness of the vaccine.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
Park Bo Gum has been serving his mandatory military service for exactly a year now. If things goes as planned, he's coming on April 2022.

Since there are many stories of celebrity couples having broken up because of the mandatory military service requirement that does not except even the hottest of stars, some wonder if Park Bo Gum left someone behind because of this.

Or if he is in a long distance relationship with someone?

Park Bo Gum Relationship Status 2021: Girlfriend Left Behind?

If Park Bo Gum left someone behind while he completes his military service, this is for him to know. So far, what it can be surmised is that he went to service without leaving someone long for his presence back home.

The handsome star, who has left his legion of fans missing him when it was announced that he's going to vanish from the limelight for 2 years, was last linked with Kim Yoo Jung. Nothing was confirmed, but it was widely speculated that Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung have dated for a year before breaking up.

The two worked together in the drama "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds" in 2016 and had earned a lot of fans wishing to see them together in real life. After the drama ended, many rumors of Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung's dating broke out. Neither of them spoke up and addressed the rumors though.

Since there is no outright denial, the rumors continued on. Fans went absolutely crazy when they learned online that on the morning of October 26, 2016, Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung were spotted checking out in the hotel lobby and then appeared at the Philippine airport to go back to Korea.

Dispatch reported this sighting and provided the pictures as evidence. Both can be seen looking very casually stylish, but all fans can notice was that they were standing very close to each other.



Park Bo Gum in "Seobok"

Fans may be missing their idol so much as he embarks on a duty, but the actor certainly did not leave them hanging. His latest project (probably the last one he did before serving the military) was just released last week. Entitled Seobok, the actor plays a violent psychic, which is a role quite different from the usual charming guy rules he plays.

Park Bo Gum as SeoBok and he is the cutest you'll ever see, I miss him so much  #Seobok pic.twitter.com/0vvLLfF4F0   (@kdramatreats) April 16, 2021

In this sci-fi film, Park Bo Gum worked with another idolized actor, Gong Yoo. The film revolves around a former intelligence agent named Ki Heon (Gong Yoo) who, for the final mission of his life, is given the mission to ensure safe transportation of mankind's first human clone, Seobok. This is played by none other than, Park Bo Gum. The clone, is being pursued by many forces so Ki Heon had to secure his safety.

Gong Yoo does not have anything but good things to say of his co-actor. "Park Bo Gum is a very honest and upright person. He's so upright that it made me think he might not be fun," Gong Yoo revealed. However, working with the actor proved him wrong.

According to Gong Yoo, he is sure that because of Seobok, Park Bo Gum's acting jobs when he returns from the army will be more diverse and expansive. He added that Bo Gum even called from the army, claiming he is happy to know their movie is already released.

ALSO READ: 'Doom at Your Service' Update: Park Bo Young Talks Challenges of Playing a 'Dying' Character

Owned by Kdramastars.

Written by Annie Dee
JOHNS ISLAND  For the past 14 years, Fred Neuville has served many helpings of Lowcountry cuisine with a French flair at his Maybank Highway restaurant.

But very soon, Neuville and wife Joan will leave the rustic dining venue. The Fat Hen will close for good April 26. The 35 employees were notified April 20.

The Neuvilles are selling the 2-acre site for $2.39 million to an investment firm behind The Neighborhood Dining Group, according to Jim Moring with The Commonwealth Co., which handled the sale for the buyer and the seller.

Moving into the Fat Hen location will be Minero, one of several restaurants in the Neighborhood Dining Group stable.

The Mexican-inspired venue is expected to open by late summer, down the street from another site that the ownership had originally targeted when looking to relocate Minero from East Bay Street in Charleston. It scuttled the move when the coronavirus outbreak struck and closed the downtown location.

We had a Johns Island location of Minero in the works last year, but the pandemic caused us to press pause until conditions improved, said David Howard, president of Neighborhood Dining Group.

"We started looking around and this opportunity presented itself," Howard said. Were excited to resume plans for this location in an even bigger and better way than we had originally thought. We cant wait to serve the community on Johns Island and bring Minero back to the Charleston area.

The company operates another Minero in Atlanta as well as Husk in Charleston, Nashville and Savannah; Husk Barbeque in Greenville; and Delaney Oyster House in Charleston.

Howard said the new restaurant will require 30 to 40 workers and that current employees are being offered positions. The renovations over the next few months will include kitchen modifications and an expanded and covered front patio area with a retractable awning to accommodate more diners.

The Coop, an outdoor bar and dining venue behind the restaurant, will be dismantled.

In addition to many of its regular items such as house-made tortillas, slow-cooked meats, tacos, burritos, fire-grilled wings, margaritas, and tequila and mezcal, the restaurant will offer several new dishes for its all-day service seven days a week.

It will replace a popular dining venture that the Neuvilles took a risk on in 2007 after borrowing against their home.

"People said we were crazy," Fred Neuville said. "It was way out in the country, and no one would go there."

But after the couple had lunch at what was then St. Johns Island Cafe, they felt it was the right location. They bought the business for $89,000 in April 2007, renovated it and opened three months later.

"It was the biggest risk of our lives," said Neuville, who later became a co-owner of the nearby Wild Olive down the street from 2008 to 2010. "If we hadn't opened on July 8 (2007), we wouldn't have opened because we were out of money."

He figured the Fat Hen's business plan to serve an average of 89 customers a night when he first opened. It turned out to be closer to 350 instead.

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The venture was so successful the Neuvilles bought the 2-acre property for $1.1 million in 2009.

"We were very fortunate," Neuville said. "It was definitely a dream come true."

With business booming and people lining up to get in, The Coop was added in 2014.

"We needed a waiting area, and it just evolved into what it is now," he said.

The site includes a covered bar and outdoor seating for 40. When COVID-19 struck, he added a tent next to it.

As for surviving during the pandemic, Neuville said it was a challenge at first because he was not used to serving to-go meals.

When the economy began to emerge from the lockdown in May and allowed partial inside seating, he worked around it, but said the federal Paycheck Protection Program and expanded outdoor seating saved the business.

"This past winter was OK, but not great," Neuville said. "But since spring break, we are doing great and we are matching numbers from 2019 when we were open seven days a week. We're now closed two days a week  Sunday and Monday."

Neuville said the coronavirus brought its challenges, but the decision to sell is one he and his wife have been mulling over for two or three years. She's ready to retire and he, now 55, wants to move on to a new venture.

"I've been in the business since I was 13, and it's time to do something else," Neuville said. "I will continue to do some kind of work. If it's food service, it is. If not, I'm sure I will find something to do."

Neuville said he will miss certain parts of the restaurant business, but not all of it.

"There are a lot of things about the hospitality industry that I love and a lot that have changed and I don't enjoy, but you have to do it," he said. "I'll replace it with something else. I plan to keep my toe in the water."

Wherever he lands, his credentials will follow him.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America when he was 19, Neuville accepted his first executive chef position at age 20 in a Richmond, Va., restaurant.

From there, he moved around for several years, working in restaurants in Baltimore, Washington, Aspen, Colo., and Denver, where he met his wife and got married in 1996. She wanted to move to the coast, so they chose Charleston and he took a job as executive chef at the Jasmine Porch on Kiawah Island.

He left there and worked for an events company before launching Rue de Jean in 2000 on John Street and the neighboring Coast Bar & Grill two years later.

In 2004, he started Good Food Catering in the old Rice Mill building on the peninsula. Three years later, his wife saw a notice just before Christmas about a restaurant for sale on Johns Island. They checked it out, bought it and have never looked back.
SALEM - The Salem-Keizer NAACP has called on Kari Zohner, a candidate for Salem-Keizer School Board, to end her campaign after she criticized Oregon State University for posting a photo of George Floyd earlier this week.

The university posted a photo of Floyd Tuesday on its Facebook page after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of Floyds murder. Floyds murder sparked nationwide protests against racism and police bruality last year, including in Salem.

In the since-deleted comment, Zohner wrote, And now Im no longer following you. My Alma Mater. Eulogize a criminal..great.

A screenshot of the comment from Kari Zohner in response to Oregon State University's Facebook post.

Zohner has deleted her comments and posted a statement on her Facebook page in response to the criticism she received.

First, I want to say what Ive felt and said since yesterdays conviction of Derek Chauvin: I believe all people should be treated equally. The conviction was a small step towards justice, she wrote. I am sorry that my frustration with the divisiveness in our society came out in the wrong way in a Facebook thread. I should have been more thoughtful with my words.

Unfortunately, these personal attacks against me are an effort to distract from my opponents socialist agenda that is out of touch with our community. I will not let the intimidation of some distract me from the issues that matter to our community--the issues that are the reason I am running to serve on the school board, Zohner continued.

Through her campaign manager David Kilada, Zohner declined an interview Thursday with Salem Reporter and said she intends to continue her campaign.

NAACP President Reginald Richardson said he attempted to reach Zohner Wednesday to understand what she meant by her post, but was unable to leave a voicemail because her messages were full, and said she didnt respond to his texts.

We believe in talking to people first because who among us hasnt put our feet in our mouth? There may have been some reasonable explanation, Richardson told Salem Reporter. I cant imagine what the reasonable explanation is, but there could be one.

The NAACP issued its statement Wednesday night.

We understand and support the First Amendment right to free speech. However, this hateful rhetoric is founded in racism and has no place in the auspices of the Salem-Keizer School board or any elected office. We must hold our leaders accountable and make clear that this behavior will not be tolerated in any form. The Candidate for School Board Zone 1 must rescind her candidacy immediately, the statement said.

Kilada said Zohner didnt respond to Richardson because she was inundated with messages, some threatening, after screenshots of her comments were shared on social media Wednesday.

Zohner is one of four candidates seeking the boards zone 1 seat to represent west Salem. Her platform has focused on resuming full-time, in-person school for district students and resuming the districts school resource officer program.

--Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter
Spotify, Tile, and Match Group aren't exactly startups anymore. Neither is Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, which last summer was valued at $17.3 billion. But these companies, which all rely on Apple and Google to host their apps, are locked in a battle with the tech giants that could trickle down to smaller companies and independent app developers.

Several of these companies testified before a subpanel of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, chaired by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), on how Apple's and Google's app-store policies have had negative consequences on their businesses. It's the last in a series of hearings Klobuchar has chaired on big tech and antitrust issues.

"When you first hear about this, I know my first reaction was, 'Why wouldn't everyone want to be on the App Store?'" Klobuchar told Inc. in an interview prior to the hearing.

App developers have a host of reasons as to why they don't want to partner with the world's two largest mobile operating systems. One major point of contention is the so-called "app-store tax" of anywhere between 15 to 30 percent that Apple and Google charge companies for most paid transactions made through their platforms. For example, if Spotify users subscribe to the service through their iPhones, Apple will receive a cut of sales.

As businesses grow more profitable, the 30 or 15 percent cut for every paid transaction starts to add up. Jared Sine, chief legal officer of Match Group, the company that owns popular dating apps like Tinder and Hinge, revealed that app-store commission fees are the company's single largest expense at more than $500 million annually.

"[Apple and Google] can hurt us in little ways, they can hurt us in big ways. They can easily remove our app, impose the 30 percent tax," Sine said during Wednesday's hearing. "We're all afraid, is the reality, Senator."

Both Apple and Google take the position that Spotify, Tile, and other companies are still successful despite the app-store commissions. They also argue that the labor of curating and vetting each app for safety justifies the commission. Apple's legal chief, Kyle Andeer, noted that each week, Apple reviews about 100,000 submissions and rejects 40 percent of them. Critics say that the tech giants are still missing scam apps, and are rejecting new features that legitimate app makers roll out to keep users safe.

Here are the three biggest issues at stake for startups and third-party developers as Congress scrutinizes Apple's and Google's app-store policies:

1. Even reduced app-store "taxes" are hurting smaller developers.

While years of pushback prompted Apple and Google to reduce the cut they take from the smallest app developers from 30 percent to 15 percent, Klobuchar and other critics of the move say this doesn't inoculate the tech giants from anticompetitive conduct.

"They changed their policies for some of the smallest fish, but it seems like whenever someone's to the point where they can compete with the yacht, they might start to say, 'OK, I'm going to start charging a lot of you," said Klobuchar.

Apple and Google currently charge the reduced commission rate of 15 percent only until an app developer hits north of $1 million in revenue. After the $1 million mark, the rate goes up to the 30 percent that most (but not all) larger companies must pay for sales transactions made through the app stores. On Google Play, the $1 million threshold is reset every year. With Apple, a company that earns more than $1 million in 2020 will be ineligible for the small-business discount in 2021, but can reapply for the program the following year.

But most app developers won't hit anywhere near the $1 million mark. As a March 2021 App Annie study notes, the vast majority of app developers on both iOS and Android generate less than $100,000 in consumer spend per year. So even with the reduced rate of 15 percent, a company that earns $100,000 in sales one year on either platform will end up losing $15,000 to commission rates.

2. App developers can't charge lower prices on their own websites.

One way businesses can circumvent the 30 percent app-store tax is to ask customers to pay for services directly on their website. But companies like Spotify say Apple has blocked them from advertising lower-priced options on the apps themselves.

"We couldn't even email our users to tell them about a way to upgrade that didn't involve paying through Apple," said Spotify's chief legal officer, Horacio Gutierrez, during the hearing.

Klobuchar said such behavior was unjustifiable. "I don't know how [Apple and Google] can justify telling companies that are on their app store that they are banned from telling customers that they can get a better deal on their website," Klobuchar told Inc.

3. Beware if Apple or Google decides to build something to compete with your app.

The situation gets tricky when apps or services resemble a current or future offering by Apple or Google. Tile, the lost-item finder, is accusing Apple of anticompetitive behavior because of the recently launched Apple AirTag. The AirTag product, which is also a lost-item finder, will be in direct competition with Tile.

"We welcome competition, but it has to be fair competition, and Apple's idea of competing is patently unfair," said Tile's general counsel, Kirsten Daru. For example, Tile says that its iPhone users have to go deep in their phone's settings to enable tracking for Tile, whereas that feature is enabled automatically for AirTag.

Apple has also been accused of prioritizing its own apps over other apps in search results. In some cases, competitors have responded by purchasing paid ads that appear first in the search results. For example, a search for "Maps" on the iOS app store brings up a paid ad for Google Maps, followed by Waze, Apple Maps, and then Google Maps again.

But there's a potential bright side. Apple has opened up its "Find My" network and much more precise Ultra Wideband technology to developers, meaning that other third-party apps will now be able to build products centered on the network. Tile is already working on its own Ultra Wideband tech tracker that will use augmented reality, perhaps making it a step above AirTags.
Black trans lives matter protesters and cops came to blows Thursday night after the protesters apparently sprayed a statue near Columbus Circle - and at the entrance of Central Park - with anti-cop graffiti and red paint resembling blood.

A group of hundreds of protesters were seen marching through Manhattan on Thursday, apparently under the banner of black trans lives, before vandalizing a statue in Columbus Circle and clashing with police during a chaotic melee.

It's not clear what kicked off the chaotic scene.

Police regularly patrol the area because it's near Central Park, near a statue of Christopher Columbus which some have called to be removed, and also near the Trump International Hotel.

Protesters were seen carrying signs that read 'Justice for Ma'Khia Bryant' referring to the 16-year-old girl who was shot by Columbus, Ohio police earlier this week.

They then vandalized the USS Maine National Monument and clashed with police.

The NYPD wouldn't provide specifics when asked by DailyMail.com for details on what happened, saying they were still gathering details from officers on the scene. At least two people had been arrested early Friday.

Several protesters were seen brawling with NYPD officers while others threw an unidentified liquid at them, video shows. One protester was seemingly heard on video attempting to spit on cops.

'What the f**k is wrong with you?' one person on the video screams at police as officers grabbed protesters.

The protest comes as the U.S. grapples with the Ma'Khia Byrant shooting in Ohio, the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict over George Floyd's murder and the funeral for Daunte Wright, who was shot by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Scroll down for videos

Protesters were seen brawling with NYPD officers in Columbus Circle near Central Park on Thursday

Protesters and cops were seen shoving and punching each other during the massive fight

Police and protesters are seen during a large fight that broke out during a black trans lives matter protest in Manhattan

A person is seen facing off with a cop in an NYPD baseball cap during a fight near Central Park

A person is seen shining a flash light on a protesters and police as they faced off during the brawl

The person appears to fall to the ground during the fight while a wall of NYPD officers watch

A person that appears to be a protester is seen on the ground underneath a group of police officers

The NYPD said on Thursday that at least two people had been arrested during the protest

Protesters were seen on videos posted to Twitter defacing the USS Maine National Monument at a gateway to Central Park

PGraffiti on the USS Maine monument included the text 'Stonewall was a riot,' 'ACAB' and 'F**k 12' - a reference for police

The protesters and cops were seen shoving and punching each in the brawl while one protester fell to the ground.

Video shows officers trying to arrest a protester and crowding around a cab as the woman tried to flee. Other protesters tried to block their move. It is unclear whether an arrest was made.

Dozens of police officers were seen carrying zip ties in the aftermath - and the department tweeted it was trying to 'deescalate the situation' to prevent further damage.

'We respect's everyone right to peacefully protest, but vandalism is not part of peaceful protest. We are working to de-escalate the situation to prevent further damage from occurring,' the NYPD tweeted.

The protest was part of weekly 'Stonewall Protests' - which according to its Instagram are 'demonstrations by black queer and black trans activists centered on the acknowledgment of all black life.'

An NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com that at least two people had been arrested in Columbus Circle for the protest, though did not have their charges immediately available.

At the Stone Wall protest in NYC.

Officers try to arrest a protester Attempting to get in a cab .



Filmed and owned by leeroy Johnson

.#BREAKING #NewYork #NYPD pic.twitter.com/yk5syKLHcD  Leeroy Johnson (@LeeroyPress) April 23, 2021

Protesters were seen carrying a banner that reads 'Justice for Ma'Khia Bryant'

The march was a part of the Stonewall Protests, which happen weekly in support of 'all black lives'

A group of hundreds of protesters were seen marching through Manhattan on Thursday before vandalizing a statue in Columbus Circle

Protesters were seen carrying a banner after the shooting death of Ma'Khia Bryant

An NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com that at least two people had been arrested in Columbus Circle for the protest

Protesters are seen gathered at the Stonewall Inn, the city of violent riots that led to equality for many in the LGBTQ community

Hundreds of protesters had gathered for the march before it made its way to Central Park

Many of the marchers on Thursday carried pride flags after gathering on Christopher Street

A woman speaks into a microphone during a march for 'all black lives' in Manhattan on Thursday

Though the protest ended in Columbus Circle, the protesters did not appear to have vandalized a controversial statue of Christopher Columbus also located in the area.

Earlier this year, police were revealed to be still guarding that statue around the clock while displays of Confederate symbols or other figures deemed racist have been taken down or toppled across America in recent months.

The vandalized USS Maine National Monument, created in 1912, is dedicated to the 258 American sailors who were on board the ship when it exploded in Havana harbor in February 1898, contributing to the onset of the Spanish-American War.

The battleship had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of Americans there after a rebellion against Spanish rule broke out in Havana in January 1898.

The cause of the explosion was never conclusively determined but the disaster was used to justify the war against Spain which lasted eight months.

In the days after the sinking of the USS Maine, the publisher of the New York Journal, William Randolph Hearst, called for the public memorial to be built to honor the lost sailors.

Graffiti on the USS Maine monument included the text 'Stonewall was a riot,' 'ACAB' and 'F**k 12' - a reference for police. The phrase ACAB stands for 'All Cops Are Bas***ds.'

The protest and vandalism comes hours after the funeral for Daunte Wright, 20, who was shot by a white police officer in a Minneapolis suburb on April 11 after a routine traffic stop.

It also comes amid rising tensions over the shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Byrant by Colombus Police Office Nicholas Reardon in Ohio, which has sparked BLM protests.

Video footage shows Byrant wielding a gun and two neighbors have said they believe Reardon had no choice but to shoot the black teenager because more people could have been killed if he hadn't acted.

The protests also come after Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd.

The fired Minneapolis police officer, 45, was immediately taken to the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Oak Park Heights on Tuesday and was placed on suicide watch after being found guilty of killing George Floyd.

On Thursday, the group of protesters had started marching near the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, the site of a series of violent riots that led to the advancement of equality for the LGBTQ community.

The protesters were seen marching from the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street to Central Park

People claimed on Twitter that the NYPD started arresting protesters after a majority had already dispersed

On their way to Columbus Circle, marchers stopped by The New York Times building in Midtown.

Video taken by journalist Leeroy Johnson shows the protesters chanting 'F**k The New York Times' outside of the building.

'Prior to this vandalism they were sharing some points many people can agree on,' the advocacy group AntifaWatch tweeted.

The Twitter account Protest NYC claimed that the group had participated in a 'night of peaceful protesting' before the massive brawl.

'NYPD waited for most protesters to leave, and then swarmed those remaining on the sidewalk. Police targeted organizers,' the account claimed.

'Over 200 police surrounded the park where the peaceful protest against police violence had already dispersed to arrest organizers.'

The Stonewall protest also came after the larger March on Broadway which started at Columbus Circle earlier in the day before proceeding towards Times Square and the theater district.
Mumbai, April 23 : The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has "re-routed" its critical 252-km-long 18-inch diameter oil pipeline connecting Mumbai and Nashik, an official said here on Friday.

The rerouted section - running 48 km - was constructed at a cost of Rs 450 crore and was inaugurated by BPCL Director, Marketing and Refineries, Arun Kumar Singh, according to an official spokesperson.

Constructed over two decades ago, the pipeline was linked with Nashik's important railway junction Manmad, joining the BPCL Fuel Installation facility there with the BPCL Refinery in Mumbai.

It was the veritable 'oil lifeline' for BPCL as more than 80 per cent of the diesel and petrol produced at the Mumbai refinery was evacuated through the pipeline.

However, since then, lot of infrastructural developments, residential or other buildings have sprung up around its route, making it inaccessible for repairs or maintenance and posing risks to people in the vicinity.

Later, the Mumbai-Manmad Pipeline was extended till Delhi, passing through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana to supply petrol, diesel, kerosene, etc to the interiors of the country.
The undocumented immigrants whom former President Donald Trump tried to exclude from the census will be included in the population count that determines congressional representation for the next decade, advocacy groups said Thursday in announcing the settlement of a suit against the Census Bureau.

Under the settlement, population figures to be released next week will inform states how many congressional seats they will have in 2022, said attorney Thomas Wolf of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. After further Census Bureau analysis and reports, he said, data allowing states to draw district lines based on equal populations will be available by the end of September.

The settlement is subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of San Jose, who has presided over the suit challenging Trumps attempts to speed up the census and exclude undocumented immigrants from the totals. The once-per-decade count determines the number of U.S. House seats allotted to each state and is used by federal officials to apportion $1.5 trillion a year in aid based on population.

The effort to rush the timeline set by our trusted census experts was a blatant attempt to force an undercount, deprive American communities of critical funding and undermine the accuracy of our representative districts, said Virginia Kase, chief executive of the League of Women Voters, a plaintiff in the suit. With this agreement, our community leaders can reliably move forward with the work of serving their residents.

Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, another plaintiff, said, We are hopeful that this settlement sends a message that the weaponization of census data to reinforce white supremacy is a violation of the Constitution and American ideals.

Trump sought to discourage or prevent immigrants from taking part in the census, an action that could have reduced representation from states such as California with high immigrant populations. After the Supreme Court rejected his attempt to add a U.S. citizenship question to the census, he ordered the Census Bureau to exclude undocumented residents from the population count.

A federal court ruled in September that Trumps order violated a law requiring the census to include the whole number of persons in each state. But the Supreme Court set the ruling aside in December, saying it was premature because Trump had not yet received final population figures from the Census Bureau.

Earlier, in mid-October, the high court had allowed the Trump administration to halt census-taking two weeks before a timetable approved by Koh and a federal appeals court. Trump had previously tried to end the count Oct. 1.

The bureau was unable to complete its tabulation, however, before Trump left office Jan. 20. Under the settlement negotiated by the Biden administration, census officials will continue to process the data and release the overall population levels sometime next week.

The settlement specifies that the numbers will include everyone, regardless of citizenship status, civil rights groups said. They said the Census Bureau had acknowledged that the information it was collecting for Trump on undocumented immigrants was statistically unfit for use to reduce the population count that would determine redistricting.

The agreement also requires the bureau to provide more detailed figures for redistricting by Sept. 30, continue analyzing the data over the next year and issue public reports every two months.

The additional time allowed for processing the data should go a long way toward (increasing) accuracy of the census, said Sadik Huseny, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Chinese media recently reported the story of a scrupulous Lothario who dated dozens of women at the same time, scamming them out of millions of dollars over a period of two years.

On March 20th, a woman arrived at a police precinct in Zhengzhou, Chinas Henan Province, to file a rather unusual complaint. Apparently, she had been defrauded of more than 9 million yuan ($1.3 million) by her boyfriend, who she had met in 2019. The accused, a man named Zhang Nan, had deceived the woman, claiming to be the son and grandson of powerful public officials, and asking for important sums of money over the last couple of years. This sort of romantic scams are not entirely unheard of in China, but what made this case special was that the police investigation revealed that Zhang had scammed at least 20 women who he had been dating at the same time.

The woman who filed the original complaint, henceforth referred to by the pseudonym Zhang Li, told investigators that he had met the scammer at a car wash one day. He seemed very nice and after texting on WeChat for a while, they became romantically involved. She was emotionally vulnerable at the time, and fell right into Zhang Nans trap, believing his web of lies and ignoring all the warning signs.

When her otherwise affectionate boyfriend started complaining that his father, allegedly the manager of a local bank, was accused of corruption and needed financial help to make the charges go away, the woman didnt hesitate tp help, not knowing that the money was actually going towards fulfilling Zhang Nans dreams, such as buying hot cars like Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche.

On another occasion, the scammer told his girlfriend that he was being considered for a promotion to deputy from his average public servant job, but needed to give some expensive gifts to the local leader in charge of promotions, so she transferred over 3 million yuan to his account.

By the time Zhang Li realized that she had been defrauded, her boyfriend had squandered most of the money on expensive cars, traveling, gambling and partying. The police told her that there was hardly anything left in his account.

Before you go and blame the victim for getting played like this, you should know that Zhang Nan had a very well thought-out modus operandi. During their investigation, police met another one of his victims, a woman referred to by the media as Li Min. She had also met Zhang Nan in 2019, soon after divorcing another man. He was very affectionate, appeared to be successful, and showered her with gifts.

In the beginning, it was Nan who gave Li Min money. He had told her that his family was very well off, his father worked directly under the provincial government, and they were doing business all over the world. At one point, to prove his love he put his expensive cars, an Audi A8 and an Audi Q7, in her name, which really took her by surprise. She later found out that the papers were fake

Whenever she needed money, like 1,000 yuan, he always sent her at least double, and this made her trust him even more. So one day, when Zhang told her to sell her own car, because they already had too many, she felt that it was sensible advice. He later asked for the 200,000 yuan she got for her car to invest in a lucrative business.

At one point, Zhang Nan took his lover to meet his well-off family, only they werent at all what she expected. they lived in a modest home in the country, his father drove an old, beat-up car, but Nan justified it as a necessary cover because of his fathers high-profile job. he couldnt really drive his Rolls Royce while working for the State, could he?

Li Min told police that she finally realized that he was a crook in May of last year, when she received a phone call from another woman, who also claimed to be Zhang Nans girlfriend. But the real shocking news was that she was living in the very same building as Min. The very next day, they met and together discovered that their boyfriend was dating a third woman in their building One of them was living on the 10th floor, while the other at the 17th and 18th floors.

After the original complaint, police arrested Zhang Nan and got him to confess to defrauding at least 20 women, who he had dated simultaneously for the last two years. He had managed to scam them out of millions of dollars, most of which he had already spent on his vices, like gambling and partying. How did he manage to fool all of them for so long? Apparently, he used the excuse of being this important businessman or public official who had to travel for long periods of time.

After the case went viral, police issued a statement warning women to be vigilant and not fall for the rhetoric of romantic scammers. If they start asking for money or make bold claims that cannot be proven, women should contact the authorities or end the relationship altogether. The more eager to get married you are, the more vigilant you should be, the statement read.
Boston Mayor Kim Janey will task the incoming director of the citys new Office of Police Accountability and Transparency with a comprehensive review of how the Boston Police Department handles internal affairs, Janey announced Thursday.

When she tapped Stephanie Everett last week to lead OPATs launch, Janey instructed the attorney to examine the case of Patrick Rose, who faced allegations of sexual assault on a child but remained on the force for two decades longer and rose to lead the Boston Police Patrolmens Association. Two days after her administration released redacted internal affairs files concerning Rose, Janey on Thursday expanded the scope of Everetts mission, calling on her to deliver a plan for review and reform of BPDs internal affairs process within the first 45 days of Everetts tenure.

The internal affairs files show that then-Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans was informed in 1996 that investigators believed Rose had sexually abused a child, but allowed Rose to return to patrol under pressure from the union.

As the Boston Globe reported, Rose would later be accused of abusing five more children before his arrest last year.

There is nothing more important than ensuring that something like this never happens again, Janey said at a press conference. The fact that a Boston police officer could be accused of sexually abusing a child, that that accusation would be sustained by the Boston Police Department, that that officer would not be terminated, that that officer would be accused of abusing other children and still stay on the force for another 20 years and rise through the ranks and become the president of the union is indefensible, and that would not happen under my watch.

Janey, the citys first Black mayor, also described collective relief on Thursday about the guilty verdict a jury delivered on Tuesday in the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, though she added that our work is not done.

We must all remain steadfast in the pursuit of racial justice, Janey said. The murder of George Floyd and countless others demonstrates the urgent need to reform and reimagine how we protect and serve our communities.
A report revealed that Democrats and mainstream media pushed false claims about the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot to undermine former President Donald Trump.

One America News Network reported on Thursday that Brian Sicknick's death was used by Democrats and mainstream media to "push their own political agenda" against Trump with information now provided by the Washington D.C. Medical Examiner's Office contradicting their claims.

Pearson Sharp, OANN's reporter, explained that Sicknick's official cause of death after the riot is a "far cry" from the claims used by Democrats and mainstream media since January against Trump.

Sharp cited reports from the Daily Beast, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The New York Times and a tweet from Josh Marshall that purported Sicknick was "hit" or "struck" by a rioter with a fire extinguisher that caused his death while some claim that he died of intoxication from the fire extinguisher's chemical substance.

In addition, Sharp presented screencaptures of the said media organizations' reports from their websites, as well as, played portions of their video reports regarding their claims on Sicknick's cause of death. He also highlighted one of The New York Times' report on Sicknick being updated "quietly" after the official cause of his death was released by the medical expert.

"Here they are blatantly publishing a fictional story that isn't supported by evidence. Every word of this report is designed to provoke anger and hysteria and none of it is true," Sharp stressed.

"Even the claim that Officer Sicknick died after being attacked with bermaise has been proven false. The chief medical officer said that 'Sicknick did not suffer from an allergic reaction after being sprayed with chemical irritants as he engaged with rioters. But the media would not listen, not even to Officer Sicknick's own family who begged the press to stop spreading the lies explaining that Brian even called them the night of January 6 to tell them that he was fine," Sharp pointed out.

As reported previously, Sicknick actually died of two strokes and of natural death as announced by medical examiner Francisco Diaz and as released by official prosecutors on the case. The official ruling also cancelled out all claims that there was four people who died during the US Capitol Riot except for Ashli Babbit, which was homicide, and the woman who died, which was from an accident.

"At this point, the radical Left's entire narrative has collapsed. But when did the truth ever hold Democrats back? Again, totally untrue," Sharp added. "Because while the media loves to proclaim that five people lost their lives, we now know for certain that all but one of these deaths were completely accidental including Officer Sicknick's death from natural causes."

Sharp highlighted that the death of Ashley Babbit could have been prevented if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "have listened" to Trump who requested earlier to increase the presence of the National Guard in the U.S. Capitol for January 6. He also stated that the "media flat out lied" and "exploited Officer Sicknick's death for their own political gain" besides using it against Trump "as evidence" during his impeachment. He pinpointed Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin who said during the impeachment trial that "the insurrectionists killed a Capitol police officer by striking him in the head with a fire extinguisher" from one of the mainstream media's report.

"None of it was true and they knew it but they kept lying anyway to manipulate American people. This revelation about Officer Sicknick is the final nail on the coffin of Democrats' wild conspiracy about the January 6 protests. President Trump did not incite the riots at the Capitol and not a single person was 'killed by rampaging Trump protesters'," Sharp said with conviction before ending his report.
Things to do in the Attleboro area and beyond
Sarah Krasnostein says The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen explores the elusive line between memoir and myth. I will read anything Krissy Kneen writes. I devoured her latest book, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with my Grandmothers Ashes, which tells the story of how she set off on a quest with her beloved grandmothers ashes and the intention of discovering where her family comes from. This is a book about how we are made and remade, it is about belonging and the presence of absence. Kneens writing moves with all the muscle of the human heart as she so dexterously explores the elusive line between memoir and myth that haunts us all in different ways. Sarah Krasnosteins latest book is The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death and Faith. Susan Johnson recommends Johnno David Maloufs Johnno was a revelation for Susan Johnson.

David Maloufs first novel was a revelation to me. I read it when it was published, around the late 1970s, which happened to coincide with my own coming of age in Brisbane. Ostensibly a rite-of-passage novel about a young mans emergence into his full self, told through his friendship with his temperamental opposite, the larger-than-life Dionysian character of Johnno, its a book about so many other things: what it means to be Australian, how we fit into a world in which great events always seem to be happening far off, and how we might re-make as poetry poor, shabby, unromantic Brisbane. Above all, its a profoundly moving work on the power of literature and the imagination, immortalising a city at a particular time in history, and telling the eternal human story of our conflicted desires, for home and elsewhere, for binding love and mythical, transforming freedom. Susan Johnsons latest book is From Where I Fell. David Malouf will be giving the closing night address at SWF. Anita Heiss recommends The Boy from the Mish and Songs that Sound Like Blood Anita Heiss praises coming-of-age novel The Boy from the Mish for speaking to a young, queer, black audience. Gary Lonesboroughs debut novel, The Boy from the Mish, is an unputdownable, extraordinary coming-of-age story for young men, but also speaks to a broader audience who will relate to one of the many characters, settings and/or musical references. Following the protagonist Jackson and the exploration of his sexual identity, we experience him navigating his friendships and life on an Aboriginal mission, with humour and the passion of youth. Self-discovery and acceptance are key themes in Lonesboroughs novel, which sits well alongside Jared Thomas YA title Songs that Sound Like Blood, which is about Roxy May Redding, her crush on Ana and life for a small-town girl. Both Jacksons and Roxys stories successfully speak to a young, queer, black audience who for a long time have not seen themselves on the page and would likely have felt invisible in Australian literature.

Anita Heiss latest book is Bila Yarrudhang-galang-dhuray (River of Dreams). Randa Abdel Fattah recommends The F Team Randa Abdel-Fattah says The F Team sparkles in its details and particularities. What I love most about The F Team is that Rawah Arja is such a keen and astute observer of teenage emotions and behaviours; a master of writing about young peoples vulnerabilities, social competencies and quirks with compassion and affection. Its precisely in its details and particularities that this story sparkles. For example, Walid, the ex-cop, who owned the tobacconist on the corner, where all the boys bought their cigarettes with their dodgy IDs, is a case in point. To grow up Lebanese-Australian in Punchbowl in Western Sydney is a very specific, very distinctive milieu, which Rawah hilariously and lovingly brings to life with the kind of intensely evocative and intimate details of diasporic life that only an insider can do justice to. Randa Abdel-Fattahs latest book Coming of Age in the War on Terror.

Krissy Kneen recommends The Animals in That Country Krissy Kneen says The Animals in That Country will change the way you think about language. Credit:Paul Harris At the beginning of the pandemic year, a book about a pandemic changed my writing life. The Animals in That Country is like nothing you have read before. Laura Jean McKay brings her poets eye to the subject of animal/human communication. The virus in this book (zoo-flu) allows the infected to hear the voices of animals. From the screaming of mice to the siren songs of whales, if we could actually understand animals, we might be shocked and horrified by what is said. McKay has done an amazing job of imagining the (mis)communications, the differences between the way humans and animals think and the possibilities of inter-species alliances, particularly between a jaded grandmother, Jean, and a dingo named Sue. This book will change the way you think about language and it might challenge your assumptions about the world around us and the species we share the planet with. Krissy Kneens latest book is The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen. Debra Oswald recommends See What You Made Me Do

Debra Oswald praises Jess Hill, author of See What You Made Me Do, as a true storyteller. Credit:Alex Vaughan A book about power, control and domestic abuse, See What You Made Me Do is enraging and enthralling. Jess Hills writing is always bedded in compassion and respect for victims; nuanced without ever reducing the ferocious power of this examination of toxic relationship patterns and the systemic failures to protect women. Hill is a true storyteller  folding her rigorous research into precise and evocative prose that conjures up vivid scenes and kept me reading long into the night. Im full of admiration and gratitude for this urgent and important book. Debra Oswalds latest book is The Family Doctor. Rick Morton recommends Black and Blue Rick Morton says Veronica Gorries Black and Blue crackles with urgency.

Veronica Heritage Gorries book is the read for Australia now. Clearly, it speaks to a colonial system that has never atoned for its original hurt. And yes, this is a book about the blunt force of the police and justice system, which was never designed to account for the lives of First Peoples. It calls this for what it is: racism. Notably, however, Gorrie writes with a deadly precision and has developed the dry wit of a woman who has seen it all. She speaks, in this book, and it crackles with urgency. Honestly, I was left with a startling clarity after reading Black and Blue. This should be taught in schools, alongside the rest of our history. Rick Mortons latest book is the My Year of Living Recklessly. Evelyn Araluen recommends Comfort Food Evelyn Araluen says Comfort Food is guided by a passionate voice and belly. I first encountered Ellen Van Neervens Comfort Food shortly after its publication in 2016, and must have now returned to it about a dozen times. Its a soulful collection, guided by a passionate voice and belly. An award-winning Mununjali writer, Van Neervens rhythms and subtle invocations of country, culture, language, friend and family were astounding for me as an Aboriginal woman and baby-fresh poet. Re-reading it last year after the publication of Van Neervens second poetry collection, Throat, was a truly remarkable experience. Their voice has grown in complexity and sharpness, but at its core there is still the deep reverie of all things they know as holy, as needing to be protected and fought for. A lot of people will be reading Throat this year, as they should  its full of stunning poems. I hope those who havent yet read Comfort Food are inspired to pick up Van Neervens first collection and will treasure it as I continue to do.
As members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to discuss Myanmar's governance crisis at a summit in Jakarta on Saturday, Amnesty International is calling on the 10-member regional bloc to prioritize protecting human rights and preventing the situation from deteriorating into a human rights and humanitarian crisis.

Amnesty is also urging Indonesia, as the host nation, and other ASEAN member states to investigate Myanmars coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who is expected to attend the summit on credible allegations of responsibility for crimes against humanity in Myanmar, the right group said in a statement Friday.

As a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture, Indonesia has a legal obligation to prosecute or extradite a suspected perpetrator on its territory, the statement said.

The Myanmar crisis triggered by the military presents ASEAN with the biggest test in its history. The blocs usual commitment to non-interference is a non-starter: this is not an internal matter for Myanmar but a major human rights and humanitarian crisis which is impacting the entire region and beyond, Amnesty Internationals Deputy Regional Director for Research Emerlynne Gil said.

The Indonesian authorities and other ASEAN member states cannot ignore the fact Min Aung Hlaing is suspected of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, Gil said.

The military in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, overthrew the country's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early February, triggering a popular revolt followed by a violent crackdown on protesters and civilians who want a return to democracy.

At least 738 people have been killed by junta security forces since the crackdown began, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Most ASEAN member states say they plan to send representatives other than heads of states to the meeting in Jakarta.

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and top diplomat Don Pramudwinai will attend the summit instead of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. The latter told local reporters that "some other countries will also send their foreign ministers."
FLINT, MI -- Flint-area officials say, in the year since George Floyd was killed at the hands of a police officer, engagement with residents has been key to guiding change in the community.

Officials reflected on the year after Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday, April 20, in the May 25, 2020 death of Floyd, whose neck he kneeled on for more than nine minutes, sparking protests and marches throughout the world.

Flint and Genesee County gained national attention almost a year ago after Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and local police officers walked with residents during the first Flint-area protest following Floyds death.

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley created a coalition of Black mayors to address issues of statewide systemic racism. The Flint City Council has denounced illegal police restraints, like kneeling on someones neck. The city also declared Juneteenth an official holiday.

The city police department has also established a Black Lives Matter Advisory Council and both the city department and sheriffs department established further training for officers.

But community partnerships to drive change will never stop, officials say. This is the new way of policing.

A jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, punishable by up to 40 years in prison; third-degree murder, punishable by up to 25 years in prison; and second-degree manslaughter, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Listen to the whispers. Chauvin was a scream

Sheriff Swanson said listening to community voices is the first step to enacting real change in communities.

Listening triggered a global following, Swanson said.

Youve got to listen to even the whisper of a community, Swanson said. Chauvin was a scream. Ive said it over and over. Ive said in eight minutes and 48 seconds George Floyd changed American policing forever. But it took that for the whole world to get rattled about how are we going to fix not only police relations but race relations.

On the doorstep of the Flint Township Police Department, facing a line of riot gear-clad police, a crowd of community members stood and spoke with Genesee County sheriff deputies, including Swanson last year on May 31.

The sheriff asked what he should do and hundreds of peacefully kneeling protesters said Walk with us. So Swanson took his helmet off, set his baton on the ground and walked.

Swanson said it starts with sitting down at the table together.

Related: Flint emerges as symbol of peace and unity amid protests and turmoil

We triggered a response that was different than expected because people expected Flint to burn, Swanson said.

Instead, Flint became a model for cities across the nation, he said.

But working toward change did not start with Floyd and will not end with the Chauvin verdict, he said.

In a further effort to meet residents where they are, the sheriffs department has quickly been expanding its IGNITE program (Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education), which aims to break the cycle of generational incarceration negatively affecting families and communities. The program is made possible in partnership with Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools.

While this program started before George Floyd was killed, Swanson said it is an example of how communities can come together to support all residents side by side, even while they serve time in jail.

Police officers must be held accountable

The death of Floyde solidified the importance of community engagement and trust, Flint Police Chief Terence Green echoed.

Police officers should always be held just as accountable for their actions as the residents they serve, no matter where they work, he said.

Being chief of police, my number one concern and what weve done since Goerge Floyde, is were trying to gain the community and publics trust, Green said. Thats most important. How do we do that? By being 100% transparent. We have to be 100% transparent meaning no officer is above the law. And were going to repeat that over and over. No officer, including me, is above the law.

Community outreach has always been part of the department, Green said, who started in his role as chief in September of 2020. He said he looks forward to continuing to partner with neighborhoods, community groups and grassroots organizations.

Were seeing their feedback, their input and welcoming them, negative or positive, about what we should do better at the police department, Green said. What does the community need?

Green said he feels engagement has been successful. He participates in neighborhood watch organizations and said he has been highly involved in working with the Black Lives Matter Council established in the city last year.

Recently, the department partnered with the Man Up Program in Flint, Green said.

This is a local branch of a national community action organization, who offers training in communication, crisis counseling, conflict resolution, nonviolent intervention and other skills to help promote peace and nonviolence.

Theyre doing some great work, Green said. Were excited to work with them.

What defines us is how we rise

America has changed, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said.

The message Neeley said he would like to spread to the city and the rest of the world is: What defines us is how we rise.

Leadership means seeking unity, Neeley said.

For me personally, its a measurement of faith and commitment to our Christian philosophy for those of us who subscribe to that, Neeley said. Its just to be a better person, people. We have to work toward that as a society because no one in America that witnessed what happened to George Floyd would say that that was just. Its just fundamentally wrong to treat people as less than.

The mayor said a coalition of Black mayors met in Lansing this week to talk about voter suppression in the state of Michigan, along with other injustices that continue in the undertow of society.

You can look on top of the water and the water seems calm, but theres an undertow thats very turbulent, Neeley said. America is somewhat like that. George Floyd and other things that happen to our country that we witness, thats the turbulent current under the surface. We have to bring action to fix it.

Read more on MLive:

Washtenaw County reacts to guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin trial

Chance for change in policing comes after guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin trial, Jackson group says

We cannot be bystanders: University of Michigan leaders issue statements on Derek Chauvin verdict

Grand Rapids police still have work to do in wake of Chauvins conviction, advocate says
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP)  The three Baltic countries on Friday ordered the expulsion of a total of four Russian diplomats as an act of solidarity with the Czech Republic, where scores of diplomats have been expelled since Saturday over the alleged involvement of Russian spies in a massive ammunition depot explosion in 2014.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said two embassy staff had been declared persona non grata because they had carried out activities incompatible with their diplomatic status. They were given seven days to leave Lithuania.

On Twitter, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said its single expulsion was related to the the 2014 explosion, saying it violates international law, undermines European security & stability and is unacceptable. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said that Latvia has decided to expel a Russian diplomat because the country will not tolerate subversive activities on its soil or that of its partners and allies.

On Thursday, the Czech Republic ordered 63 more Russian diplomats to leave the country after previously expelling 18 whom it had identified as spies in a case related to the huge blast.

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia  all former Soviet republics  broke away from the Soviet Union three decades ago and joined NATO and the EU in 2004. They are among the Kremlins harshest critics.
The New Orleans City Council is poised this week to launch a major investigation into Entergy New Orleans bungled load shedding event (read: blackouts) on Mardi Gras night earlier this year. If the councils other recent investigations are any guide, this one will likely end with yet another significant fine against the utility.

No one outside ENOs boardroom will shed any tears.

ENO has been hit with $6 million in penalties in recent years as a result of prudence investigations by the council, which regulates the utility. The prior fines resulted from deliberate acts or omissions by ENO  its astroturfing or paid actors scandal in 2017 and its years-long failure to maintain its distribution system, which caused outages even on fair-weather days.

By contrast, the forthcoming investigation appears to be based on ENOs technical and operational screwups.

Clancy DuBos: Over 40 years, N.O. Council turns the tables on Entergy Through the 1970s, New Orleans Public Service Inc. (NOPSI), the forerunner to Entergy New Orleans (ENO), routinely ran circles around the City

Council president and utilities committee chair Helena Moreno will ask her colleagues to officially launch the investigation at the councils April 29 meeting. That move comes after the councils legal and technical advisers, along with council staff, presented a preliminary report alleging that computer glitches caused ENO to cut off nearly four times as many customers as necessary on the night of Feb. 16.

The report also concluded that ENO failed to regularly check its computers for problems; that it failed to notify customers of the blackout until it was nearly over; and that it inadvertently cut power to the Sewerage and Water Board, which should not have been subject to the emergency shut-off.

The report further notes that ENO mislabeled its own power feeders within its computer system and failed to understand the amount of power behind several of its substations  failures which caused unnecessary power outages across the city.

The case against ENO looks to be open-and-shut. The utility admitted to operational failures in a letter to the council last month.

Clancy DuBos: Council will grill Entergy about mistakes before, during power outages The controversy that followed rolling power outages across some parts of New Orleans on Mardi Gras night evoked an oft-quoted line from the cl

In fairness, ENO was required to cut power or shed load during the cold snap that gripped mid-America the week of Mardi Gras. ENO and other utilities in the Mississippi Valley belong to a power-sharing entity called MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator). MISOs operating agreement authorizes it to direct member utilities to cut power when emergencies push demand beyond normal limits. The aim is to spread shortages across member states to avert rolling blackouts across the entire system.

When Entergy got word to cut power on Mardi Gras night, about 7,800 of its New Orleans customers should have lost power  with advance notice. Instead, some 25,000 of them lost power, with no advance notice. The councils advisers recommend investigating whether to penalize ENO for the excessive blackouts.

In addition to the newest inquiry into ENO, the council has filed a $1 billion case against Entergy Corp. (ENOs parent company) and its subsidiaries in the wake of performance and safety problems at Entergys Grand Gulf nuclear generation plant in Mississippi. The council also continues to review ENO customers huge billing swings during this past winter.

It may be springtime, but ENO is feeling some serious heat these days.
04/23/2021

With the economy beginning to reopen and COVID-19 vaccinations continuing to trend upward, cabin fever is giving way to wanderlust, and people are starting to make travel plans. As a result, airlines are reaping the rewards, with over 80% of consumers saying they plan to travel this year.

But which airline is going to give travelers the best experience when they return to the air? While you can take the carriers word for it, why not check in with actual consumers to see what they have to say on the matter?

To find out which airlines are producing the best travel experiences, ConsumerAffairs turned to our own review-driven data. After all, if someone really likes -- or hates -- a product or service, theyre more likely to tell their story.

Southwest comes out on top

According to consumers posting reviews at ConsumerAffairs, Southwest Airlines came out as the clear winner in the first quarter of 2021. The budget airline cautiously added more flights, deployed more aircraft, and brought back furloughed staff. Those efforts have paid off handsomely in the review department.

Southwest earned five-star reviews 72.9% of the time during the first three months of the year. On the other end of the ratings measuring stick, it only received one-star reviews 8.3% of the time, the same percentage as its three-star reviews.

One of the consumers giving Southwest a five-star review was Jennifer, from Rockford, Illinois.

I hadnt flown in years, so I was a little anxious, and on top of coronavirus, we had to sit accordingly, and I have extra weight on me so it was hard to sit in a seat with minimal legroom for 2 hours! she wrote in her ConsumerAffairs post. But the airline attendees were fantastic, they just went on doing everything normally and catering to all of our needs. I felt very relaxed with them showing us they were in charge and assured of our flight! And the trip home was even better!

All told, based on 1,685 ratings submitted in the last year on ConsumerAffairs, Southwest earns just shy of an overall four-star rating.

The runners-up

Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines were neck and neck for the second spot in our reviewers overall opinion. Deltas five-star reviews made up 52.2% of its total, with Alaska Airlines just a hair shy of that at 52.1%.

But when four-star reviews are added to the mix, Delta takes off and leaves all other airlines in the dust. Deltas four-star reviews made up 20.4% of its total reviews, while Alaska Airlines four-star reviews accounted for 17.3% of its total.

Taking into account the 1,764 ratings consumers submitted to ConsumerAffairs about Delta in the last year, it earns an overall four-star rating. While the total number of ratings submitted for Alaska Airlines is considerably smaller (474), the love that reviewers gave them was just as strong as Deltas customers, earning Alaska a four-star rating as well.

Kind of good, but kind of bad too

While it appears that Southwest, Delta, and Alaska got most of ConsumerAffairs reviewers love, it doesnt mean that others were besieged by bad reviews. In fact, a couple of airlines got great reviews, but they were also beset with some reviews that dragged down their overall scores.

Take JetBlue, for example. It received a five-star review 45.8% of the time. However, it also received a one-star review 33.3% of the time. Its not alone when it comes to that disparity. Allegiant Airlines was deemed worthy of five-star reviews 41.8% of the time but was besieged by one-star reviews 35.7% of the time.

Budget carriers such as Allegiant Airlines are dependent on fees to keep them in the green, and asking for as much as $80 for seat selection, $5 to print out a boarding pass, and $14.99 to purchase a ticket on a phone rather than online can get old. Just ask Michelle of Summerville, South Carolina.

It was my first and LAST flight with them, Anderson wrote. They cost me additional fees in parking and my rental car and had the nerve to charge me a double fee for an extra bag bc I had already checked in on the app and it wouldnt let me add a bag. The kind woman at check in waived the $50 exorbitant fee and the aid at the gate stopped me and took my bag and made me pay it at boarding.

There are people who fly budget airlines, know exactly what theyre getting, and are happy to live without the frills as long as they get a good deal -- people like Joy from Pittsburgh, who appears to have flown Allegiant several times and still gives it a five-star review.

Great airline with great prices. I have never had to wait for a flight and we have always been on time or sometimes early. The flight crews have always [been] very friendly and helpful. I would recommend this airline to my friends, Joy wrote.

Two major airlines fall short

To our surprise, there are two large and successful airlines that have some work to do in the ratings department: American and United.

United Airlines one-star reviews were higher than its three-, four-, and five-star ratings combined. One-star reviews made up 47% of Uniteds totals, while its three levels of favorable reviews only added up to 45.1% of the total.

One of Uniteds three-star reviews came from Bill of Germantown, Maryland. It always seems as if I'm playing air travel roulette when I fly United - will the airplane depart on time to make connections or not. The last time I flew I had to run from one concourse to another in DIA (Washington Dulles). Not fun, he wrote.

As for American, ConsumerAffairs readers gave the Dallas-based carrier a one-star rating 43.1% of the time. That compares to 29.4% for five-star reviews and 18.8% for four-star reviews.

While Spirit Airlines doesnt have the history that United and American do, its pre-pandemic passenger load of more than 34 million passengers a year was impressive enough to rank seventh out of all U.S. airlines in that metric. Its Less Money, More Go tagline might be putting people in seats, but ConsumerAffairs reviews show that not everyone is happy with the companys business model.

Not only did Spirit amass the lowest percentage of five-star ratings -- 5.5% -- but it also racked up the highest number of one-star ratings at 69.4%. If the airline is looking for a reason, it doesn't need to look any further than the one-star review Haley from Young America, Minnesota, gave the carrier.

Booked a round trip flight in which Spirit would be our airline back home. I heard nothing from this airline apart from junk mail promoting deals, Haley wrote. When I went to check into our flight 24 hours before our departure, I found out that our flight no longer existed and they had moved our nonstop flight to a two stop flight that would take 9 additional hours with a 7 hour layover.

Despite the poor first-quarter showing, Spirit Airlines earned just under a four-star rating from ConsumerAffairs readers based on 1,461 ratings submitted in the last year.

ConsumerAffairs verifies all reviews before they are published, and we require contact information to ensure our reviewers are real. We use intelligent software that helps us maintain the integrity of reviews, and our moderators read all reviews to verify quality and helpfulness.

Mark Huffman contributed to this article.
Market vendors and farmers expressed concern over the closure of dozens of markets in Phnom Penh, many of which are COVID-19 hotspots. This has affected their incomes and could lead to reduced food supplies in the capital.

As of Friday, all the markets in Phnom Penh and one in neighboring Takhmau city have been closed by authorities for having a high incidence rate of COVID-19.

Food and produce vendors have been forced to sell on sidewalks and have had their vegetables confiscated by authorities cracking down on illegal sales of goods in the city.

Doeum Kor market, a critical wholesale market for the capital, has reported at least 253 COVID-19 cases and has been closed indefinitely since the end of Khmer New Year last week.

Sy Rasy, a wholesale vegetable vendor, said the closure of Doeum Kor market was hurting both wholesale vendors and the consumers. The 22-year-old vendor and her husband both tested negative for COVID-19 but are in quarantine until the end of April.

There could be a shortage in food supplies. As an example, we have been eating our last stocks of unsold vegetables and have no meat left, Sy Rasy said.

You can order online and store foods if you are resourceful and have some savings, but for daily wage earners like ourselves we cannot do that, she added.

A government Telegram group to address issues faced by the lockdown has been flooded with thousands of messages from residents for food and money, many saying they were down to their last few days of food.

Rasy recommended that market vendors who were negative for COVID-19 should be allowed to sell their goods while adhering to social distancing norms and other COVID-19 guidelines.

This is a good option because we are staying at home without income and running out of money now, she said.

Yang Saing Koma, an agriculture expert and an opposition politician, said the authorities should come up with quick alternatives to supplement food shortages following the closure of markets.

We need to rethink the approach of closing [markets] by providing alternatives to allow [people who are] low-risk or those who were tested negative to resume their business and do regular mass testing at the market, Yang Saing Koma said.

Li Ailan, World Health Organizations representative in Cambodia, said the government must balance health measures with the economic and social impacts.

There are steps that can be taken to mitigate the risk of infection in markets, such as temperature screening for workers and customers, ensuring physical distancing, providing adequate handwashing facilities, and limiting the number of people allowed to enter the market at any one time, Li Ailan said in an email.

Phnom Penh municipal spokespersons could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng told Radio France Internationale on Thursday that the state was going to use buses to transport produce and meat to residents in 54 locations across the capital.

It must be uncomfortable for everyone, Sreng said. It must be more difficult than the pre-lockdown time but it is worth being difficult in a short time to prevent a long-time disaster.

Khuong Sreng said the municipal government had not banned home delivery and food transport in the capital. But, others like vegetable supplier Nhem Sovannary disagreed with the governor.

Nhem Sovannary, a farmer and vegetable wholesaler in Takeos Tram Kak district, said there were multiple checkpoints between the province and Phnom Penh, making it hard for truck drivers to get through.

We can only supply in small amounts due to complications in transportation which have seen a reduction in the number of drivers, who have to beg for a pass at multiple checkpoints till they reach Phnom Penh, she said.

Kim Ngech, a vegetable farmer in Kandals Saang district, said wholesale agents were not buying vegetables from farmers in her villages because they were unable to transport the produce to Phnom Penh.

Some villagers are throwing away their lettuce and spinach because they are going to decay, said Kim Ngech.
Researchers at the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography are working at the forefront of discovering how and to what extent humans are damaging the environment all along Georgias coast with the help of community volunteers.
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's navy scoured the waters off Bali on Friday, bolstered by the arrival of a sonar-equipped Australian warship with a helicopter, in an increasingly frantic search for a missing submarine with only hours left in its oxygen supply for its 53 crewmembers.

The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting it may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time. The navy chief said the submarine was expected to run out of oxygen early Saturday morning.

"We will maximize the effort today, until the time limit tomorrow at 3 a.m.," military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad told reporters.

Read Next: Justice Department Indicts Six in Alleged Afghanistan Translator Scam

A Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane was expected to join the search Saturday.

There have been no signs of life from the submarine, but family members held out hope that the massive search effort would find the vessel in time.

"The family is in a good condition and keeps praying," said Ratih Wardhani, the sister of 49-year-old crewman Wisnu Subiyantoro. "We are optimistic that the Nanggala can be rescued with all the crew."

Twenty-four Indonesian ships and a patrol plane were mobilized for the search Friday, focusing on the area where an oil slick was found after the submarine disappeared during an exercise. Rescuers made similar massive searches in the previous two days.

A second Australian ship was due soon.

"These two Australian ships will help expand the search area and extend the duration of the search effort," Australian Navy Rear Adm. Mark Hammond said.

Singaporean and Malaysian rescue ships were also expected in the coming days.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo canceled a visit to Banyuwangi port, where some rescue ships left earlier, to prepare for a weekend regional summit in Jakarta, officials said. He asked Indonesians to pray for the crew's safe return, while ordering all-out efforts to locate the submarine.

"Our main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members," Widodo said in a televised address on Thursday. "To the family of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all crew members on board."

There's been no conclusive evidence the oil slick was from the sub. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarine's fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessel's weight so it could surface.

Margono said an unidentified object exhibiting high magnetism was located at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet) and officials held out hope it is the submarine.

The navy said it believes, however, that the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth, at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand. The vessel's collapse depth was estimated at 200 meters (655 feet) by a South Korean company that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012.

The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface.

Submarine accidents are often disastrous.

In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk suffered internal explosions and sank during maneuvers in the Barents Sea. Most of its 118 crew died instantly, but 23 men fled to a rear compartment before they later died, mainly of suffocation. In November 2017, an Argentine submarine went missing with 44 crew members in the South Atlantic, almost a year before its wreckage was found at a depth of 800 meters (2,625 feet).

But in 2005, seven men aboard a Russian mini-sub were rescued nearly three days after their vessel was snagged by fishing nets and cables in the Pacific Ocean. They had only six hours of oxygen left before reaching the surface.

The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 has been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands.

Related Video:

Associated Press writers Hyung-in Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

This article was written by EDNA TARIGAN and NINIEK KARMINI from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

Related: Indonesia Looking for Submarine, with 53 Aboard, that May Be Too Deep to Help
Potential new antimalarial drug candidates are being developed through an extended drug-discovery collaboration between Australian medical research institute WEHI and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. The collaboration was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

A collaborative research team discovered compounds with antimalarial activity within a collection of 80,000 drug-like molecules in the Janssen Jump-stARter Compound Library, a unique collection of drug-like compounds designed to fast track the discovery of new medicines. Under the agreement, the most promising candidates are now being further developed by the researchers towards potential antimalarial drugs, which could lead to powerful new weapons in the global fight against this disease.

At a glance

A drug-discovery collaboration between WEHI and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV has discovered new drug-like compounds with antimalarial activity.

The collaborative team, now involving the Medicines for Malaria Venture, are developing these compounds into potential new drugs that will be tested for their activity against malaria, a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Collaborative drug discovery

More than 200 million people worldwide contract malaria each year. This mosquito-borne parasitic disease causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, and also places an enormous burden on communities through illness.

"The development of resistance to currently used antimalarial drugs is one of the greatest threats to global malaria control efforts, and new medicines are urgently needed," said Professor Alan Cowman AC, who leads WEHI's malaria research program. "Our team has focussed for more than 30 years on understanding the biology of the malaria parasite and its interactions with humans, with the goal of developing new approaches to preventing or treating malaria.

"The discovery and development of new antimalarial drugs has been a central goal of WEHI's malaria research. We bring together expertise in drug development and malaria biology to ensure the drugs we develop have the best chances of success and target key proteins in the malaria parasite," he said.

The opportunity to access the Jump-stARter Compound Library in late 2016, enabled WEHI scientists to rapidly progress their search for new antimalarial drugs. With the compounds identified, the WEHI team will now move forward to explore the key proteins in collaboration with Janssen.

With this collaboration, we have been able to access novel drug-like compounds that have the right properties to be developed into new medicines. Excitingly, our collaboration and additional support from Johnson & Johnson Innovation has shown this library contains multiple compound classes with antimalarial activity, suggesting they could be developed into new drug candidates." Professor Alan Cowman

Towards new antimalarials

WEHI medicinal chemist Dr Brad Sleebs led the next stage of the research, modifying the antimalarial compounds in the library, to enhance their activity, as well as ensuring they had the right properties to be suitable as a medicine.

"We have worked closely with the Janssen Discovery Chemistry team to progress this phase of the research, and we now have some really promising compounds," Dr Sleebs said. "Our research team has also been able to pinpoint how some of these compound classes act to stop the growth of malaria, a key step in enhancing their design."

The research has been enhanced through the involvement of the not-for-profit foundation, the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), whose aim is to reduce the burden of malaria in disease-endemic countries and ultimately to eradicate malaria.

"MMV has provided critical advice for this project, both in the chemical design of the new compounds, as well as ensuring the drugs we are developing meet their Target Product Profile (TPP) and do not replicate work underway at other malaria research facilities around the world. This has been a valuable addition to the collaboration, and we can be confident we are working in a unique research space. The collaboration with MMV has provided access to a global network of malaria researchers and assay platforms," Dr Sleebs said.

Professor Cowman said the collaboration between WEHI, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and MMV has created a powerful team.

"WEHI has a strong track record in malaria biology, as well as expertise in drug screening and medicinal chemistry, which has been ideally complemented by skills brought to the table by our partners. We are thrilled that this has yielded some encouraging antimalarial drug candidates, which that are now being assessed in preclinical models," Professor Cowman said.

The research carried out by Professor Cowman and Dr Sleebs receives funding support from the Ellen Corin Centenary Fellowship, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Victorian Government.
BY ARTHUR ARNOLD WADERO

The Education Minister Janet Kataha Museveni has asked the newly elected NRM MPs to strongly popularize the governments Universal Primary Education (UPE) once they take oath next month.

Addressing the MPS who are gathered at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) Kyankwanzi for a three-week long retreat, she asked the MPs to start the UPE campaign from the village level.

This effort must be championed at the grassroots, in the rural areas where most of our people live. Who is better suited to champion this than you Members of Parliament who represent and live among our people? Ms Museveni said.

According to the minister, this is part of the socio-economic transformation drive government intends to, among others, enforce at the start In the partys five-year long term that tips off next month.

The socio-economic transformation we are talking about begins from the family unit. As a leader, you cannot help other families if your own family is not in order, Ms Museveni told the Mps.

Kataha has also advised them to have a clear vision and mission and also closely relate with people they represent in Parliament by placing focus on families.

You cannot lead others if you cannot manage your family. Let the transformation begin in your family.

She also indicated that would bolster Ugandas literacy levels that have since have grown to 74 per cent.

In our quest to establish a quest to establish a public primary school at every parish, we were able to gran-aid 23 newly constructed community primary schools to increase on the number of Parishes with at least one public primary school in the ;last two years, Ms Museveni said.

Our national literacy rate now stands at 74 per cent. We have a total of 15,102,868 learners in our schools and institutions, she added.
Gorgeous Elisha Kriis is set to enthrall you with interesting facts on Hollywood on April 24, 2021 at 7:30 pm on @starmoviesindias Instagram page



23rd April 2021, Mumbai, India: As the Red Carpet is unfurled and India waits with bated breath to see if we finally bring home an Oscar statuette after almost 2 decades, Star Movies is amping up the excitement with a novel Instagram campaign #HollywoodUnlimited featuring super-talented and gorgeous Elisha Kriis. As a countdown to the awards, Indian beauty, Elisha will walk us through riveting unknown facts about Hollywood with videos ultimately culminating to a Instagram live session on April 24th, 2021 at 7:30 pm.



Watch the campaign unravel with these 2 links:

Star Movies India -

https://www.instagram.com/p/ CN5Q1HPB3o3/?utm_source=ig_ web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/ CN5DCZrh-Jm/?utm_source=ig_ web_copy_link



Through the campaign, Star Movies aims to keep up with the Oscars momentum while deepening awareness about Hollywood in its true essence. The mega live will take viewers on Hollywood tour like never before covering iconic and must visited locations like The TCL Chinese Theatre, The Dolby Theatre, The Hollywood Walk of Fame and others.



Dont miss out on this opportunity that will reveal some interesting and exciting facts. Join Star Movies and @elishakriis on this journey exclusively on April 24, 2021 at 7:30 pm.



Home to the Oscars in India for over 2 decades, the 93rd Academy Awards will be telecasted live on Star Movies and Star World at 5:30 am and repeated at 8:30 pm on Monday, April 26, 2021.
" " Physarum polycephalum, literally the "many-headed slime," is a slime mold that is sensitive to light and inhabits shady, cool, moist areas, such as decaying leaves and logs. Bernard Spragg /Flickr , literally the "many-headed slime," is a slime mold that is sensitive to light and inhabits shady, cool, moist areas, such as decaying leaves and logs.

For a long time, nobody understood slime molds. To be clear, nobody really understands them now either, but scientists now know that these pulsating piles of jelly found on rotten logs in the forest are not fungi, but are, in fact, more closely related to amoebas. And though there's nary a neuron in a slime mold's entire gelatinous body, they seem to be able to solve relatively complex problems.

There are over 900 species of slime molds (phylum Myxomycetes) living in the soils, leaf litter and rotten logs of this planet. Researchers have found a slime mold cast in amber that remains entirely unchanged from what you could find in a modern forest, dating back at least 100 million years. Slime molds in general, though, have probably been squishing their way around Earth for around a billion years. In fact, it's possible they're one of the first multicellular-ish organisms created by single cells joining together.

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Slime Molds Are a Diverse Group

Slime molds are a really diverse group. Some, called cellular slime molds, live as a single cell for most of their life, but collect with others in a swarm in response to chemical signals like, "Food shortage!" or "Gotta procreate NOW!" Others, called plasmodial slime molds, spend their entire lives as one humongous organism enclosed in a single membrane, containing thousands of nuclei. These are created when thousands of single, flagellated cells meet up and fuse together.

The only thing all slime molds have in common is their life cycle, loosely resembling that of a fungus, which is why taxonomists lumped them in the fungi kingdom for so long. Basically, when they've vacuumed as much food out of their environs as they can, they turn their bodies into clusters of spore packets, usually on stalks and sometimes wildly colored, called sporangia. These fruiting bodies disperse a fine mist of spores into the air, which germinate wherever they fall. The single-celled organisms that spring from these spores start the slime mold life cycle over again.

" " The fruiting bodies, or sporangia, of carnival candy slime mold (Arcyria denudata) feed on the bacteria, yeast and other fungi that are commonly found in dead plant matter, contributing to the decomposition of dead vegetation. Ed Reschke/Getty Images

"We still know very little about the ecology of 'wild' slime molds," says Tanya Latty, who studies slime molds in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney, in an email. "For example, how they interact with other organisms and what role they play in ecosystems is still somewhat mysterious."

Latty studies cognition in both insects and slime molds, and though we don't give insects much credit for their intelligence, with slime molds, the tricky concept of cognition gets even weirder.

"Slime molds and social insects are both 'decentralised' systems where there is no 'leader' in charge of decision making," says Latty. "However, in the case of insects, each individual operates both at the individual level  they have brains  and at a collective level. In slime molds it's much harder to even define what an individual is."

" " The fruiting bodies of one of the most common slime molds, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, are only few millimeters tall and live on rotted logs in humid conditions, a common slime mold habitat. Ed Reschke/Getty Images

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How Slime Molds, Octopuses and Humans Learn

We humans rely on our brains for cognition, but other animals have the ability to reason, learn, plan, solve complex problems, etc. without such a giant brain as ours. Take, for instance, the octopus  a cephalopod closely related to clams and snails. It has a brain, but most of its neurons are spread throughout its squishy body  mostly its arms. Still, an octopus has an undeniable intelligence: the kind that can tell the difference between humans that are dressed identically or can even make an escape from its tank, out a drainpipe and back into the ocean. But this impressive cognitive functioning bears no physiological relationship to ours  the neural processing equipment of an octopus evolved completely separately from ours, because our evolutionary lineages separated over 460 million years ago.

But slime molds don't have brains or even anything that resembles a neuron. Still, though, scientists can press plasmodial slime molds into solving mazes. So, while the process of learning is completely different in each case, the outcome for a slime mold, an octopus and a human can look basically the same.

One type of learning slime molds are capable of is habituation. You do this too  you can get used to the temperature of a cold lake after a few minutes, or the initially unpleasant buzzing sound of a fluorescent light in a room  your brain helps you ignore the annoying sensation of cold or noise. But the unicellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum can habituate to environments and chemicals they don't love  acidic, dusty, dry, salty places or chemicals like caffeine or quinine  if it means they're rewarded for putting up with it.

Not only can slime molds habituate to less-than-ideal circumstances if it means they'll be rewarded, they also seem to be capable of memory. Physarum polycephalum  the same, oft-studied species from the habituation study  seems to be able to remember things. An experiment involving slime molds that were intentionally habituated to salt, a known repellent, before going into a dormant period, showed that they remembered how to become habituated to living in a very salty environment after a year of lying dormant. They also seem to be able to decide which direction to travel based on the food they've encountered there before.

Just wait  in a few years the slime mold will score a 1,200 on the SAT and scientists will really have some explaining to do.

Now That's Interesting Depending on the species, slime molds might dislike things like bright light, caffeine or salt.
[April 23, 2021] Envestnet to Announce First Quarter 2021 Results on May 6, 2021

Envestnet, Inc. (NYSE: ENV), today announced that the Company will release first quarter 2021 financial results on Thursday, May 6, 2021 after market close. The Company will host a conference call and earnings webcast to discuss first quarter 2021 financial results on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 5:00pm ET. The conference call will be webcast live from the Company's investor relations website at https://investor.envestnet.com/. A replay will be available on the investor relations website following the call. About Envestnet Envestnet, Inc. (NYSE: ENV) is transforming the way financial advice and wellness are delivered. Our mission is to empower advisors and financial service providers with innovative technology, solutions, and intelligene to make financial wellness a reality for everyone. Over 106,000 advisors across more than 5,100 companies-including 17 of the 20 largest U.S. banks, 47 of the 50 largest wealth management and brokerage firms, over 500 of the largest RIAs, and hundreds of FinTech companies-leverage the Envestnet platform to grow their businesses and client relationships.



For more information, please visit https://www.envestnet.com/, subscribe to our blog, and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) (@ENVintel) and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005073/en/

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Horsepeople are advised of an amended draw schedule for the upcoming week of racing at Harrah's Philadelphia, as well as a trio of $20,000 Open events for three-year-olds carded for a special Saturday program, held on May 1 in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby.

Next Friday's (April 30) races will be drawn on Monday (April 26), a day earlier than usual, and Saturday's (May 1) card will be drawn on Tuesday (April 27). The remainder of the week will take place according to the standard schedule.

Three $20,000 Pennsylvania-preferred Open events  for three-year-old male pacers, female pacers, and trotters  will be offered on the Saturday program as an additional opportunity for horses in those divisions to prepare for their upcoming Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Grand Circuit campaigns. The complete Saturday condition sheet is available via this link.

The week's draw schedule appears in its entirety below:

Race Day - Draw Day - Changes Due

Friday (April 30) - Monday (April 26) - Tuesday (April 27)

Saturday (May 1) - Tuesday (April 27) - Wednesday (April 28)

Sunday (May 2) - Wednesday (April 28) - Thursday (April 29)

Wednesday (May 5) - Thursday (April 29) - Friday (April 30)

Thursday (May 6) - Friday (April 30) - Sunday (May 2)

Entries close at 9 a.m. on all occasions.

Post time on weekdays is 12:25 p.m.; post time for the Derby Day and Sunday cards is 12:40 p.m.

(Harrah's Philadelphia)
Artist impression of hot electrons becoming faster under pressure. Hot electrons under pressure get rid of their excess energy faster. Credit: thisillustrations.com

In solar cells, about two third of the energy of sunlight is lost. Half of this loss is due to a process called 'hot carrier cooling' where high energy photons lose their excess energy in the form of heat before being converted to electricity. Scientists at AMOLF have found a way to manipulate the speed of this process in perovskites by applying pressure to the material. This paves the way for making perovskites more versatile, not only for use in solar cells but also in a variety of other applications, from lasers to thermoelectric devices. The researchers will publish their study in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters on 23 April.

Perovskites are a promising material for future generation solar cells, because they are made from cheap ingredients and it is easy to change their composition to fit specific needs, like solar cells in any desired color. Researchers in the Hybrid Solar Cells group at AMOLF try to increase the efficiency and lifetime of hybrid perovskite semiconductors by uncovering the fundamental properties of perovskites. One of these properties is the speed at which so-called hot carrier cooling occurs, which is also relevant if perovskites are used in other applications.

Hot carrier cooling

In solar cells, the energy of light that matches the bandgap of the semiconductor is converted into electricity directly. This direct route is not available for photons with a higher energy. These photons generate so-called hot carriers: high-energy electrons (and holes) that have to cool down before they can be harvested in the form of electrical energy. Hot carrier cooling occurs spontaneously: the hot carriers lose their excess energy in the form of heat through scattering until they match the conduction energy level of the semiconductor. Trying to understand this process in perovskites, Ph.D. student Loreta Muscarella encounters various difficulties, one of them being the timescale. She says, "Hot carrier cooling occurs very fast, typically on a timescale of femtoseconds to picoseconds, which makes it hard to manipulate or even investigate the process. We are lucky to have a unique set-up with a Transient Absorption Spectrometer (TAS) in combination with pressure equipment in our group. This allows us to measure the electronic properties of perovskite under external stress a few femtoseconds after shining light onto the material."

Manipulating with pressure

It was already known that under abundant illumination hot carrier cooling in perovskite semiconductors is much slower than in silicon semiconductors. This makes the investigation of the process much more feasible in perovskite rather than silicon. Muscarella and her colleagues assumed that the speed of the cooling process might be pressure-dependent. "The hot carriers lose their excess energy through vibration and scattering. Applying pressure increases vibrations inside the material, and should thus increase the speed of hot carrier cooling," she says. "We decided to test this assumption and found that we can indeed manipulate the cooling time with pressure. At 3000 times ambient pressure the process is two to three times faster."

A solar cell would not be able to operate at such high pressures, but a similar effect can be obtained with internal strain. Muscarella: "We did our experiments with external pressure, but in perovskites it is possible to induce an internal strain by chemically altering the material or its growth, as we have previously shown in our group."

Cooling speed for different applications

Being able to control the hot carrier cooling speed allows for various other applications of perovskites besides solar cells. "The possibility to design perovskites for specific colors not only makes them very interesting for colored solar cells, but also for lasers or LED technology. In such applications, fast cooling of hot carriers is essential, just like it is in conventional solar cells. Slow cooling on the other hand would make perovskites suitable for thermoelectric devices that convert a temperature difference into electricity. So the possibility to tune the hot carrier cooling speed allows for a whole range of devices that could be made with perovskites," says Muscarella. She even envisions applying a negative pressure on the material to make the hot carrier cooling process even slower for a specific type of solar cell.

"Since heat dissipation accounts for almost thirty percent of efficiency loss in solar cells, scientists are looking for ways to harvest the hot carriers before they have cooled. Currently, even the 'slow' cooling in perovskites at ambient pressure is still too fast for such so-called hot-carrier solar cells. Now, these hot carriers lose their excess energy as heat within picoseconds. However, if we could induce a negative strain it might be possible to make the process slow enough to be applied in a working device."

Explore further Harnessing hot carriers for high efficiency solar cells

More information: Loreta A. Muscarella et al. Accelerated Hot-Carrier Cooling in a MAPbI 3 Perovskite by Pressure-Induced Lattice Compression, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00676 Journal information: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Loreta A. Muscarella et al. Accelerated Hot-Carrier Cooling in a MAPbIPerovskite by Pressure-Induced Lattice Compression, The
ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China strongly condemned the terrorist attack Wednesday night in a hotel in Quetta in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, the Chinese embassy here said Thursday in a statement.

A car bomb hit Serena Hotel in Quetta causing many casualties, said the statement, adding that China expressed "condolences to the unfortunate victims and sympathy to the injured."

It added that Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong was leading a delegation on a visit to Quetta on the same day. "When the attack occurred, the Chinese delegation was not in the hotel. Till present, no reports of casualties of Chinese citizens in the attack have been received."

Five were killed and a dozen injured in the car bomb attack, according to Balochistan officials, adding that security has been beefed up in major cities across the country after the deadly attack.

Proscribed militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed the attack but it has not been officially confirmed.

[ Editor: WXY ]
The UKs two largest teaching unions, the National Education Union (NEU) and NASUWT, held their annual conferences this month.

The conferences followed a year in which schools became major vectors for the transmission of a virus which has killed over 150,000 people in the UK, including hundreds of school workers. They were held amid government threats to attack teachers working conditions by lengthening the school day, cutting pay, and leaving schools severely underfunded.

Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney (credit: Schools Week)

The purpose of the conferences was to whitewash the role played for the NEU and NASUWT in creating this catastrophe, while signalling that the union bureaucracy would continue in the same corporatist role in support of the government.

No reference was made to the close to 600 school workers killed by COVID-19. The unions have never so much as kept a record of their members who have died, leaving the government to deliver manipulated statistics at months-long intervals.

NEU Joint General Secretary Kevin Courtney had the gall to say that his organisation had saved lives and that NEU members have turned to their union. They have sought advice, information and protection. And their union has been there for them.

NASUWT claimed the union had helped teachers through the pandemic by providing information, advice and support, and making the strongest representations on their behalf to employers and to governments.

Courtney and fellow general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, repeated throughout their joint speech to the conference, We were right. The NEU was right, they said, to argue for schools and colleges to close to most pupils last March, that there should have been a two-week autumn half-term as a circuit breaker, that schools should have been included in the November lockdown, that schools in Greenwich should be allowed to close the week before Christmas, that primary schools should not re-open on 4th January in the middle of a pandemic.

What rotten cynicism! The NEU argued for school closures by issuing for-the-record statements and then refused to organise action among their 400,000 members, despite having an overwhelming mandate to do so. The only time schools were closed was when both the government and the education unions were forced to accept defeat by a threatened rebellion of teachers and parents. Each time they were reopened, it was done with the support of the unions against the wishes of school workers. The results have been catastrophic.

In practice, the education unions marched in lockstep with the government and the employers and sought to prove their usefulness to them.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, was most explicit, telling his members, Through your actions, many employers have come to recognise the value of working with the NASUWT, and that, in order to get through this crisis, we all have to work together. He added, Throughout the last 12 months, on your behalf, we have continued to reach out to those employers and governments that were willing to work with us.

Bousted and Courtney lamented the fact that the government did not work with them to adopt their education recovery plan for reopening schools.

The line-up of the unions with the government was best summed up by NASUWTs inviting Conservative government Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to speak at their conference.

There are no two people in the UK more closely associated with the drive to reopen schools. In December, Williamson threatening to take local authorities to court for advising schools to close early when case numbers rose to unprecedented highs. Starmer told the Daily Mail last August, I dont just want all children back at school next month, I expect them back at school. No ifs, no buts, no equivocation. He insisted schools remain open during the November partial lockdown.

The NEU, which tries to strike a more militant pose than NASUWT, was not so stupid. President Robin Bevan attacked Williamson as a man who issued High Court injunctions in order to stop pupils from staying at home at a time when schools all across the country were being ravaged by COVID-19. But these criticisms in word only highlight the unions complicity in deed. Not a single strike was organised against the threat of coronavirus in schools, even after this declaration of war by the education secretary.

Both conferences parroted the governments line that the pandemic is essentially over, with Bousted referring to being there for children post-COVID and to the return to school becoming the new normal. Roach said, Alongside Government plans for easing lockdown restrictions, we want to see the Governments road map, not just for the next few months, but a road map for exiting the pandemic and securing the longer-term recovery.

This is said when the world is recording more daily new coronavirus cases than ever before, with dangerous new variants circulating widely, including in the UK, demanding immediate and coordinated global action to suppress the disease. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers have repeatedly acknowledged that the UK will suffer another surge this year.

The unions condemned the governments refusal to raise teachers paymeaning a real terms cutand the increase in workload but refused to organise any action in response. Roach called on the Government to come forward with a plan for a teacher-led education renewal. The NEU limited any talk of action to a single indicative ballot on longer working hours, which gave a glimpse of the militant sentiment in the rank-and-file the union is keeping under lock and key. The vote was 94 percent in favour of strike action.

No fight will be organised by the NEU. Courtney said only that the union would make this case nationally to Government and to employer bodies. The union would take the motion on workload and give our reps the tools to bargain for good work in schools and colleges, MATs [Multi-Academy Trusts] and local authorities.

Dripping with cynicism, Bousted declared that teachers dont mind working hard. The profession already works the most unpaid overtime of any profession, with working weeks regularly exceeding 50 hours, and 55 hours for leaders.

Not a word was said, let alone action organised, about the ongoing victimisation of staff and union members, despite the list including members of the NEUs own national executive!

The past year has proved beyond all doubt that the trade unions are utterly hostile to the interests of their members. These are well-paid bureaucracies enjoying an intimate relationship with the government, dedicated to suppressing social and political opposition in the working class.

Courtney and Bousted were paid 143,528 and 152,377 in the year to August 2020 to run an organisation with a 55 million-a-year income and over 500 staff members drawing close to 33 million a year in salaries, social security and pensions. The top four members of staff were paid over 560,000. This immense apparatus held 32 ballots for industrial action in that year and carried out just six strikes.

Roach was paid 153,872 in 2019 (more recent figures are not available).

School workers must build their own organisationsindependent of the trade unions, democratically accountable to the workers themselves, and prepared to join up with workers nationally and internationally to fight for their needs. The Educators Rank-and-File Committee, established by the Socialist Equality Party, is leading this struggle.

Register here for a meeting of the Educators Rank-and-File Committee this Saturday at 14:00 (GMT+1).
llowing death, inquest ruled that the cause of Ms Williams' death was suicide

An escort who plummeted to her death from a hotel balcony may have been pushed, her family have claimed.

Angela Williams, 42, fell from the eighth-floor of The Standard hotel near King's Cross, London, in December last year.

The mother-of-two, who earned 2,000-a-night, was left in a pool of blood on the ground for nearly 15 minutes as members of the public walked by before she was rushed to hospital, St Pancras coroner's court heard.

Angela Williams, 42, died after falling from the eighth floor of a hotel in December last year

Ms Williams, whose clients included men on the Forbes rich list, had worked for the escort agency Maxes Angels before she was arrested in August on charges of money laundering.

Following her death, an inquest ruled that the cause of Ms Williams' death was suicide.

However her mother Tina Bradley, 67, from Boston, Lincolnshire, has claimed that someone could have present when her daughter fell from the balcony of the 900-a-night hotel.

She told The Sun: 'A lot of her clients were very wealthy, so we thought she was arrested because somebody wants something hush-hush. Is she a target? '

Ms Bradley claimed some of her daughter's clients may have feared she would speak out about her relationships with them.

The mother-of-two fell from her balcony at The Standard hotel near King's Cross, London

She continued: 'This was the case with most of her clients, they were married men and didn't want their wives knowing what they were doing.'

Ms Williams' mother went on to say that she believed detectives had failed in their investigation of her daughter's death.

She added: 'Could someone have been there when she died and escaped?'

During the hearing, it was revealed that officers found two mobile phones and an empty wine bottle inside Ms Williams' hotel room.

They escort's two dachshund dogs were also found inside the room.

CCTV footage from the night was the 'overwhelming form of evidence', PC Conor OKelly added.

Ms Bradley and her family are now in the process of deciding if they will take the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
CN (TSX: CNR, NYSE: CNI) today filed a letter with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) regarding CNs superior proposal to acquire Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) (KCS) in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $33.7 billion, or $325 per share1. In its letter, CN lays out in detail why its proposal is procompetitive and in the best interest of customers, and corrects misleading statements submitted to the STB by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited.

The following is a copy of that letter:

April 23, 2021

The Honorable Cynthia T. BrownChief, Section of Administration, Office of ProceedingsSurface Transportation Board395 E Street S.W.Washington, DC 20423

Re: Finance Docket No. 36500, Canadian Pacific Railway, Ltd., et al.ControlKansas City Southern, et al.

Dear Ms. Brown,I write on behalf of Canadian National Railway Company and its rail operating subsidiaries (CN) to respond to yesterdays letter filing by the Canadian Pacific Applicants (CP).

As the Board is aware, on April 20, CN submitted a proposal to the Board of Directors of Kansas City Southern (KCS) proposing a combination of CN and KCS (the CN Proposal). KCS is currently evaluating that proposal under the terms of its merger agreement with CP, which explicitly contemplated a process under which KCS could consider superior offers made by other bidders.

CN is confident that KCS will recognize the value of the CN Proposal and will choose to partner with CN. But that is a choice for KCS and its shareholders to make. Under the terms of the KCS-CP merger agreement, CP has the opportunity to make a competitive counteroffer if it wishes and to make its pitch to KCS for why such a counteroffer would be superior.

Instead of presenting its case to KCS, however, CP resorts to a letter filing in its own transaction docket claiming that a potential CN-KCS combination would be illusory and would be anticompetitive. Notably, KCS did not join CP in this filing. While this docket is plainly not the right forum to litigate the merits of a CN-KCS combination that KCS is still evaluating, CPs assertions that the CN Proposal is somehow anticompetitive require a response.

First, the CN Proposal is a manifestly superior offer to KCS because the combined CN-KCS network can provide more public benefits by connecting the continent, promoting growth, and competing more aggressively with the trucking industry for long-haul movements. Rail customers will benefit from more seamless single-line service, but so will local communities, employees, and the environment from converting truck traffic from busy interstates and highways to rail. A combined CN-KCS route would also be shorter, faster and more direct than rail or truck competitors, resulting in improved efficiency, enhanced competition and greater options for customers. The fundamentally pro-competitive nature of the proposed CN-KCS combination, which will give customers better service options, is further enhanced by CNs commitment to address any competitive concerns under the current merger rules without seeking a waiver, as CP has done.

In the 72 hours since news of the CN Proposal was made public, CN has engaged in numerous discussions with its customers and other stakeholders about the proposal and how a combined CN-KCS will deliver exceptional value and new, highly competitive single-line services. Already, customers are expressing enthusiasm about the CN Proposal, and many have expressed a desire to write letters of support that we will be sharing with the Board in the coming days.

Second, a combined CN-KCS would remain only the fifth largest railroad in the United States  both on a track-mile basis and on an operating revenue basis. And as the Board is well aware, the fiercest and most aggressive competitor to the freight rail industry is the trucking industry, which has a dominant market share for the transportation of most commodities  including intermodal traffic. The principal public benefit from a CN-KCS transaction will be the creation of a seamless, integrated North American railway that can compete head-to-head for long-haul intermodal movements that move via truck.

CPs general claim that a CN-KCS would be anticompetitive appears premised on both a gross overstatement of the actual competitive overlap and the assumption that not a single thing would be done to maintain rail competition for the small number of customers served by both CN and KCS. But as CP knows well, the major merger rules and Board precedent require remedies to address any reduction of competition for the handful of customer facilities that are served by both CN and KCS.

Moreover, CN is committed to working with customers that are dual-served by CN and KCS to ensure that they would not become sole-served as a result of a CN-KCS transaction. CN and KCS have limited overlapamounting to approximately 1% of their total network, and a very limited number of customers are served only by CN and KCS (so-called 2-to-1 customers). If KCS chooses to partner with CN, CN will propose effective solutions, working closely with these customers to ensure that no customer will become sole served as a result of the transaction.

Furthermore, CN would commit to keep all existing gateways between KCS and other rail carriers open on commercially reasonable terms, including the Kansas City gateway between KCS and CP.

Many of CPs other alleged concerns fall apart upon quick examination. For example, CP complains that KCS and CN both reach the Port of Mobile, Alabama without noting that the Port is served by multiple other railroads, including Class Is. And CPs partial quotation from CN-IC ignores the context and holding of that decision, which recognized that a CN-KCS marketing alliance did not raise concerns precisely because the Board recognized that their networks were complementary and largely not overlapping.

Finally, the Board should disregard CPs suggestion that it would be compelled to pursue a merger with another Class I railroad if KCS chose to combine with CN. Over the past decade, it is CP that has made multiple attempts to merge with different Class I railroads. CPs effort to acquire KCS is their latest such effort. If CP in the future finds a willing Class I partner, the current merger rules plainly would apply and provide the STB with the opportunity to ensure that any such transaction would be in the public interest.

CNs confidence about its ability to prove that its transaction is pro-competitive is demonstrated by its willingness to comply with the current merger rules, including the requirement that applicants demonstrate enhanced competition. CP apparently is not. CP instead has resisted the application of those rulesdespite comments from multiple leading shipper associations requesting that the new rules be applied. CP wants older, less demanding rules to apply to its merger, but if KCS chooses instead to pursue a combination with CN, then CP claims that greater scrutiny is required. The STB should instead provide a level playing field.

In sum, CN urges the STB to review any proposed acquisition of KCS under its current merger guidelines. Doing so would provide the STB and all interested stakeholders with a forum and tools to fully vet the proposed transaction. As CN argued in the Notice of Intent it filed in Finance Docket No. 36514, mergers involving KCS should not be subject to a different set of rules.2 A truly pro-competitive transaction that is supported by detailed plans to assure service and demonstrated public interest benefits can and should be approved under the current merger rules. That is exactly the transaction that CN will present for the Boards approval if KCS and its shareholders choose to partner with CN.

Sincerely,

/s/ Raymond A. Atkins, Ph.D.

cc: Parties of Record in FD 36500

For more information about CNs superior proposal to combine with KCS, please visit www.ConnectedContinent.com.

=
[April 23, 2021]

Innovative Assistive Tech Transforms World Book Day 2021 into Time of "Reading Inclusivity for All"

JERUSALEM, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Nations-designated World Book and Copyright Day 2021  commemorated by millions of people in over 100 countries  promotes "the power of books and encourages reading as much as possible." In the spirit of this observance, OrCam Technologies , a leader in personal, AI-driven innovations, promotes "reading inclusivity for all" through its pioneering, personal assistive technology solutions that enable an independent reading experience:

OrCam Read lightweight handheld device, for people who experience reading challenges

lightweight handheld device, for people who experience reading challenges OrCam MyEye lightweight wearable device, for people who are blind or are visually impaired

OrCam Read [video] is highly advanced, AI-driven assistive technology that is packed into an easy-to-use, handheld device with a singular purpose: meaningfully empower the user who has language processing challenges  including dyslexia, aphasia, reading fatigue, or those who read large volumes of text  to read anything, regardless of their condition.

Leveraging breakthrough computer vision technology that OrCam pioneered, the lightweight OrCam Read is the only personal AI reader to instantly capture and read out loud full pages of text and computer/smartphone screens  without requiring any display screen, app, or cloud connectivity. The first-of-its-kind digital reader features intuitive point-and-click operation, which activates two precision laser guidance options, to read the entire highlighted text or target where to begin reading. OrCam Read offers a new opportunity for increased independence through access to any type of text, in any setting, at any time.

OrCam MyEye [video] is a voice-activated, wearable device, for people who are blind or have low vision. The lightweight device  which magnetically mounts on the wearer's eyeglass frames  instantly readsany printed text and digital screens out loud, recognizes faces, and identifies products/bar codes, money notes and colors. OrCam MyEye is the only wearable assistive technology for vision impairment that can be activated by an intuitive pointing gesture or, with the new Smart Reading feature, by voice commands.







Activated by the user's voice, the algorithms driving the Smart Reading feature listen to  and comprehend  the user's requests, retrieving the relevant information, and promptly reading the requested text to the user

Through sophisticated  yet easily operated  technology, both OrCam Read and OrCam MyEye allow World Book Day to resonate with those challenged by reading. OrCam makes reading instantly accessible to people who struggle to do so  or are unable to read at all.

"We extended our personal AI offerings to include OrCam Read, a new form factor which is a lightweight, handheld device that intuitively empowers people who have difficulty reading. The device enables a joyful reading experience, as it instantly reads aloud full pages or screens of text," explained Dr. Yonatan Wexler, OrCam Executive Vice President of Research & Development. "It can be challenging for a wide range of people who need reading support for work, academics, or for simply delighting in the pleasure of it. This ability to instantly hear text relieves the burden of reading and allows the device user to focus on the content with ease."

OrCam Technologies has become known  and globally awarded  for its breakthrough innovations in assistive technology platforms. In honor of World Book Day  and throughout the year  the company remains focused on continuous research and development to help users maximize their potential with personal AI assistance that provides new access to the visual world.

The first-of-its-kind, handheld OrCam Read was recognized as an EdTech Awards 2021 Cool Tool Finalist (Assistive Technology Solution category) as well as a CES 2021 Best of Innovation award winner (Accessibility category).

The company's wearable OrCam MyEye assistive technology device was chosen as a TIME Best Invention of 2019 .

About OrCam Technologies: OrCam Technologies, a leader in personal AI assistive technology platforms, was jointly founded in 2010 by Israeli innovators Prof. Amnon Shashua and Mr. Ziv Aviram, who are also the Co-founders of Mobileye (now an Intel company), the collision avoidance system leader and autonomous driving innovator. Inspired by this development of ground-breaking artificial vision technology that supports safer driving, OrCam harnesses highly advanced AI-driven computer vision and machine learning to provide increased independence to people who are blind or visually impaired, have reading challenges, or hearing loss.

For more information: www.orcam.com and YouTube and follow OrCam on Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter .

About World Book Day: The UN-designated World Book Day is observed by millions of people in over 100 countries, in hundreds of voluntary organizations, schools, public bodies, professional groups and private businesses. World Book and Copyright Day has won over a considerable number of people from every continent and all cultural backgrounds to the cause of books and copyright. #WorldBookDay

For more information: https://www.un.org/en/observances/book-and-copyright-day

Media contact:

Rafi Fischer

OrCam Technologies

rafi.fischer@orcam.com

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New Delhi: India recorded the world's highest single-day spike with 3,32,730 fresh infections of COVID-19 on Friday. Reports of shortage of oxygen supply have been pouring in from several hospitals across the country.

Even as the countrys vaccination drive continues on full steam, lately it seemed like it was not going to be enough to get hold of the second wave of the COVID pandemic.

At a time like this, the arrival of a new drug could possibly be a game-changer.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Friday (April 23) informed people all about Virafin, a drug manufactured by Zydus Cadila which is being said to be effective in the treatment of the coronavirus. He also discussed the directions issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting today to deal with the oxygen crisis prevailing in the country.

One of the biggest development of the day was that the Drugs Controller General of India approved a new drug, Virafin, for the treatment of COVID patients.

The drug, if given to a COVID patient in time, limits the effect of the virus and speeds up the recovery process. The manufacturer has informed that it works particularly well in moderate cases.

In a conversation with Zee News today, the Director of Zydus Cadila, Sharvil Patel, said that the drug speeds up the recovery of COVID patients.

Trial of Virafin

The clinical trials of this drug took place at 20 to 25 centers in India and a total of 250 patients were administered the drug. About 91.15 percent of the patients recovered in just 7 days. When the RT-PCR test of these patients was done after 7 days, their report came back negative.

The patients undergoing trial required oxygen support for only 56 hours, whereas usually in moderate cases, the patients need an average of 84 hours of oxygen.

The trials indicated that the drug is effective even in cases where the lungs of the patient have been infected.

Who can get this drug? How is it administered?

According to Zydus Cadila, the medicine can be given to people above the age of 18 years. Just like the vaccines, this drug is also is injected into the body using a syringe. The dose then helps the patient recover in just seven days.

When and where will the medicine be available?

The medicine will be given to patients starting from May. The company will provide the medicine to the hospitals and the patients will get it only if a doctor prescribes it.

The price of the drug has not been decided yet. It will likely be known in the next five to six days. However, there is a fear that the drug might find its way into the black market, just like it happened with Remdesivir.

PM Modi's directions at high-level meet

In another major development today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting via video conferencing which was attended by chief ministers of 10 states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

During the meeting, PM Modi underlined four important points:

1. If all governments, states and the Centre, work as a nation, then there will be no shortage of resources.

2. State Governments should take strict measures to stop black marketing of essential medicines.

3. The central government has so far made available 15 crore doses of vaccine to the state governments for free.

4. The Railways and the Indian Air Force have taken up the charge of delivering oxygen to hospitals.

Throughout the day, oxygen was transported from one state to another through the help of railways and the IAF. The timely action helped saved many lives.

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Fenland farmers have raised their concerns to the Shadow Defra Secretary as he visited a farm in the important agricultural area following Labour's revamp of its rural policies.

Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard and Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner spent more than two hours on Peter Hatleys farm at Landbeach, Cambridgeshire.

They outlined the principles behind the Labour Party's recent rural review, discussing key farming issues.

During wide-ranging discussions, the group described the impact of rural crime on farming businesses, including hare coursing and fly-tipping.

Farmers stressed their frustration at having to pay to remove fly-tipped waste from their land, an example of the victim paying the cost of the crime.

They also highlighted the importance of flood protection measures and drainage in areas such as the Fens and how insufficient rural broadband is holding back productivity for many farm businesses.

Both MPs were given a copy of the NFU's Delivering for Britain report as well, which looks at the pivotal role that food and farming fulfils in the Fens.

There are an estimated 4,000 farms in the area, covering all sectors of agriculture and horticulture.

NFU County Adviser Hannah Padfield said: We were pleased to welcome Mr Pollard to Cambridgeshire, a hugely important county for agriculture, at the start of this year-long policy review.

This is a rural policy review, covering more than pure agricultural issues, so it will also look at areas such as transport, housing provision and employment opportunities.

He stressed that he is keen to hear from as many NFU members as possible as part of the review process so there is a real opportunity to get our views across in the next few months.

Mr Pollard said that 'no party can claim to represent the country if it doesnt represent the countryside'.

Labour's review will ensure that our next manifesto provides as much hope and opportunity to rural communities as it does to those living in towns and cities, he added.
Neither the FBI nor the media have thoroughly investigated the January 6, 2021 "insurrection." Given the lingering questions about it and the unreliability of those two institutions, Americans deserve an independent investigation.

The January 6, 2021 disturbance at the Capitol was a godsend to the radical left and its supporters. Media claims that BLM and Antifa riots were "mostly peaceful" and politicians claiming that these groups are not organized haven't convinced Americans. After approximately 2 billion dollars' worth of property damage and over two dozen deaths, the Deep State finally has a distraction because it can point to January 6 and draw attention away from the BLM and Antifa riots.

Is it possible that the radical left realized this potential benefit and decided to infiltrate the protest to ensure that it was more violent? Does it matter that FBI chief Chris Wray claimed there was no evidence Antifa members played a role during the January 6 U.S. Capitol protests?

Despite what FBI chief Wray says, there was at least one radical leftist posturing as a Trump-supporter at the Capitol. John Sullivan fancies himself a leader of numerous leftists. He was accompanied by a female, Jade Sacker, a documentary photographer from a Native American family culturally displaced from their land. It is unlikely that she is a Trump-supporter.

Sullivan's brother, James Sullivan, claims there were 226 members of Antifa involved in the attack on the Capitol on January 6. One of John Sullivan's correspondents, deaththreat, claimed, "I was in front line (sic) of the battle and know who was there (sic) personally. It was a large sum of anti-thumpers."

The FBI claims Antifa was not involved. It has performed a thorough investigation, and therefore anyone believing otherwise is a conspiracy theorist or mentally imbalanced. However, the FBI might have a reason to conceal the radical participation.

The FBI routinely infiltrates radical groups. Jeremy Brown attended the Stop the Steal protests in Washington, D.C. on January 6. He has videotaped FBI efforts to recruit him to spy on patriot groups. He did not release these tapes until he became angered by the lies surrounding the event: "After listening to politicians and the FBI Director, Chris Wray, tell lie after bald-faced lie to the American People, he could not stay silent any longer."

John Sullivan's radical actions are played down by the media. PolitiFact claims there's no evidence that Sullivan "incited [the] insurgence" on his own. Jade Sacker claimed, "He was vocal, but I wouldn't say he was inciting violence." Sullivan is on tape saying, "If we don't get in, we're going to burn this s--- down" among other obscene and volatile remarks.

Could the FBI be involved in activities that it would not want the American public to know about? According to Judge Andrew Napolitano, in the past ten years, there've been twenty terrorist plots against the U.S. Three of those plots were real; the other 17 were created  and then stopped  by the FBI.

Perhaps the judge is under a lot of stress and needs his meds increased. But wait. Here we have the newspaper of record, a paper that prints only what is fit to print, saying essentially the same thing. The New York Times reported details on several of these plots. The article claims, "[A]ll these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists." Informers are recruited because of a vulnerability and "are often convicted felons working in exchange for leniency." Judge Colleen McMahon commented on one pathetic case: "[o]nly the government could have made a 'terrorist' out of Mr. Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in its scope."

The secrecy surrounding the events of January 6 has raised more interest in the government's actions. The murder of Ashli Babbitt is one example. This 5'2" woman was shot at close range by a plainclothesman while she attempted to climb through a window. There is not a use of force policy in the civilized world that would permit an officer to discharge his weapon in such a situation.

An authority on such matters, Chris Cuomo, asserted, "Police are trained to deal with non-compliance, with force that is not lethal." Perhaps the officer mistook his Glock for a taser. Yet Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) stated, "When they broke the glass in the back, the [police] lieutenant that was there ... didn't have a choice at that time." Perhaps the requirements for the Capitol police need to be raised. Since 2015, there have been three incidents where Capitol police left their service weapons in restrooms.

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing). He has a Master of Arts degree in international relations from St. Mary's University. He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. He is featured on the BBC's program "Things We Forgot to Remember:" Morgenthau Plan and Post-War Germany.

Image: January 6. YouTube screen grab.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
An appellate court has put a temporary halt to a Bergen County courthouse redevelopment plan, while a Union County judge denied a motion to dismiss a similar case in connection with a new county government complex there, as court challenges mount over how contracts for those two projects are being awarded.

In separate ongoing lawsuits, Dobco Group, a Wayne-based construction and development company, has challenged what it called a failure to publicly bid both projects, charging that both were conceived without any intent on awarding the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.

In Bergen County, the issue involves a major $80 million renovation of the historic Bergen County Justice Center. Officials say the project is a multi-year effort that started prior to the countys current administration taking office and encompasses multiple phases of renovation and rehabilitation of the entire court facility.

And in Union, the county has approved preliminary plans to build a new county government complex in Elizabeth at a cost of up to $145 million.

Dobco in its court filings said the counties circumvented state public contracts law by weaving a tangled weblike transaction that involved reshuffling ownership of public land and monies.

According to the developers lawsuits, both counties ignored the public bidding requirements of New Jerseys Local Public Contracts Law mandating that taxpayer supported projects be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after public advertising.

Instead, it said both Bergen and Union went through the states Local Redevelopment and Housing Law in the soliciting for the design and construction of the projects and used a county improvement authority as the vehicle to redevelop the properties.

That violated the law, the lawsuit argued.

Earlier this week, a state appellate panel issued a restraining order, enjoining Bergen County from making any award in the second phase of the courthouse redevelopment project.

Separately, Superior Court Judge Thomas Walsh in Union County denied similar restraints, but he rejected efforts by the county to dismiss the case out of hand.

This court believes that its decision was the correct one based on the statutes and case law, Walsh said of his initial ruling to deny restraints. But noting the appellate ruling in Bergen, he wrote in rejecting the countys request for a dismissal that the claims by Dobco should be addressed by the court.

Attorney Greg Trif of Morristown, who represents Dobco, said he believes the Appellate Division got it right.

What the court held is that its an issue of great public importance that requires a decision by the appellate division before anything happens, he said.

Officials in Bergen and Union declined comment.

___

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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL.
Saturday Kitchen star Rachel Allen's son has been charged with possession of cocaine - but insists he's not guilty.

The 21-year-old, of Ballinamona in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland had a hearing date fixed at Midleton District Court yesterday in respect of the case being brought against him by gardai over alleged drug possession, but was exempt from attending.

It is charged that on July 10, 2020 at the Pontoon in Midleton, County Cork he had unlawfully in his possession cocaine, contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act. No value was given for the controlled drug.

Mr Allen will enter a not guilty plea when he is arraigned in court on May 13.

Saturday Kitchen star Rachel Allen's son Joshua, 21, has been charged with possession of cocaine

The 21-year-old, of Ballinamona in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland had a hearing date fixed at Midleton District Court yesterday in respect of the case being brought against him by gardai over alleged drug possession (pictured in 2019)

He was not present in court yesterday, but his lawyer Don Ryan told Judge Alec Gabbett that he would be presenting evidence from an engineer at the hearing.

The judge said: 'I'm trying to understand why you would need an engineer in a drugs case,' to which Mr Ryan countered that on the night the alleged offence took place, it was very dark.

As a result, Mr Allen maintains that he was wrongfully identified as having drugs in his possession. The engineer was required to confirm that the location was very dark.

Earlier this month Rachel told the Independent that her fame has been difficult for her son to live with and that it's 'really tough' to grow up in the spotlight.

Earlier this month Rachel told the Independent that her fame has been difficult for her son to live with and that it's 'really tough' to grow up in the spotlight. Pictured together in 2014 on a charity trip to India

The mother-of-three went on to state that she feels 'guilty' her children - Joshua, Lucca, 18, and Scarlett, 12, whom she shares with husband Isaac - weren't able to grow up out of the public eye as their lives have been 'much more commented upon'.

She explained: 'I didnt do anything like that to break the law, but I was able to grow up privately. And so you know what.. it is hard. And it has been really tough actually.'

Revealing that she has been touched by the kindness of those reaching out to her, she added: 'You know the amount of people who have written to me, and sent letters and cards and prayers and religious medals... I could get emotional now just thinking about it.'

Rachel met her husband Isaac Allen - the son of Ireland's best known chef and founder of Ballymaloe Cookery Schoo, Darina Allen, 72 - when they were both aged 17-years-old in Ballymaloe in 1989.

The couple went on to marry and welcome three children - Joshua, 21, Lucca, 18, and Scarlett, 12 - they celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary in October.

Fame: Rachel revealed she feels 'guilty' that Joshua and her other two children Lucca, 18 (L) and Scarlett, 12 (R) weren't able to grow up out of the public eye earlier this month

Lovely: Rachel met her husband Isaac Allen when they were both aged 17-years-old in Ballymaloe in 1989 and they celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary in October

Rachel has previously credited her husband for her success, she told the Irish Times: 'I definitely wouldnt be doing what Im doing without him; hes got more of a business mind.'



While Isaac added: 'It's not just that shes very beautiful and super-intelligent. Theres something much deeper: theres the support you get just from being with somebody and I felt that very much about her from the very beginning and do to this day.'

Rachel also spoke about their working relationship on RTE Guide, she said: 'Most of the time we work really well together. I think, though, that if we were to be chefs in a kitchen together that might be different.

'He's probably quieter and more reserved than me, in a way. I like chatting to anyone, Id talk to the wall. But its a good balance that works, thank goodness.'
A Perth man pretended to be a social media celebrity as he blackmailed 285 girls as young as 11 into providing sexually explicit material, police allege.

Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed, 25, has been charged with 317 offences after Australian authorities were tipped off by United States Homeland Security investigators and Interpol.

He allegedly befriended girls online, both in Australia and overseas, and edited screen grabs of their online chats to include sexual content - which he then threatened to send to the girls' family and friends unless they provided explicit pictures and videos.

Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed (pictured), 25, has been charged with 317 offences

He will front court on Friday, as the joint investigation by Australian Federal Police and West Australian Police continues.

Investigators identified 112 alleged victims after the tip-off in 2020 before further examination of his electronic devices allegedly revealed hundreds more victims.

'The review is ongoing and police have not ruled out laying more charges.' a police spokesperson said on Friday.

Police alleged in one incident he pretended to be a 15-year-old boy and began communicating with a 13-year-old girl in the United States.

He allegedly sent her edited screen grabs of their chat to blackmail her - forcing her to undress and perform sexual acts online while he and others watched.

Girls as young as 11 were among the victims, police allege.

Mr Rasheed was taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of compelling a victim to engage in sexual behaviour and performing acts in preparation for sexual activity with a person under-16, along with multiple charges of using a carriage service to menace or harass.

Investigators seized his electronic devices (pictured) after being alerted by US Homeland Security and Interpol

AFP detective senior constable Barrry Duman said the case highlighted the need for parents to communicate with their children about online safety and to never reveal personal information to someone they have never met in person.
The U.S. Navys most recent exercise shows that drones are on the way to becoming an essential part of military operations.Working off the coast of San Diego, the exercise demonstrated the successful coordination of an unmanned maritime surveillance aircraft system, the MQ-9B Sea Guardian, with a guided-missile cruiser.The maritime drone s main objective is to detect and gather information about targets that are located far away and then, by using sonobuoys (tactical sonar systems that are able to transmit submarine information), to send this data to the commander on board the cruiser. The commander then uses the coordinates of targets and locations sent by the drone, to prepare and actually fire the missile.The MQ-9B Sea Guardian was developed as a multi-domain unmanned aircraft system ( UAS ) that is able to collect and deliver clear data, in real time. According to its manufacturer, General Atomics, its built with a high damage tolerance, including the ability to operate in bad weather conditions, and its designed to operate for over 40,000 hours.Although the MQ-9B Sea Guardian is mainly used for its military applications, its actually a versatile surveillance system that can be useful in many other areas, including search and rescue operations.The Sea Guardian integration demonstration is part of a complex U.S. Pacific Fleet exercise, the UxS IBP 21 (Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem 21), a week-long event that is demonstrating the integration of crewed and uncrewed capabilities in various scenarios, involving different assets.The integration between unmanned and manned capabilities shown today provides an operations approach to strengthening our manned-unmanned teaming. Putting our newest technology into our Sailors hands directly enhances our fleet, said Rear Adm. James A. Aiken, UxS IBP 21 tactical commander, after the successful demonstration.
Berlin, April 23 : UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has reiterated his threat to kick the remaining Super League clubs out of the continental events in the future.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Juventus are the four clubs from an original 12 who have not said that they want to get out of the planned breakaway event in the wake of a major public backlash, DPA reported.

Ceferin said on Friday said, "Those who are involved in a Super League company in the future won't be able to compete in UEFA events. Our events will be fantastic even without the four teams." However, no sanctions were spoken about on Friday against Super League teams which means that Real Madrid will play Chelsea as planned in the Champions League semi-finals next week. Paris Saint-Germain will take on Manchester City in the other tie.

PSG are the only non-Super League club from the four.

The Super League aimed to compete directly with UEFA's showcase Champions League but the project appears all but dead after the six English clubs, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan decided to ditch it.

But Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who heads the Super League company, has said several times that the case is not closed because clubs cannot leave.

According to reports, the clubs have committed themselves to the Super League for 23 years in a 167-page contract. An exit is possible after three years at the earliest and only after paying a substantial penalty fees.

"The contract clearly states that you can't go," Perez has said.

But the American investment bank JP Morgan, who were to fund the Super League with almost four billion dollars, have admitted they have "clearly misjudged" the whole affair.
New video, apparently from a surveillance camera across the street, conclusively justified the shooting of Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. A tweet from Matt Walsh has already garnered well over a million views, with the video and audio revealing the murderous intent and the heroic rescue.

In new video, Makhia Bryant can be heard screaming "I'm gonna stab the f--- out of you, b----," while lunging at two unarmed people who were posing no imminent physical threat to her[.]

In new video, Makhia Bryant can be heard screaming Im gonna stab the fuck out of you, bitch, while lunging at two unarmed people who were posing no imminent physical threat to her



pic.twitter.com/iIrn1RlbBR  Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 22, 2021

Yet the left is trying to make her into a sainted martyr. Yesterday, the sidewalks in my local Berkeley neighborhood shopping district were covered in chalk drawings demanding that we remember her name and abolish the police. The idiots with chalk got their inspiration from the highest level of Democrats.

Update: The Washington Post shamefully ignores reality and portrays Bryant as "just an all-around good person."

Ma'Khia Bryant beams at her mother in a TikTok clip, then throws her arms around her neck. As Beyonce's "Dance for You" plays in the background, the teen lip-syncs the lyrics: "I'ma take this time to show you how much you mean to me, 'cause you are all I need." It's an intimate moment between mother and daughter, who were working hard to reunite after Bryant was placed in foster care, family members said. "They had a close bond," said Don Bryant, a cousin of Ma'Khia's mother. "Ma'Khia was just an all-around good person."

Most readers by now are aware that Valerie Jarrett, Barack Obama's top adviser (many believe she called the shots during his presidency, and she lives with Barack and Michelle in their Washington, D.C. mansion) utterly beclowned herself with this tweet:

A Black teenage girl named MaKhia Bryant was killed because a police officer immediately decided to shoot her multiple times in order to break up a knife fight. Demand accountability. Fight for justice. #BlackLivesMatter.  Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) April 21, 2021

There was no knife fight; there was a homicidal lunatic attempting to murder two unarmed people. Jarrett deserves ridicule and scorn, though the media will avert their eyes.

NBC News certainly won't be calling her out, for it has an even more egregious misrepresentation  a deliberate one:

In their report on the officer-involved shooting in Columbus, Ohio, NBC Nightly News deceptively edited the 911 call to leave out the part where the caller says a girl was "trying to stab us." They also don't show viewers the knife in the attacker's hand just before the shots. pic.twitter.com/r5uXD1qDb1  Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 22, 2021

Then there is LeBron James, who tweeted and then deleted a picture of the hero cop in Columbus who saved at least two black lives, with the caption: "You're next."

SHOCK: LeBron James tweeted a photo of a police officer who was present when MaKhia Bryant was shot, with the caption, "You're Next." https://t.co/4mVSao8Uub  Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 21, 2021

How about an apology, LeBron? And how about all that money you're raking in from China, where they practice slavery?

But most idiotic of all are the Black racists who tried to normalize knife attacks as horseplay, such as BLM activist Bree Newsome:

Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers. Yall need help. I mean that sincerely.  DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE, REFUND OUR COMMUNITIES (@BreeNewsome) April 21, 2021

She raises the specter of police following her recommendations and letting Black children murder each other with impunity, as this tweet mockingly reminded her and us:

That was close...almost had another officer involved shooting @KingJames https://t.co/0dEv1CzCk0  Senior Legal Analyst Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) April 22, 2021

People like Jarrett and Newsome, and outlets like NBC News, ought to be relentlessly hounded and badgered into admitting they made asses of themselves. The media won't do it, of course.

But we should not let this be forgotten. As Saul Alinsky taught us in his rule #5:

"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

Hat tip: Ace.

Photo credit: Twitter screen grab (cropped).
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Volaris* (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), the ultra-low-cost airline serving Mexico, the United States of America and Central America, today announces its financial results for the first quarter 2021.

The following financial information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

First Quarter 2021 Highlights

The main results for the first quarter are described as follows:

Total operating revenues were Ps.6,403 million for the first quarter, a decrease of 18.2% year over year.





Total ancillary revenues were Ps.3,279 million for the first quarter, an increase of 10.1% year over year. Total ancillary revenues per passenger for the first quarter reached Ps.768, an increase of 36.0% year over year. Total ancillary revenues represented 51.2% of total operating revenues for the first quarter 2021, increasing 13.1 percentage points with respect to the same period of last year.





Total operating revenues per available seat mile (TRASM) were Ps.121. 1 cents for the first quarter, a decrease of 6.0% year over year.





for the first quarter, a decrease of 6.0% year over year. Operating expenses per available seat mile (CASM) were Ps.134. 0 cents for the first quarter, an increase of 8.0% year over year; with an average economic fuel cost per gallon of Ps.39.1 for the first quarter, a decrease of 5.5% year over year.





for the first quarter, an increase of 8.0% year over year; with an average economic fuel cost per gallon of Ps.39.1 for the first quarter, a decrease of 5.5% year over year. Operating expenses per available seat mile excluding fuel, (CASM ex fuel) reached Ps.97. 0 cents for the first quarter, an increase of 18.2% year over year; with an average exchange rate depreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar by 2.2% year over year.





for the first quarter, an increase of 18.2% year over year; with an average exchange rate depreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar by 2.2% year over year. Operating loss was Ps.739 million for the first quarter, a decrease compared with the operating income of Ps.308 million for the same period of last year. Operating loss margin for the first quarter was (11.5%), compared with an operating income margin of 3.9% for the same period of last year.





Net loss was Ps.733 million (Ps.0.63 loss per share / U.S. $0.31 loss per ADS), a negative net margin of (11.4%) for the first quarter.





loss per ADS), a negative net margin of (11.4%) for the first quarter. At the close of the first quarter, the Mexican peso depreciated 3.3% against the U.S. dollar (Ps.20.60 per U.S. dollar) with respect to the exchange rate at the close of the previous quarter (Ps.19.95 per U.S. dollar). The Company booked a net foreign exchange gain of Ps.247 million derived from our U.S. dollar net monetary liability position.





During the first quarter of 2021, the net cash flow generated by operating activities was Ps.752 million. The net cash flow used in investing activities reached Ps.191 million. The net cash flow used in financing activities was Ps.2,181 million, which included Ps.2,136 million of aircraft rental payments. The positive net foreign exchange difference was Ps.234 million, thus having a net decrease of cash and cash equivalents in the first quarter of Ps.1,620 million. As of March 31, 2021 , cash and cash equivalents were Ps.8,718 million.





, cash and cash equivalents were Ps.8,718 million. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the Company has implemented multiple actions under a "liquidity preservation plan", with significant results achieved during 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, the focus has been to combine further payment deferrals with an optimization of the fleet plan for the post COVID-19 traffic requirements. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company targeted an additional working capital relief of US$100 million . As of today, Volaris has reached agreements for US$87 million for the period of 2021 to 2023.





. As of today, Volaris has reached agreements for for the period of 2021 to 2023. The Company plans to incorporate 8 additional A320NEO aircraft in 2021 through straight operating leases. These will be in addition to the three aircraft that are still to be received in 2021 from Volaris order book with Airbus.





On April 16th, 2021 , the Company received the Famous Brand Declaration from the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property ("IMPI") for the "Volaris" brand, which is the first trademark within the Mexican aviation industry declared as a Famous Brand by IMPI.

Fuel Price reduction and Peso Depreciation

Fuel price reduction: The average economic fuel cost per gallon decreased 5.5% in the first quarter of 2021, year over year, reaching Ps.39.1 per gallon (U.S. $1.9 ).





The average economic fuel cost per gallon decreased 5.5% in the first quarter of 2021, year over year, reaching Ps.39.1 per gallon (U.S. ). Peso depreciation: The Mexican peso depreciated 2.2% against the U.S. dollar year over year, from an average exchange rate of Ps.19.88 per U.S. dollar in the first quarter of 2020 to Ps.20.32 per U.S. dollar during the first quarter of 2021. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the Mexican peso (Ps.20.60 per U.S. dollar) appreciated 12.4% with respect to the exchange rate at the end of the same period of the last year (Ps.23.51 per U.S. dollar).

Passenger Traffic Contraction and Ancillary Revenue Growth

Passenger traffic contraction: Volaris booked 4.3 million passengers in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 19.1% year over year. Volaris traffic (measured in terms of revenue passenger miles, or RPMs) decreased 18.7% year over year. System load factor during the first quarter decreased 6.6 percentage points year over year, reaching 78.1%.





Volaris booked 4.3 million passengers in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 19.1% year over year. Volaris traffic (measured in terms of revenue passenger miles, or RPMs) decreased 18.7% year over year. System load factor during the first quarter decreased 6.6 percentage points year over year, reaching 78.1%. Total ancillary revenue growth: For the first quarter of 2021, total ancillary revenue increased 10.1% year over year. Total ancillary revenue per passenger in the first quarter of 2021 increased 36.0% year over year. The total ancillary revenue continues to grow with new and mature products, appealing to customers' needs, representing 51.2% of total operating revenue of the first quarter, an increase of 13.1 percentage points year over year.





For the first quarter of 2021, total ancillary revenue increased 10.1% year over year. Total ancillary revenue per passenger in the first quarter of 2021 increased 36.0% year over year. The total ancillary revenue continues to grow with new and mature products, appealing to customers' needs, representing 51.2% of total operating revenue of the first quarter, an increase of 13.1 percentage points year over year. TRASM decrease: For the first quarter of 2021, TRASM decreased 6% year over year. During the first quarter of 2021, the total capacity, in terms of ASMs, decreased 11.7% year over year.

Total Unit Cost Control

CASM and CASM ex fuel in the first quarter of 2021 reached Ps.134. 0 cents (U.S. $6.59 cents ) and Ps.97. 0 cents (U.S. $4.78 cents ), respectively. This represented an increase of 8.0% and an increase of 18.2%, respectively, year over year; mainly driven by the decrease in the capacity in terms of ASMs and the average exchange rate depreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar of 2.2%.

Young and Fuel-Efficient Consumption Fleet

During the first quarter of 2021, the Company incorporated one new A320 NEO aircraft to its fleet. As of March 31, 2021 , Volaris' fleet was composed of 87 aircraft (6 A319s, 65 A320s and 16 A321s), with an average age of 5.5 years. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, Volaris' fleet had an average of 188 seats per aircraft, 79% of our aircraft were sharklet-equipped, and 36% were NEO.

Solid Balance Sheet and Liquidity with Net Cash Flow Generated by Operating Activities

As of March 31, 2021 , cash and cash equivalents were Ps.8,718 million, representing 42% of last twelve months operating revenue. Volaris registered a negative net debt (or a positive net cash position) of Ps.3,240 million (excluding the lease liability recognized under IFRS16) and total equity of Ps.1,154 million.





, cash and cash equivalents were Ps.8,718 million, representing 42% of last twelve months operating revenue. Volaris registered a negative net debt (or a positive net cash position) of Ps.3,240 million (excluding the lease liability recognized under IFRS16) and total equity of Ps.1,154 million. During the first quarter of 2021, the net cash flow generated by operating activities was Ps.752 million. The net cash flow used in investing activities reached Ps.191 million. The net cash flow used in financing activities was Ps.2,181 million, which included Ps.2,136 million of aircraft rental payments. The positive net foreign exchange difference was Ps.234 million, thus having a net decrease of cash and cash equivalents in the first quarter of Ps.1,620 million.

Investors are urged to carefully read the Company's periodic reports filed with or provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission, for additional information regarding the Company.

Conference Call/Webcast Details:

Presenters for the Company: Date: Mr. Enrique Beltranena, President & CEO Mr. Holger Blankenstein, Airline Commercial and Operation EVP Mr. Jaime Pous, Chief Financial Officer Friday, April 23, 2021 Time: 10:00 am U.S. EDT (9:00 am Mexico City Time) United States dial in (toll free): 1-877-830-2576 Mexico dial in (toll free): 001-800-514-6145 Brazil dial in (toll free): 0800-891-6744 International dial in: + 1-785-424-1726 Participant passcode: VOLARIS Webcast will be available at: https://services.choruscall.com/links/vlrs210219KKfUd2nS.html

About Volaris:

*Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Volaris" or the "Company") (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), is an ultra-low-cost carrier, with point-to-point operations, serving Mexico, the United States and Central America. Volaris offers low base fares to build its market, providing quality service and extensive customer choice. Since the beginning of operations in March 2006, Volaris has increased its routes from five to more than 170 and its fleet from four to 87 aircraft. Volaris offers more than 410 daily flight segments on routes that connect 43 cities in Mexico and 25 cities in the United States and Central America with the youngest fleet in Mexico. Volaris targets passengers who are visiting friends and relatives, cost-conscious business and leisure travelers in Mexico, the United States and Central America. Volaris has received the ESR Award for Social Corporate Responsibility for eleven consecutive years. For more information, please visit: www.volaris.com.

Forward-looking Statements:

Statements in this release contain various 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, which represent the Company's expectations, beliefs or projections concerning future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business. When used in this release, the words "expects," "intends," "estimates," "predicts," "plans," "anticipates," "indicates," "believes," "forecast," "guidance," "potential," "outlook," "may," "continue," "will," "should," "seeks," "targets" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, statements that describe the Company's objectives, plans or goals, or actions the Company may take in the future, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's intentions and expectations regarding the delivery schedule of aircraft on order, announced new service routes and customer savings programs. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee or assurance of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations, including the competitive environment in the airline industry; the Company's ability to keep costs low; changes in fuel costs; the impact of worldwide economic conditions on customer travel behavior; the Company's ability to generate non-ticket revenues; and government regulation. Additional information concerning these, and other factors is contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Investor Relations Contact:

Maria Elena Rodriguez & Renato Duarte Salomone/ Investor Relations /[email protected] +52 55 5261 6444

Media Contact:

Gabriela Fernandez / [email protected] / +52 55 5246 0100

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. y Subsidiarias Financial and Operating Indicators

Unaudited (In Mexican pesos, except otherwise indicated) Three months ended March 31,

2021 (US Dollars)* Three months

ended March

31, 2021 Three months

ended March

31, 2020 Variance (%) Total operating revenues (millions) 311 6,403 7,824 (18.2%) Total operating expenses (millions) 347 7,142 7,517 (5.0%) EBIT (millions) (36) (739) 308 NA EBIT margin (11.5%) (11.5%) 3.9% (15.5) pp Depreciation and amortization (millions) 75 1,555 1,442 7.8% Aircraft and engine variable lease expenses (millions) 23 468 375 24.8% Net loss (millions) (36) (733) (1,493) (50.9%) Net loss margin (11.4%) (11.4%) (19.1%) 7.7pp Loss per share:







Basic (pesos) (0.03) (0.63) (1.48) (57.4%) Diluted (pesos) (0.03) (0.63) (1.48) (57.4%) Loss per ADS:







Basic (pesos) (0.31) (6.29) (14.76) (57.4%) Diluted (pesos) (0.31) (6.29) (14.76) (57.4%) Weighted average shares outstanding:







Basic - 1,165,976,677 1,011,876,677 15.2% Diluted - 1,165,976,677 1,011,876,677 15.2% Available seat miles (ASMs) (millions) (1) - 5,380 6,095 (11.7%) Domestic - 4,038 4,253 (5.0%) International - 1,342 1,843 (27.2%) Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (millions) (1) - 4,202 5,166 (18.7%) Domestic - 3,256 3,660 (11.0%) International - 946 1,506 (37.2%) Load factor (2) - 78.1% 84.7% (6.6) pp Domestic - 80.6% 86.1% (5.4) pp International - 70.5% 81.7% (11.2) pp Total operating revenue per ASM (TRASM) (cents) (1) (5) 5.9 121.1 128.8 (6.0%) Total ancillary revenue per passenger (4) (5) 37.3 768 564 36.0% Total operating revenue per passenger (5) 74.0 1,526 1,488 2.5% Operating expenses per ASM (CASM) (cents) (1) (5) 6.50 134.0 124.1 8.0% Operating expenses per ASM (CASM) (US cents) (1) (3) (5) - 6.59 6.24 5.6% CASM ex fuel (cents) (1) (5) 4.71 97.0 82.1 18.2% CASM ex fuel (US cents) (1) (3) (5) - 4.78 4.13 15.7% Booked passengers (thousands) (1) - 4,271 5,277 (19.1%) Departures (1) - 28,962 33,661 (14.0%) Block hours (1) - 73,171 86,637 (15.5%) Fuel gallons consumed (millions) - 50.8 61.9 (17.9%) Average economic fuel cost per gallon (5) 1.9 39.1 41.4 (5.5%) Aircraft at end of period - 87 82 6.1% Average aircraft utilization (block hours) - 10.6 12.8 (17.3%) Average exchange rate - 20.32 19.88 2.2% End of period exchange rate - 20.60 23.51 (12.4%) *Peso amounts were converted to U.S. dollars at end of period exchange rate for convenience purposes only. (1) Includes scheduled and chartered. (3) Dollar amounts were converted at average exchange rate of each period. (2) Includes scheduled. (4) Includes "Other passenger revenues" and "Non-passenger revenues". (5) Excludes non-derivatives financial instruments.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statement of Operations

Unaudited Three months ended

March 31, 2021 Three months ended March 31, 2021 Three months ended March 31, 2020 Variance (In millions of Mexican pesos) (US Dollars) * (%) Operating revenues:







Passenger revenues 298 6,130 7,548 (18.8%) Fare revenues 157 3,238 4,874 (33.6%) Other passenger revenues 140 2,893 2,675 8.2%









Non-passenger revenues 19 386 304 27.1% Other non-passenger revenues 16 331 247 33.8% Cargo 3 55 56 (2.2%)









Non-derivatives financial instruments (5) (113) (27) >100%









Total operating revenues 311 6,403 7,824 (18.2%)









Other operating income (3) (59) (121) (51.6%) Fuel expense, net (1) 93 1,922 2,513 (23.5%) Depreciation of right of use assets 63 1,302 1,234 5.5% Landing, take-off and navigation expenses 59 1,212 1,478 (18.0%) Sales, marketing and distribution expenses 17 355 363 (2.2%) Salaries and benefits 47 972 940 3.5% Aircraft and engine variable lease expenses 23 468 375 24.8% Maintenance expenses 21 423 234 81.0% Other operating expenses 14 295 293 0.4% Depreciation and amortization 12 253 209 21.3% Operating expenses 347 7,142 7,517 (5.0%)









Operating (loss) income (36) (739) 308 NA









Finance income 1 12 49 (75.8%) Finance cost (28) (567) (656) (13.6%) Exchange gain (loss), net 12 247 (1,834) NA Comprehensive financing result (15) (308) (2,441) (87.4%)









Loss before income tax (51) (1,047) (2,133) (50.9%) Income tax benefit 15 314 640 (50.9%) Net loss (36) (733) (1,493) (50.9%)









* Peso amounts were converted to U.S. dollars at end of period exchange rate for convenience purposes only. (1) 1Q 2021 and 1Q 2020 figures include a benefit from non-derivatives financial instruments by an amount of Ps.66 million and Ps.48 million, respectively.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. y Subsidiarias Reconciliation of total ancillary revenue per passenger

The following table shows quarterly additional detail about the components of total ancillary revenue:

Unaudited Three months ended

March 31, 2021 (US Dollars)* Three months

ended March

31, 2021 Three months

ended March

31, 2020 Variance (%) (In millions of Mexican pesos)









Other passenger revenues 140 2,893 2,675 8.2% Non-passenger revenues 19 386 304 27.1% Total ancillary revenues 159 3,279 2,979 10.1%









Booked passengers (thousands) - 4,271 5,277 (19.1%)









Total ancillary revenue per passenger 37 768 564 36.0%









* Peso amounts were converted to U.S. dollars at end of period exchange rate for convenience purposes only.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. y Subsidiarias Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

(In millions of Mexican pesos) March 31, 2021

Unaudited March 31, 2021

Unaudited December 31, 2020

Audited

(US Dollars)*

Assets







Cash and cash equivalents 423 8,718 10,103

Accounts receivable 106 2,181 2,027

Inventories 13 276 279

Prepaid expenses and other current assets 53 1,090 850

Financial instruments - - -

Guarantee deposits 61 1,257 1,142

Total current assets 656 13,522 14,402

Rotable spare parts, furniture and equipment, net 354 7,288 7,281

Right of use assets 1,631 33,603 34,316

Intangible assets, net 9 182 192

Financial instruments - 1 -

Deferred income taxes 167 3,440 3,129

Guarantee deposits 441 9,086 8,425

Other assets 5 100 119

Other long- term assets 16 334 325

Total non-current assets 2,622 54,033 53,787

Total assets 3,279 67,555 68,189

Liabilities







Unearned transportation revenue 306 6,310 5,851

Accounts payable 73 1,500 2,365

Accrued liabilities 125 2,571 2,356

Lease liabilities 327 6,743 6,484

Other taxes and fees payable 120 2,469 2,236

Income taxes payable - 2 4

Financial instruments - - 10

Financial debt 134 2,759 1,559

Other liabilities 9 179 101

Total short-term liabilities 1,094 22,534 20,966

Financial debt 132 2,718 3,796

Accrued liabilities 3 56 67

Lease liabilities 1,837 37,858 37,646

Other liabilities 145 2,980 2,668

Employee benefits 3 54 51

Deferred income taxes 10 200 200

Total long-term liabilities 2,129 43,867 44,427

Total liabilities 3,223 66,401 65,393

Equity







Capital stock 166 3,426 3,426

Treasury shares (11) (224) (224)

Contributions for future capital increases - - -

Legal reserve 14 291 291

Additional paid-in capital 228 4,706 4,720

Retained losses (223) (4,588) (3,855)

Accumulated other comprehensive losses (1) (119) (2,457) (1,562)

Total equity 56 1,154 2,796

Total liabilities and equity 3,279 67,555 68,189











Total shares outstanding fully diluted

1,165,976,677 1,165,976,677

* Peso amounts were converted to U.S. dollars at end of period exchange rate for convenience purposes only. (1) As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 the figures include a negative foreign exchange effect of Ps.2,483 million and negative foreign exchange effect of Ps.1,577, respectively, related to non-derivative financial instruments.







Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. y Subsidiarias Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows  Cash Flow Data Summary

Unaudited Three months ended March 31, 2021 Three months ended March 31,

2021 Three months

ended March 31,

2020 (In millions of Mexican pesos) (US Dollars)*







Net cash flow generated by operating activities 37 752 2,819 Net cash flow used in investing activities (9) (191) (37) Net cash flow used in financing activities** (106) (2,181) (1,869) (Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents (79) (1,620) 913 Net foreign exchange differences 11 234 1,765 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 490 10,103 7,980 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 423 8,718 10,658







* Peso amounts were converted to U.S. dollars at end of period exchange rate for convenience purposes only. **Includes aircraft rental payments of Ps.2,136 million and Ps.1,819 million for the three months ended period March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

SOURCE Volaris

Related Links

http://www.volaris.com


Prime Minister on Friday held a meeting with leading manufacturers and industries diverting their supply for medical use, and discussed utilising their full potential to meet the demand in the coming days.

Modi also stressed the need to increase the availability of cylinders as well as upgrade the logistics facilities for transportation of oxygen.

He urged the industry to utilise tankers meant to transport other gases for oxygen supply.

In a separate meeting with the chief ministers of 11 states and Union Territories that have reported the maximum number of Covid-19 cases, the Prime Minister called for united efforts to fight the pandemic.

Among the industrialists present in the meeting held via videoconference were Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries; Sajjan Jindal, chairman, JSW group; T V Narendran, managing director and chief executive officer of Tata Steel; Naveen Jindal, chairman, Jindal Steel & Power; Dilip Oommen, CEO, AM/NS India; Soma Mondal, chairman of Steel Authority of India; M Banerjee of Linde; Siddharth Jain of Inox; Noriyo Shibuya, MD of Air Water Jamshedpur; Rajesh Kumar Saraf of National Oxygen; and Saket Tiku, president of All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association.

The Prime Minister lauded oxygen producers for increasing production in the past few weeks, and thanked industry for diverting industrial oxygen to meet medical requirements in the country.

Many large manufacturers, including steel producers, have been supplying liquid medical oxygen to several states and medical facilities to meet the high demand.

Asked whether JSW would step up supply, Sajjan Jindal told Business Standard that the company would supply to its maximum capacity. For us at JSW Steel, saving lives is more important, he said.

The Prime Minister said the government, states, industry, transporters, and hospitals needed to come together and work in unison.

In the meeting with the chief ministers, Modi said the main reason for Indias success during the first wave of the pandemic was our united efforts and united strategy, and reiterated that we would have to address this challenge in the same way. He assured the Centres full support to all the states in this fight.





On oxygen supply, he said there was a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply. He urged all states to work together and coordinate with one another to fulfil requirements relating to medicines and oxygen.

He also said that states should check hoarding and black-marketing of oxygen and medicines. The Prime Minister said every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded.

The issue of shortage of oxygen was flagged by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He said a big tragedy might happen due to oxygen shortage in hospitals during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also called for a national plan to deal with the crisis.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, too, said the state needed higher quantity of oxygen. He said the daily oxygen requirement was 1,550 tonnes, of which 300-350 tonnes was being brought in from other states.

An additional 250-300 tonnes should be made available, he added.

He also said that corporates should be allowed to purchase vaccines as part of CSR activities.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the Prime Minister had suggested carrying out an audit of oxygen consumption and avoiding wastage. Hospitals could be asked to use noninvasive ventilators instead of high flow nasal cannulas to reduce oxygen consumption, he said.

According to a senior government official in the Uttar Pradesh government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held detailed discussions regarding the ongoing vaccination programme, adherence to Covid protocols and strictness, oxygen supply and audit etc.

With inputs from Aneesh Phadnis, Ruchika Chitravanshi, Virendra Singh Rawat, Ishita Ayan Dutt
The general in charge of U.S. forces in the Middle East area said Thursday he is worried that Afghanistan's military may not be able to "hold on" after American troops leave later this year.

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, U.S. Central Command head Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie reiterated that when the withdrawal happens, "zero means zero" -- all U.S. military, Defense Department contractors and allies will leave Afghanistan no later than Sept. 11, aside from a small force to protect its embassy.

But, he said, without any U.S. military presence there, it's an open question as to how the Afghan military will perform.

Read Next: Lawmakers Want to Know How US Will Keep Up Terror Fight After Afghanistan Pullout

"My concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground on their own now, without the [American] support that they've been used to for many years," McKenzie said.

The U.S. has "weaned" the Afghan military from the most direct forms of support in recent years, such as American and coalition soldiers side by side with them on the ground, he said. Most recent American assistance to the Afghan military has come in the form of intelligence and fire support, he said.

But he remains particularly concerned about the Afghan air force's ability to fly after Americans stop supporting their aircraft.

"All of those things are factors that will be worked out here in the next few months, and we'll get an opportunity to see how the Afghans do," McKenzie said.

Later in the hearing, when asked about the need for the Pentagon to spend $4 billion a year to support Afghan security forces, McKenzie struck a sobering tone.

"If we don't provide them some support, they certainly will collapse," McKenzie said when asked about the need for that budgetary support. "And I think that's not in our best interest."

In a briefing with reporters Thursday afternoon, McKenzie said the U.S. plans to continue supporting the Afghan military, including financially, after the withdrawal. However, he said, it will be harder to do without people on the ground in Afghanistan.

"We believe it will be a tough fight for Afghans, but we intend to continue to support them," McKenzie said.

One area that will become particularly complicated after the withdrawal is maintenance operations for the Afghan military, and particularly its aircraft. The vast majority of that is now done by contractors.

McKenzie said the military is looking for alternative ways to assist the Afghans remotely, such as by videoconferencing with maintainers at centralized depots.

The Afghan air force is a very effective force that is a "deal-changer" in fighting the Taliban, he said, and that the U.S. has gotten a good return on its investment there. However, keeping any aircraft in the air -- particularly planes with advanced technology -- requires constant maintenance, he said. And the need for contractors to conduct that complicated work is not a sign that the Afghan air force is lacking or America's effort to build them up fell short, he said.

"Aircraft maintenance ... requires engagement every day," McKenzie said. "The effects that we've gotten from that force are actually very good. But going forward ... you have to recognize that it will be harder to do all those things."

The Taliban is likely to continue conducting military operations in Afghanistan after the withdrawal, McKenzie said, and never has stopped fighting. The pace of attacks is now about as high as it has been throughout the war in Afghanistan, he said, with roughly 30 to 50 Afghan soldiers and policemen dying in combat each day, and the Taliban also taking heavy losses.

"We'll have to wait and see how that plays out," McKenzie said. "I think the Afghans are going to fight back. I can't predict the future. I don't know how that's going to play out. We'll certainly do everything in our power to assist our Afghan partners after we leave."

But McKenzie disputed a reporter's characterization of his assessment of the situation as "bleak," and said his view of Afghanistan's outlook is not out of step with the administration's decision to withdraw. McKenzie said he, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other top military leaders were consulted fully by President Joe Biden as the decision was being made, and that all views were on the table.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: Last US Troops Will Leave Afghanistan by 20th Anniversary of 9/11, White House Says
LT Foods rose 0.56% to Rs 72.05 after the company announced the expansion of its premium rice-based snacks brand "Kari Kari" to Australia and UAE.

The company said that its joint venture company with Kameda Seika, Japan's largest Rice Crackers Company, has started exporting Kari Kari in the markets of Australia & UAE.

Introduced in India in January 2020, Kari Kari is a premium, healthy, rice based crunchy snack. Inspired by the famous Kameda Crisp a leader in Japanese rice cracker market with around 30% share, 'Kari Kari' is made from rice and peanuts offering a range of hearty & wholesome savoury snack in four different flavours Chilli Garlic, Wasabi, Salt & Pepper and Spice Mania.

Kari Kari is manufactured at the company's manufacturing facility at Sonepat, Haryana through indigenously grown and sourced ingredients. LT Foods is also growing a specific type of rice locally, which is the key ingredient in the snack.

The premium snacking market in India is estimated at Rs 500 crore and growing at a CAGR of over 25%.

Ritesh Arora, India Business Head, said, "Kari Kari is targeted at the young, health conscious & upwardly mobile consumers, who look for healthier options and are open to experimenting with international flavours. With consumers gravitating towards healthier snacking options, we are extremely bullish on the prospect of Kari Kari both in India & in global markets."

LT Foods is a branded specialty foods company. The company is engaged in milling, processing and marketing of branded and non-branded basmati rice, and manufacturing of rice food products in the domestic and overseas market. Its geographical segments include India, North America and Rest of the world.

The company's consolidated net profit increased by 46.1% to Rs 66.33 crore on a 7.9% rise in net sales to Rs 1074.98 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The cost of vaccinating all Indians above the age of 18 years against COVID-19 will be just 0.36% of India's annual GDP (Gross Domestic Product), according to a study by India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

It pegged the overall cost at Rs 67,193 crore, of which states will incur Rs 46,323 crore.

The evaluation has been released at a time when the Centre and states are engaged in a debate over the pricing difference of coronavirus vaccines.

As the COVID-19 second wave sweeps the country with alarming pace and intensity, the Centre has announced a liberalised and expedited phase-3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination. Under this phase, all persons above 18 years of age will be eligible to get COVID-19 vaccine doses from May 1.

Also Read: COVID-19 vaccination: India needs 8 yrs 9 months to achieve herd immunity

This means that the total size of the population that will now be eligible for vaccination will be 84.19 crore out of a total population of 133.26 crore, Ind-Ra said in its report.

It calculated that this "may cost Rs 67,193 crore, of which the Union government will incur Rs 20,870 crore and state governments together will incur Rs 46,323 crore".

The government has made pricing, procurement, eligibility and administration of coronavirus vaccines flexible. While the Centre's vaccination drive will continue as before, providing free vaccination to priority populations such as healthcare workers, frontline workers and population above 45 years of age, states and union territories have been allowed to procure additional COVID-19 vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers and open up vaccination to people above the age of 18 years.

As a result, Indian vaccine manufacturers would now be supplying 50 per cent of their production to the central government and the balance 50 per cent would be available for procurement by the state governments and the open market (private hospitals).

Ind-Ra said the Centre has already spent Rs 5,090 crore on procuring 21.4 crore vaccines from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech.

Also Read: India to expand COVID-19 vaccination but supplies run short, imports delayed

Assuming two doses of vaccines at Rs 400 per dose for new procurement and 5 per cent wastage, the cost for the central government will come to Rs 62,103 crore for 155.4 crore doses, it said.

The total for the two comes to Rs 67,193 crore, which "works out to be just 0.36 per cent of GDP," it noted. "If we split it between the Union government and state governments, then the fiscal impact on the union budget would be 0.12 per cent of GDP and on state budgets would be 0.24 per cent of GDP".

The maximum impact is likely to be on Bihar (0.60 per cent of gross state domestic product or GSDP), followed by Uttar Pradesh (0.47 per cent), Jharkhand (0.37 per cent), Manipur (0.36 per cent), Assam (0.35 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (0.30 per cent) and Odisha (0.30 per cent).

"Since the antibodies generated by these vaccines are likely to last for 12-18 months, this expenditure would be a recurring expenditure on union and state budgets," it said.

Also Read: COVID-19 vaccine makers draw up plans to boost manufacturing after meeting with PM Modi

"However, many states such as Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have already announced that the government will bear the cost of vaccination. Vaccinations by large corporate groups will reduce pressure on the state/central budget," the study noted.

Ind-Ra believes that given the magnitude of the problem and the economic cost which the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic is likely to inflict on the economy, this is too small an amount.

"However, more than the money spent, the critical factor would be how soon the desired level of vaccination can be achieved.

"Therefore, the decision to allow the restricted emergency use of Russian vaccine Sputnik-V and other vaccines approved by the US, EU and WHO is another step in the right direction. This will only accelerate the vaccination effort in the country. The first batch of Sputnik V is expected to be delivered to India by April-end," the study added.

(With inputs from PTI.)
Three years ago, as she accepted a best-actress trophy for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri at the Independent Spirit Awards, Frances McDormand mentioned all the people she hoped to work with next. Then she peered at someone in the audience. Chloe? she said.

Few knew it then, but she was singling out the director Chloe Zhao, who had been celebrated earlier at the ceremony for her second film, The Rider. At that time, McDormand had just met with Zhao about directing a small independent feature McDormand planned to produce and star in. And on Thursday night, the film they made together, Nomadland, won top honors at this years Independent Spirit Awards.

That continues the gentle road dramas juggernaut journey through awards season, where it has taken nearly every major award available, including top honors from the Producers Guild, Directors Guild, and the Golden Globes. It enters the Oscars on Sunday as the decided favorite.

Zhao also won the Independent Spirit Award for best director, becoming the fourth woman ever to do so. If she wins at the Oscars, as shes expected to, she will become only the second woman to take that trophy since The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow in 2010.
MOSCOW  Aleksei A. Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, ended a three-week hunger strike on Friday that had embarrassed the Kremlin abroad and incited protests at home.

The 24-day hunger strike, which Mr. Navalny said had left him so skinny that he looked like a skeleton, swaying, walking in its cell, became the latest battle in a yearslong, high-stakes competition between President Vladimir V. Putin and his most prominent domestic political opponent.

Mr. Putin refuses even to speak Mr. Navalnys name while the police and prosecutors harry his political organization with arrests and, this month, a move to ban it outright. Mr. Navalny is serving a prison sentence of more than two years for a parole violation of a conviction that he says was politically motivated.

But even in prison he managed to confound Mr. Putin with a quandary: either concede to his demands for medical treatment by his personal doctors or risk creating a martyr.
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of World IP Day 2021 April 26th - the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) will celebrate the contributions, innovations, and successes of the small business community around the world - highlighting the continuing challenges that counterfeiting poses to Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Throughout the week of April 26, the IACC will feature SME perspectives in brand protection, including how they have effectively leveraged IACC resources to protect themselves; share advice about fighting counterfeiting on a budget, and announce exciting new initiatives designed to bring practical, operational assistance to SMEs.

The IACC recognizes the unique challenges and perspectives that SMEs have to offer, and we want them to have a seat at the table. In fact, we want them to have two seats at the table  which is why the IACC Board of Directors voted unanimously to create two new board seats for SMEs. "The IACC has been laying the groundwork to offer SMEs expanded resources, networks and leadership opportunities at the IACC since 2019, when the Board of Directors approved the addition of these two seats," stated Dawn Atlas, IACC Board Chairperson. "The ability for SMEs to take a governance position and have a seat at the table with the biggest brands in the world underscores the IACC's commitment to SMEs and the importance of their participation on the global brand protection stage."

In addition to board seats, the IACC has done a tremendous amount over the last two years to facilitate SME participation in the organization by establishing a new SME membership category, an IACC SME Task Force, an SME Ambassador role, and expanded access to IACC programs.

"Our SME members have identified counterfeiting to be one of the top challenges to growing their brand. They asked for our help and we delivered by leveling the playing field through pragmatic operational programs such as the IACC MarketSafe SME Program, IACC-Amazon Program and RogueBlock initiative," said Bob Barchiesi, IACC President.

The SME participants' consistently enthusiastic feedback highlights the value of this approach. An IACC MarketSafe SME Program participant, A Jillian Vance Design, recently exclaimed "Thank you so much for all your help! Like you have taken our stress over counterfeits and reduced it by a TON" Sholdit, another SME participant noted "Been great seeing the takedown process through IACC. You guys are great and efficient"

Looking ahead, the IACC, in consultation with its SME Task Force and with the support of the IACC Board, will produce an SME Brand Protection Toolkit focused on best practices, and practical tips on enforcing against counterfeits, engaging with law enforcement and other operational topics. The toolkit will be complemented by a virtual workshop series delving more deeply into those areas, as well as networking opportunities to allow for deeper engagement.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the global economy. In the United States, SMEs create two-thirds of all new jobs; in Europe they represent 99% of all businesses, and account for 96% of businesses across Asia. According to the World Bank, SMEs make up 90% of all businesses and contribute more than 50% of worldwide employment.

"All large brands start out small. And while not every small business will grow into a global powerhouse;" said Mr. Barchiesi, "every small business should have that opportunity. We're working every day to make sure that they do."

About the IACC

The IACC (www.iacc.org) is a not-for-profit organization representing the interests of companies concerned with intellectual property theft. The IACC's members includes many of the world's best-known brands across every product sector. The IACC is a leader in cross-industry voluntary agreements that address the online trafficking of counterfeit and pirated goods, including its IACC MarketSafe and RogueBlock initiatives.

SOURCE International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition

Related Links

http://www.iacc.org


Pandemic hits Seventh-day Adventist Church with estimated $26M decline in tithes, offerings

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The Seventh-day Adventist Church is now in survival mode financially as it estimates a $26 million decline in tithe and mission offerings from their more than 21 million members around the world amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to reports received from division treasurers, the decrease in tithe income could be estimated as low as 5 percent and as high as 25 percent in some places, and the decrease in mission offerings as low as 10 percent and as high as 40 percent, world church treasurer Juan Prestol-Puesan said during his Oct. 8 financial update to the members of the General Conference Executive Committee, according to the Adventist Review.

The Adventist Church headquarters estimates the impact of the decline will amount to $26 million and pointed to budget control measures such as the suspension of allocations to selected functions; introduction of budget reductions for departments and programs; and reduction, reallocation, and redirection of personnel to blunt the impact of the decline in donations.

Prestol-Puesan said between March and June 2020, all major church regions reported a decline in tithe and mission offerings, year-over-year and noted that the trend is expected to continue through December.

We know that the year 2020 is a survival year, and that normality may return sometime in 2021, he said.

Earlier this year, prominent megachurch pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes said churches across the board were being impacted financially by the coronavirus pandemic.

I think across the board it is difficult to maintain the kind of financial impact that we normally would have and thats a problem because right now churches really want to embrace the community, Jakes, who leads The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, told "CBS This Morning.

Were feeding people, were serving people, were reaching out to people in need and we help to keep some sort of equilibrium in the sociological fiber of our community. If we dont have the resources to do that, that becomes difficult.

Mark Chaves, a Duke University professor who specializes in the sociology of religion and is the principal investigator of the National Congregations Study, told The Citizens Voice earlier this month that a third of churches have no savings accounts, endowments or reserve funds.

He further noted that donations from churchgoers are by far the most important income stream for the vast majority of churches.

When it comes to pastors in poorer countries where the coronavirus has resulted in a drastic reduction in regular tithing, Open Doors U.K. and Ireland reported that some pastors now barely have enough money for food.

Normally, when Christians suffer the church is where they turn to for help," Open Doors Asia Communications Director Jan Vermeer told Premier Christian News.

But with COVID-19, the church pastors can barely look after their own families never mind the streams of people who come knocking on their doors for help. Everywhere we turn were seeing the same dire situation. Pastors whose income is based solely on giving from members of the church dont have anything to eat, Vermeer said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  The initial shipment of 15,000 Sputnik V vaccines that are arriving in the country on Sunday will most likely be used in Metro Manila, according to a Department of Health official.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday said this is due to the storage requirement of the vaccines made by Russia's Gamaleya Institute.

"Most of these limited supply of Sputnik V vaccines would be in areas, urbanized areas like NCR na may capacity mag-store nitong klaseng vaccine [which has the capacity to store this kind of vaccine]. Minus 18 degrees," Vergeire told a media briefing.

Sputnik V vaccines come in liquid and powdered form. The liquid doses must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures. The powdered version, which has to be diluted before vaccination, can be kept in normal fridge temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, making it easier to transport and store.

The next shipment of Sputnik V vaccines containing 480,000 doses is set to reach the country on April 29 - the same day 500,000 more doses of China's Sinovac jabs are expected to arrive.
A 23-year-old tow truck operator loading a disabled car onto his truck was killed early Friday morning on Interstate 12 in Covington when he was struck by a van, according to State Police Troop L.

Tyler Patrick Quave, of Bush, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the van was not injured, according to a State Police news release.

Quave was helping a stranded motorist near La. 21 shortly before 6 a.m. and had parked on the right shoulder, partially in the right exit lane to Brewster Road, the news release said. He had put on the truck's emergency lights and was wearing a uniform shirt with reflective material.

He was loading the disabled vehicle and was standing in the exit lane to the left of his tow truck when a van that was traveling eastbound on the exit ramp sideswiped the truck and hit him.

Impairment is not suspected in the crash, although toxicology tests are pending analysis. Troopers will consult with the 22nd Judicial District Attorney's Office in reference to any criminal or traffic charges.

Editor's note: This story initially had the wrong first name for the victim. His name is Tyler Patrick Quave.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 22:50:30|Editor: huaxia

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-- China has reaffirmed its goal to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

-- China is poised to complete the world's most dramatic reduction in carbon emission intensity, and realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history.

-- Global cooperation should be based on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," the cornerstone of climate governance worldwide.

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- From tapping renewable energies to upgrading traditional industries, China is walking its talk in a low-carbon transition as part of a global response to climate change.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday reaffirmed his country's commitment to climate action, which has been embodied in China's development strategy for achieving high-quality growth and long-term prosperity.

China has also been striving to promote fairness and equality in global environmental governance in a bid to facilitate the sustainable development of all countries, no matter rich or poor.

Observers said China helps inject energy and vitality into the global climate movement, with more countries responding to China's appeals and laying out ambitious climate change targets.





PATHWAY TO GREEN GROWTH

China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi reaffirmed when addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday. Before the Chinese president first announced this ambitious goal last year, the entire country had already been mobilized to embark on the quest for green development.

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2021 shows a molten-salt solar thermal power plant in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Ma Xiping)

Since 2016 when China became the world's largest producer and consumer of renewable energy, the installed capacity of renewable energy sources in China has been growing by an average annual rate of 12 percent.

According to a report of the Global Wind Energy Council, China installed 71.7 GW of new wind capacity in 2020, accounting for 87 percent of new wind power capacity globally in that year. Moreover, China also tops the world in terms of solar power capacity and sales of new energy vehicles.

Such efforts and achievements on green development have reduced China's reliance on fossil fuels and cut its carbon emission intensity by 18.2 percent by the end of 2019 from 2015.

Photo taken on June 27, 2019 shows the Baiyanghe wind power field in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)

As a large developing country, meeting these steep targets will be "an arduous task" for China, said Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies.

"But seen through the lens of incentivizing and mainstreaming 'green' technologies within our everyday lives, it can also be seen as a huge commercial opportunity," he said.

Kevin Sneader, global managing partner of McKinsey & Company, said "all of this suggests that China is doing its part in the global effort to tackle climate change ... over the past decade, China has become the world's leader in meeting climate commitments."





GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE

To achieve its climate goals in the future, China is poised to complete the world's most dramatic reduction in carbon emission intensity, and realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history.

Photo taken on Sept. 23, 2020 shows a cloud rail train running in the campus of the headquarters of China's new-energy vehicle manufacturer BYD in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Its transition to a greener economy has created huge opportunities for the largest developing country to cooperate with its partners. Through the Belt and Road Initiative and other platforms, China is sharing its development dividends with the rest of the world.

In Ethiopia, researchers are monitoring farms, rivers and forests with the country's first satellite, which was designed, built and sent into space by China. Remote-sensing images filmed by the satellite have facilitated the analysis of and response to climate change in the African country.

Chinese and Ethiopian engineers go about their work during a satellite launch at Entoto Observatory Center in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Dec. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Meanwhile, China has also been developing low-carbon demonstration zones in other developing countries to help them pursue green growth.

"Such cooperation has yielded real, tangible and solid results," Xi said Thursday.

"China has also made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt and Road cooperation. A number of green action initiatives have been launched ... to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries," Xi added.

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 19, 2019 shows staff members examining solar panels on the rooftop of a local automobile maker in Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

"China is the number one provider of environment technology in the world" and an important provider of solar energy, said Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

The country, which is also leading the world in areas such as electric vehicles, wind energy, and hydrogen, could offer inspirations for global sustainable development, he said.





PRINCIPLE OF COOPERATION

Climate change is driven by the activities of all humankind, and so should the endeavors to find a solution to it. Every single country, no matter rich or poor, large or small, has a due part to play and a duty to cooperate.

Global cooperation should be based on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," the cornerstone of climate governance worldwide. Developed countries, which have achieved economic development through burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gases without limits in the past, now need to take more responsibilities to save the planet.

No country should use climate change as a bargaining chip for geopolitics, a target for attacking other countries, or an excuse for trade barriers.

Photo taken on Dec. 3, 2020 shows a production line of new-energy vehicles in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province.(Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

"We need to each take stronger actions, strengthen partnerships and cooperation, learn from each other and make common progress in the new journey toward global carbon neutrality," Xi said.

"In this process, we must join hands, not point fingers at each other," he said, adding that "we must honor commitments, not go back on promises."

The United States, which convened the climate summit, has returned to the Paris Agreement after President Joe Biden took office in January. As the world's largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States has unveiled an infrastructure plan to facilitate its climate action.

"China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process," Xi said.

Recalling a joint statement released by China and the United States on Sunday, Xi said "China looks forward to working with the international community including the United States to jointly advance global environmental governance."

The U.S.-China cooperation on climate change is "a refreshing breath of fresh air," said Gupta.

"Just as importantly, their cooperation on climate change shows that both the United States and China can rise above their differences and cooperate together in the better interests of all," he said.

(Video reporters: Zhao Yuhe, Yu Gang, Huang Jingwen, Yan Yan; Video editor: Zheng Xin)
Half of consumers (50%) would walk away from an online service provider if it suffered any form of data breach, according to a study of 15,000 consumers worldwide, conducted by global security company Kaspersky.

The idea of avoidable data misuse is likely to incur even greater wrath from respondents, however, with 63% affirming they would no longer use the provider for fear of their data being sold to a third party in this case. As consumers understand more about businesses data privacy responsibilities, more transparency is needed from those companies about how they handle user data.

Having to shop, be entertained, communicate and conduct business virtually is likely to have sparked heightened awareness about how much data is being offered, and what the upshots of this proliferation could be. Almost two-thirds (62%) of respondents are now worried that their online activities are being constantly tracked by the websites or services they visit.

Not only would 50% of consumers stop using an online provider if they encountered a breach, but a vast portion are already demanding greater protection of their data ahead of time, from both enterprises and governments. Around half (51%) affirmed that they want companies to be transparent in their data processing, while 48% think companies should be equally open about how their technology works. A similar 50% called on governments to be transparent about their respective data collection and management processes.

This isnt to say that consumers are necessarily against the idea of data processing in general. 68% agree that the apps and digital services they use make their lives substantially easier. However, considering that more than one-in-10 (12%) have had their personal data leaked or shared inappropriately by a third party  leading to having secret information revealed (64%) or a loss of money (62%)  additional caution moving forward is understandable.

How should transparency be implemented by companies or organizations?

It is clear from the data that people have developed a sense of control and they are now demanding openness about how and where their data is being managed. This is something we at Kaspersky absolutely support and champion, having brought to light the significance of transparency in the infosec space. We have recently relocated data processing to Switzerland, and this change of behavior among consumers will aid our own efforts to make data processing practices more secure and transparent in the future. Businesses should be aware of how detrimental it would be to brand reputation to ignore these calls, says Marina Titova, Head of Consumer Product Marketing at Kaspersky.

In addition to steps being taken by service providers, there are also measures that consumers can take to keep themselves and their information safe. Kasperskys recommendations include:
A grey wolf walks under falling snow at the Smithsonian zoo in Washington DC in December 2017 ((AFP via Getty Images))

The Idaho Senate has approved legislation that will allow the state to hire private contractors to kill around 90 per cent of wolves in Idaho, with the aim to protect cattle and other agricultural interests.

Idahos Wolf Conservation and Management plan, which is backed by members of Idahos agriculture industry, was approved by the Senate on Wednesday with a large majority of 26-7.

Supporters of the bill have claimed that there are too many wolves in the state attacking wildlife including sheep and cattle, and said that this legislation would help protect the animals and Idahos agriculture industry.

These wolves, theres too many in the state of Idaho, Republican state senator Mark Harris said on the Senate floor on Wednesday before voting for the bill.

He then described a gentleman rancher whose livelihood was put into doubt after a pack of wolves scared off his cattle, adding: Theyre destroying ranchers; theyre destroying wildlife.

Mr Harris said that the latest figure suggests that there are around 1,500 wolves in Idaho, while the bill would aim to cut the population down to just 150.

In order to cull a majority of Idahos wolf population, the bill would provide the states Wolf Control Fund with an additional $190,000 (136,818) on top of a previously allocated $400,000 (287,998) to hire private contractors to kill the animals.

The legislation will also remove the limit on the amount of wolves that a single hunter is allowed to kill in the state.

The bill was criticised by a minority of Idaho state senators who voted against it on Wednesday, with Michelle Stennett, a Democrat, saying that it is dangerous as there is very little control over what the contractors will do.

Ms Stennett said that she would have preferred the funds being allocated to other policies, adding: I just wished wed had 1 per cent of that to give to tourism or recreation or something.

Wolves used to be under federal protection in both Idaho and Montana up until 2009, when it was removed following years of studies into the states populations of the animals. The move was criticised by environmental groups.

Story continues

Governor Brad Little, a Republican, signed a bill last year increasing the funds for private contractors to kill wolves. The Independent has contacted the governor to get confirmation on whether he will sign the new bill into law.

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Night curfew announced after Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the Covid-19 situation in AP at an emergency meeting held at the CMs camp office in Tadepalli on Friday evening. (Photo: Twitter @AndhraPradeshCM)

VIJAYAWADA: Entire Andhra Pradesh will come under night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from Saturday in a bid to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the state.

This was announced after Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the Covid-19 situation in AP at an emergency meeting held at the CMs camp office in Tadepalli on Friday evening.

The CM further declared that the state government will administer Corona vaccine free of cost to all people aged 18 years and above in each of the 13 districts of AP.

Jagan Mohan Reddy directed officials to accordingly place orders with manufacturers for vaccines. As per an estimate, in all, 2,04,70,364 people across the state will have to be vaccinated.

All shops, restaurants and public spaces will remain closed during the curfew period. Further, to prevent crowds, rythu bazaars will be decentralised and commodities made available at the ward level.

The Chief Minister told officials to focus on uninterrupted supply of oxygen and Remdesivir vials while ensuring that they are not black marketed. He said he has received complaints about hospitals overcharging patients for Covid treatment. He underlined that strict action must be taken against such practices.

Jagan Mohan Reddy asked officials to conduct class X, inter, degree and engineering examinations as per the schedule without causing any inconvenience to students. Those tests should be conducted in total compliance with Covid guidelines to ensure the wellbeing of each student.

Officials present at the meeting informed the CM that there is a delay in supply of oxygen due to insufficient number of vehicles. Only 64 of them are available whereas at least 100120 vehicles will be required to meet the current demand. Officials pointed out that 515 metric tonnes of oxygen is the requirement once all oxygen beds in the state are occupied. Currently, 284 metric tonnes of oxygen is being used on an average in government and private hospitals.

In this regard, officials said they have requested the central government to supply 100 metric tonnes of oxygen to the state from RINL, Vizag; apart from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

A total of 21,581 beds are available in 208 Covid hospitals of the state. Of these, 11,789 beds are occupied. 2,506 people have been admitted to the hospitals during the last 24 hours, officials stated.

Deputy chief minister Alla Krishna Srinivas, ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Kurasala Kannababu and Mekathoti Sucharitha, DGP Goutam Sawang, COVID Command Control special officer K. S. Jawahar Reddy, principal secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal, special chief secretary (Higher Education) Satish Chandra, principal secretary (Transport) M. T. Krishna Babu, principal secretary (School Education) Buditi Rajashekar, health commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar and other officials were present at the meeting.

The Chief Minister earlier spoke to Bharat Biotech MD Krishna Ella and Hetero Drugs MD B. Parthasarathi Reddy over phone. He sought supply of Covid vaccine doses and Remdesivir injections from them as per requirement of the state.
Recognizing Juneteenth statewide sends a message of unity, Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat and a sponsor of the House bill, said in a statement. Governor Pritzker has indicated he is supportive of commemorating Juneteenth as an official state holiday, and I look forward to passing this proposal through the General Assembly and getting it to his desk very soon.
Left: Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves cautioned that the cost of recovery is a fluid one given the situation is an evolving one. Right: Didier Trebucq, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, described the damage he saw as catastrophic.

The United Nations, with the support of other international and regional organisations, has launched a Global Appeal Fund targeted at raising US$29.2 million, to assist St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the wake of a series of devastating eruptions.





The launch, conducted by way of a virtual press briefing, took place on Tuesday April 20 at Cabinet Room, and involved Didier Trebucq, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, and Prime Minister Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonsalves.





The briefing followed a visit to the Orange and Red Zones by Trebucq and a UN team. Trebucq described the impact as "apocalyptic.





As far as the Fund was concerned, Trebucq said its objective is "to scale up the humanitarian assistance and to initiate, as soon as possible, the recovery.





He noted that around 15% of the population has been displaced and highlighted what he said was their increased vulnerability, given that indices of poverty were higher in the areas from which they were displaced.





"So this is really a situation that is going to be not really sustainable following several weeks, even though the humanitarian assistance is growing satisfactorily at this moment, he observed.





The Global Appeal Fund is earmarked to provide assistance to a range of areas including: healthcare, education, shelter and housing, agriculture, animal husbandry and food security, clean-up campaigns, environmental health and Gender-based matters among other recovery efforts.





As an initial response, the UN has allocated, separate from the Appeal Fund, some US$2 Million to immediate relief efforts.





The Prime Minister commented that since the series of eruptions "the country has been put into a veritable economic and social tailspin, where lives and livelihoods have been threatened immensely.





He stressed that "without effective cooperation our life and living will be unbearable.





In giving some indication of what a recovery effort would entail, PM Gonsalves cited some preliminary figures as provided by the World Bank.





He said, based on an assessment, the total built assets at risk in the red and orange zones amounted to US$387.5 million; the amount in the red zone exclusively was valued at US$64 million and non-residential buildings US$160 million.





The infrastructure risk amounted to US$83 million.





Gonsalves cautioned that the event was evolving and the figures could change over time, however, there was the immediate need for humanitarian aid and to begin the clean-up process to be followed by recovery and reconstruction.
Comedian and radio star Mick Molloy is known for his love of sport, barbecues and a few pints of beer.

So, it came as quite a surprise to learn his guilty pleasures on television are none other than children's show Bluey and Netflix's real estate series Selling Sunset.

The 54-year-old confessed to TV Tonight on Friday that while he's reluctant to admit it, he found certain episodes of ABC's Bluey 'moving stuff'.

'It's moving stuff!' Comedian and radio star Mick Molloy (pictured), 54, revealed his VERY surprising guilty pleasures on TV in an interview with TV Tonight on Friday

'My favourite episode is when when Bluey got an addiction after becoming a drug-sniffing dog at the airport,' he said.

'And I'll admit I cried in that episode when someone backed over Bluey in their Ute and she had to go to "the big farm in the sky". Moving stuff.'

Mick also joked about the relatability of following Selling Sunset's real estate agents in Los Angeles, in their quest to sell mansions to Hollywood's elite.

Who would have thought! Mick said that while he's reluctant to admit it, he found certain episodes of ABC's Bluey 'moving stuff', saying: 'I'll admit I cried in that episode when someone backed over Bluey in their ute and she had to go to "the big farm in the sky"'

Glitz and glam: Mick also joked about the relatability of following Selling Sunset's real estate agents (pictured) in their quest to sell mansions to Hollywood's elite, saying: 'We can all identify with super rich real estate agents selling to other super rich people!'

'We can all identify with super rich real estate agents selling to other super rich people!'

Bluey is an animated television series that follows a Blue Heeler puppy named Bluey.

There is a focus on family and growing up in Australian culture, as Bluey's adventures with his father Bandit, mother Chilli and younger sister Bingo are documented.

Cult following: Bluey is an animated television series that follows a Blue Heeler puppy named Bluey. There is a focus on family and growing up in Australian culture, as Bluey's adventures with his father Bandit, mother Chilli and younger sister Bingo are documented

One other very surprising fan of Bluey is A-list actress Eva Mendes.

In an interview with Now To Love in October, the Hollywood star, 47, revealed she has 'binge-watched' Bluey with her daughters Esmeralda, six, and Amada, four, shared with longtime partner Ryan Gosling.

'Bluey is huge in our house. Huge... It's really beautiful, I really love Bluey,' she said.
Turkey doesn't accept international rules when it comes to exploratory drilling for gas in the eastern Mediterranean, Greece's foreign minister has told Euronews.

"We would like to move our relations forward," Nikos Dendias told Euronews. "But we have a problem: in order to solve an exercise [problem], we have to abide by the same rules.

"And the rules in the international community [are] crystal clear. If we move with the same rules, we will solve this exercise [problem].

"But what's happening with Turkey is that Turkey does not accept those rules."

"Turkey should accept and abide by international law and accept and abide by the Convention on [the] Law of the Sea.

"On issues of international law, there cannot be many opinions. Something is legal or illegal. Something abides with international law [or] does not abide with international."

Dendias was speaking a week after his meeting in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The press conference that followed the encounter descended into a heated exchange of accusations.

Dendias, speaking on Thursday, said the meeting did not reflect a new deterioration in relations, although he admitted the combative tone was "not something that I wanted to happen."

"This open exchange with my friend Mevlut Cavusoglu was an exchange that set the record straight," Dendias said.
While advancements in 2020 Provincial Competitiveness Index strengthen local business climate, breakthrough approaches are urged to create new room for future improvements to increase investment attraction amid tougher regional competition.

Just a few days ago, the northeastern province of Quang Ninh licensed a $500 million photovoltaic cell technology project funded by Jinko Solar Hong Kong. The investor attained the investment certificate within only 24 hours, making it one of the top highlights in the local administrative reform.

Nguyen Tuong Van, Chairman of Quang Ninh Peoples Committee, said that Quang Ninhs achievement results from its special efforts in 2020. In a year of unprecedented hardships, the province supported struggling firms with a central focus to improve the local business landscape.

Quang Ninh is the first province to recruit senior state managers via competitive exams. We made strong administrative reform to help reduce costs for businesses, and increased land access and site clearance for them. Moreover, we strengthened IT application and development of e-government towards creating a digital government and smart city, he added.

Game changers

With such strong reform, Quang Ninh tops 2020s Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) ranking, scoring 75.09 points. With an overall PCI score increase of 1.69 points, the province broke its own record to secure top position for the fourth consecutive year. It is also the only province to surpass 75 points in the PCI rankings since 2010.

Dong Thap and Long An provinces in the Mekong Delta region round out the top three performers of 2020 thanks to significant improvements in administrative reform, market entry, and reduced informal charges. Other top performers include Binh Duong, Danang, Vinh Long, Haiphong, Ben Tre, Hanoi, and Bac Ninh.

Dau Anh Tuan, director of the PCI project, said that the 2020 results show an improving trend over time. It was the fourth year in a row that the median province scored at least 60 points on the 100-point scale. The consolidation of scores over time is also quite remarkable.

Even lower performers are catching up to the provinces at the top. Notably, while the highest-ranking provinces score around 75 points (aggregate PCI) and 73 points (core PCI), the lowest-ranked provinces score around 60 points (aggregate PCI) and 56.5 points (core PCI).

In the past five years, positive changes have been observed in reduced informal charges, well maintained law and order, increased productivity, and significant administrative improvement.

For instance, as shown in the report, the private sectors perception of the efficacy of the fight against corruption and informal charges at the provincial level is increasing. The share of firms reporting that they paid informal charges in 2020 dropped to 44.9 per cent from a high of 66 per cent in 2016. The burden of informal charges has shrunk over time, with 84.4 per cent of firms rating it as at an acceptable level in 2020, compared to 79.2 per cent of firms in 2016.

Regarding being proactive and creative in local policy implementation, in 2020 a record 81 per cent of respondents approved of provincial authorities flexibility in creating an enabling business environment for the private sector, surpassing the prior high mark the previous year.

Future improvement in question

Despite recognisable advances and lasting advantages like stable political institutions, the 2020 PCI shows some remaining weaknesses in Vietnams foreign investment attraction vis-a-vis competitors in tax rates, active role in policymaking, and others areas that need further attention in order to strengthen the business climate.

As competition from regional rivals such as China, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia seems to stiffen, and tempered optimism for the future is seen among foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), any advancement in the areas are so important for Vietnam and its localities. The pandemic has created an uncertain economic environment, thus making FIEs more reluctant to commit to expanding their operations in Vietnam, the report explained. The business thermometer shows that only 41 per cent of businesses in the survey plan to increase the size of their operations in the coming years, compared to 53 per cent in 2019.

During 2020, around 87 per cent of both foreign and domestic firms experienced some pandemic-related business setback in 2020. Specifically, the share of FIEs reporting losses increased from 34.3 per cent in 2019 to 47.1 per cent this year  the highest rate ever recorded by the survey.

USAID/Vietnam acting mission director Brad Bessire told VIR, There is still room for future improvement  even for a province with a score of 75, there is still another 25 to aim for to reach the top score. From the report, by province, we know exactly which areas are still in need of further improvements.

Improvements in overall governance this year seems to be stalling, which means persistent reform efforts will be needed to produce substantive outcomes. There is still room for improvement in transparency, effectiveness of enforcement at district and departmental levels, reducing regulatory compliance costs through strengthened administrative procedure reform, curtailing the burden of inspections, and further reducing informal charges, Bessire added.

Nguyen Quang Vinh, general secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry also told VIR, There is still room for more improvements, but it is not easy. Cities and provinces, even Quang Ninh, have to find new breakthroughs for their reforms in order to achieve it.

Recent PCI reports have raised the alarm of a steady decline in the size of FIEs. While the number of investors had been increasing, the average size of employment and investment capital has fallen. Some experts warn that many small FIEs are entering Vietnam solely to serve as satellites  suppliers for larger foreign-invested projects. Such FIEs may crowd out domestic suppliers and prevent the domestic sector from integrating into global value chains (Malesky, Phan, & Pham 2019). In 2019, there were early signs of a halt in that downward trend (Malesky & Pham 2020). Unfortunately, in 2020, possibly due to the impact of COVID-19, the trend made quite a dramatic U-turn. For the first time since the creation of the PCI-FDI, the percentage of FIEs with employment of fewer than five workers exceeded 10 per cent, reaching 10.8 per cent from 9.1 per cent in 2019. The next category (5-9 employees) also saw an increase from 10.6 to 11.3 per cent. This reversal can also be seen in the size of investment capital. In 2019, the share of firms with equity of less than $21,700 was only 9.8 per cent. One year later, the corresponding figure is an unprecedented 13.1 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum, only 3.7 per cent of respondents reported equity between $8.7-21.7 million, and only 4.6 per cent reported equity size exceeding $21.7 million. The corresponding figures in 2019 were 5.0 and 5.1 per cent, respectively. Like many businesses around the world, FIEs seem to have shed labour and checked their capital investment in order to stay afloat during the economic downturn.

VIR
The Czech government has ruled to expel 63 employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said on Czech TV on Thursday.

"63 employees of the Russian embassy [will leave the Czech Republic] with members of their families," TASS cited him as saying.

Earlier on Thursday, Kulhanek said that the Czech Republic is reducing the number of employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague to correspond to the number of Czech diplomats in Moscow.

"We reduce the number of diplomats within the Russian diplomatic mission in Prague in accordance with the state of our embassy [staff] in Moscow. This decision enters into force today. Russia must call back its people [from the Czech Republic] by late May," the minister said.

Earlier, the Czech government stated that the republics embassy in Moscow has a lot fewer employees than the Russian diplomatic mission in Prague. Meanwhile, Rudolf Jindrak, head of the foreign department of the Czech presidents office, stated that the republic has "about 50 more" diplomats in Russia if the staff of all cultural and trade-economic missions is counted.

Prague accuses Moscow of involvement in the explosions at ammunition depots in the Czech village of Vrbetice in 2014. The Czech government claims that Russian special services were involved in the incident. The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed a resolute process to the Czech Republic over this situation.
An hourlong episode of People Magazine Investigates, scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Monday on the Investigation Discovery network, recalls the 2001 murder of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin; the 2005 killing of 32-year-old Maria Bruno; and the 2008 attack on Michelle Murphy. A jury recommended the death penalty for Gargiulo  who has been dubbed the Hollywood Ripper  in October 2019, but he has yet to be formally sentenced. A court date is scheduled for July.
Jaipur, April 23 : The 'haldi' ceremony of a woman police constable appointed at the Dungarpur kotwali in Rajasthan was held at the police station premises, as she failed to get her leave sanctioned amid the lockdown in place in the state in the wake of surging Covid-19 cases.

The bride to be, Asha, said that her wedding was scheduled in May last year, but it was postponed due to the nationwide lockdown and Corona scare. At that time, the wedding date was fixed on April 30, 2021.

However, as she is on duty during the ongoing lockdown period, her colleagues decided to hold the 'haldi' ceremony inside the police station premises, playing the role of her family members, singing wedding songs and putting haldi on Asha's face.

Station in-charge Dilip Daan said that the state government has announced a 'public discipline fortnight' and hence they are all serving their duties.

Even Asha has been on duty for the past many days.

"When we came to know that she is unable to go to her village to attend her haldi ceremony, we all decided to make the celebration unique inisde the police station, as the auspicious 'Muhurat' could not be rescheduled," Daan said.

The ceremony was held following all the rituals that are conducted at home.

"We gave a surprise to Asha. Thankfully by the evening, her leave got sanctioned and she has gone to her village now," Daan added.

Asha's father is a farmer while her mother is a housewife. They even got the Covid guidelines published on the wedding card.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2021 / CAT Strategic Metals Corporation (CSE:CAT) ("CAT" or the "Company") announces that it has closed the second, and final, tranche of the non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") described in its news release of February 16, 2021. In connection with the final tranche closing of the Offering, the Company issued 4,169,600 units (the "Units") at a price of CDN$0.08 per Unit for gross proceeds of CDN$333,568. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one whole transferable common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant is exercisable to acquire one Share at an exercise price of CDN$0.16 per Share until February 28, 2026.

The Company paid finder's fees of CDN$9,800 in cash in connection with this final tranche of the Offering, as well as issued 122,500 finder's warrants exercisable at $0.08 per warrant for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

The Company raised a total of CDN$2,044,000 and issued 25,550,000 Units in connection with both tranches of the Offering, and paid finder's fees of CDN$56,398.80 in cash, and issued 686,235 non-transferable finder's warrants exercisable at a price of $0.08 per finder's warrant for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. The Company also paid a corporate finance fee of $3,000 in connection with the Offering.

The securities issued under the Offering, and any Shares that may be issuable upon exercise of any Warrants, will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance of such securities.

CAT intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for exploration activities, including at the recently announced South Preston Uranium Property; for general property and claim payments; and for general working capital purposes.

The Private Placement is subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"). All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four month hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

About CAT Strategic Metals Corporation:

CAT Strategic Metals Corporation is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and de risking of overlooked projects situated in well-established World Class geological districts in North America. The Company is specially focused on minerals which are considered highly strategic from a monetary as well as global infrastructure and energy point of view. CAT's shares trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the trading symbol "CAT", on the OTCMarkets.com under the trading symbol "CATTF", and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "8CH".

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Robert Rosner

Chairman, President & CEO

Further information regarding the Company can be found on SEDAR at www.SEDAR.com, by visiting the Company's website www.catstrategic.com or by contacting the Company directly at (604) 674-3145.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Particular risks applicable to this press release include risks associated with planned production, including the ability of the company to achieve its targeted exploration outline due to regulatory, technical or economic factors. In addition, there are risks associated with estimates of resources, and there is no guarantee that a resource will be found or have demonstrated economic viability as necessary to be classified as a reserve. There is no guarantee that additional exploration work will result in significant increases to resource estimates

Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

We seek safe harbour.

SOURCE: CAT Strategic Metals Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641924/CAT-Strategic-Metals-Closes-Second-and-Final-Tranche-of-Private-Placement
ROME, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announces that its subsidiary NextChem has been awarded today a contract by Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, to carry out a Front-End Engineering Design for their 100,000 tons per annum Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) plant in Grandpuits, France.

The plant, due to be operational in 2024, will be the first of its kind in Europe. It would make Total Corbion PLA the global market leader in PLA, firmly positioned to cater for the rapidly growing demand for Luminy PLA resins.

Total Corbion PLA awarded the front-end engineering design contract to NextChem, a subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. Maire Tecnimont's heritage in polymerization of traditional plastics combined with NextChem's portfolio of innovative solutions for green chemistry ensures the necessary know-how to manage this industrial initiative.

Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont Group and NextChem Chief Executive Officer, commented: "This award is a confirmation that our Group is a trusted and valued technological and engineering partner for large-scale, innovative and complex projects. We are proud to work with a Joint Venture of our long-time client Total to increase the availability of sustainable plastics in Europe."

Thomas Philipon, CEO of Total Corbion PLA, is pleased to launch this next stage in the process: "Signing this contract with NextChem is an important milestone as it reinforces our commitment to the global bioplastic market as the first company to launch commercial scale Lactic Acid to PLA capability in Europe. We are proud to enable our customers to propose sizeable solutions to the market and support the circular economy development."

Luminy PLA resins are biobased and made from annually renewable resources, offering a reduced carbon footprint versus many traditional plastics. At the end of its useful life, PLA products can be mechanically or chemically recycled. The biodegradable and compostable functionalities of PLA make it the material of choice for a wide range of markets and applications including fresh fruit packaging, food service ware, durable consumer goods, toys and 3D printing.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1390855/NextChem_Logo.jpg
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has disagreed with the President, Muhammadu Buhari on his support for the Minister of Commun...

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has disagreed with the President, Muhammadu Buhari on his support for the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

The the Presidency through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, threw its weight behind Pantami amid calls for his resignation or sacking.

The calls followed revelations allegedly linking Pantami to terrorist organisations  Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Sermons delivered by the Minister in the past had him allegedly sympathising with the terror groups, a thing he says he has repented of.

Addressing calls for the Ministers removal, Shehu in a statement yesterday said, They do not really care what he may or may not have said some 20 years ago: that is merely the instrument they are using to attempt to cancel him.

He also said, The administration stands behind Minister Pantami and all Nigerian citizens to ensure they receive fair treatment, fair prices, and fair protection in ICT services.

Reacting, Ezekwesili revealed that the position of the Presidency in regards to the case involving Pantami shows the view of President Buhari on terrorism.

In that singular act of siding with his Minister of Communication, @NGRPresident @MBuhari actually conveyed a message on his view of terrorism. Nigerians now know that his views align with that of his Minister. It is now left to Nigerians to convey whether we agree with them, she tweeted.

I do not agree with @NGRPresident @MBuhari and his Minister of Communication that any citizen can get away with such bloodcurdling rhetorics the latter made through the years. Worse that one who swore an oath to public office said and did the things @NigeriaGov has waved off.

Yesterdays action by our President was an anti-climax. He has persisted in badly managing our countrys diversity.

Nigeria cannot at this stage avoid a genuine conversation about its future. The signs are all too obvious for all to see and act on.
GREEN, Ohio  A teacher at Green Middle School is under investigation by the Summit County Sheriffs Office and has been placed on paid administrative leave after a woman who said she was his former student accused him of sending her inappropriate texts and messages.

As of Friday morning, the teacher had not been charged.

In a series of Twitter posts this week, a woman said her eighth-grade health teacher contacted her when she was a sophomore in high school to tell her she was attractive, and again contacted her after she graduated high school.

[He] hit me up sophomore year telling me I was attractive, I didnt acknowledge it, a tweet reads. Until he hit me up when I graduated high school & he texted me via Instagram [direct message] AGAIN.

Another tweet includes apparent screenshots of texts and Instagram conversations between the teacher and former student in which he says, You have to be one of the most attractive girls I have ever seen, and Yeah, I wanted to hook up with you so bad.

In a statement, Green Local Schools spokeswoman Julie McMahan said the district is investigating internally and cooperating with the investigation by the Summit County Sheriffs Department, which provides law enforcement in Green.

Green Local Schools Administration was made aware of a social media post pertaining to a teacher at one of the districts buildings, the statement reads. District personnel immediately launched an investigation that is currently ongoing. The teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave, following the Districts protocol. In addition to an internal investigation, the District is cooperating fully with an investigation being conducted by the Summit County Sheriffs Department.

Attorney Jeff Laybourne, who is representing the teacher, said in a statement to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that his client is cooperating with the investigations.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
China's Xi Jinping reportedly promoted the China Communist Party's propaganda during President Joe Biden's virtual Leaders Summit On Climate held on Thursday.

Breitbart said that Xi spoke about China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during the said summit that was attended by various world leaders invited by Biden to celebrate Earth Day and discuss means of addressing climate change and decreasing global pollution rates.

Xi also promoted the "Green Belt and Road" that China offers for profit through "'green' infrastructure in developing countries" as solution to environmental issues.

"We must be committed to multilateralism. We need to work on the basis of international law, follow the principle of equity and justice, and focus on effective actions. We need to deliver social equity and justice in the cause of green transition and increase people's sense of benefit, happiness, and security," Breitbart quoted Xi in stating during the Summit.

Xi also said that "developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action," which was ironic given that China is responsible for 28% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. Breitbart cited the Union of Concerned Scientist that reported China is the world's biggest polluter, with its rate twice as large as that of the United States.

China is said to be permitted by the Paris Climate Agreement to increase its carbon emissions over the next decade. Breitbart added that former President Donald Trump withdrew participation in the Paris Climate Agreement only to be reversed by Biden in his first days of office.

In addition, Xi stressed that "China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030" and called on world leaders to be "committed to harmony between man and nature" through "systemic governance" and "multilateralism."

"Green mountains are gold mountains. To protect the environment is to protect productivity and to improve the environment is to boost productivity. The truth is as simple as that. We need to make sure that a sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social development worldwide," Xi added.

"We must be committed to systemic governance. China looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to join the alliance global environmental governance," he said.

Breitbart explained that China's Belt and Road Initiative is a "debt trap program" for it provides developing countries "predatory loans" in exchange for "help" in building infrastructure. The loans are often used by countries, mostly from Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, for construction services usually for transportation improvements like highways, railways, and ports.

Xi did not, however, mention during Biden's Thursday summit their meat markets and wild animal consumption policies that, as per Breitbart, "lend themselves to illegal wildlife sales and allow on-site animal butchering for meat and which the CCP had not banned despite the pandemic.

As per Breitbart, Xi declared in an economic summit held in China this week that the BRI will be used "to create universal 'rules and standards' along the paths BRI projects created" that international experts have warned as a "significant risk to global ecology."

An example cited by Breitbart is the case of Zimbabwe where China has conducted coal mining for fossil fuel and road developments that destroy ecological centers and threaten national parks.
INLAND Fisheries Ireland (IFI) requested a voluntary shut-down of turbines along the river Brosna following a fish kill at Erry Mill in Clara recently.

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, IFI received reports of dead smolts at Erry Mill, Clara, Co. Offaly. They followed up these reports with site visits by staff on the day and again on April 1.

The IFI state, "A spike in river temperature following warm weather at the end of March triggered the juvenile salmon (smolts) to begin their migration to sea."

The IFI concluded that the smolts were killed not in the turbine itself but by becoming entrained on the screens at the turbine intake.

Smolt screening (bars with narrow gaps to prevent smolts entering the turbine) were in place at the time of the fish kill. In this case, IFI did request a voluntary shut-down of the turbines to prevent further smolt loss. Turbine owners further downstream did comply with this request and IFI said it is grateful for their cooperation in protecting our shared fisheries resource.

IFI will continue to liaise with the mill operator in this case to prevent further loss of smolts.




Lochem, 23 April 2021

Resolutions Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ForFarmers N.V.;

Jan van Nieuwenhuizen new chairman of the Supervisory Board



During the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of ForFarmers N.V. (hereafter: the 'General Meeting' and 'ForFarmers' respectively), which was held today and which was available for participation by audio webcast, the shareholders adopted the ForFarmers annual accounts over the 2020 financial year and approved the dividend proposal for the same financial year.



Dividend of 0.29 per ordinary share will be paid entirely in cash to the shareholders of ForFarmers, after deducting 15% dividend tax. The ex-dividend date is 27 April 2021 and payment will take place on 7 May 2021.



Other resolutions

An advisory vote was cast in favour of the 2020 remuneration report (83.4% in favour).

All members of the Executive Board have been discharged from performing their duties during the financial year 2020.

All members of the Supervisory Board have been discharged from performing their duties during the financial year 2020.

KPMG Accountants N.V. has been appointed as auditor of ForFarmers for auditing the 2021 financial statements and board report.

The remuneration policy for the Supervisory Board has been adopted, effective as of the financial year 2021.

Mr J.L. van Nieuwenhuizen has been appointed as member of the Supervisory Board.

The Executive Board has been designated as the authorized body, upon approval of the Supervisory Board, to issue ordinary shares and grant rights to subscribe for ordinary shares with a limitation up to 10% of the issued ordinary shares for the duration of 18 months.

The Executive Board has been designated as the authorized body, upon approval of the Supervisory Board, to restrict or exclude the pre-emptive right of shareholders for the duration of 18 months.

The Executive Board has been authorised, upon approval of the Supervisory Board, to have ForFarmers acquire (other than without consideration) shares in its own share capital (irrespective of the type) up to a maximum of 10% of the issued share capital of ForFarmers (determined at the time of the General Meeting).

This authorization to acquire own shares enables the Executive Board to execute employee participation plans 2021 (cf. the employee participation plan 2020 involved 197,266 shares).





Start date share buy-back programme for the employee participation plans 2020

Following the General Meeting, the Executive Board, upon approval of the Supervisory Board, decided to start, as of 28 April 2021, with the share buy-back programme for the employee participation plans 2021. The progress of this purchase programme will be disclosed weekly by means of a press release.

Jan van Nieuwenhuizen new chairman of the Supervisory Board of ForFarmers

Following the resolution of the AGM to appoint Jan van Nieuwenhuizen to the Supervisory Board, Cooperatie FromFarmers U.A. has, in its capacity as priorty shareholder*, appointed Mr Jan van Nieuwenhuizen as new chairman of the Supervisory Board of ForFarmers, succeeding Mr Cees de Jong who has stepped down at the end of the AGM.

This press release contains information which qualifies as inside information within the meaning of Article 7, paragraph 1 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

(*) Cooperatie FromFarmers holds the priority share of ForFarmers as long as it can exercise the voting right and / or give voting instructions on the reference date of 1 January of each year for at least 20% of the total votes to be cast on ordinary shares. If this percentage is above 50%, Cooperatie FromFarmers also has the right, among other things, to appoint a supervisory board member as chairman after consultation with the Supervisory Board.

Note to the editor / For additional information:

Caroline Vogelzang, Director Investor Relations

T: 0031 573 288 194 M: 0031 6 10 94 91 61

E: caroline.vogelzang@forfarmers.eu

Company profile

ForFarmers N.V. ('ForFarmers', Lochem, the Netherlands) is an internationally operating feed company that offers total feed solutions for conventional and organic livestock farming. ForFarmers gives its very best "For the Future of Farming": for the continuity of farming and for a financially secure sector that will continue to serve society for generations to come in a sustainable way. By working side-by-side with farmers ForFarmers delivers real benefits: better returns, healthier livestock and greater efficiency. This is achieved by offering tailored and Total Feed solutions and a targeted approach with specialist and expert support.

With sales of around 10 million tonnes of feed, ForFarmers is market leader in Europe. ForFarmers has approximately 2,500 employees and is active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom. In 2020, revenues amounted to approximately 2.4 billion. ForFarmers N.V. is listed at Euronext Amsterdam.

ForFarmers N.V., Postbus 91, 7240 AB Lochem, T: +31, www.forfarmersgroup.eu/en.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those relating to ForFarmers legal obligations in terms of capital and liquidity positions in certain specified scenarios. In addition, forward-looking statements, without limitation, may include such phrases as "intends to", "expects", "takes into account", "is aimed at", 'plans to", "estimated" and words with a similar meaning. These statements pertain to or may affect matters in the future, such as ForFarmers future financial results, business plans and current strategies. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, which may mean that there could be material differences between actual results and performance and expected future results or performances that are implicitly or explicitly included in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may result in variations on the current expectations or may contribute to the same include but are not limited to: developments in legislation, technology, jurisprudence and regulations, share price fluctuations, legal procedures, investigations by regulatory bodies, the competitive landscape and general economic conditions. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect any forward-looking statements or the actual results of ForFarmers, are discussed in the last published annual report. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only statements as of the date of this document and ForFarmers accepts no obligation or responsibility with respect to any changes made to the forward-looking statements contained in this document, regardless of whether these pertain to new information, future events or otherwise, unless ForFarmers is legally obliged to do so.




New York, April 23 : As the SARS-CoV2 -- the virus behind the Covid-19 infections -- is evolving rapidly and producing new variants, continuing testing of immunised individuals will be important to help mitigate future outbreaks, say researchers.

"The idea that we could be entirely done with testing in the post-vaccine world is probably not a good one right now; for example, even fully vaccinated people who develop respiratory symptoms should consider getting tested for Covid-19," said lead researcher Robert B. Darnell, Professor at the Rockefeller University in New York, US.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reports results from an ongoing monitoring at the varsity where two fully vaccinated individuals tested positive for the coronavirus.

Both had received two doses of either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine, with the second dose occurring more than two weeks before the positive test. One person was initially asymptomatic and then developed typical Covid-19 symptoms; the other developed symptoms prior to testing. Both individuals recovered at home, an outcome consistent with evidence suggesting vaccination is effective in preventing severe disease.

Genome sequencing revealed multiple mutations in both viral samples, including the E484K variant in one individual, first identified in South Africa and Brazil, and the S477N variant in the other individual, which has been spreading in New York since November.

The researchers were able to discern a quantifiable amount of virus in saliva samples from routine testing, and sequence the viral RNA.

The observations suggest a small but ongoing risk among vaccinated individuals, and the possibility that they may continue to spread the virus.

"Conversely, exposure to individuals with known infection, even if fully vaccinated, should be taken seriously and again individuals should consider getting tested." "Given the scope of the pandemic, there's a huge amount of virus in the world right now, meaning a huge opportunity for mutations to develop and spread," he adds. "That is going to be a challenge for the developers of vaccines over the next months and years."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ISW Holdings (OTC: ISWH), a global brand management holdings company with commercial operations in telehealth and cryptocurrency mining, today announced that it will be featured as a presenting company at the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference. The event is slated to be held virtually on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. Several members of ISWHs management team will participate in the presentation to shine the spotlight on the companys Proceso solution, the ISW/Bit5ive project in Georgia, as well as the companys unique project as a comprehensive solution and a new model in the space at the intersection of mining, hosting, infrastructure, and design. Interested parties should visit https://ccw.fm/oLD5L to register for the event, listen to the companys presentation or book a one-on-one conversation. ISWHs presentation and presentations for all participating companies may be accessed online starting at 7:00 a.m. ET on April 27 and will be available live, on-demand and archived for 90 days.

To view the full press release, visit https://ccw.fm/yxoiQ

About ISW Holdings Inc.

ISW Holdings, a Nevada-based corporation, is a global holding company that owns and operates businesses in the cryptocurrency mining, telehealth and home health care sectors. Together with its partners, ISWH seeks to provide a structure that meets large scalability demands as well as anticipated marketplace needs. The company is able to meet these demands through a variety of strategic innovative processes and relationships. These partnerships have been developed by incorporating a depth of experience and insight that leads ISW Holdings into leadership positions across multiple industries. For more information about the company, visit www.ISWHoldings.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ISWH are available in the companys newsroom at http://ccw.fm/ISWH

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It makes sense that PPCPs would be detected in the environment, and probably have been present for as long as we humans have been using them. Some studies indicate our body may retain between 5% and 95% of the active ingredient of some medications. In other words, any medication that we take is not completely used by our body, with the unused portion excreted and passed into wastewater.

If you go WHAT: National Prescription Drug Take Back Day collections WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 24 WHERE: Wegmans, 1 Loop Road; Kinney Drugs, 62 Owasco St., Auburn; and Kinney Drugs, 130 Main St., Moravia

Wastewater treatment plants do not have the capability to remove these chemicals from the wastewater they receive. It is through advances in technology that we can now detect PPCPs at low levels and begin to determine their potential effects, if any, on the environment and our health.
A woman who left her $13,000 flute in the back of a taxi in 2012 has finally been reunited with it after the cab driver brought it in to a music store for a valuation.

Heidi Slyker had the instrument returned to her on April 19 after a staff member at Boston's Virtuosity Musical Instruments who remembered an appeal for the return of Heidi's flute grew suspicious and called police.

Slyker was a member of the New England Philharmonic Orchestra when she lost her instrument, which she saved-up to buy throughout high school.

She was then forced to quit the dream job because the only replacement she could afford sounded inferior to her old flute.

The prospective seller claimed to have bought the flute from a stranger. Investigators later determined the cab driver had been at work on the night Slyker lost her flute, according to Boston Police.

Authorities were contacted on Feb. 19 by a person working at the Virtuosity Musical Instruments store who told them that a person came into the store with the flute to determine its value.

The Boston Police Department shared in a Thursday press release that they returned the Woburn-based Brannen to Heidi Slyker on April 19

A worker at Boston's Virtuosity Musical Instruments store remembered Slyker's 2012 appeal for the return of her flute, and called police after the valuable instrument was brought in

Police talked with the man who had the instrument on April 9, and he reportedly told them that he had purchased the flute from an unknown male.

While he returned the instrument, authorities later determined that he was a taxi cab driver who had been driving a cab the day the instrument went missing.

Slyker, who had been with the New England Philharmonic orchestra at the time, was riding in a minivan Metrocab at around 3.30am when she left the instrument behind.

She had just left work at the Howl At The Moon bar and was heading to her Beacon Hill apartment at the time, WBZ-TV reports.

Slyker said that she was 'devastated' to lose the pricey instrument because she had worked all through high school to save up money for the flute, working full-time.

Slyker, who had been with the New England Philharmonic orchestra at the time, was riding in a minivan Metrocab at around 3.30am when she left the instrument behind. Pictured with the instrument before it was stolen

The musician was forced to give up her seat in the orchestra because she was forced to use a replacement, taking her five years to save up enough to buy her own flute.

'They were like "Flute 2 sounds terrible." And I was like, I'm sorry,' she told The New York Times. 'I was able to finish the concert, but I never got asked back. It was terrible. I finally got into an orchestra and I just had to quit.'

She added: 'It was pretty terrible. I felt like I lost a limb. That was like my whole life, playing that instrument.'

She had just left work at Howl At The Moon and was heading to her Beacon Hill apartment at the time

At the time she lost the flute, Slyker's flute was worth $10,000.

'I couldn't believe it. I got really excited,' Slyker said about learning her flute had been rediscovered. 'I had never thought I'd see it again.'

Slyker has learned of how the instrument was found but just expressed relief that it wasn't destroyed.

'I always wondered and it always bothered me so much,' she said. 'I just wanted to know, did it get melted down, did somebody sell it? Nope.'

Because the flute hasn't been properly cared for, it will need to be overhauled at a cost of about $2,000 to get to its proper condition, Slyker shared.

'I'm really happy,' Slyker said. 'I thought it was just gone.'
Not that long ago, it would have been unthinkable for officials in the State Department (or any federal agency) to publicly disparage an American racial group. The State Department represents the entire country to the world  all of us, regardless of race, creed, or color. In theory, at least.

To be sure, there were bad old days  the era of slavery and Jim Crow in the American South  and no doubt, State Department officials defended such abhorrent policies foisted on the Republic by Democrats, the party of slavery and Jim Crow. Fortunately, the Republican Party was founded to end the evil of slavery and fought the entrenched Democrat power structure in what used to be called "the solid South" when Democrats dominated politics in that region, defending official racial discrimination against and disparagement of African Americans.

But now, Democrats are back in power in Congress and the White House (with the slimmest of control of both legislative houses), and Democrats feel free to return to their heritage of racial invective, this time the mirror image of before, targeting Caucasians, especially male Caucasians.

Jack Beyrer exposes the shocking racism expounded by State Department officials in the Washington Free Beacon. Read the whole thing, but here is an excerpt:

United Nations ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and other senior State Department staffers bring a fixation on race to diplomacy and their criticisms of America's history and internal agency policies. Multiple senior State Department officials have accused white diplomats of being complicit in systemic racism and said the agency should prioritize the hiring of women and minorities. Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the Biden-appointed diversity czar for the State Department, took issue with the "white male-dominated" national security sector in a December podcast and said, "As a woman and as a minority, I was probably better prepared than my male colleagues, certainly my European-American colleagues." She defended her remarks in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. "One of the challenges leaders face in the Department as elsewhere is ensuring everyone feels welcomed and valued all the time," Abercrombie-Winstanley said. "The Department's rigorous entry process ensures America is represented by highly capable diplomats. I believe women and minorities gain these skills early because we must in order to be successful within our own greater American society."

Ahem:

I was probably better prepared than my male colleagues, certainly my European-American colleagues.

...is not consistent with:

ensuring everyone feels welcomed and valued all the time[.]

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. -- Come Tuesday night, either Melanie Allen or Kenny Holloway will become the mayor-elect of Ocean Springs, but the two Republicans arrived at this point by very different paths.

The two topped a field of five candidates in the April 6 Republican primary, with Allen leading the field with 1,150 votes (35%), with Holloway garnering 901 votes (28%). With neither earning the requisite 50 percent plus one needed to win outright, they headed for a runoff.

While both candidates may be Republicans, thats about where the similarities end.

Allen, 68, is a retired businesswoman who relocated to Ocean Springs about 25 years ago after learning about the coastal city through her business dealings. Over the years, shes been heavily involved in the community, volunteering for a number of different civic and governmental organizations.

Holloway, meanwhile, is a 60-year-old native of Ocean Springs, who graduated from Ocean Springs High School in 1979, but spent decades in Harrison County before relocating back to Ocean Springs in more recent years. During his time in Biloxi, he was a member of the Biloxi School Board, serving as its vice president.

For years, political pundits have debated the merits of announcing a campaign early or late and Allen and Holloway represented both ends of the spectrum.

Allen decided to get an early jump on campaigning, announcing her intention to run by launching a campaign Facebook page in late September. She filed her qualifying paperwork on Jan. 4 -- the first day of qualifying -- according to the Ocean Springs City Clerks Office.

Holloway took a different approach, waiting until Jan. 19 to publicly announce his candidacy, also on Facebook, after filing his paperwork on Jan. 14.

Both candidates have run successful campaigns in terms of fundraising, with Allen raising nearly $40,000, while Holloway has brought in just over $55,000, according to campaign finance reports filed with the city clerks office and obtained by The Mississippi Press through a public records request.

Again, however, there are stark differences between the two candidates.

Allens fundraising efforts have been largely grass-roots, with 90.2% of her contributions coming from Ocean Springs individuals and small businesses.

Among her contributors are former Republican mayor Seren Ainsworth, developer Greg Williams, retired banker and community volunteer Mickey Williams, and downtown business owners Linda Rosetti and Kris Kwitzky, among other small business owners.

Holloway, meanwhile, relied largely on his ties to Harrison County, where his late brother, A.J. Holloway, served as Mayor of Biloxi for six terms from 1993-2015. Of the $55,099 raised by the Holloway campaign, $35,099 came from contributors outside Ocean Springs.

Among Holloways more well-known contributors are Gulfport-based contractor Roy Williams III; Arthur Oustalet of Butch Oustalet Ford; Biloxi attorney Ron Peresich; Ocean Springs school board member Brad Patano and his engineering firm partner David Machado; Bruno Milanese of Bay Pest Control; contractor Jimmy Lane; and contributions from the campaigns of two Harrison County state senators, Scott DeLano and Joel Carter.

Holloway has also been largely embraced by Ocean Springs old guard Republicans, including retired alderman/county supervisor John McKay and former alderman Chic Cody, both of whom have publicly endorsed Holloway. Cody was one of the three candidates ousted from the mayors race during the primary.

Holloway courted Codys endorsement in the hopes the 710 votes that went to the former alderman will push him past Allen in the runoff. With a paltry 28% turnout for the April 6 vote, Allen is pushing to simply get more people to the polls.

The Ocean Springs mayors race is the only one of the three contested races in Jackson County which will be decided Tuesday night, as whichever of the two candidates wins will not have a challenger in the general election and will be sworn in as the new Mayor of Ocean Springs on July 1.

In Moss Point, whoever emerges from the runoff between Jeramey Anderson and Billy Knight will have both a Democrat and Independent to face in the June 8 general election. In Gautier, Phil Torjusen -- the only incumbent mayor in the county to seek reelection -- will face current city councilman Casey Vaughan.

There was no race for mayor in Pascagoula, as Jay Willis ran unopposed to succeed current mayor Steve Demetropoulos, who opted to not seek a full term after winning a special election to replace former mayor Dane Maxwell, who vacated the mayors office after winning election to the Public Service Commission.
Myanmar anti-junta protesters watch as a video showing Dr. Sasa is projected on a screen during a nighttime demonstration in Yangon, March 13, 2021.

A cabinet minister from Myanmars parallel government has publicly apologized to all Rohingya Muslims in a pre-taped video for ignoring the suffering of the persecuted minority group during the past five years of civilian-led government that was overthrown on Feb. 1 in a military coup.

Susana Hla Hla Soe, minister for women, youth, and childrens affairs under the week-old National Unity Government (NUG) acknowledged failings by the civilian government under national leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi with ignoring human rights in ethnic minority areas, including the Rohingya Muslims.

I myself personally apologize for that, she said Thursday, adding that while she had been a member of parliament for five years she did not raise a voice for our brothers and sisters from the ethnic areas, including Rohingya brothers and sisters.

Im really sorry for that, Hla Hla Soe said during a press conference organized by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and the Altsean-Burma (Alternative Asean Network on Burma) NGO advocacy group.

Hla Hla Soe also urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional political, economic, and security grouping of 10 Southeast Asian nations, and other international players to recognize the parallel civilian government over Myanmars ruling junta.

ASEAN leaders are meeting on Saturday in Jakarta to discuss the post-coup situation in Myanmar and will likely raise the possibility of appointing a special envoy to mediate the crisis, which has claimed more than 730 lives  mostly civilian protesters gunned down by battle-hardened soldiers.

Hla Hla Soes words echoed those of Dr. Sasa, who was appointed to serve as minister of international cooperation and government spokesman when the NUG was former on April 16.

In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to work on bringing all ethnic nationalities into our National Unity Government so that it represents the great diversity and strength of this great nation of Myanmar, he said in a statement issued that day.

We will deliver justice for our Rohingya brothers, sisters, and for all, said Dr. Sasa, who also serves as the special envoy of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group lawmakers ousted in the coup, to the United Nations.

The Rohingya have suffered state-sanctioned persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades, with officials during the previous civilian-led government refusing to use the word Rohingya and some referring to members of the group as Bengalis.

A Myanmar military-led crackdown on the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship because they are considered illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, left thousands dead in August 2017 and drove 745,000 others out of Rakhine state. They have lived in sprawling displacement camps in southeastern Bangladesh for nearly four years.

Aung San Suu Kyis government denied that the military had committed any wrongdoing and she defended its actions during a hearing at the International Court of Justice in December 2019, despite a U.N. investigation finding the previous year that the crackdown was carried out with genocidal intent.

Students issue apology

The comments by the two parallel government officials came as security forces continue brutal crackdowns on anti-junta protests nationwide in the wake of the coup, giving many majority Bamars, two-thirds of the population, a taste of the same violence and rights violations the Rohingya and others have suffered.

The multiethnic nation of 54 million people in a territory slightly larger than France has been riven with ethnic wars for the seven decades since it won independence from colonial ruler Britain in 1948. Some of the ethnic armies have joined hands with the anti-coup movement and given protesters safe haven.

Ethnic Rakhine people in Myanmars western-most state have also borne the brunt of military forces for more than two years amid clashes with the rebel Arakan Army (AA), which is fighting for greater determination for the Rakhines.

Officials and ordinary citizens alike have indicated that their views of the Rohingya changed after the coup, and some have apologized for doubting the horrific violence the Muslims experienced during the militarys clearance operations in 2017 and the targeting of ethnic Rakhines during the army's counteroffensive against the AA in 2019 and 2020.

Hundreds of ethnic Rakhines were killed in the counteroffensive, and more than 200,000 were displaced by the fighting and by attacks on their villages.

Student activists in Yangons Thanlyin township issued a public apology to the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhines in four languages on March 27.

We are standing by the Rakhine people, Rohingya, Muslims, against any injustice [towards] them starting from today, said the letter by the Thanlyin Technological University Students Union.

We sincerely apologize for our ignorance and silence in the past, it said.

Dr. Phio Thiha, a well-known medical doctor-turned-writer with 550,000 Facebook followers, wrote a social media post in February apologizing to the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhines for not sympathizing with their struggle and for believing the militarys propaganda against them.

I am ashamed now, he wrote. Those people were suffering from helplessness, hopelessness, bullies, and violence for many years just like we are experiencing right now. They are not as strong as we are. They did not have cell phones like us to record the abuses. Like us, they were not allowed to communicate with the world.

The same day, another writer, Moe Shinn IMT, who has 1.6 million followers on Facebook, wrote a similar mea culpa to the Rohingya and the Rakhines.

I do not expect forgiveness, but I apologize, he wrote in a social media post. I apologize for not speaking out on ethnic issues and Rohingya issues in the past. I do not know what the future holds, so I apologize for the moment for that I was ignorant about those issues.

Anti-junta protesters hold signs calling for the arrest of Myanmar military chief and regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during a demonstration Dawei, capital of southern Myanmar's Tanintharyi region, April 23, 2021. Credit: AFP/Dawei Watch





We had been in the dark

Such attitudes are a volte-face from the outright distain that most Myanmar citizens used to have for the Rohingya.

Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said that when the military attacked the Rohingya, most people in other parts of the country were skeptical about their accounts of the brutality recorded by rights groups.

When there was this genocide against the Rohingya, many people in the country thought it could not be true, he said. People had believed the lies of the military.

Tun Khin, who was in Bangladesh as the Rohingya escaped Myanmar during the 2017 crackdown, said that every day he saw thousands of people with gunshot wounds, missing limbs, and serious burns crossing the border.

Now people in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay are facing the same atrocities [at the hands] of the military like the Rohingya did in 2017, he said. We also feel sorry for them.

A Yangon resident said it was only after witnessing atrocities in large cities following the military coup that people there realized they had misunderstood the Rohingya crisis.

These Rohingya were said to have set fire to their own homes and cried bitterly when U.N. officials came to see them, she said. That was what we learned from the government. We were skeptical about reports of persecution of the Rohingya and other ethnic nationalities by the military.

Following the Feb. 1 coup, we saw the brutality and violence in our streets which we thought could not happen, and only then did we realize that we had been in the dark when other ethnic people were suffering at the hands of the military, she said.

Social media posts by Myanmar netizens about the Rohingya, usually littered with hate speech, now contain words of compassion.

Very bitter experiences

As for the ethnic Rakhines, Nyo Aye, chairwoman of the Rakhine Womens Network, said it was not yet known if any of those abducted or tortured by the military in recent years were still alive.

We have very bitter experiences from this suffering, she said, recalling a viral video of male villagers detained by Myanmar forces being beaten and kicked by military men dressed in plainclothes as they traveled on a navy boat.

As many as 314 civilians were killed and 719 were injured in the fighting in northern Rakhine state and in next-door Paletwa township of Chin state from Dec. 2018 to this April, according to an RFA tally.

A university student who declined to give his name said that he had heard about the militarys alleged human rights abuses in ethnic areas, but only now has he become more sympathetic.

When internet service was shut down in Rakhine state, we understood that it was shut down to cut ties with the AA, he said. Wed thought it wasnt a big deal because there has been a shutdown in Rakhine for a long time now.

But now that we are facing the same situation, we understand their anguish, he said.

Min Ko Naing, a Myanmar democracy activist and former 88 Generation Students Group leader, called the junta bloodthirsty and said that the countrys ethnic groups now were more united because of the coup.

The junta is still threatening, still sowing dissent, still killing innocents, but we are still united, he said in a statement on Apr. 16.

We in the cities are experiencing the same brutality and wickedness of the military like our brethren in ethnic areas, he said. We have gradually come to understand each other more and more and feel more sympathy for one another.

Reported by July Myo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
TORONTO, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - This story is personal to us and to the many Torontonians and Canadians who have joined us for the past 15 years since we founded Pencils for Kids, a charity made up entirely of volunteers, dedicated to helping with education in Niger.

When Pencils for Kids began in 2006, after hearing that 30 children were sharing one pencil in a classroom, we focused our energy on education for children. Niger is the poorest country in the world, ranking dead last on the UN Development index. During this time we initiated 14 kindergartens in Libore, a commune comprised of many villages. Only one of these kindergartens was built out of cement, as the cost of building with cement is extremely high. The other kindergartens have metal frameworks, but the top and sides are covered in straw, as this is the least expensive way to build a kindergarten facility. It is not ideal, but it also afforded an education to thousands of children 3 to 5 years of age.

On Wednesday, April 14th, our national media reported that tragedy had struck. In the capital Niamey, at a kindergarten built entirely of straw, 20 small children, ages 3-5, died when a fire started and the structure burned in minutes. They were unable to escape. As was written in one newspaper: "Wiping away tears with her veil, the school's director Habiba Gaya said all of Niger was in 'total mourning'. The little children, innocents, were really burned alive in this fire," she told AFP news agency, explaining that while older children were able to make it out, those aged five and under were not: "They were little so they weren't able to run."

In the wake of this tragedy, Pencils for Kids has undertaken to re-build each of our 13 kindergartens, converting them from metal and straw to cement structures. This is a huge undertaking, as each kindergarten will cost approximately $20,000 in Canadian funds, for a total of $260,000 to rebuild all 13 of them. But it will be a signal to the people of Niger that we care, that they are not forgotten and that the lives of their smallest citizens matter. "The global pandemic has taught us a lot about inequity in our own country and around the world," said Robin Mednick, President of Pencils for Kids. "It's a small step toward social justice to create a safer learning environment for these precious young children."

We are looking to raise Canadians' awareness of this terrible tragedy that has caused the country of Niger to go into mourning. "We are a tiny group but we will do whatever we can to help, and show our solidarity with the incredible people of Niger, who have so little and have lost so much." said Mednick. "We are reaching out to Canadians, asking for their help with this project."

Please also feel free to share this with anyone whom you feel may take an interest in this story. It would be most appreciated.

Pencils for Kids (P4K) is a Canadian charity run solely by volunteers, providing education, training, and income-generating opportunities to communities in Niger, West Africa. In addition to brick and mortar projects to build school facilities, our other major programmes include Scholarships for Girls, Sewing Programme, and Farmers of the Future. Charitable Number: 85271 5994 RR0001

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SOURCE Pencils for Kids

For further information: If you would like more information, please contact Robin Mednick at (416) 399-4351 or email [email protected]

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Posted Thursday, April 22, 2021 6:54 am

The state House of Representatives passed a capital gains tax bill Wednesday, April 21, the closest the Democrats' proposal has come to final passage since it was first introduced at least six years ago, but it could still face challenges in the Senate.

The bill passed 52-46 after a nearly five-hour debate late Tuesday, April 20 and a two-hour debate Wednesday, April 21. Five Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it. It now heads back to the Senate.

The most current version of the proposal would impose a 7 percent tax on the sale of long-term assets, such as stocks, bonds, personal property and businesses, if the profits exceed $250,000 annually. Some exceptions include the sale of a home, commercial real estate and retirement accounts and livestock. The sale of a family-owned small business, owned for at least five years, that makes less than $10 million a year also would be exempt.

Rep. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, said the bill is the key to tax reform in the state, which she and supporters say is one of the most regressive in the country, where lower-income residents pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than high-income residents.

"We must rebalance the tax code for Washington's working people," Frame said on the floor Wednesday.

Democrats and Gov. Jay Inslee have called for a capital gains tax for years but could never get it through both chambers, facing stiff opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats. This is the furthest the bill has ever made it.

Opponents have long argued it is an unconstitutional income tax that will almost certainly be challenged in court. Supporters have said they believe it will hold up in court, but it could push off implementation of the bill.

The state constitution prohibits a graduated tax on income. The Supreme Court has struck it down before, even after voters agreed to one during the Great Depression in 1932.

If a capital gains tax is signed and holds up in court, opponents also say it would open the door for implementing a statewide income tax, which has been shot down by voters 10 times.

Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor, said if the bill passes, he's worried it would be expanded to include more people .

Opponents also call the tax a particularly volatile one that is difficult to rely on for longterm funding. Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, called it "the most volatile tax that any state anywhere collects."

One of the biggest changes the House made to the bill is adding a line to make the tax "necessary for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions," which could prevent voters from bringing a referendum on the bill to the ballot.

Any revenue that goes toward funding fundamental governmental operations, in this case child care and education, is exempt from a referendum, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, told reporters Tuesday. The language is in the bill to signal to the secretary of state that this tax is necessary for government and, therefore, possibly exempt from a referendum.

It's unclear how the Senate will feel about that additional language, but Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane, told reporters Wednesday the funds from the tax are "absolutely necessary" to pay for advancements in child care.

A previous version of the bill had an emergency clause, which would've put the tax into effect immediately and taken away the ability for voters to bring a referendum on it. Opponents say the new language that makes it "necessary for the support of the state government" has the same effect as an emergency clause.

Republicans argued that voters should have a say in whether the tax is enacted. If the governor signs the bill, the tax would go into effect 90 days after session, but the state wouldn't get revenue from it until 2023.

Because of the delayed implementation, Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, said voters should have a say in the tax.

"It is not an emergency," he said. "It doesn't need to go into effect immediately because the money doesn't come in for two years."

Republicans introduced multiple amendments to remove that line, but all of them failed.

The fiscal analysis of the bill indicates about 7,000 taxpayers would have to pay the tax, likely less than 1 percent of taxpayers. It would bring in about $550 million for the state a year. Most would be deposited into an account that pays for education, child care and early learning. Democrats have said the money will go to fund child care.

House and the Senate Democrats have written the capital gains tax into their proposed budgets. A final budget negotiated among House and Senate Democrats is set to be released later this week.

Republicans have said there is no need for additional taxes when there is so much federal COVID-19 stimulus money coming into the state.

Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, said the state has "never been in a better financial position."

The bill now heads back to the Senate for final concurrence on amendments added by the House. The capital gains tax, along with the final two-year budget, and a handful of other big proposals, need to pass the Legislature by the end of the session, scheduled for Sunday.
The long-awaited moment in Connecticuts vaccine rollout has arrived.

At a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in New Canaan Wednesday, only 200 of the 600 doses on hand were used.

At the four mass vaccination sites run by Community Health Center Inc. in Danbury, Stamford, Middletown and East Hartford, only 72 percent of slots for next Wednesday were taken as of Thursday afternoon  down from a nearly instant, total demand until recently.

When there were leftover doses at a recent vaccine clinic at a downtown Middletown restaurant, acting health director Kevin Elak went door-to-door to businesses looking for arms to inject.

These are all signs that Connecticut now has more doses than people willing to roll up their sleeves. The people heading vaccination programs say theres not any one driver behind the lag in demand and the slowdown is not concentrated in any one place.

The turnaround that state officials predicted weeks ago  when it was hard to imagine as so many people clamored for a vaccine  has happened on schedule, with 60 percent of Connecticut residents 16 and older having received at least one shot.

Supply is more than demand in many places, Gov. Ned Lamont said at his coronavirus briefing Thursday. You can often go right online and get an appointment. Were finding that many of our mobile vaccination vans that are out there, maybe they can do 140 doses in a day, maybe theyre doing 15 doses in a day.

Half of all Connecticut residents, including children, have at least one dose toward a vaccination. Thats a milestone, for sure, but also a sign that the real work is just beginning as the rush on appointments slows, and as the state pulls out more stops to reach those who have yet to be vaccinated.

The number of people 16 and older who the state has yet to reach with any dose of the vaccine stood at 1,166,258 on Thursday  most of whom would need the inoculations for the state to reach so-called herd immunity. It was unclear how many of those have signed up for appointments.

Our focus going forward has to be more outbound: the mobile units, the door-to-door campaigns, bringing the vaccine directly to people, breaking down any remaining barriers, questions, concerns they have to get those vaccination rates up as high as possible in the coming weeks, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer.

The state has relied on mobile vaccine vans, which dont require appointments, and trusted members of the community going door-to-door, to convince hard-to-reach populations  chiefly urban Black and Hispanic residents  and those who are reluctant to get vaccinated.

But the state is now turning to a different approach, with the help of private industry.

Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of Connecticut Business & Industry Association, the states largest business group, said member companies are offering incentives to their employees such as gift cards, bonuses, and paid time off if they get vaccinated.

One company is planning to host a paid lunch for employees if it reaches an 80 percent vaccination rate across its workforce, DiPentima said. If it reaches 100 percent, the company will give all employees a day off from work.

Many providers say they are shifting their strategy from large vaccination sites where people have to sign up for an appointment to more walk-up opportunities to meet people where they are. Middletown is working with housing complexes to set up vaccine clinics in their parking lots or lobbies, for example, said Elak, the citys acting health director .

Were trying to make it as barrier free as possible, he said.

The United States as a whole has seen the average daily number of shots decline by 11 percent in the last week, The Washington Post reported Thursday, and many places are turning down their full federal allocations of doses. Some Connecticut providers have reduced their requests to the state but the state has not turned back any federal allotments, Lamont and Geballe said, as outreach efforts intensify.

The reduced requests from providers means the state is able to allot doses to companies such as submarine builder Electric Boat, which requested supply to use at a vaccine clinic its hosting for employees next week.

Most weeks up until this point were significantly oversubscribed in terms of requests coming in from providers versus what we were able to fulfill, Geballe said, so thats giving us the ability to now fully fulfill every request out there.

Data released by the state Thursday showed that about 40 percent of people ages 16 to 35 have received vaccines after three weeks of eligibility  well under that for the youngest of them  and that those groups saw smaller increases in the last seven days than older groups had seen in their third weeks of eligibility. Thats a sign that age is a factor in the slowdown.

Dave Roche, president of the Connecticut State Building and Construction Trades Council and general vice president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said hed work with the state to offer vaccine clinics at union meetings, union halls, training centers, and job sites.

To sweeten the deal, Roche, a self-proclaimed grill master, told the governor, hell bring the hamburgers and hot dogs.

Data reported by the state Thursday showed the daily test positive rate was 1.78 percent, and that both hospitalizations and coronavirus-linked deaths increased since Wednesday. The state reported eight additional hospitalizations for a total of 515  far below the peak a year ago of 1,972  and 12 net deaths for a total of 8,039.

To be clear, the state is still vaccinating large numbers of residents, more than 40,000 people on Wednesday alone.

Theres a little more slack in the system, no question about it this week compared to last week, but Id like to think we still have pretty good momentum, Lamont said.

Still, while the state isnt planning to lower its request for vaccine doses from the federal government, some providers are feeling the slack.

Theres no question. The numbers are off, said Mark Masselli, founder and CEO at Community Health Center Inc., which is based in Middletown and administers vaccines at the four mass vaccination sites, four mobile units and several of its clinics around the state.

While CHC is still administering about 8,000 shots a day, people are not snatching up appointments as quickly. Were getting to that point where were running into some hesitancy, Masselli said. This is a natural curve.

Masselli said some of the slackened demand is that were down to people who are not opposed to the vaccine, nor fearful, but for them its not a priority. Theyve been following the news, saw that slots were unavailable so they waited. Now they see that slots are available and their attitude is, Let me just figure out my schedule.

Jennifer Vazquez, director of special programs and advocacy at Fair Haven Health in New Haven, said people now have many more options for where they can get vaccinated. The easing of restrictions has led some to feel a false sense of security, she said, and less of an urgency to get vaccinated.

As we see more business, schools, etc., opening up as restrictions ease, the importance of getting vaccinated is getting pushed to back burner, she said.

julia.bergman@

hearstmediact.com
A hero woman jumped into the River Thames to try and save a 13-year-old boy after hearing screams when he fell from Tower Bridge on his way to school, according to witnesses.

The pupil was wearing his full uniform when he got off a bus as he made his way to The Ark Globe Academy in Southwark, London, on Tuesday at around 8am.

He and a friend had boarded the bus together but the youngster got off near Tower Bridge - ahead of his usual stop in Elephant and Castle - before falling into the river, the school's principal said in a letter to parents.

Witnesses described hearing screams before one woman jumped into the water to try and save the boy.

Despite using a life-float to swim into the Thames, she was only able to recover his school jacket and school bag.

City of London Police confirmed officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found.

The boy is thought to have celebrated his 13th birthday only last week.

It is believed that a handwritten note was found at the scene.

Police have launched a search for a 13-year-old boy who went missing after falling into the River Thames from Tower Bridge on his way to school (emergency services at the scene)

River police, firefighters, the RNLI (pictured) and a police helicopter were also involved in the search for the youngster

Emergency services (pictured on the River Thames) including the river police, firefighters, the RNLI and a police helicopter were all involved in the search

A map shows the distance between his school, Ark Globe Academy, and where he is feared to have fallen into the river

One witness, who was working on a building site on the South Bank, told The Sun: 'We all heard him screaming for help, and then a woman who was just walking past with her boyfriend grabbed a float and jumped into the river.

'She said "why isn't anybody helping him" before jumping in herself.

'The woman jumped in seconds after but all she could bring back was his school jacket and his bag.

'I saw police going through the bag and it had his school books and stationary in it, he was clearly very young.'

The teenager had been wearing his full uniform as he made his way to The Ark Globe Academy in Southwark, London, on Tuesday at around 8am when he fell from the bridge (emergency services at the scene)

City of London Police (pictured at the scene) confirmed officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found

The 13-year-old boy, who is believed to have celebrated his birthday only last week, is missing after falling into the River Thames from Tower Bridge on his way to school

The search for the teenage boy has so far involved helicopter and marine searches (emergency services at the scene)

In the letter, seen by MailOnline, the headteacher at the boy's school, Principal Matt Jones, said: 'It is with worry that I share news about [pupil's name], a Year 8 student at Ark Globe Academy.

'On the morning of Tuesday 20 April, [he] did not make his way into school despite travelling on a bus with a friend in full school uniform.

'He got off the bus near Tower Bridge before his usual bus stop nearest to Ark Globe Academy and fell into the River Thames.

'At this moment in time, police are treating this case as a "missing persons' incident".

City of London Police (pictured at the scene) are currently treating it as a "missing persons' incident"

Witnesses described hearing screams before one woman jumped into the water to try and save the boy (search teams at the scene)

Witnesses described hearing screams before one woman jumped into the water to try and save the boy. Despite using a life-float (pictured) to swim into the Thames, she was only able to recover his school jacket and school bag

The teenager and a friend had boarded a bus together but the youngster got off near Tower Bridge (emergency services at the scene) before falling into the river, the school's principal said in a letter to parents

'This is obviously distressing news for [the pupil's] family, friends and the wider Ark Globe community.

'Our hopes and prayers are with the family at this very difficult time.'

The principal acknowledged that the past year has been 'very difficult' for everyone and urged parents to contact the school or NSPCC, the UK's top children's charity, if they needed help.

A spokeswoman for City of London Police told MailOnline: 'City of London Police is leading an investigation into a missing person, working alongside our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Service.

Police confirmed officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found (emergency services at the scene)

The 13-year-old boy went missing after falling into the River Thames from Tower Bridge (police at the scene) as he was on his way to school, his headteacher said

The pupil was wearing his full uniform when he got off a bus as he made his way to The Ark Globe Academy in Southwark, London, on Tuesday at around 8am (search teams on the River Thames)

Officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found (teams at the scene)

'We believe this is linked to an incident where a child fell into the Thames from Tower Bridge.

'Despite an intensive search by City of London Police, the police helicopter and marine units, this person has not yet been found.

'We ask anyone who witnessed anything on Tuesday 20 April at 8.09am, to call us on 020 7601 2999, quoting reference 21000215310.'

MailOnline has also contacted The Ark Globe Academy for further comment.
The latest step in the Dakota Access Pipelines years-long saga saw on Friday a U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. deny DAPLs petition for a rehearing that would have ended the pipelines troublesome legal issues.

Energy Transfer Partners LP, the owner of the pipeline project, has struggled for years against Native American tribes resulting in protests, violence during construction, fierce legal battles, and court-directed shutdown orders. Uncertainty surrounding the pipeline even delayed a Bakken crude oil production ramp-up last summer as companies were nervous about investing in additional production crude that may not find transportation out of the basin.

Prior to Fridays defeat, the pipeline dodged its latest bullet earlier in April when government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Brian Boasberg that they would not order the pipeline to shut down while DAPL undergoes an environmental reviewa process that could take as long as a year.

But just because it was not ordered to shut in early April did not mean its troubles were over. The pipeline sought a hearing to quash the environmental review altogether, but on Friday, the D.C. appeals court denied its request for a hearing on the matter. The environmental review will therefore proceed.

This means that technically, Energy Transfer Partners pipeline is still trespassing on federal lands at the part where the pipeline goes underneath Lake Oahea source of consternation for the Native American tribes that are situated near the Missouri River reservoir.

It has been estimated that pulling the plug on DAPLs 570,000 bpd of capacity could add another $5 per barrel to the cost of shipping North Dakota crude, making it nearly impossible for North Dakota to compete with other oil-producing regions in the United States, according to the Western Dakota Energy Association.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Under the guise of snap inspections'' and military drills, Russia has been amassing troops in Crimea and on the Ukrainian border, sparking fears of a Russian invasion and direct confrontation with the U.S. On Thursday, orders were given to start withdrawing troops, indicating that an escalation has been avoided--for the time being. Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are constant, and founded; however, determining the probability is likely best achieved by monitoring Zelenskys next move in Donbass.

What changes things is the fact that the comedian-turned-president has been emboldened by Washington to make his own moves (to a certain extent), without being dictated by oligarchs. This makes Zelensky slightly more unpredictable. If Kyiv launches an offensive against the Russians in Donbass, Putin will move in, very decisively. But for now, there are no indications that an offensive on Donbass is being considered.

Outside of that, the situation for Putin in Ukraine remains relatively unchanged, and the recent amassing of troops was likely a testing ground for the response of a new US administration. They got their answer: No new threat, for now. Its also a message to Zelenksy to tread carefully in general.

In fact, Biden is narrowing in on corruption in Ukraine, even sanctioning oligarch Igor Kolomoisky--an important figure who financed paramilitaries to take on the Russians in Crimea. Bidens sentiment is that
REDDING, Calif. - Shasta County has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state and Public Health said its seeing fewer people interested in getting the vaccine or people are still unsure whether they should get it.

The agency said only 30% of eligible people in the county are vaccinated.

Lynnda Clark and Michael McKinney of Anderson. both got their COVID-19 shots and dont understand why more people havent.

I think it's very scary, [COVID-19] is very real, said Clark.

The low number of vaccinations is a concern for health leaders. Especially with four COVID-19 variants already identified in the county.

RELATED: South African variant identified in 6 COVID-19 cases in Shasta County

But on Thursday morning, Congressman Doug LaMalfa made switched his profile picture. The picture depicted a green frame that said I dont care if youve had your vaccine.

Action News Now asked Clark and McKinney what they thought about the picture.

He represents us, his personal opinions come second, said Clark.

But others said it's his personal page and he can post what he wants there.

It's his opinion and you're not going to change it, said Roy Cole from Sebastopol. If that's what he thinks, that's what he thinks. We all have our opinions.

Shasta Health & Human Services Agency public information officer Kerri Schuette declined to comment about the Congressmans profile picture. But hopes that people continue to listen to scientists and their health care providers.

Action News Now reached out to LaMalfas office the picture and are waiting to hear back.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It appears that Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, kept to his word and kept politics out of the coronavirus vaccine rollout.

While the vaccination program has been marred by some logistical problems, a cleveland.com/Plain Dealer analysis of the first two months of widespread distribution of the vaccine showed no indication that DeWine played favorites with counties more likely to support him in his upcoming re-election bid.

Vaccine doses were like gold at the beginning of the rollout. Gold that could have been used to curry political favor by making them more accessible to supporters. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has been accused of just that, hosting pop-up vaccine sites in wealthy, GOP-dominated areas where his supporters reside.

However, if politics were at play, it didnt show up in the states program to distribute vaccines after the initial phase of targeting health care workers and nursing homes. Cleveland.com reviewed records for the states distribution of just over 1.7 million first-dose vaccines from mid-January through mid-March. These didnt include other doses provided to school workers and administered at mass vaccination centers, such as the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.

* 47.3% of these doses were sent to the nine Ohio counties DeWine lost in the 2018 election, counties that account for just 41.7% of Ohios 65 and older population, and 44.1% of those age 16 and up (the minimum age eligible to receive vaccines.)

* More doses (52.7%) did go to the 79 counties DeWine won, but these counties account for 58.3% of Ohios population age 65 and up, and 55.9% of those who are at least 16 years old.

And even in Cuyahoga County, the most Democratic county in the state based on recent gubernatorial and presidential elections, more vaccines were delivered to be made available to the public than would be the case than if DeWine simply used population as the only criteria.

* Cuyahoga County pharmacies, hospitals and other outlets received 12.2% of the doses from this program, yet the county has just 10.9% of the states 16-and-older population, and 11.4% of the Ohioans age 65 and up.

This is in addition to the large numbers of doses Cuyahoga County medical facilities received in earlier phases of the program, offering part of the explanation of why Cuyahoga County vaccination rates overall are running higher than the statewide average.

Gov. Mike DeWine distributed 80% of the vaccines to counties based on age-eligible populations, and 20% based on potential need as identified by the Centers of Disease Control vulnerability index. This index takes into account poverty, housing situations and several other factors that may affect health.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

How the state process worked

DeWine scaled distribution of vaccines based on an ever-increasing list of criteria, primarily age.

The first month of the vaccination program, Phase 1A, was reserved for health care workers, emergency medical service first responders and people living in congregate settings such as nursing homes and mental health facilities.

Phase 1B, which began Jan. 19, opened up the vaccine for wider availability, starting with Ohioans aged 80 and older. The next week, DeWine expanded eligibility to people 75 and older as well as people with certain medical conditions and developmental disabilities. Thereafter, eligibility was expanded weekly -- with some slight variation -- lowering the age threshold by five years each week and adding more medical conditions.

By March 19 -- the last week of data analyzed by cleveland.com -- all Ohioans aged 40 and older were eligible for the vaccine. DeWine eventually opened up eligibility to all Ohioans aged 16 and older March 29.

The state used two factors to determine how much to send to providers in counties on a weekly basis. Eighty percent of the doses were based on the share of the eligible population in a county compared to the state as a whole. For instance, if a county had 10% of the states eligible population in a week, providers in that county would receive 10% of the weekly allotment.

DeWine opted to distribute the other 20% based on how vulnerable a population was. That strategy was implemented to ensure that poorer and minority communities -- who have been harder hit by the coronavirus and typically have less access to health care -- werent left out of the strategy to get all Ohioans vaccinated, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said.

To figure this, the state used the social vulnerability index, a figure tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that measures 15 factors such as population density, poverty and access to health care, meant to quantify how vulnerable a population is to both man-made and natural disasters as well as assist agencies in their response.

The SVI is calculated at the census tract level, though the state used county-level data to determine how much of the 20% to distribute to each county, with counties with a higher index receiving more from that pool of doses. The state did use census-level data in choosing which providers would receive these vaccines, Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman Alicia Shoults said.

Politics at play?

DeWine has received criticism for the rollout of the vaccination program. Signing up has not been easy for many and eligibility was expanded while people in prior groups were still trying to find one, leaving many puzzled about why DeWine was adding to the pool. At the same time, reports rolled in of people being unable to find a vaccine in more heavily populated counties -- which also trend more Democratic -- while smaller counties -- which are more Republican -- had surpluses to the point they opened up vaccination sites early to anyone who wanted a dose.

DeWine has said multiple times the ultimate goals for the vaccine rollout were to protect those most vulnerable to the coronavirus and to get as many people in the state vaccinated as quickly as possible.

While there may be disagreements about the logistics of the vaccine program, the data did not support the notion that DeWine played political games with the vaccine.

Cleveland.com examined multiple figures as they related to vaccine distribution and DeWines 2018 victory over former federal consumer watchdog Richard Cordray, a Democrat. DeWine won 79 counties in the race, a 3.7 percentage point, 165,000-vote margin.

There were significantly higher rates for dosage distribution in some counties where DeWine had wide support in 2018, led by Vinton County (311 doses distributed per 1,000 people age 16 and up), Gallia (304) and Noble (301). But these are small places where poverty runs high. Together, they amounted to just 14,140 of the 1.7 million first doses distributed this way.

Small counties did receive one technical benefit caused by the supply chain of the vaccines. Generally, the minimum amount of vaccines that can be distributed to a provider in a single week is 100, Shoults said. In some cases, small counties received more than they should have been allotted at 100 rather than not receiving any at all. This had a negligible effect on the weekly figures.

But overall, among the nine counties where DeWine lost the 2018 election, eight ranked in the top half for vaccination distribution as part of this program. This includes Cuyahoga at 25th statewide based on doses received per 1,000 people age 16 and up, and 23rd for doses per 1,000 people age 65 and up.

The only county in the bottom half for vaccine distribution that DeWine lost was Trumbull, though Republican President Donald Trump did win there in 2020.

County First-dose

vaccines

shipped Vaccines

per 1,000

age 16 up Vaccines

per 1,000

age 65 up DeWine

vote

2018 Trump

vote

2020 Adams 4,660 214 960 72.0% 81.3% Allen 17,890 218 1,008 67.3% 69.0% Ashland 6,560 153 668 68.6% 73.5% Ashtabula 16,720 212 922 53.3% 60.9% Athens 12,195 212 1,473 33.4% 41.7% Auglaize 6,100 169 745 77.8% 80.7% Belmont 10,600 187 766 62.7% 71.2% Brown 5,200 149 658 71.8% 78.1% Butler 46,330 154 848 61.1% 61.3% Carroll 3,920 175 689 65.7% 75.6% Champaign 5,300 169 754 67.5% 73.0% Clark 24,725 229 965 58.1% 60.8% Clermont 19,990 123 622 66.8% 67.5% Clinton 6,360 191 915 72.3% 75.5% Columbiana 20,360 241 995 64.1% 71.7% Coshocton 6,120 212 881 65.2% 73.6% Crawford 6,860 204 804 67.5% 74.6% Cuyahoga 208,690 205 943 31.1% 32.4% Darke 7,300 180 740 77.1% 81.1% Defiance 6,100 200 878 63.3% 67.3% Delaware 22,630 148 854 56.4% 52.6% Erie 10,220 166 642 48.1% 54.9% Fairfield 15,350 126 646 59.3% 61.0% Fayette 5,200 230 1,049 69.7% 75.1% Franklin 192,700 189 1,273 34.1% 33.5% Fulton 6,380 190 874 64.2% 69.1% Gallia 7,280 304 1,308 70.1% 77.1% Geauga 10,260 137 552 59.8% 60.9% Greene 19,840 145 711 61.2% 58.7% Guernsey 7,100 226 953 65.2% 73.5% Hamilton 132,245 205 1,080 43.6% 41.3% Hancock 9,570 157 758 67.2% 67.9% Hardin 4,320 172 882 67.0% 75.1% Harrison 2,400 192 753 66.1% 75.7% Henry 3,840 178 784 67.6% 71.0% Highland 5,800 170 751 73.1% 79.7% Hocking 6,000 262 1,140 60.2% 70.4% Holmes 4,620 146 789 79.2% 83.4% Huron 10,655 233 1,093 60.9% 69.7% Jackson 5,000 196 918 67.7% 76.4% Jefferson 10,710 195 768 60.5% 68.4% Knox 7,960 162 730 65.2% 71.2% Lake 27,640 146 617 53.4% 56.1% Lawrence 5,475 113 494 65.7% 72.2% Licking 21,090 153 753 60.6% 63.2% Logan 5,820 161 732 71.7% 76.9% Lorain 45,065 182 824 45.6% 50.5% Lucas 70,235 205 1,029 37.4% 40.8% Madison 6,500 180 968 65.5% 69.7% Mahoning 41,690 220 888 42.6% 50.4% Marion 9,520 180 845 61.3% 68.4% Medina 25,365 178 823 57.9% 61.0% Meigs 4,200 225 944 68.4% 75.9% Mercer 5,780 183 817 79.0% 81.9% Miami 12,010 143 621 69.4% 71.4% Monroe 1,400 123 432 62.7% 76.4% Montgomery 86,630 203 924 48.5% 48.1% Morgan 3,300 276 1,087 64.6% 73.6% Morrow 4,680 167 806 69.1% 76.3% Muskingum 15,855 230 1,054 63.9% 68.9% Noble 3,600 301 936 67.9% 81.0% Ottawa 6,500 191 655 54.1% 60.9% Paulding 3,020 203 885 68.3% 74.8% Perry 4,740 166 811 64.0% 74.1% Pickaway 10,960 234 1,224 66.2% 72.8% Pike 5,580 252 1,135 60.5% 73.8% Portage 16,070 118 622 48.7% 55.5% Preble 4,300 130 559 72.0% 78.1% Putnam 4,340 165 758 79.8% 82.4% Richland 17,950 183 773 63.5% 69.1% Ross 13,700 220 1,106 59.7% 66.9% Sandusky 8,800 186 808 56.0% 62.8% Scioto 13,550 221 1,002 60.8% 70.5% Seneca 6,700 150 693 61.4% 66.2% Shelby 6,200 163 795 74.9% 80.9% Stark 53,905 179 762 53.7% 58.5% Summit 79,395 180 839 41.6% 44.5% Trumbull 29,755 181 706 45.7% 54.6% Tuscarawas 12,580 171 709 60.1% 69.2% Union 5,220 117 768 64.9% 64.8% Vanwert 2,800 125 535 75.7% 77.8% Vinton 3,260 311 1,465 63.1% 76.8% Warren 20,130 113 628 66.5% 64.6% Washington 10,800 216 873 66.3% 69.6% Wayne 12,680 139 631 63.1% 67.7% Williams 6,300 214 927 69.5% 72.1% Wood 15,105 141 783 50.3% 52.9% Wyandot 3,460 196 838 68.2% 74.3% Statewide 1,715,717 183 884 50.4% 53.3%

Why the rapid expansion?

During the first months of the vaccine rollout, DeWine opted against shifting supply to different locations based on demand within eligible groups, a decision that left many people, especially the elderly, perplexed at why others were given the opportunity to get the vaccine before expansion.

That feeling was often compounded by anger at the lack of any centralized system to sign up, leaving people on their own to check multiple websites in hopes of finding an opening. The state eventually implemented a slightly more centralized system, though one that mostly serves as a repository for individual providers websites.

We certainly do understand the frustration that occurred, Tierney said. We had periods of time earlier this year where there was more demand than supply. A lot of the frustration may have manifested itself in different ways.

The decision to expand rather than redistribute was deliberate, Tierney said. The ultimate goal is to get as many people in Ohio vaccinated as possible. The quicker the public is vaccinated, the safer it is for the state to reopen.

We need to vaccinate all areas of Ohio and let every area of Ohio get a vaccine if they want one, Tierney said. Part of making sure that we got the vaccine out efficiently was to make sure the providers had as many people who wanted to take the vaccine as possible. When demand was slackening before we hit all Ohioans 16 and over, we made moves to add additional eligibility before we moved vaccine around the state. Even if there was a vaccine slackening in a certain area, we still need to get the vaccine in that area.

DeWine and state health officials felt the best way to accomplish that goal was to continue opening eligibility, Tierney said. Had they instead redistributed based on demand within eligible groups, it would have slowed vaccination efforts in other counties, which could have slowed down the states efforts entirely, he added.

The alternative is you have to move it back into an area and its a more complex way to do it, he said. Wed just rather open up in that area and when weve opened up fully, if we notice a slackening we can adjust accordingly. With extra vaccine, that gives us a chance to do some of the other programs.

The state also had a goal of making the vaccine available to as many people as close to their homes as possible, Tierney said. They also wanted to avoid some of the early foibles seen in other states such as seniors waiting in long lines in the elements at vaccine sites.

That led them to the conclusion that they should make the vaccine available in as many places as possible and take a demand-based approach on when to expand eligibility. While the sign-up process itself has been an ongoing concern for people seeking the vaccine, Tierney said the state also wanted to ensure that once people had an appointment, the process would move smoothly.

Part of that is doing it everywhere as opposed to driving to a few select sites, he said. We believe we have to make it easy for people to get the vaccine. Getting the vaccine close to where people live was an early decision for that.

He added that much of the early problems with demand were due to a shortage in vaccine supply. Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the two primary manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines used in Ohio, have increased output, which has alleviated some of the early strain, he said.

Opening the shots up to everyone gave the state more flexibility to strategically distribute doses both in terms of demand and to ward off any spikes in infections. That was part of the decision to vaccinate all college students in Ohio on campus, though that plan itself is under review after a pause in using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as federal authorities investigate a handful of cases involving rare serious side effects. Tierney said that most of the vaccine requests on campuses were filled before the pause, with the state able to adjust by using Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in some cases after the Johnson & Johnson pause.

DeWines approach also allowed the state to send more vaccines to Ohios northern border in an attempt to fend off the surge in cases in Michigan spilling over the border, Tierney said.

We tried our best to address these multiple issues as we were going through, knowing the solution to this many times was getting more supply into these areas, he said. We tried to do that with the manufacturing side, but we also had to balance that with he fairness of every Ohioan wanting an opportunity to get it close to where they live. Now that demand is lessening a little bit, we have some opportunities to address the demand side.
 Flash

Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) and Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac signed an agreement on Wednesday to manufacture Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in the North African country.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Health Minister Hala Zayed and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang, who later held talks together and lauded the two countries' cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Madbouly expressed gratitude to Liao for China's valuable support to Egypt in dealing with the coronavirus, saying the deal is "very important" as it gives Egypt the opportunity to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines locally.

The prime minister said he looks forward to the implementation of the agreement and the local production of Sinovac vaccine as soon as possible.

For his part, Liao stressed China's appreciation of its strategic partnership with Egypt as well as the distinguished relations between the leaders of both countries.

The signing of this agreement is a new milestone in China-Egypt's anti-epidemic cooperation, and it will play an important role in helping Egypt and the Middle East as well as Africa combat the epidemic, the ambassador noted.

Egypt started in late January vaccinating medical staff of governmental hospitals with a COVID-19 vaccine made by another leading Chinese drugmaker, Sinopharm, the first-approved vaccine by the Egyptian Drug Authority.

In early March, the most populous Arab country began to vaccinate elderly people and patients with chronic diseases against the highly infectious coronavirus.

So far, Egypt has reported 218,902 COVID-19 cases, including 12,866 deaths and 164,803 recoveries.
Forgive TKC, this might just be another example of political hypocrisy considering today's vitriol from progressives targeting a seemingly thoughtful objection to law enforcement overreaching. For the record, Alanis Morissette completely skewed my version of what qualifies as ironic.

From the Missouri politico . . .

As a former prosecutor, my view is its dangerous to simply give the federal government open-ended authority to define a whole new class of federal hate crime incidents, he said in a statement.

Like it or not, that's a thoughtful viewpoint that understands that political posturing does very little to protect people on the streets.

Still, here's a glimpse at what the Democratic Party rank & file contend . . .
The gold producer has again increased its 2021 financial year guidance to 50,000-55,000 ounces at a reduced AISC of A$1,400 to A$1,550 per ounce.

s ( ) (OTCMKTS:ALKN) (FRA:AK7) gold production for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, from its operations in Tomingley Gold Operations (TGO) in Central West New South Wales has come in above forecast at 16,040 ounces.

The company recorded gold sales of 15,844 ounces for revenue of A$34.9 million at an average price of A$2,203 per ounce.

It has again increased its financial year 2021 guidance to 50,000-55,000 ounces at a reduced all-in-sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1,400 to A$1,550 per ounce.

Operations

TGO continues to perform well and is processing underground stope material with recovery as expected.

The cutback in the northeast of the Caloma pit is on schedule and the underground portal from the base of the Caloma pit has now connected into the underground drive from Wyoming One.

Underground ore feed continues to be supplemented by low-grade stockpiles whenever capacity permits.

A total of 16,040 ounces of gold was poured for the quarter and the site cash costs for the quarter were A$803/ounce with an AISC of A$997/ounce.

Gold sold for the quarter was 15,844 ounces at an average sales price of A$2,203/ounce. Bullion stocks were 1,275 ounces with a fair value of A$2.9 million at quarter-end.

Site operating cash flow was A$22.3 million for the quarter and A$64.6 million for the financial year to date.

Global mineral resource

The global indicated and inferred mineral resource for the San Antonio Deposit to the south of the operations now stands at 7.3 million tonnes grading 1.72 g/t gold for 406,000 ounces.

This has resulted in an increase in the total global indicated and inferred mineral resource for the Tomingley Extension Project, which includes both the Roswell and San Antonio deposits. It now stands at:

Indicated 13.8 million tonnes grading 1.96 g/t gold for 871,000 ounces;

Inferred 3.6 million tonnes grading 1.69 g/t for 195,000 ounces; and

Total 17.4 million tonnes grading 1.90 g/t for 1.066 million ounces.

Tomingley Gold Extension Project

Alkane plans to develop the Roswell and San Antonio deposits, 3-5 kilometres south of TGO, as soon as possible and has started the approval process.

Consultations with regulators, landholders and other stakeholders, as well as on-ground assessments needed for the Environmental Impact Statement, continue.

Feasibility plans that include both open cut and underground mines at Roswell and San Antonio are being finalised and are expected to be announced in May.

Preparation of the feasibility plans has taken longer than anticipated, with delays due to the incorporation of updated geotechnical advice, updating minor road diversion plans and pricing post-consultation, finalising waste rock locations post-consultation, as well as timing considerations between the proposed underground and open-cut ore production.

Banking facilities

The company has a A$20 million working capital facility with Macquarie Bank, which remained undrawn at the end of the quarter.

At the end of the quarter, the company had A$7.2 million of borrowings relating to mobile equipment financing arrangements.

Gold forward sale contracts

During the quarter, the company delivered into gold forward sales contracts for 5,500 ounces.

On April 1, it entered into new gold forward sales contracts for 18,000 ounces for delivery in the December 2021, March 2022 and June 2022 quarters.

The average delivery price is A$2,230/ounce.

Put options and collars

The company holds put options with monthly expiry dates from April to September 2021 for 2,000 ounces per month at an exercise price of A$2,400/ounce.

During the March quarter, 6,000 ounces of these put options were exercised at A$2,400/ounce.

A zero-cost collar is also in place for 2,000 ounces covering the September and December 2021 quarters, with a put price of A$2,300/ounce and call price of A$2,910/ounce.

The company also holds 10,500 ounces of put options priced at A$1,800/ounce, with expiry dates in June 2021 and September 2021.

Kaiser

One diamond core hole, KSDD027, at Kaiser system, 1.5 kilometres northwest of the Boda porphyry discovery at Alkane's Northern Molong Porphyry Project north of TGO, intersected two zones of gold-copper porphyry mineralisation with grades and alteration similar to Boda and strong assay results of:

360 metres at 0.38 g/t gold and 0.15% copper from 0 metres (Duke Zone), including 7 metres at 0.90 g/t gold and 0.26% copper from 119 metres, 6 metres at 0.90 g/t gold and 0.29% copper from 204 metres, and 6 metres at 1.71 g/t gold and 0.24% copper from 332 metres;

442 metres at 0.17 g/t gold and 0.11% copper from 422 metres including 27 metres at 0.31 g/t gold and 0.13% copper from 492 metres, and 58 metres at 0.28 g/t gold and 0.16% copper from 735 metres.

Results from several drill holes are being finalised and will be released in the coming weeks.

Boda and Boda Two

Three drill holes were completed in the area between the southern extension of the Boda mineralisation shell and the northern extension of the Boda Two prospect, where the target host stratigraphy is rotated from northwest striking to north-south striking.

Pervasive alteration with extensive low-grade and narrower higher-grade gold-copper mineralisation was intersected by all three drill holes.

Significant molybdenum and copper mineralisation was intersected at depth from 841 metres, suggesting a zonation of metals around a deeper magmatic source to the system.

Drill program

As well as further drilling around Kaiser, Boda and Boda Two, future drilling will test other known gold-copper mineralisation occurrences and co-incident IP anomalies within the 15 kilometres monzonite intrusive corridor that extends from Boda to Finns Crossing.

There is also currently an 800 metres gap with very limited drilling between Boda and Kaiser, and follow-up drilling is being scheduled to test this very prospective corridor.

Laboratory turnaround times continue to be longer than anticipated with results from several drill holes being finalised and will be released in the coming weeks.
Gopeshwar: An avalanche occurred in an area close to the Niti valley near the Indo-China border in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday (April 23). Information was received about a part of a glacier collapsing beyond Sumna Chawki near Malari in the Niti valley, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials, who were on their way to the spot, said. No contact has so far been established with the area due to heavy snowfall, they added.

A BRO official confirmed the sliding down of a glacier in the area, where labourers are engaged in road construction work. A BRO team was rushed to the spot but there is no clue yet on the damage caused, he said. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat tweeted about the incident, saying an alert has been issued and he is in constant touch with the BRO and the district administration for updates. In another tweet, Rawat said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has taken immediate cognizance of the incident and assured the state of all help.

In February, a glacier burst killed nearly 80 people in Chamoli while many went missing.

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Infectious diseases expert Jaimie Meyer, MD, MS, says she has gotten questions from people about taking pre-emptive aspirin if they have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to prevent the blood clots. That is not recommended unless they are supposed to be taking aspirin for other conditions, she says. Credit: Anthony DeCarlo

In the minds of many, the halt of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April delivered doubt just as the mass COVID-19 vaccinations were making progress. There are three vaccines authorized for use in the United States, but Johnson & Johnson's was a particularly important one, partly because its one-shot dose made it seem as though we might achieve herd immunity faster. Then, the government recommended pausing the company's vaccine after six women who received it developed rare blood clotsand one woman died.

But six cases is a small number, considering that over 6.8 million Johnson & Johnson shots had been administered as of April 12.

Focusing on the word "pause" is key to understanding what's happening, because scientists need time to understand the risks and what they do or do not mean to people who get this shot. "Putting a pause on a new vaccine or medication is not unusual. Even after it has completed its clinical trials, a vaccine still must be monitored in the real world," says Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist Jaimie Meyer, MD, MS. "If there are serious adverse events, we need to stop, take a deep breath, collect and analyze the dataand really try to understand why this is happening. Then, we can decide whether we should proceed."

Transparency is also important, Dr. Meyer adds. "People should know that there are these events that have been observedeven if they are very rare eventsso they can make informed choices," she says.

We will know more about what those choices will be once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee concludes its investigation into the clots out of "an abundance of caution." They could decide to lift the halt or choose another strategy, such as releasing it with new recommendations on who should and who should not get the vaccine. It's a challenge, since at this point, there is not enough evidence yet to say whether the vaccine caused or is related to the blood clots.

What we know so far

Pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was a response to six cases of a rare type of blood clot developing in people who'd had the shot. The cases were reported in late March and early April to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), a national early reporting warning system to detect safety problems with U.S.-licensed vaccines. All six people were women aged 1848 years who experienced onset of symptoms between 613 (a median of nine) days. One woman died. There were also reports of blood clots in a seventh woman (after the pause was announced) and earlier in a man during clinical trials for the vaccine.

What's troubling about the reported clots

A blood clot is what it sounds likea gel-like clump of blood. Small blood clots form whenever you cut or scrape your skin to plug up the injured area and stop the bleeding. But they are dangerous when they form within a blood vessel, where they can cause thrombosis (meaning they block blood flow), a condition that kills up to 100,000 people a year in the United States. "Those clots typically occur in people who are bedridden or hospitalized, or have other medical issues related to inflammation or infection or cancer," says Yale Medicine hematologist Robert Bona, MD. They are also more likely to occur in women who are pregnant or on oral contraceptives, or in people who have hereditary disorders that predispose them to blood clotting.

The type of blood clot developed by seven of the eight Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients was a particularly rare and dangerous blood clot in the brain, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) because it appears in the brain's venous sinuses. Yale doctors diagnose only about a couple of patients a year with CVSTits usual causes include dehydration, inherited disorders, and infections or obstructions in the brain, Dr. Bona says.

But another concern is that these same vaccine recipients also developed thrombocytopenia, a condition characterized by abnormally low platelet levels in their blood. This is unusual in someone with a major blood clot because platelets are colorless blood cells that have the function of helping blood clot.

"The mechanism of the action of these clots has been quite unusual and, frankly, that has surprised me," says Dr. Bona. "There are definitely a lot of questions."

We saw this beforewith the AstraZeneca vaccine

A small number of serious blood clots also were reported in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not authorized for use in the United States. In March, countries in Europe and elsewhere put a pause on that vaccine after a handful of peoplemostly women younger than 60also developed CVST and low platelet counts. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) investigated the situation and concluded that these complications should be listed as very rare side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and said the benefits still outweighed the risks. But several countries now are administering that vaccine only to older people.

Both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as the Sputnik V vaccine in Russia (also not approved for use in the U.S.) are carrieror vectorvaccines, which instruct human cells to make the SARS CoV-2 spike protein. For this vaccine technology, scientists engineer a harmless inactivated common adenovirus (which can cause colds and other illnesses when it is active) into a sort of Trojan Horse that carries genetic code to a vaccine recipient's cells. The code then instructs the cells to produce a spike protein that trains the body's immune system, which then creates antibodies and memory cells to protect against an actual SARS-CoV-2 infection.

There have been no reports of blood clots from recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, both of which are mRNA vaccines and use a different method to protect against the virus.

Blood clots are also a complication of COVID-19

Researchers have also seen a strong association between blood clots and COVID-19 infection itself, says Hyung Chun, MD, a Yale Medicine cardiologist. "Unfortunately, in those who are sick enough with COVID-19 to be in the intensive care unit [ICU], blood clots have been a major factor in their illness," Dr. Chun says. Close to 20% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU develop blood clots, he says. "That's far higher than what you'd expect for patients who are in the ICU for different conditions. Estimates I've seen are in the 3 to 10% range for patients admitted for other reasons," adds Dr. Chun.

COVID-19 infection seems to cause the blood vessels and the blood itself to behave in a way that promotes formation of blood clots, which is likely a key driver for poor outcomes, sometimes damaging vital organs and even leading to death, Dr. Chun says.

Dr. Chun and colleagues published a study in The Lancet Haematology after identifying a leading mechanism behind blood clots in COVID-19 patients. Yale Medicine hematologist Alfred Lee, MD, Ph.D., and George Goshua, MD, a hematology-oncology fellow, were also authors of the study. They found that endothelial cells (cells that line the blood vessels) play a surprising role in the formation of blood clots, especially as a COVID-19 patient becomes critically ill. They hope the finding will eventually contribute to determining treatment for the blood clots. So far, "there is not a clear-cut answer," Dr. Chun says.

CVST must be treated differently

One unique aspect of CVST, as it has developed in these individuals, is its similarity to the way some patients react to heparin, an anticoagulant (or blood thinner medication) commonly used to treat clotsand one that is not being recommended for vaccine-related CVST.

Studies suggest that clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine resemble a similar condition that has been seen in some patients after treatment with heparin. "The pathophysiology of the blood clots appears to mirror that of the unusual clotting with heparin," says Dr. Bona. He explains that a small number of patients treated with heparin develop an antibody to a protein called platelet factor 4. Heparin binds to platelet factor 4, and that binding creates a new spot on the platelet factor 4 that is immunogenic, he says. "For a variety of reasons, the antibodies cause the platelet count to go down and cause blood clotting."

But the AstraZeneca vaccine recipients developed antibodies to platelet factor 4 in the absence of heparin. "So, heparin is the wrong anticoagulant to use," Dr. Bona says. "Luckily, we have other anticoagulants that will likely work well in this situation."

Should you get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if it becomes available to you?

It's important to remember that for the vast majority of people, the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine outweigh the harms, Dr. Meyer says. The blood clots have been very rare and unusual. The fact that the vaccine requires only one shot is an important benefit for many people. "There are other advantages of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well. It has less refrigeration requirements than the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, so it's amenable to pop-up facilitiesand in Connecticut there have been a lot of mobile health deliveries that carried Johnson & Johnson prior to the pause," Dr. Meyer says. "This could be quite disabling to those programs, which are so important because they are trying to reach the people and places most severely impacted by COVID-19."

Dr. Bona agrees. "I don't mean to minimize the effect of the clots on the people who get them, because obviously for those people it's a devastating consequence," he says. "But this is going to be infrequent, while the clotting rate is going to be much higher among those who have a COVID-19 infection." Dr. Chun adds that people are more likely to develop a serious blood clot if they are infected with COVID-19 than they are from a vaccine to prevent the disease.

CVST symptoms to look for

If the pause is lifted on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, everyone needs to be aware of early symptoms of the rare blood clots. The CDC recommends seeking immediate medical care if you develop any of the following symptoms:

Severe headache

Backache

New neurologic symptoms

Severe abdominal pain

Shortness of breath

Leg swelling

Tiny red spots on the skin (petechiae)

New or easy bruising

Dr. Meyer says she has gotten questions from people about taking "pre-emptive" aspirin if they have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to prevent the blood clots. "That is not recommended unless they are supposed to be taking aspirin for other conditions," she says.

Meanwhile, researchers are working on learning more about the blood clots. Dr. Bona, for one, is eager for answers, since he has patients calling his office who are wondering if they should get the vaccine at all. "If the FDA releases the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after they have reviewed the data, then I certainly would agree with their advice," he says.

Anyone who experiences signs of a blood clot or any adverse reaction to a vaccine should contact VAERS.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: Anyone who experiences signs of a blood clot or any adverse reaction to a vaccine should contact VAERS . Anyone who experiences signs of a blood clot or any adverse reaction to a vaccine should contact VAERS . vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html
Russia orders a pullback from Ukraines border

A day after President Vladimir Putin, in an annual state-of-the-nation address, rattled off a list of grievances against Western countries, Russia ordered some of its troops to pull back from the border with Ukraine, easing fears in Europe of a possible war.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who had called the buildup a test of the Russian militarys readiness, said the units deployed to the border area had shown their capabilities and should return to their regular positions by May 1.

Russia intends to leave some armored vehicles in field camps near the border with Ukraines Donbas region. Satellite images have shown hundreds of trucks and tanks in the area.

Response: President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who on Tuesday warned his country that war was possible, said he welcomed Russias move. He said it would reduce tension.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 13:02:40|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Developed countries were urged to honor their pledge to deliver financial and technological assistance to developing countries to address climate change at the Leaders Summit on Climate held via video link on Thursday.

"Developed states must deliver on public climate finance, including the long-promised 100 billion U.S. dollars for climate action in developing countries, at the G7 Summit in June," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the summit hosted by the White House.

"This is critical for trust and collective action," he said.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said it is critical that developed countries honor their pledge of 100 billion dollars a year for climate action in developing countries.

"While increasing the quantities of finance is necessary, it will not be sufficient to address the needs of small island developing states unless it is accessible, flexibly enough to target support for all vulnerabilities," Holness said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also called on developed countries to provide aid to developing countries, specifically for climate change.

The aid on climate change "should be provided separately and should not be a part of conventional development assistance," said Ramaphosa, noting the poorer countries are paying the price of the emissions created by richer countries.

"When it is given in the form of loan financing, the debt burden of developing countries is worsened," Ramaphosa said, urging developed economies to meet their responsibilities to developing economies.

"Now is the moment for the signal to be unequivocal," said Marshall Islands President David Kabua, whose country is threatened by sea-level rise.

"Too often, vulnerable countries hear the excuse that state emission cuts are too costly, but political signals, especially from the major economies, shape decisions on investment and innovation for low-carbon pathways," Kabua said.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said immediate and ambitious action plan should be taken by developed countries to reduce their carbon emissions to keep the global temperature rise at 1.5 degree Celsius and the developing nations should also focus on mitigation measures.

"Major economies, international financial institutions and private sectors should come forward for concessional climate financing as well as innovation," Hasina said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the global partnership must be strengthened to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement and the next joint agenda.

"Developing countries will achieve a similar ambition if the commitment of developed countries is credible with real support. Support and respect for commitments from developed countries are necessary," he said.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said the price of forest carbon credits should be raised to at least 100 U.S. dollars per ton in order to achieve the climate objectives set out in the Paris Agreement.

Tshisekedi said the current price of 5 dollars per ton was neither fair nor realistic, and achieving carbon neutrality would not be possible without taking into account the conservation and regeneration of forests.

At the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, developing countries were promised 100 billion dollars a year in climate finance starting from 2020 to help them lower their emissions, adapt to the effects of climate change and offset the costs of limiting their reliance on fossil fuels.

But that commitment, repeated in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, was not met last year. Enditem
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT ARE NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO, THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY JURISDICTION FOR WHICH THE SAME COULD BE UNLAWFUL.

23 April 2021

LEI: 549300JZQ39WJPD7U596

Invesco Select Trust plc

Results of Scheme, Issue of New Shares and Appointment of New Directors

The Board of Invesco Select Trust PLC (the "Company" or "IST") is pleased to announce that the Company will acquire approximately 122.5 million of net assets from Invesco Income Growth Trust plc ("IIGT") in consideration for the issue of 66,628,879 New Shares of the UK Equity Share class in connection with the reconstruction of IIGT (the "Scheme") following the passing today of the resolution proposed at the Second General Meeting of IIGT.

The number of New Shares to be issued was calculated based on a FAV per UK Equity Share of 183.89 pence and a FAV per IIGT Ordinary Share of 299.96 pence, producing a conversation ratio of 1.63119256 UK Equity Shares per IIGT Ordinary Share rolling over, each calculated in accordance with the Scheme.

Applications have been made for the New Shares to be admitted to the premium segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange (together, "Admission"). It is expected that Admission will take place at 8.00am on 26 April 2021.

Following the issue of the New Shares noted above, the UK Equity Portfolio's share capital will consist of 90,443,771 Ordinary Shares (excluding treasury shares), with each Ordinary Share holding one voting right, and an additional 20,637,812 Ordinary Shares held in treasury.

The figure of 90,443,771 Ordinary Shares 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 voting rights, or a change to their interest in the Company, under the Disclosure, Guidance and Transparency Rules.

As set out in the Circular, New Shares which would otherwise be issued to an Overseas Shareholder pursuant to the Scheme will instead be issued to the Liquidators as nominees on behalf of such Overseas Shareholder who will arrange for such shares to be sold promptly by a market maker. The proceeds of such sales will be paid to relevant Overseas Shareholders entitled to them within ten Business Days of the date of sale.

As the Scheme has now been approved, the amendment of the investment objective and the investment policy of the UK Equity portfolio to more closely reflect the investment objective and policy of IIGT, as set out in the Circular, has been adopted.

Additionally, following the passing of the special resolution in relation to the UK Equity Share buyback authority and with the expected admission of the New Shares of the UK Equity portfolio on 26 April 2021, the Company's authority to buy back UK Equity Shares will increase by 9,987,668 shares, representing 14.99% of the New Shares of the UK Equity Share Class, to an aggregate amount of 10,052,199 shares.

The Board is also pleased to announce the appointments of Davina Curling, Mark Dampier and Tim Woodhead as non-executive directors of the Company with effect from today. Alan Clifton is stepping down from the Board at the same time.

Davina Curling was appointed to the Board of IIGT on 1 March 2011. She is a non-executive director of Henderson Opportunities Trust plc. She is also a non-executive director of BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust plc and is a member of the Investment Committee of St James's Place.

Mark Dampier was appointed to the Board of IIGT on 1 March 2016. He was, until August 2020, Head of Investment Research at Hargreaves Lansdown, a position he had held since 1998. He is also a non-executive director of Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Trust plc

Tim Woodhead was appointed to the Board of IIGT on 3 April 2018. He is a senior Investment Director at Rathbone Brothers plc. Mr Woodhead holds various trustee positions in charities and for a number of family trusts.

There is no other information to be disclosed under UKLA Listing Rule 9.6.13 (1) to (6) in relation to any of Davina Curling, Mark Dampier or Tim Woodhead.

Capitalised terms used but not defined in this announcement will have the same meaning as set out in the Company's Circular dated 30 March 2021 unless the context otherwise requires.

Graham Kitchen, Chairman of the Company, commented:

"On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome our new shareholders and thank both sets of shareholders for their support. Following completion of the Scheme, the UK Equity portfolio will have net assets of approximately 165 million, significantly increasing the size of the Company, and we look forward to the implementation of the new investment policy, jointly managed by James Goldstone and Ciaran Mallon.

Finally, the Board would like to thank Alan Clifton for his valued contribution to the Company during his 13 years as a Director and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours."



For further information please contact:

Invesco Asset Management Limited +44 (0) 20 3753 1000

Angus Pottinger

Will Ellis

Investec Bank plc +44 (0) 20 7597 4000

David Yovichic

Denis Flanagan



Important Information

This announcement contains information that is inside information for the purposes of the retained UK law version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Shilla Pindoria of Invesco Asset Management Limited.
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The Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral is working very well, and its relevance and usefulness have increased significantly, contributing in its 9 years of existence to strengthening the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as to ensuring the security of the eastern flank, at the Black Sea included, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu told the plenary session of the Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral Summit, which he attended together with his counterparts Zbigniew Rau and Mevlut Cavuoglu. At the conclusion of the session the three Foreign Ministers signed, in a first for this format, a Joint Statement.

"Thank you, on this occasion again, for accepting this visit to Romania for us to continue our effective Romania-Poland-Turkey three-way dialogue on security issues. Our discussions of last night and today have been substantial and very useful, I would say that they were excellent, and they are reflected in the Joint Statement we just signed. (...) I would like to thank my colleagues Mevlut and Zbigniew for their openness during the negotiations on our Statement, which is a first for our format, proving once again how much our trilateral cooperation has advanced," said Bogdan Aurescu.

The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs brought to mind that in 2009, when he had the idea of creating this format, in his then capacity as Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs, he did not think that the Trilateral would become so necessary.

"Today I can say without hesitation that this Trilateral, which started to be very active in 2012, (....) works very well, and its relevance and usefulness have increased significantly, contributing in its 9 years of existence to reinforcing the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as to ensuring the security of the eastern flank, at the Black Sea included," Aurescu said.

"The special interest topics remain participation in the NATO multinational structures hosted by the 3 states, the implementation of the allied decisions, with emphasis, from Romania's perspective, on the package of measures on the Black Sea security agreed at NATO level, but also support for eastern partners. Also, we decided for our embassies and missions abroad to deepen trilateral cooperation and coordination on security," Aurescu said.

"In the context of the Russian troops build-up, we discussed in detail, already yesterday evening, the recent worrying security developments in and around Ukraine, as well as further development prospects, as well as de-escalation and defusing measures, including concrete ways to support Ukraine. Yesterday's announcement on the withdrawal of Russian troops, which is a move in the right direction, does not change the need to continue the analysis of the causes of this very tense situation, to identify de-escalation measures and to avoid similar situations in the future," said Aurescu.

"We approached the very important developments that have taken place recently at NATO level, as well as those that will take place this year. In this regard, the operational and conceptual contributions of Romania, Poland and Turkey to NATO actions in the region are and remain essential. Today too we had very substantive discussions, we reviewed the results of the main NATO developments, the recent ministerial meetings, we discussed follow-up actions, we approached the preparation of the NATO Summit on June 14 this year, which is very important because it will allow us to reaffirm allied unity and solidarity and especially to reinforce a strong transatlantic relationship, which is the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security. We believe that the 2021 NATO Summit will be a very important milestone in the evolution of the Alliance. We emphasized today that we want NATO to become politically and militarily stronger, an actor with a real global footprint," Aurescu said.

"We also highlighted the importance of further strengthening the allied deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank, including in its south, especially in the light of security developments in the Black Sea region and in general, in the light of the progressive consolidation in recent years of the Russian military presence in the region. We also supported the consolidation of NATO action for promoting resilience and innovation, highlighting the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center Romania is setting up and which will become operational in the coming months. We invited both Poland and Turkey, as well as other allies and partners, to participate with us in the development of this Center. We emphasized the special importance Romania attaches to the NATO 2030 strategic reflection process and in this line, we expressed appreciation for the activity of NATO's Secretary General. We want a new NATO strategy concept that reflects current realities," Aurescu said.

Also on Friday, in a first for the Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral format, Georgian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers David Zalkaliani and Dmytro Kuleba will participate, at the initiative of Minister Aurescu, in a special working session with the Foreign Ministers of the Trilateral, given the importance of the Eastern Neighborhood.
Prime Minister on Friday called for utilising the industry's full potential to meet the demand of medical oxygen in the coming days, saying there is a need to increase the availability of oxygen cylinders as well as to upgrade the logistical facilities for its transportation.

In a virtual meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers across the country, Modi urged the industry to utilise tankers meant to transport other gases for oxygen supply, saying the time now is not only to deal with the challenges but also to provide solutions in a very short time.

Modi stressed the need to maintain good coordination between the government and the oxygen producers, according to a statement.

A rapid rise in the COVID-19 cases has driven a massive demand for medical oxygen by states and hospitals. In the last few days, hospitals have sent out SOS for its supply.

In his remarks, the prime minister appreciated the oxygen producers for increasing their production in the last few weeks and acknowledged several steps taken to increase the production of liquid oxygen.

He also thanked the industry for diverting industrial oxygen to meet medical requirements in the country.

Keeping in mind the requirements of states pertaining to oxygen, the government is working on effectively using the Railways and the Air Force so that the tankers reach the production centre as soon as possible.

"PM Modi remarked that the government, the states, the industry and the transporters, and all the hospitals need to come together and work in unison. The better the synergy and coordination, the easier it will be able to deal with this challenge," the statement said.

Modi offered his government's full support to them and hoped the country would be successful in combating the crisis soon.

Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Soma Mandal of SAIL, Sajjan Jindal of JSW, Narendran of Tata Steel, Naveen Jindal of JSPL, Dilip Oommen of AMNS, M Bannerjee of LINDE, Sidharth Jain of Inox, Noriyo Shibuya of Air Water Jamshedpur, Rajesh Kumar Saraf of National Oxygen Ltd. and Saket Tiku, President of All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers' Association, were present during the meeting, the statement said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The popular Fan Edition (FE) variant of the Galaxy S20 series launched with 2 versions: one that is 4G-only with the Exynos 990 SoC and one with 5G and the Snapdragon 865. However, Samsung has now revealed that it will release the latter in 4G-only flavor. It might make a good deal for some consumers.

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Samsung launched the Galaxy S20 FE (or Fan Edition) as a version of its 2020 flagship smartphone line rendered more affordable due to some compromises such as a "glasstic" rear panel. It was initially released in Exynos 990- or Snapdragon 865-powered variants - which meant those who would prefer the latter would have had to pay more as it came with the X55 modem for 5G.

In fact, the vast majority of 865-based devices launched in higher price brackets as Qualcomm inexorably paired that same external modem with every release of the processor. Now, however, Samsung has broken that mold with the SM-G780G.

It recently popped up in leaks that painted it as a new Galaxy S20 FE variant with the 865, but without 5G. Now, it has quietly arrived on Samsung Sweden's official website, in a reduced range of this phone's normal rainbow of colorways (Cloud Navy, Lavender, Red and Mint).

Its new sales page lacks a price as yet; however, the phone is likely to go for less than the existing 865-powered S20 FE. It costs 8,490 kroner (~US$1000) at present, whereas the Exynos 990 version is 7,490 kroner (~US$888). Therefore, the phone's new refresh might have similar discounts in further markets.

Buy a Galaxy S20 FE on Amazon
Jaipur, April 23 : Amid the alarming surge in the number of Covid cases in the state, the Rajasthan government on Friday issued stricter guidelines for the lockdown period during which the shops selling essential commodities shall remain open only for four hours from 6 am to 11 am.

According to the new guidelines, which will come into effect from 5 am on April 25, milk shops will be allowed to open in morning from 6 am to 11 am and in the evening from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Shops selling processed food, restaurants and sweet shops shall, however, remain closed and only home delivery will be permitted.

Marriage ceremonies shall be limited to one day and only one programme will be held on the occasion with not more than 50 persons in attendance. Government employees will monitor the wedding programmes to ensure that the guests don't flout the norms.

Also, transportation of people in private vehicles from one city to another has been restricted. However, intra-state buses will operate with 50 per cent capacity.

All the offices will be sealed except those engaged in providing essential and selected services.

Petrol will also be available from 7 am to 12 noon for private vehicles.

Strict weekend curfew guidelines will be followed from Friday evening to Monday morning.

On Friday, the state reported 14,468 new Covid cases, which took its active caseload to 107,157 while 59 deaths took its cumulative death toll to 3,389.

The fortnight-long lockdown shall continue till May 3.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Sacramento, California, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scientists weren't heralded and respected until the world experienced the covid-19 pandemic. Now entrepreneurs like Mohammed Ali Rashid are receiving the respect he deserves outside of the finance and science industry as other immigrant entrepreneurs are starting to take notice.



Extraction practices are changing for the better, thanks to the initiative of ENTEXS CEO Mohammed Ali Rashid. The booming industry has been having a few growing pains, mostly due to poor consistency factors where the product is concerned, and Ali Rashid has found what appears to be the optimal solution.

Calculated, aggressive automation.

Thats not all that ENTEXS is bringing to the market, however, as Ali Rashid has been busy implementing service standards in order to help improve things for the industry overall.

Coming Changes

Mohammed Ali Rashid believes that hands-free technology is key to giving industry standards an overhaul, and so far, in practice, it appears that he is very much on to something. His company, ENTEXS, provides high-end technology designed to assist in the manufacture of health products but how does it work?

To start with, by incorporating a closed-loop system that utilizes sensors, the entire extraction process may be monitored closely from beginning to end. As these are machines, this also means that fewer operators are required. ENTEXS machines are programmable as well, though their software is also capable of rewriting its own protocols. The results are quite impressive.

Operating costs are reduced, the product has less chance of contamination due to the automated process, the yields are consistently higher, and the quality of the product is at a consistent level that humans alone simply could not provide.

Ali Rashid Says Its on the Cloud

The scale of automation and current technology means that you can incorporate ENTEXS machines and extraction processes into the cloud. As the industry is relatively new, suppliers are scattered, and ensuring consistency of product is a very real concern. By taking things to the next level with the Cloud, the extraction process may be monitored for all locations utilizing ENTEXS. Rashids innovations are helping to bring uniformity to the process to the benefit of companies and consumers alike.

Making Sense of the Standards

As you can guess, ENTEXS is becoming quite in demand, and its understandable. Companies that opt to stand under the ENTEXS umbrella receive services such as site reviews, full installation of their machinery, field verification, permitting, and operational assistance until they are fully operational and ready to go.

While the technology is still very much in its infancy, its hard to argue with the results. The systems and modules which ENTEXS provides are essentially built from the ground up and customized to work together in order to fill a clients requirements. These can be strict; for example, in Florida, the standards are much the same as you would find in the food industry, and there is little room for error.

This means that the product, the machines, and location must meet specific standards, and numerous permits are required. ENTEXS not only provides the tech but helps to ensure that all of their clients are up to code. They are also swift to dispatch help if their personalized systems encounter any issues.

Its a new standard of high-end tech married to old-world customer service, and it will be exciting to see the waves that it makes in the industry. Mohammed Ali Rashid and ENTEXS are certainly set to make waves, but is this the wave of the future?

Well Lets just say that its hard to argue with Ali Rashids results.
WASHINGTON  President Bidens plan to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan has drawn sharp criticism that it could allow a takeover by the Taliban, with brutal consequences, particularly for the rights of women and girls.

In response, top Biden administration officials have offered a case for why the outcome may not be so dire: The Taliban, they say, might govern less harshly than feared after taking partial or full power  in order to win recognition and financial support from world powers.

That argument is among the most significant defenses against those who warn that the Taliban will seize control of Kabul and impose a brutal, premodern version of Islamic law, echoing the harsh rule that ended with the American invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made the case on Sunday on ABCs This Week, saying that the Taliban must gain power through an organized political process and not through force if it wants to be internationally recognized, if it doesnt want to be a pariah, he said.
Bengaluru, April 24 : The first 57-hour weekend curfew from 9 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Monday to contain the pandemic's second wave sweeping Karnataka came into force across the state, an official said on Friday.

"As notified by the chief secretary on April 20, the weekend curfew has been enforced from 9 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Monday to restrict movement of people across the state to contain the virus spread, with essential services exempted," an official of the state home department told IANS here.

The weekend curfew is in addition to the night curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on week days (Monday to Thursday) till May 4. The next weekend curfew will be from 9 p.m. on April 30 to 6 a.m. on May 3.

"Besides essential services, shops selling groceries, vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, fish, meat and medicines will be allowed to remain open from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday to meet the daily needs of the people," said the official.

While passenger and cargo flights by state-run Air India and private airlines and special trains by the railways will operate, a limited number of buses will run on inter-state and intra-state routes for people employed in essential services and duties.

"No restriction on the movement of state government and civic body employees. Private employees on emergency duty will be allowed to travel on producing identity card to local police and security personnel," said the official.

Eligible people, including senior citizens and those in the 45-59 years age group will be allowed to visit hospitals for vaccination, as patients for treatment in state-run and private hospitals.

"Pre-arranged weddings will be allowed with only 50 people participating. Only 20 people are allowed to attend funerals or death ceremonies," said the official.

While cinema theatres, pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels and malls will be shut, public will be allowed to visit parks with face masks. They have to ensure social distancing and sanitise their hands.

Eateries will be allowed to provide parcel service to customers but not dining.

"As on weekdays, places of worship, temples, mosques and churches will be shut for visitors though priests will be allowed to perform rituals," noted the official.

Similarly, home delivery and e-commerce services will be allowed.

To restrict and regulate vehicular movement, barricades have been set up on main roads and junctions and traffic police deployed to check validity of people allowed to commute in cities and towns across the state.

Hundreds of people headed to their native places or towns and villages during the day from Bengaluru and other cities to avoid being stranded during the weekend curfew.

According to the state health bulletin, 26,962 new cases were reported in a day, taking the state's Covid tally to 12,74,959, including 2,14,311 active cases.

As epi-centre of the pandemic, Bengaluru registered 16,662 fresh cases in a day, taking the city's Covid tally to 6,15,581, including 1,49,624 active cases.

With 190 patients succumbing to the infection, including 124 in Bengaluru during the day, the state's death toll touched 14,075 and the city's toll rose to 5,574 since the virus broke out in mid-March a year ago.

Of 1,128 patients in the intensive care units (ICUs), 246 are in Bengaluru hospitals.

Positivity rate was 15.19 per cent and case fatality rate 0.70 per cent across the state on Thursday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris looking on makes remarks about the Derek Chauvin Trial, at the White House, Tuesday April, 20, 2021. (Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images)

White House Announces Bidens First Overseas Trip as President

President Joe Biden will travel to the UK and Brussels, Belgium, for his first overseas trip as president, according to a White House announcement on Friday.

In the UK, Biden will attend a summit for the G-7the intergovernmental organization consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United Statesfrom June 11 to June 13. While in Brussels, the president will attend a NATO summit.

The trips will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure Americas interests, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a statement.

Bidens attendance at G-7 will reinforce our commitment to multilateralism by advancing U.S. policies on climate change, economic recovery, and other topics. While there, Biden will hold meetings with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other G-7 leaders.

Later, Biden and NATO leaders will discuss how to orient the Alliance to future threats and ensure effective burden sharing, according to Psaki. The President will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow NATO leaders.

Other than climate change and economic recovery, Biden and NATO will discuss a common agenda to ensure global health security and will address mutual foreign policy concerns.

More specific details about Bidens trip were not provided.

Its both a practical chance to connect with key allies and partners on shared opportunities and challenges, said Yohannes Abraham, the chief of staff and executive secretary of the White House National Security Council, according to The Associated Press. But also its an illustration of something that the president has been clear about that the transatlantic alliance is back, that revitalizing it is a key priority of his, and that the transatlantic relationship is a strong foundation on which our collective security and shared prosperity are built.

President Donald Trumps first trip overseas was when he visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2017 and met the kingdoms leadership, including King Salman. Trump was awarded the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud by the monarch.

Most recent American presidents have selected North American countries such as Canada or Mexico for their first cross-border trips.

This week, the United States stepped up its travel warnings for much of the world due to the virus. Both the UK and Belgium are listed by the State Department under level four, the highest do not travel advisory, and are the subject of specific prohibitions preventing most travel to the United States by noncitizens.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Google Pay Spring Challenge is extended until 11:59 PM PST of May 3, giving users based in the United States more chance to earn the $30 reward, as the XDA-Developers forum shared.

Google kicked off the Spring Challenge on April 12 and initially set its closing date to April 22. The challenge requires Google Pay users to do certain tasks in the challenge to earn up to five stamps to receive $30 in their Google Pay balance.

The search engine and tech company launched a revamped Google Pay app on November 18 last year-- along with a new design and rewards offers--to replace the old Google Pay app, according to another XDA-Developers' story. As part of promoting the new one, Google Pay Spring Challenge was introduced.

Also known as G Pay, Google Pay is a digital wallet that allows people to do online and contactless purchase transactions on their mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and even wearables like smartwatches.

If you are interested in earning the $30 from Google, read on as we go into the details of the ongoing promotion. Google is offering up to 200,000 rewards worth $30 during the promo period, so you shouldn't miss this opportunity.

Read Also: Google Wallet Gets Physical With Plastic Wallet Card - Would You Get One?

How to Join Google Spring Day Challenge

First and foremost, make sure that you have Google Pay installed and running on your smartphone or tablet. If not, then you must visit the Google Pay download site or search it on Google Play Store to download it.

Google Pay is not exclusive to Android users, hence, iOS users who have an iPhone or an iPad can also download the e-wallet, have it installed, and join Google Pay Spring Challenge.

Google Pay for Android and iOS are both available in the United States and India, but note that the promo is limited to U.S. users.

If you are living outside the U.S. and India, you may attempt to download Google Pay, but Google Play will instantly notify you that it is not available for download in your country

Once you have the app set up on your device, you must opt into Google Pay rewards. You can do this by doing the following instructions:

Launch Google Pay. Tap Account or on your profile photo at the top right. Go to Settings then tap Offers & rewards. Activate "Earn rewards on qualifying actions."

The key goal to get the $30 reward from Google via Google Pay is earning five stamps. A stamp can be earned by doing different actions on the new Google Pay App, such as redeeming offers and paying friends, among others.

Other tasks require using Google Pay to tap to pay (your device should be NFC-enabled), send and claim gifts, invite friends to use Google Pay, send money, and activate account insights.

Google offers random chances to get a stamp and collect the five required different tasks that vary every day.

Go to the Google Pay Spring Challenge page on the app and look for the "How to collect today" section to learn the task assigned to a particular day, as well as the restrictions involved.

Terms and conditions of the promo are available on the Google Pay Spring Challenge on this support page.

Related Story: Google Pay Currently Unreviewable on Play Store; Repeats Mistakes of Allo
The FBI is investigating accusations that a Rwandan diplomat in Washington crashed a St. Marys University Zoom class, apparently to snoop on the family of Paul Rusesabagina, a famous dissident imprisoned in that country.

Rusesabagina became known for saving 1,268 people during the countrys horrific 1994 genocide, a role dramatized in the 2004 Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda. He fell out with the countrys new president, Paul Kagame, and became a Belgian citizen and permanent U.S. resident living in San Antonio and Brussels.

Last summer, he was duped by a friend in Dubai into getting on a private plane to Rwanda and was jailed, accused of aiding an armed opposition group. An international campaign has been trying to secure his release.

St. Marys President Tom Mengler said in a university news release that the Rwandan government used a spy to listen in on an April 6 videoconference class involving students, staff and guests. Rusesabaginas son, Tresor, attends the class, and the Zoom session also included the students mother, Tatiana, and a sister, Anaise Kanimba.

The FBI interviewed several witnesses this month, said Bill Israel, the associate professor of communication studies who led the class.

They just seemed pretty interested, Israel said. They were also pretty tight-lipped about giving away any information, but it was clear that they were interested in what we had to say.

An FBI spokeswoman in San Antonio declined comment.

The universitys information technology department identified the intruder as Charles Ntageruka, who used the initials MN and entered the Zoom meeting for three minutes and signed off, the school said. The caller returned to the session until Israel challenged him and severed the connection.

Ntageruka is a second counselor at the Rwandan Embassy in Washington, according to his LinkedIn profile, Israel said.

The entry to the Zoom session was illegal and gained by access somehow to our system that we cant explain, with Rusesabaginas family the likely target, Israel said.

Rusesabagina, 66, is a longtime Kagame critic. He is being tried on 13 charges that include financing terrorism, complicity in murder, recruiting child soldiers and forming a rebel group. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. His friends in the United States and Europe call the accusations absurd.

Kagame has run the Central African country since 2000 and is credited with leading it into a period of stability and prosperity, with a focus on reconciling its two major tribal groups after the bloodletting of the 1990s. Human rights groups have accused him of torturing and killing opponents.

The Rwandan genocide claimed the lives of as many as 1 million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, though Tutsis also engaged in more limited massacres in parts of the country in the genocides aftermath, according to reports.

Rusesabagina emerged as a heroic figure for his cool-headed sheltering of Tutsis trapped for 76 days at a hotel he ran. President George W. Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Kitty Kurth, a Chicago publicist and friend who advises Rusesabaginas nonprofit foundation and is pressing for his release, said he is refusing to attend his trial because he has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers.

Mengler, the St. Marys president, called Rusesabagina an international hero in the news release.

This intrusion by a member of (Rwandas) diplomatic corps into a St. Marys class shows the paranoia of President Kagames administration in seeking to quell a rising chorus of international outrage over its kidnapping of Mr. Rusesabagina, Mengler said in the release.

Rusesabaginas reputation within Rwanda itself has grown tarnished under the Kagame regime, where survivors accounts of the hotel siege now differ, with some casting him as a profiteer. Even survivors who remember his actions as selfless and humane now criticize his alleged affiliation with a rebel army whose attacks from neighboring countries have killed civilians, according to a March 7 profile in the New York Times Magazine by Joshua Hammer, who covered the 1994 genocide as a Newsweek correspondent.

What I have learned in the course of this inquiry is there are two kinds of Rwandans  those who flee and those who are on the government payroll, Israel said.

Rusesabaginas defenders say the Kagame regime became adept at not only twisting the truth but using protesters to shadow Rusesabagina when he made speaking appearances around the world.

The intrusion of a university Zoom session was in that character, said Rusesabaginas friend Kurth.

This is not the first time that the Rwandan government has come at Paul using academic institutions as a vehicle. This is kind of part of a much larger, longer pattern, so while we were surprised at what happened, we werent shocked, she said.

The State Department said it intended to advocate for legal proceedings against Mr. Rusesabagina to be fair and transparent, consistent with our strong global commitment to the rule of law.

The university noted that U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, joined 30 others in a bipartisan letter urging Rusesabaginas release and return to the U.S.

Kurth said Rusesabagina has been denied medicine for hypertension his family sent last fall via the Belgian Embassy. Rwandan jailers give him an unspecified drug every day, she said, but his blood pressure is still high.

He also remains in solitary confinement, Kurth said. They open the door to his cell two hours a day so he has natural light.

sigc@express-news.net
ALBANY  People across the Capital Region Tuesday rejoiced along with much of America as ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd, a watershed event that galvanized a modern civil rights movement.

About three dozen people gathered outside the Albany Police Department's South Station, crying, hugging and raising their fists in the air moments after the three convictions were announced on social media and televisions around the world.

The verdict arrived almost 11 months after Floyd's death triggered countless local and national marches for civil justice reform.

Outside the Albany police station, a large speaker played TV news as protesters and activists swiped their phones, refreshing their social media, awaiting news, they said.

After the verdict was announced, a woman who has been protesting in Albany for over a week yelled Black Lives! with a raspy voice. She was crying.

Matter! yelled the crowd, raising their fists.

Melo Rabii was speechless. His hands were shaking and tears rolled down his face.

This isnt a feeling were used to, he said, looking toward a sign with the names of over 40 Black Americans killed by police. As a race, were always prepared for the worst.

Rabii, 29, was nervous as he waited before the verdict was read. I just want justice. ... We keep getting killed.

"Hopefully, this is a step forward in the system," said Lexis Figuereo, a Black Lives Matter activist in his own city of Saratoga Springs. "I'm also wary. I don't want people to be too relaxed about things and be like this is an end all and everything is OK. Daunte Wright was murdered a week and a half ago in Minneapolis so we got to keep on. We got to make sure he gets justice."

Outside a prayer vigil being held Tuesday afternoon in Schenectady, a woman was seen looking up at the sky screaming "Thank you Lord! Thank you Lord!" as a car in the background honked in celebration.

Schenectady City Councilwoman Marion Porterfield said she cried when the verdict was read. "It was tears of relief for all that we've been through in this country - not just for this past year, but for many, many years," she said.

"Justice has finally been served," said Pastor Nicolle Harris of Duryee Memorial AME Zion church in Schenectady. "This is by no means the end of the work, it's the beginning of the work." She added, "This means we're taking a small step forward."

In Saratoga County, racial justice advocates gathered at 6 p.m. at the Spirit of Life statue in Saratoga Springs' Congress Park after the verdict.

"For meaningful reform, that is the responsibility of each and every city and government to prioritize, so we can stop this cycle of hate and distrust, racism and lack of systemic accountability," said Jason Golub, co-chair of Saratoga Springs police reform committee. "The Chauvin guilty verdict is a step in the right direction. But its just the first of many we have to take together."

This verdict, while important, does not mean the work for racial justice is any less urgent," Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said in a statement minutes after the verdict was read. Sheehan herself was criticized in the past week after force was used against protesters at South Station last Wednesday night.

Sheehan, in her statement following the verdict said, "As mayor, I remain committed to doing all that I can to create room for productive dialogue as we seek to make transformative structural changes to an institution that continues to disproportionately cause harm to communities of color, particularly the Black community.

Dr. Alice Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, said the verdict was a victory for justice but that the work to reform the criminal justice system still needs to be done.

"A lot of people said that they didn't believe that there would be a guilty verdict," she said. "That's how strong the feelings are against the system. It took a lot to to get this one victory, a lot."

Green recalled the Rodney King verdict in 1992, when officers were found not guilty even though there was video of them beating and kicking King during a traffic stop, as well as the dozens of police shootings since Floyd's death in Minneapolis.

"We still have a system that doesn't work for Black people. And we have to realize that in Albany, we are still fighting to re-imagine and put into place a different system of policing. We haven't gotten that yet, that has to happen to the bigger picture, all across the nation," she said.

Dorcey Applyrs, Albany's chief city auditor, said there was no verdict that would ease the pain caused by Floyd's murder. "My heart continues to ache for the Floyd family and our nation as a whole as we continue to grieve the loss of Mr. Floyd. The trauma and anguish caused by the racist and inhumane actions of Derek Chauvin will have negative implications for generations to come."

All of the charges required the jury to conclude that the 45-year-old Chauvins actions were a substantial causal factor in Floyds death and that his use of force was unreasonable. Chauvin faced charges of second-degree (unintentional) murder, third-degree murder and second-degree murder, all of which the jury convicted him on.

While the trial was in Minnesota, the case was closely watched in the Capital Region where fatal and life-altering clashes between police and Black civilians have led to decades of mistrust.

Floyd's death inspired protests in the Capital Region last year, including in Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Saratoga Springs. Demonstrations were held in Albany and Troy last week. The one held Wednesday in Albany was to protest Daunte Wright's death by police and included the South Station confrontation. Some demonstrators have remained at the station for days to keep attention on last week's clash and to demand the firing of an Albany police officer who grabbed at the protesters' light and megaphone.

The region has seen a number high-profile police brutality cases that left Black people gravely injured or dead, including the shooting of Ellazar Williams, the shooting death of Edson Thevenin, and the death of Donald "Dontay" Ivy after he was Tasered.

Back at South Station Tuesday an hour after the verdict, a woman introduced a new chant, one inspired by the days news: Whats the verdict? she asked the protesters and activists.

Guilty! they replied.
Christian Colleges fight LGBT students' lawsuit seeking to block Title IX religious exemptions

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Christian universities are fighting a lawsuit filed by an LGBT legal group, which seeks to strip federal financial aid from college students for attending faith-based universities that espouse biblical beliefs on marriage, gender and sexuality.

The Oregon-based Religious Exemption Accountability Project, an LGBT activist organization, filed a federal lawsuit on March 29 against the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of 33 LGBT former and current students who felt discriminated against on 25 faith-based campuses across the country.

The lawsuit wants to remove the Title IX religious exemption to restrict students at faith-based institutions that adhere to traditional sexuality and gender beliefs from receiving tuition grants, student loans and any form of federal financial assistance.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a national religious liberty advocacy legal group, filed a motion last Friday to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of college students at Corban University in Oregon, William Jessup University in California and Phoenix Seminary in Arizona. ADF contends that the demands of the lawsuit threaten the federally-protected rights of religious post-secondary institutions.

This lawsuit wants the federal government to tell Christian schools, To continue accepting students who have federal financial aid, all you have to do is to start acting contrary to your own beliefs. Thats neither reasonable nor constitutional, ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of U.S. Litigation David Cortman said in a statement.

No court should grant a radical request to rewrite federal law and strong-arm religious colleges by stripping their students of much-needed financial aid. For that reason, we are asking the court to let our clients intervene in this lawsuit so that they and their students can defend their freedoms under federal law and the Constitution.

ADFs motion to intervene against the REAP lawsuit describes how the Hunter lawsuit asks the court to declare the longstanding religious exemption that faith-based institutions receive to Title IX discrimination law unconstitutional.

The Department of Education recognizes religious exemptions, such as a schools adherence to biblical definitions of sex, gender, anthropology, marriage and sexual morality, as protected in Title IX and required by the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The very existence of Title IXs Religious Exemption is at stake here, yet none of the current parties [in the lawsuit] are religious educational institutions that benefit from this exemption, ADFs motion states.

The Court should not assess the Religious Exemptions constitutionality without hearing from the very institutions the exemption was designed to protect, the motion continued.

The legal action filed against the Department of Education on behalf of current and former college students claims the environment at certain religious schools is toxic for LGBT students, forcing them to live in hiding and unrestrained by government intervention, persists with injurious consequences to mind, body and soul.

Plaintiffs in REAMs lawsuit attended or attend schools such as Bob Jones University, Liberty University, Baylor University, Cedarville University and Brigham Young University, among others.

Elizabeth Hunter, one of the plaintiffs and the namesake for the case, is a former student at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.

On his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order to prevent and combat discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

The Biden administration also seeks to redefine Title IX in a way that would threaten the freedom of religion, ADF argues.

Targeting religious schools hurts the students and families who desire to pursue their education in places that share their faith and values, ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker said in a statement. These schools should be allowed to defend their and their students long-recognized freedoms under federal law and the First Amendment.
Hispanic U.S. House members are pushing for an aggressive, multiyear "Marshall Plan" for Central America to tackle regional violence, corruption and economic devastation.

The big picture: The call for a Central American plan, similar to a U.S. program that rebuilt Western Europe following World War II, comes as both political parties and the Biden administration struggle to find short-term solutions to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The price tag: TBD.

Driving the news: Mexico increased detentions and deportations of migrants last month as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stepped up law enforcement against Central American migrants, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Detentions of Central American migrants jumped 32% to 15,800 in March from February. That's more than double compared with March of last year, according to data from Mexicos immigration agency shared with WSJ.

But experts say conditions in Central America will continue to push migrants north, regardless of increased enforcement.

The intrigue: Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus say long-term solutions and financial commitments are needed to address the systemic problems in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told Axios that a Central American Marshall Plan is "one of the fundamental pieces of how the Biden administration addressed the issue of migration from Central America. Without it, I feel we are doomed to repeat the same cycles over and over."

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) also told Axios that a "hemispheric" outreach that included countries like Canada and Panama was required to reshape Central America and the burden shouldn't just rest with the U.S.

Yes, but: House members have stopped short of saying how much is needed and how long the commitment should be.

Details: The Biden administration is proposing to spend more than $800 million next year in Central America to combat violence, poverty and corruption.

The leader of the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization is traveling to Central America to meet with NGOs and government officials as migrants from the region flee violence and economic devastation.

League of United Latin American Citizens national president Domingo Garcia told Axios he will visit El Salvador and Honduras later this month to investigate the humanitarian crisis himself and find out how U.S. Latinos can help.

Fernando Garcia, executive director of the El Paso, Texas-based Border Network for Human Rights, said a U.S.-backed Central American Marshall Plan is the morally right thing to do after the U.S. helped create the conditions there, after backing repressive regimes during civil wars.

Don't forget: President Bill Clinton signed an immigration reform bill in 1996 which made it far easier for the U.S. to deport people convicted of minor infractions and crimes committed by lawful permanent residents.
Developed countries urged to honor commitment on climate change assistance

Xinhua) 16:38, April 23, 2021

People take part in a climate change protest in Times Square in New York, the United States, on Sept. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

"Developing countries will achieve a similar ambition if the commitment of developed countries is credible with real support. Support and respect for commitments from developed countries are necessary."

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Developed countries were urged to honor their pledge to deliver financial and technological assistance to developing countries to address climate change at the Leaders Summit on Climate held via video link on Thursday.

"Developed states must deliver on public climate finance, including the long-promised 100 billion U.S. dollars for climate action in developing countries, at the G7 Summit in June," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the summit hosted by the White House.

"This is critical for trust and collective action," he said.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said it is critical that developed countries honor their pledge of 100 billion dollars a year for climate action in developing countries.

"While increasing the quantities of finance is necessary, it will not be sufficient to address the needs of small island developing states unless it is accessible, flexibly enough to target support for all vulnerabilities," Holness said.

A girl walks past an interactive display during the Arctic Voices exhibition at Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Feb. 20, 2021. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also called on developed countries to provide aid to developing countries, specifically for climate change.

The aid on climate change "should be provided separately and should not be a part of conventional development assistance," said Ramaphosa, noting the poorer countries are paying the price of the emissions created by richer countries.

"When it is given in the form of loan financing, the debt burden of developing countries is worsened," Ramaphosa said, urging developed economies to meet their responsibilities to developing economies.

"Now is the moment for the signal to be unequivocal," said Marshall Islands President David Kabua, whose country is threatened by sea-level rise.

"Too often, vulnerable countries hear the excuse that state emission cuts are too costly, but political signals, especially from the major economies, shape decisions on investment and innovation for low-carbon pathways," Kabua said.

A man takes part in a climate change protest in Times Square in New York, the United States, on Sept. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said immediate and ambitious action plan should be taken by developed countries to reduce their carbon emissions to keep the global temperature rise at 1.5 degree Celsius and the developing nations should also focus on mitigation measures.

"Major economies, international financial institutions and private sectors should come forward for concessional climate financing as well as innovation," Hasina said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the global partnership must be strengthened to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement and the next joint agenda.

"Developing countries will achieve a similar ambition if the commitment of developed countries is credible with real support. Support and respect for commitments from developed countries are necessary," he said.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said the price of forest carbon credits should be raised to at least 100 U.S. dollars per ton in order to achieve the climate objectives set out in the Paris Agreement.

Tshisekedi said the current price of 5 dollars per ton was neither fair nor realistic, and achieving carbon neutrality would not be possible without taking into account the conservation and regeneration of forests.

People participate in a march calling for action against climate change in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 20, 2019. (Photo by Riccardo Pareggiani/Xinhua)

At the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, developing countries were promised 100 billion dollars a year in climate finance starting from 2020 to help them lower their emissions, adapt to the effects of climate change and offset the costs of limiting their reliance on fossil fuels.

But that commitment, repeated in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, was not met last year.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fragrance Creators Association released the following statement from Farah K. Ahmed, President & CEO, expressing gratitude to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for sharing insights with the association's membership on fragrance regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Fragrance Creators hosted a member webinar yesterday featuring Kerry Leifer, Chief of the Chemistry, Inerts and Toxicology Branch, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Registration, and moderated by Darci Ferrer, Chief Scientist at Fragrance Creators:

Fragrance Creators Association

"On this Earth Week, we thank the EPA for meeting with our membership. For Fragrance Creators' members, responsible industry stewardship includes advancing and sharing good science and innovation to protect the planet. We are grateful to Kerry for taking time to educate and answer questions from our diverse membershipboth large and small companies along the fragrance value chain. We appreciate that the Agency understands fragrance is an essential part of the supply chain for products, like disinfectants, that are critical to public health. Dialogue between EPA and our members fosters greater understanding and mutual respect, and is vital to help ensure compliance and the safety of scented products. Under Darci's leadership, Fragrance Creators' best-in-class multidisciplinary science and technical program continues to expand key relationships in an effort to advance sound science, green chemistry, and the benefits of fragrance to everyday life."

Fragrance Creators Association is the principal fragrance trade association. The organization leverages its network of over 1,000 multidisciplinary scientists as it represents the majority of fragrance manufacturing in the U.S. and Canada on a comprehensive array of issues. Fragrance Creators' diverse membership includes innovative companies that create, manufacture, and use fragrances and scents for home care, personal care, home design, fine fragrance, and industrial and institutional products as well as those that supply fragrance ingredients, including natural extracts and other raw materials that are used in perfumery and fragrance mixtures. Fragrance Creators established and administers the Congressional Fragrance Caucus, ensuring ongoing dialogue with members of Congress and staff. The association also produces The Fragrance Conservatory, the comprehensive digital resource for high-quality information about fragrance. Learn more about Fragrance Creators at fragrancecreators.orgfor people, perfume, and the planet.

Contact: Lia Dangelico, Director, Communications

[email protected]

+1 571 317 1504

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SOURCE Fragrance Creators Association
Melbourne woman Devyani Upadhyay was one of those left with questions after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the new travel restrictions at a press conference on Thursday, but did not give any clear dates for when the rule would be enforced and how the cap would be decided. Ms Upadhyay is a permanent resident of Australia. Her mother Sita, who usually travels to Australia to stay with her daughter for up to a year at a time, has been trapped in her home in Vadodara, in Gujarat state for more than a year due to the pandemic. It is very heartbreaking, Ms Upadhyay told The Age. Its very scary right now [in India], because of the cases. And she literally hasnt stepped out of the house. Its not mentally healthy. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Thursday when there were high rates of infection in another country, it was mirrored in more positive tests in hotel quarantine but she didnt think it was fair or appropriate to single out one nation due to higher COVID-19 rates.

I dont think its healthy to identify one nation ahead of others because that can change, she said. The rates of infection go up and down ... We just have to make sure that our quarantine system is as foolproof as possible, because Aussies who want to come home should have the right to do that. A photo taken the last time Devyani Upadhyay said good-bye her mother Sita. As her mother is not counted as immediate family for the purposes of gaining a visa into Australia at the moment, Ms Upadhyay said Thursdays announcement extinguished any hope she was holding onto of seeing her this year. I totally respect the governments rules, but its just they need to make an exemption for people who dont have any family over there. My mum has no family  my dad passed away five years ago, she said. Is it going to take another year? We dont know.

Loading Ms Upadhyay said she was kept awake at night worrying about her mother who is in her late 50s. God forbid something happens to her and we cant even reach over there, she said. Everyday we are crazily looking all the time for ways we can bring her over here. She said neighbours were bringing her mother groceries so she wouldnt need to leave the house.

Its very scary, it just feels bad. Parents are very good, they dont to give any kind of worry to their kids but we feel helpless because we are over here. Meanwhile in India, others are questioning the fairness of increasing restrictions on India more than other countries. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Australian citizen Sravanth, who did not wish to use his surname out of fear speaking about the governments policy may impact his dealings with the immigration department, was shocked by Mr Morrisons announcement. The 34-year-old has applied for Australian citizenship for his 13-month old daughter who was born in May last year in the south of India.

Sravanth lived in Australia for more than a decade before he and his wife returned to India in 2019 to undertake IVF treatment and be close to family for the birth of their first baby. In early 2020 Sravanth returned to Melbourne to tie up loose ends before his daughters birth, but became trapped here when the Australian government closed the borders in response to the COVID-19 crisis. I spent about five months trying to get back to India, and I missed the birth of my daughter in May, he said. In August he finally made it back to India at three times the normal cost of a ticket on a private charter flight. After the ordeal of trying to get back to India, Sravanth is worried now he and his wife are embarking on another to get back to Australia to where they wish to raise their daughter. My daughter needs to start her life in Australia, he said. Everything is pretty unpredictable and we obviously dont know what to do.

Loading Sravanth said he couldnt understand why the reduction was necessary. A month ago the Australian governments were talking about how the quarantine facilities were all upgraded. Thats what they are made for, he said. Im not sure whether the same restrictions were put on the US when the outbreak was terrible there. He said living in Australia had given him a great appreciation for following health advice and said his family would happily comply with whatever measure would ensure they could come home.
A man receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a site in Chicago, Ill., on April 6, 2021. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Vet Injected People With Dog Vaccine to Fight COVID-19 in Chile: Officials

A veterinarian in Chile confessed to injecting people with a dog vaccine and saying it would protect them against the CCP virus, according to local reports.

Maria Fernanda Munoz of Calama is accused by Chilean health authorities of administering the shot to at least 70 people during the second half of 2020, and she told them it would immunize them against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, otherwise known as the novel coronavirus.

We arrived at the premises and when we saw the staff without masks, we consulted them and they said that they were vaccinated by the veterinarian (Munoz) against COVID-19 when we [Chile] still did not have a vaccine. Im talking about last year, Antofagasta Undersecretary of Health Roxana Diaz recently told the Chilean state-run news channel 24 Horas.

According to local Spanish language media, she gave the shot 70 to 75 people and had 90 doses left of the dog vaccine.

Munoz admitted to 24 Horas that she self-administered the canine shot. Officials did not say what type of canine vaccine it was.

It occurred before any COVID-19 vaccines were approved for usage in Chile, noted The Associated Press.

If the vaccine is so bad [then why] didnt it do anything to me? Why doesnt the Seremi de Salud [regional health authority] come and test my blood to see if it has antibodies [against the CCP virus]? Munoz asked defiantly, as reported by local media. She confirmed that she administered the dog vaccine to four people.

Officials said the other vet was identified as Carlos Pardo, according to local media and AP.

A secretary for Munoz said that neither she nor her family had any problems after getting the dog vaccine.

My husband in the company he works for  was with those people and he was not infected by the vaccine that the doctor gave him, the unnamed secretary was quoted as saying by local outlets.

Munoz was fined about $10,300, and Pardo was fined $9,200, officials told AP.

Diaz said Pardo had claimed to have done a study on human beings and published it on (social media) networks to be able to sell the canine vaccine and inoculate it in humans, the reports said.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, a watershed moment for descendants of the hundreds of thousands of dead as he defied decades of pressure by Turkey.

Biden became the first US president to use the word genocide in a statement on the anniversary, a day after informing Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the decision and seeking to limit the furor from the NATO ally.

"We remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring," Biden said.

"We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated."

The statement is a massive victory for Armenia and its extensive diaspora. Starting with Uruguay in 1965, nations including France, Germany, Canada and Russia have recognized the genocide, but a US statement has been a paramount goal that proved elusive under previous presidents.

Erdogan, in a statement to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, said debates "should be held by historians" and not "politicized by third parties."

"Words cannot change or rewrite history," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Biden's statement. "We will not take lessons from anyone on our history."

The Turkish foreign ministry later summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield to express its displeasure, noting that Biden's decision caused "a wound in relations that is difficult to repair," the Anadolu state news agency reported.

Explaining Biden's thinking, an administration official pointed to the Democratic president's vows to put a new priority on human rights and highlighted his outspokenness on systemic racism in the United States.

Across the world, "people are beginning to acknowledge and address and grapple with the painful historical facts in their own countries. It's certainly something that we are doing here in the United States," the official said.

Story continues

- A century of waiting -

As many as 1.5 million Armenians are estimated to have been killed from 1915 to 1917 during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, which suspected the Christian minority of conspiring with adversary Russia in World War I.

Armenian populations were rounded up and deported into the desert of Syria on death marches in which many were shot, poisoned or fell victim to disease, according to accounts at the time by foreign diplomats.

Turkey, which emerged as a secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, acknowledges that 300,000 Armenians may have died but strongly rejects that it was genocide, saying they perished in strife and famine in which many Turks also died.

Recognition has been a top priority for Armenia and Armenian-Americans, with calls for compensation and property restoration over what they call Meds Yeghern -- the Great Crime -- and appeals for more support against Turkish-backed neighbor Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani foreign ministry said Biden's statement "distorted the historical facts about the events of 1915" and echoed Turkey's call for the killings to be "studied by historians, not politicians."

Azerbaijan defeated Armenia last year in a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, in which Ankara backed its ally Baku and which left Armenia traumatized.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked Biden for his "powerful step towards justice and invaluable support to the heirs of the Armenian genocide victims."

In the Armenian capital Yerevan, Taline Nourian, 41, said her people have been waiting for this moment for years.

"We wanted it before Biden," she told AFP. "I think Turkey will be afraid now because all countries are going to start recognizing (the genocide)."

Biden, whose call to Erdogan to inform him of the genocide recognition was their first conversation since the US leader took office three months ago, signaled he hoped to contain the fallout.

They agreed in their call to meet in June on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, officials said.

Beyond statements and the summoning of the US ambassador, Turkey did not immediately announce any retaliatory steps -- in contrast to angry measures taken over previous Western moves to recognize the genocide.

Tensions have risen sharply with Turkey in recent years over its purchase of a major air defense system from NATO adversary Russia, and its incursions against pro-US Kurdish fighters in Syria.

- Turbulent alliance -

The US Congress in 2019 voted overwhelmingly to recognize the Armenian genocide, but the Trump administration made clear that the official US line had not changed.

Alan Makovsky, an expert on Turkey at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said that the 2019 congressional resolution had "no discernible impact" on US-Turkey relations -- and paved the way for Biden to go ahead.

At a pro-Armenia rally in New York on Saturday, the crowd of several hundred included Aram Bowen, 33, whose great-great-grandfather was beheaded by the Ottomans during the massacres.

"Turkey is never going to recognize it as genocide," he said.

"So for us on so many levels, the closest thing to that actually becoming official worldwide, it was when the United States and the president himself acknowledged the genocide."

burs-sct/acb/mdl
President Joe Biden is heading to Georgia next week to mark his first 100 days in office and promote his infrastructure and jobs plan with a drive-in rally in Atlanta

The White House said the president and his wife, Jill Biden will travel to the state on April 29, a day after he delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress. In his address, hes expected to tout the accomplishments of his first 100 days in office and lay out his agenda for the rest of his term.

One of his next top priorities is a massive $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which provides funds to update the nations infrastructure, shift to green energy and expand caregiving options for older and disabled Americans.

It will mark Bidens second visit to the state since becoming president. His first visit was to promote his COVID-19 relief package, but those plans were derailed by a series of shootings at Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, including six Asian women. Biden instead spent his visit meeting with community leaders and state lawmakers from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to discuss the events, which came amid an outbreak of anti-Asian violence nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic.

His second visit comes as Georgia's controversial new voting law has put the state's election system in the spotlight. Biden has called the law Jim Crow in the 21st century and a blatant attack on the Constitution," and said the Justice Department is taking a look at it.
A Philadelphia-based distillery has launched a new line of ready-to-drink cocktails in a can.

Robert Cassell of New Liberty Distillery has launched the new beverages under his newest brand, American Liquor Company.

The line includes Sparkling Vodka Lemonade, Gin & Tonic, Margarita, Vodka Soda and Orange Crush.

The beverages come in four packs of 355ml slim cans. They are 8% ABV, start at 156 calories and retail for $9.99 to $13.99.

We set out with one goal in mind, to make delicious, ready-to-drink cocktails for any occasion with real ingredients, said Cassell. Kinsey Whiskey is made for sipping on the rocks and the Sparkling Vodka Lemonade is made for something different. They are both delicious, but the Canned Cocktails are going in my cooler this summer to be enjoyed by the water.

Cassell said he wanted to make an approachable, affordable, grab-and-go canned beverage option made with real ingredients ideal for enjoying outdoors. Made and canned locally at New Liberty Distillery in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, the Canned Cocktails are delicious straight from the can, poured over ice, or as a base for simple additions such as lime or cranberry.

The distiller said the canned cocktails are available across Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, new Jersey and Delaware and can be ordered online and shipped in Pa.

The Sparkling Vodka Lemonade includes real lemon juice.

The Gin & Tonic is a mix of Pittsburghs craft-made Red Ribbon Tonic Water with scratch-made gin.

The Margarita includes just three ingredients - tequila, triple sec and lime juice.

Vodka Soda has two ingredients and Orange Crush includes vodka, soda water and orange.

READ MORE
Houston, Texas, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a major charity and advocacy resource located in Houston, Texas, Karya Property Managements Karya Kares organization acts as a non-profit program dedicated to the welfare and improvement of millions of lives across the globe. Since its inception, Karya Kares has sought to meet the needs of those seeking gainful levels of education and economic relief, regardless of their background.

One of Karya Kares most prominent efforts acts within the area of educational support for families in need. While founders Swapnil Agarwal and Vivek Shah have consistently utilized the program to help those within the Houston area, efforts have also extended far into that of other countries.

In the past few years, Karya Kares has significantly expanded its educational campaign for India, supporting two schools in Lucknow and Agra respectively. These listed schools provide a steady combination of educational and vocational training to over 750 students, as well as providing healthy midday meals to support childhood nutrition. Karya Kares ensured that the children received special academic amenities including new buildings, new classrooms, safe commute services, and plans to open two small-scale job centers. These centers will help provide stable employment resources for the mothers and/or guardians of the school children. With these factors and facilities in play, the children and their families thus have a better opportunity to continue higher education without the financial burden that often comes with academic pursuit.

The Karya Kares Foundation was first established with the goal of providing charity services to families across the country, from financial support to rental assistance and housing services. Karya Kares parent company, Karya Property Management, manages 20,000 multifamily apartments across the country. It developed the Karya Kares program as a means of giving back to the community, as well as fostering a sense of goodwill and focus on those in need of financial assistance. The programs global education initiative is primarily focused on providing disadvantaged parties, particularly children, with the opportunity to find the tools they need to flourish and lead successful lives.

The Karya Kares organization aims to continue making strides within the world of educational services as well, utilizing its 501(c)(3) registered status to continue providing others with the resources they need to expand horizons and break through the weight of financial hardship.

Attachments
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, said the state was expected to generate $10 billion (about N4 trillion) in the agriculture sector in the next five years.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said this during the official inauguration of the five-year Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap in Lagos.

He said that most of the investments were expected to be private sector-driven with the needed infrastructure provided by the government.

The projection is that the total investment in the agricultural sector from the government, private sector, donor agencies and development partners will run into over $10 billion in the next five years.

The focus of the five-year roadmap is to develop the agricultural value chains where Lagos State has competitive and comparative advantages.

 It will help to enhance the states self-sufficiency in food production from 18 per cent to 40 per cent and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Lagos State.

The roadmap is, therefore, the most appropriate tool needed to unleash the capacity to produce the most-consumed agricultural products in the state and to accelerate the establishment of farms and agri-businesses, Sanwo-Olu said.

He said the state could no longer afford to rely exclusively on other states for its food, stressing that it was time for the state to unlock its immeasurable agricultural potential.

The governor said the roadmap would also lead to wealth generation, value creation, food security, industrialisation of the agricultural sector and the entrenchment of inclusive socio-economic development of the state.

According to him, the roadmap essentially focuses on three pillars which are the growth of the upstream sector, growth of the midstream and downstream sectors, as well as improvement of the private sector participation.

Our strategies for sustainable agricultural development shall focus on three pillars which includes to grow the upstream sector through interventions by leveraging technologies that are capable of lowering the cost of production of farming with the support from donor agencies.

We will also focus on growing the midstream and downstream sectors which involves processing, handling, storage, cold chain, packaging, utilisation and commercialisation.

Government will also help the private sector with business-friendly credits, he said.

The governor disclosed that the state had already started revamping its Agricultural Land Holding Authority, to support the investment.

He added that the coconut belt would also be strengthened with increased private sector involvement.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said some of the landmark investment which would help the smooth delivery of the roadmap included the State Aquatic Centre of Excellence (LACE).

He said LACE would boost fish production from 20 per cent to 80 per cent.

Others, he said included, the Imota Rice Mill, the Lagos Food Production Centre Avia, Igborosu-Badagry, as well as other state-wide agriculture focused initiatives.

ADVERTISEMENT

I am excited about the wealth we will generate from our fecund land and coastal resources.

The next five years will be productive, competitive, and transformational as Lagos state implements its agricultural roadmap.

We are set to become the nations agricultural powerhouse, and I invite you to join us to make history.

I am greatly encouraged by the interest already generated in the five-year agricultural roadmap and I hope it will be sustained and backed with concrete action on the part of our development partners and the international community.

I assure you that the Lagos State Government is putting in place deliberate incentives to make your investment safe, secure, and profitable, he said.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, said the roadmap was a brain-child of the Agricultural Stakeholders Summit held at the inception of Sanwo-Olu administration.

Ms Olusanya said private sector partnerships would go a long way in driving the roadmap to fruition.

She said investment in the transformation of agriculture to agribusiness was one way of achieving the dream of attaining self-sufficiency in food production.

With thousands of hours spent by statisticians, agriculture experts, investment bankers and practitioners, this strategic document was brought to live to help chart the way forward to a food sufficient Lagos.

I dream of a Lagos that is socially inclusive; where the informal sector becomes transformed into data driven clusters and then contribute toward the development of this great state, she said.

The Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo, said agriculture currently generates less than two per cent of the states Gross Domestic Product.

He added that the establishment of the roadmap would drive in more investments and create wealth.

Mr Olowo, therefore, urged all stakeholders in the agriculture sector to work together to ensure the success of the roadmap. (NAN)
Ghent, April 23, 18.30 CET, 2021 - Press release / Regulated Information

Disclosure about a transparency notification

(Article 14, first paragraph, of the Act of 2 May 2007 on disclosure of significant holdings)

1. Summary of the notification

ABO-Group Environment nv has received a transparency notification dated 23 April 2021, from which it can be noted that as a result of the sale of shares on 19 April 2021, Frank De Palmenaer now owns 89.97% of the voting rights of the company. He has thus breached the 90% shareholding threshold.

This sale of shares by Frank De Palmenaer aims to increase the liquidity of the ABO-Group share to meet the admission conditions of Euronext Paris. Indeed, ABO-Group has notified its application for dual listing on Euronext Brussels-Paris on 26 March 2021.

2. Content of the notification

The notification dated 23 April 2021 contains the following information:

Reason for the notification

Acquisition or disposal of voting shares or voting rights.

Notification by:

A supervising person.

Persons subject to the notification requirement:

Frank De Palmenaer & IDEPLUS NV (Derbystraat 357, 9051 Ghent (SDW))

Date on which the threshold is crossed:

19 april 2021.

Uncrossed threshold (in %):

90%.

Denominator:

10.568.735.

Details of the notification:

A) Voting rights Previous notification After the transaction #voting rights Voting rights % voting rights Holders of voting right Related to shares Separate from the shares Related to shares Separate from the shares Frank De Palmenaer 2.444.420.898 9.124.667 86,34 % Ideplus NV 383.890 3,63% Total 9.508.557 0 89,97% 0,00%





B) Equivalent financial instruments After the transaction Holders of equivalent financial instruments Type of financial instrument Expiration date Exercise period or date # voting rights that may be acquired upon exercise of the instrument % voting rights Settlement Total 0 0,00%





TOTAL (A & B) #voting rights % voting rights 9.508.557 89,97%

Full chain of controlled companies through which the shareholding is effectively held:

Mr. De Palmenaer is controlling shareholder of Ideplus NV.

3. Varia

This press release can be consulted on the website of ABO-Group Environment nv via this link: https://www.abo-group.eu/investeerders/

Contact:

ABO-Group Environment NV

Frank De Palmenaer

CEO ABO-Group Environment NV

frank.depalmenaer@abo-group.eu

T +32 (0)9 242 88 22

About ABO-Group Environment:

ABO-Group is a specialised engineering company focused on geotechnical engineering, the environment and soil remediation. Through its consultancy and testing & monitoring departments, ABO-Group is active in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, as well as internationally. ABO-Group guarantees its customers a sustainable solution. For a more detailed description of the operations of the group, please consult the ABO-Group website (www.abo-group.eu).

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0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A new Republican-backed Ohio elections bill would pare back the use of drop boxes used to collect completed absentee ballots during early voting, making them available for 20 fewer days, and eliminate early, in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day.

The bill also makes voting easier in some ways. Were talking about the proposal on This Week in the CLE.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Leila Atassi, Jane Kahoun and me.

Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.

Here are the questions were answering today:

What are the election law changes that Republicans plan, even though they all hailed Ohios November election as safe, fair and darned near perfect?

Whats up with how fast Cleveland and Columbus police released body camera footage on a couple of recent shootings? It seems like they get the footage to the public fast when they think it clears them?

Why wont Sherrod Brown have his banking committee consider a bill to let marijuana companies use banks?

How do Ohio unemployment officials say they have taken care of many of the inexplicable screwups they had during the pandemic, when people desperately needed benefits?

What basic needs products cant be purchased using food stamps?

How might Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine change the metric for when he will lift the remaining coronavirus restrictions?

Want more? You can find all our past episodes here.

We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify. Find us here.

If you use Stitcher, we are here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

And on PlayerFM, we are here.
A health worker inoculates the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine to a Chinese national living in Sri Lanka, at the Colombo Port City project premises, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on April 6, 2021. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korean Expat Dies After Receiving Chinese-Made COVID-19 Vaccines in Shanghai

A South Korean woman died 3 days after receiving a Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine; meanwhile, the Chinese communist regime is censoring messages about the side effects of Chinese vaccines on social media.

On April 22, according to the foreign citizens community and the South Korean Consulate General in Shanghai, a South Korean woman in her 40s was found dead at home.

South Korean media KBS reported that the Korean expat in Shanghai was vaccinated at Shanghai Tongren Hospital on April 19 with COVID-19 vaccines made by the Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm. She later developed nausea and other symptoms. She had no underlying diseases.

The South Korean Consulate in Shanghai stated that the Shanghai police said that there was no sign of homicide, and the family of the female expatriate believed that the cause of death might be related to the Chinese-made vaccine, according to the report.

The news unsettled South Korean nationals in Shanghai, and many canceled their vaccination appointments, said the report.

Workers wait to open the secure door in the packaging area of Sinopharm CNBGs inactivated SARS-Cov-2 vaccine for COVID-19 during a media tour organized by the State Council Information Office in Beijing, China on Feb. 26, 2021. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Chinese authorities recently claimed that they have administered 200 million doses of Chinese-made vaccines domestically. However, they have never announced the number of cases of possible death related to the vaccines nor their side effects.

Recent leaked internal Chinese government documents listed various adverse reactions to the Chinese vaccines, including severe disability and death.

Meanwhile, the Chinese regime is silencing the discussion of Chinese vaccine-related deaths on social media.

On April 20, a female netizen in Nanjing city was arrested and sentenced to administrative detention for seven days by the police for making comments online about Chinese vaccines leading to death. The Jiangsu Internet Police posted the announcement of her arrest on its official account on Chinese social media platform Weibo, accusing her of causing public panic.

On April 15, a Netizen Shanxia Huayezi posted on Weibo that her 28-year-old brother, who was a Chinese border police officer, suffered a subcutaneous hemorrhage and gum hemorrhage after receiving a Sinopharm inactivated vaccine in Shenzhen and passed away that day. Later that night, she left a message on Weibo saying that she received warning phone calls from her brothers unit in the border armed police and the Shenzhen Futian Health Bureau, and her posts were soon deleted.

Fourteen deaths and 13 cases of facial paralysis after receiving Chinese-made vaccines had been reported in Hong Kong as of mid-April.

Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines have been causing wide concerns due to their quality issues and lack of transparency in trial data and side effects.

People wait in line to receive a dose of the Sinovacs CoronaVac vaccine during a vaccination day for 65-year-old and older citizens in Duque de Caxias near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 29, 2021. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

A phase three clinical trial of the Sinovac vaccine conducted in Brazil in January reported that it was 50.4 percent effective, which is far below the initial claims of the Chinese company, which claimed a 78 percent efficacy rate.

In March, the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinopharm reported 11.5 percent and 33.3 percent efficacy rates against two virus strains in its phase three clinical trials in Peru.

Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Gao Fu admitted at Chinas National Vaccine and Health Conference on April 10 that Chinas vaccines have low effectiveness, and he was considering mixing vaccines of different technologies.

In March, he suggested on Chinese TV that an additional third dose of the vaccine may be needed to boost its effectiveness after a fully vaccinated Chinese doctor tested positive for COVID-19.
Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :Japan's government is to declare virus states of emergencies in Tokyo and three other regions on Friday, exactly three months before the Olympic opening ceremony, as new infections surge.

The measures will be stricter than Japan's last state of emergency, imposed in parts of the country from January, but still fall short of the harsh lockdowns seen in some parts of the world.

"We have a strong sense of crisis," Japan's minister for virus response Yasutoshi Nishimura said Friday.

The measures will ask businesses serving alcohol to shut or stop serving alcohol between April 25 to May 11, and also shutter major commercial facilities such as shopping malls and department stores.

An official declaration of the emergency is expected later Friday -- with the measure expected to cover Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo regions initially.

Previous emergencies have been expanded to other areas after being announced, and experts say the term may be extended if the spread of the virus continues.

"We will take strong, brief and focused emergency measures," said top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato, calling restaurants "key points of infection" after an expert advisory panel endorsed the proposal.

The measure will coincide with the annual Golden Week holiday, Japan's busiest travel period. It could involve cutting some train and bus services to discourage movement.

- Slow vaccine rollout - Authorities in affected regions are also likely to bar spectators from sports events -- but officials have been insistent that the emergency measures will have no impact on staging the Olympics.

Although the measures won't start until Sunday, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike urged citizens to start observing them right away.

Japan has seen a comparatively small Covid-19 outbreak, with fewer than 10,000 deaths despite never imposing the strict lockdowns seen in other countries.

But cases surged over winter and have rebounded after the previous state of emergency was lifted in March.

Tokyo on Thursday recorded 861 new infections, figures not seen since January, while Osaka logged 1,167 cases, slightly down from a record number a day earlier.

Authorities in Osaka have said health facilities there are already overwhelmed, with beds for seriously ill patients running short.

Japan's vaccine programme is moving slowly meanwhile, with just over 1.5 million people given a first shot and only around 827,000 fully vaccinated.

Only the Pfizer vaccine has so far been approved, and approvals for the Moderna and AstraZeneca formulas are not expected before May at the earliest.

Taro Kono, the minister in charge of Japan's vaccine rollout, said requests from local authorities for vaccine doses from May 10 had exceeded planned supply.

"I am sorry. There has been an overflow" of demand, Kono said Thursday, adding that a higher-than-expected uptake could result in swift vaccination of Japan's elderly.
RAMBOUILLET, France (AP)  French authorities opened a terrorism investigation and detained three people after a police official was stabbed to death inside a police station outside Paris. Officers shot and killed the attacker at the scene Friday, authorities said.

The attack stunned the quiet residential neighborhood near the famed historic chateau of Rambouillet, and prompted renewed French government promises to fight extremism and protect police.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told reporters that his office took over the probe because the attacker had staked out the station ahead of time, because of statements he made during the attack, and because he targeted a police official.

Ricard did not provide details on the attacker's identity, motive or purported terrorist ties. His national anti-terrorism prosecutors office opened an investigation into murder of a person of public authority in relation with a terrorist group.

French media reports identified the attacker as a 37-year-old French resident with no criminal record or record of radicalization. A French judicial official said the suspect was born in Tunisia and that witnesses heard him say Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great, during the attack. The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about an ongoing investigation.

Police searched the attackers home, also in Rambouillet, and detained three people in his entourage, according to the official.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex rushed to the scene with other officials and pledged the government's determination to fight terrorism in all its forms." Islamic extremists and others have carried out multiple terror attacks in France recent years, including several targeting police.

The official killed Friday was a 49-year-old administrative employee who worked for the national police service, a national police spokesperson told The Associated Press. Police only released her first name, Stephanie.

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She had left the station briefly to extend the time on her parking space, and was attacked in the entry passage as she returned, said Valerie Pecresse, president of the Paris region.

Police are symbols of the republic. They are France, Pecresse told reporters at the scene, adding: The face of France was targeted.

The attack took place southwest of Paris just inside the police station in the town of Rambouillet, about 750 meters (yards) from a former royal chateau that is sometimes used for international peace negotiations.

Security cordons ringed the area after the stabbing. Masked police employees clustered outside the station, while uniformed officers in bulletproof vests stood watch around the neighborhood.

There is a sort of well-known signature on this attack, an attack with a knife, on the throat, against a woman police officer in a police building, Francois Bersani, a police union official at the scene, told The AP.

The prime minister noted that the surrounding Yvelines region has seen two particularly brutal Islamic extremist attacks on public servants in recent years: last years beheading of a teacher by a Chechen extremist, and the 2016 fatal stabbing of a police couple in their home by a Frenchman who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Friday's attack came as President Emmanuel Macrons government is toughening its security policies amid voter concerns about crime and complaints from police that they face increasing danger. The shift comes as France prepares for regional elections in June in which security is a big issue, and for a presidential election next year in which Macron's main challenger could be far-right leader Marine Le Pen, if he seeks a second term.

___

Charlton reported from Paris. Oleg Cetinic in Rambouillet contributed.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  Five schools in the Philippines were among the top universities which have made a global impact based on the rankings by the United Kingdom-based magazine Times Higher Education.

Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Tarlac Agricultural University, and Mapua University entered this year's Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which assess how a university's research, stewardship, and outreach deliver against the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the Commission on Higher Education announced Thursday.

The magazine said the goals seek to address global challenges including poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation. The 2021 Impact Rankings is the third edition and it included 1,115 universities from 94 countries and regions, with the UK's University of Manchester leading the list.

Last year, UST, the University of Asia and the Pacific, De La Salle, and Mapua entered the Times Higher Education's Impact Rankings. In 2019, De La Salle was the only university from the Philippines included in the list.

CHED lauded the Tarlac Agricultural University or TAU for being recognized by the international magazine for its contributions.

TAU has continuously improved its ranking among SUCs and has achieved Level 4 status in the last CHED leveling exercise. It has also joined most of the internationalization programs of CHED, particularly with Canadian universities, and has inked partnership agreements with 7 Canadian colleges and universities. This new ranking is the result of these efforts, CHED Chairman J. Prospero E. De Vera III said Thursday in a statement.
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Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
Washington: The head of U.S. forces in the Middle East said on Thursday (April 22) that he was concerned about the ability of the Afghan security forces to hold territory after the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country in the coming months.

President Joe Biden announced last week that the United States will withdraw its remaining 2,500 troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks that triggered America`s longest war.

"My concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground that they`re on now without the support that they`ve been used to for many years," Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

"I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave, the ability of the Afghan Air Force to fly, in particular, after we remove the support for those aircraft," McKenzie added.

The Pentagon has said it is looking to fund key Afghan military capabilities, including the air force, and seeking to continue paying the salaries of Afghan security forces.

But U.S. officials have long been concerned about corruption in the security forces and questioned how they would be able to hold back Taliban insurgents, which McKenzie said number 50,000, without American air support and intelligence capabilities.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted by U.S.-led forces. Since then they have waged a long-running insurgency and still control wide swathes of territory.

Speaking with reporters later on Thursday (April 22), McKenzie said that while the Taliban had not been attacking U.S. and coalition forces, the pace of their attacks against Afghan security forces was as high as during any time in the past two decades.

It remains unclear whether the Taliban will let U.S. forces, who they call invaders, leave the country peacefully.

Biden`s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops has raised concerns that the country could erupt in full-scale civil war, providing al Qaeda space in which to rebuild and plan new attacks on U.S. and other targets.



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Alabama A&M Universitys executive committee has voted to close the Confucius Institute at the university after notification from the federal government that it could lose eligibility for some federal funds.

The executive committee made the decision Saturday. Congressman Mo Brooks of Huntsville, a critic of Confucius Institutes because of their connections to the Chinese government, applauded the decision and urged Troy University, which also has a Confucius Institute, to do the same. Troy University said no decision has been made.

An April 6 letter from the Under Secretary of Defense to Alabama A&M President Andrew Hugine Jr., said the Defense Department would not provide grants, contracts, or other funds to universities hosting Confucius Institutes, which are based in China. Congress put the funding prohibition in the defense authorization act for 2021.

Confucius Institutes have come under fire for several years because of their connection to Chinas Communist government.

Last year, Andrew Hugine Jr., and Troy Chancellor Jack Hawkins both praised the work of the Confucius Institutes on their campuses in response to questions from Brooks. Hugine and Hawkins said the Confucius Institutes taught the Chinese language, promoted cultural awareness, and did not pose undue influence.

But Brooks, in a statement responding to Alabama A&Ms decision, said there is no place on American campuses for the institutes.

Confucius Institutes are nothing more than Communist Chinese Party propaganda and spying units, Brooks said. For nearly a year, I, and other patriotic Alabamians have called on Alabama A&M University and Troy University to close their Communist Chinese Party-controlled Confucius Institutes. Over the weekend, Alabama A&Ms board, displaying love of country and sound judgment, voted to close their Confucius Institute and end their relationship with the Communist Chinese Party.

I applaud A&Ms decision and commend their university leaders for putting America First. I urge Troy University to follow the lead of Alabama A&M and dozens of other patriotic universities that have closed their Confucius Institutes. The Communist Chinese Party bars America from sponsoring pro-freedom, pro-Democracy institutes on Chinese soil. America must reciprocate by barring the Communist Chinese Party from operating espionage and propaganda units on American soil.

Confucius was a philosopher and teacher who lived more than 2,500 years ago in China. Confucius Institutes operate under Hanban, an organization based in Beijing with the stated purpose of promoting the teaching of the Chinese language and understanding of the culture.

More than 60 universities in the United States have Confucius Institutes, the Associated Press has reported.

Last year, the Trump administration designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center in Washington as a foreign mission of the Chinese Communist Party. The designation meant the center has to report to the U.S. government information about funding, personnel, curriculum and other activities, AP reported.

The Confucius Institute at Alabama A&M started in 2016.

In a letter to Brooks last year, Hugine wrote that the instructors at the Confucius Institute at A&M teach the Chinese language and related subjects and organized, hosted, and participated in many cultural activities which are always inclusive and involve diverse (religion, ideologies, ethnicity, nationality) communities of students, faculty, staff and members of the public.

According to the Alabama A&M website, the Confucius Institute is a non-degree granting entity that offers three courses for credit. The institute supports community outreach cultural activities in Chinese language, culture, history, economics, and philosophy.

The Institute also addresses universitys service mission by providing programs and courses such as Introductory Chinese, Chinese Writing, and History and Culture of China to students and greater Huntsville.

Troy University released a statement today in response to questions about Alabama A&Ms decision and the letter from the Defense Department. The Confucius Institute at Troy started in 2007.

Troy University is in receipt of a letter from the Department of Defense outlining a loss of certain types of DOD funding to universities who operate Confucius Institutes, the statement said. The Defense Departments implementation date is Oct. 1, 2023.

The University is currently reviewing the request and has made no decisions regarding the letter nor The Confucius Institute at Troy University at this time.

As Alabamas International University, Troy Universitys experience with the Confucius Institute has been one of mutual benefit. The Confucius Institute at Troy University has afforded our students and our state with an opportunity for exposure to Chinese language, history and culture, and it has promoted stronger business ties between Alabama and Chinese companies. Troy Universitys association with the Confucius Institute has been positive, and we have seen no evidence of undue political influence from the Chinese government nor has there been any evidence of intellectual theft.

Rep. Tommy Hanes, a Republican from Scottsboro, who is sponsoring a bill to prohibit Alabamas public colleges from hosting Confucius Institutes, praised Alabama A&Ms decision in a statement.

This a step in protecting our freedoms and liberties from the Communist agenda of world domination, Hanes said.

Clint Reid, chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama, also praised the A&M decision and said he hoped that other universities would do the same.

We commend Alabama A&M University for standing for academic freedom and national security with the closure of their Confucius Institute, Reid said.
At a virtual climate summit on Thursday, President Joe Biden vowed to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, laying out an ambitious goal that would necessitate significant improvements to the country's electricity and transportation industries.

The White House also announced that by 2024, it would have doubled its climate-related funding for low-income countries and would encourage the private sector to finance sustainable infrastructure, mitigation projects, and other investments.

Biden vows 50% decrease in U.S. emissions by 2030

"These moves will put America on a path to become a net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050," Biden said at the start of the two-day summit, which 40 world leaders attended.

"Scientists warn us that this is the crucial decade. This is the decade in which we must make choices that will prevent the worst effects of a climate crisis," he added.

The White House's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent to 52 percent from 2005 levels is almost twice the Obama administration's goal set in 2015. Under the basis of anonymity, an administration official briefed reporters on how the White House wants to accomplish the 50 percent cut in emissions, USA Today reported.

After four years of the Trump administration's efforts to unravel US environmental promises, the virtual climate summit aims to renew America's leadership on climate change and mobilize other world leaders to set their goals. Only a few world leaders outlined measures to resolve the situation, among other world leaders giving equally grim evaluations of the danger faced by climate change.

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his country would cut carbon emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2030, up from the previous goal of 30 percent. Yoshihide Suga, Japan's prime minister, has pledged to cut emissions by 46 percent below 2013 levels.

China and India, two of the world's largest emitters, did not propose any new goals. President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India reaffirmed their previous commitments. They stated that they face more significant challenges than the U.S. and other Western countries.

Taiwan's Worst Drought in 56 Years, Why the World Should Keep an Eye on it

Australia PM Scott Morrison resists pressure

However, Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defied U.S. pressure to use a global climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden to announce a higher greenhouse gas emission reduction goal. "We are well on our way to meeting our Paris commitments," Morrison said at the summit, revealing the rift between Australia and many of its other partners over how to address the climate crisis better.

"For Glasgow, we'll update our long-term carbon reduction policy," he added, referring to the COP26 climate change summit, which will be held in Scotland in November. As a result, Australia is looking for a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, about half the size of the updated U.S. target.

Biden said that the United States would aim to raise its Paris target to decrease emissions of 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. He addressed the 40 countries invited to the virtual meeting that taking steps was a "moral imperative," as per ABC News.

China Leader XI Jinping Confirms To Take Part In US President Joe Biden's Climate Summit

Biden urges other world leaders to go big at the climate summit

In a live-streamed summit highlighting America's return to the battle against global warming, the leaders of Russia and China set aside their harshly-worded disagreements with U.S. President Joe Biden to pledge international coordination on reducing climate-wrecking coal and petroleum emissions.

Neither Vladimir Putin nor Xi Jinping joined the United States and some of its established allies in making concrete new commitments to curb harmful fossil fuel emissions on the first day of the two-day summit organized by the United States. However, climate activists hoped that the high-profile but glitch-plagued simulated summit would spur fresh action from big polluters, clearing the way for a crucial United Nations conference in Glasgow in November.

Biden spoke from a TV-style chrome-blue set for the virtual summit of 40 world leaders, declaring that the whole world is facing a time of peril but also a moment of opportunity. Onscreen, participants emerged one by one for what appeared to be a combination of live and recorded speeches, AP News reported.

Indonesia Searches for Missing Submarine With 53 People on Board, Asks Australia for Help

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A man has been charged over the cold-case kidnapping, rape and murder of a 78-year-old woman with dementia who had wandered away from her home in April 1985.

Richard C. Lange, now 61, was arrested after a review of cold cases by Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office allegedly matched a DNA sample from the victim to a state database.

Lange now faces first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault charges.

The sheriff's office did not release the victim's name, but 1985 news stories identify her as Mildred Matheny.

Matheny went missing from her home in Lake Worth, Florida, at 4:30pm on April 27, 1985.

She was found unconscious, nude and beaten along a remote dirt road seven hours later, about 25 miles from where she had disappeared.

CBS12 reports that her clothing was found scattered across the street, as well as dentures, which were stained with blood.

Richard C. Lange (left), 61, has been arrested in a cold case dating back to April 1985. The sheriff's office did not release the victim's name, but 1985 news stories identify her as Mildred Matheny (right)

She was taken to the Juniper Medical Center to see a neurosurgeon for a severe head injury.

She died 11 days later and her death was ruled a homicide.

Matheny was a retired nurse, who had moved from Arkansas to Lake Worth, Florida to move in with her sister.

In a video released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in 2019, a person of interest in her death allegedly told passersby that he was going to give Matheny a ride home when she was spotted in his vehicle.

State and county records show Lange has a lengthy criminal record, including convictions in 1983 and 1993 for aggravated assault, receiving probation each time.

He also was convicted of weapons charges in 2006 and 2012, receiving short jail sentences.

Matheny, who suffered from dementia, wandered out of her home in Lake Worth, Florida

Matheny, was found beaten, nude, and unconscious on a dirt road 25 miles away from where she vanished

In its press release, the sheriff's office says its homicide cold case unit submitted DNA found on the victim to the state database in March.

DNA processing has only recently become available for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Crime Lab according to the release, which may explain why he wasn't previously linked to the crime after his previous connections.

The submitting of DNA from the cold case last month was part of a periodic review of cold cases by the county.

Detectives then received a warrant to obtain saliva from Lange, who was tested Thursday at his Boynton Beach home, about 10 miles from where Matheny was abuducted.

His DNA again matched the sample and he was arrested, the sheriff's office said.

He denied any connection to the killing. A judge Friday ordered him held without bond.

In 1985, Lange was 25 and living in Palm Beach County, records show.

The crime scene included her clothes spread out and bloody dentures

A judge Friday ordered Lange to be held without bond. He denies connection to the killing

Matheny was a widow who suffered from dementia, likely Alzheimer's disease, according to a 1985 story in the Palm Beach Post.

She had recently moved from Arkansas to live with her sister in Lake Worth, Florida, and was not allowed outside alone because of fears she would wander away.

But because of some family confusion, Matheny got outside on the afternoon of April 27, 1985. Neighbors had seen her walking down the street in her pajamas, but no one reported witnessing her abduction.

Her pajamas were found near her when she was discovered by a passerby hours later in Jupiter, Florida.

'It's pretty bad when a grandmother goes outside for a walk and winds up knocked out on some dirt road,' Lake Worth police Lt. Marty Kerner said in 1985.
THE former Kapyong barracks site has a new name, embracing Anishinaabe culture: Naawi-Oodena.

THE former Kapyong barracks site has a new name, embracing Anishinaabe culture: Naawi-Oodena.

Unveiled Thursday, it means "centre of the heart and community," according to the group of Treaty 1 First Nations that has taken up the task of redeveloping the former Canadian military base in southwest Winnipeg.

Long Plain Chief Dennis Meeches says the sites renaming is a step toward repatriation and an acknowledgement of Indigenous culture.

"Im very, very excited. I think we have a beautiful name," he said. "Im hoping people will be able to get accustomed to it."

Site owners Treaty One Development Corp. and Canada Lands Co. (a federal Crown) released their 130-page master plan for the 160-acre area near Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard in March. The land has not been in use since 2004, when the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry relocated to Canadian Forces Base Shilo.

According to the master plan, Treaty One Nation owns 68 per cent of the space. A portion of Naawi-Oodena will be devoted to an urban reserve managed by seven member First Nations.

The organization is slated to transform the now-vacant lot into a mixed-use neighbourhood that celebrates cultural identity through design.

The land designations include a mixed-used village, commercial mixed-use, medium- and lower-density residential, recreation, cultural campus, and education and community space.

The area is expected to drive economic development for First Nations communities.

"The name itself, it just fits right in with whats happening at Naawi-Oodena," Meeches said Thursday.

The renaming comes at a time when many Indigenous governments and groups are changing place names to reflect the people living in them, and are reclaiming traditional names.

"A lot of it has to do with the preservation of language, too," Meeches said.

The Treaty 1 governing council selected Chief Derrick Henderson of Sagkeeng First Nation to approach Anishinaabe elder Dave Courchene Jr. with sacred tobacco and request he hold a naming ceremony.

"When you offer that tobacco, what youre actually doing is seeking the higher realm of intelligence," Courchene said. "It is in ceremony that we seek that guidance and direction to the name that should be given."

Chiefs, elders and community representatives from four First Nations travelled through a snowstorm to gather last week at Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng, 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Courchene arrived on Naawi-Oodena.

"I was able to transfer that name and bring it into this world for the leaders," he said.

Courchene hopes Naawi-Oodena  a name with spiritual and physical meaning  will have a positive impact on the way people perceive the future neighbourhood.

"I hope the people will give the community a chance to develop," he said. "Were not going to be different than any other people. Were going to make mistakes. Theres going to be a lot of challenges. Thats what communitys about."

Construction on Naawi-Oodena is expected to begin as early as fall.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
Stanley Browne (2nd from right), Sagicors General Agent and Principal Representative in St Vincent and the Grenadines, presents a portion of the relief contributed by Sagicor to the people of St Vincent to representatives of NEMO and the Rotary Club at NEMO compound.

On Thursday, April 15th Stanley Browne, Sagicors General Agent and Principal Representative in St Vincent and the Grenadines, presented relief supplies to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO).





This initial donation represents the first share of relief assistance that the insurance and financial services company will be providing to the country as it navigates the impact of the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano.





Browne, who operates the Sagicor offices in Kingstown and Arnos Vale said, "Our colleagues in some of the other Caribbean islands were able to mobilize quickly and we got some of the supplies onto the Galleons Passage from Trinidad, which arrived in St Vincent on Tuesday  April 13). We do have more supplies coming from Dominica and St Lucia, so this is truly a Caribbean relief effort. Our team stands ready to assist the government and its agencies in offering and mobilizing support to ensure that we emerge on the other side of this stronger together.





The donation, which will provide emergency supplies to those in immediate need, included mattresses, folding cots, blankets, face masks, water tanks and coolers. (Source: Sagicor)




Gamers have been complaining for a long time about higher prices for graphics cards due to demand from people who mine cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum but now a new cryptocurrency that can be mined using hard drive storage space is putting a similar chokehold on supplies of this critical PC component.

Unlike bitcoin, which requires massive amounts of processing power and electricity, the blockchain and transaction platform of Chia  a cryptocurrency created by Bram Cohen who is best known for developing the peer-to-peer BitTorrent protocol  uses hard drive storage capacity for its consensus mechanism. Chia has made it clear it wants to break with the past approach to mining.

Specialised mining hardware is increasingly owned and operated by just a few large entities in purpose-built large data centres located near inexpensive sources of electricity  This centralisation has lowered trust and raises difficult issues regarding electricity consumption, e-waste, carbon generation, and geopolitics, Chias team said in a whitepaper in February.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

The team said it expects Chia to help solve some of the problems created by traditional Bitcoin mining.

Although Chia is not due to start trading until May 3, people are already stockpiling hard disks and solid-state drives (SSDs) in anticipation of a surge in demand for the storage space used for mining, driving up prices and leading to shortages in both online and offline sales channels.

On Chinese e-commerce platforms Taobao and JD.com, multiple models of enterprise-grade hard drives with large capacity have already sold out.

Many people have inquired about large hard drives for Chia mining in the past few days, said one customer service agent at a Taobao online shop that sells hard drives from Seagate and Western Digital, two popular US storage manufacturers.

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The agent said most enterprise-grade drives with over 8TB storage are sold out, with no certainty on when new stock will arrive.

According to manmanbuy.com, a Chinese website that tracks and compares historical prices of products on Chinas popular e-commerce platforms, the price of a hard drive made by Western Digital with 12TB storage was 2,188 yuan (US$337) in February before surging on April 8 to 3,499 yuan on JD.com.

Due to the rising acceptance of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in recent years, crypto mining has become a popular way for many people to make money. Photo: AFP

A Seagate enterprise-grade hard drive with 8TB storage was priced at 1,150 yuan on Taobao before April 14 but has since surged to 2,160 yuan, according to manmanbuy.com.

Prospective Chia miners in China are also snapping up large hard drives offline. At Huaqiangbei, the worlds largest electronics market in the southern city of Shenzhen, some sellers said that they only have drives with storage under 4TB currently in stock and they do not know when this situation will change.

You can mine Chia with 4TB hard drives as well because we dont have any hard drives over 4TB in stock, said a seller in Shenzhen surnamed Qin, who added that prices are a bit higher than the 700 yuan she used to sell them for, due to demand.

At peak times, prices have been at least 60 per cent higher than usual. Prices dropped a bit recently but they are still about 50 per cent (higher than normal) now, said another vendor surnamed Chen. He said he normally sells 8TB enterprise-grade hard drives for around 1,200 yuan but has recently been selling them at over 2,000 yuan each.

The topic of hard drive shortages has been a popular discussion topic on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, with hashtags such as hard drive price surge and prices of hard drives double in 10 days.

Its over. First graphic cards, now hard drives. Am I only able to afford a computer case now? one netizen posted on Weibo.

Whats next then? Using a cursor for crypto mining? The faster you click the faster you can mine? said another netizen in a popular discussion group on Chia mining.

Crypto mining itself is the process by which a machine performs certain tasks  the mathematical calculations that confirm transactions on a platform and increase security  to obtain a little bit of cryptocurrency. As a reward to miners who used their hardware to serve network transactions, they collect transaction fees for the transactions they confirm.

Due to the rising acceptance of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in recent years, crypto mining has become a popular way for many people with a background in technology and computing to make money.

Although Chinese law does not recognise bitcoin as a legitimate currency, the country has not banned bitcoin mining entirely. China accounts for around 70 per cent of bitcoin blockchain operations around the world, according to a recent paper published by Nature.com in April.

The surge in electricity consumption associated with crypto mining has also caught the attention of Chinas regulators, amid the countrys drive to save energy and reduce pollution. Inner Mongolia, a major bitcoin-producing region in northern China due to its cheap electricity prices, has said it will close all bitcoin mines before May this year.

Bitcoin consumes around 113.88 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year globally. If it were classed as a country, it would rank 33rd in the world, above the total electricity consumption of the Netherlands and the Philippines, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.

More from South China Morning Post:

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The 'Big Bird Bandits' who allegedly stole a Sesame Street costume from a circus in Adelaide have been tracked down and charged.

The $160,000 Big Bird costume that was stolen from a circus and held captive for days was returned by two men 'wearing dark clothing' with an apology letter stuffed inside its beak.

The Sesame Street Circus Spectacular was rocked by the brazen robbery of the popular character from its current performance site at Bonython Park, in Adelaide's north-west, over the weekend.

South Australia police said two men, aged 26 and 22 from Norwood and Murray Bridge, were arrested on Friday night and later charged with theft and unlawfully being on premises.

They were granted bail and are next due to appear at Adelaide Magistrates Court in late June.

A Big Bird costume stolen from a Sesame Street-themed circus and held captive for days has been found dumped on the site (pictured) with a letter stuffed inside its beak

The circus was forced to pull the lovable yellow personality from his regular appearance during show intervals, leaving thousands of fans devastated.

But the 'Big Bird Bandits' had a change of heart after learning of the devastation they had caused by whisking off with the beloved television icon, and returned the canary home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Police were called to the scene just before 5am and found the outfit dumped by an electricity box in the southwestern end of the circus, with a handwritten note inside its mouth.

'We are so sorry!!' The note read.

'We had no idea what we were doing or what our actions would cause.

'We were just having a rough time and were trying to cheer ourselves up.

'We had a great time with Mr Bird, he's a great guy and no harm came to our friend.

'So sorry to be such a big birden! Sincerely, the big bird bandits.'

The costume was intact and has been returned to the circus.

Police found a handwritten note inside the yellow bird's mouth written by its captors who apologised for the kidnapping

Police dogs searched the area but were unable to locate the men.

The Sesame Street themed circus took to Facebook to share the good news after their star performer was brought home.

'Big Bird has been returned safely to us at Bonython Park!' The circus wrote on its page.

'Thank you to everyone that assisted in helping his return and thank you to everyone for their messages of support! Adelaide you are a true family!'

Police are continuing to investigate the theft and those responsible could face criminal charges if caught.

The theft occurred between 4.30pm on Sunday and 9.30am on Monday, leaving a trail of yellow feathers behind along nearby Port Road.

The Sesame Street Circus Spectacular was forced to withdraw Big Bird (pictured) from its popular production following the theft of the bird's costume

The yellow feathered costume was stolen from the circus' current performance site at Bonython Park in Adelaide north-west.

The brazen theft has brought Big Bird's appearances on the production to an abrupt halt

Devastated fans flocked online after hearing the news to express their heartbreak.

'This is so sad.. why do some humans choose to be so dishonest and unethical.. give Big Bird back to he's friends and family!' one woman commented online.

Another added: 'That's awful, the kids and adults really enjoy the show.'

The 90-minute production which was locally written and produced tours South Australia along with regional Victoria and New South Wales.

Many of Sesame Street's most loved characters star in the show, including Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Bert and Ernie and Grover.

The circus also features performers from Switzerland, Argentina, Colombia, Morocco, Brazil, Ethiopia and Australia.

The circus held the first of its daily Bonython Park shows on Monday, where it's currently based until May 2.
In 1990 when the Kashmiri separatist campaign became violent, the J&K government had sacked five of its senior officials after accusing them of being involved in anti-national activities and for taking pro-separatist stand.  Representational image/AP

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted a Special Task Force (STF) for identifying and scrutinizing its employees involved in any activity detrimental to the security of the country or deemed as anti-national.

The Union Territorys General Administration Department (GDA) has issued an order giving sanction for the constitution of a STF which would be authorised to identify and scrutinize cases of government employees found involved in such activity and refer these to the government for action against them in terms of provisions of Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India.

Additional Director General of Police (CID) has been nominated as chairperson of the committee which will have Inspectors General of Police from Jammu and Kashmir Valley, representatives of Home, Law, Justice Member and Parliamentary Affairs and those of the concerned department of the employee under scrutiny as members.

"The terms of reference of the Special Task Force shall be to scrutinize cases of employees suspected of activities requiring action under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India, the order says. The STF will, as per the order, engage with other members of the Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) for identifying such other employees, as necessary. It will also avail assistance of other law enforcing and intelligence agencies and departments, if warranted, towards completing probes in a time bound manner, the official sources said.

The GAD order reads that the STF shall speedily scrutinize such cases in a time-bound manner and shall be serviced by the Criminal Investigation Department.

The J&K government has, while pursuing a tough policy against what it sees as their anti-national activities and violation of Government Servants Conduct Rules, sacked a large number of its employees over a period of time. These rules lay down that no government servant shall take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any way, any political movement in the country or relating to its affairs.

In October 2016, twelve government employees were fired on charges of being involved in anti- national activities which included fuelling the unrest in the erstwhile state after the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Some of the sacked officials were subsequently detained under J&Ks stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) which allows a person to be jailed for three months to two years without formal trial being initiated against him or her.

They were charged with not only questioning the sovereignty and integrity of India but also violating the rules 14 and 20 of the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Conduct Rules, 1971. However, the action against these employees had caused many raised eyebrows as it was taken without holding the mandatory inquiry into the charges levelled against them. The authorities had while defending it said that such an exercise was not possible keeping in view the charged atmosphere and threat perception to witnesses.

More employees faced the axe on similar charges and subsequently and, as per official sources, about one hundred government employees are currently being watched closely, and there could be more such sackings. Most of those under scrutiny are mid-level officers from different government departments including Education, Public Health Engineering, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Revenue, Agriculture, Rural Development, Animal Husbandry, Accounts and Treasuries, Fisheries, Forest, Health and Fire and Emergency Services.

In 1990 when the Kashmiri separatist campaign became violent, the J&K government had sacked five of its senior officials after accusing them of being involved in anti-national activities and for taking pro-separatist stand. Among them was Naeem Akhtar, then a Deputy Commissioner in the Excise Department who had with others led a three-month-long strike by government employees in Kashmir Valley. After his superannuation, Akhtar joined Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and served as a minister both in PDP-Congress and PDP-BJP coalition governments later. He is currently under detention for being vociferous in his anti-government views.

Earlier in 1986, the then Governor Jagmohan Malhotra had also sacked a number of government officials on being anti-national and one of them, a teacher, later came to be known as prominent separatist leader Prof. Abdul Gani Butt.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Shutterstock

Two journalists at the center of recent internal drama at The New York Times are set to team up for a new media project.

Bari Weiss, the controversial writer who recently departed the paper to launch a Substack newsletter, is close to inking a deal to launch a major podcast project, multiple people with knowledge of the matter told The Daily Beast. While the well-known former New York Times columnist will be the face of the podcast, Weiss has also enlisted her friend and former colleague Andy Mills, a former top Times audio staffer who left the paper in February following years-old allegations of workplace misconduct. The deal is being negotiated by talent agency powerhouse CAA, which represents a number of media figures including Weiss.

A major-platform podcast is a natural next step for the former Times opinion writer. Weiss is close with the popular podcast host Joe Rogan, who netted a deal with Spotify reportedly worth $100 million, and she has regularly appeared on his show. Weiss has also in recent years become a regular presence on talk shows, appearing as a recurring guest on HBOs Real Time With Bill Maher and as a fill-in host on ABCs The View.

Bari Weiss Curious Silence on Conservative Cancel Culture

But the podcast also represents something of a kiss-off to the Times, as it would join forces between two of the biggest lightning rods at the paper in recent years.

Almost immediately after joining the paper in 2017, Weiss reputation and columnsmany of which were critical of social justice movements or unskeptically boosted right-wing internet personalitieswere often the source of external criticism from many of the papers liberal readers. Weiss also seemed to irritate some Times staff who shared those readers concerns and politics, as well as those who were embarrassed by various incidents, including her citing a fake social media post to bash campus liberals in one of her columns and a tweet in which she somewhat confusingly used a Hamilton reference to suggest figure skater Mirai Nagasu, a California-born woman of Japanese descent, was actually an immigrant.

Story continues

In her resignation letter from the paper last year, addressed to publisher A.G. Sulzberger, Weiss claimed that staffers who disagreed with her views had created a hostile work environment in which she faced constant bullying from colleagues and was openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels.

I do not understand how you have allowed this kind of behavior to go on inside your company in full view of the papers entire staff and the public, she wrote in the note published on her personal website. And I certainly cant square how you and other Times leaders have stood by while simultaneously praising me in private for my courage. Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.

And Mills, for his part, was a rising star within the paper after playing a key role in launching The Daily, one of the most popular podcasts in the country with more than 4 million downloads per day. But that goodwill dried up last year following his involvement in Caliphate, another Times audio venture with a much less successful outcome.

New York Times Admits Its Caliphate Podcast Fell for ISIS Hoaxers Bullshit

The podcast, which initially garnered rave reviews and praise upon release, centered around Shehroze Chaudhry, a Canadian man who told the podcasthosted by reporter Rukmini Callimachi and produced by Millsthat he was radicalized online during the rise of ISIS and left the country to join the jihadist organization. But the narrative began to fall apart last year after Chaundhry was arrested by Canadian law enforcement for allegedly lying about his trip to Syria as part of a bizarre terrorism hoax.

Chaundhrys arrest had major implications for the Times, which retracted much of the podcasts reporting and returned some awards, and Callimachi was eventually reassigned to a different beat but has not published a story since late December. And as the reporting publicly unraveled, misconduct allegations made against Mills during his time at Radiolab, first detailed in a 2018 article in New York magazines The Cut, resurfaced online. The report claimed that he gave unsolicited back rubs, asked colleagues on dates, and at one point poured a beer on the head of a coworker during a social event.

CAA declined to comment on this story; Weiss and Mills did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

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Any Marine operating or riding in a waterborne amphibious assault vehicle will now get a supplemental emergency breathing device, Military.com has learned.

The Marine Corps has lifted its servicewide suspension on water operations for AAVs after one sank off the coast of California in July 2020. Eight Marines and one sailor riding inside drowned when the vehicle filled with water on its way back to their ship.

The decades-old tracked vehicles have been restricted to land operations for nearly nine months, but about a dozen hit the water again on April 13, four days after the ban on water ops was lifted. Ship-based operations remain on hold for the vehicles, but Marines now can train in them from ashore, Capt. Andrew Wood, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, said.

Read Next: An MQ-9 Drone Is Teaming Up with a Navy Warship to Obliterate Targets at Sea

Eighteen new safety tasks must be completed before AAVs can leave the shore, said 2nd Lt. Kyle McGuire, a spokesman for 1st Marine Division, which has resumed some AAV water training. Those tasks include training on the supplemental emergency breathing devices, small tanks about the size of a handheld bicycle pump that can provide oxygen to troops in emergency situations. They typically attach to life preservers and have a mouthpiece attached that Marines use to access the air.

The nine troops killed in last year's accident had no such devices after the Marine Corps canceled the life-saving program that issued them in 2015 to save money. The devices had been in use for about four years until the military was hit with across-the-board spending cuts that a leader told Insider had derailed the program.

"I'm a big believer in the bottles," a former division commander told the outlet. "But, in 2015, we were scrambling for money, looking under the cushions of the sofas, trying to make ends meet. This was a convenient thing [to cut]."

The devices can provide up to five minutes of air for troops in peril. It's not a lot of time, an unidentified Marine told Insider, but can give troops a chance to remove their gear, get their bearings and take action.

The addition of breathing devices is just one of the new policies set into motion by last summer's AAV disaster. Safety boats must accompany any waterborne AAVs, the new requirements state -- another safety measure that was absent during last year's operation.

All crew members and embarked personnel must be trained in water survival and have completed egress training to escape sinking vehicles or aircraft, the new rules state. Marines operating and riding in AAVs also are required to complete emergency evacuation drills on land and water.

The investigation into last year's accident found several Marines involved had not completed training or been instructed on what to do if their AAV experienced an emergency.

More than 350 of the Marine Corps' AAVs have now passed inspections to return to waterborne operations, Wood said. The Marine Corps has about 800 AAVs.

Aside from training and lifesaving equipment gaps, the accident investigation also revealed serious problems with the watertight integrity of the doomed AAV, which fell 385 feet to the bottom of the Pacific after filling with seawater. Later inspections found the problems persisted across the fleet, and repairs were required on any vehicles that fell outside the safety threshold.

As of last month, I and II Marine Expeditionary Forces, Training and Education Command, and Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch were found to be 100% compliant with new inspections, Wood said. The Japan-based III MEF, Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Corps Logistics Command continue to inspect their vehicles.

"Corrective actions are ongoing to bring the remainder of the fleet into compliance," Wood said.

Marines with the California-based 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, the same unit to which the vehicle involved in last summer's accident, was among the first to send its tracked vehicles back into the water.

Before the vehicles left land, the Marines spent a day in the classroom reviewing lessons from last summer's accident, McGuire said. The Marines also were briefed on new vehicle standard operating procedures and had to pass a test before they could participate in any new training.

The training involved about a dozen vehicles and 45 Marines. They started with land-based training before moving into the water, where they eventually drove the AAVs in open ocean, McGuire said. More of the battalion's AAV platoons were scheduled to complete the same training in the days following, he said.

No embarked Marines are riding inside the vehicle during the training.

Wood said inspections continue for the rest of the Marine Corps' AAVs, and "any discrepancies will be addressed" before they're cleared for waterborne operations.

"No AAV will enter the water prior to compliance of the inspection criteria," he said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
Whitesboro, N.Y. - As the state continues its race to vaccinate, Thursday night, the Oneida County Health Department hosted a community vaccination clinic at Hart's Hill Elementary School in Whitesboro distributing the Pfizer vaccine.

A wide age range of individuals were walking in for an appointment, starting at 16 years old.

The County Executive has said in recent passed, get into the schools, get the shots in people's arms, get into businesses if they have 10 or more then we'd come directly to their businesses, said Daniel Appler, Oneida County Deputy Director of Emergency Service. Sixteen and 17 (year-olds) need to have a parent with them. We do have the Pfizer, we can go down to 16, the Moderna it has to be 18 and above.

Earlier this week, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente confirmed a cluster of coronavirus cases that developed in Whitesboro originating from a positive case at a local dance school. This resulted in 20 positive cases, 18 of those between the ages of 6 and 17.

Appler says the hosting of this vaccine clinic has nothing to do with this recent outbreak.

Not at all, honestly, coincidentally. We had planned this prior to that, said Appler. We got a very positive response not only from the parents and the kids but also from the staff of the school.

Appler adds that in conjunction with the Dairy Association and Food Bank of New York the Health Department also passed out 100 boxes of food to attendees whether they received a vaccination or not.

Another Pfizer vaccination clinic was held Thursday night at Holland Patent Elementary school. Moderna clinics will be held this Saturday in Boonville, Utica, Oriskany Falls, Lee Center and Whitesboro.

To register for any of the upcoming clinics, click here.
Encrypted messaging service Signal has turned the tables on data extraction company Cellebrite, seemingly booby-trapping its own app to hack the hackers.

The messaging company published a blog post that reported numerous alleged vulnerabilities in Cellebrite software, which uses physical access to a smartphone to breach its contents.

Signal was able to exploit holes in Cellebrites code to execute its own software on Windows computers used by Cellebrite. There are virtually no limits on the code that can be executed, Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspoke said.

Cellebrite make two products - UFED and Physical Analyzer - that have previously been used by authoritarian regimes including Russia and Belarus, the police in Myanmar, and the FBI in the United States attempting to breach iPhones.

UFED creates a backup of the device onto a Windows computer, while the Physical analyzer parses the files in a way that is browsable for the user.

Cellebrite infamously claimed that they were able to breach Signals encryption  one of the most secure available  in December 2020, but Signal claims the company only added support to Physical Analyser for the file formats used by Signal, and thus were overstating their actual abilities.

One way to think about Cellebrites products is that if someone is physically holding your unlocked device in their hands, they could open whatever apps they would like and take screenshots of everything in them to save and go over later. Cellebrite essentially automates that process for someone holding your device in their hands, Marlinspike writes.

Exacting retribution by a truly unbelievable coincidence, Marlinspike writes, Signal gained access to Cellebrites hardware tools.

I was recently out for a walk when I saw a small package fall off a truck ahead of me. As I got closer, the dull enterprise typeface slowly came into focus: Cellebrite, Marlinspike writes.

It appears Signal was able to execute code using a specifically formatted but otherwise innocuous file in an app thats scanned by Cellebrite  such as Signal, for example - to take over Cellebrites software.

Any app could contain such a file, and until Cellebrite is able to accurately repair all vulnerabilities in its software with extremely high confidence, the only remedy a Cellebrite user has is to not scan devices, the post continues.

We are of course willing to responsibly disclose the specific vulnerabilities we know about to Cellebrite if they do the same for all the vulnerabilities they use in their physical extraction and other services to their respective vendors, now and in the future.

In completely unrelated news, upcoming versions of Signal will be periodically fetching files to place in app storage. These files are never used for anything inside Signal and never interact with Signal software or data, but they look nice, and aesthetics are important in software, Signal adds.

We have a few different versions of files that we think are aesthetically pleasing, and will iterate through those slowly over time. There is no other significance to these files.

The Independent has reached out to Signal for more information about the significance of these files, and how it came to access Cellebrite equipment, but the messaging app did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.

Signal also alleges that Cellebrite uses two MSI installer packages that are digitally signed by Apple, but appear to have been extracted from the Windows installer of iTunes 12.

It seems unlikely to us that Apple has granted Cellebrite a license to redistribute and incorporate Apple DLLs in its own product, so this might present a legal risk for Cellebrite and its users, Signal writes.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent before time of publication. The Independent also asked Cellebrite for more information about its possible vulnerabilities, as well as its Apple licenses, but the digital forensics company also did not respond before time of publication.

We constantly strive to ensure that our products and software meet and exceed the highest standards in the industry so that all data produced with our tools is validated and forensically sound, Cellebrite said in a statement to The Independent.

Cellebrite understands that research is the cornerstone of ensuring this validation, making sure that lawfully obtained digital evidence is utilized to pursue justice.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas via video link.

Noting China-Germany relations have generally remained stable since last year, Wang said as all-round strategic partners, China and Germany should always follow the important principle and valuable experience of mutual respect, stick to the theme of dialogue and cooperation, and release positive signals of openness, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results.

The two sides should jointly reject the setback of the so-called "decouple" and be defenders of multilateralism and contributors to global development, Wang added.

Maas said Germany attaches great importance to relations with China and is willing to enhance bilateral dialogue in various fields, strengthen pragmatic cooperation and jointly cope with global issues and challenges.

[ Editor: WXY ]
The manned fighter aircraft is dead! The Air Warfare Symposium, conducted by the US Air Force Association on 27 and 28 February, 2020, may go down in history as an event where history was foretold. It was here, on the morning of 28 February, 2020, that Elon Musk, the quintessential disruptor, set the cat among the pigeons. In a room overflowing with Air Force personnel, many fighter pilots among them, Musk famously predicted the end of the manned fighter aircraft. Much consternation followed, and copious amounts of newsprint was invested in the counter-narrative that flowed, mainly from the US Air Force and its veterans. Notably, much of the criticism of Musk's proclamation was aimed at targeting him personally as a 'head-line grabber', rather than to disprove his assertion through solid logic and evidence. This is probably indicative of the fact that Musk's prediction may hold more than a modicum of truth.

History Tells a Story. History is replete with examples of path-breaking inventions being viewed with disdain at inception, and thought either impractical or even impossible. For instance, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in 1918 was quite dismissive of aviation, and had famously said that "airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value." The past Century, and the significant role that air power has played in conflicts therein, from WWI and WWII to the Gulf Wars as well as the 1971 Indo-Pak wars, bear testimony to the inaccuracy of Marshal Foch's proclamation. However, in a similar vein, it may be imprudent to wish away the monumental technological advancements of recent years and the potential for change that they portend, merely because such changes may be undesirable, sound improbable or, in some cases, seem outlandish.

The age of unmanned systems While air power inarguably retains great value in present day warfare, it is rapidly imbuing an unmanned character. The US Department of Defence (DoD), in its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2005-2030, defines UAVs as "A powered aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload." The extensive use of drones by the US across the world, the clear advantages drawn by Azerbaijan over Armenia in their recent conflict, and numerous other examples, point to the manner in which unmanned aircraft technology can serve as a force multiplier. As far back as 2013, analyst Dan Parsons had estimated that "future autonomous air refueling of unmanned systems would accord them the capability to remain 'on station' for months, and allow all roles from combat to cargo handling." The question that bears consideration, therefor, is can unmanned aircraft (drones) become the mainstay of air power in the near future (2030)? Advanced Air Defence Systems

Concomitant with the advent of unmanned aerial systems, modern Air Defence has also witnessed significant advances in capability. Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS) have become the order of the day, characterized by highly mobile sensors and weapons, organised in a multi-layered manner. Within these systems, weapons like the Russian S-400 and Chinese HQ-9 cover a significantly large area. Analysts estimate that Russian IADS deployed on NATO's Eastern Flank threaten to keep NATO Air Power at arm's length.

AD Systems Vs Drones While AD systems have evolved, increasing number of actors are opting to use drones as a mitigating measure. For instance, in mid-2020, Turkish supplied drones assisted the Libyan Govt of National Accord in destroying Russian Pantsir SHORADS being used by rebel forces. Similarly, the drone attacks on Aramco in Saudi Arabia also underscored the relative advantages that these unmanned aerial systems possess. In this instance, Saudi Arabian Air Defence Systems proved helpless when two oil facilities were attacked by alleged Houthi rebels, who launched 18 drones and seven cruise missiles against two facilities on 14 September 2019. Evidently, unmanned aerial systems in conjunction with long-range missiles, offer an option that is more viable against expensive, highly capable AD systems, as compared to equally expensive, and resource-intensive manned aircraft.

Modern long-range missiles As the US plans for an increasingly challenging 'great power competition' scenario with China, the Pentagon appears to have realised that air support may not be readily available to ground troops caught in a high intensity conflict over heavily contested air spaces. Accordingly, the US Army has rated 'Long Range Precision Fire' as its highest priority. In consonance with this outlook, Lockheed Martin's website advertises development of a next-generation, modular Precision Strike Missile, in conjunction with the Army. Long-range ballistic/ quasi-ballistic trajectory missiles offer the government a relatively cheaper option to undertake precision attack, as compared to the large number of prohibitively expensive manned aircraft squadrons, currently maintained for such a role.

The future air force From a Balanced to an Unmanned Force. At present, many Air Forces across the world are striving to achieve a balance between manned and unmanned systems, based on threat perceptions, budgets and desired capabilities. However, as alluded to by Elon Musk, the day of the manned aircraft may soon be over. This flows from the following aspects:- The cost of unmanned aircraft will be significantly lower than manned aircraft. Financial savings will accrue, not only from the relatively lower cost of Unmanned Aircraft (UA), but also from the fact that expenditure on training will evolve. This would, initially cover ground based controllers and, eventually, to no controllers at all, as UAs gradually become completely autonomous. This will lead to further savings resulting from reduced requirement of flying to maintain pilot currency, decreased pay and allowances expenditure, etc.

The potential losses suffered in battle would not include precious human lives.

Countries will increasingly realise that sending in unmanned aircraft to penetrate defended air space may be more cost effective. Justin Bronk, the Editor of RUSI Defence Systems, had predicted a "significant move towards unmanned systems for vanguard penetrating roles".

Manned aircraft carry missiles, as can unmanned aircraft. The features mandated onboard an aircraft designed for manned flight are significantly more than on an unmanned one, e.g. ejection seats, Head-Up Displays, etc.

At present, an air strike into hostile or contested areas mandates a comprehensive air package comprising a wide array of aircraft, from AWACS to EW escorts, AD escorts, et al. In effect, the number of actual strike aircraft in a package is only a small proportion of the overall number of aircraft deployed. In an unmanned scenario, this requirement will reduce drastically, leading to further cost saving.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven unmanned aircraft AI is slowly becoming ubiquitous in nature, and organisations across the world are scrambling to harness the immense potential of this niche technology. Militaries are no different, and numerous air forces have also invested heavily in research and development in this field. DARPA recently undertook a simulated flight combat competition pitting a top US fighter pilot against AI in five rounds of combat. The AI program won all five rounds in under two minutes.

While this may not lead to a definitive conclusion that the fighter pilot is no longer required, it does point to the possibilities that the future portends.

Land and sea-based long-range vectors Apart from the effect that UAs will have on the size, role and capabilities of a future Air Force, the advent of long-range, precision vectors - sea-based and land-based - will also play a key role. The following aspects assume salience:- Land-based vectors

Existing land-based capabilities, already extend to thousands of kilometres, which comfortably covers most areas in India's immediate vicinity. Added to this is the strategic location of India's island territories, where mobile, long-range missile batteries (Brahmos) could be positioned. This would be able to exert influence over large swaths of sea areas, including choke points. Such deployment of missiles, in lieu of aircraft, would accrue financial savings as well. This derives from the fact that expensive airfields would no longer need to be maintained for manned flights on these islands.

Sea-based vectors With regard to sea-based vectors, it is common knowledge that 70 per cent of the earth is covered with water which, as a corollary, also implies accessibility for sea-based forces to almost every part of the globe. For instance, in the Indian context, the long range Nirbhay missile (also a product of 'Made in India') is reported to have advanced features, including sea-skimming/ terrain-hugging and loiter capabilities. It is also estimated to be capable of an extended range of over 1000 Km. Coupled with this, development of modern, sea-based, long-range vectors provide naval forces the capability to address targets deep in the hinterland. Therefore, the need for air forces to traverse long distances, using multiple support aircraft (AWACS/ FRA), escorts, etc, to strike distant targets is steadily diminishing.

The issues highlighted above are indicative of the role of future air forces being limited primarily to supporting friendly forces in the Tactical Battle Area. Collectively, these aspects along with developments in the field of unmanned systems, buttress the case for a re-evaluation of the future structure of air forces.

The smart way ahead USA has drawn out a clear roadmap for UA induction, including fighter aircraft. It may be prudent to adopt a similarly aspirational outlook and plan for a calibrated move from manned to completely unmanned and autonomous air power. In the case of India, with adversarial nations to the West and North, the savings accrued from charting the unmanned course would free up budgets for much required capabilities such as additional Mountain Strike Corps, Submarines and Aircraft Carriers - also carrying unmanned aircraft.

Strategic guidance Prime Minster Narendra Modi has clearly laid down the guidance and vision for the Country in terms of adoption of innovations, AI, niche technologies and the need to 'leapfrog' capability gaps. His expectations and intent were made amply clear through his articulation that "India is placed to leverage power of technology and leapfrog into the future." In the military sense, the low hanging fruit is air power, which can easily evolve to becoming a completely unmanned force in the medium term.

Conclusion China is investing heavily in AI and niche technologies, many of which will enable and drive a move to unmanned aerial assets. It would be short-sighted at best, and disastrous at worst, for India to be left behind in this race for transformation into unmanned air power. Hence, while it may be tempting to dismiss claims such as those made by Elon Musk as outlandish, and easy to provide convenient self-serving logic for retaining manned air forces, it may result in India sliding backwards, rather than surging forward in the race for technology and military capabilities. Hence, embracing unmanned solutions in lieu of the current philosophy of manned aircraft will be operationally relevant, financially prudent, and conceptually futuristic. We need to open our eyes and mind to see that the future is truly unmanned.

(Binay Kumar Singh is an author and columnist. He can be reached at Twitter: @BinayBharat. The views expressed are personal)
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces has dismissed reports in some sections of the media that ZDF commander, General Philip Valerio Sibanda, invaded Goede Hoop Farm in Mazowe.

In a statement yesterday, ZDF director public relations Colonel Teddy Ndlovu said the farm in question had not been allocated to General Sibanda, who had never visited the farm. However, one of the four sections of the farm had been divided into acquisition and had been allocated to the army and the police as corporate entities.

The Daily News and NewsDay on April 12, 2021 published articles titled Farmers sue army, police chiefs and Matanga, Sibanda sued for land grab. The articles claimed that the General PV Sibanda and Commissioner General Godwin Matanga had been taken to court for grabbing Mazowe Farm.

The true facts of the matter are as detailed below:

The Livaditakis family has been abusing the court processes by repeatedly bringing frivolous applications based on the same allegations and arguments since 2017, each time thereafter abandoning their court applications. Their case has already been decided by the court on March 25, 2021 and dismissed since the Livaditakis failed to prosecute their case as they were in default, he said.

Colonel Ndlovu said the family has now resorted to newspapers to pursue their baseless claims and in the process tarnishing the image and person of General Sibanda, the Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces as an organisation.

He added that the fact of the matter is that the land in question is state land in terms of Section 27 of the Constitution. In pursuit of its constitutional mandate, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, subdivided the land into four subdivisions.

One of the subdivisions measuring 478 hectares was allocated to the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), and not General Sibanda as the report made the public to believe, and the other subdivision was allocated to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), and not Commissioner General Matanga as an individual, while the remaining portion was allocated to the Livaditakis family, the family at the centre of the incorrect reports.

All these allocations were in terms of the Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act. Contrary to what the public is being made to believe by the story in the said publication, the Livaditakis family do not have any documents to show that they have title to or ownership to the land in question. They only have an offer letter for the sub-division allocated to them and this document does not confer rights to ownership of the land in question.

Whilst the Livaditakis familys argument is based on the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement(BIPPA), it must be noted that in terms of the law, BIPPA does not affect the legality of compulsory acquisition of land under the land reform programme.

The fact that the reporters never bothered to verify the story with the Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the ZNA or the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement before publishing it reflects badly on their basic professionalism. It also reflects an ongoing sinister agenda to portray the ZDF and its command as unprofessional, lawless and unruly.

Under BIPPA agreements land can still be acquired, but compensation agreements are different. Colonel Ndlovu said the story in question is defamatory and violates the personal integrity of General Sibanda as it contains falsehoods which purports that; the offer letter was issued to him in his personal capacity and that he invaded Goede Hoop Farm in Mazowe, Mashonaland Central in 2018 and demanded that the family vacates the premises as ownership has been transferred to them.

He said the story claims that General Sibanda stormed the farm and told me that I need to leave the farm as the farm was now theirs when in fact General Sibanda has never set foot at the said farm and never had any such conversation with anyone from Livaditakis family. Herald
Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks on for the opening remarks of the Leaders Summit on Climate hosted by United States President Joe Biden, in Sydney, Australia on April 22, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Australian PM Resists New Climate Target as US, UK, EU Pledge Ambitious Emission Cuts

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is betting on hydrogen technology as the way forward to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, rather than setting new climate targets like fellow industrialised nations.

On Thursday, the Leaders Summit on Climate was held online and chaired by U.S. President Joe Biden.

Prime Minister Morrison told the summit that Australia was on a pathway to net zero.

Our goal is to get there as soon as we possibly can, through technology that enables and transforms our industries, not taxes that eliminate them and the jobs and livelihoods they support and create, especially in our regions, he said.

Mr President, in the United States you have the Silicon Valley. Here in Australia, we are creating our own Hydrogen Valleys, he added. Where we will transform our transport industries, our mining and resource sectors, our manufacturing, our fuel and energy production.

Minister for Energy Angus Taylor and Prime Minister Scott Morrison look on for the opening remarks of the Leaders Summit on Climate hosted by United States President Joe Biden, Sydney, Thursday, April 22, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Morrison also emphasised Australias track record at reducing emissions saying the country was due to meet its 2020 Kyoto Protocol and its 2030 Paris Agreement commitments.

Already we have reduced our emissions by 19 percent on 2005 levels, more than most other similar economiesand by 36 percent when you exclude exports, he said.

Its right to speak to our ambitions at this summit. Its also right to focus on performance.

The United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union previously pledged to reach net-zero by 2050. A target Prime Minister Morrison has said Australia would aim for but would not commit to.

During the Leaders Summit, U.S. President Biden pledged to reduce U.S. emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030.

Across the pond in Europe, the UK pledged a 78 percent reduction in its emissions by 2035, in what UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the most ambitious target in the world.

That target will see the UK embark on a fundamental restructuring of how the nation powers its homes, cars, factories, and food production.

The target beat out the EU who pledged to reduce emissions by 55 percent by 2030. Other countries to announce new targets included Japan (46 percent by 2030), Canada (45 percent by 2030), and Brazil (net zero by 2050), fast-tracking its previous goal by ten years.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes part in the virtual international climate summit with US President Joe Biden in Berlin, Germany on April 22, 2021 (Kay Nietfeld  Pool/Getty Images)

Australias current 2030 emissions reduction target will remain at 26 to 28 percent, which has spurred climate change groups to push for more radical action.

Regardless of any net-zero date the federal government sets, what we need to see is a clear plan for getting there that includes making deep and rapid emissions cuts this decade, Fiona Davis, acting chief of Farmers for Climate Action, said.

Meanwhile, The Climate Council of Australia called for a target of 75 percent by 2030 and net-zero by 2035.

Associate Professor Salvatore Babones, an expert in the Asian political economy at the University of Sydney, said the Biden administration would expect Australia to increase its commitment.

Australia is likely to face pressure from Joe Biden to make at least a nominal carbon promise of some kind, just to show that he has been successful in bringing allies on board with his program, he told The Epoch Times.

Babones noted in January (pdf) that the new administration would press home a major climate agenda, especially as the Democrats now control both houses of Congress, emissions rates have continued dropping since the early 2000s, and average U.S. households enjoy affordable energy prices due to the shale gas boom.

Workers change pipes at Consol Energy Horizontal Gas Drilling Rig exploring the Marcellus Shale outside Waynesburg, PA, on April 13, 2012. (Mladen Antonove/AFP via Getty Images)

Australians, in contrast, pay some of the highest energy prices in the world and coal-mining dependent regions have pushed back strongly on the climate agenda.

Only in 2019, Australia had what was pitched by activists as the climate election where mainstream Australians rejected economically destructive climate policy, Daniel Wild, director of the Institute of Public Affairs, told The Epoch Times.

The Australian Labor Party, traditionally the party of the working class, lost a significant portion of voters outside of the inner-city regions in response to its energy policy.

It prompted former Shadow Minister for Agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon to urge the party to rejig its focus and reconnect with its base, which it has moved to address in the past week.

Babones also said Australia would remain relatively insulated from the push for renewables, saying developing countries would continue to have a high demand for coal.

Right now, the biggest threat to coal exports comes from anti-mining agitation within Australia itself, he said.

Any serious reduction in global coal use is still at least a decade away, whatever people say at climate summits, he added. Thats because most coal is burned in poor and middle-income countries like China that are not participating in climate targets.
The UN rights chief warned Tuesday Myanmar could be spiralling towards a "full-blown" Syrian-style conflict, after a two-month crackdown that a local monitoring group says has already claimed more than 700 lives.

Myanmar is in chaos and its economy has been paralysed since the military seized power from civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1.

Warning of possible crimes against humanity, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday urged countries to take immediate action to push Myanmar's military to stop its "campaign of repression and slaughter of its people."

Daily rallies across Myanmar have been met with live rounds.

At least 710 civilians have been killed as of late Monday, including 50 children, according to a local monitoring group.

"I fear the situation in Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflict," Bachelet said in a statement.

"There are clear echoes of Syria in 2011," she warned, referring to the start of a civil war that over the past decade has killed nearly 400,000 people and forced more than six million to flee the country.

In recent weeks, several of Myanmar's ethnic rebel groups in some lawless border territories have stepped up attacks on the military and police, raising fears of a broader civil conflict.

The military has retaliated with air strikes, which the Free Burma Rangers -- a Christian aid group working in the area -- said have displaced more than 24,000 civilians in Karen state by Saturday.

The Rangers, which runs a health clinic in the state, said air strikes had killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 40.

The area is remote and communications are difficult, and AFP has not been able to independently verify the deaths.

Villagers in some areas were unable to prepare their rice crops because of fears the military would shell them in their fields, the aid group said.

"They are afraid they will have no rice harvest next fall," it said in a statement.

Story continues

Military attacks sent a few thousand people fleeing into neighbouring Thailand in recent weeks, but most have returned to the Myanmar side of the border.

In Yangon, authorities are hunting those responsible for an underground newsletter titled "Molotov".

The publication was started by a group of young activists to fight ongoing internet outages and information suppression.

"The Molotov journal is illegally published," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said, adding that legal action would be taken against those involved.

At a military tribunal in the city, seven protesters accused over the murder of a suspected informer were sentenced to death, state media said Tuesday. Three of the demonstrators were tried in absentia.

The junta also announced Tuesday that dozens more people had been added to an arrest warrant list of 260 celebrities, doctors and ordinary citizens.

Many are accused of spreading dissent against the military, while medical professionals are wanted over their work at private clinics, which have taken in injured protesters, according to state media.

Meanwhile, in northwestern Sagaing region, a couple were shot dead while delivering milk after junta troops stormed the town of Tamu, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring organisation.

- Cancelled water fights -

With violence raging, many in coup-hit Myanmar are vowing to mark this week's Buddhist New Year festival with protests rather than the traditional water fights.

Some protesters say it would be disrespectful to enjoy the Thingyan holiday period when so many have lost their lives and around 3,000 people are detained.

Last year's festivities were also called off because of pandemic restrictions.

In parts of Yangon, Monywa and Bago, protesters observed Thingyan Tuesday by painting pots with pro-democracy messages and placing them on streets with flowers inside.

"Fight for democracy," a sign sticking out of a line of pots said in one Yangon township.

Others said, "Never give up".

"We are not having normal celebrations. Even though it is festival time right now, we cannot have fun. We will not be happy until this dictator is overthrown and we will revolt until then," a university student in Mandalay told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the danger of arrest.

Another protester named Ray in Yangon said the pots were a way to welcome the new year and "honour fallen heroes".

In Mandalay, people placed the pots and flowers on a golden stupa, with signs showing the three-fingered salute that has become a symbol of resistance.

Young people in cities nationwide continued to take to streets Tuesday, some marching with flowerpots.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ledzokuku, Benjamin Ayiku Narteh, has called for unity among the different political divide to help push the development agenda of the constituency.

He said there was a season for intense partisan politics and once that passed, there was the need to come together for development.



The elections are over, it is time for us to forge unity and think about the development of our community, he said, as he interacted with leaders of political parties in the constituency to mark his 100 days as MP.



He also used the occasion to present streetlights to the various electoral areas in the constituency



Development drive



Mr Narteh said he was ready to lead the drive for development, and that as a first step, had provided more than 2,000 streetlights as part of efforts to help curb robbery and other criminal activities at night within the Teshie community.





According to the MP, parts of the community have faulty streetlights, plunging the town into darkness, a situation which aided heinous crimes.



Today, the visibility in Teshie at night is very low. There has been reported cases of theft, phone snatching, among others. So, I am presenting a number of streetlights to be fixed in all the areas in the community.



Unity



The MP also asked his constituents to put aside any grudges and work in unison towards the development of the area.



I urge everybody to bury their differences, let there be unity. Lets help the assembly and all the agencies to help develop Teshie, he stressed.



Earlier, Mr Narteh also donated some items to the Muslim communities within the constituency.



The items donated include 100 bags of rice, 30 boxes of cooking oil, 20 bags of sugar and 10 cartons of milk.



Presenting the items at a short ceremony he charged them to pray for unity, love and peace for the country.



He further appealed to the Muslim communities to train the youth to channel their energies into community development activities.



He also prayed for Allah to guard them against challenges they might face during their fasting.



Receiving the items on behalf of the residents who were present at the ceremony, the Teshie Chief Imam, Alhaji Ibrahim Yusuf Amartei, thanked the MP and his executive for the kind gesture.









Source: graphiconline.com









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The Christian Democratic candidate for Chancellor in Septembers general election is incumbent North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state premier Armin Laschet. He succeeds Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), who has been the lead candidate for the CDU and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) in the last four federal elections and has governed the country as chancellor since 2005.

The decision was preceded by a power struggle lasting several days between Laschet and Markus Soder, the right-wing conservative Bavarian state premier and CSU leader. Soder, who justified his claim to the candidacy by pointing to higher popularity ratings among voters and within the Union (CDU/CSU), ultimately bowed to the decision of the CDU executive.

CDU candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet at a press conference on April 20, 2021 (Tobias Schwarz/Pool via AP)

Before the decisive vote on Monday evening, a whole series of notoriously right-wing party figures, including Bundestag (federal parliament) President Wolfgang Schauble and former parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz, had campaigned for Laschet.

In his first statements and interviews after the candidate selection, Laschet left no doubt that as chancellor he would continue and intensify the anti-working-class and militarist course of the grand coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats (SPD). This applies above all to the murderous profits before lives policy in the pandemic, which has already cost the lives of more than 80,000 people in Germany alone.

Speaking to the ARD programme Farbe bekennen (Show your colours) on Tuesday evening, Laschet defended the ruthless policy of opening up the economy in the interests of the corporations, which has once again led to a massive increase in the number of infections and deaths in recent weeks. My line was very straightforward, and it still applies today. When incidence figures go down, you must roll back encroachments on fundamental rights, he said. That had also been his position last spring.

Even then, the state government in NRW led by Laschet, in coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), had ensured the unsafe return to businesses and schools, consciously calculating on the loss of human life. There will be school communities that will have to mourn the death of teachers, school administrators or family members, which can sometimes have a sustained impact on school life and everyday school life, declared NRW state Education Minister Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) in April 2020.

Laschet himself stands for the murderous herd immunity policy more than any other German state premier. He has repeatedly called for a quick end to all coronavirus measures. Most recently, he praised the decision to overturn the so-called Easter truce originally announced by the federal and state governments. It was necessary to get out of the permanent cycle of lockdown and now open a new chapter, he explained. Pure closure had come to its end and his state government would launch temporary projects possibly quickly after Easter.

At his first press conference as a candidate for chancellor on Tuesday, Laschet spoke openly about the interests behind the aggressive reopening policy: We have big budgetary challenges after the pandemic. He said that one was currently alleviating many challenges by taking on debt. But sustainability means paying it back after the crisis, also in the interest of future generations. There must be no more of the same.

That is unequivocal. The gigantic sums that have flowed into the accounts of large corporations and the super-rich as part of the coronavirus emergency aid packages are to be recovered from the working class through harsh social cuts and attacks on jobs and wages. And not only in Germany, but, as happened after the economic and financial crisis of 2008-2009, all over Europe. We know we will not be strong in Germany if Europe is not strong, said Laschet. And therefore, our neighbours will also face great challenges after the pandemic, and we will also only be able to answer them together as Europeans.

The herd immunity policy and social attacks at home go hand in hand with Laschets call for a more aggressive German-European foreign policy. Our contribution as Europe must become more offensive in a world of authoritarian social models. We must fight for our values of freedom and solidarity and justice, of human dignity in this world, he declared at the press conference.

Earlier, he had already positioned himself as a hardliner in a comprehensive foreign policy interview. Speaking with the chief correspondent of the Reuters news agency in Berlin, Andreas Rinke, in an interview which appeared under the headline, I am a realpolitik politician in the current issue of Internationale Politik magazine, he refused to be cast as a Russia-appeaser and called China a geostrategic challenge. At the centre stands the demand for a massive arms offensive to assert the interests of German and European imperialism worldwideeven independently of the USA.

If you want a common European security policy, you also have to produce the means of defence together, Laschet said. If you want to speak the language of power, you also need the instruments of power. Therefore, he said, achieving NATOs 2 percent target is not an American imposition but in our interest. We have to improve our own capabilities.

By this, Laschet means the procurement of the most lethal weapons systems, with the declared aim of waging war. For example, the European drone project, which he advocated in the coalition committee, was a European lighthouse project that stands for European capacity to act.

To the question of whether Germany should become more involved in foreign missions, Laschet responded with an explicit defence of Germanys war policy. The mission with the French in Mali, for example, was in the German and European interest. And if the continued presence is necessary in Afghanistan, where German troops have been stationed for two decades now, the Bundeswehr will still remain.

When Laschet criticises imperialist war policy, he does so from the right. In Libya, he was in favour of intervention at the time for humanitarian reasons, but admits that the situation has not improved significantly since then.

Laschets conclusion is not to end the murderous wars that have claimed millions of lives and reduced entire countries to rubble in recent years, but to make them more effective: Interventions from outside do not only need a mandate under international law, they also need to be strategically thought through. Too many interventions aimed at regime change have failed in the last 20 years, partly because too little thought has been given to the challenge of the period afterwards.

To develop a German-European war capability, Laschet advocates close cooperation with France. With the Aachen Treaty, numerous suggestions of French President Emmanuel Macron would already be taken up and supplemented by German proposals, such as cooperation in arms procurement, artificial intelligence, foreign policy or battery production.

The question of a common army could also certainly be a long-term perspective. However, first of all, we have to ensure that Europe acts together on security. We must strengthen PESCO [Permanent Structured Cooperation, part of the EU security and defence policy] and push ahead with joint projects.

Significantly, in the Internationale Politik interview, Laschet advocated a possible consensus with the Greens precisely on foreign and defence policy. In the CDU-FDP-Green exploratory talks in 2017, they had come very far in foreign policy fields. He reminded those who were sceptical about cooperation with the Greens of the Bundestag elections in 1998: at that time, it was also said that foreign policy, in particular, would make an alliance with the Greens difficult. And then the public experienced that the first German war mission since 1945, with the bombing of Belgrade, happened under an SPD-Green government of all things.

The policies of militarism, social attacks and herd immunity are supported by the nominally left-wing parties in the Bundestag. The SPDs candidate for chancellor and current finance minister, Olaf Scholz, increased the military budget only a few weeks ago by another five percent, to almost 50 billion euros. And with Annelena Baerbock, the Greens have also chosen an outspoken militarist as their candidate for chancellor on Monday.

The Left Party has also made it clear that it would fully support this reactionary course as part of a possible SPD-Left Party-Green government coalition at federal level. In interviews, the new party leaders Susanne Hennig-Wellsow and Janine Wissler have signalled their support for foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr. At the state level, the Left Party is already putting the profits before lives policy into practice with the parties of social cuts and war, the SPD and Greens.

In the Farbe bekennen programme, Laschet declared that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) should not have any influence on the shaping of German politics. However, after the 2017 federal elections, all the establishment parties increasingly adopted the programme of the extreme right and integrated the AfD into the political system. Laschet himself has engaged in xenophobic agitation during the pandemic. When mass infections occurred in the slaughterhouses of meat billionaire Clemens Tonnies last year, he did not criticise the slave-like working conditions, but rather claimed that Romanians and Bulgarians had brought the virus in from their homeland.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) is the only party to oppose the turn to fascism, war and dictatorship by the ruling class, and to arm the growing social and political opposition among workers and youth with an international socialist programme. Life not profits!, Defend all jobs!, Stop militarism!, Never again fascism! and For the United Socialist States of Europe! are the central demands in the SGP election programme.
Posted Thursday, April 22, 2021 11:13 am

With COVID-19 activity rising across the state, Gov. Jay Inslee and health care leaders are urging those who havent received a vaccine for the disease to get their shots as Washington sees a slight decline in the rate of daily doses.

During a press conference Thursday, April 22, the governor expressed concern over data showing the beginning of a fourth surge of COVID-19 hitting the state for both cases and hospitalizations. The governor said rates in younger populations were rising faster than older ones, and variants of the virus are overtaking the original strain for most prevalent varieties of COVID-19, which in some cases are more transmissible.

Daniel Getz, chief medical officer for Providence Sacred Heart and Providence Holy Family in Spokane, said the hospitals have seen a steady and worrisome climb in COVID-19 patients, with more hospitalizations, and in some cases deaths, among younger populations. He said vaccination clinics that the hospital has put on have seen a number of unfilled spots, adding that efforts by hospitals to reach out to 16 and 17-year-old youths has proven disappointing in the number who have received their doses.

Being younger does not guarantee you from getting this disease and having a poor outcome, Getz said, noting those age groups might be engaging in riskier behavior such as large, unmasked gatherings indoors.

Acknowledging COVID-19 is more fatal in older populations, Inslee said younger individuals are being hospitalized with very significant illness, sometimes with very prolonged illnesses for months.

The state has seen an overall decrease in the number of vaccines administered daily. Inslee said the state is administering close to 60,000 doses a day in Washington, slightly lower than the 62,000 a day that was the case last week.

Inslee said the modest slowdown was not a shock, as it was expected the individuals most eager to receive the vaccine would be among the first to receive it.

Lacy Fehrenbach, deputy secretary for COVID-19 response for the Washington State Department of Health, said the state has already seen the impact on COVID-19 activity.

While we are seeing an increase in cases and increase in hospitalizations, the slope of increase is not as steep as what we saw in November, Fehrenbach said.

Inslee said by the end of the week there will have been 5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Washington state, and more than half of the states adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Really the COVID vaccine is the tool that solves the pandemic, but until we have broad vaccination, its critical that we continue to mask and social distance, Getz said.

He said another activity surge would be a hit to the states health care system, which is still recovering from the last wave of the disease.

I never dreamed we would get to a point where we have the key to solving this (pandemic) and we would be slow to recovery because people are scared of taking something thats been clearly shown using science  and administered hundreds of millions of times  to be safe, Getz said.

Being on the fence is too dangerous of a position right now, Inslee said, urging those with questions about their vaccine to talk with a medical professional.

Sit down with your doctor and discuss the merits and safety of the vaccine, the potential complications and risks, Getz said.
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - German automaker Daimler AG (DDAIF.PK) Friday announced that its Supervisory Board at its meeting extended the appointments of management board members Martin Daum and Harald Wilhelm . The appointment of Daum, 61" as member of the board of management for Daimler AG and Chief Executive of Daimler Truck AG, was extended until 2025. Further, the appointment of Wilhelm, 55, management board member of Daimler AG, and responsible for Finance, Controlling and Daimler Mobility, was extended until 2027. Daum has been a management board member since 2017 after serving as President and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America. Following the planned spin-off of a majority stake in Daimler Truck AG, Daum plans to leave Daimler AG and to take on the role of Chief Executive Officer at stock market listed Daimler Truck company. Wilhelm has been in the board since 2019 and was previously Chief Financial Officer of the Airbus Group. Wilhelm's appointment as management board member responsible for Finance and Controlling at Mercedes-Benz AG was also extended. Further, Joe Kaeser was on Thursday appointed to the supervisory board of Daimler Truck AG. He will be proposed as the candidate for chairman of the supervisory board of Daimler Truck. 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 "Compound Semiconductor Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The compound semiconductor market is expected to register a CAGR of 5% over the forecast period 2021-2026.

Companies Mentioned

Skyworks Solutions

Cree

Qorvo

Analog Devices

OSRAM

GaN Systems

Infineon Technologies

NXP Semiconductors

Advanced Wireless Semiconductor

ST Microelectronics

Texas Instruments

Microsemi

WIN Semiconductors

On Semiconductor

Mitsubishi Electric

Key Market Trends

Optoelectronics will experience significant growth in the forecast period

Optoelectronics will experience significant growth in the forecast period due to increased application in military services, telecommunications, automatic access control systems and medical equipments. These are used in the bundle of devices including LEDs traffic lights, information displays, optical fibers, photodiodes, solar cells and remote sensing systems, etc.

The healthcare sector is utilizing fiber optics technologies in surgical instrumentation, disease treatment therapies, diagnosis and imaging equipment and sensor-based wearable medical devices for safety and effectiveness of the treatment. And as optical fibers are resistant to electromagnetic interference and radio frequency so they can be applied in real-time diagnostic imaging such as MRI, PET, and CT systems in the future. Many organizations and institutes are developing advanced instruments to provide effective and safe treatment for the patient.

For instance, in October 2019, biomedical engineers of Duke University have developed a low-cost, portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner that promises to bring the vision-saving technology to underserved regions. It produces images of 120 retinas that were 95 percent as sharp as those taken by current commercial systems and would be used in many retinal diseases including macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, as well as for glaucoma.

Moreover, surging number of data center, strong federal policies like the solar investment tax credit, declining costs, and increasing demand across the private and public sector for clean source of energy has led to the growth of solar project across the world. For instance, United States registered an average annual growth rate of 48% in solar industry and has installed solar capacity of nearly 78 gigawatts (GW) that is enough to power 14.5 million homes. In 2019, the solar industry generated USD 18 billion of investment in the American economy according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Asia Pacific to Witness Significant Growth

Story continues

Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the compound semiconductor market during the forecast period as the majority of market vendors are based out of South Korea, China, and Taiwan. Also, the region has a large number of raw material suppliers in addition to low labor costs.

Radar, electronic warfare (EW), and communication systems are increasingly leveraging gallium nitride (GaN) technology in the defense sector to meet stringent high-performance, high-power, and long-life cycle demands and thus replacing laterally diffused MOSFET (LDMOS) components. For instance, China has replaced the Travelling Wave Tubes (TWT) with smaller solid-state systems as it delivers higher performance and scalability in the radar systems.

Moreover, the Asian countries are spending enormously on the defense sector to upgrade their equipment with advanced and efficient technology. For instance, China's proposed budget for 2020 totals USD 718 billion, the largest annual amount requested over the five-year period and is slightly lesser than that of the United States (USD 750 billion).

The increase in industrial automation has gained the adoption of computer and machines for the effective and efficient control of systems. Compound semiconductor devices play a key role to ensure efficient power consumption within the reduced size of application since they can withstand elevated temperatures and voltages, also making them an ideal component. As per International Federation of Robotics 2019 report, Asia recorded maximum number of annual installations of industrial robots. China, Japan and Republic of Korea accounted 39,351, 17,364 and 11,034 units respectively and almost 80% of the total industrial robot installations were in automotive sector.

Key Topics Covered:

1 INTRODUCTION

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Market Drivers

4.2.1 Rise in demand for electronic and mobile devices

4.2.2 Increase in industrial automation

4.3 Market Restraints

4.3.1 High raw material and fabrication costs

4.4 Industry Value Chain Analysis

4.5 Porter's Five Force Analysis

4.6 Assessment of Impact of Covid-19 on the Industry

5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 Type

5.2 Product

5.3 Application

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 France

5.4.2.3 Italy

5.4.2.4 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

5.4.5 Middle East and Africa

6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Investment Analysis

6.2 Company Profiles

7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m3r4z2

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005268/en/

Contacts

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All long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have travelled to within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through from April 24, as the city state was on "heightened alert" against COVID-19, according to a media report.

The decision will also impact people who have prior approval to enter Singapore, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministerial task force handling the pandemic, said on Thursday.

In addition, people who have recently travelled to and have not completed their 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) by 11.59pm on Thursday night will have to complete their additional seven-day SHN at a dedicated facility rather than their places of residence.

This group will undergo three polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus: when they arrive, on the 14th day of their SHN and before the end of their SHN.

Many of the new arrivals from work in the construction, marine and process sectors and live in the dormitories.

We know that this major move will have an impact on our construction, marine and process sectors. And many local SMEs and contractors will be badly impacted," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

The Government will be looking at providing additional support measures to help these companies, the Channel News Asia reported quoting the Minister.

There is no evidence that the recent cases at the Westlite Woodlands Dormitory are linked to a new strain from India, said Wong.

Explaining why has tightened its border measures, Wong said the situation in India has worsened since the start of the week.

He added that the SHN period is not "100 per cent foolproof", noting that any leaks among newly arrived Indian workers could possibly introduce new strains into dormitories and result in new clusters.

India reported 314,835 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the world's biggest single-day surge. The country has recorded 16 million cases and 184,657 deaths so far. A new "double-mutant" variant has also emerged in India, and is thought to be fuelling the country's second wave.

Singapore's Ministry of Health also confirmed on Thursday that 17 recovered workers at Westlite Woodlands dormitory for foreign workers were found to have COVID-19, although there is no evidence that these cases were linked to India or to the new viral strain that has emerged there.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who with Wong co-chairs the multi-ministerial task force handling the pandemic, said, " is on heightened alert against the coronavirus, given rising case numbers and emerging virus variants around the world."



The situation may escalate quickly, necessitating the tightening of measures in Singapore, he added at a virtual press conference.

Viral variants - including those first detected in South Africa and Brazil - have been found in 342 imported cases, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak. All the cases were isolated on arrival and no community spread has been detected.

He warned that this number may increase over time as more COVID-19 cases are detected and more testing done.

Gan urged Singaporeans to continue to be socially responsible and adhere to safe management measures.

This applies to those who have already been vaccinated as well, he said. "The recent spate of cases has reminded us that we cannot let our guard down."



"We are facing an invisible and very formidable enemy," The Straits Times quoted the Minister Wong as saying.

He added that the spate of new strains detected in other countries is a worrying development.

"Perhaps after this round of vaccination, we might have to continue with further rounds of vaccination," he said.

"Even up to beyond this year, because we will have to confront not just the virus today, but potentially new strains of the virus that may be more infectious and virulent," he said.

Singapore has detected 342 imported cases with the B117, B1351, and P1, P2, and P3 variants, said Assoc Prof Mak.

The P1, P2 and P3 variants are also known as the B11281, B11282 and B11283 variants, respectively.

The B1525 and B1617 strains of the virus have also been detected among imported cases into Singapore, he added.

All these cases have already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, and we've not detected any further community spread for any of these other variants of interest.

In a separate statement on Thursday, the Health Ministry said Singapore has seen 46 imported cases of the B1617 variant, or the double mutation variant of the virus from India. There have also been five imported cases of the B1525 variant.

Responding to questions about the new variants, Assoc Prof Mak said there is emerging evidence that some of the variants may have an increased risk of breakthrough.

But yet at the same time, for many other variants, this has not been seen. Adding that the data for the double mutation variant that originated in India is still emerging, Assoc Prof Mak said Singapore is monitoring the situation closely to see whether this would be a concern particularly for us with travellers coming into Singapore and the risk of imported cases.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Even as thousands of Covid-19 patients struggled to get basic healthcare across the country, the on Friday adjourned the national emergency plan for next Tuesday. The adjournment came after amicus curiae and senior advocate decided to step down following criticism over his appointment.

I don't want the case to be decided under the shadow that I knew the Chief Justice," Salve said referring to reports that he was appointed as he was a school friend of outgoing CJI, S A Bobde.

The CJI, in turn, blasted several senior advocates for making statements in the media without reading its order passed on Thursday. "You have imputed motives to us without reading our order," the court told Dushyant Dave, who was representing the Gujarat High Court Bar Association. "We are also pained at reading what some senior lawyers have to say on Harish Salve's appointment as amicus in the matter," said the bench. Salve's appointment was a collective decision of all the judges at the bench. Their order yesterday, the CJI said, did not stop High Courts from hearing cases related to Covid-19 management in the country, said the

On Thursday, alarmed by the total collapse of the health care system, the had taken suo motu cognizance of the second Covid-19 wave that has created havoc in the country with millions of people running from pillar to post to get medicines and oxygen. The court had appointed Salve to help the court in finding a

The SC directed the Centre to file a response on four core issues including supply of oxygen, supply of essential drugs, the method and manner of vaccination, and the power of the state to issue lockdowns only and not by judicial order, unless the high court notes instances of human rights abuse.

Meanwhile the Delhi High Court directed all the local hospitals and nursing homes to approach the appointed Nodal Officer for Delhi, Udit Prakash with their oxygen requirements to ensure immediate help.

At the Karnataka High Court, the government informed the court that it has asked all hospitals to remove the requirement of negative RT-PCR reports for non-Covid patients. The Karnataka HC will hear the case on Monday.
A container ship which was hit by strong wind and ran aground is pictured in Suez Canal, Egypt March 24, 2021. SUEZ CANAL

The six-day blockage of the Suez Canal ended last month without major damage to either the stranded vessel or China's economy, but the shutdown may serve as a warning to the country of its growing energy security risks.

As the world's largest exporter and oil importer, China is vulnerable to transit disruptions at choke points on its vital trade routes.

The grounding of the giant 200,000-metric-ton Ever Given container ship on March 23 made barely a scratch in China's trade and economic growth in the first quarter.

Exports in March rose 30.6 percent and imports jumped 38.1 percent from a year earlier in dollar terms, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) and news agencies said.

The strong trade figures set the stage for first-quarter economic growth of 18.3 percent compared with the year- earlier period during the pandemic slump, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Chinese officials shrugged off the impact of the accident as largely an inconvenience. The ship was freed and refloated on March 29.

"Although the blockage ... has affected shipments of some Chinese enterprises, and has caused fluctuations to a certain extent in related freight rates, its impact on China's foreign trade is sudden, short-term and limited," Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng told state media.

The Ever Given, loaded with over 18,000 containers, had called at the Chinese mainland ports of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Yantian before sailing from Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia on its route to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, American Shipper and Caixin Global said.

But Egypt's Suez Canal Authority impounded the ship on April 12 pending payment of U.S. $916 million (5.9 billion yuan) in salvage and other claims, leaving delivery of the U.S. $3.5-billion (22.8=billion yuan) cargo in doubt, Caixin and the Associated Press reported.

Over 80 percent of the cargo was Chinese merchandise, Caixin reported, citing the YunQuNa logistics service.

The Panamanian-flagged ship is operated by Evergreen Marine Corp. of Taiwan but owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. of Japan. Twenty-six crew members from India have been detained with the vessel onboard.

Concerns are rising for the welfare of the stranded sailors.

"It remains unclear when exactly the ship's crew will be permitted to disembark," timesnownews.com said.

According to separate accounts, 350-400 ships were left waiting on either side of the blockage at the time of the accident, forcing some to sail south around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, adding over a week to their schedules.

The long way

Although the delay was relatively brief, it highlighted the costs and complexities of global shipping, supply chains and energy flows.

The longer route around Africa added U.S. $450,000 (2.9 million yuan) in costs per voyage, said Anoop Singh, head of tanker analysis at Braemar ACM in Singapore, The Wall Street Journal reported.

During the stoppage, charter costs for some tankers from the Middle East to Asia climbed 47 percent in three days, Singh said.

Analysts at the international consulting firm Wood Mackenzie said the Suez backup caused by the 400-meter (1,312-foot) boxship created energy problems mainly for Asian imports of some oil products and exports of middle distillates including diesel and jet fuel.

The impact of the general cargo delays may yet be felt in economic growth figures for April and May, the analysts said in comments posted on the company's website.

The six-day crisis also illustrated how quickly vital supplies could be blocked. The case may raise a red flag for crises to come.

"Buyers in Asia remain more concerned around potential disruption to other lanes such as the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca rather than the Suez Canal," said Yanting Zhou, Wood Mackenzie's senior economist for the Asia-Pacific region.

"This event also underscores the importance of having strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) in Asia, given the region's crude oil import dependency is more than 80 percent," Zhou said.

Based on official trade and production figures, China's dependence on foreign oil last year rose to over 73 percent.

In March, oil imports climbed 21 percent year-on-year to nearly 11.7 million barrels per day (mbpd), up from an average of 10.8 mbpd in 2020, according to customs records.

Reports also suggest that the GAC figures may not be all- inclusive, since China is said to be secretly increasing its imports from Iran, despite U.S. sanctions.

Vessel trackers have cited ship-to-ship transfers of discounted Iranian oil to China-bound tankers in volumes that have led to traffic congestion at refinery ports in coastal Shandong, Bloomberg News and Oilprice.com reported last month.

Reliance on Iranian imports may detract further from China's energy security, since the supplies depend on increased traffic through the Strait of Hormuz from the Persian Gulf.

Late last month, China signed a widely reported 25-year agreement to invest U.S. $400 billion (2.6 trillion yuan) in Iran in exchange for oil supplies despite U.S. curbs.

Diversity of supply and SPR volumes have been China's major defenses for growing import dependence. Concern about rising reliance on foreign energy sources has also spurred more development of domestic resources including high- polluting coal.

China has been building up its SPR for well over a decade, following the example of oil consuming members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), but with critical differences.

While member nations of the IEA agree to transparent reporting of inventories in their emergency stockpiles, China rarely discloses any SPR data. When it does, the data may be six months or more out of date.

Strategic secrecy

China's secrecy forces markets to guess whether the country is buying for storage or consumption, complicating calculations of supply and demand.

China typically stocks up when prices are low, as during last year's pandemic slump, but it has also defied expectations by filling when prices rise, driving them higher when supplies are already tight.

The IEA urges members to store 90 days' worth of imports as a cushion against prolonged emergencies, helping to stabilize world markets. China has pursued its own version of this practice.

Last year, China set a goal of increasing the state's stockpile to cover 90 days of net imports, Bloomberg News reported. The reserves have since topped 100 days and have risen as high as 120 days, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed sources.

But the figures include both the government's SPR and commercial stocks, the report said, noting that China's international oil companies are state-owned.

Last November, Reuters reported that China's combined oil in storage reached 1.16 billion barrels, or about 105 days of net imports, citing an estimate by Beijing-based SIA Energy.

The government's own SPR was believed to hold 290 million to 370 million barrels at the end of last year, according to estimates by SIA and London-based Energy Aspects Ltd., Reuters said. Those numbers imply only about 25 to 31 days of import coverage at the March rate.

Considering the SPR volume alone, the extent of the coverage may actually have fallen since 2017, when the National Energy Administration gave one of its rare reports of the volume stored. Average daily imports have grown by 38 percent since then.

In its reports to the National People's Congress last May and this March, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) repeatedly referred to "contingency plans" for dealing with energy security risks, but the government's top planning agency has yet to spell out what its plans are.

The NDRC pledged to "boost oil and gas exploration and development" and "systematically increase our ability to ensure the supply of coal," suggesting that such steps may be the extent of the planning options, aside from an extension of a Chinese naval presence.

Some analysts suggest that China will continue to increase its total import coverage although storage capacity is approaching its limits.

"In terms of crude stockpiling, we believe China's goal will not stop at 100 or 120 days of reserves," said Mia Geng, an analyst at FGE, an oil and gas consultancy based in London.

"National security is among the priorities for the coming years and this will sustain continuous stockbuilds," Geng told Bloomberg.
Tears flow amid biblical cry for justice at Daunte Wrights funeral

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Katie and Aubrey Wright struggled through pain to find words inside the Shiloh Temple in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Thursday to remember the life of their late 20-year-old son, Daunte, who was shot dead by former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter less than two weeks ago.

I never imagined I would be standing here. The roles should completely be reversed. My son should be burying me, Katie told the crowd inside the church that included family attorney Ben Crump and civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who delivered Dauntes eulogy, along with Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gov. Tim Walz.

When she became too overwhelmed with emotion to speak, her husband chimed in after watching her wrestle through several moments of muted weeping.

I dont really speak much, but words cant even explain how I feel right now. You know, that was my son, Aubrey said.

Katie later recalled how her son was a doting new dad who was looking forward to a happy life with his son who was born in 2019.

His son was born at 28 weeks along, so he was premature. The joy that junior brought to Dauntes life was truly amazing. He was so happy and so proud, and he always said he couldnt wait to make his son proud. Junior was the joy of his life and he lived for him every single day. And now hes not gonna be able to see him, she said.

While the family struggled to find words for their grief, the families of several other black victims of police killings such as Philando Castile, who was shot dead by police during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb in 2016, George Floyd and Eric Garner, who died during a 2014 encounter with officers from the New York City Police Department, were on hand to provide support and make a political statement about police reform.

In support of this justice message he called No Justice, No Peace, Sharpton quoted from the book of Isaiah 59:8-9 in the Bible which says: The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

He explained how the phrase No Justice, No Peace emerged during protests over the 1986 death of 23-year-old black man Michael Griffith following a racial attack in the then predominantly white Howard Beach community in New York City.

It became the chant of our movement. Some of us have made it popular  but it really started in the Bible because Isaiah said that those that practice injustice cannot practice peace. The absence of justice is the absence of peace. And when we say that were not talking about violence because there is a confusion in the country between peace and quiet, he said.

Some of us are told to shut up and just be quiet and you call that peace. But peace is the presence of justice. You cant tell us to shut up and suffer. We must speak up when there is an injustice, Sharpton added.

He recalled that on his way to the funeral a man mentioned to him that he had not seen a funeral procession like Dauntes in Minneapolis since the passing of the musician Prince in 2016.

I said, Well, we came to bury the prince of Brooklyn Center. We come from all over the country because you hurt one of our princes. Thats why we are in this temple with purple all over cause it represents royalty. ... He was a prince and all of Minneapolis has stopped today to honor the prince of Brooklyn Center, he said to applause.

Sharpton said they was a need to upend the narrative that black men, in particular, are dangerous to law enforcement and highlighted the need to pass the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act" which would overhaul policing and eliminate qualified immunity for all local, state and federal law enforcement officers. Qualified immunity shields police officers performing discretionary functions from civil liability.

You keep thinking that were somebody were not. They tell our young folks dont go to the streets and march when marching and protesting is a way of correcting the injustice Isaiah talked about. You cant go to church on Sunday and read this book that we call the Bible and not fight against oppression. God is not on the side of the oppressor. God is on the side of the oppressed, Sharpton said, adding that standing up against injustice helped bring about the recent guilty verdict for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. God has turned the page in the state of Minnesota and were never going back no more.

In his call for justice, Crump argued that if Potter was able to see Daunte in the same way she looks at her own child, it's likely he would still be alive today.

If she saw your child Katie, like she saw her child, then I do not think she would have even reached for a Taser much less a gun. Because when they see their children they see their future. They see the best and the brightest that they have to give the world for the future. They see the most talented and resourceful, most indomitable human beings when they see their children. I submit to you America, so do we when we see our children, Crump said.
Monday marked Memorial Day in Southern Rhode Island and, with it, the unofficial start of the summer season. With the worst of the coronavirus pandemic behind us and summer businesses in the area flourishing, now may be the perfect time to travel for the first time since early 2020. Do you plan to travel outside of Rhode Island this summer? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

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The contingent is on the way of withdrawal.

By Yang Hui

DARFUR, Sudan, Apr. 23 -- Fifty-five peacekeepers assigned to the 16th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to Darfur stationed at Golo camp in Sudan successfully withdrew to the main camp in El Fasher after traveling over 280 km in four days, together with 16 vehicles and equipment, on April 14, local time, which marked the completion of the first camp withdrawal mission.

During the maneuver, the contingent traversed dry river beds, Myra Mountains, deserts and passed through areas controlled by the anti-government armed forces while overcoming multiple difficulties such as scorching heat and tire punctures. Along the way, the contingent kept marching forward 18 hours per day and ensured the safety of all personnel and equipment.

Since the deployment to the mission area at the end of August 2020, these peacekeepers stationed at Golo camp have successively completed multiple engineering support tasks, such as the restoration of the protective facilities in the camp, the building of signal towers in Golo, the construction of the Sortoni camp, and rescue of friendly troops rollover equipment. They have won widespread acclaim from the UN and their foreign counterparts for their professional performance.
The Paterson school district will be offering summer classes to all grades, amid uncertainty on whether students will return to classrooms before the current school year ends in June.

Under the plan, students in kindergarten through 5th grade would receive in-person instruction for four weeks in July, while those in grades 6 through 12 would learn remotely during the same timeframe, district officials said in discussing the optional program.

This program is going to be open to everyone, because it would benefit everyone, Joanna Tsimpedes, an assistant superintendent, told the school board Wednesday night.

Approximately 28,000 students in Paterson, the states third-largest city, have been relying on virtual instruction from home since schools across the state first closed in mid-March 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

District officials announced three weeks ago that all-remote learning will continue until further notice, upon canceling plans to return to classrooms May 3.

Paterson Superintendent Eileen Shafer made the announcement about summer school after discussing the federal waiver New Jersey received April 6 to delay standardized testing for most students until the fall.

We will be taking strong assessments in the fall, when students are back on a full-time basis, Shafer said.

In response, school board member Jonathan Hodges asked, For summer school, deciding what students need to go, how are we going to do that then?

We are opening up summer school for all of our students, Shafer replied.

Paterson is the latest school district in New Jersey to tout summer school  in prior years mostly associated with remediation, earning advanced credits or participating in enrichment activities  as a way of making up for time lost during the pandemic. Highland Park, for example, is expecting to enroll up to three times as many students in its summer program.

Tsimpedes, asked by Shafer to elaborate on the program, said the Paterson school district is highly recommending it but that it will remain optional.

Its not just an intervention program, its also an enrichment program, and we want to make sure that we are opening up to all students to give them the opportunity, and for the parents to have the opportunity to send their students to the program, which will benefit them, Tsimpedes said.

Tsimpedes also explained to the board why in-person summer instruction is only being offered to the younger grades.

If you think about it, our younger ones need more exposure to the schools, especially a kindergartener whos never set foot into a classroom this year  and, if we dont go back in May, it really is in our best interest to have them coming this summer, she said.

The program in Paterson will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Mondays through Thursday, for four weeks concluding July 29. All teachers will be working from their classrooms, even in grades where students are learning from home, and will be paid at their contracted hourly rate.

School officials in Paterson gave no indication Wednesday on whether in-person instruction will resume during the current school year. The school board is awaiting a followup assessment of pandemic data by early May.

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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.




Honda Motor Co's new chief executive said on Friday the company was aiming to increase its ratio of electric vehicles (EVs) and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to 100% of all sales by 2040.







Speaking at his first news conference since taking the chief executive position at the beginning of April, Toshihiro Mibe said the company expects EVs and FCVs to account for 40% of sales by 2030 and 80% by 2035 in all major markets.







Mibe began his leadership amid a growing shift in automobile technology to electric vehicles and autonomous driving. Traditionally known for its fuel-efficient internal-combustion engines, Honda launched its first mass-produced all-battery vehicle last August.







Mibe said the company also aimed to include advanced driver-assistance systems in all of its models in major markets by 2030. (Reuters)


HOWELL, MI -- A medical sterilizing facility in Howell had unsafe levels of a carcinogenic gas emissions, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy said Thursday.

Officials found elevated concentrations of ethylene oxide gas at Centurion Medical Products, a facility located at 301 Catrell Drive and owned by Medline Industries, Inc., the state said in an April 22 news release. The gas is used to sterilize equipment used in the healthcare industry, but is also considered a human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

EGLE began its investigation into Centurion in January when the EPA requested further review of data submitted by the company. Samples collected over 24 hours on March 29 and 30 found ethylene oxide at concentrations above acceptable health screening levels for long-term exposure.

Ethylene oxide gas is commonly used in antifreeze and sterilization because of its ability to damage DNA, according to the National Cancer Institute. At very high levels in the air, the gas can cause immediate health effects like headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and respiratory irritation. Prolonged high-level exposure increases risks for developing lymphoid cancers and breast cancer in women.

Levels observed around Centurion did not show risk for immediate health effects, EGLE said.

Centurions violation notice instructs the company on possible next steps to reduce the emissions and outdoor air exposures, according to the news release. The company must also submit information on its sterilization process and how it will meet its permitted limits to EGLE for review.

EGLE plans follow-up air sampling this year, it said. A public meeting may also be scheduled in May through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Livingston County Health Department to inform residents in the area.

MORE ON MLIVE:

22-mile route along historic Au Sable River named Michigans most scenic drive

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Letter from the Editor: Thats a nice secret meeting you have there. Mind if we join?
Not all cancerous tumors are created equal. Some tumors, known as "hot" tumors, show signs of inflammation, which means they are infiltrated with T cells working to fight the cancer. Those tumors are easier to treat, as immunotherapy drugs can then amp up the immune response.

"Cold" tumors, on the other hand, have no T-cell infiltration, which means the immune system is not stepping in to help. With these tumors, immunotherapy is of little use.

It's the latter type of tumor that researchers Michael Knitz and radiation oncologist and University of Colorado Cancer Center member Sana Karam, MD, PhD, address in new research published this week in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Working with mouse models in Karam's specialty area of head and neck cancers, Knitz and Karam studied the role of T cells in tumor treatment.

What we found is that the cells that normally tell the T cell, 'Hey, here's a tumor -- come and attack it,' are being silenced." Sana Karam, MD, PhD, University of Colorado Cancer Center Member

She and her team found that regulatory T cells (Tregs), a specialized T cell type that suppresses immune response, are essentially telling the T cells to stop fighting the cancer.

"Tregs normally serve as an important balance in a healthy immune system," Knitz says. "They prevent autoimmune disease and put the brakes on the T cells when needed. However, in many tumors, Tregs are too numerous or overly suppressive, bringing the T cell response to a halt."

Using medication that deactivates the Tregs can help boost the immune response in patients with cold tumors, the researchers found, as can radiation treatment that causes enough injury that the immune cells known as dendritic cells work to put the regular T cells into fight mode.

But this is only part of the story. The T cells need to know what to attack. "You need the radiation to create injury and bring in the immune cells so that the tumor can be recognized and targeted," says Karam, also an associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "That way, the dendritic cells trigger the immune system to produce a lot of T cells, similar to what a vaccine does. Those T cells then go back to the tumor to kill cancer cells. The pieces are already in place; they just need the proper signals. Activating the dendritic cells is a crucial step in allowing radiation to heat up these cold tumors."

Importantly, Karam and her team, which includes post-doctorate fellow Thomas Bickett, found that the radiation must be administered in a specific way.

"A specific dosing is needed," Karam says. "You have to pulse it. You can't just give one dose. You have to give it again and combine it with things that remove the suppression -- the Tregs -- while simultaneously keeping those antigen-presenting dendritic cells active and on board."

Karam says the next step in her research is clinical trials she hopes will eventually change the treatment paradigm from surgery and weeks of chemotherapy and radiation to just three sessions of radiation and immunotherapy, then surgery. She is driven to change the standard of care for cold tumors, she explains, because of the horrendous effects they have on patients.

"These tumors resemble those in patients who are heavy smokers," she says. "They're very destructive to bone and muscle, infiltrating the tongue, jaw, gum, and lymph nodes. It's horrible. We have very high failure rates with them, and the treatment often involves removing the tongue and weeks of radiation and chemotherapy, only for the patient to fail. I'm confident that we can do better for our patients."
Derek Chauvin is placed in handcuffs after being found guilty of murdering George Floyd. Court TV via AP, Pool

Fall River Police apologized after sharing a response to Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict on Tuesday.

"Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back," the post read in part.

Imagine if George Floyd "had done the same," it continued. Police said it was shared erroneously.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Massachusetts police department apologized after sharing a post on its Facebook page that read: "Derek Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back. Imagine where we'd be if George had done the same."

The now deleted Facebook post was shared by the Fall River Police Department in Massachusetts on Tuesday after Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

The post reshared a screenshot of a tweet that read: "Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back. Imagine where we'd be if George had done the same."

On Wednesday, the department published another post saying the Facebook page was accessed by an employee who mistook the account as their own.

"It is with regret that the Fall River Police Department's Facebook page was accessed by personnel who inadvertently re-posted an opinion that was meant for their own personal account," the police department wrote in a post on Wednesday morning. "The posting in no way represents the opinion of the Chief of Police or the Fall River Police Department."

Fall River Police Chief Jeffrey Cardoza issued another statement on Thursday saying the employee is "one of a few designated officers" with access to the department's public Facebook page.

"Today's posting in no way reflects the beliefs of this organization," Cardoza wrote in a statement dated April 21 but posted on the department's Facebook page on Thursday. "I am personally disappointed these attitudes exist. Through training, we have been and will continue to ensure our staff practices fair and impartial policing."

Story continues

He also said the incident was being evaluated by an independent investigator, and that the officer has been transferred to "an assignment that has no contact with the public."

In an interview with the Fall River Reporter on Wednesday, Cardoza called the post "inappropriate."

"I understand why people are upset," Cardoza said. "I'm upset as well. I wanted folks to know that I've been speaking with the mayor. I've been speaking with the council and the officer. We're going to have an investigation."

"It's not too much to look at, I know what he did, and I'm going to be looking at possibly giving that officer some discipline," the police chief added.

Read the original article on Insider
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By Tom Allard and Stanley Widianto

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Southeast Asian leaders said they had agreed on a plan with Myanmar's junta chief on Saturday to end the crisis in the violence-hit nation, but he did not explicitly respond to demands to halt the killing of civilian protesters.

"It's beyond our expectation," Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the leaders' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that was also attended by Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

"We tried not to accuse his side too much because we don't care who's causing it," Muhyiddin added. "We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, it's the other side that's causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop."

ASEAN leaders wanted a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces, which an activist monitoring group says have killed 745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement erupted to challenge his Feb. 1 coup. They also wanted the release of political prisoners.

"He did not reject what was put forward by me and many other colleagues," Muhyiddin said.

According to a statement from group chair Brunei, a consensus was reached on five points - ending violence, a constructive dialogue among all parties, a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue, acceptance of aid and a visit by the envoy to Myanmar. The five-point consensus did not mention political prisoners, although the chairman's statement said the meeting "heard calls" for their release.

"He (Min Aung Hlaing) said he heard us, he would take the point in, which he considered helpful," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told reporters.

"He was not opposed to ASEAN playing a constructive role, or an ASEAN delegation visit, or humanitarian assistance."

But Lee added the process had a long way to go, "because it is one thing to say you will cease violence and release political prisoners, it is another thing to get it done".

Story continues

It was not clear why Lee referred to the release of political prisoners when this was not in the five consensus points.

There was no immediate comment from Min Aung Hlaing.

A regular nighttime news bulletin on the military-run Myawaddy TV reported his attendance of the meeting and said Myanmar would closely cooperate with ASEAN on various issues, including "the political transition in Myanmar, and the process that will be implemented in the future".

Charles Santiago, head of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, called for the release of Myanmar's political prisoners and a timeline for an end to violence.

"ASEAN must now act swiftly and set a clear timeline for Min Aung Hlaing to deliver on ending the violence, or stand ready to hold him accountable," he said.

'RESTORE DEMOCRACY'

The ASEAN gathering was the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand, since the coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN, which has a policy of consensus decision-making and non-interference in the affairs of its members.

Myanmar's parallel National Unity Government (NUG), comprised of pro-democracy figures, remnants of Suu Kyi's ousted administration and representatives of armed ethnic groups, said it welcomed the consensus reached but said the junta had to be held to its promises.

"We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and to restore our democracy," said Dr. Sasa, spokesman for the NUG.

It was unusual for the leader of a military government in Myanmar to attend an ASEAN summit - usually the country has been represented by a lower-ranked officer or a civilian.

The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei were at the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.

While ASEAN's non-interference policy makes it difficult to tackle contentious issues, the body is seen by the United Nations, China and the United States as best placed to deal with the junta directly.

"We in the [@UN] Security Council eagerly await the outcome of the @ASEAN meeting on Burma, which deserves serious and immediate attention," U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield tweeted.

(Additional reporting by Nilufar Rizki, Fanny Potkin, Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Liz Lee, A. Ananthalakshmi, Aradhana Aravindan and Panu Wongcha-umWriting by Martin Petty and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Michael Perry, Frances Kerr, Ros Russell and Dan Grebler)
As many as nine COVID-19 patients were shifted to the BHU Trauma Centre in Varanasi on Thursday due to the lack of liquid medical at a private hospital here.

"The doctors at Trimurti Hospital had informed us about the lack of So some patients had to shift to BHU," said an official.

"There are nine patients that are being shifted as the hospital is left with just an hour of supply," he said.

"The hospital informed us about the shortage of oxygen at the hospital just two hours before and ask us to shift the patient," kin of a COVID infected patient told ANI.

The worsening COVID-19 situation has seen a surge in the demand for medical oxygen and beds for the COVID-19 patients and many states are reporting a shortage in essential medical supplies. Availability of oxygen is a key element in the treatment of certain medical conditions in the COVID infection.

(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 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Endeavour by the crew, lifted-off at 5:49:02 a.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US. Image Source: IANS News

NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 (from left) Mission Specialist Thomas Pesquet of the (European Space Agency); Pilot Megan McArthur of NASA; Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA; and Mission Specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. (C Image Source: IANS News

Washington, April 23 : The SpaceX Crew Dragon has successfully launched its second flight to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, US space agency NASA said.

The spacecraft, named Endeavour by the crew, lifted-off at 5.49.02 a.m. EDT from the Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said. The Crew Dragon is scheduled to dock to the space station about 5.10 a.m. on Saturday.

The four astronauts on board are NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur -- who will serve as the mission's spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihikoa-Hoshidea and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomasa-Pesquet, who will serve as mission specialists to the space station.

They will make a 23.5-hour journey to the ISS, the space agency said in a statement.

"We wish you a great mission, good luck, and enjoy the ride," the SpaceX team said, in a tweet on Friday before the liftoff.

The Crew-2's launch was rescheduled to Friday, because of unfavourable weather conditions along the flight path. Earlier, NASA had announced the liftoff on Thursday.

This is the second crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the first with two international partners.

The Crew-2 astronauts will join the other members of Expedition 65, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, for a six-month mission conducting science experiments in low-Earth orbit.

An important scientific focus on this expedition is continuing a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies. Tissue chips are small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body. The expedition will conduct other microgravity science investigations as well as complete maintenance and upgrades to the space station.

NASA and SpaceX are also continuing to prepare for the Crew-3 mission, targeted as early as October 23, followed by return of Crew-2 no earlier than October 31, NASA said.
Washington:

US Vice-President Mike Pence, along with several other lawmakers have send their Diwali greetings to Indian-Americans and those celebrating the festival of lights across the globe.

Happy Diwali to those celebrating with friends and family, Pence said in a tweet.

May we all strive for peace, prosperity and the triumph of light over darkness, said the US Vice President.

Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, who last year celebrated Diwali in a temple sent in her greetings by a tweet and said she was looking forward to her visit to India next month to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Wishing Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world a joyful Diwali. Saal Mubarak to all! Looking forward to my visit to India for GES2017, Ivanka tweeted along with a picture of President Trump celebrating festival of lights in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday.

Tweeting Happy Diwali to all those who celebrate, Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said the Festival of Lights has always been special for her.

ALSO READ: PM Modi, Army Chief celebrate Diwali with troops in J-K's Gurez sector along the LoC

May the light guide your path, she said in another tweet.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wished her friends in Southern Florida celebrating the Festival of Lights a very Happy Diwali.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sent his Diwali greetings.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson started his major India policy speech by sending Diwali greetings to all friends in the US, India and around the world celebrating the Festival of Lights.

Generally, fireworks accompany that. I dont need any fireworks; Im getting too many fireworks around me already. So well forgo the fireworks, he said, amidst laughter from a Washington audience.

Americas top corporate leadership too joined the festivities.

Happy Diwali! May the festival of lights spread love, peace & prosperity to all! Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a tweet.

Today, lets light up the world with the glow of our diyas and the warmth in our hearts. From my family to yours, best wishes for Diwali! tweeted Pepsico Chairwoman Indra Nooyi.

ALSO READ | Happy Diwali 2017: Top 10 Bollywood songs that will set your mood in STYLE

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Racist hate crimes soared when England's coronavirus lockdown eased on 29 March, a charity has said. (George Wood/Getty Images)

Racist hate crimes in England soared last month when coronavirus restrictions were eased, a charity has said.

Figures released by Victim Support on Friday showed 514 people in England and Wales sought help from the charity after being the victim of a race and nationality offence in the week beginning 29 March.

This date coincides with when people in England were first allowed to meet outdoors in groups of up to six or two households after months of lockdown.

The charity said it was up a shocking 73% compared to the average number of referrals between 6 January and 1 March, when the lockdown was at its strictest.

Read more: Priti Patel 'to launch league tables' of police forces

Victim Support said it raises concerns about the link between easing and hate crime.

It added the spikes could also be linked to the beginning of the George Floyd murder trial in the US, which also started on 29 March.

Floyd, a Black man, was killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter on Tuesday.

The charity also cited the Stop Asian Hate campaign, which began in response to violent attacks against Asian-Americans during the pandemic.

Victim Support said these will have helped increase awareness and empowered people to come forward and seek support.

Watch: Ex-police officer found guilty of murder and manslaughter in George Floyd case

Read more: Have your say: What is the most important issue for the government after the pandemic?

Yahoo News UK has previously reported how racist attacks towards east and south-east Asians have also spiked in the UK during the pandemic.

The actual number of racist hate crimes since 29 March will be higher than the 514 publicised by Victim Support on Friday, as the charity only records the number of people who go to it for help. Hate crimes are also known to be under-reported to the authorities.

Story continues

Diana Fawcett, chief executive of Victim Support, which provides help to victims of all types of crime, said: We are extremely concerned that weve seen this huge jump in racially aggravated hate crime and very strongly condemn all types of discrimination.

Fawcett said that for many people, abuse can damage their sense of safety, wellbeing and self-worth which takes years to rebuild.

She added: We want victims to know that hate crime is a serious offence and there is support available to anyone who needs it. No one should ever fear being abused or discriminated against simply because of the way that they look or colour of their skin.

Meanwhile, all hate crime referrals were up 67% compared to the average numbers between 6 January and 1 March.

Responding to the figures, a government spokesman said: All forms of racism are completely unacceptable and racist abuse should never take place in our society. We continue support the police in bringing offenders to justice.

Watch: President Joe Biden speaks after George Floyd verdict




NEWS PROVIDED BY

Alveda King Ministries

April 23, 2021



ATLANTA, April 23, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Evangelist Alveda King and she is available for comment:

Racism  A socially engineered concept based upon the false premise that there are separate races of human beings. One is a racist when one believes himself to be part of a distinctly separate race of the human species. This concept of racial separatism has no basis in scientific evidence.



"We must learn to live together as brothers [and sisters], or perish together as fools." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



Tuesday, a panel of jurors found ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges in connection with the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, who died on May 25, 2020 after Chauvin held his knee against his neck or upper body for nine minutes and 29 seconds, as a handcuffed Floyd repeatedly said: "I can't breathe."



This tragedy resulted in one of the most closely watched, racially charged criminal trials in recent history.



Chauvin, charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, was announced guilty across the board while America watched with bated breath, on edge as they awaited the verdict.



To the relief of many, including family members and notable celebrities, Chauvin's bail was immediately revoked and he was led away in handcuffs.



While Floyd's murder prompted months-long worldwide protests, with calls for an end to police brutality and systemic racism, the verdict seems to bring hope for the possibility for genuine justice for some who are victims of racism and oppression in America.



Earlier on Tuesday, President Biden weighed in by saying he believes the case is "overwhelming."



He said he had spoken to Floyd's family on Monday and he could "only imagine the pressure and anxiety they're feeling."



Having spoken with and prayed with members of George Floyd's family, and also having experienced the grief of murders of family members in the battle against racism, I agree the George Floyd saga has been overwhelming. I am glad justice has prevailed in the verdict.



Now, I can only pray that the divisiveness of racism will be broken down; and that the systemic lie that empowers racism in America will be not only exposed, but will be eradicated. There can be only one true critical race theory and that is for the one human race. We are one blood, one human race, and should be regarded as equal, from the womb to the tomb.



"Of one blood, God created humanity." Acts 17:26



Racism not only rears its ugly head in situations such as the George Floyd tragedy. Racism is deeply rooted in the socio-economic systems of America. A classic example of this travesty is the foundation of the organization Planned Parenthood, whose racist founder was Margaret Sanger.



In her April 17, 2021 op-ed for the New York Times, Planned Parenthood CEO Alex McGill Johnson said her organization would stop making excuses for Sanger. What she meant is that she wants her friends inside the Beltway and in the media to stop talking about Sanger's sordid past, so the organization can quietly continue carrying out its genocide in the Black community while also giving lip service to the Black Lives Matter movement and helping to portray abortion as the very best of things on television and film.



Since there is no basis for disputing that Sanger thought Blacks were inferior and wanted to prevent them from ever being conceived, Planned Parenthood is finally acknowledging her racist roots; while adding a caveat that Sanger's racism doesn't mean anything, because that was then, this is now. Yet today PP still carries on with its genocide of the Black community through abortion.



Meanwhile, recent history is littered with examples of the duplicity of the abortion industry's so-called compassion for people of color and the underserved. Please examine the sagas of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, the tragedy of Tonya Reaves, the millions of Title X tax dollars, the upside down numbers of abortions over live births in America's Black communities.



Here in Georgia, Vernon Jones, a former state representative seeking the office of governor, says America needs more than empty words from Planned Parenthood's well-paid mouthpiece.



"Margaret Sanger set out to eradicate the Black community through genocide," Jones said. "She believed Black people were defective from birth and she set out on a mission to sterilize Black men and women and abort Black babies. She spoke to the women of the Ku Klux Klan. Today, Planned Parenthood is America's largest abortion provider but it's time to sterilize, abort and eradicate Margaret Sanger, the racist organization she founded, and their memory."



So while America is grateful for the justice for George Floyd, Planned Parenthood is telling us the organization now recognizes that racism is bad while assuring us its attempts to annihilate the Black community will continue unhindered, but now with a veneer of wokeness.



Friends, maybe now is the time to connect the dots. MLK once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Maybe justice for George Floyd should be a gateway to justice for all, from the womb to the tomb.
Jind (Haryana) [India], April 23 (ANI): In a bizarre turn of events, a thief who had fled with a bag containing over 1,700 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Haryana's Jind, later had a change of heart and returned the doses.



The incident happened on Thursday afternoon at the Civil Hospital in Jind when the thief fled away with 1,710 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Jitendra Khatkar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jind, an unknown man handed the vaccine doses to an old man sitting at a tea stall outside the civil lines police station in the district and told him it was the station Munshi's lunch.

"We received a compliment in the morning from PPC center at Civil Hospital that 1,710 doses of vaccine were stolen from the center. We started an investigation into the case and collected some video evidence. However, at noon, an unknown man handed over the vaccines to an old man sitting on a tea stall outside the Civil Lines police station and said it was station Munshi's lunch," the DSP said.

He added that when the old man handed the package to the police, they discovered the stolen vaccine doses.

"We covered all the doses notified by the Civil Hospital. We are trying to nab the thief as soon as possible. We are looking at the CCTV footage for evidence. Stealing vaccine was not the motive of thieves, it was something else. If stealing the vaccine was their purpose, they would not have returned it," the DSP added.

The third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India will begin from May 1 and will include those above 18.

India has been witnessing an unprecedented increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. In fact, on Wednesday, India became the first country in the world to report over three lakh COVID-19 cases in a single day. (ANI)


Senior Kinahan cartel member Declan Brady, who is known as 'Mr Nobody', has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to hiding over a quarter of a million euro in crime cash in the attic of a Kildare address.

Brady is already serving a 11.5-year jail term imposed by the same court in July 2019, after he admitted supervising a firearms arsenal including an assault rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition that had been stashed in a Dublin business park.

This afternoon, Friday, April 23, the cartel lieutenant pleaded guilty at a brief hearing to possessing 268,000 that was concealed in a loft at a premises in Naas.

Brady spoke only to answer the single charge put to him by the registrar and said: "Guilty".

Brady (55), with an address at The Park, Wolstan Abbey, Celbridge, Co Kildare, had been charged in February with a total of 16 non-scheduled offences. All the charges come under Section 7 of Criminal Justice Act 2010 and relate to money laundering and terrorist financing within the State.

Under Section 7 of the Act, "a person commits an offence if the person engages in acts in relation to property that is the proceeds of criminal conduct in concealing or disguising the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of the property in converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing the property".

The alleged offences all occurred within the State between January 1, 2012 and January 24, 2017, inclusive.

Brady today pleaded guilty before the three-judge court to concealing cash to the value of 268,940 in the attic of The Dairy, Rathasker Road, Naas, Co Kildare, on January 24, 2017.

Ms Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, told the court that there will be additional pleas required from Brady, his wife Deirdre Brady (53) and another co-accused, Erika Lukacs (37), when all three are before the court again on June 14.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge David McHugh remanded Brady in custody for sentence hearing on June 14.

On February 19 last, Brady was also charged with concealing cash to the value of 2,000 and 10,000 in a bread-bin on the same date and at the same location, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of crime.

He was further charged with concealing, disguising, converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using money credited to Ulster Bank Account and Permanent TSB, in the names of Declan Brady and wife Deirdre Brady, on various dates between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2016, within the State, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct.

In July 2019, Brady pleaded guilty at the non-jury court to possessing nine revolvers, four semi-automatic pistols, a sub-machine gun, an assault rifle and 1,355 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances at a fake business premises with an address at Unit 52, Block 503, Grants Drive, Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, on January 24, 2017.

Brady's wife and another woman pleaded guilty at the non-jury Special Criminal Court on April 13 of this year to two crime cash laundering offences.

Ms Brady and Ms Lukacs were originally charged with a total of 52 money laundering offences when they first came before the court in February.

Ms Brady was charged with 36 non-scheduled offences and Ms Lukacs was charged with 16 non-scheduled offences.

Ms Brady, of The Bailey, Castlefarm, Naas, Co Kildare, and Ms Lukacs, with an address at Lakelands, Naas, Co Kildare, each pleaded guilty to one count on the indictment.

Ms Brady pleaded guilty to concealing or disguising the true nature or source of money credited to a Permanent TSB Account on various dates between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014, within the State, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property, in the names of Declan Brady and Deirdre Brady, was the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Ms Lukacs admitted to concealing or disguising the true nature or source of money credited to an Allied Irish Bank account on various dates between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012, within the State, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property, in the name of Erika Lukacs, was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks recouped early losses to trade on a flat note Friday after data showed the country's services sector returned to growth in April. Underlying sentiment remained cautious somewhat amid reports of a Biden capital gains tax hike. The benchmark CAC 40 was marginally lower at 6,266 after climbing 0.9 percent in the previous session. Remy Cointreau shares were down 0.7 percent. The spirits maker said that sales were slightly up in its full fiscal year, adjusted for currency effects. Air Liquide dipped 0.4 percent after the industrial gases company reported lower revenue in the first quarter. EDF shares were down more than 2 percent. France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was quoted as saying by the Ouest-France newspaper in an interview that he was ditching the 'Project Hercules' name of a planned restructuring of the power group. In economic releases, France's private sector returned to growth for the first time since August 2020, driven by a fresh increase in services activity amid continuing manufacturing sector growth, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed. The flash composite output index advanced unexpectedly to 51.7 in April from 50.0 in March as a fresh increase in services activity outweighed a slight slowdown in manufacturing growth. The score was forecast to fall to 48.8. 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.
With new coronavirus-induced



restrictions coming into force in from Thursday night, the state government said only government personnel and health workers will be allowed to travel by suburban trains in

The fresh restrictions under the government's 'Break- the-Chain' programme came into force at 8 pm on Thursday and will remain effective till 7 am on May 1.

No one else even notified as essential services or under exemptions as per earlier government orders will be allowed to use local trains during this period, said a statement issued by the office of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray here.

Government entities include civic bodies of Mumbai, Thane and other corporations, zilla parishads, government authorities, statutory commissions and agencies, the statement said.

Accredited media personnel are prominent among those excluded from the use of suburban trains which are the lifeline of and its satellite towns.

Work from home for government staff was not sanction of leave and 85 per cent of such employees must work remotely, the CMO said.

It is expected that government departments will embrace e-office as well as tele-meeting systems, it said.

A separate statement from the chief minister's office (CMO) said essential services or those excluded from the curbs can display their organisation's identity card and travel by private vehicles for their work.

Offices excluded from the curbs and those falling under essential services category will have to maintain only 15 per cent attendance at work, it added.

The fresh restrictions on travel, attendance in offices and wedding functions are aimed at curbing the rising COVID-19 cases.

According to an order issued by Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte, government offices - central, state and local authorities - will work with 15 per cent attendance except those in emergency services directly connected to management of the pandemic.

Municipal and state transport buses will operate at 50 per cent capacity with no standing passengers, 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.)
DUBLIN, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Investigation Report on China's Hydroxychloroquine Market, 2021-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The sales of hydroxychloroquine in the Chinese market have been rising steadily, from CNY 258 million in 2016 to CNY 343 million in 2020, with a CAGR of 7.34% from 2016 to 2020. In 2020, China's sales of hydroxychloroquine were CNY 343 million, a slight increase of 0.71% than 2019.

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly used to prevent and treat malaria. The pharmacokinetics of hydroxychloroquine is similar to that of chloroquine. It can be rapidly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and excreted in the kidneys. Hydroxychloroquine is also used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, and delayed skin lesions purpura.



The market demand for hydroxychloroquine in China is relatively large. There are two companies approved for manufacturing hydroxychloroquine, namely Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Sanofi-aventis Ireland Ltd. Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has a larger sales market share with lower prices advantage. In 2020, the sales amount of Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical is as high as CNY 233 million, and the market share is 68.05%.



Hydroxychloroquine has been tried out in search for its effectiveness of prevention and treatment for coronavirus diseases in the first half of 2020. In March 2020, the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission in China recommended that hydroxychloroquine be used to treat mild to moderate new coronavirus diseases. The preliminary results of clinical studies in China and France showed that hydroxychloroquine is effective and safe.

On March 28, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for use of Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate for the treatment of 2019 Coronavirus disease. However, on July 4, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that it would stop the hydroxychloroquine trial on the grounds because "the mortality rate of hospitalized patients with the coronary disease could not be relieved during the trial".

In August 2020, the "Covid-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Plan (Trial Eighth Edition)" issued by the National Health Commission of China stated that "hydroxychloroquine or combined use with azithromycin is not recommended."



The sales volume increased in the short term when used in the experimental prevention and treatment at the beginning of 2020. It is predicted that its sales will gradually return to the original level, that is, it is mainly used for the treatment of malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.



Topics Covered:

The impact of COVID-19 on China's hydroxychloroquine market

hydroxychloroquine market Market size of hydroxychloroquine in China

Major hydroxychloroquine manufacturers in China

Prices of hydroxychloroquine in China

Major factors affecting the development of China's hydroxychloroquine market

hydroxychloroquine market Prospect of China's hydroxychloroquine market

Key Topics Covered:



1 Relevant Concepts of Hydroxychloroquine

1.1 Indications for Hydroxychloroquine

1.2 Development of Hydroxychloroquine in China

1.3 Governmental Approval of Hydroxychloroquine in China

1.4 The impact of COVID-19 on China's Hydroxychloroquine market



2 Sales of Hydroxychloroquine in China, 2016-2020

2.1 Sales Value of Hydroxychloroquine

2.1.1 Overall Sales Value

2.1.2 Sales Value by Region

2.2 Sales Volume of Hydroxychloroquine

2.3 Sales of Hydroxychloroquine by Dosage Form in China, 2016-2020



3 Analysis of Major Hydroxychloroquine Manufacturers in China, 2016-2020

3.1 Analysis on Market Share of Major Hydroxychloroquine Manufacturers

3.1.1 Market Share by Sales Value

3.1.2 Market Share by Sales Volume

3.2 Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd.

3.2.1 Enterprise Profile

3.2.2 Sales of Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical's Hydroxychloroquine (Fenle) in China

3.3 Sanofi-aventis Ireland Ltd

3.3.1 Enterprise Profile

3.3.2 Sales of Sanofi-aventis Ireland's Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) in China



4 Prices of Hydroxychloroquine in China, 2020-2021

4.1 Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical (Fenle)

4.2 Sanofi-aventis Ireland (Plaquenil)



5 Prospect of China's Hydroxychloroquine Market, 2021-2025

5.1 Analysis of factors Affecting Development of China's Hydroxychloroquine Market

5.2 Progress of Generic Hydroxychloroquine in China

5.3 Forecast on Trend of Hydroxychloroquine Market



Companies Mentioned

Shanghai Zhongxi Pharmaceutical

Sanofi-aventis Ireland

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8bqhhz

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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An offset loophole could allow high income earners to get $1,080 back on their returns this year if the tax relief scheme is extended for 12 months as expected.

The 10million Australian workers earning up to $126,000 were given tax cuts of up to $1,080 last year in the form of a low and middle-income tax offset to boost spending amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

That tax relief was due to expire on June 30, but senior government sources have said it could be extended for 12 months in May's budget at a cost of $7billion.

About 4.5million income-earners are entitled to the maximum offset, but tax experts said those earning above the threshold could 'manipulate' the system and receive the full $1,080 also if they chose to salary sacrifice to lower their taxable income.

Millions of Australians may be able to take advantage of a tax loophole to get their hands on the full $1,080 offset as the tax cut is set to be extended for another year (workers in Sydney's CBD pictured)

But on the lower end of the scale salary sacrifice could have the opposite effect, with the offset shrinking to $255 for those earning less than $37,000 a year.

For those earning $48,000 to $90,000 the offset is bumped up to $1,080 and gradually phases out for those earning up to $126,000.

Johnston Advisory accountant, Ben Johnston, told news.com.au workers on higher incomes can take advantage of salary sacrificing which involves having money taken out from your pre-tax salary to go towards benefits.

This means you take home less income and therefore have to pay less income tax.

The accountant said someone who was previously not entitled to the full $1,080 offset could salary sacrifice and reduce their pay so they can receive the amount.

But Mr Johnston said the loophole as a 'big flaw' and said it was 'unfair' for lower income workers such as nurses who commonly utilise salary packaging.

'It's very common for those type of workers to salary package their pay. So it's pretty common for nurses to have superannuation contributions, credit card debt or even wedding expenses to be paid out of their pre tax salary meaning their income goes from $60,000 to $30,000,' he said.

The loophole could mean those on lower salaries like healthcare workers who utilise salary sacrificing may be unable to claim the full offset (stock image)

He said in order for the government to take into account if workers salary sacrifice, the offset should be based on adjusted taxable income.

'The government is ignoring income tax adjustments when it comes to the offset, which is inadvertently giving higher income earners access to more of it and lower income earners miss out potentially,' he said.

Low and middle-income tax offsets Those earning $37,000 or less: $255 Between $37,001 and $48,000: $255 plus 7.5 cents for every dollar above $37,000, up to a maximum of $1,080 Between $48,001 and $90,000: $1,080 Between $90,001 and $126,000: $1,080 minus 3 cents for every dollar of the amount above $90,000 Source: Australian Taxation Office Advertisement

'It's unfortunate as the people that the tax offset sets out to achieve to benefit are possibly ones that are missing out, as they are in the clear income brackets where people need it most, and people on higher incomes are able to access it by being able to manipulate their taxable incomes.'

Parliamentary staff tasked with finalising the details of the Budget have been discussing the potential extension of the tax offset this week, a source told The Herald Sun.

An Australian earning $80,000 a year took home $63,013 in 2020-21 but that figure would drop to $61,933 in 2021-22 if the tax offset is removed.

This would increase to $62,808 in 2024-25 when a different round of tax cuts begin, cutting the number of tax brackets from five to four for the first time since 1984.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been tight-lipped when asked about the fate of the tax offset, saying only that the Government was 'working to a set of priorities'.

'We're in the middle of a pandemic, and we're transitioning off emergency support to more targeted support. So we've got lots of pieces in the jigsaw operating,' he said.

Mr Frydenberg will hand down the Budget on May 11.
Mayor of Meghri Mkhitar Zakaryan has been charged with hooliganism, as reported his lawyer Gaiane Papoyan.

The lawyer added that both the mayor and his attorneys are uncertain about the charge and had petitioned for clarification of the charge, but the body implementing proceedings failed to give a clarification, stating that the petition is considered abuse of right.

Papoyan stated that she and the other attorneys dont know if the body implementing proceedings has submitted a petition to arrest Zakaryan to the court or not.

On April 21, 16 people were detained within the scope of the criminal case instituted in relation to the protests that were being held against Nikol Pashinyan in Syunik Province, including Mayor of Meghri Mkhitar Zakaryan, Deputy Mayor Armen Samvelyan and Deputy Mayor of Goris Menua Hovsepyan.

Earlier, it was reported that Menua Hovsepyan has been released since the court had declared the detention unlawful.

An appeal against the lawfulness of Zakaryans detention has been submitted to the court, which will consider the lawfulness of detention today at 6:30 p.m.
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The global ready to drink cocktails market size is anticipated to reach USD 1.63 billion by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 12.1% from 2020 to 2027. Rising demand for low alcohol-based flavored drinks owing to increasing health consciousness is the primary factor driving the market. Premiumization, convenience, and on-the-go trends among millennials are also driving the market. However, different taxation for ready to drink (RTD) cocktails in various countries and regulations on the pack size are some of the key challenges that manufacturers are facing. In terms of product, spirit-based cocktails emerged as the largest and the fastest-growing segment in 2019 owing to their distinct taste.

Spirit-based products are made from gin, tequila, whiskey, rum, and vodka. Gin and tequila-based products, in particular, have a high demand. In terms of packaging, cans segment is estimated to ascend at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period due to the growing demand for convenience and easy-to-carry on-the-go packaging. Cans are much more compact and lighter than bottles and can be recycled more easily. In addition, cans are allowed in public places like swimming pools and parks where bottles are generally restricted. In terms of distribution channel, supermarkets/hypermarkets emerged as the largest segment in 2019.

Supermarkets have designated shelf space for RTD cocktails as these products contain low alcohol levels. Asia Pacific is anticipated to emerge as the fastest-growing regional market in the coming years due to the growing demand for convenience products in Asian countries. Furthermore, changing lifestyles, increased disposable income levels, and influence of the western culture are likely to propel the market growth. Growth in the online distribution of alcohol and easy availability across stores is further expected to boost the demand for RTD cocktails. The industry is highly competitive when it comes to product variation and pricing. Prominent market participants are focusing on product innovation to attract more consumers.

Browse Details of Report @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ready-to-drink-cocktails-market

Ready To Drink Cocktails Market Report Highlights

 In terms of type, the spirit-based product forms accounted for more than 40% share of the overall revenue in 2019

 Consumer preference for vodka, gin, whiskey, and tequila-based products is the major factor driving the growth of the spirit-based products segment

 Furthermore, product innovation and easy availability are also expected to support the segment growth

 Asia Pacific is projected to register the fastest CAGR from 2020 to 2027 due to rising consumption of convenience drinks in countries, such as China, Australia, and Japan

 Product innovation with infusion of botanical ingredients is expected to remain a critical success factor among the industry participants

Ready To Drink Cocktails Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global ready to drink cocktails market based on type, packaging, distribution channel, and region:

RTD Cocktails Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 Malt-based

 Spirit-based

 Wine-based

RTD Cocktails Packaging Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 Bottle

 Cans
This campus was established in 1831 as a U.S Marine Hospital, and the current main building was constructed in the 1930s. In 1981, it became Bayley Seton Hospital. The hospital was turned over to St. Vincents Medical Catholic Center in 2000, which filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and was closed soon after. (Staten Island Advance)
RTHK: Race against time to save crew on Indonesian sub

Rescue teams were battling against time on Friday to find a missing Indonesian Navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea with 53 crew, which would be running out of oxygen if not already crushed by water pressure.

Search helicopters and more ships left Bali and a naval base in Java heading to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill, with the head of the Indonesian submarine fleet aboard.

If the submarine was still intact, officials said it would only have enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday.

"So far we haven't found it... but with the equipment available we should be able to find the location," Achmad Riad, a spokesman for the Indonesian military, told a news conference.

An Indonesian air force pilot said six tonnes of equipment had been flown to a base to help with the search including underwater balloons to help lift a vessel.

Indonesia's navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres, well beyond its survivable limits.

An object with "high magnetic force" had been spotted "floating" at a depth of 50-100 metres, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine's last location.

The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 metres but anything more could be fatal, Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said. The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 metres.

One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan.

An Indonesian defence expert said the crew could still be found alive.

"But if the submarine is in a 700-metre sea trough, it will be difficult for them to survive because underwater pressure will cause cracks and ruptures of the steel hull," Connie Rahakundini Bakrie said.

The submarine joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981, the defence ministry said, and underwent a refit in South Korea completed in 2012. It was said to be in good condition.

"I hope that they will be found alive," said Berda Asmara, the wife of crew member Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who has sailed on the Nanggala for 10 years.

"We had a video call. He told me that he would go sailing and asked me to pray for him," she said of the last time they spoke.

Natalie Sambhi, an expert on Indonesian military and security at Verve Research, said the best case scenario was that the submarine was not at a great depth but even then the challenges were immense.

"When you factor in the oxygen levels for the actual number of crew and then the time it takes to locate, assessment of recovery, then engagement in that recovery that timeline looks even longer."

Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States have sent specialised ships or aircraft in response to Indonesian requests for assistance.

The US military is sending a P-8 Poseidon aircraft to assist in the submarine search.

On Friday, the Pentagon said US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday the "United States would do everything possible to support Indonesias search and rescue effort," a spokeswoman said.

Two Australian Navy ships were heading for the search area including a frigate with special sonar capabilities, the defence department said.

Indonesia operates five submarines - two German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels.

It has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
ATLANTA, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL), a premier global consumer and commercial services company, announced the election of Jerry W. Nix, to Lead Director of the Board of Directors. Additionally, Susan Bell has been named Chairperson of the Audit Committee. Both Susan and Jerry will be succeeding Henry B. Tippie in these roles.

Nix succeeds the retiring Lead Director, Henry B. Tippie, who joined the Company in 1953, and was the company's longest serving Director. Gary W. Rollins stated, "I wish to personally thank Henry for his 68 years of guidance and leadership to Rollins. His knowledge and service to the company has been invaluable."

In addition, Jerry W. Nix has been elected Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, and Chairman of the Compensation Committee, as well as a member of the company's Audit Committee. He has also been elected to serve on the Executive Committee with Gary W. Rollins. Nix is the former Vice Chairman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Genuine Parts Company. Prior to retiring from Genuine Parts Company in March 2013, Nix was Chief Financial Officer for over 13 years and served in various other capacities with Genuine Parts during that time, including Senior Vice President, Finance. In addition to being a Director of Genuine Parts, Nix was a Director of Synovus Financial Corp. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Marine Products Corporation and RPC, Inc.

Nix also serves on various civic and non-profit boards, including Young Harris College, the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority, John and Mary Franklin Foundations, and on the Executive Committee for the Atlanta Area Council of Boy Scouts of America. Prior to joining Genuine Parts in 1978, Nix was an auditor with Ernst & Young and a pilot in the U. S. Air Force.

In addition to being named Chairperson of the Audit Committee, Susan Bell has also been named Chairperson of the Diversity Committee. Bell recently retired from Ernst and Young LLP (EY) after a 36-year career in public accounting in a variety of leadership roles. She served clients as an audit and business advisory partner, led EY's Southeast Risk Advisory practice, and served as Atlanta Office Managing Partner for eight years. She also led the power and utilities sector focus in EY's financial accounting advisory services practice.

Bell is a Certified Public Accountant and qualifies as a "financial expert" for US Securities and Exchange Commission public companies. She also has significant experience with internal audit and enterprise risk management, is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and Women Corporate Directors and is a "qualified technology expert" in the Digital Directors Network.

Bell has served as a non-profit board member for several organizations throughout her career. Currently, she serves on the board of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and IWF-Georgia, an international women's forum. She also serves on the Mississippi State University Adkerson School of Accountancy Advisory Council.

Gary W. Rollins stated, "We are pleased that Jerry and Susan will take on these additional leadership roles on our Board. Their extensive financial and business experience will benefit Rollins for years to come."

Rollins, Inc. is a premier global consumer and commercial services company. Through its family of leading brands, Orkin, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Clark Pest Control, Orkin Canada, Western Pest Services, Northwest Exterminating, McCall Service, Inc., Critter Control, The Industrial Fumigant Company, Trutech, Orkin Australia, Waltham Services, OPC Services, PermaTreat, Rollins UK, Aardwolf Pestkare, Crane Pest Control, and MissQuito, the Company provides essential pest control services and protection against termite damage, rodents and insects to more than two million customers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia from more than 700 locations. You can learn more about Rollins and its subsidiaries by visiting our web sites at www.orkin.com , www.pestdefense.com , www.clarkpest.com, www.orkincanada.ca , www.westernpest.com , www.callnorthwest.com, www.mccallservice.com , www.crittercontrol.com , www.indfumco.com, www.trutechinc.com , www.orkinau.com , www.walthamservices.com , www.opcpest.com , www.permatreat.com , www.safeguardpestcontrol.co.uk , www.aardwolfpestkare.com, www.cranepestcontrol.com , www.missquito.com and www.rollins.com . You can also find this and other news releases at www.rollins.com by accessing the news releases button.

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements about the Company benefitting from the extensive financial and business experience of Mr. Nix and Ms. Bell for years to come. The actual results of the Company could differ materially from those indicated because of various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the extent and duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its potential impact on the financial health of the Company's business partners, customers, supply chains and suppliers, global economic conditions and capital and financial markets, changes in consumer behavior and demand, the potential unavailability of personnel or key facilities, modifications to the Company's operations, and the potential implementation of regulatory actions; economic and competitive conditions which may adversely affect the Company's business; the degree of success of the Company's pest and termite process, and pest control selling and treatment methods; the Company's ability to identify and integrate potential acquisitions; climate and weather trends; competitive factors and pricing practices; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled workers, and potential increases in labor costs; uncertainties of litigation; the results of the SEC's investigation of the Company; and changes in various government laws and regulations, including environmental regulations. All of the foregoing risks and uncertainties are beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases the Company cannot predict the risks and uncertainties that could cause its actual results to differ materially from those indicated. A more detailed discussion of potential risks facing the Company can be found in the Company's Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2020.

For Further Information Contact

Eddie Northen (404) 888-2242

SOURCE Rollins, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.rollins.com


Without hospitals or medical specialists in space, NASA and other space agencies have always been concerned about astronauts falling sick during a mission. To minimize the chances of that, they typically spend the two weeks before launch in quarantine.

A Covid-19 superspreader event at the space station would disrupt operations.

The interior of the space station has a volume equivalent to a Boeing 747 jetliner, so there would be space for infected crew members to isolate themselves. But space station managers certainly would not want to worry about the virus spreading in the stations perpetually filtered and recycled air.

During a news conference last week, Shane Kimbrough, the NASA astronaut who is the commander of Crew-2, said all four astronauts had received Covid vaccinations. I guess it went fine, he said. We all have a little bit different reactions, just like most people do. So were no different in that regard. But were thankful that we have the vaccines.

The three astronauts who launched in a Soyuz rocket to the station earlier this month  Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency and Mark Vande Hei of NASA  were also vaccinated.
And this is not a suburban home  it is the purpose-built family violence simulation centre at the Police Academy  the only one of its type in Australia. Family violence. Police take lessons from the classroom, here observing a live feed from a simulated house, to the street. Credit:Justin McManus Kirra and Matthew are serving police playing the role of victim and offender. The eight-month-old baby, Mandy, is a $55,000 hi-fidelity wireless mannequin controlled by a hidden computer. Mandy has a heartbeat and can wriggle, cry and hiccup. Kirra thrusts the baby to the police officer, who takes her - another challenge for the students. Taking the baby helps relieve Kirras anxiety and lowers tension but leaves the officer with her arms full and unable to immediately support her partner if Matthew becomes violent. Inside the house another scenario is played out. A same-sex couple is arguing. They have been together six months and John accuses David of playing up after he has gone out for drinks.

John bombards David with texts demanding he return home. During the subsequent argument John throws a vase, hitting David in the chest. Both men are relatively calm and co-operate with police. A picture on the wall is at an angle, with a shattered frame; a sign of previous violence or a simple accident? First responders talk to same-sex couple John and David. Credit:Justin McManus There is a box of cereal on the kitchen bench and a bowl of apples on the table but no food in the fridge. Is it the day before the weekly shop or a form of economic bullying, where one partner controls the money? (A new tactic is to hide all internet password codes, requiring one partner to seek permission for access.) The students are taught that while dealing with the immediate conflict is the priority, they should also be looking for clues to the bigger picture. Family violence is a crime scene like any other.

John is taken to the police station, where he will most likely be served with a Family Violence Intervention Order. David is concerned, telling police they can work it all out and he doesnt want any trouble. The police remain firm. They need to act before events escalate. John is told to pack his bag in case the order precludes him coming back. Mandy, the $55,000 baby used during family violence simulations, can cry and has a heartbeat. In the corridor is a replica police station counter. There a woman arrives to report her partner had attacked and choked her. Each scenario is planned to challenge the new police: The baby as a surprise addition requires new tactics; the lounge-room argument shows family violence is not only about physical injuries but controlling behaviour; and the walk-in complaint involves choking, a priority one red flag that requires immediate medical intervention. At the other end of the academy another class is being taught how to enter a building searching for an armed offender, but the family education will prove more important as, tragically, it will make up the bulk of the recruits work.

The centre, opened two years ago this week, provides the first opportunity for young police to practise what they have learned in the classroom, for they will need those skills on a daily basis when they become operational in a few weeks time. The simulation centre manager, Tracey Nichols, says 60 per cent of police callouts are family violence: In some places it can be as high as 80 per cent. In the last calendar year there were 92,000 family violence offences  an increase of 10 per cent. Assistant Commissioner Lauren Callaway of Family Violence Command says while most areas of crime decreased during the pandemic, family violence continued to rise. Areas that jumped were harassment offences, breaches of intervention orders and incidents involving juveniles, both as victims and offenders. Family violence reports to police where the perpetrator is aged under 18 years have increased by 15 per cent, from 5746 to 6612 incidents.

Callaway says that in many cases lockdown and remote learning created tension between adolescents and parents. The increase in reports is also due to both police and the public understanding that family violence doesnt just involve serious assault but controlling behaviour, harassment, financial punishment and verbal derision. I hope there has been a jump in reporting because people now know we treat these incidents very seriously. Callaway vividly remembers her first call to a family violence incident 26 years ago in Ballarat, where she was stationed as a brand new constable. While her senior partner talked with the female victim at the front door, her attention was on a couple of little children in the background. I felt a touch on my hand and leg. It was a little toddler who had come out from behind her mother. I thought, What has gone here that would make a tiny child feel the need to stand with a stranger to feel safe?. The victim said the offender had left and all was under control. Satisfied, the senior police officer closed his notebook, the door and th e case. There was no complaint recorded.

Back then such incidents were marked down as Verbal Dispute Only and not recorded as an offence. Callaway says the simulation centre is vital to teach young police how to deal with being the first in attendance at such incidents. Simulation exercises can be streamed live into police stations around the state as a teaching aid. In custody. Dealing with family violence. Credit:Justin McManus The police response to family violence used to be down to gut feel. The police at the scene decided what was required, which meant there was an uneven response. The attitude of many police was that the longer spent dealing with a domestic the less time was spent on real crime. Jobs could back up and the supervisors would be cross if the van was off the road for hours. As a result, police with Swinburne University developed a 39-question checklist to provide an objective risk assessment. These include previous threats, history of violence, mental illnesses, loss of employment, recent or planned separation, threats to harm pets, recent pregnancy and children exposed to harm.

A score of just four points results in immediate referral to specialist investigators. Nichols says certain triggers, such as choking, mean an automatic override and a high priority: Choking is often an indicator of potential homicide. The realistic baby Mandy is vital, says Callaway, as children are present in 36 per cent of incidents. Police from New Zealand, South Australia and Queensland will soon visit the centre to see what they can learn. It is state of the art, she says. The next actors will be employed to play victims and offenders. They will play the roles of disabled, elderly, culturally diverse and LGBTI members of the public  deemed priority communities. Each script will have alternative responses depending on the nature of the police intervention.
Few if any of the workers and volunteers in structures tied to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was surprised earlier this month when prosecutors in Moscow began procedures aimed to officially label them "extremist organizations."

"From the very beginning...it was understood that sooner or later this structure would be deemed 'extremist,'" said Zakhar Sarapulov, head of Navalny's office in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. "About two months ago we had a staff meeting and we discussed this and predicted that it would happen in the immediate future."

Leonid Volkov, the director of Navalny's network of regional offices who is currently living abroad out of concern for his safety, told Current Time the same thing.

"I would quote a Russian classic -- 'I knew it would be bad, but I didn't know how soon,'" Volkov said. "We understood that there would be a new wave of attacks on our offices. We already survived a big attack in 2019, when all of our equipment was stolen, all our bank accounts were frozen, and so on. They thought that we couldn't adapt, but we did, and we found ways to continue our work."

"This new attack," he conceded, "looks even more frightening, I'll admit."

On April 16, the Moscow prosecutor's office appealed to the Moscow City Court with a request that three Navalny organizations -- the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Citizens' Rights Defense Foundation, and his regional network -- be officially labeled "extremist organizations." The court has announced it will hold a closed hearing on the prosecutor's request on April 26.

The Russian authorities have been widely criticized for using the country's vague anti-extremism legislation for political reasons. "Anti-extremism laws are frequently used to increase censorship and state control: silencing political opposition, journalists, and civil society," the NGO Article 19 wrote in 2019.

If the Navalny organizations are deemed "extremist," all of their employees could face arrest and prison terms from six to 10 years. In addition, the organizations' donors -- tens of thousands of Russian citizens who have made donations -- could also face prosecution for purportedly funding extremism.

"There can be no doubt that the court will grant the prosecutor's request," Sarapulov said. "I think every employee here will have to make up their own mind what to do. I can't speak for the others. For my own part, I can say that I will continue working at Navalny's office even after it is deemed 'extremist.' Of course, we will try to minimize our risks by rebranding, although most likely they will not let us register another legal entity."

Not Surprised

Navalny himself has been in custody since he returned to Russia in January following weeks of recovery from a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was carried out by Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives acting at the behest of President Vladimir Putin. In February, Navalny was given a 2 1/2-year prison term on charges he insists were politically motivated.

On April 23, he said he would begin winding down a hunger strike he started on March 31 to protest what he called a deliberate campaign to undermine his health.

Navalny's organizations flatly deny any extremist activity and are convinced the Kremlin is persecuting them for political reasons in the run-up to national legislative elections that must be held by September 19.

"Navalny's offices and the FBK have always been organizations that insisted on the right of citizens to protest peacefully," Sarapulov said. "We have never been extremists or terrorists. All that we have done is to investigate corruption and call on people to come out onto the squares of our cities and demand their constitutional rights."

Ksenia Pakhomova, a volunteer at Navalny's office in the Siberian oil city of Kemerovo, learned about the "extremism" threat when she emerged from serving a nine-day administrative jail term for participating in a demonstration outside the prison in the Vladimir region where Navalny was being held until he was recently transferred to another prison with better medical facilities.

"I wasn't surprised at all by the news that they want to proclaim us 'extremist,'" she said. "I was only surprised that it took so long. I thought Putin would try to shut us down earlier."

Silent Majority?

Pakhomova said the attack on Navalny's groups was motivated by growing public opposition to Putin, a 68-year-old former KGB officer who has ruled Russia as president or prime minister since 2000. She said the relatively small number of people who turn out to protest was backed up by a much larger pool of behind-the-scenes supporters.

"When you are jailed, you know that you will not be forgotten," she told RFE/RL. "Someone will help you by gathering information about detainees. Others will give legal aid. Others will bring you water and food. Others will contact your relatives and friends. All this is happening naturally, voluntarily, but also effectively and efficiently. Any structure would envy such self-organization."

Employees of Navalny's organizations face risks from the looming "extremism" label, Pakhomova said, but volunteers are less vulnerable.

"Among volunteers who are getting no salary, as far as I know, no one is planning to give up," she said. "People who previously tried to avoid politics now have fewer illusions. Their minds are being changed by Navalny's investigations into the illegal assets of government officials and by Navalny's arrest. But most of all by the mass detentions during the protests in January and February."

"For example, my friend's father used to support Putin," she added. "But when he found out about my arrest and why I was arrested, he stopped watching [state-run] Channel One. He probably isn't going to go to a protest, but he definitely isn't going to vote for Putin and his kind anymore. And there are more and more people like him."

'A Protest Against Dictatorship'

Anastasia Korsakova, the head of Navalny's office in the southern city of Krasnodar, said the Moscow prosecutor's request was a sign that "they have given the green light to political repressions."

"But no one among our volunteers or staff has said they might quit or is even talking about the possibility of future problems," she added. "Of course, we are living in constant expectation of detentions, fines, trials, arrests. But you can't really prepare in advance for being imprisoned. No one is ready for prison."

Sarapulov, from Navalny's office in Irkutsk, said his group maintained a closed chat group in which he posted that anyone who wants to leave the organization was free to do so without judgment.

"No one is leaving," he said. "Not one person."

And he agrees that the protests in Russia will continue. "It doesn't matter what you are protesting against in Russia -- against raising retirement ages or the rape of the constitution or tax hikes," Sarapulov said. "It all comes down to one thing -- our country has been ruled by one person for 20 years.... Any protest is a protest against dictatorship. There is nothing more important in Russia today than the struggle between dictatorship and democracy."

Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting from Russia by Aleksandr Molchanov, Maria Chernova, and Grigory Kronikh of RFE/RL Russian Service. Tatyana Voltskaya and Svetlana Prokopyeva of RFE/RL Russian Service's North.Realities and Saikhan Tsintsayev of Current Time contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House in Washington on April 22, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Biden Admin Stops Fining Illegal Immigrants Who Dont Leave US, Cancels Debt

The White House on Friday ended the Trump-era policy of fining illegal immigrants who have failed to leave the United States, claiming there is no evidence they work.

Authorities with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded two orders, which were used during the Trump administration, on collecting financial penalties and issuing fines to illegal immigrants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will also work with the Treasury Department to cancel the existing debts of illegal immigrants who had been fined.

There is no indication that these penalties promoted compliance with noncitizens departure obligations, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement on Friday. We can enforce our immigration laws without resorting to ineffective and unnecessary punitive measures.

ICE stopped issuing the fines on Jan. 20, the first day President Joe Biden took office. Fridays announcement from Mayorkas essentially formalizes the policy change.

Former President Donald Trump in 2018 used the Immigration and Nationality Act to issue fines after the federal government had not done so for decades. At one point, the administration was fining illegal immigrants up to $500 every day they remained in the United States after being told to depart. According to reports, some illegal immigrants had fines of up to $500,000.

During the start of his term in 2017, Trump signed an order that promised as soon as practicable, and by no later than one year after the date of this order, the federal government can collect all fines and penalties that the Secretary is authorized under the law to assess and collect from aliens unlawfully present in the United States.

But according to Fridays release, DHS said it reviewed detailed data regarding the issuance of such fines since 2018 and was clear to Secretary Mayorkas and Acting [ICE] Director Tae Johnson that the fines were not effective and had not meaningfully advanced the interests of the agency.

ICE intends to work with the Department of Treasury to cancel the existing debts of those who had been fined, said the news release. The rescission marks ICEs latest move toward focusing its limited resources on those posing the greatest risk to national security and public safety in accordance with the current guidance on civil immigration enforcement and removal priorities, it added.

After Biden took office in January, his administration moved to rescind several Trump-era orders, including the Remain in Mexico policy and halting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wallalthough the pause in wall construction is being reviewed by the Government Accountability Office as to whether it violated the Constitutions provision that Congress has the power to allocate funds.

Republicans have pounced on Bidens orders, saying the movein combination with the administrations messaginghas encouraged illegal immigrants and unaccompanied minors to stream across the border, where tens of thousands are being housed in makeshift Border Patrol and Health and Human Services facilities, military bases, and other emergency holding sites.
When California's Monterey County allowed restaurants to reopen in March, indoor dining returned to the cliff-perched Sierra Mar, known for its spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

The Big Sur restaurant now featured some new pandemic touches: 18 tabletop mini-purifiers, 10 precisely distributed HEPA air purifiers, an upgraded heating and air conditioning system, and four sensors measuring the air quality in real time.

The bar was closed, and at a table in the back sat someone new: an engineering professor whose specialty is air quality.

"If this is going to work right, the ventilation keeps up with the head count," explained the expert, Mark Hernandez of the University of Colorado. Every 15 minutes, he would walk to the front desk to check how many people were now seated indoors. Then he would compare that number to the air's current levels of carbon dioxide and particulate matter, to see how much exhaled breath lingered in the air and what expelled aerosols it could contain.

Indoor dining remains risky, as the pandemic rages on, propelled by highly transmissible new coronavirus variants that threaten gains from widespread vaccination. The virus has been brutal for the restaurant industry. The National Restaurant Association estimates a loss of $240 billion in bar and restaurant sales and 2.5 million jobs during 2020. President Joe Biden's covid-19 stimulus package provides $25 billion in grants for restaurants and bars that lost revenue, but thousands of restaurants already have shut down permanently.

Those struggling to hold on are considering a broad range of air ventilation and filtration techniques to keep customers and staff safe. Sierra Mar's new air-quality experiment, partly funded by a regional foundation, cost about $30,000. That's a hefty capital expenditure that might be out of reach for many restaurants running on thin profit margins.

Mike Freed considers it a worthy investment. He's the managing partner of the Post Ranch Inn, the exclusive resort that contains Sierra Mar and caters to an affluent eco-conscious traveler. Since the setup, if successful, could potentially be utilized in other restaurants and indoor spaces, The Washington Post asked several experts on indoor air to review the restaurant layout and strategy. They agreed it should work to make the dining experience considerably safer, while noting 100% safety is unattainable.

These experiments in the restaurant industry may usher in a new data-driven relationship with indoor air, with people able to judge where they dine, vacation and work based on the quality and transparency of real-time readings.

"I've become obsessed with indoor air quality," says Freed, who spent about $7,500 to buy equipment. "I just think it's so important to our health."

The resort promises an "away from it all" experience, so air safety innovations need to be unobtrusive.

Staff glide through a dining room whose interior air circulation has been designed, says Hernandez, as a "seat belt in a place where you can't control your peers . . . This is long overdue for public places."

At a time when its vista is clouded by recurrent wildfires, the Post Ranch Inn now displays the restaurant's air quality updates on its website, so diners can time their escape around what they want to eat - and breathe.

An air purifier about the size of a water bottle sits on each table. It can't clean a lot of air quickly, but it can direct filtered air in a small area. And it runs on batteries.

While the portable air purifier can be tilted toward a person's face, Hernandez positioned it straight up, to reduce the risk of unmasked diners infecting others by breathing across the table. Instead, the device, made by Wynd and marketed as a personal air purifier, should push any shared or unfiltered air aloft.

A key feature in Hernandez's design is a decades-old technology now deployed against the highly infectious coronavirus: the high-efficiency particulate air filter.

The pandemic has boosted an air purifier industry that already had expanded to curb air pollution's toxic effect on people's lungs and hearts. Some products make questionable claims, experts say. The most reliable and longstanding technology for cleaning air is to force it through a very fine filter made up of tiny strands of fiberglass.

"HEPA filtration has been a workhorse for decades, and it's a proven technology," said Richard Corsi, an indoor air expert at Portland State University.

Technically, to receive the HEPA rating, filters must capture 99.97% of particles that are .3 microns in size. The SARS-Cov-2 virus is slightly smaller than that.

HEPA filters capture smaller particles as well; and more importantly, the virus "is carried in aerosols that are larger because the virus comes out with lots of salts and proteins that are in respiratory fluid," said Linsey Marr, an expert on aerosols at Virginia Tech. "And even if all the water evaporates, there's still a ton of salt and protein compared to the virus."

Many purifier models pull in air on only one side, so their motors work harder and can be noisy. Sierra Mar uses a Mila air purifier model that pulls in air from underneath and all four of its sides - and does so relatively quietly. (including two in the bathrooms) a newer model that pulls in air on all four sides of their bodies its body and cleans it recirculates it several times an hour -- and does so relatively quietly.

That is key in an environment like a restaurant, where people raise their voices when it is noisy - and spew particles that hang around longer in still air.

- - -

High above the ocean, Sierra Mar restaurant has plenty of advantages in providing fresh air. Floor-to-ceiling windows open freely to catch Pacific breezes. In winter, its HVAC floor registers pump out warm air that naturally rises upward, reducing risk of airborne germs lingering in colder months.system has registers in the floor, which in winter pump out warm air that naturally rises upward, in turn reducing the risk of airborne infection during the crucial colder months. which draw in warm air and push it upward in winter, which in turn reduces the risk of airborne infection.

To try and thwart the virus, Sierra Mar upgraded its HVAC filters to MERV 13 level filtration, a level that experts say should be able to capture many particles that contain the coronavirus. The system was also modified to increase the amount of fresh outdoor air pulled into the space, and three room dividers were installed.

Hernandez designed a monitoring system for the restaurant as part of a $22,500 grant to the University of Colorado, where he teaches, from the Community Foundation for Monterey County. Four indoor air monitors devices from SenseWare, a maker of indoor air monitors an industrial safety product manufacturer, provide real-time readings of key air quality indicators in four zones of the restaurant.

The key readings, Hernandez notes, are two. First, there is carbon dioxide, which humans exhale. So the closer that indoor levels are to the outdoor baseline, typically around 400 parts per million, the closer patrons are to breathing in fresh air, rather than air that recently came out of someone else's lungs.

Second are readouts of particulate matter, known as PM2.5 and PM10 for the size of the particles. (PM2.5 refers to particles2.5 microns in size and smaller, while PM10 refers to larger particles.) These are standard air quality measures of pollution levels most associated with the fruits of combustion, emerging from smokestacks and car tailpipes.

Hernandez' research focuses on using these same measures to assess the quantities of biological particulate matter that people shed. Aerosols from human respiratory systems, which could contain infectious viruses, will also fall in this general size range, with the smaller particles potentially posing the larger risk.

Therefore, low levels of both PM2.5 and PM10 are desirable for controlling the coronavirus, just as they are for avoiding the damaging health consequences of air pollution.

Outdoors, the Environmental Protection Agency's ambient air quality standards require PM2.5 levels to be below 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air (as an annual average). Hernandez's data indicates the restaurant has managed to keep particulates closer to 1 or 2 micrograms per cubic meter, even with people in the space.

- - -

The Post asked three indoor air experts to examine Sierra Mar's layout, including the location of vents and air filters, and some of the results Hernandez has gathered. They generally agreed that the devices used, and principally the HEPA filters, are known to work, so the design is likely creating a safer indoor experience.

Nothing is perfectly safe, as Hernandez himself acknowledges. The aim is reducing risk, and Virginia Tech's Marr said the system Hernandez and Freed devise will do that "substantially."

"It relies on proven technologies: a combination of excellent ventilation and filtration," she said. "Real-time monitoring that is publicly available provides valuable information to the public, giving people confidence that the space is indeed low risk."

Portland State University's Corsi added that mixing air together indoors is very important, on top of good air ventilation and filtration. The air purifiers are spaced out in part to help do this.

"When you do increase mixing in a space, that does break up that plume of concentrated aerosols between you and an infector," Corsi said. "That additional mixing causes dispersion, which makes the receptor inhale a lot lower amounts of the infector's respirable particles."

Donald Milton, who studies indoor air at the University of Maryland and pushed health authorities early on to recognize the virus's airborne transmission, also thought the system designed by Hernandez would make dining safer in general. But he drew a distinction between people eating at the same table - where the smaller cordless device, made by Wynd, pushes the air upward - and those who are further away.

"Maybe that system could protect you from the people you're eating at the same table with. That's a very challenging thing," Milton said, noting a device sitting on a crowded tabletop is more likely to be bumped or shifted into the wrong direction.

"But by having good mixing, good filtration of the air in the restaurant generally, you will reduce exposure to people at other tables."

Marr did note something that Hernandez has been careful about, but that could undermine others attempting the approach: You have to be very careful about where your air purifiers are located. You do not want them pulling air in such a way that you are actually "spreading aerosols between tables," Marr cautions.

In other words, do not line up two tables and then a purifier, or the air from the farthest table will travel across the central table to the machine, coursing around those seated at the central table along the way. That is the kind of simple, but consequential, mistake that we will learn to avoid in this new world of still invisible, but now demystified, air.

After collecting his measurements at the restaurant, Hernandez shared the data with The Post. It showed the setup worked, he said.

In the north sector of the restaurant, even as occupancy increased to 18 diners, airborne levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) never rose above 2 micrograms per cubic meter. That is even though outdoor PM2.5 levels that evening were at around 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

Indoor carbon dioxide levels rose across the restaurant as the occupancy level increased, but never eclipsed 600 parts per million. Outdoor levels are generally around 400 parts per million.

That rise is not enough to be dangerous, Hernandez suggests, and is actually in a sense good news when compared with the particle findings, since tiny molecules of carbon dioxide gas fly right through filters.

"The gases go up but the particles don't. That's the result of an engineering control," he said.

Hernandez, who has also implemented indoor air quality monitoring for a number of Colorado schools, argues that even once the current pandemic is over, the kind of design that he has created will remain in demand.

"It applies to the next pandemic, colds, flu, whooping cough, you name it," he said.

For restaurant owner Mike Freed, he is just hoping that California health regulators, and other restaurants, pay attention.

"I don't think this is rocket science," says Freed, "which is why it's mind-boggling to me that the public health officials aren't talking to the building scientists."
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Dangote Cement hopes to enlarge capacity by over one third in a bid to measure up to the fast-increasing demand for its products in its home market, as Africas largest economy heals from an economic slowdown triggered the coronavirus outbreak, the group executive director of Dangote Industries Limited said Friday.

We are expanding capacity from about 50,000 tons a day at the beginning of the year to 70,000 tons a day at the end of the year, Edwin Devakumar told Bloomberg on phone, the platform reported.

Dangote Cement, Nigerias biggest company by market value, is reviving capacity at its plant in Gboko, Benue State, in response to a 40 per cent spike in cement needs in Nigeria in the last seven months, he added.

It operates in 10 African countries with a production capacity of 48.6 million tonnes per annum, and faces major competition from BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa Plc in the West African cement trade.

Legislators in Nigeria this week called for an end to the dominance of the countrys cement industry by the three companies to free up the market by making it less susceptible to price-fixing practices in order to win new entrants.

A lawmaker said the move could help cut the price of cement, which is more than 300 per cent higher than the global average.

All other producers in the market can sell at their own price, Mr Devakumar said, going further to say price-fixing does not exist in the Nigerian market.

ALSO READ: Dangote Cement full year profit jumps to N276 billion on higher sales

He noted that prices have scaled up on account of higher demand, increased cost of diesel and erratic supply of gas required for powering manufacturing plants.

Transport fares for moving cement have jumped up, due to congestion at the ports that has resulted in longer turnaround time for trucks.

Sales volumes by the company in Nigeria for 2020 jumped by 12.9 per cent to 15.9 million tons relative to 2019.

Dangote Cement controls 61 per cent of the market share, Lafarge Africa 22 per cent and BUA Cement the rest.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A 27-year-old man was shot in the leg after a fight erupted at a bar in the Merriman Valley, police say.

Officers were called to Dollys Bar and Grille on the 1700 block of Merriman Road at about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday. While on the way to the bar, police found out that EMS workers had been flagged down by people in a vehicle with a shooting victim inside near North Portage Path and Hereford Drive in the Highland Square neighborhood.

The victim was taken to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital and his wound was not considered life-threatening, police say.

According to police, the victim says a fight started inside the bar. He tells police he was shot by an unknown suspect after walking outside. Shell casings were recovered from the scene.

Police believe at least two different suspects were involved.

Anyone with information can call detectives at 330-375-2490 Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS. Individuals also can sent tips by texting TIPSCO to 274637. Callers can remain anonymous.

More crime-related content on cleveland.com:

Suspect in 2019 Cleveland homicide found hiding in attic of Akron home

Pike County man admits to execution-style slayings of family over custody dispute

Man charged in fatal shooting in Clevelands North Shore-Collinwood neighborhood

Ohio girl, 13, stabbed to death, and another 13-year-old girl is charged with her murder
Dear Compatriots in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro,

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

On April 24 Armenians all over the world are commemorating the 106-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. We are grateful to all those, who stood by the Armenian people in commemoration of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide.

I would especially like to express gratitude to the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, which last year joined this family of advocates for justice, by adopting on May 20, 2020 a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide, to the initiators of this process Milan Stech and Miluse Horska, as well as to all the Senators who supported the cause.

We are honoring the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in a country, that is the homeland to famous traveler and writer Karel Hansa and prominent Austrian-Bohemian novelist Franz Werfel, one of the first in Europe to have documented the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and whose 130th anniversaries we celebrated last year. We welcome all the political and public figures in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro, who support raising awareness on the Armenian Genocide and its recognition.

Despite all the international efforts aimed at the condemnation of genocide, Turkey continues to pursue its policy of denialism, not just at an offence to the dignity and memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, but to the just call of the civilized international community.

Dear Compatriots, Dear Friends

Today we are also commemorating all those that fell withstanding the large-scale aggression by Azerbaijan and Turkey against the people of Artsakh, which reflected the same genocidal intent as was the case 106 years ago.

The acts of aggression by Azerbaijan were not only instigated with the unconditional support from Turkey, but with its carefully planned direct involvement in the hostilities and its recruitment and stationing of thousands of foreign terrorist fighters from the Middle East.

With the constant support and encouragement of Turkey the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh was accompanied by numerous gross violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts, by war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilian population and critical infrastructure with the use of banned cluster munitions and chemical weapons, executions, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners of war and civilian captives, beheadings, mutilation of dead bodies and other well documented crimes, aimed at the ultimate purpose of the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population from their ancestral lands.

Moreover, the xenophobic attitudes and genocidal intent fueled by the anti-Armenian policies of the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem pose a direct threat to our compatriots, currently under Azerbaijani custody in violation by Azerbaijan of the November 9, 2020 trilateral ceasefire statement, stipulating an all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war, captives and other detainees.

The distortion by Turkey and Azerbaijan of facts and evidences is a dangerous manifestation of denial that has incited and advocated hatred towards Armenians and promoted genocidal tendencies among the Turkish and Azerbaijani societies.

The tandem has as well been responsible for systematic cultural genocide, aimed at destroying any trace of the civilizational presence of Armenians in the territories under their control. Whilst Turkish authorities are excelling in expropriating Armenian churches and putting them up for auction, their Azerbaijani brothers have relentlessly persevered in the intentional destruction and misappropriation of the Armenian cultural heritage now under their control, by bulldozing or blowing up these objects or through their falsified presentation as Caucasian Albanian.

Dear Friends,

As in 1915, more than a century later, the leadership of Turkey continues to blatantly defy the international public opinion and historical reality. Turkeys policies and actions of denial and justification manifest a flagrant subversion of the fight against the impunity for atrocity crimes, undermining the important efforts of the international community to prevent genocide.

Ever since the horrific page of our history, the Armenian people and the Republic of Armenia have pledged their commitment to raising awareness of such crimes, to protesting against denialism and to joining efforts in preventing such atrocities from repeating in any part of the world.

The international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the commemoration and respect of the dignity of the victims are amongst the most important actions in genocide prevention. The last Artsakh war and the developments that followed clearly manifested that it is necessary for a clear message to be sent to the perpetrators of mass atrocities against humanity that the civilized international community will not stand by whilst other genocides are being carried out.

Facing the dark pages of ones history and condemnation of such only brings praise to countries, providing for a basis for lasting peace among peoples.
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Travel insurance is back and its more complex than ever (if that is possible).

When much of the world went into lockdown last year, providers moved quickly to exclude Covid-related claims. But the landscape has changed and companies now have no choice but to enter the unpredictable coronavirus market.

Most advertise Covid cover, but what does that really mean? And what should you be looking for when booking cover for your holiday this summer? With so much at stake, heres all you need to know...

THE ESSENTIALS

The main reason we all need travel insurance is to protect us if we become ill overseas. Most good providers will offer medical cover if you become unwell.

Its generally advised to purchase a policy with 2 million of medical cover for Europe, or 5 million beyond. Cancellation cover, once an added bonus if it was on a policy, is now absolutely essential. Make sure your cancellation cover exceeds the value of your holiday.

CHECK THE SMALL PRINT

There are countless scenarios to consider when choosing cover; what happens if the country youre due to visit goes into lockdown? What if youre asked by Test and Trace to isolate before you travel? What if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice in the country youre due to visit changes? What if you test positive or have a high temperature at the airport?

Pretty much all insurers will cover you for emergency medical costs and repatriation if you become ill with Covid while overseas. However, youre likely to struggle to find an insurer that will cover you if the FCDO advice changes, for example if your green holiday destination, as defined by the Governments traffic light system, turns red, either shortly before travel or while you are away.

Before the word coronavirus entered our common vocabulary, a change in FCDO advice was a rarity and most policyholders could make a claim on their travel insurance if they found themselves in this situation. However, an investigation by ratings agency Defaqto found that only one per cent of insurers will now pay compensation in this instance.

Battleface, best known for covering those visiting danger zones, will provide cover, but only for those under 60 and with no underlying medical conditions. Its therefore crucial to make sure you book with a reputable tour operator that will provide a full refund in 14 days if the FCDO advice changes and the holiday is cancelled.

Pretty much all insurers will cover you for emergency medical costs and repatriation if you become ill with Covid while overseas

Travellers are also highly unlikely to be covered for costs if they must quarantine while abroad or if they are denied boarding on return to Britain after a positive test.

We were unable to find any insurers that would cover the 1,750 cost of quarantining in Government-approved hotels if a country is added to the red list and a tourist is suddenly required to isolate for 10 days on their return.

BOOK STRAIGHT AWAY

The first rule is to take out travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday. Delay and you could find yourself struggling to get a refund if you need to cancel the trip. Thousands of travellers who lost their holidays last year because of cancellations and restrictions are still waiting for compensation.

AGE AND HEALTH CONDITIONS

Older travellers may need specialist insurance. There are several companies that specialise in providing cover for the over-65s

Some Covid cover policies wont protect you if youre advised by your doctor not to travel due to a pre-existing health condition. So if you do have an existing condition, its essential you ask your insurer exactly what its rules are before buying a policy and disclose any conditions while purchasing.

Older travellers may need specialist insurance. There are several companies which specialise in providing cover for the over-65s, including Saga and Staysure, which will cover you if your doctor advises you not to travel, whether this is due to a broken leg or a problem relating to a pre-existing health condition (as long as you disclose this when you purchase the policy).

STAYCATION COVER

Planning to stick to the UK? Almost all annual travel insurance policies cover staycations and the majority will protect you for cancelling a holiday if a Covid test is positive. While any medical expenses will be covered by the NHS, insurance can prove invaluable if your possessions go missing or are damaged. If youve booked a cruise around the UK, check your policy offers cruise cover.

FLEXIBLE FRIENDS

Yes, its crucial you purchase travel insurance, but its also essential that you check the terms and conditions of your package holidays. The key word is flexibility; how soon before a trip can you cancel without penalty? Will you receive a refund or a credit note if the trip is cancelled? If you decide not to travel, regardless of FCDO advice, will you be covered?
An ambulance was stolen at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, Emergency Medical Services said.

The ambulance was taken from the Touro emergency room ramp and was later found at the intersection of Earhart Boulevard and Pine Street, about three miles from the hospital. En route, it struck a car at Prytania and Marengo streets, and possibly other vehicles along the way to Earhart.

This report is being updated as additional information becomes available.
Santiago, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :Hundreds of Chileans, mostly women, banged pots and set up barricades in the capital Santiago on Thursday to demand access to pension funds in the face of an economic crisis.

Twice since the coronavirus pandemic hit, Chile has authorized citizens to withdraw 10 percent of their pensions.

A third such advance was being debated in the Senate on Thursday, and is expected to be approved given it has support from the government coalition.

The country has been one of the best prepared in Latin America to face the pandemic, with low debt levels and high savings.

"No more lying bonds; our 10 percent now," read one banner hoisted by inhabitants of the poor La Pintana neighborhood.

Protesters banged pots and pans and disrupted traffic by setting light to a barricade.

There were also protests in other neighborhoods of the capital and one by staff at the San Antonio port in the Valparaiso region.

The bill was previously adopted by the Chamber of Deputies with a huge majority of 122 votes for to just 20 against.

In March 2020, the country held close to $23 billion in sovereign bonds.

The government says it has reserved nearly 10 percent of GDP ($20 billion) for pandemic assistance, although some experts claim only a fifth of that has gone directly to those most in need.
New Delhi:

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that cooperation between India and United States against terrorism has increased in the last decade.

Tillerson, while speaking from Washington, stressed that the United States looks forward to work with India and other nations to counter terrorism.

He still sees Pakistan as a valuable partner and will work with both Islamabad and New Delhi to reduce tensions along the countrys eastern border with India and the western border with Afghanistan.

The US secretary of state also added that the US needs to collaborate with India in order to maintain peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Important highlights of Rex Tillerson statement

# US has chosen wisely in terms of India as a strategic partner

# India & US cross-screening known & suspected terrorists. Later this year, we will convene a new dialogue on terrorist designations: Rex Tillerson

# Have been asking for access to the region for first-hand account: Rex Tillerson on Myanmar's Rohingya crisis

# Understand you have rebels & terrorists in that part but you must be disciplined&restrained in dealing with them-Tillerson on Myanmar crisis

# Exchange of technologies and ideas between the Bengaluru & Silicon Valley is changing the world: Rex Tillerson

# US FDI jumped by 500% in last two years alone& last year our bilateral trade had a record of roughly 115 billion US$: Tillerson

# So that it does not become a region of disorder, conflict and predatory economics: Rex Tillerson

# China's provocative actions in the South China Sea directly challenge the international law & norms that US and India both stand for: Tillerson

# China, while rising alongside India, has done so less responsibly: Rex Tillerson

# This visit could not come at a more promising time for US-India relationships: Rex Tillerson

# I do look forward to returning to Delhi next week, first time in my official capacity: Rex Tillerson

# It is the obligation, not choice of every civilized nation to combat terrorism: Rex Tillerson

# We look forward to US-India '2 plus 2' inaugural dialogue with PM Modi and President Trump: Rex Tillerson

# Expect Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorist groups based in their own region: Rex Tillerson

# Need to collaborate with India to ensure that Indo-Pacific is region of peace and stability: Rex Tillerson

# In the last decade our counter-terrorism cooperation has expanded significantly: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

# US and India stand shoulder to shoulder against terrorism: Rex Tillerson

# More than 500 American companies work in India: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

# Let me begin by wishing everyone a very happy Diwali: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the US

# US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivers remarks on Defining Our Relationship with India for Next Century in the US

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
A group of over ten Vietnamese members from an environmental protection community gathered to clean up the venue of Hung Kings Temple in Ho Chi Minh City on the death anniversary of the nations founding fathers, though their plan drew some unsupportive opinions from the public.

As many people visited Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to commemorate Hung Kings death anniversary, which takes place each year on the tenth day of the third lunar month, waste from their activities was thrown here and there at the venue.

In this context, about ten volunteers from Green Trips Vietnam, a community for environmental protection enthusiasts, took action.

They were divided into two teams to pick up garbage at the temple from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Wednesday.

They even asked for trash that was still in users hands and kindly responded with a smile when someone gave them the garbage.

The group also classified the collected waste into three types -- organic waste, inorganic waste, and recyclable waste.

Members of Green Trips Vietnam pick up trash at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A number of participants in Wednesday anniversary, however, considered the volunteers good deeds as gimmicks to attract public attention.

Some people said that we were just seeking attention and it was impossible for us to pick up trash at all other places, said Bui Minh Thong, a junior at Cao Thang Technical College, who had participated in a number of Green Trips Vietnams activities before.

It hurts to hear those words, but we think it may be better if everybody is doing what is labeled 'seeking attention' like us."

Members of Green Trips Vietnam pick up trash at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Some people were so inconsiderate and careless that they made the volunteers clothes dirty while putting trash into their waste collection bags.

Therere so many kinds of people, not all are the same, said Tuyet Nhi, a freshman at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, who just partook in Green Trips Vietnams waste collection event for the first time, adding that some people randomly joined the group on Wednesday.

In addition to the waste collection, Green Trips Vietnam also hosted a talk show on environment topics and presented some gifts to the cleaning workers at Hung Kings Temple.

Members of Green Trips Vietnam hold waste collection bags at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Piles of dirty dishes are placed next to a garbage bin at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Members of Green Trips Vietnam pick up trash at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Members of Green Trips Vietnam pick up trash at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A member of Green Trips Vietnam picks up trash at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Piles of dirty dishes are placed next to a garbage bin at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Members of Green Trips Vietnam hold waste collection bags in their hands at Hung Kings Temple in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, April 21, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
One and a half million Armenian men, women and children were killed in the final years of the Ottoman Empire in what has become known as the Armenian Genocide. In Israel, though, despite being a country created just after the Holocaust, you wont hear much about it, wrote The Jerusalem Post.

That is because the Jewish statethe home to the people who saw six million of their own exterminated by the Nazisstill does not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. It is time for this to change.

The official day of commemoration for the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I is on Saturday. On Thursday, White House sources said that US President Joe Biden would formally recognize the massacre as an act of genocide even though the move would undoubtedly infuriate Turkey and further strain already frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

Last year, when he was running for president, Biden pledged to do exactly that. Today, we remember the atrocities faced by the Armenian people in the Metz Yeghernthe Armenian Genocide. If elected, I pledge to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide and will make universal human rights a top priority, he wrote on Twitter at the time.

For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide stalled in the US Congress and presidents refrained from calling it that, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense lobbying by Ankara.

The same has happened in Israel. Here too, Israel feared Turkish retaliation if it were to recognize historical facts.

In 2018, Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg proposed a bill to recognize the massacre as genocide, but the bill was canceled due to government resistance. A year later, a number of high-profile members of Knesset like Yair Lapid and Gideon Saar voiced support for the move, but again it did not proceed due to little government support.

Traditionally, the explanations for Israels failure to move on this have ranged from a need to leave a door open to better ties with Turkey to a clear government agenda that prefers Azerbaijan over Armenia. This was made clear this past fall, when Israel supplied weapons to Azerbaijan as it fought the Armenians in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)], The Jerusalem Post added, in particular.
MEXICO CITY - Mexico faced its biggest challenge yet Friday to labour-freedom reforms under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after an old-guard union was caught apparently destroying negative ballots at a General Motors plant in northern Mexico.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico faced its biggest challenge yet Friday to labour-freedom reforms under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after an old-guard union was caught apparently destroying negative ballots at a General Motors plant in northern Mexico.

Labour Secretary Luisa Maria Alcalde said the vote tampering at the pickup truck and transmission factories in the northern city of Silao were a sign that some union leaders havent gotten the message that they can no longer operate behind the backs of workers.

There is resistance; some people havent gotten the message. They dont understand that the rights of workers are going to be respected and they are the ones who are going to decide, Alcalde said.

The vote was a test of Mexicos commitment to enforce re-votes on union representation required as part of the trade agreement, known as the USMCA. Under the agreement, Mexico agreed to reform its labour laws to guarantee secret-ballot votes on union representation and contracts.

Previously, such votes had been held by show of hands, or not at all. Workers at many factories in Mexico were unaware they even had a union until they saw dues deducted from their paychecks.

Alcalde acknowledged that in the past there was an enormous presence of protection contracts, in which corrupt Mexican unions signed low-wage contracts behind workers backs, often before plants were even opened.

Critics say Mexicos low wages have played a big role in luring manufacturing jobs south, especially in the auto industry.

But what happened Wednesday night on the third day of voting by the 6,494 employees at the Silao GM plants appeared to show that some unions, like the old-guard Confederation of Mexican Workers, or CTM, are still trying to rely on old tactics.

Workers at the plant had been asked to vote yes or no on whether to recognize the union that has long controlled the plants labour contract. That union is part of the CTM, which actually formed part of the the party that ruled Mexico for most of the past century.

The Labor Department said that inspectors discovered that at the offices where the union itself had the ballot boxes, ballots that were part of the vote had been destroyed, making it impossible to continue with the vote.

Israel Cervantes, who helps lead the Generating Movement campaign to get a new union, and who was dismissed from the plant two years ago, said CTM union officials had broken open ballot boxes, destroyed no votes and replaced them with ballots marked yes.

Fernando Salgado, the CTM assistant general secretary, did not respond directly to the accusations but said Friday, We have had two fundamental values: equality and the respect we must show for freedom in union organizing.

Cervantes said that before the vote, GM had threatened workers that they would lose their benefits if they voted no, which would eject the old union.

In a statement, GM said General Motors de Mexico regrets the situation and reiterates its willingness to co-operate in the vote process. At the same, GM repeats its commitment to the efforts and mechanisms that allow workers the right to vote individually, directly and by secret ballot.

Cervantes said, What is really lacking are fines for the company and the union for this situation.

Alcalde did not say when the vote would be repeated, though it was obvious that putting ballot boxes in the custody of the union that could be voted out could threaten the validity of any future vote.

The process of voting to accept or reject existing unions started in 2019 and ends in 2023, and will have to be repeated at every unionized factory and workplace in Mexico.

If Mexico doesnt comply with the new rules, under the USMCA it has agreed to dispute-resolution panels to ensure workers can organize and demand better wages.

When the old North American Free Trade Agreement was approved in 1994, leaders promised it would boost Mexicos wages, something that never happened, in part because of unrepresentative unions. Average Mexican industrial wages remain about one-tenth of prevailing U.S. rates.

The USMCA sought to stem the flood of manufacturing jobs moving south, requiring that 40-45 per cent of auto content be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour.
US Drop in Vaccine Demand Has Some Places Turning Down Doses

JACKSON, Miss.Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they dont go to waste.

As the supply of coronavirus vaccine doses in the United States outpaces demand, some places around the country are finding theres such little interest in the shots, they need to turn down shipments.

It is kind of stalling. Some people just dont want it, said Stacey Hileman, a nurse with the health department in rural Kansas Decatur County, where less than a third of the countys 2,900 residents have received at least one vaccine dose.

The dwindling demand for vaccines illustrates the challenge that the United States faces in trying to conquer the pandemic while at the same time dealing with the optics of tens of thousands of doses sitting on shelves when countries like India and Brazil are in the midst of full-blown medical emergencies.

More than half of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, and President Joe Biden this week celebrated eclipsing 200 million doses administered in his first 100 days in office. He also acknowledged entering a new phase to bolster outreach and overcome hesitancy.

Across the country, pharmacists and public health officials are seeing the demand wane and supplies build up. About half of Iowas counties have stopped asking for new doses from the state, and Louisiana didnt seek shipment of some vaccine doses over the past week.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the COVID-19 response and the state of vaccinations at the South Court Auditorium of Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, on April 21, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In Mississippi, small-town pharmacist Robin Jackson has been practically begging anyone in the community to show up and get shots after she received her first shipment of vaccine earlier this month and demand was weak, despite placing yard signs outside her storefront celebrating the shipments arrival. She was wasting more vaccine than she was giving out and started coaxing family members into the pharmacy for shots.

Nobody was coming, she said. And I mean no one.

In Barber County, Kansas, which has turned down vaccine doses from the state for two of the past four weeks, Danielle Farr said she has no plans to be vaccinated. The 32-year-old said she got COVID-19 last year, along with her 5- and 12-year-old sons and her husband.

Blood tests detected antibodies for the virus in all four of them, so she figures theyre already protected.

I believe in vaccines that have eradicated terrible diseases for the past 60, 70 years. I totally and fully believe in that, said Farr, who works at an accounting firm. Now a vaccine that was rushed in six, seven months, Im just going to be a little bit more cautious about what I choose to put into my body.

Barbara Gennaro, a stay-at-home mother of two small children in Yazoo City, Mississippi, said everybody in her homeschooling community is against getting the vaccine. Gennaro said she generally avoids vaccinations for her family in general, and the coronavirus vaccine is no different.

All of the strong Christians that I associate with are against it, she said. Fear is what drives people to get the vaccineplain and simple. The stronger someones trust is in the Lord, the least likely they are to want the vaccine or feel that its necessary.

Another challenge for vaccinations in a rural state like Mississippi is that in many cases, doses are being shipped in large packages with one vial containing at least 10 doses.

A man receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a site in Chicago, Ill., on April 6, 2021. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

During a news conference in early April, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Mississippi officials have requested that the federal government send the vaccines in smaller packaging so its not going to waste.

If youre in New York City, and youre sending a package to one of the large pharmacies in downtown Manhattan, there are literally millions and millions of people within walking distance most likely of that particular pharmacy, Reeves said. Well, if youre in rural Itta Bena, Mississippi, thats just not the case.

To combat the hesitancy, Louisiana continues to increase its outreach work with community organizations and faith-based leaders, set up a hotline to help people schedule appointments, and work to find free transportation to a vaccination center. The health department is sending out more than 100,000 mailers on Monday to encourage people to get vaccinated, and robocalls from regional medical directors are going out to landline phones around the state.

In New Mexico, state officials are exploring the recruitment of community championstrusted residents of regions with vaccine hesitancy who can address concerns about safety and efficacy. Question-and-answer style town halls are also a possibility. And video testimonials about coronavirus vaccines already have been recorded.

Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said now that everyone qualifies to get vaccinated, public health officials are encountering three groups: not able, not now and not ever.

The first group, he said, isnt able to get their shots because they dont have time. The not nows have earnest questions about vaccine safety, efficacy and whether they need the shot.

He said theyre not prepared to write off not evers, but instead are working to find trusted messengers like doctors, family members, community members to give them good information.

In Corinth, Mississippi, pharmacist Austin Bullard said a lot of people were waiting to become vaccinated until a one-dose shot became available. The news about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the risk for blood-clottinghowever slimhas scared people about getting any type of vaccination.

I do feel like there has been more hesitancy across the board since then, he said.

By Leah Willingham, Heather Hollingsworth and Michelle Smith
Bengaluru, April 23 : Karnataka Revenue Minister R. Ashoka said on Friday that the state government has decided to impose a ban on all construction activities during the weekends.

"We have banned all civil and all construction work during weekends, till the weekend curfew is in force. As of now, weekend curfew will be in force till May 4," he said.

With this, Karnataka has virtually decided to impose lockdown during the weekends without using the terminology in its order.

With Karnataka witnessing an exponential surge in Covid cases in the last one month, the state administration is fighting hard to reign in the virus.

The guidelines on night curfew and weekend curfew issued on Wednesday and Thursday had clearly stated that construction activities would be allowed.

Ashoka, who is also the vice-chairman of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, said that no labourer should work during weekends, be it at construction sites or otherwise.

"We have instructed the construction industry to stop its work during weekends. Our new restrictions will be implemented during the weekends," he said.

He added that none will be allowed to move around anywhere in the state during this period except those who are working in essential services - fire, police, water supply, electricity supply, telecom and patients, while milk booths, meat shops and grocery shops will operate between 6 am and 10 am.

"People can buy their day-to-day requirements from the nearest grocery shops in their locality. No citizen will be allowed to travel beyond his locality. No one will be allowed to enter religious institutions, barring the caretakers of these places," he told reporters.

The minister asserted that there is no need for people to come out of their house if they have adequate ration.
The United States is holding Russia to account for actions taken against U.S. sovereignty and interests, in particular for attempts to interfere in the 2020 American presidential election and for cyber intrusions targeting federal agencies and U.S. companies.

The United States is imposing costs on Russia through a variety of measures. Among them, the Treasury Department sanctioned six Russian technology companies that provided support to the Russian Intelligence Services cyber efforts. The U.S. government publicly named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, known as the SVR, as the perpetrator of the cyber espionage campaign that exploited the SolarWinds Orion platform and other information technology infrastructures. That intrusion gave the SVR the ability to spy on or potentially disrupt more than 16,000 computer systems worldwide.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned 32 entities and individuals carrying out Russian government-directed attempts to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and other acts of disinformation. In addition, the Treasury Department issued a directive that prohibits U.S. banks from new purchases of ruble or non-ruble denominated bonds from Russias central bank, Finance Ministry or national wealth fund after June 14, 2021.

Furthermore, the State Department announced that it is expelling 10 officials from the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C., some of whom are representatives of Russian intelligence services.

President Joe Biden called the U.S. response to the malign actions of the Russian government measured and proportionate.

The United States is not looking to kick off a cycle of escalation and conflict with Russia. We want a stable, predictable relationship Throughout our long history of competition, our two countries have been able to find ways to manage tensions and to keep them from escalating out of control.

President Biden noted how at the beginning of his administration the United States and Russia worked together to quickly extend the new START Treaty, which helps maintain nuclear stability between the two countries. He announced that in a recent phone conversation with President Putin he proposed a summit in Europe between the two leaders this summer so they can personally work toward a more effective relationship.

Now is the time to de-escalate. The way forward is through thoughtful dialogue and a diplomatic process.

Where it is in the interest of the United States to work with Russia, we should and will, said President Biden. Where Russia seeks to violate the interests of the United States, we will respond.
Fresh from their honeymoon, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were looking forward to the highlight of their 12-day tour of Nazi Germany: afternoon tea with Adolf Hitler.

They would be meeting him at the Berghof, his private retreat in the Bavarian Alps. At last, they thought, they would be able to thank Hitler in person for his wedding gift  an inscribed gold box.

With Nazi efficiency, police cleared the roads on October 22, 1937, for the Windsors motorcade. Unfortunately, this meant that Wallis and Edward arrived an hour ahead of schedule.

Hitler shaking hands with Duchess of Windsor in 1937,the Duke of Windsor in the backgroundEdward and Mrs Simpson

Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor works in his office at the Government House in Nassau, Bahamas, circa 1942

The Fuhrer was snoozing, and no one had the courage to interrupt his afternoon nap. The only person who might have dared to do so was his mistress, Eva Braun, but she had been sent away, under loud protest, to avoid potential royal embarrassment.

For an hour, the deputy Fuhrer, Rudolf Hess, marked time by whisking the Duke and Duchess around local tourist spots. When they returned to the Berghof, Hitler, dressed in a brown Nazi jacket and black trousers, was finally ready to greet them at the front door.

He shook Walliss hand, then turned to the Duke and gave the Nazi salute. Edward reciprocated: Heil Hitler.

Later, Wallis recalled that at close quarters, [Hitler] gave the feeling of great inner force. His hands were long and slim, a musicians hands, and his eyes were truly extraordinary  intense, unblinking, magnetic, burning with peculiar fire.

The Duke and Duchess were shown into a large oak-panelled drawing-room with an enormous marble fireplace in the same shade of cherry red as the carpet. The upholstery, Wallis noted, featured Nazi mottos and embroidered swastikas.

On the walls hung tapestries of the 18th-century Prussian king Frederick the Great mounted on various horses, and a bust of the composer Richard Wagner stood on top of a grand piano.

The air in the room was perfumed by the scent from vases of hydrangeas, roses, carnations and zinnias.

Hitler ordered tea. As an Anglophile and dedicated reader of Tatler, he enjoyed copying the genteel traditions of the British upper classes, including the serving of cucumber sandwiches.

White-coated lackeys offered the Windsors a choice of Indian or China tea, and four types of sandwich on tiered plates.

To satisfy the Fuhrers sweet tooth, there were also three large cakes: walnut, fruit and Victoria sponge  named after Edwards great-grandmother, who had enjoyed a daily slice at teatime. Soon the gentle tinkle of fine bone china, emblazoned with swastikas, accompanied a flow of polite conversation. Then Hitler and the Duke retreated to a private room with Paul Schmidt, the Fuhrers interpreter.

However, Edward  who spoke perfect German  grew increasingly annoyed with Schmidt. Every few minutes, he would bark irritably: That is not what I said to the Fuhrer, or, That is not what the Fuhrer said to me.

Misunderstandings aside, the Duke bonded with Hitler. The Germans and the British races are one, Edward told him earnestly. They should always be one. They are of Hun origin.

Sigrist House is the former residence and estate of King Edward VIII of England, where he and his wife, socialite Wallis Simpson lived during his first years as The Governor of the Bahamas

He urged the Fuhrer to strike at Russia and smash communism for ever. He also suggested to Hitler that he should encourage the mass emigration of Jews from Germany.

Outside, Wallis waited in the drawing room with Rudolf Hess, where they were doing their best to discuss music. This wasnt a notable success: Walliss taste was for jazz, while Hess enjoyed the work of German composers, preferably Beethoven.

Then the Duke and Hitler joined them again for more tea. What they talked about has never been revealed, though Wallis was immensely gratified when the dictator addressed her as Your Royal Highness.

This was, of course, deliberate: Hitler was fully aware that the new Kings decision to refuse her the title had utterly infuriated his elder brother.

After the Windsors had left the Berghof, Hitler turned to Schmidt and said: She would have made a good Queen.

What possessed Edward, just ten months after his abdication, to walk straight into Hitlers diabolical web?

It wasnt as if he didnt know what was going on in Germany. The first concentration camps had opened in 1933 and two years later, Hitler had stripped German Jews of their citizenship and unleashed brutal Nazi thuggery against them.

According to many accounts, the Windsors were merely naive and rather stupid. But the truth, borne out by recently released papers, is that they were staunch Nazi sympathisers who intrigued against Britain.

Edwards sympathies dated back to at least 1933, when, as heir to the throne, he was the focal point of the so-called Ritz set, which included many drawing-room Nazis.

It was society hostess Emerald Cunard, one of his closest friends, who introduced him to two of the most sinister men in the country: Oswald Mosley, leader of the British fascist movement; and Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitlers envoy and spy.

Regular briefings from the suave and well-connected Ribbentrop soon gave the Fuhrer an idea. What if he could forge an alliance with the future king? With Edwards help, he felt sure that war with Britain could be averted, leaving him free to conquer Europe.

So Hitler instructed Ribbentrop to gather the Prince of Wales into the Nazi fold. And at the same time, he dispatched a spy with even stronger connections to the Royal Family.

Duke Charles Edward of Coburg, a grandson of Queen Victoria and cousin to King George V, was a high-ranking Nazi who later became a key figure in the regimes horrific euthanasia programme. Born in Britain, he had been educated at Eton until he was sent to Germany at the age of 16 to take up his ducal throne.

Best of all, from Hitlers viewpoint, Coburg was already a close friend of the Prince of Wales.

Next, the Fuhrer asked Ribbentrop to work behind the scenes to marry Edward off to a German princess, thus forging a permanent alliance between the two countries. His bride was to be the Kaisers granddaughter, Princess Friederike, who in 1934 was studying at a school in Kent.

The idea took hold, and the 17-year-old princess soon found herself being invited to Buckingham Palace to be inspected by Edwards parents, Queen Mary and George V.

But Hitlers marriage mission was doomed. Then aged 40, the Prince of Wales was already besotted with a chic and twice-divorced American called Wallis Simpson. Still living with her husband, she was having a not-so-secret affair with Edward. By January 1935, he had given Wallis jewellery costing 110,000  or about 7 million in todays money.

Sir John Aird, the Princes equerry, moaned that Edward has lost all confidence in himself and follows W around like a dog. The Nazis, quite aware of who was holding his leash, became extremely keen to court the Princes influential mistress. And they found the task almost ridiculously easy.

Prince Otto von Bismarck, a diplomat at the German embassy in London, started inviting Wallis to numerous lavish parties attended by Nazis. After these, she often ended up spending the night at the embassy.

Ribbentrop was also moved into play: he showered her with gifts, among other things sending her 17 carnations every day. Soon, a rumour began circulating that Ribbentrop and Wallis had been having an affair, and that the flowers represented the number of occasions the two had slept together.

From 1935, a Special Branch tail was tracking Walliss every movement. Her patterns of behaviour, Special Branch noted, showed that she was very fond of the company of men.

Spies also reported that during a high-spirited party at the Simpsons flat, the Prince of Wales had donned a German army helmet and goose-stepped around the drawing-room.

More significantly, Edward was openly speaking about fascism as a good thing.

The following year, in January 1936, Edward joined his father at Sandringham when he became seriously ill.

Yet even as George V lay dying, his heir was having a meeting with the German ambassador.

Edward wanted to assure him that he fully intended to visit the Berlin Olympics that summer, and also to express sympathy with what was happening in Nazi Germany. The King died on January 20, and the very next day the brand new King Edward VIII had a fireside chat with his second cousin the Duke of Coburg, who had travelled to Sandringham to push Hitlers agenda.

Needless to say, Coburg sent his Fuhrer a detailed report about their conversation. Edward VIII, he said, had told him that a German-British alliance was an urgent necessity.

I wish myself to talk to Hitler, the King insisted, and will do so here, or in Germany.

A few days later, at George Vs funeral at Windsor Castle, Coburg managed to cause a stir by wearing his Nazi uniform as he walked behind the coffin.

Meanwhile, Sir Robert Vansittart, head of the British intelligence service, had become convinced that the new Kings mistress was a German spy.

A Russian agent had revealed that Wallis was sending secret messages to the Nazis via her dressmaker, an anti-Semitic fascist sympathiser. On top of that, two British spies in the German embassy reported that Edward was leaking valuable security information to Germany.

By summer 1936, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was withholding all confidential information from the King. If Edward went on like that, he told colleagues, there were ways and means of making him abdicate.

That year, Edward again showed his true colours when Hitler marched three battalions into Germanys demilitarised zone in the Rhineland, a flagrant breach of the post-World War I settlement. Aware that Britain could justifiably declare war, he sent for Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

It was a stormy meeting. Once Baldwin had left, the King called the German ambassador to London. I gave [the PM] a piece of my mind, he reported. I told the old so-and-so that I would abdicate if he made war. There was a frightful scene. But you neednt worry  there wont be a war.

After putting down the receiver, the German ambassador danced around the room. Ive done it, he told his staff. Ive outwitted them all  there wont be a war! Its magnificent. I must inform Berlin immediately.

Hitler sighed with relief. Edward VIIIs remarks had convinced him Britain had no stomach for war. In effect, they amounted to a green light to conquer Europe: This means it can all go well!

But Edward soon had another obsession that overrode his self-appointed role as Hitlers peacemaker, which was to make his mistress Queen Wallis. Once he realised, however, that the Establishment was implacably opposed, he began to contemplate abdication in earnest.

As the crisis deepened, fascist leader Oswald Mosley rallied his followers to support the King. British fascists converged on Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, calling loudly for the Prime Ministers resignation. Fears spread that the King might even dismiss Baldwin and invite Mosley to form a government.

On December 4, 1936, after a night of soul-searching, Edward bottled out. He wrote: In the end, I put out of my mind the thought of challenging the Prime Minister . . . I would have left the scars of civil war.

The way ahead seemed clear: to marry the woman he loved, he would have to abandon the throne. But before signing the abdication papers, he found time to send Mosley a thank-you letter for his support.

It was Joachim von Ribbentrop who had the unenviable task of telling Hitler about the abdication, which was, he told him, the result of the machinations of dark Bolshevik powers against the Fuhrer-will of the young King.

Six months later, Edward married Wallis at a chateau near Tours in France, owned by Charles Bedaux, a shifty French-American tycoon who was keen to butter up Hitler. What better way, he thought, than to deliver him the former king?

To Bedauxs delight, the Windsors enthusiastically embraced the idea of making a tour of Nazi Germany. Edward viewed it as a chance to get back at his family and provide his new wife with the royal status she had been denied. Wallis, for her part, was already getting bored with the monotony of exile.

Arriving in Berlin that October, the couple were greeted by an SS band playing God Save The King while well-rehearsed crowds chanted: We want the Duchess! For once, Wallis knew what it felt like to be a queen.

Parties and receptions followed, and the Duchess, who had felt snubbed in England, noted with satisfaction that all the leading Nazis bowed or curtsied to her.

Predictably, the Windsors saw only what the Nazis wanted them to see as they toured factories, coalmines and the training school of the elite Deaths Head Division of the SS.

Edward rewarded his hosts with a fulsome speech in praise of Germany and delivered a Nazi salute. Just five months later, Hitlers troops had marched into Austria and Czechoslovakia, and Britain was preparing for war.

Banned from London, the Windsors established a court in exile with two opulent homes, one in Paris and the other a chateau on the Riviera. Wallis spent lavishly, filling the chateau with priceless antiques and even installing a gold-plated bathtub.

By the time Britain declared war on September 3, 1939, the government was aware that Edward had become a dangerous loose cannon. What they didnt know then was that he was firing off top-secret information to the enemy.

In February 1940, the German ambassador in The Hague told Ribbentrop that the Duke had leaked the Allied war plans for the defence of Belgium. According to the ambassador, Edward had heard about them when he attended an Allied War Council on potential military strategies.

Did he actually dare to leak these plans himself? Or was he simply indiscreet at dinners with Nazi sympathisers?

Whatever the case, it was a serious security breach that may have prompted Hitler to change his battle plans. When he invaded France in May 1940, the Windsors fled to fascist Spain, where they made no attempt to hide their sympathies.

The Duke told a Spanish diplomat that he blamed the Jews, the Reds and the Foreign Office for the war and hoped the bombing of British cities would force Churchill to negotiate with Nazi Germany.

The exasperated British government soon arranged to have the troublesome Windsors removed from Spain and taken to neutral Portugal. Infuriated, Hitler instructed his spy chief to get the couple back to Spain, where they could then be persuaded to support the Nazis openly.

As an inducement, he authorised a potential payment to the Duke of up to 50 million Swiss francs. If he refused to co-operate, Hitler said, then force could be used.

Eighteen Nazi agents were dispatched to lurk near the Windsors Portuguese villa. To frighten the couple, some threw stones at the windows, shattering the glass. One of them further stoked Edwards paranoia by telling him there was a British plot to assassinate him.

Hitler may have overplayed his hand: no longer sure whom to trust, Edward resentfully accepted Churchills offer to make him Governor of the Bahamas. But was he finally turning his back on Nazi Germany? Not exactly.

Before leaving, he told a Nazi-sympathising banker that he was fully prepared for any personal sacrifice when the time was right and would remain in contact. He even agreed to a code word that would recall him to Europe.

His meaning was clear: if the bombing of London forced Britain into talks with the Nazis, then Edward wanted a starring role.

As they rode out the war in the Bahamas, the Windsors were unaware that President Roosevelt had instructed the FBI to spy on them.

He had good reason for this: the Duke had foolishly given an interview, radically toned down before publication, in which he said: It would be a tragic thing for the world if Hitler were to be overthrown. Hitler is the right and logical leader of the German people.

He even warned that if the U.S. entered the war, it would continue for another 30 years.

Worse, an American naval intelligence commander told Roosevelt there was reason to believe considerable Nazi funds have, during the past year, been cleared through the Bahamas to Mexico, and that the Duke of Windsor might well be an important Nazi agent.

In April 1941, an FBI report described Wallis as exceedingly pro-German in her sympathies and connections.

Soon afterwards, an FBI agent claimed there was definite proof that Hermann Goring and the Duke of Windsor had reached a deal. After Germany won the war, Goring, through control of the army, was going to overthrow Hitler and then he would install the Duke as King of England.

Despite mounting evidence over the years, Edward was never called to account for his treacherous actions and beliefs. For the rest of their lives together, the Windsors ate at the best restaurants, shopped at the best stores and never ran out of caviar. They rarely paid for anything, and perfected the art of sybaritic living.

In his memoirs, the Duke denied being pro-Nazi. The Fuhrer, he wrote, struck me as a somewhat ridiculous figure, with his theatrical posturing and bombastic pretensions.

In private, however, he told his friend Lord Kinross in the 1960s: I never thought Hitler was such a bad chap.

n Adapted by Corinna Honan from Tea With Hitler, by Dean Palmer, published on April 30 by The History Press, 20.  Dean Palmer 2021. To order a copy for 17.60 (offer valid to May 1, 2021; UK P+P free on orders over 20), go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193.

Evil charm: Hitler greets the Windsors in 1937. Inset, the Duke in 1942, and his palatial estate in the Bahamas

Pawn of the Nazis: The Duke views a model palace on a visit to Dresden

Honoured guest: Edward with Hitler at the Berghof in 1937
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) between July 6, 2020 through March 31, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 18, 2021.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Emergent BioSolutions securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Emergent BioSolutions class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2081.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 18, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

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 4 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.

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DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuits, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Emergent BioSolution's Baltimore plant had a history of manufacturing issues increasing the likelihood for massive contaminations; (2) these longstanding contamination risks and quality control issues at Emergent BioSolution's facility led to a string of FDA citations; (3) the Company previously had to discard the equivalent of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines after workers at the Baltimore plant deviated from manufacturing standards; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, defendants' public statements about Emergent BioSolution's ability and capacity to mass manufacture multiple COVID-19 vaccines at its Baltimore manufacturing site were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Emergent BioSolutions class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2081.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

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.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

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SOURCE: Rosen Law Firm PA





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Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) today announced that Anthony Goodman joined Korn Ferry as the head of Board Effectiveness in the North American Board and CEO practice. He is based in the firm's Boston office.

Goodman joins Korn Ferry from a global executive search firm, where he was a senior member of the firm's Board and CEO Advisory Partners and the Board Effectiveness practice. There, he advised public and private company boards, including large nonprofits, mutual funds, and family influenced businesses, on a range of confidential matters from CEO and Board Chair succession to board composition, dealing with activist investors to pre-IPO governance. He is an experienced advisor to non-executive directors and C-suite executive teams in the United States and Europe, specializing in the alignment of leaders and organizations for effective oversight of Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) opportunities and risks, and improved relationships with stakeholders.

Previously, Goodman spent more than 12 years as a partner at Tapestry Networks, an organization convening board directors, investors, and regulators for peer learning and mutual understanding. Goodman was the founder and co-chair of the Shareholder-Director Exchange (SDX), which developed the first protocol for board-shareholder engagement in the United States. Before that, Goodman was the CEO of a consultancy specializing in leadership development, change management, and employee communication. He began his career in public relations and marketing in the United Kingdom.

"Anthony is known for his commitment to improving organizations' board culture, engagement, structure, and alignment to the overall organizational strategy. He is skilled in the positioning of leaders and organizations for effective corporate governance, ESG oversight and stakeholder relations," said Joe Griesedieck, vice chairman, Board Chief Executive Officer Services, Korn Ferry. "Anthony is going to be great fit for our clients' needs and the increased demand for this important work. We are thrilled to have his expertise on board."

Goodman holds an MA in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm. We work with our clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005031/en/

Contacts:

Erica Shannon

(214) 603-9694

Erica.shannon@kornferry.com
For those of us who were eager to be vaccinated, the sense of relief is palpable. One can begin to sense that visiting grandparents, children and grandchildren will not be a life-threatening event. And you can even imagine birthday parties, weddings, theater and travel once again. Not to mention safely opening schools

A Pew Research Poll shows that 60 percent of Americans say they would definitely or probably get a vaccine for the coronavirus, up from 51 percent in September. But 18 percent still say they will definitely not get vaccinated.

I have my own polling method. Lately, I have gotten into the habit of asking Uber drivers whether they have been vaccinated before I get into the car. Three of 10 said they would not get vaccinated. But one stood out. He said that not only would he not get vaccinated, it was his right to not be vaccinated, and he wanted to be free from government overreach. Right after saying this to me, he asked me to buckle my seatbelt.

The incongruity is astonishing.

Why was I required to buckle up but he was free from government overreach?

In 1961, Wisconsin introduced legislation that required seat belts to be installed in front seats of cars. In 1968, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required that all new cars be fitted with lap and shoulder belts. But people didnt want to be forced to buckle up.

Because there was resistance to seat belt laws, and over 50,000 people were dying in motor vehicle deaths each year, the Carter administration required that all automakers install a passive restraint system (airbags). When Reagan became the president, he tried to eliminate airbags as part of his promise to reduce burdensome government regulations. But in 1983, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of re-implementing the law. Now, only New Hampshire, the Live free or die state, does not have a mandatory seat belt law. But you cannot get a car without an airbag anywhere including New Hampshire.

What was the result of this government overreach? Highway deaths have fallen from 50,000 to 30,000 per year. Put another way, government intervention saved lives. A lot of them.

And smokers objected to federal oversight even more than those opposed to seat belts. So, how did smoking get banned in public places with so many smokers objecting?

First it was science. A definitive link between smoking and lung cancer was published in the British Medical Journal in 1954 and reaffirmed by the surgeon general in a report published in 1964. Then it became regulatory. In 1966, health warnings were placed on cigarette packs. Then it moved to statute. Minnesota became the first state in 1975 to establish separate smoking areas in public places. Congress prohibited smoking on domestic flights under two hours in 1987. And, in 1990, San Luis Obispo, Calif., became the first city in the world to eliminate smoking in all public buildings including bars and restaurants. The CDC estimates that 1.6 million deaths were prevented by these measures between 1964 and 1992.

Once again, smokers complained about the infringement of their freedom to choose. But soon every restaurant had smoking sections and hotels had separate smoking floors. The non-smoking consumer wanted separation from smokers. Now it is banned indoors in most places in the U.S. And the ban has saved millions of lives.

So, if people do not want to get vaccinated, I accept, that is their right.

But as an academic health center responsible for protecting patients, health care workers and learners, we should also have the right to require our employees and students be vaccinated unless they have medical or religious exemption, the same as we do for influenza. The reason why? To protect the people we serve from infection by us.

And as a consumer, I have the right to avoid businesses that do not support vaccination and only support those that do.

Next time an Uber driver tells me he chose not to be vaccinated, I am getting out of the car.

Klotman is president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine.
Egypt and Russia agreed to resume all flights between the two countries in a call between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's presidency said in a statement.

The official representative of the office of the head of the Egyptian state, Bassam Rada announced on Friday that the presidents of Russia and Egypt agreed on the full resumption of flights between the two countries, including with resorts areas.

According to him, "the conversation between the two leaders concerned all issues of bilateral relations, primarily related to cooperation in the area of tourism." "An agreement was reached on the resumption of flights in full between the airports of the two countries, including Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh," he said.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed the agreement to fully resume flights between Russia and Egypt, including with Egyptian resorts.

"Yes. We are preparing a statement now," TASS cited him as saying.

Russian tour operators may launch charter flights to Egyptian resorts in 7-14 days after air service is resumed, executive director of the Russian Association of Tour Operators Maya Lomidze said.

"The date has not been announced yet. From the date - in 7-14 days," she noted.

Flights to popular resort destinations Sharm al-Sheikh and Hurghada were suspended in October 2015.




Haiti - Agriculture : Meeting of Minister Severe with officials of agricultural cooperatives





Patrix Severe, the Minister of Agriculture accompanied by Jocelyn Jean Director General of the Artibonite Valley Development Organization, Lesly Alexandre Director General of the National Council of Cooperatives (CNC) and the former Secretary of State to plant production, Jean-Claude Delice this week held a meeting at the Ministry with several heads of agricultural cooperatives in the Artibonite Valley.



During this meeting of several hours, the Minister and the producers discussed everything concerning agricultural production in Bas-Artibonite, in particular the question of agricultural fertilizers. Minister Severe once again pledged to continue to support production in this part of the country, considered the largest agricultural area in the country.



To achieve this, the Ministry wants to ensure that chemical fertilizer is available at a lower cost to producers. Remember that for several months, fertilizer has been subsidized and an agreement has been reached with the cooperatives so that the 100-pound bag sells for 1,000 gourdes throughout the Valley.



In addition, the Minister took the opportunity to discuss with representatives of the cooperatives the signing of a memorandum of understanding concerning the renewal of loans to cooperatives for the acquisition of a new stock of fertilizer.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Tokyo, April 23 : Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday declared a state of emergency over Covid-19 in the national capital Tokyo and the western prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo.

The state of emergency, a third of its kind so far declared in the country, will come into effect from Sunday to May 11, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The emergency is aimed at curbing a surge in Covid-19 cases during the upcoming Golden Week holidays.

"We must take strong measures in a focused manner while many people are on holiday during the Golden Week to bring the virus under control," Suga said.

Stricter restrictions, such as asking restaurants and bars not to serve alcohol and shutting down major commercial facilities, will be in place.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has proposed that the influence of the consumer price index on the determination of the indexation coefficient for the pecuniary value of nonfarm land, as well as land located within settlements, is changed.

The requirement is contained in the so-called "resource bill," the text of which is available to Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the document, in the period from 2017 to 2023 for the pecuniary valuation of some types of land, the indexation coefficient of the pecuniary value of land is applied, which was equal to 100% of the consumer price index. The lands evaluated in this way include farmland (arable land, perennial plantations, hayfields, pastures and mineral deposits), land plots in the territory of settlements, as well as other nonfarm land.

The Ministry of Finance proposed that by 2023 the coefficient of influence of the consumer price index in the valuation of land plots in the territory of settlements, as well as other nonfarm land is changed. The document does not indicate the values of the coefficients that the ministry intends to introduce.

As reported, in Ukraine in 2018, a general regulatory and pecuniary valuation of farmland was carried out at the expense of the state budget, and the technical documentation was approved by the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Near record high temperatures. High 91F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Bucking the trend of farms going to the next, male, generation, Kate Fleming knew from a young age she wanted to take over the family farm.

Bucking the trend of farms going to the next, male, generation, Kate Fleming knew from a young age she wanted to take over the family farm.

"It might be an odd thing for a girl, really, to want to take over the farm, but I always knew I never wanted the farm to be sold or I never wanted anybody to have the farm," she said.

Kate Fleming is seen working at her familys egg farm. (Submitted)

"Normally, its the son taking over, but for me I just always knew that I wanted to take over the farm  I just enjoy farming and being outside and just working, really  working lots."

Her parents, Daniel and Joann Van Deynze, insisted she join her three sisters in pursuing post-secondary education in case she decided against a career in agriculture.

So, she attended university and became a teacher before returning to the family farm, located south of Holland.

The shift came in 2008, when she and husband Tyler welcomed their first child, Billy, into their lives.

She wanted him to have the same upbringing she had.

"The kids would get a strong work ethic, and theres always something for the kids to do," she said, reasoning the "strong family values" intrinsic in their businesss makeup would be valuable.

The Van Deynze farm was founded by Daniel in 1971, beginning with 20 dairy cows and a few beef and hogs on three quarters of land.

In 1980, he married Joann, a high school teacher who grew up on a local dairy farm, and the two expanded their farming operations over the year alongside their family.

Along with Kate, they have daughters Stephanie Van Deynze-Snell, Jaclyn Van Deynze-Sterling and Angela Van Deynze-Fehr.

While Kate was the only one to return full-time, all four have assisted in farming operations, with Stephanie offering veterinary services, Jaclyn helping during busy times and Angela serving as their accountant.

Kate and Tyler had a house built a stones throw from Daniel and Joanns house, which are separated by a shelter belt through which a well-worn path has been cut for their three kids  Billy, Anna and Luke  during visits with their grandparents.

"I tell the kids all the time that not everybody gets to see their grandparents every day," Kate said.

Billy has shown "a lot of interest" in the farm and is already keen on working all day, Anna is interested in having a farm of her own or becoming a veterinarian like her aunt, and Luke is intent on playing in the NHL.

The farm shifted from cattle to birds in 2012 on five months notice  an ambitious plan that initially resulted in laughs from industry insiders, which Kate said strengthened their resolve to get it done on time, which they did.

She went into labour as the finishing touches were being put on the barn, and cut her hospital stay short because the first flock was scheduled to arrive.

The farm now supplies eggs to a variety of places, including a significant contribution to A&W restaurants. They also maintain 450 cultivated acres.

The farms first generation of Daniel and Joann are still very much involved, and Kate credits them with establishing an operation she hopes to maintain beyond the second generation and into the third.

"Really, its my parents hard work and modelling for us kids that it was possible," she said. "I want to make sure we sustain and keep building, so that one day if they want to take over its theirs to take over."

The Van Deynze family has been named a 2021 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Farm Family  one of six to receive the designation, which the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba has kept up despite the COVID-19 pandemic putting a damper on most of this and last years activities.

"My first reaction was, I felt like  obviously, honoured  but I dont wake up every day to get an award or anything," Kate said, adding shes proud to be included among the families receiving this years designation.

"We all believe that we all want to keep the farm going, so well do whatever it takes, really, to keep it going," she said, adding the family shares common goals.

"I think just strong family values  I think, too, that you pretty much have to work together for the common goal to keep the family farm going, even though its not always easy."

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
PRESS RELEASE

Paris La Defense, 21 April 2021

Quarterly financial information at 31 March 2021

Revenues down slightly (-4%), mainly due to several scheduled maintenance shutdowns for the thermal power plants

Solid growth dynamic: continued conversion of power plants to all-biomass, development and construction of solar projects and good performance in geothermal energy

Confirmation of objectives

The Groups revenue for the first quarter of 2021 was down slightly by 4%.

This moderate decline was mainly the result:

of scheduled shutdowns carried out during the quarter, representing 146 days of unit outages in the first quarter 2021, compared with 31 days in the first quarter 2020. Some of the annual maintenance shutdowns were postponed because of the health crisis;

of unplanned technical shutdowns at a plant on Reunion Island.

However, revenues were sustained by:

the additional contribution from the full-year effect of the Le Moule 3 conversion premium;

the good performance of the Gumuskoy geothermal power plant, in line with expectations, owned by the Group since 26 January 2021.

1st quarter 2021 1st quarter 2020 Change (%) France  Thermal Biomass 110.9 115.8 -4% France  Solar Power1 11.4 11.6 -2% Brazil 2.6 3.2 -19% Holding company and other 1.2 0.4 ns Total 126.0 130.9 -4%

Including Spain and Italy.

France

Thermal Biomass

Carrying out scheduled shutdowns in plants on Reunion Island and Guadeloupe

Revenue for the Thermal Biomass business in France was down 4% compared to the first quarter of 2020, to 110.9 million.

The decrease in revenues was mainly due to scheduled shutdowns in the first quarter (i.e. 146 days of unit outages compared with 31 days in the first quarter of 2020), which had been postponed as a result of the health crisis in 2020 and unplanned technical shutdowns at a plant on Reunion Island.

The availability rate was 83.3% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with 90.6% in the first quarter of 2020 and power generation from thermal facilities reached 437 GWh, compared with 517 GWh in the first quarter of 2020.

Project development

100% biomass for unit 3 of Albioma Le Moule (ALM3) in Guadeloupe - Finalisation of works

Unit 3 of the Le Moule plant in Guadeloupe was restarted on 23 November following work to convert it to all-biomass. This conversion will reduce emissions by more than 265,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (a net decrease of around 87% compared with current coal operation), and will increase the renewable portion of Guadeloupe's energy mix from 20% to 35%. Since its return to service, the unit has been operating normally.

Conversion of the Bois Rouge power plant to all-biomass

Work to convert the power plant to 100% biomass began during this quarter. Locally-available biomass resources (bagasse, forest wood, lagging waste, etc.) will be used as a priority, supplemented by imported traceable (in compliance with the EU timber regulation) and sustainable (FSC or PEFC certification required from our suppliers) biomass, in the form of wood pellets. Eventually, the conversion will increase the renewable portion of Reunion Island's energy mix from 35% to 51% and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 640,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, that is an 84% decrease of direct emissions compared with the current operation of the plant. In addition, the financing of the investments for the conversion of the plant was signed during the quarter.

Solar Power

Production up slightly

Revenue for the Solar Power business was stable at 11.4 million.

Production reached 29 GWh in the first quarter of the year, compared with 27 GWh in the first quarter of 2020.

Project development

The Group continued the development and construction of photovoltaic power plant projects across all regions during the quarter. The Group had won 40 MWp of projects in 2020, which are scheduled to be commissioned in 2021 and 2022.

Brazil

Thermal Biomass

Between sugar campaigns and maintenance of the plants

Between the sugar harvesting campaigns in the first quarter, the Groups four plants completed their annual maintenance.

The business recorded revenue of 2.6 million (compared with 3.2 million in the first quarter of 2020). Excluding currency effects, revenue is up by 9%.

Turkey

Geothermal energy

Production in line with expectations and works for the second half of the year

The Gumuskoy power plant, acquired in January 2021, performed well during the quarter. Production reached more than 13.5 GWh in the first quarter, in line with expectations and stable compared to the same period last year.

With the support of the existing teams, works aiming to increase production are expected to start at the beginning of the second half-year.

Confirmation of objectives

The Group confirms its 2021 EBITDA targets of 206 to 216 million and net income, Group share of 53 to 59 million (excluding the potential effects of the 2021 Finance Act concerning the revision of photovoltaic tariffs 2006-2010 and new coronavirus-related effects).

Next on the agenda: Annual General Meeting, 25 May 2021 at 3pm.

About Albioma Contacts An independent renewable energy producer, Albioma is committed to the energy transition thanks to biomass and photovoltaics.



Albioma operates in Overseas France, France metropolitan, Mauritius and Brazil. For 25 years, it has developed a unique partnership with the sugar industry to produce renewable energy from bagasse, the fibrous residue of sugar cane.



Albioma is the leading producer of photovoltaic energy in Overseas France, where the company builds and operates innovative projects with storage, Albioma has strengthened its position in mainland France.



Recently, the Group announced the acquisition of a geothermal power plant in Turkey. Investor

Julien Gauthier

+33 (0)1 47 76 67 00



Media

Charlotte Neuvy

+33 (0)1 47 76 66 65

presse@albioma.com Albioma is listed on the Euronext Paris compartment B, is eligible for the deferred settlement service (SRD), PEA and PEA-PME plans and is included in the SBF 120 and CAC Mid 60.



The Group is also included in the Gaia-Index, an index for socially responsible midcaps. www.albioma.com





Attachment
SHANGHAI, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronovo Surgical, an emerging medtech company focused on innovating minimally invasive (MIS) and digital surgery to address the tremendous needs of the Chinese surgical market, recently announced successful closing of Series A financing.

Developed by renowned surgeons, medtech veterans and robotics experts, Ronovo was founded in Shanghai in 2019 to establish a transformative technology platform that democratizes MIS and digital surgery in the vastly underserved Chinese surgical market. By focusing on the three pillars of simplicity, precision, and intelligence, Ronovo is positioning itself as a gateway to China for cutting edge MIS and digital surgery technology companies from around the world.

The Series A financing was co-led by Matrix Partners China and Vivo Capital, with strong, continued support from seed investor Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) and participation from GGV Capital.

"With the successful closing of our Series A, we are extremely proud of the strong support for Ronovo's vision and strategy from leading technology and life science investors, Matrix Partners China, Vivo Capital and GGV Capital, as well as the continued support from our seed investor, LAV," said Dr. John Ma, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ronovo. "With our core team already deep in R&D, we are now well-positioned to accelerate our technology development efforts and pursue multiple global strategic partnerships in support of accelerated path to commercialization."

"We firmly believe that our team is the key to strong competitive advantage of Ronovo Surgical," said Dr. Ying Mao, Co-Founder and CTO of Ronovo. "With world-class talent from top medtech MNCs and industry leaders in robotics, our team is uniquely qualified to take on the mission of enabling China's hospitals with digital surgery solutions to optimize patient clinical outcome and reduce health economic burden."

"Ronovo Surgical represents our key investment in the surgical robotics space," said Roger Sun, Director at Matrix Partners China. "We are greatly optimistic about the enormous market potential for endoscopic procedures and surgical robotics in China. Under the experienced leadership of Dr. John Ma, Ronovo has already recruited a world-class R&D team and began working with renowned clinical KOLs. We look forward to seeing Ronovo democratize MIS with innovations that are tailored to clinical needs."

"I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with the Ronovo Surgical founding team since conception and company inception," said Dr. Hongbo Lu, Managing Partner at Vivo Capital. "Vivo has made significant investments in the space outside of China. We are proud to support Ronovo and its exceptional team to achieve its vision of providing robotic solutions to the surgical market in China through innovative internal development and strategic partnerships."

"Robotics-driven digital surgery is clearly a rising trend for MIS, with great market potential and tremendous room for innovation both globally and in China," said Dr. Yi Shi, Founding Managing Partner of LAV. "As a highly committed investor in the digital surgery space, we have backed Ronovo Surgical from incubation stage. We are proud of what the company has achieved so far and have great conviction of Ronovo's team and mission. We are also very excited to work with the prestigious investors from Series A who share the same vision to support Ronovo's exciting journey to leapfrog existing surgical technologies."

"We believe in the team's strong focus on customers and global partnership approach, which not only augments their internal capabilities but also accelerates the realization of their technology platform vision to address many unmet clinical needs in surgery," said Jenny Lee, Managing Partner of GGV Capital. "We would love to continue to support Ronovo Surgical to success."

About Ronovo Surgical

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Shanghai, Ronovo Surgical is built by industry veterans from global leaders in surgical and industrial robotics, such as Intuitive Surgical, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic and KUKA. Aiming to transform how surgery is performed in China, Ronovo is leveraging robust R&D capabilities and strategic partnerships globally to accelerate the development of a broad portfolio of MIS and digital surgery solutions that exemplify the core themes of simplicity, precision, and intelligence.

About Matrix Partners China

Matrix Partners China is an early-stage venture capital firm in China that was founded in 2008. With biopharmaceutical and medical technologies as the fund's most dedicated areas, Matrix Partners China is committed to developing long-term relationships with outstanding entrepreneurs and helping them build significant, industry-leading companies.

About Vivo Capital

Founded in 1996, Vivo Capital is a leading global healthcare investment firm with a diverse, multi-fund investment platform in venture capital, growth equity, buyout, and public equities. The firm has approximately $5.8 billion in assets under management and has invested in over 280 public and private companies worldwide. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the Vivo team consists of more than 50 multi-disciplinary professionals. Vivo invests broadly in healthcare across all fund strategies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare services, with a focus on the largest healthcare markets globally.

About Lilly Asia Ventures

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a leading biomedical venture capital firm founded in 2008, with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Menlo Park. LAV's vision is to become the trusted partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital and to build great companies developing breakthrough products that can treat diseases and improve human health.

About GGV Capital

GGV Capital is a global venture firm that invests in local founders, with investments in the United States, Canada, China, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, and Israel from offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Singapore, Shanghai, and Beijing. As a multi-stage, sector-focused firm, GGV Capital invests in seed-to-growth stage companies across three sectors: Social/Internet, Enterprise Tech, and Smart Tech. Over the past two decades, the firm has backed more than 400 companies around the world.

SOURCE Ronovo Surgical
UK government to probe Nvidia-Arm deal

The UK government has announced it will investigate US semiconductor giant Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of Cambridge-based chipmaker Arm.

Using powers provided by the 2002 Enterprise Act, digital secretary Oliver Dowden has served a public intervention notice in order to probe the Nvidia and Arm deal for national security ramifications.

As part of the investigation, Dowden has asked the Competition and Markets Authority to compile a report outlining the potential competition and security implications posed by the planned deal. The CMA must submit its report by midnight on July 30th.
The California recall campaign got its first celebrity entry Friday when reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner announced she is running for governor.

The 71-year-old former Olympic gold medalist and star of the Kardashian family reality TV empire made her campaign for governor official with the unveiling of a campaign website, complete with merchandise shop, and donation platform on the Republican fundraising site WinRed.

Im in! California is worth fighting for, Jenner tweeted.

In her campaign announcement, the Republican highlighted her 50 years of living in California and bashed the states one-party rule by Democrats, saying it promotes special interests over Californians.

She also took a shot at Gov. Gavin Newsoms management of the state during the coronavirus pandemic, attacking lockdowns and the Democrats infamous dinner at the French Laundry restaurant that violated his own guidance to California households.

This isnt the California we know, Jenner said. This is Gavin Newsoms California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends.

Newsom political adviser Dan Newman disparaged Jenners candidacy and highlighted her links to former President Donald Trump. Jenner is working with Trumps former campaign manager, but has criticized Trump himself.

We always knew the Republican recall would be a ludicrous circus full of Trump supporters, which only reinforces how much Californians appreciate Gov. Newsoms competent, compassionate, experienced leadership during an unprecedented series of crises, Newman said in a statement.

The campaign to recall Newsom has not officially qualified for the ballot, but both sides expect it to. Elections officials are sifting through petitions submitted by proponents to see if they contain the required 1.5 million valid signatures of registered voters. Proponents say they submitted about 2.1 million signatures total.

An election likely would be held in November. It would consist of two questions: Should Newsom be recalled, and who should replace him? Newsom could not run as a candidate to replace himself.

Recalling Newsom would require a majority vote, but then the leading vote-getter among the replacements would win regardless of their percentage of the vote. When Jenners celebrity predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger won the governorship in the 2003 recall of Gray Davis, he got 48% of the vote.

Jenner is not alone in the Republican field looking to capitalize on pandemic angst to topple Newsom.

Republicans already running as replacement candidates include San Diego-area businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 governors race; former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer; and former Central Valley Rep. Doug Ose.

Democrats have thus far avoided running a replacement candidate as insurance should Newsom lose, believing that doing so could confuse voters and dilute Democratic support for Newsom against the recall.

Jenners website is built using a platform developed by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.

In 2016, Jenner supported Trump and expressed optimism that the Republican Party could be more supportive of LGBTQ Americans. During his presidential campaign, Trump made news when he said Jenner, who is transgender, could use any bathroom she chooses in Trump Tower.

But in 2018, Jenner revoked that support, writing an opinion piece decrying policies from Trump that she said relentlessly attacked the trans community. If elected, she would be the first transgender governor in U.S. history.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
Washington: The US Senate passed 94-1 legislation designed to combat hate crimes in the US, as legislators united to respond after a sharp increase in attacks against Asian-Americans since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill, officially titled the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, is based on a years worth of rising attacks after the pandemic began in Wuhan, China. Five days after Hirono introduced the legislation, eight people were killed, including six women of Asian descent, in mass shootings at three Atlanta spas. The crimes heightened the pressure on President Joe Biden and Congress to respond to the rise in attacks against the Asian American community.

Jessica Lang pauses after dropping off flowers at Youngs Asian Massage parlour in Atlanta where four people were killed in a shooting in March. Credit:Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

An estimated 3800 hate crime incidents against people of Asian descent were recorded between March 19, 2020 - around when lockdowns started - and February 28, 2021, according to the tracking initiative Stop AAPI Hate. Most were verbal harassment and shunning, but 11 per cent of them were instances of physical assault.

While the bill bolsters resources for addressing hate crimes more broadly - including money for online and hotline reporting systems, supporters said it would also send a clear message to the Asian American community that steps were being taken to curb an alarming increase in threats and violence.
It is not a secret that South Korea is filled with drop dead gorgeous stars and that many want to have similar features as their favorites.

Plastic surgeons are not strangers to receiving requests to make their clients look like a certain star. In fact, a plastic surgeon revealed the six most popular stars among clients.

Want to know who the most popular stars are when it comes to cosmetic surgery? Keep on reading to find out!

No. 6: IZ*ONE's Jang Wonyoung

The youngest member of IZ*ONE, Jang Wonyoung, is the sixth most popular star among clients of cosmetic surgery. Many have called her the live-action "Snow White" for her doll-like and innocent features, and she is said to have a mix of good features from popular actresses Go Hyun Jung, Kim Hee Sun, and Jun Ji Hyun.

The plastic surgeon revealed that Jang Wonyoung is popular among women in their teens and early twenties, and would often get showed a picture of the IZ*ONE member.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: IZ*ONE Continues to Receive Love Calls from Advertising Agencies as Their Disbandment Fast Approaches

No. 5: Oh Yeon Seo

One of Korea's best actresses, Oh Yeon Seo, is the fifth most popular star among clients. She has been suspected of getting plastic surgery because of her beautifully straight nose that has a slight curve. In addition, her nose is narrow but doesn't look like it's pinched due to her perfect nose tip that is just wide enough.

No. 4: Suzy

The idol-turned-actress is the fourth most popular star among cosmetic surgery clients. According to the plastic surgeon, Suzy is number one when it comes to overall facial balance. In addition, Suzy is not only beautiful outside, but on the inside as well, with all of her continuous donations to charities and organizations!

No. 3: Girls' Generation's Yoona

Korea's "National Center," Yoona, is the third most popular star among clients. Yoona continues to amaze fans for her youthful looks that hasn't changed since she first debuted in 2007 with Girls' Generation. Surgeons have praised Yoona's facial features, saying her facial proportions are perfect and her eyes that naturally hang down when she laughs is beautiful.

No. 2: BLACKPINK's Jennie

Coming in as the second most popular star among clients is BLACKPINK's Jennie. Korea's "it girl" has a trendy face that exudes strength in its innocence, according to the plastic surgeon. Her round face and sexy cat eyes are what makes her face unique and not easy to imitate.

No. 1: Red Velvet's Irene

Taking the top spot as the most popular star among cosmetic clients is Red Velvet's Irene! Irene, who was famous in her hometown, Daegu, for her beauty even before her debut, is said to be the most popular star when it comes to double eyelid surgery.

The plastic surgeon said that they often to double eyelid surgery similar to Irene's that they don't need to look at her picture for reference anymore!

What are your thoughts on the top six stars?

For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Robyn Joan
New York, April 23 : Women, who contracted Covid-19 during their pregnancy were 20 times more likely to die than those who did not contract the virus, according to a worldwide study of 2,100 women.

The study, led by researchers from the Universities of Washington and Oxford, involved pregnant women from 43 maternity hospitals in 18 low-, middle- and high-income nations. In the study conducted between April and August of 2020, each woman affected by Covid-19 was compared with two uninfected pregnant women who gave birth during the same span in the same hospital.

The findings, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, showed that besides increased risk of death, women and their newborns were also more likely to experience preterm birth, preeclampsia and admission to the ICU and/or intubation.

Of the mothers who tested positive for the disease, 11.5 per cent of their babies also tested positive, the study found.

Women whose Covid-19 was asymptomatic or mild were not found to be at increased risk for ICU care, preterm birth or preeclampsia. Pregnant women who were obese or had hypertension or diabetes were at the greatest risk for severe disease, the researchers said.

"The No. 1 takeaway from the research is that pregnant women are no more likely to get Covid-19, but if they get it, they are more likely to become very ill and more likely to require ICU care, ventilation, or experience preterm birth and preeclampsia," said one of the lead authors Michael Gravett, Professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UW's School of Medicine.

In another study, published in the journal Med, a team of scientists found that while evidence of the virus in the placenta is rare, the placenta in infected mothers tended to exhibit a much higher level of immune system activity than those of non-infected pregnant women.

"The good news is the placenta is mounting a robust defense against an infection that is far distant, in lungs or nasal tissue," said Shelli Farhadian, Assistant Professor at Yale University in the US.

"On the other hand, the high level of immune system activity might be leading to other deleterious effects on the pregnancy," Farhadian added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
WhatsApp is now more exciting to use since it received support for multiple playback speeds for voice messages. However, this new feature is only available for Android beta users at the moment.

But, WhatsApp confirmed that it could soon expand its scope for non-beta Android users. The feature was first spotted by the popular Facebook-owned app leaker called WABetaInfo. It revealed the new feature in March in WhatsApp's Android beta version 2.21.60.11.

And now, WhatsApp confirmed that the new multiple playback speed support is now available on Android 2.21.9.4.

If you are an Android beta user, you can check the new feature's availability by checking if your voice messages have the new playback speed icon.

WhatsApp's Voice Message Multiple Playback Speeds

According to Gadgets Now's latest report, the new WhatsApp capability allows users to play their voice messages at speeds of 1x, 1.5x, and even 2x. The giant messaging app said that iOS users will also receive the new feature soon.

Also Read: Police Now Investigates a WhatsApp Group Promoting the Latest TikTok April 24 Trend: They Even Have Name List for Targets

However, the Facebook-owned application hasn't released its iOS playback speed feature's launch date yet.

Aside from this, the popular messaging app is also expected to release another update that would allow users to transfer their chat history from iOS to Android device or Android to iOS smartphone.

This new chat history transfer feature works by linking a device to another gadget that has a different operating system. However, WhatsApp hasn't confirmed yet if it is really working on the new feature or if it will really arrive in the future.

Fixing WhatsApp's Missing Media Issue

Right now, WhatsApp users are complaining that their media content is suddenly vanishing. According to Gadgets 360's latest report, this new issue had allegedly appeared together with the arrival of the app's latest updates. If you are one of the affected users, all you need to do is follow these steps:

First, you need to close your WhatsApp and clear the cache. You also need to make sure that the app is not running in the background. After that, you must open your device's native file manager. Once you are there, look for the WhatsApp file and then go to the Media option. The next thing you need to do is to move the content to the Media folder. You can follow this path to find it: Android > Media > com.whatsapp > WhatsApp > Media On the other hand, you also need to remember that before you open your WhatsApp again, you still need to wait until the content is properly transferred to the Media file.

For more news updates about WhatsApp and other similar applications, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: WhatsApp Flaw Can be Used by Strangers to Lock Your Account: Here's How

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Sen. Jeff Merkley reintroduced a proposal Thursday to force drug makers to sell prescription drugs at lower prices that are closer to what patients in other upper-income countries pay.

The Oregon Democrat hopes that will push the Biden administration to include the regulations in its soon-to-be-released American Families Plan.

We have allowed Americans to be ripped off for far too long, Merkley said Thursday in a call with reporters. Its an issue that no matter whether if Im in a blue county or a purple county or a red county, citizens want us to address it.

Merkley said hes heard from constituents around the state about their struggles with high-priced pharmaceuticals, including a man in Douglas County whose daughter relies on a seizure medication that costs $45,000 a vial here, compared with $200 in Canada.

President Joe Biden is expected to unveil the plan focused on family leave, childcare, extending larger child tax credits and other policy priorities in the coming days, before he delivers an April 28 address to Congress.

We expect major health care reforms to be part of that package, Merkley said Thursday. This is the moment that we really have to press for getting this right, finally coming to the defense of Americans across the board.

Merkleys plan would require the secretary of Health and Human Services to set price caps for prescription drugs at the median retail list price in 11 other countries: Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. The limits would apply in the private sector as well as for government health plans such as Medicare.

The senator pointed to insulin, developed 100 years ago by scientists in Canada, as emblematic of how Americans overpay for pharmaceuticals. When you look at cost of insulin in America versus abroad, its just completely clear how much were getting gouged, Merkley said. According to his office, insulin produced by Lantus SoloStar costs $373 per vial in the United States, compared with $47 in France and $61 to $67 in Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada.

With Bidens family recovery plan estimated to cost $1 trillion, cutting prescription drug prices offers an opportunity to offset some of the costs. Politico reported last month that pharmaceutical industry lobbyists anticipated a greater likelihood drug price regulations could pass this year, given Democrats interest in the cost savings to government health care programs including Medicaid and Medicare.

Merkleys proposal didnt receive a fiscal analysis when he first introduced it in 2019. However, a bill introduced by House Democrats in the last Congress that would have required the federal government to negotiate certain drug prices could have saved taxpayers $456 billion over a decade, mostly through reduced Medicare spending, the Congressional Budget Office found. Workers could also benefit because employers would pass some of the savings from lower health insurance costs on in the form of higher wages, budget analysts wrote.

Oregon lawmakers are also considering a plan to have state regulators set upper limits on prescription drug prices. Legislatures across the nation have considered or are looking a similar approach, spurred by the federal governments inaction on the issue. Senate Bill 844 , which has bipartisan sponsorship, is currently in the Ways and Means Committee, waiting for legislative budget writers to take it up.

Industry trade group PhRMA warned in ads targeting the Oregon drug pricing bill that capping what drug companies can charge could cause some of those companies to stop selling the medicines in the state. The groups director of public affairs did not answer The Oregonian/OregonLives question about how price limits would lead to some medicines no longer being sold here; instead, she pointed to PhRMAs ranking of the number of cancer drugs available in nearly two dozen countries that shows the United States gets much faster access to the treatments.

On Thursday, Merkley dismissed the industry claim that price caps would slow the development and availability of pharmaceuticals in the United States. It is a completely bogus argument, he said. The senator said drug companies could offset deep reductions in U.S. drug prices with small increases in prices charged in other countries. Their research budgets pale to their advertising budgets, Merkley said.

-- Hillary Borrud: hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Chinese government representatives are throwing a tantrum after the U.S. Congress passed a new measure that pushes back against the communist state's human rights and economic abuses.

The recent "Strategic Competition Act of 2021" was met with overwhelming support in the U.S. Congress with a vote of 21-1, sending it to the 100-member Senate that will review the measure before it becomes law. Backed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the bipartisan bill condemning CCP's abuses aims to challenge China's human rights and economic abuses. Another bill set in motion is calling for billions in technology research. But China is not having it.

According to Reuters, Senate committee members are calling for even more actions against China and the Chinese Communist Party's abuses after adding dozens of amendments to the bill. One particular clause will order a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics set in 2022. The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom initially recommended a boycott, but the bipartisan bill has ordered U.S. officials to boycott the sporting event instead, not U.S. athletes.

"With this overwhelming bipartisan vote, the Strategic Competition Act becomes the first of what we hope will be a cascade of legislative activity for our nation to finally meet the China challenge across every dimension of power, political, diplomatic, economic, innovation, military and even cultural," Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, Senate panel chairman, declared.

Menendez and Republican Senator Jim Risch worked together to develop the bipartisan bill condemning CCP's abuses. China did not take it well.

One America News Network reported that Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin was the first to condemn the bipartisan bill, which he claimed "distorts the facts, confuses right and wrong, plays up the 'China threat theory'...and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs."

"It is fraught with outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum thinking and reflects the hegemonic mentality and self-supremacy of the U.S. that does not allow normal development of other countries," Wang claimed.

The bipartisan bill, which spans 280 pages, covers a hefty amount of issues relating to America's response to China and CCP's abuses, including the communist state's increased budgets for strategic military projects and China's punishment for the human rights abuses against ethnic and religious minorities such as the Uyghurs.

China decried the bipartisan bill, which they claimed is filled with what they call "falsehoods," especially those pertaining to the Uyghur genocide in the counrty's Xinjiang province, where systemic ethnic cleansing had been in effect since at least 2017.

With regards to the Uyghur genocide, the CCP is telling a very different story. While Chinese authorities were accusing the U.S. of carrying out a misinformation campaign about the handling of Uyghur communities, they themselves were making one of their own: CCP claimed that the Uyghurs deserved to be labeled as "extremists'' and mistreated because they were "lacking the mental sophistication" to understand and accept communism.

Despite the negative reaction of China over the bipartisan bill condemning CCP's abuses, Wang, in a move to gaslight America, claimed that "China is willing to form a relationship with the U.S. without confrontation or conflict, with mutual respect and win-win cooperation."
CHICOPEE  Loophole Brewing is headed for the long-vacant Baskin warehouse building at the soon-to-be redeveloped Facemate property.

We are really looking to work with the character of the Baskin building, said Loophole Brewing co-founder Aaron Saunders. Developers Singing Bridge has told us that the brewery is the first project moving forward. We are really excited. We have already started working with designers and architects.

Expect a 10,000-square-foot facility with a production brewery, tasting room and food service component, Saunders said. All of it is designed to go along with the industrial history of the site, he said.

New York developer Singing Bridge was announced April 7 as the preferred developer for the 4-acre site on West Main Street. Singing Bridge will pay the city $920,000 for the property and is expected to invest nearly $40 million in the project. Its also to include a 102-unit apartment building and a multisport indoor facility, all on the Facemate site.

Chicopee acquired the abandoned Uniroyal and Facemate factory complexes off West Main and Oak streets in 2010 for tax title after a court battle. Highly contaminated, the land was considered to have a negative value of $22 million.

Cleanup continues on the Uniroyal property. The Baskin building this is the last parcel to be redeveloped on the Facemate site.

This is a rendering of the proposal to develop a 4.05-acre parcel of land at the former Facemate factory campus.

Loophole, which has had to move on from plans to establish itself in Holyoke and then Ludlow, has always planned to also brew beer for other entrepreneurs. Today, Loophole has its beers brewed for it by a contract brewery in Norwood.

The Loophole partners are Saunders; Todd Snopkowski, whose experience as a chef included leading a team of 72 cooks that fed 15,000 athletes daily for two weeks during the Atlanta Olympics; Bill Stetson, owner of the Rumble Seat Bar & Grill; and Jeffrey Goulet. Goulet has 25 years of manufacturing and sales experiences as owner of Product Resource Specialists, a manufacturers representative firm with offices in New York and Massachusetts. John Geraci, who was once with Amherst Brewing, Loopholes brew master.

Loophole introduced its first beers in 2019 and it is available in about 700 stores and taverns, Saunders said.

Offerings include a New England India pale ale called Hoist and a new Kolsch-style ale flavored with blackberries and blueberries called Blue House.

We wanted an exceptional brewery to join this project and that is what we got with Loophole, said Singing Bridge partner Hammad Graham.

Saunders predicts nine to 15 full-time employees at Loophole at full buildout.

Related content:




Kim Hyun, vice chairwoman of the Korea Communications Commission answers questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly, Thursday, regarding KT's alleged deliberate lowering of internet speeds for subscribers to its 10 Giga service plan. Yonhap
PARIS  The French authorities opened a terrorism investigation on Friday after a knife-wielding assailant killed a police officer at a station about 25 miles southwest of Paris before being shot dead.

France is still on high alert for terrorism after a string of attacks last fall, and Jean Castex, the prime minister, and Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, quickly rushed to the scene of the attack in Rambouillet, a quiet, affluent town.

She was a policewoman, President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter after the attack, identifying the victim only as Stephanie. We will yield nothing in the fight against Islamist terrorism, Mr. Macron added.

Mr. Castex told reporters that the officer, who carried out administrative duties at the station, had been cravenly killed in dramatic circumstances, but he did not elaborate.
Hong Kong: Premises aided with air compliance

The working group established for the smooth implementation of the air change requirement in dine-in catering premises and government departments have been closely liaising with different stakeholders including catering business operators and ventilation works contractors.

The Secretary for Food & Health earlier stipulated a requirement on air change or air purifiers to be complied with in dine-in catering premises in the directions in relation to the catering business under the Prevention & Control of Disease (Requirements & Directions) (Business & Premises) Regulation.

To comply with the requirements, catering business operators have to register with the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department on or before April 30 that the air change per hour at their seating areas has reached at least six or air purifiers that meet the specified specifications have been installed according to the on-the-ground situation with a certificate issued by a registered specialist contractor.

As at April 22, 2,034 catering premises have submitted online registrations and another 129 have submitted online declarations before March 18 through the voluntary declaration scheme.

The working group and relevant government departments convened a meeting with the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong today.

They will organise a webinar on April 27 to help the trade to master the requirements, and for direct communication between catering business operators and specialist contractors.

Catering premises must submit an extension application to the department if they cannot complete the registration on time.

Click here to download the application form.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
At the last minute, four hotels in Texas and Arizona backed out of agreements to house around 600 migrant family members amid growing border-crossing numbers and swirling political debates over immigration, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The nonprofit Endeavors has already secured new hotels to fulfill its $87 million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Still, the last-minute changes underscore the logistical and political hurdles to finding space for the increasing numbers of migrant families and children illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Three hotels under the Endeavors contract started housing migrant families earlier this month. The accommodations are expected to hold roughly 600 migrants altogether.

A Woodspring Suites, a Hampton Inn by Hilton, a Microtel by Wyndham and a Best Western were slated to open up more space for migrant families starting April 30, but backed out and now the deadline has been pushed back, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Endeavors told Axios that it has been able to secure three alternative hotel sites, but did not provide further details.

The big picture: In addition to the $87 million contract with ICE, Endeavors also signed a contract with a Department of Health and Human Services agency to help house unaccompanied minors, which is worth up to $530 million, as Axios first reported.

The Texas nonprofit hired a Biden transition official shortly before the non-bid contracts were signed.

What they're saying: The families that come into ICE custody will be housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement when asked for comment.

The spokesperson added that families are generally in custody less than 72 hours for processing and settling on conditions for their release.

An Endeavors spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

This isn't the first time hotels have been caught in a political firestorm for holding migrants.

Story continues

Just last year, the Trump administration used several hotels owned by Hilton, Marriott and Choice Hotels International for hundreds of unaccompanied minors before they were expelled back to their home countries under a coronavirus-related public health order, as the AP then reported.

Hilton released a statement following early reports in 2020 saying they "expect all Hilton properties to reject business" that would use a hotel for detention.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information provided by Endeavors.

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Police officer blocks the access next to the Police station in Rambouillet, south west of Paris, on April 23, 2021. (Michel Euler/AP Photo)

French Prosecutors Open Terror Probe in Officials Killing

RAMBOUILLET, FranceFrench prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation into the fatal stabbing Friday of a French police official inside a police station near the historic Rambouillet chateau outside Paris. Police shot and killed the attacker at the scene, authorities said.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told reporters that his office took over the probe because the attacker had staked out the station, because of statements he made during the attack, and because he targeted a police official.

Ricard did not provide details on the attackers identity or motive. French media reports identified him as a 37-year-old French resident with no criminal record or record of radicalization.

Police officer blocks the access next to the Police station in Rambouillet, south west of Paris, on April 23, 2021. (Michel Euler/AP Photo)

A French judicial official said the suspect was born in Tunisia and that witnesses heard him say Allahu akbar, Arabic for God is great, during the attack. The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about an ongoing investigation.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex rushed to the scene with other officials and pledged the governments determination to fight terrorism in all its forms. Islamic extremists and others have carried out multiple terror attacks in France in recent years, including several targeting police.

The official killed Friday was a 49-year-old administrative employee who worked in the station for the national police service, a national police spokesperson told The Associated Press.

A police officer blocks the access next to the Police station in Rambouillet, south west of Paris, on April 23, 2021. (Michel Euler/AP Photo)

The national anti-terrorism prosecutors office opened an investigation into the murder of a person of public authority in relation to a terrorist group.

Police are symbols of the republic. They are France, Valerie Pecresse, president of the Paris region, told reporters at the scene, adding: The face of France was targeted.

The attack took place southwest of Paris just inside the police station in a quiet residential area of the town of Rambouillet, about 750 meters (820 yards) from a former royal estate that is sometimes used for international peace negotiations. Police cordons ringed the area after the stabbing.

The attack comes as President Emmanuel Macrons government is toughening its security policies amid voter concerns about crime and complaints from police that they face increasing danger. The shift comes as France prepares for regional elections in June in which security is a big issue, and for a presidential election next year in which Macrons main challenger could be far-right leader Marine Le Pen, if he seeks a second term.

By Angela Charlton and Michel Euler
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 21:37:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) poses with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during their meeting at presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia, April 23, 2021. The two discussed bilateral cooperation as well as the situation in Myanmar. The Vietnamese Prime Minister arrived here to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders meeting on Myanmar. (Lukas/Presidential Press Bureau/Handout via Xinhua)

JAKARTA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who arrived here to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders meeting on Myanmar, and the two discussed bilateral cooperation as well as the situation in Myanmar.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a press conference that the two leaders in their bilateral meeting discussed strengthening health cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing economic cooperation, accelerating the two countries' negotiations on the exclusive economic zone borderline, as well as the situation in Myanmar.

"The president encouraged both countries to call for equal access to vaccines and, for the long term, to create health resilience in Southeast Asia," said Retno.

Concerning the economic sector, Widodo invited Vietnam to lower barriers to trade and investment, noting that the trade value between Vietnam and Indonesia has nearly doubled in the last five years.

According to Retno, both leaders expressed concern over the situation in Myanmar.

The two leaders hoped that the face-to-face ASEAN leaders meeting on Myanmar to be held on Saturday could result in the best agreement for Myanmar, she said.

Retno said that the leaders of Thailand, Laos, and the Philippines have said they cannot attend the meeting.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Enditem
Trademark war: Chanel loses to Huawei

By:Liu Xutong | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-04-23 19:27

French luxury brand Chanel has recently lost a trademark protection case with Huawei. This dispute began in 2017, when Huawei applied for registration protection with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for its computer hardware trademark, which includes two conjoined half-circles.

Chanel objected to this, saying that the trademark design was similar to its trademark registered in France, the iconic "double C" design. In 2019, the European Union Intellectual Property Office rejected Chanels objections, saying that the two trademarks were not similar.

Chanel subsequently filed another appeal in the EU General Court in Luxembourg. That court ruled that the visual differences between the two trademarks are very large. "Chanel's trademark curve is more rounded and thicker, and the direction is horizontal, while the Huawei trademark is vertical." The court rejected Chanel's appeal in Wednesday's ruling.








An NHS executive who was unfairly dismissed for complaining that her colleagues kept 'breathing on her' has been given a 19,551 payout.

Gifty Poku claimed members of staff were exhaling heavily near her, and was in turn accused of 'regularly and repeatedly' blowing air back at them.

She complained that her colleagues were making 'distracting noises' near her desk before she was eventually was sacked for allegedly misconduct.

Mrs Poku successfully sued Barts Health NHS Trust for unfair dismissal, and has now been awarded more than 19,000 in compensation.

At the time of the incidents, Mrs Poku was employed as deputy head of corporate accounts at the east London trust.

NHS executive Gifty Poku, who was unfairly dismissed for complaining that her colleagues kept 'breathing on her', has been given a 19,551 payout

An employment tribunal heard that throughout her three years working for the trust, Mrs Poku would often complain about colleagues standing by her desk and talking.

On one occasion she got into an argument with an accountant after she accused them of making 'distracting noises'.

Eventually, one frustrated member of staff, Tasneema Chowdhury, complained to senior managers that Mrs Poku had 'mental health issues'.

Before she was dismissed by the NHS Trust, Mrs Poku was given her first written warning about the way she was behaving with other colleagues.

She was alleged to have 'regularly and unreasonably' accused people of breathing on her and in response 'used her mouth to blow air toward them'.

The trust also investigated whether she had told members of staff they were 'giving off negative energy'.

Mrs Poku took a 'plea bargain' to bring the investigation to a close and accepted a written warning.

The tribunal heard that a short while later, in November 2019, following another disciplinary investigation, Mrs Poku was dismissed for alleged misconduct relating to the way 'she interacted with her colleagues'.

Mrs Poku successfully sued Barts Health NHS Trust in London for unfair dismissal, and has now been awarded 19,551 in compensation. Pictured, St Bartholomew's Hospital

The second investigation alleged Mrs Poku called a team member a liar, failed to follow instructions and behaved inappropriately towards Miss Chowdhury.

Mrs Poku was also accused of telling a woman that she had never had any problems with her previous managers who were white, but she had a problem with her because she was black.

A disciplinary panel concluded that all the allegations against her were proved and decided she should be dismissed immediately.

At the tribunal in Poplar, east London, employment Judge Stephen Knight, examined the NHS Trust's investigation and gave his own findings.

He said that although it was 'unreasonable' for Mrs Poku to accuse people of breathing on her it was not done with any 'malice'.

Looking at the second investigation he concluded that it would have been 'absurd' for the Trust to suggest Mrs Poku, who herself is black, had a problem with black people.

Giving his conclusion, Employment Judge Knight, said that each of Mrs Poku's acts of alleged misconduct were 'minor'.

He added: '[The Trust] took no useful, meaningful, and concerted steps to improve the relationships between [Mrs Poku] and her colleagues between the time of the first ever complaints and the date of the her dismissal.'

He concluded that the Trust did not have reasonable grounds to believe Mrs Poku had committed misconduct and therefore ruled she was unfairly dismissed.

A remedy hearing earlier this month awarded Mrs Poku 19, 751.88 in total.
To the Editor:

As I observe the direction and the condition that our country is headed, it leaves me and many others concerned about what the future of the U.S. will look like.

The liberal party said they know how to make the U.S. a powerful nation and a world leader. They were the experts.

They promised to unify our country, fix borders, stop racial turmoil and put an end to COVID.

After the COVID pandemic started, the experts said to socialize and travel. They didnt agree with President Trumps decision to ban international travel.

Then the experts told us to stay home and wear a mask. They then said masks dont protect us. Afterward, experts told us to wear two masks. The experts cant seem to make up their minds.

If the experts would follow the Constitution, there would be fewer problems in the U.S.

The Titanic was built by experts, men who did it their way. The ark was built by an amateur with faith in God, and did it Gods way.

The so-called experts are doing their best to make a Titanic out of the U.S. I want Gods ark for the U.S. because it was built based on Gods instructions.

The experts must obey Gods blessing for the United States of America!

Allen Coady

Friedensburg
On the occasion of the month of Ramadan and the feast of Id al-Fitr 1442 H. / 2021 S.D., the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sent a Message of good wishes to Muslims throughout the world, entitled: Christians and Muslims: Witnesses of Hope. The following is the English text of the Message which was released on Friday, 16 April, and was signed by the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, mccj , and by the Secretary of the same Pontifical Council, Msgr Indunil Kodithuwakku Janakaratne Kankanamalage.

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

We at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue are glad to offer you our fraternal good wishes for a month rich in divine blessings and spiritual advancement. Fasting, along with prayer, almsgiving and other pious practices, brings us closer to God our Creator and to all those with whom we live and work, and helps us to continue walking together on the path of fraternity.

During these long months of suffering, anguish and sorrow, especially during the lockdown periods, we sensed our need for divine assistance, but also for expressions and gestures of fraternal solidarity: a telephone call, a message of support and comfort, a prayer, help in buying medicines or food, advice, and, to put it simply, the security of knowing that someone is always there for us in times of necessity.

The divine assistance that we need and seek, especially in circumstances like those of the current pandemic, is manifold: Gods mercy, pardon, providence and other spiritual and material gifts. Yet, what we need most in these times, is hope. At this time, then, we think it fitting to share with you some reflections on this virtue.

As we are aware, hope, while certainly including optimism, goes beyond it. While optimism is a human attitude, hope has its basis in something religious: God loves us, and therefore cares for us through his providence. He does this in his own mysterious ways, which are not always comprehensible to us. In these situations, we are like children who are certain of the loving care of their parents, but are not yet able to comprehend its full extent.

Hope arises from our belief that all our problems and trials have a meaning, a value and a purpose, however difficult or impossible it may be for us to understand the reason for them or to find a way out of them.

Hope also carries with it belief in the goodness present in the heart of every person. Many times, in situations of difficulty and despair, help, and the hope it brings, can come from those whom we least expect.

Human fraternity, in its numerous manifestations, thus becomes a source of hope for all, especially for those in any kind of need. Thanks be to God our Creator, and to our fellow men and women, for the quick response and generous solidarity shown by believers and also persons of good will with no religious affiliation in times of disaster, whether natural or man-made, like conflicts and wars. All these persons and their goodness remind us believers that the spirit of fraternity is universal, and that it transcends all boundaries: ethnic, religious, social and economic. In adopting this spirit, we imitate God, who looks benevolently upon the humanity he created, upon all other creatures and upon the entire universe. This is why the growing care and concern for the planet, our common home, is, according to Pope Francis, yet another sign of hope.

We are also aware that hope has its enemies: lack of faith in Gods love and care; loss of trust in our brothers and sisters; pessimism; despair and its opposite, unfounded presumption; unfair generalizations based on ones own negative experiences, and so forth. These harmful thoughts, attitudes and reactions must be effectively countered, so as to strengthen hope in God and trust in all our brothers and sisters.

In his recent Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis speaks frequently of hope. There he tells us: I invite everyone to renewed hope, for hope speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human heart, independently of our circumstances and historical conditioning. Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for a life of fulfilment, a desire to achieve great things, things that fill our heart and lift our spirit to lofty realities like truth, goodness and beauty, justice and love and it can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 1). Let us continue, then, to advance along the paths of hope (No. 55).

We, Christians and Muslims, are called to be bearers of hope, for the present life and for the life to come, and to be witnesses, restorers and builders of this hope, especially for those experiencing difficulties and despair.

As a sign of our spiritual fraternity, we assure you of our prayer, and we send best wishes for a peaceful and fruitful Ramadan, and for a joyful Id al-Fitr.

From the Vatican, 29 March 2021.
SAN FRANCISCO  The drugs killed them in plain view  in front of the public library, at the spot on Powell Street where the cable car used to turn around. Others died alone in single-room apartments or in camping tents pitched on the pavement, each death adding to an overdose crisis that is one of the worst in the nation.

Drug overdoses rose across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. But in San Francisco, they skyrocketed, claiming 713 lives last year, more than double the 257 people here who died of the virus in 2020.

San Franciscos overdose death rate is higher than West Virginia, the state with the most severe crisis, and three times the rates of New York and Los Angeles. Although overdose data from the past year is incomplete, one researcher found that San Francisco  where overdoses have more than tripled since 2017  has more overdoses per capita than any major city on the West Coast.

The drug deaths in San Francisco  about two a day  stem from a confluence of despair. Fentanyl, an opioid that was not a severe problem for the city just a few years ago, has fully permeated its illicit drug market and was a factor in most overdoses last year. A culture of relative tolerance toward drug use has allowed it to spread quickly. And fentanyl, much more powerful than heroin, has found fertile ground among the citys thousands of homeless residents, who have died of overdoses in large numbers.

For officials in San Francisco who have prided themselves on their handling of health emergencies, from HIV four decades ago to COVID-19 today, the epidemic of overdose deaths has been both humbling and alarming. Many believe that the citys preoccupation with the pandemic has eclipsed concern over the drug deaths and blunted the urgency of the moment.

I can say for sure that what we are doing is not working and that its getting worse every single day, said Matt Haney, a member of the citys board of supervisors who represents the Tenderloin, a district of low-income housing in the heart of the city that has seen the most overdoses. I get offered drugs every time I step outside. Its overwhelming.

Unlike areas in the rural Midwest that have also been devastated by fentanyl, San Francisco has a well-funded and sophisticated public health system. The overdose crisis is calling into question the citys nonjudgmental tolerance of illicit drugs and adequacy of its programs that focus on providing users with clean needles and medication to reverse overdoses.

City officials say they want to reinforce and expand this so-called harm-reduction model. Critics agree harm reduction is necessary but say something needs to be done to curtail the supply of drugs and reach out more aggressively to addicts, especially when the difference between life and death is measured in milligrams.

On a recent morning in the Tenderloin, Amber Neri sat outside a boarded-up shop, casually using a torch to heat up a fentanyl mixture on a piece of foil. Blocks from City Hall, she paused before inhaling the drug. Ten? Fifteen? she said when asked how many of her friends had overdosed.

A former nursing assistant from Silicon Valley, Neri spoke of the dangers of living on the street and witnessing the beating death of her boyfriend in an alley in August 2019. As she talked about fentanyl, a young man in distress nearby interjected. This stuff, he yelled, is so hard to quit.

Minutes later two police officers approached. They politely asked Neri and other users, most of them homeless, to move to the other side of the street. People used to say, Put away your pipes! The cops are coming, she said. Now the cops dont make them put them away anymore.

The city has seen deadlier public health emergencies. At the height of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco in the early 1990s, the disease was killing 33 people a week. Overdoses killed an average of about 16 people a week in San Francisco the first three months of this year.

But the dangerous mix of fentanyl with the citys existing homelessness crisis has experts worried that the pace of overdose deaths could increase because of the intractable nature of both problems.

Unlike in East Coast and colder-climate cities that have vast shelter systems, most homeless people in San Francisco sleep on the streets. During the pandemic, the city has housed several thousand homeless residents in hotels and trailers, but thousands more continue to sleep outdoors.

Alex Kral, a public health researcher, has conducted surveys of drug users in San Francisco for the past quarter-century. The percentage of people in these surveys who are homeless has risen from roughly 25% when he first began his research to about 80% today.

You cant disentangle the overdose mortality crisis from the housing crisis, Kral said. They are completely interlinked.

San Francisco sits in a paradoxical position in the American imagination. To those on the right, it is Nancy Pelosis district, the city of out-of-control government spending and socialist ideals. Yet the city also sits at the center of a brand of razor-sharp American capitalism of tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists vying to be the next graduating class of billionaires.

During the pandemic, the city has been quiet, with tech workers on Zoom at home and a dearth of commuters leaving the streets unclogged. Yet in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, the sidewalks have still hummed with the commerce of drug dealing.

The Tenderloin police precinct seized 5,449 grams of fentanyl in 2020, four times more than the previous year. In this compact neighborhood of 50 square blocks, it was enough, in theory, to kill 2.7 million people.

The fentanyl crisis is distinct from previous opioid crises because an overdose can occur minutes after taking the drug, said Peter Davidson, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego.

With heroin you typically have one to two hours between last use and when you stop breathing  a pretty big window for someone to find you and to do something about it, said Davidson, the researcher calculating overdose rates in West Coast cities. With fentanyl youre talking about five to 15 minutes.

The fast-acting nature of the drug makes loneliness deadly. As a nasal spray or injection, naloxone is used on drug users who have stopped breathing or show other signs of an overdose. But it only works when other people are around.

The Drug Overdose Prevention and Education Project, an initiative funded by the city, gave out more than 50,000 doses of naloxone last year, said Kristen Marshall, the project manager. About 4,300 overdoses were reversed using the lifesaving drug, she said.

We would have had thousands of dead bodies, Marshall said.

As the drug deaths have surged, the citys strategy has been to double down on the harm-reduction policies that were successful in reducing heroin overdose deaths.

We have had some success, and we have to grow our successes, Dr. Hali Hammer, who oversees overdose prevention for the citys Department of Public Health. Part of the answer is to more widely distribute naloxone, she said.

What we as the public health department are responsible for is preventing death by giving people the resources they need to use safely, Hammer said.

Haney, the city supervisor, is critical of this approach. Reversing overdoses, he argued, was necessary but not enough.

If all youre doing is handing out what someone needs to use, its tragically inadequate, he said.

In the Tenderloin, everyone seems to have an overdose story.

Darell Thomas, who works for a nonprofit organization, recalled the man in his 50s who lay motionless on the sidewalk two weeks ago. Thomas squirted a dose of naloxone into the mans nose, but it was too late. He was gone, Thomas said.

On a recent afternoon, the police chief, Bill Scott, toured the Tenderloin with top aides.

Drug dealers walked around corners as they approached. A shirtless man sat in the middle of the street, prompting the chiefs entourage to call for medical assistance. Along Market Street, the wide boulevard that cleaves downtown, the chief paused to tell a fentanyl user to put away two hypodermic needles that lay on the pavement.

Keep it clean, the chief said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
CAIRO  More than 100 migrants heading for Europe are feared dead in a shipwreck off Libya, independent rescue groups have said, in the latest loss of life as attempts to cross the Mediterranean increase during the warmer months.

The Libyan Coast Guard searched for the boat but could not find it because of limited resources, an official with the service said.

The humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said late Thursday that the capsized rubber boat, which was initially carrying around 130 people, had been spotted in the Mediterranean, northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The vessel did not find any survivors, but aid workers could see at least 10 bodies near the wreck.

We think of the lives that have been lost and of the families who might never have certainty as to what happened to their loved ones, the group said in a statement.
Freshman Congressman Jones remarks on the House floor drew an immediate eruption from across the aisle

Freshman Congressman Mondaire Jones did not mince words on Thursday when addressing Republicans over their opposition to D.C. statehood on the House floor.

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) on the House floor. (Photo: C-SPAN)

Read More: House passes DC Statehood bill to make capital the 51st state

Just before Democrats voted to pass H.R. 51, a bill that if passed in the U.S. Senate would make Washington the nations 51st state, Jones (D-N.Y.) had strong words for the GOPs arguments as to why D.C. (which has a plurality of Black and brown residents) should not become a U.S. state.

I have had enough of my colleagues racist insinuation that somehow the people of D.C. are incapable or even unworthy of our Democracy, Jones said. One Senate Republican said that D.C. wouldnt be a well rounded working class state. I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word white.

Democrats have argued that granting statehood to the district is about morality and ending taxation without representation for the more than 700,000 D.C. residents. While Washingtonians in the district are able to vote in the presidential election, they do not have representation in the U.S. senate and have only a non-voting member of Congress in longtime Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) speaks outside Union Station on March 31, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Green New Deal Network)

If Washington was to become a state, it would have full-voting representation in Congress, including at least one U.S. representative and two U.S. Senate seats, bringing the total number of U.S. senators to 102.

Republicans have dismissed H.R. 51 as a power grab by Democrats, pointing to the fact that Washington, D.C. overwhelmingly votes Democratic. But Jones, a rising progressive voice in the Democratic Party, said the GOPs arguments against the bill is racist trash.

One of my House Republican colleagues said that D.C. shouldnt be a state because the District doesnt have a landfill.'

He continued, My goodness, with all the racist trash my colleagues have brought to this debate I can see why theyre worried about having a place to put it.

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Jones remarks on the House floor drew an immediate eruption from across the aisle and calls from Republicans to have his statement withdrawn from the record, to which Jones ultimately obliged before finishing his floor speech.

The truth is there is no good faith argument for disenfranchising more than 700,000 people, most of whom are people of color. These desperate objections are about fear, he said, Fear that in D.C. their white supremacist politics will no longer play, fear that soon enough white supremacist politics wont work anywhere in America. Fear that if they dont rid our democracy, they will not win. Today Democrats are standing up for a multi-racial democracy to democratize all 51 states in this country.

Read More: Rep. Mondaire Jones says Breyer should retire from SCOTUS

H.R. 51 was ultimately passed in the House 216-208, but it faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Even if all 50 Democratic senators supported the bill, Democrats would need at least 10 Republican senators to support the the legislation. Republicans, however, would likely block the statehood legislation by utilizing the filibuster, a procedure in the Senate used to delay or prevent a vote on a bill.

Mondaire Jones, 33, made history in January when he was sworn in as the nations first openly gay Black man to serve in the United States Congress, along with fellow New York Congressman Ritchie Torres. So far, hes been a vocal member of the partys left wing advocating for expanding the Supreme Court, eliminating at $50,000 in student loans for American borrowers and abolishing the filibuster.

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The post Rep. Mondaire Jones slams GOPs arguments against DC statehood as racist trash appeared first on TheGrio.
We want to thank everyone who voted for NG Key Works for Best of Dawson 2021. It is gratifying and humbling to know that so many people across the county have a positive association with us and the services we provide.

NG Key Works, a locksmith company located in Dawsonville, is proud to announce it has been voted Best Locksmith in Dawson County for the second year in a row.

Thousands of community members voted for their favorite businesses in the popular yearly contest hosted by the Dawson County News. The winners were announced in March 2021.

Nick Duran, owner of NG Key Works, said the award is a testament to the quality work and exceptional customer service his company has provided over the years.

We want to thank everyone who voted for NG Key Works for Best of Dawson 2021, Duran said. It is gratifying and humbling to know that so many people across the county have a positive association with us and the services we provide. We are honored and look forward to continuing to offer professional results and customer service you wont find with other locksmith companies.

To view the full list of winners in the Best of Dawson 2021 contest, visit: https://dawson.secondstreetapp.com/The-Best-of-Dawson-2021/.

About NG Key Works

NG Key Works is a locally owned and operated locksmith company serving Dawson, Lumpkin, Forsyth, and Pickens counties. The company provides 24/7 emergency services to clients in need along with a full range of residential, commercial, automotive and real estate locksmith services. NG Key Works is committed to being the best locksmith company in the north Georgia area, providing fast and convenient service that is reliable and provides peace of mind.

NG Key Works full list of services includes:



Residential Locksmith Services

Commercial Locksmith Services

Automotive Locksmith Services

24/7 Emergency Locksmith Services

Real Estate Locksmith Services

To learn more about NG Key Works, please visit https://ngkey.com/.
By Moses Ndhaye

The Uganda Tourism Association has asked government to adopt an annual quality assessment system for hotel standards in the country.

The association Executive Director Richard Kawele says this will help improve the quality of hotels in the country and make their classification much easier.

He cites Kenya and Rwanda where standards assessment for hotels is done on an annual basis, asking Uganda to adopt the same.

He says according to the Uganda National Bureau of Stands 2017 report, there over 6,000 hotel properties in the country were last assessed the same year.
Folks in Cibolo  and any San Antonians willing to take a short drive for a good time  are in for a true treat with the addition of Ernies Patio Bar.

Owner Austin Schlather said the bar has had a soft opening for the past week, but will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Though he came up with the concept with 30- and 40-year-olds with families in mind, Schlather said the new bar is meant to cater to anyone looking for a fun time with their families (though it is 21+ after sunset), friends, or pets.

Yes, this bar is all about patio as well as family- and dog-friendly vibes, making it a destination for San Antonians who want to get away without going too far. And in case you need any convincing, the grand opening will feature happy hour specials all day long.

We wanted a drink for everyone, he said of the specials. When we were building the happy hour menu, our goal was that old or young, girl, guy, theyre going to have something on happy hour that they can enjoy.

With that in mind, Schlather said the specials will be good on bottled beer, draft beer, classic frozen margaritas that can include turnover drinks to top them off, frozen Jack and Coke, shots like Mexican candy (one of his favorites) and green tea, and mixed drinks like a strawberry mojito. After the grand opening, the happy hour will be every Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. On the weekends, Ernies will cater to the brunch crowd, with mimosa packages  either by the glass or Champagne bottle  on deck for anyone wanting to get boozy while keeping it classy.

TikiCamProductions

Schlather said Ernies Patio Bar is more than just its lineup of drinks, but about the feel-good vibes as well. Operating out of his grandfathers former feed store, the bar has an old-school, industrial vibe that Schlather said he balanced with modern additions like a reverse-tap beer system and flat-screen TVs.

We have a good balance of some history and a new bar that a lot of people have been super excited to bring to the Cibolo area, he said.

With that balance, Schlather wants Ernies Patio Bar to be a place where people come to watch sporting events (especially fights), listen to live music (thats to come), and play patio games like corn hole and hook & ring toss. With renovations to the space taking place during the pandemic, Schlather said he adjusted the layout of the space with social distancing in mind. Tables on the patio are placed about 10 feet away from each other, and theres also a window on the patio so patrons dont have to go inside to order a drink.

Calling it a backyard sort of bar, Schlather said the bar vibes will also include food trucks. With a selection of rotating trucks to come, he said Ernies will be the permanent home of Jewell's Gumbo & More, specializing in Cajun and Southern dishes; Rincon Latin American Food, serving up Puerto Rican and Cuban dishes; and PB&J with Tay, which recreates elevated takes on the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

With the opening of Ernies, Schlather has his sights on revitalizing downtown Cibolo by adding more bars and creating an area perfect for a local market scene. Eventually, hed like the small towns center to be an area where residents and San Antonians alike can go bar-hopping.

In the meantime, folks in the area are welcome to visit Ernies Patio Bar at 200 Pfeil Road in Cibolo.
President Biden on Thursday announced he would nominate Rick Spinrad, a professor of oceanography at Oregon State University, to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the countrys premier climate science agency.

The announcement potentially marks a new chapter for NOAA, which was at times a source of tension for former President Donald J. Trump, who publicly sparred with the agencys scientists and was unable to get any of his nominees to lead it confirmed by the Senate. NOAA has been without a Senate-confirmed leader for the longest period since it was created in 1970.

In 2019, Mick Mulvaney, who was Mr. Trumps acting White House chief of staff at the time, pushed NOAA to disavow statements by its weather forecasters that contradicted what the president had said about the path of Hurricane Dorian. Last year, the administration removed NOAAs chief scientist from his role and installed people who questioned the science of climate change in senior roles at the agency.

Dr. Spinrad is a former chief scientist at NOAA, where he also led the agencys research office and the National Ocean Service. The timing of Mr. Bidens announcement was notable  on Earth Day amid a two-day climate summit in which he committed the United States to cutting emissions by half by the end of the decade.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Hemostemix Inc. (TSXV: HEM) (OTC: HMTXF) (FSE: 2VFO.F) ("Hemostemix" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of the Phase II Clinical Trial subject follow up, as the 65th (final) subject has completed their last follow-up visit. With subject follow up now completed the Company is shifting its focus to completing the data analyses and reporting associated with finalizing their Phase II Clinical Trial. In addition, the Company has contracted two additional clinical research associates to assist with the completion of the source document verification process. The entry of all subjects' information into the clinical trial data base and source document verification processes are ongoing and this is a crucial preliminary step in finalizing the Phase II Clinical Trial.

Today, FINRA processed a Form 211 relating to the initiation of priced quotations of HMTXF on OTCQB, where the Company has reapplied to be listed. The submitting broker-dealer has demonstrated to FINRA compliance with FINRA Rule 6432 and has met the requirements under that rule to initiate quotation of HMTXF within three business days. FINRA's processing of a Form 211 in no way constitutes FINRA's approval of the security, the issuer, or the issuer's business and relates solely to the submitting broker-dealer's obligation to comply with FINRA Rule 6432 and SEA Rule 15c2-11 when quoting a security.

On April 20, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware received Aspire Health Sciences, LLC's defence statements.

ABOUT HEMOSTEMIX

Hemostemix is a publicly traded autologous stem cell therapy company. A winner of the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, the Company developed and is commercializing its lead product ACP-01 for the treatment of CLI, PAD, Angina, Ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Dilated Cardiomyopathy and other conditions of ischemia. ACP-01 has been used to treat over 300 patients, and it is the subject of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind trial of its safety and efficacy in patients with advanced critical limb ischemia who have exhausted all other options to save their limb from amputation.

On October 21, 2019, the Company announced the results from its Phase II CLI trial abstract entitled "Autologous Stem Cell Treatment for CLI Patients with No Revascularization Options: An Update of the Hemostemix ACP-01 Trial With 4.5 Year Followup" which noted healing of ulcers and resolution of ischemic rest pain occurred in 83% of patients, with outcomes maintained for up to 4.5 years.

The Company owns 91 patents across five patent families titled: Regulating Stem Cells, In Vitro Techniques for use with Stem Cells, Production from Blood of Cells of Neural Lineage, and Automated Cell Therapy. For more information, please visit www.hemostemix.com.

Contact: Thomas Smeenk, President, CEO & Co-Founder

TSmeenk@Hemostemix.com 905-580-4170

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) 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. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in relation to: the completion of the follow-up for Hemostemix's ACP-01 clinical trial and the source document verification process; the status of Hemostemix's Litigation (as defined below); and the commercialization of ACP-01. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects Hemostemix's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Hemostemix and on assumptions Hemostemix believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the underlying value of Hemostemix and its Common Shares; market acceptance of the Offerings; Exchange acceptance of the Offerings; the successful resolution of the litigation that Hemostemix is pursuing or defending (the "Litigation"); the results of ACP-01 research, trials, studies and analyses, including the midpoint analysis, being equivalent to or better than previous research, trials or studies as well as management's expectations of anticipated results; Hemostemix's general and administrative costs remaining constant; the receipt of all required regulatory approvals for research, trials or studies; the level of activity, market acceptance and market trends in the healthcare sector; the economy generally; consumer interest in Hemostemix's services and products; competition and Hemostemix's competitive advantages; and Hemostemix obtaining satisfactory financing to fund Hemostemix's operations including any research, trials or studies, and the Litigation. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Hemostemix to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the ability of Hemostemix to complete its current CLI clinical trial, complete a satisfactory analyses and the results of such analyses and future clinical trials; litigation and potential litigation that Hemostemix may face; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; the actual results of future operations including the actual results of future research, trials or studies; competition; changes in legislation affecting Hemostemix; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; long-term capital requirements and future developments in Hemostemix's markets and the markets in which it expects to compete; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; and risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures, service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, disruptions to economic activity and financings, disruptions to supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession or depression; the potential impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on Hemostemix which may include a decreased demand for the services that Hemostemix offers; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit Hemostemix's ability to obtain external financing. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Hemostemix's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although Hemostemix 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. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Hemostemix as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, it is subject to change after such date. However, Hemostemix expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81576
BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2021) West is not ready to come into contact with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, since it believes there is state terrorism and constant violation of human rights there, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at the EuropaCamp 2021 conference in a panel dedicated to the results of the Arab Spring.

"The fact that in Syria we are dealing with state terrorism, with a constant violation of human rights  we have seen this very often. Anyone who poison his own population with chemicals and gas, according to all the criteria of international law, has committed a crime.

And this is the reason why we are not ready to come into contact with this regime at all. This is a Russian proposal, we are told: you must negotiate with Assad, you must establish diplomatic contact there, and we are not ready for that," the minister said.

"As long as this war continues, I do not see anyone among the Western community of states ready to discuss with Assad how to end this war," he added.
Gorakhpur, April 23 : Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, a senior BJP MLA from Gorakhpur, has compared Serum Institute of India (SII), CEO, Adar Poonawalla with a 'dacoit' and also asked the government to 'acquire' the company under the Epidemic Diseases Act.

Agarwal is upset over anti-coronavirus vaccine pricing.

The SII, on Wednesday, announced a price of Rs 600 per dose for Covishield supplies to private hospitals and Rs 400 per dose to state governments.

"@adarpoonawalla you are worse than a dacoit. @PMOIndia @AmitShah @blsanthosh @drharshvardhan should acquire your factory under epidemic act," the MLA, who is also a doctor, said in a tweet.

The MLA said, "Poonawalla should be allowed maximum profit of Cost + 50 per cent. Cost is Rs 220 so how can he sell at Rs 600 to general public?" The vaccine maker announced pricing of AstraZeneca shots it manufactures at its Pune facility, following the government decision to open up inoculation to all citizens above 18 years of age.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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More than 50 new female Marines became the first women to take on a notorious three day boot camp called the Crucible at a Marines base which has only just opened its doors to women.

For the first time in its 100-year history, a total of 53 women joined their male colleagues in the first-ever coed company at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, according to Military.com.

Their final task was to complete the Crucible, which began on Tuesday and ended on Thursday.

It involves target practice, hand-to-hand combat, a grueling assault course which includes mud baths and high climbs, and an exhausting 9.7 mile hike while carrying a 50 pound backpack.

Those recruits who managed to complete the three-day event were presented with the eagle, globe and anchor pins.

More than 50 new female Marines have made history by completing the final exercise required of recruits in boot camp

A total of 53 women trained in the first-ever coed company at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego

The Marines look forward to becoming the first women to graduate from a historically all-male training base in California

Their final task was to complete what the training base calls the Crucible on Thursday morning

A female United States Marine Corps (USMC) recruit from Lima Company, the first gender integrated training class in San Diego, aims down the sight of a rifle during The Crucible, the final part of phase three of recruit training before officially becoming US Marines

The platoon is part of Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, which won the final drill competition, Capt Martin Harris, told Military.com.

The competition consists of instructors giving the recruits random tasks to perform on the parade deck. The platoon is then evaluated by drill masters.

Harris told the news site that the female platoon had the highest physical and combat fitness test scores throughout the 13-week boot camp curriculum.

He said the female platoon 'won all the physical events'.

Other impressive feats for the platoon included their scores on the rifle range, which were also higher than the average female platoon at the training base in South Carolina.

The recruits first arrived at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego boot camp in February.

A total of 60 women were among those who joined the coed company, ending Depot San Diego's history as a men-only institution.

Female recruits from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Lima Company, participate in the grueling crucible training as they break a barrier becoming the first ever women Marines trained at Camp Pendleton, California

A female recruit participates in the second day of the Crucible training on Wednesday

A female recruit from Lima Company is seen in the mud holding a weapon during the Crucible event on Wednesday

The competition consists of instructors giving the recruits (pictured) random tasks to perform on the parade deck. The platoon is then evaluated by drill masters

Chief drill instructor staff Sergeant Amber Staroscik (right) announces her platoon of female recruits from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego on Thursday

Recruits are seen participating in day-two of the Crucible boot camp training on Wednesday

Lima Company also won the final drill competition, Capt Martin Harris, said. Harris said the female platoon had the highest physical and combat fitness test scores throughout the 13-week boot camp curriculum

Female recruits from Lima Company are seen during boot camp on Thursday as they finished the third day of events

Recruits are seen during a hiking portion of the Crucible on Thursday morning

They had to carry 60 pound packs at the end of their 9.7 mile hike on Edson Range to the top of a mountain called The Reaper

Abigail Ragland, 20, a female recruit from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego smiles while participating in the grueling crucible training on Wednesday

A Navy Hospital Corpsman attends to a foot blister as United States Marine Corps (USMC) recruits from Lima Company on Wednesday

In 2019, Congress ordered the San Diego boot camp to integrate women into its training battalions by 2028. The Parris Island depot in South Carolina must do so by 2025.

Until now, all female recruits have attended boot camp at the Marines' East Coast training base in Parris Island. It also has been home to the occasional integrated recruit company.

Staff Sgt Ayesha Zantt, a Marine drill instructor, recently transferred to San Diego from Parris Island, where she has led recruits since 2017. Women training in San Diego is a big step for the Marines, she said.

'It's history,' she said at the time. 'It's important.'

Just like the all-male companies trained in San Diego over the years, the women's platoon lived in a squad bay in the company's barracks.

Recruits climb up an obstacle course during the Crucible training on Wednesday

A female recruit (right) from US Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is seen during an exercise on Wednesday

Other impressive feats for the platoon included their scores on the rifle range, which were also higher than the average female platoon at the training base in South Carolina

The recruits are seen with their male counterparts during day two of the final boot camp exercise on Wednesday

A female recruit from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego participates in the grueling crucible training on Wednesday

Recruits are seen in combat during the three-day event from Tuesday through Thursday

Lime Company recruits carry casualties to Medevac following a simulated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on an obstacle course during the Crucible on Wednesday

Capt Ashley Sands oversaw three Lima Company platoons as lead series commander, including the women's

After completion of the three-day event, the recruits were presented with the eagle, globe and anchor pins

Recruits from Lima Company hydrate and eat oranges after receiving their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor pins to officially become US Marines

Capt Ashley Sands oversaw three Lima Company platoons as lead series commander, including the women's.

Col Matt Palma, the commanding officer of the recruit training regiment, said the women of Lima Company endured the same training obstacles as the men  including the grueling 'Reaper' hike at Camp Pendleton that is part of the last phase of training.

During the hike, recruits traverse rugged terrain and charge up a steep ridge while carrying 55-pound packs.

The Marines are decades behind other military services, which integrated their recruit training by the 1990s.

Palma said that the depot has most of the facilities needed to integrate in San Diego, but there aren't enough women recruits to have integrated companies all the time, he said. Women only comprise about 8 per cent of the Marine Corps.

Lima Company will serve as a 'proof of concept,' which means it will be used to demonstrate that San Diego can effectively train women alongside men. The depot has requested to train another cohort of women this summer but is still waiting on a decision, Palma said.
OTTAWA - Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the 2021 federal budget marks a historic level of investment in Indigenous communities, but he acknowledges much of this spending addresses systemic funding gaps and that longer-term, sustained spending will need to continue.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller is seen during a news conference Friday April 16, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the 2021 federal budget marks a historic level of investment in Indigenous communities, but he acknowledges much of this spending addresses systemic funding gaps and that longer-term, sustained spending will need to continue.

The Liberal government plans to spend more than $18 billion over the next five years to narrow the socio-economic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and to help these communities fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional amounts have also been earmarked in other departments that will go toward helping Indigenous communities, including $2.5 billion over five years for distinctions-based early learning and child care and $108.6 million over five years for First Nations policing.

The budget also promises a three-year investment of $74.8 million to improve access to justice for First Nations people through the development of an Indigenous justice strategy, aimed at tackling systemic discrimination and over-representation in the criminal justice system.

While the total spending earmarked for Canada's First Peoples in Budget 2021 may be an eye-popping number compared to previous budgets, Miller says it's important to remember this reflects long-standing funding shortfalls in First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities for basic things like clean water, access to local health care and First Nations policing.

The size of the investments, they didn't come without reflection, Miller said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

My team put a tremendous amount of effort in trying to quantify the investments in infrastructure, for example, that we need to start closing the gap in the relatively short-term as part of the general effort of stimulus and touching on the themes in the budget, fighting COVID and getting out of it in a strong way.

Investments of $6 billion over five years are included in the budget are meant to be investments for "shovel-ready projects" over the next three to five years flagged as critical infrastructure by local chiefs and communities, Miller said.

This includes $1.7 billion earmarked for operations and maintenance costs of community infrastructure in communities on reserve.

Maintenance spending may not be a headline grabber, Miller said, but is important for communities to know the federal government will support the upkeep and preservation of critical assets in their communities, including equal pay for equal work.

"A very important thing I kept hearing back from Indigenous communities was, 'Where will you be after March 2021?' knowing these assets need proper planning and support over the course of their lifespan," Miller said, pointing specifically to the decades-long battle to lift First Nations boil-water advisories.

Meanwhile, Indigenous Services Canada will soon launch a strategy with Indigenous communities to get a clearer sense of their long-term plans and individual needs.

This will be used to quantify and put a reliable dollar figure on the of longer-term federal investments needed to help lift Indigenous communities into a more equal standard of living as non-Indigenous ones, Miller said.

In his mandate letter penned in December 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tasked Miller with co-developing distinctions-based community infrastructure plans for Indigenous communities and to move forward with addressing critical needs including housing, all-weather roads, high-speed internet, health facilities, treatment centres and schools in First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities by 2030.

That will require sustained investments in infrastructure over the long term, Miller said, adding that he firmly believes Trudeau is willing to invest both the political and financial capital into turning these spending promises into a reality.

Many national Indigenous organizations and groups that represent First Nations, Inuit and Metis people voiced cautious optimism about the large sums dedicated toward their unique needs in Budget 2021 after its release on Monday.

Miller said he hopes all Canadians will understand the large sums secured for Indigenous communities are not "discretionary in nature," but rather should be viewed through a lens of Canada making reparations for past wrongs and righting historic funding shortfalls.

"That's an educational element that escapes even most of us when we see very, very large (budget) numbers. A lot of them are meant to close gaps that are unacceptable," he said.

"These investments are continuous and will need to be continuous as we work with Indigenous communities to right historical wrongs and to invest in the future of Indigenous Peoples."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.
which was revealed just 15 months after her husband was assassinated

He had a brief romantic fling with Jackie Kennedy,

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth's new biography was among the most highly-anticipated works in recent years, promising to lift the lid on the celebrated writer who made his name in 1969 with his infamous - and sexually explicit - novel, Portnoy's Complaint.

The controversial book told the story of a sexually driven teenage protagonist  which many speculated was based on Roth himself  who famously masturbates on a piece of liver that his mother later cooks for dinner.

Not surprisingly, it was dubbed one of the 'dirtiest books ever written' by The New Yorker. Others believed Roth was writing about a bizarre sexual encounter that he actually had growing up in a middle class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey.

Philip Roth: The Biography, released earlier this month, was expected to raise some eyebrows further due to the lurid subject matter which details his apparent misogyny and 'sexual depravity.'

But this week, the 898-page book was pulled by publishers W.W. Norton after biographer Blake Bailey, 57, was accused of depraved sexual acts himself as well as rape and sexual harassment by several women.

Shipping and promotion of Philip Roth's only authorized biography, released earlier this month, has been halted as its author, Blake Bailey, faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse

Roth is said to have had a brief romantic fling with Jackie Kennedy, which was revealed just 15 months after her husband was assassinated, however the novelist ultimately decided not to pursue their relationship any further after their encounter

Ironically, it was initially feared that Roth, who died in 2018 aged 85, would be 'canceled' due to the controversial contents of the new biography.

But not everything in the book, which had been in the works since 2012, is crude and lewd.

The now-'canceled' biography, obtained by DailyMail.com, also tells a sweet story of Roth's brief encounter with widowed Jackie Kennedy, a mere 15 months after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

It began at a dinner party at writer Norman Podhoretz's New York home where Roth was seated on one side of Jackie and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin on the other.

'Mrs. Kennedy was beautiful, alert, alive and very sad,' he told his friend, novelist Alison Lurie.

'I don't think she knows what to do with herself. I was very taken with her, to be frank.'

Bailey's book was published on April 6

And it seemed Jackie was taken with Roth as well. The former first lady would have her social secretary ask him to be her dinner partner a few nights later.

Roth, however, only owned two suits and three pairs of shoes, none of which were black, according to the book.

He then went out to buy a pair of shoes at Brooks Brothers and walked around the city so they wouldn't look new.

After the dinner party, Roth offered to hail a cab for Jackie but she preferred to walk.

When he expressed concerned about her heels, she raised her hand signaling her black limo that appeared beside them.

Outside of her upper Fifth Avenue apartment, she asked: 'Do you want to come upstairs?'

'Oh, of course you do', she said, and assured him that her children John and Caroline were fast asleep.

They sat chatting for an hour, then one lingering kiss before saying good night - 'though not before she gave Roth a card with her private phone number and asked him to call her.'

The biography details Roth's 'breathtaking tastelessness towards women' that included his students, his sexual addictions, masturbation and medication-induced impotence

'I wasn't up to it,' Roth confessed years later, Bailey wrote.

'What business did he have dating the widow Kennedy, with only two suits and four pairs of shoes?'

They met again at a literary event and he called her when he learned she was ill with cancer. He sent her a book, she thanked him and died two months later.

Of course the book also details Roth's 'breathtaking tastelessness towards women' that included his students, his sexual addictions, masturbation and medication-induced impotence.

Roth visited London brothels and chose female students to attend a seminar based on their attractiveness and he regularly boasted of his adultery, Bailey's book claims.

And with the book now out of circulation, readers won't learn who the famous women were that Roth claims to have seduced, or tried to seduce, such as Mia Farrow, Nicole Kidman, Ava Gardner, and actress Claire Bloom who became his second wife.

The book names several high-profile women Roth claims to have seduced, including Jackie Kennedy, Mia Farrow, Nicole Kidman, Ava Gardner, and actress Claire Bloom (pictured) who became his second wife

Roth was married to first wife Maggie Martinson (pictured together left in 1962). The marriage ended after Roth was caught having an affair with a one-time Playboy Playmate Alice Denham (pictured right) who spilled the beans on their sexual encounters in the same Playboy issue in which she was featured as the centerfold

And one of these beauties - a one-time Playboy Playmate by the name of Alice Denham, Miss July 1956, agreed to tell all in the same Playboy issue in which she was featured as the centerfold.

In her memoir, Sleeping with Bad Boys, she wrote Roth feared he wouldn't 'measure up (or down) in bed against these drunken literary mastodons' that included Norman Mailer, William Styron, Nelson Algren, Joseph Heller  to name a few - but there was no worry.

'Philip Roth was a sex fiend', Denham wrote. 'He moved from tits to - aaaah! - so fast I was breathless. Speeded up like his talk and his head. But once he got there, he hung in long and steamy. Tepid men never move me. Philip was on fire.'

Denham was so turned on she sent Roth a card requesting they resume the affair which sent his first of two wives, Maggie Martinson, into a rage and a suicidal attempt with pills and whiskey.

Roth helped save his wife's life by putting his finger down her throat and making her vomit, but the incident marked the end of their marriage.

He moved on to an affair with one of his students, according to the book.

Roth also developed a friendship with actress Mia Farrow - that at one point turned romantic -during the summer of 1992, when Woody Allen was accused of sexually molesting his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow

In 1965, Roth was going to parties looking for a new girl in the crowd of 'American's wealthiest, most famous and most creative people' that included Greta Garbo, Truman Capote, William Paley.

He also hobnobbed with Frank Sinatra, Claudette Colbert and actor, producer Martin Gabel.

Roth's friendship with Mia Farrow began at the same time as the scandal was breaking with Woody Allen during the summer of 1992 when he was accused of sexually molesting his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in Mia's home in Bridgewater, Connecticut.

Roth's wife at the time, actress Claire Bloom, had suggested they invite Mia for dinner at their nearby Litchfield County home in Roxbury, Connecticut.

Roth was game because he despised Woody as did Claire, who loathed Allen and considered him 'a fake from top to bottom' and bearing 'little resemblance to a human being'.

Mia rendezvoused with Roth at a close-by liquor store and followed him home.

Roth, widely considered a giant of American literature, was awarded the National Humanities Medal in March 2011 by Barack Obama

Mia found the dynamics at Roth's house strange and when he drove her back to the liquor store to help her find her way back to Bridgewater, Roth considered running away with her.

Some two years later, both were single and found themselves at the same party.

'That little smile that passed between us erupted like a baby atomic bomb', Roth confessed.

They flirted and then disappeared.

When Mia returned alone, the visiting Czech president, Vaclav Havel who was at the same party, asked if Roth was okay.

'He seemed fine as soon as he got his tongue out of my throat,' Mia reported.

They canoodled in Roth's car and continued to see each other in what Farrow described as 'bursts of romance here or there, through the years, but the way good friends would have a friendship that has sexuality as a component.'

Roth often said in a routine between the pair, 'Wasn't I once married to you between Sinatra and Andre Previn?'
MORDEN/WINKLER  Brandon Burley was barbecuing burgers with his seven-year-old son earlier this month, when several people blasting air horns pulled up unannounced outside of his family's home.

MORDEN/WINKLER  Brandon Burley was barbecuing burgers with his seven-year-old son earlier this month, when several people blasting air horns pulled up unannounced outside of his family's home.

One of the drivers had a message for the Morden mayor, who has been an outspoken critic of COVID-19 deniers and the anti-lockdown movement, which has taken hold in the southern Manitoba community.

"The question that was asked was, Are you wanting to die or what?... I don't know, with some reflection, whether they were intending to indicate that it was the vaccine that was going to kill us, or I was killing people," he said.

"But in that moment, all I thought was, this was a threat. And I didn't make any sense of it  my son certainly didn't at seven years old, my kids were inside bawling their eyes out."

It was the final straw for the 39-year-old father of four who, for months, has watched the crusade create a divide in the city he represents. He said he "saw red" and lashed out at the group, something he's not proud of.

But he'd had enough.

"I have elderly neighbours," Burley said. "One of them is extremely sick, and (the air-horn blasters) just went through and didn't care. I tried to communicate to one of them that I had a very sick neighbour, and an elderly one, they said, good.' They weren't going to be reasoned with."

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morden mayor Brandon Burley's experience with the virus moved him to write a public letter in December, in response to RM of La Broquerie Reeve Lewis Weiss, who said publicly that the virus was a hoax orchestrated by people in power.

Burley knows first-hand that COVID-19 is real.

Last November, he tested positive for the virus. Today, he is still dealing with its "miserable" effects.

It took over a month before he was able to climb a flight of stairs without having to stop to catch his breath. He still cant run a block without getting winded, and much of the food he once enjoyed now has a sulphuric odour and taste.

Burley's experience with the virus moved him to write a public letter in December, in response to RM of La Broquerie Reeve Lewis Weiss, who said publicly that the virus was a hoax orchestrated by people in power. Morden and the RM of La Broquerie are both in Manitoba's Southern Health region, where protests against pandemic lockdowns have been frequent.

"This baseless rhetoric (and indeed a substantial amount of discord, antagonism and hatred) has been emboldened in your region and mine by this misinformation, replacing the charity, goodwill and fidelity, which were some of the few lights in the darkness at the outset of this pandemic declaration," Burley wrote.

Since then, Burley says he's been targeted because of his views  as evidenced by the incident outside of his home.

After a conversation with Morden's police chief, Burley said he was advised there was little that could be done to find the people involved and establish intent. That, along with concerns that it would bring further notoriety to the troublemakers, convinced him not to file a police report.

And while he said the majority of his constituents share his values, he admits it hasn't been easy coming to terms with the views of some in the community.

His sister has attended anti-lockdown rallies.

"The alienation tends to come more from the people I know, and I would have considered and do consider good friends, who now would like nothing to do with me over this position," he said.

"And that's a really difficult thing to realize."

But he won't be silenced.

"We refuse to be intimidated into stupidity. And I use the word "stupid" in the most technical sense, that it's ignorance, and believing things that just are not accurate or factual."



"Freedom rallies" have become a regular fixture in Morden and neighbouring Winkler during the pandemic, attracting more than 100 people at some events. Demonstrators with signs reading, "Away with masks" and "Stop the lockdown" have become common sights in communities in the region.

The demonstrators oppose pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns, arguing they are more harmful than COVID-19. Some deny the virus exists. Others assert restrictions are a violation of their freedoms and human rights.

Burley believes a rise in Trumpism as a political ideology in southern Manitoba, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, are behind the protests.

Whatever the reasons may be, the movement is creating a schism in the community, said one Winkler educator who reached out to the Free Press over frustration with the anti-mask movement. He requested anonymity because of fears he'll be targeted both personally and professionally.

"I don't know what's going to get these people to stop because, even between the freedom rallies, you will see vehicles... driving around town... so it's not just at the rally," the educator said. "It's happening constantly."

When we talk about going shopping, many people will say, I will not go then, I will not go then, I will not go then, I try to go early in the morning and hopefully I can avoid these people,  Winkler educator

Anti-lockdown protests have become a threatening presence, he said, noting public spaces, including big-box stores, have become battlegrounds between weary employees and anti-lockdown protesters.

"When we talk about going shopping, many people will say, I will not go then, I will not go then, I will not go then, I try to go early in the morning and hopefully I can avoid these people," he said. "And I'm going, who's in charge now? Who's really free?"

At Winklers Superstore on a recent afternoon, a handful of unmasked shoppers walked the store's aisles. A staff member told the Free Press employees have been instructed not to approach or challenge unmasked customers in an effort to protect workers' safety, which she said is stressful.

The employee had agreed to speak further on the issue until the interview was cut short by a manager, who directed all questions to Loblaw Companies' public relations department.



The mayor of Winkler has, in his own words, been trying to get to the middle ground since the pandemic began.

"My focus is, how in the world do we live with each other when this is over?" Martin Harder said. "It's tearing families apart, it's tearing businesses apart, it's tearing communities apart."

He said the city has pushed residents to wear masks and follow other public-health guidelines. But he's been critical of other decisions made by the province, particularly the decision to fine people and businesses for non-compliance  a factor that he said has contributed heavily to the discord in the community.

PHIL HOSSACK / FREE PRESS FILES "It's tearing families apart, it's tearing businesses apart, it's tearing communities apart," Winkler mayor Martin Harder said.

"I will just say, (the Pallister government) are considered to be outsiders, and they're considered to be coming in here to lay down the law and to give fines," he said. "I've never been a proponent of fines. I think that is the wrong way to get support, and I believe I have been proven right, in particular by how this has escalated now into the region where we have that divide."

Harder said the city has been made aware of complaints from residents about people flouting mask rules in big-box stores, but said many were coming from an extreme sense of paranoia about a small group of people. He said plainclothes police officers had monitored some of the stores and found the vast majority of people were masked.

The province has not kept up its responsibility to keep messaging consistent, he said, pointing to the chief public health officer's recent remarks on the possibility of an outdoor mask mandate.

"They're fuelling this thing, they are fuelling it, believe me they are doing more damage with that, and making people stand up and say, Forget it," Harder said.



Churches have also played a part in the anti-restriction movement.

A vocal minority of faith groups in the Southern Health region have made headlines for flouting pandemic rules. The Church of God Restoration, located south of Steinbach, received several $5,000 fines from enforcement officers when it continued to hold Sunday services late last year after in-person faith-based gatherings were prohibited.

On Easter Sunday, the Christian Church of Morden stated publicly it could "no longer obey the Manitoba health orders," and later received a $5,000 fine for holding a full service.

But not all churches are ignoring the rules, though some would like them to.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Pastor Randy Smart inside the sanctuary at Bethel Bergthaler Mennonite Church, outside of Winkler

At Bethel Bergthaler Mennonite Church, about 10 kilometres outside of Winkler, in-person services have resumed in accordance with provincial orders, which currently permit a maximum of 50 people inside at one time.

Senior pastor Randy Smart said Bethel has become creative to ensure congregants can attend services safely; rows of seats have been removed, and services are livestreamed to ensure every member can take part.

The church hosted as many as 500 parishioners, pre-pandemic.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Senior pastor Randy Smart said Bethel Bergthaler Mennonite Church has become creative to ensure congregants can attend services safely; rows of seats have been removed, and services are livestreamed to ensure every member can take part.

Smart, who has served the church since 2002, acknowledged some members of the community are unhappy about following the rules.

"We're familiar with the local story... we have people in our community who would love to see us be one of those to just open at all costs," he said.

"I know some people who would feel that way. But we're not following that plan. And my point wouldn't be just that we think it's a nice thing to do. We believe that the Scripture teaches that we are to be good citizens, and this is our view of... a part of how we are good citizens in this time."

He believes COVID-19 skepticism exists in the community, in part, because people who settled in Winkler faced unjust governments in other parts of the world.

"I think one element that is probably unspoken, not in Bethel, but in the community, is this lack of trust in government," he said, describing Winkler residents as "hardworking and generous."

"So people who've had exposure and awareness of government tyranny in other places, theyll come here and they say, 'Oh, no... now the government is going to tell us when the church can open and when the church can't open."



Winkler and Morden, located just 13 kilometres apart and referred to as twin cities, are home to just over 22,000 Manitobans.

Morden is the smaller of the two, with a population of just under 9,000. Winkler is the second-fastest-growing city in the province (surpassed only by Winnipeg), with immigrants making up 26.5 per cent of the total population, according to Statistics Canada data from 2016. The majority are Mennonites from Mexico, as well as immigrants from Germany and the former Soviet Union.

More recent immigration includes newcomers from other parts of the world, including the Philippines. In 2017, Winkler opened the first mosque in the region after a small influx of Syrian refugees.

Ralph Dargusch, who arrived from Germany in 2008 has owned Ralphs German Restaurant and Cafe for 8 1/2 years. His story is one thats become all too common over the last year or so; the restaurant was doing well, until it wasnt.

On a recent afternoon, a quiet seating area belied a relatively busy kitchen, and a few couples were seated at booths.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS "You know, it's like a village, everybody knows everybody. And in this situation, under this pandemic, it's a little bit divided," Ralph Dargusch said.

"This is actually a friendly community," he said. "You know, it's like a village, everybody knows everybody. And in this situation, under this pandemic, it's a little bit divided."

Dargusch searched for the right word in English to describe what hes seen happen to some of his customers. He settled on "conspiracy."

"Somebody said to me, (its about) democracy, the government shapes democracy, or this is the end of democracy people don't believe it's real," he said.

His daughter, who didnt want her named published, stood protectively behind her father before speaking up.

"We have to listen to people, in one way mentally abusing us, because they feel like they have to force their opinions on to us."

She said people have harassed their young servers about mask-wearing and social distancing, and regular customers who were once friendly and kind have "gone in two different directions."

"You have people coming in without a mask, and we remind them, please put it on because of the restrictions that were put on us, and we have to listen to, You're stupid for following these restrictions," she said.

"We have to listen to people, in one way mentally abusing us, because they feel like they have to force their opinions on to us."

She said much of the fight over COVID-19 exists beyond the restaurant's walls and is playing out on social media.

"You go on Facebook, Instagram  everybody who has a voice, who tells their story, they get trashed within minutes they just trash them," she said. "You used to share barbecues with this person and yet you're ruining their lives because you're spreading all these bad words about them."



Heather DiFrancesco may be the most popular social media influencer to come out of Winkler.

She has nearly 4,000 Instagram followers and more than 600 on Facebook. Her posts include selfies, photos of her children and material on an essential-oils brand she's marketing.

DiFrancesco also hosts what she calls "Truth Tuesday"  a weekly video session during which she shares her thoughts on COVID-19 case counts and criticizes the provinces pandemic response. The videos receive thousands of views and hundreds of comments, and most are positive. She often emphasizes that she doesnt deny the existence of COVID-19, but believes the public has not been told the truth about the severity of the virus.

In a video posted April 14, she opened by waving a laminated piece of paper with "press pass" on it, along with her name and her workplace listed as "truth teller." She noted that "this is the first disease where masses of people want it to be worse than it actually is."

These officials are not for us. We are not in 'this together.' We are living out life on a stage with virtue signalling and so much hypocrisy. This is about something (way) more dangerous than any virus and allowing these two to control every aspect of life is insanity. I am ashamed and afraid to be Canadian.  Heather DiFrancesco post

In another post from February, she commented on how her community is "still here, divided" and "living in fear of others."

"These officials are not for us. We are not in 'this together,'" the post reads. "We are living out life on a stage with virtue signalling and so much hypocrisy. This is about something (way) more dangerous than any virus and allowing these two to control every aspect of life is insanity. I am ashamed and afraid to be Canadian."

After an interview request from the Free Press, DiFrancesco asked that any questions be written or recorded. After receiving seven questions via email regarding her stance on the pandemic, local rallies, provincial restrictions and her videos as a journalistic resource, she responded with a brief statement that said she was "sad that the mandates and inconsistencies have torn apart our society," and referenced "data (that) has shown increased overdose, suicide, mental health, missed diagnosis, delayed surgeries and fear."

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS What shocks me is the people I know who've had family pass away from it and will still deny its existence. That to me is absolutely baffling, Brandon Burley said.

Morden's mayor has difficulty accepting the beliefs held by people such as DiFrancesco.

Burley shared that a friend, who was relatively healthy, young and fit, had recently died from COVID-19.

"What shocks me is the people I know who've had family pass away from it and will still deny its existence. That to me is absolutely baffling," he said.

"But the disinformation around COVID-19 is just so pervasive."

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @malakabas_
CHICAGO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In-depth analysis and data-driven insights on the impact of COVID-19 included in this global decorative coatings market report.

The decorative coatings market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% during the period 20202026.

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

The global decorative coating and paints market is witnessing high growth on account of growing number end-use industries and technological advancements. The economic growth in developing countries, investments on infrastructure, and construction sector stringent environmental regulations, growing purchasing power, and rising demand for green and environmentally friendly coatings are leading the growth of the market. APAC region accounted for the largest share in the global decorative coatings market. A rise in population and initiatives taken by governments towards spending on infrastructure development is boosting the decorative coatings in APAC region. Acrylic resin is the widely used resin in manufacturing of decorative coatings, due to good weather resistance, retains color and gloss, has excellent durability, and is resistant to water and UV rays. Additionally, acrylic resins are easy to apply, stable under extremely cold temperature, and cost effective compared to other materials. This resin segment accounted for around 58% contribution in the global decorative coatings market. The emulsion based decorative coatings contributed approximately 35% of the total global decorative coatings market. Emulsion paints are best for the household purposes as they are easy to clean and maintain and does not have odors that come from oil-based emulsion paints. The residential sector has the highest contribution in the global decorative coatings market. The water-borne coatings technology was widely adopted by manufacturers due to its eco-friendly nature and possess zero to low VOCs emissions.

Key Offerings:

Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 2020-2026

Market Dynamics  Leading trends, growth drivers, restraints, and investment opportunities

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis by resin type, formation, product, end-user, surface type, and geography

Competitive Landscape  5 key vendors and 32 other vendors

Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/decorative-coatings-market-size-analysis

Decorative Coatings Market  Segmentation

The demand for water-borne acrylic coatings is likely to augment during the forecast period due to their low volatile organic component (VOC) content, high gloss retention, and promising drying times. Acrylic decorative coatings are used in residential and non-residential sectors.

The water-borne decorative coatings market is expected to reach over USD 51 billion by 2026. Stringency on VOC and emission standards regulations have contributed to the market growth. These regulations have increased the demand for water-borne coatings in the APAC region.

by 2026. Stringency on VOC and emission standards regulations have contributed to the market growth. These regulations have increased the demand for water-borne coatings in the APAC region. Emulsion-based paints are becoming increasingly popular among consumers as they are less toxic with no odor and release a small quantity of VOCs. These paints have witnessed enormous growth over the past few years with rapid urbanization, the revival of the economy, and increased disposable incomes.

Decorative Coatings Market by Resin Type

Acrylic

Alkyd

Vinyl

Polyurethane

Others

Decorative Coatings Market by Formation

Waterborne

Solvent-based

Powder-based

UV Cured

Decorative Coatings Market by Product

Emulsion

Enamels

Primer

Others

Decorative Coatings Market by End-user

Residential

New Construction



Renovating & Remodeling Activities



DIY

Non-residential

Infrastructure



Industrial



Commercial

Decorative Coatings Market by Surface Type

Interior

Exterior

Decorative Coatings Market  Dynamics

With the demand for aesthetics and environment-friendly coatings, durability has also improved. Current demographic, socio-economic, and regulatory factors are also necessitating a longer product lifetime. Increasing reference to high-performance has played an important role, especially in commercial and institutional applications. Major coating manufacturers in APAC are working on smart coatings, which will improve mold and dirt resistance, and environment-friendly coatings that are water-borne, reduce the concentration of VOCs, and are formaldehyde-free. The preference for water-borne coatings in decorative paints has resulted in a 75% reduction in VOCs in Canada. Moreover, powder-based and UV-cured coating technologies are expected to rise in the upcoming years, as these are environment-friendly.

Key Drivers and Trends fueling Market Growth:

Remodeling and Repaint in the Construction Sector

Introduction of DIY Paint

Anti-Microbial Coatings

Alternatives to Decorative Paints

Decorative Coatings Market  Geography

North America, which includes the key countries of the US and Canada, constitutes a significant region as it hosts the most advanced and largest economies of the world. The US is the major revenue contributor to the North American decorative coatings market. Canada is likely to experience healthy growth during the forecast period. The growth in this region is mainly attributed to the rising economic growth, coupled with residential constructions, establishments of new businesses, the expansion of commercial spaces, and increasing disposable incomes. The market for decorative coatings in North America is driven by the growth in construction, residential, home improvements, and industrialization sectors. Renovation activities also drive the market for decorative coatings.

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Decorative Coatings Market by Geography

North America

US

Canada

Europe

UK

Germany

France

Russia

Spain

Italy

APAC

China

Japan

South Korea

India

Thailand

Indonesia

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

UAE

Major Vendors

AkzoNobel

PPG industries

Sherwin Williams

RPM International Inc

Axalta Coatings System

Other Prominent Vendors

Arkema

Asian Paints

BASF Chemical Company

Berger Paints Company

Brillux Gmbh & CO. KG

Cabot Corporation Chemical Company

Carpoly Chemical Group

Clariant AG Chemical Company

Cromology SAS Company

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Qalat : , April 23 (IANS) A total of 15 people were killed and eight others injured as a mini-bus collided with a truck coming from opposite direction in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province on Thursday, provincial police chief Mohammad Wais Samimi said on Friday.

The deadly road accident took place in the Jaldak area outside the provincial capital Qalat on Thursday evening, the police chief told Xinhua, adding that 15 commuters lost their lives on the spot and eight others were injured, with some of them in critical condition, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Nazir Harifal the chief of provincial hospital based in Qalat confirmed the accident, saying 15 dead bodies and eight injured persons were transported to the hospital.

Congested roads, security incidents and reckless driving, according to the official, were main reasons behind the deadly road accidents in insurgency-battered Afghanistan.
The UK faces a moment of reckoning in the race to protect future technologies from the influence of adversaries such as China and Russia, the director of signals intelligence agency GCHQ will warn on Friday.

Describing Britain as a leading cyber power and a big animal in the digital world, Jeremy Fleming will say the country must develop sovereign capabilities in areas such as quantum computing if it is to both prosper and remain secure.

His intervention comes as prime minister Boris Johnson is seeking to form a D10 group of like-minded democracies  made up of the G7 plus South Korea, India and Australia  that would join forces to act as a technological rival to China. The group is due to meet at a summit in Cornwall this summer.

The idea was spurred by the need to find alternative telecoms providers after Johnsons surprise decision last year to ban the Chinese company Huawei from Britains 5G networks, following concerns over supply chain security.

Delivering an online lecture at Imperial College, Fleming will make clear that China and Russia could pose other security challenges, such as threatening the design and freedom of the internet.

The UK really is a global cyber power  a big animal in the digital world. But historic strength does not mean we can assume we will be in the future, Fleming will say.

Without action it is increasingly clear that the key technologies on which we will rely for our future prosperity and security wont be shaped and controlled by the west, he will add. We are now facing a moment of reckoning. In the natural world, during a period of rapid change, the only option is to adapt. And its the same for us.

China has already proposed a radical change to internet architecture, supported by Russia and potentially Saudi Arabia, which critics fear would give state-run internet service providers control over citizens internet use. Fleming will say the UK needs to prioritise advances in quantum computing, as well as working with allies to build better cyber defences and shape international standards and laws in cyber space.

Reflecting mounting concerns in the security community over smart city technology, Fleming will say that if implemented in the wrong way, this would hardwire data collection in a way that infringes individuals freedoms.

His fears over hostile states tech advancements are shared by US intelligence chiefs, who warned in their annual threat assessment this month that new technologies, rapidly diffusing around the world, put increasingly sophisticated capabilities in the hands of small groups and individuals as well as enhancing the capabilities of nation states.

The US report highlighted China as being its chief strategic competitor, saying Beijing was focused on technologies seen as critical to its military and economic future, including advanced computing, and artificial intelligence, as well as niche technical needs such as secure communications.

Emily Taylor, an expert in cyber and international security at Chatham House think-tank, said countries such as the UK are emerging from pure containment strategy towards China to a different response, asking how do we cope in a world in which one of the technological superpowers doesnt share our values in any way?

That means investment, creativity, and building up your own capacities, she said.

Taylor added that as quantum computing became more mainstream, there was a risk that this sudden increase in processing power would render existing encryption methods completely useless.

So alongside developing quantum, you have to think about, whats that going to mean for securing our network, for securing our secrets, she said.
NEW YORK, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council (MJAC) praises the passage of the Jabara-Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assaults, and Threats to Equality (NO HATE) Act, 94-1, as an amendment to the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in the U.S. Senate.

The NO HATE Act will improve hate crime reporting by incentivizing state and local authorities with grants for law enforcement trainings, reporting hotlines, resources to liaise with affected communities, and public educational forums on hate crimes. Grants will be authorized from existing funds and managed through the Department of Justice. The legislation also amends the penalties for hate crimes to allow courts to require offenders to undertake educational classes or community service related to the victim's community as a condition of release.

"MJAC has advocated for the passage of this bill since it was introduced in the previous Congress. The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act will be a strong step forward in helping to stem the terrible rise in violence motivated by hatred we have seen in this nation," said MJAC Co-Chair Stanley Bergman.

"We applaud the Senate for this vote and call on the House of Representatives to pass this important legislation. The bipartisan effort and nearly unanimous support for this bill confirms that combating hate crimes and safeguarding minorities is the responsibility of all Americans," said Co-Chair Farooq Kathwari.

MJAC is a civil society coalition co-convened by American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Founded in 2016, MJAC brings together civil society, religious, and business leaders from across the U.S. to advocate for domestic policy issues of common concern.

MJAC's national council, and eleven regional councils in Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Louisville, Miami, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., represent a network of hundreds of Muslim and Jewish leaders committed to working together for the good of both communities and the country. MJAC stands at the forefront of those confronting hatred against religious minorities and has made stemming the rise in hate crimes a key advocacy area of focus.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/muslim-jewish-coalition-praises-senate-passage-of-jabara-heyer-no-hate-act-301275532.html

SOURCE The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council
A research paper which claimed that current smokers are significantly less likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19 compared to non-smokers was retracted after some of the studys authors were found to have undisclosed links with the tobacco industry.

The study by scientists from the University of Piraeus, in Greece, and the University of Utah in the US, assessed more than 89,000 laboratory-confirmed Covid cases in Mexico, and published the results in the European Respiratory Journal in July as an early view .

According to the now-retracted paper, current smoking was not associated with adverse outcome in hospitalised Covid patients, and smokers were at 23 per cent lower risk of being infected with the coronavirus.

Now, the journal has retracted the study with a statement saying, two of the authors had failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest at the time of the manuscripts submission.

The retraction note added that at the time of publishing the study, one of the authors, Jose M Mier, had a current and ongoing role in providing consultancy to the tobacco industry on tobacco harm reduction.

It said Konstantinos Poulas, another author of the research, was a principal investigator for the Greek NGO NOSMOKE, which reportedly has its base at a science and innovation hub that has received funding from the Foundation for a Smoke Free World - an organisation funded by the tobacco industry.

After careful review of the manuscript content alongside the new disclosures brought to light, and in consultation with the leadership of the European Respiratory Society (the publisher of the journal), the editors and society were in firm agreement that, if these conflicts of interest had been disclosed at the point of manuscript submission, the editors would not have considered the article for publication, the journal editors noted.

While the failure to disclose a potential conflict of interest is not normally sufficient grounds for retraction according to the journal, the editors said the decision was taken based on the nature of the undisclosed relationship in the context of the sensitive subject matter presented, and on the need to align the published journal content with the bylaws of the publishing society.

The editors also acknowledge that at no point was there a question of any scientific misconduct on the part of any of the authors, aside from the failure of two contributing authors to disclose their conflicts of interest relating to the tobacco industry, the retraction note added.

Other studies, such as one published in the journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine, found that research linking smoking with Covid outcomes among patients were riddled with several biases and knowledge gaps that may give a false impression that smoking was protective against the coronavirus infection.

The World Health Organisation has cautioned that smoking impairs lung function, and may cause smokers to be more prone to lung infections, including Covid-19.
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PHOENIX  A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the alleged accidental shooting of another woman at a Phoenix apartment, police said Thursday.

Police said officers responded to a report of a shooting around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and found 24-year-old Dejahnique Jackson with a gunshot injury.

Jackson was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.

Police said 21-year-old Amelleonna Russell told investigators she was playing games at an apartment with three people and they had been drinking and using drugs.

A handgun fell out of the pocket of a person and Russell told police that she picked it up just before someone else was about to sit on it.

The gun fired and Jackson was shot in the chest although she was sitting across the room.

Court documents show that the handgun has not been found yet by police, who said their investigation was continuing.

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A coal miner works in a mine in Trevorton, Pennsylvania. As the U.S. transitions away from coal toward cheaper and cleaner sources of electricity, coal miners may need job training for other sectors. Credit: Shutterstock.com

Coal is in decline as an energy source. In recent decades, coal combustion has fallen from 50% of electricity generation to 20% of electricity generation in the United States, as natural gas and renewables like wind and solar have become increasingly cost-competitive.

But after generations of investment in coal-fired power plants, transitioning away from enduring coal sources may prove more difficult: Under some current forecasts, more than 10% of our energy could still come from coal in 2050which means several more decades of planet-warming carbon emissions if we do not implement significant policy changes. Meeting key climate goals will depend in part on a speedier transition.

Mark N. Templeton is a clinical professor at the University of Chicago Law School, where he also directs the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic. As a research affiliate of the Energy Policy Institute at UChicago (EPIC), he recently authored a chapter in the new handbook, The U.S. Energy and Climate Roadmap, featuring policy recommendations about smoothing the coal transition.

In the following Q&A, Templeton explains why it's important to leverage the social cost of carbon as a tool for making key government decisions about coal mining and cleanup while remaining mindful of environmental justice and coal communities as we transition to other sources of electricity.

As the energy landscape in the U.S. changes, how can we ensure a transition for coal mining communities that is fair and just?

An important question. Though the absolute number of employees at coal mines in the U.S. is relatively small compared to many other industries, an economic restructuring like this one can have a significant impact on families and communitiesespecially given that the closing of a single mine can have a disproportionate impact in a smaller community where the mine was a major source of wages. We have an obligation to work with coal communities and help them through this transition.

One thing I've suggested is that there might be opportunities to leverage the geography of coal: Abandoned mines, which have associated cleanup and reclamation needs, are often located close to where the workers are already, so former miners could potentially be employed in making sure that those sites are dealt with safely and responsibly. Cleaning up abandoned mines also helps to ensure that those communities have clean water in the future. Finally, the Biden administration should also explore options like job training for other fields.

Many people don't know about the scale of the federal government's role in coal mining and the transition away from coal. Why is it so substantial?

There are at least three big reasons. First, in recent years, approximately 40% of the coal mined in the U.S. is mined on federal land. That's a large percentage for which the government, as the owner, is making determinations about whether to lease the coal, which in turn has an impact on the price and availability of coal in the market.

Second, the federal government also has regulatory authority on the combustion side. It can set emissions limits for carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming, criteria pollutants like sulfur dioxide that cause acid rain, and toxic substances like mercury that poison our environment.

Third, the government can play a role in smoothing the energy transition and in making sure it is as environmentally and socially responsible as possible. That means cleaning up abandoned coal mines and coal ash pits that have the potential to contaminate groundwater. It might also mean mitigating the environmental risks associated with coal bankruptcies and providing job training and resources for people who have relied upon coal for their livelihoods.

Clinical Prof. Mark Templeton explains why regulators should consider coals full social costs when deciding whether to approve new mines and power plant emissions limits. Credit: Energy Policy Institute at Chicago

What are some of your recommendations for how the federal government should approach coal leasing and regulation?

The recommendations I make for the coal sector build on the work of my colleague, Prof. Michael Greenstone, who is the director of EPIC and has recommended that the federal government set and use an appropriate social cost for carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. The social cost of carbon helps agencies incorporate the social and environmental damage inherent in mining and burning coal over the long term. Once the social cost is adopted, it can be factored into environmental cost-benefit analyses, which have important implications.

For example, if the federal Bureau of Land Management is deciding whether to lease a tract of land in Montana or Wyoming for coal mining, they might make new estimates factoring in the social cost of carbon and find billions of dollars of social impact, potentially prompting them to reconsider.

President Joe Biden's Environmental Protection Agency also has an opportunity under the Clean Air Act to set new regulations on coal-fired power plant emissions and to write stricter rules for how coal ash should be handled. Finally, the EPA can do a more proactive job of overseeing state regulatory activity. It matters a lot whether the EPA actually fulfills its function as a watchdog.

Many of these things can be accomplished without action by Congress. That said, new legislation or funding administered through legislationincluding the $16 billion that the Biden administration has put into the new infrastructure bill for reclaiming abandoned minescould also be very helpful.

Once the social cost of carbon is set, what else needs to happen?

The social cost of carbon is key for decision-making moving forward. But we also have to deal with the past: Coal mining has already had an enormous impact on the landscape. Some of these problems can be solved with better funding, while others may require changes to laws.

The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, which the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Control administers, currently does not have enough money to deal with the most severe environmental damages that can occur from coal mining. We also need to make sure that coal companies who are at risk of bankruptcy are required to secure financial assurance from independent entities outside of the industry for their environmental liabilities so that if the coal companies go bankrupt, funds will still be available to pay for cleanup costs. My Law School colleague Josh Macey has written thoughtfully about the challenges of coal bankruptcies.

As a country, how can we change the narrative not only around coal but around the relationship between our energy system and the environment more broadly?

Over the past few decades, we've developed a much better understanding of the impact that our activities have on the natural world on a system-wide basis. Climate change is really leading to a reckoning, on a global scale, about these environmental impacts. But now, the question is, "Do we have the collective willand are we willing to pay the priceto address it?"

Fortunately, technological innovation and economics are working together to drive the price of cleaner energy systems down to be more competitive than fossil fuels. So we're trending in the right direction, both in terms of our social awareness and our development of better technology.

But if we don't act even more quickly, we'll be faced with even more dire consequences. So, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The moral "arc"in this case, of environmental and climate justiceis bending. Are we willing to implement better policy to help it bend more quickly?

Explore further Methane emissions from coal mines are higher than previously thought
The Laredo Police Department recently arrested a man wanted for a double-homicide in Georgia, authorities said on Thursday.

The case unfolded at about 10 p.m. on March 27, when officers responded to a report of two men loitering around the Jarvis Plaza area.

Officers attempted to identify one of the individuals. He allegedly presented an identification card that did not belong to him.

Officers eventually identified the man as Jerome William Adams, 25.

Police said Adams had warrants out for his arrest for two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault from Gwinnett County, Georgia. He is accused of fatally shooting a 39-year-old woman and her 16-year-old son.

Adams was served with those warrants.

In addition, authorities in Laredo charged Adams with failure to identify with intent to give false information.

Gwinnett County law enforcement officials have extradited Adams back to Georgia for judicial proceedings.
After the success of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and the Marvel series WandaVision, the bar was set high for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But the series that focuses on two secondary characters  one Black and one white  from the Captain America comic book story line surpassed those expectations as the most watched premiere in Disney+ history. As the shows first season comes to an end on Friday, its success can be seen as part of a wave of Black superheroes that have conquered our screens and comic book pages in recent years, in numbers  and with a nuance  never seen before.

The actor Teyonah Parris drew praise as Monica Rambeau on WandaVision and will reprise her role in the upcoming Captain Marvel 2  a film being directed by Nia DaCosta, the first Black woman (and fourth woman of any background) to direct a Marvel movie.

Last year, DC Comics revived a character named Nubia, a Black Amazon who was raised alongside Wonder Woman and who first appeared in the comics in 1973. This new incarnation of Nubia is 17, has two mothers and, when she tries to save the day, shes profiled and detained by the police. The young adult graphic novel, written by the author L.L. McKinney with art by Robyn Smith, states its intention to answer the question: Can you be a hero  if society doesnt see you as a person? The more traditional incarnation of Nubia was recently seen in Future State, a two-month story line that explored DCs heroes decades from now, and in the present, she is currently the Queen of the Amazons.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 05:34:21|Editor: huaxia

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by Martina Fuchs

GENEVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard, well-known as a solar-powered electric airplane pioneer, said his Solar Impulse Foundation has identified 1,000 profitable solutions to better protect the environment, which he hopes "can change the world," provided that governments and big businesses will implement them.

In April, Piccard's foundation, based in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland, achieved the target it had set four years ago and passed the mark of 1,000 solutions to tackle climate change in a financially profitable way.

"We don't need vague ideas for the future. We need tools today," Piccard, who is the foundation's founder and chair, told Xinhua in an online interview.

"So this is exactly what we have now, with the 1,000 solutions. They are financially profitable, they protect the environment, and they are available today."

The solutions include technologies, products, processes or services coming from startups and big companies covering the water, energy, construction, mobility, industry and agriculture sectors.

The foundation will help governments and industries set up roadmaps to reach their carbon neutrality goals, he said, stressing that the work has only just begun.

For some governments and corporations which aim for carbon neutrality in the coming decades, "they need the tools, practical tools to reach these goals, and these tools have to be financially profitable and not expensive for the economy, they need to create jobs because this is the way to motivate the economy and they have to exist today."

SOLUTIONS FROM CHINA

Piccard emphasized that he would welcome more candidates and innovators from China to participate in the program.

"China is a very, very innovative country, we have several solutions from them," he said.

"For example, there is a way to transform waste into construction materials. Or there is a way to have new copper routers for electric engines of higher efficiency. There is also a very ecological detergent for washing machines. There is a special system that allows us to have lighting in remote areas much better than candles or oil lamps."

China has said that it will aim to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060.

Asked about his views on China's climate targets, Piccard said China's efforts to become carbon neutral, and to modernize the industry and the energy system are "admirable."

"The speed of change is very impressive in China, and if I can contribute by bringing some of these solutions that we have identified everywhere in the world and help China to do it even faster, it would be my honor to do it," he stressed.

COP26 CLIMATE SUMMIT

Piccard said the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) set for Britain's Glasgow in November would be an opportunity to provide a clean print for governments and businesses to move towards their climate targets in accordance with the Paris Agreement, by using the solutions they have identified.

"Glasgow will be very important for us because we will demonstrate there that these solutions can be implemented now," he said.

"This is the biggest market opportunity of a century. Because we need to replace everything that is polluting by everything that can protect the environment. Because it is more efficient (and) it pays for itself."

Together with Brian Jones, Piccard was the first to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe in 1999. He was designated as a Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Programme in 2012.

In 2016, Piccard completed the first-ever solar-powered flight around the world together with his Solar Impulse co-pilot Andre Borschberg. Enditem
Shamshyan.com reports that there was an emergency in the border zone of Armenias Tavush Province a few days ago.

On April 16 at around 9:30 a.m. Ijevan Medical Center called the police division in Ijevan and reported that a citizen had been checked into the medical center with the diagnosis "amputation of lower third of right leg".

Police found out that the wounded citizen is resident of Azatamut village of Tavush Province, 59-year-old Nodar Mirzoyan, who was wounded after a mine exploded while he was gathering asparaguses on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border (in the fields of the administrative territory of Kayanavan village).

According to the website, the materials prepared by the police division have been transferred to Ijevan division of the Military Police of Armenia.
Former subpostmasters celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, on April 23, 2021. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

UK Court Clears Names of 39 Wrongly Convicted Ex-subpostmasters

Thirty-nine former subpostmasters who were wrongfully convicted of theft, fraud, and false accounting have had their names cleared on Friday by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

The convictions were quashed because the subpostmasters did not stand a fair trial and that the prosecutions have been an affront to the conscience of the court.

Judges said the only evidence these convictions were based on was data on Horizona defective accounting system introduced in 1999, and that if the Horizon data was not reliable, there was no basis for the prosecution.

Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde said that the Post Office Limited (POL) knew there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon and had a clear duty to investigate the systems defects, but it consistently asserted that Horizon was robust and reliable, and effectively steamrolled over any subpostmaster who sought to challenge its accuracy.

POLs failures of investigation and disclosure were so egregious as to make the prosecution of any of the Horizon cases an affront to the conscience of the court, the judges added.

However, three of the former subpostmastersWendy Cousins, Stanley Fell, and Neelam Hussainhad their appeals dismissed by the court because the reliability of Horizon data was not essential to the prosecution case and that the convictions are safe.

Former post office worker Janet Skinner (C) speaks to the media. (Yui Mok/PA)

Wendy Buffrey, 61, said she was ecstatic after the ruling.

Im now no longer a criminal, Im a victim of the Post Office, she said.

Buffrey was given 150 hours of community service and had to pay a 26,250 ($36,376) shortfall and 1,500 ($2.078) towards the cost of her prosecution for two counts of fraud.

I think the Post Office hierarchy needs to realise that the Post Office is not a trusted brand, she said.

It is the subpostmasters who run those community offices that are the trusted people within the Post Office. They look after their communities.

Harjinder Butoy, a former subpostmaster in Nottingham who was convicted of theft and jailed for three years and four months in 2008, said his conviction and imprisonment had destroyed his life for 14 years. Thats not going to be replaced, he said.

The vindicted former postmasters will begin discussing compensation soon, and they want to hold those responsible accountable.

I would like my money back. I reckon I lost around 250,000 ($207,862), Noel Thomas, who had been a county councillor as well as running the Post Office branch in Gaerwen in Anglesey, said.

I lost my salary, my property, my pensions, and my good name, he said.

Thomas said he and the other victims felt there was no way out while in jail, despite knowing they were innocent.

In a statement after the ruling, Post Office chairman Tim Parker said the Post Office is extremely sorry for the impact on the lives of these postmasters and their families that was caused by historical failures.

We are contacting other postmasters and Post Office workers with criminal convictions from past private Post Office prosecutions that may be affected, to assist them to appeal should they wish, Parker said.

Post Office continues to reform its operations and culture to ensure such events can never happen again.

Based on Horizon data, POL prosecuted 736 subpostmasters between 2000 and 2014. Some went to prison and/or went bankrupt, some have since died.

In a landmark ruling in December 2019, the High Court said the Horizon system had bugs, errors, and defects, and that there was a material risk that the shortfalls that led to the prosecutions were caused by the system.

Ahead of the ruling, POL had agreed to settle to pay 58 million ($80 million) in damages to 555 claimants.
As the U.S. military begins its final withdrawal from Afghanistan, it's bringing in some heavy firepower to cover the troops' exit.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday approved an extension of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower's stay in the Middle East, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters. Kirby did not specify how much longer the Ike will remain.

Austin also approved the deployment of more long-range bombers to the region, Kirby said.

Read Next: B-1 Bomber Fleet Grounded Indefinitely Over Fuel System Problem

The first two aircraft, a pair of B-52H Stratofortress bombers from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, arrived at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Friday, the Air Force said in a release. Airmen from the 5th Bomb Wing also arrived at Al Udeid to support the bombers' deployment.

The New York Times on Wednesday was the first to report that Austin was considering a request to extend the Eisenhower's deployment.

The military is deploying these forces in case the Taliban decides to attack U.S. troops as the last few thousand forces pull out of Afghanistan no later than Sept. 11, Kirby said.

"It would be foolhardy and imprudent not to assume that there could be resistance and opposition to the drawdown by the Taliban, given their staunch rhetoric," he said. "In light of that  we're going to make this a safe, orderly and deliberate, responsible withdrawal, where force protection is at a premium."

Kirby declined to comment about what other forces could deploy in the near future, but said more temporary steps to protect forces could be taken to ensure the drawdown goes smoothly.

He said that plans drawn up under the Trump administration, which negotiated a May 1 withdrawal with the Taliban, to pull out equipment are being revised to account for the new timeline. Some equipment and systems will be inspected, cleaned and shipped back to the United States, Kirby said. Other equipment will be shipped elsewhere in the world.

Other pieces will be donated to Afghan partners, he added, and the rest will be destroyed.

Most of the American equipment, particularly vehicles, that will be taken out of Afghanistan will be shipped using Air Force cargo aircraft, Kirby said.

"Given the unique [geography] of Afghanistan ... airlift is the most effective way to remove the personnel and to remove the equipment that we do intend to leave with," he explained.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: Emptiness, Anger, Relief: Afghanist an Veterans Wrestle with Coming End of 'Forever War'
Suzhou to synchronize May 5 Shopping Festival

By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-04-23 10:16

To seize business opportunities in the post-pandemic era, Suzhou plans to initiate a May 5 Shopping Festival similar to Shanghais one.

As part of Shanghais push to spur domestic spending and enrich consumption patterns, the first May 5 Shopping Festival was launched last year in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This second edition will feature new product launches, nightlife marketplaces and a number of online-to-offline shopping initiatives.

The opening ceremony of the Suzhou shopping festival will be held on May 1, with a gala promoting Suzhou characterized products and implementing discounts. Physical and online stores will carry out big sales promotion, while real estate products will be exposed via a 4-hour live streaming sales promotion.

Activities like food exhibitions, gourmet voting and gourmet themed travel around Taihu Lake will be jointly held by Suzhou and Shanghai to promote Suzhou snacks. Travel products like those themed on Suzhou and Shanghai ancient towns will be developed and coupons will be given out to boost travel. Old brands expositions and displaying of intangible cultural heritage like Su embroidery, pingtan and Kunqu Opera are all scheduled to be seen. A sales promotion will also be held for imported products from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Britain, France and Thailand.

Covering several key time points like Labor Day, Youth Day, Mother's Day, Children's Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Father's Day, the 2-month event is expected to become a shopping spree to compare with Shanghais.
A vial and syringe are seen in front of a displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken Jan. 11, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Officials Probing Oregon Womans Death After Getting Johnson & Johnson Shot

State and federal officials are investigating the death of an Oregon woman who received Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine.

The woman has not been identified by name or place or residence and the date of the death has not been disclosed.

The Oregon Health Authority said it was notified of the potential adverse event on April 2020, two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was notified.

The woman, in her 50s, developed a serious blood clot within two weeks following vaccination along with low blood platelet levels and eventually perished.

The woman got a dose of Johnson & Johnsons jab before its use was halted virtually nationwide because of at least seven documented cases where women developed the same type of rare clot after getting the vaccine. One of those women also died.

Until the investigation into the womens death is complete, Oregon officials said, it isnt clear whether the death is related to the shot.

Federal officials first recommended a pause in the administration of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine on April 13, and states across the country since then have halted its use.

The CDCs vaccine advisory committee met regarding the post-vaccination clots two days later and concluded they did not have enough information to advise resuming use of the vaccine.

The same panel is scheduled to convene again on Friday.

Reported cases of post-vaccination clotting to the passive Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System are being examined.

These have been a handful of cases, not an overwhelming number of cases. We are working through and adjudicating them and verifying whether they do in fact reflect a true case, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told a briefing this week.

We are encouraged that it hasnt been an overwhelming number of cases, but were looking and seeing whats come in, she added.

Approximately 219 million vaccine doses have been administered in America as of April 22, though just 8 million of those are Johnson & Johnsons jab.

The company told The Epoch Times via email earlier this month that it shares all adverse event reports about people receiving its shot, along with its assessment of each report, with health authorities.

Johnson & Johnsons tracking of side effects has revealed a small number of very rare events following vaccination, the company added. At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.

Anyone who gets a shot and displays shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, abdominal pain, neurological symptoms, excessive bruising, or tiny blood spots under the skin beyond the point of injection should immediately seek medical assistance.
The State Bank Of India (SBI), in its current edition of research update Ecowrap noted that given the current circumstances of partial/local/weekend lockdowns in almost all states, its growth forecast for Indian economy is now revised downwards. The bank now revised its FY22 projection at 10.4% real GDP and 14.3% nominal GDP. Earlier, the bank has estimated a growth of 11% in FY22.

Total loss estimated at Rs 1.5 lakh crores, of which Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan account for 80%. Maharashtra alone at 54%. SBI business activity index shows decline in activity in Apr'21 with the latest reading for the week ended 19 Apr'21 of 86.3. This is the lowest in 5 months.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Burma Myanmars National Unity Govt Asks Interpol to Arrest Coup Leader

An Amnesty International campaign poster targeting Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmars shadow government has asked the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to arrest coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing for his crimes against humanity on the Rohingya and protesters.

U Lwin Ko Latt, the home affairs minister in the national unity government (NUG), filed the case ahead of the junta leaders arrival in Jakarta on Saturday to attend an Asean (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit.

The meeting is to address the deteriorating situation in Myanmar and its repercussions for the region. Following the military takeover in February, the regime has slain more than 700 people in nationwide crackdowns on protesters.

In his letter to Interpol, U Lwin Ko Latt said the global body could collaborate with the Indonesian police to arrest the coup leader while he is in Jakarta on Saturday for the summit, according to the NUGs statement.

He said Min Aung Hlaing was accused by a United Nations fact-finding mission in 2018 of crimes against humanity over the crackdown on the Rohingya in Rakhine State. It also states that the commander-in-chief staged the coup in February and was responsible for 739 deaths and the detention of more than 3,000 people by April 21.

In 2019, The Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmars military at the International Court of Justice for atrocities towards the Rohingya, citing the exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh after clearance operations in Rakhine State. The refugees spoke of arbitrary killings, arrests and torture by troops. The senior general was also tried at the International Criminal Court.

The letter said Min Aung Hlaing was a criminal and terrorist for his crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State and must be tried at both international courts.

The shadow minister said the coup leader has to be tried for his post-coup crimes against protesters and be put on Interpols wanted list with a high alert sent to police around the world to bring him to justice.

In an apparent response, the regime on Thursday evening announced that all 24 NUG ministers and two associates have been charged with high treason.

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Brookfield Properties has reached practical completion on its $2 billion Brookfield Place, office and retail development at Wynyard in the CBD.

Over nine years in the development, Brookfield Place has transformed the once-neglected Wynyard precinct into a modernised transportation hub, with premium-grade office facilities, multiple levels of retail and a revitalised Carrington Street.

It will soon welcome anchor tenants NAB, Allianz and Brookfield, alongside Hub Moelis Australia with a swath of new retailers, including a flagship store for leisure and active-wear group Lululemon. CBREs Leif Olsen advised on the retail leasing.

The $2 billion Brookfield Place in Sydney has reached practical completion. Credit:DBOX for MAKE Architects

Carl Schibrowski, Brookfield Properties executive vice-president and co-head, said the building was designed by MAKE and Architectus and constructed by Multiplex, who overcame many complexities and challenges to deliver the assets in the middle of a pandemic.
Burma More Than 110 People Abducted by Myanmar Junta This Week

More than 110 people, many of them student activists and youth protesters, were abducted by the junta this week.

More than 110 people, many of them student activists and youth protesters, were abducted by the junta this week as it intensified its clampdown on opponents of the re-instatement of military dictatorship.

Junta forces conducted arbitrary abductions in a number of cities in Mandalay, Sagaing, Yangon, Tanintharyi and Ayeyarwady regions and Kachin, Karen and Shan states throughout the week.

On Thursday, they rounded up four university students in Myayi Nandar ward in Mandalay. Two university students were arrested in Pathein Township in Ayeyarwady Region by plainclothes officers, while two students, including a high school student, were arrested in Dawei, Tanintharyi Region during a crackdown on anti-regime protests. The other three civilians were arrested during the crackdown.

On Friday, junta troops detained six civilians in another raid in Myayi Nandar ward.

The junta accused the detained youths of being rioters and disrupting the tranquility of the state. The same accusation was cited in abductions of youths in various other places, with many facing additional accusations of destroying property, as numerous explosions and arson attacks have occurred across the country recently following the regimes brutal crackdowns on protesters.

In a case in Yangon Regions Yankin Township, the regimes troops tortured a number of youths after arresting them in pre-dawn raids of residential areas following a series of deadly blasts that killed a police officer and wounded three others.

The regimes propaganda TV channel announced that six peopletwo women and four menhad been arrested in the township with homemade bombs and related materials after a tip-off. In pictures aired during the report, the accused show signs of severe torture.

However, locals said that many more people had been arrested and that at least 10 of them, including the six identified by the junta, were being held at an interrogation center on the outskirts of Yangon.

In Kachin States Myitkyina, a large number of troops surrounded the residence of Myo Htet Naing Lin, a second-year university student at Myitkyina University who has actively participated in anti-coup protests, at around 6 a.m. and abducted him.

At least 20 civilians were arrested in Sagaing Region this week, including two university students from Shwebo, and others from Kanbulu, Khin U, Monywa, Kalay, Yinmabin, Mingin and Wetlet townships. Some were beaten and dragged away as the regimes forces raided residences in search of homemade weapons.

Other pro-democracy protesters from Mohnyin, Myikyina and Bhamaw in Kachin State; Mogoke in Mandalay Region; Bago Region; Taunggyi in Shan State; Yangon Region; Pakokku in Magwe Region; Dawei and Kawthoung in Tanintharyi Region; and Maupin and Myaungmya in Ayeyarwady Region, were also arrested this week.

Sayadaw U Yewata, a Buddhist monk in Mogoke, famous actor Zenn Kyi and film director Christina Kyi, actress Myo Thandar Tun, two striking teachers from Hpa-an in Karen state, a former administrator who resigned from his job because he was unwilling to work under the regime, and a number of journalists were also among the most recent prisoners of the junta detained this week.

Sayadaw U Yewata, who is a former chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, was beaten and taken from Yaypu Monastery in Mogoke. The abbot of the monastery was also arrested for trying to stop police brutality against protesters and forced to disrobe while in detention. The senior monk was also sentenced to three years in prison by the regime on April 10.

The junta-controlled state TV announced on Thursday night that the celebrity couple Zenn Kyi and Christina Kyi were being interrogated while under house arrest after plainclothes officers stopped them at Yangon International Airport as they were preparing to leave for Bangkok on April 17. The inclusion of the picture of their son in the report has drawn widespread condemnation.

On April 21, Ko Naing Lin Tun, a reporter for the Dakkhina Insight online news page, was arrested. Local news outlet Dawei Watch reported that he was arrested while covering an anti-regime protest and suffered a head wound after being grazed by a bullet. The junta announced that the detained reporter was charged with inciting unrest and circulating fake news under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks detentions, the regime had detained more than 3,300 people by April 22 and issued arrest warrants for 1,099.



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A fugitive who escaped from a Nevada prison 27 years ago is back in the United States after authorities captured him in Mexico, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The federal agency announced Thursday that Samuel Gallardo, who was convicted in 1992 of DUI causing death in a wrong-way collision and sentenced to 40 years in prison, was extradited to the United States by Mexican officials on Wednesday.

Samuel Gallardo, 52, was arrested in Mexico after escaping Nevada Department of Corrections custody, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. (via Nevada Department of Corrections)

Gallardo, 52, had been on the run since his 1994 escape from the Nevada Department of Corrections after serving less than one year of his sentence, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Gallardo was 24 years old in 1992 when, while intoxicated, he drove onto the interstate in the wrong direction and hit another vehicle head-on, according to officials. The crash killed Gary Selby Jr., 18, seriously injured passengers, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Gallardo was found in Nayarit, Mexico, on the country's Pacific coast.

He got comfortable and made some mistakes and we were able to capitalize on those mistakes, Michael Desh, an employee with the U.S. Marshals Service in Nevada, told The Associated Press.

Gallardo will serve the remainder of his sentence with the Nevada Department of Corrections.
A broken brake hose on a Vietnam Airlines plane is the latest causality in a series of incidents involving collisions between birds and aircraft in Vietnam.

Mechanics found that the brake hose of Vietnam Airlines A321 plane was damaged as it landed in north-central Thanh Hoa Province at 11:11 am on Wednesday morning, following its departiure from Da Lat City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

They also found a birds body stuck to the rear of the plane.

The incident caused a delay of nearly four hours for the return flight from Thanh Hoa to Da Lat since Vietnam Airlines scrambled to find a substitute plane.

Collisions between birds and airplanes are not uncommon in Vietnam.

On April 11, blood stains and bird feathers were found on the body of an A350 aircraft operated by China Airlines after it landed in Ho Chi Minh City from Taipei.

The incident left the aircraft with a 30-centimeter dent, forcing it to remain grounded at Tan Son Nhat International Airport as a crew carried out repairs.

On April 7, Vietnam Airlines recorded two bird strikes on two of its A321 aircraft after they had taken off from Phu Quoc Island and Hai Phong City and landed at Tan Son Nhat.

The management of Tan Son Nhats flight zone examined runways and taxiways after the two incidents were reported but detected no abnormalities.

On March 31, a Bamboo Airways plane bound for Con Dao, off the southern province of Ba Ria  Vung Tau, from Hai Phong City had to make an emergency landing in Hanoi after hitting a bird.

Mechanics called to the scene found a dent and traces of blood on the planes engine No. 1.

Earlier, a Vietnam Airlines flight from Da Nang City to the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho hit a bird on the runway at Da Nang International Airport at 10:59 am on March 24.

The Da Nang flight zone operation center later detected a swallows body on the 35R/17L runway and removed it in order to ensure flight safety.

The flight then continued normal operations.

According to experts, bird strikes are common in the aviation industry, with the majority of them causing little damage to the aircraft.

In theory, large aircraft can continue flying after colliding with a bird weighing two kilograms or less.

In some cases, the bird is sucked into the engine, causing considerable damage.

The difference in speed between a bird and plane makes the impact of their collision very strong, jeopardizing the aircraft.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Bonnie Kristian is a fellow at Defense Priorities, contributing editor at The Week and columnist at Christianity Today. Her writing has also appeared at CNN, NBC, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and Defense One, among other outlets.

President Joe Biden's speech last week announcing his plans for the end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan was the best of his presidency to date. Admittedly, there's not a lot to choose from just a few months into this administration, but Biden's brief remarks would stand out even from a larger selection.

His case for withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan was practical and blunt: Prolonging this 20-year war is counterproductive and unnecessary for U.S. security. It simply is not working.

"We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal, and expecting a different result," he said.

It is past time to leave, and Biden says he will have it done by September.

That's all to the good, but it raises a question the president didn't answer: What about the other wars?

The war in Afghanistan is not our only "forever war," to use Biden's favored phrase. It is the longest of Washington's ongoing military interventions in the greater Middle East, but it is only one among many, and the logic of Biden's speech, applied to those other conflicts, should lead to their conclusions, too.

Consider Iraq. Biden argued that the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had a just cause and the support of key U.S. allies. The same cannot be said of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Longtime U.S. allies like France opposed the war from the start, and we've known for years that its premise -- protecting Americans from Saddam Hussein's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and punishing his regime for its likewise nonexistent links to al-Qaida -- was not just. It couldn't be just, because it was built on untruths. If Biden thinks the war in Afghanistan had a legitimate beginning and yet should end, shouldn't he want to end the illegitimate war in Iraq even more?

Biden's other arguments are apt for Iraq as well.

"I flew to Afghanistan" on a fact-finding mission in 2008, he said. "What I saw on that trip reinforced my conviction that only the Afghans have the right and responsibility to lead their country, and that more and endless American military force could not create or sustain a durable Afghan government."

Do Iraqis not have that same right of self-determination? Is there some reason to think, 18 years on, that U.S. meddling has been a successful nation-building tool in Iraq?

Similarly, Biden decried "the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence," thinking we'll get a better outcome than before. Isn't that exactly what we do in Iraq, where U.S. boots on the ground have numbered as many as 170,000 and as few as the current 2,500? Or the administration's acknowledgment (not explicit in Biden's speech, but emphasized by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan a few days later) that there are no "guarantees about what will happen inside the country" after the U.S. occupation ends.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban and al-Qaida will undoubtedly attempt to capitalize on America's exit. In Iraq, it would be the Islamic State, Iranian-linked militias and others. If that risk is not enough to keep us in Afghanistan, why is it enough in Iraq?

Even Biden's arguments about counterterror operations going forward, made at greater length by an unnamed administration official in a background call the day before the speech, apply just as well to Iraq.

"Over the past 20 years, the threat has become more dispersed, metastasizing around the globe," the president said, which means "keeping thousands of troops grounded and concentrated in just one country at a cost of billions each year makes little sense to me and to our leaders."

A forever war in Afghanistan isn't needed to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States, and it's a distraction from more pressing issues in U.S. foreign policy, this administration says. The same can be said of a forever war in Iraq -- so why isn't Biden saying it?

We could apply nearly all the same logic to smaller U.S. military interventions in Syria and Yemen, and the Pentagon's "enduring footprint" across half of northern Africa. Biden has scaled down the U.S. drone war outside of Afghanistan and Syria. In early February, he announced he was ending American support for "offensive operations" by the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen's civil war, a coalition that has helped produce the world's most acute humanitarian crisis and is widely thought to be guilty of war crimes against Yemeni civilians.

But it remains unclear exactly what is classified as "offensive operations," and Yemen is still subjected to Saudi blockade. Moreover, Biden has hardly cut ties with the Saudis -- he expanded the U.S. military footprint in Saudi Arabia -- and he's kept U.S. forces in Syria, continuing to use that country as the site of proxy war with Iran.

So why is Biden treating Afghanistan like a special case? Why does he seem to be ending this forever war and not the others? If he understands the force of his own arguments about the war in Afghanistan, the president should apply them to all our wars and end them.

-- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's televised comments during the interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday regarding pandemic situation in the national capital and acute oxygen crisis in hospitals has triggered a row, with the Union government officials accusing him of "playing politics".

The officials also accused him of descending to a "new low"with his decision to broadcast the "private conversation" of the meeting.

"His entire speech was not meant for any solution but for playing politics and evading responsibility. All chief ministers spoke about what they are doing to improve the situation but he had nothing to say on what he is doing, a source said, suggesting that his remarks, which were made public, have not gone down well with the central government.

"He (Kejriwal) raised the point of airlifting oxygen, but did not know that it is already being done. He spoke about oxygen express by the railways but railway officials say that he has not communicated anything about it to the ministry," the Central government source said.

Responding to the sharp reaction of the Union government officials, the chief minister's office (CMO) issued a brief statement, saying "today, the CM address was shared live because there has never been any instruction, written or verbal, from central govt that the said interaction could not be shared live.

"There have been multiple occasions of similar interactions where matters of public importance which had no confidential information were shared live. However, if any inconvenience was caused we highly regret that."



During the meeting, Kejriwal said the Centre should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and requested Modi to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital.

"People in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi," he said during the meeting.

"We need a national plan to deal with the crisis. The Central government should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and every tanker coming out of the oxygen plant should be accompanied by an Army escort vehicle," he said.

"The oxygen supply scheduled to come to Delhi from Odisha and West Bengal should either be airlifted or brought through the Oxygen express started by the Centre," he said.

The chief minister also objected to different rates being charged from state governments and the Centre for the COVID-19 vaccine, and said "one nation, one rate" policy should be followed.

Union government sources alleged that Kejriwalhas chosen to spread lies on vaccine prices despite knowing that the Centre does not keep one vaccine dose with itself and shares with states only.

Modi held a meeting on Friday with chief ministers of 10 states with the most number of COVID-19 cases.The meeting via video conferencing comes amid a huge surge in cases, which have now clocked a daily total of over 3 lakh in the country.

Apart from Delhi, Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are among those who attended the meeting.

Modi also held a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conference amid concerns expressed by some states that their supply of the life-saving gas is running short with a number of hospitals, including many in the national capital, sending out SOS for immediate supply.

Central government sources also noted that it has done a lot to boost health infra in the national capital, and referred to the DRDO facility with 500 ICU beds, which has been funded from the PM CARES Fund.

The home ministry has also ordered medical manpower for re-activating Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre (SPCCC) at Chhattarpur, they said, adding that this caters to 500 oxygenated beds.

Bed capacity in the central government-run hospitals has been increased from 1090 to 3800, they said.

The per day oxygen allocation to Delhi has been increased from 378 MT to 480 MT, they said, adding that the movement of allocated oxygen supplies is being monitored on a real time basis.

(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.)
Inside Out

A few months ago, I did a surgery which left my stomach scarred in four different places. At first, I had to get used to the idea that many things that I was accustomed to would be difficult, at least for a while. As simple as it may sound, using the bathroom, taking a shower or even getting out of bed at some point in my recovery, was a painful endeavor.

About the third week in my recovery, I noticed that the areas where the wounds were had started to itch. I loathe itches; hence, in the winter months I am very particular about even the lotion I use. I am aware that our skin dries out more than usual, and for that reason I try to be deliberate about drinking a lot of water and using anti-itch hydrating lotion.

In this case, the itching signified more than just that it was late November and the beginning of the winter season, it signified healing. Once the wound started itching and the areas around it became darker, there was visible proof that healing was taking place. The healing was not just on the outside, it was from the inside out.

Talk It Over

Genesis chapter 37 verses 18 -36, gives an account of the story of Joseph and his brothers. After being sold to the Egyptians, Joseph lived with his brothers ruses constantly being the thorniest of wounds inflicted time after time. I would like to imagine that before he advanced to Prime Minister, he had many days where he reminisced, and it felt like he was being hurt all over again.

In Genesis chapter 42 verses 1-28, Joseph met his brothers again and recognized them, even though they did not recognize him. He could have maintained his pompous retort towards them but instead, he extended mercy. Josephs heart was broken, he cried many times, but he held on to his wound.

The story continued in Genesis chapter 45 where Joseph could no longer hide all that he felt. In order for him to heal, he needed to speak up and share the burden that he was keeping to himself. Talking it over was not only medicinal for Joseph, but it was also a healing experience for those who had hurt him. Forgiveness could be reciprocated, and healing could take place.

One might argue that much like an itch, Josephs urge to speak intensified the more he saw his brothers. Instead of using it as a token of revenge, Joseph shared how his experience was Gods doing. This was elucidated in Romans chapter 8 verse 28 where Paul pens And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

If Joseph could heal, we should too. When we are hurt by someone and the dreadery of past insults rest so heavily on us, we should not think of it as futile that we too need to get rid of the itch. In the same way when we struggle with something, whether it be sexual immorality, covetousness or pilfery, talking it over is an important part of healing. This provides accountability and takes some of the weight of the struggle off ones shoulder.

Share the burden

James Chapter 5 verse 16a coins it beautifully, Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed Though struggles often come off as shameful, resulting in us being dubious about how we may be perceived once we share our truth, it is worth it to speak out.

There is no use carrying a weight solo that was meant to be shared. Part of casting your cares on Jesus, according to 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 7, is sharing that burden with someone else. Godly accountability brings peace that foreruns healing which is the childrens bread.

The scar remains

Even though we grow them out eventually and science and technology has created enough dermatologically proven supplies to seemingly get rid of them, scars remain. Delightfully though they remain, at some point, they become insignificant to the naked eye.

To the one who endured the wound and the one who has healed, a scar is a canvas of beauty to remind us that we have survived 100% of our worst days, and we have healed and continue to heal from 100% of the things we thought would kill us.

Our scars allow us to have a better acumen of people and their own battles. We too have endured similar battles and wear scars as memorials of wounds that itched but eventually healed.

Heal

I dare you to share your story and heal from your past. Dont suffer in silence and continue to condemn yourself for your immature and ignorant indiscretions. Look how far you have come! Please know that the enemy can only hold you hostage to what he knows you fear. Do not give him that power. Overcome (that fear) by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony (Revelations chapter 12 verse 11).

And when you have satisfied that itch, walk in the liberty that Christ has given you, knowing that who the Son sets free is truly free indeed according to John chapter 8 verse 36. God does not condemn you. You can walk in liberty with your head held to God. You do not need anyone putting you down as you are already on the ground. Do not let that anyone be you.

Relieve that itch, take the steps you need to, and heal.
Since Nigerias Fourth Republic began in 1999, the eight oil and gas producing states have received over N9 trillion under the derivation principle sanctioned by the nations constitution. The constitution stipulates payment of 13 per cent of oil revenue from the Federation Account to the states as a derivation fund.

In the last three years (2018-2020), in total, the oil-producing states have received N1.5 trillion from the Federation Account under the derivation principle, A PREMIUM TIMES analysis of data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.

The analysis, however, reveals that intervention activities and physical developments in the oil-producing communities do not reflect the derivation fund received by their states.

Constitutional Provision

The derivation fund is paid to the states monthly to assist their oil-producing communities in tackling environmental pollution and degradation, provision of basic amenities like healthcare, potable water and paved roads, and economic empowerment of the community people.

Section 162, Sub-section 2 of the Nigerian Constitution stipulates that the fund is for the exclusive use of oil/gas producing communities as compensation for loss of fishing rights and productive farmlands as a result of oil and gas exploration and production activities.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) also defines the fund as a financial incentive enshrined in the Constitution for oil-producing communities, based on their production input, to serve as benefits and encourage the community to create an enabling environment for more production of crude oil and gas.

Poorly Funded Commissions

Eight states with a combined population of about 47 million receive the 13 per cent derivation fund, based on their contributions to national oil and gas production. The states are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo and Rivers.

The states have all created oil-producing area development commissions to execute development projects in their oil-producing and impacted areas. But many of the communities have not been feeling the impact of the commissions for a number of reasons.

One of the reasons is that the state governments commit only small parts of the fund to the intended interventions in the oil-producing communities.

Available budget

For this analysis, this reporter was able to access the budgets of four oil-producing states: Ondo, Edo, Imo and Abia

The Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) was established by the Laws of Ondo State CAP. 106 in 2001.

In 2018, the state government budgeted N6.2 billion (N6,214,636,800) for the agency for its intervention activities. However, data obtained from the NBS shows that the state received N16.5 billion (N16,537,861,606.40) under the derivation principle for that year. This means OSOPADEC got only 40 per cent of the derivation fund for its activities.

It is a similar case in Imo where the state government in 2019 budgeted N5 billion for the activities of the states Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ISOPADEC). But the state received N10 billion that year as a derivation fund.

The same trend is noticed in the other states, including Edo State where its own agency usually gets only 40 per cent of its derivation fund. The commission got N1.87 billion in 2018, N7.5 billion in 2019 and N6.6 billion in 2020, totalling N16 billion. However, NBS data revealed that the state got N51 billion derivation fund in the three years.

Also, the Abia State government budgeted N2.04 billion for its oil-producing development commission in 2019. In that same year, the state got N6.8 billion derivation fund.

Pervasive Issue

As a result of the underfunding of the development commissions, mismanagement of funds and fraud, many oil-producing communities continue to suffer from the negative impact of oil exploration and production.

A case in point is Ayetoro, a coastal community of Ondo State. A rise in the sea level due to oil exploration and global warming has led to floods that have washed away homes, the cemetery and a worship centre in the town.

Sixteen years ago, the NDDC started a multi-billion-naira shore protection project in the community. Although billions of naira have been paid to the contractors, nothing is on the ground to protect the community against ocean surge.

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Most of the oil-producing areas development commissions are not transparent with their finances and appointments into them are treated as political compensation.

The agency in Delta State, DESOPADEC, for example, does not have on its website the names and status of its projects in the oil-producing communities. The agency has been accused of breaching the statutory process in the disbursement of its funds, with a large part of the funds committed to recurrent expenditure, including payment for office spaces rented mostly outside the oil-producing areas.

Irked by rampant reports of mismanagement by the state agencies, a former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, suggested the derivation fund be allocated directly to the communities and not the state governments.

There should be an amendment to the Niger Delta Development Commission Act to ensure that the 13 per cent oil derivation fund is paid directly to host communities instead of state governors, as majority of the communities have been accusing the governors of diverting the money, thereby denying their people the basic necessities of life, Mr Enang said.

Joseph Nwakwue, an oil and gas professional with Zera Advisory and Consulting, spoke in the same vein when he decried the misappropriation of the derivation fund by state governments.

He said: The derivation is given to the states and not the oil-producing communities and the states have set up an implementing agency that would see to the development of the oil-producing communities. However, the highest amount I have seen given to these development commissions set up by the states is 30 per cent. Basically, the states are spending the money meant for the oil-producing communities.

Mr Nwakwue blamed the situation on a lacuna in the constitution concerning the use of the fund.

The constitution did not state how the fund should be deployed and what it should be used for  meaning it gives the states government power over the 13 per cent derivation fund, making the host community underdeveloped despite the monthly allocations, he said.

But Ken Henshaw, the Executive Director of We the People, a non-governmental organisation in the Niger Delta region, said the lacuna exists elsewhere because the constitution is clear on what the fund should be used for.

The constitutional provision for 13 per cent derivation states that the fund should be used for the development of the oil-producing communities. The constitutional lacuna is that it makes the money pass through the state. What has happened to this 13 per cent derivation is what has happened to the local government fund paid to the joint account of state and local governments.

What the states have done is that they have used the13 per cent derivation in form of surplus for all sorts of purposes, none of the states gives up to 60 per cent of the fund to the oil-producing communities. There is this funny sharing quota that deprived the oil-producing communities of growth, Mr Henshaw said.

In Abia State, the resources for the oil-producing communities are used routinely for the development of other communities. In Rivers and Bayelsa states, the derivation is ploughed back into the state budget without any consideration of the oil-producing communities that bear the brunt where the oils are extracted from.

The derivation has not lifted any of these people from poverty; that is why we get depressed when we hear state governments asking for an increased revenue derivation formula. It is good to say derivation has failed in Niger Delta.

The Ondo state Commissioner for Information, Donald Ojogo, did not return calls and text messages sent to his phone for his comment for this report.

Also, the Imo State information commissioner, John Kalu, did not respond to phone calls and text messages.

DESOPADEC has no phone number on its website and did not reply to emails sent by the reporter.

Support for this report was provided by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) through its Natural Resource and Extractives Program
Initiatives

Protect the Idaho initiative process from hijacking. Words matter. Reference the Idaho Statesman article titled Little signs bill making it harder to bring voter initiatives onto ballots (April 18, 2021). The article could also have been titled, Little signs bill making it harder for wealthy special interest groups and individuals with their own ideologies and agendas to hijack the Idaho initiative process, or Little signs bill that will help to ensure citizens in less densely populated rural counties will continue to have a voice in bringing voter initiatives onto ballots. The next step needed in the effort to protect the Idaho initiative process from hijacking by wealthy out-of-state special interest groups and individuals is to make it illegal to pay-per-signature on ballot initiative petitions. Signature gathers, with no vested interest in the issue, may come from all over the country to collect signatures on the initiative petitions if the pay-per-signature is high enough. This is how many anti-gun, anti-hunting, and drug legalization initiatives get onto state ballots that have not disallowed pay-per-signature. The wealthy special interest groups and individuals may also spend lots of money to spread propaganda to support their ideologies and initiative agendas.

Jim Goldsmith, Meridian

Legislative session

The competency and authority of our Governor, Attorney General, Board of Education and many other groups have been consistently attacked and undermined by legislators this session. While harshly judging everyone elses competence and actions, perhaps they shouldve looked in the mirror.

According to Jim Jones, former Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, Legislators have shown an alarming rate of disrespect for our State Constitution this session. Other legal scholars agree, including Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, who has had to challenge countless bills that were unconstitutional or not within the Legislatures authority. Legal challenges cost taxpayers.

Story continues

Either our lawmakers lack the constitutional knowledge and academic ability to write bills, or they are intentionally deconstructing our constitution in order to legalize their personal goals. Either case is unacceptable and demonstrates gross incompetence.

Lawmakers set an illegal fire for a mask burning stunt, while many Idahoans (including legislators) were suffering from COVID-19. Taxpayers paid for the rebellious, anti-masked, legislatures recess.

Bills this session totally disregarded the will of the majority, were designed to gain illegal powers, prevent initiatives and silence our voices. Thankfully, we do have the power to vote them out, and a vote for term limits isnt a bad idea either!

Beverly Taylor, Meridian

Vaccines for all

This week marks an important milestone in our country: World Immunization Week. Celebrated every year, the week aims to promote vaccines to protect people of all ages against infectious disease. Before the COVID19 pandemic, Americans often have taken vaccines for granted. But now, we have all felt the impacts of a global health catastrophe as many of our lives have been disrupted and, in some cases, upended as we waited for vaccines against COVID-19.

As a mother and family nurse practitioner I have been a strong supporter of vaccines for our children for 20 years. This is because a vaccine is the single most important step someone can take to curb illnesses. I have traveled to Guatemala and Uganda and witnessed mothers walking hundreds of miles for hours to see their children receive a vaccine to keep them healthy. I talk to my own patients about the importance of vaccine-preventable diseases and encourage them to get their annual flu shot, tetanus booster and the HPV vaccine.

Viruses do not have borders, so supporting global vaccine funding is a necessity. I encourage all members of Congress to support access to vaccines across the globe.

Becky Elder, Boise

Interfaith Sanctuary

I used to love to go to the Xtreme Xtravagana, a fundraiser for Interfaith Sanctuary. I donated generously and left feeling good about my contribution to the congregate living (defined as a place where folks live in close quarters under one roof) homeless shelter for 140. I unquestioningly thought that was the way sheltering was done. Not so! Ive learned that congregate living is being dismantled all over the country in favor of more effective options. Best practice principles for shelter include smaller shelters, dispersed across zip codes, short lengths of stay, a wide residential buffer (at least 0.2 miles from single family residential) and rapid rehousing. Yet, Interfaith Sanctuary wants to welcome 228 people with beds, plus additional people sleeping on floor mats, to share a backyard with neighbors. Interfaith Sanctuary wants Boise to accept a shelter larger than 94% in the country, and the neighbors to welcome 200ish folks on the other side of their fence. I now have a clearer understanding of how those needing emergency shelter should be treated. People experiencing homeless deserve better, residential neighbors deserve better, Boise deserves better. I am asking our city to reject the current Interfaith Sanctuary plan and insist on best practice principles.

Bobbie Aitchison, Boise

Simpsons plan

Esto Perpetua. Each year, Idahos once renowned and abundant salmon runs decline. Scientists are emphatic: without breaching the four Lower Snake River dams, the wild chinook, sockeye and steelhead will go extinct. Congressman Mike Simpsons Columbia Basin Initiative will prevent this tragedy and ensure Idahos children know the beauty of these fish. Not only this, but the plan will also revitalize a $500 million annual fishing economy in Idaho, invest billions in Pacific Northwest energy and infrastructure, bring the Bonneville Power Administration back from the brink of bankruptcy, lower electricity prices, and improve transportation pricing for farmers along the Snake and Columbia. Congressman Simpson has met with thousands of stakeholders across Idaho, Washington and Oregon and shown himself to be an effective leader and true Idahoan. Its time the rest of the Idaho delegation get on board. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo should immediately get to work securing funding for this proposal and communicating to his colleagues its vitality for the Northwest. It would be a tragedy if Democrats roll out a $2 trillion infrastructure bill without adding necessary funding for Idaho because our elected officials are unwilling to come to the table. Esto Perpetua.

Shiva Rajbhandari, Boise
A study of almost 5 million live births in California by researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego reports that babies born to mothers diagnosed with cannabis use disorder were more likely to experience negative health outcomes, such as preterm birth and low birth weight, than babies born to mothers without a cannabis use disorder diagnosis.

The findings are published online in the April 22, 2021 issue of the journal Addiction. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the study.

Cannabis use disorder is a diagnostic term with specific criteria that defines continued cannabis use despite consequent, clinically significant impairments. The research team, led by first author Yuyan Shi, PhD, associate professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, conducted a retrospective cohort study of 4.83 million mothers who delivered live, single births in California from 2001 to 2012.

They identified 20,237 women who were discharged after delivery with a diagnosis of cannabis use disorder. Not all people who use cannabis meet the criteria for cannabis use disorder. The study authors stated the actual incidence of cannabis use disorder is likely higher than reported numbers.

The researchers found that diagnoses of cannabis use disorder, based on medical records at time of delivery, rose from 2.8 to 6.9 per 1000 deliveries from 2002 to 2012. Compared to a matched control group of 40,474 mother-infant pairs, infants born to women with cannabis use disorder were more likely to be born preterm, have a low birth weight and be small for their gestational age -; all factors that can require greater or more intense medical care or presage later health issues.

Additionally, researchers found that, though rare overall (less than 1 percent), the risk of infant mortality was greater for infants born to women with cannabis use disorder. These infants were 35 percent more likely to die within a year of birth than infants in the control group. Conversely, these infants were also less likely to be hospitalized within the first year of life than control group infants.

Because we are looking only at medical records, there is a lot we don't know about the mothers and infants in this study, but our analysis supports the recommendation that health professionals screen for and address cannabis use disorders in their pregnant clients -; to protect both their health and potentially the health of their infants." Yuyan Shi, First Author

Currently, screening for cannabis use or related disorders is not standard practice during pregnancy health care, though marijuana is the illicit drug most commonly used by pregnant women, typically to self-treat depression, anxiety, stress, pain, nausea and vomiting, often during the first trimester. It is also not standard of care to provide counsel on the lack of safety data around cannabis use during pregnancy. Both strategies may be helpful, as well as encouraging patients to discontinue use of cannabis during pregnancy and while breastfeeding and referring to treatment when appropriate.

According to a 2018 published study, approximately 7 percent of pregnant women self-reported marijuana use, with rates as high as 10 percent among women ages 18 to 25. Rates based on urine toxicology were even higher, with 19 percent of pregnant women ages 18 to 25 screening positive for marijuana use.

Previous research has found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in cannabis, can reach fetuses and infants through the placenta and breastmilk, respectively. THC disrupts the normal function of the endocannabinoid system, which has been shown to play a key role in pregnancy, including implantation of the embryo in the uterus and maintenance of the placenta.
UNO

News

2021

04

NU System President Carter Visits UNO Aviation Institute

NU System President Carter Visits UNO Aviation Institute Carter met with students and utilized the flight simulation facility.































University of Nebraska (NU) System President Ted Carter paid a visit to the University of Nebraska at Omahas campus on April 20 and explored theAviation Institute. During his visit to the institute, which is housed within the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS), Carter spoke with students and faculty and used theflight simulation facility.

About the University of Nebraska System

The University of Nebraska is the states only public university system, made up of four campuses  UNL, UNO, UNK and UNMC  each with a distinct role and mission. Together the campuses enroll more than 51,000 students and employ 16,000 faculty and staff who serve the state, nation and world through education, research and outreach. For more information and news from the University of Nebraska, visit www.nebraska.edu/news.

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.
Karl Stefanovic has divided opinion during an awkward interview with Australia's Miss Universe contestant after he questioned whether beauty pageants are 'outdated' and 'sexist'.

The Today show host was speaking to Miss Universe Australia, Maria Thattil, 28, who is competing in the international final in Miami in May, when she said all the entrants 'deserve to be there'.

'What a load of rubbish,' Stefanovic said jokingly, before the model responded with a passionate defence of beauty pageantry.

'We all deserve to be there because we wouldn't if we didn't,' Ms Thattil hit back.

'Listen to this guy. Thank God you're not representing Australia and it's me.'

Maria Thattil was crowned 2020's Miss Universe Australia in October. Karl Stefanovic's interview with the model has divided opinion after he questioned beauty pageants

The influencer and fashion blogger from Melbourne - who has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a masters in human resources - won Miss Universe Australia in October 2020.

Poll Did Karl Stefanovic have a point about beauty contests being 'outdated'? Yes No Did Karl Stefanovic have a point about beauty contests being 'outdated'? Yes 58 votes

No 40 votes Now share your opinion





She appeared on the breakfast show wearing a black swan-inspired outfit made from a corset-style top and large feathered wings that protruded from her waist.

Stefanovic raised the argument that some consider beauty contests to be an 'outdated' and 'sexist' concept.

'Think about the fact I've been on national television talking about racism, challenging what it means to be Australian, diversity and inclusion,' Ms Thattil replied.

'Had I not done something like this I wouldn't have the platform [to raise the issues]. It's what you make it.'

A Nine spokesman told Daily Mail Australia his comments were 'clearly sarcasm'.

Stefanovic raised the argument that beauty contests are an 'outdated' and 'sexist' concept during the interview on Wednesday morning

A Nine spokesman told Daily Mail Australia Stefanovic's comments were 'clearly sarcasm'

Some viewers reacting to the segment online said Stefanovic had no reason to be so critical of beauty contestants.

'Why is he so upset by this? She's so right, they wouldn't be there if they didn't deserve it. She's beautiful - spreading her message and positivity,' one wrote.

'What an amazing answer. She put him in his place respectfully. Queen!!' another said.

Others though thought Stefanovic was simply playing devil's advocate to make the interview more interesting, while some agreed with his stance.

'Do you watch this show regularly? Do you understand the dynamic and satire of the show and its hosts?,' one person wrote.

Ms Thattil will head overseas to compete in the Miss Universe international final in May thanks to a special travel exemption

'She handled it well. But a lot of women agree with his remarks. It's why a lot of these style "competitions" have stopped,' another said.

Ms Thattil told Daily Mail Australia her opinions about pageantry were her true beliefs, but that she didn't take offence to Stefanovic's comments.

'I have the greatest respect for Karl and didnt take offence to anything he said given the light hearted nature of the segment,' she said.

'The question about the relevance of the pageant in 2021 is an issue I have addressed before.

The influencer and fashion blogger from Melbourne - who has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a masters in human resources - won Miss Universe Australia in October 2020

'I explained that had it not been for the pageant platform, I would never have had such a global mic to my voice to share my own lived experiences as a person of colour in Australia, and to champion causes that are incredibly important to me.'

Ms Thattil, who was born in Australia to Indian migrants, will head overseas to compete in the international final in May thanks to a special travel exemption.

Her costume - which she will wear to the competition - was designed by Perth designer Nicola Yeung.

Ms Yeung also created 2019 Miss Universe Australia Francesca Hung's national gown, which was inspired by golden wattle.
New Delhi: Interior Designer and B-town celeb Sussanne Khan recently took to Instagram to share a lovely video of her singing a cover of the popular song 'Wonderwall' by Oasis and her ex-husband is floored with her sweet voice and performance.

In the video, Khan is seen sitting in her study with her bookshelf in the background.

She's seen wearing her glasses and donning a casual white tee with loosely tied hair. She sings without any instrumental letting her raw voice be the star of the show.

In the caption, she wrote, "Wonderwall amateur attempt to keeping a good mindset. Last year this time in the lockdown days, Singing was my happy space. This year, importantly each day, I make a note to self, to keep finding new ways to keep the mind tough and strong at these uncertain times. Thankfully now I dont need anyone to save me. My grit is my own Wonderwall. #staystrong #keepexploring #resilience #BeYourOwnWonderwall thank you @knowmadicneha for the motivation."

Check out her cover to the song 'Wonderwall':

The designer stuns fans with her sweet voice and one can't help but admire her performance.

Even her ex-husband Hrithik Roshan couldn't resist praising her spectacular performance of the song. He commented on the video saying, "Well done" and added a clapping emoji alongside it.

Sussanne's friends from the industry flooded to comments as well to shower praises on the 42-year-old. While Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu wrote, "Awwwwww" with a heart and hug emoji, Shilpa Shetty left her a kiss, saying, "muaaaaahhhh".

Other celebs such as Twinkle Khanna, Zayed Khan, Bhavana Pandey, Sonali Bendre also cheered for her in the comments.

Bollywood stars Hrithik and Sussanne divorced in 2014 but continue to share a cordial relationship.

They are always together when it comes to their sons and families. Both of them have been spotted with each other on lunch, dinner dates, and family holidays.

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown was announced, Hrithik had taken to social media to reveal that Sussanne had 'graciously volunteered' to temporarily move in with him in order to co-parent Hrehaan and Hredhaan.
A mother and her young son are fighting for their lives in induced comas after suffering horrific burns as a fire tore through their home.

Emergency services rushed to a level-three apartment on Walker Street in Waterloo, Sydney, just after 8.30am on Friday as flames destroyed the young boy's bedroom.

The son, aged about six or seven, was found in a critical condition and his mother aged in her thirties also suffered serious facial burns.

A mother and son are in an induced coma after a fire tore through their apartment in Waterloo as their dog is rescued by Fire services from the blaze (pictured)

The mother and her daughter were taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick after suffering burns

The pair were taken to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick by NSW Ambulance for further treatment.

NSW Fire Service said everyone - including the family's beloved pet dog - were rescued from the building as the blaze came under control by 8.48am.

A fire service crewman was spotted carrying the terrified pooch in his arms as they left the scene with an officer.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Giles Buchanan said the little boy had 'extensive, critical burns' and his mother had facial burns and burns to her upper torso.

'Technically he has full thickness burns which means the skin has burnt off, blistered, black down to the next layer of flesh,' he said.

'It's quite critical burns, other than the pain involved with that and the potential fluid loss through those burns we also have a large potential of airway burns.'

Mr Giles said the young boy is undergoing a sedation and will have a breathing tube put down in hospital.

'His mother, with facial burns, was hysterical other than being in pain, she's also seen some horrific injuries to her child and they were taken to hospital as quickly as we could.'

The fire began in a level three apartment on Walker Street, Waterloo (pictured)

Inspector Buchanan thanked the two neighbours who assisted at the scene.

'Without the two bystanders racing into the building to help evacuate those inside, the outcome could have been even more tragic,' he said.

'In a time critical situation some brave people stood up and took charge and I'm proud of all those involved.'

Two other children aged five and nine, two neighbours, and three police officers suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Six NSW Fire Service crews and seven NSW Ambulance crews attended the scene with the cause of the fire not yet known.

Police said a crime scene had been established and an investigation was ongoing.
Hyderabad, April 23 : Telangana Governor, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday called for utilising services of the volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Junior Red Cross (JRC) and Youth Red Cross (YRC) to create awareness on Covid-19 prevention and to promote vaccination.

She said that while strictly adhering to the Covid-appropriate behaviour, the volunteers can offer their services in creating awareness about the proper wearing of masks, maintaining social distance and avoiding gatherings among all the sections of the people in their respective places.

Soundararajan, in her capacity as the Chancellor of all the state universities, held a video conference with the Vice Chancellors of different universities and the senior officials of the Education Department.

During the video conference, she pointed out that students of higher educational institutions and volunteers of different wings like the NSS, the NCC, the YRC and the JRC are a great resource for utilisation to promote awareness among the people.

"We may come out with the best medicines, ventilators, or oxygen supplies, but it is very important to prevent the spread of the pandemic by educating different sections of the people. Public education is very vital in the prevention of the pandemics of this nature," she said.

"Though there is no need to panic, the situation is really alarming. It is anguishing to know that at least 40 per cent of the Covid-19 patients are youth. There is an urgent need to create better awareness about the necessity for the strict adherence to the preventive norms," she added.

Soundararajan exhorted the Vice Chancellors to encourage their students to launch social media campaigns and to come up with innovative ideas on the promotion of preventive norms and to encourage vaccination.

The Governor also instructed the Vice Chancellors to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of their teaching and non-teaching staff. All the eligible students, who are above 18 years, must also be encouraged to go for vaccination beginning from May 1.

She also reviewed the progress related to online classes, online examination, online valuation, results declaration, and the preventive norms in place in the campuses.

She directed the Vice Chancellors to expedite the networking and registration of all the alumni of their respective universities so as to utilise alumni services for the all-round development of the campuses and for the benefit of the present students.

She suggested the universities to build online and digital library resources for the benefit of those underprivileged students, who cannot access the online classes on time.

Special Chief Secretary, Education, Chitra Ramachandran, senior IAS officers Jayesh Ranjan, Arvind Kumar, B. Janardhan Reddy, Naveen Mittal, Neetu Kumari Prasad, Vikas Raj, Rahul Bojja and the Vice Chancellors of different universities presented their reports to the Governor.

Secretary to Governor, K. Surendra Mohan and other senior officials of the Raj Bhavan were present.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A high-profile privacy law and human rights expert has been extradited to Australia more than one year after handing himself into Dutch police over allegations he sexually abused children in the 1980s.

Simon Gordon Davies was the target of a global manhunt after a warrant was first issued for his arrest in 2016 for 18 alleged offences, and later an Interpol Red Notice in December 2017.

Mr Davies is a former adviser to governments in Australia, the US and UK, and an international spokesman on privacy laws and human rights.

Simon Davies was the target of a global manhunt after a warrant was first issued for his arrest in 2016. Credit:YouTube/PersBrusselD66

Police will allege the 65-year-old sexually and indecently assaulted children across Sydney in the 1980s, including at a refuge for troubled boys in Kings Cross that he ran and lived in for a period.
This right-wing clap back is fair play given that the former Prez penned an egomaniacal 706 page tome that would take a quick reader more than 15 hours to consume.

And given that fair criticism is part part of the discourse . . . Here's the pitch from Jack Cashill, Kansas City's most celebrated conservative author:

"This is the definitive book on Obama's life and presidency. It is the first book to incorporate what Obama has to say about himself in his new memoirand what Michelle has to say in hersinto the existing body of knowledge on Obama's chimerical life. Spoiler alert: nothing adds up. Pre-order now."

Tagline from the work . . .

"Black Americans hoped Barack Obama would lead them to the Promised Land, and white Americans hoped he would reconcile the races, but by failing to understand his country or himself, Obama pulled the nation apart."

You decide . . .
What do Old Navy and Harbor Freight have in common? Both businesses will have new locations on Joe Mann Boulevard open to the public in May.

Both businesses have been in development since around the start of 2021, and while neither has an official opening date, Midlanders should be able to enjoy these businesses very soon.

Harbor Freight

This Southern California-based tool and equipment company will soft-open its first location in Midland in mid-to-late May, said Frank Hoffman, director of corporate communications for Harbor Freight.

The official opening in early June will be the companys 38th in Michigan. The official date will be announced closer to opening day.

The store will be located at 701 Joe Mann Boulevard, where Planet Fitness used to be. The closest Harbor Freight locations to Midland are in Bay City and Saginaw, Hoffman said.

At this stage of development, he said most of the construction should be complete, with just the finishing touches and stocking left.

Hoffman said opening a location in Midland has been on the companys radar for a while; it was just a matter of finding the right-sized location.

It's going to be about 14,500 square feet, which is the right size for us, Hoffman said. We are a lot more compact than what we call the big-box retailers in the space, which we think is a competitive advantage.

Old Navy

The clothing realtor will mark its name in Midland by early May, said Old Navy spokeswoman Avery Vaught. The store will be located at 1118 Joe Mann Boulevard, where Bed, Bath and Beyond used to be.

Vaught did not have much info to share but did say the store is planning on hiring 30 employees and that Midlands location will be one of 46 locations opening across North America around the same time.

It will also feature the latest Old Navy store design and options for buying online, picking up in store and curbside pick-up.

Were focused on bringing affordable fashion to smaller markets where our loyal customers live, Vaught said.
Ukrainian army positions in Donbas have come under three attacks on Friday, but there are no casualties, the press center of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said, adding that 17 attacks were observed and one Ukrainian serviceman was killed on Thursday.

"As of 7:00 on April 23, three ceasefire violations were recorded by the Russian occupation forces ... There are no combat losses among Ukrainian defenders for the current day," the JFO staff said in its morning report on Facebook on Friday.

In particular, the enemy fire from 120-caliber mortars was recorded not far from the village of Novoselivka, and near Avdiyivka from automatic heavy-duty grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.

Over the past day, on April 22, 17 violations of the ceasefire were recorded.

In particular, near the villages of Pivdenne and Zaitseve, Russian mercenaries opened fire from 82 and 120 caliber mortars, and near Krasnohorivka - also from heavy anti-tank grenade launchers.

Not far from the village of Shumy, the enemy fired from an anti-tank missile system and 120-caliber mortars.

Near the settlements of Pisky, Zolote-4, Vodiane and Pavlopil, Ukrainian positions were fired upon from grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

In the suburbs of the village of Mayorske, the enemy used an anti-tank missile system, anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms.

"As a result of the shelling attacks of the positions of our units by the armed formations of the Russian Federation, one serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received a shrapnel wound incompatible with life," the report says.

In addition, in the area of the settlements of Krymske and Shumy, two overflights of enemy UAVs "Orlan-10" were recorded crossing the disengagement line.

The enemy's UAVs were suppressed in time by means of electronic warfare.
One on One with Joe Korkowski, as heard Saturdays on KXRA-1490AM (@7:40am) and KXRA-92.3FM (@8:00am), as well as each Sunday morning on KXRZ Z99.3fm (@10:15am).

The interview is also re-broadcast on Monday mornings on KX92 at 10:00am and on Z99 at 9:10am.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said silos are a "big bottleneck" in the functioning of the union government and asked bureaucrats to adopt innovative ways to break these to speed up various processes of governance.



He has asked the bureaucrats to work with dedication towards creation of New India by 2022.



He conveyed the message during interactions with around 380 Directors and Deputy Secretaries working in various departments and ministries in the government of India, the PMO said in a statement here today.



The interactions were held in four groups, it added.



Subjects such as governance, corruption, public enterprises, government e-marketplace (GeM), health, education, skill development, agriculture, transportation, national integration, water resources, swachh bharat, culture, communication and tourism came up for discussion during the interactions, the statement said.



The prime minister exhorted the officers to work with full dedication towards creation of New India by 2022, it said.



"He said that silos are a big bottleneck in the functioning of the union government," the statement said.



"He urged the officers to adopt innovative ways to break silos, which will result in the speeding up of various processes of governance," it added.



In the same vein, the prime minister said officers at the level of Director and Deputy Secretary must create teams, to achieve better results.



Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and senior officers from PMO and Cabinet Secretariat were present during the interactions held over various days, the last one being yesterday.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
In what is hoped to be an update on the missing Indonesia submarine, Indonesian officials said search teams discovered an object of "high magnetic energy" floating at a depth of 50 to 100 meters in the seas north of Bali, where a submarine carrying 53 crew members went missing.





Missing Indonesia submarine: Unidentified Object Found Floating

The Navy's Chief of Staff, Yudo Margono, said authorities hoped the unidentified object was the missing submarine KRI Nanggala-402, which lost contact with authorities on Wednesday during a torpedo exercise, according to a recently published article on Interesting Engineering.

Margono said that they were now waiting for a navy ship with underwater detecting capabilities to appear in the region before continuing their investigation. Furthermore, military officials stated that there was enough oxygen on board to last three days.

The submarine has already been lost for almost 48 hours, leaving only one day to find the 53 individuals before they run out of oxygen. In a recently published article on ABC, Margono said "Hopefully we can rescue them before the oxygen has run out."

Teams also found an object with a "high magnetic energy" floating in seas north of Bali at a depth of 50 to 100 meters. Notably, this is close to where the submarine vanished. If the detected object is the submarine, Navy officials believed the crew could have intentionally released its fuel load to cause it to float.

Margono mentioned that the teams are now waiting for a navy ship equipped with underwater detection equipment to arrive so that they can conduct further investigations.

Indonesia Pres. Joko Widodo said on Thursday, "I have ordered the military chief, navy chief of staff, the search and rescue agency and other instances to deploy all the forces and the most optimal efforts to find and rescue the submarine crew."

Indonesia Searches for Missing Submarine With 53 People on Board, Asks Australia for Help

What Happened to the Submarine?

According to navy spokesman, Colonel Julius Widjojono, the aging German-made submarine was performing a torpedo drill in waters north of Bali but failed to relay the results as predicted. Indonesia's Defence Ministry said the submarine was carrying 49 crew members, a captain, and three gunners, according to a published article on CNN News.

Authorities said the submarine requested permission to dive or submerge, at 3 a.m. local time Wednesday before losing contact. Margono claimed that the submarine had only launched two torpedoes as part of training drills, one with live ammo and the other with a practice warhead.

Widjojono claimed the submarine could dived up to 500 meters below sea level, but officials believed it went 200 meters deeper. Authorities are hopeful that the crew is safe but agreed that the condition could be fatal at that depth, according to Widjojono.

South China Sea: Indonesian Politician Said an Underwater Drone Might be Chinese Origin

Search and Rescue Operation

Indonesia has reached out to neighboring countries, Singapore and Australia, to locate the sailors while they are still alive. The Australian government gave the Indonesian military whatever help it could for the rescue mission.

Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne said, "We operate very different submarines from this one, but the Australian Defence Force and Australian Defence organization will work with defense operations in Indonesia to determine what we may be able to do."

Meanwhile, Indonesia sent a helicopter and five ships to explore the waters north of Bali's holiday island.

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Posted Friday, April 23, 2021 4:30 am

Henry James Kysar was born Dec. 26, 1944, to James and Edel (Christensen) Kysar in Vancouver, Wash. He passed away April 15, 2021, at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital from complications due to COVID pneumonia. Henry was number six in a family of twelve children. The family lived at the end of Elliot Road, Yacolt, Wash., all his parents married life. He attended Amboy Elementary School and Battle Ground High School, from which he graduated in 1963.

Henry married Leila Abernathy July 19, 1964. They lived most of their married life in North Clark County. They moved around the Pacific Northwest from 1992 to 2008, before returning to Clark County for the remainder of his life. The family lived in Baker, Ore., area for four years, moved to Priest River, Idaho, for two years then lived in Long Beach, Wash., for ten years.

After completing high school, he worked as a timber faller until 1971, when he went into business for himself. He was in construction for one year then operated Henry Kysar Logging, later Kysar Tree Farm Management, until he retired from owning his own logging business in 2002. His nephew, Mike Rotschy, worked for him as a young man, then joined him in partnership in his logging business until finally Mike took over the business, and Henry worked for him occasionally until being out in the woods became too difficult due of his age in 2018.

In 2002, while living at Long Beach, he started a handyman business called Handyman Henry and continued working as a handyman after his return to Clark County up to the time of his death. Henry was a very loving and kind man who made friends with everyone he met. He had a great sense of humor and was greatly loved by hundreds of people who knew him well and felt that he was a surrogate father or grandfather or friend to them all. Henry was a member of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church; his faith was central to his life and everyone who knew him was aware of the depth of his commitment to the true and living doctrine of Christ.

Henry and Leila were unable to have natural children, but opened their hearts and homes to their beloved adopted five children and two very special foster sons. Henry is survived by his beloved wife of almost 57 years, Leila; his son, Nathan Kysar with wife, Stacy of Brush Prairie, Wash.; daughter, Darlene Homola with husband, Craig of Brush Prairie, Wash.; twin sons, James Kysar of South Seattle, Wash., and Joel Kysar with wife, Mary of Woodland, Wash.; and his daughter, Mia Kaski with husband, Harold of Battle Ground, Wash.; 24 grandchildren; 10 step-grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren; though Henry said all his grandchildren were great. David Reddig and Billy Reddig lived with Henry and Leila during their high school years and were a dearly beloved addition to their family.

Henry is also survived by his sister, Emily Sarkinen of Battle Ground, Wash.; sister-in-law, Linda Kysar of Yacolt, Wash.; brother, Daniel Kysar of Amboy, Wash.; sister, Kathryn Bean with husband, Tom of Vancouver, Wash.; sister, Marie Rotschy of Yacolt, Wash.; sister, Becky Abernathy with husband, Mark of Kalispell, Mont.; brother-in-law, Jerry Tormanen with wife, Debbie of Battle Ground, Wash.; sister-in-law, Debbie Kopman with husband, Dale of Hayti, S.D.; brother, Jay Kysar with wife, Charlotte of Amboy, Wash.; brother, Jon Kysar with wife, Cheryl of Yacolt, Wash., brother, Edwin Kysar with wife, Laurie of Amboy, Wash.; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

Henry was preceded in death by his parents, James and Edel Kysar; his two brothers, David Kysar and Loren Kysar; and sister, Cindy Tormanen.

Funeral will be held at Old Apostolic Lutheran Church of Yacolt at 1 p.m., April 21, 2021, with internment at Elim Cemetery, Brush Prairie, Wash. There with be a recessional viewing at the funeral.
(Newser)  A judge sentenced a Bangladeshi immigrant to life in prison Thursday, saying he plotted to carry out a "barbaric and heinous" plot to kill as many people as he could with a suicide bombing in New York City's subway beneath Times Square in 2017. Akayed Ullah, 31, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Judge Richard Sullivan, who said Ullah had carried out "about as serious a crime as there is," though he largely failed when the bomb attached to his chest barely exploded, burning him severely but largely sparing those around him from severe injuries. "A life sentence is appropriate," Sullivan said. The judge told him that life in prison was "less draconian than the sentence you were going to impose on yourself," the AP reports. Ullah, 31, with his tearful mother looking on from a courtroom bench behind him, apologized before hearing the sentence. "I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, I'm deeply sorry," Ullah said, adding, "I do not support harming innocent people."

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Prosecutors had sought the life term for Ullah, saying the "premeditated and vicious" attack was committed on behalf of the Islamic State group. But defense lawyer Amy Gallicchio said Ullah deserved no more than the mandatory 35 years in prison. She said he had "lived lawfully and peacefully" before the December 2017 attack that she blamed on a personal crisis that left him isolated and suicidal. "He's not an evil man. He is not a monster," she said. The attack in a pedestrian tunnel beneath Times Square and the Port Authority bus terminal spared some pedestrians nearby from serious injuries, though the government noted that one bystander has lost 70% of his hearing. At trial, prosecutors showed jurors Ullah's post-arrest statements and social media comments, including when he taunted then-President Trump on Facebook before the attack. Hours after the bombing attempt, Trump derided the immigration system that had allowed Ullahand multitudes of law-abiding Bangladeshisto enter the US. ("I was angry with Donald Trump," Ullah said.)
The Centre on Friday said it will provide 5 kg of food grains free-of-cost to around 80 crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) beneficiaries during May and June 2021 amidst the second wave of COVID-19 cases.

"In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to the poor, the Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @5 kg per person per month to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA food grains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)," a government statement said.

While announcing the scheme, the prime minister stressed that it is important for the poor to get nutritional support at a time when the country is facing the second wave of the pandemic.

"Under this special scheme, around 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries -- covered under both categories of NFSA; Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Householders -- will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost food grains (rice/wheat) at a scale of 5 kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA," it added.

The Centre will spend Rs 26,000 crore under the scheme. The government had announced PM-GKAY in March last year when the first nationwide lockdown was imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in June, the scheme was extended till November.

With states like Maharashtra and Delhi imposing lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, many migrants have started returning back to their hometowns and villages. Earlier this week when Delhi government announced a 6-day lockdown, thousands of daily wagers had crowded the Anand Vihar bus station to get a ride back to their homes. Similar situation was also seen at Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak Terminus after Maharashtra closed all factories and shops.

On Friday, India recorded another day of a record-high 3,32,730 new coronavirus cases over the preceding 24 hours. The number of active cases now stand at 24,28,616.

Also Read: Rs 1.5 lakh cr hit on India's GDP due to lockdown; Maha, MP & Rajasthan account for 80%

Also Read: Vaccinating Indians above 18 years to cost less than 1% of annual GDP: India Ratings

Also Read: Second COVID-19 wave likely to peak in third week of May: SBI
YEREVAN.  The deputy mayor of Goris, Armenia, Menua Hovsepyan has been released. This was informed to Armenian News-NEWS.am by lawyer Armen Melkonyan, who added, however, that Hovsepyan had been charged with hooliganism.

Melkonyan noted a signature bond not to leave the country had been enforced as a pretrial measure against Menua Hovsepyan.

Earlier, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan granted the appeal against the decision to detain the deputy mayor of Goris, finding this detention as illegal. Lawyer Davit Karapetyan had informed this to reporters.

Menua Hovsepyan's lawyer Davit Karapetyan has submitted a report to the Special Investigation Service, noting that his client was illegally brought to the Investigative Committee of Armenia, where he suffered bodily injuries, presumably on the order of one of the administrators.

Menua Hovsepyan was apprehended by the police on Thursday, after midnight.

On Wednesday, Hovsepyan, along with numerous other residents of Syunik Province, also had taken part in the protests against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The police also had apprehended Meghri mayor Mkhitar Zakaryan and former head of Shurnukh village Ararat Aghabekyan. Zakaryan has been detained.
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DENVER  Another Colorado man charged in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol was released from custody Thursday after making his first appearance in federal court.

According to an arrest affidavit, investigators identified Jacob Clark of the small southern city of Trinidad as being at the Jan. 6 riot by matching images of him captured by the Capitols surveillance cameras with his Colorado drivers license.

The investigators also relied on a photo of him from a now deleted social media account shared with them by someone who has known him for much of his life, the documents said. That person also supplied investigators with his phone number and his phone was tracked to being at the Capitol that day, the documents said.

The documents included an image of the man identified as Clark in a group of people trying to enter a door that three plainclothes officers were trying to close. According to the affidavit, the group engaged in some shoving and punching with the officers. Another image proports to show Clark as he allegedly squares up with one of the officers as if to fight him but the officer retreats, it says.

According to the affidavit, later Clark confronted a uniformed officer, putting his hands on him, and another officers body camera recorded him saying Next time were coming with (unintelligible).

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When officers tell him they are doing their jobs, he screams So were the Nazis! and Stand down! the documents said.

Clark has been charged with disorderly conduct in a restricted building, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, and obstruction of Congress.

He is represented by a lawyer from the federal public defenders office, David Johnson, which does not comment on cases.

At least five other people from Colorado have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot. Two others were arrested in Washington that week  one on a weapons charge the day before the riot and the other for violating a curfew imposed in response to it.
"We are honored that Sara was recognized for her outstanding contributions and leadership of CopperPoint's Legal team," said Marc Schmittlein, President & CEO. "Sara has been instrumental in contributing to CopperPoint's growth and transformation and we greatly value the expertise and integrity she brings to the company, our Board of Directors, employees and customers. Sara is also an engaged community leader and sets a high standard for giving back to the local communities where we live and work. On behalf of all employees, I extend a sincere congratulations to Sara on this well-deserved recognition."

Previously, Begley has been honored with a number of awards. In 2018, she was named General Counsel of the Year by the Phoenix Business Journal and received the Ronald McDonald Charities "Heart of the House" Award the same year. In 2019, she was named one of Arizona's Most Influential Women in Business by AZ Business Magazine.

She is active within the community and serves on several boards including the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and the Arizona Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund.

About CopperPoint Insurance Companies

Founded in 1925, CopperPoint Insurance Companies, www.copperpoint.com, is a western-based super regional commercial insurance company and a leading provider of workers' compensation and commercial insurance solutions. With an expanded line of insurance products and a growing 10 state footprint in the western United States, CopperPoint is in a strong position to meet the evolving needs of our brokers, agents and customers. It has $5 billion in total assets and an enterprise surplus of over $1.5 billion.

CopperPoint Mutual Insurance Holding Company is the corporate parent of CopperPoint Insurance Companies, Pacific Compensation Insurance Company and Alaska National Insurance Company. All companies are rated A (Excellent) by AM Best.

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KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Elvis Presley is set to return to a German town where he lived in the late 1950s as a U.S. Army private, in the form of a nearly 6-foot-tall bronze statue.

The statue will be placed by August in Bad Nauheim on a pedestrian bridge spanning the aptly named Usa River, where Presley took part in a photo shoot in March 1959, town spokeswoman Linda Doengens said.

To prepare for the statue's arrival, the bridge's vertical, postwar railings were replaced with decorative wrought-iron ones similar to what was there when the pictures of Presley were taken, she said.

The statue will be on the bridge in time for Bad Nauheim's annual Elvis festival, when the usually quiet spa town is transformed into what it describes on its website as "a sea of Cadillacs, petticoats and Elvis quiffs," with rock 'n' roll as the soundtrack.

The celebration of the life and music of Bad Nauheim's most famous former resident was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the 18th edition of the festival is scheduled for Aug. 13-15, health conditions permitting, the organizers have said. It's always held around the anniversary of Presley's death in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 16, 1977.

Two German fans of the King, Angela Storm and Meike Berger, raised more than $42,000 to pay for the statue, which was made based on a 3D rendering of the 1959 image of Presley on the bridge. The 440-pound statue has been cast by a foundry and was presented to the media last month. It will remain on the bridge after the August festival.

Presley was already a star when he received his draft notice from the Army in December 1957, with a string of hit records including "Heartbreak Hotel," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Hound Dog," and a movie, "Love Me Tender."

He received a deferment to allow him to finish work on the movie "King Creole" and reported on March 24, 1958.

After basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, he shipped out to Germany, where he spent 18 months serving in Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Division, based in Friedberg.

He spent a few nights in an Army bunk in Building 3707 at Ray Barracks in Friedberg but then was allowed to live off base with his father, grandmother and some friends from Tennessee who followed him to Germany.

They lived briefly in a hotel in Bad Homburg and then in one in Bad Nauheim, which was closer to Friedberg. But they were told they would have to move out because King Saud of Saudi Arabia, who regularly visited the spa town for health care, had booked the entire building for himself and his entourage.

The statue coming to Bad Nauheim isn't the only memorial to Presley in the region. The lights at a crosswalk in Friedberg flash images of Presley, and there's a statue of him in a traffic circle across from where the main gate to Ray Barracks used to be.

Stars and Stripes reporter Karin Zeitvogel contributed to this report.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has once again fallen short of calling the Ottoman Empire's mass murders of the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks as genocide, as descendants of the communities prepare to March for Justice under the banner of #SpeakUpScoMo in Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday 24th April 2021, ARMENPRESS wa sinformed from the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

Prime Minister Morrison released a statement on the occasion marking the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, once again reversing his own desire as a backbench Member of Parliament in 2011, when he said "we should recognise the Armenian Genocide".

His letter went further than the one that caused great offence to the community in 2019, when he referred to the Armenian Genocide as "horrors that befell the Armenian people".



This time, Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded the Armenians suffered "enormous loss", referring to "the tragedy of dispossession, deportation and death" and he referenced the eyewitness accounts of Australian prisoners of war, which "stirred outpouring of material and practical support from Australia" including "to the Australasian Orphanage in Antilyas, Lebanon".

However, Prime Minister Morrison's failure to correctly characterise 1915 as genocides ensures Australia remains behind over 30 nations, including the United States Congress, as President Joe Biden looks set to ensure his Administration joins his parliament in correctly referring to the Armenian Genocide in his widely anticipated statement this weekend.



ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian said that what effectively amounts to the continued appeasement of genocide denial as outlined by Prime Minister Morrison's statement will be the focus of the discontent set to be communicated by the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities, who have joined forces under the Joint Justice Initiative brand to lead their communities in protest marches in Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday 24th April 2021 and to continue to lobby for recognition of the genocides.



"While we appreciate Prime Minister's recognition of Australia's first major international humanitarian relief effort to aid the victims of 1915, his failure to call a genocide by name is unacceptable to our communities," said Kayserian.



"The Prime Minister acknowledges there was dispossession, deportation and death suffered by the Armenians, which led to this relief effort, but his failure to call out the Armenian Genocide means these crimes were not committed based on the grounds of race."



"This defies logic, considering the scholar who coined the term genocide, Professor Raphael Lemkin himself said he was motivated by the crimes committed against the Armenians and the Jews when concluding a term and legal convention was required to stop the cycle of genocide," Kayserian added.



On April 23, 2021, an unprecedented number of Australian politicians offered messages supporting Federal recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides for the 106th Anniversary Commemoration, which was live streamed online.

Minister Paul Fletcher continued his steadfast support calling for national recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Government in which he serves, Premier Gladys Berejiklian similarly declared she was hopeful Australia will be the next country to join the side of truth and justice on this issue, as did federal parliamentarians Adam Bandt  Leader of The Australian Greens, Member for Berowra Julian Leeser, Member for Goldstein Tim Wilson, Member for Hunter Joel Fitzgibbon, Senator Andrew Bragg, Senator Eric Abetz, Senator Kristina Keneally, Member for Mackellar Jason Falinski MP, Member for Reid Fiona Martin, Member for Macarthur Mike Freelander, Member for Macnamara Josh Burns, Member for Bennelong John Alexander, Member for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman and Member for Adelaide Steve Georganas.



New South Wales parliamentarians joining the chorus calling for national recognition included the co-convenors of the states Armenia-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, Member for Davidson Jonathan ODea and Walt Secord, Member for Ryde Victor Dominello, Member for Prospect Hugh McDermott, and Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin.



In addition to these political messages of support, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has received letters calling for his accurate recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides from Mr. Trent Zimmerman MP and Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP  as co-convenors of the Armenia-Australia Inter-Parliamentary Union, Senator Janet Rice  as the Foreign Affairs Spokesperson of The Australian Greens, Hon. Jonathan ODea MP and Hon. Walt Secord MLC  as co-convenors of the New South Wales Armenia-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, the New South Wales Young Liberals, the New South Wales Ecumenical Council representing 16 churches, Christian Charity Barnabas Fund Australia, Kurdish Lobby Australia, as well as from numerous prominent academics.

On 20th April, the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies passed a motion joining their peak Executive Council of Australian Jewry reiterating their call on the Australian Government and all governments to recognise the Armenian Genocide at a plenum held in Sydney titled "Learning from the Holocaust: Why countries should recognise the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides".

"The evidence is in. Australia has already spoken on the issue of recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides. We are just waiting for our Prime Minister and his Government to join us," said Kayserian.




HSINCHU CITY, TAIWAN  April 23, 2021  Andes Technology Corporation (TWSE: 6533), a leading supplier of high efficiency, low-power 32/64-bit RISC-V processor cores and Founding Premier member of RISC-V International, today announced the new upgrade of AndeSight IDE v5.0, which targets to accelerate RISC-V AI and IoT developments by strengthening several innovative and useful features.

AI and IoT applications are blooming everywhere. The products serving the market must not only come with good performance, high efficiency, and low power consumption to meet the constraints for computing and energy, but also need to reduce time-to-market to respond to the ever-changing market needs. AndeSight IDE v5.0 rolls out new functions to address those issues, and brings the ultimate runtime performance and development efficiency to users.

The Core for AI Computations: RISC-V DSP/SIMD extension (RVP), vector extensions (RVV), and the tools and runtime from AndeSight IDE

RVP exactly addresses the balance between low-volume data computation and power consumption. By providing the compact SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) and DSP (Digital signal processing) capability, it forms a very competitive basis for the TinyML, AIoT, and signal processing applications on edge and endpoints. RVV targets high-volume data computation, no matter in the edge or cloud, it provides very scalable, efficient, and powerful compute capabilities for general AI, NN, and data processing applications.

To unlock the potential of a powerful ISA extension, a simple and straightforward programming model is critical. AndeSight IDE v5.0 supports toolchains for the standard-bound specification of RVP and RVV, highly-optimized DSP and Vector libraries, intrinsic functions, and sample codes to guide code optimization. A key advantage is that software developers can build applications completely in C using efficient intrinsic and optimized libraries APIs, freeing developers from writing error-prone assembly code, and matching the performance of the same applications built with hand-code assembly.

To explore the full capabilities of processors and achieve the ultimate performance, an advanced processor pipeline analyzer is needed. AndesClarity visualizes the performance and resource bottleneck. Stall bubbles and data dependency are shown clearly along with the instructions, the C source code, and hardware functional units.

In addition, Andes provides the Andes NN Library that dramatically speeds up the development of Neural Network algorithms. It achieves a 66x speedup of MobileNet-v1 with half-precision floating-point, 256-bit SIMD width, and 512-bit vector length over RISC-V baseline extension. Moreover, TensorFlow Lite for Microcontroller can execute all built-in NN models with Andes NN Library on development boards.

Develop Up-to-date RTOS and Linux Applications along with AndeSight IDE Powerful Tools

AndeSight IDE v5.0 supports Linux LTS (Long-Term Support) kernel v5.4, and the popular RTOS such as FreeRTOS and Zephyr. Andes Linux kernel has verified with LTP (Linux Test Project), and seamlessly booted with Fedora or Debian Linux distro on Andes development boards along with the device drivers. To provide a smaller image for embedded Linux applications, Andes also offers RISC-V 32-bit Linux kernel to run on the corresponding Andes processors. Andes FreeRTOS port has passed the AWS Qualification Program for RTOS, which validates the pre-integrated port on microcontroller-based boards by AWS (Amazon Web Service)1. Andes Zephyr port supports SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing) and has been verified on Andes RISC-V multicore. Developers only need to focus on the application itself and do not need to worry about the fundamental software.

To further enhance the ultimate debugging efficiency, the versatile features of scripting and grouping are enabled by AndeSight IDE. AndeSight scripting can record the UI operations from one developer, and replay on another environment. It saves time to reproduce issues from the field. Similar to GDB Python scripts feature, users can automate and scale the debugging procedures with Python programming. Core Grouping is a useful feature to allow users to develop the multicore software with separate build and debug configurations, and sending debug commands to a specific set of cores at the same time.

AndeSight IDE v5.0 comprehensive features enriched from 16-year continuous development, including but not limited to the outstanding toolchains, highly-optimized C libraries, AndeSim near cycle simulator, easy-to-use profiling and analyzing tools, virtual hosting, RTOS awareness, and abundant reference codes.

We are excited to announce that AndeSight IDE v5.0 is ready for release. AndeSight IDE v5.0 is the new milestone of our RISC-V software solutions. It is the latest Andes offering for RISC-V community, and we expect it to speed up RISC-V SoC development to a new level. said Andes President and CTO Dr. Charlie Su. Comprehensively optimized tools and runtime are the other sides of a coin. Processors cannot work efficiently and perform outstandingly without matching software solutions. Well continue to invest in our RISC-V software solutions to bring the best performance for RISC-V processor solutions to the RISC-V community.

AndeSight IDE v5.0 will be available for licensing after June 2021. For more details of the AndeSight features, please visit Andes Webinar (http://www.andestech.com/en/webinar_en/) and register the talk Accelerating RISC-V AI and IoT Development with Andes Software Solutions at 10:00 AM (CEST) and 09:00 AM (PDT) in Arp 28 (Thu.).

About Andes Technology

Andes Technology (TWSE: 6533) was established in Hsinchu Science Park in 2005. Sixteen years in business and a founding Premier member of RISC-V International, Andes is a leading supplier of high-performance/low-power 32/64-bit embedded processor IP solutions, and a main force to take RISC-V mainstream. Andes fifth-generation AndeStar architecture adopted the RISC-V as the base. Its V5 RISC-V CPU families range from tiny 32-bit cores to advanced 64-bit cores with DSP, FPU, Vector, Linux, superscalar and/or multicore capabilities. The annual volume of Andes-Embedded SoCs has exceeded 2 billion since 2020. Up to the end of 2020, the cumulative volume of Andes-Embedded SoCs has reached 6 billion.

About RISC-V AndesCore

Andes Technologys comprehensive CPU includes entry-level, mid-range, high-end, extensible and security families to address the full range of embedded electronics products, especially for connected, smart and green applications. From 2017, Andes expands its product line to RISC-V processors and provides a total solution in V5 family cores, including N22, N25F/NX25F, D25F, A25/AX25, A25MP/AX25MP, A27/AX27/NX27V, A45/D45/N45 and AX45/DX45/NX45.

For more information about Andes Technology, please visit http://www.andestech.com/






A New York man who boasted to his Bumble match about storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot was arrested Thursday after his would-be date contacted authorities, according to court documents.

Robert Chapman, of Carmel, was taken into custody by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of knowingly entering a restricted building, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

His attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

The FBI was alerted to Chapman's involvement by his match on Bumble, an app primarily used for dating, according to a complaint.

The unidentified match provided screenshots of their Jan. 13 conversation with Chapman, during which he allegedly said, "I did storm the Capitol and made it all the way to Statuary Hall."

Image: Robert Chapman (via FBI)

Chapman also talked about how he did media interviews after the riot, according to the complaint.

"We are not a match," the prospective date responded.

The FBI said that a man who appears to be Chapman was seen inside Statuary Hall in body-camera video from the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C.

Chapman also bragged about being in the Capitol on Facebook, according to the complaint. In one post, he allegedly wrote, "I'm f------ inside the Crapitol." He also posted a photo of himself posting next to a statue inside the building, and another of himself inside the Rotunda.

During its investigation, federal authorities learned that Chapman had been arrested by New York state police in 2017. The complaint does not say why he was arrested, but the state police assisted the FBI with its investigation.

Chapman was released on his own recognizance.
New Delhi, April 23 : Read a fictionalised biography of Kasturba Gandhi, who was as strong and great as the Mahatma; theres a love saga between a widower and an estranged woman; a tale of a 'new woman at the turn of Independence; analyse the relevance of older values in present-day life and the need to change with the times; observe the generational change and conflict in a Tamil community.

There's this and much more as starting Saturday, over the next 20 days, Niyogi Books offers you from its Thornbird imprint a compelling melange of Indian language literature in translation -- one book a day at Re 1 each, in collaboration with the Indian Novels Collective and downloadable on Amazon.

Here's what's on offer: April 24: The Heroine and Other Stories by D. Jayakanthan (translated from Tamil). Each story in this collection delves into the depths of the human psyche, revealing the hidden strengths ordinary people find within themselves when faced with extraordinary circumstances.

April 25: Ballad of Kaziranga by Dileep Chandan (translated from Assamese). This is not a love story (although it does seep in), but rather, the story of love three friends share for the beautiful and majestic Kaziranga, in their own unique way.

April 26: Blossoms in the Graveyard by Jnanpith Awardee Birendra Kumar Bhattacharyya (translated from Assamese) is the story of a young girl from a village in what is at that time East Pakistan as she journeys from dependence to self-reliance in the midst of the Bangladesh liberation struggle.

April 27: Elegy for the East by Dhrubajyoti Borah (translated from Assamese) explores the utter helplessness and travails of man in face of the relentless march of history.

April 28: Brink by S.L. Bhyrappa (translated from Kannada) is a love saga between Somashekhar, a widower, and Amrita, an estranged woman and deliberates on the moral, philosophical, and physical aspects of love between a man and a woman.

April 29: Kasturba Gandhi: A Bio-fiction by Giriraj Kishore (translated from Hindi) ?is the fictionalised biography of Kasturba Gandhi, a woman as strong and great as Mahatma Gandhi, who earned a place in history because of her personal sacrifices and strength of conviction in what was right.

April 30: A Plate of White Marble by Bani Basu (translated from Bengali). It is the tale of the 'new woman' of an era that has just witnessed the independence of a nation.

May 1: A Day in the Life of Mangal Taram by Anita Agnihotri (translated from Bengali) is a selection of 14 stories out of over 200 short stories written by Anita Agnihotri, whose works traverse a wide range of human emotions, spanning over three decades.

May 2: Island of Lost Shadows by E. Santhosh Kumar (translated from Malayalam). Through the voices of a myriad and sharply sketched characters, the author brings to life the troubled times of the Seventies when sadistic excesses were the norm.

May 3: Giligadu: The Lost Days by Sahitya Akademi winner Chitra Mudgal (translated from Hindi) is a multi-layered novelette, short in length yet deep in meaning and messages for urban India.

May 4: Generations by Neela Padmanabhan (translated from Tamil) is an intricate tale, simply told by a master of fiction about a community of Tamil speakers who live on the borders of modern-day Kerala - a novel of generational change and conflict.

May 5: A Fistful of Mustard Seeds by E. Santhosh Kumar (translated from Malayalam) explores moral dilemmas and personal traumas and delves into the dark recesses of the soul.

May 6: Land Lust by Joginder Paul (translated from Urdu) offers poignant glimpses of the unequal multiracial relations in colonial Kenya, evoking insightful moments of compassion from within the harsh xenophobic environs.

May 7: Laila Ke Khutoot: The Letters of Laila by Qazi Abdul Ghaffar (translated from Urdu) has been hailed as the 'first specimen of a truly psychoanalytical fiction in Urdu'.

May 8: In the Glow of Your Being by Govind Mishra (translated from Hindi) examines the issues faced by the modern Indian woman and probes deep into the question of their freedom and its denial by society.

May 9: The Elixir of Everlasting Youth by Lakshmi Nandan Bora (translated from Assamese) is the story of an internationally renowned scientist who apparently has everything - scientific breakthroughs, awards, fame, wealth and a fine family; the key to rejuvenation continues to elude him till he finally learns the secret, helped by a yogi's treatment and modern science.

May 10: The Story of a Timepiece: A Collection of Short Stories by Sankarankutty Pottekkat (translated from Malayalam) deals with complex characters and human relationships in realistic, everyday situations, often reflecting the social consciousness of the pre-Independence period.

May 11: The Musk and Other Stories by Arupa Patangia Kalita (translated from Assamese) is an eclectic mix of short stories and a novella that sheds light on some of the burning issues that reverberate through the Assam Valley.

May 12: Jallianwala Bagh: Literary Responses in Prose & Poetry Edited by Rakhshanda Jalil (translated from Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi) attempts to open a window into the world of possibilities that literature offers to reflect, interpret and analyse events of momentous historical import.

May 13: Beasts of Burden by Imayam (translated from Tamil). Set in the early 1970s when ritual status and payment in kind were giving way to cash wages, this is an extraordinarily detailed picture of a lifestyle that has now passed.

Here's a chance to chance to build up an eclectic library at virtually zero cost. What are you waiting for?
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An article on Thursday about safety flaws at a Baltimore plant that led to the disposal of up to 15 million possibly contaminated doses of Johnson & Johnsons coronavirus vaccine misquoted a line in the F.D.A. report about the Emergent vaccine plant. The report said there was no assurance that other batches have not been subject to cross-contamination. It did not say: have not been contaminated.

ARTS

An article on Thursday about a new boxed set of recordings from John Lennons Plastic Ono Band, his first post-Beatles solo album, misspelled the surname of a musician who played on the album. He is Klaus Voormann, not Voorman.

An article on Thursday about a collaboration effort between Judson, Los Angeless oldest stained glass studio, and local artists described incorrectly the UNESCO status of Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Los Angeles. Wrights Hollyhock House is a UNESCO site, but not the Ennis House.

Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions.
The news outlets being sued by Ben Roberts-Smith have lost their bid to include in a defamation trial evidence of new allegations of serious criminal conduct against the former SAS soldier over his conduct in Afghanistan.

But a Federal Court judge on Friday granted The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald permission to use new evidence of eight Australian soldiers who are expected to detail Mr Roberts-Smiths involvement in several incidents including the alleged murders of two Afghan men in 2009, to bolster the news outlets truth defence.

Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith. Credit:Getty Images

Mr Roberts-Smith, a highly decorated former soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, is suing The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald over reports he allegedly committed murder during deployments to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, and that he also allegedly punched his mistress in the face in Canberra in 2018.

Mr Roberts-Smith denies the allegations and says the reports are defamatory because they portray him as a criminal.
Bangkok, April 23 : Thailand's total Covid-19 cases have surpassed 50,000 as a record of 2,070 new infections were recorded on Friday, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The total tally now stands at 50,183, the Xinhua news agency quoted CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin as saying.

Of the new cases, 2,062 were domestic transmissions, including 740 in the capital Bangkok, the epicenter of the recent outbreak, and eight others were imported cases, Taweesin said.

Four new deaths were also reported, raising the death toll to 121, he added.

A total of 30,189 patients have fully recovered and been released from hospitals, while 19,873 others are currently hospitalised.

As of Thursday, 964,825 doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered across the country, and roughly 130,000 people had been fully vaccinated.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The Defence Ministry on Friday said it will airlift 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany to augment the supply of medical oxygen amidst a shortage in the country because of the rising COVID-19 cases.

The oxygen will be used at the COVID-19 hospitals being run by Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) across the country.

"23 mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany. Armed Forces Medical Service has decided to import oxygen generation plants and containers from Germany to cater to the shortage," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The oxygen generating plants are expected to arrive within a week. "Each plant has a capacity to produce 40 litres of oxygen per minute and 2,400 litres an hour. At this rate, it can cater to 20-25 patients round the clock. The advantage of these plants is that they are easily portable," the ministry added.

Also read: Vaccinating Indians above 18 years to cost less than 1% of annual GDP: India Ratings

Amidst the surge in COVID-19 cases and the rise in hospitalised patients because of the infection, many states and hospitals are facing a scarcity of medical oxygen. The country reported 3,32,730 new COVID-19 cases and 2,263 deaths because of the infection in the preceding 24 hours as of Friday morning.

AFMS is running the COVID-19 hospitals set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). One such hospital in Delhi with 250 beds has already been set up, while a hospital in Patna with 500 beds has also started operations. The number of beds in the Delhi hospital is being increased to 500, while a 450-bed hospital in Lucknow, a 750-bed hospital in Varanasi and a 900-bed hospital in Ahmedabad have also been set up.

Military hospitals that cater to serving personnel, their dependents and ex-servicemen are also packed with coronavirus patients.

Efforts are also being made to increase the capacity of Army's Base Hospital in Delhi, India Today quoted sources as saying. The hospital was turned into an exclusive COVID care hospital on Thursday and the number of oxygen beds, currently at 258, will be increased in the next few days.

Also read: Second COVID-19 wave likely to peak in third week of May: SBI
After the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh, its somewhat pointless to prove that Turkey has military presence in Azerbaijan. This is what researcher of the Center for Strategic Studies at Yerevan State University Edgar Elbakyan during todays conference entitled Armenia and Turkey in the South Caucasus: Realities and Risks.

According to him, a vacuum has emerged in Azerbaijan after the war.

The ethnos of Azerbaijan has been built under the principle of revenge over and hatred towards the Armenians, he stated, adding that Turkey has invaded the South Caucasus several times and that this is definitely a problem for Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijanis need to try to establish balance through Russia. The Turkish presence also implies the withdrawal of Russia. Turkey wants to have its share of the assistance that it provided to Azerbaijan to achieve victory. With a military base in the so-called de facto territory of Azerbaijan, Russia will constantly remind this and win dividends, Elbakyan clarified.
Nicola Sturgeon today slapped down an SNP Holyrood candidate for claiming that putting up the 'softest of borders' with England could help to create jobs in an independent Scotland.

Emma Harper, an MSP in the last parliament who is standing for the nationalist party in West Dumfries and Galloway, said that 'we can show that a border will work'.

But Ms Sturgeon has insisted 'nobody in the SNP wants to see a border between Scotland and England' as she blamed Brexit for raising the prospect of future trade checks.

The Scottish Conservatives said the suggestion of a hard border between the two countries 'would be laughable if it wasn't so irresponsible'.

Ms Sturgeon wants to hold a re-run of the 2014 independence referendum and she believes winning a majority at the elections on May 6 would force Boris Johnson to agree to a ballot.

The SNP leader has said repeatedly that an independent Scotland would seek to rejoin the EU as quickly as possible.

But that has raised questions over whether trade checks would be required between Scotland and England because goods going from the south to the north would be entering the EU market.

Nicola Sturgeon today slapped down an SNP Holyrood candidate for claiming that putting up the 'softest of borders' with England could help to create jobs in an independent Scotland

Emma Harper, an MSP in the last parliament who is standing for the nationalist party in West Dumfries and Galloway, said that 'we can show that a border will work'

Ms Sturgeon said today: 'I have not seen Emma's comments directly but nobody in the SNP wants to see a border between Scotland and England.

'This is only being talked about because the UK government has decided to leave the EU and rip Scotland out of the EU.

'I want Scotland to trade freely across the UK and to trade freely within the world's biggest single market which is the European single market.

'It is the Tories that are about borders, it is the SNP, about Scotland being an independent country but then operating economically and socially on the basis of equality.'

In an interview with ITV Border's Representing Border programme last night, Ms Harper had said: 'We've already got a hard border in the Irish Sea and that's something that Boris Johnson told us we were not going to have.'

She was then asked 'so why add another one here' and she replied: 'If a border will work, we can show that a border will work.

'There are issues that have been brought to my attention that show that jobs can be created if a border is created. And again, we want the softest of borders.'

The Scottish Conservatives said in a statement: 'This half-witted nonsense would be laughable if it wasn't so irresponsible.

'A hard border would risk the hundreds of thousands of Scottish jobs that rely on the UK market.'

An SNP spokesman said: 'Independence is about getting rid of governments that Scotland doesn't vote for  not putting up barriers.

'The Tories are the party that put a border in the Irish Sea, and between Scotland and the European Single Market, which is seven times the size of the UK.

'It's not the SNP that is proposing borders  and as an independent member of the EU, unlike now, people would benefit from freedom of movement both with the rest of the UK and the EU.

Boris Johnson, pictured today during a visit to a farm in Stoney Middleton, has repeatedly said he is opposed to holding another referendum on Scottish independence

'It is Boris Johnson's disastrous hard Brexit that will hold back recovery and as Emma Harper said we want trade between Scotland and the rest of the UK to be as seamless as possible.'

The Scotland in Union campaign group criticised Ms Harper's comments as 'absurd'.

Its chief executive Pamela Nash said: 'This is an absurd comment and shows how little the SNP cares about people's livelihoods.

'A border with England, which is inevitable under the SNP's plans for separation, would be catastrophic for trade. It would also build barriers between families and friends.'
Vials labelled "AstraZeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken March 10, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Australia Secures 1 Million AstraZeneca Doses for Papua New Guinea

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan has secured one million COVID-19 vaccine doses for Papua New Guinea (PNG), which neighbours Australia to the north, and has been experiencing a severe outbreak.

The arrangement was secured after Tehan approached AstraZeneca directly while visiting Europe and the United Kingdom to shore up Australias vaccine supplies.

The one million doses originally set for Australia can be diverted to PNG without needing to apply to the European Union (EU) for permission.

News Corps The Australian reported that Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU trade commissioner, agreed that the vaccines could be sent to PNG without the obstacle of the EU export mechanism.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and others have been highly critical of the fact more than three million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia have been held up in Europe after European authorities imposed export controls to ensure they had enough stock for their citizens.

This might mean that the remaining 2.1 million doses of AstraZeneca due from Europe wont be supplied to Australia for 12 months.

We have very clear assurances that AstraZeneca does not have to apply through the EU export transparency regime to send those one million doses to Papua New Guinea, Tehan said on Thursday.

So there is nothing that is preventing them from sending those one million doses, from Europe to PNG and the ball is clearly in AstraZenecas court.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Health Minister Greg Hunt did not immediately respond to a request for comment but are reportedly in discussions with AstraZeneca to secure the supply of doses, according to The Australian.

Tehan also met with the director-general of the World Trade Organization and his counterparts from Germany and France.

He said they discussed the free flow of raw materials and ingredients needed to produce the vials of the vaccine.

Its incredibly important that we look at approaches around voluntary licensing, ensuring you have the free flow of the materials that go into vaccines, into manufacturing them, into storing them, and then we can allow the investment flows that are needed to make sure we boosting and lifting production and not restricting supplies, he said.

PNGs Minister for Health Jelta Wong did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He recently met with the World Health Organisation amid the outbreak in his country. WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter on April 16 that PNG was an example of why vaccine equity was important.

PNG was a perfect example of why vaccine equity is so important, Tedros said, noting that PNG had held the pandemic at bay for a long time.

But with: rising infections, social restrictions fatigue, low levels of immunity among the population, a fragile health system, its vital that it receives more vaccines ASAP, he said.
We had mentioned in last weeks closing report that Nifty, Sensex were indecisive. The major indices continued to fall and ended in losses. The trend of the major indices in the week is given in the table:

On Monday, the indices opened lower and suffered a major correction. On the NSE, there were 379 advances, 1,595 declines and 68 unchanged.

Jubilant Pharmova has developed a novel oral formulation of Remdesivir, which, the company said, is likely to ease the capacity constraint that injectable formulation faces and ensure wider and timely availability for COVID-19 patients.

HDFC Bank reported an 18.2% YoY growth in standalone profit at Rs 8,433 crore for the quarter ended March 2021.

Mindtree reported 53% YoY rise in net profits for the March 2021 quarter at Rs 317 crore. Revenue grew 4% YoY to Rs 2,148 crore.

Bajaj Consumer posted consolidated net profit at Rs 54.7 crore against Rs 23.3 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Revenue was up 39% at Rs 249 crore versus Rs 179 crore YoY.

On Tuesday, the indices opened higher but lost all gains and closed with minor losses. On the NSE, there were 1,073 advances, 796 declines and 381 unchanged.

Nestle India reported 14.62% YoY rise in net profits for the March 2021 quarter at Rs 602 crore. Revenue grew 8% YoY to Rs 3,640 crore. Interim dividend of Rs 25 declared.

Dr Reddy's Labs is going to roll out the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine by May-end or early June, as per the company's co-chairman and MD GV Prasad.

ACC consolidated profit jumped 74.2% YoY to Rs 563 crore for the March 2021 quarter. Consolidated revenue grew by 22.7% YoY to Rs 4,213 crore compared to Rs 3,433 crore in the year-ago period.

Easy Trip Planners announced interim dividend of 100 percent per equity share of the face value of Rs 2 each for FY21.

The equity markets were closed on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the indices opened lower but rallied and ended with decent gains. On the NSE, there were 1,130 advances, 782 declines and 97 unchanged.

ICICI Securities reported over two-fold increase in net profit at Rs 329 crore for March 2021 quarter. Revenue grew 54% YoY to Rs 739 crore compared to Rs 480 crore.

Indiabulls Housing Finance has tied up with HDFC for a co-lending partnership in housing loans. Indiabulls Housing will originate retail home loans as per jointly drawn up credit policy and retain 20% of the loan in its books and 80% will be on HDFC books.

CreditAccess Grameen has approved raising funds using non-convertible debentures up to Rs 71 crore to Global Access Fund LP at coupon rate of 9.90% gross per annum.

Larsen & Toubro bagged orders worth Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore from Oilfields Supply Company Saudi to design and build an oil and gas supply base.

On Friday, the indices opened lower and closed with minor losses. On the NSE, there were 1,130 advances, 782 declines and 97 unchanged.

The Reserve Bank of India has directed the banks to restrict dividend payouts to 50% in a bid to conserve capital and stay resilient.

Power Grid Corporation is preparing to launch the first-ever InvIT IPO by a state-owned firm on 29 April.

Zydus Cadila has received emergency use approval from DCGI for the use of Virafin, Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b (PegIFN) in treating moderate COVID-19 infection in adults.

Tata Elxsi net profit surged 40% to Rs 115.16 crore in Q4FY21 compared to Rs 82.08 crore YoY. Revenue rose 18.1% YoY to Rs 518.39 crore.
Sen. Ron Johnson said Thursday that he is 'highly suspicious' of the effort to get every American vaccinated and claimed people were being 'shamed' into getting shots.

In a radio interview the Wisconsin Republican, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, asked, 'what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?'

Johnson, who has no medical expertise or background, made the comments Thursday during an interview with conservative talk radio host Vicki McKenna.

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said Thursday that he is 'highly suspicious' of the effort to get every American vaccinated and claimed people were being 'shamed' into getting shots

Contrary to what medical experts advise, Johnson has said he doesn't need to be vaccinated because he had COVID-19 in the fall.

On Thursday, he went further, questioning why anyone would get vaccinated or worry about why others have not.

'For the very young, I see no reason to be pushing vaccines on people,' Johnson said. 'I certainly am going to vigorously resist any kind of government use or imposing of vaccine passports. ... That could be a very freedom-robbing step and people need to understand these things.'

Johnson's comments come as health officials in the U.S. and around the world urge people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible, saying that reaching herd immunity is the best shot at stopping the uncontrolled spread of the virus.

Herd immunity occurs when enough people have been vaccinated or have immunity from natural infection that the virus can't easily spread and the pandemic fizzles out.

Nobody knows for sure what the herd immunity threshold is for the coronavirus, but many experts say it's 70% or higher.

And the emergence of variants is further complicating the picture.

In Wisconsin, more than 41% of the population has received at least one shot of vaccine and roughly 30% has been fully vaccinated.

But demand for vaccinations has slowed in parts of the U.S. in a worrisome sign.

Johnson, a former plastics manufacturer with a bachelor's degree in business and accounting, said he doesn't think people should feel pressured to get vaccinated.

'The science tells us the vaccines are 95% effective, so if you have a vaccine quite honestly what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?' Johnson said. 'What is it to you? You've got a vaccine and science is telling you it's very, very effective. So why is this big push to make sure everybody gets a vaccine? And it's to the point where you're going to shame people, you're going to force them to carry a card to prove that they've been vaccinated so they can still stay in society. I'm getting highly suspicious of what's happening here.'

The interview ended before Johnson explained what he was suspicious of.

On Friday, Johnson issued a statement doubling down on his earlier comments.

'Everyone should have the right to gather information, consult with their doctor and decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated,' Johnson said, noting his support for Trump's Operation Warp Speed program to quickly develop a vaccine. 'Now I believe government's role (and therefore my role) is to help ensure transparency so that people have as much information as possible to make an informed decision for themselves.'

Johnson said it was legitimate to question whether people with a low risk of suffering a serious illness from COVID-19 should get vaccinated.

'Well, there's a pretty good reason,' Dr. Anthony Fauci shot back during an interview on MSNBC. 'We have 567,000 people who have died so far in this country from this disease.'

'That is a really, really good reason to get people vaccinated, with a vaccine, that youve shown is highly efficacious, and quite safe,' Fauci added.

Johnson has also promised to 'vigorously oppose' vaccine passports.

Republicans have portrayed vaccine passports as a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices.

They currently exist in only one state - a limited government partnership in New York with a private company - but that hasn't stopped GOP lawmakers in a handful of states from rushing out legislative proposals to ban their use.

Johnson has not said yet whether he will seek a third term in 2022.

A number of Democrats have already announced they are running, including Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

Nelson tweeted that Johnson's 'scientifically illiterate beliefs are deadly and will only prolong the Covid crisis. Time for a new Senator.'

Godlewski also blasted Johnson, saying he 'is literally campaigning against widespread vaccines. His denial of science isnt just irresponsible, its downright dangerous, and Wisconsinites deserve so much better.'
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI)-The 122nd Indiana General assembly wrapped up today. The state has a balanced budget with some historic funding headed to K through 12 education. There were only two votes against the budget in the house and three votes against it in the Senate.

"It's been the most by-partisan budget I've seen in the 23 years I've been here," said State Senator Ron Alting a Republican representing District 22.

Senator Ron Alting says he is proud of this budget because it funds public education and gives schools the funds they need to increase teachers' pay.

"Superintendents have always said we can't give the raises it's a local issue because we don't have enough money now that will be different they have the money now and we have finally prioritized and put our teachers at the top," added Senator Alting.

The budget gives nearly two billion more dollars to K-12 education. On top of that, another one billion dollars is going towards tuition support which will fund teachers' pay increases. State Representative Chris Campbell is happy schools are being fully funded, but says she is concerned whether the funding will be permanent.

"I'm cautiously optimistic," said Representative Campbell a Democrat from District 26. I am very thrilled to see the huge investment in traditional public schools. I do have some concerns about the enormous expansion for vouchers."

In the new budget, a family of four can get a 90 percent reimbursement voucher if they make $135,000 a year or less. That salary is much higher than the median income in the state. Campbell is worried that much of the spending on public schools is due to federal stimulus money.

"My concern is two years from now, are they going to come back and say, 'Well, we don't have those stimulus dollars..' then do we see cuts at that point," said Representative Campbell. Campbell

While that may be a concern, Senator Ron Alting says this budget is a win for public schools and teachers because there is language that requires schools to use the money on teachers' pay.

"It requires the schools to spend at least 45 percent of that tuition to go towards teachers' pay so there are teeth in the budget also," said Senator Alting.

There were also increases in the budget for infrastructure projects which will expand access to broadband. Plus, mental health services are now fully funded.

The session did end Thursday, but lawmakers will be back at the statehouse for a special session to vote on redistricting once census data is available. If you would like to read the budget click here.

Governor Eric Holcomb weighed in on the end of the session. In a statement, he said This has been a historic legislative session and Im grateful for all the support my Next Level Agenda achieved. Indiana will be in an even stronger position with this new budget which prioritizes investing in Hoosiers. The Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative will lead the nation in encouraging community collaboration to improve quality of place and advance industry sector development. The raises for educators, increased education funding, expanded broadband access and workforce development grants are all game-changers.

Indiana will remain on a roll thanks to the teamwork of all those involved throughout this legislative session.
A serial dater has been arrested in Japan after seeing 35 different people at the same time and receiving gifts and cards from all of them.

Takashi Miyagawa, a part-time worker of no fixed abode from the Japanese region of Kansai, had told each of the women he had been dating that his birthday was on a different date.

The 39-year-old was arrested for defrauding the 35 women after pretending to be serious about relationships with them.

Serial dater Takashi Miyagawa, 39, (pictured) has been arrested in Japan after seeing 35 different people at the same time and receiving gifts and cards from all of them

The part-time worker, of no fixed abode, from the Japanese region of Kansai, had told each of the women he had been dating that his birthday was on a different date

Miyagwa's real birthday in November 13.

In one case, the Miyagwa told a 47-year-old lover that his birthday was on February 22, while another victim, 40, said he told her it was in July. A third woman, who is 35, said she believed it was in April.

According to SoraNews24, the total number of victims stands at 35 with the possibility of more coming forwards.

In total, the women have accused Miyagawa of swindling them out of 665 worth of birthday presents, clothes, and cash.

In one case, the Miyagwa told a 47-year-old lover that his birthday was on February 22, when it was actually November 13. Another victim, 40, said he told her his birthday was in July, while a 35-year-old woman said she thought it was April. Pictured: Some of the women that filed the complaint against Miyagawa

Combined, the women have accused Miyagawa of swindling them out of 665 worth of birthday presents, clothes, and cash

The suspect met his victims while working for a marketing company selling hydrogen water shower heads and other products.

He reportedly targeted single women and began each relationship with the suggestion that marriage would be on the cards.

However, the women ended up forming a victims' association and reported Miyagawa to the police in February.

The investigation continues.
An Oregon woman in her 50s has become the first known person in the state to die after receiving Johnson & Johnsons one-dose COVID-19 vaccine and suffering blood clots, the Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday, although experts dont know yet whether her death is linked to the vaccine or if theres no connection.

Oregon officials believe the woman is the second to die in the nation after receiving a Johnson & Johnson dose, said Dr. Shimi Sharief, a senior health advisor with the health authority.

News of the death in Oregon comes more than a week after federal officials paused use of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine to investigate reports of rare blood clots among people who had been inoculated with that vaccine. Federal officials are expected to consider the Oregon case and others as part of their review, with the pause potentially set to be lifted.

The Oregon woman received a vaccination in early April, exhibited symptoms of a rare but serious blood clot within two weeks and then died, Sharief said. Her symptoms included those common to half a dozen others in the United States whod also experienced blood clots after Johnson & Johnson vaccinations: severe or unusual headaches, shortness of breath, stroke-like symptoms, small dots on the hands or legs, abdominal pain or leg pain, Sharief said.

On April 13, Oregon and other states across the country put Johnson & Johnson vaccinations on hold immediately after federal officials recommended a pause, giving medical experts time to study the six other known clotting cases and whether they are linked to the vaccine.

As of last week, the six known cases had all been in women ages 18 to 48 in parts of the nation other than Oregon. An additional case has been reported in a man who took part in Johnson & Johnsons trial, before the vaccine received emergency use authorization in late February.

Sharief decline to say which part of Oregon the woman in her 50s was from, the date of her death or if she had other health conditions that might have contributed to her death. Sharief said that information might potentially identify the woman, whose identity is being withheld out of privacy concerns.

The woman was treated appropriately for her condition, in that she was not given heparin, an anticoagulant thats often used to treat blood clots, Sharief said. The woman sought medical help after the April 13 pause and federal officials warning about the dangers of using heparin on Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients, Sharief said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention learned Sunday of the womans death and officials at the Oregon Health Authority were notified Tuesday, according to state officials.

Until the investigation is complete, it cannot be concluded whether her death is related to the vaccine, the health authority stated in a news release.

An advisory committee for the CDC will meet Friday to review whether to restart inoculations using the vaccine based on the very small number of blood-clot cases that have emerged. At the time of the pause last week, close to 7.5 million doses had been administered nationwide, with about 87,000 in Oregon.

The case in Oregon will add to the evidence of potential risk associated with Johnson & Johnson vaccine, read the health authoritys news release.

The New York Times reported that its likely federal officials would lift the recommended pause while adding a warning about the possibility of blood clots in very rare cases. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, indicated that the governments investigation has been thorough, stating that officials had found needles in haystacks, according to The Times.

Sharief, with the Oregon Health Authority, said Oregon will follow the direction given by federal officials because local officials have the utmost confidence in their decision-making abilities.

Sharief acknowledged that announcing the death of the woman when theres no verified connection to the vaccine could bolster anti-vax beliefs among a segment of the population. But she said the report of the womans death and the study of it shows our safety reporting mechanisms are working.

Johnson & Johnson vaccinations so far have made up only a small share of shots in arms in Oregon, about 3%. But it had proven popular among people who dislike needles or want to make one trip to a vaccination clinic, because it requires only one shot rather than the two with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Up until the pause, Johnson & Johnsons vaccine also had been favored in reaching hard-to-reach populations, such as people who are homeless, jail inmates, migrant workers and college students.

The initial half-dozen women in the U.S. who experienced blood clots all started showing symptoms within six to 13 days. To be safe, officials have asked the public to be on the watch for symptoms for up to three weeks after vaccination.

In the absence of Johnson & Johnson doses, Oregon health officials have been administering an average of more than 30,000 Pfizer and the Moderna doses each day. Health experts urge residents to continue to get inoculated with the vaccines currently in use. As of Thursday, about 39% of all Oregonians had been fully or partially vaccinated.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has clarified that his meetings with Deputy President William Ruto do not mean he is planning to quit the Orange Democratic Movement(ODM).

The ODM deputy party leader, who has applied for the partys presidential ticket, said he has met Ruto several times to discuss 2022 politics.

Oparanya said Ruto is his friend and he is open to working with him.

You can be his enemy, but the Deputy President is my friend. Kenyans should allow leaders to express themselves and talk freely, Oparanya said during an interview on Ingo FM.

The Kakamega county boss said he is also planning to hold talks with President Kenyatta and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to discuss the state of the nation and 2022 politics.

I will be meeting the Wiper leader very soon. I also want to meet the President and leaders of other parties, among them Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula, to discuss the same, he added.

Oparanya also noted that his party leader Raila Odinga was aware of his meetings with Ruto, who last week said he had met the Kakamega governor at least five times.

I cannot ignore Ruto. He has his people intact. Nobody can beat him in Rift Valley. We were in ODM together. We talk business, official issues, and the last time we met he said alliances are coming so that we plan for them, Oparanya said.

Raila has been meeting President Uhuru Kenyatta, but he has never even imagined leaving ODM to join Jubilee. Those saying I am leaving ODM are not even members of our party, he added.
Chicago police exchanged gunfire with a suspect who was wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a seven-year-old girl as she sat in a car with her rapper father in a McDonald's drive-thru.

Illinois State Police Trooper Kyle Barrett said the incident occurred on the Eisenhower Expressway, which runs west of Chicago's Loop business district at around 4pm on Thursday.

Police Superintendent David Brown said investigators observed the suspect, who has not been named as of Friday afternoon, get into a car and drive off.

During his attempt to elude police, the suspect got on the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway near Bellwood and crashed. He then attempted to carjack a family traveling in the same direction on the expressway.

Scroll down for video

Chicago police on Thursday exchange gunfire with a suspect wanted for the killing of a 7-year-old girl at a McDonald's drive-thru

The suspect was shot in the arm by a police officer after allegedly trying to carjack a family on Eisenhower Expressway outside Chicago on Thursday

The suspect is pictured being taken to the an ambulance following the shooting and attempted carjacking, which reportedly involved an AK-47

Jontae Adams, 29, and his seven-year-old daughter, Jaslyn, were in their car in a McDonald's parking lot on Sunday afternoon when two people started spraying them with bullets

CBS Chicago reported, citing unnamed sources, that the carjacker was armed with two weapons, including an AK-47.

Police confronted the suspect and an officer shot him several times, Brown said.

A later statement said the suspect was hit in the arm and transported to a hospital for treatment.

Video from a bystander that was shared with ABC 7 Chicago showed an injured man with his arms restrained behind his back sitting on the expressway before being led to an ambulance.

Representatives of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability confirmed Chicago police fired a weapon, and investigators were on the scene.

The suspect's grey SUV is seen resting against a wall after crashing off of the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway near Bellwood, Illinois

Jontae Adams is pictured walking on crutches at a vigil held in honor of his slain daughter on Wednesday

Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern confirmed the suspect is wanted in connection with Jaslyn's killing and that charges against him are pending.

Jaslyn's grandmother Lawanda McMullen told NBC Chicago she felt 'overwhelmed' upon learning of the suspect's capture.

'I hope and pray to God that this is him,' McMullen said. 'We can live in peace, just a little bit, and have a little peace in our hearts and in our minds for [Jaslyn].'

A day before the arrest, Jaslyn's family and friends held a vigil for her, which was attended by the girl's father, Jontae Adams, who is still recovering from his injuries.

'I got shot once. My baby got shot six times,' he said while leaning on crutches. '[Her] last words, "Daddy." I see my daughter face down in my car. ... I want justice for my baby.'

It was previously reported that just hours before the fatal shooting on Sunday, Jontae Adams posted on social media that his rivals may have been waiting for him.

Adams, 29, and his daughter, Jaslyn, were in their car in a McDonald's parking lot at 4.20pm last Sunday afternoon when two people started spraying them with bullets.

A McDonald's employee who asked not to be named said two people got out of a gray car in the drive-thru and started shooting at his car.

Images from the scene show the car sprayed with bullet holes and shell casings all around the vehicle.

Distressing video showed police pulling Jaslyn's body from the car and putting her in a police car to rush her to hospital.

A person can be heard shouting: 'Oh s***! They killed a baby!'

Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Jaslyn was shot several times. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Her father, who is a rapper with prior drug convictions, was shot in the torso and has since been released from the hospital.

Police said they believe the shooting was gang related.

Just hours before the shooting unfolded, Adams - who goes by the rapper name Tilla - had posted on his Facebook that rivals were likely waiting for him. 'Opps' is a slang word for opposition

Just hours before the shooting unfolded, Adams had posted to Facebook:

'Opps prolly downstairs waiting on me,' he wrote. 'Opps' is a slang word for opposition.

His mother, LaWanda McMullen, confirmed after the deadly shooting that her son was involved with gangs.

'I'm not going to sit here and lie and say he wasn't involved in gangs,' McMullen told the Chicago Sun Times. 'It was gang related and just stupidity.'

According to court records, Adams was convicted of an unspecified drugs offense in 2016 and was arrested for possession of heroin in 2018.

He was out on parole for the 2018 conviction at the time of the shooting.

In 2012, he was also one of several suspected gang members arrested for operating an open-air heroin market in a Chicago neighborhood.

Police investigate a crime scene where Jontae Adams, 28, and his daughter Jaslyn, 7, were shot on Sunday afternoon. Police, who have released few details about the incident, believe the shooting was gang related

The shooting unfolded at about 4.20pm on Sunday in the McDonald's parking lot. A McDonald's employee who asked not to be named said two people got out of a gray car in the drive-thru and started shooting at his car

Detectives are still investigating what sparked the shooting. They believe the McDonald's shooting is linked to another that occurred less than three hours later and that left two people injured outside a Popeyes.

In that second shooting, a 33-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were at a drive-thru window when a gunman opened fire on them.

The man was shot in the leg and the woman suffered a gunshot wound to her abdomen.

Jaslyn Adams, 7, was hit multiple time and rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead

Adams has been sharing multiple videos and photos of his daughter in the wake of her killing. One of the images he shared was a text message exchange Jaslyn was having with an aunt while they were on their way to the McDonald's

According to court records, Adams was convicted of an unspecified drug offense in 2016 and was arrested for possession of heroin in 2018. He was out on patrol for the 2018 drug conviction at the time of the shooting

Jaslyn was a first grade student at Cameron Elementary School and family say they called her Pinky because it was her favorite color.

She loved to dance and make TikTok videos, her family said.
STRATFORD  The newly created Stratford Veterans Museum in Boothe Park will be open from 10 a.m. to noon every Saturday to collect donated items from local veterans  and stories from the veterans themselves.

The project is being led by a committee of volunteers headed by Army veteran and former Bunnell High School football coach Bob Mastroni, who also chairs the Veterans Monument Preservation Commission for Academy Hill.

Mastroni and fellow committee members and Marine veterans George Grom and Bill OBrien, who is also a Town Council member, were at the museum earlier this week readying the building.

We realized that Academy Hill has the monuments which represent the fallen soldier, Mastroni said. We want to now tell the story of the fallen soldier. This is the place were going to tell the story.

And the place for those who served and are still in the area to get their stories to a larger audience, the men said.

Mastroni thanked the town for supporting the groups vision.

Mayor (Laura) Hoydick has been instrumental in helping us, he said.

Weve been talking about it for two years, trying to get a location in town, OBrien said.

The two-story building at 5952 Main St., aka the summer cottage, was once occupied by a family who took care of the property, he said, and then functioned as a genealogy center, but more recently had been sitting unused.

The story is this was moved from somewhere else on the property, but no one knows where it was originally, OBrien said.

Costs thus far have been minimal, he said, supported mainly by donations, but the committee may ramp up fundraising efforts if operating expenses necessitate it.

Planned exhibits include a wall memorializing the nearly 150 Stratford residents who died from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam, as well as a picture exhibit of every veteran from town that the committee can track down.

Committee member Chuck Lindbergh contributed several dioramas to the museum. Progress updates, with a planned public opening by Veterans Day in November, are being shared on the museums Facebook page.

Grom said the museum wants to serve as a place where kids can learn about military service, with an interactive exhibit simulating trench warfare from World War I and a flight simulator using the cockpit of a Corsair, thousands of which were built in Stratford during World War II.

With a hands-on exhibit like that, he said, with luck well get a couple pilots a year out of it.

At the same time, the museum will be a place first and foremost to tell veterans stories. A second-floor interview room will serve as a place for them to record testimonials that will be shared with later generations.

Were not a war museum. Were a veterans museum, Mastroni said. We dont know if theres any other museum in Connecticut that has anything quite like this.
STORY LINK GBP/EUR Forecast: Pound to Euro Exchange Rate Mixed as Euro Supported by US Dollar Weakness

Pound Sterling (GBP) Mixed Despite Positive Retail Sales

The Pound is mixed against the Euro this morning despite better-than-expected retail sales from the UK during March.



Retail sales soared 5.4% in March, beating analysts forecasts of just a 1.5% increase. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also showed that compared with March last year, sales were up 1.6%.



Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at the consultancy PwC, commented on the growth saying;



Clothing sales, while still over 40% lower than pre-pandemic levels, continued their strong bounceback, with a 17.5% improvement compared with February, suggesting that consumers are cautiously looking forward to the end of lockdown with new outfits ready for newly permitted social events.



Sterling has also found support from the flash PMI data for April from the UK which have seen UK businesses grown at their fastest pace in eight years.



The UK services business activity index jumped up to 60.1, as the private sector sees a strong revival as the UK reopens its economy.



Duncan Brock, Group Director at CIPS, commented on the flash PMIs for April:



There were signs of hope in abundance in April for the UK economy as private sector businesses forged ahead confidently, lifted by strong rises in output, orders and jobs.



Service providers primarily enjoyed a bumper expansion of activity and the strongest since August 2014 as consumers also became more confident in their spending habits driven by vaccinations and safer premises.



Euro (EUR) Supported by Flash PMI Data from the Eurozone

The Euro has found support today from the release of the latest flash PMI data from the Eurozone which has shown a sustained growth in the private sector.



In the Eurozone business activity picked up to the fastest growth rate since July 2020 due to a record expansion in manufacturing production and the first growth in the service sector since last August.



Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, commented on the growth, saying:



In a month during which virus containment measures were tightened in the face of further waves of infections, the Eurozone economy showed encouraging strength. Although the service sector continued to be hard hit by lockdown measures, it has returned to growth as companies adjust to life with the virus and prepare for better times ahead.



A mixed market mood has also helped support the Euro today following President Joe Bidens proposed tax hike which has caused the US Dollar to falter this morning.



GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: Eurozone Consumer Confidence in Focus

Over the weekend, the GBP/EUR pairing will continue to be driven by any coronavirus developments as investors keep an eye on the Indian mutation of the virus.



Heading into next week, for Euro traders, business climate and consumer confidence data from Germany and the Eurozone will drive movement in the currency.



An increase in consumer confidence for April will hope to move the Euro higher as the bloc ramps up its coronavirus vaccine rollout, however a surge in cases across Europe in March could cause the Euro to instead fall.











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The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is mixed this morning despite a range of positive data from the UK as the Euro is bolstered the US Dollars weakness.At the time of writing the GBP/EUR pairing are trading at around 1.1503 as the Pound is able to limit its losses with surging flash PMIs.

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Reporters did not focus on whether the exact fire safety violation documented in a complaint or inspection also was cited in a fire or police investigation. One reason is that the location of the violation  such as a specific apartment  was often redacted in the records provided by the city. Inspectors also often reported not being able to access all parts of a building, making it impossible to know if a problem found in one area also existed elsewhere. If the property spanned multiple street addresses, as is common for courtyard buildings, reporters considered violations at any of those addresses.
Arizona News

Coolidge, Arizona - Monday the Justice Department announced a settlement agreement with the Coolidge Unified School District to resolve the departments investigation into the school districts programs for its English learner students. The departments investigation of the district found system-wide failures to provide the instruction, resources and teacher training that students need to master English, leaving them to struggle academically year after year.

The department conducted its investigation under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974.

Every child deserves an equal opportunity to excel in school. Where there are language barriers, schools have an obligation to do more to put students on an equal footing, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department will continue to enforce the law to make sure students who are learning English get the help they need to truly thrive in the classroom. We commend the district for entering into this agreement and look forward to working together so that the districts English learner students can realize their full potential.

Under the settlement agreement, the district will increase language instruction for English learner students so they can become fluent in English and understand the coursework in all of their academic subjects. The agreement also requires the district to provide robust teacher training, obtain the special materials and curricula that English learner students need to succeed academically, and actively evaluate students progress. The Justice Department will monitor the districts implementation of the settlement for three full school years.
Theres no bad luck in this. This is all bad management, Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller said on Friday. Theyve had long warning that COVID travels in the air and that these hotels are not fit for purpose. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video They in fact had a report in April delivered to them which says this was the worst of the hotels, and a recommendation not to use it soon after. The Victorian man with COVID-19 flew in to Melbourne on Wednesday, going directly home.

Authorities were on Friday working to contact everyone who flew on Qantas flight QF778 from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday, with eight Qantas crew members already in isolation. Anyone who was at Melbourne Airport Terminal One at 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday must also isolate, get tested and remain isolated until they get a negative result. The virus spread among quarantining guests in separate rooms with a mother and her four-year-old daughter also contracting the virus while in the hotel. WA Premier Mark McGowan announcing the three-day lockdown in Perth on Friday Credit:Pete De Kruijff The case of the woman and her daughter were detected on April 16 and later genomically linked to a COVID-positive husband and wife who arrived from India on April 10. Genomic sequencing is underway to confirm the source of the Victorian mans infection. Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the Victorian man left hotel quarantine on April 17 and then stayed with a friend and her two children in the Perth suburb of Kardinya and at a college at the University of Western Australia. Health authorities are assuming he was infectious during the five days he spent in the Perth community. On Friday his friend also tested positive.

Loading The man, who is in his 50s, has since been moved into hotel quarantine in Melbourne at his request, where he remains, according to an update from Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Four household and social contacts are associated with this case  the individuals spouse, his two children, and a friend of one child, Mr Sutton said. Western Australias Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson recommended the Mercure Hotel no longer operate as a quarantine facility on April 14, about the same time the cross-corridor infections would have been occurring. Documents released by the state government later revealed ventilation in the 1970s hotel had been identified on April 8 as the riskiest among WAs 10 quarantine hotels. An engineer who inspected the facility found the corridors had no independent airflow, with oxygen supply leaking from the adjoining rooms.

Given the degree of positive pressure, leakage likely between rooms and corridor, a table summary read. Mr McGowan said he received a report on April 16 that said ventilation issues at the Mercure were manageable. We have been doing our best to make our hotels fit-for-purpose, he said. We are trying to improve it, whilst we have these people in the hotels. If we are going to have returning Australians this is the risk  our hotels were not built for this purpose, but thats the only solution we have at this point in time. Amid the regular leaks from hotel quarantine  including similar recent cases of guest to guest transmission in NSW  there is growing urgency in calls to establish dedicated quarantine stations similar to Howards Springs in the Northern Territory as a safer form of housing returned travellers.

Leaks of the virus from hotel quarantine were responsible for Melbournes deadly second wave last year, and for the snap five-day lockdown in February. Australian Medical Association national president Omar Khorshid said he had ongoing concerns about infection control in all of Australias quarantine hotels, with the probable exception of Howard Springs, a former workers camp a short distance from Darwin. Hotel quarantine was always a short-term measure and weve been calling for a while now for governments to consider longer-term measures, Dr Khorshid said. Given that we are likely to need quarantine for at least the rest of this year and it could well be part of our reality for next year as well, the quicker that some sort of facilities could be stood up around the country, the better. Philip Russo, president of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control, said high-rise hotels were never designed as quarantine stations.

Loading He said the multi-storey design meant that there had to be more support staff on each level, increasing the risk that someone would be exposed to COVID-19. Associate Professor Russo said every state should consider establishing a dedicated quarantine station sooner rather than later  suggesting they could be used for other pandemics in the future. Leading occupational physician and government advisor Malcolm Sim said he expected dedicated facilities similar to Howard Springs to be the way forward. Emeritus Professor Sim said hotels had been used as a temporary measure but weve now stretched out to a year and we need to be thinking of the medium and longer term.
Boris Johnson last night pledged to support India in its battle against the devastating Covid surge which has brought the country to its knees.

The UK is 'looking at what we can do to help' after India recorded a record-breaking 332,000 new cases in a single day.

Hospitals across the nation are buckling under the strain of a ferocious second wave, with some running out of oxygen and turning away patients due to overcrowding.

Another 2,263 deaths were reported in India yesterday, although limited testing means this is likely to significantly underestimate the total.

Mr Johnson said: 'We're looking at what we can do to help and support the people of India, possibly with ventilators. Thanks to the ventilator challenge, the huge efforts of British manufacturers, we're better able now to deliver ventilators to other countries. But also possibly with therapeutics, dexamethasone, other things, we'll look at what we can do to help.'

The UK is 'looking at what we can do to help' after India recorded a record-breaking 332,000 new cases in a single day. Pictured, relatives of covid patients wait in queues to refill oxygen cylinders in Delhi

Yesterday India recorded 332,730 new infections  the highest one-day tally of any country since the beginning of the pandemic. It was the second day running the country of around 1.4 billion people broke the record.

India is now recording one in three of all worldwide Covid-19 cases. Ministers declared victory against the virus two months ago when there were around 11,000 cases a day.

The surge has been fuelled by a 'double mutant' variant, thought to be more infectious.

Health workers carry a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India

So far 132 cases of the Indian variant have been detected in Britain, around half of which are in London. The variant contains two mutations in the virus's spike protein, which could help it spread more easily and evade vaccines. India was added to the UK's travel 'red list' yesterday, prompting a last-minute scramble for flights to Heathrow.

The Prime Minister has also cancelled a trip to New Delhi this weekend where he had hoped to secure millions of vaccine doses.

Yesterday Government scientists said border measures are not enough to prevent the spread of new variants, but they can delay it. One senior source said there were likely to be 'many more' cases of the Indian variant in the UK than the 132 detected so far.

Burning pyres of Covid-19 deceased persons at a crematorium in India

They added: 'It does look like it's more transmissible but we don't know if it is more transmissible than the Kent variant and we don't have any data on vaccine efficacy.'

Desperate families have been begging for oxygen or medical help on social media, and crowds have gathered outside hospitals, with some dying on stretchers as they wait.

On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a hospital in Maharashtra when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. Yesterday 13 Covid patients died when a fire broke out at a Mumbai hospital.

Health workers wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) move the body of a person who died of coronavirus at a mortuary, in New Delhi

Dr Atul Gogia, who works at a hospital in New Delhi, said: 'We do have oxygen but it's now on a day-to-day basis. We got some oxygen last night, so we have some oxygen now.'

He told Radio 4: 'We do not have enough oxygen points, patients are coming in with their own oxygen, others without, we want to help them but there are not enough beds or oxygen points, and not enough oxygen to supply them.'

Max Healthcare, which runs hospitals in northern and western India, appealed on Twitter yesterday for oxygen. 'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi until oxygen supplies stabilise,' it said.

The government has started shuttling trains containing tanks of oxygen across the country to hotspots. Crematoriums are also overwhelmed, with one in Delhi resorting to building pyres, on which bodies are burnt, in its car park.

Dying Covid sufferers lie on stretchers outside Indian hospitals while other medical centres stop accepting patients as the country sees ANOTHER record number of infections and deaths

Dying coronavirus patients have been left to lie on stretchers outside Indian hospitals as doctors were today forced to turn patients away amid another record-breaking rise in cases and deaths.

Daily infections hit 332,730, up from 314,835 on Thursday when India surpassed a grim record set by the United States in January. Another 2,263 deaths were reported - though the true figure is believed to be up to ten times higher.

Delhi recorded more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.

Doctors in the city of 29 million have no more beds left and police have been deployed around hospitals to prevent oxygen from being looted as infections stand at more than treble their peak last year.

Sky News captured images of dozens of people lying on stretchers outside one overcrowded hospital in the capital. In the minutes of the short live report, at least three dead bodies were seen being wheeled out of the front doors of the medical centre.

But while northern states like Gujurat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing coronavirus infection rates which are more than quadruple what they were in the first wave, others to the south, like Andrha Pradesh, and in the far northeast, like Assam, have not yet experienced a second wave and aren't under lockdown rules.

This suggests that though the overall numbers for India are colossal, they could still climb higher, putting further strain on the country's overwhelmed healthcare system which is running short of basic anti-viral medications.

Britain banned travel from India today amid fears that a new variant is causing the virus to spread faster and hitting young people harder.

The percentage change in daily Covid infections by Indian state today compared to at their peak, most of which were recorded last year. States which have surpassed their peak infection rates by more than 300 per cent include Ladakh in the far north, Gujurat and Rajsthan in the west, Uttar Pradesh in the northeast and Chhattisgarh in the central eastern part of the country. Andra Pradesh in the east and the cluster of states in the far northeast of the country remain below their peaks of the first wave, suggesting that they may yet have another wave to live through

Patients lie on stretchers outside a hospital in Delhi during a live TV broadcast. Sky TV said during its report that they saw dozens of dead bodies being wheeled out of the hospital while they were there, while others wait with oxygen tanks rigged up beside outdoor stretchers for those who are unable to get inside

People stand in a queue to refill oxygen in cylinders in Delhi on Friday. Police have been deployed at hospitals in the city to prevent oxygen from being looted as people are prepared to pay thousands of rupees to fill up cylinders

A patient, wearing an oxygen mask, sits outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India's largest facilities for coronavirus disease, in Delhi today

Relatives carry the body of a man who died from coronavirus during his funeral in Delhi on Friday

Bodies of Covid victims are burned in funeral pyres at a cremation ground in Mumbai on Friday

A fire in a hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai treating Covid 19 patients killed 13 people on Friday, the latest accident in the overcrowded health system. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it 'tragic,' approving payouts for the victims' relatives (pictured: the ICU ward of the hospital is inspected after the blaze)

The burnt out inside of the intensive care ward at the hospital, which is just north of Mumbai, the latest accident in the country's overwhelmed hospitals amid a colossal second wave of Covid. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26.

Daily infections hit 332,730 on Friday, up from 314,835 the previous day when India set a new record, surpassing one set by the United States in January of 297,430 new cases

The daily death toll also jumped to a record 2,263, though these fatalities could be at least ten times under-reported amid a second wave more than three times the size of the first. Delhi reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began

Health workers shift a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh hospital in Virar, near Mumbai on Friday

Worshippers offer Friday prayers at a mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Amritsar in Punjab, northern India

Prof James Naismith, of the University of Oxford, told MailOnline: 'What is happening in India is stark illustration of the havoc that rapid spread of the virus does; healthcare overwhelmed and vulnerable people suffocating to death in ambulances waiting for help.

'This might be an appropriate point for those who so blithely advocated ending the UK lockdown in the autumn and winter to reconsider their analysis.

'The UK has avoided the fate that has befallen India (and many other countries who we do not see on our TV) because of the action of our governments and every one of us who wore a mask, distanced, washed our hands and isolated when sick. Vaccination now means that we will not ever see such scenes from Covid-19 here.'

It comes as a fire broke out at a packed hospital outside Mumbai on Friday, leaving 13 people dead.

Narendra Modi called it 'tragic' as he approved payouts for the victims' relatives, but the PM faces growing criticism for staging election rallies despite hospitals running out of beds and oxygen tankers being escorted by armed guards.

On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a previous hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26.

As well as a lack of oxygen and even basic medicines, free beds have become scarce, with major hospitals putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police being deployed to secure oxygen supplies.

Atul Gogia, a front line doctor in Delhi, told Radio 4 this morning: 'It's really, really very hectic, both physically mentally emotionally, it's a challenging day. Everything is full we are over-pressed, staff is catching the disease so we are short of staff as well.

'We do have oxygen but it's now on a day to day basis. We got some oxygen last night, so we have some oxygen now.

'There is such a huge surge we do not have places in the emergency room. We do not have enough oxygen points, patients are coming in with their own oxygen, others without, we want to help them but there are not enough beds or oxygen points, and not enough oxygen to supply them even if they are were.'

Saswati Sinha, an intensive care doctor in Kolkota, said the situation in the city was similar to Delhi, though perhaps lagging around two weeks behind.

'But we are already overwhelmed,' he told the BBC. 'All of our wards, all of our critical care beds are already at capacity.

'We are getting direct calls from our patients, from our friends, from our neighbours, pleading with us to make some space for their next of kin.

'In 20 years of working in intensive care I have never seen anything like this in the past. It is completely emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting.'

Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in northern and western India, posted an appeal on Twitter on Friday for emergency supplies of oxygen at its facility in Delhi.

'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi ... till oxygen supplies stabilise,' the company said.

Similar desperate calls from hospitals and ordinary people have been posted on social media for days this week across the country.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it was now as if there was no social safety net for Indians.

'Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones. This is hard to watch,' he said.

A policeman inspects a burnt-out room at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai

Health workers attend patient at a Covid-19 centre in Mumbai, India, on Thursday

The burnt out hospital in Virar, north of Mumbai, after a fire killed 13 Covid patients, in the latest accident in the country's overcrowded hospitals

A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease is evacuated from the hospital after it caught fire in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai

A man carries an oxygen tank as health workers move a suspected COVID-19 patient outside the Vijay Vallabh Covid care hospital in the aftermath of a fire, in Virar West, on the outskirts of Mumbai

In Delhi, people losing loved ones are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations because funeral services have been swamped.

Amid the despair, recriminations have begun.

Health experts say India became complacent in the winter - when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control - and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings.

'Indians let down their collective guard. Instead of being bombarded with messages exhorting us to be vigilant, we heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris,' wrote Zarir F Udwadia, a pulmonologist and a member of the Maharashtra state government's task force, in the Times of India.

Modi's government ordered an extensive lockdown last year in the early stages of the pandemic.

But it has been wary of the economic costs and upheaval to the lives of legions of migrant workers and day labourers of a reimposition of sweeping restrictions.

New more infectious variants of the virus, in particular a 'double mutant' variant that originated in India, may have helped accelerate the surge, experts said.

Canada has banned flights from India, joining Britain, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and New Zealand in blocking arrivals.

A man walks past burning funeral pyres of people, who died due to the coronavirus disease at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India, on Thursday

A mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease is seen at a crematorium ground in Delhi yesterday evening

A body lies on a gurney as funeral pyres burn at a mass cremation ground in Delhi on Wednesday evening

Britain said it found 55 more cases of the Indian variant, known as B.1.617, in its latest weekly figure, taking the total of confirmed and probable cases of the variant there to 132.

India, a major producer of vaccines, has begun a vaccination campaign but only a tiny fraction of the population has received a shot.

Authorities have announced vaccines will be available to anyone over 18 from May 1, but experts say there will not be enough for the 600million people who will become eligible.

'It is tragic, the mismanagement. For a country known to be the pharmacy of the world, to have less than 1.5% of the population vaccinated is a failure difficult to fathom,' Kaushik Basu, a professor at Cornell University and a former economic adviser to the Indian government, said on Twitter.

INDIA'S GROWING OXYGEN PROBLEMS Are hospitals running out of oxygen? The main problem is that medical oxygen is not reaching hospital beds in time. This delay is a product of where production units are located, a stretched distribution network, and what critics have said is bad planning. Several hospitals in Delhi, which has no significant oxygen production capacity, made frantic public calls this week seeking emergency supplies. With COVID-19 cases also swamping its neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, oxygen facilities there are over-stretched attempting to meet local demand. To fulfill Delhi's current needs, additional medical oxygen now has to be trucked in from industrial zones in eastern India. Why are oxygen deliveries getting delayed? The facilities from where Delhi will now receive oxygen are spread across seven states, some more than 625 miles (1,000km) away, according to a court document. Given the hazardous nature of the substance, all liquid oxygen must be transported in a limited number of specialised tankers, requiring advance planning to ensure deliveries are made on time, a gas industry source told Reuters. In recent days, as a scramble for oxygen among states worsened, local officials in some regions disrupted movement of tankers in a bid to keep supplies for themselves. In part due to such blockades, Delhi only received about 177 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday against its allocation of 378 tonnes, an official said. But the industry source said that Delhi had also dragged its feet on planning ahead, without factoring in the time it takes to move oxygen cross-country by road. 'This problem wouldn't have happened if they had acted 2-3 weeks ago,' the source said. Delhi's government did not respond to questions about the planning. Does India have enough oxygen? India has a daily production capacity of at least 7,100 tonnes of oxygen, including for industrial use, which appears to be enough to meet current demand. This week, the government allocated 6,822 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day to 20 of the country's worst-affected states, compared to their combined demand of 6,785 tonnes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said on Thursday. India's total medical oxygen demand was just 3,842 tonnes as of April 12, as the surge in cases really took hold. States are typically allocated supplies by an inter-ministerial group of bureaucrats mandated to monitor and facilitate the flow of essential medical kit during the pandemic. Modi's office has noted that the availability of liquid medical oxygen had increased by about 3,300 tonnes in the past few days, with steel plants and other industrial units diverting their production. What is India doing to solve the crisis? The federal government has activated the Indian railways to move multiple tankers from refilling plants to where it is most needed. Working with industrial gas major Linde India and others, the government is also using the Air Force's cargo planes to fly empty tankers to production hubs. Refilled oxygen tankers will then move back by road. The armed forces are importing 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany. Several other industries are offering oxygen to hospitals, while salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is importing 24 specialised containers to transport liquid oxygen. The government has issued orders to convert argon and nitrogen tankers into oxygen ones. But as some experts predict a trebling of daily infections in a few weeks, India will have to dramatically ramp up both oxygen production and distribution systems. Advertisement
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  Police in Colorado Springs shot a man accused of accosting a customer at a gas station while armed with a military-style rifle.

The Gazette reports police had been following the man Thursday morning after they spotted a license plate that is believed to have been stolen. The suspect led officers on a chase to a business area, got out of his vehicle with an AR-15 rifle and walked to a nearby gas station, where he approached a customer at a pump.

Police say the suspect, whose name has not been released, ignored commands to drop the rifle and was initially shot with a stun gun before an officer opened fire and wounded him. Lt. Jim Sokolik, a spokesman for the police department, says the stun gun was ineffective.

The suspect was taken to a nearby hospital. His condition has not been released.

The shooting was the areas second involving an officer in four days. A Fountain police officer and a Colorado State Patrol trooper fired shots after a chase down Interstate 25 on Monday night, killing 38-year-old Robert Paul Garcia.

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Arakhamia: U.S. Senate Committee's approval of increased military aid to Ukraine endorses its struggle for freedom amid Russian aggression

Head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction MP David Arakhamia regards the approval by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations of an increase in military aid to Ukraine as support for its struggle for freedom amid Russian aggression.

"When Russian troops are building up at borders, the Senate decision is a powerful signal of undoubted support from the United States," the political force's website said, citing Arakhamia on Friday.

He recalled that the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations recently has unanimously supported the bipartisan draft Ukraine Security Partnership Act, which provides for an increase in annual military aid to Ukraine up to $300 million, including the provision of lethal weapons.

"We are grateful to Chairman of the committee Robert Menendez, member of the committee James Risch and their colleagues for supporting Ukraine in its struggle for freedom amid Russian aggression," Arahamia said.

The head of the faction said that now this bill should be considered and adopted by the U.S. Congress.

"We have opened the opportunity to receive all types of assistance, the specifics will appear as a result of a request from our Ministry of Defense," the MP said.

As previously reported, Arakhamia held a series of online meetings with members of the U.S. Congress, at which issues of political and military cooperation between Ukraine and the United States were discussed.
The Assembly members in Ablekuma West constituency have appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to retain their Municipal Chief Executive, George Cyril Bray.



The renomination of Mr. Cyril Bray as MCE has courted controversies as some group calling itself ''Concerned Patriots of Ablekuma West'' has vehemently kicked against the decision.



The group is calling for the removal of the MCE.



They say the MCE has a bad interpersonal relationship with the Assembly members.



Chairman of the group, Eric Mensah in an interview with TV3, explained why they want the MCE removed.



"He has a bad interpersonal relationship with the assemblymen, who are party members and also does not recognize them as honourable members...He embarked on unnecessary demolition exercise, leading to massive vote reduction in Ablekuma West.



The MCE does not have a listening ear for the grassroots. He categorically stated that the municipality is autonomous [and] not there to serve the party members. This unfortunate statement discouraged most of the members which led to vote reduction against the target set by the Constituency in the just ended elections.



He does not have an iota of respect for the Constituency officers and therefore calling them useless who have sold our time, freedom and right to our party", the group alleged.



But the presiding member of the Assemblies in the constituency, Emelia Agyemfra Donkor has refuted the allegations.



She said; ''It's not true that the MCE has a bad relationship with us. George Cyril Bray is a very humble person. He is approachable; we don't have any problems with him.''



Speaking on behalf of the Assembly members, she noted that the Assemblies are in favor of Mr. Cyril Bray, hence calling on the President to re-appoint him to be MCE for the area.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Almost 2,000 non-urgent scheduled surgeries will be cancelled at Lower Mainland hospitals during the next two weeks to deal with rising hospitalizations due to COVID-19. The virus that causes the disease is shown in this image from an electron microscope.
Restoring Earth, China on the move to achieve carbon neutrality, more biodiversity

Xinhua) 09:32, April 23, 2021

-- Themed "Restoring Our Earth," the 52nd Earth Day falls on Thursday, with countries worldwide making commitments addressing the common environmental challenges the planet faces.

-- In its exploration to address the environmental challenges, China aims to work closely with its global partners, and honor its commitments while encouraging others to do so.

-- To reach the country's climate pledge, China should further accelerate its energy transformation, and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix.

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Themed "Restoring Our Earth," the 52nd Earth Day falls on Thursday, with countries worldwide making commitments addressing the common environmental challenges the planet faces.

China has taken steps toward a low-carbon transition, with progress made in tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity -- two urgent agendas that call for global collaboration, said Beate Trankmann, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in China.

"As the world attempts to build back better from the pandemic, concerted global action is needed to address climate change and safeguard the capacity of the Earth to support life by protecting the balance of ecosystems," Trankmann said in an interview with Xinhua.

In its exploration to address the environmental challenges, China aims to work closely with its global partners, and honor its commitments while encouraging others to do so.

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020 shows the Haizhu wetland and the Canton Tower in the distance in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo by Xie Huiqiang/Xinhua)

ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE

Facing the global climate problem, China has announced its goal to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060.

The country has reaffirmed its climate commitment with clear targets in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the country's social and economic development roadmap.

According to the plan, China aims to significantly lower the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and its carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 13.5 percent and 18 percent, respectively, during the 2021-2025 period.

China's recent climate pledges could accelerate the global fight against climate change, and could set an example to other countries, encouraging them to step up their commitments, too, said Trankmann.

Last year, an ultra-high-voltage (UHV) line that only transmits clean power, including wind, solar and hydro energy, from northwest China's Qinghai Province to Henan in central China went into operation.

As the world's first UHV to transmit only carbon-free electricity, the line could offer as much as 40 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually to central China, reducing 29.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

"China is a driver of much of the technological innovation needed to fight climate change," said Trankmann, adding that the country is now a global leader in renewable energy.

Last year, power generated by renewable energy sources hit 2.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 29.5 percent of the country's total electricity consumption, up by 9.5 percentage points from 2012.

China has also carried out institutional innovations, from launching carbon-trading schemes to developing green finance.

Since 2011, China has piloted the trading of carbon emissions in provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hubei, to draw on a market-based mechanism for greenhouse control.

Looking ahead, China's investments into innovation and experimentation in the green economy certainly offer opportunities to make green growth more viable, said Trankmann.

Aerial photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows facilities of a solar thermal electricity project in Gonghe County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan in northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)

PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY

After a journey of over 5,000 km across mountains and rivers, the Siberian white cranes land at Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi Province, the place they call home, each winter.

Rated as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, the Siberian white crane, also known as the snow crane, have seen their numbers dwindle to 4,000, with only a single migrating route left -- the east route to Poyang Lake.

Thanks to sustained efforts to preserve the habitat for the birds, the country's largest freshwater lake saw an increasing number of feathery visitors, attracting more than 680,000 wintering birds in 2020, 11,000 more than the previous year.

"The species and population of migratory birds have increased significantly in some important lakes and wetlands along the Yangtze River, which reflects an improvement in the local ecological environment," said Chen Jiakuan, a professor specializing in ecology with Fudan University.

China has made significant progress in protecting its wetlands with the help of its global partners. Local governments have been working with international institutions such as the Global Environment Facility and UNDP to finance and implement environmental projects.

As a result of UNDP-China cooperation, China's protected areas increased by 1.9 million hectares across six provincial regions, Trankmann noted.

She said that biodiversity protection is very much related to the fight against climate change, as intact ecosystems help absorb carbon and maintain animal habitats and food security.

As another attempt to draw global efforts to restore ecology on Earth, China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming of the southwest Yunnan Province this year. Countries are expected to work out concrete plans for post-2020 global biodiversity protection.

"This needs to include taking environmental issues into the heart of economic and financial decision-making and rethinking how public and private finance can co-generate positive effects for biodiversity. As the host, China has an opportunity to push this agenda," Trankmann said.

White cranes forage in a farmland by the Poyang Lake in Yugan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

CHALLENGES AHEAD

Coal-fired power remains a major energy source in China, and the country vows to bring the share of coal in total energy consumption to under 56 percent in 2021.

To reach the country's climate pledge, Trankmann believes that China should further accelerate its energy transformation, and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix.

According to an industrial report released by the China National Coal Association, the country's annual coal output will stand at no higher than 4.1 billion tonnes by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The annual coal consumption will be kept to around 4.2 billion tonnes at the end of 2025.

"We look forward to more targets and strategies for how to achieve a reduction in total emissions in the five-year plans for different sectors later this year including curbing coal consumption," she said.

In terms of addressing the challenges of protecting biodiversity, Trankmann said more could be done.

"Policies for biodiversity protection should be strengthened and tailored to different ecological contexts along with integrated approaches to land and resource management, including coastal and river basin management," said Trankmann.

Additionally, China can expand on its Grain for Green program, whereby people who live in ecologically fragile environments receive compensation for protecting ecosystems and conserving biodiversity.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices were mixed in choppy trade on Friday after surveys showed the euro zone's recovery from its pandemic-induced economic downturn was much stronger than expected in April. Brent crude for June delivery slipped 0.2 percent to $65.30 per barrel, giving up early gains. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures were up 0.2 percent at $61.52 a barrel. Economic growth is picking up in Europe, raising hopes that fuel demand will recover. The flash reading of the IHS Markit Eurozone composite purchasing managers' index rose to a nine-month high of 53.7 in April from 53.2 in March. Strong retail and PMI figures from the U.K. also suggested that the global economy is well positioned for a speedy recovery from the pandemic. On the flipside, oil demand concerns in India and Japan due to rising Covid cases are capping the upside in oil prices. India and Japan are the world's third and fourth largest oil importers. India recorded over 3 lakh cases for the second straight day today, clocking 3,32,730 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said. With this, India's trend of registering the world's highest daily tally continues, pushing the country's total infection count to 16,263,695 cases. Several countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates have barred or cut flights from India. In Japan, officials are looking at a state of emergency for Osaka and Tokyo to curb the spread. 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.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2021) A Cyprus-flagged container ship came under a pirate attack off the Nigerian coast in the Gulf of Guinea on Friday, according to a London-based maritime security firm.

Dryad Global said the Contship New was under attack at around 10:30 a.m. GMT.

It was located 185 nautical miles southwest from the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa.

"Crew members were reported mustered in the citadel. This incident is ongoing," a statement read.

The Gulf of Guinea remains the world's most dangerous place for commercial ships in terms of piracy. The International Chamber of Commerce's maritime bureau estimates that it accounted for nearly half of all reported attacks in the first quarter of this year.
A man believed to be the patient zero of the Mercure Hotel cluster had recently returned to Perth from attending a wedding in India.

India is in the midst of a massive wave of coronavirus cases that has been clogging local hospitals and overwhelming local authorities. This week, the country set a new world record for daily infections after recording 314,000 new cases in a day.

There are about 34,000 Australians overseas registered as wanting to return, the largest cohort of whom, about 9000, are in India.

The man was in quarantine on a floor of the Mercure Hotel with 24 other overseas travellers when the virus spread across several rooms. A woman, her four-year-old child and a Victorian man who had recently returned from China were all infected.

The Victorian man, who has since returned to Melbourne, spent five days in Perth as a tourist visiting several sites and transmitted the virus to a Kardinya receptionist who had hosted him at her home.

Mark McGowan (right) and WAs Chief Health Officer Dr Andy Robertson. Credit:Peter De Kruijff

Of the 24 guests, five have left Australia. All but one of the remaining 19 guests, the Victorian man, have so far tested negative for the virus.

Premier Mark McGowan made the revelations during a press conference this afternoon, adding it was just nuts the federal government had allowed people to travel to high-risk countries.

The person in the hotel the other day who was infectious had recently gone to India, who passed it onto the people across the corridor, Mr McGowan said.

It was not his fault that it spread across the corridor. But the fact of the matter is the Commonwealth let him go to India recently.

Mr McGowan said Australians travelling to countries with large COVID numbers and then returning a positive test had become a growing problem. Some, he said, had travelled to Europe and Africa to attend sporting events.

We should be dealing with that issue, he said.
From policiticans who are 'economical with the truth' to celebrities who share their picture-perfect lives on Instagram, we all know that public figures are not entirely transparent in how they present themselves.

Now a body language expert has revealed the behaviours to look out for that may reveal that a person is not being totally honest - from masking their true feelings about a situation to outright lying.

Mike Carter says that while there is no set formula for how someone will present themselves, there are signs that give away a lack of honesty - including hand and foot gestures, as well as subtle movements including excessive blinking, changes to breathe, and licking lips before speaking.

To illustrate his point, he worked with Replay Poker to decode interviews with several public figures and celebrities where their body language shows that at best they're putting on a front and not feeling entirely comfortable, while some may be actively trying to cover up the truth.

1. Looking to the right  because this is their imagination and not memory

Body language expert Mike Carter has revealed the key signs to look out for if you're concerned someone is being economical with the truth, including looking to the right to access imagination (pictured, Mike said Boris Johnson's eye movements during a 2016 interview with Tom Bradly talking about Brexit, indicated a 'discomfort')

Mike revealed that if someone's eyes are frequently darting to the right, it could mean they're lying to you.

Mike explained: 'When we look away to the right, we're accessing our imagination rather than recalling our memory.

'Therefore, liars often glance up to the right as they're looking for ways to embellish their claims by accessing their imagination.'

The body language expert pointed to a 2016 interview between Tom Bradby and Boris Johnson in which the politician's eye and hand movements indicated he felt uncomfortable as an example.

The Vote Leave campaign notoriously plastered a bus with a disputed claim that the UK sends 350million per week to Brussels that could be used to fund health services after Brexit.

At the time, Boris claimed that after Britain had 'settled its accounts' with the EU, Britain would be around 350million a week better off.

He wrote in The Telegraph: 'It would be a fine thing, as many of us have pointed out, if a lot of that money went on the NHS, provided we use that cash injection to modernise and make the most of new technology.'

During the interview, which took place during the run-up to the Brexit referendum aboard the Brexit bus, Tom repeatedly pressed the Prime Minister on the 350m a week claim.

Mike said Boris' movements during the interview indicated a 'discomfort' while his rapid eye movements to the right showed 'attempts to access his imagination.'

The 350million a week figure was debunked during the referendum campaign by Sir Andrew Dilnot, the head of the UK statistics watchdog.

And since then, many on the Leave side - including ex Ukip leader Nigel Farage - have also accepted the policy is not deliverable.

2. Blocking off people with our hand and foot movements

The body language expert revealed those who are lying may feel uncomfortable under questioning, and tend to use their body to 'block' themselves off (pictured, Prince Andrew during his Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis)

The body language expert revealed those who are lying may feel uncomfortable under questioning, and tend to use their body to 'block' themselves off.

Mike used Prince Andrew's 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, which is widely regarded as a 'car crash' that eventually forced Prince Andrew to step back from public life, as an example.

During the 2019 Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew admitted he let the Queen and the Royal Family down by becoming involved with a paedophile billionaire.

In the make or break TV interview about the scandal, he said he regretted going to stay with Jeffrey Epstein in New York after the financiers release from prison on child sex offences.

He repeatedly denied claims he had sex with one of the women, Virginia Roberts, when she was 17  but was then accused of lying by Miss Roberts.

The interview led to renewed calls for Andrew to be interviewed by the FBI about his friendship with disgraced financier Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell.

Mike said Prince Andrew's body language 'suggested he isn't comfortable with the questions being asked and wanted the firing to stop.'

He revealed: 'He is raising the sole of his shoe while the interviewer is questioning him in an attempt to block off the questions.

Meanwhile Mike also revealed that an individual is blinking a lot can also indicate they are 'shutting off' to the truth.

He pointed to Prince Andrew blinking a lot during the Newsnight interview, explaining: 'He's literally 'not seeing' what the other person is talking about and it gives away how uncomfortable he feels.'

3. Taking deep breaths before speaking

Mike suggested breathing can often be a giveaway when an individual is lying, and said Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's behaviour in an interview shortly before their divorce indicated a 'tension' between them

Mike suggested breathing can often be a giveaway that an individual is not comfortable in a situation.

He revealed that when people are close to one another - emotionally, physically and mentally - they 'subconsciously mirror and echo each other's body language.'

However an individual's breathing may 'give away tension'.

He pointed to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's final interview as a couple before announcing their plan to divorce in 2020 as an example.

The couple put on a united front as they welcomed Architectural Digest into their home in Calabasas after underoing years of renovation.

Kim and her husband took part in a light-hearted Q&A with each other, and Kanye even spoke about their future life together, saying: 'Kids are the inspiration for all of our designs moving forward.'

However, Mike suggested that the couple were covering up their marital problems.

He explained: 'The couple's breathing gives away the tension between them.

When people are most comfortable, they tend to breathe deeply and rhythmically - but both Kim and Kayne's breathing is very shallow.

'In a way, this shows that the couple is not close and in sync with one another at this time.'

7. Hand tensing to a claw when speaking

The body language expert revealed some might adopt self protective gestures while feeling uncomfortable, including hand tensing and arm movements

The body language expert revealed some might adopt self protective gestures while feeling uncomfortable, including hand tensing and arm movements.

During Prince Harry's recent appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, the royal spoke about his decision to step away from the royal family with candor and appeared relaxed throughout.

In one extraordinary moment Harry raps the theme tune to The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air outside the mansion where it was filmed.

The other signs someone is not being honest with you - Repeating the question before answering - Breaking eye contact - Failing to provide specific details Advertisement

However Mike said that when Corden video called Meghan, the royal appeared more 'uncomfortable'.

He revealed: 'Folding the arms is generally misunderstood. It's not necessarily a defensive action, it's one of self-comfort (not dis-similar to licking or touching the lips) which we resort to when we're feeling uncomfortable.

'It's quite literally the act of giving ourselves a hug. It's interesting that Harry appears to be less comfortable, when other people are around, in Meghan's presence, even when she's on the phone.

'That's probably because she is the more controlling of the two in their relationship.'

Elsewhere during the interview, Mike said Prince Harry appeared to 'hide his hands behind his back' because 'hand gestures can reveal emotion.'

He said that on the whole, the royal had taken on a 'typical royal stance' by concealing his hands during the interview.

He revealed: 'Prince Charles often hides his hands behind his back because excessive hand movements reveal emotion and thats not the done thing for a Royal.

'For a brief moment, Harry slips back into what hes learnt and what hes been taught but reverts back to using his hands very freely to express himself.

'This is, in part, due to the fact the James Corden is such a relaxed interviewer. So, Harry comes across as a relaxed, normal, cool, emotionally open guy.'

9. Licking lips or touching lips

Mike said people may lick or touch their lips more when they feel uncomfortable, using the Duke's behaviour in his recent interview with Oprah as an example (pictured, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their interview with Oprah Winfrey last month)

Mike said people often feel more conscious of their mouth when they feel uncomfortable or unsettled.

He revealed people may be more inclined to lick their lips or touch their mouth if they're not confident in what they're saying.

The body language expert explained: 'People tend to touch this area when they're uncomfortable - because it reassures them.

'Liars often bring the hand to the mouth just before they speak as a way of covering up the words they're about to say.'

He pointed to Prince Harry's behaviour during his and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey as an example of this type of sign.

During the broadcast, Prince Harry hinted at the extent of the alleged rift between he and Prince William, claiming that their relationship was now space, but added he hoped time would be a healer.

He went on to claim he was 'on different paths' to William and spoke about his brother was 'trapped' in the Royal Family.

Harry also said he felt 'very let down' by his father Prince Charles, accusing him of refusing to take his calls and and then 'cut him off' financially when they emigrated.

He said: 'My father and brother. They're both trapped' and added that his mother Diana would be 'angry and sad' that he felt he had to leave the royal family, but 'she saw it coming'.

When discussing his mother, Harry licks his lips which Mike suggested is 'a gesture confirming that the memory of what happened to his mother causes him genuine distresslicking his lips gives him a moment of comfort'.
English Lithuanian

Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, domicile address Tilzes st. 149, LT-76348 Siauliai, Lithuania.

The General meeting of shareholders held on 31 March 2021 approved allocation of the profit of Siauliu Bankas AB which included a pay-out of dividends - 0.0055 euro shall be paid for each ordinary registered share with a nominal value of 0.29 euro. Dividends shall be paid out to persons who were the shareholders of Siauliu Bankas AB at the end of the record day - 15 April 2021.

The Bank shall pay out dividends on 28 April 2021 in compliance with the following procedure:

- those shareholders whose shares are being accounted in the securities accounts with banks and financial brokerage companies rendering investment services will receive an amount of dividends after deduction of Personal Income Tax or Corporate Profit Tax in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Lithuania which shall be transferred to the accounts with the respective banks or financial brokerage companies;

- for shareholders whose shares are accounted for in Siauliu Bankas AB in the issuer's accounting, the amount of dividends, after deducting personal income tax or income tax in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, will be transferred to the account with Siauliu Bankas AB specified by the shareholder. If the shareholder has not specified an account with Siauliu Bankas AB for the transfer of dividends, he/she must submit an application for the transfer of dividends. Applications are accepted from 28 April 2021 in all customer service points of Siauliu Bankas AB. As long as the quarantine regime is in force, in accordance with security requirements, before going to the customer service department, it is necessary to register for a visit on-line at www.sb.lt or by phone 1813. Applications for dividend transfer can also be submitted via the bank's online banking.

Taxation of dividends:

- Dividends of natural persons residents of the Republic of Lithuania and foreign countries shall be subject to 15 per cent of the Personal Income Tax rate;

- Dividends of legal entities residents of the Republic of Lithuania and foreign countries shall be subject to 15 per cent of the Corporate Profit Tax rate, unless otherwise provided for in the laws.

Additional information:

Director of Securities Accounting Department Jolanta Dobiliauskiene

+370 41 595 669, e-mail jolanta.dobiliauskiene@sb.lt




More than 20 ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet have returned to their bases upon completion of maneuvers in Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"More than 20 warships of the Black Sea Fleet have returned to their bases after taking part in the joint-force exercise of [forces of] the Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces, which wrapped up at the Opuk range in Crimea yesterday," the Defense Ministry said.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - United Airlines (UAL) said, in June, the company is adding more than 480 daily flights to its U.S. schedule to offer an average of over 3,100 total daily domestic flights to more than 240 U.S. destinations. This includes the addition of new flights to Hawaii, Alaska and Montana. United will fly over 40 flights to the Hawaiian Islands on peak days in June. The airline will operate over 500 daily flights to 66 national park destinations. Ankit Gupta, vice president of domestic planning and scheduling at United, said: 'June is historically the beginning of the peak summer travel season and ramping up to over 3,500 total daily flights across the system this June underscores the continued demand for leisure travel and our responsiveness to meeting that demand.' 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 daylight assassin who shot her ex-lover, a mother-of-two, dead in the street on Wednesday should be treated as the victim of 'intergenerational trauma' who 'deserves compassion', according to a Democratic city council candidate.

Latisha Bell, 38, is in custody now for the murder of her 52-year-old girlfriend Nichelle Thomas.

On Wednesday, she walked up to her in the street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and shot her in the back of the head then, hours later, turned herself in to police.

Her sister has since revealed that she has mental health problems and that the pair were together for 20 years before splitting three years ago. It's unclear where Latisha was able to get a gun; New York is a red flag law state which prevents people with a documented history of mental illness from buying firearms.

Her sister told DailyMail.com that Nichelle did something to make Latisha snap, but wouldn't say what it was. That was what prompted her to commit murder suddenly.

But on Thursday, Brandon West, the Democratic candidate for District 39 (Park Slope-Gowanus) said that it was Latisha who was the victim and claimed on Twitter: 'People don't just wake up one day and choose to commit homicide.'

He went on to say Latisha had been let down by the system.

'We can only progress if we recognize that even murderers and abusers are victims, as they're usually suffering at the hands of complex emotional and intergenerational trauma which compels them to commit awful acts. We should uplift compassion and understanding above all else.

'People grow up in hostile and toxic environments, experience abuse and poverty and receive minimal help or education from professionals and the government.

'This can lead to them having undiagnosed, unsupported mental and material issues that end up perpetuating violence,' he said.

Scroll down for video

Brandon West, the Democratic candidate for District 39 (Park Slope-Gowanus) said that it was Latisha Bell who was the victim and claimed on Twitter: 'People don't just wake up one day and choose to commit homicide.' Latisha is shown, right, shooting dead Nichelle Thomas, on Wednesday. Latisha's sister told DailyMail.com that something happened recently to make her snap and kill the 52-year-old

Brandon West said in a series of tweets on Friday that the shooter was a victim

'If we work toward catching these problems earlier, we'll see a substantial decline in all forms of person-to-person violence. Conversely, having beat cops on every corner of the city is not only impractical, but it won't solve this problem, and it'll exacerbate others,' she said.

Mother-of-two Nichelle Thomas, 52, was murdered in the street

He then, in his six of eight tweets, said: 'In that vein, I'd like to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Nichelle Thomas. Her death is a tragedy for Park Slope.

'Additionally, I hope that by providing assistance to those in pain, we can prevent this type of violence in the future.'

Nichelle had two adult children. She was a beloved member of her church, and had lived in her apartment in Park Slope for 20 years, including some of the time with Latisha.

After her arraignment on Thursday, Latisha's sister told DailyMail.com: 'Something happened that I don't want to discuss - something really did happen that was traumatizing to my sister - she just couldn't deal with it anymore.

'She realized that she was using her for her own good. She felt she couldn't take it.

'Enough is enough,' she said.

The scene of the shooting on St Marks Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on Thursday

'My sister's been dealing with mental issues for a very long time. The other party was aware - I'm so sorry she had to go through this. I'm sorry both of them had to go through this.

'My sister doesn't deserve this. She tried to leave her alone but the woman kept coming back to her.'

Afterwards, Eric Adams - one of the mayoral candidates in the upcoming November election, made an appearance outside the deli where the shooting happened to advocate gun reform.

Latisha walked up to Nichelle and put a gun to the back of her head then pulled the trigger and fled the scene on Wednesday at 1pm.

Latisha later walked into a police station and told the cop on duty: 'I am turning myself in for the homicide.

'The gun is inside the bag. I need to talk to the homicide detective. I did the shooting.'

She is being held without bail on murder and weapons charges.
For some time now, persons in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and right across the globe, for that matter, have been viewing video clips posted on YouTube of one calling himself Lava Man.





Lava Man, disregarding appeals from the authorities, ascended the La Soufriere volcano during both the effusive and explosive phases of the La Soufriere volcano. He even descended into the crater, albeit during the effusive phase.





On an earlier climb, Lava Man, real name Desron Rodriquez, was dressed in a tuxedo with well-coiffed locks, and posed both on the crater floor juxtaposed against the new growing dome.





Accompanied by photographers and videographers, he announced to the world that his presence in the volcano that day, January 14, was to do a photo shoot for his birthday.





He quickly became the talk of the town and could have thrown in his towel and still be remembered. He didnt and a subsequent social media posted video, showed him at the summit a day before the first explosive eruptions of April 9. His video served to corroborate what the volcanologist would announce, i.e. that the volcano was moving into an explosive phase.





And that was far from the end of his escapade. A video that followed the explosive eruptions with its plumes of ash that fell back on to the land, showed him surveying what seemed like his territory, on the summit of La Soufriere.





He or his accomplices also posted photos of himself kneeling in one shot and then pensively viewing the scene in another. Neither photo was a selfie. These were apparently from his most recent climb, last Sunday, April 18.





This disregard for life and limb in the midst of grave danger agitated Professor Richard Robertson, lead scientist of the La Soufriere monitoring team.





As far as the bravery which has been ascribed to Lava Man, Professor Robertson responded sternly, saying, "Talk about bravery, to me somebody is brave when you are aware of the risk that you put yourself to, and because of your job or your need to contribute to society in a fundamental way, you still take the action that you need, to save your family or something like that. So, youre aware of the risk. You know you could be killed or you know you could be hurt, but you still do it: thats a brave person.





"A brave person is not somebody who goes up to the mountain, who dont understand the risk, putting themselves and their parties at risk and the people who might have to rescue them. That person is not brave.





To me that person is just simply dotish!





That said, the Professor warned that the volcano was "still shaking. After these breaks we tend to have an exclusive event. These explosions so far have not been as vigorous as when the eruption started. They still create eruption plumes. They still have tremendous potential to produce pyroclastic flows.
Mellody Hobson

Forbes named her one of the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2020, and in 2015 Time designated her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Scanlon posed questions about how businesses might foster greater social justice and, in particular, support voting rights. In her responses, Hobson said corporations cannot be silent on many of the current issues affecting the US and its people.

"They can't look the other way on these issues, because these issues are inside of the organization," she said, mentioning specifically the topics of mental health and gun violence, which can impact both employees and customers.

"Our people are demanding and expecting us to have points of view," she said. "Our society is questioning our values. And at the end of the day, again, all of this can either enhance shareholder value or detract from it. And I'm not saying that that's the be-all-end-all, but there are repercussions for this, both positive and negative, in terms of the job that we do as fiduciaries for shareholders."

She recently signed a letter, along with seventy-two other Black leaders around the country, to speak out against the restrictions on voting that Georgia's legislature passed and that other states are considering. While acknowledging that it can be tough for company leaders to make the decision to step into the political fray, she argued that the voting issue, at least, "is not controversial."

"This is not political. This is about basic democracy and making sure that we all have the right to exercise what our constitution says we get for being an American, which is the right to vote," she said.

She emphasized that one key to changing corporate behavior is making corporate boards better reflect the make-up the country's population.

Both CBS News and Bloomberg News reported on Hobson's Bowdoin talk, highlighting her message that companies are committing "corporate suicide" if they "are not being thoughtful about diversity and their board composition in the twenty-first century."

"You can't be a leading company in the world and not have a diverse board or have a real agenda around diversity without dying at some point as an organization," Hobson said. "I would strongly advise corporations to think long and hard about having targets for what kind of representation they want in their boardrooms, and how to get there over time."

Based on the most recent statistics available, she said roughly 20 percent of US boards include womencompared to 40 percent in France and 30 percent in the United Kingdom. These figures are even lower for Black and Lantinx people.

"To give you the facts and the math more specifically, I love this line: Math has no opinion," she said. "White males make up 70 percent of board seats in this country, but they only make up 30 percent of the US population."
We all are well-aware of how the Indian Healthcare System has collapsed in the last few days. It has been unable to take care of the COVID-19 patients and the numbers are dismally rising with each passing hour.



Also, there is an extreme shortage of Oxygen cylinders all across the country. Amid all this chaos, Union Minister Prahlad Patel on Thursday threatened to slap a man in Madhya Pradeshs Damoh after the man asked the minister to arrange an oxygen cylinder for his ailing mother.

Now, a video of the same has been going viral on the internet.

Check out the video here-

A #COVID19 patient's caregiver seeks help with #oxygen cylinder, Union Minister Prahlad Patel says, I will give you 2 slaps.



NDTVs Anurag Dwary reports pic.twitter.com/RcO0re9Zxo  NDTV (@ndtv) April 22, 2021

The mans mother was admitted to the District Hospital Damoh and he wasnt able to get an oxygen cylinder for the mother due to a shortage. He encountered the union minister during his visit there and asked for help but the minister got angry and said, Aise baat karega to do khayega (If you talk like this, you will get two (slaps).



The helpless man replied that he was okay with getting beaten but oxygen should be arranged for his mother. He said that the oxygen cylinder that was given to him only lasted for two hours. The minister later tried to handle the situation saying that he is not denying helping him but the man should use proper language.

Heres what people have to say about the incident-

These are the people we have elected to lead us! Pathetic! https://t.co/QxbFco3WIn  Himadri Ghildiyal (@HimadriGhildiy1) April 22, 2021

The fuckin arrogance of power. Moronery unlimited https://t.co/0Pk2KBE0V6  Ganesh Athreyaa (@athreyaa) April 22, 2021

Thappad se darr nahi lagta saab, COVID se lagta hai..



You have anyway made mockery of our faith, hit us slaps too, but give us the needed things to stay alive https://t.co/ZF7Uco0xFf  Suvajit Mustafi (@RibsGully) April 22, 2021

Shame on these politicians. They should be removed from the post where they cannot perform their duties. https://t.co/NJnJVcPzf9  Rolly Singh12 (@Roll1210) April 22, 2021

Arrogant Union Minister Mr. Prahlad Patel doesn't want to hear the public those who are not getting oxygen cylinder n the man who is pleading has been replied by the minister "ls Tarhy Bolega To Do Khayega". What non sence is going on n they are behaving with the public like this  Prem Bakshi (@PremBakshi10) April 22, 2021

This is the level of arrogance of our leaders. Pure shame. @sambitswaraj jara tweet kijiye is baare me kuch. @RubikaLiyaquat jara poochiye sawaal. https://t.co/gNRBl1LLHV  Ashvini Vyas (@ashvinivyas) April 23, 2021

A lesson for him for all those who voted and elected him as their leader and representative. https://t.co/Lff1J3Vd73  B.M.S.Khan (@BMSKhan) April 23, 2021

I hope karma slaps him twice as hard. https://t.co/qZia0fk5TA  Burhani Taher Saifuddin (@BhaadeKaTattoo) April 23, 2021

Many people took objection to what the union minister said to the son of the ailing mother.

Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang on Thursday said that the number of hospital beds has been increased to 4,69,20 in the State and the daily testing capacity of Covid-19 has been increased to 46,000. On Wednesday, 46,000 metric tonnes of oxygen was available while the demand was around 382 tonnes.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
A man pleaded guilty Thursday in the murders of his child's mother and seven members of her family in 2016 - a grisly crime that spread terror across their rural Ohio community and stirred rumors of drug dealers and hit men before authorities concluded it stemmed from a custody dispute.

On the fifth anniversary of the slayings, Edward 'Jake' Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in southern Ohio's Pike County in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from being sentenced to death.

He agreed to cooperate in the cases against his parents and brother, who are also charged in the Rhoden family slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy.

On the fifth anniversary of the slayings, Edward 'Jake' Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in southern Ohio's Pike County in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from being sentenced to death

'I am guilty, your honor,' Wagner calmly told the judge again and again, as Judge Randy Deering read each count aloud. The charges included eight counts of aggravated murder, as well as charges of conspiracy, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and other counts.

Wagner admitted he was personally responsible for five of the deaths, special prosecutor Angela Canepa said. He gave prosecutors a full account of what happened that morning, along with information that led to them to additional evidence. She did not say what that evidence was.

Hannah Rhoden, the 19-year-old mother of Jake Wagner's toddler daughter, was shot multiple times while sleeping with her newborn baby

Wagner, 28, said in court that he is 'deeply and very sorry.' He wasn't immediately sentenced, but his lawyers said he understands he faces a lifetime behind bars.

'He knows he's going to die in prison without any judicial release. As horrifying as this is for all, he is as sorry as he could be,' defense attorney Gregory Meyers told the judge.

The killings in April 2016 - at three trailers and a camper near Piketon - terrified residents in the surrounding rural community and prompted one of the most extensive criminal investigations in state history. It took authorities more than two years to announce the arrests.

George Billy Wagner III, Angela Wagner and their son George Billy Wagner IV have pleaded not guilty.

The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and 19-year-old Hanna, the mother of Jake Wagner's child; Clarence Rhoden's fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

Prosecutors alleged the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a custody dispute. According to Canepa, Jake Wagner tried to convince Hanna Rhoden to agree to shared custody of their daughter and she refused. Wagner was able to gain access to two Facebook accounts and found a post from Hanna saying she would never agree to those terms.

These images released by the Ohio Attorney General's office, show, top row from left, George 'Billy' Wagner III and Angela Wagner, and bottom row from left, George Wagner IV and Edward 'Jake' Wagner. Edward has agreed to cooperate in the cases against his parents and brother,

Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Rhoden, 37 (left), and their 16-year-old son, Christopher Jr (right), were among those killed in April 2016 in Piketon in southern Ohio

Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, (left) and a cousin, Gary Rhoden (right), 38, were also shot dead.

Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden, 20, and his fiancee, Hannah Gilley, 20, were shot dead while sleeping with their child

Jake Wagner began dating Hanna Rhoden when she was 13. She became pregnant when she was 15, Canepa said.

The family after the slayings were questioned by authorities at the U.S.-Canadian border, where a laptop was seized. Forged documents were found on the computer purporting that Hanna Rhoden had agreed to shared custody.

The Wagners took phones from six of the victims, as well as a recording device and trail cameras, Canepa said.

The Wagners used guns with two homemade silencers, allowing them to kill their victims as they slept, Canepa said. Parts from a failed effort to build a silencer were found on the Wagners' property, she said.

Jake Wagner began dating Hanna Rhoden when she was 13. She became pregnant when she was 15. Wagner pictured in 2018

Leonard Manley, father of Dana Rhoden Manley, wears a 'Justice for Gilley and the Rhodens' t-shirt during the arraignment of Edward 'Jake' Wagner at the Pike County Courthouse on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018 in Waverly, Ohio

Most of the victims were repeatedly shot in the head, and some showed signs of bruising. Three young children at the scenes, including Jake Wagners child, were unharmed.

According to Canepa, shell casings found at the Wagners' home matched those found at the murder scenes. Investigators also found a shoe of the same size and tread that matched a shoe print found a the scene.

A relative, Tony Rhoden Sr., has sued the suspects, saying he wanted to be sure none of them benefitted financially from the slayings.

One of his lawyers, Brian K. Duncan, said by email that the family 'is grateful for today's outcome, as it provides at least some semblance of justice on this day which coincides with the fifth anniversary of these tragic events.'
Dar es Salaam, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Apr, 2021 ) :Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan reached out to the opposition Thursday as she vowed to defend democracy and basic freedoms in the East African country, which had seen a slide into autocratic rule under her predecessor.

Democratic rights as well as individual and press freedom "are important for stimulating development and peace," she said in a maiden televised policy speech before parliament.

Hassan, who became Tanzania's first female president in March, said she would discuss with the opposition "how best they will conduct their political activities for the benefit of our country".

The 61-year-old was vice president to John Magufuli at the time of his sudden death last month, also aged 61.

He was a Covid-sceptic who said the virus had been fended off in Tanzania through prayer.

Authorities said Magufuli, nicknamed the "Bulldozer" for his uncompromising leadership style, died of a heart condition after a mysterious three-week absence, but his political opponents insisted he had coronavirus.
A frustrated family forced to camp out in their living room for seven weeks blames a neighbour's housing development for termites eating into their bedrooms.

When the Brashers moved into their once-tranquil oasis in the Yarra Ranges north east of Melbourne eight years ago their backyard overlooked grazing lamas and sheep.

But since a neighbour began building on the steeply sloping block behind them in late 2019, the Brashers have been caught in a quagmire.

The neighbouring development has no drainage and when it rains a torrent flows through the Brashers' property, with water pooling for days in the yard and seeping under the home.

Termites that have taken up residence in their three-bedroom house have been activated by the moisture, destroying beams and floorboards at the back of the property.

A frustrated family forced to camp out in their lounge room for seven weeks blames a neighbour's housing development for termites eating into their bedrooms. The development has no drainage and when it rains a torrent flows through the neighbouring property

An estimated $22,000 damage has been done to the property, which the Brashers say is at risk of landslips from the neighbouring development. Mould has taken hold in one of two bathrooms, and their back fence has collapsed under the weight of soil

A quarter of the boards in the Brashers' main bedroom have been damaged by termites which have chewed their way half way up the back wall.

An estimated $22,000 damage has been done to the property, which they say is at risk of landslips from the neighbouring development. Mould has taken hold in one of two bathrooms, and their back fence has collapsed under the weight of soil.

Honi Brasher and her husband Clayton have confronted the owner-builder, who did not install drainage before commencing earth works but says the problem is not all his fault.

The Brashers' insurer has refused to pay for the damage because their policy does not cover ground water run-off and the local council has not offered a solution.

An AAMI insurance report states the cause of the damage as: 'Water running off the developing block behind customer's home causing excessive water flowing to the home.'

Termites that have taken up residence in the Brasher family's three-bedroom house have been activated by the moisture, destroying beams and floorboards at the back of the house

'The assessor confirmed the damage did not occur from a single insured event,' AAMI wrote in a March 18 letter explaining its refusal to pay.

'But rather from water seeping over time from the neighbouring property, which has no drainage.'

A Flick pest control report from February found active subterranean termites in the timber flooring of two bedrooms had caused 'extreme damage'.

It also found moderate damage by wood decay fungi in the sub-floor, which was exposed to 'high moisture levels due to construction from behind the property.'

Only the back of the house, which is exposed to the water, is affected and if the water is not stopped the timber-eating insects will keep returning.

Mrs Brasher is a disability advocate and her husband Clayton a salesman in the waste industry. They are both 51 and have three adult children living at home.

Their split-level weatherboard home is on a battle-axe block at the end of a no-through road. Mrs Brasher describes it as 'a tree house nestled amongst the hills.'

Only the back of the house, which is exposed to the water, is affected and if the water is not stopped the termites insects will keep returning. The backdoor is pictured after rain

Their split-level weatherboard home is on a battle-axe block at the end of a no-through road. Mrs Brasher describes it as 'a tree house nestled amongst the hills.' The townhouse being built behind her home is pictured

Behind the Brashers is a large block owned by the developer. His three-storey house sits at the top of the hill.

Three two-and-a-half storey townhouses are being built below the existing residence. The owner-builder is constructing the lowest house which is nearest the Brashers' home.

'We were always told it couldn't be built on,' Mrs Brasher said.

'We did try to stop it at the council level. We didn't want it to be built.

'We've just got to suck that up but when it starts affecting us big-time then it's a problem. It's just gone on and on and on.'

Clearing the block began in December 2019 and the Brashers soon learnt no water drainage had been constructed.

'We were under the understanding that the drainage would be done first to protect us,' Mrs Brasher said.

'But there's nothing. Nothing's been done.'

When it rains the water comes under the Brashers' back fence and settles under their home.

'If it rains just normally that's fine,' Mrs Brasher said.

'But if we get a heavy downpour it's like a cascading waterfall. It's just water under the house non-stop.

'The water was so heavy the last time flooding occurred we couldn't dry up the back of the house.'

Honi Brasher and her husband Clayton bought the charming house in Victoria's Yarra Ranges eight years ago

When it rains the water comes under the Brashers' back fence and settles under their home. 'If it rains just normally that's fine,' Mrs Brasher said. 'But if we get a heavy downpour it's like a cascading waterfall. It's just water under the house non-stop'

The Brashers' insurer has refused to pay for the damage because their policy does not cover ground water run-off and the local council has not offered a solution. Pictured is water in the Brashers' backyard after rain

The owner-builder told Daily Mail Australia the water run-off from his development had been unavoidable and he was trying to get the job finished as soon as possible.

'You're at the bottom of a block, and if there's heavy rain then of course there's going to be water,' he said.

'That's the reality of physics I suppose.

'That's obviously the situation. I can't do magic and make it disappear.'

Mrs Brasher said tradesmen were not prepared to offer warranties on remedial work while the water issue existed and winter would likely make the problem worse.

'I don't think were being terrible neighbours,' Mrs Brasher said.

'But everything's unsafe. While we're getting all this water we can't fix our home.

'I get frustrated and I get angry when I look at it and I don't know what to do any more.'

The owner-builder has said he will replace the fence eventually, at his cost, marking a new boundary which (rightfully) gives him more land.

The owner-builder has said he will replace the fence eventually, at his cost, marking a new boundary which (rightfully) gives him more land

A Flick pest control report from February found active subterranean termites in the timber flooring of two bedrooms had caused 'extreme damage'

When it rains the water comes under the Brashers' back fence (pictured) and settles under their home. 'If it rains just normally that's fine,' Mrs Brasher said. 'But if we get a heavy downpour it's like a cascading waterfall

Communication between the Brashers and the owner-builder has been more polite than might be expected but the family has had enough.

'[The owner-builder] does not believe it's his fault,' Mrs Brasher said.

'He always just comes across like "I'm just trying to do the best I can" and we're just expected to soak it up.'

Damage to the Brashers' main bedroom and that of their son forced the trio into the lounge room for seven weeks.

'At least we're back in our bedroom,' Mrs Brasher said.

'That's a start.'

The owner-builder did not concede the termites in the Brashers' home were made active by water flowing from his site.

'You don't get termites for that reason,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'You get termites because you're in an area that's termite-prone and you haven't done the protection that you should be doing.'

'I don't think were being terrible neighbours,' Mrs Brasher said. 'But everything's unsafe. While we're getting all this water we can't fix our home

An AAMI insurance report states the cause of the damage as: 'Water running off the developing block behind customer's home causing excessive water flowing to the home'

The Brashers felt they had been given the run-around. AAMI suggested they contact the Victorian Building Authority, which directed them to the Building Appeals Board.

Archicentre Australia, which conducts building assessments, advised the Brashers they should have been issued with a protection works notice before work started.

The local Yarra Ranges Council which approved the owner-builder's development did not respond to an inquiry before publication and his surveyor did not return a phone call.

The owner-builder has told the Brashers his townhouse's footings had finally been poured and the driveway would soon be concreted.

'Hopefully this will really help,' he wrote.

'We're both in the same boat,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'We both want it taken care of ASAP and like I say I'm doing my best to get it done.'
WASHINGTON (AP)  COVID-19 hospitalizations among older Americans have plunged more than 70% since the start of the year, and deaths among them appear to have tumbled as well, dramatic evidence the vaccination campaign is working.

Now the trick is to get more of the nation's younger people to roll up their sleeves.

The drop-off in severe cases among Americans 65 and older is especially encouraging because senior citizens have accounted for about 8 out of 10 deaths from the virus since it hit the U.S., where the toll stands at about 570,000

COVID-19 deaths among people of all ages in the U.S. have plummeted to about 700 per day on average, compared with a peak of over 3,400 in mid-January.

What youre seeing there is exactly what we hoped and wanted to see: As really high rates of vaccinations happen, hospitalizations and death rates come down," said Jodie Guest, a public health researcher at Emory University.

The best available data suggests COVID-19 deaths among Americans 65 and older have declined more than 50% since their peak in January. The picture is not entirely clear because the most recent data on deaths by age from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is incomplete and subject to revision.

Still, the figures suggest that the fall in deaths among senior citizens is driving the overall decline in lives lost to COVID-19, vindicating the U.S. strategy of putting elderly people at or near the front of the line for shots when the vaccine became available over the winter.

The U.S. trends mirror what is happening in other countries with high vaccination rates, such as Israel and Britain, and stand in stark contrast to the worsening disaster in places like India and Brazil, which lag far behind in dispensing shots.

According to U.S. government statistics, hospitalizations are down more than 50%, but most dramatically among senior citizens, who have been eligible for shots the longest and have enthusiastically received them.

Two-thirds of American senior citizens are fully vaccinated, versus just one-third of all U.S. adults. Over 80% of senior citizens have gotten at least one shot, compared with just over 50% of all adults.

At the same time, however, overall demand for vaccinations in the U.S. seems to be slipping, even as shots have been thrown open to all adults across the country. The average number of doses administered per day appeared to fall in mid-April from 3.2 million to 2.9 million, according to CDC figures.

My concern is whether the vaccine uptake will be as strong in these younger age groups, Guest said. If its not, we will not see the positive impact for vaccines in these younger age groups that weve seen in our older population.

Also, new virus cases in the U.S. have been stuck at worrisome levels since March, averaging more than 60,000 per day, matching numbers seen during last summers surge. The new cases are increasingly among people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who also make up a larger portion of hospitalizations.

In Michigan, which has been battered by a recent surge of infections, hospitalizations among people in their 50s have increased 700% since late February, outpacing all other age groups.

In Seattles King County, hospital physicians are seeing fewer COVID-19 patients overall, fewer needing critical care and fewer needing breathing machines. These younger patients are also more likely to survive.

Thankfully they have done quite well, said Dr. Mark Sullivan, a critical care doctor at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. They tend to recover a little quicker because of their youth.

With enough people vaccinated, COVID-19 cases should eventually begin to fall as the virus finds fewer and fewer people to infect. Guest and other experts say Israel appeared to reach that threshold last month after it fully vaccinated roughly 40% of its population of 9 million people.

But the U.S. faces challenges in conducting mass vaccinations because of its far greater size, diversity, geography and health disparities.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced new federal funding for small businesses so that employees can take time off with pay to get vaccinated or recover from the shot's side effects.

The challenge will be quickly vaccinating younger Americans, who feel they are less vulnerable to the coronavirus but are mainly the ones spreading the disease.

To really feel that were out of the woods weve got to see a lot less cases than were seeing now, said Dr. Jesse Goodman, a vaccine specialist at Georgetown University. Its going to take a wider, continuing effort.

In Chicagos Cook County, where 91% of adults 65 and older have had at least one shot, the patients in the hospital these days are younger and do better.

That feeling of dread is definitely eased with older patients getting vaccinated, said Dr. Tipu Puri, a kidney specialist and associate chief medical officer for clinical operations at University of Chicago Medical Center.

At some moments, theres even joy, he said. He recently stopped to help an elderly couple find the hospitals vaccination clinic. The woman was pushing her husbands wheelchair.

Those are people you hope you wont see in the hospital, Puri said. Were not going to see them in the emergency room or in the ICU."

He added: This is what coming out of the pandemic feels like.
LITCHFIELD  In the fall of 1941, shortly before the United States was dragged into World War II, a much more peaceful activity was taking place in a field in Northfield.

It was on a parcel of land on Laurel Ridge Farm that the now-late Remy and Virginia Morosani planted 10,000 daffodil bulbs. The result would prove nothing short of spectacular.

On a recent mild spring day, visitors wandered through the tens of thousands of daffodil blooms that turned their bright yellow and gold faces toward a blue sky tinged with gray clouds.

John Torsiello / For Hearst Connecticut Media

As the story is told, the place for the first daffodil planting, and subsequent ones (daffodils also self-propagate) was a pasture across the road from the Morosanis house that was too rocky to make into a good hay field. But the land had a rugged beauty to it. The couple was thus inspired to plant daffodils on that portion of their property, according to family members.

This is a gift, really, said Polly Morosani, daughter-in-law of the Morosanis. A foundation was established, she said, that now oversees and protects the property for future generations to enjoy.

John Torsiello / For Hearst Connecticut Media

On this April morning, a woman sat on a hill overlooking a pond surrounded by daffodils. Children walked along the paths leading them through the 11-acre property. Several other children climbed a large boulder that sits close to the pond that has two small islands, also planted with daffodils.

Its kind of a rite of passage for Litchfield kids, said Morosani with a smile. Its like sitting on the cannon on the Litchfield Green in the center of town. We just ask that people to do three things, or not do them actually; no dogs, no picking the daffodils, and no picnics.

After that first planting 80 years ago, Remy and Virginia Morosani continued their own local version of being Johnny Appleseed, who is known for planting apple trees from the East Coast to the Midwest, sinking more and more daffodils into the soil. Remy Morosani died in 1991 and Virginia Morasani passed away in 2004.

John Torsiello / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Polly Morosani, whose late husband John Morosani, the son of Remy and Virginia, died in 2020, said there are over 50 varieties of daffodils planted at Laurel Ridge, many of them difficult to distinguish from one another unless one has Peggy Morasani at his or her side and looks very closely at the petals and colors.

A big dig is being planned for fall, Morosani said, in areas where the daffodils have become overgrown. This will also allow the foundation to spread more flowers around the property.

The daffodils attract thousands of people from all over the state and beyond each April. A bus from a Canton nursing home passed by, carrying senior citizens who no doubt were happy to be out and about and catching a glimpse of the daffodils in all their glory. The daffodils are planted on both sides of Wigwam Road, planted in a wooded area across from the original field some years ago.

John Torsiello / For Hearst Connecticut Media

On a stone marker that overlooks the pond, there is a section of a poem by William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

John Torsiello / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

A daffodil, in this case, thousands of them, is a wonderful gift indeed.
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Suspected Boko Haram terrorists on Friday attacked Geidam, the headquarters of Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State and hometown of the acting Inspector-General of the Police, Baba Alkali.

Premium Timess correspondent could hear sounds of heavy gunfire as he spoke on the phone with a source in the town on the development.

I cannot talk now, I am sure you are hearing the sound of gunshots. Lets talk when the situation is calm, the frightened resident of the town said.

The last time the insurgents attacked Geidam was on February 9, barely 24 hours after the new Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, visited troops after his appointment.

Premium Times reported that three customs officers were abducted by the insurgents during that attack.

A source revealed that a Nigerian Air Force jet had been deployed to the town to dislodge the attackers.

Full details of the attack are still sketchy as people are indoors for their safety.

The police spokesperson in the state, Dungus Abdulkarim, said he needed to get across to his people on ground in Geidam before responding to press inquiries.

Foiled

However, PRNigeria, an online publication that circulates security information, reported that the attack has been foiled by army troops assisted by fighter helicopters from the Nigerian Airforce ( NAF).

It said Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter and attack jets were swiftly scrambled to repel the terrorists.

According to a military intelligence officer who spoke with PRNigeria, over a dozen insurgents were killed by the aggressive bombardments of the military aircraft.

The source added that though the ground troops pursued some terrorists who fled after the attack was foiled, he could not give the exact figure of the casualty suffered by the Boko Haram.
The intent of maximizing revenue in the extractive sector through the Agyapa Royalties deal initiated by the government in 2020 is not a bad idea, the Chairperson of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, Dr Steve Manteaw has said.



However, he said the lack of public trust and confidence in the government is one of the main reasons for the delay in the implementation of the deal.



Presenting the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas' findings as part of a report on how political considerations impact efforts to improve governance and development outcomes of Ghanas extractive sector in Accra on Thursday [April 22, 2021], Dr Manteaw said the thought and the intentions to optimize revenue from the extractive sector was laudable.



He, however, indicated that a series of actions and inactions on the part of government sometimes contributed to the public rejection of certain moves, such as the introduction of the Agyapa deal.



In the Agyapa deal for instance, the public raised issues on the lack of checks and balances in the governance system and the fact that it was seen by the public to be in the hands of the Minister of Finance, the President and a few other powerful individuals in government.



Raising badly needed finance



I think it is important to recognize that as a country we have a huge challenge in raising badly needed finance for our national development and this has become even more acute in the light of the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and therefore our ability to seek bi-lateral and multi-lateral funding, Dr Manteaw said.



In the case of this, what you do is to innovate and I think that Agyapa is an attempt to innovate in raising badly needed financing for the countrys development, so the idea, and the intent itself is not bad but I think the problem had to do with the manner of its design and execution, and the lack of adequate safeguard to protect the national interest, Dr Manteaw noted.



Bringing Agyapa back



Commenting on the coming back of the Agyapa deal, Dr Manteaw said, well weve raised a number of issues and I recall that in the run up to the 2020 elections when the president [Akufo-Addo] directed that the deal, I mean the transaction, be stalled and referred it to the Minister of Finance and the Attorney-General to kind of review and incorporate the concerns of the CSOs into the transaction document, the expectation was that issues about conflict of interest was going to be addressed.



We also anticipate that issues relating to the under valuation of the royalty will be addressed and then we think that it is important to build the whole transaction arrangement with adequate safeguards and public access to information.



We will want to see arrangements such as we have with the oil revenue management, in the form of PIAC [Public Interest and Accountability Committee], a citizens led additional public oversight through which citizens will be able to access information on the management of these royalties that form the basis of this transaction, he added.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Mumbai, April 23 : Actress Debina Bonnerjee encourages her fans to donate plasma, since plasma therapy is proving to be an effective way to combat Covid-19.

"I urge everyone who has recovered from Covid-19, to check with their doctors and then go ahead and donate your plasma. Plasma donation has proven to be an effective way to combat Covid-19, as many patients who are in critical stages are benefitting from plasma from Covid-recovered patients," she told IANS.

She adds: "This is the least we can do to salvage the current situation and every donation counts. So, please go ahead and donate your plasma." The actress says that she and her husband actor Gurmeet Choudhary have also donated plasma.

"Post recovering from Covid, My husband and I visited our local clinic and we donated our plasma. While there are millions of people getting affected, there is also a large chunk of the population that is recovering and has been able to fight Covid 19. Since I am a plasma donor, I have the donor card and I found out that there is no plasma available as of now and there is an acute shortage of the same. People should come ahead and donate plasma, just like they donate blood," she says.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has donated a two-bedroom bungalow and N2 million to the 2020 overall best graduating student of Lagos State University (LASU), Oladimeji Shotunde, an indigene of the state.

The governor made the announcement during a celebration of Ogun academic laureates 2021, held at the Obas Complex, Abeokuta, on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor also gifted Ademola Adeeko, of Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, winner of the 2020 African Union Continental Teachers Award, a two-bedroom bungalow.

The governor announced that the state government would also set up an education endowment fund for Faith Odunsi of the Ambassadors College, Ota, in Ogun, winner of the Global Open Mathematics Tournament.

He noted that the event was another symbolic confirmation of the status of the state, not only as the education capital of Nigeria but as the intellectual melting-pot in Nigeria.

Mr Abiodun said that education remained one of the biggest industries in the state and one of the proudest legacies bequeathed to it by her founding fathers, promising that the government would sustain the legacy.

This is why immediately on assumption of office on May 29, 2019, we declared a state of emergency on education. It was a methodical and calculated approach to rescue the education sector from the dwindling fortunes inflicted on it by the indifference of the past.

What could have happened to the education of the state that produced the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka, the first Nigerian and African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature; Prof. Thomas Lambo, the first professor of Psychiatric Medicine in Nigeria?

He listed others produced by the state as Biyi Afonja, Professor of Statistics; Olikoye Ransome Kuti, the renowned Paediatrician; Theophilus Ogunlesi, the first Professor of Medicine in Nigeria; Oyinade Olurin, the first female Professor of Medicine, and Anthony Asiwaju, foremost Historian.

Mr Abiodun said the present administration focused on infrastructure development, human capital development, provision of a conducive environment, among many others, to redeem the sector and restore the lost glory.

He assured the people that the state government would continue to put measures in place toward providing quality education necessary for the development of the state.

The governor charged teachers, as important stakeholders, to continue to discharge their professional duties creditably beyond the new demands of COVID-19.

He appealed to teachers to ensure that the children were adequately catered for physically, mentally, and socially in preparation for future challenges.

NAN reports that Mr Soyinka; Isiaq Oloyede, Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB); and Anthony Asiwaju, Professor of History, joined the event virtually.

They commended the governor for recognising success, urging him to continue to take the state to greater heights.

NAN reports that the governor also honoured 25 others for academic excellence.

(NAN)
Photo: The Canadian Press Pharmacist Barbara Violo shows off a vial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Junction Chemist, an independent pharmacy in Toronto, Friday, March 12, 2021. A national advisory committee recommends people 30 and older can get a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine if they do not want to wait for an mRNA alternative. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A national advisory panel recommends people 30 and older can get a shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine if they do not want to wait for an alternative.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization provided the update in a briefing today.

The committee initially recommended a pause on using AstraZeneca shots for people younger than 55 out of an abundance of caution after reports of rare blood clots.

It says Health Canada released a safety assessment that showed the benefits of the shots outweigh the risks, which the committee also evaluated.

Although provinces initially paused giving AstraZeneca shots to younger people based on the committee's advice, some have since started administering it to people over 40, given the current spread of the virus.

The committee says the blood clots are rare, and people have an individual choice if they would rather wait to take the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday that withdrawal of Russian military forces from the border with Ukraine could ease tensions but the step alone would not stop the escalation or the conflict in the eastern Donbass region.

In a statement, Kuleba also urged Ukraine's Western partners to continue to monitor the situation closely and to take effective measures to deter Russia.

Russia announced on Thursday it was ordering troops back to base from the area near the border with Ukraine, apparently calling an end to a buildup of tens of thousands of soldiers that had alarmed the West.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Tokyo [Japan], April 23 (ANI): Japanese lawmakers have launched a parliamentary alliance aimed at "protecting Mongolian culture from assimilation policies of the Chinese government".

Citing Jiji Press, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the alliance will be headed by Sanae Takaichi, a former internal affairs and communications minister of Japan, with fellow members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The cross-party Parliamentary Alliance in Support of Southern Mongolia will aim to "protect the language and culture of Mongolians in China", which is being threatened by the assimilation policies of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Ethnic Mongolians in China's Inner Mongolia region had also protested last year against a new educational policy under which Inner Mongolia students needed to take classes in language, history and politics entirely in the Chinese language. They believe it endangers the Mongolian language and attempts to assimilate all ethnic minorities in a united "Chinese nation".

Temurlun, an ethnic Mongolian currently living in Japan, said the move was a huge boost to ethnic Mongolians from China's northern region of Inner Mongolia, which is referred to by rights activists as Southern Mongolia.

"The ... alliance established by the Japanese parliament today is hugely encouraging for Southern Mongolians in exile," RFA quoted Temurlun as saying.

He said the CCP is trying to "extinguish" traditional nomadic Mongolian culture within China's borders.

RFA further stated that the launch of the alliance comes after Japanese lawmakers held a seminar earlier this month on how best to protest the Mongolian language and culture in China.

Ethnic Mongolian adults are being targeted by Chinese language-learning campaigns, with new programs teaching Mandarin being broadcast in the region since December 2020. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The Brandon Police Service deployed its Tactical Response Unit on Thursday evening after a report of a man carrying a handgun.

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The Brandon Police Service deployed its Tactical Response Unit on Thursday evening after a report of a man carrying a handgun.

At approximately 10:30 a.m., officers responded to a reports of a vehicle hitting a man near Wellington Drive, where witnesses reported a gun allegedly falling from the mans possession.

According to police, the man got into the vehicle that hit him and left the area.

Police found the vehicle in the 3500 block of Willowdale Crescent. An investigation lead police to obtain a search warrant for the apartment the vehicle was parked by to find the gun,

The Tactical Response Unit and BPS Major Crime Services executed a search warrant at approximately 5 p.m, police say.

Photos from the scene show the Brandon police armoured rescue vehicle on location along with several police officers with rifles drawn.

Three people left the apartment without incident but no handgun was found.

Two people were released without charges.

A 21-year-old man, who police suspect was the one hit by the vehicle, was wanted on outstanding charges unrelated to the warrant.

The man was uninjured and was charged with assault, possession of a weapon, two counts of failing to comply with release orders and failing to comply with probation.

 The Brandon Sun
DUBLIN, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "IT Training Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global IT training market reached a value of US$ 70.86 Billion in 2020. Information technology (IT) training comprises imparting knowledge and skills related to the development, application, implementation, design and management of computer-based systems. With the increasing adoption of the latest technologies by organizations worldwide, IT training has become essential for companies to carry out their operations in an efficient manner. Proper IT training prepares a company to manage its data and resources effectively and boosts the efficiency and productivity of its employees.



With the growing adoption of smartphones and smart wearables technology, many firms and users are increasingly opting for mobile-based IT training. This helps the learners to access the information anytime and anywhere on their mobile devices. Moreover, the constantly evolving technology and growing business needs require regular training programs for employees to help them understand the latest developments in the market. This has also created a positive impact on the market. Earlier, corporate training used to add significant expenses for organizations.

However, companies can now save on costs and expenses by providing IT training through e-learning methods to their staff. Additionally, governments and public bodies are also formulating policies and making investments to facilitate the expansion of educational technology and e-learning methods. This has resulted in an increasing demand for IT expertise to impart knowledge and skills in students as well as teachers. Looking forward, the publisher expects the global IT training market to exhibit moderate growth during the next five years.



Competitive Landscape:



The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined with some of the key players being Avent Academy, CGS, Corpex, Dell, ExecuTrain, ExitCertified, Fast Lane, Firebrand, Global Knowledge, GP Strategies, HP, IBM, ILX Group, LearnQuest, New Horizon, Oracle, QA, and SAP.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global IT training market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global IT training market?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end-user?

What are the key regional markets in the global IT training industry?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the global IT training industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the global IT training industry?

What is the structure of the global IT training industry and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the global IT training industry?

What are the profit margins in the global IT training industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology

2.1 Objectives of the Study

2.2 Stakeholders

2.3 Data Sources

2.3.1 Primary Sources

2.3.2 Secondary Sources

2.4 Market Estimation

2.4.1 Bottom-Up Approach

2.4.2 Top-Down Approach

2.5 Forecasting Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global IT Training Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Application

6.1 IT Infrastructure Training

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Enterprise Application and Software Training

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Cyber Security Training

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Database and Big Data Training

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Others

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by End-User

7.1 Corporate

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Schools and Colleges

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Others

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Region

8.1 North America

8.1.1 United States

8.1.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.1.2 Market Forecast

8.1.2 Canada

8.1.2.1 Market Trends

8.1.2.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Asia Pacific

8.2.1 China

8.2.1.1 Market Trends

8.2.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2.2 Japan

8.2.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2.2 Market Forecast

8.2.3 India

8.2.3.1 Market Trends

8.2.3.2 Market Forecast

8.2.4 South Korea

8.2.4.1 Market Trends

8.2.4.2 Market Forecast

8.2.5 Australia

8.2.5.1 Market Trends

8.2.5.2 Market Forecast

8.2.6 Indonesia

8.2.6.1 Market Trends

8.2.6.2 Market Forecast

8.2.7 Others

8.2.7.1 Market Trends

8.2.7.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Europe

8.3.1 Germany

8.3.1.1 Market Trends

8.3.1.2 Market Forecast

8.3.2 France

8.3.2.1 Market Trends

8.3.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3.3 United Kingdom

8.3.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.3.2 Market Forecast

8.3.4 Italy

8.3.4.1 Market Trends

8.3.4.2 Market Forecast

8.3.5 Spain

8.3.5.1 Market Trends

8.3.5.2 Market Forecast

8.3.6 Russia

8.3.6.1 Market Trends

8.3.6.2 Market Forecast

8.3.7 Others

8.3.7.1 Market Trends

8.3.7.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Middle East and Africa

8.4.1 Turkey

8.4.1.1 Market Trends

8.4.1.2 Market Forecast

8.4.2 Saudi Arabia

8.4.2.1 Market Trends

8.4.2.2 Market Forecast

8.4.3 Iran

8.4.3.1 Market Trends

8.4.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4.4 United Arab Emirates

8.4.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.4.2 Market Forecast

8.4.5 Others

8.4.5.1 Market Trends

8.4.5.2 Market Forecast

8.5 Latin America

8.5.1 Brazil

8.5.1.1 Market Trends

8.5.1.2 Market Forecast

8.5.2 Mexico

8.5.2.1 Market Trends

8.5.2.2 Market Forecast

8.5.3 Argentina

8.5.3.1 Market Trends

8.5.3.2 Market Forecast

8.5.4 Columbia

8.5.4.1 Market Trends

8.5.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5.5 Chile

8.5.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.5.2 Market Forecast

8.5.6 Peru

8.5.6.1 Market Trends

8.5.6.2 Market Forecast

8.5.7 Others

8.5.7.1 Market Trends

8.5.7.2 Market Forecast



9 SWOT Analysis

9.1 Overview

9.2 Strengths

9.3 Weaknesses

9.4 Opportunities

9.5 Threats



10 Value Chain Analysis



11 Porters Five Forces Analysis

11.1 Overview

11.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers

11.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

11.4 Degree of Competition

11.5 Threat of New Entrants

11.6 Threat of Substitutes



12 Price Analysis



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Market Structure

13.2 Key Players

13.3 Profiles of Key Players

13.3.1 Avent Academy

13.3.2 CGS

13.3.3 Corpex

13.3.4 Dell

13.3.5 ExecuTrain

13.3.6 ExitCertified

13.3.7 Fast Lane

13.3.8 Firebrand

13.3.9 Global Knowledge

13.3.10 GP Strategies

13.3.11 HP

13.3.12 IBM

13.3.13 ILX Group

13.3.14 LearnQuest

13.3.15 New Horizon

13.3.16 Oracle

13.3.17 QA

13.3.18 SAP



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/isqs2i



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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Kings Cross should be revived as Sydneys neon heartland with bright signage like the iconic Coca-Cola billboard spreading through the precinct under a major plan to transform the area.

The former red-light district should not revert to being a residential suburb and noise complaints should be centralised through a single agency to ensure only genuine grievances are addressed, according to a highly anticipated report by urban think-tank Committee for Sydney.

The neon vision for the revival of Kings Cross. Credit:Committee for Sydney

The research - co-funded by the City of Sydney, and undertaken with the University of Technology Sydney, the Sydney Business Chamber and local stakeholders - also recommends making the intersection where Darlinghurst Road crosses William Street one lane in each direction and lowering speeds along Darlinghurst Road and surrounding laneways to 10km/h.

According to the report, the area is in the grip of an identity crisis after the lifting of lock-out laws that stamped out the areas former beer-barn culture, with the added economic malaise of COVID-19.
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According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, every year, 3.8 Mn new cases of urothelial carcinoma occur around the world, with the recurrence rate being nearly 30-50%. However, early detection by use of modern diagnostics enables quick medical decision-making and consequent treatment for urothelial carcinoma. Accuracy in urothelial carcinoma diagnostics plays a significant role in the reduction of treatment costs.

Moreover, increased demand for treatment of urothelial carcinoma is a key driver for increasing revenue inflow from diagnostic tests and procedures. However, development of effective urothelial carcinoma screening methods will play a significant role in the early detection and subsequent reduction in mortality rates. Furthermore, technological advancements in diagnostic methods such as the adoption of diagnostic imaging procedures, rapid molecular diagnostic kits, and use of biomarker testing in urothelial carcinoma screening programs are some other factors that will aid the growth of the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market.

How About Looking Through The Sample Of Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnostics Market Report? https://www.persistencemarketresearch.co/samples/14128

Companies covered in Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnostics Market Report

GE Healthcare

Roche Holding

Illumina

IDL Biotech

Agilent Technologies

Olympus Corporation

Philips Healthcare

Abbott Molecular

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.( Qiagen N.V.)

Danaher Corporation (Cepheid)

How About Step-By-Step Insights To Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnostics Market? Look Through The Methodology Employed! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.co/methodology/14128

According to the latest report published by PMR, the global urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market was valued at US$ 1 Bn in 2020, and is expected to progress at a CAGR of over 11% during the forecast period (20202030).

Key Takeaways from Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnostics Market Study

The reagent and kits segment, under product type, is expected to contribute more than 70% of revenue share in the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market.

of revenue share in the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market. By test type, molecular diagnostic tests accounted for the highest revenue in 2019 . Rapid and sensitive detection is anticipated to drive demand for urothelial carcinoma diagnostics.

. Rapid and sensitive detection is anticipated to drive demand for urothelial carcinoma diagnostics. Based on end user, the hospitals segment accounts for a major revenue share in the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market.

Leading players launching rapid diagnostic products with advances technology are expected to dominate the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market space.

Governments of various countries are organizing cancer screening programs and are spreading awareness, which is creating significant demand for urothelial carcinoma diagnostics.

The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in manufacturing disruptions and also decreased demand, which is projected to impede market growth in the near term.

Want To Keep A Tab On The Latest Findings In The Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnostics Market? Purchase Our Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnostics Market Report Now! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/14128

Rise in prevalence of urothelial carcinoma and demand for early detection for preventive treatments will boost the global urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market, says a PMR analyst.

Acquisitions and Partnerships - Key Strategies amongst Market Players

Key players in the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market are looking forward to strengthening their product portfolios through the launch of new products. For instance, in 2017, Roche received FDA approval for the complementary PD-L1 (SP263) biomarker test in urothelial carcinoma. In August, 2018, Agilent Technologies, Inc announced that the US Food and Drug Administration approved its Dako PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx assay for expanded use as a companion diagnostic test for Merck's anti-PD1 immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for urothelial carcinoma.

Various players in the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market are focusing on growth strategies such as acquisitions and partnerships. For example, in 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific signed an agreement with Janssen to co-develop companion diagnostics for cancer.

What Does the Report Cover?

Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the urothelial carcinoma diagnostics market in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 20152019 and projections for 20202020, on the basis of product type (reagents and kits, instruments), test type (urinalysis test, molecular diagnostic test, biomarker test, imaging test, cytoscopy, ureteroscopy), and end user (hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, research and academic institutes, clinical research organizations), across seven key regions.

About Us :-
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott will give the Republican response to President Joe Biden's April 28 speech to a joint session of Congress, further showcasing the South Carolinian's rising star and status among the GOP.

"I'm giving the official GOP response to Joe Bidens first address to Congress!," Scott posted to Twitter on April 22. "Im humbled and honored to have this opportunity to share my positive conservative message with the American people."

Scott, who is up for reelection in 2022, has been seen as the future of the Republican Party in a post-Donald Trump era.

While he has said that his next run for Senate will be his last, speculation continues to grow if the lone Black Republican in the Senate will pursue a 2024 White House bid.

He was in Davenport, Iowa, on April 15 as other GOP hopefuls begin to lay groundwork in the early-primary state.

Scott has been able to perfect a balancing act where he can walk a fine line of Trump loyalty and also be a critic of his divisive rhetoric. The former president proudly offered his complete and total endorsement of the senator last month.

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And, so far, the fundraising numbers show substantial GOP support.

Scott has raised more than $2.2 million in the first quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings, and has nearly $9 million in cash on hand.

The Republican Senator now also faces a challenger in 2022.

State Rep. Krystle Matthews, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Ladson, Goose Creek and North Charleston, became the first woman to represent the area after her successful bid in 2018. She announced her campaign to take on Scott earlier this month.
HOUSTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jack Brooks Foundation is hosting an inaugural award ceremony featuring a frank discussion about voting and elections with award recipients Lina Hidalgo and Arnold Schwarzenegger, online and open to the public free of charge on Tuesday, April 27, at 12 noon CDT. The host of the panel discussion, "Elections and the Future of Voting," will be CBS News Correspondent Omar Villafranca. The panel discussion promises to be a lively encounter between two very determined leaders who found creative ways to help Americans vote. Interested viewers can register and access a link to view the event at https://link.jackbrooksfoundation.org/events.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Arnold Schwarzenegger talk elections and the future of voting April 27 noon CDT.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, executive of the county that includes most of Houston, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have been chosen to receive the first annual Jack Brooks Award, honoring leaders who elevated the needs of voters ahead of partisan politics to make it easier for citizens to cast ballots in 2020. The mission of the Jack Brooks Foundation, in honor of the late Congressman Jack Brooks of Texas, is to develop independent, nonpartisan initiatives to empower, educate and motivate Americans to vote.

The discussion next Tuesday will focus on how both of the honorees eliminated barriers to voting in the 2020 election and their views on how to protect the rights of voters in every election. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hidalgo worked with other Harris County officials to find creative solutions for voters, including drive-through voting and early ballot drop-off, more in-person early voting locations and 24-hour voting at some locations. The result was the highest turnout in the county since 1992 with 68% of registered voters voting, for a total of 1.6 million.

Through the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of Southern California, Schwarzenegger offered $2.5 million in Democracy Grants to fund new polling places and increased voter access in eight states that had a history of voter suppression as identified in the Voting Rights Act. The result was increased turnout in those areas that received the grants as compared to those that did not.

Contact: Patricia Bernstein 713-838-8400 PBernstein@bernsteinandassoc.com

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lina-hidalgo-and-arnold-schwarzenegger-talk-elections-and-the-future-of-voting-online-tuesday-april-27-at-noon-cdt-301275531.html

SOURCE The Jack Brooks Foundation
(Newser)  India set the global record for daily COVID cases on Thursday, then broke the record on Friday with more than 332,000 new ones in a 24-hour span. The nation also recorded a national high 2,263 deaths in 24 hours, reports the BBC. The situation is bleak:

Hospitals across the country are scrambling for oxygen, reports the New York Times. In the capital of Delhi, about half the new cases involve a fast-spreading new variant that is hitting younger people. Reuters reports that oxygen is in such low supply that police are providing armed escorts to tankers making deliveries to hospitals.

Families, meanwhile, are struggling to find hospitals able to accept loved ones. NBC News details the story of a 40-year-old man who died in the back seat of a car as his family drove him to about a dozen hospitals in the western state of Maharashtra, none of which had room to accept him. "We were so distressed, we even begged the doctor to let him sleep on the hospital floor," says his sister of one visit. "Everyone said no."

story continues below

One day after 22 COVID patients died in a hospital after a leak cut off their oxygen, another 13 were killed in a hospital fire in Maharashtra.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys widespread popularity, but he's starting to take flak on social media with hashtags such as SuperSpreaderModi and ResignModi, per CNN. For one thing, Modi has continued flying around the country to host large political rallies, though he canceled his latest to convene an emergency meeting. His government also allowed a large Hindu festival to go forward.

"There was perhaps a lost opportunity to learn from the first wave," Krishna Udayakumar of Duke Global Health Innovation Center tells the Times. The second wave began in mid-March, soon after India's health minister said the nation was in the "end game" of the pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci called the situation in India "dire" and said the CDC would try to provide technical support and assistance, per the AP. The US also has discouraged travel to India, while Canada, Britain, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand are among the nations that have barred travelers from India.

(Read more COVID-19 stories.)
Chairwoman of the Reform Party Kaja Kallas arrives at a polling station during a parliamentary elections in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 3, 2019. (Raul Mee/AP Photo)

Editor-in-Chief of Estonian Newspaper Apologizes for Running CCP Propaganda on Xinjiang

Martin Smutov, the editor-in-chief of evening newspaper Ohtuleht, one of the most influential media outlets in Estonia, has made an open apology for publishing propaganda after it agreed to print an article on Xinjiang by Chinas Ambassador to Estonia Li Chao.

On April 15, Ohtuleht carried a full page of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda in its paid advertisement section written by Li, who tried to refute reports of concentration camps, forced labor, and genocide against Uyghurs and other minorities groups in Xinjiang as lies and rumors.

The article pushed the CCP-approved narrative on the situation in Xinjiang, igniting controversy in the former Soviet country in eastern Europe.

Smutov, who immediately met with backlash over the article, apologized to the papers readers in an interview with ERR news, also known as Estonian Public Broadcasting in English.

He expressed that though the advertisement was legally admissible, the editorial staff had committed an error in violating the companys values by agreeing to carry Lis article in their newspaper. The editor-in-chief pledged to make organizational changes and avoid reoccurrence of such incidents.

This is not the first time the CCPs influence operations have met with setbacks in Estonia.

In February this year, another Estonian newspaper, Eesti Paevaleht, inserted a similar article by Li on Xinjiang in its advertisement section. Afterwards, the advertisement director also apologized, saying Lis article was against the publications content standards, it was published due to an unfortunate organizational error.

We have categorically said that we will no longer publish such content and such stories have not been offered anymore, Urmo Soonvald, editor-in-chief of Eesti Paevaleht, told ERR. We make value-based decisions and do not want to contribute to propaganda that ignores and suppresses the most basic human rights.

Postimees, a newspaper with a history of more than 150 years, also strongly resists pro-Beijing articles.

Mart Raudsaar, the editor-in-chief of Postimees, expressed that despite their love to Chinese culture, they would never run propaganda articles to defend the CCPs repression and persecution policies on the issue of human rights.

We do not publish such communist propaganda. As a country, we also have certain values, he told ERR.

Raudsaar revealed that a CCP diplomacy agency once reached out to them for the same purpose but without success. That article was the one to appear in Eesti Paevaleht in February.

PM: Growing Challenge from China

Estonias Prime Minister and Reform Party chairman Kallas told ERR on April 15 that activities by the CCPs organs were posing an increasing challenge for Estonia, like other small countries and democracies as a whole.

While she was leader of the opposition in July 2020, Kallas was accusing the CCP of human rights violations in Xinjiang. At the time, she called on the then Estonian government to take a hard stance against Beijing.

Chinas repression of its Uyghur minority reminds one of the horrors Nazi Germany inflicted upon the Jews, Kallas said at the time.

She had stressed the importance of consistency in the countrys foreign policy, arguing that if Estonia rebukes Russia for its human rights abuses, it should treat China alike.

She also complained that the Estonian government had failed to officially acknowledge Taiwan out of fear of displeasing the CCP even after receiving medical supplies from the self-ruled island.

The EU was also criticized by Kallas for its failure to outline a coordinated strategy against China and for seeking investments from the communist regime.

Intelligence Agency: CCP a Major National Security Threat

For three consecutive years, communist China has been highlighted by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Agency as a major threat.

The agencys annual report for 2021 (pdf), for example, gave particular mention to the CCPs overseas influence operations, as well as threats from Russia. The report broke down Xi Jinpings doctrinecreating a community of common destinythe CCPs spread of propaganda and disinformation, and the regimes cyber espionage to steal foreign technologies.

In response, the Chinese Embassy to Estonia pushed back on the report with a statement on Feb. 14, expressing its strong protest while demanding that the report be revised.

However, Estonias foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, stood firm against the CCPs criticism, according to Vision Times.
House Democrats pass DC statehood bill; critics slam move as 'power grab'

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The United States House of Representatives has passed a bill that would admit the District of Columbia to the Union as the 51st state, a move critics are calling a power grab.

The "Washington, D.C. Admission Act" passed the House Thursday on a party-line vote, with 216 Democrats voting in favor of the measure and 208 Republicans voting against it. The wide partisan divide surrounding the D.C. statehood debate reflects the fact that should the overwhelmingly Democratic District of Columbia become the 51st state in the Union, it would almost certainly send two Democratic senators to the Senate and a Democratic Congresswoman to the House, tilting the balance of power in Democrats favor.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting delegate representing the District of Columbia in Congress, made the case for statehood on the House floor Thursday: This country was founded on the principles of no taxation without representation and consent of the governed, but D.C. residents are taxed without representation and cannot consent to the laws under which they, as American citizens, must live.

According to Norton, D.C.s population of 712,000 is larger than two states. D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and pays more federal taxes than 21 states. D.C.s gross domestic product is larger than 17 states.

Congress has a choice, she continued. It can continue to exclude D.C. residents from the democratic process, forcing them to watch from the sidelines as Congress votes on federal and D.C. laws, and to treat them, in the words of Frederick Douglass, as aliens, not citizens, but subjects. Or it can live up to the nations founding principles, join the 54 percent of Americans  and growing  who support D.C. statehood and pass H.R. 51.

Recognizing the policy implications that would come with an increased Democratic majority in Congress, conservative groups quickly condemned the passage of the D.C. statehood bill.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, lamented that Radical pro-abortion Democrats in the House are ignoring the Constitutions principles regarding the seat of federal government to push for D.C. statehood, knowing it would stymy pro-life legislation, and force Americans in our nations capital to fund abortion on demand.

This is their latest power grab and attempt to change the rules in order to advance the worst of their agenda before the 2022 midterm elections. Make no mistake, they pursue this deeply unpopular agenda at their own political peril, she added.

In a letter addressed to members of Congress, Dannenfelser elaborated on her concerns about the bill. She explained that the Dornan Amendment, sometimes referred to as the District of Columbia (D.C.) Amendment, is a funding ban in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill that ensures taxpayer money cannot finance abortions in the District of Columbia.

D.C. statehood would remove the ability for the federal government to limit such funding, she warned. If D.C. were to become the 51st state, it would join the list of states that use state tax dollars to fund abortions for women enrolled in Medicaid.

Dannenfelser also described the attempt to admit D.C. as a state as an attempt to add two Democratic senators to the Senate where they would stand in the way of pro-life legislation designed to defend our most basic rights, the first of which is life. She expressed concern that the two Democratic senators that would represent D.C. in the Senate would undoubtedly vote in lockstep with the abortion lobby to confirm only the most radical pro-abortion judges and justices.

Additionally, critics of the push to make D.C. a state cite the U.S. Constitution as another reason for their opposition. In a June 2020 op-ed for the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby explained that Article I, Section 8 provides explicitly for a national capital that would not be part of a state nor treated as a state, but rather a unique enclave under the exclusive authority of Congress  a neutral district in which representatives of all the states could meet on an equal footing to conduct the nations business.

In addition to criticizing the push for D.C. statehood, the conservative group FreedomWorks has called on Congress to support the D.C.-Maryland Reunion Act. This legislation, introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., would make the areas outside of the National Mall, the Capitol and the White House part of Maryland, thereby giving its residents voting representation in Congress without adding any new states to the Union and maintaining Capitol Hill as the neutral district that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution calls for.

While the Washington, D.C. Admission Act has passed the House of Representatives, it faces an uphill climb to passage in the Senate. Although Democrats have a 50-50 majority in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote, the filibuster rule requires most legislation to receive 60 votes for passage.

Currently, the Senate version of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., only has 44 co-sponsors. Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Joe Manchin, D-W.V., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz., as well as Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, have yet to sign on as co-sponsors. Like the House version of the bill, the Senate version of the D.C. statehood measure is not expected to accumulate any Republican support.

The House had previously passed a D.C. statehood bill last year, but the bill was never brought up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. Polling has shown that the support for D.C. statehood has grown over time.

According to a 2021 poll by Data for Progress, a liberal group, 54% of Americans support making Washington, D.C., a state. A 2019 Gallup poll found that just 64% of Americans support D.C. statehood. In 2016, 86% of District of Columbia residents voted to approve a referendum that would add Washington, D.C., to the Union as the 51st state.
The NSW government will impose a three-day lockdown on anyone arriving from Perth following a COVID-19 outbreak, with top infection control experts and doctors calling for an end to the hotel quarantine era.

A Melbourne man is suspected of acquiring coronavirus during his quarantine period while staying at Perths Mercure hotel, which had already been earmarked for closure as a quarantine facility because of its poor ventilation.

The WA government is trying to deal with transmission of the COVID-19 virus within the Mecure Perth. Credit:WAtoday

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the Melbourne man, aged in his 50s, spent five days in Perth following his quarantine and health authorities were assuming he was infectious while there sparking a three-day lockdown of the city.

New Zealand has paused quarantine-free travel with Western Australia, with a flight due to leave Perth on Friday night cancelled.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister rejected calls Thursday to immediately toughen public-health orders as daily COVID-19 case counts continued to rise.

Pallister said he is willing to impose tighter rules if need be, but Manitoba already has a long list of restrictions on travel, social gatherings and more.

Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister speaks at a news conference after the 2021 budget was delivered at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Pallister is rejecting a call for tougher public-health orders to fight a rising number of COVID-19 cases. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

"Our restrictions, which are and continue to be some of the most limiting in the country ... have effectively helped Manitobans to bend the curve down," Pallister said.

"We're continually monitoring the situation with the guidance of our public health officials. And although I know there are probably a hundred thousand other people out there that have opinions, I'm going to stick with (chief public health officer Dr.) Brent Roussin as my principal adviser when it comes to this."

Pallister's comments came shortly before the province reported 261 new COVID-19 cases and one death. It was the highest daily count since January, and other measurements such as the percentage of people testing positive have risen in recent weeks as well.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman had called for tougher measures Wednesday. He said the third wave of the pandemic had clearly begun.

Manitoba currently requires anyone arriving in the province to self-isolate for 14 days and caps outdoor public gatherings at 10 people. Retail outlets have strict capacity limits. Restaurants can only seat members of the same household together at indoor tables. People can only have two designated visitors inside their homes.

The rules were even tougher last fall after Manitoba saw its case numbers and hospitalization rates jump. Restaurants were banned from offering indoor dining, and non-essential retail outlets were only allowed to provide delivery and curbside pickup.

The Opposition New Democrats said they want tougher rules imposed immediately, but did not offer specifics.

"I would defer to Dr. Roussin in terms of the contours of what needs to take place but it does seem as though we have to take action now," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said.

"Maybe (if) we take quick action now, we can get back to normal and enjoy more of summer."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021
PHILADELPHIA, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- McKean Defense Group, LLC announced today that the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD) awarded the company a contract with the potential value of $20M. This indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has a five-year period of performance. The contract will support the Materials, Structures, Environmental and Protection Division 33.

Work scope includes in-service engineering, inspection and testing, material assessments and compliance, material studies/analyses, environmental analyses/assessments and compliance, ship systems hardening, machinery controls analysis, machinery systems integration, machinery research and development, logistics integration and analyses, training development, technical manual development and management, environmental engineering, and instrumentation and calibration.

"Our legacy with this Division spans more than a decade, through multiple prime contracts," said Joseph Carlini, Chief Executive Officer of McKean Defense. "We understand the work diversity and criticality to the fleet, and actively manage hundreds of technical instructions simultaneously to execute our support. The team we assembled for this effort provides Division 33 with access to hundreds of personnel who already support their mission critical programs."

Work on these contracts will be executed in Philadelphia with support to other Navy sites, including several OCONUS locations. Any system engineer, analyst, testing or technician positions associated with this work can be found at www.mckean-defense.com.

Additional Information:

McKean Defense is an employee-owned Life Cycle Management, Engineering, Enterprise Transformation, and Total Ship Integration business headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. McKean Defense's engineers, developers, technical staff, programmers, analysts, and program managers identify and deploy new shipboard technologies, integrate information technology across shipboard platforms, implement cyber and advanced information technology systems, and develop strategies to support the Warfighter. McKean Defense employees help customers reach new levels of mission support and transform their organizations. McKean consists of McKean Technical Services, Cabrillo Technologies, and Mikros Systems.

SOURCE McKean Defense Group, LLC

Related Links

http://www.mckean-defense.com


The foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Turkey, and Pakistan are calling on all parties to the Afghan conflict, in particular the Taliban, to reaffirm their commitment to achieving a negotiated settlement, after an international peace conference planned for this weekend was postponed.

In a joint statement issued after talks in Istanbul on April 23, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Hanif Atmar, and Shan Mahmood Qureshi said they "deplored the continuing high level of violence in Afghanistan."

They also "emphasized the urgent need for an immediate cease-fire" to end the violence and "provide a conducive atmosphere for the peace talks."

The Washington-backed conference, hosted by Turkey, Qatar, and the United Nations, was previously scheduled in Istanbul for April 24 to fast track an agreement between the Taliban and Afghan government with the aim of ending decades of war in the country.

But the event was postponed due to the Taliban's nonparticipation, with Ankara saying it would take place after Ramadan celebrations end in mid-May. No precise date has been given.

Speaking after the Istanbul talks, Cavusoglu said the Turkish government's support for the Afghan peace process and efforts to organize the conference in the Turkish city would continue.

"As the co-organizers, we are continuing talks on this with all sides," he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11, four months later than the May 1 deadline agreed to with the Taliban by the previous administration of Donald Trump.

In response, the insurgents announced it would not attend the high-level peace conference planned for this week.

Taliban assaults on foreign troops in Afghanistan have largely ceased since a peace deal was signed in the Qatari capital, Doha, in February 2020 by the Taliban and the Trump administration.

However, attacks have continued against Afghan security forces and government personnel.

Under the Doha accord, all foreign forces were to leave Afghanistan by May 1 in exchange for security guarantees from the militant group, such as severing ties with Al-Qaeda and refusing to harbor any foreign terrorists.

The Taliban also pledged to negotiate a cease-fire and a power-sharing deal with Kabul, but months of intra-Afghan peace talks in Qatar between the Taliban and Afghan officials have stalled.

In their statement, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan vowed to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and enhance cooperation on regional connectivity in transport, trade, energy, people-to-people contacts, education, social and cultural exchange, tourism.

They also acknowledged the role of the regional and neighboring countries, in particular Pakistan and Iran in hosting Afghan refugees for more than four decades and called for creating conducive conditions in Afghanistan for their voluntary, safe, dignified, expeditious and sustainable repatriation.

The Afghan foreign minister traveled to Istanbul for the talks but the Foreign Ministry said he would attend them virtually "as advised by physicians."

"Preliminary tests do not rule out the possibility that Minister Atmar being infected with COVID-19," according to the ministry.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
Volkswagen is demanding compensation from ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn for "breach of duty" in connection with the "dieselgate" scandal

Auto giant Volkswagen is seeking more than a billion euros ($1.2 billion) in damages from ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn over the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal, German media reported on Friday.

The sum would be the highest ever claim for damages against a company executive in Germany, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Volkswagen has written to Winterkorn to demand the sum, the bulk of which is likely to be covered by his liability insurance, the report said, without citing its sources.

Volkswagen and a source close to Winterkorn both declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

The Volkswagen group was plunged into crisis in 2015 when it admitted to installing cheating software in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide to dupe pollution tests.

The scandal, based on allegations from the US Environmental Protection Agency, has so far cost the German car giant more than 30 billion euros ($35 billion) in fines, legal costs and compensation.

VW said in March it would be demanding compensation from Winterkorn, as well as Rupert Stadler, the former head of its Audi division, for "breach of duty" in connection with the affair. The company did not reveal how much it was seeking then.

The amount demanded from Stadler "is expected to be much smaller" than that asked of Winterkorn, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

VW accuses Winterkorn of failing to take action from July 2015 to get "immediate and comprehensive" information about the use of the illegal software in vehicles sold in North America between 2009 and 2015.

It also says he "failed in this context to ensure that the questions asked by the US authorities were truthfully and fully answered".

Winterkorn, 73, and four other ex-Volkswagen colleagues are due to go on trial together in Germany on charges of organised commercial fraud and serious tax evasion.

The start of proceedings has been repeatedly pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic and is now set to start on September 16.

The first senior executive to go on trial over "dieselgate" was Stadler, 58, whose fraud proceedings opened in Munich last year.

Explore further VW seeks damages from ex-CEOs over dieselgate scandal

 2021 AFP
Chennai, April 23 : The growing individualism or self-interest against common welfare in a free market economy, large number of employee retirements, lower number of recruitments, general disinclination of the young staff towards union are some of the challenges that the unions have to face, said C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA).

The four-lakh member strong AIBEA recently completed 75 years of its existence.

He also said the emerging days are going to be very challenging, in fact, threatening as all that has been achieved by unions are sought to be taken away.

"Looking back to the history of AIBEA for the past 75 years gives us great pride and inspiration because it is a journey by ordinary middle class bank employees who by their sheer unity could achieve dignity, security and better living conditions," Venkatachalam told IANS.

On looking forward he said the emerging days are going to be very challenging, in fact, threatening to reverse the clock back. All the past achievements are sought to be taken away and members are to be geared to face the future challenges.

In a free market economy, with individuals becoming more important than the collective there is a risk that the idea of union may be under-valued. Unions mean uniformity and harmony. When individual interest will become predominant, unionism will be the casualty, Venkatachalam said.

On the unions not able to expand into new private banks Venkatachalam said most of the new banks hire staff on contract basis or on cost to company basis in the officer cadre not covered under the Industrial Disputes Act.

On the home turf- government owned banks and old generation private banks - Venkatachalam said the rate of new members joining the union due to reduced level of recruitment is less versus outgoes due to promotion, retirement.

"About 20 per cent of the employees would be retiring in the five years or so. Another 10 per cent have about 10 years to go. As on date, about 70 per cent employees are relatively young and hence, it is not an alarming situation," Venkatachalam said.

The AIBEA which was in majority in the five associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI) lost that status when the former were merged with the latter.

Barring banks like Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), the AIBEA is the majority union in all other public sector banks.

While opposing privatisation, mergers and acquisitions of public sector banks, Venkatachalam said membership of the Union is not affected by mergers as unions also get merged. In fact, our unions have become bigger and larger numerically in such banks which is an advantage in terms of better capacity to fight.

Speaking about the merger of old generation Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) where unions are present with new generation DBS Bank, Venkatachalam said things are so far normal there and if there is an attack on the unions then we will react, otherwise we will co-exist.

Asked about the efficacy of worker and officer representatives on the public sector bank boards as they didn't turn into whistle blowers of various scams Venkatachalam said: "Our worker Directors are like a watchdog. And they have been playing this role well. Out of about 10 to 15 Directors on the Boards of a Bank, what one worker Director can do." He said the worker directors have questioned the management on various issues and many times our role has been appreciated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government nominee directors.

"But it is not possible to play a major radical role to change the banking policies only by the worker director," Venkatachalam said.

When asked about AIBEA's silence on action against worker directors while demanding action against RBI nominee directors for scams Venkatachalam said the role of latter is different and they are equipped more than others.

"I was a Worker Director myself in those days. I have given so many dissents on many credit decisions. But we cannot say the same thing about RBI nominees. We want them to play a better role,' Venkatachalam said.

Rejecting the idea of unions hiring consultants to chalk out growth plans for the banks as the latter lacks knowledge to suggest something great Venkatachalam said the unions can play more proactive than a defensive role if the managements and government change their outlook.

"If they take one step forward, we will not hesitate to take two steps forward," he said.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
CHICAGO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dennis Dressler is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Top Attorney for his excellent contributions to the field of Commercial Law.

Mr. Dressler is a Chicago, Illinois-based business law attorney with over 20 years of vast experience. He is a partner at his law firm Dressler & Peters, LLC. He represents both businesses and individuals throughout the state and nationwide.



Dennis Dressler

Over Mr. Dressler's 24-year-long career, he has litigated matters including complex bankruptcies, commercial real estate, financial services, equipment leasing, restructuring, and transportation. He has experience with commercial litigation in many different industries, and has secured major verdicts on behalf of his clients. He defends clients against potential liability. Mr. Dressler has worked in multiple states to resolve bankruptcies. As well as his role as a private attorney, Mr. Dressler serves as National Counsel for several businesses.



Mr. Dressler began his career after earning a Bachelor's Degree from Missouri State University. He then graduated with his J.D. from the Saint Louis University School of Law. He holds a license to practice law in Illinois, Missouri state courts, several federal courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.



He is associated with the American Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association.



With a lifelong love of learning and teaching, Mr. Dressler gives lectures for legal groups and trade associations. He writes informative articles for trade publications, and provides speaking engagements at various conferences, seminars, and professional organizations.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

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Life jackets on a boat. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  A technician who fell off a platform into the sea in 2019 while crossing to a boat in heavy rain was not wearing a life jacket, while his company had failed to take supplementary safety measures during the crossover.

Lee Chee Tong's body was found in an advanced state of decomposition three days later, with his identity established through impressions lifted off his right thumb.

The 51-year-old Malaysians death was deemed to be an unfortunate work-related death by Coroner Prem Raj, in findings made available on Friday (23 April). The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is also considering taking enforcement action against parties involved under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

Lee, a technician, had been employed by Rex Refrigeration and Airconditioning Service for more than 20 years. He had attended a safety course and worked on board vessels at anchorages for years.

Day of the incident

On 23 October 2019, he was the designated supervisor to three other technicians for repairs on board the vessel Angelic Glory, whose owner had engaged a local shipping agent to hire service engineers to repair a refrigeration and air-conditioning system.

Investigations by the MOM found that Lee would usually assign one person to collect the life jackets, but he failed to do so on the day. The team realised this when they arrived at Marina South Pier at about 5.30am. The life jackets were eventually forgotten.

The team then boarded a launch boat and arrived at Angelic Glory an hour later, where Lee conducted a briefing on the tasks and the safety measures to be taken.

After completing the repairs, the team went up to the port side of the main deck at about 4:50pm to board the launch boat. Team members observed that it had started to drizzle by this time and the waves were high.

As the team went down a ladder to cross to the launch boat, Lee told them to be careful as the waves were strong. The strong current also forced the boatman to manoeuvre the launch boat a few times before its front was able to come into contact with a lower platform of the ladder.

Story continues

Lee signalled for a seaman to lower the ladder slightly to be level with the launch boat. He then stepped onto the platform and placed one foot on the launch boat when there was a sudden swell, which caused the front of the launch boat to pitch down and up, hitting the underside of the platform.

The platform then moved downwards, causing Lee to fall into the sea between the launch boat and Angelic Glory.

Team members shouted for help and heard Lee shout help me twice, while struggling to stay afloat. The seaman also ran to the nearest life buoy and threw it towards Lee, but he was unable to reach it.

Lee was swept away from the Angelic Glory and eventually disappeared. The Police Coast Guard was informed but authorities were unable to find him. His body was only retrieved off the Eastern Bunkering B Anchorage three days later at about 7:51am.

Three agencies investigate

The incident triggered investigations by the MOM, Maritime Port Authority and the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau. Lees son told the investigation officer that while Lee was able to swim and in good health, he was not a strong swimmer.

He noted that his father was an easy-going person who was always smiling and joking away, and they had last seen each other on 21 October 2019 over video chat. Lee always told his family not to worry about him as work in Singapore was simple and he was handling it well.

MOM findings stated that Lee could have borrowed life jackets from the launch boat or informed his company to prepare life jackets on the launch boat, but this was not done. Angelic Glory and the boatman had also executed a man overboard rescue procedure accordingly.

MOM found that while the platform was kept in position by a pin at each side, these pins could still move within their brackets and could disengage. When the platform's underside was hit during the incident, the pins were dislodged and caused the platform to tilt down. Stanchions were not installed at the platform.

MOM also found that Lees company had identified the hazard of falling from the boat during crossovers, and proposed using life jackets as a control measure.

However, the risk assessment did not identify supplementary measures, such as rejecting the boarding of a vessel in the event of bad weather and ensuring proper means of boarding, such as having handholds on an accommodation level. It had also not established safe work procedures for repairs on vessels and safe boarding of vessels.

Rex Marine and Engineering, which shares the same management as Rex Refrigeration and Airconditioning Service, has since introduced a procedure which requires all persons to wear a lifejacket at all times when travelling in a boat and when transferring between vessels, and when using an accommodation ladder. Transferring between vessels in heavy rain or rough seas has also been banned.

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DETROIT, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on AFP/ATL Machines Market by Machine Type (AFP, ATL, and Hybrid AFP/ATL), by End-User Type (Tier Players, OEMs, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2021-2026.

This strategic assessment report, from Stratview Research, provides a comprehensive analysis that reflects today's AFP/ATL machines market realities and future possibilities for the forecast period 2021 to 2026. The report segments and analyzes the market in the most comprehensive manner to provide a panoramic view of the market. The strategic report also studies and analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the market and provides a detailed overview of the possible market recoveries in the long run. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for market participants as well as investors in the identification of low-hanging fruits available as well as formulate growth strategies.

AFP/ATL Machines Market: Highlights from the Report

The disruptive journey of composites in various industries has not been hidden from the world, especially in the aerospace, automotive, wind energy, and marine industries. Among all, aerospace is one industry that has witnessed excellent penetration of advanced composites in the crucial sections including fuselage and wings of the next-generation aircraft, B787 and A350XWB.

However, the road to success for composites in the aircraft industry was not that easy as it seemed. Prepregs are the most suitable material for fabricating composite parts that are laid layers on layers manually, generally at a rate of 2.5 lbs. per hour. It was impossible to fabricate large number of composite parts with such a low layup rate. To overcome this challenge, close collaboration between aircraft OEMs and tier players with composite industry stakeholders was required to develop advanced processes that are fully automated and have an extremely higher layup rate with increased part performance. This factor has led to the successful development of AFP/ATL machines for fabricating aircraft structural parts including fuselage and wings.

The year 2018 was the iconic year for the AFP/ATL machine suppliers with the highest number of AFP/ATL machines sold worldwide, a landmark figure that the industry never touched before. However, the market players recorded a massive plunge in 2019. The key factor behind this massive decline was the grounding of B737Max, which forced Boeing and related tier players to seize their investment plans for AFP/ATL machines for the program as well as for other programs.

Thereafter, the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has entirely flipped the dynamics of the market in 2020. The pandemic has exacerbated the existing industry challenges. Some of the key challenges are deferment in aircraft deliveries by airlines, halts in production activities in the several production facilities of key OEMs, production cut by major OEMs (Airbus slashed production rates of their key aircraft programs by 1/3rd and similar announcements by Boeing), fall in operating margin and stock prices of the industry stakeholders, huge COVID-related cost, and remote work affecting the efficiency.

Based on the study of market recoveries in previous downturns (The Great Recession) coupled with primary interviews across the supply chain, Stratview estimates suggest that the AFP/ATL machines market is likely to commence rebounding from 2021 onwards, followed by maintaining sequential growth till 2026, ultimately reaching a value of US$ 0.44 billion by 2026.

Click Here and Run Through the TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/467/afp-atl-machines-market.html

The AFP/ATL machines market is segmented based on the machine type as AFP machine, ATL machine, and hybrid AFP/ATL machine. Despite the massive decline in 2020, AFP machine is expected to remain dominant till 2026, owing to the increasing development of low-cost AFP machines and increasing acceptance of these machines in a wide array of industries including automotive and space.

Based on the end-user type, tier players and OEMs are likely to remain the major procurers of these machines in the coming years. Others mainly include universities and research centers, which generally procure AFP/ATL machines for the research and development purpose to find an innovative solution for various industries.

Register Here for a Free Sample of the Detailed Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/467/afp-atl-machines-market.html#form

Even though North America and Europe have registered massive declines in 2020, both regions are expected to remain the key demand generators of the market till 2026. The USA is the growth engine of North America's market with the presence of all major aircraft OEMs, tier players, and major AFP/ATL machine suppliers. As per the recent estimate of IATA, the global air passenger market has suffered huge losses with a -65.9% decline in word RPKs in 2020, with Europe, Middle East, and North America enduring massive losses. Asia-Pacific is likely to witness the fastest recovery during the forecast period, driven by a host of factors including increasing demand for commercial aircraft to support the expected rise in passenger traffic and upcoming indigenous aircraft (COMAC C919 and CR929).

The supply chain of this market comprises component suppliers, AFP/ATL machine suppliers, AFP/ATL composite part fabricators, tier players, distributors, OEMs, airlines, aircraft leasing companies, and MRO companies. Key AFP/ATL machine manufacturers are M.Torres Disenos Industriales S.A.U, Electroimpact Inc., Coriolis Composites technologies SAS, Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc., Fives, Accudyne System, Inc., Automated Dynamics, and Mikrosam AD. Development of low-cost robotic AFP machines, close engagement with OEMs for the development of custom machines addressing specific requirements of clients, expansion in untapped and growing markets, and execution of mergers & acquisitions are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.

Market trend and forecast analysis.

Market segment trend and forecast.

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Emerging trends.

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.

Key success factors.

This report studies the AFP/ATL machines market and has segmented the market in three ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the three ways in which the market is segmented:

AFP/ATL Machines Market, by Machine Type

AFP Machine (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

ATL Machine (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Hybrid AFP/ATL Machine (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

AFP/ATL Machines Market, by End-User Type

Tier Players (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

OEMs (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

AFP/ATL Machines Market, By Region

North America (Country Analysis: The USA and Rest of North America )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , Russia , and Rest of Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Japan , China , and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: The Middle East , Latin America , and Others)

Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the advanced materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Advanced-Materials.html

About Stratview Research

Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.

We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.

Stratview Research has launched 'Composights', an online portal which offers free thought leadership reports, whitepapers, market report synopsis and much more for Composites and allied industries, worth US$ 20,000 every year.

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SOURCE Stratview Research
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine on Thursday for destroying bilateral relations but said that if his Ukrainian counterpart wants to restore them, he would be welcome in Moscow.

Speaking during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Putin accused Ukraine of "efforts to essentially destroy" the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as its attitudes toward Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Putin then said that he would be responsive to overtures from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy offered to meet Putin in Donbas to defuse tensions.

Putin responded to the remarks Thursday, saying that if the Ukrainian leadership wants to settle the conflict in Donbas, it should first engage in talks with separatist leaders in the east and only after that discuss it with Russia and come to Moscow.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian leader said his Ukrainian counterpart needed "to learn how to behave himself diplomatically".

Earlier this month, Ukraine's deputy prime minister said the country would no longer send a delegation to Minsk for talks as part of the Trilateral Contact Group, saying that Belarus was under the influence of Moscow.

Lukashenko Thursday called the suggestion "stupidity," adding that the sides were free to choose another country to host the talks.

Putin called the suggestion an attempt to "find a reason to avoid having to discuss the problem of Donbas" and to bury the Minsk agreements.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Multiple law enforcement agencies in Sonoma and Napa counties teamed up Thursday evening to apprehend a residential burglary suspect who rammed an American Canyon police vehicle.

The incident began when Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies took a call of a residential burglary in Lovall Valley. Tracking software showed the stolen items were in the vicinity of downtown Sonoma, the Sheriff's Office said.

About 7 p.m., deputies found a Chrysler 300 displaying license plates registered to a Mercedes that fled at a high speed, prompting deputies to discontinue the chase due to the danger to the public, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Napa Police and Napa County Sheriff's officers picked up the vehicle when it came into Napa County, but the pursuit was again discontinued because the suspect was driving so dangerously, American Canyon Police Chief Oscar Ortiz said.

Even when the suspect was not being chased, he was driving at speeds in excess of 90 mph and using the highway shoulder, Ortiz said.

American Canyon Police backed off when the suspect approached their city and began driving southbound in the northbound lanes of Highway 29, Ortiz said. Several cars on Highway 29 had to swerve to avoid a head-on collision, he said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23) Malacanang on Friday denied there is a verbal fishing agreement between President Rodrigo Duterte and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, stressing the Philippines' chief executive does not condone "unlawful" fishing by any state in the country's waters.

"There is no truth to the speculation of a purported 'verbal fishing agreement' between President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and President Xi Jin Ping, nor that Chinese vessels were encouraged to stay in West Philippine Sea despite the diplomatic protests and strongly worded statements of Philippine government officials," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

"This is without basis and is quite simply, conjecture," he added.

Roque also urged concerned parties to refrain from "making malicious speculations and false claims."

In 2019, Duterte himself revealed he had an earlier agreement with Xi  one that lets Beijing fish in Recto Bank for as long as China will not block fishermen from the Scarborough Shoal.

"Will you allow the Chinese to fish? Of course. 'Yan ang pinag-usapan namin noon, kaya tayong nag-uusap. And that was we were allowed to fish again. It was a mutual agreement. Sige bigayan tayo. Fish ka doon, fish ako dito," Duterte said during a speech in June 2019.

[Translation: Will you allow the Chinese to fish? Of course. That's what we talked about before, that's why we talked. And that was why we were allowed to fish again. It was a mutual agreement. Let's give and take. You can fish here, and I can fish there.]

But Roque argued that a fishing agreement, under local laws, can only be done through a treaty.

"A treaty must be in writing," Roque pointed out, citing Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law on Treaties. "No such treaty or agreement exists between the Philippines and China."

RELATED: US to support PH in addressing illegal fishing, marine destruction in West PH Sea

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, and has repeatedly rejected the 2016 arbitral ruling that recognized Manila's sovereign rights in areas of its exclusive economic zone that Beijing contests. The tribunal also invalidated the East Asian giant's sweeping "historic rights" claims to the disputed waters.
Slovakia is expelling three Russian diplomats, Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced, he was quoted as saying by the TA3 channel, TASS reports.

"Slovakia is expelling three Russian diplomats," he said. "They are required to leave the country within the next seven days."

The move comes as Bratislavas reaction to a plea put forward by Prague to NATO allies and EU members to show solidarity with the Czech Republic after it expelled several members of the Russian Embassy in Prague personae non gratae over explosions at the Vrbetice ammo depot in 2014. Czech authorities claim that Russian intelligence services were involved in the incident. The Russian Foreign Ministry protested the step that Prague had taken "under false pretenses," and declared 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow personae non grata in response.

"We believe it I very important to do everything possible to ensure security and so that diplomatic missions work in Slovakia in accordance with our laws and international agreements. Slovakia cannot disregard activities of representatives of foreign diplomatic missions who disrespect treaty principles," Heger said.
(Natural News) Activism from the judicial branch is on the rise in the United States as deranged leftists demand that everyone who refuses to stayed masked and get vaccinated be punished and blocked from seeing their own children.

At least two parents have incurred the wrath of activist judges like Dale Cohen of Broward County, Fla., who took it upon himself to deny Melanie Joseph access to her son unless she agrees to wear a mask at all times and get jabbed for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) when it is her turn.

Josephs ex-husband, Michael Manley, presented photos of Joseph unmasked as evidence to suggest in court that she be denied access to her son, and Cohen agreed with Manleys argument.

Shes one of these anti-mask people and shes got the audacity to put that on social media, that shes an anti-mask people, and to expose the child to a flight to North Carolina and to risk the childs health over that is not acceptable to me, Cohen declared.

Instead of defending the Constitution as he swore to do, Cohen made a ruling based on his own ignorant opinion that Josephs son is in danger if he is not around people who are wearing Chinese plastic on their faces.

You can listen to Cohens full unprofessional ruling below:

As it turns out, Cohen has made several similar rulings against other parents who he feels are not abiding by the safety restrictions imposed by the American police state to stop the spread of the Wuhan Flu. Cohen also has a reputation for mistreating domestic violence victims, which suggests he may have a few skeletons in his own closet.

Cohen has a longstanding reputation for misconduct, which makes his mishandling of Josephs case unsurprising.

The founding fathers had a cure for all this tyranny

A similar thing happened to Dr. Micheline Epstein, a family physician from New York City who lost custody of her daughter after Epstein was seen mask-less standing on the sidewalk outside her daughters school.

Employees had a meltdown and Epsteins ex-husband also saw an opportunity to steal custody of the former couples child by falsely accusing Epstein of negligence for failing to wear Chinese plastic while outdoors.

Justice Matthew Cooper of the New York State Supreme Court of course sided with the ex-husband and took the child away from Epstein, while also forcing her to wear a mask inside her own home in order to reinstate a few occasional supervised visits.

In both cases, refusal to cover their mouths with made-in-China masks resulted in Joseph and Epstein losing custody of their own children at the hands of rogue judges who deserve more than just recusal.

Documentary filmmaker and executive director of the Family Civil Liberties Union Sebastian Doggart is already working on a documentary about Cooper, which has tentatively been titled Unfit to Sit.

Doggart says Cooper is a menace to society and is truly a public menace for his gross mishandling of the Epstein case. And just like Cohen, Cooper has a lengthy history of complaints about improper behavior on the bench.

It has been known far earlier than the masking of America that wearing a mask is detrimental to your respiratory system and neurological system, wrote one commenter at The American Conservative.

Masks do nothing, absolutely nothing, wrote another. Other than cut your oxygen and cause dental problems and bacterial pneumonia.

It has recently been found, scientifically and medically, that the covid-19 plandemic was a fake and that all cases were influenza.

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

Sources for this article include:

TheAmericanConservative.com

NaturalNews.com

Adrenogate.net

NaturalNews.com

NYCourts.gov
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Units of the Tunisian gendarmerie have arrested nine Ivorian nationals, including four women, who tried to transit illegally from the Tunisian coast to Italy, a security source said on Thursday
Police: Fatal stabbing might have been result of 'robbery gone wrong'

A stabbing victim taken to a Berkeley County hospital Friday night died. Police think the stabbing might be the result of a 'robbery gone wrong.'
The chief medical officer of BioNTech, Dr Ozlem Tureci who developed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has claimed that she too believes that a third dose of vaccination will be necessary as the immunity delivered by the vaccine will phase out over time.

Reuters

Also Read: This Couple Aimed To Cure Cancer, But Made Vaccine That Can End COVID-19 Pandemic



Tureci revealed this in a conversation with CNBCs Exchange while agreeing to the comments made by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla where he first revealed the need for a third jab last week on April 15.



According to Tureci, people will have to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus annually just like they usually do for flu, as scientists expect the immunity that the vaccine provides would gradually phase out.

She said, We see indications for this also in the induced, but also the natural immune response against SARS-COV-2. We see this waning of immune responses also in people who were just infected and therefore [its] also expected with the vaccines.

Also Read: People Will Need Third Covid-19 Vaccine Dose In 12 Months, Says Pfizer CEO

On April 15, Bourla had expressed that the recipients of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will need a booster shot -- a third dose of the vaccine to be fully vaccinated.

Earlier this month, Pfizer had announced that its vaccine was 91 percent effective at protecting against the novel coronavirus infection, whereas it was over 95 percent effective against severe cases of SARS CoV-2.

Its competitor Moderna which also uses the mRNA tech has also stated that it remains effective up to 95 percent after six months. Moderna, however, hasnt released a similar need for administering a third booster shot.

Reuters

US has administered 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses

US today also announced that it has hit its goal of vaccinating 200 million doses within just 100 days. This pledge was first taken by President Joe Biden when he took the office.

Also Read: Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine Safe For 12 To 15-Year-Olds, Claims Company

The initial goal was to administer 100 million doses in the first 100 days, but the nation managed to double the goal. Biden stated yesterday that by April 22, over 80 percent of Americans over the age of 65 will have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Biden has added that now his next goal is to reach everyone under the age of 16 in the nation to get vaccinated. He also announced a new federal programme that will offer American workers paid leave when they take leave for getting vaccinated for the novel coronavirus.
Grace Church School head denies criticizing school's curriculum as 'demonizing white people'

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The head of a private Episcopal school in Manhattan has denied that he ever acknowledged that his school has adopted a curriculum demonizing white people for being born.

The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, a new organization formed this past Martin Luther King Jr. Day, made public a March 2 conversation between Grace Church School Head George P. Davison and Paul Rossi, a teacher at the school who has since been relieved from his position after writing an op-ed criticizing the schools new curriculum, which he described as a repressive ideology.

The conversation was made public after Davison informed the Grace Church School community of Rossi's dismissal. He also denied making comments that Rossi had attributed to him in an email.

Davison disputed quotes Rossi attributed to him in an email he sent to the head of the school earlier in the day after he circulated a letter announcing Rossis dismissal. According to the New York Post, Davison told Rossi in a Monday email that You misquoted me and attributed to me things that I had never said nor would never say to the press.

Grace Church School serves 770 students in Junior Kindergarten-Grade 12. A years tuition at the school costs more than $57,000.

I think theres something very different about having a single experience where you make sense of it, and having a teacher, an authority figure, talk to you endlessly, every year, telling you, that because you have whiteness, you are associated with evils, all these different evils, Rossi told Davidson in the conversation, which was released on Twitter Tuesday. These are moral evils, its not the same as taking  a physical thing, because it doesnt affect  your moral value. Thats the problem.

Davison responded, The fact is, that Im agreeing with you, that there has been a demonization that we need to get our hands around, in the way in which people are doing this understanding.

Rossi then asked Davison if he agreed that were demonizing kids.

Grace Church says Paul Rossi misquoted him. It doesn't sound like it. Listen to these clips:https://t.co/laExNH21rUpic.twitter.com/2wEF6hAkF4  Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) (@fairforall_org) April 20, 2021

Were demonizing white people for being born, Davison acknowledged.

When Rossi inquired as to whether some of the schools students were white people, Davison answered in the affirmative.

Were demonizing white kids. Why dont you just say it? Rossi asked.

We are using language that makes them feel less than, for nothing that they are personally responsible for, Davison said. He then indicated to Rossi that he had grave doubts about some of the stuff that gets spouted at us, in the name of antiracism.

When asked to elaborate, Davison expressed concern about the demonization of being white  and the attempt to link anybody whos white to the perpetuation of white supremacy.

Rossi further warned that advocates of antiracist curriculum were going to hollow out Grace and theyre gonna move on to the next institution. To which, Davison responded, I think that theyve hollowed out a bunch of other ones ahead of us.

Rossis dismissal comes in the wake of his April 13 op-ed titled, I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated. According to Rossi, children are afraid to challenge the repressive ideology that rules our school. Thats why I am.

My school, like so many others, induces students via shame and sophistry to identify primarily with their race before their individual identities are fully formed, he lamented. Students are pressured to conform their opinions to those broadly associated with their race and gender to minimize or dismiss individual experiences that dont match those assumptions.

The morally compromised status of oppressor is assigned to one group of students based on their immutable characteristics. In the meantime, dependency, resentment, and moral superiority are cultivated in students considered oppressed, Rossi added.

Rossi noted that he raised questions about this ideology at a mandatory, whites-only student and faculty Zoom meeting. He alleged that his questions were shared outside this forum, which led to him facing a reprimand for acting like an independent agent of a set of principles or ideas or beliefs as opposed to acting on behalf of the greater good and higher truth.

A few days later, the head of school ordered all high school advisors to read a public reprimand of my conduct out loud to every student in the school, Rossi recalled.

In an April 18 letter, Davison informed the Grace Church School community that Rossi had been relieved of his teaching duties and will not be returning in the fall. He cited the school communitys response to Rossis lapses in professionalism, his conduct during the Feb. 24 meeting, and the decisions that he has made sense as the reasons for his dismissal.

We find it regrettable that Paul Rossi chose to air his grievances with the school in the press, especially with an account that contains glaring omissions and accuracies, Davison wrote. On Monday, one day after Davison sent out the letter informing the school community of Rossis dismissal, Rossi wrote an email to the head of school pushing back on that contention.

Rossi took issue with Davisons choice to reaffirm Graces commitment to antiracism as consistent with our identity and mission, reminding him of the statements he made during their March 2 conversation. He suggested that Davisons refusal to admit to making the statements stems from the fact that he knows exactly what happens to people who do raise such concerns. It is what is happening to me right now, he added.

Reacting to Davisons allegation that he chose to air his grievances with the school in the press, Rossi insisted that speaking publicly about this was hardly my first choice.

Over the course of several years, I have made my specific concerns clear, not only to you, but the head of the high school, and the assistant head, he explained.

"These concerns centered on the impact of this doctrinaire ideology on our students," Rossi continued. "Even when I have simply tried to expose our students to alternative points of view in the classroom, I have been repeatedly shut down. The schools response to my efforts to raise these concerns internally left me no choice but to speak about them publicly.

As The Christian Post previously reported, Grace Church Schools new Inclusive Language Guide sparked considerable backlash for advising students and staff to avoid using terms such as boys and girls, mom and dad, and even Happy Holidays. Instead, members of the Grace Church School community were encouraged to use gender-neutral terms such as people and parents and embrace the phrase have a great break over Happy Holidays.

The guide also rejects the idea that people can be colorblind as it pertains to race, arguing that we see the skin tones of people and assumptions are made about how someone identifies racially. Additionally, the guide includes a glossary of identity and shared value terms including antiracism, equity, institutional racism, intersectionality, microagression and race.
Consumer Reports engineers said they easily tricked a Tesla Inc. vehicle to drive via its Autopilot feature without anyone in the drivers seat, just days after a fatal crash in Texas where police said they found no one behind the steering wheel of a Tesla car.

In a test conducted this week, test drivers took several trips on a closed half-mile track in a Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle, the non-profit research organization said in a statement Thursday. The vehicle  with Autopilot technology engaged  was able to steer itself along painted lines but at no time displayed a warning that the drivers seat was empty. The engineer who conducted the test placed a small weighted chain on the steering wheel to simulate the weight of a drivers hand.

In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldnt tell if there was a driver there at all, said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports senior director of auto testing. Fisher was able to reach over from the passenger seat and accelerate the car using a dial on the steering wheel.

Tesla didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two Houston-area men were killed April 17 after a Tesla Model S sedan crashed and erupted into flames. Many details remain unresolved, including whether Autopilot was being used when the vehicle traveled a short distance before hitting a tree. The authorities said that one man was found in the front passenger seat and a second in one of the rear seats  with no sign anyone was behind the wheel.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk took to Twitter earlier this week to say the vehicles driver-assist features werent to blame.

Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD, Musk tweeted referring to the companys trial Full Self Driving software. Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.

Two federal agencies  the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration  are investigating the incident. Local authorities were also seeking warrants to inspect the car.

___

Ed Ludlow of Bloomberg News wrote this story.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
In the United States, flights are filling up, hotels are getting booked, vacation rentals are selling out and car rental companies are facing a shortage because of spiking demand.

But one sector remains stalled: the cruise industry.

Cruise ships sailing out of United States ports have been docked for more than a year following a series of outbreaks of the coronavirus onboard vessels at the start of the pandemic. Now, cruise companies can restart operations only by following rules laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October.

Earlier this month, the C.D.C. published a set of technical guidelines to help cruise companies prepare their ships to start sailing again in line with those rules, which were set out in the agencys Framework for Conditional Sailing Order. But the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the industrys trade group, called the instructions so burdensome and ambiguous that no clear path forward or timetable can be discerned.

Cruise companies have asked the agency to revise its guidelines to factor in the speedy rollout of vaccinations and allow for U.S. sailings to restart in July. But the C.D.C. has not yet provided a firm date, and under the current rules, cruise ships must follow a monthslong process that includes simulation voyages to test out their health and safety protocols, followed by a review period.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 04:09:59|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker hands out a registration form to a man outside a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Toronto, Canada, on April 22, 2021. As of Thursday afternoon, Canada's COVID-19 cases surpassed 1,150,000, hitting 1,152,717, including 23,811 deaths and 1,044,255 recoveries. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

OTTAWA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Ontario and Quebec on Thursday urged the Canadian government to cut inbound international flights and impose greater restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border as COVID-19 variants continue to spread.

"We are concerned about the growing number of cases attributed to variants, which arrived in Canada through international travel. We are writing to you to request that the federal government take further measures to limit the spread of the virus," Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault said in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday.

Ontario reported 2,810 new cases of the B.1.1.7 variant on Thursday. The total case count for that variant now stands at 44,205 while five new cases of the B.1.351 variant were confirmed, and so the total case count rose to 113. In addition, the province added six more cases of the P.1 variant, which brings its total number of cases to 218.

On Thursday, Quebec reported 71 new confirmed variant cases, bringing that total to 3,515. Of the confirmed cases, 3,304 are the B.1.1.7 variant, 169 are the B.1.351 variant, 16 are the P.1 variant, 25 are the B.1.525 variant, and one is the B.1.617 variant.

Of the variants of concern, Canada reported 73,150 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, 2,487 cases of the P.1 variant and 435 cases of the B.1.351 variant, according to CTV on Thursday afternoon.

The two premiers said there is an urgent need to address the issues in the current system, including "falsified COVID-19 testing documentation, travellers opting fines over complying quarantine requirements or travelling via private vehicle/plane to avoid quarantine."

Under the current rules, travellers flying into Canada are required to present a negative PCR test within 72 hours of their departure flight. Upon landing in Canada, they must take another test and quarantine in a designated government hotel until they receive the results of their second test.

Pressure is mounting on the Trudeau government to impose a specific travel ban on India, as the country grapples with soaring COVID-19 infection rates.

On Wednesday, Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the Canadian government is looking at what tools they have at their disposal. "We are very actively considering all and any additional measures that will be necessary to protect Canadians."

As of Thursday afternoon, Canada's COVID-19 cases surpassed 1,150,000, hitting 1,152,717, including 23,811 deaths and 1,044,255 recoveries. Enditem
Professors Martin Bazant and John Bush from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology say the 'six foot rule' that encourages people to socially distance in public has no solid basis in science.

They explained that the risk of being exposed to the coronavirus indoors is the same whether people are six feet or 60 feet apart, and that this risk is low in well-ventilated spaces.

Bazant and Bush developed a model to calculate indoor exposure risk based on time spent inside, air filtration and circulation, immunizations, respiratory activity, variants and mask use.

The team says the six-foot rule 'has no physical basis' because even when people are wearing masks, air tends to rise, travel and come back down somewhere else in the room, according to CNBC .

These findings suggest, according to researchers, that if a space has proper ventilation, the facility 'can be safely operated even at full capacity and the scientific support for reduced capacity in those spaces is really not very good.'

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The risk being exposed to the coronavirus indoors is the same as socially distancing six feet and 60 feet apart, according to new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Pictured are people enjoying the Grand Market as indoor dining opened in Los Angeles in March

The coronavirus is an infectious pneumonia that first appeared in Wuhan China in 2019, but has since spread worldwide  and has lingered for more than a year.

When it first began to take hold health officials quickly announced protocols to keep the virus at bay and this included social distancing.

Because the coronavirus travels by respiratory droplets exhaled from someone who is infected, the CDC recommends people stay at least six feet apart - but MIT says the distance does not matter.

MIT notes in the study that there is believed to be there routes in which transmission occurs between humans: large drop from the mouth to another person's mouth, eyes; infected droplets on a surface; and inhaling droplets from either an infected person or ambient air.

The team says the Six-Foot rule 'has no physical basis' because when people are wearing masks, because air tends to rise, travel and come back down somewhere else in the room. The graph shows how droplets released during respiratory activities travel

'We subsequently refer to these three modes of transmission as, respectively, 'large-drop,' 'contact,' and 'airborne' transmission, while noting that the distinction between large-drop and airborne transmission is somewhat nebulous given the continuum of sizes of emitted droplets,' reads the study published in PNAS.

The team says that the six-foot rule is great at reducing risk of large-drops, but drops released by respiratory events can travel a longer range than just six feet.

'We argue there really isn't much of a benefit to the 6-foot rule, especially when people are wearing masks,' Bazant told CNBC in an interview.

'It really has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you're more exposed to the average background than you are to a person at a distance.'

These microscopic liquid drops are released while breathing, talking, coughing and other respiratory activities and because they are warm form the person's body heat, the droplets can rise and travel throughout an entire room.

Researchers developed a model to calculate indoor exposure risk based on time spent inside, air filtration and circulation, immunizations, respiratory activity, variants and mask use.

And they found it is not social distancing that keeps people safe, it is the amount of time they spend in an enclosed place.

'What our analysis continues to show is that many spaces that have been shut down in fact don't need to be,' he continued.

'Often times the space is large enough, the ventilation is good enough, the amount of time people spend together is such that those spaces can be safely operated even at full capacity and the scientific support for reduced capacity in those spaces is really not very good .'

'I think if you run the numbers, even right now for many types of spaces youd find that there is not a need for occupancy restrictions.'
COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Maryland has launched a new business development arm to nurture quantum-focused startups. The Quantum Startup Foundry created through an initial $25 million investment from the university's newly established Discovery Fund, and with key funding from the state of Marylandwill support new businesses in the quantum technology field.

University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines announced the Quantum Startup Foundry at an event honoring UMD's inventions, startups, mentors and student entrepreneurs. Pines said the quantum technology field stands "poised to disrupt everything from cybersecurity and energy, to medical discoveries and the financial field."

The new Quantum Startup Foundry is also backed by a $10 million capital investment for quantum facilities and supported by UMD's status as one of the world's leading centers for quantum science research. The Quantum Startup Foundry will help cement UMD's and the region's position as "the Capital of Quantum," said President Pines.

The Quantum Startup Foundry also draws from the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance (MQA)comprised of universities, major corporations, startups, and government labs. The 24-member MQA is a rapidly growing hub of quantum technology research, development, innovation and education organized and facilitated by UMD. For more than a year, Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance workgroups have been creating ways for MQA members to easily collaborate, team-up to pursue opportunities, educate the public about the promise of the second quantum revolution, and share resources, facilities, equipment, expertise and data.

The idea for the Quantum Startup Foundry grew from work of the MQA, according to UMD Chief Innovation Officer Julie Lenzer, who also leads the Quantum Startup Foundry (QSF). The advisory board members of the new QSF are all part of the alliance, said Lenzer.

Lenzer said that the QSF will work to enable quantum technology breakthroughs. The foundry will seek to launch and grow new startups and connect quantum businesses with mentors, existing companies, and infrastructureall to create or advance technologies that use principles of quantum physics.

Lenzer said that through UMD's international incubator, the QSF also will be able to provide a landing spot for international quantum startups.

"While the promise of quantum may seem far off, it's not," Lenzer said. "The future is quantum, and it starts now."

SOURCE University of Maryland
National

China and Pakistan among others, reach out to India with offers of help

NEW DELHI, APR 23 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 4/23/2021 12:23:55 PM IST

As India grapples with a ferocious second wave of covid-19 infections, China on Friday said it firmly supports the Indian government and the people in their fight against the pandemic and was in communication with New Delhi on an offer to provide assistance.

Separately, a defence ministry statement said the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) has decided to import oxygen generation plants and containers from Germany, amid shortage of oxygen in the hospitals.

Twenty-three mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany that will be deployed in Armed Forces Medical Services hospitals catering to the covid patients, it said.

Offers of help have also come in from countries such as Russia and France and also blocs like the European Union.

A news report said a charity group based in Pakistan, the Edhi Foundation, has also extended an offer of assistance in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the head of the group, Faisal Edhi.

In Beijing on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that for the recently deteriorating epidemic situation in India we send our sincere sympathies.

The Chinese government and the people firmly support the Indian government and their people in their fight, he said responding to a question from the official Chinese media, PTI news agency reported.

Based on the need of the Indian side, we stand ready to offer support and assistance. We are now holding communications with the Indian side, he said.

We believe the Indian people will surely conquer the epidemic at an early date, he added. .

The first case of covid-19 was reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then turned into a pandemic, infecting almost 145 million people and claiming over 3,072,614 lives worldwide.

India is currently facing a massive surge in coronavirus infections.

The country on Friday added over 3.32 lakh new cases, a record singe-day surge, overwhelming the countrys fragile health care system.

Hospitals ran low on oxygen, critically ill patients failed to find hospital beds. The tally now stands at 1,62,63,695, while active cases have crossed the 24-lakh mark.
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New Delhi, April 23 : The national capital is grappling with not only oxygen shortage for Covid patients admitted in over one hundred hospitals, but also with short supply of ICU beds including in some big Covid-19 dedicated hospitals.

According to Delhi Government's Corona App, (last update at 2.48 p.m., Friday) out of 4,590 ICU beds available in all Delhi's hospitals, only 25 are vacant. However, for relief to some extent, Delhi has over 2,000 beds out of 20,458 non-oxygen beds reserved for Covid infected patients.

Top government-run Covid dedicated hospitals with number of ICU beds as of now: GTB Hospital - total 400 ICU beds for (vacant 0)

LNJP Hospital- 400 (0)

RGSS Hospital - 35 (19)

DDU Hospital - 164 (0)

Deep Chand - 81 (0)

AIIMS trauma - 71 (1)

Safdarjung- 65 (0)

Dr. Ambedkar hospital - 62 (0) RML hospital - 28 (0)

Sanjay Gandhi - 20 (0)

Several private hospitals, including India's one of the top private hospitals in Delhi - Sir Ganga Ram had to issue continuing appeals several times in days for immediate need of oxygen supply. The crisis was compounded by similar reports emerging from other parts of the national capital where hospitals are racing against time with their oxygen quota.

Many hospitals have received oxygen supply late last night or early Friday morning, however, hospital authorities claimed fresh oxygen stock would last for the next couple of hours and they would need another immediate supply.

Dr. Kousar A Shah, COO, a private hospital in Dwarka - Aakash Hospital, told IANS that the hospital needs immediate supply of oxygen for Covid-19 patients. "We have 221 Covid dedicated ICU beds out of which 200 patients require oxygen support. We have informed the District, Delhi Government and the Central Government about our current condition at around 12 pm," Dr. Shah added.

Joyshree Saikia, a staff member in Aakash Healthcare (Dwarka), said, "We all are working relentlessly. We are doing what we can as medical staff and doctors are doing their best to save lives, but we become helpless without oxygen. Being a medical staff I can shift patients from one bed to another bed, as per the need but, I can help patients with oxygen support." Delhi on Thursday reported 26,169 new Covid infections and the highest-ever daily death toll of 306, while equally alarmingly, the city's positivity rate stood at 36.24 per cent. Delhi has been logging over 25,000 cases for days now.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
As Scott Morrison faced the world at US President Joe Bidens online climate summit, it seemed front and centre of his pitch: the adage that all politics is local. But its more complicated than that in the Melbourne electorate of Higgins, a rusted-on Liberal seat that is also one of the citys more progressive.

It is among the toughest territory for the Coalition to find its traditional footing: socially liberal, but economically conservative and straddling the complicated demographics of the citys past and future.

The seat of Higgins takes in suburbs such as Malvern, Glen Iris and Toorak. Credit:Michael Rayner

As Liberal local member Katie Allen told The Age of climate change: This issue is the most important issue to my electorate almost irrespective of which party they support, and it has been consistently that way since Ive been elected in May 2019, even throughout COVID.

Higgins - which contains blue-rinse suburban names like Toorak, Malvern and Glen Iris - has undergone a green change. Recent past MPs Peter Costello and Kelly ODwyer had to navigate the shifting inclinations of a conservative heartland that also has two former PMs on its honour roll. The seat delivered us federal treasurer Costello, and prime ministers Harold Holt and John Gorton. It also delivered one of the most decisive verdicts in favour of same-sex marriage in 2017.
Jersey Shore star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro posted his bail, following his arrest by authorities from Los Angeles on Thursday. Ortiz was reported to be busted in LA for being accused of felony domestic violence, TMZ reported.

Ronnie Ortiz Arrested

Ortiz was freed from the custody of Los Angeles authoritries after paying about $100,000.

Fox11 noted that the recent arrest of Ortiz was not his first time. The Jersey Shore star was known to be placed under 36-month probation following a separate domestic violence case in 2019 involving her ex-partner, Jen Harley.

READ NEXT: Latina Mom in California Admits Killing Her Children to Save Them From Abuse

"We have just learned of the new allegations against Ronnie," said Scott Leemon in an interview with TMZ. Leemon also noted that their party needs additional time to further investigate. Leemon is the Jersey Shore star's lawyer.

Initial reports noted that it is unclear whether Harley is involved in the recent incident. Soon after TMZ noted that Harley was in Las Vegas when Ortiz was once again arrested. Ronnie was taking care of their daughter Ariana, while Harley was traveling in another state.

Following the arrest, Ariana is now under the custody of Ortiz's brother, Page Six reported. Meanwhile, Harley was reported to travel back from Vegas for her daughter.

TMZ emphasized that Ortiz was picked up by a white Mercedes when he paid his bail and a camera caught the car Ortiz is riding, leaving the police station.

"We will not make any other statement at this time," said Leemon.

Jersey Shore Star's Previous Issues

The Jersey Star and Harley were involved in several occasions of domestic violence against each other.

In 2019, Ronnie and Harley got into an altercation that escalated to violence, Hollywood Life reported. Ortiz was arrested by the authorities in 2019 because he allegedly punched and slapped Harley outside their Airbnb rental home in Los Angeles.

Furthermore, Ortiz was then reported to chase Harley with a knife, whilst holder his daughter Ariana who was only 18 months old at the time. The authorities were forced to use a taser on Ronnie Ortiz to pursue the arrest. Ortiz was also reported to lock himself inside the house with their daughter during the 2019 incident.

Ortiz emphasized that he "never picked up or threatened" Harley with a knife. He also noted that the altercation stemmed out because he was afraid that Harley would take his daughter away from their Airbnb rental home.

Meanwhile, in May 2019, Harley was also arrested when Ortiz accused her of throwing an ashtray at him during an argument that happened at a Las Vegas nightclub on New Year's Eve.

In 2020, Harley and Ortiz were also reported to be involved in a separate domestic violence incident, with Harley allegedly poking the eyes of Ortiz using an eyeliner.

Ronnie Ortiz was a Bronx native who was known for his role in the television show the Jersey Shore, where he had a relationship with his fellow cast member Samantha Giancola. Giancola, not involved in any of the incidents, has separated with Ortiz in 2014.

READ MORE: Teen Couple Faces Murder Charges for Killing the Girls Father in Las Vegas

WATCH: Arrested! "Jersey Shore" Star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Busted For Domestic Violence! Again! - from Perez Hilton
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says a new version of the group's coronavirus vaccine is in the pipeline and will be effective against new virus variants

US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer is planning a new version of its coronavirus vaccine that can be stored in a standard freezer and comes diluted and ready for use, its CEO told AFP on Friday.

The vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech is already a mainstay in Europe's efforts to control the pandemicbut it is a challenge to ship and protect.

The current version must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), limiting its distribution to specially equipped vaccination centres.

But Pfizer's chief executive Albert Bourla told AFP in an interview that a new version is in the pipeline and that he was optimistic the vaccine will also prove effective against new virus variants.

Indian variant

Bourla said Pfizer has large amounts of real world data from some of the variant outbreaks.

"We have already data for the UK oneI hate using the countries, but people know them like thatwhich is very prominent in Israel... efficiency was 97 percent," he said.

"We have data from South Africa, with the South African variant, and overall the efficacy was 100 percent. And also have data from Brazil. And it looks also this is very well controlled."

Pfizer has not yet compiled sufficient data on the efficiency of its vaccine against the so-called Indian variant, the latest to raise concerns that a new wave of infections could overcome the immunisation drive.

But he said he was "optimistic" the vaccine would prove effective, and that the firm's mRNA technology can be adapted to counter new strains.

The current version must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), limiting its distribution

"The thing that makes me feel more comfortable is that we have developed a process that once a variant becomes a variant of concern, we should be able to have a new vaccine within 100 days," he said.

"It's a tough target, but I am very comfortable that we should be able to do it.

"And because of the effectiveness of this mRNA technology, I believe that variants will not become an issue, we'll be able to control them."

Keeping cool

The European Union is betting big on Pfizer's relatively expensive vaccine, but there are concerns that the difficulty of keeping it at very cold temperatures will make it hard to distribute in poorer countries.

But here again Bourla was confident.

"We are doing actually two things on this front," he said.

The US Food and Drug Administration allows the vaccine to be kept at minus 20 Celsius in a standard freezer for two weeks and Bourla thinks that could be extended.

"And we are about to generate the data for another two weeks. So that this formulation can be stored, let's say, a month in minus 20 if we get approval for that," he said.

"On the other hand, we are also working with a new formulation which is much improved, that will be ready to use: that means you don't need to dilute the vaccine, it will come diluted."

The vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech is already a mainstay in Europe's efforts to control the pandemic

Pfizer hopes the vaccine will able to be stored for two to three months in normal refrigeration and an additional three months in a freezer, Bourla said.

"So a total of four-to-six months outside the minus 50 or 70... we believe we'll be able to have it if we are successful in summer."

Higher price justified

Leaked price details suggest that the Pfizer vaccine is many times more expensive than, for example, the competitor product from UK-based AstraZeneca, which has failed to meet delivery promises.

But Bourla says the higher cost is justified.

"Our strategy is to try with a pricing (that is) able to provide equitable access to all," he said. Equitable means that more vaccine doses are made available to countries that need it more.

"So we have one tier of pricing, which covers all the high income countries, Europe is included in that, the US is included in that, Japan, Canada, all the high income countries," Bourla said.

"I don't want to go to what is the price for each one country, but at the largest it is the cost of a meal. So I would say for the value that the vaccine brings, we price that very, very reasonably," he said.

For countries defined as middle-income by the World Bank, "the price is almost half of what we have in the high-income countries," the CEO said.

"And for the low-income countries, we have decided to give it on a non-profit basis, of course. So I think this is our strategy, this is our policy. So eventually, this vaccine will reach all the people of the world."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
FLINT, MI  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited the community COVID-19 vaccination clinic at a church on Flints notrth side and lauded its efforts for providing more opportunities for people to get their doses.

Whitmer visited Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 2120 Saginaw St., on Thursday, April 22 to observe ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts and ensure that safe, effective vaccines are being distributed efficiently and equitably, according to a press release from the governors office.

This is really a miracle of modern medicine that we have these safe effective vaccines that are now accessible to just about everyone in all communities, Whitmer said in a press briefing at the church. We want to encourage people to do that, because thats the best way to stay out of the hospital and its the best way to keep your family safe. And its the best way to make sure that we can re-engage our economy to full status. So getting vaccinated is really important.

Places like Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church are important, Whitmer said, because it provides another opportunity for the community to get to a vaccination clinic.

So far, 214,919 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Genesee County, according to data from the Genesee County Health Department.

Sherelle Bell-Brown, emergency preparedness health coordinator for Genesee County Health Department, said the governor visiting the vaccination clinic in Flint means that Whitmer cares about the community and wants to help.

I think the governor coming in today means a lot to our community, Bell-Brown said. It means that she cares, it means that she is listening, it means that she is concerned. It means that she wants to help and assist us.

Bell-Brown said the clinic helps bring access to vulnerable and minority communities in Genesee County.

The health coordinator said she observed many people have been overwhelmed with joy after getting their shot.

Health officials administered the Moderna vaccine on Thursday, but the vaccine offerings can change, Bell-Brown said.

We have made significant progress in getting Michiganders vaccinated, but we must continue working to ensure that every Michigander has access to the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, Whitmer said. Community sites like Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Flint will help us reach our goal of equitably vaccinating 70 percent of Michiganders who are 16 years or older more quickly.

We must all continue to do our part by masking up, socially distancing, washing our hands, and most importantly, getting vaccinated as soon as possible. The vaccines are the lights at the end of the tunnel, and we will beat COVID-19 and emerge together, she added.

To date, Michigan has administered 6,166,654 vaccines. Currently, 46.1% of Michiganders ages 16 and older have received at least one dose, with 32.3% percent of Michiganders ages 16 and older being fully vaccinated, moving the state closer to its goal of equitably vaccinating at least 70% of Michiganders ages 16 and older as soon as possible.

As part of these efforts, Michigan is working to administer 100,000 shots per day, partnering with organizations like Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church to create more opportunities for Michigan residents to receive a vaccine, per the release.

Read more on MLive:

Genesee County Health Department encourages public to get on any list for COVID-19 vaccine

McLaren offering appointments for COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Davison area

Carman-Ainsworth schools returning to face-to-face learning next week
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - The north Mississippi chapter of the American Red Cross honored local volunteers with a drive-thru event on Thursday.

The office in Tupelo located at 4127 Westside Drive saw many volunteers driving through to receive a Red Cross goodie bag, a box lunch and other appreciation gifts.



Red Cross "Thank You" event in Tupelo on April 22, 2021. Red Cross "Thank You" event in Tupelo on April 22, 2021.

Red Cross "Thank You" event in Tupelo on April 22, 2021. Red Cross "Thank You" event in Tupelo on April 22, 2021.

These individuals are among the more than 300,000 volunteers who comprise more than 90% of the national Red Cross workforce.

Across north Mississippi, more than 200 people volunteer with the Red Cross by responding to home fires and other disasters, providing emergency assistance to military families, and much more.
When US President Joe Biden called British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in March he put forward a novel idea. Democratically-minded countries like the US and Britain should help fund infrastructure projects in less wealthy countries.

The proposal from Washington came eight years after Chinas President Xi Jinping travelled to Kazakhstan to announce Beijing would embark on the worlds largest infrastructure project - the $1.5 trillion Belt and Road Initiative. It was then called the Silk Road Economic Belt and it would span Asia, the Pacific and the borders of Europe.

The first signs of a competitor to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative are emerging: The Japan-US backed Free and Open Indo Pacific. Credit:Joe Benke

I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative, pulling from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world that, in fact, need help, Biden said on March 26.

China, for all of its false starts, debt traps and bungled projects, had outplayed a myopic West with its overall vision. The one-party state had been able to achieve what a cornucopia of western democratic states could not - unity of purpose.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has cautioned the public against indiscriminate waste disposal ahead of the rainy season to avoid floods.



Mr Ahmed Mustapha, the Upper West Regional Director of NADMO, cited chocked gutters and poor drainage systems in the Wa Municipality as some of the causes of floods.



We should all be ambassadors so far as flood management is concerned, Mr Mustapha said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Wa.



He advised the people to change their attitudes towards waste management, as waste materials chocked the gutters and stifled free flow of water, which caused flooding during heavy rains.



As we speak, some work has been done on the drainage system and work is still ongoing, that will reduce the occurrences of flood in the Municipality, Mr Mustapha said.



He, however, noted that the Organisation had put in place measures to avert possible flood disaster in the region.



Those measures, he said, included community sensitisation, particularly those along river banks, flood management practices, as well as providing the communities with information from the Meteorological Agency to enable them to guard against floods.



Mr Mustapha said he had directed all NADMO secretariats in the region to embark on community sanitisation, stay alert, be well informed and to convey information on possible disaster to the communities.



He said though the organisation was well equipped to provide relief items to victims of disaster, its focus was on the prevention of the disaster.



As we speak now whatever we can do to eliminate the occurrence of flood is what we will do, he said.



Even though we have some items on standby, however, if you dont let the people understand and the unexpected happens, it becomes very difficult to administer the relief packages to them.

Source: GNA









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Xi calls for "unprecedented ambition, action" to build community of life

Xinhua) 08:18, April 23, 2021

-- We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes.

-- China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process, and looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance.

-- China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on the international community to work together to foster a community of life for man and nature with "unprecedented ambition and action."

"Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action," he said while addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing.

COMMUNITY OF LIFE

To build a community of life for man and nature, Xi made a six-pronged proposal, including staying committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

"We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes," the Chinese president said, adding that failure to respect nature or follow its laws will only invite its revenge.

Reiterating the idea that "green mountains are gold mountains," Xi said that protecting the environment is protecting productivity, and improving the environment is boosting productivity. "The truth is as simple as that."

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020 shows the Haizhu wetland and the Canton Tower in the distance in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province.(Photo by Xie Huiqiang/Xinhua)

He also stressed that protecting the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach, calling for following the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balancing all elements and aspects of nature.

"We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty all at the same time," he said, adding that the goal is to deliver social equity and justice in the course of green transition.

JOIN HANDS, NOT POINT FINGERS

In the journey toward global carbon neutrality, Xi called for strengthening partnerships and cooperation, learning from each other, and making common progress.

"We must join hands, not point fingers at each other; we must maintain continuity, not reverse course easily; and we must honor commitments, not go back on promises," he said.

China and the United States issued a joint statement a few days ago, vowing to cooperate with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis.

China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process, and looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance, Xi said.

White cranes forage in a farmland by the Poyang Lake in Yugan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 15, 2021.(Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

Calling the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities "the cornerstone of global climate governance," he said that developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action and make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen their capacity and resilience against climate change.

Xi urged developed countries to support developing countries in financing, technology and capacity building, and refrain from creating green trade barriers.

"The historical responsibility, development stage, and coping capacity of developed and developing countries are different, and that's why the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should always be followed," said Xu Huaqing, director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.

CHINA IN ACTION

Reiterating China's goal of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi said that the period of China's commitment to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality is much shorter than what might take many developed countries.

"That requires extraordinarily hard efforts from China," Xi said.

Aerial photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows a view of a converter station of ultra-high voltage transmission line from Qinghai to Henan, in northwest China's Qinghai Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)

The targets of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality have been added to China's overall plan for ecological conservation. An action plan toward carbon peaking is being formulated, and China's national carbon market will also start trading.

"China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period," Xi said.

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China has also been doing its best to help developing countries build capacity against climate change.

A number of green action initiatives have been launched, covering wide-ranging efforts in green infrastructure, green energy, green transport and green finance to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries.

"I am confident that as long as we unite in our purposes and efforts and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, we will rise above the global climate and environment challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations," Xi said.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
The United States' land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain restricted to nonessential travel through at least May 21, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

"To deter the spread of #COVID19 and protect our citizens, the United States is continuing restrictions on non-essential travel at our land borders through May 21, while maintaining the flow of essential trade and travel as we have for over a year," DHS announced via tweet.

The agency continued: "We are guided by science and public health data and engaged in discussions with Canada and Mexico about easing restrictions as health conditions improve."

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Beware pricey summer flights: Airlines pushing fares higher as travel rebounds

'Do not travel' list: The US State Department is raising the alert level for most countries due to COVID-19

DHS and its Canadian and Mexican counterparts enacted the initial closure on March 21, 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread throughout North America. It has been extended on a month-to-month basis since then.

In the intervening year, Canada has tightened its border security, requiring anyone entering by plane or land to be tested in advance for COVID-19 and banning cruise ships from its waters until February 2022. In addition, anyone traveling to Canada from the U.S. must prove that they are doing so for essential reasons and must quarantine upon arrival.

Canada also suspended flights from India and Pakistan starting Thursday.

By contrast, Americans can still fly into Mexico, one of the few nations in Latin America  and the world  to have instituted few measures to limit travelers, require mandatory testing or order isolation upon arrival.

Passengers bound for Mexico just have to fill out a form asking about their risk factors for COVID-19 and their contact details.

However, as of Jan. 26, Americans returning from any international destinationare required to present a negative COVID test before boarding a flight to the U.S. Many resorts in Mexico have responded by providing on-site testing for their departing guests within the three-day window required by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US borders with Canada, Mexico: Travel restrictions through May 21
OMV Petrom will act as operator of the Neptun Deep perimeter in the Black Sea should Romgaz accept the offer made by ExxonMobil, OMV Petrom announced on Friday, in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

"OMV Petrom, the largest energy company in South-Eastern Europe, and Romgaz, the largest producer and main supplier of natural gas in Romania, are cooperating to unlock the natural gas resources in the Black Sea. These are essential for Romania's energy security, for the success of the energy transition and to generate economic growth. Should Romgaz accept the offer made by ExxonMobil, OMV Petrom will act as operator of the Neptun Deep perimeter," reads the press release of the energy company.

Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, maintains that the Black Sea is a unique opportunity for Romania, and the company is committed to contributing to its realization. "OMV Petrom has over 40 years of experience as an operator in the Black Sea and also benefits from the international capabilities in deep operations of the OMV group," says Verchere.

In this context, Aristotel Jude, General Manager of Romgaz, said: "We are ready to be equal partners in carrying out this strategic project. If our offer is accepted, OMV Petrom will become the project operator."

OMV Petrom is present in Romania and neighboring countries through 793 gas stations, at the end of 2020, under two brands, OMV and Petrom.

OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, owns 51% of OMV Petrom. The Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, holds 20.6% of OMV Petrom's shares, Fondul Proprietatea holds 7%, and 21.4% is freely traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

OMV Petrom is the largest taxpayer to the state budget, with contributions of approximately 32 billion euros in taxes, duties and dividends paid between 2005 and 2020.

In the period 2007-2020, the company allocated approximately 72 million euros for the development of Romanian communities, focusing on environmental protection, education, health and local development.

SNGN Romgaz SA is the largest producer and main supplier of natural gas in Romania. The company trades on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The main shareholder is the Romanian state with a participation of 70%.

The company has extensive experience in the field of natural gas exploration and production, its history beginning more than 100 years ago, in 1909. Romgaz conducts geological exploration in order to discover new gas fields, produces methane gas by exploiting the deposits in the company's portfolio, stores natural gas underground, performs interventions, capital repairs and special operations at wells and provides professional technological transport services.

In 2013, Romgaz expanded its field of activity by incorporating the central County of Mures's Iernut thermal power plant, thus becoming a producer and supplier of electricity.
Xiaomi announced the newest iteration of its Android skin, MIUI 12.5 at an event in China in December, and has since shared its plans for expanding it to global markets.

Back in China, the stable update has already been rolling out to Mi 11 units since earlier this month, and today the official MIUI Weibo account brought some more good news.

Aside from the Mi 11, the update to MIUI 12.5 is now also rolling out to the Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 10 Ultra, Mi 10 Pro, Mi 10, and Mi 9 SE. For all of these models, users in China should be able to receive the update after manually checking for it through Settings - or waiting a bit for the over-the-air rollout to reach their device.

The official date for this rollout was April 30, but it looks like Xiaomi's developers were able to finalize everything before that deadline and send out the update earlier than anticipated.

If you're outside of China and can't wait for MIUI 12.5 to hit your phone, let's reiterate what Xiaomi has said in the past about that. The first global models to get the new software will be the Mi 11, Mi 10T, Mi 10T Pro, Mi 10, and Mi 10 Pro. All of these should be on MIUI 12.5 this month or in May. Then, starting in June, other models will join the global party.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state's powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.

Newsom's order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production.

California needs to move beyond oil," Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would create a healthier future for our children.

California was once one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centered in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles. But by 2020, the states oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985.

Now, one of the state's top exports is electric cars. The state has ordered automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans and, last year, Newsom ordered state regulators to ban the sale of all new gas-powered cars by 2035.

Still, California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with an industry that directly employs about 152,000 people and is responsible for $152.3 billion in economic output, according to a 2019 study commissioned by the Western States Petroleum Association. Friday, WSPA President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd vowed to fight this harmful and unlawful mandate.

Banning nearly 20% of the energy production in our state will only hurt workers, families and communities in California and turns our energy independence over to foreign suppliers, she said.

Eliminating California's oil and gas industry won't be easy. The state has more than 60,000 active oil wells, and industry executives and their allies have lots of influence at the state Capitol. But in the first quarter of 2021, permits for all types of oil drilling in California plunged 90%, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance, an environmental advocacy group.

Story continues

The transformation is already happening in front of our eyes, said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Newsom's order directs the California Air Resources Board to figure out how the state can end oil production in a very rigorous, open, transparent, analytical process. The board could decide to do it before 2045, but not after.

When you look at the science, we cant be extracting oil after 2045, he said. Thats the only way we are going to achieve our carbon goals is by significantly reducing and ending extraction of oil.

Fracking  short for hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil and gas embedded in rock deep underground  accounts for a small portion of the states oil and gas production each year. But environmental advocates have long sought its banishment because of its harmful effects on the environment and public health.

Last year, Newsom said he did not have the authority to ban fracking on his own and asked the Legislature to do it instead. Two state senators, both Democrats, tried to do it. But last week their bill died in the Legislature because not enough lawmakers supported it.

Now, Newsom says he can do it himself, but it's unclear what changed his mind. California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said Friday that Newsom believes the best way to ban fracking is to change the law. But, when it became clear that wouldn't happen, Crowfoot said Newsom directed us through our regulatory authorities to protect the environment and public safety to end the practice of fracking.

Newsom did temporarily halt new fracking permits in 2019 after he discovered a sharp increase in new permits since he took office, which also prompted him to fire the state's top oil and gas regulator. That ban lifted in April 2020 after a team of independent scientists reviewed the state's permitting process.

Since taking office, the Newsom administration has issued 291 fracking permits, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance. Still, some environmental groups were hoping Newsom would act faster.

It's historic and globally significant that Gov. Newsom has committed California to phase out fossil fuel production and ban fracking, but we don't have time for studies and delays, said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. Every fracking and drilling permit issued does more damage to our health and climate.

The Newsom administration said the state's rule-making process, while lengthy, is needed to make sure any new rule survives a lawsuit.

We want this prohibition to be durable, Crowfoot said.

The California League of Conservation voters praised Newsom, saying the announcement is the consistent leadership our state needs if we stand a chance of preventing major climate catastrophe.

But some in Newsom's own party were critical, including state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from the Central Valley, who said the fracking ban would lead to higher energy prices that would in turn increase food prices.

The governor's actions could not come at a worse time for the Central Valley, which is already reeling from a drought that  together with this decision  may cause a national food crisis, she said.
Joe Biden has spoken by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid speculation that the U.S president will recognize the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide -- a largely symbolic move that would likely infuriate Ankara and step up already high tensions between the two NATO allies.



The White House and the Turkish presidency accounts of the April 23 call, the first direct communication between the two leaders since Biden's inauguration in January, made no mention of the issue.



But Reuters quoted sources familiar with the conversation as saying that Biden told Erdogan that he intended to recognize the mass killing and forced deportations of Armenians as genocide in a statement on April 24.



State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters: When it comes to the Armenian genocide, you can expect an announcement tomorrow." She declined to reveal details.



Earlier this week, media reports said Biden would likely use the word "genocide" as part of a statement on April 24 when Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day annual commemorations are held around the world.



However, sources warned that given the importance of bilateral ties with Turkey, a key NATO member, the U.S. president may still choose to drop the "genocide" term at the last minute.



As a presidential candidate, Biden pledged that if elected he would recognize the Armenian genocide, saying silence is complicity." But he has not given a timeline for delivering on the promise.



Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned that such a move would harm bilateral relations.

Turkish Objections



During and immediately after World War I, Ottoman Turks killed or deported as many as 1.5 million Armenians -- a Christian minority in the predominately Muslim empire. Many historians and some other nations consider the killings genocide.



Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide to describe the killings. Ankara claims the deaths were a result of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also claims fewer Armenians died than has been reported.



Moves to recognize the killings as genocide have stalled in the U.S. Congress for decades, and U.S. presidents have refrained from formally using the term amid intense lobbying by Ankara.



During his April 23 call with Erdogan, Biden called for a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements," the White House said in a statement.

It said the two leaders agreed to meet one-on-one on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June to discuss their two countries' relations.



Erdogans office said that "both leaders agreed on the strategic character of the bilateral relationship and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of mutual interest.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday exchanged views on the Myanmar situation in telephone conversations with Don Pramudwinai, Thai deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Erywan bin Pehin Yusof, second minister of foreign affairs of Brunei, the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Noting that the forthcoming special meeting of ASEAN leaders is timely and important, Wang said the Chinese side expects the meeting to play a constructive role in de-escalating the Myanmar situation, send out positive messages and be conducive in three respects:

Firstly, the meeting should be conducive to promoting political reconciliation in Myanmar. Whether the Myanmar issue can be properly resolved mainly depends on the country itself, Wang said, adding that the way out is for all parties of Myanmar to seek new understanding through political dialogues within the constitutional and legal framework and continue pushing forward the hard-won democratic transition.

The Chinese side, Wang said, hopes that the meeting can encourage the Myanmar side to put first the overall interests of the country and the people, and send out signals on peaceful reconciliation, with all concerned parties exercising restraint and moving toward each other.

Secondly, the meeting should be conducive to showing ASEAN's constructive role. Since Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN family, ASEAN knows better than any other countries and regional organizations the special national situation of Myanmar, and has better conditions to participate in its problem-solving in a constructive way, Wang noted.

China expects that ASEAN will stick to the "ASEAN way" featuring unity, inclusiveness and consensus through consultations, build unified ground and make a common voice, so as to further demonstrate to the international community that ASEAN has enough political wisdom and collective will to provide Myanmar with constructive assistance, and has enough political courage to safeguard regional peace and stability, as well as the bloc's solidarity and cooperation, Wang said.

Thirdly, he pointed out that the meeting should be conducive to fending off external interference. Practice has shown that wanton suppression of external forces makes no contribution to solving problems of a country's internal affairs. Instead, it would bring turbulence and even deteriorate the situation, further affecting and disrupting regional stability.

China calls on the international community, with an objective and impartial attitude, to do more things to relieve the tense situation in Myanmar, instead of the contrary. At present, the international community should jointly support ASEAN to play its due role in this aspect, he said.

China expects this meeting to make a good start for the "soft landing" of the situation in Myanmar, Wang said, adding that China will continue to support Brunei in fulfilling its duties as the rotating chair of ASEAN, and believes that Thailand, Brunei and other ASEAN countries will play important and unique roles in making the meeting a success.

China will maintain close communication with ASEAN and continue to work with all parties in Myanmar in its own way, Wang said.
DALLAS, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford Securities has hired Josh Rubinger as Senior Vice President, Head of National Accounts. In his new role, Rubinger will be responsible for business development and managing relationships with broker-dealers and registered investment advisors, and will support the distribution efforts of the company's preferred offerings and future products.

Rubinger has close to 20 years of financial services experience across various types of product offerings, and has relationships with broker-dealers, registered investment advisors and family offices throughout the United States.

"I couldn't be more excited to join the team at Ashford, one of the premier hospitality companies in the country. I believe their unique hotel portfolio is well positioned to take advantage of the current lodging cycle as the nation opens up post pandemic. I'm looking forward to contributing to their high caliber team and their distribution efforts to the Broker Dealer and RIA communities."

Prior to joining Ashford, he served as senior vice president of national accounts for Lightstone Capital Markets, the capital markets division of The Lightstone Group. Before entering the Alternatives space, he had roles with Oppenheimer Funds and Columbia Funds.

"Josh is an important addition to our distribution team and we are excited to have him on board. With the relationships he has developed throughout his career, he will be vital to launching our selling group by adding high-quality broker-dealers and RIAs," said C. Jay Steigerwald III, President, Head of Distribution, Ashford Securities LLC.

Rubinger holds a bachelor's degree from Hamilton College as well as FINRA Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.

About Ashford Securities, LLC

Ashford Securities, member FINRA/SIPC, is an SEC-registered broker-dealer that is wholly-owned by Ashford Inc. (NYSE American: AINC) and serves as the distributor for investment products within the Ashford group of companies.

Contact:

Joseph Calabrese

Financial Relations Board

(212) 827-3772

SOURCE Ashford Inc.; Ashford Securities

Related Links

http://ashfordinc.com


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Just a few months ago, California was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Hospitals in Los Angeles were drowning in patients, and ambulances were idling outside with people struggling to breathe, waiting for beds to open.

And despite the state's prolonged lockdowns, it was still seeing nearly as many cases as fully-reopened Florida in March.

The parallel trends in states with opposite approaches was the pride of Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, the bane of California's Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, and a surprise that left public health experts scratching their heads.

At long last, the tables have turned. California, once the hardest hit state in the nation has the lowest daily infection rate in the county, with about six cases per 100,000 residents.

California reaches that milestone not in midst of one of Newsom's lockdowns, but as the state hurries to reopen its economy.

Meanwhile, Florida is seeing nearly 25 new Covid cases per capita a day. New infections began to trend downward this week, but rose from a March 12 low of 4,475 a day to 6,756 a day on April 16.

One factor driving the divergence may be vaccination rates - nearly 40 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, compared to just 22 percent of Floridians.

But overall, experts are still stumped.

'We have been humbled as epidemiologists that it's more complicated than we would be able to assess,' Vanderbilt University professor of preventive medicine and health policy, Dr William Schaffner, told DailyMail.com.

California, once the hardest hit state in the nation has the lowest daily infection rate in the county, with about six cases per 100,000 residents

Florida is seeing nearly 25 new Covid cases per capita a day. New infections began to trend downward this week, but rose from a March 12 low of 4,475 a day to 6,756 a day on April 16

Earlier in the pandemic, California appeared to be a case study in just how helpless the U.S. was against COVID-19, despite the most stringent measures to slow the spread.

The death count was staggering - so many that morgues filled and refrigerated trucks were brought in to handle the overflow.

Now as cases spike in other parts of the country, California has gone from worst to first with the lowest infection rate in the U.S. even as it has moved quickly to reopen more businesses with greater customer counts and allow larger gatherings.

California Governor Newsom issued more restrictions (red) to slow the spread of Covid than the vast majority of other state leaders, but continued to see some of the worst spikes in Covid cases in the nation, especially in January

California deaths are trending downward after reaching the highest levels in the nation in January

Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, took a much more lax approach, issuing fewer restrictions, lifting them early on (green) and reopening his state completely in March. yet, for months, its case burden was comparable to California's

Covid deaths are now rising slightly to about 80 a day in Florida, although its cases have begun to trend downward

Hospitalizations have fallen one-tenth of their peak. At the height of California's surge, 20,000 people were in inpatient treatment. Now, that figure sits at 2,100.

And daily deaths have plummeted from more than 600 in January to about 30 a day this month.

A scramble to get COVID-19 vaccinations has given way to an open invite in many parts of California, which is administering more than 360,000 doses a day.

'It has been a success story for California to have gone from our, if you will, viral tsunami that happened after the back-to-back holiday season to where we are now,' said Dr Robert Kim-Farley of the University of California, Los Angeles' public health school.

The rise in the share of California's population that is fully vaccinated has slowed slightly in the past week or so (pictured, divided from highest risk group, coded blue, to lowest, coded gree). The average number of doses given daily has dipped from nearly 400,000 a day to about 350,000 a day, according to tracking from the Los Angeles Times

Last week, just 381,312 people got vaccinated against COVID-19 in Florida, down from 727,263 the previous week, and 682,566 two weeks prior

But even in the state - which has one of the lowest rates of vaccine hesitancy in the nation - there are early warning signs that the pace of vaccinations is beginning to slow.

While about 40 percent of the population is now fully vaccinated, only 20.5 percent are partially vaccinated.

The average number of doses given daily has dipped from nearly 400,000 a day to about 350,000 a day, according to tracking from the Los Angeles Times.

Still, the rapid fire pace of the early stages of California's vaccine rollout is likely helping to drive down infections.

At the peak of California's winter surge that followed the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays, the state was recording 40,000 new cases daily and well above 500 deaths per day. Those numbers have dwindled to 2,300 new cases and 68 deaths daily.

National Guard members assisted the LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner as it was overwhelmed by Covid deaths. They lift a body into a temporary morgue as they assisted the county in processing COVID-19 deaths in January

Healthcare workers tend to people in cars at a drive up vaccination center at City College of San Francisco during the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco where shots are now readily available

The state surpassed Hawaii on Thursday with the lowest average number of cases per capita in the past two weeks, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

One in every 2,416 people in California tested positive in the past week. At the other end of the spectrum, one in every 223 people in Michigan was diagnosed with the virus.

Kim-Farley said it's been like turning around a massive tanker ship to reach today's level of improvement.

He credited government and public health agencies with providing clear guidelines that businesses, schools and individuals largely followed, including mask mandates and social distancing.

Governor Newsom has been allowing businesses and schools to reopen by county based on case levels. At different points in the pandemic, he has faced heavy criticism for being too restrictive, and now some worry he is moving too quickly.

All counties have improved enough to move out of the strictest of four tiers, and 38 of the 58 counties - accounting for 87 percent of the state's population - now are in the second least-restrictive tier. Newsom said he plans to lift most remaining coronavirus restrictions by June 15.

Hospitalizations have plummeted consistently in California, and are now a tenth of their January peak. Currently, about 2,000 people are hospitalized for Covid in the state, although ICU admissions have increased since January and held steady this month

Florida, on the other hand, was one of the first states to fully reopen and ditch its mask mandate.

Last month, Governor DeSantis declared his state open for business and ready to welcome Spring Breakers.

And they came in droves, descending upon hotspots like Miami's South Beach, largely maskless and ultimately leading to clashes with riot police.

Some experts have called the subsequent uptick in cases in Florida a predictable, but unfortunate outcome.

The state is now seeing about 5,543 new cases a day and 80 deaths a day.

Average daily infections finally began to trend downward this month, but deaths have ticked up slightly over the past nine days.

After rising to more than 1,400 a day on Monday, visits to Florida emergency rooms for Covid-like symptoms are down to about 1,000.

With more than a quarter of Florida's population vaccinated, the shots are likely helping to keep caseloads, hospitalizations and deaths from spiking further.

But Florida has one of the nation's highest rates of vaccine hesitancy. Between 22 and 32 percent of people in the state's counties are vaccine hesitant, according to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data.

That means it's quickly approaching having vaccinated most people who are eager to get the shots, and will likely see a considerable slowdown in the pace of vaccinations soon.

The state is also wrestling with the more infectious UK variant, B117.

B117 is more infectious than older strains of Covid, may be more deadly and appears to be better at infecting the cells of younger people and children who have been largely spared for most of the pandemic, but are now representing a growing number of cases across the U.S.

More than half (54.6 percent) of coronavirus infections in Florida are caused by B117, according to CDC data.

By comparison, just shy of 18 percent of cases in California are caused by the variant.

'I think we will continue for foreseeable future to see this race between vaccinations and this strain,' perhaps at different intensity levels, but across the U.S., Dr Schaffner told DailyMail.com.

'I was more optimistic about vaccine acceptance and coverage inching up throughout the summer a month ago than I am now.'

But the U.S. seems to be approaching the threshold of vaccine hesitancy earlier than expected.

'I think it could continue to spread, I thought we were going to have this under control by end of summer, and Im not at all assured about this now.'
A cat with more than 30,000 Instagram followers was killed in an alleged attack on its owner and Instagram chef, Chanan Aksornnan.

Ms Askornnan, known as Chef Bao Bao, was walking Ponzu and four other pets with her boyfriend in Brooklyns McCarren Park on 4 April.

A boy tripped on Ponzus leash, and then pulled on it, according to an account of the incident by Facebook user ChaRee Pim.

The cat was dragged along by the leash and up ... into the air, pulling its claws out by force  and bleeding, Ms Pim wrote in Thai.

An argument then followed, with Ms Askornnan confronting the boys family, asking: "What did you just do?

A woman, believed to be the boys mother, responded by saying: This is what you got when you walk your f****** cat, b****.

Ms Askornnan and her boyfriend, in addition to two other pets, were then assaulted by the family. Video of the incident appears to confirm the assault.

"The family not only did not offer any apology nor remorse," she told online news outlet Greenpointers on Monday. "They immediately began a verbal abuse which escalated into a physical assault. I got punched and kicked by three women.

Ms Askornnans boyfriend, who remains anonymous, suffered a broken nose that required surgery, according to the Instagram chef.

In an Instagram post on 7 April, she wrote that the cat died of shock and injuries following the incident. It allegedly suffered from a heart condition.

She continued: We are traumatised, lost for words, heartbroken. Our family got physically assaulted that day and there is a pending police investigation to find and charge the perpetrators who showed no empathy for animals nor humans.

A number of Ponzu and Chef Bao Bao fans took to Twitter to call for arrests in the incident  and the latest in a series of assaults against Asian-Americans.

Ponzu was diagnosed with a heart disease and made friends with Mango the parrot, wrote Ines Helene. Together with their brother Tofu, they were adopted by an Asian family. Ponzo and his family were attacked in park in what appeared to be a anti-Asian hate crime. Ponzo died.

The New York Police Department has been approached for comment by the Independent.
By Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News (TNS)

Jeffrey Epsteins Palm Beach mansion was flattened this week on the orders of its new owner.

Demolition of the estate on El Brillo Way began Monday, The Palm Beach Daily News reported. Developer Todd Michael Glaser promised to destroy the home after he closed on it early this year.

The residence was one of several where Epstein and his cadre of rich pals groomed and sexually assaulted girls and women as part of a sprawling, years-long sex trafficking scheme, prosecutors said.

Glaser is a real estate heavy-hitter known for tearing down and rebuilding famous peoples homes. He said in January that he wanted to destroy the Epstein property as soon as possible.

We have all these gawkers. If the house is gone, what are they going to take a picture of? So we might be able to get it knocked down early, which I want to do, just to get rid of it, he told The New York Daily News. Im trying to get this thing knocked down.

Broker Lawrence A. Moens, not usually one to talk according to The Palm Beach Daily News, expressed similar feelings.

I only got involved in the sale of Jeffrey Epsteins residence to ensure it would be wiped off the map of Palm Beach, he told the Florida paper.

Glaser paid $18.5 million for the property, with the money going to the victims compensation fund for women abused by Epstein. Money from the $50 million sale of Epsteins Upper East Side townhouse also funded the program.

Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 at age 66 inside his cell in Manhattan federal prison.

The 14,000-square foot Palm Beach estate was built in 1952, and Epstein bought it in 1990. A staff house and pool house were also demolished, The Palm Beach Daily News reported, and the pool will be filled in.

More:

What did Jeffrey Epstein own? Heres a list, including 64 dune buggy, islands, cash

Ghislaine Maxell continues to complain about prisons setup
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 16:47:15|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The 2021 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is a strong sign that business in China is returning to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, Italian analysts said, seeing the event "fundamental" for European entities looking to do business in China.

First launched 20 years ago, the Boao event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. But it resumed this year with more than 2,000 in-person attendees -- making it the first major offline international forum held this year, according to Bloomberg. The theme of this year's event was "A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Cooperation."

The forum provides a platform for people outside Asia to understand China's economic vision, Stefano Sartorio, a China analyst with the Italian think tank Competere, told Xinhua.

"The Boao Forum is a place for an important exchange of economic views," said Sartorio. "The discussions at the forum are a key part of understanding about China's priorities in a fast-changing and increasingly politicized global economic system."

According to media reports, Italy was represented at the forum -- both in person and via video link -- with multiple participants including former Prime Ministers Romano Prodi and Enrico Letta, Governor of the Bank of Italy Ignazio Visco, economist Michele Geraci, former undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, and Italy's Ambassador to China Luca Ferrari.

Sartorio said Italian economic sectors sending representatives to the forum include the pharmaceutical industry, industrial entities, and Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri.

In a television interview, Geraci, professor at the University of Nottingham's campus in Ningbo, China, called the forum "a fundamental event" to help people understand "not only China and Asia but also the rest of the world."

Geraci referred to the event as an Asian version of the annual economic forum in Davos, Switzerland that was especially important in a world where "geopolitical attention and problems between governments (need) a platform for mutual understanding" that can help "overcome obstacles." Enditem
Two people were killed last night after a truck packed with watermelons crashed into a bridge in New Jersey.

Around 9.20pm yesterday a Peterbilt tractor-trailer came off the road on the New Jersey Turnpike and crashed through a guard rail.

The tractor-trailer then smashed into a concrete bridge support just north of the 7A exit in Robbinsville, police said today.

Two people were killed last night around 9.20pm after a Peterbilt tractor-trailer came off the road on the New Jersey Turnpike and crashed through a guard rail

Both men in the tractor-trailer were pronounced dead at the scene by officials.

In a statement, police said: 'The male driver was ejected and sustained fatal injuries.

'A male passenger in the truck also sustained fatal injuries'.

The two male victims have not yet been identified by officials.

The tractor-trailer then smashed into a concrete bridge support just north of the 7A exit in Robbinsville, police said today. The lane was closed for around six hours overnight before being reopened to motorists

Video footage recorded last night 6ABC showed that the cargo of watermelons had been spilled out onto the road during the incident.

The right lane of the northbound inner roadway was closed by officers for around six hours overnight before being reopened to motorists.

Police are still working to investigate the incident and uncover the cause of the crash.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Susan Whitfield describes her childhood as idyllic. She grew up in Killen, Alabama, before the tiny town in the state's northwest corner had a red light and spent her summers swimming in a creek.

Growing up, the possibility of working for a place like NASA never crossed her mind. Neither of her parents graduated from high school, and no one in her family had finished college. Those barriers couldn't stop Whitfield, who went on to be high school valedictorian, earn a college degree, and work for the U.S. Army before beginning a three-decade career with NASA.

In January, she was named human resources director at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama.

"Life throws you curves," she said. "I always wanted to be a teacher. I do get to teach people in many ways in this job. I never dreamed that I would be in the position that I am. It's been a wonderful career. I don't have words to describe it."

Whitfield credits her success to her mother, Shelby Jean Smith. Her father, Franklin D. Smith, died in an automobile accident when she was 9. Shelby, a stay-at-home mom with no driver's license, found herself a single parent raising three children. Shelby learned how to drive by practicing in the family's driveway. She got a job in a school lunchroom and worked her way up to manager and took a second job at a bakery to make ends meet. Whitfield said her mother never called in sick or took a day off, even when she should have.

"Watching her overcome the challenges that she did, and how she navigated some really hard circumstances, set the tone for my life," Whitfield said. "My mom was such a hard worker, and I grew up knowing that women are strong and can get things done, so I've always felt very empowered as a woman and knowing that I could do anything that I set my mind to  and remain kind while doing it. I try to instill that confidence for my girls  Skyla and Serena.

"I love our Artemis mission! The first woman going to the Moon  that means something, and it speaks to me. In mentoring women throughout my career, when they ask, 'How do you get to the next level?' It's all within you. It's hard work. It's perseverance and believing in yourself."

Whitfield graduated from Brooks High School in 1982, received a scholarship to the University of North Alabama in Florence, and later earned a bachelor's degree in technology management from Athens State University in Athens, Alabama.

"My mom did not graduate high school but was the smartest person I've ever met," Whitfield said. "I will forever cherish the look of pride on her face when I gave that high school commencement speech. I lost my mother to cancer when she was 59  way too young. I strive to live by the example that she set, both personally and professionally."

In the late 1980s, Whitfield's husband, Steve, was stationed at the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts. Whitfield became an executive assistant at the center in 1988 through the Army's spouse hiring program, and she worked in a division focused on field operations in support of soldiers. She heard about Marshall from a NASA employee who was a neighbor of Whitifeld's aunt in Huntsville. Whitfield was intrigued and decided to transfer to NASA in December 1990.

"I was in awe when I was offered a position with NASA," she said. "I can't imagine not being a part of this team now. After 30-plus years with the agency, it is part of who I am. I have been blessed with opportunities and the chance to work with some amazing people. NASA's focus on people, our strong culture of diversity and inclusion, and commitment to innovation are all factors that have contributed to NASA being consistently named the No. 1 agency to work for among large federal agencies. We live up to the hype. NASA does extraordinary work that has inspired generations  and it's more than astronauts! Every individual person at NASA is a part of mission success. From janitors to the administrator, it's a team. It is much more about how you do your work, not just what work you do."

Whitfield provided integration and leadership within NASA's Technology Transfer and Innovative Partnerships programs at Marshall before joining the center's human capital team in 2005. Since then, her roles have included supervisory human resources officer, human capital integration manager, senior employee development specialist, and senior human capital consultant.

In 2018, Whitfield took an assignment at NASA Headquarters in Washington, where she was agency project manager for the Mission Support Future Architecture Program for transformation of NASA's Human Capital Program. She also was deputy director for the agency's Business Operations Directorate for Human Capital. She became human resources director at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland in 2019 and was named to the Senior Executive Service  the personnel system covering top managerial positions in federal agencies. When the chance to return to Alabama presented itself, Whitfield didn't hesitate.

"I'm forever grateful for the road I've traveled and for the relationships I built," she said. "But to say that I am happy to be back is an understatement. I feel extremely blessed. Marshall just feels like home to me. I know that I'm bringing back a different skill set, so I'm appreciative of the opportunities that I've had at the agency."

For more information about Marshall Space Flight Center, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


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Editors note: This story first appeared in the April 2013 edition of The Lo-Downs print Magazine.

One of the things that makes New York City great is its classic neighborhood diners. On the Lower East Side, weve got our share of these old-school spots  places that are so familiar some of us think of them as extensions of our own apartments. In a world thats becoming more impersonal, theres something comforting about these no-nonsense hangouts. Theyll make you anything you want, exactly the way you want it, and fast! The guys behind the counter are quick to refill your coffee and will remember exactly how you like your eggs in the morning. Youve got to admire their ability to handle just about anything, or anyone, and usually with a smile.

As gentrification changes the LES and real estate prices skyrocket, we fear these classic spots may be in danger of extinction. But theyre here now, continuing to ride the ups and downs of the restaurant business, seemingly stronger than ever. Recently, photographer Alex M. Smith and I spent some time hanging out at our local diners, photographing the people who make them tick. These guys have clearly seen it all, having experienced decades of changes in the area. Heres our tribute to the classic diners of the Lower East Side. (Click through for each owners fascinating story and some excellent words of wisdom.)

EVEREST DINER  23 Chatham Square (East Broadway at Bowery)

Owner: Teddy Vasilopoulos

Years in business: 5

History: Vasilopoulos and his family have owned diners throughout the city since emigrating from Greece in 1973. (His younger brother John runs Cup and Saucer.) At this location since 2008, the diner was formerly a small luncheonette when he took it over. Vasilopoulos and his partner have also owned Landmark Diner at 158 Grand St. for the past 32 years. Their first diner was in the Chrysler Building, but rent increases quickly brought them downtown.

Rent: Vasilopoulos is confident about staying on Chatham Square, saying he knows the landlord would be hard-pressed to find another tenant whos so reliable.

Words of wisdom: I always make my food fresh. And I always have a smile for my customers.

CLASSIC COFFEE SHOP  56 Hester St. (at Ludlow Street)

Owner: Carmine Morales

Years in business: 37

History: As the menu states, this place has been, Serving Real Lower East Siders Since 1976. Morales has lived in the neighborhood his whole life. He attended public school across the street. After emigrating from Puerto Rico, his father opened Classic Coffee 37 years ago. Carmine worked in the shop with his father and then took it over.

Rent: Its been pretty touch-and-go. The landlord raises the rent every few years and Morales is not sure hell stay open if it goes too much higher. The area around Hester Street is booming right now.

Words of wisdom: Neighborhoods change, thats what they do. I dont mind it. Things are a lot better here now than they used to be. I dont make a lot of money but I work for myself, set my own hours and dont have to worry too much. Overall Ive been pretty lucky.

ZAFIS LUNCHEONETTE  500 Grand St.

Owner: Nodas Kekatos

Years in business: 35

History: Kekatos has owned the restaurant since 1978. He came to New York from Kefalonia, the Paradise Island in Greece. His son, Mike, took the lead about 10 years ago, but Nodas still works a couple of days a week. The original Zafiropolis opened the diner in 1948; there were two other owners before Kekatos took it over.

Rent: Its not a concern since Zafis is one of the few dining options on this part of Grand Street. The space is owned by the Hillman Cooperative, whose residents are some of the diners best customers.

Words of wisdom: Every morning I look at myself in the mirror and I see some flawsa wrinkle here, something else thereand I say, You arent perfect. Then when I come in and I have [a disgruntled customer] I dont get upset. I remind myself no one is perfect.

EL CASTILLO  131 Rivington St. (between Essex and Ludlow streets)

Owner: Luis Miguel Collado

Years in business: 27

History: The place was a Chinese restaurant before he took it over in 1986. Collado came to New York in 1963 from the Dominican Republic. He owned a couple of restaurants previously, including Jagua Restaurant on Clinton Street, which was sold in 1977. That restaurant would later became the Spanish restaurant, Alias (long before what we now know as Alias). Collado opened the second El Castillo at 521 Grand St. in 2003. He built the diner from scratch and now his daughter, Yreinel, runs it.

Rent: Collado is not worried yet. He has a long-term relationship with the landlord.

Words of wisdom: My food is always fresh and I keep the prices down. People want a place that is affordable. Even if you spend a lot to go out for a special night, you need a place to come to the rest of the time.

OLYMPIC DINER  115 Delancey St. (at Essex Street)

Owners: Steve Palakas (above) and Spiros Nakos

Years in business: 33

History: The place used to be a Jewish diner. Palakas came over from Greece in 1969 and took over the diner in 1980.

Rent: Although the city is on the verge of demolishing the building, part of the Essex Street Market, to make way for the Seward Park redevelopment project, the owners are not too concerned. Theyve been hearing about the project for 40 years.

Words of wisdom: Give the customers what they wantFlirt with the ladiesWe always welcome you back.

CUP & SAUCER LUNCHEONETTE

89 Canal St. (at Eldridge Street)

Owners: John Vasilopoulos (above) and Nick Castanos (below)

Years in business: 25

History: The place has been open since 1940 and was always called Cup and Saucer. It was originally a Jewish luncheonette. They took it over in 1988 when the area was mainly made up of Jewish-owned jewelry stores. Then Chinatown began expanding in the last decade or more. Like his older brother, Teddy, who runs Everest, John is from Kalavrita, Peloponisos, in Greece. Nick is from Cuba.

Rent: They recently renewed their lease for another five years but are worried about a steep rent increase in the future because the building recently sold.

Words of wisdom: We work hard, we love our customers, we have great service, especially now we have these nice, lovely ladies working with us.
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Queensland police must respond to every domestic violence incident in person under a new directive set by a taskforce reviewing police protocols.

An internal taskforce, spearheaded by Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd, was convened in the days after Doreen Langham perished in a house fire in February alongside her ex-partner, Gary Hely.

Doreen Langham is believed to have died in the unit fire at Browns Plains. Credit:Facebook

In the weeks leading up to the suspected murder-suicide, Ms Langham had provided with a dossier of information about her ex-partner.

Hours before the fire was lit, Ms Langham called triple zero to tell police Mr Hely had breached a protection order.
The Coates Project near Perth is 29 kilometres southeast of the nickel-copper-platinum group elements-gold discoveries by Chalice Mining and in a similar geological setting.

Under the co-funded drilling program, the company will drill 11 holes across the intrusion.

s ( ) (OTCMKTS:ATVVF) (FRA:JT71) has succeeded in its application for Round 23 of the Government of Western Australias Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) which will fund up to $112,500 of drilling at Coates Project during the 2021/22 financial year.

The drilling program is designed to test for nickel-copper-platinum group elements-gold mineralisation at Coates, which is southeast of Chalice Minings Julimar discovery and just 35 kilometres from Perth.

The grant funding will be from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) as a contribution towards drilling costs.

Scheme to assist with drilling

Australian Vanadiums managing director Vincent Algar said: While AVLs main focus remains on the development of the Australian Vanadium Project, our geological data review of the Coates Mafic Complex identified its significant similarity and potential to the nickel-copper-PGE-gold discoveries such as those at Julimar and Yarrawindah and the associated discovery opportunity.

The excellent exploration incentive scheme run by the WA Government will assist with drilling work in this exciting region.

Co-funded drilling

Under the co-funded drilling program, the company plant to drill 11 drill holes across the intrusion with reverse circulation (RC) holes to 60-75 metres depth followed by diamond drilling of NQ core to maximum total hole depths of between 120 and 300 metres.

Holes are planned to achieve full stratigraphic coverage of the gabbro sequence.

The co-funded drilling program will obtain multi-element data from these geochemical and mineralogical holes, including downhole geophysics.

Downhole Electromagnetics (EM) will be used to evaluate the rocks around the holes for conductors.

The company has extended its tenement holding in the area, with the grant of E70/5588 along strike to the north of the main Coates intrusion and the drilling program approval is in place for EIS work to start.

Soil sampling

Recent soil sampling has been undertaken at the Coates Project as part of an ongoing program of evaluation.

Soil sampling programs are expected to continue to outline geochemical targets in tandem with the EIS program.

AVL has drilling locations approved for the proposed program and the EIS drilling will start when internal resources are available.

The program, which must be concluded in one year, will include downhole EM surveys to identify nearby conductors.

This technique has been highly successful in the identification of mineralised bodies in recent exploration in this region.

Airborne or ground-based EM surveys are also planned for the project but are not part of the EIS project funding.
Small businesses trashed or smashed by destructive demonstrators in Portland over the last year can receive up to $10,000 from the city to help cover repairs.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved $250,000 in new grants geared toward fixing broken doors, shattered storefronts and graffiti-scarred buildings left by those whove chosen to rampage or riot during months of protests, according to Mayor Ted Wheelers office.

Shops and companies citywide that have sustained physical damage during a march or rally since March 2020 can apply, said Shawn Uhlman, a spokesman for Prosper Portland, the citys economic development agency.

Other small businesses in need of immediate repairs to signs, windows and exteriors are also eligible.

We want to be flexible with these dollars and help a broad range of businesses impacted around town, Uhlman said.

Figures provided by Prosper Portland show the city has already given more than $720,000 to 135 businesses through a fund established to help with repairs throughout the coronavirus pandemic and nearly a year of racial justice protests.

The latest cash infusion comes amid a resurgence of vandalism and property destruction during demonstrations.

In the last week, groups of people decrying fatal police shootings locally and around the U.S. have broken out windows, splattered paint and lit fires through downtown and another commercial districts.

Protesters calling for racial justice also caused nearly $20,000 in damage to the Boys and Girls Club in Northeast Portland, which houses services for mostly Black and brown children and families.

Wheeler this week singled out the black-clad culprits, calling them a group of 100 or so largely white, self-described anarchists who engage in the criminal destruction of our economy and our confidence.

These people are not protesters. They are criminals, the mayor said during a press conference Tuesday. Their actions harm our workers, their families, all of us. They stand in stark contrast from those who stand for meaningful change and racial justice that is sorely overdue.

The City Council on Wednesday also reallocated $150,000 for additional graffiti removal across Portland, according to the Office of Community & Civic Life.

Apply for a small business repair grant through Prosper Portland here.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Utica, N.Y. - Some New Yorkers are receiving a 'Notice of Determination' from the New York State Labor Department. That notice determined that they need to pay back some unemployment benefits they received more than a year ago that they weren't entitled to.

The Department of Labor Tweeted out this past week the following : "In April and May of 2020, a small portion of claimants received duplicate payments as NYS DOL worked to get New Yorkers their benefits as quickly as possible. Under federal law, NYS DOL is required to recover any overpaid funds."

We here at News Channel 2 have received an email from a local man who shared his Notice of Determination with us dated April 16th, 2021. He does not want to be identified.

Another of those New Yorkers who received a Notice of Determination this past week is Lisa Wickline, a self-employed massage therapist in the Watertown area.

Wickline told our sister station in Watertown, WWNY, that she had no idea she was 'overpayed', "For all of us, that was income that was due to us. Thats what we used to pay our bills that we were behind on. I had no idea that was money that wasnt supposed to come to me."

Senator Joe Griffo of Rome says he believes there are some New Yorkers who should pay that money back, and some who shouldn't, "The letters are a concern and I think the burden of proof should be on the State of New York to prove that there may have been an overpayment. First we had a problem with access to the system, then we had a problem with identity theft, and now were having an overpayment issue, so the burden of proof rests with the state. Now in some cases I think people may have not gotten determinations and didnt know any differently and they shouldnt bear that burden because it's their first time entrance into the system during a very challenging time. To be self-employed, people never had access to unemployment before. Others, who may have been told what they were getting and then got extra money and never acknowledged it, thats a different problem. But again the burden of proof, in my opinion, is on the State of New York."

If you received one of these letters, you can pay the amount, or if you want to dispute it, you can either fill out a waiver claiming financial hardship, or request a hearing. To fill out a waiver or request a hearing, you must do so within 30 days of the mailing date on your letter.

For more information on how to respond, head to the following NYS DOL page : http://on.ny.gov/nod
UTICA, NY - Mohawk Valley Health System has donated an x-ray machine to the Utica Zoo.

MVHSs Medical Imaging Operations Manager Kathy Gargas is working to train the zoo staff on how to run the machine, so they dont have to outsource x-ray services anymore.

"The beauty of this is that you can do anything with this."

Utica Zoo Executive Director Andria Heath says its something the zoo would probably never have been able to afford, and the donation will greatly improve the efficiency of the medical care.

"We had our needs met, but with having our own equipment it means that we can do more things on site which is always better for the animals and the staff."

Utica Zoo Veterinarian Dr. Ellen Hilton said larger animals like lions will benefit from having the x-ray machine on-site because they wont have to be sedated for as long.

"So thats been the problem is they cant stay under anesthesia too long, so it really only works for the smaller animals or animal that we can put in a crate, transport there and then sedate so that they hold still for the x-ray."

Theres even more benefits to having a machine they can move right to the animals exhibit.

"It will make a big difference because its going to take literally half the time to take the x-rays, and we can do better quality in medicine if we dont have to think or worry so much about moving them, and its going to be safer for the animals."

Now its just a matter of learning how to properly run the equipment.
Protesters took to the streets of a North Carolina city on Thursday night, demanding for the second night in a row that officers release body camera footage from the fatal shooting of a black man.

Andrew Brown, 42, was shot and killed in his car at around 8:30am on Wednesday in Elizabeth City, 160 miles east of Raleigh.

Police described Brown as someone who was well known to police, and said they were executing search-and-arrest warrants for drug offenses at the time.

His family, however, describe the father-of-ten as a 'good guy', despite his 'flaws' - and are demanding the body camera footage.

On Thursday night Andrew Womble, the district attorney for the First Prosecutorial District, which encompasses Elizabeth City, said they were prevented by law from releasing the footage.

Andrew Brown, 42, was shot and killed by sheriffs in North Carolina on Wednesday morning

Demonstrators in Elizabeth City were demanding answers on Thursday night

Protesters are calling for the authorities to release body camera footage of the shooting

'We know people want to see the body camera footage,' said Womble, in a statement jointly signed with R. Michael Cox, the Pasquotank County Attorney.

'It is reasonable for people to ask to see it, because such footage can help provide key context about what happens in incidents like this.

'However, under North Carolina law police worn body camera footage is not a public record and cannot be released to the press or public without a court order.

'We must follow the law and the law prohibits us from publicly releasing the body worn camera footage.'

Womble and Cox said they were allowed to show the footage privately to the family, however, and were making arrangements to do so.

Brown, a father of ten, was described by his family as a 'good guy'

A demonstrator holds a sign demanding: 'Show us the cameras'. Police say they cannot do so

Pastor Javan Leach, of Mt. Lebanon AME Zion Church watches as people gather for a peaceful demonstration

Thursday saw the second night of demonstrations in Elizabeth City against the killing

Protesters continued to demand the footage on Thursday night - the second consecutive night of unrest in Elizabeth City, home to 19,000 people.

Thursday's protest began a little after 5pm, WNCT9 reported, and moved through the streets.

Several people passionately spoke, asking the community to come together and demand change.

'We are tired. We are weary. We have been doing this over and over and over,' said one woman on a loudspeaker.

After leaving the municipal center in Elizabeth City, the group walked to the scene of the shooting on Perry Street.

They then continued to Ehringhaus Street, local news reported, where they remained for much of the night.

On Thursday night Sheriff Tommy S. Wooten and Chief Deputy Daniel Fogg, with the Pasquotank County sheriff's office, said that the officers involved in Wednesday's shooting have been placed on leave.

The attorney for the family on Thursday said three deputies were involved.

In a video statement, posted on Facebook, Wooten said Brown's death was tragic.

'I will not prejudge anything or draw any conclusions until we have all the facts,' Wooten said.

Wooten said Wednesday's encounter with Brown was classified as high-risk because Brown was a convicted felon with a history of resisting arrest.

People demonstrated on Thursday demanding the tapes be released of Brown's killing

North Carolina law doesn't provide for the release of the tapes without a court order

They had their local version of a SWAT team and deputies from other agencies assisting.

The sheriff's office has handed over the shooting investigation to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

'I will say if the evidence shows that any of my deputies violated the law or policies they will be held accountable because that is what the citizens expect me to do and it's the right thing to do,' Wooten said.

Brown's family denied that he was a dangerous man.

His brother, Antron Brown, said he had been the victim to two previous shootings, but was not a bad man.

'He was a good guy,' he told 10 On Your Side.

'Everybody has their flaws. He was trying to get his kids back.

'He don't do nothing that harms nobody. He don't go out and pick fights or do anything were somebody is going to harm them.'

Brown had two pending drug cases, the local channel reported.

'The fact that an officer shot him - for what?' his brother asked.

'Shoot the tires.

'Apparently people said they were shooting from the front and shooting from the back. you could have hit the other officer like that.

'I love my brother. I'm going to miss him dearly.'
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute (HIV+Hep) and American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), in collaboration with 122 other patient and provider organizations, delivered a sign-on letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra that urges HHS and the Biden administration to enact policies and protections that improve prescription drug affordability for the American people. The letter details how recent trends in the healthcare system, including high deductible plans and high cost-sharing, have threatened treatment affordability for patients, which negatively impacts adherence and worsens health outcomes. The patient advocates encourage Secretary Becerra and the Biden administration to:

HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute Logo American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association Logo

Enforce ACA Non-Discrimination Provisions. Institute Cost-Sharing Caps for Patients. Require Insurers to Offer Plans that Include First Dollar Coverage of Prescription Drugs. Count Copay Assistance Towards Patient's Out-Of-Pocket Maximums. Address the Role of Rebates and Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

"While the Biden administration and Congress have recently taken steps to make insurance premiums more affordable, they must also enact policies to ensure insurance works for patients by improving prescription drug affordability. The need for immediate action is mounting as patients are facing significant barriers to afford and access their medications amid the economic challenges of COVID-19, harmful insurance policies, and trends in patient cost-sharing requirements," said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute.

"Current trends in our healthcare system are leaving many vulnerable and underserved patients with few safeguards from rising out-of-pocket costs for their prescription medications," said Lilly Stairs, interim CEO of the Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA). "We look forward to working with Secretary Becerra and President Biden to implement solutions that improve prescription drug affordability and access for the American people and build on the foundation of the Affordable Care Act."

In addition to the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute and AARDA, other groups that signed the letter include American Diabetes Association, Arthritis Foundation, Easterseals, Hemophilia Foundation of America, Lupus Foundation of America, Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, and Susan G. Komen.

You can read the full letter here.

Media Contact:

Lauren Archambeault

(202) 471-4228 ext. 113

[email protected]

SOURCE HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute
CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Island says it will receive double the number it expected of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines in May and June.

A Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is administered at a COVID-19 clinic in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Island says it will receive double the number it expected of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines in May and June.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Heather Morrison says the extra 47,430 doses will mean more people will get their first doses sooner and others won't have to wait as long for booster shots.

She says health officials expect to be able to offer everyone a booster shot no later than 12 weeks after their first dose.

Starting next week, people in their 40s can begin booking vaccination appointments on the Island.

Morrison is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today, involving a person who arrived in the province from outside Atlantic Canada.

There are now 12 active reported cases in the province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.
Sustained demand for containerized ferrous scrap imports in the key Taiwanese market should continue to support prices in the near term, market sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets daily price assessment for containerized steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), United States material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $425-430 per tonne on Friday April 23, unchanged from a day earlier but widening downward by $5 per tonne from $430 per tonne on April 16.



There were multiple transactions concluded at $425-428 per tonne cfr Taiwan in the middle of the week with major steel mills purchasing cargoes offered at low prices by traders.



Sellers had been quick to sell off cargoes amid lower spot prices in Turkey, thinking that the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan would continue to dampen prices.



But the sudden rebound in Turkish prices surprised market participants, who did not expect the change in price direction to come so quickly.



"Prices are likely to continue rebounding, especially with demand in Taiwan still hot," a major buyer told Fastmarkets.



Buyers continued to resist price increases, maintaining bids at $425 per tonne cfr Taiwan all the way until Friday. But there was talk in the market that some buyers had caved in and were looking to increase their bids to $430 per tonne cfr Taiwan.



A major buyer purchased at least 3,500 tonnes of imported containerized ferrous scrap. About 7,000-10,000 tonnes of imported scrap was heard transacted this week, industry sources said.



Offers for South and Central American scrap were at $410 per tonne cfr Taiwan, a buyer said.



A major domestic steel mill increased its domestic scrap purchase prices by NT$200 ($7.12) per tonne for heavy melting scrap. It also raised its offers for domestic rebar by NT$300 per tonne.



Sellers were offering Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) at $460 per tonne cfr Taiwan at the start of the week, although the high premiums over containerized materials meant that there was limited interest.



Market participants expect offers for Japanese cargoes to remain high in the meantime, especially with Japanese mini-mill Tokyo Steel raising its domestic scrap purchase price again on April 21 by 500-1,000 ($4.63-9.26) per tonne.



It will now pay 46,000 at Okayama works and 45,500 per tonne at its Kyushu works. It is also paying 44,000 per tonne at its Utsunomiya works and 44,500 per tonne at its Takamatsu works. Prices at Tahara works remain unchanged at 45,500-46,500 per tonne.
Tsinghua University officially inaugurated its new school for integrated circuits on Thursday, striving to cultivate talents for the country's IC industry and make indigenous Chinese chips, according to a report from youth.cn.

Integrated circuits  the heart and brains of electronic products  are crucial to the development of the information technology industry. China's IC industry has been on track for high-speed growth in recent years, but its comparatively low technical level has hindered its move toward the high end of the value chain.

Thus, the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education upgraded "Integrated circuit science and engineering" to a first-class discipline in January this year, in order to provide strong talent support to the country's IC industry.

The new school of integrated circuits, jointly built by Tsinghua's Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics and the Department of Electronic Engineering, will also establish an interdisciplinary research center.

Certain graduates from the two departments have become leaders in the country's integrated circuits industry. For example, Zhao Haijun, co-CEO of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, and Dong Haoran, general manager of Huada Semiconductor, were both graduates from the university.

Tsinghua has cultivated over 4,000 graduates, 3,000 postgraduates, and 500 Ph.D. graduates since the establishment of its semiconductor specialty in 1956. From 2016 to 2020, over 70 percent of gradates have entered the IC industry or related front-line scientific research, according to the report.
New Delhi, April 23 : With the raging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc in India, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Friday that he is very concerned about the fast-growing caseloads in the country.

"The situation in India is a devastating reminder of what the virus can do," Ghebreyesus said during a virtual briefing in Geneva.

The situation in the country seems to be slipping out of hands with each passing day, amid acute shortage of oxygen beds and key emergency drugs like Remdesivir.

India reported yet another grim milestone of highest number of daily new Covid-19 cases on Friday. A total of 3,32,730 Covid cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The country also registered over 2,000 daily deaths for the third consecutive day with the highest spike in single-day deaths at 2,263 on Friday, taking the cumulative death toll in India to 1,86,920 so far.

On Thursday, India had reported 3,14,835 Covid-19 new cases and 2,104 deaths.

Delhi recorded its highest ever fatalities at 306 on Thursday, besides logging more than 26,000 new cases.

Since April 15, India has continued to report over 2 lakh new Covid cases on a daily basis.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Student leaders have asked the competition watchdog to help get 'blanket refunds' for those whose studies were disrupted during the pandemic.

Unions are seeking 'collective fee justice' which would see up to a million students compensated for lost face-to-face learning.

An open letter, backed by student leaders at 19 universities across the UK, urges the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to address the 'broken' complaints process for those claiming refunds, and help advise students on their ability to withhold fee payments 'if they have lost out' due to the pandemic.

The letter, which has also been signed by National Union of Students (NUS) president Larissa Kennedy, says: 'Students need an external organisation with no vested interest other than upholding students' rights to step in and give them the power to seek collective fee justice. The CMA must act now.'

Student leaders are urging the Competition and Markets Authority to `take action to uphold students rights over tuition fees and rent payments amid the pandemic (stock image)

The plea came after the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed that all remaining students in England will not be allowed to return to in-person lessons on campus until mid-May at the earliest.

Most students in England, apart from those on critical courses, were told not to return to campus as part of the lockdown announced in January.

It is estimated that around half of university students in England are not eligible to return to campus for in-person teaching until May 17 at the earliest.

The letter from student representatives at top universities  including Oxford and Cambridge  says: 'This year, students have been paying full tuition, despite most having lost key parts of their educational experience and many having been sold a promise of 'blended learning' that has not been delivered.

'Hundreds of thousands of students have been left with no viable route to redress on any meaningful scale, and as far as we can make out the CMA has completely ignored the issue  despite multiple petitions to the Government which have gained hundreds of thousands of signatures.

'Almost all students have experienced a diminished experience in comparison to that which was originally promised and advertised to them.

'Most have been denied access to campus facilities and services, many have had practical material components of their course removed or dramatically changed, and hundreds of thousands of them have been asked by the Government to not return to campus accommodation that they are still being charged for.

'None, that we are aware of, have actively consented to the changes that have been made to the educational offer from their higher education or accommodation providers, and we are not aware of any systemic rebates or refunds for students outside of the university-run accommodation sector.'

University students first saw their teaching moved online in the spring term last year when the national lockdown in March was announced.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) received 2,604 complaints from students in 2020  the highest number ever received in a year  and it was an increase of 10% on 2019.

Nineteen student unions are seeking 'collective fee justice' which would see up to a million students compensated for lost face-to-face learning (file image)

But the OIA, which can offer partial tuition refunds, has previously stressed that there is a time lag in complaints reaching the adjudicator as students have to raise their complaint with their university first.

The letter, which is being led by Bristol Students' Union, adds: 'We are not dealing with isolated cases of low-quality teaching in some courses; all students' educational experiences have been massively impacted by the pandemic, a fact which universities refuse to admit.

'The current complaints process is directed at investigating individual courses, putting the blame for lost education on the delivery of those courses rather than recognising the endemic problems students are facing in their education this year.

'The OIA's complaints process' complexity, length and compartmentalisation of individual complaints make it totally unequipped to provide students with the collective fee justice that the current circumstances necessitate.'

A CMA spokeswoman said: 'This letter raises some important issues and we are considering the points made by the unions carefully.

'We are sympathetic to the situation many students find themselves in, but this is a complex area legally and consumer enforcement action may not be the best or quickest solution for students' problems. The issues caused by lockdown can vary a lot between different cases.

'We have published our view on refunds, which explains how we think the law applies. We know that this is not straightforward but students can refer to this statement when talking to their accommodation providers or universities.

'In particular, it's important to check out how lockdown laws affect the contract, as well as T&Cs.'

A Universities UK (UUK) spokeswoman said: 'Universities recognise that students have been extremely resilient in the face of disruption this year.

'Universities and their staff have done all they can to help students progress with their studies and meet their learning outcomes, offering a blended approach to learning wherever possible, however they have had to adapt their provision in line with government restrictions and public health advice.

'Universities have been regularly communicating with students, including providing them with as much advance notice as possible of how their experience might change in different scenarios which are outside of universities' control.

'All universities have complaints procedures which should be students' first port of call where they do have concerns. Students can also contact the OIA if their complaint remains unresolved.'
GARDAI have arrested a man in County Clare as part of a Operation SKEIN, which is targeting invoice redirect fraud.

A search operation was conducted by gardai at a location in Ennis this Friday morning with assistance from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.

"The man, aged in his 20s, was arrested for offences contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 as amended," said a garda spokesperson.

The suspect, who is the 21st person to be arrested as part of Operation SKEIN, is currently detained in Ennis garda station under the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007.

He can be detained for up to seven days.

Operation SKEIN is an investigation into international BEC/Invoice re-direct fraud being committed from Ireland and the laundering of the proceeds through accounts in Ireland.
Authorities from Brazil have re-arrested a local who is known to be one of the world's biggest arm smugglers. Identified as Joao Felipe Barbieri, the arm smuggler was convicted for being a part of a gang that smuggled hundreds of rifles from the United States, which were hidden among swimming pool equipment, BBC reported.

The Brazilian authorities retook Barbieri who escaped from prison, according to a report from Rio Times Online. The operation happened in the city of Niteroi, located 9 kilometers away from Rio.

READ NEXT: Ecuador Children Dropped by Smugglers in the US Mexico Border Reunite With Parents

Brazil Police Re-Arrests Arm Smuggler

Barbieri was apprehended without any incident in his hideout located in Rio de Janeiro's Metropolitan area, Mail Online reported.

The authorities in Brazil launched a manhunt for the arm smuggler in January, after the federal court in Rio de Janeiro was notified about Barbieri's early release. BBC noted that Barbieri was able to free himself from the high-security prison in November 2020. Barbieri allegedly forged a court document ordering his early release.

Apart from Barbieri, the arm smuggler's accomplice who also used the forged documents to get out of prison, Joao Roza was also apprehended by the authorities.

The request for a manhunt was made by Judge Marcelo Granado. Granado was the judge who presided the trial.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Mauro Cesar noted that Barbieri ran out of money and the arm smuggler returned to Rio to claim an estimated amount of $90,000. Cesar shared the information during a news conference after Barbieri's arrest. Mail Online emphasized that the amount was owed by drug smugglers to the arm smuggler.

Arm Smuggler's Arrest in 2017

Barbieri was sentenced to serve a total of 27 years in prison in 2017. However, he has only rendered a total of three years because he forged court documents. The investigators also managed to find out that the forged documents used by Barbieri have a signature of a civil police officer who does not exist.

After his release, Barbieri became on the run and stayed at three different states. Cesar noted that the arm smuggler was able to avoid the capture as he moved between Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo, and Minas Geiras.

Meanwhile, Roza was reported to leave the prison earlier than Barbieri. Mail Online pointed out that Roza left the prison on October 14, 2020. The investigators noted that the court documents used by both of the fugitives have the same code of processing number.

"The recapture of these federal prisoners proves to be extremely important," said Attorney General Eduardo Benones. Benones furthered that the recapture of the fugitives also proves the "prestige and effectiveness" of criminal executions in Rio de Janeiro.

Barbieri is also known as the stepson of a gang leader who is famous as the Lord of Weapons. The gang was caught in 2017 after a container that has 60 military-style rifles were intercepted at an airport in Rio, Brazil. Meanwhile, the arm smuggler's stepfather, identified as Frederick Barbieri, was also arrested in 2017 where he serves a 13-year prison sentence in Miami.

READ MORE: Interpol Seizes Thousands of Fake COVID-19 Vaccines From Smugglers in Africa, China

WATCH: Arms trafficking is a "Big Business" in Central America - from CGTN America
Apr. 22Maine legislators heard testimony this week in favor of a bill that would require Maine's schools to provide free and easily accessible menstrual products.

"It isn't only an issue of fairness or even of affordability," Grace Leavitt, president of the Maine Education Association, said. "Having access to menstrual products can help to positively impact a girl's confidence and thus even affect her future."

Advocates told the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs that many youngsters struggle to pay for sanitary products such as tampons and pads. As many as one in four have missed classes as a result, they said.

But for many of those testifying, it's also an issue of equity.

"Half of the population get their period, and so we should at least be able to supply items to help them," said 11-year-old Astrid Whitton, a South Portland sixth-grader.

The bill's chief sponsor, state Rep. Denise Tepler, a Topsham Democrat, said menstruation is "a healthy and normative bodily function" that society too often treats "as shameful and embarrassing  a fact of life that must be kept secret."

"As a state and country, we need to be taking steps to end the secrecy and stigma that surrounds menstruation," Nicole Clegg, senior vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, said.

"The simple fact is that half of the population has a period," Clegg said. "It's a normal part of people's lives and managing a period shouldn't be a source of stress."

Changing old views, Tepler said, is one reason why youngsters in school "should have unfettered access to menstrual products in school bathrooms" the same way toilet paper is available to everyone.

The bill would require schools that serve students in grades six to 12 to make menstrual products available at no cost in school bathrooms. After urging from state Rep. Heidi Sampson, an Alfred Republican, lawmakers said they may lower the grade level in recognition that many fourth and fifth graders need access as well.

Story continues

As it is now, many bathrooms offer sanitary items for sale. A number of schools also have them available for free from the school nurse's office.

But both of those options fall short of what's needed, advocates said.

Madeline Welch, a University of New England student who lives in Denmark, told legislators that "one of the worst realizations you can have" as a young woman in school "is that you have started your period before you were expecting to, or you are experiencing a heavy flow, and that you have bled through the back of your clothes."

"You can cover up the stains by tying your sweatshirt or sweater around your waist, but that's only a temporary fix," Welch said. "You rush to the bathroom, and if you're lucky, you have a spare pad or tampon in your bag."

If there are no sanitary products, or they're too costly, students "often resort to using toilet paper," Welch said. "This is something I myself have had to do many times."

"It provides very minimal help and requires multiple trips back to the bathroom. This all tends to happen during class as well," Welch said, adding "the anxiety one feels trying to focus on what a teacher is saying when you have a significant menstrual problem is unbearable."

Tepler laid out a scenario to show why tampons and pads ought to be available in bathrooms rather than just a nurse's office.

"Picture this," she told the committee, "I am a 12-year-old experiencing my period for only the fourth time. My mom has given me a pad but only one extra and by 2 p.m., I know I will need another soon or face the embarrassment of bleeding through onto my jeans."

"I ask the teacher if I can go to the nurse's office. She asks if I am feeling all right. If I say no, she may refuse my request unless I can articulate exactly what I need. If I say yes, I am lying, and she will be confused by my return to the classroom in 15 minutes and possibly asked what happened," Tepler said.

"When I get to the nurse's office," Tepler said, "I must again articulate what I need to the nurse."

"This is a form of shaming for young people who have their menses," Tepler said.

The legislative chair for the Maine Association of School Nurses, Melanie Whited, the school nurse at St. Dominic Academy in Lewiston, said that "keeping supplies in school bathrooms will allow students to avoid missing class or worse, possibly an entire day of school."

She called the measure a common-sense move that would especially help "our low-income communities that experience 'Period Poverty.'

There is some concrete evidence that a real need exists.

Tessa Meil, a sophomore student at Camden Hills Regional High School in Camden, told lawmakers that she's worked with the nonprofit One Less Worry to stock free menstrual products in the women's bathrooms at Camden-Rockport Middle School.

Meil said she had to refill them at least weekly and one combined seventh and eighth grade restroom required her to refill three times a week.

"That level of demand showed me that people were not only counting on these free products for 'oops' moments," Meil said, "but also as a constant source of menstrual products that they may not have had access to at home."

There has been a growing worldwide effort to make sanitary products more accessible, including bids to remove sales taxes on tampons and pads, which another bill under consideration in Augusta would do. Legislators are also eyeing a bill to increase donations of menstrual supplies.

Eileen King, deputy executive director of Maine School Management Association, said the Maine School Boards Association and Maine School Superintendents Association favor Tepler's bill.

"We understand more than a dozen states have or are considering similar bills," King said, "and California, Illinois, New Hampshire and New York already have enacted legislation. "

Destie Hohman Sprague, executive director of Maine Women's Lobby, said when people can't access essential needs "they have to resort to reusing products, using them for longer than indicated, using items not intended as period products, or skipping school or work."

"These alternatives can pose serious risks to health and hygiene as well as educational and economic security," she said.

Its "disproportionate impact overwhelmingly affects women, girls, marginalized populations such as incarcerated individuals, and low-income people," Sprague said, causing "additional harm on already vulnerable Mainers."

During the public hearing, nobody opposed the bill.

Sampson wondered if it would be better to leave the issue to local districts to handle. She said she wants to see more data on which schools are already paying for menstrual products.

The education panel is expected to begin discussing Tepler's bill on Monday.
A string of retailers have been offering COVID-19 vaccine incentives to hourly workers, a group including many who have been on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic.

By removing barriers that have kept some from receiving the vaccine, the companies are aiming both to safeguard their workforce and provide a safer environment for their customers.

We do not want our employees to have to choose between receiving a vaccine or coming to work, so we are working to remove barriers (e.g., travel time, mileage, child care needs, etc.), Dollar General said in its announcement about the benefit.

At Walmart, employees can get vaccinated on the clock at their store or receive two hours of paid time off to receive the shot at another location. Dollar General, Best Buy, Aldi, Trader Joes, Sprouts Farmers Market and Darden Restaurants are providing up to four hours of pay, or two hours per dose.

Along with four hours of pay, Target is covering Lyft fares of up to $15 each way to appointments. The company is working with CVS Health and others to administer vaccines to employees in its stores and distribution centers.

Were encouraging team members to get vaccinated wherever and whenever theyre able  whether thats through their local pharmacy, clinic, health care provider or a state or city-run event, a spokesperson said.

Other companies are offering small payments. Kroger employees can get $100 if they are vaccinated, and grocery delivery company Instacart is giving $25.

Lidl is providing $200 to U.S. employees who are vaccinated. In January, the German grocery chain said an internal survey showed nearly 8 in 10 of its workers planned to get the vaccine when it was available.

We are proud to provide our employees the resources they need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine free of any obstacles, said Johannes Fieber, CEO of Lidl US.

Amazon recently started setting up vaccination clinics at some of its Texas warehouses, beginning with its fulfillment center in San Marcos. Employees at its facilities and Whole Foods Market stores can get up to $80 to get vaccinated off-site.

Costco did not respond to an inquiry by press time. A spokesperson for San Antonio-based H-E-B did not comment on whether the company is offering incentives. Whataburger, which is also headquartered in San Antonio, does not have anything to share now, a spokesperson said.

Companies are encouraging employees to get vaccinated and providing incentives to prevent them from getting sick, infecting co-workers and having to stay home from work, said Venky Shankar, research director for Texas A&M Universitys Center for Retailing Studies.

Its also a way to boost customers confidence in returning to stores  to signal to customers, Hey, our employees are vaccinated, its a safe environment, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: More than 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in San Antonio

The supply of COVID-19 vaccines is increasing in Bexar County and across Texas, making it easier for people to get vaccinated without having to schedule an appointment or wait in line. But convincing more people to get the shot remains an obstacle.

There are lots of vaccine skeptics that could be persuaded, Shankar said. Most of the barriers are inertia and skepticism.

As the pandemic has stretched on, hourly employees at grocery stores and restaurants have faced potential exposure to the virus and confrontations with customers unwilling to wear protective masks. Some retailers have been criticized for not keeping hazard pay programs as sales have swelled, not enforcing mask policies and dropping other protective measures.

According to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 1.3 million workers in grocery, meatpacking and other industries, 178 grocery employees have died of COVID-19. At least 39,900 have been infected or exposed.

Since March 1, theres been a 30 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths of grocery workers.

The union has urged employers to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated, and supports President Joe Bidens plan to provide tax credits for some businesses that pay employees to receive the shot.

To keep our food supply secure as the pandemic continues, we need action now from every front line business to eliminate the hurdles these workers face to getting vaccinated, said UFCW International President Marc Perrone.

On ExpressNews.com: FAQ: When and where Texans can get the COVID vaccine

Legal questions have arisen over incentivizing workers to receive the vaccine and whether employers can mandate it.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released guidance in December indicating that employers can require vaccination, but must accommodate workers who are against getting it because of their religious convictions or due to medical reasons.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg Law reported that lawmakers and employer groups have asked the EEOC for clarification around vaccine incentives. The commission plans to issue guidance.

Such incentives would typically fall under a wellness plan, in which employers offer rewards for practices they want to encourage, said San Antonio attorney Chris McKinney, who represents employees in legal matters.

The reward cant be too valuable  it might be seen as being coercive. Thats generally not a problem because employers dont have the wherewithal to make the benefits so large, but thats one concern, he said.

Another potential issue is how to handle employees who have a health condition or disability that makes taking the vaccine risky. In order to avoid running afoul of disability laws, the employer should create another way for that person to earn the same bonus or reward as other employees, McKinney said.

San Antonio attorney Michael V. Galo Jr., who represents both employers and workers, said his office has received calls from workers objecting to their employers urging or requiring them to get a vaccine.

The majority dont like vaccines or think its some kind of an intrusion, and some are opposed because of religious beliefs or medical reasons, he said.

If getting the vaccine would be detrimental for someones health, they would have an argument, Galo Jr. said. If they object because of their religious convictions, an employer would have to at least explore if it could be accommodated, but there are high hurdles, he said.

Business clients have also asked about requiring vaccination, but none have imposed it so far.

Theres a tension there. On the one hand, they want people to be vaccinated so that they can contain the virus. We can reduce the number of absences. Everybody can return back to work in the workplace, Galo Jr. said. But everybodys been hesitant to actually impose it because they say it is somewhat of an intrusion on a persons privacy and their physical body.
Amid a severe spike in Covid-19 cases in the state, voting is underway for to five municipal councils in

According to the State Election Commission, 1.85 lakh voters are eligible to cast ballot for to five municipal councils in Mapusa, Margao, Quepem, Sanguem and Mormugao towns.

to six other municipal councils and one municipal corporation were conducted on March 20. The second phase of were necessitated after the Bombay High Court, last month, faulted the state government and the State Election Commission for erroneous procedures adopted while reserving municipal constituencies for women, ST, SC and OBCs.

Counting for the votes polled during the April 23 will be taken up on April 26.

The elections are being held two days after a night curfew was imposed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, in wake of a steep spike in Covid-19 cases in the state. Class X and XII exams have also been postponed by the state Education board in wake of the rise in Covid-19 cases.

The state has reported 1,410 new Covid-19 cases over the last 24 hours, during which 21 persons have died following a Covid-19 infection. The state currently has a positivity rate of 36.09 per cent. So far, 10,228 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 since the pandemic broke out.

--IANS

maya/skp/

(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.)
Vartkes Mahdessian, the representative of the Armenian community in the Cypriot House of Representatives, is hopeful that US President Biden on Saturday will recognize the Armenian Genocide, Cyprus Mail reported.

Biden is likely going to use the word genocide as part of a statement on April 24 when annual commemorations for the victims are held around the world, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Asked for comment, Mahdessian told the Cyprus Mail that such a move would be of historic importancelikely leading to many other countries recognizing the mass killings as genocide.

This would be the vindication of our struggles over so many years for recognition, of the tragic events which occurred in 1915 and 1923, Mahdessian said.

Of course, in the past, we have been disappointed that promises were made by previous [US] presidents but these were not honored.

But notably, in 2019, the US Senate passed a non-binding resolution recognizing the killings as a genocide, in a historic move that infuriated Turkey.

A year ago, while still a presidential candidate, Biden commemorated the 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire and said he would back efforts to recognize those killings as a genocide.

The Cypriot parliament was the first European country to officially recognize the Armenian genocide in 1975 and in 2015, on the one hundredth commemoration of the genocide, it was criminalized by law to deny it as such, Mahdessian added.

The Cypriot parliament on Thursday, before its closing session, held a minutes silence to honor the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
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"Anvar brings a wealth of experience and expertise to a crucial business for MUFG Union Bank," Feit said. "As half of our lending commitments come from industry specialties, we continue to lean into our ability to leverage the combination of both local coverage and specialized industry expertise in critical individual sectors for our clients."

As Head of Healthcare, Hodjaev will expand the bank's commitment to deliver holistic banking and capital markets solutions and help clients with their sector-specific challenges and unique needs. The recently formed Healthcare team's coverage will include pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, devices and supplies, healthcare providers, healthcare payers and managed services, life sciences, healthcare IT, healthcare REITs, and other healthcare services. The group will also cover healthcare focused venture capital and private equity companies.

"I am thrilled about this new opportunity, new team, and new venture," Hodjaev said. "This past year, we all saw the critical importance of the healthcare sector, and we anticipate even greater growth for the industry moving forward. With growth comes increasing capital and advisory needs, and I look forward to working with clients to identify and help solve for their financing objectives."

Hodjaev brings over 15 years of banking experience to his new role. Previously, he worked with MUFG's Capital Markets Group focusing primarily on covering the Healthcare and Middle Market sectors. Before joining the bank in 2010, he was a Director with Oppenheimer & Co in the Leveraged Finance Capital Markets Group. He has a BBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and a MA in Economics from the University of Southern California.

About Commercial Banking

The MUFG Union Bank Commercial Banking group is dedicated to providing high-touch, reliable financial solutions with specialized industry knowledge to middle-market companies and financial sponsors. With a proven track record in providing debt financing and capital markets capabilities, the Commercial Banking group offers clients access to a worldwide network of financial professionals and services, as well as strategic insights into global economic trends, social customs and trade practices as part of the MUFG platform. We work with middle market clients across their lifecycle, offering merger, acquisition and capital advisory services through Intrepid Investment Bankers, our investment banking arm, in sectors including healthcare, technology & digital media, consumer brands, industrials, and business services.

About MUFG Union Bank, N.A.

As of December 31, 2020, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. operated 348 branches, consisting primarily of retail banking branches in the West Coast states, along with commercial branches in Texas, Illinois, New York, and Georgia. We provide a wide spectrum of corporate, commercial, and retail banking and wealth management solutions to meet the needs of our clients. We also offer an extensive portfolio of value-added solutions for clients, including investment banking, personal and corporate trust, global custody, transaction banking, capital markets, and other services. With assets of $132 billion, as of December 31, 2020, MUFG Union Bank has strong capital reserves, credit ratings, and capital ratios relative to peer banks. MUFG Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MUFG), one of the world's largest financial institutions with total assets of approximately 351.7 trillion (JPY) or $3.4 trillion (USD), as of December 31, 2020. The corporate headquarters (principal executive office) for MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, which is the financial holding company, and MUFG Union Bank, is in New York City. The main banking office of MUFG Union Bank is in San Francisco, California.

1 Exchange rate of 1 USD=103.5 (JPY) as of December 30, 2020

Press Contact: Liz Shapiro

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SOURCE Union Bank
If Ascension Parish voters approve a ballot measure Saturday that would bring a new sewer system, the school board will one day be able to get out of the business of building its own wastewater plants at campuses in unincorporated parts of the jurisdiction.

"We didn't build those sewer plants as an option," said Chad Lynch, the school district's chief operations director. "There were no other options."

Of the 34 schools in the district, 20 have their own on-site sewer plants built to meet the regulations of the state Department of Environmental Quality, which monitors the plants, Lynch said.

The remaining schools are either connected to the city-run sewer systems in Gonzales and Donaldsonville or are tied into those of nearby subdivisions.

One of the district's newer schools  Bluff Ridge Primary, which opened last summer  was able to tie into a parish-owned sewer system.

Another school board plant, built for Oak Grove Primary in Prairieville, was purchased five years ago by the parish to serve the surrounding community, as well as the school.

In Saturday's ballot measure, the Ascension Parish is seeking voter approval to sell its sewer assets  a network of small, neighborhood systems  to the National Water Infrastructure company.

If the initiative passes, the company plans to build a $200 million consolidated sewer system over two phases that would serve the unincorporated areas on the east bank of the parish.

+2 Vote to sell Ascension sewer assets to Bernhard-backed firm headed to polls on Saturday PRAIRIEVILLE  Voters across all of Ascension Parish will decide Saturday whether to sell a number of government-owned sewage treatment system

At an Ascension Parish School Board meeting last week, Tom Pertuit, chief executive officer of National Water Infrastructure, said if the measure succeeds at the polls the district could tie schools into the system at its discretion  after completion of the company's first five-year construction phase.

That phase will begin with building a treatment plant near the Mississippi River, in the industrial corridor, Pertuit said.

For each campus linked to the new sewer system, the school board and National Water Infrastructure would negotiate a connection fee requiring approval of the state's Public Service Commission, Pertuit said.

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In an interview last week, Lynch said the first candidates for the new sewer infrastructure would be schools with older on-site systems.

The first in that category would be Dutchtown Middle School and Dutchtown Primary, which share a campus on La. 73, he said.

New schools built once the first phase of construction is in place would also be tied into that system, he added.

"Our goal is to, over time, transition out of the sewer system business," Lynch said.

The school district spends anywhere from $250,000 to $650,000  depending on whether the school is a primary school, middle school or high school  to build an on-campus sewer treatment plant, he said.

The school system will keep in place its sewer plants that are newer, to get its money's worth out of them, Lynch said.

The plants have a life of 17 years, he said.

If Saturday's proposal passes, the school board and National Water Infrastructure will face the prospect of a new Prairieville High School coming to the parish.

The school is expected to open for the 2023-24 school year. The first phase of the parish's new sewer system wouldn't be completed until a few years later.

Lynch said the district and National Water Infrastructure would study the possibility of putting a temporary plant at Prairieville High that would meet all DEQ regulations until the high school could tie in to the company's system.
Route 13 in Madison County could soon be renamed in honor of a late state legislator.

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to designate a portion of the 152-mile highway as the "Assemblyman William 'Bill' Magee Highway." The entire stretch of Route 13 that passes through Madison County would be named for Magee.

Magee, who served in the state Assembly from 1991 to 2019, died in December. He was 81.

State Sen. Rachel May introduced the legislation to honor Magee, who was the longtime chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee.

"Assemblyman Magee was a fierce advocate for the constituents and for agriculture in New York state," May, D-Syracuse, said. "His staff and colleagues describe a man who was smart, humble and committed. His unwavering response to every challenge was 'how can I help?' He left those that follow him with big shoes to fill, and I am grateful to him for all of the work he did."

Magee was a lifelong Madison County resident. He was an auctioneer  he had his own auction business  and served on the Madison County Board of Supervisors.
New Delhi: After Telangana, now Andhra Pradesh government on Friday (April 23) announced night curfew to be imposed in the state starting April 24 in view of rising cases of coronavirus COVID-19. As per the notification, the curfew will remain in effect from 10 pm to 5 am next morning until month-end.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced free COVID-19 vaccination for people between 18 to 45 starting May 1.

Andhra Pradesh's Principal Secretary (Medical, Health and Family Welfare) Anil Kumar Singhal has said that the Covid situation in the state is under control. "The situation in the state is under control and there is no shortage of either beds or oxygen in the hospitals," said Singhal on Thursday. As per the directions of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said the 104 call centre has been strengthened, which has already started receiving an increasing number of calls.

"The number of staff at the helpdesks at district-level has also been enhanced," said the senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

On April 22, Andhra Pradesh reported 10,759 new COVID-19 cases, raising the overall tally beyond 9.97 lakh, while the state`s active cases reached 66,944. However, on a positive note, 3,992 more persons recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of recoveries over 9.22 lakh.

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"Recognizing the importance of infrastructure investment in central New York, this issue has been among my top priorities since coming to Congress and why I sought to serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee," said Katko, who has served on the committee since 2015  his first year in Congress.

He continued, "Our community has long faced a slew of infrastructure challenges including outdated water infrastructure, limited broadband access, and the need for a reliable stream of funding for highway projects like the I-81 rebuild. I'm glad this issue is getting the bipartisan attention it so badly deserves in Congress."

A national infrastructure plan is one of President Joe Biden's top priorities. He unveiled his own $2 trillion proposal, named the American Jobs Plan, which includes more than $600 billion for transportation infrastructure.

Biden held a bipartisan meeting in March with members of Congress, including Katko, to discuss infrastructure. At that meeting, Katko shared the Problem Solvers Caucus's infrastructure report.
The virtual 7th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum was hosted in March by Japan's Ministry of the Environment, together with the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN) Secretariat. The theme was "Enabling Resilience for All: The Critical Decade to Scale-up Action" with the goal of formulating National Adaptation Planning for science and technology, and energy and fiscal policies that consider the interlinkages between climate change, health, and biodiversity. These nature- and ecosystem-based policies will serve as the basis for the Asia-Pacific region's contributions to the "Leaders' ...

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 rally was perhaps less urgent than it was when initially planned.

The group of Jersey City parents and students that gathered outside the Jersey City Board of Education offices Thursday had already won their biggest demand  for schools to reopen  just the evening before.

But the rally they had planned to pressure the school district wasnt just a celebration, parents said. It was an opportunity to continue the momentum and keep the pressure on for a smooth and transparent transition back to classrooms.

This is just the beginning, protest organizer Jenn Sforza told the crowd through a megaphone. If we can reverse the reversal in three days imagine what we can do with more time.

About 80 people, mostly parents and their young children, attended the protest on a blustery morning on Claremont Avenue outside the Board of Education building. They wielded colorful signs  many fashioned by kids  and chanted Stop the fear. Save the year before several parents spoke about the challenges of schooling from home during the coronavirus pandemic for the past 14 months.

The group has developed a list of six demands that it sent to Superintendent Franklin Walker and the Board of Education in time for Thursday nights meeting. The demands include:

a more detailed public reopening plan;

a public meeting between the superintendent, school board president and teachers union president;

more frequent digital updates on reopening;

a weekly meeting between the superintendent, school board president and a parents advisory council;

a town hall, hosted by the district, with health experts to discuss school safety.

Another demand calls for independent air quality testing reports to be made public, though air quality assessments are publicly available in a building readiness report the school district released in January.

Sforza started planning the rally soon after Walkers Sunday night announcement that schools would not reopen for the rest of the year. An outcry from parents who had been betting on April 26 as the likely reopening date ensued and by Wednesday night, the evening before the planned rally and the day before a Board of Education meeting, the superintendent had reversed course.

The start date for students in pre-K through third grade is now April 29, and their older peers may return beginning May 10, he said.

It is unclear exactly how many parents plan to send their children back to school since less than half responded to a recent school district survey. Other Hudson County districts have seen a 40% to 50% return rate. West New York entered this week, its first of in-person instruction, with an approximately 50% return rate, Superintendent Clara Brito Herrera said.

Siblings Audrey and Claire Donaldson plan to head to their classrooms for the first time this year in the coming weeks, but this morning they accompanied their mother Marybeth Donaldson to the protest.

We need to make sure they reopen schools for good, Audrey, a sixth grader at Middle School 4 said.

Both Audrey and Claire said theyre happy after Wednesday nights reopening reversal.

Im really excited, said Claire, 9. Im going to be able to go back in person to school and see all my friends and teachers.

Mayor Steven Fulop also attended the rally and said a hybrid schooling model now will better prepare the schools to reopen full time for all students in the fall.

The board needs to learn through this process what works and what doesnt work in order to provide a safe environment in September, so this is really an important next two months for the kids that chose to be there and the kids that didnt choose to be there, the mayor said. The schools are going to learn how to make it safe for September.
Congress leader on Friday expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the COVID-19 patients who died in a blaze at the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Maharashtra's Palghar district, and appealed to the state government to provide all necessary assistance to them.

Thirteen COVID-19 patients died in the blaze at the intensive care unit of the private hospital on Friday, police said.

The fire broke out in the ICU on the second floor of the four-storeyed Vijay Vallabh Hospital at Virar shortly after 3 am, an official said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at 5.20 am, he added.

"Tragic news has been received from Vijay Vallabh COVID centre in Virar about the death of patients due to a fire. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims," Gandhi said on Telegram.

"I appeal to the State Govt and Congress workers to provide all necessary assistance," the former Congress chief said.

The Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena have a coalition government in

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :Petroleum Division on Friday awarded six more oil and gas blocks to three leading companies aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in the energy sector by increasing Exploration and Production (E&P) activities in potential areas of the country.

Minister for Energy Muhammad Hammad Azhar witnessed the signing ceremony of Petroleum Concessions/Exploration Licences of 6 oil & gas blocks that held here at the Petroleum Division, a news release said.

The Exploration Licences (ELs) and Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCAs) were signed by Secretary Petroleum Mian Asad Hayaud Din and Director General Petroleum Concessions Abdul Jabbar Memon on behalf of the government. While, Managing Director (MD) Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Shahid Saleem Khan, MD Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) Faheem Haider and MD Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) signed the agreements representing their companies.

The Director General Petroleum Concession (DGPC) granted the PCAs and ELs over Block No. 3068-6 (Killa Saifullah) and Block No.3067-7 (Sharan) to OGDCL and MPCL, Block No. 3069-9 (Suleiman) to OGDCL and PPL, and Block No. 2467-17 (Sujawal South), Block No.3273-5 (Jhelum) and Block No.3272-16 (Lilla) to OGDCL.

Energy Minister (Petroleum Division) Hammad Azhar said the increased E&P efforts would bear fruits for the country in the form of additional hydrocarbon reserves during next few years.

He expressed confidence that the ELs and PCAs would not only enhance investment in the petroleum sector but also contribute in bridging the energy demand and supply gap.

The minister said the accelerated E&P activities would also create employment opportunities.

The DGPC highlighted that minimum firm work commitment for these blocks was $24.68 million for the period of three years. "The companies are obligated to spend a minimum of US $ 30,000/year in each block on social welfare schemes. Annual social welfare obligation in respect of these 06 blocks is US $ 180,000." Killa Saifullah Block spans over an area of 2421.96 square kilometers (sq.

kms), Sharan Block an area of 2497.89 sq. kms, Suleiman Block an area of 2172.89 sq. kms, Sujawal South an area of 1914.1 sq. km, Jhelum Block an area of 1524.65 sq. kms and Lilla Block an area of 2361.12 sq. kms.

OGDCL, being a Public Limited Company, is engaged in E&P activities in the country for the last four decades. It holds the largest share of Oil 41 percent and Gas 36 percent of the total reserves in the country. The company's percentage share of total oil and gas production in Pakistan is 47 percent and 29 percent, respectively. OGDCL is the Operator of 41 exploration licences and working interest owner in six (6) other exploration blocks operated by various E & P companies. OGDCL is currently producing 35,805 BOPD (Barrel Oil per Day] of Oil and 1,012 MMCFD [Million Cubic Feet per Day) of gas, besides 761 Million Tones of LPG and 53 Million Tonnes of Sulphur per day.

The PPL, also a Public Limited Company engaged in Exploration & Production activities in the country, is the country's oldest and largest Exploration & Production company, which was incorporated during 1950.

Its percentage share of total Oil & Gas production in Pakistan is 13 percent and 19 percent respectively.

The PPL is the operator in 26 Exploration Licences and working Interest owners in 17 other exploration blocks operated by various E&P companies. It is currently producing 10,076 BOPD of Oil, 673 MMCFD of Gas and 238 M Tonnes of LPG [Liquefied Petroleum Gas].

The MPCL is primarily an exploration and production company in the upstream segment of the petroleum industry. Its principal business activities include oil and gas exploration, drilling, field development, production and distribution of hydrocarbons (including natural gas, crude oil, condensate and LPG) as well as provision of E&P related services on commercial basis. The MPCL is the second largest gas producer in the country with 753 MMCFD Gas and 1,722 BOPD oil. It is the operator in six Development & Production Leases, 11 Exploration Licences and working Interest owners in seven other exploration blocks operated by various E&P companies.
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Image: James MacPherson / AP Images

Update: President Joe Biden officially raised the refugee ceiling on May 3, though not in time to reach the new level of 62,500 by the end of the fiscal year in September. Evangelicals celebrated the move.

Evangelical advocates played a crucial role in holding President Joe Biden accountable to a promise to raise the limits for refugees coming to America. Publicly and privately, they pushed back on the administrations explanation for continuing Trump-era limits for another six months, framed the change as a betrayal of a promise, and reiterated the moral argument for accepting refugees.

Within a few hours of a presidential memo on April 16 telling the State Department to keep the number of refugee admissions at 15,000 instead of raising it to the promised 62,500, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated there had been some confusion, and the administration started to reverse course. That evening, a deputy national security advisor held an emergency conference call with advocacy groups, including World Relief, to offer assurances that the administration would welcome more refugees with haste.

It was one of the busiest workdays Ive ever had, Jenny Yang, senior vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, wrote on Facebook. At the end of the day, the President heard the voice of the people and changed course, stating that he is planning to raise the #refugee ceiling next month. Thanks for raising your voice. Keep it up!

Evangelical groups helped set up the moral conflict just after noon on April 16, when the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition of nine prominent evangelical organizations, released a statement urging Biden to raise the ceiling on refugee resettlement immediately. Expressing dismay and disappointment, the letter pointed out the US was on track to accept the fewest refugees in the history of the resettlement program, which began in 1980.

The statement included quotes from the leaders of World Relief, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), Bethany Christian Services, and the National Latino Evangelical Coalition urging action.

As we approach the end of the first 100 days of the new administration, policies that harm the most vulnerable remain in place. This delay is a travesty, wrote Chris Palusky, president and CEO of Bethany. Christian churches and nonprofits that resettle refugees and reunify families are ready to answer this biblical call, but we cant live out our mission until the administration follows through on their commitment.

Minutes after the statement was released, news broke that Biden had sent the State Department instructions to keep the cap at the all-time low of 15,000.

In their initial explanation, White House spokespeople pointed to various limiting factors. They said, for example, that more time was needed to rebuild the resettlement infrastructure that had been gutted by the Trump Administrations decisions and that the Office of Refugee Resettlement was overburdened by migrants claiming asylum at the US-Mexico border.

While such claims seem plausible to the general public, who are mostly unaware of how the refugee program works, evangelical advocates and others who have worked on resettlement scrambled to explain these were not valid reasons to keep the cap on refugees.

I talked to nearly every major national news outlet, Yang said, sharing stories, correcting data, responding to the White Houses statements.

According to Yang and others, the processes for asylum seekers at the border and refugee resettlement are completely separate, with different staff and funding. Accepting more refugees could also alleviate stress at the border. Resettlement agencies are ready to work and raising the refugee ceiling is the first step in rebuilding the infrastructure necessary to welcome people in need to the land of the free and home of the brave.

Within a few hours, evangelical organizations including World Relief, the ERLC, and the NAE were invited to join other religious advocacy groups and refugee agencies in a last-minute virtual press call to hear directly from White House officials.

The call was arranged by the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, a Bush-era initiative revived by Biden, giving faith communities access to decision makers across federal agencies in the executive branch of the government. Other religious groups involved in the discussion included Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the Jewish-American non-profit HIAS, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

On the call, officials backtracked, blamed confusion, and announced a vague but promising update about a higher ceiling that would be set soon, perhaps in May. A follow-up meeting was arranged with representatives from the nine refugee resettlement agencies, including World Relief.

[We] will always stand with refugees, regardless of who is president, whether he keeps his promises, or how the US government decides to respond, said Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief. And well always seek to convene a Christian conscience on behalf of the marginalized.

Discouraged by Bidens change

The US has not yet started accepting more refugees, though, so advocates will watch to see what happens in May. Despite the political victory, evangelical leaders are discouraged to see Biden flip-flop on the issue.

I genuinely thought this was a personal, deep conviction that would guide him, beyond whether it became politically convenient, said Matthew Soerens, the US director of church mobilization for World Relief, which shut eight offices under Trump.

As a senator, Biden was one of the original cosponsors of the Refugee Act, which was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. As a candidate, Biden broadcast his commitment to rebuilding the program. When speaking to Christian audiences, Biden pointed to his Catholic convictions in pledging to reclaim the countrys proud legacy by raising the number of new arrivals to 125,000, higher than the national average of 95,000.

His rhetoric was embraced by a number of faith leaders and advocacy groups who had vocally criticized Trumps opposition to accepting refugees, accusing him of abandoning Americas moral duty to provide a safe haven for the persecuted. When Biden prioritized immigration on day one in office, refugee ministries praised his initiative.

In his first month in office, it did seem like Biden was going to follow through. He proposed accepting more refugees immediately, not waiting until October when the next years ceiling is set. Biden said in the next six months the US could take about 62,500 people. The number was approved by the State Department and Homeland Security and defended in Congress without significant disagreement.

Then the State Department began booking hundreds of flights for refugees who were slated to arrive after years-long processes of extensive vetting, screening, and waiting. Biden, however, didnt sign off on the plan, which had already been set in motion, and as the delay got inexplicably longer, the State Department had to start canceling flights.

In three months of stalling, more than 700 refugees flights were canceled.

I am confounded by his betrayal of a key promise to those of us who voted him into office, Sheila Joiner, advocacy coordinator for We Welcome Refugees, told CT. There has been a groundswell of support from the resettlement agencies that welcome refugees, the faith communities and local organizations that partner with them, and individual advocates. We are ready to put action to our words; we just need President Biden to keep his promise.

Last month, their team began circulating a petition, which has collected close to 5,000 signatures. World Relief started another this week, which is already approaching 2,000.

Maintaining a consistent witness

According to some political reporting, Biden and his advisers were concerned about mounting attacks from conservatives accusing the Democrats of throwing open US borders and creating chaos with an apparent open invitation to come to America. Though immigration is handled separately from asylum seekers and asylum seekers are separate from the refugee program, the political professionals were reportedly less concerned about the technical issues of administration and more about the optics.

Soerens noted that the order not to increase the number of refugees accepted to the US came a week after a poll found that refugee resettlement was less popular than everything else on Bidens immediate agenda. For decades, support for refugee resettlement was mostly bipartisan and received especially strong support from evangelicals. In recent years, the topic has become more politically divisive, and many conservatives reject the idea that America should welcome any foreigners, even those fleeing oppression.

A 2018 poll showed only a quarter of white evangelicals believe the US has a responsibility to resettle refugees. That minority of evangelicals is well organized, though, and willing to speak up loudly.

We have to maintain a consistent witness for what's right and for human dignitywhich means it really doesnt matter where any herd of politicians goes, ERLC president Russell Moore told CT. We have to be the people reminding ourselves and the outside world of the image of God in human beings, whether people want to hear that or not. That applies to unborn children and to Somali refugees. It applies to elderly people and the disabled. It applies to everybody.

Evangelical advocates for refugees also see the US program as a way to help the persecuted church around the world. World Relief noted that under Trump, the number of Christian refugees who came to the US from the 50 countries on Open Doors USAs World Watch List dropped from more than 18,000 in 2015 to fewer than 1,000 in 2020.

A sensible immigration policy must start with those groups which are targeted and whose lives are in danger because they are a religious minority within their home country, said David Curry, CEO of Open Doors USA. Prioritizing the most endangered communities within immigration policy should be common sense, but has too often been overlooked.

US Commission on International Religious Freedom vice chair Tony Perkins said that accepting refugees from religious persecution is one way the nation demonstrates its commitment to religious freedom. The US, he said in a statement, should be a safe haven for persecuted people from all over the world.

Bidens flip-flop on refugees, however discouraging to advocates, did create an opportunity for Christians to speak up for human dignity. While leaders wait to see if Biden will follow through with his promise in May, they say last weeks temporary victory was still important.

It feels like we're in a consequential moment, said Walter Kim, president of the NAE, which is challenging, but it's also a beautiful opportunity that, if the church could step into it, will really speak to the vitality of the gospel and what Jesus offers to this next generation in the decades to come.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the acute medical oxygen shortage in the national capital. Kejriwal urged the Prime Minister to take strict action to curtail the worsening situation otherwise "there'll be a tragedy".

On Friday, PM Modi had held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of 10 states that are worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Delhi CM Kejriwal was also present in the meeting in which the PM took stock of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country.

"There's a huge shortage of oxygen in Delhi. Will people of Delhi not get oxygen if there is no oxygen-producing plant here?" Arvind Kejriwal told the Prime Minister during the meeting on Friday.

Kejriwal added, "Please suggest whom should I speak to when a patient at a hospital in Delhi is about to die due to lack of oxygen supply? We can't let people die. I appeal to you to take strict action, else there will be a tragedy in Delhi."

The central government had recently hiked Delhi's oxygen quota from 378 metric tonnes to 480 metric tonnes. However, CM Kejriwal has said on Friday that the national capital only received 380 tonnes of oxygen.

Delhi CM Kejriwal accused other states of blocking medical oxygen supplies to the national capital. Kejriwal urged the Prime Minister to "call the chief ministers of the states where the trucks are being stopped". He pleaded, "Please help us get oxygen supply".

"I am not able to do anything despite being the chief minister. I'm not able to sleep throughout the night. Please pardon me if there's any untoward incident," Delhi CM Kejriwal explained.

Kejriwal further stated that the oxygen supply scheduled to reach Delhi from Odisha and West Bengal should be either airlifted or brought to the national capital through the Oxygen Express.

Kejriwal suggested that the Army should take over the oxygen plants in the country. "The Centre should take overall oxygen plants through Army, every truck should be accompanied by Army escort vehicle," he added.

Arvind Kejriwal also demanded universal pricing for the COVID-19 vaccines for all states and the central government.

Also Read: COVID-19 in India: PM Modi chairs meeting with CMs of Maharashtra, Delhi, 8 other states

Also Read: COVID-19 in India: Maharashtra, Delhi, UP, 7 other states account for 75% of new cases
The Westminster Police Department in California has suspended an officer who recently punched a handcuffed Latina arrestee.

According to Newsweek, the police department suspended an unnamed cop who was caught on cell phone video punching 34-year-old Latina, Ciomara Garcia.

The incident happened in the 14000 block of Locust Street in Westminster, California at around 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fox 11 reported that the officers were dispatched to the area for a call of an assault with battery. The 34-year-old Latina reportedly appeared to be exhibiting signs of being under the influence at the time.

READ NEXT: 73-Year-Old Colorado Woman With Dementia Sues Police Over Rough Arrest

California Cop Punching the Latina

A video obtained by TMZ shows that a cop from Westminster Police landed two punches on Garcia's face while she was held down by two other officers. A fourth officer then tried to push the attacking cop away from the Latina.

Police said the officers responded to a 911 call reporting about a Latina assaulting an Asian woman who tried to rescue a dog running in the street.

The video shows that Ciomara Garcia appeared to have kicked the officer in the groin before the cop was seen punching her twice. As police waited for the paramedics to arrive, the officers said that Garcia became combative with the cops and non-compliant.

After she was brought to a hospital that determined that Ciomara Garcia had no injuries, the Westminster Police Department said that the Latina has been detained because of an outstanding warrant for vandalism.

The Orange County district attorney's office told the Los Angeles Times that police might also charge the Latina for assault and battery, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The Westminster Police Department noted that the cop would remain on administrative leave while the department's internal affairs division investigates the punching incident that happened amid the growing number of protests against police brutality, New York Post reported.

The three cops namely Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng, who stood and watched Derek Chauvin choke the life out of George Floyd are now facing criminal charges for not intervening.

Latina and Asian Woman Dispute

The witness who recorded the video said the Latina was walking her dog when the Asian woman on a bicycle was moving towards Garcia.

The Latina allegedly told the bicyclist to move because she might run over her dog. However, the Asian woman became upset and "took it the wrong way."

The Asian woman was reported to come back five minutes later to the area with the Westminster Police Department officers, telling them that Garcia hit her.

The Westminster Police Department is now working with the Orange County District Attorney's Office in evaluating the use of force showed by their officer. The two offices will collaborate to determine if criminal charges are to be warranted against the said police.

READ MORE: Democrats Angered on Kentucky Senate Bill That Will Criminalize Insults on Police Officers

WATCH: Officer On Leave After Social Media Video Shows Him Punching Woman During Arrest - From Fox 11
Often its assumed that the central question surrounding Australian cinema is about what sorts of stories our filmmakers should be telling. But curator, scholar and critic Lauren Carroll Harris wonders if we should be looking past the need to tell stories at all.

As a freelance arts journalist, Harris found herself increasingly drawn to those ways of working with the moving image that have less to do with narrative: experimental film, video art, and new forms specific to the internet.

The problem, as she saw it, wasnt any lack of talented artists in these fields, but a lack of opportunities for them to have works funded and made available to a wide public. I think there is an overarching timidity in the media and arts landscape, she says.

It was this perception that led to the 2019 launch of Prototype, conceived as an e-newsletter giving subscribers access to specially commissioned experimental films and video artworks, rolled out week by week.

By design, this was a low-budget, non-commercial initiative, with carefully selected participants but no restrictions imposed on style or subject matter. Prototype is an invitation to consider what you really want to get out of art and film in the first place, Harris says. Whats a new cinematic language? What can cinema look and feel like?
On Saturday, April 24, at 2 p.m. CDT, the Alabama Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee is hosting a meeting calling for the unification of all workers in Alabama: Support educators, Warrior Met miners, and Amazon workers! Unite our struggles to save lives AND livelihoods! Register here and invite your coworkers, friends and family to this important meeting.

Miners at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood, Alabama, are continuing their three-week strike in the face of stepped-up repression by the company and sheriffs deputies from both Bibb and Tuscaloosa counties who are escorting strikebreakers through the workers picket lines. Company-friendly judges have also issued injunctions to limit the number of picketers.

Coal miners told the World Socialist Web Site that Warrior Met is also using drones and hiding private security guards in the woods to spy on striking workers. Despite this, the 1,100 striking miners remain determined to recoup pay cuts and other concessions imposed on them five years ago before the company emerged out of bankruptcy.

Striking miners (Source: UMWA)

All were asking for is the wages we had in 2016. Thats it, a young worker told the WSWS during a strike rally at Tannehill State Park on Wednesday night. In its last contract proposal, accepted by the United Mine Workers (UMWA), Warrior Met offered a $1.00-per-hour raise, with another $0.50 in 3 years. The miners rejected the deal by a vote of 1,006 to 45.

If we dont stand up for ourselves now, were going to lose everything, the worker said. The company will take what they can get out of us and leave. Just take it and go. We kept this company out of bankruptcy. One of our bosses, shes making at least a million a year and got a six-figure bonus. She told us we only broke even this year. They say they cant even give us a salary like we were making in 2016.

The previous company, Walter Energy, he said, bought land out west that wasnt any good and thats why they went bankrupt, not because they were paying us good. They kept the CEO that ran [the company] into the ground. You wont even believe what he makes. Walter Scheller pockets $4 million a year.

Its dangerous down there. Its one of the gassiest mines in the world. You make one mistake, youre dead, and everybody down there with you is dead. The scabs theyve got down there now dont know what theyre doing. How are they supposed to keep themselves safe?

A strike supporter at Wednesdays rally (Source: WSWS Media)

The mine was my life, said a retired worker who told the WSWS he had worked in the mines for decades and now suffers from black lung and COPD. Ive lost count of the men Ive known who died, men who were killed right in front of me. One man was cut nearly clean in two, a young black worker I trained up. I told him that morning, You need to take some time off. Spend some time with your family. He died that day. He had six kids.

Another young miner was crushed by falling rock, he said. His last words were Get it off me! and I couldnt budge it. It doesnt take a big rock to crush a man. They look small, they look like nothing, but they weigh a ton, the rocks down there.

People fought for us to have the wages we had and the pensions we had. These boys out here today dont even have that. Ive seen men whove mined for years die down there. How are they going to keep these boys that have no experience safe down there? We learned from others whod been mining for years. That cant happen the way the company wants to run things.

Another worker said, We voted over 1,000 to something like 45 to reject the contract and stay on strike. If we dont do this now, well never do it. I feel pretty good about the strike.

While the workers remain defiant, the UMWA has kept the strikers isolated in the face of court injunctions and the intimidation by private security guards and police. There are tens of thousands of industrial workers in the area, including Mercedes Benz workers in Vance, US Steel workers in Fairfield and Amazon workers in Bessemer. But the UMWA, the United Steelworkers and the other unions are incapable of and opposed to any genuine mobilization of the working class that would upset their relations with the corporations and both big business parties.

Instead, the UMWA has called a series of Unity Rallies, with various union executives who give pep talks to the striking miners while doing nothing to actually strengthen their fight. On Wednesday, Cecil Roberts spoke before miners, acting like a traveling evangelist at a revival. He called the miners to prayer two times, called out the military veterans and said, I know everybody in Alabama is a Christian believer and the most patriotic man youll ever meet.

Cecil Roberts addresses miners at rally (Source: UMWA)

Adding insult to injury, Roberts announced that the UMWA was releasing a mere $50,000 towards a strike relief fund, and that that the AFL-CIO was adding the princely sum of $25,000. The UMWA has a total of $184 million in assets and paid out zero dollars in strike pay last year. As for the AFL-CIO, it had $116 million in cash disbursements last year, including the $286,000 salary for AFL-CIO president and former UMWA head Richard Trumka.

Roberts said that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten had sent her warmest regards to striking miners. Weingarten is hated by rank-and-file teachers for selling out strike after strike and colluding with the Biden administration to send students and teachers back to work during the pandemic, which has only accelerated the spread of the deadly disease.

Also speaking was Sarah Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight AttendantsCWA and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), who has done nothing to oppose the airlines destruction of tens of thousands of her members jobs. Jeff Bezos may be a very wealthy man, Nelson said, but he couldnt stop the union from trying to organize in Bessemer.

In fact, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which also had a speaker at the rally, failed to win any support among Amazon workers at the nearby Bessemer warehouse. That is not because Amazon workers dont want to fight, its because the unions have spent decades collaborating with the corporations in lowering the wages and living standards of workers.

Coal miners do not need empty words at Unity Rallies, which the UMWA plans to hold each week until they reach another deal. They need real unity by mobilizing the full strength of the working class to win their strike. This means forming a rank-and-file strike and negotiating committee, independent of the UMWA, to rally steelworkers, autoworkers and other workers throughout the area to carry out mass picketing to put a halt to Warriors strikebreaking operations. This committee should fight to restore all the givebacks the UMWA granted the company.

To get more information on rank-and-file committees, miners and their supporters should contact us today.
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ST. MICHAELS, Ariz.  A small grade school on the outskirts of the Navajo Nation capital is ready for students to return.

Staff at Hunters Point Boarding School in St. Michaels have repainted the building, upgraded the washer and dryer in the dorms, installed a security gate, placed plexiglass between beds and installed hand-washing stations.

Now, they are ready to show it off and talk about what else they can use as First Lady Jill Biden wraps up a three-day tour on Friday of the U.S. Southwest. High on the list is internet service and a new building to replace the one built in the 1960s.

Biden spent the first day of her trip to the Navajo Nation on Thursday listening to female tribal leaders whom she referred to as her sister warriors about the broader needs on the countrys largest Native American reservations.

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The trip is Bidens third to the vast reservation  which extends into Arizona, New Mexico and a corner of Utah  and her inaugural visit as first lady. She vowed to work with the Navajo Nation and all tribal nations, in a recognition of their inherent sovereignty and political relationship with the United States.

Genevieve Jackson, who sits on the school board in St. Michaels, said on windy days, the internet is questionable and has caused delays for standardized, online testing. Some of the schools equipment dates back more than a half-century, she said.

We are a very poor nation and (Joe Biden) recognizes that were an impoverished nation, she said. Were rich in culture and our teachings, but we need to catch up to the modern day of 2021. We need to be at par with all of the other private schools. We feel like weve been left out.

Hunters Point falls under the U.S. Bureau of Education, which oversees more than 180 schools in nearly two dozen states but directly operates less than one-third of them. Hunters Point is among those run by tribes or tribal organizations under contract with the federal government.

The schools have a tainted 19th century legacy from when Native American children were taken from their homes and sent to boarding schools. They are among the nations lowest performing, and have struggled with issues such as shoddy facilities.

Few people have been on the Hunters Point campus in the past year amid the pandemic.

Across the Navajo Nation, students have been learning remotely, some given flash drives with school work or paper packets if they have no access to computers. School buses have become Wi-Fi hotspots and delivered food to students homes or at a central location when they couldnt navigate dirt roads that turn into a muddy, rutted mess when it rains or snows.

Virgilynn Denzpi, an educator at a school in the Window Rock area, was standing alongside the road Thursday hoping to get a glimpse of Jill Biden. Shes hopeful Biden, who also is an educator, will understand the challenges teachers on the reservation have encountered during the pandemic.

Weve been so stressed out and overworked, Denzpi said. Its like being a frontline worker, were the unsung heroes. I just wish the kids were back in the classrooms.

Biden is expected to meet with a handful of students before visiting a vaccination site Friday.

In a normal year, students at Hunters Point stay in the dorms during the week and are bussed home on the weekends. Many come from single-parent families who struggle financially, Jackson said.

The school that serves kindergarten to fifth grade has used money from a federal virus relief package to provide laptops for students, and equipment for teachers to instruct remotely.

The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority estimates that expanding broadband across the 27,000-square mile (70,000 square-kilometer) reservation would cost more than $220 million. Tribal lawmakers like Daniel Tso said they realize they need to be more systematic in how to allocate the next round of federal virus relief funding.

Jackson said shes hopeful students at Hunters Point can return in the fall with the same opportunities as students in bigger cities.

We are producing tomorrows leaders, so we all share that dream and hope, she said.
Tanks contain contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, in this Jan. 22, 2020 photo. EPA-Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



Korea and Japan are locking horns over sharing information on contaminated water scheduled to be released from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant.



According to government officials, Friday, Tokyo is demanding Seoul reveal information on the disposal of wastewater from Korean nuclear power plants in response to Korea and other neighboring countries demanding that it disclose detailed data on the Fukushima wastewater.



For years, the government here has been calling on Japan to share information on the contaminated water and to let Korean experts take part in damage verification procedures. The friction between the two countries resurfaced recently as a diplomatic issue after Japan announced April 13 its plan to release more than 1 million tons of the contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean starting 2023.



"Japan first brought up the idea of information sharing in 2019 during diplomatic discussions, in what appears to be a strategy to set off a debate on revealing the radioactive waste information to Korea and China," a government official said on condition of anonymity. "Despite Japan's claim, we don't see this as a developing debate."









The official said both Korea and Japan are already disclosing "a certain level of data and information" on radioactive waste coming from their nuclear power plants, because Korea's Wolsong nuclear plants are also releasing treated wastewater containing tritium.



The Korean government argues that its request for Japan to reveal much more detailed data reflects the impact of the disaster at Fukushima, while Japan's demand for corresponding data is inappropriate because nuclear power plants here are operating normally and have not been damaged.



After announcing the decision to release the contaminated water, Japan has been beefing up its efforts to frame the issue as a shared problem between neighboring countries. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said in a press conference April 13 that "nuclear plants in Korea, China and Taiwan are also releasing wastewater containing tritium."



In line with this, Japan is urging Korea and China to reveal confidential data on their radioactive waste to deter efforts to frustrate Tokyo's decision through seeking to verify the potential harmfulness of the Fukushima water. Experts said Japan is anticipated to stick to this strategy.





Environmental activists wearing a mask of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and protective suits stage a protest near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, April 13, denouncing Tokyo's decision to release contaminated wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. AP-Yonhap
Of all the dramatic situations that Prince William encountered as an air ambulance pilot, one stands out for Dr Neil Berry. We landed on a three-lane carriageway where there had been a multi-vehicle car crash, recalls Dr Berry.

There was a very sick patient and we had to treat them at the side of the road before getting them to hospital. William did everything he could to facilitate that, helping push the stretcher through the cars so we could get to the ambulance. He was focused on helping to provide the best care for the patient.

William was a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years between March 2015 and July 2017, and now Dr Berry, a consultant anaesthetist who went out on rescue missions with William, and Patrick Peal, chief executive of the EAAA, have spoken exclusively to Weekend about Williams time with them.

Dr Berry, a consultant anaesthetist and Patrick Peal, chief executive of the EAAA, shared their fondest memories of working with Prince William. Pictured: The Queen with the crew of the East Anglian Air Ambulance when she opened the new base in 2016. It was Williams suggestion, and she said she would do it as long as he was on duty that day

Not only was he a fine pilot, they say, but he was a brilliant team player at the scene of an accident  performing CPR when necessary and talking easily to shocked bystanders at the scene to help them stay calm.

Mr Peal, one of the EAAAs founders, became CEO in 2014 and conversations were already underway about how William might become involved. Wed made contact with him when he was given the Duchy of Cambridge in 2011, he recalls.

I went to see his team and said we thought it might be possible for him to fly as a second pilot on occasion, and they said, I think theres something you need to understand. William would like to work with you full-time. That was quite a surprise, to put it mildly, and it required a completely different approach.

'He would need to become an employee of Babcock, which provides our helicopters and pilots. But the more we looked into it the more we realised he wanted to be treated like any other pilot.

They knew William would need to fly with a royal protection officer, but that was doable too, says Mr Peal.

A striking image of William in action

It was very timely that towards the end of 2014 we took delivery of a new Airbus H145 helicopter [the first of its type in the UK] that was much bigger than its predecessor and allowed for a two-pilot crew, as well as space for another companion. Wherever a senior member of the Royal Family goes, so must a close protection officer.

Captain William Wales undertook four months of ground training at Norwich Airport before transferring to Cambridge in July 2015. The base was two small offices next to the fire station and William had lunch with his colleagues in the staff canteen in the main airport. Dr Berry met William in the canteen during his first week.

There was a little bit of staring at him, but he went about his job in a very professional way. He was brilliant on base. He would know when to lighten the mood and have a laugh. There are only four or five of us on a 12-hour shift so were very close-knit. There were no airs and graces about him, and he could make a good cup of tea.

Patrick Peal says William quickly put those around him at ease. Hes got a huge smile and hes very good at talking to people. Hes also got a wicked sense of humour which Im sure he keeps under control in public, but in the crew room he could give as good as he got.

Although William insisted on being treated like everyone else, there was one occasion when he was able to put his connections to good use. In 2016 the EAAA had a new base built at Cambridge Airport to replace the old cramped quarters.

When we were asking about who was going to open the new base, William said, Grandma might do it, recalls Dr Berry. It took a couple of seconds to realise who he meant by Grandma.

Meanwhile, Patrick Peal was having conversations with Kensington Palace about which member of the Royal Family might be able to do the opening.

Dr Berry said William seemed proud his grandparents were coming to meet his team-mates and crew. Pictured: William showing his grandparents around a helicopter during their visit

I said, I know it wouldnt be right to ask Prince William to open the base hes flying from, and they said I was probably right. One of the team said, Why dont you ask Her Majesty? and I said, I couldnt do that, its a prefab building in the middle of an airfield.

'They said, Try it, you might be surprised and we got the reply, Her Majesty would be delighted to open the new building, providing William was on duty that day.

As promised, the Queen arrived, with the Duke of Edinburgh, on 13 July 2016 to officially open the base. We were split into two groups, recalls Dr Berry.

The Duke of Edinburgh went down one side and the Queen came down the other. William was out on a mission and when he flew back in he landed just away from where we were and came to meet us. Certainly the look on the Queens face was one of proud grandmother.

'Shes a lovely lady. I think the Duke of Edinburgh felt the same. William seemed proud his grandparents were coming to meet his team-mates and crew. After the Queen and Prince Philip left, William carried on with his shift.

Saying goodbye to Prince Philip after the visit

The EAAA has two helicopters  one based at Cambridge, the other at Norwich  and they would receive around eight call-outs a day.

When we landed the pilots would bring kit from the helicopter to facilitate the work of the clinical team, says Dr Berry. That would often be William. We would quite often go into multi-casualty situations and William would get stuck in. The protection officer would help out too if needed.

The crew had to know their stuff, but they also had to be mentally prepared for the traumatic sights they might witness. Its not for everybody because you see a lot of unpleasant things, says Dr Berry.

A doctor seeing the injured at A&E is in a sterile hospital environment. Compared to that, seeing injuries where they happen, seeing family members and the looks on their faces, its a much more emotional and sometimes overpowering scenario. Because of that we do a lot of training. Were keen to select the right people.

William spoke earlier this year about how his work with EAAA had left him traumatised. Talking online to frontline workers about their experiences in the pandemic, he said, When you see so much death and so much bereavement it does impact how you see the world.

'Youre so drawn into it, which everyone is, its only natural that would happen. It stays with you, at home it stays with you for weeks on end, doesnt it? And you see the world as a much more, slightly depressed, darker, blacker place.

Often the EAAAs call-outs would be during the night, making them even more intense. The pilots would have their night-vision goggles on and there would be this very professional banter going on between them that gets us down to the ground, recalls Dr Berry. Thats a very serious process.

According to Patrick Peal, William was one of the best pilots they had. I think its fair to say that everybody recognised him as being a very fine pilot, says Mr Peal.

And he was extremely competent at the scene. He was very proficient at CPR and its often all-hands-on because the helicopter crew might be first on the scene. If theres a very sick patient it requires urgent action.

But it could be a bit of a surprise for people to realise the pilot was the future king of England. He wasnt always recognised though, bearing in mind he would be in his pilots blue overalls and often wearing sunglasses.

William left the EAAA in July 2017 to concentrate on royal duties but he remains very much part of the family, and Dr Berry spoke to him on the day of the Duke of Edinburghs death. I lost grandparents recently, he says. I know my grandmother was proud of me and Im sure his grandfather was proud of him.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued an address on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is important for the Greek and Armenian peoples, who are linked with centuries-old ties, as well as friendship, that developed under difficult circumstances. Today, like every year on April 24, we commemorate the innocent victims, raising our voice for respect towards human life and dignity, since only peaceful co-existence can result in peoples progress, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

In his message, he spoke about the mythological, historical, and cultural similarities between Greece and the Caucasus.

Just for that reason our country could not stay indifferent towards the much-suffered people of Armenia during its last challenge. Our country immediately responded to the call for humanitarian aid. And today Greece supports security consolidation in the region based on international law, for the sake of a solution that will respect that rights of the local population, keeping away from a new unfair bloodshed, Mitsotakis said.

He recalled how Greece, even in a difficult period, received the Armenian Genocide survivors. We must always be vigilant. And let our words be accompanied by actions that prevent discrimination, hatred and violence. After 106 years we remember and cooperate, the Greek PM said.
A woman and her boyfriend were sentenced Thursday to a combined 15 years in state prison after she admitted last year that suffocated her newborn son and that he helped her dispose of his body in a dumpster in 2019, officials said.

Jada M. McClain, 20, of Neptune Township was sentenced to 10 years in state prison after she pleaded guilty on Jan. 6 to first degree aggravated manslaughter and Quaimere Mohammed, 21, also of Neptune Township, was sentenced to five years after he pleaded guilty on the same day to second degree disturbing or desecrating human remains in connection with the death of a newborn baby, according to a statement from the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office.

The Asbury Park Police Department received a report on April 4, 2019 that McClain, then a student at Neptune Township Regional High School, had recently given birth, and that the newborn had died, the office said. An investigation was launched by the office and the Neptune Township Police Department.

They discovered that McClain had become pregnant by Mohammed, who was also a student at the school at the time, sometime in July 2018 and that she hid her pregnancy from her parents, authorities said.

She gave birth to the boy at her home during the early morning hours of March 29, 2019 and then pressed her hands on the childs chest until he stopped breathing, investigators said.

The next morning, Mohammed woke up to texts from McClain saying she had given birth and the baby was not breathing, he previously admitted in court. Prosecutors previously said McClain sent Mohammed a message that read, I did it, baby.

Quaimere Mohammed becomes emotional as texts between him and girlfriend Jada M. McClain are read during his detention hearing Friday, April 12, 2019, in State Superior Court in Freehold. Mohammed is charged with desecrating the remains of his infant son who was allegedly killed by McClain.(Pool photo via Thomas Costello | Asbury Park Press

McClain picked him up from his Asbury Park house and informed him that the newborn was in the back seat of the car wrapped in towels, Mohammed admitted. The two drove to the Washington Village Apartments in Asbury Park and threw the baby into a dumpster nearby on Monroe Avenue, authorities said.

Detectives learned that the contents of the dumpster, including the newborns remains, were transported to the Monmouth County Reclamation Center in Tinton Falls, where they were compacted and buried, the office said.

The boys body was never recovered.

This case is a horrible tragedy. An infant is dead and two young people are going to prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said in a statement. New Jerseys Safe Haven Protection Act provides a legal, safe, and confidential process for anyone wishing to relinquish custody of a newborn. It is important that people be made aware of this law.

The act became law on Aug. 7, 2000 and allows a parent who is unable or unwilling to care for an infant to give up custody of a baby who is less than 30 days old, safely, legally, and anonymously, officials said. All that is required is that the baby be brought to a hospital emergency room or police station in New Jersey. As long as the child shows no signs of intentional abuse, no names or other information is required from the person delivering the baby.

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.
COLUMBIA, Md, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After making numerous discoveries of how magnetic fields shape our universe, an instrument flying on board the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), is about to get even faster at gathering data.

SOFIA is upgrading the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-Plus, or HAWC+ with four new detectors that will allow it to study magnetic fields in distant galaxies four times faster than its current rate.

"We want to speed up the pace of scientific discovery, and we can do that by making HAWC+ even better," said Dr. Margaret Meixner, Director of Science Mission Operations at Universities Space Research Association. "This upgrade is part of a number of initiatives we're implementing to take SOFIA into the future."

The HAWC+ upgrade is expected to be completed by 2023 and is the first step in the proposed outline for future instrumentation of SOFIA, a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center -- DLR. Based on feedback from a scientifically diverse group of astronomers, two additional instruments are envisioned that will enhance SOFIA's ability to make new discoveries.

HAWC+ is the only currently operating instrument in the world in an observatory that uses both far-infrared light and has a polarimeter, a device that measures polarized light from celestial dust grains, to infer the shape and direction of magnetic fields. Scientists are eager to learn more about the role magnetic fields play in shaping galaxies and the formation of stars, and observations like those SOFIA provides, using far infrared light, are critical to getting a clearer picture.

Flying at 40,000 feet and above the interfering layers of the atmosphere, SOFIA offers a one-of-a-kind platform for observing the infrared universe. Because it returns to the ground after each flight, its instruments can easily be exchanged, serviced or upgraded to harness new technologies that may one day be optimized to fly in space.

According to the roadmap published earlier, two new instruments envisioned for SOFIA include a spectrometer and a terahertz mapper. The highly sensitive spectrometer improves SOFIA's ability to measure faint signals by a factor of 10. With this spectrometer, SOFIA could for the first time measure the mass of gas, water vapor and water ice in the earliest phases of planet formation, enabling astronomers to learn how planetary systems form. The new terahertz mapper would build on the success of another of SOFIA's flagship instruments, the German Receiver at Terahertz Frequencies, or GREAT, by using similar technology with 100 pixels, an increase from GREAT's 14 pixels. This will allow the new instrument to make observations 14 times faster.

About SOFIA

SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley manages the SOFIA program, science, and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft is maintained and operated by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703, in Palmdale, California.

About USRA

Founded in 1969, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology and engineering. USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities, and conducts other major research and educational programs, under Federal funding. USRA engages the university community and employs in-house scientific leadership, innovative research and development, and project management expertise. More information about USRA is available at www.usra.edu.

PR Contact:

Suraiya Farukhi, Ph.D.

[email protected]; 443-812-6945

SOURCE Universities Space Research Association

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Mason and Ali, someone found your Nintendo Switch at North Canyon Park and turned it in to us. Ive beaten all your high scores and spent all your gold coins and Im bored now so you can come pick it up. The case number its under is 21-1094. - Joubert  BountifulCityPD (@bountifulcityPD) April 20, 2021

The owner of the switch has been found! Thanks for helping spread the word. Also, I guess Sanborn picked it up when I was done. He leveled them up and earned back a few coins, so thats good. ??????????????  BountifulCityPD (@bountifulcityPD) April 21, 2021

But before returning the console to the original owner, the officers at the Bountiful Police Department had something better to do: they tried and eventually managed to beat all the high scores on the Switch, and then spent all the available gold coins.Since its launch in 2017, the Nintendo Switch sold close to 80 million units. The parent company expects the performance to be improved even more in the coming quarter after shipping more than 11.5 million devices in the last holiday quarter alone.So it goes without saying there are a lot of Nintendos out there, some of which unfortunately get lost, leaving a kid in tears and hoping a good stranger would bring the console back to them. And this is what happened in Bountiful, Utah, but not before the officers at the local police department beat all high scores and spent all the gold coins.Mason and Ali, someone found your Nintendo Switch at North Canyon Park and turned it in to us. Ive beaten all your high scores and spent all your gold coins and Im bored now so you can come pick it up. The case number its [sic] under is 21-1094.  Joubert, the Bountiful City Police Department tweeted earlier this week.A few hours later, the owner of the Switch was found and got his console backsurprisingly, not before another officer leveled up the high scores even more.Its been claimed! Thanks for helping spread the word. Also, I guess Sanborn picked it up when I was done. He leveled them up and earned back a few coins, so thats good, the department tweeted.Now that kid certainly has an excuse for spending too much time playing games.
EXCLUSIVE: Craig Campbell has quit as executive producer of The Project after 11 years at the helm.

He has been on leave since February due to rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain, but today sent a note to staff.

Since I have been away, I have been trying to find a reasonable balance between my work and my health, something that a bunch of health professionals have pointed out I dont have, he wrote.

As I get older (I turned 60 two weeks ago) I have been thinking how I can structure my life in a way that will enable me to still do what I love (make TV) but maintain my health (less stress).

So it is with a great deal of pride that I would like to announce that Chris Bendall will become the Executive Producer of the Project.

Chris has been with the company for over 9 years and is the most qualified human I could possibly think of for the job. I am delighted he has agreed to take the reins to enable me the time to develop other ideas and projects, free of the grind of a daily show.

You are in an exceptionally safe pair of hands.

Campbell created the show for 10 in 2009, after the network constantly struggled with the timeslot, steering the show as executive producer for over a decade.

In that time The Project has become one of the most important features of the 10 schedule, winning Gold Logies for presenters, breaking news stories and most importantly, delivering demographic viewers to the primetime schedule.

He will now move to a new role, Head of Television at Roving Enterprises.

Beverley McGarvey, Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand said: Craig Campbell is one of the most versatile, creative, dedicated and passionate people I have had the pleasure of working with.

Since the beginning, The Project has supported and created public debate, educated and entertained and helped lead many important conversations which have encouraged profound and necessary change.

I would like to thank Craig for his many contributions and wish him the very best as he embarks on his new role of Head of Television at Roving, which will afford him the time to develop new ideas and projects. I for one, cant wait to see what he comes up with next.

I am delighted that Chris Bendall has accepted the role of Executive Producer of The Project.

Chris has been with the show for more than nine years and has been an integral senior member of the production team. His dedication, experience and editorial instinct is outstanding.

Its this skillset, combined with Chris strong leadership skills that will ensure we continue to deliver news differently, as only The Project can.

Campbell said, As for my stress levels, it means I wont be tied to the office with the day-to-day hustle of putting the show to air, I will have time to think, reflect and help the Project keep its edge, and have the headspace to look at the broadcast landscape and see what else Roving can do.

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Jerusalem, April 23 : Scores of people have been injured in clashes in East Jerusalem between far-right Jewish activists, Palestinians and Israeli police.

The violence erupted as police tried to keep Palestinians and ultra-nationalist Jewish protesters apart.

It follows nights of confrontations in the Israeli-occupied sector amid rising nationalist and religious tensions.

East Jerusalem has long been a flashpoint, with an uneasy coexistence there between Jews and Arabs, the BBC reported.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 Middle East war and considers the entire city its capital, though this is not recognised by the vast majority of the international community. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the future capital of a hoped-for independent state.

The worst fighting in days broke out on Thursday night after hundreds of Jewish extremists from the ultra-nationalist Lehava group marched towards the Damascus Gate entrance of Jerusalem's Old City - where large numbers of Palestinians had gathered - chanting "Death to Arabs".

Stones and bottles were thrown between the two sides, and police used stun grenades, tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse the crowds.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 100 Palestinians were injured, while police said that 20 officers were hurt. More than 50 people were arrested.

Tensions in East Jerusalem have escalated since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on 13 April. Palestinians have clashed with police, accusing them of erecting barriers to stop them from congregating on steps outside Damascus Gate to break the daytime fast. Police say the measures are intended to help pedestrian flow into the Old City.

Jews have also been angered by a spate of TikTok videos showing Palestinians assaulting members of the ultra-Orthodox community, including an attack on two ultra-Orthodox boys on Jerusalem's light rail. The videos were given as a reason by Lehava for its march to Damascus Gate, in what it said would be a show of "national honour".

There have also been a number of attacks by Jews on Arabs in Jerusalem this week, including an incident where Jewish youth chanting anti-Arab slogans assaulted an Arab driver who stopped to remonstrate with them.




[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.]

23rd April 2021 - Vienna, Austria: Development duo Clockwork Bird this week officially announced via a new trailer that their latest game Silicon Dreams, a narrative cyberpunk thriller about interrogating rogue androids, is now available for PC, Mac and Linux on Steam.



In a corporate-controlled dystopian future where the lines between the real and the artificial have blurred to almost nothing, an interrogation-model android becomes caught between big tech and a brewing revolution. Players can intimidate, manipulate, betray or befriend; they can aid the insurgents or bring about their downfall. They can adhere to their strict programming - or succumb to deviant emotion. Silicon Dreams is a Papers, Please style bureaucratic thriller with a Blade Running soul. You can watch the latest trailer here . Steam Page

Presskit Features list: Speak, or forever hold your peace - Carefully control the flow of information. Decide what to reveal, and when, and to whom.

Facts vs feelings - Monitor interviewees emotions in real-time: joy, sadness, anger, disgust, shock, and fear. Use this data to plan a strategy & draw conclusions.

Live and let die - Choose to spare deviant androids, or condemn them and secure your own survival within the corporation.

Branching paths - Move through a vast web of dialogue options and experience multiple endings depending on the path you choose. About Clockwork Bird

Founded by best mates James Patton and Daniel Adams, Clockwork Bird is a small indie studio devoted to making oddball narrative games. Their previous work includes Spinnortality and The Embers of the Stars.



####



Review Code

Editors can contact [email protected] for a review code.

Streamers & Creators can check out the offical Woovit page for code requests.
(JNS) - Threats by Iran to retaliate against what it said was an Israeli sabotage attack on its Natanz nuclear site on April 11 and the reported attack on an Iranian command ship in the Red Sea on April 6 should be taken seriously, observers in Israel say, but they also indicate the distress that the Iranian regime is feeling as it absorbs one blow after another.

Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall, an expert on strategic issues with a focus on Iran, terrorism and the Middle East, and a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS on Monday that negotiations between the Un...
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AUSTIN, Texas  A year after a Fort Hood soldier was slain by a fellow member of the Army, Texas lawmakers are poised to help lead the nation in the fight against sexual harassment and assault in the military.

The bill proposed in memory of Spc. Vanessa Guillen and approved by the state Senate on April 12 would give members of the military in Texas more ways to report crimes outside their chain of command and to have those crimes independently investigated by the Texas Rangers. The bill heads next to the House. A similar proposal was introduced to Congress last fall.

It was passed unanimously out of the Senate. There is no opposition to it, said state Sen. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, who authored the Texas bill. I think that demonstrates to Congress that this is not a partisan bill, that when Republicans and Democrats work together on meaningful reforms for military forces, that change can happen.

Guillen, 20, was reported missing April 22, 2020, and her charred, dismembered remains were found July 1. Federal investigators said fellow Fort Hood soldier Spc. Aaron Robinson, who died by suicide during the investigation, killed her. Guillens family says they believe Robinson also sexually harassed her, but the Army says they have no evidence of harassment from Robinson.

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Guillens case became a rallying cry for military sexual assault survivors to denounce their experiences, and that movement has prompted calls for cultural change within the military from Texas to Washington.

Blancos bill would also establish a sexual assault response coordinator outside the chain of command to provide members of the military in Texas who report accusations of sexual violence with help and resources, whether or not the report is filed with law enforcement or inside the military. It is one of multiple bills submitted to the Texas Legislature this session in honor of Guillen.

Sexual assaults are vastly under-reported in the general population, and the military has acknowledged for years that its a particular problem in its ranks.

Guillens family and their attorney, Natalie Khawam, have repeatedly said that Guillen was too afraid to report the harassment she was facing to her chain of command.

Lupe Guillen, Vanessa Guillens sister, said this week that Guillens mother told her late daughter to rip her contract and come home if she did not feel safe after her daughter told her the harassment and fear she was facing at the base.

My sister responded, Do you want me to go to jail?' Lupe Guillen said. Once you sign the contract you are their property, you are their number. When are we going to protect the victim and not the victimizer?

In the year since her sisters death, Lupe Guillen said, the family has yet to see significant change. They gathered a press conference Tuesday to continue their fight with Texas representatives and senators to mark the grim anniversary with a series of legislative proposals that would include naming part of a highway after Guillen, and a resolution for Congress to approve a similar, bi-partisan bill, the I am Vanessa Guillen Act. Khawam said the family expects a congressional hearing on that bill in May.

For all voices in the military, it is very frustrating for our men and women to wonder when they will be protected, when these protections will come into place, Khawam said. If you are not afraid of a bullet but you are afraid to report sexual harassment, you know there is something really wrong with the system.

Blanco, himself a U.S. Navy veteran, said the military had failed Guillen and that he wanted to ensure that Texas did not do the same.

A civilian criminal case on Guillens slaying remains open, and multiple investigations inside the Army into the deaths and leadership at Fort Hood continue.

Results from an independent review of the base released in December led to the suspension or firing or at least 14 people from the Texas base, inspired Operation People First by military leaders to rebuild trust and found that the Texas base had a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault and harassment.

___

Acacia Coronado is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

India reported 314,000 new cases of COVID-19 on April 22, the highest-ever infection tally recorded by any country on a single day.

Many hospitals across the country are unable to cope with the unprecedented demand for life-saving necessities. Family members are scrambling to buy oxygen cylinders and medication for their loved ones in hospitals, often paying exorbitant prices in the black market.

Around the world, several countries such as the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Pakistan, have imposed new restrictions on travelers from India, including flight bans.

While many countries around the world have faced multiple waves of infections, what has led to this massiveand suddenspike in India?

Complacency is certainly to blame. But so, too, is the government's feckless handling of the crisis, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ineffective leadership in recent weeks.

Perhaps nothing illustrates this more clearly than Modi's televised address this week in response to the growing crisis, when he sought to use his personal appeal to encourage Indians to practice COVID-safe behavior.

He offered little in the form of concrete measures to contain the surge in infections, and counseled the state governments against using lockdowns. Unlike Modi's public addresses during last year's first wave, there was little that appeared to resonate across society.

Pandemic fatigue sets in

India was one of the first countries to enforce a nationwide lockdown when infection rates started to rise in March 2020, and this response, along with public vigilance, appeared to be successful in bringing cases under control. New cases peaked at nearly 100,000 in mid-September to under 10,000 in early February.

As case numbers declined, Modi's popularity soared. And since late last year, businesses, government offices and ordinary people have returned to their pre-COVID routines, with many defying guidelines on wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Some did so out of necessity to enable them to work, while others simply flouted norms out of arrogance or sheer ignorance. It was as if COVID-19 was no longer a major concern.

The complacency and pandemic fatigue evident in society was echoed in the actions of the Modi government. The government dropped its guard and started to boast about its success at controlling infections and India's low mortality rate compared to many other countries.

Following a win for his party in the elections in the populous state of Bihar in November, Modi claimed the "results have endorsed the way we have tackled the coronavirus crisis situation in the country."

However, the situation in the country now is looking increasingly grim. So, what did the government get wrong?

Conflicting messaging and a botched vaccine roll-out

First, the government did not prepare the country for the possibility of COVID-19 returning with a vengeance, as had happened in other parts of the world.

Despite rolling out a national vaccination drive, it did very little to shore up capacity in hospitals to handle a sudden surge of infections and hospitalisations. This has led many hospitals across the country to panic, struggling to meet the growing demand for oxygen.

Second, even as the virus spread like a wildfire, Modi and his cabinet ministers kept campaigning in state elections in five states, addressing massive rallies and praising the crowds for turning out in large numbers.

This resulted in conflicting messaging. It mattered little to the government that pandemic protocols were being flagrantly violated by those organizing and attending the rallies. As cases continued to soar, Modi was forced finally to call off election rallies in the state of West Bengal.

Third, the second wave of infections has been fuelled by one of the world's largest religious festivals, the Kumbh Mela, held in the holy city of Haridwar every 12 years. It became a super-spreader event.

From April 1014, over 2,000 people who attended the festival tested positive for the virus. By the time Modi appealed to the religious leaders in a tweet on April 17 to keep the Kumbh Mela "symbolic"meaning not to attend in personthe festival had already been going for more than two weeks. Two prominent Hindu seers had also died of COVID.

Finally, this week, religious leaders decided to wind down the festivities.

And the fourth misstep of the government has been in its handling of the vaccine rollout. While nearly 10% of India's population has received the first dose, many vaccine distribution centers have in recent weeks run short on supplies.

This is partly a result of the Modi government prioritizing its vaccine diplomacy initiatives rather than vaccinating its own people. According to the Indian Express, India had exported more vaccines (60 million doses to 76 countries) by late March than it had administered to its own citizens (52 million doses).

As India is one of the world's largest manufacturers of vaccines, it could have used this as an opportunity to vaccinate a greater share of its population while simultaneously addressing the fault lines within the health system that have been exposed by the second wave of infections.

But the government didn't take this approachand now India is paying the consequences. Perhaps the Modi magic is finally beginning to wear off.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Oil Creek Classic fisherman get in their boats to competein the event. This photo is from the 2019 Oil Creek Classic, which is the last time the event was held.
The police department in Kingston, N.H., is seen in an undated photograph. (Google Maps)

Explosion at Gender Reveal Party Rocks Homes Miles Away

One New Hampshire familys gender reveal party was such a blast that it rattled towns, set off reports of an earthquake, and could be heard from across the state line, police said.

Police in Kingston, a town not far from the Massachusetts border, received reports of a loud explosion Tuesday evening. They responded to Torromeo quarry where they found people who acknowledged holding a gender reveal party with explosives.

The source was Tannerite80 pounds of it, police said. The family thought the quarry would be the safest spot to blow up the explosive, which is typically sold over the counter as a target for firearms practice, police said.

It comes with an oxidizer, Sgt. Jeff Dade of the New Hampshire State Police Bomb Squad told WMUR. The fuel is in a separate packet, and you mix it, and once mixed, you would place it somewhere safely out in a range where you would then shoot it.

Used improperly, Tannerite can damage property or start a fire, he added.

The blast was felt in a 20-mile radius, the Union Leader reported.

We live in a four-family townhouse in Plaistow, and it shook our house so bad that we thought someone drove into our building. The kids all scrambled, saying earthquake, before asking me what it was, Amy Owen, a nearby resident said.

Heidi Jordan, about 20 miles north in Epping, said she heard a loud boom and a deep rumble.

I thought for a second that maybe a large dump truck had gone off the road and struck a tree. I went outside but didnt see anything. I also considered that it may have been another minor earthquake. It definitely had a rumble to it, she said.

Some nearby residents reported property damage, NBC 10 Boston reported.

We heard this god-awful blast. It knocked pictures off our walls, Sara Taglieri, who lives in a home that abuts the quarry, told the television station. Im all up for silliness and what not, but that was extreme.

Taglieris husband, Matt, told the TV station that neighbors reported cracks in the foundation of their homes.

No injuries were reported, police said.

The person who purchased and detonated the explosives has turned himself in to police. He was not identified.

Police said an investigation is ongoing and they will make a determination on charges.

Gender reveal parties have led to deaths and wildfires in recent years.

One party in New York state in February led to a mans death. The father-to-be was building a device that was meant to be used at the party when it exploded.

Last year, officials said a firework at a gender reveal party started a wildfire that grew to 7,000 acres. Fire officials reminded people that those responsible for starting fires due to negligence or illegal activity could face fines or charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
New Delhi:

World leaders across the globe celebrated Diwali and wished Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world a joyful festival of light.

US President Donald Trump celebrated his first Diwali at the White House during which he hailed the contribution of Indian-American community and said he valued his strong relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The US President on Facebook posted the Diwali celebrations video and wrote, As we do (celebrate Diwali) so, we especially remember the People of India, the home of the Hindu faith, who have built the worlds largest democracy.

His daughter and advisor Ivanka trump shared photographs of Diwali celebrations in the White House and extended her greetings.

Ivanka on Twitter wrote, Wishing Hindus, Sikhs & Jains around the world a joyful #Diwali. Saal Mubarak to all! Looking forward to my visit to India for #GES2017.  at The White House

Wishing Hindus, Sikhs & Jains around the world a joyful #Diwali. Saal Mubarak to all! Looking forward to my visit to India for #GES2017. pic.twitter.com/O1tmiFzECc  Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 18, 2017

Indian-American members of US President administration including Nikki Haley, his Ambassador to the United Nations and Centers for Medicare and Medical Services administrator Seema Verma, Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai, and Trumps Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah participated in the Diwali celebrations at the White House.

US Vice President Mike Pence greeted Diwali wishes and on Twitter he wrote, Happy #Diwali to those celebrating with friends & family. May we all strive for peace, prosperity & the triumph of light over darkness.

Happy #Diwali to those celebrating with friends & family. May we all strive for peace, prosperity & the triumph of light over darkness. https://t.co/NJPMnyDqOk  Vice President Pence (@VP) October 18, 2017

Canadian President Justin Trudeau to send his Diwali wishes. On Twitter he tweeted Diwali Mubarak and shared a photograph celebrating the festival of light.

Celebrating #Diwali with the Canada India Business Council last night! Our countries have a long history & bright future together. pic.twitter.com/6BMXGmXgLS  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 18, 2017

Official Twitter handle of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's office shared a video where she can be seen giving Diwali wishes.

She said, I want to send my best wishes to everyone celebrating Diwali in Britain and around the world.

This #Diwali let us celebrate the values and freedoms that we share  and let me wish you all a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year. pic.twitter.com/qmjGLeg8jp  UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) October 19, 2017

May added, Festival of Light is important time for family and friends to come together to share wonderful gifts and sweets and to draw confidence from the knowledge that ultimately good will triumph over evil.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
UK is more likely to see a summer surge in covid-19 cases, as many adults are yet to be vaccinated, said a British government advisory scientist.



On Wednesday, Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), an independent expert advisory committee that advises health departments on immunization, said modelling shows coronavirus cases will rise in the summer as lockdown is relaxed, Xinhua news agency reported.

The UK has reported 4,411,068 confirmed coronavirus cases and 127,577 deaths, and more than 33 million people have been given the first jab of the covid-19 vaccine.





"Quite a wide range of uncertainty" remains over how big the wave would be "because it depends on how quickly the vaccine rollout continues", he said.



It also depends on whether people will stick to the rules as lockdown is eased, he said.



"If people move too far forward with that too fast, we'll see things start to come up earlier," Finn said.



"The sense that the problem is all over, I'm afraid is a flawed one, we're still in a vulnerable situation, and there are still significant numbers of people who potentially could be harmed by this infection if this happens."



Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that as the UK continues to make progress in the fight against coronavirus, "we cannot delude ourselves" that the virus has gone away.



He noted that the majority of scientific experts are of the view that there will be another wave at some stage this year and Britons must learn to live with the virus.



However, he said there was nothing in scientific data to suggest the UK would have to deviate from the roadmap out of lockdown.



The UK has so far reported 4,411,068 confirmed coronavirus cases and 127,577 deaths.



More than 33 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.



Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, the UK is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.







Source: IANS Finn, from the University of Bristol, said the UK is still "vulnerable" and the dates for easing restrictions may need adjusting."Quite a wide range of uncertainty" remains over how big the wave would be "because it depends on how quickly the vaccine rollout continues", he said.It also depends on whether people will stick to the rules as lockdown is eased, he said."If people move too far forward with that too fast, we'll see things start to come up earlier," Finn said."The sense that the problem is all over, I'm afraid is a flawed one, we're still in a vulnerable situation, and there are still significant numbers of people who potentially could be harmed by this infection if this happens."Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that as the UK continues to make progress in the fight against coronavirus, "we cannot delude ourselves" that the virus has gone away.He noted that the majority of scientific experts are of the view that there will be another wave at some stage this year and Britons must learn to live with the virus.However, he said there was nothing in scientific data to suggest the UK would have to deviate from the roadmap out of lockdown.The UK has so far reported 4,411,068 confirmed coronavirus cases and 127,577 deaths.More than 33 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, the UK is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.Source: IANS

"The models that we've seen on JCVI clearly point to a summer surge in cases as the lockdown is relaxed, because there are still many people in the adult population who've not been immunized," he told the BBC.
Paleontologists have unearthed the 67,000-year-old fossilized remains from three extinct species of giant cloud rats in several caves on the Philippine island of Luzon.

Cloud rats are 18 living species of rodents with fluffy tails in the tribe Phloeomyini.

They can be found in the misty mountain forests of the Philippines.

They range in size from 18 g to 2.7 kg, typically live in trees, and eat leaves, buds and seeds.

Their evolutionary history in the region stretches back around 14 million years, when their ancestors first arrived in the Philippine archipelago from the Asian mainland.

The three newly-discovered species of cloud rats  Crateromys ballik, Carpomys dakal, and Batomys cagayanensis  are thought to be extinct.

Their fossils were found in Callao Cave, where a previously unknown species of human, Homo luzonensis was found in 2019, as well as smaller caves in the Cagayan province.

Specimens of all three of the new species of fossil rodent were found in the same deep layer of the cave as the enigmatic Homo luzonensis indicating that they co-existed some 60,000 years ago, said Professor Philip Piper, a researcher in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University.

Our records show they were able to adapt and survive profound climatic changes over millions of years, so the question is what might have caused their final extinction?

The timing of the last recorded occurrence of two of the species might offer a clue  around 2,000 years ago or shortly after.

This is after the first arrival of agricultural societies and the introduction of animals like domestic dogs, pigs and macaque monkeys to the Philippines.

That seems significant, because that is roughly the same time that pottery and Neolithic stone tools first appear in the archeological record, and when dogs, domestic pigs, and probably monkeys were introduced to the Philippines, probably from Borneo, said Professor Armand Mijares, a researcher at the University of Philippines.

While we cant say for certain based on our current information, this implies that humans likely played some role in their extinction.

Crateromys ballik and Carpomys dakal became extinct just a few thousand years ago.

They were giants among rodents, both weighing about a kilogram  big enough that it might have been worthwhile to hunt and eat them.

We have had evidence of extinct large mammals on the Philippine island of Luzon for a long time, but there has been virtually no information about fossils of smaller-sized mammals, said Dr. Janine Ochoa, a researcher at the University of the Philippines

The reason is probably that research had focused on open-air sites where the large fossil mammal faunas were known to have been preserved, rather than the careful sieving of cave deposits that preserve a broader size-range of vertebrates including the teeth and bones of rodents.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that the Philippines has the greatest concentration of unique species of mammals of any country, most of which are small animals, less than half a pound, that live in the tropical forest, said Dr. Larry Heaney, a researcher at Field Museum.

These recently extinct fossil species not only show that biodiversity was even greater in the very recent past, but that the two that became extinct just a few thousand years ago were giants among rodents, both weighing more than two pounds.

By comparing the fossils to the 18 living cloud rat species, the scientists have a decent idea of what Crateromys ballik, Carpomys dakal and Batomys cagayanensis would have looked like.

The bigger ones would have looked almost like a woodchuck with a squirrel tail, Dr. Heaney said.

Cloud rats eat plants, and theyve got great big pot bellies that allow them to ferment the plants that they eat, kind of like cows. They have big fluffy or furry tails. Theyre really quite cute.

The findings were published in the Journal of Mammalogy.

_____

Janine Ochoa et al. Three new extinct species from the endemic Philippine cloud rat radiation (Rodentia, Muridae, Phloeomyini). Journal of Mammalogy, published online April 23, 2021; doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab023
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The National Medical Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has updated International arrival procedures for passengers arriving through Bahrain International Airport from or transiting through the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the People's Republic of Bangladesh, effective 27 April 2021.

All incoming passengers arriving from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh must provide proof of negative PCR test with a QR code conducted not more than 48 hours before departure.

All existing travel-related procedures remain in force. All returnees and visitors must undergo PCR testing upon arrival, and test again on their 5th and 10th day, activate the 'BeAware Bahrain' application and sign a self-isolation agreement, which requires passengers to quarantine at their place of residence until their arrival test results are available.

The Taskforce underlined that careful monitoring of epidemiological data will continue to inform decision making.
NEW CANAAN  With warmer weather rapidly approaching and more residents enjoying Bristow Bird Sanctuary and Wildwood Preserve, the Board of Selectmen approved $81,562 to install walkways over wetland areas in the preserve next to Mead Memorial Park.

This is part of a restoration project for the third oldest sanctuary in the country, as it nears its centennial in 2024.

The town plans to replace 230 linear feet of boardwalk Diamond Pier footing to span over wetland areas in the 17-acre park with an entrance from behind the ballfield of Mead Park and another on Old Stamford Road/Route 106.

The brand of piers is an excellent option in wetlands and upland areas given its ability to transfer loads in wetland soils and minimize the soil disturbance area, Maria Coplit told the Hearst Connecticut Media on Thursday, April 22.

The footing is similar to supports of the walkways used for the New Canaan Nature Center boardwalk, Coplit told the selectmen on Tuesday, April 20.

The Board of Selectman voted unanimously to spend $70,923 with a $10,638 contingency, to have Peter Lanni Inc. upgrade the wooden walkways. The town authorized $199,500 in 2020 for the first, and most expensive, phase of the project. Friends of Bristow have raised additional funds and welcome donations.

Pathways have been widened with gravel, the pond was dredged and edged with stone, fences have been restored, gates have been moved and replaced and new signs have been erected.

The first phase of the project is substantially done, according to the engineer.

Also, a variety of birdhouses have been put around the park; an area has been cleared for a meadow and new benches have been added near the pond on a new flagstone sitting area.

More diverse planting is expected, as well as short trails to connect the boardwalks.

The park is expected to become connected to the green link trail which is the walkable connection between New Canaan parks. The green link is an emerald necklace that allows us to tie Waveny Park to Bristow to Mead to the Irwin Park, Conservation Commission Chairman Chris Schipper has said during past presentations on the project.

Sidewalks are being planned to extend to the Old Stamford Road entrance to connect with Park Street. Plans are also being made to create parking that could accommodate three or four cars, or a school bus near that entrance, which is nearest to the pond.

The sanctuary has received national recognition in the last century for its efforts in bird conservation.

The Bristow Bird Sanctuary officially opened in September of 1924, and within a year of the park's opening, 91 species of birds were seen in the sanctuary including common species and less common species such as pheasants and ruffled grouses, according to historical documents on the town website.

The sactuary drew 15,000 visitors in one year and as many as 140 different species of birds were sighted in 1931, Schipper has said while showing a list he found of the birds identified seen at the sanctuary.

The preserve was named after Helen and Alice Bristow in 1987, and is still considered a flyway for birds from north to south and south to north. Helen was secretary and president of the Bird Protective Society and wrote columns in the New Canaan Advertiser titled "Round Robin."

Nearly 80 different bird species were counted recently, according to Schipper.

Bird counts serve as an indicator of the health of natural spaces, and the number of species reflects changes to the environment, according to materials on the town website.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski arrived on Friday at the Russian Foreign Ministry, which summoned him in light of Warsaw's decision to expel three Russian diplomats, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The ambassador was reluctant to provide any comment.

The foreign ministry announced on Thursday that Russia would expel five Polish diplomats as a response to Warsaw's move.
Virginia kindergarten teacher Cybil Billie, 46, has been arrested and charged with felony drug possession

A Virginia kindergarten teacher has been arrested on drug possession charges after police say they found cocaine in her desk at school.

Cybil Billie, 46, was taken into custody at Lakeview Elementary School in Colonial Heights on Wednesday while her students were at recess.

Billie was booked into the local jail on a felony charge of cocaine possession and was released the following day after posting $1,000 bail.

According to the Colonial Heights Police Department, an administrator contacted the school resource officer on Wednesday about a possible drug offense involving Billie, reported WRIC.

The school resource officer investigated the complaint and discovered what was believed to be cocaine stashed inside Billie's desk.

School Division Superintendent William Sroufe said Billie was 'tactfully' arrested while students were at recess.

Billie was arrested during recess at Lakeview Elementary School in Colonial Heights after cocaine was found in her desk

She has taught at Colonial Heights Public Schools for seven years. As of Friday afternoon, her name was still listed in the staff directory on Lakeview Elementary School's website.

'The safety of our students is a top priority and we will continue to follow School Board policies and procedures throughout this process,' Sroufe said in a letter sent to parents after Billie's arrest. 'Families with any concerns or who may need additional support during this time may contact Lakeview Elementary School.'

Several parents have said that Billie was well-regarded and beloved by her students.

'She was an excellent teacher,' Mark Klingman told WWBT. 'My daughter always enjoyed being in her class.'

Billie has been a teacher in the school district for seven years. Several parents have described her as a well-regarded educator

Kelli Gagnon similarly described Billie as a 'great' teacher and said that her daughter enjoyed being in her class.

Gagnon said that upon learning of Billie's arrest, she had a conversation with her daughter and explained that adults sometimes make mistakes and must face the consequences.

Billie is scheduled to appear in court on June 2.
Open auditions were held to find the cast (Pardee and her associate Jessica Straker saw about 1,300 girls), while workshops were run with teenagers to help build the world and characters around the story that Theresa Ikoko, a British-Nigerian playwright, and Claire Wilson, a television writer, had in mind. Out of those processes, the main cast emerged.

While the young actors dont play themselves in Rocks, they were able to feed into the development of the characters. Ikoko brought the scene breakdowns to the actors and asked them to complete exercises, such as writing a diary for their character and deciding what their characters favorite songs were. That information then informed the script.

The actors essence was also a big part of the writing process, Ikoko said in an interview. She recalled speaking to Anastasia Dymitrow, who plays a character called Sabina, about her pride in identifying as Polish Gypsy. The comment was ultimately included in the film, when Dymitrows character talks about her grandparents and their imprisonment in Auschwitz.

Referring to the process, Bakray said, Id never felt listened to like that before in my life, recalling that a stray comment she had made about how she used to ritually buy a cake after school with a friend had ended up in a draft of the script. It made you feel like you had something of substance to say, she added.
The minister, Wang Yi, warned that Chinese cooperation would depend on how the United States responded to Beijings policies regarding Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang Province.

Our two countries still have many differences, but still, President Xi attended the climate summit convened by President Biden. So, that is an action taken by China at the top level to work with the United States on climate change, Mr. Wang said at a virtual event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. If the United States no longer interferes in Chinas internal affairs, then we can have even smoother cooperation that can bring more benefits to both countries and the rest of the world.

The United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in history; China is currently the largest emitter.

The Biden administration this week pledged to roughly halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030  an ambitious goal that is slightly below the target enshrined in law by the European Union and significantly below that of Britain. China, which argues that its industrialization began much later than in the West, is still increasing its emissions; it has said it will hit peak emissions by 2030 and draw them down to net zero by 2060.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny at a rally in Moscow REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been urged to end his hunger strike immediately.

Navalny has been on a hunger strike since March 31, and doctors warn he could die any minute.

The prominent Putin critic has been denied access to his doctors despite his deteriorating health.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's doctors have urged him to immediately end his prolonged hunger strike, warning that there will be "no one to treat" if he continues starving himself.

On Thursday, the BBC reported that five of Navalny's doctors warned that Navalny could die if the hunger strike continues any longer. He started his hunger strike on March 31 and has persisted for 23 days.

"If the hunger strike continues even for a minimal amount of time, unfortunately, we will simply have no one to treat soon," they said.

The five doctors said they were denied access to Navalny, but said after looking at reports his latest medical tests carried out at a hospital in the city of Vladimir in East Moscow that "any further starvation can cause significant harm to Navalny's health and can lead to death."

They cautioned in particular that Navalny was experiencing serious issues with his kidneys and nervous system.

The doctors' statements were published on a Russian website, Mediazona. The five doctors - which include a cardiologist and a neurosurgeon - also asked to be given immediate access to Navalny for them to provide a reliable diagnosis and proper treatment.

"You should halt the hunger strike immediately to preserve your life and health," said the doctors, addressing Navalny.

Doctors warned on Saturday that Navalny could "die at any minute" and that he requires immediate intensive care treatment due to his potassium levels being dangerously high, which could cause severe heart problems.

On Tuesday, the Russian opposition figure joked about his health in an Instagram post, which he operates from prison via his lawyers. "If you saw me now, you would laugh," Navalny said, describing himself as "a skeleton walking, swaying, in its cell."

Story continues

Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet nerve agent, Novichok, last August and was arrested when he returned to Moscow in January after receiving treatment in Germany for several months. Navalny is serving a two and a half year sentence in prison for charges that he says are politically motivated.

Navalny demanded access to his own doctors when he complained of acute back pain and numbness in one leg, but began a hunger strike when this request was denied.

He said that prison authorities were attempting to break his hunger strike by frying chicken in front of him and threatening to force-feed him.

Thousands of Russians poured into the streets to protest on Thursday, calling for Navalny's release. Hundreds were detained during the protests, which coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised national address.

The US has cautioned Russia that there will be "consequences" if Navalny dies in prison.

Read the original article on Insider
Abigail Tucker in Smithsonian:

It feels like a grew a new heart. Thats what my best friend told me the day her daughter was born. Back then, I rolled my eyes at her new-mom corniness. But ten years and three kids of my own later, Emilys words drift back to me as I ride a crammed elevator up to a laboratory in New York Citys Mount Sinai Hospital, where cardiologists are probing the secrets of maternal hearts. Every year, thousands of pregnant women and just-delivered mothers land in emergency rooms with a life-threatening type of heart failure. Symptoms include swollen neck veins and shortness of breath. Their hearts have a harder time pumping. The underlying cause of this peripartum cardiomyopathy is unclear, but its the kind of health disaster that, for other people, can end in a heart transplant, or oblivion.

Yet fate has a different design for fledgling mothers. About 50 percent spontaneously get better, the highest rate of recovery from heart failure for any group. Some maternal hearts are practically as good as new in as little as two weeks. Adult heart tissue doesnt rally easily, but new mothers may somehow be able to regrow heart cells the way salamanders sprout new tails. At this Mount Sinai Hospital lab, a cardiologist named Hina Chaudhry thinks she has figured out why. In tests involving lab mice, which were surgically operated on to simulate a heart attack, she and her research team discovered something astonishing: heart cells with DNA that doesnt match the mothers own. The mystery cells belong to unborn mice. During pregnancy the fetal mouse cells cross the placenta into the mothers body, joyriding through her blood vessels until cardiac damage happens, at which point they sense inflammation and make a beeline for her wounded heart. The lab has even found that these cells, harvested from mouse placentas, will travel to the damaged hearts of male mice after being artificially implanted in their tails.

They just zoom in, says Chaudhry. These cells home to the heart like heat-seeking missiles.

More here.
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MASON, MI - First, lets get this straight: BAD is good, especially when youre talking about Masons BAD Brewing Company, which was on our search for Michigans Best Brewery way back in 2013.

Although the owners are known for always having at least six IPAs on tap since opening in 2012, their latest release is one to sure sweeten your taste buds.

Meet And...Thats How You Get Ants, a newly released lager that is a collaboration with 517 Coffee Company in Lansing and Groovy Doughnuts in East Lansing and Williamston.

The base beer, which is made with a pilsner yeast, begins with unglazed cinnamon rolls and then adds three gallons of maple glaze at the end of the boil, said owner Brian Rasdale. It is then conditioned with maple syrup, coffee and a cinnamon mixture, he added.

You get the breadiness of the doughnut. Theres a little sweetness to it, and the coffee and cinnamon are prevalent. But its a well balanced beer, Rasdale said.

It comes in at 10 percent ABV, but its smooth.

The name of the beer -- And...Thats How You Get Ants -- is in honor of late actor Jessica Walter, famous for the line in TVs animated series Archer. She passed away in late March.

Rasdale said head brewer KJ Rowan and marketing manager Sarah Knupfer are huge fans of Archer and suggested the name.

With all the stuff we added to it...the sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon, it reminds you of stickiness, so it was like, Well, and thats how you get ants, Rasdale said.

They made about five barrels of the beer, which will be sold exclusively at their taproom. Its also available in growlers, as well as cans. A 16 oz. can sells for $8.

One barrel was set aside without being conditioned. They plan to circle back to it in about a year.

Well take what we liked and didnt like, and try something a little bit weird and different, he said.

The collaboration was fun, said the owners of Groovy Doughnuts, one of our picks for Michigans Best Doughnut in 2020.

Monica Lucas and Andrew Gauthier of Groovy Doughnuts sample "And...That's How You Get Ants," a collaboration beer with BAD Brewing Company in Mason, Michigan and 517 Coffee Company.Provided by Andrew Gauthier of Groovy Doughnuts

The coffee and cinnamon flavors really shine through, said Groovy co-owner Monica Lucas.

This beer was the classic combo of coffee and doughnuts in the context of a tasty amber, said Groovys Andrew Gauthier. It was a fun collaboration and we hope to do something like this again soon.

Rasdale said the collaboration was a great opportunity to support small businesses because it promotes everyone.

And, it was an opportunity to combine three of his loves: Cinnamon rolls, coffee and beer.

Its all the best things in one, he said.

Other popular beers:

Kracken IPA (7% ABV), which is their most popular beer, followed all of their New England IPA beers, Rasdale said. You can also find stouts, browns, and Belgian beers, as well as seltzers, ciders and goses. A key lime gose is on tap that features key lime juice, graham crackers and marshmallo creme. And a PB&J gose is conditioned on concord grape and peanut butter.

On May 1 they are opening more seating in the alley to allow for more capacity, Rasdale said.

As for food, the brewery does not offer a kitchen, but Good Bites Food Truck is parked on the patio every day and provides table service to customers, BADs Sarah Knupfer said. Their menu changes frequently, but it is posted on their social media channels each day at @goodbitestruck.

Andrew Gauthier of Groovy Doughnuts stands outside BAD Brewing Company in Mason, Michigan. He collaborated with them, as well as 517 Coffee Company, on a cinnamon roll/coffee beer, "And...That's How You Get Ants." It is available now at the taproom.Provided by Andrew Gauthier of Groovy Doughnuts

IF YOU GO

BAD Brewing Company

440 S Jefferson St, Mason, MI 48854

517-676-7664

Hours: 3-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; Noon-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and Noon-8 p.m. Sunday (open until 10 p.m. on Sundays in the summer)

More info: badbrewing.com/menu

517 Coffee Company at 517coffeecompany.com/

Groovy Doughnuts at groovydonuts.com/

Good Bites Food Truck provides
The High Court has ruled that four publicans who won significant test actions over FBD's failure to pay out on business disruption claims caused by Covid-19, are entitled to their legal costs, but not on the highest scale.

In his judgement Mr Justice Denis McDonald said that while it was accepted that the actions were important test actions.

He said that the court, after considering various legal authorities on the issue could see no proper basis to order that the costs should be assessed on the legal practioner and client basis- the highest level of costs that can be awarded.

The four test actions were taken by Dublin bars Aberken, trading as Sinnotts Bar; Hyper Trust Ltd, trading as The Leopardstown Inn' and Inn on Hibernian Way Ltd trading as Lemon & Duke.

The fourth action was taken by Leinster Overview Concepts Ltd the owner of Sean's Bar, which is based in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

In his decision earlier this year, the outcome of which affects claims made by some 1,000 Irish pubs and restaurants, the judge found that a policy sold by FBD covered losses pubs sustained by having to close due to the pandemic.

The issue of quantifying the losses will be dealt with at a later date.

Following last February's judgement the publicans asked the court for an order compelling FBD to pay the legal fees the publicans incurred on an enhanced solicitor-client basis.

They claimed they had to engage in these actions, and argued that FBD had gained the benefit of a decision which has very wide implications for the insurer and its clients.

The publicans also argued that if they were awarded costs on a lower scale, they would be left in a less advantageous position than policy holders who did not take part in the test cases, which was not a fair outcome.

FBD argued the fact the cases were test actions, was not a reason for the court to award costs against it on the enhanced scale. Before the trial started FBD agreed to make a contribution towards the plaintiff's legal costs.

The courts should only award the level of costs sought in scenarios including when the court is unhappy with the conduct of the case, or in exceptional circumstances which did not exist in this case, FBD argued.

The judge said that the court was not prepared to award costs on the level sought by the publicans.

He said that the appropriate way to take account of the test nature of the proceedings was to treat it as a relevant circumstance when the publican's costs are being assessed by a Legal Costs Adjudicator.

The judge said if he is wrong on this, and the Central Bank which a regulatory role regarding the insurance sector, takes a different view over the level of costs that should be awarded then the court would revisit the issue.

In addition to the costs issue the court also sought submissions on matters including the proper interpretation to be applied to the term 'closure' within FBD's Public House Policy of insurance, which is relevant to quantifying the losses.

The publicans argued that the correct interpretation of the policy did not require the pubs to be fully closed in order for them to be covered.

They also claimed the policy also indemnifies them during the periods when the pubs were partially closed or limited in what trade they could do while various government restrictions were in place.

FBD argued that the court should interpret the section of the policy differently from the publicans.

It claimed that the language contained in the policy clearly refers to the period when the plaintiff's businesses were "completely closed," and not partially closed, and when certain pubs were carrying on some trade on their premises.

The judge ruled that he had come to the conclusion that the word closure is not confined to a total shutdown of the insured properties premises, but extends to a closure of part of the premises.

In his February judgement the judge disagreed with FBD's interpretation of its business disruption policy regarding covid19.

He said that cover is not lost where the closure is prompted by nationwide outbreaks of disease provided that there is an outbreak within the 25-mile radius and that outbreak is one of the causes of the closure.

The publicans had challenged FBDs refusal to indemnify them, as well as the insurers claim its policies did not cover the disruption caused by Covid-19.

They claimed that under their policies of insurance they were entitled to have their consequential losses covered by the insurer.

They also claimed FBD's failure to pay out was a breach of contract.

They claimed the policies contained a clause that states the pubs will be indemnified if their premises were closed by order of the local or Government Authority if there are "Outbreaks of contagious or infectious diseases on the premises or within 25 miles of same."

FBD disputed the claims and argued that the closures did not occur as a result of an outbreak of disease at the premises or areas where the pubs are located.

The actions will return before the court next month.
.IE Digital Town Awards to recognise local community projects and everyday champions that demonstrate digital thinking and innovation for the betterment of local people, towns and communities

The awards will now accept applications until Friday, 30 April at 5.00pm

.IE comment: Based on the positive reaction across the country, we have decided to extend the deadline by another week to ensure that all groups and projects have had the chance to make their entries.

.IE, the company that manages and maintains Irelands country domain name, has issued a final call for Longford applicants in the inaugural .IE Digital Town Awards.

Louth community groups and projects are being invited to submit final entries for the .IE Digital Town Awards, following a decision to extend the application deadline by a week to facilitate the recent demand in submissions.

The awards, which opened for entries on 22 March, will now accept applications until Friday, 30 April at 5.00pm giving community groups and projects an additional week to submit their entries.

Commenting on the decision to extend the deadline, Oonagh McCutcheon, Corporate Communications Manager at .IE said, we are delighted to announce an extension to the deadline for applications to the .IE Digital Town Awards this year.

Since opening the application portal for the awards in March, we have received a wide variety of applications from community groups and local towns across Ireland.

We have been really impressed with the responses so far and based on the positive reaction across the country, we have decided to extend the deadline by another week to ensure that all groups and projects have had the chance to submit their entries.

For those who have already made an application, the online portal will remain open for any last-minute changes or additions that they might like to make to their submission. And for those who are just starting the process, we would encourage you to start your application early, so that it is ready and finalised ahead of the revised deadline.

The .IE Digital Town Awards

The .IE Digital Town Awards has a total prize fund of 100,000 across 14 categories, which have been designed to recognise local community initiatives, town projects and people that have shown how digital projects have contributed to enhancements in areas such as health, tourism, education, public services, employment opportunities, citizen empowerment, and social entrepreneurship.

Eleven of the awards will be shining a light on digital projects, with a further three special awards recognising a Digital Changemaker, Digital Rising Star, and a Digital Hero  all of which will be decided on by independent judging panel.

For the Digital Changemaker, the judges want to see a town that demonstrates that they have taken creative digital action to create change and new ways of doing things to effect positive impacts for the community.

For the Digital Rising Star, the judges will be looking for a town that is an emerging talent in digital and will demonstrate the potential to be a future digital leader.

The Digital Hero, meanwhile, will be someone in the community who is an unsung hero, working tirelessly on initiatives to promote the digital enhancement of the town or a group in the town.
A Vancouver man was killed Wednesday afternoon when his vintage aircraft crashed into a hangar on the northwestern end of Grove Field airport north of Camas.

His daughter, Rebecca Perala of Vancouver, identified him Thursday as 69-year-old Mark Lewallen.

The National Transportation Safety Board posted on Twitter that the involved plane was a Consolidated Vultee BT-13A, a World War II-era trainer aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration registry shows the plane was manufactured in 1941 and had been registered to Lewallen since October 2012.

A passenger in Lewallens aircraft, whose name has not been released, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with traumatic injuries, according to the authorities.

The man was a friend of Lewallens and a flight instructor, who has a nearly identical plane and tens of thousands of hours of flying experience, said Perala, 45.

Lewallen was also an experienced pilot, she said, and he had flown off and on since he was a teenager, with hundreds of flying hours under his belt.

Clark County sheriffs deputies and East County Fire & Rescue personnel responded at 3:13 p.m. for the aircraft emergency at Grove Field, 632 N.E. 267th Ave., about 3 miles north of Camas.

East County Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Mike Carnes said the pilot later identified as Lewallen was seated in the front of the plane and receiving training from the pilot in the rear of the aircraft. Carnes said he was unsure if the plane was connected to the flight school at Grove Field.

The cause of the crash is unknown. The NTSB and FAA were on scene Thursday investigating.

Perala said the family doesnt know much about what happened, other than the crash occurred either on the landing or final touch-and-go before landing for the day.

She said, according to the passenger, Lewallen came in a bit fast, landed and started to take off into the grass.

He powered up with the hope of pulling back up into the air and going back around to correct the landing. Thats when he lost control, Perala said in an email. We dont know yet whether it was airplane, person or environment, or all three.

Grove Field is owned and operated by the Port of Camas-Washougal. Its website shows that its closed until further notice due to the crash.

Our hearts go out to the victims and the family and friends of the deceased, Sadie Hayes, the Ports community relations specialist, said in a statement.

 Jessica Prokop, The Columbian
Iranian-made "Sputnik V" to be available by mid-June

04/23/21

Source: Tehran Times

Iran will release jointly-produced Russian "Sputnik V" vaccine by the end of spring (June 21), Kianoush Jahanpour, head of the Information Center of the Ministry of Health, has announced.

A shipment of cell bank for the production of the "Sputnik V" vaccine delivered to Iran today, and the production process will start soon in Actoverco pharmaceutical company, Jahanpour wrote on his Twitter account on Thursday.

The first batch of Iranian-Russian vaccine will be available by the end of spring.

Three Iranian companies are volunteering to co-produce the Sputnik V vaccine in Iran and were introduced to the Gamaleya Institute through the Iranian Embassy in Russia. One of these companies is ahead of the others, of course, all three companies have the ability to produce this vaccine, he explained.

As soon as the production line is ready, the Russian side provides cell bank to the companies; so that the first vaccine products in Iran will enter the market after 45-60 days, he noted.

Iran started mass vaccination against COVID-19 with Sputnik V vaccine on February 9.

So far, 667,202 doses of coronavirus vaccine, including the first and second doses, have been injected in the country.

Iran is currently producing vaccines jointly with three countries of Cuba, Russia, and Australia, he noted, expressing hope that these vaccines can also be released by September.

Sixth shipment of Sputnik V arrived

Alireza Raeisi, spokesman for the National Headquarters for Coronavirus control announced on Thursday that the sixth batch of "Sputnik V" vaccine, including over 100,000 doses, has been sent to the country, IRNA reported.

Of the total vaccines imported so far, we have received about 420,000 doses of Sputnik V, some 650,000 doses from China, and 125,000 from India. We also received 700,000 doses of Astrazeneca vaccine from South Korea, so that a total of 1.895 million doses of vaccine have been provided to the Ministry of Health, he explained.

New cases and mortalities

In a press briefing on Friday Health Ministry's spokesperson, Sima-Sadat Lari, confirmed 24,092 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 2,335,905. She added that 1,823,958 patients have so far recovered, but 5,038 remain in critical conditions of the disease.



Over 2000 infected with COVID-19 have been hospitalized in Isfahan, Iran

During the past 24 hours, 453 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 68,366, she added.

So far, 14,854,140 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country.
The Colorado baker who was sued for refusing to bake cakes celebrating events relative to the LGBTQ has written a book detailing his experience and reiterating his Christian belief.

Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, was charged for refusing to create a cake for a same-sex wedding in July 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the baker and he won the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case in 2018.

But he is currently facing another legal battle. In 2017, transgender lawyer Autumn Scardina filed a lawsuit against Phillips for declining to make a cake for his gender transition celebration.

According to The Christian Post (CP), one of the two charges was already dropped by Judge A. Bruce Jones of Denver District Court in March, while a decision is pending for the other.

In an interview with CP, Phillips shared about his new book, "The Cost of My Faith: How a Decision in My Cake Shop Took Me to the Supreme Court." It tells about his legal battles for those cakes that he did not bake, pursuing his moral convictions.

He said that he wrote the book because he wanted his children and grandkids to know the story of what really happened since July 2012, since the facts he illustrated in it are difficult to find online.

When asked about his response back in 2012 and if he would do it again, he responded that his moral stance remains the same, adding that he will still refuse making such cakes with "inherent message or written message" that he "can't convey."

He would also explain to the gay couple that he welcomes everyone in his shop but he is just not willing to create a cake that goes against his Christian faith, believing in the "biblical view of marriage" which is only "between a man and a woman."

He said that he also tried to explain the same thing to Scardina during their meeting.

He was asked why people failed to understand the "nuances" of his moral convictions despite repeatedly making explanations.

"A lot of that, I believe, comes from the media's portrayal of me, and that's one of the reasons that I wanted to write the book. They portray me as somebody who's intolerant and somebody who won't serve different groups of society," he replied.

He added that the issue is about the cakes, which he declines to create if it relates to issues against his convictions, such as celebrating Halloween, cakes with alcohol and for those of the LGBTQ.

The baker stated that, in the case of conservative Christian activist Bill Jack, wherein Jack sued multiple bakeries for refusing to make an anti-gay cake, he is siding with the three bakers since they only responded in accordance with their stance. He argued that "Americans should be able to live and work freely according to their consciences, without fear of punishment from the government."

He was also questioned if he believes in Jack's strategy of proving a point, influencing the Supreme Court's opinion on his case in 2018. Phillips answered that he would not do what Jack did. He just wanted to run a cake shop and have a harmonious relationship with his customers.

Moreover, he said that he wrote the book to explain about his stance, since some people do not agree with it. He also stated that it was hard for a person like him to describe his experience but writing the book was an opportunity for him to explain about his argument - that he is willing to serve everyone but just "can't create every cake." He contended that this right is protected by the Constitution.

"Every American should be able to make those decisions and be able to create or not create things according to their conscience without fear of punishment from the government," Phillips concluded.

His book is set for release on May 18 through Salem Books.
Nvidia's planned takeover of semiconductor maker Arm hit a roadblock this week as the UK government raised objections to the buyout due to national security concerns. Japanese tech company SoftBank had originally agreed to sell Arm, which is headquartered in Cambridge, as part of a $40 billion deal.

Oliver Dowden, UK digital secretary, announced that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK's competitive watchdog, would look into the sale and review any potential national security implications. The Authority will investigate if Arm plans to raise prices or otherwise hurt licensing services to Nvidia rivals. They will make a report by July 30 revealing their findings.

"Following careful consideration of the proposed takeover of ARM, I have today issued an intervention notice on national security grounds," said Dowden in a statement. "We want to support our thriving UK tech industry and welcome foreign investment, but it is appropriate that we properly consider the national security implications of a transaction like this."

The sale to Nvidia would represent the largest deal in the chip industry. Arm chips are used in phones, tablets, wearables and other consumer electronics devices globally. SoftBank originally purchased the company in 2016 for $32 billion to help grow its Internet of Things (IoT) division. The new deal will give SoftBank an ownership stake in Nvidia as well as an expected boost to its AI development and initiatives.

Arm has traditionally maintained a neutral position in the chipmaking industry, which could shift with the Nvidia buyout. Nvidia is a direct competitor of a number of Arm customers, including Qualcomm, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

The intervention notice issued this week will kick off a phase one investigation by UK authorities, designed to ensure all aspects of the deal have been examined. If concerns are raised, the deal could be blocked as part of a phase two investigation. If no concerns are found on public interest or competition grounds, the deal will be able to proceed.

The buyout is also being reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S., which has opened an investigation and also requested information from third parties about the buyout.

"We do not believe that this transaction poses any material national security issues," said a spokesman for Nvidia in a statement. "We will continue to work closely with the British authorities, as we have done since the announcement of this deal."

Edited by Luke Bellos
Could the planet finally be on track to limiting climate change? After US President Joe Biden ramped up ambitions with a climate summit, experts are cautiously saying yes -- although a difficult path lies ahead.

At a 40-leader summit he convened just months into his presidency, Biden doubled US targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change by 2030, with Japan and Canada also raising commitments and the European Union and Britain locking in forceful targets earlier in the week.

"Together we've made great progress," Biden told the closing day of the summit, which he called the "start of a road" to a rigorous new climate accord at a UN conference in Glasgow in November.

John Kerry, Biden's climate envoy, said that more than half the world's economy has now pledged action that would check warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels -- the aspiration set by the 2015 Paris Agreement to avoid the worst effects of climate change such as droughts, submersion of low-lying islands and worsening storms, hunger and migration.

But that still leaves half the world -- and the effects of climate change are already being felt, with the planet clocking year after year of record heat and extreme weather on the rise.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told the summit that climate-warming emissions are on track for the second largest increase in history in 2021 amid the recovery from the Covid pandemic.

And more than half of the reductions needed to achieve goals of carbon neutrality mid-century will depend on technological innovations that do not yet exist, he said.

"Right now the data does not match the rhetoric and the gap is getting wider and wider," he said.

Bill Hare of Climate Analytics assessed that the new pledges reduced the gap in meeting the 1.5 goal by 12 to 14 percent -- a major reduction, but still not enough.

Story continues

"On the other hand, politically, momentum is building for more ambition to come through this year," he said.

"Governments made commitments and the next big question is whether or not they actually implement them," he said.

A steeper gap remains on climate aid for the poorest nations, despite Biden's pledge to boost US funding that had been severed by his climate-skeptic predecessor Donald Trump.

- Eyes on China -

The key players will be both the United States and China, which together account for nearly 50 percent of emissions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, pledging cooperation with the United States on climate despite a raft of other disputes, recommitted to carbon neutrality by 2060 and offered a hint of reducing reliance on coal -- the dirtiest form of energy, on which the manufacturing powerhouse remains heavily reliant.

He said China would "strictly control" coal and lower use in the next five-year development plan starting in 2025.

David Waskow, director of the International Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute, said Biden's summit gave "really important traction" but that particular attention will be on whether China makes more concrete steps.

"There's no question that signaling politically that China is prepared to start phasing down coal by 2025 is extremely important," he said.

A number of leaders offered no new ambitions, notably Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- pointing to his nation's much-lower energy use per capita -- announced cooperation with the United States but kept to previous pledges to reduce the intensity of emissions, not the absolute number.

- 'Baking it into the cake' -

Biden is investing heavy political capital on climate, also proposing to Congress a green-focused $2 trillion infrastructure package.

But his efforts face wide opposition from Trump's Republican Party, which is closely aligned with the fossil fuel industry and scoffs at most international agreements.

Waskow said the Biden administration was trying to move early to set climate action in motion with efforts such as backing clean energy and electric cars, with an expectation that businesses and state and local governments will keep moving ahead regardless of the political winds in Washington.

"They are baking it into the cake," he said.

Nathan Hultman, director of the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, said that Biden had sent a "super-strong signal" on climate.

He noted the most of the 50-52 percent reductions by 2030 are eyed in power and transportation, sectors where immediate action looks most promising -- but said that far more will need to be done.

"There's no way we can even come close to 50 without other sectors," he said.

"The other thing to remember is that it's not just a story of getting to 2030 -- it's a story of getting to zero in the mid-century."

fff-sct/ft
This handout photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service shows, Russian troops board landing vessels after drills in Crimea on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russian Troops Start Pulling Back From Ukrainian Border

MOSCOWRussian troops began pulling back to their permanent bases Friday after a massive buildup that has caused Ukrainian and Western concerns.

On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared the sweeping maneuvers in Crimea and wide swaths of western Russia over, and he ordered the military to bring the troops that took part in them back to their permanent bases by May 1.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the announcement.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that its forces that took part in the massive drills in Crimea were moving to board trains, transport aircraft, and landing vessels en route to their permanent bases.

This handout photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service shows, Russian militarys armored vehicles roll into landing vessels after drills in Crimea on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would await confirmation from Ukrainian and NATO intelligence.

We want to see that Russian deeds match Russian words, Kuleba said Friday during a visit to Romania.

While ordering the pullback of military personnel, Shoigu ordered their heavy weapons kept in western Russia for a massive exercise called Zapad (West) 2021 later this year. The weapons were to be stored at the Pogonovo firing range in the southwestern Voronezh region, 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Russias border with Ukraine.

The United States and NATO have said the troop buildup was the largest since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and threw its support behind separatists in Ukraines eastern industrial heartland of Donbas. More than 14,000 people have been killed in seven years of fighting between Ukrainian troops and the Russia-backed separatists.

This handout photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service shows, Russian militarys armored vehicles roll into landing vessels after drills in Crimea on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

The concentration of Russian troops amid increasing violations of a cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Ukraine raised concerns in the West, which urged the Kremlin to pull its forces back.

Moscow rejected the Ukrainian and Western concerns, arguing that it is free to deploy its forces anywhere on Russian territory. But the Kremlin also sternly warned Ukrainian authorities against trying to use force to retake control of the rebel east, saying it could intervene to protect civilians there.

This handout photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service shows Russian military trucks are readied for loading after drills in Crimea on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Asked if the Kremlin thinks that the Russian troop pullback could help ease tensions with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the issues were not connected.

Its not an issue for Russia-U.S. relations, Peskov said in a call with reporters. We have said that any movement of Russian troops on Russian territory doesnt pose any threat and doesnt represent an escalation. Russia does what it thinks is necessary for its military organization and training of troops.

By Vladimir Isachenkov
UPDATE - The New York Mills Fire Chief says one worker at Whitcraft in Whitestown was transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The chief says he was trying to put the fire out using a fire extinguisher. Its believed the fire started inside of a large press machine while work was being done on it. The fire was put out by firefighters using fire extinguishers.

WHITESTOWN, NY - A fire at a manufacturing company in Oneida County had firefighters busy for a while Friday morning.

Several agencies were called to a report of a fire at Whitcraft TECT Power on Halsey Road just before 8:00. The company manufactures aerospace components.

NewsChannel 2s reporter on the scene saw only minor smoke coming from the back of the building.

No word yet on a cause, or if there were any injuries.

NewsChannel 2 has reached out to the New York Mills Fire Department for more information.
[April 22, 2021] GAINSystems Grows Greener with Each New Customer

CHICAGO, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GAINSystems, a provider of innovative cloud-based, advanced Supply Chain Planning, Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), and Inventory Optimization solutions, today announced its continued Environmental, Sustainability and Social Responsibility commitment to invest more with each new GAINS subscriber to serve local communities and offset the Company's carbon footprint. GAINSystems initiated a Combined Emissions Offset and Community Center Energy Initiative in 2018 as a vehicle to grow in an environmentally-sustainable fashion while also supporting community-centric enterprises. Each community hosting location will be provided a ~20kW solar array. These generate approximately $6,000 per year in recurring benefits through reduced energy costs and solar credits for each hosting organization. This initiative targets suitable structures of budget-constrained, community-centric institutions such as schools and community centers in Chicago. Each site's positive impact on the environment is calculated by multiplying the system's energy production with CO2 and Trees Planted factors provided by the United States EPA as well as local standards. For example, the initial array funded and planned by GAINSystems and installed at the Wicker Park Community Center offsets the carbon equivalent of planting approximately 150 trees per year. GAISystems has an ambitious goal to become carbon negative by 2025 and this initiative has had a tangible impact equivalent to 600 trees planted and over 50,000 pounds of CO2 emissions saved since 2018 offsetting roughly 40% of GAINSystems SaaS subscription emissions. Additionally, as each new GAINS subscriber consumes the equivalent of approximately 1kW of solar production a year, GAINSystems intends to continue adding 1kW of installed solar production per customer.



"With the goal to offset GAINSystems' carbon footprint and contribute to a more sustainable world, we will pace our investment to the rapid growth of the GAINS customer base," said Bill Benton, GAINSystems CEO. "We believe sustainability initiatives that also directly bolster the finances of worthy pillars of the community can fulfill our social responsibility mission to pay it forward both locally and globally." To learn more about the Wicker Park Community Center array:

https://monitoringpublic.solaredge.com/solaredge-web/p/site/public?name=Wicker%20Park%20Lutheran%20Church#/dashboard About GAINSystems GAINSystems provides an innovative supply chain planning platform that optimizes manufacturing, distribution, retail and aftermarket/maintenance businesses to drive better decision-making, deliver exceptional customer satisfaction, and lower costs. The GAINS approach delivers cost and profit optimization via proven algorithms, machine learning and actionable analytics to provide award-winning demand, supply, and inventory optimization, including comprehensive S&OP, across both the enterprise and the extended value chain. Innovative design combined with the GAINSystems proven deployment methodology enables customers to achieve rapid onboarding and tangible results including increased sales, inventory turns, and service levels at reduced operating costs with greater confidence and efficiency. GAINSystems is proud to provide digital supply chain planning expertise to industry leaders like Graybar, Honda Motors, Menard's, Rockwell Automation, Stuller, and Textron Aviation. To learn more about how you can get results with GAINS visit www.GAINSystems.com Media Contact:

Jennifer Lacey

GAINSystems

JLacey@GAINSystems.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gainsystems-grows-greener-with-each-new-customer-301275555.html SOURCE GAINSystems

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Chennai, April 23 : As part of containing the second wave of Covid-19 ,the Union Territory of Puducherry has banned the sale of all liquor including arrack, toddy and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in bars and toddy shops from 2 p.m. onwards from April 26 to 30.

A circular issued by Deputy Commissioner (Excise) T Sudhakar said that liquor, arrack and toddy shops will remain closed from Friday night till Monday morning when the Union Territory is going for a lockdown.

He said that any violation will be dealt with seriously and action will be taken under the Puducherry Excise Act 1970.

Mahe, which is part of Puducherry and bordering Kannur district of Kerala, has already started preparations to implement the lockdown and the closing down of the liquor shops. The 5 km area of Mahe is home to around 60 liquor shops and excise officials from Kerala are also keeping a vigil on the smuggling of alcohol through the border once the lockdown comes into effect from Friday night upto Monday morning.

M Rakesh Nair, Deputy Superintendent, Kerala excise department and who is in charge of Thalassery area of Kannur district which borders Mahe, told IANS, "Earlier we were vigilant on smuggling of liquor from Mahe to Kerala through this check post but now it will be vice versa and hence strong teams of excise are on vigil at border points in Mahe, Palloor, Pandakkal in Puducherry which shares common areas with Kerala."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Turkey has announced today that British tourists will be welcome in the country this summer without having to show a vaccination certificate.

Visitors from the UK will not need to produce a Covid vaccine passport, but will need to show proof of a negative PCR test.

The country also promises to provide testing for tourists before they return to the UK, with tests at hotels or airports costing around 25. Until now PCR tests for a family of four can cost as much as 500.

Tui, the world's largest tour operator, said it had seen a surge in bookings to popular Turkish coastal resorts even before today's announcement.

Rental company The Luxury Travel Book told MailOnline it had seen a spike in bookings for luxury villas in Greece, Portugal and Mallorca after the Greek Tourism Minister announced the plan to welcome British tourists from mid-May.

People are booking up for month-long trips and asking for WiFi and a desk and are taking the whole family so that they can get paid to work from home while on holiday.

The firm has also seen double the amount of requests for Greek villas compared to previous years, with demand for fully serviced villas with a chef, butler and housekeeper so tourists can stay away from busy restaurants.

Popular islands Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu and Crete are already getting booked up, with most bookings from 2020 rolled over into this year.

Brits are also looking for properties on smaller islands including Hydra, Paxos and Syros, which are off the beaten track and away from the crowds.

This comes as Downing Street last night said the ban on foreign holidays is on track to be lifted on May 17, with travel opened up to as many as 30 countries.

Turkey has announced today that British tourists will be welcome in the country this summer without having to show a vaccination certificate (pictured, Antalya)

Villa rental company The Luxury Travel Book told MailOnline it had seen a spike in bookings for luxury villas in Greece, Portugal (pictured) and Mallorca in recent days

Tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the 'successful vaccination programmes ongoing in both the UK and Turkey will ensure this season is even safer than last year'.

Which countries are currently accepting international tourists or will do soon? Croatia: Open to international tourists, anyone arriving there will need to show proof of either a vaccination, negative PCR or antigen test result, or confirmation of recovery from Covid within the last 180 days. Iceland: Open to anyone who has been vaccinated against Covid. Those who can provide proof of prior infection will also be exempt from quarantine rules. Cyprus: Open from May 1 to UK travellers who have received both doses of their Covid vaccine. France: UK visitors can enter if they have a negative PCR test carried out 72 hours before departure, but they must self-isolate for seven days before taking a second test. Greece: Reopening to foreign tourists from May 14, with arrivals either having to have been vaccinated or have a negative Covid test within 72 hours before travel. Malta: Fully vaccinated UK travellers will be welcomed from June 1, with tourists receiving 87 if they book a hotel for at least three nights as part of a bonus scheme. Portugal: Plans to reopen to Britons from May 17, provided arrivals can show evidence they have been vaccinated, have a recent negative test, or have antibodies. Spain: It wants to open 'as soon as possible' but is currently in a tight lockdown. Turkey: The country has said it plans to welcome Britons in the summer even if they don't have proof of a vaccination or negative test. Maldives: Open to tourists provided they can show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 96 hours of travel. Seychelles: Open to travellers under the same terms as the Maldives. Mexico: The country is welcoming international tourists with no need for proof of a vaccine or testing. Dubai: Tourists must have a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before leaving. However, direct flights between Britain and Dubai are currently banned. Anguilla: Welcoming back holidaymakers from July 1 provided they have been vaccinated and can show proof of a negative test. Barbados: The island will require international tourists who have been vaccinated and can show proof of a negative test to quarantine for two days from May 8, or five for non-vaccinated people, who will also have to take a second test to be released. Thailand: Arrivals currently have to quarantine for 14 days, but these rules will be waived from July 1 for vaccinated tourists in Phuket. Advertisement

Turkey's tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the 'successful vaccination programmes in the UK and Turkey will ensure this season is even safer than last year'.

Mr Ersoy added: 'We are looking forward to welcoming British tourists with open arms, as we did safely last summer.

'We have world-class border processes in place for ensuring travel will be low-risk throughout Turkey.

'We are working with the British authorities to ensure these necessary processes are world-class and as up-to-date as possible.

'We will not require vaccination passports from international travellers when entering the country.'

A priority vaccination program is already underway for employees at hotels and other tourist facilities to receive a jab before the start of the summer season.

Some 20,775,790 million vaccination doses have been administered in Turkey as of 22 April.

Tourists visiting Turkey are also being offered a special insurance package, from 12, which covers Covid related expenses such as treatment, medication and emergency care costs that may be incurred if visitors are taken to a state-owned or private hospital during their stay in the country.

A TUI spokesman said: 'This is great news because our bookings to Turkey have been incredibly strong, second only to Greece.

'We're committed to working closely with the Government so our customers can look forward to a much-needed holiday abroad this summer.'

And Bulgaria, eager to encourage holiday-makers to its Black Sea resorts, has also announced it will ease rules for entry to the Balkan country from May 1.

The country's outgoing health minister Kostadin Angelov said entry will be allowed for tourists who show a vaccination certificate, with a negative test result from a PCR or an antigen test.

Tourists can alternatively show proof that they have recovered from the coronavirus infection in the past six months.

Earlier this week, Greece lifted quarantine restrictions for British travellers, raising the prospect of holidays to the Mediterranean country in less than a month if ministers lift the ban on foreign travel on May 17 - although tourists could face quarantine after flying home.

It is extremely unlikely Greece would qualify as a green list destination not requiring quarantine, because its current Covid prevalence of 271 cases per million is far higher than the level considered acceptable, which is around 50.

Covid laws mean anyone caught taking a foreign holiday before the end of June currently faces a 5,000 fine.

But No10 said ministers were now confident the ban will be lifted on May 17  the most optimistic date set out in Boris Johnson's roadmap for easing the lockdown.

There has so far been no sign of the feared spike in Covid cases since the reopening of shops, gyms, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality last week  which could have derailed the roadmap.

Asked about the May 17 target, the PM's official spokesman said: 'There is nothing in the data that suggests we need to change the dates.'

A final decision will be made early next month.

But Paul Charles, boss of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said he expected up to 30 countries to be considered 'green' destinations  not requiring travellers to quarantine upon return.

The ban on foreign holidays is on track to be lifted on May 17, Downing Street said last night, with travel opened up to as many as 30 countries. Pictured: Saint Lucia in the Caribbean

Israel (pictured is the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem) and some Caribbean islands are among the countries most likely to be named on the initial 'green list'

Iceland (blue lagoon in Iceland) is also among the countries that is most likely to be named on the list

Hopes of an early return for foreign holidays were boosted after the EU indicated UK residents would be exempt from a travel ban because of this country's high vaccination rate.

Israel, Iceland and some Caribbean islands are among the countries most likely to be named on the initial 'green list' next month.

The Commons transport committee yesterday urged ministers to name the 'green list' by May 1 to give firms and families time to plan.

Where is the best bet for a foreign holiday this summer? Spain wants to welcome British tourists but is set to miss out on the 'green list' - however Portugal, Dubai and Barbados could be on

By Jack Elsom for MailOnline

Millions of lockdown-weary Britons are waiting with baited breath for ministers to reveal their 'green list' of countries ahead of holidays resuming from May 17.

The Government is expected to unveil its traffic light system on May 7, when destinations will be categorised by varying degrees of quarantine restrictions.

Those awarded green list status, where returning travellers will not have to self-isolate, will automatically become prime getaway locations.

But despite craving tourists to revive their flagging economy, typical British favourites such as France and Spain could be set to miss out.

Paul Charles, boss of the PC Travel Agency, said today the green list will instead likely include countries Israel, Barbados, Morocco, Maldives, Seychelles, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and the British Overseas Territories of Bermuda.

Portugal could also be a rare European addition to the green list after wrestling cases right down.

Vaccine passports have been hailed as key to unlocking foreign travel this summer, with many countries ready to welcome people who've had both doses without tests.

Experts from the PC Agency believe most of Europe will be amber not green (data from April 15)

Yet it is the toughened UK self-isolation restrictions facing returning holidaymakers that will likely sway their choice of destination.

One Government source said: 'You've got countries saying we will welcome you. But it depends what the precautions on return are.

'We will have that green, amber, red system. It is about what you face when you come back to the UK. Can you isolate for 10 days?'

Below MailOnline drills down into the countries that are likely to receive green status - and the holidaymaker favourites that will likely be overlooked.

THE COUNTRIES EXPECTED TO GO ON THE 'GREEN LIST'

Portugal

Vaccinated: 20% Daily cases: 4.7/100,000 Weekly change: -11%

Border controls: None currently, expect to be asked for proof of vaccinations or negative test

Portugal is steadily resuming normal life after weeks of restrictions has successfully brought cases right down.

In January the country locked down in the jaws of then the world's worst surge in cases that at its peak saw 12,000 people - of its 10million population - catching the virus at day.

Daily cases have now plateaued at around 500 - 47 per million - while deaths are in single digits.

A fifth of the population has now also been vaccinated, and the most vulnerable seven per cent have received both doses.

Restaurants, museums, shops, gyms and malls have all now reopened after months starved of income.

Such a hit to the economy means Portugal is enthusiastic about welcoming back British tourists, who typically flock to the Algarve by the thousands each summer.

Portugal is enthusiastic about welcoming back British tourists, who typically flock to the Algarve by the thousands each summer (Alvor beach pictured)

Tourism minister Rita Marquez said she looked forward to Britons flying over from May 17, provided they show proof they've been vaccinated or have tested negative.

She told the Today programme: 'We hope to welcome all British holidaymakers from May 17.

'Holidaymakers can present to Portuguese authorities a certification that testifies they are vaccinated or have immunisation to the virus of they have a negative Covid test. It will be very straightforward process.'

Last month the country was removed from the red list, which was greeted by Portuguese officials.

Tui is currently advertising package holidays to a host of seaside resorts in the Algarve from as early as May 17.

Dubai

Vaccinated: 51% Daily cases: 19.2/100,000 Weekly change : -1.3%

Border controls: Must arrive with proof of negative test within 72 hours

The United Arab Emirates is one of the world leading countries by vaccination rates, having jabbed more than half of its population.

Cases are also declining and daily deaths - which have been kept remarkably low, totalling 1,561 during the entire pandemic - have dropped to an average of around three per day.

Dubai, the UAE's biggest city, is expected to allow British tourists to return when they are given the green light to travel from the UK government, given how relaxed it was about Love Island influences flying there during the winter wave.

In February Dubai closed all bars, clubs and lounges for a month to tackle a spike in cases, but they have since reopened.

The city has been open for tourists since July 2020, with visitors required to take a PCR test 72 hours before arrival, and again on arrival in Dubai.

Industry chiefs are confident British tourists will be able to book holidays in the gulf shortly.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, told an event last month: 'The progress that's being made in the US, Israel (and) the UK gives us hope that life will start to assume some sort of normality.

'I think there are some strong indications that over the next few weeks, things will move very quickly.'

Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Travel Agency, reckons Dubai will be open for travel by July 31, along with neighboring Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Malta

Vaccinated: 44% Daily cases: 9.2/100,000 Weekly change: -22%

Border controls: Expected to open 1 June. Currently 14 day quarantine, arrive with negative PCR test and be retested on arrival

All the numbers are trending in the right direction Malta, paving the way for summer holidays in one of the Queen and the late Prince Philip's treasured island bolthole.

The archipelago with a population of only half a million people has indicated it will allow fully vaccinated Britons to fly there from June 1.

A negative PCR test certificate 72 hours prior to, or on arrival, is also likely to be accepteable.

Last month Malta Tourism Authority UK and Ireland director Tolene Van Der Merwe said: 'Malta is a very popular destination for British holidaymakers and is a key contributor to Malta's economy, so we are excited to welcome back fully vaccinated travellers from the United Kingdom from 1 June 2021.

'The people of Malta are looking forward to tourists returning who have loved our sunshine, culture, food and warm spirit year in year out.

'Malta has implemented its 'Sunny and Safe' Covid protocols, so visitors can be reassured that all restaurants, accommodation and service providers must comply with the highest levels of cleanliness and safety.'

And Malta's tourism and consumer protection minister Clayton Bartolo added: 'The health and safety of Maltese citizens and tourists will always be our top priority, and with the continued rollout of the vaccine here in Malta, this focused reopening plan is designed to slowly and safely reopen tourism to fully vaccinated Britons.'

Barbados

Vaccinated: 24% Daily cases: 2.6/100,000 Weekly change: 8%

Border controls: Visitors tested on arrival and must quarantine for 5 days

Stringent rules for overseas arrivals have helped keep overall cases below 4,000 in Barbados.

But from May 8 restrictions will be eased for visitors to the Caribbean holiday favourite with both doses of Covid vaccines.

They will still have to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test result three days prior to travel, a vaccination certificate, and have a PCR test completed at arrival at the airport.

However they will not have to spend at least five days self-isolating in approved accommodation, as per non-vaccinated tourists.

Barbados Tourism Marketing said these measures 'are likely to change' as the pandemic wanes.

But Such strict measures could deter holidaymakers who have not had both doses.

Nevertheless, an infection rate of just 2.6 per 100,000 should see Barbados make the green list.

Moreover Barbados has had a successful vaccine programme, with nearly a quarter of the population having received a first dose of the AstraZeneca jab.

Seychelles

Vaccinated: 68% Daily cases: 55/100,000 Weekly change: 21%

Border controls: Arrive with proof of negative PCR test taken with 72 hours

With a tiny island population of less than 100,000, the Seychelles have strode ahead with vaccinations and jabbed more than two-thirds of its citizens.

Currently there are an average 54 cases a day on the island, and the country has not recorded any deaths in some days.

It's small population means that its cases per 100,000 can appear worrying, but that's because just a handful of cases can have a sizeable shift in the numbers.

The Seychelles boasts some of the world's most idyllic beauty spots, with golden sands and clear blue seas

Last month the Seychelles opened its borders for tourists, with foreign affairs and tourism minister Sylvestre Radegonde citing the country's 'aggressive' inoculation drive as the key to unlocking.

He said: 'Our borders further is the next step to allow for our economic recovery. The measures being announced reflect broadly the recommendation of our tourism partners and have been done in full consultation with and the endorsement of our health authorities.'

The Seychelles boasts some of the world's most idyllic beauty spots, with golden sands and clear blue seas.

Holiday favourites that hang in the balance...

France

Vaccinated: 19% Daily cases 47/100,000 Weekly change: -27%

Border controls: Seven-day quarantine, arrive with proof of negative test

After falling foul of the EU's bungled jab rollout - and President Macron's scepticism of the AstraZeneca vaccine - France is now making headway and has nearly inoculated a fifth of its population.

Like much of Europe it recently grappled with a devastating third wave, and although it appears to be past the peak, it is unlikely to make the UK's green list at first.

Paul Charles predicts it will be on the amber list under the UK's traffic light system.

It means travellers would require proof of a negative PCR test before arriving in Britain, take two further tests after returning and undergo a 10-day quarantine at home.

While this could pave the way for cross-Channel getaways, Macron this week appeared to suggest millions of vaccinated UK holidaymakers could be prevented from visiting France this summer.

A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks past cafe terrace with chairs stacked outside a restaurant, in Paris

Unveiling France's travel strategy, the President said that Americans and Europeans could come if they have been jabbed or have proof of a negative coronavirus test result - without specifying if Britons would be included in the continental passport regime.

Responding to the announcement, travel bosses slammed Macron's 'incredibly disappointing' move and said it made 'no sense' to cut off vaccinated Britons while allowing unvaccinated Americans and Europeans to visit.

Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Steven Freudmann, Chairman of the Institute of Travel & Tourism and former President of ABTA, suggested the ploy is 'politically motivated and not guided by the scientific reality'.

He also pointed out that UK tourism is an incredible boon to the French economy, with statistics showing that British holidaymakers spent more than 5billion while visiting the country during 2017.

Spain

Vaccinated: 21% Daily cases: 18/100,000 Weekly change: -2%

Border controls: Hopes to open this summer. Currently closed to non-residents

Spain's tourism minister today said the country is 'desperate to welcome' UK visitors this summer.

Fernando Valdes told Sky News: 'I think we will be ready here in Spain. We also think that the vaccination scheme in the UK is going pretty well, so hopefully we'll be seeing this summer the restart of holidays.'

He added that certificates enabling holidaymakers to prove they have been vaccinated or recently tested are 'going to help us'.

Tourism in Spain - the world's second-most visited country before the pandemic - fell 80 per cent last year and the country wants visitors back fast.

November: Spanish beaches are typically crammed with tourists soaking up the sun (Barcelona pictured)

March: But like much of Europe it has grappled with a third wave (Magaluf pictured)

But Spain's chances of being on the British government's green list hangs in the balance, with Paul Charles predicting it will probably be amber.

While the country has now given vaccines to 21 per cent of its population, its case rate is still much higher than the UK's.

The rolling seven-day average for daily cases was yesterday more than 8,000, compared with around 2,000 for Britain.

However it is understood that Spain's Canary Islands - a holiday hotspot - could be included on the green list because of the low level of cases.

Croatia

Vaccinated: 15% Daily cases 53/100,000 Weekly change: 10%

Border controls: Negative test taken within 48 hours

Croatia is one of a clutch of countries to have mooted using vaccine passports as a way to save foreign travel this summer.

But with a low vaccination rate and cases rising rapidly, the European holiday favourite will likely be overlooked for green list status.

After a huge spike in January, the country is in the teeth of an aftershock and yesterday recorded 2,000 more cases.

The R rate is also estimated to be at 1.18, meaning infections are rising.

However the country is still hoping to lure visitors to its beautiful beaches and vibrant tourist spots this summer.

Arrivals who have been vaccinated, recovered from Covid or had a negative PCR test will be able to go to Croatia for holidays.

Nikolina Brnjac, the country's tourism minister, said: 'EU citizens, as well as non-EU citizens, who have either recovered or been vaccinated or have a negative PCR or EU-approved antigen test, will be able to enter Croatia for tourist reasons.

'We have intensified preparations for the upcoming tourist year; we are arranging additional points for testing in tourist places in order to make our tourists' stay in the Republic of Croatia as pleasant and safe as possible.'
What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his entourage left Hanoi on Friday for an ASEAN summit scheduled to take place at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday and Friday, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Society

-- Police in Gia Lai Province, located in Vietnam's Central Highlands, arrested a 30-year-old suspect on Thursday for stabbing a priest and setting fire to a church, a local official said on Friday.

-- Vietnam administered the first shot of AstraZeneca vaccine to 20,200 people on Thursday, taking the total number of vaccinated people past 128,000, the Ministry of Health said in a report on Friday.

-- A court in Vietnam on Thursday sentenced a 45-year-old woman to two years in prison for publishing Facebook posts to subvert the people's administration from October 2019 to November 2020.

-- A police man has been identified as the suspect that stabbed a ward-level Party official to death in Khanh Hoa Province on Tuesday, a source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday.

Business

-- Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index lost over 40 points on Thursday, as the country's stock market opened again after a national holiday.

-- Lending to the stock market had reached VND46 trillion (US$2 billion) by the middle of this month, up 0.7 percent year on year, the State Bank of Vietnam said on Thursday.

-- Vietnam's Vinamilk is the only dairy company in Southeast Asia to rank among the world's top 50 milk producers, according to Plimsoll Publishing Ltd., an expert in the field of company and industry financial analysis.

-- Secretary of the Can Tho City Party Committee Le Quang Manh and U.S. Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Marie C. Damour expressed their wish to spur bilateral cooperation in trade promotion, climate change response, health care, and education during a meeting on Thursday, the Vietnam News Agency reported the same day.

World News

-- "Russia announced on Thursday it was ordering troops back to base from the area near the border with Ukraine, apparently calling an end to a buildup of tens of thousands of soldiers that had alarmed the West," Reuters reported.

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We have serious problems and our leaders should better own up to them. The Nigerian education sector is deep in crisis. We have the issue of the lack of standards, on one hand, and insecurity, on the other. This new wave of the kidnapping of students has added to our baskets of challenges. This is not the time to be talking about cows

The way Nigerian leaders talk about cows and goats gives one the impression that these animals are far higher in value than the average citizen. Discourse on cattle is so much elevated above any meaningful discussion on education, technology or development in general. From the look of things, it seems Nigerias 18.4 million cattle, its 43.4 million sheep, 76 million goats and 7.5 million pigs are of far more importance than its 10.5 million out-of-school children and hundreds of others in kidnappers dens. Somehow, these animals have continued to be objects of national focus in the last five years, at the expense of human beings.

In one of my articles in 2019, I described Nigeria as a nation that values cows more than its children and I did say then that if Nigeria gave half of the attention it was giving to cattle to its children, the country would have been on a clear path of sanity and growth. Sadly, in 2021, cattle still remain the nations priority, while its education sector continues to take a backstage.

The latest of these anomalies in our political system is the consideration of a bill to create a database for cows. A country that relies on foreigners for data on its out-of-school children and that has no idea of its exact population figure is tinkering with the idea of counting herds of cows and sheep. Not only that, it is considering the establishment of a bureaucratic structure to be known as the National Livestock Bureau to look after the interest of animals.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Muhammad Enagi Bima representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), Niger South, in the National Assembly, is to ensure the protection, control and management of all livestock in Nigeria. According to the proposed law, the agency will be in charge of identification, traceability and registration of livestock such as cows and goats to curb cattle rustling and end the prolonged farmer/herder conflict in the country. According to Bima, livestock accounts for one-third of Nigerias agricultural GDP, providing income, employment, meat, milk, leather, farm energy, manure, fuel, and transport, hence the reason why the business should be protected.

When a member of the Senate questioned the competence of the National Assembly in legislating on the livestock industry, which should ordinarily be a private business concern, the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, said any government or parliament should be able to do anything possible to protect an industry worth between N5 and N10 trillion.

To Lawan, the parliaments intervention is based on the Doctrine of Necessity. He said: Sitting here, I believe that we will be doing this country good; we will be doing justice and a great deal of service to our people that we legislate on this.

So, based on Standing Order 25(h) which gives me the authority to interpret both our standing orders  the rules and constitutional point of orders  I rule that this Senate and, indeed, the National Assembly, has the legislative competence to legislate on this matter.

Aside the usual calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security, each time students are abducted from their schools, I havent seen any serious move by our lawmakers aimed at halting the existential threat that kidnapping is posing to Nigerias education sector. Already, one in every five of the worlds out-of-school children is in Nigeria.

Probably, it would have made better sense to an ordinary Nigerian if the National Assembly had taken time to provide figures of current tax earnings from Nigerias cattle and goat businesses to justify the special attention it is getting. Providing such facts and figures could have, at least, helped some people to know why, for instance, the poultry business, also an aspect of the livestock industry, is not enjoying as much attention, in spite of the cries of poultry farmers for helps.

Coincidentally, the Senates bill seeking to protect cattle was brought up for discussion on a day that Nigerias Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that about 62,000 of Nigerias schools could be easily accessed by external forces. This is in spite of several millions of dollars pledged towards rehabilitation of schools at the launch of the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI) years back. She went ahead to tell us that the Federal Government would come up with a national plan and use it as an instrument to mobile resources.

By the way, has anyone wondered why Nigerian leaders always talk about what they will do and not what they have done? They talk about development in the future tense. Insurgency has been with us for over a decade, these criminals have been abducting students and other Nigerians for nearly 10 years, yet we are still planning in 2021 to make provision in our budgets for the safety of the education sector. A Yoruba adage says if it takes 20 years to plan madness, how long would the madness itself last? More than 10 years into insurgency, our governments are still planning on how to build ordinary fences that cant even prevent abductions. For how long are we going to wait for them to adopt technology in checking the menace? And our Senate does not see this as an urgent area of intervention in line with its Doctrine of Necessity?

Aside the usual calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security, each time students are abducted from their schools, I havent seen any serious move by our lawmakers aimed at halting the existential threat that kidnapping is posing to Nigerias education sector. Already, one in every five of the worlds out-of-school children is in Nigeria. Between December 2020 and March 2021, more than 600 children were kidnapped while in school. Unfortunately, all these incidents happened in the North, which is already the most educationally disadvantaged region. Sixty nine per cent of Nigerias out-of school children are from Northern Nigeria. Shouldnt this be an issue of worry for our lawmakers?

Why are cattle so important to our political elite? Are they the ones behind the cattle business? After all, we know that the herdsmen we see following cows up and down are not the owners of the cows they tend. Rather, they are hired by the cattle owners to feed and protect these animals. Someone once said that while India has sacred cows, Nigeria has sacred cow owners. I agree.

What is the real reason behind the desperation every time to protect cattle business and why should we be having conversations on cattle in a National Assembly? There was a time the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) had the audacity to ask government for a N100 billion intervention fund in a country where a paltry N2 billion is voted for the take-off of a university.

What is the real reason behind the desperation every time to protect cattle business and why should we be having conversations on cattle in a National Assembly? There was a time the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) had the audacity to ask government for a N100 billion intervention fund in a country where a paltry N2 billion is voted for the take-off of a university. So many good things are eluding Nigeria (Twitter choosing Ghana as first Africa office, Amazon opening African office in South Africa, etc,) because of insecurity, and our senators are out there discussing cows.

I just hope that one day our leaders will stop chasing shadows and start focusing attention on things that really matter, such as, education. Japan kept a rail station open for one girl who used it to travel to high school for three years until she completed her studies. As stated in a previous column, Honduras and Nigeria are in the same category when it comes to corruption. It is a tiny nation and one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. But despite its rating as a corrupt country by Transparency International, it had enough sense to help its schoolchildren when it realised that they were not performing well in international tests of academic performance.

Today, the students performance has improved tremendously such that a recent UNESCO report comparing student test scores across Latin America shows that Honduran third graders have crept up from fifteenth to tenth place in mathematics and reading. This is what happens when nations take responsibility for the outcome of their education sector.

We have serious problems and our leaders should better own up to them. The Nigerian education sector is deep in crisis. We have the issue of the lack of standards, on one hand, and insecurity, on the other. This new wave of the kidnapping of students has added to our baskets of challenges. This is not the time to be talking about cows; our leaders should work with other stakeholders to reverse this current situation to prevent an irrecoverable and catastrophic collapse of the sector.

Olabisi Deji-Folutile is the Editor-in-Chief, Franktalknow.com and member, Nigerian Guild of Editors. Email: bisideji@yahoo.co.uk.

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Compliance and regulatory consultancy Group Complyport Ltd has reported that EU based financial services firms are creating a "strong demand" for FCA authorisation in order to operate in the UK post-Brexit.

Commenting on the demand from EU-based financial services firms seeking access to the UK market, Complyport CEO Paul Scott commented:

"At Complyport, we are seeing a consistent stream of EU-based financial services firms seeking FCA authorisation, with requests coming from a wide range of countries and industry areas. We have digital currency operators, FX traders, investment funds, and retail finance operators all wanting to operate in the UK."

Recent findings revealed that almost 1,500 EU-based financial services firms have applied for permission to operate in the UK, with around 1,000 planning to establish their first UK office. The Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) allows European Economic Area (EEA) firms and funds to continue to operate in the UK, while seeking full authorisation from UK regulators. Of those that applied, 83% were on a 'services' passport, meaning they would need to set up a UK office for the first time.

The countries from which the largest number of firms have applied are Ireland, France, and Germany, which together account for over a third of the firms on the TPR.

Paul Scott CEO of Complyport Ltd, further commented:

The strong demand for UK market access from EU-based financial services firms is a clear indication that the UK financial services sector will continue to be in a strong position post-Brexit. This demonstrates how robust the UK economy is, and how attractive London remains as a place to do business despite Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic."

ENDS

About Complyport:

Complyport is a leading compliance and regulatory consultancy providing bespoke, practical solutions for all manner of regulated firms both in the UK and overseas. Their specialist compliance services expertise can either sit alongside firms' current compliance teams or, for an independent solution, Complyport can bring their team in-house.

Established in 2001, Complyport combines former regulators, industry practitioners and legally qualified individuals to offer clients an unparalleled, professional team.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005392/en/

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For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview with Paul Scott, contact:

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Chennai, April 23 : Remdesivir, a key drug in the fight against Covid and for treating pulmonary complaints, is in short supply in Tamil Nadu and doctors fear that the drug is in shortage following deliberate attempts by a section of the people to hoard the medicine.

While the government rate of the drug is Rs 600 for a vial, there are instances of the drug being priced at Rs 5,000 to Rs 13,000 in black market. The IMA, Tamil Nadu unit has already appealed to the government to strictly monitor the presence of the drug in the state and to prevent any hoarding or black marketing from taking place in the state.

Dr Ramakrishnan, Tamil Nadu state president of Indian Medical Association(IMA) while speaking to IANS said, "The price fixed by the government for Remdesivir is Rs 600 but there are instances wherein some distributors are jacking it to Rs 5,000 and in some cases much more. Government must do proper monitoring so that there is no hoarding of the life saving drug." IMA is however expecting that with the Pharmaceutical companies increasing production, the price of the drug will come down in the coming weeks.

Sujith Chandran, a resident of Virugambakkam in Chennai while speaking to IANS said, "The blackmarkteters are in full swing and I was running from pillar to post for the drug but they are demanding huge rates. We have to use the highest of our contacts to get the drug at the state government fixed rate." IMA has already appealed to the state government to provide the Remedesivir drug to the private hospitals and the doctors body has given a representation to this effect to the state health department. State government run hospitals have the required stock of the vial.

The IMA is willing to take 7000 vials with 250 vials for each district and has requested the government that the distribution of the drug to private hospitals be made through the Joint director of health services or even through Tamil Nadu Medical services Corporation.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Not everything needs to be turned into a themed bar.

Houston is getting its own trailer park-themed bar called Fat Boots Trailer Park Bar, opening May 5, and right off the bat, it seems like a bad idea.

I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY: A new '80s-themed club in downtown will bring back all the nostalgia

The "drinkertainment" experience, headed by three Las Vegas nightlife industry veterans, is "an ode to trailer park chic" with about "2,000 sq. ft. of endless Polaroid opportunities for the Tik-Tok and selfies generation  only we call them trail-fies," according to the Fat Boots website.

I'm already out.

Themed pop-up bars and "Instagrammable" experiences have become ultra-trendy in the past few years, offering the opportunity to snap the profile pic of your dreams for the low price of $35 admission into a room filled with balloons or whatever.

And this latest offering is just cosplaying poverty while slapping a filter on it to make it more palatable for the "selfies generation."

Everything about it feels patronizing. The staff will perform and encourage patrons to dance on the bar, you know, like in your regular small-town bar. Menu items reportedly include Twinkies and Cheez Whiz with crackers that will almost definitely cost no less than $25. And cocktails will be served out of Spam and SpaghettiOs cans (why why WHY).

(Everything aside, why would I ever want to drink anything out of a Spam can? Even if that $15 drink doesn't taste like ham, it's going to taste like ham.)

People's lives and struggles aren't for gawking at and turning into an opportunity for a colorful Instagram photo  there's a reason Twinkies and SpaghettiOs are "trailer park food," and it has everything to do with income inequality and food deserts and nothing to do with wanting to be "trailer park chic."

And as gentrification runs rampant, some Las Vegas nightclub creators stepping into Houston and selling "trailer park chic" back to you for a very expensive bar tab feels really gross.

LIVE MUSIC IN HOUSTON: All the Houston concerts you'll want to jam to this post-pandemic summer

Palatable poverty isn't a co-optable theme for a bar. It's demeaning and condescending and patronizing.

And I would never pay to eat a Twinkie outside of the comfort of my home anyway.
Opinion Article

23 April 2021

We all know the social media hype and have read plenty of articles about how important it is. And the truth is that your hotel needs to be where your guests are right? But the question here is, at what cost?

Maybe you are considering working with an agency to help run your social media accounts. Perhaps you want to appoint someone as a community manager. Maybe you think that the time you spend managing these channels internally is enough.

But how can you determine what is the right option for you and whether your efforts are generating a return on investment? This article will explore the rise of social media for hotels to engage directly with guests. We also present some important factors to consider before investing time and money toward managing these channels.

The Rise of Social Media for Hotels

According to our February 2021 edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report, 'Social Media is a growing trend for hotels to engage directly with guests and drive direct bookings. Of the Hoteliers we surveyed in January 2021, 48,75% rank 'Social Media' as the 2nd most important Sales & Marketing priority over the next 12 months. This marks a 4.55% increase from the 44.2% who shared this view back in December 2020.

Photo: GuestCentric Systems

Social media dominates everyday life and influences all of us. And during this socially distanced era, where more people are stuck at home, everyone is more digitally connected than ever. It's hardly surprising hotels want to be where their prospective guests are.

According to the latest data from Statista, the most popular social networks worldwide ranked by the number of active users are:

Facebook - 2.7 billion users Youtube - 2 billion users Whatsapp - 2 billion users Facebook Messenger - 1.3 billion users WeChat (China exclusive social media outlet) / 1.2 billion users Instagram - 1.1 billion users TikTok - 689 million users

Given the immense number of users per channel, these social media networks give hotels ample opportunities to interact with a broad audience. And we know for sure that plenty of your hotel's potential guests are using these social networks right now.

But Is social media marketing a worthwhile investment for your hotel?

Do you know how to calculate the return on investment (ROI) you get from social media? Are you wasting hours and money without any return?

According to Altimeter, only 28% of businesses feel they can attribute value to business outcomes driven by social media. This means more than 70% of businesses fail to track and evaluate if their efforts on social media are worth it.

And why is the majority of online businesses investing in social media marketing without knowing how these channels contribute to the success of their businesses? Most likely because social media is not a one-size-fits-all tool. What works for one hotel in a specific location may not work for another. Therefore, calculating the ROI of these channels can be a complex and time-consuming challenge for most hotels.

Once you understand how you can analyze this information, you will start to get a clearer picture of your hotel's social media costs, strategy, and return. This is where we come in.

So first things first, what's your Hotel's objective on Social Media?

It's impossible to measure your social media results without defining your objectives first. These objectives can vary from hotel to hotel. It could be to raise awareness or to engage with prospective, current, and past guests. Maybe you want to increase your hotel's website traffic or to improve your hotels' brand perception. Perhaps your hotel needs to bolster direct bookings or improve guest communications.

Once you define the social media goals for your hotel, the calculation of your return will become easier.

How to calculate the ROI of Social Media for your Hotel

Let's say your social media objective is to increase your hotel's website visits from your target audience, and ultimately increase your direct revenue. Since facebook remains the number one social media in terms of user count, let's look at this channel specifically.

If you're planning to hire a company to manage your social media, this is a great way to calculate if this is a worthwhile investment. The easiest way to proactively measure the results, costs, and acceptable investment to make is to gather the following information:

First of all, let's consider a one-year period since there's a lag time between the investment in social media and the return. In other words, when someone sees your hotel's social media post but does not book straightaway:

How many hours did you spend managing social media in a year? How much do you pay an agency to take care of this work for you?

Let's assume this number is $20,000. This is going to be the value of your investment.

How many visits from this referral did you have?

Go to your Google Analytics account and check the number of your Facebook referrals over a 12-month period. Let's assume it was 5,000 visits.

What's your hotel website conversion rate?

Website conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that go to your hotel's booking engine after spending some time on your hotel's website. Assuming that your website has 100,000 visits per year, and your booking engine has 40,000 visits - your website conversion rate is 40%.

What's your hotel booking engine conversion rate?

The same logic applies here. If you have 40,000 hotel booking engine visits, and we identify 800 reservations for that year - your hotel's booking engine conversion rate is 2%.

What's our average reservation value?

Let's assume your average reservation value is $1,000.

And what are the Results?

To recap, your hotel website had 5,000 website visits from your Facebook page, and your website conversion rate was 40%. This means approximately 2,000 users went to your hotel's booking engine.

Once users reached your booking engine, the conversion rate was 2%. This means that potentially 40 online visitors booked a room with you. If your average reservation value is $1,000 and multiplied by 40, the reservations equal $40,000 in total.

So your hotel invested $20,000 toward social media and generated a $40,000 return. If you apply the OTA commission model, this means you actually paid 50% in commission for reservations generated from social media.

Conclusion

Consider the commission fees your hotel pays to OTAs, typically in the 15% to 30% range according to Hotel Price Reporter. This is already significantly more costly than reservations generated through your hotel website - the channel with the lowest cost of acquisition. Are you willing to potentially pay more than double this amount for your social media strategy?

Of course, there are other benefits to using social media besides generating reservations. These include hotel brand awareness, frequent communication with guests, getting customer feedback, and even increasing your market reach. However, you need to have a strategy that will give you the business results your hotel needs.

The big question here is: "Will investment in social media benefit your hotel?" After all, there's no universal number that presents a desirable social media ROI. Therefore, you need to look at your hotel specifically, and continuously weigh up the cost vs the return.

*Published with Permission from Hotel Executive.
A pre-election debate held at the Cadena SER radio network descended into chaos on Friday morning, with the Unidas Podemos candidate for the upcoming Madrid regional polls, Pablo Iglesias, walking out of the studio almost as soon as the program had begun. The left-wing politician, who recently left his role as deputy prime minister in the national government to contest the May 4 elections, opted to leave given the refusal of far-right Vox candidate Rocio Monasterio to retract doubts she had expressed over whether death threats he had received were genuine.

I condemn all kinds of violence, but I would have liked for them to have condemned what we suffered in Vallecas, Monasterio had stated earlier on Friday during an interview with state radio broadcaster RNE, in reference to clashes between Vox supporters, police and protestors at a recent rally held by the far-right group in that Madrid neighborhood. And well, I believe little of what Pablo Iglesias says, and I think that all Spaniards, every time that we hear Pablo Iglesias say something, we call it into question because he has deceived us vilely over this last year.

When it came his turn to speak at the Cadena SER debate, Iglesias called on Monasterio to rectify her words about an incident that has just came to light, whereby Iglesias, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and the head of the Civil Guard were sent threatening letters accompanied by bullets. Monasterio refused to back down, but she did repeat her condemnation of all violence, saying to Iglesias: If you are so brave, get up and leave. As the presenter and mediator of the debate, Angels Barcelo, and the other politicians present protested and argued, Iglesias did just that and headed for the exit.

At one point Monasterio called on Mas Madrids Monica Garcia to wipe the sourpuss look off her face

Barcelo tried to prevent Iglesias from leaving by following him to the door and remonstrating with him, but she ended up practically shouting over the noise of Monasterio and the other candidates in an attempt to bring order. Please, Ms Monasterio, this isnt a show, this is an electoral debate among democrats! she said. Monasterio responded by asking Barcelo whether she was a moderator or an activist? Holding [Iglesias] by the hand, the political activist, in reference to the fact that there was physical contact at that moment between the presenter and the politician. Im not an activist, I am a democrat! was Barcelos reply.

The other candidates present were Angel Gabilondo of the Socialist Party (PSOE), Edmundo Bal from center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) and Monica Garcia from leftist Mas Madrid. The candidate for the conservative Popular Party (PP), incumbent Isabel Diaz Ayuso, had opted not to participate after all six politicians appeared earlier this week in a televised debate on regional station Telemadrid.

The politicians voiced their rejection of what had just happened and admonished Monasterio for her attitude. Are you doing so badly in the polls that you need to put on this little display? asked Garcia. To have to bring out the hatred and lies? Garcia called Monasterios refusal to condemn the threats against Iglesias as an abomination, while Gabilondo criticized the Vox candidates provocative attitude. For his part, Bal demanded that Monasterio condemn the violence, and called on Iglesias to return to the debate.

The rest of the discussion, however, continued to be dominated by Monasterios tone and interruptions. At one point, for example, she called on Mas Madrids Monica Garcia to wipe the sourpuss look off her face. Garcia responded irately: You are an accumulation of a lack of respect and manners!

After a commercial break, during which the candidates were able to consult with their advisors, Angel Gabilondo of the PSOE also requested to leave the debate. Ive stayed here out of respect for democracy, he said once back on air. But we cannot allow for hatred to take root among people. Garcia backed the calls to end the debate, while Bal begged them to stay.

Dictatorship of SER

In the end Barcelo decided to call the proceedings to a halt, but even during her attempts to make closing comments Monasterio continued to interrupt, demanding to be allowed to speak again. This is the dictatorship of [Cadena] SER! she exclaimed, while Barcelo tried to make herself heard.

The incident has prompted Mas Madrid to announce that it will no longer be taking part in any debates ahead of the polls, which were called unexpectedly by Isabel Diaz Ayuso after she opted to dissolve her government, a coalition of the PP and Ciudadanos that was propped up by Vox. Ciudadanos, meanwhile, has said that it will continue to participate in such events.

The Madrid branch of the PP later published a message on Twitter ironically calling on Iglesias to close the door on your way out. The tweet was subsequently deleted after widespread condemnation on social media for ignoring the seriousness of the threats against the Podemos leader. The PPs national president, Pablo Casado, made a statement condemning the threats against Iglesias. To not condemn these personal threats is very serious, he said, calling on the public prosecutor to take action.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Page Content

On Wednesday, April 21st, The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Omar Ottley decided in consultation with the Department Head of Collective Prevention Services (CPS), Mrs. Eva Lista-de Weever that CPS will host a POP-UP COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Saturday, April 24th, in efforts to increase the vaccination numbers throughout the community. The vaccination clinic will be open between the hours of 10 AM- 2PM at the Vineyard building.





This clinic will be open to all persons residing on the Dutch side, who have not already registered to be vaccinated. Upon arrival, persons are required to provide; a Sint Maarten ID card, a drivers license or a Dutch passport. A non-Dutch passport holder with the latest immigration entry stamp dating back 6 months or longer,





showing that the person is here for the last 6 months uninterrupted, a proof of registration from the Census Department, an SZV Card, a copy of a residence or work permit.
(Newser)  Five children, ages 7 to 14 were among the 11 MOVE members killed in 1985 when Philadelphia police dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto the group's house. The city apologized for the attack last November, with the mayor saying, "This year we saw the pain and trauma caused by the MOVE bombing are still alive in West Philadelphia." The trauma has been renewed with a new revelation: The burned bones of two of the Black children who died have been used in an online forensic anthropology course. They've been used for teaching purposes without the permission of the victims' parents, who are still alive, since 2019, the Guardian reports. The online platform Coursera hosts the class, which appears under the name of Princeton University. It was filmed two years ago and is taught by Janet Monge, a visiting professor at Princeton and an adjunct at the University of Pennsylvania. She doesn't say in class that relatives haven't given permission for the display. Almost 5,000 students have enrolled in the course. No one seems to know where the remains are now, per Billy Penn.

story continues below

Monge picks up the bones and discusses them matter-of-factly. "If you smell it, it doesn't actually smell bad," she says. MOVE called itself a back-to-nature movement that wanted to eliminate government and return US land to Native Americans, per the New York Times; the city considered it a "violence-threatening cult." The bombing took place when police were trying to expel the group from its row house after neighbors complained. The resulting fire raged through the neighborhood, destroying 61 homes. At least some of the bones most likely belong to Tree Africa, 14. "After 36 years we find out that not only were these children abused and mistreated and bombed and burned, they havent even been allowed to rest in peace," said her friend Michael Africa Jr., who was 6 when the house was bombed. For the first time, Philadelphia plans an official day of remembrance for this year's anniversary. "Nobody said you can do that, holding up their bones for the camera," Africa said, adding, "The anthropology professor is holding the bones of a 14-year-old girl whose mother is still alive and grieving." (Read more MOVE stories.)
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Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu, declared on Friday that the Black Sea region is "our common home" and must be "kept away from tensions".

Yesterday [Thursday - ed.n.], together with Bogdan Aurescu [Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister], I addressed the panel regarding the strategic partnership we have. Our relations are an example for the whole region. (...) This is not only a forum for discussion, but it has also produced many cooperation projects and today we exchange ideas related to NATO ministries and the NATO Summit in June. Today I want to emphasize the importance of unity and solidarity. The Black Sea region is our common home and we need to make sure that this region is kept away from tensions. We are all concerned about recent developments, but we have received promising news recently and we hope that dialogue and diplomacy will prevail. There are other pressing issues that we need to address, Afghanistan, NATO and the NATO Summit and we have discussed all these issues and we will continue to coordinate our policies, said Mevlut Cavusoglu, after the plenary session of the Romania -Poland-Turkey Trilateral Meeting on Security.

He added that the initiative on the trilateral meeting began 9 years ago, and its 10th anniversary will be celebrated next year in Turkey.

The Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting, at the level of the Foreign Ministers, started on Friday in Bucharest with a plenary session.
The inability to fall and stay asleep is a problem for many during the pandemic, yet people don't always choose the best ways to catch some zzz's.
Commentary: China's climate ambition and action

Xinhua) 16:44, April 23, 2021

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020 shows the Haizhu wetland and the Canton Tower in the distance in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo by Xie Huiqiang/Xinhua)

China has been committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. However, no country can single-handedly fix the climate problem. Global cooperation is imperative.

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- As a staunch advocate for global climate cooperation, China has committed itself to promoting joint climate efforts with concrete actions.

During the Leaders Summit on Climate that opened on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the international community to "come up with unprecedented ambition and action" to foster a community of life for man and nature.

"We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony," Xi said.

Beijing has already started to take substantial actions to help turn the tide on global warming.

As a practitioner of ecological civilization, China's sustainable development achievements in recent years have garnered worldwide attention.

China has been committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

A staff member charges an electric bus at a charging station in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

To mitigate the impact of climate change, China has announced that it will strive to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060.

This ambitious pledge means that China, the world's largest developing country, will complete the world's most dramatic reduction in carbon emission intensity, and realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history.

No country, however, can single-handedly fix the climate problem. Global cooperation is imperative.

From pushing for the signing of the Paris Agreement to endeavoring to building a fair and win-win system for global climate governance, China has acted as a responsible major country in the spirit of multilateralism when handling climate-related issues. That sends a cooperative signal to the international community and boosts the cohesion of a world plagued by the climate crisis.

China will also promote the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and actively develop South-South cooperation on climate change.

Aerial photo taken on April 26, 2020 shows power-generating windmill turbines in Weining County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Responding to climate change is the common cause of humanity, instead of a bargaining chip for geopolitics, or an excuse to attack others and put up trade barriers.

To tackle the global climate crisis, mutual trust is essential.

It is expected that the United States, after announcing a return to global climate cooperation, will reassure the world by taking concrete steps and making greater efforts to pay the climate debt it has owed.

It is also expected that more developed countries will also honor their commitments by providing sufficient financial and technical support to developing countries, and help them with their green and sustainable development.

This year will see a flurry of gatherings of international conventions on climate change, such as the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in China's Kunming, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Britain, and the Seventh International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress in the French city of Marseilles.

At those events and beyond, all parties must join hands and act together for a new global climate governance pattern as well as humanity's shared future. The human race can still save itself from this very existential threat, but time is running out. Joint action is the only way out.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 17:15:00|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Two police personnel including a district police chief were killed as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province on Friday, a member of the provincial council said.

Without providing more details, Hamidullah Sarwar said, "Rahmatullah Mabariz the police chief for Nawa district along with one of his bodyguards were killed in a roadside bomb blast" on Friday morning.

The local police side has not yet made comment on the report.

According to local officials, on Thursday, the police chief of Ghazni's Deh Yak district was also killed in clash with the Taliban militants. Enditem
Theres a famous story about Barack Obamas meeting with Donald Trump at the White House two days after Trumps surprise victory in the 2016 election.

Obama urged Trump not to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, the federal health care law that had brought coverage to 20 million previously uninsured Americans.

Obama suggested that Trump could make some tweaks to the law, call it Trump Care, and take full credit for the results.

Its easy to understand why Obama felt so strongly about preserving the framework of the ACA, his legacy achievement and a legislative victory for which he and his fellow Democrats had paid a stiff political price.

Its also easy to understand why he was so willing to relinquish any claims to the title or authorship of the law. After all, the ACAs association with Obama already had created years of irrational, hypocritical opposition from Republicans.

In Texas, that irrational posturing has gone to comical extremes.

Consider the umbrage that Gov. Greg Abbott took last week when Joe Bidens administration rescinded approval for a 10-year extension of a Section 1115 waiver to cover emergency care costs for the uninsured. The waiver, which is currently set to expire in September 2022, provides Texas with $11 billion a year in federal funding.

Abbott said last weeks decision was obstructing health care access for vulnerable Texans and taking away crucial resources for rural hospitals in Texas.

The 1115 waiver had been approved by the Obama administration in 2011 as a way to provide stop-gap federal resources to states as they transitioned into Medicaid expansion, one of the key provisions of the ACA.

In 2012, however, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an ACA provision requiring states to expand Medicaid, giving them the option to bow out.

So Texas has spent a decade reaping the benefits of a waiver meant to be a bridge to Medicaid expansion, without actually adopting Medicaid expansion.

Thats the political dance Texas Republicans do: We hate the ACA. But dont you dare take away those ACA waiver funds.

Its like those 1970s rock music die-hards who insisted they hated disco but didnt hesitate to buy a disco record when the Rolling Stones put out Miss You.

Its about labeling, not substance. Its about partisan obstinacy, not principle.

Texas, which has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country, is one of only 12 states not to expand Medicaid under the ACA.

This states political leaders are denying coverage to more than 1 million Texans under a plan in which the federal government would cover 90 percent of the cost. (The recently enacted American Rescue Plan would bump that federal contribution up to 95 percent for two years.)

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, would love to see Texas expand Medicaid under the ACA. But as Coleman pointed out Thursday, that option isnt a political reality in this state.

So Coleman tried to find an alternative approach.

He introduced a budget amendment that would allow the governor and state health officials to broker a deal with the federal government on a plan to expand the pool of insured Texans.

It wouldnt have to be called Medicaid expansion. It wouldnt have to be defined as part of the ACA. So it would offer Abbott and his allies a face-saving way to do what they should have done years ago: bring those federal dollars back to Texas and provide health care coverage to your people.

Amendment supporters continually stated Thursday that under Colemans provision, Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission would be in control when it comes to crafting an insurance-expansion plan.

It doesnt tell the governor or HHSC how to do this, Coleman said.

Coleman had to introduce his amendment because a like-minded bill from Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Carrollton, had been denied a committee hearing.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a narrow House majority (76 representatives, including nine Republicans) had signed on in support of Johnsons bill.

That created some optimism for Colemans amendment. Ultimately, however, it failed by an 80-68 vote.

Lyle Larson, one of the two San Antonio-based House Republicans who backed Johnsons bill, voted in favor of Colemans amendment. The other one, Steve Allison, voted against it.

At this point, it doesnt matter what Texans want.

After all, a survey released in January by the University of Houstons Hobby School of Public Affairs found that 69 percent of the voters in this state support Medicaid expansion. Texas Republicans, for the most part, dont care.

For them, its much more important to cling to old grievances against Barack Obama than to serve the needs of the most vulnerable among us. For them, public service is partisan trolling. And were all suffering for it.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
AKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian navy ships searched Thursday for a submarine that likely sank too deep to retrieve, making survival chances for the 53 people on board slim. Authorities said oxygen in the submarine would run out by early Saturday.

The diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise Wednesday when it missed a scheduled reporting call. Officials reported an oil slick and the smell of diesel fuel near the starting position of its last dive, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of the resort island of Bali, though there was no conclusive evidence that they were linked to the submarine.

"Hopefully we can rescue them before the oxygen has run out" at 3 a.m. on Saturday, Indonesia's navy chief of staff, Adm. Yudo Margono, told reporters.

He said rescuers found an unidentified object with high magnetism at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet) and that officials hope it's the submarine.

The navy believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its estimated collapse depth.

Ahn Guk-hyeon, an official from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, which refitted the vessel in 2009-2012, said the submarine would collapse if it goes deeper than around 200 meters (655 feet) because of pressure. He said his company upgraded much of the submarine's internal structures and systems but lacks recent information about the vessel.

Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, also said the submarine could be at too great a depth for a rescue team to operate.

"Most rescue systems are really only rated to about 600 meters (1,970 feet)," he said. "They can go deeper than that because they will have a safety margin built into the design, but the pumps and other systems that are associated with that may not have the capacity to operate. So they can survive at that depth, but not necessarily operate."

Owen, a former submariner who developed an Australian submarine rescue system, said the Indonesian vessel was not fitted with a rescue seat around an escape hatch designed for underwater rescues. He said a rescue submarine would make a waterproof connection to a disabled submarine with a so-called skirt fitted over the rescue seat so that the hatch can be opened without the disabled submarine filling with water.

Owen said the submarine could be recovered from 500 meters (1,640 feet) without any damage but couldn't say if it would have imploded at 700 meters (2,300 feet).

In November 2017, an Argentine submarine went missing with 44 crew members in the South Atlantic, almost a year before its wreckage was found at a depth of 800 meters (2,625 feet). In 2019, a fire broke out on one of the Russian navy's deep-sea research submersibles, killing 14 sailors.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo asked all of the country's people to pray that the submarine and crew could be found.

"Our main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members," Widodo said in a televised address. "To the families of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all of the crew members on board."

The military said more than 20 navy ships, two submarines and five aircraft were searching the area where the submarine was last detected. A hydro-oceanographic survey ship equipped with underwater detection capabilities also was on its way to the site around the oil spills.

Margono said the oil slick may have been caused by a crack in the submarine's tank after the vessel sank.

Neighboring countries are rushing to join the complex operation.

Rescue ships from Singapore and Malaysia are expected to arrive between Saturday and Monday. The Indonesian military said Australia, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, India and Turkey have also offered assistance. South Korea said it has also offered help.

"The news of the missing submarine is deeply concerning," Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said during a visit to New Zealand. "We will provide any assistance that we can. There's no question that submarine search and rescues are very complex."

Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton called the incident "a terrible tragedy." He told Sydney Radio 2GB that the fact that the submarine is "in a very deep part of waters" makes it "very difficult for the recovery or for location."

"Our fervent prayers and hopes go out to the crew of KRI Nanggala, for their safety and resilience," Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on Facebook.

Indonesia's navy said an electrical failure may have occurred during the dive, causing the submarine to lose control and become unable to undertake emergency procedures that would have allowed it to resurface. It was rehearsing for a missile-firing exercise on Thursday, which was eventually canceled.

The German-built submarine, which has been in service in Indonesia since 1981, was carrying 49 crew members, its commander and three gunners, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said. It had been maintained and overhauled in Germany, Indonesia and most recently in South Korea.

More than 60 of the Type 209 class submarines have been sold and have served in 14 navies around the world, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems spokesperson Eugen Witte said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands.

Last year, President Widodo reaffirmed the country's sovereignty during a visit to the islands at the edge of the South China Sea, one of the busiest sea lanes where China is embroiled in territorial disputes with its smaller neighbors.

Related Video:

This article was written by NINIEK KARMINI from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Nurse Elizabeth Johnson administers a COVID-19 vaccine to Melissa Mendez in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle/Getty Images

The US will resume using Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.

The decision came after a CDC committee voted to recommend using the shots.

The US paused its rollout on April 13, citing concerns over rare blood clots.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

The US will resume using Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, more than a week after regulators paused the rollout to investigate reports of rare but serious side effects.

The Food and Drug Administration is adding a warning to the vaccine about the risk of unusual blood clots in women under 50. Still, the shots remain a valuable tool to stop the pandemic, and US health authorities said the benefits of the vaccines in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks.

Janet Woodcock, acting administrator of the Food and Drug Administration, told reporters on Friday that regulators had "full confidence that this vaccine's known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks."

Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said health care providers could resume use of the vaccine immediately.

"This vaccine was shown to be safe and effective for the vast majority of people," she said.

An independent group of experts that advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on Friday that use of the shot resume.

Now included in the materials the FDA provides for those getting J&J's shot is a warning that most of the cases of blood clots have happened in women ages 18-49. "Some have been fatal," it says. The warning also notes that a causal link between the blood clots and the vaccine is "plausible."

Prior to the pause, the US had administered about 8 million J&J vaccine doses. Regulators in Europe said on April 20 that use of the shot should resume, and that recipients should be warned about the risk of clots.

J&J now faces a daunting task in carving out a meaningful role for its vaccine in the US immunization campaign, the resumption coming at a time when the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses is expected to soon outstrip demand.

Story continues

More than 220 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been given in the US, mainly shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Those vaccines use a different technology than J&J's shot, and US regulators haven't identified any safety concerns with those immunizations.

J&J's vaccine is more accessible than other coronavirus vaccines, because it's given as a single shot. Vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech require two doses given several weeks apart.

In a statement, Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at J&J, said the company was confident its vaccine would be of use, despite the setback. "We will collaborate with health authorities around the world to educate health care professionals and the public to ensure this very rare event can be identified early and treated effectively," he said.

Getting to a better understanding of a rare but serious blood clot issue

The CDC and FDA recommended the pause for J&J's shot after unusual blood clots appeared in six people of the 6.8 million who had received J&J's vaccine at that time.

All six had experienced a rare type of blood clot in the brain called a central venous sinus thrombosis that can lead to headaches or a stroke. The rare blood clot occurs in a given year in five of every one million people.

By pausing, regulators hoped to get a better understanding of how to communicate the risks of the rare adverse event to those receiving the vaccine.

Data shared Friday at the meeting of CDC advisors found that 15 people had developed the rare clots after receiving J&J's shot. All were women, and three of the 15 cases were fatal.

According to data presented to the CDC panel, women under 50 had a higher risk of developing a blood clot compared to those over 50 and men.

Manufacturing issues and blood-clot links have shaken public confidence

Public-health experts have shared fears that pausing the rollout of J&J's shot could delay the push to end the pandemic.

Public confidence in the vaccine has dropped significantly in the week and a half since this pause began. Just 19% of Americans would now be willing to get the shot, according to data presented to the advisory group Friday.

Manufacturing challenges surrounding the vaccine have also brought scrutiny to J&J's shots. Emergent Biosolutions, a Baltimore-based contractor used by J&J, has run afoul of US regulators, with a recent FDA report describing the plant in poor condition, including peeling paint and workers doing jobs they are not trained to do.

The Emergent plant has not produced any doses of J&J's vaccine that have been administered. Regulators have held up any shipments from the plant until it can address the agency's concerns. All the J&J supply used in the US so far has come from other factories in Europe.

J&J's shot isn't alone in running into issues with rare blood clots. Earlier this month, European regulators said that blood clots are a side effect of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine. Some countries have put the use of AstraZeneca's shot on hold, though the European Medicines Agency has said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

The two shots use similar technology, leading experts to consider that the clotting issues may be related.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 10:37:38|Editor: huaxia

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by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Recent weeks have seen multiple mass shootings across the United States, but major gun control legislation is unlikely due to deep partisan and cultural divide in the country.

As of Tuesday, 13,154 Americans were killed by gun violence in 2021, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

The archive, which defines a mass shooting as one with four or more people injured or killed, has counted 157 mass shootings in less than four months this year.

But despite the violence, experts do not foresee any new, large-scale legislation on the horizon.

The hot-button issue is one at which Republicans and Democrats are sharply at odds, as the GOP favors gun-owners' rights, arguing that firearms protect people's homes when the police can not arrive in time, and that gun laws will not keep people safe, but rather take away the rights of law-abiding citizens.

"Major gun legislation is unlikely because Republicans are blocking reforms that are supported by a large majority of Americans. The GOP is afraid of its base and reluctant to make any meaningful changes," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

U.S. President Joe Biden "is likely to tighten gun rules through executive actions that don't require congressional action," West said.

Indeed, despite Democratic control of Congress, Democrats lead by a sliver, and Republicans, who believe in the constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms, are unlikely to back any Democratic-led gun bill.

While some GOP lawmakers support reforms such as universal background checks for purchases of firearms, a bitter partisan environment makes compromise unlikely.

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that there are two minor areas where some kind of legislation might pass: requiring gun owners to store their guns in locked cabinets, and "red flag" laws, which allow police to take guns away from an owner who is known to be a danger to himself and others.

Beyond these, there is a pending bill in Congress on expanding background checks, "but I think the odds for passage are about one in eight," Ramsay said.

The Justice Department is working to write a rule to limit guns that come in kits for assembly, also called "ghost guns."

Then there will be 30 days of public comment, "so in that phase the general debate over guns may get loud. If gun control advocates can focus on ghost guns alone and keep the argument pinned down to that, they might conceivably get a win out of it," Ramsay said.

"Ghost guns are a nightmare for police departments, because they have no serial numbers, and in any case can be easily broken down and the parts dispersed," Ramsay said.

The issue of gun control also underscores the cavernous gap between rural and urban Americans. Many of the former support gun owners' rights, as hunting and fishing are a way of life in many U.S. states with large rural populations. For many in coastal cities, owning a gun is an alien concept.

The cultural divide between the two groups is vast, and many rural Americans harbor a deep distrust of what they view as Washington elites, as well as the urban Americans who vote for them. Moreover, often left out of the debate is the notion that while guns do kill, they also protect law-abiding citizens.

Gun sales are skyrocketing nationwide, as they have historically done in times when there is talk in Washington of more gun control. They also occur after a year of violent protests nationwide that destroyed the livelihoods of small business owners and those employed in those businesses.

Firearms sales in the United States in January surged by 60 percent to 4,137,480, the largest single month for gun sales since 1998, and U.S. gun sales rose 40 percent last year to 39,695,315. Enditem
(Natural News) Earlier studies have suggested that the Earth was once engulfed by water and had few or no landmasses at all some three billion years ago. A recent analysis of the Earths mantle provides evidence in support of that idea.

Published in the journal AGU Advances, it suggested that back when the planet was a molten ball of magma, its mantle held far less water than it does today. The mantle is the thick, semi-solid layer that sits between the planets dense, super-heated inner layer called the core and its thin outer one called the crust.

Lead researcher Junjie Dong, a graduate student of mineral physics at Harvard University in Massachusetts, explained that over billions of years, the mantles water storage capacity gradually increased as the temperatures in that layer cooled. This may be why the mantle today holds more water.

That suggests the water was somewhere else. And the most likely reservoir is the surface, said Dong.

Earth was once a water world

Water is stored within the mantle in the form of hydroxy groups. These are simple structures consisting of an oxygen and hydrogen atom bonded together. In particular, water is stored in two high-pressure forms of olivine, an important rock-forming mineral. Its two forms are hydrous wadsleyite and ringwoodite.

Current samples of hydrous wadsleyite collected deep inside the mantle may contain three percent water and current samples of ringwoodite may contain around one percent water.

Researchers of previous studies have subjected these two minerals to the high pressures and temperatures of the mantle of the present Earth to figure out their water storage capacities.

But rather than limit their analysis to just pressures and temperatures, the researchers compiled and used all available mineral physics data to calculate the water storage for the two minerals across a wider range of pressures and temperatures, including those scientists believe to have existed billions of years ago.

Their analysis showed that hydrous wadsleyite and ringwoodite have lower water storage capacities at higher temperatures. Since ancient Earth was much warmer internally then than it is today, it follows that the water storage capacity of its mantle now is higher than it once was.

In particular, the mantles water storage capacity today is 1.864.41 times the modern surface ocean mass. In all, the difference in water storage capacity is significant even with conservative calculations.

So if the water stored in the mantle today is much greater than its storage capacity roughly three billion years ago, then it is entirely possible that the planet was once covered by water.

Michael Walter, director of the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution of Washington who wasnt involved in the study, said the paper makes intuitive sense. Its a simple idea that could have important implications.

More geological evidence of a water-bound planet

These findings support those of a previous study by scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder. They studied an ancient slab of the ocean floor that was turned on its side.

Inside the slab were chemical signatures that offered clues about the seawater that covered the Earth roughly 3.2 billion years ago. They found that seawater then contained a stable, environmental isotope of oxygen, called oxygen-18. The abundance of this isotope suggests Earth had less land then than it does today.

To sum up, studies like these could help scientists answer important questions about the Earth, such as when life began on the planet. (Related: Meteorite in Michigan may hold clues to origin of life on Earth.)

Scientists are also still torn over whether life began on land or on water. So if the planet was, in fact, engulfed by water billions of years ago, that may settle the long-standing debate.

Follow Research.news for more articles about ancient Earth and water worlds.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

AGUPubs.OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com

ScienceMag.org
KYODO NEWS - Apr 22, 2021 - 19:02 | World, All

At least five people were killed and more than 10 were injured Wednesday night in a bomb blast at a hotel in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta, with China's ambassador appearing to have narrowly escaped, officials said.

Security officials believe Ambassador Nong Rong was the intended target of the attack. The terrorist group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the blast that occurred in the parking area of Serena Hotel.

The ambassador had been staying at the hotel with a Chinese delegation, but they were away for a dinner at the time of the attack. According to an eyewitness, the envoy was returning to the hotel and was nearby when the detonation occurred.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said on a TV program that the Chinese envoy remained safe due to being out of range of the blast.

Quetta deputy commissioner Aurangzeb Badini said the suicide attack was done by detonating a vehicle-borne explosive device. Security officials estimate that 40 to 50 kilograms of explosive material was used in the attack.

Other vehicles in the parking area caught fire after the explosion, eyewitnesses said.

Serena Hotel is the only five-star hotel in the capital of the country's restive Balochistan province.

On Thursday, China said it "strongly condemns the terrorist attack and expresses condolences to the unfortunate victims and the wounded" by the blast.

China will "firmly support Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts, jointly maintain and promote regional security and stability, and ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions in Pakistan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing.
Hypr, a NYC-based passwordless company raised $35m in Series C financing.

The round, which doubled the companys total funding to over $70m, was led by Advent International through Advent Tech. Advent joined existing investors including RRE Ventures, .406 Ventures, BoldStart, Top Tier Capital, MESH, Alumni Ventures Group, Allen & Co, Samsung NEXT and Mastercard.

The company will use the capital to accelerate its go-to-market strategy and grow its global support organization doubling the global headcount, with hiring ongoing in every department.

Led by George Avetisov, Co-Founder and CEO, HYPR provides a cloud based Passwordless Multi-factor Authentication platform that makes it easy to eliminate passwords and deliver fast login experiences. With Hypr, businesses are able to stop phishing, reduce fraud, and enable security for employees and customers across the globe.

The company has offices in Boston, California, London, and Tokyo.

FinSMEs

23/04/2021
This story originally appeared on The Jewish Food Society

It always was a party when we got together, cookbook author Judy Bart Kancigor says of her family when she was little. Judy grew up in Belle Harbor, a neighborhood just four blocks wide, sandwiched between the bay and the ocean in the Far Rockaways section of New York City. Her grandparents Mama Hinda and Papa Harry lived upstairs in a two story home her grandfather built, and three aunts and one uncle and their families all lived close by. I like to say I had four mothers, Judy says referring to her aunts. And her cousins were like siblings. I had one brother, but lots of siblings, she adds.

Judy grew up in a New York City that is nearly lost today. Her grandparents were married in Slonim, a city that today sits in Belarus, in 1905 and came to the United States shortly after. Papa Harry worked in construction building houses. When he couldnt sell one, his family of seven children would move in. For a time in the 1930s, he owned a candy store and soda fountain shop selling English-langauge newspapers, even though he couldnt read them himself. At home, he and Mama Hinda spoke Yinglish, as Judy calls it, a mix of Yiddish and English, where one wasnt always sure which language a word came from. When Judy was little, there were trips to the Lower East Side for bolts of fabric aunt Estelle would sew into dresses and meals at Ratners, a famed and now shuttered Jewish dairy restaurant.

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When the family gathered, there were always the go-to meals, Judy says. If it was lunchtime, there was deli. If it was Sunday, appetizing or smoked fish and bagels graced the family table. In those days, in the 50s, it wasnt like now, Judy explains. Instead of trying out new recipes when one expected company, her aunts, mother, and grandmother, all had the dish they made when we all got together. Aunt Irene was known for her sweetbreads and kugel, aunt Estelle was famous for the chocolate chip cookies she sent in tins to family members at summer camp and later in college. Aunt Sally, who Judy calls the Julia Child of the family in her cookbook Cooking Jewish: 532 Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family, was known for her red, white, and blue cake, among other recipes. Her mother, Lillian laid a beautiful table, often with an elegant vegetable platter.

But there were recipes that were shared by the women as well. Among them was a maple walnut cake, a soft and spongy cake all of the sisters and Mama Hinda made for company  even when company was a sister who lived four blocks away. Judy isnt certain where the maple walnut cake recipe originated and Mama Hinda never wrote this recipe or any others down. Thankfully, Judy says, aunt Sally did, keeping a black and white composition notebook with carefully documented recipes for herself, her daughter, and ultimately for her grandchildren.

For a time, if anyone besides her daughter asked for a recipe, Sally would slyly leave out an ingredient so the cook couldnt copy her work. Judys mother Lillian, or Lil, would occasionally sneak into her sisters kitchen and copy recipes, though she never made them. Later in life, Judy says, Sally softened and shared her recipes with Judy freely.

In the 1990s, Judy visited her aunt in Florida when she was working on her cookbook, which was initially a personal project that was self-published (it was later picked up by the publisher Workman). Judy would bring up a recipe  even ones Sally hadnt made in years. She would say, Let me see. Nope, this recipes no good. Others, she would give the nod to. Judy adds: Without her I would have no cookbook. We wouldnt be talking to you today.

Recipe: Maple Walnut Cake
ANN ARBOR, MI -- While it may still be cold in Michigan, residents can start their outdoor projects now.

Residents now have access to free wood chips made available by the Ann Arbor Public Works Department at five locations around the city:

Veterans Memorial Park.

Southeast Area Park.

Allmendinger Park.

Furstenberg Park.

721 N. Main Street.

The parks are open every day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and residents are required to load and haul the wood chips themselves, officials said.

Location maps and information about curbside composting and other compost issues can be found here.

Read more:

Ann Arbor may toss idea of reduced trash pickup in the waste basket

Ypsilanti farming nonprofit aims to change the soil by breaking cycle of incarceration

Ann Arbor comes to agreement with DTE over carbon neutrality programs
Godrej Protekt, Indias most trusted personal and home hygiene brand from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), embarked on a hygiene-based safe rail travel program in partnership with the Northern Railways zone of Indian Railways. This program, covering both passengers and railways staff, aims to boost hygiene quotient as well as equip them with hygiene solutions during their rail journeys. As India deals with the ongoing wave of COVID-19, this travel hygiene program will be vital to empower people to take necessary precautions as they make their essential and unavoidable rail journeys. This will also help migrant workers heading back to their hometowns due to the lockdown in some cities.

The program will cover 25 long-distance trains like Jan Shatabdi Special, Bandra Terminus Haridwar Special, Yoga express, Dehradun Shatabdi special, Mussoorie Express Festival Special, Chandigarh to Lucknow Festival special, Dhanbad Junction to Firozpur Cant special, Howrah Junction to Yog Nagari Rishikesh Special, G Satluj Express Special, Kota Dehradun Special Express, Hemkunt Express Special, Jaynagar Amritsar Special, Moradabad Saharanpur Express Special, among others. These trains will depart (point of origin) from 20 cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kota, Barmer, Bikaner, Rishikesh, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Puri, Jabalpur, Ramnagar, Dhanbad, Patna, Allahabad, Jaynagar, and Moradabad.

Around 45000+ products from Godrej Protekt will be utilized for this initiative to drive larger behavioural change. Godrej Protekt Hand Sanitizer bottle (50ml mini bottle) will be distributed amongst passengers in aforementioned trains. The passenger luggage will be disinfected with Godrej Protekt On-the-go Disinfectant Spray. Godrej Protekt P-W95 Reusable Face Mask will be worn by the on-board railways staff members who are travelling ticket examiner (TT), train drivers, guards, and housekeeping staff. The Protekt P-W95 Reusable Face Mask will also be given to passengers wearing no mask at select stations under Northern Railways.

Speaking about the program, Sunil Kataria, CEO - India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), said, Safety and hygiene are priorities for consumers these days, particularly so when they are travelling. Godrej Protekts purpose is to alleviate hygiene concerns of consumers and champion programs which helps to spread awareness of right ways to maintain hygiene. In 2020, we were the first-ever hygiene brand to partner with Indian Railways during COVID-19 times to promote travel hygiene. we have had a very successful partnership with the Central Railways where we managed to make an impact and drive positive behavioural change. We are delighted to continue the partnership this year with Northern Railways, to contribute and build a safe travel ecosystem in these unprecedented times. This will be backed by our expertise in the hygiene space and inclusion of key Protekt offerings such as hand sanitizers, disinfectant sprays and masks.

Commenting on the joint program, Smt. Rekha Sharma, Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager, Northern Railway, Moradabad, said We are pleased to partner with Godrej Protekt for this travel hygiene program which is very relevant in the current context. The initiative will cover passengers traveling from cities across the country to destinations located in the Northern Railways network. Travel hygiene program will not only help to ensure safety of our passengers and employees but will also build necessary awareness of hygiene measures that one should adopt. This will encourage people to travel more by rail. We are committed to make our passengers journey safe, sanitized and hassle-free as much as possible.

While some of the trains may come under different railway zones, all trains will pass through the Northern Railways network. The initiative will benefit passengers travelling from 12 Indian states including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Bihar along with 2 union territories which are Delhi and Chandigarh.

As a purpose-driven brand, Godrej Protekt has been keen on doing its bit to ensure people have a safe travel experience. In June last year, as part of Protekt India Movement  a mass awareness campaign to promote hygiene and inculcating the right hygiene practices, Protekt tied up with the Mumbai division of Central Railway Railways to run a joint program to improve travel hygiene and its awareness amongst passengers and rail employees. The program covered close to 400 local and long-distance COVID-19 special trains. This time around, Protekt has extended this program to the Northern Railways and will cover much larger network.
SpaceX has successfully launched four astronauts into space onboard a recycled rocket.

The Crew-2 mission is the third time that Elon Musks rocket company has sent Nasas astronauts into space.

The four astronauts  from three different countries  will now travel to the International Space Station to begin a six month stay.

It is the first time that a recycled rocket has ever been used from a previous spaceflight, with the Falcon 9 having made the same flight in November on SpaceXs second astronaut flight. The Dragon Capsule that housed the astronauts was also recycled, from the first ever crewed mission in May.

One of the astronauts on board, Megan McCarthur, was actually sat in the exact same seat her husband did during that initial test flight.

She was joined by fellow Nasa astronaut and commander Shane Kimbrough as well as Japans Akihiko Hoshide and Frances Thomas Pesquet, the first European to launch in a commercial crew capsule.

Glad to be back in space, Kimbrough radioed once the capsule was safely in orbit.

Just spectacular, said NASAs acting administrator Steve Jurczyk.A masked Musk met briefly with the astronauts at NASAs Kennedy Space Center before they boarded white gull-winged Teslas from his electric car company. The astronauts spouses and children huddled around the cars for one last love you before the caravan pulled away and headed to the pad in the predawn darkness.

From now on, Ill see you on a screen! tweeted Pesquets partner, Anne Mottet.

Despite the early hour, spectators lined surrounding roads to watch the Falcon take flight an hour before sunrise. Liftoff was delayed a day to take advantage of better weather along the East Coast in case of a launch abort and emergency splashdown.

NASA limited the number of launch guests because of COVID-19, but SpaceXs next private passengers made the cut. Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, whos bought a three-day flight, watched the Falcon soar with the three people who will accompany him. Their capsule is still at the space station and due back on Earth with four astronauts next Wednesday. It will be refurbished in time for a September liftoff.

For Fridays automated flight,SpaceXreplaced some valves and thermal shielding, and installed new parachutes on the capsule, named Endeavour after NASAs retired space shuttle. Otherwise, the spacecraft is the same vehicle that flew before.

Were thrilled to have a crew on board Endeavour once again,SpaceXLaunch Control radioed just before liftoff.

All four astronauts clasped hands as Kimbrough noted it was the first time in more than 20 years that U.S., European and Japanese astronauts had launched together.The first-stage booster touched down on an ocean platform nine minutes after liftoff.

Rapid reusability is critical to Musks effort to open space to everyone, land NASAs next moonwalkers and, his loftiest goal by far, build a city on Mars.

Musk will go a long way toward achieving that first objective with the private flight in September. It will be followed in October bySpaceXs fourth crew launch for NASA.

SpaceXpicked up the station slack for NASA after the space agencys shuttles retired in 2011, starting with supply runs the following year. The big draw was last years return of astronaut launches to Florida, after years of relying on Russia for rides.

Its awesome to have this regular cadence again, said Kennedys director Robert Cabana, a former shuttle commander.

Boeing, NASAs other contracted crew transporter, isnt expected to start launching NASA astronauts until early next year. First, it needs to repeat a test flight of an empty Starliner capsule, possibly in late summer, to make up for its software-plagued debut in December 2019.

Last week,SpaceX beat out two other companies, including Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, to land astronauts on the moon for NASA in three or more years. Theyll descend to the lunar surface in Starship, the shiny, bullet-shaped rocketship that Musk is testing in the skies over Texas, with fiery, explosive results.

Its a great time to be here, and were very excited, the European Space Agencys Frank De Winne, an astronaut turned manager, said shortly before liftoff.

The space station eventually will come to an end, he noted, but the partnership will continue amid hopes of European astronauts one day walking on the surface of the moon.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
Artur Martirosian has done it once again at GGPoker. The Russian shipped the one-day GGSF H-91 Thursday Thrill Bounty for $326,273 including a whopping $212,500 in bounties after besting Christian Rudolph in heads-up play.

This is just one of many big achievements Martirosian has accomplished at GGPoker where his GGPoker-exclusive PokerCraft player profile had him at $12.3 million in online tournament cashes at GGPoker alone.

Martirosian had to battle through a tough final table as it not only featured Rudolph but also the likes of Yuri Dzivielevski, Joni Jouhkimainen, Bruno Volkmann, Benjamin Rolle, Konstantin Maslak, and Andrii Derzhypilskiy.

The event itself was another success story for GGPoker as it attracted 157 entries to generate a $1,570,000 prize pool to smash the tournament's $1 million guarantee.

GGSF H-91: $10,300 Thursday Thrill Bounty Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize Bounty Total 1 Artur Martirosian Russia $113,773 $212,500 $326,273 2 Christian Rudolph Germany $113,617 $83,594 $197,211 3 Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil $91,570 $21,250 $112,820 4 Joni Jouhkimainen Finland $73,751 $36,250 $110,001 5 Bruno Volkmann Brazil $59,399 $31,250 $90,649 6 Benjamin Rolle Germany $47,841 $37,656 $85,497 7 iGotQuads China $38,531 $7,500 $46,031 8 Konstantin Maslak Russia $31,032 $7,813 $38,845 9 Andrii Derzhypilskiy Ukraine $24,994 $15,000 $39,994

Action of the Day

By the time late registration closed there were 37 players remaining out of a field of 157 entries with 20 guaranteed at least a min-cash of $15,805 in addition to any bounties snagged along the way.

Before long, Ottomar Ladva eliminated "jakedini" on the bubble and the action was in the money. Ladva had a stack after this hand but couldn't hang on until the final table. Dario Sammartino also made it far but just missed out on the final table when his ace-queen didn't hold against Rolle's ace-seven suited.

Final Table Action

The final table began with Rolle as the table captain and eventual champion Martirosian in third place. Very soon into the action, Jouhkimainen ousted Derzhypilskiy in ninth place, and very shortly after that, Martirosian had his first final table lead.

Rudolph then eliminated both "iGotQuads" in seventh place and Maslak in eighth place by coming up on the winning ends of flips before Martirosian won a flip of his own against Rolle to send him off in sixth place.

Perhaps the biggest cooler of the final table came the very next hand. Volkmann got his stack in against Martirosian with both players holding king-queen. Martirosian held a club in his hand and four clubs rolled out on the board to oust Volkman in fifth place.

Rudolph was back to eliminating opponents in flip situations and sent Jouhkimainen to the rail in fourth place when his nines were good against king-queen and shortly after Rudolph sent Dzivielevski to the rail as well in third place leaving him heads-up against Martirosian for the big bounty waiting for the winner at the end.

Heads-Up Battle

Martirosian never gave up the chip lead he had when it went from eight players down to two but it wasn't all smooth sailing heads-up against Rudolph as he gave his opponent the chip lead despite starting the heads-up battle with a 3:2 chip advantage.

The penultimate hand of the tournament decided the fate of both players. Martirosian held ten-eight suited with two eights on the board with the river still to come and shoved over Rudolph's bet with rockets for two pair. Rudolph didn't hit an ace to save his tournament life and will have to settle for the tasty runner-up prize of $197,211 including $83,594 in bounties.

Meanwhile, a huge congrats to Artur Martirosian for another epic win at GGPoker!
After the Central government allowed everyone in the country to get COVID-19 vaccines from May 1, states have been caught up in a peculiar situation.

Until now the vaccines were directly supplied by the central government and the states were administering them to people.

Under the changed policy, while the central government will continue to supply vaccines, which will be administered for free to those eligible - those above the age of 45.

AFP

For others, the states have found the vaccines themselves - buy directly from the vaccine makers at a price that is much higher than what they were selling them to the Central government.

Serum made vaccine price announcement

The Serum Institute that was selling a dose of Covishield to the Central government at Rs 150 will be offering the same to states at Rs 400 and Rs 600 for private hospitals.

Several states have openly criticized the policy change and pricing and demanded that Centre should continue to supply the vaccines to the states. They also argue that being forced to buy vaccines at a higher price is putting an additional financial burden on the states that are already struggling to find resources amid the pandemic.

BCCL

While the debate is continuing, there is an interesting development in the state of Kerala. People are donating to the CM's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) to raise funds for the vaccines.

It started as #VaccineChallenge online and people were mostly contributing Rs 800, which is equivalent to the cost of the two doses of Covishield to CMDRF.

Though there were no official appeals or calls to do the same, the #VaccineChallenge took off as a protest against the center's policy and in just two days nearly Rs 40 lakhs has been contributed for the purpose.

CMDRF received 51L before 12PM today.



It'd be a slap on the face of Center if it reaches 1Cr before CM's press meet.



Let's do this Malayalees.. Make Kerala Proud #VaccineChallenge#PMdoesntCare#DonateToCMDRF#VaccineForAll  Sreenath (@sreenathism) April 23, 2021

Twitter

A social media user who goes by the handle, Red Indian, tweeted that "Vaccine is a right. But since the union government has abdicated its responsibility" and the Kerala government has decided to take it up, "I, as a citizen, am contributing to the #CMDRF, Kerala."

"Keralites, since the central Govt has shamelessly passed all the burden to the states' shoulder on the price of vaccines, it's time for us to stand with our state and support it."

Although Kerala State govt has promised that vaccine will be free for all, it is important that we do what's in our power to cover a part of that huge cost. Please consider a donation of Rs. 800 or more to CMDRF. #800challenge #ForKerala pic.twitter.com/AzOYX0PhlL  Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) April 22, 2021

"Support everyone around you and please donate to CMDRF, irrespective of your political inclinations," a handle which goes by the name @Advaidism, tweeted.

40 hours ago, Malayalis started a social media campaign encouraging donations to the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), a mark of protest against the Centre's new Covid vaccine policy.



And in 40 hours, the Kerala CMDRF account has got Rs 70.1 lakhs as contributions.  Advaid  (@Advaidism) April 23, 2021

Another user posted that he was sure that the Kerala government would provide vaccine free of cost for him and so he was donating the money for two doses of vaccine-- as per Serum Institute of India's price-- to Kerala CMDRF.

"This is the least I can do.I urge all my friends to do the same," the user tweeted.

A Keralite, who is settled in the UAE posted, said he received the vaccine free in that country.

"My parents in Kerala has taken the vaccine and I donate that amount to Kerala CMDRF as a small support to the government.#FreeVaccinetoAll," he tweeted.

Kerala, like many other states, had announced that COVID-19 vaccines will be administered free of cost to everyone.

AFP

Even after the new policy change, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reiterated that it will be free for everyone.

"Vaccines will be provided free of cost for everyone in Kerala.We don't have the habit of changing our stance like others. We had announced free vaccines in the state," Vijayan had said.
CHICAGO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In June, United will fly its largest schedule since before the pandemic to meet growing demand for summer travel. The airline is adding more than 480 daily flights to its U.S. schedule to offer an average of over 3,100 total daily domestic flights to more than 240 U.S. destinations. This includes the addition of new flights to Hawaii, Alaska and Montana. Overall, United plans to fly 67% of its domestic schedule and 60% of its overall network schedule compared to its 2019 June schedule.

United will add nine brand-new routes in June, including daily flights from Denver to West Yellowstone, Mont.  the closest airport to Yellowstone National Park. In addition, United plans to add two new direct flights to Hawaii  from Chicago to Kona, and from New York/Newark to Maui. And as peak travel season to Alaska resumes, United will restart service from Chicago to Fairbanks and from Chicago, Houston, New York/Newark and San Francisco to Anchorage. United will also introduce brand new service between Fairbanks and Anchorage in June.

"As leisure travel continues to return this summer, we are adding more flights to our June schedule to national parks, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida and other popular destinations," said Ankit Gupta, vice president of domestic planning and scheduling at United. "June is historically the beginning of the peak summer travel season and ramping up to over 3,500 total daily flights across the system this June underscores the continued demand for leisure travel and our responsiveness to meeting that demand."

These new routes are part of United's ongoing strategy to capitalize on the pent-up customer demand for leisure travel with friends and family. Last month when United announced 26 brand new direct summer flights from Midwest cities to seven coastal destinations in the Southeast and New England, the airline received nearly 5,000 bookings for these routes in the first 48 hours.

June Domestic Schedule Highlights

United will fly over 40 flights to the Hawaiian Islands on peak days in June, including new service to Kona from Chicago and Maui from New York / Newark  United will be the only carrier to operate these routes.

and from /  United will be the only carrier to operate these routes. United will operate up to 12 daily/69 weekly flights to Alaska from five hubs including Chicago , Denver , Houston , New York / Newark and San Francisco .

from five hubs including , , , / and . United will operate over 500 daily flights to 66 national park destinations including brand new service between Denver and West Yellowstone . United will fly to more national parks this summer than any other airline.

Committed to Ensuring a Safe Journey

United is committed to putting health and safety at the forefront of every customer's journey, with the goal of delivering an industry-leading standard of cleanliness through its United CleanPlus program. United has teamed up with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic to redefine cleaning and health safety procedures from check-in to landing and has implemented more than a dozen new policies, protocols and innovations designed with the safety of customers and employees in mind. Customers can review COVID-19 entry requirements, find local testing options and upload any required testing and vaccination records for domestic and international travel, all in to United's Travel Ready Center. United was the first airline to integrate all these features into its mobile app and website.

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines
TORONTO - Hate crime complaints and arrests in the country's largest city jumped sharply last year, with Jewish and Black people the most common targets, according to an annual police report released on Thursday.

Light from the sunset hits the skyline in Toronto, Ont., on Tuesday October 31, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch

TORONTO - Hate crime complaints and arrests in the country's largest city jumped sharply last year, with Jewish and Black people the most common targets, according to an annual police report released on Thursday.

The report cites the COVID-19 pandemic first reported in Wuhan, China, and the police murder of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, as contributing to the spike in hate-crime incidents.

The service called the increase unprecedented.

In all, 210 complaints were reported to police, up from 139 in 2019  a 51 per cent jump  and well above the average of 152 incidents per year noted over the past decade.

The report from the hate crimes unit says police arrested 41 people, almost twice as many as the 23 suspects taken into custody the previous year.

The Jewish community was the most victimized last year, followed by the Black, LGBTQ and Asian/Chinese communities.

While the most common offences related to vandalism and criminal harassment, members of the Asian/Chinese and South Asian/Indian communities were frequently assaulted.

Attacks on Asian people have risen significantly across North America since the onset of the pandemic amid false allegations the virus was deliberately unleashed by China. In one third of such assaults in Toronto, police said suspects blamed China for COVID-19.

"In all of these assault occurrences, the victims were subject to derogatory comments and were either punched, pushed or spat on by the suspect(s) during the assault," the report says.

Among notable data in the report:

 Anti-Asian/anti-Chinese hate crimes spiked to 15 from three;

 Anti-Black hate crimes shot up to 43 from 13;

 Hate crimes committed online rose to 21 from eight.

The hate crimes unit noted international events are among factors that can influence the number of reported hate attacks. Incidents involving Black targets, for example, rose markedly after Floyd's killing sparked widespread protests against police and systemic racism.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies organization called it "extremely concerning" that Jewish people remained the most targeted group. Overall, anti-Semitic incidents in Toronto rose 43 per cent to 63.

"Amid the pandemic, we have witnessed an alarming rise in hate crimes targeting all communities," said Michael Levitt, head of the centre. "Especially worrying is the rise of online hate, as individuals have turned to various platforms to organize attacks and spread vile rhetoric, including anti-Semitism."

Despite the higher number of arrests, police also struggled to solve many reported incidents due to a lack of witnesses or suspect identification information.

"These factors present considerable challenges to these types of investigations and arresting suspects," the report notes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version included an incorrect year in paragraph four.
Huntsville police officers in some instances violated policy and behaved unprofessionally while using gas and other riot gear to disperse crowds during racial justice protests last summer, a review of the demonstrations found.

The review, conducted by the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council for the past 10 months, was presented to the City Council tonight. A 248-page report detailing the reviews findings will be shared with the public online at 10:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Huntley and Jack Sharman are Birmingham lawyers hired to help the advisory committee with the review. Huntley gave the City Council a summary of the reviews findings and answered questions from city leaders. She addressed some of the primary concerns raised by citizens who accused the police department of using excessive force during the protests.

[Watch the meeting here]

Birmingham attorney Elizabeth Huntley addresses Huntsville city council on April 22, 2021, in presenting the report from the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council. (Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com)

Huntley said that the review found a critical need for Huntsville police officers to be trained more in how to deal with protests against police violence and racial issues. No Huntsville officers were disciplined for their actions at the protests.

The review found that in some instances Huntsville officers fired bean bag rounds and pepper spray at protesters in ways that were unprofessional or violated police department policies, Huntley said. She said one Huntsville officer was heard on body camera footage saying that he hit a protester in the face with bean bag rounds, which is a policy violation. She also said that officers need extensive training in the deployment of chemical agents.

Huntley said evidence regarding the firing of rubber bullets at protesters isnt completely clear, but the advisory committee believes that the Madison County sheriffs office was primarily responsible for firing those less-lethal munitions. She said that one Huntsville police officer, who no longer works with the agency, was heard on body camera video saying that he fired rubber bullets. Huntsville police Chief Mark McMurray told the advisory committee that his officers were not authorized to use such munitions.

The review also addressed concerns about snipers who were stationed atop the roof of the Madison County Courthouse on the night of June 3. Huntley said that evidence shows the snipers worked for the Madison Police Department and the sheriffs office, not the Huntsville Police Department.

Huntley said that the Huntsville Police Department was the only agency that participated with the advisory councils review. Chief Mark McMurray sat for an interview, and the department turned over bodycams and other records, Huntley said.

However, the police department did not make officers available for interviews with the advisory council because of a legal dispute with the city. Huntsville City Attorney Trey Riley said the city did not require officers to testify to the review committee. He said officers could choose to testify, but that they would be taking a legal risk. Sharman, of the advisory councils lawyers, said that the protest report could have implications for any lawsuits that might be filed.

Huntley said the advisory council found that Huntsville police need more training to properly respond to protests in which demonstrators are speaking out against police. She said the advisory council reviewed bodycam footage in which Huntsville officers said they werent properly prepared to work at the protests. Huntsville police did not share any training records with the advisory council.

Training is critical, she said. Thats probably the no. 1 recommendation from this report. This unrest associated with this issue is not going away tomorrow. It is here with us. It is another round in history where there is an issue that triggers such an amount of unrest that its going to be here for a while. Its really important for HPD to have officers in better situations where they know what to do and how to respond in such a situation.

The police chief was in the council chambers tonight during the presentation. He spoke with AL.com during a break in the meeting and said he hadnt seen the report before today.

Theres a lot of information to digest, he said. This is good for us because it gives us a framework to go forward. Im going to take this back to my command staff and were going to start working with the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council on fixing some of these recommendations. These are opportunities for improvement.

McMurray said he agrees with the advisory councils recommendations for more police training.

Trainings cheap, McMurray said. Lawsuits are expensive.

As protests swept the nation last summer in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Huntsville for peaceful rallies and protests. On both June 1 and June 3, the events ended with clouds of tear gas blanketing the courthouse square and Big Spring Park. Police have since said they acted that night not in response to violence but to head off the possibility of rioting or looting seen in other cities

[Related: Huntsville drops most protest charges; three fight arrests in mass hearing]

The advisory committee review also criticizes the communication between law enforcement agencies during the protests as well as police communication with the public. Huntley said HPD should use its social media to share information with the public about locations and times for protest permits and develop a memorandum of understanding with other agencies to make crowd control more consistent.

This tells us how to be a little bit better, Mayor Tommy Battle said of the advisory committees review.

City Council members asked questions and made comments after Huntley gave a summary of the reviews findings and recommendations.

This report pulls no punches, said City Council President Jennie Robinson.

Frances Akridge, councilwoman representing District 2, asked Chief McMurray to bring forward his own recommendations for improvement and consider apologizing for what happened at the protests.

People want an apology, and things could have been done better, she said. I think that would go a long way.

Members of the public, speaking after the review presentation called on city leaders to take action to hold police accountable and implement reforms to the department. Angela Curry, a local activist from the Citizens Coalition for Justice Reform, urged city leaders to meet with constituents and take their calls for change seriously.

How do I feel like you guys are actually taking this serious? For two years, you talked about the amphitheater but were going to solve this in a weeks time? Curry said.

The City Council will hold a work session next Wednesday at 5 p.m. to discuss recommendations for changes and improvements to the police department moving forward.

Battle said his administration will start meeting with protesters and community activists on Friday. He said the 30-minute meetings are not final discussions, but rather one step toward working with the community. We have reams and reams of ideas about what to do and how to make ourselves a better community, he said.

Vicki Guerrieri, the chairperson of the citizens advisory council, said the group of 10 volunteers reviewed more than 800 submissions from citizens, watched hundreds of hours of video, conducted public listening sessions, reviewed police evidence and more as part of their review.

This review has not been easy, Guerrieri said.

This story was last updated at 10:18 p.m.
ISTANBUL - Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Haneef Atmar, who has left for Istanbul to attend the Afghanistan-Turkey-Pakistan Trilateral Meeting, will attend the sessions virtually as advised by physicians.

Preliminary tests do not rule out the possibility of Minister Atmar being infected with COVID-19; therefore, Foreign Minister will avoid attending the meeting in person. Given the significance of the successful holding of the meeting, Minister Atmar will attend through VTC.

The Trilateral Meeting plays a significant role in the successful planning and convening of the Istanbul Peace Conference, to be held in the near future; therefore, all sides agreed to follow the agenda as planned, covering the progress of the Afghan peace process, resuming Afghanistan Peace Negotiations, strengthening regional consensus in support of peace, and consolidating trilateral relations.

The outcomes of the meeting will be shared in the coming hours.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 21:09:41|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s secret to success in governance over the past decades lies in its people-oriented development philosophy and its walking the talk in a relentless pursuit of happiness for the Chinese people, foreign party leaders and officials said ahead of the 100th anniversary of the CPC's establishment.

Such a philosophy has been specially reflected in remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping that "for the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being," they said.

During a visit to Italy in March 2019, asked about how he felt about being Chinese president, Xi told President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico that governing such a huge country requires a strong sense of responsibility and hard work.

"For the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being. I am willing to be selfless and devote myself to China's development," Xi said.

Saifullah Khan Nyazee, chief organizer of Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has found such remarks particularly impressive.

Saifullah Khan Nyazee, chief organizer of Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), speaks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

"I think what he means is that he will work for the well-being of his people selflessly, where he himself doesn't matter," Nyazee told Xinhua.

"Dedicating his life to the people to bring up their well-being, that can only be done by a selfless man. He's a selfless man who has worked for his nation. We need such leaders all across the world," Nyazee said.

Communist Party of Britain General Secretary Robert Griffiths also felt the CPC's strong sense of responsibility and commitment to the Chinese people.

The CPC is "a party of the people that has been very flexible in its tactics and strategies, but also firm in its principles. It is a communist party that aims to build socialism," he said.

In the eyes of former Nigerian Foreign Minister Aminu Bashir Wali, who became interested in China as early as in the 1960s, the CPC has built an effective governing system that allows the party to know what the majority of the Chinese people want.

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)

"The CPC represents the sum total of the aspirations of the Chinese people," Wali said.

To many foreign party leaders and officials, the CPC's people-oriented development philosophy bears great significance not only for China, but also for the rest of the world.

Good governance carried out by the CPC has played a critical role in the country's rapid development and contributed to building a multi-polarized world, said Maria Teresa Mola, vice-president of the Party of the European Left and a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China has provided assistance to countries in need, she told Xinhua, adding Xi's remarks in 2019 were not only spoken to the Chinese people, but also to people around the world.

Politicians across the world also noted that the CPC has put the country's development at the center of its work, and has been playing a crucial role in the country's growth, citing China's success in ending absolute poverty as one of the many examples.

Hailing China's elimination of absolute poverty as a remarkable feat, Juha-Pekka Vaisanen, chairperson of the Communist Party of Finland, praised the CPC's fundamental purpose of "serving the people wholeheartedly."

Juha-Pekka Vaisanen, chairperson of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP), receives an interview with Xinhua in Helsinki, Finland, March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhu Haochen)

"Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government has successfully integrated public opinion with policy-making, and promoted people's livelihood through economic development," former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Xinhua.

"I think China could become a model for many countries," added Lula, also founder of Brazil's Workers' Party.

To Olzhas Syzdykov, secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Party of Kazakhstan, the CPC has offered a new governance approach to building a more just society, allowing the country to use the accumulated capital to satisfy more social needs, so as to not only bake a bigger cake but divide it in a much fairer way.

Olzhas Syzdykov, secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Party of Kazakhstan receives an interview with Xinhua in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, March 20, 2021.(Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua)

"The Chinese people are united under the leadership of the CPC. They have been able to accomplish what those developed countries cannot do," said Syzdykov. 
The Indonesian Navy is under intense pressure to find a missing submarine whose crew members only have enough oxygen to last three more days, according to CNN.

At 3 a.m. local time Wednesday, the KRI Nanggala-402, a German-made submarine with 53 crew members on board, asked for permission to dive, officials said. Prior to making the request, the submarine had fired one torpedo with real ammunition and a practice warhead as part of a training exercise in the Bali Strait.

Related: Egypt Has Seized the Ever Given and Now Wants More Than $900 Million for the Blockage the Ship Caused at the Suez Canal

Before the vessel reportedly took part in the exercise and lost contact, it had last docked for maintenance in Surabaya, a port city on the island of Java, per Admiral Yudo Margono, chief of staff of the Indonesian Navy.

Authorities believe that the submarine went between 100 and 200 meter beyond its max limit of 500 meters below sea level as a result of a blackout. Though officials said that the crew members on board are well prepared, they also admitted that the submarine's depth below sea could prove to be fatal.

"Let's pray for them, so they can survive," Indonesian Navy spokesman First Adm. Julius Widjojono told the media.

Two ships with side-scan sonar have been canvassing the area since Wednesday. A warship with more sophisticated sonar technology is expected to join the rescue efforts soon. According to Reuters, several countries  including Malaysia, Singapore and Australia  have also offered assistance.

"I have ordered the military chief, navy chief of staff, the search and rescue agency and other instances to deploy all the forces and the most optimal efforts to find and rescue the submarine crew," President Joko Widodo said on Thursday.

An aerial search of the strait revealed an oil spill near the submarine's dive location, suggesting that the vessel could have been damaged, authorities said. Navy Chief of Staff Margono added that an item with a "high magnetic force" floating at a depth of 50 to 100 meters was also found.

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Quantum systems consisting of several particles can be used to measure magnetic or electric fields more precisely. A young physicist at the University of Basel has now proposed a new scheme for such measurements that uses a particular kind of correlation between quantum particles.

In quantum information, the fictitious agents Alice and Bob are often used to illustrate complex communication tasks. In one such process, Alice can use entangled quantum particles such as photons to transmit or "teleport" a quantum state - unknown even to herself - to Bob, something that is not feasible using traditional communications.

However, it has been unclear whether the team Alice-Bob can use similar quantum states for other things besides communication. A young physicist at the University of Basel has now shown how particular types of quantum states can be used to perform measurements with higher precision than quantum physics would ordinarily allow. The results have been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Quantum steering at a distance

Together with researchers in Great Britain and France, Dr. Matteo Fadel, who works at the Physics Department of the University of Basel, has thought about how high-precision measurement tasks can be tackled with the help of so-called quantum steering.

Quantum steering describes the fact that in certain quantum states of systems consisting of two particles, a measurement on the first particle allows one to make more precise predictions about possible measurement results on the second particle than quantum mechanics would allow if only the measurement on the second particle had been made. It is just as if the measurement on the first particle had "steered" the state of the second one.

This phenomenon is also known as the EPR paradox, named after Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, who first described it in 1935. What is remarkable about it is that it works even if the particles are far apart because they are quantum-mechanically ?entangled? and can feel each other at a distance. This is also what allows Alice to transmit her quantum state to Bob in quantum teleportation.

"For quantum steering, the particles have to be entangled with each other in a very particular fashion," Fadel explains. "We were interested in understanding whether this could be used for making better measurements." The measurement procedure he proposes consists of Alice's performing a measurement on her particle and transmitting the result to Bob.

Thanks to quantum steering, Bob can then adjust his measurement apparatus such that the measurement error on his particle is smaller than it would have been without Alice's information. In this way, Bob can measure, for instance, magnetic or electric fields acting on his particles with high precision.

Systematic study of steering-enhanced measurements

The study of Fadel and his colleagues now makes it possible to systematically study and demonstrate the usefulness of quantum steering for metrological applications. "The idea for this arose from an experiment we already did in 2018 in the laboratory of Professor Philipp Treutlein at the University of Basel," says Fadel.

"In that experiment, we were able to measure quantum steering for the first time between two clouds containing hundreds of cold atoms each. After that, we asked ourselves whether it might be possible to do something useful with that." In his work, Fadel has now created a solid mathematical basis for realizing real-life measurement applications that use quantum steering as a resource.

"In a few simple cases, we already knew that there was a connection between the EPR paradox and precision measurements," Treutlein says. "But now we have a general theoretical framework, based on which we can also develop new strategies for quantum metrology." Researchers are already working on demonstrating Fadel's ideas experimentally. In the future, this could result in new quantum-enhanced measurement devices.

###
Hongkong Land, in cooperation with An Khang, on April 22 officially launched a new show suites for the much-awaited luxury residential project, The Marq, right at the project premise on Level 4 of 29B Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, Da Kao ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh city.

The Marq is located at the heart of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Located in the heart of District 1, the Marq will provide 515 opulent residences comprising 1- to 4-bedroom condominiums and penthouses offering stunning views of Ho Chi Minh City and a true luxury lifestyle for discerning investors.

Hongkong Land has cooperated with leading global construction, architecture, furniture, landscape design, and operations management partners to build a sophisticated project.

The Marq has used top-of-the-line equipment and material, from inside to outside. Inside the building, a luxury space with 3.2-metre high ceiling, large glass windows, elegant marble flooring and bathroom walls, and a private elevator lobby for exclusive apartments are outstanding points.

Moreover, its interiors are showing top performance with king-size bed upholstered with velvet, leather, and premium fabrics to mirrors with decorative metal trim in sparkling rose gold, every detail of the sleek, modern interiors have been carefully designed to create a world of comfort and unscripted luxury in the heart of the most dynamic city of Vietnam.

Besides sophisticated design that fuses modern architecture with natural elements, The Marq lures investors with impressive amenities, such as the Sky Deck  a resort-themed terrace that crowns the rooftop  as well as a Sky Gym, Library, Sky Dining, and Sky Bar.

Besides sophisticated design that fuses modern architecture with natural elements, The Marq lures investors with impressive amenities

For the launch of The Marqs new show suite, early registrations will be granted a Starbucks voucher valued at VND2 million ($86.96).

For every purchase of 1- and 2-bedroom apartments, buyers will be offered a furniture package worth VND400 million ($17,400) and VND600 million ($20,090), respectively, under the Luxury home, Luxury interior promotion.

Meanwhile, under the Luxury home, Luxury car promotion, buyers of 3- and 4-bedroom apartments will receive cash deduction or a BMW 320i Sport Line or BMW X3 xDrive20i, respectively.

Besides, all customers will be eligible to take part in a special lucky draw and stand to win a BMW X7 valued at VND6.9 billion ($300,000).

Hongkong Land is a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, a significant listed property investment, management, and development group with a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange, with secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore.

The group owns and manages more than 850,000 square metres of prime office and luxury retail property in key Asian cities, principally in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Its portfolio includes well-known projects such as Serenade (Hong Kong), Parkville (Shanghai, China), WF Central (Beijing, China), The ESSE Sukhumvit 36 (Bangkok, Thailand) Marina Bay Financial Center (Singapore), Anandamaya Residences and World Trade Center (both in Jakarta, Indonesia).

In Vietnam, Hongkong Land is one of the few pioneering brands in the field of investment and development of luxury real estate projects.

In 2015, Hongkong Land collaborated with SonKim Land to launch The Nassim project in Thao Dien commune of District 2, Ho Chi Minh City.

Following its resounding success in introducing the private elevator concept into Vietnam, Hongkong Land continued to make its mark with The Marq.
In an early analysis of coronavirus vaccine safety data, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found no evidence that the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines pose serious risks during pregnancy.

The findings are preliminary and cover just the first 11 weeks of the US vaccination program. But the study, which included self-reported data on more than 35,000 people who received one of the vaccines during or shortly before pregnancy, is the largest yet on the safety of the coronavirus vaccines in pregnant people.

During the clinical trials of the vaccines, pregnant women were excluded. That left patients, doctors and experts unsure whether the shots were safe to administer during pregnancy.

Theres a lot of anxiety about whether its safe and whether it would work and what to expect as far as side effects, said Dr. Stephanie Gaw, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.

The new data, Gaw said, demonstrate that a lot of pregnant people are getting the vaccine, there isnt a significant increase in adverse pregnancy effects at this point, and that side effect profiles are very similar to nonpregnant people.

I think thats all very reassuring, she said, and I think it will really help providers and public health officials more strongly recommend getting the vaccine in pregnancy.

Covid-19 poses serious risks during pregnancy. Pregnant women who develop symptoms of the disease are more likely to become seriously ill, and more likely to die, than nonpregnant women with symptoms.

Because of those risks, the CDC has recommended that coronavirus vaccines be made available to pregnant women, though it also suggests that they consult with their doctors when making a decision about vaccination.

The new study, which was published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, is based largely on self-reported data from V-safe, the CDCs coronavirus vaccine safety monitoring system. Participants in the program use a smartphone app to complete regular surveys about their health, and any side effects they might be experiencing, after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.

The researchers analyzed the side effects reported by V-safe participants who received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine between Dec. 14, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021. They focused on 35,691 participants who said that they had been pregnant when they received the vaccine or became pregnant shortly thereafter.

After vaccination, pregnant participants reported the same general pattern of side effects that nonpregnant ones did, the researchers found: pain at the injection site, fatigue, headaches and muscle pain.

Women who were pregnant were slightly more likely to report injection site pain than women who were not, but less likely to report the other side effects. They were also slightly more likely to report nausea or vomiting after the second dose.

Pregnant V-safe participants were also given an opportunity to enroll in a special registry that tracked pregnancy and infant outcomes.

By the end of February, 827 of those enrolled in the pregnancy registry had completed their pregnancies, 86% of which resulted in a live birth. Rates of miscarriage, prematurity, low birth weight and birth defects were consistent with those reported in pregnant women before the pandemic, the researchers report.

This study is of critical importance to pregnant individuals, Dr. Michal Elovitz, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, said in an email. It is very reassuring that there were no reported acute events in pregnant individuals over the course of the study, she said.

But the report has several limitations and much more research is needed, experts said. Enrollment in the surveillance programs is voluntary and the data are self-reported.

In addition, because the study period encompassed just the first few months of the U.S. vaccination campaign, the vast majority of those enrolled in the pregnancy registry were health care workers. And there is not yet any data on pregnancy outcomes from people who were vaccinated during the first trimester of pregnancy.

I think we can feel more confident about recommending the vaccine in pregnancy, and especially with pregnant people that are at risk of COVID, Gaw said. But we do need to wait for more data for complete pregnancy outcomes from vaccines early in pregnancy.
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Richmond, Virginia - A Richmond, Virginia, tax return preparer pleaded guilty Monday to tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Willette J. Holland owned Tax Professionals, a return preparation firm located in Richmond, Virginia. In August 2014, the IRS contacted Holland because she did not file personal tax returns for the years 2010 through 2013. Holland then presented false returns to an IRS Revenue Agent for those years, which substantially underreported her gross receipts and taxes due. Holland additionally attempted to evade taxes for 2014 by depositing income into a bank account held in the name of a nominee, thereby concealing her earnings from the IRS. In 2015 and 2016, Holland again did not file tax returns despite being required to do so by law.

Holland is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Departments Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Francine Davis and Assistant Chief Michael Boteler of the Justice Departments Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin Cooke for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.
Visakhapatnam: Enforcement Directorate on Friday (April 23) filed a prosecution complaint before PMLA Special Court in Visakhapatnam against three persons accused of money laundering.

ED has charged Deepak Agarwal, AyushGoyal and Pramod Agarwal for allegedly laundering money to the tune of Rs 1500 crore.

The agency had initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Andhra Pradesh Police on the complaint of the Income Tax Department against Vaddi Mahesh and others.

The investigation revealed that Vaddi Mahesh had floated several firms and shell companies and opened several bank accounts in the name of those firms and shell companies.

According to ED, Vaddi Mahesh had remitted huge funds to the tune of Rs 1500 Crore to various companies in Singapore, Hong Kong and China in the guise of outward remittances for import of non-existent customised software by submitting fake and fabricated documents to the banks.

Subsequently, ED filed its first prosecution complaint against Vaddi Mahesh, Bhimendra Kumar Goyal and others in October last year PMLA Special Court.

Further investigation revealed that this was done as part of a large-scale trade-based money laundering scam, in which Vaddi Mahesh had received funds into the bank accounts of his firms through Ayush Goyal and Pramod Agarwal and remitted those funds outside India on the instructions of the co-accused.

ED had earlier arrested the kingpin of this international scam, Bhimender Kumar Goyal in September last year and filed the prosecution complaint against him next month. Deepak Agarwal and Ayush Goyal were also arrested by ED in February this year.

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Boris Johnson has sensationally been accused by Dominic Cummings of lacking competence and integrity, as the prime ministers former most senior adviser lashed out after being accused of leaking by Downing Street.

In a post on his blog, Mr Cummings made the explosive allegation  denied by No 10  that the prime minister had made a mad and unethical proposal to shut down a leak inquiry to avoid annoying his fiancee Carrie Symonds after one of her friends was implicated.

Mr Cummings, who resigned from 10 Downing Street in November amid escalating tensions within Mr Johnsons febrile inner circle, said that the PMs attempt to get Tory donors to pay for the redecoration of his flat was possibly illegal.

He claimed that Mr Johnson had authorised members of his team to brand him a leaker, despite knowing it to be untrue.

And he said he was ready to answer questions in full about his dealings with his former boss in a televised hearing of a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic on 26 May.

It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves, wrote the former Vote Leave supremo.

But Mr Johnson played down the significance of the row, telling LBC radio: I dont think people give a monkeys about this issue. What they care about is what were we doing to protect the health of the British public and thats what I care about.

Meanwhile, the prime minister was accused by the SNP leader in Westminster Ian Blackford of failing to honour a promise to parliament, after Downing Street released a statement summarising his contacts with inventor James Dyson, rather than the messages themselves.

Mr Blackford called for an independent public inquiry into the Tory sleaze scandal and the accusations of privileged access, impropriety and possible illegality, and wrote to cabinet secretary Simon Case urging him to secure Mr Johnsons personal communications to ensure they are not deleted or tampered with.

Former Tory leader William Hague said that Mr Cummings was clearly trying to do as much damage to the prime minister as possible.

Lord Hague told Times Radio: If all of these things were true, they would be damaging to anybody, including a prime minister.

Mr Cummingss devastating intervention was prompted by claims, briefed to sympathetic papers by a Downing Street source, that the PM suspected his bitter former adviser of being the source of a string of damaging leaks, including of text message exchanges with Dyson.

He flatly denied the allegation, offering to hand his phone over to Mr Case for examination as part of the leak inquiry launched on Thursday and challenging the PM to do the same.

And he said that Mr Case had already cleared him of the so-called chatty rat leak in October last year which forced the second Covid lockdown to be brought forward.

Mr Cummings dramatically claimed that Mr Johnson had considered ditching a probe into that leak after Mr Case said that evidence pointed towards the office of government adviser Henry Newman, a close friend of Ms Symonds.

The PM was very upset about this, wrote Mr Cummings. He said to me afterwards, If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as theyre best friends  [pause] perhaps we could get the cabinet secretary to stop the leak inquiry?

I told him that this was mad and totally unethical.

Mr Cummings said that government officials would confirm under oath to any inquiry that he had encouraged Mr Case to continue with the probe.

And he said that he had warned Mr Johnson that his plan secretly to use donors money to pay for the reputedly six-figure cost of refurbishing the 11 Downing Street flat was unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations.

The government today announced that Mr Johnson had personally covered the cost of decorations beyond the 30,000 budgeted annually for maintenance from the public purse.

And Downing Street issued a statement to say that in relation to the flat, at all times, the government and ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law.

A spokesperson also insisted that the PM had never interfered in a government leak inquiry.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: The government has spent the last 24 hours lurching between cover-ups and cock-ups.

Labour is focusing on jobs, crime and the NHS, while the Conservatives are fighting each other like rats in a sack and slipping deeper and deeper into the mire of sleaze.

It shows breathtaking contempt for the country.
The chewy balls that fill the drinks are in short supply, and at least one local boba supplier is already putting limits on its products. The squishy pearls, which are produced in Asian countries and shipped to the U.S., are a key ingredient in boba tea, also known as bubble tea.
A fire that broke out at a hospital in western India killed at least 14 coronavirus patients Friday, authorities said, as the embattled nation reported another record-shattering number of new cases and officials in the capital scrambled to secure fresh oxygen supplies.

The blaze came two days after an Oxygen leak at another Indian hospital left more than 20 covid-19 patients dead.

The country's health infrastructure is buckling under the wave of infections, including the more than 332,000 new cases reported Friday. The figures mean India has surpassed the global record it had set for new cases just one day before.

Health authorities also registered more than 2,200 fatalities, a number some experts warned was probably a vast undercount as mass burning sites were erected to cremate the dead.

On the outskirts of Mumbai, India's financial capital, the fire Friday in the intensive care unit of Vijay Vallabh Hospital was under investigation after 14 patients were killed, local media reported.

As word of the fire spread, the country was still reeling from the news that more than 20 coronavirus patients on ventilators had died because of an oxygen leak in a hospital in Nashik, also in the hard-hit state of Maharashtra.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, the chief minister of Delhi state, Arvind Kejriwa, said his region was facing an acute oxygen shortage - and challenged the central government to provide supplies.

"There is a huge shortage of oxygen in Delhi. Will [the] people of Delhi not get oxygen if there is no oxygen-producing plant here?" Kejriwal said, as reported by India's ANI news agency.

Roadblocks and other logistical bottlenecks have hindered the transport of oxygen cylinders between states.

"Please suggest whom should I speak to in [the] central government when an oxygen tanker destined for Delhi is stopped in another state," he said.
A lengthy prison sentence handed down in Lackawanna County Court could keep a convicted child rapist behind bars for decades.

Lackawanna County Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle sentenced Raymond Eugene Taylor, 46, to 18 to 36 years in state prison on Thursday for his conviction on child rape and other charges.

He also faces lifetime Megans Law registration after Moyle determined him to be a sexually violent predator.

Taylor raped the 4-year-old girl while babysittiing her in November 2019. He was arrested the following month after Carbondale police opened an investigation based on a report received from the countys Office of Youth and Family Services.

The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.

The case went to trial in December, and a jury deliberated less than an hour before convicting Taylor of all charges.

In an emotional statement to the court, the victims father described Taylor as the worst type of predator on the face of the earth.

Do not let this monster out on the street again, he implored the judge.

Taylor did not address Moyle before his sentencing, but his attorney, Brett Riegel, asked the judge to consider that his clients last previous encounter with the criminal justice system happened in 1998.

Assistant District Attorney Bo Loughney, who prosecuted the case with Deputy District Attorney Sara Varela, urged the judge to impose decades of jail time.

Moyle praised the courage of the victim, who, she said, had the fortitude at a very tender age to come to court and confront her assailant.

She showed great resiliency, the judge said, adding she hopes the girl can go on to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.

In addition to rape of a child less than 13, Taylor was found guilty of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and unlawful contact with a minor.

At a brief hearing prior to the sentencing, Paula Brust, the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board member who evaluated Taylor, testified the defendant met the criteria for classification as a sexually violent predator.

It is likely he will engage again in sexual crimes, she said.

Taylor is awaiting trial on similar charges involving a second child.

Just days after his December conviction, county detectives charged him with repeatedly raping a boy beginning when the child was 5 years old. The victim is now an adult in his 20s.

No date for the second trial has been set.
MONTREAL, April, 22, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - The Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC) welcomes the joint announcement by Canada and the United States to green their government operations.

"The creation of a first forum on green purchasing as part of government activities is a significant first step to which the aluminium industry intends to contribute," said Jean Simard, President and Chief Executive Officer.

The industry has invested considerably in recent years to advance the recognition of eco-responsible purchasing by the governments of Quebec, British Columbia and Canada. The work carried out with partners such as the SWITCH Alliance, BC Clean and researchers from the University of Sherbrooke has clearly demonstrated that it is possible to implement such a procurement approach, while respecting international trade rules. In addition, unions, workers and businesses are unanimous on the benefit of such an approach for the economy in general and for Canadian workers who responsibly produce low-carbon products from our critical resources and materials, such as aluminium.

"The aluminum industry has already rigorously developed for years the benchmarks used worldwide to determine its carbon footprint and thus facilitate the adoption of the material from a responsible or ecological purchasing perspective. We are certainly ready to collaborate on this initiative at national and international levels as expressed in the joint release 'in terms of information sharing, technical exchanges, working groups, data stewardship, strategic partnerships, workshops and communications", adds Mr. Simard.

Public procurement practices should leverage every dollar towards a more sustainable economy, enabling the use and implementation of innovative solutions using low carbon materials such as aluminium like never before. This will help achieve national targets for reducing CO 2 emissions and materialize the true value of national production and jobs. This can be done while meeting international trade commitments, through the use of environmentally focused performance and rating standards, based on Life Cycle Assessment and Total Cost of Ownership.

About the Aluminium Association of Canada (www.aluminium.ca/en)

The Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC) is a non-profit organization representing three Canadian world-class aluminium producers: Alcoa, Alouette, and Rio Tinto operating nine smelters in Canada, eight of which are in Quebec, and employing over 8,800 workers.

SOURCE Aluminum Association of Canada

For further information: Jean Simard, Aluminium Association of Canada, 514 288-4842

Related Links

https://aluminium.ca/


Ukraine has received 367,200 doses of the AstraZeneca-SKBio coronavirus vaccine made in South Korea and delivered by the UNICEF and the WHO within the COVAX facility's framework.

This batch will be used for vaccinating priority groups and people aged 65 and up, Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister, chief public health official Viktor Liashko told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the UNICEF press release, Ukraine will receive vaccines for the inoculation of 8 million residents by the end of 2021 via the COVAX facility.

The UNICEF noted that all vaccines supplied via the COVAX facility complied with the WHO safety and efficacy criteria.

"Importantly, against the backdrop of fierce competition and struggle for access to vaccines in the world, COVAX has been confirming in practice the fulfillment of tasks for which this global partnership has been created - to ensure fair opportunities for all," the press release quoted Liashko as saying.

As reported earlier, the UNICEF delivered 117,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Ukraine last week via the COVAX facility.
Mammoets new Group Commercial Officer Darren Adams is making it his mission to serve small and medium-sized businesses better than ever before - and its more than just talk. Throughout a lifetime in heavy lifting hes taken on every job it has to offer - from managing continents to clambering under SPMTs.

Somebody could give us a call this morning, well be there this afternoon and tomorrow weve probably got equipment on the ground. A bold statement from the man now leading Mammoets commercial activity - but one gained from a lifetime of understanding customers of all sizes.

Like many of us, Darren Adams finds his horizons narrowed, working from his home office in the north-east of England; the signed Newcastle United shirt on his wall a reminder of the world that will shortly return.

A mechanical engineer at heart, he was given his first big break in the industry thanks to a familiar name. Starting with a local heavy haulage firm, he was head-hunted for the new UK branch of an exciting foreign-owned company - Van Seumeren - starting his career in North Sea offshore.

I was working with all the SPMTs that Van Seumeren had in the UK, which was about 176 lines if I remember rightly  at that time this was a huge amount, now its very little, you know. It was a time spent getting his hands dirty. I was doing the engineering, but I was also going to the job sites and running the jobs, executing the work with the guys. If we had to connect the SPMTs together and get them ready, I was there with the team doing it.

Work hard, play hard

He was responsible for projects from the first call until equipment was back at base, taking care of colleagues deployed from their native Netherlands. The guys really liked coming to the UK because everything was organized for them, and it was also close to some pubs and some decent eating houses. That part of the job; the human side, is very important for the job.

It's a time Adams remembers fondly, and clearly one that plays a big part in who he is today, and how he approaches his work. His passion for projects lies first and foremost in the yard; in using his experience to understand each lift on a detailed technical level and communicating it effectively - or as he puts it Ive been there, Ive got the T-shirt.

One project stands out in particular, for an offshore fabrication yard in Scotland: I sold the project, but also drove the module out of the fabrication shop, put it onto the barge, set it down, brought the trailers back off, de-mobilized  with the team alongside me - so the clients saw that we could tender, negotiate, engineer and execute the whole thing.

Around the turn of the century, Adams took the opportunity to manage the North American business of the newly-renamed Mammoet. This experience was transformative  he would spend the majority of the following two decades there, becoming an increasingly important figure in the no-nonsense world of Texas oil and gas.

It's from these experiences  leaving projects filthy and exhausted, working side-by-side with customers  that Adams draws his conclusions about business. Youve got to be close to the customer. Youve got to understand their needs; their wishes, their drivers  why they get up in the morning.

Increasing understanding

Its an attitude that is fundamental for Adams, whatever the projects size or scope. And its about more than just being easy to deal with, personally  its about being able to hold meaningful conversations from the very first moment. To serve customers best, youve got to have a good solid understanding in some detail of how to do the work. You should be able to explain step-by-step how youre going to do the job, where you see the pros, where you see the cons, how you can save some time for them, where we can save costs for them.

To help with this, Adams is putting his faith in young engineers  in developing experts that are capable of understanding and communicating technical concepts - ideally borne of their own experience. Im a big believer in the skillset we have inside this organization. Some of our talents rise up to be more commercial people, some will go down the project management route. If we can guide them and see which ones go left, which ones go right - that is the only way forward in my opinion.

So, he is on a mission to make Mammoet focus just as closely on its bread and butter customers - small and medium-sized businesses  as it does on global megaprojects. As he did in the yard, Adams wants to see the entire Mammoet organization continue to build long-lasting, meaningful customer relationships. The focus has got to be on this, from the boardroom to the smallest job site, in every region.

Helping local businesses

By changing its focus here and elsewhere, Mammoet can use the many assets it already has to help small and medium-sized business to thrive. With over 140 offices worldwide, distance should never be an excuse. You would say that we are closer to most jobs  sure there is always local competition  but we should be able to be cost-effective from a mobilization and demobilization perspective.

Then theres technical expertise. Quite often, smaller projects demand the engineering skill of much larger ones - if were moving a 20,000t module, its never going to fall off the trailer. However, when you need to remove facade modules from a building using its own window cleaning track or drive a suburban house down the street, specialist skillsets are needed  even though the loads themselves are smaller. Adams notes, its good to be supported by such a highly-experienced group of people.

Finally, where emergencies happen customers need fast action. Mammoets position as the holder of the largest fleet of heavy lifting equipment allows it to respond quickly, and without delay. If youve got an emergency job or something has cropped up and youve got to address it, then we have the resources to deliver this with our own assets, with our own toolbox, locally  without having to wait for any third-party suppliers.

Adams knows from personal experience what is at stake when someone picks up the phone to call Mammoet, and his message to customers is clear. Whatever the size of the job, your business is as important to us as working with an energy multinational. And no matter if the load is a 10,000t topside or a single air conditioning unit, we have the local resources, capability and backup to help you succeed.
New Delhi: A day after tweeting the demise of former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan having fallen for fake information, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday (April 23) apologised to her son for his mistake.

Spoke to Sumitra Mahajan ji's son to convey my sincere apologies at last night's misinformation. He was most gracious & understanding. Delighted to hear she is very much better. Expressed my best wishes to her & her family, Tharoor tweeted.

Spoke to Sumitra Mahajan ji's son to convey my sincere apologies at last night's misinformation. He was most gracious & understanding. Delighted to hear she is very much better. Expressed my best wishes to her & her family.  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 23, 2021

In his now-deleted tweet, Tharoor had expressed condolence on the demise of veteran BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan.

Soon after it, he retracted his statement and wished good health to Mahajan.

I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra jis health and long life, he tweeted late Thursday.

Mahajans reaction came a day later after the incident, in which she questioned the media for not verifying the news before publishing.

How could news channels run a report on my so called demise without even cross checking with the Indore administration? My niece refuted Mr. Tharoor on Twitter but what was the urgency in announcing without confirmation? said Mahajan.

The former Lok Sabha speaker's son Mandar put out a video clip, saying his mother is perfectly fine and urging people not to reply on false news being spread about her.

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Controversial Sydney businessman Salim Mehajer's 'chaotic existence' did not inspire confidence in the judge who jailed him for at least two years and three months for lying to the court.

The disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor, 34, was sentenced by NSW District Court Judge Peter Zahra to a total term of three years and six months for trying to secure bail conditions under false pretences to further his business interests.

Mehajer had pleaded not guilty for two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath, but Judge Zahra found he falsified documents and claims.

He still faces separate charges in other matters but for this judge-alone case, he will first be eligible for parole on January 18, 2023.

Disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer (pictured with ex Melissa Tysoe) has been jailed for lying in court

Judge Peter Zahra sentenced Mehajer to three years and six months in the NSW District Court for trying to secure bail conditions under false pretences to further his business interests

Judge Zahra dismissed medical expert evidence that suggested he may have been influenced by his mental health conditions namely bipolar, saying Mehajer's behaviour was carefully planned.

'In my view, he engaged in many deliberate acts over many months and was calculated and persistent,' Judge Zahra said on Friday.

Mejaher showed a high-level and detailed knowledge of the legal system in preparing his false affidavits and persisting with his false statements under cross-examination, Judge Zahra said.

'I accept the crown submission that he presented a complex web of lies that went to the heart of what the court is trying to assess.'

The charges arose while Mehajer was seeking to change his bail conditions between 2017 and 2018 for domestic violence related offences.

He argued his curfew needed to be lifted in order to conduct his work as a building manager on a property in its final stages of development.

But Judge Zahra found he did not hold this position and was trying to wrest it back from liquidators and appear to investors that he was still in control of the towers.

He was concerned that his conditions of bail might frustrate his attempts to negotiate and settle financial dispute, and affect his reputation towards future investment opportunities, he said.

'His business and financial interests were paramount.'

Mehajer wrote a letter to the court expressing his deep regret for his actions caused by immense pressure after administrators were brought in to control his development site.

Mehajer still faces separate charges in other matters but for this judge-alone case, he will first be eligible for parole on January 18, 2023

'I was in the view I had just lost everybody's money... many families had invested their life savings with me,' it read.

It also described his delusions following the failing property development.

'I was in denial and disbelief, my mind wouldn't let me believe.'

He said spending most of the past five months in segregation due to his high-media profile was amongst the most stringent and difficult any inmate could suffer.

Judge Zahra said he was unable to conclude whether Mehajer's was remorseful or had insight into his offending and pointed to his 'somewhat chaotic existence' as problematic in terms of rehabilitation.
The Ministry of Economy of Armenia today hosted a discussion meeting devoted to the draft law on making amendments and supplements to the Tax Code of Armenia.

As reported the Ministry of Economy, among the attendees were representatives of the private sector who are members of the Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurship Development Council adjunct to the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyann, as well as representatives of the Business Support Office and other interested organizations.

The aim of the discussion was to ensure participation of representatives of the private sector in the development of legal regulations linked to the economic sector and the discussions within the scope of the public-private partnership.

Minister Vahan Kerobyan presented the concept paper on the economic policy developed by the ministry, commented on the key provisions of the concept paper and stated that he anticipated a constructive and fruitful discussion.

At the end, Minister Kerobyan expressed willingness to help solve the problems raised by the businessmen within the scope of his competences.
A self-described Christian Republican has been mocked on social media for criticising Disney World by claiming the theme park is too woke.

Jonathan VanBoskerck, from Las Vegas, Nevada, published an op-ed in The Orlando Sentinel on Friday, explaining why his family is strongly rethinking our commitment to Disney.

Mr VanBoskerck explained that he and his family holiday at Disney World every year, but claimed that the more Disney moves away from the values and vision of Walt Disney, the less Disney World means to me.

Disney is forgetting that guest immersion is at the core of its business model. When I stand in Galaxys Edge or Fantasyland, I know I am in a theme park but through immersion and my willingness to set the real world aside, something magical happens.

He added: That spell is broken when the immersive experience is shattered by the real world. And boy, has Disney been breaking the immersion.

Mr VanBoskerck, who describes himself as a Christian and a conservative Republican, went on to claim in the op-ed that Walt Disney used his corporation to express his patriotism during World War II and his pro-capitalism beliefs afterward.

The difference today is that the people who run Disney use social media to scream to the whole world that a decision has been made for political reasons.

He continued: Disney is in the process of taking the woke scalpel to the Jungle Cruise. Trader Sam is out because he might offend certain people, and added: Immersion should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness and appeasing the Twitter mob.

Mr VanBoskerck also took aim at Disney allowing cast members to display tattoos, wear inclusive uniforms and display inclusive haircuts. Disney did all of this in the name of allowing cast members to express themselves.

The op-ed caused a stir after being published on Friday morning, with hundreds of social media users mocking Mr VanBoskerck for claiming Disney has become too woke.

Twitter user @MorazonInc replied to the Sentinels post: Wont someone please consider the delicate sensitivities of a middle aged white man when designing childrens theme parks?

User @raaleh wrote: Im sorry the park about cartoons for children is too soft around the edges for you, as @sairasameerarao mused: What is an inclusive haircut?

While actress Patricia Arquette replied: This guy is taking the Christ right out of Christian. If he doesnt understand why racist imagery is not acceptable, and @lisasaurstomp added: I got so much secondhand embarrassment from reading this.

One issue Mr VanBoskerck took with Disney World is the park getting rid of its Trader Sam character from the Jungle Cruise ride.

The Trader Sam character vignette, which was added to the ride in 1957, features a man outfitted in straw tribal wear that will trade you two of his heads for one of yours.

The character was removed from the ride by Disney World earlier this year as part of planned cultural sensitivity changes following accusations that several of their rides featured racist characters.

As part of the changes we previously announced, we are addressing negative depictions of natives in the attraction, Walt Disney imagineer Susana Tubert told Attractions Magazine about the decision.

She added: We look forward to sharing more about the finale to the enhanced storyline and final scene very soon.

The Jungle Cruise ride is not the first in a Disney park to have undergone a redesign following considerations of cultural insensitivity and racism.

Last June, Disney confirmed it would change the theme of the ride Splash Mountain after a petition called it racist and problematic due to its roots in the 1946 film Song of the South.

The film had long been viewed as one of Disneys most controversial pictures due to its stereotypical representations of black people and its romanticism of the pre-civil war South.

While In 2018, the company confirmed it had updated the bride auction scene of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Orlando, Florida following complaints.
So Kang-suk, right, co-leader of the United Christian Churches of Korea (UCCK), one of the largest associations of Protestant churches in Korea, speaks during a video call with Mahn Win Khaing Than, the prime minister of the National Unity Government (NUG), newly formed government of Myanmar and opponents of the Myanmar's military coup, Wednesday. Courtesy of UCCK



By Park Ji-won



The United Christian Churches of Korea (UCCK), one of the largest associations of Protestant churches in Korea, said that its chief pledged to support the establishment of democracy in Myanmar during a call with Mahn Win Khaing Than, the prime minister of the National Unity Government (NUG), the newly formed government of Myanmar and opponents of Myanmar's military coup, which took power in February, and urged further support from Korean and international communities.



The UCCK said in a statement that So Kang-suk, a pastor and the group's co-leader, had a conference call with the NUG's prime minister on Wednesday afternoon and said, "I pray that the spring of Myanmar's democracy would come fast."



Stressing that Myanmar is in desperate need of support from Korean churches, the Korean government and international communities amid the murder of civilians by the military junta's forces, So also said "The UCCK has already started to help the country and continues to raise funds. I am going to ask for help by using my personal network so that the government officials and relevant people as well as international figures can get involved in the situation and help them."



The prime minister was quoted as saying to So that "Christians in Myanmar are taking the lead in this pro-democracy movement  I hope Korean churches could help and pray for Myanmar so that the country can welcome the democracy of the country."



The video call was cut short about thirty minutes due to the unstable connection in Myanmar. So and the prime minister pledged to hold another video call to discuss the situation.



So wrote on Facebook after the call, "There was also a pro-democracy movement in Korea in the 1980s. Korea was successful in the movement but Myanmar is still suffering  I urge people to pray for peace in Myanmar so that there would be no more casualties."



The move came after the NUG was formed last Friday in response to the military coup of Feb. 1, which ousted Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Due to the junta's military crackdown, more than 700 civilians were reportedly killed as of last week. Religious and activists groups in Korea and the Korean government have been making efforts to help the troubled country. The groups have been holding services to raise awareness of the situation in Myanmar. The government has suspended defense exchanges with Myanmar and banned arms exports to the Asian country.



So also had a meeting with Jeong Beom-ra, Yan Na Ying-tun and Somotu, leaders of the Myanmar Democracy Network in Korea, which is pushing for the establishment of a refugee camp called "Korea Safe Zone" in Myanmar.


UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has warned the four elite clubs which have not left the Super League project that they could be banned from the Champions League.

Despite eight of the 12 members announcing their departure, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have not aborted the idea of breaking away from UEFA and forming a new competition.

"It's crystal clear that the clubs will have to decide if they are Super League or they are a European club," Ceferin told the Associated Press.

"If they say we are a Super League, then they don't play Champions League, of course

"And if they are ready to do that, they can play in their own competition."

Aleksander Ceferin

Meanwhile, UEFA's Executive Committee decided on Friday against disqualifying Real Madrid from the Champions League this season, ahead of Los Blancos' game with Chelsea in the semi-finals.

No consequences for those who left

Ceferin also made it clear that the teams who left the Super League project could face no consequences compared to the aforementioned four.

"We still are waiting for legal expertise and then we will say, but everybody faces consequences for their decisions, and they know that," added Ceferin.

"For me, it's a very different situation between the clubs that admitted their mistake and said, 'We will leave the project.'

"The others mainly know I would say that this project is dead, but they don't want to believe it, probably."

Labelled the project a betrayal

The UEFA president also claimed that he feels betrayed by the clubs who conceived the idea of creating a Super League.

"The worst day was Saturday, because then I realised that it was a pure betrayal, that some people lied to us for years," Ceferin said.

"It was quite strange because I didn't know what exactly will happen the next day. It was like something will be announced; nobody knows what."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 19:32:42|Editor: huaxia

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by Dana Halawi

BEIRUT, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The decision by some correspondent banks to cut financial relations with the Central Bank of Lebanon will have dire repercussions for the country, Lebanese financial experts said.

The experts' warnings come following a statement, released earlier this month by Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, saying that international correspondent banks started to curtail their business relationships with the central bank, or Banque Du Liban (BDL), due to such facts as Lebanon's default on Eurobonds and political campaigns against the BDL.

The central bank governor added that such a move will place Lebanon in a difficult situation regarding foreign transfers and the purchase of basic commodities, as well as obtaining foreign currencies to operate various economic facilities.

Mohammad Faour, a financial researcher at the University College Dublin, told Xinhua that Lebanon is at the risk of witnessing a serious humanitarian crisis if all correspondent banks decide to cut their ties with the Lebanese financial sector.

"The Lebanese financial system will be excluded from the international financial system. We won't be able to import our needs knowing that Lebanon imports most of the goods consumed in the country," Faour said.

Ghassan Ayache, former vice governor of Lebanon's central bank, told Xinhua that all the country's international trade activities will be affected if correspondent banks decide to cut their relationships with Lebanon.

Ayache explained that Lebanese banks will no longer be able to issue letters of credit which constitute an important tool of international trade.

In this case, Lebanese banks may opt to agree with an international bank to open letters of credit on their behalf in return for a commission, according to Ayache.

Ayache cites another difficulty that will face Lebanese students who are willing to study abroad but will not be able to issue any bank guarantees amid unstable ties between local and correspondent banks.

Ayache explains that students usually ask for this service from local banks which, in turn, request this service from correspondent banks.

"This will no longer be the case as students will need to have access to cash money to open bank accounts in foreign countries for them to be able to complete their education and all other universities' procedures," he said.

Meanwhile, Mounir Rached, president of the Lebanese Economic Association, said that unstable ties with correspondent banks will put pressure on individuals and businesses who will need to have access to foreign reserves to complete any transactions with suppliers of services and products in foreign countries.

Lebanon has been facing an unprecedented banking crisis amid shortage in foreign reserves which limits the country's ability to make cross-border payments.

Ayache told Xinhua that other correspondent banks may decide to cut their ties with Lebanon in the near future due to the lack of trust in the Lebanese banking sector, the government and the country's central bank.

Faour reiterated Ayache's remarks, adding that correspondent banks prefer not to deal with risky counterparties.

He added that the main factor prompting correspondent banks to be cautious towards Lebanon is the reputational risk after accusations by Swiss judicial authorities against central bank governor over alleged money laundering activities.

Faour asserted that the only thing that Lebanon can do to preserve its ties with correspondent banks is to work again on negotiations for a comprehensive financial stabilization plan with the International Monetary Fund.

"We need to restructure and recapitalize the banking sector, and restructure the public debt. As long as the local banking sector is insolvent, correspondent banks will be very skeptical about dealing with the Lebanese financial system," he said. Enditem
After initially opposing it, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz voted in favor of a Senate bill that aims to combat hate crimes against Asian Americans, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate through a bipartisan 94-1 vote Thursday.

In a previous statement to The Texas Tribune, Cruz lambasted the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was introduced into Congress by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York, calling it a Democratic messaging vehicle designed to push the demonstrably false idea that it is somehow racist to acknowledge that Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China.

RELATED: Ted Cruz among group of Republicans opposing bill to address hate crimes against Asian Americans

A Cruz spokesperson said Thursday that he ultimately decided to support the bill during the final vote because of an amendment added by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in cooperation with Hirono.

While it was unfortunate that Senate Democrats blocked Sen. Cruzs amendment to fight discrimination against Asian Americans in higher education, Sen. Cruz believes the adoption of Sen. Collins language made substantial improvements to this legislation and so he voted in support of the final proposal, the spokesperson told the Tribune in an email.

Despite several failed Republican attempts to amend the bill, Hirono and Collins reached an agreement to modify the bills language to broaden bipartisan support while retaining the purpose of the bill, according to Hironos office.

Before it was passed, Cruz and Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, tried to amend the bill to prohibit Federal funding for any institution of higher learning that discriminates against Asian Americans in recruitment, applicant review and admissions, which was narrowly rejected in a 49-48 vote. It was among other unsuccessful Republican-led efforts to amend the bill.

Cruz previously accused Democrats of not taking racism seriously because they didnt call out the U.S. Department of Justice for withdrawing its Trump-era affirmative action lawsuit against Yale University for allegedly discriminating against Asian American and white applicants through race-based admission quotas. The lawsuit was dropped in February after President Joe Biden took office.

In a joint statement, the two senators called the rejection of their amendment an unbelievably cynical move.

Despite their calls to end racism, it is clear Democrats are only paying lip service to fighting discrimination against Asian Americans and will allow targeted discrimination against them to continue at Americas universities and colleges, they said in the statement.

In response, Hirono said racial discrimination in higher education is already illegal and called the Cruz-Kennedy amendment a transparent and cynical attack on university policies that aim to promote diverse student bodies, according to Politico.

READ ALSO: Ted Cruz says he's 'done' with wearing a mask at the U.S. Capitol

If signed into law, the bill would expedite the processing of hate crimes by assigning an employee at the Justice Department for that task. The Hirono-Collins amendment extended the amount of time the department has in designating the official to oversee that review from one day to seven.

The bill would also issue guidance to local law enforcement officials on making hate crime reporting more efficient through online reporting, which would be available in multiple languages. Additionally, the bill would expand public education campaigns aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes and reaching victims."

Another key aspect of the bill is its plan to issue guidance that would be aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the amended bill. Former President Donald Trump regularly called COVID-19 the China virus while crimes against Asian Americans surged since the dawn of the pandemic.

In San Antonio, an Asian restaurant was vandalized with anti-Asian racial slurs, and in Midland, an Asian American family was stabbed at a Sam's Club, according to WFAA-TV.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that tracks Asian American discrimination, there were 103 incidents in Texas from March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021, which were among nearly 3,800 nationwide.

The U.S. House will eventually take up the bill, where it is expected to pass because of the Democratic majority.

Todays historic, bipartisan vote on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act sends a powerful message of solidarity to the AAPI communitythat the United States Senate rejects anti-Asian hate. Now, I urge the House to swiftly pass this legislation so the bill can go to President Biden to sign into law, Hirono said in a written statement.

Disclosure: Politico has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Democrats from the House of Representatives were reported to pass a bill that prevents future presidents of the United States from enacting a "Muslim ban."

According to The Christian Post, House Democrats passed by a vote of 218-208 on Wednesday the "National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination For Non-Immigrants Act" to respond to former President Donald Trump's effort to curtail illegal immigrants and the activities of terrorists in the United States. Trump signed in 2017 a "Muslim ban" that actually limits the entry of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries identified as terror threats to the United States.

The "National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination For Non-Immigrants Act" or NO BAN Act for short is House Representative Bill 1333 sponsored by California Democrat Representative Judy Chu. She introduced the bill in the House last February 25 and was put under the House Judiciary Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, Homeland Security Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Senate-Judiciary Committee for review.

"This bill imposes limitations on the President's authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States. It also prohibits religious discrimination in various immigration-related decisions, such as whether to issue an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, unless there is a statutory basis for such discrimination," the Bill's Summary stated.

"The President may temporarily restrict the entry of any aliens or class of aliens after the Department of State determines that the restriction would address specific and credible facts that threaten U.S. interests such as security or public safety," the Summary continued.

"The bill also imposes limitations on such restrictions, such as requiring the President, State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to (1) only issue a restriction when required to address a compelling government interest, and (2) narrowly tailor the suspension to use the least restrictive means to achieve such an interest."

The Summary explained that the State Department and DHS would have to consult with Congress before imposing any restrictions. The two federal offices would also have to report to Congress any restriction it intends to implement "within 48 hours of the restriction's imposition" and failure to do so would "immediately terminate" such a restriction.

The Summary also said that legal complaint may be filed in federal court by any individual or entities currently in the United States that are "unlawfully harmed by such a restriction." Meanwhile, the "DHS may suspend the entry of aliens traveling to the United States on a commercial airline that failed to comply with regulations related to detecting fraudulent travel documents."

Prior to Trump, the Christian Post said former President Barack Obama approved the Visa Waiver Improvement Program And Terrorist Travel Prevention Act in 2015 that pinpointed as "countries of concern" that of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. The travel ban was lifted when President Joe Biden came into the presidency but imposed a travel ban on immigrants individuals from Brazil.

The Christian Post added that, alongside HB1333, the House also passed through a vote of 217-207 the Access To Counsel Act, which guarantees immigrants to legally enter the United States to contact a family member or adviser "if in custody for an extended time period."

As per the Christian Post, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supports both bills which she described as a preventive measure from any future president of the United States to "again abuse its authority by waging discrimination on basis of religion."
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has welcomed the reports that President Joe Biden will officially recognize the Ottoman Empires genocide against the Armenian people, Massis Post reported.

Im honored and incredibly moved to be able to commemorate this years anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by applauding the Presidents reported decision to end over a century of official erasure of one of the darkest events in human history. Today we keep faith with all those who stand up to injustice anywhere and everywhere in the world. We honor those who lost their lives in this genocide, remember how they died and rejoice in knowing weve changed the way history will remember their deaths. After three decades of leading this fight in Congress, I am proud the U.S. government is poised to finally be able to say it without any euphemism: genocide is genocide. Plain and simple.

As we prepare to observe the 106th anniversary of the Ottoman Empires systematic drive to eliminate the Armenian people, I am deeply grateful for and inspired by the Armenian American communitys persistence in ensuring the Armenian genocide is recognized as an irrefutable fact of history  accepted by the United States and the rest of the world. I want to personally thank President Biden for honestly facing history and heeding our calls to recognize the genocides factual reality; something that should have never been denied, diminished, or mischaracterized by any U.S. administration. Having the full U.S. government affirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide will send a strong signal that the truth and human rights, not ignorance and denial, shape our foreign policy.

I join the Armenian community in New Jersey, across the United States, and around the world in honoring the 1.5 million innocent men, women, and children who were killed, starved and forcefully deported from their homeland by the Ottoman Empire 106 years ago. Only by acknowledging and understanding historys darkest hours can we truly learn from them and use them to build a peaceful future, reads the respective statement by Senator Menendez.
We are very excited to add another location in Tennessee, said Conlin. Anthony is a great fit for our brand, and he cannot wait to start serving the community of Memphis. We are so grateful for the continued growth, especially during this unprecedented time.

Wayback Burgers, Americas favorite hometown burger restaurant, and one of the nations fastest growing burger franchises  now celebrating its 30th year of serving up deliciousness, announces signing a deal for three new locations in the Memphis, Tennessee area.

Meet Anthony Franklin, father of three, diehard Chicago Bears fan, avid viewer of Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right, and the newest Wayback Burgers franchisee.

When not spending time with family, Franklin runs his own trucking company and is the director of a senior living facility. When researching franchises, he stumbled upon the Wayback Burgers website. After a few conversations, Franklin decided this brand was right for him because of the support that was offered, low startup costs and the relationship first mentality  an attitude close to his heart.

I am very excited to get the restaurant open, said Franklin. Soon I will be able to provide exceptional products and services to the Guests while providing new job opportunities for members of the community. Thats one of the best parts of starting a new business.

Franklins signing will give Wayback Burgers additional locations in the state of Tennessee. Currently, there is one location in Shelbyville, owned by Omar Salim, and one in Nashville owned by Yasser Fathi  who is also on the hunt for another location within Nashville.

Memphis is a great market for our brand, said Patrick Conlin, President of Wayback Burgers. This addition will allow us to increase Wayback Burgers presence and bring awareness to our great products.

Franklin will be opening his Wayback Burgers location at 465 N. Germantown Road, Suite 115, in Memphis, TN.

We are very excited to add another location in Tennessee, said Conlin. Anthony is a great fit for our brand, and he cannot wait to start serving the community of Memphis. We are so grateful for the continued growth, especially during this unprecedented time.

Wayback Burgers mission is to create a culture of belonging by uniting people through the love of comfort food. With Franklins enthusiasm and the brands support, there is no doubt the new Memphis location will do just that.

About Wayback Burgers

Founded in 1991 in Newark, Delaware, Wayback Burgers is a Connecticut-based fast-casual franchise with a reputation for cooked-to-order burgers and thick, hand-dipped milkshakes, served in an environment that hearkens back to a simpler place and time  when guest service meant something and everyone felt the warmth of the community.

Wayback Burgers currently operates in 31 states with over 166 locations nationally and internationally in Brunei, Sudan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan; Manitoba, Canada and The Netherlands. Through its executed master franchise agreements, Wayback Burgers plans to open in 38 provinces/countries in the Middle East, Northern Africa, South Africa, Bangladesh; Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, and the Netherlands. Currently, there are LOIs for Japan as well.

For more information about Wayback Burgers, please go to https://waybackburgers.com/.

For franchising information about Wayback Burgers, please go to https://waybackburgers.com/franchising.
The second class of Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellows, announced this month, will apply the tools of computational biology to generate and interpret cancer research data at extraordinary scale and resolution. From RNA sequencing data that pinpoints tumor cells to their exact location to three-dimensional models of cell-cell interaction, their projects extend the boundaries of what is possible in cancer research, allowing them to tackle fundamental biological and clinical questions.

Each postdoctoral scientist selected for this unique three-year award will receive independent funding ($240,000 total) to train under the joint mentorship of an established computational scientist and a cancer biologist. The grant was created to encourage quantitative scientists (from fields such as mathematics, physics, computer science, and engineering) to pursue careers in cancer research. By investing in the intersection of "wet" and "dry" lab, Damon Runyon aims to address the need for these specially trained scientists in the quest for new cancer treatments and cures. The awardees were selected by a distinguished committee of experts in the field.

"We're entering a golden era for cancer research because of the explosion of insights we're having into cancer biology, genetics, and mechanisms. I think everyone would agree that a huge component of the big breakthroughs are going to come at this intersection of cancer biology, medicine, and computational science. If you believe that the role of computational science is going to be integral to the future of cancer discoveries, then we need to worry about whether we have enough leaders in this field. We should be investing in a new generation of leaders, and that's the intent of this award," said Todd R. Golub, MD, Damon Runyon Board Member and Chair of Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award Selection Committee. In this year's cohort of Fellows, they have found a team of emerging leaders who will join last year's inaugural class in leading the development of this new field.

2021 Quantitative Biology Fellows

Tin Yi Chu, PhD, with mentors Dana Pe'er, PhD, and Elaine V. Fuchs, PhD, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York

Cancer cells form complex interactions with the various normal cells in their environment, including immune cells, fibroblasts, and blood vessels. These interactions are essential for cancer cells to grow, evade immune surveillance, and become metastatic or resistant to certain therapies. Spatial transcriptomics refers to a method of visualizing the distribution of RNA molecules in a tissue sample, allowing us to assign specific cell types to their locations. Dr. Chu aims to develop a statistical framework to infer how different cell types interact with each other based on spatial transcriptomics data. He will use this statistical framework to study cell-cell interactions in both colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, a risk factor for colorectal cancer.

Haripriya Vaidehi Narayanan, PhD, with mentors Alexander Hoffmann, PhD, and Roy Wollman, PhD, at University of California, Los Angeles

Immune B cells defend the human body from infections by quickly dividing to increase their numbers and mutating their immune receptors to adapt to new pathogens. However, such frequent division and mutation creates a high risk of blood cancers, like lymphomas and myelomas. Every B cell makes an important decision about its fate - to die, to divide a certain number of times, or to differentiate into an antibody-producing cell - based on the affinity of its receptor to an oncoming pathogen. Currently, it is not understood how the B cells' receptor affinities influence their internal gene networks to determine their fates. By combining microscopy, genomics, and computational models, Dr. Narayanan aims to discover the precise mechanisms underlying the B cell immune response, so that we can predict, prevent, or alleviate B cell-related cancers without compromising immunity.

Esther Wershof, PhD, with mentors Dana Pe'er, PhD, and Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis, PhD, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York

The formation of complex organs such as the lungs is a largely elusive process in human development, though the fact that these complex structures are successfully reproduced over and over again suggests a strong underlying set of biological rules. Further, it has been shown that tumors and metastases can be viewed as aberrant organs, employing many of the same programs as in normal development. Understanding these rules and how they can be hijacked are long-standing critical questions in cancer research. While fascinating discoveries have helped decipher some of these rules, cell differentiation is chiefly governed by the cell's three-dimensional (3D) environment. Dr. Wershof is using 3D biological data to study the architecture of different cells and genes interacting with each other in 3D space. The goal is to derive the spatial rules that drive lung formation, which will be key to our understanding of lung tumorigenesis.

###

About the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative research. The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists. Twelve scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Each of its award programs is extremely competitive, with less than 10% of applications funded. Since our founding in 1946, in partnership with donors across the nation, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has invested over $400 million and funded over 3,850 scientists. This year, it will commit nearly $17 million in new awards to brilliant young investigators.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Administrative and fundraising costs are paid with revenue from the Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets Service and our endowment.

For more information visit damonrunyon.org.
Washington:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States holds Myanmar's military leadership "accountable" for the Rohingya refugee crisis, drawing a distinction with Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government.

Myanmar's recent return to elected rule has given it a hybrid government in which the military still has wide powers in the security domain and in Rakhine state, where the United Nations has reported ethnic cleansing.

"We're extraordinarily concerned by what is happening with Rohingya in Burma", Tillerson said.

"I've been in contact with Aung San Suu Kyi the leader of the civilian part of the government, as you know this is a power-sharing government."

"We really hold the military leadership accountable for what's happening", he said, warning the world won't stand and "be witness to the atrocities that have been reported."

In the last seven weeks, more than half a million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into Bangladesh.

Their stories have shocked the world globe, with accounts of Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs murdering and raping civilians before torching their villages to the ground.

The western region descended into chaos when Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar police posts on August 25, triggering the brutal military crackdown.

Read more: Rex Tillerson says India, US stand together against terrorism

Tillerson said that Washington understands that Myanmar is facing "serious rebel terrorist elements" in Rakhine, but warned the military must be disciplined and "restrained."

And he said Myanmar must grant fuller access to aid agencies to aid civilians and to allow the world "a fuller picture of what is going on."

"Someone is going to be held to account for that and it's up to the military leadership of Burma to decide what role do they want to play in the future of Burma", he said.

"This is a real test for this power-sharing government."

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Copenhagen-based Final Cut for Real CEO Signe Byrge Srensen might be unassuming and soft-spoken, but her vision, will power and fire for urgent stories have made her a world-class producer. Her documentary credits boast countless festival hits and accolades, including two Oscar-nominated films, The Act of Killing (2014) and The Look of Silence (2016), to the 2020 CPH:DOX top winner Songs of Repression, and recent Sundance Grand Jury Winner Flee.

Her company Final Cut for Real is delivering five competition entries at this years CPH:DOX, including Srensens own-produced President, a Sundance Special Jury Prize winner, and new pic Our Memory Belongs to Us, both running for the main Dox:Award.

Helmed by Syrian-born Rami Farah, with Srensen serving as co-director, Our Memory Belongs to Us is a unique window into the Syrian conflict through the lens and memories of those who took part. Brought together by Farah to mark the 10 years of the Syrian uprising, three Syrian civilian journalists and activists, Yada, Odai and Rami, meet for the first time since escaping from Syria in a Parisian theater. In the safe environment, the three friends share memories of events that changed their lives, as they watch on the silver screen footage shot by them or others in the city of Daraa, birthplace of the Syrian revolution.

In this exclusive interview for Variety, Srensen discusses the film, her personal journey, producing for traditional platforms and streamers.

Where does your urge to tell politically charged stories, generally set in developing countries, come from?

I didnt go to film school. I studied International Development Studies and Communication Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. My passion and interest were always for these topics. Then when I finished my studies, I joined Spor Media Copenhagen in 1998. Their focus was on doing films notably in Africa, in collaboration with African filmmakers. The first film I worked on was shot in Zimbabwe  a country which I had first visited a decade earlier after high-school to plant trees for three months. At Spor Media, I gradually learnt how to produce, also by attending co-production courses at Eurodoc and EAVE, before moving to Final Cut Productions in 2003 and starting Final Cut for Real in 2009.

For you what are the essential criteria to lift documentary filmmaking to the highest artistic level, to make them stand out in a crowded marketplace?

It is complex, but there are three basic ingredients that are extremely important. First is strong collaboration between the core team: the director and producer. Secondly, the strong collaboration with the rest of the team and with the subjects. Then time is key  which means money! We need time to build trust with the characters, time to evaluate the material after filming, time to edit, do proper sound, etc.

You rely on the traditional business model of public support, co-productions and single territory distribution. What relationships do you have with global streamers?

We have mainly sold finished films to the streamers and would love to collaborate earlier on some projects in the future. For the moment, weve worked mostly within the traditional business model, as we can rely on the Nordic public support system and public broadcasters, who are willing to engage with our films. For us, its extremely important to have our artistic freedom, that the director has final cut. Our films arent straight commissions. Its the directors vision that were bringing to the screen. But Im sure it will be possible to collaborate with global streamers. We just need to find the right projects.

What did the Oscar nominations for Joshua Oppenheimers The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence change for you and your company?

These films were extremely important, both for me and our company. We gained a lot of knowledge and experience, first by making those films, then by doing outreach, and by getting the films out to A festivals, working with publicists, sales agents, distributors around the world. That helped us establish a network within the industry. This also helped for our next films. That said, raising financing for new films isnt easier, as every film is different and a new beginning. Still, we do have a better chance now to attract peoples attention.

Our Memory Belongs to Us is your second film with Rami Farah after A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy. How did you first meet and how did the idea for this film emerge?

We met at IDFA a few years ago and were introduced by the non-profit organization International Media Support. Basically Rami and his wife French/Palestinian journalist and producer Lyana Saleh came up with the idea. They had a hard disk with footage shot by the citizen journalists from Daraa [birthplace of the Syrian Revolution] and showed me and editor Janus Billeskov Jansen some material. There was so much of it and it was hard for us to grasp what was happening.

Once they started to explain the context, we began to understand. I realized in the process, how little I knew and how important it would be to find a way to incorporate all their knowledge and analysis of the situation in Syria into the film, if it were to be understood also by a European audience.

We created a data base, with all the material, classified in a clear way. Then together with Rami, Lyana and Dima Saber, a researcher from Birmingham University, we started to discuss the timeline. What had happened to each protagonist, the key scenes filmed by them and other citizen journalists. We already had the idea to bring them in a safe place, in a theater stage, for them to reflect on the images and explain them to us. That took time to gather them all as Yadan, Odai and Rani are exiled in different countries.

Had you discussed with each character the scenes you had selected?

They knew we would take them through the process, show them some of their own material about the uprising in Daraa, but they didnt know what exactly. We were aware how difficult it would be emotionally for them to process all this in only a few days. The idea was to create a space for reflection. A visual space, which would be Syria outside of Syria.

It reminded me of the staging in the film Reconstructing Utya, where the protagonists are reunited and had to deal with a shared trauma

Yes. This is one of the reasons why we used Henrik Ibsen as cinematographer. He had worked on Reconstructing Utya and we were inspired by his work on that film.

There is a beautiful feeling of togetherness, warmth and even humor between them, as the four friends share slices of life  made up of laughter and cries

They hadnt looked at that material for a long time and hadnt met each other, physically, until that reunion day in the theater. Therefore, their reactions were totally genuine and fresh. What is beautiful in the film and we didnt know in advance this would happen, is how much they support each other emotionally, while watching the images. They hold each other when one breaks down. There is so much warmth and humanity, which was such a contrast to what they have experienced.

As co-director, how did you assist Rami Farah?

My role was to be the outsider, ask the naive but hopefully necessary questions, so that other outsider audiences would start to understand the complexity of the Syrian conflict. Together we analysed the material, what parts of the story should be told, in which order. Then once in the theater, when the camera was rolling, Rami was in control, as all the dialogues were in Arabic. I was camera number three!

You cite in the film George Orwells quote from his cult novel 1984: Who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present, controls the past. Are the Syrian citizen journalists real-life Winston Smiths fighting tyranny by documenting history and protecting the truth?

Yes, thats the reason for putting the quote in. We wanted to point out the importance in Syrian society of who is in charge of the narrative and writes history. However, also in democracies it is important to keep track of what determines the dominant narrative and sometimes challenge it. Today, people in Western media often describe the Syrian conflict as a civil war, but its not. Its a proxy war, an international war. By calling it a civil war, we tend to forget why the Syrian uprising took place in the first instance: citizens simply wanted freedom of expression, to free themselves from tyranny and Assads dictatorship. And by calling it a civil war we also free the international community of any responsibility. We owe it to the people who fought, lost their lives, to those who crossed the Mediterranean as refugees with their families, to tell events and history the way theyve experienced it.

How will the film be distributed and promoted on social media and impact venues to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Syrian Revolution?

Were dreaming of bringing it out together with Farahs A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy, to communities across Europe, Syrian and non-Syrian. Hopefully the characters in the film and Rami will be able to present the films in person, and hopefully the films can contribute to the ongoing cross-cultural conversation, which is so important right now.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Detectives are trying to identify the suspect in the fatal shooting of a woman earlier this year in an East Central neighborhood, according to a Crime Stoppers release.

Police have released a photo of a suspect in the Jan. 18 death of David Garcia-Dominguez, 42, but, according to spokesman Gilbert Gallegos, do not know his name.

Officers found Garcia-Dominguez fatally shot near Chico and Rhode Island NE.

The individual pictured is the suspect who fled the scene, as a passenger in a red or maroon sedan, the Crime Stoppers release states.

Tips: Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP or visit their website at crimestoppersnm.com.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba welcomes the passing by U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee of the Ukraine Security Partnership Act.

Kuleba wrote about this on Twitter.

Im grateful to Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a unanimous passing of the Ukraine Security Partnership Act aimed at increasing annual military aid to $300 mln, including lethal weapons, he wrote.

The minister noted that the United States is a trusted friend and ally.

"We are looking forward to a swift passing by the US Congress," Kuleba added.

On April 21, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Ukraine Security Partnership Act of 2021 (S. 814), which provides for increased support for Ukraine against the background of Russian aggression.

The Ukraine Security Partnership Act will provide Ukraine with up to USD 300 million a year in military assistance until 2026. The document envisages, in particular, the U.S. assistance in providing Ukraine with defense aid from third countries. In addition, this includes the allocation of USD 4 million annually until 2026 for the training of Ukrainian officers.

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Kate Garraway shared her reaction to the news that 'Britain is now out of the pandemic' after her husband Derek Draper returned home following his Covid battle.

The presenter, 53, discussed Professor Sarah Walker's comments on Friday's Good Morning Britain after the chief investigator on survey said the crisis has effectively become an endemic due to the fall in infection rates since vaccine rollout.

An endemic disease means it will always present in the population but circulating at low rates, like the flu.

It comes after Kate's husband Derek, 53, returned to their adapted family home earlier this month after spending a year in hospital battling Covid and the after-effects.

Reaction: Kate Garraway shared her reaction to the news that 'Britain is now out of the pandemic' after her husband Derek Draper returned home following his Covid battle

Talking to Dr Amir Khan, the presenter said: 'Can we just talk about that seemingly extraordinary news that this morning Britain is now officially out of the pandemic.

'So it was the 11 March, 2020, we officially went into the pandemic and now a leading Oxford scientist has said, having looked at the data, having gone through it all, because of the fall in infection rates... we are now out of the pandemic.

'Dr Amir Khan, it sounds like... and it's covered in several of the papers, the news we've been waiting for.'

She added: 'They're saying Britain has moved from a pandemic to an endemic, it's going to make people think, "Oh thank God is this VE day, is it all over?"'

Return: It comes after Kate's husband Derek, 53, returned to their adapted family home earlier this month after spending a year in hospital battling Covid and the after-effects (pictured during documentary about his recovery, Finding Derek)

To which Dr Khan replied: 'It's a very bold statement for Professor Sarah Walker, who is the chief investigator of this study that has been in all the papers as you say.

'What they have done, is take 1.6million swabs off people from across the UK over the last few months and compared those swabs from people who have been vaccinated, to people who haven't been vaccinated or yet to be vaccinated.

'What is shows is that even having one dose of vaccine reduces your risk of having the virus, getting symptoms, it can reduce your risk of symptomatic infection by 74 per cent.

'But importantly, it can reduce your risk of having no symptoms and carrying the virus by over 50 per cent so these people would otherwise perhaps be wandering around, spreading it around, but the vaccine has reduced that risk.

News: The presenter, 53, discussed Professor Sarah Walker's comments on Friday's Good Morning Britain after the chief investigator on survey said the crisis has effectively become an endemic due to the fall in infection rates since vaccine rollout

She said: Talking to Dr Amir Khan, the presenter said: 'Can we just talk about that seemingly extraordinary news that this morning Britain is now officially out of the pandemic.'

'What is also showed, which is really interesting, is that the people who did test positive for the virus who had the vaccine had much lower viral low, so again, much less risk of transmission.'

Dr Khan added: 'Hopefully we are turning the tide on this. We still need to take caution, we've seen in India what happens when you lift restrictions too quickly or you don't have any restrictions at all.

'The vaccine is really good in bringing down the virus, but I wouldn't say we're yet out yet.'

It comes after experts said that 'Britain is no longer in a pandemic' due to the vaccine rollout reducing symptomatic Covid infections by up to 90 per cent.

Response: Dr Amir Khan said: 'The vaccine is really good in bringing down the virus, but I wouldn't say we're yet out yet.'

Pandemic: Kate said: 'So it was the 11 March, 2020, we officially went into the pandemic and now a leading Oxford scientist has said, having looked at the data, having gone through it all, because of the fall in infection rates... we are now out of the pandemic.'

Professor Walker, from the University of Oxford and chief investigator with the national Covid infection survey, said that Britain had 'moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation'.

She said that she was 'cautiously optimistic' that the vaccine rollout could help keep coronavirus under control.

Professor Walker continued: 'Without vaccines, I dont think getting close to zero is really feasible in the situation now in the UK where were effectively endemic, weve moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation.

'Long-term lockdown isnt a viable solution so vaccines are clearly going to be the only way that we are going to have a chance to control this.'

Professor Walker also appeared on GMB later in the show where she explained her statement further.

Relief: She added: 'They're saying Britain has moved from a pandemic to an endemic, it's going to make people think, "Oh thank God is this VE day, is it all over?"'

She said: 'What endemic means, at least in much of my infectious diseases work, is that it is here to stay.

'So while it is really great news that we have been shown that both the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have shown single doses reduce infections by 65 per cent, two doses up to 90 per cent.

'It's not 100 per cent, which means the virus isn't going to be going away.'

Professor Walker added: 'Pandemic means every country across the world at the same time, endemic means it's really around and it's there, going to have potential to come back.

'It's great news, vaccines have given us a huge opportunity to start to control the virus without having to rely on lockdowns that work but are so incredibly painful.'

Pandemic to endemic? An endemic disease means it will always present in the population but circulating at low rates, like the flu

Co-stars: Kate was joined by Charlotte Hawkins and Sean Fletcher in the studio

Pictured: Kate was later seen arriving at the Global radio studios as she changed into a colourful ensemble

Cautious: The presenter took cautious measures amid the coronavirus pandemic and wore a face mask while stepping out

An endemic disease means it will always present in the population but circulating at low rates, like the flu.

It comes after Kate revealed that there have been 'lots of little positives' since her husband Derek returned home from hospital following his Covid battle.

The Good Morning Britain presenter said Derek, also 53, 'remembered she needed flattery', and recently commented on a new dress she was wearing.

Kate and her children Darcey, 15, and Billy, 11, were 'over the moon' earlier this month when Derek was able to return home after he spent more than a year in intensive care dealing with the after-effects of coronavirus.

Radiant: Charlotte looked radiant in a mustard yellow dress which had a plunging neckline and matching belt

Stylish: The presenter, 45, styled her blonde locks into a blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of glowing make-up

Outfit change! Later in the day, Charlotte was seen by the Global radio studios as she wowed in a yellow knitted T-shirt and navy trouser combo

During Thursday's episode of GMB, Kate said she was delighted 'on so many levels' just days ago when he spotted she was wearing a new outfit.

When asked how everything is, she said: 'It's a whirligig. It's been wonderful having Derek at home.

'There are lots of little positives. Whether they are positives because it is genuinely helping his cognition being at home, or whether it's just because I'm there to see the little things. Whereas I couldn't go in before. I don't know.

'But it feels positive, little moments of reaction. He said something the other day. I walked in just before I left to go to Smooth [Radio] and he said, "new dress," which was just amazing.

'And it was [a new dress]. I thought that was amazing on so many levels because he recognised it, he realised and remembered that I need a lot of flattery, so there was some emotional collection there.

Sweet: It comes after Kate said there have been 'lots of little positives' since her husband Derek returned home - and he recently recognised she was wearing a 'new dress'

'And it was just a little moment. And we're back to the bits in between.'

Kate admitted it has been 'quite an eye-opener' looking after Derek, who is receiving 24-hour care since he returned home from hospital, alongside the experts.

And it has made her realise what an 'extraordinary, overwhelming responsibility' being a carer is. She added: 'It is a relief [to have Derek home].

'They [the experts] are an extraordinary bunch of people. We all know carers are incredible, we've said it so much this year. But for them it's learning about him, learning about me.

'It's been quite an eye-opener. We always talk about that role of caring and support in the home, how big it is, but until you're actually at the coalface of it it's an extraordinary, overwhelming responsibility.

'So far so good, but I don't want to tempt fate.'

Kate recently joked that her kids have already started 'deferring' questions to their father.

She added: 'I've noticed a little bit of deferring actually, like 'should we check with dad?'. And I'm like hold on, wait a minute, hang on a minute I'm still the boss!'

Kate said the family have had 'a few lovely moments' when Draper 'reacted to something Darcy has said that we haven't seen previously'.

She said: 'It is a very unique situation so they [doctors] are looking for unique solutions.'

Health battle: Derek was first diagnosed with coronavirus in March 2020 (pictured during documentary about his recovery, Finding Derek)

The TV personality also revealed how her home has been fitted with an alarm system in case Draper needs urgent attention.

She said: 'He can press it with his right hand if he needs us. There are people there for Derek, there is someone there for the children. It was a slightly strange feeling when I thought 'oh my goodness'.

'We hope this will be the future situation and he won't have to go back to hospital.'

Derek returned home on April 7 and Kate revealed he burst into tears when he saw his kids Darcey and Billy.

She previously said: 'As we pulled up I could see Darcey and Billy looking out of the window and they ran out and opened the door and he immediately burst into tears and there was a lot of hugging.'

Kate is said to have spent thousands transforming her home to support Derek's ongoing recovery, including turning the couple's living room into his new bedroom.

He will have speech and language therapy and physiotherapy at home as he continues his road to recovery.

Lobbyist Derek spent more than a year in intensive care but returned to the couple's home in north London earlier this month.

Adjustment: She likened his return home to bringing home a newborn baby, saying after extensive planning she asked herself 'what the heck do we do now?' (pictured in 2019)

She recently likened it to bringing home a newborn baby, saying after extensive planning she asked herself 'what the heck do we do now?'.

Kate said: 'Its been completely overwhelming but also wonderful.'

She added: 'It was a medical reason for coming home as well as our desire and his desire to to encourage a more normal environment to stimulate his recovery and consciousness and they [the children] have been absolutely loving it.

'Really helpful. It's been great actually.

Kate has adapted their home to make it more accessible for her husband, who cannot move or talk on his own and still needs to be on a stretcher or wheelchair.

She has installed a ramp outside their property and a lift to the garden, as well as converting their garage into a wet room. She is now believed to be facing medical bills costing her tens of thousands.

Derek will work with physiotherapists and speech therapists as part of his recovery.

It has been confirmed that Derek is Britain's longest surviving Covid hospital patient after he was first admitted with breathing difficulties on March 30 last year.

He 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.

Home: Lobbyist Derek (pictured in hospital) spent more than a year in intensive care following a Covid battle but returned to the couple's home in North London this month
Sometimes one persons generosity inspires others. For Louis Goffinet, the middle school teacher who accidentally racked up a $16,000 tax bill while raising thousands of dollars to feed his community during the pandemic, this is true three times over.

When news broke last week of Goffinets tax bill and his inability to pay, generous souls from all over the country flooded his Mansfield post office box with checks. As of Thursday, he said, he had amassed about $13,000 he can use to cover the bill.

Its a big relief, he said Thursday. Hes gotten checks from as far away as Wisconsin and California. Four different individuals - three of them strangers - offered to pay the whole $16,000.

But he wont be doing that.

A local CPA and a New York tax professor have determined that Goffinet does not owe income taxes on the $41,000 he raised through a Facebook fundraiser to buy and distribute groceries for people throughout his community. Instead, they will help him set up a charity so he can continue his good work for those in need without creating any more tax problems for him or anyone else.

After meeting with Goffinet and looking over his records, Windham CPA Dawn Brolin and Columbia University tax professor Rick Davino agree that Goffinets grocery distribution efforts were what Brolin terms a gift-raising activity.

Amounts received by reason of the donors detached and disinterested generosity are NOT taxable to the recipient but rather are treated as tax-free gifts under section 102 of the Federal income tax laws, said Rick Davino, an adjunct tax professor at Columbia Law School. After learning Goffinets story, I cant imagine any of the donors on Mr. Goffinets Facebook page being motivated by other than such generosity. Thus, the receipt of those funds by Mr. Goffinet would NOT be taxable to him. No doubt at all.

Despite the Form 1099-K that Facebook sent the IRS identifying the $41,000 as personal income, the money people gave Goffinet to buy groceries was given so he could spend it on others  with no expectation of a tax deduction or anything else in return, Brolin said. There was no quid pro quo.

After hearing to the contrary from a number of tax experts, I was really skeptical there was a way out, Goffinet said. But he said the last thing he wants to see is for money intended to help people go back to the IRS.

So, with help volunteered by Brolins firm, Powerful Accounting Inc., Goffinet said will set up a legal 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization to handle the thousands sent to cover his debt. Once thats done, he said, everyone who sent him money to pay the tax bill will be given the option of donating the money to the charity  for the benefit of others  or simply getting it back.

In response to news of his unexpected tax liability incurred while buying groceries for needy people in his community, dozens have sent him enough money to cover Louis Goffinets entire bill. But with the help of a volunteer tax advisor, he has a better idea.

Meanwhile, said Brolin, she will file Goffinets tax return without claiming the $41,000 as income. She and Goffinet are also building a file that will comprehensively account for all the money he received and how and on whom he spent it.

Fortunately, he has been keeping detailed records, Goffinet said. She wants two years of my credit card and bank statements, the 27-year-old teacher added.

Brolin observed that Goffinets typically modest monthly expenditures on his American Express card mushroomed to $31,000 in one month of the pandemic last spring  all of the charges paid out to grocery stores.

The file will include all his Facebook posts and the local and national news coverage, email and community recognition Goffinet got during the pandemic as he was busy organizing deliveries of groceries and helping pay the rent of people who had lost their jobs.

Brolin, who is also a certified fraud examiner and forensic accountant, says she knows a scam when sees one and knows Goffinet and his effort to help local people in need was anything but that. Nevertheless, she said, there is a chance that the IRS will reach out for more context than his tax return provides, and if it does, she will have a persuasive body of evidence to show that what Goffinet organized was not a taxable event.
by Fady Noun

There has been no news of Youhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi in eight years. All traces of the two archbishops were lost between Aleppo and the Turkish border. According to unconfirmed sources, they were killed by a radical Islamic group. A memory "rooted in hearts" and that time "cannot erase". The roots of Christians go back to the Middle East.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - About ten days ahead of the Easter celebrations of the Orthodox communities (May 2), the Greek Orthodox and Syrian Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch recalled Paul Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim, the two bishops of Aleppo who disappeared in Syria in 2013 in circumstances whose contours have never really been clarified.

To mark Palm Sunday, the two authorities asked the faithful of their Churches released a message drawn up for this occasion and to remember the two prelates in their prayers on the occasion of the Easter feast.

Here are some passages from this joint press release:

On a day like today, April 22, 2013, our brother archbishops of Aleppo Youhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi were kidnapped. Since that day, their cause has symbolized, without summarizing it, all the tragedy experienced by human beings in the East [...] ".

Today we remember these two missing brothers of ours. Their abduction represents one of the mysteries of this age; it also touches in a certain way the very essence of the human being, in a world in which it seems that its value has now become, for some, insignificant. They were abducted on their return from a humanitarian mission. They were and remain two symbols of the Christian presence in the East. Many pretend to boast of their importance, which in reality has value only in words.

Their memory is rooted so deeply in our hearts that not even the years that pass can erase it. We appeal to local and international public opinion, recalling that we have knocked on all the doors of diplomacy, security services, political and social representation that we have encountered on our path. And from which no significant and certain results have emerged.

We are called today, as Christians, to be united by going beyond all particular affiliations; we must overcome all the accidents of history and aspire, with all our strength, to Christian unity. This double kidnapping is the greatest proof that what unites us in Christ is much greater than the sediments of history that separate us. This double kidnapping is proof that, as Christians, we share a common destiny in the East. A common destiny that we also share with anyone who seeks the face of God and his mercy and defines God as the Lord of Life and the Lord of the resurrection, not putting themselves in his place.

In the face of this blackout, in the face of kidnappers who refuse to identify themselves [...], and in the face of the fruitless efforts of the intelligence services, we reaffirm one thing: as Christians of Machrek, we are rooted in this East and we will remain rooted in it, as long as we have blood in our veins. We are here trusting only in God and in our hope in the Lord of the resurrection. Here we entrust ourselves to the Lord of the resurrection, who has been with us for two thousand years. And we are confident and believe that he always will be.

According to some sources, never officially confirmed, the two prelates were killed by a jihadist group in December 2016. What is certain is that went missing on April 22, 2013, while they were in the area between Aleppo and the Turkish border, possibly victims of the Salafist group Nour al-Din al-Zenki, financed by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The two prelates, one of whom was the brother of the Greek Orthodox patriarch Jean X of Antioch, were on a mission in an attempt to negotiate the release of two priests Fr. Michel Kayyal and Fr. Maher Mahfouz, kidnapped in February of the same year. However, the official investigation was never officially closed as it was not possible to find the remains of the two priests.
Newly appointed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led a Vietnamese delegation to the ASEAN Leaders Meeting in Indonesia, marking his first overseas trip.

The PM and his entourage arrived in Indonesias capital Jakarta Friday afternoon.

A report on the government portal said Chinh and the Vietnamese delegation will attend the summit at the headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat on Friday and Saturday at the invitation of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, which currently serves as the ASEAN Chair.

This is the first overseas trip as prime minister by Chinh, who was sworn in on April 5. The trip affirms the priority Vietnam assigns to tighten and strengthen relationships of solidarity and mutual assistance with fellow ASEAN members, contributing to enhancing the role and position of the bloc in solving challenges and creating a peaceful and favorable environment for the sustainable development of each country and the region.

Among other things, the summit will discuss the political instability in Myanmar, as proposed by Brunei last month.

Myanmar has fallen into crisis since the army seized power and detained government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on February 1. Hundreds of thousands of people have been coming onto the streets to protest the coup and at least 739 people have been killed.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Myanmar military, is expected to join the summit.
Int'l community praises CPC's people-oriented philosophy as secret to success in decades of governance

Xinhua) 14:50, April 23, 2021

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s secret to success in governance over the past decades lies in its people-oriented development philosophy and its walking the talk in a relentless pursuit of happiness for the Chinese people, foreign party leaders and officials said ahead of the 100th anniversary of the CPC's establishment.

Such a philosophy has been specially reflected in remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping that "for the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being," they said.

During a visit to Italy in March 2019, asked about how he felt about being Chinese president, Xi told President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico that governing such a huge country requires a strong sense of responsibility and hard work.

"For the good of my people, I will put aside my own well-being. I am willing to be selfless and devote myself to China's development," Xi said.

Saifullah Khan Nyazee, chief organizer of Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has found such remarks particularly impressive.

"I think what he means is that he will work for the well-being of his people selflessly, where he himself doesn't matter," Nyazee told Xinhua.

"Dedicating his life to the people to bring up their well-being, that can only be done by a selfless man. He's a selfless man who has worked for his nation. We need such leaders all across the world," Nyazee said.

Communist Party of Britain General Secretary Robert Griffiths also felt the CPC's strong sense of responsibility and commitment to the Chinese people.

The CPC is "a party of the people that has been very flexible in its tactics and strategies, but also firm in its principles. It is a communist party that aims to build socialism," he said.

In the eyes of former Nigerian Foreign Minister Aminu Bashir Wali, who became interested in China as early as in the 1960s, the CPC has built an effective governing system that allows the party to know what the majority of the Chinese people want.

"The CPC represents the sum total of the aspirations of the Chinese people," Wali said.

To many foreign party leaders and officials, the CPC's people-oriented development philosophy bears great significance not only for China, but also for the rest of the world.

Good governance carried out by the CPC has played a critical role in the country's rapid development and contributed to building a multi-polarized world, said Maria Teresa Mola, vice-president of the Party of the European Left and a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, China has provided assistance to countries in need, she told Xinhua, adding Xi's remarks in 2019 were not only spoken to the Chinese people, but also to people around the world.

Politicians across the world also noted that the CPC has put the country's development at the center of its work, and has been playing a crucial role in the country's growth, citing China's success in ending absolute poverty as one of the many examples.

Hailing China's elimination of absolute poverty as a remarkable feat, Juha-Pekka Vaisanen, chairperson of the Communist Party of Finland, praised the CPC's fundamental purpose of "serving the people wholeheartedly."

"Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government has successfully integrated public opinion with policy-making, and promoted people's livelihood through economic development," former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Xinhua.

"I think China could become a model for many countries," added Lula, also founder of Brazil's Workers' Party.

To Olzhas Syzdykov, secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Party of Kazakhstan, the CPC has offered a new governance approach to building a more just society, allowing the country to use the accumulated capital to satisfy more social needs, so as to not only bake a bigger cake but divide it in a much fairer way.

"The Chinese people are united under the leadership of the CPC. They have been able to accomplish what those developed countries cannot do," said Syzdykov.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
Federal regulators on Friday lifted the nationwide pause of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, opening the door for Bay Area providers to resume using the single-dose product soon.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration agreed to resume use of the vaccine following the recommendation of an advisory panel Friday afternoon. The panel had been called on to review the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a handful of cases of a rare blood clot were identified in people who had recently been vaccinated.

The shots can resume immediately, federal officials said.

In the end, this vaccine was shown to be safe and effective for the vast majority of people, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, in a news briefing Friday evening. Were pleased to have resolution today.

The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, which was put together to advise governors of four states including California on coronavirus vaccines, met Friday afternoon to review the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The groups decision could be announced by Saturday.

Several local health officials said they will wait to get clearance from California authorities and the Western States group before resuming use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But they are prepared to start using the shots again as soon as that comes through.

California and the Western States group typically adopt the CDCs decisions.

The nationwide pause began April 13 after a small number of cases of blood clots were reported in women who had received the shot. At the time, six out of about 7 million people who had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had developed the rare syndrome that is a combination of blood clots and low platelets.

All six cases involved women between ages 18 and 48, and one woman died. The panels review found some additional cases  in total, 15 cases, including three deaths, out of roughly 8 million doses given. The evidence suggests an increased risk of blood clots one to two weeks after vaccination, though it is extremely rare.

The FDA has updated its fact sheet for providers and patients to include a warning about the increased risk of blood clots.

The federal panel, the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted to resume the use of the vaccine for people 18 and older after examining the cases and determining the risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19 is much higher than the risk of developing rare blood clots from the vaccine.

I think everyone in public health thinks its important to have the J&J vaccine back as a tool, said Dr. Art Reingold of UC Berkeley, who chairs the Western States group. Its a one-dose vaccine. In the middle of a pandemic, we need all the tools we can get. And it is generally safe. So the benefits far outweigh the risks.

The pause did not severely curtail vaccination efforts in California because the Johnson & Johnson vaccine made up such a small percentage of overall supply in the state. At the time of the pause, just 4% of the doses in California were Johnson & Johnson. The rest were Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Suspending the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, though, complicated some providers efforts to vaccinate hard-to-reach people such as homeless and homebound residents. Most providers were able to switch to the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, but because both of those require two doses given a few weeks apart, they must return a second time to fully vaccinate these populations.

In Marin County, for instance, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine represented just 2% of overall vaccinations. Public health officials had been using the Johnson & Johnson in their mobile vaccination operations, and after the pause switched to Pfizer. They put about 1,500 doses of Johnson & Johnson on ice.

But they will resume Johnson & Johnson if the state and Western States group green-lights it, said health officer Dr. Matt Willis.

Wed start with J&J in our mobile operations, but as we see unfilled appointments in our larger vaccine operations, we may move J&J into that setting as well, he said.

San Francisco has 700 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that it plans to roll out next week once safety reviews are completed. A spokesperson for the San Francisco COVID Command Center said the city would wait for the Western States group to complete its evaluation, but local officials agreed with the advisory panel recommendations.

On Twitter, Mayor London Breed said she also supports the findings. This is good news and San Francisco is planning to resume the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, she wrote.

Other local vaccinators are still weighing their options. Dr. Margot Kushel of UCSFs Center for Vulnerable Populations, which helps run a pop-up vaccination site in the Tenderloin that had been using the Johnson & Johnson shots, said she would prefer to use it again if the federal and state agencies approve it. But the clinic has not made a decision yet.

Federal officials acknowledged that the reports of blood clots, though rare, may have shaken some peoples confidence in the vaccines, and in particular Johnson & Johnson. No blood clots have been associated with the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, which use a different mechanism from Johnson & Johnson.

Some providers say that while they plan to reinstitute the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, they are prepared to pivot to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine if it turns out the communities they serve prefer the latter.

We dont know how the community-based organizations will respond, said Greg Garrett, chief operating officer of the Oakland community clinic Native American Health Center, which prior to the pause had used the Johnson & Johnson for mobile vaccinations for the homeless, day laborers and people with mobility issues. We want to be respectful to them. If they request Moderna or Pfizer, wed have to take that into consideration.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
Gurugram, April 23 : Amid the rising number of Covid patients in Gurugram, the city's Artemis hospital on Friday appealed to the central as well as the Haryana governments to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply.

"SOS- Less than 3 hours of #Oxygen supply at Artemis Hospital, Gurugram. Last night's commitment of delivering Oxygen remains unfulfilled. We request the government to help urgently," Artemis tweeted.

"Artemis hospital is in its last leg of oxygen..last night's commitment of oxygen replenishment remained unfulfilled..only 3hours to go!!!please help us urgently...@drharsh vardhan @mlkhattar @PMOIndia @PiyushGoyal," Devlina Chakravarty, Managing Director, Artemis Hospitals, Gurugram said on her Twitter post.

"We are living on a day-to-day supply of oxygen. Every morning we have to make numerous calls to get a 24-hour supply. Doctors and other healthcare staff are fatigued working round the clock. Lack of basic support like oxygen can break their backs.

"It's a pity that we are not able to help hundreds of people coming to our ER, gasping for breath. We have stopped chasing the lack of Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, ventilators. We request all now to provide us the very basic uninterrupted supply of oxygen," Chakravarty said.

This comes after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said adequate arrangements have been made to ensure uninterrupted supply of medicines, oxygen and other facilities to the Covid-19 patients in the state.

Earlier on Thursday, Fortis hospital in Gurugram had also shared several posts on their official Twitter account in which the hospital had made appeals to the central, Haryana and Rajasthan governments after their oxygen tanker was stuck in Rajasthan's Bhiwadi.

The impasse was later resolved and the oxygen tanker reached the hospital.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
(Natural News) A prominent Catholic leader has published an essay warning that it is mortally sinful to take any Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination that contains ingredients derived from aborted human fetal tissue.

Writing under the pen name of Father Elias, the priest-theologian explains that all good Catholics and men of good must abhor abortion. And if they do, then these men and women of honor must say no to Chinese Virus injections that have been tested or developed through the abuse of stolen aborted fetal cells.

Back in December, the Vatican issued a Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) document that tried to make the case that Catholics can still get injected with abortion-tainted vaccines in situations where there is no available morally untainted therapeutic intervention that neutralizes the proposed health threat.

There must exist a proportionate cause for using an abortion tainted therapeutic intervention based on the risks involved, the document further contends. There must exist an actual grave threat to your health or that of others if you were to refrain from taking the proposed abortion-tainted therapeutic intervention.

Hilariously, the CDF document also claims that believers can still get jabbed with chemical cocktails made from aborted babies just so long as they verbalize the fact that the therapeutic intervention is abortion-tainted. According to the Vatican, all of these requirements must be met in order for God to forgive a person post-injection.

To learn more about how abortion-tainted vaccines could lead to injury or death, be sure to check out ChemicalViolence.com.

What happened to informed consent?

According to Fr. Elias, however, several of these requirements cannot be met by taking any of the currently available Covid-19 injections, especially those that contain experimental gene-modifying mRNA (messenger RNA) technology.

If your friend steals someone elses car and then offers to sell it to you cheaply, it would be a mortal sin to buy the car, even if you were personally opposed to the fact that it was stolen, Fr. Elias argues.

The morally tainted condition of the car being stolen makes it objectively mortally sinful for you to buy it. And likewise, being personally opposed to the evil of abortion does not of itself exempt a person from mortal sin through accepting the use of a baby murder-tainted vaccine.

Fr. Elias offered praise to God that there are, in fact, several morally clean, safe, and effective health intervention protocols available which have been proven to be highly effective against COVID-19 in thousands of cases worldwide.

Several such remedies that we know of include zinc, green tea (epigallocatechin gallate), and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Countries that more widely use such remedies are seeing drastically fewer cases of the Wuhan Flu.

Sub-Sahara Africa, for instance, one of the poorest areas of the world with no social distancing, no masking, and no ICUs, only has a death rate of one percent, which is far lower than the death rate throughout much of the West.

Now I believe [these results are] due to widely available HCQ [which was used before COVID-19 to prevent malaria], says Dr. Simone Gold of Americas Frontline Doctors (AFLDS). I dont think you can explain it for any other reason.

Had HCQ been widely prescribed here in the U.S. rather than marginalized and denigrated, there could have been an 85 percent reduction in hospitalizations and death, according to Dr. Peter McCullough, M.D., who spoke before a Texas State Senate committee.

Fr. Elias also makes the case for informed consent, a do no harm concept that many mainstream doctors and medical professionals seem to have forgotten. None of the Covid-19 injections currently being administered have been formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nor do they carry any liability in the event of injury or death.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Canada discussed the progress of the investigation into the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 in January 2020.

Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau wrote about this on his Twitter account.

"I spoke with my counterpart from Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba about our two countries continued efforts to hold Iran accountable and get justice for the victims of PS752," Garneau said.

He added that he also expressed concern about Russia's aggressive actions in eastern Ukraine. "I also conveyed that Canada is deeply concerned by Russias military build-up around Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea, as well as Russias plans to restrict access to parts of the Black Sea and Kerch Strait," the minister said.

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.

On April 6, the Iranian Military Prosecutor's Office filed charges against 10 officials in connection with the downing of the UIA plane.

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Qatars national carrier, Qatar Airways, has said it would resume flying to Sudans capital of Khartoum on May 11 two years after suspending the route due to sea/air/land blockade imposed by its neighbors.

Sudan is a strategically important market for Qatar Airways. We are pleased to announce the resumption of services to Khartoum, allowing Sudanese to enjoy our extensive international network in Asia, Australia, Europe and the US via Hamad International Airport. We will continue leading the way in keeping our 24 African destinations connected to the world, Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker added.

B787 Dreamliner will serve the route with four weekly flights, increasing to daily service from June 1, Logistics Update Africa reports.

Qatar Airways suspended services to the Sudanese capital on April 1, 2019 due to the boycott imposed by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. The blockade rendered flights from Doha to Khartoum very expensive.

The Saudi-led group severed ties with the oil-rich Gulf country in 2017 as they accused Doha for supporting terrorism. The row ended in January following an agreement in Saudi Arabia between the two sides.
Huawei awards bursaries to ICT postgrad students

Huawei South Africa has awarded bursaries to a select group of postgraduate ICT students as part of its efforts to bolster and support technology skills.

The Wits bursaries are part of a wider programme which will see Huawei supporting 48 students from 5 Universities -- UKZN, UP, Wits, UCT, and UWC - with bursaries worth R7-million this year. The 2021 cohort consists of 13 Wits students.

A virtual ceremony attended by bursary recipients and officials from Wits and Huawei took place on Thursday, 22 April 2021.

In his opening, Prof. Roberts Muponde, Director of Postgraduate Affairs noted that the ceremony is taking place in the context of a life-shifting global pandemic as well as a research-shifting strategy that Wits is working on, which underlines the tremendous value of innovation and research with impact.

He applauded Huaweis commitment to research and the talented youth of the African continent.

The event heightens my sense of the resilience of human giving and human hope. Where others are reducing their commitments to funding postgraduate students due to devastating pandemic, Huawei has actually increased support for Wits students this year, Muponde.

Wits relationship with Huawei began in 2019 and has also provided valuable work experience for graduates who have joined the tech giant. In addition to building capacity, Huawei and Rain partnered with Wits to house Africa's first 5G laboratory located at the Wits Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct. Huawei also used the ceremony to open applications to its programme, Seeds for the Future, which seeks to develop skilled ICT talent and bridge communication between countries and cultures.

Growing local talent

South Africa has no shortage of young, talented people capable of being groomed into world-class technology professionals, said Daniel Jiang, Human Resources Development, Huawei. Too often, however, they simply arent given the necessary opportunities. At Huawei, we recognise that corporates can make important contributions in reversing that situation.

Jiang said that while the company stands to benefit from the wider pool of candidates, its programme is far reaching and offers students from disadvantaged backgrounds an opportunity to flourish and accomplish their aspirations and academic goals.

He added that it is "vital that we have to get more students take up STEM courses (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in South Africa. Were proud to be part of building those numbers and ensuring that those who do take those courses are as well equipped to enter the workplace.

A beacon of hope

For Bolekwa Mboniswa, an information systems honours student, the bursary represents the chance to fulfil years of hard work and is a reward for finding a field of study shes passionate about.

I was the only person to be admitted into Wits during my matric year and the second in the entire history of the high school I went to, so I felt a lot of pressure to succeed, Mboniswa says.

Unfortunately, I was met with failure at Wits when I enrolled for mining engineering and I lost my scholarship.

Rather than giving up, she took it as a sign that she was in the wrong field and enrolled in Information Systems instead.

My first year was hard since I was staying at home but I received NSFAS funding in my second year, which eventually led to me graduating in record time with a few distinctions, she says.

Now that she is pursuing postgraduate studies, Mboniswa from Cosmo City says the bursary will be a major help in her achieving her long-term goal of being a beacon of hope to little township boys and girls. For now, though, shes concentrating on completing her honours and graduating cum laude so I can contribute as much value as possible to any team I am in.

For computer sciences student Lerato Hlagala, the bursary is a chance to fulfill a long-term ambition to get into the technology space.

My goal is to become a professional software developer, she says Hlagala who hails from Polokwane. I would love to be part of a software organisation where I could share the knowledge and talents that I have learned. I want to be part of a place where I would gain more skills and grow as an individual.

The bursary will help me get where I want to be, she adds. I am already learning a lot more than I would have without this support, especially now that I have added an extra module from Huawei to my studies. It allows me to focus and fully pay attention to my books without getting distracted by unpaid expenses.
US multi-national Keurig Dr Pepper said it is firmly "on track" to open its new manufacturing plant in Newbridge before the end of the year, despite Covid-19 restrictions on the construction industry.

The company behind over 100 brands such as 7Up and Canada Dry is converting a former Lidl warehouse in Great Connell Business Park in a project worth more than 2m.

Around 50 people have been hired and the company said it was impressed with the calibre of local candidates applying for positions.

A company spokesperson said: Were on track to open our beverage concentrate facility in Newbridge during the second half of 2021.

She added: We have been extremely pleased with the level of talent that weve seen in the area and look forward to becoming an active and engaged member of this community.

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc, which has 25,000 employees worldwide and had annual revenues of over $11bn in 2020, wants to expand and diversify its supply chain with its Irish base.

Other well known brands in its portfolio include Snapple, Sunkist, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and The Original Donut Shop.

The firm is currently coming off a strong year of trading as customers forced to stay at home during the pandemic led to an increase in product sales.

Many construction sites for major commercial infrastructure projects have been shut since early January but are expected to reopen in May as part of a phased Government road map to kick-start the economy.

The vacant former Lidl building in Newbridge is being converted for beverage manufacturing by main contractor, John Paul Construction Ltd.

The gross floor area of the premises is increasing from 31,986 sq m to 34,191 sq m and the existing car park will also be extended to accommodate 209 car parking spaces and 40 bicycle spaces.

Other additions on the site will be an external chiller, condensing units and a wastewater treatment plant.

A firm known for being socially and environmentally responsible, Keurig Dr Pepper recently agreed to cut its use of plastic for packaging by 20% by 2025.

The multi-national also gets involved in local communities surrounding its plants by sponsoring events and outreach initiatives to foster mutual understanding.
It must be nice to be unafraid of heights. Those who dont shirk from towering locales can once again enjoy lofty thrills from the Skydeck, located in the building formerly known as the Sears Tower. The experience just underwent a massive renovation its general manager says is part Chicago museum, part selfie museum, part architectural river tour and part childrens museum.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Merck (MKGAY.PK) said its Annual General Meeting approved all of the resolutions on the agenda, including the proposed dividend of 1.40 euros per share, an increase of 0.10 euros over the previous year. When the resolutions were voted on, around 89.5 million shares were represented, corresponding to 68.25% of the approximately 129.2 million shares issued, the company stated. The company's shareholders voted, among other things, on the revised compensation system for members of the Executive Board. Belen Garijo will become Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck on May 1. 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.
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High near 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Light rain developing after midnight. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
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The Okordia-Rumekpe 14-inch crude truck line operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has discharged some 110 barrels of crude oil into Ikarama community in Bayelsa.

SPDCs Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, confirmed the leakage and said that the probe into the incident had been concluded.

A Joint Investigative Visits (JIV) report obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the incident on Thursday confirmed that the incident occurred on April 7, while the investigation was concluded on April 12.

JIV is a statutory probe into the cause of any recorded spill incident involving the oil firm, regulators, host communities and state ministries of environment.

The JIV report concluded that the spill was an operational mishap traced to equipment failure which impacted nearby palm trees and fish ponds.

It recommended remediation of the site.

The report indicated that an estimated 1.34 hectares of land was polluted by the leakage, which followed a rupture on the pipeline.

According to the report, the company managed to recover 213 barrels of SPDCs Bonny light crude stream leak from impacting the environment. The amount that spilled into the area was 109.12 barrels, approximated to 110 barrels.

The JIV report, which anticipated that oil recovery would be concluded before the end of April, also recommended replacement of sections of the pipeline to restore its integrity.

(NAN)

Editors Note: This report has been updated with the accurate oil spill figures as indicated in the JIV report.
South Africa: Electoral Commission prepares for Local Government Elections

The Electoral Commission says it is finalising the finer details ahead of the local government elections, now that President Cyril Ramaphosa has set the date for 27 October 2021.

Briefing media on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, said the announcement allows the Electoral Commission and all other stakeholders to begin their preparations to ensure South Africas sixth municipal council elections are free, fair and safe.

Mamabolo said the commission on Thursday met with leaders and representatives of political parties in the National Party Liaison Committee to discuss a range of issues relating to the elections.

The meeting was also attended by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, along with Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize and Home Affairs Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza.

Mamabolo said the meeting is part of the commissions ongoing consultations and engagements with all the key stakeholders to plan and prepare for the elections.

The meeting discussed, among other things, the date announced by the President, progress in the administrative planning for the elections, and issues related to the health and safety of participants under the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

Political parties were also invited to raise any issues or concerns regarding the elections, including the impact of COVID-19 on conditions conducive to free and fair elections, Mamabolo said.

Mamabolo said a number of parties tabled their concerns regarding restrictions on political gatherings and other constraints to campaigning under the current national state of disaster regulations.

Some parties have proposed postponing the elections in light of the pandemic, while others indicated their view that the elections should proceed under special COVID-19 protocols, as part of the new normal.

The commission shared with the parties its analysis of the Constitution and other legal implications regarding any possible postponement. Its position, which is supported by the opinion of Senior Counsel, has been guiding the commission in its preparations and its consultations with the Minister of CoGTA and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Elections, among others.

The central view of this opinion is that a postponement to the elections would only be possible following a statutory amendment. With this in mind, the Commission has proceeded to plan for the holding of Local Government Elections within the current constitutional timeframe, Mamabolo said.

Mamabolo said the commission will deliberate on the issues, concerns and suggestions raised by parties to consider how these may be accommodated.

Voter registration campaign

The first aspect for preparation for the elections is that of voter registration.

The commission will soon embark on a national voter registration campaign to facilitate and encourage participation in the elections, by as many eligible voters as possible.

This campaign will include an extensive communication and education drive across multimedia platforms, along with targeted interventions aimed specifically at first-time voters. These will include registration initiatives at schools, tertiary education campuses and other opportunities.

This campaign will culminate in a national voter registration weekend, during which all voting stations will open between 8am and 5pm to allow new voters to register and existing voters to change, update and check their registration details.

The dates for this weekend will be announced soon, following consultations with various stakeholders, Mamabolo said.

The commission reminded voters that there will be only one general voter registration weekend due to resource constraints.

Mamabolo called on all eligible voters  especially first-time voters  to ensure they are ready to register to participate, including obtaining identity documents, where necessary.

We also urge all parties, the media, civil society and others to work with us to promote and encourage participation among all South Africans, so that we can continue the increase in turnout, which we have seen during the most recent local government elections.

Candidate nominations for ward

Mamabolo said other key preparations will include finalising candidate nominations for ward and PR (Proportional Representation) lists for the more than 10 000 seats to be contested for in 205 local municipalities, eight metros and 44 district councils.

This will primarily be managed via the Online Candidate Nomination System. Candidate nominations are scheduled to take place during August and September. Arrangements will also be put in place for special votes.

In this regard, the Electoral Commission notes proposals by a number of political parties for all opportunities to be explored  including extending eligibility for special voting  to reduce congestion at voting stations on Election Day. The commission will consider all possible measures within the legal framework and will announce further details on special voting in due course, Mamabolo said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
MEDFORD, Ore. -- Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined colleagues today to reintroduce the Green New Deal, which acknowledges the need to end prolonged droughts.

In Southern Oregon, a drought can cause a number of problems including the possibility of vineyards not getting enough water supply.

Peter William Vineyard in Medford has been around for 7 years.

Younger vineyards like it may have trouble getting access to water supply, as the owner of Peter Adesman explains, older vineyards will likely have deeper roots allowing the grapes to get the moister they need even in the dryer months.

Adesman said, "Right now, our water comes from Talent irrigation district, and although it's not clear exactly when they're going to start irrigation, we don't need it right now because it's not as hot although it's been unseasonably hot this past week or so."

He added many places can dry farm, but says most do not go two months without precipitation like we do here in Southern Oregon.

If that is the case over the next few months, the vineyard plans to limit crop yields and might need to trek in water to add into the vineyard's drip system.

Last year, despite dryer weather conditions, Adesman says it turned out to be a great harvest for the Rogue Valley.

One solution to a prolonged drought Adesman is considering is getting a holding tank. But he is still unsure of what his vineyard will do.
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Isatoic acid anhydride also known as o-amino-benzoic acid, 2-aminobenzoic acid, N-carboxylic acid anhydride, and anthranilic acid, is the organic compound with the linear formula C6H4(NH2)CO2H. In appearance, Isatoic acid anhydride is a white solid when pure, although commercial samples may appear yellow. By the structure, isatoic acid anhydride contains a benzene ring with two adjacent functional groups, a carboxylic acid and an amine. Industrially, Isatoic acid anhydride is used as an intermediate for production of dyes chemicals and in medical product. Isatoic acid anhydride and its esters are used in preparing perfumes to imitate jasmine and orange, pharmaceuticals, and UV-absorber as well as corrosion inhibitors for metals and mold inhibitors in soy sauce. In addition, isatoic acid anhydride can be used in organic synthesis to generate the benzyne intermediate. It is sometimes considered as vitamin L1.





Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific is the largest market of isatoic acid anhydride due to huge consumption in dye & pigments, and agrochemicals-market-1267'>agrochemical-market-749'>agrochemical industry, in China region followed by India, Thailand, and Japan. Increasing demand for agrochemical industry in China, India, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea has made Asia Pacific largest consumer of the global Isatoic acid anhydride market followed by increasing in the consumption of Isatoic acid anhydride market in Europe region. In Europe region, Isatoic acid anhydride market is drive by perfume, pharmaceutical, and food & beverages industry. In addition, the third largest market of Isatoic acid anhydride is North America region due to large consumption in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and others industry. Moreover, Latin America and Middle East also observed in growth of Isatoic acid anhydride market due to various application such as pharmaceutical, dye & pigments, perfume, agrochemicals, and others.

Segmentation

The global isatoic acid anhydride market is majorly segmented on the basis of application, end use and region. Based on application of isatoic acid anhydride the market is segmented into dye & pigments, pesticides, herbicides, saccharin, flavors, and others. On the other hand, Based on end use industry of isatoic acid anhydride the market is segmented into pharmaceutical, agrochemicals, perfume, food & beverages, and others. Furthermore, based on region global isatoic acid anhydride market is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

Key Players

Key players of the global Isatoic acid anhydride market are BASF SE (Germany), The Dow Chemical Company (US), Alfa Aesar (India), Crystal Quinone Pvt. Ltd. (India), Taj Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients (India), Wujiang New Sunlion Chemical Co., Ltd. (China), HIMALAYA CHEMICALS (India), ISHITA INDUSTRIES (India), KESHAR EMULSION PVT LTD (India), TCI (Shanghai) Development Co., Ltd (China), and others.





Geographic Analysis

The report covers brief analysis of geographical region such as North America, Europe, APAC, and RoW.

The report about Global Isatoic acid anhydride Market by Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with detail analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts and key opinion leaders to gain a deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes past and estimated future market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report further provides detail information about strategies used by top key players in the industry. It also gives a broad study about different market segments and regions.

ACCESS REPORT DETAILS @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/isatoic-acid-anhydride-market-3325

Study Objectives of Isatoic acid anhydride Market:

To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Isatoic acid anhydride Market

To understand the supply and demand dynamics including supply and consumption concentration mapping

To provide region level market analysis and future outlook for North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) and their countries

To provide competitor positioning of the market

To provide company profiling of major players in the market along with their production and capacity

To provide regional trade analysis

To evaluate historical market trends, patents and technologies, and current government regulatory requirements that are relevant to the market

Intended Audience

Isatoic acid anhydride manufacturers

Traders and distributors of Isatoic acid anhydride

Production Process industries

Potential investors

Raw material suppliers

Nationalized laboratory
A teacher at a prestigious public school has been barred after taking students to a strip club during a central America tour.

Richard Glenn, 55, had been a teacher at 9,800-a-term Longridge Towers independent school near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, for 12 years when he was sent home six days into a three-week trip.

The computer science teacher was in charge of a group of 16 to 18-year-olds when he got drunk with his students and brought them to a strip club, The Sun reported.

The married father-of-two also exposed himself to the female trip leader in their shared hotel room.

Richard Glenn(pictured), 55, had been a teacher at 9,800-a-term Longridge Towers independent school near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, for 12 years when he was sent home six days into a three-week trip

The computer science teacher was in charge of a group of 16 to 18-year-olds when got drunk and brought students to a strip club. Pictured, Longridge Towers

Mr Glenn (pictured) was too drunk to remember the threats the next morning

During one drinking session he told a student 'I'm going to kick your f****ing head in', and added to another 'I'm going to f****ing kill you'.

He was too drunk to remember the threats the next morning, a professional misconduct hearing was told.

Expedition company organisers had to send him home from the trip two weeks early in July 2019.

He admitted unacceptable professional behaviour and conduct that may bring teaching into disrepute, was banned from the classroom indefinitely and cannot apply to teach again for three years.

Caroline Tilley, who chaired the panel, said: 'Mr Glenn was, at various times during the trip, under the influence of alcohol, and therefore not in a position to adequately take decisions or act in loco parentis.'
Photo: Contributed InDro Robotics Inc. partnered with Rogers Communications Inc.?s network on Canada?s first remotely piloted aircraft system flight over 5G

The skies above B.C. ports may look a little different in the coming years as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) begin tapping Canadas nascent 5G networks, according to Philip Reece.

Imagine Vancouver, for example  youve got the big harbour there. Port authorities could simply dispatch a couple of drones from their roof early in the day, they would map out the whole harbour, theyd count the boats that were in the harbor, report back to the engineer or the harbormaster, said the CEO of West Coast drone developer InDro Robotics Inc.

That prospect of offering those services and others is closer to reality this month after InDro Robotics tapped into Rogers Communications Inc.s (TSX:RCI) network infrastructure at the University of British Columbia to complete Canadas first remotely piloted aircraft system flight over 5G.

Reece said the flight portends to the future of the drone industry in Canada, in which autonomous flights can take off without the need for pilots to observe the aerial devices at all times.

[That] hasnt really been possible before until the advent of 5G and the speed and bandwidth that its given us, he said.

Without the need of individual pilots, drones tapping into 5G networks and equipped with AI-powered navigation systems will proliferate and begin offering more services at scale, such as search and rescue, land surveying and the delivery of goods.

InDro previously partnered with London Drugs Ltd. in 2019 to deliver pharmaceuticals from Duncan, B.C., to Salt Spring Island, but it required special dispensation from Transport Canada to complete the beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight.

But what we now think of as drone pilots will eventually become something more akin to air traffic controllers who are monitoring for reports of problems and jumping in if there are any issues with traffic in the air, according to Reece.

A 2019 Markets and Research report estimated the market size for drone services would reach US$63.5 billion by 2023  up from US$4.4 billon five years earlier.

It noted that safety concerns and lack of skilled and trained operators are limiting the overall growth of the market.

Another potential barrier ahead for the industry in Canada is the rollout of the next-generation 5G wireless network.

Earlier this month the C.D. Howe Institute noted that by the time Canadas upcoming 5G auction takes place in June, 37 countries will have already assigned the 5G band up for grabs within their own jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, Reece said, Canada will also face roadblocks if the regulatory regime doesnt remain competitive while other jurisdictions allow for more provisions for autonomous flights and access to airspace. 
One issue Americans do not discuss enough is the prison system, which disproportionately harms black Americans. The U.S. prison system does not serve Americans in that it fails to reform and rehabilitate prisoners, leaving them unprepared to reenter their communities upon release. This reality impacts black communities in particular. The incarceration rate among black people is about six times greater than among whites. Forty percent of the prison population is black; recidivism/reconviction rates are highest among black people. The reasons notwithstanding, let us focus on the impact on black families and communities.

These families and communities have been adversely affected due to thousands of men and women sitting in prisons and jails, not with their children, parents, neighbors, or friends. In many low-income, high-crime black communities, one or both parents are often incarcerated or being processed through the criminal justice system; many other families suffer from parents or children being killed or separated already (for any reason). Parents who are home may be working multiple jobs to provide for their loved ones and simply cannot be around. The system is complacent, allowing this to happen, due to underfunded community programs and school systems that are intended to fill these gaps and support families. The support network outside of the nuclear family is not a guarantee. At best, family units are overextended; at worst, non-existent.

Enter the prison system.

The aggregate prison budget in this country is around $80 billion, most of it spent on infrastructure and security, which makes sense given that prisons are overpopulated and understaffed. However, not nearly enough money is allocated toward rehabilitation programs. As a country, we do virtually nothing to combat recidivism. It is asinine to make no investment in prisoner rehabilitation and personal development when the vast majority of prisoners have a release date and will return to their communities one day. We are among the few developed nations with this problem and consistently retain one of the highest reconviction rates in the world.

We need to invest in programs that encourage and require prisoners to participate and that emphasize education, financial health, and job training. We should provide incentives to businesses to partner with prisons and jails, to provide training and work opportunities to prisoners while they are incarcerated. Prisoners should be learning transferable hard and soft skills through jobs that actually transfer outside of prison walls, e.g. basic customer service, data entry, accounting, recordkeeping, etc. Prisoners should be interacting with people outside their institutions to develop communication skills and build relationships that can be leveraged once they are released. Law enforcement agencies can and should be part of every stage of this program (prevention, rehabilitation, and sustaining the rehabilitation upon release).

If we invest in these things, recidivism can only go down (along with incarceration rates in general). This will be felt the most in black communities and among black families. Excess money spent to keep over-extended prison systems operating can be spent elsewhere or can be dropped from budgets entirely.

A strong family or community is a defining privilege in someones life and transcends race, religion, gender, etc. The growth of a strong family or a strong community creates advantages and opportunities. The reality is that if people are in prison then they are not with their families. If they are not with their families, their families are weakened and over-extended. If enough families are weakened, the community is weakened. That is not an acceptable end state anywhere, but it exists in disproportionately higher rates in black communities as evidenced by exponentially higher incarceration rates.

Prison reform is not the solution, but it is one avenue that should be explored among many. It should absolutely be on every legislative docket. It is consistent with both the Trump and Biden administrations policy objectives of reducing prison populations and reforming sentencing for nonviolent crimes. The First Step Act was a monumental step in a bipartisan direction along those lines. States should follow suit and look more directly at prison reform within their jurisdictions.
The Sterling Heights Assembly Plant Autoworker Rank-and-File Safety Committee will be holding a meeting, For an emergency four-week shutdown of SHAP and other auto plants! on Sunday, April 25, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. Sign up to attend here.

On Wednesday, crane operator Terry Garr died in an industrial accident at the Stellantis Sterling Stamping Plant north of Detroit. The death was acknowledged earlier on Thursday in brief statements by Stellantis and the United Auto Workers.

Sources from inside the plant reported to the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter that Garr was crushed by a heavy die towards the end of his shift. This was confirmed later in the evening by a police report obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

Employees at Sterling Stamping Plant remove a minivan roof after it has been stamped in a 180-inch Transfer Press (Stellantis Media)

It is unclear how Garr could have been crushed by a die that was being lifted by a crane he was operating. However, according to one worker, who wished to remain anonymous, management was hurrying the die setters in Garrs area to finish their work before the end of their shift.

Garr is at least the second worker to die in an industrial accident this year in a stamping plant operated by a Detroit auto company. In January, Mark McKnight was crushed to death by a 7,000-pound steel wall that fell from a forklift.

In November 2020, David Spano was killed in a similar accident at parts supplier Romeo RIM in Romeo, Michigan. Spano died when a 12-ton mold fell from a wall.

While the particular circumstances of Garrs death have yet to be revealed, such deadly incidents have been made more likely by the chaotic and inherently dangerous situation inside auto plants, as automakers scramble to keep production moving in spite of widespread microchip shortages and the spread of COVID-19.

This has been particularly severe in Stellantis plants since the company was created in January from a merger between Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA. Its horrible a man died in the plant but not surprising, a veteran worker at the nearby Stellantis Warren Truck Assembly Plant told the WSWS. They are sending workers to all different areas of the plants because of a shortage of workers, and a lot of workers dont know anything about the safety or COVID protocols in these areas.

They are short workers because so many are out sick. Some people are even afraid to get the vaccine because if you get sick and need time off, the company wont honor it unless you have sick time. One worker got the shot and was feeling terrible, but they wouldnt let her go home because she didnt have time off.

They are also TPTs (temporary part-time workers) everywhere, and they are working them in departments they ... know nothing about. They dont talk to the union because they have no rights. We work in a big plant, and four or five workers have died from COVID since the pandemic began. Nobody should be in there now because of how bad the pandemic is in Michigan.

Across the street from Sterling Stamping at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP), production workers have been working six days a week for most of the year in order to maintain output of the companys best-selling, highly profitable Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks.

Skilled tradespeople at SHAP have also been shifted to a new Alternative Work Schedule, composed of seven 12-hour days a week, followed by seven days off. This creates the conditions where fatigue and burnout can lead to dangerous situations.

Stellantis has been forced to idle other plants throughout the country in response to the global semiconductor shortage, which has decimated production in the auto industry. Warren Truck was forced to idle earlier this month, and two out of three shifts at Jefferson North Assembly Plant are scheduled to be laid off at the end of April.

Sterling Stamping workers rack inner door panels as they roll off the line (Stellantis Media)

However, management has evidently made the decision that SHAP and Sterling Stamping must continue to operate no matter what the costs. Chips and even temporary workers from Warren Truck were shifted northward along Mound Road to Sterling Heights during that plants shutdown. Jefferson workers will reportedly follow suit.

Sterling Stamping is no less critical for company. The largest stamping plant in the world, it produces body panels for many of the Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep brands. Even a temporary halt to production in the plant would force much of Stellantis North American operations to close.

The plants remain operating in spite of the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic, which has surged to the highest levels on record in the state of Michigan. No new nationwide figures on deaths or infections have been released in the auto industry for nearly a year. However, Bloomberg reported last week that nearly 10 percent of SHAPs workforce was out either on quarantine or after having tested positive.

Sterling Stamping saw its highest ever one-month total this March, with 28 confirmed infections. The Autoworker Newsletter has learned that at least some of these cases required hospitalization.

According to UAW Local 1264s Facebook page, which has been dominated by death notices in recent weeks, Garr is the third active worker in the plant to have died since the beginning of March. The union did not reveal the cause of death for the other two workers.

The response of the UAW to Garrs death, as its response has been to all deaths from COVID-19, was indifference combined with outright coverup. Local 1264 acknowledged the death in a short, misspelled Facebook post declaring: we loss a UAW 1264 member today, without even informing workers that Garr had died in an accident inside the plant. The union announced that grief counseling was available to workers inside the plantproduction would continue as scheduled.

In brief remarks to the Free Press, UAW President Rory Gamble presented the death as a tragedy for which no one in particular was responsible. Today one of our members will not return home because of a workplace injury, Gamble blandly stated.

UAW Vice President for Stellantis Cindy Estrada declared that the union is working with our joint UAW-Stellantis Health and Safety Department to get more information on this fatal workplace accident and providing the necessary support for our Local 1264 brothers and sisters during this crisis. In other words, the UAW is collaborating with Stellantis to shield it from any responsibility.

The death at Sterling Stamping only underscores the need for an emergency four-week shutdown, with full compensation for laid off workers, a demand issued last week by the Autoworker Rank-and-File Safety Committee Network in response to major outbreaks in Detroit-area auto plants.

Workers are not only confronting a massive surge in new COVID-19 infections, but they are facing relentless speedup imposed by the companies and the UAW which wears down their bodies and endangers their lives. A four-week shutdown would not only allow workers to social distance to fight the spread of the virus but allow them to recover after months of forced overtime and prevent other horrific workplace deaths from taking place.

The fight for an emergency shutdown requires that workers organize themselves independently of the bought-and-paid-for company agents in the UAW. The union is not saying dont come back to work because of COVID, the Warren Truck worker said. They are not doing anything about being transferred to strange departments. You have these outbreaks in the factories and meatpacking plants, but the companies are making a killing, and they dont care. Theyre boasting that they are making a profit, but at the cost of how many lives?
The Bomber Mafia

By Malcolm Gladwell

Little, Brown. 240 pp. $27

- - -

On the night of March 9, 1945, more than 300 U.S. Army Air ForcesB-29 Superfortress bombers took off from rudimentary airfields in the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific, retaken from the Japanese the previous summer. Their mission was to attack a 12-square-mile sector of central Tokyo containing the highly flammable, densely packed wooden dwellings of thousands of working-class families as well as industrial and commercial buildings. During the three-hour raid their bombs ignited a firestorm that was so intense it killed 100,000 people and sent up a glow that was visible 150 miles away. When the returning B-29s touched down, teams fumigated them to dissipate the smell of burning flesh. In "The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War," Malcolm Gladwell takes readers on the journey that led to that attack - the "longest night" of the subtitle. Along the way, he signposts both the technological developments enabling the raid and the underlying strategic and moral judgments.

Gladwell, a staff writer at the New Yorker, usually writes on social psychology- previous books include "Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know" and "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants." His interest in air power began as a child when his English father recounted the roar of Luftwaffe planes overhead during their attacks on London. Gladwell's particular fascination is with the "Bomber Mafia," an influential group of officers at the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field in Alabama.

They advocated precision bombing as a more morally defensible way to destroy an enemy's fighting capability, rather than indiscriminate area bombing with its inevitable civilian death toll. Dutch engineer Carl Norden's invention of a bombsight that could supposedly enable a bombardier to drop a missile into a pickle barrel from six miles up had made precision bombing possible. In the summer of 1941 the Bomber Mafia identified strategic "choke points" - power plants, oil refineries, aircraft factories - to be attacked should the United States enter the war. After Pearl Harbor their plan provided the template for the first daylight, high-altitude precision bombing missions of the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force, stationed in England.

Britain's Bomber Command was, however, unimpressed by the Norden bombsight and, after its own failed attempts to hit industrial and port targets, skeptical about precision bombing. Instead its controversial head, Arthur "Bomber" Harris, advocated nighttime "area" or "morale bombing." Though the Blitz had not broken Londoners' spirit, Harris maintained that Germans were "a different breed." The arrival in England of Ira Eaker - a member of the Bomber Mafia - to command the Eighth Army Air Force highlighted the divide between strategic and area bombing proponents. Curiously, perhaps, he and Harris became good friends even though Eaker considered Harris's approach morally dubious.

Eaker asked his protege, Haywood Hansell, to propose how to validate high-altitude, daytime precision bombing, leading, in August 1943, to U.S. planes attacking industrial plants in Schweinfurt and Regensburg in Bavaria. Col. Curtis LeMay commanded the Regensburg attacks. The raids resulted in large aircraft losses and highlighted defects in the Norden bombsight - it was complex to operate and, being dependent on visual target sighting, ineffective in bad weather. LeMay became convinced that precision bombing was an illusory product of "swivel-chair target analysts."

In 1944, Hansell was appointed to head the new force of B-29 Superfortresses based in the Marianas and tasked with destroying Japan's military capability in preparation for a land invasion. Conditions proved challenging. The new planes, rushed into service, frequently broke down and when heavily loaded needed a strong tail wind to take off. Although early raids proved that the Japanese homeland could be reached, they failed to hit their targets as problems persisted with the Norden bombsight. Even more seriously, as pilots approached Mount Fuji at altitude, they encountered the destabilizing winds of the yet-to-be-named jet stream.

Meanwhile, as Gladwell describes, Harvard scientists had developed a new weapon: napalm, capable of burning at 1,000 degrees in a sticky, fiery, spreading mass. In late 1944, thousands of bombs packed with napalm reached the Marianas. Ordered to firebomb Nagoya, a dubious Hansell procrastinated and was unceremoniously replaced by LeMay. The new arrival hurled himself into solving the technical problems of firebombing Japanese cities. To allow the planes to carry as much napalm as possible, he decided that most of the gun crews would stay behind. To avoid the jet stream, the B-52s would fly at only 5,000 feet. On March 9, 1945, his planes attacked Tokyo. They subsequently firebombed 67 Japanese cities - the last on Aug. 14, eight days after the atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima.

"The Bomber Mafia" is an innovative audio book with music, sound effects and archival clips as well as a paperback. Gladwell's easy conversational style works well in both formats, and his admiration for the Bomber Mafia shines through. His portraits of individuals are compelling - Norden, the prickly, egotistical perfectionist; LeMay, the "ultimate problem solver,"a "bulldog" incapable of self-doubt; and Hansell, LeMay's antithesis, a true Southern aristocrat. Sometimes, however, his descriptions lack nuance, such as when he simply dismisses Bomber Harris as a "psychopath."

Gladwell does not explore how racial attitudes influenced the bombing of Japan. Hansell noted "a universal feeling" among U.S. forces that the Japanese were "subhuman." Adm.William Halsey described the Japanese as "yellow monkeys." LeMay himself - a future running mate, as Gladwell notes, of segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace - recalled: "Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at the time. . . . I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal." Neither does Gladwell, who briefly discusses the February 1945 bombing of Dresden, address the extent to which the American and British bombing strategy in Europe was influenced by the need to convince Stalin that his Western allies were doing all they could to support Soviet troops who were suffering heavy losses as they advanced west.

Gladwell does however confront us with difficult questions: "Ask yourself - What would I have done?" he suggests at one point. In so doing he has produced a thought-provoking, accessible account of how people respond to difficult choices in difficult times. Albert Einstein once warned that "our technology has exceeded our humanity." Gladwell suggests that, given their concern not to cross a moral line, the Bomber Mafia would have approved of modern technical innovations like the B-2 stealth bomber, capable of precision strikes on military targets while minimizing civilian casualties. Yet ingenuity and conscience always sit uneasily in warfare, and Einstein's warning should not be forgotten.

- - -

Diana Preston is a historian and author. Her latest book is "Eight Days at Yalta," about the 1945 Yalta Conference.
ABC:

The ABC will cover Anzac Day services in all states and territories on Sunday 25 April as marches return to towns and cities across the country.

The Director of ABC Regional & Local, Judith Whelan said Anzac Day still carried deep meaning for Australians. This was evident in last years coverage when Australians from every part of the country stood at their gates at dawn to remember those who have served.

Anzac Day continues to be one of the largest and most important events the ABC covers. This year we will have ABC crews in all our major cities and in towns, covering local commemorations and connecting them with all Australians across all our platforms.

Live coverage of state and territory dawn services as well as the National Dawn Service and Ceremony from Canberra will be carried across all ABC platforms. There will also be coverage of Light up the Dawn when Australians will mark a minutes silence wherever they are  from their driveways, balconies, front gates or farm gates.

The ABC will also mark the day with special programming on ABC Television and ABC ivew that includes a Landline Anzac Day edition at 12.30pm; Air Force 100  a commemoration of 100 years of the Royal Australian Air Force at 4.00pm; The Art of Remembrance, which looks at Australias involvement in conflict through the lens of visual art, at 6.00pm; and a special collection of news features and documentaries on ABC iview in Anzac Day: Australia Remembers.

ABC NEWS Weekend Breakfast is inviting viewers to share their photos and videos of their Anzac Day commemorations at [email protected] and ABC Classic is featuring musical moments of reflection in the lead up to and on Anzac Day.

Summary of ABCs Anzac Day coverage (#AnzacDay)

Canberra Dawn Service and National Ceremony will be broadcast on ABC TV, ABC NEWS channel, iview, ABC RN, ABC Radio (except Victoria), ABC Australia and on social media. The ABC listen app will carry a dedicated Anzac Day stream featuring Dawn Services, The Townsville March and local radio streams.

TV broadcasts of Sydney Dawn Service, Canberra Dawn Service and National Ceremony and Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance Service will all be live from 4.30am AEST on ABC TV and ABC NEWS channels, on iview, and streamed live on ABC Australia Facebook and YouTube.

State TV broadcasts of capital city marches and dawn services will also be streamed live on ABC capital city Facebook accounts and on the ABCs capital city local radio websites.

Every capital city will have live coverage of a local march, however coverage of capital city dawn services will vary in each state. Broadcasts times can be found on the ABC Anzac Day website.

The Anzac Day Address by the Governor-General, David Hurley will be broadcast on ABC Television and iview and at 6.55pm and replayed on ABC Radio during its national Evenings program.

ABC News Digitals Anzac Day coverage will include previews on the different ways to commemorate the day and a series of historical features and news stories reflecting the ways Australians are marking it. On Sunday, readers can stay up-to-date with events around the country as they unfold, at abc.net.au/news and on the ABC listen app.

Seven:

The Seven Networks special Anzac Day coverage begins from 4.50am Sunday with the live and commercial free broadcast of the Currumbin Dawn Service on the Gold Coast.

In a special extended edition of Weekend Sunrise, join hosts Matt Doran and Monique Wright as they cross live throughout the morning to local commemorative services happening around the nation to honour the fallen and give thanks to our service men and women who have served  and continue to serve  this country.

From 10.30am, Channel 7 will broadcast live and commercial free the Anzac Day National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

AFL powerhouses Collingwood and Essendon then run out onto the MCG for the annual Anzac Day match, with Sevens live and free broadcast to begin from 2.00pm AEST on Channel 7 and 7mate, including the traditional pre-game Anzac observance ceremony.

Then join 7NEWS at 6.00 for a special Anzac Day commemorative bulletin, as well as the days other headlines from Australia and around the world.

Special coverage of Anzac Day from 4.50am AEST Sunday on Channel 7 and 7plus

Broadcast times on Seven:

10:

All times AEST

Saturday

4:20am 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day 2021

As Australia stops to remember, 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day. With reporters across the country, N.Z, U.K. & Turkey, we will take you to the national services & dawn vigils on across the country.

Sunday

6am 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day 2021

As Australia stops to remember, 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day. With reporters across the country, N.Z, U.K. & Turkey, we will take you to the national services & dawn vigils on across the country.

10am 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day 2021

As Australia stops to remember, 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day. With reporters across the country, N.Z, U.K. & Turkey, we will take you to the national services & dawn vigils on across the country.

NITV:

Paradise Soldiers

Sunday, 25 April at 8.40pm on NITV

As far back as World War I, through Vietnam and up to present day, young Cook Islanders have served and sacrificed alongside New Zealand in military conflicts and combat, but their stories are largely untold. Paradise Soldiers celebrates their contribution, acknowledges their sacrifice, and shares their personal stories.

Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget

Sunday, 25 April at 9.40pm

Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget is a landmark documentary. It follows four descendant researchers as they uncover the untold stories of their Indigenous ancestors who fought with the Australian Imperial Forces in the Middle East during World War I. This film documents a trip made in October 2017 by descendants of Aboriginal soldiers who fought as part of the World War I Palestine campaign, who gathered in Israel to mark the 100-year anniversary of the battle of Beersheba.

Lest We Forget Aboriginal Women

Sunday, 25 April at 10.40pm on NITV

Three Aboriginal women, all now in their late 50s or early 60s, who served in the military in the 1970s and 80s, discuss how their lives were changed by being in the military, what challenges they faced at the time, and how the experience contributes to their world view today.

Related
New Delhi, April 23 : At his farewell function on Friday, outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI), S.A. Bobde, emphasised on the quality of communication between the bar and the bench, terming it as important for a healthy judicial system.

He stressed that it is possible to accept that the judge does not agree with the arguments made by the lawyer, and it does not reflect adversely on the skill of the lawyer, or his ability to persuade.

"It is human nature; everybody cann't agree with everything. It is important to gracefully accept the decision contrary to your submissions," Bobde said while speaking at the farewell organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

Earlier in the day, a bench headed by Bobde had rapped several senior lawyers for criticising it for allegedly taking over the hearing of the ongoing Covid-19 related cases from various high courts.

The bench had told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, one of the counsels who had questioned the top court decision in the matter, "You have imputed motives to us without reading our order." During the hearing, the top court clarified that it did not transfer Covid related cases to itself and expressed anguish at the lawyers for commenting on the matter without reading the court order.

Making his farewell speech, Bobde said: "But there is one area where we need to pay a lot of attention. That is, communication and relationship between the bar and the bench. I do not wish to criticise anybody. I am sure there are people at fault on both sides. But mutual respect is necessary for the excellent functioning of the judicial system." Bobde added that he did not to say that the society should become something where everybody gives compliments to each other and overlooks each other's faults.

"But I say that this communication and relationship depend on the fulfilling of the most important function of the judiciary, which is to protect life, liberty and property of the citizens. There is no need to become a mutual admiration society, but nonetheless, we must work in a way that is harmonious, nourishing and fulfils the purpose of the system," Bobde added.

Bobde demitted the office of the CJI after 43 years in legal profession, where he rose from a lawyer in Nagpur to the highest seat of dispensation of justice.

Earlier, he was a judge at the Bombay High Court and the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was elevated to the top court on April 12, 2013 and assumed the office of CJI on November 17, 2019.

Bobde was a part of the five-judge Constitution bench which unanimously delivered the Ayodhya verdict.
The Park of Legends zoo in Lima celebrated Earth Day on Thursday by giving out treats to its animals and by planting more trees.

Zookeepers offered baits filled with food to the lions, named Sultan and Chiclayanita, as well as the jaguars, which offered stimulation as well as a treat.

"We must contribute to the environment and take care of our planet," said biologist Carmen Martinez, adding the park's tree-planting scheme hoped the encourage visitors to do the same.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
ROME, APR 23 - Italy's COVID-19 Rt reproduction number has fallen to 0.81, down from 0.85 last week, according to the latest weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS), sources said Friday. The report, which covers the period between April 12 and 18, will be released later on Friday. An Rt number of over 1 indicates that the epidemic is in a phase of expansion. The report says that the incidence of COVID-19 cases fell to 157.4 for every 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 160.5 in the week of April 5-11, according to the sources. This is still far from the incidence of 50 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants that would make it possible to resume tracing and tracking of cases. The report says that pressure has eased slightly on the nation's health services. It says that the proportion of intensive-care places taken up by COVID patients is over the critical threshold of 30% in 12 regions-autonomous provinces, down from 14 last week. The national average remains above the critical threshold at 35% although the number of COVID patients in intensive care fell from 3,526 on April 13 to 3,151 on April 20. (ANSA).
New Delhi, April 23 : Sitting on a bench in the Supreme Court for one last time, outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI), S.A. Bobde, said on Friday that he did his best and also recalled his experience of virtual court hearing when he took up cases through video-conferencing for a large of part of his tenure.

Bobde said: "I did my best. I don't know how it came across, but I am happy with what I could do." "I hand over the baton to Justice (N.V.) Ramana who, I am certain, will very ably lead the court," he added.

Recalling his experience of virtual hearing, the outgoing CJI said: "There are many disadvantages of hearings through video-conferencing, but it was the need of the hour. But hearing you (lawyers) in the virtual mode made me feel like taking a tour of your chambers without physically visiting them." The top court began taking up cases virtually in March 2020 after the imposition of nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, and it continues till today.

Bobde added that as lawyers appeared virtually before the court, he saw varied things in the background, ranging from hills, paintings and sculptures to even guns and pistols.

Sharing the bench with CJI-designate N.V. Ramana and justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, Bobde said he could recognise the statue behind the Attorney General and the idol of Lord Ganesha at the Solicitor General's office, adding that video-conferencing has its own advantages.

"This last hearing has evoked mixed feelings. I have been on the ceremonial bench before, but these feelings are too mixed to allow me to say anything clearly. There are too many things to say," Bobde said.

He added, "But I must say that I leave this court with happiness, with fond memories of wonderful arguments, excellent presentations, good behaviour and a great commitment to the cause of justice, not only from my learned colleagues, but also from the bar and everyone else." Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Vikas Singh, and the chief of the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association, Shivaji M Jadhav, were present during the proceedings.

Venugopal praised Bobde for rising to the occasion and seamlessly converting physical hearing into the virtual mode when the pandemic struck last year.

Mehta termed Bobde as a decent human being with a rare and amazing sense of humour.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Facing a severe shortage of medical oxygen, the Delhi government has requested the Railways to operate 'Oxygen Express' trains to save COVID-19 patients gasping for breath in the city's hospitals, Railway Board Chairman Suneet Arora said on Friday.

After Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh and the Delhi governments too have lined up for 'Oxygen Express' services, he said.

Each tanker of the 'Oxygen Express' trains can carry around 16 tonnes of medical oxygen, Arora said, adding these trains travel at a speed of around 65 kmph.

"We have received a request from Delhi just now, and we are still planning its movement. We will likely get the oxygen from Rourkela," the Railway Board chairman said.

"Andhra Pradesh has asked for oxygen to be moved from Angul in Odisha. We have asked the Delhi government to keep their trucks ready, and our wagons, ramps are ready in the NCR area," he added.

Arora said the 'Oxygen Express' train headed for Uttar Pradesh will reach Lucknow on Saturday, and the one for Maharashtra will reach Nagpur on Friday night.

He added that around 93,000 railway beneficiaries are affected by COVID-19, and 72 railway hospitals and 5,000 beds are dedicated to their care.

(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 mother-of-three who was allegedly burned to death by her estranged husband had had earlier pleaded with police to lock him up over fears for her life, family claim - as officers admit the system failed.

It has been claimed that Kelly Wilkinson, 27, visited police on two separate occasions before her American husband, the former US marine Brian Earl Johnston, 34, allegedly set her on fire in the back yard of her Arundel home, on the Gold Coast, on Tuesday morning.

It comes as Ms Wilkinson's devastated family claim that Johnston was controlling and dictated what the 27-year-old wore, how she styled her hair and banned her from getting a driver's licence or a job.

Ms Wilkinson had told officers at the Southport police station that Johnston had breached a March 29 domestic violence order, police said.

She then asked for help from a domestic violence agency on April 13, just one week before she was allegedly burned to death.

Kelly Wilkinson, 27, visited police on two separate occasions before her American husband and former US marine Brian Earl Johnston, 34, allegedly set her on fire in the back yard of her Arundel home, in the Gold Coast , on Tuesday morning

Kelly Wilkinson pictured with one of her three children during her time living in the US

However, assistant commissioner Brian Codd told media on Thursday police did not believe that at the time Johnston had breached his conditions.

'Contact was made [by Ms Wilkinson] because of suggestions there were breaches of conditions and they were looked at and assessed and it was determined the scenario was consistent with the conditions,' he said.

REVEALED: BRIAN JOHNSTON'S MILITARY RECORD By Daniel Piotrowski The ex-US Marine accused of killing his wife was a corporal who served two tours of Iraq over five years of service between 2005 and 2010. In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, the Marines confirmed Corporal Brian Johnston was a fixed wing aircraft mechanic. He was deployed to the Middle East under Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007 and 2008. Johnston received various awards including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and Marine Corp Good Conduct Medal. He was last attached to the Fourth Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Advertisement

It has also been revealed Johnston was allowed to walk free from custody after he was arrested on April 12 for what have been described as 'serious crimes' allegedly committed between February 18 to 23.

He was given home-watch bail until his first court appearance at Southport Magistrates Court the following week.

Assistant commissioner Codd said an internal review would be conducted and admitted police had failed to protect Ms Wilkinson.

'Ultimately it's a failure,' he said. 'A woman has died. She's been killed. Somewhere along the line she has engaged with the system, and we were unable to prevent this from occurring.'

Johnston was charged with murder and breaching a domestic violence order following his arrest on Tuesday.

He was taken to the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital to be treated for burns injuries before he was placed into an induced coma.

Ms Wilkinson met Johnston online 10 years ago and shortly after travelled to the US to meet him. The pair married when she was just 18, before separating a couple of months ago.

'She was just starting to become who she was, who she wanted to be and discover what she wanted, and what she liked, who she could be,' her sister Emma said.

Another sister, Danielle, said her sibling returned to Australia five years ago to allegedly try and flee Johnston, an ex-US Marine, who followed her Down Under.

The devastated family said it wasn't until Ms Wilkinson came home that they realised the true extent of their alleged marriage problems.

'She was such a private person and didn't want to burden any of us with what was happening and I guess that was her fear of speaking out and people not believing,' sister Natalie said.

Police and SES search along the street where Kelly Wilkinson and her children were living

QPS Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said the service had failed Ms Wilkinson

Forensic officers during their lengthy investigation of the Arundel property

Ms Wilkinson eventually opened up about Johnston's alleged abuse to her mother, who died seven weeks ago, the family told 7News.

'We only lost mum seven weeks ago and she thought, 'mum is the only one who knows', and said 'I need to speak up and say something now',' Natalie said.

Sibling Danielle claimed: 'One of the last things she was told (by police) was 'the DVO has been put in place, we just need to give him space'.'

She said she felt 'complete emptiness' walking into her late sister's house on Wednesday night, hours after she died.

'It's so hard. Kelly was just so much more than this. For what we've been through, for what's happened, there really just are no words,' she said.

Kelly Wilkinson's father Reg Wilkinson and sisters Danielle Carroll, Natalie and Emma Wilkinson said the young mother endured 'months, years of abuse'

Kelly Wilkinson and Brian Johnston lived for a time in his home state of Ohio, USA

A local Arundel resident, Louise Christie, paid her respects at the scene on Wednesday

Johnston's lawyer, Chris Hannay, told media on Wednesday that he had met with Johnston on Sunday, less than 48 hours before he allegedly attacked and murdered Ms Wilkinson.

'On Sunday, I got some instructions from him in relation to some other fairly serious matters that he has been charged with, and I haven't spoken to him since,' Mr Hannay said.

He said Johnston did not appear distressed or agitated during the weekend conference.

'Obviously, no one expected this to happen... everyone thought that they were just chugging along as a normal process.'
Bengaluru, April 23 : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure supply of 1,471 tonnes of oxygen per day and two lakh dose of Remdesivir for next 10 days.

In his interaction with Modi through video conferencing during the meeting convened by the Prime Minister with 10 other states worst-affected by Covid-19 infection, he maintained that the state had an "adequate number of beds", but needs more oxygen and Remdesivir supplies.

On oxygen, Yediyurappa told Modi that the government may "have to close down its medical facilities" if the supply was not ensured.

"On April 22 itself, our oxygen consumption stood at 500 tonnes but the allocation from the Union government was at 300 ton. If the supply of oxygen is not adequate, then we will have a tough time in managing patients as this inadequate supply of oxygen might just force us closing down medical facilities," he told Modi.

He argued that Karnataka needs 1,142 tonnes of oxygen per day from April 25 and 1,471 tonnes of oxygen per day from April 30.

"I have already requested the Union Commerce and Industry minister as well as Union Health and Family Welfare minister to increase our allocation to 1,471 tonnes per day. I request the Prime Minister to issue necessary directions in this regard," Yediyurappa appealed.

The Chief minister also requested that 7,667 D-type cylinders and 64 oxygen generation plants are needed. "I request the Prime Minister to give directions to the authorities to allot these," he said.

On the availability of Remdesivir, Yediyurappa claimed that the state government is finding it difficult to procure adequate quantities of the drug, and sought two lakh doses for the next 10 days.

On the vaccination drive in the state, the Chief Minister contended that Karnataka had performed fairly well.

"As many 82 lakh people have been inoculated. From May 1, the new vaccination policy will come into effect. Given the limited production capacity within the country an equitable distribution of vaccines among the states would be helpful," he suggested.

According to him, Covid cases in Karnataka has started increasing from first week of March and during the last two weeks, the numbers have grown exponentially.

"As many as 25,795 cases were reported from the state on April 22 and the case positivity rate of the state has shot up to 16 per cent, but the case fatality has remained steadily below 0.5 per cent," he said.

According to him, Bengaluru Urban is the epicentre of this spread although other districts - Tumkuru, Ballari, Mysuru, Hassan and Kalaburgi - are also contributing to number of positive cases.

Yediyurappa said that as of now, the number of active cases in Karnataka stands at 1,96,236 with 1,37,813 of them in Bengaluru alone.

"For containing Covid spread in Bengaluru, eight zones have been created in the city and Ministers have been made incharge. Senior IAS Officers are appointed as Nodal officers to support them to manage Covid-19 situation in Bengaluru city," he said.

He pointed out at the rate at which the patients are taking ill in the last couple of weeks, he was anticipating more problems in the coming days.

"At the moment, we have permitted opening of step-down hospitals to decrease the load on hospitals. We are also considering setting up field hospitals with Intensive Care Units (ICU) facilities," he said.

"We have also decided to take 50 percent beds of the private hospitals for admitting patients referred by the government," he told Modi.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The unions document is in effect an endorsement, at least in principle, of the Biden administrations plans to make action against climate change a centerpiece of its boost to infrastructure spending  something I guess were now supposed to call Build Back Better rather than the Green New Deal, but whatever. Its also a small but encouraging vindication of the thinking behind Build Back Better, the belief that climate action is most likely to be politically feasible if it eschews economic purism and relies more on carrots than on sticks.

Some background: Conventional economics suggests that the best way to limit greenhouse gas emissions is either to impose a carbon tax or to create a cap-and-trade system in which polluters must buy permits for their emissions.

This argument underlies high-profile initiatives like the Climate Leadership Council, whose founding members included a wide array of business leaders and economists  including Janet Yellen, now the Treasury secretary  and a number of major corporations. The council, whose creation was announced in 2017, calls for carbon fees whose proceeds would be redistributed to families. This plan is part of a bipartisan road map for action.

This is, however, not the path the Biden administration is taking. Why?

First, the economic case for relying almost exclusively on a carbon tax misses the crucial role of technological development. The reason large reductions in emissions look much easier to achieve now than they did a dozen years ago is that weve seen spectacular progress in renewable energy: a 70 percent fall since 2009 in the cost of wind power, an 89 percent fall in the cost of solar power.

And this technological progress didnt just happen. It was at least partly a result of investments made by the Obama administration. These investments were ridiculed by conservatives; back in 2012 Mitt Romney declared that all of the money went to losers like Solyndra and, um, Tesla. In retrospect, however, it is clear that government spending provided a crucial technological lift. And this suggests that public investment, as well as or even instead of a carbon tax, can be a way forward in fighting climate change.
Whitehall's top mandarin is to face a grilling from MPs about the lobbying row that has engulfed the Government, it was revealed today as it emerged he is also investigating a pricey makeover of Boris Johnsons Downing Street flat.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case will face the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Monday to face questions over the access given to Greensill Capital and ex-prime minister David Cameron.

Mr Case, a former private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, is leading an investigation into second jobs held by senior mandarins.

He has warned high-level Whitehall officials should not have private-sector interests because it threatens the 'integrity and impartiality' of the civil service.

He will face questions on his investigation and the wider row, which has also implicated former heads of the Civil Service, including Sir Mark Sedwill.

But he is also likely to face questions over the funding of the No11 flat used by Mr Johnson, after he reportedly began examining claims that the Tory Party secretly paid 58,000 towards the bill  and then tried to cover it up.

In a note this morning announcing the hearing, a Pacac spokesman said: 'The main focus of the session will be questions arising from the ongoing controversy over the collapse of Greensill Capital and its links to Government.

'This will include questions about the role of the Cabinet Secretary, and the currently unfilled position of Independent Advisor on Ministerial Interests, as well as the effectiveness of the relevant legislation and Codes of Conduct, in ensuring government business is conducted ethically and with propriety.

'The Committee will also look at specific issues concerning the relationship between Greensill, current and former ministers, and senior civil servants.

'This will include Lex Greensills exact role in Number 10, potential conflicts of interest for civil servants and ministers, and current investigations into second jobs.'

The Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, pictured, is reportedly looking into the scandal dubbed wallpaper-gate

Boris Johnson, pictured, is facing questions on how he financed a six-figure refurbishment of his flat at 11 Downing Street - including designer wallpaper chosen by his partner Carrie Symonds

It is claimed Tory donor Lord Brownlow covered 58,000 of the costs for the makeover which included expensive wallpaper by interior designer Lulu Lytle; pictured is an example of the designer's work

The Labour Party has written to the elections watchdog to demand an investigation into the refit, which has been dubbed Wallpaper-gate

The dramatic development comes two days after the Daily Mail published leaked emails from Conservative donor Lord Brownlow to Tory Party co-chairman Ben Elliot.

The emails showed that Lord Brownlow told Mr Elliot last October that he had paid 58,000 to Tory HQ to cover the same amount spent by the party months earlier on the flat refit.

The 58,000 was to be attributed as having come not from Lord Brownlow or the Tory Party but from a soon to be formed Downing St Trust that had not yet been formed  and still does not exist, officially.

Well-placed sources said it was proof of an attempt to cover up the way party funds were secretly used to help pay for the refurbishment of Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds Number 11 Downing Street official flat. The makeover, which included expensive wallpaper, by interior designer Lulu Lytle reportedly cost a six-figure sum.

It came as Labour wrote to the elections watchdog to demand an investigation into the refit, which has been dubbed Wallpaper-gate.

Senior figures have questioned why such a powerful individual as Mr Case was getting involved in the affair. Whitehall sources told Sky News they were concerned it could be a distraction from key priorities such as Covid and Brexit.

One member of Government said: Im astonished that Simon has got involved in this himself. It has so much potential to go wrong. Fleur Anderson, Labours Cabinet Office spokesman, said it was strange the Cabinet Secretary has intervened with this when there are far more pressing issues to deal with.

Lulu Lytle's work is highly sought after in certain circles; pictured is an example of her work

The 58,000 donation was not reported to the Electoral Commission and the watchdog has yet to start a formal investigation. But shadow minister Cat Smith told the commission that after the Mails latest email revelation, a full probe is necessary.

This newspaper disclosed last month that Tory funds were used to help pay for decor for the flat and that Mr Johnsons advisers planned to set up a Downing St Trust with the publicly stated aim of preserving Downing St for the nation.

Privately, No 10 sources admitted it was partly intended to hide the fact Conservative funds intended to fund campaigns were used to pay for the flat  as well as recoup the cash.

A Conservative spokesman said: All reportable donations to the Conservative Party are correctly declared to the Electoral Commission... Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in Government transparency returns.

The Electoral Commission said it is determining whether the sums relating to the refit fall within the regime regulated by the commission.
Government TechnologyTechwireThere are only a small number of current public-sector chief information security officers (CISOs) who have served as the top cybersecurity leader in multiple states.Add if you consider those with both state and local government experience, as well as time in a federal government role, and top that all off with private-sector work, the number gets even smaller. In fact, I am only aware of one such person: Keith Tresh Tresh has an amazing background, which includes experience as the former CISO for the state of California , having been appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011 and remaining in that position until 2013.Before that, he was employed for nearly 12 years with the California National Guard, working initially as a telecommunications manager before serving as the CIO and IT director from 2006 to 2011.Between 2014 and 2016, Tresh was CISO for Orange County, and he later served as CIO for the California High-Speed Rail Authority in 2016. He would go on to serve as the commander of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center for the Governors Office of Emergency Services between 2016 and 2018.I have known Keith for more than a decade, first meeting him when I was chief security officer (CSO) in Michigan. I have always been impressed with his knowledge and leadership skills, and I am delighted that he agreed to be interviewed.: You have held several security leadership positions. What are some of the differences between your government and private-sector roles? What duties are the same?: I spent about 18 months working in the private sector and the rest of my career has been in the public sector. I think there were two specific differences I experienced during my time working in the private sector.First, since the focus of most private-sector entities is profit, it made my work more focused on targeted networking and at times making cold calls to folks for leads. I am not a guy who is good at that, so it was a struggle for me to manage my time and goals.The second difference I experienced was that you must be much more aware of the leadership qualities and alliances and how that can affect your work and the climate of the workplace. One of the two companies I worked for had a dynamic and strong CEO whom I truly respected and thought was a great leader. He was focused and up front, but also very generous. I loved working for him.How would you compare your role as California CISO to being Idaho CISO?Being the CISO for California was my first experience in state government, so it was filled with new experiences and challenges every day. I enjoyed my time working with and for Carlos Ramos , and I learned a lot about the differences between the sphere of influence and scope of the job federal folks have versus state employees. It was a great experience, and I worked with a lot of great people. And in California, the scope of the position was very big.When I entered my role as the Idaho CISO, I did not realize just how differently each state operates their IT and IT security. I also had to re-learn my sphere of influence and how to create and maintain trusting professional relationships. Having worked in California for so many years, I was a known quantity to most of the IT folks there. Here in Idaho, I am working hard to try to become known as a trusted partner and advocate for the security professionals in state government. It is not a quick or easy process, but it is my most important mission.
SpaceX launched its third crew to the International Space Station an hour before sunrise Friday, recycling a rocket and spacecraft for the first time.

The Crew-2 mission, which includes the first European, Thomas Pesquet of France, blasted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:49 am Eastern Time (0949 GMT).

"We're glad to be back in space," said mission commander Shane Kimbrough of the United States.

The Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, is now racing to catch up with the ISS, with docking due to take place at 5:10 am (0910 GMT) Saturday. The hatch will open two hours after that.

Earlier, the team said their final goodbyes to their families before boarding three white Teslas for the launchpad, a new tradition established by SpaceX.

The cars' license plates read "recycle," "reuse," and "reduce," in a nod to the fact that both the Falcon 9 booster and Endeavour were deployed on previous missions.

Flying on used vehicles is a key cost-saving goal of NASA's partnerships with private industry.

The day before, Pesquet tweeted a photo of the space quartet, which includes American Megan McArthur and Japan's Akikho Hoshide, relaxing on the beach in Florida.

"Our friends on the @Space_Station are expecting us to show up and we don't want to be late. They even installed my bedroom recently and literally made my bed. Such nice hosts!" he added.

The extra "bed" is necessary to accommodate an unusually large number of people aboard the ISS: 11 in total, as the Crew-2 team overlaps for a few days with Crew-1 astronauts, in addition to three Russian cosmonauts.

It is the third time SpaceX is sending humans to the ISS as part of its multibillion dollar contract with NASA under the Commercial Crew Program.

The first mission launched last May, ending nine years of American reliance on Russian rockets for rides to the ISS following the end of the Space Shuttle program.

Story continues

"I think we're at the dawn of a new era of space exploration," said SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who made a surprise appearance at the post-launch press conference.

- Major step for Europe -

The launch is a major milestone for Europe, which named the mission "Alpha" after the star system Alpha Centauri.

"This is really the golden era for us in terms of exploitation of the International Space Station," Frank De Winne, head of ISS programs for the European Space Agency (ESA), told AFP.

Germany's Matthias Maurer and Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti are set to follow Pesquet on SpaceX missions, this fall and next spring respectively.

The next module of the ISS, built by Russia, should reach the station in July and will include a robotic arm built by ESA that Pesquet will help make operational, added De Winne.

ESA will also be a key partner to the United States in the Artemis program to return to the Moon, providing the power and propulsion component for the Orion spacecraft, and critical elements of a planned lunar orbital station called Gateway.

- Science goals -

The Crew-2 team has around 100 experiments in the diary during their six-month mission.

These include research into what are known as "tissue chips" -- small models of human organs that are made up of different types of cells and used to study things like aging in the immune system, kidney function and muscle loss.

In terms of the environment, by the time Crew-2 returns in fall, it will have taken 1.5 million images of the Earth, documenting phenomena like artificial lighting at night, algal blooms, and the breakup of Antarctic ice shelves.

Another important element of the mission is upgrading the station's solar power system by installing new compact panels that roll open like a huge yoga mat.

For now though, the three space agencies, as well as the astronauts' colleagues and families, are basking in the glow of a safe and successful launch.

"It's been a lot of excitement, lots of ups and downs for the past couple of weeks, and now it's all done and it was beautiful," Pesquet's wife Anne Mottet told AFP.

"So I'm feeling relieved, I'm feeling really happy," she said, adding she had told Pesquet "I'm going to be watching you" when they said farewell.

ia/dw
Most of them were freed by Yerevan courts or the Investigative Committee pending investigation.

The committee asked judges to sanctions pre-trial detentions of eight local government officials and other Syunik residents accused of hooliganism, disruption of public order and/or assault on security officers. It brought the same charges against 11 other men.

The detainees included Mkhitar Zakarian, the mayor of the towns of Agarak and Meghri making up a single local community. Scores of local residents insulted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and blamed him for Armenias defeat in last years war in Nagorno-Karabakh as he walked through the towns on Wednesday morning.

In a statement announcing the indictments, the Investigative Committee claimed that the hooligan acts were organized by Zakarian for the purpose of hampering Pashinians movements and meetings with the population. It said the protesters linked to the mayor not only defied but also pushed and hit law-enforcement officers at the scene.

Zakarian denied the accusations through his lawyer, Gayane Papoyan. He walked free late on Friday after a Yerevan court refused to remand him in pre-trial custody.

The investigators also indicted Menua Hovsepian, a deputy mayor of another provincial town, Goris. They said Hovsepian organized and led local residents who threw eggs at Pashinians motorcade and tried to stop it when it passed through Goris.

Hovsepian, who also denies any wrongdoing, was set free earlier in the day. One of his lawyers, Armen Melkonian, confirmed reports that the vice-mayor claims to have been beaten up by police officers while being transported to the Investigative Committee headquarters in Yerevan. He said another lawyer has formally complained to prosecutors about the alleged torture.

Melkonian also represents nine other Syunik residents charged with hooliganism. He insisted that they too are innocent.

The arrests condemned by opposition groups began hours after Pashinian described the protests as a violation of the law and told Armenias police and National Security Service to respond to them in a tough manner.

While condemning the protesters for swearing at Pashinian, the state human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, accused the prime minister on Thursday of issuing unlawful orders to the law-enforcement agencies.

Pashinians political allies insisted on Friday that the ongoing criminal investigation is not politically motivated or directed by the government.

The prime minister simply brought the law-enforcers attention to the hooligan manifestations, which I think was necessary, said Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of the ruling My Step bloc.

The elected heads of virtually all major communities in Syunik issued late last year statements demanding Pashinians resignation. The mayors of Meghri, Goris and the industrial town of Kajaran were subsequently prosecuted on separate charges rejected by them as politically motivated.
A clinical trial was conducted with 240 patients who were given 200,000 IU of vitamin D3 on admission to hospital. The supplementation did not reduce length of stay or affect the proportion requiring intensive

By Karina Toledo | Agencia FAPESP  Can a high dose of vitamin D administered on admission to hospital improve the condition of patients with moderate or severe COVID-19? The answer is no, according to a Brazilian study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the kind of study considered the gold standard to evaluate drug efficacy. It was conducted with FAPESPs support by researchers at the University of Sao Paulos Medical School (FM-USP), who recruited 240 patients treated at Hospital das Clinicas (HC), the hospital complex run by FM-USP, and the Ibirapuera field hospital in Sao Paulo City in June-August 2020.

In vitro studies or trials with animals had previously shown that in certain situations vitamin D and its metabolites can have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effects, as well as modulating the immune response. We decided to investigate whether a high dose of the substance could have a protective effect in the context of an acute viral infection, reducing either the inflammation or the viral load, Rosa Pereira, principal investigator for the project, told Agencia FAPESP.

The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups, one of which was given vitamin D3 in a single dose of 200,000 units (IU) dissolved in a peanut oil solution. The other group was given only the peanut oil solution. All participants were treated according to the standard protocol for hospital treatment of the disease, which includes administration of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.

The main purpose was to see if acute supplementation would affect the length of hospital stay for these patients, but the researchers also wanted to find out whether it would mitigate the risks of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), intubation and death.

No significant difference between the groups was observed for any of these clinical outcomes. According to Pereira, the study was designed above all to assess the impact on hospital stay and a larger number of volunteers would be needed to achieve a scientifically acceptable estimate of the effect on mortality.

So far we can say theres no indication to administer vitamin D to patients who come to the hospital with severe COVID-19, she said.

For Bruno Gualano, a researcher at FM-USP and penultimate author of the article, the findings show that at least for now there is no silver bullet for the treatment of COVID-19. But that doesnt mean continuous use of vitamin D cant have beneficial effects of some kind, he said.

Ideal dose

Pereira is currently leading a study at FM-USP to find out whether subjects with sufficient circulating levels of vitamin D combat infection by SARS-CoV-2 better than those with insufficient levels of the nutrient.

The ideal level of vitamin D in the blood and the daily supplementation dose vary according to age and overall health, she explained. Older people and patients with chronic diseases including osteoporosis should have more than 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL). For healthy adults, 20 ng/mL is an acceptable threshold.

The ideal approach is case-by-case analysis, if necessary dosing the substance periodically by means of blood work, with supplementation if a deficiency is detected, Pereira said.

The article Effect of a single high dose of vitamin D3 on hospital length of stay in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 can be read at: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776738.
Pipeline

23 April 2021

Heaton Companies has announced its newest project, Ouanalao Residences & Resort (pronounced O-wana-loo). Inspired by the native spirit and timeless architecture of St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies, this 12-acre oasis features 25 oceanfront villas and 25 beach cottages fronting the Atlantic Ocean and Indian River Lagoon on South Florida's unspoiled Hutchinson Island. Villas are 4,231 sq. ft. with prices from the $3 millions and features including a private walkway to the beach, elevated oceanfront pools, and more.

Ouanalao invites residents to "own a carefree piece of paradise" with the option to place their oceanfront home in a premier vacation rental program. This idyllic retreat enjoys both sunrise and sunset views, and is further complemented by an impressive selection of amenities, dining and activities.
Midland is experiencing a reprieve in COVID-19 numbers and positivity rates, thanks to mitigation efforts and continued vaccination clinics.

According to Fred Yanoski, Midland County Department of Public Health health officer, about 50% of Midland County has received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and over 25% has received both doses. Additionally, over 80% of residents ages 65 and older are vaccinated. Yanoski explained the totals come from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which collects data from clinics hosted by pharmacies, corporations and local health departments. Once a person receives a vaccination, the data is entered within 24 hours.

In Midland, clinics are continuing to see a good turnout as Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are distributed; since the county only gave out a little less than 200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine before health concerns halted its distribution, its absence has not slowed down local inoculation efforts.

It hasnt hurt us locally, but its a great tool to have for populations that might have trouble getting back for a second dose, Yanoski said.

Yanoski is hopeful about positivity rates and case numbers in Midland County, reporting he is seeing numbers plateau and trending slightly downward. Midland Countys seven-day rolling positivity rate on April 20 was listed at 14.1% and Gladwin County was listed at 17.8%. Our 12-county region is listed at 18.2% and Michigan is at 14.8%.

We hope the numbers continue to trend downward. Our clinics havent experienced it yet, but weve been hearing that the clinics around the state are less populated than they were earlier in the spring, Yanoski said.

With area middle and high schools returning to in-person lessons, Yanoski believes the schools will continue to be as safe as the community is in terms of case numbers. He explained the pause of in-person classes was recommended during a very vulnerable time for the county. Now that the case numbers and positivity have declined, he is optimistic about students returning to their classrooms. He praised the districts efforts in identifying breakouts and requiring students to quarantine.

Our schools have done a good job mitigating the disease, Yanoski said.

The next hardest challenge will be to reach people who are more hesitant about being vaccinated. Common concerns Yanoski has heard address how quickly the vaccine was made available and concerns about its effectiveness. The key will be to provide reliable information and educate the public about the available vaccines. Yanoski urges residents to help stop the virus spread by getting either form of the vaccine, whether it is from Moderna or Pfizer, as soon as possible.

It is a safe and effective vaccine. Folks should not be hesitant to take it. It was fast tracked in development, but it didnt sacrifice the safeguards for safety, Yanoski stated.

Due to technical difficulties, the state's daily COVID-19 report was not available at press time on Friday.
An explosion that rattled homes within a 20-mile radius Tuesday night is being blamed on a gender reveal celebration at a Kingston quarry that police say involved more than a pound of tannerite and blue chalk.
The chase had spanned more than 20 minutes, but the suspect had barely broken the speed limit and was not driving dangerously. Seconds later, a police vehicle was riddled by automatic gunfire.

Wanted man Ricky Maddison stopped abruptly on Wallers Road  a dirt track near Gatton, west of Brisbane  and unleashed a hail of bullets on a police vehicle at close range, killing one officer inside.

The dashcam footage from the police four-wheel-drive carrying the late Senior Constable Brett Forte and his surviving on-duty partner Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, has been released.

It followed a coronial inquest during the past two weeks that investigated whether anything can be done to reduce the chances of another Queensland police officer meeting a similar death.
Christian activists divided over USCIRF recommending India as 'country of particular concern'

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Christian activists are divided in their responses to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom again recommending the State Department place India on its list of countries of particular concern for the worst violations of religious freedoms in 2020.

In its latest report, the bipartisan commission mandated by Congress to advise lawmakers and the federal government recommended for the second year in a row that the administration impose targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities for severe violations of religious freedom.

In 2020, religious freedom conditions in India continued their negative trajectory. The government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, promoted Hindu nationalist policies resulting in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, notes the report.

USCIRF warned that mobs attacked Christians, destroyed churches and disrupted worship services as they were "fueled by false accusations of forced conversions."

"In many cases, authorities did not prevent these abuses and ignored or chose not to investigate pleas to hold perpetrators accountable," the report states. "This contributed to increased mob attacks and a fear of reprisal against those coming forward. Religious minorities remain concerned about the potential for a national anti-conversion law and additional state-level statutes."

Before the reports release, there was concern from some activists that USCIRF was being pressured to drop Indias CPC recommendation.

In a statement, the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations applauded the recommendation, noting that Hindu nationalists are afforded unofficial protection from the BJP for their vigilantism against the Christian population.

Meanwhile, India-based organizations have reported that the attacks on churches and prayer meetings have dramatically gone up from even last year, FIACONA said in a statement Wednesday.

The justice system has often failed to defend the rights of persecuted Christians and other minority religions. Police have joined in mob violence against Christians, filed reports against the victims, and courts have given favor to the attackers.

India ranks as the 10th-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List as there have been hundreds of incidents of Christians being harassed or persecuted for their faith in the country since the rise of the BJP party in 2014.

FIACONA points out that Indias anti-conversion laws, passed in several states, have been weaponized to stop conversions of any kind, while forceful conversion to Hinduism are applauded.

In total, Indias Christians suffered 225 incidents of religiously motivated violence in just the first 10 months of 2020, many at the hands of vigilante mobs, according to FIACONA.

An additional report from the legal organization ADF India found that from the time the Hindu nationalist BJP rose to power in 2014 through 2019, more than 1,400 incidents of religious persecution against Christians took place.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christians in rural areas faced more opposition than ever due to their faith. Advocates warned that in some instances, Christians and other non-Hindus were denied COVID relief.

With all of these considerations in mind, FIACONA whole-heartedly agrees with USCIRF in their decision to continue the designation of India as a CPC for the year 2021, the group said in a statement emailed to The Christian Post.

The Trump administration had rejected the USCIRF recommendation to designate India a CPC last year when it released its determinations in December.

Additionally, the Indian government and its allies have reportedly pressured USCIRF to reverse its recommendation to label India as a CPC.

Currently, the State Department has designated 10 countries as CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

In the 2021 report, USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore, an evangelical public relations executive and religious freedom advocate, expressed concern with USCIRFs recommendation on India.

Of all the countries in the world, India should not be a country of particular concern, Moore wrote. It is the worlds largest democracy and it is governed by a pristine constitution. It is diversity personified and its religious life has been its greatest historic blessing. Yet, India does seem to be at a crossroads.

Its democracy  still young and freewheeling  is creating through the ballot box difficult challenges for itself. The answer, of course, is for Indias institutions to draw upon their rich history to protect their values. India must always resist allowing political and intercommunal conflict to be exacerbated by religious tensions. Indias government and people have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose from preserving social harmony and protecting the rights of everyone. India can. India must.

Archbishop Joseph D'Souza of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India, who serves as the president of the All India Christian Council, voiced his opposition to the USCIRF recommendation.

Though admitting India is not perfect and has made mistakes along a complicated path, D'Souza said to put the country on the same plane as communist China or the Islamic Republics of Iran or Pakistan reaches a level of absurdity that is almost incomprehensible.

While it might have been well-intentioned, the decision of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom is misguided, he argued. The constituency I represent finds this determination by USCIRF unhelpful and inappropriate, particularly at this time when religious polarization and division are increasing around the world and in India. Major democracies need to engage each other with respect and understanding."

In a statement to CP, John Prabhudoss, the chairman of FIACONA, called Moores statement included in the report detrimental to the interest of the church in India.

Unfortunately, he erred in his judgment by ending up supporting a radical religious extremist agenda of the Hindu nationalists instead of standing by the victims of the religious extremism, he said.

Moore responded to the criticism, telling CP that his comment was not intended to contravene the work of the Commission but to add some additional, important perspective regarding the world's largest democracy and Asia's most important country.

"As for accusations that the Indians were pressuring USCIRF on the CPC designation," added Moore, "that's awfully hard for them to do when they won't let the Commission visit, won't meet us, and won't even communicate with us officially. The Indian government should instead engage with the Commission in good faith."
A corrections officer working at South Woods State Prison has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state, claiming her supervisor and others violated her civil rights when she asked for a time-off benefit.

Sgt. Nashyrah Day, a Black woman, says in court papers that a lieutenant told her in February 2020 that she would no longer be entitled to switch shifts with other sergeants in a process known as reciprocal.

Reciprocal is an employment benefit provided through the New Jersey Department of Corrections where supervisors are able to switch shifts with others to gain extra days off, according to the suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Denial of reciprocals was not something the lieutenants imposed on white sergeants, the lawsuit claims.

Day says in the suit she met with the lieutenant and complained that her denial of reciprocal amounted to discrimination as compared to plaintiffs Caucasian co-workers.

After the meeting, Day filed a discrimination complaint with the states Equal Employment Division, the suit states.

In her EED complaint, (Day) asserted claims of racial disparate treatment, racially motivated harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation, the suit states.

The lawsuit claims that when Day refused to drop her EED complaint, she was subjected to persistent retaliatory harassment, which included bogus investigations and false allegations of misconduct.

Day claims the department of corrections violated her civil rights with regard to race and gender and retaliated against her when she complained, a violation of state anti-discrimination laws.

The suit also alleges the state failed to train, supervise and discipline its officers against race discrimination and retaliatory practices. Day is seeking a judgment of $300,000, plus other costs to include attorney fees.

Lee Moore, a spokesman for the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, said Friday state officials have no comment on the lawsuit.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
By the time state officials arrived at a Waterford CVS on Feb. 4 to investigate reports that New Yorkers were getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the pharmacy had already vaccinated more residents from the neighboring state than it had from Connecticut, according to state Department of Public Health documents.

The documents show that DPH officials were warned about the steady stream of New York license plates in the parking lot three days before they visited the Boston Post Road pharmacy. That visit made the news, largely because Waterford police were called in when some New York residents refused to leave the line, insisting they had done nothing wrong and had already spent $150 to take the ferry over to Connecticut to get their shots.

After hearing about the developing situation on Feb. 4, Barbara Cass, chief of health care quality and safety for the DPH, wrote an email that day to DPH Chief of Staff Adelita Orefice.

Michelle [Gilman, deputy chief operating officer at DPH] called Tony [Bruno, the DPH vaccine site inspector who was at the Waterford pharmacy that day] and suggested they pull people out of the line. I have asked them to speak with the manager who should be doing that, Cass wrote in the email. The last thing I want is them being arrested or worse assaulted. Michelle wanted it elevated to you quickly, added Cass.

No one was arrested, however, and when Gov. Ned Lamont was asked about the incident during his afternoon press conference that day, he put the onus on the out-of-state residents who got caught  not on CVS  saying, Youve got to live here in Connecticut or work here in Connecticut, youve got to identify yourself as such when you sign on to  that CVS site.

But emails and documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that town officials, the local health director and a state representative had called DPH several times in the days preceding Feb. 4 about the line of New Yorkers pulling into the Waterford CVS and that there had been additional complaints about who was getting vaccinated through at least one other CVS location.

Records show that as of Feb. 4, the day Bruno walked into the store, 318 people with New York addresses had been vaccinated at the Waterford CVS, compared to 301 Connecticut residents. Residents from 10 other states had also been vaccinated there.

The majority of the out-of-state residents who had received a vaccine had taken advantage of an apparent glitch in the CVS computer system that allowed them to sign up for vaccines in Connecticut, even though they didnt live here.

In addition, many of them were not only from the wrong state but also were in a group not eligible for the vaccine at that time. The majority of the New Yorkers, for example, were between 65 and 74 years old when only people over 75 were eligible on that date, state records show.

CVS and Walgreens has been told numerous times about the complaints that we are getting, DPH epidemiologist Deepa Mavani wrote in an email to Benjamin Bechtolsheim, the states vaccine coordinator the day before DPH investigators went to Waterford. We have asked them to reinforce that they only vaccinate people who live or work in CT.

The first warning

The first person to notify state officials that there was a problem at the CVS was Ledge Light Health District Director Stephen Mansfield, whose district includes Waterford.

In a Feb. 1 email to Bechtolsheim and others, Mansfield told them Waterford First Selectman Rob Brule had been fielding complaints about who was getting vaccinated at the CVS on Boston Post Road.

Good morning Nancy [Sharova, DPHs Health Program Supervisor] and Benjamin, it has been reported to me that the CVS in Waterford is vaccinating out-of-state residents, Mansfield wrote. It is my understanding that vaccine in Connecticut is only available to those who live or work in Connecticut. Can you confirm? And is there anything that can be done about this?

Bechtolsheim told Mansfield that they would look into it and promised to get back to him. The next day, Mansfield sent Bechtolsheim a photo of several cars with New York license plates parked at the CVS and asked, Has someone contacted CVS to determine exactly who they are vaccinating? And if they are vaccinating out-of-state individuals, is there going to be any enforcement action?

The situation escalated to the attention of Gilman, the DPHs deputy chief operating officer, that same day, when Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, emailed Bechtolsheim.

I have been informed by a clinician that CVS in Waterford is providing vaccines regardless of age or residence, Somers wrote. People are taking the Long Island ferry to CT to obtain the vaccine. I can put you in touch with the clinician if you need.

Bechtolsheim forwarded Somers email to Gilman and Orefice, the DPH chief of staff, asking, Shall we escalate this to CVS or what is the current dialogue on this questions? Lita - shall we have someone go by the store to do a compliance visit/audit? I dont think its a policy issue - its a practice one.

Glitch in the system

While state officials were pondering on Feb. 4 whether to send investigators to Waterford, Isa Eliasoph and her husband were getting on the ferry from Long Island to New London to get their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, six days after she had been allowed to schedule their shots online from her Great Neck home.

I entered my home ZIP code. No availability. The CVS site prompted me to try different ZIP codes. After several tries, I finally typed in the ZIP code for Montauk Point. I was amazed to find myself invited to schedule appointments on February 4th - this past Tuesday - in Waterford, Eliasoph wrote in an email to Mansfield about a week later. She contacted Mansfield because of concerns she wouldnt be able to get her second dose at the Waterford CVS.

As the crow flies, Montauk NY is directly south of Waterford CT. I entered all of the required information  our names, DOBs, address, email addresses, cell phone #s, Medicare #s, Eliasoph wrote. Our appointments were confirmed and appointments for our second doses were automatically scheduled for February 23rd.

The Eliasophs got their first doses on Feb. 4, barely missing Bruno and another DPH inspector who arrived at the Waterford location that same afternoon and found 10 people from Long Island in line to get vaccinated. None of them were first responders or over 75  the only people eligible to be vaccinated in Connecticut at that point.

In interviews with DPH investigators, the New Yorkers said they just put their home addresses into the CVS system, were offered appointments at the Waterford store and took them.

The New York residents at first refused to get out of line, indicating they had done nothing wrong and that the vaccine had already been designated for them, according to a DPH incident report. Thats when the Waterford police were called, although it is unclear by whom. CVS officials said at the time they didnt call the police, and Waterford police said they didnt have a police report on the incident.

No one was arrested, however, and eventually the New Yorkers left without incident.

CVS employees told Bruno they had been vaccinating Connecticut residents over 75 and New York residents over 65 since they began offering the shots on Jan. 25, according to DPHs incident report. The Waterford pharmacy was one of only two CVS stores in Connecticut offering vaccines at that time. CVS and Walgreens expanded their vaccination sites the very next week, when the federal government announced it would begin shipping vaccine to them.

Gilman and Orefice asked DPH officials to analyze vaccine data to see what was going on at that store and other CVS locations. The next day, state officials realized more New Yorkers than Connecticut residents had been vaccinated in Waterford.

I looked at this quickly. NY numbers larger than CT? Appears so, Orefice wrote in an email to Gifford. We can get an analysis.

State officials were about to find out the problem was not isolated to just one store in Waterford.

Second dose issues

A few days after the Waterford incident, DPH officials received an email from a Massachusetts woman complaining that she couldnt get a second dose appointment for her 80-year-old husband at the Connecticut CVS where he had already been vaccinated.

DPH employee Natalie Anderson summarized the Massachusetts womans plight in an email to Mavani, the DPH epidemiologist.

An 80 year old patient that lives in MA was told by CVS in MA that they didnt have any appointments and was directed by CVS to the CT location which was the closest to the patient, Anderson wrote.

The patient does not live or work in CT, but received first dose. Now, they cannot schedule a second dose in CT as they are ineligible due to out of state residency; however, when the patient tries to schedule in MA, they are being told they cannot receive the second dose as MA is currently administering only first doses.

The email does not identify the womans Massachusetts address or at which CVS her husband received his first dose.

But the communication crystallized an issue that DPH officials were trying to resolve with CVS  how to get the hundreds of people who were wrongly vaccinated in Connecticut their required second doses.

It was a question that Eliasoph, the Long Island resident, was posing also to Ledge Light Health Districts director, hoping he could help them get a second dose. However, Ledge Light was only administering the Moderna vaccine, so Mansfield forwarded the problem to Bechtolsheim.

True problem at CVS

I learned this morning that New Yorkers who had appointments to be vaccinated in Waterford were turned away yesterday because they dont live in Connecticut, Eliasoph wrote to Mansfield. I understand why those people were turned away. I also realize that my husband and I were likely vaccinated in Waterford because of a glitch in the CVS system. We each need a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and arent sure where to find it.

Eliasoph said she called the CVS in Waterford hoping to learn that our second dose appointments would be honored. I received no such reassurance.

I was told to call the [New York State] Dept. of Health. I was told that CVS was in negotiations with the NYS and CT Departments of Health to figure out a solution to this problem  because a number of New Yorkers are in this situation, she said.

Meanwhile, CVS officials were also trying to clarify with DPH officials what they should do.

In a series of emails, CVS Health Government Affairs Director Maggie Moree asked Connecticut officials for direction. DPH had put out a bulletin only a few days before the Waterford incident telling vaccinators to offer second doses to people even if they had been inadvertently vaccinated in the wrong category.

During the initial vaccine rollout, the state had used phases, starting with health care workers and first responders, and then moving to anyone over 75. Many teachers from various age groups had also been vaccinated.

In an email, Moree said that CVS officials assumed the out-of-state residents would fall in that category and just get their second doses in Connecticut, but state officials had other ideas.

We are asking CVS pharmacies that scheduled out of state/ineligible recipients in error to find a second dose in the persons state of residence, DPHs Immunization Program Manager Kathy Kurdish wrote to Moree on Feb. 16, nearly two weeks after the Waterford incident.

Moree asked for more clarification in her response to Kurdish.

So I am clear and we dont end up with police being called to Waterford - CVS is being asked not to honor any second dose appointments where first doses were given to individuals who may not have met the states eligibility criteria (live or work in CT and in one of those categories of eligibility)? Moree said.

Kurdish confirmed the policy in her second email.

A clarifying point: CVS is being asked not to honor any second dose appointments where first doses were given to individuals who are 65+ but who do not live in CT, Kurdish wrote back.

Our understanding is that this was the true problem at the CVS locations (out of state older people), Kurdish added.

CVS spokeswoman Tara Burke said Thursday all of the out-of-state residents who got their first doses at the Waterford CVS got their second doses at pharmacies in their home states.

We worked directly with the impacted patients to ensure they were vaccinated per their state guidelines, Burke said.

She added that CVS also changed its vaccine website to avoid similar errors.

We updated our site so that customers must affirm they meet the eligibility requirements in the state where the pharmacy they are booking their appointment is located, Burke said.

DPH didnt conduct any vaccination analysis for any CVS location other than pulling the data for the Waterford site, because they believed the problem was isolated to that store, even though they knew about the Massachusetts man who got vaccinated at the Connecticut CVS store.

This analysis was tied solely and specifically to the incident at the Waterford CVS, DPH spokeswoman Maura Fitzgerald said. DPH did not receive complaints alleging widespread vaccination for out of state individuals at CVS locations other than the CVS/Waterford site.
Lahore:

Mumbai attack mastermind and banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeeds house arrest was extended on Thursday for another 30 days by a Judicial Review Board of Pakistans Punjab province.

However, the board refused to allow the same in the detention of his four aides.

The 30-day detention will be applicable from October 24.

Saeeds aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain may walk out free on the expiry of their September 25 detention order if they are not detained in any other case.

Saeed and his four accomplices were presented before the provincial judicial review board on Thursday amid high security in the Lahore High Court.

A good number of his supporters were present at the courts premises who showered rose petals on him and his aides. Police, however, stopped them from chanting slogans in the favour of their leader.

The three member Punjab Judicial Review Board comprising Justice Yawar Ali (head), Justice Abdul Sami and Justice Alia Neelam held the hearing.

A court official told PTI after the hearing that the Home Department of Punjab government had sought three months extension to the detention of Saeed and others under public safety law.

The judicial board after listening to the arguments of the governments law officer did not entertain his request and only granted 30-day extension to Saeeds house arrest in Lahore, he said.

The board also could not be convinced about keeping Saeeds four aides in detention beyond the expiry of September 25 detention order for a month and dismissed the governments plea for further extension to their detention, he said.

The government may arrest Saeeds four aides in any other case on expiry of their detention period in last week of this month, the official added.

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Jill Biden spent the first day of a trip to the Navajo Nation listening to female tribal leaders whom she referred to as her 'sister warriors,' on the needs and priorities of the country's largest Native American reservation.

Biden sprinkled in phrases in Navajo that point to the holistic nature of the culture that interconnects all things, living in balance, beauty and harmony. She said she was proud to address the Navajo Nation on a day that highlights the protection of Mother Earth, a reference to the president's climate change agenda.

'It's on all of us together to find the path back to hoz'ho - harmony and beauty, the world as it should be,' she said Thursday beneath a red sandstone arch with a cutout that gives the tribal capital of Window Rock its name. 'Despite the challenges that you faced, the Navajo Nation lives that truth again and again.'

The trip was Biden's third to the vast reservation - which extends into Arizona, New Mexico and a corner of Utah - and her inaugural visit as first lady. She vowed to work with the Navajo Nation and all tribal nations, in a recognition of their inherent sovereignty and political relationship with the United States.

Jill Biden spent the first day of a trip to the Navajo Nation listening to female tribal leaders on the needs and priorities of the country's largest Native American reservation. She also spoke at the Window Rock Navajo Tribal Park & Veterans Memorial on Thursday

The trip was Biden's third to the vast reservation - which extends into Arizona, New Mexico and a corner of Utah - and her inaugural visit as first lady

She vowed to work with the Navajo Nation and all tribal nations, in a recognition of their inherent sovereignty and political relationship with the United States

First lady Jill Biden, wrapped in a blanket against the wind, listens as Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez speaks during a live radio address in Window Rock, Arizona, on Thursday

During her visit to the Navajo Nation Museum where she met with the female leaders, Biden saw a copy of the 1868 treaty the tribe signed with the US government that freed them from a desolate tract of land in eastern New Mexico and allowed them to return to their homeland within four mountains they hold sacred.

Navajo Nation First Lady Phefelia Nez thanked Biden for supporting a cancer treatment center in Tuba City, on the reservation's western side, but noted it has received more patients than expected and needs to be expanded.

'That sort of breaks my heart, having so many of my own family members who have been victims of cancer,' Biden responded.

Biden last visited the reservation in 2019 where she urged Americans to contribute financially to the treatment center to address health disparities in a region where unemployment and poverty are high.

She said Thursday she was surprised at the time that it was the first center of its kind on tribal land but vowed it wouldn't be the last.

Dottie Lizer, wife of Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, listed a range of issues she and Nez have been working on, including education and financial literacy, and efforts to protect Navajo children and families, cultural teachings and the tribe's language.

'It is an honor to support and work with a spiritual woman leader who shares the values of harmony, faith and compassion with each of us,' said Dottie Lizer.

President Jonathan Nez later noted that the Navajo word for compassion, 'joobaii' sounds a lot like 'Joe Biden'.

Dottie Lizer and Phefelia Nez were among a group of women who met with Biden at the library of the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock.

The women wore traditional crushed velvet or ribbon skirts, moccasins and jewelry made of silver and turquoise, stones sacred to the the tribe. Some wore their hair in traditional buns tied with yarn.

Others spoke about violence against women and said more resources are needed for victims.

Outside, some residents who lined the streets along Biden's route to the tribal government center held photos of Indigenous women who have disappeared or been killed.

First lady Jill Biden (center) poses for a photo with Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez (right) and his wife Phefelia Nez (second from right) upon arrival in Window Rock, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation on Thursday

The first lady was also seen greeting Navajo women upon arrival in Window Rock, Arizona

Biden is seen speaking while standing alongside Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, and his wife Phefelia Nez on Thursday

A tribal police officer stood guard on a hill as the first lady visited Window Rock, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation on Thursday

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said Biden's choice to meet with women leaders first set the tone for the trip.

Later, Biden spoke to a crowd of Navajo officials and dignitaries, including Miss Navajo Shaandiin Parrish, who were socially distanced and wearing masks.

The Navajo Nation Council gifted Biden a Pendleton blanket that was wrapped around her as the temperature dropped and a chill set in.

Parrish earned the title through a competition that celebrates Navajo women's role in society as caretakers, leaders and protectors. It also includes butchering a sheep and preparing traditional foods.

She said she was excited for the partnerships that Biden will create in Indian Country.

'Everybody on the Navajo Nation has a deep respect for women, and her position as first lady is tremendous,' she said. 'We all look up to our mothers, and she's the first lady, the mother of the US.'

On Friday, Biden will visit a boarding school and a nearby hospital that has been administering vaccines, both of which the tribe runs under contract with the federal government.

The trip comes as the tribe recorded just one coronavirus-related death in the past 12 days. It's also reporting far fewer daily cases than early on in the pandemic, when the reservation had one of the country's highest per-capita infection rates.

The tribe has approached reopening more cautiously than surrounding states, most recently because of coronavirus variants identified among infections.

On Monday, it plans to reopen tribal parks to residents and increase capacity for businesses, gatherings and tribal casinos to 50 per cent.

Biden noted that about half the reservation's population is fully vaccinated, roughly twice the US rate. Still, residents on the Navajo Nation must wear masks and travel only for essential activity. Tribal roads are closed to visitors.

'Were not celebrating yet,' Nez said earlier this week. 'The pandemic is still here.'

The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority has chipped away at water, electricity and broadband needs, partly with funding from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. But it estimates the price tag for providing basic utilities to residents at more than $5billion.

That won't be met even with money from the latest federal relief package, which set aside $20billion for tribal governments - marking the largest, single investment in Indian Country.

Separately, President Joe Biden has proposed increasing the budget of the chronically underfunded Indian Health Service by $2.2billion. The agency provides primary care to more than 2 million Native Americans. It has said the funding would help address longstanding inequities among its patients.

In 2013, Jill Biden gave the commencement address at Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, New Mexico, where she focused her speech on community, saying: 'You all have a stake in each other's future.'

That value is what drove tribes across the country to enact strict measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and protect elders and future generations.
Persons making their way through the Cruise Ship terminal on their way to boarding the Royal Caribbean cruise liner. UK, Canadian and US Citizens leave SVG.

by Sheron Garraway

Jacqueline Lewis and her Canadian grandson Nathan Doyle, whom she was accompanying to the USA for onwards travel to Canada, were the last of the 160 UK, Canadian and American citizens to have boarded the Royal Caribbean cruise liner  Celebrity Reflection  last Saturday , April 17, bound for Sint Maarten.





The liner was made available by the US Government and the understanding was that the persons who chose to use the opportunity to leave, would be responsible for making onward connections from Sint Marteen.





Maurice Lewis, Jacquelines husband, said it was a rush situation as they had to pack, get PCR tests, booking connecting flights (from Sint Maarten).





The Lodge village resident said his family took the opportunity offered since his grandsons travel by air back to Canada was curtailed when the airport here was closed been due to the ash caused by the eruption of La Soufriere. As of Wednesday, there was no clear indication as to when it would reopen.





Resident British Commissioner to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Steve Moore, was on hand at the cruise ship birth to see 10 UK passengers board.





He confirmed that the opportunity had come at short notice, this after discussions between the British High Commission and the US Embassy, both located in Bridgetown, Barbados.





Speaking with THE VINCENTIAN, Moore said other UK nationals are still here. Some, she said, are hoping that air travel will resume soon while others who are resident here dont want to leave.





He explained, "Its a difficult time but they (those who left) are keen to return here as well. One British national suffers from a medical condition and the ash fall could cause havoc with his respiratory function. Others just feel that they are in the way at this moment when there is so much work and recovery taking place. So they just want to give space to the Vincentians who are trying to recover.





A number of UK residents are in the Grenadines.





Commissioner Moore said that his government has been coordinating closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) which has been helping to coordinate the response and the relief of donors.





Prior to the La Soufriere eruption, the UK government assisted with funding the operation of the helicopter used by for seismologists in their monitoring and surveillance of the volcano.





The Commissioner, who has been resident here since August 2019, is hopeful that the country recovers as quickly and in time could re-build even better.





He noted that the UK will continue to consider what can be done and recognized that the United Nations has launched an appeal fund.
In a statement to pv magazine, the global vice president of Chinese solar manufacturer JinkoSolar, Dany Qian, said that polysilicon prices are not expected to drop for at least six months. The company's general manager for South & Central Asia, Daniel Liu, stated that Jinko is not backing out from any of the signed deals with its Indian customers due to the raw material supply shortage and the rising prices, as reported by unspecified false reports.The shortage and the rising prices of polysilicon are currently forcing solar panel suppliers to slow down production, according to the global vice ...

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.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday celebrated the moment when his country achieved 200 million vaccine injections and said he has been approached to help out neighboring countries. "It's in process. We don't have enough confidence to send abroad now, [but] I expect we're going to be able to," Biden said. But for Korea, which failed to secure sufficient vaccines in time, that offers scant hope. Even if the U.S. manages to achieve its target of immunizing all of its citizens by July 4, Independence Day, and has surplus doses left, Korea will be a long way down the list of potential recipients.

The U.S. State Department said it is in talks with Canada, Mexico and members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, an informal anti-China alliance that also includes Japan, Australia and India, to supply surplus vaccines. Unless the overlap is coincidental, that suggests Korea would have to prove its fealty to Biden by joining the bloc before it can hope for any crumbs from the American vaccine table.

But the Moon Jae-in administration has been sending the exact opposite message to Washington. In an interview with the New York Times, Moon urged Biden to sit down for talks with North Korea and "build on what President Trump has left." No leader wants to be taunted with the supposed achievements of his predecessor, least of all one as far beyond the pale as Trump, who refused to concede defeat and triggered the storming of the Capitol.

Moon also urged Biden to cooperate with China at the Boao Forum for Asia and in the New York Times interview, which contradicts Biden's key foreign policy objectives. It seems naive to go and hold out his hand for vaccines directly after making such controversial remarks. Why would the U.S. help out an ally who looks so untrustworthy?


BALLSTON SPA - A Saratoga Springs man admitted he was driving drunk during his ride-sharing shift when he struck a 72-year-old man jogging in the shoulder of Ballston Avenue in the city of Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County District Attorney Karen A. Heggen's office said Thursday.

Patrick F. Phelan, 53, pleaded guilty Thursday to the top count of the indictment against him, felony aggravated vehicular assault and misdemeanor reckless endangerment before Judge James A. Murphy III, according to Heggen.

The collision happened Nov. 15, 2020 when Phelan's car struck and seriously injured Andrew Fincke. Phelan's plea also included his admission that his actions in November endangered the life of a young woman passenger in the backseat of his vehicle, whom he was driving to work via the Lyft ride sharing company.

The investigation showed Phelan had been drinking alcohol into the early morning hours of Nov. 15. Just before 9 a.m., he picked up the young woman in Milton and began traveling east into Saratoga Springs. Phelan swerved out of his lane, crossed over onto the right shoulder and struck Fincke from behind, launching him into the air, prosecutors said. Phelan then drove off with the young fare-paying passenger still in the back seat.

Fincke suffered head trauma and severe leg and torso injuries and was taken to Albany Medical Center.

Prosecutors said witnesses told police Phelan's car never used its brakes or tried to avoid the collision. One witness was able to take down Phelan's license plate as he drove away; the witness gave the license plate number and a description of the vehicle to police. Phelan's red Jeep Renegade was later spotted traveling northbound on Broadway with the passenger still inside. City Patrolman Zachary Ferris saw that Phelan's vehicle had heavy front-end damage and a smashed front windshield; after a brief vehicle pursuit, he stopped the car on Marion Avenue.



A chemical test of Phelan's blood revealed that Phelan was driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.33 percent, more than four times the legal limit.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 24 and Heggen said Phelan is expected to be sentenced to a state prison term of three to nine years. His driver's license will be revoked.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ambassador of Bahrain to the Russian Federation, Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Saati, held a meeting with the Grand Mufti of Central Religious Administration of Russian Muslims, Talgat Tajuddin.

The Grand Mufti congratulated His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, marking Ramadan.

He lauded the pioneering initiatives of His Majesty to consolidate tolerance, peace and respect of religious and cultural diversity.

Talgat Tajuddin briefed about the opening of the Islamic University in Bush Kurdistan next October and the upcoming international conference in Moscow on interfaith dialogue under the auspices of the Russian President.

The ambassador affirmed the interest of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain in strengthening cooperation with the Islamic institutions of the Russian Federation.
Gurugram, April 23 : Masters' Union Business School's first batch of 65 students have found placements in over 40 top firms, in sectors such as consulting, private equity, venture capital, product management, data sciences and marketing.

The top recruiters include Mckinsey, BCG, Tata IQ, PWC, EY and KPMG among the consulting firms, stated the B-School's Careers Department.

"It is due to the quality of the cohort, the tech focussed curriculum, the deep industry immersion, and the practitioner-led classes that our students achieved tremendous placement success, at par with the old IIMs," Masters' Union CEO, Rupesh said in a statement.

The students have also cracked private equity and venture capital jobs at Softbank JV, L&T Private Equity, Orios Venture partners and Antler India. Many students have also scored unique Chief of Staff roles at top funded startups like FtCash (500 Start-ups), Simpl (IA Ventures), Park+ (Sequoia) and Aanswr.

Fintech was also a rather popular choice for product management roles with the recently announced Unicorn - Razorpay taking the most number of students. Bosch and Virtusa recruited students for their international offices in Germany and US respectively, while other domestic product management recruiters included Juspay, Mobikwik, Freecharge and IndiaMart.

In Finance, students found roles at BMW Finance, HDFC, ICRA, ICICI, IndusInd and Axis Bank. In Digital and Marketing, popular companies included bOAt, ITC, Volvo, ABP, Virtusa and Case Insurance. Some students also opted for long-term consulting projects with Coke and Bobble AI.

About eight students were also awarded the Masters' Union Innovation Lab's equity free seed grant to pursue their own ventures over the summer. Select students were also granted fellowships in blockchain platforms and data research.
Press Release

April 23, 2021 Bong Go asks IATF to provide detailed guidelines for A4 priority groups to ensure safe, efficient and orderly vaccination nationwide As government prepares to expand the vaccine rollout to a larger segment of the population, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go issued an appeal to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and its member-agencies to finalize the detailed guidelines on the required processes and procedures to be followed by those who are covered by the A4 category of the COVID-19 vaccine priority list. "Alam nating aprubado na ng IATF ang framework ng A4 category sa ating priority list, at kung anong sectors ang bahagi nito. Pero nanawagan ako na dapat klaruhin pa lalo ang guidelines kung sino talaga, within the sectors mentioned sa A4 category, ang uunahin sa priority, saan sila lalapit para magrehistro, at paano masisigurong mababakunahan ang dapat mabakunahan sa maayos at ligtas na paraan sa iba't ibang parte ng bansa," he said. Go commended the government for its ongoing efforts to accelerate the vaccine rollout for those belonging in A1 to A3 categories, particularly frontliners, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities. He, however, raised concerns that as the rollout reaches a bigger segment of the population, more preparations must be done to ensure seamless and efficient inoculation nationwide. "Dapat siguraduhin natin na mabilis at sistematiko ang pagdi-distribute ng mga bakuna, lalo na ngayong may mga kumakalat na bagong variants na mas nakakahawa. While we want to vaccinate as many people as quickly as we can, we still need to ensure their health and safety while they are in the process of getting vaccinated," said Go. The IATF-EID had issued the updated list of sectors included in Priority Group A4 on Thursday, April 15. The list includes essential workers from the education, government services, manufacturing, market, news media and transportation sectors or industries. National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon disclosed during a recent media briefing that the schedule of the next phase of the vaccine rollout has yet to be finalized. Depending on the availability of the vaccines, the government expects to begin inoculating members of the A4 priority group by June or July, if not May at the earliest. Edillon added that the inoculation may be held simultaneously with the remaining A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities) priority groups. To ensure the efficient rollout of the vaccines, the Senator urged the IATF, DOH, NEDA, and other relevant authorities to communicate the guidelines in a clear and simplified manner that the public can understand and comply with. He stressed the importance of effective communications in avoiding confusion and overcrowding at vaccination centers. Prior to the start of the rollout, Go had issued several appeals to the government to include media workers, particularly frontliners and field reporters of news outlets, in the COVID-19 priority list. He noted the significant role played by the media, especially during the pandemic, by disseminating information and keeping Filipinos informed about the latest developments, while putting their health and safety at risk. "Ang media ay napakaimportanteng sektor at maituturing ding essential workers dahil sa tungkulin na kanilang ginagampanan. Sila ang nagdadala ng balita at kasangga natin sila sa pagbibigay ng tamang impormasyon sa publiko," explained Go. "Kaya dapat ang media ay bigyan din ng prayoridad 'pag andyan na ang safe at epektibong vaccine para tuloy-tuloy din ang inyong pagtatrabaho, pagko-cover at pagdadala ng balita sa ating mga kababayan," he continued.
Dr. Brendan Murphy, Secretary of the Department of Health, speaks during a press conference on March 05, 2021 in Sydney, Australia.(Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Australia Expands Vaccine Rollout, With Pfizer Vaccine Reserved for Under 50s

The Federal Government has limited the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine to Australians under 50 while preparing to expand the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine rollout to those over 50 from May.

With a few exceptions, Pfizer is now restricted to those under 50, Dr. Brendan Murphy, the Secretary of the Department of Health, told a press conference after National Cabinet on Thursday.

But people always have a choice, and more Pfizer will be available later in the year. At this stage, we will not be making Pfizer available to those 50 and over.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that the Pfizer vaccine would be prioritized for people under 50 and 1A and 1B groups.

They will also be prioritised to those in residential aged care facilities and disability care in remote and very remote locations, and for quarantine and those essential front-line workers who are working in those areas which are vaccinated by the states and territories, Morrison said.

AZ vaccines will be available for those over 50 at state and territory vaccination centres and respiratory clinics from May 3 and then sent to GPs from May 17.

(For over 50s) we recommend AstraZeneca, the risk-benefit for over 50 is vastly in favour of being vaccinated, Murphy said, emphasizing that the risk for those over 70s being infected is far, far, far greater than this very rare condition.

Nearly 1.8 million Australians have been vaccinated so far, with around 60,000 doses administered every day.

According to Health Minister Greg Hunt, the proportion of adults who are vaccinated is currently around nine percent in Australia, compared to the over 50 percent in the United States and 63 percent in the United Kingdom.

Travel to and from India will also be tightened after the country continues to go through a catastrophic outbreak, with over 314,000 new cases recorded in one day.

Richard Marles, the Deputy Labor Leader, told Nine that Indias current situation highlighted the need to speed up the rollout in Australia.

This rollout has been botched. We are still in a situation where were not looking at getting the country vaccinated by the end of the year, he said.
PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The City of Pascagoula, in conjunction with Main Street Pascagoula, will host a food service job fair on April 30 at the Pascagoula Senior Center.

Restaurants from across the city will be on hand to discuss job openings with potential applicants On-site interviews will be conducted and, in some cases, on-site hirings are a possibility.

Applicants are encouraged to bring several copies of their resume.

Our restaurants dealt with a lot of hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic and now they are struggling to hire staff, said Rebecca Davis, Executive Director for Main Street Pascagoula. We need to do something to help this industry that is so important to our community.

Restaurants interested in participating can email communityrelations@cityofpascagoula.com for more information.

The event is set to run from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The senior center is located at 1912 Live Oak Ave.

Ingalls awarded addition $107 million in advance funding for LHA 9

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Ingalls Shipbuilding has been awarded a fourth contract modification from the U.S. Navy in the amount of $107 million for advance procurement towards the construction of the amphibious assault ship LHA 9.

The addition funding brings the total advance funding to $457 million.

The amphibious warship production line is a critical component of our nations defense industrial base, Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. This funding will strengthen our suppliers and sustain jobs across the country in support of LHA 9 construction.

Ingalls is the sole builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the Navy. The shipyard delivered its first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH 10), in 1966. Ingalls has since built five Tarawa-class (LHA 1) ships, eight Wasp-class (LHD 1) ships and the first in the new America class of amphibious assault ships (LHA 6) in 2014.

The second ship in the America class, USS Tripoli (LHA 7), was delivered to the Navy in early 2020. Bougainville (LHA 8) is under construction.

Jackson County seeking public input for recreation master plan

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. -- The Jackson County Parks & Recreation Department is seeking the publics input as it works to create a Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan.

The master plan will be developed based on local priorities and national trends to make recommendations to guide investment in facility improvements and recreation programming over the next 10 years.

The county has hired Lose Design to create the master plan document. Lose Design will develop this plan over the coming months.

Citizens interested in participating in the process can do so by providing input and ideas at the projects interactive website: www.tinyurl.com/2020JCPRMPU through May 31.

We are excited about the future of recreation in Jackson County and need your help to ensure we meet the needs of you and your families, said county recreation director Darcie Crew. The input we receive from you will help shape the next ten years of improvements and funding priorities for Jackson County.
The KRI Nanggala-402 submarine went off the grid during a training exercise near Bali, with 53 crew members on board. M. Risyal Hidayat/Antara Foto via Reuters

Indonesia's KRI Nanggala 402 submarine vanished Wednesday morning near the island of Bali.

Rescuers found a submerged magnetic object and are trying to identify it, the navy said Friday.

There is only enough oxygen until 3 a.m. local time Saturday. 53 crew members were on board.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Indonesia's navy said on Friday that it had found an object emitting a "strong magnetic resonance" during the search for its missing submarine.

The navy dispatched search crews to find the KRI Nanggala 402 Wednesday morning after it missed a routine check-in following a torpedo drill that was being conducted near the island of Bali. Fifty-three people, more than the roughly three dozen people the sub was built to carry, were aboard.

Since then, military vessels from the US, India, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore have joined the search, with France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, and South Korea also offering help.

On Friday, Indonesian navy chief of staff Adm. Yudo Margono said an object with "strong magnetic resonance" had been found at a depth of between 50 and 100 meters (164 to 328 feet,) the Associated Press reported.

An Indonesian Search and Rescue vessel seen at Benoa Port in Denpasar, Bali, on April 21, 2021. Johanes Christo/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The navy said that its Riguel warship, which is equipped with the high-tech sonar needed to identify the object, had been dispatched to the location, CNN reported.

Rescue crews previously found an oil slick on the surface of the ocean that the navy said could mean the submarine's fuel tank had been breached.

Time is of the essence as the submarine only has enough oxygen to keep the crew alive until around 3 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to the navy. Jakarta time is 11 hours ahead of Eastern Time.

The submarine is believed to have sunk to a depth of between 600 and 700 meters (2,000 to 2,300 feet), the navy said, adding that it could be too deep to rescue.

Experts have warned that the submarine's hull is at risk of collapse at that depth, and that the vessel is unlikely to survive.

Story continues

Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono told a local TV network Thursday that the submarine could survive up to a maximum depth of 500 meters.

"Anything more than that can be pretty fatal, dangerous," he said, according to Reuters.

The cause of the disappearance is still unclear. The navy previously that a power outage may be to blame.

"It is possible that during static diving, a blackout occurred so control was lost and emergency procedures cannot be carried out and the ship fell to a depth of 600 to 700 meters," the navy said in a statement published by Reuters.

Read the original article on Business Insider
His story of survival is an essential and eye-opening read for the global community amid communist Chinas relentless campaign for global military and political supremacy.

Steven Schaerers book, Surviving Chinese Communist Detention ($18.99, paperback, 9781662814884; $34.99, hardcover, 9781662814891; $9.99, ebook, 9781662814907), is available for purchase.

Surviving Chinese Communist Detention is the true story of a successful 27-year-old American entrepreneur, Steven Schaerer. After co-founding a successful business in Beijing, China, Steven was arbitrarily abducted by CCP authorities and falsely accused of illegal employment.

This new memoir captures Stevens harrowing story of survival under the impossible realities and environment of a black-site Chinese prison compound. His story of survival is an essential and eye-opening read for the global community amid communist Chinas relentless campaign for global military and political supremacy.

Steven Schaerer survived communist Chinese incarceration, torture, and deportation. Steven is a first generation American from Californias Bay Area and is the proud bi-racial son of immigrant parents from Switzerland and Mexico. He was the first person in his family to attend university earning a degree in chemistry from Sonoma State University in Northern California. In addition to English, Steven also speaks Mandarin, Spanish, and successfully co-founded a business in Beijing in his mid-20's. Steven is a staunch advocate for and defender of freedom, liberty, the Constitution, free-market capitalism, Human Rights and the American way of life.

# # #

Liberty Hill Publishing, a division of Salem Media Group, is a leader in the print-on-demand, self-publishing industry. Surviving Chinese Communist Detention is available online through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
They say reduced prices on food and supplies mean little when they have no money to pay for them.

A government plan to alleviate financial hardship by providing food and supplies at subsidized prices will do little to assist residents of Cambodias capital region in the midst of a coronavirus lockdown because they have no money to buy the goods, sources said Thursday, a week into the stay-at-home order.

Last week, the government implemented a 14-day closure of all non-essential businesses in the capital Phnom Penh and neighboring Takhmao in Kandal province from April 15-28 and requiring the two cities combined 2.3 million residents to adhere to a strict curfew or, in certain red zones, stay in their homes except in the case of an emergency.

While the coronavirus made few inroads into Cambodia in 2020, the countrys economywhich is leans heavily on the production of textileshas been battered by a drop in export demand and a series of lockdowns meant to stem the spread of the virus. Migrant workers in next-door Thailand also lost their jobs in lockdowns.

Last month, Cambodia registered its first death from COVID-19, a year to the day that that the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the virus that causes it a pandemic. Since then, 59 people have died, and the countrys caseload has reached more than 8,000 people. Authorities on Thursday recorded more than 400 new cases alone.

The drastic rise in infections led Prime Minister Hun Sen to issue the latest lockdown order last week, but residents of affected red zone districts within Phnom Penh and Takhmao told RFAs Khmer Service that they have yet to receive any promised food or supplies from the government, despite the threat of being arrested if they leave their homes.

The residents, who are mostly laborers in garment factories and workers in the countrys informal sectors, were told to remain in their dwellings as part of the emergency order and said they are now facing critical shortages. The Ministry of Commerce recently began sending mobile markets on the back of flatbed trucks into the area to provide inhabitants with access to food at subsidized prices.

But on Thursday, several red zone residents told RFA that even with the ministrys plan in effect, they lack the money to buy anything because they have either been unable to travel outside of their neighborhoods to earn money or have lost their jobs completely.

A woman who lives in Phnom Penhs Steung Meanchey district named Keo Vanny said nobody in her neighborhood had received any aid from the government and that many of the people renting small rooms in the area have skipped meals entirely or were only eating rice with fish sauce.

She said most residents are scavengers, street vendors, and workers who lack the money to buy food at all, regardless of whether the Ministry of Commerce sets up markets near where they live. She urged authorities to provide them with aid before they starve.

No one is making any money because they are afraid of being beatenwhen we see sticks we run away, she said, referring to baton-wielding police who roam the streets violently enforcing the lockdown against anyone who is found outside their homes.

My neighbor doesnt have any money. He asked for food, so I helped him.

A laborer living at a construction site in a red zone also told RFA he had no money to buy food from the Ministry of Commerce because he and his coworkers lost their jobs.

I havent had any income for the past 10 days, he said, adding that he had turned to social media to beg for food.

Similarly, several taxi drivers in Steung Meanchey told RFA that they are quickly losing the ability to provide for their families during the lockdown because of the stay-at-home order and their need to pay house and taxi rent. They also called for immediate assistance from the government.

I have seven children to feed, but since I have to respect the governments ban on running tricycle taxis, I have little money to buy them any food, said Hem Chan, a 50-year-old driver in the Steung Meanchey Thmey Market area.

Government lacks plan

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Penn Sovicheat told RFA that officials are busy distributing food to poor people and others who cannot afford to buy food, at the governments instruction.

He said the ministry is selling food and supplies at below market rates and that many people have bought rice, canned fish, instant noodles and water, which was then delivered to their homes.

We have had some interruptions in food coming to the cities because of transportation delays, he said, adding that his ministry is working with Ministry of Agriculture to arrange the distribution of meat and vegetables to people in red zones.

Vorn Pov, president of Cambodias Independent Democratic Association of Informal Economy (IDEA) watchdog group, urged the government to sell food and supplies at even lower prices, as many people cant afford them at current rates.

He also called on the government to allow people to sell some essential goods so they can earn an income, while providing social protections for informal workers, such as taxi drivers.

My understanding is that the government lacks a social protection support mechanism to protect informal workers, especially people who run small businesses like tricycle taxi drivers during the lockdown and curfew, he said.

The state does not have a plan for the economy, the daily food supply, or to intervene with lenders [to suspend debt repayments] in a way that specifically addresses the problems facing those with informal jobs.

The UN World Food Programme said in February that relatively stable food prices in Cambodia suggest that the coronavirus pandemic has not had a significant impact on supply, but has impacted demand, as many households have lost their livelihoods and income, thereby restricting their ability to afford a sufficient and diverse basket of nutritious foods.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun and Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
California governor seeks ban on new fracking by 2024 View Photo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the states powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.

Newsoms order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production.

California needs to move beyond oil, Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would create a healthier future for our children.

California was once one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centered in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles. But by 2020, the states oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985.

Now, one of the states top exports is electric cars. The state has ordered automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans and, last year, Newsom ordered state regulators to ban the sale of all new gas-powered cars by 2035.

Still, California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with an industry that directly employs about 152,000 people and is responsible for $152.3 billion in economic output, according to a 2019 study commissioned by the Western States Petroleum Association. Friday, WSPA President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd vowed to fight this harmful and unlawful mandate.

Banning nearly 20% of the energy production in our state will only hurt workers, families and communities in California and turns our energy independence over to foreign suppliers, she said.

Eliminating Californias oil and gas industry wont be easy. The state has more than 60,000 active oil wells, and industry executives and their allies have lots of influence at the state Capitol. But in the first quarter of 2021, permits for all types of oil drilling in California plunged 90%, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance, an environmental advocacy group.

The transformation is already happening in front of our eyes, said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Newsoms order directs the California Air Resources Board to figure out how the state can end oil production in a very rigorous, open, transparent, analytical process. The board could decide to do it before 2045, but not after.

When you look at the science, we cant be extracting oil after 2045, he said. Thats the only way we are going to achieve our carbon goals is by significantly reducing and ending extraction of oil.

Fracking  short for hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil and gas embedded in rock deep underground  accounts for a small portion of the states oil and gas production each year. But environmental advocates have long sought its banishment because of its harmful effects on the environment and public health.

Last year, Newsom said he did not have the authority to ban fracking on his own and asked the Legislature to do it instead. Two state senators, both Democrats, tried to do it. But last week their bill died in the Legislature because not enough lawmakers supported it.

Now, Newsom says he can do it himself, but its unclear what changed his mind. California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said Friday that Newsom believes the best way to ban fracking is to change the law. But, when it became clear that wouldnt happen, Crowfoot said Newsom directed us through our regulatory authorities to protect the environment and public safety to end the practice of fracking.

Newsom did temporarily halt new fracking permits in 2019 after he discovered a sharp increase in new permits since he took office, which also prompted him to fire the states top oil and gas regulator. That ban lifted in April 2020 after a team of independent scientists reviewed the states permitting process.

Since taking office, the Newsom administration has issued 291 fracking permits, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance. Still, some environmental groups were hoping Newsom would act faster.

Its historic and globally significant that Gov. Newsom has committed California to phase out fossil fuel production and ban fracking, but we dont have time for studies and delays, said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute. Every fracking and drilling permit issued does more damage to our health and climate.

The Newsom administration said the states rule-making process, while lengthy, is needed to make sure any new rule survives a lawsuit.

We want this prohibition to be durable, Crowfoot said.

The California League of Conservation voters praised Newsom, saying the announcement is the consistent leadership our state needs if we stand a chance of preventing major climate catastrophe.

But some in Newsoms own party were critical, including state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from the Central Valley, who said the fracking ban would lead to higher energy prices that would in turn increase food prices.

The governors actions could not come at a worse time for the Central Valley, which is already reeling from a drought that  together with this decision  may cause a national food crisis, she said.

By ADAM BEAM

Associated Press
The dearth of financial investment for Manitoba startups and small firms is expecting a sliver of much-awaited activity.

The dearth of financial investment for Manitoba startups and small firms is expecting a sliver of much-awaited activity.

Under the federal and provincial budgets, unveiled just one week apart, both Ottawa and Manitoba recognized the need for capital and equity investments to kick-start economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

But stakeholders and business leaders, who believe venture capital incentives or funds could not come at a better time, arent so sure the new government initiatives will move many needles.

"Just because you have something that sounds great doesnt mean people are going to step up and take advantage of it right away, especially when it comes to investments," said Joelle Foster, CEO of North Forge Technology Exchange, in an interview.

"I think governments should really be working with the community to understand this better. Without that, theres a big lack of understanding about where actually funding needs to be targeted for the highest level of growth."

The Trudeau government announced a renewed Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative and Venture Capital Action Plan this week, committing $450 million and $390 million for each of them, respectively.

Out of the $450 million, $50 million will be dedicated to increased venture capital for underrepresented groups like women and racialized communities, and another $50 million will go towards investments in life science technologies.

In Manitoba, the Tories have enhanced their Small Business Venture Capital Tax Credit, increasing an investors maximum eligible investment from $450,000 to $500,000 and nearly doubling claimable tax credit against income from $67,500 to $120,000.

That means Manitoba is joining the ranks of provinces such as British Columbia to target companies that want to raise equity from higher-net worth individuals, with a minimum investment of $10,000 per investor. Corporations must be pre-approved to issue shares and a non-refundable Manitoba tax credit of up to 45 per cent will be provided for individuals and corporations who acquire equity capital in eligible local enterprises.

However, Foster  who is often called "Startup Mom" in the Prairies  said shes seen many such programs come and go over the years with little success. Its why she set up a new angel investor group last fall, which has since supported at least six Manitoba companies through North Forge.

"Its great that the feds and the province are looking at this issue closely right now, but we dont have enough private investors to begin with," she said. "We need to first shake up the ecosystem and make investors understand why its worth putting down their funds here."

Dayna Spiring, president of Economic Development Winnipeg, agreed. Directly addressing investors and incentivizing them is why Manitoba has been "sorely lacking in regard to capital," she said.

"We dont exactly know how the federal fund will work, but certainly, I do hope the provincial tax credits will help," said Spiring. "One of the things the pandemic showed us was that we severely lack infrastructure in Canada for a number of things, and we need to look no further than vaccines to see that. I think capital investments for the future would allow us to look at that problem and be better prepared, while also expanding our economy."

Manitoba has often "lost the fight" for investors to nearby provinces, Spiring added. "Right now, Saskatchewan companies are investing in Manitoba companies, but they want their head offices to come and move to Regina or Saskatoon.

"We need them to make Manitoba their home and the only way we can do that is if they have access to capital dollars that would allow them to grow right here."

Marshall Ring, the CEO of Manitoba Technology Accelerator, said thats why hed also like to see a Manitoba-focused fund from the provincial government.

"Were at a disadvantage here because we dont have something geographically targeted," he said. "For now, well just have to see how these quite different programs from both governments will be working out."

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur
[April 23, 2021] Wipro Achieves Google Cloud Partner Specialization in Application Development

Wipro (News - Alert) Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has achieved the Google (News - Alert) Cloud Partner Specialization in application development. This marks the fourth Partner Specialization badge that Wipro has received from Google Cloud, following recognition for outstanding cloud security, migration, and work transformation. This specialization demonstrates Wipro's capabilities across multiple areas as a Google Cloud SI partner. As a trusted Google Cloud partner, Wipro can help customers leverage the best of Google Cloud platform as they develop and manage cloud-native business applications, enabling faster time to market, increasing scalability of applications and integrating them with external and internal systems in the IT landscape. This specialization will allow Wipro's team of certified professionals to accelerate the customer modernization journey, increase agility and adaptability with a razor-sharp focus on business outcomes. Ramachandran Padmanabhan, Vice President and Global Head, Cloud Transformation Business, Wipro Limited said, "We are proud of this recent recognition from Google Cloud, which adds to our extensive list of qualifications from our peers and partners in technology. Our unique combination of specializations in key areas like cloud security, migration, work transformation and application development will help develop innovative solutions for customers. This recognition will strengthen our credentials in application development and enable our customers to develop end-to-end digital transformation solutions on Google Cloud." Nina Harding, Chief of Global Partner Programs and Strategy, Google Cloud said, "It's exciting to see Wipro continue to invest in Google Cloud skills and expertise, to differentiate its business, and bring thoughtful solutions to customers. Wipro's specializations demonstrate its proven customer success and high levels of experience and aptitude with Google Cloud services and technology." About Wipro Limited Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 57685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 190,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future.



Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements The forward-looking statements contained herein represent Wipro's beliefs regarding future events, many of which are by their nature, inherently uncertain and outside Wipro's control. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Wipro's growth prospects, its future financial operating results, and its plans, expectations and intentions. Wipro cautions readers that the forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, complete proposed corporate actions, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. The conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could decrease technology spending, adversely affect demand for our products, affect the rate of customer spending and could adversely affect our customers' ability or willingness to purchase our offerings, delay prospective customers' purchasing decisions, adversely impact our ability to provide on-site consulting services and our inability to deliver our customers or delay the provisioning of our offerings, all of which could adversely affect our future sales, operating results and overall financial performance. Our operations may also be negatively affected by a range of external factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are not within our control.

Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Annual Reports on Form 20-F. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005310/en/

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Huge areas of African forest are highly vulnerable to climate change and man-made activity, according to the most detailed inventory yet of the second largest contiguous forest area on Earth

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Apr, 2021 ) :Huge areas of African forest are highly vulnerable to climate change and man-made activity, according to the most detailed inventory yet of the second largest contiguous forest area on Earth.

The rainforests of central Africa store more carbon per hectare than the Amazon and have a higher density of large trees than anywhere else.

They are a crucial carbon sink but are under threat in several countries due to logging, over-hunting and ever-growing road infrastructure, as well as climate change.

French researchers wanted to identify specific areas of forest that are the most vulnerable to future changes in a bid to prioritize preservation efforts.

They analyzed data of six million trees from more than 180,000 field plots spread across Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Incorporating forest inventory data from 105 logging operations, the team produced computer models to simulate a range of future scenarios and their impact on tree cover.

They identified 10 main types of forest. The models showed that areas of northern and southern forest margins, forests on the Atlantic and most DRC forests are "highly vulnerable" to climate change and man-made activity by 2085.

Maxime Rejou-Mechain, an ecologist at France's Institute of Research and Development, said the study highlighted how diversity in African forests meant some were better suited to facing future threats than others.

"This diversity is due to different types of climate, soils, by the history of African flora but also by the rise of human activities that have disturbed forests for millenia," he said.

The study, published in the journal Nature, found the 15 percent of African forest under official protection doesn't cover all forest types.

Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, a forest ecologist at the CIRAD research institute and a study co-author, said the research could help governments prioritize specific areas to protect.

"Where pressure from human activity is too strong, managers could re-establish connections between zones thanks to programmes to restore biodiversity," she said.

Writing in a linked comment article, Marion Pfeifer, from Newcastle University's school of Natural and Environmental Sciences, and Deo Shirima, from Tanzania's Sokoine University of Agriculture, said governments needed to cooperate in order to preserve the continent's forested regions.

"Perhaps most crucially, rainforests in Central Africa and the ecosystem services they provide are intertwined with people's livelihoods and food security," they said.

"Developing sustainable management plants that recognize the diversity of ways in which people depend on these forests... will require efforts that move beyond national boundaries."
Bethlehems oldest building got a facelift on Thursday when restored exterior shutters were installed on the 1741 Gemeinhaus.

The old shutters were removed in January to make way for the historically accurate shutters to be installed on the facade of the Moravian Museum building, 66 W. Church St. in the city.

The 88 shutters were handmade with hand-wrought hardware and refurbished and repainted with a historically accurate paint color dating back to 1741.

The Gemeinhaus exteriors gone through a series of exterior transformation overs the years  from oak log construction to stucco over the logs to the current wood siding  and its exterior today draws inspiration from the oldest known photo of the building. Dating back to 1866, it has louvered shutters on the upper floors and paneled shutters on the lower floor. They were installed in the same configuration.

The work is being done in preparation for Historic Moravian Bethlehems potential nomination to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The 1741 Gemeinhaus, or community house, is thought to be the largest 18th-century log structure in continuous use in the United States. Moravian settlers relied on the building for all of their needs while they built the other buildings in what is now the first National Register Historic District in Pennsylvania. The early settlers lived, ate, slept, worshipped, conducted meetings and welcomed visitors in the community house.

Bethlehems almost 15-acre historic Moravian settlement first landed on the U.S.s tentative World Heritage nomination list in 2016 after 14 years of advocacy.

Nominees on the tentative list vie to be one of the two sites the U.S. Department of Interior can nominate each year to be selected by UNESCO. New additions to the list cannot be nominated for at least a year.

Its an arduous process to even be considered to join the UNESCO  United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization  list of more than 1,100 sites worldwide. The U.S. boasts just 24, two of them in Pennsylvania: Independence Hall and architect Frank Lloyd Wrights Fallingwater.

The Gemeinhaus was designated a National Historic Landmark in the 1970s, as birthplace and residence of Lewis David von Schweinitz, the father of American mycology. Since the 1960s, the Gemeinhaus has been a part of the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, which is set to reopen to the public in June with a new exhibit: The Moravian Legacy.

The restoration was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission after wood began to rot. R.J. Doerr Company LLC, the historical preservation contractor approved by the commonwealth, handled the removal, restoration and reinstallation of the 88 shutters using a high-lift truck and ladders.

In 2012, the Moravian settlement was designated as one of the nations approximately 200 National Historic Landmark Districts.

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Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
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Hundreds of theater workers have marched through Broadway chanting 'f*** Scott Rudin' after the producer resigned last week over bullying allegations.

The protesters gathered outside his former office to demand more inclusion in the industry and greater transparency from the Actors Equality Association union.

Rudin, 62, who is among the most decorated producers in the film and theater industry, stepped down amid numerous bullying allegations including claims he threw a baked potato at one assistant's head and smashed a computer over another's hand.

Hundreds of theater workers have marched through Broadway chanting 'f*** Scott Rudin' after the producer resigned last week over bullying allegations

The protesters gathered outside his former office to demand more inclusion in the industry and greater transparency from the Actors Equality Association union

A person holds a sign during the 'March on Broadway' protest to demand proper accountability and safe work environments in the theater industry

Rudin, 62, who is among the most decorated producers in the film and theater industry, stepped down amid numerous bullying allegations

Rudin said he will step back from projects to 'work on personal issues I should have long ago' after the claims of physical, emotional and verbal abuse in the workplace.

Speaker after speaker on Thursday cursed Rudin's name at the protest and demanded he be removed from The Broadway League, the powerful group of theater producers.

'Hey, hey, ho ho. Scott Rudin has got to go!' the crowd chanted. The League has not commented on the demand.

Organizers at the march had several demands, including finding how 2020 Equity dues were spent and what percentage is used to help conversations around diversity.

They demanded greater inclusion for transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming artists and urged efforts to improve diversity within the labor unions council.

Speaker after speaker on Thursday cursed Rudin's name at the protest and demanded he be removed from The Broadway League, the powerful group of theater producers

Organizers at the march had several demands, including finding how 2020 Equity dues were spent and what percentage is used to help conversations around diversity

They demanded greater inclusion for transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming artists and urged efforts to improve diversity within the labor unions council

Protesters demonstrate outside the building that houses the Actors' Equity Association in Times Square during a rally

The crowd paused in front of Equity headquarters to air their grievances, including not protecting workers who allege harassment

'I believe that change is possible. I believe that a Broadway led by a racially diverse, many-gendered or non-conforming, many-abled theater community is possible,' said speaker Jaime Cepero. 'I believe that a consistently safe work environment in the theater is possible.'

The crowd then paused in front of Equity headquarters to air their grievances, including not protecting workers who allege harassment and how the organization, which represents 51,000 actors and stage managers, uses the dues from members.

Many vowed not to go back to work and not to pay their dues unless their demands were met.

In response, the union issued a statement, stating that 'diversifying Equity leadership is an important step for the union to become an antiracist organization, and that work is ongoing.'

The union also noted that its council had just selected Wydetta Carter as a new first vice president, the first Black person in over 40 years. 'The union is working to share additional information on spending regarding diversity and inclusion,' it said.

People gather during the 'March on Broadway' protest to demand proper accountability and safe work environments in the theater industry

The march and rally was organized by Nattalyee Randall and Courtney Daniels and one of the speakers was Broadway actor Ashley De La Rosa

Actor Ryan J. Haddad (C), who has cerebral palsy, speaks out against discrimination in the theater industry against disabled and deaf actors

The allegations leveled against the 62-year-old super-producer, which date back decades, range from physical and emotional abuse to bullying and mistreatment

The homemade signs at the march ranged from the blunt - 'Burn It Down' ,'Scott Rudin out' and 'Black Trans Artists Lives Matter' - to the theatrical

The homemade signs at the march ranged from the blunt - 'Burn It Down' and 'Black Trans Artists Lives Matter' - to the theatrical, including 'We Got Trouble' and 'This is Literally the Plot of `Newsies.' Some in the crowd wore 'Cats' and 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' hoodies.

The march and rally was organized by Nattalyee Randall and Courtney Daniels. One of the speakers was Broadway actor Ashley De La Rosa, who said she has lost count of how many times she was the only Black person in the room.

'There is a culture of white supremacy that is built into this industry and into our world that tells us that we can't,' she said. 'This must change before we return to work.'

Actor Ryan J. Haddad lamented that disabled and deaf actors are often invisible in the theater community. 'We belong in the room. We are every one of you,' he said. 'We have the talent. We have the skills. We need the support.'

The allegations leveled against the 62-year-old super-producer, which date back decades, range from physical and emotional abuse to bullying and mistreatment.

Many of the former staffers were entry-level employees who worked as assistants fresh out of college.

Broadway producer Scott Ruddin said on Saturday that he was stepping aside from his productions

In one alleged incident in 2012, Rudin was accused of sending a bleeding male assistant to the hospital after smashing an Apple computer monitor on the employee's hand because he couldn't get a seat on a sold-out flight.

Staffers also detailed witnessing him throw laptops at walls, a stapler at a theater assistant and a glass bowl at another employee that smashed after hitting a wall.

In 2018, he threw a baked potato at his then-assistant for not telling him earlier that he had a meeting scheduled with someone from the New York based A24 media company.

'I went into the kitchen, and I was like, 'Hey, Scott, A24 is on the way up. I'm not sure what it's concerning,'' the unnamed employee said.

'And he flipped out, like, 'Nobody told me A24 was on my schedule.' He threw it at me, and I dodged a big potato. He was like, 'Well, find out, and get me a new potato'.'

Others described Rudin screaming at them from such a close distance that his spit landed on their faces.

'When you feel his spit on your face as he's screaming at you, saying, 'You're worth nothing,' it obviously makes an impact, and we're young,' one of his former assistants said.

'Over his long career, there are hundreds and hundreds of people who have suffered. And some have given up their dreams because he made them feel and believe that they can't do whatever it is they're trying to do.'

Of the films Rudin has produced, 23 have won Oscars and 151 have been nominated. He is pictured above with Meryl Streep on the set of The Hours in 2002

Rudin is among the most decorated in the industry and is among the few to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards - otherwise known as EGOT status. He is pictured with Carole Shorenstein Hays, Viola Davis and Denzel Washington at the 2010 Tony Awards

Rudin is pictured second from left on the set of the 2002 film Changing Lanes with Ben Affleck (right) and director Roger Michell (left)

One former employee, Caroline Rugo, who worked as an executive coordinator for six months, said she could have sued Rudin but feared being blacklisted in the industry.

'Everyone just knows he's an absolute monster,' Rugo said.

Sources told THR that lawsuits or complaints against Rudin's bullying from employees were often quietly settled.

Some employees said he was also vindictive and would go as far as changing credits on IMDb that they had obtained working for him when they quit.

Rudin is among the most decorated in the industry and is among the few to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards - otherwise known as EGOT status.

Of the films he has produced, 23 have won Oscars and 151 have been nominated. Rudin has also won 17 Tony Awards for his work on Broadway.

His film producing credits include: No Country for Old Men, Lady Bird, The Social Network and The Truman Show.

While many in the industry have faced a reckoning in the wake of Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement, Rudin's ex-employees say the super-producer has managed to continue on with his alleged abusive behavior.

No one who spoke to THR alleged sexual abuse of misconduct by Rudin.

Rudin is pictured on the New York set of Finally Famous with Chris Rock in 2014

His film producing credits include: No Country for Old Men, Lady Bird, The Social Network and The Truman Show. He is pictured above with The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg (left) and True Grit star Jeff Bridges (right)

Separately from the allegations made by his staffers, Rudin's outbursts made headlines back in 2014 when emails he had written about stars, including Angelina Jolie, were leaked when Sony was the victim of hacking.

The most damning batch of emails that were leaked included one in which Rudin and Sony Pictures Chair Amy Pascal exchanged racist comments about President Barack Obama.

They spoke about what Pascal could speak to Obama about at a 2013 event and started listing off films about slavery and naming black actors.

Pascal stepped down as head of Sony in the wake of the hacking saga.

In a separate email, Rudin had called Angelina Jolie 'a minimally talented spoiled brat' while discussing who would direct her upcoming remake of Cleopatra.

Rudin issued an apology in the Sony hacking instance, saying the emails had been 'written in haste'.

'Private emails between friends and colleagues written in haste and without much thought or sensitivity, even when the content of them is meant to be in jest, can result in offense where none was intended,' Rudin said at the time.'I made a series of remarks that were meant only to be funny, but in the cold light of day, they are in fact thoughtless and insensitive - and not funny at all. To anybody I've offended, I'm profoundly and deeply sorry, and I regret and apologize for any injury they might have caused.'
The fishermen who lived to fish another day (from left) Winsbert Harry, Mac Clement St Rose and Cafu Guy.

What was intended to be a five-hour trip last Saturday back to St Vincent and the Grenadines from Vieux Fort, St Lucia, aboard the vessel Sunshine Angel, turned out to be three and a half-hour swimming ordeal in choppy waters, for three fishermen.





The three - Mac Clement St Rose, Winsbert Harry and Cafu Guy were on their return leg of an expedition in which relief supplies were being brought back to St Vincent and the Grenadines for other fisherfolk, affected by the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano.





The joy of returning with supplies of water, dry goods, canned food and other items for their colleagues turned into a quest for survival, when the vessel experienced problems and disappeared into the sea at about 9:05am, eight miles off Vieux Fort and about six miles from St Vincent and the Grenadines.





Recounting the ordeal





Boat owner and captain, St Rose, who is a native of St Lucia but who has made St Vincent and the Grenadines his home, recounted the events of last Saturday.





He related that they left Vieux Fort at about 7am. Not long after they realised that there was a problem with the bilge pump, which resulted in the vessel taking in more water than it was pumping out.





Everything that happened thereafter unfolded in quick time, St. Rose said, with the stern first getting submerged under the weight of the cargo, then the bow following suit.





The men responded quickly to safeguard themselves but there was a scare when Harry was unable to retrieve his life jacket.





"A good thing we had another floating buoy which Winsbert (Harry) ended up holding the floating buoy as his survival jacketI tell them the boat has already sunk, so let us leave the vessel and swim to shore, St Rose said.





"We swam for three hours to three and a half hours Whilst we travelling, I keep talking to them because I did survival (training) I said, Guys, dont give up, we will make it to land, because the tide was going towards land.





The rescue





All men of faith, St Rose recalled that, "At one point, Winsbert turned back to me and said God is good, and at the same time he said God is good, we turned back and said look a vessel/a pirogue.





The boat captain said that they were able to attract the attention of the pirogues crew through the use of a whistle and bellowing, especially from Harry.





The pirogue and crew were St. Lucian registered. They took the now battered Vincentian fishermen aboard and headed for Vieux Fort to safety.





The fishermen were transported back to St Vincent and the Grenadines late Saturday night, via the Jaden Sun.





Another ordeal for Harry





While it was the first tragedy at sea for St Rose and Guy, it was not for Harry.





Harry, President of the National Fisherfolk Organisation and Deputy Chair of the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Association, had had to contend with being in the water for two days in 2000, after his fishing vessel capsized 45 miles off St Vincent and the Grenadines.





Also two months ago, he suffered another mishap when his boat capsized in the Rose Place area. He had to be rescued by fishermen who were on the beach.





Given these experiences it is no wonder that Harry has taken to making an ongoing appeal to all fishers, to pay attention to procuring safety equipment.





"We need to really have safety at sea a priority area and to the Coast Guard I would reach out to them, the Fisheries Division, to make sure that boats in St Vincent not leave or (go) fish without life jackets and see how we can make life vests mandatory, Harry stressed.





Guy underscored the need for proper life saving devices at sea and after last Saturdays scare, he disclosed that he plans to get a "proper life jacket, before he heads back out to sea.





Thanking all who in some way assisted in their safe return, the three have already begun preparing to return to their trade as fishermen, even as they nurse burns to their bodies from the boats fuel.




"they remind us of reality"



Edited at 2021-04-23 06:43 pm (UTC)

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Some of us cant even escape it.



Ask me if I care, brah!

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If you were to ask me to imagine the face of the man who would write this article, his is exactly it.

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I have been trying to think of a non-shitty way to say this and yours is definitely nicer than anything I was thinking

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I really tried to be as tactful as possible lmao lmao.

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MTE



Normally I don't like to make fun of someone's appearance, but goddamn this is a classic case of "ugly on the inside, ugly on the outside."

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Absolute gammon. I want to call him a white man, but that man is pink. He is a a human piece of ham.

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This is 95% of white male Republicans I end up meeting at my job (airport).

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Amazing how conservatives calling liberals sensitive crybabies end up being the biggest snowflakes of all.

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Yeah, safe spaces don't sound so ridic to them now huh?

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That is the conservative MO, it is projection. Just like how the "family values" republicans are also caught guzzling cum in some seedy bathroom raid. It's pathetic.

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Edited at 2021-04-25 01:09 pm (UTC) Just re-watched Nanette yesterday

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This reads like an Onion article

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Wow his family must love going with him if theyre not allowed to go on any ride thats been updated (wonder if theyre allowed to go on Splash Mountain given the updates been announced but the old versions still open).



Im a big Disney/Disney parks fan (been to all the parks worldwide) but recognise its problems and lol I would never say that being too woke was one of them 

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omg fucking ABOUT time they did something about that ride. I still remember how creepy and weird splash mountain is when I was 7, wasn't until I was an adult that I learned what Song of The South was

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Yeah and its a Princess and the Frog retheme which is the DREAM. But its only at WDW and DL, Tokyo Disneylands keeping the original for now 



Its the Jungle Cruise one that really amazes me how long its taken as its so much more overt racism than Splash Mountain.

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If we can't get nostalgic about slavery, what's even the point?

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It's part of the experience!!!!

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legit thought you were talking to yourself

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So sad I know people like this in real life -.-

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Orlando Sentinel really needed those ad revenue clicks, huh?



Maybe its because I live in Orlando but I get those dumb disney blog shit for some reason on my Facebook and reading the comments is a guilty pleasure. People are really fucking losing their mind at employees being allowed to show off tattoos. Bitch, its hot as fuck here, let these underpaid people wear a short sleeve shirt.

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i wanna know the venn diagram of women complaining about that, but will stand in line in the hot sun to sexually harass jack sparrow

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I remember reading the reddit about the guy that played him and how they screwed him over

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Look I follow some disney blogs (I think it's a cool job tbh updating people on theme parks so they know what's happening) and some of the replies they got about it.......some people need to wider their perspective.

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Those bitches want their mid-century childhood oppression fantasy so bad, I'm surprised they're not demanding no slacks on women and "whites only" water fountains.

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What a LOSER! 

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I can't stand adults who are shitty about things that are made for children.



Except Epcot. Epcot is the magical place for adults so that we can eat and drink around the world :)

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I'm not sure what suspension of disbelief this man requires to walk around Disney World. What is the "fantasy"? What's the "escape"? It's waiting in line and overpriced meals and the occasional cute character interaction.



Maybe it's because I didn't go to Disney until I was an adult, so I have no childhood attachment, but lifelong adult Disney devotees freak me out.

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I mean, I live in SoCal so I went as a kid and as an adult and I've never enjoyed it. But also I hate 1-3+ hr long lines, crowded stores, overpriced food, struggling to get a good view, and adding on top of that, trying to make me believe I'm the lucky one for having the pleasure of getting to visit this "fantasy wonderland" for $100+??



Naw, I'd rather just go to a regular amusement park with regular fun rides and face all the same struggles, but not feel like I owe the amusement park a thank you for existing lol

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What is the "fantasy"? What's the "escape"? It's waiting in line and overpriced meals and the occasional cute character interaction.



MTE.



Plus the screaming kids, the aching feet from walking everywhere, the sunburn & dehydration.

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I went as an adult and I had fun but you're not wrong lol. I went MLK Jr. weekend (only time I had) and it was literally 2/3+ hour lines for most things. Luckily I got to ride Space Mountain before it died... again... like usual. At least my nieces/nephews had a really great time.

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This is why adult Disney stans are creepy. Even if you're not creepy, I imagine you're all like this guy.

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Lmao I like going to Disney because while I like theme parks, Im terrified of roller coasters so I have more ride options than at Cedar Fairs or Six Flags.

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I don't mind going! I've also been to Disneyland a few times as an adult. But there's a difference between a person who goes to a theme park for a day and "adult Disney stan"

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I love the resorts but not the parks at this point...too crowded.



I'd go to Disneyland Paris / Tokyo Disney in a heartbeat.

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All these people who are upset their offensiveness isn't universal.





I miss Orlando Disney. I've been thinking about it a lot during lockdown.



We used to go a lot when we were kids, but then the recession hit and I haven't been to the US in like 10 years now.



It's got to the point now where I don't know if it's the nostalgia of youth and I won't enjoy it now, or if it's actually something I'd still enjoy.

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It sounds like this guy has difficulty enjoying himself, and it's 100% a personal problem. Sucks for his family.



Edited at 2021-04-23 06:57 pm (UTC)

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Killoe native, Brian Mahon, has nabbed what he has called the best job in the world after announcing he was taking up a role as a political reporter in Leinster House for the Times Ireland and the Sunday Times.

The former St Mels College student told the Longford Leader last week that hes looking forward to annoying people and writing every day for work.

The son of Mary and Tom Mahon, Brian studied History and Politics and International Relations in UCD for his undergrad before doing an MA in Legislative Studies and Practice and working for a year in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

I was always interested in politics. It was always something wed discuss at the dinner table, he said.

After that, I was the communications officer for UCD Students Union for 18 months or two years before I decided to move to London.

I worked for Lexington Communications for two years and watched a lot of UK parliament and committees.

Brexit happened while I was over there, so there was loads of political drama so it was really fascinating to be over there. It was hard to take a breath and just take a step back and look at it, he added.

I didnt plan on moving home but then Hanover Communications were looking at hiring a consultant so I interviewed for that and I got the job.

The job with Hanover Communications was a good way to get back into Irish politics, he said, but it was always in the back of his mind to go into Journalism.

When I was 27 or 28, I said if I dont do it before Im 30, other parts of life would just get in the way, he said.

So I went to DCU to study a Masters in Journalism and it was a great course but the best bit about it was the placement. But I couldnt afford an unpaid placement. I needed to be getting at least the minimum wage.

Fortunately, the Sunday Times, the Independent and I think one other were paying a full salary for the 12 week placement and I was lucky enough to get into the Sunday Times for the three months.

After that, I did their 12 month graduate programme, which I felt old doing but I was delighted to do it. And then last July, someone was leaving and a contract came up and I became a full time journalist.

When the role at Leinster House came up a couple of weeks ago, Brian jumped at the opportunity to put his hand up for it and was thrilled when he got it.

Ive always kept that interest in politics and, while I wrote stories on a lot of topics, I think about 40% of my stories were probably about politics, he said.

When I was a lobbyist, it was interesting and stimulating and engaging and I always met interesting people and politicians. But Id rather be annoying them and asking questions.

So Im delighted to get the opportunity to go in and ask questions. Sometimes when you ring people or email them, people wont tell you stuff but if you ask in front of 20 other journalists, they have to say something. And the follow up questions will be key.

There are some of the journalists there who have been doing it for ten or 15 years so Im looking forward to learning on the job.

Brian is grateful to his parents, Mary and Tom, and his sister, Niamh, for the support they offered him when he decided to change careers and he hasn't looked back since.

I love it. Its the best job in the world to be able to write every day and to annoy people, he told the Leader.

You get a thrill when you have to ring someone up for information and its a crazy adrenaline rush when you do get a good story.

Ive been in the house working for the year so itll be great to get up every morning and go to Leinster House or wherever the politicians are turning a sod. Itll be great to get out and about.
Prime Minister on Friday expressed his displeasure over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals decision to telecast his comments live during a meeting the PM was holding with 10 CMs on the pandemic situation.

This is strictly against our tradition, our protocol... that some Chief Minister is showing a live telecast of an in-house meeting This is not appropriate. One should always maintain restraint, Modi said.

During the meeting, Kejriwal warned that a dire tragedy could be on the cards as major hospitals face shortage. The CM also objected to different rates being charged to state governments and the Centre for Covid-19 vaccines, saying a one nation, one rate policy should be enforced.

Kejriwals slip-up, which he explained later but stopped short of apologising for, led to outrage by the Bharatiya Janata Party which charged him with trying to politicise a humanitarian crisis.

Later, the Aam Aadmi Party clarified that it had no intention of making the CMs statement at what was essentially a closed-doors meeting, public. In the video which was released by mistake, Kejriwal can be heard saying: People are in major pain due to shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi We need a plan to deal with the crisis. The Centre should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and every tanker coming out of the oxygen plant should be accompanied by an Army escort vehicle.



Amid the rising political heat in the capital, with patients being turned away from hospitals because of lack of oxygen and ventilator, the CM was trying to tell voters the shortages were not his governments fault but a result of the Centres uncaring attitude to the restrictions states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had put on the movement of oxygen trucks to Delhi.

This was just one instance of the way state governments have been attempting to shift blame for the management of the public health emergency on other forces  including the Centre.

At the other end of the spectrum, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik publicly said the government of Odisha would do everything to cooperate with the Centre in supplying oxygen to the rest of India.

It is a war-like situation and Odisha will extend all cooperation in the fight against Covid-19 at the level including ramping up oxygen production to assist other states in this emergency situation, Patnaik told the PM.

Odisha has around 70 industries, many of which produce industrial oxygen. Rourkela Steel Plant, Jindal Steel and Power at Angul and IFFCO in Paradeep are prominent among them.

Both Kejriwal and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray have thanked Patnaik profusely. There is hardly any doubt that Odishas gesture will be used by the Biju Janata Dal for political purposes  also to gain leverage with the Centre  in the future.
The fiance of a Georgia woman who disappeared almost two months ago has been arrested on kidnapping and aggravated assault charges in a separate incident - as the search for the missing mother-of-three continues.

Tiffany Foster, 35, was last seen leaving her apartment complex in Newnan on March 1 to go shopping and was reported missing the next day after she failed to show up for one of her college classes.

Police arrested Foster's fiance Reginald Robertson on kidnapping and aggravated assault charges on Wednesday that officials said stemmed from a separate incident prior to 35-year-old's disappearance. It is unclear if Foster was the victim in that incident.

This is Robertson's second arrest since Foster went missing - but he has never been directly implicated in her disappearance.

On April 8, the Coweta County Sheriff's Office charged him with theft for moving Foster's car days after she was reported missing.

Tiffany Foster (pictured) was last seen leaving her apartment complex in Newnan on March 1

Police arrested Foster's fiance Reginald Robertson on kidnapping and aggravated assault charges on Wednesday that officials say stem from a separate incident prior to 35-year-old's disappearance. Pictured: Robertson speaks at a press conference about Foster's disappearance on March 23, where he asked anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to contact authorities

Police said Robertson moved the car from Newnan to College Park, a 30 mile distance.

Foster's sister Kimberly Bryan is pictured at a March press conference about the mom's disappearance

Neither of the charges were directly related to the missing person case, police said.

Two weeks before his first arrest Robertson stood beside police and Foster's sister Kimberly Bryan at a March 23 press conference and pleaded for the public to come forward with information regarding Foster's whereabouts.

He told reporters the last time he saw her was as she left her home the day before she was reported missing.

Police said Foster had texted her mother while she was out shopping on March 1 and was never heard from again.

The next day she was reported missing after she failed to show up for class and missed work.

A week later police found her car with a purse and cell phone inside.

She had booked a flight to Texas on March 11 but never showed up at the airport, police said, and there has been no activity on her social media accounts since she was last seen.

Foster's car was found a week after she was reported missing with her cellphone and purse still inside. The mother-of-three is seen in a photo from her Facebook page

Foster has been missing since March 1. Police have not made an arrest in connection to her missing person's case

In a March press conference Coweta County Investigator Toby Nix (pictured) gave the details of Foster's last known whereabouts

Police have not confirmed if foul play is suspected in Foster's disappearance, AJC News reports.

Although Robertson's latest arrest is not in connection to Foster's disappearance, her sister Kimberly Bryan says she believes he is involved.

'I would never want to accuse someone of something that they did not do but my feeling says he knows,' Bryan told CBS 46.

Bryan says there are red flags around Robertson and said his relationship with his sister was not perfect.

'She wasn't really too thrilled about the relationship,' she said. 'But you know how you just want to try make something work, you see the good in someone, especially when you're in love with them.'

Bryan says she believes Foster is still alive and hopes that now that Robertson is in police custody he will cooperate with authorities and help get Foster home.

Robertson is currently being held without bond.
Coleen Rooney and her husband Wayne were spotted picking up food together in Cheshire on Wednesday, as her WAG war with Rebekah Vardy draws to a close.

The celebrity couple, both 35, were seen on a bench outside Henry's Cafe in Prestbury Village waiting for their food with their dog.

The pair, who have been married since 2008, were dressed casually with Wayne sporting a black puffer jacket with his grey joggers matching his cap.

Culinary outing: Coleen Rooney and her husband Wayne were spotted picking up food together in Cheshire on Wednesday, as her WAG war with Rebekah Vardy draws to a close

Colleen was dressed in a similarly sporty fashion in black running leggings and jacket paired with trainers and her hair scraped back into a bun on top of her head.

According to onlookers, the couple barely spoke to each other, Colleen absorbed in her phone as Wayne looked serious while speaking on his phone the entire time.

One onlooker said: 'Wayne was on the phone the whole time they were there. Colleen was constantly texting on the bench and then had a photo with a passerby. Another person said hello to which she replied happily.

'They didn't speak to each other at all. Colleen looked annoyed whilst up near Henry's as Wayne was still on the phone and had been the whole time. She was stood looking at Wayne and glaring at him as he was still on the phone.

Claims: Rebekah Vardy is making a fresh bid to weaken rival Coleen's case before their so-called Wagatha Christie case reaches its dramatic conclusion (pictured November 2020)

'They sat for about 10 minutes on the bench then collected a bag of food from Henry's Cafe in the village and walked off back towards their house.'

It comes as MailOnline exclusively revealed that Rebekah Vardy is making a fresh bid to weaken rival Coleen's case before their so-called Wagatha Christie case reaches its dramatic conclusion.

Rebekah, 39, is working to have a section of evidence from Coleen's defence 'struck out' in her latest move, the section is known as 'TV Details story' and stems from a story Coleen claims she leaked in September 2019.

Meanwhile, Coleen has just 24 hours to add any more evidence before a new deadline, MailOnline has learned.

The twin developments signal that the two warring Wags are further than ever from reaching an eleventh-hour agreement to prevent a lurid and hugely expensive court case from going ahead.

Deadline time: And meanwhile, Coleen has just 24 hours to add any more evidence before a new deadline, MailOnline has learned (pictured October 2020)

Coleen now has until 4.30pm on Friday to present evidence to oppose the striking out, and Rebekah will then get a chance to serve a reply to Coleen's evidence documents.

Rebekah, married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, is suing mother-of-four Coleen for libel after Coleen accused her to leaking false stories over her private life.

The long-running feud between the high-profile WAGS erupted after Coleen revealed that she had set a trap to see who was responsible for the leaks, which earned her the nickname Wagatha Christie.

Coleen famously wrote: 'I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It's ................ Rebekah Vardy's account.'

Soon after, Rebekah took to social media to deny being the person who had leaked the stories to the press, after Coleen's post went viral

Post: Coleen famously wrote, 'I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It's ................ Rebekah Vardy's account'

Last June, it emerged that Rebekah had launched a case to sue Coleen for 1 million.

The latest twist in the saga saw Mr Justice Nicklin, set the deadline in an order, telling both women that if they want to change any dates, they have to apply formally to the court.

He also set down a timetable to take the case forward, with both women being required to serve revised costs budgets with the court by June 18 this year.

The section of evidence which Rebekah wants to be 'struck out' in her latest move - removed as evidence from the case - is known as the 'TV Details story' and stems from September 2019.

At that point, Coleen claims to have blocked all followers from her Instagram Stories, except Rebekah, then posted a selfie alongside the text: 'Up and out!! Easing my way back into work!! TV decisions today maybe it's time for Australia' and 'Good Day' with a heart emoji.

Case: The twin developments signal that the two warring WAGs are further than ever from reaching an eleventh-hour agreement to prevent a lurid and hugely expensive court case

Three days later the Sun published an 'exclusive' story suggesting that Coleen was in talks to join Strictly Come Dancing the following year and was looking 'to revive her TV career'.

According to Coleen's defence document, Rebekah could be inferred to be the source of the Sun's story, but Rebekah's lawyers reject that conclusion, and want the judge to agree with them by striking out the passage.

A costs and case management hearing will take place before procedural judge Master Roger Eastman on July 2, likely to last two and a half hours. The hearing will decide how the case will go ahead.

Already Coleen has described Rebekah's budget of nearly 900,000 for the case as 'grotesque' after a virtual hearing before Master Eastman in March, who said the budgets for both women were 'extraordinarily large.'

Coleen estimated her budget for legal fees at 402,312.

Time's running out! Coleen, 34, now has until 4.30pm on Friday to present evidence to oppose the striking out, and Rebekah, 39, will then get a chance to serve a reply to Coleen's evidence

Efforts at mediation in the hope of settling the case are thought doomed to failure, especially since Coleen has declined to remove the posts at the centre of the libel action, which remain accessible online.

Since Rebekah initiated the case there have been a series of legal skirmishes ahead of the planned full case.

In October 2020, Coleen 'doubled down' by filing her 55-page defence and sharing images of the Instagram posts she alleged Rebekah leaked.

The following month, Rebekah won the first round of her High Court libel battle at the 'meanings hearing'

In February, the pair attended a court-ordered mediation session on Zoom, their first meeting for years.

Sued: Rebekah, married to Jamie Vardy, is suing Coleen for libel after Coleen accused her to leaking false stories over her private life (pictured with husband Jamie and daughter Olivia)

Zoom proceedings began with both sides reading out a statement and then breaking off into separate virtual rooms as the mediator spoke to them and their legal representatives independently.

Former columnist Coleen reportedly tried to reach out to brunette Rebekah after another round of failed talks to avoid a costly legal battle.

However, it's thought that she saw the mediation as a 'waste of time' as TV star Becky continues to demand she apologise for her fierce accusation.

Last February, Rebekah broke down on ITV's Loose Women, saying the feud was 'one of the worst things I had to deal with apart from being abused when I was younger'.
MINNEAPOLIS  Two days after the streets of Minneapolis were filled with people celebrating the conviction of a police officer for the murder of George Floyd, the city returned to a period of mourning on Thursday for another Black man killed by a police officer.

Packed into a church for the funeral of Daunte Wright were politicians, faith leaders and relatives of other people killed by the police, including the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor and the families of Philando Castile and Oscar Grant. Many had come from across the country to pay respects to Mr. Wright, the 20-year-old man who was fatally shot by an officer in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center last week during a traffic stop.

Also in attendance were relatives of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 and whose cousin recently met with Philonise Floyd, one of Mr. Floyds brothers. After Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Mr. Floyds neck for more than nine minutes, was found guilty of murder on Tuesday, Philonise Floyd said he had thought of both Mr. Wright and Emmett Till, whom he called the first George Floyd.
Cardi B is seen performing on stage of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14, 2021. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

U.S. Rep Glenn Grothman called Cardi B's "WAP" performance "inconsistent with basic decency."

The rapper replied, "This gets me so mad ya don't even know!"

She suggested that state representatives focus on the police brutality issue in America instead.

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Cardi B has continued to express her frustrations with conservatives who complain about her Grammy Awards performance of "WAP" instead of the persistent social injustice occurring in America.

The "Up" rapper logged onto Twitter and responded to a recorded speech GOP lawmaker Glenn Grothman made on the House floor.

On Thursday, he informed officials of the complaints he had been receiving from his Wisconsin constituents and claimed Cardi B's Grammys performance was "inconsistent with basic decency."

"They wonder why we are paying the FCC if they feel that this should be in living rooms across the nation. I realize that Kamala Harris has used her fame to promote this performer, but I assure the FCC that millions of Americans would view her performance as inconsistent with basic decency," he said.

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Grothman also attacked the Federal Communications Commission and demanded that the commission stop being "utterly complacent" with what it lets go on air, saying "Wake up, FCC, and begin to do your job. The moral decline of America is partly due to your utter complacency."

His demand made to the FCC came a week after Rolling Stone reported that the government agency received over 1,000 complaints regarding Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's performance of "WAP" at the Grammys last month.

Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B onstage at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Cardi B inquired why the Wisconsin congressman was taking the time to focus on the "indecency" of her month-old performance, suggesting that he should instead be focused on the police killings of Black people, such as George Floyd and, most recently, 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant.

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"This gets me so mad ya don't even know! I think we all been on the edge this week since we seen police brutality back to back including watching one of the biggest case in history go down DUE to police brutality," she said, referencing the conviction of Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty on Tuesday of murder and manslaughter in George Floyd's death.

"But wait! This is what state representative decide to talk about," she added.

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This isn't the first time the 28-year-old artist has called out conservatives for speaking out about her performances, but remaining silent on police brutality.

On April 14, she posted a video on Twitter, in which she asked "blue check Republicans" why they weren't tweeting about the recent pepper-spraying of Army Lt. Caron Nazario and the recent killing of Duante Wright.

"And my thing is, where the f--- are you Twitter blue check Republicans at?" she asked. 'Y'all are the loudest on this motherf---ing app, y'all not saying nothing, y'all not complaining, y'all blame everything with what's wrong in America beside the police. Y'all have been very silent! What's going on?"

The following day, she posted another video continuing to show her dissatisfaction with how police brutality is being handled in the country, saying, "I don't want to argue with anybody. I'm just tired of seeing people get killed over and over again. It's sickening."

Read the original article on Insider
Texas Senator Ted Cruz exposed the double standards in election integrity after getting Stacey Abrams to say that the 2018 Georgia governatorial race was "stolen," according to a report.

During the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Tuesday, CBN News reported that Cruz repeatedly questioned Abrams on her personal conviction on the 2018 governatorial election being stolen.

CBN explained that Abrams refused to concede to losing the said elections to Brian Kemp even after years later. Abrams was quoted in saying that she does "not concede that the process was proper" because "they stole it from the voters of Georgia."

"As I've always said, I acknowledged at the very beginning, that Brian Kemp won under the rules that were in place. What I object to are rules that permitted thousands of Georgia voters to be denied their participation in this election or have their votes cast out. And so, I will continue to disagree with the system until it is fixed. We have seen marked progress made, unfortunately undone by SB 202. And I will continue to advocate for a system that permits every eligible Georgian to cast their ballot--" Abrams responded but was interrupted by Cruz to respond directly to his question with a yes or no.

"My full language was that it was stolen from the voters of Georgia. We do not know what they would have done, because not every eligible Georgian was permitted to participate fully in the election," Abrams replied.

Cruz drilled on Abrams by quoting her from a New York Times article where she said she lost due to "voter suppression," CBN noted. Cruz then asked Abrams if she was aware of the percentage of African American registered voters in Georgia and the actual voter turnout as compared to the national average, to which Abrams responded that it is higher.

Cruz then pointed out that actual African American registered voters was recorded at 64.7% in 2018, higher than the 60.2% of the national average. This means that Abrams' claims on the elections being stolen from her was wrong.

"The percentage of Georgians who voted in 2018 in the election you claim was stolen from you, was 56.3 percent. That's higher than the national average of 48 percent," Cruz pointed out. "African Americans had the highest registration and the highest turnout despite your claiming that the election was stolen and there was somehow voter suppression."

Prior to Cruz's turn in questioning Abrams, the latter spoke about the new voting law implemented in Georgia that reduced "entitlement to participation." She claimed that the new voting laws targeted "behaviors that are specifically attributable to communities that voted in opposition of Republican values." She stressed that the said laws even limited the voting rights of the young and of African-Americans.

"We have seen a raft of laws that have been targeted at their behaviors. And when laws are targeted at the behaviors of the communities of color, that is not only reminiscent of the Mississippi plan and the Jim Crow laws as Dr. Anderson has so clearly played out," she said. "Those are intentionally a resurgence of voter suppression similar to Jim Crow which is why we use that language, because we cannot leave our history behind."
Journalists watch a screen showing China's Leader Xi Jinping delivering a speech during the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2021 in Boao, Hainan province, China, on April 20, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Regime Cannot Be Trusted on Climate Pledges: GOP Lawmakers

As Chinese Leader Xi Jinping made his first appearance with President Joe Biden at the White Houses virtual global climate summit on April 22, Republican lawmakers are warning his administration against cooperating with Beijing on climate change.

Citing the regimes long track-record of breaking its promises, they say the Chinese regime cannot be trusted to act upon any commitments to reduce its emissions that it may make. They also fear that the Biden administration may make concessions to Beijing to get its cooperation on climate, at the expense of other crucial issues including human rights and the regimes unfair trade practices.

At the summit, Xi said the country would strictly limit increasing coal consumption in the next five years, and phase it down in the following five years.

China is the worlds largest coal-user, by far, and is continuing to build more coal-fired power stations. It is also the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Xi also repeated a pledge from last year to achieve net zero emissions by 2060. In a conciliatory note, Xi added that China looks forward to working with the international community, including with the United States on tackling climate change.

His tone stood in stark contrast with that of the regimes top two diplomats at a meeting last month with Biden officials in Alaska. In a public blowup, Chinese Communist Party officials Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi dressed down Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan after the U.S. officials criticized the regime over a range of issues including its human rights abuses, economic coercion, and military aggression.

Xis appearance at the summit came a week after U.S. special envoy John Kerry last week traveled to China to meet with Chinese officials to discuss raising global climate ambition. His trip was the first high-level visit to China by a Biden administration official since the new president took office. After the talks, the two countries, in a joint statement, agreed that stronger pledges to fight climate change should be introduced before a new round of international talks at the end of the year.

Some Republican lawmakers objected to Kerrys trip, saying it was a fruitless endeavor.

Communist China will never honor any climate agreement. These negotiations make America look soft and harm the discussions about our primary interests regarding national security and human rights, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a tweet on April 14.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 23, 2021. (Erin Scott/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) described the visit as sending the absolute wrong signal.

The PRC [Peoples Republic of China] is the worlds largest carbon emitter and backer of coal power. Now reporting from Bloomberg is further revealing that forced labor and polluting industries are central to the PRCs superficial green energy plans, McCaul said last week.

Recent reports have raised questions over whether made-in-China solar products, including polysilicon, use forced labor from Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region, where the Chinese regime has embarked on an expansive campaign of repression.

Polysilicon is the key raw material used to produce solar panels that generate electricity from sunlight. Three factories in Xinjiang collectively produce nearly half the worlds polysilicon supply, Bloomberg reported.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), in an interview with Fox News on April 21, disagreed with Xis participation at the summit.

Even as they appear at the summit, theyre funding billions of dollars of fossil fuel-powered plants all over the world, including within China. Their emissions continue to climb, Rubio said.

Chinese workers commute as smoke billows from a coal fired power plant in Shanxi, China, on Nov. 25, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

In addition to building dozens of new coal-fired power plants domestically, the regime has since 2013 committed $50 billion in state finance to building 26.8 gigawatts of overseas coal facilities across 152 countries through its Belt and Road initiative (BRI), according to a report by Refinitiv. BRI is a massive infrastructure investment project aimed at expanding the regimes economic and political influence across the world.

Rubio added, Thats why I always tell peopleU.S. action alone is irrelevant when you have countries like China who continue to increase their emissions. And theyre not going to stop doing that.

The senator emphasized the need to judge the regime on their actions, not their words. He pointed to Xis pledge in 2015 to not militarize the South China Sea, only for the regime to proceed to escalate its efforts in building military outposts of artificial islands in the region.

I think Xi Jinping is more than happy to see us adopt policies that would increase costs of growing our economy, but I dont think you are going to see them do anything that is going to slow down their ability to grow, Rubio said. And youre not going to see them do anything that will stop funding this sort of activity all over the world, where they now control these power plants, it gives them geopolitical leverage, too.

Ranking member Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) questions witnesses during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 23, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Robert Atkinson, president of Washington-based think tank ITIF, said that cooperating with Beijing on climate would come at a cost for the United States.

China exacts a price for everything. Theyre not naive. Theyre not global well-wishers, Atkinson said at a virtual discussion on April 19.

Engagement with the regime on climate would reduce critical U.S. leverage needed to pressure China to dismantle its predatory  mercantilist regime, he said.

If the United States were to ask the regime to help combat climate change, Xi will use the opportunity to force the United States to soften its position of Beijings various abuses, according to Atkinson.

Xi Jinping is not stupid, hes not naive, hes gonna say, Yeah sure well help you with climate. But you have to do these other things. You have to stop with the export control regime, and you have to stop criticizing us for intellectual property theft,' he said.
The prime minister should reconsider allowing foreign travel to resume next month given the coronavirus situation in India, Waless first minister has warned.

Mark Drakeford said he hoped mounting concern about the number of Covid-19 cases in India and the emergence of a variant of the virus there would give the UK government real pause for thought about reopening international travel on 17 May.

He also warned a third wave of coronavirus was likely during the summer  but that he hoped a spike in cases would not lead to social-distancing restrictions being reimposed.

He told PA: We have cases of the Indian variant in Wales, as we've had cases of the South African variant.

The UK government has a very important decision to make about 17 May and the reopening of international travel.

I really hope that what we've seen in India in the last week will give them real pause for thought, and that we don't run the risk of opening up international travel too quickly on too broad a front, and that results in the virus coming back into Wales.

Asked whether it was better to ease restrictions early in the hope a spike in cases would occur during the warmer months, he added: The modelling does show a third spike is likely to happen in the summer.

But there's a tension there. If it happens in the summer, in some ways that makes it more manageable.

On the other hand, every week we can push it back is another week where we vaccinate people and that might make that wave a smaller one and less steep.

Waless first minister Mark Drakeford (pictured) has warned the prime minister should reconsider allowing foreign travel this summer amid the Indian coronavirus variant (Welsh government)

In a way, governments are not in control of where those waves come. I am hopeful that when we see a further wave that it will not be of the sort that will need us to take the sorts of very blunt actions we've had to take in the last calendar year.

Professor Sir John Bell, Oxford University's Regius Professor of Medicine, also raised concerns about the prospect of holidays abroad resuming this summer.

Asked how he felt about international travel, he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One programme: "You only have to look at what is going on in India.

"I think you have to say, really? Do we want people flying around the world and getting exposed to those sorts of issues?

Scotlands national clinical director echoed the concerns, saying international leisure travel this summer would be challenging.

Professor Jason Leitch said he was hopeful some foreign travel might exist but that it would likely be gradual.

He told BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme: I think there will be time and countries that we bring back gradually because it's crucial both for individuals and society but it's also crucial for the industries that rely on that travel, the airlines, the travel industry more broadly.

Additional reporting by PA
He's spent much of this year working in London during the Covid pandemic.

But Ant McPartlin seemed to be enjoying a trip back to his roots as he paid a visit to Greggs in his hometown of Newcastle earlier this week.

The presenter, 45, reportedly stocked up on the Geordie delicacy 'stotties' after being seen leaving the shop with a bag of goods.

Tasty choice! Ant McPartlin enjoyed a trip back to his roots as he paid a visit to Greggs in his hometown of Newcastle to stock up on 'stotties' earlier this week

Customer services manager Andrew Hickin, 41, told The Sun he was certainly surprised to see Ant pay a visit to Greggs.

He said: 'Like any good Geordie Ant obviously loves Greggs. He was more than happy for me to take a photo as long as the Greggs bag was in the shot.

'He had bought stotties  he's clearly a fan. He had loads of them.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Ant McPartlin for comment.

Delicious! The presenter, 45, reportedly stocked up on the Geordie delicacy 'stotties,' a bread bun that typically contains a savoury filling

Look who it is! Customer services manager Andrew Hickin said he was certainly surprised to see Ant pay a visit to Greggs, where he ordered a bag of the North East staple

Stotties are a bread bun made of a heavy dough that is typically baked flat and can be up to a foot wide.

The buns are usually filled with ham and pease pudding, but can also contain other savoury sandwich fillings.

Ant's trip to Newcastle comes just days after he was seen enjoying a stroll at a park in London on Sunday with his fiancee Anne-Marie Corbett.

The TV presenter and his bride-to-be looked more loved-up than ever as they wrapped their arms around each other and shared a kiss in the sunshine.

Time away: The star paid a brief visit to his hometown after wrapping the latest series of Saturday Night Takeaway earlier this month (pictured with Declan Donnelly)

Ant's engagement to Anne-Marie was announced on New Year's Eve after he popped the question in a romantic Christmas Eve proposal.

It's thought that the presenter may have paid up to 200,000 for the ring after designing the piece himself.

Tobias Kormind, managing director of Europe's largest online diamond jeweller 77 Diamonds, said: 'It's a very romantic design that harks back to an older style.

'A ring with a diamond of similar quality currently on our website is priced at 125,000. A traditional Mayfair jeweller might charge up to 200,000.'

Recently, Ant spoke about his upcoming wedding to Anne-Marie and admitted he hadn't done much planning yet.

Speaking to Digital Spy magazine earlier this month, Ant and presenting partner Dec spoke about who is likely to fill the coveted role of best man at the ceremony.

'[Dec] was very good last time. He has been my best man. I've been his best man,' Ant said, referencing his failed first marriage to Lisa Armstrong, which lasted from 2006-2018.

Ant admitted that there has been very little planning done as of yet, adding: 'I suppose it depends on what kind of wedding we have. There's been no plans.'

This is perhaps unsurprising as he only proposed in December, revealing: 'It was a lovely way to end the year. I'm a romantic at heart.'
LAS CRUCES, N.M., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Electronic Caregiver, Inc. (ECG), an international digital health technology and services company, has contracted with Pinnacle Investments, LLC (Pinnacle), an investment advisor/broker-dealer, to act as a placement agent to obtain expansion capital for their telehealth business.

"Pinnacle is excited about our relationship with ECG and their vision for the extensive growth in the telehealth business," Benjamin Quilty, Pinnacle's Chief Executive Officer, said.

Pinnacle will offer ECG's Series E Private Placement to accredited investors and qualified buyers within its population of wealth management clients.

"I was impressed with Pinnacle's leadership committee, who conducted extensive due diligence and decided they wanted their accredited clients to have the opportunity to invest in ECG," said Joseph M. Baffoe, ECG President. "We believe this is the beginning of a lasting relationship with Pinnacle and look forward to working with them."

COVID-19 catalyzed a fundamental shift from episodic to predictive care using remote patient monitoring and telehealth. Research firm Rock Health reports that a record $6.7 billion of investment capital flowed into US digital health companies in Q1 2021. Following 10 years of research, product development, and piloting, ECG has entered the market and contracted with 20 health care organizations to provide solutions that improve patient care, enhance outcomes, and optimize resource utilization.

ECG has raised $75 million in developing products, securing IP, and building a go-to-market customer base. The company's patented platform-as-a-service (PaaS), ADDI, is the most intelligent platform to deliver value-based care. ECG's cutting-edge technology includes precision remote patient monitoring services, a new 3D Virtual Caregiver, named Addison, advanced medical alerts, telehealth solutions, and a turn-key care coordination solution. ECG is under contract with numerous national care organizations, including MD Revolution, Renova Health, CCM Navigator, Zia Health Management, and Banner Health.

"Only 3% of America's approximate 50 million informal family caregivers can afford professional caregiving. The aging population is a powder keg posing a dangerous threat to health care systems worldwide," said Anthony Dohrmann, ECG Chief Executive Officer. "Connected Care is the only possible way to handle population health, effective pandemic management and chronic conditions, and eldercare support. ECG's existing portfolio of products and services addresses these issues by providing affordable, accessible, and scalable solutions. Addison, once released later in 2021, will be transformational."

About Electronic Caregiver, Inc.

ECG is a health technology and services company founded by Anthony Dohrmann in 2009. The company, headquartered in Las Cruces, New Mexico, offers a comprehensive suite of proprietary digital health products and services that optimize care coordination, facilitate continuous patient and precision care plan monitoring. ECG has completed ten years of R&D and is now under contract with leading U.S.-based national health care providers, hundreds of health and senior service resellers, and partnered with leading academic, technology, and health partners. ECG recently opened a new European subsidiary for marketing in the Dach region of German-speaking countries. ECG is under contract with Paracelsus Medical University and a team of health professionals and scientists, including the director of an innovation center for the WHO in Austria. The goal is to bring Addison to all German-speaking countries of the EU.

Partners include New Mexico State University, Intel, AWS, and Dell. ECG's new majority-owned subsidiary, ECG Europe, Inc., is under contract with the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research and Practice at Paracelsus Medical University. ECG was founded in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 2009.

www.electroniccaregiver.com

www.addisonconnect.com

www.addison.care



About Pinnacle Investments, LLC



Pinnacle, based in New York, was founded in 1995 by Gregg Kidd and Dan Raite. Together they have over 50 years of experience in the brokerage industry, having spent ten years as producers at a wirehouse before launching Pinnacle. From very humble beginnings, the firm now has a national presence and is continuously growing in new markets. As an independent firm, Pinnacle offers an open architecture platform and state-of-the-art technology through its relationship with First Clearing, a Wells Fargo Company. Pinnacle's success is attributable to its ability to provide a personalized approach to investment management and client service while offering the same investment products and protections as larger financial institutions. Services include financial planning, asset management, traditional brokerage, and employer-sponsored retirement plans. Proven investment experience and superior client satisfaction combined with local ownership have enabled Pinnacle to grow to more than $1.8 billion.

Pinnacle Investments, LLC | Choose Proven Results

SOURCE Electronic Caregiver

Related Links

http://electroniccaregiver.com


There will be no meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on Friday, April 23, an informed source close to the President's Office has said.

"There will be no meeting today," a source said, answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine.

The reasons for the cancellation of the NSDC meeting are not reported.

As reported, at the previous meeting on April 15, the NSDC considered the issue of imposing personal sanctions against 13 citizens, as well as 95 companies for a period of three years.

The NSDC instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to ensure the preparation and submission to the President of Ukraine of a draft law on amendments to legislative acts regarding the improvement of the procedure for the imposition, implementation and monitoring of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions).

On April 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, by decree No. 169/2021, endorsed the NSDC decision of April 15 on personal sanctions against 13 citizens, as well as 95 companies.

The presidential decree, in particular, provides for freezing of assets; a complete termination of trading operations; preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine; a prohibition of participation in privatization, a lease of state property by residents of a foreign state; a ban on transactions with securities; and a ban on the issuance of permits, licenses of the National Bank of Ukraine for investment in a foreign state.
SAGINAW COUNTY, MI - Freeland Community Schools has a sinking fund millage proposal on the upcoming May 4 ballot that would levy up to 2 mills over 8 years on residents within the district.

Voters in Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties within the districts boundaries will decide whether to approve the millage, which would levy roughly $890,000 in 2021. Superintendent Matt Cairy described the fund as a pay-as-you-go way for the district to meet the maintenance needs of its buildings and facilities. The district would target roofs, parking lots, HVAC systems and other renovations with the funds, he said.

We have buildings throughout the district that are showing age, Cairy said. I think that we have definite needs someone can see if they were to tour the buildings.

A recent law change will also allow the district to use the sinking fund for technology purchases, Cairy said. The district is one-to-one, meaning each student has their own technological supplement assigned to them, and the sinking fund could help ease the technology costs burden on the districts general fund, he said.

The district now has no bonded debt, which is a huge asset for the district, Cairy said.

We want all of our students to learn, and we want to make sure that were providing the best possible education for our students, Cairy said. This is just an opportunity for the Freeland community to support the school district.

Voters can view the language for the proposal that will appear on the ballot here.

Read more:

Detroit Lions now have official Star Wars and Marvel shirts: How to buy NFLs new Disney gear

Women face sexism in Michigan politics. But the political system desperately needs them.

Letter from the Editor: Thats a nice secret meeting you have there. Mind if we join?
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Germany waited extremely long until it fully faced its own and the pan-European historys shameful chapters, the Vice President of Germanys Bundestag Claudia Roth said in a video statement for ARMENPRESS on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

106 years ago on April 24, the planned deportation and extermination of more than 1 million people of Armenian origin and other Christian groups  Arameans, Assyrians and Chaldeans began. They fell victim to deportations and massacres in the Ottoman Empire, which viewed these people as internal enemies and was treating them like that,  Roth said.

The Vice President of the German parliament noted that the fate of these people was an example of history of mass extermination, ethnic cleansing, deportations and genocides, with which the 20th century was horrifyingly full of.

It took us very long in Germany until we fully and honestly faced our own and pan-European shameful history. In 2016, the Bundestag condemned that crime with a resolution, as well as the German Empires role in these events as a military ally of the Ottoman Empire. Because it is this and only this way that we can strengthen our democracy and avoid similar crimes in the future.

With this resolution the Bundestag is accepting Germanys special historic responsibility, among others, in supporting Turkey and Armenia in order for them to seek a path towards reconciliation and mutual-understanding from the dark chapters of the past, Roth said.

Claudia Roth said that with this resolution they assumed the obligation to finally worthily pay attention to the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide and the duly study of its consequences.

Only this way we can support those democratic figures in Turkey who for decades are demanding to face these dark chapters of Turkish history. Facing history could perhaps become the most important basis for reconciliation both inside the society, as well as with neighbors or former enemies.

Today, on April 24th, I remember the victims of 1915. We cant forget, because oblivion is destructive.
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The police in Ebonyi State said Wednesday they have arrested the alleged killer of 29-year-old Chukwudi Chukwu in Okposi, Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Loveth Oda, told reporters in Abakaliki that the suspect, who claimed to be a vigilante, was fake.

According to Ms Odah, a deputy superintendent of police, investigations revealed the suspect was not a vigilante in Okposi.

He could not explain the source of a locally-made double barrel gun, which he allegedly used to commit the crime, she said.

The police spokesperson said he would be charged soon.

She appealed to community leaders to always report to the police any person found with illegal firearms.

Innocent Ezeogo, a friend of the deceased, who reportedly accompanied him to the wake, where he was killed, said he was getting ready to wed on May 1.

I am his friend, we attended a wake at Nediokpa Village in Okposi when a gun-wielding man, identified as Hosanna Aju, opened fire on him.

The gunman approached us shortly after our arrival at the venue and insisted on firing a shot in our midst.

We protested against the move and when we stood up to leave the venue, the gunman shot my friend dead, Mr Ezeogo said.

Juliana, the fiancee to the deceased, said she was still in shock over the incident.

I tried all my best to stop him from attending the wake but to no avail.

We are to have our wedding on May 1 but look at me. I am devastated, she said.

(NAN)
The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed pleas by social media platforms, Facebook and WhatsApp, challenging India's competition regulator CCI's order directing a probe into WhatsApp's new privacy policy.

Justice Navin Chawla said though it would have been "prudent" for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to await the outcome of petitions in the Supreme Court and the Delhi HC against WhatsApp's new privacy policy, but not doing so would not make the regulator's order "perverse" or "wanting of jurisdiction".

The court said it saw no merit in the petitions of Facebook and WhatsApp to interdict the investigation directed by the CCI. The CCI had contended that it was not examining the alleged violation of individuals' privacy which was being looked into by the Supreme Court.

It had argued before the court that the new privacy policy of WhatsApp would lead to excessive data collection and "stalking" of consumers for targeted advertising to bring in more users and is therefore an alleged abuse of dominant position. "There is no question of jurisdictional error," it had contended and added that WhatsApp and Facebook's pleas challenging its decision were "incompetent and misconceived".

WhatsApp and Facebook had challenged the CCI's March 24 order directing a probe into the new privacy policy. CCI had also told the court that only after the investigation can it be determined whether the data collection by WhatsApp and sharing it with Facebook would amount to an anti-competitive practice or abuse of dominant position.

It had also contended that the data collected, which would include an individual's location, the kind of device used, their internet service provider and whom they are conversing with, would lead to creation of a customer profile and preference which would be monetised by way of targeted advertising and all this amounts to "stalking".

The two social media platforms had contended that when the top court and the Delhi High Court were looking into the privacy policy, then CCI ought not to have "jumped the gun" and intervened in the issue. They had also said that CCI's decision was an abuse of the commission's suo motu jurisdiction.

They had claimed that the CCI in the instant case has "drifted far away" from the competition aspect and was looking into privacy issue which was already being looked into by the apex court and the Delhi High Court. In January, the CCI on its own decided to look into WhatsApp's new privacy policy on the basis of news reports regarding the same.

Also read: Delhi HC verdict on WhatsApp, Facebook pleas against CCI order likely tomorrow
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  The country's coronavirus tally moved close to 980,000 on Friday, after 8,719 more people got infected, according to the Department of Health.

The DOH daily bulletin counted a total of 979,740 cases, with 10.5% or 102,799 that are active or currently ill. At least 96.4% of the active infections have mild symptoms, 1.3% have no symptoms, 0.9% are in severe condition, 0.7% are in a critical state, and 0.58% are moderate infections.

The death toll also jumped to 16,529 - which is 1.69% of the case count - after 159 more patients succumbed to the disease. It is the third day in a row that there were more than 100 deaths in a day. However, the DOH said 77 of these new fatalities were added after validation showed they were mistakenly tagged as survivors previously.

Meanwhile, the recovery tally hiked to 860,412 or 87.8% of the COVID-19 total with 13,812 more patients cleared of the virus. It marks the fourth straight day of over 13,000 new recoveries. The DOH earlier notified the public of higher daily recoveries this week due to changes in its reporting rules.

The agency added that it deleted 28 duplicates with 14 recoveries. One laboratory did not hold operations on April 21, while data from six laboratories were excluded from the report due to failure to submit details on time, it added.

The daily positivity rate or rate of infected patients among those tested, is 17.1%. This is the rate based on 50,968 tests done as of April 21 but it is likely to change as the DOH gets more data. Although positivity rates have been gradually going down the past few days coming from a peak of 25% on April 2, the rate is still high as world health officials recommend that it be kept below 5%. High rates indicate that there are more undetected infections.

The OCTA Research Team noted that the COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila has improved but bed occupancy rates remain high. The experts recommended to retain current quarantine restrictions so that the reproduction number or the number of people infected by a single case, stays below 1.

Among Filipinos abroad, the infection total slightly rose to 18,223 with five new cases. Two patients also died, raising the casualty count to 1,124, while the survivor tally stayed at 11,181. There are also 5,918 Filipinos undergoing treatment.
India, US will act in concert to mobilise climate finance, deploy clean energy

New Delhi, Apr 23 (UNI) India and the United States will together act this decade to achieve their ambitious climate and clean energy targets and strengthen collaboration across climate and clean energy.

"The Partnership will aim to mobilize finance and speed clean energy deployment; demonstrate and scale innovative clean technologies needed to decarbonize sectors including industry, transportation, power, and buildings; and build capacity to measure, manage, and adapt to the risks of climate-related impact," said the two strategic partners in a joint statement.

Led by Prime Minister Modi and President Biden, the statement said, the Partnership "will represent one of the core venues for India-US collaboration and focus on driving urgent progress in this critical decade for climate action."
Since it was first established in 1921, the Archibald Prize has drawn plenty of headlines with its controversies, occasional legal stoushes, and personal triumphs.

So its perhaps fitting that Sydney mixed media artist James Powditch has pinched the news headlines to create his latest entry for the prestigious portrait prize on its 100th birthday.

James Powditch and his dual portrait of former ABC presenter Kerry OBrien. Credit:Louise Kennerley

After painting Labor leader Anthony Albanese in 2020, Powditch has lionised another of his lifelong heroes, veteran ABC journalist Kerry OBrien.

The six-time Walkley Award-winning OBrien is painted twice in black silhouette to show the fine line the journalist walks between his public and private persona, and a man looking back over a long career and forward to life post-journalism.
A 46-year-old man has just confessed to charges of threatening to kill two members of the family of Cameron Blair, who was murdered in Cork city on January 16 last year.

Detective Garda Brid Norris served the book of evidence on Noel Barry previously and his case was called today at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Noel Barry of Cherry Tree Rd, Togher, Cork, was arraigned on three charges and pleaded guilty to all three of them.

He was remanded on continuing bail for sentencing next month.

Strict bail conditions require that he must sign at Togher garda station three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, have no contact  direct or indirect or by social media or through any other person  with the Blair family, he must stay out of West Cork and be of good behaviour and abstain from intoxicants.

Detective Garda Brid Norris served the book of evidence on Noel Barry (pictured) previously and his case was called today at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The threatening charges to which he pleaded guilty are contrary to Section 5 of the Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Each states that on September 4 2020 in the course of a phone call commenced at 10.57pm he threatened to kill or cause serious harm to a named member of the Blair family.

Arising out of the same alleged incident he was previously charged for an alleged offence under the Post Office (Amendment) Act 1951, of sending a similar type of message.

Threatening calls

It was previously alleged that Noel Barry made phone calls to the family of the late Cameron Blair and that the family recorded two of the calls.

It was alleged that threats were made to Noel Blair, father of the deceased. His family were allegedly told to "f*** off back to England".

Mr Blair indicated that, during the calls, he was warned that his family would "never be safe".

Mr Blair reported that, in another call, he was told to get his "Loyalist friends" so they could "sort this out on the streets of Shankill Road".

Student murdered at house party

The murder of student Cameron Blair occurred on January 16 2020 when he was fatally stabbed at a house party on Bandon Rd. A teenager pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a review of sentence in November 2032.

Defence barrister Sinead Behan said of Barry, He has a history of anxiety and depression and he has received psychiatric care.

Ms Behan said she had a short report to that effect and would like a longer one. Judge Sean O Donnabhain refused that application. Ms Behan said she reserved the right to bring the application again.

The judge said, That right is denied. Get on with it.

Victim impact statements are to be prepared in the case. Sentencing was put back until May 20.
Ciana Jeanette Castro wanted to make the world a better place.

The sweet, funny, lovable 16-year-old pined for a career as a photojournalist. She wanted to travel and join the Peace Corps. She was passionate about civil rights and involved with social justice movements. The teen was caring, persistent and determined in everything she did.

She made her impact on the world while she was here, said Nadia Simpson, Castros cousin. She could have furthered her impact, but that was taken from her.

Castro was killed earlier this month by a 20-year-old man investigators believe was in a dating relationship with the teenager, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office. A bond document filed by prosecutors said they shared a residence together.

Teens suffer intimate partner violence at a higher rate than society realizes, said William West, a member of the Texas Council on Family Violence's Prevention Team who leads the Young Hearts Matter program.

This is a culture of denial, he said. People think this doesnt happen in their community. But it is a common occurrence.

Nearly 1 in 8 American students have experienced some kind of dating violence in the last year, according to a 2020 Center for Disease Controls study. From 2015 to 2019 in Texas, 31 teens between the ages of 14 and 19 were killed by dating partners, the Texas Council on Family Violence found.

Alexander Valenzuela was charged with murder, accused of fatally shooting Castro in the face. When he called 9-1-1 around 6:45 p.m. April 16 , he said he accidentally shot someone in the 11000 block of Smokehollow Drive, according to the sheriffs office. But the physical evidence did not support that possibility, investigators said.

I told myself that this is not real, Simpson said of learning the news. I felt so hollow. Empty.

Valenzuela was arrested the next day and released from jail on Sunday after posting bond on $100,000 bail.

Brandon Padilla, Castros uncle, said Valenzuelas release has put the family on edge.

My biggest question is how is he free and walking around? he said. Wheres the justice in that?

Valenzuelas defense attorney, Juan L. Guerra, declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

It is a tragic situation that has devastated two families, said Guerra. In the end, there are no winners here  just a lot of grief and loss.

The teens family said her killing has left countless people devastated and grieving for a girl who had a promising future.

Everyday, it feels like a punch to the stomach, said Padilla. Its hard to comprehend what happened.

Padilla and his wife, Jennifer, saw Castro at a family gathering in Houston a week before her death. They talked about making plans for trip to celebrate Castros early graduation from high school this summer. She planned on attending college in Hawaii.

Now she cant experience things that we all get to experience in life and thats heartbreaking, Padilla said.

Remembering Ciana

Castro, known to her family as CiCi, was brave, independent and grew up quickly at a young age, said her cousin, Brianna Davids, 20. She was on the honor roll, loved dancing, had an infatuation with tattoo art and was a talented volleyball captain.

When Simpson talked about the future with her cousin, Castro said she didnt care about finding a career that would pay a high salary. She cared more about finding work that she was passionate about and that would make a difference.

She viewed the world through the eyes of an artist, said Simpson. Photojournalism was a natural fit for the teen, she added.

Above all else, Castro had a passion for helping others.

She wanted to stick up for people who didnt have a voice, Simpson said.

The cousin said she wants Castro to be remembered for her beautiful soul.

She was just a beautiful person, she said.

The Padillas organized a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of Castros funeral. They said the remaining proceeds would go to help women and children in Houston.

Violence prevention

Most teens experiencing dating violence dont feel comfortable reporting thier abuse, said West, with the Texas Council on Family Violence.

Young people are often too scared to tell someone, he said. They think that they will be shamed or somehow punished for being abused.

Its essential teenagers have at least one adult they feel comfortable talking to in order to increase the chances they will report any abuse, the advocate said.

We should respect young peoples relationships and be open to them coming to you about problems in their relationships, he said.

Intimate partner violence inflicted on teens can quickly escalate to be deadly as frequently as it does for adult victims, said West.

While most tradional prevention efforts focus on what victims can do to escape or avoid violence, West said more early education is needed to create a cultural change.

Its about empowering young people with the ability to respect boundaries and learn about consent, he said. We need to be able to educate them before they enter relationships.

hannah.dellinger@chron.com
There are other candidates who have either entered or expressed interest in the race. They include U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who could be a formidable challenger for the nomination if she chooses to run. Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, who was the party's nominee in 2018, and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who ran against Cuomo in 2014, are considering second gubernatorial bids.

But Zeldin is the clear favorite. He is not only winning support among Republican chairs. He is also picking up support from county Conservative Party leaders. That's significant because GOP candidates usually receive the Conservative Party's support.

Republicans hope to face a weakened Cuomo in the 2022 election. The Democratic governor is facing investigations into sexual harassment allegations and his handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes.

While Cuomo has more than $16 million in his campaign account, he hasn't said whether he will run for a fourth term next year. A Siena College poll released this week found that 57% of New York voters prefer someone else for governor. But 52% of voters said they would prefer a Democratic candidate for the top job.

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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ALBANY, N.Y., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstLight, a leading provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud, and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, is informing customers by request of the Federal Communications Commission through Order (FCC 20-100) that seven-digit local dialing will transition to 10-digit dialing in New Hampshire, Vermont, and parts of New York beginning April 24th, 2021.

The transition to 10-digit dialing is being implemented in order to establish a three-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by July of 2022. The lifeline, similar to the way 9-1-1 works, will allow callers to dial 9-8-8 for suicide prevention assistance. The ten digits include area code and telephone number ("1" should still be added for long-distance calls).

Beginning April 24, 2021, consumers with the following area codes should start dialing 10-digits: 603 (New Hampshire); 516, 607, 716, 845, 914 (New York); and 802 (Vermont). This will be a permissive dialing period so that if callers forget and dial seven-digits, the call will still be completed.

Beginning October 24, 2021, however, all consumers in the affected area codes above must dial 10-digits for all local calls. On and after this date, local calls dialed with only seven-digits may not be completed.

What other changes need to be made?

Important safety and security equipment, such as medical alert devices, and alarm and security systems must be programmed to use 10-digit (1+10-digit) dialing. Many systems operate on 10-digit (or 1+10-digit) dialing by default but some older equipment may still use seven digits. Please contact your medical alert or security provider if you are not sure whether your equipment needs to be reprogrammed to accommodate the upcoming change to 10-digit (or 1+10 digits) local dialing. Any needed reprogramming of alarm and home security equipment must be done during the permissive dialing period from April 24, 2021 to October 24, 2021 to avoid interruption of services.

Some other examples of services that may need to be re-programmed are:

life safety systems or medical monitoring devices

PBXs

Fax machines

Internet dial-up numbers

Fire or burglar alarm and security systems or gates

Speed dialers

Mobile or other wireless phone contact lists

Call forwarding settings

Voicemail services and other similar functions

Be sure to check your website, personal and business stationery, advertising materials, personal and business checks, contact information, your personal or pet ID tags, and other such items to ensure the area code is included.

What will remain the same?

Your telephone number, including current area code, will not change

The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the dialing change

What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed

You will continue to dial 1+ the area code + telephone number for all long-distance calls

You will continue to dial a prefix (such as "9") when dialing from a multi-line telephone system (e.g., in a hotel, office building, etc.) as required

You can still dial just three digits to reach 711 (relay services) and 911 (emergency services)

If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 or 811 are currently available in your community, dial these codes with just three digits

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can still be reached by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) even after the 988 code is in effect

Beginning July 16, 2022, dialing "988" will route your call to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Customers must continue to dial 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) to reach the Lifeline until July 16, 2022.

You may visit the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) website at https://www.nationalnanpa.com/transition_to_10_digit_dialing_for_988/index.html or email NANPA at [email protected] with questions about the dialing procedure change, or you may visit the FCC website at https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline.

About FirstLight

FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic connecting more than 9,000 locations in service with more than 30,000 locations serviceable by our more than 24,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight's clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments.

To learn more about FirstLight, visit www.firstlight.net, or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Media Contact:

Maura Mahoney

[email protected]

SOURCE FirstLight

Related Links

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The U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed new legislation aimed at bolstering efforts to combat rising anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill would establish a new Justice Department position to expedite the review of COVID-19-related hate crimes and provide support for local law enforcement agencies to respond to anti-Asian hate violence. It also includes an amendment that improves hate crime reporting and establishes hate crime telephone hotlines. The amendment was initially introduced as the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act, named after two high-profile victims of hate crimes in recent years.

The vote was 94 to 1. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was the only senator to vote against the bill. Two Democratic senators and three Republicans did not vote.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where it's expected to pass with wide bipartisan support. President Joe Biden has expressed support for the bill and is expected to sign it into law when it reaches his desk.
Keith Wille, a self-described treasure hunter and metal detectorist, has a motto: You lost something. I find it.

And thats exactly what he did for one woman in Western Massachusetts who called him about trying to locate a cashbox potentially missing beneath the floorboards of the attic in her family home. The treasure hunt wound up being the best of 2021 so far, according to Wille, whose operations are based in Connecticut.

One question I get all the time is how many treasures do you think are out there?, Wille said at the opening of the episode of his show, Rediscover Lost, posted to YouTube on Wednesday. I think there are countless treasures still out there, and if its there, Ill find it.

The treasure hunt in Western Massachusetts was the product of decades of rumor about hidden loot in the 1950s home, which was owned by the womans aunt and uncle. The womans mother moved in after her aunt died roughly five years ago, and the house is set to go up for sale soon. However, the family didnt want to sell it without first finding the rumored treasure.

She believes the loot was hidden in the attic a long, long time ago. Floorboards in the space have white x- and star-shaped symbols drawn on them, piquing the familys interest and leaving them with questions about where the cash was.

After decades of failed attempts to find the treasure, Wille said, the family grew tired of trying to figure out if a metal detector would work indoors and even hired a construction contractor to find the treasure underneath the floorboards. Their efforts werent fruitful.

The family eventually discovered Wille online and hired him to figure out where the money was hidden. The search started in early April with the treasure hunter getting a tour of the attic space. There, he spotted the damaged parts of the floor where people in years past had unsuccessfully searched for the money and figured out a game plan for how he would find the cash.

Turning on my metal detector, I walked over to where light from the two windows intersected, Wille said on his website. The rumor was that a person could see the box through the floorboards when the light shined into the room. Naturally, I started in the middle of the floor, looking for cracks where light could shine through.

Using the metal detector, an endoscopic camera and his iPhone, Wille kicked off his quest to find the stashed money in the attic space. It took only around 50 minutes before he struck gold.

After decades of rumor, treasure hunter Keith Wille found $46,000 hidden in a cashbox beneath the floorboards of a Western Massachusetts familys home. (Keith Wille/Rediscover Lost)

With his endoscopic camera, Wille found the cashbox in one corner of the attic. He noticed jagged saw marks in the rafters of that section of the space, searched the floor and saw the keyhole of the cashbox. The treasure hunter then removed two suspiciously cut floorboards to take the loot out of its 63-year old hiding place.

Cash was packed to the lid of a metal box in the bundles, with individual bills dating all the way back to 1934, 1935 and 1950. The date Dec. 19, 1958, along with a teller number, was stamped on each currency strap, and highly collectible silver certificates were visible in three of the bundles, Wille noted.

These were shortly after the Great Depression, so people were still holding onto cash, hiding it, clearly. There were still some trust issues with the banks, Wille said in the video.

The cache of vintage banknotes totaled $46,000. Wille pointed out that in 1958, the purchasing power of that amount of money would be equivalent to $421,603 today.

We found the cashbox. So, we retrieved it. The family now has closure on the cash, Wille said. They can sell the house.

Its unclear who hid the cashbox in the floorboards to begin with, but its likely that a family member of the woman did so.

There were a number of possibilities of who could have hidden the treasure, but its not 100%, Wille told MassLive.

In an interview with MassLive, Wille said he didnt want to specify where in Western Massachusetts the home is to protect the familys privacy.
Essar Oil UK, controlled by the Ruias, is in advanced negotiations with Apollo Global Management and three other banks to raise GBP 400 million to repay the credit raised against receivables from Lloyds Bank. The British lender had ceased acting as Essar's main banker after the company ran into financial troubles due to pandemic-led disruptions.

Essar Oil UK, the owner of Stanlow Refinery, on Thursday said it has successfully addressed the required financing to replace the previous receivables facility. It will sign the term sheets soon to finally draw the credit and close the liabilities pending with Lloyds, said sources.

According to the management, the product sales at Essar Oil UK have improved with the easing of lockdown restrictions in the country. The oil refiner expects to generate positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $40 million in the ongoing quarter. In comparison, it had negative $18 million EBITDA in the corresponding quarter of 2020. It generated of $300 million EBITDA before the pandemic.

"The refinery continues to operate as normal, with uninterrupted supply of products to meet the needs of our customers. Demand for the refinery's products continues to strengthen alongside the easing of lockdown restrictions in the UK," the company said in a statement.

The company also expects benefits from the anticipated recovery in aviation fuel demand in the coming months. It is also planning to conclude further financing by June, besides delivering operational cost reduction initiatives during the year to further improve the position.

Essar Oil UK operates the Stanlow Refinery located on the south side of the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool. It produces 16 per cent of UK's road transport fuels and processes 10 million tonnes of crude and feedstocks annually.

Since acquiring Stanlow Refinery in 2011, Essar claimed it has invested $1 billion in the business. The refinery is the mainstay business of the Ruia family at present.

ALSO READ: Essar refinery in UK in financial trouble
Buc-ees is looking at building a location on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But a company official said the wildly popular Texas-based convenience store chain has no plans to move into Louisiana.

Were not looking in Louisiana, said Jeff Nadalo, general counsel for Buc-ees Ltd. Were focusing on other areas.

At one time, Buc-ees was considering a Louisiana location. In March 2016, it was reported the company would open its first Louisiana store in Baton Rouge, in the Greens at Millerville development off Interstate 12.

But a few months later, those plans fell through. Nadalo said the privately held chain needed a critical mass of stores to overcome the costs associated with expanding and operating in a new market.

"To date, we have only been able to secure one site," he told The Advocate in November 2016. "As a result, we have decided not to move forward in Baton Rouge."

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But Buc-ees did go ahead with a strategy to expand beyond Texas. The first location outside of the Lone Star State opened in Robertsdale, Alabama, in January 2019. Other stores have followed: Daytona Beach, Florida; Saint Augustine, Florida; Leeds, Alabama; and Fort Valley, Georgia.

Beaver Aplin founded the chain in Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1982. His childhood nickname inspired the smiling beaver thats the Buc-ees mascot. Aplin told Texas Monthly magazine he had plans to grow across the Southeast using the same formula that made Buc-ees so popular in Texas: building stores between major driving markets such as Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham and Charlotte.

Buc-ees is known for its oversized stores  a location in New Braunfels tops out at 68,000 square feet  that carry items such as produce, barbecue cooked in-house and deep fryers, along with the snacks, soft drinks and beer found in a typical convenience store. The stores feature scores of gas pumps offering low-cost fuel and pristine bathrooms.

The chain is reportedly considering building a store on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, off Interstate 10 in Pass Christian. A state senator who represents a neighboring district told a Biloxi TV station the Mississippi legislature had approved funding for infrastructure to support the location.

"Were going to help them because anyone whos ever been in a Buc-ees before and has seen the tremendous amount of traffic there knows were going to have to beef up that intersection and the overpass to get the traffic in and out, Sen. Philip Moran, R-Kiln, told WLOX.

Nadalo told The Biloxi Sun Herald Buc-ees was looking at building in Mississippi, but it hadnt closed on any property.
Washington: The US has advised its citizens to avoid travelling to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Maldives due to the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in the region.

In a series of travel advisories on Thursday (April 23), the authorities also urged Americans to reconsider travel to China and Nepal; exercise increased caution while travelling to Sri Lanka and exercise normal travel precaution to Bhutan, which has been given Level 1, the safest level for travelling overseas.

India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives have been put in Level 4, which means asking Americans not to travel to these countries.

Do not travel to India due to COVID-19, crime, and terrorism, the State Department said in its latest travel advisory on India, days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a similar warning for India.

The CDC issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for India due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country.

Do not travel to the Maldives due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in the Maldives due to terrorism, the State Department said in its travel advisory for the country.

Do not travel to Pakistan due to COVID-19. Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism and sectarian violence. Some areas have increased risk, the State Department said.

Terrorist groups continue plotting attacks in Pakistan, it said.

"A local history of terrorism and the ongoing ideological aspirations of violence by extremist elements have led to indiscriminate attacks on civilians as well as local military and police targets, the State Department said.

Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist locations, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and government facilities. Terrorists have targeted US diplomats and diplomatic facilities in the past, it said.

Terrorist attacks continue to happen across Pakistan, with most occurring in Balochistan and KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), including the former FATA (The Federally Administered Tribal Areas).

Large-scale terrorist attacks have resulted in numerous casualties, the State Department said.

In its advisory on Afghanistan, the State Department asked its citizens not to travel to Afghanistan due to COVID-19, crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.

"Do not travel to Bangladesh due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in Bangladesh due to crime, terrorism, and kidnapping," it said.

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(Natural News) What a shock: A Black Lives Matter activist charged with alleged hate crimes against Asian-Americans in Seattle had previously called the Atlanta spa shooting an act of white supremacy.

(Article by C. Douglas Golden republished from WesternJournal.com)

According to the New York Post, 51-year-old Christopher Hamner participated in Black Lives Matter protests last summer and even posted video from the lawless Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone occupied encampment in Seattle on his Facebook page.

Yet, the left-wing activist is accused of two separate incidents last month in which he attacked three Asian-American women. While he was charged last month and the Facebook page was discovered shortly afterward by The Post-Millennial, the case is only now getting wider coverage.

The first incident occurred on March 16, according to KIRO-TV. Pamela Cole, who told the station she is Chinese and Malaysian and whose 5- and 10-year-old children are both Asian and African-Amerian, was sitting at a red light when her vehicle was allegedly accosted by Hamner, who was in an adjacent car.

The moment he made eye contact with me he stopped, opens his door and hes screaming, F*** you, you Asian b****. F*** you! and I was in complete shock. Are you talking to me? Cole told KIRO.

He jumps out the car and hes charging at us, she said. That was the scariest part for me.

He comes to my window and hes in the middle of the street and hes like, Get out! Get out!

She went on to say that, I locked my door. That was my safety  Im going to lock my door. I had nothing. I just felt so defenseless and so helpless. And you know as a mom, all we want to do is take care of our kids and protect them.

Then, thank God, the light changed. And even as we were running through and trying to turn, hes still throwing things at us, and watching as Im turning and watching where Im going.

According to The Seattle Times, the charges say that when Cole posted about the incident on social media, one of her friends husbands identified Hamner as a potential suspect and sent Cole a picture of him. Hamner was allegedly wearing the same shoes in the picture as he was during the incident, Cole said.

The second incident happened three days later, according to The Seattle Times.

In that incident, two Asian women were driving together when a man cut them off, blocked traffic and accosted them. The man again allegedly shouted explicit remarks mentioning the fact they were Asian. They pulled into a parking space and looked back when they saw the driver charging at them. They rolled up their windows so they couldnt hear what he was saying, but he threw a plastic item before they drove off.

Their dashcam recorded the entire incident and the license plate on the assailants car matched a vehicle registered to Hamner. In addition, according to The Seattle Times, an officer quoted in the charges said the footage showed the attacker was clearly Hamner.

Yet, according to screenshots from The Post-Millennial, Hamner shared a NowThis video a week after the Atlanta spa shootings  which happened on the day of the first incident hes alleged to have perpetrated, its worth noting  urging people to [s]tand UNITED against racism & white supremacy. Yes, he apparently called the Atlanta attacks white supremacy  and here he was, allegedly perpetrating anti-Asian attacks of his own.

NEW: One day after eight women were murdered in Atlanta, Christopher Hamner posted on Facebook that weve all had bad days but it never justifies hate crimes. The day before, Hamner allegedly committed a hate crime against an Asian American Seattleite. https://t.co/wH3LFThLtZ  (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) April 14, 2021

And then there were the posts of Hamner protesting at Black Lives Matter events and inside CHAZ, where he was pictured holding up an anti-police, anti-Donald Trump sign. The Post-Millennial stated Hamner had a reputation as a staunch BLM and racial-justice activist in the Seattle-area.

Lets be clear: We cant adduce any connection between Hamners activism, such as it may have been, and the acts hes alleged to have committed. Indeed, his lawyer posited at a court hearing last month that Hamner suffers from mental illness, according to KATU-TV.

Imagine, however, this was the other way around.

Imagine a Republican man with a social media profile full of MAGA hat pictures and Republican slogans. Imagine he even dipped his toe into some controversial, threatening posts.

(Sleep Good tonight Rand Paul an account linked to Hamner tweeted in February, along with a GIF of a knife being held up to a mans head. The tweet has since been deleted for violating the Twitter rules.)

Imagine that same Republican was accused of hate crimes against Asians  including one where the victims children were in the car. Imagine one of the attacks took place on the same day as a mass shooting attributed to anti-Asian bias (something which the shooter denies, but dont tell this to anyone in the media). Imagine there was something that was as allegedly hypocritical as Hamners [s]tand UNITED against racism & white supremacy.

You dont have to imagine the persistence and fervor of the coverage this individual would receive, no matter what he was charged with.

In Hamners case, its one hate crime charge for the two incidents and three charges of malicious harassment, according to King County jail records. He pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin on June 3.

Coverage of him outside of the Seattle area, meanwhile, was almost non-existent until the New York Post picked the story up last week.

Again: What a shock.

Read more at: WesternJournal.com and BlackLies.news.
Lok Sabha MP from North East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari, tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday.

"An earlier Covid test conducted on April 19 had returned negative. was supposed to travel to West Bengal for campaigning in the morning, but he got himself tested for Covid again on Wednesday evening after having body ache and irritation in throat. This report has returned positive," said Neelkant Bakshi, former head of media relations in Delhi.

Bakshi further stated that Tiwari is under home isolation and has asked people who came in his contact in the last few days to get themselves tested.

Tiwari, a star campaigner for the BJP, has campaigned for the party candidates in West Bengal, Assam and Kerala.

--IANS

ssb/arm

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
1. Yes. Its important to keep my child as safe as possible. We plan to take advantage.

2. Yes. With the school district dropping its mask mandate, its a necessary step.

3. No. Local COVID cases are dropping. There is no good reason to vaccinate my child.

4. No. There hasnt been enough data on vaccinated children. I think Ill hold off.

5. Unsure. I havent decided yet whether to take part in the vaccine clinics.

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A man was shot by Birmingham police Thursday afternoon after authorities say he opened fire on them.

The gunfire erupted about 3:20 p.m. on Acadia Terrace in Fairfield, which is just off Interstate 59/20 and Valley Road.

Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said the departments narcotics unit and tactical team has just arrived at the home when the suspect, an adult male, pulled a handgun and started firing. Our officers barely got a change to get out of their vehicles before rounds were fired at them,' Smith said.

An undisclosed number of officers returned fire, striking the suspect. The extent of his injuries wasnt made public, but Smith said they did not appear to be life-threatening. A gun was recovered from the scene.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment. No officers were injured.

A suspect was shot Thursday, April 22, 2021 after opening fire on Birmingham police during a drug search warrant.

Smith acknowledged its part of the danger police face every day. Every situation comes with a number of factors that are unknown,' the chief said. Once we decide to execute a search warrant, no one would know the suspect would immediately start firing at officers.

Police cordoned off a blocks-wide perimeter. The State Bureau of Investigation is taking lead, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.

Fairfield Mayor Eddie Penny stood behind police lines, talking briefly with Birmingham police officials.

I dont know why people think theyre going to a win a shootout with police,' Penny said. Youre not ever going to win that battle. Look at all the resources they have.

Penny lamented the ongoing gun violence in Jefferson County and across the U.S.

It just terrible. Its a bad situation,' he said. We have to just keep working at it to see if we can get it under control. I hope I can live to see a time when we care more for each other.
A collective of mothers searching for their missing loved ones came upon a burning mass grave this week in northwest Mexico where human bodies were dumped.

The group was canvassing a remote area in the Sonora municipality of San Jose de Guaymas on Wednesday afternoon when they detected a foul odor. The burned body parts were abandoned in a pit that was at least five feet deep, according to the attorney general's office for Sonora.

Authorities and searchers attempted to put out the fire with extinguishers and chemicals before the Guaymas Fire Department could control the flames.

A man who accompanied the collective search team known as' Madres Buscadoras de Sonora' (Searching Mothers of Sonora) leans over a pit in a remote area of San Jose de Guaymas, a city in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. Several human bodies were dumped and set on fire. The search group discovered the clandestine site Wednesday

The Guaymas fire department assisted in putting out the fire at a clandestine grave site that was discovered Wednesday. The attorney general's office for the state of Sonora said the start of the search had to be delayed for 48 hours due to the extreme temperatures inside the pit

A blood stained plastic bag was found strewn across the ground near the burning secret burial pit

The state attorney general's office said that authorities delayed the start of their search for 48 hours due to the extreme temperatures inside the clandestine burial site.

'(There were) many human remains burning. We think it could be several, many people,' Patricia Flores, who founded 'Madres Buscadoras de Sonora' (Searching Mothers of Sonora) in 2019 after her 31-year-old son Marco Antonio Sauceda was abducted, told newspaper El Universal.

Flores, who recorded the shocking video, also spotted several burned body fragments strewn across the ground.

A bag left behind on the ground was stained with the blood of the victims.

Authorities recover human remains found Tuesday inside a secret burial site in Nogales, a city in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora, just 49 miles away from the United States border

Sonora state authorities search a clandestine burial site where one of the four bodies were found Tuesday

The shocking discovery was made a day after Madres Buscadoras de Sonora found eight graves in the desert area of the Sonora city of Nogales, just 49 miles from the United States-Mexico border.

The remains of four people, including two males, were pulled from the burial holes, the attorney general's office said.

The secret pits, authorities maintain, are frequently used by drug and kidnapping gangs to dispose of the bodies of rivals or victims in a country where more than 83,000 people have been reported missing.

At least 38% of the mass graves found in Mexico between December 2018 and April 7, 2021 were found in the states of Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Veracruz and Sonora, according to the country's undersecretary of human rights.

According to a government report, a total of 1,086 bodies were found in 559 random graves in 2020.
As a result of the herd immunity policies implemented by President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government in the interests of the ruling class, the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey is out of control. Turkey has become an epicenter of the pandemic, like India and Brazil. According to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, at least 85 percent of new cases in the country are due to the more contagious UK or B.1.1.7 variant.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sits with his wife Emine at a rally of his ruling partys congress in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, March 24, 2021 (AP Pool).

Despite limited measures announced on April 13, the number of daily cases remains over 60,000, sometimes more than in the United States. Proportionally to its population, Turkey (85 million) has more than tripled the rate of reported cases compared to India (1.4 billion people and nearly 300,000 daily cases). The test positivity rate is nearly 20 percent. According to Ministry of Health data, 362 people died on Wednesday.

These figures vastly underestimate true losses. While Turkey has surpassed the United Kingdom in terms of total number of cases with nearly 4.4 million, at 37,000 deaths it seems far behind countries like the UK (127,000), France (102,000) and Italy (118,000) in total mortality. According to investigative filmmaker Guclu Yamans calculations, however, there had been 98,000 excess deaths in Turkey by early March 2021.

Last week, an anonymous physician caring for coronavirus patients in Istanbul told the daily Cumhuriyet: Even if a PCR test is positive, COVID-19 is not written on the death certificate if the intensive care patient dies after an average of 15-20 days after he/she tested positive.

This ongoing slaughter is the direct result of the Turkish ruling class seeing mass deaths and the sickness of millions as acceptable.

As the pandemic erupted out of control as the predictable consequence of the opening up policy in early March, the Erdogan government announced last week limited measures to calm growing social anger and prevent a collapse of the health care system. However, it kept nonessential production and some grades in schools open.

In the economy, things are going very well on the production side, Erdogan blithely declared, claiming that his government has been very successful against the pandemic.

He made clear that businesses profits and competitiveness in global markets guided his governments response to the pandemic, not saving lives. We need to reduce the numbers of infections below the general average in the world, especially in countries with which we have close relations. Otherwise, we may run the risk of not being able to take advantage of economic opportunities brought before us by the pandemic.

The impact of the gradual normalization policy in early March is quite clear. The number of COVID-19 deaths in Turkey was 66 on February 28, when the number of seriously ill patients fell to 1,191. However, the official daily death toll has risen six-fold to nearly 400, while the number of seriously ill patients surged to 3,400.

The government rejected calls from health experts and scientists to close down nonessential production for 28 days, strengthen social distancing measures and accelerate vaccination. It adopted limited measures, like starting curfews at 7:00 p.m. rather than 9:00 p.m. on weekdays. However, almost all workers are exempted from curfews so nonessential production can continue. Restaurants and cafes cannot accept customers inside until May 16.

The irrationality of state policy is manifested in the implementation of strict curfews, but only for those over 65, many of whom have been vaccinated, or the prohibition of intercity travel by private car, while there are no restrictions on crowded public transport by plane or buses.

After the government announced these limited measures, Dr. Cavit Isk Yavuz of Hacettepe University in Ankara emphasized yet again that containing the pandemic requires large-scale lockdown measures. At this stage of the pandemic, you need to take the highest and broadest restrictions you can get by supporting society in social and economic terms. Otherwise, you have no chance of containing this pandemic.

Since reopening schools to in-person education in March, at least 31 teachers have died of COVID-19. Children have not only spread the disease but begun to be more severely affected. However, the government kept kindergartens open in order to ensure that parents can go to work and generate profits for their employers.

Professor Dr. Sinan Cavun from Bursas Uludag University tweeted on Wednesday: The reasons why the third wave [of the pandemic] is so bad are as follows: 1) Our vaccination rate is low, 2) Schools are re-opened, 3) Uncontrolled congresses [of Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP in March], 4) Thousands of workers continue to work in factories, 5) The risk of contamination is very high in public service and transportation, 6) Continuation of home meetings.

Turkish Intensive Care Society chair Professor Ismail Cinel warned, The last wave is like no other. Younger patients come with more tissue destruction. Our pediatric patients are also on the rise.

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) called nationwide protests on April 15 under the slogan, We do not give up our right to life. Stop deaths! On April 12, TTB Chairwoman Prof. Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanc said, Our hospitals are filled with COVID-19 patients, even newly opened services are not enough to meet the needs, and there is no room in intensive care units.

She emphasized that patients with serious diseases other than COVID-19 are also at risk. Not only COVID-19 patients but also non-COVID-19 patients are aggrieved because of this picture; they cannot access the required care for problems that cannot be delayed.

Health Minister Koca recently announced that intensive care occupancy rate in Istanbul, the epicenter of the pandemic in Turkey, was 71.4 percent. Health care workers told the daily Evrensel that many Istanbul hospitals have stopped elective surgeries.

Istanbul Medical Chamber officials announced that there is almost no room in intensive care units in Istanbul state hospitals, a situation private hospital bosses turned into an opportunity. Some private hospitals demand up to 15,000 Turkish liras (nearly US$1,850) for a day from COVID-19 patients. Turkeys monthly minimum wage is only 2,800 Turkish liras.

Ankara Medical Chamber Chair Ali Karakoc explained the dire situation in the capital, where COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization are unfortunately kept on stretchers or in their homes. Either a patient needs to be discharged or die; new places are opened only this way.  Every place is full in Ankara, including the intensive care units of private hospitals.

According to official data on weekly caseloads in cities, the number of cases per 100,000 in Istanbul between April 10 and April 16 increased to 920. In Istanbul, with a population of about 16 million, this means nearly 145,000 cases per week and 20,000 cases per day. This means that the city of Istanbul alone has more daily cases than any European country except France.

Only 7.9 million people, less than 10 percent of Turkeys population, are fully vaccinated; the more than 5 million refugees in Turkey from war-torn countries of Africa and the Middle East are not included in this statistic.

The devastating consequences of this social murder policy are also reflected in rising deaths among health care workers, despite their having received the Sinovac vaccine. TTB Family Medicine Branch Chair Emrah Krml told bianet: We did not get any news of COVID-19 deaths among health workers for some time. But we have started to get death news from them again. According to TTB data, 12 health care workers have lost their lives so far in April. Overall, 410 have died in Turkey since the beginning of the pandemic.

Krml added, More importantly, mutations have been on the increase. We know Sinovacs COVID-19 vaccine is less effective in the face of coronavirus variants. While mutations are so widespread, one must consider vaccinating health care workers again.

This tragic report does not lessen the need to vaccinate the population, as all the vaccines have demonstrated their effectiveness at limiting the contagion. However, it indicates the urgency of mobilizing workers in Turkey and internationally to fight for a halt to nonessential production and schools until the pandemic is contained. This is essential, together with full compensation to all affected workers and small businesses, together with other social distancing measures and a rapid, global vaccination campaign free of charge.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 09:45:25|Editor: huaxia

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At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

Xi's speech is very important and plays a strong leading role in the global fight against climate change, said Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business.



BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- It is inspiring that Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China's commitment to overcoming climate change while upholding multilateralism in this global fight, foreign experts have said after Xi made a speech on Thursday at the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing.

In his speech, Xi made a six-point proposal on building a community of life for man and nature, saying that we must be committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Xi's speech is very important and plays a strong leading role in the global fight against climate change, said Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business.

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020 shows the Haizhu wetland and the Canton Tower in the distance in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo by Xie Huiqiang/Xinhua)

To cope with the issues regarding climate change, the international community should stick to multilateralism and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, he noted.

He expressed his hope that the international community should take actions as soon as possible, jointly participate in the global environmental governance, and push ahead with the building of a global environmental governance system featuring fairness and equity, cooperation and win-win.

Xi's speech demonstrates that China is always an active participator in the global cause of battling climate change, said Anri Sharapov, an associate professor at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies.

Photo taken on Aug. 13, 2019 shows wind turbines amid blooming sunflowers in Jingtai County, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Nie Jianjiang)

China, as a responsible major country, has shown to the world its resolution in protecting the environment and dealing with climate change, he noted, adding that it would undoubtedly strengthen the international community's confidence in jointly handling climate change.

Calling the climate change issue "a very complicated and huge issue" that requires the collaboration of all countries, Jehad Auwda, a professor of international relations at Egypt's Helwan University, said that China has been working on building an active and transparent mechanism with all parties to enhance international communication and mutual trust to tackle the climate change crisis.

This is very important for achieving international cooperation and the final goals, he said.

White cranes forage in a farmland by the Poyang Lake in Yugan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

Yoav Yair, dean of the School of Sustainability at Israel's Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, said that Xi, in his speech, reiterated China's climate commitment to the international community.

He said what China has already done to defeat climate change is impressive, adding that China is "making an enormous effort for renewable energies" and the environmental legislation in China has "proved very effective and showed significant improvement in air quality in major cities."

"They are looking at all the options available in order to curb down carbon emissions, and they're making good progress," Yair said. 
They say money can't buy happiness, but if you're long overdue a pay rise it might be worth scanning the jobs board at one of these highly paid firms.

Glassdoor, a website that provides insights about companies and roles, has revealed the 25 places to work that offer the biggest pay cheques.

Salesforce, an American cloud-based software company, takes the top spot in its annual salary report, with employees receiving an average package totalling 100,000.

In January the tech firm was also voted the best place to work in the UK by employees, after Glassdoor analysed thousands of anonymous reviews.

Glassdoor, a website providing insights about companies, has revealed the 25 places to work that offer the biggest pay cheques (stock image)

Next is new entrant Man Group, a London-based investment management firm, with a median base salary of 85,312 and total compensation of 93,620.

It makes a change from last year, which saw two consulting firms - Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company - occupy first and second place.

Eight investment banks make the list, as well as seven tech firms and five consulting, while Microsoft - which ranked third last year - has dropped out of the top 25 completely.

Spotify, Facebook and fintech company Revolut also made the top 25. Here FEMAIL reveals the complete list of highest paying companies in the UK for 2021.

The best-paid places to work in the UK in 2021 1. Salesforce Median Total Compensation: 100,000 Median Base Salary: 73,038 Industry: Tech 2. Man Group Median Total Compensation: 93,620 Median Base Salary: 85,312 Industry: Investment Banking 3. Kearney Median Total Compensation: 90,661 Median Base Salary: 83,917 Industry: Consulting 4. Standard Chartered Bank Median Total Compensation: 90,000 Median Base Salary: 80,331 Industry: Investment Banking 5. Credit Suisse Median Total Compensation: 87,500 Median Base Salary: 78,000 Industry: Investment Banking 6. Facebook Median Total Compensation: 86,423 Median Base Salary: 78,953 Industry: Tech 7. VMware Median Total Compensation: 86,625 Median Base Salary: 75,000 Industry: Tech 8. G-Research Median Total Compensation: 85,468 Median Base Salary: 80,441 Industry: Tech 9. McKinsey & Company Median Total Compensation: 85,160 Median Base Salary: 84,000 Industry: Consulting 10. RBC Median Total Compensation: 85,000 Median Base Salary: 70,000 Industry: Banking 11. Spotify Median Total Compensation: 83,500 Median Base Salary: 72,914 Industry: Tech 12. UBS Median Total Compensation: 80,662 Median Base Salary: 73,000 Industry: Investment Banking 13. Daishi Bank Median Total Compensation: 80,588 Median Base Salary: 75,551 Industry: Banking 14. ServiceNow Median Total Compensation: 80,104 Median Base Salary: 75,463 Industry: Tech 15. Deutsche Bank Median Total Compensation: 80,000 Median Base Salary: 75,984 Industry: Investment Banking 16. Macquarie Group Median Total Compensation: 80,000 Median Base Salary: 65,478 Industry: Investment Banking 17. Mastercard Median Total Compensation: 80,000 Median Base Salary: 75,000 Industry: Finance 18. MS Amlin Median Total Compensation: 78,070 Median Base Salary: 76,840 Industry: Insurance 19. SAP Median Total Compensation: 77,615 Median Base Salary: 70,514 Industry: Tech 20. Boston Consulting Group Median Total Compensation: 77,000 Median Base Salary: 65,478 Industry: Consulting 21. Bain & Company Median Total Compensation: 76,914 Median Base Salary: 69,500 Industry: Consulting 22. Moorhouse Consulting Median Total Compensation: 76,500 Median Base Salary: 55,000 Industry: Consulting 23. J.P. Morgan Median Total Compensation: 75,914 Median Base Salary: 69,137 Industry: Investment Banking 24. Revolut Median Total Compensation: 75,829 Median Base Salary: 70,514 Industry: Finance 25. BlackRock Median Total Compensation: 75,829 Median Base Salary: 68,000 Industry: Investment Banking

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Amanda Stansell, a Glassdoor data scientist, said: 'If salary is your key motivating factor, then head for the big names in banking, consulting and tech, which still dominate when it comes to large salaries in the UK.

'Companies like Salesforce, Kearney and Standard Chartered Bank are all fighting for the best talent and they are prepared to pay top dollar to get it.

'Bankers have always received pretty significant bonuses since successful traders can bring huge company returns and tech salaries in particular tend to be high because of a shortage in specialist skills such as data science and software engineering.'

Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for more than one million companies located around the world.

Salesforce, an American cloud-based software company, takes the top spot in its annual salary report, with employees receiving an average wage of 100,000

It introduced salary estimates to its UK listings in April last year, designed to help jobseekers understand and earn a competitive salary and help them confidently negotiate in job interviews or performance reviews.

To work out the highest paying companies, Glassdoor calculated each company's highest median total compensation package, which includes a base salary and other forms of compensation such as commissions, tips and bonuses, as reported by UK-based employees over the past year.

Companies considered for the report must have received at least 30 salary reports by UK-based employees during the timeframe.

While 'other forms of compensation' is an optional field on Glassdoor, salary reports considered for this report were taken from employees who shared both their base pay and other forms of compensation.

In cases where companies have the same median total compensation, the company with the higher median base compensation received the higher rank.
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A shock new coronavirus case has been discovered in Melbourne after a man from the city's east flew home from an infected Perth quarantine hotel.

The man contracted the virus from a positive case who was staying on the same floor of his hotel, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said.

He was told by Western Australia health officials on arrival into Melbourne on April 21 he was a close contact of a confirmed case and has been in self-isolation since.

Contact tracers are now racing to find other passengers who shared Qantas flight QF778 with him from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon.

All passengers on that flight must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.

A man undergoes a Covid-19 test at a drive-in testing site on March 30. A shock new coronavirus case has been discovered in Melbourne after a man flew home to the city from a Perth quarantine hotel

Mr Foley said the man wore a mask while in the airport and followed the correct procedure after he was told he was a close contact.

The traveller is believed to have undergone hotel quarantine in the room next door to the confirmed case.

His positive test result at 2am on Friday morning marks the first community case of Covid-19 in Victoria in 55 days.

The man is asymptomatic and has three household contacts - his partner and two children.

He has decided to move to a quarantine hotel while he completes his new mandatory self-isolation.

Health authorities said all three of his family must also get tested and isolate for two weeks.

'This is an important and timely reminder this global pandemic is not over,' Mr Foley said.

Contact tracers are racing to find passengers who flew on a Qantas QF778 flight from Perth to Melbourne

'Victorians have been down this path. We know the drill. We will do the right thing to keep this to one case, at the moment.'

Mr Foley said authorities did not yet know the number of passengers on board the Qantas flight.

'We will be examining the gentlemans movements, particularly for the airport where he did wear a mask, as he did on the flight, as he did on his journey home having been contacted by public health officials as he arrived at the airport,' he said.

The alert comes as Victorians who may have been exposed to the South African strain of Covid-19 in a Sydney hotel were forced into isolation for 14 days.

The interstate travellers have been identified as close contacts of three Covid-19 positive people who were staying at the Mercure Hotel in Sydney.

Victorian interstate travellers have been identified as close contacts of three Covid-19 positive people who were staying at the Mercure Hotel in Sydney

The three positive cases, including two who are related, returned from overseas and were placed in adjacent rooms on the 10th floor of the hotel to quarantine on April 3.

They later returned positive results for the South African strain of Covid-19 and fears were raised the virus could spread after it was revealed dozens of travellers who stayed at the hotel had already travelled interstate.

The Department of Health said the Victorian travellers were contacted and tested on Thursday.
Chennai: After getting information on possible drug smuggling via parcels from Africa, Chennai Air Customs officials at the Foreign Post Office detained five parcels from Nairobi, Kenya. The parcels contained flower vases, rosemary (herb) and dried spices.

According to an official, on examination, the eleven flower vases in the parcel were found to be sealed. On being opened, pink plastic bags containing Khat leaves were found from all eleven vases. The other parcels contained herb and dried spices, while opaque plastic bags were full of Khat leaves.

From the five parcels, a total of 46.8 kgs of Khat leaves worth Rs.1.17 Crore were recovered and seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act, 1985. The officials arrested a 27-year old aeronautical engineer, who works in a city-based IT company, in relation to the illegal drugs smuggling case.

Khat (Catha edulis) also known as Miraa is a stimulant drug that causes euphoria and excitement, which is prohibited under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in India. It is an evergreen shrub mainly cultivated in East Africa and South Yemen.

Khat contains alkaloids Cathinone and Cathine, besides amphetamine-like stimulants, which causes euphoria. Khat is mainly chewed for its soporific effect but some boil it in water and drink it like tea and has the potential to cause addiction.

In March 2020, Chennai Air Customs had seized 15.6 kg Khat leaves worth Rs 40 lakhs, which had arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at FPO Chennai.

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Chicago, IL, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



SpectroSeal is an extra-strength glue sold through GetSpectroSeal.com.

The glue claims to be stronger than leading glue brands, providing effective seals and repairs on household objects in seconds using ultraviolet light.

Does SpectroSeal really work? How does SpectroSeal work? Find out everything you need to know about this UV light and glue system today in our review.

What is SpectroSeal?

SpectroSeal is an extra strength glue-like system that uses a liquid formula and ultraviolet light to create an effective seal.





You use the SpectroSeal plunger to apply the liquid formula to any object. Then, you use the included UV light to dry the formula, sealing the repairs.

The makers of SpectroSeal claim their product is stronger than leading glue brands  including super glues. They also claim it works on wood, stone, plastic, ceramic, metal, rubber, glass, and other unusual surfaces.

For all of these reasons and more, GetSpectroSeal.com describes the glue as a space-age device that repairs anything broken. You can keep damaged items out of the trash, enjoy long lasting results, and fix everyday items around your home.

How Does SpectroSeal Work?

SpectroSeal does not describe itself as glue. Instead, it describes itself as a non-toxic, solvent-free liquid polymer that works better than glue.

You use the SpectroSeal plunger to apply the polymer to a surface. After that polymer coats the damaged area, you press the UV light button to seal the repairs. The ultraviolet light interacts with the liquid polymer at a chemical level, creating an extra-strength hold no matter how small or delicate the object is.

Heres how the official website describes the 2-in-1 power of SpectroSeal:

SpectroSeal is the 2-in-1 bonding and curing tool for making quick, clean, and easy repairs around your home! Gone are the days of applying pressure and waiting for messy glue to dry. With SpectroSeal, simply squeeze a dab of liquid polymer onto any surface you wish to bond and flash the seal with UV light for instant curing.

SpectroSeal works on most types of surfaces. It also claims to be stronger than leading glue brands, including many types of super glue. You can apply it to glass, metal, rubber, plastic, stone, ceramic, and other surfaces in and around your home.

SpectroSeal works within five seconds of application. Just apply the liquid polymer, cure the liquid polymer using the UV light, then watch the surface seal.

Typically, you need to wait for glue to dry for the seal to form. Even with super glues and other high-end glues, you need to wait for the glue to harden over time. With SpectroSeal, you dont need to wait: you just apply the UV light until the seal is formed.

SpectroSeal also avoids the mess of ordinary glues. Instead of leaking glue all over a surface, you can apply the polymer exactly to where it needs to go. Theres no more mess or hassle.

Once the bond has cured, SpectroSeal creates a weatherproof, waterproof, and heatproof seal. Some glues are susceptible to water or heat: you can melt away the glue with water or heat. With SpectroSeal, thats not an issue.





How to Use SpectroSeal

You apply SpectroSeal using a simple, three-step process. Heres how SpectroSeal works:

Step 1) Apply the liquid polymer to the object you want to fix.

Step 2) Flash the seal with the built-in UV light and wait a few seconds.

Step 3) As the crack seals, the repairs will be stronger than new. SpectroSeal claims to be stronger than leading glue brands  including super glue brands.

One customer cited on the SpectroSeal product page described SpectroSeal as like a mini-welder for your stuff. You can apply it to objects around your home for fast, easy, and effective repairs  even if you have limited technical skills yourself.





SpectroSeal Features & Benefits

The makers of SpectroSeal advertise all of the following features and benefits:

Stronger than Leading Glues and Super Glues: The makers of SpectroSeal claim you can throw out your super glue after buying SpectroSeal, because they product is stronger than leading glue brands.

2-in-1 System: SpectroSeal fixes objects using a 2-in-1 system. That system includes a liquid polymer and UV light to cure the seal.

Works on Multiple Surfaces: SpectroSeal works on common surfaces around the home, including plastic, stone, wood, ceramic, metal, rubber, glass, and other surfaces. Whether you are fixing PVC pipe or repairing a worn charging cable, SpectroSeal provides a durable bond.

Long-Lasting & Durable: SpectroSeal claims to create a seal that lasts a long time. The seal will be waterproof, heat-resistant, weatherproof, and extremely durable.

Easy to Apply: SpectroSeal is designed to be easy for anyone to use even with limited technical skills. The system comes with a plunger and applicator that minimizes miss. You also dont need to worry about time-sensitive glues or other issues. You get the precise application you want for your most delicate repairs.

Superior to Glue: SpectroSeal claims to be superior to glue because its not technically glue: its a non-toxic, solvent-free liquid polymer that goes on wet before being sealed with UV light.

Works in 5 Seconds or Fewer: You dont need to hold the ultraviolet light over the liquid polymer for hours for SpectroSeal to work; instead, you can hold the light over the liquid for just a few seconds, and it will create sturdy repairs.

Overall, SpectroSeal claims to help anyone improve your do-it-yourself skills. Instead of throwing items in the garbage when theyre broken, you can easily seal items around the home that you didnt know you could fix  including wine glasses, wood bowls, metal surfaces, and plastic.

SpectroSeal Reviews: What Do Customers Have to Say?

The official SpectroSeal website is filled with positive reviews from customers. Generally, customers agree that SpectroSeal works as advertised to fix objects around the home. The website lists an average rating of 4.6 stars out of 5 among reviewers.

Some of the testimonials featured on GetSpectroSeal.com include:

One man claims he has saved myself at least a thousand bucks after using SpectroSeal around the home; he fixed his computers power adapter, a broken pair of designer sunglasses, and other expensive items with SpectroSeal

Another man claims he tried different types of super glues in the past but hated using them, as the glue ended up all over his fingers, giving him a crusty feeling that was difficult to wash off; with SpectroSeal, thats not an issue, as its a no-mess applicator system

One woman recommends SpectroSeal for any jewelry makers toolbox; that woman sells handmade earrings and necklaces at local artisan shows and claims the SpectroSeal super pen is perfect for making quick repairs and sticking items together

Another woman claims she repaired a treasured set of vintage figurines that had been in the family for generations; her kids had bumped into the cabinet, breaking the figurines; after a few seconds with SpectroSeal, the figurines were as good as new

One customer claims to have fixed phone chargers, cutlery, toys, tables, and other items around the house in seconds using SpectroSeal; that customer claims every household should have at least one SpectroSeal

Generally, customers agree that SpectroSeal works as advertised to create a hard-to-break bond between surfaces that are normally resistant to glue.

How the Science Works

Can you really use a combination of liquid polymer and ultraviolet light to seal objects together? Does SpectroSeal really work on metal, plastic, and other difficult surfaces? Lets check the science behind SpectroSeal.

First, you can find many UV light glue kits sold online today. Most glue kits advertise identical benefits to SpectroSeal. Most claim to repair virtually anything in five seconds. Kits range in price from $8 to $20.

Some kits are also known as UV activated glue kits. Most kits come with a tube of liquid polymer along with a UV light or flashlight.

Its important to note that SpectroSeal is not a glue: its a solvent-free liquid polymer formula that works differently from glue. The liquid polymer only has a stickiness after being exposed to UV light. That UV light cures the polymer in seconds to create a virtually permanent bond.

Despite the fact that SpectroSeal is not a glue, most people refer to these products as UV glues or UV-activated glues.

UV glue is a type of adhesive that requires a phytochemical reaction to cure it. Its a polymer that requires UV light to cross-link the formula, solidifying the structure at the molecular level.

What makes SpectroSeal and other UV glues different from traditional adhesives? A traditional adhesive relies on drying. You need to wait for glue to dry before it forms a bond. As the glue dries, it slowly seals the two surfaces together. With SpectroSeal, you get a similar seal within five seconds.

Why are we just hearing about UV light now? Why arent UV activated glues the most common types of glues available? Well, UV light has been used in industrial settings for decades. Its common in cosmetics, cars, medicine, and foods, among other industries. Today, UV light and liquid polymers are cheaper than ever, making this same technology accessible to ordinary people like you.

UV glues have several unique advantages over ordinary glues. Theyre flexible and work on multiple surfaces. They cure quickly. And they create a strong seal even at a low temperature. A good UV glue is also heatproof, weatherproof, and waterproof  something we dont see with ordinary glues.

The biggest downside of UV glue is the high cost. UV glues can be expensive, especially if you dont already have a UV light. Some solvents can also turn yellow over time. Although they start off clear and transparent, they eventually become yellow.

Overall, science tells us that SpectroSeal can work as advertised to deliver powerful seals on objects around your home  including plastics, metal, ceramics, and other surfaces that are difficult to seal with ordinary glues.

SpectroSeal Pricing

SpectroSeal is priced at $20 per unit. Each unit comes with an applicator filled with the liquid polymer. That applicator also has the UV light on the side, giving you everything you need to use SpectroSeal.





Heres how pricing breaks down at the official website at GetSpectroSeal.com:

1 Unit: $19.99 + $8.95 Shipping

$19.99 + $8.95 Shipping 2 Units: $39.98 + $9.95 Shipping

$39.98 + $9.95 Shipping 3 Units: $44.98 + $10.95 Shipping

$44.98 + $10.95 Shipping 4 Units: $54.97 + $11.95 Shipping

The makers of SpectroSeal do not explain how long an average applicator should last, nor do they explain how much liquid polymer solution is in SpectroSeal. It depends on how you use SpectroSeal.

SpectroSeal Refund Policy

SpectroSeal does not offer refunds on any unused or opens purchases. If you have opened SpectroSeal and were unhappy with the performance of the device, then you cannot obtain a refund. All opened and used purchases appear to be final, according to the official website.

If you have not opened or used SpectroSeal, then you can request a refund within 30 days of your original purchase date, minus shipping costs.

Overall, SpectroSeal has a surprisingly strict refund policy compared to most items sold online.

Who Created SpectroSeal?

SpectroSeal is sold online by a company named Prestige Alliance Limited. The company sells SpectroSeal online around the world through GetSpectroSeal.com.

Prestige Alliance Limited is based in Old Tappan, New Jersey. The company is not like others that seem to source products like SpectroSeal from China, selling them online to western markets, rather focuses on quality and going the extra mile to deliver quality products that last.

You can contact the makers of SpectroSeal via the following:

Email: support@getspectroseal.com

support@getspectroseal.com Phone (US & Canada Toll-Free): 855-378-9408

855-378-9408 Phone (United Kingdom): 03308 180831

03308 180831 Phone (Australia & New Zealand): (02) 5133 5682

(02) 5133 5682 Mailing Address: 48 Bi-State Plaza #617, Old Tappan, NJ 07675

Final Word

SpectroSeal is a UV-activated liquid polymer that seals items around your home. You apply the liquid polymer to any surface, then cure the polymer using UV light to seal it.

Overall, SpectroSeal should work as advertised to provide effective adhesion within five seconds. You get an easy application system and a small UV light. Its not as large or as powerful as other UV-activated glues, but it could be ideal for repairing jewelry, electronics, and other small items.

SpectroSeal does not offer refunds on any used or opened purchases, and the manufacturer does not disclose the size of the glue tube upfront. Its unusual for a company to have a refund policy this strict when selling items online, but due to Covid restrictions this seems to be slowly becoming the norm.

If you like SpectroSeal and want to learn more, visit the official website at GetSpectroSeal.com today.

Official Website:

Contact Details: SpectroSeal

Email: support@getspectroseal.com

Phone: 855-378-9408

About MarketingByKevin.com

This product review is published by Marketing By Kevin. Marketing By Kevin reviews are researched and formulated by a group of experienced natural health advocates with years of dedication and determination to finding the highest quality health products and wellness programs available. It should be noted that any purchase derived from this resource is done at your own peril. It is recommended to consult with a qualified professional healthcare practitioner before making an order today if there are any additional questions or concerns. Any order finalized from this releases links are subject to the entire terms and conditions of the official websites offer. The researched information above does not take any direct or indirect responsibility for its accuracy.

Affiliate Disclosure:

The links contained in this product review may result in a small commission to Marketing By Kevin if you opt to purchase the product recommended at no additional cost to you. This goes towards supporting our research and editorial team and please know we only recommend high quality products.

Disclaimer:

Please understand that any advice or guidelines revealed here are not even remotely a substitute for sound medical advice from a licensed healthcare provider. Make sure to consult with a professional physician before making any purchasing decision if you use medications or have concerns following the review details shared above. Individual results may vary as the statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Product support: support@getspectroseal.com

Media Contact: info@marketingbykevin.com

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Is a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich still an Italian beef without the beef?

Buona, the Berwyn-based restaurant company founded with the Buonavolanto familys Italian beef recipe 40 years ago, will launch its plant-based Italian Beefless Sandwich ($7.99) on Monday. The vegan creation will be available at all 24 locations in the Chicago area and Indiana for an unspecified limited time through this summer.

While Buona is known for our original Italian beef, we wanted to expand our plant-based menu options to serve the growing number of vegans and vegetarians who join their families at our restaurants, Buona director of marketing Candice Jordan said.

The beefless beef is seitan made by Chicago-based Uptons Naturals. The independently owned company makes meat alternatives in the West Town neighborhood. Seitan is wheat gluten, the washed wheat flour created centuries ago in China and eaten as a meat alternative in many cultures.

When vegans go out to eat, they crave the same variety and savory meal options as anyone, just without the meat to go with it, said Uptons Naturals founder Dan Staackmann.

The Buona Italian Beefless Sandwich will be prepared separately to prevent cross-contamination with nonvegan products. The 7-inch sandwich will be made on the same bread, with the same optional hot or mild giardiniera, but a new vegan gravy made with vegetable broth and olive oil.

This isnt the only vegan Italian beef in town. Uptons Breakroom, the seitan-makers own on-site cafe, offers a Chicago-style Italian with optional vegan cheese. Soul Veg City, previously known as Original Soul Vegetarian and located in Chatham, makes what they call The Italian V. The Duck Inn chef Kevin Hickey created the Italian beef-esque Beet Street sandwich, which showcases spicy, thinly sliced shavings of beet, at his Time Out Market stand Decent Beef, which remains closed temporarily due to the pandemic.

Joe Buonavolanto Sr., 89, and his late wife, Peggy, founded Buona in 1981 with their five sons, who are now working with the third generation of the family at the company.

When we got the recipe right, we had Pop (Joe Sr.) give us his thoughts, said Don Buonavolanto, one of the five founding brothers. He was surprised how much the vegan gravy and beefless meat spices replicated his original recipe. Even though he enjoyed it, he did say he prefers his original Italian beef sandwich.

What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. Sign up for our Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar had a virtual meeting with State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway Audun Halvorsen, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reports.

Bodnar informed his Norwegian colleague in detail about the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraines borders, the deteriorating security situation in the temporarily occupied territories in eastern Ukraine and in occupied Crimea, as well as the illegal blocking of the Black Sea in the Kerch Strait.

For his part, Halvorsen reaffirmed Norway's unwavering position on supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, and the systemic reform process. The Norwegian diplomat praised Ukraine's efforts to achieve a political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict and its balanced approach to countering Russia's aggravation of the security situation

In this context, the parties discussed ways to strengthen practical assistance to Ukraine in order to deter Russia from further aggressive actions.

A separate topic of conversation was the preparation for an inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform.

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YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of the Senate (upper house of the Parliament) of France Gerard Larcher and his delegation will arrive in Armenia at the invitation of Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan aimed at participating in the Armenian Genocide commemoration events, the Armenian Parliament told Armenpress.

The French delegation includes heads of all political groups represented in the Senate.

The delegation members will have meetings with Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, the representatives of parliamentary factions and standing committees.

Meetings are also expected with Armenias Prime Minister, President and Catholicos of All Armenians.

April 24 marks the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Underground Salt Mine in Poland Has Otherworldly Saline Lakes, Statues, Ballrooms That Defy Belief

Far beyond the humble kitchen condiment, saltquite literallyhas a history of great depth. One fascinating chapter of that history lies deep below the earth in Poland, where, in the 13th century, it was mined from a location like no other.

The largest of these mines still exists today.

Surreally, the underground mine comprises vast, decorated chambers illuminated by chandeliers; cavernous halls with sublime saline lakes; and chapels carved right out of the living salt surroundings.

The subterranean site is so otherworldly that it has to be seen to be believed.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine, near Krakow, descends nine levels, 1,072 feetapproximately 327 metersbelow ground level. Via 26 mine shafts accessed over seven centuries, roughly 2,500 unique chambers were carved through salt excavations, linking corridors that span a massive 245 kilometers, or 152 miles.

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, the otherworldly underground mine has become a hotspot for tourists.

The corridors and even the floor are made of salt, Aleksandra Sieradzka, of the mines communications department, told Bored Panda. The chandeliers also contain crystal saltthe purest type of salt.

In guided tours, visitors may traverse down grandiose stairways, descending into cavernous hollows with vast saltwater lakes and intricate carvings. They are also able to pay homage to four subterranean chapels: St. Anthonys, the Holy Cross, St. Kingas, and St. Johns. Chiseled away by sculptor miners, the altars and statues welcome would-be prayers.

To buttress the uncanny salt works from self-collapse, wooden supports were added as structural reinforcement.

The processing of salt itself, Sieradzka explained, isnt complex. But it takes an expert to carve salt.

Every block of salt is different, he said, it differs not only in size or hardness, but also in color, which can be used in an interesting way in the act of creation.

Visitors have long been enchanted by the salt mines surreal beauty.

The walls, the floor, the ceiling, the statues are all salt! one netizen posted on Bored Panda. Licked a finger damp, rubbed it against basically anything, and tasted it. Yup, its salt.

Definitely looks like the Mine of Moria, commented another. Lets hope a Balrog does not live here.

The Wieliczka Salt Minecalled Magnum Sal, or Great Salt, in the Middle Ageswas the largest source of salt in all of Poland and one of the most profitable enterprises in Europe, the mines video introduction explains. Salt extraction at Wieliczka continued right up until 1996.

While only 2 percent of the underground salt chambers are open to the public today, the space is much more than an inert museum exhibition. Wieliczka Salt Mine hosts parties and events and is renowned for its annual New Year concert that takes place in January.

There are a couple of chambers where you can have a party, Sieradzka said. One big ballroom [Warszawa Chamber] and a few smaller ones.

Until the pandemic hit, the mine even hosted mass every Sunday, and weddings are allowed in some of the chapels. The grounds also host a health resort and a four-star hotel aboveground.

Today, as the salt mine is constantly changing over time, engineers labor to preserve this centuries-old, historical marvel for generations to come.

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
(Natural News) Maxine waters is fomenting violent insurrection.

(Article by Luis Miguel republished from TheNewAmerican.com)

No one who condemned President Trump over the January 6 breach of the Capitol can deny, by their standards, that the California Democrat congresswomans latest actions are far more damning.

Speaking far outside her district in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, to already-violent crowds and telling them to get more confrontational if police officer Derek Chauvin isnt convicted for the murder of George Floyd is a clear incitement to riot if there ever was one.

Weve got to stay on the street and weve got to get more active, weve got to get more confrontational. Weve got to make sure that they know that we mean business, Waters told reporters over the weekend as she and activists violated the citys curfew. Asked about her flagrant law-breaking, she replied that I dont know what curfew means.

The lawmaker added that she hopes Chauvin will be convicted, but if he isnt, we cannot go away.

What did Waters mean by more confrontational? There has already been rioting and looting. George Floyd protesters even burned down an Apple store in Portland and are attempting to take over government buildings. The only avenue left to become more confrontational at this point is by violence and killings.

Waters intentions are further punctuated by a history of incendiary remarks made in the same vein. As the New York Post notes:

In 2018, she told them to harass Trump administration officials. Lets make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them theyre not welcome anymore, anywhere, she said. Of course, shes not around to see the results. After pouring fuel on the fire in Minnesota, she encouraged everyone to keep protesting  though she herself would not be.

Waters dangerous actions led the outlet to call for her impeachment and removal from Congress.

Maxine Waters is trying to create a Civil War, and her irresponsible rhetoric is inciting violence. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should strip her of her committee assignments and move for a vote to remove Waters from office, the papers editorial board wrote.

Republican members of Congress such as Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, and Ken Buck also took aim at Waters.

The Radical Left dont care if your towns are burning, if theres violence in your streets, or if the police are too defunded to defend their communities, wrote Biggs on Twitter.

Yet despite the cries of disgust and outrage from the Right on social media, does anyone believe anything will actually be done to hold Waters accountable?

When Democrats held power in Congress, they had no qualms about impeaching President Trump over January 6. In fact, several Republicans joined in the effort to impeach and convict him. Can we trust that Republicans would do the same to figures such as Waters if they were in charge?

We already know the answer. As seen above, Waters has a history of inciting violence  insurrection, as Democrats and the media would put it. Yet when the GOP was in control of Congress, they never took disciplinary action against her.

Republicans have watched as avowed socialists openly commit sedition and yet do nothing but wave their fingers and issue scathing statements. Democrats called their bluff long ago.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was removed from her committee assignments in the House because of comments prior to her tenure as representative that Democrats and the media have called incendiary. Why didnt Republicans take such action against Waters before?

Fittingly, as someone who has been on the receiving end of Democrats weaponization of House rules, Greene has signaled that she understands that Democrats must be held accountable when their actions place American lives and the integrity of our republic in jeopardy. The Georgia lawmaker wrote on Twitter that she would soon introduce a resolution to expel Waters from Congress for her continual incitement of violence on innocent American people.

Greene also filed impeachment articles against Joe Biden the day after his inauguration because he is willing to abuse the power of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies.

If Congress were full of more legislators with that mentality, the socialists would not have the power they currently enjoy. As it stands, the Lefts best allies are conservatives who are all talk and no action.

Read more at: TheNewAmerican.com and JusticeDemocrats.news.
DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE American:GORO) (the "Company") announces that Rick Irvine, Chief Operating Officer, will leave the Company effective May 19, 2021. Allen Palmiere, President and CEO, said "We thank Rick for his service and sincerely appreciate all of his effort and dedication to the growth and success of Gold Resource Corporation."

About GRC:

Gold Resource Corporation is a gold and silver producer, developer, and explorer with operations in Oaxaca, Mexico. Under the direction of a new board and senior leadership, the focus is to unlock the significant upside potential of its existing infrastructure and large land position surrounding the mine. For more information, please visit GRC's website, located at www.goldresourcecorp.com and read the Company's 10-K for an understanding of the risk factors involved.

Contacts:

Ann Wilkinson

Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs

Ann.Wilkinson@GRC-USA.com

www.GoldResourcecorp.com

SOURCE: Gold Resource Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/642049/Gold-Resource-Corporation-Reports-Departure-of-Rick-Irvine-Chief-Operating-Officer
Imperial Valley News Center

Tax Attorney Indicted for Facilitating Tax Fraud

San Francisco, California - A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment charging a Houston-based tax attorney of conspiring with the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of a private equity firm to defraud the IRS. The grand jury further charged him with three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of the CEOs false tax returns for the 2012 to 2014 tax years.

According to the indictment, from 1999 to 2014, Carlos E. Kepke helped Robert F. Smith create and maintain offshore entities that were used to conceal from the IRS approximately $225,000,000 of capital gains income that Smith had earned. In approximately March 2000, Kepke allegedly created a Nevisian limited liability company (Flash Holdings) and a Belizean trust (Excelsior Trust) to serve as the tax evasion vehicles. When Smith earned capital gains income from his private equity funds, a portion was allegedly deposited into Flashs bank accounts in the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland. As alleged, Smith was able to hide this income because Excelsior, and not Smith, was the nominal owner of Flash. Smith then allegedly failed to timely and fully report his income to the IRS. Kepke allegedly assisted in the preparation of Smiths false 2012 to 2014 returns.

For his services, Smith has allegedly paid Kepke nearly $1,000,000 since 2007. These fees, as charged, included an annual payment for Kepke to purge or securitize his records related to Smith, Excelsior, and Flash.

Kepke is scheduled for his initial court appearance on April 22 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Corley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. If convicted, Kepke faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and three years in prison for each count of assisting in the preparation of a false return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Departments Tax Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds of the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Northern District of California; and Jim Lee, Chief of the IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

IRS-CI are investigating the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Corey Smith, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael G. Pitman, and Trial Attorneys Lee Langston and Christopher Magnani are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
[April 23, 2021] SmartMetric Says the Driver for the Adoption of Safer Biometric Credit Cards Is Clear With 67% of Americans Being Afraid of Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft and 47% Americans Find Identity Theft Worse Than Murder

SmartMetric, Inc. (OTCQB: SMME): According to the latest Atlas VPN research, the US residents are way more worried about being hacked than getting murdered. Data compiled by Atlas VPN shows that 67% of Americans are afraid of being a victim of identity theft, while only 20% are scared of being murdered. SmartMetric's own commissioned consumer research found that due to the extremely high concern by consumers regarding credit card fraud nearly 70% of existing credit card users would be willing to pay $69.00 for a biometric safely secured credit card. The SmartMetric independent research shows that biometric based credit cards such as the SmartMetric fingerprint credit card is a new paradigm for the credit card industry. A product that consumers are willing to pay for in order to feel safer with the card in their wallets. The SmartMetric Biometric fingerprint activated credit and debit cards are both contact and contactless cards that work across all existing card readers including ATM's. The use of a person's fingerprint touching a small surface mounted sensor on the card initiates an instantaneous scan of the user's fingerprint, matching their fingerprint with their pre-stored fingerprint inside their card. A positive fingerprint match in less than the blink of an eye turns the user's card on as they reach to insert or pass it over a card reader. Securing contactless credit and debit cards with a person's biometrics is a game changer in the contactless payments card world according to SmartMetric. Allowing card issuing banks to now provide a totally secure contactless card product that can only be used by the real card holder. This dramatically changes the risk for card issuers who have had to have low transaction limits on contactless cards due to the ease of use by fraudsters who have acquired a lost of stolen card. It has taken us a great deal of engineering and time to perfect our contactless card technology inside the card whereby the card's contactless radio transmission is only activated to work with a contactless card reader following the card holder's positive fingerprint scan. The biometric credit card holder's fingerprint is stored inside the card and by simply touching a sensor on the card's surface, in less than a quarter of a second the user's fingerprint is scanned, matched and then and only then will the card workin a contact or contactless card reader or ATM.



The other major advantage of the SmartMetric biometric card technology is that it is self-powered. That means that the card does not have to be inserted into a card reader for it to work. This feature allows the SmartMetric card to be used at all card payment situations including in restaurants that take the card to the checkout to process the payment. SmartMetric is a USA based company with sales and marketing partnerships in Latin America, Europe the United States. Engineering of the biometric card electronics is done in-house and is the owned intellectual property of the company.

To view the SmartMetric Biometric Card please follow this link - Video of the SmartMetric Biometric Card. To view the company website: www.smartmetric.com Safe Harbor Statement: Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Also such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, if we are unable to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets where we operate; our ability to access the capital markets; and other risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC (News - Alert) . We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Investors and security holders are urged to carefully review and consider each of SmartMetric Inc. public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to, if applicable, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, proxy statements, Current Reports on Form 8-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005477/en/

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  The 69th Miss Universe pageant is less than a month away. How is the Philippines' representative Rabiya Mateo prepping?

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source on Friday, the 24-year-old Iloilo City lass said she has been devoting much of her time for the hardest segment of the pageant  the Q&A.

"You need to prepare for the hardest part of the competition," she revealed. "I would talk to a lot of people. Thats when I get to know something."

"I also read some articles online," she added. "Its like me reviewing again for the board exam. Thats how I feel right now."

Mateo said she has been doing her Q&A trainings virtually while in Florida, where she will be competing with more than 70 candidates.

While using her background in physical therapy for her workout routine, she shared she also gets constant guidance from Miss Universe Philippines creative director Jonas Gaffud.

"I also do the 'pasarela' or catwalk training," she said. "Good thing I live with Sir Jonas Gaffud. We would give two to three hours a day for catwalk trainings."

Mateo also disclosed she has also been getting advice from Miss Universe titleholders Pia Wurtzbach and Catriona Gray, and former Miss Universe finalist MJ Lastimosa.

"They would remind me to be myself because this is gonna be the time of my life," Mateo said. "I really need to enjoy the journey."

"I would say that Im 95% ready but there are still a lot of things to be polished," she admitted. "But Ive done everything. In my heart I know Ive poured all the energy in my system."

Miss Universe 2020 skin care partner Olivia Quido-Co said fans all over the world have been sending their message of support for Mateo because of her "relatability and wisdom."

"Her wisdom, the way she speaks and tells her story, may substance to everything she says," Quido-Co told CNN Philippines in the same interview. "Makikita mo galing sa puso ang mga sinasabi niya."

[Translation: Her wisdom, the way she speaks and tells her story, there's substance to everyrhing she says. You can really see that she speaks from the heart.]

But what can Mateo offer to win the Philippines' fifth Miss Universe crown?

"Its my heart and my time," she quickly replied. "Because I really want to be somebody who is involved in the community."

"I dont want to be remembered as the face of Miss Universe Philippines, but I want them to remember me as a phenomenal woman who actually did something for her country," she stated.

Miss Universe 2020 will be held at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on May 16 (May 17 in Manila).
A claim that recently went viral, suggesting that over 7,200 human penises were seized from a Nigerian cargo ship by Chinese authorities has caught the attention of the Nigerian House of Representatives.

The House has now resolved to investigate the claim about illicit trade on human organs between Nigeria and China.

The call was as a result of a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rimamnde Kwewum (PDP-Taraba) and co-sponsored by Olajide Olatubosun (APC-Oyo), at a plenary on Thursday.

Mr Kwewum, who moved the motion, said that about two weeks ago, Chinese authorities seized a cargo ship that sailed from Nigeria with 7,200 refrigerated human penises.

The Committees on Human Rights and National security and Intelligence have already been mandated by the House to investigate the issue.

Prior to the House of Representatives call for action on the matter, the viral claim was widely circulated on social media arousing massive traction and reactions which might have, perhaps, caused the lawmakers into calling for action.

It featured on Twitter , Instagram and WhatsApp and even a prominent Nigerian politician also shared it.

Femi Fani-kayodes tweet on the same claim

However, DUBAWAs findings regarding the claim showed that the story was a hoax as it was originally first shared on a satire website.

The website, World News Daily, posted a related story of the recovery of 7,221 human penises from a cargo ship. Even more, the site bore the motto Where facts dont matter, and headlined the article as Chinese Authorities Seize Over 7,200 Human Penises On a Cargo Ship From Nigeria.

The claim also carried a picture that was alleged to be of Chinese authorities scanning the cargo of the confiscated human penises.

Chinese customs officers have made the worlds biggest seizure of human organs in history this morning, a total of 7221 penises of African origin hidden in a refrigerated freight container,

To make its claim appear genuine, the outlet quoted Chinese General Administration of Customs spokesman, Li Wu, as saying, These organs are common commodities now, but they were certainly harvested in unsanitary conditions or contaminated at some point, so we cant let them out on the Chinese market.

DUBAWA also uncovered that the picture used in the satire article was originally related to a story that saw Chinese authorities seizing parts of endangered pangolin on March 9, 2020. Further, Yandex reverse image search traced the image to four other China-based websites which had also reported on the endangered pangolin back in 2020. Apparently, it turned out that the Nigerian parliament members had merely fallen victim to the satire websites frivolous claim on the importation of human penises from Nigeria to China.

Motion not about penis importation  Lawmaker

When reached Friday afternoon, Olajide Olatubosun (APC-Oyo), a co-sponsor of the motion, explained that although the news may be fake, it was not the crux of the motion.

The essence of that motion is not to focus on the 7,200 penises, he said. It can be a fake news most likely but if you look at that motion, it is an investigation into organ harvesting. It has been an issue especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and the place of Nigeria.

As regards the claim in question, he explained that we are not really focusing whether or not they caught 7,200 penises in China but the major issue is about organ harvesting, can we look at it more critically?

Anything that comes on social media these days the average Nigerian tends to believe it but we are more concerned with other Nigerians that have probably been kidnapped and their organs harvested for ritual purposes_ what are doing as a people to prevent this criminality.

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Rimamnde Kwewum (PDP-Taraba), the other lawmaker who co-sponsored the motion, promised to get back to Dubawa but has yet to do so as of press time.
By Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) - Leaders of U.S. police groups will meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to discuss his sweeping civil investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis and similar probes, according to a spokesman for the National Sheriffs Association.

The investigation, which follows this week's jury verdict that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, marks a return to more assertive federal oversight of state and local police, a policy the Justice Department largely abandoned during Republican Donald Trump's presidency.

"We are looking forward to continuing the conversation and collaborative relationship between the Justice Department and sheriffs to work on solutions to continue to keep our communities safe," Sheriff's Association spokesman Patrick Royal said ahead of the virtual meeting.

The national Fraternal Order of Police said its executive director, Jim Pasco, would attend the session.

Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Floyd's death was one in a long series of killings of Black men and women by law enforcement that sparked nationwide protests over racial injustice.

"Officers welcome accountability because accountability is an essential part of building trust with the community and public safety requires public trust," Garland said when he launched the investigation on Wednesday.

Friday's meeting with leaders of law enforcement groups was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Chauvin's conviction on all three counts of murder or manslaughter was a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said they welcomed the federal investigation, and pledged to cooperate.

There have been questions by groups representing law enforcement officers and conservative politicians over the effectiveness of federal efforts to reform police departments, which are typically achieved through court-approved settlements known as consent decrees.

Story continues

During Democratic President Barack Obama's presidency, some police unions complained that the decrees stigmatize police and impose overly restrictive limits on use of force.

Garland on April 16 rescinded a Trump-era memo that curtailed the use of consent decrees in investigations of law enforcement agencies.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
Karen Carter Peterson staked out progressive views on issue after issue while Troy Carter repeatedly invoked President Joe Biden and said he would work with Republicans and independents, as the two candidates made a late pitch to voters Thursday in their third and final debate before Saturday's congressional election.

Peterson and Carter are New Orleans Democrats who have been political allies frequently working together over the past five years in the state Senate. But people watching the 40-minute debate on WWL television wouldnt have known that as Carter repeatedly called Peterson a liar while adding at one point, Youre angry, youre desperate. Peterson said her opponent has distorted her record and, near the end, called Carter a bit discombobulated.

With questions from WWL morning news anchor Eric Paulsen, the two candidates, via Zoom, discussed health care, policing in the wake of George Floyds murder, the energy transition from fossil fuels, how they should work with Republicans, missed votes in the Legislature and campaign contributions from outside groups.

People who have seen both candidates in action inside the Capitol in Baton Rouge would have recognized Peterson making more forceful policy statements, while Carter described himself as a Democrat who can work well with others.

There was also a political calculation at work after Carter led the March 20 primary with 36% of the vote to Petersons 23%: Peterson seeks the 21% won by Gary Chambers Jr., the Baton Rouge social justice advocate, while Carters path to victory requires him to pick up the 16% of the primary voters who favored a Republican candidate.

Peterson, who has been endorsed by the national progressive icon U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, championed the Medicare for All program that would provide universal health care to everyone. She said she was the only Louisiana senator who voted against then-Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal's budgets, which after approval by her colleagues, left Louisiana with a budget mess. (Carter hadnt been elected at the time.)

Peterson used forceful language when asked about the future of fossil fuels, saying, People are dying. Lets start with that. Climate and pollution are the crisis of our lifetime, and the petrochemical industry which has been in Louisiana needs to be transitioned out.

Carter was more measured, saying, We should wean ourselves off fossil fuels. ... We cant do it overnight. He added that he wants to work with the Biden administrations Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that industrial companies in the River Parishes dont violate pollution regulations.

Peterson used strong language when Paulsen asked whether she favors defunding the police while crime remains a problem.

It seems like every day we are losing people and Black people to senseless police violence, she said, adding several minutes later, The system is broken.

Carter, invoking Biden again, said he would smart fund, not defund the police and added, We should make sure we stand with the good police officers while we prosecute the bad ones.

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The winner of Saturday's runoff will be the only Democrat in Louisianas congressional delegation and will represent a district that stretches from New Orleans to a portion of Baton Rouge.

Peterson showed minimal interest in working with Republicans in Congress, complaining that U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Jefferson, whose district covers the White-majority suburbs around New Orleans, unfortunately has not said that President Biden was legitimately elected.

She also said, There will be times when I can work with Republicans, but I am not going to compromise my values on Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, criminal justice reform, passing the George Floyd Act.

Peterson, who chaired the Louisiana Democratic Party for eight years, also criticized Carter for seeking the endorsement of the Greater New Orleans Republican PAC, which she said supported former President Donald Trump.

Carter called her comments divisive and said, Listen, when youre elected, youre elected to represent the entire district, Republicans, Democrats, independents and others. I will stand for those Democratic ideals that I believe in. I will fight for them until the end. But I will also come to the table to compromise to make sure that I bring resources home for the people of Louisiana.

He added, This notion that we cant work together so we draw a line in the sand, and Democrats are devils to Republicans and Republicans are devils to Democrats, thats counterproductive.

As they were outlining their views, more so than in the previous two debates, the candidates repeatedly showed bitterness and anger toward each other.

Carter said Peterson has been portraying him in flyers, texts and a TV ad as standing with rogue cops.

I have two black sons, he said in giving a very personal response. Later, he said, When they leave the house, I pray for them.

Peterson took umbrage at Carter  when Paulsen had the two candidates ask questions of each other  for asking why she was the only senator who voted against a 2012 measure, House Bill 353, which prohibited sexual predators from residing within 1,000 of schools. Peterson said she didnt remember the bill and accused him of trying to fool voters.

You know that Im a Christian, she said. You know that I have values because you know my mother and my [late] father. Dont try to distort my record and my character to people as if I, as a Black woman in Louisiana, would stand for sexual predators. I am a victim of sexual abuse, so it is just nonsensical you would even say something like that. And you know that.
Healthcare and Industry federations came forward on Thursday to support the government's Covid vaccination strategy and to scale up last-mile delivery for the entire population.

In order to ramp up the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country, the Indian government on Monday announced a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of Covid-19 vaccination from May 1.

Everyone above the age of 18 will be eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine, said the government.

The healthcare and industry federations in a meeting deliberated on a set of immediate recommendations for submission to the government for effectively executing the liberalised and accelerated phase three National Vaccination Strategy from May 1.

The recommendations were aligned with the main elements of the Phase-3 strategy -- procurement and administration of vaccines being made flexible -- all stakeholders being given the freedom to customise to local needs and dynamics.

They also recommended incentivising manufacturers to scale-up production and invite new national and international players; and manufacturers empowered to release vaccines in the open market at a pre-declared price and states authorised to purchase from private players.

Senior healthcare leaders from the private sector spanning all major healthcare federations -- CII, FICCI, AHPI, IMA, PHD Chamber of Commerce, ASSOCHAM, Indian Chamber of Commerce, AMC, ANEI, AHEI, FHA Karnataka and NATHEALTH -- participated in the meeting.

Lauding the government for the phase three inoculation drive, as it can enable the industry to come together, the Federations recommended that the private sector in India pool their demand for effective flexible procurement to ensure high quality and uninterrupted access of lifesaving vaccines.

Harsh Mahajan, President NATHEALTH said, "As the country is grappling with a sudden surge of Covid cases and different parts of the country facing various challenges related to healthcare infrastructure, ramping up vaccination drive by involving Indian and global organisations will prove to be beneficial in the longer run and will reduce the burden on the healthcare ecosystem that India is facing amidst these tough times."

The private sector can assess emerging requirements from healthcare, telecom, retail, information technology, consumer, and other industry segments through rapid assessment. The private sector will also explore PPP's to share the national responsibility with central and state governments.

They will work collaboratively to tide over supply side challenges and join hands with the Government to scale up last mile delivery of vaccines, pandemic surveillance and hospitalization care.

The private sector will prioritise the rapid clinical trials for other critical, life-saving drugs, inhalers and therapies which are showing promising results for use in the treatment of Covid-19, apart from vaccines.

As an immediate short-term measure, as private healthcare sector reorganises its supply chains, there is an urgent need for Central and State governments to ensure continuity of supplies for the next 30-60 days, especially for existing eligible population and those eligible for second vaccination.

They requested the government to ensure that there is consistency in vaccine administration guidelines across states through standard operating guidelines for engagement with the private sector.

In this process, industry will be ready to engage immediately in right earnest.
KALAMZOO, MI  There have been months of protests and discussions about changing policing in Kalamazoo County since the May 25, 2020 death of 46-year-old Black man George Floyd.

The man responsible for Floyds death, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, was found guilty April 20, of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin will be sentenced in eight weeks. He knelt on Floyds neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, including 3 1/2 minutes after Floyd took his last breath.

Kalamazoo-area residents spent much of the last 11 months protesting and asking for local police agencies to review and change their polices.

Related: Guilty verdict in George Floyd murder trial sends a strong signal to police, says Kalamazoo activist

Here is a look at previous changes and potential changes from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office.

The Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office started to make changes years before Floyds death and those changes arent done yet, Sheriff Richard Fuller said.

The sheriffs office has had a response to resistance policy, commonly known as a use-of-force policy, in place for years, Fuller said. It is reviewed every year to ensure best practices are written down.

Not everything is a use of force, Fuller said. Sometimes its just verbal, sometimes its positioning of ourselves. We want to make sure everyone understands our response to somebodys resistance doesnt have to be a physical touching.

The 8 Cant Wait campaign from the nationwide advocacy group Campaign Zero was launched last summer after the death of George Floyd to demand transformative changes in law enforcement country wide.

A co-founder previously said the sheriffs office only met one of the eight policy requirements. Fuller, who disagreed with the assessment, said the department already had similar policies in place.

Fuller said 8 Cant Wait has not had any conversations with him or other local law enforcement.

Besides that organization, I know that ultimately there were things we made more clear in our written directives, Fuller said. These pieces were here already but we made them more clear because there was a question from a community group  8 Cant Wait in this case  and we felt it was important to make it clear where we stood when it comes to chokeholds and response to resistance, what others would call a use of force.

One change Fuller wants to see moving forward is more cooperation between social workers and deputies  a world-changing view for law enforcement, he said. He wanted to find a way to begin that process in 2020 but the budget for those changes was put on hold with the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

There is a very strong connection between the work that each of us do thats not what anybody goes to train for, Fuller said. Its important for us leaders to make sure were connecting these two badly needed services together without depleting one or the other.

A public safety millage renewal will be voted on in 2022, and Fuller said he hopes to add money for the social work aspect to that vote. The idea is in its beginning stages, but he wants law enforcement to work with Integrated Services of Kalamazoo and social workers.

Theres going to be plenty of calls where you arent going to want a social worker showing up, Fuller said. You may think you do and then when things turn for the worse, people are going to ask, How come a police officer wasnt there?

Or when a police officer goes someplace that seems like it is a mundane call and then things turn for the worse there, people will ask, How come the social worker wasnt there? Or how come the (Integrated Services of Kalamazoo) worker wasnt there? Were going to be faced with this for a very long time because this is a world-changing view of all of these different services.

Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety

A new chief was appointed for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety in October, after former Chief Karianne Thomas contract was terminated without cause by the city in September.

Former assistant chief Vernon Coakley was appointed after a summer of protests, where officers used a variety of controversial tactics.

Police used tear gas on citizens during protests in late May and early June. At one point, video footage shows officers firing tear gas at people who were lying on the ground.

During a Proud Boys visit in August, police staged off-site, attempting to avoid conflict. However, after the Proud Boys began marching through town earlier than expected, there were violent interactions with no police presence.

The department came under criticism as no Proud Boys were arrested but Kalamazoo citizens, including an MLive reporter and a legal observer, were. Charges were later dropped against the reporter and legal observer and all but one counterprotester  an Adrian man who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault of a police officer.

Related: Charges dismissed against eight involved in Proud Boys rally and counter-protests in Kalamazoo

Coakley said in an interview with MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette in January that he wants to continue reforms to KDPS and to continue to put resources into Group Violence Intervention initiative and the Domestic Intervention program.

The department had nothing new to add about changes since that January conversation, city spokesperson Ryan Bridges said.

Coakley has said multiple times he wants to start listening sessions with citizens to hear their concerns and give people a chance to bring solutions to larger issues.

People have got to come halfway, he said in January. No longer can we accept pointing fingers and talking about its your problem, what are you doing? Its about us, how do we do it. ... Its about community and building a stronger Kalamazoo.

Last summer, 8 Cant Wait said KDPS met three of the eight policies, but then-chief Thomas said the department met seven.

Related: Kalamazoo police chief disputes 8 Cant Wait analysis

The department hasnt made any changes to its policies, beyond adding the phrase choke hold in the use-of-force section in late 2020, Bridges said. The updated policy is not yet online, but MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette reviewed the new policy and it says in part, officers will not intentionally use any technique (often refereed to as a choke hold) that restricts blood flow to the head.

Coakley, who was present at multiple protests in 2020, also attended two protests last week after the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, who was unarmed and fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop Sunday, April 11, in suburban Minneapolis.

At the recent protests, the chief offered condolences to Wrights family and denounced the police actions. He also spoke with community activists and said they are discussing more changes for the future.

We got to get out in the community together and figure out what are the issues, Coakley said April 16. We want to listen to our community, community has to listen to us. Thats about collaboration, bringing a diverse group of people at the table to make change. Thats important.

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Unaffordable rent among the challenges to fair housing in Kalamazoo, report shows

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New splash pad expected to open on Kalamazoos Northside this August
Following the recent news of Rapt Creative opening offices in London and Kiev, the agency has expanded its services to include PR and influencer marketing. As such, they've appointed Khangelani Dziba to head up the new division. He will be based at Rapt Creative's Johannesburg headquarters but will work closely with all business units across Cape Town, Johannesburg, the UK and Ukraine.

Khangelani Dziba

Rapt Creative wins Molson Coors, opens offices in the UK and Ukraine On the back of substantial new business won in Europe at the end of 2020, Rapt Creative has opened satellite offices in London and Kiev...

How do you feel about joining RAPT Creative?

When did your appointment take effect?

Are you working remotely and if so, how are you getting to know and building rapport with your colleagues and clients under such conditions?

What does your role entail?

How do you plan to navigate the agencys PR & Influencer Partnerships division through these unusual times?

What excites you most about the agency and this division in particular?

What are you most looking forward to or enjoying thus far?

Tell us more about your background/experience and how this has equipped you for the role.

Why brands need to be more inclusive Marketing and brand communications enthusiast, Khangelani Dziba writes about the recent debate sparked by the Nikon influencer marketing campaign and how brands need to ensure that their strategies include more diversity, more transformation and more inclusion...

What do you love most about your career?

Whats at the top of your to-do list?

What are you currently reading/watching/listening to?

Tell us something about yourself not generally known?

When we were evaluating our business offering, we realised the need to expand our services to include PR and influencer marketing, said founder and group Chief Executive Officer of Rapt Creative, Garreth van Vuuren.He added that PR is a highly specialised discipline which is proving to be an asset to Rapt Creatives business model. I am a firm believer that digital, social media and PR should live as one function and bringing someone like Khangelani onboard will assist us in bridging that gap enabling us to dramatically differentiate ourselves from our competitors in what is already known as an oversaturated space.It is no longer enough for the PR function to push earned opportunities and exposure. With the convergence of media and the blurring of the lines when it comes to marketing and advertising disciplines, PR has to shape and inform the messages wherever the conversations take place and opinions are aired. Thats Khangelanis job.Dziba studied journalism and is in the process of completing his Masters in Brand Leadership, and has worked at Fleishmanhillard, DNA Brand Architects and Group Africa Marketing, across multiple blue-chip clients in various industries, including the likes of Standard Bank, Nestle, Vodacom, USAID, Clark & Sons, Bongang Matheba and Penrod Ricard.After almost a decade working for some of the industry juggernauts, all of whom inspired him to briefly head up his own consultancy, the opportunity to join Rapt Creative could not have come at a better time, he said. I have often written about my passion for PR and the need for practitioners to be able to merge what I believe are necessary industry disruptors into the solutions agencies offer brands. My role at Rapt Creative will allow me to do just that, and I am excited for what the future has to offer, he said.Here, Dziba tells us more about his career journey to date and that hes learned that the work of advocacy is something that has to be embedded in who you are, as you will always need to go back to this point of strength to keep you going when the stories and ideas you have are not taken forward in the work you doI am honestly the most excited I have ever been in a very long time! What an honour and privilege to be working with the incredible team at Rapt.I joined Rapt Creative in February this year as a consultant, but the appointment took effect in March.Fortunately, I have the option of doing both remote and office. My preference to date has been to work from the office precisely because I wanted to get to know my colleagues on a one-on-one basis. It is also a Covid-19 compliant space so I am happy that I can come into the office every day.At this point it has been about establishing the discipline within the brands we service. This has essentially been about introducing PR and influencer strategies to our clients and showcasing how it would add value to the overall approach to communication.Quite significantly, this is a service most of the brands we have been working with have been enquiring more and more about. This is very much informed by the fact that communication is something that most brands have relied on during these times to remain relevant and top of mind to consumers.The influencer part has also been receiving much attention, which is probably informed by the fact that advertising budgets have had to be prioritised to where brands will be able to get measurable value while also tapping into where audiences are spending most time  digital platforms.It has to be the opportunity to be able to influence and shape some of the communication to go out. It is something I have always been passionate about and which has been at the core of several articles I have authored for a number of platforms, including Bizcommunity It also has to be the fact that the clients are willing and exited to listen while also trying out new solutions to their brand challenges. This was why I was asked to join the team; to infuse my passion points and somewhat fresh approach to comms into the strategy.Lastly, it has to be the fact that I work for an amazing human in Garreth van Vuuren who is always willing to empower and guide us all towards realising our real potential. Thats trust and leadership right there!There absolutely nothing to date that I have worked on which I have not enjoyed. I relish in all every day to be honest! I am looking forward to winning and working on more business that will enable us to take the Rapt business into newer terrains.My background is in journalism and communications. I started off my career in corporate South Africa working for one of the big five law firms. I then made the informed decision to move into the creative space as I understood that this would give me more of an opportunity to tell authentically South African stories through brands that wed all come to love.I am currently reading towards a Masters in Brand Leadership at Vega which has allowed me the opportunity to explore much deeper issues around diversity, inclusion and representation of maligned groups in advertising. The journey so far has taught me that the work of advocacy is something that has to be embedded in who you are, as you will always need to go back to this point of strength to keep you going when the stories and ideas you have are not taken forward in the work you do.It definitely has to be the journey and how I have grown in leaps and bounds. Nothing has happened by chance. It has all been hard work and sheer commitment to becoming a better professional.Gym! I honestly wake up with the need to fulfil this part of my day.Reading by Robin SharmaWatching  RuPaul's Drag RaceListening to  An eclectic mix of music from different artists and across genresI am a very spiritual person. I pray and believe in a bigger force in control of the life we are destined to live.
PORTAGE, MI -- The Air Zoo in Portage is hosting a national fundraising competition to raise money for restoration work.

The Air Zoo is hoping to raise a total of $100,000 to restore the the Douglas SBD-2P Dauntless and the F-117 Nighthawk Shaba, according to a press release from the Air Zoo.

The public is invited to donate money to help restore their favorite airplane. The Air Zoo needs $50,000 for each plane to support the final phases of restoration including buying tools, parts fabrication, priming and painting.

The fundraiser Fund Your Favorite has reached about 4.2% of its goal for each airplane so far.

Every dollar will bring these two aircraft closer to completion, as well as identify the victor, the Air Zoo website said. Lets be honest here, we love them both equally, but what a fun way to help support our Restoration Teams hard work and dedication.

The Air Zoos restoration program has been hard hit by the pandemic, but efforts continued by more than 75 volunteers to bring historic aircraft back to life. The group of volunteers was slowed by shortage of materials, financial support and people to complete the work, the Air Zoo said.

The Douglas SBD-2P Dauntless is a historic World War II Navy aircraft once thought lost forever in Lake Michigan. It was retrieved from the lake in 2009 and transported to the Air Zoo in 2016. Since, more than 36,000 volunteer hours have been logged restoring the plan.

Once complete, it will return to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Air Zoo hopes to have the restoration work complete by Dec. 7.

The F-117 Nighthawk first flew in 1986 and later arrived to the Air Zoo in December 2020. Volunteers have spent 2,800 hours restoring the airplane. Once finished, the airplane will be on display in the main gallery of the Air Zoos Flight Innovation Center by the end of 2021.

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5 of the prettiest wildflowers youll see in Michigan this spring
An Oregon woman in her 50s has died of a rare blood clot within two weeks of receiving Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine, state officials announced Thursday.

She is the 10th person publicly confirmed to have had the rare adverse event. Six other women, all between 18 and 50, developed the brain rare clots in combination with low platelet counts during the rollout of J&J's vaccine. Another woman under 60 and a young man developed the condition while taking part in the vaccine's trials.

Although the Oregon health officials said the other six women also developed 'this blood clot,' they did not specify whether it affected her brain (a condition known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST).

Oregon officials said the woman received the vaccine before the national pause was called on its administration last Friday. Her reaction to it was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on April 18.

It comes just a day before the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meets to debate whether to recommend vaccinations with J&J's one-dose shot resume.

Their recommendation will like immediately follow Friday's 11am-5pm meeting. The panel is expected to recommend that use of the shot resumes, as soon as this weekend, but some committee members have said it should come with a warning about rare, but potentially life-threatening clots for younger women.

Oregon health officials announced on Thursday that a woman in her 50s who got the J&J Covid vaccine died after she developed a rare form of blood clot and severely low platelet counts

'The case in Oregon will add to the evidence of potential risk associated with Johnson & Johnson vaccine' the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) said in a press release.

But the OHA noted that they cannot yet conclude whether the vaccine caused her death.

State and CDC officials are investigating her death further.

Hers is the first case of a dangerous blood clot developed after vaccination with J&J's shot reported since the pause was placed, besides one previously unidentified case within the clinical trial.

Of the 10 total cases of blood clots in combination with low platelet counts reported after people got the J&J shot, six were clots affecting the brain (CVST).

Five of those were in women under 50 and occurred over the course of the shot's rollout. One of them, a 45-year-old woman, died.

By April 14, the CDC and FDA had called a pause on vaccinations with J&J's shot, citing rare cases of blood clots and low platelet counts. Six of the cases involved brain clots (a condition known and labelled here as CVST), and all but one were in women under age 50

The sixth case was in a young man who took part in the clinical trial.

An additional person who got the shot in the rollout developed a different form of blood clot, known as deep vein thrombosis.

With 10 cases of dangerous blood clots and low platelet counts now reported among nearly eight million shots given, the rate is now slightly above one in a million - but still exceedingly low.

About five cases of CVST, the blood clots that affect the brain, would be expected per million people in the general population.

The incidence among J&J shot recipients was high enough to cause concern among FDA and CDC officials, but several members of the committee don't think the vaccine poses a significant enough risk to stop using it altogether.

Five experts on the panel that will vote on whether to lift the pause - a committee of 15 - on Friday spoke with Business Insider. All five want Johnson & Johnson's one-dose shot to still be used in the U.S.

Weekly supply of J&J's shot was halted after the pause was placed on the vaccine last week. So far, just shy of eight million doses have been given, and 17.6 million have been distributed

But several suggested it should come with a warning, advising young women of rare brain blood clots seen in at least nine people, including six women between ages 18 and 48 during the rollout.

Two U.S. officials told the Washington Post that the vaccine will likely carry some kind of a warning about rare, similar to one used in the EU.

Vaccinations with J&J's shot were paused last week after nine reports of a rare possible reaction to the vaccine involving blood clots. Seven of the reactions were in women under 60.

Regulators are unlikely to place an age limit on who can receive the vaccine in their recommendations, which is expected after their 11am-5pm meeting Friday.

An Oregon woman in her 50s died after developing a rare brain blood clot within two weeks of getting the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine, state health officials said Thursday.

She received the shot just days before the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a nationwide pause on the J&J shot amid blood clot concerns that arose after six women under 50 developed the dangerous condition.

'I think almost surely this is going to turn out to be related to the vaccine because of the clustering and because of the extraordinary, unusual presentation and findings of the patients who have it,' committee member Dr Sarah Long, a Drexel University professor of pediatrics told Business Insider.

A second committee member, Dr Wilbur Chen, a professor at the University of Maryland, told the outlet he hoped that now that more people are aware of the potential - though rare - for brain blood clots, cases would be more quickly identified and treated.

Dr Long added that if the clots continued to disproportionately affect younger women, then perhaps the committee would recommend it only for men and older women.

But officials who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity said it was unlikely that they would recommend an age limit on who should receive the vaccine.

A third panelist, Dr Kevin Ault, a University of Kansas OBGYN, said that the committee hadn't seen additional data beyond the nine reports (six women under 50 outside the trial, one woman under 50 in the trial and one young man in the trial) identified as of last week.

'I don't want to get ahead of the advisory committee tomorrow's meeting,' said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky on the Today show Thursday (pictured)

Earlier this week, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky hinted that there had been some but not many additional reports of blood clots.

Now, the committee members have at least one more data point to consider after the death of the woman in her 50s.

Prior to new report out of Oregon, only one person had died of the brain blood clots, the man who took part in the trial.

That group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), is meeting tomorrow to discuss data on blood clots linked to the vaccine.

Publicly, officials have punted and refused to give Americans an idea of when J&J vaccinations might resume, while the committee deliberates.

'I don't want to get ahead of the advisory committee tomorrow's meeting,' said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky on the Today show Thursday.

The committee, she noted, will review data on additional cases of blood clots linked to the vaccine that may have come in since the initial report.

Officials, including Dr Walensky and those who spoke to the Post, have also refused to disclose how many additional cases there have been, but have hinted that the figure is low.

'We are encouraged that it hasn't been an overwhelming number of cases but we're looking and seeing what's come in,' said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky during a press briefing on Monday.

If that remains the case, vaccinations will likely resume almost immediately, but if more cases suddenly flood in, health officials may reconsider their current leanings.

Last Tuesday, the CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint statement announcing a pause due to concerns over blood clots.

Initially, there were seven reports of a combination of clotting and a low platelet count condition known as thrombocytopenia.

One person in the J&J trial developed the condition and died. Since the rollout of the shot began in the U.S., six women between 18 and 48 developed the condition after vaccination. Some developed clots that prevent blood from draining from the brain, a life-threatening condition.

Since then, another two cases have been identified: Another woman who got J&J's shot during the rollout and another person in the clinical trial.

Dr Walensky's statement suggests there have been more cases reported sense, but not many.

Nearly eight million doses of J&J's shot have been administered to-date in the U.S.

That means that the chances of developing a blood clot after receiving the vaccine are about one in a million.

In the general population, these forms of blood clots strike about five out of every one million people.

You are about twice as likely to get struck by lightning in your lifetime as you are to develop a blood clot after getting J&J's shot, so far.

EU regulators placed a pause on J&J vaccinations as well, but said this week that it should carry a warning about clots, but its use should not be restricted.

A similar pause was placed on AstraZeneca's shot in the EU, due to blood clot concerns.

Rates were higher, however, and some countries have recommended an age limit, with Italy and the UK advising that people under 30 should get an alternative vaccine.

Yesterday, FDA inspectors found unsanitary conditions and a laundry list of problems that need to be fixed at the Baltimore Emergent BioSolutions facility meant to be producing J&J's vaccine (file)

J&J will undoubtedly be relived if and when the pause is lifted - as will states, which have not been able to give out the shot - but its woes aren't yet over.

Yesterday, FDA inspectors found unsanitary conditions and a laundry list of problems that need to be fixed at the Baltimore Emergent BioSolutions facility meant to be producing J&J's vaccine.

The facility has not yet been authorized to make the shots, and last month ruined 5 million doses due to an ingredient mix-up.

None of the doses distributed in the U.S. so far have come from the unauthorized plant and were instead shipped from a facility in The Netherlands.

But J&J is now behind its goal of providing 100 million doses to the U.S. by the end of June.

And the Biden administration has already purchased another 100 million doses, so getting an additional facility on line could be a critical boon to the firm's production capacity.
What is the meaning of security of the person and right to liberty in a state of emergency (SoE)?

The security of the person is a basic and most fundamental of all human rights (as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), and involves the liberty of the person, the right not to be unlawfully detained, or the right to be detained only with due cause or with due process.
Despite repeated crackdowns on their places of worship, members of Xiamen Xunsiding Church are relentless in continuing to practice their faith.

On Saturday, ChinaAid reported that the police again raided the church's newly rented venue of worship at the Pacific Rim Hotel. Dozens of policemen flocked to the conference hall and blocked the entrance. They checked each participant's temperature, wrote down their ID numbers, and took their pictures without face mask.

According to one church attendee, the police officers were rude as they demand each one to tell his or her name.

"Police were shouting at us as if we were criminals," she said.

After the process of photographing and name listing, the police detained the more than 100 Christians in a room that has no restroom. Using his phone, Minister Yang Xibo filmed what transpired that day.

Back in the mid-1950s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials shut down then Xiagang Chapel (now Xiamen Xunsiding Church). Yang Huaide and other members of the church decided to have house church gatherings.

The CCP authorities then nabbed Mr. Yang's grandchildren, Yang Xinfei and Yang Yuanzhang and locked them in jail for 15 years and five years because they preached the Gospel of Christianity. When the Yangs were finally released from prison, instead of balking, they continued leading house churches. In 1977, they resumed their Sunday service at No. 5 Xunsiding Lane.

Come May 19, 2019, the CCP again banned the Xiamen Xunsiding Church. Church members resorted to frequently changing their venues. But whether they meet in residential houses or business buildings, in any event, their secret religious services are soon discovered by the authorities. This is due to the notice by the city officials enlisting local residents to tip them whenever they find "illegal religious activities" in the area.

In February, the Siming District Religious Affairs Bureau issued a ban notice on Xunsiding church's campus. This time, staffs from religious affairs bureau specifically targeted Ms. Wang who is Pastor Yang Xibo's wife. The notice claim that she has violated several articles under the "Regulations on Religious Affairs" for opening a branch for Xiamen Xunsiding Church in the form of a campus.

"Thank the Lord-my wife and I are a good match," Pastor Yang posted on Facebook after the incident.

Further in the report, ChinaAid added that during the recent crackdowns on Christian churches, officials of the Xiamen municipal government have zeroed in targeting Xunsiding Church.

Oftentimes, the CCP will attempt to force Christians to either give up or compromise their faith. They will try to break their spirits by demolishing church buildings, raid churches during Sunday services, beat up and arrest both Christian members and leaders. They will also force Christians parents to send their children to public schools where children are taught to embrace the principles and philosophies of CCP. Foreign missionaries' tombstones were also torn down and discarded.

Notwithstanding, members of Xiamen Xunsiding Church remain standing tall and strong in their faith. The same goes for other Chinese Christians from different provinces who also refused to compromise with the CCPs Three-Self Patriotic churches.
(Newser)  When a man on a dating app boasted about storming the Capitol, the woman he messaged told him, "We are not a match," prosecutors say. She then got him a date with the FBI. According to court papers, upstate New York resident Robert Chapman chatted to the woman on the Bumble app a week after the Jan. 6 riot, saying, "I did storm the capitol. I made it all the way to Statuary Hall." The woman shared the messages with law enforcement the same day and investigators found more evidence on social media, the Washington Post reports. Chapman was arrested Thursday and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted government property, per NBC 4.



story continues below

Investigators say they identified Chapman from police body camera footage after the tip from the Bumble user. Prosecutors say law enforcement also received tips about Chapman's posts on social media, where he didn't exactly cover his trackshis Facebook profile picture was a selfie taken inside the Capitol, and another selfie was shared on a friend's page, according to court documents. "My Dear friend and Brostar Robert made it in the Capitol building at the protest yesterday," she wrote. "Wooo Hooooooooo!!!!" Authorities say Chapman was released on his own recognizance after a telehearing in federal court Thursday. The Post notes that soon after Chapman was reported, dating apps started banning users who shared images from the riot. (This suspect was arrested in an "I Was There" shirt.)
Nate Cohn, in a puzzling New York Times article, April 22, pronounced that America's politics was now divided into two hostile camps, each regarding the other as "enemy," not merely opponents. The article is puzzling for its suggestion that there is symmetry to the divisiveness. Indications are otherwise.

The evidence, going back to the pages of The New York Times itself, in August 2016, suggests that the paper instigated the notion that the other side should be regarded as enemy. Consider the opening paragraphs of a Times editorial, August 21, 2016, with this title: "How Can America Recover From Donald Trump?"

The editorial began:

Donald Trump is heading to November like a certain zeppelin heading to New Jersey, in a darkening sky that crackles with electricity. He is fighting crosswinds and trying new tacks  hiring the head of Breitbart News to run his campaign, trying on a new emotion (regret) in a speech on Thursday night, promising to talk more this week about immigration, his prime subject. Theres still no telling what will happen when the gasbag reaches the mooring. It could be that the polls are right, and Mr. Trump will go down in flames. But while that will solve an immediate problem, a larger one will remain. The message of hatred and paranoia that is inciting millions of voters will outlast the messenger. The toxic effects of Trumpism will have to be addressed.

For The New York Times, the Republican Party under Donald Trump was a political movement of "hatred and paranoia," and after Trump goes down in flames to defeat, the "toxic effects" of the Trump base will have to be extinguished. Is there any other way to interpret this editorial that clearly saw Trump voters as "enemy" along with the candidate himself?

Here is another bit of evidence from the Times from that August of 2016, when the left was so convinced that Hillary Clinton would emerge the victor that it did not think it necessary to cook the ballots. Amy Chozick, in an August 4, 2016 Times story called "Democrats, Looking Past Mere Victory, Hope to End the Trump Movement," quoted a June 2016 tweet from former Obama aide David Plouffe as saying: "It is not enough to simply beat Trump." Plouffe added, oh, so quickly, "He must be destroyed thoroughly. His kind must not rise again."

Sounds, here, as though Plouffe was demanding unconditional surrender from Trump and his voters. Of whom is unconditional surrender demanded, if not from the hated enemy who must be ground under?

No, Nate Cohn, this mindset of denouncing political opposition as the enemy to be vanquished "thoroughly," did not spring up from the two political camps. Traditionally, even when victorious, Republicans have always been willing to go more than halfway to accommodate their political opponents.

The total war concept of politics in America perhaps has its origins in the days of the McGovernites, the last quarter of the 20th century. It reached full maturity with the "Resistance" against President Trump, a resistance on the left that continued to view this president as "enemy," not the legitimate chief executive.

It is not apparent that the rank and file of GOP officeholders yet realize the utter hostility the left holds for them  the implacable intent of the left to transform American politics into Ein Ruling Elite, Ein Political Party, Ein Ideological Mindset. And if any leftist thinks this is taken from a Nazi slogan of the 1930s and 1940s  you betcha, for the transformation the left has in store for us is the transformation into totalitarianism, a transformation that requires the artful use of manipulative, mendacious propaganda. That is where Nate Cohn and The New York Times enters the political stage.

Image: Adam Jones via Flickr , CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped).

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
His quest for the ultimate dog act has become a long-running theme across all of his talent shows.

And Simon Cowell proved he has a soft spot for four-legged friends on Friday as he stroked a sweet puppy outside of America's Got Talent auditions in Los Angeles.

The Got Talent mastermind, 61, sported white shorts and a charcoal top as he embraced the warm weather while arriving at work.

Man's best friend: Simon Cowell, 61, sported white shorts and a charcoal top on Friday as he stroked a sweet puppy outside of America's Got Talent auditions in Los Angeles

Simon opted for practical footwear as he was seen wearing chunky black trainers from Nike and socks rolled above his ankles.

He protected his eyes from the glorious California sun with rounded sunglasses.

The America's Got Talent judge accesorised tastefully with a silver and black timepiece as he planted a kiss on the head of the adorable pooch before heading inside.

Last month, it was revealed that Simon walks over 40 miles a week to help him recover from breaking his back in an electric bike accident last year.

Sensible shoes: The Got Talent mastermind, 61, opted for practical footwear as he was seen wearing chunky black trainers from Nike and socks rolled above his ankles

In August, he was rushed to hospital to undergo six hours of surgery after injuring himself in the accident, forcing him to cancel all his planned TV work for the rest of the year.

But now the record executive is determined to do everything he can to ensure he makes a full recovery, including walking for several hours a day and holding business meetings at 9AM so that he no longer lives like a 'vampire'.

Of his new fitness regime, a source told MailOnline: 'Simon said how he hasn't worn trainers as much as this in 20 years.

'He feels fitter than ever before and is keeping to a normal routine rather than being on the phone until into the early hours of the morning.'

Shielded: He protected his eyes from the glorious California sun with rounded sunglasses

Sweet: The America's Got Talent judge accesorised tastefully with a silver and black timepiece as he planted a kiss on the head of the adorable pooch

Peck: Simon tenderly rested his hands on the dog's ears as he welcomed the affection

Conversation: Simon chatted with the dog's owner

Adding to this, The Sun also reported at the time that Simon was set to start filming the talent show as a source said he was excited to be back.

The insider told the publication: 'Simon cant wait to get back to doing what he loves. Hes been focused on his return for months.'

Last year, reports claimed Simon was considering legal action against the manufacturers of his electric bike after breaking his back.

Change: Simon switched into a grey shirt as he was seen exiting a luxurious coach

Arrive in style: Fellow America's Got Talent judge Howie Mandel also exited the vehicle and posed on the red carpet in a navy blazer and chinos

Recovery: Last month, it was revealed that Simon walks over 40 miles a week to help him recover from breaking his back in an electric bike accident last year

Set back: In August, he was rushed to hospital to undergo six hours of surgery after injuring himself in the accident, forcing him to cancel all his planned TV work for the rest of the year

Routine: But now the record executive is determined to do everything he can to ensure he makes a full recovery, including walking for several hours a day and holding business meetings at 9AM so that he no longer lives like a 'vampire'

Comitted: Of his new fitness regime, a source told MailOnline: 'Simon said how he hasn't worn trainers as much as this in 20 years'

The TV mogul and his team were said to be 'weighing up' legal options and have been 'pressing' the manufacturers, Swindon Powertrain.

One lawyer claimed that a successful lawsuit could see Simon get up to 10million for medical bills and loss of earnings, The Sun reported once more.

Meanwhile, the iconic British variety show Britain's Got Talent has been put on hold until 2022.

But filming for season 16 of America's Got Talent is moving along and the show will air on NBC in June.

Consideration: Last year, reports claimed Simon was considering legal action against the manufacturers of his electric bike after breaking his back

Lawsuit: One lawyer claimed that a successful lawsuit could see Simon get up to 10million for medical bills and loss of earnings, The Sun reported

Delay: Meanwhile, the iconic British variety show Britain's Got Talent has been put on hold until 2022
Only a politician with a surplus of snark would turn up to dinner with the nations business elite and tell them, over the best food and wine at a city hotel, that he had no time for people at inner-city wine bars.

But that is what Scott Morrison did this week when he tried to take both sides of the climate change debate in a two-step routine. First, promise to do something. Second, take a casual swipe at voters who want him to do something.

Scott Morrison speaks at the Business Council of Australias annual dinner this week. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Were not going to achieve net zero in the cafes, dinner parties and wine bars of our inner cities, he said. He wanted to sip the chardonnay, if you like, but pose for the cameras in the act of spitting it out.

It was good chardonnay, too, according to those at the Business Council of Australia dinner at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydneys old post office on Martin Place. The wine list included Peter Lehmann Riesling and Shiraz, Burton McMahon Chardonnay and Giant Steps Pinot Noir. The menu had cured ocean trout, grain-fed beef and roasted snapper. The chicken was organic.
Temple Israel has some special senior programs planned for the summer. Senior Schmooze is a short, informal get-together catering to those 65 and older.

On Sunday, June 6 from 12:30 to1 p.m. in the Rein Sanctuary at Temple Israel (50 S. Moss Road in Winter Springs), come enjoy the hilarious half-hour video, Old Jews Telling Jokes. The following month, on Sunday, July 11 from 1 to 2 p.m., the topic of Where I Grew Up... will be discussed by a panel of seniors from diverse regions of the country. Reminisce and share your own memories of growing up Jewish, whether it was here in Ce...
With just days before Oscar Sunday, Nomadland is making an even bigger case as the Best Picture front runner by dominating at the Independent Spirit Awards.

The Fox Searchlight film from writer-director Chloe Zhao took home four awards, including Best Feature and Best Director for Zhao.

Nomadland - which has been surrounded with Oscars buzz - has been tipped for success ahead of the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday evening.

The creators are no doubt feeling confident ahead of the biggest night in film, following their run of success during awards season.

Nomadland wins: With just days before Oscar Sunday, Nomadland is making an even bigger case as the Best Picture front runner by dominating at the Independent Spirit Awards

The Sound of Metal also won three awards at the virtual ceremony, hosted by Saturday Night Live star Melissa Villasenor, with Promising Young Woman winning two awards.

Producer Mollye Asher accepted the Best Feature award for Nomadland, tahnking the talented cast and crew for all their hard work.

'Thank you, thank you so much to Film Independent, to Searchlight. Congratulations to our fellow nominees, you make extraordinary movies, you push the boundaries of culture and we are so honored to be nominated with you,' she began.

'In our film Bob Wells says to Fern you have come to the right place to connect with your tribe and with your community and you Film Independent, you are community and we are so honored to be recognized by our tribe,' she added.

Four awards: The Fox Searchlight film from writer-director Chloe Zhao took home four awards, including Best Feature and Best Director for Zhao

Producer: Producer Mollye Asher accepted the Best Feature award for Nomadland, tahnking the talented cast and crew for all their hard work

Nomadland beat out First Cow, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Minari and Never Rarely Sometimes Always for Best Feature.

Nomadland director Chloe Zhao beat out Minari's Lee Isaac Chung, Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell, Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Kelly Reichart's First Cow for Best Director honors.

She became just the third woman to win Best Director, following Martha Coolidge for Rambling Rose in 1991 and Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation in 2003.

Best director: Nomadland director Chloe Zhao beat out Minari's Lee Isaac Chung, Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell, Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Kelly Reichart's First Cow for Best Director honors

Historic: She became just the third woman to win Best Director, following Martha Coolidge for Rambling Rose in 1991 and Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation in 2003

Zhao thanked the independent film community in her acceptance speech, stating, 'We wouldn't be here with you. We get to do what we love and feel like we're apart of a big family.'

Zhao also won the Best Editing Award, with Joshua James Richards also winning for Best Cinematography for Nomadland.

Another Oscar Best Picture nominee, The Sound of Metal took home three awards, Best First Feature, Best Male Lead (Riz Ahmed) and Best Supporting Male (Paul Raci).

Community: Zhao thanked the independent film community in her acceptance speech, stating, 'We wouldn't be here with you. We get to do what we love and feel like we're apart of a big family'

Riz wins: Another Oscar Best Picture nominee, The Sound of Metal took home three awards, Best First Feature, Best Male Lead (Riz Ahmed) and Best Supporting Male (Paul Raci)

The film beat out The Forty-Year-Old Version, I Carry You With Me, Miss Juneteenth and Nine Days for the Best First Feature award.

Ahmed bested the late Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) Rob Morgan (Bull) and Steven Yeun (Minari).

The actor thanked Film Independent for the award, along with his 'daring' and 'genius' writer-director Darius Marder.

Thanks: The actor thanked Film Independent for the award, along with his 'daring' and 'genius' writer-director Darius Marder

'Sound of Metal is about how a health crisis can throw your life off track,' Ahmed said before wishing peace to those who suffered in this past pandemic year.

Paul Raci beat out Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) Orion Lee (First Cow), Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Benedict Wong (Nine Days) for Best Supporting Male.

Raci provided one of the most unique speeches, using sign language throughout his speech while offering some advice to other actors as well.

Paul wins: Paul Raci beat out Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) Orion Lee (First Cow) , Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Benedict Wong (Nine Days) for Best Supporting Male

Sign language: Raci provided one of the most unique speeches, using sign language throughout his speech while offering some advice to other actors as well

'Dont quit your day job, I never did. I still have it too,' Raci said with a smile.

The next most decorated film at the Indie Spirit Awards was Promising Young Woman, which won Best Female Lead for Carey Mulligan and Best Screenplay for writer-director Emerald Fennell.

Mulligan beat out Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Julia Garner (The Assistant) and Oscar favorite Frances McDormand (Nomadland).

Carey wins: Mulligan beat out Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Julia Garner (The Assistant) and Oscar favorite Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

The actress thanked her fellow nominees, stating she is, 'floored by each and every one of their performances so thank you for being in their company to be recognized amongst them.

'I need to just thank first and foremost Emerald Fennell for her complete genius in writing and directing and producing this work our extraordinary crew, I always think independent film is so much fun because you get to do it in 20 a days or 29 days and it's so much fun to be on summer camp with people,' she added.

The actress went on to thank producer Margot Robbie before closing her speech by thanking, 'an actress that I have looked up to and will continue to look up to, for the rest of my career, Helen Mccrory,' who just passed away last week.

Floored: The actress thanked her fellow nominees, stating she is, ' floored by each and every one of their performances so thank you for being in their company to be recognized amongst them

Fennell thanked the Independent Spirit Awards for, 'this unbelievable honor,' adding she wished they, 'could all be there in person to meet and celebrate.'

She thanked her star, Carey Mulligan, 'for making me look good and by making the script 1000 times better by virtue of her genius.'

'I just feel so immensely lucky to have worked with so many unbelievably talented and kind and patient people,' she added.

Emerald thanks: Fennell thanked the Independent Spirit Awards for, 'this unbelievable honor,' adding she wished they, 'could all be there in person to meet and celebrate'

'This is just more than I ever expected, but I am very, very, very grateful so thank you, thank you very much,' Fennell concluded.

Other winners included Residue taking home the John Cassavettes Award, Andy Siara winning Best First Screenplay for Palm Springs and Crip Camp for Best Documentary.

Yuh-jung Youn won Best Supporting Female for Minari, Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina) winning Best International Feature, Gerry Kim winning the Producers Award, Ekwa Msangi winning the Someone to Watch Award, Elegance Bratton winning the Truer Than Fiction Award and One Night in Miami winning the Robert Altman Award.

On the TV side, I May Destroy You won Best New Scripted Series and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.

Immigration Nation won Best New Non-Scripted Series, while Amit Rahav from Unorthodox won Best Male Performance In A Scripted Series and Shira Haas from Unorthodox won Best Female Performance In a Scripted Series.

Best Supporting Female: Yuh-jung Youn won Best Supporting Female for Minari

Shira wins: Shira Haas from Unorthodox won Best Female Performance In a Scripted Series

TV winner: On the TV side, I May Destroy You won Best New Scripted Series and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

Winner: Elegance Bratton seen winning the Truer Than Fiction Award
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Ionic Brands Converts $15,093,840 million Convertible Debentures into Equity-Based, Preferred Shares, significantly improving balance sheet and liquidity.

TACOMA, WA / ACCESSWIRE / APRIL 23, 2021 / IONIC BRANDS CORP. (CSE:IONC)(OTC PINK:IONKF)(FRA:1B3) ("IONIC BRANDS" or the "Company"), a regional manufacturer of innovative cannabis consumables and concentrate extract products, is pleased to announce and further to its news releases dated March 2 and 8, 2021, that the Company has entered into a second supplemental to the amended and restated indenture between the Company and Odyssey Trust Company dated December 20, 2019, as supplemented (the "Indenture"). Pursuant to the terms of the Indenture, the Company has the right to convert 91.5% of the outstanding principal amount of secured convertible debenture (the "Debenture"), including PIK payments and accrued and unpaid interest, into Series D Voting Preferred Shares (the "Conversion").

The Company has provided notice in accordance with the terms of the Indenture to effect the Conversion. The Conversion will be effective on April 30, 2021. As of the date hereof, there are $16,496,000 principal amount of Debenture outstanding. The Company anticipates $15,093,840 principal amount of Debenture, including PIK payments and all accrued and unpaid interest, will be converted into approximately 59,829,261 Series D Voting Preferred Shares at $0.30 per share.

Ionic Brands' Chairman and CEO, John P. Gorst, stated, "We are very pleased with the continued and long-term support of our debtholders. Their agreement to this exchange of debt for preferred equity substantially improves our balance sheet and sets the stage for the continued rollout of Ionic Brands 2.0. Management has worked tirelessly to restructure the Company in preparing it for future success and creating long-term value for the Company's shareholders."

None of the securities acquired in connection with the Financing will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no such securities may 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 be unlawful.

About Ionic Brands Corp.

The Company is dedicated to building a regionally based multi-state consumer packaged goods company with a highly respected cannabis concentrate brand portfolio with strong roots in the premium and luxury segments of vape, concentrates and consumables. The cornerstone Brand of the portfolio, IONIC, is a top concentrates brand in Washington State along with its economy brand Dabulous and has aggressively expanded throughout the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The brand is currently operating in Washington and Oregon. IONIC BRANDS' strategy is to be the leader of the highest-value segments of the cannabis market.

On behalf of IONIC BRANDS CORP.

John Gorst

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

For more information visit www.ionicbrands.com or contact:

John Gorst

info@ionicbrands.com

+1.253.248.7927

To stay better informed with the current events of the company you can join our investor community at https://www.ionicbrands.com/investor-community

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein 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. The risks are without limitations the price for cannabis and related products will remain consistent and the consumer demand remains strong; availability of financing to the Company to develop the retail locations; retention of key employees and management; changes in State and/or municipal regulations of retail operations and changes in government regulations generally. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the Canadian Securities Exchange, the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and the Alberta Securities Commission.

SOURCE: IONIC Brands Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641916/Ionic-Brands-Announces-Conversion-of-Debentures-into-Preferred-Shares
COVID-19 has impacted virtually everyone in one way or another, but for Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office Detective Kevin White it has been a head-on battle.

The detective tested positive for COVID-19 in February. Feeling ill led to hospitalization from complications of the virus to weeks in an intensive care unit. After he overcame that battle, he was sent to a rehabilitation facility.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 21, White was finally discharged and allowed to go home. Using a walker, White walked through the front doors of Encompass Health at at 1325 Highway 6 in Sugar Land and was greeted by Sheriffs Office deputies, detectives and command staff members as well as other well-wishers.

I never thought Id walk out of this place under my own power. Theyre miracle workers. Theres no doubt about it, White said. I keep saying Gods got some other purpose for me.

White will mark seven years with the Sheriffs Office in May.

Sheriff Eric Fagan was on hand to welcome White outside.

This has been a long road for Detective White and we couldnt be happier to see him well enough to go home, said Sheriff Eric Fagan said in a statement. Our focus remains on doing our part to ensure he continues his path to a full recovery.

Representatives from U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls office were also on hand to present White with a certificate of appreciation for his service. Prior to becoming a U.S. representative in January, Nehls served as Fort Bend County Sheriff for seven years.

As for getting vaccinated, White had simple advice for those who might be apprehensive.

We get vaccines for everything else, he said. Its better than where I am. I gotta wait it out for three more months but Im still going to do the vaccine. Im not going to take any chances.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Fort Bend County heavily since data was first collected in March 2020.

As of Thursday, April 22, the county has had 56,726 confirmed cases with 597 deaths. The county has administered 175,057 vaccines. There have been 531 confirmed cases this week. The last reported death attributed to COVID-19 was reported on March 24.

For more information on COIVD-19 in Fort Bend County go to https://tinyurl.com/pzk9eayp.

rkent@hcnonline.com
Officials at first thought that someone had been firing on the officers in the 6300 block of South Damen Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, but police later figured out that officers were not the intended target, according to a police media notification early Friday. No one was injured in the attack, police said.
BluSmart, Indias all-electric ride-hailing platform, introduced Blu Prive, an exclusive community of people from Delhi NCR who have pledged to save the environment and future generations by switching to a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable form of mobility. So far, BluSmart has successfully managed to curb more than 700 tonnes of CO2 emissions with over 12 million clean kilometres run by its all-electric cabs.

In 2020, the company had also initiated #MyBluKms, a campaign to encourage its riders in Delhi-NCR to adopt electric mobility. Through this campaign, BluSmart focused on reducing the City s burden of air pollution by offering a contest to its riders, the prize of which was an all-expenses-paid, five-star trip to the Andamans. The company also launched its Green Referral feature last year where BluSmart plants one tree upon each user referral.

Commenting on these initiatives, Mr. Anmol Jaggi, Founder of BluSmart, said, We must adopt environment-friendly and sustainable practices as a thoughtful gesture to save our environment to the greatest possible extent. On this Earth Day, we aim to raise public awareness not just about the toxic air prevalent in the city, but also how we can help in improving this situation. We believe that there is a pressing need to adopt a greener mode of transport and save our environment from harmful carbon and particulate matter emissions. The more consumers experience EVs, the higher will be the adoption of the same to help us achieve our goal of a pollution-free environment.
[April 23, 2021] Stemming from Guidance Concerning Balance Sheet Treatment of Warrants, E2open Announces Receipt of NYSE Continued Listing Standard Notice

On April 12, 2021, the Division of Corporate Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) ") issued a "Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies," clarifying the accounting guidance for warrants with terms that are common for SPACs (the "Statement"). The immediacy of the effective date of this new guidance generally resulted in audit firms not consenting to include their audit opinions in SEC filings until the new guidance was evaluated and reflected in an updated filing, which in part prevented the Company from filing an annual report that complied with SEC and New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") rules by its filing deadline. Given the resultant delay in our ability to submit our 10-K filing, E2open (NYSE: ETWO), today announced that it received a formal notice of non-compliance from the NYSE. The annual report in question relates to E2open's predecessor, CC Neuberger Principal Holdings I, a special purpose acquisition company ("SPAC"), reflecting financial information for a fiscal period that ended prior to the business combination that closed on February 4, 2021. Under NYSE rules, E2open generally has six months following receipt of the notification to regain compliance with the continued listing standard, subject to any extensions by NYSE. Absent these developments, E2open was ready to meet its filing obligation by the applicable deadline. Following the issuance of the Statement, the Company immediately took appropriate steps to determine the materiality of the impact on its financial statements in order to file the Form 10-K and regain compliance with NYSE's listing standard. Today's announcement is related to the treatment of a non-cash item on the Company's balance sheet and does not impact any of the guidance issued by the Company to date. E2open believes the change in SEC guidance does not affect its customers, strategy, or business performance. The Company is in compliance with all other NYSE continued listing standards. E2open believes it will file the SPAC Form 10-K in the very near term and does not foresee any risk of non-compliance with the NYSE six-month emediation timeframe. Other than the impact of the Statement on warrant accounting, all material information that will be included in the SPAC's Form 10-K has already been included in the Company's previously filed Form S-1/A. E2open does not believe that the Statement will delay the filing of its annual report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended February 28, 2021, which reflects the financial information for the post-business combination company as opposed to financial information of the SPAC predecessor.



About E2open At E2open, we're creating a more connected, intelligent supply chain. It starts with sensing and responding to real-time demand, supply and delivery constraints. Bringing together data from clients, distribution channels, suppliers, contract manufacturers and logistics partners, our collaborative and agile supply chain platform enables companies to use data in real time, with artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive smarter decisions. All this complex information is delivered in a single view that encompasses your demand, supply and logistics ecosystems. E2open is changing everything. Demand. Supply. Delivered.TM Visit www.e2open.com.

E2open, the E2open logo and Harmony are registered trademarks of E2open, LLC, or its affiliates. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In particular, statements about the Company's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or future performance contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "outlook," "guidance" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Please see the Company's documents filed or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1, annual reports filed on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and any amendments thereto for a discussion of certain important risk factors that relate to forward-looking statements contained in this report. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. These and other important factors may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005564/en/

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Many countries have war museums, paying tribute to a conflict's combatants and chronicling the battles that usually resulted in a great victory for the nation.



What's less usual is for such a museum to open mere months after the war and to feature cartoonish-like mannequins of the enemy soldiers.



Yet that is what is on display in downtown Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in a museum that was inaugurated on April 12 by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.



Dubbed the Military Trophies Park, the sprawling exhibit features dozens of Armenian tanks, trucks, and other heavy military equipment captured on battlefields during last year's 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.



The park opens with a rather chilling display -- an enclosure adorned with the helmets of Armenian soldiers killed in fighting just a few months ago.



It then takes visitors through a number of makeshift Armenian positions, including mock bunkers and barracks, adorned with wax models of Armenian soldiers.



While the park unveiling was met with shock and disgust in Armenia and further abroad, it is the mannequins -- who bear exaggerated features such as hooked noses and distorted faces -- that have drawn the most outrage.



"I couldn't believe it," said Vahram, 32, an entrepreneur in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. "I thought I had lost the ability to be shocked by... [Azerbaijanis], but I was wrong. This is the most hateful, racist thing I've seen in my entire life."

A few days after the park's opening, the creators of the mannequins gave an interview removing all doubt as to their intentions, stating that they had "tried to create the most freakish depictions" of Armenians possible.



Anush, a 26-year old fashion designer in Yerevan, was similarly disgusted.



"They brought their kids here to pretend to kill Armenians," she said, referencing images circulated in the Azerbaijani media following the park's public opening on April 14. "How can we ever live with such people?"



For those better acquainted with the Aliyev government and its history of anti-Armenianism, the park was hardly a surprise.



"I was shocked, but I can't say I was really surprised," said Arzu Geybulla, an Azerbaijani journalist. "The [anti-Armenian] rhetoric from Baku hasn't really changed [since the war]. From a broader perspective, I thought it was disrespectful to the lives lost even on the Azerbaijani side."

Racial-Focused Rhetoric



Anti-Armenianism and demonization has been a part of Aliyev's ideological stance for nearly two decades of his authoritarian rule and his government has projected it onto Azerbaijani society.



Laurence Broers, the South Caucasus program director at the London-based Conciliation Resources, saw it as the culmination of over a decade of racial-focused rhetoric.



"Anti-Armenianism started to become more salient in the late 2000s, in the period leading up to the return of Ramil Safarov," he said. "That's around the time that restrictions on Armenians visiting [Azerbaijan] became much tighter."



Safarov was an Azerbaijani military officer who used an ax to murder an Armenian counterpart during a NATO partnership training exercise in Hungary in 2004. Despite his murder conviction, he was pardoned by Aliyev and hailed as a hero upon his return to Baku in 2012.

"Anti-Armenianism was one of [Aliyev's] strongest arguments as a leader, and it still is," said Geybulla. "This is how he rallied people during the war and I can't say the rhetoric has changed much since. Even before the war, he would go to the OSCE Minsk Group (the main international format for talks on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict) meetings, speak diplomatically, and then come back and speak the same [negative] way as before."



This dichotomy between seemingly conciliatory external messaging and a harsh, warlike tone to a domestic constituency -- the primary audience of the new military park -- has only strengthened since the war ended on November 10.

In winning the war and regaining large amounts of territory held by Armenians for nearly 30 years, Aliyev's anti-Armenian dynamic could prove more challenging to maintain.



Broers sees potential difficulties for Aliyev domestically, especially in light of his regime's messaging that Azerbaijan has fully resolved the Karabakh conflict.



"The image of Armenians as the external enemy that society was rallied against is still there, but it's not the same as before," said Broers. "This museum, if we can call it that, is a spectacle meant to keep society mobilized and focused on the war, and not other issues. But you can only have so many spectacles."

Point Of No Return?



Aliyev's hard-line approach toward Armenia, Armenians, and the conflict has become something the regime could hardly roll back even if it wanted to, said Geybulla.



"Different issues are interlinked," she said. "If the leadership starts to go soft on the Karabakh issue and move towards reconciliation, it would raise questions [in society] about other topics too: human rights [for Azerbaijanis], the [extremely dire] economic situation, and others. I'm not sure if that's a risk [Aliyev] wants to take."

Maintaining this posture, however, will seriously harm any potential for the "rebuilding of regional trade links" stipulated in the November 10 cease-fire agreement and something the Aliyev government has repeatedly stated that it wants.



"I think we're going to see contradictory tendencies," said Broers. "There will be new and continuing victory celebrations and building up the image of the 'victorious president' that will inevitably come with an ambiguous stance towards Armenians," Broers said.



"At the same time, Baku wants regional connectivity. How is that going to work if you're still promoting an atmosphere of victory, humiliation, and antagonism [towards Armenians]?" Broers asked.



That remains very difficult to envision -- especially as each new spectacle of victory in Baku is seen by many Armenians.



In the village of Armash, an hour south of Yerevan near the Azerbaijani border, local farmer Tigran Matevosyan said he saw pictures of the war park just days after its opening.



"Can you imagine living next to such people?" said Matevosyan, who has recently arranged for Armash villagers to receive military training in case of a new conflict. "This is exactly why we must always prepare.



For Geybulla, it's hard to be optimistic.



"We've dehumanized the other side almost to the point of no return," she said. "When you call a race of people 'dogs' [a slogan repeated by Aliyev during the war], how do you come back from that?"
Toyota Motor Corporation is developing a hydrogen combustion engine in an effort to move toward a carbon-neutral mobility society. It has installed the enginea 1.6L in-line three-cylinder turbo with intercooleron a racing vehicle based on Toyotas Corolla Hatchback, which it will enter in competition under the ORC ROOKIE Racing banner.





The first race will be the Super Taikyu Series 2021 Powered by Hankook Round 3 NAPAC Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race on 21-23 May. By honing its prototype hydrogen engine in the harsh environment of motorsports, Toyota aims to contribute to the realization of a sustainable and prosperous mobility society.

Fuel cell electrified vehicles (FCEVs) such as Toyotas Mirai use a fuel cell in which hydrogen chemically reacts with oxygen in the air to produce electricity that powers an electric motor. Vehicles with hydrogen engines generate power through the combustion of hydrogen using fuel and injection systems that have been modified from those used with gasoline engines.

Except for the combustion of minute amounts of engine oil during driving, which is also the case with gasoline engines, hydrogen engines emit zero CO 2 when in use.

Combustion in hydrogen engines occurs at a faster rate than in gasoline engines, resulting in improved responsiveness. While having excellent environmental performance, hydrogen engines also have the potential to relay the fun of driving, including through sounds and vibrations, Toyota says.

Toyota has long engaged in the innovation of engine technology. It is also applying the technologies that it has continued to refine through its participation in motorsports to production vehicles, with the GR Yaris launched last September being one example.

Toyota intends to apply the hydrogen safety technologies and know-how that it has accumulated through the development of fuel cell vehicles and the commercialization of the Mirai.

Plans are for the hydrogen-engine-powered race vehicle to be fueled during races using hydrogen produced at the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field in Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture. While aiming to expand hydrogen infrastructure by promoting hydrogen use, Toyota intends to continue advancing efforts for economic recovery and revitalization of the Tohoku region together with all parties concerned.

Toyota has been strengthening its efforts toward achieving carbon neutrality by aiming to promote the use of hydrogen through the popularization of FCEVs and numerous other fuel-cell-powered products. By further refining its hydrogen-engine technologies through motorsports, Toyota intends to aim for the realization of an even better hydrogen-based society.
Chinas foreign trade sees stable and improved performance in first quarter of 2021

09:12, April 23, 2021 By Du Haitao, Wang Ke ( People's Daily

Photo taken on April 13, 2021, shows containers being loaded onto and unloaded from vessels at the container terminal of the Lianyungang Port in Lianyungang city, east Chinas Jiangsu province. (Peoples Daily Online/Geng Yuhe)

Chinas foreign trade got off to a good start at the beginning of the countrys 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, with the total volume of imports and exports of goods reaching 8.47 trillion yuan (about $1.31 trillion) in the first quarter of 2021, up 29.2 percent year on year, according to official data.

In the first three months this year, Chinas exports of goods rose 38.7 percent from the same period last year to 4.61 trillion yuan, and its imports of goods expanded 19.3 percent year on year to 3.86 trillion yuan, suggested data released by the countrys General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The scale of Chinas foreign trade in the first quarter not only far exceeded that of the same period last year, but showed growth rates of 25.3 percent and 20.5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2018 and 2019, respectively, as the official data indicated.

In the first quarter, Chinas foreign trade achieved a great increase unseen for many years, showing strong resilience and vigorous vitality, said Liang Ming, head of foreign trade research institute under the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

China has constantly expanded imports of high-quality goods to meet the huge domestic demand. In the middle of last year, Chinas Ministry of Finance, the GAC, and the State Taxation Administration jointly released a notice to raise the annual offshore duty-free shopping quota for outbound tourists in south Chinas Hainan province in a bid to meet the needs of consumption upgrading.

During this years Spring Festival holiday that lasted from Feb. 11 to 17, the combined sales volume of offshore duty-free shops in Hainan exceeded 1.5 billion yuan, doubling that achieved during the Spring Festival holiday in 2019.

The continuous and stable economic recovery in China has given a boost to the import of new and high-tech products and basic materials including energy products. Customs data showed that the country imported 155.27 billion units of integrated circuits in the first quarter this year, up 33.6 percent from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the countrys crude oil and copper imports grew by 9.5 percent and 11.7 percent year on year to 139 million tons and nearly 1.44 million tons, respectively.

While promoting stable growth in the volume of foreign trade, China has tried to improve the value-added of exports by optimizing the structure of export goods.

A vast number of foreign trade firms have made great efforts to bring into better play their core competitive advantages in such aspects as technology, brand, and service, improve the quality and structure of export products, and foster new strengths in export.

In the first three months of 2021, China exported 2.78 trillion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products, which marked a growth rate of 43 percent and accounted for 60.3 percent of the countrys total export volume in the period.

During the period, the country saw its exports of automatic data processing equipment and its parts and accessories, mobile phones, and automobiles (including chassis) increase by 54.5 percent, 38.5 percent, and 98.9 percent, respectively.

This is our newest computer numerical control (CNC) precision machining center. You put raw materials in it and get finished products. The precision of its holes and screws can reach one hundredth the size of a human hair, said Hu Lijun, general manager of a foreign trade company based in Cixi, east Chinas Zhejiang province.

According to Hu, the production lines of his company have never stopped running since the beginning of this year, and the orders the company has received are scheduled for April 2023.

Hus company mainly produces braking systems of high-end bicycles. Its products have been sold to Europe and South America. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19, some countries encourage citizens to shift from their previous transportation means to bikes, leading to a significant surge in the market demand for bikes. Although Hus company is running at full capacity, it still cant meet the huge demand of oversea markets.

The reason why we can seize the great opportunity for foreign trade now is that we have been continuously increasing financial input in the research and development of products and technological transformation, Hu explained.

We spend more than 50 percent of our annual profits on research and development every year. Since last year, we used an additional 30 million yuan to upgrade our equipment, which enabled us to reduce the error rate of the equipment to around one thousandth and reach the advanced level in the industry, said Hu.

Recently, a food company based in Huanghua, north Chinas Hebei province, sent 100 cases of local winter jujubes it processed to Brunei, one of the countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It was the first time the company exported products to Brunei.

During the pandemic, relevant government departments actively reached out to us to help. They came to our company for multiple times to conduct investigations and surveys and helped us find new markets and stabilize foreign trade orders, said an executive of the company.

At the beginning of this year, Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOC) proposed promoting Silk Road e-commerce so as to boost the integrated development of new business forms and models like cross-border e-commerce and the BRI and add new driving forces to the Chine-Europe freight trains and the construction of major foreign trade channels including the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

In the first quarter this year, Chinas foreign trade with countries along the routes of the BRI totaled 2.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.4 percent year on year. In particular, foreign trade between China and countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, and Poland enjoyed fast growth.

Various parts of China have made active efforts to attract leading enterprises through such platforms as comprehensive bonded zones and comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones, and eventually bring together a good number of upstream and downstream firms in and near these zones.

From January to March, comprehensive bonded zones across the country witnessed an increase of 41.1 percent in imports and exports, while the countrys pilot free trade zones logged an 28.4-percent growth in foreign trade and the volume of duty-free goods imported by Hainan free trade port rose by 162.5 percent.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
In rare cases, people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID and are immune to the virus can nevertheless develop the disease. New findings from The Rockefeller University now suggest that these so-called breakthrough cases may be driven by rapid evolution of the virus, and that ongoing testing of immunized individuals will be important to help mitigate future outbreaks.

The research, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, reports results from ongoing monitoring within the Rockefeller University community where two fully vaccinated individuals tested positive for the coronavirus.

Both had received two doses of either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine, with the second dose occurring more than two weeks before the positive test.

One person was initially asymptomatic and then developed typical COVID-19 symptoms; the other developed symptoms prior to testing. Both individuals recovered at home, an outcome consistent with evidence suggesting vaccination is effective in preventing severe disease.

Genome sequencing revealed multiple mutations in both viral samples, including the E484K variant in one individual, first identified in South Africa and Brazil, and the S477N variant in the other individual, which has been spreading in New York since November.

"These patients got vaccinated, had great immune responses, and nonetheless broke through with a clinical infection," says Robert B. Darnell, The Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor, who led the research with immunologist Michel C. Nussenzweig, virologist Paul Bieniasz, and geneticist Richard P. Lifton.

The researchers were able to discern a quantifiable amount of virus in saliva samples from routine testing ongoing at Rockefeller, and sequence the viral RNA using a new coronavirus testing method developed in Darnell's lab by postdoctoral associate Ezgi Hacisuleyman with help from senior research associate Nathalie Blachere.

Since January, the university has required all employees working on-site to be tested weekly using this saliva-based PCR assay.

The observations suggest what is likely a small but ongoing risk among vaccinated individuals, and the possibility that they may continue to spread the virus.

The idea that we could be entirely done with testing in the post-vaccine world is probably not a good one right now; for example, even fully vaccinated people who develop respiratory symptoms should consider getting tested for COVID-19. Conversely, exposure to individuals with known infection, even if fully vaccinated, should be taken seriously and again individuals should consider getting tested." Robert B. Darnell, Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor, Rockefeller University

"Given the scope of the pandemic, there's a huge amount of virus in the world right now, meaning a huge opportunity for mutations to develop and spread," he adds. "That is going to be a challenge for the developers of vaccines over the next months and years."
(Newser)  A fast-tracked bill allowing for the killing of up to 90% of Idaho's wolves cleared the state Senate 26-7 Wednesday and could come up for a House vote on Friday, the AP reports. Supporters say the billwhich would remove limits on the number of wolves a hunter can kill, expand the methods for killing, and increase funding for the hiring of contractors to kill wolvesis needed to protect ranchers' livelihoods, per the New York Times. Republican Sen. Van Burtenshaw, who introduced the bill on Tuesday, claims wolves killed 1,759 animals from 2015 to 2020, per the Idaho Statesman, which notes that amounts to far less than 1% of the 2.5 million cows and calves in Idaho as of 2019. And without hunting limits, some fear the state's estimated 1,556 wolves will be drastically reduced.

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A 2002 management plan only mandates that at least 150 wolves be maintained across 15 packs, and some supporting lawmakers "referenced the 150 figure as if were the goal," per the Times. While some opponents fear cruel treatment, others, including the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, fear the consequences of a wolf population dipping too low. The AP notes 1,000 wolves have already been killed in Idaho over the last two years. The bill would also permit year-round wolf trapping on private land, hunting from ATVs and snowmobiles, and the use of night-vision equipment. It isn't clear whether Republican Gov. Brad Little would sign the bill should it pass the House, though he did approve increased funding for wolf kills in 2020. (Read more wolves stories.)
Filming has wrapped in Alexandra, New Zealand, on a new romantic comedy Under the Vines with Rebecca Gibney as star and executive producer.

The series, which sees two cityslickers inherit a Kiwi vineyard, the only problems are that neither of them has ever done a hard days work- and they despise one another.

When this show was first brought to me, it was actually written for Australia and I said, Is there any way we can shoot it in New Zealand? Gibney told TVNZ.

Created by Erin White (At Home with Julia, Squinters, Sando, Doctor Doctor) the series also features Robbie Magasiva, Jon Bach, Sarah Pierse and Sara Wiseman.

An Australian broadcaster is yet to be announced.

Filming has also wrapped on a second season of crime drama One Lane Bridge.

Season One, starring Joel Toebeck (Tangle, Doctor Blake Mysteries) and Dominic Ona-Ariki, screened on 7TWO in December.

The show follows a South Auckland cop (Ona-Ariki), who is called down to Queenstown to help solve a murder  while also being haunted by images of the dead.

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Young scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University as a part of the team of Arctic researchers have studied pore waters in three areas of methane release on the surface. They first managed to define in details the composition of pore waters in the cold methane seeps of the Eastern Arctic seas. The research findings are published in the Water academic journal.

The research was based on the samples obtained during the Arctic expedition aboard the research vessel "Akademik Mstislav Keldysh" in 2019. The scientists and students from 12 scientific institutions, including Tomsk Polytechnic University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and others took part in the expedition arranged by the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences jointly with the Ilichev Pacific Oceanological Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The TPU researchers completed a number of research tasks, including the study of conditions of sediments and pore waters. The pore waters are noteworthy due to their reflection of the composition of seawater and the composition of sediments. Researching the samples of pore waters from the point of view of geochemical, biochemical and hydrochemical data, it is possible to reconstruct processes occurring in the waters and sediments, as well as to forecast the development of the situation.

"During the expedition, we focused on the methane yield areas and the changes of hydrochemical properties in these areas. In total, there were six test cores and 42 samples of pore waters collected at depths of 22 to 68 m. The main focus was on the methane yield areas on the surface. Thuswise, three areas with their features were studied: the Lena River Delta, the continental margin of the Laptev Sea and the central part of the East Siberian Sea. In fact, we compared three cold methane seeps together. Moreover, the samples were collected in the sampling points in the immediate vicinity of methane release on the surface," Yulia Moiseeva, Research Fellow of the TPU Division for Geology, one of the authors of the article, says.

To collect the samples, the scientists used special filters and vacuum test tubes to exclude oxygen and obtain valid results. A part of the analyses was conducted aboard. For instance, rapidly changing indicators, i.e. biogenous elements such as nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, ammonia and total alkalinity were researched. A more detailed study of the samples was continued in the TPU laboratories.

"Having come back from the expedition, we studied the macro- and microcomponent composition of pore waters that was conducted in the accredited TPU Research Laboratory for Hydrogeochemistry using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The data on 66 elements for every sample were obtained, it allowed us to define geochemical indicators of the presence of cold methane seep: in this context, what elements can be in higher or lower concentrations in comparison with background concentrations," Darya Purgina, Research Fellow of the TPU Division for Geology, explains.

The scientists managed to define the regional features of the Eastern Arctic seas, including the features of the methane yield areas. For instance, the stations located in the East Siberian Sea are characterized by the high concentration of Mn, Al, Si, P, Fe, Cu, Ba in comparison with the stations in the Laptev Sea, where there was the high concentration of Li, B, V, Br, U and the low concentration of I, Mn.

In general, the concentration of V, Th, P, Al is increased in the methane yield areas, while the concentration of Co, Fe, Mn, U, Mo, Cu is decreased.

"Thus, we first defined a number of elements that can be used as indicators of methane yield. The research is still ongoing to confirm the results. The extended data have already been obtained on the results of the 2020 Arctic expedition. The materials are currently being processed, however, it is already possible to say that the part of the new data confirms the previously obtained results. Furthermore, the extended data will allow reconstructing processes more detailed, which occur in the methane yield areas. The uniqueness of the obtained data lies in the application of modern sampling methods, which allow minimizing failures, as well as obtaining a wide array of elements with high accuracy. The pore waters in the methane yield areas of the Eastern Arctic have not been studied so detailed and comprehensive yet," the scientists sum up.

###

The research was conducted with the support of the TPU Competitiveness Enhancement Program.
The justice system worked and law enforcement universally across the country condemned the tactics of convicted murderer and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Thursday.

But during a speech at a vigil for crime victims, the states top prosecutor chided those who want to see cities reduce funding for police agencies. He also said that law enforcement officers have been crime victims themselves since 2019. FBI data last year showed a rise in felonious officer deaths between 2019 and 2020.

Respect is at an all-time low, Marshall said during remarks at a vigil honoring National Crime Victims Rights Week at Cooper Riverside Park in downtown Mobile. Those who want to defund and hurt police are looking for police to protect them when they get in harms way.

Marshall, during an interview with AL.com, said he felt prosecutors in Minnesota proved Chauvins guilt in the murder of George Floyd during Memorial Day last year was beyond a reasonable doubt. He said that law enforcement universally across this country including Alabama condemned Chauvins actions.

At the same time, we need to acknowledge that is not the norm, Marshall said. That is not how law enforcement acts. To somehow paint a broad brush as if that is how law enforcement interacts with people is absolutely incorrect. Its inconsistent with my 20-plus years of working with law enforcement. With what I know are the positive stories of change in communities and the fact that people who were here (at the vigil) were able to work with law enforcement to be able to attain justice.

Marshall said he supports some police reform initiatives, such as the creation of a database that would allow that would allow police to run a pre-employment background check on police officers who move from one department to the next. The database is part of HB411, sponsored by state Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Linden and state Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, which was signed into law Thursday by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

We have to continue to improve skills and knowledge and what we actively do in the Attorney Generals Office is work to train law enforcement and prosecutors around the state in best practices and try to advocate for those things that work, Marshall said.

National Crime Victims Rights Week, recognized annually in April for the past 40 years, coincided with the Chauvin verdict.

For Ramona Carter, the Chauvin verdict represented a rare sense of closure that she said her family is not experiencing.

When we feel like we havent got the right justice, it doesnt seem like closure, said Carter, a Mobile resident and aunt of Kevin Benjamin Jr. who was murdered during a robbery near his home on April 30, 2018. The killers, Carter said, were sentenced to three years in prison.

It seems like another loss all over again, she said.

Carter accompanied Kevins father, Kevin Benjamin Sr., to a vigil.

He was my oldest son, said Benjamin Sr. He was 19 years old. Hed be 23 on April 30. I lost everything. There was no justice served.

The vigil also occurred the same week that the Alabama Legislature approved Aniahs Law, which is state legislation that gives judges more discretion in denying bail to people accused of violent crimes. The legislation sponsored by state Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, is named after 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard of Homewood who was abducted from a convenience store in Auburn and murdered in 2019.The man charged in her death had been released on bond after being charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and robbery.

Lawrence Battiste, the executive director of public safety with the city of Mobile, said the legislations passage -- which still needs Iveys signature -- was a significant milestone achieved during the week and sends a message that, our community knows there is a justice system out there doing everything it can to get it right as often as it can.

Battiste joined other vigil speakers in telling victims of horrific crimes that law enforcement was available to support them.

I think most of our victims are here are to show an air of solidarity and unit of family members who have lost loved ones or were victimized by some kind of crime, he said.

Sarah Hixson of Mobile was one victim who spoke and told her emotional story about being the victim of domestic abuse. She urged other victims of domestic abuse to call someone you trust and to know your life is more important than saving our abusers life.

I am a survivor of domestic violence, said Hixson. It doesnt define me. Its just a part of my story.
Lookback: Here's what made the front page of the Kilkenny People 50 years ago this week - April 23, 1971

The fate of Ballingarry coal mines hangs in the balance. Almost 250 miners, many with young families, must now wait and hope that their only source of employment does not disappear.

Not only are the miners unemployed - they are up to their necks in debt, as many of their pay cheques have not been honoured by the Banks.

Local traders who accepted the cheques in good faith are now almost 80,000 in the red and many are threatened with closure.

In the Commons-Ballingarry area alone 10 traders were caught for 30,000. The other 50,000 is divided between traders in New Bermingham, Killenaule, Littleton, Urlingford, Ballysloe, Fethard and Castlecomer. The amounts owed vary from 1,000 to 7,300. The average miner is at least 500 in debt.

The miners are up in arms. They want the mines kept open. The traders, also, are angry. They want their money back. Meanwhile business in the Commons and Ballingarry, the two worst hit areas, is almost as a standstill.

If the mine closes there is no alternative employment. If the mines go so will the people. There could be massive emigration from the area. The classrooms could be bare and the traders, if they survived long enough, would have no customers.

Although there is still great uncertainty about the future of the mines many of the miners seem to have taken it for granted that Ballingarry's only industry is doomed. Many have already made plans to emigrate.

"We just cannot afford to hang around waiting to see what happens," said one miner. "We must have money to feed our families. We just cannot live on fresh air."

On Tuesday the miners gathered outside the colliery gates for an impromptu union meeting. The mine owner Mr Thomas O'Brien arrived on the scene in a blue Mercerdes Benz.

Mr O'Brien stopped the car and immediately the men gathered around his car. Sitting on the bonnet he answered the queries of the distressed and, at times, angry miners.

He told the men they would get a week's wages and after that they would get some redundancy money. Some of the men argued that they could not get redundancy money and even if they did they couldn't wait for it to come through.

The miners were anxious to know the future of the colliery. But Mr O'Brien could tell them nothing, except that efforts were being made to keep the mine going.

Afterwards he told a People reporter: "As things stand there is no chance of going back to work. We will just have to remain closed until finance is available."

IT STARTED WITH THE LATE LATE SHOW

Kilkenny's weekly late late show is causing the residents of a street considerable concern and they claim their sleep is being seriously interfered with.

In a letter to the Corporation, 24 residents of William Street request that steps be taken "to relieve us of the weekly annoyance caused by the Saturday midnight film shows in the Regent cinema."

The letter goes on: "Since these midnight shows commenced, the residents' peace and sleep have been shattered and the annoyance has become intolerable.

"Sleep is not possible from 11.30 when people commence arriving for the show. There is the continual noise of the film from the windows of the projection room all through the show, and latecomers and rowdies arriving until after 1am.

"The residents and particularly the children are awakened again at 2am with the din of cars and motorcycles revving before departing. Indeed some residents are unable to get to sleep for the remainder of the night. Added to this, there is no parking observed and the obstruction caused constitutes a grave fire hazard in the area.

"We feel that the licence granted by the Corporation to the cinema never intended that weekly midnight shows, lasting beyond 2am, be allowed, nor did it envisage the hardships and annoyance to the residents. We ask the members of the Corporation to use their powers to end this state of affairs."

DEATH OF MARQUESS

The death occurred at his home at Cantley, Berkshire on Saturday, after a brief illness, of Lord Ormonde, 6th Maquess and 24th Earl, at the age of 67.

After leaving Harrow he pursued a military career and served in the First and Second World Wars. He gained the Military Cross in the 1914-18 war.

Lord Ormonde was the 30th Chief Butler and was the senior representative of one of the oldest Irish families. He was a brother of the late Earl of Ossory who lived in Kilkenny until the middle of the 1930s.

The late Marquess maintained a close link with Kilkenny and won the admiration of the city and county when he made the grounds of Kilkenny Castle available for a natonal park at the first Butler rally in 1967. Kilkenny Castle has also been made available to the State. A frequent visitor to Kilkenny, the Marquess was widely respected for his keen interest in Kilkenny.

A memorial service will be held in St Canice's Cathedral on May 5. Remains will be interred in Kilkenny Castle grounds cemetery.

The title will be inherited by the Honourable Charles Butler, Illinois, USA, a cousin of the late Marquess.


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WINONA, Miss. (WTVA) - The wait is almost over for Montgomery County residents to finally get their coronavirus vaccine right in their own county.

After months of trying to get access to the coronavirus vaccine, the mayor of Winona Jerry Flowers found a way to get the vaccine to Montgomery County residents.

I sent a letter to the governors office. I talked with Congressman Bennie Thompsons office for their assistance in this," said Flowers. "Its been a collaborative effort.

Before that letter, residents like John Davis drove 30 minutes one way to get the vaccine with the nearest sites in Greenwood or Grenada.

I think it was kind of tough on the people trying to you know get online to get them and have transportation to go to these other cities and counties, Davis said.

Keith Rushing, a local physician, said nearly 30% of the people in Montgomery County received the vaccine but he feels guilty that they could not come to him for the shot.

It was kind of sad to see a lot of folks say, I want the vaccine. Can yall give it? Do yall give it locally? and we didnt have access to it, explained Rushing.

Luckily, this drive-through site will allow volunteers to administer 200 vaccines every Tuesday for 8 weeks.

The vaccinations will start on May 11th.

I feel strong well have a pretty good turnout," said Davis. "Im excited about it.

Mayor Flowers said they will have transportation services available for people to get to the Coliseum.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22)  Smart Communications, Inc. gave a sneak peek of what else fans can expect with its partnership with global superstars BTS.

Apart from the newly released commercial which had already gained the favor of many BTS fans across the country, Smart executives said supporters can also look forward to some merchandise such as photocards  a staple in the South Korean pop community.

Jane Basas, Smart SVP and head of Consumer Wireless Business, said the company may also release behind-the-scenes videos from the shooting of the ad which took place in Seoul, South Korea and featured BTS' big hits, "Life Goes On" and "Dynamite."

As for a visit to the Philippines, Smart said that would depend on the COVID-19 situation.

"It's a dream but right now with the situation we have, we can't commit to a date," said Miriam Choa, Smart FVP and head of Prepaid Business, during an exclusive virtual launch on Thursday.

In a recorded message to fans, members of the band also shared their hope of returning to the Philippines. The last time BTS was in the country was in 2017 during their "Wings" concert tour.

"Its been a while since we met with ARMY and everyone in the Philippines," BTS' leader and rapper RM told Filipino fans. "Lets meet soon after this long winter is over. I miss you a lot."

Choa said Smart subscribers can also enjoy double giga data in its digital platforms as the company will be offering the perk in line with the big-time partnership.

The Live Your Passion with Purpose campaign for Smart Prepaid is intended to encourage people, particularly the youth, to pursue their dreams amidst trying times, Smart shared. It was first announced in January.

Smart also recently launched a microsite where subscribers can access exclusive content related to the campaign.

"BTS won over the hearts of millions all over the world not just with their talent, but also with their messages of hope and inspiration," said Basas.

"We are very honored to have this partnership with BTS that encourages the Filipino youth to keep their faith and continue pursuing their passion and purpose no matter what challenges lie ahead," she added.
Officials in Revere have launched an ambitious campaign to get 70% of the city fully vaccinated by July 4, according to the Boston Globe.

Officials will be rolling out a multilingual ad campaign as part of the effort dubbed Lets Do This, Revere to encourage residents to book appointments and get vaccinated, the Globe reports.

Although the figure varies, some scientists suggest that getting 70% of a population vaccinated is an important infection control benchmark on the way to so-called herd immunity.

Well continue to be focused on meeting people out in the community and vaccinating them where they are, Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo said, according to CBS Boston.

Reveres test positivity as of Thursday is 4.82%, which is more than double the statewide average. The city has been among the places hardest hit by the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. Revere is the only Suffolk County municipality at high risk, for COVID spread, according to the Department of Public Healths community risk assessments.

As of Thursday, nearly 2.2 million Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated, and 5.4 million doses have been administered to date.

State health officials confirmed another 1,431 new COVID-19 cases and 17 virus-related fatalities on Thursday. On Monday, Massachusetts opened COVID vaccinations to all residents ages 16 and older.

Related Content:
Chad holds funeral for late president amid rebel threat View Photo

NDJAMENA, Chad (AP) 

Chads slain President Idriss Deby Itno is being buried Friday near his hometown after a state funeral in the capital, NDjamena.

The country faces an uncertain future. Both opposition leaders and the rebels accused of killing Deby say they arent happy with what they say amounts to a coup after power was handed over to Debys son, 37-year-old Mahamat Idriss Deby, to lead an 18-month transitional government.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Congos President Felix Tshisekedi, the current chair of the African Union, were among the heads of state at the ceremony for the late president who ruled the Central African nation for 30 years and died at age 68.

Deby, an important ally to Western nations in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa, was fatally wounded this week while visiting the front lines of the battle against the rebels, a military spokesman has said.

Macron thanked his counterpart for taking part in the fight against extremist groups, and he made clear Frances support of a stable Chad.

France will never let anyone question and will never let anyone threaten  not today, not tomorrow  Chads stability and integrity, he said. France will also be here to support, without hesitation, the promise of a peaceful Chad.

He said the transition has its role to play in bringing stability, inclusion, dialogue and democratic transition, adding that we are and will stand alongside you.

Congos president assured the AUs support during the transition period, saying they hope for it to be peaceful, inclusive and democratic in line with your countrys fundamental law.

The military council led by Debys son has some support from the army. Mahamat Deby is only one year older than his father was when his rebel forces overthrew the president in 1990. Many fear he will stay on beyond the 18-month transitional period.

Opposition parties have called for respect of the constitution, which leaves it to the president of the National Assembly to ensure an interim government. However, a statement attributed to the National Assembly president on Wednesday said he supported the decision to bypass him and instead appoint the military council to lead the transition.

France, which bases its regional counterterrorism operations in Chad, has emphasized the importance of a peaceful transition.

Chad has provided pivotal troops to regional forces battling jihadists in northern Mali, which has been called the most dangerous U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.

Debys death was announced hours after he had been confirmed to have won a sixth term after facing minimal opposition. Several challengers chose to boycott the April 11 vote, fearing it would be rigged.

The rebel group said to have killed Deby is known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad. It has threatened to depose Debys son, claiming it is advancing on the capital and its 1 million people.

The rebel groups claim could not be independently verified. The ruling Transitional Military Council has warned that the fight was not yet over for control of Chad.

The group, known by its acronym FACT, said Friday that Chads military carried out a bombardment Wednesday into Thursday with the aid of French surveillance systems that they said was meant to kill its leader. However, it said the attempt failed and it called on the international community to look into Frances role in backing the transitional leadership.

The French Armed Forces told The Associated Press on Friday that there has not been a single strike by the French army in Chad this week.

After the state funeral and prayers at the Grand Mosque of NDjamena, Debys body will be flown for burial to Amdjarass, a village about 1,000 km (621 miles) from the capital.

Though he led an oil-producing country, critics denounce Deby for using proceeds toward his military and weapons rather than aid for Chadians.

Despite criticism of his autocratic rule, Western nations consistently looked the other way as Debys army became a key player in the fight against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region and against Islamic extremists in the Sahel.

___

Petesch reported from Dakar, Senegal. AP writer Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed.

By EDOUARD TAKADJI and CARLEY PETESCH

Associated Press
The NSW government will place a three-day lockdown restriction on anyone arriving in the state from Perth or the Peel region after a new coronavirus case was detected in Western Australia.

NSW Health confirmed on Friday evening it would issue health orders that mirrored the West Australian measures, announced on Friday, for anyone arriving from the Perth and Peel region.

WA Premier Mark McGowan announcing the three-day lockdown in Perth on Friday Credit:Pete De Kruijff

NSW will reflect the stay at home restrictions that apply to Western Australia, a NSW Health spokesperson said.

NSW Health teams have also been deployed to Sydney Airport to screen flights from Perth to identify any passengers who have attended any of the venues of concern identified by WA Health.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / Voice Mobility International, Inc. (the "Company") (TSXV:VMY.H), further to the Company's previously announced proposed transaction to acquire VM Agritech Limited (formerly MyCo Science Limited) ("VM Agritech") (the "Acquisition"), the Company is pleased to provide a VM Agritech business update, and progress relating to the Acquisition.

New Patents

VM Agritech continues to successfully secure its intellectual property globally and has recently been granted the following additional patents. Patent no. 1 (Fungicidal) was granted in Japan on December 11, 2020, and Patent no. 2 (Sporicidal) was granted in Russia on January 11, 2021 and in Australia on March 9, 2021. VM Agritech's expanding country list of patents granted now extends to USA (Fungicidal and continuation), Australia (both patents), China, S. Korea, Canada, Japan, South Africa and Russia.

Cornell University

The Company is also pleased to announce that VM Agritech has signed a Sponsored Research Agreement with Cornell University ("Cornell"), the world's preeminent center for agriculture and food research, to conduct Mode of Action studies on VM Agritech's innovative formulation. Furthermore, VM Agritech and Cornell have also signed four Routine Product Testing Agreements (RPTA's) to commence efficacy and field trial studies on bacteria and certain fruits and vegetables that exhibit the most severe resistance to the current fungicides. Research is commencing this month.

Share for Debt Settlement

The Company also announces that it has arranged to settle outstanding indebtedness with certain creditors (the "Shares for Debt Settlement") through the issuance of common shares of the Company, subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Pursuant to the Shares for Debt Settlement, the Company has agreed to issue a total of 1,245,157 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.07 per share in satisfaction of outstanding loans and accrued interest of $87,160.99. The common shares to be issued pursuant to the Shares for Debt Settlement will be subject to a four month hold from the applicable date of issuance.

Board of Directors and Management Changes

The Company also announces further changes to the Company's board of directors and management team that will become effective on closing of the Acquisition. The board of directors of the Company will be reconstituted to consist of Michael Sapountzoglou, Christopher Wightman, Scott Ackerman, Peter Karos and John Farlinger, and the management team will be comprised of Michael Sapountzoglou as President and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Wightman as Executive Vice President, Rob Chisholm as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, and Svetlana Panicheva as Chief Scientist.

Michael Sapountzoglou, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Sapountzoglou's career has primarily been in capital markets and private equity. He is currently co-founder and CEO of Bluewater Acquisition Corp., a TSXV listed Capital Pool Corporation, in the process of considering investment opportunities. Mr. Sapountzoglou began his career with a private family office in Monaco running proprietary trading and asset management. In 1994 he moved to London and helped establish the family office of the Angelopoulos Group, leading M&A transactions within the group's core investments in shipping, off-shore drilling and private equity until his departure in 2015. He established the group's JV with Odfjell Drilling owning 2 UDW drill-ships and led a series of bond transactions trading on the Oslo exchange, raising over $1.6B for the off-shore projects. For the shipping arm, Metrostar Management Corp., he led the company's capital markets strategy and business development. He directed the Group's initial seed investment in PuriCore plc, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing its proprietary immunomodulatory technology (HOCL), where he was also a founding Director from 1999-2013. He assisted in taking the company public on the Main List of the London Stock Exchange and chaired the Remuneration and Nomination committees.

Mr. Sapountzoglou is also on the board and chairs the audit committee of ICI REIC, a real estate investment trust trading on the Athens exchange. Mr. Sapountzoglou is based in Athens, is a Canadian citizen and holds an Honors BA in Economics and International Finance from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada.

Chris Wightman, Executive Vice President and Director

Mr. Wightman was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs (Head of Risk, Europe), Bankers Trust (Equity Derivatives), NatWest Markets (Founder, CEO NatWest Financial Products) and BankAmerica (NationsBank Head of Global Equities). Subsequent to his Investment Banking career, Mr. Wightman became a serial entrepreneur focused on broad technology themes. Amongst other ongoing businesses, in 1997 he re-structured what became PuriCore plc, a business developing the chemistry behind the mammalian immune system (HOCl). As Executive Chairman, he led its listing on the full list of the London Stock Exchange in 2006. Work there included a successful UK grant programme investigation of the application for HOCl in agriculture, and the filing of a number of patents reflecting the novel formulations discovered. The team who led the studies (then) at Oxford University, now at Exeter University, requested that Chris consider the potential for a Copper/Zinc/Phosphite chemistry in 2014. The result is VM Agritech.

Robert Chisholm, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Chisholm has been the Chief Financial Officer at Emprise since July 2008, a company providing management, restructuring, accounting, and financial services to public companies. Prior to Emprise, Mr. Chisholm was the Chief Financial Officer for PNI Digital Media from September 2001 until March 2009, a publicly listed company (acquired by Staples). Mr. Chisholm holds a professional accounting designation in Canada and received his BBA with a major in accounting from Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.

Svetlana Panicheva, Chief Scientist

Ms. Panicheva is currently the Chief Scientist of VM Agritech. Ms. Panicheva has significant experience in research and development with a demonstrated history of accomplishments in the biotech industry. In addition to her role with VM Agritech, Ms. Panicheva is currently a technical consultant to Vapani LLC, a private electrochemical system design and development company. Ms. Panicheva has also served as Director of R&D for Realm Therapeutics, Inc., and Associate Director of R&D for PuriCore, Inc., both biopharmaceutical companies focused on HOCL. Ms. Panicheva holds an MBA degree from University of Missouri-Saint Louis and a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Biotechnology, Medical Devices and Systems from the Russian Academy of Medical Technical Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

John Farlinger, Director

Mr. Farlinger is a venture and private equity backed executive and entrepreneur, and brings more than 20 years of experience in telecom, operations, technology and finance. Mr. Farlinger has held the position of CEO and Executive Chairman of Assure Holdings Corp. (TSXV) since June 1, 2018. His past positions include Director and Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee of Freckle Ltd. (TSXV) from June 13, 2019 to February 4, 2020, Chairman and CEO of Urban Communications Inc. (TSXV) from July 8, 2014 to June of 2018, Senior Vice-President of Teliphone Navigata-Westel from February 2013 to April 2014, CEO of Titan Communications from 2009 to February 2013 and CEO and President of Silicon Valley based Adzilla Inc. from August 2004 until 2009. Mr. Farlinger is currently an advisor to CareCru Inc., a healthcare start-up. Mr. Farlinger is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Queen's University.

Peter Karos, Director

Mr. Karos is a founding partner and was a director and the CEO of Bluewater Acquisition Corp, a TSXV listed company, from March 2018 to February 2020. Since 2013, Mr. Karos has been General Partner at Argonaut Maritime Investment, a consulting firm in the commodities and shipping industries. From 2006 through 2013 Mr. Karos was head trader and an analyst at Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Scott Ackerman, Director

Mr. Ackerman is the President and CEO of Emprise Capital Corp., a private merchant bank based in Vancouver, BC, which provides management, restructuring, accounting and financial services to public companies. Mr. Ackerman has been active in the public markets for more than 25 years, having held senior executive roles in various capacities from Investor Relations to Executive Management. In addition to his role with Emprise, Mr. Ackerman serves as director and/or officer of a number of publicly traded and private "start-up" venture companies.

About VM Agritech Limited

VM Agritech Limited has developed and patented a solubilised copper zinc ammonium complex that appears to kill pathogenic fungi in plants directly while also potentially triggering a plant's immune system to defend itself against further fungi attack. In 2016 and 2017, the results of which were delivered in 2019 and 2020, VM Agritech, in collaboration with the research team at Exeter University, was granted two Industrial Partnership awards with the Research Council BBSRC in the United Kingdom worth over 1.19 million (approximately CAD$2.06 million). VM Agritech has recently signed a significant research agreement with Cornell University to further research and develop its technology over the next three years with the end goal of commercialization applicable to the entire plant-based agricultural industry. In anticipation of closing the Acquisition, the company's name was changed from MyCo Sciences Limited to VM Agritech Limited on February 22, 2021.

Trading in the common shares of the Company will remain halted pending further filings with the Exchange. The Company recently submitted its draft filing statement that has been prepared in connection with the Acquisition to the Exchange and is working diligently to complete the remaining filings with the Exchange, with a view to completing the proposed transaction in short order.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

VOICE MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Scott Ackerman

Email: sackerman@emprisecapital.com

Telephone: (778) 331 8505

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Acquisition and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Completion of the Acquisition is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to Exchange acceptance and shareholder approval, if applicable. The Acquisition and related financing cannot be completed until such approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Acquisition 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 Acquisition, any information released or received with respect to the Acquisition may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward- looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Voice Mobility International Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/642045/Voice-Mobility-Provides-Update-on-Proposed-Acquisition-of-VM-Agritech
By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President will roll out a plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, including the largest-ever increase in levies on investment gains, to fund about $1 trillion in childcare, universal pre-kindergarten education and paid leave for workers, sources familiar with the proposal said.

The plan is part of the White House's push for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax system to make rich people and big companies pay more and help foot the bill for Biden's ambitious economic agenda. The proposal calls for increasing the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6% from 37%, the sources said this week. It would also nearly double taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for people earning more than $1 million.

That would be the highest tax rate on investment gains, which are mostly paid by the wealthiest Americans, since the 1920s. The rate has not exceeded 33.8% in the post-World War Two era.

News of the proposal - which was a staple of Biden's presidential campaign platform - triggered sharp declines on Wall Street, with the benchmark S&P 500 index down 1% in early afternoon, its steepest drop in more than a month.

Any such hike would need to go through Congress, where Biden's Democratic Party holds narrow majorities and is unlikely to win support from Republicans. It is also unclear if it would have the unanimous backing of congressional Democrats, which would be essential in the Senate where each party holds 50 seats.

"If it had a chance of passing, we'd be down 2,000 points," said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member at hedge fund Great Hill Capital LLC, referring to stock market indexes.

Sources said details would be released next week before Biden's address to Congress on Wednesday. Details of the plan may change in coming days. White House officials are debating other possible tax increases that could ultimately be included such as capping deductions for wealthy taxpayers or increasing the estate tax, sources told Reuters.

Biden has promised not to raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000.

Tax details related to the plan, which has been in the works for months, were first reported by the New York Times on Thursday morning.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president would discuss his "American Families Plan" during his speech to Congress but declined to comment on any details.

She said the administration had not yet finalized funding plans but stressed Biden's determination to make the wealthy and companies pay for new programs.

"His view is that that should be on the backs ... of the wealthiest Americans who can afford it and corporations and businesses who can afford it," Psaki said.

She said Biden and his economic team did not believe the measures would have a negative impact on investment in the

Yields on Treasuries, which move in the opposite direction to their price, fell to the day's low.

CAPITAL GAINS

Biden's new plan, likely to generate about $1 trillion, comes after a $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure proposal that has already run into stiff opposition from Republicans. They generally support funding infrastructure projects but oppose Biden's inclusion of priorities like expanding eldercare and asking corporate America to pay the tab.

Tax hikes on the wealthy could harden Republicans' resistance against Biden's latest "human" infrastructure plan, forcing Democrats to consider pushing it - or least some of the measures - through Congress using a party-line budget vote known as reconciliation.

Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who wields outsize power due to the party's slim majority, said recently said he was wary of expanding the use of reconciliation.

Biden's proposal should be viewed as an aggressive negotiating tactic, said Steve Chiavarone, a portfolio manager and equity strategist at Federated Hermes.

"You should expect that you will get at least initially the biggest, baddest, most progressive policy proposals with the understanding that they won't get everything they want but define the scope of the negotiation. Maybe Biden doesn't get 39%, he will get 29%" tax rate, he said.

Wealthy Americans could face an overall federal capital gains tax rate of 43.4% including the 3.8% net investment tax on individuals with income of $200,000 or more ($250,000 married filing jointly). The latter helps fund the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

Currently, those earning more than $200,000 pay a capital gains rate of about 23.8% including the Obamacare net investment tax instituted as part of that law. For tax year 2021, the top marginal tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $523,600 and $628,300 for married couples filing jointly.

Erica York, an economist at the Tax Foundation, said the proposal would put U.S. capital gains taxes at the top of the global charts. Average capital gains taxes in Europe are around 19.3%, and the highest rate there is in Denmark, which collects 42%. France and Finland charge 34%.

For residents of some states and cities that assess their own capital gains levy, Biden's plan would push the total capital gains rate to more than 50%, York said. The rate would rise to 56.7% in California, 68.2% in New York City and 57.3% in Portland, Oregon, York said.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, David Lawder, David Randall and Herbert Lash; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Peter Cooney)

(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.)
ALBANY  Eight days after protesters and city police officers clashed at the entrance of South Station, Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Police Chief Eric Hawkins ordered dozens of officers Thursday afternoon to forcibly clear a small encampment that demonstrators had set up outside the police station.

Officers were seen throwing a resistant protester to the ground and zip-tying his hands behind his back, as well as another using a baton to bash camping chairs. Some police were seen with tape placed to obscure their badge numbers.

About two hours after the confrontation, a protester was seen being put into an ambulance. The severity or nature of the injuries was unclear Thursday evening. Demonstrators were chanting "Black Lives Matter" in the intersection as their former camp was cleared.

Police said they arrested eight people at the South Station on charges including disorderly conduct, obstruction of governmental administration and rioting. Five received appearance tickets for city court. The others were sent to Albany County jail. Police said some of the charges were related to the April 14 incident between police and protesters.

Samira Sangare, 23, said she was among those charged with the violation of disorderly conduct and returned to the scene in the evening. "They pushed me with their shield and I fell back," she said. "They dragged me by my legs."

Sangare described a friendly and welcoming atmosphere of Black empowerment before the scene was cleared. "Today was a traumatic time for peaceful protest."

At about 8:30 p.m. roughly 60 activists remained, behind a barrier with about a dozen state troopers guarding the station, as temperatures hovered near freezing. Organizers said their demands remained the same.

Its cold, said Jamaica Miles. But people dont look like theyre going anywhere anytime soon. Miles said activists' heating equipment and supplies were destroyed when police cleared out the encampment.

Speaking to the Times Union, Chief Hawkins defended the police mobilization. The three objectives were to clear the area, do it safely and create a safe space, he said. "And we accomplished all three tonight."

Hawkins noted that demonstrators acquired propane tanks and burn barrels and there were reports that they were trying to get a generator.

"And just the general cleanliness and not giving access to people in the area for emergency services," he said. He also expressed concern about the encampment growing into a situation similar to that in Seattle where activists maintained a prolonged presence.

Preparing for action

At about 3 p.m. Hawkins declared it "is time to end this unlawful occupation. He and Mayor Sheehan tweeted out statements.

Law enforcement sources said the forcible clearing was dubbed "Operation Save South Station" by police.

For several days, protesters have occupied the roadway in front of the South Station," Hawkins tweeted. "The Albany Police Department, in efforts to support the freedom of expression and to de-escalate a tense situation, did not interfere with this unlawful occupation.

Protesters may continue to peacefully demonstrate, but they must do so in a space that is safe and lawful," he continued.

Sheehan backed Hawkins' decision to clear out the protesters, claiming residents in the area had "reached out to my office expressing fear for their safety and describing the negative impacts this unlawful occupation has had on their ability to access resources."

Vacari Fox, 33, founder of social justice organization Community Matters, said she was at work when she saw images and videos of protesters being forcibly removed.

They said they support a peaceful protest, and we were doing that, but then they come here and do all of this, she said. Fox also said she was upset with Sheehan for not organizing a meeting with activists, just as protesters have demanded all week. She has not met with community leaders, and she has just shown us that she wont, Fox said.

It all took minutes

Minutes after protesters were pushed away from the station, a front loader and dump truck cleared out tents and other items. City Department of General Service workers were also seen hosing down the area where protesters had been setting fires to keep warm. City workers also used a ladder and a pole to remove a Black Lives Matter flag that was flying from an outside corner of the station. After the protesters were pushed out of the street, the police put more barricades up around South Station, continuing to block traffic through the area at Trinity Place and Arch.

Just before police moved in Thursday, officers told protesters they had 15 minutes to pack up their tents and belongings or face arrest.

About four dozen officers faced about 15 protesters, who had refused to leave. Officers made a line to push the demonstrators away from the camp.

It all took minutes, with police pushing people away from the South Station entrance to the intersection of Grand and Arch streets. By then about 30 more demonstrators had arrived, and parked cars in the intersection to block traffic. A second protest group also surrounded Albany City Court on Morton Avenue, where police vehicles are kept.

State Police and Albany County sheriff's officers were also present.

Alice Green, one of the citys most well-known civil rights advocates and director of the Center for Law and Justice, arrived and stood in front of barricades in front of the line of officers, barely recognizable wearing a scarf, hat, mask and winter coat to shield her from the cold weather. She walked through the line and had a conversation with one of the officers.

"Nobody's telling me anything," Green told the Times Union. "And I didn't expect them to come and move these people. It's just short notice. They created the situation that I think is not good for this community, because the people are really angry."

The Times Union had not seen any elected officials at the scene by 6 p.m., other than Albany County Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce, who was standing off to the side.

The New York Civil Liberties Union put out a statement around 5 p.m. that said in part: There is no excuse for police violence against protesters anywhere in New York. Protests calling for an end to police brutality against Black New Yorkers should never result in more police brutality."

The NYCLU in its initial statement said tear gas was used, but Times Union reporters at the scene said they did not smell tear gas. Albany police said there was no tear gas used. There might have been confusion in watching videos from the scene as the demonstrators had lit fires, and the fires were put out by police with fire extinguishers. Later in the evening, the NYCLU said "we can no longer confirm that tear gas has been in use this evening."

'I'm not going'

One of the protesters, Brandon Brown, 21, declared before the officers arrived, Ill be here. Im not going nowhere. Brown had been pepper-sprayed in the face when a small number of protesters were at South Station's entrance on Wednesday, April 14.

He had a gas mask on Thursday and was pacing in front of a trash bin barrier demonstrators had created when they heard police were coming to forcibly remove them.

The police's decision to physically clear the camp Thursday came as pressure mounted on the chief. Demonstrators have been at the encampment for days, a move they say is aimed at drawing attention to police brutality and the confrontation last week  which resulted in an officer pushing a light out of a protester's hand, and pushing the megaphone of another protester, which caused her to fall on the pavement. Hawkins said the officer became agitated after a protester broke a window in South Station.

Sheehan spoke out, comparing the event to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The remark drew criticism and Sheehan later apologized.

Still, some police officers were outraged that the gathering on a public street was allowed to continue and it prompted the head of the patrol officers union to write a scathing letter critiquing department leadership.

About 20 people were at the encampment Thursday but several of those gathered throughout the day appeared to be people who came over from the Capital City Rescue Mission on nearby South Pearl Street.

The backdrop

Dozens of people who gathered at the encampment Tuesday rejoiced when ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder for killing George Floyd by kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020. Floyd's death triggered countless demonstrations around the country and spurred calls for social justice reform and restraint on police.

The local protesters praised the verdict but said much more needed to be done to end police brutality. They said they would not leave the Albany site until the city met a series of demands, which include firing the officer who grabbed at the light and megaphone.

The city fenced off the sidewalks around the police department's South Station early Wednesday morning  five days after protesters began the sit-in. Police said fencing was part of "normal safety protocol." It was unclear why the city waited five days to do it. Also on Wednesday, the police department released photos and videos of people they say they were trying to identify "in reference to activities" that occurred during the April 14 clash.

The protesters had put up tents on Arch Street, and lit fires inside large metal rings to stay warm. People have also written and painted on the outside walls of the station, including some messages with foul language and insults against officers.

Paul Buckowski and Pete DeMola contributed to this report.
RTHK: New Zealand pauses travel bubble with Australia

New Zealand on Friday paused its newly opened travel bubble with Australia, the government in Wellington said, after a Covid-19 outbreak in its larger neighbour.

"As set out in our Trans-Tasman bubble protocols, travel between New Zealand and Western Australia has been paused, pending further advice from the state government," a statement on the New Zealand government website said.

The decision came after Western Australia announced that the regions of Perth and Peel were entering a three-day lockdown, starting midnight Friday to Saturday, due to a traveller testing positive for the coronavirus.

The decision to lock down followed "a positive Covid-19 case from hotel quarantine who was active in the community," a statement on the Western Australia government website said.

Local media reported that a man in his 50s flew into Melbourne from Perth on Wednesday and tested positive for the coronavirus earlier on Friday.

He underwent the legally-required quarantine in a Perth hotel and had gone to restaurants, a university, a public pool, a doctor's office and a friend's house before leaving the area.

"He spent up to five days in Perth, and we now need to assume he was infectious," Western Australia premier Mark McGowan told a press conference.

New Zealand and Australia had opened their quarantine-free travel bubble on April 18. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
(@FahadShabbir)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) US Defense Chief Lloyd Austin will speak with his Indonesia counterpart Prabowo Subianto on Friday to discuss how the United States can assist in the search for a missing military submarine, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement.

"[Secretary of Defense Lloyd] Austin is scheduled to speak with his counterpart, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto tomorrow morning to convey our sorrow and to discuss how else the United States can be of assistance," Kirby said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Indonesian Navy lost communication with the KRI Nanggala 402 submarine with over 50 people on board that was taking part in drills near Bali. The missing submarine may reportedly be at a depth of 2,300 feet.
Nearly half of Protestant pastors say churches negatively impacted during COVID economy

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Nearly half of Protestant pastors (48%) say that the economic lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted their churches, but only a small fraction of them say the impact has been very negative, according to a new survey.

LifeWay Research, a polling organization under the auspices of the Southern Baptist Conventions LifeWay Christian Resources, released a new poll Tuesday in which over 1,000 Protestant pastors were surveyed between Sept. 2 and Oct. 1 about the economic condition of their congregations.

Each respondent is either a senior pastor or the sole pastor of their church and comparisons were drawn from surveys conducted in several previous years. The sampling error for the most recent data does not exceed plus or minus 3.4%.

While 35% of respondents said the economy is having no impact on their churches, 43% of Protestant pastors said their churches are somewhat negatively impacted by the current state of the economy. Meanwhile, only 5% of respondents said their church has been very negatively impacted.

About 15% of pastors said their churches have either been somewhat positively impacted (11%) or very positively impacted (4%) by the economy.

The survey comes as the pandemic has caused millions to lose jobs as some businesses have had to close down or alter working hours to make the working environments safer during the pandemic. In turn, some churches have struggled financially as giving has declined.

Compared to data from 2019, the number of churches that are being negatively impacted by economic lockdowns increased significantly in the last year.

In 2019, only 23% of pastors surveyed said the economy was somewhat negatively impacting their churches. Meanwhile, 3% of pastors said the economy in 2019 was very negatively impacting their churches.

The recovery from the last recession was slow for many churches, LifeWay Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a statement. Even in a good economy, it can be easy to focus on external factors that are hurting your churchs finances. Clearly, many pastors are seeing the recession in 2020 impacting their church.

The rise in the percentage of pastors who said the economy is hurting their churches from 2019 to 2020 comes as there was a steady improvement over the last decade since the Great Recession.

In October 2010, nearly eight out of 10 pastors (79%) said the economy was negatively impacting their churches, with 13% saying it was very negatively impacting their churches. There was a noticeable drop in 2018.

In 2017, 35% of pastors said the economy was negatively impacting their churches. In 2018, that figure dropped to just 14% only to rise to 23% in 2019 and 43% in 2020. The 2020 result is the highest percentage of pastors to say that the economy is negatively impacting their churches since 2016 when 51% of pastors said the economy was negatively impacting their churches.

In 2020, just under half (45%) of pastors surveyed said that giving to their church is about in line with what their churches had budgeted. A third of pastors (33%) said that giving to their churches was lower than what had been budgeted. For some pastors (21%), donations to their churches were higher than what was budgeted for.

However, about a quarter of pastors surveyed said that their churches are below 2019s offerings by 10% or more. Meanwhile, 8% of pastors surveyed said their churches offerings are below 2019s levels by 25% or more.

About 35% of pastors said that total offerings to the churches so far for 2020 have been below 2019s offerings. While 32% said that offerings for 2020 and 2019 are about the same, 29% said offerings have been above 2019 levels. By comparison, 42% of pastors surveyed in 2018 said that their offerings were up that year.

2018 looks like as good as it gets for positive economic impacts for churches, McConnell explained. People quickly got used to improved take-home pay from tax changes and were seeing flat wages, meaning 2019 was more difficult for churchgoers to maintain 2018 giving. Now in 2020, a recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has set a third of churches behind their 2019 giving.

According to the 2020 data, African American pastors were the most likely to select that the current economy is very negatively impacting their churches (20%). Additionally, white pastors (22%) were more likely to say that giving to their church has been higher than budgeted. Only 10% of African American pastors said the same.

About 48% of African American pastors said that giving was lower than budgeted while 31% of white pastors said the same. African American pastors (50%) were also more likely to say that offerings so far in 2020 are below 2019s offerings. About 34% of white pastors said the same.

The economic impact of COVID-19 has been very uneven, and that includes churches, McConnell explained. The types of churches that are most likely to be struggling financially are also the most likely to have not gathered in person in September. The exception is larger churches, but they were most likely to have less than 30% of their pre-COVID attendance in person.

Earlier this year, the Churches Helping Churches Challenge was established to raise money from more affluent churches to provide grants for at-risk churches struggling to stay alive during the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised in the program.

Among the churches aided by the program was the Ark of Safety Christian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which received a $3,000 grant.

Small at-risk churches are in a very desperate situation because of the pandemic, AND Campaign President Justin Giboney said in a statement earlier this year. Ive been encouraged by how larger churches and faith organizations from across racial and denominational lines have stepped up to help. We have a lot of work to do, but this has proven to be promising.

Another survey of 1,400 church leaders published this year by Ministry Brands found that six in 10 respondents surveyed between July and September indicated that a reduction in giving is one of the top challenges their churches are facing.

This was particularly noticeable among Catholic churches, a full 67% of which expressed concern about reduced giving, the report stated.
Iranian and Saudi officials have reportedly been holding talks in Baghdad this month to discuss outstanding issues between the two countries, including recent attacks by Yemens Houthi rebels against Saudi infrastructure. Iraqs prime minister was instrumental in arranging the meeting, according to a report in the Financial Times. As the news spread, the Saudis denied having held talks with Iran, as did outlets known to be close to Tehran. But Irans foreign ministry, while refusing to confirm or deny the reports, said that Iran welcomed talks with Saudi Arabia, Middle East Eye writes.

At this stage, it is difficult to predict whether substantial talks will take place between the two longstanding rivals - or even if they did, whether they would result in a significant reduction of bilateral and regional tensions. The Iran-Saudi conflict, ongoing since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has been costly for both states and fuelled instability in a vast region, stretching from Afghanistan to Syria and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, it has been a factor in the recurring governmental crisis. In Syria, by backing rival factions, both states have contributed to prolonging the civil war. Iraq has also suffered from this competition. Shortly after the 2003 US invasion, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other countries launched a fierce competition for influence there. They have organised and financed competing militia groups, which have challenged consecutive Iraqi governments and plunged the country into civil war. It is therefore not surprising that Iraqs prime minister would have initiated the Tehran-Riyadh dialogue. A compromise between the two could vastly improve Iraqs security environment.

Guarded optimism

Indeed, a successful Saudi-Iran dialogue could help to resolve a variety of Middle Eastern conflicts. But it is important to note that most of these conflicts also have internal causes, and have been affected by other interstate rivalries. In Iraq, Turkey and the UAE are major actors, and Turkey is deeply engaged in Syria. The UAE is also a key actor in Yemen. It is thus unlikely that a successful Saudi-Iranian dialogue and compromise would, on its own, quickly end the current conflicts. Still, it could reduce their intensity and improve the prospects of resolution.

Several factors warrant guarded optimism about the prospects of a Saudi-Iranian dialogue. Firstly, both Tehran and Riyadh have failed to achieve their regional ambitions, reaching a stalemate in most arenas. The most significant and costly setback for Saudi Arabia has been Yemen. Riyadh expected a quick victory that would have cemented its leadership in the Middle East. Instead, it is bogged down in an unwinnable war, fuelled by Irans support for the Houthis. Meanwhile, Iran has suffered setbacks in Iraq and Syria. While Tehran still enjoys considerable influence in Baghdad, many Iraqis have grown resentful of what they see as its interference, in addition to the country becoming an arena for US-Iran confrontation. They dont want to depend too much on Iran, hoping for balanced relations with Tehran and major Arab capitals.

Biden push

In short, both countries need to free themselves from their regional entanglements. But the extent to which Iran and Saudi Arabia can help each other is unclear. Iran cannot simply force the Houthis to agree to a compromise against their interests, and Saudi Arabia cannot protect Iran against its local adversaries. But if both sides discourage their allies and proxies from acting against the other, the chances for resolving current conflicts would increase. Secondly and more importantly, US global and regional priorities have been shifting under the Biden administration. Facing challenges from China and Russia, the US is reassessing the global distribution of its military assets and rethinking its overall strategy.

US President Joe Bidens decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021 reflects this mindset. Whenever safe, the US would also like to reduce its military presence in Iraq and the Gulf. This could be one reason for the Biden administrations desire to reduce tensions with Iran through the new, indirect round of talks over the nuclear deal. The US also appears to be moving away from its past, unquestioned support for Saudi Arabia. Without this blanket support, Riyadh would have to curtail its regional ambitions and reach compromises with competitors.

The Israel factor

Israel, meanwhile, would be unhappy about a possible Iran-Saudi Arabia detente. For decades, Israel has used the Iran threat to improve its own relations with the Gulf Arab states, with some success; it now has diplomatic relations with Bahrain and the UAE. But Saudi Arabia has thus far refrained from establishing diplomatic ties with Israel. With less hostile Iran-Saudi ties, Israel would lose a bargaining chip in trying to cement its relations with the Gulf states. Yet, in view of changing US priorities, including a desire to revive the nuclear deal, Riyadh might judge that it would be better to reach a modus vivendi with Tehran and not rely too much on ties, even informal ones, with Israel. Given the deep-rooted differences between Riyadh and Tehran, starting a dialogue and reaching an understanding is a difficult prospect. And even with some form of Saudi-Iran compromise, the Middle Easts problems would not miraculously disappear. But it could certainly improve the chances of limiting or resolving ongoing conflicts.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan noted that up till not Azerbaijan has never shown any sign that would allow to think that stability in the region is possible without peacekeepers, ARMENPRESS reports Grigoryan told Ria Novosti.

At this moment there is peace in Artsakh thanks to the presence of the Russian peacekeepers. The issue of prolonging the mission of the peacekeepers in Artsakh will be possible to discuss more concretely when the mandate is near termination, but so far Azerbaijan has not shown any sign that would allow to think that regional peace is possible even without the peacekeepers, Grigoryan said.

He assessed the activities of the Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh effective.
KENT COUNTY, MI  A man accused of setting fire to Austin-Jordan Engines after burglarizing the Wyoming business will be jailed pending trial, a judge said.

Kevin Daniel Baker, 33, of Saranac, was indicted on charges of arson and possession of a stolen firearm.

The business, at 4259 Clyde Park Avenue SW, sustained at least $250,000 in damage, Wyoming police said.

In a detention hearing Thursday, April 22, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Phillip Green determined that Baker is a danger to the community and should be held pending trial.

Wyoming police said that Baker broke into the business around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, and stole a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro, a pistol and shop tools before he set fire to the building.

The crime was captured on security cameras, police said.

The next day, Baker was arrested while trying to cash a check that was stolen from the business, owned by Jason Jordan.

Baker confessed to the burglary with stolen property found in his hotel room, police said in court documents.

Kevin had been driving the stolen car when apprehended. The suspect caught on camera is clearly Kevin Baker, an investigator wrote in a probable-cause affidavit in Wyoming District Court.

Baker was initially arrested on state charges before he was indicted on federal charges.

If convicted of arson, Baker faces at least five years, and up to 20 years, in prison. The firearms charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

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Press Release

April 23, 2021 Transcript of Senator Nancy Binay's interview on ANC's MATTERS OF FACT (hosted by Christian Esguerra) Christian Esguerra (Q): I like to get your reaction to this, from General Parlade... He said do not drag the entire task force and that if you want to defund it, it will be the communities and the people's development fund you are taking back. How do you respond to this? Sen. Nancy Binay-Angeles (SNBA): Before we took our break in Senate, there was a committee report that was adopted by the Senate wherein part of that was to call for Gen. Parlade to be removed from the NTF-ELCAC because we saw that there was a constitutional violation because he is occupying a position from a civilian agency when in fact he is still a part of the AFP. So kumbaga, yung call namin for him to be removed from office was asked way back, I think that was Feb or March. And then, when it comes to the defunding of projects, siguro I would just like to explain the composition of this fund. Each barangay was supposed to get P20 million and out of P20 million may kanya kanyang alocation for example farm to market roads P14 million, school buildings P4 million. I guess it is high time for us to review na baka mayroon doon sa P20 million na allocation, na hindi na talaga kumbaga yung importance or need. For example, yung school buildings alam naman natin na at the moment we do not even know when our students will be coming back to a face to face typo of setup and I think that is P4 million. May mga ganoong allocation sa P20 million that we can already use at the moment. Para sa akin aanhin mo yung kalsada, yung eskuwelahan, kung nagugutom naman ang ating mga kababayan. For me that is a what is needed right now is for us feed our people. Q: Just to be clear, you are not calling for the abolition of the task force. Just the defunding or the realignment of some of its budget? SNBA: We can revisit the budget and we'll see. I there is a need to realign, we will realign. But if there is really a need to cancel all the programs we can also do that. Q: Pero what is your position now? SNBA: Yug kay Gen. Parlade kasi gray area kasi yung sa kanya. Unang una, may constitutional issue nga yung pag-occupy nya ng position sa NTF-ELCAC. I think that is a given that he really needs to be removed from that position. Pagdating naman dito sa funding dahil alam naman natin na may kakulangan ngayon sa budget and if we can get funds out of this P19 billion, I think we should look into that fund. Q: How about the taskforce itself? SNBA: Isa din yun sa dapat i-revisit. I think the statements coming from its spokesperson, nakakasira sa image ng NTF-ELCAC. The intention of that agency is good. The intent is to bring back projects to the communities lalo na sa mga community na talagang disadvantaged there is really a need to give them more. But siguro this is not the proper body to implement these types of projects. In fact during the budget deliberations I raised this issue kasi ang fear ko nga is madoble ang trabaho. For example, yung school building alam naman natin yung DEPED may last mile program and basically it is the same program. They try to reach yung mga disadvantaged areas. Yung farm to market road, alam naman natin na yung Department of Agriculture may ganyang programa. And another issue is yung capability ng barangay to handle a P20 million fund. Isang issue din yun na ni-raise natin. Q: You yourself mention na there could be duplication regarding the allocation of funds when you talk about the different agencies that are supposed to implement the budget. SNBA: Kaya nga we asked for the list of barangays na supposed to be bibigyan nila ng project. Kasi this is a new approach in solving our insurgency problem. First time na gagawin ang ganito na agency will be tasked to do it. Kami sa Senado ang naging mind set namin is, "let's give it a try maybe it can help with that problem", but COVID came and yung perspective biglang nabago. Q: During that time was it OK with you that the NTF have that much funding? SNBA: No. In fact, as part of my submitted amendments, I wanted to realign the budget for Taal rehabilitation kasi during the budget rehabilitation, lumabas na there is no specific item for the rehabilitation ng Taal volcano victims and that was my proposal. Q: The entire P19 billion budget? SNBA: I can't remember if it was the full amount or just a portion. I have to give it din naman sa mga sinubmit nila na barangay, mayroong mga areas na kailangan din ng support. Q: Do you regret supporting at least that portion of the program given the situation that we are in now? SNBA: Hindi ako puwedeng mag-No sa budget just because I do not agree with a certain portion of the budget. I have to look at the bigger picture and the bigger picture is mas malaki ang mawawala if I will not agree with the budget. Q: Yung benefit of the doubt na binigay niyo sa NTF... that is the context of my question regarding regret. SNBA: In the very beginning hesitant din ako to support this program and I think if the same program would appear in next year's budget, mas tututol na talaga tayo. For this year's budget tignan natin if it works. But I am not totally 100% behind this program to begin with. Q: Kumbaga nandoon na yung natural discomfort from the very start? SNBA: Yes. Kasi nga yung duplication. At nakita ko din when I asked a listing from DepEd sa last miles schools nila, may mga barangay na parang pareho ang beneficiary. So may mga ganoong issue. Q: Pero paano nakalusot? SNBA: Siguro the appeal was there to give this project a chance. Pinagbigyan and sabi ko nga the intention was good and if it could really help the community bakit natin tatanggihan and alam ko naririnig ko din on the ground yung mga barangay excited rin na finally may mga projects na mapupunta sa kanila. Q: Why all of a sudden certain senators are becoming courageous na parang bigla daw tumatapang ang mga senador ngayon simply because the president is at the tail end of the administration and next year is an election year. SNBA: Siguro, Christian, I think 'yung mga, well, kami in the Senate, we've been critical I think, but I guess hindi lang through socmed. I mean there are other ways of being critical, right, and I've seen that in the floor several times. I guess ngayon lang siguro na kumbaga we're voicing it out in media, through our socmed accounts. But meron, meron namang ganung ano rin, move from us that we call out the national government 'pag nakikita naman namin na may mali. Q: In the House of Representatives there's a call to investigate the red-tagging of community pantries and their organizers. In the Senate is there any such move also forthcoming? SNBA: I think si Sen. Risa (Hontiveros) already filed (a resolution) investigating the red-tagging. And, in fact, our Minority Floor Leader Drilon also filed a bill criminalizing 'yung red-tagging. Baka that is something we can also discuss together with the resolution of Sen. Risa. Q: Pero kayo, Sen. Binay, what do you think of this response coming from certain law enforcement agencies, certain officials, including Parlade, their propensity to red-bait a certain effort despite the inherent nobility, or siguro parang clear intentions behind those actions, no, kunwari community pantry itself there's nothing wrong with that, pero biglang papasok si Parlade, magbibigay ng statements, may reference kay Satan, kay Eba, things like that. What do you make of this? Do you sense na parang the government is being unnecessarily sensitive to criticism regarding this? SNBA: Ang sa akin Christian, I don't know if it's just Gen. Parlade. Kaya nga ang suggestion ko, maybe 'yung skill ni Gen. Parlade for profiling would be better off in contact tracing. Baka mas makatulong siya doon. Sa akin the enemy right now is Covid, kumbaga dapat all efforts doon nakatuon, eh. And with this penchant to profile, baka mas maganda iyon, mas maigi for contact tracing dahil alam naman natin na kulang tayo sa resources, kulang tayo sa tao. So, baka there's also a need to shift towards that, 'di ba? Para hindi naman masayang ang kakayahan niya. Kasi at the moment, dapat nga we should all be working together and not see each other as competition. But you know, with statements coming from him, parang ganoon ang nagiging impression, and I don't think that's the position of Malacanang, that is not the position of AFP. The mere fact na I think yesterday may mga members from the AFP who donated vegetables doon sa Maginhawa, so baka... Q: Pero are you really sure this is not the position of, for example Malacanang, of presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, or perhaps they are just being careful not to be damaged further by what Gen. Parlade is doing? SNBA: Well, we just have to (inaudible) and believe that statement. If their actions are different from their statement 'di alam na natin na hanggang salita lang pala 'yung ganoong pahayag. Actually nakakapagtaka lang din itong si Gen. Parlade kasi 'di ba parang lahat nag-issue ng statement of support doon sa community pantry, parang sintunado siya doon sa statements coming from AFP, PNP, 'di ba pati mga secretaries, like Sec. Ano already issued a statement of support. Pero parang si Gen. Parlade mayroon siyang sarili niyang galaw, may sarili siyang statement. Q: 'Yun nga, you mentioned that, medyo kumbaga may disconnect between what Gen. Parlade is still saying, and the positions already taken by his superiors. Which brings us to the next question, why not remove him? If his superiors are indeed not sanctioning what Gen. Parlade has been saying and doing. Or number 2, baka naman ito ang possibility, that despite their position officially, Gen. Parlade, disconnected his statements might be, is still serving a good purpose for them in the long run. SNBA: I don't know, Christian, I am not privy kung may ganoon silang strategy na ginagawa. But I must admit it's a million-dollar question, kasi 'di ba ang dami na niyang kumbaga mali-mali na sinasabi but he's still there and parang he's not being reprimanded. So, I don't know kung anong mayroon si Gen. Parlade na parang ang impression is he is untouchable. Q: Let's try to trace how the criticism of the community pantries coming from the likes of Gen. Parlade began. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this started when some people started commenting that the emergence of the community pantries was an indictment of the administration over its supposed failure to sufficiently and properly address the Covid-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Do you agree? SNBA: Yes. It is a failure. The government response is a failure. And I think government needs to admit na hindi niya kayang bigyan ng solusyon ang problema. Tingin ko nga Christian kaya tayo nasa ganitong sitwasyon ngayon because there's always that denial that there's a problem. There's always that move to downplay the problem. 'Di ba, paano natin bibigyan ng solution ang problema kung hindi natin tinatanggap na may malaki tayong problema. And dapat nga we should appreciate and welcome, because 'di ba may tumutulong, kumbaga I think that's the only way we can solve where we are right now, is if we all work together, if government works with the private sector. Kasi nakita naman natin Christian, 'di ba, this past year parang there's always that, hindi naman away, pero laging may issue ang government and private sector. Nakita naman natin doon sa pagbili ng bakuna, 'di ba parang noong umpisa ayaw payagan ng gobyerno na bumili ang private sector ng vaccine. Kaya nga we had to produce a vaccination law para nga maayos at kumbaga mapayagan talaga itong mga private sector to procure. So parang laging may ganoong, hindi naman laban, but there's always that power struggle, there's always that competition. Q: Which of the administration's pandemic response you think is the most problematic? Is it coordination, policy direction, leadership, or something else, or all of the above? SNBA: Parang all of the above, I think, Christian. I don't think we will be in this situation right now kung na-address lahat ng mga issues na 'yan. Q: There are also those who are calling for the resignation of Pres. Duterte, they think this is fair at this time, and to also put the blame on him ultimately for this failed, according to you, pandemic response by his administration. SNBA: Siguro at the moment, Christian, baka 'yung ganoong panawagan would bring us more, parang it will divide the country more at the moment, eh hindi natin kailangan ang ganoong division. Hindi natin kailangan ang ganoong paghiwalay. What we need right now is for all of us to work together. Q: Before we end this interview, I'd also like to get your comment, your position regarding the strong push behind ivermectin. Before we started this interview I think you saw the news item, right, that eventually this might commercially be available in the Philippines, human grade 1, especially for the treatment of Covid-19. Some of your colleagues are also openly supporting this. How about you? SNBA: Sa akin, let us wait for the science. Alam naman natin na there's already an ongoing clinical trial worldwide. So tingnan natin kung ano ang magiging resulta ng mga ganoong mga test. Ako, I think number 1 with this Covid problem, we should always follow the science. And if the science would say that it does not work, so why do we need to take it, 'di ba? Pero 'pag sinabi naman niya that it can help, it can treat, 'di let us go ahead and use this product. Q: But pending clearance or go-signal from the FDA, from our local regulators and authorities, do you think it's prudent for doctors even, some doctors or worsepoliticians, to aggressively and openly promote this anti-parasitic drug for Covid-19? SNBA: Sa akin kasi, 'di ba at the moment there's no, well except for three hospitals na pwede ang compassionate use, but for us to take na wala pa siyang FDA approval or hindi pa siya prescribed ng doctors, I don't think we should take it. In fact Christian ang dami ko nang nakausap na doctor about this, and wala pa ako narinig na nagsabi na "go ahead and take it." So, I think iyon na lang, sino bang mas gagaling kung hindi ang doctor natin. But for others, for some, kung ang doctor nila sinabihan sila, "you can take it," I guess they probably should have that freedom to take it. For as long as it's prescribed by their doctors. Q: And wait for the science, or the actual data regarding the efficacy because there are risks involved. SNBA: And wait for the science. And nakakatakot, Christian, because remember ang available lang dito sa Philippines ang animal grade. Wala pang kumbaga approved na human grade ivermectin. May biruan nga, eh, kapag may nagtatanong sa akin, I guess kung hayop ka, eh 'di uminom ka. Parang ganoon ang biruan na lang. Actually mayroon akong friend who had Covid in the States, and he was part of a clinical trial for ivermectin. Q: Sen. Nancy Binay, thank you for joining us this morning. Stay safe. SNBA: Stay safe, Christian. Thank you.
A crocodile left multiple bites on a toddlers hand in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu after the baby boy had put his hand into the farmed animals cage earlier this week.

Thanh Vu Medic General Hospital in Bac Lieu said on Thursday that the health of three-year-old D.T.D. from the provinces Hong Dan District has reverted to stable conditions after he was treated for crocodile bites.

D. was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday with the wounds on his right hand bleeding severely though the baby boy had been given first aid at a local hospital.

According to D.s family, he came close to and put his right hand through the bars of the wide cage where the family raised a crocodile.

The animal then attacked D.

According to his X-ray and ultrasound results, there were a total of ten wounds on D.s hand and fingers.

The wounds did not damage the babys bones and tendons.

D. has been injected with antibiotics and remained at Thanh Vu Medic General Hospital for doctors to monitor if any infection develops on his bitten hand.

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MIDLAND, MI - As warm weather is beginning to creep into the forecast, state officials issued a warning reminding residents and visitors to take caution on the unstable bottomlands near the failed Edenville and Sanford dams.

Vegetation and trees have sprouted in areas that were formerly covered by water along the river and lake system that was created by the dams in Gladwin and Midland counties, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). As a result, EGLE officials warned that the exposed bottomlands may not be stable and could be dangerous to walk or drive on.

The terrain of the now exposed bottomlands is a dangerous place for recreating, fires can spread quickly, accidents can happen and the first responders lack proper access to assist, said Jay Eickholt, emergency management coordinator for EGLE. Please follow all posted guidance and recreate in appropriate ways this summer.

The Edenville and Sanford dams failed in May 2020, dramatically lowering the water levels in the impoundments behind the two dams, the Smallwood and Secord dams upstream and on the Tittabawassee and Tobacco rivers and local streams. Additional bottomlands have also been exposed following emergency work completed in February to lower the Tobacco spillway on the Edenville Dam, bringing water levels down by as much as 12 feet.

EGLE said in the press release that the plant growth is a natural process and can stabilize the exposed land areas and minimize erosion. Vegetation should be allowed to grow wherever possible and residents should seek permission before removing plants or trees, said EGLE.

EGLE is also warning residents not not burn any material unless permitted by local authorities and follow all local ordinances for waste disposal.

Before clearing vegetation that is not on private property or performing other projects, residents are asked to apply for EGLE permits and check with the Four Lakes Task Force, which owns the dams and the bottomlands.

EGLE provided a set of frequently asked questions for residents concerned about sprouting and growing vegetation, including:

Can herbicides be used to control plants? The safe use of herbicides under the appropriate regulations can effectively remove unwanted vegetation and invasive plant species. Avoid treating native vegetation as it plays an important role in stabilizing area sediments, filtering runoff water and providing habitat and food for wildlife.

Is a permit is needed to use herbicides to treat vegetation? It depends on how close to the water body the herbicide will be applied and over how large of an area. A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or Aquatic Nuisance Control (ANC) permit may be needed.

Can I cut trees or vegetation? It is recommended that only invasive plants be cut down to allow for native vegetation to become established. Plants offer many benefits such as soil stability, homes for wildlife and habitat diversity.

Can I burn my green waste? Prescribed burns should be conducted only by trained experts. Proximity to homes, stability and safety of the area and dry conditions are all significant reasons not to burn trees, brush or vegetation. All state and local guidelines must be followed.

How do I know if plants are invasive? Some invasive species could find the area attractive for growth, including reed canary grass, phragmites, common buckthorn, and glossy buckthorn. Consult the Some invasive species could find the area attractive for growth, including reed canary grass, phragmites, common buckthorn, and glossy buckthorn. Consult the Midwest Invasive Species Network for information (MISIN) on how to identify invasive plant species.

What types of activities need a permit? Filling, dredging, and other construction activities need an approved permit from EGLE before work begins.

Read more on MLive:

Costs to repair Sanford and Edenville dams lower than expected, says Four Lakes Taskforce

Dam failures, flood impact havent subsided from these Mid-Michigan families 4 months later

Edenville and Sanford Dam investigators put out call for information

Timeline: The Edenville Dam saga, before, during and after the break

Bankruptcy judge OKs transfer of Boyce Hydro dams to local task force

State issues emergency work order to Boyce Hydro for Edenville Dam

Task force to buy Edenville, other Boyce Hydro dams for $1.5M
Imagine the coronavirus pandemic is a zombie apocalypse.

Swarms of the undead are coming and your best bet for survival is to build a big, sturdy barrier to keep the zombies at bay and away from you and your loved ones.

In this analogy, the barrier is made up of every single person who is immune to COVID-19  whether because they are vaccinated or because they were previously infected.

If theres a gap in that fence, a zombie can come in and then infect your entire population, said Joanne Turner, executive vice president for research at Texas Biomedical Institute and an infectious disease scientist.

If one person in that fence decides not to get vaccinated because they dont believe in it, then youve already made a gap. As long as that barrier is 100 percent intact, then nothing can get through.

The zombie apocalypse is how she likes to explain herd immunity  the point when most of the population is immune. Its also known as population immunity and community immunity.

On ExpressNews.com: Even San Antonios homeless are overcoming fears of vaccination

Dr. Junda Woo, medical director of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, said she doesnt use a barrier wall analogy, mostly because it reminds her of the politics surrounding the U.S.-Mexican border wall.

Woo prefers an animated video produced by the Texas Medical Association to explain the concept.

Now Playing: Video: San Antonio Express-News

People wearing raincoats in the video have been vaccinated or are otherwise immune to the virus because of prior infection. So as the coronavirus pours down, they stay dry.

If there are enough people vaccinated, its like there is a big umbrella covering the entire group and the people without raincoats can stand underneath it and be shielded from the rain.

Theres a scene in the 2011 film Contagion where Kate Winslets character explains the reproductive rate of a deadly virus called the R-naught.

The rough math she writes on a dry erase board is the infection rate  the average number of people infected by just one sick person. The higher the number, the harder it is to slow down the transmission of the virus.

That part is less Hollywood and more reality at a time when people sought to learn more about pandemics, which is probably why the film was trending on streaming services last summer just as quarantines were in full effect and many Americans shifted to remote work and overseeing their childrens virtual education.

For many people, herd immunity symbolizes the promise of returning to normalcy. And as the virus continued to sweep across the nation, the term was often used to describe a sort of end goal.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio business picking up as vaccination rate increases

The end of the pandemic means its safe to fully reopen schools, movie theaters and other large public gathering places, paving the way for concerts, graduations and sporting events.

But with virus variants circulating and people refusing to get the vaccine, refusing to practice social distancing or wear masks, plus the portion of the population not yet eligible for the vaccine  is the goal of reaching herd immunity still possible?

Local infectious disease specialists arent so sure, but for the good of the community, they certainly hope so.

SARS-CoV-2, the specific coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease, has already killed more than 3 million people across the globe, including more than half a million Americans and at least 3,300 Bexar County residents.

A moving target

Reaching herd immunity has always been considered a moving target among public health experts.

We dont know exactly what that threshold is. Some say it lies somewhere between 70 and 96 percent, said Woo. Honestly, we dont know yet.

Turner, at Texas Biomed, says she thinks once San Antonio reaches around 50 percent of people vaccinated, the number of infections and hospitalizations should steadily decline. But to really eradicate COVID-19, we need to get up to much higher proportions.

No one really knows what the percentage of vaccinated individuals needs to be before a community can turn the tide on coronavirus infections, severe illness and deaths.

While some parts of the country, including Texas, have seen respite from surges of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, 38 states are reporting an increase in infections, further straining health care workers on the front lines.

Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations chief medical adviser on the disease, said at a White House briefing that he no longer wants to focus on the elusive goal of herd immunity. Rather, he believes everyone should be concentrating on getting more people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Over the past four months, 87 million Americans have been fully vaccinated with one of the three vaccines approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In Texas, more than 45 percent of residents have been vaccinated with at least one dose, according to state data.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, but there is still a segment of the U.S. population that does not intend to get one.

On ExpressNews.com: Vaccine skepticism in parts of Texas threatens hope of herd immunity

San Antonio vaccine providers are starting to see demand wane and have shifted from scheduling appointments weeks out to allowing walk-up patients without an appointment.

WellMed, which has vaccinated more than 175,000 residents since Jan. 11, is consolidating its two vaccination clinics to a single location at Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center on 517 S.W. Military Drive.

Its for all 16 and older

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 16 years and older get the vaccine. Not just healthy people and those with underlying health conditions that pose additional risks if the virus is contracted, but also people with weakened immune systems, those with autoimmune conditions and pregnant women.

Part of the problem was this was so poorly articulated by the previous administration, says Dr. Carlos Roberto Jaen, an epidemiologist, physician and chair of family and community medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

Jaen says his own daughter is pregnant and she got vaccinated early on because shes a labor and delivery nurse. Pregnant women are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 compared with nonpregnant women.

Fears that the vaccines were somehow not properly tested because they were approved so quickly are unfounded, experts repeat time and time again.

The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnsons Janssen have been evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. They underwent strict monitoring by federal regulators, who continue to evaluate the performance of the vaccines.

On April 13, government officials recommended injections of the J&J vaccine be paused while health agencies investigate rare blood clotting disorders that occurred in six women among the 7 million who received the shot. U.S. health officials lifted the pause Friday.

Fauci, said he expects J&J shots will resume this week.

How long does it last?

Theres still a question of how long the vaccines provide protection from the disease.

Scientists dont actually have an answer for that. And they dont know how long immunity lasts for those who have recovered from infection.

Vaccine makers say its likely annual booster shots will be needed, much like whats required for the flu.

Dr. Jason Bowling, an infectious disease specialist at UT Health San Antonio and University Health, said people should remain vigilant even after theyve been vaccinated.

It takes about two weeks for the body to build protection after vaccination, so a person could get sick if they catch it during this time period.

And a small number of people who receive the full vaccine may still contract the coronavirus, according to the CDC, which is investigating these vaccine breakthrough cases.

On ExpressNews.com: Clinical trials show Pfizer vaccine safe, effective for kids 12-15

Bowling said to reach herd immunity this year, children will need to be vaccinated.

That could happen as early as this summer for children between the ages of 12 and 15. Drug companies already are studying the effectiveness of the vaccines on that age group. Still younger children could be eligible for the vaccines by early 2022.

laura.garcia@express-news.net
Directed by Lisa Rovner; narrated by Laurie Anderson

Technological development not only improves our scientific understanding and productive capacities, it also creates new possibilities for the arts. The emergence of electronic oscillators and magnetic audio tape was crucial to the development of electronic music, one of the artistic innovations of the 20th century. The documentary Sisters with Transistors (2020) examines the contributions that women have made, as performers and composers, to this art form.

Suzanne Ciani (Courtesy of Suzanne Ciani)

Electronic music came into its own after World War II, growing to encompass techniques such as tape manipulation (e.g., splicing, altering playback speed or creating loops) and the use of oscillators, electronic instruments or computers to produce sound. Some works have a surreal quality, and others conjure images of outer space.

Among the best-known figures are Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, whose musique concrete compositions relied on found sounds and audio effects. Karlheinz Stockhausen combined these techniques with the use of oscillators and other devices.

Sisters with Transistors often demonstrates how historical developments influence artists and their work. One of the first composers that the documentary treats is Delia Derbyshire, who was born in the United Kingdom shortly before World War II. Derbyshire was in Coventry during the German bombing campaign in 1940-41, the Blitz. The otherworldly sounds of the air raid siren and the all-clear signal made deep impressions on Derbyshire and helped to orient her toward electronic music, she says. At the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop, she began experimenting with tape loops and oscillators and ultimately composed music for BBC shows. Derbyshire is best known for her electronic realization of Ron Grainers theme song for the popular science fiction series Doctor Who.

The environment also affected Eliane Radigue, who lived near the airport in Nice, in southern France. Rather than tuning out the sound of airplanes flying overhead, she listened closely and learned to distinguish them from one another. Hearing work by Schaeffer was a revelation, she says. She managed to become his assistant at the national public broadcasting organization, where she worked with Henry as well. Although Radigue endured sexist comments in this environment, she soon developed her own techniques, which came to include feedback and long tape loops.

Eliane Radigue Arman (Courtesy of Eliane Radigue)

One of the most prominent figures in the documentary is Pauline Oliveros, who obtained her first tape recorder in the 1950s. As the film observes, many artists rebelled against the social and political rigidity that prevailed during the Cold War. For Oliveros, this meant moving to California and becoming involved with the San Francisco Tape Music Center, which was a focal point for electronic music. Oliveros responded to the horrors of the Vietnam War by turning away from social engagement in favor of searching for inner peace. This inward turn led her to develop a practice that she called deep listening. As a lesbian, Oliveros faced professional and social challenges, but nevertheless gained significant recognition.

Pauline Oliveros (Courtesy of Mills College)

Although associated with nonconformity, electronic music has had its traditionalists, too. The documentary briefly examines the transgender musician Wendy Carlos, who recorded an album of Bach compositions arranged for and performed on the Moog synthesizer. She released the album Switched-On Bach in 1968 while she was still living as Walter Carlos. The album reached the top 10 in the United States and ultimately went platinum.

For composer Suzanne Ciani and others, Switched-On Bach was retrograde. In the film, Ciani argues that the point of electronic music was to explore the new possibilities that it offered, not to recreate Baroque music. But unlike Carlos, Ciani was unable to get a record deal. To make a living, she began creating music and sound effects for commercials. She gained notice by recreating the sound of a bottle of Coca-Cola being opened and poured.

Some of the films most valuable comments come from composer Laurie Spiegel. She explains that her artistic goal has been to create work that reflects the real, authentic experience of being alive, in contrast to the 1950s hypocritical reality  in which everything was glossed over with cotton candy. Folk music informed some of her computer-based compositions, such as Appalachian Grove.

Computers were considered the enemy of the counterculture, Spiegel notes, because they belonged to the banks and the military and the insurance companies. But she points out that humanity has always used tools, and asserts that a computer is a new tool that makes possible the liberation of music. Weve only begun to scratch the surface of whats possible musically, she says.

Now that sound recording and editing technology is available on smartphones and on the internet, the techniques that earlier electronic musicians used seem primitive. Derbyshire and others laboriously cut and spliced tape to create their work, and Spiegel initially had to punch holes in cards that she fed into a computer. Their accomplishments seem the more remarkable in retrospect.

But the amount of labor involved cannot be the sole, or main, criterion in evaluating music. As a documentary, Sisters with Transistors can give only a sampling of many compositions without spending adequate time on any one piece. One nevertheless notices the variable quality of the work, which runs the gamut from the gimmicky and dated to the subtle and absorbing.

The films attitude toward gender is somewhat complicated. Although the film concentrates on women, several of the composers, such as Radigue and Spiegel, forthrightly acknowledge the influence that men had on their work. One segment examines Louis and Bebe Barron, who worked as equal partners. But occasional comments about dead white mens notes imply a need for a separate womens music, whatever that might mean. Such conceptions can only drag culture in the wrong direction. The answer to backwardness and discrimination is not gender exclusivism, but the broadest and richest possible encounter with life and reality.

In any event, Sisters with Transistors is an engaging and intelligent film that considers the interaction between historical development, technology and art. For anyone unfamiliar with the rich and varied field of electronic music, it may serve as a stimulating introduction.
Oneida, N.Y.  A New York State police investigator decided to retire after he was accused of stealing womens underwear and moisturizer from a Walmart in Madison County, according to a state police spokesperson.

William B. Keiffer, 49, was accused by Walmart employees of stealing the items from the store in Oneida, according to WKTV. The employees called the Oneida police to report the incident, but later declined to press charges, the station reported.

Keiffer was initially suspended without pay, and an administrative investigation was launched on April 13, said Beau Duffy, a spokesperson for the NYS police. Keiffer chose to retire instead, Duffy added.

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.
The Dutch Caribbean Police Force (KPCN), together with Police Netherlands and INTERPOL, took a new, major step in our international cooperation on 12 April 2021. The agreement ensures that the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, are now in direct contact with the headquarters in Lyon and police colleagues almost all over the world via the INTERPOL connections. This allows our KPCN police colleagues to consult and feed the INTERPOL databases themselves and to exchange information worldwide in a secure manner.

INTERPOL is a worldwide organization to which 194 member states are affiliated. Each Member State has a National Central Bureau (NCB). The NCBs maintain communication with the head office and the other NCBs and are the single point of contact for all enforcement services. In the Netherlands, this is NCB The Hague, which is set up at the National International Legal Aid Center (LIRC). A sub-NCB is now being opened for the first time in the Caribbean Netherlands. This sub-NCB falls under the responsibility of NCB The Hague.

The wish for a sub-NCB for the Caribbean Netherlands has existed for a long time at the KPCN. Deputy Chief of Police, Ronald Zwarter and Melvin Sint Jago as head of the information department within the KPCN, worked on the actual realization in coordination with INTERPOL NCB The Hague. "The Dutch Caribbean islands did not yet have a direct connection with the data from INTERPOL. This prevented us from conducting direct searches for persons, explains Melvin. "We were sometimes dependent on many external parties for our international information about criminals. By establishing our own sub-NCB, an intermediate link has been removed from this process, which of course promotes speed and thus improves international investigation. "

"With this INTERPOL connection, we can identify criminals, terrorists, and other unwanted persons or criminal groups more quickly and tackle them more effectively, making both the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and the European Netherlands even safer," said Jose Rosales, Chief of Police of KPCN.

Contact with INTERPOL

Specially trained intel colleagues from the Dutch Caribbean Police Force will set to work within the sub-NCB. They form the link between INTERPOL, NCB The Hague, and the enforcement services on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. The ambition for the future is to extend the access with INTERPOL to the border posts of the Caribbean Netherlands so that the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee can also query incoming and outgoing travelers against the INTERPOL databases.

Signing

From the KPCN, police chief J.R. Rosales signed the agreement and police chief Jannine van den Berg signed the agreement on behalf of the Netherlands.
A young boy has been so horrifically burned in a fire that broke up in his bedroom that he is fighting for life in an induced coma.

Emergency services rushed to a level three apartment on Walker Street in Waterloo, Sydney, just after 8.30am on Friday.

His mother in her thirties also suffered serious facial burns and they were taken to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick with the son, aged about six or seven, in critical condition.

The mother and her daughter were taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick after suffering burns

Two other children aged five and nine, two neighbours, and three police officers suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Giles Buchanan said the little boy had 'extensive, critical burns' and his mother had facial burns and burns to her upper torso.

'Technically he has full thickness burns which means the skin has burnt off, blistered, black down to the next layer of flesh,' he said.

'It's quite critical burns, other than the pain involved with that and the potential fluid loss through those burns we also have a large potential of airway burns.

'At this moment he will be undergoing a sedation, put in a coma and have a breathing tube put down in hospital.

'His mother, with facial burns, was hysterical other than being in pain, she's also seen some horrific injuries to her child and they were taken to hospital as quickly as we could.'

The fire began in a level three apartment on Walker Street, Waterloo (pictured)

Inspector Buchanan thanked the two neighbours who assisted at the scene.

'Without the two bystanders racing into the building to help evacuate those inside, the outcome could have been even more tragic,' he said.

'In a time critical situation some brave people stood up and took charge and I'm proud of all those involved.'

NSW Fire Service said everyone including a dog was out of the building and the blaze under control by 8.48am.

Six NSW Fire Service crews and seven NSW Ambulance crews attended the scene with the cause of the fire not yet known.

Police said a crime scene had been established and an investigation was ongoing.
The Phillies have signed Greg Garcia to a minor league contract, the infielder confirmed to Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Garcia, who will report to the Phillies alternate site, will have a chance to opt out of the deal on May 2.

The 31-year-old Garcia had been available since the Tigers released him from a minors pact on March 25. Although he hasnt been able to secure a guaranteed contract since the Padres non-tendered him in December, Garcia has appeared in the majors in every season since 2014. Also a former Cardinal, Garcia has hit .245/.354/.339 in 1,303 big league plate appearances and provided defensive flexibility in the infield. While Garcia is primarily a second baseman, he has also seen a fair amount of action at shortstop and third during his career.

For now, Garcia will give the Phillies some extra infield depth in their organization as they battle through a couple of health issues. Second baseman Jean Segura went on the 10-day IL on Wednesday with a strained right quad, and reserve Ronald Torreyes hit the COVID list earlier this week. Shortstop Didi Gregorius hasnt played since last Sunday because of an elbow problem, but hes expected to return Friday.
Emmanuel Macron has vowed to 'never give up' the fight against Islamist terrorism after a female police worker was killed by a knifeman who shouted 'Allahu Akbar' in France today.

Named by police as Stephanie M, the 49-year-old mother-of-two was slashed in the throat by a Tunisian delivery driver at 2.20pm as she worked in a police station in the leafy Paris suburb of Rambouillet.

French prosecutors have opened a terror probe after the killing which was carried out by the 36-year-old who arrived in France illegally in 2009 before he was given leave to remain in 2019.

Stephanie, an admin worker, who had worked for the police since 1993, had just 'popped out of the station to change the parking disc on her car' when she was pounced on by the attacker in the lobby.

Investigators said the killer had been scouting the site before the attack in broad daylight.

Emmanuel Macron, who was in Chad today for the funeral of their late president Idriss Deby, said in a statement: 'She was a police officer. Stephanie was killed in her Rambouillet police station, on the already damaged land of Yvelines.

'The nation is with her family, her colleagues and the police. In the fight against Islamist terrorism, we will not give up.'

A female police worker in France has been killed by a knifeman who was then shot dead by her colleagues. Pictured: officers stand near the police station after the attack

Rambouillet is a quiet commune southwest of Paris and is known for its famous historic chateau

France's counter-terrorism unit has taken over the investigation into the killing.

Francois Bersani, a police union official, said the attacker slipped into the building before shouting 'Allahu Akbar', meaning 'God is greatest' in Arabic.

The attacker was not previously known to police or anti-terrorist authorities and had recently moved to Rambouillet having previously lived in the Val-de-Marne.

The murdered woman was the mother of two children aged 13 and 18.

Rambouillet is a quiet and leafy commune southwest of Paris and is known for its historic chateau.

Yvan Assioma, of the Alliance Police Union, said his colleague 'died at the scene', describing her as a 'mother of two children who was aged 49.'

Emmanuel Macron, who was in Chad today for the funeral of their late president Idriss Deby, has said he will 'never give up' the fight against Islamist terrorism

The attacker was not previously known to police or anti-terrorist authorities and had recently moved to Rambouillet having previously lived in the Val-de-Marne

The French prime minister Jean Castex headed to the police station this afternoon following the attack, and he said in a statement: 'The Republic has just lost one of its daily heroines in a barbaric act of infinite cowardice.

'To her relatives, I offer my support on behalf of the entire nation. To our security forces, I want to tell them I share their emotion and their indignation.

Marine Le Pen said: 'The same horrors keep happening, the same infinite sadness when thinking of the relatives and colleagues of this policewoman, the same profiles of people who are guilty of this barbarism, the same Islamist motives...

'We can't take it anymore.'

The 49-year-old mother-of-two was slashed in the throat by the Tunisian on Friday afternoon as she worked

Local MP Aurore Berge, said: 'Whenever our law enforcement agencies are attacked, it is France that is attacked. Rambouillet is a town that is not at all used to being subjected to violence.

'This reminds us that our law enforcement agencies put their lives at risk every morning when they go to work.'

It follows six years of savage Islamist attacks in France, including the beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty by a Russian-born terrorist in October last year.

The deadliest single terrorist attack ever in the country came in November 2015 when 130 people were killed in Paris.

Suicide bombers pledging allegiance to ISIS targeted the Stade de France, cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan music venue, where 90 died.

The administrative agent, who had worked for the police since 1993, had recently returned from her lunch break when she was attacked

Yvan Assioma, of the Alliance Police Union, said his unidentified colleagues 'died at the scene', describing her as a 'mother of two children who was aged 49'

Earlier in the year, two Paris-born gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda broke into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, leaving 12 dead and 11 wounded.

In July 2016, 86 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a 19-tonne truck was deliberately driven into crowds on the seafront promenade at Nice, in the South of France.

The terrorist turned out to be a radicalised Tunisian immigrant who was shot dead by police.

During the same month, two Isis terrorists murdered an 86-year-old Catholic priest during a church service in Normandy.

There have been frequent knife attacks on the forces of law and order, leading to the deaths of serving police.

In October 2019, a radicalised computer operative working at the Paris Prefecture in central Paris stabbed four of his colleagues to death.

The attacker  who was also shot dead  turned out to be a Muslim convert who kept extremist Al-Qaeda and Islamic State literature and images on his computer.
The Supreme Court on Friday released its first photo of Judge Amy Coney Barrett with her fellow justices as legal scholars question her $2 million book deal, saying it is bad optics at a time of political peril for the court.

In the photo, Barrett stands in the back row wearing a red top and pearl necklace under her black robe. The new justices stand in the back while Chief Justice John Roberts is seated in the center.

Barrett is coming under fire for signing a book deal, coming about six months after she was sworn into office after her controversial nomination by President Donald Trump.

Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo. Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett

The Supreme Court on Friday released its first photo of Judge Amy Coney Barrett with her fellow justices

She is not the only judge on the high court to have gotten a book deal: Justices Stephen Breyer and Neil Gorsuch wrote on legal and civic issues.

But she has gotten the biggest advance: Justice Clarence Thomas received $1.5 million for his memoir and Justice Sonia Sotomayor got for $1.175 million hers.

Barrett's book will be about how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule, publishing industry sources told Politico, calling the advance she received an 'an eye-raising amount.'

Sentinel, the conservative imprint of Penguin Random House, is the publisher.

Although federal law doesn't preclude judges from being paid for writing books, such a large advance raises appearance issues, Charles Geyh, who specializes in judicial ethics as a professor at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law, told Bloomberg.

'Judge Barrett may be confident that the book project will not detract from her focus on her judicial duties, and she may well be right,' Geyh said. 'But from the perspective of the average American who is grinding out a living at 40k a year, the optics of a judge -- who is paid $250,000 in tax dollars to do the people's business as a justice -- moonlighting for $2 million on a book deal, are problematic.'

Another judicial ethics scholar, Stephen Gillers of New York University Law School, said he doesn't see a problem with the deal.

'The fact of the deal and the amount of the advance by themselves raise no judicial ethics problem, although she will have to recuse herself in cases in which the publisher is a party,' Gillers said.

Amy Coney Barrett being sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on October 27, 2020 - in her six months on the court she has only written two majority opinions

Barrett, 49, won Senate confirmation to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg right before the election.

Not a single Democrat voted for her. Democrats complained then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed her nomination to go forward during a presidential election year after he blocked President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, during Obama's final year in office.

Coney's appointment created a 6-3 conservative majority on the court. She was the final of Trump's three nominations to the Supreme Court.

Now some liberal Democrats are pushing to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court. President Joe Biden has appointed a commission to study the issue.
Amaravati, April 23 : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Supremo and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of party leader and former minister Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar.

"There was zero development in the last two years but suppression of the opposition leaders and former ministers was going on unabated," alleged Naidu.

He condemned Kumar's arrest and said that the latter was picked up from his home at Chintalapudi village in Guntur district without any prior notice.

Naidu termed the arrest as 'illegal' and part of a larger conspiracy to destroy 'Sangam Dairy' for which Kumar rendered valuable services as its Chairman.

"It was clear now that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government was hell-bent on handing over 'Sangam Dairy' to the Amul company. The local dairies in Andhra Pradesh were being crippled deliberately in order to benefit the Gujarat-based company," alleged Naidu.

The former CM alleged that there has been a systematic attack on all state companies and dairies ever since Jagan Mohan Reddy became the Chief Minister in 2019.

"The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government had some secret deals with an outside dairy like Amul in order to damage the long established dairies in the state. Local farmers were shareholders in the 'Sangam Dairy' but the current state government was not hesitating to crush it," he said.

Naidu alleged that the arrests of TDP leaders was a part of the YSRCP government's tactics to divert the attention of people from the massive corruption.

"K. Atchannaidu and Kollu Ravindra were wrongfully arrested in the past. Devineni Umamaheswara Rao was also targeted in the name of false CID cases," he alleged.

According to Naidu, the state government should set aside its political agenda and protect the Sangam Dairy and the thousands of farmers dependent on it.

TDP's National General Secretary and the party's second-in-command, Nara Lokesh, also slammed the YSRCP government for allegedly targeting and harassing TDP leaders, rather than focusing resources on saving the people from the second Covid-19 wave.

"The current Andhra Chief Minister was deriving diabolical pleasure at the expense of the opposition leaders and coronavirus victims. The Dhulipalla family was known for its unfailing services to the local people in Guntur district," claimed Lokesh.

He alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy's family is notorious for hoarding illegal wealth and asserted that Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar is being targeted just because he dared to expose the utter inefficiency of the state government.

"The former Minister has uncovered the false drama of YSRCP leaders whose baseless insider trading charges were revealed through a sting operation. The YSRCP failed to realise that Dhulipalla holds the record of winning as an MLA consecutively for five times," said Lokesh.

He spoke to Kumar's wife Jyothirmayi, who narrated the whole incident to Lokesh.

She alleged that nearly 100 policemen swooped on their home and took away her husband and warned that she would not sit quietly if Kumar contracts coronavirus.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
NEW YORK, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the Steering Committee of the Ad Hoc Group of Buenos Aires Bondholders (the "Group"), who filed claims on March 22, 2021 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking judgment against the Province in respect of the Province's continuing default on scheduled payments of interest and/or principal under eleven series of Notes issued by the Province (the "Notes"), take note of the forthcoming expiration of the Province's exchange offer relating to the Notes on April 23, 2021.

For more than twelve months the Province has been promotingwithout amendmentan exchange offer based on restructuring terms that have been decisively rejected by bondholders thirteen times and are poised to be rejected tomorrow for the fourteenth time. The terms of the failed exchange offer were plainly disconnected from the reality of the Province's current economic and financial position when initially launched and have become substantially more so as the Province's revenues and capacity to pay have continued to recover.

While Governor Kiciloff has characterized the Province's bondholders as intransigent and unreasonable, the facts suggest otherwise. International bondholders have reached debt restructuring agreements with nine other Argentine provinces in recent months. These successful deals were based on good faith negotiations following the common-sense Basic Principles framework articulated by the Coalition of Argentine Provincial Bondholders. In all cases, bondholders made significant compromises while the respective provincial issuers simultaneously agreed to debt service obligations commensurate with their resources.

To date, the Provincial leadership has chosen to follow a course of confrontation and default with its international bondholders rather than a course of negotiation and compromise. Before extending once again the acceptance deadline on its failed exchange offer, the Group encourages the Provincial leadership to consider carefully the example of the nine other Argentine provinces which have in recent months resolved their own debt challenges through good faith negotiation with their creditors. The terms of the debt restructurings agreed in those cases provide a clear illustration of the path the Province will need to take in order to avoid a prolongation of its dispute with international bondholders. A resolution can be found, but only if and when Governor Kiciloff and his team stop playing politics with the finances of the Province, to the lasting disadvantage of the Province's businesses and citizens.

The members of the Group remain open to considering proposals from the Province that fairly reflect the reality of the Province's debt service capacity and respect the investments that bondholders have made to support the economic and social development of the Province in the same manner that other Argentine provinces have done. In the meantime they intend to vigorously pursue the legal proceedings that were initiated last month, and reserve in full their right to exercise additional available remedies at any time.

The members of the Steering Committee are represented by White & Case LLP.

White & Case LLP

Erin Hershkowitz in New York

T +1 646 885 2200

E [email protected]

SOURCE White & Case LLP
Federation Council approves ban on seizure of debtors pets

 flickr.com/ Rod Waddington

12:02 23/04/2021

MOSCOW, April 23 (RAPSI)  The upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, approved a draft law prohibiting confiscation of domestic animals of debtors on Friday.

The State Duma adopted the initiative on April 13.

Amendments are expected to be introduced in the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

The bill stipulates that recovery on the basis of an enforcement document cannot be applied to family pets not used for business purposes.

The draft laws authors are Chair of the Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environment Protection Vladimir Burmatov. They believe the amendments will promote more humane treatment of domestic animals, provision of adequate pet care conditions and emotional well-being of their owners.




President Joe Biden told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that he will label the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 a genocide in a phone call Friday from the White House.

Bloomberg News reported that Biden informed Erdogan of his position - making good on a campaign promise - after the White House sent out a readout of the call that didn't mention the issue.

The much anticipated phone call took place more than three months after Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration, a delay that is widely seen as a cold shoulder to Erdogan, who had enjoyed close ties with former President Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that he will label the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 a genocide, Bloomberg News reported, after the White House's readout of the call didn't include the topic

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan did not receive a phone call from the new U.S. president until more than three months into the administration

It took place one day before Biden is expected to make the Armenian genocide announcement, the annual day of remembrance for the victims of the 1915 massacre.

Despite decades of pressure from the U.S. Armenian community, successive presidents have skirted the genocide controversy due to worries about a rupture with NATO ally Turkey, which has steadfastly rejected the assertion.

But Biden pledged last year during his presidential campaign to recognize the Armenian genocide.

'We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination,' Biden said in a statement on April 24, 2020. 'If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words "never again" lose their meaning.'

Branding the massacre genocide would carry no legal consequences, but could potentially add support to reparations claims.

More immediately, it would infuriate Ankara, which insists that the numbers of Armenians killed is greatly exaggerated and that more Muslims were killed during the period.

Erdogan on Thursday told advisers 'to defend the truth against those who back the so-called "Armenian genocide" lie,' his office said without referring directly to Biden's reported plans.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned in an interview that Biden's move would sour bilateral relations.

'If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs,' he said.

Democrats in Congress though applauded the expected move.

'I am so relieved, grateful and moved that we can finally commemorate the anniversary with the knowledge that the government of the United States... has recognized the truth of the Armenian genocide at last,' said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The White House kept its statement on the Friday call between Biden and Erdogan short.

'President Biden spoke today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, conveying his interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements,' the White House said.

Earlier Friday, the White House announced that Biden's first trip abroad since taking office - amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic - would be to the G7 in Cornwall, England, set for June 11-13.

Biden would then travel onto Brussels, Belgium, where he'll meet with European Union leaders and attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's summit of leaders on June 14.

The White House's readout of Biden's call with Erdogan said that the two leaders had agreed to meet on the margins of the NATO summit in June to have a wider conversation about their countries' relations.

'Both leaders agreed on the strategic character of the bilateral relationship and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of mutual interest,' the Turkish presidency also said in a statement.
Daily deaths due to the virus in Bangladesh have soared in recent weeks, with a seven-day average of 100 fatalities due to Covid-19 recorded on Thursday April 22.Bangladesh is under a nationwide lockdown, but steel and most industrial activity is currently allowed to operate - although that may change soon, sources told Fastmarkets.Hospitals have come under crippling pressure in the country, with municipal oxygen supplies now being diverted away from industry and towards intensive care units.This has led to shipbreakers and induction furnace (IF) steelmakers being unable to perform gas cutting at their factories, thereby hindering operations.

The gas has all been diverted to Bangladeshi hospitals so IF mills cant process their scrap through gas cutting - only electric arc furnaces (EAFs) have their own oxygen supply in Bangladesh but most mills do...
Apr. 22LAWRENCE  Area legislators joined more than 100 community members to voice support for fully funded, locally controlled schools at last week's virtual Merrimack Valley spring legislative forum.

State Sens. Diana DiZoglio and Barry Finegold were joined by state Reps. Linda Dean Campbell, Marcos Devers, James Kelcourse, Christina Minicucci, Lenny Mira, Frank Moran, Tram Nguyen and Andy Vargas for the conversation around education during the pandemic. Topics included ending the state standardized MCAS exam, receivership in Lawrence and the mental health needs of students.

The event was sponsored by the Greater Lawrence Education Justice Alliance, Jobs With Justice, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

"We hope others in the Merrimack Valley delegation will follow Sen. DiZoglio's lead in recognizing the need for meaningful and progressive change that ends the racist policy of receivership and standardized testing, and restores democracy and the voices of educators in the region," Jobs With Justice's Dr. Marianela Rivera said.

Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education board voted to modify graduation requirements for this year's 11th-graders so that the Class of 2022 won't be required to take the MCAS to graduate, given the coronavirus pandemic.

The change, recommended last month by Commissioner Jeff Riley, marks the first time since 2003 an entire high school class has been exempted from having to pass the exam in order to graduate.
President Biden will travel to the U.K. on June 11-13 for the G7 summit, followed by a trip to Brussels on June 14 for the NATO summit, the White House announced Friday.

Why it matters: Biden's first overseas trip  which has been delayed due to the pandemic  will be used to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to multilateralism, following four years of strained relations with European allies under former President Trump.

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What to watch: At the G7, hosted this year in Cornwall, England, Biden will "work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change," according to the White House. He'll also hold bilateral meetings with other G7 leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In Brussels, Biden will attend the NATO summit and "affirm the United States commitment to NATO, Transatlantic security, and collective defense." The White House noted that Biden will discuss "how to ensure effective burden sharing," which was a key priority of the Trump administration.

Biden will also participate in a U.S.-EU summit while in Brussels.

Flashback: Trump's first overseas trip as president was to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, foreshadowing what would become one of his administration's most important relationships.

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Tonic DNA was approached directly by LArche Canada with a script for the film. Originally intended to be a live-action short, the risk of coronavirus required the team to instead pivot the focus and translate the script to animation. Part of LArches Free to Be campaign, the films narrative was built on years of oral histories from those with Down Syndrome, highlighting moments familiar to those with the disability that are so rarely depicted on screen. Working with actor and LGBTQ activist Nicholas Herd, who also has Down Syndrome, the team moved away from problematic notions of pity and fear that often shape public discussions, and instead recognized how the story of Down Syndrome sounds very different when actually told by someone with the disability.

Michael McDonald, national communications director at LArche Canada, comments: In an industry so captivated by cg and 3d, what if we were to disable the aesthetic to the bare minimum? In our initial search for style references, we were really drawn to the minimalistic tradition of abbozzi; the preliminary sketches for great works of art. People with Down Syndrome are often treated as such, as under-developed, rough sketches of what should have been a full-fledged human being. Could we explore that through the tradition of the rough sketch and come out on the other side with something whose beauty would be deepened by its simplicity, by the fact that it refuses the flashiness of artistic sophistication? From our first meeting, Joe [Bluhm] has taken the animation in such incredible directions. Bodies with Down Syndrome have different proportions than those without Down Syndrome, and Joe and Tonic took the time to get these dimensions right  the gestures, the expressions, the non-normative proportions  and it was all done with such integrity. Its one thing to dream about the perfect aesthetic to tell this story, its another to make a flat world feel round or to match the 42 muscles in the human face with the expressive power of a well-placed line, and yet, once Joe said yes and Tonic sharpened their pencils, thats exactly what they did.

Joe Bluhm, director at Tonic DNA, adds: Although the timeline was challenging, the concept and narrative was amazing. I was completely moved by the script and the cause, instantly envisioning something free and loose. Knowing that this was a robust story, with half a lifetime of narrative, we couldnt cut out any of it, yet couldnt build every detail of the world. Fortunately, my gut feeling was to do something that felt light, familiar, and loose enough to evoke an idea that the story is still yet to be written for many of the people that the narrative speaks to. Tightening up and constraining things is not the answer  letting things be loose and open is. So a light, slightly vintage style felt right. And letting colors flow, letting textures flow, and getting glimpses of these memories being told to the viewer through an ephemeral form seems fitting.
"No matter where our obsession with flavor has taken us, we've always counted on truffle to guide us." says Nick Ajluni, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at TRUFF. "Black Truffle is our foundational ingredient; it puts the truff in TRUFF. Its unique shape inspired our iconic lids and its delicate flavor inspired our unique creations. After years of exploring the experience of truffle in condiments, we're excited to let them shine on their own."

TRUFF Black Truffle Oil is a delicate blend of olive oil and real black winter truffle. The recipe includes a carefully selected neutral-flavored olive oil as a base to let the pure truffle goodness shine through. With just a couple of drops, the oil adds instant depth and dimension to any dish.

"Go-to ingredients shouldn't be boring. That's why we've been committed to adding exciting and luxurious products to our customers' kitchen arsenals from the start," says Nick Guillen, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at TRUFF. "We think truffle embodies luxury, and it's what our audience deserves when they cook."

TRUFF immediately propelled into social media virality with the release of its truffle hot sauce in 2017. With its distinctive flavor profile and pristine bottle, TRUFF Hot Sauce quickly became the best-selling hot sauce on Amazon and at Whole Foods Market. TRUFF's product portfolio had over 300% growth while amassing wait lists of over 10,000 customers for its new product expansions into pasta sauce and mayonnaise. TRUFF can now be found in more than 8,000 stores around the world.

TRUFF Truffle Oil will be available nationally at TRUFF.com and will be distributed on Amazon, Whole Foods Market, Shaw's, Giant, Sprouts and World Market throughout the next coming months. For more information, follow @Sauce on Instagram or go to TRUFF.com.

ABOUT TRUFF

Made with an ultra-unique blend of real black truffles and red chili peppers, TRUFF's line of luxury pantry staples are designed to elevate the dining experience. Originally founded through a popular food and lifestyle Instagram blog called @sauce, TRUFF immediately propelled into social media virality with the release of its hot sauce in 2017. The brand quickly became the fastest growing company in the hot sauce space due to its distinctive flavor profile, pristine bottle, Truffle Inspired cap, and of course the coveted

Instagram account @sauce that makes tagging a no-brainer. Taking inspiration from the flagship black truffle experience, TRUFF recently expanded its family of products to include other popular favorites like TRUFF Pasta Sauce, TRUFF Mayonnaise and TRUFF Black Truffle Oil.

TRUFF has been featured on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Food Network, The Rachael Ray Show, Food & Wine and on Oprah's "Favorite Things" list two years in a row. TRUFF is also the #1 best- selling hot sauce on Amazon and at Whole Foods Market. You can find TRUFF's variety of sauces in stores nationwide and around the world in the UK, Australia, Kuwait and South Korea.

TRUFF is made in Southern California and is Gluten-Free and non-GMO. Visit www.TRUFF.com for more information and recipes.

PR Contact: Michelle Gabe

[email protected]

304.952.1840

SOURCE TRUFF

Related Links

http://www.TRUFF.com


(Newser)  A Long Island college student is recovering from a horrific acid attack in front of her home that left her with severe injuries. The assault took place March 17 as Nafiah Ikram, a 21-year-old junior at Hofstra University, arrived home in Elmont after work. Ikram says she saw a man watching from the corner. Surveillance video shows him running up behind her as she walked from her car toward the home's entrance, leaning into her, then dashing away. "I started to cry and ... was panicking," she tells CBS New York. As she relayed to her father that someone had thrown something in her face, "he was like, 'Oh my God, it's acid.'" A GoFundMe for Ikram set up by a friend notes that "when Nafiah screamed it caused the acid to go into her mouth, burning her tongue and throat, which prevented her from breathing." It adds that the acid flung in her face "melted [her] contact lenses onto her eyes."

story continues below

Ikram was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries to her throat and one eye and burns to her arms. "I can just see colors, but that's it," she tells CBS. CNN notes that support for Ikram has since been flooding in, including from TV host and author Padma Lakshmi, who's said to have known the family for years. "This is every parent's worst nightmare," Lakshmi posted on Instagram this week, imploring people to donate to Ikram's GoFundMe, which has raised more than $420,000 as of Friday morning. Cops say they're looking for a man about 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a skinny build, seen wearing a black hoodie and gloves during the attack and fleeing in a red Nissan Altima. Police and Ikram herself, who's Muslim, don't believe it was a hate crime, per PIX11. Meanwhile, a reward for information about the attack has been increased to $20,000; people can call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. "My whole life changed in a matter of five minutes," Ikram says, per CBS. (Read more Long Island stories.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23) The World Health Organization on Friday raised concern over the spread of the more contagious COVID-19 variants in parts of the Philippines, adding that evidence points to "transmission within communities" in some areas.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said health officials are "particularly concerned" about the presence of the B.1.1.7 and the B.1.351 variants, which were first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, respectively.

"We do know that there are circulating in the NCR (National Capital Region), and in some regions outside of the NCR bubble," Abeyasinghe told News Night.

"So we are concerned about the circulation of variants. We have seen evidence over the weeks of increasing numbers of confirmed variants within the NCR," he added. "And this points to transmission within communities of these variants."

Aside from the B.1.1.7 and the B.1.351 variants, the Philippines had also detected cases of the P.1 variant which first emerged in Brazil, and the P.3 variant first discovered in the country but is not yet classified as a variant of concern.

The Health Department on Sunday said there are 266 more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, 351 cases of the B.1.351 variant, and 25 additional cases of the P.3 variant in the country.
Take Instagram, a clearinghouse for vacation selfies, food pictures and airbrushed dispatches from your friends lives. Now add MI5, Britains domestic intelligence agency, known for its spying and secret-keeping, performed  in the fog of popular imagination, anyway  by handsome, tuxedoed men who drink martinis.

A match made in influencer heaven?

MI5 officially joined Instagram on Thursday, making it the latest intelligence agency to try its hand at social media. The agency hopes its account, @Mi5official, will debunk myths about the art of spying, help explain the world of intelligence to the masses and highlight the agencys history, it said in a statement.

We must get past whatever martini-drinking stereotypes may be lingering, Ken McCallum, MI5s director general, wrote in a column in The Telegraph announcing the new Instagram account.

The agency hopes that its new open approach will attract a more diverse applicant pool by preventing people from ruling themselves out based on perceived barriers such as socioeconomic background, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability or which part of the country they happen to have been born in, Mr. McCallum wrote.
Chauvin then applied a neck restraint, causing the child to lose consciousness and go to the ground, according to court documents

Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the murder of George Floyd and his legal troubles may not yet be over. The DOJ may go after him on federal charges in Floyds murder and allegedly kneeling on a Black teens neck, according to ABC News.

A jury convicted Chauvin on Tuesday of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in Floyds death after kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. This was not the first instance of Chauvin using his knee to obstruct the breathing of another person.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listen as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over pre-trial motions prior to opening statements, Monday March 29, 2021, in the trial of Chauvin, in the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

Read More: 3 other officers still awaiting trial after Chauvin guilty verdict

On Sept. 4, 2017, the former Minneapolis police officer was caught on video hitting a Black teenager with a flashlight, causing him to bleed, requiring stitches. Chauvin then applied a neck restraint, causing the child to lose consciousness and go to the ground, according to court documents, ABC News reported.

Chauvin allegedly held the teenager down with his knee for 17 minutes despite the boy insisting he couldnt breathe.

Those videos show a far more violent and forceful treatment of this child than Chauvin describes in his report, Matthew Frank, one of the state prosecutors, wrote in a court filing at the time.

Frank further added that the videos showed that Chauvins use of unreasonable force towards this child and complete disdain for his well-being.

In this image from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin listens as his defense attorney Eric Nelson gives closing arguments. (Credit: AP)

Frank added that Chauvin and the other officer present ignored the pleas of the 14-year-olds mother.

Chauvin and [the other officer] placed [the teenager] in the prone position and handcuffed him behind his back while the teenagers mother pleaded with them not to kill her son and told her son to stop resisting, Frank wrote. About a minute after going to the ground, the child began repeatedly telling the officers that he could not breathe, and his mother told Chauvin to take his knee off her son.

Story continues

Read More: Derek Chauvin found guilty on all charges in the murder of George Floyd

Chauvin released his hold on the teenager and said he was under arrest for domestic assault and obstruction with force.

Judge Peter A. Cahill did not allow this incident into evidence during Chauvins trial as a pattern of behavior for the former cop. However, sources told ABC News that the Department of Justice may pursue federal charges into the matter and Floyds death.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin poses for a mugshot after being charged in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Ramsey County Sheriffs Office via Getty Images)

The Minneapolis Police Department was informed of the DOJs inquirers and a spokesperson pledged to be of assistance.

We will assist the DOJ with anything that they need, and the chief has pledged full cooperation with any investigating agency, MPD spokesman John Elder told ABC News.

A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment to ABC News, but they have signaled their intentions in recent days. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday that the DOJ would be launching a civil investigation into the conduct of the MPD. The prole would determine if the department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing.

Garland added that law enforcement should not be wary of accountability.

Good officers welcome accountability because accountability is an essential part of building trust with the community, and public safety requires public trust, Garland said.

Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now!

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The post DOJ considers charging Chauvin for alleged 2017 assault of Black teen appeared first on TheGrio.
John Courage is a rare bird in Texas politics. The self-styled independent Democrat has won two terms on the San Antonio City Council representing District 9 on the North Side, whose voters routinely favor Republicans in general elections. Now hes seeking a third.

Just turned 70, the former Air Force police officer and special education teacher said there is no secret formula for his unlikely political success.

I like to say, Im just your neighbor on City Council, Courage said. This isnt about partisan politics  and all those culture war issues. Its about listening to everyone. Its about potholes and picking up trash and the everyday politics that affects your life.

Culture war issues are part of the mix, however. Council races are officially nonpartisan, but few candidates deny their affiliation with one of the two major parties, and two of Courages challengers are Republicans who accuse him of trying to defund police and highlight his support of liberal causes and policies.

They are Erika Moe, 46, a commercial litigation lawyer making her first run for elected office, and Patrick Von Dohlen, 51, a financial planner and insurance agent who lost to Courage in 2017 and 2019.

Antonio Salinas, an 18-year-old college student, did not respond to an interview request. A fifth candidate, Cory W. Dennington, dropped out of the race.

Von Dohlen also did not return several calls. He is campaigning on social media for smaller government, less taxes and more freedom, and his somewhat narrow losses to Courage in the previous elections have clearly retained the incumbents attention.

Though Courage is one of the more mild-mannered members of the council, he bristles at Von Dohlens claims on social media that he supports defunding police. Courage has expressed support for those seeking reforms to policing and criminal justice, especially after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May, but he voted for a city budget last summer that increased police funding. He said he also supported the San Antonio Police Department filling all its staff vacancies.

Von Dohlen has used social media to attack Courage for having raised his fist in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, a radical Marxist group seeking to defund the police. At least one vocal supporter in a black pickup parked at early voting sites has made similar accusations on a large sign mounted in its bed.

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A lot of stuff he just makes up. I voted to increase the San Antonio Police (Department) budget by eight million dollars, Courage said. He suggests Im a Marxist or socialist and that I support radical organizations. It is simply not true, a total misrepresentation of what Ive said and done.

On other issues, Courage says he fought for a homestead exemption for property owners that has saved about $12 million for taxpayers across the city and that he was instrumental in setting up a citywide registry for obtaining COVID-19 vaccinations.

I spoke up when Metro Health said the registry might take three to four weeks, Courage said. I wanted it in 10 days.

One of his few complaints about city government  a burr in my saddle, Courage calls it  is in dealing with the San Antonio Water System. Some of its reports to the council seem needlessly complex or dont answer obvious questions, he said.

Im sure theyre diligent, hard workers, but Ive been frustrated with them, he said. I think we need to work with both utilities so council has a better understanding of how those organizations are managed financially. We often get reports that are just what they want to tell us.

Courage taught school for 26 years, mostly special education classes in San Antonio Independent School District and North East ISD, and has a masters degree in computer technology. He served on the Alamo Colleges board in the 1980s, and in the years before joining the City Council in 2017 ran unsuccessfully for the council, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Texas House.

Courage has two sons. He likes to point out that his wife, whose maiden name is True, actually has an even better name for politics: Zada True-Courage.

Moe, who was born in La Jolla, Calif., to a Marine family, but is a longtime San Antonio resident, has two daughters, 11 and 13, and she graduated from Texas Tech University. She got her law degree from St. Marys University and is a certified guardian ad litem who can be appointed in court cases to represent minors and disabled and elderly persons who need an attorney.

I come from a long line of military and law enforcement, Moe said, so her tipping point for entering the council race was the national movement to defund police, though that position was taken by a minority of those calling for reforms.

She said Courages support of a move to get newly hired SAPD officers to live within the city would effectively defund the police because half of them live outside the city.

Moe also faulted Courage for supporting the equity funding policy on the council that in 2019 distributed some additional street maintenance funds to seven poorer districts that historically have had worse roads than District 9, which Courages office said has the best roads in the city because were built on rock, not clay.

Lisa Krantz /Staff photographer

In social media posts, Moe opposed utility executives receiving pay raises and bonuses during the pandemic and generally characterized CPS Energy as unprepared for Februarys historic freeze.

Von Dohlen decries Courages support of a council resolution last August declaring racism a public health crisis, a gun buyback program in September 2019 and another resolution backing the Paris climate agreement, which he suggested was indirectly responsible for thousands of lost power episodes during the massive February storm.

In June 2017, weeks after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the climate accord, a newly sworn-in council voted to join more than 300 U.S. cities in pledging to cut greenhouse emissions and improve air quality.

Courage, looking back on his two terms, said he was most proud of his staffs hard work and his ability to recruit people from the community to serve on boards and commissions, even including two opponents from his first race in 2017.

Some days this job is rewarding. Some days its frustrating, Courage said. I dont do it for the pleasure. I just feel its an important duty.

bselcraig@express-news.net
Atlantic Portugal will further expand the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Global Footprint

IRVINE, Calif. & CASCAIS, Portugal--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, one of the worlds fastest-growing residential real estate brokerage franchise networks, is pleased to announce that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal has joined its worldwide network. The startup company will add one additional office and eight agents to the global network. The brokerage will service Cascais, Lisbon, Porto, Comporta, Algarve and all over Portugal.

In Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices we have found a network that truly recognizes that real estate is more than a transaction, but a relationship, says Patricia Salgueiro, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal. The network aligns seamlessly with our values and I am looking forward to continuing the promise of trust, integrity, stability and longevity of work due to our tailor-made services within our brokerage. The Clients are my priority and I want to leave an unforgettable memory of the beginning of a great relationship!

Patricia Salgueiro brings years of valuable experience to her role. With a background immersed in the luxury market, she has acquired the necessary skills designed to persevere in a competitive market and create strong relationships all across the globe.

With their brand transition, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal gains access to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices active referral and relocation networks, and its FOREVER Cloud technology suite, a powerful source for lead generation, marketing support, social media, video production/distribution and more. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has aligned with best-in-class technology platforms to deliver world-class support to its network members far into the future.

The brand also provides global listing syndication, professional training and ongoing education and the exclusive Luxury Collection marketing program for premier listings. Its Prestige Magazine showcases network members premium listings with a strong lineup of feature stories covering topics that appeal to high-end real estate consumers.

Were proud to welcome Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal, said Chris Stuart, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Patricia is a skilled and seasoned leader who will effortlessly lead, guide and inspire her team of real estate professionals.

The new brokerage will also leverage the strength and reliability of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Luxury Collection division, which utilizes an elite network of experienced, service-oriented professionals that combines local expertise with vast global connections, together with marketing resources to deliver the best-in-class results.

Gino Blefari, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, also welcomed the company to the network, Were thrilled to have Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal join the network. Patricia and her team share our vision to create long-lasting relationships with their clients and truly become Forever Agents.

To learn more visit: bhhsatlanticportugal.com

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal is dedicated to helping its clients through the entire experience of the homebuying process and establishing connections all over the world. Its first-class service in supporting people to find their forever home in Portugal turns dreams into a reality. Serving the region in Cascais, Lisbon, Porto and Comporta, Portugal the company prides its reputation on providing excellence to its customers through professional advisory and support teams. Its elite clientele has entrusted Atlantic Portugal with Portugals most unique properties.

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is one of the worlds fastest-growing residential real estate brokerage franchise networks, with more than 50,000 real estate professionals, nearly 1,500 offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East, and more than $138 billion in real estate sales volume. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability, and longevity.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005110/en/

Chelsea Freeman

PR & Communications

+1 949 241 5239

chelseafreeman@hsfranchise.com

Source: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
(Newser)  Some people in towns near the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border thought there had been an earthquake Tuesday night. It turned out to have been a massive explosion at a gender reveal party. Unlike other recent gender reveal eventsincluding one that killed an expectant father in upstate New Yorknobody was hurt in the blast at a New Hampshire quarry near Kingston, but it shook homes up to 20 miles away and at least one homeowner told authorities their foundation had been cracked, the Union Leader reports. Police say around 80 pounds of Tannerite were detonated at the quarry, along with blue chalk.

story continues below

"We heard this god-awful blast," a woman who lives near the Torromeo Industries quarry tells NBC10. "It knocked pictures off our walls." Her husband says the foundations of neighbors' homes were cracked. A woman who lives 20 miles north of the quarry tells the Union Leader she thought there had been either an earthquake or a major accident after she heard a boom and a "deep rumble." Police say the Tannerite, an explosive normally used for firearms practice, was legally acquired and the family apparently had permission to use the quarry, though charges could still be possible if property damage is confirmed. (Read more gender reveal party stories.)
With the stroke of a pen, King Norodom Sihamoni reinstated the political careers of seven former officials of the Cambodia National Rescue Party last weekend, matching the Supreme Courts alacrity to disband the popular party in 2017.

Of the seven officials, two  former lawmaker Yem Ponhearith and Kem Sokha aide Muth Chantha  are being watched closely for their next move.

The political amnesty mechanism was installed by the government in 2019 to allow 118 former CNRP members who were banned from politics to request re-entry into the political arena. Political analysts, at the time, said the ad hoc procedure was another attempt by the ruling party to divide and conquer.

In the last two years, 22 former CNRP politicians have requested and been granted their constitutional right to participate in politics. It is unclear if that means another CNRP-linked party is in the making with 12 months to go for the commune election in June 2022.

These amnesties come as the Sam Rainsy faction of the party has been in exile and unable to return to the country. Former party president Kem Sokha is in legal limbo as his treason trial remains suspended with no indication of when it will resume.

For some, like the Cambodia Nation Love Party, it is justified for former CNRP members to ask for clemency so that there is an opposition entity on the ballots during the 2022 commune and 2023 general elections. The political bans are expected to end in November 2022.

This brand-new party should exist in the face of declining opposition support against a strong ruling party as well as in the time of a deeply divided state of democrats, the Cambodia National Love Party (CNLP) said in a statement this week.

The CNLP was created in early 2020 by Kang Kimhak and Chiv Cata, who received political amnesty in March 2019. The fledgling partys attempts to reach out to the electorate and their public rallies have focused on the CNRPs strongholds of Kampong Cham and Prey Veng.

We urge all patriots, democrats, and former leaders and activists of the CNRP to join CNLP altogether for the sake of our motherland, the same statement reads.

Other CNRP-linked entities have formed in the last three years, each attempting to take on the mantle of the primary opposition to the Cambodian Peoples Party.

Political stalwart and former foreign minister Kong Koam joined a party started by his youngest son, Kong Monika, after getting amnesty. The Khmer Will Party was formed just before the 2018 national elections and received 3.3 percent of the popular vote, winning zero parliamentary seats.

Ou Chanrath, who was also pardoned in March 2019, confirmed months-long conjecture that he would start a political party by launching the Cambodia Reform Party in February. Chanrath was also a close ally of Kem Sokha.

Opposition activists speculate that former CNRP Deputy President Pol Ham might soon seek amnesty and consider joining Ou Chanraths party in May. Reached this week, Ou Chanrath neither confirmed nor denied whether Pol Ham would join his new party.

The Khmer Will Party, Cambodia National Love Party, and Cambodia Reform Party are all trying to project themselves as the presumptive successor to the CNRP, the new democratic party to take on the CPP.

Opposition activist Meach Sovannara, who is close to Kem Sokha, said the formation of a disjointed challenge to the ruling party would only result in a fractured mandate at the elections. He said the CPP was eager to approve more CNRP-linked parties, which would only help the ruling party repeat their sweep of the election in 2018.

The CPP currently occupies all elected seats in the Senate and National Assembly, and, after dissolving the CNRP, it has commune chiefs in all constituencies barring one.

"The opposition would be better off not seeking amnesty and standing firmly behind Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha," said political commentator Em Sovannara.

The influence and popularity of the CNRP remain virtually and spiritually bold among their supporters and people will see their political values remain intact as long as they keep resisting and are defiant against the ruling party, Em Sovannara added.

The seven people pardoned last weekend were close aides of Kem Sokha, including Kem Sokhas longtime chief of staff Muth Chantha, and former lawmakers Yem Ponhearith, Tout Khoeut, and Lat Litai.

The former opposition leader has attempted to distance himself from the recent developments. Kem Sokhas lawyer, Chan Chen, made a thinly-veiled reference to Yem Ponhearith and Muth Chantha when he said they were trying to convince the former opposition leader into realizing their ambitions to contest elections.

When Kem Sokha was not convinced that handful of individuals accused him of being stubborn and eventually abandoned him, Chan Chen wrote on Facebook last Saturday.

Sisowath Thomico, another banned politician who remains in close contact with Kem Sokha, told VOA Khmer that both Muth Chantha and Yem Ponhearith decided together to seek political amnesty and had distanced themselves from Kem Sokha for the past few months.

Former CNRP President Sam Rainsy, Yem Ponhearith and Muth Chantha did not respond to requests for comment from VOA Khmer.

However, Ou Chanrath said he was already in talks with Yem Ponhearith.

But they have not yet come up with any particular plan for the future on whether to immediately resume political activity or to wait, he said.

Political commentator Em Sovannara said both Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsys continued defiance to concede before the ruling party makes them a still-potent threat to the government.

As long as they keep their stance, they both can bank on this as a capital for their future political investments, Em Sovannara.

Opposition activist Meach Sovannara said one option would be for the remaining banned politicians to wait until their bans expire in November 2022 and unite behind one political entity, endorsed by both Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy, to contest the 2023 polls.

That would be the last resort, he said.
(Natural News) The Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has upended the global food supply chain, revealing a fragile global food system strained in large part by agrochemical companies privatization of seeds. But at the same time, its also showed how seed banks can help combat hunger in times of crisis. Indigenous seed banks, in particular, may have a key role to play in addressing global food security.

In Guatemala, the agricultural development nongovernmental organization Qachuu Aloom helps farmers from across the territory of the Maya Achi indigenous group. In addition to helping them get better at traditional and agroecological farming practices, theyre also helping them preserving their native seeds.

The organization, which has 500 active members, has even built its own seed bank for storing seeds. The bank, more a simple room than an actual seed bank, is filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves of earthenware jars containing seeds from indigenous families across Guatemala.

The seed bank also contains seeds of crops lost during the nations decades-long civil war. But the organization does more than save seeds. It has also taken on a diplomatic role, encouraging students and supporters to plant native seeds from the bank across the United States.

Indigenous seed banks can help strengthen global food system

According to Rosalia Cho, coordinator of Qachuu Aloom, indigenous communities around the world have been pioneers in preserving seeds of traditional agricultural crops. Those same communities are also the ones responsible for putting back native seeds and traditional crop varieties into the agricultural scene.

Cho said their work began in 2003 when families started gathering and saving their seeds at home. But a lot of families did not have seeds from plants native to the region, having lost those during Guatemalas civil war. Hybrid seeds introduced by agrochemical companies also eventually replaced any remaining native seeds.

Last February, the Cherokee Nation, an autonomous tribal government in the U.S., also became the first indigenous nation in the country to deposit traditional seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. The vault houses roughly a million packets of seeds, each a variety of an important food crop.

Pat Gwin, the Cherokee Nations senior director of environmental resources, said the tribe has worked for over a decade finding and cultivating crops they lost when they were forced to relocate to Oklahoma from the southeastern U.S. in the 1830s.

Gwin said the tribes took just one crop with them during the move because it did not feel right to uproot native plants. In other words, the Cherokee Nation started at zero. But that all paid off. The tribes own seed bank now has over 100 kinds of seeds. In 2020, the tribe also distributed close to 10,000 packets of seeds to farmers across the U.S.

Experts argue that seeds of traditional agricultural crops, called landraces or heirloom breeds, could help solve food shortages by promoting biodiversity.

The loss of crop biodiversity in commercial agriculture is a pressing problem today. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, approximately three-quarters of the worlds crop genetic diversity has been lost as farmers turned to high-yielding breeds with little genetic diversity. In fact, 95 percent of the energy humans get from food today comes from only about 30 kinds of crops.

Crop biodiversity is fundamental to agricultural growth because it enables farmers to develop varieties that are more productive, with characteristics beneficial for farmers and attractive to consumers. The loss of crop biodiversity means a growing global population depends on a dwindling number of crop varieties.

By saving native seeds and reintroducing them to farmers, indigenous seed banks like the one by Qachuu Aloom and the Cherokee Nation may help strengthen the global food system.

Indigenous seed banks may help address malnutrition

More than just promoting crop biodiversity, indigenous seed banks may also help improve global food security. Nora Castaneda-Alvarez, project manager of the Seeds for Resilience project of the international nongovernmental organization Crop Trust, said seed banks conserve many crops relevant to food security.

Traditional agricultural crops stored in indigenous seed banks are also more nutritious than conventional ones, said Castaneda-Alvarez. Previous studies have shown this to be true in crops like eggplants and chickpeas.

Cho concurs, explaining that the native seeds they carry in their seed bank are nutritious because they came from fertile lands inhabited by the Maya Achi people in the northern region of Guatemala. Cho believes that their ancestral seeds can, therefore, help prevent malnutrition in both children and adults.

Researchers are also now using heirloom breeds from indigenous seed banks in breeding programs to improve the nutritional profile of several food crops. (Related: Cheaper seeds and better-tasting vegetables: Why you need heirloom seeds for your homestead.)

Go to FoodFreedom.news to learn more about seed banks and their role in promoting global food security.

Sources include:

WakingTimes.com

Resilience.org

ModernFarmer.com
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Photo by Bruce Damonte [enlarge] North Millrace entrance to the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.





The University of Oregon plans to build an approximately $225 million second phase of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene.





. . .
Bereaved families want answers over the 'callous' use of deceased children's identities by undercover police officers during their covert roles, an inquiry has heard on Friday.

Heather Williams QC told the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) that, for around 20 years, the 'abhorrent' practice became embedded in a secretive unit within the Metropolitan Police and involved the identities of children who died as young as two days old.

She said relatives who had seen the 'callous misuse of their loved ones' identities' wanted to know whether this 'abuse of their memories of their loved ones was necessary' and if it served 'any legitimate purpose'.

Bereaved families want answers over the 'callous' use of deceased children's identities by undercover police officers during their covert roles, an inquiry has heard on Friday. Pictured: File photo of the New Scotland Yard sign in London

Ms Williams read an opening statement on behalf of affected family members on Friday morning as part of the public inquiry into shadowy undercover policing tactics.

She said each had 'experienced the death of a child - a life event amongst the most difficult that it is possible to suffer'.

She added: 'More recently, the families have also suffered the horror of learning that their loved ones' identities were used by undercover officers precisely because of their bereavement, because their son or daughter lost their life when they were a child.'

The latest series of hearings in the mammoth inquiry began on Wednesday, looking at the activities of the Met's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) between 1973 and 1982.

Ms Williams said this period was particularly important as it covered the time when uncover officers started using deceased children's identities.

'How on earth did this abhorrent practice come to be adopted, how did it become to be embedded in SDS procedures?' she asked.

She added: 'We believe that the conclusion inevitably must be that there was no clear rationale, no sufficient justification and no necessity for this repulsive practice.'

The inquiry heard that families also hope it will look at the extent to which officers using appropriated identities committed criminal offences and were arrested, prosecuted and convicted in those names.

Ms Williams said she made her statement on behalf of:

Frank Bennett and Honor Robson, the brother and sister of Michael Hartley, who died on August 4 1968 at the age of 18.

Faith Mason, the mother of Neil Robin Martin, who died on October 15 1969 when he was six years old.

Liisa Crossland and Mark Crossland, stepmother and brother of Kevin John Crossland, who died on September 1 1966 aged five.

Mr, Mrs and Ms Lewis, the father, mother and sister of Anthony Lewis, who died on July 31 1968 at the age of seven.

Barbara Shaw, the mother of Rod Richardson, who died on January 7 1973 when he was just two days old.

What is the Undercover Policing Inquiry investigating and why has it been criticised? The Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI), which was set up in 2015 by then-home secretary Theresa May, is investigating the tactics of two police units over 40 years. It was launched after a series of public disclosures about undercover tactics sparked heavy criticism. The UCPI is looking at two units - the Metropolitan Police SDS which existed between 1968 and 2008, and the undercover section of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), which existed between 1999 and 2010. Part of the probe is examining the role of police intelligence gathered by undercover officers in the blacklisting operations. Chairman Sir John Mitting's rulings mean the cover names of 51 officers must remain secret, along with 119 of the real names of officers and staff. But the inquiry, which has cost 30 million to date, has attracted criticism from people targeted by undercover officers for lack of transparency and limited access to hearings. The only way to view the video stream of witnesses giving evidence is to have registered in advance to attend a hotel in London with 60 seats available. Advertisement

Ms Williams said Ms Shaw had been trying to 'uncover the truth' since 2013, but is now 'very frail and her health is failing'.

'She is distressed to contemplate that she will not live long enough to find out,' she added.

Ms Williams said families learned from earlier in the inquiry that, between 1968 and 1972, none of the SDS officers about whom they had heard evidence had relied on the identity of a deceased child.

But she said there had been a 'dramatic change of approach' in 1974.

Previous incidents of officers' undercover activities being challenged or compromised appeared not to have been caused by using fictitious names, Ms Williams said.

She highlighted that police lawyers and the Met had previously argued that using real people's identities was 'an essential operational imperative', allowing officers, for example, to produce a real birth certificate if challenged.

But Ms Williams cited the example of now-dead Detective Constable Richard Clark, who used the alias Richard Gibson when spying on the group Big Flame in 1975 and 1976.

He was withdrawn after members of the group confronted him with official copies of the birth and death certificates of his cover name, which 'clinched' their suspicions, the inquiry heard.

Ms Williams said disclosed documents provided no explanation as to why the use of fictitious identities was abandoned and who made the decision, with it remaining an 'unexplained mystery'.

'Nothing has been provided that could justify the damage that the change of practice has caused to real bereaved, vulnerable human beings,' she said.

Ms Williams told the inquiry that the SDS Tradecraft Manual had referred to bereaved families and their loved ones in 'offensively flippant terms'.

It mentioned officers being tasked with 'finding a suitable ex-person, usually a deceased child' and advised to find a death that was 'natural or otherwise unspectacular'.

She said few officers appeared to have experience 'qualms of conscience' about the practice, but by 1994 there was 'growing unease' among managers about the safety of adopting such false identities.

According to The Guardian, it was learned in 2013 that more than 80 undercover officers had trawled through national birth and death records to find suitable candidates for undercover identities.

The technique was known as the 'jackal run' after it was depicted in the novel 'The Day of the Jackal', by Frederick Forsyth.

The inquiry will hear from women who were deceived into relationships with under cover officers, including Mark Kennedy (pictured), who targeted environmental movements

Spies then developed aliases based on the children's identities and were given identity documents - such as passports, driving licenses and national insurance numbers - to make their 'identity' appear credible.

After assuming the dead children's identities, they spent up to ten years infiltrating activist groups across the political spectrum.

The UCPI is examining the surveillance of more than 1,000 groups, going back to 1968.

The inquiry will hear from women who were deceived into relationships with under cover officers, including Mark Kennedy, who targeted environmental movements.

Other groups, including anti-war organisations, trade unionists and anti-racism groups were also infiltrated by the SDS and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU).

An earlier probe into their activities showed that undercover officers had spied on the family of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence as they campaigned for justice. He was killed in 1993 by a gang of racist thugs.

On Thursday, Neville and Doreen Lawrence said his legacy is 'one of hope and change' after a minutes silence was held at the inquiry.

Their comments were made 28 years to the day since their son was murdered in the unprovoked attack in Eltham, south-east London.

They said: 'Despite the brutal circumstances of Stephen's death, those left behind have campaigned to ensure that his legacy is ultimately one of hope, reminding us that change is both much needed but also possible.'

Stephen's parents and his friend, Duwayne Brooks, who was with him on the night he died, were all reported on by undercover police and are all classed as core participants in the public inquiry.

Stephen Lawrence's parents have said his legacy is 'one of hope and change' after a minutes silence was held at the 'Spy Cops' inquiry on Thursday. Pictured: Stephen Laurence (file photo)

On Wednesday, the Spy Cops inquiry heard that sexual activity between undercover police officers and members of the public who did not know their true identities was 'not uncommon' from the mid-1970s.

David Barr QC told the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) some officers in the then all-male Metropolitan Police Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) would make jokes about intimate relationships in front of managers.

No written instructions have been found governing sexual relationships by officers in the shadowy unit, but the inquiry heard there is evidence that, between 1972 and 1983, at least five had intimate contact with as many as 12 women.

Mr Barr said: 'It can safely be said that, from the mid-1970s onwards, sexual contact between SDS officers in their undercover identities and members of the public was not uncommon.'
Japans nuclear wastewater lies exposed amid ban on sales of scorpionfish from Fukushima waters

Global Times) 10:36, April 21, 2021

File photo taken on Oct. 12, 2017 shows huge tanks that store contaminated radioactive wastewater in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.(Photo: Xinhua)

The Japanese government's sales ban on black scorpionfish caught in Fukushima waters shows it lied about its nuclear contamination claims, experts said Tuesday, urging the Japanese government to face up to science, instead of confusing the public with pseudoscience to further harm human food chain and marine life.

Media reports said the Japanese government announced on Monday that a ban has been placed on black scorpionfish caught off Fukushima waters from entering markets due to the detection of excessive radioactive materials. It was the first ban since restrictions on seafood sales in Fukushima waters were completely lifted last February in Japan.

About 270 becquerels of radioactive cesium was detected per kilogram of a black scorpionfish caught at a depth of 37 meters, 13 kilometers from Minamisoma city, Fukushima Prefecture on April 1, exceeding the standard value stipulated by the Food Sanitation Law, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday, citing Fukushima Prefecture authorities.

Some Japanese politicians have boasted the nuclear-contaminated water is "drinkable," but their actions have already revealed their lies. Experts urged the Japanese government to face up to science, instead of confusing the public with pseudoscience to harm human food chain and marine life.

This is not an isolated case of the discovery of contaminated fish. In February, levels of cesium were detected over the limit in the same species caught off Fukushima, Greenpeace East Asia, an NGO on environmental protection, cited media reports told the Global Times.

The radioactive substances detected in the rockfish, caught at a depth of 8.8 kilometers off Shinji Town, Fukushima Prefecture in February, was five times the Japanese national food standard. It contained the radioactive substance cesium with an average concentration of 500 becquerels per kilogram, reports showed.

Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, radiation-contaminated fish is still being found off Fukushima, showing the long-term impact of the accident. Japan's decision to dump nuclear wastewater will only add more uncertainties to the recovery of the marine environment.

In 2019, fish contaminated with radioactive substances were also caught in the waters of Fukushima, reports said.

It is a worrying situation that fish with excessive radiation have been repeatedly caught, and this latest decision by the Japanese government has made it even worse for Fukushima fishermen who have been experiencing the bitterness of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in the past decade, Shaun Burnie, senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace East Asia, an NGO on environmental protection, told the Global Times.

Shang Qi, a former research fellow from the National Institute of Environmental Health with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), told the Global Times it is a lie to say Japan would dilute hazardous substances by a factor of seven and then discharge them. It is the organic matter that could be naturally degraded in the natural environment, rather than nuclear materials. Dilution makes no sense to total amounts of emissions, Shang said.

When the Global Times reached Fukushima Fisheries Cooperative Association (FCA), it said that the ban of the black scorpionfish is an isolated case. No other marine life from the Fukushima waters is likely to contain radioactive material, because the industry carries out examinations regularly.

Zhu Jianzhen, former vice president of Guangdong Ocean University, believes FCA is driven by industry interests. Openly acknowledging that other marine organisms possibly contain radioactive materials would deal a blow to the entire industry in Fukushima and further deepen consumers' distrust of Fukushima fisheries. "The real situation is often concealed by the interests of stakeholders," Zhu told the Global Times.

In this case, the concept of marine "biomagnifications" was also ignored by the FCA. Shang explained that excess radioactive substances detected among marine life is proof that nuclear-contaminated waters have caused radioactive pollution to the surrounding waters. Those pollutants would stay inside marine life.

Shang added that if marine life in the bottom food chain contains radioactive substances and then is consumed by upper marine life, the radioactive density accumulated in the top food chain could be tens of thousands times higher than that of the discharged nuclear-contaminated water.

The radioactive substances inside the fish are caused by other marine life also containing radioactive substances apart from nuclear-contaminated water. The individual ban on fish cannot guarantee all marine life is safe from radioactive substances, Shang noted.

In addition, the expert said harm to human beings is very hard to predict but the damage was reflected in a case of minamata disease in Japan.

Radioactive substances like a "hidden killer" cannot be detected without equipment as it has no odor. Its damage to marine life and humans would last hundreds of years, Shang noted.

Japan should uphold a scientific attitude, face up to challenges and opposition from the international community and correct its irresponsible decision to dump nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, instead of confusing the public with pseudoscience, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said Tuesday.

The contaminated water of over 1.23 million tons, is expected to contain many radioactive isotopes such as tritium or carbon 14, strontium-90, iodine 129 or cobalt-16, international environment NGO Greenpeace East Asia told the Global Times.

The water that Japan will dump contains many radionuclides which have the potential to cause damage to human and non-human DNA. Those radionuclides can accumulate in the marine food chain over long periods of time, even more than a thousand years, and could potentially pass back through the food chain to human communities on land, Burnie said.

While the domestic public and organizations are strongly opposed to Japan's decision, Yonhap citing South Korea's foreign minister said Seoul has no reason to object if Japan's Fukushima water dumping follows IAEA standards, which is seen as a compromise South Korea is taking on the issue.

"South Korea expressed firm opposition before John Kerry's visit to Seoul, but that attitude changed after the visit. I'd say the swaying attitude of South Korea came from US coercion," Lu Chao, a fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Sources said that Japan may use vessels to carry tons of radioactive water to the middle of the ocean as a way of dumping. This method would cause major harm to the Korean Peninsula and waters close to China, and less harm to the US, Lu told the Global Times.

Lu believes South Korea, one of the main victims, is able to weigh and balance between US coercion and domestic opposition. Fundamentally altering its position from opposing to acceptance is unlikely.

In a sign that outrage over Japan's decision to dump the contaminated water into the ocean persists among South Korean public, more than thirty South Korean college students shaved their heads in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in protest over Japan's dumping plan on Tuesday, media reported.

Messages on protective sheets draped on their bodies said, "Japan, drink the nuclear-contaminated water yourself!" The Japanese government should immediately withdraw the plan to dump the contaminated water," another reads.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Ms. Repossi works exclusively with precious metals and stones while Mapplethorpes necklaces and plastrons were made of beads and what she described as cheap, strange objects.

Drawing on her background in anthropology  Ms. Repossi holds a masters degree in the subject from the Sorbonne  the designer spent three years gathering more than 150 examples of Mr. Mapplethorpes jewelry and visiting the more than 2,000-item collection of his work at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles.

Ms. Repossis designs for the capsule were all organic shapes in brushed gold, a sharp contrast to the usual polished, angular aesthetic of Repossi jewelry.

The clearest bridge between the two artists worlds is the Jetty ring, inspired by a simple silver band that the musician and author Patti Smith, a Mapplethorpe muse, wore in some of his portraits. Transposed into the stacked style of Repossis 10-year-old Berbere line, the ring comes in a light rose gold with a brushed finish, which Ms. Repossi said she chose for its androgynous appeal.

The Relic Claw necklace ($22,050) is what Ms. Repossi called an extreme tribute, a punk-inspired transposition of a Mapplethorpe piece into fine jewelry, with five gold alloys and one bead worked in black gold set with white pave diamonds. A master jewelry sculptor in Paris handcrafted its centerpiece: a dark gray crab claw in palladium-plated white gold.

It represents the best of my profession, with the finest materials in a piece thats very cool to wear, Ms. Repossi said. It looks very retro, as if it has been used. I dont want to say its spooky, but the original probably had a mystical, talismanic dimension.
Turkish police have detained 62 people as part of an investigation into a cryptocurrency exchange which is accused of defrauding investors, according to reports.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said prosecutors issued detention warrants for 16 more people linked to the Thodex cryptocurrency exchange and said the detentions took place in eight provinces.

On Thursday, Istanbuls chief prosecutors office announced it was probing Thodex following complaints from users who could not access their assets.

It is thought to have affected some 391,000 investors and an estimated 1.44 billion in investments.

Thodex owner Faruk Fatih Ozer denied the allegations in a statement on Twitter, and said the company is being targeted by a smear campaign.

He said Thodex temporarily shut down trading after accounts showed unusual activity due to a cyber attack.

Mr Ozer also said claims that the money had disappeared are untrue.

Turkish media reports said Mr Ozer had left the country for Albania earlier this week.

Mr Ozer confirmed this, but claimed the trip had been arranged to meet foreign investors.

Last week, Turkeys central bank announced that it was banning the use of cryptocurrencies for the payment for goods, arguing that they presented irrevocable risks.

The decision came as many in Turkey have turned to cryptocurrencies to shield their savings from rising inflation and the Turkish currencys slump.
DENVER, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cannabis retail traffic was up 9.5%, and sales rebounded 8.4% year-over-year on 4/20, according to Cova Software, the largest Cannabis Point of Sale (POS) company in North America. While major outages plagued several big POS systems, Cova reported its 4th straight year of perfect uptime (100%) and benchmark transaction speeds (1.4 seconds). During peak hours on 4/20, Cova was processing 380 cannabis transactions per minute, and handled over 180,000 transactions for the day across 1,200+ dispensaries.

Cova POS in Use. Breaking News Image

April 20th, the "Cannabis Holiday" has historically marked the marijuana industry's biggest sales day of the year. However, when looking at the past 3 years, 4/20 fell on distinctively different climates. 2019 was a normal (non-COVID) year in which dispensaries in Canada and legal US States fought hard to be open by 4/20, and to procure the maximum amount of inventory to meet the surge in demand. They were rewarded with the biggest cannabis sales day ever.

Cannabis Retail Sales Bounce Back Despite Ongoing Pandemic

Last year saw a COVID shutdown of all retail businesses in March, followed by various re-openings of dispensaries by state or province in April. There were also restrictions on how cannabis stores could sell: via online order and curbside pickup, delivery only, and/or limited visitors into the dispensary. 4/20 2020 proved to be a better than average day but didn't set any sales records.

4/20/21 was nowhere near a return to normalcy, as some municipalities were locked down for non-essential travel, while others were open for business but with 6-foot restrictions in place. Nevertheless, the industry saw an 8.4% increase in sales over 4/20/20, despite several US POS systems crashing amid the higher volume. This forced nearly 2,000 dispensaries to turn customers away for hours.

Cova CEO Gary Cohen, summarized 4/20/21, saying "Preparations for 4/20 last year were tentative, as our industry was just being recognized as essential. The supply of cannabis products was plentiful, but demand was a big question. It turned out there was huge demand from consumers and patients, and because of COVID relief checks in April, they had money to spend in dispensaries. This year, the relief was not timed around 4/20, but employment is higher, and access to stores easier. Overall, 2021 was a great 4/20."

Based on Cova data, the daily lift in sales on 4/20 over average March daily sales has been: 2019 +240%, 2020 +78% and 2021 +89%.

The average invoice per transaction in the US was $76.26 USD, an increase of 9% over 2020. For Canada the average invoice was $52.48 CAD, a decrease of 2% from a year earlier. Dispensaries across North America saw 9.5% more traffic through their store this year, which is attributable to this April's greater freedom to visit retailers in the US. In Canada, a surge in COVID cases, lag in vaccines, and more lockdowns by provinces created challenges for retailers. Despite that, Canadian cannabis stores processed 5% more transactions on 4/20.

A Thousand New Stores Celebrate their First 420

Year over year, approximately 1,000 new dispensaries opened (+20%) in North America. Several geographies greatly expanded dispensary counts and access to cannabis in the past 12 months, namely Ontario, California, Oklahoma, and Missouri (a new medicinal cannabis state in 2021). The better climate this year, and impact of these markets, helped to significantly propel overall sales for the cannabis holiday.

ABOUT COVA

Cova designs retail software solutions specifically for the cannabis industry and has rapidly become the #1 dispensary Point-of-Sale and Inventory Management solution in North America. Cova's award-winning platform helps cannabis retailers simplify compliance, streamline dispensary operations, and increase profits through sophisticated inventory management, mobile dashboards, and seamless integrations with the most valued tech solutions in cannabis retail. Cova currently powers 1,200+ dispensaries and counting and is projected to process $3B in cannabis sales in 2021.

www.covasoftware.com.

Media Contact:

Dayna Van Buskirk

Marketing Manager

888-472-6989

[email protected]

www.covasoftware.com

SOURCE Cova Software

Related Links

http://www.covasoftware.com


There are still a lot of media outlets that dont like to run uncensored cursing, and that gets passed on to many of their reporters as directives even for Twitter. But its funny when that leads to not just the reporters, columnists or outlets refraining from cursing, but to them censoring actual quotes from players on Twitter, not even just in their actual outlets. And its particularly funny to see the different ways that different reporters choose to do that, especially when it comes to a very minor curse word like shit. Via Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe, here are Mets reporters Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News, Tim Healey of Newsday and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com finding different ways to relay a shit sandwich comment from Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (seen above after striking out Thursday in a loss to the Cubs):

Three ways to curse on Twitter pic.twitter.com/yWEWYt3M22  Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) April 23, 2021

We give credit to Thosar here for getting three of the four letters in, but DiComo deserves partial credit for at least starting it with the proper letter. And both of those at least illustrate what Alonso actually said, as shit has a much stronger emotional connotation than poop. Healeys (poop) is quite possibly the lamest way imaginable to censor someone saying shit. But it does lead to other fun imagined censorings, such as Bull (poop), Does a bear (poop) in the woods?, Holy mother forking (poop) balls, and Were about to sail into a (poop) typhoon, Randy. Its a good thing that Newsday wasnt on the case for much of the usage of shit in history, or our world would be much less colorful.

[Pete Abraham on Twitter; photo from Kamil Krzaczynski/USA Today Sports]
A Michigan state lawmaker threatened to call Governor Gretchen Whitmer on cops who arrested him after he crashed his car while drunk, according to a police report.

Rep. Jewell Jones, 26, is accused of driving at twice the drink-drive limit with a loaded gun in his cup holder when he crashed his black Chevy into a ditch on the side of I-96 in Fowlerville, about 65 miles outside of Detroit.

He allegedly taunted state troopers who responded to the scene on April 6, telling them he ran their budget, and was pepper sprayed and tasered twice while resisting arrest, police say.

'Im telling you if you do, it's not going to be good for you. I run yall budget bro,' Jones told police, according to the police report.

Jones made history in 2016 by becoming the youngest-ever member of the Michigan House at the age of 21.

Michigan State Police received multiple calls shortly before 6pm on April 6 about a black Chevy with a vanity license plate 'elected' speeding and driving erratically.

Rep. Jewell Jones made history in 2016 as the youngest elected official in the Michigan House. He is pictured left, in an official picture, and right, in his police mug shot

Shortly before 6pm on April 6, state troopers received multiple calls about a black Chevy with a vanity license plate reading 'ELECTED' which was speeding and driving erratically on I-96.

At 6:09pm, police and EMS say they responded to a crash involving the same truck.

The responding officer said in the police report, obtained by DailyMail.com, that the driver, later identified as Jones, appeared to be 'highly intoxicated.'

His speech was slurred and 'his eyes were red bloodshot and glassy and his fine motor skills were poor,' police said in the report.

The officer tried to talk to Jones, but he didn't want to speak to the officer; instead walked past him to get into the ambulance, according to the report.

He continued to ignore officers' demands, and became increasingly agitated, according to police.

Officers used a stun gun and pepper spray to subdue him.

'I don't give a f**k bro, when I call (Michigan Governor) Gretchen (Whitmer), I'll need y'all ID's, badge numbers, everything,' Jones told police after they used the stun gun, according to the police report.

Jones is serving his third term in the Michigan House, which ends on Dec. 31, 2022, but he can't run again because of term limits. He is a member of the National Guard and Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and an auxiliary officer in Inkster, Michigan, where he lives.

Jones continued to actively resist by refusing 'to comply with the simple verbal command of releasing his left arm,' police said in the report.

'I'm not giving you my arm unless you shoot me. You shoot me, I'll get up,' Jones allegedly told police, according to the police report.

It took at least three officers to put the cuffs on Jones. Throughout the confrontation, he allegedly continued to taunt the officers.

'If you strike me it's going to be bad for you, if you hit me it's going to be very bad for you. I'll call Governor Whitmer right now,' Jones said, according to the police report.

Jones was pepper sprayed and Tased twice by police.

He also allegedly pushed an emergency medical technician in the chest, according to the report.

Jones' blood alcohol content was 0.19, more than double the the legal driving limit of 0.08, according to the report.

During the arrest, police found a loaded .40-caliber Glock handgun in the cup holder in the center console, according to the report.

Jones was ultimately charged with resisting and obstructing a police officer, operating a motor vehicle with a high blood alcohol content, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, possession of a weapon while under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving.

He was virtually arraigned on April 16.

Carolyn Henry, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney at Livingston County, said Jones was 'combative and confrontational.'

Around the time of his arraignment, he posted a message on his Instagram expressing his confidence that God will protect him, the Detroit Free Press reported.

'This last week has literally been the craziest week I've ever had ... as a civilian,' Jones said.

But because of his religious faith, 'even now, in the midst of so much confusion, I find peace,' he said, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The post appears to have since been deleted.

Jones said in an Instagram post, 'even now, in the midst of so much confusion, I find peace,' he said, according to the Detroit Free Press. The post appears to have since been deleted.

Jones, far right, virtually appeared in court for his arraignment with his lawyers on April 16.

Jones' lawyer, Ali Hammoud, told the Detroit Free Press that Jones is presumed innocent.

Hammoud told the Detroit newspaper that he could not comment on the details cited in the police reports because he was still reviewing evidence.

Jones is serving his third term in the Michigan House, which ends on Dec. 31, 2022, but he can't run again because of term limits.

He is a member of the National Guard and Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and an auxiliary officer in Inkster, Michigan, where he lives.

In the Legislature, Jones is Democratic vice chairman of the House Military, Veterans and Homeland Security Committee.

DailyMail.com called Jones for comment.
Hyderabad, Apr 23 (UNI) Telangana IT and Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao tested positive for COVID-19 here on Friday.

Taking to micro-blogging site twitter, Mr Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and TRS party's Working President said,  I have tested Covid positive with mild symptoms.

Currently isolated at home.

Those of you who have met me the last few days, kindly follow the Covid protocol, get tested and take care.'

Mr Rao received many messages on Twitter, praying for his speedy recovery.

On Wednesday, the Minister accompanied with the Chief Minister to the hospital for undergoing medical tests by the latter.

Mr Chandrashekar Rao had tested positive for Coronavirus earlier.

UNI KNR CS 1011
Tara ONeill / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  A person is in stable condition at a local hospital after being shot Thursday night, police said.

The call came in around 8:30 p.m. for a gunshot wound victim who had been transported by private car to a local hospital for treatment, according to Sgt. Shayna Kendall.
An illustration of solar flare impacts on the whole geospace. Credit: Jing Liu.

Planet Earth is surrounded by a system of magnetic fields known as the magnetosphere. This vast, comet-shaped system deflects charged particles coming from the sun, shielding our planet from harmful particle radiation and preventing solar wind (i.e., a stream of charged particles released from the sun's upper atmosphere) from eroding the atmosphere.

While past studies have gathered substantial evidence of the effects that solar wind can have on Earth's magnetosphere, the impact of solar flares (i.e., sudden eruptions of electromagnetic radiation on the sun) is poorly understood. Solar flares are highly explosive events that can last from a few minutes to hours and can be detected using X-rays or optical devices.

Researchers at Shandong University in China and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the U.S. have recently carried out a study investigating the effects that solar flares can have on Earth's magnetosphere. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, offers new valuable insight that could pave the way towards a better understanding of geospace dynamics. Geospace, the portion of outer space that is closest to Earth, includes the upper atmosphere, ionosphere (i.e., the ionized part of the atmosphere) and magnetosphere.

"The magnetosphere is located in the region above the ionosphere and is the fully ionized space region above 1000 km from the ground," Professor Jing Liu, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. "The region is surrounded by the solar wind and is affected and controlled by the earth's magnetic field and the solar wind's magnetic field."

The magnetosphere is generally described as Earth's protective barrier against solar wind and other solar particles, as it prevents these particles from entering the planet's other protective layers. Nonetheless, past studies showed that when the direction of solar wind is opposite to the magnetosphere's magnetic field, magnetic lines from these two regions can 'connect." This means that some solar wind particles can be directly transmitted to the space surrounding Earth.

"We asked ourselves: Can the flare process, which is characterized by enhanced radiation, not only directly affect the earth's ionosphere, but also cause disturbance in the magnetosphere like the solar wind?" Liu said. "To answer this question, we adopted a series of observational datasets, collected by global satellite navigation systems, the European incoherent scattering radar network, ionospheric satellites, lunar orbiting satellites, and more."

Liu and his colleagues analyzed data collected by different devices and satellites during a solar flare event that took place on 6 September 2017. To do this, they adopted a recently developed numerical geospace model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This model, called the high spatial-temporal resolution magnetosphere ionosphere thermosphere model (LTR), reproduces the changes triggered by solar flares in the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling system.

Using the LTR model and previously collected data, the researchers were able to unveil solar flare effects on magnetospheric dynamics and on the electrodynamic coupling between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. More specifically, they observed a rapid and large increase in flare-induced photoionization of the polar ionospheric E-region at altitudes between 90 and 150 km. The phenomenon observed by Liu and his colleagues appeared to have a number of effects on the geospace region, including a lower Joule heating of the Earth's upper atmosphere, a reconfiguration of the magnetosphere convection and changes in auroral precipitation.

"We demonstrated that solar flare effects extend throughout the geospace via electrodynamic coupling, and are not limited, as previously believed, to the atmospheric region where radiation energy is absorbed," Liu explained. "Due to the similar solar-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling process in other earth-like planets, our study also provides new clues for exploring and understanding the effects of solar flares on other planets. In my future research, I plan to study the effects of flares on planets with the same magnetosphere (such as Jupiter, Venus and Saturn)."

Explore further Scientists discover a new auroral feature on Jupiter

More information: Jing Liu et al. Solar flare effects in the Earth's magnetosphere, Nature Physics (2021). Journal information: Nature Physics Jing Liu et al. Solar flare effects in the Earth's magnetosphere,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-021-01203-5

 2021 Science X Network
Two slices of pizza arrived in Tai Goldstein and Josh Tan's mailboxes this week. Tai Goldstein/Josh Tan

This week, remote students at Colgate University received surprise packages from the college.

Tucked inside manila envelopes were vacuum-sealed slices of cheese and pepperoni pizza.

Students took to TikTok to share their reactions, and food safety experts weighed in.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Wednesday, Josh Tan opened his mailbox to find a cheesy surprise from his college Colgate University.

Inside a cushioned manila envelope were two slices of vacuum-sealed pepperoni pizza.

Tan, a junior taking remote classes in San Francisco, California, told Insider that he received the pizza along with a note that read, "a slice of Hamilton, New York," which is where his university is based.

Colgate University sent pizza to its nearly 300 remote students so they could enjoy the college-town favorite New York Pizzeria from home, a spokesperson for the school told Insider.

After receiving the pizza, some students posted TikTok videos sharing taste tests and voicing their surprise at the unique care packages.

Three food safety experts told Insider the gift was well-intended, and it could be safe to eat if the pizza was reheated and the correct preservatives were used. But they agreed that they, personally, wouldn't eat the mailed pizza.

The pizza arrived this week, and one student was pleasantly surprised by its taste

Josh Tan said he was initially concerned about the pizza, but said it tasted "pretty good." Josh Tan

With another semester of remote classes for some Colgate University students, the school and alumni wanted to remind virtual students that they were still part of the Colgate community.

So alumni and the Dean of the College Division decided to send about 300 remote students slices from a local beloved pizzeria, New York Pizzeria, which is nicknamed "Slices."

"We hope the pizza will bring smiles to the faces we have so missed seeing on campus this semester," a spokesperson for the college told Insider in an email.

"It took a lot of time and a lot of energy, but I think we pulled it off," LuAnn Hance, a partial owner of New York Pizzeria, told Insider. She estimated that it was about 70 pizzas, which they vacuum-sealed in packages of two.

Story continues

Tai Goldstein, a junior studying remotely in New York City, told Insider the package was a complete surprise.

"I was honestly pretty confused and had no idea it was supposed to come but found it to be quite hilarious," Goldstein told Insider. "It absolutely made myself and fellow students smile."

Goldstein posted the surprise care package on TikTok and it quickly gained nearly half a million views. Soon, a handful of Colgate students were sharing their vacuum-sealed pizza packages.

The comment section on Goldstein's video was full of shocked and confused reactions.

"Am I going to apply to Colgate next year for this very reason? Yes, yes I am," one user commented.

Another person wrote, "I'm seeing this everywhere, and I need to know how its tastes."

Tan also wanted to know how his pizza - which traveled thousands of miles from Hamilton to San Francisco - tasted. So he created a TikTok account to share his reaction.

"It definitely would be better fresh, but for pizza shipped across the country, it was actually pretty good," he told Insider.

Food safety experts said the pizza is probably safe to eat, but they wouldn't eat a slice themselves

Some TikTokers in the comment section were concerned about how safe it would be to eat vacuum-sealed pizza that traveled in the mail.

Bill Marler, a food poisoning attorney, said he thinks the pizza could be safe to eat, but with some caveats.

"Pizza, especially with limited toppings, is safe given that the cheese is pasteurized, and the pepperoni is so cured - and if it well cooked - the pizza is safe," he told Insider in an email. His only concern was the flour, which can harbor harmful bacteria if it's not cooked properly.

But before a student takes a bite, he urged them to reheat it first.

"The best rule about take-out or 'mail-in' is to keep hot things hot and cold things cold," he told Insider in an email. "If the college is going to do this, I would urge them to ask the students to reheat the pizza before consuming."

Randy Worobo, a professor of food microbiology at Cornell University, agreed and said it could be OK to eat.

"Assuming the mailing takes less than seven days, and if it is reheated to more than 165 degrees Fahrenheit before eating, it would be a low chance for the student getting sick," he said in an email.

Martin Bucknavage, a senior food safety extension associate at Penn State Department of Food Science, said he would need to know more about how the pizza was packaged before taking a bite.

He told Insider that he would want to make sure the pizzeria has the proper regulatory approval, which would ensure that the pizza and packaging have the right types of preservatives to prevent bacteria growth that could cause food poisoning.

Hance said the pizza was frozen, packaged using a vacuum sealer, and then refrozen before the university shipped it out.

When asked if they would eat the pizza, Bucknavage, Worobo, and Marler agreed they wouldn't.

"I would pass on the mail-in pizza," Marler said. "Nice gesture, however."

Read the original article on Insider
New Delhi: Nearly a month after the cycle-rickshaw Renu Agal was in was hit by a speeding car in north Delhis Civil Lines, the 54-year-old journalist succumbed to head injuries at a private hospital here on Wednesday.

According to media reports, the cycle-rickshaw driver, whose identity remains unknown till date, also died on April 1. The accident took place on March 25.

The police told Hindustan Times that the Swift Dzire car that rammed the rickshaw was driven by Gaurav Batra, an assistant director with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). According to the FIR, Gaurav Batra appeared drunk.

Anto Alphonse, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north), reportedly said that a case of rash and negligent driving and causing hurt was registered initially. He further added that after the rickshaw rider succumbed to injuries, the police added the "IPC section pertaining to causing death due to negligence".

The 54-year-old journalist, Renu Agal, worked at The Print and lived in West Delhis Mayapuri. On March 25 evening, she met with the accident while travelling on a cycle-rickshaw.

Live TV
New Delhi, April 23 : Bharatiya Janata Party Chief J P Nadda on Friday said that the role and responsibility of the Members of Parliament (MPs) has increased with the country facing the second wave of the pandemic. Nadda held a review meeting with the party MPs from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Goa on the surging Covid-19 infections in the country.

Nadda reviewed the relief and rehabilitation operations being conducted by the party. He gave various instructions to the MPs and appreciated their efforts in putting on ground the party's "Seva Sanghatan Abhiyan 2.0".

"Role and responsibility of the MPs increases more with respect to the country braving the second surge of the pandemic. We need to keep in mind that help should be made available to the needy at all cost in the shortest possible time. For this we need to work together with the local administration, the NGOs in the sector and the hospitals in the region," Nadda said.

While giving instructions to the MPS for implementing various relief works, Nadda asked them to remain in constant touch with the district BJP president and the Mandal (Block) president. "They in turn should be encouraged to remain in constant communication with the booth level members and party cadres to continue to provide relief in mission mode," he said.

Nadda reiterated that the BJP government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to work for the betterment of the people.

"The Prime Minister is himself overseeing the relief work and is holding constant meetings with officials, pharmaceutical manufacturers, doctors, health workers, and others. He has also ensured that the efforts to make available oxygen should not weaken at all costs. We need to make the people aware of the relief operations mounted by the central government for them," the BJP chief said. He asked the MPs to regularly visit hospitals in their constituencies and familiarise themselves with the critical requirements so that action can be taken in advance to deal with an emerging situation.

He told the MPs that in light of the Covid situation becoming very serious in the country, it is their duty and responsibility to take care of their constituencies and ensure that relief reaches everyone in the shortest possible time.

Nadda emphasised that the party needs to step up relief work and not get affected by the negative campaign by rival political parties and some vested interests. He exhorted the saffron party MPs to work in mission mode to make the BJP's programme "Apna Booth Corona Mukt" successful.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
In May 2019, Le Pho's "Nude" sold for $ 1.4 million at Christie's "20th Century & Contemporary Art" auction in Hong Kong. The oil painting, size 90.5 x 180.5 centimeters, created in 1931, is in the art collection of Tuan H Pham - Vietnamese American.

Nude painting was once deemed taboo to Confucian thinking in old Vietnam. "In this fascinating picture, the artist's virtuous will and skill are clearly shown. With the intention of breaking away from Confucian philosophy, it created a sense of revolution by breaking the traditional perspective and highlighting the complexity in the artist's vision," the auction house stated.

Le Pho brought his paintings to France in 1937 and stored them in a small rented apartment in Paris. In 1940, when war broke out between France and Germany, the painter joined the French army. Before going to the battlefield, he told the housekeeper he would return to pay his rent soon and left his paintings behind to show he would keep his promise. However, the landlord sold the paintings to settle his debt.

Artist Le Pho, born in Hanoi, was one of the first students of the Indochina Fine Arts School. He also received training from the French principal, painter and professor Victor Tardieu. In 1937, Le Pho moved to France, marrying a reporter named Paulette Vauxa.

Pierre Le Tan, their son, was born in 1950 and became one of the famous illustrators in France. His granddaughter, Olympia Le Tan, is known as a famous fashion designer.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Brand X Lifestyle Corp., (CSE: BXXX) ("Brand X" or the "Company") announces that it has cancelled the remaining portion of the Brand X shares that were held in escrow by the Company to be released to the CBIO shareholders on the terms provided in the Company's share exchange agreement with the CBIO shareholders dated March 10, 2020. As the "Clawback Date" of March 1, 2021, has passed and the required gross revenue milestones were not met by CBIO, 3,450,000 common shares will be cancelled and returned to treasury.

In addition, the company announces it has agreed to terminate and reverse the CBIO acquisition of two hemp-complex CBD brands (previously August 12, 2020) and in doing so shall return associated URLs and cancel the related 300,000 shares.

"Before Covid-19 changed all our lives the acquisition and formation of CBIO and its plans were very exciting for us. More impressive was their team's pivot during Covid-19 into the PPE space. While many businesses were shutting down the CBIO team went looking for opportunity," stated Arni Johannson, CEO. "Unfortunately, not all these opportunities came to fruition so we have decided to move in a different direction. Our management team is looking for opportunities to create value with our investment into CBIO and will keep shareholders apprised of any developments if and when they progress."

About Brand X Lifestyle Corp.

Brand X (CSE: BXXX) is an investment issuer that actively invests in a diversified portfolio of early-stage to mid-level companies and projects. Brand X leverages its extensive network of operators and global thought leaders to provide investors with a unique multi opportunity portfolio.

Contact:

Arni Johannson

604-960-1878

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements the timing, consideration, and completion of the joint venture are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "will", "may", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, statements as to the completion of the Acquisition, the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the Acquisition, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, delays in obtaining regulatory approvals (including of the Canadian Securities Exchange), changes in laws, regulations, and policies affecting the Company's operations and the Company's limited operating history.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this presentation or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81630
Delhi's Max hospital chain said today it would not admit any more patients until oxygen supplies stabilized but soon retracted the statement, saying it had received emergency supplies. This comes as a part of an escalating crisis over Covid cases spiraling in the national capital.

Max said 'no new patients'

"We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi NCR till oxygen supplies stabilize," Max hospital has said in a statement on Twitter. But the facility deleted the tweet within a span of seconds, after receiving fresh supplies of oxygen.

ANI

Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in north India, posted an appeal on Twitter on Friday for emergency supplies of oxygen at its facility in south Delhi's Saket. However, a little after 9:30 am, the hospital said it has received emergency supplies at Max Saket and Max Smart and that this supply will last another two hours.

Delhi | An Oxygen carrying vehicle has reached Max Hospital, Saket after the hospital sent an SOS to the government



Another Oxygen carrying vehicle has reached Max Smart Hospital, says DCP South



(Visuals from Max Hospital, Saket) pic.twitter.com/Ko2geEzJmR  ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2021





Earlier, in a tweet labelled "SOS" sent out on Friday morning, Max healthcare said it had been waiting for expected fresh supplies for more than seven hours at two hospitals. It has 700 patients admitted at the two facilities.



SOS - Less than an hour's Oxygen supplies at Max Smart Hospital & Max Hospital Saket. Awaiting promised fresh supplies from INOX since 1 am. @drharshvardhan @msisodia @PMOIndia @ArvindKejriwal @PiyushGoyal @SatyendarJain over 700 patients admitted, need immediate assistance   Max Healthcare (@MaxHealthcare) April 23, 2021





Ganga Ram tragedy: 25 patients died

This comes as Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram hospital in a statement said early on Friday, 25 "sickest patients" have died in the last 24 hours, in a statement, revealing a worsening Covid crisis in the capital's hospitals. The hospital also said it had oxygen for only two more hours and that 60 more patients were at risk. Around two hours later, oxygen tankers arrived at the hospital.

Reuters

Hospitals in Delhi-NCR had to issue appeals all through Thursday for their oxygen stock to be replenished with the lives of their Covid patients hanging in the balance. Top private hospitals like Apollo, Fortis, Max and Ganga Ram issued desperate appeals to the authorities to ensure timely delivery of the critical supply, citing the number of Covid patients who were dependent on it for their survival.



Other hospitals asked patients to leave

However, smaller hospitals  with lesser influence but equally worried about the Covid patients in their care  were jittery and reaching a breaking point. Some of them began asking their patients to look for beds in other hospitals while stopping new admissions.

Representational Image/PTI

A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen supplies, and the majority of intensive care beds in Delhi hospitals are full. India is in the grips of a second wave of Covid infections. The country has close to 16 million confirmed infections and saw a record number of cases on Thursday.
Schematics describing the infiltration synthesis process for making new materials. Top: Generation of an organic-inorganic hybrid by infiltrating inorganic precursors (starting materials) into an organic template, such as a polymer thin film. Bottom: Area-selective infiltration into block copolymers, or polymers self-assembled from two or more chemically distinct "blocks." The inorganic precursor is only infiltrated in blue polymer domains. The organic matrix is then selectively removed to generate inorganic nanostructures inheriting the geometry of the starting polymer domain. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Since the beginning of civilization, humans have exploited new materials to improve their lives, from the prehistoric Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age to the modern Silicon Age. With each period came technological breakthroughs that transformed the way we live. Consider the 1961 invention of the silicon chip, which paved the way for the digital revolution. Without this tiny electronic component, we'd have no laptops or cell phones.

Addressing today's challenges will similarly require material advances. For example, how do we make solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity more efficiently? Batteries that last longer? Ever-smaller electronic devices? Scientists are seeking solutions to these very questions through materials science and engineering. They're both improving the performance of existing materials and creating brand-new materials with unparalleled properties.

Over the past decade, scientists at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Brookhaven National Laboratory have established themselves as leaders in this area. In particular, they are developing a new method for making materials: infiltration synthesis.

As its name suggests, infiltration synthesis involves infiltrating, or infusing, one material into another. By infusing an inorganic (non-carbon-containing) material in an organic (carbon-containing) material, one can generate a "hybrid" material with properties not seen in either of the starting components. The organic species could be polymer thin films, polymers patterned in a particular geometrical shape using a light source or electron beam (a technique known as lithography), polymers self-assembled from two or more chemically distinct "blocks" (block copolymer), or even self-assembled DNA structures. Infiltration occurs as the organic matrix is exposed to inorganic-containing gas or liquid precursors (starting materials) in an alternating order.

Scanning electron and optical microscope images of a zinc oxide nanowire array, nanowire array transistor, and nanowire array photodetector of ultraviolet (UV) light (top). The scientists combined infiltration synthesis and lithography to fabricate precisely aligned nanowire arrays and integrate them into devices. The photodetector has ultrahigh sensitivity to UV light, as shown in the graph (bottom). Credit: Advanced Optical Materials (2017)

By placing the hybrid material under oxygen plasma (an electrically charged gas) or in a high-temperature oxygen environment, scientists can also selectively remove the organic component. The inorganic part remains behind and inherits the organic "template" pattern, which is useful for creating inorganic nanostructures and integrating them into electronic devices.

"Conventional pure chemistry-based approaches like chemical synthesis are complex," explained Chang-Yong Nam, a scientist in the CFN Electronic Nanomaterials Group who is leading the infiltration synthesis research. "There's no guarantee you'll end up with the properties you targeted. And creating very small featureswhich are important for making electronic devicesis difficult. Infiltration synthesis addresses these issues, and the required tools are readily available in any nanofabrication facility."

Nam, CFN colleagues, and external collaborators have been demonstrating how infiltration synthesis can be used to create a host of new functional materials, enabling a wide variety of applications.

In 2015, they used infiltration synthesis and lithography to pattern inorganic nanowireswire-shaped structures with a width on the order of billionths of a meterinto a transistor. This study was the first to show that the technique could be used to pattern an electronic device. Extending this initial concept, they made arrays of perfectly aligned nanowires into highly sensitive photodetectors of ultraviolet (UV) light. To increase sensitivity even further, they converted stacked self-assembling block copolymer patterns into a 3D "nanomesh" architecture. The large surface area and pores enabled by this 3D layered geometry allowed for the placement of many more nanowire sensing elements.

(Left) Top- and side-view scanning electron microscope images of a ZnO nanomesh. (Right) A nanomesh device with electrodes (yellow) patterned by lithography. As shown in the graph, the device with six layers absorbed the most ultraviolet light, leading to the highest electrical currents. Credit: Nanoscale (2019)

This combination of block copolymer self-assembly and infiltration synthesis has also enabled various innovations by other research teams at the CFN. For example, one team used the technique to texture the surface of silicon solar cells with cone-shaped nanostructures. Similar tiny structures cover moth eyes to prevent light reflection, and the scientists demonstrated this antireflective effect in the nanotextured solar cells, as well as on "invisible glass" surfaces. When light strikes a solar cell, you want to minimize reflection (or alternatively, maximize absorption) so that the solar energy can be efficiently converted into electricity. And for display screens on computers, cell phones, and other electronics, you want to eliminate light reflection to prevent glare.

Following these studies on inorganic materials, the scientists began exploring the properties of hybrid organic-inorganic materials also generated by infiltration synthesis. For example, they created hybrid "nanopillars" exhibiting both the high strength of a metal and the low stiffness of foam. With this rare combination of mechanical properties, the material can store and release an unprecedented amount of elastic energy, making it useful for devices requiring ultrasmall springs, levers, or motorssuch as accelerometers, resonators, and biosynthetic artificial muscles.

The scientists also showed how hybrids can serve as optical coatings that reflect specific wavelengths of light; highly sensitive oxygen and water sensors; photoresists for transferring ultrasmall features into silicon for next-generation microelectronics; all-around coatings on individual nanoparticles for cell tagging and tracking in biological imaging; and contrast agents to visualize the complex geometry of 3D block copolymers.

"The amazing thing about infiltration synthesis is the tunability," said Kevin Yager, leader of the CFN Electronic Nanomaterials Group. "You can very precisely dial-in desired material properties by selecting the right infiltrant and the right loading level. This lets you target a huge variety of applications and optimize the material for each specific task."

(Top) Illustration of stacked self-assembled block copolymer thin films that have been infiltrated with platinum (Pt). The colored background image shows a Pt nanomesh obtained by removing the organic matrix; the nanomesh could be used in catalysis and chemical sensing. (Bottom) The hybrid thin films change color depending on the number of stacked layers. Credit: ACS Applied Material Interfaces (2020)

More recently, the scientists have been studying the suitability of their hybrid resists for extreme UV (EUV) lithography. Semiconductor technology companies are using this emerging technique to shrink transistorsthe building blocks of electronic components like central processing units (CPUs) and random-access memory (RAM)down below five nanometers. Reducing feature dimensions will enable the fabrication of electronic devices with increased processing speeds and lower power consumption. Despite the promise of EUV lithography, several challenges remain, including the need for high-sensitivity resists.

"EUV lithography requires resists that can absorb a high amount of EUV light, and organic materials typically lack this capacity," explained Nam. "Infiltrating an inorganic species into the organic component can improve absorptivity."

(Left) Transmission electron microscope images of cross-sections of a ZnO-infiltrated hybrid resist. (Right) Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure performance of the hybrid resist and an uninfiltrated polymer. ZnO infiltration enhances EUV sensitivity (decreased critical dose) and exposure contrast (increased slope of curve). Credit: SPIE Proceedings (2021)

Though many groups are now developing resist technologies, a fundamental-level understanding of the infiltration chemistry and EUV exposure process in resists is lacking. Nam and his team have started studying this mechanism in their hybrid resists through electron-beam lithography and low-energy electron microscopy at the CFN and X-ray scattering and absorption spectroscopy at the Soft Matter Interfaces (SMI) and Spectroscopy Soft and Tender (STT) beamlines of Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source II. They are also exploring the EUV exposure characteristics and patterning performance of the hybrid resists at the Microfield Exposure Tool (MET) beamlinea private EUV beamline sponsored by leading semiconductor companies, including Intel Corporation and Samsung Electronicsof Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Advanced Light Source. Their preliminary results provided important feedback on how to optimize the infiltration chemistry and method for enhanced EUV sensitivity.

The team is also making a hybrid-based neuromorphic switching device, which models the way the brain computes and transmits information. In initial demonstrations, their hybrid structure showed potential in mimicking the action of brain synapses, or the connections between neurons. They also found that the hybridization significantly reduced device-to-device performance variability, which is critical for creating practical, large-scale neuromorphic device arrays. Such brain-inspired computing would offer significant leaps in energy efficiency and processing speed for artificial intelligence tasks such as learning, searching, and sensing.

"Moving forward, there's still a lot we can do with infiltration synthesis," said Nam. "We're excited to continue exploring its diverse applications for next-generation micro- and nanoelectronics and energy technologies, with the hope of contributing to the transformation of our future society."

Explore further Enhancing materials for hi-res patterning to advance microelectronics
Several US lawmakers have expressed concern over the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in India and have urged the Biden administration to provide all necessary help to the country.

We have the resources to help, and other people need it; that makes it our moral obligation to do so, Democratic Senator Edward Markey said in a tweet.

India is reporting the world's highest ever single-day cases, he added.

Earth Day is about the health of the planet and everyone and everything on it. The US has more than enough vaccines for every American, but we are denying countries like India desperately needed support, Markey said.

Congressman Gregory Meeks, Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was concerned about the situation in India.

Sending my thoughts and support to our friends in India fighting this terrible second wave of the COVID19 pandemic, he said



Congresswoman Haley Stevens said that her thoughts are with the people of India during this devastating COVID-19 surge.

I am praying for the families experiencing unbelievable suffering right now and am urging coordination among the international community to help where possible to stop this horrific outbreak, Stevens said.

Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna, while sharing a tweet from eminent public health expert Ashish K Jha, said, India is in the throes of a horrendous COVID surge. Horrendous. They are struggling to get more people vaccinated.

We are sitting on 35-40 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine Americans will never use. Can we please give or lend them to India? Like may be now? It'll help. A lot, Jha had said.

A lethal, fast-paced second wave of the pandemic has brought India's health care systems to the verge of collapse and is putting millions of lives and livelihoods at risk, wrote Ramanan Laxminarayan, an economist and epidemiologist, in The New York Times.

According to The Wall Street Journal, hospitals in New Delhi and other hard-hit cities have been turning away patients and running low on oxygen, beds and other medical supplies.

Several Indian-American groups have started raising funds to urgently airlift medical supplies including oxygen to help India in its fight against

This is truly a humanitarian crisis of apocalyptic proportions which needs immediate response, wrote Indian-American Mike Sikand, chairman Oceanport Democratic Committee in New Jersey to Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Therefore, I urge you to take whatever steps you can take in your capacity as the Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee to help India in its hour of need. One such step could be sending emergency respiratory supplies to India. Which could use oxygen equipment, ventilators, etc, he said.

Another step that you could take is to help increase hospital bed capacity in India by providing equipment and financial assistance to set up makeshift hospitals or even sending USS Mercy to help India deal with this crisis, Sikand said in the letter to Menendez.

(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 Zealand on Friday paused its newly opened travel bubble with Australia, the government in Wellington said, after a Covid-19 outbreak in its larger neighbour.

"As set out in our Trans-Tasman bubble protocols, travel between New Zealand and Western Australia has been paused, pending further advice from the state government," a statement on the New Zealand government website said.

The decision came after Western Australia announced that the regions of Perth and Peel were entering a three-day lockdown, starting midnight Friday to Saturday, due to a traveler testing positive for the coronavirus.

The decision to lock down followed "a positive Covid-19 case from hotel quarantine who was active in the community," a statement on the Western Australia government website said.

Local media reported that a man in his 50s flew into Melbourne from Perth on Wednesday and tested positive for the coronavirus earlier Friday.

He underwent the legally required quarantine in a Perth hotel and, once released, went to restaurants, a university, a public pool, a doctor's office and a friend's house before leaving the area.

"He spent up to five days in Perth, and we now need to assume he was infectious," Western Australia premier Mark McGowan told a press conference.

Local media reported that the friend the man visited has since tested positive.

New Zealand and Australia had opened their quarantine-free travel bubble on April 18, almost 400 days after they closed their borders due to the pandemic.

The bubble, which followed months of negotiations between the largely coronavirus-free neighbours, was hailed as a major milestone in restarting a global travel industry that has been crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It meant that passengers from Australia and New Zealand -- both of which have largely contained Covid-19 -- could fly across the Tasman Sea without undergoing mandatory quarantine on arrival.

The leaders of both nations had hailed the bubble, which also would have provided a much-needed boost to New Zealand's beleaguered tourism industry, and urged residents to take advantage of it.

Story continues

Before Covid-19 brought New Zealand's tourism industry to its knees, it was the country's biggest export industry, with Australians accounting for about 40 percent of the international visitors.

After the travel bubble was announced, a spokesman for Australian flag carrier Qantas said tickets to New Zealand were "selling like hot cakes" with a strong "load" to Queenstown, which is billed as the country's "Adventure capital".

New Zealand authorities revealed on April 20 that an Auckland airport worker had tested positive for Covid-19, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at the time it would not affect the bubble, which was then barely 24 hours old.

Ardern said the cleaner worked on planes arriving from "red zone" countries deemed high risk, not Australia.

She said both Australia and New Zealand expected to handle border cases, and had systems in place to do that without closing the long-awaited travel bubble.

to/jh
"Out of the hundreds of supermarkets in America, we are thrilled to be voted number one," said Jason Potter, President and CEO of The Fresh Market. "Over the last year, we have immersed ourselves in achieving our goal of becoming one of America's Most Loved Brands and this award proves that customers are recognizing our improvements and we greatly appreciate their business and support."

The Fresh Market's rich heritage dates back to 1982 when founders Ray and Beverly Berry opened the first store in Greensboro, North Carolina after returning from a trip to Europe with a vision to emulate the charm and essence of a European-style fresh food market. The initial store differentiated itself from conventional supermarkets by offering a farmer's market atmosphere and intimate epicurean experience, and it became the blueprint for the 159 stores that stand today.

As The Fresh Market's roots as a specialty retailer evolved to meet the needs of guests, it has become a destination for those looking to discover the best including convenient, restaurant-quality meals, hand-picked produce, premium baked goods, fresh-cut flowers, custom-cut meats and carefully curated offerings for holidays and special occasions. The intimate and personalized shopping experience that is still offered today is enhanced with team members who are a hallmark of The Fresh Market providing exceptional hospitality.

"This achievement is a true testament to our team members who offer impeccable guest service every day," said Potter. "We're looking forward to continuing our mission of offering the highest quality fresh food and creating the best experience for our guests in 2021 and beyond."

For more information about The Fresh Market, visit www.thefreshmarket.com or check out The Fresh Market on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

CONTACT:

Nicole Tankelewicz

336.389.5769

[email protected]

SOURCE The Fresh Market, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.thefreshmarket.com


Florida lawmakers on Thursday reached a deal on a sweeping $200 million school-choice proposal that would combine and significantly expand the states voucher programs that help families pay for private schooling.

After months of negotiations, House and Senate leaders agreed on legislation that would pave the way for about 61,000 new students to qualify for taxpayer-funded vouchers, a push that Democrats fought as they advocated for more oversight and accountability for private schools that will be getting state-funded vouchers.

Republican leaders in both chambers, however, have been steadfast on their decades-long push to expand school choice in Florida and on Thursday agreed on legislation that would make a series of changes to the states school-choice infrastructure.

If signed into law, the legislation would fold voucher programs for students with special needs  the Gardiner Scholarship and the John M. McKay Scholarship  into the Family Empowerment Scholarship, the states newest voucher program that serves a broader population of low- to middle-income families.

The measure would also raise the income eligibility cap. It would allow families of four with an income of nearly $100,000 to qualify for Family Empowerment awards, up from the current $79,500 income threshold. And students would no longer need to attend a public school before receiving a state voucher, the bill says.

Furthermore, the bill would allow Family Empowerment vouchers to be spent on additional educational expenses, including technology and internet services, on top of private school tuition. Students with special needs who receive vouchers could spend the money on even more expenses, including specialized therapies, which is currently allowed for Gardiner Scholarship recipients.

Those provisions are part of the compromise lawmakers reached on the big-ticket education item. The resolution came after the Senate agreed to take up the House bill, a version that is poised to pass the Senate as early as Friday.

Story continues

By taking up the House bill, the Senate is curtailing the plan it initially proposed at the start of the legislative session.

Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., a Hialeah Republican who sponsored the Senate bill, had proposed what many advocates consider to be the holy grail in the school-choice movement: education savings accounts for students.

His proposal would have merged the states five key school voucher programs, make them all state-funded, and convert them into educational savings accounts that families could use to pay for private tutoring, therapy, private schooling and even college savings.

But the massive undertaking fizzled, largely due to key differences in the funding.

For the Senates proposal to work, the Legislature needed to create a trust fund to collect corporate donations and state funds to pay for vouchers. The House did not want to go that far.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signs private-school voucher legislation flanked by students in Miami Gardens.

But now that the policy differences have been settled, the $200 million school choice effort is a resolved issue on the budget, Diaz told the Herald/Times in an interview Wednesday.

House and Senate leaders, however, have not formally closed out the budget item as they try to piece together a near-$100 billion budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

More changes, more vouchers and more concerns

Some parents fear that merging the Gardiner and the McKay scholarship programs, which serve students with special needs, with the Family Empowerment program, which serves a broader population of students, could shut out awards for children with the most needs.

Camille Gardiner, the wife of former Senate President Andy Gardiner, led the opposition on the change during the legislative session. The program is named after Andy Gardiner, whose son, Andrew, has Down syndrome.

During a House committee discussion, Camille Gardiner said the bill will have many unintended consequences.

This will be the beginning of chipping away at something this Legislature set up to support our fellow citizens that have children with the most significant disabilities, she said.

Merging the Gardiner and McKay scholarship program means the vouchers for students with special needs will be funded through the state funding that is distributed based on enrollment, rather than through its own separate budget line.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, the sponsor of the House bill, and Diaz have defended the changes to the program and say that all students currently benefiting from Gardiner scholarships will be grandfathered in, and will not get less than what they are getting now.

If you are the parent of a child with special needs you are going to be fearful of any change, Fine said, but noted that no student is hurt under the bill and that many students are getting more money.

Camille Gardiner told the Orlando Sentinel that the grandfathered in provision in the bill confirms parents worries.

That means something is coming that is not good, she said.

But Diaz says that is not the case, arguing that the bill will protect current students with the most needs and that awards will be calculated based on the students disability.

So the kids who have higher, or more disabilities, they will get a higher amount, Diaz said.

Democrats, meanwhile, have raised concerns that the legislation will further shift funding away from traditional public schools and give state funds to private schools that do not have to abide by the same accountability standards as public schools.

Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, a former Broward County school board member and educator, tried to add language that would have required private schools to meet the states accountability standard if they receive more than 10% of their full-time equivalent student funding from state-funded vouchers.

To say we are going to let the money follow the child to a voucher school and to let them spend the money on whatever they want is ridiculous, Bartleman said.

House Republicans voted down the language earlier this week, with Fine saying many private schools already voluntarily meet state standards and are doing the right thing.

I just wish that we would require them rather than assume they are going to do the right thing, Bartleman said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 17:04:13|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, April 23 (Xinhua) -- An improvised light aircraft crashed in Russia's Irkutsk region on Friday, killing both the pilot and the passenger.

The amateur-built plane fell in a field nearby a village, local media reported, citing regional emergency services.

The incident is under investigation. Enditem
Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor on Friday said the pandemic has made it clear that risks to the banking sector can emanate from non-economic factors. will have to keep a close watch on their credit and operational risks, and ensure they have adequate capital buffers, he said in his keynote address at the inaugural session of Business Standards webinar series in association with SAS, on 'New Indian Banking Landscape, Post -pandemic.

Vishwanathan also drew attention to the dangers emanating from the enhanced use of digital modes of payments and cautioned that they have to think through the way go about their business on this front.

In his keynote address, the former RBI deputy governor pointed out that post-pandemic, credit risks lurking in the books of and the resultant higher calls for provisioning for bad assets could increase pressure on their margins. And banks should keep their costs-to-income ratios on a tight leash, he said.

The regulatory capital is meant to serve as a buffer against unexpected loss. But the pandemic shows us that unknown risks can be higher, he noted. Vishwanathan recalled the observation he made in a lecture at



XLRI-Jamshedpur on November 2, 2018, on Credit Risk and Bank Capital Regulation. Adequate buffers have to be built into the capital maintained to absorb the expected losses which have not been provided for, if and when they materialise.



Vishwanathans speech at XLRI had highlighted that higher capital levels in banks have a stabilising effect on the macroeconomy -- that this increases the skin in the game for shareholders, thus potentially leading to better credit appraisal and screening. While raising capital does involve costs, this is by the savings made in the form of potential losses avoided in an averted banking crisis. As the equity component in a bank goes up, the leverage goes down, potentially making the bank safer, thus leading investors in the banks equity to demand lower returns on equity. And that depositors, too, may be willing to accept a lower return in view of the greater safety of their funds.

In his address on Friday, Vishwanathan was categorical that risks should be taken care of without recourse to the central banks forbearance measures. What we have seen in recent times is that every incident (or crisis) cannot be seen as a one-off, he said, adding, It costs less to deal with a crisis before it arises rather than deal with it later.



On digital banking, he said a collaborative partnership between banks and fintechs is the way forward, but this brings in its share of challenges. A lot of customers can be new to digital banking, and this exposes them and banks to cybersecurity risks. The ability to operate in such an environment will call for both investments in technology and rethink of control systems, in particular when banks outsource key functions as they go about their business.
Justice at last: Convictions of 39 UK postal workers quashed View Photo

LONDON (AP)  In a ruling that reversed one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, 39 people who ran local post offices had their convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting overturned Friday because of what an appeals court said was clear evidence of bugs, errors or defects in an IT system.

The decision follows a years-long, complex legal battle that could see Britains Post Office face a huge compensation bill for its failures following the installation, from 1999, of what turned out to be the defective Horizon computerized accounting system in local branches.

Dozens of staff were convicted after the Fujitsu-supplied system pointed to an array of financial misdemeanors that bewildered the postal workers. Six others had their convictions quashed previously, while another 700 or so workers also are believed to have been prosecuted between 2000 and 2014.

What is clear is that those convicted had their lives and livelihoods ruined  beyond the prison sentences that some of them received. From being pillars of their local communities, they became pariahs. Jobs, homes and marriages were lost as a result of wrongful convictions, and some did not live long enough to see their names cleared by Britains Court of Appeals.

Confirmation that the convictions were quashed was met with cheers and tears. A few bottles of bubbly were also popped.

Harjinder Butoy, who was convicted of theft and jailed for more than three years in 2008, described the Post Office as a disgrace after his conviction was overturned. Butoy, who ran a local post office in the north England city of Nottingham, said his conviction had destroyed his life over 14 years.

Thats not going to be replaced, he said outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the convictions were quashed, adding that those responsible for the needless prosecutions need to be punished, seriously punished.

Announcing the courts ruling on Friday, Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde said the Post Office knew there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon and had a clear duty to investigate its defects.

In the written ruling on behalf of the three-member panel, Holroyde said the Post Offices failures of investigation and disclosure were so egregious as to make the prosecution of any of the Horizon cases an affront to the conscience of the court.

Holroyde said three of the appeals made to the court were dismissed because the reliability of Horizon data was not essential to the prosecution case.

In a statement, Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors, who represented 29 of the former officials, said it is almost impossible to relay the impact on those caught up in the scandal.

They are honest, hard-working people who served their communities but have had to live with the stigma of being branded criminals for many years, all the while knowing they have been innocent, he said.

He called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce a judge-led public inquiry, with the power to summon witnesses.

The time has come now for people at the Post Office who were involved in any way relating to these unsafe convictions to feel the uncomfortable breath of the law on their necks as our clients did, he said.

Johnson welcomed the courts ruling, too, saying the prosecutions were an appalling injustice that left a trail of devastation.

Our thoughts are very much with the victims and well have to make sure that people get properly looked after because its clear that an appalling justice has been done, he said.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, encouraged any other former Post Office employees to consider challenging their convictions. The commission is already in the process of reviewing another 22 cases.

Post Office chairman Tim Parker said in a statement that the organization is extremely sorry for the impact on the lives of these postmasters and their families that was caused by historical failures.

Tom Hedges, who was convicted of theft and false accounting and given a seven-month suspended sentence in 2011, opened a bottle of prosecco outside the Royal Courts of Justice after his conviction was quashed.

He said his 93-year-old mother had recommended he celebrate with a bottle of the Italian sparkling wine.

She said, Just remember your name is Hedges not Rothschild, so get prosecco, not Bollinger!

By PAN PYLAS

Associated Press
One person was dead after a helicopter that left an Allentown airport crashed in northeastern Pennsylvania, authorities said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it issued an alert for a missing aircraft Thursday, and the wreckage of a Robinson R44 helicopter was found in a remote area at about 9 p.m. Thursday in Wyoming County.

Pennsylvania State Police at Troop P confirmed one person died in the crash; the FAA said it had no information yet about the number of people on board.

The crash scene is on state game lands, and state police said it has been difficult accessing the area.

Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority spokesman Colin Riccobon said the helicopter arrived at Queen City at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and departed at about 8:10 p.m. It was headed to Bradford County Airport in Towanda, the FAA said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating, but the agency does not identify people involved in aircraft accidents. A message left for the Wyoming County coroner was not immediately returned.

We will cooperate with the NTSB with their investigation, Riccobon said. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy.

It was a privately owned helicopter, WBRE Channel 28 reported. The FAA will release the aircraft tail number once investigators verify it at the scene.

One person is dead after a helicopter crash in Wyoming County, Pa. https://t.co/cRhvrKFr3q  WETM-TV (@WETM18News) April 23, 2021

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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
New Delhi:

UP CM Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday that no politics should be seen behind his government's efforts to develop Ayodhya, which gave the idea of 'Ram Rajya' - where there is no poverty or discrimination.

In a speech that began amid shouts of Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata ki jai at his governments mega Deepotsav event on Sarayu river bank, Adityanath hit out at critics saying there were some who opposed all his actions no matter what he did.

A total of 1.71 lakh earthen lamps were lit up at the grand event while a chopper decorated as the mythological Pushpak Viman descended on the Ram Katha Park with artistes decked up to resemble Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman.

Ayodhya gave the concept of Ram Rajya - where there is no poverty, pain, grief or discrimination, Adityanath said adding that the real meaning of the concept was a home for everyone; electricity and LPG cylinders for all households.

There are some who are used to opposing everything we do, he said.If I come to Ayodhya, they raise questions and if I dont, they say I am afraid of coming here. Now they are saying that the Ayodhya programme is to divert attention of the people. I am here with my work, including loan waivers, wheat purchase etc, done in the past six months, he said.

Attacking political rivals, the UP chief minister said his government did not distinguish on the basis of caste or religion unlike what happened earlier.

We dont discriminate on the basis of caste, creed and religion. In the previous Ravan Raj, there was discrimination on the basis of family, caste and other factors, he alleged.

The chief minister said he found it beneath dignity to even to react to insulting and dirty allegations levelled by the opposition. Adityanath said that Ayodhya had given much to humanity. It gave the concept of Ram Rajya, where there is no poverty, pain or grief. Where there is no discrimination. The objective of the programme is to present the real picture to the world, he said referring to the Deepotsav event.

He equated the Narendra Modi governments work for the masses with Ram Rajya. Adityanath, a priest-turned-politician, wondered as to why there were negative discussions on Ayodhya.

We are making an attempt to take it from negativity to positivity. I am happy all Ayodhya residents cooperated in this endeavour. Ayodhya remained neglected, faced attacks continuously, but it will not remain so. We have launched Rs 133 crore worth schemes here, he said.

The chief minister said he wanted to restore the ancient glory of Ayodhya. Referring to the 1.71 lakh earthen lamps lit on the bank of river Sarayu, Adityanath said the figure matched the population under the Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.

Officials said 1.71 lakh earthen lamps at a single event could enter the Guinness Book of World Records. Among other major attractions at the grand event was a 22-minute laser show, with special sound effects, on Ramayana.

Adityanath said this was first of the four phases planned for Ayodhya and similar development would be carried out in other places as well.There will be beautification of Ayodhya and its ghats. This effort will continue in other historic places. Be it Kashi, Mathura, Namisharayna (Sitapur), Mirzapur, Tulsipur (Balrampur), Saharanpur, we will develop historical places. The state should become a world tourism hub and it is a beginning from Ayodhya, he said.

Adityanath said that a Ramayan mela will be associated with this programme next year onwards. In his speech, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that those opposed to Lord Ram cannot stop us from developing Ayodhya.

UP Governor Ram Naik lauded the efforts of the Adityanath government in developing Ayodhya and thanked him for this assurance that all the work would be completed in two years before his (Naiks) tenure ends.

Prominent among those present included seers, Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons and BJP state chief Mahendra Nath Pandey.

After the main event, the stage was set for a grand laser show and aarti (worship) of river Sarayu. Meanwhile, the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) raised objections to the fanfare with which the Adityanath government celebrated the event claiming that public money was wasted on the show.

It is a matter of grave concern that public funds were wasted on the event, the bodys convener Zafaryab Jilani said after a meeting of the committee here.

With PTI inputs

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on the international community to work together to foster a community of life for man and nature with "unprecedented ambition and action."



"Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action," he said while addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing.

Community of life

To build a community of life for man and nature, Xi made a six-pronged proposal, including staying committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

"We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes," the Chinese president said, adding that failure to respect nature or follow its laws will only invite its revenge.

Reiterating the idea that "green mountains are gold mountains," Xi said that protecting the environment is protecting productivity, and improving the environment is boosting productivity. "The truth is as simple as that."

He also stressed that protecting the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach, calling for following the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balancing all elements and aspects of nature.

"We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty all at the same time," he said, adding that the goal is to deliver social equity and justice in the course of green transition.

Join hands, not point fingers

In the journey toward global carbon neutrality, Xi called for strengthening partnerships and cooperation, learning from each other, and making common progress.

"We must join hands, not point fingers at each other; we must maintain continuity, not reverse course easily; and we must honor commitments, not go back on promises," he said.

China and the United States issued a joint statement a few days ago, vowing to cooperate with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis.

China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process, and looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance, Xi said.

Calling the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities "the cornerstone of global climate governance," he said that developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action and make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen their capacity and resilience against climate change.

Xi urged developed countries to support developing countries in financing, technology and capacity building, and refrain from creating green trade barriers.

"The historical responsibility, development stage, and coping capacity of developed and developing countries are different, and that's why the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should always be followed," said Xu Huaqing, director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.

China in action

Reiterating China's goal of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi said that the period of China's commitment to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality is much shorter than what might take many developed countries.

"That requires extraordinarily hard efforts from China," Xi said.

The targets of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality have been added to China's overall plan for ecological conservation. An action plan toward carbon peaking is being formulated, and China's national carbon market will also start trading.

"China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period," Xi said.

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China has also been doing its best to help developing countries build capacity against climate change.

A number of green action initiatives have been launched, covering wide-ranging efforts in green infrastructure, green energy, green transport and green finance to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries.

"I am confident that as long as we unite in our purposes and efforts and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, we will rise above the global climate and environment challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations," Xi said.
Japan's Tokyo Olympic torch relay suffered its first total cancellation on Friday when Okinawa Prefecture organizers announced the May 2 leg in Miyakojima will not be run at all, and no events will be held.

Local organizers in the island city, currently under strict measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, wanted the relay leg moved off public roads, and the Olympic organizing committee granted their request.

According to Okinawa Prefecture's executive committee, there will be no alternative date set for the relay and no ceremonial events either, making it the first such case in the nationwide relay that will travel through all of Japan's 47 prefectures.

The latest surge in coronavirus cases has seen the western cities of Osaka and Matsuyama move their relay legs off public roads and onto alternate courses away from crowds.
Johnson & Johnson pause could be lifted soon

US federal health officials are leaning toward lifting their recommended pause on the use of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine after finding only a limited number of additional cases of a rare blood clotting disorder among recipients. Instead, the drug regulator is likely to attach a warning to the vaccines label to inform health practitioners  and the public  about the exceedingly uncommon, but dangerous possible side effect. Officials are waiting to act until they hear from a committee of outside experts who advise the CDC The committee is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss whether to recommend lifting, extending or modifying the pause that was initiated on April 13. Read here:

Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 142,114,445 Global deaths: 3,030,299 Nations with most cases: US (31,738,228), India (15,320,972), Brazil (13,973,695), France (5,357,229), Russia (4,657,509). Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

France lays out a reopening timeline as vaccinations pick up speed

The French government outlined plans to gradually reopen the country starting in early May, raising hopes that life might finally return to something close to normal after more than a year of on-and-off pandemic restrictions. The Prime Minister said that primary school students would be allowed to return to classrooms on Monday, followed by middle and high school students the following week. Travel restrictions will be lifted on May 3. Depending on how things are going at that point, retail stores, outdoor dining, and certain cultural and sporting activities could start to reopen in mid-May. Read here:

One dose of Pfizer or Oxford jab reduces Covid infection rate by 65%: Study

One shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces infections by nearly 65 per cent and protects older and more vulnerable people as much as younger, healthy individuals, a study has found. The results from Oxford University are a welcome boost to the vaccination programme and the first to show the impact on new infections and immune responses in a large group of adults in the general population. The researchers analysed Covid test results from more than 350,000 people in the UK between December and April. They found that 21 days after a first jab  the time it takes the immune system to mount a decent response  new Covid infections dropped by 65 per cent. Read here:

UK people could get Covid passports for foreign travel by May 17

Millions of people in England could be provided with so-called passports by May 17 to let them take holidays abroad this summer and potentially avoid quarantine when they reach their destination, according to a report the Guardian. The documents  likely to be different from domestic Covid certificates, which the UK government is working on separately  are still under development but should be made available before restrictions on travel lift next month, the report noted. Read here:
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 20:35:32|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the leading group for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, meets with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam who comes to attend a meeting of the group in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

GUANGZHOU, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Han Zheng on Thursday afternoon met with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Carrie Lam and Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat Seng in Guangzhou.

Lam and Ho traveled to Guangzhou, capital city of southern Guangdong Province, to attend a meeting of the leading group for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, spoke highly of the recent work of both SARs.

Han urged the Hong Kong SAR to step up local legislation related to its electoral reform and ensure local elections in 2021 and 2022 are properly organized.

Han also asked the Macao SAR to make all-out efforts to organize the election of its seventh Legislative Assembly.

Both SARs should prioritize COVID-19 prevention and control in reviving their economies and improving their people's livelihoods, Han said, adding that the central government would continue offering its full support as always.

Han urged joint efforts to develop the Greater Bay Area and maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, thus pushing forward the sustained, successful practice of "one country, two systems."

Lam and Ho both pledged to actively participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area and carry out relevant work. Enditem
Save Romania Union - Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (USR PLUS) MEPs announced on Friday having sent a letter to the Russian ambassador to Romania calling for activist Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's main dissident, to urgently receive specialist health care and be transferred to a medical facility abroad if needed.

"The life of Alexei Navalny is the responsibility of those who have imprisoned him. Navalny is a man whose life was barley saved once after an attempt at poisoning him, as a result of European action. He is a renowned political dissident that cannot be exterminated in jail without that triggering some serious political consequences. I hope that the Russian authorities will take urgent medical measures to protect Navalny," says Nicolae Tefanuta, a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and initiator of the letter, according to a USR PLUS press statement.

USR PLUS MEP Ramona Strugariu, a member on the EP's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, says that Alexei Navalny "should not pay with his life for the right to free speech and political opposition in a state that claims to be democratic.""In accordance with international human rights law, the Russian Federation has a substantial responsibility for the integrity and health of the Russian activist and must take all necessary measures to protect his life and provide the medical care he needs. In his current condition, Navalny cannot remain in Russia. We are calling for his emergency medical evacuation and we hope to see in the Russian authorities the wisdom, lucidity and swift action in thatregard, in these critical moments, when every hour counts," Strugariu says.According to the statement, through the approach of the MEPs Nicolae Stefanuta, Ramona Strugariu, Dacian Ciolos, Vlad Botos, Alin Mituta, Dragos Tudorache, Dragos Pislaru, and Vlad Gheorghe, USR PLUS joins many other European approaches with the Russian regime, sounding the alarm over the danger in which Navalny finds himself.In August 2020, Navalny survived being poisoned with a neurotoxic agent developed by the Soviet military. After five months of convalescence in Germany, he was arrested on his return to Moscow in early 2021, then quickly tried and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating judicial control in another case.The 44-year-old politician has herniated discs and has lost 16 kilograms since being imprisoned in late February and nine more kilograms since March 31, when he started refusing food in order to be seen by his trusted doctors, according to the EFE Spanish news agency.
For weeks, Illinois, like much of the Upper Midwest, has been troubled by a stubbornly high daily load of reported coronavirus cases, leading to climbing numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. But new data is signaling that the virus might be on the verge of retreating.

Illinois is reporting an average of about 2,840 new cases a day, down nearly 16 percent from April 17. Central Illinois, which saw major growth in cases earlier this month, is now improving, according to a New York Times database  especially in Peoria, one of the metropolitan areas where the virus had been spreading the fastest.

It is great we have seen some abatement in local hot spots, said Dr. Emily Landon, the chief epidemiologist at the University of Chicago, who has been advising Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, on the states pandemic response. Dr. Landon cautioned, though, that other pockets of the state, especially those with low vaccination rates, remained ripe for a fiery outbreak.
The combination of COVID-19 vaccinations increasing across the country and warmer temperatures is causing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to re-examine the necessity of requiring masks while people are outdoors.

On Thursday, Director of the CDC Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Today that the agency is looking at the current mask guidelines and will decide if it needs to be updated.

Currently, the CDC advises that masks may not be necessary when people are outside and away from others, or with people who live in their household.

Well be looking at the outdoor masking question, but also in the context of the fact that we still have people who are dying of COVID-19, Walensky said.

Walensky said while vaccinations are a positive sign, the United States is still seeing more than 50,000 new cases a day and on Wednesday reported 733 deaths.

The United States has reported nearly 32 million cases of COVID-19 and 570,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University. Both totals are highest in the world.

We have this complex message that we still have hot spots in the country, Walensky told Today. We will be looking at the outdoor masking question but its also in the context of the fact that we still have people who are dying of COVID.

The surging vaccine numbers, though, and the science behind the spread of the virus have some experts saying mask mandates for outdoors will likely rollback soon.

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown Universitys School of Public Health, said over the weekend in an interview with CNN that he expects that states will lift requirements for masks while outside because outdoor COVID infections are extremely rare.

He also tweeted, Outdoor infections are rare and occur when large groups gather in packed spaces, such as rallies. Outdoor mask mandates are likely to be lifted in upcoming weeks. Indoor masking should stay for a bit longer.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker expanded the states mask mandate in November to require the face coverings when inside or outside  even when able to maintain six feet of distance from others. Bakers mandate is backed by a $300 fine per violation, which the states Department of Public health, with help from local boards of health and other state and local authorities, can enforce.

Baker has not said when he might move to lift the mandate but said last week it would depend on several things: progress in the vaccine effort, a better understanding of the impact of COVID variants and changes in federal guidance.

COVID cases in Massachusetts have begun to decline again in recent days and COVID-related deaths in the state have dropped significantly in the past several weeks.

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CLEVELAND  When the Yankees acquired Rougned Odor from the Rangers two weeks ago, manager Aaron Boone said the club thought it could unlock some of the potential hed flashed over a mostly down previous four seasons.

It happened Thursday night, and it led to a 6-3 Yankees win over the Indians at Progressive Field.

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Odor had two hits, including a two-run, go-ahead single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning that snapped a 3-all tie. Odor nailed it at 101.3 mph.

He also was solid in the field, an effort highlighted by a turn-and-throw on a Jose Ramirez ground ball that nabbed the force out at second base from nearly shallow right field and toward the foul line.

Odor had been 3 for his last 28 since joining the Yankees before the clutch hit in the seventh.

Boone said he was confident in Odor as he walked to the plate in the big spot.

I was, Boone said. I kind of feel like the whole time hes been fairly close. I feel like even though he hasnt gotten a lot of results, hes had some competitive at-bats. And weve been searching for that big hit for a while now. To deliver it was huge.

I thought all night long, like the rest of the guys, he was doing a good job of forcing them to come back into the zone a little bit. He was getting himself into good counts all night long.

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Odor, who raised his batting average to .167, was pleased.

I was just trying to stay in the middle of the field and hit something hard, he said.

He added, I like those situations. In those situations, I just try to stay within myself, try to believe in myself. I dont care who I face. I just try to do something to help my team win.

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Love for the Earth has been the central theme of all of Sony BBC Earths programming and marketing initiatives. The channel has always brought stories - in the form of landmark natural history shows like Blue Planet II, Climate Change: The Facts and A Perfect Planet, among others - from around the globe that not only deeply connect the viewers with the natural world but also sensitize them about the importance of sustainability.

Now with its latest IP Earth Champions, Sony BBC Earth is bringing to light stories of real-life heroes who are making this planet a better place with their relentless efforts and daily action. Through this property, the channel aims to inspire others to follow the steps of these Earth Champions towards a greener and a more sustainable world.

Starting off as a digital property which will be promoted on-air and on social media, Earth Champions first guest is UN Environment Programmes Champions of the Earth awardee  Afroz Shah, who will be in conversation with the host and Earth lover Tara Sharma on Earth Day  22nd April  at 7PM. Afroz will talk about his journey, about organizing Biggest Beach Clean-up in World History, about being recognized by the Honorable PM of India  Narendra Modi, and about continuing the cleaning till the oceans are made plastic and filth free.

From renowned environmentalists and nature enthusiasts to climate warriors and commoners from all walks of life, Earth Champions aims to bring to light the power of individual actions that can collectively become a force of positive change and action. Creating conversations is key to raising awareness and hence Sony BBC Earth plans to recognize and celebrate an Earth Champion every month and thereby encourage others to make sustainable choices in their everyday living.

Tune-in to Sony BBC Earths Instagram page (@SonyBBCEarth) to watch the LIVE conversation between host Tara Sharma and #EarthChampion Afroz Shah on Earth Day - 22nd April at 7PM. And stay tuned for more conversations with other Earth Champions each month.
Lake Michigan is the second largest of North America's Great Lakes but a recent temperature study shows a disturbing rise in temperature, even at its farthest depths.

The study, conducted by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, compiled data measured from a thermistor setup they deployed since 1990. Throughout that time, they observed that even the coldest depths of Lake Michigan (some as far down as 110 meters) were seeing an increase of 0.6 degrees Celsius every decade.

This implies that in 50 years, the deepest parts of the lake would have gone up by 3 degrees Celsius and it could spell trouble for much of its marine biodiversity.

Climate change piles on to Great Lake woes

The rising temperature only adds to the list of Lake Michigan's many environmental concerns. Pesticide use, livestock farming and other sources of pollution have already threatened both the local wildlife and the health of residents.

Out of the five lakes, Michigan is the third most badly affected by manmade activity (with the top two being Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).

Below are just some of the problematic trends experienced in the area during last couple of decades:

Warmer winters - The increase in the lake's temperature was consistent even during the winter months, leading climate scientists to suspect that this phenomenon reached all the way up into the atmosphere.

Compromised food web - The warming winter could negatively impact the cycle of algae growth, which are more or less the backbone of a healthy fish population. The impact of climate change has dramatically altered some northern parts of Lake Michigan's algae populations and foreshadow poor catches in spring.

Unusual soil conditions - Warm or short winters also came hand in hand with heavy rainfall that have created a lot of problems for farmers during planting season. These, in turn, created delays that disrupted many local supply chains.

Also read: Is Lake Michigan Being Poisoned by Diabetes Drugs?





Citizens of Great Lakes take action

Fortunately, things are not entirely too late. Both the local government as well as local environmental advocacy groups have been doing what they can to preserve Lake Michigan's ecosystems. Some of the trends they started include:

Removing invasive species - Aquatic pests and other invasive species also threaten the lake's sensitive biodiversity. Hence, some local fishermen volunteer to catch these in order to reduce their populations.

Changing industries - The local steel industry has contributed considerably to the area's carbon footprint. But in recent years, manufacturing has declined and factories are shutting down. This has led to some business owners reconsider more sustainable enterprises based on maintaining the health of the local ecosystem.

Preserving more areas - Some local communities are also starting funds to purchase more undeveloped lands for preservation. This will at least give the currently existing ecosystem a fighting chance to hold back the effects of climate change.

The rising temperatures in both the depths of the Great Lakes and other cold parts of the world have been a cause for alarm by many climate scientists in the last 30 years. But with nations around the world stepping up all they can to reduce their carbon footprint and combat the threat of climate change, it is their hope that they may see a reversal before it is too late.



Also read: Nearly 22 Million Pounds of Plastic Pollution Enter the Great Lakes Every Year
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico health officials removed pandemic-related capacity limits on churches and other houses of worship on Friday, backing away from a potential legal fight.

The revised public health order issued by Health Secretary Tracie Collins allows churches to hold indoor services at 100% capacity starting immediately, regardless of the color-coded risk level of their county, though it still strongly encourages reduced capacity levels.

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At least some religious leaders said they would continue to voluntarily limit the number of worshippers allowed for in-person services  at least for the time being.

Archbishop John Wester directed pastors within the Catholic Churchs Archdiocese of Santa Fe to stick with the states color-coded capacity restrictions and not allow 100% capacity at indoor Masses.

It is of paramount importance to remember that the church values everyones safety and well-being, Wester said in a Friday statement. Life is sacred and we are taking every precaution to protect our people from the coronavirus.

And Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld of Albuquerques Congregation Albert said the synagogue would continue with fully virtual services until Bernalillo County moves to the green or turquoise level under the states color-coded system for COVID-19 risk.

Were going to stick with that plan for now, Rosenfeld told the Journal, citing a recent increase in virus cases around New Mexico.

Until Friday, houses of worship had faced capacity restrictions that largely matched business restrictions, with churches allowed to hold indoor services at 75% capacity in counties classified in the least restrictive turquoise level and at 25% in the most restrictive red level.

Churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious centers in counties located in the green and yellow levels  indicating a moderate risk of virus spread  had faced capacity limits that fell between those two bookends.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the change to the health order was made in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that blocked capacity limits for churches in New York and Colorado that were more restrictive than business restrictions.

In its November order, the Supreme Court acknowledged the public health concerns posed by the pandemic, but said restrictions that barred many from attending religious services in person struck at the very heart of the U.S. Constitutions guarantee of religious liberty.

The revised New Mexico public health order issued Friday keeps intact a statewide face mask mandate for public settings, except when eating or drinking. It runs through May 21 and also leaves in place business capacity restrictions.

Great news

There have already been several legal skirmishes over virus-related restrictions on church attendance in New Mexico.

In April 2020, just weeks into the pandemic, Legacy Church filed a lawsuit against the state alleging the states health orders violated its religious freedoms.

But a federal judge rejected the argument last summer, saying in a ruling the state had the right to ban large gatherings during a public health crisis and that doing so did not violate the churchs rights.

Then, in December, the state Department of Health issued $5,000 fines to Legacy Church and another megachurch  Calvary Church  for violating the states public health order after pictures circulated of Christmas Eve services with large crowds of parishioners, few wearing face masks.

In a video posted Friday on the churchs website, Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church invited congregants to attend services this weekend and said the church would encourage virus-safe practices, though he did not specifically mention voluntary capacity limits.

Weve been waiting a long time to hear this great news, Heitzig said.

The Governors Office, which previously accused the megachurches of violating both the states health orders and common sense after its Christmas Eve services, urged religious leaders to voluntarily enforce restrictions despite the revised health order.

Specifically, Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said houses of worship are strongly encouraged to protect their congregants and communities by enacting social distancing measures to bolster public health and minimize risk of viral spread of their own accord.

Death toll tops 4,000

The change to New Mexicos public health order comes at a time when more than 41% of state residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

State data also shows 58.1% of New Mexicans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition, a total of 177,623 individuals  or roughly 8.5% of the states population  have tested positive for the virus, but made a full recovery.

Meanwhile, the number of New Mexico deaths related to COVID-19 increased to 4,024 on Friday with the passing of a Bernalillo County man, according to the Department of Health.

While the states death rate has decreased significantly from its mid-December peak, 23 individuals have died due to the virus in the past week.
Justin E. H. Smith in Damage:

I thought I was so clever. For a few days, anyway.

In early 2021, as you almost certainly know, Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, burst onto the scene and changed the way we talk and think. An NFT is a sort of digital title or deed, comparable to the papers in your glove compartment establishing ownership of the car. Unlike the paper title, however, the NFT is based on blockchain, a distributed-ledger technology that lives on the open internet, and of which we are all, collectively, the bookkeepers and guardians. After the auction for $69 million of an NFT for a work by the American digital artist Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple) on March 11, I immediately began minting joke NFTs. I imagined these to be very serious jokes, experimentally pushing the concepts of value and of tokenization right up to their limits for the sake of some urgent point.

Thus for example I minted a Token of the Type/Token Distinction Itself, which swiftly sold for $200 (to a computational linguist who wanted to give his students a good laugh). Buoyed by this success, I went on to mint the Non-Fungible Token of All Non-Fungible Tokens, followed by a variation on that famous set-theoretic impossibility, The Non-Fungible Token of All Non-Fungible Tokens That Are Not Non-Fungible Tokens of Themselves. I was in my zone, as they say. Though none of these subsequent experiments managed to get sold, I was having the time of my life cranking out joke-tokens at record pace.

More here.
President of the Senate Anca Dragu welcomed, on Thursday, the Ambassador of Portugal, Teresa Macedo, during a presentation visit, the discussions regarding the bilateral relationship, but also the European agenda, from the perspective of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

According to a press release sent by the Senate, the president of this forum highlighted the "excellent" Romanian-Portuguese bilateral relationship, "materialized through solid political and economic relations, but also by the existence of a common cultural and linguistic basis" and appreciated the way the Romanian community is integrated in Portugal.

"In recent years, trade has been on a steady growth chart, and this potential must be fully exploited," Anca Dragu was quoted as saying.

Also, adds the same source, the Senate President highlighted the important role of connections at the level of parliamentary friendship groups, "which can create important opportunities to develop the Romanian-Portuguese dialogue in various fields and on a wide range of topics of common interest."
India on Friday reported a net increase of 137,188 in active cases, the most in a day yet, to take its count to 2,428,616. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 13.03 per cent (one in 8). The country is second among the most affected countries by active cases. On Friday, it added 332,730 cases, the highest in a day so far, to take its total caseload to 16,263,695. And, with 2,263 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 186,920, or 1.15 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 3,147,782 more people getting Covid-19 vaccine shots on Thursday, Indias total count of those inoculated reached 135,478,420. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 13,648,159  or 83.92 per cent of total caseload  with 193,279 new cured cases being reported on Friday.
President Joe Biden is expected to officially recognize the Armenian genocide despite opposition from Turkey, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who said the administration will release more details in the coming days.

Saturday will mark the 106th anniversary of when the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey) began to massacre its Armenian Christian minority, resulting in 1.5 million deaths.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Psaki was asked if the Biden administration would observe the anniversary as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

I expect we will have more to say about Remembrance Day on Saturday. But I dont have anything to get ahead of that at this point in time, responded Psaki, not giving additional details.

Source:The Christian Post
The Spanish Foreign Ministry said Thursday the leader of the Polisario Front that leads the struggle for the self-declared Western Sahara republic has been brought to Spain for medical treatment.

Brahim Ghali, who is 73, heads the Algeria-backed pro-independence group representing the local Sahrawi population that has fought Moroccan forces for control of the territory in western Africa.

An official with the Foreign Ministry of Spain who wasn't authorized to be named in media reports said that Ghali had been taken to Spain "for strictly humanitarian reasons."

The official said that no more details could be provided due to the humanitarian nature of the move.

Spain's National Court investigated Ghali in 2008 and then again in 2016 for possible genocide and other crimes as a result of allegations brought against the veteran militant by a dissident Sahrawi group.

But that probe was closed and Spain has no pending cases against Ghali, a police spokesman who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record told The Associated Press.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
HOLYOKE  Saying he wants local enterprises to thrive, acting Mayor Terence Murphy on Friday hosted a listening session with business owners and community leaders at City Hall.

Murphy was recently sworn in as acting mayor and will serve until shortly after the November election.

John Brunelle of B and B Real Estate said the citys greatest asset is Holyoke Gas & Electric. The city dropped the ball in not allowing the expansion of the areas natural gas supply, he said.

In the past year, Brunelle said, developers lost opportunities as HG&E imposed a natural gas moratorium on new residential and commercial customers. More than 100 potential customers had to find alternative fuel sources, he said.

Murphy said he was slated to meet with James Lavelle, HG&Es manager, about the situation. He asked what city departments could improve upon, such as introducing a one-step process for business licensing or permitting.

Andrea Stanley of Valley Mat described the process of getting a business off the ground in Holyoke as fragmented and rated interactions with city departments as average to excellent. She said information on the citys website was outdate and links did not work.

Murphy said the business and permitting process should be easy and streamlined. I never want to see anyone that they were disrespected by a city employee, he said, noting how such interactions affect economic growth.

Anthony Soto, who operates Soto Home Care, said perception is everything, saying he was troubled by the amount of litter downtown.

Murphy said a lot of good things are happening in Holyoke and he wants to accelerate street and sidewalk repairs.

Besides the litter, Murphy said the downtown has too many abandoned and dilapidated buildings. Were going to clear, and were going to build, he said. Cleaning the streets, we need to do better.

Mike Pratt, the owner of Holyoke Craft Beer, said his business garnered support from the community. The company applied for several COVID-19 relief grants, but roadblocks have slowed the process.

Pratt recommended a single point of contact at City Hall for businesses. Holyoke Craft Beer is subjected to local, state and federal regulations. Murphy said federal American Rescue Plan dollars would slowly start coming in, including grants to aid small businesses. Murphy implored businesses to get their employees vaccinated against COVID-19.

Murphy said City Hall could reopen to the public in four to six weeks, but he would continue to consult with local health officials.

Helene Florio, president of the Holyoke Taxpayers Association, said business owners biggest priority is hiring new employees, even with COVID-19 restrictions in place. She added that one restaurant is having problems finding servers. Florio said the fact Murphy hosted the listening session was a huge step forward.

Political consultant Anthony Cignoli agreed that perception plays a role in how businesses view Holyoke. He said Murphy should continue the listening sessions, which sends a positive signal to developers and investors.

The session drew City Councilors Peter Tallman, Michael J. Sullivan, state Rep. Patricia Duffy, D-Holyoke, planning director Aaron Vega and fire chief Jeffrey Przekopowski.
A second Simpsons character voiced by actor Hank Azaria, 56, has been recast following criticism of how the iconic cartoon portrays minorities.

Marge's gay Cuban hairdresser, Julio, is now being voiced by an actor far closer to the role in real life, Tony Rodriguez, who is both gay and of Cuban descent.

Last year Azaria stopped voicing Indian Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu after nearly 30 years after he'd come under fire for being offensively stereotypical. He was also later replaced by actor Alex Desert in the role of Homer's pal Carl Carlson.

Making changes: A second Simpsons character voiced by actor Hank Azaria, 56, has been recast; Marge's gay Cuban hairdresser, Julio, is now being voiced by Tony Rodriguez

Tony Rodriguez quietly made his debut on The Simpsons at the end of March and took to Instagram to express his joy over the role.

'Tonight I make my debut on The Simpsons as gay, Cuban Julio,' Tony captioned his post. 'This is a dream come true for me and I was already a living cartoon.'

The relatively unknown actor had previously made a bid to play the role in an Instagram video noting the similarities between himself and the character.

'In the past two years, I have seen myself more in the show, and by that, I mean specifically the part of Julio, who is gay like me, he's Cuban like me,' he said in the video.

'In the past two years, I have seen myself more in the show, and by that, I mean specifically the part of Julio, who is gay like me, he's Cuban like me,' Rodriguez once said on Instagram

His casting comes as the series, which premiered in 1989, is facing major backlash over how it has portrayed minorities in the last several decades that The Simpsons has been on the air.

Specifically, many called on the show to replace the white actors who voice BIPOC characters, which producers finally agreed to do.

Earlier this month Hank Azaria apologized to 'every single Indian person in this country' for voicing Indian convenience store owner Apu.

In an interview with the Armchair Expert podcast, Azaria has said the character show had contributed to 'structural racism' and that he hadn't known any better during the nearly 30 years he voiced the character.

Mea culpa: Earlier this month Hank Azaria apologized to 'every single Indian person in this country' for voicing Indian convenience store owner Apu on The Simpsons for nearly 30 years

When Apu was called out for promoting racist stereotypes in the 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu, Azaria and the show's creators appeared to shrug off the criticism.

Addressing the controversy in an episode the following year, Lisa Simpson asks 'what can you do' when a character which had been beloved for decades had suddenly become politically incorrect.

However, Azaria, says since then he has listened to the concerns of Indian-Americans and came to realize that Apu was a problem.

'I needed to shut up... and listen and learn. And that took a while,' he said. 'This was not a two-week process: I needed to educate myself a lot.'

'I really didn't know any better. I didn't think about it. I was unware how much relative advantage I had received in this country as a white kid from Queens.' he reflected on the podcast.

'I really didn't know any better. I didn't think about it. I was unware how much relative advantage I had received in this country as a white kid from Queens.' he reflected on the podcast.

Adding: 'Just because there were good intentions it doesn't mean there weren't real negative consequences to the thing that I am accountable for.'

The role of Apu has yet to be recast, however, Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed the character will return in some way in future seasons.

'We've got plans for Apu, but we have to see if we can make the stories work,' he told USA Today in March, adding that he had not yet recast the role. 'We're working on something kind of ambitious. That's all I can say.'

Future: The role of Apu has yet to be recast, however, Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed in March that he has 'big plans' for the character in future seasons

'I think the Apu stories are fantastic, and he's one of the most nuanced characters on a silly two-dimensional cartoon show,' Matt continued. 'So, yeah, I'm proud of Apu. (Pause.) I'm trying not to open up another chasm of criticism, but it doesn't matter what I say. I'll get it anyway.'

Apu and Julio were not the only characters on the show, nor where they the only ones voiced by Hank Azaria, that critics took issue with.

Following the backlash, producers said that they would replace the white actors on the show who voiced non-white characters. In 2020, one of Azaria's other characters, Carl Carlson, was replaced with actor Alex Desert.
Syracuse, NY  A Syracuse child rapist, whose case caused a political stir in 2019, will spend at least two decades in federal prison after admitting Thursday that he abused a 10-year-old girl so he could exchange explicit images with another 15-year-old girl he found on the internet.

Austin Pratt, 24, will be sentenced to between 20 and 30 years in prison after his plea Thursday to child exploitation and pornography charges, federal prosecutors in Syracuse announced.

In a bizarre twist, though, the 15-year-old girl who Pratt exchanged pornography with over Instagram turned out to actually be an adult man, federal prosecutors said.

In entering his guilty plea, Pratt admitted that he used the Instagram name redneck_pratt to message with a person who represented themselves to be a 15-year-old girl, but who law enforcement later confirmed was an adult male from Nevada, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick said.

Pratts case first came into the spotlight after he was arrested when images surfaced of him abusing the 10-year-old girl around Valentines Day in 2018.

But Pratts predatory sex assault case in Onondaga County Court was thrown out in 2019 by Judge Stephen Dougherty, who faulted prosecutors for doing a lackadaisical job and not prosecuting the case in a timely fashion. An appellate court ruled in 2020 that prosecutor Maureen Barry had acted properly and ethically, if not perfectly. That reinstated Pratts initial charges.

By that point, though, Doughertys initial decision had already led to two consequences: first, a challenger against District Attorney William Fitzpatrick seized upon the moment before the 2019 election to accuse the longtime DA of being out of touch (Fitzpatrick won reelection), and second, Pratts rape case was referred to federal prosecutors for consideration.

Until that point, authorities only had proof that Pratt had raped the 10-year-old girl and taken pictures of it.

But federal interest in the case brought in the FBI, which was able to track down the person who Pratt was exchanging the rape photos with over Instagram. (That persons identity had been a mystery in the state case.)

The FBI talked to that unnamed man, who admitted that he posed as a 15-year-old girl and convinced Pratt to send the images of the Syracuse rape. Theres no indication that the unnamed man was charged in connection with Pratts case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher built the case that eventually led to Pratts plea Thursday, which included admissions about the girl who turned out to be a man.

Pratt admitted that the girl sent sexually explicit images to him and asked Pratt to produce and send explicit images of himself with young girls, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Syracuse said in a news release. Pratt admitted that he then sexually abused a 10-year-old child, produced images and a video of that abuse, and sent the images and video to the person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl.

Pratts plea in federal court comes with the promise that he will not face additional prison time in state court. Hes expected to be sentenced to a 20-year prison term in his state case, which will run at the same time as his federal sentence, which will be somewhere between 20 and 30 years.

Pratt will be sentenced this summer by U.S. District Judge David Hurd. He remains in custody until then. Once released from prison, Pratt will become a registered sex offender.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
Mumbai:

The Maharashtra government has shifted annual rent agreement renewal procedures within the departments to its digital platform.



From November 1, the government owned properties will be rented out through online service -- which will essentially save time of the authorities.



A Government Resolution (GR) issued yesterday stated that there are several rent agreements processed by the Public Works Department (PWD) every year, where government owned land or buildings are rented out for public interest.



Henceforth, such agreements will be carried out through e-rent service, provided on the website www.mahapwd.com.



In Mumbai city alone, there are over 1,200 leased properties by Maharashtra government.



The actual number of properties leased by Maharashtra government across the state would be huge and with online processing of lease agreements, it will save a lot of time and money of people from outstation who had to visit to Mumbai for renewal of fresh lease agreement, said a senior officer from PWD department.



The executive engineer of PWD department from respective district has been given the responsibility to take final decision in lease agreement procedures, mentions the GR.



It has also mandated PWD to publish a division-wise base rate at the beginning of the every financial year for easy calculation of rent.



The GR has further given a detailed list for calculating the rent for buildings with various amenities.
Xi Jinping on building maritime community with shared future

Xinhua) 14:49, April 23, 2021

Chinese President and Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping takes a group photo with the heads of foreign delegations invited to participate in the multinational naval events marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on April 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Friday celebrated its founding anniversary.

Two years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, proposed building a maritime community with a shared future when he met with heads of the foreign delegations invited to participate in events marking the 70th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy.

The following is a selection of his remarks, calling on people to cherish the ocean and make joint efforts to address common threats at sea.

-- The ocean does not separate our blue planet into isolated continents; instead, it links the peoples of all countries to form a global community of shared future that remains bound together through thick and thin.

-- Maritime peace has a bearing on the safety and interests of all countries, and thus needs to be protected and cherished by all.

-- We need to ... join hands to respond to common threats and challenges and to maintain maritime peace.

-- We need to care for the ocean as dearly as we treasure our lives.

-- As a Chinese saying goes, "The ocean is vast because it admits all rivers." Whenever a problem crops up, countries concerned should always hold deliberations in good faith, rather than resort to the use or threat of force at will.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and representatives of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations discussed holding religious holidays during the quarantine.

"Holidays are a joy, and it is important to ensure that this joy is not overshadowed by the growth of morbidity. We appreciate that the representatives of religious organizations do everything to comply with quarantine norms. For its part, the government will continue to exert every effort to guarantee that the state policy in the field of religion is effective, yielding the result and aimed at the realization of the relevant rights and freedoms of citizens," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need for all religious organizations to observe quarantine restrictions and recommendations regarding the conduct of services, religious rites, and ceremonies.

Shmyhal also thanked the representatives of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations for understanding and supporting the state-imposed temporary restrictions on their activities, as well as for their stance on the importance of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination process.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The New Mexico State Land Office is suing two oil and gas companies for failing to clean up abandoned wells and other infrastructure on more than 500 acres in McKinley County.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in 1st Judicial District Court states that BC&D Operating and Dominion Production Co. did not plug wells, remediate spills, remove debris or reclaim roads and well pads after their leases expired in 2018.

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By leaving improvements, such as tank batteries, pump jacks, surface flowlines and other abandoned infrastructure on the Subject Lands, and by leaving wells unplugged, BC&D and Dominion are committing an ongoing trespass, the lawsuit states.

The office is asking that the court compel the companies to plug at least 29 abandoned oil wells, reclaim 500 acres and pay penalties for breaching their lease contracts.

State land leases for the sites date back to the 1920s.

To properly plug and abandon a well per state Oil Conservation Division rules, cement, drilling mud, and plugs are placed in the wellbore to prevent fluid from migrating among the underground rock layers.

Thursdays lawsuit is the 16th filed by the State Land Office as part of an accountability and enforcement program launched in November.

State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said the program has resulted in 18 plugged wells and 12 reclaimed sites.

Employees also audit water disposal leases, and have ramped up the use of satellite imagery and site inspections as part of the initiative.

A lot of companies are proving willing to work with the State Land Office to clean up abandoned well sites, Garcia Richard said. At the other end of the spectrum, we are taking decisive legal action against companies who walk away from their messes and responsibilities to the land.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
New York politics have featured Green New Deals for more than a decade. Howie Hawkins, the 2018 Green Party gubernatorial nominee, ran under the banner of confronting climate change and the damage done to disadvantaged communities by fossil fuels in one legislative go. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have their own respective plans. Add Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan to the list.

The upstate Democrat recently unveiled his own 21st Century homage to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's signature initiatives against the Great Depression. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy efficiency in buildings and spurring economic activity based in the transition to renewable energy all have a place in the plans that Ryan unveiled earlier this month. What makes his plan unique is how it might show how county governments might tackle climate change.

If all goes well with the plan, the 39 year-old Army veteran and Mother Earth alike might benefit. Mankind will be a tad bit closer to avoiding the 1.5C global temperature increase that scientists warn would trigger full-on climate disaster. Ryan meanwhile would have something for his newly established political action committee to brag about.

City & State recently spoke with Ryan to see how this win-win scenario might play out in the upcoming years. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What makes your Green New Deal unique?

I'm pretty confident in saying we're the first county in the state, and definitely one of the first in the country, to have an actual true Green New Deal. It's a multi-pronged plan over a 20-year time horizon. There's over 30 different specific programs and initiatives  all tied to three goals: the transition to clean energy to build an equitable green economy, conserving natural resources and building resiliency.

Much of the conversation about climate change in New York concerns rising sea levels, how is it affecting an inland place like Ulster County?

Even though we're 90 miles up the Hudson River where I'm sitting now in Kingston, we had major flooding due to Hurricane Sandy. Weve had other natural disasters due to climate impacts. These areas, in the city of Kingston in particular, include communities of color and people who are economically disadvantaged. We see environmental injustice and pollution. The Danskammer natural gas expansion in nearby Orange County is coming before the state Public Service Commissions Siting Board. Earlier this week, I formally submitted comments calling for it to not get approved.

So how does your plan help communities harmed by the use of fossil fuels?

We got to make sure that our local workers, particularly those in the building trades, are paid fair wages as we transition from the fossil fuel economy to a newables system. Our retrofit initiative will be heavily focused on those who would not otherwise be able to afford to do that. The other area where we're really hitting that is actually in our workforce development. I launched a green careers academy in 2019 and a lot of folks have been coming through that program. Weve worked heavily to recruit from communities that have paid the price for environmental injustice in our past policies. Theres significant funding in our plan for expanding that.

But arent all these plans just executive actions youve taken. You wont be county executive forever, why not use the legislative process?

The good news is, we're going to do both. We already got a bill in the works, but I wanted to move quickly to at least begin and end to signal also to the market that this is how we're going to do business, at least here in Ulster County.

Do Democrats control the county Legislature?

Its 12 to 11. We have a one-person Democratic advantage.

Youre an ambitious guy. You just launched a PAC, whats this Green New Deal got to do with that?

I campaigned for county executive with a Green New Deal for Ulster County on my campaign signs. I really believe that it is not only a moral imperative, but that it also is really the economically necessary thing to do to position this county, which is where I grew up and where my family's lived for five generations. I believe this deeply.

So  what is unique about your Green New Deal again?

The locality of it is an important aspect of what differentiates it from the others. Yet, we have to set these goals at the federal level and provide resources  and the same in the state. Were one of the largest emitters in our county so even just implementing our own climate action plan and lead by example is a major part of it.

County government is the Exxon of Ulster?

Were one of the largest employers and have one of the largest carbon footprints. We also have a large vehicle fleet and many buildings. The ability to build physical, tangible things, that contribute to not only job creation but doing well by the environment  thats something local governments can do.
Ukraine and Georgia are joining the trilateral format of negotiations between Romania, Poland and Turkey for the first time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during his visit to Bucharest.

"Pleased to meet my Georgian friend Zalkaliani in Bucharest. For the first time NATO's key Black Sea partners Ukraine & Georgia join the trilateral format of Romania, Poland & Turkey for a discussion on the challenges our region faces & ways to shape its future together," Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Friday.

The minister noted on his Facebook page that Bucharest, Warsaw and Ankara founded this trilateral format at the Alliance summit in Chicago in 2012. According to him, this is not just an invitation, it is a political signal and specific step to support Ukraine at a difficult moment.

"We will talk about strengthening NATO's presence and readiness to strengthen security and stability in the region, and about the Euro-Atlantic prospects of Ukraine and Georgia, and about the format of the Crimean Platform initiated by Ukraine. We will separately talk in a bilateral format with our colleagues about politics and trade in relations between our countries. Russian waves are rolling in, and we continue to do our job so that they recede," Kuleba wrote on Facebook on Friday.

He stressed that Ukraine is NATO's key partner in the Black Sea region, together with Georgia, and is an integral part of the formula for its security and prosperity.

"David Zalkaliani, Bogdan Aurescu, Zbigniew Rau and Mevlut Cavusoglu, all of whom are my good friends, are meeting against the backdrop of security threats posed by Russia's aggressive behavior and its growing militarization of Crimea, the Black and Azov seas," added the minister.
Mumbai, April 23 : Jaideep Ahlawat says he goes through self-doubt almost every day and that every actor faces such a situation at least once in a day.

"That is the beauty of it because you come out of it every day, too. In any art field, it's always there. Be it with an actor or anyone. They come in self-doubt once in a day." Jaideep's latest outing is the digitally-released anthology "Ajeeb Daastaans". He stars in the short feature "Majnu" along with Fatima Sana Shaikh. It is directed by Shashank Khaitan.

In the story, he plays Babloo, a heartland strongman in a loveless marriage with the daughter of a political bigwig and who, it eventually emerges, is gay.

Others starring in the anthology include names such as Aditi Rao Hydari, Konkona Sen, Abhishek Bannerjee, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Manav Kaul and Shefali Shah among many others.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
China unveils first milk bottle road in Shanghai

By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-04-23 17:30

Chinas first road made from plastic waste was unveiled in Shanghai on April 23, the 52nd Earth Day.

Situated in the Xuhui campus of East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), the 300-meter-long road used over 200kg of recycled plastic milk bottles. The innovative move has not only utilized waste products, but also given the road a better performance and durability.

Chinas first ever plastic road utilized multinational company Dows ELVALOY RET asphalt modification technology. Plastic milk bottles were crushed and melted before being sent to asphalt production plants.

On the same day, Dow signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese dairy company Shiny Meadow to divert plastic waste from the environment. Dow said it is committed to enabling 1m tons of plastic to be collected, reused, or recycled through its direct actions and partnerships by 2030.

"Hard-to-recycle plastic is often discarded in landfills and waterways without consideration for its value in other applications. The utility of plastics must be an impetus for brand owners, recyclers and other value chain partners to prevent it from being lost as waste, said Bambang Candra, Asia Pacific commercial vice president, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics.

Prof. Li Tao, vice president of ECUST, said, "The university is delighted to see the construction of the Milk Bottle Road come to fruition today. As a tertiary institution focused on science and innovation, this collaboration gives us an actualized example of how we can tackle plastic waste in unique ways. We hope that this inspires our students to explore more unconventional solutions in the area of sustainability, and to bring their creative applications to an even greater scale within our community.
Dozens of vehicles crashed in near whiteout conditions on a Washington County, Wisconsin, interstate, killing one person and seriously injuring six people, according to sheriffs officials.

At least 48 vehicles, including several semis, were involved in multiple crashes that closed I-41 in Washington County for hours on Wednesday as heavy snow moved through the region.

The Wisconsin State Patrol said one of the crashes involved a fatality, but could not provide further details. Six people were taken to West Bend hospitals and another 26 people were treated at the scene, according to officials.

The freeway was closed in both directions from Highway 60 to Highway 28, a roughly 18-mile stretch and all lanes were reopened by Wednesday night.

An initial crash happened about 11 a.m. near Highway D in the Town of Wayne. Two other chain reaction accidents were reported near Highway 144 in the Town of Polk, according to the Washington County Sheriffs Office.

First responders came from Allenton, Kohlsville, Kewaskum, West Bend, Richfield, Slinger, Jackson, Germantown and Hartford, along with Wisconsin State Patrol troopers from Fond du Lac.

The National Weather Service warned that scattered snow showers would affect parts of Fond du Lac County down to Walworth County and east through much of the afternoon and reduce visibilities at times to a quarter mile or less.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Wisconsin
Kaitlyn Renee Higgins was arrested on Tuesday after she allegedly admitted to shooting and killing her 10-year-old son

A Kentucky mother allegedly admitted to shooting dead her 10-year-old son and stuffing his body in the trunk of her car after trying to cut out his tongue.

Kaitlyn Renee Higgins, 28, was arrested on Tuesday in Louisville and charged with the murder of her son Kyon Higgins Jr.

Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department were dispatched to Higgins' home after receiving a call from a neighbor who said she saw the mother with a gun and the boy who appeared lifeless wrapped in a blanket, according to an arrest report.

When the officers arrived at about 9.30pm they found Higgins sitting on the porch of her home on Algonquin Parkway and noticed blood on the steps.

Believing someone was in immediate danger, they opened the trunk of Higgins' car and found Kyon's body.

Higgins later confessed to shooting the boy after she tried to cut his tongue out, police said.

Police found 10-year-old Kyon Higgins Jr (pictured) dead in the trunk of his mother's car outside their home in Louisville on Tuesday night

Higgins was arraigned on charges of murder stemming from domestic violence and tampering with evidence on Thursday, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The newspaper said Higgins teared up in court as she claimed she had not been allowed to call anyone from jail.

'So I don't even know where my child's being buried or anything,' she told Jefferson County District Judge Jennifer Wilcox, who doubled her bond from $250,000 to $500,000, citing the violent nature of the alleged crime.

She is due back in court on May 3.

Police have not released a motive for the killing, but said she caused other injuries to Kyon before shooting him.

Miah Lancaster, Kyon's babysitter, told WLKY that she once saw Kyon, whom she affectionately called 'KJ' with a black eye and scratches on his face and neck.

She said she did not report it to Child Protective Services at the time because she feared retaliation from Higgins, who she knew carries a weapon.

Lancaster now says she regrets that decision.

'This should've never happened,' Lancaster told WAVE 3 News, calling the situation unfair.

'She had plenty of people, if she was struggling, to drop him off,' Lancaster said of Kyon, who she described as 'a smart and beautiful child' who liked to stay in his room and play games. 'We would've cared for him. One call is all it would've taken,' she said.

When she heard the news of Kyon's death, Lancaster said she rushed over to the house on Algonquin Parkway to check on Higgin's other son, a two-year-old.

That child is now safe and in the care of relatives, Louisville police said.

Higgins' home on Algonquin Parkway in Louisville is pictured above. Neighbors told local news outlets that they believe Higgins had previously abused her son and their two dogs

Higgins' neighbor Tayler Alexandra told WAVE 3 News she heard gunshots on Tuesday night while she was on the phone with her friend.

'The guy across the street told my boyfriend: "Hey you know I've seen her carry a body to the car. It was a little body,"' Alexandra said.

The outlet said neighbors had previously called Animal Services about Higgins allegedly abusing her two dogs. Records showed Higgins had received three citations for animal neglect in the past.

'I already thought something suspicious was going on in this house due to the animal abuse,' Alexandra said.

The Courier-Journal said Higgins did not have a prior criminal record and had only received a few citations over the years for traffic-related violations and for not having her dogs properly licensed.

In 2014 she filed a domestic violence protection order against a man in 2014, the newspaper reported, and had a divorce case in Jefferson County Family Court involving another man that began last December.
Washington D.C., April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Continuing Irans decades-long campaign of persecution of its Bahai community from cradle to grave, the Iranian authorities have now banned the Bahais of Tehran from burying their loved ones in a space previously allocated to them in Tehrans Khavaran cemetery. The destruction and desecration of Bahai cemeteries in Iran is part of the governments longstanding policy of the persecution of the Bahais in Iran.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian government began to desecrate, and in some cases demolish, Bahai cemeteries in Tehran and all around the country.

In 1981, the central Bahai cemetery in Tehran was confiscated, and more than 15,000 graves were demolished. Later a parcel of land in this cemetery was assigned to the Bahais in a portion of the cemetery colloquially known as place of the damned. However, the government refused to sell the property to the Bahais and has since substantially increased the price of each burial plot.

The cemetery land assigned to the Bahais should be sufficient for several decades. However, agents from the Security Office of the Behesht-e Zahra Organization, which manages Khavaran, have banned the community from using these plots. The Security Officer reportedly issued threats against Bahais who were attempting to use the allocated land.

The Bahais are now being forced to choose between impossible options. One is to use the narrow gaps between existing graves to bury their loved ones, while another is to use a mass burial site authorities claim to have recently emptied. This site is known to be the burial place of thousands of political prisoners killed in early years of the Islamic revolution, as well as at least 50 Baha'is as part of the government's campaign to systematically persecute Iranian Baha'is for their religious beliefs.

Prohibiting individuals from burying their loved ones in a befitting manner, when they are already in grief, is beyond inhumane, said Diane Alai, Representative of the Bahai International Community to the United Nations in Geneva. The Bahais respect the resting places of all and, given that over many decades the Bahai community has faced the desecration of its own cemeteries, they do not want anyone to experience the same pain by burying their dead where others recently lay.

A dignified burial according to one's own religious laws is among the most basic human rights, Alai added. The Iranian authorities must respect this and stop hindering the Bahais from exercising this right.

Background info:

Bahais are Irans largest non-Muslim religious minority and have been systematically persecuted for 42 years, extensively reported by the United Nations. More than 200 Bahais were executed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and since the 1980s they have been denied higher education and livelihoods, vilified in the media, and even their cemeteries have been desecrated.

The persecution of the Bahais in Iran is extensively documented in the website, Archives of Persecution of the Bahais in Iran.
A 32-year-old Harris County sheriffs deputy died this week from COVID-19, authorities said Friday.

Alexander Gwosdz died Wednesday, marking the latest Harris County lawman or jailer to die after contracting the virus. Gwosdz was diagnosed with the disease in early March, a sheriffs spokesman said. In Texas, nearly 50,000 people have succumbed to the disease since the pandemic arrived in North America early last year.

We are devastated and saddened by another loss of life and reminded again of the dangers of this terrible virus, said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Deputy Gwosdz loved his job. He had a servants heart. He came from a law enforcement family. His father is a retired sheriffs office deputy and our brother in blue. His whole life was ahead of him.

COVID: As Harris County deputy battles coronavirus, his wife tries to save him from afar

Gwosdz joined the department in 2012 as a detention officer. Two years later, he graduated from the departments training academy and became a patrol deputy, working in northwest Harris County. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Chris Gwosdz, an auto theft investigator who worked at the sheriffs office for 34 years before retiring in 2020.

The younger Gwosdzs death sent shock waves through the department, Harris County Deputies Organization President David Cuevas said. He obviously was young and had a bright future ahead of him. Its a sad day for Harris County law enforcement.

Joshua Wilson, 34, met Gwosdz in the training academy in 2014. He later opted to work with the department as a reserve deputy, and he rode with Gwosdz a few days every month.

He had a really good work ethic, Wilson said, recalling one domestic violence call they responded to together.

It was near the end of a long shift, and Gwosdz easily could have waited until the next day to file the necessary paperwork to get the woman a protective order to prevent her husband from continuing to threaten her.

Instead, they drove downtown and spent hours filling out paperwork to make sure she got what she needed, Wilson said.

Hed do that on all his cases, Wilson said.

He remembered Gwosdz as a loving, hardworking friend who cared about his family, enjoyed visiting the Texas Renaissance Festival and chowing down on good barbecue, and was quick to offer help whenever it was needed  even if that meant lugging around a friends furniture late at night.

I hope people remember him for how good a person he was, Wilson said.

The pandemic has claimed the lives of eight current and former peace officers or jailers in Harris County so far, five of whom worked at the sheriffs office. The first local lawman to die was Sgt. Raymond Scholwinski, 70, who died after a months-long battle with the disease last May. A month later, Deputy Juan Menchaca, 70, died. Deputy Johnny Tunches, 56, died in November and was followed in February by Robert Perez, a 54-year-old jailer.

The other Harris County peace officers to die in the pandemic were Mark Brown, an investigator with the Precinct 5 Constables Office, and Houston police officer Ernest Leal. And in January, Harris County District Attorneys investigator Richard Sepolio also succumbed to the disease. Sepolio joined the DAs office in 2013, after spending 36 years at HPD.
Opinion

Keith Ellison, Minnesotas attorney general, called the bystanders who bore witness to George Floyds murder "a bouquet of humanity."

He gave a nod to prosecuting attorney Jerry Blackwell, standing behind him at Tuesdays post-verdict news conference, for coining the phrase.

"They stopped and raised their voices, and they even challenged authority because they saw his humanity," Ellison said. "They stopped and they raised their voices because they knew that what they were seeing was wrong. And they were right."

Darnella Frazier, 17 years old at the time, a high school student, saw Floyd on the ground, under Derek Chauvins knee. She walked her young cousin into nearby Cup Foods and then returned to the sidewalk and pressed "record" on her phone.

"The world needed to see what I was seeing," she told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in May. "Stuff like this happens in silence too many times."

Her video changed everything.

You may recall the initial statement from the Minneapolis Police Department, released on May 25, headlined, "Man dies after medical incident during police interaction."

"Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car," the statement read. "He was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later. At no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident."

Ellison credited, too, the millions of people who marched and protested after Floyds death for keeping his life and his death where it belonged  in the public eye.

"His death shocked the conscience of our community, our country, the whole world," Ellison said.

I love the phrase "bouquet of humanity." The one that popped into my mind was "stone catchers."

Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, uses the phrase to describe the people who stand up and intervene when someones humanity is being robbed.

"Ive always been struck by that parable, that Scripture, that story where Jesus encounters the woman who has been caught in adultery," Stevenson told NPRs Krista Tippett. "And those who are there to judge her say that the law says we should stone her to death. And the Scripture reveals that Jesus says, well, let he of you that is without sin cast the first stone. And theyre convicted by that, because they know that none of them is sinless, and they one by one put their stones down and they walk away."

But the self-righteous dont always put down their stones.

"And so I think its incumbent on some of us to intervene, to catch the stones," Stevenson continued. "It doesnt mean that those vulnerable should be condemned; it just means that some of us are going to have to be stone catchers. And thats the idea that Ive come to embrace, is that just because people wont recognize what the right and just thing is to do, that its not right and just to cast those stones, doesnt mean that thats the end of the struggle. We have to stand up. We have to stand in front of those who are vulnerable and we have to catch those stones."

Darnella Frazier is a stone catcher. The court witnesses are stone catchers. The crowds who protested peacefully, from Chicago to Salt Lake City, from Portugal to Australia, are stone catchers.

"That Scripture is still there," Stevenson said during an interview about the Christian churchs role as stone catcher. "That challenge is still there, not to judge. But people are picking up stones and throwing them left and right. I think the new church, this church, has to be willing to be stone catchers. Weve got to be willing to stand in places where we bear the burden of those whove been wrongly accused and condemned. We bear the burden of those who are being presumptively treated as if theyre dangerous or guilty. We have to bear the burden of those disfavoured communities in our country and across the world  those religious minorities, those sexual minorities, those undocumented communities, people who are Black and brown.

"We have to bear their burdens," he continued. "We have to stand up and catch the stones that are cast at them, and then we make a witness. Then we make a statement about our faith that is empowering thats transformative."

He was speaking about faith in God. His words, I think, can also be a call to find and act on our faith in humanity  to recognize whats right and just, to refuse to accept that justice isnt accessed or applied equally, to push for a better, fairer world. To catch stones.

"I would not call todays verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration," Ellison said at Tuesdays news conference.

Floyd was murdered. His daughter will grow up without a father. His family will never be made whole.

"But it is accountability," Ellison said. "Which is the first step towards justice, and now the cause of justice is in your hands."

Our hands.

Heidi Stevens is a columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
Prime Minister held a meeting on Friday with chief ministers of 10 with the most number of COVID-19 cases.

The meeting via video conferencing comes amid a huge surge in cases, which have now clocked a daily total of over 3 lakh in the country.

Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi are among those who attended the meeting.

Modi will hold a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conference amid concerns expressed by some that their supply of the life-saving gas is running short with a number of hospitals sending out SOS.

(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.)
Photo: latin-project.weebly.com/ Odysseus chose adventure as he grew older rather than spending his declining years in a rocking chair.

If orange is the new black, 65 is the new 13  with a little 21 thrown in for good measure.

Those over 65 stand at the boundary of a brave new world that requires an explorers mindset because the rules, regulations and requirements of the old life, the old country, wont work in the new.

The second half of life is a summons to a life of the spirit, to ask, and answer for ourselves, uniquely, separately, what matters most, wrote Jungian analyst James Hollis.

We are changing, and will continue to change, as much from within as without.

Just as we were over taken by something much bigger than ourselves at puberty, beyond periods and pimples, so, too, we are again grasped and tossed about like a bone in a dogs mouth.

Women are reminded of the hormonal changes during the years-long menopause and post-menopause, and men, much more subtly, during andropause.

We see daily reminders of the changes in our personal geography  both physical and psychological  and remember friends and acquaintances who never made it this far.

About 56 million people die every year, most never getting a chance to join the senior network  110 billion people have lived since the dawn of time, many having died long before 65.

Instead of bemoaning the failing vision and hearing, the body parts heading south, we can strive to be grateful that we belong to the brotherhood and sisterhood of the old, with a modicum of knowledge to ease those aches and pains.

With that comes more peace, more acceptance, more understanding of what is important.

In spite of COVID and other inequities, we live in the best of times.

If, as Kris Kristofferson reminded us, freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose, we have fewer things to lose post-65  fewer aspirations, fewer goals, fewer years.

After the mortgages, after putting kids though university, after the career, were free to move beyond the Prufrockian paralysis and dare to disturb the universe.

In The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot puts these words into the mouth of his dithering anti-hero, sentiments that many of us parrot 110 years after the Anglo-American poet wrote them.

I grow old . . . I grow old . . .

I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?

I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think they will sing to me.

We can move beyond the dithering and dare to be free, finally, to relish life, to drink it to the lees, to drain the bottle with gusto, the way Zorba the Greek would have done it, to dive into the full catastrophe, affirming and embracing whatever life sends our way  and go out of our way to find and surf chaos.

We can choose not to complain about our aches and pains, but welcome the wisdom that comes with accepting the pain  and the inevitable demise.

What is the alternative? Letting life slip away as we watch the virtual version on TV? Run to the modern-day priesthood  physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists  for a pill that might help us hang onto our youth, vigour and smooth-lined faces or do we follow the path to where nature will take us  willingly or kicking and screaming?

The end will be the same, but we can choose our attitude and how we get there.

On this journey of self-discovery, it is time to take Hollis advice and review every commitment, every friendship, every practice and every summons and say in a new way, I will not serve that which does not serve me.

We dont have to go to a monastery or an ashram to find out how. The poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson laid out a frame for life post-65 in Ulysses, his anthem to muscular old age.

The Greek hero of the Trojan War, after his hard-earned, 10-year journey home to Penelope and Ithaca, chafed under the contentment and constraints of life in a rocking chair. He longed for adventure and the open sea.

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Mythologist Joseph Campbell, shortly before his death at 83, echoed those sentiments in his scholarly, yet avuncular way:

In my own life, I am now looking back and I can tell you that theres a wonderful moment that comes when you realize Im not striving for anything. What Im doing now is not a means of achieving something later.

After a certain age, theres not a future, and suddenly the present becomes rich and it becomes a thing in itself which you are now experiencing.

Like the new 13.

Eckhart Tolle and Thich Nhat Hahn, both post-65, advice that if we only do one thing to achieve peace of mind, count your breath. It keeps us in touch with the present.

The present, ah, the present. It can teach us to appreciate where we are right now, and the T-shirt that says grumpy old man (or woman) because we have earned the saying, the T-shirt and the wrinkles.

Its not by strength or speed or swiftness of body that great deeds are done, but by wisdom, character, and sober judgment, wrote Roman statesman Cicero in How To Grow Old.

These qualities are not lacking in old age, but, in fact, grow richer as time passes.

Cicero didnt quite make it to 65; he was killed, at 63, by Mark Antonys henchmen. But 63 was old in 43 BC and the elderly, unless they made enemies of the rich and powerful, were usually treated with respect.

Modernity does not treasure the old, often mistreats them, us, as something disposable. Weve all witnessed that abysmal treatment in old-folks homes as the elderly were mowed down by coronavirus.

John Prine highlighted societys indifference toward the elderly in Hello In There, the plaintive plea to acknowledge that ocean of knowledge and wisdom.

At the time Homer wrote The Odyssey, and the way Indigenous still do, the old were treated with great respect, even reverence.

It is time to for us on the death track to reclaim that heritage and plant our flag on the ramparts of our own dreams and not those of society, and become who we always wanted to be.

With the duties and demands that played like the sirens song, we felt compelled to do societys bidding and foundered on the rocks of out own broken dreams. (But) 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

We could learn from James Escalante, a Los Angeles teacher who taught calculus to students reputed to be difficult to teach. Under his tutelage, they blossomed. His insights are as applicable to the elderly, to any age, as they are to the troubled young.

When you know who you are, you will have the answer to every challenge that life poses, he said. When you do not remember who you are, all of life is a problem.

Close your eyes, quiet your mind and delve into your source. Deep within you is the awareness that you are a spiritual being, perfect, whole and one with the Great Mind that created you. Herein lies the source of all healing. It is the way out of your difficulty into peace.

Actor Christopher Plummer, who recently died at 91, wrote in his memoir:

As I creep deeper into twilight, it is not so much the fear of dying that disturbs me, but the sudden awareness that Ive just begun to live and how dreadfully Im going to miss it when Im gone.

He is now gone, but we are still here and, if we have even a sliver of wisdom, we will take his advice and that of Odysseus in the final lines of Tennysons poem:

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Almost 3,000 years earlier, Homer put similar words in Odysseuss mouth in The Odyssey:

I will stay with it and endure through suffering hardship, and once the heaving sea has shaken my raft to bits, then will I swim.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on a NASA commercial crew mission to the International Space Station at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 23, 2021. (Joe Skipper/Reuters)

SpaceX Rocketship Launches 4 Astronauts on NASA Mission to Space Station

NASA and Elon Musks commercial rocket company SpaceX launched a new four-astronaut team on a flight to the International Space Station on Friday, the first crew ever propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight.

The companys Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, also making its second flight, streaked into the darkened pre-dawn sky atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as its nine Merlin engines roared to life at 5:49 a.m. (0949 GMT) from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The blastoff on Cape Canaveral was aired live on NASA TV.

The crew is due to arrive at the space station, orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, early on Saturday following a flight of about 23 hours. On the way they will have time to dine on pre-packaged meals and snacks and to get some sleep.

Within 10 minutes of launch, the rockets second stage had delivered the crew capsule to Earth orbit, traveling at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, according to launch commentators.

The rockets first stage, meanwhile, descended back to Earth and touched down safely on a landing platform floating in the Atlantic on a drone ship affectionately named Of Course I Still Love You.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on a NASA commercial crew mission to the International Space Station at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 23, 2021. (Joe Skipper/Reuters)

The mission marks the second operational space station team launched by NASA aboard a Crew Dragon capsule since human spaceflights resumed from American soil last year, following a nine-year hiatus at the end of the U.S. space shuttle program in 2011.

It is also the third crewed flight launched into orbit in 11 months under NASAs fledgling public-private partnership with SpaceX, the rocket company founded in 2002 by Musk, who is also CEO of electric car maker Tesla.

The first was an out-and-back test mission carrying just two astronauts into orbit last May, followed by SpaceXs maiden flight of a full-fledged four-member space station crew in November.

The futures looking good. I think were at the dawn of a new era of space exploration, the billionaire entrepreneur said at a briefing with NASA officials after watching the liftoff from launch control.

Fridays Crew 2 team consists of two NASA astronautsmission commander Shane Kimbrough, 53, and pilot Megan McArthur, 49along with Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, 52, and fellow mission specialist Thomas Pesquet, 43, a French engineer from the European Space Agency.

SpaceX Crew 2 members, from left, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide gather at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 16, 2021. (John Raoux/AP Photo)

A video camera mounted inside the crew capsule showed the four helmeted astronauts, dressed in white flight suits and black boots, seated side by side at the controls of the capsule early in their journey.

About two hours later, relaxing in their weightless environment, they hosted a brief tour of the cabin for NASA TVs audience.

The ride was really smooth, and we couldnt have asked for anything better, McArthur said. Hope you enjoyed the show.

Pesquet held the camera up to one of the capsules windows, giving viewers a glimpse of Madagascar from orbit.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough, from (L), and Megan McArthur, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide during a dress rehearsal at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 18, 2021. (SpaceX via AP)

Long-Duration Mission

They are expected to spend about six months aboard the orbiting research platform conducting science experiments and maintenance before returning to Earth. The four members of Crew 1, sent to the space station in November, are slated to fly home on April 28.

The Crew 2 mission made a bit of spaceflight history due to the fact that its Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with the same first-stage booster that lofted Crew 1 into orbit five months ago, marking the first time a previously flown booster has ever been re-used in a crewed launch.

Reusable booster vehicles, designed to fly themselves back to Earth and land safely rather than fall into the sea after launch, are at the heart of a re-usable rocket strategy that SpaceX helped pioneer to make spaceflight more economical.

SpaceX has logged dozens of Falcon 9 booster return landings, and the company has refurbished and re-used most of them, some for multiple flights. But all of those flights, until Fridays mission, only carried cargo.

Crew 2s pilot, McArthur, made a bit of history herself as the first female pilot of the Crew Dragon and the second person from her family to ride aboard the SpaceX capsule. She is married to NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, who flew the SpaceX demonstration flight with fellow astronaut Doug Hurley last year. The same Crew Dragon was used for that flight as well.

If all goes well, Crew 2 will be welcomed aboard the space station Saturday by the four Crew 1 astronautsthree from NASA and one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA. Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut who shared a Soyuz flight to the space station are also aboard.

By Steve Gorman
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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to shut down Nigeria if the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, proceeds with his plan to sack civil servants in the state.

The workers union said it will first embark on a five-day nationwide warning strike and make it indefinite if the relevant authorities do not persuade Mr El-Rufai to drop his plan.

Mr El-Rufai had said the state government cannot sustain the large number of redundant workers in the face of a fall in revenue as a result of dwindling federal allocations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Kaduna governor said downsizing the states workforce is one of the necessary moves to salvage its finances.

Therefore, the state government has no choice but to shed some weight and reduce the size of the public service. It is a painful but necessary step to take, for the sake of the majority of the people of this state, the governor was quoted in a statement.

The public service of the state with less than 100,000 employees and their families cannot be consuming more than 90% of government resources, with little left to positively impact the lives of the more than 9 million that are not political appointees or civil servants.

It is gross injustice for such a micro minority to consume the majority of the resources of the State, Mr El-Rufai said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the reaction of the President of the NLC to Mr El-Rufais statement, with the labour leader saying the congress had decided to declare a solidarity strike if the governor carries out the plan.

Mr Wabba, on Thursday, reiterated the position at a news conference in Abuja, after a meeting of the Central Working Committee of the NLC.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Wabba said a five-day warning strike will commence soon.

He said all members of the NLC will down tools nationwide for five days in the first instance, after which the workers union will think of the next line of action if nothing is done by relevant government agencies.

Mr Wabba said the unions planned nationwide strike over Mr El-Rufais action is predicated on the assumption that the governor enjoys the support of other states and the federal government.

CWC has decided and has also recommended to the National Executive Council that labour will withdraw all services from either public or private from all sectors of the economy for five days in the first instance, he said.

And where there is no remorse, there is going to be a total action because we believe that El-Rufai is not alone in this action  that neoliberal forces, and also some government are also part of it.

This action is going to be total and unconditional and therefore, all unions will be issuing statements and directives to their members to take this directive seriously and that the action will go ahead.

The action was taken as a last resort due to all the communications that were written on the issue to the Kaduna State Government and were yet to receive any attention.

Workers should not be allowed to die in silence as thousands of workers who had been sacked were yet to be paid in line with the provisions of the law, he said.
Kevin Spacey has been accused of groping a production assistant on his hit Netflix show House of Cards, which was cancelled in 2017 following a string of other sexual assault claims brought against the troubled actor.

The latest allegation comes from production company Media Rights Capital (MRC) that is suing the 61-year-old Oscar-winner, seeking millions in damages in a closed-door legal fight that was filed in 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Multiple sources have claimed to THR that Spacey 'groped the PA' on-set who had been tasked with driving the actor to hospital after he injured his hand during a promotional shoot for the show.

The assistant is said to have later complained to a superior about the incident. It is also alleged that he groped an actor who wanted to audition for the show.

New complaint: Kevin Spacey has been accused of groping a PA onset of House of Cards (pictured in 2019, attending his arraignment for sexual assault charges at Nantucket District Court)

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for the actor, who have so far been unavailable for comment.

The company is claiming that Spacey's alleged misconduct devalued the show, which ended up getting cancelled by Netflix.

Spacey has reportedly filed a counterclaim against the independent production company, that licensed House of Cards to Netflix, claiming the sexual misconduct and assault allegations against him have been 'exaggerated.'

In his claim, Spacey alleges that MRC still owes him money, claiming they have not paid him after the first round of sexual misconduct allegations he faced in 2017, when Anthony Rapp claimed a then-26-year-old Spacey tried to sexually assault him when he was 14 in 1986.

Spacey claims that MRC have illegally withheld his compensation following the multitude of accusations.

Starring role: Spacey as Francis Underwood in the hit Netflix show House of Cards, which has since been cancelled following his personal controversies

At the time, Spacey responded to that allegation with a rambling statement in which he said he did not recall the incident, apologized to Rapp and then came out as gay.

The THR report claims t he two-time Oscar winner has now reached a "critical mass" of legal challenges over allegations of sexual misconduct that make it "unlikely he will ever work again."

However, it hasn't stopped Spacey from attempting to reprise his role as Frank Underwood, making his own videos like one from 2019 where he made a plea for kindness.

Last year, Spacey complained about his treatment over sexual assault allegations that meant 'my job, many of my relationships were all gone in a matter of hours.'

No more: Last year, Spacey complained about his treatment over sexual assault allegations that meant 'my job, many of my relationships were all gone in a matter of hours.'

The actor made the comments in an interview for the Bits & Pretzels podcast, saying: 'I don't think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017.'

'My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours.'

He was dropped by the show after allegations surfaced and has largely kept a low profile since the slew of sexual assault claims first surfaced, aside from his occasional videos on YouTube.

He has always strenuously denied the claims. He was also removed from the completed movie All the Money in the World, which was reshot with actor Christopher Plummer.
Turkey will resume flights from the United Kingdom and Denmark, Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Eksi said on Twitter passengers will need to have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the flight, citing a decision by authorities.

Turkey had temporarily suspended flights from the two countries in December due to the new strains of the coronavirus.
Longtime Bay Area residents are all too familiar with ground-parching droughts, those years when our hills are late turning green and early turning brown. Now it looks like weve entered another dry patch barely four years after emerging from the last one  an ominous sign that our meteorological cycles of boom and bust are picking up speed.

This shouldnt surprise anyone who has paid attention to the scarce rainfall of the past two winters; precipitation throughout the region this year is well under half the annual average. Its so obvious, in fact, that state and local governments are starting to respond.

On Wednesday, citing acutely dry conditions in the Russian River watershed, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Sonoma and Mendocino counties and was promptly accused of understating a statewide problem. His order could limit the amount of water that landowners, water agencies and others can draw from the river.

The night before, the Marin Municipal Water District imposed mandatory water restrictions on its 190,000 customers in the eastern half of the county, from San Rafael to Sausalito. The fines, topping off at $250, arent steep, and theyre only triggered by certain outdoor activities. But its a necessary step given that the water stored in the districts reservoirs is at just 59% of the typical level for this time of year.

The Marin edict also shows how our way of life helps drain reservoirs. One prohibited activity is power-washing homes, a truly baffling waste of water unless youre about to repaint. Another decree  no refilling or topping off decorative water fountains  shows how casually needless our consumption of natural resources can be. On the supply side, Marin has made it county policy for decades to rely on local rainfall for most of its water, depriving itself of resources as a way to ward off growth.

But whatever the specific details of this county or that watershed, the larger picture is as clear as a string of cloudless winter days. According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, Californias back-and-forth cycle of dry and wet years once tended to be regular. Since 2000, however, weve seen longer stretches of dry weather and shorter stretches of supposedly normal winters  more likely formerly normal. Rhythms have changed, perilously so.

The governors emergency declaration states that climate change is intensifying the impacts of droughts on our communities, environment and economy. Granted, we dont yet know whether next winter will begin to right the balance or whether we are in for another calamitous drought like the one that stretched from 2012 into 2017. Those dry years killed millions of trees that served as kindling for the devastating fires weve faced since.

Given everything else going on right now, the return of drought is the last thing any of us wants, not least the governor. But the scars of the past decade drive home the need to be prepared rather than just reel from one crisis to the next. The state and other counties should follow Marins lead, like it or not.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
A proposal by New Jersey Natural Gas to raise rates 25% for more than a half-million customers has drawn formal outrage from Ocean County officials, who say many of the utilitys customers in the county are seniors on fixed incomes who simply could not afford it.

Our senior citizens saw only a 1.3% Social Security increase in 2021 but are now expected to pay a 25% hike in their gas bill, County Commissioner Joseph H. Vicari said in a statement Thursday. I fear some of our most vulnerable residents will be left with the tragic choice of paying this increase or buying necessary food and medicine.

Earlier on Thursday, commissioners approved a resolution opposing the rate hike application, which NJ Natural Gas filed on March 30 with the state Board of Public Utilities.

The hike is intended to raise an additional $167 million a year for NJ Natural Gas to recoup a total of $850 million in spending by the utility since its last rate hike, a 9.6% increase approved by the BPU in November 2019.

The approval process for a utility rate hike application can take months or more.

NJ Natural Gas current application would mean a monthly increase of just over $28 for a customer consuming 100 therms  one therm equals 100,000 BTUs, or British thermal units  worth of gas each month, for a total monthly bill of $141.17, said a spokesman for NJ Natural Gas, Kevin Roberts.

In all, NJ Natural Gas supplies nearly 560,000 customers in Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Middlesex and Burlington counties.

Roberts said NJ Natural Gas shares the commissioners concern that the hike may not be affordable to some ratepayers, which is why the utility has programs to aid customers listed on its website. along with a number to call, 800-221-0051, for help navigating the application process.

We absolutely agree, Roberts said. They never should have to chose between putting food on the tale and paying utility bills.

The latest round of spending NJ Natural Gas hopes to recoup includes improvements to plants and transmission lines, development of what the company called a green hydrogen fuel project to reduce emissions, and construction of a facility to provide mandatory safety and other training for system operators.

The list of projects also includes a controversial 30-mile pipeline through Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties known as the Southern Reliability Link. The pipeline, approved by regulators in 2016 and now less than a mile from completion, has been criticized by citizens groups, municipal officials and environmentalists concerned about safety, cost, and its impact on wildlife and wetlands.

However, the company defends the project as safe, environmentally sensitive, and necessary to ensure reliable delivery of natural gas to heat the homes and fire the stoves of its customers.

Nobody knows Jersey better than N.J.com. Sign up to get breaking news alerts straight to your inbox.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com.
A tanker carrying liquid oxygen, which was travelling from Panipat to Sirsa in Haryana, has gone missing after which police have registered a case and launched investigations.

Panipat police said on Friday a case has been lodged on the complaint of district drug controller.

After being filled with liquid oxygen from Panipat plant on Wednesday, the truck had left for Sirsa, but it did not reach the destination, Station House Officer (SHO), Matlauda, Panipat, Manjeet Singh said.

"We are investigating the matter," he said.

The demand for medical oxygen has escalated due to a surge in cases



In another incident, Haryana minister Anil Vij had on Wednesday alleged that a tanker carrying medical oxygen for COVID patients in hospitals, which was going from Panipat to Faridabad, was ''looted'' by the Delhi government when it was passing through their territory.

(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: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has till Friday lodged FIRs against 13 candidates for allegedly violating COVID-19 safety protocols and issued show-cause notices to 33 others contesting the West Bengal assembly elections in the remaining seventh and eighth phases for the same reason, an official said.

The full bench of the ECI directed officials during a virtual meeting to continue "strictly dealing" with candidates violating the COVID-19 safety protocols, he said.

"A show-cause notice is first sent to a candidate for alleged violation of coronavirus protocols. If the officials are not satisfied with the reply of the notice, they must lodge an FIR. The officials must also send a compliance report to the Commission," he said.

Of the 13 candidates against whom FIRs were lodged, six are from Birbhum district.

The ECI decided to book anyone violating the coronavirus safety protocols under the Epidemic Disease Act as well as the IPC Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), the official said.

At Friday's meeting, the poll panel also asked district election officers and senior officials of the CEOs office why the Calcutta High Court had to intervene for non-implementation of the COVID protocol, a source in the poll panel said.

"Officials in the districts and the CEO were asked why enough steps were not taken against candidates and political party workers for violating the Covid guidelines laid down by the ECI," the source said.

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday had expressed dissatisfaction with the ECI over enforcement of COVID-19 health safety norms during the ongoing West Bengal assembly election process, including campaigning.

Hearing three public interest litigations (PILs) seeking enforcement of COVID protocol during the elections, the high court said that issuance of circulars and holding meetings on Covid safety were not enough.

Meanwhile, the ECI decided to deploy 796 companies of central forces for the 34 assembly constituencies going to polls in the seventh phase on April 26, the official added.

Live TV
The trailer of the Salman Khan-starrer Radhe, released a couple of days ago, received a thunderous response. The biggest attraction was the glimpse of the Seetimaarr song. The blockbuster number was originally composed by Devi Sri Prasad (DSP) for the film Duvvada Jagannadham (2017), starring Allu Arjun. He has recreated the song with the same fizz, but on a bigger scale, for Radhe.

Apparently, Radhe director Prabhudeva was on the lookout for a kickass song for a particular situation in the film, and asked DSP to come up with something interesting. I suggested Seetimaarr to Prabhudeva master. He listened to the number and was impressed. He showed it to Salman, who personally asked me to recompose the song for their film. I was more than happy to oblige, reveals DSP.

In fact, DSP had always wanted to recreate the song in Hindi. Since Seetimaarr itself is a Hindi word, I thought it would gel with the situation and context of the film. After listening to the final mix, Salman was very impressed with the number. He called me a couple of weeks back and said the song sounds terrific, shares an elated DSP. The full song will be released soon.

While the Hindi version of Seetimaarr is not exactly a redux, DSP says the essence of the original song has been retained. I have recreated the entire song to suit Salmans image whilst retaining its soul, the composer explains. Lyricists from Mumbai flew down to Chennai, and we had a few sittings. I went to Mumbai for the recording session.

Prabhudeva invited DSP to drop in on the sets of the film in Mumbai. I had a great time on the sets, and the song was beautifully shot, he enthuses.

This is not the first time that DSP has composed for a Hindi film. Salman Khan had asked him to recreate the music of one of his super hit Telugu songs (Ringa Ringa from Arya 2) for his film Ready (2011).

Salman had heard my Ringa Ringa song in a club. He said he was instantly hooked to the peppy tune and asked me if I could recreate it. I came up with Dinka Chika, reveals DSP. Asserting that Salman has a great ear for music, the composer says Whatever song Salman asks to be recreated will be a blockbuster; he has great taste in music.

DSP finds Salman great company, and reveals that the actor gives him inputs and shares his thoughts about music. Salman had also once asked him to compose a song for Jai Ho, he says. I have composed for the heroine-oriented number, a blend of different genres of music. While we were discussing music, Salman introduced me to his mother, and she made pakodas for us, beams DSP.

The composer says he was surprised that several Bollywood filmmakers are familiar with his work. Whenever I am introduced to any filmmaker, they say they know my body of work and sing my songs. They say Bollywood loves my music. Its a different experience; it gives me great satisfaction, he shares, while thanking the south audience for making his numbers big hits.

A couple of years back, the makers of the Akshay Kumar-starrer Housefull 4 released a trailer of the film. The trailer which featured the score of the super-hit Telugu number, Ammadu Lets do Kummudu, composed by DSP for the film, Khaidi No: 150 (2017).

Refuting the rumours that had circulated at that time, that the Housefull 4 filmmakers had lifted the tune, DSP says they had actually taken his permission to use the catchy song. I was supposed to even compose a song, but couldnt do it. I was glad about the response that the background music got, says DSP, who is now gearing to sign films in Hindi.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to bring undiscovered musicians into the limelight, the composer is part of Rockstar, a reality music show in Tamil. DSP is the face of the show. I am glad that I am getting street musicians to sing on stage at this show, he says.

Some of Devi Sri Prasad's Bollywood compositions

Daddy Mummy song from Bhaag Johnny was originally composed for the film, Shankar Dada Zindabad, for the song Aakalesthe Annam Pedatha. Aa Ante Amalapuram song, from Maximum, was recreated in the film Arya, with the same lyrics, Aa Ante Amalapuram.

The original version of Salman Khan-starrer Dinka Chika number was scored for the Telugu film Arya 2, with the lyrics, Ringa Ringa.

The fusion number Naacho Re from Jai Ho, starring Salman Khan, was Devi Sri Prasad's original compositions.
When she is not making wine, Cadamatre writes and teaches. She is writing a yearlong blog series for the Wine Scholars Guild that began in January 2021. She recently published her first article for GuildSomm. She also teaches Wine & Spirit Education Trust classes for the Napa Valley Wine Academy and coursework for the Institute of Masters of Wine to assist students in earning the designation.

If that were not enough, there is her day-to-day, which has been quite the balancing act this past year during the pandemic. Instead of taking things one day at a time, Cadamatre said she takes them one hour at a time.

She and Brian divide their workday parental responsibilities by comparing their calendars. Cadamatres day begins early. I usually get up at 6 a.m. and check emails. Ill schedule East Coast calls at this time if needed for Trestle Thirty One. By 6:45 a.m., Ive gotten the kids up and am working on getting myself and everyone else ready for the day. I drop my youngest off at daycare at 8 a.m. and then am off to my full-time job either at my office at the winery or from home depending on what is going on. My oldest has been Zoom schooling during the pandemic. Luckily, Brian has been able to work from home full time to manage that.
A visiting session of the court at the military airbase in Gilze-Rijen (the Netherlands) to inspect the reconstruction of the downed flight MH17 will be held on May 26 with a limited number of participants.

The corresponding decision was announced by presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis during the court session on Thursday.

On April 16, the court decided that in the case of defender Pulatov [Oleg Pulatov is one of the four accused who is represented in court by the defense] there is a need to conduct an inspection. The court invited the prosecution and the defense to indicate in detail, by May 10, at the latest, to which parts of the reconstruction and pieces of debris they would like to attract the attention of the court. The court will also take into account which part of the reconstruction it makes sense to inspect, according to experts from the Netherlands Institute of Forensic Science, Almaz-Antey (the Russian manufacturer of Buk), who were recently questioned by an investigating judge, the chairman announced the decision.

According to Steenhuis, the inspection is scheduled for May 26 and will be held in the format of an offsite meeting, which means that the hearings of the inspection will be open.

At the same time, the judge said, given the circumstances that the inspection will take place at a military airbase, which is not accessible to a large number of people, as well as taking into account the restrictive measures taken in connection with COVID-19, the court has already decided that the public will not be able to attend. Participants in the process may be present, but the court will limit their participation in the inspection to two on each side - for the defense, lawyers for the relatives and friends of the victims and prosecution, and in the interests of the parties concerned and the public, there will be a live broadcast, the judge said.

In addition, the court considered it possible to invite a very limited number of media. He said that during the meeting on May 21, the court will announce the agenda for this inspection. Then the hearings will be suspended and will move to the site of the reconstruction of MH17 at the military airbase in Gilze-Rijen. It also means that the defense, the lawyers of the relatives and the prosecution will have the opportunity to say something about this issue. The court wiil decede whether to speak or not on this issue during the inspection depending on the situation, Steeinhuis said about the procedure of the visiting session.

He also said that, as mentioned earlier, the court considers it possible, despite the fact that the investigating judge has not yet completed the investigation in full, this should not impede the hearings, in fact, starting from June 7.

As reported, on March 9, at the Schiphol court complex near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a trial began over four accused of the tragedy of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. There were to be three Russian citizens and one Ukrainian on the dock: Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko. Only one of them, Pulatov, is represented by lawyers from a Dutch firm, assisted by Russian lawyer Kutina. The trial took place in the absence of the accused.

As reported, on July 17, 2014, the MH17 flight was shot down over Donbas, killing all 298 people on board. Two-thirds of passengers are citizens of the Netherlands. Citizens of Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Belgium, the United States, Germany, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were also onboard. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which includes law enforcement from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and Malaysia, is probing the incident.

In September 2016, the Joint Investigation Group released its findings, according to which the airliner was shot down by a missile launched from a Buk air defense system, and a year ago it announced that the Buk belonged to the Russian 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade stationed in Kursk.

The JIT named Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko as suspects in the MH17 crash on May 19, 2019. All of them were put on the international wanted list. They are charged with the murder of 298 passengers onboard and its crash.
As pandemic-fatigued Americans start vaxxing up and packing up, travelers have San Antonio at the top of their "dream" destinations.

That's according to Trivago, at least.

The Dutch-based site, which allows users to compare accommodations, has been tracking American interest in traveling, according to CNBC.

RELATED: 11 things to know about Buddhafull Belly, San Antonio's new late night Chinese food spot

A seven-city collection of what CNBC called "dream vacation wish lists" was gathered by tracking "clickouts." The terminology translates to which trip deal links to other booking sites users are clicking into. The interest has been "steadily" increasing since the start of the year.

San Antonio is ranked No. 6 in the list of seven cities. Aside from Las Vegas, which is in the top spot, and Orlando, all the other destinations were beach cities. The other spots are Miami, Myrtle Beach, Cancun and Panama City Beach.

READ MORE FROM MADALYN: The number of vaccinated San Antonians just topped the record-breaking total of 2020 Bexar voters

CNBC reported there was a 27 percent month-over-month growth in March. For context, that number was 17 percent in January. The data is a reflects more people wanting to travel.

Visitors have new hotel accommodations in the Alamo City. In recent months, the San Antonio tourism industry welcomed two buzzy boutique hotels. The luxe Thompson Hotel, with an Instagram-worthy bar boasting skyline views, opened in March. The Canopy, a Hilton Hotel, opened on the River Walk this week.
CHICAGO  Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx had not yet seen the footage of 13-year-old Adam Toledos fatal shooting at the time prosecutors were giving their first description of his killing by police, Foxx told The Chicago Tribune on Thursday.

And, contrary to what Foxx said was standard practice in such high-profile cases, she did not review the words of that now-controversial description before it was read in court.

I recognize the significant public interest in this case, the horrific end of a life for a 13-year-old boy at the time when police engagement is under tremendous scrutiny, Foxx said. And (I recognize) that our version of events at that time was the only version of events that people had, and people give great trust to that.

The office has been under heavy fire for a week after publicly disavowing their in-court statement about Toledos shooting, saying they should not have phrased it in a way that could imply Toledo was armed at the moment an officer shot him.

Watched in aggregate, the videos show Toledo apparently tossing a gun away just a split second before the officer fires, though investigators are still trying to determine the precise moment at which Toledo was shot.

The apparent difference between the video and the narrative that took hold after prosecutors statement sparked condemnation around the country.

We have taken the last week to figure out who should have flagged it, what the discrepancy was, why the discrepancy was made and what happened along the chain to allow this to happen, Foxx told the Tribune.

When asked why the office waited six days to publicly clarify their statement, Foxx said the question was valid, and it is one of the things were trying to get an answer to and make available to the public.

Its not lost on me that this does look fishy, its not lost on me that this has shaken confidence, it is something I personally am concerned about, have been concerned about from the beginning, and we want to make sure that we are public with what happened here and how we make sure this doesnt happen again, she said.

Story continues

Foxx was elected in 2016 after harshly criticizing her predecessors handling of another police shooting: the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald at the hands of Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Until last week, Foxxs office arguably has not faced such intense criticism since early 2019, when prosecutors abruptly dismissed all charges against actor Jussie Smollett under circumstances that are still unclear. Smollett had been accused of orchestrating a phony hate crime on himself, and the case drew international attention, particularly after it was dropped and high-level prosecutors gave shifting reasons about why.

A special prosecutor assigned to investigate the matter later found substantial abuses of discretion in Foxxs office and determined that Foxx herself had misled the public about key pieces of the Smollett story.

Regardless, Foxx was re-elected last year as one of a slate of progressive prosecutors nationwide calling for systemic change in the justice system.

The prosecutor who made the April 10 statement  known as a proffer  was Assistant States Attorney James Murphy, who was placed on administrative leave the day after the video was released. Murphy is widely liked among rank-and-file prosecutors and much of the defense bar, and the measure was generally viewed as throwing him under the bus.

Foxx was careful to say she does not believe Murphy lied or deliberately misled anyone.

Factually, yes, the description of (Toledo) having the gun, where the gun was placed in the lead-up to the shooting, was accurate, she said. But ... the impression that was left with many that the gun was in his hand at the time that he was shot.

Among other things, the office is investigating whether Murphy had access to the entirety of the evidence that had been turned over to the office, Foxx said.

The information Mr. Murphy relied upon, did he have the fullness of the information, and if not, what is it within the office that would allow that to happen? she said.

Murphy said in court that he had seen footage of the shooting. Foxx on Thursday declined to say who else among her staff had seen which evidence and when, noting the matter is still under investigation.

But she did say that while one of her staffers had given her a description of the footage ahead of time, she did not watch the video of Toledos shooting until April 12, two weeks after Toledos death and two days after the prosecutions description of his shooting.

And she did not read that description before it was given in court, even though the usual practice in the office is to bring high-profile bond proffers to her attention ahead of time, Foxx said.

A source familiar with the matter told the Tribune that nobody above Murphy  including Foxx  had read the proffer before it was read to a judge.

Reporters, media, the public, had an impression that our office gave, and we have to be accountable, Foxx said Thursday. And by we, (I mean) me, its my office, my name is on the door, everything that happens, the buck stops with me.

The statement was given in court April 10 during a bond hearing for Ruben Roman, the 21-year-old man who was with Toledo the night of the shooting.

Roman is charged with felonies including child endangerment, and in order to bolster their assertion that Romans acts helped lead to Toledos death, Murphy gave a description of the shooting.

Toledo had a gun in his right hand as he turned toward the officer, Murphy said. The officer fires one shot at (Toledo), striking him in the chest. The gun that (Toledo) was holding landed against the fence a few feet away.

While each of those sentences in isolation appear to be supported by the video, prosecutors did not mention in court that at the precise moment Toledo was shot, his hands may have been empty.

And immediately after Murphy gave his narrative of the shooting in court, news accounts stated prosecutors said 13-year-old Toledo was holding the weapon at the exact moment a Chicago police officer shot him.

The states attorneys office did not publicly dispute or question those stories until April 15, the day the video was released.

But they knew by April 14 that they could not fully stand by their first proffer, Foxx said. On that date, a different prosecutor spoke about Toledos death at a hearing related to Romans probation on a previous case and included no description at all of when Toledo was holding the gun. According to a transcript of that hearing, the prosecutor mentioned only that Toledo was fatally shot by police.

At that point, they were not feeling confident in the depiction that was given on that first day, and so they modified the description of the shooting for the subsequent hearing, Foxx said.

Foxx said she understood that last weeks events have been jarring for prosecutors, many of whom have told the Tribune that morale is flagging badly since the controversy over the bond proffer and Murphys placement on leave.

I dont want to be in the position  of rushing to judgment, she said. I know there was an error made, were trying to figure out how and whos responsible and what to do next ... but yeah, it is a difficult time for many in our office.

Meanwhile, Foxx said prosecutors are working as quickly as possible to determine whether the officer who shot Toledo should face criminal charges. The officer, Eric Stillman, has already appeared to speak with prosecutors on the matter, sources have said.
West Town Insurance Agency of North Carolina Hires Roberson as Producer

West Town Insurance Agency, Inc. has added Amy S. Roberson, a business development professional in the medical industry with over 10 years of experience, to the company as an insurance producer, effective April 1, 2021.

With the addition of Roberson, West Town now has four producers across two locations in Edenton, North Carolina and Chicago.

According to Leah Farmer, director of Operations at West Town Insurance Agency, Inc., Robersons hiring is part of the agencys business development strategy to expand its market share in eastern North Carolina.

Roberson has experience in the wealth and medical industry. She started her career as a licnsed physical therapist assistant and transitioned to roles in both medical device sales and consulting services to physicians and other health care specialists, including patient care, billing, and outside marketing. In 2013, she formed her own boutique business with a focus on interior design consulting to individuals and local small businesses. Ancillary services to design included inventory management, market trend forecasting, and creative marketing and social media strategies.

West Town Insurance Agency, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrated Financial Holdings, Inc.. The Agency was established in 1990 and is a Trusted Choic independent insurance agency based in Edenton, North Carolina. It represents a number of different carriers.

Stephens Insurance Adds McGriffs Graham as Senior Vice President in Alabama

Stephens Insurance, LLC, an affiliate of independent financial services firm Stephens Inc., has hired Emris Graham as senior vice president of its Property and Casualty division. He will be based in the Birmingham office.

Miles Stephens, president and CEO of Stephens Insurance, said Grahams risk management and advisor experience will help strengthen its property and casualty advisory services. Graham will work in conjunction with fellow Birmingham office team lead Tice Young to continue providing service to existing and new clients.

A 16-year veteran, Graham most recently served as a senior vice president at McGriff, Seibels & Williams in the Energy & Construction Practice group with an emphasis on upstream, midstream, and downstream related risks.

Stephens Insurance is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas and is one of the largest privately-owned insurance brokerages in the Mid-South. Stephens Insurance is an affiliate of Stephens Inc., a privately held independent financial services firm engaged in general securities brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services. There are currently approximately 170 associates throughout Stephens Insurances network of offices in Fayetteville, Dallas, Jackson, Houston, and Birmingham.

Topics North Carolina Alabama
MEHOOPANY  A Lehigh County physician was killed when the helicopter he was piloting crashed in a remote area of Wyoming County on Thursday night.

State police at Tunkhannock said the body of the pilot  later identified by his wife as Dr. Sanjay Kansara of Upper Saucon Twp.  was recovered from the wreckage, and parts of the copter were removed from the crash scene. Wyoming County Coroner Tom Kukuchka said an autopsy would be performed at 9 a.m. today in Scranton.

Usha Kansara told The Morning Call of Allentown that she learned from state police Thursday that the Robinson R44 helicopter piloted by her husband had crashed while he was flying from the Queen City Municipal Airport in Allentown to his job at a Bradford County hospital.

Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital confirmed Kansaras death in a statement Friday night, saying it was deeply saddened by (his) unexpected passing. Kansara joined Guthrie in September as an anesthesiologist.

Dr. Kansara was a devoted anesthesiologist who was committed to providing wonderful care to his patients, Dr. Burdett Porter said in the hospitals statement. He was friendly and had an upbeat, positive demeanor with patients and colleagues.

As of Friday night, neither state police nor the Wyoming County coroners office had identified Kansara.

Trooper Deeanna Piekanski told the media Friday afternoon that the helicopter had been on a flight path from Allentown to Towanda. The wreckage in Mehoopany was discovered after crew on a life flight helicopter passing through the area spotted a fire and reported it to the state police around 10:30 p.m.

At daybreak Friday, emergency responders from F.W.M. Fire and Ambulance companies, Dushore Fire, Wyalusing Valley Fire and Good Will Fire of Laceyville, along with the state police, its forensic science unit and the state Game Commission organized a recovery operation at a pavilion on Windy Valley Road.

Piekanski said the crash scene was a mile and a half up the mountain on the North Branch side of its border with Forkston Twp.

Usha Kansara said her husband, an anesthesiologist, would come home once a week and spend the rest of the week in an apartment near the Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital.

The helicopter is new for him, she said. He wasnt that experienced. He just got his license a year ago. But hes a good pilot, he always took precautions.

She said he left the house for the Queen City Airport around 7:30 p.m. Thursday to return to Bradford County. He left later than he normally would because he was helping his 14-year-old son with homework.

The couple also has a 24-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter.

Scott Hauser, manager at Bradford County Airport, said he met Sanjay Kansara last summer, shortly after Kansara bought the helicopter.

He was a friend, Hauser said, noting they would hang out together and talk about flying. He was a good guy to have around here. Its a bummer to say the very least.

He said air traffic control contacted him about 9:15 p.m. when officials lost contact with Kansaras aircraft. He provided authorities with Kansaras cellphone number and other information to help with the search, he said.

The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter that has been in production since 1992.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation.
A convicted terrorist told a prisoner education programme two weeks before he murdered two of their academics Charles Bronson advised him to 'just do it.'

Lisa Ghiggini, a communications lead with education programme Learning Together, said Usman Khan spoke to her 'a lot' about Bronson following his release from prison for terror offences in December 2018.

Khan, 28, went on to kill delegates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at a Learning Together celebration event on November 29 2019 at Fishmongers' Hall.

Khan, armed with knives and wearing a fake suicide belt, was later shot by police on nearby London Bridge after being tackled to the floor by conference attendees.

Usman Khansaid notorious Charles Bronson told him to 'just do it' although it is unclear what he meant

Giving evidence at the inquests at Guildhall in the City of London earlier today, Ms Ghiggini recalled how she had several telephone calls with Khan following his release after eight years in prison, and had mentioned Bronson.

Henry Pitchers QC, for Ms Jones' family, said: 'You mention Charles Bronson - we're not talking about the movie star, it's the notorious prisoner.'

Ms Ghiggini replied: 'Yes.'

Mr Pitchers asked: 'Khan told him Bronson said to him words to the effect of: if you're going to do something, just do it.'

Ms Ghiggini replied: 'Yeah.'

She said Khan mentioned the Bronson comment to her two weeks before the Fishmongers' Hall attack.

She added: 'He had mentioned Bronson before a lot of times.

Charles Bronson told Khan to 'just do it'

'But it was the first time he mentioned that in that way.'

The hearing was also told the terrorist sent a video message praising the work of Learning Together, weeks before he brutally stabbed two in a bloody rampage.

Khan beamed in the chilling video as he described how it 'was kind of family' to him, in a short clip shown at one of their events in Cambridge.

Khan had not been given security clearance to travel down from Stafford for the Cambridge event, but agreed to record a short 'thank-you' message in which he spoke effusively about the opportunities Learning Together offered him in prison.

The video was shown to inquest jurors today at the City of London's Guildhall.

Learning Together co-founder Dr Ruth Armstrong, who Khan appeared to name-check in the clip, appeared to avert her eyes from the screen in front of her as the video was played as she gave evidence.

In the clip Kha smiled enthusiastically from a chair in his home as he looked down the camera to praise Learning Together.

Saskia Jones, 23, was killed in the attack at Fishmongers' Hall in April 2013

Grinning, he said: 'Hi, my name is Usman, and basically I'm gonna explain to you how I got to do Learning Together.

'I was in prison and I did eight years in prison ... most of that to be honest with you I did in the segregation unit - I was completely isolated.

But what was different about Learning Together was breaking the barriers, accepting people for who they are.'

'There has to be an understanding. Learning Together is working together for the betterment of us all.

'It was also Learning Together - it was kind of family ... It is making a difference, and I cannot stress that enough.

Jack Merritt, another of the victims of the knife attack at Fishmongers' Hall by Usman Khan

'Before I move on, I would like to say to all the team - thank you very much.

'It let out my personality, I am comfortable with who I am.'

Khan then read a short poem he wrote, entitled In The Darkness, which included the line: 'A single seed planted in mud becomes a strong tree.'

The inquests previously heard how intelligence in the prisons system suggested Khan was potentially plotting an attack upon his release from jail in December 2018, and that he was considered 'the main inmate in the area for extremist views and others' in summer 2017.

Dr Armstrong wept as she told the inquests that Learning Together were not told of any such intelligence before, during, or after he was enrolled onto their courses.

She said: 'We had absolutely no indication of any concerns regarding Usman Khan and if we had of course would have made different decisions.'

She added: 'My expectation is a decision would have been made to remove him.

'We have had examples of students being removed from the classroom for security reasons ... that is a judgment for security services.'

Khan armed himself with kitchen knives and a fake suicide belt when he attacked Cambridge graduates and Learning Together delegates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at the programme's five-year anniversary celebrations on November 29 2019.

The convicted terrorist was then chased onto London Bridge by fellow attendees, including a serving and former offender, before he was fatally shot by police.

The inquest continues.
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.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped Friday's meeting of CMs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the COVID-19 situation, sources said.

Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay represented the state at the review meeting, which was held via video conference, they said.

Banerjee had earlier skipped a few similar meetings as she was busy campaigning for the ongoing assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the government has constituted a six-member apex task force under Bandyopadhyay to supervise activities of coordinators and observers overseeing the COVID-19 situation in the state, an official said.

Till Thursday, the state's tally stood at 7,00,904 and the death toll at 10,766.
Police are seen on patrol at a Covid-19 drive through clinic in Inglewood where members of the public have been waited over two hours in line on Feb. 1, 2021 in Perth, Australia. (Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)

Perth Plunged Into Three-Day Lockdown After COVID-19 Outbreak

Metropolitan Perth and the Peel region will go into a three-day lockdown from midnight on Friday after a hotel quarantine outbreak led to community transmission.

Western Australia (WA) Premier Mark McGowan says the lockdown is a necessary measure after two people, including a man who stayed in the hotel and completed quarantine before flying to Melbourne, spent days in the community while infectious.

Anzac Day dawn services will be cancelled and all people in the affected regions must wear masks when leaving their homes from 6p.m. on Friday.

I know this is hard to take and I wish we didnt need to be doing this, McGowan told reporters.

But we cant take any chances with the virus. We just cant.

The Mercure, which will no longer accept returned travellers, is one of three Perth quarantine hotels deemed to be of high-risk for ventilation issues.

Genomic testing has confirmed the virus spread in the corridors of the hotel from a couple who had returned from India.

A pregnant mother and her four-year-old daughter who were staying across the corridor tested positive and remain in quarantine at the hotel.

Victorian authorities on Friday confirmed a man who was staying in the room adjacent to the couple had also tested positive.

The man, who is asymptomatic, arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday after completing 14 days of quarantine at the hotel.

The premier on Thursday announced the Mercure would no longer accommodate returned overseas travellers.

It will instead transition to a low-risk quarantine hotel for a flight-load of seasonal workers expected to arrive from Tonga and Vanuatu next month.

Documents released by the government have revealed the extent to which it was aware of risk factors at its quarantine hotels.

Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson received a report on April 8 which identified three hotelsthe Mercure, Sheraton Four Points and Novotel Langleyas being high risk for ventilation issues.

Dr. Robertson wrote to the premier last Friday advising that the Mercure was the highest-risk of the three hotels and it should no longer accommodate returned travellers.

The mother, who is six months pregnant, and her daughter at the Mercure returned positive tests that day.

In his letter to the premier, Robertson said the risks could be mitigated by changes such as installing HEPA air filters in rooms with positive cases.

Assessment of the three higher risk hotels indicates that the Mercure Hotel is probably the most difficult to mitigate, given positive pressure rooms, opening windows and the age of the facility, he wrote.

The other two higher risk hotels (Four Points Sheraton, Novotel Langley) are easier to mitigate utilising measures already implemented and the recommended measures.

The ventilation report was commissioned after a security guard at the Sheraton contracted COVID-19 in January, prompting a five-day lockdown.

By Michael Ramsey
TORONTO - Ontario will not immediately lower eligibility for the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot to those aged 30 and older because of supply issues, the province said Friday after new guidelines were issued on the vaccine.

A runner passes by a lightly-travelled road in Toronto during rush hour on the first working day of the new Ontario COVID-19 lockdown on Monday, April 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO - Ontario will not immediately lower eligibility for the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot to those aged 30 and older because of supply issues, the province said Friday after new guidelines were issued on the vaccine.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott said with approximately 337,000 doses of the shot remaining and future shipments not expected until May, Ontario will keep offering the vaccine to those aged 40 and older for now.

"We look forward to receiving future shipments of AstraZeneca, which will allow us to begin vaccinating more Ontarians in younger age groups," Alex Hilkene said in a statement.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended Friday that people 30 and older can get a shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine if they do not want to wait for an alternative.

The committee had initially recommended the shots for people 55 and older out of an abundance of caution after reports of very rare blood clots. But some provinces, including Ontario, started administering the vaccine to those 40 and older given the current spread of the virus.

Health Canada has approved the shot for those 18 and older and has said the benefits outweigh the risks.

The updated NACI guidelines came as Ontario reported its first case of a rare blood clot in a person who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

It was the fourth case of the rare clotting condition in Canada out of more than 1.1 million AstraZeneca doses administered across the country.

The province's top doctor said the man in his 60s had received his first dose of the vaccine. He had been treated and was recovering at home, Dr. David Williams said.

"While these serious reactions remain extremely rare, we have a robust process in place to monitor for any adverse events and have taken steps to ensure that these events are identified and treated as quickly as possible," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Public Health Ontario said 36 cases of a COVID-19 variant first identified in India have been detected in Ontario in recent days.

The agency says six of those cases were detected through its genomics surveillance program, all of them associated with international travel. In a statement issued Friday, it said the remaining cases were identified through the province's airport and border screening programs.

The variant is so far designated as a "variant of interest" by the Public Health Agency of Canada, rather than a "variant of concern." Public Health Ontario said it continues to monitor it and other variants.

Earlier Friday, Ontario began offering COVID-19 vaccines to all pregnant individuals after the government noted they had a high risk of severe illness from the virus.

The health minister's office said pregnant individuals are now considered among those with the highest risk health conditions under the province's vaccination plan. They could book shots through the provincial vaccine call centre or local public health units, with no doctor's note required.

Savana Merkley said she rushed to book an appointment upon hearing the news Friday, securing one over the phone for May 11 in Casselman, Ont., about 20 minutes away from her home in Ottawa.

The 23-year-old said she was relieved to have the option to get vaccinated after hearing about the rising number of pregnant women with COVID-19 in intensive care units.

"As a first time mom, it definitely relieves anxiety around my baby being born in a pandemic, knowing we are both safe," she said in a message.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada applauded the Ontario government's decision to prioritize pregnant individuals for vaccination.

The specialists group had called this month for all provinces to immediately prioritize pregnant people for vaccines. They noted in an April 15 statement that "pregnant women appear more likely to develop respiratory complications requiring intensive care than women who aren't pregnant."

"There is currently a daily wave of pregnant women coming into Ontario ICUs, many requiring ventilators," the group's statement said. "These women are getting extremely sick, very quickly."

The group also noted that providing ventilator support is more challenging during pregnancy, with greater risks to the mother and child.

Ontario reported 4,505 new cases of COVID-19 and 34 more deaths linked to the virus on Friday. It also said there were 2,287 patients in hospital with COVID-19, with 818 people in intensive care.

Hospitals in Ontario have been stretched to capacity recently amid an onslaught of COVID-19.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said Friday that his province would send 27 health-care workers to Ontario to help address the capacity crunch. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the offer was a "massive, massive help."

Ontario previously said health-care workers from Newfoundland and Labrador were also expected to arrive to help within days.

Meanwhile, Toronto and Peel Region were able to begin ordering the temporary closure of some businesses to control workplace COVID-19 outbreaks as of Friday.

The top doctors in both regions said orders allowing for the closures were designed to protect tens of thousands of essential workers from the virus.

Both regions said the orders would close businesses with recent outbreaks of five or more linked cases in the past two weeks. Any shutdowns will last 10 days and workers will have to self-isolate during that time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and Tods founder Diego Dalle Valle are further cementing their 20-year friendship with a deal for the French group to increase its stake in the Italian luxury goods maker.

Shares in the Italian luxury footwear and fashion group Tods jumped by more than 10%, to 39.02 euros Friday on news of the 75-million-euro ($90.5 million) deal.

Thats well-above the per-share price of 33.10 euros that LVMH, a longtime investor in Tods, agreed to pay for 2.25 million shares, representing a 6.8% stake. The deal finalizes on April 28.

Dalla Valle said in a statement that the deal may represent an excellent reason to consider further opportunities to be taken in the future ahead. He did not provide details.

The Tod's deal got more expensive after the Italian group added popular social influencer and brand founder Chiara Ferragni to its board earlier this month, boosting shares by 12% as it signaled its intent to target younger buyers.

Beside the Tods luxury footwear and fashion brand, the group also owns Hogan, Fay and Roger Vivier.

LVMH brands include Christian Dior, Fenty and Tiffany & Co.

The pandemic has knocked the bottom out of luxury sales, but analysts say it also provides an opportunity for mergers and acquisitions to strengthen those poised to relaunch as economies rebound.
[April 22, 2021] Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Announces a Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Credit Suisse Group AG (CS)

The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds investors that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed against Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) ("Credit Suisse") on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Credit Suisse American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between October 29, 2020 and March 31, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investor Deadline Reminder: Investors who purchased or acquired Credit Suisse ADRs during the Class Period may, no later than June 15, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. For additional information or to learn how to participate in this litigation please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435; toll free at (844) 887-9500; via e-mail at info@ktmc.com; or click https://www.ktmc.com/credit-suisse-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=credit_suisse Credit Suisse is a global financial services company based in Zurich, Switzerland. Greensill Capital ("Greensill"), who for filed for insolvency protection on March 8, 2021, was a financial services company based in the United Kingdom and Australia focused on the provision of supply-chain financing and related services. Archegos Capital Management ("Archegos") is a family office investment fund run by Sung Kook Hwang. Archegos' investment holdings are primarily in the form of total return swaps, a financial instrument where the underlying securities are held by the banks that broker the investments. On March 1, 2021, Credit Suisse froze $10 billion in funds that were invested in Greensill's financial products and held by its supply-chain inestment funds. On March 8, 2021, Greensill filed for insolvency protection, as it found itself unable to repay a $140 million loan to Credit Suisse. According to the Financial Times (News - Alert), more than 1,000 investors in the Greensill funds marketed were unable to exit their positions. By March 10, 2021, media reports revealed that Greensill investors had retained counsel and intended to sue Credit Suisse for their losses because Credit Suisse continued to market the biggest of the funds as a fully insured, low-risk product despite a decision by insurers during the summer of 2020 not to renew coverage. As the market digested this news, the market price of Credit Suisse ADRs fell from its close of $14.70 per ADR on March 1, 2021 to close at $12.85 per ADR by March 12, 2021, a decline of almost 13%.



Then, on Friday, March 26, 2021, several of the large banks offering prime brokerage services to Archegos - including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and UBS - suddenly began liquidating billions of dollars' worth of shares that Archegos had swap positions on at fire sale prices after Archegos had failed to meet a margin call. By the time Credit Suisse tried to liquidate its own holdings of stocks underlying Archegos' swap contracts over the ensuing weekend, prices had already collapsed and Credit Suisse quickly racked up billions of dollars in losses. Credit Suisse issued a press release on March 29, 2021 conceding that "the loss resulting from this exit . . . could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results." The Financial Times then pegged Credit Suisse's estimated losses at between $3 billion and $5 billion, more than a year's worth of Credit Suisse's net profit. The Wall Street Journal reported on March 31, 2021 that Credit Suisse "had a core capital buffer of 12.9% at year-end" and "[i]f the Archegos hit is $4 billion, that ratio could fall by roughly 1 percentage point to well below the 12.5% minimum targeted by the lender." The market price of Credit Suisse ADRs fell another nearly 20% following this news, declining from a close of $13.21 per ADR on March 25, 2021 to close at $10.60 per ADR on March 31, 2021. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, the defendants concealed material defects in Credit Suisse's risk policies and procedures and compliance oversight functions and efforts to allow high-risk clients to take on excessive leverage, including Greensill and Archegos, exposing Credit Suisse to billions of dollars in losses.

Credit Suisse investors may, no later than June 15, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210422006180/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Najla Al-Mangouch said here Friday the Government of National Accord would create "moderate and positive diplomacy will all countries of the world"
Here Are the Key Players in the Militarys Sexual Misconduct Scandal

OTTAWATwo House of Commons committees continue to probe the Liberal governments handling of sexual misconduct allegations against senior military officers. Here are the key players involved in the scandal:

Gen. Jonathan Vance: Former chief of the defence staff who stepped down on Jan. 14. A subordinate at the heart of the sexual misconduct allegations, Maj. Kellie Brennan, told a parliamentary committee Thursday that Vance fathered two children with her but has taken no responsibility for them during a relationship that allegedly began in 2001 and continued after Vance became top commander in 2015. Global News has also reported that the retired 35-year veteran allegedly sent a lewd email to a much more junior soldier in 2012. Vance has not responded to requests for comment from The Canadian Press but Global has reported he denies any wrongdoing.

Admiral Art McDonald: Vances successor who stepped aside six weeks after taking the top job. A former commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, McDonald voluntarily gave up his new post when the defence minister announced on Feb. 24 that military police were looking into an allegation, which hasnt been detailed publicly. McDonald has not responded to requests for comment from The Canadian Press.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan: Sajjan has come under fire from opposition MPs and the onetime Canadian Armed Forces ombudsman over his handling of misconduct allegations. A former army lieutenantcolonel and Vancouver police detective, Sajjan has argued he was right to pass off responsibility for a report of misconduct against Vance in March 2018 to the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic operation that supports the Prime Ministers Office. He told the House defence committee last month that drawing an elected official into a probe would be wrong and dangerous, politicizing any investigation.

Gary Walbourne: Former military ombudsman who first raised misconduct allegations against Vance to Sajjan in a meeting on March 1, 2018. Walbourne has expressed frustration over the defence ministers referring him to the Privy Council, but the government has said senior civil servants were stymied in launching an investigation after the ombudsman refused to provide them with more information. Global News has reported the allegation Walbourne raised involved a lewd email sent to a female corporal in 2012, three years before Vance became defence chief.

Vice-admiral Haydn Edmundson: A top-ranking military officer who temporarily left his job following media reports of an allegation of sexual assault. The head of military personnel in Ottawa stepped aside last month as he faces a military police investigation. He has denied the allegations.
(Newser)  In a small South Dakota town, the high school rodeo club holds an annual fundraiser where members offer to work for a rancher for a few days in return for a donation. But this year's fundraiser in Faith was called off after people objected to its namethe "Slave/Branding Auction." Glenda McGinnis at the town's Legion Hall tells the Washington Post that she has received calls from around the countryand from a local cowboyasking how "such a racist and hurtful name could be used in 2021." McGinnis says the event has been held for decades. "I didnt even think of 'slavery' in racist terms," she says. "It's just kids work for free to raise money for their club. Now I see; this is a very bad choice of words."

story continues below

A spokeswoman for the Faith School District tells the Rapid City Journal that the fundraiser isn't run by the local high school, which has it on its calendar as a "branding crew auction." State Rep. Linda Duba said the rodeo club could have renamed the eventsuggestions on social media included "Wrangler for Hire" or "Hired Hand Extravaganza"but instead "displayed a tone deafness that is inexcusable." The South Dakota Voices for Justice advocacy group says it wants the state to require districts to teach students about the history of slave auctions, where men, women, and children were sold as property and marked with brands so slaveowners could track them down if they tried to escape. (Read more South Dakota stories.)
Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet is delighted to announce the launch of its very first public and immersive Masterclass entitled Crack Historys Code. This four-and-a-half-hour experience, which combines a guided visit to the Musee Atelier and the Masterclass itself, will send visitors on an exclusive journey to decode Haute Horlogeries secrets. By diving into Audemars Piguets universe, guests will discover how infinite details can transform a functional object into a work of art.

 Audemars Piguet

The Musee Atelier Audemars Piguet was designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and unifies the original workshop, established by Audemars Piguets founders in 1875, with a new all-glass structure, made up of two spirals that seamlessly integrate into the existing landscape. Opened to the public since June 2020, the Musee Atelier gives a unique perspective on the Vallee de Joux and its watchmaking history with a display of some 300 timepieces spanning over two centuries of exceptional craftsmanship. In-situ production workshops are also interwoven with the museums spatial experience to bring visitors in close contact with the Manufactures craftspeople at work.

Pushing the envelope further, Audemars Piguet now offers visitors an exclusive opportunity to walk a few miles in watchmakers shoes. Limited to 4 participants and available by reservation only, its Crack Historys Code Masterclass will enable guests of all backgrounds to assemble one of the Manufactures historic watch movements under the guidance of an expert. Participants will also try their hand at refined decorations on a piece specifically designed for the occasion, which they will be able to take home as a souvenir. Watchmaking decorations embody a little-known art, often hidden at the heart of the watch. Numerous skills are required to achieve such a meticulous work, where horological expertise and artisanship combine in aesthetic harmony. For more than two centuries, this seamless balance has been perfected by watchmakers of the Vallee de Joux to create beautiful objects, inside and out.

This immersive journey into the heart of Haute Horlogerie will thus enable guests to crack the code of a complex savoir-faire that Audemars Piguet has handed down across generations. And this is just the beginning, as other themed Masterclasses will follow soon. Stay tuned!

Book your place now for a Thursday-afternoon Masterclasses here. The Masterclass is available in French, German and English.
This simplified chart illustrates how the lunar nodal cycle suppresses and enhances the effects of sea level rise in Miami. The basic model assumes a constant linear increase of sea level, so it doesnt capture the expected acceleration of sea level rise. Credit: Brian McNoldy, CC BY-ND

A "super full moon" is coming on April 27, 2021, and coastal cities like Miami know that means one thing: a heightened risk of tidal flooding.

Exceptionally high tides are common when the moon is closest to the Earth, known as perigee, and when it's either full or new. In the case of what's informally known as a super full moon, it's both full and at perigee.

But something else is going on with the way the moon orbits the Earth that people should be aware of. It's called the lunar nodal cycle, and it's presently hiding a looming risk that can't be ignored.

Right now, we're in the phase of an 18.6-year lunar cycle that lessens the moon's influence on the oceans. The result can make it seem like the coastal flooding risk has leveled off, and that can make sea level rise less obvious.

But communities shouldn't get complacent. Global sea level is still rising with the warming planet, and that 18.6-year cycle will soon be working against us.

I am an atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science who keeps a close eye on sea level rise in Miami. Here's what you need to know.

What the moon has to do with coastal flooding

The moon's gravitational pull is the dominant reason we have tides on Earth. More specifically, Earth rotating beneath the moon once per day and the moon orbiting around Earth once per month are the big reasons that the ocean is constantly sloshing around.

The lunar nodes are the points where the moons path crosses the ecliptic, the plane of Earths orbit shown as the view of the sun from Earth over the span of a year. Credit: Wikimedia

In the simplest terms, the moon's gravitational pull creates a bulge in the ocean water that is closest to it. There's a similar bulge on the opposite side of the planet due to inertia of the water. As Earth rotates through these bulges, high tides appear in each coastal area every 12 hours and 25 minutes. Some tides are higher than others, depending on geography.

The sun plays a role too: Earth's rotation, as well as its elliptic orbit around the sun, generates tides that vary throughout the day and the year. But that impact is less than half of what the moon contributes.

How tides work! Earth merely rotates through the tides: in 24hr 50min there are 2 high & 2 low tides, with the extra 50min due to the Moon orbiting a little each Earth day. The Sun also produces tides but at 46% the strength of Lunar tides: during Full/new Moon they join forcespic.twitter.com/an01vfKtLi  Dr. James O'Donoghue (@physicsJ) May 16, 2020

This gravitational tug-of-war on our water was discovered nearly 450 years ago, though it's been happening for nearly four billion years. In short, the moon has very strong control over how we experience sea level. It doesn't affect sea level rise, but it can hide or exaggerate it.

So, what is the lunar nodal cycle?

To begin, we need to think about orbits.

Earth orbits the sun in a certain planeit's called the ecliptic plane. Let's imagine that plane being level for simplicity. Now picture the moon orbiting Earth. That orbit also lies on a plane, but it's slightly tilted, about 5 degrees relative to the ecliptic plane.

That means that the moon's orbital plane intersects Earth's orbital plane at two points, called nodes.

Earths ecliptic and equatorial planes. Credit: NASA

The Moon's orbital plane precesses, or wobbles, to a maximum and minimum of +/- 5 degrees over a period of about 18.6 years. This natural cycle of orbits is called the Lunar Nodal Cycle. When the lunar plane is more closely aligned with the plane of Earth's equator, tides on Earth are exaggerated. Conversely, when the lunar plane tilts further away from the equatorial plane, tides on Earth are muted, relatively.

The lunar nodal cycle was first formally documented in 1728 but has been known to keen astronomical observers for thousands of years.

What effect does that have on sea level?

The effect of the nodal cycle is gradualit's not anything that people would notice unless they pay ridiculously close attention to the precise movement of the moon and the tides for decades.

But when it comes to predictions of tides, dozens of astronomical factors are accounted for, including the lunar nodal cycle.

It's worth being aware of this influence, and even taking advantage of it. During the most rapid downward phase of the lunar nodal cyclelike we're in right nowwe have a bit of a reprieve in the observed rate of sea level rise, all other things being equal.

These are the years to implement infrastructure plans to protect coastal areas against sea level rise.

Once we reach the bottom of the cycle around 2025 and start the upward phase, the lunar nodal cycle begins to contribute more and more to the perceived rate of sea level rise. During those years, the rate of sea level rise is effectively doubled in places like Miami. The impact varies from place to place since the rate of sea level rise and the details of the lunar nodal cycle's contribution vary.

Another "super full moon" will be coming up on May 26, so like the one in April, it's a perigean full moon. Even with the lunar nodal cycle in its current phase, cities like Miami should expect some coastal flooding.

Explore further Highest tides for 18.6 years set for this week in UK

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
MIAMI, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) has scheduled a conference call for 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, April 29, 2021, to provide a business update and discuss first quarter 2021 financial results. The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations website, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

(PRNewsfoto/Royal Caribbean Group)

You are encouraged to dial-in/register at least 15 minutes prior to start time to ensure your participation.

About Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) is the operating business name for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean Group is the owner and operator of three global cruise vacation brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea. Royal Caribbean Group is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, our brands operate 59 ships with an additional 14 on order as of March 31, 2021. Learn more at www.royalcaribbeangroup.com or www.rclinvestor.com.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/royal-caribbean-group-to-hold-conference-call-on-business-update-and-first-quarter-financial-results-301275541.html

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Group
U

ntil March 2020, I had the superpower of a razor-sharp sense of smell. Nothing got past me: a rogue sock under the bed, a chip shop lurking around the corner, a Big Mac being devoured seven train carriages away. I was a fast-food truffle pig, if you will.

But come 16 March, I lost my sense of smell completely after contracting Covid-19. While the government didnt add loss of smell (known as anosmia) and taste to the official list of coronavirus symptoms until late May (it was the third NHS symptom alongside fever and a new cough), many were reporting the condition  on social media, to doctors and to smell disorder charities  in the first quarter of 2020.

Professor Carl Philpott, director of medical and research affairs and trustee at UK smell-related disorders charity Fifth Sense, believes that worldwide 60 per cent of people have experienced smell loss or some form of smell distortion as part of a Covid infection.

My cherished sense of smell gradually returned about ten weeks after first contracting Covid, however its taken a whole 12 months for me to conclude that its absolutely nothing like it used to be.

My freshly-brewed coffee smells dangerously like steaming manure

Some of my favourite smells, such as my Tom Ford perfume, fresh garlic sweating in butter and the soothing eucalyptus of Olbas Oil, now make my stomach turn.

Back in the old, pre-Covid days, I had a penchant for raw onions that saw me piling them into salads, sandwiches and once a Greggs sausage and bean bake (it works, FYI) , but even the faint whiff of one makes me shudder these days.

Most mornings, my freshly-brewed coffee smells dangerously like steaming manure, while sniffing at a jar of Branston Pickle at Christmas was like having a hot poker shoved up my nose, the vicious aroma feeling like it had cauterized my nasal passages.

Apparently, this change in smell perception is quite common in those who contracted Covid-19. Known as parosmia, a distorted sense of smell is often linked to viral infections and is usually a sign that a patient is recovering.

Exposing nasal receptors to certain scents can re-establish the connection between nose and brain (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Professor Carl Philpott explains to The Independent: Patients go from not being able to smell anything to suddenly getting one or two of their receptors working again. But most of the things we smell in the world around us are mixtures of molecules and we recognise their patterns.

If weve only got a few smell receptors working then we can only recognise part of the pattern, meaning it [the smell] is distorted.

The current leg of my post-Covid odyssey has also led me into the world of phantosmia. As its name suggests, phantosmia is the experience of smelling something that doesnt exist [the NHS gives the example of smoke or burning toast]. This is most common in people with no sense of smell at all, as the memory part of the brain tries to generate its own signals.

Phantosmia is a bit akin to the phantom pain amputees experience, like getting pain in a foot which they no longer have, says Philpott.

About a month ago, while sat working from my kitchen table, I was overwhelmed by the long-lost smell of my childhood nursery. The waft of ancient, squeaky wooden floors and salty playdough hit me out of a nowhere  a mixture of scents I had no idea I could still recollect, but I was transported there, back to 1992, instantaneously.

Soon after that, I randomly encountered the sweet, alluring aroma of Cadburys Mini Eggs while soaking in the bath. This was weeks before I chain-ate hundreds over the Easter bank holiday, so maybe I just had chocolate on the mind? It is known that phantom smells can be a result of emotional or visual triggers evoking the memory.

Knowing how long these conditions will last for, and if my sense of smell will ever return to what it was before, isnt clear. The long-term effects of Covid on the human body are as yet unknown, although there is one treatment that experts suggest could help.

Armed with four jars of scent and a sick bag just in case, tomorrow I will start the first day of my smell training

Devised in recent decades to improve the capabilities of smell disorder sufferers, smell training involves repeatedly exposing nasal receptors to a key set of scents in order to re-establish the connection between nose and brain.

[Smell training] is a bit like what perfumers and sommeliers do when theyre first trying to train their nose and recognise scents that they work with. In the case of smell loss, this training tries to encourage your smell pathways to regrow the connections you had before, explains Philpott.

Experts advise that you start with the four scents of rose (flowery), cloves (spicy), lemon (fruity) and eucalyptus (resinous), smelling each one as an essential oil twice a day for around 10-20 seconds at a time. Success rates of smell training vary; after a few weeks you may notice a difference, but it could take months, and some may not encounter improvement at all.

It is advised that after 12 weeks you change the scents however, and you can move on to more everyday aromas like ground pepper, coffee, vanilla and even fresh herbs.

So, armed with four jars of scent and a sick bag just in case, I am starting smell training. Yes, Im a little dubious, especially as I hated the smell of rose and cloves even before the pandemic, but, as weve all learned in the past year, the road to recovery is never easy.

Heres to cooking a spag bol (with extra onion and garlic) without wanting to hurl. Wish me luck.
A 'stunned' dog walker has spoken of the moment he found an hours old baby boy abandoned in a Birmingham park.

Semi-retired royal engineer Terry Walsh, 64, was left stunned when his female dog, Hel, miraculously uncovered the hours-old infant wrapped in a blanket at The Mound in Kings Norton at 5.30pm yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, police have released pictures of a 1 Matalan T-shirt worn by the baby boy when he was found, as police desperately search for the mother.

Without the help of his husky Mr Walsh would have walked by what he thought was a discarded blanket.

Fortunately, he heard the baby crying after Hel ran over, lay beside the rolled-up shawl and began 'gently nudging' the baby with his nose.

Semi-retired royal engineer Terry Walsh (pictured), 64, was left stunned when his female dog, Hel, miraculously uncovered the hours-old infant wrapped in a blanket at The Mound in Kings Norton at 5.30pm yesterday evening

He was wearing an orange striped T-shirt with a picture of a dinosaur on it and the words 'Dino Dude'

The child was rushed to hospital and police are now trying to find the mother as they are 'extremely concerned' about her.

Pictures of Matalan clothes worn by the boy have been released by West Midlands Police in a bid to help trace the mother.

The baby was wearing an orange striped T-shirt with a picture of a dinosaur on it and the words 'Dino Dude'.

Also, he wore grey bottoms and was wrapped in a white-and-grey blanket with a zig-zag pattern.

Speaking for the first time about the discovery, Mr Walsh said he saw 'a rolled up blanket just under the bushes'.

He added: 'I turned round to grab hold of Hel so she didn't go over the glass, and she went off to the blanket, lying next to it and started nudging it with her nose very gently.

'Suddenly I heard this baby cry. I think it was Hel's gentle nudging and the heat from my Husky bitch's body that woke the baby up.

'A bigger dog or another dog with a different temperament might well have just ripped and tugged at the blanket and the baby could have been treated like a ragdoll and then you've also got the foxes and the rats and everything in there. How would they treat a baby?'

He continued: 'I was a bit stunned so I quickly went over lifted part of the blanket away from the baby's face and it was newborn, as I know now. I knew it was very young.'

Police said the baby was full term, likely to have been born the same day and abandoned hours later.

Detective Superintendent Annie Miller said: 'The boy was full term and had most likely been born that day.

'Luckily he hadn't been there for very long because he was found by a dog walker who immediately raised the alarm. The boy is in hospital and doing really well.

'Our primary concern is the well-being of the mother and we need to find her to check on her physical and mental health.

The child was found by a passing dog walker in a park known in Birmingham as The Mound, off Shannons Road in Kings Norton

'Her baby is fine and in good hands, but the most important person in his life is his mother and it's our priority to find her.

'We need to know she's safe and how she is medically, after giving birth.'

Ideally we'd like the mother herself to come forward, but are also appealing to the family.'

Mr Walsh, who lives in Kings Norton, said: 'I couldn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity, but about 30ft away I saw a lady with two young children so I rushed down towards her, not wishing to startle her, I said 'Look I've just found what appeared to be an abandoned baby on top of the mounds there'.

The woman took her phone out immediately to call West Midlands Police before they headed over to settle the baby, he said.

'We then went back to the baby, she picked the baby up. I kept hold of Hel - who just wanted to mother the child - and waited until the police came,' he said.

'They parked up on Shannon Road, I went down to meet them and guide them to the location where the baby was found.

'The baby settled down pretty quickly. Clearly he was cold and the baby was getting the heat from the woman. If it hadn't been for Hel, I wouldn't have known. All I would've thought is that it's a rolled up blanket.

'I thank the Lord that the baby was alive, that could've been a lot worse. The baby could've been dead. I said to my neighbours, Heaven sent Hel to rescue newborn baby boy.'

Police are unable to reveal the ethnicity of the baby, but they wish to speak to a white woman in her early 20s who was seen by several witnesses around the area at the time.

Mr Walsh said: 'I spoke to two teenagers who thought they saw a woman with the same or similar blanket carrying a baby about half an hour or an hour beforehand.

'My concerns were first of all getting the police and ambulance there and then the mother.'

Anyone with information has been asked to get in touch, quoting log 3476 of 22 April.

Officers can be reached via live chat at west-midlands.police.uk, or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The debate over same-sex marriage was mutedand made mootin 2015, with the Supreme Courts landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. But, even with the ratification of same-sex unions written into national law, discrimination against them still remain ingrained in the GOP platformand in 30 state constitutions.

Virginias state constitution holds one of the strictest same-sex marriage bans in the county. It is sweeping in scope, and has been compared to a Jim Crow law in a Washington Post Op-ed. In 2014, a federal district court found the law unconstitutional; a federal appeals court agreed, and later that year, the Supreme Court declined to review the decision, allowing same-sex couples in Virginia to marry. The ban itself has been unenforceable for seven years. Yet it remains in the states constitution, a reminder of when 57 percent of Virginians voted it into law in 2006.

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In the past decade, the tide of public opinion has changed on same-sex issuesboth on a national level and within the state of Virginia itself. About 70 percent of Americans, and half of Republicans, support same-sex marriage, a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute poll revealed. A 2017 poll by the same group showed that 60 percent of Virginians supported it, too. After Democrats took control of the Virginia legislature in 2019, lawmakers prioritized legalizing same-sex marriage in the state for once and for all.

Two bills were introduced in February of this yearone in the state Senate (SJ 270) and one in the state House (HJ 582)to begin the process of repealing the invalidated ban on same-sex marriage in Virginias constitution. Both bills passed, but still faced significant opposition. Twelve Republicans voted against it in the Senate, and 33 Republicans voted nay in the House. Stripping this unconstitutional law from the Virginian constitution would not change anything straightaway, but it would ensure that same-sex couples marriages would remain intact should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell. Yet a majority of Republican lawmakers in Virginia still voted against it. Perhaps these lawmakers want to nullify existing same-sex marriages and prohibit same-sex couples from marrying in the future; that, after all, is what the ban would require in the absence of a federal court order rendering it inoperable. Its impossible to know for sure what these Republicans are thinking, though, as most of Virginias GOP lawmakers shroud their views on same-sex marriage in silence.

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I tried to reach all 45 Virginia GOP lawmakers who voted against either the House or Senate bills in an attempt to understand their beliefs on the issue and their reasoning behind voting to keep an obsolete law. I contactedand followed up withall lawmakers via phone and email. A handful of times, an aide answered the call instead of letting it roll into voicemail, and promised to relay my inquiries to the delegate, but I never heard back. I only received four responses total. One was from Delegate Cole, who was very willing to speak, but halfway into the conversation I realized I was talking to Joshua Cole, the Democrat who voted yes, not Mark Cole, the Republican who voted no. Delegate Wiley responded saying he didnt want to talkbut, compared to the other radio silence I received, I count that as a response nonetheless.

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Delegate Nick Freitas and Delegate Buddy Fowler were the only two who actually answered my questions. But they both provided roundabout responses. We have a situation where politicians are fighting over how the government should define marriage. Then there is me, who simply wants the government to get out of the business of marriage altogether. This resolution doesnt do that, so I voted no, Freitas wrote via email. He carefully avoided saying anything about his beliefs of same-sex marriage itself, and made it more an issue of government. Fowler defended his position in a similar fashion, and even directly asserted that he wasnt anti-LGBTQ. Im all for civil unions. Im all for people loving who they want to love, he said during a phone call. But, he said, he had a problem with labeling a same-sex union under the institution of marriage. I believe that institution was created by God. And His intent is to recognize the union of a man and a woman. Thats a marriage, Fowler said.

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The slew of no votes wont keep the ban on same-sex marriage in Virginia. But the silence of the Republicans, who vote nay but cower when asked to explain their votes, is a reminder that the GOP retains a commitment to outlawing same-sex marriages, even if they dont like to talk about it in public. It is easy to guess why Republican lawmakers might not want to discuss their position: At this point, enforcing Virginias ban would involve dissolving thousands of same-sex marriages and likely denying same-sex couples parenting rights over their own children. The consequences would be ghastly and inhumane, breaking up loving families and leaving children legally parentless. No wonder Republicans were not eager to answer my inquiries.

To repeal Virginias ban, the legislature must vote to kill it once again next year, then place it on the ballot in 2022 for a public vote. If the repeal passes, Virginia will be one of only two states to have enacted this reform. (Nevada passed a similar measure in November.) But that doesnt change the fact that it remains a state with 45 lawmakers who presumably want to nullify same-sex marriages but dont even knowor wont even saywhy.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) The European Union is set to reach an agreement with Pfizer/BioNTech for the delivery of 1.8 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

"mRNA vaccines will be central to the EU's preparedness plan for fighting COVID-19 and other viruses. We are working with BioNTech/Pfizer on a new contract. This contract will foresee the delivery of 1.8 billion doses for the years 2021 to 2023. We will conclude [the deal] in the next days. It will secure the doses necessary to give booster shots to increase our immunity against the virus," von der Leyen said in a statement delivered at a Pfizer manufacturing site in Belgium.

The senior EU official added that the bloc's COVID-19 vaccination program was "on track" despite encountered obstacles.

"In terms of deployment, we have already passed 123 million vaccinations and with this, the European Union is among the top three in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide ... In other words, the EU vaccination campaign is on track. Yes, we have had difficulties at the very beginning, delays and production bottlenecks, but we were able to counter them due to our broad vaccine portfolio and also thanks to strong and reliable suppliers like BioNTech/Pfizer," von der Leyen stressed.
A teenage boy stabbed his friend during a fight they pre-arranged in order to settle a dispute between their respective girlfriends, a court has heard.

The boy (15), who cannot be named for legal reasons, twice stabbed his friend during the straightener which they had arranged after there had been slagging about the boy's girlfriend.

The accused pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to production of an article in the course of a dispute and assault causing harm at an address in north Dublin on February 7, 2020. He has no previous convictions.

A local garda told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, that the accused and the victim were friends and they agreed to settle a dispute between their respective girlfriends with a fist fight.

The garda said that prior to the fight the accused lit toilet paper on fire and placed it on the windshield of the victim's family car in order to entice him outside from his home. The two teenagers touched fists before beginning a fight that lasted approximately two minutes.

During the fight, the accused produced a knife and twice stabbed the victim. The victim ran inside his home and was followed by the accused who tried to stab him again before leaving the scene.

In interview with gardai, the accused said he brought the knife because he was concerned the victim had a hurl. Facebook messages between the two showed that they had agreed that no weapons would be used in the fight, which they called a straightener.

The accused said in interview that there had been slagging about his girlfriend regarding something he had told his friend in confidence. The court heard he has since apologised to the victim in person for the offence.

The garda agreed with Ronan Munro SC, defending, that the wind blew away the toilet paper his client lit on fire and that it was not a determined effort to set the car on fire.

He agreed with counsel that his client said he had been smoking weed on the date and was stoned at the time of the fight. He agreed that the environment the accused is in is not great and that he has a brother who is in trouble with gardai.

The garda agreed with Mr Munro that his client speaks about going to prison in a fatalistic way. He agreed the accused had disengaged from school since the pandemic and said the accused is constantly out on the streets.

Judge Elma Sheahan remanded the accused on continuing bail on strict conditions, including that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour, maintain a curfew between 10PM and 6AM, continue attending school and continue liaising with the school's counsellor.

She adjourned the case for finalisation to June 4, next.

At a previous sentencing hearing in March, Judge Sheahan agreed to remand the accused boy in Oberstown detention centre for 28 days so he could engage with the Probation Service on the suggestion of defence counsel.

On Thursday the court heard that the accused was released on bail last week and has been attending school after previously disengaging since the pandemic began.

Additional evidence

At a previous sentencing hearing in March, Mr Munro said a report from the Probation Service had been ordered and that his client did not show up to the appointment. He said a report is not going to happen unless his client is remanded in Oberstown.

Counsel said his client has a certain view of custody, but that this may change after being remanded for 28 days.

Judge Sheahan asked the accused what he thought about being remanded in Oberstown and meeting with the Probation Service there. The accused replied that it would be handier to get the report and agreed he was not too bothered about going into custody.

She asked the accused's grandmother, who was present in court, what she thought about this arrangement in light of the accused seeming to be open to being remanded in custody.

The accused's grandmother replied that it would be for the best and that he would be able to get

the help he needs. She said her grandson has gone off the rails since fighting his friend.

Judge Sheahan ordered that the accused be remanded in Oberstown until Thursday's date, but said there was liberty to bring the matter before the court if a Probation Report was ready before then.

She told the accused to use this time as a break from everything and warned him not to get into trouble in Oberstown.

At the sentence hearing on Thursday, Judge Sheahan asked the accused if he had enjoyed his time in Oberstown.

No, the accused responded. Judge Sheahan told him to keep that at the forefront of his mind.
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An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Thursday to eight counts of aggravated murder in the fatal shootings of his childs mother and seven of her family members in 2016, a crime that spurred rampant speculation that it was tied to drug trafficking but that prosecutors said had stemmed from a bitter custody dispute.

The man, Edward Wagner, 28, apologized for his role in the killings of eight members of the Rhoden family, five years to the date that their bodies were found in several mobile homes and a camper in a sparsely populated area of Pike County in the southern part of the state. Each victim had been shot in the head.

As part of a plea deal reached in Pike County, prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty against Mr. Wagner, who they recommended should serve eight life sentences without the possibility of parole. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

In exchange, Mr. Wagner, known as Jake, agreed that he would testify against his parents and an adult brother in the homicide case, which took more than two years of an extensive investigation before arrests were made. Mr. Wagner confessed to personally causing the deaths of five of the eight victims, according to prosecutors.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed former Minister of Information in the erstwhile President John Kufuor administration, Oboshie Sai-Cofie, as his advisor on media and strategic communications.

Her appointment, according to Asaase News Jubilee House sources, signals the seriousness the President attaches to the governments media relations and engagement during its second term.



The source also disclosed that in addition to advising the President on the media, she would have a special role in engaging civil society organizations (CSOs) on key government initiatives that may directly or indirectly play a critical role in national development.



Mrs. Sai-Cofie, as part of her new portfolio, is expected to work closely with the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, and the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin.



Media watchers and, indeed, well-meaning Ghanaians have in the past lamented about the fact that government is doing so much in its quest to move the country forward, yet there appears to be some weakness in putting out government business and achievements.

To that end, there is an urgent need for better coordination of government communications to reflect the achievements of the Akufo-Addo administration.



Editor of The Finder newspaper, Elvis Darko, in a reaction to the latest appointment by the president, welcomed same.



He was hopeful that Sai-Cofie would bring her rich experience to bear to influence governments engagement with the populace going forward.



Oboshie Sai-Cofie is not a new name in Ghanaian media circles. She was Minister for Information during Kufuors era and we know that she worked with Akufo-Addo during his first term.



In his view, the appointment is a recognition that more has to be done on the part of government to disseminate information to the general public.



Creating effective information sharing, especially with the mass media for onward dissemination to the public in a timely manner, is a critical action I expect from her.



I think her biggest challenge is how to get appointees to share information with dispatch.



As an advocate of Right to Information (RTI), I expect her to ensure that all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) engage in voluntary publication of all that they are doing in the mass media, especially on websites of the MDAs.



I want to see her joining hands with the Minister for Information and all other government communicators to present governments activities, programmes and achievements to the Ghanaian people. That for me is key, the editor of The Finder newspaper added.



Sai-Cofie is a seasoned communication specialist with over 20 years experience in governance, diplomacy and international relations, media relations and reproductive health advocacy.



Shes a political tactician and strategist whose previous experience in public service includes serving as Minister of Information and National Orientation, Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Republic of Ghana.



She is currently the chairperson of the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) National Communications Committee and also the Board Chair of the Ghana Airports Company. Born on April 6, 1953, Mrs. Sai-Cofie had her O Level education at Aburi Girls Secondary School (1969  1971), her A Level education at Achimota School (1971  1974) and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, BA (Hons) in Sociology from the University of Ghana, Legon.







Source: asaaseradio









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At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday.

Please see the attachment for the translation of the full text of the speech.

Full Text: Remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping at Leaders Summit on Climate

For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the Leaders Summit on Climate

22 April 2021

Honorable President Joe Biden,

Honorable Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to join you at the Leaders Summit on Climate on Earth Day. I wish to thank President Biden for the kind invitation. It is good to have this opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views with you on climate change, and to discuss ways to tackle this challenge and find a path forward for man and Nature to live in harmony.

Since time of the industrial civilization, mankind has created massive material wealth. Yet, it has come at a cost of intensified exploitation of natural resources, which disrupted the balance in the Earth's ecosystem, and laid bare the growing tensions in the human-Nature relationship. In recent years, climate change, biodiversity loss, worsening desertification and frequent extreme weather events have all posed severe challenges to human survival and development. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has added difficulty to economic and social development across countries. Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action. We need to act with a sense of responsibility and unity, and work together to foster a community of life for man and Nature.

 We must be committed to harmony between man and Nature. "All things that grow live in harmony and benefit from the nourishment of Nature." Mother Nature is the cradle of all living beings, including humans. It provides everything essential for humanity to survive and thrive. Mother Nature has nourished us, and we must treat Nature as our root, respect it, protect it, and follow its laws. Failure to respect Nature or follow its laws will only invite its revenge. Systemic spoil of Nature will take away the foundation of human survival and development, and will leave us human beings like a river without a source and a tree without its roots. We should protect Nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and Nature can both prosper and live in harmony.

 We must be committed to green development. Green mountains are gold mountains. To protect the environment is to protect productivity, and to improve the environment is to boost productivity  the truth is as simple as that. We must abandon development models that harm or undermine the environment, and must say no to shortsighted approaches of going after near-term development gains at the expense of the environment. Much to the contrary, we need to ride the trend of technological revolution and industrial transformation, seize the enormous opportunity in green transition, and let the power of innovation drive us to upgrade our economic, energy and industrial structures, and make sure that a sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social development worldwide.

 We must be committed to systemic governance. Mountains, rivers, forests as well as farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts all make indivisible parts of the ecosystem. Protecting the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach. We need to follow the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balance all elements and aspects of Nature. This is a way that may take us where we want to be, an ecosystem in sound circulation and overall balance.

 We must be committed to a people-centered approach. The environment concerns the well-being of people in all countries. We need to take into full account people's longing for a better life and a good environment as well as our responsibility for future generations. We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty all at the same time, so as to deliver social equity and justice in the course of green transition and increase people's sense of benefit, happiness and security.

 We must be committed to multilateralism. We need to work on the basis of international law, follow the principle of equity and justice, and focus on effective actions. We need to uphold the UN-centered international system, comply with the objectives and principles laid out in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, and strive to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We need to each take stronger actions, strengthen partnerships and cooperation, learn from each other and make common progress in the new journey toward global carbon neutrality. In this process, we must join hands, not point fingers at each other; we must maintain continuity, not reverse course easily; and we must honor commitments, not go back on promises.

China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process. Not long ago, the Chinese and US sides released a Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis. China looks forward to working with the international community including the United States to jointly advance global environmental governance.

 We must be committed to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate governance. Developing countries now face multiple challenges to combat COVID-19, grow the economy, and address climate change. We need to give full recognition to developing countries' contribution to climate action and accommodate their particular difficulties and concerns. Developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action. At the same time, they need to make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen the capacity and resilience against climate change, support them in financing, technology, and capacity building, and refrain from creating green trade barriers, so as to help developing countries accelerate the transition to green and low-carbon development.

Colleagues,

The Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between man and Nature as well as observance of the laws of Nature. It has been our constant pursuit that man and Nature could live in harmony with each other. Ecological advancement and conservation have been written into China's Constitution and incorporated into China's overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. China will follow the Thought on Ecological Civilization and implement the new development philosophy. We will aim to achieve greener economic and social development in all aspects, with a special focus on developing green and low-carbon energy. We will continue to prioritize ecological conservation and pursue a green and low-carbon path to development.

Last year, I made the official announcement that China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This major strategic decision is made based on our sense of responsibility to build a community with a shared future for mankind and our own need to secure sustainable development. China has committed to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries, and that requires extraordinarily hard efforts from China. The targets of carbon peak and carbon neutrality have been added to China's overall plan for ecological conservation. We are now making an action plan and are already taking strong nationwide actions toward carbon peak. Support is being given to peaking pioneers from localities, sectors and companies. China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Moreover, China has decided to accept the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and tighten regulations over non-carbon dioxide emissions. China's national carbon market will also start trading.

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China is firmly committed to putting multilateralism into action and promoting a fair and equitable system of global environmental governance for win-win cooperation. China will host COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity this October and looks forward to working with all parties to enhance global governance on biodiversity. We support COP26 to the UNFCCC in achieving positive outcomes. As we in China often say, "It is more important to show people how to fish than just giving them fish." China has done its best to help developing countries build capacity against climate change through various forms of results-oriented South-South cooperation. From remote sensing satellites for climate monitoring in Africa to low-carbon demonstration zones in Southeast Asia and to energy-efficient lights in small island countries, such cooperation has yielded real, tangible and solid results. China has also made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt and Road cooperation. A number of green action initiatives have been launched, covering wide-ranging efforts in green infrastructure, green energy, green transport and green finance, to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries.

Colleagues,

As we say in China, "When people pull together, nothing is too heavy to be lifted." Climate change poses pressing, formidable and long-term challenges to us all. Yet I am confident that as long as we unite in our purposes and efforts and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, we will rise above the global climate and environment challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations.

Thank you.
The Divine Body: an interesting look into the mysteries of the divine body from a closer perspective of true-to-life events. The Divine Body is the creation of published author Sabije Dervishi Veseli, the first Albanian writer to show an interest in bringing horror stories. She currently resides with her husband and two sons in New Jersey.

Veseli shares, Life after death continues and is real.

Prophet Moses received a message from God.

The colors purple, red, dark red are the colors of the flowers in Paradise, and these three colors symbolize the sacred garments of the priests.

Prophet Muhamed accepts divine messages when the body takes two forms. When the body took on a spiritual form and an organic body.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Sabije Dervishi Veselis new book weaves a well-written manuscript fit for every reader that discusses a research grounded from original facts and attempts to prove how life after death comes to be.

View a synopsis of The Divine Body on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase The Divine Body at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Divine Body, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
A district court in southern Vietnam has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for using social network accounts to subvert the Party and State.

The Peoples Court of Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City, on Thursday handed down the jail term on 45-year-old Le Thi Binh, a local resident, for abusing democratic freedoms to violate the interests of the State, as well as the lawful rights and interests of organizations and individuals, following the amended 2015 Criminal Code of Vietnam.

As stated in the indictment for the defendant, Binh possessed many Facebook accounts, including 'Binh Le,' 'Le Ngoclan Ct,' 'Ngoc Lan CT Ngoc CT Le,' and 'Anna Nguyen,' and used them as a means to spread wrongful information.

Binh frequently used the Facebook accounts on her Internet-connected mobile phone to host live streams while also publishing and sharing many posts that defamed and offended Party and State bodies and leaders from October 2019 to November 2020.

During their investigation, Binh Thuy police collected and seized a lot of evidence related to Binhs offenses, including 47 video clips shared on her Facebook accounts.

All the posts Binh uploaded to Facebook were aimed at propagandizing reactionary thinking and viewpoints, maligning Party and State agencies and leaders, and even abolishing the countrys current political regime, according to the indictment.

The woman took advantage of the right to freedom of speech to publish posts and video clips with contents opposing the Party and State, which undermined the peoples trust in the Party and State leadership, the indictment said.

Binh's acts infringed laws, violated the States interests as well as the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals, and adversely affected social order and security, the court concluded.

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White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci is talking to AL.com on Friday in an effort to raise awareness of coronavirus vaccine efficacy in Alabama.

Fauci, also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will be joined by Dr. Cameron Webb, the senior policy advisor for COVID-19 equity. If you have a question for Fauci or Webb regarding coronavirus vaccines, please submit it in the form below or email ihrynkiw@al.com by 11 a.m.

The interview comes as Alabama lags in COVID-19 vaccination rates. The U.S. government announced earlier this week that half of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; but, in Alabama, 37% of Alabama adults had gotten at least one shot. As of Sunday, no county in Alabama had succeeded in reaching the 50% mark.

As of Thursday, over 135 million people have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or almost 41% of the total adult population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Almost 90 million adults, or about 26.9% of the population, have been fully vaccinated.

In Alabama, 1.4 million people, or 36.6% of the adult population, has gotten at least one shot as of Thursday. Just over 981,000, or slightly over 24% of adults, have completed their vaccination series.

The interview will take place at 11:30 a.m. and will be posted on al.com and each of al.coms social media channels early Friday afternoon.

If you have a question for Fauci or Webb regarding coronavirus vaccines, please submit it in the form below or email ihrynkiw@al.com.
The incubator seeks to launch and grow new startups and to connect quantum businesses with mentors, existing companies, funding and infrastructure--all to create or advance quantum-based technologies

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland has launched a new business development arm to nurture quantum-focused startups. The Quantum Startup Foundry--created through an initial $25 million investment from the university's newly established Discovery Fund, and with key funding from the state of Maryland--will support new businesses in the quantum technology field.

The Quantum Startup Foundry also draws from the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance (MQA)--comprised of universities, major corporations, startups, and government labs. The 24-member MQA is a rapidly growing hub of quantum technology research, development, innovation and education organized and facilitated by UMD.

University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines announced the Quantum Startup Foundry at an event honoring UMD's inventions, startups, mentors and student entrepreneurs. Pines said the quantum technology field stands "poised to disrupt everything from cybersecurity and energy, to medical discoveries and the financial field."

The new Quantum Startup Foundry is also backed by a $10 million capital investment for quantum facilities and supported by UMD's status as one of the world's leading centers for quantum science research. The Quantum Startup Foundry will help cement UMD's and the region's position as "the Capital of Quantum," said President Pines.

The Quantum Startup Foundry also draws from the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance (MQA)--comprised of universities, major corporations, startups, and government labs. The 24-member MQA is a rapidly growing hub of quantum technology research, development, innovation and education organized and facilitated by UMD. For more than a year, Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance workgroups have been creating ways for MQA members to easily collaborate, team-up to pursue opportunities, educate the public about the promise of the second quantum revolution, and share resources, facilities, equipment, expertise and data.

The idea for the Quantum Startup Foundry grew from UMD-led work of the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance, according to UMD Chief Innovation Officer Julie Lenzer, who leads the new Quantum Startup Foundry (QSF). The advisory board members of the new QSF are all part of the alliance, said Lenzer.

Lenzer said that the QSF will work to enable quantum technology breakthroughs. The foundry will seek to launch and grow new startups and connect quantum businesses with mentors, existing companies, and infrastructure--all to create or advance technologies that use principles of quantum physics.

Lenzer said that through UMD's international incubator, the QSF also will be able to provide a landing spot for international quantum startups.

"While the promise of quantum may seem far off, it's not," Lenzer said. "The future is quantum, and it starts now."

###
The ex-fiance of a teacher who admitted having sex with a 14-year-old student has shocked his friends by issuing a stunning intimate statement suggesting he still has feelings for her.

Moey Krayem shocked friends late on Thursday evening by posting a 'message to the haters' on his Facebook page dedicated to Monica Elizabeth Young.

He uploaded a video of himself kissing his former lover on the cheek and captioned it as 'my always and forever', before posting a separate picture of Young decorated with a love heart.

Young, a 24-year-old geography teacher, this week admitted three charges of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent with a teenage pupil. Mr Krayem had put on a united front with Young since she was charged in July last year, however, the couple split a few months back.

'I'm fine,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I'll be sticking beside her no matter the outcome. I'll always be beside her.'

Monica Elizabeth Young's ex-fiance Moey Krayem issued a stunning message of support late last night, describing the former teacher as his 'always and forever' (together, above)

Mr Krayem also shared a picture of his one-time partner eating fairy floss, along with a red love heart

Young, 24, admitted three counts of sexual intercourse without consent earlier this week - sparing her victim from having to testify in court

During her two last appearances at the NSW District Court, Young went without her engagement ring and had been supported by family.

A source close to her ex-fiance said the pair split 'a few months back now' and that he 'was really upset about it but he wouldn't show it to the public'.

The friend said Moey's parents are likely to have stepped in and convinced him to end the relationship, after reportedly being incensed at their son being thrust into the spotlight.

At the time of her arrest, a member of his community said: 'Moey is a good kid with a supportive family.

'However this news would be a shock to them... to hear news like this would devastate the family as our community tend to have a big mouth.'

Young and Krayem separated a few months ago, despite initially putting on a united front when Young was arrested at her home in south-west Sydney on July 10, 2020

Despite their split, Moey told Daily Mail Australia he will always support Young 'no matter the outcome'

Moey previously said his mother's opinion of a potential wife is the 'most important' thing to him.

'Dear Future Wife... If you don't kiss my mums' feet you're not welcome into my life,' he said.

Young and her ex-fiance were childhood sweethearts.

They were due to be married before she was arrested on 12 charges relating to engaging in a sexual relationship with a child.

She maintained her innocence right up until last week, when her legal counsel approached the Director of Public Prosecutions and indicated she would be willing to plead guilty to three of the charges.

It is not clear if her admission of guilt - and cheating on her partner - led to the separation.

Monica Elizabeth Young (pictured) donned an all-black ensemble when she appeared in Downing Centre District Court on Monday

Young faces a maximum sentence of 12 years' imprisonment after admitting to three charges

Her victim and another teenage boy were due to pre-record their evidence on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of her five day trial beginning on September 21.

However, the DPP indicted Young solely on the three counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child this week - meaning her victim was no longer required to testify.

Young's barrister, former top prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC, told the court her client was 'very anxious to avoid a situation where [the victim] had to endure another weekend of concern about having to do this [give evidence]'.

'My instruction from Ms Young is to put him out of his misery as soon as possible,' she said.

Young stood before Judge Kate Traill on Tuesday and meekly pleaded guilty to having sex with her teenage student on three separate occasions in Sydney's west between June 21 and July 3 last year.

She was supported by an older female companion when she fronted court on Monday - but Young's fiance, who once vowed to stand by her, was not present

A police statement of facts previously tendered in court said Young drove her pupil to a western Sydney park, mounted him and had sex in her car.

Investigators obtained CCTV footage allegedly showing Young's car approaching the park, according to material before the court.

The aggravated element of each of the charges stems from the fact that the boy was under her authority and that Young had a position of trust at the time of offending.

She will undergo a psychiatric assessment before she is due to be sentenced in June.

'We have medical personnel lined up and are hopeful for some treatment regimes before the inevitable,' Ms Cunneen told the court.

Judge Traill did not alter Young's bail conditions and she was allowed to remain at liberty.

Young spent a month in custody last year before she was released on strict bail conditions

The maximum penalty for each count of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child under 16 is 12 years' imprisonment.

Crown Prosecutor Alexander Terracini told the court he would argue custody 'is the only option' for Young when she is sentenced on June 24.

Currently living with family, Young must report to police on a daily basis, adhere to a strict 8pm to 8am curfew and can only leave the house while accompanied by her parents or grandmother.

Young looked unrecognisable as she entered the Downing Centre flanked by Ms Cunneen, solicitor Gazi Abbas and a female companion.

Her long, blonde hair had been chopped into a blunt mid-length bob and her coloured a darker brown.

Young spent a month in custody last year before she was released on strict bail conditions.

A NSW Education Department spokeswoman said Young was removed from its school as soon as they were made aware of the charges against her.

'Ms Young is on the Not To Be Employed List and cannot teach in NSW public schools.'
Premier Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook are preparing to hold a press conference at 2.30pm.

They will address community concerns about the possibility of COVID-19 seeping into the West Australian community after a third person who was quarantined at the Mercure Hotel tested positive for the virus on Friday.

Journalists arriving at the press conference have been instructed to wear face masks.

The WA government is trying to deal with transmission of the COVID-19 virus within the Mecure Perth. Credit:WAtoday

The third infection, a Victorian man, completed his two-week quarantine and boarded a Qantas flight from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday before being contacted by WA Health authorities as soon as he touched down.
The High Court in Nakuru has found Jane Muthoni, the woman accused of killing Kiiru Boys High School Principal Solomon Mwangi Mbuthi, guilty of murder.

Muthoni was convicted alongside her co-accused Isaac Nganga, alias Gikuyu.

During the trial, the Prosecution submitted that Muthoni, the former principal of Icaciri Secondary School in Kiambu, hired criminals, including Nganga, to kill Mwangi.

The prosecution said Muthoni hired four people to eliminate her husband after she suspected him of having extra-marital affairs.

One suspect, Joseph Kariuki, was sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter after he confessed to taking part in the murder.

The fourth suspect, Nelson Njiru, remains at large, and efforts to trace him have been fruitless.

Justice Joel Ngugi set May 18, 2021, as the sentencing date.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews has admitted that he once had an addiction to porn and struggled with infidelity, which almost cost him his marriage.



The 52-year-old former Men's Health US cover star revealed the details ahead of the release of his new audiobook, "Stronger Together", which he has written with his wife Rebecca King Crews.

 Talentrecap

Referring to himself as a 'toxic male', Crews admitted how the couple went through their ups and downs, during his struggles with infidelity and porn.



"You gotta understand, the marriage was dead."

King also explained how she had her suspicions during the difficult phase.

"There's some dirt in this rathole... And I had this kind of sick feeling in my stomach and this nervous feeling. And I'm like, 'Something is fishy.'" said, King.

Crews, who plays the role of Lieutenant Terry Jeffords the highly popular American police procedural comedy show B99 admitted how it was eventually Rebecca's courage that saved the marriage.

"I truly don't think I would've survived... without Rebecca's courage to stand up to me and say, 'That's it.' And basically, pull the plug on our marriage." said Crews.

 NBC

The actor spoke on the day he told her everything regarding his porn addiction and infidelity.



"I just went and told her everything. I told her I was unfaithful 10 years earlier. I told her about my addiction to pornography."

"I would like to describe myself as a toxic male," said Crews.

The actor, who recently resumed filming the final season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine after delays due to the pandemic, has been married to King for the last 32 years and has five children.

 Kingofviral

Crews says that their relationship has 'healed' since then.



"Now we don't have to blow up before we glow up," King said.

"See, this is the thing - and I truly believe this - when you do the right thing, the universe will bless you... Us being stronger together was the best decision for us." said Crews.
April 23 : Iranian-German beauty Elnaaz Norouzi shot to fame with her stellar performance in series Sacred Games, celebrates World Book Day and shares a little sneak-peek into her home library.

Elnaaz took to her social media profile and dropped two stunning pictures reading a book. She wrote, Its #WorldBookDay...My Mom started reading to me very early in my life and thats where the love for books came from...from reading multiple books at a time to getting drawn to any kind of book shop or library uncontrollably...Mention your MOST FaV book of all times in the comments

Elnaaz Norouzi began her acting career with Punjabi films, post a successful stint as an international model. She got noticed after appearing in Netflix series Sacred Games and ZEE5 show Abhay.

Recently she made head turns with her comic avatar in Hello Charlie, which also stars Jackie Shroff, Aadar Jain, Rajpal Yadav, Girish Kulkarni and Siddhanth Kapoor. It is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Elnaaz will next be seen in a series bankrolled by Maddock Films. It is expected to release in May this year. The actor also has Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Sangeen in her kitty.
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A former RAF airbase which featured in 1989 war film Memphis Belle and was home to a squadron of RAF Lancaster bombers during World War Two now lies derelict.

All that remains of the former RAF Binbrook, in Lincolnshire, is a series of gutted buildings which are seen in photos taken by an urban explorer who runs the Facebook page Lost Places and Forgotten Faces.

The images reveal how the remaining buildings which made up the one-time military base have been reduced to burned out shells filled with old televisions, computer hard drives and other junk.

During the war, the base was home first to the RAF's No 12 and 142 squadrons and then 460 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force.

At one point, it boasted a complement of nearly 40 Lancaster bomber planes which were used to launch raids on Nazi Germany.

Former airbase RAF Binbrook, in Lincolnshire, which featured in 1989 war film Memphis Belle and was home to a squadron of RAF Lancaster bombers during World War Two now lies derelict

All that remains of the base is a series of gutted buildings which are seen in photos taken by an urban explorer who runs the Facebook page Lost Places and Forgotten faces

The anonymous urban explorer who toured the site said when posting his images: 'I didn't even know if RAF Binbrook still existed. I had a fear that I was completely wasting my time trying to locate it.

'Everything seemed to have been redevelopment into active businesses. But as my saying goes: if you don't go, you'll never know!

'After finding what I believed to be the former RAF Base, I thought the buildings were gonna be all stripped.'

'Turns out, they were literally crammed with old TVs! Old television sets were stacked up in almost every room.'

His images show the damage caused by a fire in one of the remaining buildings which took place in March 2019.

Other photos show the piles of old televisions in one room, broken basins in a bathroom and walls covered with graffiti.

The airfield was built between 1938 and 1940. In June of 1940, 12 and 142 squadrons arrived. From there they flew missions in both Lancaster and Wellington bombers.

During the war, the base was home first to the RAF's No 12 and 142 squadrons and then 460 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (pictured). At one point, it boasted a complement of nearly 40 Lancaster bomber planes which were used to launch raids on Nazi Germany

Because of its heritage and 1940s architecture, the former base was used in the US war film Memphis Belle, about the famous Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of the same name, which was used in the Second World War

The images reveal how the remaining buildings which made up the one-time military base have been reduced to burned out shells filled with old televisions, computer hard drives and other junk

The explorer's images show the damage caused by a fire in one of the remaining buildings which took place in March 2019. The airfield was built between 1938 and 1940. In June of 1940, 12 and 142 squadrons arrived. From there they flew missions in both Lancaster and Wellington bombers

The explorer noted how some of the rooms in the base's buildings were 'literally crammed with old TVs! Old television sets were stacked up in almost every room'. Pictured: The old television sets

By the end of the summer of 1942, both 12 and 142 Squadron had left. Three hardened runways were then installed before the RAAF's 460 Squadron arrived in May 1943. Pictured: The burned out staircase in one of the buildings

Overall, 226 Bomber Command aircraft were lost on operations flown from RAF Binbrook. In July 1945, after Nazi Germany had surrendered, 460 Squadron moved to another Lincolnshire base, East Kirkby. Pictured:

The explorer behind Lost Places and Forgotten Faces said his tour of the former RAF Binbrook was 'very peculiar'. Pictured: The explorer poses in a hooded top

However, by the end of the summer of 1942, both squadrons had left. Three hardened runways were then installed before the RAAF's 460 Squadron arrived in May 1943.

Overall, 226 Bomber Command aircraft were lost on operations flown from RAF Binbrook.

In July 1945, after Nazi Germany had surrendered, 460 Squadron moved to another Lincolnshire base, East Kirkby.

The following year, three further RAF squadrons equipped with Avro Lincoln heavy bombers were stationed there.

Later, in 1952, units of English Electric Canberra planes, the RAF's first jet bombers, arrived and were used by various squadrons.

By the end of 1959, all squadrons had either been moved to different bases or been disbanded entirely and the airfield was closed.

Later, in 1952, units of English Electric Canberra planes, the RAF's first jet bombers, arrived and were used by various squadrons. Pictured: A line of the bombers on the runway at Binbrook

By the end of 1959, all squadrons had either been moved to different bases or been disbanded entirely and the airfield was closed. Pictured: One of the wrecked rooms inside the former base

The base re-opened in June 1962 and was the home of the RAF's 64 Squadron, who flew Javelin interceptor jets, which were defensive planes. Pictured: What appears to be an old shower room, now filled with grime

In 1965, squadrons of English Electric Lightning fighter jets were stationed there. The Lightning squadrons remained at Binbrook until they were deactivated in June 1988. Pictured: A graffiti-covered room in the former base

This old bathroom is seen with the basins smashed to pieces. The station closed as an operating base in 1988 and was used as a relief landing ground for RAF Scampton before being sold off for development in the 1990s

An image taken in the old bathroom shows just the wall brackets which once held up the basins. The wall mirrors are still all in one piece

An image of the front of one of the buildings shows the front door hanging of its hinges, as signs warn about CCTV and it being 'private property'

It then re-opened in June 1962 and was the home of the RAF's 64 Squadron, who flew Javelin interceptor jets, which were defensive planes.

In 1965, squadrons of English Electric Lightning fighter jets were stationed there. The Lightning squadrons remained at Binbrook until they were deactivated in June 1988.

The station then closed as an operating base and was used as a relief landing ground for RAF Scampton before being sold off for development in the 1990s.

The RAAF's 460 Squadron are seen in the above image in 1943, posing on the runway at RAF Binbrook in front of one of their Lancaster bombers

In the 1980s, 54 homes were built on the site to provide accommodation for families of the base's airmen.

They formed the tiny parish of Brookenby, which went on the market in September 2019.

Because of its heritage and 1940s architecture, the former base was used in the US war film Memphis Belle, about the famous Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of the same name, which was used in the Second World War.

The film was directed by Matthew Caton-Jones and starred Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz and Sean Astin.
At the hospital in Tuscaloosa, Derek Stokes said doctors examined the bite from the police dog and discussed whether they would have to amputate his arm.

I was like amputation? I went from going to Walmart to amputation?

I was scared to let them amputate the arm, he told AL.com. The arm was the evidence. If they amputated my arm, not only would I be without an arm, but I wouldnt have any evidence of what the police did to me.

Doctors performed several surgeries, using tissue from Stokes belly to rebuild the chunk of flesh bitten out of his forearm. Stokes said he felt like a science experiment. Doctors sewed a flap of skin that connected his right arm to his side.

And he said he couldnt move his left arm, either, because police shackled him to the hospital bed. Armed officers took turns and rotated in shifts, guarding Stokes, a suspected shoplifter, for three weeks.

The bite

Earlier that day, before the dog bite, Stokes browsed the aisles at the Walmart on Skyland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa.

He told AL.com he often made the hour drive from his home in Columbus, Miss. to Tuscaloosa so he could buy supplies in bulk from the nearest Sams Club. And while he was in town, hed pick up a few things at Walmart or the mall.

Stokes said he paid for a phone card, snack packs of chips and a toy for his goddaughter, then headed for the exit.

A Walmart employee stopped Stokes and accused him of shoplifting a video projector, according to police, who say he hid the item in his overalls and pushed the employee. Stokes says he did not steal anything from the store and says he tried to show a receipt.

A Tuscaloosa police officer was already on the way to the store, where she worked off-duty, when a call came in about the alleged theft. In a statement to AL.com, the Tuscaloosa Police Department said the officer was trying to handcuff Stokes when he pulled away, shoved her and ran outside.

Stokes said he ran because he was frightened when the officer reached toward her gun belt.

The Tuscaloosa County Sheriffs Office said in a statement to AL.com that a K-9 deputy heard a radio call that the city police officer attempted to deploy her taser but that it was ineffective against the suspect. City police told us Stokes was already running away and the Taser didnt hit him.

Stokes sprinted behind the store, toward a drainage ditch at the bottom of a steep, grassy hill near the woods. He said he tripped and fell to the ground. Then he saw a Tuscaloosa County sheriffs deputy several yards away with a large police dog.

I was in the process of letting them handcuff me, Stokes told AL.com. I didnt resist. I had submitted to them.

Stokes said he watched in what seemed like slow motion as the dog charged down the grassy hill.

It came so hard, so fast that the officers around me jumped back, he said. It hit me so hard, it knocked me back.

The dog sunk his teeth into Stokes right arm  dragging, pulling, shaking him, tearing through flesh.

Police apprehension dogs are specially bred and trained to pursue and bite suspects who run or resist, sending an average of 3,600 people to emergency rooms nationwide every year. AL.com, working with three other news outlets in 2020, found suspects are typically unarmed and can face life-altering, permanent injuries in relation to misdemeanor, non-violent offenses.

Stokes said he screamed in pain and begged police to get the dog off his arm. He reached with his left hand to try getting the dog to let go, he said, but an officer kicked him in the face and told him, dont put your damn hands on my dog.

Jessica McDaniel, a spokeswoman with the sheriffs office, said the deputy ordered Stokes to comply multiple times before releasing the dog to bite him. The sheriffs office accused Stokes of trying to assault the dog.

Citing an ongoing investigation, the city of Tuscaloosa denied AL.coms request to release video of the incident, and the sheriffs office did not respond to a request to make the footage public.

When the dog finally let go, Stokes said, he felt like he was going to pass out. I really thought I was going to die, he said.

EMTs loaded him into an ambulance bound for DCH Regional Medical, the hospital located just a few miles across town.

Derek Stokes says he was frightened and ran toward this drainage ditch when a police officer reached toward her gun belt while investigating a shoplifting complaint.Ashley Remkus | aremkus@al.com

The hospital

After surgery, lying there with a chewed-up arm grafted onto his midsection, Stokes said he remained handcuffed and under guard for weeks.

He did not have his cell phone. He says they wouldnt let him call his family to tell them where he was or what happened.

Because he was a prisoner and in police custody, Mr. Stokes was not permitted to make phone calls, Stephanie Taylor, a city police department spokeswoman said in a statement to AL.com.

Back at their home in Columbus, Stokes partner, Lakishia Summerville, worried. Shed expected him home that night. She tried calling him but there was no answer.

She said she called hospitals, police and the jail in Tuscaloosa but they all told her they didnt have anyone named Derek Stokes. A DCH hospital spokesman didnt respond to a request for comment.

I was so scared, Summerville said. No one would give us any answers.

So every day, she said, she made the hour drive along Highway 82 to Tuscaloosa, searching for information about what happened to her partner.

A week later, Summerville said, Stokes family got their first confirmation that he was alive. A bill arrived. It was from a radiology company seeking payment for treatment at DCH.

Medical prisoner

Tuscaloosa police dispute this account, saying in a statement that the departments deputy chief spoke to Stokes father on the phone to provide updates on his condition for the majority of the days he was hospitalized and in custody. The police did not say how many days passed before they notified Stokes family.

Summerville said she was finally allowed to visit Stokes about two weeks after the bite. Stokes said that one day, the police left the hospital, without explanation, and didnt return to his room.

Tuscaloosa police said officers were required to guard him from March 5 to March 26 because he was a medical prisoner. But after those three weeks, police said, it was too expensive to pay overtime for an extra officer or pull a cop from the street, so they decided to delay charging him with any crimes until he was released from the hospital.

The arm was the evidence. If they amputated my arm, not only would I be without an arm, but I wouldnt have any evidence of what the police did to me. Derek Stokes

In the end, Stokes said he spent 36 days in the hospital and underwent five surgeries. When he left the hospital on April 10, there were no officers there to take him to jail.

Stokes still has not been charged with any crimes, though police say his case will be presented to a grand jury for consideration of indictment. The Tuscaloosa County District Attorneys office didnt return a call for comment.

This is the rest of my life

But police dog bites can lead to serious injury, even death. And those cases often wind up in court.

In Alabama, a man died after a Montgomery police dog bit his thigh and tore his femoral artery; in Talladega, a woman required anal reconstructive surgery after being mauled by a dog that bit nine people in a year; a man has large scars and pain three years after a Huntsville police dog seized him by the arm.

Martin Weinberg, a civil rights attorney based in Birmingham, is investigating what happened to Stokes. He said police should never use dogs to bite people because of the risk of serious injuries, like those Stokes suffered.

I cant think of any way for them to justify using the dogs, Weinberg said. These officers cant be the judge, the jury and the executioner.

Derek could have died and by Gods grace his arm was saved, he told AL.com.

Many police departments in Alabama deploy K-9s for all sorts of tasks, from sniffing for drugs, to finding lost people, to chasing down suspects. But few bite incidents become public in the state.

Until responding to questions from AL.com, the sheriffs office did not release any information to the public about the Stokes bite. There were no stories on the news, nor press releases issued by police.

I cant think of any way for them to justify using the dogs. These officers cant be the judge, the jury and the executioner. Martin Weinberg, civil rights attorney

The sheriffs office did not respond to AL.coms request for a copy of its K-9 deployment policies. The office also didnt respond to requests for the names of the deputy and the dog, nor whether there was an internal review of the bite.

The K-9 unit is featured on the sheriffs office Facebook page and website. It says the dogs sniff for drugs and explosives, accompany officers serving warrants, patrol in high crime areas and serve as backups on dangerous calls.

The dogs and their handlers are trained on the standards of a state police school in Germany, according to the website.

The Tuscaloosa County Sheriffs Office keeps a close watch on current trends in training and constantly strives to maintain the proficiency of the K-9 Unit at a level of excellence, the website says.

Stokes said he hopes telling his story will urge lawmakers to implement national standards for police conduct and training  especially when it comes to using force. He said he also hopes sharing his experience can help prevent someone else from suffering what happened to him.

Were terrified out here, he added. Black men are terrified. Im terrified of officers.

Last year, Stokes was put on probation in Mississippi for shoplifting. But Stokes said hed recently been volunteering with at-risk youth in his hometown to teach them self-defense and wrestling.

Stokes, who served time in prison in the 1990s for robbery and assault and more recently for cocaine and gun possession from 2002-2003, said he and other formerly incarcerated men who turned their lives around were trying to guide the young men toward college, a future without guns and crime.

We try to show kids that our past follows us, teach them to do the right thing and stay out of trouble, Stokes said. The kids are discouraged now. Theyre like, If the police did this to you, what chance do we have?

Born and raised in Columbus, a shrinking Mississippi city of about 23,000 people in Lowndes County, Stokes said he now suffers from night terrors and extreme anxiety, both commonly reported by people mauled by police dogs.

Derek Stokes is recovering at his home in Columbus, the Mississippi city where he was born and raised.Ashley Remkus | aremkus@al.com

At home, Summerville, a combat veteran and former Army medic, helps care for his wound to prevent infection. Stokes said he doesnt know when or if he will regain full use of his arm.

I havent always lived a spectacular life, but I dont deserve this, Stokes said, pointing to his injuries. This is the rest of my life. This is what they did to me.


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The euro area private sector grew at the fastest pace since last July as a record expansion of manufacturing output was accompanied by a return to growth in the service sector, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed on Friday.



The flash composite output index rose unexpectedly to a 9-month high of 53.7 in April from 53.2 in the previous month. The score was forecast to fall to 52.8. A score above 50.0 indicates expansion.



Output climbed for two months after four months of decline, with the latest expansion the second-largest recorded since September 2018.



Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said, 'In a month during which virus containment measures were tightened in the face of further waves of infections, the eurozone economy showed encouraging strength.'



'Although the service sector continued to be hard hit by lockdown measures, it has returned to growth as companies adjust to life with the virus and prepare for better times ahead,' Williamson added.



While today's data suggest that the euro-zone economy might have proved a little more resilient at the start of the second quarter, it is still going to be very poor for the euro-zone, Jessica Hinds, an economist at Capital Economics, said.



The flash manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to a record 63.3 from 62.5 a month ago, while it was forecast to drop to 62.0.



At the same time, the service sector continued to lag behind, principally reflecting further efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in many member states. Nonetheless, the sector grew for the first time since last August.



The services PMI came in at 50.3 in April, up from 49.6 in the prior month and the expected score of 49.1.



The survey showed that growth in Germany's private sector slowed, while France returned to growth in April.



Germany's private sector growth moderated in April with services activity stalling and the upturn in manufacturing production partly held back by supply shortages.



The flash composite output index dropped more-than-expected to 56.0 from 57.3 in March. The expected score was 56.8.



The services PMI came in at 50.1 in April, down from 51.5 a month ago and expectations of 50.8.



Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI fell to 66.4 from 66.6 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to decline to 65.8.



France's private sector returned to growth for the first time since August 2020, driven by a fresh increase in services activity amid continuing manufacturing sector growth.



The flash composite output index advanced unexpectedly to 51.7 from 50.0 in March. The score was forecast to fall to 48.8.



A fresh increase in services activity outweighed a slight slowdown in manufacturing growth. That said, the rise in output at goods producers was far stronger than that at their service sector counterparts.



The services PMI came in at 50.4, up from 48.2 in March and above forecast of 46.5. However, the manufacturing PMI fell slightly to 59.2 from 59.3 a month ago. Nonetheless, the reading was better than the consensus of 59.0.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
SpaceX is set for its second operational Crew Dragon mission (Crew-2) to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) at 5:49 AM ET today from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight will be the first to employ both a reused Falcon 9 rocket booster and previously-flown Dragon capsule.

The flight is also NASA and SpaceX's first to launch with two international partners, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and European Space Agency (ESA). The four crew members are NASA's Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA's Akihiko Hoshide and ESA's Thomas Pesquet. They'll spend six months aboard the ISS, replacing the four Crew-1 members returning to Earth.

The trip will be powered by the Falcon 9 two-stage rocket with the same first-stage booster that powered the first operational Crew-1 mission. After stage separation, it will attempt to land again on the "Of Course I still Love You" drone ship. The Dragon capsule, meanwhile, is the same one that flew pioneering astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the ISS for SpaceX's first-ever manned mission. It's set to dock with the ISS on April 24th around 5:10 AM.

Once the Crew-2 Dragon arrives at the ISS, it will join the Crew-1 Dragon capsule that's still docked there. The latter was moved to the forward part on the station's Harmony module on April 5th in preparation for the Crew-2 arrival, and will ferry the Crew-1 back to Earth as early as April 28th. Following Crew-2, SpaceX is scheduled to launch Inspiration 4, its first all-civilian mission, to a 450 km (280 mile) orbit for three days. That mission is planned for September 18th, 2021.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The 12 Points Neighborhood in Terre Haute continues to see changes, and you can help.

The revitalization group is working to raise $50,000.

If they meet that goal, the money will be matched by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.

The money will be used for streetscape improvements this summer. Additions include a new sign, free community wifi, and bike racks.

If you'd like to donate, check out this link.
(@fidahassanain)

PML-N President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz has been released on bail.

LAHORE: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-April 23rd, 2021) PML-N President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has been released from Kot Lakhpat Jail.

Shehbaz Sharif has been released on bail in money laundering case.

A LHC full bench led by Justice Ali Baqir Najfi a day earlier had announced the verdict on bail petition of Shehbaz Sharif. Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Shehbaz Rizvi were the other members of the bench.

During the proceedings, the court had made it clear to the counsel of Shehbaz Sharif that they must say anything but after receiving the signed copy of the judgments.

The development has taken place after the split decision of a two-member bench of the LHC after which the matter was sent to the LHC Cheif Justice.

On September 28, 2020, NAB team had arrested Shehbaz Sharif in money laundering case after Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected his bail plea.

A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem and Justice Farooq Haider heard the plea, during which Shehbaz Sharifs lawyer presented his arguments.

Counsel of PML-N President argued that Shehbaz Sharif saved over Rs1,000 billion of national exchequer and never received his pay as a member of National Assembly.

No evidence was available against Shehbaz Sharif in money laundering case and none of the witnesses accused PML-N leader of the ill practice, he added.
Dominic Cummings sticks the knife into Downing Street aide Henry Newman, claiming Cabinet Secretary Simon Case had cited him as the 'chatty rat'  the source of the story last November that the Government was poised to impose another lockdown.

But Mr Cummings' real ire is reserved for the Prime Minister and how he handled the revelation. Boris Johnson's first thought was how his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, would react.

Mr Cummings reveals that Mr Johnson said he may have to fire Mr Newman  'and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends'. Perhaps, the PM mused, he could get Mr Case to halt the leak inquiry?

Boris Johnson feared the reaction of his partner Carrie Symonds, right, if he was forced to sack her best friend Henry Newman, left, who had been identified as a 'chatty rat' in November when details of the impending lockdown was leaked

Dominic Cummings claims he told Boris Johnson it would be 'mad' and 'totally unethical' to stop the probe into the source of the leak because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends

Mr Cummings says he dismissed such a move as 'mad' and 'totally unethical'. Mr Johnson couldn't cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because if might implicate his girlfriend's friends, he said.

Mr Case's discovery must have been a delicious moment for Mr Cummings. There is no love lost between the former adviser, on one side, and Miss Symonds and Mr Newman on the other. Indeed, Miss Symonds and Mr Newman's friendship is based on political ambition, a love of ABBA  and the downfall of Dominic Cummings.

The pair rose through the Conservative Party ranks at the same time and are now at the heart of the No 10 operation. In February, Mr Newman was promoted to assistant of Mr Johnson's deputy chief of staff Baroness Finn.

Miss Symonds and Mr Newman have formed a bond that goes beyond politics.

Before her relationship with Mr Johnson hit the headlines, she spoke out courageously about her terrifying teenage ordeal at the hands of the so-called 'black cab rapist' John Worboys. In 2018, she campaigned to reverse the Parole Board's decision to grant him an early release  and turned to Mr Newman for advice.

Mr Newman defended Miss Symonds when her relationship with Mr Johnson became public, tweeting: 'Carrie Symonds coverage too often reflects a misogyny that attractive women can't also be talented. I've known her for years. Proud to call her my friend.'

The pair frequently tweet each other about their shared love of ABBA, and danced along to the band's records at Miss Symonds' 30th birthday party in 2018.

Boris Johnson, pictured, wanted to protect Ms Symonds' friend from the leak probe

Later that year, Miss Symonds organised a Twitter poll ahead of Mr Newman's appearance on a BBC political programme, tweeting: 'Today is Christmas Jumper Day. Should @HenryNewman wear a jazzy festive number?'

Oxford graduate Mr Newman, who lives in Hampstead, north London, cut his political teeth in the Cabinet Office when David Cameron was PM. He left government when Theresa May took over, but returned to work for Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove when Mr Johnson replaced her.
Oil demand is finally bouncing back but a new COVID spike in India could threaten the rebound.

For more great energy content, make sure you subscribe to the Oilprice youtube channel for breaking news and analysis.

Friday, April 16th, 2021

Oil prices held on at the end of the week, set to close out mostly flat from a week earlier. Oil prices are trapped between horrific downside risks, mostly in India, offset by growing optimism in the U.S. and to a lesser extent in Europe.

Indias oil demand in doubt. India posted several days of record-setting Covid-19 cases, and Bloomberg reports that demand for fuels could plunge by 20% in April. Given the grim situation, its likely that the lockdowns could be in place for several weeks or even a couple of months, said Senthil Kumaran, head of South Asia oil at industry consultant FGE. Indias total key oil products demand will see a significant pullback.

Biden pledges 50-52% cut in GHG; other countries up commitments. President Biden announced a goal of cutting emissions by 50-52% by 2030 at the climate summit on Thursday. Canada boosted its target from a 30% cut to a 40-45% cut. Japan raised its target to 46%, up from 26%.

Natural gas rally over. Bank of America said that natural gas throws in the towel, noting that the month of March saw weaker-than-expected industrial demand and warm weather, leading inventories to end the month at 1.78 trillion cubic feet, higher than anticipated, which erased the inventory deficit relative to the five-year average.

Natural gas production on the rise. Even as demand hit a lull, production in natural gas is ramping back up after a roughly 18-month hiatus. Rystad Energy came out with a note predicting strong production gains for the next three years and beyond. Both Rystad and Bank of America said the Haynesville shale in particular is looking strong.

China promises pullback on coal. Chinas Xi Jinping said that China would strictly limit coal consumption over the next five years and then begin phasing it out after that.

U.S. Senate to repeal methane rollback. The U.S. Senate will repeal the Trump-era pullback on methane regulations next week.

New York sues Big Oil. New York City sued ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), BP (NYSE: BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) for deceptive ads claiming their products were emissions-reducing.

Chevron lobbies U.S. against Myanmar sanctions. The New York Times reports that Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is lobbying the U.S. government to not place sanctions on Myanmar, following the military coup and brutal crackdown that has unfolded in the country since February. Chevron operates a large natural gas project in the country along with Total (NYSE: TOT).

White House reveals climate finance strategy. The White House unveiled its international climate finance strategy, which includes pushing lending arms of the government  U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Export-Import Bank  to virtually eliminate fossil fuel lending, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Small companies buy Big Oils assets. The supermajors are pledging billions in low-carbon energy investments and committing to net-zero goals over the next decade. Meanwhile, smaller oil and gas companies are snapping up the shed assets.

Are peak demand forecasts accurate? Goldman Sachs believes oil demand will peak in 2026, while BP Plc believes the highest global demand growth is already over, and International Energy Agency (IEA) thinks the peak could come later, in 2030. However its framed, it is clear that the oil and gas industry is facing a turbulent future.

Related: The Best Is Yet To Come For The Worlds Hottest Oil Play

UN-backed climate finance group managing $70 trillion announced. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a UN-backed group of assets managers, banks, investors, and insurers launched this week. The group's 160-plus members are responsible for over $70 trillion in assets, and will work to mobilise the trillions of dollars necessary to build a global zero emissions economy and deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement," the announcement states. Participants include Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Munich Re, the Zurich Insurance group and many others.

California to ban new fracking permits. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to announce a ban on new fracking projects beginning in 2024.

Lithium era just beginning. Its been a big week for lithium, with a multi-billion-dollar mega-merger, a new major production deal in Chile, and funding for Europes first large-scale lithium refinery in Chile. Things are looking up for the vital battery metal.

Halliburton sank on moderating fracking forecast. Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) beat the consensus on earnings, but saw its share price sink after it said that it expects fracking activity to moderate in the U.S. in the second quarter.

Total terminating contracts in Mozambique. As militant attacks show no signs of going away, Total (NYSE: TOT) is terminating contracts with some companies in Mozambique related to its $20 billion LNG export project. Analysts say the delay on the project could be at least a year.

Biden admin unwinds Trump auto policy. The Biden administration will restore the authority to California to set its own fuel economy standards tighter than federal standards, following the Trump administrations effort to repeal that authority.

Public lands drilling pause extended. The U.S. Department of Interior extended its drilling pause on federal lands through June, a policy that mostly only affects the southeastern corner of New Mexico.

12 states call for ICE ban. 12 U.S. states called on the federal government to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.

Kinder Morgan $1 billion Texas windfall. Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) said that it took in a $1 billion windfall from the Texas electricity crisis in February. [W]e view KMIs large beat as a zero-sum-game, meaning someone (i.e. buyers of the gas) had to pay the bill, which could make for some interesting utility earnings calls, Citigroup said.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the Central government of diverting the oxygen supply meant for Bengal to the other states, which will create shortage of oxygen in the state, jeopardising the treatment of Covid patients.

"In 2020, the WHO had told the Central government to increase the storage of oxygen but it had ignored the suggestion. Now when the entire country is reeling under the crisis of oxygen shortage, it has decided to divert the oxygen supply scheduled for the state to Uttar Pradesh.

"SAIL, which used to supply oxygen to us, has been asked to send the oxygen to Uttar Pradesh. This will increase the crisis of oxygen in our state," Banerjee said at a press conference on Friday.

"Presently, there is a crisis of oxygen and medicines. We have stopped supplying oxygen for industrial purposes and decided to use it for medical purposes only. We have arranged for a stock of 5,000 cylinders and there is an additional stock of 15,000 cylinders. This will create a storage of 20,000 cylinders which will meet our requirements for the next few days," the Chief Minister added.

Later, the state government said in a note, "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, government of India, had on April 21 allotted 200 MT of oxygen from different plants located in West Bengal to outside the state. As per the current patient load and the rising trend of the infection, it is expected that the consumption level in West Bengal will radically rise to roughly 450 MT per day in the next couple of weeks.

"Hence, the present allocation of liquid oxygen to outside West Bengal will jeopardise the medical treatment of Covid patients in the state. The government of West Bengal has accordingly requested the government of India on April 22 to consider the need of the state and not divert the medical oxygen available in West bengal to elsewhere."

Accusing the Centre of being negligent and responsible for the rise in Covid cases in the country, the Chief Minister said, "This is a failure of the Central government. It has not only ignored the WHO warning, but has also been lackadaisical in taking steps against the rise of the disease in the country.

"Instead, it has put in all their efforts to conquer Bengal. Small and big BJP leaders have been in this state for months and we don't know whether they have Covid. They are risking the lives of the people of this state."

Banerjee also claimed that she was not invited to the meeting held by the Prime Minister on Friday with the CMs of the highh burden states to discuss the Covid situation.

"They had invited the Chief Ministers of 10 states where Covid cases are high. But I was not invited. Had I been invited, I would have participated in the meeting," she said.

Taking a dig at the Election Commission for taking decisions in favour of the BJP in poll-bound Bengal, Banerjee said, "I cannot do any big rallies and meetings because of the EC directive which came after 10 pm on Thursday.

"The Prime Minister was supposed to do a rally in Kolkata and after he cancelled it, the EC issued the directive. We have been continuously telling the poll panel to integrate the last three phases of elections, but it will not do it. It is working on BJP's behalf."

--IANS

saibal/arm
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 21:38:52|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Australian federal government's decision of tearing up Victoria State's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreements with China will bring negative impacts on the relations and cooperation between the two countries, according to influential social and official opinions in Australia.

"It's very hard to see any positive outlook for Australia-China relations, you know, given these latest developments," Professor James Laurenceson from the Australia-China Relations Institute of the University of Technology Sydney, told Xinhua.

The cooperation between the two countries in other fields may also be affected, which is unfavourable to both sides, the professor added.

According to Australian media, a Victorian government spokeswoman said "the Foreign Relations Act is entirely a matter for the Commonwealth government," adding that "Victoria will continue to work hard to deliver jobs, trade and economic opportunities for our state."

Canberra "should remain wary of locking itself into an adversarial relationship with its largest trading partner while its alliance partner's ultimate strategy toward China remains a work in progress," Michael Clarke, associate professor of Crawford School of Public Policy in the Australian National University, wrote in an article published on the website of Conversation.

"I feel this is a stupid action as it is detrimental both to self and others," Australia-China Friendship Society Victorian Vice-President Rendi Liu was quoted as saying by the ABC news.

He added that the government was putting its own domestic political interests before those of the nation. Enditem
Toshihiro Mibe, the new president of Honda, announced on Friday 23rd that Honda aims to sell only EVs and fuel cell vehicles by 2040. The company plans to increase the sales to 40 percent by 2030 and to 80 percent by 2035. By 2040, it pursues 100 percent sales for zero-emission vehicles in North America.In 2020, Honda will introduce a new range of electrirc cars built on its new e:Architecture platform. The plans include launching two large EVs jointly developed with General Motors in North America. These EVs will be firstly sold as model year 2024 vehicles, then the rest of the world will follow suit as the company plans to launch ten new cars in China in the next five years.Honda also aims to introduce the Cruise Origin , an electric self-driving vehicle Honda is currently developing jointly with GM and Cruise, on the Japanese market in 2020. The company's plans include implementing driving assistance into all its models in major markets by 2030.Focused on reducing CO2 emissions in North America, the company has entered into long-term virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for sustainable wind and solar power that cover over 60 percent of the electricity used. Honda's use of these VPPAs in Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama facilities will ensure that they reach a carbon-neutral target.The announcement touches upon the motorcycle industry as well through a strategy that includes electrification and the use of biofuels.Toshihiro Mibe disclosed that 5 trillion yen ($46 billion) will be invested in the R&D to reach its goals.Honda is not the only company to announce big goals for zero-emission vehicle sales. This week, in a press release, Toyota stated that it plans to introduce globally 15 BEVs by 2025. Volvo also announced back in March that it is preparing to become a fully electric car company by 2030.
NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lument Securities recently assisted one of the largest groups of skilled nursing providers in the Midwest with the successful sale and transition of approximately 36 operating affiliates, consisting of approximately 4,000 licensed beds, to a newly formed employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). As a result of the transaction, the company is now 100% employee-owned through its employee stock ownership trust.

"ESOP transactions are gaining in popularity in recent years and can serve as an effective solution for operating company owners," said Laca Wong-Hammond, head of M&A at Lument. "Benefits include a fair valuation, path to liquidity, liability management, estate planning, and tax advantages, while also establishing company legacy via employee retention and ownership."

The privately-held company that completed the recent ESOP transaction operates over 30 skilled nursing and rehabilitation locations, as well as several assisted living facilities across the Midwest. The transaction will further strengthen the company's legacy of providing seniors access to high-quality care in local communities.

"Turning over the 45-year legacy of this company to the employees in the form of an ESOP was an easy decision as employee ownership is a natural fit for a profession that is so labor intensive," said the former chief executive officer of the company. "The harder part was the execution, and our banking and legal teams delivered."

Wong-Hammond and Dominic Porretta led the transaction for Lument Securities, which served as the exclusive financial advisor. As a result of this successful transaction, Lument's professionals have subsequently advised or financed four of the largest companies in the skilled nursing and seniors housing sector that have transitioned to employee-owned plans, or sold an ESOP.

"The closing of this transaction is further evidence of the effectiveness of utilizing an ESOP structure for employee retention, while creating significant tax benefits for the company and its former owners," added Wong-Hammond. "We are pleased to have completed another ESOP for healthcare providers."

About Lument

ORIX Real Estate Capital Holdings, LLC, d/b/a Lument, is a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation USA. Lument is a national leader in commercial real estate finance. As the combined organization of legacy industry experts Hunt Real Estate Capital, Lancaster Pollard, and RED Capital Group, Lument delivers a comprehensive set of capital solutions customized for investors in multifamily, affordable housing, and seniors housing and healthcare real estate. Lument is a Fannie Mae DUS, Freddie Mac Optigo, FHA, and USDA lender. In addition, Lument offers a suite of proprietary commercial lending, investment banking, and investment management solutions. Securities, investment banking, and advisory services are provided through OREC Securities, LLC, d/b/a Lument Securities, member FINRA/SIPC. For more information, visit www.lument.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Michael Ratliff | Marketing Director

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The bones of Black children who died in 1985 after their home was bombed by Philadelphia police in a confrontation with the Black liberation group which was raising them are being used as a case study in an online forensic anthropology course presented by an Ivy League professor.

It has emerged that the physical remains of one, or possibly two, of the children who were killed in the aerial bombing of the Move organization in May 1985 have been guarded over the past 36 years in the anthropological collections of the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton.

The institutions have held on to the heavily burned fragments, and since 2019 have been deploying them for teaching purposes without the permission of the deceaseds living parents.

To the astonishment and dismay of present-day Move members, some of the bones are being deployed as artifacts in an online course presented in the name of Princeton and hosted by the online study platform Coursera. Real Bones: Adventures in Forensic Anthropology focuses on lost personhood  cases where an individual cannot be identified due to the decomposed condition of their remains.

It uses as its main case study the events of May 1985, producing as prime evidence a set of bones belonging to a girl in her teens retrieved from the ashes of the Move house at 6221 Osage Avenue in Philadelphia.
The company is already working to deploy 50 such vans to different parts of the country as per the demand for testing

To urgently meet the huge backlog in RT-PCR testing amidst the second wave of coronavirus in India, Pune based startup Mylab Discovery Solutions has rolled out its fleet of ICMR-approved and NABL certified mobile testing labs.

To support high-volume testing needs of the country in these troubled times, these are ultra-fast mobile testing labs powered by automated Compact XL machines which do testing 3 times faster than the conventional labs due to parallel processing and automated handling.

Labs in India is experiencing huge workload and has limited lab manpower. This is delaying RT-PCR results in many cities by more than 72 hours. These automated vans have very low need for human intervention and allows to process samples 24 hours continuously. Each mobile lab can process as many as 1500 to 3000 tests per day.

The company has already made two labs functional at Mumbai, and three more are being rolled out within this week  one in Pune, one in Mumbai and one in Goa at Goa Medical College at the behest of Goa government. Further, the company is already working to deploy 50 such vans to different parts of the country as per the demand for testing.

Hasmukh Rawal, MD, Mylab Discovery Solutions said, Testing needs to reach people now. We cannot sit back in this situation. We are in the mission to support the government and people of India to fight this second wave. We are trying to anticipate ahead and trying to reduce pain of the country with such initiatives as high through-put mobile testing for COVID-19. We have tried to listen to technical expertise from institutions like NIV, ICMR for developing such initiatives and we hope this will help India.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corporation (TSX:ERD | MSE:ERDN) (Erdene or the Company) is pleased to report initial assay results from the current exploration drill program confirming the southern extension of the Dark Horse Mane gold prospect.

Highlights1(See the attached maps and images for reference):

Exploration drilling continues to expand zones of mineralization within the 30 square-kilometre Ulaan-Khundii prospect area

Recent drilling extended the near-surface, high-grade gold zone at the southern end of Dark Horse Mane prospect, located 3 kilometres north of the Bayan Khundii gold deposit AAD-81 returned 35 metres of 2.67 g/t gold beginning 4 metres from surface Includes 12 metres of 5.1 g/t gold, including 1-metre intervals of 14 and 19.1 g/t gold Mineralization remains open to the south, with assay results pending for holes located approximately 100 meters to the south (AAD-84) AAD-79 intersected 4 metres of 3.2 g/t gold and 22 g/t silver All 10 holes returned significant zones of anomalous gold and/or indicator mineral elements, helping to refine the geological model and future targeting

The current 37-hole drilling program, totalling 3,757 metres, was concluded on April 20 Results are pending for 27 holes (over 2,610 metres) from the Dark Horse Mane and surrounding prospects Next phase of exploration is expected to commence in late Q2 2021



_______________________1 Reported intervals in this release are downhole apparent widths. Continued exploration is required to confirm anisotropy of mineralization and true thicknesses.

Quotes from the Company:

The intersection of 35 metres of 2.67 g/t gold in AAD-81, starting almost at surface, complimenting the significant gold mineralization in drilling to date, demonstrates the prospectivity of the large Ulaan-Khundii alteration system, said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. The intersection in AAD-81 also confirms the southern extension of the Dark Horse Mane prospect, illustrating the potential scale of this newly discovered system. We are looking forward to receiving the remaining results from this program later in the quarter.

Results from this drilling, as well as recently completed geophysical, surface mapping, spectral analysis and other technical programs continue to improve our geologic understanding of the larger Ulaan-Khundii alteration system, continued Mr. Akerley. We plan to commence additional drilling in late Q2 to further define the controls on the gold mineralization in this large system.

Q2 Dark Horse Drill Program Summary

The Q2 drill program at Dark Horse prospect was completed on April 20. In all, 37 holes were drilled, totalling 3,757 metres. The program was designed to achieve several objectives. The first was to test the near-surface expression of the gold mineralization previously intersected along the 1.4-kilometre long NS structural feature (now referred to as the Dark Horse Mane prospect). Drill holes were spaced 50 to 100 metres apart between and in the vicinity of AAD-57, AAD-58 and AAD-61. The second objective was to test other structural features within the larger Ulaan-Khundii prospect area with associated anomalous gold, and other indicator elements, identified by soil and rock geochemical surveys.

Assay results have been received for 10 holes, totalling 1,072 metres, drilled over a 300 metre swath within the southern portion of the north-south Dark Horse Mane prospect area. Results for the remaining 27 holes are expected to be received during the second half of Q2 2021. Highlights from the recently received assays are included in Table 1 below with complete 2021 Dark Horse Mane results included as appendix I below.

Table 1 - Dark Horse Mane (South) Phase I Drilling Highlights

Hole From To Interval (1) g/t Au (2) AAD-79 31 39 8 1.81 Incl 32 36 4 3.23 AAD-81 4 39 35 2.65 Incl 5 17 12 5.10 Incl 5 6 1 19.11 Incl 12 13 1 14.04

1 Reported intervals are apparent thicknesses (i.e., downhole widths). Insufficient drilling has been completed at Dark Horse to determine orientation of the mineralized zones and therefore true widths cannot be determined at this time. Exploration drill holes are typically oriented normal to (at a right angle to) the trend of potential mineralized targets and holes dips range from 45 to 75 degrees.

2 Reported grades for intervals are weighted averages based on length of sampling intervals, typically 1 to 2 metres. No top cut has been applied; however, intervals greater than 10 g/t gold are reported separately for clarity.

Hole AAD-81 returned the highest grade mineralization from the recently received assays. This hole was drilled toward the west with a 45-degree dip to test the strike extension of the interpreted north-south striking, near-vertical dipping, epithermal breccia zone intersected in AAD-58. This hole collared in intensely oxidized porphyritic rock cut by a dense stockwork of open space to sugary quartz-hematite veins/veinlets. White mica alteration, locally abundant pyrite and intense silicification become more apparent downhole continuing to approximately 40 metres depth in the 75-metre hole.

Additionally, hole AAD-79 returned the highest gold values north of AAD-58 in this set of results, including 8 meters of 1.8 g/t gold, including a 4 metre interval of 3.2 g/t gold and 22 g/t silver. Notably, this interval intersected the highest antimony values (0.02%) to date in the Dark Horse prospect. These silver and antimony results from this hole may indicate a shallower level in the epithermal system. This interpretation is supported by the increasing gold at depth in AAD-57, the deepest hole testing the Dark Horse structure. Higher silver numbers continue to be observed moving north along the structure.

Based on current exploration data, the Dark Horse Mane prospect, and surrounding larger Ulaan-Khundii area, host alteration mineral assemblages resulting from hydrothermal fluids ranging in temperature from low (epithermal) to high (porphyry). The current drill results have returned the highest copper, molybdenum and zinc values in some of the deeper and more southerly targets. Although the Dark Horse Mane target displays characteristics related to a low sulphidation epithermal system, evidence for higher temperature alteration (sericite) overprinting and base metal anomalism may indicate the potential for intermediate sulphidation to porphyry type systems within the Khundii prospect area. As displayed in the accompanying figures, the current conceptual interpretation is of repeated pulses of low-temperature gold-bearing hydrothermal fluids migrating along structures resulting in alteration (destruction) of magnetic minerals and causing magnetic-low anomalies. This concept will be used to test for deeper, potentially higher-grade, boiling zones along structures during the phase II program. That program is expected to commence later in Q2 following receipt of all phase I results, compilation and interpretation.

Pending Results

Assay results for 27 holes (2,610 metres) are currently pending. These drill holes tested shallow targets with only one hole exceeding 150 metres depth. Two holes are located within the southern portion of the Dark Horse Mane prospect magnetic low corridor, sixteen holes are located within the northern portion of the Dark Horse Mane corridor and nine holes (scout holes) are located the east, west and south of the Dark Horse Mane prospect, targeting prospective structural, geophysical and geochemical anomalies in the larger area.

The Company is strongly encouraged by the preliminary results from these drill holes. Logging descriptions include broad (greater than 10-metre) intervals of intense clay alteration, multiple instances of high-frequency quartz and quartz-hematite stockwork veining and breccia zones, epithermal quartz vein textures, and silicification.

Table 2 below includes Dark Horse Drill result highlights from the 2021 program (see attached map for reference).

Mongolia COVID-19 Update

Since the first community transmission of COVID-19 in November 2020, the Government of Mongolia has implemented a series of restrictions on the movement of people and the delivery of goods and services. While restrictions were temporarily eased in mid-Q1 2021, preventive measures were reintroduced in early Q2 2021 following an increase in the number of reported cases. Additionally, in March 2021, Bayankhongor Province, where Erdenes Projects are located, reported its first confirmed case of community transmission of COVID-19, imposing restrictions on the movement of people within and to/from the province. In response, Erdene provided emergency funding and supplied personal protective equipment to the Bayankhongor Emergency Commission to support its efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 within the Companys host province.

Since mid-2020, Erdene has implemented operational changes to ensure the safety and productivity of its people. Daily health and safety briefings, body temperature checks, enhanced hygiene protocols, rapid testing, and additional personal protective equipment have been instituted in all of the Companys operations in Mongolia. The Company maintains a dedicated, registered nurse at the project site to administer COVID-19 testing and implement health and safety procedures. With these measures, our team continues to carry out field work without significant disruption. The Companys corporate and administrative teams continue to work on modified schedules and have adopted enhanced hygiene measures that allow operations to continue without significant disruption.

Though the impact of COVID-19 on the Companys operations has been modest to date, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The Company will monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its operations in 2021, particularly potential disruptions to the Bayan Khundii Gold Project schedule or budget, prior to reaching a construction decision, which is expected in mid-2021.

The Company extends its appreciation to all medical, public safety, and essential workers for their efforts to safeguard public health and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Mongolia and Canada.

Khundii Gold District

Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company has been the leader in exploration in southwest Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District comprised of multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: the 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects. Together, these deposits comprise the Khundii Gold Project.

The Bayan Khundii Gold Resource1 includes 521,000 ounces of 3.16 g/t gold Measured and Indicated (M&I) and 103,000 ounces of Inferred resources at 3.68 g/t gold. Within the M&I resource, a proven and probable open-pit reserve totals 409,000 ounces at 3.7 g/t (see the full press release here), providing significant potential growth of reserves with the development of the remaining M&I and Inferred resources2.

In July 2020, Erdene announced the results of an independent Feasibility Study for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project (press release here). The Feasibility Study results include an after-tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate and a US$1,400/oz gold price of US$100 million and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42%. The Feasibility Study envisions an open-pit mine at Bayan Khundii, producing an average of 63,500 oz gold per year, for seven years, at a head grade of 3.71 g/t gold, utilizing a conventional carbon in pulp processing plant. Production is expected to commence in early 2022 based on the current project schedule.

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in three mining licenses and two exploration licenses in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and the Mongolian stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Peter Dalton, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Senior Geologist for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks. All samples undergo standard fire assay analysis for gold and ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) analysis for 33 additional elements. For samples that initially return a grade greater than 5 g/t gold, additional screen-metallic gold analysis is carried out which provides a weighted average gold grade from fire assay analysis of the entire +75 micron fraction and three 30-gram samples of the -75 micron fraction from a 500 gram sample.

Erdenes drill core sampling protocol consisted of collection of samples over 1 or 2 metre intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdenes Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 including a commercially prepared standard, blank and either a field duplicate, consisting of two quarter-core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdenes logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

_______________________1 For details of the Mineral Resources see Khundii Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report, Tetra Tech December 4, 2019  SEDAR2 M&I: 171,000 ounces of 3.77 g/t gold Measured, and 349,700 ounces of 2.93 g/t gold Indicated

Forward-Looking StatementsCertain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE

Erdene Contact Information

Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or Robert Jenkins, CFO

Table 2 - Dark Horse 2021 Drilling Highlights (intervals averaging greater than 0.3 g/t gold)

Hole From To Interval (1) g/t Au (2) AAD-57 52 68 16 0.58 And 160 180 20 0.45 And 194 242 48 1.18 Incl 202 232 30 1.74 AAD-58 10 55 45 5.97 Incl 32 54 22 11.98 Incl 36 37 1 21.18 Incl (3) 41 49 8 27.07 Incl 43 44 1 82.53 AAD-61 10 140 130 0.53 Incl 14 40 26 1.06 Incl 92 96 4 1.25 Incl 120 129 9 1.07 AAD-65 113 120 7 1.15 And 128 142 14 0.51 And 196 205 9 0.69 AAD-66 53 67 14 1.31 And 112 132 20 1.74 And 137 139 2 0.96 AAD-67 110 116 6 0.32 AAD-68 192 194 2 1.41 And 250 252 2 0.47 AAD-70 52 53 1 0.66 And 64 66 2 4.24 And 110 116 6 0.33 AAD-74(4) 36 37 1 0.38 AAD-75(4) 37 38 1 0.33 And 45 48 3 0.32 And 120 121 1 0.38 AAD-76(4) 56 58 2 0.35 AAD-77(4) 62 72 10 0.37 And 135 138 3 0.30 AAD-79(4) 31 39 8 1.81 Incl 32 36 4 3.23 AAD-80(4) 11 12 1 0.97 AAD-81(4) 4 39 35 2.65 Incl 5 17 12 5.10 Incl 5 6 1 19.11 Incl 12 13 1 14.04 AAD-82(4) 39 48 9 0.30 And 75 76 1 0.31 AAD-83(4) 239 241 2 0.73

1 Reported intervals are apparent thicknesses (i.e., downhole widths). Insufficient drilling has been completed at Dark Horse to determine orientation of the mineralized zones and therefore true widths cannot be determined at this time. Exploration drill holes are typically oriented normal to (at a right angle to) the trend of potential mineralized targets and holes dips range from 45 to 75 degrees.

2 Reported grades for intervals are weighted averages based on length of sampling intervals, typically 1 to 2 metres. No top cut has been applied; however, intervals greater than 10 g/t gold are reported separately for clarity.

3 Seven of the eight 1-metre samples in this interval returned assays greater than 10 g/t gold, the eighth sample returned an assay of 9.5 g/t gold. The highest grade interval (43-44 metres) is reported separately.

4 Newly reported hole

Note: All exploration holes not listed intersected anomalous gold and/or zones anomalous in pathfinder elements (arsenic, molybdenum and antimony) but no significant intervals greater than 0.3 g/t gold.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

ttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/880b4897-5554-4e79-ae4b-b73b2d459fda

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4334a5b8-40ef-437d-9b53-5ea000743d0e

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8dfe6cbe-7bf2-4c76-8d7c-7991fe1bebae

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0d8160db-66be-4b6c-b68c-693fa8c8c0ba

Khundii Gold Prospect Map Dark Horse Gold Discovery Dark Horse Discovery 2021 Q1-Q2 Planned and Completed Drilling Dark Horse Gold Prospect South Mane - Long Section 3D Magnetics with Highlighted Gold Intervals and Conceptual Epithermal Model Dark Horse Discovery 2021 Q2 Assay Results Pending for 2,610 metres

Source: Erdene Resource Development Corporation
IQALUIT, Nunavut - The member of Parliament for Nunavut has apologized for comments she made demanding a fellow politician prove her Inuk identity.

IQALUIT, Nunavut - The member of Parliament for Nunavut has apologized for comments she made demanding a fellow politician prove her Inuk identity.

In a 33-minute live Twitter video posted Thursday, NDP member Mumilaaq Qaqqaq asks Labrador Liberal MP Yvonne Jones to prove her Inuk ancestry and claims Jones is not an Inuk.

Liberal MP for Newfoundland and Labrador Yvonne Jones asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 4, 2013. CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

In the now-deleted video, Qaqqaq says that southern Labrador, where Jones has said her family comes from, is not an Inuit region.

Qaqqaq apologized for the comments in a post on her social media accounts Friday.

"I want to fully apologize to everyone for my recent comments on Twitter that personally challenged the identity of Yvonne Jones," the post reads.

"The way that I commented was aggressive and disrespectful. I apologize for how I handled the situation."

Qaqqaq grew up in Baker Lake and worked for the Nunavut government before she elected in 2019.

Jones was first elected as MP for Labrador in 2013 and was mayor of her hometown of Mary's Harbour from 1991 to 1996.

In the Thursday video, Qaqqaq outlines her family tree, names her parents and asks Jones to do the same publicly.

"So Yvonne Jones, who is your family?" Qaqqaq repeats in the video

"I'm not going to apologize," Qaqqaq also says. "I know, until I am proven otherwise, Yvonne Jones is not Inuk.

"Until you can tell me who your family is, and where you come from, and how you're Inuk, and validate your Inukness, you have no space to say you're Inuk. Stop saying you're Inuk."

Last week, Qaqqaq also replied to a 2019 tweet from a blog called Indigenous Politics that referred to Jones as an Inuk.

"Jones is not an Inuk," Qaqqaq replied.

Jones demanded earlier this week in the House of Commons that Qaqqaq apologize for that comment.

"Her domination attitude is the most prevailing one I've heard in some time," Jones told the House of Commons.

She also said Qaqqaq's comments were "laterally viscous" and "threatening" to herself "as an Inuk woman."

Jones also said she is a "descendant of Inuk and white parents."

"I have never seen such disrespect from another parliamentarian in my 25 years of political office," Jones said.

Jones demanded Qaqqaq apologize and "stop committing racial erosion against her own culture."

The Canadian Press reached out to Jones for an interview, but her office said she was unavailable. Qaqqaq did not reply to an interview request.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.
Mr. Isaac Anthony, CCRIF CEO, says that the CCRIF is committed to support its members during periods of crisis.

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has provided financial support in the form of a grant of approximately EC$6.0 million (US$2,209,000) to the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano.





According to CCRIF CEO, Mr. Isaac Anthony, "This support to the Government has been made possible because CCRIF operates as a developmental insurance company, whereby our members have our commitment to support them in times of crises; seek out opportunities to enable them to enhance their resilience to current and future natural hazards; engage donors and collaborate on programmes designed to reduce vulnerability; negotiate the best prices for reinsurance; and advance disaster risk management and ecosystems-based solutions for the betterment of the peoples of the Caribbean and Central America in keeping with Agenda 2030 and the thrust to leave no one behind.





An accompanying release, CCRIF said that it believes that this support will provide much needed liquidity to respond to the ongoing relief and recovery efforts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Although CCRIF does not currently offer cover for volcanic eruptions it believes that, as the dedicated disaster risk financing facility in the region, it has a moral obligation to respond as best as possible to the needs of its members when confronted with such dire circumstances. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been a member of CCRIF since the inception of the Facility in 2007.





Last month, CCRIF also provided a small grant in the amount of US$17,000 to the UWI Seismic Research Centre (SRC), to purchase new communication and ground deformation equipment to be added to those already deployed in St. Vincent, increasing the SRCs capacity to understand the volcanos eruptive processes and to better monitor it and be able to provide advanced warning of hazardous activity . (Source: CCRIF)




Credit: Heriot-Watt University

The camera system used to survey seabeds could be seriously underestimating disturbances to ecosystems, according to new research from Heriot-Watt University.

The new report says that sediment camera systems, known as SPI cameras, are probably painting an inaccurate picture for regulators and authorities.

SPI cameras have been used for 50 years to document the health of the seafloor around fish farms and oil and gas platforms.

The camera works by penetrating the sediment and taking a side-on picture. The images can tell researchers how healthy or polluted the sediment is based on its color and thickness, and the presence or absence of animals.

Annabell Moser, from the Lyell Centre, a partnership between Heriot-Watt and the British Geological Survey (BGS), led the research.

With scientists from BGS and the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS), she developed a laboratory version of the SPI camera to test the likelihood that the SPI camera system was giving inaccurate results.

Moser said: "Our tests showed that the model camera caused particles from the top layer to be dragged down into deeper layers, which very possibly makes the sediment look much healthier than it actually is.

"This is concerning, because for 50 years this camera system has been used by authorities as a way to determine whether industrial activity is harming the seafloor.

"Our research shows that the damage from fish farming or oil and gas activities may have been underestimated.

The team will work with the Flanders Marine Institute in Belgium later this year to test the extent of sampling artifacts associated with actual SPI camera systems.

This research has been published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

More information: Annabell Moser et al. Sediment Profile Imaging: Laboratory Study Into the Sediment Smearing Effect of a Penetrating Plate, Frontiers in Marine Science (2021). Journal information: Frontiers in Marine Science Annabell Moser et al. Sediment Profile Imaging: Laboratory Study Into the Sediment Smearing Effect of a Penetrating Plate,(2021). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2021.582076
Transaction strategically expands Sun Life's U.S. Stop-Loss & Health business

TORONTO, WELLESLEY, Mass. and BALTIMORE, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) announced today that it has agreed to acquire Pinnacle Care International, Inc. ("PinnacleCare"), a leading U.S. medical intelligence and health-care navigation provider.

Based in Maryland, PinnacleCare has more than 170 employees and 20 years of experience helping people access an initial or second medical opinion to make critical, informed treatment decisions for complicated diagnoses. PinnacleCare will become part of Sun Life's U.S. Stop-Loss & Health business ("Stop-Loss & Health"), the largest independent stop-loss provider in the country.

Sun Life will acquire PinnacleCare for a purchase price of US$85 million (approximately C$108 million). The transaction is expected to close in mid-2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approval.

The acquisition will expand Stop-Loss & Health beyond the traditional model that reimburses employers for the costs of serious health conditions after an employee's care has occurred. Through PinnacleCare, Stop-Loss & Health will engage with the employee at diagnosis to help improve the entire spectrum of the care experience and outcomes for both the employee and employer. The transaction will create an integrated offering unique in the stop-loss market.

"We're excited for PinnacleCare's team to join us to help people with complex health conditions," said Jen Collier, R.N., Senior Vice President of Stop-Loss & Health. "People who get an unexpected diagnosis are facing a difficult life event and often don't know where or how to start evaluating their options. Bringing in PinnacleCare's innovative approach to help people at each step of the health-care process will help us improve the experience of our members so they feel supported and cared for when they need it most."

PinnacleCare fills a largely unmet need in U.S. health care. While chronic conditions are often the focus of care-management programs, those with serious, sudden illnesses are often left to navigate the health-care system without much help. PinnacleCare's experienced personal health advisors guide members using in-depth clinical knowledge and dedicated relationships with top medical centers to connect them to highly regarded providers for their specific condition. PinnacleCare also conducts medical research, written and video-based second opinions, and appointment facilitation in coordination with a client's health plan coverage.

"We are thrilled to bring PinnacleCare and its clinical expertise to Sun Life. By offering experienced care navigation for members, Sun Life and PinnacleCare will create a new dynamic that will improve care, outcomes and costs in the process," said Dan Fishbein, M.D., President of Sun Life U.S. "PinnacleCare extends the value of our stop-loss programs beyond reimbursement to directly helping members in the moments that matter."

Improved health outcomes can also reduce costs that often result from misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment.

"We are beyond excited to join Sun Life and work with their talented, insightful team to help drive better patient outcomes and reach more people with our advisory services," said Miles J. Varn, M.D., CEO of PinnacleCare. "Our team's empathetic and compassionate approach helps guide people through a very difficult time in their lives. It's always an honor and privilege to help people when they need it most. We're also very pleased to start offering our health advisory services in May to our new Sun Life family in the U.S."

PinnacleCare's services are currently available to more than two million people through employers and individual clients. Sun Life's extensive distribution network and employer relationships will help PinnacleCare reach even more people with their services, while continuing to serve their clients as they do today. Sun Life will work with PinnacleCare to build new Stop-Loss & Health client solutions and will explore extending PinnacleCare's services to members of its other U.S. benefits plans.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel company, and Venable LLP served as financial advisor and legal counsel, respectively, to PinnacleCare. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as Sun Life's legal counsel.

About Sun Life

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2020, Sun Life had total assets under management of C$1,247 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

In the United States, Sun Life is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 55,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life, dental, vision, voluntary, supplemental health and medical stop-loss. Stop-loss insurance covers high-dollar claims for employers that self-fund their health plans. Self-funded plans account for 67% of Americans who get their health insurance at work, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Sun Life and its affiliates in asset management businesses in the U.S. employ approximately 5,500 people. Group insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in New York, where policies are issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.). For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us .

About PinnacleCare

PinnacleCare is a private medical intelligence and health-care navigation firm with a mission to ensure that all members realize their highest expectations for their health and wellness. PinnacleCare's personalized approach to health care is a unique combination of exceptional medical resources, an unmatched range of services and outstanding care allowing members efficient access to the finest healthcare experiences, expert guidance through the complex health-care system by expert health advisors, and assurance in leading the healthiest lives possible, at home and abroad.

Forward-looking information

In this news release (other than Miles J. Varn's quotation), "we", "our", "us" and "Sun Life" refer to Sun Life Financial Inc. and its subsidiaries and joint ventures. Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking, including, but not limited to, statements (i) relating to our growth strategies and strategic objectives, (ii) relating to our anticipated acquisition of PinnacleCare, (iii) that are not historical or that are predictive in nature or that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and (iv) that include words such as "expect", "will", and similar expressions. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbour provisions" of applicable Canadian securities laws and of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

The forward-looking statements in this news release represent our current expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events as of the time of this news release and are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and are based on key factors and assumptions that are difficult to predict, particularly in light of the ongoing and developing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy and its uncertain impact on our business, including the assumption that the transaction will be completed. The forward-looking statements in this news release do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or other special items or of any dispositions, mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or other transactions that may be announced or that may occur after the date of this news release. If any non-recurring or other special item or any transaction should occur, the financial impact could be complex and the effect on our operations or results would depend on the facts particular to such item and we cannot describe the expected impact in a meaningful way or in the same way we could present known risks affecting our business. Except as may be required by Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this news release.

Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding our expected financial position and results of operations as at the date of this news release, as well as our objectives for the transaction, strategic priorities and business outlook following the transaction, and in obtaining a better understanding of our anticipated operating environment following the transaction. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes and undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements.

The following are transactional risk factors that could have an adverse effect on the forward-looking statements in this news release: (1) the ability of the parties to complete the transaction; (2) failure of the parties to obtain necessary consents and approvals or to otherwise satisfy the conditions to the completion of the transaction in a timely manner, or at all; (3) our ability to realize the financial and strategic benefits of the transaction; and (4) the impact of the announcement of the transaction on Sun Life and PinnacleCare. These risks all could have an impact on Sun Life's business relationships (including with future and prospective employees, Clients, distributors and partners) and could have an adverse effect on our current and future operations, financial conditions and prospects. Other important risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements in this news release are listed in the annual information form of Sun Life Financial Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2020 under the heading "Risk Factors" and other regulatory filings of ours filed or furnished to Canadian and U.S. securities regulators available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.

Connect with Sun Life U.S.

https://www.facebook.com/SLFUnitedStates/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sun-life-financial/

https://twitter.com/SunLifeUS

SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sunlife.com/us


An 18-year-old high school senior was shot and killed outside his home in Willingboro on Thursday night, officials said.

Yahsinn Robinson was shot multiple times on Barrington Lane shortly before 11:30 p.m., the Burlington County Prosecutors Office said Friday. The Willingboro High School student was pronounced dead at the scene.

Members of Robinsons family were inside the home at the time, a spokesman for the prosecutors office said. He didnt have information on a motive or additional details about the circumstances of the shooting.

Investigators are looking at all possibilities, the spokesman said.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. An autopsy will be performed Friday by the Burlington County Medical Examiner.

In a message conveyed by her secretary, Willingboro schools superintendent Neely Hackett declined to comment on Robinsons death.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Willingboro polices tip line at 609-877-6958 or Burlington County Central Communications at 609-265-7113. Information can also be emailed to tips@co.burlington.nj.us.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
After colliding with a blue Nissan Rogue just after 7:30 a.m. in a Phillipsburg intersection, a white Nissan sedan struck a home in the first block of Lincoln Road, according to a report from the scene.

The driver of the sedan was walked to an Phillipsburg Emergency Squad ambulance and taken to an area hospital. The driver of the Rogue did not appear to be injured.

The sedan appeared to be heading east on Belvidere Road when the Rogue pulled out from North First Street to cross the intersection onto Lincoln Road, the report stated.

The sedan veered into the home just to the right of the front door at 27 Lincoln Road. The SUV ended up partially on the front lawn.

A white Nissan hit a house April 23, 2021, in the first block of Lincoln Road in Phillipsburg after colliding with a blue Nissan Rogue at Belvidere Avenue and North First Street.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor

The Rogue, which sustained damage to the passenger side, had a Pennsylvania plate, while the sedan, which had a smashed front end, was registered in New Jersey. Parts of the car were left just past the curb line on the property.

There was limited damage to the house.

Town police are investigating.

Freelance photographer Tim Wynkoop provided information for this post.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
(CNN)  Both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines appear to be setting off rare blood clotting events in a few people who get them, a top expert told vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday.

The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization practices is meeting to discuss whether to change guidance for J&Js Janssen vaccine. The CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration recommended pausing its use after six reported cases of women who developed a rare blood clotting syndrome after receiving J&Js vaccine in the United States.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet authorized for use in the United States, but use of the vaccine resumed in many countries in Europe after UK and European health authorities said the benefits outweighed the risks. Both vaccines use a common cold virus called an adenovirus to deliver genetic material to stimulate an immune response.

So far, it appears to be a thrombotic response to receiving an adenoviral vector vaccine against SARS COV-2, Dr. Michael Streiff, a clotting expert at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told ACIPs emergency meeting.

Its unclear what causes this to develop, he added.

The incidence  and this is based on the European experience, and the United Kingdom experience  is anywhere from one case per 100,000 to one in 250,000 of vaccine recipients, Streiff said.

Median onset of the symptoms after vaccination is about nine to 10 days, he said, although in Europe some cases appeared 24 days after vaccination.

Most cases have been among women and people as old as 77 have been affected.

Streiff said he did not think it was possible to screen patients for risk factors for the blood clotting syndrome. I dont think we can just focus on oral contraceptive users and obese patients, he said.

But he said awareness has helped patients get quick treatment. Recognition that this syndrome exists is helping to improve outcomes, Streiff said.

ACIP is expected to vote on any changes later Friday. If ACIP recommends changes to the vaccine label  such as a warning, or changes to who it recommends should get the vaccine  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will sign off and then the FDA will have to make any label changes.

Read more live updates here.
Coronavirus could be transmitted by rats but the risk to most people is 'very low' unless they work near the animals, experts say.

In a scientific paper published today by government advisers on SAGE, researchers said rodents can catch the virus from people and this is more likely with newer variants such as the Kent and South African strains, which are more transmissible.

Researchers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), said rats could then pass Covid between themselves and cause 'sustained population level transmission' among the animals.

It was not clear, however, how easily it could be passed the other way, from a rat or mouse to a person.

Rodent-to-human transmission, they said, was only likely for people in close contact with wild rodents, and still low for them.

The paper said: 'The level of contact between humans and rats which could potentially lead to new cases is very low for the general population and restricted mainly to occupational exposure.'

Covid is known to be able to affect various mammals and a paper published by the University of Glasgow today confirmed cats can catch the virus from their owners.

A paper produced by the DEFRA government department said new variants of the coronavirus had mutated in a way that appeared to make them more likely to infect rodents (stock photo of a rat)

The DEFRA study, published as part of a document dump by SAGE, was dated April 7 2021.

It found that a mutation common on new variants of the virus - named N501Y, and known to speed up transmission - could make the coronavirus more likely to infect rodents.

Rats and mice could catch the virus if it made it into human sewage, for example, or into rubbish that was thrown in the bin.

They said that because there is so much rubbish and sewage produced and so many rats in the UK, the likelihood of this happening was probably high.

And the paper added: 'The level of close contact between rodents combined with their high population densities means the potential to transmit infection to other rodents is also high and therefore the likelihood that this would lead to sustained population level transmission and persistence would also be high.'

But it said people don't generally come into close enough contact with rats or mice to catch the virus from them, although it might be possible scientifically.

KITTEN PUT DOWN AFTER CATCHING COVID FROM OWNER A kitten had to be put down after catching Covid from its owner during the UK's first wave, scientists have revealed. The cat was a four-month-old Ragdoll that got taken to the vet in April 2020 because it was struggling to breathe. Its condition got worse in the following days and the kitten had to be put down, with post-mortem tests revealing it had lung damage from viral pneumonia and signs of infection with coronavirus, which causes the condition. The owner suffered from Covid symptoms the month before but couldn't get tested, and scientists concluded they had passed the virus to their pet. A second case, both of them reported by experts at the University of Glasgow, saw a six-year-old Siamese cat also contract the illness from its owner in May but then go on to recover. The scientists said there is no evidence that pets can spread the virus to humans but the connection needs investigating so it doesn't trigger future outbreaks. In South Korea officials have even developed a testing and quarantine system for pets that develop symptoms of the virus. Animals are known to be susceptible to the virus  it is believed to have emerged in bats and other small mammals, and caused outbreaks on Danish mink farms  but it's unclear how sick it makes them. Advertisement

For people to transmit the virus to one another they are generally thought to have to be within 1.5m to 2m of each other for a period of minutes, or to have physical contact or touch the same surface in relatively quick succession.

The only people likely to have this level of contact with rodents, the DEFRA paper suggested, were people who worked near them.

Specific jobs weren't named in the paper but this could include people who work with sewage or water supplies, bin collectors or landfill workers, or people working in pest control.

'The potential for this to lead to an outbreak where human to human transmission occurs will depend on the immune status of the population, the vaccine efficacy and level of circulating variants,' the paper said.

It explained that the risk of transmission either to or from rats fell when there were fewer cases in the human population.

And it said the odds of a new variant emerging in a rodent and then being passed to a human were 'very low, and certainly lower than in the human population.'

The finding about rats is not surprising because studies have found various kinds of similar animals can get infected with Covid.

Cases of the coronavirus have been found in dogs, hamsters, mink and ferrets, and there have been confirmed cases in cats in at least 15 countries during the pandemic, including the UK, US, France, Spain and Germany.

A study published today by the University of Glasgow confirmed two cases of human-to-cat transmission of the virus in Britain's first wave last year.

One, a four-month-old kitten, had to be put down after catching Covid from its owner in April 2020.

It had struggled to breathe and then, when its condition got worse in the following days, the kitten had to be put down. Post-mortem tests showed it had lung damage from viral pneumonia and signs of infection with coronavirus, which causes the condition.

The owner suffered from Covid symptoms the month before but couldn't get tested, and scientists concluded they had passed the virus to their pet.

A second case saw a six-year-old Siamese cat also contract the illness from its owner in May but then go on to recover.
Photo: The Canadian Press A box with vials of AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 are shown in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Peter Dejong

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians need not worry about doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine coming from the United States.

Trudeau says Canada has been assured the doses being "loaned" by the U.S. were not affected by recent production problems at a facility in Baltimore.

The U.S. has about 30 million surplus doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been approved in Canada but not yet south of the border.

The Baltimore plant, which ruined 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, is no longer producing the AstraZeneca version.

Trudeau says he was not surprised earlier this week to hear President Joe Biden suggest more vaccines could be coming Canada's way.

Biden mentioned on Wednesday that the U.S. has already provided 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses to Canada and hopes to provide more in the future.
Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe (center of photo) and Peter Jenniskens (left, kneeling) at the site of the second find of a piece of asteroid 2018 LA recovered in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in central Botswana. Credit: SETI Institute

An international team of researchers searched for pieces of a small asteroid tracked in space and then observed to impact Botswana on June 2, 2018. Guided by SETI Institute meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens, they found 23 meteorites deep inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and now have published their findings online in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

"Combining the observations of the small asteroid in space with information gleaned from the meteorites shows it likely came from Vesta, second largest asteroid in our solar system and target of NASA's DAWN mission," said Jenniskens. "Billions of years ago, two giant impacts on Vesta created a family of larger, more dangerous asteroids. The newly recovered meteorites gave us a clue on when those impacts might have happened."

The asteroid

The small asteroid that impacted Botswana, called 2018 LA, was first spotted by the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey as a faint point of light moving among the stars. The Catalina Sky Survey searches for Earth-crossing asteroids as part of NASA's Planetary Defense program.

"Small meter-sized asteroids are no danger to us, but they hone our skills in detecting approaching asteroids," said Eric Christensen, director of the Catalina Sky Survey program.

The team recovered archival data from the SkyMapper Southern Survey program in Australia that showed the asteroid spinning in space, rotating once every four minutes, alternatingly presenting a broad and a narrow side to us while reflecting the sunlight.

On its journey to Earth, cosmic rays bombarded the asteroid and created radioactive isotopes. By analyzing those isotopes, the researchers determined that 2018 LA was a solid rock about 1.5 m in size, which reflected about 25% of sunlight.

The recovery

"This is only the second time we have spotted an asteroid in space before it hit Earth over land," said Jenniskens. "The first was asteroid 2008 TC3 in Sudan ten years earlier." Jenniskens also guided the search for fragments of 2008 TC3.

This time, fewer observations led to more uncertainty in the asteroid's position in its orbit. Davide Farnocchia of NASA JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies combined astronomical observations of the asteroid with US Government Satellite data of the fireball to calculate the fall area. Esko Lyytinen of the Ursa Finnish Fireball Network made a parallel effort.

"When Jenniskens first arrived in Maun, he needed our help narrowing down the fall area," says Oliver Moses of the Okavango Research Institute. "We subsequently tracked down more video records in Rakops and Maun and were able to triangulate the position of the fireball."

After confirming the fall area, Moses and Jenniskens joined geologist Alexander Proyer of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) in Palapye and geoscientist Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe of the Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI) in Lobatse and their colleagues to search for the meteorites.

"On the fifth day, our last day of searching, Lesedi Seitshiro of BIUST found the first meteorite only 30 meters from camp," said Jenniskens. "It was 18 grams and about 3 cm in size."

Fragment of asteroid 2018 LA recovered in Central Kalahari Game Reserve in central Botswana. Credit: SETI Institute

The search area was in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, home to diverse wildlife, including leopards and lions. Researchers were kept safe by the staff of the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks. BGI coordinated the search with the Department of National Museum and Monuments in Botswana.

"The meteorite is named "Motopi Pan' after a local watering hole," said Gabadirwe, now the curator of this rare sample of an asteroid observed in space before impacting Earth. "This meteorite is a national treasure of Botswana."

The meteorite type

Non-destructive analysis at the University of Helsinki, Finland, showed that Motopi Pan belongs to the group of Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) meteorites, known to have likely originated from the giant asteroid Vesta, which was recently studied in detail by NASA's DAWN mission.

"We managed to measure metal content as well as secure a reflectance spectrum and X-ray elemental analysis from a thinly crusted part of the exposed meteorite interior," said Tomas Kohout of the University of Helsinki. "All the measurements added well together and pointed to values typical for HED type meteorites."

Dynamical studies show that the orbit of 2018 LA is consistent with an origin from the inner part of the asteroid belt where Vesta is located. The asteroid was delivered into an Earth-impacting orbit via the resonance situated in the asteroid belt's inner side.

"Another HED meteorite fall we investigated in Turkey in 2015, called Saricicek, impacted on a similarly short orbit and produced mostly smallish 2 to 5-gram meteorites," said Jenniskens.

When Jenniskens returned to Botswana in October of 2018, the team found 22 more small meteorites. Gabadirwe was the first to spot another out-of-this-world rock. Surprisingly, subsequent meteorite finds showed a lot of diversity in their outward appearance.

"We studied the petrography and mineral chemistry of five of these meteorites and confirmed that they belong to the HED group," said Roger Gibson of Witts University in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Overall, we classified the material that asteroid 2018 LA contained as being Howardite, but some individual fragments had more affinity to Diogenites and Eucrites."

Other studies also confirmed the surprising diversity of the team's finds, such as reflection spectroscopy and the content of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the sample. The asteroid was a breccia, a mixture of cemented rock pieces from different parts on Vesta.

Origin of the meteorites

A previous hypothesis proposed that Saricicek originated from Vesta in the collision that created the Antonia impact crater imaged by DAWN. Still showing a visible ejecta blanket, that young crater was formed about 22 million years ago. One-third of all HED meteorites that fall on Earth were ejected 22 million years ago. Did Motopi Pan originate from the same crater?

"Noble gas isotopes measurements at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and radioactive isotopes measured at Purdue University showed that this meteorite too had been in space as a small object for about 23 million years," said Kees Welten of UC Berkeley, "but give or take 4 million years, so it could be from the same source crater on Vesta."

Researchers found Motopi Pan and Saricicek to be similar in some ways but different in others. Like Motopi Pan, Saricicek exploded at 27.8 km altitude, but produced less light in that breakup.

"The infrasound shockwave measured in South Africa was not as strong as expected from US Government sensor detections of the bright light," said Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

From lead isotopes in zircon minerals, researchers found that both Saricicek and Motopi Pan solidified at Vesta's surface about 4563 million years ago. But phosphate grains in Motopi Pan experienced another melting event more recently. Saricicek did not.

"About 4234 million years ago, the material in Motopi Pan was close to the center of a large impact event," said Qing-zhu Yin of UC Davis, "Saricicek was not."

Vesta experienced two significant impact events that created the Rheasilvia impact basin and the underlying, and therefore older, Veneneia impact basin.

"We now suspect that Motopi Pan was heated by the Veneneia impact, while the subsequent Rheasilvia impact scattered this material around," said Jenniskens. " If so, that would date the Veneneia impact to about 4234 million years ago. On top of Rheasilvia impact ejecta is the 10.3-km diameter Rubria impact crater, slightly smaller than the 16.7-km Antonia crater, and slightly younger at 19 +/- 3 million years, but a good candidate for the origin crater of Motopi Pan."

In November 2020, an expedition led by Fulvio Franchi from BIUST discovered one more Motopi Pan meteorite. This 92-gram meteorite is now the largest fragment of asteroid 2018 LA recovered to date and another small piece of the giant asteroid Vesta.

Explore further Fragment of impacting asteroid recovered in Botswana
Sputnik V to launch in Thailand

THAILAND: Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally vowed to support Thailands COVID-19 battle and will therefore be selling it his countrys Sputnik V vaccine, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced yesterday (Apr 22).

CoronavirusCOVID-19Vaccine

By Bangkok Post

Friday 23 April 2021, 08:12AM

The Sputnik vaccine is being made available to Thailand via a government-to-government contract. Photo: AFP.

The PM revealed on his Facebook page that Mr Putin had agreed to make the Sputnik jabs available to Thailand via a government-to-government contract.

Gen Prayut also invited the private sector, including the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Bankers Association and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, to a meeting next Wednesday to discuss ways they could help secure more vaccines.

All this came on the same day as it was announced that American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had agreed to sell Thailand 10 million doses of its vaccine.

Gen Prayut said the Russian breakthrough came after he instructed the Foreign Ministry to try to secure purchases of the Sputnik vaccine.

He said the ministry had since been told Mr Putin had promised to support Thailand because the two countries had long-established friendly ties and the scheme would serve to further strengthen them.

Gen Prayut said he had ordered the Public Health Ministry to negotiate with the supplier of the Sputnik V vaccine and iron out details of the agreement.

The announcement of Mr Putins personal intervention came just two days after deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra offered to help Thailand secure more COVID-19 vaccine from Russia during a live broadcast on the audio-based social networking app Clubhouse.

Mr Thaksin criticised the sluggishness of the governments vaccine rollout and suggested more should be purchased from a wider range of producers, not just Sinovac and AstraZeneca.

The former premier also suggested that high-profile business people in Thailand had the capability and extensive connections to secure more vaccines with manufacturers in countries like China and Russia.

He even offered to personally talk to Mr Putin in order to secure a deal for the Sputnik V vaccine for Thailand.

Gen Prayut was clearly irritated when told of Mr Thaksins offer on Wednesday. I dont know him. Just leave him be, Gen Prayut said. I wont answer that. Dont relay a question from someone who is not even in the country.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced yesterday that Pfizers representatives had agreed to sell 10 million doses of the companys vaccine for Thailand, even though he could not specify when the delivery would be made.

Mr Anutin said the ministry was ready to revise its regulations for vaccine procurement, even though Pfizers vaccine had yet to be registered and approved for use locally.

A total of 2.12 million doses of two vaccines - AstraZeneca and Sinovacs CoronaVac - have been delivered to Thailand and are being distributed across the country to priority groups, including medical personnel and those in high-risk areas.

The mass rollout is expected to begin in June when the first six million doses of the locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine are rolled out. Ten million doses are expected in the next five months and another five million doses in December.

There were 1,470 new infections and seven deaths yesterday, increasing overall deaths to 117 out of 48,113 infections.

Gen Prayut vowed on Wednesday that the government would purchase 35 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to the 65 million already being procured.

If the vaccine procurement and rollout goes as planned, Thailand will have at least 100 million doses and achieve its immunisation goals.
What Jack Phillips would say differently to gay couple he refused to make wedding cake (interview)

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In July 2012, when the federal government and most states in the United States did not legally recognize gay marriages, a Colorado baker found himself the subject of an anti-discrimination case for refusing to make a same-sex wedding cake on religious grounds.

Years later, Jack Phillips found himself before the highest court in the land, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

Phillips details experiences with the litigation, his upbringing and faith background in the book The Cost of My Faith: How a Decision in My Cake Shop Took Me to the Supreme Court, scheduled for release through Salem Books on May 18.

In the book, Phillips documents his multiple legal battles over his decisions not to make a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding or a cake celebrating a gender transition.

Even though Phillips eventually won his legal battle against the same-sex couple with a 2018 Supreme Court victory, he is still dealing with litigation surrounding his refusal to make a cake celebrating a gender transition for transgender attorney Autumn Scardina.

In March, Denver District Court Judge A. Bruce Jones dropped one of the two charges leveled against Phillips, with the other being argued in trial court later that month; a decision is pending.

The Christian Post recently spoke with Phillips, covering topics such as why he wrote his book, the struggle to convey his beliefs to those who disagree with him and how he felt about one conservative activists efforts to sue bakeries that refused to make a cake with an anti-gay message. Below are excerpts from that interview.

CP: What led you to write this book?

Phillips: The first thing that came to my mind about writing this book was that I want my kids and my grandkids to know the true story of what happened back there in July 2012 and what's happened since, as its difficult to find all of those kind of facts on the internet, or at least factual facts.

CP: You mentioned in the book about wanting to go back to July 2012 to explain more to the same-sex couple about why you refused to make the gay wedding cake. What would have you said if you could have done it again?

Phillips: The same thing I've been saying to hundreds of people ever since  that I serve everybody who comes in my shop, but there are certain cakes that I can't create because of an inherent message or written message that the cake would contain and that I can't convey.

In their case, it was a cake that had a different view of marriage. I believe the biblical view of marriage. Its between a man and a woman. I would gladly serve these people, these two men, any other cake, other custom works or sell them anything out of my showcase. [I would tell them] that it was not them that I was not serving. I was just declining to create a cake that went against my core beliefs. But they were welcome in my shop.

That's what I would try and explain to them.

I tried to explain it to this attorney, Scardina, that is suing me this go-around. We had a face-to-face meeting, Scardina and myself, this attorney. And in that meeting, I tried to explain that there are just certain cakes that I couldn't create and that I would gladly create other custom work for this attorney. It was just the particular cake, in this case celebrating a gender transition, that I couldn't create.

CP: It seems like, again and again, many people are failing to see the nuances of your stance. You willingly serve same-sex couples, but you will not perform services that convey certain messages. You do not hate the members of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, but you do oppose their actions against you. Why do you think it is so hard for many people to see these points, even though you have explained them over and over again?

Phillips: A lot of that, I believe, comes from the media's portrayal of me, and that's one of the reasons that I wanted to write the book. They portray me as somebody who's intolerant and somebody who won't serve different groups of society.

But, again, its just cakes. I also don't create cakes that celebrate Halloween or cakes with alcohol in them or cakes that denigrate other people, including the people who identify as LGBT.

CP: In the book, you described the experience of watching the oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in person. You talked about it being a very different environment. What would you say were the most surprising experiences of the arguments in person?

Phillips: Its just not traffic court. This is the United States Supreme Court. And just watching the nine justices file in, the reverence that everybody had, there are federal marshals making sure that there's no noise, that its a very solemn and sobering experience. It was really something that everybody should be able to watch.

To be able to observe and see how our Constitution is supposed to be played out in that regard.

CP: While you did not mention him by name in the book, I noticed that you talked about the actions of Bill Jack, a conservative Christian activist who sued multiple bakeries in Colorado that refused to make an anti-gay cake. What is your opinion of his complaint?

Phillips: With those three bakers, I would agree with their stance that they declined to create cakes that went against their messages because all Americans should be able to live and work freely according to their consciences, without fear of punishment from the government. And so, I agree that they should be able to say, that's a message I can't create, and I am not going to create it. And I would agree with them.

CP: Bill Jack told The Christian Post in an interview in 2018 that he agreed with the bakeries he filed complaints against. As he put it, "I believe those bakeries have every right to deny me service for whatever reason they wish. But if they're going to apply the law equitably, they should have applied it against everyone."

Do you believe that certain strategies like those of Bill Jack aimed at proving a point are necessary to help individuals like yourself since it did influence the Supreme Court's opinion?

Phillips: That's not necessarily a tactic that I would take. I just want to run a cake shop and create cakes for my customers, and get to know my customers, and have them come back again and again, and become friends and like family.

CP: What do you hope people take away from your book, especially readers who might disagree with your stance?

Phillips: I admit that there are still always going to be people who will not agree with my stance, and I just want the chance to explain what that stance is.

Its difficult for someone like me to put it in print, and we've done the best that we could. But like every interview that I have done, all of it has been an occasion to try and explain that I serve everybody, that I can't create every cake and that our Constitution protects that right.

Every American should be able to make those decisions and be able to create or not create things according to their conscience without fear of punishment from the government.
Newlywed couples release balloons in a mass wedding in Taiwan in October 2020. Sam Yeh/ AFP via Getty Images

A Taiwanese couple used their nuptials to game the system and make the most of a honeymoon holiday.

In the span of 37 days, they married four times and divorced three times.

The man's employer said he was entitled to only eight days off, but he ended up claiming 32.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Taiwanese couple who got hitched last April found an unexpected way to benefit from their nuptials - not by purchasing budget decorations or snagging venue deals, but by gaming the system to get free vacation days.

The South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that in 37 days, the couple - who were not named in documents - married four times and divorced three times, exploiting a loophole in Taiwan's labor laws, under which an eight-day leave is provided for newlyweds. By marrying four times, the man claimed 32 days' worth of vacation days.

The bank refused to approve the man's leave claims though. According to The New York Times, he took the case to the Taipei city labor department, which ended up fining the bank NT$20,000 (about $710) for violating leave regulations.

This fine on the bank was revoked last week when the head of the Taipei city labor department said the city would reexamine the regulation to prevent the loophole from being exploited again.

According to the Chinese media outlet Sohu, the duo first married on April 6, 2020, and divorced ten days later on April 16. They got hitched a second time one day later, on April 17, but filed for another divorce on April 28.

They repeated this cycle two more times - marrying on April 29 and divorcing for the third and, hopefully, last time - on May 11. The couple then wed for the fourth time on May 12.

Taipei Deputy Mayor Huang Shanshan posted on Facebook that the Taiwanese labor bureau will need to reevaluate the marriage-leave policy to avoid it being abused.

"In this case, it is clear that the employee used the marriage leave and exploited a loophole to benefit from it. The laws exist for the benefit of the people, and people should not act in bad faith," Huang said.

Taiwan is not the only place that provides a leave entitlement for newlyweds. Malta allows employees to take two days off, and in Vietnam and China, it is not uncommon for people to apply to take three days off work when they wed.

Read the original article on Insider
Xi makes six-point proposal for building community of life for man, nature

Xinhua) 14:29, April 23, 2021

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday made a six-point proposal on building a community of life for man and nature.

Xi made the remarks while addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing.

To build a community of life for man and nature, we must be committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, Xi said.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
 Flash

Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie said on Thursday that he is concerned about the ability of the Afghan military after U.S. troops withdraw from the country in the coming months.

"My concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground that they're on now, without the support that they've been used to for many years," McKenzie said during a Senate Armed Services hearing.

"I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave - the ability of the Afghan air force to fly, in particular, after we remove the support for those aircraft," he added.

The general also noted that the United States would bring additional military capabilities to the region to cover U.S. forces during the withdrawal, without providing details.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that McKenzie had requested the Pentagon to deploy an aircraft carrier to help protect NATO troops in Afghanistan as they withdraw.

President Joe Biden announced last Wednesday that all U.S. and NATO troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan before Sept. 11, a decision to end the longest war in American history.

The decision drew criticism among some analysts and lawmakers, who warned the withdrawal would lead to worsening security satiation in Afghanistan with a possible revival of terrorism.

There are roughly 3,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and about 7,000 NATO troops in the country rely on U.S. logistics and security support.
[April 23, 2021] Aptum CFO Shenif Visram is awarded 2021 Report on Business Best Executive Award

Aptum, a global hybrid multi-cloud managed service provider is pleased to announce that Shenif Visram, its Chief Financial Officer, has been awarded a 2021 Report on Business Best Executive Award. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005027/en/ Shenif Visram, Chief Financial Officer, Aptum The Report on Business Best Executive Awards is an annual program to celebrate excellence among non-CEO leaders at the SVP, EVP and C-suite (or equivalent) levels. The 50 winners chosen for 2021 represent the best of Canadian leadership in five functional areas: Finance; Human Resources; Operations; Sales and Marketing; and Technology. Shenif Visram was one of 10 winners in the Finance category. "I'm deeply humbled to be named a winner of the Report on Business Best Executive Award," said Shenif Visram, Chief Financial Officer, Aptum. "I've been fortunate and privileged throughout my career to be able to work alongside hard-working and dedicated people. It's truly through the support of my team at Aptum that I've been able to achieve this tremendous recognition." "Shenif is an integral member of our leadership team, providing guidance, perseverance and encouragement in abundance," said Susan Bowen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aptum. "After being instrumental in transforming Aptum operationally to become a standalone company, Shenif has helped steer us through the pandemic, enabling our organization to focus on delivering the best possible service to our customers along their cloud journey. Shenif believes in the value of empowering those around him. On behalf of every member at the Aptum organzation who has had the honour of working with -- and being mentored by -- Shenif, I want to congratulate him for this well-deserved recognition."



The Globe and Mail launched the Report on Business Best Executive Awards in 2020. Winning executives for 2021 were chosen after a call for nominations for leaders at Canadian public and private businesses, not-for-profits, institutions and/or academic institutions. Nominations were assessed by the Report on Business editorial team based on career background, leadership style, achievements, and impact.

Winners of the Best Executive Awards are profiled editorially in the April issue of Report on Business magazine, out online on April 23 and in print April 24. To learn more about the Best Executive Awards program, and to see this year's winners, please visit www.tgam.ca/BestExec. About The Globe and Mail The Globe and Mail is Canada's foremost news media company, leading the national discussion and causing policy change through brave and independent journalism since 1844. With award-winning coverage of business, politics and national affairs, The Globe and Mail newspaper reaches 6.5 million readers every week in print or digital formats, and Report on Business magazine reaches 2.2 million readers in print and digital every issue. The Globe's investment in innovative data science means that as the world continues to change, so does The Globe. The Globe and Mail is owned by Woodbridge, the investment arm of the Thomson (News - Alert) family. About Aptum Aptum is a global hybrid multi-cloud managed service provider delivering complex and high-performance cloud solutions with an integrated secure network. Using its Data As Infrastructure approach, Aptum solves complex technology challenges with total solutions and tailored options that drive tangible business outcomes and maximize the value of its clients' technology investments. Aptum's cloud and global network solutions, underpinned with expert managed and professional services, offer genuine choice and adaptability with international reach spanning North America, Latin America, Europe and the United Kingdom. Aptum is a portfolio company of Digital Colony, a global investment firm dedicated to strategic opportunities in digital infrastructure. For more information, visit www.aptum.com. Connect with Aptum Official Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005027/en/

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AI/ML - Cloud Architect/Developer Tools, Siri Experience Seattle , Washington , United States Machine Learning and AI Summary

Posted: Apr 21, 2021 Role Number: 200241010 One of the beautiful things about working at Apple is the connection that every engineer has to the end customer. You will be working through close partnership with multiple teams in the AIML and Siri org. You'll be helping teams get deeper understanding of how the experiences we're building-in the home, on the go-are being used, looking at the key areas of performance, reliability and quality! You will be a part of a small, collaborative team of engineers in Siri Engineering Efficiency team responsible for building and standardizing tools, process, code, and standard methodologies across product teams with the aim of improving the quality of all of them holistically. You will be collaborating with engineers in several technical areas who have crafted the entire range of Siri's capabilities. We collaborate with all Siri, acts as a liaison between component, product teams and platform with the end goal of making it easier for the Siri engineers to release features. We build and own tools+services that are used within Siri to help diagnose issues and deliver fixes across the Siri pipeline. Siri is seeking an extraordinary Cloud Architect/Sr. SRE to focus on building a secure, continuous delivery oriented platform. This role will be responsible for designing, building, and running developer tooling to support a variety of critical systems. This is a highly technical, hands-on role that requires expertise supporting systems at enterprise scale. The candidate will deliver innovative solutions and help to port existing tools and services to internal and external cloud platforms. Key Qualifications Experience supporting infrastructure and services in public cloud environments (AWS, GCP, etc.)

Expertise with in both building and using log aggregation and distributed monitoring tools (Splunk, Elastic Stack, etc.)

Experience building and supporting containerized application technologies including Docker, Kubernetes Familiarity with CI/CD tools and deployment processes

Proficient with various programming languages such as Python/Java/Ruby/Perl/Go for building automation or integration with APIs Proven understanding and experience with centralized configuration management, coordination and provisioning technologies, such as Ansible, Chef, Puppet, etc.

Excellent interpersonal skills, should be capable of working with multi-functional technical and business teams and varying levels of management

Strong project management skills, including excellent presentation development

Passion for writing detailed solution specifications, diagrams, best practices/ standards documentation, operating procedures, test plans/test reports, etc. Description This is a highly technical, hands-on role that requires expertise supporting systems at enterprise scale. We manage a varied set of tools and services that range from on- device macOS/iOS tools to server based applications on Mesos, Kubernetes and AWS. Our team looks at the overall toolset from a holistic solutions oriented viewpoint to provide the best quality and dynamic tooling to handle the larger Siri development and production pipeline. You will need to assess tools and services that the team already owns and see where consolidation should occur, which tools should be internally hosted vs external cloud hosted and what new tools need to be designed to maintain the high level of service expected for Siri. The role is also responsible for executing on product wide tasks by cutting across all Siri components and tools, providing leveraged impact. Specific responsibilities include a wide range of cloud and systems engineering tasks across multiple domain areas: - Create, manage and integrate software to automate and secure public cloud environments - Develop solutions that can support large capacity and scale reliably - Collaborate with multi-functional teams to capture requirements, understand - dependencies and architecture, and implement solutions with out of box thinking - Work with multiple teams across the organization to gain a deep understanding of the - overlapping areas in order to help identify where efficient tooling can help solve - problems - Participate in the continual improvement of engineering tools and processes - Help figure out common service themes across multiple product teams, build those - libraries and help product teams integrate those libraries, accelerating feature releases - You will work closely with engineers, QA, and project managers throughout the software lifecycle in successfully delivering best-in-class secure and scalable systems. You take responsibility; you can demonstrate creativity, initiative, and the ability to work to deadlines. You feel a personal stake in the product you ship. You thrive in uncertainty and strive to bring order to it. You keep your eye on the ball; you build strong relationships; and you are constantly looking to improve yourself and your team. Education & Experience BS degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent work experience Additional Requirements Apple is an Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We also take affirmative action to offer employment and advancement opportunities to all applicants, including minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities. Apple will not discriminate or retaliate against applicants who inquire about, disclose, or discuss their compensation or that of other applicants.






AS COVID-19 case counts rise in Manitoba, and other provinces have promised to provide paid sick leave or vaccination leave to front-line workers, Premier Brian Pallister said he wont budge.

AS COVID-19 case counts rise in Manitoba, and other provinces have promised to provide paid sick leave or vaccination leave to front-line workers, Premier Brian Pallister said he wont budge.

On Thursday, the premier and his finance minister both said its up to Ottawa to provide paid sick leave during the pandemic.

"We need a national program," Pallister said.

He had been asked whether Manitoba would follow Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who promised Thursday paid sick leave for workers in his province, or other western provinces that are providing protected, paid leave for workers to get vaccinated.

"We absolutely need to help people to be able to stay safe while at work  to also be able to go for tests and to be compensating them to some degree," Pallister said at an Earth Day event. "I do think a sick leave program, nationally, is the right solution."

It shouldve been in the federal budget, said Pallister. "The fact that they didnt use the opportunity to (enhance) national paid sick leave really disturbs me," the premier said.

"Im not giving up on the prime minister," Pallister said. "He said he would undertake to do this. I see this as a major priority in this pandemic."

Finance Minister Scott Fielding said hed push his federal counterpart, Chrystia Freeland, to beef up the federal sick benefit, which has been criticized for being hard to get and inadequate.

The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit was extended to 26 weeks from 15, but critics say it doesnt adequately help workers when they need it.

"Wed like the government to enhance that," Fielding said.

But Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said its the province that must act more responsibly.

"Labour is a provincial responsibility," he said. "Manitoba has not put a dime into paid sick leave," Lamont said. "They need to be stepping up."

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Thursday, as Manitoba reported 261 new COVID-19 cases, the province needs to take immediate action "lest we spiral out of control."

"A comprehensive paid sick leave program is one of the steps we could be taking to combat the high case counts," he told reporters.

"What were hearing from workers is having to apply for a federal benefit creates a gap and it creates some uncertainty," said Kinew. "If youre someone in a precarious economic situation, what would work the best for you would be a paid sick leave program that goes through your employer. Your income keeps coming in  you know you have the economic security to stay home when youre sick," he said

As for providing protected, paid leave for workers to get vaccinated for COVID-19, Fielding said if its needed, the province will consider it.

"We havent heard that its an issue with most Manitoba businesses," he said.

Having a vaccinated workforce is in employers best interest, Fielding said. "If were hearing that employees cant go and get vaccinated, thats something we would consider."

Kinew said Manitoba shouldnt wait.

"At this stage, with the third wave here, with vaccines sitting in fridges in Manitoba right now, we should be removing every barrier possible from peoples participation in the vaccine program," said Kinew. "If that means ensuring that workers have three hours of paid time to get the jab in their arm, lets do it. Its going to help all of us."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Photo credit: Eric McCandless - ABC

The Conners spoilers follow.



Roseanne spin-off The Conners revealed the root cause of Becky's problem with alcohol on Wednesday's (April 21) episode.

During last night's episode on ABC in the US, 'Cheating, Revelations and a Box of Doll Heads', Becky (Lecy Goranson) explained that her husband Mark tragically passed away after suffering a freak accident.

Actor Glenn Quinn played Mark in the original series. He died in 2002 of a drug overdose.

Mark's death was referenced during Roseanne's revival season, but it was never confirmed how he died. In the latest episode, Becky revealed during a family therapy session that his passing was the reason she started drinking, explaining that it helped her cope with her grief.

Photo credit: Eric McCandless - ABC

Related: The Conners crew member dies on set

She said: "I didn't want to feel anything for a while, and then a while turned into years. I can't help thinking if he was still here, maybe all of this would be different."



Dan (John Goodman) didn't see things the same way as Becky, however. After a long time in the making, he told his daughter how he really felt about Mark, saying that he ruined Becky's life when he convinced her to drop out of school at the age of 17 to move to Minnesota.

While Mark promised that Becky would make it to college, she never did as he took her college money. After Dan and Roseanne sent it, Mark used it to pay for mechanic school which he then dropped out of.

"He shouldn't have taken my college money and I am a little angry at him for some of the things he did that screwed up my life," Becky responded.

Photo credit: Eric McCandless - ABC

Related: The Conners confirms new series regular for season 3

But Becky insisted that it wasn't entirely Mark's fault, adding: "I was so stupid. I didn't want to drop out and move. I wanted to go to college, but I was so afraid to lose him. And then I ended up losing him anyway.

"I've wasted so much time. I kept telling myself, over and over again, that I was going to stop drinking and get back on track, and now I'm so far behind.

Story continues

"I'll never catch up. Remember how proud you were when I said I was going to be a doctor?"

In Becky's moment of vulnerability, her father stepped up and wrapped his arms around her, reassuring her: "I've always been proud of you and never more than now."

The Conners airs on ABC in the US.

Alcohol Change UK offers information, advice and support with their questions about drinking and the problems that can sometimes be caused by alcohol. For more information, visit Alcohol Change UK's website. Drinkline also offers free, confidential advice to anyone who is concerned about their own or someone else's drinking on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am8pm, weekends 11am4pm).

Readers can also contact Drinkaware.

For more on drug addiction and dependency, including information and support, please visit FRANK or Action on Addiction.



Digital Spy's digital magazine is back! Read every issue now with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+ .

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AUSTIN, Texas , April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blockcap Inc. ("Blockcap") , one of the largest bitcoin mining and blockchain technology companies based in the United States, announced today that Jarvis Hollingsworth will serve as the newest member of its board of directors. The addition brings unparalleled legal and regulatory expertise to the rapidly growing company as it seeks to transform both Texas and the United States more broadly as a global leader in blockchain technology.

The move takes place as Blockcap seeks to increase its capacity for mining digital assets, including bitcoin. Since its founding last year, the company has deployed more than 12,000 fully operational mining machines and expects well over 40,000 to be online and working by next year. Moreover, since its founding, Blockcap has mined more than 1,600 bitcoin and approximately 544 during the first quarter of this year.

Blockcap's founder and executive chairman, Darin Feinstein , welcomed Hollingsworth to the board and cited his arrival as critical to sustaining the company's aggressive growth strategy and creating jobs in the city where it is headquartered, Austin, Texas .

"We're thrilled to have Jarvis as a member of our growing team, not only because of his legal expertise and business acumen but also because of the demonstrated leadership that he will bring to our company as we grow," Feinstein said. "He has served in a variety of important leadership positions, including as a Captain in the U.S. Army, and we look forward to Jarvis assisting our company as we continue to drive innovation and growth for both Texas and the United States."

Hollingsworth, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, is a prominent attorney who has extensive public and private company board experience. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a $185 billion-plus pension trust fund based in Austin. He joins a number of other notable experts on the Blockcap team, including Saifedean Ammous , a luminary in the blockchain industry and author of the groundbreaking book, The Bitcoin Standard.

In a statement, Hollingsworth expressed excitement over his new role, saying: "Blockcap is a pioneer in the blockchain industry and I am excited to help the company achieve its goal of becoming the leader in this critical industry. I am also excited to assist in Blockcap's mission to use digital asset technology to increase access to the financial system for more people here and around the world."

About Blockcap

Blockcap, Inc. (the "Company" or "Blockcap") headquartered in Austin, Texas, was founded by blockchain industry veterans that have been in the space for nearly a decade. The Blockcap mining division operates one of the world's largest bitcoin mining operations, accounting for 0.7 percent of all the Bitcoin network transactions. In addition to mining operations, the company operates two other divisions - digital treasury assets and venture investments. Blockcap's mining fleet currently utilizes Core Scientific's best-in-class co-location mining facilities based in the United States.

For more information, visit https://www.blockcap.com/ or contact (833) 901-BLOC toll-free.

Follow Blockcap on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Blockcap
That release could not be found.
Daniel Ikechukwu Ugwu, who died in January 2020 at the age of 32, was a native of Imilike Ani, a town in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State.

A faithful family man, Mr Ugwu was a loving husband to 27-year-old Onyinyechi Ugwu and a caring father to their six children.

On Childrens Day, he would take his wife and children to Okpara Square, an open space for celebration in the states capital Enugu, to have fun. The family would visit popular supermarketsShoprite and Sparand buy goodies, all while laughing and holding hands.

A twist of fate

At about 5 p.m. on January 6, 2020, Mr Ugwu, a driver for the transport company Peace Mass Transit (PMT), arrived at the companys bus terminal in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, having travelled from Onitsha in Anambra State.

While the passengers were alighting from the vehicle and their luggage was being brought out, a policeman attached to Fidelity Bank, Okutukutu in Yenagoa, approached him.

The policeman asked him to hand over his car keys. When he refused to comply, the policeman cocked his gun and shot Mr Ugwu, also injuring a passenger in the process.

The policeman tried to run away but was caught by witnesses and beaten up. The police arrived later and rescued their trigger-happy colleague from the mob. They also took Mr Ugwu and the injured passenger to the hospital.

Onyinyechi Ugwu, who was seven months pregnant at the time, said she and her husband had spoken in the early hours of that day. She was in her village at Ezza, in Ebonyi State.

She had been preparing to return the next day, to Enugu, where the family lived. She says when her husband called that morning, he had asked about the children and told her he was about to begin his journey from Onitsha to Yenagoa. This was one of the things she loved about him, she says; he told her everything he planned to do, never kept her in the dark.

Mrs Ugwu was distraught when news of her husbands shooting reached her. The man who called to give her the news also told her that her husband, who had regained consciousness despite getting hit in his left ear and spinal cord, wanted to speak with her. Daniel asked her to come to Yenagoa. He told her he was dying.

Throughout the night, Mrs Ugwu cried while her mother and family members tried to console her.

On January 10, 2020, four days after he was shot, Mr Ugwu died at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH).

Compensation denied

It is now 2021, more than a year after Daniels death.

His wife is yet to receive the compensation2.5 million nairathat Fidelity Banks representative promised to pay for the upkeep of her children.

When she requested to know the reason for the delay, the representative told her the bank headquarters was yet

to approve the money to be released.

Mrs Ugwu also says the police in Yenagoa have done nothing to assist her.

Man of the people

Mrs Ugwu remembers her husband as a loving, caring, generous and playful man who never let his wife and children lack anything.

Mr Ugwu, his wife says, extended his kind and caring nature to many others; his mother, siblings, co-workers, friends.

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Hardships

She now sells food to take care of her children, but this does not bring in nearly enough. They owe several months of rent and may soon be thrown out. The children no longer go to school. She just cannot afford it.

Mrs Ugwu, meanwhile, now has problems with her eyes. Her mental health has deteriorated too. She is barely able to pay attention during conversations, always finding herself absent-minded, worrying.

My heart is bleeding, seriously, she says. It is a lifetimes worth of pain.

____

This story is part of a multimedia project by Tiger Eye Foundation and media partners across Nigeria, documenting police brutality in Nigeria, and advocating for police reform.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Christopher Omeje, 19, died on June 30, 2009. Cause of death? SARS.

Christopher lived in Ovoko, a town in Igbo Eze South Local Government of Enugu State, where he attended the Boys Secondary School.

He loved to read and excelled academically. He read anything, at any time. Labels, books, receipts, anything.

When the time for his Senior Secondary School Examination (SSCE) drew near, Christopher begged his father, Dominic Omeje, to get him a room in a house close to his school to enable him to study for his exams without distraction. His father obliged and found for him a house, paying the rent for a year.

The only thing Christopher loved more than reading, was attending Block Rosary gatherings, where fellow Catholics had prayer and fellowship sessions in front of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christopher never missed these.

One evening, after a Block Rosary gathering, Christopher stood at a bus stop waiting for the bus home. While he waited, officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), who were dressed in mufti, drove past him.

The officers stopped their car and reversed, screeching to a halt where Christopher was standing.

Then, one of the officers, later identified as Inspector Victor Ugwu, shot Christopher. Just like that.

Bled to death

The officers put him in their car and drove off. Unfortunately, before they got to Iheaka, a nearby community, Christopher had bled to death.

The officers drove to Urban Police Station, in Nsukka, where they reported that they had shot him because they suspected he was a criminal.

They took the corpse to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in Ituku Ozalla, Enugu.

When news of Christophers death reached his family, they could not believe it.

We didnt know what to do at first, Christophers 27-year-old sister, Onyinyechi Omeje, says. We didnt believe the story.

His father, Dominic, who was not in town when his son was shot dead, asked his brother, Alphonsus Omeje, to go to UNTH and confirm the news by identifying Christophers corpse. Alphonsus returned from UNTH with sad news.

Christophers corpse was in the mortuary for three months before the police released it to his family for burial. The police told the family that what had happened to their 19-year-old was a mistake.

Demand for justice

During his burial, Christophers fellow Block Rosary members wept and walked the streets of Nsukka, chanting his name and demanding justice.

After the burial, Christophers family employed the services of a lawyer, Ike Obeta, and sued Mr Ugwu, the police inspector, at the Enugu Ezike High Court.

During one of the court sessions, Dominic asked Mr Ugwu if his son had done anything to him to warrant killing him. The latter said it was a mistake, that he did not even know Christopher.

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Justice elusive

Four years on, the case has amounted to nothing. It appeared that the police didnt want the killer to face justice, Dominic says. We kept on going and seeking justice for four years, yet nothing happened. At a point, I became tired. They were asking us to come today, come tomorrow.

Mr Ugwu is still a free man.

I have stopped thinking about it to avoid high blood pressure. Now, my sons killer is free. We still see and greet. But each time I see him, I get angry because he reminds me of my late son.

Unending mourning

Dominic Omeje says he had to relocate his family to Nsukka because, at Ovoko, whenever his wife saw Christophers grave in front of their compound, she broke down in tears.

Apart from his own struggles with high blood pressure, Dominic says he fights the urge to cry anytime he hears the name of his late son or sees any of his former classmates. He recalls with difficulty how his son only stayed 15 days in the house he had rented.

Thaddeus Omeje, 21, one of Christophers brothers, says his late brother taught him how to play the drums, and was strict but gentle.

He always encouraged us to be serious in whatever we were doing, especially with our education, Thaddeus says. He was a perfect example because he was always serious.

Anytime we had assignments in Maths, we were never worried because he was always going to help us with them.

On June 30 of every year, Christophers familyfather, mother, three brothers and three sisterssay a prayer for him. They also have a celebration of Mass dedicated to him, to remember and celebrate memories of him.

Christopher would have been 31 years today. His killer, Mr Ugwu, has never been arrested.

Until justice is served and Mr Ugwu is imprisoned, all the family has to keep itself sane is the hope that their beloved son and brother is resting in Gods bosom.

_____

This story is part of a multimedia project by Tiger Eye Foundation and media partners across Nigeria, documenting police brutality in Nigeria, and advocating for police reform.
Seven deputies have been put on leave - and another three have resigned - after a black man was fatally shot in North Carolina, it has been revealed.

Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten told WAVY-TV that seven deputies have been put on administrative leave following the shooting of Andrew Brown, 42, on Wednesday in Elizabeth City. CNN reported that another two deputies resigned and one retired as a result of the incident.

One deputy was initially placed on leave after the shooting, although their involvement in Brown's death remains unclear. Six others have now since been suspended, with further details yet to emerge on their involvement in the shooting.

Wooten told CNN that not all of the deputies that were placed on administrative shot their guns - but they were all part of the warrant operation.

The sheriff told WAVY-TV that body camera footage would be released 'in the next couple days' after protesters took to the streets for two nights in a row demanding that officers release the footage.

Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten, top, appears during a meeting at The Mount, a church in Elizabeth City, where he spoke to push messages of unity and transparency, as well as accountability, with local religious and political leaders

Andrew Brown, 42, was shot and killed by sheriffs in North Carolina on Wednesday morning

Brown, a father of ten, was described by his family as a 'good guy'

The Pasquotank Sheriff told WAVY-TV that seven deputies are on administrative leave after the shooting

The Elizabeth City Council held a press conference after an emergency meeting to address the shooting

Elizabeth City council members hold a press conference following an emergency meeting to direct the City Attorney to file a petition with court for body cam footage of the Andrew Brown Jr. shooting

Glenda Brown Thomas displays a photo of her nephew, Andrew Brown Jr., on her cell phone at her home in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Thursday

A small memorial is at the scene where a Pasquotank County sheriffs deputy shot and killed Andrew Brown

Daylight shines through a bullet hole in an antique clock on the living room wall of Michael Gordon's home in Elizabeth City, N.C.

Brown, a father of 10 children, was shot and killed in his car at around 8.30am while police were executing search-and-arrest warrants for drug offenses, officials said.

Authorities would not provide details of the shooting but an eyewitness said that he was shot while trying to drive away, and that deputies fired at him multiple times.

The car skidded out of Brown's yard and eventually hit a tree, said Demetria Williams, who lives on the same street.

Williams said after hearing one gunshot, she ran outside, where she saw other shots being fired at the car.

'When they opened the door he was already dead,' Williams told The Associated Press. 'He was slumped over.'

She said officers tried to perform chest compressions on him. A car authorities removed from the scene appeared to have multiple bullet holes and a broken rear windshield.

However, the body camera footage cannot be released to the public without a court order under North Carolina law.

The Elizabeth City Council held an emergency meeting at 3.30pm on Friday and voted unanimously to petition the sheriff to release the body camera video, WAVY-TV reported.

City council members said that the Elizabeth city attorney will petition a superior court for an order of release if the sheriff denies the request.

A demonstrator holds a sign for Andrew Brown Jr. during a protest march on Thursday

Kirk Rivers, president of the Pasquotank County chapter of the NAACP, leads a group of demonstrators as they block Ehringhaus Street, a main retail avenue in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Friday

Elizabeth City council members hold a press conference following an emergency meeting to direct the City Attorney to file a petition with court for body cam footage of the shooting

Quentin Jackson, regional director for the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, addresses protesters blocking Business U.S. 17 in Elizabeth City, N.C.

A woman holds a Black Voters Matter sign while driving in a protest march on April 22, 2021 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina

Andrew Brown Jr.'s aunt Martha McCullen and her granddaughter pose for a photo on the stoop of his rental home

Demonstrators block an intersection to protest the police killing of Andrew Brown Jr in Elizabeth City, North Carolina on Friday

However, the city attorney said during the meeting that he does not believe the city has much of a legal standing to request the body camera footage.

Council member Darius Horton made a motion to make the request anyway to 'send a message,' according to the outlet.

City Attorney William Morgan said during the meeting that for the city to have legal standing to demand the footage it 'would have to have suffered some harm or have some reasonable connection to the issue,' The Outer Banks Voice reported.

Sheriff Wooten appeared during a meeting at The Mount, a church in Elizabeth City, where he spoke to push messages of unity and transparency, as well as accountability, with local religious and political leaders.

'We come as a united front to let you know we hear you, we feel your pain. We know there is a lot of hurt in his community and we definitely want the transparency you want, we want the accountability that you want  and there will be accountability,' Wooten said.

Sheriff Tommy S. Wooten, II , right, and Chief Deputy Daniel Fogg with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office speak about the death of Andrew Brown Jr. in this message posted on Thursday

Demonstrators organize to march in Elizabeth City on Thursday

Kirk Rivers addresses demonstrators outside City Hall as they await members of the city council who held an emergency meeting on Friday

Demonstrators march on Thursday in Elizabeth City in reaction to the death of Andrew Brown

A demonstrator wears a shirt with an image of Andrew Brown Jr. on it during a march, Thursday

The sheriff offered his 'sincerest condolences' to the Brown family while local leaders called for peace and patience while investigations into the shooting death of Brown are underway.

'I also will be calling in another agency to be doing our internal investigation, administratively, to keep my sheriff's office out of it completely, and that is solely due to accountability,' Wooten said.

'I can assure the public that if any of my deputies  broke any laws or violated any policies that come out in this investigation, they will be held accountable because it's what citizens expect of me, it's my job as a leader, and it's the right thing to do.'

Officials have described Brown as someone who was well known to police - but his family described the father-of-ten as a 'good guy', despite his 'flaws' - and are demanding the body camera footage.

'The police didn't have to shoot my baby,' Martha McCullen, an aunt of Brown, said on Thursday on the stoop of Brown's rental home.

She said she raised him after his parents died and that he recently had has children taken from him but was working to get them back.

'Andrew Brown was a good person,' she said. 'He was about to get his kids back. He was a good father. Now his kids won't never see him again.'

Brown's grandmother, Lydia Brown, and his aunt Clarissa Brown Gibson told The Associated Press that they learned about his death through a TV news report. Both said they want the shooting thoroughly investigated.

'I am very upset. Andrew was a good person,' Lydia Brown said. The deputy 'didn't have to shoot him like that.'

Clarissa Brown Gibson said: 'We want to know if he was served with a warrant, why the shooting over a warrant?'

Kirk Rivers, president of the Pasquotank County chapter of the NAACP, led a group of demonstrators as they blocked Ehringhaus Street, a main retail avenue in Elizabeth City, on Friday.

Rivers told the Associated Press earlier this week that 'people in charge' need to be held accountable.

'When is it going to stop? We just got a verdict yesterday,' Rivers said in a phone interview, referring to the guilty verdicts handed down Tuesday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

'Is it open season now? At some point, it has to stop. We have to start holding the people in charge accountable.'

On Thursday night Andrew Womble, the district attorney for the First Prosecutorial District, which encompasses Elizabeth City, said they were prevented by law from releasing the footage.

'We know people want to see the body camera footage,' said Womble, in a statement jointly signed with R. Michael Cox, the Pasquotank County Attorney.

'It is reasonable for people to ask to see it, because such footage can help provide key context about what happens in incidents like this.

'However, under North Carolina law police worn body camera footage is not a public record and cannot be released to the press or public without a court order.

'We must follow the law and the law prohibits us from publicly releasing the body worn camera footage.'

Womble and Cox said they were allowed to show the footage privately to the family, however, and were making arrangements to do so.
Houston police say a mural honoring George Floyd on the east side of downtown was vandalized Thursday but was quickly restored by its muralist.

Some knucklehead sprayed a racist message across Floyds image early Thursday morning, Police Chief Troy Finner said. The vandal spray-painted across the image of Floyd's face "(N-word) lives don't matter."
Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura have taken a walk down memory lane, recalling their fateful first meeting and whirlwind engagement that followed just a few months later.

The couple, both 74, reflected on their courtship during an interview with The Wall Street Journal that was published on Friday following the release of Mr. Bush's new book, Out of Many, One, a collection of 43 portraits of immigrants that he painted.

'The moment I saw Lauras blue eyes I felt heart palpitations,' he said of their first meeting in Midland, Texas, in July 1977. 'She was a beautiful, stately woman. A little shy but very engaging.'

Looking back: George W. Bush and his wife Laura, both 74, reflected on their courtship and whirlwind engagement in a new interview

Memories: The Bushes were set up by mutual friends Joe and Jan ONeill, who invited both of them over for burgers in Midland, Texas, in July 1977. They married that November (pictured)

The Bushes were set up by their mutual friends Joe and Jan ONeill, who invited both of them over for burgers on that summer day.

'They also wanted me to meet Laura Welch, Jan's close friend,' Mr. Bush said. 'I went. I was hungry. I was also getting up there in age and felt the urge to settle in.'

Mrs. Bush noted that they had actually crossed paths in school years prior.

'Jan had talked up George quite a bit,' she recalled. 'I vaguely remembered him from seventh grade as someone who talked a lot. I put on a blue sundress and went over.'

True love: Mr. Bush recalled how he 'felt heart palpitations' when he saw his future wife's blue eyes, while she said he was 'cute.' They're pictured with the Bush family

Family: Mr. and Mrs. Bush are proud parents to fraternal twin daughters Jenna and Barbara, who are now 39

Mr. Bush's heart fluttered when he saw her in that dress that complemented her blue eyes, and the feeling was mutual.

'I thought George was cute. Mainly he liked to talk and I liked to listen,' she said of their instant connection.

Mr. Bush told WSJ that they had only been dating for a 'few months' when he popped the question.

'I went down to Austin, where Laura was teaching school. I proposed at her rental house,' he recalled.

Stumping for votes: The Bushes are picture talking on their presidential campaign plane in June 2000 during the

Big day: The couple is pictured with their daughters Barbara (left) and Jenna (right) during former President Bush's second inauguration in January 2005

'I wasn't surprised,' she added. 'I knew George was going to ask. I didnt have to think twice about it. I said yes right away.'

Mr. Bush said he 'felt an exciting new chapter begin' the moment his bride-to-be accepted his proposal. They wed on November 5, 1977, just three months after they started dating.

During the interview, the former president reflected on the first piece of furniture they owned as a couple: a brown leather sofa that they still own.

'I traded oil leases for it,' he explained. 'I hope the guy made money off them. We still have the couch. Its in my Crawford art studio. Much to Lauras chagrin, it now has paint splattered on it. But it still works.'

Happy: Mr. and Mrs. Bush are grandparents to Jenna's three children: Mila, Poppy, and Hal

Memories: Mr. Bush noted that he and his wife still have the first piece of furniture they owned as a couple: a brown leather sofa that is now in his art studio

The couple has been married for 43 years, and they are proud parents to fraternal twin daughters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush Coyne, both 39. They are also grandparents to Jenna's three children: Mila, Poppy, and Hal.

Earlier this week, the Bushes joined their daughter Jenna and her co-host Hoda Kotb on the Today show for the former president's first live television interview in three years.

When asked if he knew his wife was the one 'right away,' he told Jenna: 'Yeah. You should've seen your mom. Those blue eyes, oh my god.'

He added: 'I've done a lot of things in my life. And your mom has enabled me to do so in many ways.'

Mr. Bush's second Bush of paintings, Out of Many, One, was released on Tuesday. The paintings are also displayed in an exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
Zhang Lei, CEO of Envision Group said "addressing the challenges posed by climate change are critical to the survival of humanity. As a green technology company, Envision's mission is to solve the challenges for a sustainable future. We have set up a challenging goal and roadmap for ourselves: we will take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality, empower our partners to accelerate carbon neutrality, and help build a net-zero economic system."

With the support of The Carbon Trust, an international independent consulting organization, Envision has calculated the carbon emissions across its global operations and value chain, and analyzed the emissions for different business sectors and regions Envision operates in.

The detailed report disclosed environmental data across Envision Group's operations and value chain: In 2020, the group's scope 1&2 emissions were approximately 97,225 tCO2e, primarily from the Envision AESC battery business. With the rapid growth in smart wind turbines, power batteries, and AloT, Envision Group's carbon emissions are expected to increase substantially in 2022. In order to become carbon neutral in operations by 2022, Envision is estimated to reduce or offset over 400,000 tCO2e through conserving energy, increasing green electricity consumption, purchasing carbon credits, etc.

"It is not enough for Envision to be an industry pioneer, but to become a net-zero technology partner as well. We want to help more companies and governments to achieve carbon neutrality together," Zhang Lei added.

At the "Net Zero Day" event, Envision debuted the "Envision Ark Carbon Management System". This system is based on AloT technology that can monitor the real-time carbon footprints of companies and organizations, and automatically generate carbon-emission reports. The Ark system can also simulate and optimize the emission reduction roadmap for future offset planning, while allowing users to directly purchase green electricity, obtain green certificates, and trade carbon sinks. With Envision's Ark Carbon Management System, companies and organizations benefit from an end-to-end solution that can accelerate their carbon neutral transformation.

In 2020, more than 95% of Envision's greenhouse gas emissions came from indirect emissions in the value chain, beyond Envision's day-to-day operations. Regarding the upstream and downstream emissions, Envision will speed up emission reduction from two-pronged approach: focusing internally on product optimization, and externally on supplier engagement. In the report, Envision pledges to join the "Business Ambition for 1.5C" and set science-based targets aligned with the Paris Agreement. Envision will submit the targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

At the event, Envision and Sequoia Capital China jointly launched the "Carbon Neutrality Key Technologies" Eco-Partners Project, part of the Carbon Neutrality Fund jointly established by Envision and Sequoia Capital China. The project aims to help accelerate innovation of carbon neutrality technology, form new industrial chains and promote technology application.

Since its establishment in 2007, Envision has designed and manufactured more than 12,500 wind turbines connected to grids globally, with a cumulative output of over 150,000 GWh of clean electricity, which reduce about 100 million tCO2e. Nearly 600,000 electric vehicles have installed power batteries produced by Envision AESC. Compared with traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, these EVs are estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 660,000 tCO2e per year. Envision Digital's world-leading AloT operating system EnOS manages more than 200GW of renewable energy assets, equivalent to the newly added installed capacity globally in 2020 for wind and solar energy.

"The next ten years will be a critical time for humankind to respond to the global climate crisis. The release of the first carbon neutral report is not only to show our ambitions to our partners, but also to show confidence in our technological innovations and solutions," Zhang Lei said.

To download the Chinese and English versions of the report, please visit: http://www.envision-group.com/cn/zeroday2021.html



About Envision Group

Envision Group is a world leading greentech company. With the mission of 'solving the challenges for a sustainable future', Envision designs, sells and operates smart wind turbines and smart storage system through Envision Energy, AIoT-powered batteries through Envision AESC and the world's largest AIoT operating system through Envision Digital. It also owns Envision Virgin Racing Formula E team.

Envision Group was ranked among the Top 10 of the 2019 'World's 50 Smartest Companies' by the MIT Technology Review. As an innovation powerhouse, it leverages global network of R&D and engineering centers across China, Unite States, Germany, Denmark, Singapore and Japan, leading global green technology development. Envision Group joined the global 'RE100' initiative and became the first company in mainland China committed to 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

On April 22, 2021, Envision Group announced it will achieve carbon neutral in operations by 2022 and achieve carbon neutral throughout its value chain by 2028.

For more information, please visit: www.envision-group.com

SOURCE Envision

Related Links

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - GMV Minerals Inc. (TSXV: GMV) (OTCQB: GMVMF) (the "Company" or "GMV") is pleased to announce that its non-brokered private placement, announced on April 16th, 2021, has closed with the issuance of 1,000,000 units at a price of $0.22 per unit for gross proceeds of $220,000, with all securities issued having a four-month hold period which expires on August 24, 2021.

As previously announced, each unit in this offering consists of one common share in the capital of the company and one-half of a share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the unitholder to purchase one additional GMV common share at a price of $0.30 per share at any time within 24 months of the closing.

The Company paid $1,540 in cash and issued 7,000 warrants for finder's fees in conjunction with this non-brokered placement.

The net proceeds of the offering will be used to advance exploration activities at the Company's 100-per-cent-controlled Mexican Hat gold property located in southeastern Arizona, as well as for general working capital

About GMV Minerals Inc.

GMV Minerals Inc. is a publicly traded exploration company focused on developing precious metal assets in Arizona. GMV, through its 100% owned subsidiary, has a 100% interest in a Mining Property Lease commonly referred to as the Mexican Hat Project, located in Cochise County, Arizona, USA. The project was initially explored by Placer Dome (USA) in the late 1980's to early 1990's. GMV is focused on developing the asset and realizing the full mineral potential of the property through near term gold production. The Company recently updated its inferred mineral resource to 36,733,000 tonnes grading 0.58 g/t gold at a 0.2 g/t cut-off, containing 688,000 ounces of gold.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties as described in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. 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. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

________________________________________

Ian Klassen, President

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.

For further information please contact:

GMV Minerals Inc.

Ian Klassen

Tel: (604) 899-0106

Email: info@gmvminerals.com

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management of the Company regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements except as may be required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81567
By Jeff Mason and Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's climate summit will turn to the issue of technology on Friday, featuring remarks from entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, after Thursday's Earth Day kickoff sought to rally world ambition to reduce

Biden called the two-day meeting with dozens of heads-of-state to declare the United States back at the climate leadership table after his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Democratic president, who returned the United States to the pact, announced a new U.S. target on Thursday to reduce its emissions 50%-52% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels. Japan and Canada also raised their targets.

The White House has sought to assure other countries that it can meet that target, even if a new administration takes over, because industry is moving toward cleaner power, electric vehicles, and more renewable energy anyway.

"The world, as a whole, is moving in this direction," Biden's climate envoy John Kerry told reporters.

"These companies have made this critical, long-term, strategic marketing judgment, and that is the way the market is moving. No politician, no matter how demagogic or how potent and capable they are, is going to be able to change what that market is doing," he said.

On Friday the administration rolls out top cabinet officials and business leaders to make the case for technology's role in a "net-zero, climate-resilient economy."

Biden has sought to connect efforts to fight with opportunities to create jobs, arguing that taking action will be good for the economy, countering Republican concerns that overzealous climate regulation could damage the economy.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are all scheduled to take part in Friday's conference.

Foreign leaders including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phucare are also slated to join.

Gates and Bloomberg, both wealthy businessmen-turned-philanthropists, have focused their energies on in recent years. Gates has invested about $2 billion toward the development of clean technologies, mostly in electricity generation and storage.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Stephen Coates)

(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 landmarks including Kilkenny Garda Station and County Hall turned purple last night (Thursday) to raise awareness of domestic violence for Go Purple Day.

Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Andrew McGuinness was joined by Lisa Morris, manager of Amber Womens Refuge, who has been promoting the campaign and urging people to take part, at County Hall yesterday evening to mark the event.

Speaking to The Kilkenny People, Cathaoirleach Andrew McGuinness said, I want to commend Lisa and all the team at Amber Womens Refuge, not only for taking on this great awareness raising initiative, but also for the fantastic work they do every day.

We have seen a very worrying surge in domestic violence since the start of this pandemic with lockdown exposing just how bad this issue is.

We are blessed to have such great people, such as the staff in in Amber Womens Refuge and our own local gardai, that really go the extra mile to help those suffering such abuse.

Its important that those suffering in silence know that there is help and support available and that whatever abuse they are enduring at home can be stopped.

Raising awareness like this is an opportunity to send that positive message to victims of domestic violence but it also shows that we are united as a community in our support for victims but also in condemning the horrible abuse they endure behind closed doors.

I want to say a special thank you to Lisa Morris for taking on this initiative and to Tim Butler and Benny Nolan for arranging the purple lighting. Its not easy to change the lighting on our public buildings with the current system but that will be upgraded this year and we will be able to light up all of our buildings easily for this campaign and others going forward," he said.

Local gardai are also backing the initiative and Kilkenny Garda Station was also lit in purple.

Superintendent Derek Hughes told the Kilkenny People that An Garda Siochana in Kilkenny were committed to supporting Go Purple Day for Domestic Violence Services. Kilkenny Gardai are privileged to enjoy very close working relationships with statutory and non-statutory agencies in supporting victims of domestic violence. We are here to help anyone who finds themselves in an abusive relationship  no one should suffer in their own home.

The Superintendent urged any victim of domestic abuse to contact Kilkenny Gardai on 056 7775000.

Covid-19 has seen a rise in domestic abuse with services seeing an increase in demand for services.

For over a year now, we have all been working under enormous pressure to respond to those fleeing domestic abuse, said Lisa Morris, manager of Amber Womens Refuge.

In Ireland, and across the globe, incidences of domestic and sexual violence have risen significantly since the start of the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns. We are very clear that Covid-19 does not cause domestic and sexual violence, it has exposed it.

But, this epidemic has also exposed an outpouring of communal empathy for those living with control and abuse in their homes that we have perhaps not seen before, she continued.

We hope that this Go Purple Day will give people another easy, fun way to continue to support our work in keeping women and children safe here in Kilkenny.

Amber is one of the 39 frontline service members of Safe Ireland across the country. To donate, go to the donate now button at www.amberwomensrefuge.ie. All funds raised in Kilkenny will go to the local service.
The Innovation Centre is living up to its name.

The Innovation Centre is living up to its name.

Next week, electrical and construction crews will begin to install 400 energy-conducting solar panels  the first of their kind in North America  on its exterior.

The centre, which is the latest addition to Red River Colleges Exchange District campus, will foster collaboration between businesses and students on concept and product development, testing and promotion.

The glass panels, called Kromatix building-integrated photovoltaics, are made by layering solar, thermal and electronic components.

Together with 138 rooftop panels, the college expects to offset its energy consumption by enough energy to power 18.5 average-sized houses.

With global markets for building-integrated photovoltaics expected to more than double by 2026, according to a recent report, the installation offers students a peek at technology on the cusp of widespread growth.

The solar panels inverters, which convert the energy for use in the building, also serve a second purpose.

"They collect information about how much power its producing and when," said Joe Carey, chair of electrical engineering technology at Red River College.

That data will end up in a digital storage point accessible to students.

"They can actually see the real-world application and what its doing and how its doing it," he said.

Carey and his department asked for sensors on the panels to collect environmental data, such as wind shear and ice cover. Understanding how conditions affect energy production will provide students with invaluable insight, he said.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to learn about the latest technology in sustainable energy," he said.

This applies to the architectural engineering and construction management students too, he said, who will also get exposure to the technology.

A crucial benefit of the solar panels is they function as cladding, the outer layer covering a building. Unlike older solar panels, theres no need to buy cladding separately.

Of course, the new tech costs more upfront than most traditional cladding. But brick and vinyl siding dont funnel energy into their buildings. Solar panels do, reducing energy costs.

"It pays for itself over a period of time," said Carey.

Theres another, more visceral, factor: the panels are beautiful.

Quite apart from the image of dull black squares plastered atop buildings like single-player chess boards, the panels come in a range of colour. The colour is the result not of paint or tint but of "atomic deposition"  a thin film of ingrained atoms that reflect light to create colour.

So the golden panels facing Adelaide Street should have an iridescent effect, changing hues as you walk around it.

"It makes you feel good," said Maria Mendes, who heads the Innovation Centre project. "Sustainability is more than just energy efficiency and so on. You still want your environment to be a place you want to be."

She said she thinks good esthetics can help encourage more builders to use green technology. That would result in greater overall efficiency, which, for Mendes, is the goal.

"One of the targets was to try to get to as near net zero as possible," she said.

The panels high energy-transmission rates will help do that, she said. Theyre also installing Power over Ethernet lighting, which can transmit both power and data through a single low-voltage cable, and a number of smaller energy-saving elements.

It took a team of architects, engineers, builders and electricians to get the project to this point, said Mendes.

Besides that, the European panels had to be inspected and improved by the Canadian Standards Association, the City of Winnipeg and Manitoba Hydro.

Lauren Parsons, a spokeswoman for Red River, said the college hopes to hold classes at the centre after it opens in the fall.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
International

Ukraine, UK agree to expand military cooperation

KIEV, APR 22 (IANS) | Publish Date: 4/22/2021 12:42:58 PM IST

Ukraine and the UK have reached an agreement on expanding the Orbital training mission and working on strengthening the Ukrainian Navy.

This agreement was reached during the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Ruslan Khomchak to the UK on April 19-20 and his meeting with the British Chief of the General Staff, General Nick Carter, reports Xinhua news agency.

Khomchak thanked the UK for its assistance in increasing the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their compatibility with NATO troops.

Carter, in turn, said the British Armed Forces had trained over 20,000 Ukrainian servicemen as part of bilateral military cooperation.

He also said the British side leads the initiative to train the Ukrainian Navy and supports defense reform in Ukraine.

Britain-led Operation Orbital, a training program for the Ukrainian armed forces, was established in 2015 following the request of the Ukrainian authorities.
COLUMBIA  South Carolina businesses can expect to have broad protection on lawsuits stemming from decisions made during the coronavirus pandemic after the House gave a bill key approval on April 22.

After the bill receives a final perfunctory vote in the House, it will head to Gov. Henry McMaster's desk. McMaster recently urged lawmakers to make sure the liability protection measure passed before the end of this year's legislative session.

The bill would promise immunity from liability for employers who follow guidance published by state health agencies. That safety would extend back to the declaration of a state of emergency, on March 13, 2020, and last until 180 days after the state of emergency is lifted in the future.

In effect, it would make it much more difficult for an employee or guest of a company to sue over a coronavirus infection.

The bill's fate in the House had been unclear. But it moved out of the Judiciary Committee and received quick approval this week on an 89-18 vote.

On April 19, McMaster sent a letter to committee members arguing that passage of the bill had to be a high priority.

"South Carolina business owners  including those in the hospitality, tourism, manufacturing and health care sectors  should not be placed at future risk for following the recommended safety protocols which allowed them to operate and employ people during the pandemic," McMaster said in his letter.

Supporters of the bill said that companies that were complying with the recommendations of experts during the pandemic deserved such protections. Early in the pandemic that advice kept changing, so companies that made a good-faith effort to keep workers and customers safe should be assured that they won't face a surge of lawsuits, said Bob Morgan, CEO of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.

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"Companies now have certainty," Morgan said.

About 260 employers and business groups took actions to show their support of the measure, Morgan said.

Most manufacturers kept work going through the pandemic, adding COVID-19 safety measure to their usual workplace protections, said Sara Hazzard, CEO of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance, which backed the measure.

Those companies helped the state's economy make it through the pandemic and should not face undue legal liability for having kept employees working during the crisis, she said.

During brief House debate on the measure, one member complained that such measures have left the insurance industry as the only part of the economy evading damage from the pandemic.

Insurance companies are getting special protection from any costs yet are charging millions in premiums to South Carolina companies during the pandemic, said Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg.

Morgan sees the bill as a bonus for economic development, the field in which he worked before coming to the S.C. Chamber. Many other Southeastern states, including neighbors Georgia and North Carolina, have passed such measures.

Taking action during the pandemic to protect companies highlights the state's pro-business climate to companies that are looking to expand in the Southeast, he said.
To mark Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes' one-year anniversary, Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes will give hospital workers a month's worth of PPE April 26, 2021, starting at 11:30 a.m. outside Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital. Workers will receive KN95s, surgical masks, cloth barrier masks, and hand sanitizer.

Bellevue was the first hospital Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes volunteers brought free PPE to at the start of the pandemic's PPE shortages.

Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes will distribute the WellBefore donation of KN95s, 3-ply surgical masks, and face shields in three methods: 1) events outside hospitals for hospital workers and community members; 2) PPE drive-throughs for often-neglected small/medium organizations; and 3) delivery/pick-up for public housing complexes, first responders, and others.

"Shahzil Amin and WellBefore's gift of one million pieces is extraordinary and will support the health and wellbeing of countless New Yorkers," Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes founder Rhonda Roland Shearer said. "Our frontline workers still have to buy expensive PPE for their home and personal use. We're so pleased WellBefore has enabled us to keep saying thank you with free PPE to hospital workers who continue to put their lives and mental health on the line during the pandemic."

"Giving back is a core pillar that was infused into WellBefore since its inception," said Shahzil (Shaz) Amin, WellBefore Founder/CEO. "We donate weekly to non-profits, individuals, and many other organizations in need. The impact that Rhonda has made throughout her life, especially now with Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes, is something we deeply admire and are humbled to support."

Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes's Shearer took out a nearly $1 million loan to buy PPE for healthcare workers at the beginning of the pandemic. A GoFundMe campaign, www.cutredtape4heroes.org , has raised $500,000 to pay down her debt. For more information, contact [email protected] or 917-379-4250.

SOURCE Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes

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Elderly citizens aged 75 or older receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation center in Daegu, Friday. Yonhap



Korea approves self-testing kits



By Bahk Eun-ji



A majority of Koreans are skeptical of the government's plan to achieve COVID-19 herd immunity by November through vaccination, a survey showed, Friday.



The negative prediction mainly stems from the fact that Korea is struggling to secure vaccines amid a worldwide supply shortage, coupled with growing concerns over the possible side effects of the vaccines, such as blood clots.



In the survey of 1,009 citizens jointly conducted by four pollsters from Monday to Wednesday, 69 percent of the respondents said they don't think the government's plan to achieve herd immunity by November was feasible, while only 24 percent said they thought it would be possible.



Although more than 2 million people have received COVID-19 vaccine shots at least once since inoculations began on Feb. 26, the inoculation rate still falls short of the government's initial plan.



The country has signed contracts with foreign pharmaceutical firms for doses for 79 million people, but only about 2 million have been imported so far, with the exact supply schedule for some products still remaining undecided.



Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Tuesday that Korea was seeking a "vaccine swap" with the United States. However, U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday (local time) that the U.S. wants to share the COVID-19 vaccine with other countries, but will not begin sending vaccines abroad until it has a sufficient supply at home.



"We're looking at what is going to be done with some of the vaccines that we are not using. We're going to make sure they are safe to be sent," Biden said at the White House.











A medical worker performs a test at a COVID-19 testing station in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
One punter said a pint of Peroni has rocked by 60p from 6.40 to 7 in London

The price of a pint has risen to 7 at some bars in London with pubs hiking prices by as much as 1.10 to claw back losses made during lockdown.

One punter said a single pint of Peroni has rocked by 60p from 6.40 to 7 in Roehampton, South West London, since the reopening on April 12.

Social media users also blasted the 'shocking' increase, claiming a Sam Smiths beverage has risen by 1.10.

The price hike follows breweries adding more than 12p a pint to brands including Budweiser, Stella Artois and Becks.

One consultant from a beer outlet said an increase of 4p to 5p is expected year on year, but labelled a rise of 9p as 'absolutely ridiculous', adding that over 12p is 'just scandalous'.

In a letter seen by the MailOnline, drinks distributors G+G Gallo Enterprises listed price increases from suppliers that came into effect on April 5.

Among the lagers listed, Budweiser and Stella Four had the highest increase in price at 12.7p per pint, followed by Becks and Stella at 12p and Blue Moon at 9.5p (excluding VAT).

It follows MailOnline exclusively revealing on Wednesday that Star Pubs and Bars, which is owned by Heineken UK and supports 2,500 pubs nationwide, advised bosses to 'consider reviewing' price increases.

The group also cited a study conducted by market research companies KAM Media and CGA between May and June last year, finding almost two thirds of pub-goers 'expected' price rises following the first lockdown.

Industry body UK Hospitality previously warned that up to 30,000 pubs, bars and restaurants will close if ministers do not stick to the roadmap out of lockdown.

Close to 12,000 licensed premises shut permanently between December 2019 and February this year.

The price of a pint has risen to 7 at some bars in London with pubs hiking prices by as much as 1.10 to claw back losses made during lockdown. Pictured: a file photo of people seated at outdoor tables in Pimlico, London

Social media users blasted the 'shocking' price increase, claiming a Sam Smiths beverage has risen by 1.10 (tweet pictured above)

Which beer brands have brewers increased the most in price? Beer brand vs how much the brewer has increased per pint since April 5 (from highest to lowest): Budweiser - 12.7p Stella Four - 12.7p Becks - 12p Stella Artois - 12p Blue Moon - 9.5p Moretti - 9.2p Staropramen - 9p Tiger - 9p Pravha - 8.9p Sharps Offshore Pilsner - 8.9p Cobra - 8.8p Kronenbourg 1664 - 8.8p Coors Light - 7.4p Maltsmiths Lager - 7.4p Carling - 7.1p Heineken - 7p Amstel - 6.7p Budweiser Light - 6.6p Tiger - 5.4p Five Grain Lager - 4.5p Fosters - 4.5p Advertisement

Marion King, consultant at family-run beer tie outlet Monico Leisure Ltd in Canvey Island, Essex, told MailOnline: 'Breweries do go up on their prices year on year, about 4p to 5p. It is a standard thing expected in the industry.

'However they have gone up quite dramatically. Our cider has gone up 9p a pint which is absolutely ridiculous. When they've gone up by over 12p a pint then that's just scandalous.'

She added: 'I would say to my customers to go up 10p a pint year on year. People expect that.

'But this year we've had to go up 20p because the brewers have gone up that much more.

'We've had to do double our staff and associated costs have gone up quite considerably because people have used Covid as a way of putting up prices, which is a shame.'

Raj Trivedi told MailOnline that he paid 7 for a pint of Peroni in Roehampton, saying it would have usually cost 6.40 before the reopening.

Meanwhile, one publican previously said that Star Pubs and Bars had recommended increases in the region of 10 per cent, meaning a pint of Peroni that once cost 4 would now cost 4.40.

But it seems that some pubs have already taken up the suggestion, with eagle-eyed punters spotting huge increases in the cost of a round since the April 12 reopening.

Drinkers have taken to social media to complain that a single pint has rocked from 3.20 to 4.70 in the South West and of prices climbing by 40p in Walsall.

Many noted that a pint of Heineken in London and Manchester now costs 5.75, saying: 'Don't think it would have cost this pre-lockdown.'

Pubs have revealed the cynical suggestion to pass on massive price increases to customers after landlords begged breweries for help on rent and other pandemic associated costs.

Star Pubs and Bars' advice has only been passed onto so-called 'tied pubs', those which rent premises and are tied into buying their beer from specific breweries, with many facing having to pay off huge rent debt that has built up during the pandemic.

Drinkers have taken to social media to complain that a single pint has rocked from 3.20 to 4.70 in the South West and of prices climbing by 40p in Walsall

But the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has urged pubs to 'keep price rises to a minimum', warning that hikes will not help encourage customers to return to pubs at a time when they have become used to 'cheaper supermarket booze'.

It came as Heineken announced on Wednesday that UK sales by volume plunged by around 3 per cent in the first three months of this year and axed 8,000 jobs globally in February - almost 10 per cent of its 85,000 staff.

One pub landlord, who spoke to the group's business development manager and wished to remain anonymous, told MailOnline: 'In their words, they were trying to work out the highest prices we can get from customers while they need beer.

'I took it as trying to get money out of people's pockets after a very difficult year and point black refused. They also said that most people pay by card now and they don't really check it, so are putting up prices now as people won't notice.

People enjoy the evening at the Fox on the Hill pub pub after its reopening as Covid restrictions ease in London on April 12

Crowds of people flock to outdoor restaurants and pub tables in Soho, central London, on April 12 after lockdown restrictions eased across England

People enjoy their drinks at the Fox on the Hill pub in London after its reopening on April 12 during the first phase of lockdown restrictions being eased

'They recommended hiking the prices by about 10 per cent, so roughly 40p on a pint. I don't know whether other pub companies will follow suit, but it seems to be a push for extra money within Star Pubs and Bars.

'I certainly haven't heard of anybody else pushing their prices up.'

On March 24, ahead of reopening, Star Pubs and Bars told bosses in an email: 'If you haven't already, now is the ideal time to consider reviewing your pricing.

'There was a price rise in January and research by KAM Media and CGA reveals almost two thirds of pub-goers expect price increases in pubs when they return.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown, with indoor hospitality expected to reopen on May 17 in England

The move aims to help pubs recoup their losses, with other companies including Greene King and Stonegate previously slashing rents by 90 per cent over winter (file photo)

Punters pictured queuing to get into the George pub in Wanstead, east London, last year

'They will pay more to help support their local pub following restrictions - as long as they get value for money, so our advice is to do so.

'If you are planning on opening on April 12 and would like advice on the price increase prior to re-opening, especially around how much you should be putting your prices up by to maintain your current margins, please contact me by phone or email and I will be happy to help and discuss this with you.'

A spokesperson for the company said: 'It's not up to us to dictate pricing in our pubs, it's up to individual pub landlords and our advice is there to help them.

'We know from research that people are prepared to pay a bit more for a pint and are looking forward to getting back to the pub with their friends and family.'

MailOnline has contacted Sam Smiths for comment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday accused West Bengal's TMC government of partonising illegal immigration from Bangladesh and extortion syndicates but uncharacteristically avoided personally targeting Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee.

Addressing a virtual rally at Shaheed Minar ground from New Delhi, he said West Bengal needed peace for development.

"Illegal immigration, syndicates and extortion are big hurdles in the path of West Bengal's development," he said without naming Banerjee, whom the BJP has often accused of patronising such activities.

The prime minister's virtual meeting came a day after the Election Commission banned road shows, motorcycle rallies and padyatras for the remaining two phases of the state assembly election campaign and capped attendance at public rallies to just 500.

Modi, who was to address four rallies on Friday, cancelled his visit to the state and chose to address just one public meeting online at the Shaheed Minar ground.

Modi did not breathe fire against during his speech where he underscored the importance of "dignity of labour, ease of living and ease of doing business", all of which, he claimed, were missing in West Bengal.

"Bengal yearns for peace, security and development," he said.

Exuding confidence about the BJP coming to power in the state, the prime minister said the new government will use technology to transform Kolkata, the city of joy, to city of future.

Referring to alleged crimes against women, Modi said the BJP government will set up fast track courts across Bengal for providing speedy justice to women.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There arent many things that can fulfill a viewers appetite for drama and romance like reality TV, and lucky for Temptation Island host Mark L. Walberg, many reality TV fans cant get enough of his drama series. This means more seasons, more money, and more perks for the TV personality star  in an area only slightly different from his other hosting roles. After so much success with Temptation Island and other ventures, Walbergs net worth has grown substantially over the years. However, his number looks significantly different from other game show hosts like The Bachelors Chris Harrison.

Tempation Island host Mark L. Walberg | USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank

Mark L. Walbergs role on Temptation Island and other shows hes hosted

As the host of Temptation Island, Walberg often makes an appearance on the show as the voice and reason of the couples going into Temptation Island together and fighting the temptation to cheat on their significant others. The host greets all the contestants, explains the rules and concepts, provides support on occasion, and recaps the exclusives. Thanks to his experience with the show, the host has also gotten to enjoy some great perks like traveling. Production locations alone have taken him to Ambergris Caye, Belize and Roatan, Honduras, and Maui, Hawaii.

Id like a shot at @jeopardy. I do this for a living. I host game shows. I cant play football. i dont report the news. Im not a sitcom star. Not a doctor. i dont know every answer. I host game shows.  Mark L. Walberg (@marklwalberg) April 11, 2021

RELATED: Temptation Island Casey Starchak Calls Show and Host a Joke After Mark L. Walberg Liked Questionable Tweets

According to his USA bio, Walberg is best known as the long-time host of Antiques Roadshow, [but] started his TV career as an assistant at Dick Clark Productions and quickly moved in front of the camera as the announcer for the popular game show Shop til You Drop. From there, he also hosted The Mark Walberg Show, Test the Nation, Moment of Truth, and Russian Roulette.

What is Mark L Walbergs net worth and Temptation Island salary?

RELATED: The Staggering Net Worth of the Richest TV Hosts in America, Revealed

After being nominated for two Primetime Emmys and hosting several popular series, the Antiques Roadshow star has gathered a comfortable amount of money over his long career. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Hollywood star has earned a net worth of $4 million since his Temptation Island reboot on the USA network in 2019 after a long hiatus following its season one and two premieres between 2001 and 2003. This is largely due to his $1 million annual salary for hosting Temptation Island today, although he has had some success in other game shows and TV series in the past.

His net worth compared to other game show hosts

Clip from Tuesdays @TemptationTV at 10/9c only on @USA_Network. More eliminations! Who goes and who stays? pic.twitter.com/qaUvZDdaBZ  RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) March 26, 2021

RELATED: What Is Chris Harrisons Salary on The Bachelor? Will He Continue to Receive It?

While Walbergs net worth is certainly not small by any means, it doesnt even compare to that of more established and famous game show hosts like The Bachelors Chris Harrison. It was once reported that Harrison made $60,000 per Bachelor episode, but today he reportedly makes up to $8 million per year. That in addition to other income ventures (i.e., Millionaire, Six Feet Under, and his novel The Perfect Letter), Harrison built his net worth to an estimated $25 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

With that being said, Walbergs net worth is also significantly lower than at least 20 other game show hosts net worth. This isnt to say it wont keep growing and even catch up to a few over time. Considering many other rich and famous game show hosts have been around for a while, theres still time for Mark L. Walbergs net worth to get a boost in growth.
Lloyds of London was the focus of climate change activists on Friday, when a group called Insurance Rebellion used a dump truck to deposit a large pile of fake coal in front of the Lloyds headquarters on One Lime Street.

A pile of black rubble was used to block the main entrance to the building, the group said. Police arrested two protestors, who were dressed as builders, for obstructing the highway.

Climate Change Could Cut Global GDP by 18% by 2050  If Nothing Is Done: Swiss Re

Every day [that] Lloyds continues to insure fossil fuel projects, we move one step closer to climate breakdown, said Harriet, 28, in a statement issued by Insurance Rebellion. They are complicit in the destruction of our planet, causing millions of peoples homes to be flooded, burnt to the ground in wildfires, and reclaimed by rising sea levels. Fossil fuel companies cant run without insurance, so lets stop insuring them.

The group said the dumped coal aims to highlight Lloyds support for the worlds most polluting projects  which include the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia.

A Lloyds spokesperson responded with the following comment:

Lloyds is committed to accelerating its transition towards a more sustainable insurance and reinsurance marketplace, and has set out specific actions and commitments to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We are actively involved in constructive engagement on the issue of climate change and continue to explore the ways in which Lloyds can support a responsible transition.

Lloyds also received recent activist pressure from Insure our Future, the anti-fossil-fuel campaign group, which wants Lloyds to immediately stop insuring coal and new oil and gas projects that exacerbate climate change, rather than Lloyds phased approach, which it revealed in its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, published in December 2020.

To enable the market to support their customers as they transition their businesses away from fossil fuels, the new standards Lloyds have set for the market are targeted and phased, said the Lloyds spokesperson.

We have asked managing agents to no longer provide new insurance cover for thermal coal-fired power plants, thermal coal mines, oil sands or new Arctic energy exploration activities from Jan. 1, 2022. The target date for phasing out the renewal of existing insurance cover for these types of businesses is Jan. 1, 2030, continued the statement from Lloyds

Insurance Rebellion, which launched in April 2021, said it aims to halt climate and ecological breakdown by ending the insurance of fossil fuel projects and companies. The initial focus of the group is Lloyds of London, which it says provides around 40% of energy insurance worldwide. The group describes itself as a coalition of climate movements, with todays Lloyds protest as its first.

When asked whether Insurance Rebellion was connected to Insure our Future, an Insurance Rebellion spokesman said: While we stand in solidarity with Insure Our Future and similar groups, they are not involved in Insurance Rebellion.

The spokesman signed his emailed statement: Love and rage, Insurance Rebellion.

Top photograph: Climate activists deposit a large pile of fake coal in front of Lloyds headquarters in London. Photo credit: Insurance Rebellion.

Related:

Topics Excess Surplus London Climate Change Lloyd's
Police chiefs hail Chauvin verdict as a key step to healing View Photo

Not long after a jury convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of killing George Floyd, police chiefs across the U.S. started speaking up. And it wasnt to defend the police.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said convicting Chauvin on Tuesday showed police officers are not above the law. Charmaine McGuffey, the sheriff in Cincinnati, said it was a necessary step in healing a nation torn apart by police violence. Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo encouraged Americans to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Law enforcement leaders said Chauvins conviction was a step toward restoring trust in the criminal justice system and repairing relations between police and the communities they serve. It was a major departure from years past, when even the highest levels would close rank around an officer following an on-duty killing.

But police leaders and activists alike cautioned that a single case will not end systemic racism or stamp out excessive force in departments nationwide.

The American justice system has not always served all of her people well, and the death of George Floyd is a shocking example of where we can fail each other, said Madison, Wisconsin, Police Chief Shon Barnes, who is Black. As an officer of the law, I believe that today justice has prevailed. We hear you. This moment matters.

At Chauvins trial, jurors saw video from bystanders and police body-worn cameras and heard witnesses describe how the white officer pinned his knee to Floyds neck as the Black man cried out, I cant breathe.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified against Chauvin, breaking the blue wall of silence that has long shrouded accountability around police wrongdoing. Arradondo told jurors that Chauvins conduct violated department policy, went against training and is certainly not part of our ethics or our values.

Some large unions for rank-and-file officers also supported the verdict, but its unclear whether that sentiment was universal when the general practice is to defend officers immediately.

Floyds death last May gave rise to nightly protests across the U.S. and demands from activists to dismantle or radically rethink the role of police in society.

Since then, some police departments have instituted changes  such as banning chokeholds or setting timelines for the release of body-camera video of fatal police interactions  and many state legislatures are debating police reform bills.

Activists dedicated to systemic changes to American policing have criticized those steps as far too limited. But Chauvins conviction gave cautious hope to many who have watched officers face no criminal consequences for other killings of Black Americans, from the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York City to last years suffocation of Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York.

Activist Isaac Wallner said Chauvins conviction suggested the country may be starting to take Black communities cries of police abuse seriously. But he said a single verdict wont make him feel safe in his hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where no officers have been charged in last years shooting of Jacob Blake.

Until that day happens when police are afraid to abuse their badge, Ill continue to be afraid of the police, Wallner told The Associated Press. As of right now, theyre not afraid because too many of them have gotten off.

Law enforcement leaders in cities large and small said the verdict was just a first step.

The work of doing justice for George Floyd doesnt end today, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said. My hope for all of us in criminal justice roles is that we rise to this moment, and learn the lessons that history has, frankly, been trying to teach us for decades.

Darin Balaam, the sheriff in Washoe County, Nevada, said, It is past time we hold law enforcement officers who tarnish our profession and oath accountable for deplorable actions.

Acevedo, the Miami police chief and president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said law enforcement leaders across the country took the unusual step last year of decrying Chauvins actions because the bystander video was shocking to the conscience.

Anyone who would question the righteousness of this conviction, I would say they really need to take a good, hard look at their own gut because I question their humanity, Acevedo told the AP on Wednesday.

Even some police unions supported the verdict.

Patrick Yoes, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, said the trial was fair and due process was served.

Unions for officers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose said the verdict was just and offered an opportunity to improve how our nation is policed. And the usually pugnacious head of New York Citys officers union, Patrick Lynch, said: What Derek Chauvin did that day was not policing. It was murder.

Chauvins Minneapolis police union thanked jurors for their dedication but also criticized elected officials for what it deemed political pandering and divisive comments about police.

There are no winners in this case and we respect the jurys decision, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis said in a statement.

The verdict was especially profound and complicated for Black officers, who see the struggles of policing and race in both their work and personal lives.

Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, said he was relieved Chauvin was convicted but acknowledged that its hard to see an officer take a fall like this.

It helps me to do my job because this is how we build trust, said Hopkins, a senior Dallas police corporal. The trust has been taken away by us not holding officers accountable.

Tattered relations between police and communities have been driven by centuries of poverty, poor schooling and a lack of economic opportunity in inner cities and very diverse communities, said Malik Aziz, former executive director of the National Black Police Association and incoming chief in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Officers alone cant address those issues, he said.

Until we actually face those facts of any structural or institutional racism or discrimination or prejudice or poverty, then well continue to see these things flourish, Aziz said. This should not be a day of celebration, but it should be a day for us to actually have a real dialogue.

___

Sisak reported from Fort Pierce, Florida, and Bleiberg from Dallas. Associated Press writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Kevin McGill in New Orleans; Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada; Robert Jablon in Los Angeles; Walter Berry in Phoenix; and Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and Bleiberg at twitter.com/JZBleiberg.

___

This story has been corrected to delete the reference to Shon Barnes being the first Black police chief in Madison, Wisconsin; Barnes is the third.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JAKE BLEIBERG

Associated Press
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Employees at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport can now get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) without leaving their worksite.

On Wednesday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the opening of a pop-up employee vaccination center located within Terminal 5 at JFK Airport.

Were taking the steps today to make it easier for all in our airport community to have access to the vaccine, said Port Authority Chairman Kevin OToole. While we continue to take all necessary precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 through enhanced cleaning and using face coverings, vaccinations are also key to our recovery throughout the region and we are thankful that the City of New York was able to allocate a number of vaccines to our airport community.

The new employee vaccination center, opened in partnership with the City of New York, JetBlue Airways and Northwell Direct, will offer free coronavirus vaccines to all airport employees on an appointment-only basis.

The two-dose Pfizer vaccines, administered by Northwell Direct, will be available to all airport employees on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Appointments are required and can be made on Northwell Directs registration website.

All employees receiving a vaccine will be required to show an airport badge and a valid government-issued ID.

The fastest way back to normal for the United States and the world is through vaccination, said Nick Stefanizzi, CEO of Northwell Direct. Providing vaccines to the workers at New Yorks biggest airport helps protect them, their families and the public, and is a vital step in restoring the health of the economy.

PREVIOUS CORONAVIRUS EFFORTS

This isnt the first time that the Port Authority has taken precautionary measures in an effort to protect its airport workers from the coronavirus.

In late June 2020, the Port Authority announced the first in-airport coronavirus screening and testing facility in the United States at JFK Airport.

The program began screening up to 500 JFK terminal employees, airline employees and airport workers each day, offering PCR and antibody testing.

It has since expanded to include screenings for passengers and now offers rapid testing, in addition to the PCR and antibody testing previously offered.

The Port Authority is pleased to open the nations first COVID-19 and antibody testing facility for employees at JFK International Airport with JFTIAT and XpresSpa, OToole said at the time. The agency will continue to enhance safety at its facilities by piloting the new technologies, programs and policies needed to manage the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

In late April of 2020, the Port Authority began restricting airport terminal access at John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports.

Only ticketed passengers, airport employees and those who can demonstrate a need to enter the facility for airport-related business are currently permitted to enter the terminals.

Port Authority police are monitoring access to the terminals and may ask prospective entrants to provide evidence of their reason for entry.

Passengers may be asked to show a ticket, boarding pass, flight reservation or some comparable confirmation that they are taking a departing flight from that airport.

Airport employees may be asked to show their airport identification badge, while others conducting business within the facility may need to provide documentation that they are a vendor, contractor, or are otherwise performing authorized airport business.

The agency has also ramped up its cleaning efforts at the regions airports in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

At the regions four airports -- John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and New York Stewart International -- all terminal operators have been instructed to intensify cleaning procedures.

This includes increased wipe-downs of frequently touched surfaces, such as doors, countertops, handrails on stairs and escalators, elevator cabs and buttons, information kiosks, ticket vending machines, ticket counters, seating areas, charging stations and water fountains.

Additionally, restrooms are receiving increased cleanings using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed cleaning products. Terminal operators have also deployed additional hand-sanitizing stations near federal inspection areas.
A Philippine Coast Guard member sails past ships believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia near Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea, April 14, 2021.

The Philippines armed forces chief said Thursday the country was considering building structures in areas that Manila claims in the South China Sea, as he accused China of doing so, despite a 2002 agreement barring new or expanded construction in disputed waters.

The statement was the strongest yet from a Filipino military officer amid a fresh dispute with Beijing over the discovery of scores of Chinese ships in the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The reason we did not build structures in the past was an agreement that no one should build anything there. However, China violated that, Gen. Cirilito Sobejana told reporters in an online briefing.

He was referring to a 2002 non-binding pact between China and member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which the parties agreed to refrain from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands and other natural features of the contested waterway.

China has continued to expand facilities in islands it controls and build artificial islands, Sobejana said, adding the Philippines could do the same.

We are also entertaining the idea, of course, subject to the wisdom of the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea, of us building structures in the area just as China is doing, Sobejana said.

Manila refers to its EEZ and claimed territory in the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea.

Outclassed and outnumbered by the Chinese military presence in the sea, the Philippine naval fleet would require significant upgrading and logistical support from the government, Sobejana said.

To construct structures on Philippine-held reefs and islets would help deter further encroachment from other claimants, he said, although he did not elaborate on what kinds of structures.

In late March, Sobejana announced at the time that Philippine patrols had found man-made structures that were built on some of the features, and that these were illegal.

It is unclear whether the structures he referred to were new, but China has the most advanced and expansive infrastructure network in the South China Sea among claimant governments that include the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Indonesia does not consider itself a party to the dispute, but China has claims that overlap with the Indonesian EEZ.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not respond immediately to a query from BenarNews on Thursday.

Dispute over Chinese ships

Manila and Beijing have traded barbs since March when the Philippine government called out the presence of about 200 Chinese ships gathered near Whitsun Reef in the Philippine EEZ but which Beijing claims as its territory, along with most of the South China Sea.

Manila has been filing daily diplomatic protests with Beijing over what it called Chinese maritime militia intruding in recent weeks, but Beijing repeatedly denied the accusation, saying the vessels were fishing boats in Chinese territory.

Beijing has called Manilas protests an unnecessary irritation.

On Thursday, Sobejana said he had summoned Beijings defense attache in Manila last week to discuss concerns about the Chinese ships.

We clearly told him that this area is our countrys territory because it is within our exclusive economic zone. On his part, he also presented a letter indicating that they own it, Sobejana said of the meeting with the unnamed Chinese official.

The incident at Whitsun prompted Manila to deploy military boats and aircraft on maritime patrols  10 naval ships were on the water as of Thursday, Sobejana said.

On Wednesday, the West Philippine Sea task force said four fisheries bureau ships and five Coast Guard ships and an aircraft were on a similar assignment.

These are no match to Beijings massive fleet, Sobejana acknowledged.

Its not enough, because the West Philippine Sea is quite vast. It would take a vessel on patrol there two to three months to cover the entire area, Sobejana said.

Beijing has reclaimed and built military outposts on seven major reefs in the South China Sea.

Observers from Washington and Manila have said these outposts enable Beijing to maintain a constant fleet in the disputed waters.

By contrast, the Philippines controls Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, which is considered a municipality attached to the western province of Palawan.

Satellite photos from the Philippine-claimed Pag-asa taken in 2007 and 2019 show how construction has changed the face of the island over a dozen years, despite the 2002 agreement between China and ASEAN.

A few troops also rotate on Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas) aboard a rusting naval ship purposely grounded there.

War only the last option

President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, has been careful not to antagonize China, and has instead sought friendlier ties with Beijing rather than enforcing a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal thumbing down Chinas expansive claims to the sea.

This week, he said he was prepared to send naval assets to the sea region only if Beijing started oil and mineral exploration in the area. He had also rejected suggestions by critics to file a complaint against China with the United Nations.

Sobejana on Thursday said that increased Philippine patrols in the South China Sea would not escalate tensions with Beijing.

That will be a reaction coming from those who are going into our exclusive economic zone, particularly China, the countrys top general added.

Philippine patrols are only out to secure Filipino fishermen, protect marine resources from overfishing, and increase situational awareness of the area, he said.

Now as to how to resolve [the dispute]? Of course, anything may happen, but I should say that war, as you may perhaps be imagining, is only the last option, so we have to exert other means to resolve this problem in a diplomatic and peaceful manner, Sobejana said.

Zachary Haver in Washington contributed to this report.
The road to the May 1 Kentucky Derby ended Friday for an Aiken Training Track graduate.

But there are still plans for the 3-year-old thoroughbred to travel to Churchill Downs from his California base.

Instead of participating in the 147th Run for the Roses, Dream Shake will compete in the Pat Day Mile on the same day at the track.

Churchill and other sources reported the decision, which the colts trainer, Peter Eurton, revealed Friday.

Earlier this week, Eurton told the Daily Racing Form that there was a 50-50 chance that Dream Shake would be entered in the Derby.

Dream Shake had earned 30 points during his performances in Derby prep races. The total was enough for him to make it into the Run for the Roses 20-horse field, but he ranked low on a list where some of the 3-year-olds had accumulated 100 or more apiece.

A son of the stallion Twirling Candy, Dream Shake has a career record of one win in three starts, all at Santa Anita Park.

The colt captured a 6 -furlong maiden race by 4 -lengths on Feb. 2.

Dream Shake then finished third in both the San Felipe Stakes on March 6 and the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 4.

Cary Frommer trained Dream Shake while he was in Aiken.

The colt arrived at the Aiken Training Track after Foxpointe Thoroughbreds purchased him for $32,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale in Kentucky.

Dream Shake remained under Frommers care until she offered him in her consignment at an Ocala Breeders Sales Co. sale of 2-year-olds in training last June in Florida.

Marette Ferrell purchased the colt for $75,000 for Exline-Border Racing.

Frommer specializes in buying young thoroughbreds as yearlings and reselling them as 2-year-olds but she never had any ownership interest in Dream Shake.

Exline-Border Racing currently owns Dream Shake in partnership with SAF Racing and Richard Hausman.

Frommer, who is a former Training Track president, couldnt be reached for comment Friday about the latest development in Dream Shakes racing career.
Blocks of social housing in Kim Chung commune of Hanoi's Dong Anh district (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - The supply of affordable housing for low-income earners in urban areas and industrial park workers has only met around 42 percent of the target, Bui Xuan Dung, Director of the Ministry of Constructions Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency, told a recent workshop.

A lack of available land and funding were to blame for the social housing shortage, Dung told the Social Housing: The Establishment of the 2021 - 2030 Comprehensive Social Housing Policy in Vietnam workshop on April 20 in Hanoi.

The urban population is on the rise and likely to reach 47.25 million, or 44.45 percent of the countrys total, in 2030. By that time, Vietnam will have one city of more than 10 million people, one of 5-10 million, and four of 1-5 million. Rapid urbanisation, though positively impacting socio-economic development, has put enormous pressure on housing, particularly for those on low incomes, he noted.

To boost social housing development around the country, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) shook hands with the Ministry of Construction to launch a project on establishing the 2021 - 2030 Comprehensive Social Housing Policy, funded by non-refundable aid from the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The project aims to learn from international experience and explore the current situation in Vietnam to propose suitable policies for affordable housing development over the next decade and meet the growing demand.

A number of proposals, including those regarding land banks, the reform of procedures for social housing purchasing, renting, and rent-to-buy schemes, and incentives for developers have been put forward and translated into reality.

Kim Youin from the RoK Embassy in Vietnam said policies for social housing development need to be implemented in the long term and under a specific roadmap. The Government should also develop exclusive mechanisms and policies for people without financial means to access an appropriate social housing model, he said.
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) airlifted big, empty oxygen tankers and containers to various filling stations across the country on Friday (April 23) to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating COVID-19 patients. According to officials, besides transporting essential medicines as well as equipment required by the designated COVID hospitals in various parts of the country, the IAF also airlifted doctors and nursing staff from Kochi, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru for various hospitals in Delhi.

The IAF deployed its transport aircraft C-17, C-130J, IL-76, An-32 and Avro while keeping its Chinook and Mi-17 helicopters on standby, said officials.

India is struggling with a second wave of coronavirus infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds in view of a rising number of COVID-19 cases. The officials said

The defence ministry said the IAF's C-17 and IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft have started airlifting big, empty oxygen tankers from their place of use to filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of medical oxygen. "In addition to this, the C-17 and IL-76 have transported a large quantity of load comprising bio-safety cabinets and autoclave machines for the setting up of an additional COVID test facility at Leh (in Ladakh)," it added.

#IndiaFightsCorona C-17 and IL-76 aircraft airlifted cryogenic oxygen containers from Air Force Station Hindan to Panagarh for recharging, in support of the fight against Covid-19. Similar airlift tasks are underway across the country. pic.twitter.com/1GMdOBRqWY  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 23, 2021

#IndiaFightsCorona Personnel and equipment of Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) have been airlifted from Air Force Stations Jorhat & Kalaikunda for the COVID hospital at Hindan.#IndianAirForce pic.twitter.com/trI8caOQpn  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 23, 2021

The officials told PTI that eight empty cryogenic oxygen containers were airlifted from Begumpet in Telangana to Bhubaneshwar by a C17 aircraft while one empty cryogenic container was transported from Indore to Jamnagar. Personnel and equipment of the IAF Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) were airlifted from Jorhat in Assam to Hindan in Ghaziabad by a C130 transport aircraft.

The oxygen containers will be transported by road or rail to various hospitals once they are refilled, the officials said. Containers filled with oxygen are generally not transported on board military aircraft as they are considered combustible and may pose a risk to the planes.

The ministry said the IAF's transport aircraft and helicopter assets are on standby to be deployed at a short notice. "Indian Air Force has swung into action by carrying out sorties from various parts of the country to airlift oxygen containers, cylinders, essential medicines, equipment required for setting up and sustaining COVID hospitals and facilities," the ministry said in a statement.

The IAF ran several sorties to deliver medicines, medical and other essential supplies required to combat the coronavirus pandemic last year.

As per a data released by the health department, India recorded a single-day rise of 3.32 lakh coronavirus cases and 2,263 fatalities on Friday (April 23).

(With agency inputs)

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PHOENIX  The Arizona Senate on Thursday voted down an election bill that critics deride as an attempt at voter suppression because of infighting among Republicans. But the measure could come back at a later date.

The measure would purge inconsistent voters from the popular permanent early voting list. Its one of the most contentious election bills moving in Arizona as Republicans in key states look to remake election procedures in the wake of President Donald Trumps loss last year.

Republican Sen. Kelly Townsend of Mesa joined all Democrats in voting not to send the bill to Gov. Doug Ducey. She said she supported it but wants to see the Legislature be far more aggressive in shoring up election integrity.

Repeated reviews have found no problems with the election results in Arizona or elsewhere, but many Trump supporters still believe his loss was the result of fraudulent activities. The Senate is preparing to begin a hand recount of more than 2 million ballots cast in Maricopa County as part of a sprawling review of the vote count in one the nations fourth-largest county, which includes metro Phoenix.

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Townsend said she wants to make sure the Legislature doesnt adjourn before the results of the Senates audit, in case the Republican majority decides more bills are needed. She said shell vote against all election bills until the audit is complete.

Democrats, election administrators and voting rights advocates have derided the audit as unnecessary. The audit is being led by a firm owned by a man who has shared unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

I have given my commitment to my constituents that we will fix all election integrity, not just this issue, Townsend said in explaining her decision to oppose the bill modifying the permanent early voting list.

But Republican Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita of Scottsdale, who sponsored the bill, said Townsend was throwing a temper tantrum and killing her bill in a show of spite and in a rage. She said Townsend was angry that her own election bills died earlier in the session. Townsend said she was indeed upset but that didnt motivate her vote.

Its disappointing that someone who purports to care about election integrity, who purports to care about the voters, is deciding to kill a very important election bill, Ugenti-Rita said.

The GOP has a narrow 16-14 majority in the Senate. The defection of one Republican is enough to sink legislation if Democrats are united in opposition.

The bill, SB1485, could be revived before the end of the legislative session if Townsend has a change of heart or works out a deal. The same bill was killed earlier in the year by another Republican senator and was later brought back to life.

The measure would remove people who dont return their mail ballot for two consecutive election cycles from the permanent list, which allows voters to automatically receive a ballot before each election. About 75% of Arizona voters are on the list. Affected voters would get a mailing asking if they want to remain on the list, and they would be removed if they dont respond within 90 says.

Republicans say the measure is necessary to limit the number of unvoted ballots in circulation, noting it would only affect voters who have shown disinterest in voting by mail. Democrats say the measure would disenfranchise voters who expect to get a ballot that never arrives, with an especially strong impact on people of color.
Boris Johnson has not published his full text messages with billionaire Sir James Dyson despite vowing to do so, and has insisted there was nothing 'remotely dodgy' about trying to increase the UK's supply of ventilators.

While Downing Street outlined the details of the Prime Minister's communications with the businessman, it stopped short of releasing the messages in full.

Mr Johnson had said in Parliament on Wednesday that he would publish the text messages, and 'make absolutely no apology' for the communication with Dyson.

While Johnson hit back at critics amid the lobbying row, insisting on Friday there is nothing 'sleazy' about their discussions, the summary published by No 10 falls short of what many had expected.

The publication outlines how the entrepreneur was part of an industry call with Mr Johnson on March 16 before the pair exchanged texts in late March.

Those messages were later leaked to the BBC, with former aide Dominic Cummings denying being the perpetrator despite claims from within Number 10.

'The exchange on this issue is in the public domain,' the Downing Street statement on Friday said, outlining the events surrounding the text messages.

Mr Johnson said people claiming the texts were evidence of 'sleaze' are 'out of their mind' and insisted it was right for him to do everything in his power to try to increase the UK's supply of ventilators at the height of the pandemic.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has renewed his attack on the PM amid a wider row over lobbying in Whitehall as he claimed there is a 'deep sense now that it is one rule for them and another rule for everybody else'.

Labour accused the Government of presiding over a day of 'cover-ups and cock-ups' and accused Mr Johnson of going 'back on his promise' at Prime Minister's Questions this week.

Boris Johnson said people claiming his texts to Sir James Dyson were evidence of 'sleaze' are 'out of their mind' and insisted it was right for him to do everything in his power to try to increase the UK's supply of ventilators at the height of the pandemic. Despite saying Wednesday the messages would be released, Downing Street has instead released a summary

Leaked messages showed Mr Johnson promised Sir James he would 'fix' a tax issue for Dyson staff working to develop ventilators last year.

Mr Johnson's comments came as he prepared to publish the communications in full in an attempt to cool the ongoing lobbying row.

The Prime Minister has faced questions over when he would publish his correspondence with Sir James after promising to do so under pressure in the House of Commons this week.

On Friday, asked if he would be publishing his communications with the businessman during a campaign visit to Derbyshire, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: 'Indeed. I think that is happening today.

'Let me tell you, if you think that there's anything remotely dodgy or rum or weird or sleazy about trying to secure more ventilators at a time of a national pandemic and doing everything in your power to do that, then I think you are out of your mind.

'I think it was actually Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party, who said that any prime minister would have done the same  or he certainly would have done the same.

'When you're facing a pandemic and you've got 9,000 ventilators as we had  that's all we had  and, to the best of our knowledge, putting people on ventilation was the only way to help people who are really in difficulties with Covid, of course it was right to get the best of British manufacturing together as we did with the ventilator challenge.

'To say to them 'come on, we've only got a few days now, see how many ventilators you can build'  and in the end, they came up with 22,000 more ventilators and it was actually described by the Labour Party and by our opponents, when they were using some common sense, as a benchmark for public procurement.

'I also think it was completely the right thing to do.'

But Sir Keir claimed it is 'increasingly obvious that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself has been involved in this privileged access', having previously said that the texts raised serious questions about preferential treatment for those in personal contact with the Prime Minister.

Speaking during a visit to Hartlepool, the Labour leader said: 'What we are getting from the Government day after day is sleaze, sleaze, sleaze, allegation after allegation and I think there is a deep sense now that it is one rule for them and another rule for everybody else.

'We have got to get to the bottom of this. We can't have daily allegations.'

Labour reacted angrily to the publication, which came after No 10 insiders accused Mr Cummings of leaking the messages to the BBC.

Deputy leader Angela Rayner said: 'The Government has spent the last 24 hours lurching between cover-ups and cock-ups.

'Labour is focusing on jobs, crime and the NHS, while the Conservatives are fighting each other like rats in a sack and slipping deeper and deeper into the mire of sleaze.

'It shows breath-taking contempt for the country.'

The SNP's Sir Ian Blackford accused Mr Johnson of having 'failed to honour his word'.

'There must now be a full independent public inquiry into the Tory sleaze scandal and the accusations of privileged access, impropriety and possible illegality,' the SNP MP said.

The messages were later leaked to the BBC, with former aide Dominic Cummings (pictured in March) denying being the perpetrator despite claims from within Number 10

Speaking in the commons earlier this week, Mr Johnson said he would 'make absolutely no apology' for the exchanges with the businessman.

'I make absolutely no apology at all for shifting heaven and earth and doing everything I possibly could, as any prime minister would in those circumstances, to secure ventilators for the people in this country and to save lives,' he said Wednesday.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader, said the Prime Minister must 'publish all personal exchanges on these contracts before the end of the day'.

Johnson replied: 'There's absolutely nothing to conceal about this and I am happy to share all the details with the house, as indeed I have shared them with my officials immediately.'

Mr Starmer said that the incident showed the Prime Minister was 'lobbied by a wealthy businessman and a close friend for a change in the tax rules. The prime minister responded, I'll fix it.

'How many other people with the prime minister's personal number has he given preferential treatment to?,' the Labour leader asked.

Downing Street launched an internal inquiry led by the Cabinet Office into how messages between the Prime Minister and Sir James were leaked to the BBC.

Number 10 sources have accused Dominic Cummings, the PM's former chief aide, of leaking the information.

The Times, The Telegraph and The Sun all reported comments from an insider naming Mr Cummings. Allies of Mr Cummings have denied he is behind the leak.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (pictured campaigning in Hartlepool, April 23) has renewed his attack on the PM amid a wider row over lobbying in Whitehall as he claimed there is a 'deep sense now that it is one rule for them and another rule for everybody else'

In No 10's account released on Friday, a Dyson representative contacted the Prime Minister's business team on March 15 while the chief executive of Dyson's parent company Weybourne wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak 'seeking clarification of the tax status of Dyson employees returning to the UK to support the ventilator challenge'.

Then in late March, Sir James and the Prime Minister 'exchanged text messages about the clarification of tax positions for Dyson employees based internationally'.

'The Prime Minister informed his officials about this contact with Sir James Dyson,' No 10 said.

On April 9, the Government announced there would be a temporary change to rules to allow highly skilled individuals to work in the UK on Covid-19-related activity without affecting their residence status for tax purposes.

'A response was issued to Weybourne Group on the same day,' Downing Street said.

But the leaked messages proved far more revelatory than No 10's account.

Mr Johnson promised Sir James he would 'fix' a tax issue for Dyson staff working to develop ventilators.

At the time, the businessman had been unable to get the desired assurances he was seeking from the Treasury over his Singapore-headquartered firm.

Sir James wrote to the Treasury requesting that overseas staff would not have to pay additional tax if they came to the UK to work on the ventilator project.

But when he failed to receive a reply, Sir James reportedly took up the matter directly with the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson had said in Parliament on Wednesday that he would publish the text messages, and 'make absolutely no apology' for the communication with Sir James Dyson (pictured)

He said in a text that the firm was ready but that 'sadly' it seemed no-one wanted them to proceed, to which Mr Johnson replied: 'I will fix it tomo! We need you. It looks fantastic.'

The Prime Minister then texted him again saying: '(Chancellor) Rishi (Sunak) says it is fixed!! We need you here.'

Two weeks later, Mr Sunak told the Commons Treasury Committee that the tax status of people who came to the UK to provide specific help during the pandemic would not be affected.

In a statement after the leaks, Sir James said 'neither Weybourne nor Dyson received any benefit from the project'.

'When the Prime Minister rang me to ask Dyson to urgently build ventilators, of course I said yes. We were in the midst of a national emergency and I am hugely proud of Dyson's response - I would do the same again if asked,' he added.
Ghana will leverage its strong bilateral relations with Switzerland to attract Swiss investors for the pharmaceutical industry.



It is also working to make Switzerland a destination for products manufactured in Ghana under the Industrial Transformation Programme, being implemented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to deliver on the Presidents Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.



Mr Alan Kyerematen, the Minister for Trade and Industry, said this when Mr Philipp Stalder, the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana called on him in Accra.



He said although diplomatic relations were formally established after Ghana gained independence in 1957, relations between Ghana and Switzerland dated back to 1828, when Swiss missionaries settled in the Gold Coast.



The Minister said successive governments of the two countries had maintained cordial bilateral relations, enabling them to strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and development assistance.



"The two countries also share common membership in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization," he added.



Primary goods such as Gold, Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Paste and Tropical Fruits dominate Ghanas exports to Switzerland, whilst imports from Switzerland to Ghana include: Packaged Medicaments, Wheat, Large Construction Vehicles, and Scented Mixtures.



Mr Kyerematen said the total value of bilateral trade over a decade (2010 to 2019) was estimated at $26.5 billion, with Ghana recording trade surpluses in all the years with the highest trade surplus of $4.8 billion in 2019.



He said the Swiss Government supported the implementation of Ghanas Trade Policy and Trade Sector Support Programme to date, by providing development funding and technical assistance to Ghana in the areas of Intellectual Property Rights and Quality Standards.



"Notably, the Swiss Government support, implemented through the Ministry, under the Swiss-Ghana Intellectual Property Project at the cost of CHF 1.4 million, has enabled Ghana to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for Intellectual Property administration and enforcement," he added.



Other support for the government are training of 237 officials from GRA Customs and from selected Security Agencies on the enforcement of IP rights and the promotion of the effective use of Intellectual Property by producers and citizens.



Mr Kyerematen said in August 2019, the implementation of Global Quality and Standards Programme commenced in Ghana, with funding from the Swiss Government at the cost of  1.16 million.



He said that enabled Small Medium Enterprises to strengthen product quality and standards, particularly in the Oil Palm, Cashew and Cocoa export value chains

Source: GNA









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Loading Each of these promises represents an approximate doubling of those countries planned cuts. The European Union said it would increase its planned cuts from 40 per cent of its 1990 level by 2030 to a new target of at least 55 per cent. Justin Trudeau committed to cutting Canadas by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030, an increase from the previous pledge of 30 per cent. Morrison made no change to Australias commitment. Which happens to be the one made by Tony Abbotts government for the Paris Accord  that Australia would reduce carbon emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. In other words, Abbott is still setting Australias climate ambitions. He set this target to keep Australia in step with the US. But Washington now has left Canberra far behind. On that measure, Tony climate change is crap Abbott was actually more progressive than Scott lump of coal Morrison. Worse, Morrisons chosen backdrop for his address to the leaders summit was a giant picture of the Sydney Opera House. The Opera House is an emblem of Australian boldness and ambition. Morrison used it to deliver a message of Australian timidity and complacency.

Loading Does it matter? Australia wasnt the only country this week to offer no advance on its emissions target. The biggest emitter of all, China, is still promising to peak its overall carbon emissions by 2030. Despite the gushing credulity with which Chinas climate promises are met by most of the West, this simply means it will continue to increase its carbon pollution output every year for another nine years. And whats the value of a promise in any case? The US under Trump abandoned all the promises made by Obama and said it would withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement altogether. And Beijing spectacularly broke its solemn international commitment to protect Hong Kongs liberties under the one country, two systems policy. Besides, does Canberra need to make any new promises? Every Australian state has undertaken to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, consistent with all the major developed countries commitments. If every state delivers on this, do we even need the federal government to make this pledge? The eminent Australian economist and author of the Garnaut Climate Change Review, Ross Garnaut, says it matters a great deal. He made this withering three-part assessment of Australias position on Friday morning:

First: It is not sustainable geopolitically for Australia to have the worlds most difficult trade relationship with China and to stand in the path of a centrally important domestic and foreign policy goal of the US, the UK and the European Union, Garnaut told me. Loading Second: It is not sustainable economically for Australians to be denied opportunities that could help us to full employment and rising incomes after the pandemic recession. Third: It is not sustainable politically for a conservative government permanently to deny Australian farmers access to international prices in a new rural industry that could soon be bigger than the wool industry. And while Morrison emphasises the need for more technological progress to tackle climate change, Garnaut says that this is a red herring: The technologies are available now for us to join the US and the average of the developed countries this year in a commitment to 52 per cent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and to zero emissions by 2050, while accelerating movement to full employment with rising incomes. The benefits would be disproportionately concentrated in rural and provincial Australia.

Each point needs a brief explanation. First is the geopolitics. Why is Morrisons non-co-operation unsustainable? Because theres a simple element of reciprocity to relationships with friends  if Canberra expects the US, Britain and Europe to help it cope with Beijings intimidation and coercion, it needs to help those powers with their priorities. And climate change is a top priority for all of them. The US President doesnt use the words existential crisis lightly. Loading Second, what does Garnaut mean when he says Australias current position is denying it more jobs and rising incomes? Income growth has to be sustainable  and its only sustainable if the right proportion of income is coming from exports. Exports have to grow faster than overall GDP to have sustainable rising incomes. At first sight this is hopeless, because of three big headwinds. First is that 22 per cent of Australias exports are coal and gas and they are going to go into a slow but real decline. Second is that problems with China mean we dont get the huge benefits from their economy that we got after the global financial crisis. Third is we have a crippled financial base of what had been our most rapidly growing industry before the pandemic  education services  and we wont be able to repair it even after the border opens again. Garnaut reminds us that universities were denied JobKeeper. Weve got to have faster growth in exports, and we can. The opportunities created out of new climate policy are so big they outweigh all these headwinds.

One example is carbon credits. As he sets out in his new book, Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession, Australias farmers have tremendous opportunity to earn carbon credits from soil carbon and carbon held by plants. This is the new rural industry  potentially bigger than wool  that he was referring to. But theres a catch: We cant get into official carbon markets like the EUs unless we have firm emissions targets that the world accepts. Because what you trade in credits is the excess above your targets. And if your targets are too low you wont be accepted as a credible power. Another example. Energy-intensive manufacturing. Australias immense solar resources could make it the worlds lowest-cost producer of electricity. Garnauts earlier book, Superpower, explains how Australia could use this advantage to become the worlds leading manufacturer. Photovoltaic modules at a solar farm on the outskirts of Gunnedah in NSW. Credit:Bloomberg Whats more, Garnaut says, there are three straightforward ways for Australia to cut its emissions pretty dramatically: The first thing you do is require all mines to reduce fugitive emissions and buy carbon offsets from the farm sector. Those fugitive emissions are about 10 per cent of Australias total emissions. Second, do what everyone else is doing on electric vehicles. Third, remove bottlenecks in the renewable energy sector, mainly by fixing problems with the grid and accelerating investment in storage  pumped hydro and batteries. These three measures alone could get Australia to a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, Garnaut calculates, matching the Biden pledge. And generate major economic growth in the process.


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were moving lower on Friday, as reports of U.S. tax hikes offset data showing that the euro zone economic recovery accelerated in April despite coronavirus restrictions.



The pan European Stoxx 600 dipped 0.3 percent to 438.21 after rising 0.7 percent on Thursday. The German DAX fell 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 index slid 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent.



Tod's SpA surged more than 10 percent after LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE increased its stake in the Italian shoe maker to 10 percent.



Shares of Telia Co. AB declined 1.7 percent. The telecom company reported a decline in first-quarter net income attributable to owners of the parent to 965 million Swedish kronor from last year's 1.11 billion kronor.



Exporters were moving lower in London, with British American Tobacco and Diageo falling about 1 percent amid sterling's strength.



Total SE gave up 0.6 percent, BP Plc fell over 1 percent and Royal Dutch Shell was down 0.7 percent despite oil prices increasing in the world markets.



Senior Plc shares fell 2.2 percent after the company said trading for the three months ended March 2021 has been in line with expectations.



FirstGroup shares surged 8.6 percent after the bus operator confirmed it is selling its U.S. school bus business to infrastructure investor EQT in a 3.3bn ($4.6bn) deal.



Remy Cointreau shares were down 0.6 percent. The spirits maker said that sales were slightly up in its full fiscal year, adjusted for currency effects.



EDF shares were down 2.3 percent. France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was quoted as saying by the Ouest-France newspaper in an interview that he was ditching the 'Project Hercules' name of a planned restructuring of the power group.



Daimler gained about 1 percent. The luxury car maker increased the margin targets for its Mercedes-Benz and Mobility divisions for the year after reporting strong earnings growth in the first quarter.



Enterprise solutions company Software AG tumbled 4.5 percent after its first-quarter 2021 results proved to be a mixed bag.



In economic releases, the flash reading of the IHS Markit eurozone composite purchasing managers index rose to a nine-month high of 53.7 in April from 53.2 in March.



The preliminary 'flash' reading of the U.K. Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 60.0 in April, the highest reading since November 2013, from 56.4 in March.



A deluge of new orders swept through British businesses in the month as the country lifted some of its Covid-19 restrictions, the survey said.



Meanwhile, U.K. retail sales grew more than expected in March as the easing of the restrictions related to the coronavirus lifted consumer spending, a government report showed.



Retail sales volume grew 5.4 percent month-on-month, faster than the 2.2 percent increase in February. This was the biggest growth since June 2020 and also better than the economists' forecast of 1.5 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Regal Cinemas is open again at Destiny USA after being closed for most of the past 13 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Regal Destiny USA, the Syracuse areas largest movie theater, reopened Friday at 25% capacity; seats are reserved with at least two empty seats between groups. Face masks are required at all times, except when seated and eating or drinking. Social distancing, hand sanitizers and other Covid-19 safety measures are also in place.

Capacity limits for movie theaters in New York state will increase to 33% on Monday, April 26.

Whats on the big screen? Movies listed on Regals website this weekend include the new Mortal Kombat reboot; Godzilla vs. Kong; Ed Helms Sundance comedy Together Together' the sci-fi adventure Voyagers (starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp and Colin Farrell); Bob Odenkirks Nobody; horror flicks In the Earth and The Unholy; and animated films Tom & Jerry and The Croods: A New Age.

Movies coming out over the next 12 weeks include Jason Stathams Wrath of Man (May 7), Angelina Jolies Those Who Wish Me Dead (May 14), Spiral: From the Book of Saw (May 21), Disneys Cruella (May 28), A Quiet Place Part II (May 28), The Conjuring: Devil Made Me Do It (June 4), In the Heights (June 11), The Hitmans Wifes Bodyguard (June 16), Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (June 18), F9 (June 25), Black Widow (July 9), Space Jam: A New Legacy (July 16) and the Syracuse-shot The Night House (July 16).

Regal, the nations second largest chain of movie theaters, was shut down in March 2020 by Covid-19. Some Regal theaters, including at Destiny USA, briefly reopened in October but went dark again three weeks later; Regal locations at Great Northern Mall and Shoppingtown Mall have closed permanently.

Other theaters in Upstate New York, include AMC Theatres, the Movie Tavern in Camillus, the Finger Lakes Drive-In, the Manlius Art Cinema, and the Hollywood Theatre in Mattydale are also open. The Midway Drive-In in Minetto is aiming for a May 14 start to its season.

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In mid-October 2020 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Intel, Samsung, Microsoft are Collaborating on the new 'Horseshoe Bend Project' that covers 17" Foldable Display Notebook standards. Samsung and BOE will be the suppliers of the new 17-inch display panels that will be supplied as standardized products to Lenovo, Dell, and HP, the report notes.







The video below will provide you with a good overview of the Horseshoe Bend Project as it was revealed at CES 2020.

Last week, Microsoft was granted a patent relating to a future Surface device compatible with the Horseshoe Bend Project. The foldable-like tablet/notebook will be supported by a newly designed radius hinge. While the patent figures below provide us with a look at their new radius hinge, the patent filing itself is a highly technical one that perhaps engineers will feel more comfortable with reviewing.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 17 below is an elevational view of an example flexible display computing device that includes a radius hinge; FIG. 18 is an enlarged elevational view of a portion of the example flexible display computing device of FIG. 17 where you can see that its a single flexible display that folds when the device is closed.

Microsoft patent FIGS. 10-11 below are perspective views of a radius hinge example; FIG. 21 is another perspective view of a flexible display device that includes a radius hinge. Material will hide the hinge on the backside while the front side will support a single large flexible display; FIG. 1 is another perspective view of a flexible display device in the closed storage configuration.

While Microsoft is likely still on target with their 'Dual Display' folding tablet/notebook device branded Surface Neo for Q4 2021 as presented below, the alternative design may follow. It's even possible that Microsoft delayed their Surface Neo so that it could be reinvented with a large single 17" display that folds, instead of a dual display form factor.

It's difficult to think that Microsoft will release two-different foldable tablet/notebook devices this year. So we'll have to see what they've decided on later this year.

For engineers and geeks wanting to dive into the tiniest of details of this patent, click here. Other Microsoft patents on hinges for foldable devices can be found here: 01 and 02.
The Trump administration created bureaucratic hurdles that delayed Puerto Ricos access to about $20 billion in hurricane disaster recovery and mitigation funds, says an inspector generals report released Thursday that also concludes the federal government slowed down a probe into the matter.

The investigation was opened in March 2019 at the request of Congress and evaluated how U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development policies and decisions affected the speed with which relief money was dispersed.

The federal report found that multiple administrative obstacles stalled the process of delivering aidincluding a federal government shutdown, as well as moves by officials to add new layers of oversight and decisions to revise the grant requirements Puerto Rico had to meet.

Brian Montgomery, former deputy secretary to the housing agency, told investigators that there was widespread sentiment among senior officials that red tape had unnecessarily delayed efforts to hand over disaster relief funding to Puerto Rico.

The findings were released almost four years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Multiple local officials have said for years that the Trump administrations policies towards the island harmed recovery efforts. President Joe Biden promised to accelerate Puerto Ricos access to long-awaited disaster aid and his administration has freed up billions in aid.

In a statement, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi denounced the Department of Housing and Urban Developments management of relief money for Puerto Rico under the previous administration.

Clearly there were onerous and discriminatory restrictions on the funding appropriated by Congress to help Puerto Rico recover from recent natural disasters, he said, adding that since becoming governor in January he had established a great working relationship with the Biden Administration.

HUD declined to comment, referring the Miami Herald to the reports findings.

Story continues

Releasing Maria relief for Puerto Rico a priority, White House says

To produce the report, the inspector generals office spoke to over 20 officials and reviewed electronic documents and communications.

However, access to people and records was delayed or denied in several instances, which ultimately negatively affected the investigation, the memo concludes. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was not interviewed for the investigation, refusing to speak without legal counsel present. The agency also demanded that other senior officials have a lawyer on hand while investigators collected testimony.

Some of those same officials eventually agreed to be interviewed without agency counsel present in the interview room, but then refused to answer certain questions because they claimed the information was protected from disclosure, the report reads.

The Office of Management and Budget, another key executive agency involved in the process, did not offer any direct information to investigators.

Several natural disasters have pummeled Puerto Rico since 2017. Hurricane Maria killed thousands and destroyed infrastructure. While still recovering, the southwest of the island was shaken by a series of earthquakes that began in December 2019, leaving many homeless or with damaged houses. Now, the American territory is facing a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

As disaster after disaster hit the island, former President Donald Trump and Carson expressed concern over possible corruption and mishandling of federal aid in the islands government. Trump, who called Puerto Rico one of the most corrupt places on earth and bashed local politicians, touted that he was the best thing that ever happened to the U.S. territory.

The inspector generals report describes a series of costly administrative hold-ups.

A government shutdown that began in December 2018 and continued into January of the next year put a pause on several processes. The Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, directed the housing agency to stop doing work for disaster grants during that time.

Budget office negotiations and revisions over regulations for disaster mitigation funds went on for months. The OMB also requested unprecedented oversight for a vital step in the process, a move that surprised housing officials because such a request had never been made before for disaster money.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, also altered a template for grant agreements, what officials viewed as an effort to improve the disaster recovery program. The report found evidence the changes were pushed because of concerns over oversight and risk management.

Former HUD general counsel Paul Compton questioned whether the federal housing agency was really going to provide billions of dollars... as if it were disbursing $300,000 for Omaha to build a new park, according to the memo.

The Biden administration has been working to reverse the Trump-era stance on the islands access to emergency money, a process that a federal housing department official described to the Herald as a resetting the relationship between Puerto Rico and Washington.

On Monday, the agency announced Puerto Rico would receive over $8 billion in Hurricane Maria recovery money and have what a statement described as onerous restrictions removed over how it can access and spend a larger pool of financial aid.

Biden administration releases billions in relief for Puerto Rico, removes onerous restrictions

The actions taken by HUD today will unlock access to funds Puerto Rico needs to recover from past disasters and build resilience to future storms, while ensuring transparency and accountability, said Marcia Fudge, current HUD secretary, in the statement announcing the development.

In February, the agency signed off on $1.3 billion in for Puerto Rico to reduce future risks. Trump-era restrictions on another $4.9 billion were loosened so the island could tap into them with ease. In March, the federal education department released nearly $1 billion in federal funds to assist the islands schools in responding to recent emergencies, including the pandemic.

Puerto Rico Housing Secretary William Rodriguez said that the investigation substantiated years-long claims on the island that Washington has treated Puerto Rico unequally when it comes to recovery funds, but that things were moving in the right direction since President Joe Biden took office.

The treatment has definitely changed, Rodriguez said. They have fulfilled that promise.

The report can be found here:

Review of HUDs Disbursement of Grant Funds Appropriated for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation Activities in... by Miami Herald on Scribd

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

McClatchy DC reporter Alex Roarty contributed to this story.
The African Union has condemned the extension of the term of Somalias President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and is sending a special envoy to Mogadishu to help resolve the political impasse there.



The AUs Peace and Security Council made the announcement after hours of closed-door meeting where it also resolved to mediate the crisis.



A communique issued after the session on Thursday urged all parties in the country to "immediately resume dialogue on the basis of the September 2020 Agreement".



[The AU council] calls on all Somali political leaders to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any actions that may lead to an escalation of tensions and further undermine the stability of Somalia, the Horn of Africa region and the continent, it further said.



The agreement, signed by Somalia's federal government and regional leaders as well as opposition parties, offered a road map to holding free and fair elections.



Last week, Mr Farmajo controversially approved an extension of his term in office by two years but the move has been criticised by major world powers including the United States and Britain, the United Nations and the European Union



The September 2020 Agreement remains the basis and the most viable path towards the holding of timely, transparent and credible elections in Somalia, read part of the resolutions.



The AU council also held a closed-door session on the situation in Chad but there was no immediate resolution issued as heads of states began arriving in the country for the burial of President Idris Deby.

Source: BBC









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Honoring the Sacrifice Foundation announced this week that the organization will host its seventh annual American Heroes Dinner Friday, July 16, at the Chattanooga Convention Center. After being forced to cancel their 2020 fundraising events, the foundation says they are excited to host their signature event this summer, beginning with keynote speaker, Marcus Luttrell.



Mr. Luttrell is the highly decorated former Navy Seal and author of the New York Times best-selling book and movie, Lone Survivor. The book covers Operation Redwing, a mission to kill or capture high ranking Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah. Mr. Luttrell was the only member of his SEAL team to survive an attack by the Taliban. The Chinook helicopter dispatched to rescue the SEALs was also shot down with no survivors. Though gravely wounded, Mr. Luttrell managed to walk and crawl seven miles to avoid capture. An Afghan tribe came to his aid and alerted American forces to his presence. He was rescued six days later.



According to Catherine Smith, Honoring the Sacrifice representative, The sacrifices made by our wounded veterans and their families will last their entire lifetime. Participating in this event provides a tangible way to say thank you.



Dinner and program will begin at 7 p.m. Limited sponsorships, which include admission to a private reception and premium event seating, are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is available at https://www.honoringthesacrifice.org.
Canadas Oxford Properties and its Australian Investa property business have entered the burgeoning build-to-rent apartment sector in Sydneys city, at a time when the NSW government is seeking solutions at getting people back to the CBD.

Under the development approval from the Independent Planning Commission, Oxford will develop a 39-storey tower with 234 apartments as build-to-rent (BTR) at its $1 billion Sydney Metro Pitt Street over the station development. Oxford lodged its development application for the BTR site in June 2020.

The BTR sector, known as multi-family in overseas markets, is gaining traction in Australia as it offers a more affordable and flexible solution than home ownership but, through surety of tenure, allows residents to put down long-term roots.

A render of the build-to-rent project that will rise above the Pitt Street Metro station. Credit: supplied

To boost investment in the sector, a new environmental planning policy amendment for BTR housing was gazetted in February by the state government together with modest tax concessions.
This file photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. The facility lost power Sunday, April 11, 2021, just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. Iran on Sunday described the blackout an act of nuclear terrorism, raising regional tensions. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran/ Associated Press

Iran blames a Sunday blackout at a nuclear facility on "nuclear terrorism."

The country hasn't assigned blame, but Israeli media has reported an Israeli cyberattack is responsible.

The attack comes as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, described a Sunday morning blackout at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility as an act of "nuclear terrorism." The country fell short of assigning blame for the blackout, which occurred while negotiations continue between Iran and US-aligned nations over reinstating the nuclear deal.

Multiple Israeli media outlets, including Haaretz, claimed that the blackout was caused by an Israeli cyberattack on the eve of Israel's independence day. On Sunday night, embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to security chiefs, such as Mossad head, Yossi Cohen, asking them to "continue in this direction, and to continue to keep the sword of David in your hands."

If Israel is responsible, the act threatens to continue to heighten regional tensions between Iran and America's ally. Netanyahu also met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday along with his Dfeense Minister, Benny Gantz.

The blackout came hours after the facility began to operate new centrifuges that can enrich uranium more quickly.

Salehi did not expand on how the blackouts had affected the atomic facility but said that the country plans to "seriously improve" its nuclear technology while trying to also lift international sanctions. Nuclear spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iranian state television that "there was no casualty or damage and there is no particular contamination or problem"

Iran's nuclear program has seen many previous acts of international sabotage. In July,the Natanz plant experienced a mysterious explosion, and in November, a leading Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun. Iran blames Israel for both and is now building a new facility underground, which was targeted in Sunday's attack.

Story continues

In 2010, the facility was attacked by the Stuxnet computer virus, destroying centrifuges at the Natanz plant. The virus is widely considered to be created by the US and Israel.

Israeli media reports, such as public broadcaster Kan, said that "experts" assume that Sunday's attack shut down much of the facility. The reports did not cite their sources for the information.

After the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has stopped following formal limits on its uranium stockpile, now enriching up to 20% purity. This is still below the 90% purity needed to build weapons.

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Earlier this week, an Iranian cargo ship that was connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard off the coast of Yemen was hit by an explosion. Iran has blamed Israel for the blast, which occurred in a hot zone near the conflict between Saudi Arabian forces and the Iranian- aligned Houthis in Yemen. The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli cover operations are responsible for over a dozen oil tanker attacks in recent years.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A mural of George Floyd by artist Daniel Anguilu and others in Houston's Graffiti Park.

A mural of George Floyd in his hometown of Houston was vandalized with a racist message this week, police said  the third time the artwork has been defaced since its creation following Floyd's killing last Memorial Day.

Police Chief Troy Finner said Thursday "some knucklehead" defaced the mural, which shows an image of Floyd on a colorful background alongside the words "I can't breathe."

"I dont know what their motivation is, if its hate or whatever," Finner said, adding, "Let me tell you something, and I want everybody to understand  ignorant people with bad hearts and bad motivations, do not give them the power."

The mural was defaced with a racial slur. Previously, it was vandalized with "KKK" written over Floyd's face.

Houston-based artist Daniel Anguilu, who painted the mural with other artists at the city's Graffiti Park several days after Floyd was killed, restored it Thursday. He said it was the third time he's had to clean it.

'Light will defeat dark': Cheers and tears in George Floyd Square as guilty verdict read

"We really wanted people to have a place where they could begin the healing process," Anguilu said. "At the time when we painted it, all we knew was a person was killed from our community. We knew that people were hurting from it."

A jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death.

Derek Chauvin is led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after a guilty verdict is read during the trial of Derek Chauvin of the death of George Floyd at the courthouse in Minneapolis on April 20, 2021.

"Yeah it upsets people when somebody defaces something like this, when our city has been peaceful," Finner said. "The verdict came in, and it was the right verdict. Some people are upset about it. Some people are ecstatic about it. But one thing, here in Houston, were gonna stick together."

To the vandals, Finner said: "You will be held accountable."

Floyd was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and grew up in Houston. His brother, Philonise Floyd, still lives in Houston with his wife and two kids. In court last week, Philonise testified about growing up with his "big brother" in Houston, saying George was beloved in the community there.

"People would attend church just because he was there," Philonise Floyd said. "He just knew how to make people feel better."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Floyd mural in Houston vandalized for third time, artist says
(Photo : Screenshot From Metadata.JoshBegley.com) Apple App Store Won't Accept App Notifying Unmanned Drone Attacks

For three times in a month, a certain developer by the name of Josh Begley has been trying to get Apple to accept his Drones+ app in their official App Store. The app has reportedly been rejected again and again.

Drones+ App: Notifying of Unmanned Drone Attacks

Drones+ app was created to show a map of different drone strikes as well as send out notifications every time one an unmanned drone used by the official US military would exterminate a bad guy over in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.

Apple's latest rejection letter gave a description of the app as being "objectionable" and even "crude." This is the latest reason that was given to Cupertino for rejecting his app, the Drones+. Initially, Apple said that the app was "not useful" and the next rejection was reportedly based on a certain hidden corporate logo.

Drone Awareness

According to the story by PhoneArena, Begley noted that he wanted to play with the idea of a push notification as well as a push button technology which would essentially ask if users want to get notifications in real time. Begley noted that he even thought that reaching into the pockets of a typical US smartphone user and making them annoyed turning them into drone-conscious individuals could be quite an interesting way to surface the conversation even more.

For those that are worried about the entire content of the app, there are reportedly no pictures of the remains of whatever the target was. All that the Drones+ will show is just a map paired with pointers showing the whole location of strikes.

The information is basically public knowledge since it actually comes from the UK's official Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Clicking on a specific pointer would reveal information about the certain strike as well as who the media believed was the supposed target of the strike. At the same time, another notification will be sent to the user's phone to alert them of any drone strikes.

Read Also: TF-19 Wasp Is A Flamethrower Attachment For Your Drone

Drones+ is now Metadata+

Begley, a student over at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, had originally submitted the barebones version of the said app back in July but on July 23rd, he reportedly got a response from Apple. Apple emailed him telling him that the features as well as the contents of the app were not useful or even entertaining enough. It was also said that the app did not even "appeal to a broad enough audience.

This then led the developer to think that the problem was the way that he had presented the information. However, after his attempts failed again and again, he then realized that the problem was with Apple after all. There were also other reasons that Apple has been giving Begley as to why his app was not accepted in the App Store. So far, the reasons change when he applies again and again. The app is now reportedly called Metadata+.

Related Article: DJI Banned? US Government Tagged Drone Company as Security Risk Over Ties with China

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian Buenconsejo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
It wasnt Wrights first time calling the shots  she had directed 10 episodes of House of Cards over its six seasons, starting in season two  but in Land she is the central character, and often the only human on screen, and is in virtually every shot. One minute shed be wrangling lights, cameras, props; the next shed be lying on the floor of a timber cabin, playing a woman in peak desperation, faint from starvation and close to death from the cold. How did she handle the transition from actor to director and back again? It feels like a light switch, she says, laughing. You know its a job, acting, like any other job. Yes, its an emotional job and you do have to get yourself to an emotional place to portray what that character is going through. But in this situation, you just dont have time to really prepare. In the final season of House of Cards, Wrights Claire Underwood became President. Wright directed 10 episodes of the series across six seasons. Credit:Netflix For those key scenes that were really emotional, I would just say, Can we clear the set, just everybody give me 60 seconds, and everybody leaves the cabin or whatever, and you get prepared. And it was one or two takes, because we really had to bust a move. We had so much on our schedule every day we didnt have time to do multiple takes. So  light switch. Land is, of course, about the healing power of the environment, and how a damaged soul might land on their feet again by giving themselves over to it. But its also about nature as a force that cares not a jot about that individuals journey. Stay, go, live, die: its all the same.

Edees journey is marked on Wrights face, her hair, her skin. From naively optimistic to resigned to death to defiantly alive, her appearance maps the stage of her journey. Hair and make-up were, naturally, critical to marking those transitions (and once into the swing, they were able to set her daily look in just 20 minutes)  but knowing precisely where on the journey Edee would be on any given day was a daily proposition. We always had to have the multiple looks available right behind the cabin in a tent just in case weather shifted suddenly, she says. Everything we shot was dictated by the weather, and it was very erratic. We were forewarned about that but, man, until youre in it, you dont really know. It would be a beautiful sunny day, wed be in T-shirts, wed be shooting a summer scene, and then boom, four feet of snow would dump that night. We had a schedule but we would just throw the schedule out every day. She could not have starred on both sides of the camera, she says, without her producers and her assistant director, who were on set with her and were almost like your co-directors when youre in front of the camera. And her co-star Demian Bichir  who plays a fellow loner who befriends and helps Edee on the mountain simply because, he tells her, you were in my path  was just a beautiful soul of a man.

Wright has been acting since her teens (she became a regular on the daytime soap Santa Barbara in 1984 and played the titular character in The Princess of Bride when she was 20). But rather than see the roles dry up as she aged, the now-55-year-old has enjoyed arguably the most productive and acclaimed spell of her career since passing the once-terminal 40-year mark. House of Cards is of course the landmark achievement on her resume, as it would be on any actors, but she has also had her share of blockbuster fun (as a leather-clad Amazonian warrior in Wonder Woman and its sequel), innovative arthouse fare (The Congress, in which she played an animated version of the actor Robin Wright), and high-end sci-fi (as a tough-as-nails cop in Blade Runner 2049). But her next gig sees her once again behind the camera, directing a couple of episodes of Ozark. Im, like, so excited, she says. So, where do you see yourself going from here: Would you like to direct more, or keep acting, or a mix of both? Both, she says without hesitation. That would be a dream.
An 18-year-old Amish woman whose remains were found buried in rural Pennsylvania this week, 10 months after her disappearance, was strangled and stabbed in the neck, an autopsy revealed on Friday.

The Lancaster County coroner used dental records to positively identify the body of Linda Stoltzfoos. The cause of death was asphyxia from strangulation, along with suffocation, the coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said following the autopsy. He said the stab wound was a contributing factor in her death.

Stoltzfoos was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area on June 21, 2020. Her remains were found wrapped in a tarp and buried in a 3 foot deep grave along railroad tracks behind Dutchland Inc, a business where the man charged in her death had worked.

Linda Stoltzfoos, 18 (left and right), was strangled to death and stabbed in the neck while walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area of Lancaster on June 21 last year

Justo Smoker, 35, of Paradise, was charged with homicide in December and is awaiting trial. Smoker was initially arrested in August, and also faces charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment. He has pleaded not guilty.

Justo Smoker, 34, was charged with homicide in December in connection with Stoltzfoos' killing

Authorities have declined to say what exactly led them to the grave, or whether Smoker had provided the information as part of a deal with prosecutors. Stoltzfoos' body was found in the small town of Gap along Route 41, in an area of brush on railroad property behind a business where Smoker had been employed.

Authorities have said they believe Smoker killed Stoltzfoos within a few hours of kidnapping her, buried her in one location where her stockings and bra had been found, and then moved her several days later to the grave discovered on Wednesday.

Officials previously said that the suspect's DNA was discovered on the victim's stocking.

Mervin Fisher, an uncle to Linda Stoltzfoos, told Pennlive that the family had held out hope that she would be found alive, but had been preparing themselves for the worst.

'The not knowing is a long, dark tunnel without an end. And when you find the remains, you have the end in sight,' Fisher told Pennlive. 'It brings closure, and when there's closure, the healing process can continue.

Lancaster County DA Heather Adams said Thursday they now believe the remains of missing Stoltzfoos have been found after a body was discovered Wednesday

The remains were found buried more than three feet down and wrapped in a tarp behind Dutchland Incorporated, the former workplace of Smoker in a rural area in the eastern part of Lancaster County, the DA said

Lancaster County DA Heather Adams said at a press conference that the surrounding area where the remains were found Wednesday had already been searched by police.

She did not comment on what led to the discovery of the victim's remains.

Local resident Debbie Matteoda said: 'For the family I feel terrible because they keep all this hope all this time that maybe she will show up, but then again it's a closure.'

'It's sad,' said Krista Hanna. 'I hope that the family feels peace a little bit and the search is over and they know now what happened.'

Last month, a county judge ruled that prosecutors had presented enough evidence for a homicide trial against Smoker in the disappearance of Stoltzfoos.

Time of Linda's disappearance June 21, 2020: Linda fails to return home from church June 22: She is reported missing July 11: Justo Smoker, 34, of Paradise Township, is charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment December 21: Smoker is charged with criminal homicide March 5, 2021: Judge rules there is enough evidence to charge Smoker with killing the teen April 21: Human remains are found April 22: Lancaster County DA Heather Adams says officials are confident the remains are that of Linda April 23: Lancaster County coroner conducts autopsy and rules that Stoltzfoos died of asphyxia from strangulation, along with suffocation Advertisement

Prosecutors have said friends and family report that Stoltzfoos was happy with her life and had never expressed any desire to leave. In fact, they say, she had made plans to join others in a church youth group that day.

Smoker was initially charged with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor false imprisonment.

But in December, he was charged with homicide, with prosecutors alleging that the passing of time, along with the complete cessation of all routine activities led to the inevitable conclusion that Linda was deceased and that Smoker caused her death.

Adams said then: 'Smoker's conduct on and around the time of Linda's kidnapping, along with physical evidence, supports the allegations that he kidnapped and murdered her.'

Stoltzfoos was reported missing on the evening of Father's Day by her father after she failed to return home from a youth group she had been set to attend. Investigators say Stoltzfoos never made it to the social gathering that night.

Surveillance footage observed by authorities captured Stoltzfoos walking alone on Beechdale Road, a route she typically took home after church. A red Kia Rio that matched Smoker's vehicle registration number was also seen in the footage.

In a rural location in Ronks where they believe the victim might have been taken and where the vehicle was seen parked June 23, authorities found items of Stoltzfoos' clothing buried in a wooded area, prosecutors said.

'Smoker became a person of interest in the kidnapping after police received information about a red/orange vehicle seen in the Gap area on the afternoon of the abduction,' the East Lampeter Township Police Department said in a press release in July last year.

'Multiple witnesses in the area reported seeing an Amish female in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by a male. Witness descriptions of the driver and vehicle are consistent with Smoker and his vehicle.'

The FBI offered a reward of $10,000 in July for information leading to her recovery.

Christopher Tallarico, the county's chief public defender, argued in March there was no proof that Stoltzfoos had ever gotten into Smoker's car, and he elicited testimony that her DNA wasn't found on samples taken from the car.

East Lampeter Township Detective Christopher Jones said DNA profiles recovered were insufficient to test.

Hundreds of volunteers showed up to search for Stoltzfoos, according to a Facebook page that details search efforts and includes photos and videos from the scene.

For hours, volunteers scoured fields and streams for Stoltzfoos. In the evening, 15 horses with riders were dispatched to help search for Stoltzfoos.

Surveillance footage observed by authorities captured Stoltzfoos walking alone on Beechdale Road, a route she typically took home after church. A red Kia Rio that matched Smoker's vehicle registration number was also seen in the footage

Smoker has an extensive criminal history stretching back to 2005 and has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars

Smoker has an extensive criminal history stretching back to 2005 and has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars.

He had been a former high school wrestling all-star who had a 3.0 grade point average and earned a place on the Lancaster-Lebanon wrestling all-star team in 2003 before turning to a life of crime.

The 35-year-old was sentenced to serve 12-and-a-half years to 30 years in prison following a string of armed robberies in 2006.

Smoker pleaded guilty to the robberies, during which he and his brother, Victor, used a BB gun to rob four different businesses between Aug. 8 and Aug. 13, 2006.

During the trial, Smoker was revealed to have been adopted at age seven after he was found 'living on the street, just trying to survive', his defense attorney said.

'They raised me better than this,' Smoker told the judge of his adoptive parents. 'I'm sorry for what I did and the people I hurt, including my family.'

His adoptive father said Smoker had been 'trouble since we got him.'

The judge told Smoker at the 2007 hearing that he could have imposed a sentence that would have kept him in prison for twice as long, if not the rest of his life, Lancaster Online reported.

But, the judge said he issued a sentence that ensures 'society is protected, but that you could still come out and lead a reasonable life.'

Smoker ended up serving nearly the minimum on that sentence and was released on Feb. 28, 2019.

DA Adams said the surrounding area where the remains were found Wednesday had been already been searched by police. She did not comment on what led to the discovery

The remains were found buried and wrapped in a tarp behind the former workplace of Smoker in a rural area in the eastern part of Lancaster County, Adams said

The remains were recovered from a rural area in Lancaster County

Bird-in-Hand is known for its large Amish population, and tourists come to visit the Amish Village heritage museum.

Pennsylvania and Ohio have the highest concentration of Amish communities, with 50 Amish groups in each state.

The Pennsylvania Amish are known to be private people who believe that God has called them to a simple life of faith, discipline, dedication and humility.

Shunning technology, they believe that the Amish religion should be practiced, not displayed, and translated into daily living rather than focused on tangible symbols or complicated religious rituals.

Stoltzfoos' disappearance came a month after a 21-year-old US Air Force airman was arrested for allegedly killing Mennonite Sunday school teacher Sasha Krause, 27, in Arizona.

Both the Amish and Mennonites belong to the Anabaptist denomination of Christianity and dress in similar garb, but unlike the Amish, the Mennonites allow the use of some modern technological advances in their daily lives.
By Benjamin Jumbe

Gulu district Member of Parliament Betty Aol Ocan has raised concern over constant power shortages in the Northern district.

She says despite being elevated to city status, Gulu remains without steady, constant power supply which has affected businesses.

Ocan who is also the leader of opposition in parliament says government needs to ensure power is constant, available and affordable for development.

In response, finance minister Matia Kasaija maintained that the country has enough electricity however noting that the challenge remains distribution.
Students at an Islamic school in Surabaya, Indonesia, pray for the 53 crew members aboard the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine that went missing during a training exercise off the coast of Bali, April 23, 2021.

International search-and-rescue teams were en route Friday to join the hunt for an Indonesian Navy submarine missing since early Wednesday, as hopes of finding the crew alive dwindled.

The KRI Nanggala-402, carrying a crew of 53, lost contact about 60 miles (96.5 km) north of Bali after the vessel was cleared to dive during a torpedo firing exercise, and was feared to have sunk in waters hundreds of meters deep, officials said. The search operation intensified on Friday after the Navy said the oxygen reserve aboard the submarine was expected to run out early Saturday.

Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, India and the United States were sending rescue ships and aircraft to support the search, officials said.

The U.S. and Australia have been given clearance. All the foreign ships have been given clearance, armed forces spokesman Achmad Riad said during a news conference at an air force base in Badung, Bali.

The Indonesian military deployed 21 warships, including the newly acquired submarine KRI Alugoro, while the police sent four vessels, Riad said.

Singapore and Malaysia sent their submarine-rescue vessels, the MV Swift Rescue and the MV Mega Bakti, respectively. Australia dispatched the HMAS Sirius and HMAS Ballarat, which is equipped with a rigid hull inflatable boat designed for high-speed military and emergency operations, along with a helicopter, Riad said.

Indonesian Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said only the vessel sent by Singapores was equipped to mount a rescue.

We are waiting for the MV Swift Rescue. To find the submarine, equipment that can reach its depth is needed. We dont have it, Julius said.

In Washington, the Pentagon released details of a Friday call between U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, where Austin expressed his heartfelt concern about the missing submarine and its crew. The two discussed the recent deployment of the Poseidon aircraft to aid the search.

Secretary Austin offered to provide additional assistance, which could include undersea search assets, for the effort, the Pentagon said.

In a separate call with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan underscored that the United States would do everything possible to support Indonesias search and rescue effort, the White House said.

A U.S. P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft was expected in Bali on Saturday, but an American advance team arrived in Indonesia to help with coordination, Riad said.

Australias Department of Defense said the Sirius and the Ballarat were making best speed for the search area.

These two Australian ships will help expand the search area and extend the duration of search effort, Australian Rear Adm. Admiral Mark Hammond said in a statement.

South Koreas Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said it too was ready to help if asked.

On Thursday, President Joko Jokowi Widodo assured the nation that the governments and militarys top priority was the safety of the submarine crew members.

I invite all Indonesian people to pray that this search and rescue effort will run smoothly that the entire crew of the ship can return safely, he said on social media.

Help urgently needed

Military and intelligence analyst Susaningtyas Kertopati said time was running out.

The chances of survival are certainly diminishing, so help from friendly countries is urgently needed, she told BenarNews on Friday.

Singapores MV Swift Rescue is the best bet because the ship is equipped with a Deep Search and Rescue Six submersible, she said.

The ship has the technology to evacuate the crew because it is capable of diving up to hundreds of meters and can be connected to a damaged or sunk submarine, she said.

In addition, the Swift Rescue has two closed rescue boats capable of carrying 50 people. So hopefully there will be a miracle and we can find it, it is still possible, she said.

On Thursday, search teams equipped with sonar technology detected a magnetic object about 50 to 100 meters (164 to 328 feet) underwater, but it was not clear what it was, Navy chief of staff Yudo Margono said.

The Navy said the KRI Nanggala-402 was suspected to be 600 to 700 meters (1,970 to 2,300 feet) underwater, although it was designed to dive to depths of only 250 to 500 meters (820 to 1,640 feet).

Late Wednesday, a helicopter crew conducting aerial surveillance reporting finding an oil spill in the location where the submarine was last detected, but it was not clear if it was connected to the incident.

Holding out hope

Meanwhile, children in the submarines home port of Surabaya prayed on Friday for the sailors safe recovery, while relatives of the crew members were clinging to hope that their loved ones could survive.

I believe Pandu will return safely, Yayak Dwi Ernawati told the government-run Antara news agency. Her son-in-law, Second Sgt. Pandu Yudha Kusuma, was on the submarine.

Yayak said Pandu married her daughter two months ago.

Three days after the wedding, he left for Surabaya and on Monday they called us that he was joining a military drill, Yayak said. We havent received complete information from the naval base.

The KRI Nanggala-402 was built by German company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in 1977 and came into service in 1981, the Indonesian military said.

From 2009 to 2012, the submarine was retrofitted by South Koreas Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, officials said.

Indonesia has five submarines, including the missing one.

Lt. Col. Pelaman Ansori, a former KRI Nanggala-402 commander, said safety equipment on board met international standards.

The safety equipment is adjusted to the number of personnel on board in the submarine. If there are 53 passengers on board, there is safety equipment for 53 people, he said during a news conference.
The catastrophe outraged the public, which criticized city leaders for failing to learn their lesson from another theater disaster that killed several people just two years earlier. A child yelled Fire! in a crowded theater after he saw smoke emanating from a heating vent. Although there wasnt any fire, the audience panicked and rushed for the exits, jamming a staircase and small hallways. Five people were trampled to death or died after falling from a balcony. Fifty others were injured.
Many Australians will be up before dawn to commemorate Anzac Day, but it will be many hours before the shops open.

April 25 falls on a Sunday this year which means only people from the ACT, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland will get Monday off work, but big retailers have still adjusted their hours nationwide.

Those who are planning a big day on Sunday should stock up on breakfast supplies on Saturday to avoid being caught out, as most stores will be closed until lunch time.

Woolworths around NSW and Victoria will open at 1pm on Sunday, while stores in Tasmania open from 12.30pm

Pictured: Participants march during the Anzac Day parade in Sydney on April 25, 2019

Woolworths and Coles around NSW and Victoria will open at 1pm on Sunday, while stores in Tasmania open from 12.30pm.

Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane supermarkets will not open at all, but some stores outside of the city centres will open from 12pm.

Australians hoping to occupy their time on Sunday by working on DIY projects will be able to head to Bunnings all day in NSW, Victoria, WA, SA and NT, and from lunch time in Tasmania and ACT.

Kmart will also be open from lunch time on Sunday in most states, and all day on Monday across the country

Anzac Day events were cancelled for the first time last year since they began in the 1920s due to Covid-19. Pictured: Anzac Day in Sydney before Covid-19

Kmart will also be open from lunch time on Sunday in most states, and all day on Monday across the country.

But Queenslanders will have to wait until Monday to buy groceries or visit Kmart and Bunnings as all shops will be closed on Sunday.

Anzac Day this year is in stark contrast to the event in 2020, which saw the first ever cancellation of events since they began in the 1920s due to Covid-19.

Some states will not run parades in 2021, but others will take place with social distancing precautions.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWIre -- Hunter Technology Corp. (TSX-V: HOC; OTCQB: HOILF; WKN: A2QEYH, FSE: RWPM, ISIN: CA4457371090) (Hunter or the Company) announces the resignation of Andrew Hromyk as Director of the Company.



As CEO of Hunter Technologys predecessor business, Hunter Oil Corp., Mr. Hromyk drove the reorganization of the Companys Permian oil and gas assets from 2015 through to monetization in 2018, when Hunter disposed of its oil and gas assets for total consideration of approximately $43,000,000 consisting of $28,000,000 in cash and $15,000,000 in assumed liabilities, of which approximately $21,500,000 was paid to shareholders as a capital dividend.

During his tenure, Mr. Hromyk was instrumental in restoring the Companys capital structure, raising in excess of $5 million in working capital which was then deployed to reconstitute the Companys oil and gas assets, significantly increasing shareholder value. The successful decision to monetize the Companys oil and gas assets in 2018, just prior to the downturn in the sector, followed by the return of the bulk of the sale proceeds to the Companys shareholders by way of tax-free capital dividend, underlines Mr. Hromyks determination to both create and to distribute shareholder value.

Mr. Hromyk is leaving the Company to focus his attention on his private capital management firm, First Finance Limited. A development stage investor, First Finance provides capital resources and strategic guidance to highly prospective investment opportunities with established management teams and a clear pathway to monetization.

Hunter is deeply indebted to Mr. Hromyk and wishes him well in all of his future endeavours.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Florian M Spiegl

Chief Executive Officer

(888) 977-0970

For further information, visit our website at www.huntertechnology.com.

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.

Wire Service Contact

InvestorWire (IW)

Los Angeles, California

www.InvestorWire.com

212.418.1217 Office

Editor@InvestorWire.com
This week, top military officers launched their big push on Capitol Hill for a total overhaul of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, at an estimated cost of $1.3 trillion over the next 30 years, and their top rationalethe go-to rationale for just about every large federal program these dayswas the threat from China.

Their case was less than compelling.

Yes, China is displaying some bellicose behavior these days, economically, politically, and militarily. But a new generation of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers, cruise missiles, and submarines would do nothing to deal with the problem.

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Adm. Charles Richard, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, which runs plans and operations for the nuclear arsenal, laid out his case in hearings before House and subcommittees on strategic forces. He noted that China is expanding its nuclear arsenal at an unprecedented pace, on course to double in size by the end of the decade. Its building more solid-fuel missiles, which can be launched right away (older liquid-fuel missiles require hours to load). Its also building better early-warning radar, putting some of its ICBMs on trucks and moving them around. It might have adopted a launch-on-warning policy.

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But all of this adds up to something less alarming than Richards rhetoric suggestednamely that the Peoples Liberation Army is improving its ability to detect, and respond to, a nuclear attack on the Chinese homeland. Even if the Chinese doubled the size of their arsenal, which would give them about 600 nuclear weapons instead of the current 300, it would be well under half the size of the U.S. arsenal, so they would have no ability to launch a first strike against us.

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In other words, China seems to be building a more potent second-strike arsenalwhat we in the West would call a deterrentperhaps in the face of Russias build-up of medium-range missiles and Americas development of a missile-defense force. This is troubling only to the extent it means that the United States would have a hard time launching a nuclear first-strike against China.

This is a bit troubling, but for reasons that seem less so, the more deeply the problem is analyzed. Chinas military strategy is to establish hegemony in the regionespecially in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Seaand to prevent U.S. air and naval forces from intervening in this area. Beijing has made progress toward this goal by declaring some small islands, which are clearly in international waters, to be Chinese territory and converting them into military bases. It has also built and deployed hundreds of missiles that can attack ships, even large ones, with steadily improving accuracy and steadily longer range. China has also improved its ability to hit satellites and sensors in outer space (through cyber and more conventional means). Again, the goal is to keep the U.S. from intervening in Chinese military ventures. The American trump card in any such conflict has long been its nuclear arsenal (whether any president actually would use nukes to protect, say, Taiwan is another matter), but if China has its own potent nuclear deterrent, this cards value is reduced: if we attack them, they can attack us.

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But there are ways to maintain U.S. leverage in this scenarioto continue deterring China from thinking they might get away with aggression. These ways include making satellites and sensors more resilient to cyberattack (or building more of them, for redundancy); restructuring the Navy (a longer-term project); and shoring up alliances in the region (Chinas belligerence has already made powers in the region more willing to ally with the U.S.).

However, the main point is this: We would gain no leverage in this scenario by building new ICBMs, bombers, cruise missiles, or submarines. To the extent these sorts of weapons loom as the ultimate deterrent, as a sort of overlord to any military competition, we already have plenty.

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Richard disputed this point. He claimed in both hearings that, before too long, we wont be able to deter Russia or China because our nuclear weaponsall of them decades oldare approaching obsolescence.

This is true for the 14 Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines, each of which carries 24 missiles, each of which is loaded with up to eight nuclear warheadsor 192 warheads for each sub. As Richard testified, the first of these subs will be retired in six years. The lifetime of a submarine is limited: at some point, the nuclear core goes out, the wear and tear start straining, and every time the thing goes underwater, the odds grow long that it might not come back up. Because subs are undetectable and therefore invulnerable to attack, they are the best platforms for second-strike weaponsthe most reliable deterrent. Even most disarmament advocates are in favor of retaining submarine-launched ballistic missiles. And they need to be replaced every now and then.

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As for the other two legs of the nuclear Triad (the land-based ICBMs and the bombers), the case is less clear. The 400 Minuteman III ICBMs were built in the 1970s. They have undergone several life-extension programsnew warheads, new software, new launch-control gear. We have life-extended to the maximum extent possible, Richard testified. Therefore, he said, we now a new ICBM, which is known as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD. (At least one officer in the Pentagons Joint Staff has suggested coming up with a catchier name.)

However, in a 2019 hearing, Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, then the Air Force deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence, testified that the Minuteman III could undergo one more round of life-extension, taking it through at least 2040. At last weeks House hearing, Rep. John Garamendi, California Democrat, asked Richard about this testimony. Richard replied that the need for a new missile was cited in a study by the Air Force (the service that funds ICBMs), noting that hes just the operational commander. Richard also claimed that the Minuteman III warheads might get shot down by Russias missile-defense systemsa claim that has no basis whatever.

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As for bombers, the current B-52s were built in the 1960s, but theyve been modified so many times, in so many ways (theyre now called the B-52H), theyre hardly the same planes. For one thing, rather than drop bombs over some target in Russia or China, theyre designed to fire cruise missiles 1,500 miles away from the target. Richard said that the B-52H could continue flying till 2060. But he still insisted that we need a new bomber, known as the B-21, and a new cruise missile, the Long-Range Stand-Off weapon, as well as a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile. Congress should scrutinize these claims rather than accept them.

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President Bidens national-security team is currently conducting a review of the U.S. nuclear-weapons strategy and posture. It is very unlikely that the review will endorse the full modernization of the arsenal, at least in the numbers that military commanders desire. Bidens priorities clearly lie elsewhere (climate change, infrastructure, economic competitiveness, education, social programs, scientific research, etc.), and his budget reflects that. Even within the Defense Department, there are more urgent needs that will soak up a lot of money.

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Richard and other senior officers know this, which is why theyre pulling out all the stops in making the case for new nukes. This weeks hearings marked the first public roll-out of the arguments, but theyve been rehearsed in trade journals and conferences for some time now. Last fall, the Trump administration awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion sole-source contract to start developing the new ICBM, in an attempt to lock in the project and make it harder for anyone to kill it outright. Northrop Grumman had lined up more than a dozen subcontractorsincluding Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, which are normally its chief competitorsin order to widen support in Congress.

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There will be fierce resistance to any slowdown of the strategic juggernaut. Most members of the congressional armed services committees regard the Nuclear Triad with the same veneration that Catholics bestow to the Holy Trinity. When they ask a witness if he believes in the Triad, they do so with a quivering tone, as if they were priests asking a supplicant if he believes in God.

At the same time, budget pressures are rousing some lawmakers to mull, a bit more deeply than before, whether so many nukes are necessary, whether they all have to be 100 percent reliable to deter adversaries from aggression, whether the recondite scenarios and theories of the nuclear game are quite real. Its long past time to demystify the nuclear enterprise, to strip away the fear and trembling, and ask how many weapons are needed to do what.
Researches at the UK's University of Oxford have found that pregnant women and newborns face higher risks of health complications associated with COVID-19, according to a fresh study

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) Researches at the UK's University of Oxford have found that pregnant women and newborns face higher risks of health complications associated with COVID-19, according to a fresh study.

"A study of more than 2,100 pregnant women across 18 countries worldwide has revealed that COVID-19 is associated with a higher risk of severe maternal and newborn complications than previously recognised," the university said in a statement on Friday.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Nuffield Dept of Women's and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford, providing comparative information about the effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy.

"Women with COVID-19 during pregnancy were over 50% more likely to experience pregnancy complications (such as premature birth, pre-eclampsia, admission to intensive care and death) compared to pregnant women unaffected by COVID-19. Newborns of infected women were also nearly three times more at risk of severe medical complications, such as admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - mostly due to premature birth," Aris Papageorghiou, the study's co-author, said.

Papageorghiou further noted that there were few maternal deaths recorded, although the risk of dying during and after pregnancy was 22 times higher in women with COVID-19 than in the non-infected pregnant women.
By Colin Packham

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's Minister for Trade has urged AstraZeneca to dispatch 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Papua New Guinea amid concerns about the spread of the virus there, saying the EU had pledged no hindrance to the exports.

"We have very clear assurances (from Brussels) that AstraZeneca does not have to apply through the EU export transparency regime to send those one million doses to Papua New Guinea," Minister Dan Tehan told reporters in London on Thursday, speaking during a trade mission to Europe.

"There is nothing that is preventing them from sending those one million doses, from Europe to PNG and the ball is clearly in AstraZeneca's court."

AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to requests for comment on when it would supply the doses to PNG, which officials worry is in danger of being overwhelmed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Australia has yet to receive 3.1 million vaccine doses that AstraZeneca agreed to supply after the shipments became entangled in EU export restrictions.

But Tehan said EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis assured him such restrictions did not apply to the PNG consignment, and AstraZeneca must move quickly to send the shipment.

PNG has detected more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19, but health officials say this likely vastly underestimates the scale of the outbreak as the Pacific country's fragile health system is unable to conduct mass testing.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier this month said the EU refusal to allow the export of 3.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was a key reason for Canberra lagging behind its own vaccination timetable.

However, the EU said it had formally only blocked 250,000 doses destined for Australia.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
Facebook capture of Belgian ambassador to the Republic of Korea

Seoul [South Korea], April 23 (ANI/Global Economic): Belgian ambassador to the Republic of Korea Peter Lescui officially apologised Thursday on behalf of his wife for the assault of a clothing store employee.

The embassy said in a press release posted on Facebook that day, "The Belgian Ambassador to Korea sincerely regrets the incident involving his wife which happened on April 9th and wants to apologize on her behalf. No matter the circumstances, the way she reacted was unacceptable."

The embassy said, "The ambassador was informed by the police that the investigation into the case was underway on the day his spouse was hospitalised. Since the investigation is still undergoing, the ambassador will not comment or interview on this case."

"The ambassador confirms that his spouse will be investigated as soon as possible," he said. "However, she has been in hospital treatment for a stroke from last week until now, and she is currently unable to engage in police investigations."

"We hope that the ambassador's wife will recover as soon as possible, cooperate with the police investigation, and end this unpleasant affair."

The ambassador's wife was charged with slapping an employee in the cheek at a clothing store in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

The day before, Patrick Engelbert, a diplomat of the Embassy of the Belgium in Korea, called the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs' office, apologizing and asking cooperation in the investigation. (ANI/Global Economic)
Concerns raised as three primary schools in same area of Wrexham either full or oversubscribed

Concerns have been raised as three primary schools in the same area of Wrexham are either full or oversubscribed.

A total of nine children have been denied entry to Ysgol Penrhyn in New Broughton, despite five of them attending the schools nursery and many living nearby.

Brynteg County Primary School and Black Lane School in Pentre Broughton, which are the two nearest schools, are also said to be full.

Local councillor Alan Edwards said it had left parents in a dilemma over where to send their children.





He has now criticised Wrexham Councils education department after claiming officers became aware of the impending surge in pupil numbers three years ago, but had failed to take action.

In an e-mail circulated to other councillors, he said: Unfortunately, we seem to have a problem with the three schools in the Broughton area being full

The council, in my opinion, are just burying their heads in the sand and hope the problem will go away.

The children of Caego especially are being treated unfairly by the system.

I would be interested to know which school the council suggests your child is supposed to go to as Ysgol Penrhyn and Brynteg cannot take any more.

Its about time this council started to think about people and fit policies around them.

Cllr Edwards said education officials had acknowledged that Ysgol Penrhyn was in need of expansion.

However, he was told there was no money available to make the school bigger.

He said the councils admissions method of allocating school places in was not supporting parents as it should be.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he added: The councils criteria for Ysgol Penrhyn is that the school is the centre and then its the distance from there.

But Ive seen the admissions and theres kids from Derby Road that are getting in and kids from Ffordd Powell in New Broughton cant get in.

They (officers) said the school needs expanding, but it might be awkward with the finance  the parents are fuming.

Wrexham Council has been asked to comment.

By Liam Randall  BBC Local Democracy Reporter
Sitting in the carpool line at my childrens school, I take a deep, heavy breath as I listen to the news report of the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin, the man who murdered George Floyd.

I am unapologetically relieved. A police officer was finally held accountable for killing a Black person.

Still, I cant celebrate. Accountability doesnt equal justice.

On this same day, a 16-year-old girl wielding a knife, MaKhia Bryant, was fatally shot by police in Columbus, Ohio. A week prior, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was killed by police near Minneapolis. Last month, Adam Toledo, 13, was killed by Chicago police.

And a year ago, in Houston, Nicolas Chavez, who was 27, was shot nearly 30 times by police.

Attorney Sean Roberts of Roberts Markland knows the hurt of losing a family member at the hands of law enforcement. Thats why he wants justice for the Chavez family. His firm filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Houston Police Department on behalf of the family in March.

In 2004, Roberts 23-year-old brother Tairon Gray, a student at Texas Southern University, was fatally shot seven times by deputy constables. Gray suffered from mental illness, and his mother had called police to ask for help.

You cant imagine the guilt she has carried, Roberts said. This fractured our family. Im a parent now, and its even more significant. Thats the part of police shootings that doesnt get discussed. These are fathers who are taken out of households. George Floyd was someones dad. Chavez was someones dad.

Gray would have turned 41 this year. He wanted to be a lawyer. Maybe a father, too.

He was good person. I think about him all of the time. It is so painful to know he had so much life, and it was lost for an unnecessary reason, said Roberts, who has an 11-year-old son, Joshua, and a 1-year-old daughter, Ava.

With every advantage Roberts is able to provide for his son, he knows there is still an implicit bias in society  and a real fear of Black men. He applauds Minnesota police chief Medaria Arradondo for testifying against Chauvin. That rarely happens.

Black Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to be killed by police. Of the thousands of deadly police shootings in the U.S. since 2005, fewer than 140 officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter, according to data maintained by Phil Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University. Before the Chauvin verdict, only seven were convicted of murder.

With such dismal statistics, justice seems like an aspirational dream, the Chauvin verdict an anomaly made possible by a 9-minute, 29-second video and good cops telling on bad ones.

We have a policing problem, said Roberts, who pointed out police killings in the U.S. are on the rise across racial lines. Communities are suffering because of police misconduct. There are repercussions that occur with the shoot-first-ask-questions-later actions that are prominent with so many police departments. It does really devastating things to a family.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner called Chauvins actions hurtful to every police officer in this nation, and hurtful to our profession. The chief said he was glad to see justice done.

Chauvins verdict will not end police violence. It will not end racial profiling or even the aggressive use of force in Black and brown communities, particularly in cases of mental illness. Dr. Kathy Flanagan, a psychiatrist, said these communities are often dealt with harshness in such cases.

We tend to see in underserved communities of color that law enforcement assumes more of a warrior model, ready for a fight, as opposed to being respectful of the community and being more concerned about servicing and protecting, she said.

Obviously, there needs to be some type of reform, reprogramming, removal of bad cops  and more good cops speaking up.

On the day of the Chauvin verdict, I stood outside the NAACP Houston office in Third Ward and watched as the organizations vice president, Bishop Thomas Dixon, talked about the verdicts significance with his 14-year-old son beside him. The teen once wanted to be a police officer but not any more, Dixon said.

Hes disappointed by the system, but hopefully there is hope for America, Dixon said.

There are glimpses of hope even in my own community.

In the past few years, as my neighbors and I have dealt with crime and other issues, Houston police officers from the South Central Police Substation have worked with us to help find solutions. Their Coffee with a Cop socials at a local coffeehouse help build bridges between us and them. On Halloween, officers dressed up in costume and brought a Mardi Gras-style caravan through our neighborhood, handing out candy and treats to our children.

See, our kids shouldnt be scared of police, a neighbor said as the caravan rolled by.

No, they shouldnt. But still, here we are.

At Floyds funeral in Houston last summer, I talked with Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who in 2014 was killed by a New York police officer who had him in a choke hold. She was hopeful.

I pray for justice for my son and for all the victims out here and the ones no one ever heard about. That it will come. I hope it comes it soon, she said.

My kids tumble into the back seat of the car, noisy and full of life. My daughter proclaims that squirrels are her best friends, and we should get some chicken nuggets to feed them. Her class is studying animals, so every week theres a new one. My son farts and laughs. Boys.

The radio is still on, and my mind is heavy.

Like many Black parents, Im terrified for our children. As much as I know there are good cops who will risk their own lives to keep them safe, I also know there are bad ones who make life hell for them and even take their last breath.

Something has to change. My hope, too, is that change comes soon.

joy.sewing@chron.com
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--April 22, 2021--In their effort to understand the very earliest stages of life and how they can go wrong, scientists are confronted with ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryos. The use of animal embryos is also subject to restrictions rooted in ethical considerations. To overcome these limitations, scientists have been trying to recreate early embryos using stem cells.

One of the challenges in creating these so-called synthetic embryos is to generate all the cell types normally found in a young embryo before it implants into the wall of the uterus. Some of these cells eventually give rise to the placenta. Others become the amniotic sac in which the fetus grows. Both the placenta and the amniotic sac are crucial for the survival of the fetus, and defects in these embryo components are major causes of early pregnancy loss.

A group of scientists from Gladstone Institutes, the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) from Kyoto University, and the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Kobe, Japan, has now demonstrated the presence of precursors of the placenta and the amniotic sac in synthetic embryos they created from mouse stem cells.

"Our findings provide strong evidence that our system is a good model for studying the early, pre-implantation stages of embryo development," says Kiichiro Tomoda, PhD, research investigator at the recently opened iPS Cell Research Center at Gladstone and first author of the study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports. "Using this model, we will be able to dissect the molecular events that take place during these early stages, and the signals that the different embryonic cells send to each other."

Ultimately, this knowledge might help scientists develop strategies to decrease infertility due to early embryonic development gone awry.

The new findings could also shed light on a defining property of the earliest embryo cells that has been difficult to capture in the lab: their ability to produce all the cell types found in the embryo and, ultimately, the whole body. Scientists refer to this property as "totipotency."

"Totipotency is a very unique and short-lived property of early embryonic cells," says Cody Kime, PhD, an investigator at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research and the study's senior author.

"It has been much harder to harness in the lab than pluripotency," he adds, referring to the ability of some cells to give rise to several--but not all--cell types. "A very exciting prospect of our work is the ability to understand how we can reprogram cells in the lab to achieve totipotency."

Growing the Fundamental Components of Early Embryos in the Lab

To generate synthetic embryos, the scientists started from mouse pluripotent stem cells that normally give rise to the fetus only--not the placenta or amniotic sac. They can grow these cells, called epiblast stem cells, and multiply them indefinitely in the lab.

In previous work, the team had discovered a combination of nutrients and chemicals that could make epiblast stem cells assemble into small cell structures that closely resemble pre-implantation embryos. In fact, the structures could even reach the implantation stage when transferred into female mice, though they degenerated shortly thereafter.

"This meant that we might successfully reprogram the epiblast cells to revert to an earlier stage, when embryonic cells are totipotent, and provided a clue to how we might generate both the fetus and the tissues that support its implantation," explains Tomoda, who is also a program-specific research center associate professor at CiRA.

To build on that work and better understand the reprogramming process, the scientists needed molecular resolution. In their new study, they turned to single-cell RNA sequencing, a technique that allows scientists to study individual cells based on the genes they turn on or off.

After analyzing thousands of individual cells reprogrammed from epiblast stem cells, and sifting the data through computer-powered analyses, they confirmed that, after 5 days of reprogramming, some cells closely resembled all three precursors of the fetus, the placenta, and the amniotic sac.

Moreover, as they were grown in the lab for a few more days, the three cell types displayed more distinct molecular profiles with striking similarity to real embryonic model cells. This is the same as would be expected during the growth of a normal embryo, when the three tissues acquire distinct physical properties and biological functions.

"Our single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis confirms the emergence in our synthetic embryo system of the cell types that lead to the three fundamental components of an early mammalian embryo," says Kime. "In addition, it unveils in amazing detail the genes and biological pathways involved in the development of these precursors and their maturation into specific tissues."

This knowledge provides a comprehensive backdrop against which to understand the mechanisms of early embryo development and the possible causes of its failure.

For now, the scientists plan to work on ways to increase the efficiency of their reprogramming process, so as to reliably produce large amounts of pre-implantation-like synthetic embryos for further studies. This would allow them to carry out experiments that were up to now unthinkable, such as large-scale screens for gene mutations that disrupt early embryos. And it may shed light on the causes of pregnancy loss due to early embryo failure.

They also want to better understand the molecular steps involved in reprogramming. In particular, they plan to look earlier than 5 days into the reprogramming process, with the hope of pinpointing truly totipotent cells at the origin of their synthetic embryos.

"The discovery that we could reprogram cells to adopt earlier, more pluripotent states revolutionized developmental biology 15 years ago," says Tomoda, referring to the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells by his and Kime's mentor, Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka.

"In the last few years, the field of synthetic embryology utilizing stem cells has seen a true explosion," he says. "Our method of generating synthetic embryos is simpler than others, and quite efficient. We think it will be a great resource for many labs."

###

About the Study

The paper "Reprogramming Epiblast Stem Cells into Pre-Implantation Blastocyst Cell-like Cells" was published by the journal Stem Cell Reports on April 22, 2021: https://www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports/fulltext/S2213-6711(21)00146-6.

Other authors include Haiming Hu, Yoshiki Sahara, Hashimita Sanyal, and Minoru Takasato, of the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.

This study was primarily funded by the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Organoid Project.

About Gladstone Institutes
On Wednesday evening, members of the Essex Crossing development team provided Community Board 3s land use committee with a status report. The nearly 2-million square foot residential and commercial complex is scheduled for groundbreaking by the middle of next year. Isaac Henderson, the project manager, led the informal briefing, along with Annel Cabrera, who was hired earlier this year as director of community relations for Delancey Street Associates, the consortium building the project in the former Seward Park Urban renewal area. Heres what they told committee members:

Final designs for phase one of the project (including the first four buildings) will be unveiled Jan. 14 at CB3s land use committee meeting. There will also be a larger public presentation at Grand Street Settlement Jan. 28. This past summer, the developers told us they planned to release renderings to the general public before 2014 drew to a close. While members of a community task force have seen the building designs, the timetable for a wider release slipped. The definite plan, said Henderson, is that next January we will be back here in front of you with all four of the architecture teams for sites 1. 2, 5 and 6.

Henderson added, Were hoping to begin construction on sites 1, 2 and 5 sometime during the spring or summer of next year. As previously reported, the development team recently backed away from predicting an early spring groundbreaking. Construction on site 6, which will include senior housing and a community facility run by Grand Street Settlement, is scheduled to begin the fall of 2015.

There have been a series of meetings with current vendors of the Essex Street Market, who will be moving across Delancey Street to a new, expanded market space on site 2. Over the next several months, theyll be working together to design the stalls. The citys Economic Development Corp. will be leading efforts to find new vendors to join the 20 or so existing merchants. There will be 39 stalls and two restaurants in the new facility.

Henderson recapped the announcement made earlier this week (via Crains) that Regal Cinemas would be leasing a space above the Essex Street Market for a 14-screen movie theater. The theater, equipped with electronically reclining seats, will be a real destination place that will facilitate people coming to Essex Crossings shops and restaurants from all over the city, Henderson said. He noted that a movie theater was one of the things a community task force working on the Seward Park plan prioritized.

Demolition of the old Essex Street Market building on site 2 and the Broome Street fire house on site 5 will take place either this month or in January. The plan is to take down two tenements at 400-402 Grand St. in February. Three families are still living at 400 Grand, but they are expected to be relocated by Dec. 19. Henderson said its important to begin demolition now even though construction is still months away because the Department of Buildings wont issue building permits until that happens and financing cant be approved until the DOB acts.

In a question and answer period, committee chairperson Linda Jones asked for clarification about building heights. She said residents where she lives, in the Seward Park Cooperative, are beginning to ask about how their city views will be affected. Henderson said heights, along with many other design details, are dictated by the city land use documents approved by the community board and City Council in 2012:

Site 1 building: 14 stories

Site 2 building: 24 stories

Site 5 building: 14 stories

Site 6 building: 14 stories

In response to another question, Henderson said there would be 155 condominium units; 20% will be considered affordable at 110% of Area Median Income (the current AMI in New York City for a family of four is $89,900.) Only families who fall within these income parameters will be considered for the affordable home ownership program.

The developers said the construction site will be surrounded by a high fence  12 feet  in order to help muffle noise. Tim Laughlin, executive director of the LES BID, suggested a public art program to help make the fences and scaffolding a little less foreboding. The developers said its something theyd consider.

Enrique Cruz, a community board member, asked whether the development team is reaching out to small construction firms on the Lower East Side as well as existing small businesses that could be part of the Essex Crossing project. Cabrera noted that there was recently a job fair, the first of many outreach events. Theres also a program to hire minority and women owned firms. Companies that would like to be considered must apply for city certification. Val Orselli, a public member of the land use committee, asked about the use of union labor. Henderson said Delancey Street Associates agreement with the city does not require the use of construction unions. He added, were engaged in an open dialogue with a variety of trade (unions). In the past month, some labor activists have been pushing for commitments to hire union workers (well have more on this sometime soon). Henderson said he hopes local businesses will be part of Essex Crossings micro-retail stalls, small spaces designed for start-up businesses. The success of our retail will be building off of what makes the neighborhood dynamic, he said.

Cabrera said she has been meeting with a variety of groups, including the tenant association at Seward Park Extension, the board of the Grand Street Guild and the schools on the Seward Park campus. She offered to meet with residents of the Seward Park Co-op. The city as well as CB3 continue to collect names of former urban renewal site tenants eligible for affordable housing. Lotteries for affordable apartments wont happen for at least a year-and-a-half.
(ANSA) - ROME, APR 23 - Most of Italy is set to see a significant easing of its COVID-19 restrictions when the reintroduction of moderate-risk yellow zones into the nation's tiered system of coronavirus-prevention measures kicks in on Monday.

At the moment regions are only classed as high-risk red zones or medium-high-risk orange zones.

But as many as 14 regions and two autonomous provinces could become yellow zones where. among other things, restaurants will be able to serve people at outdoor tables, rather than being limited to takeaways and home deliveries, next week.

These are Abruzzo, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Molise, Marche, Piemont, Puglia, Tuscany, Umbria, Veneto and the autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento.

There are doubts, however, about whether Puglia will be yellow or orange.

The government will classify the regions on the basis of figures from the weekly monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute that are being presented on Friday. Basilicata, Calabria, Sicilia and Valle d'Aosta are expected to be classed as orange zones, where restaurants and bars can only do takeaways and home deliveries.

Sardinia, meanwhile, is expected to remain a red zone.

In red zones people need a good reason to be out and about and all shops selling non-essential items are closed. (ANSA).


SAN FRANCISCO and WASHINGTON, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Civil rights groups, civic organizations, and tribal and local governments have secured and presented to the court for approval a final resolution in the federal lawsuit that stopped the federal government from severely truncating and skewing the results of the 2020 Census.

The Trump administration had sought to cut short both census data-collection and census data-processing to announce incomplete and inaccurate census results before former President Trump's term ended. After a series of favorable rulings in the case, National Urban League v. Ross (now National Urban League v. Raimondo), the Census Bureau was required to continue collecting full data from tens of millions of US residents from September 11 through October 15. The court prevented the Census Bureau from ending the count on September 30; millions more US residents were counted through the end of the extended data collection period on October 15. And the Census Bureau agreed to continue the data processing period into spring 2021, as sought by plaintiffs, instead of improperly ending it before the Trump administration left office.

Under the terms of the stipulated order to dismiss the lawsuit submitted to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for approval today:

The Census Bureau will continue to process the population numbers for congressional apportionment on an appropriate full timeline and will release those numbers no earlier than April 26, 2021 .

. The Census Bureau will include everyone, regardless of citizenship status, in population numbers for congressional apportionment and state-level redistricting.

The Census Bureau has acknowledged that the "illegal alien" citizenship data it was preparing for former President Trump is statistically unfit for use in apportionment and redistricting.

The Census Bureau will continue, with the assistance of third parties, to assess the data it obtained during the partially truncated data collection period under the Trump administrationand will provide plaintiffs and the public critical information and bi-monthly reports on its reviews of the quality of the 2020 Census data for the next year.The plaintiffs in National Urban League v. Raimondo (formerly National Urban League v. Ross) are membership and advocacy organizations, counties, cities, federally recognized Indian tribes, and individuals representing a broad swath of US residents, including historically undercounted populations who were most likely to be missed by a rushed census process: communities of color, low-income individuals, undocumented immigrants, residents of Indian reservations, and persons with mental and physical disabilities.

The plaintiffs filed their suit last August in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California when the Trump administration, against the judgment of the Census Bureau's expert staff, attempted to drastically shorten the timeline for census data collection and processing efforts during the pandemic. The suit alleged that the Trump administration's actions violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the US Constitution and threatened long-term harm in myriad ways, given that census figures are used to reapportion the U.S. House of Representatives, redraw congressional, state, and local electoral districts, and distribute more than $1.5 trillion annually in federal funds for education, food, healthcare, and other needs. The lawsuit also alleged that the speed-up was designed to facilitate an illegal directive from former President Trump that sought to exclude undocumented immigrants from the congressional apportionment.

"Every person deserves to be countedand we are gratified to have been a part of this remarkable coalition's critical fight to secure a fair and accurate census for all," said Sadik Huseny and Melissa Arbus Sherry, the partners at Latham & Watkins LLP who jointly led the litigation. "We thank the Department of Justice for its efforts, throughout the last few months, to bring this case to an appropriate resolution. And more than anything, we are immensely thankful for and humbled by the incredible around-the-clock efforts of the court, the court's chambers, and the many other judges in the district who assisted under intense time pressure to provide the many detailed and thoughtful rulings in this case."

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the National Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, the League of Women Voters, the Navajo Nation, the Gila River Indian Community, Harris County in Texas, Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia of the Harris County Commissioners Court, King County in Washington, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, the cities of San Jose and Salinas (California), and the City of Chicago, Illinois.

The plaintiffs are represented by Latham & Watkins LLP, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, among others.

For the stipulated order regarding dismissal, please click here: https://lawyerscommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-04-22-488-Stipulation-With-Proposed.pdf

Additional comments:

Damon Hewitt, acting president and executive director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

"We have ensured that the inaccurate citizenship and immigration data gathered in response to the prior administration's ill-conceived executive order will never be used. Given the far-reaching ramifications of the censuswhich is used to apportion congressional seats, draw district lines for local and state offices and determine how to distribute trillions of dollars in public funding the settlement of this case will have long-lasting and life-changing positive consequences nationwide."

Thomas Wolf, Senior Counsel and Spitzer Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law

"From the very start of the 2020 Census, we needed good data, not fast data. The Trump administration flipped the census on its head, attempting to rush both the Bureau's counting and data-processing operations for unconstitutional ends. But today's resolution and the many victories we've achieved in the courts along the way will significantly raise the likelihood that we get the full, fair, and accurate count that the U.S. Constitution guarantees."

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League

"Given the nation's history of using census data to marginalize and exclude Black people from civic participation, National Urban League is especially proud to have played a role in defending the integrity of the 2020 count. The first U.S. Census, which counted African Americans as only three-fifths of a person, cast a long shadow of oppression over the nation's history. We are hopeful that this settlement sends a message that the weaponization of census data to reinforce white supremacy is a violation of the Constitution and American ideals."

Mayor Sam Liccardo, City of San Jose

"This settlement vindicates the bedrock principle that in America, everyone counts. Thanks to all of our partners and organizations who stood together through some of our Constitution's darkest days."

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, City of Chicago

"We are deeply pleased by this outcome. Since the beginning of my administration, one of my highest priorities was to ensure all Chicagoans participated in the censusno matter what challenges may have stood in the way. Despite multiple attempts to deter and even frighten residents from participating in the census last year, our city still made tremendous progress in this mission. Now, thanks to this settlement, we are one step closer to fully accomplishing that mission in the future and ensuring that the census remains the vital tool that it is to help cities receive their fair share of federal resources and political voice in D.C."

President Jonathan Nez, Navajo Nation

"Collecting accurate census data on the Navajo Nationwith the issues of remote addresses, lack of broadband, and other limited resourcesis a challenge. The census is critical to funding many of our governmental programs and to ensuring our people have fair representation. The non-response follow-up stage of data collection has been particularly critical in past censuses to collecting a more complete count on the Nation. The Trump Administration's announcement to cut that period short, in addition to curtailing the time needed for accurate data processing, was unacceptable to the Navajo Nation. The collective effort of the plaintiff governments and groups to restore time for data collection and ensure that census data is accurately processed and finalized is a victory. The Nation will continue to ensure that the census fairly recognizes that the Navajo people are still here, and we count."

Stephen R. Lewis, Governor, the Gila River Indian Community

"Tribal communities have traditionally been undercounted in the U.S. Census, and the threat of an undercount this year was an issue our community took seriously from the start. So much of our federal funding is tied to an accurate population count, and the steps to cut short the census count by the prior administration would have had a crippling effect on all tribal government budgets across the country. We joined this suit to have our voice heard in this litigation to ensure that all tribal communities across the country were fairly counted and we are grateful for an incredible team that led to this tremendous result today. Latham's team, which did most of the heavy lifting on this case, did an outstanding job."

Virginia Kase, CEO, the League of Women Voters of the United States

"Today's settlement affirms the principle that all our communities deserve fair representation. The effort to rush the timeline set by our trusted census experts was a blatant attempt to force an undercount, deprive American communities of critical funding, and undermine the accuracy of our representative districts. With this agreement, our community leaders can reliably move forward with the work of serving their residents."

Chair Hilda L. Solis, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Supervisor to the First District

"This filing is an important milestone that underscores a fundamental truth: every single resident counts, regardless of immigration status," said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis, Supervisor to the First District. "On behalf of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the people we serve, I applaud this action to unwind some of the unconscionable tactics used during the 2020 Census to attempt to undermine the basic rights of our residents. By ensuring that every resident is accounted for we can continue to advocate for and expand essential public services."

Mike Feuer, Los Angeles City Attorney

"Angelenos have so much riding on accurate census results, from political representation to our fair share of crucial federal funding. We fought because the Trump administration's attempts to rush the census would have undercounted our residents and hurt our city for a decade. This resolution, achieved with extraordinary partners, will help ensure genuine transparency and fuller, fairer, more reliable results."

Michael Mutalipassi, Assistant City Attorney, City of Salinas

"Representation is the heart of a republican democracy. But for the efforts of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, many residents of Salinas would not have been counted. The residents of Salinas and the health of our democracy are better off as a result of the efforts of the City of Salinas, its co-plaintiffs and their counsel."

Christian D. Menefee, Harris County Attorney

"I am thrilled with the outcome of this litigation. The census determines voting power at all levels of government. It also provides the basis for the distribution of over one trillion dollars of federal funding. Given these stakes, we must do everything in our power to ensure the accuracy of this count. The pandemic and the last presidential administration's attempt to rush the release of census data increased the risk for an inaccurate count, which would have disproportionately harmed diverse communities like Harris County that are most in need of critical funding and meaningful representation. I extend my deepest gratitude to all the team members that made this outstanding result possible."

Contacts:

Mia Navarro, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, [email protected] , 646.925.8760

Jamie Zuieback, Latham & Watkins, [email protected] , 202.637.1081

Jessica Allen, Latham & Watkins, [email protected] , 212.906.2983

Natasha Mundkur, National Lawyers' Committee, [email protected] , 202.780.4506

Stephen R. Lewis, Governor, Gila River Indian Community, [email protected] , 520.709.1215

Michael Mutalipassi, Assistant City Attorney, City of Salinas, [email protected] , 831.758.7073

Chase Gallagher, King County, Washington, [email protected] , 206.308.7692

Jared Touchin, Director of Communications, Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, [email protected] , 928.274.4275

Rob Wilcox, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, [email protected] , 916.396.0400

Kayla Vix, League of Women Voters of the United States, [email protected] , 202.809.9668

Kristen Cabanban, City of Chicago, Department of Law, [email protected] , 312.744.1575

SOURCE Latham & Watkins

Related Links

http://www.lw.com


Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 02:51:16|Editor: huaxia

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Flags of the EU fly in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

"We are on track towards our goal of having the certificate in place by June -- to enable Europeans to travel safely this summer with minimum restrictions," said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice.

BRUSSELS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) members states' representatives have agreed on the technical specifications for the implementation of the Digital Green Certificate, the European Commission said in a press release on Thursday.

The Commission proposed the creation of the certificate last month, in a bid to ease COVID-19 related travel and movement restrictions for people who can prove that they have either been vaccinated, developed natural immunity, or received a negative test result.

The agreed technical specifications cover data structure and encoding mechanisms, including the QR code, which will ensure that all certificates, whether digital or on paper, can be read and verified across the EU.

Passengers walk in the departure hall at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

The guidelines also describe the EU gateway which will allow the sharing of electronic signature keys so that the authenticity of the certificates can be verified anywhere in the bloc.

Describing it as a "further crucial step," the Commission encouraged the member states to deploy the needed technical solutions at a national level to ensure the rollout of the unified system by June.

"We are on track towards our goal of having the certificate in place by June -- to enable Europeans to travel safely this summer with minimum restrictions," said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice.

Vueling Airlines flight prepares for landing at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
A Hong Kong professor has developed an educational programme using role-playing robots to help children with autism improve their social skills, part of an initiative adopted by non-profit groups and schools.

The programme, Robot for Autism Behavioral Intervention (RABI), is designed for people with autism between the ages of 3 and 18, and aims to help them be more social and to resolve issues such as conflicts and bullying.

Catherine So, associate professor of educational psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Reuters more than 1,200 children have used the programme since its 2015 launch.

"Individuals with autism have low motivation to interact with others, and hypersensitivity to the world around them," So said. "So we use the social robots to teach them social skills in order to reduce their anxiety."

The robots engage the children with role-playing and verbal interaction. A typical class involves two small robots acting out social scenarios on a table top, helping the children see the difference between appropriate and unacceptable behaviour such as tantrums or screaming.

Muse Wong, 41, said her 5-year-old daughter has been in the programme for seven months and her social and communicative skills have improved vastly.

"She has started to have some degree of social life", Wong said.

After interacting with the robots, the children are encouraged to try out their social skills with a human tutor.

More than 20 non-profit groups financed by governments and public schools in Hong Kong and Macau have adopted the programme. So hopes the project will help fight against exclusion.

"We believe RABI can help children with autism improve their social and behavioural skills, and in turn enhance the quality of their life", she said.
[April 23, 2021] GAF Energy's Jason Barrett Honored With "Top 50 Multicultural Award" By DiversityFirst

SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GAF Energy , a leading provider of roof-integrated solar solutions in North America, announced today that senior vice president, Jason Barrett, has been honored by DiversityFirst with its "Top 50 Multicultural Award" for his leadership in fostering diversity and inclusion. GAF Energy's Jason Barrett has been honored by DiversityFirst for his leadership in fostering diversity and inclusion. The award will be presented at the annual Diversity & Leadership Conference, a multi-day conference designed to highlight the importance of diversity initiatives in the workplace and the community. "It's an absolute honor as an HBCU alum to receive such a prestigious award by the nation's leading organization that seeks tobuild inclusive business environments where individuals are valued for their talents and empowered to reach their full potential," said Jason Barrett.



"This is a well-deserved award for Jason. From his first day at GAF Energy, Jason has demonstrated strong leadership that has strengthened our company culture and empowered employees to feel welcome and respected," said Martin DeBono, President of GAF Energy. "We're very lucky to have Jason as part of our leadership team, helping to unlock our company's mission of generating energy from every roof." Jason Barrett joined GAF in 2015 as VP of Renewable Energy, Structured Finance, and Investments (a team incorporated into GAF Energy in 2019). Prior to his commercial tax equity investment and origination role at GAF, he served as Chief Commercial Officer of Sol-Wind, as well as a founding partner of Paladin Strategic Partners. Jason has an extensive background in structured finance, having held senior positions at Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae, and Morgan Stanley, where he executed equity, mezzanine, and debt transactions across multiple asset classes. He has a BBA in Finance and International Business from Howard University and an MBA from Cornell University, where he was a Robert Toigo Fellow.

About GAF Energy

GAF Energy is transforming the rooftop solar industry to generate "Energy from every roof". As a Standard Industries company, GAF Energy works in partnership with North America's largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer, GAF, offering homeowners elegant, roof-integrated solar options. The company also facilitates commercial tax equity financing for large-scale rooftop solar projects. For more information, visit www.gaf.energy . View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gaf-energys-jason-barrett-honored-with-top-50-multicultural-award-by-diversityfirst-301275782.html SOURCE GAF Energy

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Cape Canaveral: SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musks rapidly expanding company.

The astronauts from the US, Japan and France should reach the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceXs debut crew last May. The new crew will spend six months at the orbiting lab.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off carrying NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. Credit:NASA via AP

It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the companys second astronaut flight.

Embracing the trend, spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew weeks ago wrote their initials in the rockets soot, hoping to start a tradition.
Rats, by and large, aren't terribly popular animals. But while you don't want an infestation of common black rats living in your house, their distant cousins in the Philippines are downright cuddly. These "giant cloud rats" live in the treetops of misty mountain forests, and they fill an ecological role occupied by squirrels in the US. And, it turns out, we have new evidence that they've been living in the Philippines for a long time--scientists have discovered the fossils of three new species of giant cloud rats that lived alongside ancient humans.

"Our previous studies have demonstrated that the Philippines has the greatest concentration of unique species of mammals of any country, most of which are small animals, less than half a pound, that live in the tropical forest," Larry Heaney, the Neguanee Curator of Mammals at Chicago's Field Museum and an author of a study in the Journal of Mammalogy describing the new species. "These recently extinct fossil species not only show that biodiversity was even greater in the very recent past, but that the two that became extinct just a few thousand years ago were giants among rodents, both weighing more than two pounds. Their abrupt disappearance just a few thousand years ago leaves us to wonder if they were big enough that it might have been worthwhile to hunt and eat them."

"We have had evidence of extinct large mammals on the Philippine island of Luzon for a long time, but there has been virtually no information about fossils of smaller-sized mammals. The reason is probably that research had focused on open-air sites where the large fossil mammal faunas were known to have been preserved, rather than the careful sieving of cave deposits that preserve a broader size-range of vertebrates including the teeth and bones of rodents," says Janine Ochoa, an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the University of the Philippines - Diliman and the study's lead author.

At the outset of the study, Ochoa was examining the fossil assemblages from caves in the Callao limestone formation, where a couple of years ago, scientists discovered the remains of an ancient species of humans, Homo luzonensis. "We were looking at the fossil assemblages associated with that hominin, and we found teeth and fragments of bone that ended up belonging to these new species of cloud rats," says Ochoa.

The fossil fragments discovered by the excavation team in Callao Cave aren't the only traces of the cloud rats, though--they were able to add to them some other fossils in the collections of the National Museum of the Philippines. "Some of these fossils were actually excavated decades ago, in the 1970s and 1980s, and they were in the museum, waiting for someone to have time to do a detailed study. When we began to analyze the fossil material, we were expecting fossil records for known living species. To our surprise, we found that we were dealing with not just one but three buot, or giant cloud rat species that were previously unknown," said Marian Reyes, a zooarcheologist at the National Museum of the Philippines, one of the study's authors.

The researchers didn't have a ton of material to work with, though--just fifty or so fragments. "Normally, when we're looking at fossil assemblages, we're dealing with thousands and thousands of fragments before you find something rare and really nice," says Ochoa. "It's crazy that in these fifty fragments, we found three new species that haven't been recorded before."

The fragments that the researchers found were mostly teeth, which are covered in a hard enamel substance that makes them hardier than bone. From just a few dozen teeth and bits of bone, though, the researchers were able to put together a picture of what these animals were like in life, thanks to, in Heaney's words, "days and days and days staring through a microscope"

By comparing the fossils to the 18 living species of giant cloud rats, the researchers have a decent idea of what these three new fossil species would have looked like.

"The bigger ones would have looked almost like a woodchuck with a squirrel tail," says Heaney. "Cloud rats eat plants, and they've got great big pot bellies that allow them to ferment the plants that they eat, kind of like cows. They have big fluffy or furry tails. They're really quite cute."

The newly recorded fossil species came from Callao Cave, where Homo luzonensis was discovered in 2019, and several adjacent smaller caves in Penablanca, Cagayan Province. Some specimens of all three of the new fossil rodents occurred in the same deep layer in the cave where Homo luzonensis was found, which has been dated at about 67,000 years ago. One of the new fossil rodents is known from only two specimens from that ancient layer, but the other two are represented by specimens from that early date all the way up to about 2000 years ago or later, which means that they were resilient and persistent for at least 60,000 years. "Our records demonstrate that these giant rodents were able to survive the profound climatic changes from the Ice Age to current humid tropics that have impacted the earth over tens of millennia. The question is what might have caused their final extinction?" adds Philip Piper, a coauthor based at the Australian National University.

Two of these giant rodents apparently disappeared about two thousand years ago, or soon after. "That seems significant, because that is roughly the same time that pottery and Neolithic stone tools first appear in the archeological record, and when dogs, domestic pigs, and probably monkeys were introduced to the Philippines, probably from Borneo. While we can't say for certain based on our current information, this implies that humans likely played some role in their extinction," says Armand Mijares, Professor in the Archaeological Studies Program at the University of the Philippines - Diliman, who headed the excavations of Callao Cave.

"Our discoveries suggest that future studies that look specifically for fossils of small mammals may be very productive, and may tell us a great deal about how environmental changes and human activities have impacted the really exceptionally distinctive biodiversity of the Philippines," according to Ochoa. And such studies may also tell us a lot specifically about the impact of human activities, perhaps specifically including over-hunting, on biodiversity, notes Heaney. "This is something we need to understand if we are going to be effective in preventing extinction in the future."

###
Colombia police, military raid illegal gold mining operation View Photo

MAGUI PAYAN, Colombia (AP)  From the air, the illegal gold mines look like wounds in the dense jungle of southern Colombia  scars of red, gray and brown dirt surrounding toxic ponds.

The sound of the police and military choppers lunging in over the hills sends most of the miners below fleeing into the foliage, with only a few staying behind to try to confront the police and soldiers leaping from the helicopters.

Theyre quickly subdued with tear gas and the authorities began setting fire to the heavy equipment used to extract gold.

The mine is located in the municipality of Magui Payan, a remote zone of southern Colombia where theres no piped water and communications links are tenuous.

One woman about 40 years old shouts at the soldiers and a handful of journalists accompanying them: If the state doesnt let small miners work, I cant feed my children because the state gives me nothing.

The rate of extreme poverty tops 80% in the region, according to Mayor Alejandro Juvenal Quinones.

We are surviving by work and the grace of the Holy Spirit, he told The Associated Press.

Theres little piety among those running the mines that are the main source of income. They are controlled or at least extorted by organized crime gangs, in this case rival groups of current or former guerrillas from the still-active National Liberation Front and a breakaway faction of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,

Police Lt. Col. Pedro Pablo Astaiza, who led this months raid, said armed groups demand a 10% cut of everything produced by each excavating machine.

He said the operation immobilized six excavators worth some $330,000 altogether, machinery that can produce about 6 kilograms (13 pounds) of gold a month.

But he said that six months from now, the miners may have repaired the machines and set them back to work.

The government says it has raided 9,235 illegal mines since the start of 2019, arrested 3,300 people and destroyed or inactivated 450 dredging machines.

We are not talking about basic economies, about common criminals, said Gen. Jesus Alejandro Barrera Pena, director of rural security for the national police. It is important to be clear that the communities arent part of the illegal organizations; they are used as tools.

Illegal mines like the one in Magui Payan are more the rule than the exception in Colombia  and across much of Latin America, where government forces often have difficulty enforcing laws in remote rural areas where criminals have set up shop.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that that two-thirds of the gold produced in Colombia in 2019 was illegally extracted, and a report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, funded by the Swiss government, estimated in 2016 that revenue from illegal gold exports had grown to exceed that from cocaine smuggling in Colombia and Peru.

U.S. prosecutors in recent years have brought charges involving billions of dollars from gold they say was illegally mined in Latin America and laundered through banks and other institutions.

Just this month, Colombian prosecutors arrested 25 people accused of belonging to groups selling illegal gold and shipping it to countries such as the United States, United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

The wealth they extract leaves devastation behind  unregulated mines that use deadly chemicals to separate the gold from the soil, creating a hazard for local communities that can last for generations.

To produce a single gram of gold, you should use five grams of mercury, and just one gram of mercury can contaminate 500,000 liters of water, Gen. Barrera Pena said.

Its also a major revenue loss for a government that needs resources for its efforts to cement its authority and pacify the countryside following decades of conflict with guerrillas and criminal gangs.

___

Suarez reported from Bucaramanga, Colombia.

By FERNANDO VERGARA, MARKO ALVAREZ and ASTRID SUAREZ
When a man from Chinas Hunan province got into a car accident last month, little did he know that his misfortune would actually affect his love life. He was rushed to the hospital following the accident, where staff began contacting his loved ones. To everyones great surprise, no less than seventeen women turned up at the hospital, claiming to be his girlfriends. And it didnt take them long to figure out that they were all there to see the same guy. It turns out that the man, whose last name is Yuan, had actually been seeing all those women simultaneously and swindling them for large sums of money.

Most of the women are from Hunan province  the oldest is 40, while the youngest, a student, is only 19 years old. He was apparently married to one of them, and had a child with another. When they came to know the truth, all 17 of them were understandably shocked, and later, furious. I was really worried when I heard that he was in the hospital, said Xiao Li, Yuans girlfriend of 18 months. But when I started seeing more and more beautiful girls show up, I couldnt cry anymore.

The womens claims led to a full-fledged police investigation, and thats when shocking details about Yuans deception started to come out. It turns out that he was actually married at one point, but he had cheated his wife out of 250,000 yuan (about $40,000), before divorcing her. He then proceeded to meet several other women and convince them that he was committed to them, fleecing thousands of yuan in the process. Apart from the 17 women he was seeing in real life, his WeChat account revealed that he had a whopping 200 female targets online.

The police also discovered that Yuans trickery had spread out far wider than his love life  he was actually working in an engineering firm without ever having finished college. He had gained employment by fabricating a university degree in civil engineering, when in reality, he only had a high school diploma.

Once these incriminating details were out in the open, Yuan actually had to leave the hospital early with a police escort to protect him from his scorned girlfriends. In spite of everything that had happened, he apparently had the cheek to hug everyone of them on the way out and say: Dont blame me, you are all my wives.

With no job or relationship, Yuan has now returned to his hometown of Fulin along with his mother. The women he cheated are working with the police to get their money back. His case will be charged as a criminal matter and he will have to be tried in court for fraud.

Meanwhile, Yuans story has gone viral on social media  with varied opinions regarding his actions. While some openly condemned him, others actually sent him congratulatory messages. Hey brother, when do you give a training class? Single dogs [dudes] dont lack money, one Weibo user wrote.

A man with his looks managed to swindle girls and money, what an inspiring story! said another.

Sources: SCMP, Telegraph.co.uk
Chad began funeral ceremonies on Friday for veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno, a key figure in the fight against the Sahels jihadist insurgenc...





Chad began funeral ceremonies on Friday for veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno, a key figure in the fight against the Sahels jihadist insurgency, as France and regional allies voiced backing for his son and successor, Mahamat Idriss Deby.

The elder Deby, who had ruled the vast semi-desert state with an iron fist for 30 years, died from wounds sustained fighting rebels at the weekend, the army said Tuesday.

His death has stunned the Sahel and its key ally France, battling a nine-year-old jihadist revolt that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

His coffin, draped in the national flag and surrounded by elite troops, was driven on the back of a pickup truck to the Place de la Nation square for ceremonies attended by foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

There followed a 21-gun salute for Deby, who only last August had been declared a field marshal  the first in Chads history  after leading an offensive against jihadists in the west of the country.

Just before the funeral, Macron and his counterparts from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger jointly met with Debys son.

The leaders, expressing a unity of views, said they stood by Chad and expressed their joint support for the process of civilian-military transition, for the stability of the region, a French presidential official said.

The 37-year-old general was named president and head of a military council immediately after Debys death was announced.

He will wield full powers but has promised free and democratic elections after an 18-month transition period that can be extended once.

The move has been branded an institutional coup by the opposition.

Debys death was announced the day after he was declared the winner of an April 11 election  giving him a sixth mandate after three decades at the helm.

The army said the 68-year-old had died from wounds suffered while leading troops in battle against heavily armed rebels who had launched an incursion from neighbouring Libya.

The Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) has vowed to pursue its offensive after a pause for Debys funeral, with spokesman Kingabe Ogouzeimi de Tapol telling AFP that the rebels were en route to NDjamena.

On Monday  the day of his reported death  the army had claimed a great victory, saying it had killed more than 300 FACT rebels and captured 150 others, with the loss of five soldiers.

 Unstable country -Allies of the late leader had moved swiftly to ensure power remained in their hands, installing the younger Deby, whose nickname is Kaka, as president and head of a transitional military council while dissolving parliament and the government.

The younger Deby until now had commanded the top-notch Republican Guard.

His father seized power in a chronically unstable country in 1990 and had twice thwarted attempted coups with support from France.

He was repeatedly returned to office in elections denounced by opponents as fraudulent.

But he gained a reputation in the West for his reliability in the fight to roll back jihadists, whose campaign has shaken the vast, impoverished region.

Chad has well-respected armed forces and hosts the headquarters of Frances 5,100-strong Barkhane anti-jihadist mission.

It also partners Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger in a regional anti-jihad coalition called the G5 Sahel.

Macron was the only Western head of state to attend the funeral.

French armoured vehicles escorted Macron to the embassy after his arrival at the military base used for Barkhanes headquarters, an AFP journalist saw.

The African Union (AU) was being represented by its current chair, President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the European Union by its foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.

The funeral was to be followed by prayers at the capitals Grand Mosque.

Debys remains will be flown a thousand kilometres (600 miles) east to the village of Amdjarass near the Sudanese border, where he will be buried alongside his father close to his birthplace of Berdoba.









AFP
PINEVILLE  J.K. Gourdin Elementary is the smallest school in Berkeley County and has one of the lowest enrollments of any school in the state.

When it opened its doors nearly a century ago, in 1925, J.K. Gourdin was a one-room wooden structure that served this farming community hugging the banks of Lake Moultrie. The school has been an anchor of this tiny, rural Berkeley County community ever since.

This is where you met your lifelong friends, said Tynico Gant, who went to J.K. Gourdin in the 1980s. Everyone you knew went here. You saw your friends in two places  church and school.

When J.K. Gourdin was renovated in 2001, residents etched their names on the bricks that provided the foundation for the school.

Theres a tremendous amount of pride at J.K. Gourdin, said Berkeley County School District spokesman Brian Troutman. If a kid drops a piece of trash on the floor, there are 10 kids rushing to pick it up and put it in the trash can.

Despite the communal pride and fierce loyalty toward J.K. Gourdin there have been rumors swirling around the county for years that the district was getting ready to close its doors.

Like many rural schools, the fate of J.K. Gourdin might already be decided in the name of cost-efficiency. The building can accommodate more than 800 students but has less than an eighth, 103, of that enrolled this spring.

The precedent of closing or consolidating small rural schools has already been set by the school district.

In 1996, just down the road from J.K. Gourdin, the district consolidated students at Macedonia and St. Stephen high schools into Timberland High School. That same year, the district moved Cainhoy High School students off the peninsula, dividing them between Timberland and Hanahan high schools. In 2015, Cainhoy middle school students were sent to the newly built Philip Simmons Middle School.

District officials and members of the school board have publicly insisted that there are no plans to consolidate J.K. Gourdin, but keeping the school open is getting harder and harder to justify financially.

Right now, I dont think the board is in favor of consolidating St. Stephen or Cross with J.K. Gourdin, said School Board Chairman David Barrow. However, the status quo cannot continue. If nothing happens, I dont think we can justify having 100 students in a school that size.

A plan to save the school

Members of the community understand whats at stake. They mobilized this past summer to form the J.K. Gourdin Community Task Force to create ideas to keep the school more viable.

The task force, along with the district and school board members spent the next 10 months working on a proposal to keep the school from closing.

We believe that the proposal is essential for the future continued existence of J.K. Gourdin, said the Rev. Dr. Julius Barnes, one of the leaders of the task force. If the board approves this proposal and helps implement the plan, we believe that there will be growth within the school.

Phase 1 of the proposal was presented to the school board on March 9.

The proposal would:

Make J.K. Gourdin a partial magnet school that focuses on solving real-world problems.

Provide an early childhood education center for students and families.

Provide a professional growth and development hub for teachers in the district.

Provide learning pathways in arts, engineering, technology and math/science.

Expand community and family involvement.

If we build it, they will come, said Yvonne Barnes, another leader of the community task force. In terms of concept, innovation, its the kind of out-of-the box thinking that is needed for this community.

The proposal was met with an enthusiastic endorsement from several members of the board. Some envisioned the program being used on a countywide basis for rural schools that have been struggling with declining enrollment.

I love the concept, said school board member Michael Ramsey. If it works, I dont see how in good conscience we cannot pursue this plan at St. Stephen, Cross and Cainhoy elementary schools,

Phase 2 of the program would provide adult education opportunities for nearby residents and allow other government entities to use the facility.

Its an ideal facility to provide services for all educational stakeholders, said J.K. Gourdin interim Principal Theodore Prioleau. I believe that J.K. Gourdin can serve as a model school for providing adult and family programs and services in rural schools.

Unlike the rest of the county that has experienced explosive growth over the past decade, Pineville has remained almost untouched by development. Having more adult education opportunities is an appealing idea for many in the community.

Its something we need, Gant said. Theres not a lot of money coming through here and theres a lot of elderly folks that want to learn about computers and technology but cant because the adult classes are too far away.

Proposal isnt dead

Two weeks after the proposal was presented to the school board, it voted 4-3 against giving the plan initial approval.

The vote surprised Barrow, who said he heard few criticisms of the proposal before the meeting.

I think its a good plan and there were no negative comments before we got to the vote, Barrow said.

One of the main sticking points for some board members appeared to be the transfer of early learning Head Start students from St. Stephen Elementary to J.K. Gourdin. Although the schools are just 5 miles apart, getting the students from the St. Stephen area to J.K. Gourdin would mean longer bus and car rides.

As a parent, when you have a young child that has already started at a school, you get comfortable, you become a family, said Kathy Littleton, who voted against the proposal.

Several board members urged the district to survey the St. Stephen Head Start parents to get their feelings on the move to J.K. Gourdin.

I just think those board members wanted some clarity, Barrow said. The district will do some more research to determine if those parents are supportive of the idea.

Anthony Dixon, the districts acting chief academic and innovation officer, said the district is expected to reach out to parents in the coming weeks and hopes to submit his findings to the board by the end of the school year in June.

We want to get every stakeholder involved in the process, Dixon said. Were hopeful that our research will show a cohesive effort on the part of the community, the district and the board. Whatever happens in the end, we want everyone to support it.

Barrow is still optimistic that board will eventually approve the proposal and save the school from consolidation or closure.

I think once we get past some of these questions, well be able to move forward, Barrow said. The proposal isnt dead.

For the parents, teachers, administration and alumni who care so much about J.K. Gourdin, the hope is that the school will not become another statistical casualty in the name of cost-efficiency.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Telson Mining Corporation (TSXV: TSN) (OTC Pink: SOHFF) (FSE: TSGN) ("Telson" or the "Company") announces that as part of its debt restructuring initiative it has finalized terms on the first of several of its loan agreements to be restructured.

Telson will be restructuring debt owed to Estrategica Corporativa en Finanzas, S.A.P.I de C.V. ("Escorfin") that was originally issued under a Mexican Peso line of credit agreement dated July 22, 2016. As previously disclosed Telson was not able to meet its contractual repayment obligations to Escorfin and therefore, is in default on the line of credit balance in the equivalent amount of approximately USD $3,100,000, (MXP $64,701,921) including principal and interest. The debt is proposed to be restructured by converting the Mexican Peso balance into USD $ at current exchange rates. New restructured terms include interest at 10% per annum, with a 36-month term of repayment and a 12-month grace period on both principal and interest. In consideration of the loan restructuring of this debt, the Company has agreed to issue to Escorfin, 500,000 bonus shares and 1,500,000 bonus warrants, with each bonus warrant exercisable within a period of four years at a price of C$0.475, the closing price of Telson shares on April 22, 2021.

The issuance of the bonus shares and bonus warrants is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

The control person of Escorfin is Mr. Guzman, a director of the Company. Accordingly, the proposed issuance of bonus shares and warrants is a related party transaction. Under MI 61-101, the Company is exempt from valuation requirements by virtue of being listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and exempt from minority shareholder approval requirements by virtue of section 5.7(e) of MI 61-101, as the loan restructure is designed to improve the financial position of the Company.

About Telson Mining Corporation

Telson Mining Corporation is a Canadian based mining company with two 100% owned Mexican gold, silver, and base metal mining projects.

Telson's Tahuehueto mining project is in north-western Durango State, Mexico where construction has been advanced to an estimated 60% of completion. Upon closing of the recently announced US$25 million funding package, Telson will have funding available to finish construction of its 1,000 tonne per day processing facility and related mine infrastructure to initiate production of gold, silver, lead, and zinc in concentrates at Tahuehueto. The Company is targeting initial production by end of 2021 and ramping up to full production capacity during Q1 2022.

Campo Morado is an operating polymetallic base metal mine with mining and milling equipment currently producing at an average of 2,150 tonnes per day and is currently estimated to be Mexico's 6th largest zinc producer.

Visit: www.telsonmining.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

(signed) "Ralph Shearing"

Ralph Shearing, P. Geol,

CEO, President and Director

Cautionary Note Regarding Production Decisions and Forward-Looking Statements

It should be noted that Telson declared commercial production at Campo Morado prior to completing a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Accordingly, readers should be cautioned that Telson's production decision has been made without a comprehensive feasibility study of established reserves such that there is greater risk and uncertainty as to future economic results from the Campo Morado mine and a higher technical risk of failure than would be the case if a feasibility study were completed and relied upon to make a production decision. Telson has completed a preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") mining study on the Campo Morado mine that provides a conceptual life of mine plan and a preliminary economic analysis based on the previously identified mineral resources (see News Release dated November 8, 2017 and April 4,2018).

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding the planned recommencement of mining operations at Campo Morado; and other possible events, conditions or financial performance that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; the timing and costs of future activities on the Company's properties, such as production rates and increases; success of exploration, development and bulk sample processing activities, and timing for processing at its own mineral processing facility on the Tahuehueto project site. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified using words and phrases such as "plans," "expects," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, that the current exploration, development, environmental and other objectives concerning the Campo Morado Mine and the Tahuehueto Project can be achieved; that recommencement of operations at Campo Morado will proceed as planned; the continuity of the price of gold and other metals, economic and political conditions, and operations. Forward-Looking Information involves 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 the Forward-Looking Information. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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.

For further information about Telson Mining Corporation, please contact:

Glen Sandwell

Corporate Communications Manager

ir@telsonmining.com

Tel: +1 (604) 684-8071

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81575
Left to Right: Joel Hofgren, Cloud Infrastructure & Engineering lead at Accenture together with Jon Persson, CEO and founder of Cygni

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has completed the acquisition of Cygni, a Stockholm, Sweden-based cloud-native, full-stack development firm that helps companies transform their business through advanced technical software development services and innovative technical solutions.

The terms of the deal, which was announced on March 29, were not disclosed.



With headquarters in Stockholm, and offices across Sweden and one office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Cygni provides recognized brands to transform digitally.

The acquisition adds approximately 190 software developers led by Jon Persson, CEO and founder, to Accenture Cloud First, bringing a cloud-native, full-stack engineering team with cloud, data, and modernization skills across multiple platforms and industries.

Cygni will further enhance the global capabilities of Accenture Cloud First. Powered by 70,000 cloud professionals, and a $3 billion investment over the next three years, the group brings together cloud expertise, industry cloud solutions, ecosystem partner capabilities, and assets that help clients realize greater value from cloud at speed and scale.

FinSMEs

23/04/2021
NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Danimer Scientific Inc. ("Danimer" or the "Company") (NYSE: DNMR). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether Danimer and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On March 20, 2021, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Plastic Straws That Quickly Biodegrade in the Ocean, Not Quite, Scientists Say" addressing, among other things, Danimer's claims that Nodax, a plant-based plastic that Danimer markets, breaks down far more quickly than fossil-fuel plastics. The Wall Street Journal article alleges that according to several experts on biodegradable plastics, "many claims about Nodax are exaggerated and misleading." While Danimer reportedly asserts its claims are factual, the article cites at least one expert as stating that making broad claims about Nodax's biodegradability "is not accurate" and is "greenwashing."

On March 22, 2021, the first trading day following publication of the Wall Street Journal article, Danimer's stock price fell $6.43 per share, or roughly 13%, to close at $43.55 per share on March 22, 2021.

Then, on April 22, 2021, Spruce Point Management ("Spruce Point") published a report addressing Danimer, entitled "When the Tide Goes Out, What Will Wash Ashore?" Among other things, the Spruce Point Report asserted that "there are several corporate governance red flags with Danimer's management team that should worry . . . investors" and expressed agreement with the concerns noted in the Wall Street Journal article.

On this news, Danimer's stock price fell $2.01 per share, or 8.04%, to close at $22.99 per share on April 22, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

www.pomerantzlaw.com


He was annoyed that Ronnie said "its been years since hes been really a productive part of this band"



If I were in a band and one of my bandmates said that, I'm not sure I could come back and behave professionally bc I'm unable to not hold a grudge.

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Fucking seriously!

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I'm petty so yeah, I understand this so much. But also, I will use all that bile to get back at him somehow lol

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If I had kids, I'd probably want to do the same thing! It must be hard to rarely be together.

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I always thought it was kinda unfair the shit he got from fans. I imagine the touring would get tiring after so long, and it has to be especially hard with having a family. I'm aware Brandon has kids and makes it work, but not everyone is suited for that and they don't deserve to be demonized for it. 

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aw good, i always liked dave



rude of ronnie lol



hey, the killers were just a question on jeopardy!



Edited at 2021-04-23 02:05 am (UTC)

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Yeah people will say "go cry into your money" but touring does sound and feel like hell.



I mean I like cracking jokes about Zayn never leaving the house/promoting (except Harry Potter phone games lol) but he's got a pretty sweet deal where he's popular enough with the fans and just releases music from his house without doing the full-promo. He's probably one of the few rare cases of a newish artists that can doing other than legacy artists.

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i feel like hopefully they can figure something out where he records the songs but someone can tour in his place sometimes?

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Their new album is already done and is dropping sometime this year.



Tbh Im not even excited. Imploding the Mirage wasnt great imo and the accusations towards their touring staff and the way the band handled it really put me off.

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A man has been arrested in connection with the road-rage shooting of a 22-month-old boy in Chicago, police announced Thursday.

The boy, Kayden Swann, suffered a gunshot wound to his the head in the April 6 shooting on Lake Shore Drive.

Police arrested Deandre Binion, 25, Tuesday on three counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery and discharge of a firearm. Police said he fired a handgun multiple times into the car Kayden was in.

Court documents say the driver of the car Kayden was riding in was almost hit by a sport-utility vehicle, NBC Chicago has reported.

The car it tried to get away, but the SUV followed close behind and its driver opened fire.

Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said in a news conference Thursday that Binion got out of his vehicle and continued to shoot at the car.

"The detectives put the same effort into every case, but when you are dealing with something like this with a child  obviously everybody wants to bring the person to justice," Deenihan said.

Kayden is in a hospital in serious condition, which is an improvement, Deenihan said.

A hospital official said this week that the boy was breathing on his own and had been moved out of the pediatric intensive care unit, and that the degree of recovery has been remarkable.

"He has a pretty good prognosis," said Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, associate chief medical officer of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago, on Monday. "He has a good road ahead."

It was not immediately clear if Binion had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Deenihan said the investigation involved tracking the vehicle that Binion was in, but the child's grandmother who was in the car gave a good description of the shooter and she ended up picking him out of a photo array. Deenihan said the grandmother's cooperation was vital.

"Without her cooperation, we're not getting here," he said.

The handgun believed used in the shooting was recovered, as well as other weapons that are part of a separate investigation, Deenihan said.

The grandmother's boyfriend who was driving the car that Kayden was in, Jushawn Brown, was arrested and charged with illegal gun possession, but Deenihan said the gun was not fired.

Court documents say that after Brown yelled at the SUV that almost hit them, and the other driver pulled out a handgun, Brown put his own gun in his lap and tried to get away.
A 46-year-old man has just confessed to charges of threatening to kill two members of the family of Cameron Blair, who was murdered in Cork city on January 16 last year.

Detective Garda Brid Norris served the book of evidence on Noel Barry previously and his case was called today at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Barry, of Cherry Tree Rd, Togher, Cork, was arraigned on three charges and pleaded guilty to all three of them.

He was remanded on continuing bail for sentencing next month.

Strict bail conditions require that he must sign at Togher garda station three times a week, have no contact  direct or indirect or by social media or through any other person  with the Blair family, he must stay out of West Cork and be of good behaviour and abstain from intoxicants.

Threatening charges

The threatening charges to which he pleaded guilty are contrary to Section 5 of the Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Each states that on September 4 2020 in the course of a phone call commenced at 10.57 p.m. he threatened to kill or cause serious harm to a named member of the Blair family.

Arising out of the same alleged incident he was previously charged for an alleged offence under the Post Office (Amendment) Act 1951, of sending a similar type of message.

It was previously alleged that Noel Barry made phone calls to the family of the late Cameron Blair and that the family recorded two of the calls.

It was alleged that threats were made to Noel Blair, father of the deceased. His family were allegedly told to "f*** off back to England".

Noel Barry from Cherry Tree Road, Togher, Cork was arraigned on three charges and pleaded guilty to all three of them.

Mr Blair indicated that, during the calls, he was warned that his family would "never be safe".

Mr Blair reported that, in another call, he was told to get his "Loyalist friends" so they could "sort this out on the streets of Shankill Road".

The murder of student Cameron Blair occurred on January 16, 2020 when he was fatally stabbed at a house party on Bandon Rd.

A teenager pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a review of sentence in November 2032.

Defence barrister Sinead Behan said: He has a history of anxiety and depression and he has received psychiatric care.

Ms Behan said she had a short report to that effect and would like a longer one. Judge Sean O Donnabhain refused that application.

Ms Behan said she reserved the right to bring the application again. The judge said: That right is denied. Get on with it.

Victim impact statements are to be prepared in the case.

Sentencing was put back until May 20.
Ive heard throughout my discussions with the men around the department that it was going to go away. That politics inside the department were going to go away. I dont think anyone thought that we would be where we are now. So we had to get ourselves out of a hole (due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
As Liana Henderson-Semel tapped the button to send a $300 down payment over Apply Pay for a French Bulldog puppy to a woman shed never met, the 23-year-old realized that she was never going to see her money or the puppy ever again.

Henderson-Semel, who lives in Fairfield County, had been looking to buy a puppy this past fall when she came across a Craigslist ad that included an Instagram handle. The account had photos of cute French Bulldog puppies for sale.

Henderson-Semel contacted the breeder, and connected with a woman who told her the puppies required a down payment of $300 and a total payment of $900 significantly cheaper than a normal French Bulldog which costs between $1,500 and $3,000. She also told Henderson-Semel she could come pick up her puppy on October 2. All she had to do was send a down payment through Facebook or Apple Pay.

But as soon as the money was sent, the messages stopped.

Looking back you see all those red flags you ignored in the first place, Henderson-Semel said. They really get you with the emotions. I think, certainly, some red flags I overlooked sort of in the excitement of it all.

Henderson-Semel is not the only one to fall victim to a pet scam in the state. In fact, experts have noted a significant increase in online pet scams since 2017, with victims paying top dollar for designer dogs, kittens, and even parrots that never materialize. In the past three years, an estimated 8,632 pet scams were reported in the US and Canada, with a monetary loss around $5.28 million, according to the Better Business Bureau.

Last year, at the start of the pandemic, it got even worse. People were lonely, stuck at home, and looking for love and connection. Some figured lockdown was a great time to buy and train a new dog. Shelters were emptied, breeders were in high demand. And pet scammers took their opportunity to prey on unsuspecting victims online.

More Information Date Reported Town Monetary Loss 3/19/2021 Watertown $700.00 4/9/2021 Seymour $0 1/26/2021 Seymour $1,680 11/18/2020 New Milford $500 10/11/2020 New Fairfield $1,180 9/23/2020 Danbury $300 11/28/2020 Danbury $750 9/15/2020 Waterbury $150 5/29/2020 Danbury $850 8/11/2020 Ansonia $0 2/20/2021 Shelton $1,740 7/10/2020 Shelton $1,000 12/1/2020 Fairfield County $0 10/19/2020 Fairfield $0 Jun-20 Easton $0 6/10/2020 Bridgeport $3,250 3/29/2021 Stamford $1,800 8/17/2020 Greenwich $250 5/1/2020 Norwalk $200 8/20/2020 New Haven $150 6/8/2020 Branford $865 5/9/2021 New Haven $0 4/12/2021 Waterbury $1,000 9/15/2020 Waterbury $150 12/19/2020 hartford $0 11/23/2020 Glastonbury $750 8/29/2020 Bristol $590 8/17/2020 South Windsor $700 8/11/2020 West Hartford $0 8/11/2020 New Britain $860 6/29/2020 Hartford $0 6/18/2020 Avon $1,200 6/18/2020 Avon $800 6/11/2020 West Hartford $750 4/30/2020 Hartford $0 1/22/2020 South Windsor $1,300 1/6/2020 Avon $600 1/28/2021 Granby $0 12/9/2020 Granby $750 2/9/2021 New London County $0 1/28/2021 Windham County $850 8/13/2020 Griswold $0 6/17/2020 Ledyard $500 4/5/2021 East Hampton $2,300 4/5/2021 East Hampton $2,300 2/23/2021 Killingly $800 2/17/2021 Stonington $750 2/10/2021 Putnam $0 2/8/2021 Ashford $0 1/26/2021 New Haven $350 1/25/2021 Clinton $750 1/20/2021 Hartford $2,050 11/26/2020 Mashantucket $650 11/21/2020 Moosup $750 11/19/2020 Norwalk $0 10/12/2020 Bloomfield $0 10/8/2020 Avon $0 10/6/2020 Manchester $400 10/2/2020 West Haven $0 9/17/2020 East Haven $1,300 9/15/2020 Griswold $500 9/15/2020 Waterbury $150 9/8/2020 Southington $0 8/31/2020 Scitico $2,000 7/14/2020 New Britain $1,400 7/14/2020 Groton $0 7/7/2020 Stamford $820 6/21/2020 Somers $1,806 5/26/2020 East Hartford $500 5/21/2020 Thompson $0 5/3/2020 Waterbury $1,200 4/30/2020 Voluntown $1,000 4/12/2020 Meriden $0 2/18/2020 Naugatuck $800 2/10/2020 Colchester $560 2/5/2020 Manchester $0 4/13/2021 New Britain $925 9/23/2019 Stamford $1,500 11/8/2019 West Simsbury $850 9/5/2019 Simsbury $245 8/30/2019 Bristol $0 1/2/2019 South Windsor $0 6/27/2018 Rocky Hill $700 9/20/2019 Bridgeport $500 1/17/2019 Fairfield $2,500 5/10/2018 Shelton $500 Information courtesy of Better Business Bureau for Connecticut. See More Collapse

In a December report, the Better Business Bureau projected more than $3.1 million in losses, and logged 4,000 reports of pet scams in 2020.

There was a huge explosion in puppy scams last year, said Steve Baker, international investigations specialist at the Better Business Bureau. So theres, as you could imagine, a massive problem.

Connecticuts pet scam problem

Hearst Connecticut Media found at least 77 pet scams throughout Connecticut between 2020 and 2021, the vast majority relating to puppies. At least nine others were reported between 2018 and 2019.

Puppy scams are extremely popular in Connecticut, said Luke Frey, media spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau serving Connecticut. I would say theyre one of the top two that come across the state.

At least three pet scam cases were reported in Danbury, and one in New Milford. Five were reported in Waterbury, four in Avon, and three in New Haven and Stamford.

The total losses to these scams were calculated to be more than $57,000, which Frey said probably only represents about 10 percent of the total losses in the state.

The average amount lost was $600, but that estimate includes several reports where victims caught the scam before paying the scammers.

The highest monetary loss was a Bridgeport victim who paid $3,250 for a 12-week-old Yorkshire terrier named Monica. The report to the bureau said costs included alleged puppy vaccines, insurance, transport, and the puppy herself. The victim reported that they paid through Zelle.

Beyond the monetary impact, pet and puppy scams are particularly painful because they involve an emotional aspect that isnt always connected to other online scams.

Its a real emotional wallop, said Baker.

Baker heard from a victim whose 9-year-old daughter cried herself to sleep for days after learning their puppy never existed.

The monetary impact adds to the emotional loss.

Esther Ehrman, a teacher living in Danbury, lost $750 to a scam for a Maine Coon kitten she planned to name Kyle. She said the loss of the kitten made her very distraught and was a huge distress monetarily.

I mean, gosh, were in the middle of a pandemic, Im a school teacher, my husband was laid off, my mother lives with us and she was laid off, Im the sole financial provider for my home, she said.

One New Milford victim lost $500 trying to buy a Great Dane puppy online from Super Great Dane Puppies.

Ive lost $500 deposit of my hard work money that was supposed to be my children XMAS present and now I dont have anymore, the victim wrote in the report to the bureau.

The makings of a pet scam

Pet scams arent very complicated. Typically, there is a network of scammers and developers who work together to carry out the crime. Someone is paid to create a website, others create and register phone numbers to make the site look legitimate. Another person runs the scam. When a victim reaches out, scammers usually ask for some sort of down payment, and possibly transportation costs, then communication cuts off.

There are often tell-tale signs like language lifted from other sites, photos copied from elsewhere, and payment through wire transfers and other cash-sending apps like Zelle and CashApp.

But sometimes even the most careful shopper and scam-proof tactics fail.

When Ehrman decided to look for a new kitten online during the pandemic, she knew to be wary of scams. She came across Maine Coon Paws and thoroughly researched its background, even checking the Better Business Bureau, doing a reverse-image search, and connecting personally with the breeder before deciding to move forward with payment. She paid $750 through Zelle to the breeder, but when they began asking for even more money for shipping costs, she realized something was wrong.

It was just scary, said Ehrman. I thought I had done all my due diligence and I still got taken advantage of.

The scammers are generally hard for law enforcement to track. While some occur in the U.S., the bureau and other legal agencies have also tracked the majority to countries outside of the U.S.

Its hard to track down these guys because usually they arent even in our country, Frey said. We havent in particular seen any operation out of Connecticut.

Bakers research leads him to believe many of the scams come from organized crime groups centered out of West Africa, and specifically Cameroon.

Seeking and finding pet scammers

Scammers are adept at changing tactics to continue stealing from victims without detection.

Im very wary about giving out advice, said Paul Brady, founder of PetScams.com, a website that investigates and publishes information on sites running known pet scams. Once Brady speaks to media outlets about specific tactics, he said the scammers change their ways and adapt.

Its an arms race. Whatever we say, they will work around.

Brady began working in the Cybersecurity space over 20 years ago, and then pivoted to focusing on pet scams because they were relatively formulaic.

But the industry has changed significantly in the years Brady has been working in this area. Five years ago, Brady noticed operations really ramping up, with scammers making more professional websites, implementing the scams on a more industrial scale by spending less time on individual victims and more on the number of victims.

When the pandemic hit, experts noticed pet scams exploding. Brady noted a 700 percent increase in visitors to his site in March of 2020. Frey called it a puppy boom. And Bakers research projects that at the current pace, the bureau will receive 4,300 complaints, suggesting that pet scams have quintupled since 2017, which was the first year the bureau conducted an in-depth study of the issue.

People dont visit our site by accident, Brady said.

Now, PetScams.com has about 200,000 visitors per day with about 40 comments from people.

The huge step, and its well documented, was this time last year when people started to feel emotional because of loneliness. Now, because of COVID, people were feeling lonely. Thats a very strong emotion, Brady said. Scams work on emotion.

Recently, Brady was combing through the websites registered within the past seven day period, and had already found 130 new sites.

Tomorrow, Ill find another 100, 130, 150, he said. The work is non-stop.

The main advice from experts is the same: go see the dog in person. At the very least, its important to have an authentic video chat with your new puppy.

Our advice now is have a face-to-face video chat with the breeder. Make sure that you are introduced to the puppy and the breeder, Brady said. It has to be a video chat.

Frey recommends doing thorough research and verifying a breeder on the bureaus website before purchasing a puppy. Frey also urged people to report scams to the bureau.

Ehrman plans to look for another kitten to join her brood of cats back at home, but said this time shes going to go to a local shelter where she can meet the cat in person and talk to the people there.

I think I learned my lesson.
South Carolina reported more than 607 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 12 new deaths April 23.

Here's the latest on the pandemic in South Carolina.

SC confirms about 600 new cases of COVID-19 as plateau continues Community transmission of the virus remains in the "high" category, according to a weekly state-level report by the White House.

1:30 p.m.  South Carolina has 607 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported April 23. Read more.

US to resume J&J COVID vaccinations despite rare clot risk U.S. health officials have lifted an 11-day pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccinations following a recommendation by an expert panel.

1:15 p.m.  With the U.S. pause of Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine stretched into a second week, authorities are weighing whether to resume the shots the way European regulators decided to  with warnings of a very rare risk. Read more.

Bill shielding SC employers from COVID-19 suits heads to governor's desk The measure makes it more difficult for workers and others to sue companies for their decisions during the pandemic.

Thursday, 3:30 p.m.  South Carolina businesses can expect to have broad protection on lawsuits stemming from decisions made during the coronavirus pandemic after the House gave a liability protection bill key approval on April 22. Read more.
In this Jan. 11, 2012 photo made available by NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency prepares for spacewalk training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Hoshide is a member of the crew for SpaceX's third astronaut launch to the International Space Station on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Robert Markowitz/NASA via AP)

SpaceX's third crew has an attack helicopter pilot, a former Air France pilot, a Japanese rocket scientist and an oceanographer.

The four veteran astronauts should reach the International Space Station on Saturday for a six-month stay, following Friday's liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

A brief look at each:

 Shane Kimbrough, 53, the flight's commander, is a retired Army colonel who led a helicopter platoon during the 1991 Gulf War. His love of space came early: His grandparents lived near Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The son of an Army aviator who flew in Vietnam, Kimbrough grew up in Atlanta. He taught math at the U.S. Military Academy and jumped out of planes for the Army, before moving to Houston in 2000 to work with NASA's shuttle training aircraft. He became an astronaut in 2004, flying on the shuttle in 2008 and launching eight years later in a Russian capsule to the space station he helped build. He and wife Robbie have three grown children.

 Megan McArthur, 49, the pilot, is flying in the same seat as husband Bob Behnken did during SpaceX's debut crew launch nearly a year ago. This time, he was the one with their 7-year-old son, Theo, waving goodbye. It's been 11 years since McArthur last rocketed into orbit, aboard a shuttle on NASA's final Hubble Space Telescope repair mission. She's eager to see the space station, after two decades as an astronaut. Born in Hawaii but raised all over in a Navy family, McArthur conducted graduate research in underwater acoustics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, led diving expeditions and tested water equipment. She became an astronaut in 2000.

This March 3, 2021 photo made available by SpaceX shows mission specialist Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, pilot Megan McArthur and commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and mission specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the crew for its third astronaut launch to the International Space Station, at the SpaceX training facility in Hawthorne, Calif. (SpaceX via AP)

The Crew Dragon space capsule astronauts, from front left, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide leave the Operation and Checkout Building on their way to board the capsule for a mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

In this Tuesday, June 25, 2019 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Megan McArthur poses for a portrait at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. McArthur is a member of the crew for SpaceX's third astronaut launch to the International Space Station on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

This Dec. 25, 2016 photo made available by NASA shows flight engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency aboard the International Space Station. Pesquet is a member of the crew for SpaceX's third astronaut launch to the International Space Station on Friday, April 23, 2021. (NASA via AP)

In this Tuesday, July 9, 2019 photo provided by NASA, astronaut Shane Kimbrough poses for a portrait at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Kimbrough is a member of the crew for SpaceX's third astronaut launch to the International Space Station on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

 Thomas Pesquet, 43, was flying for Air France when the European Space Agency chose him as an astronaut 12 years ago. The son of schoolteachers, Pesquet found space "cool" while growing up in Normandy, and earned a degree in spacecraft design. He joined the French Space Agency as an engineer in 2002. Two years later, Air France tapped him for its flight training program. He logged 2,300 flight hours on commercial airliners before becoming an astronaut in 2009. Pesquet launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the space station in 2016 for a six-month mission. His longtime partner, Anne Mottet, works for the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.

 Akihiko Hoshide, 52, joined the Japanese Space Agency right out of college in 1992 as an engineer, working on the H-II rocket. He made the astronaut cut seven years later and helped develop Japan's Kibo lab for the space station. He installed Kibo, or Hope, in 2008, launching aboard shuttle Discovery. Hoshide returned to the station in 2012 for six months, flying from Kazakhstan. He'll join Japan's Soichi Noguchi at the station, before Noguchi departs next week on his own SpaceX ride. "It will be really nice to see himand we have the luxury of hugging in orbit, not like the situation on the ground" because of the pandemic, Hoshide said. He's married with an 11-year-old son.

Explore further SpaceX's next crew arrives in Florida for Earth Day launch

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TAG Heuer is adding a new limited-edition piece to its legendary TAG Heuer Monaco collection, the TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial, marking this years Grand Prix de Monaco Historique of which TAG Heuer is the Official Sponsor. This limited edition of 500 pieces will enchant watch aficionados with its special colour, a deep green, a rare and modern interpretation of a maverick design.

TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial Limited Edition Chronograph 39 mm Calibre Heuer 02 Automatic  TAG Heuer

Grand Prix de Monaco Historique The TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial is revealed in time for the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, of which TAG Heuer is the Official Sponsor and Timekeeper. TAG Heuer is also the Official Watch of the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Official Watch Partner of the Monaco Top Cars Collection museum, confirming the enduring bond between TAG Heuer and the Principalities motorsport events.

The biannual Grand Prix de Monaco Historique weekend is one of the highlights of the classic car racing calendar, and its passionate community of owners, drivers and spectators relish the spectacle of historic Grand Prix racing and the warm spirit around the legendary circuit.

More than 200 Grand Prix cars representing 50 different carmakers and 21 countries enter each event. Selected for their historic value and degree of originality, they compete in seven series spanning the periods from the 1930s to the 1970s.

To celebrate the 2021 edition of this illustrious race, TAG Heuer is unveiling a remarkable limited edition, the TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial.

The TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial The TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial limited edition showcases a colour trending in watch dials right now, highly popular among watch collectors and aficionados, a rich emerald green.

This never-seen-before dial tint in our iconic model introduces a fresh take on the TAG Heuer Monaco and highlights the unmistakable design features of the iconic square-cased steel watch. The dial gradient colour, from light green in the centre to dark green at the edge, conveys a sensation of speed. The green colour is also reminiscent of the famous covered portion of the Monaco Grand Prix track, preceding the chicane by the port.

Subtly contrasting its vibrant sunray-brushed dial are two black sub-dials and rhodium-plated indexes and hands with white Super-LumiNova.

With thoughtful consistency, the markings engraved on the oscillating mass and the column wheel of its in-house movement are also green and visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.

Distinctive and timeless, the watch is presented on a black alligator leather strap and is powered by the sophisticated Calibre Heuer 02 manufacture movement, which boasts an impressive power reserve of 80 hours.

This 39 mm TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial automatic chronograph is available in a limited edition of 500 pieces.

TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial Limited Edition Chronograph 39 mm Calibre Heuer 02 Automatic  TAG Heuer

The TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial will also be presented in a new packaging which was created to evoke the racing heritage of the TAG Heuer Monaco collection. It will be available in select boutiques worldwide and on www.tagheuer.com from 23 April 2021.

The TAG Heuer Monaco Green Dial is a chic and modern interpretation of a maverick timepiece, and a celebration of the deep ties between TAG Heuer, its disruptive design launched by Jack Heuer in 1969 and the prestigious races of Monaco. More than fifty years on, the unique DNA of the TAG Heuer Monaco continues to be expressed through bold and modern interpretations. With this new green dial limited edition, the TAG Heuer Monaco collection confirms its status as one of the most iconic and timeless watches of all time.
The peacekeeping force of Vietnam has made considerable contributions over the past years, which have won the recognition and high evaluation from the United Nations and international friends,

thereby helping to promote the countrys stature and prestige in the region and the world.

Members of the level-2 field hospital No 3 in a training session (Photo: VNA)

Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Pierrat, an European Union expert for peacekeeping sent to the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, told the Vietnam News Agency that the Vietnamese peacekeepers are fully capable to join all the standards from United Nations, and that they are proving their experience on the ground in South Sudan.

The force has assisted not only the troops but also the population in South Sudan, and been very welcomed, he said, adding that the UN has highly valued Vietnams contributions.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Pierrat, an European Union expert for peacekeeping at the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations (Photo: VNA)

Pierrat said that he has seen people coming back with a very great smile and also people going to South Sudan with a great smile, and that they must be very happy and proud to be in this mission.

Since June 2014, Vietnam has deployed three level-2 field hospitals to South Sudan. The first two fulfilled their tasks and already returned home while the third departed for the African country on March 23.

Talking about Vietnams dedication to UN peacekeeping operations, Major Colonel Adam R. Lulay, Bilateral Affairs Officer from the US Office of Defence Cooperation, said: The experiences that Vietnam is seeing and getting well over in South Sudan, they can bring a lot of those lessons learned back here and incorporated into Vietnam, but also spread it to their peers and the future missions.

The Vietnamese forces performance in South Sudan is an exemplar of medical assistance, especially amid the current challenges of COVID-19, according to the officer.

Major Colonel Adam R. Lulay, Bilateral Affairs Officer from the US Office of Defence Cooperation (Photo: VNA)

Lulay said the peacekeepers from Vietnam have done an incredible job leading the way in many ways, especially the percentage of women higher than the level recommended by the UN.

Over the last six years, Vietnam has included 20 servicewomen in its level-2 field hospital staff, accounting for nearly 16 percent, and four others individually deployed to UN peacekeeping operations, higher than the recommended 15 percent.

Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, noted though the country has just taken part in UN peacekeeping operations, it has made a great impression on international friends, particularly the UN and the missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The performance by both the first and second level-2 field hospitals has been highly valued by the mission leaders and the UN. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix also sent a thank-you letter to the Vietnamese Government for the medical contribution./.VNA
Maricopa County 2020 Election Audit on Track After Democrats Refuse to Pay $1 Million

An audit of votes cast in Arizonas largest election during the 2020 election is proceeding after the Arizona Democratic Party on Friday refused to pay a $1 million bond.

The Arizona Democratic Party will not risk our supporters hard-earned dollars to pay off the Cyber Ninjas for a procedure they are billing Arizona taxpayers to the tune of $150,000, the party said in a statement.

Cyber Ninjas is one of four firms hired by the state Senate to conduct the audit.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Chris Coury said during a hearing earlier in the day that he would temporarily pause the audit until at least Monday so he could hear more about concerns Democrats laid out in a lawsuit.

There is an obligation to comply with Arizona law to ensure that voter information is protected and remains confidential and it does not go anywhere, Coury said.

But he stipulated that the audit would only be paused if Arizona Democrats put up $1 million, which it refused.

The party said it was looking forward to reviewing information that the court ordered Cyber Ninjas to produce. The company has not responded to requests for comment.

The Arizona Republican Party said in a statement, Democrats bluff called and they fail to post a $1million bond to stop forensic audit.

A court document states that Coury ordered a suspension of the audit until Monday upon posting of a bond, but, upon representation of the Plaintiffs that the bond will not be posted, the matter is moot.

Another hearing on the issue is still scheduled for April 26.

Coury wants a briefing then on the legislative immunity issue, the separation of powers, and whether plaintiffs have adequate standing.

The legal battle over the audit has played out for months. Maricopa Countys Board of Supervisors previously asked a judge to block subpoenas from the state Senate, but the judge ruled the county had to comply with the subpoenas.

Steve Gallardo, the sole Democrat on the five-member board, joined the new lawsuit, which was filed Thursday and claimed proper procedures were not being followed at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, where the audit is being held.

Over 2 million ballots and nearly 400 tabulators were delivered to the coliseum earlier this week as contractors prepared to conduct the review.

Arizona Republicans have said the audit will help bolster public confidence in the election results.

The audit is being streamed live here.

Roopali Desai told the judge that there have been security problems at the coliseum and that audit workers were violating state law by using blue pens instead of red ones.

Kory Langhofer, an attorney for the defendants, argued that plaintiffs did not provide evidence for their claims and also said that members of the legislature are immune from civil process while the legislature is in session.

Coury said his goal is to make sure voter information is properly handled.

I do not want to micromanage and it is not the posture of this court to micromanageor even to managethe process by which another branch of government, the Legislature, the Arizona state Senate, proceeds, Coury said. However, it is the province of the court to ensure voter information and those constitutional protections are held sacrosanct and that also includes the protection of ballots under Arizona law.

Also on Friday, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, urged Arizonas attorney general to investigate potential violations of the states election laws in connection with the election audit.

Hobbs told Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, that there have been reports indicating the Senate failed to secure the equipment and ballots its contractors are auditing, resulting in unauthorized and unmonitored access to both.

Brnovich told Hobbs in a response that the Senate has broad constitutional and statutory authority to issue a legislative subpoena and consequently conduct the audit of the Maricopa County election, adding that Hobbs alleged the Senate may have violated election laws but provided no evidence besides referring to recent reports.

This does not meet the standard of a credible allegationit is speculation insufficient to support the request for an official investigation. Moreover, the separation of powers in our political system demands deference to co-equal branches of government to conduct their lawful business, he wrote. It would therefore be inappropriate to interrupt the auditing process simply because someone asserts that it could be handled in some other manner. Any such requests should be directed to Senate President [Karen] Fann.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Google has announced a refresh of its Meet user interface for desktop and laptop users, to begin rolling out next month.

The updates to the videoconferencing apps web interface include improvements to video feeds, how you view and present meetings, and the navigation bar. Dave Citron, director of product management for Google Meet, said these improvements aim to deepen the meeting experience, regardless of how and where people participate.

Addressing meeting fatigue

In a blog post, Citron said that by giving users more control over how they view themselves in meetings, Google hopes to reduce meeting fatigue. Users can choose to have their video feed in a standard tile in the grid or as a floating picture, which can be resized, repositioned, or minimized completely. Google said it will also be adding a setting that enables meeting participants to turn off self-feed across all Google Meet calls.

While available for free to individuals, Meet is part of the Google Workspace office suite. Subscribers will get additional tools in the refresh, including an autozoom function, which zooms in and positions the user squarely in front.

Angela Ashenden, principal analyst for workplace transformation at CCS Insight, said that this refresh represents an important feature update for Google, as it addresses some of the inflexibility in the Meet experience, which saw it falling behind some of its competitors.

The ability to pin more than one video feed where there are multiple speakers, as well as clear highlighting of the active speaker and the removal of the pop-up controls which overlaid the bottom row of video feeds or the shared content, for example, all help to make the meeting experience more user-friendly and less intrusive, she said.

With research from CCS Insight showing that the average person spends 1.7 hours a day on video calls, features that help to reduce the fatigue felt by employees is a must for vendors that want to remain competitive. Ashenden said that allowing Google Meet users both to unpin shared content to create more room for viewing video panels and to remove self-view from the screen help to reduce some of the friction associated with video calls.

Responding to customer feedback

Additional UI changes include automated live captions in five languages, engagement controls for educators and students, and new mobile capabilities designed to keep team members connected no matter where they are. Google said many of the new enhancements to Meet were largely inspired by customer and user feedback.

The bottom navigation bar is also getting a refresh. Dial-in codes, attachments, call lists, chat, and other functions will be consolidated along the bottom, creating more screen space for additional participants.

Last year, Google introduced low-light mode for Meet on mobile. The feature uses AI to automatically adjust a participants video to make them more visible in a dark environment or reduce glare if users have too much light coming in through a sunny window. This light adjustment feature will be coming to the web interface in the coming weeks. Users will also have access to fun video backgrounds: a classroom, a party, and a forest, with more coming soon.

Ashenden said that these new features show that Google is responding positively to customers feedback and is thinking creatively about how to improve the Meet experience. However, she believes there are still areas where it needs improvements. For example, in how you ensure that the presenter can present content while still being active in the meeting experience, and also the friction and overlap between its chat and Q&A capability, she said.

These are not necessarily areas where its competition has solved the problem, as these are common challenges with meeting tools, she noted. [But] if its going to catch up with the likes of Zoom and Microsoft Teams, its important for Google to be innovating and raising the bar in a much more definitive way.
(JTA)  In Tucker Carlsons response to accusations that he endorsed one white supremacist talking point, the Fox News anchor appeared to echo another  this time about Israel.

Last week, the popular right-wing talk show host said there was a coordinated Democratic plan to replace the existing population of the United States with immigrants from the Third World. White supremacists refer to the idea as a Great Replacement orchestrated by Jews, and that claim has fueled attacks like the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.

After the segment, the Anti-Defamation Leag...
The right to free expression is fundamental and, even if they have the obligation to exercise reserve regarding all issues related to their profession and activity, magistrates must enjoy freedom of expression, Justice minister Stelian Ion said on Friday.

"In recent years, the courageous positions of magistrates on the topic of the amendments to the Laws of Justice and criminal law have greatly contributed to the avoidance of slippages that would have seriously affected the rule of law and thrown us decades ago. Pressure on magistrates or intimidation meant to discourage them from speaking freely about the problems of the judiciary can bring nothing good. They only increase tensions in the judiciary. If we all choose to remain silent and pretend we don't see the real problems, those problems will escalate and overwhelm us," the Justice minister wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.

He added that in the draft amendments to the Laws of Justice he proposed strengthening the magistrates' right to freedom of expression.

"I also did not like the idea that the Minister of Justice could exercise disciplinary action against magistrates. Also, although I received, in my turn, some criticism of the activity of the minister from some magistrates, not always in an appropriate language, even if it was unpleasant, I didn't think these blunt approaches should be punished in any way. I tried to put aside the unpleasant packaging and pick up the idea. We cannot eavesdrop on what the magistrates are saying to each other, and we cannot tolerate, as a society, for magistrates to be pursued, tailed in their free time," stressed Stelian Ion.

The Minister of Justice calls on the magistrates "not to be silent and not to be afraid".

"They should do their duty with professionalism and good faith, but also speak up about the problems and dangers of the judiciary. They should do it objectively, with arguments, with balance and elegant language, as befits some magistrates," the Minister of Justice further said.
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 23 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) recently concluded the latest chapter of their successful Virtual Visit to India Series. COVID19 has made companies rethink their strategies and activities.

FCEDA pivoted by moving their in-person events online, using them to inform companies interested in US expansion how they can continue their efforts during pandemic imposed restrictions. After the resounding success of similar sessions in Kolkata, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, and Delhi NCR, the latest virtual destination was leading tech innovation center - Pune.

A number of emerging technology companies attended on Thursday, April 22, 2021, to participate in the exclusive session of FCEDA's Virtual Visit to Pune, with the theme "Grow Your Tech Business in Fairfax County, USA". Over the year, despite the Covid19 pandemic, the 5 Virtual Visits were attended by more than 100 decision makers of innovative technology organizations across India, that are making their U.S. investment decisions.

Harold Brayman, Foreign Commercial Officer at US Department of Commerce, Mumbai, delivered opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion on "The Importance of Ecosystem for Business Success". Featured panelists were Madhu Onteeru, Head North America BPS Delivery at TCS, Anshu Srivastav, Advisor and Mentor for Startups and senior charter member at TiE Pune and Shishir Lagu, U.S. Tax Partner at KNAV.

"Our goal was to raise awareness of Indian tech industry leaders about Northern Virginia and specifically Fairfax County, largely considered a tech hub of the Washington D.C. Metro area. Our region offers enormous opportunities for growth while FCEDA provides relevant support for market expansion of emerging technology organizations." said panel moderator Juhi Naithani, Assistant Director, International Business Investment, at FCEDA, who leads international investment from India into the county.

"Fairfax County in Northern Virginia is an ideal location for international business expansion, not only because of the prevalence of high tech, high growth companies and availability of skilled talent but also due to the exceptional quality of life," said Mr. Madhu Onteeru, Head North America BPS Delivery at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

FCEDA will conduct the final event in their Virtual Visit series in Bangalore - site of their India head office - on June 16, 2021, featuring their President and CEO, Victor Hoskins.

FCEDA's Bangalore office opened in 2004 to work with Indian companies interested in locating or expanding in the U.S. market. More than 430 foreign-owned firms, including 30 from India, have a presence in Fairfax County.

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. The FCEDA offers site location and business development assistance, and connections with county and state government agencies, to help companies locate and expand in Fairfax County. In addition to its headquarters in Tysons, Fairfax County's largest business district, the FCEDA maintains business investment offices in six important global business centers: Bangalore/Mumbai, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Seoul, and Tel Aviv. Follow the FCEDA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube and visit their website at (https://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/).

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Bucephalus Capital Corp. (CSE: BCA) ("Bucephalus" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to its press release dated April 7, 2021, the Company has closed the non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") as detailed below.

The Company issued 9,999,999 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.15 per Unit for gross proceeds of $1,499,999.85. Proceeds from the Private Placement will be used by the Company for working capital and for other general and administrative costs.

Each Unit consisted of one subordinated voting common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant. Each warrant (a "Warrant") entitles the holder thereof to acquire one additional Common Share (a "Warrant Share") for a period of thirty-six months expiring on April 23, 2024 at an exercise price of $0.25 per Warrant Share, provided that, in the event that the closing price of the Common Shares of the Company on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") is greater than $0.75 for ten consecutive trading days, the Company may give notice to the holders of the Warrants that the expiry time of the Warrants has been accelerated and the Warrants will expire on the thirtieth (30th) business day following the date of such notice at the price of $0.25 for each Warrant exercised.

Cash fees of $61,220 were paid and 491,466 broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants") were issued to certain eligible persons. Each Broker Warrant entitles the holder to acquire a Common Share exercisable at a price of $0.25 for a period of thirty-six months from closing and subject to the acceleration provision noted above.

All securities issued under the Private Placement are subject to a four month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

About Bucephalus Capital Corp.

Bucephalus Capital Corp. (CSE: BCA) is an investment company that is seeking investment opportunities in private and publicly listed entities.

Additional information about the Company can be found on the Company's website at www.bucephaluscapital.ca.

For further information, please contact:

John McMahon, CEO

Tel: (416) 786-9031

Email: jmcmahon@bucephaluscapital.ca

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. This forward-looking information is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information. The parties undertake no obligation to update forward-looking information except as otherwise may be required by applicable securities law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81617
Microsoft recently announced that it will release a new smart pen for the Surface Go and Surface Pro tablets called the Microsoft Classroom Pen 2. This Stylus pen will be sold for a considerably lower price for students and schools as the company advocates digital writing.

Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 Sold to Students

According to The Verge, the Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 offer will be exclusive for the education sector starting on April 27. The Microsoft stylus will be sold in packs of 20 for $399.80 ($19.99 per pen), including batteries and replacement pen tips.

Microsoft introduced its Classroom Pen in 2019 and was sold for $39.99 per model. Users can also write with the stylus pen on any tablet in the market that supports MPP features. But now, the pen will be an exclusive Stylus for its Surface Go and Surface Pro tablets.

The Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 offer is a part of the company's efforts to challenge other tech giants in support of learning through gadgets in the education sector. Google was the first major company that challenged this norm to provide affordable devices for students in its Chromebook. However, Microsoft has stepped up, too, and improved digital learning by releasing its upgraded Classroom Pen 2.

In a Microsoft blog post, the company stated that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has left educators to adapt to new ways of teaching (Zoom calls, Skype, and other media that promote video interactions). However, Microsoft believes that making digital inking as an alternative for a new teaching method can improve the students' way of learning.

That is why the company has revamped its Classroom Pen for students to use in their daily school activities and lessons. The company's goal is to improve productivity and creativity through digital inking for students during this new age of remote and hybrid learning.

Microsoft also expressed their belief that incorporating digital writing can save millions of paper and printing materials used for educational purposes. By transitioning into the Microsoft Surface devices, schools worldwide can make a massive difference by handing every student and teacher the tablet.

Read Also: Apple iPad Pro vs Microsoft Surface Pro: Which is Worth The Upgrade?

Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 Features

SlashGear reported that Microsoft has taken the Classroom Pen 2 into new heights. First off, the pen has an improved design with a new grey color hue, longer pen height compared to the previous one, and a new pen slot that students can attach onto the Surface's protective case or tying the tether loop string through the pen for a secure lock to avoid losing it.

The device also has two new barrel buttons on the side that students can assign functionality with for erasing or writing. The pen's tips are also replaceable, in which users can attach different pen strokes to write into the tablet. Plus the new design has now an easy gip feature that reduces finger strain from excessive writing.

Related Article: Microsoft Could Beat Google With This Important Educational Tool
DETROIT  An appeals court confirmed the conviction and sentence of a former Michigan State Police trooper who shot a Taser at a teen who was driving by on an all-terrain vehicle, The Associated Press reports.

After he was tased, 15-year-old Damon Grimes crashed into a pickup truck and died. The incident happened in Detroit during 2017, AP reports. The trooper, Mark Bessner, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Bessner tried to chip away at his conviction this week before the Michigan Court of Appeals, the report said. He argued that a Wayne County trial judge excluded information that would have helped his defense. He also said it was wrong that the judge allowed jurors to hear about a separate incident in which he was quoted as saying he wanted to tase someone riding an ATV.

Bessner and a partner were patrolling a Detroit neighborhood Grimes drove an ATV near their vehicle, AP reports. Bessner said he fired a Taser from the car because he believed Grimes had a gun. The teen didnt have a weapon.

The appeals court confirmed Bessners conviction and sentence on a vote of 3-0, the report said.

Bessner, 47, will be eligible for parole in 2024 after five years in prison, the report said.

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The House Ethics Committee has issued a $5,000 fine to Rep. James C. Clyburn, the House Democratic Whip and a top confidant of President Joe Biden.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders, including Clyburn, pushed for the fines after officials ordered new security outside the House chamber following the Jan. 6th MAGA riot.

Lawmakers now must walk through security when going to the House chamber to vote  as Clyburn did when the incident occurred.

FINED: The House Ethics Committee has fined Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina for going around security to enter the House chamber

However Clyburn did not go through the security device after leaving the chamber to walk to a bathroom just outside the House Speaker's lobby. The facility is located just steps from the floor.

A letter to Clyburn from House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blogett says that on April 20th, Clyburn 'entered the House chamber without being screened by the officer.' It said he 'deliberately avoided being screened' by the officers.

A hand-written police sheet says 'Rep. Clyburn walked around Mag.'

A Capitol Police memo stated: 'Congressman Clyburn went to the restroom, came out and continued past the officers  and into the House Chamber.'

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) spreads out her arms as she goes through security outside the House Chamber at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on January 12, 2021. Many Republicans chafed at the new restrictions, imposed after the Jan. 6th Capitol riot

Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) tried to appeal his own $5,000 fine for going around security

According to a Politico account earlier this week, when he left the bathroom, Clyburn then walked to his Capitol Police security detail. Those security officers were speaking to an officer working chamber security. After Clyburn returned, the walked around the magnetometer and he returned to the chamber, sources told the publication.

Clyburn did not refuse any orders, a source added  although all members have been informed of the rules.

Clyburn is the first Democrat to be fined under the rules, which have ensnared multiple Republicans and drew angry opposition when the House first approved the fines.

As the bipartisan Ethics panel wrote in announcing the fine, 'The Committee notes that the mandatory publication of a fine notification does not itself reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee. Representative Clyburn has appealed the fine.'

The House Sergeant at Arms informed Clyburn he 'failed to complete security screening'

The report included a description of events by Capitol Police

Numerous House Republicans have received initial notice of having received a fine. Among them was Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, who reportedly declined to go through security even after being reminded by an officer. ''Maybe later, I have to vote.'

Goehmert also declined to heed a reminder to to through security. 'The officer said I needed to be wanded but since I had already been through the metal detector thoroughly and having never before been required to be wanded after already having entered the floor properly, I returned to the House floor to engage in my turn to debate the bill under consideration,' he wrote in an effort to appeal a $5,000 fine imposed in February. He did not succeed.

Clyburn provided a crucial endorsement for Biden in South Carolina during the Democratic primaries last year. His annual fish fry is a marquis event for Democrats in his home state.
Student-led art project honors legacy of individuals enslaved by W&M

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The names of those who were enslaved by William & Mary slowly have been emerging during the past decade. This academic year, artists at the university have added faces, hands and other textured marks of belonging and humanity.

Responding to the Art Memorial to Honor the Enslaved initiative sponsored by the universitys Student Assembly (SA), more than 50 artists from across campus submitted original works accompanied by short histories of people identified by The Lemon Project as having been enslaved by the institution. The resulting contributions both surprised and inspired SA Vice President Kyle Vasquez '21 and SA Chief of Staff Loni Wright '21 in terms of their quantity and the breadth of emotion they elicited.

Compelled by the power of the images, the Muscarelle Museum of Art and The Lemon Project will join the Student Assembly in hosting a visual unveiling on April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in which, accompanied by poetry and dancing, the works will be projected onto the exterior walls of the Sir Christopher Wren Building.

Vasquez, who knew the names of famous alumni and past presidents who came to William & Mary, admitted that before the project he had never seen the name of a person who had been enslaved at the university.

Its really easy to run away from something when it doesnt personally affect you, he said. These images forced me to reckon with this part of our history, to look at it and to have opinions.

Wright added, These paintings just bring their experiences here to life in a way that just saying a name doesnt. This project gave us a way to do more than just say the name but also to tell the story.

Swelling support

As the works have been previewed, support for the initiative have grown. During a Board of Visitors meeting last November, members expressed interest in privately purchasing some of the items. The Muscarelle subsequently added 18 of the submissions to the universitys Presidents Collection of Art for public display, with the remaining works to be added to the university archive at W&M Libraries. Meanwhile, museum staff began assisting with the coordination, logistics and design of a physical exhibition at the Sadler Center and a virtual companion exhibition.

Jody Allen, director of The Lemon Project, sees the art as an integral part of the universitys efforts to investigate its ties to slavery and slaverys legacies. During a webinar with SA representatives and contributing artists, she promised that the works will live on campus for a long time.

We know so little about these individuals, Allen said. This art is beautiful work. It helps us to imagine  them in many different ways, as children, as adults. We can imagine the families. These people were a vital part of this community, and, through this art, they are being restored to the community, as the saying goes at William & Mary, for all time coming.

Artist discussions

Among the artists discussing their contributions to the project, Meghan Davis M.Ed. 22 described creating Ephra 1768 by concentrating on a pair of hands holding a chain. In homage to the ongoing struggle for equity, she placed a quote from Nelson Mandela behind the image: For to be free is not merely to cast off ones chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

For us to truly say that everyone is free, we need to make sure that were bringing this to light, that we are respecting and enhancing their freedoms, not just standing on soapboxes and saying Black Lives Matter, she said.

Aria Austen 21 said that he was inspired to participate in the project by the planning for the Memorial to the Enslaved. In his work Unknown, but Never Forgotten he blanked out the faces of the two individuals represented. This painting is faceless, because we may not know who they are, but they are integral to our history, he said.

Whitney Ledesma 22 praised the project for encouraging engagement with the continued presence of enslaved people who built and maintained this institution. She described her attempt to interpret Tom Mask and his mother Molly with symbolic images, including necklaces and a subtle halo.



Ritualized performance, or creating images, can be a way of keeping that person or entity alive, in a sense, she said. Even though I dont know the real identities of these people, I wanted to really bring these people to life. They did have real faces with textures and lines and thoughts.

Sarah E. M. Sutton M.B.A. 23 participated after being nudged by her daughters to do something following the death of George Floyd. For her, creating a mixed media piece, Honoring the Enslaved at W&M: Faith Forward-Lucy, 1768, represented a step in embracing the concept that I can take action where I am, she said.

As she worked, she kept thinking about the fortitude, persistence and faith that must have been required of Lucy. I tried to show her faith forward for future generations, she said.

Vasquez and Wright speculated that several factors, including relative isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent period of racial reckoning in the United States, prompted the unexpected response to the art project. Each also suggested that many students simply were eager to engage in a fuller telling of the history at William & Mary.

Students really crave that sense of transparency, Vasquez explained. They want to know who made the brick, whos gluing the brick down. I think the art memorial is another manifestation of wanting to be fully transparent.

Wright agreed. They want to be in the thick of it, she said. The paintings were an opportunity to do that. Instead of outsourcing it, we said we want you to be part of the fabrication of these.

The students crave more than just a verbal acknowledgment of what happened on this campus, Vasquez and Wright agreed. They want to see it on display, Wright said. The art project acts like a symbolic step in that direction. Its just a beginning.

A virtual exhibition of the project, with all of the entries, can be found here.
Emily Mieure covers criminal justice and emergency news. She also leads the News&Guides investigative efforts. She has reported for WDRB TV in Louisville, Ky., WFIE TV in Evansville, Ind., and WEIU TV in Charleston, Ill.
Defense

Sunsetting CVR but keeping the collaboration

The Defense Department launched the Commercial Virtual Remote environment to accommodate telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. It quickly became the largest Microsoft Teams deployment in the world and brought department-wide collaboration tools to DOD after years of less successful attempts.

DOD employees have embraced the tools and the silo-spanning interactions they enable, but CVR was always intended to be a temporary fix. Therefore, the Defense Information Systems Agency is working hard to ensure that the collaboration doesnt fade when CVR sunsets in July.

Les Benito, director of operations at DISAs Cloud Computing Program Office, said Global Directory is the key. He told FCW that the initiative will provide a cloud-wide identity as the military services spin up their own Microsoft 365 environments under the Defense Enterprise Office Solutions (DEOS) contract.

DISA began developing Global Directory last summer with the goal of augmenting, not replacing, existing identity and access management systems, Benito added. System owners still control access within their individual tenancies, he said, but having a shared identity framework will allow for a CVR-like experience that users have grown to expect.

A minimum viable product was tested in the fall, and DISA is now using Global Directory for its DOD365 implementation. In addition, the Army and Navy have adopted it for their DEOS implementations, with the Air Force and the U.S. Southern Command coming on board in April and others to follow this summer, Benito said.

Department of the Air Force CIO Lauren Knausenberger said the Air Force will fully transition back to its own Cloud Hosted Enterprise Services program before CVR ends in June. The cross-department integration is not as interoperable as Id like it to be yet, she told FCW, but DISA and the military services are trying to address the sticking points and ensure that some of CVRs more modern features are adopted.

People are now used to that, Knausenberger said. The whole culture has shifted, and people understand how absolutely critical it is to work anywhere you need to work and to have collaboration tools that actually work.
Photo: Abir Sultan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Israel is often touted as the only democracy in the Middle East. On the face of it, this is largely true  Lebanon, for instance, is also a democracy, but its system is complicated and deeply dysfunctional. Israel has certainly been the most functional democracy in the region throughout its history. But now, after four national elections in two years, none of which has produced a workable government, Israel is looking a lot less functional and a lot more like its neighbors.

Benjamin Netanyahus Likud Party took the largest number of Knesset seats in Tuesdays election, but not enough to form a majority in the 120-seat chamber. The embattled prime minister is now scrambling to form a governing coalition from a dwindling pool of available allies. Likud and its right-wing religious and nationalist allies have 52 seats among them, while the opposition coalition has 57. The wild cards are Yamina, a right-wing nationalist party led by Netanyahus former cabinet member turned rival Naftali Bennett, and the United Arab List, an Islamist party led by Mansour Abbas. Yamina has seven seats, so even with Bennett on board, Netanyahu is two seats short of a majority.

Since 2015, Arab parties have run in Israeli elections in a coalition known as the Joint List. This gives these smaller parties and the Arab minority voting bloc a better chance of obtaining seats in the Knesset, as parties need to pass a threshold of votes (currently 3.25 percent) to win any seats at all. The other members of this coalition are mostly secular socialists and Arab nationalists. Abbass Islamist party split off from the Joint List this year, and he expressed willingness to work with either the Likud coalition or the center-left camp to form a government that would advance Arab interests.

Initially not expected to cross the threshold, the United Arab List managed to win four seats, making Abbas a potential kingmaker for either side. No independent Arab party has ever entered a governing coalition in Israel before; now, somewhat absurdly, his party is the key to forming any government at all. The trouble is, neither side really wants him  nor is his party necessarily eager to go into government with Israels extreme right wing.

Any hopes Netanyahu might have had of forming a government via this unlikely partnership were dashed on Thursday, when Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, said a right-wing coalition with the United Arab List will not come about, not on my watch. Members of Abbass and Smotrichs parties were already leery of working with each other, as they tend to regard each other as genocidal terrorist supporters.

The anti-Netanyahu coalition, meanwhile, is just that: an ideologically incoherent mishmash of left-wing, centrist, and center-right parties united by little more than their mutual hatred for Netanyahu and desire to dethrone him. Led by the centrist Yesh Atid Party, which won 17 seats, it includes the diminished remnants of Israels center-left Labor Party, the left-wing Meretz and the Arab Joint List, as well as retired general Benny Gantzs liberal centrist Blue and White Party. The weirdest members of this bloc are Yisrael Beitenu and New Hope, two center-right nationalist parties that, like Yamina, are led by former Netanyahu lieutenants who split from Likud and became his bitter enemies. Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid and presumptive PM if he can form a government, is also courting Abbass party, which could give his change coalition a bare majority. Yet the other members of his coalition are not terribly enthusiastic about partnering with an Islamist party: neither the secular, queer-friendly left nor his nationalist right flank.

If everyone seems to have a problem with you, chances are youre the problem. However, in Israel right now, the person who needs to learn that lesson is not Mansour Abbas, but rather Netanyahu himself. The Likud leader, who has been prime minister continuously since 2009, has accumulated so much political baggage and proven so divisive that the only salient question in national legislative politics is whether he should stay or go. Had he not so badly alienated the right-leaning legislators who have joined against him, he would be sailing to reelection with a comfortable majority.

Over the past decade, Netanyahu has courted and cultivated Israels far right, the better to position himself as the sensible center by comparison. In doing so, however, he made a lot of enemies, driving wedges in the right-wing coalition between conservative secular Zionists and Jewish fundamentalist theocrats. Even as Israel has drifted rightward overall, these divisions have made it harder for him to form stable right-wing governments. Had the center left not splintered even more dramatically, this factionalism might have done him in.

Even his own party is divided over him. For years, ambitious Likudniks have waited in the wings for him to step aside, not least so that they might rise in the party themselves. Gideon Saar, once considered his natural successor, unsuccessfully challenged him for the Likud leadership in 2019, then split off to form New Hope, which is now part of the anti-Netanyahu pseudo-coalition. Yet despite these defections, many of the partys members and core voters remain fiercely loyal to the prime minister.

Netanyahu is desperate to stay in power because he is in serious legal jeopardy: Back in 2019, he was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in relation to a long-running corruption investigation. It was the first time in Israels history that a sitting prime minister was criminally charged. The indictment has further divided the country between his die-hard supporters, who buy his claim that the investigation is a politically motivated sham cooked up by the deep state to destroy him politically, and those who see this as yet another good reason to be rid of him. In one of his many parallels to Donald Trump, Netanyahu has clung to the prime ministry, at least in part, to avoid going to prison.

The most likely scenario now is that nobody manages to form a government and a fifth election is called. Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman has proposed assembling a Knesset majority to pass legislation that would bar criminal defendants from forming governments, and then holding new elections. This would prevent Netanyahu from serving another term as PM and force Likud to elect a new leader. It would also hopefully lead to a more decisive outcome in the next election, as Israel could finally move on from the drama of the Netanyahu era. Likud, in turn, decried this proposal as an anti-democratic plot to disenfranchise voters who backed Netanyahu for PM regardless of his legal troubles.

If another election is indeed in the offing, there is no guarantee it will produce a clear result. Israels political landscape is so fragmented that events no longer seem to push public opinion far enough to give either camp a clear win. For instance, Israels experience with COVID-19 should have made a difference, one way or the other. The pandemic hit Israel hard, with multiple successive lockdowns battering its economy and causing social unrest, as ultra-Orthodox Haredi communities, in particular, defied state regulations. Netanyahu was heavily criticized for not taking a harder line in enforcing these regulations on the Haredim, who make up a significant share of the right-wing voting base. As recently as December, COVID politics were looking grim for Netanyahu.

In the past few months, however, things have turned around as Israels decision to go all in on vaccinations has paid off: Netanyahu made a deal with Pfizer to get a massive early supply of vaccines quickly, in exchange for sharing extensive data on the vaccines rollout and effectiveness, effectively turning Israel into one big clinical trial. By Thursday, the health ministry reported that over half of all Israeli citizens had been fully vaccinated. The success of this initiative should have secured him another term; before the votes were counted on Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post was already crediting the vaccines for his presumed victory.

Not quite, as it turns out. As we Americans have learned the hard way, when your country is deeply divided over one polarizing political figure, the normal rules of politics no longer apply. As long as Netanyahu remains the center of attention, Israel will not be able to move on from the toxic political climate he has created. What comes after him might not be all that progressive, peaceful, or positive, but prospects for any kind of change in Israel will remain dim until he exits the scene.
Protesters marched through downtown Yangon Friday to demand that regional leaders "stand with Myanmar people", ahead of a weekend ASEAN summit to be attended by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The country has been in turmoil since February 1, when the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a lightning coup.

Using violence and lethal force to quell a nationwide uprising, security forces have killed at least 739 people in near-daily crackdowns, according to a local monitoring group.

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing is set to take part Saturday in a summit of regional leaders -- as part of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- to address Myanmar's mounting crisis.

The meeting of ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers has drawn widespread criticism from activists, human rights groups and protesters for including the military regime.

In commercial hub Yangon -- where the anti-coup movement had laid low in recent weeks due to fear of crackdowns -- protesters returned to the streets Friday, flashing three-finger salutes of resistance.

"Mother Suu and leaders -- release them immediately!" they shouted as they marched quickly past the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon. "What do we want? Democracy!"

The protesters came from different Yangon townships, some carrying signs that read "ASEAN please stand with Myanmar people" and "ASEAN do you need more blood... to make the right decision?"

Also angered by the bloc's invitation to Min Aung Hlaing was the so-called National Unity Government (NUG) -- a group of ousted Myanmar lawmakers attempting to run a shadow administration.

On Thursday, they called on Interpol to arrest the senior general -- the same day Myanmar state media announced the lawmakers in hiding were wanted for high treason.

- 'Biggest test' -

Despite the omnipresent threat of violence, nationwide demonstrations for a return to democracy persisted Friday.

Story continues

Scores of people young and old marched through the southern city of Dawei, holding signs that said, "Please, help (us) to arrest Min Aung Hlaing" as they chanted support for the shadow government.

In central Sagaing region -- the site of brutal crackdowns by security forces -- local media showed students protesting the bloodshed by dressing in their uniforms covered in red dye and reading crimson ink-splattered textbooks.

Amnesty International's Emerlynne Gil called ASEAN's handling of Myanmar the "biggest test in its history".

"The Indonesian authorities and other ASEAN member states cannot ignore the fact Min Aung Hlaing is suspected of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole," she said.

The junta has justified the putsch by alleging electoral fraud in November's elections -- which Suu Kyi's party had won in a landslide.

The United States, European Union and Britain have already imposed sanctions on top military brass and some army-linked businesses.

Before the coup, Min Aung Hlaing was already facing international sanctions over his army's role in the Rohingya crisis.

About 750,000 of the Muslim minority group fled Myanmar in 2017 following a brutal military crackdown.

bur-dhc/axn
PHILIPSBURG:--- O

On Wednesday, April 23rd, The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Omar Ottley decided in consultation with the Department Head of Collective Prevention Services (CPS), Mrs. Eva Lista-de Weever that CPS will host a POP-UP COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Saturday, April 24th, in efforts to increase the vaccination numbers throughout the community. The vaccination clinic will be open between the hours of 10 AM- 2 PM at the Vineyard building.
Hayley Hasselhoff is sharing more about her experience shooting for Playboy Germany and opening up about how although she made history as the first curve model to appear on one of the magazine's European covers, she did so in her own lingerie because of lack of inclusive sizing.

"Theres still a long way to go when it comes to availability for fashion," she said on the Tamron Hall Show on Thursday. "When it came down to actually fitting my figure in this lingerie, its all me. It came from my wardrobe."

The 28-year-old model, actress and body positive advocate went on to explain that she didn't expect to use her own pieces, however, she had them in her luggage from traveling to Paris where the photoshoot took place. When she arrived on set, she found out that the stylist had accessories for her and not much else. "It wasnt like I aimed to just have these pieces, these pieces really do travel with me," Hasselhoff said. "At the end of the day, Im so used to it and its sad to say that Im used to going onto set and sometimes not having the right pieces of availability because of my size. But I think thats why were here today."

Speaking out about what happened is another way that Hasselhoff aims to make change within the fashion industry.

"We are making this movement to be able to represent more size inclusivity and to be able to make it the norm so there is more availability out there for fashion and beyond. Not only the message that it gets to relate to women and their self love and in their journey, but also it relates the message back into the fashion industry that the average size woman in the world is a 14, 16," she explained. "So its about time to kind of get onto the bandwagon over here."

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Still, Hasselhoff managed to turn the situation on set into a positive one. "To be honest with you, it made me feel more confident and comfortable on the set anyway because I already felt good in these pieces. And Ive done a lot of research beyond the years of growing up as a curve woman with a bigger bust and having to find the right brands that have availability for my size that are also sexy and beautiful," she said. "My manager was running to the hotel to grab more pieces from my wardrobe. We made it into a fun and positive moment."

Story continues

Hasselhoff is no stranger to conversations about size inclusivity, body image and wellness. She even started an Instagram series called "Check in With You from Hayley Hasselhoff" focused on mental health with conversations about the difficulty that many have faced during the pandemic  something that she said impacted her self confidence when it came to the magazine cover.

"Im so proud of you for celebrating your body in the here and now during a global pandemic," Hasselhoff said in praise to herself. "You have to remember, it challenged even my idea about radical acceptance. We were in lockdown in London and then obviously I traveled over to Paris during lockdown in Paris, and it was this idea of Im so proud of myself for wanting to celebrate myself in such an artful way. And what I hope from this cover is that women, people are able to then want to be able to celebrate their body in whatever way feels most authentic."

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A hospital in Italys southern region of Calabria fired Salvatore Scumace for not showing up to work.

For 15 years.

Mr. Scumace, 67, was fired last year from the Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital in the city of Catanzaro, but the news made headlines in Italy this week when Italys financial police announced their investigation into his remarkable record of absenteeism. His case was uncovered as part of a wider investigation into absenteeism by public workers.

While Mr. Scumace has not yet been arrested or formally charged, the police informed him that he could face a raft of charges, including abuse of office, forgery and aggravated extortion.

He is accused of earning an estimated 538,000 euros, or more than $645,000, for a job the police say he never performed over the course of his long and less-than-productive career as a hospital fire-safety employee.
Chandigarh, April 23 : Terming the new vaccination policy for the 18-plus age group as unfair to the states, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday sought Centre-state parity in vaccination for that age group from May 1, while calling for urgent steps to ensure adequate oxygen supply.

While the Punjab government has adopted all measures to minimise demand for oxygen, given its criticality as the most essential drug for the treatment of serious Covid-19 patients, the govrnment of India must ensure that all commitments with regard to its allocation are complied with by the liquid oxygen manufacturers in the other states, the Chief Minister demanded.

Punjab's supplies come from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and there are reports of supplies being 'hijacked', Amarinder Singh said at the virtual conference held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss the Covid situation with the CMs of the worst hit states.

On the vaccination front, the Chief Minister said that the new rates announced by one of the manufacturers will cost the Punjab government over Rs 1,000 crore.

He sought Central government funding for vaccination, with permission to make the cost a fit charge on the SDRF funds in the interim.

Regular vaccine supply must be ensured to maintain the supply chain to the last vaccination booth, he said, adding that due to supply shortage, vaccinations in the last one week have been slightly low, i.e., around 75,000-80,000 a day.

While Punjab received fresh supplies on Thursday, the current stocks can last only three days as demand for vaccine is increasing, he stressed.

Amarinder Singh also expressed concern over lack of clarity on the quantity of vaccine to be made available by the Centre after May 1, and how the manufacturers will regulate supplies to different states and private purchasers.

The state government, on its part, has constituted an experts' group under virologist Gagandeep Kang to advise on the vaccination strategy for those in the age group of 18-45 years, whom the states have been allowed to vaccinate at their cost, he said.

The Chief Minister also pointed to the shortage and blackmarketing of medicines like Remdesivir, which he said is creating great panic among the general public.

Though the Central government is making efforts to increase its supply, a clearer message is required to inform the public that it is not a magic wand, and also about the available substitutes, he stressed.

Pointing to the shortage of Remdesivir injections and zero availability of Tocilizumab injections in the state, he said that the hospitals are following the treatment protocols for the critical patients and using alternate medicines.

Citing the increase in the number of cases to around 5,000 per day, with 10 per cent test positivity rate in the last one week, from around 3,000 per day with eight per cent positivity during the last meeting on April 8, the Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to direct the central institutions like AIIMS Bathinda, PGI Satellite Centres and Military Hospitals in Punjab to provide additional Covid beds.

Pre-fab structures on offer by the CSIR could be used for this purpose, he said, pointing to the grave situation in the state which has a case fatality rate of 1.4 per cent.

Expressing concern over the fact that Punjab did not receive any fresh results on viral genome sequencing in the last almost a month, when the last results showed over 85 per cent UK strain, Amarinder Singh urged the Prime Minister to order escalation of efforts to understand the mutations and their implications for proper policy response.

He also urged the government of India to build a consensus on Covid appropriate behaviour to check the spread of the virus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Lisnagelvin Retail Park in Derry has been sold for 9.7m.

The park is home to Next, Catalan and TK Maxx stores and is one of the most popular retail destinations in the north west.

According to a report in the Belfast Telegraph, the park has been bought by Manchester-based property firm David Samuel Properties.

The same company also owns the Crescent Link Retail Park in Derry.

The Lisnagelvin park had been placed on the market for 10.75m.

The selling agent said that the park attracts an annual rent of 1.2m from the stores based there.
Imperial Valley News Center

Former Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club President Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

San Diego, California - Steven Edwards Moncrief, a Temecula resident and former president of the Riverside chapter of the Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club, was sentenced in federal court Friday to 180 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

According to the governments sentencing memorandum, Moncrief displayed symbols of hate on his clothing, motorcycle and in his home, including banners and stickers that said Support Your Local White Boy and White Pride Worldwide, and patches featuring Nazi SS Bolts - sentiments that are shared by the club.

The trafficking of narcotics in our community to support a hateful ideology will not be tolerated, said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. This conviction demonstrates that we will pursue our investigations past the foot soldiers of trafficking conspiracies to those who organize and manage the enterprises.

Moncrief pleaded guilty in October of 2020. According to search warrants executed in this case, starting in December 2017, the FBI, working in conjunction with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, started an operation to investigate methamphetamine distribution by multiple individuals in the San Diego area. The investigation included the use of court-authorized intercepts on cellular phones used by participants in the methamphetamine distribution conspiracy.

In his plea agreement, Moncrief admitted that, beginning in 2018, he conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine to individuals within the Southern District of California and beyond. Specifically, Moncrief obtained methamphetamine from other co-conspirators and sold it for a profit.

Moncrief admitted that he purchased 10 pounds of methamphetamine in July 2018 and that investigators thereafter located approximately 10 pounds of methamphetamine, three firearms, a large amount of U.S. currency, scales, and packaging material in a safe in the garage of his residence.

Todays sentence sends a message to those who choose to poison our streets through their life of crime, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner. The San Diego FBI, along with our partners on the North County Regional Gang Task Force, are committed to keeping our communities safe, flushing out the leadership in these criminal organizations, and holding them accountable for their conspiratorial actions.

According to the sentencing memorandum, the Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club was founded in early 2005 in East San Diego County and has chapters in California, Arizona, and Nevada. The organization of the Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club is similar to larger motorcycle clubs, including the Hells Angels MC and Mongols MC. Their structure consists of a president, vice president, sergeant at arms, secretary, treasurer, road captain, prospects, and hang-arounds.

The sentencing memorandum notes that, in response to the Hollister, California riot in 1949, the American Motorcycle Association stated that 99 percent of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens, implying that 1% of motorcyclists are outlaws. Some motorcycle clubs, including the Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club, wear a 1% diamond patch to openly show their outlaw mentality. The 1% diamond patch is only worn by dominant clubs, or by clubs that were awarded the patch from a dominant club by proving themselves as an outlaw and support club. The Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club were awarded or blessed with their diamond patch by the Hells Angles MC.

The sentencing memorandum states that Peckerwoods Motorcycle Club members have been convicted of multiple crimes including drug and weapons trafficking, possession of stolen property, and assault. Their current club president has pleaded guilty to a racially motivated assault that left an African-American man paralyzed. Members often display symbols of hate on their vests, or cuts, including Nazi SS Bolts and Swastikas.

Moncrief was one of 11 defendants charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in an investigation led by the North County Regional Gang Task Force. The continuing investigation resulted in indictments against another 27 defendants in 2019 based on sales of methamphetamine and heroin. To date, 26 defendants have been arrested and pleaded guilty.

Grossman praised federal prosecutor Matthew Brehm, FBI agents and Sheriffs detectives as well as the North County Regional Gang Task Force for their dedicated efforts in this investigation and prosecution.

On July 26, 2018, investigators executed a search warrant at Moncriefs residence at Tanager Circle in Temecula, California, and located, among other items, approximately 10 pounds of methamphetamine, three handgun firearms (.40 Smith and Wesson, American Tactical Fatboy, and Ruger 9 mm), a large amount of U.S. currency, scales, and packaging material in a safe in the garage. The photographs above are a business card that was seized along with Moncriefs drivers license during the execution of a search warrant at Moncriefs residence. The business card, using Moncriefs moniker Scooter, names him as president of the Woodsside Chapter and utilizes a handwritten Nazi Germany Schutzstaffel (SS) symbol (also known as SS Bolts) in place of Ss in Woodsside.

DEFENDANT Case Number 18cr5317-AJB

Stephen Edward Moncrief Age: 59 Temecula, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine  Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 841(a)(1) and 846

Maximum penalty: life in prison; and a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison; and a $10 million fine.

AGENCIES

North County Regional Gang Task Force members:

FBI

San Diego County Sheriffs Department

Escondido Police Department

Oceanside Police Department

Carlsbad Police Department

California Highway Patrol

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Homeland Security Investigations

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

California National Guard

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Museo Medical Office Building, a 10-story, contemporary building at the gateway to the Museum District, celebrated a construction milestone with a topping out ceremony Thursday. Slated for completion this fall, the building is the first phase of a planned mixed-use project spanning three blocks.

Testa Rossa Properties, led by Dr. Mike Mann of Mann Eye Institute, is spearheading the development at 5115 Fannin. Real estate broker Brandy Bellow Spinks of CBRE organized the event, which was attended by medical professionals and commercial real estate brokers specializing in health care and life sciences.
(JTA) - New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens has taken on a side gig as the editor of a new limited-run journal of essays about Jewish issues.

The journal, titled Sapir, is an initiative of the Maimonides Fund, an increasingly influential force in Jewish philanthropy that supports Jewish identity-building through media, education and Israel engagement. Over the past year, the fund has also become known for its leadership on COVID relief efforts.

The first of four print issues scheduled for 2021 will land in mid-April and will focus on social justice - a topic Stephens has address...
Detroit intends to give preferential marijuana business licensing consideration to longtime residents, and officials say theyll scrap the entire program if the courts wont let them.

Detroit Councilman James E. Tate Jr., who spearheaded the citys long-awaited plan that offers perks and first access to legacy residents, told MLive in February that the first licenses could be issued by May 1. Thats not going to happen. The earliest the city will now be able to issue its first licenses is now late May.

Crystal Lowe, a prospective applicant whos lived in Detroit for a third of her life but falls short of qualifying as preferred applicant, filed a civil lawsuit against the city on March 30 alleging Detroits process violates various state and federal laws.

The filing prompted U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman on April 8 to issue an order temporarily prohibiting Detroit from processing any applications. The program is going to be on hold until at least May 27, which is the date set for a hearing on a temporary restraining order, which could significantly delay Detroits licensing plan.

That hearing was originally scheduled for April 23, but it was adjourned, according to online court records.

If the judge grants the temporary restraining order next month, the entire program -- at least in its current form -- could be shut down until the lawsuit concludes. According to Congressional Research Service, the average length of a federal civil lawsuit is two years and three months.

Detroit continues to offer resources for interested marijuana business applicants on its website, but closed the application portal.

There is no reason that preparations such as business plan development, state prequalification, site selection, and financing development should not proceed, the website says. The Civil Rights Inclusion and Opportunity Department continues to work hard to provide guidance and technical assistance services to prospective applicants in preparation for the future reopening of the licensing period.

Iesha Paul, a spokesperson for Councilman Tate, said he was declining comment due to the ongoing litigation.

We are not allowed to accept license applications until granted by the court, she said, directing further questions to the citys Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department. MLive left a message seeking comment with the Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department.

Even before the lawsuit was filed, Detroit leaders indicated they have no intent to bend on their plans. As if prepared for legal challenges, Detroits licensing ordinance states no license will be issued or renewed if any portion of the law is struck down or deemed unconstitutional.

The citys argument in favor of its plan relies on the language of the states recreational marijuana law itself, which has built in requirements for social equity.

Anyone who has been disproportionately impacted by prior marijuana prohibition, under the social equity portion of the law passed by voters in 2018, should receive consideration as the new industry emerges. For instance, someone with a felony marijuana conviction has likely encountered subsequent hurdles that have hurt their ability to succeed, and may leave them at a disadvantage when it comes to joining the complicated and expensive marijuana market.

Detroits City Council, despite being criticized for being slow to engage with the new industry, took great care and time to draft the ordinance that ensures the citys marijuana market isnt overrun by wealthy outsiders. It created what it calls a legacy program.

Legacy applicants are defined as those who have lived in Detroit for 15 of the last 30 years; have lived in the city for 13 of the last 30 years and are low income; or have lived in the city for 10 of the last 30 years and have a marijuana conviction or a parent with a marijuana conviction.

Legacy residents receive a 99% discount on licensing fees in 2021, a 75% discount on licensing fees in 2022 and the opportunity to purchase city-owned land for 25% of the market value. They were also given early access to apply and guaranteed no less than 50% of the 75 new retail business licenses available. The 50% ruled also applies to most other license types.

Detroit has licensed medical marijuana businesses; however the vast majority, 42 of 46, are owned by people who live outside Detroit, the city said in an April 22 court filing.

The ordinance reveals a clear effort to assist residents who have been most harmed by the criminalization of marijuana-related conduct and to limit the monopolization of adult-use licenses by those who have not experienced the systemic effects of the War on Drugs, which began in earnest in the 1990s, reads the citys brief in response to a motion for a restraining order. Through its legacy provision, the ordinance balances the interests of those Detroiters who would have most acutely felt the impact of criminalizing marijuana with those of others who may be interested in holding a license.

The ordinance does not bar persons outside the city from applying for a license.

In her motion for a restraining order, Lowes attorney, Kevin Blair of the Lansing-based Honigman law firm, called it pure economic protectionism that illegally punishes the fundamental right to intra- and interstate travel, as well as potions of the U.S. Constitutions Commerce Clause.

Detroits response, filed by attorney Emily C. Palacios of the Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone law firm, argued the Commerce Clause claims are invalid, since interstate marijuana commerce is illegal under federal law.

Its clear that Detroit residents are interested in joining the booming, billion-dollar-plus recreational marijuana industry. At a March 29 Detroit City Council meeting, the Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department reported that 400-plus legacy applicants had already been certified.

More on MLive:

Michigan marijuana sales break billion-dollar pace

Detroit sued over marijuana licensing program

Detroit marijuana program placed on hold

Michigan communities to split $10 million in tax revenue

Glimpse inside recreational retail experience

Marijuana stock market may be coming to Michigan

New taxes, stock market proposed to boost minority investment

Michigan to increase access to marijuana market

Michigan businesses licensed tow grow over 500,000 plants

Marijuana thrives in market changed by the coronavirus

Spouses of licensees may be able to work for government

A prior marijuana conviction could be a good thing
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday arrived in Turkey on a two-day official visit on the invitation of Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlt avusoglu

ISTANBUL (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday arrived in Turkey on a two-day official visit on the invitation of Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlt avusoglu.

Deputy Governor Istanbul Kamal Annan, Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey Syrus Qazi and senior officials of embassy received the foreign minister at Istanbul airport.

During the visit, the Foreign Minister will have bilateral talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlt avusoglu. He will also participate in a trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan, the Foreign Office said.

The meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected.

During the bilateral talks, the two Foreign Ministers will review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and discuss preparations for the 7th Session of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC), which will be held in Turkey this year. The two sides will also discuss the regional security situation.

In the trilateral meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister will discuss the latest developments in the Afghan peace process, exchange views on achieving the shared objectives of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political process and highlight Pakistan's valuable efforts towards this end.

The fraternal relations between Pakistan and Turkey are deeply embedded in common faith, culture and history and underpinned by exceptional mutual trust and respect.

The Foreign Minister Qureshi's visit to Turkey is part of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries. Foreign Minister avusoglu visited Pakistan in January 2021 and the two Foreign Ministers also met on 29 March 2021 on the sidelines of 9th session of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process Ministerial Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

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VANCOUVERThe two Canadians were walking down a sidewalk in their neighbourhood in Turpan, a city in Chinas northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, when everyone seemed to freeze.

VANCOUVERThe two Canadians were walking down a sidewalk in their neighbourhood in Turpan, a city in Chinas northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, when everyone seemed to freeze.

A Uyghur man had accidentally tripped over a police officers foot.

The man, who was in his 30s, grimaced and looked stricken about the misstep. The officer flew into a rage and grabbed the man around his neck with two hands, dragging him to one of the many police stations at every major intersection.

No one dared look.

All around the street, everyone averted their eyes, and some even plastered a smile on their faces.

"People were pretending not to see. Everyone acted calm, because nobody wanted to be noticed by police, too," Andrea Dyck recalled of the 2017 incident.

Andrea and her husband Gary, who are both from small towns in Manitoba, had lived in Xinjiang for almost 10 years by that point. They were fluent in Uyghur and Mandarin, and their social group was made up of mostly Uyghur families and "ordinary office workers."

After stints with poverty alleviation NGOs in Central Asia, the couple had set up a social enterprise in Turpan that processed agricultural waste and sold compost to local farmers.

They are now speaking out about the horrors they witnessed, when around them, an estimated million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities were forcibly taken to internment camps for "re-education."

Pressure has been mounting on the Chinese Communist Party over what some governments, including the United States, have declared an ongoing genocide of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. In February, Canadas House of Commons passed a motion recognizing genocide is taking place there; the motion passed 266-0 with the Liberal cabinet abstaining.

Now the Dycks have decided to speak about their 10 years in Xinjiang and how a massive clampdown on the Uyghur population eventually drove them to leave.

Heightened security checkpoints

When the roadblocks and extra security measures first appeared, some of the Dycks acquaintances believed the Chinese government was genuinely trying to root out terrorists, and that the heightened security checkpoints at every major road would protect Uyghurs, too.

After all, the Canadian family was living in the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, in 2009 when violent riots broke out on the streets between Uyghurs and people of Chinas majority ethnic group, Han Chinese.

Out of a 16th-storey apartment window, they looked down as clouds of dust swept up from crowds below, and an American friend rushed in to warn the family not to go outside. People were attacking each other with makeshift weapons and knives.

Authorities blocked international media from verifying the numbers of victims of the clashes, and Chinese officials said nearly 200 people died, mostly Han Chinese. Many Uyghurs disappeared in police sweeps following the riots, and seemingly overnight, the Dycks watched the security presence ramp up around the remote western region of China to scarcely believable proportions.

"We noticed racial tensions before, but after the (riots), it just exploded." Gary Dyck

"Every restaurant had a scanning machine. We had to walk by police guards just to buy tomatoes," Gary said.

The couple were speaking to the Star ahead of a public virtual event on Thursday hosted by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

"We noticed racial tensions before, but after the (riots), it just exploded. Hans and Uyghurs did not trust each other, and police acted like a terrorist attack was going to happen at any moment," he said, recalling an incident where a police officer berated his colleague for sneaking away from his post to grab a cold Pepsi on a hot day.

Police vans soon seemed to circle city blocks non-stop.

Daily flag-raising, propaganda meetings

Andrea said they started seeing less of their friends because of daily flag-raising ceremonies which every Uyghur in their community had to attend, where Muslim women had to take off their head scarves.

"They had never been in public with their hair exposed before, and were covering their faces in shame," she said.

"There were also daily propaganda meetings at workplaces, and our friends were very tired and had no energy to respond to what was happening."

One of their friends who worked at a government office was forced to sleep in her office each night. She wasnt allowed to leave to cook dinner for her son who had returned from boarding school on a holiday.

"We could see one camp from the road we lived on  just 10 minutes down our street." Andrea Dyck

Then came hushed whispers of people disappearing, being taken to internment camps. The Dycks were the only resident foreigners in the area, and because they were such outsiders, Uyghur friends trusted them with their stories.

"One woman I know had a sister who was taken to a camp because of an international trip she did as a tourist years before. She was the primary caregiver for her elderly parents and siblings children. When she was gone, the whole family structure fell apart," Andrea said.

"We could see one camp from the road we lived on  just 10 minutes down our street."

The compound was surrounded by walls at least 15 feet high, with security cameras and a single entrance with multiple gates. Razor wire could be seen along the wall surrounding the courtyard.

They estimate that in Turpans surrounding farming villages, around a third of farmers were either taken to the camps, or forced to take jobs in other parts of China far away from their families, by mid-2018. Uyghur farmers had made up their customer base for compost sales.

1 million arbitrarily detained: report

The couple decided to be part of Thursdays panel following increased pressure on the Chinese government about Xinjiang and more accounts of what has been happening inside the region coming to light.

On Monday, the NGO Human Rights Watch released a report into events in Xinjiang titled "Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots," the title taken from a religious affairs official quoted on a social media page belonging to Chinas state-run news outlet, Xinhua.

The report, and other accounts, have estimated in recent years more than one million Uyghurs and other Turkic people have been sent to up to 400 facilities after being arbitrarily detained. Once there they are subject to torture, forced labour and other abusive treatment, the report says.

"The Chinese authorities impose on Turkic Muslims a pervasive system of mass surveillance, controls on movement, arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance, cultural and religious erasure, and family separation." Human Rights Watch

"The oppression continues outside the detention facilities," it reads. "The Chinese authorities impose on Turkic Muslims a pervasive system of mass surveillance, controls on movement, arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance, cultural and religious erasure, and family separation."

It said in 2017, according to Chinese government statistics, arrests in Xinjiang amounted to 21 per cent of all arrests in China despite the region only being home to 1.5 per cent of the population.

Other accounts told to international media and a Canadian Parliamentary committee detailed torture and sexual assaults against those detained. Political indoctrination was also a staple function of the camps.

China has insisted they are merely vocational training centres, but their presence looms large over the people of Xinjiang who are constantly threatened with being sent to them if they step out of line, the Dycks said.

'Don't forget us'

The amount of arrests, Andrea said, caused her teenage sons friends in Xinjiang to fear turning 18, believing they could be hauled away to a camp for any reason at any time.

Many young men would post photos of themselves smoking or drinking on social media attempting to distance themselves from perceptions about Muslims, she said.

"Just watching those boys be terrified of turning 18 years old was very hard to watch," Andrea said. "Theyre at risk of being taken to camps. And they know it."

After 10 years of living in the region, opening a business and learning two languages, the Dycks decided to return to Canada.

It wasnt just the increasing security measures making everyday life a hassle spurring their departure, such as a once five-minute trip to the market now taking 20 minutes; they began to fear they were putting Uyghurs they knew in danger for being associated with foreigners.

Talking about their final days in the region before leaving in May 2018, tears begin to well up as the two share the same overpowering memory of leaving.

"Everybody said, dont forget us, " Andrea said. "As though us remembering them was a way to help them keep existing."

Jeremy Nuttall is a Vancouver-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @Nuttallreports

Joanna Chiu is a Vancouver-based reporter covering both Canada-China relations and current affairs on the West Coast for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @joannachiu
A look at Friday's major share movers on the London Stock Exchange

( ) gained 7% to 299.65p after snapping up certain assets of Red Globe Press (RGP), the academic imprint, from Macmillan Education Ltd for 3.7mln.

The Harry Potter publisher said 2.1mln will be satisfied in cash at completion and up to 1.6mln will be paid on or post-completion, subject to the assignment of certain contracts.

RGP specialises in high-quality publishing for Higher Education students globally in Humanities and Social Sciences, Business and Management, and Study Skills. It has a backlist of more than 7,000 titles and publishes more than 100 new titles per year, with content including digital platforms, textbooks, research-driven materials and general academic publishing.

2.30pm: Sealand Galaxy Capital motors higher after subsidiary awarded new contract to produce TikTok videos

Sealand Galaxy ( ) motored 9% higher to 1.8p in the afternoon after its subsidiary New Sky Global Media, a digital marketing and advertising company, was awarded a new contract.

It is for another new project by its longstanding client, Suncity Group Leisure Services, to create 45 new digital campaign videos for TikTok.

The contract is worth 190,000 and runs until March 2022.

12.50pm: Record moves higher after assets under management hit record level

( ) advanced 8% to 84.9p at lunchtime after assets under management equivalents (AUME) rose by 37% in the year to the end of March.

AUME rose to a record level of US$80.1bn (57.8bn) at the end of the companys fiscal year, helped by net inflows of US$9.7bn.

The asset management firm saw diversified AUME net inflows in the year of US$2.1bn into Passive Hedging and across its higher-margin Dynamic Hedging (US$6.6bn) and Multi-Product (US$1.0bn) strategies.

11.50am: Novacyt shoots up after entering national framework agreement

( ) shot up 15% to 427.57p at midday after being included in the Public Health England (PHE) national framework agreement.

The framework allows PHE and NHS hospitals to purchase Novacyts accredited products without the need for direct contract awards.

Meanwhile, the AIM-listed firm has expanded its portfolio with more COVID-19 tests.

10.30am: edges higher after revealing revenue will top expectations

Group PLC ( ) edged 5% higher to 696.25p in late morning after announcing full-year revenues will be well over the current market expectations.

The podcast firm has continued to see strong sales momentum amid a content-focused expansion plan, with performance lifted by new advertising bookings.

The AIM-listed group signed advertising bookings for the year now represented over 95% of its recently upwardly revised market forecast for revenue in 2021.

9.35am: Workspace Group drops on Barclays double-downgrade

( ) shed 6% to 783.5p after the shares were double-downgraded by Barclays, who said "too much" reopening optimism was priced into the shares.

Analysts at the bank noted that after office take-up collapsed in all London sub-markets in 2020, vacancy rates have roughly doubled with City sub-markets now at nearly 11% and availability of space is almost at 20-year record levels.

Barclays moved two marks down to an 'underweight' rating on the shares from the previous 'overweight', cutting its share price target to 700p from 745p.

Meanwhile, ( ) advanced 5% to 16.74p after announcing that 70 of its 72 Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurants were open for business.

Group sales in the week ended Sunday April 18 were described as very encouraging; not only were they up on the previous week but also better than in the same week in 2019, when the word pandemic was still largely thought of as a halfway decent score in Scrabble.

The group continues to identify potential new locations for its two businesses. In the last two weeks, it has inspected sites in many towns and cities across the UK including London, York, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester, for either new or additional sites.

8.40am: Bigblu Broadband rises early after proposing sale of holding in Quickline

Bigblu Broadband PLC (LON:BBB) was an early riser on Friday, surging 18% to 127.5p after proposing the sale of its holding in Quickline, the holding company for Quickline Communications.

The AIM-listed broadband services provider has agreed a deal with private markets investment firm Northleaf Capital Partners valuing the shareholding at up to 48.6mln, which is a return of up to 5.8 times the cost of the initial investment.

Of these, 41.1mln will be paid in cash and 5.6mln in loan notes on completion.

Elsewhere, ( ) advanced 8% to 24.3p after its d2p antimicrobial film will cover seats and handles for buses of Guarulhos, in Brazil.

The AIM-listed firm said a donation has been made to provide material for 858 vehicles, protecting over 400,000 passengers from coronavirus and other bacteria and fungi normally present on surfaces.

Guarulhos becomes the first public transport system in the world to incorporate d2p anti-microbial technology to protect the health of its users.

Proactive news headlines

( ) said it will convene an extraordinary general meeting and reveal a number of material changes to the business including a 6.9mln capital raise, a new chief executive, and a rebrand to Challenger Energy Group PLC.

( ) announced the publication of a large independent multi-centre study evaluating the real-world performance of its HCV test in low and middle-income countries.

( ), the currency and derivatives manager, saw assets under management equivalents (AUME) rise by 37% in the year to the end of March to a record level of US$80.1bn, helped by net inflows of US$9.7bn.

( ) has reported revenue growth and narrower losses in 2020 as the company hailed its commercial business turning earnings and cash positive for the first time.

( ) said it was notified on 22 April 2021 that on that same day, Nick Rodgers, chairman of the company, purchased 5,000 ordinary shares at a price of 158p per share, taking his total beneficial interest to 52,462 shares, or 0.09% of the total issued share capital.

e-therapeutics PLC ( ) has reached two key milestones in its collaboration with Galapagos NV, triggering two payments to the company.

( ) said ESG expert Sandra Stash is to join the board as an independent non-executive director at the beginning of May.

( ) announced a new hire, plant manager for the La Parrilla project, and also updated on recent concentrate shipments from the mine.

( ) confirmed it will announce its audited preliminary results for 2020 on Tuesday, 27 April.

( ) said it intends to announce its audited final results for 2020 on Friday 30 April.

( ) expects to publish audited accounts for 2020 during May and said it annual general meeting will take place during June, full details of which will be announced in due course.

( ) will hold its annual general meeting on 19 May 2021 at its head office in Chippenham.


MCLA and MassHire Partner to Support 2021 Berkshire Virtual Career Week

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  As part of the Berkshire Compact for Education, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MassHire and other community partners will help showcase careers in the Berkshires the week of April 26-30 through Berkshire Virtual Career Week.

"It's great to see these opportunities for students to learn more about what they want to pursue in their future," Berkshire Workforce Board high school intern Nick Lopenzina said, "Workshops like this really give kids a chance to start finding their direction."

The event aims to engage high school students, mainly in grades 10-12, in career awareness and exploration through a blend of live Zoom sessions with local professionals and scheduled broadcasts on Pittsfield Community Television.

Career Week programming is also open to Berkshire residents of all ages who are interested in learning more about the current labor market landscape in the Berkshires. Via PCTV, portions of the live sessions will be broadcast, and career-related content will air when there is not a live Zoom meeting. All videos will be available after the week-long event in PCTV's online educational library. A full schedule with all programming will be available prior to April 26 at www.masshireberkshire.com.

The MassHire Berkshire Career Center will also host a Virtual Job Fair from noon-4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27. This event is for those ages 14-21 seeking jobs in the Berkshires. To register for the job fair, visit www.MasshireBerkshireCC.com and visit "Calendar of Events."

Career Week will also feature daily, live Zoom sessions focused on different careers in the Berkshires including a STEM session organized by MCLA and the Berkshire STEM Network, plus sessions on Health Care and Human Services, Hospitality and Tourism, Communications, Building Trades, and Advanced Manufacturing.

"MCLA is proud to partner on this program with MassHire," said MCLA Director of Corporate and Strategic Partnerships Dr. Joshua Mendel. "Through MCLA representation on the Berkshire Compact's Aspiration Committee and the Berkshire STEM Network, the College is able to contribute to these kinds of opportunities for students throughout the Berkshires, another part of our mission of public education, and another aspect of the work we do toward maintaining a thriving economy in Berkshire County."

How to View:

Head to PittsfieldTV.org to connect via cable, digitally or on demand to all programming.

High school students (specifically grades 10-12) interested in registering for the live Zoom sessions should connect with their school guidance counselor and inquire about this event.
A jury in Britain on Friday cleared six climate activists from the Extinction Rebellion group of causing criminal damage to energy giant Royal Dutch Shell offices at protests two years ago.

The acquittals, which also included not guilty verdicts on charges of intending to destroy or damage property, came despite the judge directing jurors that most of those accused had no legal defence.

The case stemmed from days of demonstrations and civil disobedience by Extinction Rebellion in April 2019 that brought parts of London to a standstill and choked off central streets.

The campaigners, including two of the group's co-founders, were charged with damaging Shell's offices in the British capital after they smashed windows, sprayed graffiti and glued themselves to doors there.

Protester Katerina Hasapopoulous, 43, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and will be sentenced at a later date.

However the six others arrested, who faced up to five years in jail or fines of thousands of pounds if convicted, denied the charges and opted to represent themselves at trial at Southwark Crown Court in south London.

One defendant, 41-year-old James Saunders, claimed he honestly believed company employees and shareholders would have consented to his actions if they understood his motives.

Meanwhile judge Gregory Perrins noted to jurors the other five in the dock had not offered "any defence in law", and that criminal damage could not be "morally justified".

Prosecutor Diana Wilson said the accused had "caused significant damage" as she urged the jurors to convict the group.

The defendants argued they targeted the building because Shell was directly contributing to climate change, thereby causing serious injury and death.

They said it was a "necessary" and "proportionate" response to the harm being caused by the multinational oil company.

After around seven hours of deliberations -- including asking to see a copy of the oath they took when they were sworn in -- the jury of seven women and five men acquitted them all.

Story continues

Extinction Rebellion called it "a landmark verdict" and "a major victory for climate campaigners everywhere facing increasing criminalisation".

The acquittals prompted Perrins to conclude: "This has been an unusual case."

jj/am/pvh
On Thursday 22 April 2021, global health company Vestergaard once again formed part of a panel discussion, hosted by The Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA) and its partners to discuss lessons and opportunities in the fight against Malaria.



Taking place only days before World Malaria Day, the second instalment of the three-part webinar series highlighted how countries and businesses have adapted their health programmes in the battle against malaria in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting opportunities for collaboration to scale up malaria control efforts and impacts. Michael Joos, Chief Executive Officer of Vestergaard reminded the participants that long-lasting insecticidal nets are the backbone of malaria control programmes on which additional interventions are layered. With the pandemic causing a steep decrease in malaria diagnosis and treatment, this tool is more critical than ever before to avert malaria deaths.



COVID-19 has placed significant pressures on malaria programs. The humble bednet is quite literally holding up the fort, said Joos. However, growing mosquito resistance to insecticides used on bednets are also making them less effective. New generation bednets with new insecticides must be brought to market quickly, he continued.



There is a significantly higher level of complexity involved in the R&D process, polymer science and the manufacturing of new generation bednets. A renewed engagement between the private sector, donor organisations and malaria programmes of endemic countries can help mitigate the risks and costs involved.



To bring new generation nets to communities that need them will require a more strategic level of interaction between the private sector and the institutions buying and deploying these innovations at scale, advised Joos. By fast-tracking the regulatory pathway to market, improving tools to evaluate bednet performance in real conditions of use, and ensuring faster adoption of new nets at scale, the malaria community can not only save time and money but also improve impact, he said.



While innovation efforts to increase bednet effectiveness are underway, it is not too soon to also consider how the sustainable manufacturing of bednets can protect both people and the planet. Bednets and their packaging are predominantly made of polymer plastics -major pollutants to the environment. Vestergaard proudly announced that they had now developed the technology to make bednets out of 100% recycled and upcycled material  without compromising on quality  making it possible to save lives and the planet.



Joos also pointed out that more should be done to ensure at-risk populations use bednets more frequently. The community has a long way to go to bridge these challenges and therefore we call for a collaborative effort between technology players like Vestergaard, global funders and malaria programme coordinators to find new and innovative solutions to these challenges, he said.



As the panel discussion came to a close, CAMA launched the End Malaria Project, which serves as a call to action for greater collaboration and coordination to achieve a common goal. It is encouraging to see how the community has already stepped up to continue and accelerate efforts against malaria despite the obstacles. Vestergaard applauds the End Malaria Project initiative, which seeks to galvanise support towards reducing the incidence and prevalence of malaria in Nigeria, concluded Joos.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Republicans are sticking to the arguments that then-President Donald Trump made in pulling the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate accord. They point to China as the worlds worst climate polluter  the U.S. is No. 2  and say any transition to clean energy hurts American oil, natural gas and coal workers.
Farmers markets help Stohrs introduce goat dairy products to SD

Stohr Diary invests in the dairy goat industry. Helps grow awareness to the benefits of goat dairy within South Dakota.
While Mrs. Laingen, who was known as Penne, never claimed to be the leader of the hostage families, she was held up as their spokeswoman by the news media, a role she filled with the sort of practiced grace that comes from years hosting diplomats as her husbands unofficial social secretary. She edited her groups monthly newsletter, met frequently with the Carters and became a regular voice in newspaper coverage.

In December 1980, she was hoisted 60 feet in the air atop a crane in order to place a star on the national Christmas tree  decorated with 52 yellow ribbons  on the Ellipse in Washington. She then had to wait in the bracing winter wind as photographers went up on another crane, one by one, to take her picture.

I dont even like to go up in airplanes, she told the press.

The hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981, the day of Mr. Reagans inauguration. Word that their plane had departed Tehran came during that ceremony outside the Capitol, where Mrs. Laingen watched from a reserved seat.

A few days later, Mr. Laingen arrived at their home in Bethesda, greeted by hundreds of onlookers. As a junior high jazz band played Tie a Yellow Ribbon, he tore the now-tattered sash off the oak tree.

The Laingens put a ribbon back up during the 1980s Beirut hostage crisis, and again during the 1991 Gulf War, in which two of their sons served. Later that year they donated the original ribbon to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

I am pleased to present to your attic from my attic the mother of all ribbons, Mr. Laingen said.

They sold the house in 2013, but when they learned that the buyers were going to level the lot, they added a stipulation: The oak tree stays. It remains there, with a small ceramic yellow ribbon attached to its trunk.
New Delhi:

At least 43 soldiers were killed after the Taliban carried out two suicide car bombings at an army camp in the southern Kandahar province, the Afghan officials said.

A member of parliament from the province, Khalid Pashtun provided the toll of the attack.

An Afghan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information, confirmed the toll.

In a media statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility of the attack. Afghan forces have struggled to combat a resurgent Taliban since the US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a Taliban ambush in the northern Balkh province late Wednesday killed six police, according to Shir Jan Durani, spokesman for the provincial police chief.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | Afghanistan: 3 killed, 16 wounded in Cinema Pamir attack, says Kabul Interior ministry

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SURVIVORS have implored An Bord Pleanala to reject plans seeking to develop apartments and a creche on a former mother and baby home estate in Cork.

In November last year, MWB Two Ltd lodged a planning application with the planning board for 179-apartments in three blocks, as well as a creche, on privately owned land on the former Bessborough estate.

Oral hearing

An Bord Pleanala opted to hold an oral hearing amid concerns about potential burials on the site of the intended development. The hearing, held virtually, commenced on Wednesday and continued yesterday.

David Dodd BL, speaking on behalf of the Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance (CSSA), said history was in the making at an oral hearing.

People will talk about what the board did here and what you say in your report for years and years to come.

If the board decides to refuse the application the consequence will be that there will still be residential development there, all that will have to happen is that the blocks [apartment blocks] will have to move away from the burial ground.

If the board, on the contrary, decides the opposite [that the development could go ahead], the consequences for the burial ground are direct, irreversible and profound, he said.

Part of the developers strategic housing development site overlaps an area marked on a 1949/1950 ordnance survey trace map as childrens burial ground.

Developers say map 'misunderstood'

The developers said the belief that the area was a potential burial ground was based entirely on a fundamental misunderstanding of the map.

They said the marking of childrens burial ground on the map in fact refers to the rectangular area just north of the folly and within the circular surround of the folly. This area is associated with the burial of nuns from 1956.

At the hearing yesterday, Mr Dodd pointed to the fifth interim report by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, which diminished the argument that children and mothers were buried with nuns.

There is a small burial ground in the grounds of Bessborough, the interim report states.

Some members of the congregation are buried there and their graves are marked in the normal way.

It seems to have been assumed by former residents and advocacy groups that this is also where the children who died in Bessborough are buried, as there are occasional meetings and commemoration ceremonies held there.

At an early stage, the Commission thought it unlikely that all the children who died in Bessborough were buried in this burial ground as it was not nearly large enough for the number of children involved and, in any event, it would be unlikely that children would be buried in the same burial ground as members of the congregation.

Mr Dodd asked the senior inspector at the hearing to consider the mindset when these events were happening.

The idea that a nun would be buried together with what they termed fallen women and illegitimate children  many of them hadnt been baptised  was an absolute anathema to the Catholic Church and the viewpoint of the nuns.

At the hearing yesterday, Mr Dodd said that the CSSAs objectives were very limited.

Were not looking for any special treatment or anything particularly difficult to deliver on, he said.

He said that the CSSA are not opposed to residential development on the site but that they simply want no apartment blocks built on the childrens burial ground as identified in the trace map.

Mr Dodd also called on an expert witness who has worked with Ordnance Survey Ireland for 46 years and who has been an expert witness on boundary matters for over 30 years.

John Clarkin said he believed the childrens burial ground is located on the site of the intended development.

Mr Clarkin said the childrens burial ground identified on the 1949/1950 ordnance survey trace map is recorded in green ink and is therefore recorded by the senior and more experienced reviser.

You put the most important word nearest where the detail is and the most important word there is childrens and then the burial ground follows, he said.

For that reason, I believe that the childrens burial ground is where the final reviser put it.

A number of observers also made submissions to the hearing yesterday.

Submissions from politicians

These included Cork City councillors Dan Boyle and Lorna Bogue, who expressed their concerns about the planning application.

Sinn Fein Cork South Central TD Donnchadh O Laoghaire was also amongst those who made a submission.

He said unless An Bord Pleanala was absolutely confident that there is no danger of building over human remains, the application must be rejected.

Many thousands of mothers and children passed through Bessborough and many suffered grievously, said Mr O Laoghaire.

These wounds are still raw and the survivors must have their concerns listened to.

An Bord Pleanala must reject this entirely unsuitable proposal.

MWB Two Ltd said it was very conscious of the historical concerns and sensitivities regarding the Bessborough mother and baby home.

A statement issued on behalf of MWB Two Ltd said: The company has engaged experts in the areas of archaeological conservation and heritage in order to approach the development in the most sensitive manner possible.

The experts report concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that the proposed development site contains any undocumented burials associated with the former mother and baby home.

While the developer said the area marked for development was very unlikely to be a burial ground, it said it would be happy to conduct further site investigation in the hopes of reassuring stakeholders.

The investigation would only seek to identify the presence of modern human remains, but shall not exhume them.

The hearing continues today.
Harold F. Hal Marion Jr., whose nearly 60-year career with Times-Shamrock Communications began on the back of a newspaper delivery truck and ended in the front office, died Friday. He was 80.

A master salesman and disciple of Dale Carnegie who described every day as damn near perfect, Hal had a gift for selling people on their own potential. He mentored, coached and counseled generations of Times-Shamrock employees, including some who signed his paychecks.

Our family was so fortunate to have him, Times-Tribune Publisher Emeritus Edward J. Lynett Jr. said of the man he and brothers George V. Lynett and William R. Lynett, publishers emeritus, referred to as the Fourth Brother, without stock.

He got us through a lot of very difficult times. He had a way of working with people and dealing with people that was unique. And he was right most of the time. Of course, he always told me he was right all the time.

Edward and Hal became best friends in their early teens on the mean streets of Green Ridge.

There were two gangs  the Green Ridge Gang and the Dunmore Gang, Edward recalled. We didnt like each other. We would confront each other occasionally.

The two gangs stared each other down, but never came to blows, Edward said.

We had swings in our backyard and Hal I would sit on the swings and talk.

Edward relied on Hals counsel when he became publisher of The Scranton Times at 24 after his father Edward J. Lynetts death in 1966. The man who planned Edwards bachelor party and was a top scorer on the newsroom basketball team was the youngest member of a competitive advertising staff. Hal soon got flak from colleagues about being too close to the boss.

Hal told Edward they could be friends outside the office, but at work, he was just another employee, Edward remembered. Over the next 25 years, Hal worked his way up to general manager, becoming the Lynett-Haggerty familys most trusted adviser.

Every important decision that we made during our decades at the newspaper, Hal was an integral part of it, George V. Lynett said of Hal, who joined the company in 1958, delivering bundles of newspapers for $1 an hour. He hoped to follow his father, Harold F. Spike Marion, a Linotype operator, with a career in the composing room. Spike advised his son that advertising was his best path to success.

He was there for every big decision, and a lot of small ones, too, George Lynett said. And you could always count on him to be honest and forthright when he gave his opinion. He was somebody you could trust and he always had your best interest at heart.

Over 16 years as general manager, Hal led the company through changes that helped Times-Shamrock Newspapers prosper as others struggled to adapt. He broke in a fourth generation of publishers who valued his steady hand and history with the family.

He was my uncle without equity, said George V. Lynett Jr., former publisher of The Times-Tribune. When I was in meetings with managers or employee meetings, there were only two people I really cared to listen to  my dad and Hal, because I always felt that when they spoke, I always learned something.

Mary, his wife of 55 years, seven children, 18 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren were Hals life, but newspapering was his first love. His advocacy for newspapers made him well-known across the industry. An unwavering optimist, Hal saw obstacles as opportunities and believed local journalism will endure as long as the product is worthy of its subscribers and advertisers.

He was so generous with his time and with his knowledge, said Roseanne Cheesman, who succeeded Hal as executive director of the Independent Newspaper Group. Ive talked to him over the years every time I had a question. He was always so gracious about helping me out. He was a real prince.

Hals charitable nature benefited the communities Times-Shamrock serves. He was an original board member for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Scranton and held board positions at St. Michaels School in Falls Twp., The Scranton Times Downtown Federal Credit Union and Friendship House.

Hals greatest public contributions were to local journalism. Hals background in nearly every corner of the newspaper business made him an invaluable sounding board for industry leaders, said Tim Williams, former president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

To use a baseball term, Hal was a great utility player, Williams said of the diehard New York Yankees fan. You put him in any position and he knew how to do it. He could throw a fastball. He could play second base, outfield, catcher. But better than that, when you needed him, he could hit a home run.

He prided himself on that. I knew him in probably four or five different positions, and he hit a home run in every one of them.

Hal retired as general manager in 2007, taking the title of chief operating officer, which he held for three years. Honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association in 2010, he shepherded the launch of Times-Shamrock Creative Services before retiring for good in 2017.

Hals death was a loss to countless people he mentored in life and work, nurturing their spirits while putting them in positions to succeed and trusting them to flourish. He swore by the principles of a Dale Carnegie professional development course he completed early in his career. Hal made it a point to greet everyone with cheer and respect.

Asked how his day was going, Hal invariably replied, Damn near perfect.

Joe Nealon, circulation director for The Times-Tribune and Citizens Voice, was working at the printing plant in Scott Twp. when Hal came to say he had plans for Nealon downtown.

He had a plan for all of us, Nealon said. And he took more pride in our accomplishments than maybe even we realized we should. He would give you that little wink. Like, Youre my guy. He moved his guys into key positions where he could depend on us and it was an honor to know he had faith in you.

Hals plans for Nealon involved a move to Pottsville for a key post at the Republican Herald, a Times-Shamrock newspaper.

He said, This is an opportunity, and Id like you to take it, but not until you talk it over with your wife, Nealon remembered. He said, Take the weekend, go down and have a look around and talk it over. Im not letting you take the job unless shes OK with it.

Nealon took the job and never regretted the decision. Treating employees like family was a hallmark of Hals management style. Nealon remembered Hals cardinal advice to managers.

Treat your people right, he would say. Treat them fairly and treat them with respect. Theyre good people and we need them, Nealon said.

Ed Pikulski, director of interactive media at The Times-Tribune, knew Hal as a manager and a father-in-law. He is married to Hals daughter, Kaylee, and the father of grandson Luke and stepfather to granddaughters Brianne and Courtney. Among the many stories the family shared Friday afternoon was a memory of Hal being asked why he was always so upbeat at work.

How could I not be happy here? Hal replied with a wink. When Im here, Im the boss. When I go home, Ive got a wife and seven kids. Im not the boss, Im just Dad.
(Adds details from the complaint)

MEXICO CITY, April 22 (Reuters) - Mexico's antitrust authority on Thursday said it had filed a dispute in the Supreme Court against a government reform that aims to increase the state's role in the power sector and which was last month suspended by a judge citing competition fears.

The proposed changes, which have drawn the ire of leading business groups in Mexico and the United States, were fast-tracked through Congress, where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's ruling party and its allies hold a majority.

The Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) said some of the reforms proposed by Lopez Obrador's government prevent competition in the sector. Previously Cofece had urged the Congress to reject the reforms.

"It breaks the rule of open and non-discriminatory access to distribution and transmission networks, which reduces the ability to compete for certain generators and traders," Cofece said in a statement.

The regulator also said the reforms grant undue advantages to national power utility, the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE). It also allows CFE to acquire energy through "non-competitive methods", Cofece said.

Cofece's complaint in the Supreme Court is the latest in a series of disputes between the watchdog and the president over his drive to give the state more control over the energy market.

In February, Mexico's Supreme Court upheld a complaint by Cofece that a number of measures taken by Lopez Obrador to help CFE were unconstitutional.

In March a judge ordered a temporary freeze to the legislation passed by Congress, and Lopez Obrador has called on the Supreme Court to settle the matter.

Since taking office on Dec. 2018, Lopez Obrador has prioritized the health of Mexicos state-owned energy behemoths, oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and CFE.

(Reporting by Adriana Barera; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
To international audiences, it might have seemed like Bob Marley arrived fully formed as a master songwriter on Catch a Fire (1973), The Wailers Island debut. However, Marley had been writing music for a decade by then. And he had Simmer Down, Bend Down Low, and many other classic 60s tracks to show for it.

But on Trench Town Rock, the Wailers breakthrough 71 hit, Marley took his work to another level. One good thing about music / When it hits, you feel no pain, he wrote. You can think of that track as the Wailers Rubber Soul, after which the songs got deeper and more complex every time out.

Marley kept going on Burnin (1973), his groups second Island LP. Alongside the masterpiece I Shot the Sheriff and Get up, Stand up (co-written with Peter Tosh), Marley trotted out Burnin and Lootin, a song that continues to resonate with protesters across the world. According to those close to Marley, he had several things in mind while writing its enigmatic lyrics.

Bob Marley began Burnin and Lootin after a raid on his mentors house

Bob Marley gives an interview in 1973. | Michael Putland/Getty Images

RELATED: Bob Marley in Delaware: The Reggae Legends Stint on the Night Shift

Burnin and Lootin' starts off clearly enough. This morning, I woke up in a curfew. Oh God, I was a prisoner, too. The men standing over him were dressed in uniforms of brutality. The narrator holds no power in the system the officers protect. How many rivers do we have to cross / Before we can talk to the boss?

According to Marleys girlfriend Esther Anderson, the idea for the song began with a raid on the home of Joe Higgs, the Godfather of Reggae who mentored Marley and his bandmates. I told Bob about [the raid] and said, We have to write about it,' Anderson said in Roger Steffens So Much Things to Say (2017).

Anderson thought Marley needed to get such injustices on the record. These are the kinds of things that are happening, and you have to document it, Anderson told Steffens. Weepin and Wailin, the songs original title, hints at the tracks evolution.

Bunny Wailer shed light on the lines about talking to the boss. Wailer told Steffens that Marley wrote that part after meeting Island founder Chris Blackwell for the first time. Blackwell said hed sent royalty money to Jamaica for those records, but The Wailers never received it. All that we got / It seems we have lost.

Marley said it was about burning illusions rather than physical things

LONDON, 1973: Bob Marley and The Wailers pose for a portrait. | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Like all great songwriters, Marley would drop lines into songs that can be interpreted many different ways. Anderson told Steffens that lines about growing food (and the roots man taking a blow) revolved around people in Marleys circle whod begun to use cocaine.

Then theres the very direct chorus. Thats why we gonna be burnin and lootin tonight. Hearing that, you cant help thinking Marley was issuing a warning. But Marley (via Steffens) said the key was the phrase burning all illusions. Marley stressed he wasnt focused on physical objects and places (e.g., police stations or stores).

In the influential biography Bob Marley (1985), Stephen Davis really missed the mark with his reading of burning all pollution. The line shows the cleansing side of street violence, Davis wrote. With Marleys guidance in mind, burning pollution would more likely signify dismissing state and media propaganda.

In the end, Marley didnt want to limit his lyrics to a single interpretation. Anderson explained how the words took on a different meaning from its Weepin and Wailin' start. When we came to London to record it, Bob changed it to Burnin and Lootin, she told Steffens. Because he said, Thats whats going on down there.'
Dhaka, April 23 : Two persons, including a security guard, were killed and at least 17 including three firefighters were injured in a fire at a six storied building in Dhaka, that was housing a chemical warehouse located in density populated Armanitola area. The incident took place at around 3 a.m. on Friday when the devotees were having food for fasting on Muslim holy month Ramadan.

The fire broke out at the chemical storage on the first floor of the Haji Musa Mansion, Brig Gen Md Sazzad Hussain, Director General of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence told IANS.

Seventeen units of fire service and civil defence managed to control the inferno after a hard struggle of three hours.

The six-storey building at Armanitola, next to the Babubazar Bridge in old Dhaka, has a chemical storage and a few shops on the ground floor, while tenants were living in upper floors.

Earlier, on June 3, 2010, 124 people died in a fire at an illegally operated chemical warehouse in Nimtali, Old Dhaka. Besides, on the night of February 20, 2019, at least six people died in a terrible fire from a series of chemical factories in the resident area of Churihatta of Chawkbazar. Then after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directly asked to shift the chemical industries from the residential are of old Dhaka, which is denied, and created this calamity.

The dead body of the security guard was recovered from the building and a woman, who was severely burned, died on the way to hospital confirmed the fire service official. Other residents of the building rescued with crane cutting the Iron made porch- grill of the building, he said.
Chennai, April 23 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday that the orders of individual states restricting sales of Remdesivir within the state where it is manufactured should be barred.

Palaniswami also requested Modi for an assured supply of at least 10 days' Covid-19 vaccine stock of about 20 lakh doses in advance to ensure that the vaccination drive in the individual sites is not affected and the persons coming for the second jab get them on the due date.

In a letter to Modi, the text of which was released to the media, Palaniswami said: "It has come to notice that directions are being issued by national and certain state regulators, prioritising supplies by individual manufacturers to certain states and restricting Remdesivir sales only within the state where it is being produced." According to Palaniswami, such orders would be very damaging to the availability of a valuable life saving drug in places of need.

"At this stage, any restrictive orders by individual states should be strictly barred to ensure easy accessibility of Remdesivir. I urge the Government of India to take up this issue with such states where the companies have their production facilities," Palaniswami said.

The Chief Minister also urged Modi to fast-track the pending works at the centrally executed integrated vaccine complex located at Chengalpattu in the state and bring it to a working condition at the earliest, so as to augment the production of Covid-19 vaccines.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The company behind the proposed five turbine Umeras Wind Farm has appealed Kildare County Council's decision to refuse planning permission.

The cased is due to be decided by An Bord Pleanala by August 17.

The controversial wind farm, if approved, would be located between Monasterevin and Rathangan.

Last month the council refused the application due to air corp flight path, ecological and road network concerns.

Over 170 submissions were made by local residents, politicians, Kildare Failte, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council and the Irish Aviation Authority.

Ummeras Wind Farm Ltd (Statkraft) wants to build the 169m high turbines in the townlands of Ummeras Beg, Coolatogher, Mullaghroe Lower, Ummeras More and Coolsickin/Quinsborough.

Residents raised concerns about the possible impact the facility would have on the Ballykelly distillery project, the 5m investment in the Blueway Grand Canal cycle and walkways, and the development of Umeras Peatland Park.

The Monasterevin and Rathangan Wind Awareness group said; you couldnt pick a worse location for turbines in Ireland if you tried  in the middle of a new tourism hub with over 60 million being invested by the county councils of Kildare, Laois and Offaly on Blueways and Bono on Ballykelly Mills Distilleries and the Just Transition Fund and Kildare Leader on Umeras Peatlands Park.

The group is also party to the appeal and can make submissions to the planning board. It had stressed it would fight the case if an appeal was lodged.

The appeal was submitted by Statkraft on April 14.

When the Leader contacted the company after the refusal a spokesperson said:The company has noted the decision of Kildare County Council is awaiting the relevant reports. It will review same in detail and duly consider its next steps.
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Amazon is set to bring automated cashless checkouts to full-size supermarkets in the US, with surveillance cameras, shelf sensors and 'smart carts' to replace traditional cashiers.

The e-commerce giant opened its first full-size supermarket, named Amazon Fresh, in Los Angeles last year, and reportedly has plans to open dozens more in multiple different states.

Bloomberg has obtained new planning documents that purportedly show an Amazon Fresh store currently under construction in Brookfield, Connecticut that does not appear to feature traditional cash registers.

STEP BY STEP: HOW AMAZON'S REGISTER-FREE SUPERMARKETS WORK 1: Shoppers scan their smartphone at a front gate, which connects to an Amazon App 2: Shoppers are then tracked by 'by cameras, software algorithms and shelf sensors' 3: They can also use a 'smart cart', equipped with bar code readers, sensors and scales, which identifies what they place inside 4: Shoppers can then walk straight out of the store, with the credit card connected to their Amazon App automatically billing the purchases Advertisement

The company already has multiple convenience stores, named Amazon Go, dotted across the country. Those stores are also without checkouts, but skeptics have wondered whether Amazon would be able to apply its automated technology to full-size grocery stores where consumers are picking up more than one or two items.

The seeming success of Amazon Fresh in LA, and the construction of the new Amazon Fresh in Connecticut appears proof that the company is confident with its innovations.

The new Connecticut supermarket is about 34,000 square feet in size, and will likely be able to accommodate hundreds of shoppers at any one time.

In a recent promotional video, Amazon has explained how it is able to track shoppers and the groceries they buy without exiting through a cash register.

First, to enter an Amazon Fresh, a customer must scan their smartphone at a front gate, with the Amazon App connected to their credit card.

Shoppers will be tracked 'by cameras, software algorithms and shelf sensors', Bloomberg reports.

They are able to grab shopping bags at the front of the store to pack the items as they go, meaning there will be no bagging process at the end of the trip.

Shoppers will also be able to grab a 'smart cart' - a traditional looking shopping cart that is equipped with bar code readers, sensors and scales.

Bloomberg reports that new planning documents show an Amazon Fresh store currently under construction in Brookfield, Connecticut. It does not appear to feature traditional cash registers

The technology systems will discern what shoppers place in the cart and bill the credit card on file once they leave the supermarket through a designated lane.

'Customers simply place their bags in the cart, sign in using their Fresh QR code in the Amazon app, shop, and exit through the Dash Cart lane to automatically complete their payment,' Amazon summarized in a recent blog post.

The company has not disclosed whether they use facial recognition technology to track customers.

Some shoppers may worry that is a violation of their privacy.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that planning documents do not show whether the new Amazon Fresh in Connecticut will have the 'smart carts', although it appears very likely that they will given the entire automated supermarket process hinges on them.

However, the publication identified one problem with the carts that is said to concern consumers.

Shoppers are unable to take the carts outside of the store and push them to their cars, meaning they have to lug their groceries to the car from the supermarket.

Still, Amazon is reported to be at least two years ahead of other supermarkets in applying automated cashless checkouts to their stores.

First, to enter an Amazon Fresh, a customer must scan their smartphone at a front gate, which is connected to an Amazon App which stores their credit card details. Shoppers will be tracked 'by cameras, software algorithms and shelf sensors'. They'll also be able to grab a 'smart cart' - a traditional looking shopping cart that is equipped with bar code readers, sensors and scales

If consumers take to Amazon's register-free supermarkets, there are fears that the role of traditional cashiers could soon be made obsolete in the coming years.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 3.7 million Americans were employed as cashiers in the year 2019.

Job losses for cashiers could also occur worldwide as technology improves and automation becomes more commplace.

Amazon also appears to have plans to take their register-free supermarkets global, with an Amazon Fresh opening in London last month.

Amazon rolls out Pay-By-Palm at some Whole Foods stores

Amazon.com Inc said it is rolling out biometric technology at its Whole Foods stores around Seattle starting on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Amazon is unveiling more state-of-the-art technology in its Whole Food supermarkets.

The company announced Wednesday it will let customers pay for their groceries at Whole Foods locations in Seattle with a swipe of their palms.

The online shopping giant, which acquired Whole Foods in 2017, is rolling out pay-by-palm technology at some grocery stores near Amazon's headquarters to make paying quicker and more convenient.

The technology, called Amazon One, lets shoppers scan the palm of their hand and connect it to a credit card or Amazon account.

After the initial set up, which Amazon claims takes less than a minute, shoppers can scan their hand at the register to pay for groceries without having to open their wallets.

Amazon first launched the technology late last year and at the time said the technology could be used at stadiums, office buildings and other retailers.
Nearly 240,000 Manitobans have been partially immunized against COVID-19, but there's uncertainty about the timing of their booster shots as the provincial government races to vaccinate 70 per cent of adults with one shot over the next six weeks.

Nearly 240,000 Manitobans have been partially immunized against COVID-19, but there's uncertainty about the timing of their booster shots as the provincial government races to vaccinate 70 per cent of adults with one shot over the next six weeks.

Officials with the COVID-19 vaccine task force have told Manitobans to expect a four-month wait between doses, regardless of the brand of vaccine. The administration of second doses was paused in early March following the guidance of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

However, officials in charge of the vaccine rollout have suggested the time period between doses could be less than four months as vaccine deliveries begin to ramp up across Canada.

Johanu Botha, co-lead of the vaccine task force. (Kevin King / Pool)

"The supply-chain pressures that were feeling at the moment is a short- to medium-term pressure," said Johanu Botha, logistics lead for the task force. "All the signals from the federal government have been very clear that every one of these vaccines will see a stable and robust supply chain going forward.

"So if individuals are considering to receive a vaccine, or if theyve had a vaccine, there will be enough supply over time for everyone to get their second dose," Botha said Wednesday. "That is not a concern. The concern right now is simply about getting doses in arms quickly for those who havent gotten a vaccine yet."

The Manitoba government has yet to explain how it will roll out the second dose to people who have received one shot, but officials have said second doses could be offered once demand for first doses wanes or when supply is no longer an issue.

Questions sent to the provincial government about provincial planning related to second doses were not answered Thursday.

"The concern right now is simply about getting doses in arms quickly for those who havent gotten a vaccine yet.  Johanu Botha

"We are focused on protecting as many people as possible with their first dose," a provincial government spokesman said. "We will share more information with people about when and how to get their second dose in the weeks ahead."

However, second doses continue to be administered in congregate-living settings, the province confirmed. People living in First Nations communities who have received a Moderna vaccine are also being offered the second dose at the 28-day mark.

In the past week, an average of 207 second doses have been administered to people each day.

Some physicians and pharmacists, which administer AstraZeneca shots, are booking second-dose appointments, often 12 to 16 weeks into the future.

Ashley Ewasiuk, a pharmacist at Northway Pharmacy River Heights and vice-president of Pharmacists Manitoba, said the province has recommended pharmacists hold off on booking second-dose appointments.

"People are curious when the second dose will be administered and what the process will be," Ewasiuk said. "At this point, we will be contacting them to schedule the second dose and they can expect that around the 16-week mark or potentially earlier."

Ewasiuk said that once there is greater supply, she expects the province will give pharmacists the green light to begin administering second doses. For AstraZeneca, Health Canada says a second dose can be given as soon as four weeks after the first, but the vaccine has been shown to be more effective with a 12-week dosing interval.

"The question becomes if we have ample vaccine supply that allows us to start to administer sooner than that 16-week mark," Ewasiuk said. "That would have to come from (the province), but the government has assured us that the vaccine availability will align with timing for second doses."

People are curious when the second dose will be administered and what the process will be. At this point, we will be contacting them to schedule the second dose and they can expect that around the 16-week mark or potentially earlier.  Ashley Ewasiuk, vice-president of Pharmacists Manitoba

Manitoba COVID-19 vaccine task force medical lead Dr. Joss Reimer reassured people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine that they will receive their second shot despite supply-chain disruptions.

The federal government has not provided a delivery schedule for the AstraZeneca shot for May, but anticipates about one million doses of the product to come from India by the end of June, with more doses coming from the manufacturer and COVAX that month.

CP A vial of the AstraZeneca vaccine.(Robert Michael / The Associated Press files)

"We have just started to administer AstraZeneca and we dont have anybody whos close to the 12-week mark at this point. So, weve got time to see what happens with these supply chains and to hopefully, confirm what we are already being told by the federal government that we will have a lot of dose available when it comes to dose two," Reimer said on Wednesday.

In the chance AstraZeneca supply is not available when people are due for their second shot, she said they may be offered a Moderna, Pfizer, or the Johnson & Johnson dose, or to further delay the second dose.

"None of those decisions has been made at this point because there are just so many unknowns about what will be available and when," Reimer said.

For people who have received the Pfizer vaccine, hundreds of thousands of doses are set to arrive in the province before Canada Day.

Over the next 10 weeks, 771,030 more Pfizer doses will be delivered to Manitoba. Next week, 22,100 Moderna doses will arrive.

It's expected that at least 1,317,80 doses will have been delivered to Manitoba by the week of June 28. As of Thursday, 524,250 of those doses had been delivered, 321,750 of which are Pfizer.

Meanwhile, the provincial government estimates there are 1,068,553 Manitobans who are at least 18 years old and projects that with 70 per cent vaccine uptake, about 748,000 people will want to be vaccinated.

As of Thursday, 70,801 Manitobans were fully immunized with two shots, and 237,312 Manitobans have had only one dose.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Ballard Traffic Stop Nets Two Drug Arrests

By West Kentucky Star Staff

WICKLIFFE - A traffic stop in Ballard County Wednesday led to the arrest of a Sikeston pair on drug and other charges.Wednesday night, Kentucky State Police troopers stopped a vehicle on Green Street for alleged traffic violations.Authorities said the driver, 29-year-old Sharon E. Griffin, showed signs of intoxication, and a K9 with the Ballard County Sheriff's Office reportedly alerted to narcotics in the vehicle.A vehicle search allegedly uncovered 228 grams of meth and a large amount of cash believed to be the proceeds from illegal drug sales.Both Griffin and her passenger, 30-year-old Christian L. Conley, were arrested and lodged in the Ballard County Jail.Griffin is charged with trafficking in a controlled substance (meth), DUI, operating a vehicle on a suspended license, reckless driving, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Conley is charged with trafficking in a controlled substance (meth) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts are in orbit following their early morning launch bound for the International Space Station for the second commercial crew rotation mission aboard the microgravity laboratory. The international crew of astronauts lifted off at 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, into orbit to begin a six-month science mission on the space station.

During Crew Dragon's flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May," said NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk. "This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA and JAXA, and for the future of scientific research on board the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program."

The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, will dock autonomously to the forward port of the station's Harmony module about 5:10 a.m. Saturday, April 24. NASA Television, the NASA App, and the agency's website are providing ongoing live coverage through docking, hatch opening, and the ceremony to welcome the crew aboard the orbital outpost.

The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. This mission has several firsts, including:

First commercial crew mission to fly two international partners;

First commercial crew handover between astronauts on the space station as Crew-1 and Crew-2 astronauts will spend about five days together on station before Crew-1 returns to Earth;

First reuse of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket on a crew mission Crew Dragon Endeavour flew the historic Demo-2 mission and the Falcon 9 flew astronauts on the Crew-1 mission; and,

First time two commercial crew spacecraft will be docked to station at the same time.

"When I see a launch I immediately think of what it took to reach this milestone and the dedication of all the people who made it happen," said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "There's obviously a long way to go, but now we can celebrate the Crew-2 launch and look forward to seeing them join their other Expedition 65 colleagues as we prepare to bring Crew-1 home next week."

Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet will join the Expedition 65 crew of Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, as well as Soichi Noguchi of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. For a short time, the number of crew on the space station will increase to 11 people until Crew-1 astronauts Walker, Hopkins, Glover, and Noguchi return a few days later.

The is the second commercial crew mission to fly a JAXA astronaut. When Hoshide joins astronaut Noguchi during the commercial crew handover period, it will mark the first time two JAXA astronauts are on station at the same time.

"I am extremely honored to witness the successful launch today. It is my utmost pleasure and also for Japan that Japanese astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Aki Hoshide boarded the operational spacecraft of Crew Dragon twice in a row," said Hiroshi Sasaki, Vice President for Human Spaceflight and Space Exploration. "I believe this is brought by the many years of close cooperation cultivated amongst the international partners, especially between U.S. and Japan through the ISS program. I hope Aki will play an integral role as the second Japanese ISS commander along with his colleague astronauts, creating fruitful outcomes and expanding the human frontier to the Lunar Gateway, the surface of the Moon and even beyond."

Crew-2 also is the first commercial crew mission to fly an ESA astronaut. Pesquet is the first of three ESA crew members assigned to fly to station on commercial crew spacecraft, kicking off a continuous stay of ESA astronauts on the space station for about a year and a half  in total  for the first time in more than 20 years.

"This is a thrilling time for human spaceflight and this new success of the Commercial Crew Program embodies it  congratulations once again to NASA and SpaceX," said David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA. "Starting with astronaut Thomas Pesquet, ESA is delighted to join this new space station chapter, paving the way to the future of exploration side by side with diverse partners. Six months of excellent science and state-of-the-art technology demonstrations now await him, and we know he cannot wait to start working."

Crew-2 Astronauts

Shane Kimbrough is commander of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Crew-2 mission. Kimbrough is responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. He also will serve as an Expedition 65 flight engineer aboard the station. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004, Kimbrough first launched aboard space shuttle Endeavour for a visit to the station on the STS-126 mission in 2008, and then aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for his first long-duration mission for Expedition 49/50 in 2016. He has spent a total of 189 days in space and performed six spacewalks. Kimbrough also is a retired U.S. Army colonel and earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a master's degree in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Megan McArthur is the pilot of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and second-in-command for the mission. McArthur is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. She also will be a long-duration space station crew member, making her first trip to the space station. Selected as an astronaut in 2000, McArthur launched on space shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, in 2009. McArthur operated the shuttle's robotic arm over the course of the 12 days, 21 hours she spent in space, capturing the telescope and moving crew members during the five spacewalks needed to repair and upgrade it. She holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and a doctorate in oceanography from the University of California, San Diego.

Akihiko Hoshide is a mission specialist for Crew-2. As a mission specialist, he will work closely with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Once aboard the station, Hoshide will become a flight engineer for Expedition 65. Hoshide joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, currently JAXA) in 1992 and was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999. Hoshide is a veteran of two spaceflights. In June 2008, he flew to the International Space Station on the STS-124 mission to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" to the station. From July to November 2012, he stayed on the space station for 124 days as a flight engineer for the Expedition 32/33 mission. The Crew Dragon will be the third spacecraft that Noguchi has flown to the orbiting laboratory.

Thomas Pesquet also will be a mission specialist for Crew-2, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Pesquet also will become a long-duration crew member aboard the space station. He was selected as an astronaut candidate by ESA in May 2009 and worked as a Eurocom, communicating with astronauts during spaceflights from the mission control center. He previously flew as part of Expeditions 50 and 51, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in October 2016 and spending 196 days in space, returning to Earth in June 2017. His mission also included two spacewalks to maintain the station: one to replace batteries on an electrical channel, and one to detect a cooling leak and service the robotic arm.

Mission Objectives

The Crew-2 members will conduct science and maintenance during a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return no earlier than Oct. 31. The Crew Dragon spacecraft can stay in orbit for at least 210 days, which is a NASA requirement.

Adding more crew members aboard the microgravity laboratory increases the time available for scientific activities. The November 2020 arrival of the Crew-1 astronauts more than doubled crew hours spent on scientific research and support activities, and Crew-2 will continue the important investigations and technology demonstrations that are preparing for future Artemis missions to the Moon, helping us improve our understanding of Earth's climate, and improving life on our home planet. An important scientific focus on this expedition is continuing a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies. Tissue chips are small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body. Another important element of Crew-2's mission is augmenting the station's solar power system by installing the first pair of six new ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays.

Crew Dragon also is delivering almost 250 pounds of cargo, new science hardware, and experiments, including a university student-led investigation to study possible causes for suppressed immune response in microgravity.

During their stay on the orbiting laboratory, Crew-2 astronauts expect to see a range of U.S. commercial spacecraft, including the Northrop Grumman Cygnus; SpaceX cargo Dragon; Boeing CST-100 Starliner, on its uncrewed flight to station; and NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon; which is targeted for launch no earlier than Oct. 23. During Crew-2, astronauts also will conduct a variety of spacewalks outside the space station, including the solar array installation.

At the conclusion of the mission, the Crew-2 astronauts will board Crew Dragon, which will then autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Crew Dragon also will return to Earth important and time-sensitive research. NASA and SpaceX are capable of supporting seven splashdown sites located off Florida's east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon splashdown, the SpaceX recovery ship will pick up the crew and return to shore.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is delivering on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through 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 more than 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 243 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.

Learn more about NASA's Commercial Crew program at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

https://www.nasa.gov/


The talented Manoj Bajpayee turns a year older today. The actor has been in the news recently for his starring role in many new series on OTT platforms that have performed extremely well. Fortunately, right after I came out of the Covid-19 infection and quarantine, I had to leave for Uttarakhand to shoot for a film, which is being directed by Ram Reddy. So yes, when I am talking to you, I am here, in Uttarakhand, shooting all nights, the actor told a leading daily.

Its very cold out here but it is away from all the chaos which is happening down there. We cannot even spot anyone here while we shoot. We are living in small cottages and just focusing on the work here, which is far better than living within four walls in big cities, he added, clearly enjoying his time amidst nature. However, the actor also opened up about the second wave of COVID-19 that has gripped the nation. I am concerned and sad and also somewhere disappointed that people are having a hard time and going through it all over again. You feel helpless but all the news coming from down there is not encouraging. I just hope and pray that everybody stays safe, people dont have to suffer as much as they already have, he says.
The Shaanxi tour will take foreign media correspondents in China, foreign internet celebrities in China and Chinese journalists to experience in depth the province's achievements in poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and opening-up.

At the launch ceremony of the tour, Zhang Yong, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China's news and communications bureau, said that China's complete victory in eradicating absolute poverty is a magnificent undertaking and the targeted poverty alleviation campaign plays a key role.

"Families and individuals in many poverty-stricken regions in China like Zhashui county have shed off poverty and led well-off lives. This transformation of their destinies is a miracle from China's fight against poverty," he added.

The international media tour is aimed at facilitating global understanding of China's development, he said.

Wu Wengang, vice-mayor of Shangluo city, viewed the tour as a good chance for building the city's global reputation, as the city is striving to make structural adjustments and promote reform and innovation for economic growth.

"The city will not cease the pace of opening-up and will continue to contribute to the nation's high-quality development and construction of a fully modernized socialist country," Wu said.

Representatives from Chinese and foreign media also expressed their expectations for firsthand observations during the tour.

Li Jun, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily website, said the tour will be a great opportunity to experience China's great changes after eliminating poverty. "There are many real and vivid stories on this land for us to discover," she added.

Joao Pimenta, a Portuguese journalist of Lusa News Agency, expressed his interest in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi province. He said the city played an essential role in the operation of China-Europe freight trains. "These trains have been especially important to keep trade going during the COVID-19 pandemic," he commented.

Rao Jianjun, editor-in-chief of cnwest.com, said the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi not only are an important symbol of Chinese culture, but also abound with natural resources. The tour will offer a glimpse of how local people benefit from environmental protection, industrialization of agricultural products, and the Belt and Road projects, he added.

"A Date with China" is a three-leg media tour to be held from April to September. The first leg features Shaanxi, Hubei and Guizhou provinces as well as Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The tour is directed by the Cyberspace Administration of China's news and communications bureau and co-organized by China Daily website and 11 provincial-level cyberspace administrations.

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn
The perjury charge that led to Wednesdays arrest of Broward Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie is extremely rare and difficult to prosecute, legal experts said Thursday.

And in the wake of the charge, handed down by a statewide grand jury in an indictment that did not detail specifics, Black leaders in South Florida have pointed to political maneuvering by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who authorized the grand jury in February 2019, a month after he took office.

We are in support of Superintendent Runcie, and ask that due process is exercised, said Eric Knowles, founding member of the South Florida Black Prosperity Alliance, a non-profit aimed at supporting Black businesses and political leaders. We stand by to monitor the allegations and we do not support or believe that they are in the best interest of our community.

DeSantis office did not return an emailed request for comment on Thursday.

The investigation involves the district soliciting and receiving state funds for school safety measures mandated after the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which led to the deaths of 17 students and faculty members and the wounding of 17 others.

Runcie is accused of making at least one statement to the grand jury between March 31 and April 1 that he knew not to be true, according to the April 15 indictment, which charged him with perjury in an official proceeding, a third-degree felony. The school districts top attorney, Barbara Myrick, 72, was also indicted, but for unlawful disclosure of statewide grand-jury proceedings.

Both were arrested on Wednesday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Both were released on their own recognizance later that morning. Theyre both scheduled to be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. May 12 in front of Broward Circuit Judge Martin S. Fein.

Perjury charge is quite rare

Attorney Craig Trocino, director of the Innocence Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, said he cannot remember the last time hes read about a perjury charge being brought during a grand jury proceeding.

Story continues

Grand jury perjury indictments are quite rare, and, its surprising for me to see it in this context, Trocino said Thursday.

This is because the prosecution has to prove that both the statement was not true and its germane to the proceeding, Trocino said.

This is rare, and its strange that it came up this way, and the indictment is so threadbare, he said.

Trocino said he was only aware of two perjury cases in South Florida, both in Miami-Dade in 2013, and both were dismissed.

The indictment does not say what statement Runcie said during testimony that prosecutors deem not to be true. And, Runcies attorneys, Michael Dutko and Jeremy Kroll, said prosecutors still havent told them.

There has been no information provided as to what was purportedly false, Kroll said Thursday.

Grand jury perjury charges are rarer still because most grand juries are impaneled for capital cases like murder. Most other criminal charges are brought by a countys State Attorneys Office.

The grand jury was tasked with investigating whether the Broward School District violated the state school safety laws passed after the Parkland shooting or whether it misused funds from bond money meant for school safety initiatives.

In the context of it being a government official, that explains why it was an indictment by a grand jury and not an individual prosecutor, said Ken Padowitz, a criminal defense attorney who worked as a prosecutor for the Broward County State Attorneys Office for 16 years.

The grand jury was scheduled to finish its work after a year. But, because it could not meet in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was extended. The grand jury wrapped up on April 17, said Kylie Mason, spokeswoman for Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Runcie was indicted on April 15.

Padowitz, like Trocino, said the perjury case against Runcie will likely be difficult for prosecutors to make because they have to prove not only he lied, but that the alleged lie is material to what grand jurors were investigating.

I was a prosecutor for 16 years, and there were many times I thought someone committed perjury, but what I believe and what I can prove with evidence are two different things, Padowitz said.

Another reason perjury in grand jury cases is so infrequent is because witnesses are told repeatedly by prosecutors that they face incarceration if they lie under oath, said David Weinstein, an attorney who served 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Youre hardly ever going to see it, he said.

Defendant has right to know specifics behind charge

While indictments normally dont go into specifics about the alleged crime committed, and the grand jury proceedings are conducted in secret, Weinstein said Runcies attorneys at least should know more by now.

Youre obligated to tell a defendant what it is the lie he or she made, he said.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for DeSantis did not say whether he would remove Runcie from office in the wake of the indictment. At this point, this is a matter for law enforcement and the courts, Cody McCloud, DeSantis press secretary, said in a statement.

In January 2019, shortly after taking office, DeSantis told reporters that while he had heard the calls from Parkland families to oust Runcie, he could not do so by law, since the superintendent was hired by the School Board, and was not an elected official. He said there may be other options for accountability.

Parkland parents blame Runcie for school shooting

At least some members of the School Board blame Runcie for the conditions that led up to Nikolas Cruz, a former Parkland student, opening fire on his former classmates. Specifically, Runcie was instrumental in implementing an initiative that placed students who commit certain misdemeanors in an alternative school rather than getting the police involved.

School officials transferred Cruz from Stoneman Douglas in 2017 to an alternative school over disciplinary issues related to fighting, profanity and a Jan. 19, 2017, assault.

Tony Montalto, president of Stand with Parkland and whose 14-year-old daughter Gina was killed in the shooting, praised DeSantis actions in a statement issued by the group:

We are happy that governor DeSantis created the grand jury to investigate the failings of school districts in the state of Florida. The grand jury is doing its job by holding the people who are responsible for the safety of our children and staff members accountable. We know that Mr Runcies poor leadership contributed to the Parkland tragedy.

In 2019, School Board member Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was killed in Parkland, led an unsuccessful effort to have Runcie removed. The motion was rejected in a 6-3 vote.

Alhadeff said in a statement Wednesday that she is waiting for input from the districts human resources department before giving her opinion on whether Runcie should be removed as a result of the indictment.

As more specific details come to light, I will act accordingly, in the best interest of the students and staff at BCPS, she said.

The school district released a statement Thursday saying the school board is scheduled to discuss Runcies arrest and indictment at its Tuesday meeting. Broward County Public Schools is the nations sixth-largest school district, with approximately 261,000 students.

Supporters point to Runcies educational gains

Broward County Commissioner and former Broward mayor Dale V.C. Holness strongly supported Runcie in a statement he issued Thursday night, citing the educational gains made under Runcie, who was hired by the district in 2011. The School Board extended his contract in 2013 and again in October 2017, when it unanimously approved a second extension until June 30, 2023. He earns $356,000 a year.

Through Superintendent Runcies leadership, the graduation rate for all of our students has drastically increased to the highest rate since the Federal Uniform Graduation Rate was adopted in 2011, to 89.4% in 2020. Remarkably, this increase was observed across all ethnicities in our community as the Black, Hispanic and White graduation rates increased to 86.5%, 90% and 92.4%, respectively.

... At the start of the decade, the district had over 50 D and F rated schools, many of which were disproportionately located in less affluent and minority communities. Today, thanks to the leadership of Superintendent Runcie, there are 69 A schools, 54 B schools and zero traditional schools that received an F report.

Runcies attorneys have said politics are at play and their client has fully cooperated with the statewide grand jury process since the beginning.

The indictment of Runcie and Myrick is not the first time the grand jury took legal action against a Broward Schools employee. In January, it indicted Anthony Hunter, 60, the districts former chief information officer, on charges that he steered a lucrative classroom technology contract to a friends business without seeking other bids.

The case against Hunter, who pleaded not guilty, is pending.

Trocino, the UM professor, theorizes the indictment is the last action prosecutors plan to take against Runcie. But, he said the superintendent and his legal team deserve to know more about the allegations.

The Fifth Amendment has this little thing in it that youre supposed to know what youre charged with, he said.

Miami Herald staff writer Samantha Gross and Miami Herald researcher Monika Leal contributed to this report.
A woman who was jailed after decapitating her mother and stabbing her head and face 100 times is finding it hard to cope with prison life and attacked an inmate because she thought she was being bullied, a court has heard.

Jessica Camilleri is being held at the Silverwater Correctional Centre, in western Sydney, after killing her mother Rita on July 19, 2019.

Camilleri used seven kitchen knives in the attack, four of which broke due to force, before taking her mother's head outside their St Clair home and placing it on a footpath.

She was found guilty of manslaughter and ordered to serve 21 years in jail where she is being monitored closely by prison officials.

Camilleri has since fronted court again after she was charged with assaulting an inmate, claiming she has been the victim of constant bullying, Daily Telegraph reported.

Jessica Camilleri (pictured) is being held at the Silverwater Correctional Centre, in western Sydney, after killing her mother Rita on July 19, 2019

Camilleri used seven kitchen knives in the attack (pictured, Camilleri's mother Rita), four of which broke due to force, before taking her mother's head outside their St Clair home and placing it on a footpath

She appeared via video link at Burwood Local Court on Thursday where she claimed she was being told to 'watch her back' by inmates who were making life a 'living hell'.

'They single me out in prison because of the nature of my crime,' she said.

'No matter what I do, no matter where I go other prisoners will make my life a living hell.'

Court documents state Camilleri, who says she suffers from bulimia, told police she believed the inmate was making fun of her eating disorder.

Camilleri approached the inmate in the recreation room and told her she was still hungry, according to the documents.

'Who should I ask for more food?' Camilleri said.

'I don't know who to ask, haven't you had enough food already?' the inmate said.

Camilleri believed the inmate was conspiring with others to attack her and walked behind her, pulled her by the hair and then 'vaulted' her, the documents state.

She told the court life in prison was 'hard' and that correctional officers 'can't protect you.'

'Sometimes, and I hate to say it in this courtroom, but other prisoners have been murdered by other prisoners in jail, thats how it is in jail,' she said.

Camilleri has since fronted court again after she was charged with assaulting an inmate at Silverwater Correctional Centre

She was found guilty of manslaughter and ordered to serve 21-years in jail where she is being monitored closely by prison officials (pictured, a crime scene was established following the incident in 2019)

Magistrate Sharon Freund convicted Camilleri of common assault.

During Camilleri's trial, following the attack on her mum, the court heard the defendant had an obsession with horror films, owning eight copies of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and five of Jeepers Creepers, which she watched 'over and over again'.

Two forensic psychiatrists had told the trial the frenzied knife attack was prompted by an intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder that features a fixation on horror films, though only one attributed the loss of control to the mixture of those conditions.

The other expert said an intermittent explosive disorder had a significant role to play.
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South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Connecticut US Senator Richard Blumenthal were given massive coverage in the media this week to push their new tyrannical gun control law. The Ammunition Background Check Act of 2021, would require all citizens who wish to purchase ammo for their already-legal firearms to undergo background checks first.

The law is also called Jamies Law, named in honor of Jaime Guttenberg, one of 17 victims in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

On Thursday, the congresswoman from Florida took to shamelessly exploiting the Parkland tragedy to push even more senseless gun control measures.

No person should endure the agonizing pain of losing someone they love to gun violence. Families in towns and cities across the country who have been touched by this agonizing epidemic are joining Fred Guttenberg and other gun safety advocates to demand Congress address this public health crisis, said Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz. Jaimes Law is a crucial piece of the multifaceted approach needed to end the gun violence epidemic. Closing the ammunition loophole and requiring background checks for ammunition purchases can save lives.

Jamies father all released a statement to push the bill.

My daughter Jaime was murdered over 3 years ago. Since then, our failure to address the reality of gun violence has only become more challenging as we see more instances of gun violence. The gun surge unleashed during the pandemic has resulted in over 400,000,000 weapons on our streets, said Fred Guttenberg, founder of Orange Ribbons For Jaime. Unfortunately, as we are seeing every day now, many in the hands of someone who intends harm and wants to kill. The way to deal with this reality is to pass Jaimes law and extend background checks to ammunition. The reality of gun violence in America will not fix itself. We need this life saving legislation or we will continue to face our current daily reality of gun violence and loss of life. We are better than this. THE TIME IS NOW!!! Lets save lives together and pass Jaimes Law.

As CBS Miami reports, with Democrats in control of Congress, Guttenberg feels there is a great chance of passage this year.

The gun lobby is weakened and this is the year to pass legislation, he says.

While Guttenbergs loss is certainly tragic, requiring background checks for ammunition would not have prevented Nikolas Cruz from shooting up Parkland. There were over a dozen red flags authorities completely overlooked and Cruz was allowed to buy a gun despite committing multiple felonies prior to committing mass murder.

But citing Cruz as the reason for advocating the erosion of the 2nd Amendment is commonplace for the the anti-gun activists who constantly claim he shouldve had his guns taken which would have prevented the tragedy. Sadly, however, they are ignoring the fact that he was accused of multiple feloniesand shouldve never been able to purchase a gun in the first placebut law enforcement failed to act on any of it.

According to a report by CNN, records obtained from the sheriffs office by CNN show the law enforcement agency received at least 45 calls for service relating to Cruz or his brother from 2008 to 2017.

As TFTP previously reported, Cruz warned that he was going to shoot up a school and kill people and the FBI did nothing. Im going to be a professional school shooter, A YouTube user named Nikolas Cruz commented on a video on Sept. 24, 2017. The video was posted on the channel Ben The Bondsman, and the owner, Ben Bennight, immediately took a screenshot and submitted it to the FBI. Nothing happened.

While this is bad enough, the Sheriffs department records show that police were given this exact same warninga year beforebecause Cruz had been declaring his wishes to shoot up the school publicly.

According to the records, in 2016, a neighbor warned police that Cruz posted on Instagram that he said he planned to shoot up the school. The person who made that call came forward in March and said that she begged the sheriffs office to intervene. Instead of intervening though, police told her that they couldnt act until Cruz actually did something.

The incompetence is staggering, especially given the fact that making a direct threat of violence is illegal.

A few months after he said he wanted to shoot up the school on Instagrambecause the police failed to heed this warning and the dozens of other onesCruz bought the rifle he would use in the shootingnone of the gun control laws or the actual laws on the books designed to stop him from getting a gun worked.

In Florida, if a person making death threats intends for the victim to fear for his or her safety, specifically fearful of death or bodily harm, it is considered a credible threat under the law, which changes the crime from stalking, a first-degree misdemeanor, to aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree. Cruz was reported at least 4 times for this very crime before he bought his AR-15  and police did nothing.

The reactionary nature of disarming Americans because deranged psychopaths kill people is dangerous and only serves to keep the guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens. Moreover, deranged psychopaths dont even need guns to cause mass death.

This bill, like all gun control bills before it, do nothing to address the reason people go on killing sprees and only attempt to remove a single tool while laying waste to the rights of tens of millions of law-abiding individuals.
Kolkata, April 23 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the Central government of diverting the oxygen supply meant for Bengal to the other states, which will create shortage of oxygen in the state, jeopardising the treatment of Covid patients.

"In 2020, the WHO had told the Central government to increase the storage of oxygen but it had ignored the suggestion. Now when the entire country is reeling under the crisis of oxygen shortage, it has decided to divert the oxygen supply scheduled for the state to Uttar Pradesh.

"SAIL, which used to supply oxygen to us, has been asked to send the oxygen to Uttar Pradesh. This will increase the crisis of oxygen in our state," Banerjee said at a press conference on Friday.

"Presently, there is a crisis of oxygen and medicines. We have stopped supplying oxygen for industrial purposes and decided to use it for medical purposes only. We have arranged for a stock of 5,000 cylinders and there is an additional stock of 15,000 cylinders. This will create a storage of 20,000 cylinders which will meet our requirements for the next few days," the Chief Minister added.

Later, the state government said in a note, "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, government of India, had on April 21 allotted 200 MT of oxygen from different plants located in West Bengal to outside the state. As per the current patient load and the rising trend of the infection, it is expected that the consumption level in West Bengal will radically rise to roughly 450 MT per day in the next couple of weeks.

"Hence, the present allocation of liquid oxygen to outside West Bengal will jeopardise the medical treatment of Covid patients in the state. The government of West Bengal has accordingly requested the government of India on April 22 to consider the need of the state and not divert the medical oxygen available in West bengal to elsewhere." Accusing the Centre of being negligent and responsible for the rise in Covid cases in the country, the Chief Minister said, "This is a failure of the Central government. It has not only ignored the WHO warning, but has also been lackadaisical in taking steps against the rise of the disease in the country.

"Instead, it has put in all their efforts to conquer Bengal. Small and big BJP leaders have been in this state for months and we don't know whether they have Covid. They are risking the lives of the people of this state." Banerjee also claimed that she was not invited to the meeting held by the Prime Minister on Friday with the CMs of the highh burden states to discuss the Covid situation.

"They had invited the Chief Ministers of 10 states where Covid cases are high. But I was not invited. Had I been invited, I would have participated in the meeting," she said.

Taking a dig at the Election Commission for taking decisions in favour of the BJP in poll-bound Bengal, Banerjee said, "I cannot do any big rallies and meetings because of the EC directive which came after 10 pm on Thursday.

"The Prime Minister was supposed to do a rally in Kolkata and after he cancelled it, the EC issued the directive. We have been continuously telling the poll panel to integrate the last three phases of elections, but it will not do it. It is working on BJP's behalf."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Royal fans have gone wild over how much Prince Louis looks like his grandfather Michael Middleton in his new birthday photograph.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released a photo of their youngest son to celebrate his third birthday today.

In the photo, Prince Louis is seen beaming for the camera as he perches on his red training bike before his first day at nursery earlier this week.

Social media users were struck by how much the three-year-old looks like his grandfather Michael, 71.

Royal fans have gone wild over how much Prince Louis looks like his grandfather Michael Middleton in the new birthday photograph (left). Right, Michael Middleton, 71, in 2017

Royal watchers often comment that Louis takes after Kate, 39, and her side of the family

Royal watchers often comment that Louis takes after Kate, 39, and her side of the family.

One posted: 'I believe as much as George and Charlotte resemble William and HM [Her Majesty, the Queen], Louis is the twin to Catherine's dad. All three are adorable!'

Another wrote: 'I think he resembles Kate's father! He's definitely a Middleton!'

A third added simply: 'He looks like Michael Middleton!'

The photo was taken by Kate Middleton at Kensington Palace on Wednesday, shortly before Prince Louis left for his first day at the Willcocks Nursery School.

The photo, pictured, was taken by Kate Middleton at Kensington Palace on Wednesday, shortly before Prince Louis left for his first day at the Willcocks Nursery School

In an official tweet, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge revealed the photo of Prince Louis had been taken earlier this week

Beaming at the camera, Louis looks ready for his big day, sporting a smart blue and white striped shirt, navy blue sweater and sky blue shorts.

The young prince's 30 Adidas Kids Duramo trainers look scuffed at the toes, like those of any active three-year-old.

The chubby-faced toddler of previous birthday portraits is growing up fast, just like his brother, Prince George, seven, and sister, Princess Charlotte, who will turn six next month.

Royal fans gushed over how 'adorable' Louis takes after his mother's side of the family

The confident young royal showed off his cycle skills on a trendy Frog balance bike. The red Tadpole Plus model, costing 200, has no pedals or chain.

The Willcocks Nursery School  whose ethos is 'high standards, excellence and good manners'  is rated outstanding by Ofsted.

Louis is following in the footsteps of Princess Charlotte, who attended Willcocks, in Kensington, before she started at school.

Prince Louis (pictured left at the age of one and right at the age of two) will follow in the footsteps of Princess Charlotte, who attended Willcocks, in Kensington

Children can attend the morning session, which costs 10,200 a year, and/or the afternoon session, costing 6,750 a year.

There is also a two-hour 'lunch club' joining the two sessions, which would cost 5,550 a year if every day was needed. The total for a child attending all the sessions would be 22,500 a year.

Kensington Palace has not revealed the hours when Louis will be attending, but previously the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have started off their children on morning or afternoon sessions, building up over time to longer days.
Pakistan-based humanitarian organisation Edhi Foundation has offered to help Indian government manage the raging COVID-19 crisis. Edhi Foundation's chairman Faisal Edhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday requesting permission to enter the country with a team of volunteers and 50 ambulances in order to assist in the pandemic management. Edhi leads one of the largest charitable ambulance networks in Pakistan.

In his letter to the PM, Faisal Edhi has stated that he seeks to lead the team himself. "We are very sorry to hear about the exceptionally heavy impact that the pandemic has had on your country, where a tremendous number of people are suffering immensely.... we would like to extend our help in the form of a fleet of 50 ambulances along with our services to assist you in addressing, and further circumventing, the current health conditions," Edhi wrote in the letter addressed to the Prime Minister.

Faisal Edhi stated that he is seeking permission from the Indian government to enter the country with ambulances and a team that will consist of medical technicians, office staff, drivers and supporting staff.

"We will arrange all the necessary supplies that our team needs to assist the people of India. Importantly, we are not requesting any other assistance from you, as we are providing the fuel, food, and necessary amenities that our team will require," he said. "We only request your permission to enter India as well as any necessary guidance from the local administration and police department," Edhi added.

The Edhi Foundation has been involved in several humanitarian efforts linked with Pakistan and India in the past. This included the safe return to India of a deaf and mute girl who had been stuck in Pakistan for 15 years.

Edhi Foundation's offer to help India comes shortly after several Pakistani citizens on Twitter were requesting their Prime Minister Imran Khan to help India in its fight against COVID-19. The hashtag '#IndiaNeedsOxygen' was trending on number one in Pakistan on Friday morning.

Also Read: COVID-19 in India: PM Modi chairs meeting with CMs of Maharashtra, Delhi, 8 other states

Also Read: COVID-19 in India: Maharashtra, Delhi, UP, 7 other states account for 75% of new cases
and other cryptocurrencies suffered hefty losses on Friday on concern that U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investment in digital assets.



The selloff came after reports that the Biden administration is planning a raft of proposed changes to the U.S. tax code, including a plan to nearly double taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for people earning more than $1 million.



Bitcoin, the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency , slumped 5% to $48,8867, falling below the $50,000 mark for the first time since early March, while smaller rivals Ether and XRP fell around 7%.



The tax plans jolted markets, prompting investors to book profits in stocks and other risk assets, which have rallied massively on hopes of a solid economic recovery. Levies on investment gains were reported to be in line for record increases.



" headed South today after President Biden signalled that he wanted to raise capital gains tax in the US," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific, at OANDA.



"Now whether that happens or not, many investors are probably sitting on some substantial capital gains if they stayed the course over the past year."



"I firmly believe that developed market regulation and/or taxation remain the crypto markets' Achilles Heel," he added.



Bitcoin is on track for a 15% loss on the week, though it is still up 65% since the start of the year. Ether dropped more than 10% on the day to as low as $2,107, a day after climbing to a record $2,645.97.



But while social media lit up with posts about the plan hurting cryptocurrencies, and individual investors complaining about losses, some traders and analysts said declines are likely to be temporary.



"I don't think Biden's taxes plans will have a big impact on bitcoin," said Ruud Feltkamp, CEO at automated crypto trading bot Cryptohopper. "Bitcoin has only gone up for a long time, it is only natural to see a consolidation. Traders are simply cashing in on winnings."



Others also remained bullish on bitcoin's long term prospects, but noted it might take time before prices start increasing again.



"There are reasons to believe the overall trend will remain bullish unless the price drops below $40k," said Ulrik Lykke, executive director at crypto hedge fund ARK36. "At the moment, we are not convinced that the trend will reverse into a bear market but we acknowledge it may take some time before the demand overtakes the supply again in the medium to short term." Shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase also fell around 4% to $282 in U.S. pre-market trading, marking the lowest level since its listing earlier this month. The listing had driven bitcoin prices to $65,000, before pulling back 25% in the following days.



"The Coinbase listing a the ultimate poacher-turned-gamekeeper moment - might have been the high watermark for Bitcoin," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.
Three Carlow-Kilkenny TDs addressed a statement made by Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O'Gorman (Green Party) on the topic of Direct Provision in Dail Eireann yesterday.

The local TDs that were afforded the chance to address Minister O'Gorman's statement were Kathleen Funchion (Sinn Fein), John McGuinness (Fianna Fail) and Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail).

The statements relate to the recently published (Feb 2021) 'White Paper', also known by its longer title 'A White Paper to End Direct Provision and to Establish a New International Protection Support Service'.

This 'White Paper' outlines the Government's effort to abolish Direct Provision by 2024 with a goal to establishing 'a new system based on a not-for-profit approach, grounded in the principles of human rights, respect for diversity and respect for privacy and family life'.

"This new service will take a much wider, more holistic view of the needs of international protection applicants, rooted in the idea of integration from day one," O'Gorman told the Dail yesterday.

Deputy Kathleen Funchion (SF):

Deputy Kathleen Funchion welcomed the White Paper but used her time to focus "on the perspective of children and young people in the direct provision system" for whom she says "it has been particularly difficult".

"They have been pretty much isolated from their communities and many have been left in limbo, in some cases for their entire childhoods," Funchion said.

"The delays in processing families has an enormous impact on children and young peoples mental health.

"No one believes that anything can happen overnight, but we all know how long the current system has been in place, how inadequate it is and how it is failing people and especially children and young people.

"Sinn Fein is supportive of the proposal to provide the vast majority of asylum seekers with own-door accommodation. This welcome move will have a very positive impact on childrens mental, physical and social needs."

In addressing Deputy Funchion's comments, Minister O'Gorman stated that the importance of children "is essential in terms of the supports we will provide.

"The availability of schooling for both primary and secondary level will be taken into account in determining the location of the reception and integration centres."

Deputy John McGuinness (FF):

Deputy John McGuinness also welcomed the White Paper and used his allotted time to reflect on Direct Provision since its inception over twenty years ago.

"I welcome the actions being taken now to deal with the issue, and that there will be a new system in place after 2024. However, there are things we can do now. We cannot wait until 2024 to take the actions that are necessary in this area," he said.

"There are people in this country who have not been able to work and lead a proper life. Some form of amnesty should be put in place to allow people who have been here for a number of years to participate fully in society and the economy.

The Kilkenny-based TD then referred to a case he had been dealing with since 2000 when a family arrived in Ireland "seeking assistance and protection."

He explained that the husband has not been naturalised for some reason and brought into question the naturalisation process:

"It is said that he did not secure naturalisation because of a comment on his file. If there is a comment on the file, the individual wants to attend an interview with any law enforcement or other agency to clear his name. Does he not have a right to clear his name?

"Why is there such secrecy in the process of naturalisation? We can take action on that now."

Minister O'Gorman did not address Deputy McGuinness' comments and case directly, instead noting that the local TD was among those that "spoke about what we can do now".

In that context, the Minister brought up ongoing areas of attention including issues faced by those in Direct Provision with period poverty, bank accounts, driving licenses and emergency accommodation.

"I am very conscious of the speed of the decision making. It is an issue on which I am working very closely with the Minister for Justice," he added.

Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF):

Carlow-Kilkenny Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor welcomed the White Paper and used her speech to the Minister to focus on issues including Covid-19 breakouts in Direct Provision centres and Direct Provision resident support services.

"I was concerned when comparisons were made recently between the cramped conditions in mandatory hotel quarantine and those of the direct provision centres," she said.

"While direct provision is being removed, no independent inspections of direct provision centres are being carried out. Are independent inspections of direct provision centres going to be carried out?"

Deputy Murnane O'Connor emphasised that it is women from marginalised groups who have been "most affected by Covid-19" and that their basic needs in Direct Provision centres are not being met.

She then turned her attention to service provisions by posing questions to the Minister:

"What supports are currently available to women, children and men in direct provision? What wraparound services are available? What funding is available for these wraparound services?"

On the issues of both inspections and funding, the Minister attempted to address the questions put to him by the Carlow-based TD:

"Deputy Pringle talked about the issue of independent inspections and I know Deputy Murnane O'Connor spoke about that as well.

"We will be getting HIQA to undertake independent inspections. The inspections are currently undertaken by a private company and by IPAS. That does not give the level of independence we need.

I know Deputy Murnane O'Connor wanted to talk about the level of funding available. Some 225 million was provided for the existing IPAS services and that was an increase of 45 million over the previous year, so it is a significant investment.

"We all know the system we seek to create through the White Paper will be one where the investment gives us a long-term return in having actual accommodation rather than the over-reliance on the private sector we currently have."

The issue of Direct Provision will be debated further over the coming months and years as the feasibility of the White Paper continues to be examined.

Currently there are approximately 7,000 people living in the current Direct Provision system in Ireland.
Faculty at a private Christian university in Washington cast a vote of no confidence after its board of trustees announced it would continue a hiring policy that prohibits hiring full-time faculty members who are gay.

Seattle Pacific University, a private evangelical Chrisitan and Wesleyan college in Seattle, enrolls around 3,500 students and adheres to the biblical definition of human sexuality, according to a university statement.

SPUs Faculty Senate obtained responses from around 90% of the faculty on the boards decision last week to maintain that policy despite objections from some in the school community.

Around 72% of the faculty who responded agreed with the no confidence vote regarding the board and its decision, according to a statement released Monday, according to The Seattle Times.

Source:The Christian Post
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Just 6 per cent of beds are taken up by coronavirus patients at England's busiest hospital, according to official figures which could pile more pressure on Boris Johnson to speed up his roadmap out of lockdown.

Analysis of the latest NHS statistics by MailOnline shows just 19 beds  or 6.4 per cent  at Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were taken up by people suffering from Covid in the week ending April 13.

For comparison, Covid occupancy rates breached 60 per cent at England's then-busiest trust - Whittington Health in London - during the darkest days of January.

Almost every hospital in England now has fewer than five per cent of its beds occupied by Covid patients, the latest figures show, and none had more than seven per cent of capacity designated to the virus.

But a whopping 106 hospitals - 84 per cent - had more than five per cent of their patients suffering from Covid in the week ending January 12, at the peak of the second wave.

Experts today said it would be 'crazy' not to relax more restrictions now that hospital levels are so low. Under the Prime Minister's current plan, the next relaxation is not due until May 17.

Professor Karol Sikora, an expert in medicine at the University of Buckingham, told MailOnline: 'It's just crazy. There's no science behind any of it.'

He said hospital admissions were 'the only statistic that mattered' now that the vaccines have been rolled out to the vulnerable.

Professor Tim Spector, a King's College London epidemiologist behind Britain's biggest symptom tracking study, told MailOnline: 'Personally, I would like to see restrictions in care homes, where residents have been fully vaccinated, lifted as soon as possible to stop further suffering for those who havent been able to see their families for more than a year.

'Also, the Government could be looking at easing restrictions in parts of the country that have low infection rates like the South West and South East, as in these places there is limited risk right now.'

It came as the chief scientist behind a study today showing the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine are slashing infection rates said Britain had 'moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation'.

Sarah Walker, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Oxford, said the vaccines were working so well that long-term lockdowns were not necessary.

Data shows the jabs are reducing hospitalisations and deaths in Britain by more than 80 per cent, according to Public Health England's own real-world analysis.

NHS statistics analysed by MailOnline showed only five hospitals had more than five per cent of their beds taken up by Covid patients, as vaccines continue to cut the number of people being admitted to wards suffering from Covid

For comparison, at the height of the second wave the busiest hospital for Covid patients had more than 62 per cent of its patients suffering from the virus

The number of people in England's hospitals suffering from the virus has also now dropped below 2,000

Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust was treating the most Covid patients in the country, according to the latest statistics, with 78 on its wards.

It was followed by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (62) and Barts Health NHS Trust (49).

For comparison, at the height of the second wave there were 777 Covid patients on the wards of the busiest hospital in England - Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust in January.

COVID VACCINES WILL REMOVE THE NEED FOR FUTURE LOCKDOWNS, SAY SCIENTISTS Vaccines will allow us to control coronavirus without the need for future lockdowns, the experts behind a major new British study declared last night. In the biggest examination of 'real-world' UK vaccination data so far, scientists found both the Pfizer and Oxford jabs slashed infections - and reduced transmission of the virus. Analysis of more than 1.6million swabs from UK households found that among those who had been given at least one dose of either vaccine there was a 74 per cent drop in symptomatic infections. Crucially, the jabs also cut asymptomatic cases  where the person infected has no signs of illness  by more than 50 per cent. This is critical to stopping people unwittingly spreading Covid. The benefits in reducing infections were similar for everyone - including the elderly and those with long-term health conditions - who are most at risk. The protective effect was most marked among those who'd had two doses of Pfizer - which led a 70 per cent drop in asymptomatic infections, rising to 90 per cent in cases with symptoms. Similar data was not yet available for the Oxford jab. Advertisement

There were also 659 admitted to Barts Health, the second highest, and 598 being cared for by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. At the second peak only 26 of 131 hospital trusts in England - or 20 per cent - were treating fewer than 78 Covid patients.

Professor Sikora told MailOnline that lockdown restrictions were always determined by fears hospitals could be overwhelmed. The only thing that matters in the roadmap is what's happening to the state of healthcare,' he said.

'If healthcare can absorb pressure, we should just speed up, keep going.'

Department of Health statistics show that across the whole of England, there were 1,609 Covid patients in hospitals on April 21, the latest data available. This was barely four per cent of the 34,000 on wards in January.

Professor Sikora said the successful vaccination programme - which has already jabbed 33million Britons - suggests wards should never face the same levels of Covid admissions again.

'I think that will not be the case,' he said when asked whether hospitals could face surging patient admissions again similar to the second wave.

'The real problem - why everyone is nervous in the NHS administration and so on - is it depends a lot on variants.

'But it looks like so far the variants aren't that important in terms of working against the vaccine. With the Indian one no one really knows, but it looks promising so far.'

'I'm in Wales at the moment and I couldn't even sit outside to get a meal last night, I had to order in, but I could get a haircut there for the last two weeks.'

Mr Johnson is facing mounting pressure to speed up England's roadmap out of lockdown after promising he would be led by 'data not dates'.

Pubs and restaurants reopened for outdoor service for the first time last Monday, and shops and hairdressers were again allowed to welcome customers.

But a further easing which would see holidays permitted again and pubs and restaurants serving indoors is currently not set to come into force until May 17.

Gloomy SAGE predictions have suggested Covid hospitalisations could spike to levels similar to those seen in the second wave this summer, despite the successful roll-out of the jabs.

Other experts have, however, challenged these predictions insisting the virus is seasonal and the vaccines roll-out - which has focused on the most vulnerable - should prevent another serious spike.

Even SAGE appears to be rowing back on its modelling. Papers published this month from a meeting of No10's top scientists held in late March read: 'Any resurgence in hospital admissions and deaths following step 2 of the roadmap alone is highly unlikely to put unsustainable pressure on the NHS.

'However, the higher the level of infections during this step, the greater the risk associated with moving to later steps.'

The study found that there were significantly more coronavirus cases among people who hadn't been vaccinated (top two graphs) than there were in people who had been given jabs or who had had Covid before (bottom five graphs) The longer it had been since someone got their vaccine, less likely they were to catch coronavirus, the numbers suggest

The proportion of Covid-positive people who developed symptoms (orange dots) was significantly higher in unvaccinated people. For those who did have a vaccine or had natural immunity, most people didn't get any symptoms at all if they picked up the virus (black dots)

Blood testing showed that people's levels of virus-fighting antibodies rocketed after they got a vaccine, particularly if they had never had the virus, and they also rose substantially among people who already had natural immunity. The dotted line represents the threshold for testing positive for Covid-specific antibodies. The higher the number, the greater the protection, scientists believe

It comes after British experts declared last night that vaccines will allow us to control Covid without the need for future lockdowns.

In the biggest examination of 'real-world' UK vaccination data so far, scientists found both the Pfizer and Oxford jabs slashed infections - and reduced transmission of the virus.

Analysis of more than 1.6million swabs from UK households found that among those who had been given at least one dose of either vaccine there was a 74 per cent drop in symptomatic infections.

Crucially, the jabs also cut asymptomatic cases  where the person infected has no signs of illness  by more than 50 per cent. This is critical to stopping people unwittingly spreading Covid.

The benefits in reducing infections were similar for everyone - including the elderly and those with long-term health conditions - who are most at risk.

The protective effect was most marked among those who'd had two doses of Pfizer - which led a 70 per cent drop in asymptomatic infections, rising to 90 per cent in cases with symptoms. Similar data was not yet available for the Oxford jab.

The chief scientist behind the study said the findings combined with Britain's current Covid situation meant the country had 'moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation'.

Sarah Walker, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Oxford and chief investigator on the survey, said falling cases over the last three months had been due to a combination of both.

And she said that as long-term lockdown was not 'viable' in future, vaccines and booster jabs would be critical to us resuming more normal lives.

She said: 'Long-term lockdown isn't a viable solution so vaccines are clearly going to be the only way that we are going to have a chance to control this long term.

'Without vaccines, I don't think getting close to zero is really feasible in the situation we're now in UK where effectively it's endemic. We've kind of moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation.

'But I think the challenge is that, as demonstrated in India, in Canada and Brazil, the virus is very good at throwing us curveballs. And so I think we're always looking at one small step away from, from potential for things to go wrong again.'
A young boy has sustained extensive burns after a fire broke out in the bedroom of an inner Sydney home.

Emergency services rushed to the building following reports of a fire in a level-three unit on Walker Street, Waterloo, at 8.30am on Friday.

The scene of a unit fire in Waterloo. Credit:Janie Barrett

A NSW Ambulance spokesman said paramedics assessed nine patients at the scene.

He said a boy, understood to be aged five or six, had suffered extensive critical burns and two other children had been assessed for smoke inhalation.
Driving a white Omni, a cop from Mumbai Police had been ferrying people all the way until Kalyan as well during the peak of lockdown last year. Currently, apart from being a full-time constable at Cuffe Parade Police Station, Tejesh Sonawane, 34, is still busy helping patients by directing them to the right ambulance service.

During the first wave of COVID-19, there was a strict lockdown and people were not able to get ambulances. Now, though the situation is a little better. But, people have taken my number, so they call me again, and I direct them to the right place because I consider it my duty to help people, said Sonawane.

Sonawane had borrowed his friend Suresh Malis car, who also modified it to make it into a makeshift ambulance. While his ambulance wouldnt have an oxygen tank or stretchers, it would do the basic task of ferrying people on an immediate basis. It was compartmentalised and sanitised well so that the patients do not come in contact with him and vice versa. The back seat was aligned in a way for people to rest. He would ferry not only COVID-19 positive but non-COVID patients as well.

Sonawane would then ferry patients to as far as Navi Mumbai, Koparkhairane, and Andheri. He has so far ferried 40 patients, and his first patient was a pregnant woman, who had to be rushed to the hospital from her Backbay Depot residence immediately for her delivery. Ask him how did he come up with this idea, he said that he saw people struggling to get ambulances and thus decided to help in whatever way he can.

'No scope for fear and cowardice'

Sonawane was posted in a red zone last year, places which are worst affected by COVID-19, and saw people pass out on pavements. This broke his heart and he decided to go behind the call of his duty. We are anyways essential service workers, so we are expected to be on our toes during the pandemic, so there is no time to think whether one would contract the virus. One also doesnt think of oneself when helping someone else. There is no time, chance, or scope for fear and cowardice," Sonawane said.

However, he was worried about his family contracting the infection because of him, because of which he sent his two daughters to his parents place at Nandurbar.
LONDON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, London's High Court granted permission to a litigation law firm ONTIER LLP to start legal proceedings on behalf of their client, Dr Craig Wright, against 'Cbra', the pseudonymous operator and publisher of the bitcoin.org website. Dr Wright owns the copyright to the White Paper, first released in October 2008 under the now-famous moniker 'Satoshi Nakamoto'.

Proceedings were issued on 24 February 2021 in the Intellectual Property List of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales. On 21 April 2021, Dr Wright was granted permission to serve 'Cbra' out of the jurisdiction. Dr Wright is seeking a declaration that he owns the copyright in the Bitcoin White Paper filed as CLAIM NO.: IL-2021-000008. Similarly, Dr Wright does not wish to restrict access to his White Paper (which is freely accessible on his blog, https://craigwright.net/bitcoin-white-paper.pdf) Dr Wright is being advised by ONTIER's Head of Litigation, Paul Ferguson, with Partner, Derek Stinson, and Senior Associate, Simon Cohen. Alastair Wilson QC and Michael Hicks of Hogarth Chambers act as Counsel.

Notes to Editors: This litigation is the latest in a series of legal claims issued by ONTIER LLP on behalf of Dr Wright and his associated entities to uphold his right to protect his lawfully-held digital assets and his reputation as the creator of Bitcoin and his associated intellectual property. ONTIER LLP is a law firm which specialises in international commercial disputes and transactions. The firm is increasingly recognised for its high-profile and market leading Bitcoin related and cybercrime litigation and has an established and growing practice for recovering lost, stolen and hacked Bitcoin.

SOURCE ONTIER
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US meat major Tyson Foods is spending US$48m on a plant in Arkansas to boost capacity of cooked chicken products sold into the retail and foodservice channels.

The investment in the site in Pine Bluff, located in Jefferson County and opened in 1991, aims to support the New York-listed firms long-term growth in its poultry business, with the project expected to create 70 jobs, adding to the factorys employee count of more than 1,100. Work is due to be completed late this year.

Expansion in production is centred on fully-cooked chicken tenders, chicken strips, boneless and bone-in wings, and air-fried products. The investment will also add automated processes to packaging lines.

Donnie King, the president and chief operating officer for Tysons poultry division, said the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County provided assistance and support for the project

He added: The demand for convenient, high-quality chicken products continues to grow and were investing in projects that meet the needs of our customers and consumers.



Tyson has recently added capacity for beef and pork products too. In March, the company announced it planned to spend $42m on repurposing a plant previously earmarked for closure in Columbia, South Carolina, to manufacture portioned packages of sliced, fresh beef and pork, as well as ground beef.

King was given the additional COO role in February to oversee a reorganisation of Tysons business segments in poultry, beef, pork and ready meals in order to speed up innovation. At the time, he said: We must simplify and focus our structure to facilitate faster operational decision-making, and we must remove obstacles to provide an unmatched customer experience.
MEDFORD, Ore-- According to Natalie Weber, the public information officer for the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest, Southern Oregon is about five and a half weeks away from the start of its typical wildfire season. This comes though as droughts across the southern part of the state continue to increase the chances of a wildfire.

"When we start off a season this dry, it typically isn't a good sign," said Weber. "But condition can change very easily here in southern Oregon. For example, we could get some rain here in the next few weeks and that could change everything for us."

According to the National Weather Service in Medford, multiple counties across Southern Oregon including, Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Douglas and Curry counties, are experiencing some sort of drought. This ranges from abnormally dry all the way to an exceptional drought.

In Medford, the National Weather Service says that the area is 2.91 inches of rain below what it typically experiences in a year, but is a little over nine inches under when it comes to a two-year model.

In Klamath Falls, that number increases to about a 12 inch deficit of rain in the last two years, which is why most of Klamath County is right now in either a severe, extreme or exceptional drought.

"This looks like a trend," said Ryan Sandler, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Medford. "If you look back at the last 25 to 30 years you would certainly see that this is a trend towards dryness."

For the upcoming wildfire season, Weber says that this means that more fuels will be available for the flames to consume if a wildfire starts.

"When it comes to a drought we rely on that moisture in the fuels to keep a fire from burning as quickly," said Weber. "So when you don't have that moisture and you get into that drought, that's when things can take off a lot faster."

And when it comes to the long-term effects of the drought, Sandler says that we could expect to see longer and more severe wildfire seasons in the future.

"The start of the fire season will start earlier and the end will be later," said Sandler. "So that allows for a greater chance of having more fires and a worse fire season."

According to Sandler, from 2000-2012, there were only a few years of unhealthy smoke in the Rogue Valley. But since 2013, in six out of the last eight years, the Rogue Valley has experienced unhealthy smoke during the summer time.

"That's an indicator that fires are becoming more frequent, larger and are burning nearby," said Sandler.

Although Sandler understands that the drought does have an impact on future wildfires, he also mentioned that lightning strikes have also played an important role in wildfires starting, especially during the summer months.

According to forecasts on Thursday, wetter weather is on its way to Southern Oregon and will provide some much needed rain. But future models also show that dryer conditions could be returning to the area very soon.
Press Release

April 23, 2021 'Fighting hunger does not make one an armed combatant' The P16 billion in taxes paid by the people was given to that body so it can run after the Communist Party, not community pantries. So something is terribly wrong when a general berates a millennial because she fed her neighbors. There is no valor in that. It is also unfair to our soldiers, because one officer's perceived act of bullying does not endear our Armed Forces to the people they have sworn to protect. But to the credit of our soldiers, they know that fighting hunger does not make one an armed combatant. Many have demonstrated their belief in this by sending community pantries reinforcements of food. The enemy is not this petite woman who pushed a kariton of vegetables. If there's one adversary that requires our generals' attention, then these are the foreign gunboats pushing deeper into our territory and shooing our fishermen away. Patreng's act launched a thousand community pantries. That is not a crime. The real lawbreakers are those who have launched a thousand ships to empty our seas of food that should have been ours. Someone called her Satan. But to millions who believe in her cause, and are taking it up, she has become the Patreng saint of Maginhawa. It warms the heart that for a divided nation, so often torn by issues even trivial, we have finally found a common cause. Community pantries are the civic spaces which are not only stations of compassion but also showcase the best in the Filipino. Bawal ang haters doon. But on second thought, the more they hate, the more the people give. When we see socialists and socialites, the suits and the shoeless, soldiers and yes, even subversives agree on one thing, the future can only be bright.
On this weeks episode of Segue, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles weekly radio program exploring the lives and work of the people on campus and beyond, Chancellor Randy Pembrook interviews Scott Belobrajdic, EdD, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management.

This episode of Segue airs at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 25. Listeners can tune in to WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound or siue.edu/wsie.

Belobrajdic began his career in higher education as an admissions counselor at Illinois College. Since joining SIUE, he has managed the Career Development Center, Academic Advising, Retention and Student Success, Office of the Registrar, Student Financial Aid, Military and Veteran Services, and undergraduate, graduate and international admissions.

Previously, Belobrajdic served as the chair of the Missouri and Illinois ACT Councils, the Illinois State Representative to the ACT Corp., and as a member of the executive boards of the Missouri and Illinois Associations of College Admission Counselors. He was inducted to the SIUE chapter of Phi Kappa Phi in 2018.

Scott, welcome to Segue, begins Pembrook. We have a new scholarship program called the SIUE Commitment, which allows those who cannot afford a college education to attend SIUE. Can you tell us more about the program?

It is an initiative that is focused primarily on families who have an income of $63,575 or less and less than $50,000 in assets, explains Belobrajdic. The program fills the gap of our cost of tuition and fees not covered by other aid that qualified students receive outside of the University.

What impact do you imagine this aid package will have on enrollment? asks Pembrook.

We hope that this program gets the attention of families who dont want to send their child to a 4-year school, because they cant afford it, answers Belobrajdic. When they start hearing about programs out there that could make it financially feasible, we hope they fill out the FAFSA and contact Financial Aid to see the real bottom-line for their cost of education.

Can you share some information about the AIM HIGH Grant program for Illinois students? asks Pembrook.

Recently, college-bound students from Illinois will cross our borders or go to coastal colleges or universities, responds Belobrajdic. The current governor has made a significant investment in helping promote four-year college enrollment for Illinois residents through the AIM HIGH program.

Through AIM HIGH Grant funding, SIUE awards incoming freshmen meeting certain criteria up to $2,500 per academic year. Funding is matched by the state of Illinois to promote students to stay in the region for their college education.

Thanks to grant funding and scholarship opportunities, SIUE students have relatively low student debt. Approximately 40% of SIUE students graduate without any debt.

When I came to SIUE five years ago, I was amazed by the number of students that graduate with little to no debt, notes Pembrook.

When we talk about debt, we try to put it into the context of the cost of an education, says Belobrajdic. Its not cheap to invest in college. Our students that graduate with debt have an average indebtedness of $24,000. Most plans give you 10 years to pay off student loans.

If our average starting salary is approaching $50,000, we can create a scenario where an investment in a college education is something you can pay back in a reasonable way without developing too much of a financial burden moving forward.

Another point relating to admissions is the national trend of moving away from standardized testing, says Pembrook. How is SIUE involved in that?

For the entering class of fall 2021, we are not requiring the ACT, responds Belobrajdic. For the first time, we are specifically going off high school GPA and will consider students who are graduating with a 2.6 or better.

This decision was influenced partly by COVID-19, as students didnt have access to standardized testing sites. Information from diversity and inclusion discussions furthered this choice, as students from wealthier school districts tend to do better on standardized testing due to more having more resources.

To learn more about financial aid at SIUE, visit siue.edu/financial-aid.

Tune in at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 25 to WSIE 88.7 The Sound to hear the entire conversation.
New Delhi: Founder of Medhraj Astro Youtube channel, Dr Samir Tripathi concluded the release of the entire Ramcharitmanas with its meaning at the Marsh Hall of Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Gomti Nagar. In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all government guidelines were followed and only a limited number of people were allowed to attend the event.

Blessing Dr Samir Tripathi for his work, Padma Vibhushan Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya Ji said, Dr Tripathi has tried to convey the message of duty and love to the entire society and all Indians, especially the youth, by singing the meaning of the greatest book of India, Shri Ramcharitmanas. He further added, Ramcharitmanas is a source of inspiration for people. It gives the means to a person to overcome all his sorrows by bringing the bliss of singing into his life. Dr Tripathi has done a commendable job and my blessings are always with him.

Addressing the program through his video message, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said, Dr Samir Tripathi, who has sung the entire Ramcharit Manas while referring to Prime Minister Modis statement is highly appreciated. I heartily congratulate Dr Tripathi for conveying this important message to all the people.

Member of Parliament Ravi Kishan Shukla said that in this gruelling phase of the epidemic, the character of Prabhu Shri Ram will strengthen the inner soul of the people. Dr Samir Tripathi has fulfilled his part to connect people with spirituality and the power of God in such a contrasting time. The leader expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards him and wished him a bright future ahead.

While congratulating the man of the hour, Deputy CM of UP Keshav Prasad Maurya said that this work of Dr Samir Tripathi will give a lot of relief to people in the time of this terrible pandemic and will further strengthen them with the power to fight. Agreeing with the same on the occasion, MP BJP Vice President Yogesh Tamarkar said, This work of singing the entire Ramcharitmanas is surely eminent and a great need of the hour. Dr Samir Tripathi undoubtedly deserves appreciation from people all across.

Earlier, the program also received the blessings of many eminent and respected saints.

Mahant Shri Narayan Swaroop of Shantanand Soham Ashram Kishni Mainpuri Shri Shakti Dham Unnao said in his blessing that Shri Ramcharitmanas is such an Amar Katha of duty and love, hearing which makes human life blessed and now it's beautiful singing by Samir Tripathi will make it an easy way for people to understand.

The four-decade-old historic temple of Nanak Sahi Math Khadra Lucknow, co-Mahant Worshiper Vishnudas Nishani with the main Mahant being Dharmendra Das Ji said in his blessings that the characters of Ramayana present the example of duty, love, and ideal living.

It is indeed the work of God to present such inspiring and great texts in the Surmai stream to society. Greetings and best wishes from the deepest depths of the heart for this great work done by Dr Samir Tripathi, founder of Medhaj Technoconcept.

Hari Manjhi, the former MLA of Bodh Gaya also congratulated Dr Tripathi for his impeccable efforts and tweeted, Major blessings to the man to sing the entire RamcharitManas with its complete meaning on his YouTube Channel.

Bhaskar Prayag Ashram Sikanderpur Khurd, Lauli, near Indira Dam, Chinhat, Lucknow's Pujya Swami Bhaskaranand Ji Maharaj said, This historic work of singing the entire RamcharitManas by Dr. Samir Tripathi is such a service to humanity which will always provide support to the people. In this terrible period of the epidemic, only spirituality and devotion to God can keep people safe and Dr. Samir Tripathi deserves recognition for this historical work that he has done.

Shri Pitambar Peeth Datia, Madhya Pradesh's chief priest Pt. Deepak Purohit Shastri also said that Dr Samir Tripathi will prove to be a milestone in the life of Sanatan Dharmic.

Just as Maharaja Bhagiratha had brought the stream of Ganges on earth, this singing of Shri RamCharitManas will bring positive changes in the lives of the people.

Apart from this, Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi and MP Digvijay Singh, Sant Chandranshu Ji Maharaj of Ayodhya, Srimanta Kapali Baba Ji Maharaj of Agohar Peetadheeshwar Harishchandra Ghat Kashi have also blessed the program with their video message. This work of Dr Samir Tripathi has also been recognized by India Record, High Range Ward Record and Marvels World Record.

Overwhelmed by the appreciation given by the sage saints and other eminent people of the society, Dr Samir Tripathi said, I have done what God wanted me to do. The only satisfaction is that I could be of some use to my country and society during this terrible epidemic. I consistently pray to Lord Shri Ram to give me strength like this so that I can continue to do something for my country and society in the future.

Mrs Rekha Tripathi, Samirs mother, present at the program, said in exuberant words, "I am very happy with the spirit and devotion that my son has brought to the Rasganga people, turning the Corona era into an opportunity in disguise. This is the time to strengthen our inner strength, which is possible with such spiritual powers. I bless my son to continue on this path of spirituality and devotion.

Dr Samir Tripathi's brother Gunjan Tripathi, wife Alka Tripathi, and the entire Medhaj family were also present on the occasion. Harsha Tripathi, Samirs daughter, made the event a little more shining with her enthralling Kathak performance.

"Swami Avimukteshwaranand and Mahendra Singh (Jal Shakti Leader) also garner blessing via video conference call at the event."

(This is a Brand Desk content)
Valerie Bannister photo /

DEEP RIVER  Last years graduation at Valley Regional High School was anything but traditional  it was a drive-thru ceremony that took about six hours to complete. But the Class of 2021 will not face the same fate.

Valley Regional High School will hold an in-person graduation ceremony on June 9. Restrictions will still be in place, but they will be reduced, according to Brian White, superintendent of Regional School District 4.
A mural dedicated to George Floyd in Houston, Texas, before it was vandalized. Mario Tama/Getty Images

A mural for George Floyd in Houston, Texas, was vandalized overnight on Thursday.

The mural was defaced with a racial epithet.

The police condemned the vandalism, and the mural's artist painted over it.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A mural of George Floyd in Houston, Texas, was vandalized, the police said.

The mural was spray-painted with a racial slur, followed by the words "lives don't matter." The mural's artist painted over the vandalism the next day, KTRK reported.

Police Chief Troy Finner said on Thursday that the mural had been vandalized by "some knucklehead" and said "I don't know what their motivation is: If it's hate, or whatever."

"Ignore people with bad hearts and bad motivation, do not give them the power," he added.

Watch him speak here:

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Floyd, a Black man, was killed after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd's death kicked off months of protests against racism and police brutality around the US.

Chauvin was convicted of murder by a jury on Tuesday.

Finner said Thursday: "The verdict came in, and it was the right verdict. Some people are upset about it, some people are ecstatic about it."

"But one thing, here in Houston, we're gonna stick together. And a message to anybody who is damaging anything in our city, murals property, or whatever, is keep doing it and you will be held accountable."

Read the original article on Insider
Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo has donated food items and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the Muslim Communities within the Dome-Kwabenya constituency in the holy month of Ramadan at the Ga East Central Mosque, Atomic on Thursday.



Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic Calender is observed by Muslims as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, community and a time of spiritual discipline and renewal.



Items donated includes 20 bags of rice, 20 Cartons of Milo, 20 bags of sugar 20 cartons of Milk, 15 boxes of teabag, Praying mats, 100 pieces of Jalabia and PPES for their use during the Ramadan celebrations. On hand to receive the items were the President of Ga East Council of Muslim Chiefs who doubles as the Greater Accra Gonja Chief and his two deputies and representatives of the Ga East Imam Council.



In her address, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection emphasised her Islamic family background which has enforced her solidarity with the Muslim Community

"I grew up with a grandfather who was a practicing Muslim and as such as a child every time I spent with my grandfather, I was educated in the holy Islamic traditions. This upbringing instilled in me the love and solidarity I share with the Muslim Community. As Member of Parliament, I have always worked hand in hand with the Muslim Community in developing the consituency and will continue to do so. It is my hope that these items will be a blessing to you in this holy month" she stated.



The Vice President of the Ga East Zongo Chiefs Council and Kwabenya Zongo Chief, Alhaji Inusah Bashiru on behalf of the Muslim Community expressed his delight at Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo's continuous support to the Muslim community in the Constituency.



"We are really grateful for this wonderful gesture by our Member of Parliament. Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo has over the years proven to us that she has the Muslim Community at heart and is always at hand to offer her support at all times most especially during all our festivities. The entire Muslim Community will continue to pray for her success in all her endeavours"



This years support comes at a critical point where our communities have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and as a such the Muslim leadership in the constituency were very appreciative of the continuous effort by the Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo to see to the needs of the their community in the constituency.

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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Minneapolis: Daunte Wright, the young black man shot by an officer during a traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis, was not just some kid with an air freshener, but a prince whose life ended too soon at the hands of police, the Reverend Al Sharpton said on Thursday during an emotional funeral.

Hundreds of people wearing COVID-19 masks packed into Shiloh Temple International Ministries to remember Wright, a 20-year-old father of one who was shot by a white police officer on April 11 in the small city of Brooklyn Center.

Reverend Al Sharpton eulogies Daunte Wright during funeral services at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis. Credit:AP

The funeral was held just two days after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in the death of George Floyd and amid a national reckoning on racism and policing.

The absence of justice is the absence of peace, Sharpton said. You cant tell us to shut up and suffer. We must speak up when there is an injustice.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday extended his greetings to all the citizens of the nation on the occasion of Diwali. In a Twitter post, the Prime Minister said, Hearty wishes to the people of India on the auspicious occasion of Diwali.

He also shared a picture with a message reading, May this auspicious festival brighten your lives with prosperity and good health and may there be happiness all around.

President Ramnath Kovind also took to Twitter to wish people on Diwali. He appealed to the people to be sensitive to others and also the environment as we celebrate the festival of lights.

Diwali greetings to all. As we celebrate with our families, let us promote sensitivity to others and to our environment, the President tweeted. Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is a major Hindu festival celebrated with much fervour across the country.

Popularly known as the festival of lights, Diwali is also celebrated by Hindus in Nepal, Malaysia, Mauritius and Pakistan. According to the Hindu holy books, the festival marks the return of Lord Ram from Sri Lanka to Ayodhya after defeating Raavan.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
DUBLIN, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Hepatitis C Tests (In Vitro Diagnostics) - Global Market Analysis and Forecast Model (COVID-19 Market Impact)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Hepatitis C Tests (In Vitro Diagnostics) - Global Market Analysis and Forecast Model (COVID-19 market impact) is built to visualize quantitative market trends within In Vitro Diagnostics therapeutic area.



The model discusses in detail the impact of COVID-19 on Hepatitis C Tests market for the year 2020 and beyond. Hepatitis C is a viral infection caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C virus is a blood borne virus that causes liver disease and can cause acute and chronic hepatitis. Infection may be caused through injection drug use, transfusion of unscreened blood products, unsafe injection practices, sexual contact and from infected mother to her baby.



Diagnosis of HCV infection can be done by screening for anti-HCV antibodies along with a serological test to confirm the viral infection. Nucleic acid test for HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) is performed in case of positive test results for anti HCV antibodies to confirm chronic infection. Since there is no vaccine available for HCV infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends blood tests to screen patients that are at an increased risk of HCV infection and reducing the risk of HCV exposure in health care settings.



Screening of pregnant women for HCV is standard of care in most countries and considered to be a cost-effective strategy for reducing the risk of transmission to the baby. The HCV tests include EIA, NAAT and multi parameter NAAT HCV tests.



Each of the covered 39 country's color-coded and fully-sourced market models are equipped with epidemiology based indications with procedure volumes. To increase the data transparency, the interactive excel deliverable covers installed base, new sales volumes, product usage, average selling prices, market size and company share/rank analysis (wherever available). Moreover, analyst comments with qualitative insight offer context for quantitative data.



Key Inclusions of the market model are:



Currently marketed Hepatitis C Tests and evolving competitive landscape

Insightful review of the key industry trends.

Annualized total Hepatitis C Tests market revenue by segment and market outlooks from 2015-2030.

Granular data on total procedures, units, average selling prices and market values by segment.

Global, Regional and Country level market specific insights

Qualitative market specific information is available with global trends further broken down into regional trends. In addition, analysts provide unique country specific insights on the market.

SWOT analysis for Hepatitis C Tests market.

Competitive dynamics insights and trends provided for Hepatitis C Tests market.

Drive the understanding of the market by getting the veritable big picture including an overview of the healthcare system. In addition the Market Access segment allows you to delve deeper into market dynamics with information on reimbursement policies and the regulatory landscape.



Scope

CMO executives who must have deep understanding of the Hepatitis C Tests market place to make strategic planning and investment decisions.

Sourcing and procurement executives who must understand crucial components of the supply base in order to make decisions about supplier selection and management.

Private equity investors that need a deeper understanding of the market to identify and value potential investment targets.

Reasons to Buy

Understand the impact of COVID-19 on Hepatitis C Tests market.

Develop and design your in-licensing and out-licensing strategies through a review of pipeline products and technologies, and by identifying the companies with the most robust pipeline.

Develop business strategies by understanding the trends shaping and driving Hepatitis C Tests.

Drive revenues by understanding the key trends, innovative products and technologies, market segments, and companies likely to impact the Hepatitis C Tests market in the future.

Formulate effective sales and marketing strategies by understanding the competitive landscape and by analysing the company share of market leaders.

Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolios and create effective counter-strategies to gain a competitive advantage.

Track device sales in the global and country-specific Hepatitis C Tests market from 2015-2030.

Organize your sales and marketing efforts by identifying the market categories and segments that present maximum opportunities for consolidations, investments and strategic partnerships.

Companies Mentioned

Abbott Laboratories

Siemens Healthineers AG

Grifols SA

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc

Hologic Inc

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/88jlir

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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Commentary: Australia lacks credibility with veto of BRI deal

Xinhua) 21:27, April 22, 2021

Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2020 shows panda toys during a "Tree of Friendship" planting ceremony in Canberra, Australia, Nov. 18, 2020. (Photo by Liu Changchang/Xinhua)

- The stark disregard for the spirit of contract has put Australia's credibility into question.

- It is hoped that Australia will take an objective and rational view of the BRI and cooperation with China.

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- With the federal government of Australia tearing up Victoria State's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreements with China, Australia has shown no respect for the spirit of contract or any sincerity toward improving bilateral ties.

On Wednesday, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced her decision in a statement to scrap the memorandum of understanding on BRI cooperation and the framework agreement, which were signed in 2018 and 2019 respectively, between the government of Victoria and the Chinese side.

The statement, calling those deals "inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations," was made under Australia's Foreign Arrangements Scheme that came into effect last December.

It is reportedly the first time that the Australian government has used its new power tool to cancel agreements between local governments and other countries.

Photo taken on Nov. 2, 2020 shows the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

The stark disregard for the spirit of contract has put Australia's credibility into question. It seems risky now to strike deals with the country because of such unpredictable behavior.

Cooperation with Australia has become erratic. Blame the government's capricious behavior, something China knows all too well.

Since 2018, a dozen Chinese investment projects in infrastructure and agriculture have been turned down by Australia on so-called national security concerns.

Chinese dairy company Mengniu gave up its proposed acquisition of Lion Dairy and Drinks last August, after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that the Chinese company's investment was "contrary to the national interest." Months later, Australia blocked a Chinese construction company from buying out a domestic builder, citing national security concerns.

The BRI deals with Australia have also long been in the crosshairs due to a cold-war mentality and ideological bias present among some politicians. The cancellation of the two BRI agreements, in spite of all tangible benefits and without explicit reasons given, raises concerns over the Australia's selective and discriminatory approach.

The BRI was initiated by China in 2013 to promote trade and economic cooperation among economies along the ancient Silk Road, and to further open up markets in a mutually beneficial manner.

Aerial photo taken on March 18, 2020 shows the container dock of Shanghai's Yangshan Port, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

As of January this year, a total of 171 countries and international organizations including Australia have signed 205 cooperation agreements with China in the joint construction of the Belt and Road.

With the memorandum of understanding signed in 2018, Victoria was the first Australian state to sign a Belt and Road cooperation agreement with China.

With two-way trade between the state and China soaring to over 18.3 billion U.S. dollars annually at that time, Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews told Xinhua in 2019 that the partnership with China is important to his government, and "very important to Victorian economic prosperity, jobs and investment."

"There is no conflict of fundamental interest between us, and no major historical irritants to be healed," said Minister Wang Xining of the Chinese Embassy in Australia in his address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, a few hours before Payne announced the cancellation.

It is hoped that Australia will take an objective and rational view of the BRI and cooperation with China. Australia must behave in a way that bolsters mutual trust between the two counties. The country's own credibility is at stake.

(Web editor: Bianji, Liang Jun)
French police arrested three people linked to a 36-year-old Tunisian man who stabbed to death a police employee at her workplace southwest of Paris on Friday in a suspected Islamist attack.

The murder at a police station in Rambouillet, a commuter town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Paris, revived the trauma of a spate of deadly attacks last year.

The victim was a 49-year-old woman named as Stephanie, a police administrative assistant and mother-of-two, who was stabbed twice in the throat at the entrance of the station. Her attacker was shot dead.

President Emmanuel Macron, who was out of the country on a visit to Chad in northern Africa, tweeted that France would never give in to "Islamist terrorism".

The latest bloodshed and violence targeting police is likely to focus attention further on the danger of Islamic extremism in France and wider concerns about security one year ahead of presidential elections.

France's national anti-terrorism prosecutors have opened a terror investigation, while a source close to the inquiry told AFP the knifeman shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) during the attack.

Chief anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard, who spoke outside the station along with Prime Minister Jean Castex, confirmed "comments made by the assailant" indicated a terror motive.

- 'By her side' -

The attacker, identified only as Jamel G., was fatally wounded when an officer opened fire on him.

He arrived in France illegally in 2009 but had since obtained residency papers, a police source said, adding that he was unknown to security services. He had just moved to Rambouillet.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen immediately questioned why the attacker had been able to settle in the country and she hit back at recent criticism about police brutality in France.

"We need to get back to reason: supporting our police, expelling illegal immigrants and eradicating Islamism," she wrote on Twitter.

Story continues

Polls currently show her running Macron close in next year's election, though experts warn that surveys conducted so far from voting day and during a pandemic should be interpreted with caution.

About 30 police officers wearing balaclavas raided the suspect's home in Rambouillet on Friday evening as they sought information about his motive and contacts, AFP reporters at the scene said.

At the same time police in the Paris region searched the home of the person who had sheltered Jamel G when he first arrived in France, sources close to the inquiry said.

Three people were arrested in total, a judicial source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who also visited officers in Rambouillet, said security would be stepped up at stations nationwide.

- Spate of attacks -

France has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist attackers since 2015, with a series of incidents in the last year keeping terrorism and security as a leading concern.

Macron's government has introduced legislation to tackle religious extremism in France, which would make it easier for the government to close places of worship and track foreign funding of mosques.

The bill has been condemned by critics who see it as stigmatising Muslims.

Last September, a Pakistani man wounded two people with a meat cleaver outside the former offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

On October 16, a young Chechen refugee beheaded teacher Samuel Paty who had showed some of the caricatures to his pupils in a crime that profoundly shocked the country.

And on October 29, three people were killed when a recently-arrived Tunisian went on a stabbing spree in a church in the Mediterranean city of Nice.

In the most serious recent attack against French police, three officers and one police employee in Paris were stabbed to death in October 2019 by an IT specialist colleague who was himself then shot dead.

He was found to have shown an interest in radical Islam.

These attacks came after the massacres carried out by Islamist extremists from 2015 that began with the killing of staff in the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January that year.

In France's deadliest peacetime atrocity, 130 people were killed and 350 were wounded when Islamist suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Stade de France stadium, bars and restaurants in central Paris and the Bataclan concert hall in November 2015.

The following year a man rammed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd in Nice, killing 86 people.

Just a few weeks earlier, in June 2016, two police officers were stabbed to death at their home outside Paris by a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group.

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Naturally, the first ones to get the opportunity to drive Hyundais Ioniq 5 are representatives of the local media at home in South Korea, and already first drive reviews are starting to come out online. Luckily, these folks know very well that its all about the global reach in this day and age, so all the talking and voiceover is done in English.We love it when even the hustle of using the closed caption feature disappears, so we can easily focus on the actual impressions provided by the host. So far, we have selected the reviews from the Asian Petrolhead and the Korea JoongAng Daily, with both having the chance to drive the EVs lon g- range version Depending on how much time you have, you can either choose the longer take of the former or the slightly more condensed review of the latter. Either way, we gradually arrived at about the same conclusion. The Ioniq 5 is an electric vehicle thats very much akin to any crossover SUV in terms of driving atmosphere, and one with a great price tagat least in KDM (Korean domestic market) specification.Basically, it starts at around the same MSRP of $44k (Asian Petrolhead did the conversion) as a Ford Mustang Mach-E ($42,895) would in America, before taking into account any incentives. Locally, it can go down to as little as $33k, which is clearly great pricing for Seoul residents.Then, Hyundais single greatest asset for the Ioniq 5 might be the companys new ultra-fast 800V charging; naturally, both reviews offer a glimpse of the experience. By the way, we have also added an official clip from Hyundai itself, showcasing in real-time the promised 18-minute charge time from 10 to 80% state of charge.
CALIFORNIA - Butte County Public Health is reminding residents of Butte County that they can host private events outdoors in the orange tier of the state's COVID-19 restrictions. Capacity for these events will increase if guests show proof of a negative Covid-19 test or full vaccination.

This is in following with California State guidelines and Orange Tier restrictions.

Private events can occur at indoor and outdoor venues and must follow these modifications:



Outdoors:

Attendance must be limited to a maximum of 100.

If attendees show proof of negative test or full vaccination, then a maximum of 300 people.

Attendance limits include all staff and volunteers working at the event.

Indoors:

Attendance must be limited to a maximum of 150 people. All attendees must show proof of negative test or full vaccination.

Butte County Public Health wants to remind people that they do not review, approve, deny or make recommendations concerning public or private events of any sort.
Queensland LNP MP George Christensen released video announcing he won't renominate as LNP candidate at the next Australian national election. (Screenshot by The Epoch Times)

Aussie MP Wont Run for Reelection, Cites Medias Dominant Influence on Politics

Queensland MP George Christensen has said that mainstream media and cultural institutions have a dominant influence on Australian politics, which adversely affect key conservative issues.

This was one of the reasons Christensen outlined when announcing on Thursday night that he will not be renominating as the Liberal National Party (LNP) candidate for the federal seat of Dawson at the next election.

But he hopes to be able to do more for conservative issues from outside of Parliament.

While Ive been repeatedly encouraged by the party, my staff, my colleagues, and my voters to run again, the reality is in the past year Ive been separated from my family who was caught up overseas with the pandemic, he said in a video posted to Facebook.

Theyre now here in the country, so I want to focus more on them going into the future.

George Christensen speaks for an amendment to the marriage equality bill at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Dec. 7, 2017. (Michael Masters/Getty Images)

The member for Dawson said he only ever intended to serve three terms in the seat but chose to run for a fourth because he was concerned that a green-tinged Labor government would be a threat to his region.

But a fifth run with the LNP is now off the table, and Christensen attributes some of his reason for that to the role the mainstream media has played in influencing politics.

Im also concerned about where our politics in Australia is headed, and I do mean our politics, not our government, he said.

Our politics just does not seem to be working when it comes to the issues that matter to me and to many others, he said.

Some of the issues he outlined included enshrining religious liberty, protecting unborn children, ensuring freedom of speech, installing cheap coal-fired power to create jobs, and not selling Australian land and strategic assets to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Unfortunately, Im not so sure anymore that these issues can be properly fixed by legislation and via the ballot box, Christensen said. Because the mainstream media and other cultural institutions in this nation, sadly, have the dominant influence over our politics.

These influential institutions and media are also disconnected from the views of everyday Australians, he said.

Vials labelled AstraZeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine, and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken March 10, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

In the seven-minute video, Christensen also expressed concerns about vaccine safety and how the pandemic has been handled.

State premiers, he said, have used the COVID-19 pandemic to remove our freedoms and restrict our liberty.

We need to push back on restrictions on doctors saying what they want to say, on doctors making ultimate treatments available to their patients, on these forced mask mandates, and most importantly on the de facto mandate of vaccines, he said.

We need to stop any notion of vaccine passports and any coercive actions by big corporations denying services to people who dont vaccinate.

On all of these issues and more, I can potentially have a stronger, more unfiltered voice outside of our parliament, he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the House of Representatives in Canberra, Australia on Feb. 18, 2020. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

In the meantime, Christensen has put his support behind the LNP coalition government, saying that while he doesnt always agree with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a Labor government would make things infinitely worse.

He also suggested that he wont leave Canberra quietly.

While Im in parliament until the next election and while theres still breath in me, Im going to continue speaking out on the issues that matter, without fear or favour, or the need to get re-elected, he said.

The Mackay-based politician was first elected to federal parliament in 2010 after spending six years in the local council.

He increased the LNPs margin in the seat of Dawson to 14.6 percent at the 2019 election, making him a strong contender if he chose to run as an independent, where he would not have to toe the party line on issues that matter to him.

He has also been a champion of human rights, often publicly speaking out against the CCPs persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other faith groups in China.

His seat is now set to undergo a preselection process.
LAGOS, Nigeria, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its contribution to achieve a conducive environment in Africa's most populous nation, Novarick Homes and Properties is geared towards investment in more sustainable and renewable lifestyles. The firm recently unveiled its new Ruby 2 and Ruby 3 collection of Semi-Detached and Terrace Duplexes, right in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria.

Ruby 2 Terrace Ruby 3 Terrace

All over the world, the need for clean, safe and reliable energy cannot be over emphasized. This has led the team at Novarick to consistently research for other innovative methods which will improve the living standard of people, using renewable energy systems in a more sustainable environment.

The Ruby 2 project comprises of four units of exquisite Semi-Detached Duplexes with BQ which features spacious rooms, family lounge, fully fitted kitchen, a walk-in closet, Jacuzzi and well-equipped gym. It is designed as a luxurious yet affordable residence, wholly developed to accommodate loved ones in a safe and secured eco-friendly community.

While the Ruby 3 is a mini-private solar-powered estate of four units (4 Bedroom Terraces), two units (4 Bedroom Semi-Detached Duplex) and one unit (4 Bedroom Fully Detached Duplex), exclusively designed to maximize space and ensure privacy. The new estate features smart metering, good drainage system, and 24hrs electricity, treated water system, ample parking space with interlocked roads to create a synergy between the lush panoramic views and nature.

"Our team of engineers are focused on reinventing the real estate sector in Nigeria by making sustainability the core of our business," said Noah Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer, Novarick Homes and Properties. "From land ownership to investments and construction, we are consistently creating new innovations to guarantee high value for money."

Ibrahim also stressed the urgent need to provide affordable housing for the growing population across the bustling mega-city. In a Bloomberg publication, Lagos was described as the Nigerian urban sprawl, that's an unrivaled magnet for people in Africa or anywhere.

Furthermore, the first phase of the Ruby Project was launched in June 2020 to provide a mixture of luxury and affordability, specially designed to merge class with urban development. The prime location provides access to other strategic facilities like schools, supermarkets, hospitals, corporate institutions and movie centers.

Novarick Homes and Properties was established in 2018 as a real estate development firm, providing housing and investment solutions in Lagos, Nigeria.

The company also provides a superior end-to-end service in collaboration with its clients to make land acquisition, property ownership and real estate investments seamless and affordable.

For more information:

Contact Person: Adeola Odunowo

Phone: +234 803 051 2567

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Novarick Homes and Property Limited
Army Spc. Vanessa Guillens murder at Fort Hood in Killeen last year exposed a pattern of violence and abuse against soldiers at the U.S. militarys largest active-duty base and sparked national outrage over federal officials handling of sexual harassment and noncombat deaths.

Guillen told her family she was being sexually harassed by several fellow soldiers at Fort Hood before she went missing, which happened one year ago Thursday. In the year since her death, lawmakers have filed bills aimed at strengthening responses to sexual harassment, and the military has launched investigations into the bases culture. Fourteen U.S. Army leaders, including commanders and other leaders at Fort Hood, were fired or suspended.

READ ALSO: Fort Hood honors victim Vanessa Guillen's memory with gate dedication

But even as the U.S. Army rolls out new policies, including some announced last week, her family, advocates and lawmakers are still calling for more changes to how military officials respond to sexual harassment and violence against soldiers.

My frustration, my anger is the same, because its not fair my sister was murdered the way she was, Guillens 17-year-old sister, Lupe Guillen, said at a press conference Tuesday. She had to be murdered for everyone to realize all of these issues.  This has happened for decades.

The secretary of the army acknowledged during a press briefing in August that the base had the most cases for sexual assault and harassment and murders for our entire formation of the U.S. Army. At least 159 Fort Hood soldiers died out of combat between 2016 and last year, including seven homicides and 71 suicides, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Vanessa Guillen was 20 years old when she was bludgeoned to death in an armory room where she worked. Her body was carried away, mutilated and buried in a shallow grave nearby. It took weeks for investigators to find her body.

Aaron Robinson, who investigators allege killed Guillen, fled Fort Hood and killed himself when police confronted him. His girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, faces a charge of conspiracy to tamper with evidence, but no official court date has been set.

Guillens family said she hadnt reported the sexual harassment from her fellow soldiers out of fear of retaliation. The Armys investigators said they found no evidence of sexual harassment.

Advocates say that the military creates a siloed environment that allows sexual harassment and sexual violence to occur, many times unnoticed, and often unreported. And when there are reporter, the military itself investigates them.

If you are sexually assaulted as a service member, you cannot just leave. You cannot just quit your job and leave, and so there's a level of power and control that exists within this structure that happens nowhere else, said Amy Franck, founder of Never Alone, an advocacy group working to end sexual harassment in the military. They have the ability to punish you. They own you 24/7. Its like a bad domestic violence relationship.

In response to Guillens death, the U.S. Army appointed an independent board to investigate sexual harassment claims at Fort Hood. The board came up with a 136-page report with recommendations. The Army has committed to adopting them all and announced last week several of the changes it has made so far.

We have significant work to do to regain our Soldiers trust in our sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention program, A U.S. Army spokesperson told The Texas Tribune in a statement. We are working to ensure that all Soldiers are provided with a safe, professional environment and that they are empowered to raise any allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment and be treated with dignity and respect throughout the process.

El Pasoans had a vigil last year for Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, who was murdered at Fort Hood. Credit: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times via REUTERS

The Army is restructuring its criminal investigation command, as well as redesigning its sexual harassment and assault response and prevention program as part of an initial swath of adopted changes. Officials have updated policies to require full investigations of off-post soldier drug overdoses, including of the source of the drugs, and investigations of all suspected solider deaths by suicide. Last year, the Army updated guidance on how to respond when a soldier goes missing.

Other changes proposed by the committee are specific to Fort Hood  requiring changes to improve the climate and requiring regular welfare checks. The committee said officials needed to spring into action during the critical first 24 hours when a soldier is absent  something officials were criticized for after lacking urgency in their search for Guillen when she went missing.

ICYMI: Army under fire from Congress over Fort Hood response

The U.S. military overall has also faced patterns of sexual abuse within its ranks. According to a 2015 RAND analysis, requested by the military, 15% of women and 2% of men said they were sexually assaulted at least once since joining the service.

This issue is probably our greatest threat to national security, said retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert D. Shadley, a board member of Never Alone. Its not China. Its not Russia. It is the United States military itself.

Retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor of the United States Air Force, serves as the president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for sexual assault victims. He said many of the changes the military is rolling out should have happened years ago and hes glad theyre being adopted.

The sexual assault problems are a cultural problem. Its a lack of faith in the process problem. Its a lack of accountability problem, he said.

Franck said adopting the recommendations is not enough. There needs to be systemic change, she said.

Until there is outside accountability and transparency, sexual harassment and violence will continue unchecked, Franck said. The changes announced so far detract from the real issues, and some are marketing-based initiatives, she said. Real systemic change is needed to end the pattern of violence.

U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, introduced the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act of 2020 last year, which would create a confidential reporting system for sexual harassment in the military and explicitly list sexual harassment as a crime in the military law constitution, the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

It would also require the Secretary of Defense to establish a process so service members can lodge confidential complaints and would move legal decisions outside the military chain of command to a new outside office in order to add external accountability.

But the bill hasnt gained much traction since last year. The Texas House voted unanimously Wednesday in passing a resolution to urge the U.S. Congress to take action on the bill.

State Sen. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, also introduced Senate Bill 623, which aims to protect Texas military members  the Texas Army National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard  from sexual assault. It establishes a state sexual offense prevention and response program to independently investigate reported assaults, as well as provide recovery for victims. On Tuesday, Blanco announced the state legislation would be renamed the Vanessa Guillen Act.

Rogelio Guillen spoke at a press conference this week about legislation that would designate Sept. 30, his daughter's birthday, as Vanessa Guillen Day. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune

I served in the military active duty for six years, and Ive seen firsthand the culture in the military fails to protect women and men from sexual assault in the military, Blanco said Tuesday. While the Texas Legislature does not have jurisdiction over the United States military, [it] does have the largest state military forces in the entire county. And we can lead by example.

The bill passed in the Texas Senate and awaits action in the Texas House. Texas lawmakers are also seeking to memorialize Guillen by naming part of a highway after her and designating her birthday, Sept. 30, as Vanessa Guillen Day in the state.

For a year, our community has been calling for change, said state Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, on Tuesday, noting that Guillen was one of her constituents. For a year, Vanessa Guillens family has been calling for change. Our community is strong and our resilience unwavering. We will not stop calling, marching and mobilizing until there is real change. We will always remember Vanessa Guillen.

Disclosure: The New York Times has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
It all started with one mans dream and the entire countys opposition to that dream.

When water pipeline developer Aaron Million initially pitched his idea to divert water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir to Colorados Front Range, it was met with opposition from all sides in Sweetwater County and resulted in the formation of Communities Protecting the Green, a committee tasked with monitoring various proposals like Millions and filing a lawsuit challenging a proposal if it clears the various regulatory hurdles needed to begin work.

Now, the people on the Communities Protecting...
The stringent mobility curbs and lockdowns put across key Indian cities will dent the economic momentum and will result in an economic loss of Rs 1.5 trillion, suggests a report by the economic wing of State Bank of India (SBI).

Total loss is estimated at Rs 1.5 trillion, of which Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan account for 80 per cent. Maharashtra alone accounts for 54 per cent, wrote Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser at SBI in an April23 note.



ALSO READ: S&P forecasts 11% growth for India this fiscal, flags impact of lockdowns

In this backdrop, SBI has also lowered the gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for fiscal 2021-22 (FY22). The revised FY22 projection now stand at 10.4 per cent for real GDP (earlier 11 per cent) and 14.3 per cent for nominal GDP (earlier 15 per cent).

Recently, analysts at Jefferies and CARE Ratings, too, had lowered their GDP forecasts for the current fiscal in the backdrop of the recent developments. CARE Ratings, for instance, cut its FY22 GDP growth forecast to 10.2 per cent from earlier projection of 10.7-10.9 per cent. On March 24, 2021, it had projected between 11-11.2 per cent based on GVA (gross value added) growth of 10.2 per cent.



As localised lockdowns get stricter and more widespread, broader indicators will likely decline more. We cut FY22 by 2.2 percentage points (ppt) to 11 per cent. This assumes half of the states/cities (by GDP) witness a 30 per cent less severe lockdown than previous year for 50 per cent lower days, analysts at Jefferies wrote in an April 21 note.

Labour migration

Meanwhile, migration of labour from key economic hubs across Maharashtra to their respective hometown poses another risk, especially to the manufacturing sector. SBI estimates pegs the economic loss of around Rs 82,000 crore for Maharashtra, which it expects to increase if restrictions are further tightened.

"According to the data provided by Western Railways (for the period of April 1-12), almost 4.32 lakh people have returned to the states like Uttar Pradesh (UP), West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Odisha from Maharashtra. Of 4.32 lakh, around 3.23 lakh reverse migrated to UP and Bihar alone. From Central Railways, our estimate indicates that around 4.7 lakh reverse migrated to northern and eastern states from Maharashtra," Ghosh wrote.

Despite this, analysts expect the impact to be short-lived, unless the mobility curbs are widened to impact the broader economy. Those at Nomura, for instance, expect the impact to be felt for the next one-three months and less severe (than in Q2-2020), due to a more pandemic-adept economy. They have pegged at 11.5 per cent y-o-y in 2021, up from - 6.9 per cent in 2020, with risks to the downside.



ALSO READ: Lockdown must be the last resort, says Modi as India grapples with Covid-19

Overall, we expect a loss of sequential momentum in Q2-2021, but once the second wave passes (we assume July-September), it should result in a release of pent-up demand in the subsequent quarters. In addition, the economy should benefit from faster vaccinations after June, the lagged impact of easy financial conditions, front-loaded fiscal activism and strong global growth, wrote Sonal Varma, managing director and chief India economist at Nomura, in a recent co-authored note with Aurodeep Nandi.
Reporter

Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S.
citizens who have been trapped outside of Trinidad and Tobago since the closure of the countrys borders in April 2020, may soon be allowed to come home.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday announced during a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns that he and a team of ministers met with Caribbean Airlines Ltd on Friday to discuss the reopening of the countrys borders sometime within the next four to six weeks.
An Iowa woman who tried to kill two children in 2019 by hitting them with her car because she thought they were of Middle Eastern, African or Mexican descent has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and hate crime charges, the authorities said.

The woman, Nicole Poole Franklin, 43, made the admission to two counts of hate crime charges on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors. She faces life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charges, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.

Nicole Poole Franklin attempted to kill two children because she thought they came from another country, Pamela S. Karlan, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the departments civil rights division, said in the statement. All people in the United States, regardless where they come from, have the right to be free from fear of violence because of who they are.

According to a plea agreement for the hate crime charges, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, Ms. Poole Franklin was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2019, in Des Moines when she saw two children who she believed were of Middle Eastern or African descent walking on the sidewalk.
( ) is making progress with test-work for a pre-feasibility study (PFS) into the production of high purity alumina (HPA) using its specially developed refining process at a proposed processing operation at Kwinana in Western Australia.

During the March quarter, HPA was produced at >4N (99.99%) purity by calcining high purity precursor materials purified by the companys refining process.

The materials were refined from industrial chemical feedstock material available from domestic and international suppliers.

These >4N purity results are from five HPA production runs completed by Source Certain International (SCI), previously TSW Analytical Pty Ltd, and were calculated by the addition of all the assayed element impurities then subtracted from 100%.

HPA samples were sent to an independent laboratory in Perth to verify the HPA purity using fusionXRF and fusion-laser ablation assay techniques with these assays set to help ensure quality control and quality assurance - an important step in completing the HPA pre-feasibility study (PFS).

A phase analysis is planned to confirm the crystal structure of its HPA is 100% alpha alumina.

New assay method

SCI has developed a new assay method that has eliminated some of the conventional reagents and process steps that introduced contamination and the method has also significantly reduced the detection limits of most elements.

A modified calcination and washing process has helped reduce silicon, chromium and iron contamination as well as volatile elements noted in previous test runs.

Kwinana industrial site

KRR has continued investigations for an industrial site in the Kwinana area, between 30-40 kilometres south of Perth in Western Australia.

This area is close to a skilled and productive workforce and is host to specialist centres for chemical and resource-based processing, marine engineering, and shipbuilding.

Kwinana also has industrial land areas specifically set aside for companies wishing to invest in downstream processing and other heavy or strategic industrial activities, including the Lithium Valley concept plan.

Engineering studies

Como Engineers capex and opex estimates are pending with some final vendor costings.

On completion, the PFS documentation will be finalised for release to the market.

Mini pilot-plant

KRR has started the development of a mini pilot plant to demonstrate that the KRR process works at a larger scale for a definitive feasibility study and to produce market samples.

The process flowsheet and mass balances have been used to scale the mini pilot plant and enquiries with vessel vendors are underway.

KRR has already purchased a rotary tube furnace for the calcination stage of the process with delivery in about eight weeks.

The mini-pilot work will not hold up the release of the PFS.

Other metallurgical developments

Metallurgical HPA test-work is continuing to further refine the KRR process with the current focus on improving the precursor product to simplify the final calcination stage.

Test-work is also ongoing into extracting high purity vanadium and titanium products from the company's Speewah vanadium deposit suitable as intermediate products for battery and master alloy applications.

Mount Remarkable

On the exploration front, King River enhanced the potential of its Mount Remarkable Project after revealing drilling results from a 33-hole, 2,310 metres reverse circulation (RC) drilling program completed in 2020 during the quarter, with assays including the discovery of a new high-grade gold zone.

The best result was 6 metres at 5.25 g/t gold, including 1-metre at 30.1 g/t from the western side of the main Trudi 5 metre drilling.

In addition, a new high-grade gold intersection was reported with the best result being 2 metres at 8.44 g/t gold, including 1-metre at 14.8 g/t.

This is the first +10 g/t gold result outside of the Trudi Main prospect and the company considers this very encouraging for exploration of other veins at the main Mt Remarkable project area and on its other exploration tenements in the region.

Reconnaissance exploration is planned to start as early as possible this dry season across KRRs extensive tenement holdings in the region.

This will allow follow up exploration and drilling of any new discoveries/targets as the year progresses.

Kurundi Project

At the companys Kurundi Project in the Tennant Creek/Davenport region of the Northern Territory, reconnaissance exploration has returned high-grade gold, silver and copper rock chip samples.

Results were very encouraging with high-grade gold results from multiple locations including:

16.05 g/t gold, 141 parts per million silver and 6.4% copper from veining at the main Kurundi workings;

13.55 g/t gold, 124 ppm silver and 0.37% copper from veining over 100 metres SE of the main Kurundi workings;

17.25 g/t gold and 115 ppm silver from veining 700 metres NW of the Kurundi workings; and

16.25 g/t gold, 138 ppm silver and 0.18% copper from veining 700 metres NW of the Kurundi workings.

The company holds 7,900 square kilometres in 16 tenements in the Tennant Creek region around the Tennant Creek, Rover and Kurundi goldfields, covering four main project areas: Tennant Creek East, Tennant East/Barkley, Rover East and Kurundi.

Kurundi next steps

The company plans to continue exploration in the region during the first half of 2021 including reconnaissance at the Kurundi Project and surrounding tenements, soil sampling in the areas around Edmirringee and Whistle Duck, ground magnetics and gravity on EL31619 and further airborne magnetics in the Barkley region.

Work in the first half of the year will be in preparation for the drilling of the best targets later in the year.
MSNBC's Joy Reid has argued that something must have 'scared' 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant before she lunged at another woman with a knife and was shot dead by a cop.

Police were called to a chaotic scene at the foster home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, and police officer Nicholas Reardon opened fire on Ma'Khia when she launched her knife attack.

The events that took place before police arrived remain uncertain, but Ma'Khia's foster mother Angela Moore has said the teen had argued with two of her former foster children over an untidy bed.

During her broadcast of 'The ReidOut' on MSNBC on Thursday, Joy made an argument defending Bryant's actions before the shooting.

'We don't know the details of what happened beforehand but I'm bothered that no one is asking what could've scared a 16-year-old girl enough that she felt that she had to grab a kitchen knife facing two adult women,' Reid said.

'No one's asking what would've scared a kid who's in a foster situation so much that she felt that she needed to defend herself or pick up a knife,' she added.

Joy Reid drew criticism for comments made about the Ma'Khia Bryant shooting

Reid also took aim at people who have said the officer was protecting the other girls involved in the altercation when he opened fire on knife-wielding Ma'Khia.

'No one's asking that about her, they're just saying - people with this sort of concern trolling - pretending they care so much about those other two women,' Reid said.

'Do we really think these people are so concerned about those other two black women?'

Her comments drew a backlash from some on Twitter.

One wrote: '911 operators, take note. Ask if its a knife fight first, then do not dispatch police. Send Joy Reid.'

Conservative Curtis Houck said 'Joy Reid claims anyone defending the officer that shot #MaKiyahBryant is more concerned about the white officer and don't actually care about the lives of the other girls b/c - you guessed it - they're black'

One user asked, 'Joy a black girl was saved doesnt that life matter to you?'

that the initial argument was started when two of her former foster children came to Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday for her birthday . Moore has told CNN

She said the fight over the housework started before she had arrived home from work.

'It was over keeping the house clean,' Moore, who was taking care of Bryant, said.

'The older one told them to clean up the house because "Mom doesn't like the house dirty." So that's how it all started.'

Moore said she was told that Ma'Khia had told the older girl: 'You're not the guardian of me.'

Moore said the girls argued 'all the time' since Ma'Khia moved into the home a few months ago and she was told by one of those involved in the brawl how it broke out.

'I never thought it would escalate like that,' Moore said.

The City of Columbus previously released body camera footage showing the incident

The footage appears to show Bryant lunging at a woman with what appeared to be a knife

The police officer, Nicholas Reardon, fired his weapon, resulting in Bryant's death

She received a frantic phone call from one of the former foster children who is seen in the fateful police bodycam video wearing pink as Ma'Khia lunged at her with a knife before being gunned down by Reardon.

Moore said the young girl in pink told her: '"Mom, get home. Where are you? They're going crazy." She said they shot Ma'Kiah and I said, "Huh?" It was just crazy.'

The foster mother started to pray and received text messages from people sending their condolences before she had even arrived home to find the teenager dead.

Moore paid tribute to Ma'Khia as a 'fun' girl who loved to dance and help around the house, while her birth mother Paula said she loved music, cooking and making TikTok videos.

The revelations come after one of her neighbors, a military veteran, said his home security camera proves the Columbus Police officer had no choice but to shoot the teenager because more people could have been killed.

Donavon Brinson told Fox News Thursday morning he believes Bryant could have fatally stabbed the young woman she was seen lunging at with a knife if the cop hadn't opened fire.

'He could have either not fired and the young lady in pink could have been stabbed in the neck and brutally or fatally injured and then he could have shot [Bryant] and we could have had two [young women] dead - or he could have responded in the way that he did and one young lady lost her life,' he said.

Another angle from across the street showed the fight that led to the fatal shooting

A second neighbor also said he believes police bodycam footage shows Bryant was in 'full attack mode' and 'needed to be stopped' because a 'young lady's life was at stake'.

Reardon shot Bryant four times at around 4.45pm on Tuesday on the 3100 block of Legion Lane while responding to a 911 call about an attempted stabbing.

Footage from a security camera on the garage of Brinson's home across the street from the foster home captured a new angle of the shooting, giving a glimpse into the moments leading up to the fatal incident.

The 26-second video shows a girl - now known to be Bryant - walking down a driveway toward other people at the very same moment that a police car pulls up outside the home.

Ma'Khia Bryant, who was just 16 years old, is pictured in two undated selfies

Bryant (left) was a foster child in the care of Franklin County

Pictured: Nicholas Reardon, the officer who fired the fatal shots

Bryant then appears to suddenly charge at another person in the driveway. What happened next was captured on police body camera footage released Wednesday.

The police officer is seen taking a few steps toward a group of people in the driveway when Bryant starts swinging a knife wildly at another girl or woman, who falls backward.

The officer shouts several times to get down. Bryant then charges at another girl or woman, who is pinned against a car.

From a few feet away, with people on either side of him, the officer fires four shots, and Bryant slumps to the ground. A black-handled blade similar to a kitchen knife or steak knife lies on the sidewalk next to her.

A man immediately yells at the officer: 'You didn't have to shoot her! She's just a kid, man!'

The officer responds: 'She had a knife. She just went at her.'

Bryant enrolled at Independence High School in February. She was a foster child in the care of Franklin County.

Nicholas Reardon, the officer who fired the fatal shots, is currently not on street duty, pending the results of an investigation into the shooting.

Joy Reid is no stranger to making controversial statements on her show.

In March, she tweeted, 'I'll say it again: people on the right would trade all the tax cuts for the ability to openly say the n-word like in 'the good old days.''

'To them, not being able to be openly racist and discriminatory without consequence is oppression. Trump is the avatar for this 'freedom.''

Reid's tweet came the same day she said on her show that states like Texas and Mississippi only want black people to get vaccines because white people want black people to 'get their behinds into the factory and make me my steaks.'

In 2018, old tweets posted by Reid years earlier about 'rentboys' and 'grimey closet-cases' resurfaced days after the MSNBC host tried to deny writing homophobic blog comments appearing under her name.

She claimed she'd been hacked after images from her blog, titled The Reid Report, were tweeted out.

In one tweet, Reid referred to Southern Baptist minister George Rekers, who was famously caught with a male prostitute, as a 'rentboy.'

MSNBC host Joy Reid sparked outrage this week when she tweeted that conservatives would trade tax cuts to use the n-word

'George 'Rentboy' Rekers resigns is still not gay,' Reid tweeted.

In another tweet, Reid said: 'Rush Limbaugh's fourth marriage offers a hopeful message for fat, grimey closet-cases everywhere. Get rich. (Karl Rover, you're on deck!).'

She also added: 'Report: Elton John, Who Is Gay, To Perform At Rush Limbaugh's Wedding. Elton to serenade the beard.'

Reid said the anti-gay references 'run counter to my personal beliefs and ideology' and had been included in the now-defunct blog in an 'effort to taint my character.'
Q1: Beaumont City Manager Kyle Hayes already has said the next City Council will be asked to borrow more money to continue the rate of streets improvement. That likely would include a tax rate increase, and more projects could be funded with that money. How should the council handle those decisions?

Q2: Beaumont residents continue to bring forward concerns about streets, sewer and drainage despite the city having a plan to address these issues. Is the problem communicating the information, the plans themselves or something else? How do you address that?

Q3: There seems to be a growing percentage of people who just dont believe their local government. Is that a concern, and how do you address it?

3 1 of 3 Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor Show More Show Less 2 of 3 BEAUMONT CC HAYNES Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Q4: Its no secret that the council doesnt always get along. How do you handle disagreements?

Q5: What quality of life improvements should the city be looking at?

Q6: What makes you the best candidate?

Related; Voter Guide: Beaumont Mayoral candidates

Mike Getz (I)

Age: 64

Occupation: Retired attorney

Highest level of education: Graduated from South Texas College of Law with a J.D., graduated from Lamar University with a bachelors degree in secondary education

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously elected office (up to three):

1. Endorsed by the Beaumont Firefighters Local 399

2. Endorsed by the Texas Real Estate Political Action Committee

3. President of the Temple Emanuel Brotherhood

A1: That was before Congress passed the coronavirus relief package, and theres an infrastructure package on the way. We need to continue to support the rehab of streets, but at this time I hope we dont have to have a tax increase.

A2: Id say its more of a communication problem. Theres different funding mechanisms for streets than water and sewage. Streets come from capital projects. The reality is we have had a lot of improvements in our streets made in the last 10 years. On the water infrastructure side, thats funded by water rate hikes on your water bills and water revenue bonds. The question becomes how much more can we tax citizens on water rates before theres pushback. It's expensive to do pipe bursting and replace lines. It needs to be done, but we need to communicate that.

A3: Transparency is the issue there. People need to be given information and afforded resources where they can find information. Our website is not the most user-friendly in the world. It could be retooled to be more user-friendly. There is data available, but you need to know how to find it. You can do it on the web or through public information requests or ask your council member. I dont have problems getting data.

A4: Disagreements on council should be addressed by the person presiding over council. Thats the mayor. As the presiding officer, youve got to manage the meeting. If you don't do that, you could have discord. You could have people talking over one another, shouting, behaving badly.

A5: One of the easiest things we can do is utilize our events facilities and staff to do more of the things that already have proven to be popular like Oktoberfest and the Craft Beer festival. People like musical events and to gather and socialize with their friends. These are events that dont cost a lot of money because we have vendors coming to sell their wares. We need to use the Jefferson Theatre more. We need to have amenities like dog parks. We need to have safe venues for people to use.

A6: I have a history, a verifiable history, and reputation of responding to constituents when they have a need. They know how accessible I am by email, phone, text and social media. They know I respond and address their issues, and they know Im tenacious enough to follow up so they get the relief theyre seeking. I cant always get their questions solved, but I can follow up and get things done.

Related: Voter Guide: Beaumont At-Large

Miles Haynes

Age: 32

Occupation: Business development manager with Americom Marketing

Highest level of Education: Masters degree in Public Administration from Lamar University

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously elected office (up to three):

1. Endorsed by the Beaumont Police Officers Association

2. Endorsed by the Peoples Political Action Committee

3. Graduate of Leadership Beaumont

A1: The city did a study that grades the streets at about a 67, and their goal is to get to a 69. Im definitely supportive of that. Infrastructure needs to be improved, and that's a byproduct of Beaumont being an older city. It would be unfortunate if taxes had to be increased in the middle of a pandemic. We hope that infrastructure improvements will give businesses an opportunity to have more traffic and increase sales tax.

A2: Infrastructure is a long-range issue. You dont solve it overnight. City staff are doing their best to evaluate the goals we've set and determine if they're right for the conditions we face. Transparency is a huge issue, but when you have a council that spends a lot of time talking about character, ethics and theres a lot of arguments, sometimes I think that can be a distraction and doesnt highlight the fact that city staff are diligently working on issues in our community. I think the bigger issue is the drama in local politics.

A3: I support police. I support firefighters. I support the healthcare industry, and I support government. I think we do need to restore that trust that we have in local government. Unfortunately, weve just been shown things that are not statesmenlike, and that erodes trust. Thats part of the reason I ran because city council members have so much influence across the city.

A4: Its about providing statistics. Im an individual who got a masters in public administration, which is a focus on local, municipal government. I study and research. Im not coming from an emotional place when Im talking about infrastructure, streets, parks and transportation. Im talking about how it impacts the citizens and economy. When we have more data, its much easier to dialogue with your co-council people. Even if there is a disagreement, its still about what you teach in high school - respect each other.

A5: We have an underutilized transportation system that could be revamped and rebuilt. We need to look at the vision for our parks with the data and make sure we're not reactive. Thats what my campaign is focused on - getting the data, the information. We want to support our business community. When we focus on those things, I think we can see amenities like the Lakeside Center have more traffic. We should be focusing on the projects and vision that brings our community together. COVID was tough enough. We understand that city council is bigger than us. When we focus on being serving the community, theres many projects we can focus our energy on.

A6: Ive been involved in the community through Leadership Beaumont, Rotary and other organizations. I have my masters in Public Administration. Im the only individual in my race with that. Thats a focus directly on city budget, how it works. I have the interpersonal skills that my opponents lack.

Related; Voter Guide: Beaumont voters to consider 16 charter change amendments

Alfred Dean

Could not be interviewed.

Compiled by Kaitlin Bain

Read The Beaumont Enterprise's endorsement for this race here.
Overview

Although the United States is rejoining the Paris Agreement, the ability of the Biden administration to discharge its obligations under the pact are heavily circumscribed. Even though Democrats controlled both houses of Congress during the first two years of the Obama presidency, bespoke cap-and-trade legislation stalled in the Senate, forcing the Obama administration to use agency rulemaking instead.

If politics create a forbidding hurdle to any future congressional action on climate, it is paradoxically the scienceand the indeterminacy of court-deference doctrines under the Administrative Procedure Actthat could defeat agency action. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, regulations get quashed if they are found to be arbitrary and capricious.

To survive challenge in federal court, a regulation must be based on a record sound enough to demonstrate that the agency took a hard look at all the relevant evidence and came to a reasoned conclusion. Though courts tend to be deferential to an agencys scientific assessments, it doesnt take much of a mistake or omission for a court to find that the agencys look was not quite hard enough to pass muster.

Thus the fate of any agency action on climate could come down to which way a federal court decides to load the dice on deference in disposing of the inevitable lawsuits. The Biden administration may not be able to comply with its renewed Paris commitmentseven if it wants to.

Summary

Global warming caused by anthropogenerated emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other less consequential greenhouse gases is real and observable. But what is more important is the amount of future warming that can be expected. The imprecision of climate forecasts may have something to do with why no significant federal legislation has been passed to restrict emissions. In 2016, the Supreme Court put a stay on the Obama administrations expansive Clean Power Plan because it lacked legislative backing. When Congress did attempt legislation, the 2009 Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill narrowly passed the House but never made it onto the Senate floor, despite a large Democratic plurality. Cap-and-trade largely cost the party 64 House seats and its majority in the 2010 congressional elections.

In 2009, the Obama administration EPA issued an Endangerment Finding from CO2 and other human emissions. The evidential basis backing that finding was limited solely to General Circulation Climate Models (GCMs). All the GCM models, save one, proved incapable of simulating the three-dimensional behavior of the lower atmosphere, and the one that did work, from the Russian Institute for Numerical Modelling, predicts less future warming than all the others. Best scientific practice would emphasize this model, but it also would stunt or reverse any expensive policies because the future warming is so small and distant.

The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) was a concept used by the Obama administration to justify sweeping policies, but the administration failed to follow OMB guidelines in the use of discount rates. Using warming suggested by both the Russian model and observationally based calculations of future warming, along with enhanced planetary greening caused by increasing atmospheric CO2, the SCC becomes negative (i.e., a benefit) across all discount rates under consideration.

Politically, it will be very difficult for the Biden administration to pass significant global warming legislation. With an even more constitutionalist Supreme Court than the one that stayed Obamas Clean Power Plan, it is highly likely that any sweeping actions absent legislation will be voided by the Court.

Introduction

There is widespread agreement that the climate is changing, and that human activity is a driver of some of the warming that began in the late 1970s. However, it is difficult to reconcile a warming of the early 20th century with CO2 changes, as the rate of warming then was statistically similar to the recent rise, but the concentration of atmospheric CO2 had barely risen at its inception.

Because of these complexities, scientists are still struggling with the most important question of climate policy: By how much do CO2 emissions increase temperatures?

At this point, the persistent difficulty of quantifying the actual impact of carbon emissions on global temperatures strikes many people as a purely academic exercise. The near-ubiquitous rationale for aggressive climate policies is: The climate is changing, and we know why, and if we dont do something about it now, it will soon be too late to stave off a set of circumstances so undesirable that any rational analysis must point to rapid decarbonization at almost any cost.

This is clearly simplistic. It is also the approach taken by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2018 1.5 Special Report. Any comparison between 1.5 and higher levels of warming implies risk assessments and value judgments and cannot be straightforwardly reduced to a cost-benefit analysis, the IPCC says. However, the IPCC is not a federal agency, and the courts would be unimpressed with such an airy dismissal.

The degree of uncertainty in our technical understanding of the climate is a crucial factor in getting the policy right. If costly climate measures are to be justified with appeals to scientific authority, then its particularly important to understand what the science is actually telling us.

This sensible approach is reflected in both of the main vehicles our democracy has at its disposal for policymaking. Legislation requires convincing broad swathes of the public that major changes in how we power our society are worthwhile. And action by administrative agencies must be based on a defensible technical record.

The start of the Obama administration saw a major push to pass a cap-and-trade scheme for taxing CO2 emissions. It passed the House of Representatives by a narrow 219-212 vote, but it was held in committee in the Senate and never made it to the floor. Then came the midterm elections of 2010, in which the Democrats lost 64 seats and their majority; most of the losses were sustained by members who voted for the bill. That ended the possibility of passing major climate legislation through Congress for the foreseeable future, which put the onus on President Obama to achieve carbon-reduction goals through regulation and executive orders.

At his 2010 postelection press conference, the first question to the president concerned the obvious and consequential repudiation of his global-warming policy by the electorate. His response was theres more than one way to skin a cat.

The story told here shows how that went.

The Obama administrations strategy for complying with what came to be the CO2 emissions targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change rested on a suite of Environmental Protection Agency regulations. These were empowered by the Agencys 2009 finding of endangerment (hereafter, the Endangerment Finding) to human health and welfare from climate change induced by the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

That 2009 finding traces back to the Supreme Courts 2007 decision in the case of Massachusetts v. EPA, which held that CO2 is indeed a pollutant under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and that if EPA found that CO2 in vehicle emissions posed a danger to human health and welfare, then the agency was required to regulate it or explain why it did not require regulationwhich, the Court held, the Bush-era EPA had failed to do adequately.

The regulations fostered by the Endangerment Finding included limits on CO2 emissions from both vehicles and stationary sources, and the related Clean Power Plan, which would have phased out coal and (soon after) natural gas in Americas power sector.

In February 2016, the Supreme Court whittled down the regulatory limits on carbon emissions by preemptively staying the Clean Power Plan on its prospective unconstitutionality. Then the Trump administration replaced the Clean Power Plan with a rule that enshrined natural gas as Americas primary source of electricity. But the root of the Obama EPAs greenhouse-gas regulationsthe Endangerment Finding and its predicate in Massachusetts v. EPAremain untouched and will almost certainly be called into service again as the basis for greenhouse-gas regulations in the Biden administration.

The Endangerment Finding has not aged well. Its main conclusions rested on often-ambiguous data that have grown in some ways more ambiguous; and on assumptions and models that had potentially serious flaws at the time and whose flaws have become more apparent since, and oddly enough have not been repaired in subsequent model generations.

Given what we now know, it is open to question whether anything like the 2009 Endangerment Finding would survive judicial scrutiny today. The same is true of the scientific record of any new climate regulations, as those driven by the 2009 Endangerment Finding are still based upon critical flaws that have been uncovered in climate models (the sole sources of future climate guidance). It will be shown below that the only models that fit decades of three-dimensional data over the earths vast tropics are the ones with the lowest projected warming for this centurya warming so small that it is demonstrably a net benefit.

This article will also show that all the projections used by the EPA in its Endangerment Finding were manually tuned to yield an unrealistic fit to observed early 20th century temperatures. The evidence implies that any new agency regulations designed to drastically cut greenhouse-gas emissions must clear more rigorous judicial scrutiny than hitherto, especially as federal courts continue to refine their doctrines of deference to agency decision-making.

Mass. v EPA, The 2009 Endangerment Finding, and the Early National Climate Assessments

The majority opinion in the 2007 case Massachusetts v. EPA held that pollutant had a capacious meaning as used in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said:

The Clean Air Acts sweeping definition of air pollutant includes any air pollution agent or combination of such agents, including any physical, chemical . . . substance or matter which is emitted into or otherwise enters the ambient air. . . . On its face, the definition embraces all airborne compounds of whatever stripe, and underscores that intent through the repeated use of the word any. CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons are without a doubt physical [and] chemical . . . substance[s] which [are] emitted into . . . the ambient air. The statute is unambiguous.

The Court rejected EPAs contention that it had delayed its consideration of greenhouse-gas regulations because it wanted to wait for more and better climate data to come in. The wisdom of that contention will become apparent throughout this essay.

Instead, the Court held that EPA must determine whether greenhouse-gas emissions from new motor vehicles cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare, or whether the science is too uncertain to make a reasoned decision.

In a vigorous dissent, Justice Scalia argued that the word pollutant in the Clean Air Act is a reference to emissions that harm human health, and necessarily excludes any major component of the air we breathe and that is vital to life on the planet. CO2 is the primary building block of photosynthetic life, and it is no surprise that as its concentration has increased in the atmosphere, the earth has experienced a profound greening of both forests and agriculture.

Massachusetts v. EPA emboldened the Obama EPA, which produced a preliminary finding of endangerment a mere 90 days into its first term and then a final finding on December 7, 2009 as a separate rulean unusual move, given that all agency rulemaking must be based on an independent recordbacked by a technical support document (TSD). In the Endangerment Finding, the EPA found that under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, and that greenhouse-gas emissions from motor vehicles contribute to that threat.

These were actually two distinct findings. First, the EPA Administrator found that the combination of six well-mixed greenhouse gasescarbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations and therefore constitutes air pollution under the Clean Air Act. Second, the Administrator found that the combined greenhouse-gas emissions from motor vehicles contribute to the atmospheric concentrations of these key greenhouse gases and hence to the threat of climate change. That set the stage for the Tailpipe Rule (limiting greenhouse-gas emissions from motor vehicles) and the suite of greenhouse-gas regulations that followed from it.

The Technical Support Document for the Endangerment Finding relied heavily on the second National Assessment of climate-change impacts on the U.S., published in 2009 by the consortium of 13 federal agencies that consumed or disbursed climate-change research funding. Based on this evidence of record, EPA found that greenhouse gases trap heat on the earths surface that would otherwise dissipate into space; that this greenhouse effect warms the climate; that human activity is contributing to increased atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases; and that the climate system is warming. As a result, the EPA Administrator judged that the root cause of recently observed climate change was very likely the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions.

EPA found that extreme weather events, changes in air quality, increases in food- and water-borne pathogens, and increases in temperatures resulting from climate change were likely to have adverse health effects. It concluded that climate change created risk to food production and agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, ecosystems, wildlife, water resources, and coastal areas as a result of expected increase in sea level. EPA determined that motor-vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases contribute to climate change and thus to the endangerment of public health and welfare.

A coalition of states and industry groups challenged EPAs greenhouse-gas regulations in a petition for review to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that there was too much uncertainty in the data to support EPAs judgment. In Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA (2012), the D.C. Circuit disagreed and upheld the Endangerment Finding. The Court reasoned that the existence of some uncertainty did not on its own undermine the EPA action.

This also followed from the Supreme Courts earlier holding in Massachusetts v. EPA, when the Court held that the existence of some residual uncertainty did not excuse EPAs decision to decline to regulate greenhouse gases. To avoid regulating emissions of greenhouse gases, EPA would need to show scientific uncertainty . . . so profound that it precludes EPA from making a reasoned judgment as to whether greenhouse gases contribute to global warming. According to the D.C. Circuit, courts owed an extreme degree of deference to the agency when it is evaluating scientific data within its technical expertise.

And yet that extreme deference was notably absent in the Supreme Courts ruling against the Bush EPA.

Lingering Questions on Climate Change

To support its Endangerment Finding, the EPAs Technical Support Document ultimately relied heavily on General Circulation Climate Models, or GCMs. These and their descendants (Earth System Models) are at the heart of all four National Assessments that have been published to date. With regard to the Endangerment Finding, the second (2009) National Assessment of climate change effects on the U.S. is the document of record. It in turn relied heavily on the UNs Fourth (2007) Scientific Assessment of climate change [AR4], which again was heavily GCM-dependent. Critical systematic problems in these models were not known of (at least to the general scientific community) at the time of the Endangerment Finding.

Relying principally on AR4, EPA cited evidence that warming since the mid-20th century (which actually didnt begin until 1976, a quarter-century after the nominal 1950 midpoint) that the observed pattern of warming a warming of the lowest layer of the atmosphere (the troposphere) and cooling immediately above it (the stratosphere)was consistent with predictions of climate change from anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions.

Yet in AR4, the IPCC claimed nowhere near the EPAs level of confidence in the particulars. In AR4, IPCC reported that the principal factors that drive the Earths climate system are the following: the sun; albedo effects, including from clouds; the climates response to external forcings such as aerosols, volcanoes, and emissions from manmade sources; and, crucially, greenhouse gases.

With respect to both the sun and albedo effects, the IPCC conceded a low level of scientific understanding and a lack of consensus about the overall effect on recent climate. With respect to external forcings, AR4 acknowledged scientists limited understanding of the crucial variable of equilibrium climate sensitivity [ECS], expressed as how many degrees Celsius global temperatures will ultimately rise if atmospheric CO2 doubles. A reliable figure for ECS continues to elude scientists grasp. An ECS of 1.5C obviates the case for sweeping reductions in CO2 emissions, as noted later in the section on the Social Cost of Carbon. It is noteworthy that at that level of climate sensitivity, the midrange warming projections of the IPCC (which assume ECS values of 3.0C) need to be halved, as the ECS is directly proportional to expected warming at any given point in time, such as 2100.

Tuning the Models and the End of Climate Science Objectivity

A stunningly candid article by reporter Paul Voosen appeared in Science two weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

The climate-modelling community, perhaps sensing an inevitable victory for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming election, may have reasoned that admitting to comprehensive flaws in their models would result in a shower of funds. This was new information had never been released. According to Voosen:

For years, climate scientists had been mum in public about their secret sauce: What happened in the models stayed in the models. The taboo reflected fears that climate contrarians would use the practice of tuning to seed doubt about models.

Indeed, that is precisely what this article does. Voosen elaborated:

[w]hether climate scientists like to admit it or not, nearly every model has been calibrated precisely to the 20th century climate recordsotherwise it would have ended up in the trash. Its fair to say all models have tuned it, says Isaac Held, a scientist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, another prominent modeling center, in Princeton.

In total, the 20th century temperature history can easily be summed up: a warming of nearly 0.5C from 1910-45, a slight cooling from then through the mid-1970s, followed by a warming from 1976 through 1998 that occurred at a similar rate to the earlier warming.

Tuning (meaning changing the models internal code to get an anticipated acceptable answer) to mimic the 1910-45 warming as a result of human activity (i.e., CO2 emissions, among others) is an exercise in the absurd. By 1910, when that warming began, the concentration of atmospheric CO2 had risen from an early 19th century value of around 285 parts per million (ppm) to around 298a tiny increase, considering that todays concentration is around 414 ppm. If the early warming was caused by such a small increase in CO2 concentration, it would be hotter than Hades by now.

Straightforward calculation, using generally accepted equations for the warming caused by CO2 and the cooling by simultaneous emissions of sulfate aerosols (mainly from coal combustion), show that the 1910 concentrations could have induced a global warming of only about 0.05C; instead, through 1945 it was nearly 0.5, an order-of-magnitude error. The observed value is far too small to be detected by any network of thermometers.

The news hook for Voosens article was a yet-to-be-published paper by Frederic Hourdin, head of the French modelling effort, and 13 coauthors, all from different modelling centers. This quote will forever tar the patina of the climate models of today and could also bring down the Endangerment Finding:

One can imagine changing a parameter [aka fudging the model] which is known to affect the sensitivity, keeping both this parameter and the ECS in the anticipated acceptable range . . . (emphasis added)

Therefore, it is the scientist, and not the science, that determines future warming. It is the scientist, subject to all the pressures of paradigm-keeping so eloquently written about by Thomas Kuhn in his famous Structure of Scientific Revolutions, that decides what is anticipated and acceptable. It is the scientist, working within the peer pressure of an institutional setting that would react negatively to a finding that fell below the anticipated acceptable range, who makes this decision. It should not surprise anyone that Hourdin et al. went further to show this was all kept hush-hush:

In fact, the tuning strategy was not even part of the required documentation in the CMIP5 simulations [the latest collection of climate modelssee subsequent text] . . . why such a lack of transparency? Maybe because tuning is often seen as an unavoidable but dirty part of climate modelling. Some may be concerned that explaining that models are tuned could strengthen the arguments of those who question the validity of climate-change projections.

Which, indeed, is what this article does. Hourdins article will be thermonuclear to intrusive climate policies in the U.S., should they ever be proposed. In her popular scientific blog, Climate Etc., now-retired Georgia Tech scientist Judith Curry wrote, If ever in your life you are to read one paper on climate modelling, this is the paper that you should read.

In the next section, I point out that climate science hasnt reduced the uncertainty of its projections for over four decades, but that low-sensitivity models, some of which arent traditional GCMs, come much closer to reality than the UNs AR5 (2013) models, or the follow-ons that will appear in AR6 (2022), which are even worse.

The clustering of overly warm results should not be surprising inasmuch as any modeler who publishes far outside of the anticipated acceptable range would invite severe, and possibly career-cancelling, retribution from a very large community of faithful modelers. Its beyond the scope of this article to document the vitriol heaped upon scientists with low-sensitivity models, but even Google will point the curious reader in the right direction.

Improving the Reliability of ECS Calculations

It is generally held that there has been no real narrowing of the range of prospective climate change since the 1979 National Academy of Sciences report Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment, chaired by Jule Charney of MIT. The Charney Sensitivity, as it came to be called, was in the range of 1.5-4.5K (=C) for the equilibrium lower atmospheric warming caused by a doubling of CO2. Subsequent assessments, such as some of the IPCC ARs, also listed the midpoint, 3C, as a most likely value.

Periodically, the U.S. Department of Energy iterates what it calls Coupled Model Intercomparison Projects (CMIPs). The one applicable to the most recent (2013) IPCC state-of-climate-science compendium, CMIP5, contained 32 families of models with a sensitivity range of 2.1-4.7K, with a mean value of 3.4i.e., warmer lower and mean values than Charney. The IPCC then rounded this back to 1.5-4.5K, the old Charney Sensitivity, but then noted no most likely warming, owing to the larger spread of the models.

As noted below, observationally based sensitivity calculations by Christy and McNider (2017) and Lewis and Curry (2018), derived from empirical data rather than theoretical computer models, yield ECS values between 1.4 and 1.6K, which broadens the actual range to be quite close to the Charney Sensitivity.

Unfortunately, use of the observationally based sensitivities along with the new CMIP6 model suite (which will be in the next (2022) IPCC report) will result in a larger range of the ECS. The range of the CMIP6 models currently available (and almost all are now available), is 1.8-5.6C, and an estimate of the mean (based upon a nearly complete model set) is 4.0C.

In summary, climate science suffers from the oddity that the more funding is expended, the less precise outcomes ensue. Models at the bottom of the range that are anchored on observations (with one exception noted below) produce low ECS values, while the enormous numbers of nonworking warmer models reflect climate scientists desire to produce results falling within an anticipated acceptable range, to quote Hourdin.

Systematic Problems with the National Assessments

The quadrennial National Assessments of climate change effects on the U.S. are mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990.

As noted earlier, the Endangerment Findings Technical Support Document (TSD) relies heavily on the second national assessment (NA-2) of climate change impacts in the United States from 13 federal agencies, now called the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).

NA-2 uses a large number of GCM simulations of global climate with enhanced CO2 and other human emissions. The output of these models is then used to drive the so-called impact or effects models. These apply to many aspects of American life, projecting changes in migration, death, nutrition, and mental illness, and many other consequences.

The most cited document in the TSD for the 2009 Endangerment Finding is NA-2. It has since become clear that the climate models used in that report contained serious systematic errors in their assessments of the tropical atmosphere.

In our peer review of the NA-2 draft, Paul C. Knappenberger and I wrote (in part):

Of all of the consensus government or intergovernmental documents of this genre that [we] have reviewed in [our] 30+ years in this profession, there is no doubt that this is the absolute worst of all. Virtually every sentence can be contested or does not represent a complete survey of a relevant literature. [] Additionally, there is absolutely no effort made by the CCSP [Climate Change Science Program] authors to include any dissenting opinion to their declarative statements, despite the peer-reviewed literature being full of legitimate and applicable reports that provide contrasting findings.

The progenitor of NA-2 was NA-1, published in 2000. The design of the NA-1 was similar to the succeeding three Assessments. Future climate was generated by GCMs. At the time NA-1 was under development, the National Assessment Synthesis Team had nine GCMs to choose from to forecast 21st century climate. They chose two: The Canadian Climate Centre model, which produced the greatest 21st century temperature changes over the U.S. of all nine, and the model from the U.K. Hadley Center, a part of the Meteorological Office, which produced the largest precipitation changes to 2100. That a team of federally-supported climate scientists would purposefully and consequentially choose to employ the most extreme models greatly harmed the credibility of NA-1.

In researching my peer review of the draft NA-1, I tasked the two models to do the simplest task: simulate ten-year running means of coterminous U.S. temperature averages over the 20th century. They couldnt do it. The answers the models gave were worse than simply assuming the 20th century average value (i.e., no model). In other words, the models added errors to the raw data. What they did was exactly analogous to a student taking a four-option multiple-choice test and getting less than 25% correct.

I emailed Tom Karl, then director of the National Climatic Data Center and one of three supervisory scientists for the NA-1. He said that I was correct, and that his team looked at more time intervals than I did, and in each case found what I did. So the NA-1 science team published a document with significant regulatory implications that was known to be fatally flawed at its heart. The fact that the models produced worse results than a table of random numbers and were still used in such a policy-influencing document is malpractice.

Trouble in the Troposphere

Models continued to proliferate in each quadrennial National Assessment and scientific assessments from the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) every six years. The most recent of the IPCC reports, AR-5, is from 2013, and its suite of models is readily available online at KNMI Climate Explorer.

John Christy, who published the first satellite-sensed global temperature record in 1990, compared the output of the 32 groups of AR-5 models to temperature observations in the middle troposphere (approximately 5,000-30,000 feet) over the earths tropics.

Understanding the future behavior of the tropical troposphere is crucial to any confident assessment of potentially serious effects of climate change. The tropical ocean is the source of 90% of the moisture that falls on Americas farmland east of the Rockies, one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth. The amount of moisture that ascends into the atmosphere from the tropical oceans is determined by the temperature contrast between the surface and upper layers. The greater the contrast, the more buoyant the surface air, and the more moisture enters the atmosphere.

With one exception, all the models in AR-5 failed. Figure 1 shows results of the models compared to three independent sets of observations: temperatures sensed by satellites, data from weather balloons, and the relatively new reanalysis data that infills data gaps with a physical model. The plots begin in 1979 because that is when the satellite data begins.

Over a moist surface, the vast majority of incoming solar radiation goes toward evaporating water rather than directly heating the surface. If the input of moisture forecast (i.e. precipitation) is not reliable (thanks to the vertical errors in the tropics), then average forecasts of temperature will also be problematic. The observed data (circles and squares) indicate that the models are overpredicting by several times the warming rate being observed at this level.

The IPCC models predict what is often called an upper tropospheric hot spot with a substantially enhanced warming rate compared to layers above and beneath. The striking differences in recent decadal warming rates between the climate models and observations is obvious in Figure 2.

Close inspection of Figures 1 and 2 reveals that there is one model that tracks reality: the Russian Institute for Numerical Modelling model INM-CM4. It has the least prospective warming of all of the AR-5 models for the 21st century. Its estimate of Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is also the lowest of all of these models, at 2.05C, compared to the average of 3.4C given in the IPCC model group.

The Key Question of Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity

AR5 makes a carefully qualified attribution statement: It is extremely likely that more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and other anthropogenic forcings together.

Half of the observed warming in that period is about 0.3C. Thats the lower limit of human-caused warming, because (as demonstrated earlier) the sharp early 20th-century warming had little to do with anthropogenerated CO2 emissions.

The next UN IPCC report (AR-6) has been delayed to 2022, but its underlying climate models are becoming available. The new Russian model, INM-CM4.8, has even less sensitivity to a doubling of CO2 than its predecessordown to 1.8C. Its predecessor (INM-CM4), as shown in Figures 1 and 2, was the best of all (by far) in simulating the evolution of tropical temperatures at altitude. It seems likely that the new version will be equally effective. It also predicts less warming than all the other models.

On the other hand, CMIP6 predicts more warming because several of the model ensemble members are warmer than the hottest model in CMIP5. Fortunately, it appears that the warmer a CMIP6 model is, the larger is its over-forecast of recent decades and current warming. One has to ask if the designers of these overheated models think that observed data is just an irrelevant burden.

Climate Policy Needs to Employ Scientific Best Practices

In professional weather forecasting, meteorologists do not take all of the available models and average them up to determine tomorrows temperature or snowfall. Rather, they look at the current weather situation and determine which model or models is likely to be more accurate than others and use that to base the forecast.

The same should be true in climate forecasting. Yet the TSD for the Endangerment Finding relied upon a clearly failing family of models, and the most recent (Fourth) National Assessment pays no special attention to INM-CM4, instead relying upon the average and the spread of the entire model suite.

Clearly the best scientific practice is to use the climate models that work: the Russian INM-CM4.8 (or the newer 5.0 that is in the CMIP6 suite) and the observationally based calculations of Christy and Mcnider (2017) or Lewis and Curry (2018).

The Social Cost of Carbon: Could It Be Negative?

An intriguing possibility is that using these models will create a Social Cost of Carbon that is negative (i.e., a benefit). As a basis for policies subsequent to the Endangerment Finding, the Obama administration introduced this concept to help clarify the risk side of the risk-benefit calculus. That itself was risky. Given empirically and observationally derived equilibrium climate sensitivities as well as the one GCM family that worked, combined with the agricultural and forest greening caused by increasing atmospheric CO2, the SCC becomes a net benefit.

In the Obama administration, the SCC was calculated by federal interagency working groups (IWGs). The IWGs had some discretion as to the selection of discount rates (estimates of the future value of invested money) and timeframes. As early as 2003, in the Bush administration, the Office of Management and Budget indicated that models for future economic impacts of certain regulation should use, among others, a 7% discount rate, which represents the robust long-term trend in securities investments since at least 1900.

But the Obama administration used lower discount rateslower than an estimate of future economic growth than historical trends would suggest. Why? It is apparent from the administrations results for 3% and 5% discount rates that the SCC would be negative (a net benefit) far into the future with a 7% discount ratethat is, had the Obama administration followed the OMB guidelines, CO2 emissions could arguably confer a net benefit.

With regard to climate change, the Obama administration used a 3.0C sensitivity to doubling CO2, and a probability distribution about this figure calculated by Roe and Baker in 2007. This GCM-guided estimate should be regarded with the same (low) confidence afforded both the AR-4 and AR-5 models because of their systematic errors in the tropics (See Figures 1 and 2). They dont work, so it is malpractice to use them in support of the Endangerment Finding, and it is best practice to use the ones that do, even if they may not support Endangerment.

More recent climate projections based upon real-world observations (rather than projections) of changes in atmospheric composition and temperature changes tend to produce lower warming than the AR-5 models. The most recently noted of these is by Lewis and Curry (2018), with a sensitivity of 1.5-1.6 (depending upon the temperature record used) and the satellite-based study of Christy and McNider (2017), with a sensitivity of 1.4C.

The Obama administration used three Integrated Assessment Models, but only one of these (FUNDfor Framework for Uncertainty, Negotiation and Distribution) had explicit multipliers for agricultural productivity enhanced by atmospheric CO2. All three models used the UNs A1B (midrange) emissions scenario, and discount rates below what has been observed systematically beginning in 1900.

Dayaratna et al. in a 2020 article in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Economics and Policy Studies used realistic discount rates, an enhanced vegetation response to increasing atmospheric CO2, and two lower-sensitivity models and found the Social Cost of Carbon to be negative (i.e., a net benefit) at least well into the second half of this century for all discount rates from 3% to 7%. That should not be surprising given the increases in life expectancy and personal wealth over the past 125 years. Those salutary trends were built upon a fossil-fuel-burning (and CO2-emitting) economy.

The challenge faced by the Biden administration is that policy goalposts have moved and become substantially more aggressive. Article 2 of the Paris Agreement speaks of achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions and sinks in the second half of this century. On the basis of the IPCC 1.5 Special Report, this goal has been brought forward to 2050, without, as noted above, any cost-benefit analysis justifying the shift.

However, the costs of Net Zero by 2050 are extremely high. The 1.5 Special Report includes estimates of the shadow cost of carbon for Net Zero in a 2050 emissions trajectory. For 2030, these range from between 1.4 times the Obama administrations estimate of the Social Cost of Carbon to 64 times, indicating the failure of putative policy benefits to outweigh costs by a very considerable amount. Similarly, Bjorn Lomborg in a 2020 paper estimates that each $1 of cost yields only 11 cents of climate benefits. Narrowing such a huge gap between cost and benefit will require a great deal of creativity and imagination from the Interagency Working Groupand the resulting effort quite likely will be based on implausible and unreasonable assumptions.

Should Courts Defer to the New Administrations Climate Actions?

Relying on IPCC reports that were considerably more guarded than the claims EPA made in the Preamble to its Endangerment Finding was a considerable risk.

But the federal judiciary has developed a convoluted and often unpredictable patchwork of deference doctrines for weighing agency determinations, and some lawyers think that it is merely a matter of political preference, expressed as consequentialism, that determines how a court majority will load the deference dice. During the Obama years, the judiciary was still heavily progressive, as it had been since the New Deal, so Democrats could expect favorable rulings on deference. And in the D.C. Circuit, thats precisely what they got.

Still, as law professor Catherine Sharkey has written, Even if a court is ill-equipped to evaluate details of an agencys scientific evidence, hard-look substantive review demands that an agency supply generalist judges with reasoned explanations backed by sufficient scientific references.

In the 2014 case, Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, Justice Scalia, writing for the majority, noted that:

When an agency claims to discover in a long-extant statute an unheralded power to regulate a significant portion of the American economy, we typically greet its announcement with a measure of skepticism. We expect Congress to speak clearly if it wishes to assign to an agency decisions of vast economic and political significance.

This was a warning to the EPA that if it tried anything big (such as the Clean Power Plan), the Court would typically greet its announcement with a measure of skepticism if there was no specific legislative backing. This is why the Supreme Court stayed the Clean Power Plan in February 2016 at the behest of Justice Scalia (his last judicial act before his sudden death).

The Scalia ruling is a signal that the Supreme Court may be more skeptical of new EPA climate regulations than courts have been in the past, and the current nominal 6-3 split favoring constitutionalists only makes that case stronger. If the Court considers the new regulation a major question, it may find that Congress did not speak clearly enough for EPA to stretch its delegated authority enough to sustain a rule or to be given the near-blanket deference that EPA has enjoyed from courts in the past. The Court may find that a new EPA rule did not take the requisite hard look at the nature of the lingering uncertainties and the failure of climate models to align with climate data.

Conclusion

The Trump administrations decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was lamented around the world, because no global response to climate change is likely to succeed without buy-in from the United States. Yet, over the last decade and a half, America has reduced carbon emissions more than all of Europe put together. How it has done so, howeverthrough a widespread switch from coal to natural gas made possible by hydraulic fracturingis cold comfort for environmentalists, for it only seems to entrench the continued primacy of fossil fuels.

But America was already unlikely to be able to meet the Obama-set Paris targets regardless of what presidential administration was in charge. The years ahead will test this hypothesis.

At the same time, it is clear that the low-end climate models are much more accurate, even if they do not support extreme policies. These were not available for the original 2009 Endangerment Finding.

There will clearly be those with legal standing to question extreme policy responses and the economic losses sure to follow. The subsequent major question is whether our judiciary will recognize that federal agencies will have to ignore a remarkable amount of subsequent science in order to support such policies.

It turns out that the general understanding of climate expressed in 2007 by the Bush EPA in response to Mass v. EPA was correct at the time: EPA needed more science before it could reach a reasoned conclusion on whether and how to regulate carbon emissions.

It has that information nowand that information no longer supports an Endangerment Finding from CO2.

Patrick J. Michaels is Senior Fellow in Energy and Environment with the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
A herd of elephants walk past a watering hole in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

A charity has slammed Zimbabwean plans to sell the rights to shoot as many as 500 elephants for more than 50,000 ($70,000) per animal to help fund the upkeep of its national parks.

A spokesman from the Born Free charity told Yahoo News UK the plans were "destructive, disruptive and inhumane".

Zimbabwe has the worlds second-biggest elephant population, the largest being found in neighbouring Botswana, and its hunting season will resume this year after the coronavirus pandemic prevented tourists travelling there in 2020.

Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) told ITV News hunting is "nothing new" and that the tourism it brings is vital to financing conservation efforts.

He said they have had to revise their budget down by 70-80% and that failure to raise funds could leave them unable to afford proper defences against poachers.

We have a bad need for more money, he said.

"We are not supported by central government so we need this tourism."

A group of elephants, believed to have been killed by poachers, lie dead at a watering hole in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. Zimbabwe has just announced the reopening of hunting tourism, allocating 500 animals to be shot to raise funds for the national parks (REUTERS/Stringer).

The right to shoot an elephant will cost between $10,000 and $70,000 depending on its size. The elephants will be shot in hunting concessions rather than the parks frequented by photo-safari tourists.

In March this year, African forest elephants were listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, while Savanna Elephants  which are larger and found in the south of the continent  are endangered.

Conservation and animal welfare charities, however, have rejected claims that trophy hunting is an effective way of recouping tourism losses.

Mark Jones, head of policy at Born Free, the UK-based wildlife conservation charity, told Yahoo News UK: "Trophy hunting is a destructive, disruptive and inhumane process, with very little - if any - of the money made from hunts going towards conservation.

"The funds generated by hunts are more often directed to governments, hunt organisers, or abroad.

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"The argument that hunting removes redundant animals is simply not true. Hunters seek out the most impressive trophy, often an adult male. These are key animals in the group and their death can lead to the death of many more animals.

Watch: Prince Harry praises late Prince Philip as "conservation champion"

"When one animal is killed it affects the whole social structure of the elephant community.

"Rather than look to trophy hunting to generate funds, parks should look at the value of elephants in terms of carbon sequestration. A person may pay $50,000 to kill an elephant, but if that animal were allowed to fulfil its natural lifespan it could be worth up to 1.7million in offsetting carbon emissions.

"We need to change the conversation of how countries such as Zimbabwe fund the protection of their species."

Jones' calls were echoed by Simiso Mlevu, spokeswoman for Zimbabwean environmental and human rights advocacy group the Center for Natural Resource Governance.

Read more: What you can and can't do under current lockdown rules

She said the decision to allow elephant hunting to continue was "appalling."

"We strongly condemn trophy hunting  a practice that agitates wild animals and escalates human-wild life conflicts," Mlevu said in a statement.

She added: "It is almost certain that surviving families of wildlife families that witness the senseless gunning down of their family members mete out vengeance on the hapless local villagers.

"Contrary to government arguments that trophy hunting is meant to assist with conservation, the practice is motivated by greed and often the money is not even accounted for. There is a need for more innovative and eco-friendly measures to improve revenue generation from photo safaris and tourism in general."

The ZPWMA cites is vision as "to be the world leader in sustainable conservation" on its website, and claims to "conserve Zimbabwes wildlife heritage through protection and sustainable utilisation of natural resources for the benefit of the present and future generations".

ZPWMA has issued permission for 500 elephants to be killed on trophy hunts every year since 2004, but does not refer to this on its website.

Nobody from ZPWMA was available to speak to Yahoo News UK on Friday.

Watch: Wild elephant reaches into coffee shop with its trunk in Thailand
GREENVILLE, S.C. and GREENWICH, Conn., April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL Airshop, a global leader in air cargo Unit Load Device (ULD) logistics solutions to over 200 airlines, air cargo carriers, and other transportation clients, announced the closing of the acquisition of ACL Airshop by Alinda Capital Partners, an infrastructure fund manager.

The transaction successfully concluded in April 2021. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Alinda is among the world's most successful investors in infrastructure, including transportation and logistics. Tweet this

Alinda is a global independent investment firm focused on mid-market infrastructure assets that provide essential services. Alinda has holdings in infrastructure businesses in all 50 US states, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Alinda-owned businesses serve over 100 million customers annually.

"Alinda is among the world's most successful investors in infrastructure, including transportation and logistics," said Steve Townes, president and chief executive officer of ACL Airshop. "Alinda also has a successful track record of investment in pooled and leased equipment, and is experienced in backing growth-oriented companies. They are committed to ACL Airshop's strategy of growing with its customers and share our vision for continued expansion in the coming years."

"ACL Airshop is a uniquely positioned business and is led by an exceptional management team," said Alinda Chairman Chris Beale. "We look forward to supporting their growth strategies."

Townes noted that ACL Airshop's current management and operations team will continue to lead the organization under its new ownership. He added that the acquisition will benefit ACL Airshop's employees, suppliers, partners, and customers through access to Alinda's resources and their proven strategies of helping essential infrastructure businesses grow profitably in their market. According to Townes, this experience will be of value to ACL Airshop as it continues to expand its ULD fleet and network of airport locations globally, while also deploying innovative new technologies.

About ACL Airshop - ACL Airshop owns, maintains and leases more than 50,000 Unit Load Devices (ULDs), including air freight pallets and containers, issued from 55 airport hub locations across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. ACL Airshop's strong growth in recent years builds on the company's 38-year heritage as an air cargo equipment and logistics specialist. Its worldwide services network has expanded from 23 airport hub locations in 2016 to 55 at latest count. Today, the company maintains the largest independent inventory of lease-ready ULD assets in the industry for short-term solutions, and also has an array of longer-term ULD Management contracts. The company is deploying innovative logistics technologies such as "FindMyULD" which yield better fleet efficiencies and operational cost savings for customers. ACL Airshop was first-in-market among its competitive class to offer Bluetooth tracking & tracing of air cargo pallets and containers. For more information, please visit www.ACLairshop.com.

About Alinda Capital Partners  Alinda Capital Partners is a global investment firm that makes long-term investments in infrastructure assets that provide essential services. Alinda's investment partners are predominantly pension funds serving public sector and private sector workers and seeking steady investments over the long term to match their pension liabilities. They include some of the largest institutional investors in the world. Alinda has offices in Greenwich (Connecticut), Miami and London. See www.alinda.com.

SOURCE ACL Airshop

Related Links

https://www.aclairshop.com


Norwegian Finans Holding ASA reports the results for the first quarter 2021 on Wednesday April 28, 2021 at 07.00 CET. A results presentation will be held through webcast at 08.30 CET.





The presentation will be held by CEO Tine Wollebekk and CFO Klara Lise Aasen.





Link to the webcast will be made available on the company's website: https://www.banknorwegian.no/OmOss/InvestorRelations/Presentations





Contact persons:

Klara Lise Aasen, CFO, tel: +47 47 63 55 83

Mats Benserud, Head of Treasury, tel: +47 95 89 15 39





This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act




(Newser)  The Senate is usually split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, but in a rare moment of bipartisanship Thursday, it was split between Sen. Josh Hawley and everybody else. The Missouri Republican was the only senator who voted against a bill to combat the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. "As a former prosecutor, my view is it's dangerous to simply give the federal government open-ended authority to define a whole new class of federal hate crime incidents," he said in a statement, per KMBC, though those concerns apparently weren't shared by any other members of the GOP caucus. With five senators absent, the bill passed 94-1. More:

"That's his brand." Hawley was condemned in an editorial at the Kansas City Star. "Of course Josh Hawley was the only no ... That's his brand," the editorial board wrote, saying Hawley appears to believe "America is too tough on hate crimes." Nothing in the bill gives the government "open-ended authority," says the editorial, which notes that the former Missouri attorney general is also wrong about being a former prosecutor, though the AG's office did have some prosecutorial powers.

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What's in the bill . Despite Hawley's objections that the law is "overbroad," the changes the bill makes are "relatively modest," Vox reports. The bill makes it easier to report hate crimes and designates a Justice Department official to track anti-Asian and COVID-related hate crimes. Hawley complained in a Thursday night tweet that it "turns the federal government into the speech police."

. Despite Hawley's objections that the law is "overbroad," the changes the bill makes are "relatively modest," Vox reports. The bill makes it easier to report hate crimes and designates a Justice Department official to track anti-Asian and COVID-related hate crimes. Hawley complained in a Thursday night tweet that it "turns the federal government into the speech police." Other Republicans backed bill after changes . Democratic Sen. Mazie Hironothe bill's sponsor and the first female Asian-American senatorworked with Republican Sen. Susan Collins on changes that persuaded skeptical Republicans to vote for the bill, the New York Times reports. The amended version directly mentioned Asian-Americans instead of referring only to victims of "COVID-19 hate crimes."

. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hironothe bill's sponsor and the first female Asian-American senatorworked with Republican Sen. Susan Collins on changes that persuaded skeptical Republicans to vote for the bill, the New York Times reports. The amended version directly mentioned Asian-Americans instead of referring only to victims of "COVID-19 hate crimes." GOP amendments voted down . Three amendments proposed by Republicans were voted down, including a proposal from Sens. Ted Cruz and John Kennedy to cut off funding to universities that discriminated against Asian-Americans, the Texas Tribune reports. Hirono called it a "transparent and cynical attack" on policies that promote diversity.

. Three amendments proposed by Republicans were voted down, including a proposal from Sens. Ted Cruz and John Kennedy to cut off funding to universities that discriminated against Asian-Americans, the Texas Tribune reports. Hirono called it a "transparent and cynical attack" on policies that promote diversity. Hawley hammered on Twitter. The Huffington Post rounds up some of the many anti-Hawley tweets from Thursday. "Josh Hawley is the Marjorie Taylor Greene of Tucker Carlsons," tweeted George Takei.

(Read more Josh Hawley stories.)
The first 'Oxygen Express' carrying liquid medical oxygen departed for Maharashtra from Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The Oxygen Express train is carrying 100 tonnes of medical oxygen from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) plant in Visakhapatnam.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took to Twitter to inform about the Ro-Ro (roll-on-roll-off) train with seven tankers leaving for Maharashtra.

"The first Oxygen Express train loaded with liquid medical oxygen tankers has left for Maharashtra from Vizag. Railways continues to serve the nation in difficult times by transporting essential commodities and driving innovation to ensure the wellbeing of all citizens," Goyal tweeted.





The first Oxygen Express train loaded with liquid medical oxygen tankers has left for Maharashtra from Vizag.



Railways continues to serve the nation in difficult times by transporting essential commodities and driving innovation to ensure the wellbeing of all citizens. pic.twitter.com/4t7ZKbjeIT  Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 22, 2021

With Maharashtra battling shortages of medical oxygen amid COVID-19 surge, on April 19 the train left for Visakhapatnam from Kalamboli near Mumbai.

After nearly 50 hours' journey, it reached Visakhapatnam at about 1 am on April 22. Nearly 75 hours after its departure from Kalamboli, the train carrying seven tankers loaded with oxygen has started its return journey.

On Sunday, the Railways had announced it will run Oxygen Express over the next few days to transport oxygen across the country. Under the initiative, empty tankers will be loaded with liquid medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro.

Amid spiralling coronavirus cases in the country, the demand for medical oxygen has gone through the roof.(With PTI inputs)

Also read: IRDAI asks hospitals to provide cashless treatment for COVID-19 to policyholders

Also read: Fire breaks out at Virar hospital leaving 13 COVID-19 patients dead
On June 4, 1789 a theatrical cast made up of young convict performers performed a play in Sydney. It was George Farquhars The Recruiting Officer, a play full of humour and melodrama, both of which would become the fortes of the Australian shore and hinterland. The convict cast, young performers rejected and ejected from Europe, yet felt driven to reproduce the great European ritual of the play even as, along the harbour at Mosman and up the ascent of North Head, an epidemic of smallpox was striking the Eora people and killing them unceremoniously.

My father took me to see the legendary comedian Roy Rene, making fun of Hitler with a chamber pot. Credit:Fairfax

A poetic monologue, written by the convicts, was performed that night at the head of the play, while the huts of some of the officers who were pleased to attend were being broken into. If you were to ask any such officer, such as the amiable Watkin Tench  a former prisoner of the Americans in the war that yielded American independence and made a new place for convicts essential  he would have said the journals he and others were writing for publication were a much a more serious expression of penal refinement. Yet there is something compelling about the idea of the displaced and the rejected settlement practising the drama in Sydney Cove as the French Revolution warmed up.

At another limit of time, I feel I saw the end of the pre-modern era of Australian performance in 1940 in the town of Wauchope, when my parents took me to George Sorlies travelling tent show. It was a wonderful melange of music and vaudeville, arrived miraculously by train, and amongst its stars were the young Peter Finch, not yet absorbed into an Australian artillery unit, along with Kitty Blewett and Hal Lashwood. If Australians were too scattered still, and too bush-weak to visit vaudeville in the cities, George Sorlie a Liverpool (UK) born, West Indian performer  brought vaudeville to the bush, as it had come to the bush from the start. Hence I assumed there was a lot of canvas and sawdust involved in the performers our forebears saw.

Before my father was shipped overseas he took me to the Tivoli in Sydney and I saw the legendary Eastern European Jewish comedian, the thoroughly Australian Roy Rene, making fun of Hitler with a then common part of household equipment, an under-the-bed chamber pot or po (Po/Hitler/Poland, get it?). I realise now that I was seeing the end of music hall, that had sustained us and thrown up cultural heroes too  from Nellie Melba to Annette Kellermann  who was born in the Victorian era and, according to a Harvard eugenics professor, was the ultimate Venus of the known world.
April 23, 2021

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, its safe to say that the corporate landscape as we once knew it has drastically evolved to adapt to strict social distancing regulations and adhere to important health and safety protocols. In a new era of office work, many employees are still learning to adjust to a remote working style. Faced with new challenges every day, work from home dwellers have had to learn to schedule their own working day, monitor their own productivity and most importantly face their 9-5 within the isolation of their own four walls.







From couch computers to fluffy slippers and loungewear, working from home is glossed with an idyllic exterior. For the more introverted worker or a busy parent with multiple priorities, managing your own schedule can seem like the dream. However, with 25-30% of the global workforce estimated to swap the office for the couch by the end of 2021, working from home doesnt come without its drawbacks.





( Source (News - Alert) : Statista)

While a few businesses are itching to see their workforce back in the office, many are now making the permanent decision to work remotely for the foreseeable future. As you can see in the graph above, new data released by Upwork has revealed that 23% of corporate companies plan to still work from home in the next five years. That is a 10% increase in WFH statistics in just one year, proving to be the largest jump in the last decade. As the potential shift is estimated to save US employers over $30 Billion a day by reducing the amount of in-office staff, its no surprise that a large number of businesses are jumping on the new wave of WFH initiatives.

As working from home becomes the new norm, many office natives are struggling to adapt. From a remote onboarding process to a lonely 9-5 experience, many employees are wrestling with their mental health. Amongst major social restrictions, feelings of isolation have become common amongst the remote workforce.

As we delve into the impacts of lockdown on corporate workers, read on to find out why WFH isolation could be affecting your productivity and working success, and how you can help limit loneliness by using the evolution of technology to your advantage.

How Can Loneliness Hinder WFH Success?

Loneliness can pose as just as much of a risk to our mental health as both anxiety and depression. According to a mental health study conducted nine months into the pandemic, 1 in 4 people have experienced feelings of loneliness during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Those of us who have swapped the office banter for a singular screen have suffered some of the largest detrimental impacts of the pandemic. With many claiming that remote work has left them feeling both isolated and unmotivated, its no wonder that productivity is falling amongst employees and WFH success is taking a turn for the worse.

Impacts Of A Lonely Brain

Brain studies suggest that subcortical brain regions that power our productivity such as the ventral striatum, are stimulated when we received social rewards. As we spend more time with one another, whether that is virtual or in-person, our sociality drives this part of our brain, causing us to feel happy and motivated as we complete daily tasks.

As naturally social creatures, when we are confronted with loneliness, our brains react by activating the regions associated with stress and despondency. When faced with long term periods of loneliness such as working from home, especially extroverted thinkers can suffer from high levels of anxiety and depression as a response.

How Does This Affect Our Productivity?

Increased levels of anxiety and depression, brought on by the impacts of WFH isolation can largely affect our work-related success.

As suggested by a Health Shield study, Mental health issues such as anxiety can cause someone to lose concentration, making it very difficult to multi-task and carry out day-to-day work activities. An employees stamina could also be affected, making task deadlines difficult to meet.

As remote work becomes more prevalent in a large proportion of the corporate world, an increase in WFH loneliness could have a knock-on impact on employee welfare and company success. To prioritise your own mental health while working from home, its important to utilise in-house social aids. From your computer to your smartphone, the technological revolution has made socialising possible from the comfort of your bedsheets. In order to remain productive while out of the office, its time to use technology to become digitally sociable.

How Can Technology Help You To Become More Digitally Sociable During WFH?





(Source: Statista)

In the wake of the pandemic, both corporate workers and students have been forced to retire from social office spaces and adjust to a home-based workplace set up. A report by IDC stated that the ongoing corporate and social ramifications of Covid-19 have propelled the global PC market, with remote workers leading the drive in sales.

With an increase in just over 10 million sales in the last year alone, its safe to assume that the need for technology has escalated amongst a work-from-home population.

The question is, is technology aiding more than just our working habits in 2021? As many remain isolated from Monday to Friday within their own four walls, technology is helping remote workers to remain a part of social groups both in and out of office hours. As we still see in-person social restrictions in place for an ongoing future, read on to find out how you can become more digitally sociable while working from home.

Keep Connected To A Virtual Office Environment

Keeping connected with your colleagues has never been more important when working from home. For the team to see remote success, remaining in the virtual loop improves widespread company communication, project efficiency and overall productivity as staff members are able to collaborate and converse in the same way they would in the office.

Video Calls

One way to utilise the evolution of technology to its full potential is to increase the amount of face-to-face interaction between colleagues. Scheduling regular video calls and conferences humanise the remote working experience and reduce symptoms of lockdown loneliness. Simply being able to read employee expressions and mannerisms, colleagues can connect with each other and form stronger working relationships. Installing platforms such as Microsoft (News - Alert) Teams and Zoom for your virtual office can drastically improve workplace wellbeing.

During the pandemic alone, the video conferencing platform, Zoom rose to fame amongst many corporate businesses, counting more than 300 million daily participants in virtual meetings. Whether it is for social team quizzes or large team brainstorming sessions, this technological tool is a must-have WFH essential.

Communication Channels

For the camera-shy, internal comms channels are also fantastic loneliness limiters that can promote organic socialisation amongst staff members. With the ability to mirror natural conversation, having a constant string of connection between colleagues decreases feelings of isolation.

Popular communication channels such as Slack have risen up as must-have workplace tools as employers opt for a future remote working scheme.





(Source: Statista)

According to a recent report, Slack has acquired a customer growth of nearly 35% since the onset of the pandemic, accelerating towards the top of the business tool market. With the ability to maintain multiple strings of conversation, enable gifs and videos and send across important documents, this technological extension transforms working from home for a digital native workforce.

Use Social Media To Your Advantage While Working Remotely

Utilising the evolution of technology during your working week is a step towards a more connected future for those of us who work from home.

Remaining connected to both colleagues and friends has never been easier thanks to the social media revolution. With smartphone users now able to access a range of platforms dedicated to connecting their audience using video, audio and instant messages, humans no longer need to be face-face to form a strong connection.

53% of the population are connected to at least one form of social media, which has only increased since the onset of the pandemic. Investing time in digital activities such as listening to podcasts, playing online games and creating and uploading videos is a great way to utilise your access to technology. For remote workers who struggle to build social connections due to their isolating working conditions, the land of social media doesnt have to be scary, with over 3.9 billion users, its never been easier to find social pages and fandom groups online that you can connect with for social gratification.

The Future Of Social Technology

From AR assistants to screen enhancing glasses, technology continues to adapt to improve the working from home experience. With remote working conditions here to stay, there is no doubt that sociality during WFH will continue to improve as technology advances. For instance, regular glasses that you normally shop online or at an eyeglasses store could soon incorporate AR technology that would allow employees to work in enhanced reality.

The World Economic Forum has begun to look towards a socially enhanced digital future in the form of social robots. Designed to help isolated workers feel less lonely, social connection robotics could be a new WFH technology in the making. Research suggests that people conversationally engage with a humanoid robot to a similar extent as another person, and more so than with a voice assistant like Alexa or Siri. Therefore, as new advances in mobile brain imaging technologies emerge, workers could soon have their own reliable robot to keep them company.

Until then, the best remedy for lockdown loneliness while working from home is to stay connected. Whether you're a social media native or a Zoom quiz master, using technology to aid your adaption to a new working world is the key to a happier and healthier 9-5.
YEREVAN.  Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan on Friday received US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy, the deputy PMs office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Welcoming the ambassador, the deputy PM lauded the financial and technical assistance provided by the US government to Armenia's economic development and ongoing reforms.

Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, the parties highlighted the public administration reforms being carried out in Armenia.

Separately, Avinyan presented the Armenian government priorities in digitization.

Prospects for cooperation in energy security and renewable energy were also discussed during the meeting. Also, the deputy PM presented Armenia's interest in addressing the challenge of climate change.

And taking into account Saturdays 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Tigran Avinyan stressed the need for the Genocides recognition and condemnation by the entire international community. At the same time, he stressed that the US position on this issue is essential, expressing hope that President Joe Biden will clearly express his respective position which he had voiced during his election campaign.
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MERCER ISLAND  A small Mercer Island apartment building at 2820 75th Ave. S.E. sold for over $4 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Island Lenai Apartments LLC, a family group that had owned the property for decades.





. . .
Apr. 22AUBURN  The Maine Gladiators youth hockey organization is sending two teams to the Tier II USA Hockey National Championships next week.

The U19 Gladiators girls team will be heading to Denver, Colorado for the U19 Tier II tournament while the Gladiators 14U boys team will head to Dallas, Texas for the 14U Tier II tournament. Both tournaments run April 29-May 3.

The U19 team has been placed in the 2A Division. They will take on the North Shore Warhawks (Illinois) and Northern Michigan K-Stars (Michigan) in pool play. The 14U team was also placed in the 2A Division and will take on the Manchester Flames (New Hampshire) and Team South Dakota.

"It's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to play in (the national tournament)," Gladiators 14U forward Timothy Ouellette said. "Doing it in COVID is something else."

Each team had to take a different path to the national championship tournament, in part because of the interstate hockey ban that ran from November to March. The girls team played less than a dozen games while the 14U team played well over 30.

Gladiators 14U coach Tom Metivier said they saw a lot of the Central Maine-area teams, including the Maine Nordiques, Maine Moose and Casco Bay 14U teams.

"We were lucky, we had some weekends where we played quite a few games in a tournament we had (at Norway Savings Bank Arena), that helped out," Metivier said. "We had the state tournament, that gave us some more games. We kind of self-scheduled a season. We played the Nordiques quite a few times and we played the team in Augusta, the Maine Moose, and we played a couple of Casco Bay teams. We tried to fill our schedule and get the boys to play some hockey."

For the girls team, they scrambled to play 11 regular-season games  mostly against the Casco Bay U19 and 16U teams and the Gladiators 16U team  because it's a split-season team, meaning they play before and after the high school season.

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When games weren't being played because of the community sports requirements, the players worked hard to stay in shape.

"The Gladiators organization did an unbelievable job, they gave us all the practice time and we stayed within the COVID restrictions," 19U girls coach Keith Pomerleau said. "At one point, we could only do skills, we couldn't compete or anything and they all showed up and they worked hard no matter what type of practice we had."

Pomerleau said each practice had at least 90% of the roster showing up.

The girls team was able to only play four games when youth hockey got shut down, and when the community sports requirements allowed games to be played was around the same time the high school season began. The Gladiators have girls that play for Lewiston, Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland, St. Dom's, Messalonskee, Brunswick, Hebron Academy and North Yarmouth Academy.

After the high school season ended, the girls reconvened as a team to finish their season and get to the 11-game minimum to be eligible for the New England regional tournament.

"I think we played four games then the high school season started," forward Leah Landry said. "There was a break until after (the high school season) ends and that's like when our season really started. We weren't able to practice during the high school season."

They reached the 11-game threshold and defeated the Casco Bay U19 girls team in a two-game sweep in the best-of-three series to capture the Maine Amateur Hockey Association's state championship.

Goalie Lauren Power, who plays at NYA, had a big postseason run. She earned two, 4-0 shutouts in the state championship series against Casco Bay and only allowed five goals in four games at the New England regional, as the team went 3-0-1 to capture the New England championship in Newington, Connecticut, April 9-11.

"She was huge, especially in the regionals," Gladiators forward Caroline Tracey said. "If we had a different goalie, we might not have won because the other teams got a lot of shots but, luckily she saved almost all of them."

The 14U boys team, meanwhile, is a full-season team and doesn't stop play during the high school season, even though a good chunk of the roster are freshmen in high school. The team has players from Lewiston, Edward Little, St. Dom's and Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester who either played varsity or junior varsity for their respective high school teams.

Metivier said they worked with the local high schools to make sure there wasn't too much of an overlap between the 14U schedule and the high school schedule.

The 14U team thought it could make nationals from the start of the season.

"As soon as we found out our team, we knew our goal and we knew we could make it to the national tournament," forward Peyton Dyer said. "We knew we had to win states and we could do it. ... It's a very special group and I think we can do something special down there (in Dallas)."

Unlike the U19 girls division, the 14U boys division has no regional tournament so the state champion heads to nationals. The boys had a battle with the Maine Junior Black Bears for the MEAHA state crown.

The series went all three games, and for the final game of the series on March 26 friends and family were able to watch as the indoor capacity limits opened up.

"In game three in that state tournament, to have fans, I feel like that really got us going," Dyer said. "We were excited to have fans and that got us going."

Players on both teams have grown up playing with each other.

"A lot of us, we have been playing since we were little kids since we have been (nine, 10 years old), it's just a thing, we just click," Ouellette said. "Ever since we were kids, we have done stuff together."

Some members of the girls team were members of the 16U Gladiators team that went to nationals in 2019. Two years ago, the Gladiators couldn't get out of pool play. They hope they can advance further this time around.

"I think to win a few games and get further in the tournament than we did last time," Landry said. "We didn't make it to any semifinals or finals. So, I think making it to the semifinals or the final game would be cool."

Landry said it was a cool experience two years ago to see teams from different states and the skill level they brought.

In a year with no playoffs at the high school level, going to nationals fills that void. For Tracey, a senior at Edward Little, the nationals could be the last competitive hockey games she plays and she's going to enjoy the experience.

"Very much because I probably won't play in any other tournaments after this," Tracey said. "It's my senior year and it's my last year playing. After nationals, I don't have a lot of hockey after that besides college possibly and I am unsure if I am going to play there."
Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, on April 23 held a virtual discussion with Margrethe Vestanger, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, on the preparations of the upcoming India-EU summit. Terming the talks as warm and productive, he reckoned that both the leaders had detailed talks on the preparations of the upcoming summit. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the 16th India-EU summit has been shifted to a digital platform, nixing PM Modis earlier planned Portugal trip.

In a subsequent tweet, the lawmaker also appreciated the support that the 27 member bloc had offered to COVID-19 battered India. Confident that EU will help strengthen our capabilities at this critical juncture, he further added. His tweet comes as the country recorded its single-day highest peak of over 3,14,835 positive cases in the last 24 hours.

A warm and productive meeting with EVP of @EU_Commission @vestager.



Detailed discussions on the preparation for the virtual India-EU Summit. pic.twitter.com/gKT9KA5yZG  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 23, 2021

Appreciated the support offered by EU on Covid challenges currently faced by India. Confident that EU will help strengthen our capabilities at this critical juncture.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 23, 2021

This comes on the same day as France, a leading member of the bloc, showed solidarity to Indias fight against the second COVID-19 wave as the country reported over three lakh cases in the last 24 hours for the second consecutive day on Friday. In a statement shared by french Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain on Twitter, Macron said that France is with India in the struggle to stem the coronavirus infections and noted that the disease spares no one. The French President also said that the country is ready to assist India in any form of support during these grim times.

Increased India-EU dialogue

Last week, Indian and European leaders participated in 9th India-EU Human Rights Dialogue. The two sides reiterated their commitment to shared principles and values of democracy, freedom, respect for human rights. The Human Rights Dialogue was co-chaired by the Joint Secretary for Europe West in the MEA, Sandeep Chakravorty, and the Ambassador to the European Union to India, Ugo Astuto.

According to the press release of the Ministry of External Affairs, the two sides exchanged their views on strengthening human rights in all spheres such as social, economic etc. The two leaders expressed the need to foster greater engagement on human rights issues. The two sides discussed civil and political rights, freedom of religion or belief, women empowerment, children's rights, rights of women minorities and vulnerable groups.

(Image Credits: DrSJaishankar/Twitter )
The Lower East Side Heritage Film Series at Seward Park Library has a fun line-up this month. This Tuesday they will focus on Bubbies & Beats. On the program:

Pull My Daisy (1959, 29 min., 16mm) Friday morning in the universe is the opening line of Jack Kerouacs improvisational narration of a day in the life of the Beat poets. In a Bowery loft, a railyard worker plays host to the Beat poets, a visiting Bishop, his sister and mother. Awarded the first prize for Best Experimental Film for 1959 at the San Francisco Festival, the film is a portrait of the inner condition of an entire generation. Featuring Allan Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Larry Rivers, Delphine Seyrig, Peter Orlovsky, Pablo Frank, Mooney Peebles, Alice Neal, Sally Gross.

Yudie (1974, 20 min., 16mm) A portrait of the filmmaker Mirra Banks resilient 70-year-old Jewish aunt whose parents immigrated from Russia to New Yorks Lower East Side. Yudie describes the family business, early labor organizing and life as an independent Jewish girl who broke some of the expected codes.
RTHK: Terror probe after police employee killed near Paris

French prosecutors opened a terror inquiry on Friday after a police employee was stabbed to death at a station southwest of Paris by a suspected Islamist extremist from Tunisia who was then shot dead by the security forces.

President Emmanuel Macron said France would never give in to "Islamist terrorism" after the attack in Rambouillet, a tranquil commuter town about 60 kilometres from Paris, which revived the trauma of a spate of deadly attacks last year.

France's national anti-terrorism prosecutors said they had opened a terror investigation, also involving the DGSI domestic intelligence service, into the murder of a person holding public authority.

A source close to the inquiry said the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) during the attack.

Chief anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard, who spoke outside the station along with Prime Minister Jean Castex, confirmed that "comments made by the assailant" indicated a terror motive, without further details.

The attack took place in the secure entrance area of the station at around 2:20 pm (1220 GMT), a police source added, asking not to be named.

The 49-year-old woman, an administrative assistant and mother of two who was returning from a lunch break, was stabbed in the throat twice and died of her wounds shortly afterwards, the source said.

The attacker, 36, was fatally wounded when an officer opened fire on him.

He arrived in France illegally in 2009 but had since obtained residency papers, a police source said, adding that he was unknown to security services. He had just moved to Rambouillet.

Macron vowed on Twitter that "in our fight against Islamist terrorism, we will never give in," identifying the murdered woman as Stephanie.

"The nation is by the side of her family, her colleagues and security forces," he said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who also visited officers in Rambouillet, said security would be stepped up at stations nationwide.

Several attacks over the last year have reignited concerns about the spread of radical Islam inside France as well as immigration.

In September, a Pakistani man wounded two people with a meat cleaver outside the former offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

On October 16, a young Chechen refugee beheaded teacher Samuel Paty who had showed some of the caricatures to his pupils.

And on October 29, three people were killed when a recently arrived Tunisian went on a stabbing spree in a church in the Mediterranean city of Nice.

In the most severe recent attack against French police, three officers and one police employee in Paris were stabbed to death in October 2019 by an IT specialist colleague who was himself then shot dead.

He was later found to have shown an interest in radical Islam.

These attacks came after the massacres carried out by Islamist extremists from 2015 that began with the massacre of staff in the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January that year.

In France's deadliest peacetime atrocity, 130 people were killed and 350 were wounded when Islamist suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Stade de France stadium, bars and restaurants in central Paris and the Bataclan concert hall in November 2015.

The next year a man rammed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd in Nice in 2016, killing 86 people.

Just a few weeks before, in June 2016, two police officers were stabbed to death at their home outside Paris by a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Macron's government has introduced legislation to tackle radical Islamist activity in France, a bill that has stirred anger in some Muslim countries. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Delhi Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said it has regretted the inconvenience caused by the live streaming of the conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Today, the Chief Minister address was shared live because there has never been any instruction, written or verbal, from the central govt that the said interaction could not be shared live," said Delhi CMO in a statement.

It further said that there have been multiple occasions of similar interactions where matters of public importance which had no confidential information were shared live. "However, if any inconvenience was caused we highly regret that," the CMO said.

Prime Minister @narendramodi chairs meeting on #COVID19 situation with Chief Ministers of high burden States



PM requests States to be strict with hoarding and black marketing of essential medicines and injections#IndiaFightsCorona



Read: https://t.co/m0N2KeBwPF



(1/2) pic.twitter.com/x1W2qK4Ixf  PIB India (@PIB_India) April 23, 2021

What happened?

The development came after Kejriwal came under criticism for live-streaming his appeal to the PM during the COVID-19 review meeting with Chief Ministers on Friday.

In his appeal, Kejriwal requested him to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital.

"People in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. Despite being a CM, I am not able to help the people of Delhi. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi," he said during the meeting.

Representational Image/IANS

"We need a national plan to deal with the crisis. Central government should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and every tanker coming out of the oxygen plant should be accompanied by an Army escort vehicle," he said.

"We are thankful to the Central government that they increased our quota of oxygen but we have been trying since two days to get the oxygen supply. The oxygen supply scheduled to come to Delhi from Odisha and West Bengal should either be airlifted or brought through the 'Oxygen express' started by the Centre," he said.

The chief minister also objected to different rates being charged from state governments and the Centre for the COVID-19 vaccine, and said "one nation, one rate" policy should be followed.

AFP

"In a single country, why are we having two prices for the same thing. There should be one nation, one rate policy. The entire country should get vaccine at a similar rate. Every one in the country should be entitled to vaccine, medicines and oxygen, without any dispute," he said.

PM   Meeting  CM @ArvindKejriwal  OXYGEN SHORTAGE   Narendra Modi     : pic.twitter.com/UuiKA442kn  AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 23, 2021

Responding to the comments made by Kejriwal, PM Modi accused him of breaching the protocol.

"Let me say something ... this is strictly against our tradition, our protocol ... that a chief minister is running a live telecast of an in-house meeting," the Prime Minister said.

"This is inappropriate and we must refrain from doing so," PM Modi added.
LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE IS JUNE 15, 2021

NEW YORK and SAN DIEGO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of investors that purchased Franklin Wireless Corp. (NASDAQ: FKWL) securities between September 17, 2020 and April 8, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period").

(PRNewsfoto/Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman )

All investors who purchased shares of Franklin Wireless Corp. and incurred losses are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action or join the case on our website, www.whafh.com.

If you have incurred losses in your investment in Franklin Wireless Corp. you may, no later than June 15, 2021, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class. Please contact Wolf Haldenstein to learn more about your rights as an investor in the shares of Franklin Wireless Corp.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN CASE

On April 1, 2021, Franklin stated that it "ha[d] been notified of reports of battery issues in some of its wireless hotspot devices." It also stated that the Company was "working with its battery and device manufacturing partners and carrier customer to determine the cause and extent of the problem."



On this news, the Company's share price fell $0.35, or 1.65%, to close at $20.77 per share on April 5, 2021, the next trading session.

On April 8, 2021, media reported that Verizon Wireless is recalling certain hotspot devices. According to CNBC, Verizon "is recalling 2.5 million hotspot devices after discovering that the lithium ion battery can overheat, creating a fire and burning hazard." Moreover, the "recall impacts Ellipsis Jetpack mobile hotspots imported by Franklin Wireless Corp. and sold between April 2017 and March 2021."



On this news, the Company's share price fell $2.82, or 14%, to close at $17.33 per share on April 8, 2021.



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On April 9, 2021, Franklin stated that its customer Verizon Wireless "has issued a voluntary recall of its Jetpack Hotspot devices imported by Franklin." The Company stated that "[a]t this time, fewer than 20 reports of trouble have been received with over 2 million devices in [sic] sold over the last three and a half years."



On this news, the Company's share price fell $4.07, or nearly 23%, to close at $13.26 per share on April 9, 2021.

Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com, or visit our website.

Contact:

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP

Kevin Cooper, Esq.

Gregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial Analysis

Email: gstone@whafh.com, kcooper@whafh.com or classmember@whafh.com

Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/franklin-wireless-corp-class-action-alert-wolf-haldenstein-adler-freeman--herz-llp-announces-that-a-securities-class-action-lawsuit-has-been-filed-in-the-united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-california-agai-301276042.html

SOURCE Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP
One person was dead after a helicopter that left an Allentown airport crashed in northeastern Pennsylvania, authorities said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it issued an alert for a missing aircraft Thursday, and the wreckage of a Robinson R44 helicopter was found in a remote area at about 9 p.m. Thursday in Wyoming County.

Pennsylvania State Police at Troop P confirmed one person died in the crash; the FAA said it had no information yet about the number of people on board.

The crash scene is on state game lands, and state police said it has been difficult accessing the area.

Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority spokesman Colin Riccobon said the helicopter arrived at Queen City at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and departed at about 8:10 p.m. It was headed to Bradford County Airport in Towanda, the FAA said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating, but the agency does not identify people involved in aircraft accidents. A message left for the Wyoming County coroner was not immediately returned.

We will cooperate with the NTSB with their investigation, Riccobon said. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy.

It was a privately owned helicopter, WBRE Channel 28 reported. The FAA will release the aircraft tail number once investigators verify it at the scene.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
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EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois (KMOV) -- Scott and Debbie Grigaitis say living by a crop field has been peaceful for the last 20 years. However, this past Monday they say that peace was disrupted by an overpowering stench of sewage.

Its bad," Debbie Grigaitis said. "You cant even step out of your door without it hitting you in the face."

She said crews were spraying fertilizer made from human waste on a crop field adjacent to their home. The City of Edwardsville was issued a permit by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to allow the company Veolia to spray whats called biosolids on this field. Veolia is a private company contracted by Edwardsville to operate their wastewater treatment facilities.

Residents say they werent notified about the spraying, a stipulation listed in the permit. By not giving any notice it seems a little shady, Scott Grigaitis said.

We spoke with the plant manager of the Edwardsville Treatment Facility. He admitted they dropped the ball by not notifying residents about the spraying of biosolids. Veolia says they are currently reviewing that error.

Veolia says using biosolids isnt uncommon. The Metropolitan Sewer District did ship out their biosolids to St. Peters in the past, who used it to fertilize fields. But they stopped because of complaints about the smell being too offensive.

Harmful chemicals found in human waste are removed during the treatment process. Biosolids is the residue thats left behind from the treatment process and from there it gets converted into fertilizer. The EPA says 50% of biosolids produced in the U.S are used for fertilizers.

Veolia says because of the opposition to the strong smell, they will not do any future treatments to this area.

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Researchers from Nanjing University, National Sun Yat-sen University, and Northwestern University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that shows that the spatial distance between products and consumers can affect perceived value and willingness to pay.

The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Values Created from Far and Near: Influence of Spatial Distance on Brand Evaluation" and is authored by Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu, Chun-Tuan Chang, and Angela Y. Lee.

No one ever questions why some retail products are on display in cabinets behind the sales counter, where shoppers can only view them from a distance, while other displays take center stage to greet shoppers as they walk inside the store. Consumers likely reason that the former practice is to protect high-value products from potential damage or theft and that the latter practice is to entice shoppers to purchase these items. However, there are additional hidden advantages to these practices. This research team finds that keeping a distance between consumers and products enhances the perceived value and prestige of luxury items while proximity increases the perceived sincerity and closeness of popular products.

The researchers propose that the spatial distance between the product and the consumer, whether in real life or in ads or websites, may enhance or devalue consumers' perceptions of the product depending on whether the brand image reflects status or broad appeal. Specifically, distance signals prestige when status and luxury are relevant to the brand image, in which case a far distance should help enhance the brand image. On the other hand, distance signals social closeness when popularity and broad appeal are relevant to the brand image, in which case a close distance should help to enhance that brand image.

Across seven studies, they show that the distance between the product and the consumer, whether in real life or in ads, can have a profound influence on how consumers evaluate the product and make purchase decisions. The researchers observe the relationship between spatial distance and consumer perception and price judgments in a variety of contexts that include store display, window display, print ads, and websites. In the first study, participants designing a mock ad positioned the image of a product further away from the image of the model when the ad was for a prestigious brand than for a popular brand. In the next set of studies, participants estimated the same distance between the model and an expensive handbag to be further apart than for an inexpensive handbag; but they estimated the distance between the model and a popular brand to be closer than for an unpopular brand.

In the next two studies, participants evaluated an expensive leather backpack more favorably when they were standing five feet (versus three feet) away, but an everyday-use canvas backpack more favorably when they were standing three ft (versus five feet) away. Participants in the sixth study evaluated a coffeemaker with the tagline "Aromatic coffee, distinguished taste. Luxurious life, prestigious choice" more positively when it was positioned further away from the model in an ad, but the coffeemaker with the tagline "Aromatic coffee, trendy taste. Cozy life, popular choice" more positively when it was positioned closer to the model in the ad. Finally, in the last study, consumers receiving a text sent to their mobile phone were more likely to click on the ad with a "Luxurious lifestyle, Prestigious choice" tagline and visit the website to redeem a discount coupon when the product image is further away from the model in the ad. But they were more likely to click on the ad with a "Cozy lifestyle, Popular choice" tagline when the product image is closer to the model in the ad.

These findings offer useful insights to marketers about how to leverage visual cues in window and store displays and in advertising. By strategically matching the distance between the product and the consumer, marketers can effectively enhance value and increase consumers' willingness to pay a price premium for luxury brands by enhancing perceived prestige. Alternatively, they can enhance value and increase consumers' willingness to pay a price premium for brands with broad appeal by enhancing perceived social closeness. For luxury brands or products with an exclusive brand image, a distal distance signals prestige and exclusivity. In contrast, for popular brands or products that appeal to a wide customer base, a proximal distance signals connectedness and sincerity.

Images are powerful communication tools. Today's time-starved consumers are bombarded by information. Chu explains that "Vivid images can capture attention and convey meaning without words and lengthy messages. Marketers can easily incorporate the insights from our research into their communication strategy--whether it be window displays, store layouts, website designs, billboards, print ads, etc. Far distance can enhance perceived status for brands with a prestigious brand image whereas proximal distance can enhance social connectedness for brands with a popular brand image." Marketers should also be aware of the corresponding downsides--keeping a distance can dampen the perceived connectedness of popular products, while proximity can lower the perceived prestige of luxury products.

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Full article and author contact information available at: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1177/ 00222429211000706

About the Journal of Marketing

The Journal of Marketing develops and disseminates knowledge about real-world marketing questions useful to scholars, educators, managers, policy makers, consumers, and other societal stakeholders around the world. Published by the American Marketing Association since its founding in 1936, JM has played a significant role in shaping the content and boundaries of the marketing discipline. Christine Moorman (T. Austin Finch, Sr. Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University) serves as the current Editor in Chief. https:/ / www. ama. org/ jm

About the American Marketing Association (AMA)
President Joe Biden is expected to propose new taxes on the rich to pay for the next phase of his rescue package, two sources familiar with the plan said Thursday.

Biden will lay out the full proposal, which he calls the American Families Plan, during his address to a joint session of Congress next week. The plan's price tag is about $1.5 trillion, said two sources familiar with the discussions. The proposal is focused on expanding child care, paid leave, universal pre-K education, free community college and other domestic priorities.

The proposal would also extend the child tax credit through 2025 but not make it permanent. Democrats' $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, which Biden signed into law last month, raised the credit to as much as $3,600 per child per year.

The Washington Post reported the plan Monday.

Administration officials are reviewing ways to offset the cost of the package. The White House is considering raising the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6 percent from 37 percent, which was the rate in President Donald Trump's tax overhaul in 2017. Capital gains could also be taxed as regular income to pay for the legislation, said a source familiar with the proposal.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that she would not get ahead of Biden's final announcement and that details are still being worked out.

"We're still finalizing what the pay-for looks like," she said, reiterating Biden's pledge not to raise taxes on any American making less than $400,000 a year.

Biden's plan follows the first phase of his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan, which is aimed at revitalizing physical infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports, waterways and broadband. That proposed package would be funded by tax increases on corporations.

Administration officials have decided to remove a $700 billion expansion of health care programs from the proposal for political reasons, deciding instead to pursue health care as a separate initiative, The New York Times reported.
Kirkuk (Iraq):

A Baghdad court has issued an arrest warrant for the vice president of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region for saying that Iraqi forces had "occupied" the disputed province of Kirkuk this week.

However, the warrant against Kosrat Rasul is unlikely to be executed as the central government in Baghdad has no enforceable authority in the Kurdish-administered north.

The court accused Rasul of "insulting" Iraq's armed forces, which is forbidden by Iraqi law.

On Monday, Iraq's federal forces, supported by Iranian-sponsored militias, rolled into the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, forcing Kurdish militias, known as the peshmerga, to withdraw after brief clashes.

The Kurds took over the city in 2014 when Iraq's army melted away ahead of the Islamic State's blitz across northern and western Iraq.

IS has since seen its hold on Iraq and north Syria crumble in the face of relentless air strikes by the US-led coalition and an array of forces battling it on the ground. At its peak it held a third of both countries.

In Kirkuk, residents were coming to terms on Thursday with the handover of the city back to Baghdad authorities. Many felt the two leading Iraqi Kurdish parties had betrayed their people and had ordered the peshmerga to pull back with hardlya fight.

Jumaa Khalaf said she felt "humiliated" by the two parties over the withdrawal.

Read more: UNICEF: Rohingya children refugees face 'hell on earth'

"They trampled on the dignity of the peshmerga", she said.

Many Kurds are wary of the Shiite-led militias that helped Iraqi forces retake the city. The Popular Mobilisation Forces, as they are known, are predominantly Shiite and backed by Iran, and seen by Kurds as agents of Arab- and Shiite-first policy.

PMF commanders held a press conference from the centre of Kirkuk on Wednesday, despite orders from Baghdad not to enter the city, further provoking fears of ethnic strife.

Associated Press reporters on Tursday saw only a handful of PMF vehicles among a dominantly federal police and security presence inside Kirkuk.

The city felt calm, apart from sporadic reports of looting. The UN said more than 60,000 people fled the city on Monday, fearing clashes and leaving homes empty and unguarded. Later, thousands returned.

Another Kurdish resident, Hassan Anwar, said he was disturbed to see photos of Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani burned in the city. "I feel like it's my father's photo that's been burnt", he said.

The Kurds make up a portion of the multi-ethnic Kirkuk's 1.2 million residents, living among Arabs and Turkmen.

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Groversons Group, having a heritage of over 60 years in the segment of intimate clothing for women in India, has announced its expansion through associations with Multi-brand Outlets and opening up physical centers in Uttar Pradesh- Varanasi & Agra; Gujarat  Ahmedabad & Vapi; Punjab and Haryana.

Amid this Covid-19 crisis and the rising second wave, it is uncertain to actually promise anything but if they go by their plan, Groversons will soon open 8-10 exclusive business outlets in the North region of India and associate with 30-35 multi-brand outlets Pan India by the end of 2021-22 making a count of around 75 store placements.

Currently the brand is present in 20 Shop-in-Shops around the nation where it has featured best of its collection in various categories of Bras, Panties, Shapewear, Leggings and Loungewear; and is also setting up its centres with Kambalghar & Dressland Varanasi, Colors Clothing Pathankot, Platinum Family Store Bhatinda, Jack n Jill Dhimapur & Kohima Nagaland.

Groversons is the one of the oldest lingerie manufacturing in the country and comes with a huge variety of products. The brand has also kept the comfort of women as its primary focus and has designed products that they can use for daily and formal wear.

Excited about the expansion, Mr Siddharth Grover, Director, Groversons Group, In this new financial year 2021-22, our focus is majorly on expansion whether it is in distribution channel, e commerce channel or through retail outlets. It is very important to add new aspects to the business every now and then in order to bring freshness and for focussed growth of the organisation. There are tie-ups planned with some very well known LFRs present on Pan India level. This will make our products available to the customers in a much easier way. We are also aiming at strengthening our online network by spreading our footprints into some of the best ecommerce portals. Currently, our own website sales contribute to 70% of our total online sales.
Ralph Gardner Jr. is a journalist whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The New Yorker. He can be reached at ralph@ralphgardner.com . The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle.
Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research pillar of Abu Dhabis Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), today announced that its Secure Systems Research Centre (SSRC) has partnered with Khalifa University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Tampere University and University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). Secure Systems Research Centre also recently announced that it had partnered with Purdue University.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210421005624/en/

Dr Shreekant Thakkar, Chief Researcher, Secure Systems Research Centre (SSRC), Technology Innovation Institute (TII) (Photo: AETOSWire)

The announcement of these collaborations is the latest in a series of announcements by Technology Innovation Institute since the first Advanced Technology Research Council board meeting in August 2020. Secure Systems Research Centre is one of the initial seven dedicated research centres at Technology Innovation Institute. The strategic partnerships will advance breakthroughs in the field of secure systems and its sub-disciplines across crucial projects.

The partnership with the UAEs prestigious Khalifa University spans four major projects, the first of which explores opportunities to use machine learning for exfiltration detection on android smartphones. The second project involves the development of solutions in secure communications for power-constrained wireless mesh networks while the third investigates physical wireless security and routing protocols on drone communications. Finally, the last project looks at physical layer security for diverse unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-ground wireless networks. This project seeks to evaluate the vulnerabilities of these networks and propose efficient solutions to mitigate system weakness.

The partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States encompasses a project that will devise a theory for constructing attack-resilient software that can address real-time constraints in cyber-physical and autonomous systems (CPAS). The research team will demonstrate techniques that enhance the security of CPAS software and platforms, with a focus on drones. The cooperation with Tampere University in Finland comprises of a project related to critical infrastructure security. This project will uncover methods to reduce an attackers ability to infiltrate, steal and manipulate data in critical infrastructure. This research has prominent use-cases in areas such as drone deployment, emergency services, infrastructure on demand, and smart city data processing.

The partnership with Switzerlands SUPSI will explore AI-based secure autonomous navigation on Nano-UAVs, focusing on security, autonomy, and resilience. The team aims to enable secure communication and computation onboard resource-constrained (i.e., computation, memory, power, and payload) cyber-physical systems (CPSs) by leveraging machine learning, deep learning, and advanced artificial intelligence techniques.

Speaking on the partnership announcements, Dr Shreekant (Ticky) Thakkar, Chief Researcher at Secure Systems Research Centre leading the Secure Autonomous Computing work, said: Our world is more connected  and more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Smart cities, transportation and other critical infrastructure, require the highest levels of defence against these attacks. The partnerships and crucial projects that we have announced with prestigious global institutions will no doubt have far-reaching advancements in secure and resilient autonomous system solutions that encompass platforms, systems software, communications, applications, and data integrity.

In March 2021, Technology Innovation Institute announced that Secure Systems Research Centre has partnered with Purdue University, a world-renowned US-based public research university, to collaborate on a three-year sophisticated cybersecurity project to ensure unmanned aerial vehicles can be used safely and efficiently in urban operations.

For more information about Technology Innovation Institute (TII) please visit www.tii.ae

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210421005624/en/
On Saturday, April 24, at 2 p.m. CDT, the Alabama Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee is hosting a meeting calling for the unification of all workers in Alabama: Support educators, Warrior Met miners, and Amazon workers! Unite our struggles to save lives AND livelihoods! Register here and invite your coworkers, friends and family to this important meeting.

On April 7, Alabamas Republican Governor Kay Ivey lifted the states mask mandate, citing a decline in cases and hospitalizations since peak numbers in January. During a press conference, both Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris spoke gushingly of the state of the pandemic in Alabama, saying weve finally rounded the corner and that the pandemic is almost over. Obligatory mention was made of the fact that the virus continues to spread, but they assured the public that common sense and personal responsibility were enough to keep the states numbers down.

To place the onus of the pandemic on the population obscures the reality that the widespread death and social catastrophe is the result of policies consciously implemented by governments around the world, which have prioritized corporate profits over human lives. Since March of 2020, after the US Congress passed the so-called CARES Act and gave trillions of dollars to Wall Street, the federal, state and local governments, aided by the corporate media, have insisted that the public must learn to live with the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under the pressure of the Trump and now Biden administrations, has distorted science to claim that schools can safely reopen.

In reality, the measures needed to stop the spread of the virus and eradicate the pandemic are well known by governments, but willfully ignored. As the World Socialist Web Site recently noted, comprehensive testing, contact tracing and quarantining were employed in all nations that have managed to rein in the virus. As of March 22, 2021, Taiwan, a country of 24 million people, has had 1,006 reported infections and 10 deaths. In Singapore, home to five million people, new cases have remained in the single or low double digits since October 2020. Such measures are not widespread in the US and Alabama is no exception.

In a preemptive move, the Alabama legislature is working to make it more difficult for any statewide emergency orders to be put into place. The Montgomery Advertiser described a bill from Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, that would require the Legislature to approve the extension of certain states of emergency. Earlier, the chamber approved a bill from Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, that would allow businesses and churches to stay open during an emergency, provided they follow the governor's orders during a pandemic [Whatleys bill] would also require the governor to make a good-faith effort to get the approval of a Legislative Council before taking any action that would restrict, limit, or otherwise burden the conduct of private citizens or businesses.

On April 20, AP News reported that hospitalizations in Alabama increased by 20 percent over the previous ten days and that the rolling seven-day average of new daily cases increased by 55 percent from April 8-21. Testing has also decreased since a high of 87,451 tests conducted the week of December 13, down to 22,563 during the current week. The test positivity rate is currently 15.90 percent and demonstrates a high level of community transmission.

Another alarming trend is the spread of variants throughout Alabama. The UK B.1.1.7 variant is now thought to make up 60 percent of cases in the state, according to Dr. Sixto Leal of the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Pathology Department. Two cases of the South African B.1.351 variant have also been identified. Currently, the UAB is the primary lab conducting genetic sequencing of the virus and is sequencing fewer than one hundred tests per week.

In Montgomery, school outbreaks are also once again on the rise after in-person learning resumed on April 5. Eighteen cases were reported in the district during the week ending April 16. Statewide, 334 cases were reported last week, up nearly 77 percent from 257 the week prior.

One Montgomery educator told the WSWS, The situation in the Montgomery school district regarding the virus is terrible. Personally, I do not feel safe teaching in person. It is very difficult teaching small children who really dont understand whats going on. Things are awful and very stressful. The superintendent gets on the news to say how safe everything is and thats simply not true. What makes me really angry is that teachers have no say in the decisions being made and now the CDC keeps watering down the guidelines. Why is this being done? It is because they want children in school and the parents working. Why should I risk my life so someone else can get very wealthy?

The teacher added, In addition to the existing virus you now have the transmission of new variants, and under these conditions there are districts around us who are not requiring their students to wear a mask. Just the other day, I had a third grade student come to me to report that his grandfather had COVID. I have loved teaching up until now. No one is listening to what we say and its for this reason we need to have Rank-and-File Safety Committees in every location and our voices need to be heard. They are killing teachers. What good is an economy if masses of people die? How can this be normal? You can not treat a deadly virus the way you deal with a common cold.

In January, a group of Alabama teachers took the initiative to form the Alabama Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, part of a network of such committees across the US and internationally. These committees are completely independent of the big business Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the trade unions which have collaborated with the national, state and local governments in marching teachers and workers back to their jobs to produce profit for the wealthy elites.

Districts are following the lead of Governor Iveys easing of restrictions. On social media, one educator disclosed that a district in the Montgomery suburbs is no longer quarantining students who were exposed to positive cases. They are no longer asking students to remain socially distant if they are wearing masks, and some teachers are no longer enforcing masks.

At least thirteen educators in Alabama have died from COVID-19 since the start of 2021, according to local news and Edweek.org. The numbers of deaths and cases in schools is likely higher, as there is no systematic tracking of workplace spread by state or national officials. Another teacher told the WSWS, They are keeping the numbers low. We had three deaths in my school alone.

Meanwhile, the Alabama legislature is deciding on a proposed education budget which would include a measly two percent pay raise for education workers. Depending on a teachers degree level and teaching experience, this amounts to between $800 - $1,000 a year. This is a slap in the face considering the conditions teachers have had to endure during the pandemic, including teaching double course loads to accommodate both in-person and virtual students, dangerous working conditions, and the physical and emotional damage of contracting the virus or losing a colleague. In 2020, teacher retirements in Alabama were at the highest level in a decade.

The working class continues to pay the cost of the capitalist policies. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently released data showing the ongoing economic misery faced by millions of Americans. In Alabama, as of March 2021, 11 percent of adults reported that their households did not have enough to eat, and 10 percent said that children in their households did not have enough to eat. Also, 199,000 Alabamans, or 22 percent, are not caught up on rent.

Workers across Alabama are determined to fight for their lives and livelihoods. For three weeks, over 1,000 coal miners at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood have been on strike for better pay and working conditions, including the reversal of a $6/hour wage cut pushed through with the help of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in 2016.

In Bessemer, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union suffered a staggering defeat to install itself at the Amazon facility, despite unprecedented support from AFL-CIO bureaucracy, the ruling class and the political establishment. This top-down operation failed to gather any confidence among workers themselves, with only 12 percent of the workforce voting in favor of the union.

Educators, coal miners, Amazon workers and other workers across Alabama need a path forward to fight for their interests. As the experiences with the Alabama Education Association, UMWA and RWDSU demonstrate, the unions are tools of the ruling class. Workers must take matters into their own hands, independent of the capitalist parties and the corporatist trade unions, which for decades have policed the class struggle rather than advance their interests.

We urge Alabama workers to establish rank-and-file committees in each workplace in order to unify workers struggles across industries and fight to contain the pandemic and save lives. Attend this Saturdays meeting to discuss this perspective. Share the event on social media, and invite your coworkers, family and friends!
NEW HAVEN  Need to get vaccinated against COVID-19?

Fair Haven Community Health Care has an opportunity for you at Wilbur Cross High School.

The health care organization opened its vaccination clinic Thursday, located in the small gym at Wilbur Cross, 181 Mitchell Drive, to walk-up visitors 16 and older, officials said.

Walk-up visitors will be welcome from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays for the foreseeable future, officials said.

As of Tuesday, there had been 13,492 reported cases of the coronavirus in New Haven, according to the state Department of Public Health. A total of 193 city residents had died of COVID-19, according to state data. Of 372,764 tests performed, 16,034 had come back positive.

As of April 15, like most area communities, New Haven remained in the states most serious classification for coronavirus cases per capita, with 41 cases per 100,000 residents reported

The clinic is dispensing the two-shot Pfizer vaccine, with recipients being able to receive their second shot three weeks after their first, according to Fair Havens statement.

Those ages 16 or 17 need to bring a parent or guardian to the clinic to sign off on the vaccination, officials said.

Dr. Everett Lamm, vice president of clinical affairs, said the change made sense at this point.

Opening up our vaccination center to walk ups seemed like the natural next step, Lamm said in the statement.We understand schedules change and its important we allow for flexibility so more members of our community can have access to the vaccine. This also removes any phone or computer barriers people may face.

Those preferring appointments can schedule one online here, officials said.

Jennifer Vazquez, director of special programs and advocacy for the Fair Haven clinic, said Thursday that while the walk-in program was attracting patients, we can accommodate much more than what we are seeing.

What we really want people to know is that we are giving the Pfizer vaccine, which is safe, Vazquez said. We are truly trying to make it as convenient as possible.

Vazquez said those seeking the vaccine are not required to have insurance and do not need to show ID. She said one of the goals it to reach communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

Its an advantage because if their day opens up and they have availability to come in, they are able to just walk in when is convenient to them, she said.

Vazquez said health care providers are looking closely at various factors that might be contributing to the wider availability of the vaccines, including at the numbers of appointments they have each day and the no-shows for appointments.

Several partners are seeing a similar trend, Vazquez said.

Further, beginning Thursday, April 22, there are 500+ open appointments at the Floyd Little Field House located at 480 Sherman Parkway, according to the city.

There are approximately 1,000 open appointments on April 23 and 1,400 on April 25, according to the city. All appointments are at the Floyd Little Field House.

All eligible individuals age 16 or older can make an appointment by visiting the city website at covidvaccine.ynhh.org or by calling 1-833-275-9644.

Hamden is also offering walk-up vaccinations through Saturday at the Keefe Community Center, 11 Pine St.

That clinic is being held through a partnership between the town, Griffin Health and the state Department of Public Health, according to a release. Officials said the Moderna vaccine is being offered.

It will be open from noon to 6 p.m., except Saturday when it will operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reviewed the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, particularly in view of reports of shortage of oxygen supply coming from several hospitals across the country.

Shah has directed various measures to augment the supply of oxygen for medical purposes.

An Expert Group is optimizing and rationalising the allocation of oxygen to various States and UTs, keeping in view the active cases and to reduce time for movement of medical oxygen, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Friday (April 23).

The ministry issued an order on Thursday directing the State/ UTS to take various measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen across the country.

The central government has prohibited supply of oxygen for industrial purposes, except those for few essential sectors.

The MHA has further written to States/UTs, to direct District Collectors or Deputy Commissioners to list all the plants situated in their district, in which different types of oxygen is generated, along with the installed capacity.

Indian Air Force has started transporting empty tankers after delivery of oxygen to reduce movement time.

The MHA said it is coordinating lifting of high capacity tankers from abroad, such as Singapore and UAE by Indian Air Force transport planes.

The Ministry of Railways is running special trains carrying oxygen tankers across the country for faster movement.

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Renderings have been released of a new tower in China that has undoubtedly one of the most jaw-dropping designs on the planet.

The landmark O-Tower in Hangzhou - likened to an infinity loop by the designers, Bjarke Ingels Group (Big) - will be the R&D headquarters for China's biggest smartphone company, Oppo.

While the top floors of the building will be taken over exclusively by Oppo, the lower three floors will be open to the public. The highlight of this space will be a courtyard that's filled with greenery and described by its architects as 'an urban living room for the city'.

The landmark O-Tower in Hangzhou - likened to an infinity loop by the designers, Bjarke Ingels Group (Big) - will be the R&D headquarters for China's biggest smartphone company, Oppo

The O-Tower is destined to become 'the most iconic landmark in Yuhang, Hangzhou', according to the designers

While the top floors of the building will be taken over exclusively by Oppo, the lower three floors will also be open to the public

This image depicts the view that employees and members of the public in the building will get when they stand in the courtyard and look upwards

The publicly accessible areas of the building will also include exhibition space, a canteen and workshop areas.

Location-wise, the tower will sit between a natural lake, a 10,000-square-metre (108,000-square-foot) park and an urban area of the Yuhang District of Hangzhou city.

The tower's architects say that it has been designed with more than just iconic looks in mind. They explain that the building will be 'environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable' and a 'responsible citizen'.

Location-wise, the tower will sit between a natural lake, a 10,000-square-metre park and an urban area of the Yuhang District of Hangzhou city

It is said that the tower has been designed to reduce the degree to which the sun heats the building by 52 per cent. This, they say, will lower the amount of artificial cooling it will require - decreasing its eco-impact

Bjarke Ingels Group (Big) explains that the building will be 'environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable' and a 'responsible citizen'

Bjarke Ingels Group says the construction of the O-Tower will make the city of Hangzhou 'one of the most important centers of research and development for Oppo in China'

And the architects have put employee well-being at the top of their design considerations.

To encourage social engagement, a series of enclosed terrace-style areas will circle the upper floors of the building, under the sloping O of the roof. These terraces will feature seating where employees can socialise and look out over the views of the lake and parkland.

The tower's designers say they have further considered employee well-being by designing the windows and angles of walls and other structures to reduce glare from the sun.

To encourage social engagement, a series of enclosed terrace-style areas will circle the upper floors of the building, under the sloping O of the roof. These terraces will feature sofas where employees can socialise and look out over the views of the lake and parkland

The tower's designers say they have considered employee well-being by designing the windows and angles of walls and other structures to reduce the sun's glare

Pictured is a proposed entrance for the O-Tower, with a plaza in front. The lower three floors of the building will be open to the public

This image depicts the entrance to the building as approached from the park. Close to this entrance will be exhibition spaces, a canteen and workshop areas

Pictured is the courtyard that will be at the heart of the tower. It will be open to the public and feature plenty of greenery. It's been described as 'an urban living room for the city'

On the environmental front, meanwhile, it's said that the tower has been designed to reduce the degree to which the sun heats the building by 52 per cent - this, they say, will lower the amount of artificial cooling it will require, decreasing its eco-impact.

Hangzhou is a popular holiday spot in China, thanks to its lake and surrounding hills. However, Bjarke Ingels Group says the construction of the O-Tower will also make the city 'one of the most important centers of research and development for Oppo in China'.

They continue: 'The iconic expression of the landmark O-Tower designed by Big is perfectly complemented and enhanced by Yuhang's beautiful and pleasant natural water body and wetland landscape.

'Looking forward into the future, we believe through our collaboration, Oppos Global Mobile Terminal R&D Headquarters will not only be a perfect representation of Oppos brand identity and culture, but will also become the most iconic landmark in Yuhang, Hangzhou.'
Former "Jersey Shore" star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro has been arrested for domestic violence.

According to media reports, the reality star's arrest was a serious issue for him since he's already currently on probation related to another domestic violence charge in the past. This is in relation to his on-again, off-again girlfriend at the time, Jen Harley.

Ortiz-Magro's lawyer told the outlet, "We have just learned of the new allegations against Ronnie and need some additional time to further investigate. As such, we will not be making any other statements at this time."

Another source revealed to Us Weekly that his daughter Ariana was with him when he was arrested, as it was his turn to watch their daughter this week.

But this new incident reportedly doesn't involve Harley.

So as soon she learned of the arrest, she traveled back from Las Vegas to pick up Ariana from Ortiz-Magro's brother.

The Los Angeles Police Department also confirmed that the booking was under "intimate partner violence with injury with priors."

Currently, the Bronx-native is dating 35-year-old Saffire Matos, who he met in Feb. 2020.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro's On Probation For Domestic Violence

As previously mentioned, this wasn't the first time Ronnie Ortiz-Magro has been arrested.

In Oct. 2019, he was involved in an alleged domestic violence incident with his now ex-girlfriend, Jen Harley.

On the night he was arrested, who has also gotten back together at the time, he allegedly got into an argument with her that immediately escalated.

The 35-year-old reportedly punched and slapped Harley, who then ran out of their home rental in Los Angeles.

He also allegedly ran out of their house to chase Harley while holding a knife and their daughter Ariana, who was 18 months at the time, during the incident.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro later locked himself inside their rented house along with their daughter, and then the police had to enter by force. Authorities tasered the star, according to TMZ.

READ ALSO: Ellen DeGeneres 'Could've Killed Someone' After Driving Portia De Rossi to ER Under the Influence





Denied Allegations

A source later told TMZ that Ronnie Ortiz-Magro was "adamant" that he "never" tried to hurt or threaten his then-girlfriend with a knife.

He was only reportedly confronting Harley because he was afraid that she would take their daughter and leave.

In May 2020, the "Famously Single" star pleaded not guilty to seven misdemeanors, including two counts of arrest, domestic violence, and child endangerment.

However, later on, he struck a plea deal and pleaded no contest to one count of domestic battery and one count of resisting arrest. This earned him 36 months of probation instead of jail time.

READ MORE: Jana Kramer, Mike Caussin Bitter Divorce: Singer's Reason For Split Unsurprising

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Police said 29-year-old Jason Wages was eating dinner at Ocean Prime in Boston, an upscale eatery in the Seaport District, when he started harassing waitresses and customers.

The events of Thursday evening only escalated from there, evolving into a complete maelstrom. Authorities described how the man attacked and threatened to shoot waitstaff before fleeing the restaurant, crashing his car into a public works building and running away with garbage bags full of marijuana.

Officers were first called to the restaurant around 6:20 p.m. for a report of a fight at the establishment at 100 Pier 4 Boulevard, according to a statement from the Boston Police Department. According to law enforcement, Wages and three others were having dinner when his attacks started.

Authorities said restaurant staff confronted Wages after he harassed the female waitstaff. The Fall River man is accused of responding by calling an employee a racial slur several times, head-butting him and another staff member and spitting at a third employee before leaving Ocean Prime.

While exiting, Wages threatened to shoot everyone in the place, " the department said.

According to witnesses, police noted, Wages grabbed his car keys from the valet and sped away, striking another vehicle in the process at the Boston Public Works building at 316 Northern Ave. Officers responded to the crash scene and found an unoccupied car that had struck the building and damaged the gas line.

A witness approached the officers to tell them that two men were seen running away from the scene with garbage bags, authorities said

Law enforcement said they eventually found Wages at 22 Drydock Ave. The second man was located in the parking garage at 12 Drydock Ave., according to police.

Two large garbage bags containing 53 large, heat-sealed bags of marijuana as well as $8,600 in cash were also found and seized, the department said.

Wages was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, two counts of assault and battery and two counts of leaving the scene of property damage, according to authorities. Hes expected to be arraigned in South Boston District Court.

The second man was interrogated by police and later released, police noted.
A mother-of-three has admitted bigamy and could face up to seven years in jail after marrying her lover and having his child while still married to her husband of 18 years.

Brinda Kantamanen, 42, falsified her father's name on the marriage certificate during her wedding to her lover Matthew Hall, 45, at Ealing Town Hall in west London in October 2017.

But 18 years earlier, in May 1999, she had married Ravi in North Carolina. The couple held a traditional Indian ceremony later that year and went on to have two children together, reported the Mirror.

Her husband was 'sad and distraught' when he found out Kantamanen had married another man and hidden a pregnancy from him.

Brinda Kantamanen (pictured), 42, falsified her father's name on the marriage certificate during her wedding to her lover Matthew Hall, 45, at Ealing Town Hall in West London in October 2017

Kantamanen husband was 'sad and distraught' when he found out she had married another man, Matthew Hall (pictured), and hidden a pregnancy from him

Kantamanen, a computer consultant, has now been warned she faces imprisonment as magistrates revealed all sentencing options were open.

Prosecutor Ravinder Chodha told the court Kantamanen and her lover lived just three minutes from each other's homes during their affair.

She said: 'The complainant [Ravi] confronted the defendant about the marriage. She accepted that she had in fact married him and that they had a child together.

'The child was born while she was still married to the complainant.'

Ravi, who works as a director for an international consultancy firm, told the court their marriage started to break down in 2017 when he became suspicious of his wife's long periods away from home.

He said whenever he tried to confront her she would either 'become affectionate or threaten suicide'.

She married Ravi Kantamanen (pictured) in North Carolina 18 years earlier in May 1999. The couple held a traditional Indian ceremony later that year

Kantamanen (pictured), a computer consultant, has been warned she faces imprisonment as magistrates revealed all sentencing options were open

In December 2017 he finally uncovered Kantamanen's second marriage.

A magistrate said the aggravating features of the case were that Kantamanen had a child and hid that pregnancy.

The maximum sentence for bigamy is seven years in jail.

Ravi said he now 'finds it difficult to trust anyone', adding that his parents were 'distraught' by the revelations.

Kantamanen's marriage to Ravi was formally dissolved in 2019 and she now runs her own computing consultancy firm from her home in Guildford, Surrey.

She will be sentenced next month.
(Natural News) La Soufriere, an active volcano in the Caribbean, has been ravaging the island of St.Vincent and flinging sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere through a series of explosive eruptions that started April 9. Communities residing near the volcano have been evacuated as fast-moving pyroclastic flows and volcanic ash engulf the island.

Authorities are currently monitoring the highly active volcano for more eruptions. Continued venting could potentially impact the climate, lowering global temperatures due to the release of sulfate aerosols.

Continued volcanic eruptions may cool the climate

La Soufriere, which sits on the northern end of St. Vincent island, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, started rumbling last December. A lava dome formed over its mouth and continued to grow over the following months. The volcano finally erupted on April 9, setting off a series of explosive eruptions and ending more than four decades of inactivity.

Superheated, high-density volcanic material raced across the island in destructive, landslide-like events called pyroclastic flows. The eruptions also propelled massive plumes of volcanic ash and gas into the atmosphere, covering much of the island in ash.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) detected plumes at altitudes of up to 12 miles. Verity Flower, a volcanologist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, said that the eruptions led to a sustained injection of sulfate aerosol and ash into the stratosphere.

She and other scientists were closely monitoring for volcanic emissions creeping into the stratosphere. They were concerned because particles would last much longer and travel much farther throughout the atmosphere than if they were to stay in the troposphere. If the plumes were to linger, they could start to exert a cooling effect, lowering global temperatures.

Simon Carn, a volcanologist from Michigan Technological University, pointed out that the volcano would have to inject at least five teragrams of sulfur dioxide (a precursor of sulfate aerosol particles) into the stratosphere before it could exert any measurable impact on the climate.

After erupting for a week, satellite measurements showed that La Soufriere had delivered around 0.4 to 0.6 teragrams of sulfur dioxide to the upper atmosphere. That was more than any other Caribbean volcano had produced during the satellite era, and it could increase even more if the volcano were to keep erupting. (Related: A volcanic eruption in 1815 blocked the sun for a full year, causing global crop failures and famine and it could happen again.)

NASA climatologist Ralph Kahn noted that the intensity of the eruption is something that should be watched out for. Moderate eruptions are also far more numerous than the really huge ones, so the cumulative effects of such eruptions can be significant over time, Kahn explained.

In a Twitter post on April 14, the University of the West Indies Seismic Researcher Centre warned that explosive eruptions and ashfall would continue over the next few days. It also reported multiple small, long-period earthquakes and mudflows in some areas.

Eruptions disrupt islands power, water and food supply

Around 20,000 out of the islands 110,000 inhabitants were forced to evacuate the northern end of St. Vincent. Some of the evacuees were staying in shelters put up by the government, while others had to stay with family and relatives living within the safe zones because the shelters could not accommodate all of them.

Residents living in other parts of the island were also affected, as the eruptions took out the electricity and restricted access to potable water. Ayanna Bobb, a teacher and resident of northern St. Vincent, told AccuWeather that the island had limited water supply because ash contaminated the rivers where residents get their water. She said that springs on the islands of the Grenadines provided relief but this was very limited because people were coming in droves.

Were in a sad state. We dont have any water currently, Bobb said. Weve been out of water for the last four days and we recently just got the electricity back. (Related: How prepared are you for a volcanic eruption?.)

The sheer amount of dust that the volcano unleashed is also causing health issues for residents, the St. Vincent teacher added. Were not equipped with the masks for this, she shared. We have masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic that went on, but the dust is a whole different level. We need a specific gear.

Sam Bloch, a humanitarian volunteer working with nonprofit World Central Kitchen, feared the eruptions long-term effects on the islands economy. He said that St. Vincent produces most of its food through agriculture, which the recent disaster disrupted.

Hopefully, the agriculture comes back quickly enough and it doesnt become a country that suddenly becomes dependent on importing, Bloch said. Because it did create a lot of its own food.

Disaster.news has more on volcanic eruptions and other natural catastrophes.

Sources include:

StrangeSounds.org

Space.com

Twitter.com 2

AccuWeather.com
FLINT, MI -- Flint voters are being asked to renew a 6-mill public safety property tax in the special election May 4, and officials are promoting its passage as a vital next step toward reversing a rise in violent crime.

The millage, which first passed in 2012, funds police and fire services in Flint and was overwhelmingly renewed by voters in 2016 with nearly 78 percent of the vote.

Although the millage would not increase the current tax burden for homeowners, it would continue to cost the owner of a home with a taxable value of $35,000 approximately $210 each year until June 30, 2027.

The millage generates more than $4.7 million annually and supplements general fund expenditures by the city for public safety.

A city ordinance requires police and fire spending from the general fund to remain at least 55.5 percent, ensuring that the millage funds dont simply replace money that would otherwise come from the general fund.

Mayor Sheldon Neeleys proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, dedicates 59 percent of general fund expenditures to police and fire, and some members of the City Council have said they want to add to that funding before the budget is adopted.

This is something thats critically important to public safety in our community, Neeley said of the millage. If you cant keep up, you cant catch up with what needs to be done.

Flint reported 61 homicides in 2020, up from 46 in 2019, an increase of approximately 32 percent, according to the police departments website.

That pattern continued through March 14 of this year, with homicides up 60 percent and violent crime up 4.1 percent compared to the same time period last year, according to the city.

Since March 14, several other fatal shootings have been reported, but the police dashboard maintained by the city hasnt been updated to reflect those crimes.

Neeley has been outspoken on the issue of public safety and the need to engage the public to make the city safer.

He instituted a recruiting campaign to fill vacant police positions, ended the practice of reselling confiscated weapons at auction in an effort to reduce the number of guns on city streets, and has said plans are being made to reopen mini-stations in four quadrants of the city.

During budget hearings this month, Neeley said he plans to continue his push for pay increases to attract and keep public safety officers, an issue in both the police and fire departments.

Flint has 118 funded full-time positions in the police department and 83 in the fire department.

The city maintains Genesee Countys only full-time fire department and operates five stations. Just this past weekend, firefighters fought at least four commercial fires at vacant businesses in the city.

Staffing for both departments would be in jeopardy without the continuation of the public safety millage.

It would leave a hole in the budget, the mayor said. This is the opportunity to get in front of any such reduction.

Read more on MLive:

All you need to know about voting absentee in May 4 special election in Flint

Genesee County considers 911 surcharge while Flint public safety, MTA tax requests head to May ballot

Former Klock Korner among vacant businesses destroyed by fire in Flint over the weekend

Flint council considers police budget as violent crime continues to rise
Putin Foe Navalny to End Prison Hunger Strike on 24th Day

MOSCOWImprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Friday he is ending his hunger strike after getting medical attention and being warned by his doctors that continuing it would put his life at risk.

In an Instagram post on the 24th day of his hunger strike, Navalny said he will continue to demand a visit from his doctor to address numbness in his legs and armshis main demand. But he said he would stop the strike after having been examined by doctors who were not affiliated with the prison doctors, something he called a huge progress.

He also acknowledged the mass pro-Navalny protests across Russia on Wednesday and multiple letters and statements supporting him from public figures and government officials around the globe.

Thanks to the huge support of good people across the country and around the world, we have made huge progress, Navalny said in his message from behind bars. Two months ago, my requests for medical help were prompting smirks. I wasnt given any medications.  Thanks to you, now I have been examined by a panel of civilian doctors twice.

Another reason he was ending the hunger strike was that some of his supporters were refusing to eat in a show of solidarity with him, Navalny said.

Russias President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on March 24, 2021. (Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters)

Tears flowed from my eyes when I read that. God, Im not even acquainted with these people, and they do this for me. Friends, my heart is full of love and gratitude for you, but I dont want anyone physically suffering because of me, said the 44-year-old politician, who is President Vladimir Putins most prominent critic.

He said he would start coming out of the hunger strike on Friday and the process of ending it will take 24 days.

Navalny started the strike March 31, after developing severe pain in his back and loss of sensation in his legs. Prison officials have said he was getting all the medical help he needs, but Navalny insisted he effectively received no treatment.

Navalnys doctors said Saturday that they feared he was close to dying because his test results showed sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicated impaired kidneys.

He was transferred Sunday from a penal colony east of Moscow to the hospital ward of another prison in Vladimir, a city 110 miles east of the capital.

People clash with police during a protest in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 21, 2021. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

The day after mass protests demanding his freedom swept across Russia, a team of his doctors released a letter urging him to end his hunger strike.

The letter revealed that Navalny was taken to a regular hospital Tuesday in Vladimir, where he underwent tests and was examined by specialists in accordance with requests from his doctors. It said they were given the results of those tests through Navalnys lawyers and family on Thursday.

The doctors said they would continue to insist on access to Navalny but also urged him to immediately stop the hunger strike in order to save life and health, saying that they considered being examined by civilian doctors from outside the prison and undergoing objective tests enough to end the strike.

Navalny was arrested in January upon his return from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a poisoning with the nerve agent that he blames on the Kremlinaccusations that Russian officials reject.

This handout photo published by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on his Instagram account, shows himself and his wife Yulia, posing for a photo in a hospital in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 15, 2020. (Navalny Instagram/AP Photo)

He was promptly put on trial for violating terms of a suspended sentence stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction, which he says was politically motivated. He was ordered to serve the rest of a 2 1/2-year sentence.

Navalnys arrest triggered mass proteststhe biggest show of defiance the Kremlin has encountered in years. The authorities responded with harsh crackdown, arresting thousands and jailing hundreds. Navalnys aides and associates across Russia were also targeted with detentions and raids. Some of his top allies have been slapped with criminal charges and put under house arrest.

Last week, Russian authorities took the pressure to a new level, with the Moscow prosecutors office petitioning a court to label as his Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his network of regional offices as extremist groups. Human rights activists say such a move would paralyze their activities and expose their members and donors to prison sentences of up to 10 years.

In the meantime, Navalny will face some tough days, his close ally Lyubov Sobol said in a Facebook post. Very difficult days of coming out of starvation will come now. I know myself, wrote Sobol, who spent 32 days on a hunger strike in 2019.

The first week of coming out is essentially the same hunger strike: Youre not allowed to eat anything, just drink juices and very thin porridges, in very little amounts.  (He) wont start eating solid food any time soon, she said, adding that a lack of access to normal food and fresh produce in prison complicates the situation.

By Daria Litvinova
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Ethnic Turkish Member of the German Bundestag Sevim Dagdelen, on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, says its important not only to commemorate the victims, but also find their deleted names and the cultural heritage they had left. According to her, every memory, every relic relating to that people, is an evidence of their living in that territories.

April 24 marks the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Its has been more than one hundred years since the Armenian political figures and intellectuals have been deported from Istanbul, and the interior minister of the Ottoman Empire, Talaat, started his atrocities.

We commemorate that 1.5 million people who fell victim to that crime, bow down and mourn in silence. Today, in line with the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, the talk is also about re-finding the memory of the missing ones. This memory is hard as from the very beginning everything has been done for this indescribable, brutal crime to be forgotten, the German Bundestag lawmaker said in a video message to ARMENPRESS.

She reminded how hard it was for the Bundestag to finally recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2016. And even now in the German Bundestag we in no way speak about the courageous MPs as Karl Liebknecht who was the only member of Reichstag who voted against the First World War in 1914, the MP said, adding: Attempts are still being made, for instance, through a sold-out policy, ties with Azerbaijan, by exerting pressure on historic matters or trying to write the history in a new way, thus leading to new crimes. We must not allow this. That is why its important to preserve the memory nowadays as well, Sevim Dagdelen said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
They did exactly that. When it was time to say goodbye, though, Mr. Bergstrom wasnt ready. He came up with a plan. She said she likes cheesecake, so I told her to follow me to the Cheesecake Factory so I could get her some to take home, he said. On the way, Ms. Horan rear-ended him at a stop sign.

Right as it was happening I looked in my rearview mirror and I could actually see the blue light from her phone, and that she was looking down at it. The collision barely dented either fender.

But I got out and I looked at the back of the car and the front of her car, and I saw she was sitting there with her head on the steering wheel, like, Oh, my God, I cant believe I just ran into this guy. He shook his head in mock irritation, then motioned for her to put down her window. When she did, he leaned in. Instead of calling her out for her carelessness, I took her face in my hands and kissed her. I said, Now you will never forget our first kiss.

With that, Ms. Horan gave up limiting her life, outside of her boys, to friends only. We became inseparable, she said. By May, they had met each others sons. By summer, Mr. Bergstrom was attending her medical appointments. They gave him license to introduce her to the more fast-paced lifestyle he was used to.
The chairman said the plans unveiled today will reset the company and its capital structure, including a new 6.9mln equity raise

( ) said it will convene an extraordinary general meeting and reveal a number of material changes to the business including a 6.9mln capital raise, a new chief executive, and a rebrand to Challenger Energy Group PLC.

Challenger Energy will in the near-term focus on cashflow and production whilst managing a cost cutting initiative to reduce its operational cost by at least 20% to 30%.

Eytan Uliel, currently commercial director, will become the companys new chief executive and Simon Potter is to transition to a non-executive director role, effective from May 20.

The company is to raise 6.9mln with an open offer to qualifying shareholders, issuing some 1.96bn new shares priced at 0.35p. Shareholders will be able to buy 1 new share for every 2.46 shares they hold. Any shares not taken up will be sold to institutional investors at the same price.

The equity issue will be followed by a 1:10 share consolidation.

"The company is focussed on restoration, renewal and refreshment, said chairman Bill Schrader.

In this context, the company's forward business strategy for the coming 12-18 months has been firmly set, on significantly increasing oil production and thus cashflow from our assets in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname, which the board considers to be the most effective manner in which to restore value and create a foundation for future value growth.

Much of the detail in Challengers operations have previously been announced.

The Saffron-2 appraisal well, in Trinidad, will be a highlight as drilling gets underway in May or June.

The well is budgeted to cost US$3mln and is expected to yield 200 to 300 barrels of oil per day (bopd), to generate US$1.8mln to US$2.6mln of cashflow per year and set up a full-field development programme which could establish a base of 1,000 to 1,500 bopd, for US$8mln to US$12mln per year.

A longer term development of Saffron would comprise up to 30 wells to achieve peak production of around 4,000 bopd, it noted.

Separately, an appraisal well at the Weg Naar Zee project in Suriname is slated for July, budgeted at US$0.7mln, to potentially tee up an initial development producing 100 bopd for US$1mln of cashflow per year. A longer term development scenario is projected to generate more than US$2.5mln per year.

Challenger will also continue its schedule of ongoing production maintenance and enhancement work in Trinidad and Tobago where five producing fields currently average production between 450 and 500 bopd, for US$3mln of annual cashflow.

The company said it intends to continue low-cost exploration activities meanwhile a farm-out is sought for the groups Bahamas asset.

In Uruguay, the company is conducting initial technical work and in the future it will consider options to farm-out a stake in the project.

Along with the chief executive switch, the company will also see non-executive directors Adrian Collins and Ross McDonald step down, and, Stephen Bizzell will join.

I would like to welcome both Eytan Uliel and Stephen Bizzell on their prospective appointments to the board, as respectively CEO and non-executive director, Schrader said.

Shareholders will already be familiar with the contribution of Eytan to the organisation over the last seven years, and Stephen is highly credentialled in the industry, having successfully assisted many similar companies with significant capital raisings and transformational corporate transactions, as well as having actively supported the funding of this company for the past two years.

Simon Potter stays with us as a non-executive director, where his skills and experience remain available to the organisation.

The chairman added: Taken together, the steps being announced today represent what the board considers to be a coordinated approach to charting a viable and value-restorative future course for the company.

Eytan Uliel, chief executive designate, meanwhile, said: Our company has a diverse full-cycle portfolio of production, development and exploration assets.

The work program for 2021 and beyond is busy, and contains many value triggers.

The re-set proposed today will enable us to get after that value, through building production and cashflow. I am excited by the prospect of leading Challenger Energy Group, and I look forward to engaging with all our stakeholders over the coming months."
The distraught mum of a 20-year-old student who tragically died from meningococcal has shared the warning signs every parent should know.

Kirsten McGinty, from Brisbane, said her 'fit and healthy' daughter Zoe was complaining about 'feeling sick in the tummy' when she returned from the gym on September 2, 2017.

She suggested the media and communications student have a shower and lie down for a while.

But her daughter's gastro-like symptoms - including vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness and chills - got progressively worse.

Just 16 hours later, Zoe was dead after she inexplicably contracted the 'W strain' of meningococcal - a rare but life-threatening disease caused by a bacterial infection.

She didn't display the tell-tale rash of red and purple blotches until the moments before she died.

Zoe McGinty (pictured) tragically died after she contracted meningococcal in September 2017

Her mother Kirsten McGinty (left) is sharing her story to raise awareness around the importance of preventative measures when it comes to meningococcal after she lost Zoe

What is meningococcal disease? Meningococcal disease is contagious. It is transmitted through close and prolonged contact with mucus from an infected person. Symptoms include a rash and fever. It can affect people of all ages, but can be prevented with vaccination. There are five common strains of meningococcal disease in Australia - A, B, C, W and Y. It's a rare, but serious and life-threatening, infection. Symptoms appear suddenly and people can die very quickly without medical help. There's a range of symptoms, depending on its severity. Babies and young children can have different symptoms to older children and adults. Symptoms include: rash of red or purple pinprick spots, or larger bruise-like areas

fever

headache

neck stiffness

discomfort when you look at bright light

nausea or vomiting

diarrhoea

feeling very, very sick Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'Words can't describe how I felt. You would never think this would lead to your eldest child dying. I was devastated. It's horrific. You feel a complete sense of hopelessness,' Ms McGinty, 50, told Daily Mail Australia.

'Grief never leaves you. There's no greater sadness than losing a child, especially one so beautiful and young. Zoe was a vibrant and healthy 20-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her.

'She was about to finish uni and move out into the big wide world... it's devastating to know those things never happened.'

It has been nearly four years since the mother lost Zoe.

'I'm a mother of four children and you just assume they picked up a vomiting bug or something because it happens all the time,' she said.

'We were checking on her all day. She was sort of sleeping on and off in bed and feeling unwell - but as a parent there was nothing unusual or too out of the ordinary.'

However, Zoe's condition got 'progressively worse into the night'.

Ms McGinty said she knew something was seriously wrong when her daughter tried to go to the bathroom and couldn't feel her legs.

'She had a very high temperature, she was blue around her lips, her speech became slow and she was showing signs of confusion,' she said.

'I realised it was something more than a bug.'

Paramedics arrived at the home within minutes of Ms McGinty calling Triple 0 and Zoe was rushed to hospital as her condition rapidly declined.

But as doctors tried desperately to revive her, Zoe became unconscious and went into cardiac arrest.

'The doctors realised after several attempts, there was nothing else they could do,' Ms McGinty said.

Ms McGinty, from Queensland, has four kids - daughters Zoe and Bridget, now aged 21, and 17-year-old identical twin boys Ben and Zac

Ms McGinty said she knew something was seriously wrong when her daughter tried to go to the bathroom but she couldn't feel her legs

The distraught family were given the devastating news Zoe had died shortly after 2am on Sunday, September 3.

'I grapple with this every day of my life... looking back now, I wish I'd taken her to the hospital earlier than I did,' Ms McGinty told Daily Mail Australia.

'I'd give anything to get her back, I wish I had been better educated on what this disease can do to people. There was no awareness at the time and meningococcal never entered my head.'

Ms McGinty believes preventative measures is the often-overlooked solution to a deadly disease and should never be ignored by parents with kids of any age.

'People think meningococcal starts with a rash... but not in our case. Zoe didn't show any signs of it,' she said.

'At the end of her life, she had a small purplish colour around her tummy and neck, but it was nothing like a big blotch rash.

After paramedics arrived at the home within minutes of the mum calling emergency services, Zoe was rushed to hospital as her condition rapidly declined

But as doctors tried desperately to revive her, Zoe became unconscious and went into cardiac arrest. The distraught family were given the devastating news Zoe had died shortly after 2am on Sunday, September 3

'The warnings signs are not always obvious as you may think but it's important to look out for any signs, including a fever, chills, headaches, nausea, vomiting and lethargy. Some people have experienced severe joint and muscle pains too.

'Also the common sign is rash, however be mindful because by the time rashes appear, it's often too late, sometimes it doesn't appear at all. Everyone is different.'

By sharing her story, the mother wanted to urge everyone to get vaccinated so they don't go through the same grief as she did.

'I don't think any parent should ever have to go through the pain of losing a child from a disease that's prevented by vaccines,' she said.

'I just hope parents realise how serious this disease is. I can't urge people more highly than to talk to their GPs and find out more details about the vaccination.

'My kids were vaccinated against everything - but meningococcal vaccination was never on our radar before Zoe passed away. I never understood the severity and how quickly it could take over someone's body - it's a brutal disease.

'Even if it doesn't kill you, meningococcal can leave horrific health implications like amputation, kidney issues or hearing loss - and you could live with it for the rest of your life - don't wait for that to happen.'
The state government of Victoria, Australia, is considering imposing a punitive mileage tax on hybrid vehicles. In a full-page ad in Melbourne's The Age newspaper, a group of groups, including Hyundai, VW, Uber, ABB, WWF, among others, have spoken out against the plan, calling it the "worst electric car scheme in the country."

The Victorian government actually levies no such tax on petrol cars - in fact, no gas tax is assessed at all. There are also no clear electric car incentives to offset the proposed tax.

Tax for Electric Vehicles

The tax would be assessed at 2.5 cents per kilometer and collected at the time of registration renewal. Drivers of electric cars will be required to keep logs for five years, with fines if they failed to do so. There is no such mileage log provision for gas car users, which places a time and expense pressure on EV drivers.

The average Australian car travels 13,300 kilometers a year, so the annual tax will be $332, or $255 in the United States. This is better than the electric vehicle fee in the United States. However, considering the irrationality of these EV taxes, which we and others have discussed many times, some of these states do offer EV benefits. There is no such EV-specific reward in Victoria.

Even if the expense per owner is better than what we've seen in the United States, it won't be enough to cover a large portion of the deficit. Victoria now has over 6,000 hybrid cars registered throughout the province, so you can foresee a yearly support of 1-2 million dollars. Not including administration costs for the new levy, that's enough to create around one new kilometer of lane. Victoria, by contrast, has over 155,000 kilometers of road.

Related Article: Renewables Might Replace Fossil Fuels in Providing Energy Security in Australia



Open Letter from Businesses

In their open letter, businesses seized on this fact, claiming that Victoria will be the first in the world to impose an EV tax without any countervailing benefits to promote EV possession. These businesses, which included several manufacturers, said that the payments would make automakers less willing to bring their best new cars to Victoria, jeopardizing the state's ability to achieve its carbon targets, which it has been deferring.

According to the Victorian government, these taxes are essential because electric vehicles do not pay petrol taxes and therefore do not contribute to road financing. However, Victoria does not collect a petrol tax; the Australian federal government collects the tax.

No Need for Unnecessary Tax Charges

And, because Australia's road funding isn't entirely derived from gas taxes, the notion that there is a clear and necessary link between gas taxes and road funding is false - mainly because road harm isn't caused by passenger vehicles. Big trucks, for all intents and purposes, cause nearly all road harm. A fully loaded semi-truck does 10,000 times more road damage per mile than a passenger vehicle, according to the fourth force law.

Also Read: Australia's Ruling Party Opposes Prime Minister's Climate Policy; PM Put in a Tough Spot

For more Environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
"I love West Cork. I idolise the place; when I fly from London to JFK or back, Im always looking down for a landmark; if I see Bere Island, Im laughing. Or, I say to myself theres Kenmare bay or theres John Dunnes house.' Those are the little things that I love."

Internationally-acclaimed fashion photographer Boo George speaks to me from his West Cork home where, due to the pandemic, he has recently been spending more time. "I used to go to the States every six weeks; I could live there, but Ive chosen to live in London. Throughout the lockdown Ive been to Dubai, France, the Canaries, and Spain  I have to travel for work. When Im in Ireland Im not making any money.

"I usually travel with two assistants and equipment, well oiled. Thats the equipment  not me."

Boo is good fun. The Wicklow native tells the Irish Examiner that, although he loves international travel, its the West of Ireland that really grabs him.

"We used to go to Allihies as kids  my parents, myself, my brother and sister. One of my earliest childhood memories is going on the Dursey cable car.

It broke down going over to the island. My mother was sitting on the ground terrified. The state of it as well! Later, we started going to Schull with all of my aunties and uncles  we used to have a laugh."

Boos work too eventually led him to West Cork when, three months ago, The Telegraph commissioned him to photograph Ian Bailey.

Life for Boo has been busy. Initially, after buying his house in Beara, there were long periods of time when he couldnt visit: "I was in England and I was working hard."

Boos professional exploits see him working for fashion magazines and brands worldwide. Alongside French publications, he works for Vogue, Elle, Porter, and brands such as Zara and Chanel. "The people I meet are all pretty sound. Obviously the fashion industry is on its knees at the moment, purely because the high street is closed. But Ive had a very, very, good career. Unfortunately, I dont think the fashion industry will come back as strong as before. After Covid it will hopefully level off  work will be consistent, but Im not expecting it to be as regular. Once upon a time I worked six days a week and on a plane literally every ten days. I was in Palm Springs all the time, working for names like Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys. All that has slowed down.

"Its tough at the moment, a conspiracy theorists dream. Protesters are labelled as left-wing gurriers; theyre just normal people who want to get their rights back."

Looking forward to travel opening up and the vulnerable being vaccinated, he is not in favour of the vaccine passport which, he feels, is a step too far in our fundamental freedoms.

"If I go to London, Paris, Milan, New York, or LA Im solely travelling for work. I live in London. Its the best city in the world. Ive loads of mates there and live in a cool area, but its not the same if everything closed."

Perhaps thats why Boo finds himself living the West Cork life, his house overlooking Kenmare Bay and across from An Siopa Dubh  the Black Shop  and Sneem on the Kerry coast. Just turned 40, Boo's love of the sea is enduring. "For my degree in the North of England I went to Whitby and spent ten days in the North Sea documenting fisherman. I made a book out of it." Boo says he treats his celebrity clients no differently than his West Cork neighbours.

Boo George, the Wicklow photographer with Victoria Beckham

"I think the reasons celebrities gravitate towards me are (A) because Im quick when I take their photograph (B) Im very decisive and (C) Im just being myself.

"Ive worked with people like Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham and I find, a lot of the time, theyre sound. Its the publicists, all panicked and hyped up, which can be problematic. Usually, the celebrities themselves are fine.

"I love my home in Beara. When I bought it first I didnt come [here]  I was too busy. But the more Im here the more I love it. Its magical. If the weather's bad I just cook  I love cooking. The first thing I bought was 'an AGA'. I just had lobster linguini for breakfast  bangin!

"Its a local lobster caught by a friend of mine. I got it last night and cooked it this morning.

"This place is idyllic if youre not too materialistic. Obviously, everyone is, a bit. But its nice to come here, to a place where I can cycle down the road to buy a load of shrimp from Kieran Lyons, or a whole lamb off the farmer next door  you cant do that in cities."

He tells me one of his friends has an oyster farm. I tell him he has the life.

"Ah sure, the grass is always greener. 'I want to be earning more money... I want a bigger house... I want a shinier car... yada yada ya'. ya dee ya dee ya.

"After graduating, I came back to Ireland for about six months before heading over to London, where I spent six years assisting for Julian Broad and Phil Poynter. They were both very good  I learned an awful lot from them. When I went solo, my first big commission was in Zambia photographing diamond mines. There was a military presence and they used to fire off AK-47s at night. When I came back to London, Katie Grand from Love magazine asked me to do a shoot of Donatella Versace. Later, Donatella told me that Id taken the best ever portrait of her in her life  a nice compliment! From then on, my work in the fashion industry escalated, with clients such as Louis Vuitton. Im very grateful for it.

"Ralph Lauren  the most iconic American brand  laid off 3,000 people in the US as a result of the pandemic  thats three thousand families affected. One of the only brands doing well is Zara. Arcadia, which owned TopShop, is gone... Itll get better, but it's not going to be the exactly the same. Id like to see brands give older people in photography more equal employment opportunities  employ the best person for the job."

Victoria Beckham on the front cover of Vogue - as shot by Boo George

On fast fashion, Boo hopes that sustainability will increase in the industry. "Waste has to be managed. Do we need ten pairs of jeans? Do we need ten t-shirts? UNICEF is now involved in sweatshops  theyve come a long way."

He himself doesnt feel pressurised into wearing the latest off-the-rack. "Im interested in dressing classically, like an Irish country gentleman or the old Joycean look. When I work, I wear black Chelsea boots, blue denim jeans, white shirt, and a black cashmere sweater  probably a hat and a wax jacket. I always get my boots polished on a Friday in East London with the rest of the Tories  I dont work every day, but the days I do, Im paid handsomely, so I like to look smart.

"My wife is from London. She loves Ireland, as does my stepson. But, at 16, hes not too interested at the moment. I travel back and forth with my French bull terrier, and all I can say is I love life."

Alongside the international world of high-end fashion, the Irish countryside seems be in Boos blood. As a young man, he took portraits of Irish Travellers in the Wicklow Mountains. He tells the Irish Examiner that his sister is a farmer in Tipperary.

"Im going to photograph Keira Knightley next week for the cover of Harpers Bazaar," he says.

"Thatll be lovely. Its in Suffolk. Its quite a nice balance  talking to my neighbour, John Dunne, about the benefits of cowshite on the land one day, the next flying to do a photoshoot of Keira Knightley for the cover of Harpers Bazaar."
(@FahadShabbir)

X China on Friday offered assistance to India amid a worsening COVID-19 situation in the South Asian country

ANKARA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) -:X China on Friday offered assistance to India amid a worsening COVID-19 situation in the South Asian country.

According to state-run media reports, Beijing said communication is underway with India if they needed support and assistance.

"The Chinese government and people will firmly support #India in its fight against the #COVID19 pandemic and are willing to provide support and assistance in accordance with the needs of the Indian side," Global Times quoted Lijian Zhao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, as saying.

India is currently facing a virus spike as the country reported 332,730 cases, the world's highest single daily number since last year, according to local media.

With the new infections, the country total caseload has risen to 10.6 million, India Today weekly reported.

India has also reported 2,263 more deaths, increasing the nationwide toll to 186,920.
Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.
One Senator Voted No Vote on Bipartisan Asian Hate Crimes Bill

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the lone senator to vote against an Asian hate crimes bill on Thursday, said he could not approve the measure because the wording of the legislation was too broad and would infringe on the First Amendment.

On Thursday, the Senate approved 94-1 the measure that would combat violence against Asian-Americans and Pacific islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure would allow for more police resources to be dedicated to hate crimes against Asian people by creating expanded reporting for the crimes. It would also create a position within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review hate crimes across the country.

But according to Hawley in a tweet, the bill turns the federal government into the speech police and gives [the] government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it.

In an interview with Fox News, the Republican senator said, Its too broad. As a former prosecutor, my view is its dangerous to simply give the federal government open-ended authority to define a whole new class of federal hate crime incidents.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), a sponsor of the bill, said the measure would send a clear message of support and solidarity while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who amended the bill, added that crimes motivated by bias against race, national origin, and other characteristics cannot be tolerated.

The House is moving to pass a similar bill that can be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

According to data from nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate, there were 3,795 incidents reported from March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021. Verbal harassment accounted for 68 percent of all reports, while physical assaults made up just over 11 percent. The report contains firsthand accounts that detail the use of racial slurs and instances of shunning.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hasnt hesitated in exploiting the recent narrative to push its own propaganda and to further divide the United States, according to scholars, human rights activists, and journalists, who have pointed out that the Chinese regime has weaponized racism by conflating criticisms of the CCP with discrimination against Chinese people.

Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation who has exposed horrific human rights abuses committed by the CCP, said theres a new trend of weaponizing racism against scholarship on China.

Zenz wrote in a Twitter post that hawkish CCP mouthpiece The Global Times had accused him and Washington Post journalist Josh Rogin of being responsible for anti-Asian racism in the U.S. Both had been critical of the Chinese regimes human rights abuses against Chinese citizens.

Bowen Xiao contributed to this report.
BURTON, MI  Six months ago, Luz Franciso Martinez, former owner of Poco Loco, and a servant to the community, died. This weekend, his family and friends will finally be able to properly celebrate his life.

Martinez died on Oct. 17 2020 after he went into a coma he never woke up from, according to his family.

Following his death, a funeral took place, but because of COVID-19 there were many restrictions that limited the number of people who could attend the gathering, leaving many friends, family and community members longing to celebrate his life another way.

Those dear to Martinez will celebrate his life and legacy on Saturday, April 24 at El Poco Loco, 4021 E Atherton Road, in Burton. The celebration will feature music, games, BBQ, a bounce house for kids and an outdoor tent.

On Friday, April 23, Martinez would have been 45 years old.

He had this restaurant and he was a very giving, loving, wonderful man. He would have never turned anyone away. He gave to anyone that came to him, Katherine Martinez, Luzs sister-in-law, said.

Martinez said Luz was a light, a fitting complement since its what his name means in Spanish.

Luzs brother, Robert Martinez agrees. The brothers, who are three years apart, only had each other for siblings. He described the duo as having a love-hate relationship as most brothers do, but they were always tight, the brother said.

He did a lot of things during Christmas time with the food banks. He did a lot of free events catering also for some of his employees, Roberto Martinez said. He gave a lot of people their first job.

Luz didnt have any children, but he treated his niece and nephew as his own.

He opened Poco Loco in 2012, and soon after he would be known as the Taco King, an affectionate nickname many including his niece nephew called him because of his delicious tacos, Roberto Martinez said.

Since his brothers death, Roberto Martinez has taken over the business in an effort to help keep his brothers memory and legacy alive. The doors to the restaurant were reopened on Nov. 1.

The recipes have stayed the same since they were originally from Luz and Robertos mother and grandmother. The one change that had to take place was the name of the business, which switched from Poco Loco to El Poco Loco. Changing the name was the easier route since Luzs business license was for the former restaurants name, Katherine Martinez explained.

Our entire family is in that business now. Our entire family, my daughter, his mom comes in, my husband is there all the time, were all there, Katherine Martinez said. So Luz has left us quite a blessing as well. Its brought our family together in such a beautiful way.

A month before Luz died, the family took an unexpected camping trip and during the trip, Luz expressed some ways he wanted to keep the family tight.

So that was kind of meant to be, Roberto Martinez said of the time he spent with his brother.

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Mark James Miller is an Associate English Instructor at Allan Hancock College and President of the Part-Time Faculty Association. He can be reached at mark@pfaofahc.com.
The Kingman Project was mined for high grade gold and silver from the 1880s until the early 1940s which coincided with the outbreak of WWII.

( ) is earning into the Kingman Gold and Silver Project, an advanced high-grade gold and silver exploration project in Arizona, US.

The current announcement that was released on the 19th April 2021 is a clear sign that the mineralisation in the Kingman project is not localised. As described by the company, this shows that the 1.8km anomaly exists and there are exciting times ahead of us.

When Michael Bohm, Chairman of Riedel Resources Limited ( ) approached me to make the first Coffee with Samso, I was very impressed with what I saw from their previous exploration.

With the current exploration results, I am convinced that with careful management of exploration funds, there is an interesting mineralising system here to be discovered.

Since the previous chat with Michael Bohm on Kingman and New World Resources Limited (ASX: NWC) about the Antler Project, I am now fairly bullish on this region. Both projects have great results and the polymetallic nature is encouraging.

In this Rooster Talk with Michael Bohm, Chairman of Riedel Resources Limited ( ), Michael talks to us about the recent drilling results from the Kingman Project.

Michael shares his insights on how this mineralising environment has historical results and adjacent projects that have been mined historically.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:20 What the company make of the results.

02:36 Could this be a VMS?

04:25 Market Reaction

05:53 Why Jims is an "Interesting" project.

07:22 Numerous Drill Targets at Kingman.

08:25 Revealing the 18km Anomaly

09:39 News coming up

10:38 The Riedel Team

13:18 Cooking Spot for Mineralisation

13: 42 Conclusion

PODCAST

About Michael Bohm

Chairman

BAppSc (Mining Engineering)

Appointed: 12 December 2020

Mr. Bohm is a qualified mining professional with extensive Corporate & Operations experience. Michael has extensive minerals industry experience in Australia, South East Asia, Africa, Chile, Canada and Europe.

A graduate of WA School of Mines, Michael has worked as a mining engineer, mine manager, study manager, project manager, project director and managing director and has been directly involved in a number of mine developments in the gold, nickel and diamond sectors.

Michael is a current Director of a number of ASX-listed companies and sits on their Audit & Risk and Remuneration Committees.

Michael has had previous directorships at Argyle Diamonds Mines, Sally Malay Mining Limited and Ashton Mining of Canada.

About Riedel Resources

Riedel Resources ( ) is an ASX-listed mineral exploration company earning into an advanced high-grade gold exploration project in north-west Arizona.

The Kingman Project comprises approximately 200 contiguous mining claims located approximately 30km from the town of Kingman Arizona.

The area was mined for high-grade gold and silver from the 1880s to the early 1940s and since then very little modern exploration has ever been carried out on the property.

The Riedel board has extensive experience in minerals and mineral exploration in Australia, the US and Canada, amongst others.

Kingman Gold Project

The Kingman Gold Project is located near Kingman Arizona and only 90 minutes drive from downtown Las Vegas.

The project was mined for high grade gold and silver from the 1880s until the early 1940s which coincided with the outbreak of WWII.

Following drilling in the 1990s, 11 diamond holes were drilled on the property in late 2019 and which intersected multiple zones of high grade gold, silver and lead from shallow depths and confirmed the extensive mineralisation potential of the area.

Riedel plans to aggressively drill and explore the project area during 2021.

Kingman Gold Project Map

Please let know your thoughts and send any comments to info@Samso.com.au. Remember to Subscribe to the YouTube Channel, Samso Media and the mail list to stay informed and make comments where appropriate. Other than that, also feel free to provide a Review on Google.

For further information about Coffee with and Rooster Talks visit: www.samso.com.au

About Samso

Samso is a renowned resource among the investment community for keen market analysis and insights into the companies and business trends that matter.

Investors seek out Samso for knowledgeable evaluations of current industry developments across a variety of business sectors and considered forecasts of future performances.

With a compelling format of relaxed online video interviews, Samso provides clear answers to questions they may not have the opportunity to ask and lays out the big picture to help them complete their investment research.

And in doing so, Samso also enables companies featured in interviews to build valuable engagement with their investment communities and customers.

Headed by industry veteran Noel Ong and based in Perth, Western Australia, Samsos Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talk interviews both feature friendly conversations with business figures that give insights into Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) companies, related concepts and industry trends.

Noel Ong is a geologist with nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong background in capital markets, corporate finance and the mineral resource sector. He was founder and managing director of ASX-listed company from 2009-2017 and has also been involved in several other ASX listings, providing advice, procuring projects and helping to raise capital.

He brings all this experience and expertise to the Samso interviews, where his engaging conversation style creates a relaxed dialogue, revealing insights that can pique investor interest.

Noel Ong travels across Australia to record the interviews, only requiring a coffee shop environment where they can be set up. The interviews are posted on Samsos website and podcasts, YouTube and other relevant online environments where they can be shared among investment communities.

Samso also has a track record of developing successful business concepts in the Australasia region and provides bespoke research and counsel to businesses seeking to raise capital and procuring projects for ASX listings.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this article is the writers personal opinion and is provided for information only and is not intended to or nor will it create/induce the creation of any binding legal relations. Read full disclaimer.
The 93rd Academy Award Ceremony is to be broadcast on Sunday, April 25. "Oscar" is the name of the figure on the small statue, so people call the award "an Oscar."

This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated a diverse group of actors and movie professionals for awards. Like others who came before them, they will give short speeches thanking those who helped them in their work.

In today's lesson, we will look at the language you will hear in those speeches. If you ever have the honor of receiving an award, you can use this knowledge to make your own acceptance speech. Let us start with how long the speech should last.

Keep it short  you only have 45 seconds

To be a member of the Academy, a person has to work in the production of movies released in theaters. When a winner receives an award, they usually begin by thanking the Academy, moviemakers like themselves. There is a time limit for Oscar acceptance speeches. It is said the Academy decided to make the rule after Greer Garson gave a nearly six-minute speech in 1942. Now, the speeches are supposed to be less than 45 seconds. However, the winners of the best actor award usually speak for about two minutes. At that point, music usually begins to play, telling the speaker to finish.

The Australian actor, Paul Hogan, gave advice to the winners at the 1987 Academy Awards. He said,

Firstly, winners, when you make your speech, it's a good tip to remember the three Gs: be Gracious, be Grateful, Get off.

"Be gracious" means to be kind and respectful. After all, the winners are speaking to a group of people they want to continue working with in the future. "Be grateful" means to be thankful, and "get off" means to leave the stage. Many Oscar winners use their time to speak in support of their favorite cause. That can make their speech much longer. But people watching on TV usually enjoy hearing shorter speeches.

Present perfect tense

Award winners usually look back over their life or work. They may try to use humor. The grammar you will hear at that point often includes the present perfect tense. Here is Shirley MacLaine in her 1984 acceptance speech.

I have wondered for 26 years what this would feel like.

Marlon Brando used the present perfect as he accepted his first Academy award in 1955. He said,

I don't think that ever in my life have so many people been so directly responsible for my being so very, very glad.

Thank you for

After thanking the members of the Academy, almost every winner thanks family and coworkers. In 2018, Gary Oldman spoke of his 99-year-old mother. He asked her to prepare tea for him and the Oscar.

I say to my mother, thank you for your love and support. Um, put the kettle on, I'm bringing Oscar home.

Note that Oldman said, "Thank you for your love and support." This is the most common way: thanks: 'for + noun."

In 2020, Brad Pitt used the preposition "to."

Thank you. This is incredible, really incredible. Thank you to the Academy for this honor of honors. They told me I only have 45 seconds up here

Be humble

How do movie makers show that they do not think they are better than other people, in other words, that they are humble? One way is to praise the other nominees and to say that they should receive the award. In his speech, Tom Hanks said other actors should have won, not him.

I am standing here in lieu of my fellow nominees who are just as deserving, if not more so, of this moment.

Paul Hogan also gave advice about being too humble.

Secondly, don't be too humble tonight because we have up here a second envelope. So don't get up on stage and say, 'I don't deserve this award.' If you really feel you don't deserve an Academy Award, just give us a wave from your seat.

Inspire others

Finally, a good speech inspires others to work toward their own goals. In many Oscar speeches, the winners say that others can reach success, too.

Lupita Nyong'o, in 2014, wanted children to follow their dreams.

When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid. Thank you.

Shirley MacLaine said everyone should trust that they can succeed.

God bless that potential that we all have for making anything possible if we think we deserve it. I deserve this. Thank you.

And now, with congratulations to all of the winners of the 93rd Academy Awards, Im Jill Robbins.

Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

diverse  adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

tip  n. useful or secret information

kettle - n. a container used for heating or boiling liquid

incredible  adj. difficult or impossible to believe

stage  n. a raised platform in a theater, auditorium, etc., where the performers stand

deserve v. used to say that someone should be given something

in lieu of  expression. instead of

envelope  n. an enclosing cover for a letter, card  at the Academy Awards, the winning name is written on a card in an envelope.

inspire - v. to make (someone) want to do something; to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

potential n. something that is not real now, but is able to become real in the future

Have you ever accepted an award or honor publicly? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
US states have significant power over how and when they administer unemployment benefits. Often, they use macroeconomic indicators, like the percent of the total work force claiming unemployment benefits or the Insured Unemployment Rate (IUR), to take decisions on whether benefit extensions are needed. The covid-19 pandemic led to historic levels of unemployment, and a new study found that these high-level indicators do not always adequately respond to the unique needs of unemployed workers and the systems they rely on.

Benefit extension... depending

Most states cap the number of weeks unemployed workers can receive unemployment insurance (UI) at 26. However, if macroeconomic indicators show a downturn in the economy, benefits are automatically extended. Complicating the unemployment landscape are the federal extensions passed by Congress through various stimulus bills. Some unemployed workers received extensions through the states and others, after the maxed out on their state benefits are placed in federal programs, such as the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. The American Rescue Plan, passed in March, extended unemployment benefits to 6 September 2021, making most workers who lost their job due to the pandemic eligible to receive their UI benefits for an additional 53 weeks.

The study, conducted by the California Policy Lab, found that In some states, up to 30% of people receiving unemployment insurance benefits are losing access to state Extended Benefits because of how unemployment levels are currently measured. This malfunction occurred when state systems undercounted the number of unemployed people because as recipients transitioned from state benefits to the federal extended benefit (EB) programs, they were left out. When the IUR, drops below a specific rate, many systems automatically turn off benefits, leaving hundreds of thousands without their weekly checks. To date, researchers calculated that this issue has already impacted more than 300,000 UI recipients, and more could be at risk.

Which states were the most impacted?

In the Fall, Alabama, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia all ran into this problem. In some states, 20-30% of claimants were receiving UI benefits through the EB program when it was turned off.

In Minnesota, extended benefits are triggered when its IUR rises above five percent, which happened in May 2020. As workers remained unemployed for more time, state extensions ended, and workers were paid through federal programs. In December, the state reported state extensions would be turned off as the IUR had dropped to 4.8%. The problem is the state calculation left out the 2.6% of unemployed workers receiving UI benefits through federal extensions. This faulty counting impacted the benefits of more than 25,000 workers in the state.

What other states are vulnerable to this sort of problem?

The report warns that California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, and New York could face similar issues. Unemployed workers in these states receiving extended benefits through the federal government are making up a more significant share of the total claims. Without careful oversight into how the IUR is calculated, these states could make similar mistakes to those seen in Minnesota.

What can be done to fix this issue?

This issue is not new. The research team highlighted that a very similar problem to that which occurred in Minnesota happened in California during the Great Recession. The study concludes by encouraging lawmakers and those who manage the unemployment system to evaluate if the metrics they use determine the needs of the economy and the needs of unemployed workers.

This issue, and the reliance on macroeconomic indicators in general, is only one of the many aspects of state unemployment systems that should be rethought in the future. Some lawmakers have presented legislation to revamp and modernize unemployment systems, in part, to avoid issues like these that have been seen in more than half of US states.
Over 100 cases relating to possession of drugs at the Electric Picnic were heard at Portlaoise District Court on Thursday.

The cases dated back to the 2019 festival in Stradbally.

At the outset Judge Catherine Staines indicated she would deal with them by way of her old regime of a donation to the court poor box and a strike out, in the circumstances of a first time offence.

All those who appeared were subsequently told to make a donation of 300 to the court poor box.

Those who appeared came from a variety of backgrounds, and included students and young professionals from all over the country.

Some were accompanied by parents and relatives, and were called into court on a staggered basis to allow for social distancing and adherence to all the safety measures.

The drugs involved included cocaine, cannabis and MDMA.

In some cases, the Judge warned of the dangers of the drugs involved, noting for example that one MDMA tablet can cause a psychotic episode.

In some cases for possession of cocaine, she asked whether the person knew of the source of the drugs in South America and the criminal cartels behind them, and the criminal gangs operating here.

She warned many not to put their futures at risk and stressed to them that they were getting one chance, and one chance only.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has sent a letter to President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili, expressing gratitude for the warm welcome shown to him during the recent official visit in Georgia, as well as for the constructive discussions about the bilateral and regional affairs, the Armenian Presidents Office told Armenpress.

Our meeting, which was held in an atmosphere of complete mutual trust and respect, outlined new directions for the future development and strengthening of the cooperation between Armenia and Georgia. I fully agree that we bear a responsibility for the formation of relations between the future generations of the Armenian and Georgian peoples.

I am happy to note that there are joint interests and promising prospective partnership in new technologies, education, science, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, energy, transport and other areas.

I believe that the practical and effective agreements reached during the visit will further deepen the cooperation between our countries in different fields for the welfare of our brotherly peoples, reads the Armenian Presidents letter addressed to the Georgian counterpart.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
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President Vladimir Putin stuck to a familiar narrative of unity in his annual address, while crowds of protesters demanding imprisoned Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny's release told a different story. Doctors urged Navalny to end his hunger strike, saying it could soon lead to "the saddest outcome."



Russia said it will start pulling back troops from Crimea and the border with Ukraine, while revelations about explosions in 2014 have caused a huge rift in Moscow's ties with the Czech Republic.



Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.



A Speech And Street Protests



Two Russias were on display outside the Kremlin on April 21: One eager for change; the other, according to critics of President Vladimir Putin, unwilling or unable to deliver it -- or both.



In his annual state-of-the-nation address, delivered to a jaded-looking, largely unmasked group of senior officials, lawmakers, and other figures from the ruling elite at an exhibition hall steps from the Kremlin wall, Putin did not even promise change this time, observers who parsed the 80-minute address said.



He promised a recovery from the coronavirus and its economic effects, cash payments for struggling citizens, more housing, roads, schools, and school buses -- but he did not promise any fundamental change or reform.



"What Putin did not do today -- and what he has not done for some time -- is offer Russians a vision of the future that looks like anything other than a continuation of the present," Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King's College London, wrote in a Twitter thread focusing on Putin's spending promises.



"Perhaps most tellingis that Putin said nothing about the impact all of this would have on the economy overall: nothing about rising growth or incomes, nothing about the number of jobs created," Greene wrote. "Just the amount of homes built and money handed out."

Barring the unexpected, the prospects for fundamental political change are perhaps even dimmer than they are for economic reform, barring the unexpected.



The handouts may bolster the unpopular ruling party's results in September parliamentary elections seen as a test for Putin midway through his current term.



Buying Votes?



"Putin understood that the only way for him to mobilize his electorate is not with slogans, not with war, not with geopolitics, but with money: it's necessary to simply buy the voters, to hand them money, and that's the only way to provideUnited Russia with votes," political analyst Fyodor Krasheninnikov told Current Time.



The target date for fulfilling several of the pledges he made was 2024  when Putin, who has been president or prime minister since 1999, may be running for another six-year term.



Under constitutional changes he pushed through last year, Putin could still be president at this time in 2036, when millions of the children he cast in the speech as the focus of his efforts will be grownups.



The other Russia was in evidence when thousands of protesters gathered -- first in Far Eastern cities like Vladivostok as Putin was starting his speech, then later in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and about 100 other locations across the country -- to call for the release of Aleksei Navalny, an imprisoned Kremlin opponent whose health condition has worsened since he started a hunger strike on March 31.

For the second time in eight months, Navalny seems to be at risk of death. The first time was in August, when he was nearly killed by a nerve agent from the Novichok group that was apparently smeared on his underwear in an attack that he blames on Putin and the Federal Security Service.



As in the protests in January, after Navalny was arrested upon returning to Russia from Germany -- where he had flown and been treated following the nerve-agent poisoning in Siberia -- the hopes and demands of demonstrators went beyond the release of the Kremlin foe.



Instead, they encompassed a range of complaints about life under Putin's rule -- including the prospect that it could continue for another 15 years. "Putin in the dock!" was one chant from the crowd in Moscow on April 21, as the crowd marched through the streets.



'Very Different Concepts'



Navalny is an opposition leader in part because he is a symbol of the broader change that millions of Russians want, economic, political, cultural, or otherwise -- the symbol of an alternative to Putin, regardless of how many would vote for him if given the chance.



"We can relate differently to his political program, to his personality as a whole. But today, by his actions, by his fate, he has become the rallying point that for a huge number of people symbolizes change," Ivan Kurilla, a historian and political analyst who has been attending the protests since January, told North.Realities, an outlet of RFE/RLs Russian Service.



The slogan "Freedom for Aleksei Navalny" represents the minimum that the state should do," said Kurilla. He attends protests, he said, in the hope that "the group that now controls the Russian state will finally leave -- restore democratic elections and cede power to those who win these democratic elections."

When he protested in St. Petersburg on April 21, Kurilla's mind was not so much on Navalny as a far lesser-known figure: Yefim Khazanov, a Russian Academy of Sciences member and deputy director of the Institute of Applied Physics in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod who was detained for reposting a Facebook post about a protest in support of Navalny.



"Society has split," Kurilla said. "The part that holds power and the part that the scholar arrested today represents have very different concepts of what Russia is."



In his speech that same day, Putin ignored that other part of society: He made no direct mention of Navalny or the protests in the streets, only hinting once or twice at two things that he has stated outright without evidence several times: that the Kremlin foe and the demonstrators are not to be considered "constructive forces" and are pawns of Washington and the West.



Still, the patterns of the police response to the nationwide protests suggested that Putin and the Kremlin were in fact keeping a close watch and making political calculations. In St. Petersburg, police detained more than 800 people, beating and using shock batons on some of them -- echoing the violence they employed nationwide against protesters in January.



'Don't Be Euphoric'



Nationwide, police detained more than 1,900 people in connection with the rallies, in what was described as part of a "shocking crackdown on basic freedoms."



But in Moscow the demonstrators were left largely untouched. That was deliberate, according to Andrei Kolesnikov, chairman of the Russian Domestic Politics Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center.



"Don't be euphoric: the authorities tried to avoid brutality specifically in Moscow, so as not to spoil the impression of Putin's address," Kolesnikov wrote on Twitter. "Soon Navalny's structures will be recognized as extremist, and then we'll see."



That was a reference to a request from prosecutors to label Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and his network of offices nationwide "extremist organizations," a designation that would outlaw them and make membership in or funding of them a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

A Moscow court is to begin addressing the matter on April 26. In addition to its impact inside Russia, labeling Navalny's organizations as extremist would cause an outcry in the West and further damage Moscow's severely strained ties with the United States and the European Union.



If the relatively mild treatment of the Moscow protesters was carefully calculated, observers said, so was Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's April 22 announcement that military forces that had entered Russian-occupied Crimea and approached the Ukrainian border near the areas held by Russia-backed separatists would start pulling back to their permanent bases on April 23.



In other words, a large and largely unexplained military buildup, which drew pointed criticism from the West, would soon be over, Shoigu suggested -- and with it, at least for now, the fears of a major new Russian offensive against Ukraine.



The announcement came one day after Putin's state-of-the-nation speech -- which, like several of the 16 previous annual addresses he has delivered as president, included a sharply worded warning to the West.



The length and ferocity of these diatribes has differed from year to year: In 2018, Putin demanded that the United States and EU "listen to us now" and listed several weapons -- some nuclear -- that he said Russia was developing.



This time, Putin's warning followed a very familiar formula, placing blame on the other side in advance for any conflict or confrontation.



"We want good relations...and we really don't want to burn bridges," Putin said. "But if someone mistakes our good intentions for indifference or weakness and intends to burn down or even blow up these bridges, they should know that Russia's response will be asymmetrical, swift, and harsh."



In the past, Putin has often used strong words to hide meeker actions: climbdowns, in fact. He has also seemed to go to the brink of some highly aggressive move but then stepped back, taking a more pragmatic course after gauging the potential response and the consequences.



Kremlin Calculations



In moving to pull back military forces that had encroached upon Ukraine and poured into Crimea -- if that really happens, and there are doubts-- he may have done both this week.



"On both fronts -- with Ukraine and with the opposition -- the Kremlin is likely to have calculated that further escalation would create unpredictability, at a time when Putin is clearly hoping for smooth sailing," Greene, of Kings College London, wrote on Twitter.



"But if the Kremlin believes that de-escalation is a more easily controllable process, that's only because it believes it has proven its points, and that both Ukraine and the opposition will avoid pressing their respective advantages, lest Moscow re-escalate," he wrote, adding: "We'll see."



Speaking of escalation, tensions between Russia and the Czech Republic rose dramatically after the government in Prague accused the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU of being behind an explosion in the eastern town of Vrbetice that killed two people in 2014.

There has also been a shift this week in the plight of Navalny, who declared his hunger strike to demand treatment by his own doctors -- but where it will lead is harrowingly unclear. That has so far been denied, but several of his doctors said on April 22 that Navalny had been evaluated by several physicians at a civilian hospital two days earlier and that they were given the results.



They urged Navalny to end his hunger strike, saying in a letter they planned to get to him on April 23 that "further fastingcould lead to the saddest outcome: death."



"If the hunger strike continues for even a minimal amount of time, unfortunately we will soon simply have no one to treat," the doctors said. They repeated a demand that he be transferred to a high-quality civilian hospital in Moscow.



In a post on his Instagram channel, meanwhile, Navalny expressed "pride and hope" after the protests and called the thousands of people who took to the streets the previous day "the salvation of Russia."



He hailed "those who are not afraid, despite all the anger and hatred that is now flowing from the Kremlin. Because they understand: To be afraid now is to lose, sell, and waste your own future."
Posted Thursday, April 22, 2021 7:02 am

The Washington Supreme Court has declined to reconsider its ruling that effectively decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, leaving the question of the statute's future up to state legislators working on a short timeline.

In a brief order issued on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 20, the state's highest court declined a request from the Spokane County Prosecutor's Office to amend its decision in State v. Blake, a February ruling that invalidated the state's simple drug possession criminal statute as a violation of due process.

Washington lawmakers have four days to decide how to act on the Supreme Court decision.

Last week, the Senate passed a bill that would make possession of a controlled substance a gross misdemeanor, with treatment as the preferred option for the first two offenses. A gross misdemeanor could mean up to a year in jail or up to a $5,000 fine.

That bill passed Wednesday, April 21 out of a House committee, but it looks slightly different. The new version would make possession of a controlled substance a misdemeanor, which could be punishable by up to 90 days in jail or up to a $1,000 fine.

The House's version also focuses more on the treatment side of drug possession, giving slightly more guidance and resources for dealing with recovery.

It's unclear how the Senate will react to these changes if it makes it back to the floor before the end of session. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn at midnight on Sunday.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued a statement Tuesday calling on legislators to end criminal penalties for those possessing small amounts of drugs.

"The Legislature now has a unique opportunity to reject criminal penalties for non-commercial drug possession. Let's focus our resources on treatment and protecting the public from serious and violent crime," Ferguson said in a statement.

The court case challenging the previous drug possession law was filed by a Spokane County woman who'd been arrested while wearing a pair of pants given to her that contained drugs, leading to a challenge of a state law that didn't require prosecutors to prove the person knowingly possessed controlled substances for a judge or jury to find them guilty.

Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell had asked judges to adopt a less sweeping consenting opinion that the office believed would not apply to previously adjudicated cases. The law dates back to the 1970s, and the decision to overturn could apply to hundreds of inmates in the state, as well as others who'd paid previous fines.

Instead, judges issued an amending order clarifying some language in their original ruling, but leaving the decision largely in place.

Haskell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the next steps for his office.
(HealthDay)Not even your beloved feline is safe from COVID-19.

Using in-depth genetic analyses, a new investigation in the United Kingdom suggests that people can pass COVID-19 on to their cats.

"We identified two cats that tested positive," said study lead author Margaret Hosie. "Both of them were from suspected COVID-19 households."

One case involved a 6-year-old female Siamese. Last May, the cat had notable nasal and eye discharge. Swab samples were taken from the affected areas and tested for signs of respiratory infection.

Genetic sequencing of the virus found in those samples revealed "that it was very similar to the sequences of isolates from (COVID-19) infected people in the same region of the U.K.," said Hosie, a professor of comparative virology with the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, in Scotland.

The other case involved a 4-month-old Ragdoll kitten who succumbed to severe respiratory illness in April 2020. A post-mortem exam revealed the kitten had contracted COVID-19 after exposure to human SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the illness.

So how common is human-to-cat transmission?

It's pretty common, said Dorothee Bienzle, a professor of veterinary pathology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. But the variability of cases may depend on the proximity of the COVID-19 patient and the pet.

If your cat does get infected following exposure to human COVID-19, is serious illness a given? No, said Keith Poulsen, director of the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, in Madison.

"Clinical disease with COVID for domesticated pets is very uncommon," Poulsen said. "We don't test all of our animals, but we have collaborated in studies with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and know that pets in households with COVID have a good chance of testing positive for COVID. But they rarely show any clinical signs and do not require veterinary intervention, in our data. The only outlier here are ferrets and mink. They get sick with COVID."

As for whether the transmission dynamic might go the other way, Hosie said that, for the moment, "we cannot rule out the possibility that the virus could be transmitted from cats to humans."

And it's going to be a difficult question to answer, she added, "as we could never expose an uninfected person to an infected cat to determine whether cat-to-human transmission would occur."

Still, Poulsen suggested that while the possibility cannot be ruled out, it is not overly concerning.

"We have no evidence that any companion animals play a significant role in transmission back to people," he said, "with the exception of ferrets and mink. The chances of this happening to a significant, or intervention-requiring rate, are low, but not zero."

His bottom line: "We still do not believe that cats, or dogs, are significant players in the disease ecology of COVID-19 in people, animals or the environment," Poulsen stressed.

Maybe so, but the study authors concluded that "it will be important to monitor for human-to-cat, cat-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission."

As for canines, both Hosie and Poulsen agreed dogs appear to have the upper hand over their feline friends when it comes to human coronavirus vulnerability.

"Dogs are infectable, but less frequently than cats," Hosie said.

Poulsen agreed, noting that "the science points to the fact that cats likely replicate more virus than dogs."

The study was published April 22 in the Veterinary Record.

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
One in every three breaches of domestic violence protection orders were not resolved last year, with police reporting a lower clearance rate for the offence in Queenslands latest crime report.

New data released by the Queensland Government Statisticians Office shows the percentage of domestic violence protection orders that were cleared was 63.9 per cent, down from 66.6 per cent the previous financial year.

Kelly Wilkinsons former partner has been charged with her murder.

A case is considered cleared when an offender is charged or a victim withdraws their complaint.

The data comes just days after Gold Coast mother-of-three Kelly Wilkinson was set alight and killed in her Arundel home on Tuesday morning.
An extraordinary letter in which the grieving father of Britain's best World War One airman praised the German pilot who killed his son can be revealed.

Sir Albert Ball wrote the remarkable note to the mother of pilot Lothar von Richthofen, the younger brother of the famous 'Red Baron' Manfred von Richthofen.

In 1917, Lothar shot down the biplane piloted by the brilliant Captain Albert Ball, who was Britain's leading flying ace with 44 kills to his name.

The 20-year-old died when his S.E.5 aircraft crashed into a field in northern France. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Although Lothar survived the war he was killed in a flying accident in 1922 - four years after his more famous brother was shot down and killed.

Eleven years later, in 1933 Albert Ball senior wrote to Kunigunde von Richthofen, the mother of Lothar and Manfred.

Along with his remarkable note, he sent Mrs von Richthofen a photograph of his tragic son and asked her to send him one of her 'brave boy' in return.

Sir Albert, who became the mayor of Nottingham two years later, wrote: 'I have great pleasure in sending...my boy's picture, and should be glad if you would return the compliment by sending me one of your brave boy.

'We both have something to be very proud of in knowing that our boys did the best they possibly could for their country.'

An extraordinary letter in which the grieving father of Britain's best World War One airman, Albert Ball, praised the German pilot who killed his son can be revealed. Sir Albert Ball wrote the remarkable note to the mother of pilot Lothar von Richthofen, the younger brother of the famous 'Red Baron' Manfred von Richthofen

He wrote: 'I have great pleasure in sending...my boy's picture, and should be glad if you would return the compliment by sending me one of your brave boy. We both have something to be very proud of in knowing that our boys did the best they possibly could for their country'

He went on to write that wars serve a 'useless purpose' and how he hoped the 'day is not far distant when better feelings will exist among the nations of the world so wars may be no more.'

He signed off the letter - written six years before the start of World War Two - 'appreciating the wonderful work done by your boy. Yours sincerely, Alfred Ball.'

Captain Ball's kills saw him became Britain's first celebrity fighter pilot.

The handsome Royal Flying Corps hero was popular with the public because of his 'lone wolf' style of combat, flying by stalking enemies from below.

As well as being awarded the VC, he was the first man during the war to be awarded three Distinguished Service Orders.

His father's typed letter was displayed in a museum Mrs von Richthofen set up in her own home as a shrine to her two sons.

What father of British flying ace said to mother of German airman who killed his son 'Dear Madam, Mr Kiernan of Birmingham has asked me to forward you a picture of my late son Capt. Albert Ball V.C. I have great pleasure in sending under separate cover my boy's picture, and should be glad if you would return the compliment by sending me one of your brave boy. We have both something to be very proud of in knowing that our boys did the best they possibly could for their country, but in my opinion, serve a useless purpose, and I sincerely hope the day is not far distant when better feelings will exist amongst the nations of the World so that wars may be no more. Appreciating the wonderful work done by your boy. Yours sincerely, Albert Ball' Advertisement

The property was in Schweidnitz, what is now Swoidnica, Poland, but was Prussia in the 1930s.

Next to the letter was the framed photograph Ball's father sent of his son, along with the fuel inlet from his biplane - complete with bullet holes - that Lothar had salvaged as a memento in 1917.

The museum was also filled with medals, trophies and other souvenirs relating to Manfred and Lothar but was abandoned during the Second World War.

Mystery surrounds what became of all the items. A leading theory is that they were looted by the Russians as they advanced on Germany from the east in 1945.

But new research suggests that the most important contents were rescued by the Germans and hidden in salt mines with art work and treasures that had been plundered by the Nazis.

They were possibly liberated by the Americans at the end of the Second World War.

German military historian Robin Schaefer uncovered a photographic copy of Sir Albert's letter during his research into the 'Richthofen Museum'.

He said he was taken aback by the contents when he first read it.

The contents of the letter have been published in the latest edition of Iron Cross, a British magazine that publishes articles relating to both World Wars from a German perspective.

Mr Schaefer said: 'I find it quite amazing that someone had the strength to write something like this to the mother of the man who has killed his son.

'It is an extraordinary letter. To express compassion with the other family is one thing but to go on to praise the person who has killed his son is remarkable.

'Albert Ball senior knew how Kunigunde von Richthofen felt. But it takes a certain kind of character to write a letter like that.

'It requires a certain greatness of the heart and soul.'

Mr Schaefer said the Richthofen Museum was filled with the medals, trophies and silverware relating to the two brothers.

In 1917, Lothar (pictured) shot down the biplane piloted by the brilliant Albert Ball, who was Britain's leading flying ace with 44 kills to his name. The 20-year-old died when his S.E.5 aircraft crashed into a field in northern France. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross

Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, chalked up a staggering 80 kills before he was himself shot down in 1918

He said had the contents survived, they would have ranked among the most valuable collection of militaria in the world today.

Until now it has always been accepted that Kunigunde von Richthofen fled her home in a hurry in January 1945 as the Russians advanced from the east.

She was said to have only been able to take essential items with her and left behind the prized possessions her sons.

But Mr Schaefer said while the Russians came close to Schweidnitz in January 1945 they didn't enter the town until May, two months after its occupants had left.

He said: 'All the contents of the museum are gone.

'Our research shows clearly that the accepted narrative of the Richthofen treasures falling in to the hands of the Red Army doesn't hold water.

Captain Albert Ball VC, from Nottingham, was just 20 years old when he was shot down during a dogfight over the Western Front on May 7, 1917

'It is said that when the family heard Russian machine guns they had to evacuate and flee west and only take the bare necessities with them and she never saw the items again.

'Looking into this, the Russians came near but never broke through in January. The Russian tanks rolled in to the town square May 8, 1945, before that there was none and all the residents left in March.

'So the story that she left in a hectic flight and was unable to pack her things can't be true.'

Mr Schaefer said he has also been made aware of an oak framed portrait of the Red Baron that is now in a museum and was given to Lothar and Manfred's sister in 1974.

In 2017, Captain Ball's final diary entry before his death was released by his relatives after they were found lying in an old box. The final entry in the red pocket diary was written on the day he died, on May 7, 1917. It reads: 'Combat with four Albatros Scouts. Got one of them down'

He said: 'If the family could take that then why couldn't they have put the silverware and medals into a bag?

'Where it all went I don't know. My main theory is that any Richthofen relics claimed to be his always turn up in America.

'I think the items were taken out and probably brought to where all the other German valuables and captured art were kept and that was in salt mines that were cleared by the Americans.'

The latest issue of Iron Cross magazine is out now.

In 2017, Captain Ball's final diary entry before his death was released by his relatives after they were found lying in an old box.

The final entry in the red pocket diary was written on the day he died, on May 7, 1917. It reads: 'Combat with four Albatros Scouts. Got one of them down.'

Just hours later, Captain Ball was killed during a ferocious battle over the northern French town of Annoeullin.

After his death, the diaries were returned to his father and mother, Harriet.

They were then passed to his younger brother Cyril, who also flew with the Royal Flying Corps, and was shot down and held as a prisoner of war.

It is thought he boxed them up for safe-keeping and, after his death, they were passed to his daughter, before being handed to Captain Ball's great-niece Vanda Day, 58, who lives in Hose, Leicestershire.
Machakos County boss Alfred Mutua says he was forced to break the law to save a mans life.

The governor was among three panelists who were discussing situations that can lead people to break the law on Citizen TVs Day Break on Thursday, April 22.

Speaking from his personal experience, Mutua said he was driving along State House Road when he spotted a man who had collapsed by the roadside.

The other day I was driving, I was coming to Nairobi and I was driving on State House Road. I saw a man lying down by the side of the road and he was jerking his hands.

As I passed, it occurred to me, that man looks like he is sick. He was not drunk because he was wearing a mask, a pair of jeans, and a shirt. He looked sick, he recounted.

According to Mutua, he made an illegal U-turn after realizing that the other passers-by were ignoring the man.

I stopped and did an illegal U-turn because I looked in my mirror and I just saw people passing. I went, stopped in the middle of the road, and put on my hazards.

I was getting out of the car when police who were protecting an embassy building there came out and we were able to help the man. We realized he was suffering from Epilepsy or something like that, he added.

Mutua, with the help of the officers, rushed the man to a hospital for medical attention before resuming his journey.

I made an illegal U-turn, I blocked the highway and contravened the law but was it justified? Everything has to be looked at according to the circumstances happening, he stated.
DONGXING, Apr. 23 -- The 10th Defense and Security Consultation between the ministries of national defense of China and Vietnam was held in Dongxing city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of South China, on April 23.

Lieutenant General Shao Yuanming, deputy chief of staff of Joint Staff Department under the Chinas Central military Commission (CMC), and Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, deputy minister of National Defense of Vietnam, jointly hosted the meeting. Both sides sincerely exchanged views in depth on the issues of international and regional security situations and the relations between the two militaries and the two states.

Lt. Gen. Shao noted that in recent years, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc have kept close communications and pointed out the direction of all-round development of the Sino-Vietnam relationship in the new era. Lt. Gen. Shao added that, faced with the complicated international and regional situations, both sides should uphold the concept of a community with shared future for mankind, further strengthen solidarity, mutual trust and cooperation, view and develop the Sino-Vietnam relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, so as to jointly make positive contributions to the cause of socialism and the progress of human civilization.

Lt. Gen. Shao continued that, the Chinese and Vietnamese militaries should resolutely implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two Parties and countries, make further efforts to promote strategic communication, innovate cooperation model, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and jointly cope with risks and challenges. Practical actions are required for both militaries to create a favorable environment for the development of bilateral relations and to push forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, said Shao.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien said that the leaders of old generation of both sides have made profound friendship, and Vietnam has always cherished China's precious support in Vietnam's revolution and struggle for national independence. He stressed that in recent years, leaders from the two Parties and two countries have maintained frequent interactions, constantly enhancing the political mutual trust between the two sides. The Vietnamese military is willing to continue enhancing the strategic mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation with the Chinese counterpart for greater contributions to the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between Vietnam and China.
The benefits of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine increase with age and still outweigh the risks for adults despite links to very rare blood clots, the EU's drug regulator said Friday.

Health authorities should also continue to give a second dose of the vaccine, dogged by controversy over the rare but occasionally fatal clots, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.

The Amsterdam-based EMA was presenting the findings of a review ordered by the European Commission after concerns that prompted several countries to restrict the AstraZeneca jab's use to older people.

"The data showed that the benefits of vaccination increase with age, and with increasing levels of infection in the community," EMA Deputy Executive Director Noel Wathion told a virtual news conference.

"The benefits of Vaxeveria outweigh its risks in adults of all age groups, as already confirmed by the agency. However very rare cases of blood clots with low blood platelets have occurred following vaccination."

The new AstraZeneca findings should be a "useful guide for member states when adjusting their vaccination strategies" depending on age, Wathion added.

Overall, the rare clots happened in around one in 100,000 people who received the vaccine, the agency said.

But the risk of suffering blood clots was greatest for people aged 40 to 49, at 2.1 cases per 100,000, then for the 20-29 age group at 1.9 cases and the 30-39 age group at 1.8 cases, the EMA figures showed.

- 'Favourable effects' -

Risks were lower for older people: the 50-59 age group at 1.1 cases per 100,000, the 60-69 age group at 1 case, the 70-79s at 0.5 cases, and the 80 plus age group at 0.4 cases.

"The work clearly shows that the favourable effects of vaccination compared to the very rare blood clots get bigger with increasing age, and with increasing infection rates," Peter Arlett, head of data analytics at the EMA, told the news conference.

Story continues

Brussels asked the EMA to carry out further investigations on links to age, and the safety of a second dose, after the agency said on April 7 that the clots should be listed as a very rare side effect.

Clots are also being listed as a side effect of the J&J vaccine, which uses the same adenovirus vector technology as AstraZeneca, the EMA said earlier this week.

The second dose of AstraZeneca should continue to be given between four and 12 weeks after the first, in line with current instructions, despite some countries moving to replace the second with mRNA vaccines like Pfizer or Moderna, the EMA's Wathion said.

"The data did not support delaying or avoiding a second dose of the vaccine," he said.

Despite reports that clot cases were more prevalent among women, the EMA said in a statement that "there were insufficient data available from across the EU to provide further context on benefits and risks with regard to sex".

The regulator said on Tuesday that there had been 287 cases of the rare clots worldwide linked to AstraZeneca, 25 to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, eight to the Johnson & Johnson shot and five to the Moderna jab.

The EU is now increasingly relying for its rollout on the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.

The European Commission is also looking to launch legal action against AstraZeneca for underdelivering Covid-19 vaccine doses to the EU, which hobbled its early rollout.

dk/har


2021 Beetaloo Work Program Initiation

Sydney, April 23, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Empire Energy Group Limited ( ASX:EEG ) ( OTCMKTS:EEGUF ) is pleased to announce that it expects to commence the fracture stimulation and flow testing of its Beetaloo Sub-basin vertical discovery well, Carpentaria-1, in early June, and is planning further seismic acquisition and horizontal appraisal drilling later in 2021 (subject to regulatory approvals).Highlights include:- Fracture stimulation contracts signed with Schlumberger Australia Pty Limited ("Schlumberger") following a rigorous tender process- Long lead items including high quality manufactured proppant ordered and en route to site- Empire plans to be in the field in early June 2021 to carry out the vertical fracture stimulation and flow testing program- The program will target each of the four most prospective zones in the stacked Velkerri shale sequence (A, B, Intra A/B, C)- Empire will seek to flow gas to surface and further understand gas composition including liquids with results expected in Q3 2021- The vertical fracture stimulation and flow testing program has received all Northern Territory Government approvals and will be fully funded from existing cash at bank- Approval processes for further appraisal work including additional seismic acquisition and fracture stimulated horizontal appraisal drilling are well advanced and now funded following the recent successful capital raiseComments from Managing Director Alex Underwood: "Carpentaria-1 was a significant liquids rich gas discovery which has captured the attention of major Australian and international industry players. The upcoming vertical fracture stimulation and flow testing program on the well will provide critical insights into the hydrocarbon composition and flow rate potential of the key Velkerri shale zones encountered during drilling.This will inform the fracture stimulation design and the zones of greatest interest as we plan for horizontal drilling later in the year. Our team has been busy preparing approvals for that next stage, which is now fully funded following our recent capital raise. We welcome new shareholders to the register, including Pangaea (subject to shareholder approval), and thank existing shareholders for their strong support.We are continuing to build our position as the leading independent in the basin, with the largest resource position and most active work programs. This further positions Empire t o be the first company to commence commercial production from the Beetaloo in the success case."Key Vertical Stimulation and Flow Testing GoalsCarpentaria-1 will be stimulated in each of the four target zones within the Middle Velkerri formation stacked shale sequence (Velkerri A, Intra A/B, B and C). Once the well has dewatered (expected to take approximately one month), an extended production test will commence. Gas, condensate and stimulation fluids will be diverted through a three-stage separator on the surface with the following objectives:- Flow gas to surface and ascertain the most productive target horizon(s);- Understand target and depth dependent gas composition including the proportion of natural gas liquids and condensate;- Assess design and execution of Beetaloo Sub-basin specific fracture stimulation techniques;- Build Empire's contingent resource base; and- Provide critical data for further appraisal and development planning for future horizontal wells.Execution of ContractsFollowing detailed commercial and technical due diligence of suitable contractors in Australia and a competitive tender process, Empire has selected and engaged Schlumberger for the provision of pressure pumping fracture stimulation and associated services for the Carpentaria-1 well. Schlumberger will provide all stimulation equipment, laboratory testing facilities and technical support. Schlumberger is also providing Coil Tubing services and Wireline services as part of the fracture stimulation placement and flowback operations.Work Program ScheduleEmpire expects to commence civil works (including well pad extension to accommodate fluid tanks) in the coming weeks.Fracture stimulation of the target zones is expected to commence in early June.Following fracture stimulation, which entails the injection of fluid and proppant into the target formation to open fracture pathways within the target zones, there will be a period of flowback of fluids which is likely to take approximately one month. A pump will be installed to remove sufficient fluid from the wellbore to allow for an unconstrained flow of hydrocarbons from the target zone.Empire will advise shareholders as flow testing results are achieved, likely in early Q3 2021.About Empire Energy Group Ltd

Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) (OTCMKTS:EEGUF) holds over 14.5 million acres of highly prospective exploration tenements in the McArthur and Beetaloo Basins, Northern Territory. Work undertaken by the Company since 2010 demonstrates that the Eastern depositional Trough of the McArthur Basin, of which the Company holds 80% has very considerable conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon potential. The Beetaloo sub-Basin, in which Empire holds a substantial position, has independently assessed world class hydrocarbon volumes in place with a major ramp up in industry activity underway to appraise substantial discoveries already made by major Australian oil and gas operators.

Empire Energy is an experienced conventional oil and gas producer with operations in the Appalachia region (New York and Pennsylvania). Empire has been successfully developing and producing oil and gas since 2006.
If the next few months go according to plan, the saviours of access to cash in Scotland could end up being a postmistress from Birmingham and a community campaigner from North West London.

Jan Culverwell and John Bachtler are two key players in a six-month long pilot in the town of Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, trialling a shared banking 'hub' run by the Post Office out of an old butcher's shop.

A range of other schemes aimed at improving access to physical money are also being trialled in Cambuslang, one of eight communities across Britain acting until October as guinea pigs.

It is one of two, along with Rochford in Essex, trialling the idea of pop-up shared Post Office branches.

A Post Office banking 'hub' run out of an old butcher's shop is being trialled in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, until the end of October

These offer a private space for people to discuss financial matters with representatives from five major banks, one for each day, and deposit and withdraw cash and cheques.

Unlike some of the other places involved, Cambuslang is no rural hamlet or market town.

A community of around 28,500 people, seven in 10 of whom live within walking distance of the centre, it is just six-and-a-half miles outside of Glasgow.

But despite this the town, previously a mining and steel centre and once home to a Hoover factory, has been bank branch-less since 2018.

It suffered three closures within an 18-month period, which forced residents either to go into Glasgow or other nearby towns, whose branches are frequently packed.

'Areas which are close to major cities have gone unnoticed, as it's seen that there's less of a problem', Bachtler, part of Cambuslang Community Council, told This is Money this week.

'A significant proportion of the population don't do banking online and are advised to use cash as a money management technique. Given the tightness of some people's incomes, a short trip can be very costly.'

Cambuslang has lacked a single bank branch since 2018 despite being a town of 28,500 people just 6.5 miles from Glasgow

He added: 'The branch loss hit footfall and trade and directly hit businesses which had no options to bank cash. There's a Post Office counter within a corner shop but people aren't comfortable coming in with a bag of cash.'

Bachtler, originally from Ruislip, North West London, and the CCC were behind the town's successful submission to be one of the eight pilot areas.

With a survey of just over 1,000 residents finding three-quarters did not deposit cash in the town and high levels of dissatisfaction with the ability to withdraw cash and deposit cheques, buy foreign currency and get financial advice, the aims of the pilot were twofold.

The hub would allow people privacy to discuss financial matters, which the town currently lacks. More than 90% of a survey of over 1,000 residents said financial privacy was important

Small businesses needed to be able to deposit cash in private, and the residents which relied on cash needed to be able to access it.

Bachtler spoke to This is Money a week before the pilots, which have been running over the last fortnight, are officially publicly announced on 28 April, and a week after England eased its lockdown.

The early signs appeared relatively good. UK footfall, according to Springboard, rose 87.8 per cent week-on-week and 93.2 per cent on local high streets, with footfall just 25.4 per cent down on 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

ATM withdrawals bounce back after lockdown Date % Week-on-week increase Monday 12 April 44.1% Tuesday 13 18.6% Wednesday 14 15.5% Thursday 15 17.6% Friday 16 13.1% Saturday 17 18.2% Sunday 18 16.1% Total 19.6% Source: NoteMachine

More footfall in local communities, as Bachtler hinted at, tends to mean more cash withdrawn and, more importantly for small businesses, more cash spent.

NoteMachine, one of Britain's largest ATM operators, said withdrawals rose 19.6 per cent week-on-week, with the largest rise on Monday.

Withdrawals jumped 44.1 per cent as people withdrew cash for the week, with Friday seeing the smallest rise of just 13.1 per cent.

London leads the way (although it doesn't use cash the most) Region % Week-on-week increase East Midlands 25.6% Greater London 26.5% Isle of Man 11.8% North East 24.4% North West 23.6% Northern Ireland 9.4% Scotland 2.3% South East 26.3% South West 23.6% Wales 12.2% West Midlands 19.7% Source: NoteMachine

Withdrawals are likely still below pre-pandemic levels, however, given previous data, which revealed the amount of cash dispensed remain 20 to 30 per cent below 2019 even when lockdown eased, and suggestions the pandemic has fundamentally altered the country's relationship with cash.

NoteMachine chief executive Peter McNamara said of the figures: 'As people were heading to the shops, bars and restaurants, cash usage bounced back  this 40 per cent week-on-week jump shows that, far from being killed off by the pandemic, cash is still vitally important to the UK's economic recovery.'

What is being tried in Cambuslang? Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, is one of eight communities involved in the Access to Cash Pilots. Over six months, they will trial a range of schemes which will be looked at by banks and the Treasury to see how well they work and whether they provide a solution for cash-starved communities. In Cambuslang, some of the things being tried are: - A shared Post Office banking hub staffed each day by representatives of the following banks: Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland, Virgin Money, Santander and TSB - An extra free-to-use ATM - Being able to get cashback from more shops without having to purchase anything. This was backed by Government legislation on Monday The other seven communities involved are Botton Village, North Yorkshire; Burslem, Staffordshire; Denny, Falkirk; Hay-on-Wye, Powys; Lulworth Camp, Dorset; Millisle, Northern Ireland; and Rochford, Essex.

The story is slightly different north of the border, however. Non-essential shops in Scotland remained closed, although first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced on Tuesday lockdown rules would be eased from next week, sooner than previously forecast.

Footfall rose just 14.1 per cent and remains at just 46.9 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while cash withdrawals rose just 2.3 per cent.

This is even though Scotland relies on cash from ATMs more than any other part of the United Kingdom aside from the North West of England, according to NoteMachine's figures.

In spite of this, 'the feedback is the hub has been getting increasingly busy with a stream of customers all day long', Bachtler said.

Some 200 transactions have been processed through the Cambuslang hub, according to the Post Office, just 50 fewer than Rochford, despite the easing of lockdown.

And the response seems to have been positive, even if the automated deposit machine currently doesn't accept Scottish banknotes.

'Overall, we're very happy with the progress so far.

'The initial difficulty was for people to understand they can come in any time, not just when their bank is there. The messaging has had to be more active in that respect.'

He added Culverwell, the postmistress from Birmingham whose son happens to be running the Rochford hub, in particular has been 'excellent'.

The eyes of the Treasury are on pilot communities like Cambuslang and it is not going to be all plain sailing. In particular, there is the thorny issue of the cost.

Big banks have been happy to shut their branches and leave the Post Office to pick up the tab, but they are having to staff these new 'hubs'  they prefer not to call them branches  and help pay for them.

The Post Office's Martin Kearsley said he felt banks' attitude towards their responsibility to people left behind by branch closures had changed since Barclays outraged Britons by putting forward plans to ban them from depositing cash over Post Office counters

The idea of shared bank branches fell apart more than two decades ago, and 18 months ago Barclays proposed pulling out of the deal which lets customers bank through the Post Office, before changing course after a backlash.

Martin Kearsley, banking director at the Post Office, thinks things are different this time. 'Before each bank's tech was such that we needed a different machine for each one, now through one machine we can give people access to each bank.

'And then in the most recent trial the banks tried an unbranded hub which was unstaffed. It was a great concept, but nobody knew what it was. Businesses don't want to go into somewhere they don't recognise.

'The difference this time is we are bringing a branded site with public recognition that people trust.'

There's been a realisation that we need to put in place a really secure infrastructure for cash and I think the banks have realised that. Martin Kearsley, Post Office

Far from being dragged to the table, he also feels the attitude of the banks has changed on the back of the furore caused by the Barclays bust-up.

'It was a wake-up call. There's been a realisation that we need to put in place a really secure infrastructure for cash and I think the banks have realised that.'

He added: 'Cash does cost a lot, it is costly infrastructure. The banking hub is a way to share that cost and the burden.'

One person happy to chip in appears to be Bachtler, who said CCC was looking at setting up a charitable arm to run the hub after the trial is over. That appears to chime with Kearsley's view that 'from the public reception so far, I think the proof the hubs work is a given.'

While the Treasury will make any final decision about the success or failure of the pilots, the Cambuslang model is something Kearsley appears bullish on.

'I think we should get to the point where any community that is struggling can put its hands up and the industry can step in. I think that would be a great place to be.'

Just as long as the banks are happy to provide the staff, of course.
 Flash

China on Thursday urged Australia to immediately revoke its wrong decision of canceling cooperation agreements under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between the government of Victoria state and the Chinese side.

China also urged Australia to halt irresponsible words and actions on bilateral relations and stop imposing unwarranted restrictions on normal cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press briefing that the BRI is an initiative for international economic cooperation, which follows the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and upholds the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and transparency.

The decision by the state of Victoria to cooperate with China under the BRI framework to improve the well-being of both peoples is a good thing that could have brought benefits to both sides.

The spokesperson said the Australian federal government has unreasonably vetoed the BRI cooperation agreements between the government of Victoria state and China, recklessly interfered in and disrupted normal exchange and cooperation between the two countries, and seriously harmed China-Australia relations and mutual trust between the two countries.

China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this, and has lodged solemn representations with the Australian side, he said. "China reserves the right to make further reactions over this matter."

Wang said the Australian side in recent years has done a lot to undermine the normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, poison the mutual trust and public atmosphere under the vague and groundless pretexts of "inconsistency with Australia's foreign policy" and "inconsistency with Australia's security interests".

Noting that the political manipulation and irrational behavior by the Australian side is completely contrary to the spirit of China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said it is turning back the wheel of history and is vicious in nature.

"It has had a severe negative impact on the confidence for cooperation of localities and businesses of the two countries and damaged Australia's image and credibility," he added.

China urged the Australian side to abandon Cold War mentality and ideological bias, treat China-Australia cooperation in an objective and reasonable manner, immediately correct its mistakes and change course, and refrain from going further down the wrong path and avoid making the already seriously difficult bilateral relations worse, Wang said.
Kolkata, April 23 : The Manipur High Court has ruled in favour of extending protection and preventing deportation of seven Burmese refugees, posing a big question on the Centre's policy to stop the influx of people from the neighbouring Myanmar in the wake of military repression there after the February 1 coup.

A bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Lanusungkum Jamir, passing the verdict on a case filed by India's leading human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar, ruled that these seven refugees "need to be protected".

It said that the seven refugees are "under constant threat of apprehension/deportation by the authorities", who, it said,should "forthwith arrange for the safe transport and passage of these seven Myanmarese individuals from Moreh in Tengnoupal district to Imphal".

Noting that the petitioner/party-ln-person (Haksar) undertakes to accompany the Deputy Commissioner, Tengnoupal, to the location where these seven persons are hiding, the judges said that "they may be given safe transport to Imphal under appropriate escort".

Since the petitioner has agreed to put up the seven refugees at her house in Imphal, the judges said: "It would be open to the state authorities to arrange for necessary security at the residence of the petitioner/party-in-person after these seven individuals are brought there, so as to ensure their protection and also their further movement.

"Before they are brought to Imphal, the District authorities at Moreh are permitted to take these seven individuals to the senior Immigration Officer at Moreh for the purpose of noting their details and also obtaining their biographic and biometric particulars.

"Thereafter, they shall be brought safely under escort to Imphal and stationed at the residence of the petitioner/party-in-person under adequate security and guard till the next date of hearing." The bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice L Jamir ruled that "pending further orders, no coercive steps or adverse action shall be taken in relation to these seven Myanmarese persons, be it by the State or by the central government authorities".

The Union Home Ministry had last month asked the para-military Assam Rifles guarding the Indo-Myanmar border to seal the border and prevent any influx of Myanmar refugees.

But more than 3000 refugees from Myanmar have spilled over into Manipur and Mizoram, whose chief minister Zoramthanga has opposed the Centre's policy and pitched for shelter for the refugees, saying "they are our people".

The Chins who entered Mizoram are ethnic cousins of the Mizos.
Lusaka [Zambia]/Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 23 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck Germany, will conduct their annual conference, the 8th Edition of "Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary" from 27th April to 29th April 2021 in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

The conference will be conducted on a virtual platform, and will be inaugurated by Edgar Lungu, The President of Zambia along with Prof Dr Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of both of Executive Board of E Merck KG and Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and is co-chaired by Esther Lungu, The First Lady of Zambia and Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation.

"We are proud to welcome our Guests of Honors and Keynote Speakers, the First Ladies of 19 African Countries and African Ministers of different sectors from more than 25 countries. Together, we will discuss our strategy to build healthcare capacity and establish a strong platform of specialized trained medical experts to be the first in their countries and to define interventions to break infertility stigma and support girl education. This annual scientific and social education program will also engage healthcare providers, academia and media in an open dialogue and deliberations on various topics with the aim to improve access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions," said Senator Dr Rasha Kelej.

Following the Inauguration of the Luminary, on the 27th of April, a high-level panel meeting of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Committee, will be conducted together with 19 African First Ladies to discuss healthcare and social issues that can be addressed to contribute to the Social and Economic Development in Africa; and advance healthcare, media and awareness capacities and capabilities in these countries. The African First Ladies attending the conference as Guest of Honor are:

* Esther Lungu, The First Lady of the Republic of Zambia Co-chairperson of 8th edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary

* Ana Dias Lourenco, The First Lady of the Republic of Angola

* Neo Jane Masisi, The First Lady of the Republic of Botswana

* Sika Kabore, The First Lady of Burkina Faso

* Angeline Ndayishimiye, The First Lady of the Republic of Burundi

* Brigitte Touadera, The First Lady of Central African Republic

* Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, The First Lady of the Democratic Republic of The Congo

* Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow, The First Lady of the Republic of The Gambia

* Rebecca Akufo-Addo, The First Lady of the Republic of Ghana

* Djene Conde, The First Lady of the Republic of Guinea

* Clar Marie Weah, The First Lady of the Republic of Liberia

* Monica Chakwera, The First Lady of the Republic of Malawi

* Isaura Ferrao Nyusi, The First Lady of the Republic of Mozambique

* Monica Geingos, The First Lady of the Republic of Namibia

* Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

* Fatima Maada Bio, The First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone

* Auxillia Mnangagwa, The First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe

"I am looking forward to welcome my dear sisters, Her Excellencies, for the conference. Moreover, I am also very happy that during the conference will also mark an important occasion; the 4th Anniversary of Merck Foundation", added Senator, Dr Kelej.

On the 28th of April, MARS- Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit will be held where a High-Level Panel Discussion with Ministers of Health, Science and Technology, Education, Information And Gender and MARS Researchers will be held with the objective to empower African young researchers and women researchers, advancing their research capacity and empower them in STEM.

On the third day, 29th April, Merck Foundation Health Media Training will be organized for the African and Latin American Media fraternity to emphasize the important role that media plays to break the stigma around infertility, in raising awareness about infertility prevention and empowering girls and women through education.

Other important scientific sessions in different medical fields will also be held in parallel on Day 2 and Day 3 of the Luminary.

During Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary, in order to contribute to the social and economic development of Africa and Asia, more than 2000 Healthcare providers, policymakers, academia, researchers and health media from more than 70 countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America will benefit from the three days conference that contain valuable educational and social development sessions in four languages; English, French, Spanish and Portuguese by top International experts in Diabetes, Fertility, Oncology, women health, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Respiratory and Acute Medicine and Health Media with the aim to raise health awareness and improve disease management, early detection and prevention, build healthcare capacity and improve access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions across the three continents.

The Luminary'21 will also mark the announcement of two awards for media fraternity, Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards "More Than a Mother" 2021 and Merck Foundation "Mask Up With Care" Media Recognition Awards 2021; two awards for fashion fraternity, Merck Foundation Fashion Awards "More Than a Mother" 2021 and Merck Foundation "Make Your Own Mask" Fashion Awards 2021; in addition to Merck Foundation Film Awards "More Than a Mother" 2021 and Merck Foundation Song Awards "More Than a Mother" 2021.

Countries participating in the 8th Africa Asia Luminary include:

Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central Africa Republic, Cambodia, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guinea - Bissau, Guinea - Conakry, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Togo, Tunisia, U.A.E, UK, Uganda, US, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe and more.

The 8th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary will be streamed live on 27th April, from 14h to 18:030h (Gulf Standard Time) and on 28th and 29th April 2021 from 13h to 18:00h (Gulf Standard Time), @ Merck Foundation Facebook page and Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej Facebook page.

Click on the icon below to Download Merck Foundation App

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.merck.foundation & hl=en

Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard

Facebook: Merck Foundation

Twitter: @Merckfoundation

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Website: www.merck-foundation.com

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Syracuse, N.Y.  The plan was pretty simple.

Two little girls wanted one of the colorful prize balls inside a claw machine at Billy Beez in the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse.

When 3-year-old Kali Porter realized she was too big to fit into the machine, she enlisted her little cousin, Alivia Porter, who turns 2 in June, said their grandmother Jackie Perez.

Kali held the hatch open while Alivia climbed inside the claw machine Tuesday night, Perez said.

Seeing the balls inside the machine was like a trigger for them, she said. It only took one second and they were gone. My grandkids are very adventurous.

With Alivia, aka Tinky as her family calls her, firmly planted in the machine, Kali raced to find her grandmother: Tinkys stuck in the machine!

I thought she might be like halfway stuck, Perez said. But when we got there her whole body was in it. If someone put a quarter in the machine, they could have used the claw to pick her up.

Eight Syracuse firefighters from A-shift Rescue Company 1 and Engine Company 2 arrived at Billy Beez  an indoor park with 11 locations on the East Coast  at about 5:30 p.m., Syracuse Fire Department Lt. Dan Bittel said Thursday.

Alivia was stuck in the machine for less than five minutes before the firefighters arrived, Perez said. By that time a large crowd had formed in the area, she said.

People were taking video, Perez said. I mean its a little girl in a claw machine. If she wasnt my grandchild I probably would have stopped to watch too.

The firefighters used a special tool to pry open the door, Bittel said. Alivia was out of the machine and back in her grandmothers arms in under 10 minutes, he said. She was not hurt at all, he said.

They worked so fast, Perez said of the firefighters. They were awesome. Everyone was in great spirits. I wasnt scared at all. When they got Tinky out it was like the firemen won a prize.

Bittel said he had never had to get a child out of a claw machine, but he said this is the kind of thing his team trains for.

I have never run into anything like this before, Bittel said. It was definitely a unique call.

Perez said the staff of the Billy Beez were so understanding. She said the park was closing as the firefighters arrived but the manager patiently waited for Alivia to be rescued so he could give her a Billy Beez T-shirt and teddy bear.

After spending nearly 15 minutes in the glass box, it would be understandable if Alivia would be a little upset. But Perez said that was not the case.

(Alivia) has been fine, Perez said. She hasnt had any bad reactions. I actually think she enjoyed it.

Kali, the mastermind, unfortunately did not get the prize she was after, Perez said.

Perez said Kali just asked her cousin, where is the ball?

Alivia Porter, 1, who can be seen peeking up from inside an arcade machine, was rescued from the claw machine at Billy Beez in Destiny USA by Syracuse firefighters, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. (Courtesy of Jackie Perez)

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.




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by Mathias Hariyadi

In order to avoid a new wave of the pandemic, Indonesia banned the mudik, the mass exodus of millions of people who leave their towns and cities days and weeks before Eid-al-Fitr to visit their family and relatives in their hometown.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Indonesia officially suspended issuing visas for all Indian nationals and foreigners who visited India in the previous 14 days to avoid a possible new wave of COVID-19 in the country, this according to Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

Indonesians who have been to India are exempt. They can come home, but they will have to follow a very strict health protocol, Minister Hartarto explained.

The ban follows the recent arrival in Indonesia of many Indians, which set off alarm bells among senior Indonesian health officials, including the countrys COVID-19 Task Force.

Unexpected news from Riau province reported yesterday noted that top local health officials informed COVID-19 Task Force head, General Doni Monardo, that many Indians were flocking to the province to escape from the recent COVID-19 surge in their own country.

A large number of Indian citizens have arrived here, said Benget Saragih, a senior health official at Indonesia's Ministry of Health, during a closed-door meeting.

The Indians who arrived at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport sought connecting flights to other Indonesian cities. However, a quarantine hotel was set up lock up these temporary immigrants, said Saragih, who added that some Indian citizens tested positive for the virus in Samarinda, capital of East Kalimantan.

Indonesias immigration agency has been blamed for the situation since the Indians were able to enter Indonesia after receiving a temporary visa and a limited residency permit (KITAS[*]). Most of KITAS holders are homemakers and children, Saragih explained.

As of yesterday, at least 132 Indian citizens had arrived in Indonesia.

Double standards

General Monardo expressed serious concern because the government of President Joko Widodo yesterday banned mudik, the traditional exodus whereby millions of Indonesians travel to their home towns and villages before or at major holidays.

In Java, days or weeks before the Eid al Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, people are expected to visit their family and relatives in their hometowns. In Jakarta, home to at least 13 million people, some 8-9 million people travel during Mudik, leaving the capitals streets almost empty.

This year, the authorities officially extended the mudik ban from 22 April to 24 May; initially, it had been limited to 5-17 May.

A potential new wave of the COVID-19 epidemic during the mudik period is one of the concerns expressed yesterday by the Indonesian government.

In view of the situation, General Monardo strongly urged the countrys Defence Ministry and the immigration agency to stop any large-scale inflow from India.

I'm seriously concerned about this matter. We have banned our fellow Indonesians from the annual mudik, yet foreigners can enter Indonesia, the general said.

[*] Kartu Izin Tinggal Terbatas.
The government has now made a doctor's prescription mandatory for buying or refilling cylinders.

Additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal said, the decision was taken to curb hoarding of cylinders in homes.

"While we are continuously taking steps to ensure supply and it will not be possible to meet the rising demand, if people begin hoarding oxygen at home in anticipation of an emergency. Oxygen will now be sold only if one presents a doctor's prescription, even if it's on WhatsApp," he said.

Officials have been deployed to oxygen filling centres to ensure there is no black-marketing.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that police should also be deputed at filling centres.

Sehgal said, 31 hospitals in the state are also setting up an air separator to manufacture oxygen from the air, thus curbing dependence on liquid oxygen supply.

The plant will be operational in two weeks. The centre has allocated 1,500 oxygen concentrators to for distribution in hospitals.

Each concentrator is meant for one patient and will ensure they do not require further intervention.

The chief minister has also ordered to set up a control room to monitor availability of oxygen in the state. The food safety and drug administration department and home department have been directed to monitor the control room.

Industrial units using oxygen for manufacturing have been given the nod to convert the supply for medicinal purpose.

Those factories which manufacture medical oxygen and have been lying shut will also be revived. Private hospitals are also being encouraged to set up their own oxygen plants.

--IANS

amita/skp/

(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.)
Boris Johnson talked about helping bottle-feed his young son today as he showed off his expertise helping out with the lambs at a farm.

The Prime Minister made a quip as he mucked in with the new season arrivals on a campaign trail visit to Derbyshire.

He was at Moor Farm in Stoney Middleton in the north Derbyshire Peak District on the local election campaign trail.

After being handed a lamb he began to feed it, saying: ' I'm actually quite used to doing this at the moment. It doesn't quite go down at this rate. My goodness, this is fast.'

But he declined to help wind the animal after saying: 'How would you wind a lamb? You would be taking all sorts of risks, winding a lamb.'

After being handed a lamb he began to feed it, saying: ' I'm actually quite used to doing this at the moment. It doesn't quite go down at this rate. My goodness, this is fast.'

Mr Johnson's youngest son, Wilfred, turns one next week. The youngster was spotted out in London with Mr Johnson's fiancee, Carrie Symonds, earlier this week as they took in some early spring sun.

The PM declined to help wind the animal after feeding it, saying: 'How would you wind a lamb? You would be taking all sorts of risks, winding a lamb.'

Mr Johnson's youngest son, Wilfred, turns one next week. The youngster was spotted out in London with Mr Johnson's fiancee, Carrie Symonds, earlier this week as they took in some early spring sun.

Mr Johnson used the campaign visit to insist there is nothing 'sleazy' about his WhatsApp messages to Sir James Dyson as he prepared to publish the communications in an attempt to cool a lobbying row.

The Prime Minister said the texts exchanged with the billionaire would be published later on Friday, as Downing Street declined to dismiss suggestions they had been leaked by former aide Dominic Cummings.

The leak revealed Mr Johnson had promised the entrepreneur he would 'fix' a tax issue for Dyson staff working to develop ventilators early on in the coronavirus crisis.

The Prime Minister has faced questions over when he would publish his correspondence with Sir James after promising to do so under pressure in the Commons this week.

'Indeed, I think that's happening today,' Mr Johnson told broadcasters.

'But let me tell you, if you think that there's anything remotely dodgy, or rum, or weird or sleazy about trying to secure more ventilators at a time of a national pandemic and doing everything in your power to do that then I think you're out of your mind.'

Asked if he needs to rethink how he communicates with people, Mr Johnson said: 'No. I think I need to maintain... to be in touch with people.'

Pressed whether he will keep his phone, after suggestions Cabinet Secretary Simon Case advised Mr Johnson to change his number over concerns about the ease with which lobbyists and business leaders were able to contact him, Mr Johnson smiled and said: 'You need one these days.'
Free liposuction. Hydrogen-infused water. A box of cookies. A special tool to help rescue dogs trapped in hot cars. Those are just a few of the items that select 2021 Academy Awards nominees will receive ahead of this years awards. The total value of the coveted Oscars swag bag is more than $200,000.

Whats in the 2021 Oscars gift bag?

2021 Oscars gift bag | Distinctive Assets

The luxe gift bag is a time-honored awards season tradition. Every year, companies hand out freebies large and small to nominated celebs at the Oscars and other awards shows, such as the Grammys and the Golden Globes. The hope is that brands will get a boost when stars mention the products in a tweet or Instagram post.

The total value of all those gifts can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year, the bag put together by Distinctive Assets is valued at $205,000, according to the New York Times. Gifts range from CBD sleep capsules and a Postmates cookbook to a vacation at Pater Noster, a lighthouse-turned-hotel off the west coast Sweden. All the gifts are from brands that embrace diversity, inclusion, health, and philanthropy. Recipients wont even have to leave their house to collect their stuff. The bags will be delivered straight to their door via Postmates.

Other companies host in-person gifting suites open to nominees and other celebrities. GBK Brand Bar is offering $70,000 worth of freebies to stars, NBC5 Chicago reported. Stars will be able to pick up their gifts at a socially distanced event before the ceremony. Among the items are a 2-night trip to a luxury resort in Fiji and a 4-night stay at a luxury resort in Turks & Caicos.

Who gets an Oscars swag bag?

Laura Dern and Renee Zellweger holding their Oscar statuettes at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards | Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

RELATED: Oscars 2021: Will the Academy Awards Be an in-Person Event This Year?

Just getting nominated for an Oscar doesnt guarantee youll get a boatload of freebies. Distinctive Assets high-value swag bag  which is not officially associated with the Academy Awards  is for the 25 people nominated in the directing and acting categories.

Celebs are under no obligation to accept the gift bag or promote the items it contains. George Clooney once donated his swag bag to United Way, which auctioned it off, Vox reported in 2017, while others, such as actor/director Edward Norton, have objected to the gifting practice entirely.

The gifts come with a hidden price tag

Pater Noster | Distinctive Assets

Receiving a bag containing tens of thousands of dollars worth of free stuff sounds nice. But it comes with a hidden cost. The contents of the gift bags are taxable, Vox noted. Thats why the Academy stopped handing out the gift bags itself, because it felt that sticking nominees with an unexpected tax obligation wasnt exactly fair. To avoid the tax obligation, recipients can refuse the bag, donate all or some of the contents, or even sell some items.

The tax hit from the gifts can be substantial.

For any gift [from a business] thats valued at $600 or more, youre supposed to get a 1099-MISC, Len Hayduchok, the president of advisory firm Dedicated Financial Services, told U.S. News and World Report in a 2016 about awards show gift bags. If you have a gift thats valued at $100,000 and youre in a 33 percent tax bracket, thats costing you $33,000. If its worth $33,000 to you, then youd keep it.

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Indonesian navy ships were scouring the waters off Bali on Friday as they raced against time to find a that disappeared two days ago and has less than a day's supply of oxygen left for its 53 crew.

The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting the may have sunk too deep to reach or recover.

The navy chief said the was expected to run out of oxygen by around 3 a.m. Saturday.

We will maximise the effort today, until the time limit tomorrow 3 a.m., military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad told reporters.

There have been no signs of life from the submarine, but the spokesperson refused to speculate on its fate.

A total of 24 navy and other ships and a patrol plane were being mobilized for Friday's search with a focus on the area where an oil slick was found after the submarine disappeared during an exercise. Rescuers made similar massive searches in the past two days.

An Australian warship equipped with a sonar device and a helicopter was set to arrive later Friday. A second Australian warship as well as Singaporean and Malaysian rescue ships were also expected in the coming days.

These two Australian ships will help expand the search area and extend the duration of search effort, Australian Navy Rear Adm. Mark Hammond said.

On Friday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo was heading to Banyuwangi port, where the rescue ships left earlier. He asked Indonesians to pray for the crew's safe return, while ordering all-out efforts to locate the stricken submarine.



Our main priority is the safety of 53 crew members, Widodo said in a televised address on Thursday. To the family of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all crew members on board.

There's been no conclusive evidence the oil slick was from the sub. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarine's fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessel's weight so it could surface.

Margono said an unidentified object with high magnetism was located at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet) and officials held out hope it's the submarine.





In this aerial photo taken from a maritime patrol aircraft of 800 Air Squadron of the 2nd Air Wing of Naval Aviation Center (PUSPENERBAL), the Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Alugoro sails during a search for KRI Nanggala. AP

The navy also said it believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand.

The vessel's collapse depth was estimated at 200 meters (655 feet) by a South Korean company that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012.

The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the United States is sending airborne assets to assist in the search. We are deeply saddened by the news of Indonesia's lost submarine, and our thoughts are with the Indonesian sailors and their families, Kirby said. Other countries have also offered assistance.

Submarine accidents are often disastrous.



In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk suffered internal explosions and sank during maneuvers in the Barents Sea. Most of its 118 crew died instantly, but 23 men fled to a rear compartment before they later died, mainly of suffocation.

In November 2017, an Argentine submarine went missing with 44 crew members in the South Atlantic, almost a year before its wreckage was found at a depth of 800 meters (2,625 feet).





But in 2005, seven men aboard a Russian mini-sub were rescued nearly three days after their vessel became snagged by fishing nets and cables in the Pacific Ocean. They had only six hours of oxygen left before reaching the surface.

The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 has been in service in since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former President Donald Trump holds an executive order he signed at the White House in Washington on June 26, 2020 to establish a 20-person Advisory 1776 Commission under the Department of Education to promote patriotic education. The commission was terminated by President Joe Biden on Jan. 20, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The Pursuit of a More Perfect Union

Commentary

In classrooms and on campuses throughout the United States, many young Americans are learning a distorted view of our nations history. They are often taught to believe that America is a fundamentally flawed nation and incapable of growth or change.

As President Ronald Reagan said, Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation. In order to defend our freedom each generation must learn what it means to be an American. Young Americans must learn about Americas founding principles and have an understanding of American history.

On Nov. 2, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order that established the Presidents Advisory 1776 Commissionwhich was disbanded by President Joe Biden on his first day in office. The 1776 Commissions purpose was to enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect Union.

The 1776 Commission issued a report in January 2021 that outlined the founding principles of the United States as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It further described how slavery, progressivism, fascism, communism, racism, and identity politics challenge these values.

The Commissions report highlighted fundamental American ideals and historical facts about our nations foundingrather than partisan ideology. The Commission also addressed periods in Americas history where the universal truths of equality, justice, and freedom were not upheld.

According to the report, Americas founding principles are true not because any generationincluding our ownhas lived them perfectly, but because they are based upon the eternal truths of the human condition. They are rooted in our capacity for evil and power for good, our longing for truth and striving for justice, our need for order and our love of freedom. Above all else, these principles recognize the worth, equality, potential, dignity, and glory of each and every man, woman, and child created in the image of God.

In the spirit of Frederick Douglass, President Abraham Lincoln, and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the Commission affirmed that despite our nations shortcomings and missteps, Americas founding principles should not be discarded, abandoned, or forgotten. Rather, American ideals and values should continue to be defended and preserved.

Each generation of Americans are responsible for protecting these values and striving to form a more perfect union as our founding fathers intended. In a widely celebrated campaign speech in March 2008, President Barack Obama stated, This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generationthe young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history.

This assertion remains true 13 years later. America is notnor has it ever beena perfect nation. But the United States has always been a shining city on a hill, founded upon the promises of freedom, opportunity, and justice.

The pursuit of a more perfect union requires a truthful understanding of our nations history and an unwavering commitment to Americas founding principles. Therefore, America needs teachers and others to continue the work of the 1776 Commission in their communities, schools, and homes.

It is our shared historythe successes and the failuresthat unites us as a nation and gives us hope for a better future.

From Gingrich360.com.

Callista Louise Gingrich is a businesswoman, author, documentary film producer, and diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See from 2017 to 2021.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Zia Maintains Impressive Client Retention, Retaining Clients for 10, 20, and Even 30 Years

ALBUQUERQUE, NM / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / This spring, Zia Building Maintenance, a staple of the Albuquerque business community, celebrated 32 years in business and 21 years as a family-owned business. And their customer and team retention rate shows they're doing things the right way.



To learn more about Zia Building Maintenance and its services, visit https://ziabuildingmaintenance.com/.

Since its founding, ownership transferred a few different times, though it's been family-owned for the last 21 years. In the last few years, the current operations manager, Ashley Sanchez, has taken over the day-to-day operations from her mother and step-father, the current owners. Sanchez has continued to operate the company with the same level of customer satisfaction and continual emphasis on supporting employees. Sanchez takes pride in providing steady and valuable employment for a large crew of cleaning professionals. She explained,



"[We are] very employee-driven. Our employees are actually our first priority. However, they do go hand in hand with our customers. Without our customers, we wouldn't have employees. Without our employees, we wouldn't have our customers."



And through keeping their employees happy, they've also produced many satisfied clients. In fact, many of their clients recently celebrated 20 years of using Zia for their janitorial services. They even have one client that has been with them all 32 years of the company's existence.



Another thing that's allowed Zia to flourish is adapting to the times. For example, since the advent of COVID-19, they've been able to offer 24-hour emergency sanitizing services. By incorporating electrostatic cleaning technology and an environmentally friendly solution, they've helped Albuquerque businesses keep their doors open and their employees safe throughout the pandemic. Sanchez shared that, unlike harsh chemical cleaners, the electrostatic applier,



"...positively charges the particles in it. So that way, when you spray up into the air, the solution sticks to everything, as opposed to when you typically spray something, you can see the particles falling down. These sprayers work-they stick to everything, and it becomes active as it dries."



Zia Building Maintenance has also incorporated the use of ultraviolet lights for disinfecting spaces. Their agility, and allowing their customers flexibility throughout the most uncertain times of the pandemic, have allowed them to remain an industry leader.

About Zia Building Maintenance

Zia Building Maintenance provides full-service commercial cleaning services to Albuquerque businesses of every size. Their customer service and care for employees have made them a top janitorial service provider in Albuquerque for 32 years.

Contact

Ashley Sanchez

ashley@ziabuildingmaintenance.com

505-974-1186

3306 4th St NW Unit C

Albuquerque, New Mexico

SOURCE: Zia Building Maintenance

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641928/Zia-Building-Maintenance-Celebrates-32-Years-in-Business-21-Years-Under-the-Same-Owners
Sitting at my desk in the Tribune newsroom holding what was easily a one pound burrito, I started to wonder if my decision to order whatever is the most popular item was the wisest thing.

Dont get me wrong, I was certain that what I was about to consume was going to be delicious, but I had a feeling that I was already defeated.

Honoring the governors request to avoid eating indoors for two weeks, I figured Lugos Taco Street in Bad Axe would be the perfect stop for my latest grub grabbing adventure.

Unlike the restaurant featured in my previous column, the Lugos drive-thru line and I have become quite familiar during the coronavirus pandemic. In many ways I am a man of routine, and in my regular day-to-day dining I have a tendency to order the same tried and true items time and again. However, inspired by my readers, this weeks visit to Lugos had a different approach.

This time, after I creeped up to the Lugos order window and said hello to the always friendly Vanessa, I informed her that I would be departing from my usual Build Your Own rice bowl, and asked for the popular recommendation.

Typically I would be getting a Mexican rice bowl with steak, add some chorizo sausage, topped with cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.

Instead of my usual, what was handed out the window to me was a Lugos Burrito, which prices out for $10.99 before tax. The Lugos Burrito is a steak (or chicken) burrito with avocado, cheese, fries, rices, beans stuffed into a tortilla and wrapped with bacon. This burrito was a beast and shamelessly that wasnt all I ordered, because I am also a sucker for Lugos $2.50 street tacos and made sure to get one chorizo variety, with a side of tomatillo salsa.

No meal is complete without a nice cold beverage, and while Lugos doesnt have margaritas, it did have an icy cold glass bottle of Jarritos, of which I chose the lime variety of the soda.

Lugos was the long-time dream of Andres Lugo. Only a few months before the start of the coronavirus, Andres had begun work to establish the restaurant molded in his vision. While the thought of opening a restaurant amid a pandemic that had ultimately forced the closure of many businesses across the region and state, Andres said he had no doubts.

I believed in the concept that I have, Andres said. I believed it would do good in the community.

The Lugos concept is fast Mexican food offering a variety of options. The menu features street tacos, classic tacos, specialty items like the Hungry Mexican Burrito, Lugos Burrito and more, and a variety of build your own options  burritos, rice bowls, tacos, salad, and nachos. The restaurant also has a kids menu and a dessert menu that features flan, churros, fried ice cream and fluffy sopaipilla.

As other restaurants were scrambling to shift their business to carryout, Andres and his team had things under control with their face-paced, homemade Mexican food. The longterm vision of the restaurant includes indoor dining complete with a salsa bar, but Andres said each time he thought it was time to reopen the indoor dining, the pandemic would sideline the plans. Instead, he continued focus at the drive-thru window.

I believe the way the pandemic has been, its safer for everyone, Andres said. Why try to juggle things when I can focus on drive-thru?

I like a little spice with my Mexican food, so I make sure to order a side of tomatillo salsa whenever I go to Lugos. The stuff is like a spicy liquid gold and I havent found anything that it doesnt pare well with it.

Before diving into an unknown world with the Lugos burrito, I started with the street taco. Although I ordered only one street taco on this visit, I have found three street tacos to be the perfect number for a light and fresh lunch. The street tacos feature a double stack of soft corn tortillas topped with the meat of your choosing, some fresh chopped cilantro and onions and served with a wedge of lime. Squeezing out the lime across the taco and youll find the acidity of the lime brings all the flavors together. For me the street taco was exactly what I expected, and a great way to get the ball rolling.

The burrito was loaded with recognizable Mexican flavors and the steak provided a nice texture balance from the smoothness of the rice. However, the real highlight of the burrito was  beyond the sheer size of it  the bacon wrapping, which took it to another level. This might be the defining example that everything is better with bacon. As I suspected, a little drizzle of the tomatillo sauce before each bite provided the extra kick and tang that balanced out all of the savory goodness the burrito offered.

Using the Jarritos to wash everything down, I managed to put back the entire street taco and half of the Lugos burrito before I was left with a difficult decision. Do I finish my food and spend the rest of the day in a food coma, or do I save the other half for a snack later on. Since it was lunch and all on the company dime, I figured the responsible thing was the latter.

Name: Lugos Taco Street

Location: 801 N Van Dyke Rd, Bad Axe, MI 48413

Phone: 989-269-8000

Meal: Lugos Burrito  a bacon wrapped burrito with steak, avocado, cheese, fries, rice and beans; Jarritos Lime Soda; Chorizo Street Taco  a double corn tortilla with chorizo topped with cilantro and onions.

Total cost excluding gratuity: $16.14
By Alasdair Pal and Neha Arora

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) -People across India scrambled for life-saving oxygen supplies on Friday and patients lay dying outside hospitals as the capital recorded the equivalent of one death from COVID-19 every five minutes.

For the second day running, the country's overnight infection total was higher than ever recorded anywhere in the world since the pandemic began last year, at 332,730.

India's second wave has hit with such ferocity that hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds and anti-viral drugs. Many patients have been turned away because there was no space for them, doctors in Delhi said.

Ambulance sirens sounded throughout the day in the deserted streets of the capital, one of India's worst hit cities, where a lockdown is in place to try and stem the transmission of the virus.

Mass cremations have been taking place as the crematoriums have run out of space.

At Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in the north east of the city, critical patients gasping for air arrived in ambulances and autorickshaws. Some waited for hours on trolleys outside and one, Shayam Narayan died before being admitted, a death unlikely to be counted in the city's rising toll.

"The system is broken," his younger brother Raj said.

Tushar Maurya, whose mother was being treated inside, urged anyone not in a serious condition to keep away.

"The staff are doing their best but there is not enough oxygen," she said.

ALL ALONE

The India Today television channel showed angry relatives outside a hospital in Ahmedabad, the largest city in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat.

"People are dying in front of hospitals while they wait for a bed to become available," one man said.

Another young man, who was not identified, said "Is this why we voted for this government? When we need it the most, we find ourselves all alone. Where will the poor go?"

Health experts say India became complacent in the winter, when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control, and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings.

Story continues

Modi himself has faced rare criticism for allowing political rallies and a Hindu religious festival, in which millions take a ritual bath in the Ganges river, to go ahead. He addressed many of the rallies with packed crowds and few people wearing masks.

"Indians let down their collective guard," Zarir Udwadia, a pulmonologist on Maharashtra's task force, wrote in the Times of India newspaper.

"We heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris."

Delhi's government declared in February it had beaten back the coronavirus. On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went on live television to plead for medical oxygen supplies in a virtual meeting with Modi, warning that many people would die.

"All of the country's oxygen plants should immediately be taken over by the government through the army," he said.

Police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some wielding assault rifles, escorted trucks carrying oxygen to waiting hospitals in Delhi, while city governments traded accusations over hoarding.

Modi said the government was making a "continuous effort" to increase oxygen supplies, including steps to divert industrial oxygen.

In Washington, U.S. health officials and a White House spokeswoman on Friday said they were weighing how to help India and had been in contact with officials there, but gave no details on any possible U.S. action.

In Mumbai, a fire broke out in a suburban hospital treating COVID-19 patients early on Friday, killing 13 people. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra where Mumbai is located when oxygen supply ran out due to a leaking tank.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was concerned about the growing case load in India, which on Thursday passed the previous global high of 297,430 recorded in January in the United States, where case numbers have fallen.

"The situation in India is a devastating reminder of what the virus can do," he told a virtual briefing in Geneva.

WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said reducing transmission would be a "very difficult task" but the government was working on limiting mixing between people, which he said was essential.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it seemed as if there was no social safety net for Indians.

"Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones," he said. "This is hard to watch."

(Additional reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Sachin Ravikumar, Devjyot Ghoshal, Aditya Kalra, Anuron Kumar Mitra, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Stephanie Nebehay; writing by Sanjeev Miglani and Richard Pullin; editing by Robert Birsel, Clarence Fernandez and Philippa Fletcher)
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Over the past year, overdue debts of Russian gas consumers increased by 4.1 billion rubles, reaching 178.4 billion rubles. The bulk of the debt accounts for the North Caucasus Federal District .



"Most of the overdue debts still account for the North Caucasus Federal District regions - 99.2 billion rubles. Despite the difficult situation in 2020, the level of payments by consumers in the North Caucasus Federal District as a whole increased by 1.6% and amounted to 73, 4%," deputy chairman of the board of Gazprom Vitaly Markelov said in an interview with the corporate Gazprom magazine.



He noted that many regions reduced the amount of their gas debts last year - by a total of 8 billion rubles. The debts were repaid most actively in the Volgograd, Moscow, Astrakhan, Ulyanovsk regions, as well as in Tatarstan.
The political-diplomatic dialogue, the intensification of the economic relationship, the stimulation of connectivity and the need to identify solutions for the rights of persons belonging to the Romanian minority in Ukraine were topics addressed on Friday in the meeting between Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting.

According to a Foreign Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES on Friday, the Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting at the level of foreign ministers was hosted in Bucharest by Minister Bogdan Aurescu, in which the heads of diplomacy from Ukraine and Georgia were invited to participate for the first time.

The Romanian and Ukrainian foreign ministers also discussed the worrying security situation in the Black Sea and other issues of regional interest and the proposal of the Ukrainian side to raise the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership.As to the protection of persons belonging to minorities, the Romanian minister reiterated the need to resume, as soon as possible, the activity of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on the Protection of Persons Belonging to National Minorities, an aspect confirmed by the Ukrainian counterpart, who said the Ukrainian aide would finalize the formalities related to the appointment of the Ukrainian co-president in the near future.Minister Bogdan Aurescu reiterated the importance of the sustained commitment of the central Ukrainian authorities for the full assurance of the rights of Romanian ethnics in Ukraine, including through a sustained dialogue with the Ukrainian regional and local authorities. He thanked his counterpart for the agreement of the Ukrainian side for theScholarship Program of the Romanian Government for Romanian ethnic pupils from classes I - IV in the Ukrainian state education system.Aurescu reiterated the non-existence of a so-called "Moldovan language", and Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed the identity between the Romanian language and the so-called "Moldovan language", an aspect that will be reflected in the way the language regime of EU member states is implemented, including the Romanian language, provided by the relevant Ukrainian legislation.Bogdan Aurescu took note of the assurance of his counterpart that the Ministry of Education of Ukraine has already sent instructions to local authorities to apply these provisions of Ukrainian law, including in the Odessa region.The Ukrainian minister also accepted Minister Aurescu's proposal, advanced last year, to start negotiations on a comprehensive agreement on the rights of persons belonging to the Romanian minority in Ukraine and the Ukrainian minority in Romania.The latest developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic were also addressed during the bilateral discussions. In this context, the head of the Romanian diplomacy announced the operationalization in the next phase of a humanitarian aid for Ukraine, consisting of medical equipment worth over one million euros, in response to a request addressed by the Ukrainian side through NATO.The two ministers expressed the common interest for the further development of bilateral economic projects, especially those of connectivity between Romania and Ukraine. Telling in this sense is the project for the construction of the new bridge over the Tisza, between Sighetu Marmatiei and Bila Tserksva, as well as the dialogue on the opening of new border crossing points.The Romanian and Ukrainian ministers exchanged views on issues of regional interest, in particular the worrying security situation in the Black Sea region. At the same time, the head of the Romanian diplomacy underlined Romania's support for the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine.The Ukrainian Foreign Minister thanked the Romanian side for Romania's constant support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as its efforts for European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
NWS Weather Alert NOTE: This information is provided by the National Weather Service. Forecast may differ from local information provided by our own 69News Meteorologists

...AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FOR SUNDAY JUNE 6... The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a code orange air quality alert Sunday for The Lehigh Valley/Berks County area. A code orange air quality alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sensitive groups include children...people suffering from asthma... heart disease or other lung diseases...and the elderly. The effects of air pollution can be minimized by avoiding strenuous activity or exercise outdoors. For more information on ground-level ozone and fine particles...visit http://www.depweb.state.pa.us
Six Extinction Rebellion protesters have been cleared of causing 25,000 worth of criminal damage to Shell's London headquarters despite the judge directing jurors they had no defence in law.

Two of the group's co-founders Simon Bramwell, 49, and Ian Bray, 53, were acquitted on Friday alongside Jane Augsburger, 55, Senan Clifford, 60, David Lambert, 62, and James 'Sid' Saunders, 41, after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The six, who represented themselves, were also cleared of individual counts of having an article with intent to destroy or damage property, while a seventh protester, Katerina Hasapopoulous, 43, earlier pleaded guilty to criminal damage.

Prosecutor Diana Wilson told jurors each of the defendants deliberately sprayed graffiti or smashed windows at the Shell building in Belvedere Road, central London, on April 15 2019.

The protest, which saw activists pour fake oil, glue themselves to windows and doors, break glass, climb onto a roof and spray graffiti, was part of wider Extinction Rebellion demonstrations across the capital.

Six Extinction Rebellion protesters have been cleared of causing criminal damage to Shell's London headquarters despite the judge directing jurors they had no defence in law. Pictured (left to right): Ian Bray, James 'Sid' Saunders, Simon Bramwell, Jane Augsburger, David Lambert and Senan Clifford

The six, who represented themselves, were also cleared of individual counts of having an article with intent to destroy or damage property

Ms Wilson said that while some protesters stood outside the building holding banners or speaking through megaphones, 'these defendants went further', adding: 'The seven involved caused significant damage.'

All those who stood trial explained they had targeted the Shell building because the oil giant was directly contributing to climate change, thereby causing serious injury and death, and argued it was a 'necessary' and 'proportionate' response to the harm being caused.

Clifford quoted Sir David Attenborough and former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his evidence.

He said: 'I believe if I don't do whatever I can to protect our Earth, to protect life on this Earth, to stop the death and injury that is and will be happening, I'm committing a crime, a really serious crime, and I'm willing to break a window, to paint a message on a wall, I'm willing to break the glass on that emergency button, even if some say that's a crime.

'Because this is a much bigger crime and I'm trying to stop that crime, I'm trying to protect life in the only way I feel I can.'

The protest, which saw activists pour fake oil, glue themselves to windows and doors, break glass, climb onto a roof and spray graffiti, was part of wider Extinction Rebellion demonstrations across the capital

Prosecutor Diana Wilson told jurors each of the defendants deliberately sprayed graffiti or smashed windows at the Shell building in Belvedere Road, central London, on April 15 2019

Judge Gregory Perrins directed jurors that even if they thought the protesters were 'morally justified' it did not provide them with a lawful excuse to commit criminal damage.

With the exception of Saunders, who claimed in his defence that he honestly believed Shell's employees and shareholders would have consented to his criminal damage, the judge said: 'They don't have any defence in law for the charges they face.'

But the jury of seven women and five men took seven hours and four minutes to acquit them of both charges.

Some of the defendants waved at jurors, several of whom were visibly emotional, as they left court.

The six, who represented themselves, were also cleared of individual counts of having an article with intent to destroy or damage property

All those who stood trial explained they had targeted the Shell building because the oil giant was directly contributing to climate change, thereby causing serious injury and death, and argued it was a 'necessary' and 'proportionate' response to the harm being caused

Before reaching their verdicts, the jury had asked to see a copy of the oath they took when they were sworn in.

Thanking jurors for their 'care and attention', the judge said: 'This has been an unusual case.'

Augsburger, Bramwell, Clifford, Lambert and Saunders, who are all from Stroud, Gloucestershire and Bray, from Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, were jubilant as they left court.

Hasapopoulous, from Stroud, will be sentenced later.
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday (April 23) accused the Centre of diverting the oxygen supply meant for Bengal to the other states, which will create a shortage of oxygen in the state and jeopardise treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Bengal CM also accused the Centre of being negligent and responsible for the rise in COVID cases in the country. Calling the current COVID situation in the country 'a failure of the central government', Mamata said the Centre not only ignored the WHO warning, but was lackadaisical in taking steps against the rise of the disease in the country.

"In 2020, the WHO had told the Central government to increase the storage of oxygen but it had ignored the suggestion. Now when the entire country is reeling under the crisis of oxygen shortage, it has decided to divert the oxygen supply scheduled for the state to Uttar Pradesh. SAIL, which used to supply oxygen to us, has been asked to send the oxygen to Uttar Pradesh. This will increase the crisis of oxygen in our state," Mamata said at a press conference on Friday.

"Presently, there is a crisis of oxygen and medicines. We have stopped supplying oxygen for industrial purposes and decided to use it for medical purposes only. We have arranged for a stock of 5,000 cylinders and there is an additional stock of 15,000 cylinders. This will create a storage of 20,000 cylinders which will meet our requirements for the next few days," CM Mamata added.

Later, the state government said in a note, "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, government of India, had on April 21 allotted 200 MT of oxygen from different plants located in West Bengal to outside the state. As per the current patient load and the rising trend of the infection, it is expected that the consumption level in West Bengal will radically rise to roughly 450 MT per day in the next couple of weeks.

"Hence, the present allocation of liquid oxygen to outside West Bengal will jeopardise the medical treatment of Covid patients in the state. The government of West Bengal has accordingly requested the government of India on April 22 to consider the need of the state and not divert the medical oxygen available in West bengal to elsewhere."

"The central government had put in all their efforts to conquer Bengal. Small and big BJP leaders have been in this state for months and we don't know whether they have COVID. They are risking the lives of the people of this state," she stated.

Mamata also claimed that she was not invited to the meeting held by the Prime Minister on Friday with the CMs of the high burden states to discuss the COVID situation. "They had invited the Chief Ministers of 10 states where Covid cases are high. But I was not invited. Had I been invited, I would have participated in the meeting," she said.

Taking a dig at the Election Commission for taking decisions in favour of the BJP in poll-bound Bengal, Banerjee said, "I cannot do any big rallies and meetings because of the EC directive which came after 10 pm on Thursday. "The Prime Minister was supposed to do a rally in Kolkata and after he cancelled it, the EC issued the directive. We have been continuously telling the poll panel to integrate the last three phases of elections, but it will not do it. It is working on BJP's behalf."

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`DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP)  Police in Davenport say a 12-year-old boy was killed and another boy injured after they were shot from a passing vehicle as they rode their bikes on a city street.

The Quad-City Times reports that the shooting happened Thursday afternoon, killing 12-year-old Devell Johnson. Police say Devell and three others were riding bikes on Marquette Street when a black sport utility vehicle pulled up and someone inside fired several shots at the group. Officers at the scene chased down and arrested an 18-year-old who had also been riding his bike with the group.

Police say he was arrested after he was found with a gun, but that he was not involved in the shooting of the boys.
Zimbabwes former First Lady, Grace Mugabe, was a ghost student who obtained a PhD at the University of Zimbabwe without the knowledge of the academic board, says a senior staffer in the Department of Sociology.

According to the state-controlled Herald newspaper, Dr. Watch Ruparanganda, who is a witness in the trial of suspended University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Levy Nyagura, told a Harare court that she was not aware of a student named Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe that was enrolled for PhD studies.

Dr. Ruparanganda, who was chairperson of the Department of Sociology when Mrs. Mugabe got her PhD, expressed discontent over the manner she was awarded the degree as the student was unknown to staffers.

He is quoted as saying some of the duties of my board was to ensure that the enrolment of the students is in accordance with the regulations. I dont even know Grace Mugabe and even if she was here she wouldnt have known me, she just appeared from nowhere, and it was through grapevine that I heard that she was graduating with a PHD degree.

As the board, we were supposed to have known her qualifications to avoid enrolling standard six students. Mugabe was supposed to have seen me as the chairman like what other candidates like Thokozani Khupe did.

Dr. Ruparangada claimed that Professor Nyagura chose his unqualified friend to supervise Mrs. Mugabe. He described her as a ghost student.

Mrs. Mugabes lawyers were unreachable for comment as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phones.
NEW YORK (AP)  At least 23.2 million Americans watched on television this week as former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

The Nielsen company's estimate came from viewership figures on 11 different networks that carried Tuesday's verdict live. The actual audience was likely higher, however, since Nielsen's count did not include ESPN, which also carried the verdict.
Graphic body camera video has been released showing the moment a white sheriff's deputy in the San Francisco Bay Area fatally shot and killed a homeless black man holding a knife about 40 seconds after trying to stop him on suspicion of throwing rocks at cars.

The footage capturing Deputy Andrew Hall gunning down Tyrell Wilson, 33, in the middle of a busy intersection within 2 seconds of ordering him to drop the knife was released Wednesday, the same day prosecutors charged Hall with manslaughter and assault in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Filipino man more than two years ago.

The charges came a day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of killing George Floyd, a black man whose death last May helped spark a national reckoning over racial injustice and police brutality.

Contra Costa Deputy Andrew Hall's hand is seen beckoning to Tyrell Wilson, seen on the left crossing an intersection in Danville, on March 11. Graphic body camera footage released Wednesday, April 21, 2021, shows Hall call out to Wilson, 33, accusing him of jaywalking, and then shoot him in the middle of the intersection within seconds of asking him to drop his knife

Wilson, a homeless man who was suspected of throwing rocks at cars, initially refused to approach the deputy

This image from Hall's body camera video shows Wilson, left, holding a knife in his right hand, in front of the deputy

Wilson yells at the officer: 'Don't f***ing touch me. Touch me and see what's up'

The new video in California shows Hall calling out to Wilson and walking toward him on March 11 as Wilson walked away.

'Come here,' Hall commands Wilson, who replies, 'No.'

'We're not playing this game, dude. ... you're jaywalking, you're throwing rocks,' Hall tells Wilson, who eventually turns to face the deputy, holding a knife, and says, 'Don't f***ing touch me. Touch me and see what's up.'

On the same day the body camera was released, Hall was charged with manslaughter and assault in the 2018 killing of Laudemar Arboleda (pictured), an unarmed Filipino man

As they stand in the intersection, Hall asks him three times to drop the knife as Wilson motions toward his face, saying, 'Kill me.'

Hall shoots once, and Wilson collapses as drivers watch and record cellphone video.

The deputy radios in 'shots fired' and calls for police backup and medical assistance, as Wilson lies on the ground in a pool of blood.

'Why did you do that?!' Wilson is heard shouting at Hall.

The deputy and other officers who arrive on the scene begin administering first aid to Hall while urging him: 'stay with us.'

The entire confrontation from start to finish lasted about a minute. Wilson died less than a week later at a local hospital.

In late March, dozens of people, including Wilson's family, held a vigil in his honor and marched to the Danville Police Department to demand justice for him.

In the video released on Wednesday showing Wilson's shooting, Hall is seen firing a shot within 2 seconds of ordering the man to drop a knife

Wilson is seen lying on the ground in the middle of a busy intersection after being mortally wounded at the hands of Deputy Hall. The entire interaction between the cop and Wilson lasted 40 seconds

Activists said he was struggling with mental illness and relying on his father, Marvin Wilson, for financial support while living on the streets.

Marvin Wilson accused Hall of using deadly force instead of attempting to de-escalate the situation, reported KRON4.

An attorney for Wilson's family released another video Thursday taken by someone stopped at the intersection.

'It doesn't seem like he was doing anything,' someone says. After Hall shoots Wilson, which can be clearly seen in the video, another person says, 'Oh, my God. ... This dude just got shot and killed, bro.'

Wilson is seen lying in a pool of his own blood while an officer puts on gloves to administer medical aid to him following the shooting

Attorney John Burris said Hall was unnecessarily aggressive toward Wilson, who was not causing any problems and was backing away from the deputy before he was shot without warning.

Wilson was described as a homeless man suffering from mental health problems. He died in the hospital a week after being shot by Hall

'This is a homeless man, hes walking away, minding his own business. He's basically saying go away, leave me alone,' Burris said. 'You felt compelled to kill him.'

Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said the videos show Wilson was threatening Hall and was possibly throwing rocks at drivers.

'He did threaten Officer Hall,' Livingston said. 'And he did start advancing toward Officer Hall in the middle of a major intersection. Officers are forced to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and the public, and thats what happened here.'

Hall worked for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, which was contracted by the city of Danville to provide policing services.

Prosecutors have faced intensifying outcry after Wilson's death, with critics saying they took too long to make a decision in the 2018 killing that Hall carried out. The deputy shot 33-year-old Laudemar Arboleda nine times during a slow-moving car chase.

A screenshot from a cellphone video shot by a passing motorist shows Hall shooting Wilson

Burris, who also is representing Arboleda's family, said that if prosecutors had acted more quickly in the Arboleda case, Wilson might still be alive. Burris said both men were mentally ill.

The Contra Costa County district attorney's office said it charged Hall with felony voluntary manslaughter and felony assault with a semi-automatic firearm in Arboleda's death.

'Officer Hall used unreasonable and unnecessary force when he responded to the in-progress traffic pursuit involving Laudemer Arboleda, endangering not only Mr. Arboleda's life but the lives of his fellow officers and citizens in the immediate area,' District Attorney Diana Becton said in a news release.

This image from body-worn camera video provided by the Contra Costa Sheriff shows Hall with his gun pointed into a car driven by Laudemar Arboleda on November 3, 2018, in Danville

Hall opened fire on Arboleda's sedan after a pursuit and kept shooting, striking him nine times

Hall shot and killed Laudemer Arboleda, 33 (pictured in a photo), in November 2018 in Danville

Hall's attorney, Harry Stern, said prosecutors previously deemed the deputy's use of force in the 2018 case justified, 'given the fact that he was defending himself from a lethal threat. The timing of their sudden reversal in deciding to file charges seems suspect and overtly political.'

Deputies slowly pursued Arboleda through the city of Danville after someone reported a suspicious person in November 2018. Sheriff's department video shows Hall stopping his patrol car, getting out and running toward the sedan driven by Arboleda. Hall opened fire and kept shooting as Arboleda's car passed by, striking him nine times.

Hall testified at an inquest that he was afraid Arboleda would run him over.

The district attorney's office says Wilson's shooting is being investigated.
I did my best, I don't know how it came across," outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde said in his farewell address as he retired on Friday.

Justice Bobde was administered oath as 47the CJI in November 2019 and had a tenure of over 17 months.

Senior-most judge Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India.

Justice Bobde dealt with several key matters during his tenure including the historic Ayodhya verdict, Right to Privacy, petitions challenging Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Tata-Mistry case, protection of Great Indian Bustard, Mahabaleshwar temple issue, appointment of ad-hoc judges in High Courts and ban on firecrackers.

A staunch supporter of use of Artificial Intelligence in delivery of justice, Justice Bobde introduced Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency for assisting judges with legal research.

Justice Bobde also headed the bench which agreed to examine the constitutional validity of CAA and on January 22, 2020 made it clear that the operation of the Act will not be stayed and gave the government four weeks to respond to the pleas challenging the Act.



To the young members of the bar who are disheartened by the evident events of the pandemic, I want to say, 'Dont lose hope. Carry on. Things will change,' said Bobde.

A couple of months later, in March, the CJI led bench had indicated that over 150 petitions challenging CAA would be referred to a Constitution bench but due to the disruption in physical hearing because of the coronavirus pandemic, the matter is yet to be listed for hearing.

Justice Bobde as head of judiciary also stayed the implementation of controversial new farm laws till further orders and decided to set up a 4-member committee to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers' unions protesting at Delhi borders.

With his retirement, Justice Bobde would go down in annals of history for being unsuccessful in making a single appointment in his year long tenure.

As the country came to a standstill amid the COVID-19 induced lockdown last year, the apex court under CJI Bobde not only swiftly evolved a system and switched to video conferencing and e-filing instead of physical hearings but also showed the way to other courts across India to ensure that citizens continue to have uninterrupted access to justice.

He headed a bench which ordered all states to consider releasing some prisoners on parole to reduce overcrowding in prisons during the COVID-19 outbreak and directed them to constitute a high powered committee.

Justice Bobde also faced challenges as CJI when he dealt with allegations against CJI-designate N V Ramana. The apex court dismissed a complaint of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy against Justice Ramana after giving the matter "due consideration".

CJI Bobde headed the in-house committee comprising of Justice Ramana and Indira Banerjee which looked into the allegation of sexual harassment against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi.

A five-judge Constitution bench, of which he was a part, rendered a unanimous verdict to bring the curtains down on the vexatious Ayodhya land dispute which was pending in courts since 1950.

A nine-judge bench of the apex court headed by the then CJI J S Khehar and which included Justice Bobde had held unanimously in August 2017 that the Right to Privacy was a constitutionally protected fundamental right in India.

Born on April 24, 1956 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Justice Bobde completed Bachelor of Arts and LLB degrees from Nagpur University. He was enrolled as an advocate of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978.

Justice Bobde practised law at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court with appearances at Bombay before the Principal Seat and before the for over 21 years. He was designated as senior advocate in 1998.

Justice Bobde was elevated to the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000, as Additional Judge and sworn in as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 16, 2012.

He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on April 12, 2013.

(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.)
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 72F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
US authorities said evidence from the Bumble dating app was used to track a suspect in the January 6 Capitol uprising

A Bumble dating app boast about invading the US Capitol left a man facing criminal charges on Friday after his prospective match turned him in to police.

The case against Robert Chapman, who lives in the city of Yonkers in New York State, came together with the help of Bumble text messages, Facebook posts, and video captured by police body cameras, according to an FBI criminal complaint.

Chapman, who also uses the last name Erick, is charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct at the Capitol, FBI agent Kenneth Kroll said in the complaint.

The prospective date alerted the police after receiving a text message on Bumble from a prospective match who said "I did storm the Capitol and made it all the way to Statuary Hall."

Kroll identified Chapman as being among those shown in video taken by Capitol police body cameras when rioters stormed the building in a deadly attack on January 6.

Evidence in the case included Facebook photos of the accused man in Statuary Hall, in keeping with the Bumble boast.

Former US president Donald Trump has been accused of inciting the deadly January 6 insurrection.

Explore further Controversial social network Parler announces relaunch

 2021 AFP
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Under fire for his handling of the world's worst COVID-19 surge, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened vaccinations for all adults from next month, but supplies are already running short. Public forecasts by its only two vaccine producers show their total monthly output of 70-80 million doses will increase only in two months or more, though the number of people eligible for vaccines will double to an estimated 800 million from May 1.

Imports from Russia have also been delayed. India could start receiving the Sputnik V vaccine only by end-May, its local distributor Dr. Reddy's Laboratories told Reuters, at least a month later than New Delhi had expected. That could lead to chaos at inoculation centres - and possibly help the virus spread further - as people horrified by COVID-19 patients' struggle for hospital beds and medical oxygen rush to seek immunity, government officials warn privately.

India has the world's biggest vaccine-making capacity, but has decided to delay big exports for now to focus on its own needs. Still, supplies are already running short even for currently prioritised recipients over 45 years old.

"Eligibility doesn't guarantee availability," said a senior government official who declined to be identified. "There are fears that the entire infrastructure will collapse but at this point all channels are being opened to ramp up supplies from other countries ... India needs a lot of help to deal with this crisis."

India is currently administering about 3 million doses a day, above the daily production of about 2.5 million and using existing inventories to fill the gap. Many states have reported they are out of stock. Another government official said on the vaccination outlook: "(There will be) nothing dramatic by May, but more cases and deaths."

India recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 infections on Thursday, taking its total to nearly 16 million, around 185,000 of whom have died. The health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on vaccines.

MORE IMPORTS

India has also urged Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson to provide it with vaccines. Pfizer said it was talking to the government, while J&J has sought approval to do a small local trial but has not made any plans to sell it. Moderna has not commented.

Of the three, only J&J has a local production partner.

At the current rate of immunisation, using the AstraZeneca shot and homegrown Covaxin, it will take India more than two years to cover 70% of its 1.35 billon people, said Ramanan Laxminarayan, founder of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in Washington and New Delhi.

"India has to produce at least 12 million doses for its own consumption every day," he said. It has administered more than 131 million doses so far, the highest in the world after the United States and China. That, however, is lower than many richer countries per capita.

While India was initially fighting public hesitancy over vaccines, which partly led to it exporting millions of doses, the situation is completely the opposite now. "Hundreds of people come to take vaccines, but every day they distribute only 100 coupons due to limited supply," said 45-year-old Santosh Pardeshi, who runs a laundry shop in the western district of Satara.

"I didn't get a coupon the first day so the next day, I reached the centre at 6 a.m., stood in a queue for five hours and managed to get my first dose." A senior Satara health official said the district had the capacity to administer 50,000 doses a day, but supplies were only half that.

"All vaccination centres are now crowded and in some places people get tired standing in queue and start arguing with our staff," said the official, who declined to be identified for speaking without permission from his superiors. "The crowd will rise further from May 1 ... unless they increase supplies, it would be difficult to manage the crowds. We may have to take the help of police."

Also read: COVID-19: Tips from psychologists to cope in these uncertain times

Also read: COVID-19: Pfizer to supply coronavirus vaccine at 'not-for-profit' rate to Centre
Imperial Valley News Center

Former Owner of Orange County Wastewater Treatment Company Indicted on Federal Environmental Criminal Charges

Santa Ana, California - The former owner of a wastewater treatment facility in Orange has been indicted by a grand jury that accused him and his company  Klean Waters, Inc.  in a scheme that discharged untreated industrial wastes into an Orange County sewer system, among other violations of federal environmental laws.

Tim Miller, 64, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, along with Klean Waters, were named in a two-count indictment filed last week that charges both defendants with participating in a conspiracy and discharging without a permit into a publicly owned treatment works operated by the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD).

Miller and Klean Waters will be summonsed to appear for arraignments in United States District Court on May 3.

In the scheme dating back to the establishment of Klean Waters in 2012 and continuing for several years, Miller and his company allegedly discharged wastewater that was not pretreated according to federal standards, failed to perform self-monitoring and prepare accurate reports, made false statements about their discharges, tampered with monitoring devices put in place by the OCSD, discharged untreated wastewater without a permit, and prevented inspectors from reviewing company documents or collecting samples from the companys facility, according to the conspiracy charge in the indictment.

Klean Waters allegedly discharged untreated wastewater that contained pollutants  including firefighting foam and various metals  or that simply never had been tested after being brought to the facility for treatment.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted of the two charges in the indictment, Miller would face a statutory maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison. Klean Waters could be sentenced to pay fines of up to $300,000.

The FBI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Criminal Investigation Division are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Rosalind Wang of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
OTTAWA, ON, April, 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Today, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development tabled his spring report and presented the results of the audit on Health Canada's Natural Health Products Program. The audit focussed on natural health products available for sale in Canada to ensure that they are safe, effective and accurately represented to consumers.

Canada has one of the best regulatory systems in the world for natural health products, with some of the most stringent requirements. Health Canada recognizes the importance of ensuring that natural health products available for sale in Canada are safe and effective.

Overall, the audit identified both strengths and areas for improvement within the Program. It found that Health Canada licensed natural health products appropriately, based on evidence of safety and efficacy. The audit also found that when an issue was brought to Health Canada's attention, immediate action was taken. Additionally, the audit established that Health Canada's approach to increase the supply of hand sanitizers  a natural health product  available to Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic was appropriate. Canada was experiencing an unprecedented demand for these products, which was on average six-fold higher than the previous year.

The audit also identified areas for improvement. We welcome the Commissioner's recommendations to increase the oversight of natural health products. Our department is already working to address all of the recommendations and is taking steps to accelerate its efforts to strengthen the natural health products program, including increased oversight of quality, advertising and labelling. This includes strengthening the oversight of online advertising to ensure that Canadians have accurate and reliable information to inform their choices, launching an inspection pilot program intended to inform the development of a permanent inspection program, bringing forward a regulatory proposal to improve labelling so product labels are clear, consistent and legible for consumers, and helping ensure that the department has the tools to protect the health and safety of Canadians when a serious health risk arises.

Health Canada's priority is the health and safety of Canadians. For many Canadians, natural health products are an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Health Canada is committed to the continuous improvement of its natural health products program to help ensure that products sold in Canada are safe and effective.

SOURCE Health Canada

For further information: Media Relations, Health Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]
[April 23, 2021] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) Investors

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased Credit Suisse Group AG ("Credit Suisse" or the "Company") (NYSE: CS) American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between October 29, 2020 and March 31, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Credit Suisse investors have until June 15, 2021 to file a lead plaintiff motion. Investors suffering losses on their Credit Suisse investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com. On March 1, 2021, Credit Suisse froze $10 billion in funds that were invested in financial products from Greensill Capital ("Greensill") and held by its supply-chain investment funds. On March 8, 2021, Greensill filed for insolvency protection, and more than 1,000 investors in the Greensill funds marketed were unable to exit their positions. On March 10, 2021, media reports revealed that Greensill investors had retained counsel and intended to sue Credit Suisse for their losses because Credit Suisse continued to market the biggest of the funds as a fully insured, low-risk product despite a decision by insurers during the summer of 2020 not to renew coverage. On this news, the Company's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") fell $1.85, or 12.5%, to close at $12.85 per ADR on March 12, 2021, thereby injuring investors. On Friday, March 26, 2021, several banks began liquidating billions of dollars' worth of shaes that Archegos Capital Management ("Archegos") had swap positions on at fire sale prices after Archegos had failed to meet a margin call. By the time Credit Suisse tried to liquidate its own holdings of stocks underlying Archegos' swap contracts over the following weekend, prices had collapsed and Credit Suisse amassed billions of dollars in losses.



On March 29, 2021, Credit Suisse conceded that "the loss resulting from this exit . . . could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results." The Financial Times (News - Alert) then pegged Credit Suisse's estimated losses at between $3 billion and $5 billion, more than a year's worth of the Company's net profit. On this news, the market price of Credit Suisse ADRs fell another nearly 20%, from a close of $13.21 per ADR on March 25, 2021 to close at $10.60 per ADR on March 31, 2021.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Credit Suisse's co-mingling of its lending, asset management, and private wealth management functions and imprudently aggressive pursuit of fees had materially diminished the Company's ability to properly assess and manage its own risk exposure to high-risk clients and potential liabilities from client losses; (2) that Credit Suisse had ignored numerous red flags in connection with the Greensill funds, such as suspicious shipment activities during an internal compliance check, and overrode the concerns of the Company's in-house credit-structuring team in packing and selling billions of dollars' worth of Greensill-linked securities to investors; (3) that Credit Suisse had conspired to allow Archegos to covertly take on billions of dollars in excessively concentrated and risky positions by utilizing highly leveraged total return swaps, placing the risk of loss associated with these positions on Credit Suisse and its investors; (4) that Credit Suisse was understating its exposure to risk and thus overstating its Tier 1 capital ratios in its public statements; and (5) that Credit Suisse's internal controls were inadequate to ensure that the Company's potential liability to customers and losses arising from its exposure to customer losses were properly accounted for, managed and disclosed to investors. If you purchased Credit Suisse ADRs, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005054/en/

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Bollywood actor Sonu Sood was the first guest on the newly-launched television talk show Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show. The actor said host Jay Kumar is an old friend, and was happy to be part of a show that inspires people with spiritually stimulating Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, April 23 : Actor Sonu Sood has arranged for a 25-year-old critically ill Covid patient to be airlifted in an air-ambulance from Nagpur to Hyderabad for treatment.

The patient Bharti is the daughter of a retired railway officer, and she has reportedly lost almost 85 to 90 per cent of her lungs owing to Covid-19. Sonu initially helped in shifting her to a private hospital in Nagpur. Doctors then suggested she needed a lung transplant.

The actor arranged for the patient to be airlifted to Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, for a treatment called ECMO, in which blood is artificially pumped into the body to take pressure away from the lungs.

"Doctors said the chances are 20 per cent, and asked me if I still wanted to go ahead with it. I said 'of course'. She is a 25-year-old young girl and will fight the battle hard and come out of it stronger. That's why we took this chance and decided to get an air ambulance. The treatment is going well in and we hope for the best," said Sonu.

Meanwhile, the actor took to Instagram on Friday afternoon to inform that he has tested negative for Covid-19. The actor had informed about testing positive for the virus on Saturday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
(JTA)  Comedian Billy Crystal and actress Tiffany Haddish are so close that Crystal read a Torah portion at Haddishs 2019 bat mitzvah ceremony in Los Angeles.

Now the two Jewish celebrities are taking their friendship to the big screen in a buddy comedy called Here Today. The first trailer for the movie, out May 7, was released Thursday, and it includes a shot of Crystal and Haddish taking part in a massive hora, the traditional celebratory Jewish dance.

The trailer offers a snapshot of a heartfelt plot: Haddishs character reluctantly goes to lunch with Crystals character, a past-his-prime version of himself, after her husband purchases the date for $22 in a charity auction. There, she has an allergic reaction to her food, requiring a trip to the emergency room that bonds the pair tightly. Over time, Haddishs character learns that Crystals character is losing his memory because of dementia, and he invites her to help him complete his lifes work before its too late.

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The on-screen relationship follows a longstanding offscreen one for the duo, in which their shared Jewish identity is a bonding force. Crystal, who attended Hebrew school as a child in Long Beach, New York, has spoken frequently about his deep love for Jewish music. Haddish worked as a bat mitzvah performer but did not learn about her own Jewish heritage until she was 27, when she met her father, an Eritrean Jew. She studied Hebrew in advance of her bat mitzvah, celebrated in December 2019, and explored her Jewish identity in a comedy special, Black Mitzvah, released the same day.
Buc-ees is reportedly eyeing another store along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

WLOX is reporting that Mississippi State Sen. Philip Moran says the company is looking at a location on Interstate 10 at the Menge Avenue exit in Harrison County, west of Gulfport.

It would be the first location in Mississippi, and the closest location to New Orleans.

Moran said it could take a year or more for the project to be complete.

I just look forward to the day of being able to go and shop there because sitting on I-10 is such a tremendous corridor, Moran said. Its incredible how many people stop in that station. Its not just a gas station. Its a mega event. Its going to be a good thing for the coast, the whole coast.

Buc-ees, however, is mum.

Were looking at Mississippi, Jeff Nadalo, general counsel for Buc-ees Ltd., told the Biloxi Sun Herald. We havent closed on any property or anything of that nature.

Based in Texas, Buc-ees currently has a location in Leeds, which opened earlier this year, and Baldwin County, and plans one in Athens.

Occupying more than 53,250 square feet with 120 fueling spots, Buc-ees is known for its unique offerings including Texas barbecue, homemade fudge, kolaches, Beaver nuggets, jerky and fresh pastries. The company was founded in Texas in 1982, where it now operates 38 locations, including the worlds largest convenience store.
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PHOENIX  Two death-row prisoners have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to hold off on scheduling litigation over warrants that would trigger the states first executions in almost seven years.

In court filings Tuesday, lawyers for Clarence Dixon and Frank Atwood said the pandemic has made it hard for them to prepare defenses for their clients due to a ban on visits inside state prisons over the last year.

Dixons attorneys asked that the legal briefings on death warrants be postponed until at least September. Atwoods lawyers, who didnt specify a postponement date, asked the court to reject the litigation schedule proposed by Attorney General Mark Brnovichs office, arguing the plan made by prosecutors would bar the presentation of evidence of Mr. Atwoods innocence.

In the absence of visitation with his legal team or necessary experts, Mr. Dixon cannot prepare for, or meaningfully access, the clemency proceedings the state affords him, wrote Cary Sandman, one of Dixons attorneys.

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Earlier this month, Brnovichs office told the states highest court that it intended on soon seeking execution warrants for Dixon and Atwood.

Victims, their families, and our communities have waited far too long to receive justice, said Ryan Anderson, a spokesman for the attorney generals office. Attorney General Brnovich remains undeterred in upholding the law and ensuring the last word still belongs to the innocent victims who can no longer speak for themselves.

Arizona put executions on hold after the 2014 death of Joseph Wood, who was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours. His attorney said the execution was botched.

States including Arizona have struggled to buy execution drugs in recent years after U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products in lethal injections. Arizona corrections officials revealed a month ago that they had finally obtained a lethal injection drug and were ready to resume executions.

Arizona has 115 inmates on death row.

Dixon was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1978 killing of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona State University student.

Atwood was convicted in Pima County and sentenced to death for killing 8-year-old Vicki Lynn Hoskinson in 1984. Authorities say Atwood kidnapped the girl, whose body was found in the desert northwest of Tucson.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, a newly elected prosecutor who has promised not to pursue the death penalty, wrote a letter to Brnovich two weeks ago asking for a temporary hold on death warrants from Pima County while her office reviews the cases.

Brnovich rejected Conovers request in a letter last week, raising Conovers opposition to the death penalty and saying he takes seriously victims rights and the finality of jury verdicts.
US President Joe Biden speaks during climate change virtual summit from the East Room of the White House campus on 22 April in Washington, DC. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

European stock markets staged a mild recovery on Friday but still ended the week in the red, after news of planned tax reforms in the US and concerns about rising COVID-19 case loads in India sent a chill wind blowing through international equity markets.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) closed flat in London, having been down over half a percent earlier in the session. The CAC 40 (^FCHI) finished down 0.2% in Paris and the DAX (^GDAXI) was 0.3% lower in Frankfurt.

"Its been a lacklustre end to what has been a negative week for European stocks, with concerns about surging COVID-19 infection rates in Asia weighing on sentiment over the past few days," said Micheal Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Europe had opened much lower after a sell-off on Wall Street overnight. Markets had all closed down almost 1% after reports that US President Joe Biden was planning tough new tax rises. The New York Times reported that the Biden administration was planning to increase the top rate of income tax and almost double the rate of capital gains taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

"While one could argue that the prospect of higher taxes is never welcome, and a doubling of a key tax rate even more so, the likelihood of anything of this nature passing through an evenly split Congress lies somewhere between slim and none," said Hewson. "However, in these highly uncertainty times it doesnt take much to spook a little bit of profit taking in what has already been a very choppy week."

US stocks staged a recovery on Friday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 1% by the time markets shut in Europe, the Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 1.4% higher, and the Dow Jones (^DJI) was up 0.5%.

Biden's planned tax increases hit cryptocurrency hard. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum (ETH-USD) were both down around 10%, while other cryptos suffered even steeper losses. Any increases to capital gains would mean higher taxes for crypto investors.

Coinbase (COIN) sunk 6% in New York on Thursday but was trading 2.3% higher at the end of the week.

Story continues

In the UK, sales data showed the economic recovery was on track. It came as the government reported a historic annual spending deficit. The UK state borrowed 303bn in the tax year just ended  the highest total since 1947.

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight. Japan's Nikkei (^N225) dropped 0.6%, but the Hong Kong Hang Seng (^HSI) rose 0.6%, China's Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) climbed 0.25%, and the KOSPI (^KS11) rose 0.3% in South Korea.

WATCH: Boris Johnson says he is 'thrilled by Biden's game changing announcement'
WASHINGTON (AP) - This week's climate change summit features lots of talk from different nations about their goals for reducing carbon emissions. But in the weird world of national climate pledges, numbers often arent quite what they seem.

Sometimes a 55% reduction is about equal to 50% to 52%. Sometimes its even less. Sometimes its way more.

As part of the Paris climate agreement process, each nation picks its own national goals for how much greenhouse gas should be cut by 2030 and - crucially - what baseline year it starts counting from for those cuts. That makes it difficult to compare countries emissions-cutting pledges to see who is promising more.

US AND EU GOALS

Both the United States and the European Union are offering similar-sounding pledges of cutting around half their emissions by 2030. But depending on what year you start from, each can sound significantly deeper than the other.

The European Union goal, newly approved by the unions parliament, is 55% below 1990 levels. The new U.S. goal announced Thursday by President Joe Biden is 50% to 52% below 2005 levels.

President Joe Biden and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry listen during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

If you convert the European goal to the American-preferred 2005 baseline, the two are the same. The European Union goal translates to 51% below 2005 levels, which is on par with the U.S. goal, said former Obama White House environmental aide Kate Larsen, a director at the private research Rhodium Group.

But if you compare them using Europe's preferred 1990 as the baseline, the 50% minimum U.S. cut is only 41%, far shy of the 55% EU goal, according to Larsens calculations.

If you compare the numbers to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, the U.S. goal looks more ambitious than Europe's. The minimum the United States would be cutting is about 40% from todays level and the EU only 35%, said Niklas Hohne, a climate scientist who helps run the Climate Action Tracker, which monitors world emission pledges.

WHY DIFFERENT BASELINES?

The idea behind different baselines goes back to a logjam that bogged down climate talks in 2009.

Developed countries that already spewed lots of carbon pollution wanted poorer nations that were counting on fossil fuels for economic development to forgo the dirtier fuels, said John Podesta, who was then-President Barack Obamas climate czar. So a solution was struck for the 2015 Paris agreement that allowed nations to voluntarily choose their own goals tailored to each country.

Those nationally designed goals also included countries choosing their own baseline years. So countries tend to choose years in which they peaked or near peaked on carbon emissions.

For example, Europe, which took early action after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, chose to keep that treatys 1990 baseline because it factored in early cuts. This way, Europe gets credit for acting early.

DOES IT MATTER?

Many developed nations' goals pretty much even out, said Nigel Purvis, who was a U.S. State Department climate negotiator for the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.

"At 50%, theyre all doing a lot," Purvis said. "The baselines are becoming less important."

HIGHER GOALS

Some nations are shooting higher.

University of Maryland global sustainability professor Nate Hultman pointed to Denmark, which he said did the math to see how much emissions cutting was feasible for the future and found it to be 65% below 1990 levels. Denmark then purposely set a tougher goal, 70%, counting on unforeseen changes in technology that often happen.

Climate Action Trackers Hohne said that despite the White Houses claims, the U.S. target is not enough to keep warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, the tougher Paris agreement target.

The entire world must cut its emissions in half compared to 2019, Hohne said. But Biden's new U.S. target only translates to about 40% from 2019 levels.

"If you take that comparison, then it doesnt work, Hohne told The Associated Press on Thursday.

NOT JUST CARBON DIOXIDE

Like other nations, the U.S. goal includes methane and hydrofluorocarbon gases that trap more heat but dont last as long as carbon dioxide. Including those in the goals allows the United States to pick low-hanging fruit to better reach its goal, Larsen said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized how slashing methane pollution quickly can get the world nearly halfway to its 1.5 degree Celsius goal.

Reducing methane and HFCs gets results more quickly than cutting carbon dioxide, so cutting them "can buy us a lot of time," Larsen said.

HOW TO REACH US GOAL

Most of the U.S. emissions reductions - about 70% - will likely come from the power sector, Hultman said. Switching to greener electricity would more quickly reduce overall emissions because people keep their cars for almost a dozen years.
OTTAWA, ON, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Budget 2021 is the Government of Canada's plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery that is inclusive of all Canadians.

Today, on Earth Day, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, and the Honourable Jim Carr, Special Representative for the Prairies, joined young farmers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan to discuss regenerative agricultural practices and on-farm climate action investments from Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.

Farmers are major players in Canada's fight against climate change. The agricultural sector has the potential to scale up climate solutions, many of which are already underway across the country. Building on Canada's climate action programs for farmersincluding the $185 million Agricultural Climate Solutions program, and the $165 million Agricultural Clean Technology Programa new investment of $200 million over two years, starting in 2021-22, will help launch immediate, on-farm climate action under the Agricultural Climate Solutions program. This will target projects accelerating emission reductions by improving nitrogen management, increasing adoption of cover cropping, and normalizing rotational grazing.

These investments will help Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector meet its emissions targets and capture new opportunities in the green economy.

Budget 2021 is also about creating more jobs and prosperity for Canadians in the days  and decades  to come. It is an historic investment to address the specific wounds of the COVID-19 recession, put people first, create jobs, grow the middle class, set businesses on a track for long-term growth, and ensure that Canada's future  and the futures of Canadian farmers, their families and their communities  will be healthier, more equitable, greener, and more prosperous.

Quotes

"Budget 2021 presents a historic plan to get us through COVID-19 to better times, by putting people first, creating jobs and bridging businesses to a future positioned for long-term growth. We are giving farmers the support to implement the climate-smart agriculture practices that will ensure the young farmers of today can continue farming sustainably for decades to come."

- The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

"Investing in climate-smart agricultural practices continues to help Canada's farmers, like those in the Prairies we met today, to build on their success while protecting and preserving our natural resources. Budget 2021 will allow farmers to compete and innovate while farming their land today and into the future. Now more than ever, the spirit of resilience, ingenuity and innovation will help shape Canada's future."

- The Honourable Jim Carr, Special Representative for the Prairies

Quick Facts

Budget 2021 includes $101.4 billion over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of Canada's growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key measures include:

over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key measures include: Allocating $60 million over the next two years, from the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, to target the protection of existing wetlands and trees on farms;

over the next two years, from the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, to target the protection of existing wetlands and trees on farms;

Returning a portion of the proceeds from the price on pollution directly to farmers in backstop jurisdictions (currently Alberta , Saskatchewan , Manitoba , and Ontario ), beginning in 2021-22. It is estimated farmers would receive $100 million in the first year;

, , , and ), beginning in 2021-22. It is estimated farmers would receive in the first year;

Ensuring the recently expanded $165.5 million Agricultural Clean Technology program will prioritize $50 million for the purchase of more efficient grain dryers for farmers across Canada ;

Agricultural Clean Technology program will prioritize for the purchase of more efficient grain dryers for farmers across ;

Allocating $10 million over the next two years, from the Agricultural Clean Technology program, toward powering farms with clean energy and moving off diesel;

over the next two years, from the Agricultural Clean Technology program, toward powering farms with clean energy and moving off diesel;

Investing $17.6 billion in a green recovery to help Canada to reach its target to conserve 25 per cent of Canada's lands and oceans by 2025, exceed its Paris climate targets and reduce emissions by 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and move forward on a path to reach net-zero emission by 2050.

Related Links

Associated Links

Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada

Like us on Facebook: CanadianAgriculture

SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

For further information: Contacts: Jean-Sebastien Comeau, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, [email protected], 343-549-2326; Media Relations, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 613-773-7972, 1-866-345-7972, [email protected]

Related Links

www.agr.gc.ca


This article is a wonky edition of Paul Krugmans free newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it.

Todays column was focused on the remarkable announcement by the United Mine Workers that the union is ready to support the Biden infrastructure plan  if that plan helps miners and mining communities transition out of coal. This looks like a vindication of the Green New Deal approach to climate policy, even if Biden isnt calling it that. That is, it suggests that an approach that emphasizes spending and offers tangible benefits to workers may be more politically salable than an Econ 101 approach that emphasizes carbon pricing, even if its less efficient.

But theres a bit more to this than political packaging. There are valid economic and social reasons to devise policy in a way that, while inducing change, nonetheless alleviates the impact of that change on vulnerable workers.
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media with Minister Nanaia Mahuta in Hastings, New Zealand on July 08, 2020 (Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)

New Zealands Stance on China, Five Eyes an Ethical Mess: British Politician

UK politicians have responded with shock and sharp criticism for New Zealands (NZ) prime minister and foreign minister over remarks about the countrys stance on China and the Five Eyes alliance.

During the debate in the UK House of Commons about whether to declare the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) treatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide, conservative MP Bob Seely described NZ as being in an ethical mess for being too soft on Beijing.

A quarter of our British supply chain is dominated by China, Seely said. The problem is that if we go further down that route, we end up like New Zealand, in a hell of an ethical mess, with a prime minister who virtue-signals while crudely sucking up to China and backing out of the Five Eyes agreement, which is an appallingly short-sighted thing to be doing.

On that point, we need to stand shoulder to shoulder with Australia. That is a tired cliche, but the Australians are calling out China and doing so at trade risk, he said.

Bob Seely MP speaks in UK Parliament in Westminster, London on Jan. 20, 2021. (Parliamentlive.tv/Screenshot)

The UK politicians comments come after NZ Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta earlier in the week delivered her second formal address in the role at the New Zealand China Council, where she outlined what the nations contemporary relationship with China looked like.

Mahuta warned local exporters of the need to diversify their trade markets and raised concerns over Beijings soft power push into the South Pacific.

However, the minister also indicated that the Ardern government preferred the Five Eyes alliance to remain primarily about intelligence-sharing.

We are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes, she told reporters. We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests.

Matters such as human rights should be approached in a consistent, country agnostic manner, she added. Her comments were backed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The comments were shocking to Nigel Farage, a former member of the European Parliament, who quipped that NZ was leaving the Five Eyes for a new alliance with Beijing.

We have just lost one of our closest and oldest allies in the world because they are now completely in the hands of the CCP, he said on his YouTube channel on April 23.

NZ has sold their souls to Communist China, and why? Because lots of their exports go there.

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)

The Five Eyes alliancewhich comprises Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United Stateswas formed in the 1940s as an intelligence-sharing network.

However, in recent years the network has been leveraged to discuss and partner on other pressing issues, including the economy, defence, Big Tech regulation, and foreign relations.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who is currently in New Zealand, stressed the importance of the group in an interview prior to her first official engagement with Mahuta on Thursday.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne (R) and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pose for a photograph in Auckland, New Zealand on April 23, 2021. (Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

In terms of the Five Eyes, what I have found in the last year in particular and certainly in the last little while, is a very significant level of engagement across counterparts, Payne told ABC radio.

Ciaran Martin, the former CEO of the National Cybersecurity Centre in the UK stressed that the Five Eyes was an intelligence-sharing partnership and not a foreign policy alliance.

It has never had any economic or trade functions. It has no inter-governmental political mechanisms, he wrote on Twitter.

All of this could be changed in the future, but it hasnt yet.

NZ has been accused of being the soft underbelly of the Five Eyes network, with critics panning the Ardern government for avoiding offending Beijing to maintain its trade relationship.

Comments from leading ministers have also raised eyebrows.

For example, in January, NZ Trade Minister Damien OConnor caused a diplomatic stir with close ally and neighbour Australia after suggesting the countrys government should show more respect to Beijing if it wished to emulate the mature relationship between NZ and China.

If they (Australia) were to follow us and show respect, and I guess show a little more diplomacy from time to time, and be cautious with wording then, they too, hopefully, would be in a similar situation (to New Zealand), he said.

Michael Shoebridge, defence director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said NZ was attempting quiet diplomacy and warned this approach was not fit for purpose, particularly as Beijing continues to assert its hegemony overseas.

NZ will find that their policy framework collides with their values and interests, even if its purpose is to protect NZs China trade, he told The Epoch Times.

Quietly assuring Five Eyes partners everything is fine, while also assuring Beijing of the same thing, is not sustainable unless China radically changes direction under Chinese leader Xi.
NEW DELHI: The registration for getting the COVID-19 vaccine shot for all those above 18 years of age will begin from Wednesday (April 28, 2021) on the CoWin portal.

According to reports, the CoWin portal  app where Indian citizens can register for vaccination against coronavirus  will be made ready for 18 plus beneficiaries by April 24.

Registrations for 18 plus citizens to book appointments for vaccinations will begin from April 28 while the vaccination process will be commenced from May 1, it emerged on Friday.

The Government of India had recently announced the beginning of phase 3 of the mass vaccination drive in the country amidst the steep spike in COVID-19 cases. All citizens aged above 18 will now be eligible for vaccination starting May 1.

MyGovIndia has tweeted that phase 3 will begin on May 1, and registrations for vaccination will begin soon through the CoWIN platform and the Aarogya Setu app.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had tweeted, "From May 1, all people above 18 years of age will be vaccinated under the third phase of vaccination. If you are 18+ then be ready. Registration for Covid vaccination will start soon. Visit - my:http://Cowin.gov.in."

Earlier, only citizens above the age of 45 were allowed to take the vaccine. Users need to register for the vaccine online before heading to the hospitals and getting their first shot.

There is no app for the CoWIN site, and registrations can only be done through the website. The government is likely to open up registrations before May 1, in order to get the ball rolling beforehand.

Co-WIN is a platform for the citizens of India to Register for COVID-19 vaccination and schedule their vaccination slots at the nearest vaccination centers.

India recorded 3,32,730 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year. India has crossed the mark of 3 lakh COVID-19 cases for two consecutive days now. This has taken the cumulative count of the COVID infection in the country to 1,62,63,695.

According to the official data issued by the Union Health Ministry, the country has recorded 2,263 new deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. As many as 1,86,920 people have succumbed to the viral infection in India so far.

There are 24,28,616 active COVID-19 cases in the country now. As many as 1,36,48,159 recoveries have been reported so far, out of which 1,93,279 were reported in the last 24 hours.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,44,45,653 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to April 22.

Live TV
We now have two positive cases that have been in our community from April 17, Mr McGowan said. Loading We cant take any chances with the virus, we just cant. From midnight tonight, people will need to stay in the Perth and Peel regions and wont be able to leave unless you have an exemption. There will be four reasons to leave your house, these are work because you cant work from home or remotely; shopping for essentials like groceries, medical or healthcare needs ... and exercise with a maximum of four people, limited to one hour per day and masks must be worn unless its vigorous exercise.

Masks are mandatory from 6pm tonight. Restaurants, cafes and pubs will provide takeaway services only. Weddings and funerals are permitted with a 100 patron limit. The Fremantle Dockers game against North Melbourne on Saturday will go ahead, but without crowds. About 40 ANZAC Day services in Perth-Peel have been cancelled for a second year in a row and Mr McGowan said it looked like there would be a repeat of last year where West Australians stood in their driveways at dawn instead. The Western Force and Perth Wildcats games on Friday will still go ahead with crowds allowed but the Premier has urged people not to go.

Facilities on Rottnest Island are shutting and holiday makers have been told they would be under the same restrictions as other Perth-Peel residents if they stayed. Travel between New Zealand and Western Australia was on Friday night also put on hold. Where are the possible transmission sites? The infected man attended several venues across Perth before flying to Melbourne on Wednesday on a plane with 257 people on board. Mr McGowan said anyone who was on flight QF778 from Perth to Melbourne on April 21 at 1.05pm, and had since returned to WA would need to be tested immediately and self-quarantine for 14 days.

The Melbourne man did not have the SafeWA App, which people in the state use to check into different locations as a contact tracing aid, but his friend who has tested positive to the virus did. Upon landing in Victoria, the Mercure Hotel case, who was asymptomatic, was contacted immediately by WA health authorities who instructed him to isolate and get tested, as he was deemed a close contact of the other positive cases, all on the sixth floor of the hotel. Following the breach, 17 other guests who had completed their quarantine were identified as having been on the same floor. Chief Health Officer recommended Mercure Hotel close a week ago

Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson recommended the Mercure Hotel no longer operate as a quarantine facility on April 14, around the same time the cross-corridor infections would have been occurring. Loading Documents released by the state government late on Thursday revealed ventilation in the 1970s hotel had been identified on April 8 as the riskiest among WAs 10 quarantine hotels. An engineer who inspected the facility found the corridors had no independent airflow, with oxygen supply leaking from the adjoining rooms. Given the degree of positive pressure, leakage likely between rooms and corridor, a table summary read.

The Mercure will now become a facility to quarantine seasonal workers from low-risk countries. South West dash The South West region has not been included in the lockdown unlike the previous period of restrictions that were handed down in January when a hotel security guard tested positive to the virus. Deputy Chief Health Officer Paul Armstrong said the government had learned from its previous experience when the South West was let out of lockdown early. We think the Perth region and the Peel region are contiguous ... so thats where weve landed, he said.

Any of these decisions are a balance between what we perceive to be the risk and the pragmatism and the sort of difficulty in doing things and the practicalities of it. People who live in the Perth and Peel regions who made plans to travel for the long weekend to the South West will still be able to do so before midnight on Friday. WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson asked people not to rush, however, and to drive carefully. We want you to keep safe on the roads. We accept and know many people with plans for this long weekend, he said. If youre driving and youve made plans, dont leave this to the last minute just drive safely and normally.
Imperial Valley News Center

GirlsDoPorn Employee Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

San Diego, California - Valorie Moser, former bookkeeper for the adult website GirlsDoPorn, pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to conspiring with the operators of the website to fraudulently coerce young women to appear in sex videos.

Moser, who worked for GirlsDoPorn (GDP) from 2015 to 2018, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Linda Lopez to Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion. Moser, the third of six defendants to plead guilty, admitted that she served as GDPs bookkeeper, made travel arrangements for models, provided transportation for approximately 100 models once they arrived in San Diego, and performed miscellaneous other tasks. Moser reported her accounting activities to co-defendant Matthew Wolfe, and her interactions with the models to co-defendant Michael Pratt and others.

Moser admitted she knew that GDP produced pornographic videos for publication and dissemination on the internet, and that the young women being recruited to star in these pornographic videos had been provided false assurances that the videos would not be published on the internet. For example, Moser overheard Pratt, using the alias Mark, telling prospective models that the video footage would only be distributed on DVDs in Australia, and that the models would remain anonymous, statements that Moser knew to be false.

Further, Pratt instructed Moser not to tell the women the truth about their videos distribution as she drove the young women to and from the video shoots. Moser was to tell the women that she was just an Uber driver. Later, Pratt told Moser to tell the women that she was bound by a non-disclosure agreement and could not discuss it.

After the videos were posted on-line and widely available, many women contacted Moser to ask that their videos be taken down. Pratt, Wolfe and co-defendant Ruben Garcia all told Moser to block any calls from these women.

Moser also attempted to recruit potential models. Pratt gave her a list of names and numbers and showed her how to use a spoof program to conceal her actual phone number when making calls. Moser was aware that Pratt had a grading system for young women, and that she would get paid more if Pratt found the recruited women attractive. Pratt instructed Moser to tell all prospective models the same lie - that the videos would be released solely on DVD in Australia. Moser knew this to be false. Moser never actually recruited anyone and therefore never made these promises.

This defendant was a willing participant in a scheme that has traumatized many victims, said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. We will continue to seek justice for these women, and to prevent others from becoming ensnared by sex traffickers. Grossman commended the excellent work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Green and Alexandra F. Foster, as well as FBI agents and members of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, for their continuing effort to investigate and prosecute this important case.

Valorie Mosers guilty plea closes yet another chapter in this deplorable crime ring, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner. The defendant used lies and deceit to help facilitate this sex trafficking conspiracy.

Moser is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino on July 2, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. The next hearing in the ongoing case is May 7, 2021 at 2:00 p.m., also before Judge Sammartino.

Any additional victims of the alleged crime are encouraged to call the San Diego FBI at 858-320-1800.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Michael James Pratt. Individuals with information about Pratt should contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

For further information, please see:

- Wanted Poster: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/additional/michael-james-pratt



- Press Release: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sandiego/news/press-releases/fbi-seeks-public-assistance-in-locating-sex-trafficking-suspect

DEFENDANT Case Number 19cr4488-JLS

Valorie Moser Age: 38 San Diego, CA*

*Pleaded guilty to a Superseding Information charging Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, in violation of 18 U.S.C.  371.

Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison, $250,000 fine, a special assessment of $100.

CO-DEFENDANTS

Michael James Pratt Age: 36 Fugitive

Matthew Isaac Wolfe Age 37 San Diego, CA

Ruben Andre Garcia Age: 31 San Diego, CA**

** Pleaded guilty to Counts 1 and 7

Theodore Gyi Age: 42 Rancho Aliso, CA**

** Pleaded guilty to Superseding Information charging Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, in violation of 18 U.S.C.  371

Amberlyn Dee Nored Age: 27 San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Count 1 (charging all defendants)

Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, 18 U.S.C.  1594(c)

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison, $250,000 fine, and a special assessment of $5,000 under 18 U.S.C.  3014.

Count 2 (Pratt)

Production of Child Pornography, 18 U.S.C.  2251(a) and (e)



Minimum penalty: Fifteen years in prison; Maximum penalty: 30 years in custody, $250,000 fine, and a special assessment of $5,000 under 18 U.S.C.  3014.

Count 3 (Pratt)

Sex Trafficking of a Minor by Force, Fraud and Coercion, 18 U.S.C.  1591(a)(1) and (2)

Minimum penalty: Fifteen years in prison; Maximum penalty: life in custody, $250,000 fine, and a special assessment of $5,000 under 18 U.S.C.  3014.

Counts 4 (Pratt, Wolfe, Garcia), 5 (Pratt, Garcia), 6 (Pratt, Wolfe, Garcia), 7 (Pratt, Garcia, Gyi), 8 (Pratt, Garcia, Gyi)

Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, 18 U.S.C.  1591(a) and (b)(1)

Minimum penalty: Fifteen years in prison; Maximum penalty: life in custody, $250,000 fine, and a special assessment of $5,000 under 18 U.S.C.  3014.

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation  San Diego Field Office

San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force

The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Burma China Says ASEAN Summit Should Fend off External Interference in Myanmar

Residents of Thaung Thaman in Amarapura Township marched in downtown Mandalay on April 3 to protest against the military regime. / CJ

Two days before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) emergency summit on Myanmar, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned that the meeting should be conducive to fending off external interference as that makes no contribution to solving the problems of a countrys internal affairs.

Chinas top diplomat made the comments during a telephone conversation with the Thai deputy prime minister and the second minister of foreign affairs of Brunei, the current chair of the 10-nation bloc.

The purpose of the ASEAN summit on Saturday in Jakarta is to look for solutions to the deteriorating situation in post-coup Myanmar, and to discuss the potential repercussions of the militarys takeover for the region and beyond. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN and coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will attend the meeting. China has been pushing ASEAN to take a stand on Myanmar.

It (external interference) will bring turbulence and even deteriorate the situation, further affecting and disrupting regional stability, Wang said in the phone call.

Foreign minister Wangs comments are thought to be a reference to the repeated calls of pro-democracy supporters in Myanmar for the international community to intervene in the country under the auspices of R2P  Responsibility to Protect  a global commitment adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2005. R2P allows the international community to take collective action if a state fails to protect its own population from atrocities such as war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Since the juntas Feb. 1 coup, the regime has killed at least 739 civilians, including 50 children, and arrested 3,370 people, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

China has failed to take a strong stand against the military takeover in Myanmar. Despite demands from pro-democracy groups in the country that the international community apply serious pressure on the junta, Beijing has repeatedly blocked UN Security Council attempts to take action against the coup leaders and prevent further bloodshed. Beijing has repeatedly insisted that the crisis in Myanmar is an internal affair.

Wang Yi said that China calls on the international community, with an objective and impartial attitude, to do more to relieve the tense situation in Myanmar, instead of the contrary.

He urged that the international community jointly support ASEAN in its role and said he hoped that Saturday summit would pave a way to deescalate the situation in Myanmar.

Wang said that meeting should be conducive to promoting political reconciliation in Myanmar, adding that whether the Myanmar issue can be properly resolved depends mainly on the country itself.

The way out of the current crisis is for all parties in Myanmar to seek new understanding through political dialogue within the constitutional and legal framework, and to continue pushing forward the hard-won democratic transition, said Wang.

China will maintain close communication with ASEAN and continue to work with all parties in Myanmar in its own way, he added.

In late March, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar spoke for the first time with members of the committee representing elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy government.

During the meeting, the lawmakers urged China to back the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which was founded after the coup as a rival administration to the military regime. However, the Chinese diplomats did not state clearly whether Beijing sought a mediation role in any dialogue between the CRPH and the junta.

You may also like these stories:

EU Sanctions 10 More Myanmar Regime Members But Some Still Missing

Ethnic Kachin Armed Group Launches Multiple Attacks on Myanmar Military

Prominent Protest Leader Escapes Arrest by Myanmar Junta
Ocean Citys mayor announced Tuesday the city will hire an independent contractor to oversee the day-to-day operations of its beach patrol, which has come under fire for accusations of sexual abuse.

Mayor Jay A. Gillian also said one of his aides, Michael Allegretto, will be tasked with retaining a seasoned labor attorney to ensure the citys policies and procedures are sufficient, correctly implemented and properly communicated.

The announcement comes as the Instagram account, ocbp_predators, continues to post anonymous stories of sexual assault and rape against members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol.

To date, the account has more than 8,000 followers and more than 50 posts of people sharing their experiences. The posts provide descriptions of alleged assaults and harassment that some postings claim were carried out by older, unnamed members of the beach patrol against others, including minors.

The Cape May County Prosecutors Office is investigating the allegations made in the posts, the office has announced. The independent contractor will oversee the beach patrol during the course of this investigation, Gillian said.

The creator of the account told NJ Advance Media she started it after witnessing the behavior of certain members toward young women on the staff as well as visitors to the famed seaside resort city. She did not want to be identified.

I decided to take action myself, she said.

She said the account has received more than 500 personal messages since the first post went live on April 14. But not every message becomes a post. She said she is selective in which messages get posted after she conducts her own level of vetting. She also takes steps to edit out any identifiers for specific people.

The mayor said in his statement that the city is handling this matter with utmost urgency.

Going forward, the city will take a number of steps to ensure that all our city team members work in a safe environment, Gillian said.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Nagaur: A family in a village in Rajasthan`s Nagaur district went all out to welcome the first girl child born in their house after 35 years and to mark the occasion, they hired a helicopter to bring the newborn daughter from the house of her maternal grandparents.

Hanuman Prajapat's wife Chuki Devi gave birth to their daughter Riya on March 3 and from there, she went to her parent`s house in Harsolav village with the baby and on Wednesday, Hanuman decided to bring home his daughter from her maternal grandparents' house by air.

For the helicopter ride, the family spent around Rs 5 lakh which they managed to arrange by selling their crops.

Madanlal Prajapat, the grandfather of Riya, said that there are still some people in the society who feel sad when a daughter is born in their house."But I believe that daughters are far better than sons," said Madanlal.

"I had already decided 10 years ago that when the daughter is born at my home, she will be given a grand welcome and she will be brought by a helicopter."

"My family has started this practice and I hope that now other people of the village and society will also take inspiration and celebrate the birth of their daughters," he added.

Also watch:
Puducherry: An Indian Coast Guard Ship on Thursday (April 22) mounted a rescue operation to retrieve a fishing boat that was drifting deeper into the ocean due to machinery breakdown.

Based on a distress message received via radio, Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Ameya, patrolling off Karaikal, rushed towards a drifting fishing vessel and towed it ashore near Nagapattinam.

The fishing boat was stranded approximately 15 nautical miles from the coast due to machinery breakdown and was drifting away owing to the weather conditions.

During this rescue mission, the officials of Indian Coast Guard Station Karaikal were in constant communication with the boat owner and fisheries authorities.

The coast guard states that such incidents highlight the disadvantages of fishing boats venturing out alone and advised the fishing community to venture out in groups, while carrying adequate life-saving and communication equipment.

Live TV
All long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have travelled to India within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore from April 24, as the city state was on "heightened alert" against COVID-19, according to a media report. The decision will also impact people who have prior approval to enter Singapore, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministerial task force handling the pandemic, said on Thursday.

In addition, people who have recently travelled to India and have not completed their 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) by 11.59pm on Thursday night will have to complete their additional seven-day SHN at a dedicated facility rather than their places of residence. This group will undergo three polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus: when they arrive, on the 14th day of their SHN and before the end of their SHN.

Many of the new arrivals from India work in the construction, marine and process sectors and live in the dormitories. We know that this major move will have an impact on our construction, marine and process sectors. And many local SMEs and contractors will be badly impacted," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

The Government will be looking at providing additional support measures to help these companies, the Channel News Asia reported quoting the Minister. There is no evidence that the recent cases at the Westlite Woodlands Dormitory are linked to a new strain from India, said Wong.

Explaining why Singapore has tightened its border measures, Wong said the situation in India has worsened since the start of the week. He added that the SHN period is not "100 per cent foolproof", noting that any leaks among newly arrived Indian workers could possibly introduce new strains into dormitories and result in new clusters.

India reported 314,835 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the world's biggest single-day surge. The country has recorded 16 million cases and 184,657 deaths so far. A new "double-mutant" variant has also emerged in India, and is thought to be fuelling the country's second wave.

Singapore's Ministry of Health also confirmed on Thursday that 17 recovered workers at Westlite Woodlands dormitory for foreign workers were found to have COVID-19, although there is no evidence that these cases were linked to India or to the new viral strain that has emerged there.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who with Wong co-chairs the multi-ministerial task force handling the pandemic, said, "Singapore is on heightened alert against the coronavirus, given rising case numbers and emerging virus variants around the world." The situation may escalate quickly, necessitating the tightening of measures in Singapore, he added at a virtual press conference.

Viral variants - including those first detected in South Africa and Brazil - have been found in 342 imported cases, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak. All the cases were isolated on arrival and no community spread has been detected.

He warned that this number may increase over time as more COVID-19 cases are detected and more testing done. Gan urged Singaporeans to continue to be socially responsible and adhere to safe management measures. This applies to those who have already been vaccinated as well, he said. "The recent spate of cases has reminded us that we cannot let our guard down."

"We are facing an invisible and very formidable enemy," The Straits Times quoted the Minister Wong as saying. He added that the spate of new strains detected in other countries is a worrying development. "Perhaps after this round of vaccination, we might have to continue with further rounds of vaccination," he said.

"Even up to beyond this year, because we will have to confront not just the virus today, but potentially new strains of the virus that may be more infectious and virulent," he said. Singapore has detected 342 imported cases with the B117, B1351, and P1, P2, and P3 variants, said Assoc Prof Mak.

The P1, P2 and P3 variants are also known as the B11281, B11282 and B11283 variants, respectively. The B1525 and B1617 strains of the virus have also been detected among imported cases into Singapore, he added. All these cases have already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, and we've not detected any further community spread for any of these other variants of interest.

In a separate statement on Thursday, the Health Ministry said Singapore has seen 46 imported cases of the B1617 variant, or the double mutation variant of the virus from India. There have also been five imported cases of the B1525 variant. Responding to questions about the new variants, Assoc Prof Mak said there is emerging evidence that some of the variants may have an increased risk of breakthrough.

But yet at the same time, for many other variants, this has not been seen. Adding that the data for the double mutation variant that originated in India is still emerging, Assoc Prof Mak said Singapore is monitoring the situation closely to see whether this would be a concern particularly for us with travellers coming into Singapore and the risk of imported cases.

Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Australia to reduce flights from India

Also read: Canada suspends flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days amid rising COVID-19 cases
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mesrop Arakelyan has announced his resignation today in a statement on social media.

Dear compatriots, today I am stepping down as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. I have assumed this responsibility in the post-war period absolutely for one purpose  to mitigate the social catastrophe that we faced as a result of the war unleashed by the Azerbaijani side against Artsakh, he said.

Mr. Arakelyan, however, praised the fact that Artsakh is currently in stage of development programs and house-building.

I want to thank my colleagues in Armenia and Artsakh for the cooperation. Peace to our united homeland, the minister said.

Mesrop Arakelyan has been serving as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs since November 20, 2020.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
'A putrid threat': China's persecution of Christians 'intensified' in 2020: report

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Religious persecution in China intensified in 2020, with thousands of Christians affected by church closures and other human rights abuses, according to a new report from ChinaAid.

ChinaAids research on persecution in China last year documented nine church demolitions carried out by Chinese Communist Party authorities, affecting more than 5,000 members and attendees.

Overall, CCP authorities persecuted 100% of house churches, the study found, with police summoning and questioning every churchs main leader.

Under the direction of Chinese President Xi Jinping, CCP officials also worked to more fully control religion, ordering Christians in both official, state-run churches as well as in house churches to fly the Chinese flag, and sing patriotic songs in services. Authorities also directed ministers and priests to Sinicize sermons, or alter them to conform to CCP ideology.

According to the report released this week, CCP authorities also invaded Christians' homes, raided family gatherings, and interfered with parenting decisions. In numerous instances, authorities sued Christians for homeschooling their children or sending them to church-run schools.

ChinaAids research for 2020 confirms that Chinas persecution of Christians and of those professing any belief again exceeded incidents reported for the previous year, the report says.

As suppressed facts have emerged from dark, secret places, the fallout from the CCPs persecution, like results from the unchecked Covid-19 pandemic, present a potent, putrid threat to challenge the outside world to pay attention.

The group said it publishes its annual report to not only increase awareness of religious persecution in China, but to promote religious freedom for all.

ChinaAids findings come on the heels of the 2021 annual report from The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that identified China as an egregious violator of human rights, specifically toward Christians and Uyghur Muslims.

The report notes that CCP authorities continued their unprecedented use of advanced surveillance technologies to monitor and track religious minorities last year.

Although the CCP has long repressed religious freedom, in recent years it has become increasingly hostile toward religion, the report says.

The Commission recommended that the U.S. redesignate China as a country of particular concern, or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

Previous reports reveal that schools in China have been teaching children that Christianity is an evil cult, while children are being taught to oppose religion, encouraged to question the beliefs of family members and report those closest to them to authorities.

USCIRF Commissioner Gary Bauer commented: Communist China doesnt only deny its citizens basic human rights, including the right to seek and worship God. It is also asserting itself as a new authoritarian model for developing nations around the world. It is actively engaged in undermining international human rights standards. It utilizes its growing military power to intimidate and threaten its neighbors.

Open Doors ranks China at No. 17 on its World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted.

Boyd-MacMillan, director of Strategic Research at Christian charity Open Doors, recently told Express UK that the CCP is becoming increasingly concerned about the Christian population's growth and is cracking down on religion as a result.

"We think the evidence as to why the Chinese Church is so targeted, is that the leaders are scared of the size of the Church and the growth of the Church, Boyd-MacMillan said.

"And if it grows at the rate that it has done since 1980, and that's about between 7 [percent] and 8 percent a year, then you're looking at a group of people that will be 300 million strong, nearly by 2030. And, you know, the Chinese leadership, they really do long term planning, I mean, their economic plan goes to 2049, so this bothers them. Because I think if the Church continues to grow like that, then they'll have to share power."
Labour union Solidarity has sent a list of more than 120 competent and willing engineers to Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation who can easily replace the 24 Cuban engineers who will cost millions.

This comes after Minister Sisulu welcomed the arrival of 24 Cuban engineers in South Africa earlier this week who have been brought to the country to address the ongoing water crisis.

The use of these engineers forms part of a 2014 bilateral agreement between South Africa and Cuba on co-operation in water resource management and water supply.

The highly qualified Cuban specialists will assist as advisors at provincial and local levels across the country, sharing their vast skills in the areas of mechanical, electrical and civil engineering, as well as project management, the Department stated.

The announcement was met with backlash from political parties like Herman Mashabas ActionSA, who claimed that locally trained and unemployed engineers were being ignored.

The Department of Water and Sanitation told News24 the budget for the project in the current financial year was around R64.65 million.

According to Solidarity, its list of local engineers offered more expertise at a lower cost than importing the Cuban engineers.

Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann said that the list contained some of the countrys most experienced and knowledgeable specialists in engineering, some of whom retained masters and doctoral degrees and others who have up to 42 years of experience.

We have reached out to the Minister with a list of some of the countrys most experienced and knowledgeable specialists in engineering, some of whom retain masters and doctoral degrees and others who have up to 42 years of experience, he said.

Furthermore, our list contains specialists in several fields of engineering and project management, but should the Minister require other expertise we can find those skills with the help of our Engineering Guild.

Hermann said that there was simply no excuse not to use South Africas own intellectual and practical resources.

Solidarity argued that it was unjustified to import foreign workers in the midst of an unemployment crisis, in which South Africas official unemployment rate was currently at almost 33%, when better options were available locally.

It is a shame that the government itself does not take the Presidents call earlier this year to support local employees and businesses seriously, Hermann stated.

If the Minister was truly unable to find local workers who wanted to do the work, then she did not search very hard. Thus, we will bring the engineers to her.

Solidarity added that the government had a very bad history regarding the squandering and misappropriation of tax money, and it made matters worse when the government deliberately spent taxes on foreign employees, with dubious expertise.

Taxpayers are already fed up with almost daily seeing and hearing how their taxes are being wasted. In addition, we cannot allow the looting of these funds to take on an international colour, said Hermann.

The Ministers decision is unacceptable and cannot ignored.

Our message is clear: Here are the leading experts in the country. They are raising their hands. They want to work. The onus now lies with government. Explain to us, them and the taxpayer why local is no longer good enough, Hermann stated.

Now read: eThekwini cannot do repairs because it ran out of welding gas
Following Tuesday's guilty verdict for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, Anti-Racist Midland (ARM) spokesperson Jonathan Haynes said the group continues to advocate for the "abolition" of the police system.

"Black and brown people continue to be killed by the police, -- even minutes before the verdict was rendered with the killing of MaKhia Bryant. This system cannot be reformed, only abolished," reads the conclusion of a statement that ARM issued to the Daily News on Wednesday.

"It's our belief that policing as we currently practice it, and as an institution, is not capable of existing in a way that is just and equitable," Haynes told the Daily News in an interview after issuing the statement. "The fact is that a lot of the (policing) reforms that have been passed would not have kept George Floyd and many other people from being murdered. The system itself is the issue.

"The system itself cannot be reformed," Haynes continued. "(Flaws) are so deeply ingrained into the DNA and character of what policing in America is. Regardless of the good cops that may be out there and we believe are out there, the fact is the system itself is rotten."

ARM is a group of young adults from the Midland community who came together early last summer after Floyd's murder and helped organize a Rally for Racial Justice in Midland in early June that drew more than 1,200 people. Around the same time, ARM circulated an online petition that was signed by more than 2,000 people and requested that Midland Public Schools thoroughly reform its practices and curriculum to root out racism.

"As far as what this means for the movement, we want to be clear that a guilty verdict does not itself constitute justice or accountability," ARM's statement reads in part. "We are still in need of restoration to bring about justice. While Chauvin was convicted, no one nor anything has been held to account. There were consequences, not amends made to change the system."

Haynes said in the interview that ARM is calling for "a collective reimagining of what public safety looks like, but also pushing for and encouraging communities to think about how they can care for themselves. Instead of directing most of our resources to addressing the symptom, that being crime, we should direct our resources -- mental, financial, social -- (to where they are most needed)."

Haynes said while it is hard to know what a new public safety system would look like, it's clear to him that major change is needed.

"There's a lack of food, housing, basic necessities, safety. It doesn't take knowing and hashing out what that new vision of public safety looks like, to know that the current system we have now is untenable," Haynes said. "I'm reminded of how, in the quest to abolish slavery, there were decades of debate about what that would look like. We find ourselves in a similar situation today.

"So we try to push our communities, our neighbors, to imagine a better world for all of us," he added.

Toward that end, Haynes said, ARM wants to have a dialogue with the Midland Police Department.

"We cannot get to this new vision of public safety without including the current police force in our conversation," he said. "We've tried to reach out to Police Chief Nicole Ford, but unfortunately there wasn't a reciprocal interest in having these types of discussions. It's a communal effort, including our local police force. We harbor no hatred for the Midland Police. All we seek is an equitable and just system for our community."

When given a chance to respond to that statement, Ford acknowledged that Haynes and ARM reached out to her, and said that ARM was invited to attend a meeting of the We Hear You Coalition, which includes several community leaders, including Ford, Midland Mayor Maureen Donker and Midland Councilwoman Diane Brown Wilhelm.

The We Hear You Coalition was formed after Floyd's murder and is promoting and pursuing diversity, equity and inclusion in the Midland community. Ford noted that the coalition is gathering data collected from a recent survey of the community to work toward its goals.

"They (ARM) have been invited to one of our (We Hear You Coalition) meetings so that they got to speak to our group, which I was present for," Ford said. "We will reach out to them again. They are one of several groups in the city of Midland that we want to make sure are represented."

Haynes also said that ARM is currently working with the Midland County Historical Society and the Midland Area Community Foundation to create an oral history project "to lift up and tell stories of the Black community in Midland.

ARM is also monitoring the progress of Midland Public Schools in terms of "building an equitable system," Haynes said, and is looking for ways to work with the Midland business community through the Midland Inclusion Council.
If you are traveling to the United States on a temporary agricultural work visa (H-2A visa), you may be more likely to be exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while traveling and during your time working in the United States.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus that has made a lot of people sick. Theres a chance you may feel well and not have any symptoms, but you can still spread COVID-19 to others. If you get sick with or test positive for COVID-19, you will need to stay away from other people (isolate) and take other precautions until you can no longer spread COVID-19. If you were around someone with COVID-19, you should stay away from other people (quarantine) for a period of time after you were last around that person. Ask your employer for information about specific requirements in your area.

Your employers should provide separate housing for workers who have tested positive for COVID-19. Ask your employer if separate housing is available. If you become sick while in the U.S., you can visit a community health center that has low-cost, confidential health services and information available in languages other than English, including agricultural workers. Use this online tool to find the nearest community health center, https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/external icon, or call 911 if its an emergency. You may also contact your consulateexternal icon (if you are from Mexico, contact Consulados de Mexicoexternal icon, Telefonos de emergencia de la Red Consular de Mexicoexternal icon) for guidance.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWIre -- Hunter Technology Corp. (TSX-V: HOC; OTCQB: HOILF; WKN: A2QEYH, FSE: RWPM, ISIN: CA4457371090) ("Hunter" or the "Company") announces the resignation of Andrew Hromyk as Director of the Company.



As CEO of Hunter Technology's predecessor business, Hunter Oil Corp., Mr. Hromyk drove the reorganization of the Company's Permian oil and gas assets from 2015 through to monetization in 2018, when Hunter disposed of its oil and gas assets for total consideration of approximately $43,000,000 consisting of $28,000,000 in cash and $15,000,000 in assumed liabilities, of which approximately $21,500,000 was paid to shareholders as a capital dividend.

During his tenure, Mr. Hromyk was instrumental in restoring the Company's capital structure, raising in excess of $5 million in working capital which was then deployed to reconstitute the Company's oil and gas assets, significantly increasing shareholder value. The successful decision to monetize the Company's oil and gas assets in 2018, just prior to the downturn in the sector, followed by the return of the bulk of the sale proceeds to the Company's shareholders by way of tax-free capital dividend, underlines Mr. Hromyk's determination to both create and to distribute shareholder value.

Mr. Hromyk is leaving the Company to focus his attention on his private capital management firm, First Finance Limited. A development stage investor, First Finance provides capital resources and strategic guidance to highly prospective investment opportunities with established management teams and a clear pathway to monetization.

Hunter is deeply indebted to Mr. Hromyk and wishes him well in all of his future endeavours.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Florian M Spiegl

Chief Executive Officer

(888) 977-0970

For further information, visit our website at www.huntertechnology.com.

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.

Wire Service Contact

InvestorWire

212.418.1217 Office

Editor@InvestorWire.com
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) (center) speaks during a news conference with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (left) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) following the passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act at the U.S. Capitol on April 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act addresses the rise of hate crimes and violence targeted at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through funding that coordinates efforts between local, state and federal law enforcement to respond to hate crimes. Varun Nikore, Indian American executive director of the AAPI Victory Alliance, said: In light of the surge in anti-Asian hate in this country, the COVID-19 Hate Crime Act gives the Asian American and Pacific Islander community a light at the end of the tunnel. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan arrived in Washington from Moscow on Thursday following a recommendation from the Russian side to travel to the United States for consultations.

"Its beautiful weather in Moscow this morning, absolutely gorgeous. I am happy to be back looking forward to see my family and to meet with my colleagues in the administration," he told reporters in the Dulles International Airport.

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, the ministry is hopeful that U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan will be able to work out a position that does not drive bilateral relations into a deadlock during his consultations in Washington, TASS recalls.

Sullivan left Moscow on Thursday and headed to Washington via London. On Tuesday, he said that he would travel back to the U.S. for consultations but would return to Moscow in the coming weeks before a potential summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.
Baron Oil has increased its shareholding in SundaGas from 33.33 per cent to 85 per cent, and thereby increased its indirect interest in the Chuditch discovery off the coast of Timor-Leste from 25 per cent to 63.75 per cent.

The news made the shares of the company, which appropriately enough has a ticker symbol of BOIL, this week's hottest items, with a gain of 70 per cent.

Everything is in place to allow SundaGas to undertake the production sharing contract technical work programme activities, especially the critical 3D seismic reprocessing, Baron Oil said.

Warpaint London shares jumped this week after reporting strong sales in the first quarter

Sector peer Pantheon Resources had a tougher week, losing around a third of its value after it started flow testing at the Talitha #A well on Alaska's North Slope after delays caused by blizzards.

'Weather conditions have since improved meaning operations have resumed and testing has now commenced on the Kupurak horizon, with the Talitha #A well currently flaring natural gas as it cleans up,' it said in a statement.

'Whilst this is an encouraging sign, the company cautions that it is too early to make a definitive assessment as to the ultimate commerciality of the Kupurak horizon. Results will be announced at the conclusion of testing operations,' it added.

Investors dialled into Pelatro after it secured contracts worth $500,000 for 2021, taking the total new business for the year to $6.5million in revenues.

The company, which develops and supplies customer engagement software, said it was 'confident' of meeting financial expectations for the current year.

The shares were up 43 per cent on the week.

Elsewhere in the technology sector, MobilityOne slumped 15 per cent after it backed out of the proposed acquisition of Tanjung Pinang Resources.

The e-commerce infrastructure payment solutions and platform provider said the acquisition was binned by mutual agreement after MobilityOne's recent purchase of OneTransfer Remittance, another Malaysian company.

One acquisition that is going ahead is the purchase of Insight, a data science and machine learning solutions company, by Catena Group.

The investment company already had a 9 per cent stake in Insight but is now going all-in, as they say in poker circles. With the acquisition will come a change of name to Insig AI.

Catena is issuing 45.3million shares valued at 59p each to the owners of Insight and up to 1.5million in cash.

Despite the company proposing to raise around 6.1million by placing shares at 67p a pop, the shares were up 38 per cent at 81.5p after trading in the shares resumed on AIM.

System1 Group, the self-styled advertising effectiveness agency, cheered the market with a year-end trading update.

With the resumption of sales growth and a strong net cash position, the board said it will look to reinstate the share buyback programme that was suspended in 2020 due to uncertainty over the potential impact of the pandemic on its business. A return to dividend payments is not currently envisaged, the company added.

Warpaint London shares jumped on Tuesday after it revealed strong trading seen in the second half of 2020 had continued into the first quarter of 2021.

Sales for the period were ahead of last year when coronavirus lockdowns hit the last few days of the reporting period.

The cosmetics company said it has also boosted online sales in the UK and US through Amazon and is now eyeing an expansion in the EU 'in the near future'.

The shares ended the week 16 per cent higher at 125.5p.
Barometers extended gains and hit the day's high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded near the 14,450 level. Barring FMCG and pharma stocks, buying was seen across the board.

At 11:31 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 121.27 points or 0.25% at 48,201.73. The Nifty 50 index gained 35.25 points or 0.24% at 14,441.30. Gains were capped amid concerns that climbing new COVID-19 cases in the country could derail the economic recovery.

The broader market outperformed the main indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rallied 0.97% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.25%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1787 shares rose and 846 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 909.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 849.98 crore in the Indian equity market on 22 April, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 144,408,954 with 3,069,570 deaths.

India reported 24,28,616 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 186,920 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index added 0.87% to 4,499.75, rising for third consecutive trading session. The index has rallied 3% in three days.

Vedanta (up 2.27%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.03%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.7%), Coal India (up 1.48%), Tata Steel (up 0.97%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.94%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.91%) were top gainers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Motors rose 0.27%.

The auto major said that the Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants of Jaguar Land Rover UK will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday, 26 April 2021. The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover UK is currently experiencing some COVID-19 supply chain disruption, including the global availability of semi-conductors, which is having an impact on its production schedules and ability to meet global demand for some of their vehicles. As a result, JLR have adjusted production schedules for certain vehicles which means that the Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday, 26 April 2021.

Angel Broking rose 1.98% to Rs 371.35 after the company said its board has appointed Narayan Gangadhar as the chief executive officer (CEO) effective 26 April 2021. Earlier this week, the company informed about the passing away of Vinay Agrawal, the whole-time director and CEO of the firm.

Cadila Healthcare fell 1.08%. The drug maker on Friday announced that it has received final approval from the USFDA to arket Propafenone Hydrochloride extended-release capsules. Propafenone is known as an anti-arrhythmic drug. It works by blocking the activity of certain electrical signals in the heart that can cause an irregular heartbeat. The drug will be manufactured at the group's formulation manufacturing facility at the SEZ, Ahmedabad.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Friday following an overnight drop on Wall Street.

US markets ended lower amid reports that the US government will propose a hike in capital gains tax rate on wealthy individuals.

US President Joe Biden is planning a capital gains tax hike to as high as 43.4% for wealthy Americans. The proposal would hike the capital gains rate to 39.6% for those earning $1 million or more, up from 20% currently, as per reports.

On the economic front, the number of Americans applying for unemployment aid fell last week to 547,000, a new low since the pandemic struck and a further encouraging sign that layoffs are slowing on the strength of an improving job market. The Labor Department said on Thursday that applications declined 39,000 from a revised 586,000 a week earlier.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OTTAWA - The federal government is suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month as cases of COVID-19 surge in both countries.

A passenger from Air India flight 187 from New Delhi arrives at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Wednesday April 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

OTTAWA - The federal government is suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month as cases of COVID-19 surge in both countries.

"Effective 11:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight, I am suspending all commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan for 30 days," Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Thursday.

"Cargo flights will be allowed to ensure the continued supply of vaccines, PPE and other essential goods. This is a temporary measure while we assess the evolving situation and determine appropriate measures going forward."

To discourage people from getting around the flight ban by booking flights through other countries, Canada will require passengers transiting through a third nation to go through customs in that country and remain there until they obtain another negative COVID-19 test. Only then can they board their flight to Canada. They will be required to quarantine in Canada as well.

"Those are the measures that are actually effective in not just eliminating direct flights and the risk that might represent from hot-spot countries but also by taking the steps that are necessary to ensure that we don't allow people using connecting flights," said Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.

The rules apply to Canadian citizens and foreign nationals.

All passengers arriving in Canada by land or air from any country have to show a negative COVID-19 test and quarantine for two weeks, with some exceptions for essential workers. Air passengers must quarantine for the first three days at an approved hotel awaiting a COVID-19 test result, and must test again 10 days after arriving.

About 300 people have been fined $3,000 each for refusing to quarantine in an approved hotel upon arrival.

Health Canada has said about one per cent of all hotel quarantine passengers test positive for COVID-19.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said half of the people who are testing positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Canada on an airplane came from India, even though Indian flights accounted for only one-fifth of air traffic.

She said passengers coming from Pakistan are also testing positive at higher rates than average.

British Columbia's provincial health officer said it's a difficult time for not just people in India but those living here who have family and friends in that part of the world.

"We hope that they will be able to get control of this wave in that country," Dr. Bonnie Henry said.

B.C. health officials are "very supportive" of the federal government temporarily stopping flights coming into Canada from India and Pakistan, she said.

"We've seen this when we had increased rates in the U.K., where we needed to take a break and ensure that we had an understanding of what was going on."

Canada is struggling with a third wave, so anything that can be done to stop further introductions is welcome, especially since officials have noticed "challenges" with the quarantine program for international travel, Henry said.

Health Canada data show 112 flights landing in Canada since April 7 have carried at least one passenger who later tested positive for COVID-19, including 32 from Delhi and two from Lahore, Pakistan.

There were also 10 such flights from France, 20 from multiple cities in the United States, and 10 from the United Arab Emirates.

India is seeing the biggest surge of COVID-19 to date, with more than 314,000 new cases reported Thursday, its highest one-day total ever.

Ruby Dhami, a travel agent in Surrey, B.C., said families of those who had travelled to India and planned to return in the coming days have been calling to ask how their loved ones could get home.

"We don't have any answers on that," she said, adding about 80 per cent of people who went to India live in Canada as permanent residents on a work or student permit.

"With a lot of COVID cases coming up a lot of their family or friends have passed away so most likely people have gone for that."

Travellers who feared a temporary ban on flights from India as COVID-19 cases surged there had booked up return flights for April and May, Dhami said.

"If someone has to come from India for an emergency, only business class is open. All economy classes, everything's been sold out."

Pakistan's government warned this week that major cities might be closed if COVID-19 cases there keep growing.

Canada joins several other governments in clamping down on travel from India. Pakistan has barred entry from India for two weeks, Hong Kong banned incoming flights from India for two weeks and New Zealand went as far as to stop entry to anyone who had been in India, including New Zealand nationals.

New Zealand did so April 11 after 17 people arriving from India tested positive for COVID-19.

On Friday, the United Kingdom is expected to add India to its "red list" of countries from which travellers are not welcome. British citizens are allowed to return home but must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.

Alghabra said there are no flights currently arriving from Brazil but Canada won't hesitate to ban further commercial flights if the data support it.

 With files from Camille Bains and Hina Alam in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.
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
Two Vietnamese men and one Cambodian national have been sentenced to a total of eight years and six months behind bars for arranging for others to illegally migrate from Vietnam to Cambodia.

The Peoples Court in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on Thursday tried Do Van Quen, 35, and Nguyen Van Khai, 56, both from Vietnams Mekong Delta, as well as Cambodian national Vann Nath, 38.

Quen and Nath each received three-year jail terms while Khai was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

The group was also told to return the money they had earned from the unlawful activities.

Quen, Khai, and Nath became acquainted with two Vietnamese men in Cambodia in early June 2020 and agreed to help them organize illegal entries and exits along the Vietnam - Cambodia border, according to the indictment.

On June 18, the three were tasked with transporting three people from Khanh An Commune, An Phu District, An Giang Province to Cambodia on a boat.

During the journey, the group was caught red-handed by police officers in An Phu District and was subsequently taken into custody.

At the police station, Quen, Khai, and Nath admitted to having successfully organized the illegal exit of 12 individuals from Vietnam to Cambodia on three occasions prior to their arrest.

Nath had received VND2.4 million (US$103), while Quen and Khai had been paid VND1.2 million ($52) and VND600,000 ($26), respectively.

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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The euro moved higher against its major trading partners in the European session on Friday, as Eurozone business activity accelerated in April to the highest since last July due to a record expansion in manufacturing output and a return to growth in the service sector after the imposition of restrictions.



Flash data from IHS Markit showed that the composite PMI rose to 53.7 in April from 53.2 in March. The expected score was 52.8.



The services PMI climbed to an 8-month high of 50.3 from 49.6 in March. Economists had expected a score of 49.1.



The factory Purchasing Managers' Index jumped to 63.3 in April from 62.5 in March. The expansion was the highest on record.



European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday dampened hopes for a withdrawal of stimulus despite an improving economic outlook.



Lagarde projected a strong rebound in the economy from mid-year, led by faster vaccination rates and the reopening of the economy.



The euro appreciated to an 8-day high of 1.1051 against the franc from Thursday's closing value of 1.1016. If the euro rises further, it may find resistance around the 1.12 region.



The euro climbed to 1.2061 against the greenback and 130.14 against the yen, after falling to 1.2013 and a fresh 2-week low of 129.59, respectively in early deals. The euro is seen finding resistance around 1.23 against the greenback and 132.00 against the yen.



The European currency edged up to 0.8699 against the pound, compared to yesterday's close of 0.8678. The euro is likely to find resistance around the 0.88 level.



Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that UK retail sales grew more than expected in March as the easing of the restrictions related to the coronavirus lifted consumer spending.



Retail sales volume grew 5.4 percent month-on-month, faster than the 2.2 percent increase in February. This was the biggest growth since June 2020 and also better than the economists' forecast of 1.5 percent.



The euro was up against the loonie, at 1.5057. Versus the kiwi, the euro bounced off to 1.6799. On the upside, 1.52 and 1.72 are possibly seen as its next resistance levels against the loonie and the kiwi, respectively.



The single currency rose back to 1.5592 against the aussie, heading to pierce its Asian session's 2-day high of 1.5605. Next key resistance for the currency is seen around the 1.61 level.



Looking ahead, U.S. new home sales for March are scheduled for release in the New York session.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has said that 25 of its "sickest" coronavirus patients have died in the last 24 hours, and the lives of another 60 such patients are at risk, amid a serious dearth of oxygen in the national capital. Max Hospital, on the other hand, had said that it will not admit any more COVID-19 patients until the hospital's oxygen supplies stabilised, but deleted the tweet in minutes.

Ganga Ram's medical director said on Thursday morning, "25 sickest patients have died in the past 24 hrs at the hospital. Oxygen will last another 2 hours."

Also Read: Oxygen shortage myth or reality?

"Ventilators and Bipap not working effectively. Need oxygen to be airlifted urgently. Lives of another 60 sickest patients in peril," said the hospital's director. Meanwhile, the government sources told India Today that a balance of 3 metric tonne oxygen is there at Ganga Ram Hospital and an INOX tanker is there at present. Sources also added that no patient has died due to lack of oxygen.

25 sickest patients have died in last 24 hrs at the hospital. Oxygen will last another 2 hrs. Ventilators & Bipap not working effectively. Need Oxygen to be airlifted urgently. Lives of another 60 sickest patients in peril: Director-Medical, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi a ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2021

Oxygen emergency at Ganga Ram Hospital

Giving an update on the oxygen crisis at the hospital, Dr. DS Rana, chairman of board, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, "The trucks from INOX are on their way and we are waiting for them to arrive. All we need is an uninterrupted and timely supply of the oxygen."

The hospital sent an SOS to the Delhi government on Thursday, saying there is only five hours of oxygen left at the facility, urging that the supplies be restored immediately.

"At 8 pm, the oxygen in-store at the hospital was for five hours for peripheral use till 1 am and less for high flow use. Need urgent oxygen supplies," an official at Ganga Ram Hospital said.

Presently, there are 510 COVID-19 patients, comprising 142 patients on high flow oxygen support, admitted in the hospital.

Also Read: Despite COVID-19 crisis at home, India doubled oxygen exports in FY21

Max Hospital distress call

The top private hospital, Max Hospital, sent out a similar SOS call to the Delhi government on Thursday morning saying that over 700 of its coronavirus patients are at risk as there is less than an hour's oxygen left at the facility.

"We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi NCR till oxygen supplies stabilise," the hospital tweeted. However, it deleted the post in a few minutes.

"Less than an hour's Oxygen supplies at Max Smart Hospital & Max Hospital Saket. Awaiting promised fresh supplies from INOX since 1 am. @drharshvardhan @msisodia @PMOIndia @ArvindKejriwal @PiyushGoyal @SatyendarJain over 700 patients admitted, need immediate assistance," Max Hospital said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, DCP South Delhi has said that an oxygen-carrying vehicle has reached Max Smart and another one is on its way to Max East West. "Senior Officers are monitoring the situation," said the DCP.

Also Read: COVID-19 crisis: Centre hikes Delhi's oxygen quota from 378 MT to 480 MT

The Delhi High Court (HC) had on Wednesday night directed the Centre to "forthwith" provide oxygen by any means to hospitals in Delhi, observing it "seems human life is not important for the state."

The government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, assured the court that it will ensure the supply of increased allocation of 480 metric tonnes of oxygen to Delhi and that the same will reach the national capital without any hindrances.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  The City of Ashland will receive a $3 million FEMA grant toward wildfire preparedness efforts, Oregon's U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced on Friday.

Ashland residents know from painful experience the frightening hazards of living and working in a region at serious risk of wildfires, Wyden said. This federal investment will help to protect hundreds of homes from that danger as one key piece of a larger must-do strategy that also includes more effective policies in Oregon and nationwide to fight wildfires and to combat climate change now.

The grant is partially earmarked for creation of defensible space around 1,100 homes in Ashland, in addition to replacements for 23 wood shake roofs in favor of ignition-resistant roofing materials.

Can you imagine the trauma of losing your home, everything you own  or, worst of all, a loved one  to a wildfire? said Merkley. We have to do everything we can to prevent the kind of pain that was inflicted on Oregonians by last years unprecedented wildfire season, and Im glad that we were able to secure this funding to help us on that mission in Ashland. Im going to keep working for similar resources for more communities across our state, because everyone  regardless of the color of their skin, their zip code, or their incomedeserves protection from catastrophic blazes.

The lawmakers said that the $3 million grant will go toward assessments of the identified homes, surveys for vegetation removal, scheduling and training of pre-approved contractors, hiring a project manager, vegetation removal, and roof reconstruction efforts.

We are incredibly excited and grateful for this grant that will significantly boost and expand our existing wildfire prevention programs and efforts, said Adam Hanks, Ashland's city manager pro tem. These funds will focus on already pre-identified at-risk homes and areas of our community. The support and engagement of our federal legislators and their local team is a tremendous asset in supporting our communitys need and desire to reduce our wildfire risk.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has enough rage inside her to fuel a dozen BLM/Antifa "peaceful protests," is once again spewing her venom at Congress, this time during an Earth Day hearing on subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. She spoke remotely Thursday to the House Oversight Committee, according to USA Today.

"How long do you honestly believe that people in power like you will get away with it?" Saint Greta hissed. "How long do you think that you can continue to ignore the climate crisis, the global aspect of equity [emphasis added] and historic emissions without being held accountable?"

YouTube screengrab

When Greta rants, people listen. Presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, media moguls, Bill and Melinda Gates...they tremble at her presence! How did a teenage zealot with a ninth-grade education and no experience in meteorology, climatology, astrophysics, or geological history gain such profound knowledge and power? Apparently from Sweden's education system and the media, the same way the woke mob was indoctrinated in this country. In fact, climate zealots and Marxist revolutionaries are not only cut from the same cloth, but play for the same team. They distort history, outright lie, and use over-the-top fear tactics to convert the lemmings.

But what brought an angry teenage girl to the international level of power and influence she now yields? Let's take a brief look.

After first learning about climate change at the ripe old age of eight, Saint Greta entered a three- or four-year bout with depression. In 2014, she was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and selective mutism. At one point, she stopped eating and speaking and lost 22 pounds in two months. (Sounds like a born leader to me!)

What helped her (partly) recover from these debilitating disorders? Climate activism! According to her father, Swedish actor Svante Thunberg, "[s]he can either sit at home and be really unhappy, or protest, and be happy." Bingo! Apparently, she hasn't been depressed since...well, except for those rare moments when she remembers that capitalism and the fossil fuel industry are going to kill us all.

Yes, crushing the oil industry is her main goal. If successful, it won't hurt Greta too much  not immediately, anyway  as her family is rumored to be worth millions. It's good to be rich! You can destroy other people's lives and still eat!

Thunberg has received numerous honors, including being named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2019. Obviously, the House Oversight Committee should take this troubled little girl very, very seriously. She left the morons from Congress with a stern warning. "You still have time to do the right things and save your legacies," she said. "But that window of time is not going to last for long."

How long, Saint Greta didn't say. I give it eight or ten years, tops. A high-level summit between Greta and AOC is rumored but not yet confirmed. Stay tuned: your life depends on it.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has decided to keep an aircraft carrier in the Middle East to help provide protection for American and coalition troops during their planned withdrawal from Afghanistan in coming weeks, his spokesman said Friday.

The spokesman, John Kirby, said Austin approved an extension of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower's deployment in the Middle East for 'a period of time.'

He also said two U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers have arrived in the region as part of the pre-pullout bolstering of security, which he called a prudent precaution.

A spokesman for the Defense secretary said two U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers (pictured) have arrived in the Middle East to bolster the U.S. effort to withdraw forces from Afghanistan

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would start withdrawing forces from Afghanistan on May 1 and wrap up by the 9/11 anniversary

The Taliban was angered that Biden elongated the withdrawal with former President Donald Trump setting the May 1 deadline

'It would be foolhardy and imprudent not to assume that there could be resistance and opposition to the drawdown by the Taliban, given their staunch rhetoric,' Kirby said. He said the withdrawal plan was discussed at a meeting Friday of senior defense officials.

The moves back up Pentagon officials' public assurances that U.S. forces will be prepared to meet whatever resistance the Taliban might present during the withdrawal of more than 10,000 U.S. and coalition troops starting after May 1.

About 2,500 to 3,500 of those troops are American.

'I would advise the Taliban that we will be well-prepared to defend ourselves throughout the withdrawal process,' Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday at the Pentagon.

Prior to President Joe Biden's announcement last week that he would end the American war in Afghanistan by completing the troop withdrawal by Sept. 11, the Taliban had insisted that Washington stick to a February 2020 agreement the militants had reached with the Trump administration to complete the U.S. withdrawal by May 1.

U.S. officials said after Biden's announcement that extra military personnel would likely be positioned in Afghanistan to facilitate the pullout of troops and equipment, and the Pentagon typically beefs up its military presence as a precaution when executing a sizeable withdrawal.

When the U.S. pulled troops out of Somalia in December it kept an aircraft carrier in the region as a precaution.

Kirby said some additional troops likely also would be sent to Afghanistan to assist with the withdrawal, but he declined to provide details.

Earlier, two other defense officials said hundreds of Army Rangers were to be sent to provide security during the pullout. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss moves that had not yet been announced.
Tremendous attention has recently been placed on building an international financial centre in both Danang or Ho Chi Minh City, as Vietnam could profit handsomely from its reputation as a future offshore hub for high-profile financial services.

Danang, along with Ho Chi Minh City, are deemed the best options for creation of a global financial hub

Ambitions to turn Vietnam into a global financial hub are gaining shape, with Ho Chi Minh City submitting its bid for development and a multinational private-sector consortium getting green-lit to make plans for Danang.

Le Hong Giang, director of Investment Strategies at Tactical Global Management in Australia, said that fintech would be the core factor turning Vietnam into an international financial centre (IFC) by emerging as an efficient payment system buttressing and stimulating the development of commercial banks as well as interbank and inter-country payment platforms.

However, a city needs to first become an economic and commercial centre before ascending to the level of IFC, he added. For this, it will need highly-qualified human resources and a supportive legal environment.

Many IFCs in the world were established before computers and fixed telephone lines were invented. They still facilitated the smooth flow of capital with a number of skilled professionals and by setting up favourable legal corridors, Giang said. Vietnam should provide a fertile ground for disruptive, innovative companies to become a magnet to international capital.

Financial services providers have been developing at a good pace in Vietnam, Giang explained. A finance company in Ho Chi Minh City can now operate around the world. However, a financial centre runs on more than just money: it needs data. Vietnam is setting up this database as we speak, he added.

Meanwhile, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, an IFC will attract capital and increase government revenues. An IFC will provide full financial services with direct access to large volumes of capital from banks, insurance companies, investment funds, and listed companies, Dung said at a January government meeting on establishment of IFCs in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang.

He also brought up the example of the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, which has earned the majority of its wealth through its IFC status. This British overseas territory is now home to nearly 80 per cent of global hedge funds, even though the actual managers work in New York or London, the minister added.

In March, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong requested the prime ministers formal approval of the citys IFC ambitions, after many years of groundwork. The citys IFC was designed to be at Thu Thiem New Urban Area  the new economic hub of the city, replacing the overloaded District 1.

The reason for choosing to develop Ho Chi Minh City into an IFC, Phong added, is that the city boasts a prime location  within three hours by air from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, China, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea  and is the highest contributor to the state budget. This means financial activities and demands in Ho Chi Minh City are very high and becoming an IFC would help leverage new opportunities for growth.

Also last month, a consortium of Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), Cantor Fitzgerald, Weidner Resorts, and Steelman Partners was approved to jointly finance a plan to develop Danang into a financial centre.

According to Johnathan Hanh Nguyen, chairman of IPPG, developing Danang into a regional financial centre will attract queen bee investors and bring many other high-quality international funds to the city and the central region. It will be a new, major driver of economic growth, luring in investment and thereby enhancing Danangs international status, he said.

The consortium of global companies boasts extensive experience in developing world-class projects to fuel Danangs IFC synergies. For instance, Steelman Partners is an industry-leading architecture firm specialising in design of innovative, memorable, and revenue-producing projects worldwide. Global Gaming Asset Management, meanwhile, is a world-leading developer of premier destinations and integrated resorts.

Our team at Shearman and Sterling is thrilled to be part of this exciting journey to build an IFC in Vietnam and make the country an appealing hub for financial business in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is internationally recognised for its vast potential and readiness for significant breakthroughs, said Barney Reynolds, global head of the Financial Services Industry Group at law firm Shearman and Sterling.

A lot of groundwork has been laid to modernise the domestic economy and now is a prime time to take advantage of these opportunities, he added. The establishment of new financial centres will pave the way for advanced financial services in Vietnam. Also, IFCs could make financial tourism one of the most vibrant and solid sectors in the region.

Nguyen of IPPG added, The worlds financial centres are in turmoil, so they have to reshape. Danang should seize this opportunity to become a regional financial centre and attract cash flows from around Vietnam. We want and are determined to make this possible in the next 20 years, to make Vietnam a regional financial magnet.

Patrick Lenain - Assistant director, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development For many cities, hosting an IFC is a key source of economic growth, well-paid jobs, foreign investment, and tax revenue. Apart from New York and London, the largest financial markets are today located in the Asia-Pacific region: Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, and Shenzhen are all hosting large banks, equity markets, and bond trading floors. They are all vibrant centres for corporate lending, securitisation, derivative products, wealth management, fund administration, project funding, and also venture capital. London and Paris have a long IFC history dating back to the 19th century, but other financial hubs are very recent. It has taken just a few decades for Dublin, Luxembourg, Beijing, and Shanghai to become important financial centres with excellent expertise. What can we learn from their experience? Firstly, a business-friendly environment is essential: financial institutions need to interact with a responsive government that can handle efficiently their licensing requests, administrative permits, and other official procedures. Secondly, foreign investors will expect to deal with experienced supervisors that can ensure financial stability, protect the markets reputation, and enforce the rule of law. Thirdly, well-functioning infrastructure is crucial: airports, highways, mass transit and high-speed digital connections are essential. Finally, human capital is key: banks need to hire many well-educated workers, with skills in finance, accounting, legal affairs, and computing. Ho Chi Minh City and Danang are already attractive cities for foreign investors. International rankings such as PISA acknowledge the quality of education in Vietnam. Major public investments are upgrading the transport infrastructure and digital connections. Establishing official supervision agencies with strong expertise in banking and market trading will be essential. Looking to the future, Vietnam could take a share of fast-rising markets such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, green finance, and regulatory compliance. Arnaud Ginolin - Director, Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group has been supporting governments and cities globally to develop their financial centre activities, both for emerging centres and established global hubs. There are natural advantages for Vietnam to build successful financial centres, including a fast-growing economy and related financing needs, stability, lifestyle, and attractiveness for talents, key location within Southeast Asia, as well as trade activities. There is currently a good traction and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Danang are well-positioned to emerge as financial centres within the next five years. However, there will be few critical elements to consider to successfully deploy financial centres. Firstly, a clear strategy and specialisation of financial services is needed. For example, Singapore or Luxembourg focus on asset management, with 75 per cent of the assets under management in Singapore coming from overseas. The Berlin financial centre specialises in fintech financing and Hong Kong and Mumbai in commodity trading. Similarly, Vietnamese financial centres will require a clear vision of services to be provided, and what makes them truly attractive compared to other centres. Secondly, an ambitious but realistic deployment plan. We often take Singapore or New York as examples, but these centres developed through various stages over multiple years. Vietnam will need to clearly set a development path and milestones to transition from an emerging player to a regional centre and potentially reach the global finance hub stage. Finally, each of the key success factors of financial centres will need to be thoroughly tackled: business and investor friendliness, innovation and knowledge, talent, infrastructure, financing, branding, and stakeholder coordination. Vietnam has immense potential, yet a fully thought out strategy, well-orchestrated deployment plan together with a clear set of roles and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders are the key pillars required to propel Vietnamese financial centres to the next level.

VIR
[April 23, 2021] ZipRecruiter Announces Filing of Registration Statement for Proposed Public Direct Listing of Its Class A Common Stock

ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com) today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed public direct listing of its Class A common stock. ZipRecruiter intends to list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange. When available, a copy of the prospectus related to the registration statement may be obtained by visiting EDGAR on the SEC (News - Alert) website, via the investor relations page on ZipRecruiter's website at www.ziprecruiter.com/investor-relations under the "SEC Filings" section, or via request by mail from ZipRecruiter, Inc., c/o Investor Relations, 604 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA (News - Alert) 90401. A registration statement relating to these securities ha been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.



About ZipRecruiter ZipRecruiter, Inc. is an online employment marketplace, providing technology-enabled services to connect job seekers and employers of all sizes.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the effective date of the registration statement and the date on which ZipRecruiter's Class A common stock will be available for trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The words "believe," "may," "will," "potential," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "could," and "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations, assumptions, and projections based on information available at the time the statements were made. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including risks and uncertainties related to: whether or not ZipRecruiter will consummate the proposed public direct listing, prevailing market conditions, investor demand for shares of ZipRecruiter's Class A common stock, and the impact of general economic, industry or regulatory conditions in the United States or internationally. Further information on risks that could affect ZipRecruiter's business and the proposed public direct listing are included in ZipRecruiter's filings with the SEC including the Form S-1 filed on April 23, 2021. Except as required by law, ZipRecruiter assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005574/en/

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A lengthy announcement from BPC this morning in which the company announce a proposed Open Offer and Placing as well as a change of name, share consolidation, changes to the board and management as well as sundry share and convertible facilities.

WTI $61.43 +8c, Brent $65.40 +8c, Diff -$3.97 u/c, NG $2.75 +6c, UKNG 52.15p -1.1p

Oil price

Hardly any change in the oil price yesterday, very little has changed this week but in India the Covid figures are increasing at a frightening rate with no signs yet of any fightback. As has been the case for a little while the economic stats are showing good signs particularly in the US where specifically the labour data is very positive.

Bahamas Petroleum

A lengthy announcement from BPC this morning in which the company announce a proposed Open Offer and Placing as well as a change of name, share consolidation, changes to the board and management as well as sundry share and convertible facilities. This is intended to lay the foundations for building shareholder value elsewhere across its expanded portfolio, predominately by increasing production, and hence cashflow, from operations in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.

So, how does leave the plans for the upcoming year or so looking like? Firstly the Saffron # 2 appraisal/production well is to be drilled in May or June this year at a cost of some $3m and will hopefully deliver 200-300 bopd which generates cashflows of $1.8-2.6m pa which opens up the full-field development projected at 1,000-1,500 bopd with cashflows of $8-12m and a peak production of circa. 4,000 bopd.

In Suriname the appraisal and EWT at Weg Naar Zee is planned for drilling in July at a cost of some $0.7m aiming for c.100 bopd and cashflows of $1m p.a. with the longer plans for $2.5m p.a.

Then there is ongoing production maintenance and enhancement work in Trinidad and Tobago, from five producing fields with current production averaging in the range of 450  500 bopd, currently generating annual cashflows to BPC of approximately US$3 million per annum, and with the potential for cashflow growth from enhanced production levels and/or increased oil prices.

In addition there is work to be done with low-cost continuation of exploration activities, including maturation of exploration targets in Trinidad, a process for farming out the Companys principal licences in The Bahamas (alongside renewal of those licences), and initial technical work in relation to the Companys licence in Uruguay (and consideration of potential farm-out options in relation to that licence)

Cost cutting initiative commenced across the Company, with a view to reducing the Companys ongoing cost of operations by at least 20%  30%.

So, to the financial restructuring of the company, which will be done through a proposed 6.9 million open offer to Qualifying Shareholders of approximately 1.967 billion shares at a price of 0.35 pence per share on a 1 new share for every 2.46 shares held basis, to enable all qualifying existing shareholders the first opportunity to participate in the Companys future, with the Company intending for any shares not taken up in the Open Offer to be placed with institutional investors at the same price.

The circular for the Open Offer will be posted by 24th April , EGM to be convened for 17th May to seek approval for a number of items which include, changing the company name to Challenger Energy Group, consolidating the shares on a 1:10 basis and refreshing the share issuance authority and ratifying the convertible changes.

Next up are a bunch of changes at board level this is to include Eytan Uliel, the Companys Commercial Director, to become Chief Executive Officer, Simon Potter is to transition to a Non-Executive director role effective 20 May 2021; Non-Executive directors Mr Adrian Collins and Mr Ross McDonald to step down from the Board and Mr Stephen Bizzell to join the Board as a Non-Executive director.

Bill Schrader, Chairman of BPC, said:

The Company is focussed on restoration, renewal and refreshment. In this context, the Companys forward business strategy for the coming 12-18 months has been firmly set, on significantly increasing oil production and thus cashflow from our assets in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname, which the Board considers to be the most effective manner in which to restore value and create a foundation for future value growth. In support of this strategy, the Company is calling an Extraordinary General Meeting, to put before shareholders a series of actions with a view to resetting the Company and its capital structure, along with a recapitalisation of the Company and a cost reduction initiative.

At the same time, as a part of a natural renewal process and in adherence with best practices for corporate governance, changes are being implemented to the Companys board and management. I would like to welcome both Eytan Uliel and Stephen Bizzell on their prospective appointments to the Board, as respectively CEO and non-executive director. Shareholders will already be familiar with the contribution of Eytan to the organisation over the last seven years, and Stephen is highly credentialled in the industry, having successfully assisted many similar companies with significant capital raisings and transformational corporate transactions, as well as having actively supported the funding of this Company for the past two years. Simon Potter stays with us as a non-executive director, where his skills and experience remain available to the organisation. I would like to thank both Ross McDonald and Adrian Collins, who will be leaving the Board, for their valued contributions, over respectively the last nine and ten years. Finally, a huge expression of appreciation for the work undertaken by Ben Proffitt over the last twelve years in support of both the Board as Company Secretary and to the Company as Finance Director  we wish him luck as he embarks on the next stage of his career.

Taken together, the steps being announced today represent what the Board considers to be a coordinated approach to charting a viable and value-restorative future course for the Company. We thank shareholders for their ongoing support, and we look forward to providing updates as to our progress over the coming months.

Eytan Uliel, CEO designate, said:

Our Company has a diverse full-cycle portfolio of production, development and exploration assets. The work program for 2021 and beyond is busy, and contains many value triggers. The re-set proposed today will enable us to get after that value, through building production and cashflow. I am excited by the prospect of leading Challenger Energy Group, and I look forward to engaging with all our stakeholders over the coming months.

There is clearly much going on at BPC in almost every department, the farm-out of P#1 and renewal as well as exploration and production drilling in Trinidad, assessing Suriname, refinancing and changing the name and the board will make for a definitive upcoming year or so. There is little doubt that Challenger under Eytan Uliel will be one to watch as all this unfolds.

Empyrean Energy

Empyrean has provided the following update on its planning for drilling the Jade prospect on Block 29/11, offshore China, having been very quiet for some time there is much going on.

The Company has commenced comprehensive planning for the drilling of the Jade prospect in order to ensure a safe and secure drilling campaign and has awarded a contract with AGRs team in Australia to assist with well planning and engineering.

AGR is owned by Oslo Stock Exchange listed Akastor ASA (a subsidiary of AKER group companies), and is an independent consultancy delivering well engineering, drilling project management and reservoir management as well as consultant manpower and software solutions to the energy industry. AGR has managed 545+ well projects across 6 continents with 3,700+ consultants placed in 100 locations. AGRs subsurface team members have an average of 20+ years industry experience

The AGR team has been tasked to consider a number of well design options after comprehensive analysis of offset wells, concluding with a recommendation for well design. The recommended well design will be progressed to a detailed well design, including a time and cost estimate, utilising AGRs proprietary probabilistic time and cost software, P1. The software application will allow AGR to quantify and demonstrate the various risks specific to each operation, providing Empyrean with further insight into the well planning. Empyrean will then use this important work, in the first instance, to assist with the assessment of quotes for drilling the Jade prospect.

It is anticipated that AGRs initial work on well design will be completed in the coming weeks and further updates will be provided to shareholders in due course.

Empyrean CEO, Tom Kelly stated

We are excited about commencing comprehensive planning for drilling our first well in China. Drilling the world class Jade prospect will herald a new phase in the history of the Company as we become an operator of an exciting drilling campaign. Jade will be our first well drilled and is one of three large conventional oil targets next door to a billion barrel oilfield within the energy hungry Chinese market. We have selected AGR for the well design and engineering project as they have a long and comprehensive experience across 6 continents with industry specialists that have a long history of subsurface expertise.

I noted yesterday that I had been waiting on Tom Kelly for a chat and that had been held up somewhat, now we know why and I am looking forward to speaking to him next week with any luck. I have been a strong supporter of EME for many years and whilst some of the polish has worn down a bit there is still much excitement and of course massive upside. I will write more after my chat with Tom.

And finally
As eligibility opened for all Georgians over the age 16 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on March 25, some of the Red & Black staff have been observant and quick to receive the vaccine. Here are some of their experiences.
ANSONIA  Religious leaders in Ansonia and Derby are working to help people of color get vaccinated.

The push to have clergy reach out to residents comes as Ansonia gears up for a vaccine registration drive Saturday and additional vaccination sites at churches.

Clergy members say they are uniquely positioned to help local governments reach out to residents who otherwise might be reluctant to get the vaccines.

The Rev. Al Smith of Macedonia Baptist Church on Pershing Drive and he said he has been involved with outreach since the beginning of the year.

Back in mid-January, I was approached by TEAM and Pat Charmel, the president at Griffin hospital, to get a vaccine, and then do a video, and then use our church as a vaccination site in Macedonia, Smith said.

Smith said the video, which showed his inoculation and then him answering questions about the vaccine, helped convince members of his congregation to get the shot as well.

The reason for the video, he said, was to create comfort among his parishioners: Some members of his church wanted to wait and see, he said, others were vaccine reluctant.

About three weeks ago, Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti asked Smith to help residents get vaccinated as part of Vax the Valley, an initiative to register residents to get vaccinated. Smith said he quickly jumped on board.

According to Robert Sanders, a professor at the University of New Haven and expert on African American history, clergy are well-placed to reach out to members of their communities because of their roles as mentors and role models. He pointed to efforts in Hartford and Stratford where clergy members were asked to encourage members to get vaccinated.

And the point behind that was the members of the community who attend these churches, who follow these teachings, that these pastors are putting out (information) as they read from the Bible or whatever text they're following. People listen, Sanders said.

Sanders added that clergy are in a good position to influence others since religious values that emphasize empathy and selflessness are easily transferable to outreach initiatives.

We're supposed to be our brother's keeper. Were supposed to help each other heal. Were supposed to look at our bodies as a temple. So if you put all those kind of things together, it would make sense to reach out to the religious community to say, look, youre leaders. People follow your wisdom, they follow your teachings, they follow your direction, he said.

Smith and Sanders both said that lingering mistrust from historical and current systemic racism in medical care has also influenced reactions to getting the vaccine.

Cassetti said that the clergy have been a big help getting people vaccinated, especially for congregations of people of color.

I noticed that they're hesitant on this because of their mistrust in government. And I want to assure them that theyve got nothing to worry about, that this is something that has to be done for the safety of all our residents. I'm concerned about everyone, Cassetti said.

Smith said that when parishioners questioned him about the vaccine, he turned the question around on them and said that the vaccines were divine intervention.

I said that I believe it was God that gave medical officials the know-how to develop it so quickly. And I believe it's a miracle, he said.
The Biden administration is working tirelessly to repudiate the pro-religious freedom policies that were put in place under the presidential term of Donald J. Trump. By ditching religious freedom as a primary focus in foreign policy, America's ability to aid religious minorities in places like China and Middle East is now undetermined.

According to The Washington Free Beacon, rise in persecution is expected to ensue as the Biden administration backs away from promoting religious freedom abroad -even after the progress that the Trump administration had in the matter.

In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken overturned a 2020 executive order under Trump's administration requiring federal agencies to "prioritize international religious freedom in the planning and implementation of United States foreign policy." A fund of $50 million was also allocated for religious freedom trainings and for foreign assistance.

During the press conference on release of the 2020 country reports on human rights practices, Lisa Peterson, acting assistant secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, claimed that there is a separate "stand-alone report" on international religious freedom. She said that they are "deeply concerned" about questions on religious freedom, but that they will focus on the bigger picture of human rights.

"Certainly you can look at examples and see where governments who have gone down a wrong road on religious freedom subsequently go down a wrong road on other issues," she said.

Olivia Enos, a senior policy analyst at Heritage Foundation, comments that this decision by Biden's White House would just "hamper its broader foreign policy interests and human rights commitments."

"I think it would be a huge mistake for the Biden administration not to build momentum from the work done by the Trump administration to promote religious freedom," she said.

The Free Beacon also noted that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has urged the current administration to fill several key positions dedicated for religious freedom, The State Department and the National Security Council, however, did not respond to the request and refused to comment on potential nominations.

The report went on to say that if the emphasis on religious liberty is weakened, it will undermine America's contribution in addressing the humanitarian crises in China.

"There are several instances where Chinese Communist Party members were sanctioned in no small part due to the people throughout the administration (Trumps') who worked on religious freedom pushing for it," Enos said.

Back in January, activists castigated the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers for playing down the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia by simply making a public declaration, but with no definitive action from the government.

In contrast, the International Committee on Nigeria praised President Trump's executive order on religious freedom as "a continued commitment to promoting and protecting religious freedoms abroad by stopping crimes against people of faith." This was during the rising religious violence against Nigerian Christians amid the pandemic last year.

Nury Turkel, a USCIRF commissioner, remains hopeful that the Biden administration will soon have an acceptable approach on religious freedom as it is "inseparable from core American values."
Melbourne's 'worst' hotel notorious for drug dealers, cockroaches and syringes in bedrooms has hit the market with a $4.5million price tag.

The StayInn Motel on 844-846 Sydney Road in Coburg North, closed in 2019 before operating as an independently run crisis accommodation.

NSL Property Group agent Guy Naselli said labelling the StayInn as 'Melbourne's worst' motel was an understatement.

The StayInn Motel on 844-846 Sydney Road in Coburg North (pictured) has hit the market with a $4.5million dollar price tag

Known as Melbourne's 'worst' hotel The StayInn (pictured) was notorious for drugs dealings and unkept rooms

'That would be putting it mildly,' Mr Naselli told realcommerical.

The 2787m2 motel has a 2.7-star Google rating after being described as 'one of the most disgusting' and 'disturbing places'.

One customer said some residents used the motel as a halfway house and dealt drugs out of their rooms 'with snakes kept as pets.'

'The place is notorious for drug dealers, hard drug users and I really hope anyone with kids don't book here,' they said.

'Urine, vomit and blood in my room, every surface was filthy, I couldn't even shower or close the bathroom door,' another customer wrote.

The 2787m2 motel (pictured) has been slammed with a 2.7-star Google rating after being described as 'one of the most disgusting' and 'disturbing places'

Past customers complained that the motel was used as a 'halfway house' for drug dealers (pictured: the motel's pool area)

The StayInn motel (pictured) closed in 2019 after being run as both a hotel and a crisis accommodation for people in need

Other customers complained that 'every surface in the room was filthy' when they stayed at the motel (pictured)

'Do not stay here! I did not feel safe, the place is some sort of drug hub! Left the same night I booked,' a woman wrote online.

But other reviewers praised the now defunct motel for providing crisis accommodation for people in difficult financial situations.

One man said he stayed for one night after having slept in his car for three nights with his cat.

'It was far better staying there in a comfy bed than in my car. I felt safer, too, because the other tenants aren't a problem if you don't bother them, and your door is locked,' he said.

Colliers agent Joe Kairouz said prospective buyers needed to look at the lot as a 'blank canvas opportunity'.

'We're also getting interest for childcare and medical uses  it's a mixed use zoning so the local planning scheme does allow for residential accommodation,' he said.

The motel is up for sale via an expressions of interest campaign that will end on May 6.

Another customer warned others not to book if a room if they have children (pictured: damaged rooms at the motel)
Adm. Charles Richard, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, April 22. AP



The United States is ready and able to deter any aggression from North Korea, the chief of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) said Thursday, also highlighting the U.S. security commitment to South Korea.



Adm. Charles Richard, however, said the best way to resolve issues with North Korea is with diplomacy.



"I will tell you that I am very confident in my ability to deter, or we're very familiar with North Korea's capabilities and I'm very confident in our ability to deter that," he said at a news conference at the Pentagon.



The USSTRATCOM commander earlier said North Korea continues to pose threats to the United States and its allies in Northeast Asia.



"North Korea has tested ICBMs designed to strike the entire continental United States and has a large inventory of theater ballistic missiles," he said in a written statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee prior to a hearing this week.



Recent reports have suggested North Korea now may be preparing to test a sea-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).



Richard did not offer any direct response to such reports, but said the U.S. is ready to deal with anything the North does.



"We are ready for just about anything North Korea can do...so I'm fully confident that we are prepared for whatever they might decide to do," he said.



Still, the U.S. commander highlighted the importance of diplomatic efforts to ease tensions with North Korea, also insisting that the "situation is ripe" for such overtures.



"First, I think that situation is ripe for a diplomatic resolution," said Richard. "That is the best path to resolve issues with North Korea  is using diplomacy first."



"I will say that the United States and certainly my command are fully ready to honor our security commitments and alliance promises that we have made to South Korea," he added.



The Strategic Command, based in Nebraska, operates the U.S. "triad" of nuclear deterrence  intercontinental missiles, long-range bombers and ballistic missile submarines  as well as missile defense systems.



Denuclearization talks with North Korea have stalled since early 2019, when a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi ended without a deal.



Washington earlier said it has reached out to North Korea through multiple diplomatic channels since mid-February, shortly after President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20, but that Pyongyang has remained unresponsive. (Yonhap)


Germany has called on Serbia and Kosovo to step up efforts toward a normalization of their relationship, more than two decades after Belgrade lost control of its former southern province in 1999.

"The time is right for continuing the normalization process -- and to achieve results," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at a live-streamed news conference after meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on April 23.

"It is important not to hold this dialogue just for dialogue's sake, there must be results. Germany stands ready to help in this respect," Maas added.

For his part, Vucic said that Serbia wants to reach a compromise solution with Kosovo and was ready to continue the dialogue.

"Serbia is not looking for excuses to refuse to reach a compromise," Vucic said, adding that Belgrade believes that a frozen conflict is always in danger of being reignited.

Serbia was forced to cede control over Kosovo in 1999 after a U.S.-led NATO campaign ended Belgrade's crackdown against Kosovo's ethnic Albanian separatists. More than 10,000 people died in the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Belgrade does not recognize this. Most EU members and the United States have recognized Kosovo's independence, but not Serbia's allies Russia and China.

Vucic, in an April 22 interview from Belgrade with the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank, said he was also actively seeking stronger ties with the United States.

Vucic, who has met U.S. President Joe Biden five times, described the U.S. president as "politically the best prepared man I ever talked to."

Vucic, however, admitted there are difficulties in the bilateral relationship, especially differing views on peace talks with Kosovo.

Biden has considerable Balkan experience and was engaged with the region while serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017.

With reporting by Reuters
London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former top aide launched an extraordinary tirade Friday after a series of incriminating leaks, claiming the Conservative leader lacks "competence and integrity".

Dominic Cummings, who stepped down as his top adviser in December, used a personal blog to allege that Johnson told his staff to lie to the media, tried to block an inquiry, and solicited potentially illegal donations.

In response, a Downing Street spokesperson said "all reportable donations are transparently declared and published", and added: "The PM has never interfered in a government leak inquiry." Cummings, the controversial brains behind the 2016 campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, was appointed chief adviser by Johnson when he took power in July 2019.

He helped to secure a thumping election victory that December, but his frequent clashes with colleagues are said to have led to persistent tensions and he left government a year later.

Cummings was particularly blamed for undermining the government's coronavirus lockdown message when he went on a lengthy cross-country journey with his family, claiming he and his wife needed help from relatives after they both developed Covid-19 symptoms.

Even some Conservatives expressed concern over Cummings' explosive charges, which were seized on by opposition parties ahead of UK-wide local elections on May 6.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said "the Conservatives are fighting each other like rats in a sack and slipping deeper and deeper into the mire of sleaze".

"It shows breathtaking contempt for the country," she said.

In his blog, Cummings claimed the prime minister had proposed torpedoing the leak inquiry because its findings might prove problematic with Johnson's fiancee.

He also said he had warned Johnson against plans to use Conservative Party donations in an "unethical, foolish, possibly illegal" way to renovate his Downing Street apartment.

Cummings was responding to newspaper headlines Friday reporting that Johnson's staff blamed the ex-aide for leaking embarrassing text messages, including some that have embroiled billionaire inventor James Dyson in a Westminster lobbying scandal.
I would like to remind the individual who wrote "Deny them Care" of just a few of our rights and freedoms according to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As a Canadian citizen you have:

Fundamental Freedoms - Were free to think our own thoughts, speak our minds, listen to views of others and express our opinions in creative ways. Were also free to meet with anyone we wish and participate in peaceful demonstrations. This includes the right to protest against a government action or institution.

Equality Rights - everyone should be treated the same under the law. Everyone is also entitled to the same benefits provided by laws or government policies.

Mobility Rights - Canadian citizens have the right to enter, remain in, and leave Canada.

Protection Against Unreasonable Laws - there must be a rational link between the laws purpose and its effect on peoples liberty. Also, laws should not have a severe impact on peoples rights to life, liberty or security of the person.

This is not the full Charter of Rights and Freedoms, simply a handful that the author of "Deny them Care" would suggest we strip people of.

Furthermore, I would like to encourage everyone to become familiar with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms before it is completely disregarded.



Lacey Huolt


WASHINGTON (JTA)  Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations are by their nature calls for accountability for atrocities past and present.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, used the occasion to take his own department to task for its neglect of Jews during the Nazi era, and to call for action on behalf of the persecuted today.

Blinken, delivering the keynote address Thursday at the event organized by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, savaged the World War II-era assistant secretary of state, Breckinridge Long, for blocking the entry into the United States of Jews fleeing Nazi...
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
STOCKHOLM, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The shareholders in RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ), corporate identity no. 556322-6157, are hereby invited to the Annual General Meeting, to be held on Wednesday, May 26, 2021.

In light of the corona pandemic and in order to minimize any risk of spreading of the corona virus, the Board of Directors has decided that the Annual General Meeting is to be held only through postal voting in accordance with temporary legislation applicable in 2021. This means that the Annual General Meeting will be conducted without the physical presence of shareholders, representatives or external parties and that shareholders will only be able to exercise their voting rights by postal voting in advance of the Annual General Meeting in the manner described below.

Information on the resolutions passed at the Annual General Meeting will be disclosed on May 26, 2021, when the outcome of the postal voting has been confirmed.

RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE AND NOTICE

A person who wishes to participate in the Annual General Meeting by postal voting must:

be recorded as a shareholder in the presentation of the share register prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB concerning the circumstances on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 , and

, and give notice of participation by casting its postal vote in accordance with the instructions under the heading "Postal voting" below so that the postal voting form is received by Euroclear Sweden AB no later than on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 .

In order to be entitled to participate in the Annual General Meeting, a shareholder whose shares are registered in the name of a nominee must, in addition to giving notice of participation in the Annual General Meeting by submitting its postal vote, register its shares in its own name so that the shareholder is listed in the presentation of the share register as of Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Such registration may be temporary (so-called voting rights registration), and request for such voting rights registration shall be made to the nominee in accordance with the nominee's routines at such a time in advance as decided by the nominee. Voting rights registrations that have been made by the nominee no later than Thursday, May 20, 2021 will be taken into account in the presentation of the share register.

POSTAL VOTING

Shareholders may exercise their voting rights at the Annual General Meeting only by postal voting in accordance with section 22 of the Act (2020:198) on temporary exceptions to facilitate the execution of general meetings in companies and other associations. A special form must be used for the postal vote. The form is available on the company's website www.rayserachlabs.com. A hard copy of this form will be sent to shareholders upon request. The postal voting form is considered as notice to participate in the Annual General Meeting.

In order to be considered, completed and signed forms must be received by Euroclear Sweden AB no later than Tuesday, May 25, 2021. The completed and signed form must be sent by mail to RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ), "Annual General Meeting 2021", c/o Euroclear Sweden AB, Box 191, SE-101 23 Stockholm, Sweden or by email to [email protected]. Shareholders who are natural persons may also cast their votes electronically through verification with BankID via Euroclear Sweden AB's website https://anmalan.vpc.se/EuroclearProxy/. Such electronic votes must be submitted no later than Tuesday, May 25, 2021.

If the shareholder submits its postal vote by proxy, a power of attorney must be attached to the postal voting form. Proxy forms will be provided by the company upon request and are also available on the company's website www.raysearchlabs.com. A power of attorney is valid one year from its issue date or such longer period as set out in the power of attorney, however not more than five years. If the shareholder is a legal person, a registration certificate or other authorization document listing the authorized signatories, not older than one year, must be attached to the form.

The shareholders may not provide special instructions or conditions to the postal vote. If so, the entire postal vote is invalid. Further instructions and conditions can be found in the postal voting form and at https://anmalan.vpc.se/EuroclearProxy/.

SHAREHOLDERS' RIGHT TO RECEIVE INFORMATION

The Board and CEO shall, if any shareholder so requests and the Board believes that it can be done without material harm to the company, provide information regarding circumstances that may affect the assessment of an item on the agenda, circumstances that may affect the assessment of the company's or its subsidiaries' financial situation and the company's relation to another company within the group. A request for such information shall be made in writing to the company no later than ten days prior to the Annual General Meeting, i.e. no later than Sunday, May 16, 2021, at RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) c/o Board of Directors, Box 3297, SE-103 65 Stockholm, Sweden, or by email to arssta[email protected]. The information will be made available on the company's website www.raysearchlabs.com, and at the company's head office, Sveavagen 44, SE-103 65 Stockholm, Sweden, no later than Friday, May 21, 2021. The information will also be sent to the shareholders who requested it and stated their address.

PROPOSED AGENDA

Election of a chairman of the Annual General Meeting. Election of one or two minute-checkers. Preparation and approval of the voting list. Approval of the proposed agenda. Determination whether the Annual General Meeting has been duly convened. Presentation of the Annual Report and the Auditors' Report as well as the consolidated financial statements and the Auditors' Report for the consolidated financial statements for the 2020 fiscal year. Resolutions regarding the adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet; the disposition to be made of the company's profits or losses as shown in the balance sheet adopted by the Annual General Meeting; and the discharge of the members of the Board and of the CEO from personal liability. Resolution on guidelines for executive remuneration. Determination of the number of members of the Board and deputies. Determination of the fees to be paid to the Board and auditors. Election of the members of the Board (including Chairman) and deputies. Determination of the number of auditors and deputies. Election of auditor. Resolution regarding approval of the remuneration report. Resolution regarding amendments to the Articles of Association.

PROPOSED DECISIONS

ELECTION OF A CHAIRMAN OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (ITEM 1)

Shareholders representing approximately 67 percent of the total number of votes in the company propose that Lars Wollung or, in the event he is prevented from participating, the person appointed by the Board of Directors, is appointed chairman of the Annual General Meeting.

ELECTION OF ONE OR TWO MINUTE-CHECKERS (ITEM 2)

Shareholders representing approximately 67 percent of the total number of votes in the company propose Sophie Larsen, Forsta AP-fonden and Ulrik Gronvall, Swedbank Robur, or, in the event both or any of them are prevented from participating, the person(s) appointed by the Board, as persons to check the minutes. The assignment to check the minutes also includes checking the voting list and that the received postal votes are correctly reflected in the minutes of the meeting.

PREPARATION AND APPROVAL OF THE VOTING LIST (ITEM 3)

The voting list proposed to be approved is the voting list prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB, based on the general meeting share register and received postal votes, verified and confirmed by the persons elected to check the minutes.

DISPOSITION OF EARNINGS (ITEM 7 B)

As the company is currently in a phase of rapid expansion that requires access to capital, the Board and the CEO propose that no dividend be paid to the company's shareholders. The accumulated profit of SEK 202,699 is proposed to be brought forward and balanced in the new accounts.

GUIDELINES FOR EXECUTIVE REMUNERATION (ITEM 8)

The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting, with amendment to the guidelines adopted at the Annual General Meeting 2020, adopt the following guidelines for remuneration to the CEO and other members of senior management (senior executives).

The proposed amendments to the guidelines adopted at the Annual General Meeting 2020 refer to the introduction of the possibility to pay consultancy fees to non-employed board members elected by the General Meeting.

The guidelines are forward-looking, i.e. they are applicable to remuneration agreed, and amendments to remuneration already agreed, after adoption of the guidelines by the Annual General Meeting 2021. These guidelines do not apply to any remuneration decided or approved by the General Meeting.

THE GUIDELINES' PROMOTION OF THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS STRATEGY, LONG-TERM INTERESTS AND SUSTAINABILITY

For information regarding the company's business strategy, please see https://www.raysearchlabs.com/.

A prerequisite for the successful implementation of the company's business strategy and safeguarding of its long-term interests, including its sustainability, is that the company is able to recruit and retain qualified personnel. To this end, it is necessary that the company offers competitive remuneration. These guidelines enable the company to offer the executive management a competitive total remuneration.

Variable cash remuneration covered by these guidelines shall aim at promoting the company's business strategy and long-term interests, including its sustainability.

TYPES OF REMUNERATION, ETC.

The remuneration shall be on market terms and may consist of the following components: fixed cash salary, variable cash remuneration, pension benefits and other benefits.

Additionally, the General Meeting may  irrespective of these guidelines  resolve on, among other things, share-related or share price-related remuneration.

The satisfaction of criteria for awarding variable cash remuneration shall be measured over a period of one year. The variable cash remuneration may amount to not more than 100 per cent of the fixed annual cash salary.

Pension benefits, including health insurance (Sw: sjukforsakring), shall be premium defined. Variable cash remuneration shall not qualify for pension benefits. The pension premiums shall be equal to the Swedish ITP plan which corresponds to not more than 10 per cent of the fixed annual cash salary for the CEO and not more than 30 per cent of the fixed annual cash salary for the other senior executives. The retirement age is normally 65 years.

Other benefits may include, for example, life insurance, medical insurance and company cars. Such benefits may amount to not more than 10 per cent of the fixed annual cash salary.

CRITERIA FOR AWARDING VARIABLE CASH REMUNERATION, ETC.

Any variable cash remuneration shall be linked to predetermined and measurable criteria which can be financial or non-financial. They may also be individualized, quantitative or qualitative objectives. The criteria shall be designed so as to contribute to the company's business strategy and long-term interests, including its sustainability, by for example being clearly linked to the business strategy or promote the executive's long-term development.

Variable cash remuneration for the CEO shall amount to 2.0 per cent of the Group's earnings before tax. For other senior executives there should be established criteria in accordance with the above paragraph.

To which extent the criteria for awarding variable cash remuneration has been satisfied shall be evaluated/determined when the measurement period has ended. The Board is responsible for the evaluation so far as it concerns variable remuneration to the CEO. For variable cash remuneration to other senior executives, the CEO is responsible for the evaluation. For financial objectives, the evaluation shall be based on the latest financial information made public by the company.

The company has no contractual right to recover remuneration that has been paid out.

CONSULTANCY FEES TO BOARD MEMBERS

The company's board members elected by the General Meeting and not employed by the company, may in special cases receive a fee for services performed within their respective areas of expertise, separately from their board duties and for a limited period of time. Compensation for these services (including services performed through a board member's wholly-owned company) shall be paid at market terms, provided that such services contribute to the implementation of the company's business strategy and safeguarding of the company's long-term interest, including its sustainability.

TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

The notice period may not exceed twelve months if notice of termination of employment is made by the company. Fixed cash salary during the period of notice and severance pay may together not exceed an amount equivalent to the fixed cash salary for 18 months. The period of notice may not exceed six months without any right to severance pay when termination is made by the executive.

SALARY AND EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS FOR EMPLOYEES

In the preparation of the Board's proposal for these remuneration guidelines, salary and employment conditions for employees of the company have been taken into account by including information on the employees' total income, the components of the remuneration and increase and growth rate over time, in the Board's basis of decision when evaluating whether the guidelines and the limitations set out herein are reasonable.

THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TO DETERMINE, REVIEW AND IMPLEMENT THE GUIDELINES

The Board shall prepare a proposal for new guidelines at least every fourth year and submit it to the general meeting. The guidelines shall be in force until new guidelines are adopted by the General Meeting. The Board shall also monitor and evaluate programs for variable remuneration for the executive management, the application of the guidelines for executive remuneration as well as the current remuneration structures and compensation levels in the company. The CEO and other members of the executive management do not participate in the Board's processing of and resolutions regarding remuneration-related matters in so far as they are personally affected by such matters.

DEVIATIONS

The Board may temporarily resolve to deviate from the guidelines, in whole or in part, if in a specific case there is special cause for the deviation and a deviation is necessary to serve the company's long-term interests, including its sustainability, or to ensure the company's financial viability.

NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AND DEPUTIES (ITEM 9)

Shareholders representing approximately 67 percent of the total number of votes in the company propose that the number of Board members be six, with no deputies.

FEES TO THE BOARD AND AUDITOR (ITEM 10)

The above-mentioned shareholders propose that remuneration to board members, who do not receive a salary from any Group company, shall amount to a total of SEK 2,340,000 for the period until the next Annual General Meeting, of which

SEK 840,000 to be paid to the Chairman and SEK 300,000 to each of the other board members elected by the General Meeting and

to be paid to the Chairman and to each of the other board members elected by the General Meeting and SEK 100,000 to be paid to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and SEK 100,000 to each of the other members of the Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee was established by the Board after the Annual General Meeting 2020. No remuneration was therefore proposed or decided upon to the members of the Audit Committee at the Annual General Meeting 2020. The above-mentioned shareholders therefore further propose that retroactive remuneration of SEK 100,000 shall be paid to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and SEK 50,000 shall be paid to each of the other members of the Audit Committee for the period until the Annual General Meeting 2021.

The Audit Committee proposes that the auditor's fees shall be paid in accordance with approved invoicing. The above-mentioned shareholders have informed the company that they support the Audit Committee's proposal.

ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD (INCLUDING CHAIRMAN) AND DEPUTIES (ITEM 11)

The above-mentioned shareholders propose that Carl Filip Bergendal, Johan Lof, Britta Wallgren, Hans Wigzell, Lars Wollung and Johanna Oberg be re-elected as Board members in the company and that Lars Wollung be re-elected as Chairman of the Board.

DETERMINATION OF NUMBER OF AUDITORS AND DEPUTIES AND ELECTION OF AUDITOR (ITEMS 12 AND 13)

The Audit Committee proposes that there should be one auditor with no deputies and that the auditing firm Ernst & Young shall be re-elected as auditor until the close of the next Annual General Meeting (with authorized public accountant Anna Svanberg as auditor in charge). The above proposals are submitted by the Audit Committee as the company do not have a nomination committee. The above-mentioned shareholders have informed the company that they support the Audit Committee's proposals.

Approval of remuneration report (item 14)

The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolve to approve the Board's remuneration report, pursuant to Chapter 8, Section 53 a of the Swedish Companies Act, for the 2020 fiscal year.

Resolution regarding amendments to the Articles of Association (item 15)

According to Chapter 7, Section 4 and 4 a of the Swedish Companies Act it may be provided for in the articles of association that the Board may decide to collect proxies and that the shareholders shall be able to exercise their voting rights by post before the general meeting.

In order to be able to use the alternatives provided by the Swedish Companies Act with regard to decision on proxies and postal voting the Board proposes, with the wording set out below, that a new article 11 is included in the Articles of Association.

Proposed wording  11 Collection of proxies and postal voting

The Board of Directors may collect proxies pursuant to the procedure stated in Chapter 7, Section 4, second paragraph of the Swedish Companies Act. The Board of Directors may decide before a General Meeting that the shareholders shall be able to exercise their voting rights by post before the General Meeting pursuant to the procedure stated in Chapter 7, Section 4 a of the Swedish Companies Act.

The Board proposes that the CEO be authorized to make such minor amendments of the proposal as may be required in connection with the registration with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

The proposal requires an approval of shareholders representing at least two-thirds of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the Annual General Meeting to be valid.

NUMBER OF SHARES AND VOTES AND INFORMATION ON HOLDING OF OWN SHARES

The total number of shares in the company at the date of this invitation is 34,282,773, of which 8,454,975 are Series A shares and 25,827,798 are Series B shares, which means that there is a total of 110,377,548 votes in the company. The company holds no own shares.

AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTS AND OTHER ISSUES

The Annual Report, the Board's Report in accordance with Chapter 8, Section 53 a of the Swedish Companies Act and the Auditor's Report in accordance with Chapter 8, Section 54 of the Swedish Companies Act are presented by being held available at the company's offices and on the company's website, www.raysearchlabs.com, no later than from and including May 5, 2021. The documents will be sent to those shareholders who have provided notice that they wish to receive such information from the company. Information about persons proposed as members of the Board are available at the company's website. The general meeting share register will be available at the company's head office, Sveavagen 44, SE-103 65 Stockholm, Sweden.

PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

For information on how your personal data is processed, see https://www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor-engelska.pdf.

*********

Stockholm, April 2021

Board of Directors

Contacts:

RaySearch Laboratories

Sveavagen 44 10365 Stockholm

+46 8 510 530 00

+46 8 545 061 39

http://www.raysearchlabs.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/r/invitation-to-annual-general-meeting-2021,c3332546

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1102/3332546/1406662.pdf Invitation to Annual General Meeting 2021

SOURCE RaySearch Laboratories
- Envision debuts "Envision Ark System", an end-to-end system on carbon management

- Sequoia Capital China, Envision launch eco-partner project to boost net-zero technology innovation and application

SHANGHAI, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Envision Group, a world-leading green technology company, today released its first carbon neutrality report. Envision commits to be carbon neutral in its operations by 2022 and in its entire value chain by 2028, which will make it the first Chinese company to reach the full value chain carbon neutrality goal. The renewable energy technology giant made the commitment at Envision's Net Zero Day in Shanghai.

Zhang Lei, CEO of Envision Group said "addressing the challenges posed by climate change are critical to the survival of humanity. As a green technology company, Envision's mission is to solve the challenges for a sustainable future. We have set up a challenging goal and roadmap for ourselves: we will take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality, empower our partners to accelerate carbon neutrality, and help build a net-zero economic system."

With the support of The Carbon Trust, an international independent consulting organization, Envision has calculated the carbon emissions across its global operations and value chain, and analyzed the emissions for different business sectors and regions Envision operates in.

The detailed report disclosed environmental data across Envision Group's operations and value chain: In 2020, the group's scope 1&2 emissions were approximately 97,225 tCO2e, primarily from the Envision AESC battery business. With the rapid growth in smart wind turbines, power batteries, and AloT, Envision Group's carbon emissions are expected to increase substantially in 2022. In order to become carbon neutral in operations by 2022, Envision is estimated to reduce or offset over 400,000 tCO2e through conserving energy, increasing green electricity consumption, purchasing carbon credits, etc.

"It is not enough for Envision to be an industry pioneer, but to become a net-zero technology partner as well. We want to help more companies and governments to achieve carbon neutrality together," Zhang Lei added.

At the "Net Zero Day" event, Envision debuted the "Envision Ark Carbon Management System". This system is based on AloT technology that can monitor the real-time carbon footprints of companies and organizations, and automatically generate carbon-emission reports. The Ark system can also simulate and optimize the emission reduction roadmap for future offset planning, while allowing users to directly purchase green electricity, obtain green certificates, and trade carbon sinks. With Envision's Ark Carbon Management System, companies and organizations benefit from an end-to-end solution that can accelerate their carbon neutral transformation.

In 2020, more than 95% of Envision's greenhouse gas emissions came from indirect emissions in the value chain, beyond Envision's day-to-day operations. Regarding the upstream and downstream emissions, Envision will speed up emission reduction from two-pronged approach: focusing internally on product optimization, and externally on supplier engagement. In the report, Envision pledges to join the "Business Ambition for 1.5C" and set science-based targets aligned with the Paris Agreement. Envision will submit the targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

At the event, Envision and Sequoia Capital China jointly launched the "Carbon Neutrality Key Technologies" Eco-Partners Project, part of the Carbon Neutrality Fund jointly established by Envision and Sequoia Capital China. The project aims to help accelerate innovation of carbon neutrality technology, form new industrial chains and promote technology application.

Since its establishment in 2007, Envision has designed and manufactured more than 12,500 wind turbines connected to grids globally, with a cumulative output of over 150,000 GWh of clean electricity, which reduce about 100 million tCO2e. Nearly 600,000 electric vehicles have installed power batteries produced by Envision AESC. Compared with traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, these EVs are estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 660,000 tCO2e per year. Envision Digital's world-leading AloT operating system EnOS manages more than 200GW of renewable energy assets, equivalent to the newly added installed capacity globally in 2020 for wind and solar energy.

"The next ten years will be a critical time for humankind to respond to the global climate crisis. The release of the first carbon neutral report is not only to show our ambitions to our partners, but also to show confidence in our technological innovations and solutions," Zhang Lei said.

To download the Chinese and English versions of the report, please visit: http://www.envision-group.com/cn/zeroday2021.html



About Envision Group

Envision Group is a world leading greentech company. With the mission of 'solving the challenges for a sustainable future', Envision designs, sells and operates smart wind turbines and smart storage system through Envision Energy, AIoT-powered batteries through Envision AESC and the world's largest AIoT operating system through Envision Digital. It also owns Envision Virgin Racing Formula E team.

Envision Group was ranked among the Top 10 of the 2019 'World's 50 Smartest Companies' by the MIT Technology Review. As an innovation powerhouse, it leverages global network of R&D and engineering centers across China, Unite States, Germany, Denmark, Singapore and Japan, leading global green technology development. Envision Group joined the global 'RE100' initiative and became the first company in mainland China committed to 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

On April 22, 2021, Envision Group announced it will achieve carbon neutral in operations by 2022 and achieve carbon neutral throughout its value chain by 2028.

For more information, please visit: www.envision-group.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1495154/Envision_promises_to_be_operation_level_carbon_neutral_by_2022.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1495152/Zhang_Lei__CEO_of_Envision_Group.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1495153/Envision_Sequoia_Capital_launched_Eco_Partners_Project.jpg
A plane equipped with Fire Boss water apparatus can hold up to 800 gallons to dump on a fire. Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture made the $1.5 million offer in the wake of wildfires that since 2017 have burned about half the county and destroyed about 1,500 structures.

The idea is that the two Fire Boss planes run by Dauntless Air would be ready to take off as soon as a local wildfire broke out, wetting it down to help keep it in check. Planes could scoop water out of Lake Berryessa and Lake Hennessey.

County Supervisor Belia Ramos said the Cal Fire message is that the Fire Boss is the wrong tool.

Board of Supervisors Chairperson Alfredo Pedroza didnt rule out having Napa County create an initial aerial fire response capability of its own. He said he wants to see how added Cal Fire resources this fire season work out.

Cal Fire earlier this month announced it will base a helicopter in Napa County capable of dropping 1,000 gallons of water on a fire and then scoop more out of local reservoirs. It will also add 46 people to staff a 24-hour fire crew. The cost is $3 million.

Pedroza asked what happens when there are multiple fires in the state and Cal Fire resources are shared.
WarnerMedias Cartoon Network today announced three new originals, in various stages of development and production, featuring four animated icons. These include the development of a short-form Tom and Jerry pilot, which sees for the first time the classic cat-and-mouse duo transplanted to the of Asia-Pacific region. The production of Lamput Meets Tuzki, a special starring two well-known characters hailing from India and China, has also commenced, while the network has confirmed that work will soon begin on the fourth season of Lamput.

Leslie Lee, Head of Kids APAC, WarnerMedia, commented: Audiences have been laughing at Tom and Jerrys chase antics for over 80 years. But this is the first time were looking at transporting the frenemies to our region, and reimagining their antics in an authentic and distinctly local context. We are working closely with Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank to bring these new adventures to life.

In 2020, the legendary tales of the cat-and-mouse duo were launched in India with a thought-over commentary, for the first time in regional languages of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The local-language narration track added another layer of immersive, localized storytelling and was met with a great response from fans.

Lamput Meets Tuzki is a 7-minute special that brings together for the first time two legendary WarnerMedia IP created in India and China. Tuzki, a Chinese rabbit, is a hit with young adults and has found a wide following on instant messaging apps, consumer products and through an animated series. In 2018, celebrated Indian fashion designer Manish Arora created a Tuzki-inspired lifestyle collection that premiered at the prestigious Paris Fashion Week. The collection was available in China and India, expanding Tuzkis popularity well beyond its homeland.

Lamput, a gooey orange blob and master of disguise, is an Emmy-nominated Cartoon Network original property born in India. This non-dialogue, slapstick chase comedy by Mumbai-based Vaibhav Studios won the Best Childrens Programme at Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020, for the third time in a row. It was also nominated for an International Kids Emmy award, a first for any Indian production.

Lee continued, Guided by Carlene Tan, who heads up our original productions for Kids APAC, these two milestone projects are testament to our commitment to authentic storytelling. We look forward to continuing to champion Cartoon Networks mission to unify our fans through more laughter, and even bigger and bolder adventures!

The Lamput Meets Tuzki special is scheduled for mid-2021 and we anticipate even more Lamput adventures to come. Cartoon Network Asia Pacific has also greenlit a brand new fourth season of Lamput, which will go into production in the second half of 2021.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 23 : Both the traditional rivals in Kerala's political rubric, the ruling Left and the Congress-led Opposition, on Friday launched attacks on the vaccine distribution policy of the Narendra Modi government, terming it "flawed".

Economist-turned-politician Minister Thomas Issac, who completed 10 years as state Finance Minister over two terms, coined a new statement "between Covid and Modi" to replace the popular usage of "between the devil and the deep sea".

"Vaccines should be given for free and this is the first time in the history of the country, vaccines will have to be paid for. Modi is following the 'penny wise pound foolish' policy and it has already caused a huge dent to our country. He is stingy when it comes to giving out vaccines, which are the most needed at this time. Rs 35,000 crore was set aside in the budget and everyone pointed out it was less, but now they are not prepared to spend Rs 80,000 crore for vaccines. On account of the raging Covid, if the expected 12 per cent economic growth fails to take place, just imagine the massive loss that will happen," said an angry Issac.

"It is strange that there is a differential price system that has been announced for vaccines. For the Centre, the vaccine is priced at Rs 150, for states, it is Rs 400 and Rs 600 for private hospitals. The very same people who were speaking of 'One Nation' have dumped it when it comes to precious human lives. They have been speaking of Rs 20 lakh crore package and they might well use it for vaccines," he said.

Noting that Kerala will have to raise Rs 1,100 crore for vaccines, Issac said that it will do it.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala termed the vaccine policy of the Centre as a "mad one".

"The way things are going on... the Country is facing its worst-ever crisis, it is pretty bad. Advance warning was given that there might be a shortage of oxygen, but nothing was done and see what has happened. Likewise, when vaccines should be rightfully given free of cost, the Centre has thrown its citizens to the mercy of vaccine manufacturers, who are making merry when people are suffering. People should be given free vaccines," he said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
China's top political advisor holds talks with speaker of Polish Senate

Xinhua) 14:23, April 23, 2021

Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, meets with Tomasz Grodzki, speaker of the Polish Senate (upper house), via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Thursday met with Tomasz Grodzki, speaker of the Polish Senate (upper house), via video link, pledging to enhance friendly exchanges with Poland.

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, said China has attached great importance to China-Poland relations and prioritized the bilateral ties in its cooperation with Europe.

Wang called on both sides to implement the consensus and strategic guidance reached by the two heads of state on issues such as China-Poland relations and anti-epidemic cooperation, strengthen friendly exchanges and promote common development.

Wang also said the CPPCC is ready to enhance its ties with the Polish Senate and all sectors of Polish society to push the development of China-Poland comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

Grodzki said Poland is willing to play an active role in promoting the healthy and stable development of cooperation between central-eastern European countries and China and further strengthening EU-China relations.

Poland is willing to work together with China to continue to reinforce pragmatic cooperation in various fields and score new achievements in bilateral ties, Grodzki added.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
Yves here. One point to add to Ilargis high-level recap of the bizarre allegations the US is making about Russia, apparently to justify a confrontation over Ukraine: Russia has zero interest in occupying the eastern part of Ukraine, often referred to as Donbass. Its an economic basket case and would be a burden. But Russia most assuredly does not want the US and NATO using Ukraine to put yet more men and materiel on Russias doorstep.

So having said that, Im skeptical of the evacuees idea. Im pinging Mark Ames and John Helmer and will update this post if they have anything to add. Update: Helmer did not mince words:

While his head was under water, the Russians have won the most significant military defeat of US and proxy forces in half a century.

Helmer then decided to elaborate. From the start of a new post:

It has been 46 years since the evacuation of the US Embassy in Saigon. Not since then have US forces under the direction of the State Department suffered such a defeat in the face of superior defending military force. Until these days. The Bornholm operation in Baltic Sea on March 29-31; the Donbass disengagement announced on April 1 by Ukrainian chief of the general staff, Ruslan Khomchak; then the Black Sea mission-abort of the USS Donald Cook and USS Roosevelt on April 14  this has been a three-front defeat of the Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Under Secretary for war against Russia, Victoria Nuland (nee Nudelman), and their Polish and Ukrainian proxies. No Russian shot has been fired; no Russian life lost. Marshal Mikhail Kutuzovs golden bridge strategy has allowed the adversary to make an orderly retreat from the Russian red line. The final stage of the exercise of the Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces, which took place within the framework of a snap preparedness check, ended at the Opuk [Crimea] range today, announced Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on April 22. The forces successfully accomplished every training mission in providing military security to the southern borders of the Russian Federation. I believe that the goals of the snap inspection have been fully achieved. The troops demonstrated the ability to reliably defend the country. Shoigu followed by a few hours the announcement on April 21 by President Vladimir Putin: Hopefully, it wont occur to anyone to cross the so-called red line in regard to Russia, and well decide where this line goes by ourselves in every particular case.

The red line in the Donbass had been announced on April 8 by Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlins chief negotiator for Ukraine: In the event of the resumption of large-scale military operations in the Donbass, Russia will be forced to stand up for its citizens By February more than 600 thousand residents of the DPR and LPR had received Russian passports.

By Raul Ilargi Meijer, editor of Automatic Earth. Originally published at Automatic Earth

Joe Biden declares a national emergency, calls Putin a killer, slaps more sanctions on Russia, for which he has his Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken declare that Today, we announced actions to hold the Russian Government to account for the SolarWinds intrusion, reports of bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and attempts to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections,  and then invites Putin for a summit.

For the SolarWinds intrusion, the US has never provided any evidence at all, the Russian bounties story was -finally- fully debunked well before Blinken made his statement -which makes him look very incompetent-, and the election interference narrative is by now just too dumb to even get into. No evidence for it whatsoever after 2 years of the Mueller investigation, but now Putins at it again? Who did he want to win, then? Trump again, after apparently not even trying in 2016?

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky states that his country should urgently be made a full member of both NATO and the EU, and has his own proxy, Ukraines ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, solemnly claim that not just The only possibility for this [to prevent alleged invasion plans] is for Ukraine to finally become a NATO member, but also that Ukraine has no other choice: either we are part of an alliance such as NATO and are doing our part to make this Europe stronger, or we have the only option  to arm by ourselves, and maybe think about nuclear status again. And then Zelensky invites Putin for a summit. In the Donbass, no less.

These people are all as insincere as they possibly could be, but they trust that this doesnt matter anymore. The western media have been planting the Putin is a monster seeds in their readers and viewers for many years now, and critical thought has long since left the building. Yes, that is the ultimate effect of whats called propaganda, and as long as the sheeple victims dont recognize it as such, it works like a charm.

Ive been wondering for a long time why Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin as his successor in 1999, and I cant find much information on it. Yeltsin was a US asset, and sold out his country to the CIA and a bunch of CIA-asset homegrown oligarchs. Ive always suspected that when Yeltsin left, he felt a lot of regret for what he had done to Russia, and that maybe appointing Putin was his way to try and make up for that. I see people saying that Yeltsin thought Putin was pliable, but I think perhaps he knew exactly how Putin thought.

A detail: remember that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, male life expectancy for a period of time feel from a very steep cliff. And nothing Yeltsin did provided a solution to that crisis. Then, in August 1999, he appointed Putin as his prime minister, and didnt leave a year later as planned, but 4 months later, in December. His chief of staff, Valentin Yumashev , who had hired Putin as his deputy in 1997, wrote his resignation speech:

Mr Yumashev was entrusted with writing Yeltsins resignation speech. It was a hard speech to write. It was clear the text would go down in history. The message was important. Thats why I wrote the famous line Forgive me. Russians had suffered such shock and stress during the 1990s. Yeltsin had to speak about this.

Back to today. All economic -and other- sanctions against Russia since Putin first became president have led to one thing only: the country has dramatically increased its self-sufficiency. And in the process has upgraded its weapons arsenal to a level that no western country even comes close to, including the US, for maybe 10% of what the same US has spent on its own arsenal.

Russias latest generation of hypersonic missiles, against which no country has any defense, are far superior to what anybody else possesses. When they said recently they could take out a specific building in Kyiv if they wanted, they were not exaggerating. So yeah, look for Biden and Blinken and NATO et al to soon start using that superiority as a reason to incite more war vs Moscow.

A war they could never win, but thats not the point any longer. One might argue of course that it never was after the advent of nuclear weapons. The whole point of NATO today, its raison detre, is that it can create chaos wherever it goes and looks. Its no longer capable of defending anyone from the Russian threat, but then that threat hasnt been there for many years.

And NATO wants to continue existing, as does the Pentagon, and Boeing and Raytheon, its all about money, so they have to make up a threat, aided by their media brethren. Thats why you see, from time to time, reports about Putin having yet another person poisoned, why governments in countries like the UK and Germany go along with the narrative, and why media in all other vassal states parrot these stories.

In that vein, the story this week out of Czechia, which expelled 18 Russian diplomats, kind of sets a new standard in absolute nonsense.

The Czech organised crime squad (NCOZ) said it was looking for two men using Russian passports in relation to the explosions. The passports bear the names of Alexander Petrov, born in 1979, and Ruslan Boshirov, born in 1978, and their holders are also wanted in Britain in connection with Skripals poisoning in Salisbury.

Mark Ames reaction to this on Twitter is so good, Im not going to try to beat him to it: : If I understand this right, apparently GRU thought itd be smart to use the same 2 spies to carry out 2 separate deadly operations in NATOland  2014 bombing in Czech Rep, 2018 Skripal poisoning  using exact same aliases & fake passports in both operations.

Now that the west has lost its military superiority, all thats left for it to claim is some sort of intelligence superiority, so it portrays Russians as really dumb people. Putin tries to poison one person after another, invariably people who are no threat to him at all, with the deadliest poisons on the planet, and fails time and again. Navalny is a US asset who gets 2% max of votes in a poll, Skripal is a former military intel officer who was allowed to go to the UK after being exposed as a double-agent (!), but they fit the 20+ year old narrative of Putin as Pol Pot. Stories. They are all that counts. Reality, not so much. Bernays and Goebbels are having a ton of fun in their own private hells.

So how will the Ukraine episode be resolved? Not easy. Making the worlds 2nd-most corrupt country a full member of NATO is out of the question, Russia will never accept that. Which is why the west is pushing it. Ukraine with nukes is even more preposterous, if that is possible (hard call). Dmitry Orlov suggested a solution the other day about which I have major question marks, but hes Russian and Im not, so take a look:

Putins Ukrainian Judo

The answer, I believe, is obvious: evacuation. There are around 3.2 million residents in Donetsk Peoples Republic and 1.4 million in Lugansk Peoples Republic, for a total of some 4.6 million residents. This may seem like a huge number, but its moderate by the scale of World War II evacuations. Keep in mind that Russia has already absorbed over a million Ukrainian migrants and refugees without much of a problem. Also, Russia is currently experiencing a major labor shortage, and an infusion of able-bodied Russians would be most welcome. Domestically, the evacuation would likely be quite popular: Russia is doing right by its own people by pulling them out of harms way. The patriotic base would be energized and the already very active Russian volunteer movement would swing into action to assist the Emergencies Ministry in helping move and resettle the evacuees. The elections that are to take place later this year would turn into a nationwide welcoming party for several million new voters. The Donbass evacuation could pave the way for other waves of repatriation that are likely to follow. There are some 20 million Russians scattered throughout the world, and as the world outside Russia plunges deeper and deeper into resource scarcity they too will want to come home. While they may presently be reluctant to do so, seeing the positive example of how the Donbass evacuees are treated could help change their minds. The negative optics of surrendering territory can be countered by not surrendering any territory. As a guarantor of the Minsk Agreements, Russia must refuse to surrender the Donbass to the Ukrainian government until it fulfills the terms of these agreements, which it has shown no intention of doing for seven years now and which it has recently repudiated altogether. [..] The West would be left with the following status quo. The Donbass is empty of residents but off-limits to them or to the Ukrainians. The evacuation would in no sense change the standing or the negotiating position of the evacuees and their representatives vis-a-vis the Minsk agreements, locking this situation in place until Kiev undertakes constitutional reform, becomes a federation and grants full autonomy to Donbass, or until the Ukrainian state ceases to exist and is partitioned. The Ukraine would be unable to join NATO (a pipe dream which it has stupidly voted into its constitution) since this would violate the NATO charter, given that it does not control its own territory. Further sanctions against Russia would become even more difficult to justify, since it would be untenable to accuse it of aggression for undertaking a humanitarian mission to protect its own citizens or for carrying out its responsibilities as a guarantor of the Minsk agreements. The Donbass would remain as a stalker zone roamed by Russian battlefield robots sniping Ukrainian marauders, with the odd busload of schoolchildren there on a field trip to lay flowers on the graves of their ancestors. Its ruined Soviet-era buildings, not made any newer by three decades of Ukrainian abuse and neglect, will bear silent witness to the perpetual ignominy of the failed Ukrainian state.

Dmitry suggests 4.6 million people leave the Donbass so peace may be restored. But most of those people grew up there, and so did their families. And largely peacefully so, until the US and NATO, John McCain and Victoria Nuland and Geoffrey Pyatt, tried to take over Ukraine. Why should Russia, instead of protecting these people where they live, migrate them and protect them in Russia? Anyone ask for their own opinion?

There would be a giant empty piece of land where they once lived, in a kind of demilitarized zone? And what then? Nobody in Ukraine would come up with the idea to move into the empty land? And if they did, Russia would have to shoot them from Russian territory? I sort of see the reasoning of course, but not all of it. It only seems to work if you see Russia, and the Russians in the Donbass, as the aggressors.

Were they? Are they? Russia only sprung into action when the west tried to take away their sole warm water port, Sevastopol in Crimea. An election was held, and 97% of mostly Russians voted to be part of Russia. Yeah, that upset NATO and the other usual suspects, but that doesnt make Russia an aggressor.

Russia has no reason to invade Ukraine. They dont need even more territory, theyre already by far the largest nation on earth. Moreover, they dont have the military to occupy large swaths of land. They only have the capacity to protect their own.

Thing is, they really got that down. So the only thing NATO can do, in its quest to prove it has reason to exist, is to create chaos, as I said before. But there is a problem with consciously creating chaos between nuclear powers, instead of maintaining communication channels, as the US and USSR always did during the Cold War. Do we all understand this means we are in a worse situation today than back then? That all those expulsions of diplomats only make the situation worse?

And that some fool could actually fire a nuclear missile because of that? Me, Im not so sure anymore. Between the Covid virus and the US cancel culture, there are not that many western people paying attention to warmongers and NATO aka warheads. Not a good idea.
Snoop Dogg implied he smoked marijuana with Barack Obama in lyrics for his new song, Gang Signs.

The 49-year-old rap legend released his latest 10-track album, From Tha Streets 2 Tha Suites, on Tuesday.

In the questionable lyrics, Snoop sings: 'Still sippin' gin and juice while I'm smoking marijuana / I bet you never blew with Obama.'

Ain't No Fun: Snoop Dogg implied he smoked marijuana with Barack Obama in lyrics for his new song, Gang Signs; seen in 2020

It's unclear if Snoop has actually smoked marijuana with the president or first lady, but he has admitted to smoking at the White House.

In a 2014 episode of GGN: The Double G News Network with Jimmy Kimmel, Snoop recalled a time where he lit up.

'Have you ever smoked at the White House?' guest Jimmy Kimmel asked.

Doggy Dogg World: It's unclear if Snoop has actually smoked marijuana with the president or first lady, but he has admitted to smoking at the White House

'Not in the White House  but in the bathroom. Because I said, "May I use the bathroom for a second?" and they said, "What are you going to do? No. 1 or No. 2?"

'I said, "No. 2,"' Snoop added.

'So I said, "Look, when I do the No. 2, I usually, you know, have a cigarette or I light something to get the aroma right,"' Snoop said.

'They said, "You know what? You can light a piece of napkin." I said, "Ill do that." And the napkin was this [indicates blunt].'

Boss: Snoop  who's full name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.  has long been associated with cannabis, but jumped into the business end of the medicinal industry in 2015 when he signed up as a minority investor in the California-based cannabis delivery service Eaze

Snoop  who's full name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.  has long been associated with cannabis, but jumped into the business end of the medicinal industry in 2015 when he signed up as a minority investor in the California-based cannabis delivery service Eaze.

He launched a digital media business focused on marijuana news, Merry Jane, in 2015 shortly before releasing his own brand of products, including marijuana flowers, concentrates and edibles, called Leafs By Snoop.

The LA-based artist recently announced a new venture with his buddy Martha Stewart  a line of BIC lighters.

The unlikely pair first met while sitting next to each other at the Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber in 2015 where Martha admitted to getting a contact high from Snoop, a story she's repeated through the years.
Zenith Energy Ltd - oil & gas production company - Confirms that the current liability in relation to its USD2.5 million convertible loan facility now stands at USD700,000, while outstanding credit agreement with a financial institution in Azerbaijan has been reduced to total amount of USD25,000.

It has amended the terms of the USD2.5 million convertible loan facility and of an existing revolving credit line, extending the current repayment terms.

"We are always seeking to improve our balance sheet by reducing our debt exposure, specifically to convertible loan facilities," says Chief Executive Andrea Cattaneo.

"The board believes the company shall soon be able to settle all outstanding convertible debt instruments in the event it successfully completes and develops the recently announced acquisitions which have the potential to transform the company's revenue position and profitability in the current oil price environment," says Cattaneo.

Current stock price: 0.925 pence

Year-to-date change: down 30%

By Lucy Heming;A lucyheming@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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BENTONVILLE (dpa-AFX) - Walmart Inc. (WMT) today issued its 2021 Annual Report and filed its Proxy Statement in preparation for the company's upcoming virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Walmart said it has made gains in recent years that it will protect, including the value for customers it offers and the lead it has built in pickup services. The company is broadening the scope of products and services it offers to increase relevance in more customers' lives, while layering in a more robust digital experience to improve engagement. And now it will accelerate investments in key areas to support faster sales growth and keep the current asset base fresh. The retailer is reportedly removing 300 of automated pick-up towers inside its stores and 'hibernating' another 1,300 because customers grew accustomed to curbside pick-up during the pandemic - and prefer it. Walmart President and Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon outlined the strategic path forward for the company and touched on the ways Walmart will continue to invest in a more diverse and inclusive workforce. 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.
Vaccine manufacturers would supply 50 per cent of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) released doses to the government of India and would be free to supply the remaining 50 per cent doses to state governments and in the open market. The division of vaccine supply, which would mean 50 per cent to the government of India and 50 per cent to other than the government of India channel would be applicable uniformly across for all vaccines manufactured in the country. "While the Centre has liberalised the vaccination policy, it does not mean that vaccines will be sold in pharmacists or chemist shops in the open market," health secretary Rajesh Bhushan had clarified on Wednesday.The price charged for vaccination by private hospitals would be monitored, he said.

According to the Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy, Covid-19 vaccination will continue to be free for eligible population groups comprising healthcare workers, frontline workers and people above 45 years of age in government vaccination centres, which receive doses from the government of India. Vaccine manufacturers would make an advance declaration of the price for 50 per cent supply that would be available to state governments in the open market before May 1. Based on this price, states, private hospitals, industrial establishments may procure vaccine doses from manufacturers.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A new Republican-backed Ohio elections bill would set limits on the drop boxes in which voters can leave completed absentee ballots, including making them available for 20 fewer days compared to the November election, while also eliminating early, in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day.

The bill also would allow Ohioans to apply for absentee ballots online, offering a new alternative to the existing paper form, and permit them to update their voter registration status when they visit the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This would register as voter activity, resetting the clock on the process through which a voter can be purged for inactivity.

It also would let voters use an electronic copy of a utility bill as a form of identification at their polling place, and not just paper copies like existing law.

State Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who is a member of Ohio House leadership, and Rep. Sharon Ray, of Wadsworth, outlined their bill in a memo that went out to colleagues on Thursday seeking co-sponsors. Seitz has described the elections bill as putting into law whats currently a patchwork of court orders, administrative policies and statutory language.

As you can see from the enclosed chart, this balanced bill will indeed further goal of making voting easy and cheating hard, Seitz and Ray wrote in the memo.

Drop boxes were widely used in Ohio for the first time during last years presidential election. Lawmakers passed an emergency law during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, requiring every county to offer one for the primary election in April. Even though the law lapsed, Secretary of State Frank LaRose then ordered counties to continue to do so through the general election, while fighting lawsuits from Democrats and voter-rights advocates that sought to force him to allow counties to offer more than one. In both the primary and general elections, drop boxes were available throughout Ohios 30-day early voting period.

The new bill would limit them to one site per county, the county board of elections office, although counties could offer up to three boxes on premises. It also would allow counties to offer them during the 10 days before Election Day. Although thats fewer than the 30 days they were available for last years presidential elections, Seitz said the emergency law allowing them was never meant to be permanent, and the 10 days his bill would allow is still greater than the zero days they were available before the pandemic.

Other provisions including moving the deadline to apply for a mail ballot to 10 days before the election, instead of the Saturday before the election, as under existing law. The change, which elections officials said is a more realistic timeline given mail delivery times, was proposed at the request of county boards of election, which also have pushed for eliminating in-person voting on the Monday before the election to give their workers more time to set up for Election Day. The six of hours of voting lost on that Monday would be reallocated to other days at Secretary of State Frank LaRoses discretion.

Requesting an absentee ballot online, a longtime priority LaRose, would require voters to provide both a drivers license or state ID number and the last four digits of their Social Security number. This is identical to the existing proof of identity voters need to provide to register to vote online.

LaRose will work with the legislature as the bill moves forward, said his spokesman, Rob Nichols.

On the heels of Ohios most successful election ever, our election system has earned the confidence of voters because it ensures both inclusive voter access and strong election security, Nichols said. Based on our discussions with House leadership on what will be included in their legislation, the House is to be commended for its efforts to strengthen what is already proven to work in Ohio, particularly for its work to create a modernized voter registration system and a long-overdue, secure online absentee ballot request system.

Jen Miller, president of the League of Women Voters, a voter-rights group, said she is still reviewing the bill.

But, she said she has concerns about a new requirement that voters only use their social security numbers as a form of ID if they dont have a drivers license or state ID.

We need to look at the legislation before we really know, Miller said. In the meantime, we still think the State of Ohio should be increasing drop boxes, having more early vote centers and making sure that these policy changes dont adversely affect active duty military, seniors, people with disabilities, students or those who live far away from the county seat.

In a statement, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters unfavorably compared the new bill to the controversial recent elections law passed in Georgia.

In a state that has set the bar for extreme anti-voter laws, this proposal actively takes steps to put Ohio further back in the fight for access to the voting booth, Walter said. By limiting Ohioans ability to vote and by sowing confusion, statehouse Republicans are once again attacking the fundamental right to vote in this state.

The actual bill language isnt yet available, since it hasnt been formally introduced. Its possible there will be additional provisions included or amended into the bill when and if it advances through the legislative process. It would require approval from the House and Senate and Gov.. Mike DeWines signature to become law.

According to memo, the bill also would:

Declare that ballot harvesting, the practice of collecting absentee ballots en masse to bring them to the Board of Elections, is an illegal form of elections fraud. Handling someone elses ballot, unless youre a direct family member or an elections worker under limited circumstances, already is illegal in Ohio.

Allow 17-year-olds to participate as poll workers. Currently, only 17-year-olds who are seniors in high schools can do so.

Allow the secretary of state to mail unsolicited absentee ballot requests to all Ohio voters, but require legislative approval to pay for postage-paid return envelopes for the applications or the ballots themselves.

An earlier version of Seitzs bill leaked last week, drawing widespread condemnation from Democrats after a progressive group published it on Twitter, describing it as a draconian voter suppression bill. The draft bill was similar to the version described in Thursdays memo, although the older version would have effectively banned ballot drop boxes by making them only available during declared emergencies, while requiring two forms of ID to vote early in person.

Seitz said last week the draft was different from what he would introduce, and several sources familiar with the development of the bill said what was published was multiple versions out of date. Earlier in the process of developing the bill, Seitz privately suggested requiring absentee ballot requests to be notarized, something that Republican lawmakers have proposed in other states, but dropped the idea during talks and moved on.

Fears from Democrats and voting-rights advocates are high after Republican state lawmakers in other key swing states, including Michigan and Georgia, have proposed or passed numerous new restrictions on voting this year, justifying them with former President Donald Trumps bogus claims of widespread voter fraud during last years presidential election.

Numerous courts have rejected Trumps claims, as has his former U.S. attorney general, Department of Justice and top Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Gov. Mike DeWine and Sen. Rob Portman. Trump didnt make fraud claims about the results in Ohio, where he won by 8 points, but Trump supporters successfully persuaded Stark County commissioners to reject the local board of elections request to buy voting machines made by Dominion, a company at the center of a Trump-centric conspiracy theory. The elections board sued, and the case is now in the Ohio Supreme Court.

Georgias bill, a mix of major new restrictions and moderate expansions of early, in-person voting days, became a flashpoint for national controversy. Ohio is among the few states that havent introduced any new voting restrictions, although a Democratic bill, which faces little chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled legislature, would expand drop boxes by allowing counties to set up as many as they wanted.

Before details of Setizs bill became public, Republican state legislative leaders said they didnt expect a forthcoming elections bill to be a dramatic overhaul of the states voting procedures.

House Speaker Bob Cupp, a Lima Republican, said Thursday morning that Ohio has had good clean elections without a lot of controversy.

The biggest controversy... is all the federal lawsuits that are filed as we get near Election Day contesting this and contesting that, he said. So a lot of that, we just want to lock down whats worked well.

Cupp said moving the absentee ballot deadline is a practical necessity, and also criticized Democrats for attacking the bill before it was introduced.

I think it would be a great disservice if people took a practical problem that needs to be solved, and use that as a political sword, to claim things that are absolutely not true, that youre trying to discourage or prevent people from voting, he said.

Senate President Matt Huffman, also a Lima Republican, said on Wednesday that elections bills have been introduced every legislative session for years.

Were going to have an elections bill in Ohio because we always have an elections bill in Ohio, Huffman said. Its just going to depend on what are the things we can clean up. But I dont expect any action out of the General Assembly to radically change our voting process just because weve got a pretty good one. We had a pretty good race, but there are always improvements that can be made.
ZUG, Switzerland, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitcoin Association, the Switzerland-based global industry organisation that works to advance business with the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain, today announces that it has appointed two new Ambassadors for the Asia-Pacific region as part of its global ambassador programme, with George Siosi Samuels appointed as Ambassador for the South Pacific and Masumi Hamahira appointed as another Ambassador for Japan.

Bitcoin Association Ambassadors are experienced professionals from the Bitcoin SV ecosystem who work to raise awareness and improve understanding of the Bitcoin SV blockchain and BSV digital currency, as well as the power of the original Bitcoin protocol to support a massively scaled distributed data network for the world. With today's additions, there are now 22 Bitcoin Association Ambassadors representing 23 different countries and territories.

George Siosi Samuels is the managing director of Faia, a community tech consultancy working to bridge gaps between communities and technology, particularly in small and developing nations and regions. Faia is working together with BSV ecosystem companies nChain and Elas Digital to help the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu build - using the BSV blockchain - the world's first national digital ledger to become the world's first paperless society. In addition, Samuels is the founder of Hona, a BSV blockchain-based social accountability platform that can be utilised across a range of different use cases, including the ability to improve the productivity of remote workers worldwide. Hona was voted the #1 judges' choice during the Draper University Pitching Competition run by venture capitalist Tim Draper's organisation.

Masumi Hamahira is a veteran financial executive, having spent 22 years working for MUFG - the world's fifth-largest bank - including in Malaysia. An expert in the requirements of Islamic Finance, Hamahira also serves on the board of directors for the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIFP). Supporting BSV initiatives in his individual capacity (rather than on behalf of MUFG or CIIFP), Hamihara is an initial member of the Bitcoin SV Technical Standards Committee and already serves as Bitcoin Association's Ambassador for Malaysia. Having relocated from Malaysia to Tokyo, Japan, Hamahira now will also act as a Bitcoin Association Ambassador in Japan (adding to efforts of Ken Shishido, the Association's first appointed Ambassador for the country).

Speaking on today's announcement, Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen, commented:

"As Bitcoin SV continues to demonstrate its utility across a variety of business use cases all over the world, especially in countries in Asia-Pacific, we continue to expand our global Bitcoin Association team to help spread the word and support the ongoing BSV growth story. Both George and Masumi have demonstrated ability as leaders in their respective business fields and as strong advocates for BSV, making them ideal candidates to be new Bitcoin Association Ambassadors for the Asia-Pacific region."

Speaking on his appointment as Bitcoin Association Ambassador to the South Pacific, George Siosi Samuels, said:

"I see huge potential for the Pacific region, not just for BSV adoption, but for the underlying utility of the technology and its ability to offer leapfrogging development that will facilitate future social, cultural and economic growth. While the Pacific region is often overlooked because of its remoteness, I believe that our Pacific nations will be able to draw on our history as master ocean explorers and translate that into mastering the new digital ocean enabled by Bitcoin technology."

Speaking on his appointment as a Bitcoin Association Ambassador to Japan, Masumi Hamahira, said:

"I foresee Bitcoin SV as a driver for innovation as a global public blockchain protocol in the same way that the Internet protocol did, just as I see great potential in Japan for sophisticated corporates to use BSV in new and unique ways. In my new role, I will work to enhance the awareness of BSV among regulators, lawyers, industry associations, developers and academia by leveraging my network as a global banker and working so that we see the beautiful dawn of Bitcoin SV from the Land of the Rising Sun."

About Bitcoin Association

Bitcoin Association is the Switzerland-based global industry organization that works to advance business on the Bitcoin SV blockchain. It brings together essential components of the Bitcoin SV ecosystem - enterprises, start-up ventures, developers, merchants, exchanges, service providers, blockchain transaction processors (miners), and others - working alongside them, as well as in a representative capacity, to drive further use of the Bitcoin SV blockchain and uptake of the BSV digital currency.

The Association works to build a regulation-friendly ecosystem that fosters lawful conduct while facilitating innovation using all aspects of Bitcoin technology. More than a digital currency and blockchain, Bitcoin is also a network protocol; just like Internet protocol, it is the foundational rule set for an entire data network. The Association supports use of the original Bitcoin protocol to operate the world's single blockchain on Bitcoin SV.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1218683/Bitcoin_Association_Logo.jpg
Researchers in Britain have developed the world's most effective malaria vaccine, with it becoming the first to achieve the World Health Organisation-specified 75 percent efficacy goal.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated 77 percent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up.

They hope the vaccine can be approved for use within the next two years, building on the speed and lessons learned through the rapid development of Covid-19 jabs.

Adrian Hill, who is director of the Jenner Institute and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, also led the research behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated 77 percent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up. Malaria is transmitted through mosquitoes (pictured)

As co-author of the paper, he said: 'With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have a major public health impact if licensure is achieved.'

Asked how confident he was that the efficacy could be replicated in the next phase of the trial, Prof Hill told the PA news agency the researchers were 'pretty confident'.

He added: 'And we and others have found that if you vaccinate just before the malaria season, you get maybe a 10 percent improvement or something like that in efficacy - that's not published yet but will be coming out fairly soon from another group.'

When asked if this was the most effective malaria vaccine in the world, Prof Hill said: 'It is in the sense that no other vaccine has had a primary endpoint with over 75 percent efficacy, yes.

'So we're excited about that. But as you know, there's a final phase of testing to go through.'

Prof Hill said researchers hoped to report the results of the final stage of the trial next year.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated 77 percent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up. Pictured: Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, who also led the research behind the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine

What is malaria? Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of mosquitoes - specifically infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. There are five species of parasite that cause malaria in humans, two of which pose the greatest threat around the world. The first - P. falciparum - accounted for 99.7 percent of estimated malaria cases in Africa, 50 percent of cases in the South-East Asia Region, 71 percent of cases in the Eastern Mediterranean and 65 percent in the Western Pacific, according to WHO data. The second, called P. vivax, is the predominant parasite in the Region of the Americas, representing 75 percent of malaria cases. Symptoms Malaria is an acute febrile illness, which is generally defined as a fever that subsides by itself in three weeks. In the case of malaria, the fever is accompanied by headache and chills. The symptoms may be mild to begin with, and difficult to recognise. However, if not treated within 24 hours, P. falciparum malaria can progress to severe illness, often leading to death. Children with severe malaria frequently develop one or more of the following symptoms: severe anaemia, respiratory distress in relation to metabolic acidosis, or cerebral malaria, according to the WHO. Multi-organ failure in adults is also frequent. Who is at risk? In 2019, nearly half of the world's population was at risk of malaria. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, but South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, Western Pacific, and the Americas are also at risk. Some groups of people are at much higher risk than others. These include infants, children under the age of five, pregnant women and patients with HIV/AIDS, as well as non-immune migrants and mobile populations. Prevention and treatment There are a number of ways to prevent malaria, with 'vector control' - the control of the mosquitoes themselves - being seen as the most effective. The WHO recommends two methods - insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying - as being effective against the insects. Antimalarial medicines can also be used to prevent malaria, such as chemoprophylaxis, which suppresses the blood stage of malaria infections, thereby preventing malaria disease. Many of the same antimalarial medicines used to prevent malaria can also be used to treat the disease. However, if you've taken an antimalarial to prevent malaria, you shouldn't take the same one to treat it, according to the NHS. Vaccines There is currently only one vaccine to date that has shown it can significant reduce malaria, and life-threatening severe malaria, in young African children - RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S). It acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria, and is found to prevent approximately 4 in 10 cases. World health bodies will be hoping that the Oxford-developed R21/Matrix-M vaccine will be another weapon in the arsenal against malaria. Advertisement

He told PA: 'Malaria killed at least four times as many more people in Africa last year as Covid did.

'And nobody for a moment questioned whether Covid should have an emergency use review and authorisation in Africa - of course it did, very quickly.

'So why shouldn't a disease that firstly kills children rather than older people, certainly killed an awful lot more, be prioritised for emergency use authorisation in Africa?

'Nobody's really ever asked that question before Covid, but we're going to do so, and have been doing so, and regulators are sounding interested.

'Normally this would take three to five years to do a phase three trial - in that time 300,000 children in Africa will die every year of malaria.

'Why should it take that long?

'We think that there is a similar case for deploying malaria vaccines early to save lives, that there is for deploying Covid vaccines.'

The first scientific report for a malaria vaccine was published in 1910, the first trial of a malaria vaccine took place in the 1940s, and 140 malaria vaccines have gone into clinical testing.

Prof Hill said there had been no shortage of effort, but it had just been incredibly difficult.

He was in the room when the World Health Organisation (WHO) set the target of 75 percent, and suggested the percentage when there was discussion on what number to settle on.

Prof Hill said: 'They gave a target and the WHO is famous for giving targets that would be, to be polite, aspirational.

'This one was 75 percent efficacy by 2030. Here we are in 2021 aiming for licensure in two years.

'So for once we might get there, well before the target, which would be very, very good.'

He told PA: 'I've been working on malaria vaccines since 1994 - it is not 111 years but sometimes it feels a bit like that.

'This is great, fantastic. We saw the first look at these results after six months last year and we were, we were thrilled.

'This is a great day - we need to build on this, we need to keep all our ducks in a row, we need to avoid any safety signal, but I think the odds are now on our side, we can get this through.'

Professor Charlemagne Ouedraogo, minister of health in Burkina Faso, said: 'Malaria is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in Africa.

'We have been supporting trials of a range of new vaccine candidates in Burkina Faso and these new data show that licensure of a very useful new malaria vaccine could well happen in the coming years.

'That would be an extremely important new tool for controlling malaria and saving many lives.'

The randomised, controlled, double-blind trial was conducted at the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro/Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante, Burkina Faso.

There were 450 participants, aged five to 17 months, who were split into three groups, with the first two groups receiving either a low dose or a high dose of the vaccine candidate.

The third group received a rabies vaccination as the control group.

Doses were administered from early May 2019 to early August 2019, largely prior to the peak malaria season.

The study, published on SSRN/Preprints with The Lancet, reports a vaccine efficacy of 77 percent in the higher-dose adjuvant group, and 71 percent in the lower-dose adjuvant group, over 12 months of follow-up.

Researchers did not note any serious adverse events related to the vaccine.

According to the WHO, in 2019 there were an estimated 229 million cases of Malaria worldwide, resulting in an estimated 409,000 deaths.

Children under the age of 5 years old are the most vulnerable group affected, accounting for 67 percent of the globe's malaria deaths in 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 21:53:07|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Feb. 1, 2020 shows a glacier in the Weddell Sea off the Antarctic continent. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping)

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Climate change is not a problem for one or two countries, but a defining global issue that requires the joint actions of all human society without delay.

Doing so will also bring opportunities for broader global cooperation, which is desperately needed at a time when the world is facing the threats of growing anti-globalization sentiment, populism, unilateralism and protectionism.

While addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a six-point proposal on building a community of life for man and nature, including green development, systemic governance, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

The proposal reflects China's pursuit of fostering a new man-nature relationship where they can both prosper and live in harmony.

As the world's largest developing country, China has attached high priority to dealing with climate change. In September last year, China announced that it would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

Achieving these goals will require extraordinarily hard efforts, but China is determined to take concrete actions to fulfill its commitment.

In the meantime, developed countries should make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen their capacity for and resilience against climate change, and refrain from creating green trade barriers.

As many other pressing tasks are waiting to be undertaken by the international community that is wrestling with COVID-19, joint efforts on decarbonization could be a good start. China looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance.

Recently, China and the United States issued a joint statement, vowing to cooperate with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis.

The two countries once conducted fruitful cooperation in response to climate change. As the previous U.S. administration took a big step back in its climate actions, it is time for Washington to fill in the gap created over the last four years and reassure the world that it is serious about climate change.

Countries must join hands to tackle climate change rather than point fingers at each other. Climate change should not be a geopolitical bargaining chip, a tool for attacking other countries, or an excuse for trade barriers. No country should expect others to offer their support in bilateral and global affairs if it blatantly interferes in others' domestic issues and undermines their interests.

As long as countries unite in their purposes and efforts, and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, the world will rise above the global climate and environmental challenges and leave behind a clean and beautiful world for future generations. 
She recently admitted the constant stream of free PR gifts she receives is difficult to handle because she doesn't 'feel safe' with so many people knowing her address.

And Molly-Mae Hague cut a chic figure as she stepped out for a business meeting with her agent at The Ivy in Manchester on Friday afternoon.

The Love Island star, 21, looked every inch the business woman in a white blazer and high-neck black jumper as she strutted her stuff along the pavement.

Fashionista: Molly-Mae Hague cut a chic figure as she stepped out for a business meeting with her agent at The Ivy in Manchester on Friday afternoon

Molly-Mae completed her look with flared black trousers and white leather boots as she made a stylish exit from the swanky eatery.

The reality star accessorised perfectly with a quilted black leather Chanel bag and wore trendy sunglasses as she stepped out.

She wore her blonde tresses in a blow-dried straight style and opted for a subtly bronzed makeup look.

Style: The Love Island star, 21, looked every inch the business woman in a white blazer and high-neck black jumper as she strutted her stuff along the pavement

Lunch meeting: Molly-Mae completed her look with flared black trousers and white leather boots as she made a stylish exit from the swanky eatery

Molly-Mae also took to her Instagram on Friday to share a snap of her stylish outfit and gave fans a glimpse of her alfresco lunch via her Story.

It comes after the star admitted the constant stream of free PR gifts she receives is difficult to handle because she doesn't 'feel safe' with so many people knowing her address.

In a recent video uploaded to her YouTube channel, the influencer revealed that she'd been forced to fork out 'a lot of money' on 24-hour security after fearing for her personal safety.

Meeting up: The reality star accessorised perfectly with a quilted black leather Chanel bag and wore trendy sunglasses as she stepped out with her agent and a friend

Radiant: She wore her blonde tresses in a blow-dried straight style and opted for subtly bronzed makeup look

Worry: It comes after the star admitted the constant stream of free PR gifts she receives is difficult to handle because she doesn't 'feel safe' with so many people knowing her address

Molly-Mae bemoaned that the influx of post is 'really hard' and believes that one brand sent her new address in Cheshire around to other companies, resulting in the barrage of parcels.

However, the Love Island star, who is a brand ambassador for PrettyLittleThing, was quick to insist that she is grateful for the presents and understands that people are just trying to get their business 'out there'.

Speaking to the camera from her bed, Molly-Mae explained: 'I'm not sure I've mentioned this before but I now have to pay a lot of money a month for an extremely high security for the apartment.

Posing up a storm: Molly-Mae also took to her Instagram on Friday to share a snap of her stylish outfit

'I had a few incidents, I just don't really feel safe anywhere anymore. I didn't feel safe in our last apartment, I don't really feel safe here.

'I don't really feel safe anywhere anymore because I just feel like no matter how much you try and keep your life private, when you're in the public eye your life is never private.'

She added: 'It honestly baffles me. I have no understanding how but the amount of PR packages I receive every single day from people all over the UK that know my address.

Swanky: Molly also took to her Instagram Story to give her fans a glimpse of her alfresco lunch on Friday

'I feel like one brand got hold of my address and have just sent it round. All these different people know my address.

'As much as I appreciate PR parcels and I know people want to get their businesses out there. It is really hard.'

The social media star went on to detail an incident where one fan drove five hours and rang her gated complex to try and see her, with Molly-Mae pointing out she feels particularly vulnerable when her boxy beau Tommy Fury, 21, is not at home.

'I don't feel safe': Molly-Mae recently admitted the constant stream of free PR gifts she receives is difficult to handle because she doesn't 'feel safe' with so many people knowing her address

'The other day I actually had someone turn up at the front gate ringing the gate saying they travelled five hours to the town they knew I lived and then just drove all around where we lived to find our house.'

Molly-Mae admitted the incident made her reassess her own safety and decided, for her own peace of mind, to hire 24-hour security.

She said: 'I've basically redone the whole security plan for the next month so I have a permanent security car sat outside the apartment so I know I am 100 percent safe.

Difficult: The influencer bemoaned that the influx of post is 'really hard' and believes that one brand sent her new address in Cheshire around to other companies, resulting in the barrage of parcels.

'When Tommy is here it's one thing but when I am here by myself I just want that reassurance that I am 100 percent safe.'

Molly-Mae went on to say she didn't want to sound like she was complaining but felt it was important to update her followers.

She said: 'I'm sure you wouldn't like it if people knew where you guys lived and I never want to sound like I am complaining, it's just one of those situations that are hard to explain.'

The couple are currently renting the 1.3million flat as they hunt for their dream home.

The moved into the Cheshire apartment last year after leaving their former Manchester abode just one week after their puppy Mr Chai died.

Molly-Mae regularly shows her followers the interior of her home on social media, with the apartment boasting a huge open plan kitchen and living area, a room she has converted into a walk-in wardrobe and luxurious bedroom.
PITTSBURGH, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InventHelp has been named the winner of a 2021 AdSphere Award in the category of Lead Generation  Miscellaneous. The Awards honor the top advertisers and brands in the direct-to-consumer television industry and are presented by DRMetrix, the leading industry research company. Winners will be recognized during PDMI West in San Diego on October 5, 2021.

The AdSphere awards recognize top advertisers and brands across a wide range of industry categories representing all facets of the direct-to-consumer television industry. The complete list of AdSphere Award winners can be found online at drmetrix.com/adsphere-awards.html.

"The direct-to-consumer television industry grew to over 19.8 billion on national cable and broadcast networks 2020," says Joseph Gray, CEO, DRMetrix. Since inception, the AdSphere research system has expanded its monitoring coverage to over 130 networks detecting over 75 million airings, 77,000 creatives, and over 13,000 direct-to-consumer brands.

About InventHelp

InventHelp was established in 1984. InventHelp's headquarters are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, employing researchers, animators, writers as well as customer service representatives and other staff. InventHelp maintains the largest network of regional sales offices of any similar firm: 60+ cities in the US and Canada.

They can assist you in trying to submit your inventions or new product ideas to industry. They do not promise that you can obtain profits from their efforts. InventHelp can also refer you to an independent licensed patent attorney to provide a preliminary patent search and opinion. Based on the opinion, the attorney may then help prepare and file a US patent application for the idea with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

About DRMetrix

DRMetrix, the industry's leading television research company, monitors over 130 national television networks, tracking all short-form, 5-min, and long-form commercials that include web addresses, mobile app response, SMS, or toll free numbers. The AdSphere Awards recognizes top direct-to-consumer advertisers and brands across Brand/DR, Lead Generation, Short-Form Product, and Long-Form industry classifications.

Contact:

InventHelp

[email protected]

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com


Kourtney Kardashian rejected the idea that she'd get back together with ex Scott Disick on Thursday's installment of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

The 42-year-old Poosh founder had been pressured throughout the episode titled Summer Of Love to reunite with Scott, 37, who is the father of their children Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six.

It was clear that the conversation made her deeply uneasy, and she shied away from giving lovestruck Scott the answer that he clearly wanted.

Shut down: Kourtney Kardashian rejected the idea that she'd get back together with ex Scott Disick on Thursday's installment of Keeping Up With The Kardashians

In a confessional, Kourtney explained what was really going on in her head.

'Scott and I have had a lot of conversations over the years about this, and he knows what would need to happen in order for this to even be a possibility,' she emphasized. 'Certain things haven't happened that I've been very clear about. My answer isn't going to change unless his actions change.'

She reminded Scott she'd just broken up with French model Younes Bendjima, 27.

'You didn't live together,' Scott carped. 'You didn't wake up together. He lived in another country.'

Pressure on: The 42-year-old Poosh founder had been pressured throughout the episode titled Summer Of Love to reunite with Scott

'Everyone has different relationships,' Kourtney protested wearily.

In private, Scott said, 'I feel like for so many years I thought we would end up together, and now it's getting to a point where I'm not sure if that's ever gonna happen again.'

When the show opened, Kourtney was at the family's Malibu rental with Khloe Kardashian, 36, Kim Kardashian, 40, and their mother Kris Jenner, 65.

Relationship talk: Kourtney and Scott talked about their relationship as they were both single at the time

She mentioned the need for a lifeguard to watch their kids near the water, and hired a buff lifeguard named Trevor who looked like her ex-boyfriend.

'I'm the first guy that's neurotic about safety and all that, but is this guy really a lifeguard?' Scott asked in a confessional. 'When's he saving lives? He's in the gym all day.'

The sisters flirted openly with Trevor, and Scott complained that he seemed like a gigolo.

Sobering reality: In private, Scott said, 'I feel like for so many years I thought we would end up together, and now it's getting to a point where I'm not sure if that's ever gonna happen again'

Lifeguard duty: Kourtney mentioned the need for a lifeguard to watch their kids near the water, and hired a buff lifeguard named Trevor who looked like her ex-boyfriend

Getting jealous: Scott got jealous watching Kourtney and her sisters flirt with Trevor

He grew visibly uneasy, and said privately, 'I don't think that little thing inside of me will ever go away with Kourt, and it's a very, very, very tough pill to swallow.'

As the tension grew, he told his ex's siblings that he thought he'd done everything Kourtney wanted, but it wasn't enough.

'She's always said, ''I want a man that takes charge, that has money, that's successful, can take care of me and not make me lift a finger'',' he explained. 'I play the role of a husband, I treat her like my wife, she talks to me like I'm her husband. I do my best to take care of her, you know what I mean? But then I realize in return I don't get much of anything. And it sucks sometimes.'

Sucks sometimes: 'She's always said, ''I want a man that takes charge, that has money, that's successful, can take care of me and not make me lift a finger'',' Scott explained to Kourtney's sisters. 'I play the role of a husband, I treat her like my wife, she talks to me like I'm her husband. I do my best to take care of her, you know what I mean? But then I realize in return I don't get much of anything. And it sucks sometimes'

Scott was sure he and Kourtney were still in love and wished that they could pair off and raise their family together, which made Kim and Khloe sad for him.

Hoping to push them back together, Kim broached the subject at a family dinner.

'So when are you guys gonna get back together?' she asked the exes, both of whom were single for once. 'Can we just have a Kourtney/Scott wedding?'

Good question: 'So when are you guys gonna get back together?' Kim asked the exes, both of whom were single for once. 'Can we just have a Kourtney/Scott wedding?'

Kris urged Scott to get on one knee and propose, cracking, 'Make my daughter respectable!'

'Well, I love you,' Scott told Kourtney. 'And I'm ready to marry you right here, right now.'

To everyone else, he said, 'Kourtney knows that eventually we'll get married.'

Marriage talk: Kris urged Scott to get on one knee and propose, cracking, 'Make my daughter respectable!'

Right now: 'Well, I love you,' Scott told Kourtney. 'And I'm ready to marry you right here, right now'

'Or, when you wanna work on yourself,' Kourtney half-whispered.

In a confessional she said she was feeling 'ambushed' and didn't know how to react.

'Scott and I have had these talks before, and I just think him and I have our own private understanding of what would even need to happen for that to be a consideration,' she shared. 'I don't think it's fair to talk about it in front of the whole family as if it's everyone's business.'

Private understanding: 'Scott and I have had these talks before, and I just think him and I have our own private understanding of what would even need to happen for that to be a consideration,' she shared. 'I don't think it's fair to talk about it in front of the whole family as if it's everyone's business'

Tristan Thompson, 30, told Kourtney, 'This man's been putting in the work.'

'Marriage! Marriage! Marriage!' Khloe said, pounding the table.

'We could have a double wedding,' Kris offered.

Piping up: Tristan Thompson, 30, told Kourtney, 'This man's been putting in the work'

'Is there anybody that thinks we shouldn't get married?' Scott asked, as Khloe declared, 'There are no objections.'

Scott was tired of being 'in limbo,' and left the table.

Kourtney opened up to her sisters, saying, 'He's handsome, he's smart, he's funny, he's the dad of my kids. I think just the thought gives me anxiety.'

Anxiety rising: Kourtney opened up to her sisters, saying, 'He's handsome, he's smart, he's funny, he's the dad of my kids. I think just the thought gives me anxiety'

The next day, Scott told her how jealous he got sometimes.

'It hurt me when you were with somebody else, and waking up to looking at pictures of you with this guy you were dating; it was unhealthy and made me upset and sad,' Scott said.

Scott felt it was their time to figure out if they were moving forward together.

Jealousy feelings: 'It hurt me when you were with somebody else, and waking up to looking at pictures of you with this guy you were dating; it was unhealthy and made me upset and sad,' Scott told Kourtney

'That's a lot of pressure,' Kourtney said, begging off. 'Can I get back to you?'

Scott assured her he would be 'fine' if she could just decide what she wanted.

'You don't say no, and you leave this door open,' he said. 'So I have expectations in my mind and they never get met, and I don't want to live in limbo for the rest of my life with you.'

Begging off: 'That's a lot of pressure,' Kourtney said, begging off. 'Can I get back to you?'

'I don't want to live in limbo either,' replied Kourtney, resentful. 'I feel like I'm happy right now.'

'Well, I'm not,' Scott declared. 'It seems like we do everything else together but the intimacy part; that, we leave for other people. And then those other people are just jealous of our relationship, and they feel like the only thing they have is the intimacy part and not the friendship and everything else, and sharing children and a life.'

'I love you,' he blurted. 'So it's difficult.'

Toughspot: 'I love you,' he blurted. 'So it's difficult'

Kourtney hemmed and hawed, frustrating Scott.

'I guess you just have different things you want to do with your life,' he told his ex.

Elsewhere on the show, TikTok star Addison Rae, 20, made another appearance after being recently introduced as a friend of Kourtney's.

TikTok star: Elsewhere on the show, TikTok star Addison Rae, 20, made another appearance after being recently introduced as a friend of Kourtney's

Addison danced in Kim's one-year anniversary campaign for her shapewear line SKIMS, and Kim asked her to share some tips.

Kim wanted to 'evolve with the times' though she was frank about her poor dancing abilities.

Addison got the SKIMS founder stretching but Kim balked when she was asked to shake her buttocks, calling it 'super ho-ey' and insisting that she needed to look cute.

Dance lessons: Addison got the SKIMS founder stretching but Kim balked when she was asked to shake her buttocks, calling it 'super ho-ey' and insisting that she needed to look cute

Good effort: Kim tried to keep up with Addison, but struggled to learn the dance moves

The splits: Addison did the splits and Kim gave it her best shot

'You can do it because you're not married,' she told Addison, promising to practice at home.

Kim eventually gave up on the idea and asked her old friend Paris Hilton, 40, to do a shoot with her instead.

'The TikTok campaign wasn't really authentic to me,' Kim noted privately. 'But then I thought, ''Oh my God, me, Paris, that is everything''.'

Old friend: Kim eventually gave up on the idea and asked her old friend Paris Hilton, 40, to do a shoot with her instead

When Kim told Paris she'd tried to text her, the DJ replied that she had 'five phones.'

They looked at one of Kim's old magazine shoots for inspiration, and Kim remembered that she'd once wanted to be on a magazine cover badly.

When a canine magazine asked her to do its cover, she borrowed Nicole Richie's dog for the shoot because she didn't have one and 'hated' them.

Five phones: When Kim told Paris she'd tried to text her, the DJ replied that she had 'five phones'

She and Paris suited up in velour tracksuits that recalled their early 2000s gear, and posed in front of a silver Range Rover with flip phones.

'I can't believe this is what we used to have to text on,' Paris marveled.

'I know,' Kim returned.

Flip phones: Paris and Kim suited up in velour tracksuits that recalled their early 2000s gear, and posed in front of a silver Range Rover with flip phones

Hood ornament: Kim draped herself across the hood of a Range Rover during the shoot

When the shoot wrapped, she noted how much fun it had been.

'Everyone should just stay true to who they are,' Kim reflected, as she and Paris cheered with glasses of ice water. 'You can't really force anything.'

In another subplot, Khloe searched for Shorty, a homeless man she'd helped out in season one of the show.

Stay true: 'Everyone should just stay true to who they are,' Kim reflected, as she and Paris cheered with glasses of ice water. 'You can't really force anything'

They hadn't seen him for 13 years, and she'd constantly been Tweeted by viewers asking what happened to him, and whether he was alive.

People even tagged Khloe in pictures of Shorty when they saw him on the street, and she said she wanted to see if he was doing well.

Khloe heard he worked at Flip's Coin Laundry in Los Angeles, and drove there with Kourtney.

Homeless man: In another subplot, Khloe searched for Shorty, a homeless man she'd helped out in season one of the show

When she showed Shorty's picture to a customer, he told her to 'Get the f*** out of here.'

'Have a nice day,' Khloe said, telling her sister, 'What a buzzkill.'

The pair drove around getting more tips about Shorty and giving Khloe's number to a guy who claimed to know him.

Search mission: Khloe heard he worked at Flip's Coin Laundry in Los Angeles, and drove there with Kourtney.

Soon, Shorty was FaceTiming Khloe at her home and being invited for lunch the next day.

When he showed up, Shorty told Khloe, Kim and Kourtney that he'd been working at Flip's but it had closed due to COVID-19.

He was searching for a job and apartment, he added.

Together again: Soon, Shorty was FaceTiming Khloe at her home and being invited for lunch the next day

Kris FaceTimed Shorty and put Kylie Jenner, 23, on camera, reminding him, 'She was a little girl' when they first met.

'Little? That's no little girl,' Shorty observed.

The Kardashians later secured a rent-controlled apartment for Shorty, hoping to help him become more independent.

'God does wonders,' Shorty said, thankful that he'd ever met the family.

Keeping Up With The Kardashians will return next week on the E! network.
"Law School" episode 4 gave viewers another shocking revelation between lead cast Kim Bum and Kim Myung Min.

Despite the remarkable and unpredictable storyline, the JTBC drama's viewership ratings remain stagnant.

As cited by Nielsen Korea, "Law School" ratings maintained the nationwide rating of 4.3 percent while the figures in the metropolitan area climbed up to 4.9 percent.

To recall, the previous episode showed that the crime mystery series garnered 4.3 percent nationwide and 4.6 percent in the metropolitan area, which is close to their current viewership rating.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Law School' Episode 3: Kim Bum Refuses to Save Kim Myung Min Who is at the Verge of Death

Han Joon Hwi Gets the Upper Hand Over Lee Man Ho

"Law School" episode 3 left with a cliffhanger deal between Han Joon Hwi (Kim Bum) and Lee Man Ho (Jo Jae Ryong.)

In the latest episode, the evening drama illustrates how the first-year law student toyed the convicted murderer in order to save professor Yang Jong Hoon (Kim Myung Min.)

He manipulated Lee Man Ho by pulling out reverse psychology and instructing him not to give his blood. Surprisingly, it was Han Joon Hwi who discovered that he is also an "Rh-O" type blood holder through a rare blood type cafe. With this, he managed to send a message, seeking for the said blood type.

Moreover, Han Joon Hwi predicted that Lee Man-ho would weigh himself with this. Since he gave the man instruction not to save professor Yang, this pushed Lee Min Ho to donate his blood, knowing that this would ruin Han Joon Hwi's plan.

He ended up saving the prosecutor turned professor, who is on the verge of his death after losing too much blood from a prison attack.

While on his recovery, professor Yang received the result from the second autopsy. Based on the findings, professor Seo Byeong Joo (Ahn Nae Sang) died from two possible causes. The first is through drug overdose, while the second conclusion is due to the hemorrhage caused by falling from the stairs.

With this, he also sued Prosecutor Jin Hyeong Woo (Park Hyuk Kwon) for publicizing details involving his alleged crime.

After being acquitted, all thanks to the second autopsy report, Professor Yang Jong Hoon returns to Hankuk University.

Upon his comeback, he gave the law students a new assignment relating to his case.

He asked the student to examine the murder case based on evidence and law. Moreover, professor Yang also questioned the class who was more suspicious among him and Han Joon Hwi.

Yang Jong Hoon Meets Lee Man Ho

At the Hankuk University hospital, professor Yang was approached by the convicted murderer.

There, Lee Man Ho revealed that it was him who donated the blood and the reason why he is still alive.

However, he remained unbothered by his revelation and mentioned that he must have had reasons why he saved him and tapped his shoulders as he left Lee Man Ho at the hospital's lobby.

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
London: Trade Minister Dan Tehan says the benefits of his trip to Europe outweigh the personal cost of quarantine for two weeks in Canberra, but denies he is getting special treatment while thousands of Australians are stuck in coronavirus-ravaged countries.

Tehan wrapped up his week-long overseas mission on Friday by announcing consensus had been reached on the vast majority of issues standing in the way of a free trade agreement between Australia and Britain.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan says the benefits of his trip to Europe outweigh the personal cost of quarantine for two weeks in Canberra. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

He refused to say which topics were still problematic but said an in-principle deal would be signed in June.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his British counterpart Boris Johnson would ink the deal that month during the G7 summit of world leaders in Cornwall.
For years before a single blueprint was drawn, writer Jack London dreamed of his perfect house. Nestled amid the redwoods of Sonoma Valley, the 26-room mansion would wed utility and beauty, and it would be built to last.

Act of God permitting, my house will be standing for a thousand years, wrote London in his essay, The House Beautiful.

The construction of Wolf House, where the Call of the Wild author would live with his wife Charmian London, began in 1911 on their 1,000-acre Beauty Ranch on the eastern slope of Sonoma Mountain. It would have a reflection pool, an extensive library, nine fireplaces, wood floors, and all the modern amenities of the day: a water heater, electric lighting, refrigeration, laundry facilities and even a built-in vacuum cleaning system.

After witnessing (and famously documenting) the devastating San Francisco earthquake and fire as it spread in 1906, London didnt want to take any chances with Wolf House. He ensured his homes design included a massive concrete foundation slab that could support a 40-story building, as well as fire-proof materials such as volcanic rock and redwood with its bark still on.

It will be a happy house  or else Ill burn it down, wrote Jack. It will be a house of air and sunshine and laughter.

Courtesy of Huntington Library

But on Aug. 22, 1913, shortly before the Londons were to move in, those dreams went up in smoke. Around midnight, Jack and Charmian, asleep in their nearby cottage, awoke to find flames licking at the nearly completed structure.

By the time they got to the scene, it was too late: Wolf House was destroyed. The grandiose building was never rebuilt, and Jack died just three years later. But its charred bones remain  today, you can hike to the ruins of the once-beautiful Wolf House in Glen Ellens Jack London State Historic Park.

On a recent Friday afternoon, I hiked the half-mile up to the ruins, which you first glimpse arching eerily through a grove of bay, madrone and redwood trees. Besides a few birds chirping and a lizard scuttling up the side of a moss-covered stone wall, it was quiet. A handful of hikers peered eagerly into the burnt-out shell from an overlook.

The house was designed to fit into the landscape beautifully, said Susan St. Marie, the program director at Jack London State Historic Park. It was like a big lodge in the way it looked, with all the stone work from the quarries that were across the valley, and the redwood with its bark on  And the house was situated so that it had a nice view of Sonoma Valley. It's all overgrown now so you don't really see a view of the valley, but it would have at that time.

Chris Preovolos/Hearst Newspapers

While the fire 108 years ago gutted the interior of the building, from its oak and walnut furnishings to its red tile roof, much of Wolf House is still standing. The castle-like stone walls tower high above the forest floor with the help of modern bracing supports, looking decidedly medieval. From the overlook, I peered into the remnants of the mansion, orienting myself with the layout of the house. Directly before me was the hollowed out shell of the pool, where Jack intended to swim and keep fish. Below, in the basement, was the stag party room, next to it, the dining room, where the fire is believed to have started.

For decades, the cause of the fire remained shrouded in mystery. At first, arson was suspected.

As to the origin of the fire, it may have been the work of a disgruntled employee and it may not, read a Press Democrat article in 1913, a few days after the fire.

Public sentiment ran high: and I think, had the criminal or criminals who fired it been detected that night, there would have been a stringing-up to the nearest limbs, in lusty frontier fashion, wrote Charmian in her account of the destruction.

Chris Preovolos/Hearst Newspapers

But in 1995, a team of experts led by Robert Anderson, a retired engineering professor from San Jose State University, conducted a forensic analysis of the 15,000 square-foot structure. Although they did not completely rule out arson as the cause of the fire, they deemed it unlikely. Instead, they chalked it up to the spontaneous combustion of linseed oil-soaked rags left behind in the dining room by workers. It didnt help that Sonoma Valley was in the midst of a heat wave, and the wood floor and paneling provided ample fuel for the devastating fire.

While Jack vowed to rebuild, and even started the process, it wasnt meant to be.

They had poured a lot of money into this house, something in the neighborhood of $75,000 in that year's money, explained St. Marie. Jack was one of the wealthiest or highest earning authors of his time, but he spent it all kind of before he ever got it and worked off of advances. They simply didn't have the money.

The loss of Wolf House killed something in Jack, and he never ceased to feel the tragic inner sense of loss, wrote Charmian in her diary. He died in 1916, succumbing to various health issues, and was buried on the property. Hikers can visit the writers grave just a short hike away, his ashes laid to rest beneath a stone from the ruins of Wolf House  where Charmian joined him when she died in 1955.

Chris Preovolos/Hearst Newspapers

With all the tragedy that befell the Londons here, some believe that the ruins of Wolf House are haunted. People have secretly visited the park in the middle of the night to leave behind human ashes and wreaths, and in the 1980s, a ghost hunter photographed what he claims to be the ghostly spectre of Charmian at the site, as described in an excellent book on Wolf House written by retired Jack London State Historic Park rangers Matt Atkinson and Greg Hayes.

St. Marie, however, doesnt buy it.

Well, I'm the wrong person to ask that question, because I don't believe in haunting, she said. Its a very impressive structure and in different kinds of weather and light, it changes quite a bit in terms of how it looks. But haunted, I would say no.

Over a century since the White Fang author died, Jack London State Historic Park is now grappling with his legacy. Despite his reputation as a progressive socialist, Jack also published white supramicist-leaning and racist prose, particularly about Asian people. Last summer, a few petitions emerged calling for the renaming of Jack London Square in Oakland.

Currently, the park is working with a team of London scholars and educators to learn more about Londons views on race, which will inform how park guides talk to visitors about the author.

Courtesy of Huntington Library

It is critical now that we expand our knowledge and understanding of Jack Londons perspectives on People of Color, as seen through the lens of racial justice and equity, read a portion of a statement on the topic from the Jack London Park Partners. Raised in a world of contradictions, Jack London had conflicting and conflating experiences and views around race relations throughout his life. His story is truly complex. Did Jack London regularly use racist language? Yes. Do most people today consider him a racist? Yes. Also  its complicated. In fact, you could say that he embodies the very complex nature of race relations in our country as a whole.

Despite this re-evaluating of Jacks legacy, the park has seen an influx of visitors during the pandemic. In 2020, the once hidden gem saw a 20% to 30% increase in visitors from the previous year, according to St. Marie. The park has a lot more to offer than just Wolf House: Hikers can roam the Londons old winery ruins, the cottage where the couple resided, the Pig Palace (an innovatively designed pig pen), a museum, and 29 miles of back-country trails through grassy meadows and redwood-filled canyons.

But the Wolf House ruins, surely, are the parks crown jewel. Standing before its moss-covered remains, it takes only a little imagination to conjure the magnificence of the near-completed castle; and, consequently, the devastation of a dream house destroyed.

It isnt the money loss  though that is grave enough just at this time, Jack told Charmian just after the fire, as recounted in her diary. The main hurt comes from the wanton despoiling of so much beauty.
(JNS) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that America's commitment to Israel is "ironclad," and that he, and the Biden administration, supports more normalization agreements.

Blinken appeared as part of a virtual event hosted by Israel's embassy in Washington for Israeli Independence Day, which also featured U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and was viewed by more than 20,000 people online.

"In your 73rd year of freedom, we salute Israel's determination, bravery and ingenuity, which have made possible your country's pr...
Some county health departments that couldnt keep up with vaccine demand a month ago have now started closing some of their mass vaccination sites for lack of customers, and some counties are declining vaccine shipments.

Now that more than half of adults in the United States have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose and the country has surpassed 200 million administered doses, demand for shots appears to be slowing in many areas.

White House and health officials are comparing the next phase of the vaccination campaign to a get-out-the-vote effort. Officials in many states are looking beyond mass vaccination sites and focusing on having patients vaccinated at their doctors offices, where they are more at ease  a shift that will require the Biden administration to ship vaccines in much smaller quantities.

The seven-day average of vaccinations has declined somewhat in recent days, to 2.86 million doses a day as of Friday, from a high point of 3.38 million last week, according to a New York Times analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dan Price is an entrepreneur who became famous a few years ago because he cut his own salary to be able to raise the minimum payroll of his employees to at least 70 thousand dollars a year, he says that his company has tripled its profit in the last year.

Price, CEO of Seattle-based credit card processing company Gravity Payments , posted a series of tweets claiming he tweeted last Tuesday.

"6 years ago, today I raised my company's minimum wage to $ 70,000. Fox News called me a socialist," he said in a tweet in English. "Since then, our revenues have tripled, we are a Harvard Business School case study, and our employees experienced a 10-fold increase in home buying."

6 years ago today I raised my company's min wage to $ 70k. Fox News called me a socialist whose employees would be on bread lines.



Since then our revenue tripled, we're a Harvard Business School case study & our employees had a 10x boom in homes bought.



Always invest in people. pic.twitter.com/o7Ca7I4b7e - Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) April 13, 2021

"Always invest in people," he added.

Price said its workforce has grown 70 percent and its revenue tripled, as well as that the company's customer base has doubled as well.

As reported by The Hill , this CEO has appeared on various financial news channels in recent years to spread his business philosophy of spending more on employees rather than cutting expenses.

Price posted a thread on the microblogging social network about his company's accomplishments this year. "The staff had 10 times more babies, 70% of the employees paid their debts and the employees bought 10 times more houses."

Last year Price reported that he asked his employees how to avoid layoffs during the pandemic. His own employees asked to volunteer anonymously for pay cuts. "I thought it was crazy," Price says. "I thought we would waste a week's time to see that the plan would not work."

Price was wrong. His team volunteered nearly half a million dollars a month from their salaries. Some offered their entire fortnight; others offered 50 percent; others offered 5 (Price capped all contributions to 50 percent).



Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Mumbai: In the back of the ambulance pulled up outside a hospital in Delhi a bare-foot elderly woman lies on her side on a gurney.

A queue has formed up to the doors where desperate family-members beg staff to let their relatives, most of whom are barely breathing, inside for treatment with the oxygen they need to survive.

Health workers attend to a patient at the Jumbo COVID-19 filed hospital in Mumbai, India, on Thursday. Credit:AP

The womans son manages to bring a doctor over to the ambulance, but he can offer no assistance: the woman has died before she could inhale from the hospitals dwindling supplies.

This scene captured by the BBC is being repeated across the Indian capital as the country on Friday broke the global record for coronavirus cases, recording 332,730 new cases - the second consecutive day above 312,000 - in the teeth of a fierce second wave driven by a more virulent strain of the virus.
Australians would have access to a digital birth certificate under a cross-jurisdictional plan spearheaded by the NSW government.

NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said the state government was researching the development of a national digital birth certificate, with a concept plan expected to be completed later this year.

NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, seen with Premier Gladys Berejiklian, says the state government is researching the development of a national digital birth certificate. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Mr Dominello said the digital shift within government had been spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, which had also prompted the state to develop QR code check-ins and digital stimulus vouchers.

There is no question that COVID, for NSW, has turbocharged digital adoption, Mr Dominello said, adding that he believed his state was best placed to develop the new birth certificate.
The son of University of Alabama at Huntsville shooter Amy Bishop -- who was named after her brother, who she allegedly killed -- himself became a fatal shooting victim Monday in Huntsville, according to a report.

A shooting victim showed up to Huntsville Hospital around 8 p.m. Monday with life-threatening injuries and later died, police said shortly after the incident.

Police had not named the victim because their next of kin was yet to be notified, but WAAF reported that the victim was Seth Anderson, the 20-year-old son of Amy Bishop, who shot six fellow UAH biology faculty members and killed three of them.

Anderson was named after Bishops brother, Seth, whose shooting death in 1986 had initially been ruled accidental. Prosecutors indicted Bishop in her brothers death in 2010, although she was never brought to trial.

Vincent Harmon, 18, was charged with reckless murder in the Monday night shooting death.

Bishop pleaded guilty to the UAH shootings in exchange for prosecutors sparing her from a possible death sentence. She remains in Tutwiler Prison for Women, where she is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
PORTLAND, Ore.  The Oregon Health Authority revealed on Thursday that federal authorities are looking into the death of an Oregon woman after she received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

OHA said that it learned about the "potential adverse event" on April 20, two days after that information went to the CDC through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), the national reporting system used to collect reports of reactions after vaccination.

According to the state, an Oregon woman in her 50s received a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine before the pause recommendation was issued. Oregon ordered a halt to the vaccine on April 13.

"Until the investigation is complete, it cannot be concluded whether her death is related to the vaccine," OHA said.

The woman developed a rare and serious blood clot within two weeks of receiving her vaccination. The blood clot was seen in combination with very low platelet counts. OHA indicated that this was the same kind of serious blood clot that had been identified in six women around the country after receiving the vaccine, prompting the federal government to order a pause.

Healthcare providers are required to report certain adverse events following administration of COVID-19 vaccines, part of the FDA's emergency use authorization process. These generally include serious side effects, including death, hospitalization, or a life-threatening event.

At the time of the federal pause recommendation, about 7.5 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been administered in the United States, with more than 87,000 doses having been administered at locations throughout Oregon.

OHA said that this Oregon case will be added to the evidence currently being examined by federal authorities.

"The CDC and OHA will provide updates on any developments as they can be shared during the review and investigation process," Oregon officials said. "OHA continues to encourage all Oregonians to schedule an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccination when appointments become available."
The Ukrainian-American Concordia University purchased oxygen concentrators for its own funds, which were transferred for the needs of the military medical institutions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the press service of the Medical Forces command of the Armed Forces has said.

"On April 23, 2021, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak held a videoconference with representatives of the first Ukrainian-American Concordia University in Ukraine," the message said.

It is noted that the meeting was attended by Rector of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University Oleksandr Romanovsky and Chairman of the board of founders of the educational institution, Rector of the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, Academician of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Viktor Andruschenko.

The event was organized with the assistance of Honorary PhD of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University, Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yevhenia Riabeka.

"At this difficult time for our country, the founders, the supervisory board, all employees and students of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University decided to provide all possible assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to fight the deadly COVID-19 virus. This is sincere help from the close-knit Concordia University family to the defenders of Ukraine in the total amount of about UAH 900,000  to sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who defend Ukraine from the Russian enemy," Rector of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University Oleksandr Romanovsky said.

He said that the university's team will continue to attract funds (including foreign partners, colleagues and friends) to support Ukrainian military personnel with medical equipment.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak thanked the representatives of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University for their effective support and assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also supported the initiative of teachers to deepen further cooperation.
8 confirmed dead in Shanghai factory fire

Xinhua) 16:33, April 23, 2021

SHANGHAI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Eight people, including two firefighters, have been confirmed dead in a fire that broke out at a factory in Shanghai Thursday afternoon, local authorities said Friday.

The fire began at 1:30 p.m. at the plant in Jinshan District, which mainly manufactures electronic-product accessories.

The information office of the district government said the blaze was brought under control at 6:20 a.m. Friday. The bodies of the eight people have been found.

A preliminary investigation suggested that the surrounding atmosphere and water body have not been polluted.

The sewage from the fire-extinguishing operation has been collected for treatment. The cause of the fire is under further investigation.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
The US has no immediate plans to aid the Indian government and share its stockpile of vaccines, even as the country experiences a record-breaking surge and Indian hospitals are struggling to find enough beds or bottled oxygen for patients.

India announced 332,730 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the second day in a row it has set a new world record.

US officials say they aiding the Indian governments public health agency with technical support and other assistance, but dont have immediate plans to share extra vaccine supplies. That includes not sending doses from the US stockpile of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not yet approved for use in America.

America is committed to sharing vaccine supply, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said at a recent briefing, though only once the country feels more secure in its own supply.

As our confidence around our supply increases, we will explore those options, he said.

The US has pledged up to $4 billion to Covax, the international effort to provide vaccines to low-income countries, and is in discussions to share supplies like ventilators with India. It is also part of an effort to boost vaccine manufacturing in the US, India, Japan and Australia through 2022.

It is a dire situation that were trying to help in any way we can, White House Covid adviser Dr Anthony Fauci said at Fridays coronavirus briefing.

India is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of vaccines, but has struggled with an internal covid crisis. The country has had roughly 16 million Covid cases overall, and medical facilities have struggled with low bed space and access to bottled oxygen, while authorities have allowed massive election rallies and religious festivals to take place in recent days, including the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela, which drew millions of people.

Experts say the country is suffering because of mixed messaging and implementation of public health initiatives around Covid, and political leaders who celebrated victory over Covid prematurely, allowing people to let their guard down.

Indias inability to provide widespread vaccination to large parts of its population also highlights the bind of many middle- and low-income countries, who could wait until as long as 2023 before achieving mass vaccination, as rich nations hoover up global vaccine supply.

In March, Indian authorities slowed vaccine exports to other nations to shore up the domestic supply.

58 low- and middle-income countries, as well as US legislators like senator Bernie Sanders, have urged pharma giants and the World Trade Organization to facilitate open-access use of patented vaccine fomulas to speed up distribution.
By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musks rapidly expanding company.

The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceXs debut crew last May. Theyll spend six months at the orbiting lab.

It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA, after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the companys second astronaut flight.

The Crew Dragon space capsule astronauts, from front left, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide leave the Operation and Checkout Building on their way to board the capsule for a mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)AP

Embracing the trend, spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew weeks ago wrote their initials in the rockets soot, hoping to start a tradition.

Glad to be back in space, Kimbrough radioed once the capsule was safely in orbit.

For NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, it was a bit of deja vu. She launched in the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did during SpaceXs first crew flight. This time it was Behnken and their 7-year-old son waving goodbye. McArthur blew kisses and offered virtual hugs.

Also flying SpaceX on Friday: Japans Akihiko Hoshide and Frances Thomas Pesquet, the first European to launch in a commercial crew capsule.

It was a stunning scene: The launch plume glowed against the dark sky, reflecting the sunlight at high altitude. Just spectacular, said NASAs acting administrator Steve Jurczyk.

A masked Musk met briefly with the astronauts at NASAs Kennedy Space Center before they boarded white gull-winged Teslas from his electric car company. The astronauts spouses and children huddled around the cars for one last love you before the caravan pulled away and headed to the pad in the predawn darkness.

Despite the early hour, spectators lined surrounding roads to watch the Falcon take flight an hour before sunrise. Liftoff was delayed a day to take advantage of better weather along the East Coast in case of a launch abort and emergency splashdown.

NASA limited the number of launch guests because of COVID-19, but SpaceXs next private passengers made the cut. Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, whos bought a three-day flight, watched the Falcon soar with the three people who will accompany him. Their capsule is still at the space station and due back on Earth with four astronauts next Wednesday. It will be refurbished in time for a September liftoff.

For Fridays automated flight, SpaceX replaced some valves and thermal shielding, and installed new parachutes on the capsule, named Endeavour after NASAs retired space shuttle. Otherwise, the spacecraft is the same vehicle that flew before.

Were thrilled to have a crew on board Endeavour once again, SpaceX Launch Control radioed just before liftoff.

The first-stage booster touched down on an ocean platform nine minutes later.

Rapid reusability is critical to Musks effort to open space to everyone, land NASAs next moonwalkers and, his loftiest goal by far, build a city on Mars.

Musk will go a long way toward achieving that first objective with the private flight in September. It will be followed in October by SpaceXs fourth crew launch for NASA.

SpaceX picked up the station slack for NASA after the space agencys shuttles retired in 2011, starting with supply runs the following year. The big draw was last years return of astronaut launches to Florida. Its awesome to have this regular cadence again, said Kennedys director Robert Cabana, a former shuttle commander.

Boeing, NASAs other contracted crew transporter, isnt expected to start launching NASA astronauts until early next year. First, it needs to repeat a test flight of an empty Starliner capsule, possibly in late summer, to make up for its software-plagued debut in December 2019.

Last week, SpaceX beat out two other companies, including Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, to land astronauts on the moon for NASA in three or more years. Theyll descend to the lunar surface in Starship, the shiny, bullet-shaped rocketship that Musk is testing in the skies over Texas, with fiery, explosive results.

Its a great time to be here, and were very excited, the European Space Agencys Frank De Winne, an astronaut turned manager, said shortly before liftoff. The space station eventually will come to an end, he noted, but the partnership will continue amid hopes of European astronauts one day walking on the surface of the moon.

More:

NASAs Perseverance rover converts carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen on Mars

Biden request for NASA funding aims to advance Americas moon to Mars space exploration plan
The world is going through a difficult time as there is a spike in COVID-19 cases globally. Even the highest mountain on Earth has not been spared by the virus. A climber has been infected with the virus at the base camp on the Southside of Mount Everest in Nepal. The United States Magazine Outside citing an unnamed source first reported about a climber being tested positive.

Mountaineer tests COVID-19 positive

The climber has been evacuated by helicoptor for what was believed to be high altitude pulmonary edema and tested positive for the COVID-19 after he arrived at a hospital in Kathmandu. The infected climber is Erneld Ness, a Norwegian who may have got infected with the virus while trekking. He has shared all the details regarding his health on Facebook page.

Erneld Ness in an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK said that he is diagnosed COVID-19 and is stable. He said that he was feeling low and after three days of climbing, his condition became worse. The symptoms of COVID-19 and altitute sickness have resemblance which makes it difficult to determine about the disease. On April 22, Erneld Ness in a Facebook post has now said that that he is now stable and has been discharged from the hospital. The Ministry of Tourism Nepal has not given any comment regarding the reports of the climber testing positive.

Last month, the Department of Tourism in Kathmandu said that there would more than 300 foreigners have expressed interest in climbing Mount Everest this spring. Theres similar interest for other mountains too, said Mira Acharya, a director at the department. The spring season, which is popular of favourable weather began in March. It extends up to the end of May, when weather deteriorates and climbing becomes dangerous.

(Image Credits: Unsplash)

(Inputs from The Associated Press)
USD$2.7M Sale of Commercial Scale Indoor Growing Systems

VANCOUVER, BC, April 23, 2021 /CNW/ - CubicFarm Systems Corp. (TSXV: CUB) ("CubicFarms" or the "Company"), a local chain agricultural technology company, today announced the sale of 18 modules of the CubicFarm System onsite indoor growing technology at a sale price of USD$2.7M. BoomA Food Group will operate the first commercial scale vertical farm in Australia, positioning the company as a market leader. BoomA Food Group will use these modules to grow commercial scale amounts of produce in New South Wales, specializing in herbs and microgreens.

Food production in Australia has been significantly impacted year over year by devastating wildfires and major flooding. Farming currently covers 385 million hectares, or 58 per cent of Australia, and accounts for 59 per cent of the water extracted. Crops and horticulture in Australia are generally concentrated near the coast, while areas of New South Wales have been cleared at more than double the rate of the previous decadeand agriculture was responsible for more than half the area cleared.

"We searched the world over for the right sustainable growing technology to serve our communities in New South Wales and beyond. Australia has experienced the challenges of climate change, the devastating effects of drought, and significant impacts on our food production. CubicFarms' patented technology is superior to other vertical farming options because it provides commercial scale output while minimizing environmental impact and maximizing cost efficiencies," said Cory Robertson, Managing Director, BoomA Food Group.

The CubicFarm System was purchased by BoomA Food Group with funding provided by Baillie Asset Management as trustee for the Pokolbin Vertical Farm Infrastructure Fund.

"I'm thrilled to announce our newest farmer partner in Australia, as the initial launch of our global markets expansion, bringing our technologies to another continent," said Dave Dinesen, CEO, CubicFarms. "For a region that's been devastated by natural disasters and food scarcity, our local chain ag-tech will empower local farmers to improve independent food production with predictable fresh produce 365 days a year. Our technology was founded by farmers as a solution to help farmers to succeed despite unpredictable outdoor growing conditions."

Cory Robertson, Managing Director, BoomA Food Group, is an Australian Aboriginal social entrepreneur and business owner, as well as the Services Director of Goanna Services PTY Ltd. ("Goanna"), a company providing direct community access to contracts employing Indigenous peoples for environmental, government, and construction services.

Kevin Chandler, Chairman, BoomA Food Group, has extensive experience using business principles and practices to address community needs and improve opportunities for Indigenous youth. He is a psychologist and management consultant who founded and grew the Chandler Macleod Group into an AUD$1.5B company. Previously, Chandler was the director of Australian venture capital firm Nanyang Ventures.

Ben Macauley, CEO, Baillie Asset Management, has over 25 years of experience in accounting, finance, and C-level management across financial services, family office, not-for-profit, and banking/finance sectors. Baillie Asset Management has extensive experience in Australian agricultural innovations.

Footnote According to the Government of Australia: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/ snapshot-of-australian-agriculture-2021#agricultural-production-is-growing.

About CubicFarms

CubicFarms is a local chain, agricultural technology company developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary ag-tech solutions enable growers to produce high quality, predictable produce and fresh livestock feed with HydroGreen Nutrition Technology, a division of CubicFarm Systems Corp. The CubicFarms system contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops onsite, indoors, all year round. CubicFarms provides an efficient, localized food supply solution that benefits our people, planet, and economy.

For more information, please visit www.cubicfarms.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Dave Dinesen"

Dave Dinesen, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws including, but not limited to, statements with respect to CubicFarms' expected revenue recognition and the completion of the sale and installation of the modules by the customer. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements.

SOURCE CubicFarm Systems Corp.

For further information: Media Contact: Andrea Magee, T: 236.885.7608, E: [email protected]; Investor Contact: Tom Liston, T: 416.721.9531, E: [email protected]
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to discuss bilateral relations at a possible meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, the Crimea issue does not exist, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"The president himself said that it was possible to discuss bilateral relations, there is no such issue as Crimea," TASS cited him as saying.
Korea has little hope of securing any more vaccines for its glacially slow coronavirus inoculation drive from the U.S. in a summit next month. President Moon Jae-in said in a meeting Monday with his senior secretaries, "I will devote myself to closely working with the U.S. on pending issues between the two countries, including economic cooperation, the response to COVID-19 and collaboration on vaccines" at the summit. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong earlier claimed the two countries are discussing a "vaccine swap" -- modeled on a currency swap -- which would allow Korea to secure more supplies from the U.S. and give the same amount back later through manufacturing locally here or by other means.



U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday. /AFP-Yonhap

But U.S. President Joe Biden, announcing progress in his own vaccination program on Wednesday, poured cold water on those hopes, saying the U.S. would first of all focus on its neighbors and supplies are limited. "We have talked to our neighbors," Biden said. "The prime minister of Canada, we helped a bit there. We're going to try to help some more, but there's other countries as well that I'm confident we can help including in Central America... but... we don't have enough to be confident to send it abroad now."

There has been frantic speculation here this week what price the Korean government might have to pay for American vaccines, from joining the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, an informal anti-China alliance, to investing massively in the U.S.' semiconductor infrastructure. But until the summit, there is unlikely to be any clarification. A diplomatic source said, "Moon needs to walk in sync with the U.S. if we are to secure vaccines, but we seem to have a very long way to go." Meanwhile, the daily tally of new coronavirus infections here surged to 797 as of Friday morning, the highest in about three months.
This is an emergency situation, many doctors are exposed to the virus, and there are more chances that these doctors may contract the disease.  Representational image/AFP

HYDERABAD: Senior resident doctors of Telangana state boycotted the services linked to treating Covid-19 patients from Friday morning. The decision was taken by the Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association.

The doctors said they will be signing the attendance register but will not treat the patients unless the government granted their six demands. Once the demands are approved, they will resume their duties. If not, they would just be sitting in their offices after signing the attendance register, the association president said.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr M. Naresh said This is an emergency situation, many doctors are exposed to the virus, and there are more chances that these doctors may contract the disease. We will be carrying the infection to our homes. Another major problem is of wearing the PPE kits. Wearing them causes health problems such as dehydration, severe pain in the body etc.

If doctors get infected, it will lead to a major medical emergency. The government is dodging the health workers demands. We urge the government to concede to our six demands.

The demands are: Quarantine leave; 15 days quarantine leave is mandated in the Covid-19 Protocol. 2 Quality PPE Kits; the Personal Protection Equipment supplied to the government should be of good quality. 3 Cash incentive of 10 per cent of salary as promised by the government should be given. 4 Accommodation to doctors should be provided by the management for them to take rest after completing duty. 5 Transportation should be provided for doctors during these Covid-19 phase. 6 Hospital ICU beds must be reserved for doctors and their family members.

Senior resident doctors staged a protest in front of the Government General Chest Hospital, Erragadda by holding placards and raising slogans.
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Copyright is a right provided to the creator for the protection of the expression of their idea. It is regarded as intellectual property. Copyright protection includes protection of a variety of rights such as those related to literary and artistic works like novels, poems, plays, films, musical works, paintings and drawings, photographs, sculptures, and architectural designs, among others.

Applicable laws in Nepal

In Nepal, Nepal Copyright Registrars Office (NCRO) is the concerned official body to monitor and overlook copyright-related issues.

The following laws are related to copyrights in Nepal:

Internationals treaties, conventions and agencies

Subject matters protected under the copyright laws in Nepal

The Copyright Act, 2002, has enlisted various areas and works protected with copyright as listed below:

Books, pamphlets, articles, theses, lectures etc Dramas, dramatic music, dumb shows and works prepared to perform in such manners Musical notations with or without words Audiovisual works Architectural designs Photographic and fine arts, paintings, sculptures, woodcarving, lithography, works of applied art, illustrations, maps, plans etc Computer programs

Rights conferred by the Copyright Act

Copyright is not a single right but a bundle of rights that can be discussed independently. The rights conferred by the Copyright Act are as follows:

Economic rights Moral rights

Economic rights

Economic rights refer to the rights provided to the creator pursuant to section 7 of the Copyright Act, 2002. Economic rights are transferable rights of the creator, which can be transferred by concluding an agreement with the users. The creator may use the economic rights by him/herself or can allow others to use creation for generating wealth from it.

The creator shall have the following exclusive economic rights as mentioned in the section:

To reproduce the work To translate the work To revise or amend the work To make arrangement and other transformation in the work To sell, distribute or rent the original and copy of the work to the general public To transfer or rent the audiovisual work, work embodied in sound recording, computer program or musical work in graphic form conferred to that author or owner To import copies of the work To have a public exhibition of the original or copy of the work To perform the work in public To broadcast the work To communicate the work to the general public

Moral rights

Further, section 8 of the Copyright Act, 2002, has listed the moral rights of the creator on the particular creations. The moral rights listed by the act are mentioned below:

To get his/her name mentioned in copies of the work or in his/her work where it is used publicly In cases where, instead of his/her real name, a pseudonym is mentioned in his work, to get that pseudonym mentioned while using such work publicly To prevent such acts as undermining the reputation or goodwill earned by him/her, by mutilating his/her work or presenting it in a distorting manner To make necessary amendment or revision in the work

Infringement of copyright

Section 25 of the Copyright Act, 2002 describes infringement of copyright. As per the provision, the following acts would amount to infringement of copyright:

To reproduce copies of a work or sound recording and sell and distribute them or publicly communicate or rent them with commercial or any other motive with or without deriving economic benefits without authorisation of the author or the copyright owner or by infringing the terms contained in the agreement or licence To do an advertisement or publicise by copying a work belonging to another person with a motive of taking advantage of the reputation gained by that work To make work of another subject or nature by changing the form and language of a work belonging to another person with a motive of deriving economic benefit To make an attempt to take benefit by adapting any work directly or indirectly with an intention of making the viewer, listener or reader believe it to be another work through advertisement or by any other means To import, produce or rent any equipment or device prepared with intention of circumventing any device designed to discourage the unauthorised reproduction To produce or import, with intent to sell, any equipment facilitating unauthorised reception of a program broadcast by encrypting it in a code language To import, sell, distribute and use a mechanical device prepared with the sole objective of infringing the copyright

Punishment for copyright infringement

Section 27 of the Copyright Act, 2002 mentions that if any person is found doing the aforementioned acts, he/she shall be punished with a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 or with imprisonment of up to six months or both. If the same person is convicted for the second time, such person shall be fined Rs 20,000 to Rs 200,000 or with imprisonment of up to one year or both.

The material published or reproduced or distributed or devices used to reproduce such material shall be seized.
In his rise to power there were quite a few East side African-American matriarchs with a great deal of credibility who constantly sang the praises of then councilman Quinton Lucas. They admired his dedication to his own mother, his educational achievement and his soft spoken confidence. Inner city voters believed he would serve as an inspiration for the community and provide a transition in leadership from the civil rights era and into the future.

After a year in office rife with plague, protest, economic devastation and a continually rising homicide count . . . Urban core voters don't seem as hopeful about the tenure of Mayor Q.

Accordingly, Mayor Q's relationship with his base of support on the East side might soon become even more "complex" given his living arrangements that seem to be taking him outside of the district where he successfully launched his political career.



To wit and by way of KICK-ASS TKC TIPSTERS . . .



MAYOR Q & HIS NEW WIFE WERE RECENTLY SPOTTED LOOKING FOR NEW DIGGS IN COLEMAN HIGHLANDS!!!

Brief aside, this is the part of town where TKC grew up and there are still enough old Irish & Latina ladies keeping constant busybody watch over the streets to make the neighborhood a decent investment.

More importantly . . .

KANSAS CITY'S FIRST COUPLE IS ACTIVELY HOUSE HUNTING AMID THE SPRING BUYING SEASON & THEY DON'T SEEM TO BE SHOPPING IN THE 3RD DISTRICT!!!



Accordingly . . .

MIDTOWN WELCOMES MAYOR Q BUT HIS URBAN CORE CONSTITUENCY MIGHT VIEW THE CITY HALL HONCHO'S IMPENDING MOVE AS A BETRAYAL!!!



They'll have to wait in line to express their feelings . . . Again, in only a year's time, Mayor Q has inspired outcry from the police union, activists and even homeless volunteers for his often contradictory tactics.

Meanwhile, the city hall first couple has yet to sign on the dotted line BUT their next move is imminent.



Developing . . .
The Greensill lobbying row is hurting Boris Johnson with voters ahead of crunch elections next month, a new poll suggests.

An exclusive survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for MailOnline found that a majority of the public have heard of or followed the revelations about David Cameron's lobbying of the Government.

Some 18 per cent said they had followed a great deal of the story, 28 per cent said quite a bit and 30 per cent said some, while a quarter (24 per cent) said not at all.

Among those who had followed the news, almost a fifth said it had made them less likely to vote for the Conservative Party.

The Greensill lobbying row is hurting Boris Johnson with voters ahead of crunch elections next month, a new poll suggests. An exclusive survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for MailOnline found a majority of the public have heard of or followed the revelations about David Cameron's lobbying of the Government

Asked whether the lobbying row had changed the way they intend to vote at next month's elections on May 6, 19 per cent said they were now less likely to vote Tory.

The majority, 57 per cent, said the row had not changed their likely voting intention while 10 per cent said they were now more likely to vote for the Tories.

Among those who had heard about the row, more than half (54 per cent) said their view of the Conservative Party had not changed.

But 26 per cent said they do now have a more negative view of the Tories while nine per cent said they have a more positive view and 11 per cent said they do not know.

Asked whether the row had changed their view of Mr Cameron, some 38 per cent said they now have a more negative view of the former prime minister.

But 41 per cent said their view of him had not changed while 10 per cent now have a more positive view.

The poll comes after it emerged yesterday that Mr Cameron personally lobbied the top civil servant at the Treasury and the deputy governor of the Bank of England on behalf of the failed finance firm Greensill Capital.

Sir Tom Scholar, the permanent secretary at the Treasury, revealed that the former prime minister had called him on his mobile phone as well as sending a series of texts.

Separately, the Bank disclosed that Mr Cameron had set up a call between the firms founder, Australian financier Lex Greensill, and deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe.

It released a series of emails showing how he tried to enlist Sir Jons help when the Treasury rejected Greensills application to join one of the Governments Covid support schemes.

Mr Johnson earlier this month commissioned the senior lawyer Nigel Boardman to investigate the row after it emerged Mr Cameron had lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak and other ministers on the firms behalf.
In many industries, working from home is here to stay  even as workers are vaccinated and lockdown orders are lifted. A survey from Pew Research Center finds more than half of employees, if given the option, want to continue working from home post-pandemic. Many organizations are also looking at hybrid models that support a mix of at-home and in-office arrangements.

As temporary solutions transition to permanent setups, its time to reexamine the security protocols and policies that were put in place to support the sudden shift to remote work in the early days of the pandemic.

Much of what we did in April and May was a kludge, says Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at Sophos. Those quick fixes all need to be rearchitected into permanent solutions.

What does security look like in a hybrid work environment? Chief among the concerns to address is employee use of personal accounts and devices for work.

A lot of organizations have been allowing employees to use personal devices, says Wisniewski. Some people were using Facebook Messenger and Whats App, for example, to communicate. That probably puts you in violation of privacy regulations, like GDPR.

What other considerations should security leaders address to get their policies in line with todays reality? Wisniewski has five suggestions.

Survey the Situation

Your first step is a thorough audit, if you havent done one already, of how your employees are getting their work done. What devices are they using? What accounts are they accessing for communication and collaboration?

Do a survey of the landscape to figure out where your high priority problems are, says Wisniewski.

Once you have the information about where your security gaps exist, you can start to identify the appropriate tools to plug them.

Consider Zero Trust

Many large organizations had already adopted Zero Trust technologies before the pandemic. Many mid-sized businesses were taking a closer look at it, but small business might not be very close to researching or implementing Zero Trust solutions.

Wisniewski says now is the right time to take a look at how your organization can start to deploy some Zero Trust technologies and tools to enhance security for a hybrid workforce. Zero Trust is a security concept and set of tools based on the belief that all attempts to access networks, systems, or data must be verified, regardless of whether theyre coming from inside or outside of the traditional firewall.

This is your opportunity to start doubling down on investment, he says. If you are truly going to be perimeter-less  the time is now.

Ask for Budget

When it comes to Zero Trust or any other new security initiative, Wisniewski says it is an opportune time to make the case for investment.

The pandemic is a good excuse to ask for that money. Now we have budget to spend on securing and formalizing things.

Stop Allowing Shared Devices

Employees did the best with what they had for the last year. But Wisniewski says devices that employees use both professionally and personally cannot be allowed anymore.

If employees have been using company-owned devices for these kinds of personal activities, a return to office part time will also mean they come back onto the corporate network with unsanctioned applications. Make it clear that shared devices are forbidden.

Shared devices are always a bad idea. If you were allowing that temporarily, its time to stop. A work device is for work. Its not for kids to do homework or for family members to watch Netflix.

Ensure Patching Happens

Many businesses got away from regular patching and updating of their employees work devices while they were remote. And as more return to an office part time, they will bring with them devices that have not been on company Wi-Fi in many months. This poses significant risks.

Wisniewski suggests making a plan now for that re-entry. Restrict devices when they arrive in office to a specific local area network so they can be updated away from everyone else. Its essentially a quarantine for corporate devices.

As they come through the door, quarantine devices until you know they are protected and patched, he says.

Sophos can assist you with infrastructure planning for your full or hybrid office return. Learn more at Sophos.com.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Netflix invested in becoming a partner in New Mexico with a production hub located in Mesa del Sol.

A new program in collaboration with the New Mexico Film Office, will give New Mexicans with a background in accounting an opportunity to get into production accounting. It is being financed by Netflix workforce development funds.

The Production Accounting and Payroll Training Program is a five-week virtual training program, where participants will learn the ins and outs of production accounting.

Building an end-to-end production ecosystem includes investing in industry focused workforce development and providing New Mexicans with opportunities to transfer existing skills and expertise into the industry. This Production Accounting and Payroll Training Program will do just that, said Alicia J. Keyes, New Mexico Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary. The New Mexico film and television industrys impact on the economy is significant  employing thousands of New Mexicans with well-paying jobs, providing additional revenue streams for local businesses, and building wealth for New Mexico families. A skilled, and scaled up crew base, ensures the film industry remains a pillar of New Mexicos economy for decades to come.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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Keyes said the New Mexico Film Office is partnering with CNM Ingenuity to train New Mexicans to work as payroll clerks, accounting clerks, and payroll accountant and second assistant accountant positions upon completion of the training.

The first training cohort will include up to 15 participants, who must be New Mexico residents and provide proof of previous accounting experience or education. It will begin on May 15.

Upon completion of the program, participants will be eligible for an informational interview with a Netflix production finance executive and may be considered for employment on future productions.

The training will be done by CNM Ingenuity and some of the topics covered are:

 Overview of careers and roles in a production accounting department.

 Accounting tools and technology.

 Payroll and roles of unions.

 Budgeting and cost reporting.

 Production incentives and insurance claims.

At CNM, were honored to be partnering with the New Mexico Film Office to address a growing workforce need in the film industry  accountants trained on the unique aspects of film production and film budgets, said CNM President Tracy Hartzler.

Amber Dodson, New Mexico Film Office director, said the idea grew out of the demand for production accounting within the film industry.

The intention behind this program as well as future workforce training programs is to meet the industrys needs and expand our local crew base, Dodson said.

The training program will be held virtually from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays with the first session beginning on May 15. To apply, applicants must have previous accounting or finance experience or education. Participants will be responsible for a $50 enrollment fee upon acceptance to the program. Preregistration is required no later than May 13.

Information on how to preregister can be found on the CNM Ingenuity website at cnmingenuity.org.
The company has made progress in its new product development program with a hair loss supplement formulation completed and manufacturing and ecommerce set to launch during the first half of 2022.

Cellmid is well-funded to implement its growth strategy after completing a $4.5 million capital raise in March, taking cash reserves to around $8.3 million after costs.

Cellmid Ltd ( ) is on track for profitability in the 2022 financial year with planned revenue growth in ecommerce, new distribution channels to China and new product launches.

During the March quarter, consumer health sales increased by 12% on pcp, due to an increase in sales of Cellmids evolis branded platforms and through ecommerce retail partners.

On March 31 the company completed an underwritten rights issue and raised a further $4.5 million to boost its ecommerce capabilities, to provide adequate funding to manage the cash flow demands of its Chinese distribution agreements and for general working capital.

Most of the net proceeds of the right issue, $3.8 million was received on April 1 bringing Cellmids total cash balance to $8.3 million following the reporting period.

Strong financial position

With this cash balance, Cellmid highlighted in its latest quarterly report that the business remained in a strong position to deliver on its profitability objectives and strategy for FY2022.

This includes new product development such as a hair loss supplement formulation completion and manufacturing as well as ecommerce set for launch in the first half of 2022.

A range of new topical products, specifically formulated for the Asian hair market under the evolis brand are also planned for manufacture and launch.

In addition, Cellmid has started discussions with other brands for co-development of innovative products.

Australia

Consumer health sales in Australia were up 7% in Q3 FY2021 on pcp to $240,000 (Q3 FY2020: $224,000) and even for the FY2021 financial year to date on pcp at $1.03 million.

Online sales are improving, however, the Australian pharmacy channel remains challenging.

In response to the shift in channels, staff changes have also been implemented.

Aeon International, the companys evolis distributor in China, made further orders in February to fully stock the branded T-mall international store.

The six months advertising and marketing plan is well underway to generate user reviews and increase brand awareness and includes engagement of influencers.

Cellmid experienced its best performance in March when the number of transactions was the highest ever.

Approximately 20% of all sales originated on Google ads, where cost per click and cost per conversion were both down significantly.

Website traffic was up 6% in March, with the majority of new visitors (84%). Facebook continues to be challenging from a sales perspective, however, traffic continued to increase during Q2 from this channel.

USA

Consumer health sales in the US were up 36% in Q3 FY2021 on pcp to $133,000 (Q3 FY2020: $98,000) and down 9% for the FY2021 financial year to date to $452,000.

Cellmids ecommerce revenue increased during the quarter through online retailers Amazon and Dermstore.

The retail environment in the US remains uncertain and prestige retail and salon sales continue to be negatively impacted by COVID-19.

To align with these trends, the company has reduced retail staff and refocused on improving logistics operations to service ecommerce retailers.

Japan

Consumer health sales in Japan were up 19% in Q3 FY2021 on pcp to $674,000 (Q3 FY2020: $565K) and down by 17% for the FY2021 financial year to date on pcp to $2.6 million (FY2020: $3.2 million).

This was consistent with expectations as the QVC show schedule was amended to focus on one TSV (Todays Special Value) event instead of two.

In January Cellmid received the first order pursuant to its exclusive Chinese distribution agreement with Ourui Health Management (OHM).

This order was in line with the terms of the contract and included 84,672 units of Jo-Ju shampoo and lotion and first delivery was completed in February with the remaining products due to be shipped out at the end of April or early May depending on the availability of vessels.

Advangen International (Australia)

As part of a strong strategic shift to ecommerce, several new appointments have been made to Cellmid's digital marketing and ecommerce team during quarter three of FY21.

Previously outsourced capabilities such as performance marketing, social and digital activities, creative content, and web development have been brought in-house through these new appointments.

The expanded digital team is working on new ecommerce platforms for Australia and the USA, due to be launched in Q1 of FY22.

A new Japanese ecommerce site is planned to follow at a later stage in FY22.

These new platforms are expected to contribute to the companys planned growth during FY2022 and beyond.

Lyramid

Several new publications have been released during quarter three by independent researchers supporting the role of midkine in cancer and inflammatory diseases.

This, in turn, provided further momentum to Cellmids negotiations to divest from the substantial intellectual property assets held around midkine.

The company is committed to deliver optimum value to shareholders from this program, which may include a cash payment and a share in any future development upside.
China's commitment to overcoming climate change important to global cooperation, experts say

Xinhua) 08:25, April 23, 2021

At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- It is inspiring that Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China's commitment to overcoming climate change while upholding multilateralism in this global fight, foreign experts have said after Xi made a speech on Thursday at the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing.

In his speech, Xi made a six-point proposal on building a community of life for man and nature, saying that we must be committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Xi's speech is very important and plays a strong leading role in the global fight against climate change, said Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business.

To cope with the issues regarding climate change, the international community should stick to multilateralism and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, he noted.

He expressed his hope that the international community should take actions as soon as possible, jointly participate in the global environmental governance, and push ahead with the building of a global environmental governance system featuring fairness and equity, cooperation and win-win.

Xi's speech demonstrates that China is always an active participator in the global cause of battling climate change, said Anri Sharapov, an associate professor at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies.

China, as a responsible major country, has shown to the world its resolution in protecting the environment and dealing with climate change, he noted, adding that it would undoubtedly strengthen the international community's confidence in jointly handling climate change.

Calling the climate change issue "a very complicated and huge issue" that requires the collaboration of all countries, Jehad Auwda, a professor of international relations at Egypt's Helwan University, said that China has been working on building an active and transparent mechanism with all parties to enhance international communication and mutual trust to tackle the climate change crisis.

This is very important for achieving international cooperation and the final goals, he said.

Yoav Yair, dean of the School of Sustainability at Israel's Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, said that Xi, in his speech, reiterated China's climate commitment to the international community.

He said what China has already done to defeat climate change is impressive, adding that China is "making an enormous effort for renewable energies" and the environmental legislation in China has "proved very effective and showed significant improvement in air quality in major cities."

"They are looking at all the options available in order to curb down carbon emissions, and they're making good progress," Yair said.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
Six of this years Oscar contenders are Asian or Asian-American, reflecting a greater diversity at this years Academy Awards. VOAs Penelope Poulou spoke with industry insiders on what any wins among them would mean for the film industry and beyond. VOA Khmer's Leakhena Sreng narrates.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors has said Derek Chauvin's conviction was a 'victory in accountability' but George Floyd's murder and the cop killing of Ma'Khia Bryant prove the criminal justice system is 'broken' and should be abolished.

Cullors, who set up BLM with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi back in 2013, posted a video on Instagram Thursday where she told her 371,000 followers that now was the time to 'fight for more' and 'get us closer to a place where there are no jails or prisons or surveillance' in America.

Chauvin was found guilty of all charges Tuesday in the murder of Floyd, after the white cop knelt on the black man's neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis last May.

Just minutes before he was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, black 16-year-old Bryant was shot dead by a cop in Columbus, Ohio.

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors said in a social media video (above) Derek Chauvin's conviction was a 'victory in accountability' but George Floyd's murder and the cop killing of Ma'Khia Bryant prove the criminal justice system is 'broken' and should be abolished

Just minutes before Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd (left), black 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant (right) was shot dead by a cop in Columbus, Ohio

Cullors welcomed the guilty verdict handed down to Chauvin in the hope that it 'makes George Floyd's family feel better'.

'When I heard the guilty verdicts I felt two things. I felt a big overwhelming sense of I hope that makes George Floyd's family feel better. I hope they feel some justice was given to them,' she said.

But she also questioned whether the outcome should be celebrated as she said Floyd would still be alive if the criminal justice system had been abolished as there would be no police, prisons or surveillance.

'I also felt like I am ready to fight for more. I am ready to move us toward abolition,' she said.

'I'm ready to get us closer to a place where there are no jails or prisons or surveillance.'

Floyd's death was proof of a 'broken' system, Cullors said.

'For an abolitionist the question is always is a guilty verdict for a cop an actually abolitionist act? Is this something that we should be celebrating?' she asked.

'A guilty cop was convicted of all the charges, was convicted of murder. We don't see that often. We rarely see this,' she said.

'It's not a sign that our criminal justice system is working it's actually a sign that it's broken, it's a sign that it's never worked for us and that we have to move toward abolition.'

While the verdict was a 'victory because we had accountability' she said it 'was not a victory toward abolition.'

She added: 'In an abolitionist world we would still have George Floyd.'

Cullors, who set up BLM with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi back in 2013, posted a video on Instagram Thursday where she told her 371,000 followers that now was the time to 'fight for more' and 'get us closer to a place where there are no jails or prisons or surveillance'

The 37-year-old said she did notice a difference in Chauvin's trial compared to the trial of George Zimmerman in 2013, where he was acquitted for shooting dead black 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sandford, Florida.

'I watched this trial pretty much daily. Something that was very different from this trial from the trial of George Zimmerman's was that I actually felt like everyone was on the right side of history,' she said.

'I felt like people were listening and thinking about anti black racism in a way that I have never seen inside a trial and that was powerful.'

Cullors said that Bryant's 'murder' - within 'the same breath' as the jury reading out its verdict - shows there is 'no justice' or 'freedom' for black people in America.

'While we all watched Derek Chauvin be convicted for murder, another young black child was killed in Columbus, Ohio,' she said.

'Ma'Khia Bryant was 16 years old and shot in the chest multiple times by Columbus police.

'This is why black people are in so much pain, this is why black people must have abolition, this is why our country must have abolition.'

She added: 'In the same breath we are witnessing finally a cop get convicted and then in the same breath we are witnessing a black child be murdered.

Cullors said she hopes Chauvin's conviction 'makes George Floyd's family feel better' but said Floyd would still be alive if the justice system had been abolished. Pictured Chauvin murdering Floyd

'That's because there is no justice in this country yet. That's because there is no freedom for black people in this country yet.'

Cullors urged people to 'imagine a world where black people are thriving' and are focused on the lives of black people rather than their deaths.

'This country is so obsessed with black death we need to reimagine black life,' she said.

'Ma'Khia should be with us. George should be with us - that's justice, that's love, that's healing.'

Chauvin in a mug after he was found guilty

She called on people to 'imagine abolition' as a place 'where black people can live freely, where we can live our full whole lives, where we are not gunned down by the police.'

Cullors has long called for the abolition of the criminal justice system as it is today, including its prisons, police, ICE detention centers and jails.

Instead, she calls for a move to transformative justice with law enforcement funding redirected to initiatives that directly serve communities, such as through education, healthcare and community programs.

The BLM co-founder is set to release her new book about abolition in October, titled 'An Abolitionist's Handbook: 12 Steps to Change Yourself and the World'.

Her comments come as Chauvin awaits his June sentencing for the murder of Floyd, with a maximum sentence of 40 years.

It emerged Friday that the Department of Justice is now investigating whether to bring federal charges against him over both Floyd's death and a separate 2017 incident where he knelt on a black 14-year-old boy's neck for nearly 17 minutes.

Federal prosecutors had witnesses testify before a grand jury two months ago regarding the 2017 incident, it was revealed.

Chauvin has never before faced any charges over this arrest.

Meanwhile, over in Ohio, the investigation continues into the death of Bryant.

Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon shot Bryant four times at around 4.45pm on Tuesday on the 3100 block of Legion Lane while responding to a 911 call about an attempted stabbing.

Police bodycam footage shows the fateful moment a police officer shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday

Body camera footage was released by police showing Bryant holding a knife and charging at two women.

She appeared to be lunging at the second woman with the knife when Reardon opened fire.

Questions continue to mount over the shooting and the events leading up to it, as cops released a 911 call thought to have been made by the 16-year-old minutes before she died, in which she asks the dispatcher to send a police officer 'now' as some girls are 'trying to stab us.'

Bryant's family say she made the 911 call after a group of other girls were threatening violence, but Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods told reporters 'we do not know yet' if it is the teen's voice on the call.

Her death has sparked protests, with Bryant's family, lawmakers and public figures questioning the use of force and saying her death was avoidable.

The teen's aunt Hazel Bryant said she was 'defending herself' from attack by the other women in the footage when she was shot while her mom's cousin asked why the officer did not de-escalate the situation instead of opening fire.

But others - including neighbors of the foster home where she lives - said Reardon had no choice but to shoot the black 16-year-old because she could have fatally stabbed the other woman.

Bryant's foster mother said the fatal shooting unfolded when the 16-year-old and two of her former foster children got into a brawl over a messy house and an unmade bed.

Meanwhile, Cullors has come under scrutiny after it emerged she had accrued a $3 million property empire of four homes in recent years. This includes the recent purchase of a $1.4 million home in the largely white district of Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles (above)

She has also bought three other homes including this one in Georgia - altogether totaling around $3 million

Meanwhile, Cullors has come under scrutiny after it emerged she had accrued a $3 million property empire of four homes in recent years.

This includes the recent purchase of a $1.4 million home in the largely white district of Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles.

The revelation has sparked questions about her source of income as well as her standing as a self-proclaimed Marxist.

Black Lives Matter raked in around $90 million in donations last year but does not release a full accounting of its spending.

The organization said Cullors has been paid $120,000 since 2013 but has not received any payment since 2019.

Cullors hit back last week saying it is 'categorically untrue' and 'incredibly dangerous' to suggest she may have used any of the organization's funds to buy her homes and saying the scrutiny is a 'racist and sexist' attack by the 'right-wing media'.

She also tried to deflect criticism from some on the left who have questioned whether her ownership of four homes contradicts her ideology as a 'trained Marxist' as she said she has invested in the properties to provide for her family and sees her wealth 'as my family's money, as well.'




SINGAPORE, Apr 23, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - To celebrate our first anniversary this April, Moonstake held a joint Q&A with Staking Rewards, the first and most trusted resource hub for staking and yield-bearing assets data. This interview provides many valuable insights into the current state as well as the future outlook of the PoS market and information about Moonstake, a top-ranking staking provider on Staking Rewards.Here, the Senior Advisor of Moonstake, Shogo Ishida, serves as the moderator. Answering the questions are Mirko Schmiedl, the CEO and Founder of Staking Rewards, and Lawrence Lin, the CEO of Moonstake. Here's the full transcript of the interview.Shogo: What should I watch out for in 2021 to stay on top of one of the hottest trends in staking?Mirko: 2021 will be a year with a lot of noise. Thus even more important to pick the right news sources and content to stay on top of trends. Already seeing a lot of projects without any substance popping up everywhere. I would try to listen to people with proven track-record only. And refer to news sources that are trusted and work professionally. At Stakingrewards.com we thrive to provide a pre-vetted and independent overview of the entire staking market.Shogo: What can we expect to see in the POS market in 2021 and how to stay on top of all the hottest trends in staking?Mirko: One of the biggest trends in 2021 is definitely staking derivatives. With the launch of Ethereum 2,0 in December last year, we have seen many solutions being developed which offer liquid staking products that can be traded on the secondary market. This trend is emerging into the multichain nature which is another big trend for 2021. There are more and more bridges and it is now possible to move wrapped staked assets across chains. Lido Finance, Stafi Protocol, and Anchor Protocol are great examples.Mr Ishida: What are the biggest adoption barriers for Proof of Stake and Staking right now and how should we solve them?Mirko: One of the biggest barriers is still the ease of use. There are not many solutions that provide a simple user interface for multiple crypto assets. Especially across chains there needs to be more easy tooling to hold, store, and stake many assets in one interface. Another adoption barrier is the unclarity for tax treatment. I see many people hold off staking as they are afraid of the legal treatment. From the Protocol Research perspective I think we have mainly achieved consensus, that Proof of Stake is the go-to group of algorithms which will dominate the market besides Bitcoin. We made it! Governance is a topic that still needs a lot of attention. We are still in the very early days for that. It will be a big challenge, once networks become more decentralized. As of now this is still a long path until we will face the real challenges. Most projects are still highly centralized and the decision making process is achieved fast.Shogo: Ethereum, the world's #2 biggest blockchain, which originally a Proof-of-Work blockchain, has begun its development to switch to Proof-of-Stake network at the end of last year. How do you think this will impact the future of the staking market going forward?Mirko: The launch of Ethereum 2.0 was a massive milestone for the overall blockchain space. It marked the beginning of a whole new era. Ethereum sets trends and drives innovation. Their unique approach which fosters grass roots participation and decentralization makes the network more resilient and I hope other protocols will be inspired and can learn from them. Ethereum in my view combined the PoS design of Early Stage projects like Peercoin, NXT, Reddcoin, etc with the later stage projects like Tezos, Cosmos, EOS. Ethereum took the best of both worlds and is also strong in layer 2 tooling, like development of sacred shared validator keys, staking derivatives etc.Shogo: What makes a staking network unique amongst others on the market?Mirko: A good staking network needs to have long-term aligned incentives, great security module, active governance participation, ease-to-use, accessible for everyone, low minimums, shorter lock-ups times, good tooling, great wallets, rich set of high-profile validators, rich set of grass roots validators, community engagement, good API/data access, great block explorer, simple economic design that is easy to understand, solving liquidity issues, also having raised less money is mainly a good thing for projects. That's just to name a few points I consider extremely important for a project to stand out. You can see that all of the top-ranking staking projects are being adopted and supported by the high-profile staking providers such as Moonstake. On Staking Rewards you can find interesting patterns between the quality assets and providers.Shogo: Recently, Moonstake has formed alliances with various blockchain projects like Centrality, Polkadot, Orbs. How does Moonstake decide on which PoS coin to support?Lawrence: If you look at Moonstake's lineup of supported assets, you can probably see the strategy behind our decision. That is, we focus on the demand of the market for that coin, how popular it is, and how large its staking volume is. And of course, we're always open for deeper collaboration opportunities, so we also look at how the project's vision and roadmap goals can align with our own to widen our scope of collaboration.Shogo: Stakingrewards.com provides rankings for staking providers, DeFi platforms, exchanges, and wallets. What are some key things that the top platforms in each category have in common?Mirko: Good and successful staking providers are amongst the best research boutiques in the industry. They choose wisely which networks to validate, thus the networks they choose are likely to have good long-term incentives in place. This makes these coins highly demanded by the community and therefore worth supporting, which I believe, like what Lawrence just said, is a strategy Moonstake is currently adopting.DeFi platforms have to be innovative or fill a no-brainer market gap (e.g. Pancakeswap as "Uniswap on BSC") in order to succeed. The successful platforms are driving innovation and development, while having great incentives for the community. Giving away more than 50% of tokens to the community via farming in order to bootstrap the network is more of a necessity these days.Successful exchanges are easy-to-use, and list good projects. Again it's important for exchanges to have a strong research arm and be close to innovation. Staking features and campaigns are becoming more and more a differentiating factor.Shogo: Moonstake became one of the top 10 staking providers within 1 year. What was the strategy to accomplish this as a staking wallet solution for users and businesses?Lawrence: Indeed, 2020 was an incredible first year for Moonstake. We achieved over $900 Million in staked assets and earned the trust of investors and businesses worldwide with our staking wallet as well as staking-as-a-service solutions. In just one year, we've become one of the top 10 biggest staking providers in the world. This is thanks to our strategy of only collaborating with the most esteemed institutions, projects, and custodians on the market while also taking active part in promoting global awareness of blockchain and staking in various educational initiatives, bringing the world of cryptocurrency and decentralized technologies to a wider audience of consumers and businesses. And with the recent launch of Muse.Finance, the Moonstake ecosystem will continue to grow from 2021 onwards, especially in the frontier of DeFi, and help accelerate the connection from staking to DeFi.Moonstake has been proudly featured in the top 10 rankings of global staking providers on Staking Rewards since February this year. We were thrilled to have a joint interview with them and hope for potential collaboration opportunities in the future.About MoonstakeMoonstake was recently established to develop a staking pool protocol to satisfy increasing demands in regional and global blockchain markets. Moonstake develops a staking pool protocol and provides business services through partners and companies.Moonstake aims to be the largest staking pool network in Asia by providing an active environment for crypto asset holders. Establishing a clear partnership roadmap with Moonstake represents another significant milestone for continuing to strengthen ties with leading platforms across Asia's burgeoning Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ecosystem. Partnership has been announced with Emurgo, Ontology and NEO to boost staking adoption, Binarystar, Japan's biggest blockchain hub, OIO Holdings Limited (SGX: OIO), a Singapore-listed company. Industry's reputed advisors, such as Lisk and Lawrence Lim of RAMP DEFI support Moonstake's innovative journey.With a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, we expanded our business and as of now, our total staking assets exceeded over USD 900 Million. https://www.moonstake.io/About Staking RewardsStaking Rewards is a platform of open-concourse, that provides data and guidance to minimize the risk when investing in the countless opportunities to earn passive income with cryptocurrencies. The team is curating knowledge and data to build a healthy staking and defi ecosystem. Staking Rewards is committed to lowering the access barrier to staking opportunities by presenting, comparing and benchmarking all the (Staking) Providers, who are dedicated to providing infrastructure, security, expertise and sometimes even custody or insurance for the staking assets. https://www.stakingrewards.com/Source: MoonstakeCopyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Kaia Gerber has been busy lending her image to Calvin Klein's latest campaign, featuring the iconic brand's collaboration with artist Heron Preston.

And the 19-year-old mastered the off-duty model look as she enjoyed a day out in West Hollywood, California on Thursday afternoon.

Gerber, who looked to be in a jovial mood, kept her slender frame under wraps beneath a navy blue fleece jacket and a pair of kaki trousers.

Nailed it: Kaia Gerber mastered the off-duty model look as she enjoyed a day out in West Hollywood, California on Thursday afternoon

Kaia layered the cozy jacket over a charcoal toned crop top.

The daughter of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber completed her look with a pair of white sneakers and a minimal selection of jewelry.

She wore her golden brown shoulder-length hair in a middle part and she appeared to be devoid of makeup.

Gerber, walking with one hand in her pocket, stopped to purchase a bottle of sparkling water during one portion of Thursday's outing.

Preppy: Gerber, who looked to be in a jovial mood, kept her slender frame under wraps beneath a navy blue fleece jacket and a pair of kaki trousers

Earlier in the day, Kaia was spotted attending a pilates class at her go-to studio in West Hollywood.

Still wearing her fleece coat and grey crops, the runway maven slipped into a pair of black leggings and a pair of Birkenstock sandals.

She kept the majority of her face concealed behind a pair of designer shades and a mask.

No days off: Earlier in the day, Kaia was spotted attending a pilates class at her go-to studio in West Hollywood

Switch up: Still wearing her fleece coat and grey crops, the runway maven slipped into a pair of black leggings and a pair of Birkenstock sandals

Gerber had a designer handbag tucked under her arm and a large aqua water bottle in her hand as she made her way toward's the pilates studio.

Taking to Instagram, Kaia uploaded a video from her campaign shoot for Calvin Klein, which showed the model vacuuming a room with headphones in her ears.

She had on a pair of Calvin Klein socks, white underwear, and a matching tank top as she grooved to the music playing through her headphones.

In #MYCALVINS for @calvinklein x @heronpreston by @_rubberband... thank you for including me in this campaign, loved every second of this shoot,' captioned Kaia.

Campaign: Taking to Instagram, Kaia uploaded a video from her campaign shoot for Calvin Klein, which showed the model vacuuming a room with headphones in her ears

Loved it: In #MYCALVINS for @calvinklein x @heronpreston by @_rubberband... thank you for including me in this campaign, loved every second of this shoot,' captioned Kaia

Despite having modeling in her blood, Gerber recently confessed to British Vogue that she has 'faced a lot of struggles' in the industry.

Kaia - who launched her modeling career at the age of 16 in 2017 - explained that there are so many 'moving parts' and 'different people' that she doesn't want to compare herself to others in fashion.

'There are so many moving parts, especially being part of an industry with so many different people that you face a lot of struggles.

'You have to wake up every day and choose that happiness for yourself, not for someone else and not based on anyone else,' she concluded.
Secondary school bosses have apologised after a female teacher was filmed blaming sexual harassment from boy students on the short skirts of the girls.

Young female pupils at Lytchett Minster School in Poole, Dorset, had complained they were having to cover their backsides with their books and planners as they walked upstairs to prevent boys from making 'sexualised comments'.

But in a talk, which was filmed and later posted online, a teacher said there was 'only one reason' that the girls were 'having to put your planner on your backsides' and it is 'because your skirt is too short.'

In the video, the female teacher adds: 'Think girls, be sensible, we don't need to have skirts that short.

'When you are breaking school uniform (rules) and having your skirts far too short that is going to tempt boys to say things isn't it?'

Young female pupils at Lytchett Minster School in Poole, Dorset, had complained they were having to cover their backsides with their books and planners as they walked upstairs to prevent boys from making 'sexualised comments'

Turning to the boys, she added: 'Boys, sorry I am not talking about all of you but we also know that some of you are making silly comments and sexualised comments.

'Everyone has a right to come to school without being sexually harassed and without having sexual comments made about them.

'We have all got a responsibility to make sure this doesn't happen.'

The video posted online sparked outrage among female students at the school.

Many of the pupils today staged a demonstration on the school playing field against the 'victim blaming' video.

Girls have turned up to school wearing leggings instead of skirts in protest.

Headteacher Andrew Mead has apologised for the video and said the unidentified teacher who posted it 'deeply regrets' doing so.

The mother of a female student at the mixed school said: 'Mentioning short skirts and sexual assault in the same video aimed at school children is wrong on so many levels.

'Girls - wearing short skirts isn't an invitation and all unwanted attention is never acceptable. Boys - short skirts isn't an invitation by young women for unwanted sexual advances.'

One student said: 'At worst, this highlights the deeply institutionalised misogyny that is still sadly so rife in today's society.

'Victim-blaming culture can be so harming to young people and uniform policy has no place in a video intended to raise awareness of sexual assault and harassment.

Many of the pupils today staged a demonstration on the school playing field against the 'victim blaming' video. Girls have turned up to school wearing leggings instead of skirts in protest

'The only person able to prevent sexual assault/harassment is the perpetrator.'

The school video was made by staff in response to the 'national rape day' hoax circulating on the social media platform TikTok - an online prank reportedly started by a group giving tips on how to 'get away with it'.

The police have been informed about the video and are investigating the matter.

Mr Mead: 'We felt it was important to raise the issue of sexual harassment in society and in school. A video was made by the headmaster and a head of house seeking to address this serious issue.

'A section of the video caused a lot of upset, which was clearly unintended.. A letter of apology was sent to all students and a follow up letter was sent to parents.

'The member of staff who made the comment on the video is an exceptionally caring teacher. She deeply regrets the comment she made about the length of girls' skirts and has apologised fully.

'She recognises that no one ever deserves abuse on account of what they are wearing, and it was a mistake to link the two issues.

'A number of students have chosen to make their feelings known by organising a protest on the school field. We have allowed this to take place. It is being supervised by staff. '

On the school's letter to students, Mr Mead said: 'We apologise for the distress caused by linking these two entirely separate issues.'

Lytchett Minster School is a state comprehensive school and sixth form with 1,400 pupils.
This overcrowded wooden boat was intercepted on Wednesday (Royal TCI Police Force)

A dangerously overcrowded boat which had travelled 190 miles from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos Islands was detained by marine police on Wednesday, April 21.





The Coastal Radar Station made a report of suspicious activity in the North West Point area to officers on police boats Sea Guardian and Sea Pursuit at about 12.16am.





They immediately responded and intercepted a 45 foot, wooden, red and blue boat close to land. It contained 251 people  183 men and 68 women.





"The overloaded vessel brought severe challenges, and a critical decision was made to transfer several migrants onto motor vessel Sea Pursuit, a police press release said.





"At the same time, motor vessel Sea Guardian towed the migrant vessel to the South Dock Port.





Officers on board Sea Pursuit completed the transfer process during several trips to South Dock Port to ensure the safety of the migrants and enforcement of the Covid-19 protocols.





The passengers were handed over to the Immigration Task Force for processing and repatriation.





Just one week earlier, on April 14, two wooden sloops from Haiti overcrowded with hundreds of men and women were intercepted in TCI waters.





The Coastal Radar Station detected the two boats at 5.20am and 7.13am near West Harbour Bluff, allowing the Royal TCI Police Forces marine officers to quickly intercept them.





Both boats were towed to South Dock Port, Providenciales, where the 380 migrants were met by police officers, Ministry of Health staff, customs and immigration officers.





The first blue and red 44 foot boat held 176 people  132 men and 44 women, while the second blue and red 44 foot boat held 204 people  152 men and 52 women.





All of the boats passengers were detained at the Detention Centre to prepare them for repatriation. Police searched the boats but found nothing of interest.





Later that day, Minister of Immigration Hon. Arlington Musgrove issued a warning to people smugglers in a statement.





"To the masterminds, we will catch and prosecute you as the borders of the Turks and Caicos Islands are closed to illegal migration and related activities.





"So please do not waste your money attempting to enter these islands illegally. You will be sent back.





Just two days earlier on April 12, an illegal Haitian boat made landfall at a beach close to the Sailrock Resort on South Caicos. It was found abandoned.





A press release from the Ministry of Immigration, Citizenship, Labour and Employment Services said the number of people who were onboard has not been determined.





In the press release, Musgrove said maritime smuggling operations are dangerous and too frequently end in tragedy and death at sea.





"There are many different reasons that migrants attempt such unsafe voyages at sea, but none of them are worth the risk of life.





It is an offence to harbour or assist illegal migrants and anyone found guilty may be fined up to $20,000 or face four years in prison or both according to the Immigration Ordinance 2018.





Anyone with information on any migration or people smuggling issues can call 911 or Crimestoppers on 1-800-84477.





Tips can also be submitted anonymously in English, French or Spanish to www.crimestoppers.tc or on Facebook as a fan of Crime Stoppers Turks & Caicos.
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's private sector growth moderated in April with services activity stalling and the upturn in manufacturing production partly held back by supply shortages, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed on Friday. The composite output index dropped more-than-expected to 56.0 in April from 57.3 in March. The expected score was 56.8. Business activity across the service sector stalled in April as companies cited the impact of the pandemic and stricter lockdown measures. The flash services Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 50.1 in April, down from 51.5 a month ago and expectations of 50.8. The manufacturing PMI fell to 66.4 from 66.6 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to decline to 65.8. 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.
New Delhi: Government employees may soon see several changes related to their work timing, pay structure, take-home salary, provident fund and gratuity. All these changes are likely to take place under the gamut of the Wage Code Bill.

Wage Code Bill (Code on Wages Bill 2019) was passed in Parliament in 2019. The government wanted to implement the rules in the new labor code from April 1, but had to defer it to allow more time to states to prepare and also to companies for changing their HR policy.

The new draft law proposes to increase the maximum working hours to 12. The draft rules of the OSCH code also provide that if an employee works additionally for 15 to 30 minutes, it will be counted as overtime by 30 minutes for which the employees will be paid extra. As per current rules, if an employee has worked less than 30 minutes, it is not considered overtime. The Draft rules also prohibit any employee from working continuously for more than 5 hours. It says that an employee, who has worked for 5 hours straight, must be given a rest of half an hour.

Media reports had also said that the changes in pay structure will mean reduced pay while there will be hike in PF and gratuity portions. As the employees' Gratuity and provident fund (PF) will increase, their take home salary will decrease.

Under the new definition of wage, allowances will be a maximum of 50 percent of the total salary. Employees whose basic salary is already 50 per cent or more will not be affected. But those with basic salary less than 50 per cent will see a change in their take-home salary. Due to the increase in basic salary, the share towards PF will also increase, since it is calculated on the basis of basic salary. The new rules will likely affect the salary structure of high-paid employees with a high allowance component. Increasing PF and gratuity could also increase the cost of companies as their contribution towards these would increase proportionately.

Meanwhile, an increase in contribution to gratuity and PF will increase the amount received after retirement. This will make it easier for maximum retirement benefits.

Live TV

#mute
UEFA on Friday dropped Dublin and Bilbao as Euro 2020 hosts over a failure to guarantee fans' attendance, with matches destined for the Irish capital switched to St Petersburg and London while Seville steps in for the Basque town.

Munich was confirmed as a venue at the eleventh hour, the German city joining Budapest, Baku, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Glasgow, Copenhagen and Rome.

Held over from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Championship will now be held in 11 different countries from June 11-July 11.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin welcomed being able to "guarantee a safe and festive environment" with fans "at every match".

Dublin and Bilbao lost out after the Irish government and Basque region officials were unable to assure UEFA of fans despite the pandemic.

"We just think June is too soon," Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had said on Wednesday.

Dublin's three group matches go to St Petersburg, with Wembley the new venue for its round of 16 game.

Seville gets Bilbao's three matches and round of 16 tie after its regional authority pledged to European football's governing body the Estadio La Cartuja could be filled to 30% capacity.

UEFA said it had forced the switch "simply to allow fans to attend the games after a year of not being able to watch live football in stadiums".

Budapest, St Petersburg, Baku, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Rome and London had all promised crowds at between 25 per cent and 100 per cent of capacity in the run up to UEFA's deadline this month.

Munich, venue for world champions France against Germany on June 15, got the go-ahead for their four matches after confirmation from local authorities they would be able "to welcome a minimum of 14,500 spectators", UEFA's statement confirmed.

Whilst there will be disappointment in Dublin and Bilbao for missing out, UEFA expressed its "appreciation and gratitude" to the two cities, saying "both are considered as good venues to host future UEFA events".

cfe/lrb/nr/bsp/iwd
ROME - The UN envoy for the Middle East Tor Wennesland said on Friday that "it is necessary to accelerate the vaccination process of the Palestinian people" during a virtual meeting of the UN Security Council. He connected the problem of the pandemic to elections of the Palestinian legislative council scheduled on May 22, calling for anti-virus security plans.



The pandemic continues to represent a "terrible threat across the occupied Palestinian territory and it is for this reason that the vaccination must be intensified". "Over 316 cases of Covid were registered only in one day", he stressed. "I am seriously concerned for the significant increase of cases in Gaza, where the daily rate of infection is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic", he stated. So far, over 300,000 doses of vaccine have been delivered, he said, and Israel has also continued efforts to vaccinate segments of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, over 100,000 Palestinians who have a right to enter Israel have been vaccinated.
EU Stakeout, UNSC Debate on the Middle East, Including the Palestinian Question

Statement

I would like to make the following statement today on behalf of the three current EU Members of the Security Council, Estonia, France and Ireland and the former EU Members of the Council, Belgium and Germany.

Today we wish to highlight the critical importance of Palestinian legislative, presidential and National Councilelections.

Strong inclusive and accountable democratic Palestinian institutions based on respect for the rule of law and human rights are an important element of a viable two-state solution.

We stand ready to support free, fair and inclusive elections across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and welcome the constructive engagement by the Palestinian factions.

We call on the Israeli authorities to facilitate the holding of elections across all of the Palestinian territory, including in East Jerusalem, in line with commitments made in the Oslo Accords as well as to facilitate the participation of international observers across all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

We strongly encourage the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in the elections and the engagement of young people, persons with disabilities and representatives of other marginalised groups in the democratic process. We wish to stress the importance of safeguarding open, free and fair independent civil society engagement.

We look forward to the completion of free, fair and inclusive elections in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to pursuing our current work and relations with the Palestinian Authority. In line with longstanding EU principles, we recall the importance of the principles of international law and non-violence, Israel's legitimate right to exist, maintaining existing agreements and working towards the peaceful establishment of a Palestinian State based on the pre-June 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the future capital of two States.

We reiterate our strong opposition to Israels settlement policy and our long-standing position that all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two state solution impossible.

We are deeply concerned by the Israeli authorities advancement of approval for the construction in Har Homa E. We call on the Israeli government to halt settlement construction and specifically not to proceed with the final approval of the respective plan. Implementation of the plans for Har Homa would effectively cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and threaten the contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

We are also deeply concerned by the increase of evictions and demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem. Such unilateral actions are illegal under international humanitarian law and fuel tensions. We call upon the Israeli authorities to cease these activities and provide adequate permits for legal construction and development of Palestinian communities. Potential evictions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan in the coming days and weeks are of particular concern, as are recent repeated demolitions and confiscation of items and structures carried out by Israeli authorities at Humsa Al-Bqaia in the Jordan Valley.

It is urgent to relaunch a credible peace process that allows for direct negotiations between the parties. To that aim, we encourage the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take political and technical steps to rebuild trust, and to refrain from unilateral actions that increase tensions and undermine the two-state solution. We urge all parties to refrain in particular from all forms of violence and incitment targeting the civilian population.

We remain committed to supporting all efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on international law, relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and agreed parameters. We will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders including Members of the Quartet, and partners in the region, particularly Egypt and Jordan, which met with France and Germany in Paris on March 11.

We warmly welcome the announcement by Secretary of State Blinken of the resumption of US funding to UNRWA and we encourage other donors, in the region, and elsewhere, to restore their contributions, and if possible increase their support. Finding long-term, predictable and sustainable funding solutions for UNRWA is as important as strenghtening the performance and efficiency of the Agency.

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Change is coming, whether we seek it or not. So declares a remarkable document titled Preserving Country, released Monday by the United Mine Workers of America, in which the union  which at its peak represented half a million workers  accepts the reality that isnt coming back.

Instead, it argues, the goal should be a true energy transition that will enhance opportunities for miners, their families and their communities.

Its good to see this kind of realism. Remember, back in 2016 Donald Trump promised that he would restore to its former greatness, reopening shuttered mines  and voters in coal country believed him. Many of them probably still imagine that something like that is possible.

The union, however, understands that it isnt. What killed the mines wasnt a war on coal; it was technological progress, first in the extraction of natural gas, then in solar and wind power.

Generating electricity from coal would be economically unviable even if we didnt have to worry about

Of course, we do need to worry about climate change, which is an existential threat to civilisation. The question is how to address this threat.

The unions document is in effect an endorsement, at least in principle, of the Biden administrations plans to make action against a centrepiece of its boost to infrastructure spending  something I guess were now supposed to call Build Back Better rather than the Green New Deal, but whatever.

Its also a small but encouraging vindication of the thinking behind Build Back Better, the belief that climate action is most likely to be politically feasible if it eschews economic purism and relies more on carrots than on sticks.

Some background: Conventional economics suggests that the best way to limit greenhouse gas emissions is either to impose a carbon tax or to create a cap-and-trade system in which polluters must buy permits for their emissions.

This argument underlies high-profile initiatives like the Climate Leadership Council, whose founding members included a wide array of business leaders and economists  including Janet Yellen, now the Treasury secretary  and a number of major corporations. The council, whose creation was announced in 2017, calls for carbon fees whose proceeds would be redistributed to families. This plan is part of a bipartisan road map for action.

This is, however, not the path the Biden administration is taking. Why?

First, the economic case for relying almost exclusively on a carbon tax misses the crucial role of technological development. The reason large reductions in emissions look much easier to achieve now than they did a dozen years ago is that weve seen spectacular progress in renewable energy: A 70 per cent fall since 2009 in the cost of wind power, an 89 per cent fall in the cost of solar power.

And this technological progress didnt just happen. It was at least partly a result of investments made by the Obama administration. These investments were ridiculed by conservatives; back in 2012 Mitt Romney declared that all of the money went to losers like Solyndra and, um, Tesla.

In retrospect, however, it is clear that government spending provided a crucial technological lift. And this suggests that public investment, as well as or even instead of a carbon tax, can be a way forward in fighting

Second, the idea that a carbon tax can achieve bipartisan support is hopelessly naive. Only 14 per cent of Republicans even accept the notion that climate change is an important issue. And redistributing the proceeds of such a tax to families in general wont win over voters who believe that climate action will threaten their jobs and communities.

What might win over at least some of these voters, however, is the kind of programme the United Mine Workers is calling for: Targeted spending designed to help retrain former and support development in coal country communities.

I dont want to be overly optimistic about the Biden strategy. For one thing, while theres a compelling case against relying exclusively on a carbon tax to fight climate change, public investment alone also probably isnt enough. Eventually we will almost surely have to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, politically difficult though that will be.

On the other side, while its great to see the mine workers union call for policies that support coal country, not coal jobs  that is, communities rather than a specific industry  thats still a tall order.

Although Covid-19 created temporary disruptions, it remains true that the 21st-century economy wants to concentrate good jobs in major metropolitan areas with highly educated work forces. Promoting job creation in West Virginia or eastern Kentucky wont be easy, and may be impossible.

But we can and should make a good-faith effort to help workers and regions that will lose as we try to avoid environmental catastrophe, and in general to make climate policy as politically palatable as possible, even at some cost in efficiency. Climate action is too important a task to insist that it be done perfectly.

The writer is a distinguished professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He won the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on trade and economic geography

2021 The New York TimesNews Service
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The ministry is in the final stage of reviewing the home test kits, with final approval for general use expected in three months' time. They have already been approved in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the U.S.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Friday approved the emergency use of two coronavirus home test kits made by Korean manufacturers.

The process of testing from a swab takes about 30 minutes, much quicker than polymerize chain reaction (PCR) tests in hospitals that take about six hours, but the results are less accurate.

As with a home pregnancy test, people who test positive then need to go to a hospital for confirmation.

Health authorities advise only people with no symptoms to use the home test kits, which cost about W8,000 (US$1=W1,118). This will likely help detect possible COVID-19 carriers early and prevent the spread.

They will be used first at high-risk facilities for the elderly or handicapped as well as call centers and dormitories.

Expert opinions are divided. Prof. Chun Eun-mi of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital said studies show that it is best to test twice with an interval of 24 to 36 hours.

But Prof. Kim Woo-joo of Korea University said, "There are worries that patients could spread the virus if they put too much trust in their negative results and start going out and about."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  A Japanese debt watcher has maintained its BBB+ credit rating and "stable" outlook for the Philippines this year despite its economic downturn amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

"The Philippines' economy suffered a severe contraction due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but is expected to recover primarily through aggressive public investment, which had driven the economy in the past several years," the Rating and Investment Information Inc. (R&I) said in a statement Thursday.

The BBB+ is a notch away from the government's targeted A-level ratings, while a stable outlook means factors that may lead to a rating change over the short term are absent.

"On the back of aggressive infrastructure investment under the Duterte administration, not only private consumption but investment has increased its contribution to economic growth," R&I added.

National fiscal and monetary policies, which the government has kept accommodative amid the pandemic, shall also boost growth for some time, the credit rating agency said.

RELATED: BSP maintains interest rates at 2%, expects inflation to go over 2021 target range

The Philippine economy remains in recession, but has seen contraction soften starting from the third quarter of 2020. From a 16.9% plunge, economic growth logged at -11.5% from July to September and -8.3% in the last three months of the year.

R&I also noted the government's efforts to keep its debt ratio down, saying this provided the Philippines fiscal space to address the pandemic. The country's debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 54.5% in end-2020 from the 39.6% the year prior, and is expected to jump to 57% in 2021.

The state's budget deficit-to-GDP ratio also ballooned to 7.6% from the 3% during its pre-pandemic fiscal program. Still, R&I said it "does not view this as a major issue at this juncture, because of a comfortable funding condition backed by ample domestic liquidity and the prospect of peaking-out of the debt ratio within one to two years."

In a separate statement, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno welcomed R&I's affirmation of its ratings for the Philippines, calling it an important vote of confidence on the ability of the country's economy to recover from the health crisis.

"With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, the tail-end of the crisis is proving to be extra challenging. Nevertheless, we do not see a permanent dent on our macroeconomic fundamentals, and we can head back to our growth path post-COVID," Diokno said.

The BSP also acknowledged how the strength of the country's external accounts were recognized by the credit rater.

"The overall balance of payments is positive, and foreign reserves are greater than external debt. The country's external liabilities exceed its external assets, but only slightly. R&I therefore considers the risk associated with the external position to be limited," it said.

RELATED: BSP: PH balance of payments seen to post reduced surplus in 2021

For his part, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III affirmed how the Japanese rating agency cited the administration's efforts to execute socioeconomic reforms despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

"With a manageable debt profile, a steady revenue stream brought about by tax reform, and the continued practice of fiscal prudence, the government is confident it will not run out of resources in waging the protracted battle against the COVID-19 crisis," Dominguez said.

Alongside reforms to the Philippine tax system, the R&I cited policies enhancing future productivity such as the liberalization of rice imports and amendments further promoting competition on pieces of legislation like the Foreign Investments Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Law, and Public Service Act.

"With R&I's latest rating decision on the Philippines, the country has so far been able to maintain all of its investment grade credit ratings with regional and international debt watchers despite a wave of negative credit rating actions globally in light of the pandemic," the central bank said.

Earlier this year, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings affirmed their credit ratings for the Philippines at "BBB" and "BBB+" respectively, along with their stable outlook for the local economy.

However, Moody's Investors Service in March cautioned a "credit negative" for the Philippine economy, citing the government's inability to curb the alarming surge in COVID-19 infections.
Home > 2021 > Afghanistan: US exit is with caveats | M K Bhadrakumar

April 22, 2021

The United States and NATO are yet to begin the withdrawal of their forces from Afghanistan but the eyes are cast over the horizon at what lies after the forever war formally ends. The US exit strategy in Afghanistan assumes the look of that random arbitrariness of a lottery that was the case with its Iraq war ending inconclusively in 2011.

Evidence is piling that the US president Joe Bidens declaration of April 14 on total troop withdrawal by September 11 may not be the last word on that topic. The Pentagon commanders and the CIA seem to be tweaking the decision.

On the day after Biden spoke, the New York Times reported under the byline of two of the papers noted senior correspondents that the Pentagon, American spy agencies and Western allies are refining plans to deploy a less visible but still potent force in the region to prevent the country (Afghanistan) from again becoming a terrorist base Pentagon is discussing with allies where to reposition forces.

The report mentioned that although NATO forces would formally withdraw, Turkey, a member of the alliance, is leaving troops behind who could help the C.I.A. collect intelligence. Besides, some of the Pentagon contractors (mercenaries) who include 6000 American personnel could also be redeployed.

The Times report also disclosed that Pentagon actually has about 1000 more troops on the ground there than it has publicly acknowledged. The murky accounting results from some Special Operations forces having been put off the books  to include some elite Army Rangers, who work under both the Pentagon and the C.I.A. Pentagon might even slip these undisclosed troops into Afghanistan after the departure deadline of September 11.

On the same day as the Times report appeared, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking from Kabul, confirmed to the media after talks with Afghan government officials that even when our troops come home, our partnership with Afghanistan will continue. Our security partnership will endure. Theres strong bipartisan support (in Washington) for that commitment to the Afghan Security Forces.

Blinken sidestepped the scale of future CIA presence in Afghanistan  the tricky part. But Moscow solved the riddle when the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova alleged on April 17 that there are persistent reports that the US is itself giving support to terrorist groups, including ISIS, in Afghanistan, and that Washington plans to build up the presence of its intelligence service in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as it withdraws its troops from that country.

Zakharova said, these circumstances are giving rise to serious concern not only in Russia but in other countries of the region as well. We are looking forward to receiving explanations from the American side. Indeed, this is not the first time that Russia has alleged a nexus between the US intelligence and ISIS to destabilise the Central Asian region.

In fact, on April 19, Russia conducted a major air strikeat a remote region near Palmyra in Syria against camps for terrorists in which 200 terrorists were killed. The Russian statement alleged that terrorists were being trained in the US-controlled al-Tanf zone in the border region in southeast Syria straddling the Baghdad-Damascus highway.

Earlier, in January, Shanghai Cooperation Organization officials were also quoted as voicing concern over growing numbers of ISIS fighters being transferred from Syria and Iraq to Afghanistan.

Suffice to say, even as the US and NATO are preparing to formally withdraw forces from Afghanistan, Pentagon and CIA are calibrating their future operations in the country, notionally to assist Afghan security forces but in reality, in pursuit of the larger regional interests of Washington, which today narrow down principally to the containment of Russia and China. The Afghan state structure is in meltdown and the US special forces and CIA operatives would have operational freedom to do they want.

Interestingly, after his return from Kabul, Blinken announced on Tuesday an additional civilian assistance of $300 million to the Kabul set-up as part of our commitment to invest in and support the Afghan people. This is laughable, coming as it does at a juncture when, as Washington Post reported from Kabul recently, The scramble for peace in Afghanistan is fracturing Kabuls political leadership and undermining the U.S.-backed government. Is Blinken so hopelessly out of touch with the situation in Kabul? In reality, this appears to be Washingtons gift to the power brokers in the Afghan security establishment.

The bottom line is that the CIA is pushing ahead with its blueprint to use Afghanistan as a staging post to destabilise Russia, Iran and China. On the other hand, the postponement of the high-level conference in Istanbul from 24th April to 4th May means that the peace process has been derailed and the Doha Pacts May 1 deadline for US troop withdrawal stands erased. Put differently, Washington has shifted the goal post and has also in the bargain granted a fresh lease of life to the Ashraf Ghani regime.

Perhaps, India is the only friend Washington genuinely has in the region today to lean on. Blinken telephoned External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday to reaffirm the importance of the US-India relationship and cooperation on regional security issues. The White House readout claimed that the two ministers agreed to close and frequent coordination over the Afghanistan situation.

Indeed, at a hearing at the House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tuesday, the commander of the US Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. has said that for conducting future operations in Afghanistan, the US will firstly require heavy intelligence support and American diplomats are working now to find new places in the region to base the intelligence assets.

Surely, Pakistan cannot be one of those new places. Against this complicated backdrop, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks with the Iranian leaders. The press reports from Tehran speak of Irans willingness to cooperate with Pakistan (here and here). But it is no secret that the two countries have different outlooks, interests and priorities in Afghanistan.

Having said that, both countries might also sense today a certain congruence of interests in the emergent situation, with the Afghan peace process in suspended animation, the Doha Pact in cold storage and the Taliban resentful, and the US finessing its future options. The extent to which Tehran and Islamabad can reconcile their approaches and coordinate will no doubt impact the future course of events. Conceivably, that is also what Moscow and Beijing would expect.

As things stand, the continuing instability in Afghanistan and the derailment of the peace process can only work to Washingtons advantage to reset the clock and rearrange its pawns and proxies on the chessboard for a fresh game to begin. The prospect for an inclusive interim government in Kabul has receded lately. Certainly, Pakistan has been under pressure to restrain the Taliban.

Can it be mere coincidence that terrorists chose this moment to stage a well-planned, professionally executed attack in Quetta, shattering the countrys internal situation? Who stands to gain? There are no easy answers. A sense of deja vu would only be natural.
Body temperature scanners are installed at the Saigon Railway Station as a Covid-19 prevention measure, February 18, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Nhu Quynh.

Many more people have entered the country illegally from Covid-19 affected neighboring countries than officially reported, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam said Friday.

At a meeting with the HCMC Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, Dam said the discrepancy was due to illegal entrants using less-traveled paths to cross over borders.

"If they manage to go to events with large gatherings, or bus stations and airports without wearing masks, the risk would be unimaginable," he said.

Dam requested HCMC to severely punish those who do not wear masks in public places, especially as new coronavirus cases have increased by around 34 percent in nearby countries like Cambodia, Thailand and Laos over the past week.

Commenting on the latest two outbreaks in Vietnam, one centered in the central city of Da Nang City in July 2020 and the other in the northern province of Hai Duong in January-February, Dam said the cause for widespread infections in these locations was inadequate prevention measures, especially at hospitals and factories.

Provinces and cities at the south-western border need to ramp up border control measures to prevent illegal entrants, he added.

"After some time without community transmission, people tend to let their guard down, so measures need to be tighter. Illegal entrants and those who don't make medical declarations need to be severely punished," he said.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the HCMC Peoples Committee, said the southern metropolis had recorded around 108 illegal entrants in the first quarter. He agreed that measures to prevent illegal entrants need to be stepped up, particularly given the citys trade and commercial activities.

Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the HCMC Department of Health, said the city should strictly punish illegal entrants and make them pay for Covid-19 prevention costs, including quarantine expenses.

As of April 18, HCMC had administered the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to 9,155 medical workers in the first round. The second vaccination round began on April 19 for around 1,022 medical workers.




A Seoul court ordered the government on Friday to cancel an extended exit ban on GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem, who is on trial for charges of illegal hiring.







Kazem sued the country's justice minister in July after the justice ministry extended an exit ban on him to facilitate an investigation into the illegal hiring charges.







The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the head of the American carmaker's Korean unit, clearing the way for his departure.







Kazem and four other company executives have been standing trial since prosecutors here indicted them in July on charges of illegally hiring over 1,700 workers from 24 outsourcing companies from September 2017 to December 2019.







The dispatched workers were allegedly made to work at the carmaker's main production lines in automotive body assembly and painting, where their hiring is banned under a local law protecting dispatched workers.







Even before Friday's ruling, Kazem was granted a stay for the extended exit ban last month, which enabled him to leave the country.







The productivity expert was appointed as the new chief of GM Korea in September 2017 amid a slump in sales and wage disputes between labor and management. (Yonhap)


CLEVELAND, Ohio  Four Ohio lawmakers have asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to re-open the investigation into the death of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy killed by Cleveland police in 2014.

The request by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and House members Tim Ryan, Joyce Beatty and Marcy Kaptur comes a week after attorneys for Tamirs family asked the Justice Department to convene a grand jury into the boys death.

Justice delayed is justice denied, and accountability for Tamir Rices death has been delayed for more than six years, the Democratic lawmakers wrote.

Therefore, we strongly support the request of Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir, that DOJ re-open its investigation into her sons case.

They cited data that shows that Black youths are more likely to die by police gunshots than their white counterparts.

Tamir should be alive today, the legislators said.

Their request mirrored the letter attorneys for the family sent to Garland last week. They said the Justice Department under then-President Obama opened an investigation into the shooting of Tamir.

The investigation, however, was not completed by the end of Obamas term, and the Trump administration abruptly closed the investigation in 2020, providing very little insight or information about the process, the legislators wrote.

Attorneys for the Rice family said career prosecutors in the Justice Department sought to convene a grand jury in the case, but their work was hindered by their political superiors.

Im happy to know that they want justice for my son, and Im hopeful that the case will be re-opened, Samaria Rice said in an interview Friday.

In December, the Justice Department officially closed the investigation into the 12-year-old boys death. It said there was not enough evidence to bring charges against the officers involved in the case.

Then-officer Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir at Cudell Recreation Center on Nov. 22, 2014, while the boy was playing was an airsoft pellet gun. He died the next day. Loehmann was a rookie officer, a passenger in a car driven by a veteran training officer, Frank Garmback.

The two officers responded to a report of someone pointing a gun at people outside the recreation center. The caller told a 911 dispatcher that the gun looked fake, but that information was never relayed to the officers. Garmback was suspended 10 days, but an arbitrator reduced the suspension to five days.

The city of Cleveland did not fire Loehmann for any action he took during the November 2014 killing of Tamir, but rather for lying on his initial application about his reason for leaving his previous job at a suburban police department.

Cleveland settled a federal civil-rights lawsuit with the boys family for $6 million. A Cuyahoga County grand jury in 2015 declined to indict the officers.
NORTH CANTON, Ohio, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD) will release 2021 first quarter financial results on Monday, May 10 before trading begins on the New York Stock Exchange. Gerrard Schmid, president and chief executive officer, and Jeffrey Rutherford, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will discuss the results during a conference call and webcast beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Information about Diebold Nixdorf's financial results, including a complete press release, earnings presentation and supplementary financial data will be accessible by visiting the Investor Relations section of Diebold Nixdorf's website located at http://www.dieboldnixdorf.com/earnings on Monday, May 10. Live access to the conference call, as well as the replay, will also be available on this website. The conference call will last approximately one hour. Participants should plan to dial in 10 minutes prior to the session. Details on the call are as follows:



Dial-in number Conf. ID Time/Date Conference Call Toll Free: 844-707-0018 9579990 8:30 a.m. ET, May 10, 2021

International: 639-380-0122





About Diebold Nixdorf

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) is a world leader in enabling connected commerce. We automate, digitize and transform the way people bank and shop. As a partner to the majority of the world's top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, our integrated solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries with approximately 22,000 employees worldwide. Visit www.DieboldNixdorf.com for more information.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/diebold

Twitter: twitter.com/dieboldnixdorf

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DieboldNixdorf

YouTube: www.youtube.com/dieboldnixdorf

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Fort Worth, TX, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hunden Strategic Partners (Hunden) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the exclusive food and beverage operator at the Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) in Fort Worth. Hunden is managing the solicitation and selection process on behalf of the City of Fort Worth (City), Texas.

The City is seeking a qualified firm or team for the exclusive food and beverage operations (including concessions, catering, cafes, etc.) at the WRMC complex. The brand and experience of Fort Worth is intertwined with the catering and concession experience at the WRMC and as such, the new vendor must align with the vision for the WRMC as the premier venue of its kind in the world. Respondents ideally will have experience with equestrian or similar venues and a history of successfully curating a local F&B experience that best serves the customer base and supports a localitys brand as a destination.

Will Rogers Memorial Center is a world-class facility hosting more than one million visitors a year, said Mike Crum, Director of the Public Events Department for the City of Fort Worth. Our chosen food and beverage partner will elevate the operation to create a truly memorable, unique Fort Worth experience.

The F&B contract is expected to be negotiated and approved by December 31, 2021. The term of this contract, which will go into effect on January 13, 2022, is ten (10) years with five, one-year renewal options.

Hunden will accept submissions to this RFQ on behalf of the City until 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Responses should be submitted via e-mail to Hunden at rob@hunden.com; cc cory@hunden.com. To access the RFQ document and to receive subsequent addenda and communications, respondents should register at https://hunden.com/downloads/

Hunden is an industry leader in guiding clients through solicitation and selection processes of this type, acting as the bridge between the client and respondents. The process includes creation of RFQ and RFP documents, hosting Q&A sessions and site tours, collection and review of submissions, interviews, and deal negotiations. Hunden has completed this type of process on behalf of the public sector for developers, management companies, F&B providers, architects, and construction management firms. With more than 25 years of experience on 800 projects, Mr. Hunden and his team are relied-upon guides and advisors that provide owners representation services, project management and strategy, market analytics, and financial feasibility and economic impact services for a variety of asset types. For more information, visit Hunden.com.

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How can I prepare myself for something I do not yet know? Scientists from the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin and from the Technical University of Munich have addressed this almost philosophical question in the context of machine learning. Learning is no more than drawing on prior experience. In order to deal with a new situation, one needs to have dealt with roughly similar situations before. In machine learning, this correspondingly means that a learning algorithm needs to have been exposed to roughly similar data. But what can we do if there is a nearly infinite amount of possibilities so that it is simply impossible to generate data that covers all situations?

This problem comes up a lot when dealing with an endless number of possible candidate molecules. Organic semiconductors enable important future technologies such as portable solar cells or rollable displays. For such applications, improved organic molecules - which make up these materials - need to be discovered. Tasks of this nature are increasingly using methods of machine learning, while training on data from computer simulations or experiments. The number of potentially possible small organic molecules is, however, estimated to be on the order of 1033. This overwhelming number of possibilities makes it practically impossible to generate enough data to reflect such a large material diversity. In addition, many of those molecules are not even suitable for organic semiconductors. One is essentially looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

In their work published recently in Nature Communications the team around Prof. Karsten Reuter, Director of the Theory Department at the Fritz-Haber-Institute, addressed this problem using so-called active learning. Instead of learning from existing data, the machine learning algorithm iteratively decides for itself which data it actually needs to learn about the problem. The scientists first carry out simulations on a few smaller molecules, and obtain data related to the molecules' electrical conductivity - a measure of their usefulness when looking at possible solar cell materials. Based on this data, the algorithm decides if small modifications to these molecules could already lead to useful properties or whether it is uncertain due to a lack of similar data. In both cases, it automatically requests new simulations, improves itself through the newly generated data, considers new molecules, and goes on to repeat this procedure. In their work, the scientists show how new and promising molecules can efficiently be identified this way, while the algorithm continues its exploration into the vast molecular space, even now, at this very moment. Every week new molecules are being proposed that could usher in the next generation of solar cells and the algorithm just keeps getting better and better.

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Beijing on Friday criticised British MPs after they approved a symbolic parliamentary motion declaring that Uyghur Muslims in China were suffering crimes against humanity and genocide, calling the accusations a big lie.

Although the motion, approved late Thursday, is non-binding and does not require the government to act, it is a further indication of the hardening stance of Britains parliament towards China over the treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.

The Chinese government responded by saying that the so-called genocide in Xinjiang is a big lie concocted by international anti-China forces.

The Chinese government and the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang firmly oppose and strongly condemn such allegations, Zhao Lijian, spokesman of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told AFP in a statement.

UKs own problems are already enough, he added. These British MPs should mind their own business and do more for their own constituents.

The motion was brought by Conservative former minister Nus Ghani, one of five MPs sanctioned by Beijing for criticising it over the treatment of the Uyghurs.

The British government has said it is committed to taking robust action in respect of Xinjiang, but has stopped short of invoking the term genocide, arguing only UK courts can make that legal definition.

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who has also been sanctioned by China, called it a historic moment.

Even though the government maintains that only a court can determine genocide, parliament has chosen to disregard that and vote itself.

 Clearly evil acts 

This puts the UK parliament in line with Holland, Canada and the US.

British junior foreign minister Nigel Adams in February said that a BBC report into the treatment of the Uyghurs revealed clearly evil acts.

In a lengthy investigation based on witness testimonies, the BBC reported allegations of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture of women detainees by police and guards in the western region.

Ghani said that colleagues had been reluctant to use the word genocide but added there is a misunderstanding that genocide is just one act  mass killing. That is false.

Instead, genocide concerns intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, she said, arguing that the definition was applicable to China.

While we must never misuse the term genocide, we must not fail to use it when its warranted.

Up to one million Uyghur Muslims are estimated by rights groups to have been detained in internment camps.

The EU, US, Canada and Britain have all imposed sanctions on Chinese officials allegedly involved in rights abuses.

The US has described the situation as genocide and banned all cotton from Xinjiang. Australias parliament is considering a similar move.
Mexico holding parliamentary, local elections

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Not safe today even in Yerevan (PHOTOS)

78,004 more passengers leave Armenia by air in first 5 months of 2021 than arrive

Putin-Biden possible meeting place in Switzerland is named

UN condemns "heinous attack" in Burkina Faso

Prosperous Armenia Party leader: Only Russia can ensure security of our country

Stoltenberg warns Russias Putin, Belarus Lukashenko against destabilization in NATO eastern flank

Woman found dead in Yerevan Lake

Catholicos of All Armenians presides over Divine Liturgy in Stepanakert

Turkey airstrike kills at least 3 Kurdish refugees in Iraq

Trump demands billing China $10 trillion for coronavirus damage

Bright Armenia Party leader: We are on verge of civil war

Several explosions occur in Syria

Biden not seeking conflict with Russia

Armenia acting PM sends congratulatory message on Sweden National Day

Passenger flow at 2 Armenia international airports increase by 24% in May

37 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Apple employees are against returning to work in office

Person dies in Armenia town mountains

Kim Jong Un appears in public for first time since early May

Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis fire at Gegharkunik Province village shepherd for about 30 minutes

Iraq may face severe water shortages

G7 countries sign deal to tax largest multinational companies

1st round of debates of presidential candidates takes place in Iran

6 die and 5 go missing in Sri Lankan flooding

Powerful blast thunders in Somalia capital

A body found in Artsakh

Nearly 100 people killed in Burkina Faso

Acting PM: It is necessary to create professional army in Armenia

UN demands investigation amid discovery of mass grave of children at Canada school

Acting PM: Armenia is a paradise for business

ICRC representatives visit 6 captured Armenian soldiers

Pashinyan: An absolute record for Armenia has been set for number of registered jobs

Civil Contract party holding fundraising evening

Nikol Pashinyan sends congratulatory message to Bashar al-Assad

South Korean air force chief resigns amid scandal over female sergeant suicide

Nikol Pashinyan visits morgue in Abovyan

Acting PM announces interference of external forces in electoral processes in Armenia

Pashinyan conducts procession in Abovyan

MO: Azerbaijanis carry out engineering work on territories without crossing Armenian border

8 security officials killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan

Philip T. Reeker's visit to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia

Biden gives prosecutors more freedom to terminate immigration cases

93 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Armenia per day

Total of 1,557 bodies found in territories not controlled by Artsakh

Twitter launches paid subscription Twitter Blue

Robert Kocharyan: We are able to find solutions

Tennessee boat merchant willing to pay $ 100,000 to anyone who catches specially marked fish

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

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'

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

"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

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A family in Kisii County is in mourning following the tragic death of their daughter by suicide.

According to media reports, the 16-year-old girl committed suicide on Wednesday after her parents rejected her relationship with a 21-year-old man.

Confirming the incident, Boige location chief Isaac Obara said the girls parents had warned their school-going daughter against the relationship with the boda boda rider and even reported them to his office.

The mother of the girl found her with her boyfriend in a room in a house that is still under construction. She warned the young man to leave her daughter alone and ordered the girl to go home, said Obara.

The chief said the girls mother returned home to find her daughter unconscious. She carried her on her back and rushed to Tabaka Mission Hospital where the teenager was later pronounced dead.

The girl is said to have ingested poison at their home in Mwamokoro village, Boige location, in South Mugirango constituency.

The body of the girl is currently being kept at Tabaka Hospital mortuary where a postmortem will be carried out to establish the cause of death awaiting burial rites to be conducted on a later date, said Obara.
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En 75 ans, les appartements ont perdu 27 cm et les maisons 9 cm. Les Francais, eux, ont gagne 10 cm.
China warns of serious harm to relations as Australia scraps BRI deal

WORLD: China yesterday (Apr 22) said Australias sudden scrapping of a Belt and Road Initiative deal risked serious harm to relations and warned of retaliatory actions against a country that insists it will not be bullied.

ChineseCOVID-19Coronavirusagriculturepolitics

By AFP

Friday 23 April 2021, 08:54AM

As relations between the two countries continue to nosedive, a top Australian official said Canberra was worried about local governments entering into such agreements with Beijing. Photo: AFP.

Canberra pulled the deal with Victoria state late on Wednesday, in a move destined to provoke Beijing but justified by the Defence Minister as necessary to prevent Australia hosting a giant infrastructure scheme used for propaganda.

Australia overruled Victoria states decision to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - the flagship of President Xi Jinpings geostrategic vision for the Asia-Pacific region - saying the agreement was inconsistent with Australias foreign policy.

As relations nosedive - following spats over the origins of the coronavirus and Canberras blocking of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei - Defence Minister Peter Dutton said Canberra was worried about local governments entering into such agreements with Beijing.

We cant allow these sort of compacts... to pop up because theyre used for propaganda reasons and were just not going to allow that to happen, he told local radio.

Dutton said the governments problem was not with the Chinese people but rather the values or virtues or the outlook of the Chinese Communist Party.

Australia last year enacted new powers - widely seen as targeting China - that allow it to scrap any agreements between state authorities and foreign countries deemed to threaten the national interest.

Canberras first target was the BRI, a vast network of investments that critics say is cover for Beijing to create geopolitical and financial leverage.

Beijing laid into the the Australian government yesterday, saying it would damage trust between the two countries, and warning it could take further actions in response.

The move recklessly interferes in and destroys normal exchange and cooperation, and seriously harms China-Australia relations and mutual trust between the countries, said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a briefing in Beijing.

China reserves the right to take further action in response to this.

Dutton said he would be very disappointed if China retaliated but retorted that Australia wont be bullied by anyone.

We are going to stand up for what we believe in and thats exactly what weve done here, he said.

China has already slapped tariffs on more than a dozen Australian industries, including wine, barley and coal, in what many see as punishment for Canberras increasingly assertive stance against its largest trading partner.

Australia infuriated China by calling for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, banning controversial telecoms giant Huawei from building Australias 5G network and tightening foreign investment laws for corporations.

Other agreements between foreign powers and local governments are still under consideration, and Canberra could yet target the presence of Chinese government-backed Confucius Institutes at Australias public universities.

Critics said the institutes, which have been the subject of controversy on some campuses, promote the Communist Partys self-serving version of Chinese culture and history.
Myanmar's military on Thursday said that it has issued arrest warrants for 26 people, including all figures appointed as ministers by its opponents.

The military made the announcement through a state-run TV channel on Thursday night, reported NHK World.

It said an unlawful government is being formed to subvert the top decision-making body established by the military in accordance with the Constitution.

A committee opposing the military announced on April 16 the formation of National Unity Government (NUG) and appointed 14 ministers. The committee included lawmakers of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, reported NHK World.

The NUG is asking members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to recognize it as the legitimate authority in Myanmar.

Myanmar's military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is scheduled to attend an ASEAN summit-level meeting in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Saturday.

Last month, Foreign Ministers of ASEAN countries held an informal meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar and issued a statement expressing "ASEAN's readiness to assist Myanmar in a positive, peaceful and constructive manner."

The United Nations' special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, will also be in Indonesia on the same day, reported NHK World.

Analysts say Myanmar's military is seeking to legitimize its rule by subduing opponents ahead of the ASEAN meeting.

The Myanmar military overthrew the civilian government and declared a year-long state of emergency on February 1 and at least 707 people have been killed since, according to the United Nations.

(ANI)

Also Read: Jerusalem: Police clash with Palestinians, far-right march
I have never set foot in Oil City, and chances are, neither have you.

In fact, city is something of a misnomer for a Caddo Parish outpost that is home to a mere 1,000 souls.

But Oil City is gripped by a spirit of fierce independence, to judge from the oddball Republicans it has been sending to the state Legislature.

Back in 2013, Rep. Jim Morris made his Oil City hometown famous with a plan to put officials in jail for a couple of years if they had the temerity to enforce any federal laws restricting the right of Louisiana citizens to tote semi-automatic firearms. These are guns that can, and frequently do, kill large numbers of people lickety-split, notably in schoolhouses, but what can have made Morris and his supporters fear a ban? One was imposed once, under President Bill Clinton in 1994, but it expired after 10 years, and the NRA was not inclined to let Congress get out of hand again.

Morris was taking no chances, however, and drew up legislation decreeing that the right to keep and bear semi-automatic weapons in Louisiana would be immune to any future federal legislation.

Constitutional scholars  shoot, anyone with a lick of sense  will see that Morris and his supporters were wasting their time because his rat-a-tat-tat bill was unconstitutional. He preferred to style it the Louisiana Preservation of Individual Gun Rights of Citizens Act.

When it came up in the House, it got the treatment you would expect for a Louisiana bill in clear violation of the Supremacy Clause. It passed overwhelmingly.

Our legislators pass unconstitutional bills from time to time and may plead ignorance, but not this time. Morris himself conceded his bill was liable to challenge, but said it was worth defending in court if we have to spend every dime. He also thought legislators were doing exactly what the American people want, although some taxpayers will have disagreed. Among those who declared the bill unconstitutional, but voted for it anyway, was attorney Joe Lopinto, who is now sheriff of Jefferson Parish. Common sense prevailed in the Senate, where the bill died.

Morris is no longer in the Legislature, thanks to term limits, but his seat was won by a most worthy candidate in the last election. The voters of Caddo Parish have found another son of Oil City with no time for the Supremacy Clause, but this one makes Morris look like a wise statesman.

Danny McCormick burst on the political scene just as the coronavirus arrived in America, and quickly decided that any precautions urged by government were a denial of his liberties. That goofy notion was prevalent among Republicans so let us not blame McCormick for asserting a right to risk infecting himself and everyone else with a deadly disease.

It was his manner of expounding that theory that set McCormick apart from the other constitutional scholars of the GOP delegation. When Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins, in response to a COVID-19 spike, ordered masks to be worn inside business premises, McCormick declared that living in the city was just like being a Jew in Nazi Germany.

Perhaps McCormick feared being misunderstood because he had made his point too subtly. He soon fixed that by videotaping himself destroying surgical masks with a blowtorch and chainsaw. On the tape he reveals, to no one's surprise, that he has fallen for the whole range of anti-vaxxer pish-tosh. Rest assured that he won't let the government inject him with any mind-control microchip.

The rest of the state may not much care  or may be amused  when McCormick makes a public spectacle of himself in Caddo Parish, where he is in the oil business. But let him loose on public policy, and we had better look out. Consider the bill he has filed for the session that began a couple of weeks ago. Morris would be proud.

McCormick's bill establishes Louisiana as a fossil fuel sanctuary state and nullifies any controls the feds might seek to impose on the oil and gas industry in the future. It is surely too manifestly unconstitutional even for the Louisiana House to consider.

How many more nutty politicians can one tiny place produce?

Email James Gill at gill504nola@gmail.com.
Former Coca-Cola Employee Convicted of Stealing $120 Million Worth of Trade Secrets to Sell in China

A Chinese-born American chemist was found guilty on April 22 for her role in a scheme to steal trade secrets worth an estimated $120 million from American companies for the purpose of setting up a Chinese company that would manufacture the product for the global market.

After a 12-day trial, 59-year-old You Xiaorongalso known as Shannon Youof Lansing, Michigan, was convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, possession of stolen trade secrets, economic espionage, and wire fraud, according to the Justice Department.

While working at two U.S. companiesCoca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia, and Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tennesseeshe stole trade secrets related to BPA-free (bisphenol-A) coating technology, which lines the insides of cans and other food and beverage containers to prevent flavor loss, corrosion, and reactions to the food or beverage content. In recent years, companies have turned to developing BPA-free coatings because of the potential health risks of BPA.

The trade secrets cost nearly $120 million to develop, and were stolen from major chemical and coating companies including Akzo-Nobel, BASF, Dow Chemical, PPG, Toyochem, Sherwin Williams, and Eastman Chemical Company, prosecutors said. Yous role as a principal engineer for global research for Coca-Cola from December 2012 to August 2017 and later as a manager at Eastman Chemical Company from September 2017 to June 2018 allowed her access to these coating companies BPA-free technology.

You stole the trade secrets to help establish a new BPA-free coating company in China, prosecutors said. She had two co-conspirators, Liu Xiangchen, a 63-year-old man from eastern Chinas Shandong Province, and an unnamed relative of Liu, according to the department. Liu, who was indicted at the same time as You in February 2019, formed the plan to bring Yous stolen technology to China, where Liu would set up and manage a firm that would develop BPA-free packaging. In return, Liu promised You an ownership share in the new company, prosecutors said.

You also found a Chinese corporate partner in Weihai Jinhong Group, which in 2017 agreed to invest 180 million yuan ($26.58 million) for the companys production line manufacturing BPA-non-intent coating, according to a 2018 Chinese media report.

The report also said that Weihai Jinhong Group sponsored You in her application to join the Thousand Talents Plan in 2018, through which she was to be rewarded 3 million yuan ($443,000) from the central government, Shandong provincial government, and Weihai City government for bringing her stolen BPA-free technology to China. At the same time, the production line also received 50 million yuan ($7.4 million) in funding from those governments, the report said.

The Thousand Talents Plan is a Chinese-state-sponsored recruitment program designed to entice foreign experts to work in the country. This program, and other similar Chinese plans, have drawn intense scrutiny from the U.S. government over its role in facilitating the transfer of intellectual property to China.

Prosecutors said evidence, including Yous Thousand Talents application documents, presented at the trial showed Yous intention to benefit not only Weihai Jinhong Group, but also the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

This case is the latest in a raft of prosecutions targeting Chinese state-sanctioned theft of American intellectual property in recent years.

Earlier this week, a hospital researcher was sentenced to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets from an Ohio childrens hospital to sell in China. A university math professor was also indicted on charges in relation to failing to disclose support he was receiving from the CCP and a Chinese state-run university.

You is due to be sentenced on Nov. 1.
The U.S. Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of B1-B bombers after finding a problem with the plane's fuel system.

That takes out a third of the Air Force's entire fleet of bombers.

General Tim Ryan, commander of the Global Strike Command, said that he 'ordered a safety stand-down' on Tuesday.

The decision was made after a 'ground emergency' on April 8 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota - one of two bases where the B1-B is currently housed. The other is Dyess Air Force Base, in Texas.

The troubled aircraft, first brought into service under Ronald Reagan, are due to be phased out by 2030.

In the most recent incident engineers discovered what defense website The War Zone said was a 'massive hole' in the filter housing, which was leaking a large amount of fuel.

The entire fleet of the B1-B bombers, 45 in total, have been grounded due to fuel problems

A B1-B bomber is seen at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on April 19

General Tim Ryan, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, confirmed the news

The site reported that the plane which sparked the concern, identified as 86-0104, had been seen trailing a large plume of unburned fuel on landing.

Afterburners, needed for additional thrust, especially on take-off, will not work if the filter housing is not operational.

Ryan confirmed in his statement that 'a discrepancy with an Augmenter Fuel Pump Filter Housing was discovered.'

He said that, on further inspection, they grounded the entire fleet.

'Individual aircraft will return to flight when they are deemed safe to fly by Air Force officials,' he said.

Ryan did not say how many aircraft were in the fleet, but the B1-B has been plagued with issues for years.

A mechanic is seen inspecting a B1-B bomber in 2011 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada

Of the 100 built, the U.S. Air Force decided in 2001 to retire 33, to pay for modernization efforts. In February, 17 more were retired, meaning that the force was down to just 45, according to FlightGlobal.

A year before, in April 2020, Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem (ret.) and Douglas Birkey had warned that America's bomber force was facing a crisis.

At the end of the Cold War, they wrote in DefenseNews.com, the USAF possessed 400 bombers designed to fight the Soviet Union. They said the figure by April 2020 had dropped to just 157 - down to 140, since the February retirement of the 17 B1-Bs.

The U.S. Air Force operates B-1s, B-2s and B-52s, and is one of only three countries to have bombers.

Russia, according to a February report by the Center for Naval Analysis, has 127 SU-34 fighter bombers, and one or two TU-160 strategic bombers.

China is by far the leader in bombers, according to a new count by plane-spotter Thomas Shugart, cited by Forbes in November.

Shugart found that the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force possesses as many as 231 H-6s.

The B1-B supersonic bomber, known as the 'Bone', began service in 1985.

The crew of a B1-B bomber are pictured on April 19 at Dyess base in Texas

It was designed to fly at a minimum speed of Mach 0.85 and as low as 200ft, using terrain-following and terrain-avoidance radar, on penetrating nuclear strikes against the Soviet Union.

Its low-altitude and nap-of-the-earth flight profile was intended to avoid detection by Soviet ground radar.

In 1994, with the Cold War over, the Air Force eliminated the B-1B's nuclear mission.

The bomber found new work with the start of the War on Terror in 2001, flying close air-support missions for the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But those missions, which involved slow flying with wings forward  not swept, as intended for penetration strikes  overstressed the B-1B's wings, causing cracks, the USAF has said.

'Due to the wear and tear placed on the B-1 fleet over the past two decades, maintaining these bombers would cost tens of millions of dollars per aircraft to get back to status quo. And that's just to fix the problems we know about,' said Ray on February 17.

'We're just accelerating planned retirements.'

In August 2019 General John Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that only six of their 62 B1-Bs were fully mission operational.

In April 2019 Ray had warned that the Air Force had 'overextended' the planes in the Middle East.

The B1-Bs were heavily used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Flying missions against ISIS in the opening days of Operation Inherent Resolve, they were able to carry more munitions than that delivered by an entire carrier air wing.

'We saw issues in the B1-Bs because we're just beating the heck out of them - deploying them, deploying them,' said Hyten.

He said they had to 'pull back a little bit' and fix the planes where possible.

The B1-Bs were grounded in June and March 2019, due to problems with the ejection seats.
[April 23, 2021] TSD Global Announces Grand Opening of New Las Vegas Location, Creating 300 Local Area Jobs

LAS VEGAS, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TSD Global announced today that it is adding more than 300 positions at its new Western United States Customer Contact Center, built to service one of the globe's largest telecommunications companies. Tony Vesho, President of TSD Global, commented, "We are thrilled to open our new Las Vegas location to service a world leading brand in this beautiful facility and become a growing part of the Las Vegas market. We built out this contact center located in the Summerlin section of Las Vegas with the help of our talented team of IT specialists, headed by John Billington, along with our facilities team over the last 60 days. We look forward to beng an integral part of the Summerlin community and providing well-paying jobs in a class A environment".





Patricia Totton, CEO of TSD Global, further commented, "We have been expanding rapidly  adding 4 national brands over the last 12 months in diverse industries including global restaurant brands, telecom, and other large direct to consumer brands. We take pride in servicing our client's needs by using the best artificial intelligence capabilities and highly trained, friendly representatives." TSD Global, Las Vegas is now accepting applications for employment. Interested candidates may apply via email, phone or in person.

Email: bryan.cruz@tsdglobal.com

Phone: (702) 685-2085

Apply in person at the address below:

3280 N Cimarron Rd., Suite 107

Las Vegas, NV 89129 For Sales Inquiries and Omni Channel Outsourcing Services contact Nick Tubis (nick.tubis@tsdglobal.com ) For additional info visit TSDGlobal.com and Ordersolutions.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tsd-global-announces-grand-opening-of-new-las-vegas-location-creating-300-local-area-jobs-301276096.html SOURCE TSD Global

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O

n 4 March 1943, Greer Garson stepped behind a lectern at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub inside the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Garson, 38, was accepting the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work inMrs Miniver, a romantic war drama directed by William Wyle. She was only the 15th actor in the history of Hollywood to take home the trophy. That was an achievement in itself, but Garson made history in another, more unexpected way that night.

Her acceptance speech remains, to this day, the longest in the history of the Academy Awards. While todays winners are asked to keep to 45 seconds (although they frequently go beyond, at which point a music cue lets them know its time to wrap up), Garson spoke for a comparatively generous seven minutes.

The speech, sadly, wasnt preserved in full. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars each year, says it has newsreel footage of only portions of Garsons address  for a total of three minutes and 56 seconds.

Garson, an English native, devoted part of her speech to her experience as an immigrant. I came to this country as a stranger five years ago. Ive been very happy and very proud to be a member of this community and of this industry all that time, she told the crowd. And from everybody I met or worked with truly I have received such ready kindness that for quite a long while I couldnt believe that it was true, but tonight you have made me feel that you have really set the door of your friendship wide open and that welcome is officially on the mat, and that is why Im so happy.

The topic was relevant: inMrs Miniver, Garson portrays an English housewife whose life gets deeply affected by the Second World War  not the least when her husband Clem (Walter Pidgeon) volunteers to assist in the Dunkirk evacuation with his own motorboat. The role, The Associated Press noted in its obituary of Garson in 1996, rallied Americans to support Britain during World War II.

Garsons speech also included her reflections on the subjective nature of awards ceremonies. Ive always felt that to be nominated simply means that youve had the great good luck to be entrusted with one of the best assignments of the current year, and thats a cause for rejoicing in itself, she said. And there isnt a single good craftsman in this industry who if given such an opportunity cant be counted on to measure up to it.

She also wondered why performers all long to win the award and posited: Its no question of superiority because were comparing different excellences and theyre varied in their nature and they cant be fairly compared. Theres no rivalry in this room tonight. Theres no competition. As the Dodo said to Alice in Wonderland: Everybody has won and everybody shall have a prize.

Greer Garson and film producer Benjamin Thaw at the premiere of Goodbye, Mr Chips on 17 May 1939 (AFP via Getty Images)

Garson never won another Academy Award, although she was nominated for seven, all in the Best Actress category, over the course of her career. Her first two nominations came beforeMrs Miniver, for Sam Woodss 1939 romantic drama Goodbye, Mr Chips, and for her turn as childrens rights campaigner Edna Gladney in Mervyn LeRoys 1941 biopic Blossoms in the Dust. Four more followed after Mrs Miniver: one for her portrayal of Marie Curie in the 1943 biopic Madame Curie, one for Tay Garnetts 1944 drama Mrs Parkington, one for Garnetts 1945 drama The Valley of Decision, and one for her role as Eleanor Roosevelt in Vincent J Donehues 1960 biopic Sunrise at Campobello.

Her Best Actress Oscar was destroyed, along with many other belongings, during a fire at her Los Angeles home in the late 1980s. The Academy provided her with a replacement trophy. Her speech has remained unequalled for 78 years, although theres always the possibility of a new record at this years Oscars on 25 April.
Mayor Randall Woodfins 4/20 announcement of blanket pardons for misdemeanor marijuana could wipe more than 15,000 convictions off the books, but city officials say it wont change the way police and court officials handle future possession cases.

City of Birmingham spokesman Rick Journey said Birmingham police will continue to enforce state law. Possession of any amount of marijuana is illegal in Alabama. City prosecutors will still prosecute those cases, Journey said.

He also said the blanket pardon does not address future cases.

Presiding Judge Andra Sparks of Birmingham Municipal Court said most people arrested for marijuana possession enter diversion programs. After paying the fees and completing requirements, people in those diversion programs have the charges dropped so no conviction appears on their record anyway. He said few people arrested in the city and taken to municipal court end up with misdemeanor convictions for marijuana possession.

Weve been doing that for several years now, Sparks said.

In 2019, Woodfin announced the launch of Pardons for Progress, a program designed to streamline the pardon process for people with marijuana misdemeanors, which can be barriers to employment. The program started slowly and only granted nine pardons in its first 18 months.

On Tuesday, Woodfin announced a blanket pardon of all marijuana misdemeanors between 1990 and 2020  becoming the first city in Alabama to forgive possession and paraphernalia convictions.

State law gives Alabama mayors the authority to remit fines and commute sentences in municipal court, but Woodfin has no authority to change state marijuana laws or how they are enforced.

An effort by Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway to create and issue a Big Ticket instead of making arrests for marijuana possession and other misdemeanor offenses couldnt be implemented due to restrictions in state law.

But mayors around Alabama say they are watching Birmingham.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said his office has consulted with the Alabama Attorney Generals Office about issuing pardons and how that might affect surrounding jurisdictions. He said he has supported efforts to create alternatives to arrest for marijuana offenses but has run into obstacles in state law.

We have continued to seek alternatives to arrest in communications with our partners in law enforcement, and through legislative reform at the state level, Stimpson said.

People in Tuscaloosa can apply for a pardon from the Office of the City Attorney, according to city spokesman Richard Rush. He said the office receives relatively few pardon applications.

The city has had very preliminary discussions, and at this time believes pardons deserve to be considered on an individual basis and looks forward to continuing to review each application that is submitted, Rush said.

None of the communities around Birmingham have announced plans to pardon misdemeanor marijuana offenders. Leaders of the Alabama Democratic Party announced Tuesday their support for legal medical and recreational marijuana. The state senate passed a bill that would legalize medical marijuana and the legislature approved another that would allow marijuana misdemeanors to be expunged.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said he supports Woodfins efforts and is looking for ways to improve criminal justice in his city.

I look forward to finding ways we really can balance the scales of fairness and justice in our current system, Reed said. I believe that things like Birmingham has done are part of that process. I commend Mayor Woodfin for moving forward on that and removing the obstacles of keeping hard working Alabamians from being able to improve their jobs and careers and personal status because a record that does not involve a serious or a violent offense.

Officials in Huntsville did not comment for this story.

Woodfin has said the pardons are intended to provide a fresh start for many who may be struggling to find job and career opportunities.

Millions of people, disproportionately from Black and Brown communities, have had their lives upended due to marijuana charges, Woodfin wrote on Facebook. These charges have led to arrests, convictions and even jail time, as well as criminal records that make it harder to find housing, receive a good paying job to earn a living, or receive financial assistance to earn a college education.

The pardons will not remove an arrest from a persons record, only the convictions. No action is required to receive a pardon. The pardons apply to closed cases between 1990 and 2020, but no fines or court fees will be refunded.

San Francisco, Los Angeles and Illinois have issued blanket pardons for marijuana convictions, but Birmingham is the first city in the South to make such a move. Virginia is the only state in the region to legalize recreational marijuana use.

Woodfin said he received supportive messages from across the country after the announcement.

Thank you to everyone in Birmingham, the state, and around the country who have expressed your support for this initiative, he wrote on Twitter.

Woodfin recently posted a petition calling on state leaders to decriminalize marijuana possession. More than 5,500 people have signed it.

Put simply these prohibitions do not make our city safer and only create barriers for many in our community to earn a good and honest living, Woodfin wrote. One small mistake should not define an entire lifetime.

Additional reporting by John Sharp and Paul Gattis
President Joe Biden will make his first overseas trip as president in June, traveling to the United Kingdom and Belgium to participate in the G-7 and NATO summits, the White House announced Friday.

The trip will also highlight the shift in foreign policy between the Biden administration and the Trump administration, which placed a high emphasis on an "America First" approach.

"This trip will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure Americas interests," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement announcing the travel.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden steps off Air Force. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden will attend the 47th G-7 Summit in Cornwall, U.K., taking place June 11-13, where he will "work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change, and demonstrate solidarity and shared values among major democracies," Psaki said.

Psaki also noted Biden will hold bilateral meetings with other G-7 leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson as part of the trip, Psaki added.

Biden will then attend the NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium on June 14.

"NATO leaders will discuss how to orient the Alliance to future threats and ensure effective burden sharing. The President will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow NATO leaders," Psaki said.

The announcement came as Biden was holding a virtual summit with world leaders on climate change.

During the 2020 campaign, Biden pledged part of his presidency would be to re-engaging on the global stage, pledging to rejoin agreements the U.S. withdrew from under Trump, including the Paris Agreement on climate and the World Health Organization.

Biden's choice of destinations for his first two foreign stops -- multilateral summits in Europe aimed at shoring up longstanding alliances -- stands in sharp contrast with Trump's aversion to such traditional, diplomatic events.

Story continues

His presence will be a complete departure from Trump's approach to such gatherings, which he often aimed to disrupt by publicly making demands of allies, threatening to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and once even leaving early.

PHOTO: Vice President Joe Biden gestures as he arrives at Downing Street on Feb. 5, 2013 in London to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images, FILE)

While Trump rarely stuck to the script, Biden has so far displayed his faith in and adherence to the traditional, measured foreign policy-making process.

Presidential travel abroad often comes within the first few months in office, but comes later under Biden due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and travel restrictions in place to curb spread of the virus.

Currently, the United Kingdom is listed as a "Level Four" country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, advising that Americans should avoid all travel to the United Kingdom.

When asked if Americans can expect the president to lift the travel restrictions ahead of his trip, Psaki said she couldnt make any predictions.

"That is based on the health and recommendations -- the health and -- the advice and and recommendations of our health and medical team. And I dont have anything to predict on the front," Psaki said at her Friday press briefing.

Biden to make first overseas trip to UK, Belgium in June originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Gandhinagar, April 24 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that a 1200-bed hospital will be set up by DRDO here at helipad ground in collaboration with Tata Trust.

Shah said, "Ahmedabad will also have isolation centres for which private clubs like Karnavati club, ADC, GSC, Rajpath Club, Umiya Pariwar have given their consent. The infrastructural facilities like beds and other expenses will be borne by these organisations. While, services like primary treatment, medicines, meal etc expenses will be borne by the Gujarat government. This initiative will be replicated across Gujarat." The Union Minister also informed about setting up of a helpline for Covid-19. Shah said, "A toll free number will be started for Covid-19 related queries. Over 50 medical experts, doctors will attend the calls. For this, seasoned medical professionals will be roped in to cater to such calls. Telephonic guidance will be offered to the patients in home isolation. This service will start within two days." Shah was on a visit to Ahmedabad to dedicate a 900-bed Dhanvantari Covid hospital set up at Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Centre. The hospital has been set up by the Gujarat government, DRDO and Central para military force doctors and will be opened for the citizens from Saturday. It will also have 250 ICU beds and all the beds will have oxygen facility.

After his visit, Shah held a meeting with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and senior officials.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
JACKSON, MI  While many people continue to work from home, some who make up a portion of the city of Jacksons tax base have a chance to relieve a bit of their tax burden.

Those who work for a Jackson company or business but dont live in the city may be confused by a section of the citys income tax form that calculates how many days they worked in the city to count toward the income tax.

Working at home counts as a day in the city, the J-1040 individual income tax form states on page 2. Do not subtract out.

But that isnt a hard and fast rule, City Treasurer Martin Griffin said. Employers can notify their non-residents that remote workdays can, in fact, be separated from the city income tax. Some have already addressed it through tax withholding, he said. Taxpayers should submit a form or a signed letter from an employer that specifies how many days were worked outside of city limits.

The language isnt unique to the 2020 form, Griffin said. A 2019 form available online uses the same language. All tax forms on the citys website ask filers to identify how many days were actually worked in Jackson and calculate the percentage of days worked in the city, including the 2020 return.

The phrase wont exist on next years tax form, Griffin said.

Jackson is one of 24 Michigan cities with a local income tax. Residents pay 1% to the city, while non-residents who work in Jackson pay .5%.

The remote work stipulation may not bother some workers. Enrolled Agent Sandie Overton, who runs Haires Income Tax Service in Vandercook Lake, said most of her non-resident clients who have encountered that form in Jackson or other cities with income taxes dont bother with further itemization.

There are several questions they have to answer and requirements that they have to meet, Overton said. They just basically say, Forget it.

In the 2019 tax year, 11,430 non-residents filed returns, according to a Freedom of Information Act request from MLive/the Jackson Citizen Patriot. In 2018, that number was 12,577.

The Michigan Department of Treasury, which administers the city of Detroits income tax, advises that any work done outside of the city cannot be applied toward taxable income. In East Lansing, officials use a subsection the citys website to describe how non-residents should file when working from home.

Jackson taxpayers have until June 1 to file and pay 2020 tax returns, after the city and federal government extended the tax filling deadline earlier this year.

City officials have not yet determined how remote work will impact the citys tax revenue. Estimates will become public after the filing deadline, they said.

MORE JACKSON NEWS:

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Still time to nominate your favorites for Michigans Best Vacation Spot
A man has been taken into police custody after stabbing an elderly priest at a Catholic church in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, local authorities reported on Friday.

The police of Gia Lais An Khe Town on Thursday night arrested Tran Trong Ca, a 30-year-old man, for assaulting a 70-year-old priest and setting fire to the An Khe Parish church, Nguyen Hung Vy, chairman of the towns Peoples Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday morning.

The crime happened on Thursday noon, when Ca arrived at the church in a pickup truck.

He then used a machete and two knives, which he had brought along, to damage two cars in the churchs parking lot, breaking the glass of these vehicles.

Ca later came into the church and chased the 70-year-old priest Tran Van Truyen and 44-year-old Nguyen Van Tung, a vendor of drinks in the vicinity, who had run away when seeing him rushing to them.

The man caught up with the two victims after running for 50 meters and used a knife to stab both of them in the belly.

Immediately after the assault, Ca drove his vehicle to a nearby gas station to buy about 18 liters of gasoline contained in a can. He then returned to the church and set it on fire with the fuel.

As soon as receiving a report from the witnesses of Cas acts, the police of the towns An Phu Ward rushed to the scene and joined locals in putting down the fire, which had singed the church door.

Locals took both the victims to the Binh Dinh General Hospital, over 90km away from Gia Lai, for emergency aid.

Meanwhile, Ca left the scene for home in his vehicle but the local police arrested him shortly.

Investigation into the case is ongoing.

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BROOKLYN, NY and KITCHENER, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / Cloud DX (TSXV:CDX) a leading provider of virtual care and remote patient monitoring solutions, is delighted to announce that its breakthrough VITALITI continuous vital sign monitor platform has earned a Silver 2021 Edison Award in the Science, Medical & Dental IoT category. The Edison Awards has been recognizing and honoring the best in technological innovation across the globe since 1987.

The VITALITI continuous vital sign monitor is among the most advanced medical wearables ever designed, continuously measuring ECG, heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiration, core body temperature, non-invasive blood pressure, movement, steps and posture. When fully commercialized VITALITI will be the first of its kind as a portable, wearable, scientifically validated, medical-grade continuous vital sign monitor for post-operative hospital-to-home patient care. VITALITI was originally developed as part of the Team Cloud DX entry in the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition, where the company was awarded the first ever Bold Epic Innovator Award for "exponential technological progress in the field of consumer-focused medical technologies with the greatest potential for expanding access to healthcare when deployed at scale."

The Edison Award builds on Cloud DX's established track record for innovation recognition. In addition to the XPRIZE, VITALITI has been named a Fast Company "World Changing Idea" and BNN "Top Disruptor."

"More than 230 million adults have major non-cardiac surgery annually and over 25% of those adults over the age of 45 will suffer a major complication (myocardial infarction, bleeding, sepsis and infection) in the first 30 days post-operative days. This critical medical challenge, coupled with our mission to make healthcare better for everyone inspired the creation of VITALITI. Simply put, this technology was designed from the ground up to save lives," says Robert Kaul, CEO of Cloud DX. "We are thrilled by the global recognition we have received from the Edison Awards team, and we are humbled to stand alongside exceptional household name brands such as Medtronic, SC Johnson, Avon and Abbott and to have our brand associated with Thomas Edison, one of the most celebrated inventors of all time."

Cloud DX's VITALITI was selected by a panel of judges comprised of more than 3,000 leading business executives and academics from around the world. "All around this year we've seen more intensity in the medical, science, and engineering categories as companies seek solutions for this changing world," said Frank Bonafilia, executive director of the Edison Awards. "After a thorough review, the Edison Awards judges recognized the VITALITI as a game-changing innovation, standing out in the Science, Medical & Dental: IoT category."

Cloud DX

Accelerating virtual healthcare's future, Cloud DX is making healthcare better for everyone. The company's Connected Health remote patient monitoring platform is used by healthcare enterprises and care teams across North America to virtually manage chronic disease, enable aging in place and deliver hospital-quality post-surgical care. Providers partnering with Cloud DX achieve better healthcare and patient outcomes, reduce the need for hospitalization/re-hospitalization and reduce the costs of healthcare delivery through more efficient use of resources. In addition to being an Edison Award winner, Cloud DX is the co-winner of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, a Fast Company "World Changing Idea" finalist and one of Canada's 10 most prominent Telehealth providers.

Edison Awards

Over the last 34 years, being recognized with an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a product can receive in the name of innovation success. The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose inventions, new product development methods, and innovative achievements changed the world. The Edison Awards are operated by Edison Universe, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators, and are hosted in Fort Myers, Florida.

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.

Social Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CloudDX

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/clouddxinc/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloud-dx/

For media inquiries please contact:

Ellyn Winters-Robinson

Ignition Communications (PR for Cloud DX)

519-574-2196

ellyn@ignition.ca

For investor inquiries please contact:

Jay Bedard

Cloud DX Investor Relations

647-881-8418

jay.bedard@CloudDX.com

Cloud DX Corporate Contact

Robert Kaul

CEO

1-646-706-1807

Robert.kaul@clouddx.com

SOURCE: Cloud DX Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641942/Cloud-DX-Awarded-Silver-at-the-2021-Edison-Awards
London: Boris Johnson is facing a political crisis after his former chief adviser accused the British Prime Minister of unethical behaviour and asking for a leak inquiry to end because it might implicate a friend of his fiancee.

In an incendiary attack, Dominic Cummings  a key force behind Brexit and Johnsons thumping 2019 election win  claimed in a blog post that his former boss had behaved unethically since moving into Downing Street, and offered to testify about the allegations under oath.

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings were allies but have fallen out. Credit:AP/Getty Images

He also slammed Johnson and his office for falling far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves.

Cummings was once Johnsons closest ally but quit last November and has said little publicly since.
Imperial Valley News Center

Justice Department Reaches Agreement with the City of West Monroe, Louisiana Under the Voting Rights Act

West Monroe, Louisiana - The Justice Department announced that it has entered into a proposed consent decree to settle a voting rights lawsuit with the City of West Monroe, Louisiana.

The Justice Departments lawsuit, brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, challenges the current at-large method of electing the West Monroe Board of Aldermen. Under this agreement, the City of West Monroe will change its method of electing its Board of Aldermen to ensure compliance with the protections of the Voting Rights Act.

The proposed consent decree was filed in federal court in conjunction with a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department. The departments complaint alleges that the current method of electing the West Monroe Board of Aldermen results in Black citizens in West Monroe having less opportunity than white citizens to participate in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice, in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Although Black residents comprise nearly 30% of the electorate, no Black candidate has ever been elected to the West Monroe Board of Aldermen. The complaint does not allege that the current method of election was adopted or maintained with discriminatory intent.

The Voting Rights Act remains a vital tool to ensure that underrepresented citizens have a fair chance to choose their representatives, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S, Karlan for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. We appreciate that the City of West Monroe has worked diligently and cooperatively with the department to adopt a solution that provides all the Citys citizens with an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect aldermen of their choice.

We join the Civil Rights Division in bringing this important lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act and appreciate that the City of West Monroe has worked with the Justice Department to adopt a solution that brings about fair representation, said Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook of the Western District of Louisiana.

The department gave notice to the City of West Monroe of its intent to bring suit under the Voting Rights Act on March 4, and the parties worked collaboratively to achieve this agreement. Under the parties consent decree  and subject to approval by the federal district court in Louisiana  West Monroe will discontinue use of its current at-large method of electing the five members of its Board of Aldermen. Beginning with the next municipal election, currently scheduled for March 26, 2022, three members of the Board of Aldermen will be elected from single-member districts and two members will be elected at-large. The agreement also provides West Monroe will publicize the new method of election.
TORONTO, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ -- Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Investment Company Limited (TSX:FAP) (the "Company"), a closed-end investment company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, announced today that its Special and Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") convened as scheduled on April 22, 2021 and was adjourned because the required quorum was not present for conducting business for the consideration of the re-domiciliation of the Company from the laws of the Cook Islands to the laws of the Republic of Singapore. The adjourned Meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. (Cook Islands time) on April 29, 2021 at the same location. At the adjourned Meeting, those members present in person and represented by proxy will constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business at the adjourned Meeting.

Important Information

Aberdeen Standard Investments ("ASI") is the marketing name in Canada for Aberdeen Standard Investments (Canada) Limited, Aberdeen Standard Investments Luxembourg SA, Standard Life Investments Private Capital Ltd, SL Capital Partners LLP, Standard Life Investments Limited, Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited, and Aberdeen Capital Management LLC. Aberdeen Standard Investments (Canada) Limited, is registered as a Portfolio Manager and Exempt Market Dealer in all provinces and territories of Canada as well as an Investment Fund Manager in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Company's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the company's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Company will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenfap.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Investment Company Limited

For further information: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Investor Relations, 800-992-6341, [email protected], http://aberdeenfap.com

Related Links

http://aberdeenfap.com


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Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on "Butter and Spreads in the United Arab Emirates "under Food category. The United Arab Emirates Butter and Spreads Market is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports.

Butter and spreads is expected to largely benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in terms of current value growth. Lockdown began being implemented from 23 March 2020, meaning that education facilities were closed, and many begun working from home. The extended free periods of time being spent at home have seen an increase in cooking and baking, with many re-discovering their passion for their culinary skills. Consequently, demand for butter and spreads, particularly butter, has rocketed, as

Butter and Spreads in United Arab Emirates report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data 2015-2019, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2024 illustrate how the market is set to change.

Product coverage: Butter, Cooking Fats, Margarine and Spreads.

Request a free sample copy of United Arab Emirates Butter and Spreads Market Report @

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Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.

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* Get a detailed picture of the Butter and Spreads market;

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Table of contents

Butter and Spreads in the United Arab Emirates

March 2021

List OF CONTENTS AND TABLES

KEY DATA FINDINGS

2020 IMPACT

Butter grows in demand due to increased cooking and baking during lockdown

Arla Foods continues to dominate thanks to its leading brand Lurpak

Consumers avoid unpackaged butter due to possibility of contamination

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Consumers will favour margarine and spreads due to reduced disposable incomes

The pandemic will further encourage the growing health and wellness trend

A demand for convenient products will rise as lockdown eases and consumers return to hectic routines

CATEGORY DATA

Table 1 Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: Volume 2015-2020

Table 2 Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: Value 2015-2020

Table 3 Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: % Volume Growth 2015-2020

Table 4 Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: % Value Growth 2015-2020

Table 5 NBO Company Shares of Butter and Spreads: % Value 2016-2020

Table 6 LBN Brand Shares of Butter and Spreads: % Value 2017-2020

Table 7 Distribution of Butter and Spreads by Format: % Value 2015-2020

Table 8 Forecast Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: Volume 2020-2025

Table 9 Forecast Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: Value 2020-2025

Table 10 Forecast Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: % Volume Growth 2020-2025

Table 11 Forecast Sales of Butter and Spreads by Category: % Value Growth 2020-2025

Browse our full report with Table of Contents: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/butter-and-spreads-in-the-united-arab-emirates/1355143

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Market Reports on Saudi Arabia provides you with an in-depth industry reports focusing on various economic, political and operational risk environment, complemented by detailed sector analysis. We have an exhaustive coverage on variety of industries  ranging from energy and chemicals to transportation, communications, constructions and mining to Food and Beverage and education. Our collection includes over 3000 up-to-date reports all researched, analysed and published by top-notch international research firms.

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(Newser)  A couple in Taiwan stayed quite busy during the early days of the pandemic, getting married four times and filing for three divorces between April 6 and May 12 of last year. The reason, according to public records from the groom's employer, a Taipei bank: The newlyweds were trying to take advantage of the country's paid leave policy for marriages, which gives employees eight days off for the big event, reports the New York Times. The paper lays out the timeline for the serial unions and very conscious uncouplings, starting with the original marriage on April 6, 2020. Ten days later, the couple divorced for the first time, followed by a second wedding the next day, April 17. On April 28 came the second divorce, followed by a third marriage on April 29. Their next official parting came on May 11, with their fourth (and so far final) wedding taking place May 12.

story continues below

The bank apparently caught on to the scheme fairly quickly and wouldn't greenlight more than the eight days the groom was entitled to for his first wedding. That's when the employee registered a complaint with the labor department, which at first fined the bank about $700 in October. The bank appealed that fine in February, arguing the worker had exploited the nation's labor laws, and last week, the labor unit announced the fine had been revoked. AFP notes the worker has since quit the bank, and an official tells the outlet that the man has continued to call the labor department to insist the bank owes him 24 more days of pay for the last three weddings. Local officials and the public don't seem in general to be terribly sympathetic to the couple's plight. "I'm honestly quite speechless," Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang said in a Facebook post, per Vice. "This is why ... we need to build a mature civil society." (Read more Taiwan stories.)
Facebook has admitted it failed to take action against posts that fueled the Capitol riot, despite boss Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress last week that the platform was 'inhospitable to those who might do harm'.

The social media giant said hindsight has shown how 'election delegitimizing movements... grew, spread conspiracy, and helped incite the Capitol insurrection' using its platform and that its focus on rooting out fake accounts and 'inauthentic behavior' drew attention away from taking action against such groups.

The damning confession came in a leaked report created by an internal task force entitled 'Stop the Steal and Patriot Party: The Growth and Mitigation of an Adversarial Harmful Movement,' which was obtained by Buzzfeed.

The report focused on two pro-Trump movements - Stop the Steal and the Patriot Party - that played a crucial role in spreading false claims of election fraud and organizing the violent insurrection on January 6.

Facebook's admission of responsibility to its employees came less than a week after Mark Zuckerberg was hauled before Congress to testify about the platform's role in the riot.

The founder and CEO's comments that day stood in stark contrast to the findings of the report.

Speaking to lawmakers, he denied the platform played some role in the riot, testifying that he believed the blame rested on Donald Trump and those who invaded the seat of American democracy that day.

Facebook has admitted it failed to take action against posts that fueled the Capitol riot, after Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress that the platform was 'inhospitable to those who might do harm'

In the report, Facebook admitted it had struggled to distinguish between viable threats to overthrow the election and free speech in the run-up to the MAGA mob riot.

'Hindsight is 20/20, at the time, it was very difficult to know whether what we were seeing was a coordinated effort to delegitimize the election, or whether it was free expression by users who were afraid and confused and deserved our empathy,' it reads.

'But hindsight being 20/20 makes it all the more important to look back to learn what we can about the growth of the election delegitimizing movements that grew, spread conspiracy, and helped incite the Capitol insurrection.'

Perhaps the most damning confession is that the company's own attempts to shut down the Stop the Steal group thwarted its ability to crack down on the movement's spread of disinformation.

Facebook removed the original Stop the Steal group from its platform on November 5 saying it had been 'flagged for escalation because it contained high levels of hate and violence and incitement (VNI) in the comments.'

By this point, the group had gained more than 300,000 members in the little over 24 hours since its creation and more than one million people were waiting to join.

The report admitted that the removal of the group only led to multiple other offshoot and similar groups springing up in its replacement, with the movement growing through the use of 'growth hacking.'

Growth hacking is a digital marketing tactic used to grow a product and its popularity very quickly.

The social media giant said hindsight has shown how 'election delegitimizing movements... grew, spread conspiracy, and helped incite the Capitol insurrection' using its platform. Pictured the Capitol riot

The damning confession came in a leaked internal report titled 'Stop the Steal and Patriot Party: The Growth and Mitigation of an Adversarial Harmful Movement'

The company admitted in the report that it was unprepared to deal with 'coordinated authentic harm' on its site, calling it a 'new territory'

THE REMOVAL AND RETURN OF PARLER After Donald Trump was banished from the mainstream apps for spreading false claims, millions of users flocked to Parler. But Parler went offline in January as it was removed from Apple and Google app stores and taken off a web-hosting platform by Amazon as the companies accused the platform of failing to crack down on extremist content and calls for violence in the lead-up to the January 6 riot. In late January, a judge ruled against Parler's request to force Amazon to restore the company to its web hosting services. A month later, Parler re-launched its services online through host SkySilk as it said its new platform was built on 'sustainable, independent technology.' New community guidelines on Parler state that the platform is 'viewpoint neutral' and will not allow for promotion of crime or unlawful acts. The company's board of directors also unceremoniously fired its cofounder and CEO Matze in January with Mark Meckler, an attorney, political activist, and founder of the Tea Party Patriots, now serving as interim CEO. Matze, 27, is now suing Parler for $3million claiming punitive and compensatory damages claiming his 40 percent stake in the company was stolen from him when he was ousted and accusing its leadership of bullying him. Earlier this month, Parler announced it is coming back to Apple's app store after making changes to its 'content moderation practices'. Advertisement

While the report said 'growth hacking may not always be bad' and does involve 'legitimate techniques', it warned that 'when the growth is mixed with the signals of harm we described above, this rapid growth indicates the spread of harm, and may indicate coordinated harm.'

In the case of Stop the Steal, the offshoot groups grew rapidly through the use of 'super-inviter' accounts, the report said.

For example, the largest Stop the Steal groups had 137 super-inviters, who had invited two-thirds (67 percent) of members to the group, each bringing in over 500 more people per group.

Facebook said these super-inviters used various strategies including using private groups and chats to coordinate their activity and lied about their locations, Buzzfeed reported.

The report admitted that the taking down of the original main group and the creation of several offshoot groups made it more difficult to root out the riot plans.

The company was forced to take a 'piecemeal' approach to tackling the issue.

'Because we were looking at each entity individually, rather than as a cohesive movement, we were only able to take down individual Groups and Pages once they exceeded a violation threshold,' the report read.

'After the Capitol Insurrection and a wave of Storm the Capitol events across the country, we realized that the individual delegitimizing Groups, Pages and slogans did constitute a cohesive movement.'

The company admitted in the report that it was unprepared to deal with 'coordinated authentic harm' on its site, calling it a 'new territory' in which 'few policies or knowledge existed' prior to the insurrection.

It acknowledged that it only learned in the aftermath that the Stop the Steal and Patriot Party groups were part of a movement that 'normalized delegitimization and hate in a way that resulted in offline harm and harm to the norms underpinning democracy.'

The lack of preparation comes despite employees being made aware of the original Stop the Steal group back on November 3, the report revealed.

The report concluded that Facebook needs to 'do better next time' by improving its systems and addressing gaps in current policies.

'We learned a lot from these cases,' the report said.

'We're building tools and protocols and having policy discussions to help us do better next time.'

It added: 'What do we do when a movement is authentic, coordinated through grassroots or authentic means, but is inherently harmful and violates the spirit of our policy?

'What do we do when that authentic movement espouses hate or delegitimizes free elections?'

Perhaps the most damning confession is that the company's own attempts to shut down the Stop the Steal group thwarted its ability to crack down on the movement's spread of disinformation as it cut off the original group only for offshoot groups to spring up

Trump at the Stop the Steal rally moments before rioters stormed the US Capitol January 6

DailyMail.com has reached out to Facebook for comment on the report's findings.

The company told Buzzfeed in a statement that while it 'didn't catch everything' on the platform, the report's findings are not 'definitive.'

'As we've said previously, we still saw problematic content on our platform during this period and we know that we didn't catch everything,' it said.

'This is not a definitive report. It's a product of one of many teams who are continuing to study what happened so we can continue improving our content moderation.'

The internal stance on the company's role in the Capitol riot appears vastly different to its public-facing approach, with Facebook repeatedly seeking to downplay its responsibility.

In March, Zuckerberg told the House of Representatives the company had 'done its part' in trying to prevent the Capitol riot.

'We did our part to secure the integrity of the election, and then on January 6, President Trump gave a speech rejecting the results and calling on people to fight,' Zuckerberg testified.

'The attack on the Capitol was an outrage, and I want to express my sympathy to all of the members, staff, and Capitol workers who had to live through this disgraceful moment in our history.

'And I want to express my gratitude to the Capitol Police, who were on the front lines in defense of our democracy.'

Facebook's admission of responsibility to its employees came less than a week after Mark Zuckerberg was hauled before Congress to testify about the platform's role in the riot (above) The founder and CEO denied to Congress that the platform played some role in the riot

He said the platform had been working with law enforcement 'to identify and address threats' in the run-up to the Capitol riot and, in the aftermath, removed posts and accounts that incited violence.

'We didn't catch everything, but we made our services inhospitable to those who might do harm,' he said.

'And when we feared that he would incite further violence, we suspended the former president's accounts.'

The Facebook boss instead blamed Trump and the Capitol rioters: 'I believe that the former president should be responsible for his words and that the people who broke the law should be responsible for their actions.'

He also defended his platform and big tech saying 'polarization was rising in America long before social networks were even invented, and it's fallen or stable in many other countries where social networks are popular.'

The company has also sought to push the blame onto new right-wing platforms such as Parler that are newer and less regulated than the major social platform players.

In the report, Facebook admitted it had struggled to distinguish between viable threats to overthrow the election and free speech in the run-up to the MAGA mob riot

When Trump was banished from the mainstream platforms for spreading false election fraud claims, millions of users flocked to Parler.

The app then went offline as it was removed from Apple and Google app stores and taken off a web-hosting platform by Amazon as the companies accused it of failing to crack down on extremist content and calls for violence in the lead-up to the January 6 riot.

The company made a comeback a month later through host SkySilk and, in April, said it was coming back to Apple's app store after making changes to its 'content moderation practices'.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg claimed in January that the Capitol riot was 'largely' organized on other platforms - not on Facebook.

'I think these events were largely organized on platforms that don't have our abilities to stop hate, don't have our standards and don't have our transparency,' she said.

Sandberg said the company had removed the likes of QAnon, Proud Boys, Stop the Steal, 'anything that was talking about possible violence last week'.

Facebook denied that the report flies in the face of Zuckerberg's and Sandberg's public comments in a statement to Buzzfeed, saying both had admitted the company failed to stop all posts.
Hyderabad, April 23 : The Telangana government has declared unlawful 16 new front organisations of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist.

The state government has issued orders declaring these organisations as unlawful for a period of one year with effect from March 30.

The front organisations declared unlawful are the Telangana Praja Front (TPD), the Telangana Asanghatitha Karmika Samkhya (TAKS), the Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV), the Democratic Students Organisation (DSU), the Telangana Vidyarthi Sangham (TVS), the Adivasi Students Union (ASU), the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), the Telangana Raithanga Samithi (TRS), the Tudum Debba (TD), the Praja Kala Mandali (PKM), the Telangana Democratic Front (TDF), the Forum Against Hindu Fascism Offensive (FAHFO), the Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), the Amarula Bandhu Mithrula Sangham (ABMS), the Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS) and the Revolutionary Writers' Association (RWA).

The Government Order says that these organisations have been encouraging or aiding persons to commit acts of violence and intimidation and habitually committing acts of violence.

The activists of these front affiliates are moving in urban area by adopting urban guerrilla tactics and taking different covers as per their strategy and tactics document to wage war against the state, it says.

It also states that these organisations further stepped up their activities adopting new tactics and joined hands with several organisations and alluring the members into their fold with inflammatory statements, meetings and rallies highlighting various issues against the Centre and state governments.

"The activists of these front organisations have been regularly in touch and meeting the Maoist leadership in the forest area of Chhattisgarh. On the directions of CPI-Maoist, they are organising various protest programmes on barren lands and against so-called state repression on front activists besides demanding release of P. Vara Vara Rao, Founder, VIRASAM, Prof G.N. Sai Baba (extremist convict), Rona Wilson and other leaders of various front organisations who were arrested in Bhima Koregaon case, and repealing UAPA Act, farm laws, CAA/NRC etc," reads the GO.

It also noted that some of the activists of these front organisations became underground cadre of CPI-Maoist to wage war against the lawfully-established governments.
Pro-democracy activists Jatupat Bunpatraksa (left) and Somyot Pruksakasemsuk flash a three-finger salute as supporters greet them upon their release on bail from the Bangkok Special Prison, April 23, 2021.

A Bangkok court granted bail on Friday to two of 20 pro-democracy activists jailed on charges of violating Thailands strict royal defamation law, stating there was not sufficient reason to reject their bail request, even as the rest remained behind bars.

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk and Jatupat Pai Boonpattararaksa walked out of the Bangkok Special Prison in the evening after spending 73 days and 46 days in custody, respectively, and posting 200,000 baht (U.S. $6,365) in bail each, lawyers representing them said.

Im really happy. It gets lonely in there, Jatupat told reporters outside the prison, vowing to campaign for jailed colleagues.

I will closely follow the movement and the fight. Im worried about everyone. No one wants to be in jail for expressing opinions. I want everyone to get out, he said.

Both men have been charged under Article 112  the law that criminalizes royal defamation  for joining a protest at Sanam Luang, an open field near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, in September.

Our friends are still suffering in prison. I will not stop joining the movement, Somyot said upon his release.

I have a mission to call for justice for Penguin, Arnon and everyone who is still in jail because the right to bail is a basic right, according to the constitution. I appreciate that the respectable court allowed the right to bail for us, he said.

He was referring to key figures of the largely youth-led pro-democracy protest movement that sprang up last year, demanding Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha step down, revision of the constitution and reform of the monarchy.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a legal aid group representing the Somyot, Jatupat and other activists, said it had applied many times for bail for the two until the Criminal Court of Thailand finally approved their applications on Friday.

The court allowed bail for Somyot  and Jatupat  who were charged with Article 112, said Noraseth Nanongtoom, an attorney with TLHR. The reason which the court gave was that there is not sufficient reason to reject the bail.

Eighty-eight people have been charged with Lese-Majeste since late November in connection with the pro-democracy protests, after the government of Prayuth, a former junta leader, began cracking down on the movement.

Somyot Pruksakasemsuks daughter, Prakaidao (center), takes part in a protest against the jailing of pro-democracy activists on royal defamation charges, in front of the Supreme Court in Bangkok, April 13, 2021. [Pimuk Rakkanam/BenarNews]





In recent weeks, friends and relatives of the detained activists have held a series of protests outside jails in Bangkok and other Thai cities.

Starting at 5 p.m. every day, small knots of people stand silently for one hour and 12 minutes minutes, calling attention to the detention of activists without bail since February under Article 112.

The protests have gone on amid a new wave of coronavirus cases in the kingdom, where daily infections crossed 2,000 cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic in Thailand.

Those taking part in the protests say the criminal courts repeated rejections of bail petitions makes it hard for the incarcerated activists to gather evidence to prepare for their trials.

My friends inside should not be worried. If you keep fighting, we will be there with you, demonstrator Navapon Ton-nham told BenarNews.

Another person taking part in the protests is Sureerat Chiwarak, the mother of Parit Penguin Chiwarak, one of two activists who are on a hunger strike because they have been denied bail.

After 35 days of his strike, Parit appeared in court in a wheelchair on Monday, looking frail.

We dont get justice, so we want to demand that, Sureerat told BenarNews earlier this week, saying her son had lost 20 kilos (44 pounds) and his blood-sugar levels had dropped since he started the hunger strike.

I dont want the country or society to be like this, she said. We want Parit, Rung and everyone to have a chance to fight  It is useless to keep him in there now.

A government spokesman denied that the jailed activists were facing an unjust legal system.

Our actions against some protesters are lawful and according to the circumstances of those who violate the law. Those accused of breaking the law are able to fight the case normally, Anucha Burapachaisri said.

We support creative expression as long as it does not promote hate or conflict.

On Monday, the prime minister commented on Parits case.

I cannot intervene in the legal process of Khun Parit, Prayuth said.

Please be sure to distinguish between what is wrong and what is right. A decision to go on a hunger strike will not affect the justice process. The case will be carried out according to the court, the prime minister said.

Sarumon Nornrit in Bangkok contributed to this report.
I was tired, waiting for sleep, but it was trouble that came to me.

Officers of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) tactical squad from Abuja stormed my family residence in Warri, Delta State. It was 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 19, 2019. The officers had come to arrest me.

When my surprised father asked the officers about the crime I had committed, they accused me of kidnapping Chuks E. Ezedum, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Madonna University.

Madonna University is a private Catholic university located in the southeastern town of Okija in the Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.

My name is Amaechi Benedict. Im 23. My SARS story occurred during my final year as a Mass Communication student at Madonna.

From tarnishing universitys name to kidnapping VC

Earlier, in November 2018, I was among six students and a lecturer who came under fire for, according to the universitys petition to the Inspector-General of Police, tarnishing the reputation of the university on the Internet.

In my case, I was the production manager of Vox Madonna Magazine, the school magazine. Popular blogger Linda Ikeji had broken a story about the schools poor infrastructure. The management of the school had wondered who leaked the story to Linda Ikeji and then turned their attention to me, believing my role as a production manager meant I had ties with the blogger.

But I did not have ties with Linda Ikeji. I still do not.

The lecturer, the other five students and I were arrested and slapped with the same accusation: kidnapping the VC of Madonna.

The officers took the seven of us to the Central Police Station (CPS), Onitsha, Anambra State, where we spent 31 days in a cell without being charged to court.

I do not understand why we spent that number of days in police custody, only that the police kept claiming they were investigating the matter.

In those 31 days, I did not have my bath or brush my teeth. We were congested in one small cell. It was hell.

Charged after 31 days of detention

Eventually, the officers took the other six people and I to the Federal High Court, Awka, the state capital. But the judge told the police to return to CPS because he did not understand the case as it was not properly presented.

At CPS, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) refused to accept us back into the station. The DPO had reconsidered his stance: he wondered why the officers had kept children in prison for 31 days without charging them to court; and so he no longer wanted to be a part of breaking the law.

Transferred to notorious Awkuzu SARS

The police officers took us to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) station in Awkuzu, a town in the Oyi Local Government Area of the state.

At Awkuzu SARS, a place meant for hardened criminals, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) of the tactical squad, named Okonta, wrote in the charge sheet that we (the six persons and I) were kidnappers.

We ended up spending one week at Awkuzu SARS, where I had an experience I have never had in my whole life.

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In the duration of my stay at Awkuzu SARS, I remember eating only two small blocks of Okpa (a traditional Nigerian meal made with Bambara flour, popular in the eastern parts of the country) and drinking four sachets of water.

Torture in depressing cell

The cell was depressing. Torture was the culture, from both inmates and officers. The ground was sticky with the blood of people who had either been shot or were injured. The cell was crowded with prisoners, and it was in that same small blood-filled space where everyone ate, urinated and defecated. No one bathed in the cell.

The SARS officers had a torture technique dubbed hanging. They would bind the hands and legs of inmates to their backs and place a rod in between, lifting and leaving them to suspend in the air.

Some inmates, especially those they called Boss, physically attacked fellow inmates. The Bosses would also snatch food meant for other inmates. There were times I thought I would die out of hunger. It was tough.

I also noticed SARS officers smuggling hard drugs into the cells for inmates. To make matters worse, extrajudicial killings seemed to be normal too. I remember a time when I heard gunshots inside the compound of the station. Somebody then shouted, They don kill am! I was later told that happenings like that were not unusual, as SARS officers would come into a cell and call out a persons name  with the next thing heard being a gunshot, and the person called never returning to the cell.

All through my stay at Awkuzu SARS, I never saw my parents. After I came out, I asked my parents whether they had been visiting the station, and they confirmed they had been coming, except they were not allowed to see me. They also brought food on each occasion which never got to me. It was clear the SARS officers were not only killing and torturing and extorting and blocking visitors, they were also eating food meant for inmates.

Before we (the six and I) were charged to court on February 18, 2019, Madonna University changed the charges from multiple kidnapping into cybercrime and malicious writing.

Two years detention planned for us

I believe the owner of Madonna University, Father Emmanuel M. P. Edeh, a 73-year-old Catholic priest, had planned to keep us in prison for two years.

Father Edeh used the police, who were always at his disposal, to intimidate us. You know how people with money control structures in our corrupt system. Family and friends who had gone to beg Father Edeh on our behalf reported his reluctance to set us free.

Our arrest and subsequent detention sparked an online movement, with the #FreeMadonaSevenNow campaign trending on Twitter. Movements like the #TakeItBackMovement were at the forefront of the struggle to regain freedom for us. The #FreeMadonaSevenNow campaign began in early July that year after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) protested at the premises of the court in Awka.

If it hadnt been for the story of our arrest trending online, we would still be in the custody of SARS.

Granted bail, but not released

At the Federal High Court in Awka, Babatunde Quadri, the presiding judge, in July 2019, set bail for us at one million naira each and provision of a senior-level civil servant with landed properties. After the court hearing, the seven of us were remanded in Awka Prison.

With the help of family and friends, the seven of us fulfilled our bail conditions.

But there was a snag. The prosecution team, led by Austin N. Oboh, made it impossible to secure bail. When the court told us to go and verify the sureties, we came back to court after having failed to verify them, with the letters also unsigned.

Because of this, the seven of us had to spend months in prison.

Finally released

I remember the judge being fond of missing court hearings. I counted about four sessions he missed.

It was on July 3, 2020, two days after our case started trending on Twitter, that the judge finally flew from Abuja and ordered our immediate release.

The seven of us were officially released on July 4, 2020, at 11:13 a.m.

I was happy when we were released. Before then, I had heard that NANS, led by the Vice-President, National Affairs, Chidi Ilozobe, had staged a protest in support of us and I looked forward to reading what the national dailies had to say about the case.

Charges struck out

After our release, several peace talks were held to resolve the matter.

The VC of Madonna University asked us to apologise to the school so that our results would be released to enable us to enrol on our National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.

After another peace meeting held at the Maria Assumpta Cathedral in Owerri, Imo States capital city, involving Madonna Universitys Deputy VC, Very Rev. Fr. Dr Ralph Madu, and the schools registrar, Fr. Dr Oliver Udaya, the seven of us apologised.

On July 23, 2020, after 17 months of trial, the trial judge, Mr Quadri, struck out the case from his court.

I am free, but I am yet to heal. My time at Awkuzu SARS was the most horrible experience of my life.

_____

This story is part of a multimedia project by Tiger Eye Foundation and media partners across Nigeria, documenting police brutality in Nigeria, and advocating for police reform.
The temptation was too much. It was a hot summers day at university and lying on the grass sunbathing one floor below me were half a dozen engineering students.

For me, as a first-year accountancy student, they were easy bait.

As I surveyed the scene from the first floor common room, I spied the fire hose in the corner of the room and put my plan into action.

I unreeled the hose slowly and surely towards the outside balcony.

Once in position, I turned on the hose and released the pressure of the water. Then, I could hear screaming below and some anger.

Lets get him! they shouted.

I could hear students making a beeline for the stairwell to head upstairs to my floor.

With much haste, I turned the fire hose off and made a dash for it down the hallway into the safety of my room.

As I cowered in my locked room, I could hear banging and shouting as the budding engineers tested the doors as they made their way along the corridor.

Then something triggered in me.

It just seemed so cowardly of me to hide in my room and not face up to my opponents. It was much more noble to step out and face them.

Anyway, I was pretty sure none of them had spotted me and facing up to them would be the last thing they would expect.

And what was the worst that could happen?

If they had spotted me, the most likely scenario was a dunking in the Avon river and it would all be over and done with within 15 minutes. Or so I thought.

With a sense of fear and excitement, I opened the door to my room and walked slowly out into the hallway.

As I stepped out, I could hear someone shout from the far end of the hallway, It was him!

At that moment I had three choices.

Either, to run back into my room and lock the door, make a dash for it down the other end of the hall way or pretend I did not know what they were talking about.

I chose to pretend that I did not know what they were talking about and with some apprehension started walking towards them.

As I got closer, they stared at me, scanning my gangly, beanpole-like body and boyish, innocent-looking face and they started laughing.

And then, when we reached each other, they walked straight past me, continuing to bang loudly on all the doors looking for the culprit.

I was not what they were expecting.

God of the unexpected

There are numerous examples in the Bible of the unexpected.

Goliath was not expecting to be confronted and defeated by a boy shepherd named David.

1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 50

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

Gideon was not expecting God to tell him to reduce his army from twenty-two thousand to just three hundred to fight the Midianites.

Judges chapter 7, verse 7

The Lord said to Gideon, With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.

After being unsuccessful in lighting their altar, the prophets of Baal were not expecting Elijah to pour large volumes of water over his bull sacrifice, before asking God to bring down his fire to light it.

1 Kings chapter 18, verse 38

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

The disciples did not expect Jesus to invite a crowd of five thousand to sit down and eat with them when they barely had enough food for themselves.

Matthew chapter 14, verse 19

And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

The followers of Jesus did not expect their future King to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Matthew chapter 21, verses 6-7

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

And the Roman governors soldiers mocked Jesus because he did not fit into their view of what a King of the Jews would look like.

Matthew chapter 27, verse 29

Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. Hail, king of the Jews! they said.

A reminder

These stories are a reminder that God does not do things our way and follow our rules. He is God.

With HIM anything is possible.

With HIM we can defeat giants, win battles against the odds, multiply resources and turnaround any situation we are in.

God is in charge and will re-work things to our advantage and to HIS glory.

And it is also a reminder that God may be doing something in our lives or circumstances, totally different and much deeper than what we might expect.
Two San Antonio men have been indicted on a murder charge in the 2019 death of a man who was hacked with a machete and then run over.

Richard Villanueva, 27, and DQuintin Williams, 22, were among the more than 200 felony indictments returned this week by two Bexar County grand juries, the District Attorneys Office said Thursday.

Villanueva and Williams are charged with killing Dylan Jacob DeLeon, 27. They were arrested about eight months after the incident.

On ExpressNews.com: Affidavit: Man accused of using machete and running over friend in 2019 Northeast Side killing

San Antonio police found DeLeons body Oct. 9, 2019, near Weidner and Leonhardt roads on the Northeast Side. He had chopping injuries to his shoulder and the side of his head and appeared to have been run over multiple times by a vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit.

Investigating officers found an abandoned black Chevrolet Tahoe with a bloody front bumper and fender which looked as if someone tried to clean it, parked behind an apartment complex near the 5300 block of Encanta, less than a mile from the scene, according to the affidavit.

Police later were contacted by a witness who said Villanueva had asked his friend to use the Tahoe earlier that day, and that DeLeon was with him, the affidavit stated.

Investigators were able to confirm in June that Villanuevas DNA was on a door handle, which led to his arrest July 31. He is being held at the Bexar County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Online court records indicate Williams was arrested this week. His bond has been set at $250,000.

Both mens cases are being prosecuted in the 437th District Court. If convicted, each man faces up to life in prison.

ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863




Haiti - FLASH : A report reveals the complicity of the Haitian Government in 3 massacres





Three deadly massacres targeting impoverished neighborhoods in Haiti were carried out with Haitian government support and amount to crimes against humanity, according to a report titled "Killing with Impunity: State-Sanctioned Massacres in Haiti" released Thursday, April 22, 2021 by Harvard Law Schools International Human Rights Clinic and the Observatoire Haitien des Crimes contre lhumanite (OHCCH). The report points to evidence that the gang-led attacks were resourced and supported by state actors, ranging from high-ranking officials in the Moise administration to the Haitian National Police.



This report analyzes three attacks that took place between 2018-2020, which have together killed at least 240 civilians. The massacres targeted the Port-au-Prince neighborhoods of La Saline, Bel-Air, and Cite Soleil, which have played a leading role in organizing protests demanding government accountability for corruption and other human rights violations.



The report is based on a rigorous analysis of the evidence that has been gathered by multiple Haitian and international actors in recent years, with regard to international criminal law. Harvard Law School students Joey Bui (JD21) and Nathalie Gunasekera (JD21) led the research and wrote the report under the supervision of Professor Lindstrom.



Download the full report to know all the details (PDF 65 pages) (In French): https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/Massacres-cautionnes-par-lEtat.pdf



Download the full report to know all the details (PDF 65 pages) (In English): https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/Killing_With_Impunity-1.pdf



HL/ HaitiLibre






















National Weather Service

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for portions of southeast Texas and western Louisiana as severe weather impacts the region.

The watch, which remains in place until 9 p.m. Friday, includes Harris, Chambers, Waller and Montgomery counties. In addition to rainfall, storms could bring tornadoes, scattered lime-size hail and gusts up to 70 mph , according to the weather service.
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CHI St. Josephs Children congratulates the legislators who accepted the truth and the facts and passed the Early Childhood Constitutional Amendment, House Joint Resolution 1, sending it to the voters for approval. The campaign began 10 years ago, and recent polls show 75% support its passage. The Land Grant Permanent Fund grows by leaps and bounds, and our children have sunk to 50th in childrens well-being.

The fund is worth approximately $22 billion. If a person earned $45,000 a year, it would take 22,222 years to reach $1 billion. According to the Fiscal Impact Report for HJR 1, even with an increased distribution of 1.25%, the fund will double to $44 billion in 20 years while the population will not.

Drawing principal from the fund has never been part of the proposal. The fund grows by an average of 11% per year from two sources of income: gas and oil, and Wall Street investment. New Mexico has the largest deposit of oil in the United States, perhaps in the world. There is still a future for gas and oil in New Mexico while the transition to renewable energy takes place.

The idea that not more than 5% of the fund should be distributed is a fallacy. The distribution calculation is based on a 5-year rolling average, which gives us a smaller number than the actual balance of the fund. For example, only 4.1% of the $22 billion fund was used this year. The 5-year rolling average will continue to be used. Opponents compared the fund to nonprofits: the IRS requires nonprofits to spend at least 5%.

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Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky testified that the unmet need for early childhood programs in New Mexico, even after appropriations from the general fund, is close to half a billion dollars a year. According to a recent needs assessment, 79% of 3-year-olds and 45% of 4-year-olds do not have access to high-quality full day pre-K, and 78% of families have no access to home visiting.

Opponents continue to include K-5 Plus in the Early Childhood budget. K-5 Plus is an elementary school program, not early childhood. This creates the appearance of a larger early childhood appropriation. The constitutional amendment provides early childhood services to non-school age children 5 years old and younger, and clearly states that 60% of the 1.25% new distribution will go to early childhood programs. The newly created Early Childhood Department administers these programs with safeguards such as the Pre-K Act and the Home Visiting Accountability Act.

Holding the agency accountable will be the legislators who appropriate New Mexicos budget.

Including the K-12 portion in the amendment is a vital response to the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit, which clearly identified the state as not living up to its constitutional mandate to educate all children. The amendment for early childhood will create approximately 4,000 jobs, which are the engine of an economy.

Public opinion has been heard: just as New Mexicans last year elected a Legislature that supported the early childhood constitutional amendment, they will also pass it on the ballot.

Ensuring permanent, reliable funding for early childhood programs is a game changer for New Mexico.

CHI St. Josephs Children operates the largest home visiting program in the state and does not accept government money.
A black hole dubbed 'the Unicorn' may be galaxy's smallest one (Photo : Ohio State illustration/Lauren Fanfer/Handout via REUTERS)

Scientists have discovered what may be the smallest-known black hole in the Milky Way galaxy and the closest to our solar system - an object so curious that they nicknamed it 'the Unicorn.'



The researchers said the black hole is roughly three times the mass of our sun, testing the lower limits of size for these extraordinarily dense objects that possess gravitational pulls so strong not even light can escape. A luminous star called a red giant orbits with the black hole in a so-called binary star system named V723 Mon.



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The black hole is located about 1,500 light years - the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km) - from Earth. While it may be the closest one to us, it is still far away. By way of comparison, the closest star to our solar system, Proxima Centauri, is 4 light years away.



Black holes like this one form when massive stars die and their cores collapse.



"We nicknamed this black hole 'the Unicorn' partly because V723 Mon is in the Monoceros constellation - which translates to unicorn - and partly because it is a very unique system" in terms of the black hole's mass and relative closeness to Earth, said Ohio State University astronomy doctoral student Tharindu Jayasinghe, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.



There are three categories of black holes. The smallest, like 'the Unicorn,' are so-called stellar mass black holes formed by the gravitational collapse of a single star. There are gargantuan 'supermassive' black holes like the one at our galaxy's center, 26,000 light years from Earth, which is four million times the sun's mass. A few intermediate-mass black holes also have been found with masses somewhere in between.



"It is clear that nature makes black holes of a wide range of masses. But a three-solar-mass black hole is a big surprise. There are no very good models for how to make such a black hole, but I am sure people will work on that more now," said Ohio State University astronomy professor and study co-author Kris Stanek.



'The Unicorn' falls into what the researchers called a "mass gap" between the largest-known neutron stars - objects similarly formed by a large star's collapse - at around 2.2 times the mass of our sun and what previously had been considered the smallest black holes at around five times the sun's mass.



"'The unicorn' is truly one of the smallest black holes possible," Jayasinghe said.



Its strong gravity alters the shape of its companion star in a phenomenon known as tidal distortion, making it elongated rather than spherical and causing its light to change as it moves along its orbital path. It was these effects on the companion star, observed using Earth-based and orbiting telescopes, that indicated the black hole's presence.



"Black holes are electromagnetically dark, and so they are difficult to find," Jayasinghe said.



Unlike some other black holes orbiting with a star, this one was not observed to be drawing material from its companion, which is 173 times more luminous than our sun.



The only smaller potential black hole is one with a mass 2.6 times that of our sun that was spotted in another galaxy, Jayasinghe said.



Another team of scientists last year described a black hole roughly 1,000 light years from Earth, but other researchers have questioned whether it is a black hole.



(REUTERS, Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)


Boris Johnson has offered an 'unreserved apology' to the families of black and Asian soldiers who died fighting for the British Empire but were denied gravestones.

The Prime Minister said he was 'deeply troubled' by the failure to commemorate their deaths in the same way as their white comrades due to racism.

It came after a report by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) found that the deaths of many black and Asian troops during the First World War went unrecorded. Meanwhile white soldiers received headstones or had their names engraved on memorials.

In a statement, Mr Johnson said: 'I am deeply troubled by the findings of the special committee that not all of our war dead were commemorated with equal care and reverence.

'On behalf of the Government, I offer an unreserved apology.

The Prime Minister said he was 'deeply troubled' by the failure to commemorate their deaths in the same way as their white comrades due to racism

'Our shared duty is to honour and remember all those, wherever they lived and whatever their background, who laid down their lives for our freedoms at the moment of greatest peril.'

The CWGC works to commemorate Commonwealth forces and ensure that all those killed in the two world wars are remembered in the same way, regardless of rank, background or religion.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told parliament there was no doubt that prejudice had played a part in some of the failures of the Imperial War Graves Commission, the CWGC's precursor.

He also expressed 'deep regret' that it had taken so long to rectify the situation.

The CWGC's report found that between 45,000 and 54,000 casualties, predominantly Indian, Egyptian, Somali and from East and West Africa, were commemorated 'unequally'.

Another 116,000 casualties and as many as 350,000, predominantly from East Africa and Egypt, were not commemorated by name or possibly not at all.

'The events of a century ago were wrong then and are wrong now,' Claire Horton, director general of the CWGC, said. 'We recognise the wrongs of the past and are deeply sorry and will be acting immediately to correct them.'

It came after a report by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) found that the deaths of many black and Asian troops during the First World War went unrecorded. Pictured: The Cenotaph

The CWGC, which will act on the report's 10 recommendations such as seeking out new names and adding explanations at relevant sites, commissioned the inquiry in December 2019 after a television documentary found Africans killed in World War One had not been commemorated equally.

'Underpinning all these decisions...were the entrenched prejudices, preconceptions and pervasive racism of contemporary imperial attitudes,' the report said.

The investigation found the example of a British governor saying 'the average native of the Gold Coast would not understand or appreciate a headstone'.

An officer who later worked for the Imperial War Graves Commission wrote that 'most of the natives who died are of a semi-savage nature', so erecting headstones would be a waste of public money.
Turkey will begin administering Russia's Sputnik V vaccine soon, the nation's health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.

The coronavirus infection rate has dropped nationwide, Koca said following the Coronavirus Scientific Committee meeting via video link.

Koca said it was agreed at the meeting that restrictions against the coronavirus could be tightened, if the number of cases did not decrease in the coming days.

He said some citizens postponed vaccination as they were fasting in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but to cater to them post-iftar (fast-breaking meals) vaccination appointments were ensured.

He added that Turkey will start Phase 1 trials for its third vaccine candidate, Anadolu Agency reported.

Another Turkish vaccine candidate, the first to start human trials, will soon complete Phase 2 trials, the health minister said, adding that its final trial will begin in May.

A locally-made vaccine means "domestic power and trust," he said.

According to the official figures, Turkey has so far administered over 20.78 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country.
Friday, April 23, 2021

James DiEugenio writing in Probe Magazine of May-June, 1997 writes:

"In a Wackenhut interview with Carlos Bringuier (5/9/67), Bringuier stated that Shaw's friend Alberto Fowler revealed that Garrison had "something big" and that "high persons" were involved in the assassination conspiracy. Fowler said Shaw felt confident because he knew that these "high persons" would have to defend him." [emphasis in original]

DiEugenio also wrote in the same issue:

"In the same Wackenhut report quoted above, it is revealed that Gordon Novel was a CIA agent and that Shaw was in the "Intelligence Services" of the armed forces."

Let's have a closer look.

Just who was Alberto Fowler? He was born in New Orleans and had worked in Cuba for his family in the 1950s. Fowler was a participant in the Bay of Pigs invasion and was captured by Cuban troops. He was freed in a prisoner exchange for food and medicine a year and a half later. Fowler became Director of International Relations for the City of New Orleans in 1965, and he knew Shaw through their respective work on international affairs.

DiEugenio doesn't mention Fowler's association with Jim Garrison and his JFK assassination investigation. Fowler was a major source for Garrison on the Cuban community in New Orleans, and helped him in Miami.

On January 7, 1967 Jim Garrison issued a memo to his staff regarding investigative assignments. Here is the paragraph for Alberto Fowler:

Fowler also wrote several memos to Garrison. Here is one, for example:

Here is another example.

And, Rosemary James included Fowler in her cast of characters of the Garrison affair in the April 8, 1967 edition of the New Orleans States-Item.

DiEugenio referenced the Wackenhut interview with Carlos Bringuier. Here is the entire memo:

Now, the way I read this document is that Alberto Fowler is just repeating back to Bringuier information he has heard from Garrison. There is no indication, at all, that he had been speaking to Clay Shaw.

It's interesting that DiEugenio would not repeat the Fowler allegation that Gordon Novel was one of the assassins. Probably because he knew that that was insane.

The next day Fowler talked to a reporter from Newsweek:

Fowler had no hard information at all. And not a mention of Clay Shaw.

On June 1, 1967, Carlos Bringuier spoke to Aaron Kohn of the Metropolitan Crime Commission to discuss the Garrison investigation. Here is an excerpt:

So, was Fowler trying to rationalize why Clay Shaw was so calm? The whole idea that Gordon Novel was a CIA agent because he went to Virginia (where the CIA is located) is pure Garrison. And, of course, Mark Lane did come to town. Here is an article from the New Orleans States-Item of April 8, 1967:

You can see more craziness from Garrison in this FBI memo from June 1967 :

Guess who used the above FBI report? None other than John Armstrong - in an essay for Pease and DiEugenio's anthology, The Assassinations. (see page 134). He quoted from a Lou Ivon memo about the heights of the Oswalds , as further proof that there was an Oswald double.

Here is what James DiEugenio said just this past week on the Education Forum:

Point three relates to Fowler. Fowler's reporting now "strongly indicates consciousness of guilt" on the part of Clay Shaw. Not one mention of Fowler's involvement with Garrison - clearly inferring all of this information was coming from Shaw.

Alberto Fowler died in 1987 at a very young age.
New Delhi April 23 : After waiting for hours, Max Hospitals group received oxygen supply for Max (Saket) hospital from INOX on Friday morning. "We have received emergency supplies at Max Saket and Max Smart which will last for another 2 hours," the hospital said.

However, in an official statement Max hospitals said, "Received oxygen supply would last for next 3 hours. We are still awaiting more supplies." An SOS was called for oxygen supplies saying the hospital is waiting for oxygen by INOX since late Thursday night (1 am). It said, over 700 patients are admitted in the hospital (Max -Saket) need immediate assistance of oxygen.

DCP South Delhi tweeted, "Oxygen carrying vehicle has reached Max Smart. Another vehicle is en route for Max East West. Senior Officers are monitoring the situation. Another vehicle is en route for Max East West. Senior Officers are monitoring the situation." With alarms of oxygen shortage in the national capital for the last three days, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has directed Delhi police to provide a green corridor for vehicles carrying oxygen for supplies in hospitals. Covid-19 management authority of Delhi (DDMA) has also appointed two senior IAS officers to ensure smooth oxygen supply to all hospitals in the national capital.

There has been a flood of complaints regarding shortage of oxygen from several government and private hospitals. For the last three days, one after another hospital raised an alarm regarding oxygen shortage, especially during the late night.

Most of the hospitals received oxygen supply late at night.




Haiti - NOTICE : Call for applications for scholarships and memoirs (2020-2021)





This call aims to allow Haitian students (of both sexes) of the 1st cycle, from higher education institutions that are members of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and interested in the field of human rights, to benefit from local scholarships for university studies and memoirs.



The objectives are to contribute to the dynamism of university research and to promote human rights as a research theme.



The call for applications is aimed at students working on the issue of human rights or wishing to explore this topic in depth in their research work. By human rights, we mean: individual freedoms, fundamental rights, collective rights, rights specific to minorities or vulnerable groups such as women, detainees, minors.



The disciplines concerned are Law, Human Sciences (history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology), psychology, social work and any other relevant field.



This call is open for applications from May 14, 2021.



Requirements and eligibility criteria : https://fokal.org/index.php/educationcitoyenne-appel-21



Online registration form : https://fokal.org/index.php/educationcitoyenne-appel-21



Registration deadline May 14, 2021 :



Participants will receive a response, whether positive or negative, by May 24, 2021.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. For the world to ensure that the past atrocities do not happen again, we have to be clear about what they are. Israel needs to recognize the Armenian Genocide, according to the editorial in The Jerusalem Post.

The JPOST Editorial says in Israel, though, despite being a country created just after the Holocaust, you wont hear much about the Armenian Genocide. That is because the Jewish state  the home to the people who saw six million of their own exterminated by the Nazis  still does not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. It is time for this to change, the Jerusalem Post writes.

The editorial writes that there are already positive signals that this year US President Joe Biden will formally recognize the Armenian Genocide, although, it adds, this move will infuriate Turkey and further strain already frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

The JPOST Editorial reminded that in 2018 Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg proposed a bill to recognize the massacre as genocide, but the bill was canceled due to government resistance. A year later, a number of high-profile members of Knesset like Yair Lapid and Gideon Saar voiced support for the move, but again it did not proceed due to little government support.

Traditionally, the explanations for Israels failure to move on this have ranged from a need to leave a door open to better ties with Turkey to a clear government agenda that prefers Azerbaijan over Armenia. This was made clear this past fall, when Israel supplied weapons to Azerbaijan as it fought the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh.

One, though, does not have to come at the expense of the other. Yes, Israel has geopolitical considerations and those cannot be ignored, but it also has a moral imperative that it cannot simply brush off. As a people who have experienced genocide and persecution since its founding, the Jews have a responsibility to stand with other nations who go through similar atrocities, according to the JPOST Editorial.

In the end the Editorial says the first step in ensuring never again is recognizing history as it was and making clear that what happened to the Armenians was in fact a genocide.

There is no reason to fear Erdogan, who behaves like an antisemitic bully in the Middle East.

Israel needs to recognize the Armenian Genocide. It is a simple bill. It is time the Knesset pass it, the JPOST Editorial said.
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Super students

Local residents were among University of Scranton students inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, the international honor society in history.

Students inducted include: Peter Burke of Scranton, a senior history, philosophy, theology major; Samuel Marranca of Pittston, a junior history major; Conor ODonnell of Scranton, a junior history major; Abigail Pietrowski of Clarks Summit, a junior political science and history major; and Alana Siock of Jefferson Twp., a senior French and international studies major.

For induction into the honor society, students must have completed 12 credits in history, have a grade point average of 3.33 or higher in history, and rank in the top 35% of their overall class, according to the university, whose chapter of the honor society was established in 1967. ...

... Local residents were also among University of Scranton students inducted into Alpha Epsilon Alpha, the honor society for communication students.

Students inducted include: Kelsey Wynn of South Abington Twp., a senior journalism and electronic media major; Rebeca Chieffallo of Olyphant, a senior journalism and electronic media major; and Joshua Rudolph of Peckville, a senior journalism and electronic media major.

For induction into the honor society, students must excel in their general studies and especially in the field of communication, and have a grade point average of at least 3.5 or higher, according to the university. ...

... Local students were also recently initiated into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nations oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

They include David Asante Ansong Sr. of Nanticoke, a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania; and Sarah Tofilska of Moscow, a student at Purdue University.

The students now join around 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10% of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi recognizes excellence in all academic disciplines.
A Chicago ordinance specifies that if a landlord fails to make requested repairs within 14 days the tenant may withhold an amount of rent that reasonably reflects the reduced value of the unit. Rent withholding begins from the 15th day until repairs are made. If the landlord fails to make repairs, the tenant may have the repairs made and deduct up to $500 or half of the months rent, whichever is more, but cant exceed one months rent.
Houston-based Vivaldi Music Academy has opened its fourth location in Sugar Land Town Square.

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The academy began in 2013 and is now one of the nations largest music schools, a news release stated. It offers private lessons and classes to students of all ages and skill levels, taught by accomplished musicians, recitalists and composers.

The school is led by renowned violinist Zeljko Pavlovic, a regular performer with the Houston Symphony. Its other locations are in West University, Bellaire and Memorial.

The Sugar Land location launched earlier this year in a 2,500 square-foot space at 2115 Lone Star Drive. It replaced Sessions Music and is one of several recent additions to Sugar Land Town Square, including PNC Bank, State Fare, Mattison Avenue Salon Suites & Spa and Sweet Paris Creperie & Cafe.

We are excited to bring our world-class faculty and performance opportunities to the Sugar Land community, said Pavlovic, in the release.

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Private music lessons are available for ages 4 years and up in cello, drum, flute, clarinet, guitar, piano (using Steinway uprights), viola, violin and voice. Students can also benefit from early childhood music classes, group guitar and childrens choir.

Some Vivaldi students have performed at distinguished concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Pavlovic was born in Bosnia and comes from 200 years of musical talent in his family, the release stated. He studied at Royal Conservatoire of Liege in Belgium and has performed as a recitalist all around Europe and the United States. He started the school after experiencing challenges as he searched for appropriate instruction for his own children.

A driving force behind the academy is to help other parents feel confident in their choice of music education for their children, the release stated.

On HoustonChronicle.com: As show must go on, RodeoHouston calf scramble comes to Katy

To find out more about Vivaldi Music Academy Sugar Land, visit www.vivaldimusicacademy.com, call 346-330-2646, or email sugarland@vivaldimusicacademy.com.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
Page Content

Just about a year ago, in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic activity in many sectors went from red hot to nearly frozen, seemingly overnight. The hospitality industry was particularly hard hit, as business and leisure travel evaporated. Many businesses were forced to lay off workers, and California's unemployment soared.

Now that the shelter-in-place orders have mostly been lifted, customers are returning, and businesses are hiring, or rehiring previously laid-off workers. Up until the time of the pandemic, any business in California that was recalling employees from a layoff had complete flexibility to pick and choose which employees to bring back, the order in which workers would be recalled, and even the flexibility to decide not to recall particular workers, based on their prior job performance.

That all changed last summer, as several California cities adopted "right-to-recall" ordinances. The ordinances eliminate the discretion of a business to decide which employees to recall from a layoff, or not to recall any prior workers at all. Instead, they give to workers the right to be recalled in order of seniority. Generally, the most senior qualified employee has a right to be recalled first to their former job.

Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco led the way, but eventually the trend was picked up by other cities in the Golden State, including Carlsbad, Oakland, Pasadena and Sacramento.

Other cities outside of California have also adopted such laws, including Baltimore, Minneapolis and Philadelphia.

In the summer of 2020, a bill was introduced in the California Legislature that would have applied the right of recall to specified industries on a statewide basis. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed that bill (AB 3216). Validating the principle that "no idea ever goes away in government," the concept has been floated again this year in California, in the form of SB 93, which now has been signed into law.

SB 93 was couched as a budget bill, meaning that it bypassed early policy committee hearings and proceed directly to the floor of each chamber. California businesses must prepare now to comply with the new obligations imposed by SB 93.

Covered Employers and Employees

The law does not apply to all California employers. Rather, it applies generally to hotels, private clubs, event centers, airport hospitality operations, and airport service providers, while also applying specifically to janitorial, building maintenance and security services provided to office, retail and other commercial buildings.

The law affords rights to "laid-off employees" of such businesses. "Laid-off employees" are defined as those who were employed by the employer for 6 months or more in the 12 months preceding Jan. 1, 2020, and whose most recent separation from active service was due to a reason related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If a covered employer is going to hire a worker, it must first offer the position to its laid-off employees who are "qualified" for the position. A laid-off employee is qualified for a position if the employee held the same or similar position at the business at the time of the employee's most recent layoff from the employer. Laid-off employees must be offered the position in order of seniority with the employer.

Rights of Recall

Laid-off employees must be given at least five business days to accept or decline the offer. Simultaneous, conditional offers of employment may be made to more than one laid-off employee, with the final determination of which laid-off employee gets the position determined, again, by seniority.

Under SB 93, the obligations to recall laid-off employees survive various types of changes in business structure and operations. For example, say a covered business lays off employees due to COVID-19. The business is then sold. The new owner has an obligation to recall the employees of the former owner. The obligations also remain in effect if an employer relocates its operations to a different location in California.

The bill also contains anti-retaliation provisions and record-keeping requirements; detailed records relating to offers of recall must be kept for three years.

Enforcement and Remedies

On its surface, the bill does not create a private right of action. Rather, enforcement is limited to claims brought by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Remedies for violation include reinstatement and back pay and benefits, and injunctive relief. Civil penalties may also be imposed: $100 for each employee whose rights are violated, plus an additional $500, per employee, for each day the rights of an employee are violated.

Now, recall that several cities in California have already adopted right-to-recall ordinances. SB 93 does not pre-empt those laws. Rather, the bill specifically states that any local government agency can adopt its own ordinances that create greater employee rights or additional enforcement provisions.

The law also contains a collective bargaining agreement waiver provisionany such waiver of statutory recall rights must be explicitly set forth in that agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.

Notably, SB 93 does not contain a provision found in both the Los Angeles and Long Beach ordinances: the "right to cure." Before bringing a lawsuit to enforce rights under either ordinance, a worker must provide written notice to the employer of the alleged violations and a statement of facts to support the claimed violation. The employer then has 15 days from receipt of that notice to cure any alleged violation. If no such cure is implemented, then and only then may a lawsuit proceed.

Many in the business community applauded these cure provisions, noting that workers and businesses do not want or need lengthy courthouse battles, and that the vast majority of business owners just want to comply with their legal duties and obligations. The right to cure provisions in these local ordinances were touted as a win-win for both sides. The right to cure is not a part of the framework of SB 93.

What's Next?

These new obligations became effective immediately. Covered employers therefore should take stock of their current situations and evaluate their options for compliance.

Perhaps in a nod to the hope that COVID-19 pandemic will not be with us indefinitely, the bill has a sunset date: Dec. 31, 2024.

Bruce J. Sarchet is an attorney with Littler Mendelson in Sacramento, Calif. Michael J. Lotito is an attorney with Littler Mendelson in San Francisco.  2021 Littler Mendelson. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.
The Australian parent company of bust lender Greensill Capital will be liquidated after no buyers came to the rescue.

The firm, which collapsed into administration last month, will be wound up following a vote by creditors.

Greensill, which was advised by former prime minister David Cameron, fell apart owing around 3billion to lenders including Credit Suisse and Softbank.

No takers: Greensill Capital, which collapsed into administration last month, will now be wound up following a vote by creditors

Administrator Grant Thornton said that creditors had voted by 23 to 0, with a few abstentions, in favour of the wind-up.

The firm was founded by Australian banker Lex Greensill, and had a major presence in the UK where it funded the industrials empire of steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta.

Its collapse has dragged in a number of political figures, including Cameron and former civil servant Bill Crothers, who are facing questions about what access they gave Greensill to senior Government ministers.

Grant Thornton said liquidators would try to identify and sell parts of Greensill which were worth any money.

A previous rescue deal with private equity firm Apollo Global earlier this year collapsed.

Grant Thornton will be conducting a more thorough review of Greensills finances, and a probe of its executives.

The liquidation came as prosecutors raided Greensill bankers homes in Germany, where the lender also has a substantial business.




American health officials said Friday that the United States is re-starting the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.

The decision came after a committee of health advisors told the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, that the vaccines benefits outweigh the serious but rare risk of blood system blockages, or blood clots. They also recommended that the shots come with a warning for that risk.

The CDC had called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson, or J & J, vaccine, on April 13. That move came after six people had developed rare blood clots within three weeks after vaccination. Health officials said Friday they found nine more cases, bringing the total to 15. All of them were women, most of them under 50.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved the J & J vaccine for emergency use in late February. So far, about eight million shots have been given, most with few or no side effects.

Health officials said anyone who has pain in their head, legs, in the middle part of their body or trouble breathing after receiving the J & J shot should contact their doctor. They also warned that a usual treatment for blood clots, the drug heparin, might be dangerous. They advised that healthcare workers should use different treatments for side effects from the vaccine.

On Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, also warned of a possible link to very rare cases of unusual blood clots. The European health agency permitted the use of the vaccine with a warning about the rare blood clots.

Shortly after the EMAs decision, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would start sending the vaccines to European countries with added guidance for healthcare workers and patients.



Similar to AstraZeneca cases

The health agencies also noted the similarity of reports of blood clots among people receiving the J & J vaccine and the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

The AstraZeneca and J & J shots are not exact copies. But they are made with the same viral vector technology. Both use modified, harmless cold virus material as a vector, or carrier. The shot gives instructions to the human body to develop proteins to fight the coronavirus.

Viral vector vaccines can be produced quickly and in large numbers. They have been in use since the 1970s to develop vaccines against Ebola, Zika and influenza. They do not require extreme cold storage, making them easier to use in areas with limited resources.

The shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology. They are more costly to make and require extreme cold storage.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for emergency use in over 100 countries including Britain and the European Union, but not in the U.S. Two other vaccines, Sputnik V from Russias Gamaleya Research Institute and Chinas shot from CanSino Biologics use viral vector technology. They are also widely available around the world.

The reports of blood clots were a second incident of bad news for Johnson & Johnson. In late March, millions of shots had to be thrown out after a manufacturing mistake was found at a factory in Baltimore, Maryland. Johnson & Johnson then took over the production in hopes of meeting its commitment to provide the United States with about 100 million shots by the end of May.

In the U.S. more than 200 million people have received at least one vaccine injection. The country has enough supplies of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for the rest of the population.

However, an American decision on the J & J and AstraZeneca vaccines could affect world decisions about their use. And there are increasing calls for the U.S. to share its surplus vaccine supply with the rest of the world.

Im Mario Ritter, Jr.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

_________________________________________________

Words in This Story

benefit n. a good or helpful result or effect

pause n. a temporary stop : a period of time in which something is stopped before it is started again

blood clot n. a thick and sticky clump of dried blood that stops blood from flowing through a blood vessel

storage n. space where you put things when they are not being used
Three Brooklyn men were arrested and accused of stealing more than $30 million in cash and other valuables from safe deposit boxes in banks across Europe, federal authorities said.

A grand jury indictment charged Val Cooper, 56, Alex Levin, 52, and Garri Smith, 49, with money laundering conspiracy and violations of the Travel Act after a string of alleged thefts between March 2015 and October 2019 at banks in Ukraine, Russia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and France.

The men "targeted foreign banks that appeared to lack certain security features, including video surveillance cameras in certain areas," according to the indictment.

They opened accounts in those branches to get into safe deposit box rooms where they "used sophisticated camera equipment, including borescope, to photograph the insides of the locks of the other individuals' safe deposit boxes," the court document said.

That allowed Smith to enter the safe deposit box rooms, use "the duplicate keys to open" boxes and steal "their contents, including currency, gold bars, jewelry and other property," according to the indictment.

The crimes we allege in this indictment read like something straight out of Hollywood fiction, FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney Jr. said in a statement. The thieves used sophisticated tools to thwart security systems at foreign banks and tried to cover their tracks by laundering money through U.S. banks."

Cooper was arrested Tuesday and was set for a bail hearing on Friday, according to his attorney Tony Mirvis.

"There's more to this case than the government has presented," Mirvis told NBC News. "As the case proceeds, we expect his innocence to become clear."

Levin allegedly funded the operation and "purchased sophisticated camera equipment used in the thefts," according to the indictment.

Levin's attorneys conceded their client might have bought some of equipment, as alleged by the government, but said it doesn't make him a criminal. Levin was arrested Tuesday and released after posting $500,000 bond, his defense team said.

Levins actions of obtaining the items, however, without the knowledge of what the items were going to be used for, is not a crime," according to a statement by the man's defense attorney, Nicholas Dayan.

Smith was ordered held without bail following his arrest Tuesday, according to defense attorney Jeremy M. Iandolo, who declined further comment.
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Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin talks to his executives during a company meeting at his office in Seoul on Jan. 14. Courtesy of Lotte Group





By Kim Jae-heun







Lotte Group is expected to decide soon whether to take over eBay Korea to beef up its sluggish e-commerce operations. Expectations are rising, with Chairman Shin Dong-bin returning to work after a quarantine period in Seoul, following his trip to Japan two weeks ago.







There are only two months left until the online retail platform selects its preferred bidders. The bid price offered by Lotte is expected to show just how much Shin wants eBay Korea, according to industry watchers.







"Chairman Shin has been receiving business reports starting this week, and he is discussing various items on the agenda, including the acquisition of eBay Korea. We have different opinions on the case internally, and we will have to see what the outcome turns out to be," a Lotte Group official said.







The consensus view within Lotte Group is that the acquisition of eBay Korea is the best option to improve the food and retail conglomerate's lackluster online shopping business.







Its combined online shopping platform, Lotte ON, has a gross merchandise value (GMV) of 7 trillion won, which is too small to compete against the top two players, Coupang and Naver, whose GMV stands at around 24 trillion won.







The problems are the price Lotte will have to pay to acquire eBay Korea, as well as the uncertainty of the latter's synergy with Lotte ON.







Lotte has already spent over a trillion won to launch Lotte ON. Also, eBay Korea's price is estimated at between 5 to 6 trillion won.







Others question the effectiveness of acquiring eBay Korea in helping Lotte ON rise to the top position in the domestic e-commerce market.







Shin will be flying back to Japan to participate in the general meeting of the shareholders of Lotte Holdings at the end of June. This schedule means that the chairman has a month and half to review whether to acquire eBay Korea.


A Bangladeshi child sits on part of a house washed away due to erosion on the banks of the Padma River in Shariatpur, some 25 miles south of Dhaka, Sept. 13, 2018.

At an international summit this week, climate vulnerable Bangladesh and archipelago nations the Philippines and Indonesia urged developed economies to make good on a 2009 pledge of U.S. $100 billion a year to support climate action in emerging nations.

Wealthy nations must also take concrete actions to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions, said Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines at the Leaders Summit on Climate, convened by the United States.

Manila cannot reach its current goal of a 75-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 without external help, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said on Friday, the second day of the 2-day virtual summit.

Of the Philippines 75 percent target, 72.29 percent is conditional, or contingent, upon the support of climate finance, technologies and capacity development, which shall be provided by developed countries, as prescribed by the Paris Agreement, said Dominguez, who is also chairman-designate of the Philippine Climate Change Commission.

We look forward to seeing these commitments materialize.

He was referring to a 2015 agreement on climate change, a legally binding international treaty adopted by 196 countries, including the United States. President Joe Biden brought Washington back under the agreement, after his predecessor had pulled the U.S. out.

The Philippines is located along the typhoon belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire, making it highly vulnerable to various natural disasters such as storms, floods and earthquakes, Dominguez said.

He added that although the Philippines accounts for only 0.3 percent of the worlds carbon emissions, it wants to become a world leader in drastically reducing greenhouse gases, because it is extremely vulnerable to the devastating effects of the climate crisis.

Similarly, despite resource constraints, Bangladesh spends about $5 billion, or about 2.5 percent of its GDP, on adaptation to climate change and resilience-building measures, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said.

Climate change is a critical issue for Bangladesh because of its exposure to extreme weather-related phenomena. Moreover, rising sea levels threaten low-lying areas along Bangladeshs coastline, where millions of people live.

Major economies, international financial institutions and private sectors should come forward for concessional climate financing as well as innovation, Hasina said on Thursday in a virtual speech at the summit.

Focus is needed on green economy and carbon neutral technologies with provision of technology transfer among nations, said Hasina, the current chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a partnership of 48 countries considered the most threatened by climate change.

Ensuring the annual target of 100 billion U.S. dollars is imperative, she said.

Erosion of trust

Official data on how much money flowed into the fund in 2020 is not yet available, but it appears that developed countries did not reach the $100 billion target, said a report in December by a group of climate finance experts.

If confirmed, the shortfall would erode trust between the developing and developed world.

[D]elivering on this commitment is an important symbol of trust.  2021 will, thus, be a critical year  to sustain trust between developed and developing countries, said the report, titled Delivering on the $100 billion Climate Finance Commitment and Transforming Climate Finance, and commissioned by the United Nations Secretary General.

There is a need for a significant ramping up of climate finance from here on in, and it will have to be mobilized from all sources.

Bangladesh is optimistic about the goal of $100 billion a year in climate finance, now that Washington is back in the Paris Agreement, Foreign Minister A. K. Abdul Momen told journalists at an online press briefing on Friday.

We are hopeful about finalizing the financing proposal because of demonstrated strong political commitment from the U.S., Momen said.

Bidens announcement on Thursday of a new, more ambitious goal for slashing greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade shows his commitment, said Ainun Nishat, a Bangladeshi environmentalist.

Biden said the U.S. would aim to cut emissions 50-52 percent below levels it recorded in 2005, by 2030, roughly doubling cuts the country had earlier pledged to enact by 2025.

China is the worlds largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the United States. In 2018, China produced 28 percent of total CO2 emissions, and the United States was responsible for 15 percent, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The U.S. position on new emission restrictions is largely helpful to Bangladesh, Nishat told BenarNews.

Indonesias forest fires  and haze

For his part, Indonesias President Joko Jokowi Widodo said that addressing climate change was in the national interest, as his country is home to huge tropical forests and peatlands.

But for decades, companies and farmers have been clearing land by burning their vegetation, so they can set up lucrative palm oil and paper and pulp plantations. The fires often spread to protected forestlands. And the resulting giant blazes emit greenhouse gases and cause a heavy haze that crosses national boundaries and engulfs other Southeast Asian countries.

Forest management and the restoration of peatlands to their original condition would help reduce fires, and therefore, greenhouse gas emissions, USAID, a U.S. development and humanitarian organization has said.

In addition, Indonesia is abundant in coal, so the government relies on it for most of its energy requirements. But the country needs to take a serious look at renewable energy sources to reduce its emissions under the Paris Agreement, global experts say.

Land management and energy conversion projects cost a lot of money, but Jokowi said Indonesia was serious about tackling these issues.

However, the developed world must first take concrete action to lead by example by reducing its use of resources, he said.

We welcome several countries target to achieve net zero emission by 2050. However, to ensure credibility such commitment should be implemented based on the 2030 NDC commitments, he said, referring to nationally determined contributions to reduce emissions.

Developing countries will implement similar ambitions if developed countries commitments are credibly accompanied by concrete support. The fulfillment of commitments and support by developed countries are indeed a necessity.

Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka, Ahmad Syamsudin in Jakarta, Jason Gutierrez in Manila, and Shailaja Neelakantan in Washington contributed to this report.
On Tuesday, April 27, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host an online press conference on the position of Prometey company regarding the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) decision and the imposition of sanctions against Prometey Swiss SA entitled "Without trial, investigation - shooting: NSDC's 'smuggling' lists - how to get clarifications from authorities" with the participation of Chief Legal Officer of Prometey Group Roman Antonian, finance director of the group of companies Prometey Serhiy Denischych (8/5a Reitarska Street). The press conference will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine.

During the period the restrictive measures introduced in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in Kyiv are in effect, the presence of media representatives is not allowed in the press center of the agency, only speakers are present in the hall. You can ask a question to the speakers by e-mail: pr@prometey.org.ua. Details by phone: (050) 394 0750 (Anastasia Khmel).
105 Palestinians wounded in Jerusalem clashes, Red Crescent 20 officers struck, over 50 protesters detained, police

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, APRIL 23 - At least 105 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with police on Thursday night at the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem, the Red Crescent Movement reports. Police said that in the same incidents 20 of its officers were wounded by demonstrators. Over 50 protesters were arrested, police also said.



The clashes followed violence between Palestinians and far-right Israelis of the 'Lehava' group after the publication on social media of Palestinians attacking Jews in the area of the Gate. Yesterday media reports said that demonstrators chanted slogans saying 'death to Arabs'. (ANSAmed)
Approximately $7 billion is headed to the Permian Basin thanks to a new manufacturing venture announced by the Odessa Development Corp. and Nacero Inc.

Houston-based Nacero has chosen a 2,600-acre site at Penwell west of Odessa for the new facility that will manufacture lower-carbon gasoline from natural gas. The plant will be the first in the US to make gasoline from natural gas and the first in the world to do so with carbon capture and sequestration. Sequestered CO2 will be transported via an existing on-site pipeline.

Engineering and permitting work is already underway, and Nacero plans to start construction on the first phase of the facility by the end of this year. The first phase will produce 70,000 barrels per day of gasoline component  ready for blending  and is expected to start operations in 2025. The second phase, which will expand that capacity to 100,000 barrels per day, will come online two to three years later. The facility will also include a visitors center with interactive educational displays.

At the peak of construction, the facility will employ 3,500 skilled workers and when fully operational employ 350 full-time operators and maintenance personnel in three shifts with a forecast annual salary of approximately $85,000 per person.

The Odessa Development Corp. and Economic Development Corp. of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce led the negotiations that persuaded Nacero to choose Penwell for the facility.

We are always thrilled to see new development and economic growth in the Permian Basin and offer hearty congratulations to the Odessa Development Corp. for their role in bringing Nacero to the region, Sara Harris, director of operations for the Midland Development Corp., told the Reporter-Telegram by email.

The gasoline produced at the facility will contain no sulfur and have half the lifecycle carbon footprint of traditional gasoline. The gasoline will be made from a combination of natural gas, captured bio-methane and mitigated flare gas. All of the natural gas used in the process will be sourced from the Permian Basin.

The plans to manufacture lower-carbon gasoline drew praise from Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association and member of the Texas Methane & Flaring Coalition.

Harnessing the latest, industry-led innovations, todays oil and natural gas companies are developing and deploying cleaner, more efficient energy technologies to discover, produce, transport and refine oil and natural gas, he told the Reporter-Telegram by email.

Beyond utilizing natural gas, captured bio-methane and mitigated flare gas, the plant will shrink its environmental footprint by utilizing electricity from renewable sources. Much of the plants electricity will be produced on-site from solar panels co-located with the plant.

Ector County is the ideal location for us, said Nacero President and Chief Executive Officer Jay McKenna in a press release announcing the facility. From a geographic and logistics standpoint you cant beat it. We will be a major new market and beneficial home for the natural gas that is currently flared in the Permian Basin. Our zero-sulfur gasoline will reduce ground level ozone in cities across Texas and the Southwest, which is causing illness and limiting economic growth.

wIn that same press release, Odessa Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Director Wesley Burnett described Nacero as a perfect fit for Ector County. The regional economic impact of this single facility will be in the tens of billions of dollars. I thank my staff and all those who worked with them for their hard work in bringing this incredible opportunity here, stated Burnett.
ALBANY  The Sexual Harassment Working Group is calling on the Assembly Judiciary Committee relinquish the portion of its impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that relates to his alleged sexual harassment and to allow the attorney general's office to handle it alone.

The Judiciary Committee's probe is a first-step toward formal impeachment proceedings against the governor. The committee has employed the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell to conduct the investigation, and the hiring of that firm has drawn fire from some critics for the opacity of the decisionmaking and for some ties from Cuomo loyalists to the firm.

The working group letter says the group is "extremely concerned" over the selection of Davis Polk, and that "the Assembly has repeatedly proven itself uniquely unqualified to conduct sensitive, effective investigations into sexual harassment." The Sexual Harassment Working Group is an influential advocacy group in Albany formed by former legislative staffers who suffered sexual harassment, and they successfully lobbied for landmark new harassment laws in the 2019 session and continue to push for new policies.

In their letter, which will be sent to members of the Assembly, the group calls on the Judiciary Committee to step aside.

"Given the Assemblys demonstrably poor track record of investigating its own members for harassing their employees, it is difficult to see why it expects survivors outside of its organization to turn to it for aid, particularly when doing so undermines a truly independent investigation," the letter states. "We ask that you join us in calling on Assembly leadership to immediately stop interfering with the attorney generals investigation into sexual harassment and end its own duplicative and unwise investigation."

Several members of the working group have experienced internal Assembly investigations into allegations of sexual harassment, which they say has caused them to lose faith in that body's ability to investigate the governor.

Assemblyman Charles D. Lavine, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said during a meeting of the panel on Wednesday that their investigation is focused on four issues: whether Cuomo's administration misled the public or others about COVID-19 deaths tied to New York nursing homes; the administration's handling of a cover-up of potential structural deficiencies during the construction of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, and whether the governor sexually harassed women, including members of his staff. Lavine did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Multiple women significantly younger than Cuomo, 63, have come forward saying the governor asked them inappropriate questions about their sex lives at work or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable. The most searing allegation was made by a female aide who said the governor summoned her to the Executive Mansion to help him with his mobile phone and then groped her.

Cuomo called the groping allegations by that woman, who still works for his office, "gut-wrenching." He has denied that he ever touched women "inappropriately" or sexually harassed anyone, although he acknowledged that he has spoken to staff "playfully" in a way that may have been "misinterpreted."

The Assembly is not the only governmental body handling an inquiry into Cuomo. The FBI and U.S. attorney's office are investigating his nursing home policies and data reporting; an investigation by the office of state Attorney General Letitia James is examining Cuomo's alleged sexual harassment.

Last week, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wrote a letter to James requesting that her office also probe allegations that Cuomo may have had staff members assist him on government time with a book he authored last year about his administration's efforts in the early stages of the pandemic.

Attorneys with Davis Polk have recently contacted attorneys for the women who have leveled allegations of sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct against the governor. Many of those same women have also been interviewed by the attorneys appointed by James to conduct an investigation of the same allegations.

When you have two different bodies what happens is you have to put victims not only in front of one person, but then you also put them in front of another one," said Elias Farah, a member of the working group and a signatory of the letter. It continues to re-traumatize victims when you have them tell their story over and over."

Farah said the attorney general's office is more equipped to handle the sexual harassment investigation also also more politically insulated from the governor's office than the Assembly, where members could be reliant on the governor's political support or his office's approval of capital projects. Any appearance of political collusion could undermine faith in the Assembly investigation's ultimate results, Farah said.

You look at their track record and you also look at the fact that essentially the two offices are like colleagues, they work together all the time," Farah said. Its like Pablo Escobar building his own prison. It just doesnt make sense.
Is it fair or even patriotic to threaten states that do not conform to the Democratic Socialists' mandate to control the outcome of Free and Fair elections enacted by constitutionally guaranteed states' legislatures?

Yes, all elections must be federalized so that the whim of the majority political party can set the standard for all elections.

No, Our Founders purposefully decentralized elections by guaranteeing only states' legislatures the independent right to enact Free and Fair elections.
Wearing a face mask outdoors and then putting it into your pocket when you enter a bar is like wearing a helmet to go for a walk and taking it off when you get on a motorbike. Despite this, it is common to see this paradox in many countries such as Spain, where it is mandatory to wear a face mask outside, but there are exceptions for indoor spaces such as restaurants and offices. But a growing number of leading experts have begun to question these contradictory measures, including Marc Lipsitch, the head of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard University in the United States. I am generally a hawk about maintaining rules with a clear benefit. Outdoor masking has notable costs and really no evidence of benefits, he wrote on Monday in a message on Twitter.

There has been substantial data on the issue of coronavirus contagion for a year now. A study of 318 coronavirus outbreaks in China, carried out at the beginning of the pandemic, found that 317 took place in indoor spaces. Only one of the 318 outbreaks happened outdoors when a 27-year-old man presumably caught the coronavirus in a town talking outside to a person who had recently arrived from Wuhan, where the virus was first identified. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) only recommends that masks be worn in confined spaces, but can be considered in crowded outdoor settings. However, in Spain, face masks are mandatory even if a person is going for a walk by themselves in a park. Under the current rules, a mask must be worn in all public spaces, regardless of whether social distancing can be respected. On April 6, the Madrid Public Health Association (Amasap) called for an end to the absurd mandatory use of face masks in outdoor spaces.

The coronavirus is predominately spread through the air, via aerosols that build up like an invisible cloud when a person talks or coughs, according to new research published last week in the medical journal The Lancet. The authors of the study  led by doctor Trish Greenhalgh from Oxford University in the United Kingdom  say the way to prevent contagion is to: avoid being indoors with people from a different household, increase ventilation, use well-fitted masks in indoor spaces and reduce capacity.

It is only necessary to wear a mask outdoors when we are doing strenuous exercise, such as running if we pass very close to someone, for example, on a sidewalk, says Greenhalgh. For everything else, it is not necessary to wear a face mask outdoors, because the virus quickly dissipates in the air. But if I breathe in the air you have just exhaled, I am at risk.

Chemical engineer Martin Bazant, the creator of an interactive tool that calculates the risk of infection, says that the air transmission of the virus in enclosed spaces is the main cause of the spread of the pandemic. There is a peculiar dynamic to the coronavirus, in which some positive cases become superspreaders, while others do not even spread to the person they share a bed with every night. Bazant points out that all reported mass contagions have taken place indoors, such as the outbreak of 53 cases in a church choir in Mount Vernon, or the 23 people who were infected on a bus trip in Ningo, in China. In these enclosed and poorly ventilated spaces, wearing a face mask is crucial.

The likelihood of contagion outdoors is at least 20 times lower than indoors Open letter from Spanish health experts

Bazant, who works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explains that contagions outdoors have been extremely rare, even at the beginning of the pandemic, when nobody was wearing masks. The engineer explains that when outdoors, the air exhaled from the mouth tends to be warmer than the surroundings, meaning it quickly rises and is blown away by the air currents. A contagion could only be expected when people are very close to one another, a meter or less, and are speaking face to face, as happened in China in the only recorded case of transmission outdoors. And even then, the risk is much lower than in indoor spaces, says Bazant, who adds its time to stop using masks outdoors.

US health authorities ask that face masks be used when indoors and on public transportation, but say they may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household. The World Health Organization (WHO) only recommends that masks be used when a safe distance of one meter cannot be maintained.

For the past year, researcher Lidia Morawska has led the scientific movement that convinced the worlds main health authorities of the importance of air transmission in the spread of the coronavirus. Like other leading scientists, Morawska is also convinced that face masks are not always needed when outdoors. I have always said that outdoors, when one is moving and can maintain a reasonable distance, face masks are not necessary, she explains. For example, walking in the park, going for a run, riding a bicycle. However, we need masks outdoors if we are in a crowd or very close to other people.

People wearing face masks in the Catalan city of Cubelles. CRISTOBAL CASTRO

An international team of scientists published in January a review of the role of masks in the fight against the coronavirus. At the time, the authors suggested that the use of widespread face masks in public did reduce transmission of the virus. But the first author of the study, Jeremy Howard, a data scientist from San Francisco University, now says that normally it is not necessary to wear a mask outdoors, as long as there is a breeze and the person is walking or running.

Helene-Mari Van Der Westhuizen, one of the coauthors of the January study, also believes that face masks do not need to be worn on a walk where there are no crowds, but argues that there are still risks depending on the situation. If I am going to an outdoor market filled with people, if I am running past someone in a narrow street or if I am going for a walk with my grandmother who hasnt been vaccinated, then yes, clearly I would put on a mask, says the researcher from Oxford University, who calls on health authorities to introduce these nuances in their recommendations. Being outdoors is much safer than being indoors, but you have to continue to use the face mask if you cant maintain a safe distance or if you are going to be in contact with a person from a group that is at risk of developing a serious case of Covid, she says.

More than 100 Spanish experts signed an open letter on March 25 calling on authorities to reconsider the recommendations for prevention, given that the likelihood of contagion outdoors is at least 20 times lower than indoors. One of the scientists who signed the letter, chemist Jose Luis Jimenez, from the University of Colorado, explains that the letter avoided saying face masks were not necessary outdoors and with social distancing, because some public health experts feared the message could be misinterpreted as masks are never needed.

A spokesperson from the Spanish Health Ministry says that for now all security measures will continue to be maintained  including the mandatory use of face masks in public spaces, regardless of social distancing. One health expert argues it is better not to risk changing the rules until more of the population is vaccinated against Covid-19. In Israel, for example, the government announced this week that face masks no longer needed to be worn outdoors, but only after more than half the population was vaccinated. In Spain, 21% of the population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, but only 7.6% have received the two shots needed for full protection offered by the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech medication.

English version by Melissa Kitson.


Rights Issue Closes Oversubscribed

Brisbane, April 22, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Emerging lithium miner Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( FRA:DML ) ( OTCMKTS:DMNXF ) has received a vote of confidence in its expansion strategy from shareholders, with the A$20.4 million one for six renounceable rights issue as announced on 25 March 2021 closing oversubscribed.The Company is delighted with the level of support from shareholders for the issue, which was fully underwritten by Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited. Sayona's major shareholder, Piedmont Lithium, exercised its full entitlement under the offer.The Rights Issue offered 638,443,876 ordinary fully paid shares (New Shares) on the basis of one New Share for every six existing shares held by eligible shareholders on the record date at an issue price of 3.2 cents (A$0.032) per New Share.OVERSUBSCRIPTION & SHORTFALLSayona received a strong response from its shareholders, resulting in applications being received for 686,377,536 New Shares, representing gross proceeds of approximately A$$21,964,090. In accordance with the terms of the offer and the Underwriting Agreement with Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited, the Company has attended to New Share applications as outlined in Sections 1.4 of the Prospectus dated 25 March 2021 (Shortfall Facility).Refunds for the unallocated portion of applications for additional shares under the Shortfall Facility will be mailed to applicants in early May 2021.It is expected that the New Shares will be issued and allotted on Tuesday, 27 April 2021, with holding statements to be dispatched on Monday 29 April 2021.Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch thanked shareholders for their positive response to the capital raising."We are delighted by the support from our shareholders at this key phase in our evolution into a major lithium producer in North America, where the clean energy revolution continues to pick up speed."This funding will play a major role in facilitating the expansion of our flagship Authier Lithium Project and emerging Tansim Lithium Project, together with supporting our bid for North American Lithium, as we work to deliver increased value for shareholders and all other stakeholders."About Sayona Mining Ltd

Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:DMNXF) is an Australian, ASX-listed (SYA) company focused on sourcing and developing the raw materials required to construct lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing new and green technology sectors. The Company has lithium projects in Quebec, Canada and in Western Australia.

Please visit us as at www.sayonamining.com.au
A man receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a site in Chicago, Ill., on April 6, 2021. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

77 Iowa Prisoners Given Overdoses of COVID-19 Vaccine: Officials

Officials in Iowa said that 77 prisoners received overdoses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week, triggering an internal investigation into the matter.

They were given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against the virus, authorities with the states Department of Corrections said. None of the inmates became ill enough to be hospitalized.

Cord Overton, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Corrections, said in a statement that inmates at the Iowa State Penitentiary were given doses of the vaccine Tuesday that exceeded the recommended dosage.

At this time, the only side effects experienced by the inmates are those commonly associated with the Pfizer vaccine, he said. These include sore arm, body aches, and one inmate has experienced a low-grade fever which was treatable with Tylenol. No inmates have required hospitalization.

The inmates were notified of the overdose and are being monitored, Overton added. Two nurses who administered the vaccine and have since been placed on administrative leave.

The mother of one of the inmates who were given the dose, Kimberly Koehlhoeffer, told the Des Moines Register that doctors told her son that he and others received six times the recommended amount. Some suffered nausea and others suffered dehydration, she said.

According to Overton, about 200 inmates at Iowa State Penitentiary have received their first shot, and 48 inmates have received their second shot, reported KCRG.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Corrections and Pfizer for comment.

Pfizers vaccine, like Modernas, requires two shots, whereas the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single shot.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, otherwise known as the novel coronavirus.

Erik Maki, a Drake University pharmacy professor, told the Register that the Pfizer vaccine is more difficult to handle than the Moderna vaccine. Maki said the Pfizer shot is packaged as a concentrate that first needs to be diluted with a saline solution first, whereas Moderna comes premixed.

In North Carolina, employees at a Walgreens mistakenly injected patients with saline instead of a CCP virus vaccine in what was described as a mix-up.

We are investigating what happened and have taken immediate steps to review our procedures with the location to prevent this from occurring again, Walgreens said in a statement earlier this month to local media over the weekend. It will not affect recipients second dose, the company added.

One patient, Lisa Strawn, told WCCB in Charlotte that she was told a pharmacist accidentally didnt mix the vaccine, meaning saline was administered instead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
April 23 : Ever since filmmaker Karan Johar and his production house Dharma Productions dropped the news that Kartik Aaryan will be replaced in the forthcoming film Dostana 2, and a recasting will take place soon, the actor was on a low key mode on social media. Today he dropped a black and white picture of himself and won the hearts of his fans once again.

Taking to his Instagram handle after a week, Kartik shared a picture of himself with no caption but a powerful messagereminding fans to wear masks for protection amid the massive spike of COVID-19 cased in the second wave of the pandemic in India.

In the black and white picture, the Pati Patni Aur Woh actor can be seen sporting long hair and wearing a black jacket and a black mask. The post has been loved by his fans, who dropped heart and fire emojis and made it viral with more that 6 lakh likes.

Fans appeared to be happy seeing Kartiks post after a week. Finally you posted, a fan commented. Itne time baad post kiya yaar (you posted after so long) I was so tensed, another wrote. Yet another wrote, @kartikaaryan we missed you so much. Another fan wrote, koki omg I was literally just thinking about and wondering how you are doing and everything and you posted omg Im so happy. Many complimented him on his long hair look as well.

Recently, Dharma Productions officially announced that Kartik Aaryan will be replaced in Dostana 2. While Kartiks fans flooded social media with their reactions against the move and supported the actor, Kangana Ranaut also came out strongly against Karan Johar and supported Kartik.

Directed by Collin D'Cunha and backed by Karan Johar, the film starred Kartik Aaryan, Janhvi Kapoor, and Lakshya. In 2019, Karan announced the star cast, and after several delays, about 20 days shooting was completed. Reports suggested that Kartik developed creative difference with the makers of the film over the script. Reports also suggest that Dharma Production is now considering a few names like Rajkummar Rao and Vicky Kaushal as options to replace Kartik in Dostana 2.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 14:31:03|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Health department in the Australian state of Victoria is conducting an investigation on a locally-acquired case who is believed to link to a case in a quarantine hotel in another state.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed on Friday that the man had a positive test result when he returned to the state after completing 14 days' quarantine at a hotel in Western Australia's (WA) capital of Perth. The case also ended Victoria's eight weeks of zero local transmission.

The Mercury hotel, where the man lived, was involved in an investigation being conducted by WA health department. Two returned overseas travelers were believed to contract the variant strain detected in Britain during their stay in the hotel.

Foley said the Victorian man was picked up from the Melbourne airport by his spouse and went straight home and it was believed that he only contacted his family members in Melbourne.

"This is an important and timely reminder to all of us that this global pandemic is not over," Foley said.

At the same time, the neighboring state of New South Wales (NSW) was on alert as 15 wharf workers exposed to the COVID-19 risks after boarding on a tanker which traveled from Port Moresby of Papua New Guinea and docked at Port Botany in Sydney for 24 hours en route to Vanuatu.

Twelve out of 13 crew members of the tanker, including a deceased one were tested positive.

NSW health department conducted tests on all wharf workers despite they wearing protective gear while boarding. 11 out of 15 were tested negative and the remaining four were still waiting for results.

"Further investigations are also ongoing as to whether an additional three workers also boarded the ship," the health department said. Enditem
The COVID-19 travel restrictions set in place to ban non-essential travel between the United States and Mexico were not enough to stop a grandfather from celebrating his grandson's birthday.

A viral video has captured the heartwarming moment Isidro Gonzales stood on the Rio Grande shore in Eagle Pass, Texas, and sang happy birthday to Santiago, who had just turned four.

'Raise you hand Santiago! How are you doing son?' Gonzales shouted at the boy in Spanish.

'I'm here,' Santiago replied while raising his small arms in the air from Coahuila, Mexico, riverbank of the Rio Grande.

Isidro Gonzales recently set up his piano and loud speakers on the shore of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, so that he could sing 'Las Mananitas,' a traditional Mexican birthday song for his grandson Santiago, who stood and watched from Coahuila, Mexico

Santiago stands on the shore of the Rio Grande in Coahuila, Mexico, and waves at his grandfather, who put on a mini concert celebrating the child's fourth birthday and singing 'Las Mananitas,' a traditional Mexican birthday song

Santiago celebrated his fourth birthday in Coahuila, Mexico, while his grandfather stood on the shore of the Rio Grande in Texas and sang happy birthday to him

Gonzales could be heard screaming at Santiago, 'I love you,' and telling him in Spanish, 'I love you a lot.'

Moments later, the proud grandfather stood behind his piano and sang a rendition of Las Mananitas,' the traditional Mexican birthday song.

Gonzales method of celebrating Santiago's birthday is just one of the many different ways that families have celebrated milestones during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mexico and the United States agreed this week to continue to prohibit non-essential crossings over the southwestern border until May 21.

Mexico's foreign ministry added that the government and its U.S. counterparts are in talks to ease travel restrictions at their shared frontier based on COVID-19 rates in each country.

Despite the shutdown at the land border, air travel between the two countries is permitted.
The mother of a 16-year-old girl who was shot and killed by police in Ohio during an apparent knife fight has compared herself to Breonna Taylor's mother, saying: 'Now I know what it is like to lose a child.'

Paula Bryant's daughter Ma'Khia died on Tuesday in Columbus, after police were called to a chaotic scene at a house. The teenager, who had been in foster care, charged at two people with a knife before she was shot and killed by a police officer.

Bryant, asked by CNN's Chris Cuomo what his daughter would want, replied: 'The killing must stop'.

It's not clear why her daughter had been in foster care, and it wasn't addressed in the interview.

She described her daughter as 'peaceful and loving'.

'I've always had sympathy for the Breonna Taylor story, and the family and her friends and her situation - and now I know what it feels like to lose a child,' she said.

Paula Bryant on Thursday night spoke to CNN in a face mask bearing her daughter's name

Paula Bryant, whose daughter Ma'Khia was killed on Tuesday, pleaded for an end to bloodshed

The killing needs to stop. There's been too many killingsI want the killing to stop, says Paula Bryant, mother of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant, shot and killed by police.



"That's what MaKhia would want. MaKhia was peaceful and loving. She wanted everyone to get along." pic.twitter.com/DdAMwuckSJ  Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 23, 2021

Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville police in March 2020

Ma'Khia Bryant (left) with her mother Paula, in a Facebook photo posted by Paula

Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, was fatally shot in her own home in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 13, 2020, when police stormed in during the night.

Bryant added: 'I'm a single mother of five kids and, you know, now Ma'Khia is gone and I only have four kids.'

Fighting back tears, she added: 'That is so hard for me to say.'

Bryant's daughter was in foster care, but she hoped to be reunited with her soon. The last time she saw her was on Thursday, when the teenager told her mother she had made honor roll at school.

She said: 'I was at the dentist's office in Columbus, Ohio. I said hello, and I got the disturbing news that Ma'Khia was shot.

'I said - what? The dentist's assistant helped me off the chair.

'My heart was beating fast, and I didn't know what to think.

'No parent should have to go through this. This is so unreal. I'm devastated.'

She added: 'She was peaceful, she was loving, she wanted everybody to get along.

'She was a Christian.'

She said she wanted to remember the good things about her daughter.

Bryant told Cuomo that she had watched the video of her daughter's killing, and called for an end to the loss of life.

Columbus police released bodycam footage showing Ma'Khia with a knife (circled)

A woman writes Ma'Khia's name in chalk in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday

'The killing needs to stop. There's been too many killings in the world. I want the killing to stop,' she said.

'Ma'Khia is gone. And I want the killing in the world to stop, and that's what Ma'Khia would want.'

She said: 'Ma'Khia is in God's hands. I have faith in God.'

Her daughter was named after a male prophet in the Bible.

Officials with the Columbus Division of Police had released initial footage of the shooting Tuesday night just hours after it happened, which was a departure from protocol as the force faces immense scrutiny from the public following a series of recent high-profile police killings that have led to clashes.

'The fact that I see what I saw on that video is not how I know my Ma'Khia,' said her grandmother, Debra Wilcox.

She told The Associated Press on Wednesday: 'I don't know what happened there unless she was fearful for her life.'

Paula Bryant has said she wants answers in her daughter's killing

The incident has caused an outcry in the community and nationwide as Bryant's killing is the second high-profile fatal shooting of a teenager by police in the last month. Body camera footage released last week showed an officer shoot and kill 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago.

'It's a tragedy. There's no other way to say it. It's a 16-year-old. I'm a father,' said Michael Woods, interim Columbus Police Chief.

'Her family is grieving. Regardless of the circumstances associated with this, a 16-year-old lost her life yesterday.'

He added: 'I sure as hell wish it wouldn't have happened.'

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the Columbus shooting 'tragic' and said President Joe Biden has been briefed on it.

'She was a child. We're thinking of her friends and family and the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss,' Psaki said in a statement.

Protesters in Columbus took to the streets on Wednesday to demand justice for Ma'Khia

The 10-second body camera clip begins with the officer, identified Wednesday as Nicholas Reardon, getting out of his car at a house where police had been dispatched after someone had called 911 saying they were being physically threatened, Woods said.

It remains unclear who called the police.

A spokesperson for the Air National Guard in Ohio confirmed to DailyMail.com that Reardon is a Staff Sergeant assigned to the 121st Security Forces Squadron and has served with the National Guard since 2015.

His alma mater's Twitter account said he earned the expert marksman badge for the M4A1 Carbine fully automatic assault rifle used by the military.

Reardon, who was hired by the force in December 2019, is seen taking a few steps toward a group of people in the driveway when Bryant starts swinging a knife wildly at another girl or woman, who falls backward.

The officer shouts several times to get down.

Bryant then charges at another girl or woman, who is pinned against a car.

From a few feet away, with people on either side of him, the officer fires four shots, and Bryant slumps to the ground. A black-handled blade similar to a kitchen knife or steak knife lies on the sidewalk next to her.

Officer Nicholas Reardon is seen standing on the scene after shooting and killing Bryant. He has been on the force since December 2019

Authorities said they had been responding to an initial stabbing call at around 4.30pm. The shots fire call was made just 15 minutes later

A man immediately yells at the officer: 'You didn't have to shoot her! She's just a kid, man!'

The officer responds: 'She had a knife. She just went at her.'

The officer has been taken off patrolling the streets for the time being.

Bryant was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Police did not say if anyone else was injured.

In the moments after the shooting, people living or visiting the street filmed as police roped off the area with yellow tape in front of the house where the shooting took place.

A neighbor's video shows an officer performing CPR on the teenager while a man can be heard yelling: 'You all just jumped out of the (expletive) car and shot her!'

Ma'Khia Bryant's death has sparked an investigation by Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation

People listen as friends of Ma'Khia Bryant speak about her at a community vigil, on Wednesday, at Douglas Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio

Neighbors stood in open doorways filming and behind cars shaking their heads, eyewitness footage showed.

Woods said state law allows police to use deadly force to protect themselves or others, and investigators will determine whether this shooting was such an instance.

Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation is now reviewing the killing following a recent agreement with the city.

The shooting happened about 25 minutes before a judge read the verdict convicting former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd.

It also took place less than five miles from where the funeral for Andre Hill, who was killed by another Columbus police officer in December, was held earlier this year.

The officer in Hill's case, Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran of the force, is now facing trial for murder, with the next hearing scheduled for April 28.

Less than three weeks before Hill was killed, a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy fatally shot 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. in Columbus. The case remains under federal investigation.

Last week, Columbus police shot and killed a man who was in a hospital emergency room with a gun on him. Officials are continuing an investigation into that shooting.

Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio, said on Wednesday that he watched the footage of Bryant's killing and called it a 'horrible tragedy.'

He added that while the public has the video evidence, 'we need to let the investigation play out.'
Environmental activists were not happy about President Joe Biden's climate plan which was announced during the virtual climate summit that happened on Thursday. The activists sent the message of their disappointment to the president as they place cow manures in front of the White House the same day the summit had taken place.

Climate activists described Biden's plans for the environment as "utterly crappy," according to a New York Post report. Moreover, the demonstrators noted that the promises of the president do not go far enough.

READ NEXT: Climate Talks Between U.S. and Canada, Paves the Way for Biden's Earth Day Summit 2021

Activists vs. Biden's Climate Plan

The group Extinction Rebellion D.C. are the ones responsible for the smelly act, noting that their movement is to get the attention on what they describe as "Biden's Bulls**t Climate Plan," WUSA 9 reported.

The retaliation of the activists comes after President Biden announced that by 2035, the United States shall cut the greenhouse gas emissions to 52 percent of the 2005 levels. The announcement happened at the virtual summit which was also attended by other global leaders.

After a few hours from the announcement, about a dozen activists were seen hauling the manure stored in a pink wheelbarrow then dumping the cow's manure onto the street. New York Post noted that the activists have dumped the manure on the street next to Lafayette Square.

The group demanded the president to reinforce the legislation along with adding limitations to greenhouse emissions. Moreover, they also demanded Biden to declare a climate and ecological emergency, which is under the National Emergencies Act. They also noted that by 2025, a set of net zero emissions targets should be placed.

"Biden is fiddling with dates and targets as the ocean rises and the world burns," said Reilly Polka. Polka also noted that the climate promise of the president lacks urgency. Polka is the spokesperson from Extinction rebellion D.C.

Meanwhile, WUSA 9 mentioned a statement from the environmental group saying that if Biden cared on the environment, the president would set targets that will end while he is still the president. "We can't keep waiting, we need change now," said the group.

Biden and Other Leaders on the Virtual Climate Summit

USA Today noted that the target set by the Biden administration is nearly double the target of the Obama administration in 2015. Furthermore, the said summit was geared towards renewing the United States' leadership on climate change.

Leaders from 40 countries like China, India, and Russia have attended the climate summit virtually, Reuters reported.

Other leaders also set their targets of cutting their country's greenhouse gas emissions. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised their target to cut 40-45 percent of emissions by 2030. Japan's Yoshihide Suga raised their country's target by 20 percent, making it 46% by 2030. Meanwhile, Brazil's president has noted that their country will reach "emission neutrality" by 2050.

"This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences," said Biden pertaining to the climate crisis.

As Biden and the other leaders committed to their respective climate plans, the activists who are not happy about the promise noted that they "plan to continue non-violent civil disobedience" if Biden will not meet their demands.

READ MORE: 12 States Sue Biden Over Climate Change Order

WATCH: President Joe Biden pledges to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 - from CNBC Television
Never let a good crisis go to waste.- Winston Churchill

As you read these words by Winston Churchill Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to climb in T&T Lives are lost, businesses bust and people complain about curfew and challenging times Crisis.

In her New York apartment, publisher, best-selling author and life coach, Reea Rodney sighs. She is concerned about the crisis of her homeland but she reminds herself that there is always a silver lining amidst the dark cloud.
On the heels of a big acquisition in CityCentre, Madera Residential purchased another apartment property in an affluent area of Houston near the Texas Medical Center.

Madera, a Lubbock-based investment company, has acquired Alexan Southside, a 270-unit complex at 4139 Bellaire Blvd. in the city of Southside Place. The four-story complex was developed in 2017 by Trammell Crow Residential and Bluerock Residential Growth REIT.

Right now is just a great time to be buying, said Charles Young, a partner at Madera. Were super bullish on Houston and where its going to go over the next five years.

Houston is projected to be among the top cites for job growth and population growth, Young said.

The purchase comes as apartment rents are expected to recover in 2021 after softening during the pandemic.

Rents in the Houston region are projected to go up by 1.5 percent in 2021, according to ApartmentData.com. They fell by 1.7 percent in 2020 after three years of increases. Rents for Class A apartments, which tend to be newer and in the nicest areas, fell 6.7 percent during the pandemic, according to ApartmentData.com.

Young said occupancy was improving across Maderas portfolio and the company is offering fewer concessions, such as free rent, at some properties.

We are starting to see healing in the market, he said. You can just feel were about to get a nice boost coming out of the second half of the year.

RELATED: Alabama home builder enters Houston market

The value of the Alexan Southside acquisition was not disclosed. PCCP, a real estate finance and investment management firm, provided a $30 million senior loan to Madera for the purchase. The company recently provided an $86.3 million senior loan for the acquisition and renovations of the Domain and Lofts at CityCentre apartments in west Houston.

Maderas purchase of the 370-unit Domain and 250-unit Lofts at CityCentre apartments at 811 Town and Country Blvd. in Houston was one of the largest portfolio transactions in the nation the first quarter, according to Real Capital Analytics.

Apartment transactions in the Houston region totaled $1.28 billion in the first quarter, down 3 percent from a year ago, according to the real estate data firm.

Ron Bonneau, managing director with PCCP, said the Alexan Southside property should benefit from the continued growth of the surrounding area. It is next to Southside Commons, a redevelopment of the former Palace Bowling Lanes that includes medical office, restaurant and retail space.

Alexan Southside benefits from a core, infill location within Houston between the affluent neighborhoods of Southside Place, West University Place and Bellaire and is less than three miles west of the Texas Medical Center,  Bonneau said.

Madera, which bought its first project in 2008 in Baytown, owns and manages 14,000 units in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. Its portfolio includes The Pierpont in Spring across from Springwoods Village, where HPE is relocating its corporate headquarters.
A San Francisco man was arrested on suspicion of murder this week in the death of a 7-month-old boy who was in his care, officials said Thursday.

Officials with the San Francisco Medical Examiners Office identified the baby as Synciere Williams. The suspect, 26-year-old Joseph Williams, was booked into San Francisco jail Tuesday night, and is held on suspicion of murder and assault on a child causing death, among other charges.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said although the investigation is ongoing and prosecutors are awaiting a final cause-of-death determination from the medical examiner, he has decided to file homicide charges.

The death of (Synciere) is a horrific tragedy and should have never happened, Boudin said in a statement to The Chronicle. The loss of a child so young is hard to even comprehend.

Police said that, despite having the same last name, the child and suspect were not related.

At about 12:53 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to California Pacific Medical Center on the 1200 block of Franklin Street regarding an unresponsive baby boy, San Francisco police officials said in a statement to The Chronicle. The boy had been brought into the emergency room by his adult male caregiver, who was Joseph Williams, police said.

Upon arrival, police learned that medical staff had declared the boy deceased and that hospital staffers had noticed signs of trauma on the infant. Officials with the Medical Examiners Office, San Francisco polices homicide detail and Child Protective Services were notified of the death.

Homicide investigators later developed probable cause to arrest Joseph Williams for homicide, but police did not provide further details on the investigation.

Williams had two prior domestic violence arrests this year but was not charged with either incident, both of which involved a woman he was in a relationship with, police said. Officials with the San Francisco District Attorneys Office said the woman refused to cooperate with the prosecution and told police she had attacked Williams first.

Given the lack of cooperation with prosecution, we were unable to move forward with either of those cases, said Rachel Marshall, a spokesperson the District Attorneys Office.

The first arrest came on Jan. 7, when he was booked after an altercation with a woman near Market and Montgomery streets, San Francisco Police Sgt. Michael Andraychak said. Police said Williams was in a shoving match with a woman he was dating, and there was a stroller nearby occupied by a 10-month-old baby girl.

The woman told police the incident began in an apartment in the Tenderloin, where the two had an argument over their relationship. The woman said Williams grabbed her by the throat and left, and the argument spilled out into the street. Police at the time noted that the woman complained of bruising on her neck and that she refused medical treatment, Andraychak said.

Then on March 26, police responded to an apartment on the the 700 block of OFarrell Street to investigate a report of a woman screaming and a baby crying. Officers spoke to the same woman as the previous incident, who told them that she and Williams argued about their relationship. She asked him to leave and attempted to push him out.

She had a cut on her lip and a mark on her forehead, and told police Williams had punched her and pushed her into a cabinet, Andraychak said.

For the Jan. 7 incident, Williams was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and child endangerment, according to Andraychak. After the March incident, he was booked on suspicion of felony domestic violence and false imprisonment.

The chain of events, Marshall said, speaks to the need for better services and responses to domestic violence reports.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
The federal government on Wednesday indicted six former government contractor employees for allegedly recruiting unqualified linguists to deploy with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The six defendants are accused of taking part in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud by recruiting the unqualified linguists, the Justice Department said Thursday. The linguists were supposed to be able to speak Dari and Pashto for the U.S. military, including acting as translators during interactions with Afghan civilians and service members.

"The defendants in this case allegedly engaged in an expansive conspiracy to enrich themselves at the expense of American soldiers and military operations in Afghanistan," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid of the Justice Department's criminal division. "Fraud and abuse of U.S. government contracts paid for by the American taxpayer, and designed to support our men and women [in] uniform, will not be tolerated."

Read Next: As Troop Pullout Looms, Afghanistan 'Fighting for its Very Survival,' IG Says

The Justice Department said that Mezghan Anwari, 41, and Rafi Anwari, 54, both of Centreville, Virginia; Abdul Latifi, 45, of Irvine, California; Mahjoba Raofi, 47, of San Diego; Laila Anwari, 54, of Fredericksburg, Virginia; and Zarghona Alizai, 48, of Annandale, Virginia, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and varying additional counts of wire fraud.

They are scheduled to make their initial court appearances May 5 in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia, where they were indicted by a federal grand jury. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison for each count.

Depending on how far the candidates they recruited made it through a multistep vetting process, Justice said, the recruiters could have received bonuses. They previously worked for a contracting company in Arlington, Virginia, that provided subcontract services to recruit linguists on a prime contract of more than $700 million, a release from the department states.

But, the indictment alleges, the contractors "knowingly" recruited linguists who didn't have the minimum proficiency in those languages -- and carried out an impersonation scheme to get them through the screening process.

After recruiting the unqualified linguists, Justice said, the contractors arranged for other people who actually could speak those languages well to impersonate them during oral proficiency interviews, to make sure they passed.

Sometimes, the recruiters themselves impersonated the unqualified candidates, Justice said.

Special agents and investigators from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, conducted the investigation, along with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

"This indictment alleges serious crimes that threatened to put American troops at greater risk in a combat zone," SIGAR John Sopko said in the release. "We remain committed to protecting our country's investment in Afghanistan reconstruction, and to pursuing justice anytime that investment is put at risk."

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: Military Contractor Charged with Fraud on Africa Contracts
Fannie Mae Makes it Clear: You Can Rent Out Your Second Home! (sandiegopurchaseloans.com)

Fannie Mae Makes It Clear: You Can Rent Out Your Second Home!

June 29, 2019

Home with bright green lawn and pine trees

Fannie Mae is rewording their guidelines to ensure people understand an important point: if you have a Fannie Mae mortgage on a second home, that house can be used for as a rental property.

Rarely are government organizations clear and concise in their communication. Usually selecting complex legalese, guidelines and regulations issued by these agencies and administrations, no matter how important, are often difficult to understand.

One example is the Fannie Mae guidelines for renting out a second home. Previously, most people assumed that you cant use a second property as a rental if that house has a mortgage supported by Fannie Mae. This assumption came because the language from Fannie Mae was hard to understand.

Now, Fannie Mae has rewritten the guidelines (but not actually changed the rules) to help people better understand the subject.

To be honest, the language is still complex (it clearly comes from a government institution), but its far better, and far clearer than previous versions.

Regardless of language, the bottom line is this: you can rent out your second home, even if you have a Fannie Mae loan on the property.

Lets Be Clear: You Can Rent Your House With A Fannie Mae Second-Home Rider

The new language is outlined in the Second Home Rider from Fannie Mae. While the rules are now more clear, they do require a bit of explaining.

Explaining the Rules: Fannie Mae Second Homes

Initial 12 Months: Short-Term Renting Only



During the first year, you can only use the second home for short-term rentals.

Through the first year, you will have to keep the property in mostly personal use. Of course, wording like primarily can create confusion by itself, but basically you can only do short-term renting during the first year of ownership. Exceptions are available and they can be discussed with a lending agent, but if you are using a Fannie Mae loan for your second home, you can only rent it out on a short term basis. Once the first 12 months are complete, you will have more flexibility on how and when you can rent out the second home.

After Second Year: Longer Rentals Allowed

Once you have owned the property for a year, you will be able to rent out the second home on a longterm basis. Many people dont realize it, but this was always allowed by Fannie Mae, but because of the complex language, it was not understood.

No Property Management Companies

While you can rent out your property to longterm tenants after the first year of ownership, the guidelines specifically state that you are not allowed to use rental-management companies. This means that if you choose to rent the property, you will have to be responsible for all the tasks, including finding renters, collecting checks, and maintaining the property. You can hire out certain tasks, such as yard work or landscaping, but you will need to be the one performing overall management of the property itself.

No Timeshares

The same section that discusses property management companies also discussed timeshares. The result is the same: they are not allowed. The restriction is due to the fact that timeshares tend to have a greater risk, and lenders are likely to prohibit them on any loan, even if that loan does not involve Fannie Mae.

Whether your second home is a beach house or a cabin in the woods, you can rent it out when you have a Fannie Mae loan.

Bottom Line: Low-Interest Fannie Mae Loans are Available for Investment Properties

Fannie Mae has not changed the rules, but they have made it clear that their loans are options for people who want to purchase an investment property, as long as the investor doesnt mind waiting a year.

This allows for loans that often have lower rates and better terms than other investment-financing options. Thanks to the clarity, we expect Fannie Mae loans to become an attractive option for investments.

With this new writing, Fannie Mae has greatly clarified their rules. Its now perfectly clear that you can use a Fannie Mae loan to purchase a second home that will be used as a rental property. As long as you wait one year, you can rent it out on a longterm basis, and even in the first year, short-term rentals are possible as long as you use the property primarily for your personal use and enjoyment.

Investors can use the benefits of Fannie Mae, including lower interest, to purchase a rental property.

Why Are Fannie Mae Loans Ideal for Secondary Homes and Investment Properties?

Although it is traded publicly, Fannie Mae is an organization sponsored and supervised by the federal government. The primary mission of this company is not profits, but the support of American homeownership, which it does by purchasing loans on the open market.

Their function is complex, but the company purchases loans from lenders and takes on the financial benefits as well as the risk. Lenders can sell the loans and take the risk off their shoulders while making a quick profit. Essentially, Fannie Mae makes loans more available for numerous borrowers.

Because lenders can sell to Fannie Mae and thereby reduce risk, the interest on these loans can be less. Therefore, its useful for borrower to use Fannie Mae loans on their mortgages. Previously, Fannie Mae loans were thought to be unavailable to anyone who wanted an investment property, but with the the recent clarification, its obvious that these loans are in fact an option. While the loan will be processed as if you were purchasing a second home, that property can be used to generate income, and it is often beneficial to use these loans for your purchase.
Chicago, IL, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Have you been contemplating what type of CBD product to go with? Does the thought of consuming an oil-based solution excite you less compared to say, edibles or gummies? If the answer is yes, gummies are in no way less effective than oils. For starters, consumers are guaranteed to know how much CBD is consumed with every gummy, whereas in the case of CBD oils, it really comes down to how much gets squeezed through a dropper. Then theres taste as a factor, which is more subtle with gummies than their oil-based counterparts.

One company not only considered taste and effectiveness when creating their take on CBD gummies, but also consumers ideologies. The question that they have everyone asking is why choose between pure and full spectrum, when a balance of the two can be accessed. Without further ado, the following review will highlight the intentions, features, pros and cons and prices of Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies.

What are Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies?

As hinted in the name, Smilz has recently launched their take on CBD gummies. Unlike most CBD gummies presently available in the market, Smilz offers a tasteful yet comforting experience. Research has since proven that a formula composed of different cannabinoids and plant extracts is far more beneficial than relying on pure CBD.

In this case, individuals can think of Smilz CBD gummies as one that reaches a favorable compromise between full spectrum and pure CBD. With these premium quality, broad spectrum CBD gummies, individuals can finally go about their days, while achieving a sense of balance during the day and restfulness at night. All things considered; the time has finally come to evaluate Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies.

What features do the Smilz CBD Gummies carry?

There are number of features that require further discussion prior to placing an order. Summarized below are based on the information provided by the Smilz team:

#1. U.S. Based Product

For starters, this supplement is based in the U.S., and all of the manufacturing processes have been conducted in an FDA-approved, GMP-certified facility. This is great seeing how stringent the country is regarding CBD ingestion. That said, just because this formula abides by U.S. regulation, it does not mean that all countries follow suit. Ultimately, individuals should do their due diligence prior to placing an order.

#2. Ingredients & Concentration per Serving

The ingredients found in Smilz CBD Gummies include CBD hemp extract, corn syrup, sugar, gelatin, citric acid, sorbitol and natural and artificial flavors, as well as food coloring, coconut oil and carnauba wax. While the advertisement suggests the use of all-natural ingredients, there are some components that are far from natural. In addition, each gummy constitutes 10mg of broad spectrum CBD. This concentration sits at the lower end of the typical range of CBD concentration found in gummies.

#3. Broad-spectrum CBD

Speaking of broad-spectrum CBD, this is simply the combination of unique cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids. Earlier, we mentioned that these gummies are a favorable compromise. What we mean by this is that individuals who want an entourage effect of sorts, can experience them without any traces of THC. This would still be preferred over pure CBD, but research on the usefulness of full spectrum over broad spectrum is somewhat limited.

#4. Nutrition

Nutrition-wise, each gummy contains 8.5 calories, which are further broken down in terms of 2.1 grams of carbohydrates, 1.3 grams of sugar, 0.1 grams of protein and 0.7mg of sodium.

#5. Transparency and Safety

When it comes to the actual contents of the Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies, a third-party lab testing company called Botanacor is supposedly responsible for their Certificate of Analysis (COA).

#6. Zero Pesticides

The cultivation processes have been protected against the use of pesticides. The team at Smilz affirms that they are dedicated to remaining eco-conscious throughout the entire process, i.e., from cultivating to harvesting to bottling.

#7. 90-day Money-back Guarantee

Each bottle has been protected by a 90-day money-back guarantee. If the Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies do not bring satisfactory results, customer service can be contacted for a refund as long as it is done within 90 days from the day the supplements have been received. For any questions and/or concerns regarding this:

Mail: 9454 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 300, Beverly Hills, CA 90212

9454 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 300, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 Call: 1 (888) 966-3119

1 (888) 966-3119 Submit a Form to: https://smilz.com/contact





How should Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies be taken?

One to two CBD gummies have been recommended every four to six hours or once an optimal dose has been reached. Given the uncertainties that come with determining an appropriate dose, a good rule of thumb that the Smilz CBD gummies team suggests is to take 1 to 6mg for every 10 pounds of body weight. For instance, someone who weighs 150lbs will likely need 15 to 25mg, whereas someone who weighs 200lbs could benefit from a concentration that ranges between 20 and 33mg.

As a safety precaution, individuals are strongly advised against taking more than 6 CBD gummies at a time. Moreover, if any side effects do arise as a result of increasing the recommended doses, it is best to put aside the gummies until a physician approves of its uses again.

How much do Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies cost?

Each Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies bottle has been formulated to last a minimum of one month. Listed below are three different price points based on quantities purchased:

1 Month Supply: $60.04 each

$60.04 each 3 Month Supply: $49.97 each

$49.97 each 5 Month Supply: $39.74 each





Meet the Smilz team

Smilz is a cannabis company that aims to deliver products that are effective, health-improving and tasteful. From the cultivation processes to the harvesting and extraction processes, the team at Smilz insists that they operate in the best interests of their customers and the environment. Forget pesticides, and harmful chemicals, as these have been avoided altogether. Here are a couple of words found on their official website:

At Smilz, we inspire people. We help them choose wisely to become who they are for what they will become. Become Limitless in your pursuit that sets your soul on fire.

Final Verdict

In summary, Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies offers consumers a taste of the entourage effect, but without any traces of THC. Each gummy contains 10mg, with the entire bottle containing a total of 300mg of broad-spectrum CBD.

Based on the concentration per serving, the number of gummies found per bottle and the range of CBD concentration by body weight, this solution might not be appropriate for all. The prices would not be justifiable for someone who weighs more than 150lbs because the ingested servings will go up, decreasing supply. In other words, a one-month supply might become a 15-day supply, which does not seem like a reasonable purchase.

This is not to say that Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies are ineffective, but instead, price as a factor would not be met if a month-long supply is done earlier. Another area of confusion that requires clarifying is the prepared for part of the Certificate of Analysis, which does not list Smilz as the company. In fact, the certificate provided for the gummies belongs to a CBD oil. All-in-all, we highly recommend everyone to do their due diligence and to seek clarity from the customer service team before proceeding with an order. For more on Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD gummies, visit here>>>.

Official Website: https://smilz-gummies.com/

Contact Details: Smilz Broad Spectrum CBD Gummies

Phone: TOLL FREE 424-210-9207

About MarketingByKevin.com

This product review is published by Marketing By Kevin. Marketing By Kevin reviews are researched and formulated by a group of experienced natural health advocates with years of dedication and determination to finding the highest quality health products and wellness programs available. It should be noted that any purchase derived from this resource is done at your own peril. It is recommended to consult with a qualified professional healthcare practitioner before making an order today if there are any additional questions or concerns. Any order finalized from this releases links are subject to the entire terms and conditions of the official websites offer. The researched information above does not take any direct or indirect responsibility for its accuracy.

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Disclaimer:

Please understand that any advice or guidelines revealed here are not even remotely a substitute for sound medical advice from a licensed healthcare provider. Make sure to consult with a professional physician before making any purchasing decision if you use medications or have concerns following the review details shared above. Individual results may vary as the statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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Attachment
English Lithuanian

AB Amber Grid, legal entity code: 303090867. Address: Savanoriu pr. 28, LT-03116 Vilnius, Lithuania.

On 23th April, 2021 during the Ordinary General Meeting of Amber Grid Shareholders the Consolidated and separate financial statements and the consolidated annual report and

for year 2020 has been approved.

Key audited financial indicators for 2020:



 Revenue  EUR 52.3 million (2019 - EUR 55.6 million);

 EBITDA - EUR 26.1 million (2019 - EUR 25.2 million);

 Net profit  EUR 18.2 million (EUR 12.6 million in 2019).



Amber Grid has prepared and published financial statements and annual report in ESEF format, inserting XHTML format marking. This marking complies with the specifications of Inline XBRL set out in Annex III to Regulation 2018/815.

The General Meeting of Shareholders approved the proposal of the Board of Amber Grid to keep the distributable profit in the company, taking into account that the company is implementing a large-scale strategic gas interconnection project GIPL between Lithuania and Poland.

The Company also prepared Social Responsibility Report for the year 2020 which is included in the annexes of the material event.

Annexes:

1. Amber Grid consolidated and separate financial statements, consolidated annual report for 2020, approval of responsible persons, independent auditor's report;

2. Amber Grid draft profit allocation for 2020.

3. AB Amber Grid Social Responsibility Report for 2020.

More information:

Laura Sebekiene, Head of Communications of Amber Grid,

+370 699 61 246, l.sebekiene@ambergrid.lt

Attachments
African Countries and telecommunications stakeholders have launched the first set of African Telecommunication Union (ATU) spectrum recommendations that focus on transforming Africa into a knowledge economy through the development of technologies that boost connectivity and innovation.

The spectrum recommendations are as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ericsson and ATU to help fast-track the rollout of technology across the continent, said a press release from Ericsson, the provider of technology and services to telecom operators.

Only a limited amount of Spectrum is allocated to the mobile industry as well as other sectors of communication to facilitate the transmission of wireless signals in Africa.

The launched spectrum recommendations outline the importance of awarding the radio spectrum in countries across Africa in a timely, predictable, and cost-effective fashion to support affordable, high-quality delivery of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services and spur smart technology initiatives. The recommendations also establish the idea that licensing should be technology-neutral and allow for service innovations.

According to the release, the new spectrum recommendations further encourage African countries to enable spectrum sharing by giving licensees the right to share their spectrum voluntarily through various means such as trading and national roaming agreements.

Additionally, African countries through the recommendations, are urged to adopt a licensing approach aimed at promoting the right mix of low, mid and high radio band spectrum to ensure that all communications service providers (CSPs) have access to spectrum amounts and type that allows for the development of a variety of use cases and caters to enterprise and customer demands.

ATU Secretary-General John OMO reiterated the importance of the recommendations saying, The launch of these recommendations is a joint effort aimed at expediting the rollout of ICT driven technologies for the development of digital economies in Africa.

The recommendations come at a time when Africa is looking to harness ICT-driven innovation, with a rapid rise in usage of technology and smartphones. The November 2020 Ericsson Mobility Report projects that by 2026, mobile broadband subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase to up to 76%.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  There is a need to extend the modified enhanced community quarantine in NCR Plus  which is set to end on April 30  if the reproduction number or R0 does not stay below 1 "in a sustained manner," OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said Friday.

"We urge the national government...not to exit [from] the MECQ until the R0 is at least less than .9 in a sustained manner," Austriaco told a webinar.

Austriaco said the reproduction number must be below 1 for "at least several weeks" to decongest hospitals. He explained this assumption is based on the average number of days a COVID-19 patient is admitted to a hospital, which is 27 days.

OCTA fellow Guido David told the same webinar the reproduction number in Metro Manila  the epicenter of the local coronavirus outbreak  went down to .98 after almost four weeks of tighter restrictions, but he noted this may still increase again. The R0 is the number of people to whom an infected person can pass the virus. The R0 in the region went up to over 2 in early March, the early stages of the new surge, according to David's estimates. NCR then was still under the more lenient general community quarantine.

"This reproduction number is unstable at the moment. What that means is it still could increase," David said.

Austriaco explained the R0 is "unstable" because some LGUs are not recording a decline in new cases, "so you always have the possibility that as some of the LGUs recover, there will be an outbreak in one LGU that will spill over to the adjacent LGUs."

"We are looking for a consistent decrease throughout all the 17 LGUs before we know we have significantly passed through the surge," he added.

David said 14 of the 17 NCR LGUs had a one-week negative growth rate as of April 22. Those with positive growth rates are Taguig, Valenzuela, and Marikina.

The fewer cases recorded in 14 LGUs in NCR this week did not mean "a continued downward trend, but [they are] a good indicator," David pointed out.

He noted the daily average of COVID-19 cases in NCR is around 4,200, which is 11% lower than the week before which was about over 5,000. Two weeks ago, NCR was averaging about 5,200 cases per day, he added.

However, the COVID-19 bed occupancy rates of NCR hospitals remain "high," with 14 LGUs logging over 60%, David noted, citing the Department of Health's COVID-19 tracker.

OCTA fellow Ranjit Rye, meanwhile, said they need to see the data for next week before making a final recommendation on quarantine classifications for next month.

For his part, Philippine Hospital Association President Jaime Almora said he favors the extension of MECQ in NCR Plus.

"Complex itong problema natin. Pero kailangan piliin natin kung alin ang uunahin natin of course ang unahin natin ay 'yung mga buhay buhay natin, over and above 'yung mga other concerns. So kung 'yan ang isipin natin, ang talagang solusyon ay palawigin pa itong MECQ pahabaan pa. Para mapababa natin 'yung reproduction rate," he told CNN Philippines' Balitaan.

[Translation: Our problem is complex, but we need to choose life over and above other concerns. So, if we choose life, then we need to extend this MECQ declaration to lower the reproduction rate.]

NCR Plus or Greater Manila which is composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal transitioned to a more relaxed quarantine status on April 12 after being placed under the strictest enhanced community quarantine for two weeks due to an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases.

The Greater Manila area, as well as the provinces of Quirino and Abra, and Santiago City in Isabela are under MECQ until April 30.

Over the past weeks, the country has been setting new record highs in the number of infections and death toll. It recorded the deadliest day of the pandemic on April 10 as the government reported 401 COVID-19 fatalities.

The DOH has so far logged 979,740 cases nationwide, of which 16,529 resulted in deaths. Meanwhile, 860,412 have been tagged as recovered.
New Delhi, April 23 : Stressing on the need to maintain good coordination between the government and the oxygen producers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it is time to not only deal with the challenges, but also to provide solutions in a very short time. The Prime Minister was holding a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers across the country via video conferencing.

Modi appreciated the oxygen producers for increasing their production in the last few weeks. He acknowledged the several steps taken to increase the production of liquid oxygen and thanked the industry for diverting industrial oxygen to meet medical requirements.

To further improve the situation, he spoke about utilising the full potential of the industry to meet the demand for oxygen in the coming days. He noted that there is a need to increase the availability of oxygen cylinders as well as upgrade the logistics facilities for transportation of oxygen. He urged the industry to utilize tankers meant to transport other gases for oxygen supply. "Keeping in mind the requirements of states pertaining to oxygen, the government is working on effective use of Railways and Air Force so that the tankers reach the production centre as soon as possible," Modi said.

The Prime Minister remarked that the government, the states, the industry and the transporters, and all the hospitals need to come together and work in unison, the better the synergy and coordination the easier it will be able to deal with this challenge.

Appreciating the oxygen producers, he extended the government's full support to them and hoped the country would be successful in ending the crisis soon.
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With foreign investment a core part of the wood industry, all stakeholders stand to benefit from extended cooperation. Photo: Le Toan

Chinese companies have been using Vietnam as a transit port leading to soaring export turnovers, so much so that it has caused suspicion among international partners, especially the US. The issue has attracted more attention as US Customs recently discovered that Finewood Vietnam Co., Ltd. imported plywood from China, brought it back to the factory to change the label to a Vietnamese one, and then exported it to the United States.

Along with that, the enterprise also allegedly acted as a forged address issued in Vietnam, even though the goods are not imported into the nation nor have they been exported out of its territory.

Amid the ongoing US-China trade war, Vietnam has new opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnams wood industry, including the recent expansion in the number and export value of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) here.

Data from Forest Trends and some wood associations shows that by the end of 2020, the wood industry has received 63 new projects with the total registered capital of nearly $327.7 million, as well as an increase in total additional capital of $193.6 million, while share purchases within the sector reached a volume of $244.8 million. Although these numbers are all lower than the 2019 figures, last years figures reaffirm the industrys attractiveness in FDI activities.

Damaged wood industry

In Vietnam, the increase in such activities within the industry is partly the result of next-generation free trade agreements and the countrys favourable geographic location in the Asia-Pacific economic region. The industrys FDI increase is also a direct result of the governments preferential policies and investment attraction programmes in recent years.

Vietnam has more than 3,600 enterprises directly involved in exporting wood and products thereof, reaching an export value of $12.31 billion in 2020. Of which, 653 FIEs are directly involved in exporting, accounting for 18 per cent of the total number of exporters, with a turnover of $6 billion, accounting for 51 per cent of the total export turnover of the industry.

Compared with the 2,676 domestic enterprises and their $5.9 billion in export turnover, FIEs outperformed these in terms of export scale. This superiority can be attributed to the differences in the production scale, technology application, and management skills, as well as the used investment capital and market access of FIEs. However, to date no reviews or studies have been looking more in-depth at these aspects.

FDI remains an inseparable part of the wood industry, although some related activities carry huge risks that have been hurting the industry. Recognising the seriousness of under-investment and shadow investments, Vietnams authorities have been working hard to control the situation and introduce risk reduction measures.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in February sent a document to municipal and provincial peoples committees to call for stricter control of anti-origin fraud actions against wood products.

The MPI also requested local authorities to inspect foreign-invested projects to reduce the risk of origin fraud and prioritise the selection of projects with superior technology, while consulting with timber associations about investment projects and carefully considering investment projects with fraud risk factors.

However, effective implementation of this call requires localities to pay due attention to FDI activities in their administration, including establishing inspection and monitoring mechanisms with the participation of related stakeholders.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development set a target for the wood industry, with the export value of forest products expected to be $14-14.5 billion by the end of 2021, up about 9.6 per cent on-year.

Cao Cam, an analyst of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, found that the signals from the US market up to this point were clear. The Office of the US Trade Representative is investigating the Vietnamese wood industry following regulations, based in part on the allegation that underground investments are taking place in the wood industry to enjoy import tax benefits from the US.

Such fluctuations from the US market will have an impact on the entire wood industry, affecting the industrys goals, Cam said.

Currently, the US is the most important export market for Vietnams wood industry, with its share within the total export turnover to this market in 2020 reaching well over 60 per cent.

Foreign direct investment in the Vietnamese wood industry Influenced by COVID-19, by 2020, foreign-invested projects in the wood industry decreased in both quantity and capital in all new forms, including capital increase, capital contribution, and share purchase. The industry received 63 new projects capitalised $372.7 million, down 36 per cent in the number of projects and 49 per cent in capital compared to 2019. In terms of capital contribution and share purchases, in 2020 there were 122 capital contributions and share purchases from foreign enterprises, with capital contributions amounting to $244.80 million, a decrease of 57 per cent in quantity and 23 per cent in capital compared to 2019. Also last year, foreign-invested projects saw 52 capital increases, with a total capital rise of $193.64 million and an increase of 73 per cent in quantity but a drop of 3 per cent in capital compared to the previous year.

Policy aspects

Meanwhile, in 2021 the wood industry is predicted to continue to be an attractive destination for foreign investment. FDI inflows mainly from Asian markets such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore focus on the southeastern provinces. The average investment per project is small and investments focus on wood products like furniture such as beds, wardrobes, and kitchen cabinets, as well as plywood.

Dr. To Xuan Phuc, an expert at Forest Trends, said that the cooperation between national associations, domestic enterprises, and FIEs is vital to effectively carry out the supervision to eliminate risks of under- and shadow investments in the industry.

According to Phuc, the superiority of FIEs in Vietnam should also be summed up and utilised to create spillover effects in the industry. In his opinion, the wood industry should call for studies to examine the factors that make up the dominance of FIEs and create a mechanism for these factors to spread to the whole industry.

Phuc also mentioned that pervasiveness requires a suitable mechanism and policy environment, that allows for the exchange of information and experiences between FIEs and domestic enterprises. Thus, the current policy mechanism for the industry would need to change. He also said that it is important to allow FIEs to become official members of associations, creating opportunities for them to comment on the industrys development.

Phuc believed that Vietnams wood industry will develop sustainably if both sides are acting as a unified entity through new mechanisms and policies that will contribute to spill-over effects. Besides this, such a unified entity would also contribute to positioning and minimising risks in FDI activities.

Nguyen Chanh Phuong, vice chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association commented that in 2021, the mentioned risks will affect the whole wood industry. Meanwhile, the industrys significance with around $14 billion exported goods and jobs for half a million workers cannot be ignored, he said.

If the wood industry has many stakeholders, it will be stronger. However, there is a possibility that money flows to both sides  the investors and Vietnam, Phuong said.
A Kansas City woman pleaded guilty Friday to a federal gun charge related to a shooting and high-speed chase with a stolen car roughly two years ago.

Erin Bisby, 29, pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm after a previous felony conviction, federal prosecutors said Friday. Federal law allows a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole, according to prosecutors, and a sentencing hearing is to be scheduled following an investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

On the morning of July 18, 2019, court documents say, Bisby was present during a gunfight between multiple people. Police attempted to stop her nine days later after she was seen driving a vehicle reported stolen during a carjacking, prosecutors said.

When police tried to stop Bisby, prosecutors said, she fled at speeds up to 90 miles per hour before stopping the car, running away and discarding a .380 caliber handgun. She was taken into police custody afterward.

The case was investigated by the Kansas City Police Department.
On April 19, California quietly made it possible for non-residents to go to Disneyland and the states other theme parks. But outside of the most dedicated theme park circles, no one is talking about it yet. Why not? Because in theory, non-California residents can go to the states theme parks, but in practice, they cant.

The most recent update to Californias Blueprint for a Safer Economy, published earlier this week, opens the door for the large theme parks to allow entry for fully vaccinated people from out of state. Fully vaccinated persons from out of state may visit or attend activities or events that are restricted to in-state visitors, the guidance reads. Fully vaccinated persons should consult the current CDPH Travel Advisory and adhere to any applicable recommendations.

Disneyland and Universal Studios, however, have not changed their policies as of yet. "While visitation to our theme park is currently available to California residents only, we are assessing next steps to implement changes to previously released guidance and will share updated information when it becomes available, a Universal Studios Hollywood spokesperson told the Orange County Register on Wednesday.

The state has confirmed that fully vaccinated out-of-state visitors can attend California theme parks. The California Attractions and Parks Association released a statement on April 21 supporting the idea that theme parks are included in the guidelines and should be able to accept out-of-state guests.

Amusement parks responsible reopening plans are guided by the states Blueprint for a Safer Economy which recently updated with an Addendum to Blueprint Activity & Business Tiers Chart, a spokesperson said in a statement tweeted by Scott Gustin. This addendum now allows fully vaccinated persons from out of state to visit or attend activities or events that were previously restricted to in-state visitors. As vaccinations become more widespread and state guidance evolves, individual parks may update their own responsible reopening plans in accordance with state and local public health regulations.

The one theme park that took early action: SeaWorld. The San Diego attraction has been accepting out-of-state guests since April 16 under the loophole that the park is technically a zoo/aquarium. SeaWorld San Diego appears to be interpreting all of this to allow out-of-state visitors if they show proof of vaccination, theme park blogger Leslie Harvey tweeted on April 20. SeaWorld is also allowing [visitors with] negative tests, but that is not entirely consistent with state travel advisory or CDC regs to which state advisory refers.

That loophole wasnt entirely accurate, theme park podcaster Carlye Wisel pointed out. In regards to SeaWorld's classification as an aquarium/zoo being a loophole, they are currently operating rides, which puts them squarely in the theme/amusement park reopening category, she tweeted on April 20.

Since California Gov. Gavin Newsoms announcement that the state would reopen on June 15, there has been wide speculation that Disneyland would be able to accept out-of-state attendees at that point. Now, it looks like it may be sooner.

In September, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that the state could return to business as usual and that theme parks in the state could return to normal operations, meaning no restrictions on capacities and no mask mandates. Even then, Walt Disney World did not immediately resume those normal operations, and still hasnt. Disney World has mask mandates in place  though it has recently relaxed them to allow maskless photos  but still has capacity restrictions and other safety protocols in place.

We received the Governors executive order and are evaluating it to determine what it may mean for our business, Disney responded at the time. We are not making any immediate changes. As a reminder, face coverings are still required at Walt Disney World Resort.

If thats any indication of how Disneyland will respond to this news, it could still be some time before out-of-state guests are welcomed back in the parks. If Disneyland were to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry, per the new guidelines, it could substantially increase its indoor capacity, up to 50% of total venue capacity in the orange tier and up to 75% in the yellow tier.

For Disneyland lovers who dont live in California, all of this means two things. First, that the wait is closer to over than it has been. Second, although Californian fans were very angry at them for buying park tickets just in case, and adding to the sometimes 12-hour waits to purchase tickets on April 16, they were actually right to do so. They may need them soon.
Specials ASEAN and Myanmars Generalsin Cartoons

ASEAN and Myanmars Generalsin Cartoons / Harn Lay

Myanmar with the generals in power has always been a headache for ASEAN, the Southeast Asian regional grouping of which the country has been a member since 1997. Now with a fresh coup in February and the subsequent slaughter of more than 700 people, the country is once again a thorn in the blocs side.

With migrants spilling into neighboring countries, ethnic conflicts flaring and a thriving drug trade in border areas, among other problems, the political instability in the country poses a threat to the regions peace and prosperity. Myanmars domestic chaos also raises concerns for the West, due to the countrys strategic location between China and India.

However, history shows that the member nations of the 10-country bloc rarely make headway when it comes to seeking solutions for Myanmar. At times, they played along with the previous juntas games, even as the EU and the UN were pursuing various approaches to put pressure on the regime over its suppression of human rights and political freedoms. Shielded by the blocs non-interference policy, they stayed mute, concerned only for their vested interests in the rogue nation. Unsurprisingly, no one in Myanmarother than the generalshad any trust in ASEAN.

On Saturday, the bloc will hold an emergency summit in Jakarta on how to deal with the deteriorating situation in Myanmar and its repercussions for the region and beyond. Initiated by Indonesia, it will be the first time in ASEANs 54-year history that a meeting has been held at the highest level to address principally a situation of concern in a fellow member state. We will have to wait and see how the bloc conducts itself this time.

On the eve of the meeting, The Irrawaddy revisits some of its editorial cartoons published in the early 2000s on relations between ASEAN and Myanmars generals.





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Cartoons by Harn Lay

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U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry on Thursday said Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech provided visionary thoughts about cooperating on environmental issues.

"I listened to Putin today. I thought he was pretty rational and put some decent visionary thoughts - things we might want to be looking at and cooperating together [on] and he talked about that possibility," Sputnik cited Kerry as saying.

World leaders from more than 40 countries, including Russia, China, and the EU joined the Leaders Summit on Climate. The two-day event was held virtually.
Guest Column Bangkok Ducks ASEANs Myanmar Challenge

Anti-regime protesters confront security forces in Mandalay in March. / The Irrawaddy

ASEANs highly anticipated special summit on Saturday in Jakarta on Myanmars crisis can be declared moot on arrival. What goes into it is likely more telling that what will come out of it. Nearly three months and more than 730 civilian deaths after Myanmars military coup on Feb. 1, ASEAN is still unable to address its rogue member states atrocities against its own people. The summit attendance foretells trends and dynamics of what might come next in Myanmars fast-moving and deadly events on the ground and how they will shape regional responses and global concerns.

While it is unprecedented for ASEAN to call for a leaders meeting to focus on a member states political situation, this special summit is overdue because Myanmars crisis is directly undermining the organizations international credibility and relevance. It should not have taken so many weeks and so many lives lost in Myanmar for ASEAN to make concrete efforts to halt the violence.

And when it finally came together, the summit was spoiled from the start. After weeks of dithering, ASEANs top-level discussion should have included all 10 heads of government. But as summit day approached, doubts persisted about which and whether this or that ASEAN leader would attend. In the event, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha decided to opt out, sending Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai as substitute.

General Prayuts decision not to join the summit for no valid reason can be seen as a dereliction of duty. Of all countries concerned, Thailand arguably holds the highest stakes in Myanmars near-term future. Of Myanmars five international borders, Thailand shares the longest, more than 2,400 km. Thailand relies on Myanmars natural gas imports for much of its electricity generation and migrant labor for the backbone of its economy. The confrontation between the Myanmar military (also called the Tatmadaw) and the civilian opposition, now under the newly formed National Unity Government (NUG), will likely lead to displaced persons having to cross over for shelter in Thailand.

Without Thailands forefront role, ASEANs impact on Myanmars crisis will be limited. Without ASEANs role, the international impact will be circumscribed. Already the major players from the United Nations, the United States and European countries have deferred to ASEAN to do something to ameliorate Myanmars dire and dangerous situation. China and Russia hold veto cards at the UN in favor of the Tatmadaw but China is not all that happy with the Tatmadaws putsch.

The Chinese, in fact, have reached out to the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) formed by lawmakers who were elected in last Novembers election. In that poll, the coup-detained Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy trounced the militarys proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party. That leaves Russia as the only win-win geopolitical opportunist in the mix, selling weapons to the Tatmadaw and providing the military regime with major-power support.

The geopolitical realities surrounding Myanmars situation put the onus on ASEAN. This is why Thailands role is indispensable. The Tatmadaws commander-in-chief and lead coup-maker, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, considers himself an adopted son of the late General Prem Tinsulanonda, the former Thai prime minister and president of the Privy Council. In 2012, after becoming chief of the armed forces and a decade since his own father died, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing sought tutelage from Gen. Prem, forming a father-son rapport. The senior general visited Gen. Prem regularly and flew in for the latters funeral services in May 2019. Shortly after the coup, the Myanmar strongman even sent a personal letter to Gen. Prayut asking for support.

With its close ties to Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and the Tatmadaw, Prime Minister Prayut and the military establishment should be able to find receptive ears among Myanmars ruling generals. What needs to be done is to persuade the Myanmar top brass to put a stop to the violence at once. Presumably, this is a call ASEAN will make at the special summit, with additional offers of humanitarian relief efforts and perhaps the appointment of an ASEAN envoy to find a way out of the nascent civil war. For Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, traveling to Jakarta is a calculated move. There will be upside legitimacy gains from being counted among ASEAN heads of government. At the same time, for a coup leader to confidently travel abroad so soon after seizing power suggests that his power base within the Tatmadaws high command must be rock-solid. If so, speculation and forecast of an eventually splintered military will be off the mark.

ASEANs divide over Myanmar is between member states that see whats done as donea fait accompli and a time to move onand others who want a return to the status quo ante prior to Feb. 1 and a restoration of poll results and popular will. This fault line is likely to prevent far-reaching summit outcomes. To make a difference, ASEAN will need to leverage and bargain vis-a-vis Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaingwith Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in the lead while others take a muted stance. Sources of leverage may include the sidelining of Myanmar owing to the Tatmadaws war against its people and/or recognition of the NUG. The alternative is to cave in and let the Tatmadaw have its way with its own people. The old thinking of power politics favors the fait accompli position. However, the NUG, underpinned by the CRPH, CDM (Civil Disobedience Movement) and EAOs (Ethnic Armed Organizations), has changed all that. Myanmar is in a different game that requires new thinking.

ASEAN will need to tread carefully because inviting the chief coup maker without Myanmars NUG could worsen the situation on the ground. The Tatmadaw may feel emboldened and more ruthlessly assertive in view of Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaings summit reception, whereas the NUG columns may feel betrayed and angrier. Both sides may then go at it even more violently. Thailands leadership should have been central to these moving parts and eventual outcomes but it is sadly at the margins.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak is a professor and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn Universitys Faculty of Political Science in Bangkok. He earned a PhD from the London School of Economics with a top dissertation prize in 2002. Recognized for excellence in opinion writing from the Society of Publishers in Asia, his views and articles have been published widely by local and international media.



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A Schuylkill County man was reportedly shot while turkey hunting Tuesday morning in Mason County, West Virginia.

The man was identified as Bernie Guzick, 20, according to a Facebook posting by his mother, Jenny Guzick.

Bernie Guzick was flown to a hospital after being shot by a 12-gauge shotgun while he was hunting just after 7:30 a.m.

Citing West Virginia Natural Resources Police, MetroNews of West Virginia said Guzick never encountered the person who shot him. The person who allegedly shot Guzick left the area and is being sought by authorities.

Police said that after being shot, Guzick walked out of the wooded area he was hunting in to Seven Mile Ridge Road and called 911. He was treated at the scene by EMS personnel and flown to St. Marys Hospital in Huntington.

An attempt to contact Lawrence Messina, community relations director with the Natural Resources Police, was unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.

Assisting with the investigation are the West Virginia State Police and the Mason County Sheriffs Department.

In her Facebook posting, Jenny Guzick said: Please please share this. This was my son who was shot and the person who shot him ran off as my son was yelling for help.

According to the post, Jenny Guzick said her son is in stable condition at a West Virginia hospital.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Nearly 60 years ago, 100 homes were destroyed, as three different fires simultaneously burned through multiple Staten Island neighborhoods.

On April 20, 1963, also known as Black Saturday, a total of three large brush fires began in Rossville, Tottenville, and Mariners Harbor. In their wake, the fires caused more than $2 million of property damage and left over 500 people homeless.

Remains of a home on Edge Grove Avenue that was burned down in the historic brush fire that caused more than $2 million in damage to houses and businesses in Mariners Harbor and on the South Shore in 1963  April 21, 1963 (Staten Island Advance/ Jim Romano)

It was dry and windy outside when the first and largest brush fire ignited at around 10:00 AM on Arthur Kill Road in Rossville. Powerful 50 mph winds spread the fire east through Annadale and Huguenot, reaching as far as Hylan Boulevard.

Historic fire of Black Saturday burns through brush near Page Avenue and Richmond Valley Road  April 20, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

At around the same time, a second fire began near the Tottenville beachfront, ravaging houses, a restaurant, and the South Shore Swim Club before stopping near Mount Loretto.

The third fire, which scorched 11 houses in Mariners Harbor, started around noon.

Flames, that licked at woodlands, homes, just about everything as they swept by, brought disaster to hundreds of Staten Islanders in Spring of 1963  April 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

While no deaths were reported, 36 people received medical treatment at hospitals. Five people were admitted to hospitals for more serious injuries.

Fireman, James Fisher of Company 187, was injured in Tottenville during Black Saturday  one of the worst fires in the history of Staten Island. The 1963 inferno scorched 100 homes across the South Shore and Mariners Harbor  April 21, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

To make matters worse, the water pressure in the fire hydrants on Black Saturday was so low that many firemen were left to helplessly watch the fires consume homes and businesses.

Some firemen cried as the houses burned down, one woman shared. There wasnt any water. The firemen stood by and couldnt do a thing.

Rossville home engulfed in flames from one of the largest brush fires in Staten Island history. The brush fire on Black Saturday left more than 500 Staten Island residents homeless  April 20, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

Evergreen trees on the grounds of St. Francis Seminary, atop Todt Hill, wither before the blazing onslaught of a brush fire in the area. On this day, known as Black Saturday, approximately 100 homes were destroyed by brush fires across the South Shore and Mariners Harbor  April 20, 1963 (Staten Island Advance/ Jim Romano)

Remains of the Volunteer of America Camp on Joiline Street in Tottenville after historic brush fire ravaged South Shore neighborhoods. More than 500 people were left homeless on Black Saturday  April 21, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

Remains of a house on Edgegrove Avenue after historic brush fire spread through Rossville, Annadale, and Huguenot in the Spring of 1963  April 21, 1963 (Staten Island Advance/Jim Romano)

The house that once stood on this site on Claypit Road in Pleasant Plains was swallowed by the 1963 brush fire, but the steps and foundation remain -- a playground for neighborhood children. They are, left to right, Robert McKinney, Katherine McKinney, Jeffrey Moody, and Bernard McKinney  April 19, 1965 (Staten Island Advance/ John Padula)Staten Island Advance

For many living in the area during the fire of April 20, 1963, all that remained after the flames were extinguished were a few walls of a home with a charred car outside  April 20, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

Stanley Haugland of 754 Rossville Avenue, looks at chest that belonged to his neighbor, Harry Anderson of 746 Rossville Avenue. Very little remained in parts of the Rossville neighborhood after Black Saturday when a massive brush fire blazed through Rossville, Annadale, and Huguenot  April 21, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)

A Tottenville woman, identified as Mrs. Kramer of Surf Avenue, had her car as well as her house destroyed by the ravenous fire on Black Saturday that left more than 500 Staten Island residents homeless in 1963  April 21, 1963 (Staten Island Advance)
A concert director who worked with BTS for years reveals the process of organizing the superstars' concerts.

Keep on reading to know more.

Concert Director Reveals the Process of Organizing BTS's Concerts

On April 23, The Korea Times conducted an exclusive interview with BTS's concert director, Kim Sang Wook, who worked with the group from 2013 to 2019.

During the interview, it was revealed that he was one of the people who conceptualized many of the popular elements in BTS's concerts, such as the inflatable leopards that greeted the audience in BTS's "Dionysus" performances.

Kim Sang Wook and his team also conceptualized the giant plastic bubble Jimin sits in during his solo performance of "Serendipity." In addition, the concept of Jungkook being flown over the crowd supported by a harness during his solo performance of "Euphoria" was also the brainchild of Kim Sang Wook and his team.

Being able to be a part of directing a concert to one of South Korea's - even the world's biggest act was a golden opportunity and experience, Kim Sang Wook revealed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BTS Jimin's Unwashed Hanbok Pulled Out from Auction after Facing Backlash from Akgaes

According to Kim Sang Wook, the workload when it comes to organizing and directing BTS's concerts was unbelievably heavy as it was the first time a K-Pop act would hold a concert on such a large scale around the world.

He adds that the most demanding thing that came with the responsibility is thinking beyond imagination to live up to everyone's expectations and the group's reputation. In order to provide something new and fresh for the audience, they did extensive research on Youtube and Google.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BTS Appointed as Louis Vuitton's Global Ambassador

When he was asked about the process behind directing one of the biggest K-Pop concerts yet, Kim Sang Wook reveals the complicated process and preparations that underwent for BTS's concerts. According to Kim Sang Wook, he and his team start preparations about two months to a year before a concert is held.

They begin by conducting meetings to talk about the overall concept of each event with the artists and their agency, where they would then propose an idea based on the size of the venue. After that, they would begin discussing the stage design and the flow of the setlist - in which they would have a lot of considerations to make, such as the storyline, flow, and how physically strenuous a song is.

After that, Kim Sang Wook and his team will begin contacting experts in certain fields such as lighting, special effects, and costumes after they have conceptualized the concert's elements. For example, for the lift used in Jungkook's "Euphoria," the team had to hire engineers and consult with them how long Jungkook could fly and where he should take off and land.

Kim Sang Wook also emphasizes on creating narratives in his works. Although it's not really something a concert director or producer gets asked to do, him and his team do so to add unique elements to storytelling through BTS's performances.

He first started working with BTS in 2013 for their debut showcase. He revealed that over the years when he reads reviews that praise BTS's concerts and hear the audience cheering, he feels rewarded.

In other news, Kim Sang Wook published a book titled "A Show Director's Logbook in K-pop Wave: From Clubs to Wembley Stadium, Directing Notes on K-pop Shows," which shares behind the scenes stories from his time as a concert director for BTS.

For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Robyn Joan
An appeal has been made by the Biden administration to keep the transgender mandate, which will order religious hospitals and doctors to perform sex change operations, regardless of their beliefs.

The Biden administration has sent in an appeal to maintain the transgender mandate, a non-discrimination provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that will require medical professionals and institutions to perform gender-transition surgeries regardless of their conscientious and religious beliefs. The news came from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit, public interest legal and educational institution.

"#BREAKING: The Biden Admin just filed an appeal seeking to force religious doctors and hospitals to perform potentially harmful gender-transition procedures against their conscience and professional medical judgment," Becket's vice president and senior counsel Luke Goodrich stated on Twitter on Tuesday.

"The Biden Admin says it can punish doctors and hospitals for 'sex discrimination' unless they perform controversial gender-transition procedures," Goodrich said in a follow-up tweet.

According to the Catholic News Agency, the transgender mandate was first issued by the Obama administration in 2016 as part of a nondiscrimination provision in the ACA. The mandate ordered doctors and hospitals to provide sex change procedures upon a referral of a mental health professional.

The controversial mandate did not allow exceptions for religion and conscience, which meant that religious hospitals and doctors with certain beliefs will be forced to perform surgeries that oppose their conscientious and religious beliefs. Becket argued that because most of the medical professionals in the U.S. are funded by Medicare or Medicaid, they will be forced to comply with the transgender mandate.

The Blaze reported that the transgender mandate has faced major resistance from health professionals. In fact, just in January, a North Dakota judge ruled against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and sided with a group of Catholic hospitals who argued that the transgender mandate "violates their sincerely held religious beliefs without satisfying strict scrutiny under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

In December 2016, over 19,000 healthcare professionals, nine states, and a number of religious organizations came together to file two separate lawsuits against the transgender mandate and two federal courts placed an injunction on the mandate.

Morever, there is an ongoing case against the transgender mandate in which the the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to the lower court on April 15, leaving them to decide whether it should be permanently abolished.

In 2020, the Trump administration added conscience protections for medical professionals who opposed the transgender mandate. However, a federal court placed an injunction on that rule.

Conservatives are concerned that the Biden administration would punish the very same doctors and health professionals who are providing care for the young and elderly, and as Goodrich of Becket said, "religious doctors, hospitals, and clinics who joyfully serve ALL patients regardless of sex or gender identity."

Goodrich accused the Biden administration of "jeopardizing" the care that they provide and "[attempting] to punish them with multi-million dollar penalties" in the name of anti-discrimination for sex change procedures that have been found to be "deeply harmful."

He added that aside from being physically and mentally harmful, there is "not enough evidence" to show that these sex change procedures provide better health outcomes for patients.
South Africa: COVID-19 ACT Accelerator marks first anniversary

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today participate in a virtual event to mark the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organisations Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT Accelerator).

The event brings together ACT Accelerator co-founders, Facilitation Council co-chairs and principals from partner agencies. It will afford participants a chance to reflect on progress, challenges and the path forward.

South Africa, alongside Norway, has co-chaired the Facilitation Council of the ACT Accelerator since September 2020.

In one year, the ACT Accelerator has made significant strides in the development and equitable distribution of millions of diagnostic kits, vaccines doses and treatment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The accelerator comprises four pillars: Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Vaccines (also known as COVAX), with the Health Systems Connector pillar working across the other three. Each pillar is managed by two to three partner agencies.

Additionally, the World Health Organisation leads on the cross-cutting Access and Allocation work stream.

As of 19 November 2020, since the launch of the ACT Accelerator, the Diagnostics, Therapeutics, Vaccine the Health Systems Connector pillars has delivered the following:

The Diagnostics pillar has invested in innovation for faster, more accurate, affordable and easier-to-use tests, boosting manufacturing capabilities, and ensuring that tests are scalable. More than 50 diagnostic tests have been evaluated. In September 2020, ACT Accelerator partners announced that they would make available 120 million affordable, quality COVID-19 rapid tests for low- and middle-income countries.

The Therapeutics pillar aims to find the most promising treatments for everyone across the world and ensure that the most marginalised communities can access the benefits too. It is analysing more than 1 700 clinical trials for promising treatments and has secured dexamethasone for up to 2.9 million patients in low-income countries. It has also secured an agreement to help facilitate future access to monoclonal antibody therapies in low- and middle-income countries.

The Vaccines pillar  also known as COVAX  represents the largest and most varied portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines globally and which currently contains over 10 vaccine candidates.

The pillar also launched the COVAX Facility for global procurement of vaccines, with over 180 countries engaged.

A total 190 countries signed up to the COVAX Facility which has shipped more than 40 million doses to 100+ participating economies.

The aim for 2021 is to deliver 2.5 billion safe and effective doses by the end of the year.

The Health Systems connector has surveyed over 100 countries to identify health system bottlenecks and capacity gaps, and mapped the systems requirements for COVID-19 tool delivery in four out of the worlds six regions.

The event will be live streamed from the World Health Organisations pandemic page. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The (RBI) on Friday asked card companies American Express and Diners Club International not to get new domestic customers onboard from May 1 as they did not adhere to the guidelines on local

These entities have been found non-compliant with the directions on storage of payment system data. This order will not impact existing customers, the RBI said in a notification on its website.

Reacting to the development, American Express in a statement said: "We have been in regular dialogue with the about data localisation requirements and have demonstrated our progress towards complying with the regulation. While were disappointed that the RBI has taken this course of action, we are working with them to resolve their concerns as quickly as possible. This does not impact the services that we offer to our existing customers in India, and our customers can continue to use and accept our cards as normal.



At the end of February, American Express had credit cards outstanding of 1.56 million and was the seventh-largest issuer in the country. Its cards were used for transactions worth Rs 2,325 crore, according to the RBI data.

The Diners Club data was not separately available; it has a tie-up with in India, the countrys largest card issuer. A spokesperson for was not immediately available for comment, but it is understood that the share of Diners Club in the banks total cards portfolio is not much.

Both these cards are premium and are used widely for international travels and high value spending.

"This local obligation is similar to the one proposed under the Personal Data Privacy Bill which suggested very hard data localisation obligation on entities, which were objected to by MNCs, said Salman Waris, Partner - Head TMT and IP Practice at Delhi-based TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors. However, with recent mega data and cyber breaches, it might be worthwhile to have data stored on local servers so as to avoid jurisdiction and governing law and liability issues at a later date in case of such a breach, Waris said.

The central bank, in April 2018, had told all payment system providers to store their entire data in a system only in India. They were also required to report compliance to the RBI and submit a board-approved System Audit Report (SAR), prepared by a CERT-In-empaneled auditor within the timelines specified therein. The data needed to be stored in India included full end-to-end transaction details, information collected, carried and processed as part of the message and payment instruction.

The RBI had given these companies six months for compliance.

That led to a huge hue and cry and the US based companies wanted to engage the US government to pressure India and the RBI to ease rules, Business Standard had reported that time.

Companies like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, as well as global banks, had planned to form industry-level lobby groups, opposing the RBIs data localisation guidelines.

A few other powerful lobby groups, such as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), and the US-India Business Council (USIBC) were also tapped on behalf of the American companies, according to sources.

But the RBI remained firm in its approach. Following this, almost all payments companies complied with the RBIs guidelines and stored data locally.

India does not have a specific legislation dealing with user data breach cases or penal actions relating to the same as yet. The Personal Data Protection Bill, which is proposed to deal with such cases of data breaches has been pending in the Lok Sabha since 2019.

Recent cases on data breach have brought the issue centrestage. An alleged data breach at MobiKwik affected the data of 3.5 million of its users, exposing know-your-customer documents such as addresses, phone numbers, Aadhaar card, PAN cards and so on. The size of the data was reported to be 8.2 TB. MobiKwik has denied the breach.

Earlier this month, millions of records of pizza chain Dominos' customer data were leaked online. Facebook and LinkedIn also saw data leaks of millions of users this month, including the data of Indian users. While both admitted that customer data had been leaked, both said it wasnt hacked from their systems, but had been scraped. This means using an application to extract valuable information from a website.
At least 13 patients including 6 women perished in a major fire that broke out in a private Covid hospital in Virar town of Palghar district of Maharashtra, around 80 kms north of Mumbai, early on Friday, officials said.

President R. N. Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders have expressed grief over the tragedy.

The conflagration was noticed around 3.15 a.m. in the ICU ward located on the second floor of the 4-storeyed Vijay Vallabh hospital at Tirupati Nagar in Virar.

The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation immediately rushed fire-fighting teams and other rescue agencies to the spot to battle the blaze, believed to be caused by a suspected electrical short-circuit.

The fire was brought under control after two hours, around 5.50 a.m.

While 13 people perished in the burning ICU, around 4 others there were shifted and rushed to safety before the flames spread further.

Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ordered a probe into the tragedy and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of all deceased, besides Rs 100,000 to all the seriously injured.

Prime Minister Modi also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured.

Terming the fire as "a huge tragedy," Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the VVMC will give a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the victims.

Agriculture Minister and Palghar Guardian Minister Dada D. Bhuse, two local legislators of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) Hitendra Thakur and his son Kshitij Thakur, besides Leader of Opposition (Council) Pravin Darekar, top police and civic officials rushed to the site to review the rescue operations.

This is the second major Covid season tragedy in the past 48 hours after an oxygen gas leak in a Nashik Municipal Corporation hospital on April 21 claimed 29 lives so far.

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.
Ever woken up to the news of a death of a celebrity or any other prominent person and you straight up paid your respects and shared the sad news with your friends and family, only to find out that person is in fact, alive?



Well, fortunately for you, you're not alone.

Welcome to the internet's "celebrity death hoax" phenomenon that continues to take countless lives of hale and hearty celebrities and other renowned personalities (some, multiple times in a calendar year) by creating fake reports of their deaths.

 Oyeyeah

Kept on the same pedestal as India's prestigious "WhatsApp University", a term made popular for the spread of fake news or disinformation through social networking app WhatsApp, celebrity death hoaxes has two victims- the celebrity who is falsely reported to be dead and the person who has shared the news.



Now, the latest victims of this hoax have been Indian politician and writer Shashi Tharoor (let's say, the 'share-r') and Indian politician, Sumitra Mahajan (the share-e), the former speaker of the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

 Pinterest

What happened was, Tharoor, after coming across the false news of Mahajan passing away on the internet, posted a tweet to pay tribute to her. He wrote,



"Saddened to learn of the passing of former LokSabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. I remember many positive interactions with her, including when she &the late Sushma Swaraj asked me to lead a Parliamentary delegation to BRICS in Moscow. My condolences to her family &prayers: OmShanti!

It had earlier been reported that Mahajan had complained of fever and was subsequently tested negative for COVID-19.

 Dnaindia

However, soon after Tharoor's tweet, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied the reports and said that she was 'hail and hearty', following which a red-faced Tharoor was forced to delete his tweet.



The 65-year-old Congress MP later said that he was relieved and explained how he received the news from what he felt was a "reliable source".

"I am relieved if that is so. I received this from what I thought was a reliable source.... Happy to retract and appalled that anyone would make up such news," he tweeted.

I am relieved if that is so. I received this from what I thought was a reliable source:           .

        . Happy to retract & appalled that anyone would make up such news. https://t.co/3c8pDGaBRv  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2021

Also, replying to a tweet of BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Tharoor said,



"Thanks @kailashOnline . I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra jis health and long life."

Thanks @kailashOnline. I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra jis health and long life.  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2021

It is reported that Mahajan had been admitted to the Bombay hospital in Indore on Wednesday (April 21) after she had a mild fever; however, she is now recovering.



Well, we wish the Indian politician good health and can only have sympathies for Tharoor.

We don't blame you, sir. Fake news gets the best of us!
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the infamous video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyds neck was Chauvins nonchalance while doing so  an arrogance revealing a lack of regard for his victims humanity.

Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder and other charges for killing Floyd during their encounter on May 25. That has created momentum in Congress and in many states and local jurisdictions for reforms to improve police relationships with minority communities, diminish violence and ensure basic rights.

To the credit of the Cognetti administration and Scranton police leadership, city police have stepped up training along those lines. The department has acquired a training system to help officers navigate potentially violent encounters. And the department has begun required anti-bias training for all officers.

Bias is not a problem unique to police officers, of course. Its pervasive in the society, in many different ways. But police uniquely are empowered as agents of the government, a fundamental principle of which  derived from the Constitution itself  is that it must treat everyone fairly and equally. That creates a special obligation for officers to guard against bias in the performance of their duties.

A professional departments policies and procedures should help officers in that regard, but Chauvin demonstrated those standards dont mean much if an officer disregards them while abusing the power with which he is entrusted.

The training for which the city has contracted also makes the points that a commitment to unbiased policing must flow from the command level through the ranks, and that public perception of bias is crucial to public confidence in the police force, further raising the bar for officers performance.

Thinking about bias is the first step to defeating it. All police forces in the region should join Scranton in that endeavor.
In McKinneys Midnight, Water City (Soho Crime, July.), an unnamed investigator sets out to solve a murder in an undersea city in the year 2142.

What inspired this book?

In 2015, I was working on a pilot about the first international drug smugglers. One of the characters was colorblind, and when he dropped acid, he was able to see green and red for the first time in his life. The pilot went nowhere, but I couldnt shake the idea of this colorblind person who can see these colors in unique circumstances. I began reading a lot about brain disorders and synesthesia, and came up with the idea of a colorblind detective who can see murder in greens and death in reds. That year, there also was a controversy here in Hawaii about the construction of a 30-meter telescope on Mauna Kea. I asked myself, if a culture is stripped of its most sacred place, will that culture survive? No telescope is worth risking a culture. This book imagines a future where the mountain is blanketed with the largest telescope in the world, and a place is irrevocably changed because of it.

How did the book deviate from your original idea?

It didnt really. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do from the start. The three centerpieces of technological advancement remained consistent: the iE (the floating, neurally linked smart phone), AMP chambers (the use of hibernation to extend life expectancy and work efficiency), and underwater cities. What changed were the details.

Why leave your protagonist unnamed?

I left him unnamed because Im imagining a future where race doesnt really matter. A globalized, mixed-race future. I felt like giving him a name would force the reader to imagine something specifically ethnic, and I didnt want that. Hopefully, the effect is that the reader doesnt try to pinpoint a racial identity and just goes with it. Also, I cant remember the last time I thought of myself as Chris or someone called me Chris in person. Im babe, dad, braddah, dude, and sadly, as of late, uncle. Im sure Im Chris or McKinney when Im referred to outside my presence, but this is a first-person narrative, right? As for things going on currently, like BLM and racist attacks against Asians, nothing dies quietly in America. But Im hoping that we are seeing the last, desperate death throes of racism in this country. By 2142, maybe its finally gone.
Over 330,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 332,730 fresh infections on Friday, taking the cumulative caseload to 16.2 million, according to central health ministry data. This is also the biggest ever one-day jump in cases reported by any country so far. The country saw 2,263 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 186,920. The active caseload is at 2.4 million infections, while the total recoveries have surged to 13.6 million. As many as 135 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 3.1 million were given on Thursday. Read more here

Pfizer to offer vaccine to govt at not-for-profit rate

US pharma giant Pfizer plans to provide its Covid-19 shots to India at a not-for-profit price, a report in The Indian Express said citing a statement from the firm. This comes amid speculations that the firm may sell its vaccines in the open market as the Centre has allowed vaccine makers to set their own prices for states and private hospitals. For India, Pfizer has offered a not-for-profit price for its vaccine for the Government immunization program. We continue to be in discussions with the Government and remain committed to make our vaccine available for deployment in Indias immunization program, a Pfizer spokesperson said. Read more here

Oxygen shortage was flagged twice last year

Warning signs for a severe shortage of medical oxygen came earlyin April last year and again in November, a report in The Indian Express said. The first was just a week after the national lockdown began by one of the 11 Empowered Groups of Officers, set up by the Centre for handling the Covid crisis. The Empowered Group red-flagged oxygen shortage on April 1. The minutes of the meeting said: In the coming days India could face a shortage of oxygen supplies. To address this, CII will coordinate with Indian Gas Association and mitigate the lack of oxygen supply. Read more here

Double mutant variant driving surge in cases: Experts theorise

As India grapples with an explosion in Covid cases, experts have theorised that the second wave of infections is being driven by the 'double mutant' variant discovered in the country, a report in ThePrint said. The double mutant is likely to become the dominant form of the virus in India and some countries abroad, the experts said. However, the evidence is still inconclusive owing to a lack of sequencing infrastructure and power. Read more here

Expect 6-7 million Covid shots a day from May 1: CoWin panel head

The Centre is expecting to administer six to seven million shots a day once the vaccination programme opens up to all Indian adults from May 1, a report in ThePrint said. In the last two phases, we have seen a daily traffic of up to 4.5 million on some days. This time we are expecting a traffic of 6-7 million and we have augmented backend capacities suitably to handle as much traffic as comes in," Dr R S Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority and head of the empowered group on the Co-Win platform told ThePrint. "Now that the age limit has expanded, we would naturally have a lot more to handle and we have prepared ourselves accordingly, Read more here
Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, Governance lecturer at the Central University, has expressed shock at President Nana Akufo-Addo's appointment of three Deputy Ministers to a Ministry.



President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday released a list of his Deputy Ministers-designate to assist the Ministers in various Ministries.



The Ministries of Trade, Energy and Local Government, Decentralization & Rural Dev't, Trade & Industry, as well as Energy, have 3 deputy ministers each.



The nominees are however, yet to be vetted and approved by the Appointments Committee in Parliament.



Speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Dr. Otchere-Ankrah believed three (3) is a crowd, and a Ministry should have Deputy Ministers not exceeding two.



''I disagree with the President on his three Deputy Ministers for three Ministries. I think two would have sufficed," he opined.



Although disagreeing with the President's decision to nominate 3 persons as Deputy ministers-designate, he however advised the nominees to execute their duties effectively, when approved by the Appointments Committee in Parliament.



He asked them not to forget their mandate when they get to their various Ministries.



Dr. Otchere-Ankrah also called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to periodically reshuffle his Ministers and Deputy Ministers for efficient performance.



''One thing that the President falls short of is reshuffle; he should, this time, undertake periodic reshuffle'', he said.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Two political leaders and the head of a law-enforcement agency in Spain have received letters containing death threats and bullets, according to reports to which EL PAIS has had access and to information provided by the Interior Ministry.

The targets are Maria Gamez, head of the Civil Guard; Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Pablo Iglesias, head of the leftist party Unidas Podemos and a candidate in the upcoming Madrid regional election, a race that he joined after stepping down as a deputy prime minister from the PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition government.

You have 10 days to resign. The days of laughing at us are over. National Police. Civil Guard. Time is not on your side for the taponazos [very loud gunfire or explosion], reads an anonymous letter postmarked April 19 and addressed to Grande-Marlaska. Inside the envelope were two 7.62x51mm bullets, according to the police report filed by the minister. An investigation is underway to identify the sender.

Civil Guard chief Gamez received a similar, handwritten message a day earlier, although it was also postmarked April 19. In this case, there was no mention of police forces although it used the term taponazo once more. There was one 7.62mm bullet inside the envelope.

Sources at Unidas Podemos on Thursday confirmed that Pablo Iglesias had received a letter containing a serious death threat but had not yet filed a formal complaint. The same sources added that this is not the first time that Iglesias has been sent messages of this nature.

The Interior Ministry has received a letter addressed to me containing death threats against me and my family, the political leader revealed later on Twitter. He included an image of the missive, which carried the following message written in capital letters and without punctuation marks: Pablo Iglesias Turrion, you have let our parents and grandparents die. Your wife, your parents and you are sentenced to the death penalty. Your time is running out. The party originally said that it contained two rounds of the type used with Spanish CETME rifles, but Iglesias himself said there were four.

This is just another consequence of normalizing and whitewashing the hate speech of the far right. And it is also a consequence of impunity, said Iglesias on Twitter, lamenting that there has been not a single arrest over the attack on his partys headquarters in Cartagena (Murcia) with a Molotov cocktail in early April.

Iglesias also noted that a former member of La Legion, an elite military unit, got off scot-free after firing live ammunition at photographs of government members in front of a camera and laughing about it. He also mentioned the lack of legal consequences for the retired members of the military who talked about executing 26 million red Spaniards on a social media chat group. How can they not feel absolute impunity to send us death threats with assault weapon bullets?

Iglesias went on to say that the attacks are not just against him and his family but about you, your right to vote for whomever you like and to exercise your freedom. They are threatening democracy.

The PSOE candidate in the Madrid election, Angel Gabilondo, turned to Twitter to show support for all three targets of the death threats. Hate speech and divisiveness have very serious consequences for our democracy. Lets avoid an escalation of cruelty.

Monica Garcia, the contender for the small leftist party Mas Madrid, wrote that there is no room for hate and violence in society.

English version by Susana Urra.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 01:58:09|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for strong multilateral action to address the common crises and threats that the international community is facing.

"We need strong multilateral action now, to emerge from the pandemic safely, to address the climate crisis, and to build stronger, safer communities and societies," the UN chief said in his video message marking the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, which falls on April 24 annually.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a tragic reminder of how deeply connected we are," said the top UN official. "There is a clear and urgent need for concrete multilateral solutions, based on common action across borders for the good of all humanity, starting with the equitable distribution of vaccines as a global public good."

Guterres noted that this need "goes far beyond the pandemic."

"It applies to all the transnational threats we face: the climate crisis; air and water pollution; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; the development of new technologies in the absence of agreed principles and norms."

"We need a more networked multilateralism, with stronger coordination between regional and international organizations, international financial institutions and public/private alliances," the secretary-general said.

"We need an inclusive multilateralism, that draws on civil society, business, local and regional authorities and others, and shares power more broadly and fairly," he added.

"Today, as we mark the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, let's renew our commitment to global multilateral solutions that deliver for people and planet," concluded the secretary-general.

The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was established on Dec. 12, 2018 through a UN resolution and was first observed on April 24, 2019.

Preserving the values of multilateralism and international cooperation, which underpin the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is fundamental for promoting and supporting the three pillars of the UN - peace and security, development and human rights. Enditem
This Jan. 12, 2021, file photo provided by the LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner shows National Guard members assisting with processing COVID-19 deaths and placing them into temporary storage at LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner Office in Los Angeles. Just a few months ago, California was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Now as cases spike in other parts of the country, California has gone from worst to first with the lowest infection rate in the U.S. even as it moves toward a broader reopening of its economy. (LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner via AP, File)

Just a few months ago, California was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Hospitals in Los Angeles were drowning in patients, and ambulances were idling outside with people struggling to breathe, waiting for beds to open.

The death count was staggeringso many that morgues filled and refrigerated trucks were brought in to handle the overflow.

Now as cases spike in other parts of the country, California has gone from worst to first with the lowest infection rate in the U.S. even as it has moved quickly to reopen more businesses with greater customer counts and allow larger gatherings.

A scramble to get COVID-19 vaccinations has given way to an open invite in many places. Where people lined up hours and counties struggled to get doses, there now appears to be a glut of the shots in many locations.

"It has been a success story for California to have gone from our, if you will, viral tsunami that happened after the back-to-back holiday season to where we are now," said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley of the University of California, Los Angeles' public health school.

At the peak of California's winter surge that followed the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays, the state was recording 40,000 new cases daily and well above 500 deaths per day. Those numbers have dwindled to 2,300 new cases and 68 deaths daily.

The state surpassed Hawaii on Thursday with the lowest average number of cases per capita in the past two weeks, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. One in every 2,416 people in California tested positive in the past week. At the other end of the spectrum, one in every 223 people in Michigan was diagnosed with the virus.

Kim-Farley said it's been like turning around a massive tanker ship to reach today's level of improvement. He credited government and public health agencies with providing clear guidelines that businesses, schools and individuals largely followed, including mask mandates and social distancing.

In this April 8, 2021, file photo motorists sit inside their vehicles as they wait their turn to be inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine at the California State University, Los Angeles campus. California has gone from worst to first in the rate of coronavirus infections. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows the state surpassed Hawaii on Thursday, April 22, with the lowest average number of COVID-19 cases per capita. That comes just a few months after California was the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been allowing businesses and schools to reopen by county based on case levels. At different points in the pandemic, he has faced heavy criticism for being too restrictive, and now some worry he is moving too quickly.

All counties have improved enough to move out of the strictest of four tiers, and 38 of the 58 countiesaccounting for 87% of the state's populationnow are in the second least-restrictive tier. Newsom said he plans to lift most remaining coronavirus restrictions by June 15.

The pandemic has surged unevenly across the U.S.

Cases were low in California a year ago, compared with New York, where hospitals were overwhelmed last spring. When California was in the throes of a second winter spike in mid-January, Michigan cases were tapering to a low point in February before surging to the highest current infection rate in the U.S.

Kim-Farley said California's surge had put fear into more people to wear masks, a rule still in place that he said he has helped prevent a resurgence.

"Some states in the United States that lifted mask mandates are suffering the consequences of that with increasing numbers of cases while we are continuing to see decreases," he said.

California struggled with its vaccine rollout like other states, limiting doses to health workers and elderly who were more at risk of being hospitalized or dying. Doses have increased as cases have tapered, and the high number of infections over the winter also led to a certain level of natural immunity.

Only weeks ago, counties struggled to get doses. The state limited eligibility for the precious vaccine, and stories abounded of cheaters jumping the line to get a shot.

In this March 25, 2021, file photo Healthcare workers tend to people in cars at a drive up vaccination center at City College of San Francisco during the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco. Just a few months ago, California was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Hospitals in Los Angeles were drowning in patients and ambulances were idling outside with people struggling to breathe, waiting for beds to open. Now as cases spike in other parts of the country, California has gone from worst to first with the lowest infection rate in the U.S. even as it moves toward a broader reopening of its economy. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The Vaccine Spotter website that helps book appointments showed a state map Thursday awash in green dots, indicating available appointments. Many were available the same day, and some sites were allowing people to show up without appointments.

Los Angeles County opened up sites in Palmdale and Lancaster to walk-ups. The largest mass vaccination clinic in Napa County saw demand drop from a flood to a trickle just days after California last week expanded vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older. It's also allowing walk-ins.

"We definitely have the capacity," county spokeswoman Janet Upton said. "But now what we're lacking is, seemingly, public interest."

California has about 40 million residents, and a little more than half the 32 million eligible for vaccines have gotten at least one shot.

A combination of concern over reports of rare complications along with misinformation and conspiracy theories and a sense among some that the danger has waned has led to vaccine hesitancy.

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer tried to persuade more people to set aside worries about the vaccine, noting that the chance of a serious side effect is the same as dying in a 200-mile road trip that most people would not hesitate to take.

"The risk of having a serious side effect from COVID vaccine is about one in a million, she said. "We take these tiny risks every day as we go about our lives because we know what's on the other side of it is so worthwhile. Similarly, the return to normal that's on the other side of vaccination is worthwhile."

With the rollout of the vaccine, mortuaries that had run out of space have returned to normal.

"It's the difference between night and day," said Todd Beckley, the general manager of Inglewood Cemetery Mortuary. "There was a time where we had nine deaths a day, and they were all COVID. We haven't had a COVID death in four days."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) told Politico he's backing Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski for re-election in Alaska's 2022 Senate race.

Why it matters: While Murkowski is facing a primary challenge from at least one pro-Trump Republican, Democrats in Manchin's own party will also be vying for the Alaska Senate seat. Murkowski said she would "welcome [Manchin's] endorsement."

What they're saying: "I've met a lot of good people in Alaska, they know when they've got the real deal. And they see the person that basically is bringing both sides together, trying to look for the best interest," Manchin said of Murkowski during a joint interview.

The big picture: Manchin's endorsement underscores his commitment to working with Republicans. Both he and Murkowski are critical moderate swing votes in the 50-50 Senate and have caused headaches for their respective party's leadership.

For Democrats, Manchin opposes abolishing the filibuster, is hesitant about using reconciliation and often pushes back against progressive priorities.

Manchin opposes abolishing the filibuster, is hesitant about using reconciliation and often pushes back against progressive priorities. For Republicans, Murkowski is pro-choice, openly anti-Trump and crosses party lines frequently on key votes and nominations  including the second impeachment of Donald Trump. The former president has vowed to campaign against her.

Flashback: Manchin also endorsed moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in her 2020 re-election campaign.
Drum and bass DJ/producer and Kiwi favourite Wilkinson has got plenty in store for when he hits our shores, teasing brand new music on his socials.

Give a listen to the snippet below - Wilkinson shared this with the caption 'New music incoming. Cant wait to get this one out there! 2 weeks!'
BETHESDA, Md., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Walker & Dunlop, Inc. and GeoPhy announced today that their multifamily appraisal business, Apprise, has expanded to the West Coast with the hiring of Jacinto Munoz, Managing Director and Head of Strategy and Compliance. The addition of Mr. Munoz effectively completes Apprise's executive leadership team as well as the firm's national footprint.

Mr. Munoz is joined by Managing Director Russ Zellner, based in Irvine, California, the group will be responsible for overseeing commercial and multifamily appraisals throughout the West Coast. The West Coast team will also include Director Eric Roush, Associate Directors Anmmar Alsaggaf, Sevak Tsaturyan, and Steven Lee, as well as Associates Steven Mehrabian and Jason Garcia.

Meghan Czechowski, Head of Valuation and Managing Director at Apprise, stated, "We are thrilled to welcome Jacinto, Russ, and the rest of the West Coast team to Apprise. With an exceptional reputation and a far-reaching client base throughout the nation, the team brings decades of experience in the multifamily valuation field." Nicole Urquhart-Bradley, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director for Apprise, added, "This team will be an excellent addition to our growing platform. The team also represents Apprise's foothold in California, one of the country's most active multifamily markets."

"We're excited to put our appraisal expertise to work within Apprise's cutting-edge platform," commented Mr. Munoz. "Our existing client base will undoubtedly gain immediate value from this modern valuation concept with unparalleled access to data."

Mr. Munoz and Mr. Zellner come to Apprise from Chase Bank's CTL Group. Mr. Munoz was most recently an Executive Director and National Appraisal Manager. Mr. Zellner most recently was a Vice President and Regional Appraisal Manager. Bringing a cumulative 40 years of experience in the property valuation and consultancy fields, each has held numerous positions in the multifamily appraisal space and are experts in valuing all types of multifamily properties. The team's experience comprises all property types and asset classes with a focus on multifamily properties including affordable, conventional, and mixed-use assets. The group specializes in appraisals that meet the compliance requirements of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and balance sheet lenders.

Apprise harnesses state-of-the-art trend analysis and enhanced analytics, with instant access to 20 years of licensed data on more than 2.5 million properties from proprietary databases and industry standard resources. Thanks to its proprietary software and comprehensive nationwide data  Apprise's appraisers can deliver property and market-level insights within hours, ensuring client confidence in decision-making and exceptional risk mitigation.

Focused exclusively on the U.S. market, Apprise's national team now has a collective track record of valuing $150 billion worth of commercial real estate properties, comprising more than 900,000 units per year. As the team has grown, it has expanded to 46 states, serving a client base that includes GSE lenders, owners/operators, banks, and institutional lenders. For more information on Apprise, visit https://www.apprise.us.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop's 1,000+ professionals in 38 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.

About GeoPhy

GeoPhy, with U.S. headquarters in New York City, helps lenders and investors understand property value and its underlying drivers. The company sources, links, and cleanses traditional and unconventional data, then applies advanced algorithms to provide a unique perspective on commercial property values. GeoPhy's unique approach provides the industry's most accurate, objective property valuations and tools that allow users to develop a deeper understanding of the factors influencing property values.

SOURCE Walker & Dunlop, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.walkerdunlop.com


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A US spy plane was spotted taking off from England last week as it embarked on another reconnaissance mission in Europe amid growing tension between Russia and Ukraine.

Photographs of the Lockheed U-2, nicknamed the Dragon Lady after its CIA codename, were captured at RAF Fairford on April 16 as an estimated 100,000 Russian soldiers continued to gather near the Ukrainian border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has since signalled that Russia will begin to pull back excess troops, while he created an inflatable army outside Moscow which could be deployed to fool enemy drones and satellites.

The high-altitude, reconnaissance aircraft has often been seen above the Gloucestershire base in recent weeks, but both the Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Air Force have refused to reveal the reason for the movement.

In February, another of America's fleet of 32 operational U-2 aircraft was spotted flying over England from RAF Fairford, which acts as the base for these jets while on deployments to Britain.

The USAF confirmed in September 2019 that the jets were sent to Fairford from the Beale Air Force Base, California, for 'routine intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions'.

A statement added: 'The deployment of ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) assets to the European theater demonstrates U.S. commitment to our allies and partners in the region.'

Photographs of the Lockheed U-2, nicknamed the Dragon Lady after its CIA codename, were captured at RAF Fairford on April 16 as an estimated 100,000 Russian soldiers continued to amass near to the Ukrainian border, as well as in Crimea

The high-altitude, reconnaissance aircraft has regularly been seen above the base in recent weeks, but both the Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Air Force were unable to confirm why it had arrived

The USAF previously confirmed that these jets are based at Fairford for 'routine intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions' which are organised alongside the British government

The airbase is owned by the Military of Defence but used by the USAF, and is currently expanding to house some 2,000 US personnel and their families.

The purpose of the recent movement is unclear, but the U-2's presence in Europe could present a warning to Vladimir Putin as he yesterday indicated Russia will begin to pull back troops deployed on the border with Ukraine.

The announcement, made on Thursday, could see an end to the build-up of an estimated 100,000 Russian soldiers who have arrived at the Russian-Ukrainian border in recent weeks.

The military movement had alarmed leaders in Kiev and the West, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warning Putin on Tuesday that 'millions of lives are at stake' if conflict erupts between the two powers.

MailOnline has contacted the USAF in Europe for further details.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden spoke with Putin to warn him against making aggressive moves toward Ukraine.

He also invited the Russian President to a summit meeting, suggesting the two leaders meet in a third country to discuss their differences.

A White House statement said Biden had 'voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraines borders, and called on Russia to deescalate tensions'.

It added: 'Biden also made clear that the United States will act firmly in defence of its national interests in response to Russias actions, such as cyber intrusions and election interference.'

The airbase is owned by the Military of Defence but used by the USAF, and is currently expanding to house some 2,000 US personnel and their families. Pictured: A U-2 jet on April 16

The unexplained U-2 movement from Fairford comes as Putin yesterday signalled that Russia will begin pulling back excess troops deployed on the border with Ukraine

Lockheed U-2 aircraft have previously taken part in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pictured: A plane at RAF Fairford

Lockheed U-2 aircraft have previously taken part in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

They were initially used by the CIA, first flown in 1955 during the Cold War and for top-secret missions over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam and Cuba.

They feature a 63ft-long thin fuselage, two high-aspect, un-swept glider-like wings, and a powerful engine which is carefully designed to keep the plane higher than 70,000ft.

The surveillance plane is one of just a few aircraft models that have served the United States Air Force for more than 50 years, with this year marking the 66th anniversary of its first flight.

It can fly for up to 12 hours at 70,000ft - twice the altitude of a commercial plane - reaching speeds of more than 475mph.

'Imagined and built by Skunk Works in the early 1950s, the U-2 name has become synonymous with rapid fielding and innovation,' Aerospace company Lockheed Martin previously explained.

'Plus, it boasts an iconic legacy as one of the few planes to operate during the Cold War and remain in operation today thanks to a completely new and redesigned airframe built in the 1980s.

The aircraft were initially used by the CIA, first flown in 1955 during the Cold War and for top-secret missions over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam and Cuba

'Sixty years after its first flight, the U-2's incredible technological and operational capabilities are enabling missions from natural disaster support to intelligence gathering.

'And should the need arise, the team has a pretty good idea about where to take the Dragon Lady next.'

The unexplained U-2 movement from Fairford comes as Putin yesterday signalled that Russia will begin pulling back excess troops deployed on the border with Ukraine.

The announcement is apparently calling an end to a buildup of over 100,000 soldiers on the Russian-Ukrainian border in the last few weeks that had worried the West and Ukraine.

President Zelensky said he 'welcomed' Russia's withdrawal but that Kiev would remain vigilant.

'The reduction of troops on our border proportionally reduces tension,' Zelenskiy tweeted. 'Ukraine is always vigilant, yet welcomes any steps to decrease the military presence & deescalate the situation in Donbass.'

The withdrawal of forces had come hours after Putin defiantly warned the West not to 'dare cross the red line' of interfering with or provoking his troops stationed in Russian territory.

Elsewhere, Putin this week unveiled Second World War-style fake military vehicles outside Moscow that he uses to fool NATO

The helium-filled tanks, fighter jets, missile systems and transport trucks were proudly displayed by the defence ministry ahead of military exercises where the decoys will be deployed to fool enemy drones and satellites

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu flew over Crimea in a helicopter on Thursday to personally oversee the mock invasion involving thousands of soldiers, paratroopers, gunboats and landing craft.

'I consider the goals of the snap check of readiness fulfilled,' Shoigu said. 'The troops have shown their defence capability and I decided to complete the drills in the south and western military districts.'

But, he stressed Russian was on its guard over NATO activity in eastern Europe.

Russia would 'respond appropriately to all changes in the situation near the Russian borders', he added.

He said the troops should return to their bases by May 1, but he also ordered keeping the heavy weapons deployed to western Russia as part of the drills for another massive military exercise later this year.

Elsewhere, Putin this week unveiled Second World War-style fake military vehicles outside Moscow that he uses to fool NATO.

The helium-filled tanks, fighter jets, missile systems and transport trucks were proudly displayed by the defence ministry ahead of military exercises where the decoys will be deployed to fool enemy drones and satellites.

The tactic was famously used by Winston Churchill who created a fictitious base teeming with tanks in the southeast of England before D-Day to dupe the Nazis into thinking that the Allies were planning a second invasion to follow the Normandy landings.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of France Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, ARMENPRESS was informed from the French Embassy in Armenia.

The letter runs as follows, ''Mr. President, dear Armen /handwritten/,

On the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide all my thoughts are directed to Armenia that bore the sufferings of the history. My thoughts are with the Armenian people, genocide survivors and refugees, whom once France hosted and the heirs of whom shaped our country. We will never forget.

I would like to be with you on this day full of emotions and dignity. I have asked Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State for Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and Francophonie, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to represent me in Yerevan during the Genocide commemoration events.

As I had taken the commitment, April 24ha been officially declared Armenian Genocide commemoration day since 2019. France will commemorate this day included in our republican calendar everywhere, despite epidemic restrictions. More than any other day, on this April 24 our peoples are consolidated over the same commemoration.

Remembering the past, accepting the truth and showing respects to the deceased is our responsibility for preventing oblivion, denial and falsehood. Standing with you throughout the history, we also stand with you for the sake of the future, when you country passed through a devastating conflict, where extremely much blood was shed. A new page of peace, prosperity and reconciliation should be opened.

The struggle for the sake of justice and truth that France carried out with you and will continue to do that non-stop, since that's not the struggle of only Armenians. It's the fundament of fraternity principle of the French Republic.

On this day of sadness but also hope, when we together remember the terrible sufferings of the martyred people, friendship and fraternity unite France and Armenia.

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration.

With deep respect /handwritten/,

Emmanuel MACRON

Mr. Armen SARKISSIAN,

President of the Republic of Armenia''.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration lifted an 11-day pause on the use of the vaccine after an advisory panel said it was safe to do so in combination with a new warning about the risk of blood clots, particularly among women under 50.
It is in the world's interest that Americans are vaccinated and the US has to first to take care of the requirements of its own people, State Department spokesperson Ned Price has said about Washington's restrictions on exporting raw materials for making the Covid-19 vaccines.

Asked at his briefing on Thursday if President Joe Biden's administration had made a decision on the requests made from India to lift the ban on the export of vaccine raw materials to India, Price said bluntly, "We have a special responsibility to the American people."

"It's, of course, not only in our interest to see Americans vaccinated, it's in the interests of the rest of the world to see Americans vaccinated," he added.

As for the rest of the world, "We will, of course, always do as much as we can, consistent with our first obligation," he declared.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar discussed Covid-19 and health cooperation last week and it had opened the possibility of Washington allowing vaccine raw materials to be exported.

Earlier this month, (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala appealed to Biden to allow the exports of vaccine raw materials. "If we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the US, I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up," he tweeted.

Price first tried to sidetrack the issue of restrictions on vaccine raw materials exports by claiming that the reporter had asked about intellectual property rights for vaccines and that it was a matter for the US Trade Representative (USTR).

But the reporter from a Western news service had in fact asked only about the raw materials.

The question clearly was, "We reported that they (India) have asked the US to lift a ban on the export of vaccine raw materials, which basically threatens to slow the country's vaccination drive. When will the administration decide on that?"

Price said, "You asked about intellectual property and certain controls.

That was -- is within the purview of USTR."

The export controls do not, in fact, come under the jurisdiction of the USTR which deals only with the matters of intellectual property rights.

The Defence Production Act that has been invoked to boost vaccine production in the US is reported to curtail the export of raw materials needed elsewhere.

Price then said, "What I will say broadly is that the US first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people. That campaign is well underway, and we're doing that for a couple of reasons.""Number one, we have a special responsibility to the American people. Number two, the American people, this country has been hit harder than any other country around the world -- more than 550,000 deaths, tens of millions of infections in this country alone," he said.

But Price conceded that the spread of the virus elsewhere is also a threat to everyone.

"The point the Secretary (Blinken) has made repeatedly is that as long as the virus is spreading anywhere, it is a threat to people everywhere."

But support his point about the America First vaccination policy he added, "So as long as the virus is spreading uncontrolled in this country, it can mutate and it can travel beyond our borders. That, in turn, poses a threat well beyond the US."

Price asserted that the US playing a "leadership role" in "seeking to contain the virus beyond our borders."

He cited the US rejoining the World Health Organisation and Washington's contribution of $2 billion to the COVAX facility that provides vaccines to developing countries and the promise of $2 billion more to it.

He also said that the US was sending vaccines to its neighbours Canada and Mexico.

He said, "When it comes to India, (there is the) the Quad and the arrangement with the Quad, including to increase production capacity in India."

The leaders of the Quad -- Biden and Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Yoshihide Suga of Japan and Scott Morrison of Australia -- had agreed at their summit last month on a joint programme to supply Covid-19 vaccines to countries in the Indo-Pacific.

The vaccines manufactured by India with US and Japanese funding would be distributed with Australian logistics under the programme.

Biden's Spokesperson Jen Psaki last week also sidestepped a question about lifting the ban on vaccine raw materials speaking instead about the reaction of USTR Katherine Tai to the request from India and South Africa for waiving the intellectual property rights for the vaccine.

While not committing to waiver of intellectual property rights, Tai had given a hint of optimism saying that the inequities in the developing countries' access to vaccines was unacceptable and "extraordinary times require extraordinary leadership, communication, and creativity."

India has become the world's main supplier of vaccines because of the license granted to SII by Oxford and AstraZeneca for the vaccine developed by them.

(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.)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / The law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP announces that class action litigation has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of Velodyne Lidar, Inc. ("Velodyne" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:VLDR; VLDRW) between July 2, 2020 and March 17, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period").

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Velodyne securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court for appointment as lead plaintiff by no later than May 3, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your share of any recovery in the actions will not be affected by your decision of whether to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. You may retain Lieff Cabraser, or other attorneys, as your counsel in the action.

Velodyne investors who wish to learn more about the litigation and how to seek appointment as lead plaintiff should click here or contact Sharon M. Lee of Lieff Cabraser toll-free at 1-800-541-7358.

Background on the Velodyne Securities Class Litigation

Velodyne, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a technology company that provides solutions to develop safe automated systems including real-time surround view lidar sensors. On September 29, 2020, Velodyne merged with Graf Industrial Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company, and began to trade under the symbol "VLDR." The action alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors: (1) that certain of Velodyne's directors had failed to operate with respect, honesty, integrity, and candor in their dealings with the Company's officers and directors; and (2) that as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about Velodyne's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

Story continues

On February 22, 2021, before the open of the market, Velodyne issued a press release revealing that the Board had "removed David Hall as Chairman of the Board and terminated Marta Hall's employment as Chief Marketing Officer of the Company" following the conclusion of an internal investigation which found that "Mr. Hall and Ms. Hall each behaved inappropriately with regard to certain Board and Company processes, and failed to operate with respect, honesty, integrity, and candor in their dealings with Company officers and directors." The Company also announced the formal censure of Mr. Hall and Ms. Hall, but that they would continue to remain directors of Velodyne. On this news, Velodyne's common stock fell $3.14 per share, or approximately 15%, from its close of $21.11 on February 19, 2021, to close at $17.97 on February 22, 2021, on unusually heavy trading volume. That same day, Velodyne's warrants fell $1.47, or approximately 20%, from their closing price of $7.37 on February 19, 2021, to close at $5.90 per warrant on February 22, 2021.

On March 17, 2021, Velodyne revealed that it had multiple material weaknesses in its internal controls over the Company's financial reporting. The reported weaknesses involved (1) Velodyne's "process and controls over tracking and reporting whistleblower complaints and litigation matters"; and (2) the Company's "failure to adequately review revenue schedules associated with non-standard revenue arrangements, which resulted in misstatements of revenue and deferred revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2020." On the same day, Velodyne disclosed that its former COO had resigned on March 14, 2021. On this news, the price of Velodyne stock dropped $0.22 per share, or 1.55%, from its close of $14.23 on March 16, 2021, to close at $14.01 per share on March 17, 201. The same day, the price of Velodyne warrants fell $0.16, or 3.38%, from their closing price of $4.74 on March 16, 2021, to close at $4.58 per warrant on March 17, 2021.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Nashville, is a nationally recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility.

The National Law Journal has recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the nation's top plaintiffs' law firms for fourteen years. In compiling the list, the National Law Journal examines recent verdicts and settlements and looked for firms "representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs' bar and that demonstrated unusual dedication and creativity." Law360 has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the Top 50 law firms nationwide for litigation, highlighting our firm's "laser focus" and noting that our firm routinely finds itself "facing off against some of the largest and strongest defense law firms in the world." Benchmark Litigation has named Lieff Cabraser one of the "Top 10 Plaintiffs' Firms in America."

For more information about Lieff Cabraser and the firm's representation of investors, please visit https://www.lieffcabraser.com/.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Source/Contact for Media Inquiries Only

Sharon M. Lee

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Telephone: 1-800-541-7358

SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/641651/VELODYNE-INVESTORS-May-3-2021-Filing-Deadline-in-Class-Action-Contact-Lieff-Cabraser




Caitlyn Jenner has officially announced her intentions to run for governor of California.

The former Olympian and Keeping Up with the Kardashians reality star filed paperwork to begin her campaign, which will be headquartered in the Northern California city of Roseville.

A statement on her campaign website, which went live Friday, boasts that shes lived in California for nearly 50 years, but did not indicate any type of political involvement.

I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people, she said in a statement on her site. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision.

Jenner, in a press release shared on Twitter, describes herself as a "compassionate disrupter" with plans to "fundamentally fix our state before it's too late."

She also makes multiple digs at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, noting the "over-restrictive lockdown" under his leadership.

"This is Gavin Newsom's California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends," reads the statement.

In a report by Axios, which first broke the news, her team includes a number of GOP strategists and pollsters, including Tony Fabrizio, a former Trump campaign pollster, and Steven Cheung, a Trump communications guru who worked on the 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger recall election. The outlet also confirmed that Brad Parscale, the former Trump campaign manager, had a hand in forming the team, but isnt officially a part of the campaign.

Efforts to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom are currently underway, and signatures are currently being verified to authorize a special election this year. Multiple California GOP members, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and businessman John Cox, have entered the fray.

But as the pandemic nears a relief point in California, recent polls indicate that support for a recall is lower than in past months.

SFGATE reporter Eric Ting contributed to this report.
He has kept quiet about his recent split from model girlfriend Vanessa Valladares, after their breakup made headlines this week.

But on Friday, Zac Efron reemerged on social media, posting photos from the set of his Netflix docuseries, Down To Earth.

The 33-year-old shared pictures of himself and his camera crew with the Girringun Aboriginal Corp as they did a controlled burn of the bushland in the Queensland town of Cardwell.

Back on the gram! Zac Efron came out of hiding following his split with girlfriend Vanessa Valladares on Friday, posting pictures from the set of his Netflix docuseries Down To Earth

The Hollywood hunk was dressed in a protective bright yellow uniform, teamed with a hard hat as he walked alongside a firefighter in similar gear.

In another photo, Zac beamed as he posed with his sound and camera crew, who also donned yellow protective uniforms.

In the final image he shared, the High School Musical star looked pensive as he cautiously walked through a section of the controlled burn.

To mark Earth Day, he wrote in the caption: 'I've been so blessed to be able to travel and see all of the amazing things people are doing for the planet.

The 33-year-old shared pictures of himself and his camera crew with the Girringun Aboriginal Corp as they did a controlled burn of the bushland in the Queensland town of Cardwell

On-set: In another photo, Zac beamed as he posed with his sound and camera crew, who also donned yellow protective uniforms

'It's a beautiful world, let's protect it,' he urged his followers.

'Learning from the Girringun Aboriginal Corp how to manage land through cultural burns,' he added.

Zac's Instagram post comes days after his good friend, radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands, confirmed his romance with Vanessa Valladares.

On Wednesday, Kyle confirmed the split 'wasn't just a rumour', saying: 'I can also confirm after speaking with him yesterday.'

It's over! Zac's Instagram post comes days after his good friend, radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands, confirmed his romance with Vanessa Valladares

He told his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson that he spoke to the actor to speak about the upcoming Netflix show, Byron Baes, and the rumours Zac was trying to get Vanessa on the influencer-focused 'docu-soap', that Kyle refused to believe.

When he asked his pal about the rumours, Zac admitted that he and Vanessa were no longer together.

Kyle said their split was 'recent' but not 'yesterday recent', and that there was 'no drama' in their breakup, and claimed that Zac was simply getting back into the swing of work and their busy lives weren't in sync.

Zac embarked on a whirlwind romance with the model after he met her waiting tables at Byron Bay's General Store & Cafe in July 2020.

Confirmed: Kyle told his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson that he spoke to the actor to speak about the upcoming Netflix show, Byron Baes, and the rumours Zac was trying to get Vanessa on the influencer-focused 'docu-soap', that Kyle refused to believe

Split: It's understood that he has since ended the brief relationship after seeing media reports that she was set to star in Byron Baes

It's understood Zac sent Vanessa back to Byron Bay in April after seeing media reports that she was set to star in the forthcoming Netflix influencer reality series, Byron Baes.

A source close to the star told Daily Mail Australia the couple have not only '100 per cent split' but revealed the 'final nail in the coffin' that led to him calling things off was sparked by her potential involvement in the show.

'He's a very good person who wanted a genuine, normal, down-to-earth partner,' an insider said.

Reality TV: The Netflix reality show, set to be called 'Byron Baes', plans to follow the lives of social media influencers on the trendy town's beaches

'Zac sent her home from the set [Down to Earth with Zac Efron] last week. There still may have been a chance.

'I'm sure the final nail in the coffin was him seeing the story of her being possibly on Byron Baes and the claims that he was helping her get on it.'

The source also claimed that Zac doesn't read media reports about him so was 'very hurt' when a friend showed him the story, adding: 'He is an absolutely down to earth person, not fancy, quite humble.'

Done: A source close to the star tells Daily Mail Australia the couple have not only '100 per cent split' but revealed the 'final nail in the coffin' that led to him calling things off was sparked by her potential involvement in the show

The reality show, set to be called 'Byron Baes', plans to follow the lives of social media influencers on the trendy town's beaches.

However the plans for the show have been met with plenty of opposition from locals, including Mayor Simon Richardson.

Richardson told the ABC the 'vacuous, fake show' could damage the town's reputation and bring 'not just sensitivity challenges for us, but also economic challenges'. Locals have branded the concept 'tacky and trashy'.
A Maricopa County judge on Friday temporarily halted a Republican-led effort in Arizona to recount ballots from the 2020 presidential election, after Democrats filed a lawsuit arguing that the audit violated state election security laws.

But the judge, Christopher Coury of Maricopa County Superior Court, said the pause would go into effect only if the state Democratic Party posted a $1 million bond to compensate a private company  Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity firm based in Florida  that Republicans have hired to review the ballots.

In a statement on Friday afternoon, Democratic officials said they would not do so, but they vowed to continue the fight in court. Another hearing was set for Monday morning, and the judge emphasized that he expected the audit to move forward.

Republican State Senate officials hired Cyber Ninjas to review nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa, the states largest county, though there is no substantiated evidence of significant fraud or errors. Election officials and local courts have found no merit in the allegations, and the Republican-controlled county board of supervisors has also objected to the recount.
She recently split from her girlfriend of four months, Francesca Farago.

But Demi Sims was moving onward and upward in her heartache when she met up with her sister Frankie and their TOWIE co-star Harry Derbidge for a spot of lunch in their native Essex on Friday afternoon.

Stepping out in a stylish white coat, Demi, 24, sat down to grab a bite with glamorously-clad Frankie, 25, and leather trouser rocking Harry, 27.

Friends: Demi Sims, 24, was in good spirits on Friday when she met up with her sister Frankie, 25, and Harry Derbidge, 27, for a spot of lunch following her split from Francesca Farago

Wearing a dress beneath her long white coat, Demi stepped out bare-legged, wearing white socks and sliders, while carrying a white pair of heels in her hand.

She wore her hair loose, and accessorised her tresses with two green butterfly clips. She carried her belongings in a chic white handbag.

Frankie, meanwhile, slipped into a gorgeous animal print dress and kept the cold at bay with a leather jacket. She tied her look together with a pair of open-toe heels.

Harry rocked leather trousers which he teamed with a black satin bomber jacket and lace-up boots, for an edgy look to match his pals.

All white everything: Stepping out in a stylish white coat, Demi appeared happy as she sat down to grab a bite with glamorously-clad Frankie and Harry

Free: Demi wore her hair loose, and accessorised her ombre tresses with two green butterfly clips

Belongings: Demi carried her belongings in a chic white handbag while Frankie opted for a shopping tote. Demi also carried white heels suggesting she had changed footwear

The trio appeared deep in conversation after taking their seats outside a cafe.

It comes after Demi and her ex-girlfriend Francesca, 27, called it quits last week after a whirlwind four-month romance.

On the next episode of TOWIE, an emotional Demi tells her siblings: 'I've had a mare of a day, me and Francesca broke up', to which they respond: 'Oh no!'

Glam: Frankie, meanwhile, slipped into a gorgeous animal print dress and kept the cold at bay with a leather jacket

On last week's show, the reality star and her sister Frankie had a heart-to-heart as the model admitted she felt 'lonely' ever since she moved out of the home they shared in Essex to live with the Canadian bombshell in London.

Frankie recalled a chat she had with Amy Childs and Harry about missing her younger sister, sharing: 'I just told them I was feeling so lonely. You're my best friend and sister, we haven't had any time on our own.

'I feel like we're so distant. I just feel so empty at the minute Dem. I'm so scared of losing you as you're everything wrapped up in one Dem. This is the first time we've been separated, and it's just been really hard.'

Plenty to talk about: The trio appeared deep in conversation after taking their seats outside a cafe

Sunny: Frankie slipped on a pair of stylish sunglasses when the weather brightened up and placed a napkin over her knees

Wow: Wearing a dress beneath her long white coat, Demi stepped out bare-legged, wearing a pair of white socks and sliders

'I feel like I've always been your rock, I moved out and it wasn't planned. I've missed you too, you've always been my best friend', Demi replied.

Sharing a picture of roses, Francesca confirmed their break-up on Instagram last week, penning: 'I really didn't want to have to address this today, but I am already getting attacked on social media so I might as well bite the bullet since I have no choice.

'Demi and I are no longer together. We decided to go our separate ways this morning. Nothing bad happened. We were both loyal to one another and still love each other.

Rocker: Harry rocked leather trousers which he effortlessly teamed with a black satin bomber jacket

'Sometimes people just don't work perfectly together and that's OK. We rushed into living together without knowing if our personalities and daily life meshed well together.

'I wish we could have had a few days to emotionally cope with this in private but we chose to share our entire relationship with you guys which is why I'm posting this now.'

Eagle-eyed fans noticed the former couple had stopped following each other on social media.

Brief relationship: Demi called it quits from the Too Hot To Handle star Francesca, 27, earlier this month (pictured earlier this month) after a four-month romance

While asking her followers to respect her privacy because they are having an 'extremely difficult time,' she added: 'I would have loved to remain friends and in each other's lives but she thought seeing me on social media would be too difficult for her, which is why she wanted to block me.

'In life when a couple breaks up this is a coping mechanism and they don't get scrutinised by thousands of people for how they choose to act after a heartbreaking situation. I want you guys to know nothing bad happened between us.

'Please be kind and respect our privacy. It is an extremely difficult time for both of us and negative, inaccurate and presumptuous comments make it much more difficult. It did take a toll on our relationship as well.'

The pair had moved in with each other after falling in love on holiday in Mexico, and even got tattoo tributes of their initials.
Member Beatrice Lewis is thankful to the Cummings Centre for keeping her busy, fit and educated.
Credit: University of Dundee

A Ph.D. student from the University of Dundee has uncovered new evidence showing how vaccine hesitancyoften thought to be a modern phenomenoncan be traced back more than 150 years in Scotland.

Vaccine hesitancy now ranks alongside antimicrobial resistance and climate change in the top 10 global health threats, according to the World Health Organization. A growing 'anti-vaxx' movement has led to a 30% increase in measles cases being reported globally and a number of countries, including the UK, no longer being considered measles-free.

Discredited studies, social media and celebrity skepticism have been blamed for falling take-up rates but the origins of vaccine hesitancy go back more than two centuries, according to Sylvia Valentine, a Ph.D. student within the University's School of Humanities.

The history of the English anti-vaccination movementdating back to the medical establishment and clergy introduction's opposition to smallpox inoculation in 1721has been well documented, but until recently it was largely assumed that there was no parallel campaign in Scotland.

"My work builds on that of other researchers and shows how opposition to compulsory vaccination was not confined to England," explained Sylvia. "Compulsory smallpox vaccination took effect in Scotland from 1864, with widespread anti-vaccination sentiment taking hold within a few decades.

"Myriad factors, including nationalism, vegetarianism, religious doctrine and the defense of civil liberties, helped galvanize the movement and bring anti vaccinators from disparate backgrounds together.

"While modern technology enables the ability to connect with a global audience and MMR is the main targets of the movement today, the aims, beliefs and objections of the 21st century anti-vaccinators share many parallels with their Victorian and Edwardian forebears."

The British Government introduced smallpox vaccination in England and Wales in 1840 in an effort to reduce infant mortality rates amongst the working classes and made infant vaccination compulsory from 1853 onwards. Compulsory vaccination in Scotland came into effect 11 years later.

The lobbying efforts of anti-vaccinators, coupled with the scale of non-compliance in England, eventually led to a Royal Commission into Vaccination being established. Its 1896 report failed to recommend repeal but a clause was introduced to enable exemption on the basis of conscience. The law did not extend to Scotland, however, and this differential treatment was met with widespread anger north of the border

"This omission acted as a call to arms for Scottish anti-vaccinators whose efforts had been haphazard up to that point," continued Sylvia. "The Scottish Anti-Vaccination League was formed in early 1896 to coordinate lobbying activities and provide legal advice and support to those prosecuted for non-vaccination."

Sylvia has uncovered reports of speaking tours by leading anti-vaccination campaigners that encouraged Scotsmen to challenge candidates for election to public office about their attitudes to compulsory vaccination. She has also examined newspaper accounts from 1896 onwards and found ample evidence of hustings where potential MPs of all parties were asked for their views on the issues, with local anti-vaccination societies making recommendations about which candidates to support.

People flocked to the cause from all walks of life and many 19th century anti-vaccinators were involved with spiritualist movements or alternative medicine. The fact that smallpox vaccine was made using cowpox lymph also meant that the Scottish Anti-Vaccination League found a ready-made audience amongst animal rights supporters.

"Many anti-vaccinators were vegetarians, supporters of the temperance movement or held non-conformist religious beliefs," continued Sylvia. "The Secretary of the Scottish Anti-Vaccination League was a vegetarian who deemed the use of calf lymph for vaccination unacceptable. It is notable that the Dundee Anti-Vaccination Society held meetings at the Vegetarian Cafe on the city's High Street in the late 1890s.

"Many people believed that public health measures and sanitary improvements would remove the miasma considered to be the source of disease. More natural methods of treatment for smallpox victims were preferred, particularly the water cure, which was offered at a number of hydropathic establishments across Scotland.

"Parents on both sides of the border strongly objected to being told by the government and local authorities how to raise their children. Many felt it was morally wrong to infect their children with this animal matter which, they sincerely believed, had the potential to cause lasting damage or the death of a beloved child.

"Religion also drove the movement. The Swedenborgian, or New, Church established churches in both England and Scotland, often located in anti-vaccination hot spots. Swedenborgians believed the purity of human blood should never be contaminated by animal matter and one minister, who spoke at a number of anti-vaccination meetings in Scotland, was prosecuted no less than four times for refusing to have his children vaccinated."

Case study

On March 26 1888, a Glaswegian joiner called Duncan McCorkindale wrote to the city's Evening Post newspaper to complain that it had not covered a recent court case that led to him being imprisoned.

While most people would welcome a lack of media interest in their brush with the law, McCorkindale wanted to raise awareness of his plight. After refusing to have his child vaccinated against smallpox, then a criminal offense, he had been fined 10 shillings and ordered to pay 1 legal costs. Lacking the means to do so, McCorkindale "had to go to prison, to be treated like a felonno distinction being made between a respectable citizen and thieves and housebreakers."

McCorkindale explained that the death of one of his older children a few days after being inoculated was his motivation for refusal to comply with the 1863 Scottish Vaccination Act.

A few months before McCorkindale's imprisonment, another skeptical parent, Robert Barr, had been prosecuted for the same offense. Being a man of means, Barr avoided jail by paying the fine that McCorkindale was unable to afford and anti-vaccinators made great play of the fact that the law penalized ordinary working Scots who had no right to plead that vaccination was a matter of conscience.

By 1907, a further Parliamentary Act was required to clarify the legislation regarding conscientious objection. A bill was introduced which ensured the new act also applied in Scotland. Vaccination rates in Scotland plummeted from a high level of compliance of around 95% in the late 1860s to below 40% by 1918. Despite the London-based National Anti-Vaccination League (NAVL) continuing to campaign for total repeal, Scottish anti-vaccinators became less active with equality with the rest of Britain seemingly satisfying most Scots.

Explore further A short history of vaccine objection, vaccine cults and conspiracy theories
The woman who contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine has been identified as a pregnant nurse from Wales.

Speaking from her room at the Mercure Hotel, Alison Rose told ABC Radio she had spent the past year avoiding the virus in the UK and helping administer the vaccine, only to contract it once in Australia.

The UK nurse spent a year in Wales and recently assisted in administering the vaccine. Credit:Getty Images

Its been rife over there and Im a nurse so Ive been very careful when Ive been working, she said.

We self-isolated for three weeks before we left the UK, we pulled our daughter from school just to make sure.
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Friday called for a conventional infrastructure package focused on traditional brick and mortar projects  throwing up an obstacle to Joe Bidens plan to spent $2.3 billion on projects ranging from electric school buses to labor programs and broadband.

What we think the greatest need we have now, that can be done in a bipartisan way, is conventional infrastructure whether it's the water, sewer, roads, bridges, Internet  things that we know need to be repaired, be fixed, the influential West Virginia Democrat said at a press conference Friday.

Why don't you take the greatest need that we have and do it on something that we all agree on?, he said, the Hill reported, suggesting breaking up the proposal.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) addresses a news conference at the end of an 'infrastructure summit' of a bipartisan group of governors, U.S. senators, and members of the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus. Manchin called for 'conventional' infrastructure

His comments come after a group of Republicans relative centrists came out for a $568 billion plan  essentially a counter-offer to Bidens $2.3 trillion proposal.

Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have mocked Bidens definition of infrastructure as overbroad.

Manchin made the comments at a press conference with Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

His posture presents a significant tactical problem for Democrats. Even if Democratic leaders decide to brush past Republicans and move an infrastructure package under reconciliation instructions, they would need every Democrat on board, unless they can find a Republican supporter.

But Manchins call for step by step actions indicates he is wary of the go big approach Biden says is necessary to fuel the economy.

The White House has made a point of calling for infrastructure spending beyond just roads and bridges, to be funded by a corporate tax rate hike.

Manchin referred to some of these elements as human infrastructure  although Biden has an additional human infrastructure plan he intends to roll out later.

The other things that are conceptional, we can work on piece by piece, committee by committee," he said.

The White House has welcomed the GOP proposal and called for negotiations, and in that respect, Manchin's comments reflect how Biden's infrastructure priority is at least a live ball.

Senate Republicans revealed their counter offer on Thursday, presenting a $568 billion plan that focuses on roads, transit systems, and broadband internet.

The GOP's two-page proposal has smaller price tag and a narrower definition of infrastructure than Biden's $2.3 trillion plan.

'This is the largest infrastructure investment that Republicans have come forward with,' Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who has taken the lead on the proposal, said. 'This is a robust package.'

To pay for their proposal, Republicans would use a combination of user fees, including for electric vehicles, and on redirecting unspent federal dollars. But the outline doesn't offer specifics on payment, including which federal programs would lose those unspent dollars.

Senate Republicans revealed their counter offer to President Joe Biden's infrastructure package

Biden has proposed raising the corporate income tax from 21% to 28% to help pay for his plan. But Republicans have rejected that idea.

Spending In Republican Infrastructure Plan Roads and Bridges: $299 billion Public transport: $61 billion Rail: $20 billion Drinking water and waste water: $35 billion Airports: $44 billion Safety: $33 billion Ports and inland waterways: $17 billion Broadband infrastructure: $65 billion Water storage: $14 billion Advertisement

Republicans also have criticized the scope of Biden's infrastructure plan, which includes money for items like affordable housing, a 'Climate Corps' and updates to infrastructure to make it more green.

Biden argues all the elements in his plan pertain to the national infrastructure.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the GOP plan is a starting point for a conversation on what a final infrastructure package could look like

'The president has said from the beginning that he would welcome any good faith effort to find common ground, because the only unacceptable step would be inaction,' she said at her daily press briefing.

She said she expected the president to invite lawmakers to the White House to discuss it.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell also expressed optimism the GOP plan could lead to a final bipartisan deal.

'Senator Capito and others are laying out what has the potential to be a reasonable and bipartisan alternative and we're hoping that Democrats are interested in doing something along those lines,' he told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday.

Some Democrats see a focus on traditional infrastructure items - like roads, bridges and airports - as a first step to a larger deal.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a close Biden ally, said on 'Fox News Sunday' that the Senate should 'come together in a bipartisan way to pass that $800 billion hard infrastructure bill' and then tackle a second package that would include additional items the president is proposing.

Biden also is facing criticism from his left wing, who wanted him to go even bigger on his infrastructure proposal, which he calls the Americans Job Plan.

The White House is working to mollify progressives with talk of the American Families Plan, a second part of the infrastructure initiative that will be released this month and focus on social programs, including the child tax credit.

What's inside Joe Biden's initial $2.3 trillion infrastructure package Electric vehicles: $174 billion to boost the markets for electric vehicles. Rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made EVs. Included in the plan provided by the White House are grants for governments and private groups to build 500,000 electric vehicle chargers and replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles. School buses: Replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20 percent of yellow school bus fleet. The package touts an Energy Department program called Clean Buses for Kids. It would 'set us on a path to 100 percent clean buses,' according to the White House. Public Transit: Biden calls on Congress to invest $165 billion in public transit. This includes modernizing existing transit and expanding those systems. It would double federal funding for an area that is a top part of state and local budgets. According to the White House it would 'bring bus, bus rapid transit, and rail service to communities and neighborhoods across the country' without specifying which ones, and claims it would 'ultimately reduce traffic congestion for everyone.' Lead pipes: After a campaign where the Flint drinking water fiasco became a top issue for Democrats, the proposal includes $45 billion for a plan to eliminate all lead pipes used in water distribution. The funds would be administered through EPA's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and in Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act grants to localities. 'Made in America': 'Made in America' provisions on manufacturing and shipping. According to the White House, it will 'require that goods and materials are made in America and shipped on U.S.-flag, U.S.-crewed vessels.' Similar 'made in America' provisions are common on legislation. The White says its plan 'will ensure that Americans who have endured systemic discrimination and exclusion for generations finally have a fair shot at obtaining good paying jobs and being part of a union.' Bridge and highway modernization: $115 billion to modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets in 'critical need'. The White House cites statistics saying 173,000 total miles of highways are in poor condition, along with 45,000 bridges. The plan also calls for funds to repair 10,000 'smaller bridges' that provide 'critical connections to rural and tribal communities'. Protect cyclists and pedestrians: Bikes, too, would get a share of the billions. The package includes $20 billion for safety - including funds to 'reduce crashes and fatalities, especially for cyclists and pedestrians'. Transit: Biden is calling for $85 billion to modernize existing transit. A Transportation Department figure cites a maintenance backlog of $105 billion, which includes 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, plus track and other systems. The infusion, if enacted, would double the current federal funding. Amtrak: Biden, a lifetime rail enthusiast who used to commute by train between Wilmington and Washington, would shower $80 billion on Amtrak to modernize the system and improve the Northeast Corridor, which links D.C. to New York and points North. The money would go to fund repairs, boost safety and electrification, and connect new pairs of cities. Grants would 'support passenger and freight rail safety, efficiency, and electrification.' Airports: The plan calls for $25 billion for airports, with funds going to the existing Airport Improvement Program. It also calls for upgrades to Federal Aviation Administration assets that 'ensure safe and efficient air travel,' with a new program for terminal renovations and connections. Waterways: $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries. Neighborhoods cut off by roads: $20 billion to reconnect neighborhoods cut off by highways and historic investments, plus research on 'advanced pavements'. Water restoration: Unspecified investment for 'the protection and restoration of major land and water resources like Floridas Everglades and the Great Lakes'. Broadband: Push for '100 percent high-speed broadband coverage' in the nation. Work with Congress to lower internet prices. The plan says Biden 'recognizes that individual subsidies to cover internet costs may be needed in the short term,' but thinks continually providing subsidies 'is not the right long-term solution.' Power grid: Build more resilient power system. Targeted investment tax credit to help build out 20 gigawatts of high-voltage capacity power lines. Plug oil wells: Spend $16 billion to plug 'orphan' oil and gas wells. Brownfields: $5 billion for brownfields and Superfund sites. Industrial clean energy: 15 decarbonized hydrogen demonstration projects to get industry to use clean technology. Civilian Climate Corps: $10 billion for new Civilian Climate Corps. It's unclear what this new unit will entail. Affordable housing: $213 billion to 'produce, preserve, and retrofit more than two million affordable and sustainable places to live.' Includes 'project-based rental assistance.' $40 billion for public housing infrastructure. Home energy: $27 billion Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator for home energy upgrades. Schools: $100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools, half through grants and half through bonds. Community colleges: $12 billion to invest in community college infrastructure. Child care: $25 billion to upgrade child care facilities. Veterans: $18 billion for VA hospitals. Home care: $400 billion toward 'expanding access to quality, affordable home- or community-based care for aging relatives and people with disabilities'. R&D: $35 billion in R&D investments. Includes $5 billion for climate research HBCUs: $10 billion for R&D investment at historically black colleges and universities Pandemics: $30 billion in pandemic counter measures. Includes investments in medical stockpile, testing, and research. Power sources: $46 billion for charging ports, advanced nuclear reactors and fuel, electric heat pumps for buildings. Dislocated workers: $40 building for dislocated workers. Workforce training: Workforce training amid 'persistent economic inequalities': $12 billion for workforce development in 'underserved communities.' $5 billion for community violence prevention. Apprenticeships: $48 billion in 'American workforce development' including 2 million new apprenticeships. Enforcement: $10 billion to ensure fair and equal pay, workplace safety, and job sites 'free from racial, gender, and other forms of discrimination and harassment'. Advertisement

A handout from Senate Republicans detailing their infrastructure plan

But most Republicans strongly oppose the social programs and liberals worry that a smaller first round package passing with bipartisan support could kill the second round proposal.

The president is expected to roll out that second package next week when he addresses a joint session of Congress. Its price tag could top $1 trillion.

Top pay for it, Biden wants to hike the top income tax rate back to where it was before the Trump tax cuts and nearly double capital gains rates for top earners.

The president would push the top income tax rate up to 39.6 per cent  where it was before Trump's 2017 tax cuts. Capital gains  where Biden has already called for changes to end a major 'loophole,' would jack up rates from their current 20 per cent for those earning more than $1 million.

Biden has pledged only to raise taxes on households making more than $400,000. But the administration hasn't been clear as to whether that limit applies to individual earnings or combined household - a distinction that makes a big difference especially in areas on the East and West Coasts where the cost of living is high.

Business Roundtable President & CEO Joshua Bolten said: 'Business Roundtable welcomes the release of the Senate Republican framework as an important step toward bipartisan negotiations on infrastructure investment,' said Business Roundtable President & CEO Joshua Bolten. 'We urge policymakers to continue negotiations and come together on a balanced and bipartisan approach that prioritizes physical infrastructure.'

'We are encouraged that today's framework calls for permitting reforms and incorporates a user pays model to ensure that infrastructure users  including business  pay their share. User pays models are a proven way to ensure sustainable infrastructure investment versus significant tax increases on job creators that would weaken the economic recovery.

'Business Roundtable has long advocated for increased investment in America's transportation, water, energy and communications infrastructure, and we estimate that an investment of approximately $1 trillion above baseline over 10 years is necessary to return U.S. physical infrastructure to a state of good repair, expand capacity to meet expected demand and invest in new green infrastructure.'
Editors Note: PennLive is sponsoring a Town Hall webinar at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, on the achievements of the Black Lives Matter movement on year later. Speakers include law enforcement and elected officials, as well as civil rights activists. To ask questions and offer respectful comments, register HERE.

The jury has spoken and confirmed what millions of people saw with their own eyes. A police officer killed a handcuffed Black man in broad daylight as dozens of people begged him to stop.

But the sad truth is the death of George Floyd was not the first time a police officer has wrongly killed a Black man. The difference is this time he didnt get away with it.

In this image from video, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listens as the verdict is read in his trial for the 2020 death of George Floyd, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis.Court TV via AP, Pool

Black people  especially young Black men  say they have suffered police harassment, overcharging, brutality and outright murder for decades; no, for centuries. Now, even respected law enforcement leaders are saying it, too.

Now, its not just Black people screaming about the injustice of Americas criminal justice and policing systems, but thousands of white people are taking to the streets with Black Lives Matter signs, too.

Parker Westwood stands outside in the snow with other protesters outside Detroit Police Department headquarters at Third and Michigan in Detroit after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty for the murder of George Floyd on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.Nicole Hester/ MLive.com

Amid all of the rejoicing over justice for George Floyd, any thinking person knows we need more than just one conviction to right the wrongs that have led to so much suffering and oppression. We need to fundamentally change the way police do their jobs.

Its a system that is setting up too many police officers for failure and too many African American men for death.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a way to begin the process of changing the system, of changing the very nature of policing in the United States. Solving the problems of policing in America is not a question of rooting out a few bad cops. It requires dismantling an entire system that has become entrenched in racism and brutality that targets African American men.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the top Democrat in Congress, meets with reporters the day after advancing sweeping voting and ethics legislation, and passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 4, 2021.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey says the George Floyd bill will begin to right the wrongs created by systemic racism and injustice.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, from Pennsylvanias 6th Congressional District, says the legislation marks an important and historic step towards addressing racism in our criminal justice system. For too long, Black lives have been lost to police brutality.

And U.S Rep. Dwight Devans of Philadelphia says the bill would combat police misconduct, excessive use of force and racism that had led to the imprisonment and death of too many Black people like Dante Wright, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

The bill has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives where Democrats are in the majority. But to change policing in the United States, a majority of U.S. Senators would have to get on board, as well. That means voters who care need to convince many Republican senators what most Americans already know: concrete laws need to be passed to stop police from using tactics like the ones that killed George Floyd.

Photo of Nakia Wallace, a Detroit Will Breathe protester, being placed in a chokehold by Detroit police during a clash on July 10. Wallace and Detroit Will Breathe included the image in a federal lawsuit filed against the city of Detroit.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would ban federal law enforcement officers from using chokeholds and carotid holds, both of which are as deadly as a knee to the neck. That would go a long way toward convincing local police agencies to ban them, as well.

But the bill also would provide funding to retrain police officers throughout the nation. This is the key to reform. Police officers have to be retrained to think differently, especially toward African Americans.

They need to be retrained to calm tensions rather than use the maximum amount of force at the first sign of fear in someone who has a right to feel afraid. They have to be retrained to use the minimum amount of force to save lives rather than the maximum amount to take them.

Protesters confront a police officer on at police headquarters in Harrisburg during a Black Lives Matter Demonstration to protest the murder of George Floyd. May 30, 2020 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act also would mandate other badly needed reforms that would make everyone a lot safer in the presence of police.

It would mandate state and local police use body cameras to get federal funding, and it would establish a national registry to track police officers fired for misconduct to keep them from getting rehired by other law enforcement agencies.

Whats even more important, the bill would facilitate investigating police departments when there are repeated incidents of abuse.

All of this and more is needed to reform policing in America. Because by now we know its not just a few bad apples that need to be rooted out of the barrel. Its a system that has trained too many police officers to kill Black people with an expectation of impunity.

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GPF

There are two problems with the European version of the Stingray , though. In order to comply with Euro 6d-TEMP regulations, many automakers equip their gasoline-powered vehicles with gasoline particulate filters. This piece of hardware is designed to remove particulate matter from the gases created by the combustion process, and GPFs are highly efficient as well.Closely related to diesel particulate filters, thedoesnt allow the powerplant to breathe out as well as a non-GPF exhaust system. This interference explains the 468-horsepower rating of the Stingray in the European Union and United Kingdom, down from 495 horsepower in the United States where GPFs arent the norm. As for torque, the 6.2-liter motor cranks out 455 instead of 470 pound-feet (617 and 637 Nm).This information comes courtesy of multiple dealers who spoke to Ace, senior contributor of the Mid-Engine Corvette Forum . To me, this is a huge letdown since European prices for the C8 are pretty high compared to the U.S. market even though the 2LT trim level with the Z51 pack is standard.Scheduled to arrive in European showrooms in the second half of 2021, most likely as a 2022 model , the Stingray retails from 99,000 in Germany and 81,700 in the United Kingdom. At current exchange rates, that equates to $119,365 and $113,175, respectively, before local taxes and options. As for the U.S. version of the coupe body style with the same trim level and go-faster package, make that $73,195 before the $1,095 destination charge.Having covered the problems that hamper down the appeal of the Corvette in the EU and UK, a question still has to be answered. For the same money as a two-year-old but well-equipped Porsche 911, does the American interloper have a place in Europes ever-dwindling sports car segment?
This job expired on 19 May 2021.
The CJ observed that the figures of the government about the fatality rate due to Covid were fudged.  PTI

HYDERABAD: Going by the Covid-related details given by the Telangana government and the confusing statements from ministers and bureaucrats about medication and oxygen supply, the Telangana High Court on Friday observed that the state government was not being candid enough in dealing with the second wave of Covid-19.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy observed that it would appear that the details submitted by the government to the court on Covid testing, availability of beds, oxygen, medicines and mortality rate are a sackful of salt, window-dressing and fudged numbers.

On one hand, the secretary to medical and health appeared before the court two days ago and said the state is fully equipped with beds, infrastructure, oxygen and life-saving medicines to treat the Covid-infected. On the other, your health minister says the state faced more than 120 tonnes of oxygen deficiency due to the failure of the Union government to supply it, and complains that the Centre is not fair enough in sending the required medicine stocks and vaccination doses. Which contention should be trusted? How such a paucity of oxygen and medicines in one day? Is it that the situation became critical within a day, Chief Justice Kohli asked the government.

Advising the government that it should be candid enough, the court said that the state might be looking at things in terms of revenues and expenses. But when the life of the citizens is in danger, it should be given utmost importance.

The bench was dealing with the batch of petitions related to Covid management.

The court also criticised the Union government`s strict controls vis-a-vis allocation of medicines and oxygen to states.

You (Union government) take over even the vaccines and medicines manufactured in the state. You don`t give to the state what they require and dole them out to other states. Where are the citizens of the Telangana state to go when there is a demand and necessity, observed CJ Kohli.

In the last 10 days, only 21,500 remdesivir vials were distributed to Telangana, whereas the demand is very high. We need an answer from the central government, the CJ observed and directed assistant solicitor general Namavarapu Rajeshwara Rao, representing the Centre, to come with details immediately.

But, post lunch session, additional solicitor general Surya Karan Reddy came in and requested a days time to submit the details.

The assistant solicitor general complained against the Telangana state government, saying that it was not attentive enough in appointing a nodal officer as suggested by the Centre to co-ordinate. The court asked the state why such a delay and advised it to make the appointment in a days time.

Finding fault with the state government for its all is well type of contentions and submissions and stating the situation is under control, the court said It was a dismal performance by the state, where the people are afraid to go to hospitals, and even if they go, beds are not be available and RT-PCR test reports are being demanded for entry to the hospitals.

In which ivory tower we are living? Go to the ground level, where the Below Poverty Line and middle class people are suffering to get admission to hospitals and patients dying at the hospitals doors and hospitals could not admit patients. A major concern is also the non-availability of medicines in government hospitals. Even I came across one such issue, one person accessed me for medicine (remdesivir and another life-saving drug), which is not available in hospitals. Even I couldn`t help them, Chief Justice Kohli observed.

The CJ also observed that the figures of the government about the fatality rate due to Covid were fudged. You are saying only 198 deaths in last 20 days, that too in Hyderabad. It would be (much more). Nobody is there at crematorium to say how many bodies are getting cremated. We are getting reports that bodies were being burnt by putting all together in one go due to scarcity of wood. You (bureaucrats) are sitting somewhere and saying that no such situation is there. Why dont you go and figure out as to how many bodies are burnt or buried in the crematorums, CJ Kohli asked.

The court also pointed to the flaws in submissions related to RT-PCR tests. The state government has said it was conducting 30,000 to 40,000 tests in a day, whereas reports say only 3.57 lakh tests were conducted in the last 21 days. But around 8.4 lakh tests were to be conducted as per the submissions.

The court also asked why the five-member expert committee did not hold a meeting in the last two months to suggest the steps to curtail spread of the virus.

In three hours of virtual adjudication, the court faulted the governmental perspective vis-a-vis issues like allowing political rallies and gatherings for the upcoming municipal elections, non-declaration of containment and micro-containment zones, lack of efforts to assuage the feelings of migrant workers and urge them not to leave their places of work, laxity in conducting raids to catch the hoarders, black-marketers of life-saving drugs, and lack of efforts to cleanly maintain the Covid care centres.

While adjourning the batch of PILs to April 27, the court directed the state government to inform the court of its preparedness for administering vaccination to all those who have crossed 18 years from May 1 as per the notification issued by the Centre.

The secretary to health and family welfare of Telangana, Rizvi, has been directed to file a status Report by April 27 indicating the states steps in administering the vaccines to prison inmates, senior citizens in old-age homes, the destitute staying in shelter homes and open spaces, and occupants of orphanages and homes for the visually disabled.

The court suggested to the government that the advisories did not mean that a state government cannot take its own call based on the emerging situations. So, ramp up the tests and procure all the medicines to treat the Covid-infected.
Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely late. Low 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
GrandVision reports 1Q21 revenue of 899 million and adjusted EBITA of 79 million



Schiphol, the Netherlands - 23 April 2021. GrandVision N.V. publishes its First Quarter 2021 trading update.



Due to the exceptional nature of the year 2020, GrandVision will also include in the present press release comparisons versus 2019.



Highlights



 GrandVision continues to show resilience in the first quarter despite the most recent COVID-19 related government restrictions in Europe and Latam



 At constant exchange rates, revenue declined by -0.7% compared with 1Q20 to 899 million from 926 million in 1Q20 (1Q19: 974m) Comparable revenue declined by -1.5% versus 1Q20 and on a 2019 basis, -10.8% versus 1Q19 Adj. EBITA increased by 98.1% at constant exchange rates to 79 million from 41 million in 1Q20 (1Q19: 107m). Continued cost discipline, structural improvements in certain territories and improved product and price mix contributed to the underlying performance Adj. EBITA margin at 8.8%, +437bps versus 1Q20 and -219bps versus 1Q19 Approximately 95% of our store network was open at the end of March 2021. Temporary store closures from ongoing government restrictions impacted outlets, mainly in shopping malls. France was the most affected with around 300 stores temporary closed during the period Net debt at 569 million at the end of March 2021 (FY20: 539m; March 2020: 755m) European launch of Karun, a 100% sustainable brand using recycled products from Patagonia, Chile GrandVision joined the United Nations Global Compact initiative GrandVision to maintain its dividend proposal of 0.35 per share for the fiscal year 2019 at the Annual General Meeting on 23 April 2021

Attachment
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Ayman Aqil, head of the Maat Foundation, says Azerbaijan continues violating human rights and its commitments by holding the Armenian prisoners of war still in custody after the end of the recent Nagorno Karabakh war. He notes that the human rights violations by Azerbaijan during the recent war have been accompanied by the support of Turkey.

We have called on Azerbaijan to return the captives, the prisoners of war, however, that country still continues violating human rights, fundamental freedoms, as well as the agreement which was reached during the stop of the war. I want to state that when we made that call, the Azerbaijani embassy in Cairo contacted us, stating that they have no Armenian prisoners of war, but we responded that the POWs exist and you continue violating the human rights, the head of the Maat Foundation told Armenpress.

According to him, its possible to talk about peace in the region only when Turkey stops assisting Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan stops violating human rights.

Asked that 106 years after the Armenian Genocide, Turkey still remains unpunished, whether this is the reason that genocides are taking place in the 21st century, Ayman Aqil said we have what we have, and the reason of it is that the international community still remains silent.

A key mission for us is to be able to use all the international levers, the UN, as well as the UN Security Council, for preventing such events. We have presented a report where we show the violations made by Turkey, in particular that it provided weapons, mercenaries and other resources to the Azerbaijani side, he said.

Interview by Norayr Shoghikyan

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
When the defenestrated Dominic Cummings left No 10 in November, he was ready for his close-up.

Scruffy as ever, a lanyard dangling around his neck, eyes downcast and clutching a large cardboard box, he exited through the famous front door bathed in the glare of photographers' flashes.

The carefully contrived scene, in time for the evening news bulletins, prompted a raft of jokes in Downing Street about what was in the box. Suggestions ranged from stale sandwiches or his collection of nerdy tomes on technology to dirty laundry.

But one senior figure watching the unfolding drama on TV in Boris Johnson's study was not so sure. 'I hope that box isn't filled with stuff that could come back to haunt us,' he observed.

He was only half joking. The Prime Minister, by all accounts, laughed off the suggestion that Cummings, once his trusted and all-powerful chief adviser, might take a noisy revenge for his sacking. Well, perhaps he's not laughing quite so hard now.

The Prime Minister, by all accounts, laughed off the suggestion that Dominic Cummings, once his trusted and all-powerful chief adviser, might take a noisy revenge for his sacking. Well, perhaps he's not laughing quite so hard now. (Above, the pair on Election night in 2019)

The psychodrama that has erupted around Cummings about who leaked what texts and when is potentially hugely damaging for the Prime Minister.

Last year Mr Johnson risked his reputation and that of his Government by backing Cummings despite public outrage at a breach of lockdown rules on the aide's infamous 260-mile dash from London to the North East.

Seven months later, however, the Prime Minister sacked him, worried that his Government was no longer working with the thuggish Cummings at its head, and persuaded by a coterie of senior female advisers  including his partner Carrie  that change was needed.

Now, with Cummings identified on the front pages of three national newspapers  each spoon-fed the story by No 10  as the source of damaging leaks in recent months, Mr Johnson has whacked him. Or, as a senior Tory said last night, he has 'declared all-out war' on Cummings.

When the defenestrated Dominic Cummings left No 10 in November, he was ready for his close-up. Scruffy as ever, a lanyard dangling around his neck, eyes downcast and clutching a large cardboard box, he exited through the famous front door bathed in the glare of photographers' flashes

Other more cynical observers point to the No 10 claims being a classic 'dead cat' strategy in which spin doctors introduce a dramatic new fact to divert attention away from an embarrassing issue or two.

This week the headlines have been dominated by escalating claims of Tory sleaze after the release of text messages between Mr Johnson and the businessman Sir James Dyson.

Then, on Thursday night, the Treasury released dozens of pages of correspondence from 2020 between David Cameron and the disgraced financier Lex Greensill and the Treasury, further fuelling that scandal.

But, after No 10's intervention to link Cummings to so-called 'revenge leaks', attention has been diverted to the bogey man figure of the former aide. 'There is a sense of exasperation in No 10,' says a source. 'The Government has been doing well in the polls and that has happened post-Cummings. I don't think Cummings could bear it, so he launched his wrecking ball.'

Either way, it is a high-risk PR strategy, with some Westminster watchers describing it as akin to kicking a hornets' nest, with everyone about to get stung.

Last night Cummings issued a bombshell statement rebutting a 'number of false accusations' made by No 10 to the media. He castigated Mr Johnson and his office for incompetence and a lack of integrity, while claiming that an alleged plan to have donors secretly pay for the renovation of the Downing Street flat was 'possibly illegal'.

There is no doubt that when Cummings was in No 10 he would have been copied into many texts and messages sent by Mr Johnson and senior ministers. Did he keep them as an insurance strategy or indeed for revenge? He says not. However, many senior Tory MPs are blaming the Prime Minister for what one said was a 'catastrophic failure of duty of care'.

There is no doubt that when Cummings was in No 10 he would have been copied into many texts and messages sent by Mr Johnson and senior ministers. Did he keep them as an insurance strategy or indeed for revenge? He says not. However, many senior Tory MPs are blaming the Prime Minister for what one said was a 'catastrophic failure of duty of care'. (Above, together in September 2019)

This week the headlines have been dominated by escalating claims of Tory sleaze after the release of text messages between Mr Johnson and the businessman Sir James Dyson. Then, on Thursday night, the Treasury released dozens of pages of correspondence from 2020 between David Cameron and the disgraced financier Lex Greensill (above, with Cameron in Saudi Arabia) and the Treasury, further fuelling that scandal

'Cummings was at the heart of every major Government decision since Boris became PM,' the MP said. 'He saw confidential papers, was the keeper of secrets, and saw Boris's close-up relations with Carrie. It's astonishing Boris never tried harder to keep Cummings on side. He's now paying the price.'

Just how important Cummings was in the court of Mr Johnson cannot be underestimated. When Boris opted to back Leave in the 2016 referendum, he was introduced by Michael Gove to Cummings, then campaign manager for Vote Leave.

It was an inspired pairing  the flamboyant MP who as London mayor had been the most popular politician in Britain and the data-driven strategist with a flair for eye-catching slogans. It was Cummings who coined 'Take back control'.

When Mr Johnson became foreign secretary in Theresa May's government, she stopped him from hiring Cummings. But as soon as Boris became party leader, Cummings was appointed his top adviser, sparking unease among senior Tories. He was seen as a loose cannon, famously described as a 'career psychopath' by Mr Cameron.

Yet Cummings soon proved his worth, coming up with a new slogan ('Get Brexit Done'), successfully arguing for a December 2019 general election, and correctly identifying that Labour's 'red wall' was vulnerable. He targeted it and demolished it.

Secure inside No 10, he and other Vote Leave staffers such as his loyal lieutenant Lee Cain, then head of communications, were on a mission. They took the view that they were Whitehall outsiders battling an entrenched elite.

Cummings would brook no disloyalty to Boris and, somewhat ironically now, dealt with suspected 'leakers' ruthlessly.

Then, at the height of the pandemic last spring, he broke lockdown rules with that trip to Durham. Mr Johnson stood by his unrepentant aide through the furore that followed, but by doing so, he was burning through his political capital  something he belatedly recognised.

When Cummings did finally leave, he rejected all interview requests and apart from giving evidence to a committee of MPs last month, has stayed largely silent. But there is no doubt he is an angry man.

Was he biding his time? Is Downing Street wise to have tried to flush him out? Or is this move, as some Westminster insiders suggest, an act of 'mutually assured destruction'.
WASHINGTON (JTA)  Days after resuming U.S. funding for the troubled U.N. agency that administers to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, the Biden administration says it has the commitment of UNRWA to zero tolerance for anti-Semitism, racism or discrimination.

UNWRA has made clear their rock-solid commitments to the United States on the issues of transparency, accountability, and neutrality in all its operations, a senior U.S. official said in an interview this weekend, describing the process that led last week to the administration announcing the resumption of funding...
(The Center Square)  Vice President Kamala Harris touted the American Jobs Plan during a visit to New Hampshire on Friday, calling it a "once-in-a-generation" investment in Americas future.

Speaking at an event in Concord, Harris said passage of the $2.25 trillion jobs plan will mean good-paying jobs and federal money to help rebuild the state's crumbling roads and bridges, but also rebuild the nation's economy.

"Yes, it's about rebuilding roads and bridges, it's about child care and a number of other things," Harris said. "But it's also about understanding that if we're going to build back better, America has to invest in the skills of our workforce."

Earlier in the day, Harris was greeted at Laconia Municipal Airport by Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Chris Pappas.

She visited an electric cooperative in Plymouth, where she talked about the jobs plan with Hassan, and later toured the IBEW Local 490 office's in Concord before giving remarks. She was expected to return to Washington on Friday evening.

The Biden administration has been crisscrossing the country trying to sell its infrastructure and jobs plan, as it builds support in Congress for its passage amid Republican opposition.

A fact sheet released by the White House recently said New Hampshire's infrastructure "has suffered from a systematic lack of investment" and touted how the state would benefit from the plan. The statement noted aging roads and bridges, many of which are in a state of disrepair, as well as a lack of affordable housing and broadband internet service.

Harris reiterated those claims during her stops in Concord and Plymouth on Friday, saying the plan would mean solutions to some of the state's cyber-infrastructure woes.

Biden's plan would be financed by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and other tax changes targeting large corporations.

Republicans are opposed to the plan and have criticized it's broad definition of infrastructure which includes major drinking water, child care and caregiving expenditures.

first lady Jill Biden visited New Hampshire briefly last month to highlight the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan  which was signed by the president last month.

Besides selling the jobs plan, Harris's visit to the Granite State has fueled speculation that she could seek the presidency in 2024. New Hampshire hosts the first-in-the-nation presidential primary and is considered a major testing ground for any candidate.

In a fundraising email blast on behalf of the Democratic National Committee, Harris called on supporters to donate to the party, which she said is promoting the jobs plan and "setting Democrats up to expand on our wins in 2021, 2022, and beyond."

To be sure, Harris is no stranger to New Hampshire's retail, shoe-leather politics. As a presidential candidate ahead of the 2016 Democratic primary, she visited the state several times to stump for votes and support. She dropped out of the race shortly after, and was tapped by Biden to be his vice presidential running mate.

We are thrilled to welcome Vice President Harris to New Hampshire," the state's Democratic Party said in a statement. "Granite Staters are already seeing the positive impacts of the Biden-Harris administration."

The state Republican Party criticized her visit to New Hampshire, suggesting that she was visiting the "wrong border" in reference to the immigration crisis along the Mexican border.

"As you travel over 2,300 miles away from El Paso, our country would be better served with an official visit to our southern border, not a campaign trip for Hassan," the New Hampshire GOP's posted on social media.

Harris' visit also drew criticism from Republicans and conservative groups who ripped the jobs plan and criticized the vice president for promoting it.

Greg Moore, state director of Americans for Prosperity - New Hampshire, called the plan a "more of a partisan wish list for special interests than improving our roads and bridges."

"If Vice President Harris wants to ignite our economy and improve our infrastructure, she should reject this partisan, profligate proposal and focus on helping people keep more of what they earn and unleashing private investment for our infrastructure needs," Moore said in a statement.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Cochrane today announced a pilot access agreement with OhioLINK, a state-wide academic library consortium. Under this agreement people living in the U.S. state of Ohio will have free access to the Cochrane Library for one year. Published by Wiley, the Cochrane Library is a collection of health evidence used to make informed decisions about health care and policy.

Our partnership with OhioLink is particularly gratifying to me as a native Ohioan. Cochrane Reviews provide evidence-based answers for those making important decisions about personal health care, clinical treatments and state health policies. Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that robust scientific evidence is vital to public health policy making and to resolving this global challenge, and we are delighted to see the Buckeye State benefit from access to the Cochrane Library." Jay Flynn, Chief Product Officer, Research, Wiley

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent scientific evidence to inform health care decision-making. Published by Wiley, the Cochrane Library (ISSN 1465-1858) comprises nearly 8,500 systematic reviews; 2,425 protocols; close to 1.7 million trials; and 2,679 clinical answers.

Karla Soares-Weiser, Editor-in-Chief of the Cochrane Library and acting Chief Executive Officer of Cochrane said, "Cochrane Reviews are a trusted source of health science evidence. Each review addresses a specific health question, systematically weighs the quality of available research and provides actionable evidence to make informed healthcare decisions--something so incredibly important now more than ever. Together with Wiley, we are delighted our agreement with OhioLINK makes the Cochrane Library freely available to policy makers, health practitioners, researchers and all people living in Ohio."

In addition to The Ohio State University, the U.S. Cochrane Network includes some of the most prestigious academic and research institutes in the country including University of California at San Francisco, Mississippi Centre of Evidence-base Practice, Oregon Health Science University and University of Maryland School of Medicine.

"We are pleased OhioLINK has prioritized access to the Cochrane Library," says Donal O'Mathuna, PhD, Member of the Executive Committee Member for U.S. Cochrane Network and Associate Professor, College of Nursing at Ohio State. "Our vision is a health system where all Americans have timely and trustworthy evidence to make good health care decisions. We hope this is the first of many agreements in the U.S. that provides access to the Cochrane Library."




The Tennessee Department of Education announced Thursday that $1,000 stipends for completion of the two-week Early Reading Training will now be available to fifth grade classroom teachers, special education teachers and English as a Second Language teachersin addition to kindergarten through fourth grade classroom, special education, and ESL teachers expanding the number of teachers who are eligible to receive stipends for completing this critical reading training this summer.Part of the states Reading 360 initiative to help boost strong reading skills amongst Tennessee students, the two-week Early Reading Training is a free and optional opportunity open to any educator supporting foundational literacy instruction in grades pre-K through fifth.The goal of this training opportunity is to "ensure that any Tennessee educator who helps young children learn how to read will have access to the latest research, implications for instruction, and practical tools to show them how to apply new learning.""Becoming a strong reader by 3rd grade is a critical milestone in a students academic journey, and in Tennessee, we are focusing on ensuring students who are still developing reading skills have strong supports, including excellent reading instruction, said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. By providing kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, and now fifth grade teachers a $1,000 stipend for completing the departments Early Reading Training, Tennessee teachers will be compensated for their professional development, and more students will benefit from strong phonics-based instruction when learning how to read.While the training is provided by the department free of charge for any Tennessee teacher for grades pre-K through fifth, teachers must register for the trainings through their district. kindergarten through fifth grade teachers will be eligible for $1,000 stipends, and K through second teachers will also receive classroom kits of "fun and engaging" materials to utilize in their classrooms. The deadline to register for the trainings in ePlan is May 5.Week one training will be available this month as an online, asynchronous learning experience through Best for All Central, and week two training will be offered in-person over the course of the summer. Click here for the Early Reading Training Course Overview.As Director of Schools of a small system in East Tennessee, it is with pride and excitement that we received the news regarding our K-5 teachers being trained in literacy foundation, said Dr. Mike Frazier, director of Schools, Etowah City Schools. This training will be this summer and all of our teachers will receive a stipend for their participation. We are appreciative to Commissioner Penny Schwinn and her cabinet members for hearing our voices as directors and bringing to fruition the stipend for our K-5 teachers across this great State of Tennessee.Reading 360 is a comprehensive statewide literacy initiative to provide optional grants and resources to help more Tennessee students develop strong phonics-based reading skills by supporting districts, teachers and families.To launch Reading 360 and invest in optional reading resources and supports at no cost to the state or districts, the state is leveraging approximately $60 million of one-time federal COVID-19 relief funding and $40 million in federal grant funding.
DUBLIN, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Network Automation and Orchestration Market by Distributed Cloud (Cloud RAN, Edge Computing), Network Slicing, Dynamic Spectrum Sharing and Private Networks 2021- 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This research evaluates enabling technologies and the market outlook for 5G Network slicing. It provides analysis of the market opportunities including Configuration Management, Performance Management, Service Level Agreements, and more. It also includes 5G Network Slicing by specific use cases such as Smart Manufacturing, which includes Remote Monitoring, Supply Chain Management, Asset Management, Real-Time Monitoring, and Network Monitoring.

The ability to optimize network management and service delivery is of paramount importance to communications services providers. This is especially the case as 5G networks will add a level of unprecedented complexity of hybrid LTE/5G environments for carriers as well as enterprise and industrial private networks. Network automation and orchestration are dependent upon a multi-faceted approach including smart antennas, network slicing, and optimization of cloud resources, especially at the edge of networks.

In addition, it provides an assessment of major segments such as 5G network slicing in consumer, enterprise, and industrial IoT. This research includes global forecasts for each area covered as well as regional estimates for 5G network slicing by segment, RF band, application, and industry vertical through 2026.

This research evaluates the smart antenna market including key players, technologies, and solutions. This includes analysis of product and service strategy for smart antenna vendors. It evaluates the role and importance of smart antennas in terms of 5G network optimization including data speed enhancement and error rate reduction.

It also evaluates and provides forecasts for the smart antenna market by Type (SIMO, MISO, MIMO), connectivity, and application globally and regionally. This research also assesses 5G smart antenna support of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, providing forecasts for IoT applications. It includes detailed revenue forecasts as well as projected smart antenna shipments from 2021 to 2026.

This research evaluates 5G NR and the market outlook for MNO and VNO to offer private IoT networks for the benefit of industrial automation and mission-critical enterprise applications and services. It evaluates major players, technologies, and solutions. It also assesses market challenges, opportunities, and the overall outlook for 5G NR equipment and components. In addition, it provides detailed forecasts for equipment globally and regionally as well as investment in 5G NR by industry vertical.

This research evaluates the telecom and IT ecosystem in support of Mobile Edge Computing including communications and computing infrastructure providers, managed services vendors, carriers and OTT providers. This edge computing market analysis includes a focus on company strategies and offerings relative to current and anticipated future market needs. It also provides quantitative analysis of the Mobile Edge Computing market including segmentation by industry vertical, region of the world, application, and services. It also provides forecasts for MEC based streaming data and real-time data analytics.

This research also evaluates 5G NR and the market outlook for MNO and VNO to offer private IoT networks for the benefit of industrial automation and mission-critical enterprise applications and services. It evaluates major players, technologies, and solutions. It also assesses market challenges, opportunities, and the overall outlook for 5G NR equipment and components. This research provides detailed forecasts for equipment globally and regionally as well as investment in 5G NR by industry vertical.

Select Research Findings:

The market for 5G smart antennas in IoT will reach $4.7B by 2026

by 2026 Smart antennas will be invaluable for continuous voice over 5G (Vo5G) coverage

In addition to network optimization, smart antennas reduce energy needs and other resources

5G antennas will be an absolute requirement to support the smart cities market and related services

The highest ROI solutions for carrier LTE-A and 5GNR offerings will be for enterprise applications and industrial automation

5GNR solutions will be largely fixed wireless WAN connectivity and support of industrial private communications networks

Carriers will move ahead aggressively with non-standalone 5G but will realize significant benefits with 5G core network upgrades

Key Topics Covered:

5G Network Slicing by Infrastructure, Spectrum Band, Segment, Industry Vertical, Application and Services

1 Executive Summary

2 Introduction

3 5G Network Capabilities and Requirements

4 5G Network Slicing Market Analysis and Forecasts

5 Conclusions and Recommendations

6 Appendix: Edge Computing



Multi-Access Edge Computing by Infrastructure, Equipment Category, Deployment Models, Computing as a Service Offerings, Network Connectivity, Applications, Analytics Types, Market Segment, Industry Verticals, and Region

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Introduction

3.0 MEC Technology, Platforms, and Architecture

4.0 MEC Market Drivers and Opportunities

5.0 MEC Ecosystem

6.0 MEC Application and Service Strategies

7.0 Multi-Access Edge Computing Deployment

8.0 Multi-Access Edge Computing Market Analysis and Forecasts

9.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

10.0 Appendix One: Real-time Data Analytics Revenue

11.0 Appendix Two: 5G Technology and Solution Outlook

5G Smart Antenna Market by Type (Switched Multi-Beam Antenna and Adaptive Array Antenna), Technology (SIMO, MISO, and MIMO), Use Case, Application, and Region

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Introduction

3.0 Technology and Application Analysis

4.0 Company Analysis

5.0 5G Smart Antenna Market Analysis and Forecasts

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

Private Wireless Networks by LTE, 5G, and Edge Computing in Enterprise, Industrial, and Government Solutions

1 Executive Summary

2 Introduction

3 Private Wireless Ecosystem

4 Private LTE Networks

5 Private 5G NR in Enterprise and Industrial Analysis and Forecasts

6 Conclusions and Recommendations

Companies Featured

ADLINK Technology Inc.

Advanced Micro Devices

Advantech

Affirmed Networks

Airgain Inc.

Airspan

Airtel

Akamai Technologies

Alibaba

Allot Communications

Altair Semiconductor

Alvarion

America Movil

Analog Devices Inc.

ANSYS Inc.

Apple

ArrayComm LLC

Ascom

Asus

AT&T

Broadcom Corporation

Broadcom Inc.

Brocade Communications Systems

BT Group (EE)

California Amplifier Inc.

Cavium Inc.

Ceragon Networks

China Mobile

China Telecom

China Unicom

Ciena Corporation

Cisco Systems

ClipBucket

Cloudify

Cobham Antenna Systems

Cobham Wireless

Colt

Comba Telecom

COMMSCOPE

Contus Vplay

Coolpad Dyno

Cradlepoint

D-Link

Deutsche Telekom AG

Dish (Sling TV)

EdgeConnex

Edgeworx

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company

Entel

Ericsson

ETSI MEC ISG

Eurotech

Facebook (Whatsapp)

FirstNet

Fitbit

Fubo TV

Fujitsu Ltd.

Fujitsu Technology Solutions

Gemalto

Google

Harris

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Honeywell International Inc.

HPE

HTC

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Hulu

Hytera

IBM Corporation

Inmarsat

Integrated Device Technology

Intel Corporation

InterDigital Inc.

Juniper Network Inc.

KDDI Corporation

Keysight Technologies

KT Corporation

Laird Technologies

Leica Geosystems AG

Leonardo

LG Electronics

LG Uplus

Linx Technologies

LOCOSYS Technology Inc.

M2M Connectivity

MACOM Technology

MediaTek Inc.

Mentura Group

Microsoft

Mimic Technology

Misfit

MobiledgeX

Mobiotics

Mobvoi

Motorola Solutions Inc.

Movistar

Muvi

MYCOM OSI

NEC Corporation

Netcracker

Netflix

Netgear

Nokia Corporation

Nokia Networks

NTT DoCoMo

NXP Semiconductors

Ooredoo

Ooyala

Orange SA

Ori

PCTEL Inc.

PeerApp Ltd.

Philo TV

Pixeom

Pluribus Networks

Qorvo Inc.

Qualcomm Incorporated

Quickplay

Quortus

Rakuten (Viber)

Redhat, Inc.

RedLinX

REVE Systems

Ribbon Communications

Rogers Communications

Rohde & Schwarz

Roku

Ruckus Networks

Saguna Networks

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sierra Wireless (Accel Networks)

SimNet Wireless

SingTel

Siretta

SK Telecom

Sky Go

Skype (Microsoft)

Smart Antenna Technologies Ltd

Softbank Group

Sony Corporation

Spark NZ

SpiderCloud Wireless

Sprint Corporation

STC - Saudi Telecom Company

Swisscom

T-Mobile USA

Telecom Italia

Telefonica

Telegram

Telenor

Telit Communications

Telstra

Tencent

Texim Europe

UbiFi

Vapor IO

Vasona Networks

Verizon

Vidmind

VMware Inc.

Vodafone Group

Vplayed

WeChat

Xilinx, Inc.

Yaana Ltd.

Zain

Zenitel

ZHEJIANG JC Antenna Co. Ltd.

JC Antenna Co. Ltd. ZTE Corporation

Zyxel

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q8bdo5



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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A file photo of a sign marking the city limit of Costa Mesa, Calif., on Oct. 26, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Costa Mesa Advances Plans for Retail Cannabis Sales

Costa Mesa is advancing the execution of a law allowing retail cannabis sales and delivery.

The city council during its most recent meeting voted 52 to move forward with the implementation of its cannabis ordinance, Measure Q, by establishing minimum operating requirements and developing standards to tax and regulate cannabis dispensaries and deliveries.

We can create something that the community is very proud ofhigh-end, well-capitalized businesses selling legal product in a safe manner in our community, Mayor John Stephens said during the April 20 meeting.

Measure Q was passed by voters during the Nov. 3, 2020, general election. Costa Mesa is now working to implement the law.

The ordinance includes a seven percent tax on cannabis retail businesses. The city projects a minimum profit of $3.2 million annually in general fund revenue as a result.

Costa Mesa is facing a $29.8 million revenue loss amid the pandemic, according to its website.

A higher tax rate allows the city to achieve its revenue goals and reinvest those gains back into our core services to the community and residents, sooner rather than later, the report states.

Illegal cannabis dispensaries operating within the city must cease operations for one year prior to being eligible for a legal cannabis business permit.

Dispensaries must be located at least 1,000 feet from schools, playgrounds, child daycares, and homeless shelters; 600 feet from youth centers; and 500 feet from another licensed dispensary.

Cannabis delivery services must obtain a business license, and cant operate within the city later than 10 p.m.

Of the collected tax revenue, six percent will go to the citys general fund, while one percent will go toward the implementation of a culture and arts master plan, and a first-time homebuyer program for Costa Mesa residents and students.

Councilman Manuel Chavez, in support of passing the ordinance, said, As the country moves forward and cannabis becomes more and more normalized  are we going to be the forefront of something, [or are we] going to be behind it?

Chavez said the citys retail cannabis law enables people to visit our city and bring revenue into it, with visitors spending money at other businesses.

Ultimately, it gives us more revenue to spend on services for Costa Mesa residents, he said.

Councilman Don Harper, one of the dissenting voters, opposed the ordinance on the grounds that the 500-foot barrier between dispensaries limited free-market competition.

He said the buffer gives dispensaries that find a location first a competitive advantage and prevents businesses from being rewarded based on merit.

I always prefer to let competition settle out, he said, adding that the arbitrary barrier restricts such competition.

Harper also took issue with the ordinances rule of being 1,000 feet from a playground, rather than 1,000 feet from the park itself.

Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds, concerned with the citys lack of outreach prior to establishing the ordinance, wanted to take a little bit more time and do more substantial outreach to match the level of what we did to try to get measure Q to pass.

Weve fallen short on outreach to the public, Reynolds said. I think we dont fully understand potential impacts on other businesses. And I dont think that we were protecting against overconcentration in a way that could be detrimental to some areas and unfair to some areas.

A Costa Mesa resident and business owner spoke during the meeting to share concerns about a lack of public outreach.

I find it shameful that your cannabis ad hoc committee reached out to the cannabis business industry and over 50 industry representatives, and yet the public was not invited to voice any of their suggestions or concerns, she said.

She said she was also concerned about the storefronts having to wait a period of 180 days before being allowed to open at the location of an illegally operating dispensary. (Council decided to amend it to 365 days during the April 20 meeting).

Your recommendation for a listed dispensary is to vacate for only 180 days. Its absolutely nothing, she said. It is far from the deterrent, and frankly a joke of a consequence.

Other public commenters said the seven percent tax rate on retail cannabis sales was too high, and would be passed on to the consumer, or deter shoppers from purchasing cannabis in Costa Mesa.
NEW MILFORD  A New Milford mother has formally sued the town and three employees of the local police department in relation to her sons 2019 opioid overdose death, claiming negligence, carelessness, and improper prisoner security and welfare procedure.

Tracey Morrissey, known for her activism combating opioid addiction after losing her son Brian Cody Waldron to an overdose, filed a formal complaint on March 19 for at least $15,000 in damages. She and her husband, Tony, filed an intent to sue in 2019.

The suit alleges that the negligence and/or carelessness of one or more members of the New Milford Police Department including three specific department members  contributed to the death of 20-year-old Brian Cody Waldron during the summer of 2019.

We continue to pursue any action that will bring change to the circumstances behind the death of our son to include reforms within our local community and statewide legislation and community outreach, Tony Morrissey, Waldrons step-father said. We are hopeful that people who may not agree on all circumstances will agree that change needs to be made to ensure that this disease of addiction is taken seriously.

Mayor Pete Bass declined comment for the article citing pending litigation.

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

Waldrons story is known around town, as his mother and step-father have been active in publicizing his story and pushing for legislation that would address opioid addiction in Connecticut. The couple has since turned their organization, Brian Codys Law, into a non-profit, which theyre calling Brian Codys Brothers & Sisters Foundation. The couple also attends rallies around the state.

During the pandemic, the couple supported roughly a dozen legislative proposals and continued to meet with state legislators to support their cause. Now, theyve turned their attention to the incident that started their movement.

On the night of Aug. 9, 2019, Waldron was brought to New Milford Hospital emergency room by his fiance, Makayla Showalter, and her step-father, Norman Abair, while Waldron was high on heroin. Court documents say Showalter feared Waldron would overdose, and asked personnel how they could keep Mr. Waldron from returning home.

While at the hospital, Abair reported the situation to the police, notifying them that Showalter and Waldron had been in a physical altercation, and two officers came to the hospital to arrest Waldron and transport him back to the station. There, an officer evaluated Waldron and completed a suicide screening form, marking him a medium suicide risk, the lawsuit states.

After Waldron was put in a jail cell, he continued to act erratically and told Johnson several times that he wanted to jump off a bridge, the lawsuit continues, to which Johnson responded that if he kept saying that he wanted to kill himself, then he would have to go to the hospital.

Less than 30 minutes later, at 4:41 a.m. on August 10, Waldron was released from police custody and was found dead of an overdose in a trap house about eight hours later.

Within 10 minutes hes out the door and they dont call the girlfriend, they dont call the girlfriends father, they dont call the family, they dont call anyone, said the plaintiffs attorney Robert Guendelsberger. What they should have done is taken him back to New Milford Hospital to be evaluated by a professional.

The lawsuit alleges that the officers did not properly follow department procedure in assessing, addressing, and acting upon Waldrons mental state.

Specifically, the suit alleges that the officers failed to assess Mr. Waldrons mental status and behavior, failed to recognize the signs, symptoms and/or other indicators of Mr. Waldrons potential harmful behavior, and that they had reasonable cause to believe Mr. Waldron was a danger to himself and/or others, and did not take him for an emergency examination. It goes on to states that one of the officers had reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Waldron was a danger to himself and in need of care.

I do consider the people in our local community as friends in spite of the mistakes that were made, Tony Morrissey said. And Im especially appreciative that we can put this on one side and continue to work on really uplifting things and inspirational things like the Recovery Festival they organized for this summer.
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There is hope of ending malaria, a disease that kills hundred of thousands of people annually, including in Nigeria, as a malaria vaccine has now shown huge promise.

For the first time, a vaccine has been found to surpass the 75 per cent efficacy goal set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for a malaria vaccine to receive a nod.

The successful development of COVID-19 vaccines in record time propelled what health experts described as a landmark achievement in the advancement of a vaccine for malaria, one of the biggest killers of children globally.

Adrian Hill, whose work at Oxford Universitys Jenner institute set the foundations for the Oxford COVID-19 vaccines, designed and developed the malaria vaccine dubbed R21/Matrix-M which is said to demonstrate 77 per cent efficacy in over 12 months of trials.

The findings come from the first 12 months of an ongoing phase two trial, which was first launched in Burkina Faso in May 2019 and involves 450 children, aged 5 to 17 months, according to a report by the Independent UK on Friday.

Some health experts have expressed optimism in the new vaccine for the mosquito-borne disease that kills over 400,000 people every year, globally.

The idea of controlling malaria by vaccination dates back to 1910 when the first scientific report was developed in Algeria.

Clinical trials began in the 1940s, got serious from the 1980s onwards and, today, over 140 malaria vaccine candidates have been tested in humans, according to a report by The Conversation.

But none has progressed to approval and deployment, a sharp contrast to the COVID-19 vaccine which was developed in less than one year.

According to scientists, this is largely because the malaria parasite is more complex with over 5, 000 genes when compared to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 which has just 12 genes.

Meanwhile, Mr Hill and his team said their malaria vaccine progressed rapidly largely due to the milestone success of the COVID-19 vaccines. They are now moving their jab into a large-scale, phase three trial.

In an interview with the Times, Mr Hill, a professor, said the malaria vaccine would be tested on 4,800 children in Africa next year after early trials yielded promising results.

According to the results, the vaccine is well-tolerated in children, producing minor side effects such as fever, The Conversation reported.

The 450 children recruited into the study were split into three groups. Two were given the vaccine, with one receiving a higher dose of adjuvant  a substance that enhances the immune response  than the other. The third group was given a rabies vaccine as a control, the report explained.

Though monumental progress has been made in reducing the scourge of malaria globally, the disease still remain# lethal, especially in Africa.

The mosquito-borne disease continues to be a major public health problem in 97 countries  particularly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 90 per cent of all malaria deaths still occur, according to a 2017 WHO Malaria Report.
 We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes.

 China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process, and looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance.

 China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on the international community to work together to foster a community of life for man and nature with "unprecedented ambition and action."

"Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action," he said while addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing.

Community of Life

To build a community of life for man and nature, Xi made a six-pronged proposal, including staying committed to harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, multilateralism, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

"We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes," the Chinese president said, adding that failure to respect nature or follow its laws will only invite its revenge.

Reiterating the idea that "green mountains are gold mountains," Xi said that protecting the environment is protecting productivity, and improving the environment is boosting productivity. "The truth is as simple as that."

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020 shows the Haizhu wetland and the Canton Tower in the distance in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. [Photo by Xie Huiqiang/Xinhua]

He also stressed that protecting the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach, calling for following the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balancing all elements and aspects of nature.

"We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty all at the same time," he said, adding that the goal is to deliver social equity and justice in the course of green transition.

Join Hands, Not Point Fingers

In the journey toward global carbon neutrality, Xi called for strengthening partnerships and cooperation, learning from each other, and making common progress.

"We must join hands, not point fingers at each other; we must maintain continuity, not reverse course easily; and we must honor commitments, not go back on promises," he said.

China and the United States issued a joint statement a few days ago, vowing to cooperate with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis.

China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process, and looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance, Xi said.

White cranes forage in a farmland by the Poyang Lake in Yugan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 15, 2021.[Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi]

Calling the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities "the cornerstone of global climate governance," he said that developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action and make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen their capacity and resilience against climate change.

Xi urged developed countries to support developing countries in financing, technology and capacity building, and refrain from creating green trade barriers.

"The historical responsibility, development stage, and coping capacity of developed and developing countries are different, and that's why the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should always be followed," said Xu Huaqing, director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.

China in Action

Reiterating China's goal of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi said that the period of China's commitment to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality is much shorter than what might take many developed countries.

"That requires extraordinarily hard efforts from China," Xi said.

Aerial photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows a view of a converter station of ultra-high voltage transmission line from Qinghai to Henan, in northwest China's Qinghai Province. [Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang]

The targets of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality have been added to China's overall plan for ecological conservation. An action plan toward carbon peaking is being formulated, and China's national carbon market will also start trading.

"China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan period," Xi said.

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China has also been doing its best to help developing countries build capacity against climate change.

A number of green action initiatives have been launched, covering wide-ranging efforts in green infrastructure, green energy, green transport and green finance to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries.

"I am confident that as long as we unite in our purposes and efforts and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, we will rise above the global climate and environment challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations," Xi said.

(Source: Xinhua)
Megan Reilly, deputy superintendent at L.A. Unified, has frequently served in Supt. Austin Beutner's place at Board of Education meetings. (L.A. Unified School District)

The Los Angeles Board of Education has appointed Megan Reilly, who oversees the district's massive finance, business and operations arm, as interim superintendent two days after schools chief Austin Beutner announced he would not seek a new contract when his current agreement expires on June 30.

Beutner had suggested that the board should choose a current member of his senior staff for the permanent job  for the sake of continuity. But the Board of Education is not prepared to go that route. Instead, Reilly will serve while the board begins a formal search.

It was not immediately clear whether Reilly wishes to be a candidate for superintendent. Beutner is expected to stay on through June and coordinate closely with Reilly. No major departures in policy would be expected under Reilly during this interim period.

Superintendent searches can take a year or more, but can sometimes be concluded quickly. Beutner said an insider could be in place in time to welcome students back in the fall.

Reilly is deputy superintendent and, based on her current responsibilities, appears to be the most senior administrator after Beutner. She has frequently served in his place at meetings of the Board of Education. Her specific areas of responsibility have been business services and operations, which include facilities, finances, technology, school culture and safety, according to a recent district organization chart. She has not had responsibility over instruction and for services to students with special needs.

Reilly, 55, is on her second tour of duty with the nation's second-largest school system.

She had served as chief financial officer for L.A. Unified before becoming chief business officer for the Santa Clara County Office of Education in 2017. The veteran business manager returned to L.A. Unified in 2019 to become deputy superintendent.

I am excited to return to Los Angeles Unified, Reilly said at the time. I love the work. I know many of the people and the communities we serve. I believe in the strength and beauty of Los Angeles Unifieds community of schools, which is all about the people. This work has taught me the social and moral responsibility that we adults must make a positive difference in a childs life. I look forward to the work ahead with the team on behalf of students.

Story continues

Her previous departure from L.A. Unified appears to have been amicable. She had been notable, in part, as the town crier of bad financial times ahead. When she left, L.A. Unified faced budget challenges from declining enrollment, high fixed costs, rising pension obligations and costly retiree health benefits.

As befitting her role of financial steward, Reilly spoke publicly of potentially dire consequences to come and spoke even more bluntly behind the scenes, sometimes warning that current spending practices and union contractual obligations were unsustainable.

Its scary, Reilly said about looming retiree healthcare obligations in 2015. It has been a growing concern that our liabilities have been increasing year after year and slowly becoming larger than our assets. Were not there yet, but we probably have a couple of years to go.

She later oversaw the work of an independent panel of experts that, in the end, essentially agreed with her concerns about the future.

That same year, she warned internally that the districts first pay raise in years was too generous. She lost that argument.

She returned to the school system in the wake of the January 2019 teachers strike, which resulted in a contract that district critics called unsustainable.

The district avoided the predicted day of financial reckoning thanks to a growing state economy. That growth came to an abrupt end with the economic shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, but imminent financial peril was avoided due to state and government aid. This assistance has brought substantial resources to the district, at least for the next two years. The picture after that is uncertain.

During the pandemic, Reilly helped oversee the district's Grab & Go meal distribution centers, the allocation of computers and internet hot spots to students and educators, and the planning for reopening campuses. Elementary schools opened with a half-time in-person schedule over the last two weeks. Middle and high schools open next week, also on a half-time schedule.

Reilly has more than three decades of experience in business services, working in various roles including as a budget analyst and comptroller. But she's not an L.A. Unified lifer. She spent 17 years in the federal civil service in Northern California, holding administrative positions with the Naval Postgraduate School and the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, including as chief business executive.

She first joined the school system in 2007, one of the districts last major imports from the Navy, during the administration of Supt. David Brewer, a retired admiral. The Navy connection, however, was well established before Brewers 2006 arrival. By then, the district had brought in a fleet of former naval officers to resurrect the districts school construction and modernization program, which became the largest such effort in the nation.

Reilly has a bachelor's degree in history from Loyola University, a masters in management from Naval Postgraduate School and a law degree from Monterey College of Law.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The situation was dire enough to prompt health minister Etala Rajendar to squarely hold the Central government responsible for the emerging crisis saying that the Centre was controlling oxygen supplies to states.  Representational image/DC

Hyderabad: Hyderabad city and the rest of Telangana are facing a serious crisis of oxygen supply in hospitals with doctors in different hospitals admitting that they fear running out of supplies as the hospitals are increasingly witnessing a steady stream of Covid-19 patients requiring to be put on supplementary oxygen.

The current daily requirement of medical oxygen in the state is 384 tonnes, but the state was getting just between 260 and 270 metric tonnes, leaving a shortfall of around 120 metric tonnes a day.

Even in hospitals that have liquid oxygen tanks, the situation is not good as the internal supply systems are getting overwhelmed by the hundreds of patients requiring to be put on oxygen. According to sources, the situation in the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences is beginning to cause concern as patients being accommodated in upper floors are not receiving oxygen under the pressures required. As we go up each floor, the pressures in the piping system is dropping, the pressure is only good on the ground floor and to some extent on the first floor, the sources said.

The situation was dire enough to prompt health minister Etala Rajendar to squarely hold the Central government responsible for the emerging crisis saying that the Centre was controlling oxygen supplies to states. Since we do not manufacture oxygen, we have to depend on supplies from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Bellary in Karnataka. The Centre allocated oxygen for Telangana from a plant 1,300 km away in Odisha. Another 35 tonnes was okayed for supply from Perumbudur in Tamil Nadu but that state said nothing doing, we are not giving oxygen to anyone, he told a news conference.

If Telangana ends up facing oxygen shortages, the responsibility for this will lie squarely with the Centre, Rajendar said.

Meanwhile, most hospitals in the city reported that they were out of oxygen beds including some run by the government. Doctors at some private hospitals said they were somehow managing for the time being but were unsure how long they could continue as they were facing supply problems with shortage of tankers, as well as other oxygen tanks typically used in such facilities that do not have their own liquid oxygen storage facilities.
Domestic traders body CAIT on Friday asked the Delhi government to further extend the lockdown beyond April 26 to control coronavirus infections.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that going by the current statistics, the situation is quite alarming.

"The CAIT has urged for extension of lockdown in Delhi beyond April 26... as and when the situation is improved, the lockdown can be lifted," the confederation said in a statement.

It added that although lockdown will cause financial loss to traders and the economy, "yet we are of the considered opinion that in order to save the lives of the people of Delhi and protect them from any further spread of COVID-19, we have sought the extension".

Also read: 'We stand ready to provide support,' says France to India amid second COVID-19 wave
MENOMONIE, Wis., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Dot of Happiness (BDOH), a party supply company known for creating goose bump moments, is launching the "Heartiversary Collection" after CEO and Founder learned of the story of new-mom-to-be Sonja and her baby, Charlotte, who was born with a congenital heart defect.

Charlotte celebrates her first Heartiversary with the Heartiversary collection from Big Dot of Happiness

"We've been in business for over two decades and have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, important milestones, and more, but the Heartiversary Collection has special meaning for Big Dot of Happiness," said Sheri Yukel, CEO and Founder of Big Dot of Happiness. "After speaking with Sonja, it became very clear that Heartiversaries are a milestone that millions of people around the world celebrate, yet it is not a commercially recognized Day. We're changing that -- these heart warriors have been given a second chance at life!"

A "Heartiversary" is the anniversary of a cardiac surgery and recognizes each year following that another year has passed since the heart warrior was given a second chance to live. The new Big Dot Heartiversary Collection celebrates this Day with signature party supplies, including photo booth props, decor pieces, party swirls, banners, garland, cutouts, drink coasters, yard signs and the signature Big Dot of Happiness Jumborific Card. Prices range from $9.99 to $34.99 and are available to order here on the company website https://www.bigdotofhappiness.com. Further, proceeds from the sale of the collection will go to The Children's Heart Foundation, which funds Congenital Heart Defect Research.

"The idea of a Heartiversary was not even on my radar until we received Charlotte's diagnosis and she had her first surgery at two days old," said Sonja, mother of Charlotte. "There are so many points before and after surgery that we hold our breath, but the one that gave us hope and that gives patients like Charlotte a chance for life is the 'Heartiversary.' Sherri and the Big Dot team's quick response to ensure Heartiversaries are a mainstay on party aisles will help bring awareness and research to this issue, and for that we are incredibly grateful."

Perhaps the most talked about story of a child being born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) is ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose son was born with a CHD, yet unlike Charlotte, his condition wasn't detected until after he had been born. His Heartiversary is April 24! Further, Olympic Gold Medalist snowboarder Shaun White was born with a congenital heart defect and had two open-heart surgeries before the age of one.

Congenital heart defects are the most commonly occurring birth defect, affecting approximately 1 in 100 babies born, or a child born every 15 minutes. Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of birth-defect-related mortality. Funded research is making a very big difference in the lives of CHD patients, helping to reduce incidences and increase survival, longevity and quality of life.

For more information, visit https://www.bigdotofhappiness.com/other-events/everyday-party/happy-heartiversary.html

About Big Dot of Happiness

We do more than create party supplies, we create Goose Bump moments  memories that will last a lifetime! Our designer party collections make it easier for everyone to be a Party-Throwing Hero. From concept and design, Big Dot of Happiness products are 100% unique and original with the majority crafted right in our Wisconsin facility. We pride ourselves on the quality of our party supplies and specialize in making your party a fun event to remember for years to come. We are where QUALITY and FUN meet!

For media inquiries:

Lauren Goldberg

[email protected]

(404) 729-7545

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Charlotte Celebrates Her First Heartiversary

Charlotte celebrates her first Heartiversary with the Heartiversary collection from Big Dot of Happiness

SOURCE Big Dot of Happiness
Police officers in Albany, New York, clashed with demonstrators on Thursday as they ejected them from a makeshift street encampment outside a police station.

Up to 20 demonstrators had been camped outside the department's South Station for six days. They said they were there to draw attention to police brutality.

The protesters had camped out, they said, in the wake of clashes that broke out earlier this month when people gathered to rally against Daunte Wright's killing.

During those protests, police had been violent, they said; they had gathered for the last six days at the station with a list of demands that called for police to de-escalate situations.

On Thursday the protesters had about 15 minutes to pack up their tents and belongings or be arrested.

Police officers in Albany, New York, clashed with demonstrators on Thursday as they ejected them from a makeshift street encampment outside a police station

Up to 20 demonstrators had been camped outside the department's South Station for six days to draw attention to police brutality and a recent confrontation with city officers

Officers are seen arresting a few protesters during a clash on Thursday afternoon

Police told the protesters they had 15 minutes to pack up their tents and belongings or be arrested

One officer swings a nightstick but does not appear to hit anyone. A video posted to Twitter by a reporter for the Times-Union of Albany shows officers and demonstrators scuffling as police moved between the tents.





Police did not immediately provide information on whether there were injuries. But images show one person lying on the ground as police attempt to render aid.

According to the Times-Union one person was taken to a local hospital.

A few protesters were also taken into custody.

Images showed police appearing to arrest demonstrators by handcuffing them on the ground.

The officers, some with shields, moved through the encampment Thursday afternoon, shortly after Police Chief Eric Hawkins tweeted that for 'public safety purposes, it is time to end this unlawful occupation'.

'We have heard the grievances of the protesters loud and clear. We have also heard the concerns from members of that neighborhood as well as officers & non-sworn staff who serve from the South Station,' Hawkins tweeted.

'Protesters may continue to peacefully demonstrate, but they must do so in a space that is safe and lawful,' he added.

Police did not immediately provide information on whether there were injuries. But images show one person lying on the ground as police attempt to render aid. According to the Times-Union one person was taken to a local hospital.

A few demonstrators are seen facing off with police officers during a confrontation on Thursday

A few protesters were also taken into custody. Images showed police appearing to arrest demonstrators by handcuffing them on the ground

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan also tweeted that the chief has her full support in removing the encampment.

'I fully support Chief Hawkins decision to end the unlawful encampment while providing space for peaceful protests that keeps our residents, workforce, and protestors safe,' she wrote.

As tensions escalated, about 30 more demonstrators arrived to the scene and used their cars to block traffic at an intersection near the area.

In another part of the city, a second protest group demonstrated outside of city court on Morton Avenue.

According to the Times-Union, the encampment was formed on Saturday just days after police and protesters clashed during an April 14 confrontation at the station.

The confrontation with protesters resulted in officers using pepper spray on the crowd and pushing protesters. A window was also broken at the police station.

Demonstrators said that police instigated the violence while police blamed the protesters for being aggressive.

'There is no excuse for police violence against protestors anywhere in New York state,' the New York Civil Liberties Union's Caroline Nagy said in a prepared statement.

'Protests calling for an end to police brutality against Black New Yorkers should never result in more police brutality.'
Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial to one of the victims of the 2018 van attack on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. The City of Toronto will mark the third anniversary of the van attack today with remarks from the mayor. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
By Rajendra Jadhav and Sumita Layek

(Reuters) - India's physical gold demand faltered this week as strict restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 kept buyers away, while activity in other top hubs remained largely muted due to higher prices.

Many Indian states have imposed curbs amid a record surge in infections.

The second wave has been badly affecting demand as many showrooms are closed due to restrictions, said Harshad Ajmera, the proprietor of JJ Gold House, a wholesaler in the city of Kolkata.

"Suddenly, demand has gone down. Consumers are also not willing to step out of their homes due to the coronavirus outbreak," he said.

Premiums eased to about $2 an ounce over official domestic prices, inclusive of 10.75% import and 3% sales levies, from last week's $4.

"Jewellers have been reducing purchases because of weak retail demand. It seems demand would remain weak for the next few weeks considering the way coronavirus cases are rising," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a bullion importing bank.

This was in contrast to March, when Swiss monthly gold exports to India touched their highest since 2013, amid a gradual pick-up in demand.

In China, premiums of $8-$10 were charged over benchmark spot gold prices, against $7-$9 last week.

With premiums at these levels, "we don't see anyone rushing to jump in. I expect a dip down to $3/$4 in order to trigger more buying interest," said Bernard Sin, regional director, Greater China at MKS Switzerland.

In Hong Kong, premiums of $1.2-$1.8 an ounce were charged versus $0.50-$2 last week.

In Singapore, premiums stood around $1.6-$1.8, from $1.8 previously.

"Prices are higher so people are sitting on the sidelines," said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central.

Wholesalers are rather quiet as supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 measures have pushed up premiums, Lan added.

In Japan, premiums of $0.50 were being charged, amid weak demand.

(Reporting by Sumita Layek and Shreyansi Singh in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Arpan Varghese and Elaine Hardcastle)
We stand for democracy announced a double-page ad in The New York Times last week, undersigned by the some of the United States best-known corporations and chief executives.

The statement was a protest against reforms to voter registration that passed in the US state of Georgia at the end of March and raises the question: in the age of corporate activism, does democracy as we celebrate it still have a chance?

US companies have come out against changes to voting laws in Georgia. Credit:AP

The Georgia law reform, SB202 as it is known to its friends, was championed by Republican senators as a way of guarding against voter fraud. The legislation aims to ensure the integrity of the US electoral system by requiring a form of ID from voters.

Democrats object to the legislation on the grounds that it could lead to voter suppression  discouraging or making it impossible for disadvantaged and minority communities to vote by introducing hurdles to participation. In its original form, the bill included changes such as a ban on voting on Sunday  this would have put an end to the souls to the polls voting drive that black churches use to turn out their communities to cast a ballot, reducing participation among a key Democratic voting bloc. The ban was opposed in the Senate process and removed from the final bill. After a month of debate and modification in the chamber, the legislation was passed in the regular way that laws are made.
Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Mostly cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 84F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

New Zealand on Friday paused arrivals from Western Australia, temporarily excluding the state's travellers from a quarantine-free bubble between the countries due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

"As set out in our Trans-Tasman bubble protocols, travel between New Zealand and Western Australia has been paused, pending further advice from the state government," a statement on the New Zealand government website said.

Earlier on Friday the Perth and Peel regions were sent into a three-day lockdown after Western Australia recorded its first community transmission of the virus in 12 months.

A man in his 50s, who recently left hotel quarantine, flew into Melbourne from Perth on Wednesday and tested positive for the coronavirus earlier Friday.

One of the man's close contacts in Perth also tested positive for the virus, raising concerns that it may have spread further into the community.

Despite testing negative for the virus before leaving hotel quarantinea requirement for all international arrivals to Australiaauthorities believe the man likely contracted COVID-19 from another hotel guest.

"He spent up to five days in Perth, and we now need to assume he was infectious," Western Australia premier Mark McGowan told a press conference.

Other Australian states and territories, whose residents are still able to fly to New Zealand under the bubble arrangement, moved to restrict arrivals from Western Australia following the outbreak.

The few instances of community transmission in recent months have been linked to hotel quarantine in major cities, and all the outbreaks have been successfully contained with similar brief lockdowns.

It is the first major snag since New Zealand and Australia opened their quarantine-free travel bubble on April 18, almost 400 days after both closed their international borders due to the pandemic.

The bubble, which followed months of negotiations between the largely coronavirus-free neighbours, was hailed as a major milestone in restarting a global travel industry that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before COVID-19 brought New Zealand's tourism industry to its knees, it was the country's biggest export industry, with Australians accounting for about 40 percent of the international visitors.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
CCP Signals to Fully Lift Restrictions on Birth Control as Population Crisis Looms

Chinas population is aging and the number of births has plummeted. The Central Bank of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has published a paper calling for full liberalization and encouragement of childbearing.

Some experts say that for economic reasons and overall war preparedness, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping may fully lift the birth restrictions.

On April 14, the CCP Central Bank published a working paper titled Understanding and Countermeasures on Population Transition on its official WeChat account. The paper pointed out that compared with developed countries, China is facing a more rapidly growing aging population and a more serious declining birth rate.

Acute Demographic Problems

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if 7 percent of the population of a society is aged 65 or above, it is called an aging society. When the proportion reaches 14 percent, it is called the Aged Society. A proportion of 20 percent is called a super-aged society.

Chinas aging population ranks first in the world and is aging faster than European and American developed countries, according to the Central Banks paper.

According to the figures provided by the paper, Chinas population aged 65 and above reached 88.27 million in 2000, accounting for 7 percent of the total population, making the society an aging society. In 2019, the number of people aged 65 or above rose to 176 million, accounting for 12.6 percent of the total. It is estimated that in 2022, the proportion will exceed 14 percent, making it an aged society.

The comparison shows that it only takes 22 years for China to move from an aging society to an aged society, much faster than France (140 years) and Sweden (85 years), which were the first to enter aged societies. It was also faster than the United States (72 years).

The situation of the declining birth rate is even more serious in China. From 1950 to 2019, China rapidly transformed from a high-fertility country to a low-fertility country. The combined fertility rate decreased from 6.71 to 1.70, a decrease of 5.01. In the same period, the United States, Japan, Britain, and France only decreased by 1.28, 2.08, 0.33, and 1.00 respectively.

After the paper was released, Ren Zeping, chief economist of Soochow Securities, and others published a report on Chinas fertility on April 16 entitled Aging population and declining birthrates are accelerating, full liberalization is urgent.

Both the Central Banks paper and Ren Zepings report acknowledge that the CCPs long-standing family planning has accelerated a decline in fertility rates, resulting in a large drop in births, a large drop in fertility, a decline in the number of women of childbearing age, as well as the accelerated arrival of an aging population with a declining birth rate.

The CCP implemented a population control policy in 1971, encouraging couples to have fewer children, and has strictly enforced a one-child policy since the late 1970s. Official figures from the Ministry of Health (now the National Health Commission) show that from 1971 to March 2013, 336 million abortions and 196 million sterilizations were performed in China; since the 1990s, 7 million abortions and nearly 2 million sterilizations have been performed each year.

Zhai Zhenwu, dean of the School of Sociology and Population Studies at Renmin University of China, projected in 2015 that family planning had reduced Chinas population by 400 million people.

Births Fall After Two-child Policy

According to the Ren Zeping report, the implementation of the CCPs comprehensive two-child policy in 2016 has not only failed to produce a rise in births but has instead resulted in a birth cliff. Although the number of births initially rose to 17.86 million in 2016, it has since fallen sharply in successive years, to 17.25 million in 2017, 15.23 million in 2018, and 14.65 million in 2019.

The number of births in 2020 has not yet been released, but data from the Ministry of Public Security shows that only 1,035,000 newborns were registered in 2020, a drop of about 15 percent from 2019. The number of newborns registered by the Ministry of Public Security in 2019 accounted for 80.5 percent of the births for the year of the Bureau of Statistics, which means that the number of births in 2020 may drop by more than 2 million compared to 2019.

Dong Yuzheng, a population expert and director of the Guangdong Institute of Population Development, said in an interview with China Business News on April 18 that according to the current trend, the annual births during the 14th Five-Year Plan period may fall below the 10 million mark. In this way, within a few years, Chinas total population may experience negative growth.

Chinas delay in releasing the results of last years seventh population census has raised questions. The CCP was scheduled to release the census results in early April, but the National Bureau of Statistics said on April 16 that the delay was due to the need to release more and more detailed information, but no specific date was given. One Twitter user sarcastically said, The data is really ugly, and it takes a lot of time to change it!

In order to increase the number of births, some deputies to the National Peoples Congress proposed to implement a full liberalization of the three-child policy in 2018. Ren Zeping recently posted on Weibo that not only will the three-child policy open in the future, but there may come a policy of rewarding families with four or five children. He expects that the fertility policy will be adjusted during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and it would be better to fully lift the restrictions on birth, and if not, to open up the third-child policy first.

Analysts: Lifting Restrictions to Prepare for War

According to U.S.-based current affairs commentator and China expert Li Yanming, Chinas demographic dividend is disappearing, and the CCPs latest official stance indicates that a demographic crisis is imminent, with significant implications on social, economic, and international competitiveness.

On the other hand, the CCPs ambition for global expansion and military hegemony is becoming more and more obvious, and it is reverting to Mao Zedongs line domestically, Li said. Therefore, it is likely that the CCP will follow Maos practice in the early years of its rule and implement a policy of encouraging and even forcing births for full-scale war preparation and global domination.

Before the CCP took power, former U.S. Secretary of State Acheson said that Chinas population had doubled in the 18th and 19th centuries, and no Chinese government had been able to solve the food problem. In September 1949, Mao Zedong, the first leader of the CCP, argued in his article The Bankruptcy of Historical Materialism that the large population of China is a very good thing. There is a way [for us] even the number multiplies a couple of times, and the way is production.
The Greek authorities have seized more than four tons of cannabis hidden in a shipment of industrial cupcake-making machines heading from Lebanon to Slovakia, AP reported.

The Greek financial crimes unit said the drugs were found in a shipping container at the country's main port, Piraeus.

A total of more than 4.3 tons of processed cannabis were found in a hidden compartment built into a metal tank that was among the equipment, according to the financial crimes department. The retail value of the drugs is estimated at around 33 million euros.

The Greek authorities said they received assistance in the case from the Saudi Arabian drug agency. The investigation is ongoing.
Biden admin. appeals ruling protecting religious hospitals from transgender surgery mandate

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The Biden administration is working to keep in place an Obamacare mandate that would require doctors and hospitals to perform gender transition surgeries even if doing so violates their religious beliefs as it continues to face scrutiny from the judicial branch.

Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, took to Twitter Tuesday to announce that the administration filed an appeal seeking to force religious doctors and hospitals to perform potentially harmful gender-transition procedures against their conscience and professional medical judgment.

#BREAKING: The Biden Admin just filed an appeal seeking to force religious doctors and hospitals to perform potentially harmful gender-transition procedures against their conscience and professional medical judgment. This is bad for patients, doctors, and religious liberty. 1/  Luke Goodrich (@LukeWGoodrich) April 20, 2021

He described the move as bad for patients, doctors, and religious liberty.

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in certain health programs or activities.

The Obama administration believed that Section 1557 also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and implemented a rule asserting that belief.

The rule quickly became the subject of several court challenges from religious organizations.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, suggesting that he sympathized with the Obama administrations view on the matter.

Goodrich explained the litigation surrounding the transgender mandate in a lengthy Twitter thread.

The Biden Admin says it can punish doctors and hospitals for sex discrimination unless they perform controversial gender-transition procedures. A court struck down this #TransgenderMandate in January  But the Biden Admin just appealed.

The administration appealed the ruling to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Eighth Circuit is the appellate court with jurisdiction over North Dakota, where the ruling striking down the mandate was issued earlier this year.

The appeal comes less than a week after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sent a challenge to the transgender mandate back to the district court level. As the judges noted in their ruling, HHS repealed the 2016 rule and finalized a new rule in 2020; the Supreme Court interpreted Title VIIs prohibition to include gender identity in Bostock v. Clayton County.

Applying Bostocks reasoning to Title IX, two district courts entered preliminary injunctions against the 2020 rule and purported to restore certain provisions of the 2016 rule at the center of this case; President Biden issued an executive order declaring that his administration would apply Bostocks interpretation of Title VII to other statutes prohibiting sex discrimination.

In 2019, federal judge Reed OConnor in Texas struck down the transgender mandate. Texas is under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In addition to sharing the breaking news surrounding the Biden administrations move to appeal the Fifth Circuit decision, Goodrich illustrated how the Transgender Mandate not only threatens religious doctors and hospitals. According to Goodrich, It also threatens patients, as there is ample evidence certain gender transition procedures can be deeply harmful.

Multiple federal courts have reached the same conclusion, he continued. Goodrich cited a decision from the Fifth Circuit case Gibson v. Collier, which found that there is no medical consensus that sex reassignment surgery is a necessary or even effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

The Biden Admin shouldnt have appealed, he concluded. But we look forward to another ruling that protects patients, aligns with current medical research, and ensures doctors arent forced to violate their religious beliefs and professional medical judgment.

As the litigation surrounding the transgender mandate continues to make its way through the courts, conservatives and religious liberty advocates are expressing concern that legislation supported by congressional Democrats to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity would be interpreted to require doctors to perform gender transition surgeries regardless of any religious or medically based objections they may have.

The Equality Act, billed by congressional Democrats and the Biden administration as necessary to codify nondiscrimination protections for the LGBT community into federal law, passed the U.S. House of Representatives but has stalled in the Senate because of opposition from both Democrats and Republicans.

In a White House press briefing earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki indicated that the administration is not concerned about the Equality Acts implications for people of faith.

EWTN White House Correspondent Owen Jensen asked Psaki if Biden, a practicing Catholic, wanted to address concerns from Catholic institutions and doctors that the Equality Act has the potential to trample on their conscience rights. Psaki responded by maintaining that the president has a difference of opinion with those Catholics.
With rebel soldiers threatening to advance on the capital and the future stability of the country uncertain, Chad held a funeral Friday for President Idriss Deby, one of Africas most enduring autocrats, whose death was announced this week.

President Emmanuel Macron of France flew to the central African nation to join African leaders for the ceremony in a show of support for an ally long criticized for stifling dissent at home even as he joined the fight against Islamist insurgents in the region.

As thousands of residents lined the streets leading to the capitals main square, and with the coffin of Mr. Deby draped in the flag of Chad in front of him, Mr. Macron praised the slain leader, saying, You lived as a soldier, you died as a soldier with weapons in hand.

During his 31-year rule, Mr. Deby benefited from the indulgence of Western powers as he remained a steady linchpin for their military interventions against Islamist insurgents in the region, including Boko Haram.
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Catholic League

April 23, 2021



NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an address by President Biden on the Armenian genocide:

On April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, President Biden is expected to make a statement on the massacre of the Armenian people that took place in 1915-1916. This was the first of three genocides in the twentieth century; the other two were Stalin's mass killing of the Ukrainians and Hitler's annihilation of the Jews.

We urge President Biden to call the massacre of the Armenians for what it isgenocide. To this day, Turkish leaders take umbrage at any mention of this subject, preferring to live in a state of denial. We should not appease them any longer. Regrettably, too many presidents and senators have failed to speak forthrightly about this issue.

The word "genocide" was coined in 1943 or 1944 (depending on the source) by Polish Jewish writer Raphael Lemkin. Mass killings, he said, amounted to "a crime without a name." He resolved this problem by splicing the Greek word "genos," meaning race or people, with the Latin term "caedo," meaning killing. Hence the word "genocide."

Biden needs to do more than simply invoke this word. He needs to use this opportunity as a teaching moment, one that informs the world about who did what to whom. That means mentioning those who committed this genocide, namely Muslims, and their victims, namely Christians.

This is not a call to brand all Muslims as supporters of genocidethat is morally indefensible. Indeed it is unconscionable. No, this is a plea to be honest.

Though the number who were killed is not a settled issue, the consensus is that 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, along with 300,000 Assyrians and 750,000 Greeks. All were Christian.

We typically hear that it was the rulers of the Ottoman Empire who carried out the massacre. This is true, but it is incomplete.

William B. Rubinstein is a distinguished historian and author of Genocide, one of the most authoritative books on this subject. He notes that "The rulers of the Ottoman Empire traditionally regarded themselves as the leaders of the Islamic world." What they did was not a mistake. Most of the evidence, Rubinstein says, suggests "that the Turkish authorities actively masterminded the mass killing of the Armenians as a deliberate policy."

Why the Armenians? German historian Michael Hesemann does not mince words. "In the end," he says, "Armenians weren't killed because they were Armenians, but because they were Christians." Further proof that the Muslim rulers were motivated by a hatred of Christians is offered by another specialist in this area. "If it [the Armenian Genocide] was a feud between Turks and Armenians, what explains the genocide carried out by Turkey against Christian Assyrians at the same time?"

According to Hudson Institute scholar Lela Glibert, "It is noteworthy that Adolf Hitler found inspiration in the Armenian massacre for his Holocaust of European Jews." Indeed, Hitler knew exactly what the Muslims were doing. "Turkey is taking advantage of the war [World War I] in order to thoroughly liquidate its international foes, i.e, the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention."

President Biden often speaks glowingly of Pope Francis. He needs to emulate him in more concrete ways. In 2015, the Holy Father called the slaughter of the Armenians "the first genocide of the 20th century." Biden should then expand on this by acknowledging who did what to whom.

Ask White House secretary Jen Psaki to convey this message to the president. Contact: jennifer.r.psaki@who.eop.gov
Bogota: At least 31 indigenous people were wounded in southeast Colombia on Thursday (April 22) after an illegal armed group opened fire on them while they destroyed crops of coca, the chief ingredient in cocaine, an organization representing the community said.

The attack took place in the rural municipality of Caldono, in Colombia`s Cauca province.

The region is strategically important for drug trafficking and is disputed by armed groups including dissidents of the demobilized Farc guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and other criminal organizations made up of former right-wing paramilitaries.

"So far 31 indigenous people have been reported injured and five attackers have been detained by the Indigenous Guard," the Regional Council of Indigenous in Cauca (CRIC) said in a statement.

Efforts to eradicate coca crops and attacks against members of the community are ongoing, meaning the number of injured could rise, CRIC added, describing indigenous communities in the region as victims of state absence.

Illegal armed groups fight for territorial control of strategic areas for growing coca and the production of cocaine, according to the government and security sources.

On Tuesday, indigenous governor Sandra Liliana Pena Chocue - who opposed coca crops in indigenous lands - was assassinated in the same region.

Colombia`s government condemned the attacks against the indigenous communities.

"It`s reprehensible that criminals are raging against indigenous communities and ... against women who defend their territory from the presence of illicit economies that threaten the integrity of young people and the purity of soils," Emilio Archila, the presidential adviser for implementing the peace deal, said in a statement.

Colombia, with its geographically strategic position surrounded by two oceans, is considered the world`s biggest cocaine producer.

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The UK-based charity organisation Khalsa Aid has reached out to help those affected by COVID-19 by arranging for oxygen concentrators. The concentrators will be delivered to patients suffering from the virus in the national capital.



"Managed to arrange limited oxygen"

In a tweet, the group said, "In this unprecedented state of medical emergency, We has fortunately managed to arrange limited Oxygen concentrator for COVID-19 patients. This project will be initiated from Delhi as it is the worst affected city. Together, we will fight this situation."

In this unprecedented state of medical emergency, We has fortunately managed to arrange limited Oxygen concentrator for COVID-19 patients. This project will be initiated from Delhi as it is the worst affected city.

Together,we will fight this situation. #covidsecondwaveinindia pic.twitter.com/HydTQyHqWP  Khalsa Aid India (@khalsaaid_india) April 23, 2021

An oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates the oxygen from a gas supply by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched product gas stream. One concentrator is available in the market at the cost of Rs 60,000 and onwards.

Khalsa AId

Recent humanitarian work

Khalsa Aid is known for their humanitarian work across the world. Since November 2020, the group has been helping farmers with essential supplies. In March, Khalsa Aid volunteers set up air coolers, increased the supply of water, distributed mosquito creams and repellants across farmers' protest sites.

The group had also increased the supply of water bottles at the protest site considering the sudden onset of summer season in early March. No just India, Khalsa Aid has been extending a hand of help to anyone in need.

Khalsa Aid

The charity group reached out to those affected by a massive winter storm in Texas. The group distributed 500 meals and 300 blankets to those in need in Houston. Khalsa Aid India volunteer team was also sent at ground zero in Uttarakhand where people were stranded and stuck due to glacier disaster.
Lonza Announces Construction of a New Small Molecule Manufacturing Complex in Visp

Lonza will invest CHF 200 million to construct a new manufacturing complex

The 2000 m2 complex will include a customer dedicated manufacturing line for antibody-drug conjugate payload molecules

The investment is supported by a long-term collaboration and capital contribution with a major biopharmaceutical partner

The new manufacturing complex is designed to accommodate future small molecule expansions

Quote from Maurits Janssen, Strategic Business Development Small Molecules, Lonza:

"Supply is critical for our global partner in the oncology field. With this investment, we are enabling the treatment of many cancer patients. Oncology continues to be the leading indication in biopharma and a key driver for highly potent ingredients such as antibody-drug conjugates. In addition, small molecule oncology therapies require specific technologies. These challenges were specifically taken into account when designing this manufacturing complex."

Quote from Gordon Bates, President and Head of Small Molecules, Lonza:

"This collaboration is a great example of how we are supporting our customers with flexible business models. Our customers developing highly potent and increasingly complex medicines trust us to handle these toxic substances throughout their clinical and commercial lifecycle. The investment to realize this new manufacturing complex for small molecules creates a substantial footprint for accelerating future growth capacity across the range of our small molecule service offering."

Basel, Switzerland, 23 April 2021 - Lonza, a CDMO partner to the biopharma industry, today announced the construction of a new small molecule manufacturing complex at its Visp (CH) site. The new manufacturing complex will occupy an overall footprint of approximately 2000 m2 with six levels of manufacturing space. The complex will offer several opportunities for future expansions supporting the small molecules technologies offering, which include drug substance, particle engineering technologies such as spray drying dispersion, and drug product.

This construction project is supported by a capital contribution and a tailored long-term collaboration with a major biopharmaceutical partner to ensure continuity of supply and flexibility, supporting future demand for their product. The first buildout represents a dedicated manufacturing line for antibody-drug conjugate payload molecules, which is expected to start its first operations in Q3 2023. Upon completion, the manufacturing complex will employ approximately 200 people.

About Lonza

Lonza is the preferred global partner to the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition markets. We work to prevent illness and enable a healthier world by supporting our customers to deliver new and innovative medicines that help treat a wide range of diseases. We achieve this by combining technological insight with world-class manufacturing, scientific expertise and process excellence. These enable our customers to commercialize their discoveries and innovations in the healthcare sector.

Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 14,000 full-time employees, we are built from high-performing teams and of individual talent who make a meaningful difference to our own business, as well as to the communities in which we operate. The company generated sales of CHF 4.5 billion in 2020 with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.4 billion. Find out more at www.lonza.com.

Follow @Lonza on LinkedIn

Follow @LonzaGroup on Twitter

About Highly-Potent API at Lonza

Lonza is a globally leading partner in developing and manufacturing HPAPI, with more than 20 years of experience in safely progressing more than 30 products from early-stage work to late-stage clinical or commercialization. The company has the capabilities in place to safely handle HPAPIs to exposure levels down to 100ng/m3 across all manufacturing scales. HPAPI development and manufacturing is complemented by contained particle engineering and specialized drug products inclusive of oral solid and parenteral options within its global site network.

Click here for more information on Lonza's HPAPI services and capacity.

About Antibody-Drug Conjugates at Lonza

ADCs are an increasingly important class of HPAPI designed for the targeted treatment of cancer patients. These complex molecules consisting of an antibody, e.g., monoclonal antibody, which has proven highly effective at cell targeting, linked to a biologically active cytotoxic payload for killing cancer cells. Lonza supports an extensive pipeline of ADC development programs and currently produces the majority of commercially available ADC drug products. The company continues to invest in integrated capabilities for developing and producing all components of this increasingly important cancer treatment: cytotoxic payloads, antibodies and the required linkers on one site.

Click here for more information on Lonza's Antibody Drug Conjugate services and capacity.

Lonza Contact Details

Victoria Morgan

Head of External Communications Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 2283 victoria.morgan@lonza.com Dr. Martina Ribar Hestericova

Trade Media Lead Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8982

martina.ribarhestericova@lonza.com Dirk Oehlers

Investor Relations Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8540 dirk.oehlers@lonza.com

Additional Information and Disclaimer

Lonza Group Ltd has its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited ("SGX-ST"). Lonza Group Ltd is not subject to the SGX-ST's continuing listing requirements but remains subject to Rules 217 and 751 of the SGX-ST Listing Manual.

Certain matters discussed in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and estimates of Lonza Group Ltd, although Lonza Group Ltd can give no assurance that these expectations and estimates will be achieved. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty and are qualified in their entirety. The actual results may differ materially in the future from the forward-looking statements included in this news release due to various factors. Furthermore, except as otherwise required by law, Lonza Group Ltd disclaims any intention or obligation to update the statements contained in this news release.
The Armenian side looks forward to creating a powerful army with Russias help. This is what Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to him, Yerevan has already declared that the reforms in the Armed Forces of Armenia will be implemented with Russias help. From our perspective, the reforms that the Armed Forces of Russia have made over the past twelve years have been among the most successful reforms. The upgrading, optimization and increase of effectiveness of the army, introduction of an automated system of management and modern weapons have helped Russia continue to have one of the worlds strongest armies. Armenia is certain that it can take this path and build a powerful Armenian army with Russias help, Grigoryan said.

Asked if Armenia will purchase modern weapons and from which country, Grigoryan said the following: In terms of arms, I would like to state that Armenia will purchase the best weapons, and you know which country is the leader in this sector. At the same time, we plan to continue to actively enhance Armenias military-industrial complex.
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has achieved the Google Cloud Partner Specialization in application development.

This marks the fourth Partner Specialization badge that Wipro has received from Google Cloud, following recognition for outstanding cloud security, migration, and work transformation. This specialization demonstrates Wipro's capabilities across multiple areas as a Google Cloud SI partner.

As a trusted Google Cloud partner, Wipro can help customers leverage the best of Google Cloud platform as they develop and manage cloud-native business applications, enabling faster time to market, increasing scalability of applications and integrating them with external and internal systems in the IT landscape. This specialization will allow Wipro's team of certified professionals to accelerate the customer modernization journey, increase agility and adaptability with a razor-sharp focus on business outcomes.

Ramachandran Padmanabhan, Vice President and Global Head, Cloud Transformation Business, Wipro Limited said, "We are proud of this recent recognition from Google Cloud, which adds to our extensive list of qualifications from our peers and partners in technology. Our unique combination of specializations in key areas like cloud security, migration, work transformation and application development will help develop innovative solutions for customers. This recognition will strengthen our credentials in application development and enable our customers to develop end-to-end digital transformation solutions on Google Cloud."

Nina Harding, Chief of Global Partner Programs and Strategy, Google Cloud said,"It's exciting to see Wipro continue to invest in Google Cloud skills and expertise, to differentiate its business, and bring thoughtful solutions to customers. Wipro's specializations demonstrate its proven customer success and high levels of experience and aptitude with Google Cloud services and technology."

About Wipro Limited

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 190,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

The forward-looking statements contained herein represent Wipro's beliefs regarding future events, many of which are by their nature, inherently uncertain and outside Wipro's control. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Wipro's growth prospects, its future financial operating results, and its plans, expectations and intentions. Wipro cautions readers that the forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, complete proposed corporate actions, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. The conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could decrease technology spending, adversely affect demand for our products, affect the rate of customer spending and could adversely affect our customers' ability or willingness to purchase our offerings, delay prospective customers' purchasing decisions, adversely impact our ability to provide on-site consulting services and our inability to deliver our customers or delay the provisioning of our offerings, all of which could adversely affect our future sales, operating results and overall financial performance. Our operations may also be negatively affected by a range of external factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are not within our control.

Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Annual Reports on Form 20-F. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005310/en/

Contacts:

Shraboni Banerjee

Wipro Limited

Shraboni.banerjee@wipro.com
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 79F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
Vietnam possessing advantage in AI field, illustration photo

South Koreas Naver Corporation and the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) - Vietnams leading research university - in late March launched the AI International Research Centre under the Symposium on Information and Communication Technology, marking the first Southeast Asian AI research centre in Hanoi. Accordingly, the two parties will together build and operate the centre with the purpose to deeply research and train a high-quality labour force in terms of AI.

Along with implementing a search to create core Make in Vietnam technology, the centre will also focus on developing AI applications for different sectors and industries in order to promote Vietnams digital transformation and the Industry 4.0 process. The deal between Naver and HUST are motivation for South Korean enterprises in the AI sector arrive to Vietnam to expand their operation in the context the countrys demand on developing the AI sector is also increasing.

Vietnam has seen increase in such investment inflow from South Korea as well as other countries under deals between domestic and foreign investors. Notably in March 2020, Samsung officially kicked off construction of the largest research and development (R&D) facility in Vietnam.

The new centre will become the largest for the tech giant in all of Southeast Asia, becoming a leader towards researching, deploying, and applying new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In addition, the centre will also be a place to train high-tech human resources and especially technologies such as AI and big data.

Jeong Sam Yong, general director of Samsung SDS Vietnam, said that the group is interested in joining Vietnams digital transformation process, and that becoming the strategic shareholder in domestic tech group CMC Corporation is a bold example.

Samsung is assisting Vietnam in implementing IT solutions and applying management software in production operations. In addition, the group supports telecommunications and system integration solutions, Yong said. In the future, the group will promote the construction of smart cities and smart buildings thanks to Internet of Things (IoT) applications, cloud computing, and AI in Vietnam.

A year ago FPT Corporation signed an MoU with Hancom Corporation, the largest productivity software manufacturer in South Korea. The two parties will work together to develop six sectors: office software for the Vietnamese market, smart cities, AI, IoT, education, and self-driving vehicles.

Around the same time, VinAI Research, VinGroups AI research arm, announced addition of a cutting-edge supercomputer to its AI computing platform. The machine, a 5-petaflop accelerated data centre in a box, is the first deployment of such a system in Southeast Asia.

Numerous large international groups are also investing for R&D activities in Vietnam along with their operational activity. German technology giant Bosch already boasts two R&D centres in Ho Chi Minh City.

These investments are playing a major role in Vietnams goal of nurturing its high-tech sector and becoming an AI research and development leader by 2030 as similar as the target mentioned in the national strategy on R&D and application of AI approved by then-Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last month.

The strategy outlines that by 2025, Vietnam is to become a centre for innovation, as well as development of AI solutions and applications. The country will establish two national innovation centres for AI and simultaneously increase the number of innovative related startups and total investment in the sector. In addition, Vietnam is also focused on upgrading and forming 10 new key research and training institutions on AI. As per the strategy, Vietnam expects to rank among the top four countries in ASEAN and in the top 50 worldwide in R&D and application of AI by the end of the decade. The country has plans to set up 10 renowned AI centres as well as develop three national centres for big data storage and high-performance computing, connecting domestic data centres and high-performance computing centres to create a shared network.

In order to realise the targets, the government has asked to allocate resources on developing essential AI products and services that Vietnam possesses a competitive advantage in; and strategise key investments in AI application in fields related to national defence and security, natural resources and environmental management, and public services. Besides this, it is necessary to vigorously develop AI application enterprises and AI startups, the strategy noted.

Developing AI is also a part of the economic target by 2030 as defined by the 13th National Party Congress. Vietnam determines that the rapid and sustainable development on the basis of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation is one of three key elements in the countrys development strategy.

Choi In Hyuk, COO of Naver said, Naver has been impressed with Vietnams growth in the science-technology sector in recent years and we see that it has potential to expand AI personnel training.
HEFEI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A nature reserve in east China's Anhui Province is planning to release 530 rare Yangtze alligators, also known as Chinese alligators, into the wild in May. The Yangtze alligator, which has lived on Earth for over 200 million years, is a first-class protected animal endemic to China. This is the largest group of the captive-bred Yangtze alligators to be released. Its population once encountered a sharp decline due to human activities and the changes in the natural habitat. China has since adopted multiple measures to revive its population. In 1979, artificial breeding of the Yangtze alligator began in the city of Xuancheng, Anhui Province, the main habitat of the species. "Systematic research and protection of the species, including reintroduction to the wild and habitat conservation, have been implemented to restore its population," said Wu Rong, director of the administration of the province's Chinese alligator national nature reserve. Thanks to the efforts, the reserve currently boasts approximately 14,000 captive-born Yangtze alligators. It is also the world's largest breeding and research center for the species. The nature reserve has begun reintroducing the endangered reptiles into the wild since 2003, and as of 2020, a total of 508 Chinese alligators have been released in 16 batches. The reserve released 120 artificially bred Chinese alligators into the wild in 2019, and another 280 last year. Preparations for this year's reintroduction work have broadly completed. DNA sequencing, gene comparison and other genetic analysis on the candidate alligators have been conducted to ensure that the genes of their wild population do not decay. Chips have been embedded and satellite trackers have been attached to some alligators for future inspection and scientific monitoring. Monitoring data involving the released alligators have shown that the reptiles have adapted to the wild environment and successively reproduced. According to Wu, the subsequent release of captive-born Chinese alligators will be reduced in the next two years to allow the species to "breed and revive naturally." Meanwhile, the latest survey shows that the wild population of Chinese alligators has risen from about 120 at the lowest point to about 200 at present, completely bucking the declining trend. Enditem


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The leaders of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), on Thursday, met with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, over the unions lingering strike that has crippled all Nigerian courts for 17 days.

Members of the union had embarked on the nationwide strike to press home their demand for the implementation of the constitutional provision that confers financial independence on the judiciary.

Thursdays meeting was the second the CJN would be having with the union leaders after the first one he held with them on the day the strike began.

A statement by the CJNs media aide, Ahuraka Isah, said Mr Muhammad met with the unions national officers led by the Deputy National President, Emmanuel Abioye and the National Treasurer, Jimoh Musa, at his chambers in the Supreme Court complex in Abuja.

I cant fault reasons for the strike

The CJN said at the meeting that it was difficult for him to fault the reasons for the strike which he said was a battle for the restoration of the union and its members denied rights.

I cant fault your reasons for embarking on this protest because the union wants its rights restored in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

I commend you for following due process so far to protest against the injustice, the CJN said.

Why we cant end strike yet

The CJN had at its first meeting with the union leaders urged them to suspend the strike to enable the state governors to meet their demand.

But Mr Abioye told Mr Muhammad explained that the union could not suspend the strike until the demand for financial autonomy is met in all states.

Though theres financial autonomy for the judiciary already in some states while some are assuring that they would comply, others have to take steps in readiness for compliance, the statement quoted Mr Abioye as saying at the meeting with the CJN.

Mr Abioye also noted that the union expected each state governor to begin implementing its self-accounting law to deal with the Internally Generated Revenue in line with Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended; and that states without such law should put it in place.

He also said it is his unions position that there must be some level of seriousness from all quarters and as such, the amount standing to the credit of the judiciary from the monthly federal allocation should be deducted directly from the source by the Accountant General of the Federation and remit same to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for onward transmission to heads of courts.

Until this is done, there is no going back, the strike would go on, the union leader had said.

The statement also revealed that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Hadiza Mustapha, attended the meeting of the union leaders with the CJN on Thursday.
More than 100,000 tigers ranged across Asia a century ago, from the Indian subcontinent to the Russian Far East. Today they are endangered, with only about 4,000 tigers left in the wild. The greatest threats they face are habitat loss and degradation, illegal hunting and declines in their prey.

Thanks to focused conservation efforts, tiger numbers have rebounded in some parts of their range. In Nepal, for example, the wild tiger population has nearly doubled from 121 in 2009 to 235 in 2018. But a road-building boom in Asia could undo this progress.

Land planners and conservation scientists like me need to know much more about how tigers respond to roads and railways so we can find ways to safeguard these animals. We especially need this information for Nepal, which is one of the least-developed countries in the world but is working to expand its economy and raise people out of poverty. Roads and railways are spreading rapidly through the forests and grasslands where tigers live.

Tiger with tracking collar visible on its neck.

Expanding infrastructure in Nepal

Little research has been done on how transportation networks threaten tigers, but the few studies that exist show strong effects. In Russia, for example, vehicle collisions caused 1 in every 12 deaths of tigers monitored from 1992 to 2005. And in China, tigers were five times more likely to occupy areas at least 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away from roads than they were to be found near roads.

In India, one study estimated that widening highways along with unplanned development would increase tiger extinction risk within protected areas by 56% over 100 years. The growing network of transportation infrastructure in Asia could therefore be disastrous for tigers.

New development projects in Nepal will pass through large tracts of lowland forest that harbor tigers, rhinos and elephants. Nationwide roadways, such as the East-West Highway and the Postal Road, are being upgraded and expanded from two to four lanes to support more fast-moving traffic.

Story continues

Planners are designing new elevated electrified railways that cut across Nepal, which is about the size of Iowa. A megahighway is currently under construction from Nepals capital city, Kathmandu, to Nijgadh, where Nepals government has sought to build a major international airport for more than 20 years.

Highways pose growing threats to wildlife

Better roads can provide much-needed social and economic benefits in Nepal, but the nation is building them faster than scientists can assess how they affect endangered species like tigers. In Banke National Park, 45 of 67 wild animal deaths between July 2018 and July 2019  including key tiger prey like sambar deer  were from traffic accidents.

Tiger deaths and injuries from vehicle collisions, while still rare, have increased along major roads over the past few years. Before 2019, only one vehicle collision with a tiger had been recorded along the highway in Bardia National Park. In the past two years, five tigers have been hit by vehicles inside national parks  three in Bardia and two in Parsa National Park.

Vehicle-related deaths make it harder for tigers to move from one population to another, which reduces their genetic diversity. More collisions could elevate tigers extinction risk.

Roads also appear to be a nexus for conflict between people and tigers. A tiger in Bardia National Park recently pulled a passenger off the back of a moving motorcycle driving through the park. The tiger killed and ate the person. In the past year, three tigers have killed nine other people in the same area.

Revealing tigers hidden lives

To respond to this unprecedented challenge, I am working with colleagues at the Nepal Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the National Trust for Nature Conservation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Nepal. We are placing GPS collars on tigers living near roads to better understand how transportation infrastructure affects tiger biology and ecology. Our initial focus is on Bardia and Parsa national parks, where transportation development could severely hamper tiger recovery.

Nepal has long been a world leader in tiger research and conservation. The Smithsonian-Nepal Tiger Ecology Project, an international collaboration that started almost 50 years ago, was one of the first to use radio telemetry collars to track tigers for conservation research.

In the past, ecologists would take radio receivers into the field to painstakingly triangulate tigers locations once or twice a day in natural landscapes. Our new research project builds on this work by using modern tracking technology to unlock new insights about tigers in landscapes that human development is altering.

The collars connect to GPS satellites many times daily, providing detailed information on tiger locations. This data can show how tigers move along roads before and after crossing; how much energy they expend near and far away from roads; where and how they hunt near roads; how they respond to vehicle traffic at different times of the day; and what their behavior patterns are near roads as compared with far away from roads. By analyzing hormones in feces deposited by the collared tigers, we can even understand the stress they experience near roads.

We already are finding that the East-West Highway bisecting Parsa National Park is blocking the first collared tigers movements and constraining its territory. Armed with these insights, we can predict a range of impacts on tiger habitats and populations from new transportation projects.

Krishna Hengaju , CC BY-ND

Creating tiger-friendly infrastructure

Our collaborator, Hari Bhadra Acharya, former chief warden of Parsa National Park and current lead ecologist with the Nepal government is eager to help make transportation infrastructure more tiger-friendly. For example, we can provide advice on aligning roads and railways to avoid high-priority habitats.

We also can target habitat and prey restoration activities in areas that tigers use frequently or are important for reproduction. Planners can design and locate wildlife crossings to help tigers traverse roads and railways. And we can show where to close roads to vehicular traffic at night or enforce speed restrictions to reduce the risk of tigers being killed in traffic.

[Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.]

Information from the GPS collars can also help reduce tiger-human conflict and improve law enforcement. For example, we can learn whether roads and railroads disrupt tiger hunting strategies, causing them to hunt domestic livestock or people instead of wild prey. Our data can also help wildlife managers respond more quickly to tiger injury, illness or poaching.

Over time, I believe this information will provide evidence-based solutions that can ensure roads work for humans while minimizing harm to tigers and other species at risk.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Neil Carter, University of Michigan.

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Neil Carter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the opening ceremony of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate on April 22 (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  President Nguyen Xuan Phuc participated in the opening ceremony of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate hosted by the US on April 22 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden.

President Phuc was among 40 world leaders invited to join the summit, which runs on April 22-23 and is live streamed for public viewing.

The event aims to galvanize efforts that keep a goal of limiting planetary warming to 1.5 degrees within reach in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. It also highlight examples of how enhanced climate ambition will create good paying jobs, advance innovative technologies, and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts.

As part of the summit, the Vietnamese leader will attend and deliver a speech at a session on the economic opportunities of climate action scheduled for April 23, together with Biden, the Spanish Prime Minister, and the Presidents of Nigeria and Poland.
More than 40 years ago, a couple of young guys from St. Jean Baptiste started a couple of businesses in St. Boniface.

More than 40 years ago, a couple of young guys from St. Jean Baptiste started a couple of businesses in St. Boniface.

When he was 30 years old, George Rajotte took out a $12,000 second mortgage on his Southdale home (that hed bought for $17,000) and started Western Sandblasting.

Located about one kilometre down Dawson Road, Ken Neumann and three partners started Able Crane Services.

Neumann, who passed away five years ago, eventually became sole owner.

Last week, Rajotte acquired Able Crane from Neumanns son Alan, in a transaction that Alan Neumann agreed was comfortable and neighbourly.

Several years ago, Rajotte changed the name of the sandblasting company to Western Industrial Services Ltd. to reflect the fact it had become a pan-industrial coating company. In the 1980s, he started Western Construction Services, a concrete repair and restoration business and Western Waste Management (now owned by Georges son Marc Rajotte), which is probably the largest asbestos abatement operations in the province.

A few years ago when Rajotte said he was feeling a little bored and restless, he dabbled in a little real estate development and business brokerage and equipment leasing through Rajotte Capital and Nova Capital.

The latter is still around and does some equipment leasing  "but we dont really chase any business" Rajotte said  but mostly it is a holding company for Rajottes industrial operations.

Before he sold the abatement business to his son, his companies had about 150 employees. With the addition of Able and another smaller business, he said he is about to buy, his businesses will soon get back up to the 150-employee level.

Despite the challenges of social distancing during the pandemic, Rajotte said business has been great. This year, his coatings company has worked lined up in just about every province across the country.

Ables business is almost entirely in Manitoba. Neumann said, "Our equipment is big and slow" and is not economical to move it too far afield.

Neumann said that after his father passed away, his passion for the business had waned but he is glad to sell to his neighbour and that the business will still be around for its 20 employees.

"Its hard to see it go," Neumann said. "But nothing will make me happier than to see George hit it out of the park."

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Neumann confirmed that the company includes equipment worth millions of dollars.

After the bankruptcy of the larger Litz and Sons crane company last year, Able picked up some of that business. Able equipment can be found on some of the largest construction sites in the province including at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Although the pandemic caused some business to be delayed, Neumann said 2021 is shaping up to be one of Ables best years.

Meanwhile, at 76 years old, Rajotte said he is having the time of his life.

"I spoke to a friend who is the same age as me, and he asked me among the people we knew who were the same age  some of whom were working and some retired  which group would I prefer to be part of," Rajotte said. "I wanted to be part of the group that was still working."

Rajotte has presidents of all his companies in charge of operations and when the time comes when he cant keep working  he jokingly says to people that he is in "reasonably" sound mind  he has an advisory committee in place that will ensure the seamless continuation of the businesses.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Liberation: student reports on ex concentration camps in FVG Photos to transmit memories, as part of a European project

(ANSA) - UDINE, 23 APR - Udine, April 23 - Almost on the eve of the 76th anniversary of Italy's liberation from the Nazi occupation and the fascist regime, five students from the Universities of Udine and Trieste participated yesterday in one of the sessions of the International Workshop on Photography and Memory.



The workshop took place at the former nazi concentration camps of Gonars and Visco (Udine). About 35 people take part in the workshop, from 6 countries: Italy, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. The initiative takes place as part of the European MEME project, Meeting memories of which the University of Udine is an Italian partner.



"Thanks to the preparatory work sessions conducted by photographers Sandra Vitaljic and Sasa Kralj, the participants - explained Natka Badurina, professor of the Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, and Society and contact person of the MEME project for the University of Udine - experimented on the ground the photographic medium as a tool for the transmission of memories." The historian and researcher Ferruccio Tassin, who collected for decades of testimonies and data on the two concentration camps, committed himself to disseminating awareness, especially among young people and schools, accompanied the students.



"The photos taken by the participants in the International Workshop during the visits organized by the partners of the MEME project to the concentration camps in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Germany, Bosnia - said Elisa Copetti, external education officer of the Friulian university -, will be selected by the curators and presented to the public on Monday 26 April on the Documenta-Center for Dealing with the Past website." The "Meeting Memories: Learning from the Past to Confront Dehumanization Today" project aims to remind European citizens of dehumanization and scapegoat in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century and produce food for thought concerning similar policies that are still alive today. (ANSA).




Texas Sues Biden for Ignoring COVID-19 Rules at Southern Border

Texas has filed a fresh federal lawsuit against President Joe Biden, arguing his policies violate federal law and are encouraging an influx of illegal aliens infected with the CCP virus, the pathogen that causes COVID-19, which jeopardizes public health and the burgeoning economic recovery.

The new legal proceeding, the seventh filed by Texas against the Biden administration since the presidents inauguration, seeks a return to Trump-era border policies.

President Bidens outright disregard of the public health crisis in Texas by welcoming and encouraging mass gatherings of illegal aliens is hypocritical and dangerous, Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement.

This reckless policy change stifles the reopening of the Texas economy at a time when businesses need it the most and when our children need to get back to in-person learning as soon as possible. Law and order must be immediately upheld and enforced to ensure the safety of our communities and the reopening of the strongest economy of the country.

Paxton said earlier this year that illegal aliens cost Texas taxpayers an estimated $855 million each year.

The legal complaint filed April 22 in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth names Biden, the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as defendants.

The complaint details how Bidens policieseach a sharp departure from previous Trump policieshave allegedly led to a surge of COVID 19-infected illegal aliens into the United States and Texas, endangering public health on a national basis while straining the states resources.

Each one of the actions that has contributed to the dramatic border surge, such as the policy of releasing unaccompanied children and families after putting them in crowded detention settings, where the novel coronavirus can spread, is unlawful, unjustified, and in violation of the U.S. Constitution and procedural norms, the lawsuit states.

The Biden administration has abandoned the preexisting protections against the introduction into Texas and the United States of aliens infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus  during a pandemic. In the process, the administration has also violated three key federal statutes the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Public Health Service Act of 1944, and the Administrative Procedure Act, according to the legal complaint.

Less than six months ago, the CDC issued a rule aimed at preventing aliens potentially infected with the CCP virus from entering the U.S. through land borders. In practice, the rule resulted in DHS rapidly expelling illegal aliens from the United States shortly after their unlawful entries.

The new administration has since hastily and unlawfully departed from their own rules for large numbers of illegal aliens and created an undeniable crisis on our southern border.

Instead of using the CDCs authority to prevent the introduction of covered aliens into the United States during a pandemic, Defendants have chosen to take courses of action that have resulted in the release of tens of thousands of aliens into Texas and the United States. Absent this Courts intervention, such releases will continue for the foreseeable future, the lawsuit reads.

The term covered aliens, the complaint explains, generally includes aliens likely to end up in a congregate, or shared, care setting after violating immigration laws.

These dangerous and inexplicable actions demonstrate that Biden, though he bills himself as the COVID president, cares nothing about COVID if it gets in the way of his administrations project of releasing more and more illegal aliens into the country, said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), which represents Texas as outside counsel in the case.

The effects of this calculated irresponsibility will be devastating. It is vital that we stop the administration here, and also block its other lawless policies that threaten the safety and well-being of Americans.

Also serving as outside counsel to Texas in the case is the America First Legal Foundation, a new nonprofit founded by former top-ranking Trump administration officials. The foundations president is Stephen Miller, former Senior Advisor to President Trump.

The U.S. Department of Justice didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

Three days after Biden was sworn in, Texas sued to block Bidens 100-day moratorium on most deportations. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton granted a preliminary injunction against the policy, which he found was arbitrary and capricious because it violated administrative laws and procedures.

The second lawsuit was filed March 17, when Texas and 20 other states sued Biden for revoking the 2019 presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline unilaterally and without the consent of Congress. The lawsuit is currently pending in U.S. District Court in Galveston, Texas.

On March 24, Texas and 12 other states sued Biden over his executive order halting new oil and natural gas leases on federal property, which they say will harm the country by driving up energy prices. The states say the order violates federal law and that Biden failed to follow the proper procedure for modifying government regulations. The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The fourth lawsuit was filed March 26, when Texas and 13 other states filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court asking to be allowed to defend the so-called public charge rule in court proceedings after the Biden administration decided not to defend it in court. The public charge rule, which the Trump administration revived, requires prospective immigrants to be able to support themselves financially. The Supreme Court stayed a lower courts injunction against the rule in January 2020, allowing it to be enforced, pending disposition of the governments appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The application is pending in the high court.

On April 6, Texas and Louisiana sued the Biden administration over what Paxtons office described as its refusal to take custody of criminal illegal aliens, including dangerous felons and drug manufacturers, as required by federal law. The lawsuit claims Biden implemented unlawful directives that allow dangerous illegal aliens already convicted of felony offenses to freely roam the nation. The legal action is currently pending in U.S. District Court in Victoria, Texas.

The sixth lawsuit was filed April 13, when Texas and Missouri sued Biden in an effort to reinstate a Trump-era rule that restricts would-be immigrants ability to remain in the U.S. if they traveled through Mexico from another country. Paxton has said that by ending Trumps Migrant Protection Protocols, which were launched in early 2019, Biden prompted an ongoing wave of prospective immigrants, severely straining federal immigration resources. The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Friday with the chief ministers of 10 states with the most number of COVID-19 cases. The meeting via video conferencing comes amid a huge surge in coronavirus cases, which have now clocked a daily total of over 3 lakh in the country.

Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi are among those who attended the meeting.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs a meeting with the Chief Ministers of high burden states, over the prevailing #COVID19 situation pic.twitter.com/u91CKrGOLJ  ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2021

During the high-level meeting, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal requested the PM to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital.

Delhi CM Kejriwal said, Oxygen supply scheduled to come to Delhi from Odisha, West Bengal be airlifted or brought through Oxygen express.

Centre should take over all the oxygen plants through Army, every truck should be accompanied by Army escort vehicle, Kejriwal added.

"People are in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi," the AAP chief said during the meeting.

"We need a national plan to deal with the crisis. Centre government should take over all oxygen plants through the Army and every tanker coming out of the oxygen plant should be accompanied by an Army escort vehicle," he said.

State governments should get COVID-19 vaccines at similar rates as the Central govt, the Delhi CM said further.

PM Modi will also hold a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country via video conference amid concerns expressed by some states that their supply of the life-saving gas is running short with a number of hospitals sending out SOS.

With the COVID cases rising at a rapid pace in the country, PM Modi has been chairing regular meetings to review the situation. He had also addressed the nation on Tuesday.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, PM Modi had urged people to follow right discipline to safeguard everyone against the novel coronavirus. He also urged states to let lockdown be the last resort and to instead focus in micro-containment zones to handle the pandemic.

Creating a world record of the highest single-day surge, India recorded 3,14,835 fresh coronavirus infections, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,59,30,965 on Thursday, as per data by the Health Ministry.

The country's total COVID-19 caseload climbed to over 1.59 crore, of which, 22.91 lakh (22,91,428) were active cases. India also witnessed 1,84,657 deaths due to the deadly infection.

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LONDON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In an editorial for Kenya's StartUp Magazine, Les Khan, the CEO of St Kitts and Nevis' Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Unit, said becoming a citizen of the dual-island nation provides opportunities for African entrepreneurs. According to Khan, a second citizenship can unlock greater travel freedom, a benefit that many African professionals need but are hindered from due to discriminatory immigration policies. This has led to an increase in wealthy Africans seeking CBI Programmes, particularly those of the Caribbean, with applications skyrocketing over the last year.

St Kitts and Nevis is internationally renowned for introducing the world's first  and longest-standing  CBI Programme. Since 1984, the programme has attracted foreign direct investment in exchange for citizenship. With nearly four decades of experience under its belt, St Kitts and Nevis is a market leader and recognised within the industry as a Platinum Standard brand. Investors who choose the nation can rest assured that their investment is going towards the socio-economic development of their adoptive home, with funds channelled into various sectors of society, including healthcare, education and tourism.

Citizens of St Kitts and Nevis also gain access to a wealth of benefits, like the ability to do business in a fast-growing economy that imposes neither income nor wealth tax. Additionally, investors are not required to reside in the nation. After gaining citizenship, applicants can apply for their second passport, which is the strongest in all Caribbean CBI jurisdictions, thus beginning their lives as global citizens. This perk includes access to nearly 160 countries and territories with major international hubs to ensure that African investors can keep their business competitive.

"The travel unlocking capability of a St Kitts & Nevis passport could give an edge to African professionals often held back by discriminatory passport and immigration policies. For example, Cameroonians can only travel to 17 countries visa-free and African countries consistently occupy the lower ranks of the passport Index. This is perhaps why the past year has seen a marked uptick in CBI applications from African countries," wrote Khan.

"Africa's start-up scene is one of the fastest-paced and most exciting in the world. As founders continue to raise impressive amounts of funding and seek to grow their companies not only will they seek unique investment opportunities, but a greater international presence will also be paramount and there couldn't be a better time to invest," he added.

Investors interested in St Kitts and Nevis can take advantage of a limited time offer under its Sustainable Growth Fund route. Under the temporary discount, families of up to four can gain citizenship once investing $150,000 instead of the previous $195,000.

+447867942505, [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com

SOURCE CS Global Partners
Las Vegas, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - ISW Holdings, Inc. (OTC Pink: ISWH) ("ISW Holdings" or the "Company"), a global brand management holdings company with commercial operations in Telehealth and Cryptocurrency Mining, is pleased to announce that it will be featured as a presenting company at the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference, which is being held virtually on Tuesday, April 27, 2021.

The company's presentation may be accessed online starting at 7:00 am ET on April 27 using the link provided below. Presentations will be archived for 90 days. More than 30 corporate presentations and panels will be available live and on-demand on April 27, 2021, starting at 7:00 am ET.

Terry Williams, ISW Holdings CEO, addresses the industry and the Company's plug-and-play resources for mining cryptocurrencies with its Proceso solution. Robert Colazzo, CEO of ISW's partner, Bit5ive LLC, an official distributor licensee of Bitmain products in Latin America and the Caribbean, talks about the escalation of the ISW/Bit5ive project in Georgia. Alonzo Pierce, ISW Holdings President, discusses the uniqueness of the Company's project as a comprehensive solution and a new model in the space at the intersection of mining, hosting, infrastructure, and design. And Arnaldo Detres, Director of Crypto Mining and Business Development at Bit5ive, addresses the overall climate as well as the Company's upcoming presentation on its larger vision as the title sponsor of the Mining Disrupt Conference in Miami in July.

If interested, please listen to the Company's presentation, or book a one-on-one conversation by registering for the conference at the following link: www.hcwevents.com/crypto.

About H.C. Wainwright & Co.

H.C. Wainwright is a full-service investment bank dedicated to providing corporate finance, strategic advisory and related services to public and private companies across multiple sectors and regions. H.C. Wainwright & Co. also provides research and sales and trading services to institutional investors. According to Sagient Research Systems, H.C. Wainwright's team is ranked as the #1 Placement Agent in terms of aggregate CMPO (confidentially marketed public offering), RD (registered direct offering) and PIPE (private investment in public equity) executed cumulatively since 1998.

About ISW Holdings

ISW Holdings Inc, a Nevada based corporation, is a global holding company that owns and operates businesses in the Cryptocurrency mining and Telehealth and Home Health Care. Together with our partners, we seek to provides a structure that meets large scalability demands as well as anticipated marketplace needs. We are able to meet these demands through a variety of strategic innovative processes and relationships. These partnerships have been developed by incorporating a depth of experience and industry insight that leads us into leadership positions in the Cryptocurrency Mining and Cryptocurrency businesses and Telehealth, Home Healthcare industries.

For more information, visit www.iswholdings.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could", "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements so as to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com).

Company Contact:

info@ISWHoldings.com

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THE people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are worried about COVID-19. Like us, they are worried about getting sick and about how soon they will get a vaccine to protect them from its most serious effects.

Opinion

THE people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are worried about COVID-19. Like us, they are worried about getting sick and about how soon they will get a vaccine to protect them from its most serious effects.

But they are more worried about the wave of volcanic ash covering their islands right now and the risk of further eruptions from the Soufriere volcano. As current jargon goes, for them the volcano is an existential threat, a threat to their existence. The volcano could kill anyone within reach of its fires, fumes and ash  today.

In other words, it puts their worries about COVID-19 in a more pragmatic context.

As another Earth Day wobbles by, virtually unnoticed, I find myself almost wishing there was a climate volcano  immediate, undeniable and obviously an existential threat. After all, no one argues with a lava flow.

If there were such a climate volcano, maybe then we would be forced to actually deal with it, too, and therefore manage our anxieties about COVD-19 in a more pragmatic way.

I say "almost," because wishing for an erupting volcano to get peoples attention seems rather extreme. But the existential threat from a changing climate and a degrading biosphere is just as much a real and present danger.

For all its good intentions, however, Earth Day really doesnt make much of a difference, except as a focal point for grade-school ecology lessons.

Environmental activists regard every day to be Earth Day. Considering it once annually completely defeats the purpose. Moreover, for those who refuse to see the existential threat of climate change, yet another "international day of recognition" puts saving the Earth as we know it on the same level as Scrabble Day (April 13), Penguin Day (April 25), or Kiss a Ginger Day (Jan. 12).

"Build back better" (and greener) is certainly a good slogan for the post-pandemic world, whenever that appears, but allowing climate inaction to be socially acceptable in the meantime is a recipe for disaster. Dithering about ecological issues today is like telling the people of St. Vincent that volcanic ash is good roughage, or that erupting volcanoes create new real estate opportunities further out to sea as the island expands.

For Canada, this pandemic reset is a chance for real social change, but that would require a level of general co-operation not seen since the Second World War. (If you want to read about how we could repeat that transformation today, check out Seth Kleins recent book, A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency).

Instead, we have federal politicians jockeying for position amid speculations of a spring general election. There is the usual posturing about "left wing" versus "right wing," but without both wings, that goose dont fly.

So, without that general co-operation, not only will there be an unnecessary federal election, but we will be left to pick among poor political alternatives when it comes to dealing with the existential threat of a climate-changing world.

For example, the absurd Conservative un-tax on carbon emissions ("The more you burn, the more you save!") deserves an op-ed column on its own  or at least a stand-up comedy routine. It does offer some hope, however, that the humour gods didnt forever abandon the Conservative party when Stephen Harper became leader. (Erin OToole and his cronies managed to reveal the un-tax with straight faces, for which they deserve their own Saturday Night Live sketch.)

The NDP remains unelectable as a national government, because it continues to be mired in causes, hamstrung by unrealistic policies and blind to pragmatic alliances. Despite initial expectations, Jagmeet Singh has been the most bland and ineffectual NDP leader since Nicole Turmel. Even his intercultural social media appeal is anemic compared to Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon, whose bhangra dances and messages of hope get thousands of responses on Twitter, compared to hundreds for anything from Singh.

Like the NDP, the Greens are unelectable by themselves, a splinter party with random candidates. Annamie Paul needs to get more Canadians behind her Green party leadership  and give up running for second place in a Toronto riding, so she can get a seat in the House somewhere else.

The Liberals continue to present themselves as the Party of Last Climate Hope, attracting an array of talented MPs who are somehow lobotomized into thinking that pipelines are the answer  permitting ethical gaffes by party leadership they would never have accepted in their own private lives. When he listens to good advice from outside the Liberal echo chamber, Justin Trudeau is managing his role well enough. But being greener than former U.S. president Donald Trump is not much of an achievement for Trudeau any more, considering how much more President Joe Biden has already accomplished.

Hmmm... if even a pandemic cant make them all work together to solve urgent problems, perhaps we do need an erupting volcano, after all.

Peter Denton is an activist, author and scholar who lives in rural Manitoba.
Denver, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Northeastern Junior College (NJC) president, Jay Lee, announced plans to retire at the end of the calendar year on December 31, 2021.

In an age where the average tenure for a community college president is just 3.5 years, Lee will serve nearly a decade come December, and conclude a 35-year career as a two-year college educator and leader.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as president of Northeastern the past nine years, and I look forward to my next great adventure, said Lee.

Colorado Community College System (CCCS) Chancellor, Joe Garcia, extended his appreciation to President Lee for his steadfast commitment to the college, surrounding region, and greater higher education community.

After serving NJC and the northeastern Colorado region with distinction for over nine years, President Lee will be greatly missed, said Garcia. I know I speak for our entire system when I express our gratitude for his persistent energy to advance our mission and for his regional leadership and advocacy to advance community college athletics.

Throughout Lees tenure as president, he encouraged innovation and technology to support best-in-class education and career training opportunities for NJC students. Under Lees leadership, the college grew their nationally-recognized wind and industrial technology program and partnered with Colorados wind industry to ensure workforce training needs were accomplished.

Notably, Lee spearheaded a variety of student success initiatives, including the use of iPads to engage every student in every class, growing enrollment through athletics and student life programming, and establishing support services for veterans.

Prior to joining NJC, Lee served as the chief academic officer at North Idaho College in Coeur dAlene, Idaho for four years. He also served in various roles for 18 years at Rochester Community and Technical College that included being a full-time law enforcement faculty, social science and physical education department chair, associate dean and dean of career and technical instruction.

Before entering the field of education, Lee served in the United States Air Force and was a patrol deputy for the Cass County Sheriffs Office in Fargo, North Dakota. From there, Lee was appointed by Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson to serve on the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training Board where he eventually became the first educator to chair the Standards Committee.

Lees early announcement allows CCCS sufficient time to conduct a comprehensive, national search to attract a world-class leader for NJCs next president.

In the coming months, CCCS will announce details regarding the search and opportunity for input from the colleges faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community.

###

About Northeastern Junior College

Northeastern Junior College takes pride in offering a wide array of college services, including residence life and student housing opportunities, athletics, and performing arts programming to create an intimate college experience. With practical, hands-on instruction lead by predominately full time faculty who also serve as advisors to provide a caring, personal and supportive learning environment. Northeastern offers classes at their main campus in Sterling, Colorado and an additional campus in Yuma, Colorado to service students in the five counties of Northeast Colorado. Northeastern has over 60 certificate and degree options for students to explore, as well as guaranteed transfer programs to all four-year public college institutions.

About the Colorado Community College System

The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is the states largest system of higher education and workforce development, delivering thousands of programs to over 125,000 students annually through 13 colleges and 38 locations across Colorado. Our open-access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to high quality, affordable higher education opportunities. The System Office provides leadership, advocacy, and support to the colleges under the direction of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE). Join us in changing the way Colorado goes to college www.cccs.edu.

Attachment
Temple Israel's Board and Ritual Committee wanted to find a special way to honor Rabbi Joshua Neely and the congregation's president, Dr. Bernie Kahn, for all of their work this past year in reopening the synagogue safely for in-person services and limited face-to-face learning at MAGAL, the Meitin Alliance for Growth and Learning religious school. Rabbi Neely and Dr. Kahn worked very hard to keep the community safe and engaged while resolving the many issues faced during the pandemic.

The Temple Israel Board notified the office of U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, representing Florida...
Indonesian navy ships searched Thursday for a submarine that went missing during training in the Indian Ocean. Officials said 53 crew members were on the boat when it disappeared Wednesday about 96 kilometers north of the island of Bali.

The navy believes the submarine may have sunk too low in the sea for its control systems to operate. The deeper the submarine sinks, the harder it will be to rescue. Officials estimated the subs oxygen supply would run out early Saturday.

The submarine crew was taking part in training activities Wednesday but failed to report to a planned meeting.

The military said more than 20 navy ships, two submarines and five aircraft were searching the area. A ship designed to map underwater areas and identify objects was also expected to take part. Officials said the operation was helped by calm seas.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he had ordered military chiefs to deploy all necessary forces to find and rescue the submarine crew. Indonesias navy chief, Admiral Yudo Margono, told reporters: Hopefully we can rescue them before the oxygen has run out.

Officials reported the smell of fuel in the search area. But they said they do not know if that information is linked to the submarine.

The navy believes the submarine sank 600 to 700 meters, much deeper than its estimated collapse depth. The navy said the submarine might have lost power in a dive, disabling emergency systems.

Earlier, a navy spokesman told Indonesias Kompas TV that the submarines electrical system is only designed to operate at a depth of 250 to 500 meters. Anything more than that can be pretty fatal, the spokesman said.

Ahn Guk-hyeon is with South Koreas Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. The company provided major improvements to the submarine from 2009 to 2012. He said pressure would likely collapse the submarine if it went deeper than 200 meters. He said his company had rebuilt a lot of the structures inside the submarine, but he lacked information about its current condition.

Navy chief Yudo said the submarine had been cleared for use and was in good condition. It was built in Germany in 1977 and has been in service in Indonesia since 1981.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

______________________________________________

Words in This Story

pretty  adv. quite, but not extremely

fatal  adj. leading to failure, disaster or death

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Testing of nasal swabs at the VRDL Lab in Microbiology Department is too slow.  Representational image/AP

KURNOOL: Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment at Kurnool Government General Hospital (KGGH) have complained of insufficient medicare, saying duty doctors are not coming to their wards and food supplied to them is of inferior quality.

"We are being treated as though we are untouchables," complained one of the patients. An attendant of a patient said food of substandard quality is being served to patients. Lentil soup given to them is watery, he said. The government is paying Rs. 290 per patient to the contractor who supplies food.

Another patient said toilets in the male ward are not being maintained properly. All these aspects are playing on the minds of patients in KGGH. The situation is very discouraging, the patient stated.

The number of Coronavirus cases in Kurnool district has risen sharply in the past two days, crossing the 1,000 mark. On Friday, 1,180 positive cases have been reported in Kurnool district, apart from four deaths.

Testing of nasal swabs at the VRDL Lab in Microbiology Department is too slow. It is taking a long time to know the result of a test report. This aspect emerged when district collector G. Veera Pandian made a surprise visit to VRDL lab to know firsthand why test results are being delayed.

Hospital superintendent Dr. Bhagawan conceded that with sharp increase in caseload, medical facilities at the Kurnool Government General Hospital are under strain. However, we are ramping up services. We are making arrangements to add another 150 beds, he underlined. KGGH has total bed strength of 1,200.

As of Friday, the hospital has 363 positive cases, 163 suspect cases and 22 patients on CPAP ventilators, the superintendent disclosed.
A man who pulled down his mask and shouted coronavirus at a security guard he also threatened to kill during a knife-point robbery has been jailed for three years.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Kevin Brosnan (40) capitalised on the fears and anxieties of the general public during a pandemic by mentioning the virus during the robbery.

Brosnan of Ardmore Park, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to robbery at Centra, Old Bawn Shopping Centre, Tallaght, on April 2, 2020. His 82 previous convictions include convictions for burglary, theft, possession of knives and affray.

Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Karen O'Connor said Brosnan appeared to have escalated the nature of his offending.

Judge O'Connor said the case was mitigated by his difficult background, his chronic addiction and his long period of homelessness. She said it appears at this time in his life he is endeavouring to make improvements.

She sentenced Brosnan to four-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final 18 months on strict conditions, including that he co-operate with any programme dealing with racist behaviour as directed by the Probation Service.

At a previous sentencing hearing, Garda Dillon O'Malley told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that Brosnan entered the Centra shop armed with a knife, pulled down his mask and shouted Coronavirus at a security guard working there.

He threatened the security guard and referred to him with a racial slur. He then approached the counter and demanded a shop assistant open the till, telling him that he was HIV positive when the shop assistant initially could not get the till open.

As the shop assistant was putting money in a shopping bag for the accused, Brosnan repeatedly told the security guard he would kill him each time the guard attempted to approach. The guard made an attempt to block him as he left the store, but Brosnan pointed the knife at him and again threatened to kill him.

Brosnan was spotted by a member of the public shortly after the robbery and contacted gardai, who arrived and arrested the accused. He was found to be in possession of 630 which was returned to the shop.

Gda O'Malley agreed with Sarah-Jane O'Callaghan BL, defending, that her client capitalised on the fears and anxieties of the general public during a pandemic by mentioning Coronavirus. He agreed with counsel that her client had employed a shocking racial slur towards the victim.

The garda agreed that Brosnan is disgusted with his actions and has expressed genuine remorse.

Additional evidence

The court heard that Brosnan had been released by gardai without charge following a separate knife-point robbery the previous year.

Brosnan also pleaded guilty to robbery at Mace, Killinarden Way, Tallaght, on October 3, 2019.

Garda Gary Duffy told Mr Hayes that on the date in October 2019, Brosnan entered the Mace shop along with an accomplice who was holding a knife. This accomplice put the knife to the neck of a shop assistant and demanded that the till be opened.

Gda Duffy said the man with the knife threatened to stab and kill the shop assistant unless the till was opened. Brosnan and his accomplice grabbed money and ran from the shop.

Brosnan was identified by gardai on CCTV footage obtained from the shop. He was arrested and interviewed, but was ultimately released without charge.

Gda Duffy agreed with Ms O'Callaghan that there was a huge juxtaposition between her client's demeanour when he is sober and his actions during the offence.
Limerick has had famous artists in the past. So, before we come to consider Michael Collins (Miceal O Coileain) lets look at who came before him and in so doing see where O'Coileain fits in that continuum. Michael lives and works in both Limerick and Barcelona. I spoke to him on the phone recently in Barcelona and Im delighted to report that it was raining there and sunny here in Limerick!

Timothy Collopy

Timothy Collopy was born in Limerick in the mid-eighteenth century. His first trade was as a bakers apprentice. His talent for art was noticed from a young age and he was sent to Rome to study. He was mostly known as a religious painter though he also worked as a portrait painter and restorer. Following his death in London in 1811 some of his works were auctioned in Christies Auction Rooms. One of his paintings, The Ascension, can be viewed in the Augustinian Church on OConnell Street.

William Palmer

William Palmer was born in Limerick (1763) the son of a linen-draper. He exhibited a talent for painting from a young age and by 18 he was studying in the Dublin Society School and had won a medal for his figure drawing. He was best known as a portrait painter. He died aged only 26 years in Bruff, Co. Limerick (1790). He is buried in his family plot in St. Johns Churchyard, Johns Square. A miniature self portrait of William Palmer, which contains strands of his hair on the reverse, is held in the Limerick Museum collection.

Jeremiah Mulcahy

Jeremiah Hodges Mulcahy was born in Limerick (1804). He was best known as a landscape painter. He was living in Lock Quay and working as a Portrait Painter when his wife Mary passed away in 1837. In 1842, he opened a School of Painting at 19 Catherine Street, where he provided art classes for the gentry. He was an exhibitor in the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1843 to 1878.

He caused a scandal in Limerick in 1853 when he became involved with Christina Jackson, a girl under the age of 18. The pair married and had a child the following year. Following Christinas death (1862) he moved to Dublin where he lived out his years and died (1889) at his residence in Harolds Cross, and was buried in Limerick.

Five illustrations from drawings by Jeremiah Mulcahy are in Samuel Carter Hall & Anna Maire Halls book, Ireland, its Scenery and Character, published in 1841. One of his paintings sold in 2006 in Christies Auction rooms, London for 43,200.

St. George Hare

St. George Hare the son of a dentist was born in Limerick (1857). He initially trained in Limerick under Nicholas A. Brophy from 1872. In 1875, he was awarded a scholarship to the National Art Training School, South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art), London. He specialised in portrait and nude painting. He died in 1933 in London.

He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, RHA, Royal Institute of painters in watercolour, Royal Institute of oil painters, Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham and the Walker Gallery, Liverpool to name but a few. His work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Ireland, RHA Collection, City Gallery of Art, Limerick, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne. His paintings have fetched thousands at auction.

Sean Keating

Portrait and figure painter, Sean Keating was born in Limerick (1889). His father, Joseph Keating, was a bookkeeper at a bakery company. John, who had three brothers and three sisters, was educated at St Munchins College but was not a good attendee, spending hours playing truant on the citys docks. I was always drawing and scribbling he is noted to have said. He is also on record for saying, At the age of sixteen I had proved myself incapable of doing anything else. I was a dreamer and idler. My mother decided to send me to the Technical School in Limerick for drawing.

Keating was commissioned by the Electricity Supply Board in 1926 to execute a series of pictures illustrating the development of the hydro-electric scheme on the river Shannon. He lived with the workmen on the building site at Ardnacrusha.

Jack Donovan

Jack Donovan (1934-2014) was born in Limerick and exhibited extensively throughout Ireland with The Taylor Galleries, The RHA, Limerick City Art Gallery and the Cross Gallery Dublin among others. Donovans style drew inspiration from Spanish artists such as Picasso and Velasquez. His work was described in a Cross Gallery solo exhibition catalogue entry as carefully composed theatrical characters as their spare and stylised settingsfraught with naivety of style and boldness of colour [with] an undercurrent of darkness

Donovan became Head of Limerick School of Art and Design in 1962, where he taught John Shinnors amongst other acclaimed artists. In 2004 he was the subject of a major retrospective at the Limerick City Art Gallery. His work is held in the collections of the Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Great Britain, Swedish Academy of Visual Art, CIE, Limerick City Gallery of Art and the National Self-Portrait Collection.

John Shinnors

Born in Limerick in 1950, John Shinnors studied for a short time at Limerick School of Art and Design under Jack Donovan before leaving the confines of conventional education to pursue his own vision of artistic creativity. His paintings tend to combine the figurative and abstract at once, with coloured or black and white geometric shapes and repetition of form featuring strongly in his work. This unique style and treatment of subject matter lend well to Shinnors favoured motifs which include lighthouses, scarecrows and clowns.

Michael Collins

That leads me to introduce artist Michael Collins, whose work, in my opinion, deserves a place in the pantheon of the greats. Baker Place at Dawn was the curators choice at the Hunt Museum, December 2018.

Collins is a Limerick native currently living and working between Ireland and Spain. He has been signing his paintings as Miceal O Coileain since his first exhibition in Barcelona in 1979. This strategy was to prevent the Spanish Press mistaking him as un pintor ingles (an English painter). After a period teaching in Belvedere College, Dublin, Michael set up his studio in Barcelona where he continues to live and paint alternating his time between Barcelona and Ireland.

Many of Collins paintings depict scenes of Limerick City and some of its well-known characters and his paintings have adorned many private and public collections. He was elected a member of the Circulo Real de Bellas Artes where he exhibits annually. He gave up his job as art teacher at Belvedere in 1979 and set up his studio in Barcelona.

Collins was born in 1954 in Limerick (his family owned Tom Collins pub in Cecil Street, now owned by Donal Mulcahy) and went to Limerick School of Art 1972-76. From 1976-77 he was teacher of art at Belvedere and courses at the National Collage of Art and Design, Dublin. Collins paints both exterior and interior scenes as well as people. Here is the interior of Tom Collins pub.

One review of his work says it all and more eloquently than I could: I feel the pictures of the series entitled Non Protagonists show modestly anonymous figures often part of and even inseparable from the urban realities the artist so often depicts. They are people but not portraits. Some seem to me to have iconological meaning for the artist, symbols of an outer and, indeed, inner reality that stay in the memory to confront us with indecipherable questioning. The choice of subject matter, the strong individuality of these figures, the transcending of mere skill in the exact but never photorealistic rendering of material reality, and the pairing away of the non-essential, all combine to bring about images rich in emotional weight. The purely and immediately temporal seems to serve this artist as a starting point in the exploration of the timeless. (Angeles Vives, Barcelona 1993).

So proud that he is one of our own!
Some hospitals in the national capital continued to grapple with severe shortage of medical oxygen on Friday even after receiving emergency supplies.

The Max Hospital-Saket on Friday morning sent out an SOS, saying it was left with "an hour's oxygen supply" and over 700 patients admitted.

Two hours later, in a tweet, the hospital confirmed that it had received emergency supplies, which will "last another two hours".

"SOS - Less than an hour's Oxygen supplies at Max Smart Hospital & Max Hospital Saket. Awaiting promised fresh supplies from INOX since 1 am. @drharshvardhan @msisodia @PMOIndia @ArvindKejriwal @PiyushGoyal @SatyendarJain over 700 patients admitted, need immediate assistance," the Max Hospital had tweeted at 7.43 am.

According to the South Delhi DCP, a vehicle carrying oxygen reached Max Smart around 9 am and another vehicle was enroute.

"Oxygen carrying vehicle has reached Max Smart. Another vehicle is enroute for Max East West. Senior Officers are monitoring the situation," the police said on Twitter.

Around 9.30 am, the Max Healthcare said it was awaiting more supplies.

"Update: We have received emergency supplies at Max Saket and Max Smart which will last another 2 hours. We are still awaiting more supplies," it said.

Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in Vasant Kunj also posted on Twitter at 4.20 pm that it was left with only one hour of oxygen and asked for help at the earliest.

"Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Vasant Kunj, with 160 #Covid19 patients, are left with another 1 hour of Oxygen cylinder stock. We have been waiting for the supply since last night, but no luck so far. Please help us at the earliest. @PMOIndia @ArvindKejriwal," it said.

A senior official of the Batra Hospital said the oxygen situation at their facility is extremely poor.

"We got a refill around 1 pm. After that, some more refill came from the Delhi government, which is actually pulling us through. We have around 2.5 metric tonnes which can last up to 8:30 pm. Our primary supplier isn't responding to our calls. We hope that the Delhi government bails us out:, the official said.

Amid a serious oxygen crisis in the national capital, 25 "sickest" COVID-19 patients died at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here in the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday.

Sources said "low pressure oxygen" could be the likely cause for the deaths.

A central government source said the SGRH has "sufficient balance of oxygen and a tanker has reached the hospital, which will fill up the storage capacity".

The tanker reached the hospital around 9.20 am. The stock can last up to five hours, depending on the consumption, an official at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said.

Sources at the Holy Family hospital also told PTI that they had received emergency oxygen supply from the Delhi government but the "stock can last for six hours".

AAP MLA Raghav Chadha said an additional vehicle carrying 20 D type oxygen cylinders was sent to the Holy Family hospital.

"Emergency cryogenic vehicle carrying liquid oxygen has reached Holy Family Hospital. An additional vehicle carrying 20 D type oxygen cylinders was previously sent to cater to interim requirement. Situation is grim- but we are working tirelessly despite obstacles in oxygen supply," Chadha tweeted.

Meanwhile, Dwarka-located Aakash Healthcare managed to refill their cylinders through small vendors across the city.

"We have succeeded to manage this time by refilling our oxygen cylinders from various small vendors in Delhi. We have just received a liquid oxygen tanker which will last for 14 hours," said Dr Kousar A Shah, COO - Aakash Healthcare.

St Stephen's hospital in Tis Hazari also said they had received a oxygen tanker in the morning.

With the situation grim in the national capital, patients and their family members waited outside hospitals, hoping to get a bed.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had on Thursday had said beds would be increased in large numbers once the oxygen crisis was resolved.

A government doctor said hospitals in Delhi are wary of admitting more patients amid a serious shortage of oxygen in the city.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I came to WBEZ when I was 28 years old, and I was overjoyed to get the chance to work at a station that I loved, respected and revered more than any other, said Edwards, 50. Its exciting to be able to pass that baton to an extraordinary talent like Tracy Brown.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Turkey needs to acknowledge the blood on the hands of its Ottoman grandparents and great-grandparents, American-Armenian novelist Chris Bohjalian said in an interview to Armenpress on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. He is sure the use of the word genocide by US President Joe Biden on April 24 will be very important.

-106 years after the Armenian Genocide, what should be the main task of the advanced humanity, from the perspective of recognizing, condemning and preventing such crimes?

- We know that the last stage in a genocide is denial which is the first stage in the next genocide. The most quoted line from my novel about the Armenian Genocide, The Sandcastle Girls, is this: There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but really, how much genocide can one sentence handle? So, I believe education is critical. People need to know their history so that history does not repeat itself. This is why President Bidens use of the word genocide" on April 24 is so important.

Turkeys anti-Armenian racism continued the past 106 years because no one held the regime accountable for its extermination of 1.5 million of its citizens and its attempt to annihilate and erase Armenian culture outside of Istanbul. So, it is also important to stand up against racism in all forms and wherever it rears its ugly head. Thats why movements such as Black Lives Matter" are critical and we must support them.

-Is it possible for Turkey to confront its history, recognize the Armenian Genocide, given that countrys aggressive policy and denialism which we witnessed recently during the war launched against Artsakh?

-Turkey needs to acknowledge the blood on the hands of its Ottoman grandparents and great-grandparents. I dont expect that in my lifetime. Would they have assisted Azerbaijan in their savage and unprovoked attack against Artsakh if the world had held them accountable for the Armenian Genocide? I dont know. But I do know that the US should have done more to end the 44-day war. The whole world should have done more. The fact is, the world should have done more the past quarter-century to stabilize Artsakhs borders and ensure peace in that corner of the Caucasus.

-What can the Armenian people expect from the perspective of fair reparation? Are the recognition and Turkeys apology enough for restoring the historical justice?

- Will we ever get back Van? Ararat? Shushi? Again, probably not in my lifetime. Will there be reparations? Again, I doubt it. But that does not mean that President Bidens use of the word genocide is not important. It IS important. It sends a signal that human rights matter and decency matters and the historical record cannot be changed. Facts are facts.

Chris A. Bohjalian is an Armenian-American novelist and the author of 20 novels, including Midwives, The Sandcastle Girls, The Guest Room and The Flight Attendant. Bohjalian's work has been published in over 30 languages, and three of his novels have been adapted into films.

Interview by Narine Nazaryan

Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced April 21 plans for the largest-ever $30M marketing campaign to drive tourism to the Big Apple this year.

It's part of the "NYC Reawakens" push from the NYC & Co. destination marketing organization.

The city's tourism sector is far from woke.

De Blasio's press conference showcased just how far the city has to go to get back on its feet.

NYC & Co. anticipates the city will attract 36.4M visitors this year, a far cry from the 66.6M tourists in 2019.

The 2021 estimate is an improvement over the 22.3M visitors who braved the city during pandemic 2020.

NYC won't top its 2019 record-breaking tourism year until 2024 when it hopes 69.3M people will drop by.

The fact that there's a need for a $30M campaign to woo people to visit the greatest city on Earth is a measure of the massive negative impact that COVID-19 has had on the travel sector.

Hats off to WPP for its game-changing commitment, which it unveiled on Earth Day, to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its supply chain.

The pledge by WPP, which is the largest buyer of advertising space, covers emissions generated by its TV, print, radio and online media partners.

CEO Mark Read said since WPP spends more than $60B in media a year, it has an opportunity to make a difference on the environmental front.

"By including emissions from the placement of advertising in our net zero commitmenta first for our industrywe aim to raise the bar for the whole sector," he said.

Reed said WPP is eager to advise clients on how to spread science-based reduction targets across their individual supply chains.

Just joshing Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who was last seen giving a thumbs up to the Capitol Hill rioters on Jan. 6, has re-emerged on the national stage to cast the sole vote against the Asian-American hate crimes bill.

Hawley "explained" his vote in a tweet, saying the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act would "turn the federal government into the speech police and gives the government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it."

Nice try, Josh. That phony is probably already shooting presidential campaign spots, claiming he was the only Senator willing to stand up to liberals and their "cancel culture."

Hawley isn't a free speech warrior. He's a rank opportunist with an eye toward wooing Trump supporters in 2024 by out-trumping Ted, Marco and the gang of GOP presidential wannabes.

Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono, who sponsored the bill, said the vote sent "a powerful message of solidarity to the AAPI Community, that the US Senate rejects anti-Asian hate."

Hawley sent a much different message: my political future takes precedence over curbing violence and discrimination against Asian-Americans.
Curriculum reforms which mix the arts and sciences will better prepare young people for the real-world challenges that will define their adult lives, researchers argue

A radically reformed approach to education, in which different subjects teach connected themes, like climate change or food security, is being proposed by researchers, who argue that it would better prepare children for future crises.

In a newly-published study, education researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh argue that there is a compelling case for a drastic shake-up of the school curriculum, so that subjects are no longer taught independently of one another. Instead, they argue that the arts and sciences should 'teach together' around real-world problems, and in a manner rooted in pupils' lived experiences.

The model draws inspiration from Renaissance polymaths like Leonardo Da Vinci, who worked across disciplinary boundaries in pursuit of deeper knowledge. Similar, 'trans-disciplinary' approaches are already used in well-regarded education systems such as Finland's. The idea also echoes recent calls by the youth campaign, Teach the Future, to break down subject silos to teach climate change.

The academic paper, in the journal Curriculum Perspectives, also presents evidence from two recent projects in which pupils appeared to benefit from an approach to teaching which blurred subject boundaries.

One, which invited South African teenagers from disadvantaged settings to create 'math-artworks', produced evidence that as well as increasing their familiarity with key mathematical principles, the project also enabled pupils to understand more about the relevance of maths in their own lives. In the second case study, primary school children in Aberdeen showed a deeper understanding of food security and environmental protection issues after learning to grow food in their school grounds.

Pam Burnard, Professor of Arts, Creativities and Education at the University of Cambridge, said: "If we look at the amazing designs that Da Vinci produced, it's clear he was combining different disciplines to advance knowledge and solve problems. We need to encourage children to think in a similar way because tomorrow's adults will have to problem-solve differently due to the existential crises they will face: especially those of climate, sustainability, and the precarity of life on Earth."

Dr Laura Colucci-Gray, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Education and Sport, said: "The nature of these problems calls for a radically different approach to knowledge. We are proposing a move from the idea of a curriculum as something children are just 'given' to a curriculum 'in-the-making', in response to transformations that will define their lives."

The paper contributes to an emerging field called 'STEAM' education. This seeks to reinsert the 'A' of arts into national attempts to encourage the uptake of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), in response to a critical skills gap in related areas of the economy.

Some educationists argue that the emphasis on STEM is devaluing other subjects, and that arts disciplines are also powerful tools for delivering the problem-solving skills society needs. "For education to reflect that requires a major shift away from linear conceptions where subjects are taught separately, and towards a situation where they are inseparable," Burnard said.

In their alternative model, the researchers suggest giving schools greater freedom to determine how to meet general study targets set by the curriculum. Teachers and leadership teams would make collective decisions and share practices about how to engage pupils with unifying, cross-curricular themes, such as environmental sustainability.

They add that this might also involve the imaginative use of space and resources, and closer links between schools and their communities to connect learning to pupils' lived experiences beyond the classroom.

Evidence is also emerging that a transdisciplinary approach enhances pupils' acquisition of key skills. In the math-artwork project cited in the study, students in South Africa were asked to create art which showed the links between maths and the world around them. Subsequent analysis of the 113 submissions showed that pupils had applied principles such as measurement, ratio and proportion, and geometry in their creations.

The researchers also found, however, that participants had engaged deeply with the meaning of maths at a level rarely seen in conventional lessons. One especially powerful example, by a 16-year-old male student, was entitled The Stressed Vitruvian Man, inspired by Da Vinci's The Vitruvian Man. Like Da Vinci, the young artist's work was partly a study of the proportions of the human body, but at the same time, the student used it to comment on both the potential, and dangers, of creating a society built on mathematical principles alone.

Similarly, the primary school pupils in Aberdeen showed a deepened understanding of issues like food production and natural resource management when they were given the opportunity to take responsibility for a small piece of land in their school. Researchers found that the survival of plants became personal to the pupils, rather than just an abstract concept that they had learned about in science lessons. It also introduced them to other, related ethical challenges which those lessons rarely address: such as how to produce enough food when space is limited.

Any attempted reimagining of education along transdisciplinary lines would require children's attainment to be measured differently, the researchers add. "It would require a system of testing which measures how children are internalising ideas and what they are expressing - not just what they know," Burnard said. "That may be an uncomfortable idea for some, but it is the sort of radical thinking we need if education is going to prepare young people for the future."

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U.S. seeks to conserve more farmland as crop prices climb

Wild flowers are pictured at sunset in Vilonia, Arkansas on April 30, 2014. Picture (Photo : REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

The Biden administration hopes to convince farmers to set aside four million more of acres of land for conservation this year by raising payment rates in an environmental program, but farmers said surging crop prices make it a tougher sell.



The push to enroll more land into the 36-year-old Conservation Reserve Program is a part of the administration's campaign to counter climate change.



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In the voluntary program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pays farmers a yearly rent not to grow crops on environmentally sensitive land for 10-15 years as a way to prevent soil erosion, sequester carbon, reduce nitrogen runoff and provide habitats for wildlife.



About 21 million acres are enrolled in the program, below the Congress-set limit of 25 million acres. The cap will gradually increase to 27 million acres by 2023.



To entice farmers to add 20% more acres in 2021, the USDA is expanding the number of incentivized environmental practices allowed under the program, along with raising payment rates, the agency said.



"There's always a balance, but it's critically important that we continue to create a multitude of ways for land to be productively used," USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday.



Apart from environmental goals, conservation land can also generate rural jobs in outdoor recreation or construction, he said.



"It gives farmers choices and I think that's important," he said.



Still, farmers said the potential for big profits from crop production will make them reluctant to take land out of production. U.S. corn and soy futures notched fresh multi-year highs on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday. [GRA/]



"Unless you've got some really tough soil like in southern Illinois - roll-y, rocky ground - you're going to have a hard time getting anybody to sign up anything for CRP," said Dave Kestel, who grows corn and soybeans in Manhattan, Illinois.



The National Grain & Feed Association, which represents grain processors and exporters, warned the USDA not to try to enroll large tracts of productive farmland into the conservation program because the voracious international demand for commodities would simply lead farmers in competing exporting countries to increase plantings.



"Programs that drastically increase acreage idling in the United States send market signals to competitors to plant more acres, resulting in negative climate and environmental impacts," President Mike Seyfert said.



Vilsack denied that conserving more land in the U.S. would lead to deforestation in other countries. He said the program was aimed at preserving marginal acres, not the most productive U.S. farmland.


The FDA revoked the EUA for bamlanivimab as monotherapy

The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants have been detected in over 40 countries and are disrupting drug development worldwide. The prevalence of these more transmissible strains is growing fast and may require adjustments to current therapies to ensure they retain clinical efficacy, says GlobalData.

Nancy Jaser, Pharma Analyst, GlobalData, comments, More data is now required for all potential and current COVID-19 therapies given the rapid spread of variant strains. While monoclonal antibody treatments will likely be more scrutinised due to their specific targets, vaccine development also needs to be re-assessed to determine efficacy and durability across the various platforms.

Eli Lillys mAbs, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, will likely stumble in attempts to gain full FDA approval given the antiviral resistance observed against B.1.351, P.1., and the New York variant, B.1.526. However, optimism remains for its mAb combination to prove effective against the UK B.1.1.7 variant, which is currently the most dominant in the US with 7,500 reported cases.

Regeneron and Eli Lilly were both granted an EUA for mAbs against COVID-19. According to recent data, Lilly's single mAb (bamlanivimab) is not effective against most variants, while the combo (bamlanivimab/etesevimab) is slightly better with potency detected against B.1.1.7. The FDA revoked the EUA for bamlanivimab as monotherapy. However, Regeneron's mAb combo (casirivimab/imdevimab) has been proven to be the most effective against the emerging variants.

Data shows that the South African variant can escape from most mAb therapies. Experts believe this B.1.351 variant is more heavily mutated than the UK B.1.1.7 strain and will be the most difficult to contain.

Top-line Phase III trial data for Regenerons antibody cocktail REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab) was positive, meeting its primary endpoint by reducing the risk of hospitalisation or death by 70 per cent compared to placebo. REGEN-COV also met all secondary endpoints which included reducing the duration of symptoms by four days. With an EUA already granted in the US, Regeneron plans to submit a BLA including this most recent Phase III data. Further, FDA updates indicate that REGEN-COV is the only mAb therapy that has retained potency against these emerging strains.
Dani Dyer was seen doting on her baby boy Santiago as she shared her first snaps to Instagram after boyfriend Sammy Kimmence's court appearance.

Sammy, 25, made a last-minute change to plead guilty to scamming two men out of 34k when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Monday.

And just days later, the Love Island star, 24, was seen focussing on spending quality time with their three-month-old son as she enjoyed a farm trip with some pals.

Mother and son: Dani Dyer was seen doting on her baby boy Santiago as she shared her first snaps to Instagram after boyfriend Sammy Kimmence's court appearance

Dani looked relaxed as she cradled the tot while sitting at a bench and rocking a padded grey jacket paired with a white T-shirt and studded sunglasses.

Little Santiago also looked adorable, with the new mum dressing her son in a white Moschino baby grow and matching hat as well as a blue cardigan.

The reality star also shared a throwback snap of her little boy to Instagram Stories on Friday and marvelled at how much Santiago has grown in the past three months.

The first image showed the baby laying on a changing mat while still very tiny while a second of the adorable tot in his bouncer showed him laughing and bigger.

Plea: Sammy, 25, made a last-minute change to plead guilty to scamming two men out of 34k when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Monday

The Instagram posts come after Dani reportedly vowed to stand by her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence as he faces jail after pleading guilty to fraud.

In a statement the star's representative confirmed they are 'still together' after he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Monday and admitted duping two men out of 34,000 on Monday.

Dani, who welcomed son Santiago with Sammy in January, has reportedly vowed to stick by her beau after he made a last-minute change to plead guilty, and has now been told he could face prison time.

When asked whether they were still in a relationship, Dani's rep told The Sun they are 'still together.'

Cool mama: Dani rocked a padded jacket paired with a white T-shirt and studded sunglasses

Quality time: Dani took her little boy to the Old MacDonald's Farm & Fun Park in Brentwood

How he's grown! The reality star also shared a throwback snap of her little boy to Instagram Stories on Friday and marvelled at how much Santiago has grown in the past three months

Super cute: Dani also shared a snap of a very trendy new summer outfit for Santi displayed on a 'baby Kimmence' stand

A source close to the star added: 'She's vowed to stand by him, he's the father of her baby.'

MailOnline contacted representatives for Dani Dyer for further comment at the time.

While Sammy was appearing in court on Monday, Dani took to Instagram Stories to reveal she'd taken son Santiago for his latest round of innoculations.

Sharing a snap of her baby boy in his car set, she wrote: 'Oh my beautiful boy had his second lot of jabs today...

'The constant crying hasn't started yet I'm hoping this time round he will be okay, had to hold back the tears when she injected him. Just love him so much hate him being in pain.'

It comes after Sammy was warned on Monday he faces jail after he admitted scamming two elderly men out of 34,000 by posing as a financial investor.

The entrepreneur duped Peter Martin, 90, and Peter Haynes, 80, between 2016 and 2018 by persuading the vulnerable pensioners to allow him to invest their money.

United: Dani has reportedly vowed to stand by Sammy as he faces jail after pleading guilty to fraud (pictured with their son Santiago)

The 25-year-old's victims were said to have been clients at a legitimate investment company, S&S Trading Ltd, where Kimmence previously worked.

A previous hearing was told Sammy took the clients on when the business stopped operating, falsely claiming he was authorised to provide financial services.

Now Kimmence, who had denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty only last week, faces a possible prison sentence after a last-minute change of plea.

Kimmence, appearing at Portsmouth Crown Court, Hampshire, as his trial was expected to start, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud, totalling 33,919.

The judge warned him his offences were so serious they crossed the custody threshold and he could be sent to jail.

Standing in the dock, Kimmence, dressed in a black suit with a blue tie, spoke only to confirm his name and plead guilty to each charge.

Case: Sammy has been warned he faces jail after he admitted scamming two men out of 34,000 by posing as a financial investor (pictured arriving at Portsmouth Crown Court)

The court heard Kimmence, who announced the birth of his and Dani Dyer's son Santiago in January, used one of his victims' bank cards to withdraw more than 1,200 for himself and also racked up credit card charges of more than 1,300.

He also admitted to getting Peter Martin to transfer him 22,912 on one occasion, and 400 on another. He conned Peter Haynes in a similar way to the tune of 7,927.

Martin sadly died in November last year aged 91 while Haynes suffers from Alzheimer's.

Defending, Craig Harris asked for a pre-sentence report to be made and said: 'He is a relatively young man of previous good character, the offences go back into his late teenage years.

'This is a case that crosses the custodial threshold but might be within a range which I argue could be suspended.'

He added: 'Quite a lot has gone into this young man's life in the last few years. He is seeking to reimburse the losses he has caused so some time is also needed to allow him to do that.'

The court previously heard how Mr Haynes was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year and has moved from Okehampton, Devon, to live closer to his daughter in Leeds.

Doting mum: While Sammy was appearing in court on Monday, Dani took to Instagram Stories to reveal she'd taken son Santiago for his latest round of innoculations

Adjourning the hearing for sentencing, Recorder Nicholas Haggan, QC, said: 'The offences to which you have pleaded guilty are serious offences, it's accepted they cross the custodial threshold and you are at risk of receiving a custodial sentence.

'Given you are young man of no previous convictions, I am going to order a sentencing report. I am going to grant you conditional bail.'

He ordered a pre-sentence report and added: 'I am going to grant conditional bail until the hearing of your case which is on 11 June.

'The fact I am granting bail affords no indication of what the sentence will be. You are at risk of a custodial sentence.'

Dani, who is the daughter of EastEnders star Danny Dyer, shot to fame on Love Island in 2018. She had previously been in a relationship with Kimmence but struck up a new partnership with Jack Fincham in the villa before going on to win the show.

But the 24-year-old rekindled her romance with Kimmence shortly afterwards and there have been rumours that the pair may be getting married in the near future.
Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo speaks during a National Assembly meeting in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



The price of major cryptocurrencies in Korea are plunging amid a series of heightened warnings from regulators here. The Bitcoin price here stood at 50.06 million won ($50,000) as of 11 a.m. at Upbit, a Seoul-based cryptocurrency exchange, down 6.61 percent from a day earlier.



The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency soared to a record high of 80 million won in mid-April, but has since displayed a downward spiral.



An unprecedented cryptocurrency craze here has been a major factor in driving up the values of major digital assets. But warnings have surfaced again that retail investors should think twice before jumping on the bandwagon, as the high volatility of cryptocurrency prices poses huge uncertainties.



The price of Dogecoin, a meme-based cryptocurrency, also plunged 17 percent Friday morning from a day earlier. Dogecoin's market capitalization recently topped $50 billion, but has now fallen below the $40 billion mark.






YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. 4 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in the Republic of Artsakh in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,628.

70 coronavirus tests have been carried out on April 22, the ministry of healthcare of Artsakh said.

Currently, 35 infected patients receive treatment in hospitals.

On April 19 the vaccinations against COVID-19 have launched in Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
It is vital that the infrastructure bill include a massive investment in low-carbon and clean-energy technologies and infrastructure; supporting the deployment of electric vehicles and electric-vehicle infrastructure; supporting a cleaner grid, more transmission; supporting supply chains to make sure that electric vehicles and batteries are produced here at home. It is really going to be necessary for the administration to lean in.

If the bill is split into two parts, then the administration is going to need to be willing to make sure that one of those is something that reflects the urgency of the moment, in terms of investment in low-carbon and clean-energy infrastructure  as well as in climate resilience, because this is an issue that affects the entire economy.

The other reason the infrastructure bill is so important is that for the Biden administration to succeed in this effort  for it to become durable politically, so it doesnt flip-flop back and forth in the way we were just talking about  the administration needs to show that investments in clean energy are also investments that create jobs, that drive the economy, that lead to cleaner air and healthier communities, especially in frontline disadvantaged communities that have borne the brunt of pollution historically. The Biden administration needs to show that a low-carbon agenda is also one that brings better outcomes for people in their everyday lives. And thats what infrastructure spending, in some ways, can do most of all.

I think if they do that, and you see the economy rebounding in the coming years and you see that in the context of real investment in clean energy and low-carbon transition, that will help build the political will and the popular support to keep pushing on climate and clean energy over the coming decade.

Put more simply, you dont get the 50 percent cut by 2030 without putting climate and clean energy at the center of this infrastructure bill this year.

What about the fact that some states have been doing a much stronger job than the federal government at leading the way on clean-energy policy? To what degree have states been modeling policies that the federal government can adopt, and how much does Bidens team still need to innovate its own solutions?

The states are going to play a critical role  they have played a critical role. Not just states, but cities and companies. The last four years, when Washington, D.C., was out of the picture, cities and states and companies carried the load. And states in particular, as you say, have really led the way on innovative policies to drive down emissions and carry their economies forward: California and New York, but also Colorado  which has the toughest economy-wide statutory target on emissions in the country. Youve got Hawaii pioneering the way in renewable energy. This is happening across New England, its happening in the Midwest.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - SALAZAR RESOURCES LIMITED (TSXV: SRL) (FSE: CCG.F) ("Salazar" or the "Company") reports that Ms. Jennifer Hui Wu has tendered her resignation as a director effective today.

Ms. Wu has accepted a senior position with a major US financial institution, and it is a condition of her new employment that all outside directorship be terminated immediately.

The Board wishes Ms. Wu well in her future endeavors and thanks her for her services as a member of the Board.

About Salazar

Salazar is focused on creating value and positive change through discovery, exploration and development in Ecuador. The team has an unrivalled understanding of the geology in-country, and has played an integral role in the discovery of many of the major projects in Ecuador, including the two newest operating gold and copper mines.

Salazar has a wholly-owned pipeline of copper-gold exploration projects across Ecuador with a strategy to make another commercial discovery and farm-out non-core assets. The Company actively engages with Ecuadorian communities and together with the Salazar family it co-founded The Salazar Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to sustainable progress through economic development.

The Company already has carried interests in three projects. At its maiden discovery, Curipamba, Salazar has a 25% stake fully carried through to production. Preparation of a feasibility study is underway and a 2019 PEA generated a base case NPV (8%) of US$288 million. At two copper-gold porphyry projects, Pijili and Santiago, the Company has a 20% stake fully carried through to a construction decision.

For further information about Salazar please contact Merlin Marr-Johnson, Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary at merlin@salazarresources.com or ir@salazarresources.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81574
Patna, April 23 : Nine persons were killed after a jeep plunged into the Ganga river from the Pipa bridge in the Danapur police station area adjacent to state capital Patna on Friday.

Many persons are reported to be missing. A police official said a group of people were returning to Danapur in a jeep on Friday morning after attending a wedding. Suddenly the person driving the jeep lost control over the vehicle at Pipa bridge and it fell into the Ganga.

Danapur police station in-charge A. K. Sah said, "Nine bodies have been taken out of the river. However, a search is on to rescue eight to nine persons reported to be missing. The rescue operations are on with the help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams." Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav and Danapur MLA Ritlal Yadav also reached the accident spot.

According to eyewitnesses, more than 15 persons were in the jeep.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Three people who tested positive for the Indian coronavirus variant in the past week had no travel links, the Government revealed today.

It is the first early warning that the strain - feared to be more transmissible than older versions and make vaccines less effective - is spreading in the community.

The variant is also spreading rapidly, official data shows, with cases soaring 70 per cent in the past week.

Latest Public Health England data shows the B.1.617 variant had been detected 132 times by April 21, up from 77 on April 14.

Cases are mainly located in London in areas where there are large Indian populations.

Of the 55 new cases, 39 caught the virus within the UK, mostly from someone who had been to India recently. But three of the cases had no links to travel. The remaining 16 cases were imported directly from abroad.

Scientists believe the variant's mutations could help it to spread more quickly or to make vaccines slightly less effective, although this hasn't been proven yet. There is no evidence the strain is any more deadly than others.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage today said she was 'confident' the vaccines currently being used in the UK will work against the variant.

Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline it was 'almost certain' that there are more cases of the Indian variant because it can take two or three weeks for sequences to be analysed and published.

The Indian Covid variant has almost doubled in a week in the UK to 132, official figures show

The UK's hugely successful vaccination programme and brutal four-month lockdown has squashed deaths to double-digits. But India's fatalities have started to climb on the back of a spike in infections

The Indian variant has been behind an explosion of infections and a rapidly rising death toll in India, creating a critical shortage of oxygen, intensive care beds and ventilators.

A ban on travel from India to the UK started today because of concerns about the variant, but experts don't yet know a huge amount about it.

Public Health England's Dr Susan Hopkins said: 'We do not yet know how transmissible it is, the level of severity of illness it causes, or whether it can escape natural or vaccine derived immunity, but this is under constant review.

'Ongoing close surveillance shows that this variant accounts for less than one per cent of all test samples sent for analysis.'

Speaking on Sky News this morning, culture minister Ms Dinenage said: 'The situation in India has worsened an incredible amount over the last few days and that's why we took steps to add them to the red list. It obviously takes a couple of days for that to kick in, for the operation to take effect.

'We take advice from the health experts on this. We don't really want to add countries to the red list unnecessarily, but the priority is absolutely to protect people in the UK.

'We've worked so hard over the course of this pandemic, the lockdown has been so tough for so many people, we don't want to take these steps but we will take them if necessary.

'We're confident that the vaccines we have will deal with this variant.

'We haven't got any proof that they don't, but we've just still got to err on the side of caution and take these steps when necessary to do it.

'We have one of the most some of the toughest measures in place on our borders in the world with a three-part testing system, and all the home quarantinining that's necessary, and of course the hotel quarantine as well now for those who are coming back from India who live here.

'This is all just part of the huge effort we've been putting in place right across this period to make sure people are kept safe and we keep these variants out of the UK.'

Separate figures published by Cog-UK, which tracks variants in Britain, show B.1.617 has actually been spotted 215 times  with it making up around one in every 200 positive swabs that are analysed.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE INDIA VARIANT? Real name: B.1.617 When and where was it discovered? The variant was first reported by the Indian government in late March. But the first cases appear to date back to October 2020. It has been detected in 21 countries as of April 19, Public Health England bosses say. How many people in the UK have been infected with it? Matt Hancock revealed there had been 103 cases so far since it was first spotted on February 22. But Public Health England's latest report, published on April 15, says 77. These were detected in England and Scotland. What mutations does it have? It has 13 mutations that separate it from the original Covid virus that emerged in China  but the two main ones are named E484Q and L452R. Scientists suspect these two alterations can help it to transmit faster and to get past immune cells made in response to older variants. Is it more infectious and can it evade vaccines? The L452R mutation is also found on the Californian variant (B.1.429), even though the two evolved independently. It is thought to make the American strain 20 per cent more infectious. The E484Q mutation is very similar to the one found in the South African and Brazil variants known as E484K, which can help the virus evade antibodies. The South African variant is thought to make vaccines about 30 per cent less effective at stopping infections, but it's not clear what effect it has on severe illness. Professor Sharon Peacock, of PHE, claimed there was 'limited' evidence of E484Q's effect on immunity and vaccines. Lab studies have suggested it may be able to escape some antibodies, but to what degree remains uncertain. How deadly is it? Scientists still don't know for sure. But they are fairly certain it won't be more deadly than the current variants in circulation in Britain. This is because there is no evolutionary benefit to Covid becoming more deadly. The virus's sole goal is to spread as much as it can, so it needs people to be alive and mix with others for as long as possible to achieve this. And, if other variants are anything to go by, the Indian strain should not be more lethal. There is still no conclusive evidence to show dominant versions like the Kent and South African variants are more deadly than the original Covid strain - even though they are highly transmissible. Doctors in India claim there has been a sudden spike in Covid admissions among people under 45, who have traditionally been less vulnerable to the disease. There have been anecdotal reports from medics that young people make up two third of new patients in Delhi. In the southern IT hub of Bangalore, under-40s made up 58 percent of infections in early April, up from 46 percent last year. There is still no proof younger people are more badly affected by the new strain. Should we be worried? Scientists are unsure exactly how transmissible or vaccine-resistant the Indian variant is because it hasn't been studied thoroughly. The fact it appears to have increased infectivity should not pose an immediate threat to the UK's situation because the current dominant Kent version appears equally or more transmissible. It will take a variant far more infectious strain than that to knock it off the top spot. However, if the Indian version proves to be effective at slipping past vaccine-gained immunity, then its prevalence could rise in Britain as the immunisation programme squashes the Kent variant. The UK currently classes the Indian strain as a 'Variant Under Investigation', a tier below the Kent, South African and Brazilian variants. But there are calls to move it up to the highest category. Scientists tracking the constantly-evolving virus say it's still not clear if India's third wave has been caused by the variant, or if it emerged at the same time by coincidence. Advertisement

But the group of experts, in charge of studying the Covid variants in Britain, count cases differently and do not distinguish between duplicates, meaning Cog-UK may count the same person twice.

The variant was first noted internationally in October and first identified in the UK on February 22.

It has 13 mutations including two in the virus' spike protein known as E494Q and L452R.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to cancel a trip to India on Monday as the country struggles to cope with a dramatic surge in cases.

The Asian nation is now recording a global record cases per day as a virulent variant of coronavirus sweeps the subcontinent, while the health ministry said there were 2,074 daily fatalities but experts believe the true figure is at least ten times higher.

The last chartered flight from India landed at Heathrow at 7pm last night with people paying up to 2,000 for a usually 400 ticket. But others hired $10,000-an-hour private jets for the 12-hour, 6,000-mile trip, to get to the UK, MailOnline revealed today. One, chartered from Mumbai to Luton, took the decision to fly over wartorn Iraq, a route usually shunned by pilots, to get back to Britain in time.

This morning at 7am the first post-ban flights from India landed in the UK, but those on board must now stay in a government-approved quarantine hotels for ten days on arrival, and only UK citizens or residents will be allowed into the country.

India's health infrastructure has been brought to its knees by a second wave which is three times higher than the first, with medics pointing to a new variant believed to be more infectious. Hospitals have run out of oxygen while the dead in poorer areas are being disposed of in mass cremations.

Some families in Delhi are being forced to keep their dead loved ones, often a mother or father, in their homes for days after their deaths in 30C to 37C temperatures because of a lack of space in the city's crematoriums.

Such are the concerns about the Indian strain that Heathrow Airport refused requests for extra flights from India before it was added to to No10's travel red list at 4am this morning due to concerns of transmission in the long border queues.

Meanwhile, MPs heard today that around 100 people are trying to enter the country each day with a 'fake Covid certificate'.

The fake documents claiming a traveller has a recent negative test result are 'very easy' to forge, MPs were told.

And there is no way to tell how many more are being missed.

Lucy Moreton, professional officer for the Immigration Services Union (ISU), which represents border immigration and customs staff in the UK, also said there is 'little to no' evidence on how well people are adhering to quarantine rules.

India reported the world's highest daily tally of coronavirus cases for a second day yesterday, surpassing 330,000 new cases, as it struggles with a health system overwhelmed by patients and plagued by accidents.

Deaths in the past 24 hours also jumped to a record 2,263, the health ministry said, while officials across northern and western India, including the capital, New Delhi, warned most hospitals were full and running out of oxygen.

The surge in cases came as a fire in a hospital in a suburb of Mumbai treating Covid patients killed 13 people on Friday, the latest accident to hit a facility crowded with people infected with the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, 22 Covid patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out due to a leaking tank, while at least nine coronavirus patients died in a hospital fire in Mumbai last month.

Health minister of the eastern state of Chhattisgarh TS Singh Deo said: 'It is grim. It is grave ... there is an extreme shortage of ICU beds.'

'We'll need to be very careful in the rural areas. If it spreads there, then it will be out of control,' Deo said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has been criticised for relaxing coronavirus controls too quickly, met chief ministers of the worst-affected states, including the capital Delhi, the western state of Maharashtra and Modi's home state of Gujarat, to discuss the crisis.

Daily infections hit 332,730, up from 314,835 the previous day when India set a new record, surpassing one set by the United States in January of 297,430 new cases. The US tally has since fallen.

Delhi reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.

Medical oxygen and beds have become scarce, with major hospitals putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police being deployed to secure oxygen supplies.

'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi ... till oxygen supplies stabilise,' Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals, said on Twitter as it appealed for oxygen.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it was now as if there was no social safety net for Indians.

He said: 'Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones. This is hard to watch.'
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

A Nob Hill storefront that once housed an Urban Outfitters has been transformed into a Space Age-themed hub for Albuquerques commercial space and directed energy industries.

The city of Albuquerque, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Lab, NewSpace New Mexico and other partners, hosted a ribbon-cutting Thursday afternoon for Q Station, a membership-driven workspace where public- and private-sector workers in the directed energy and aerospace industries can meet, mingle and collaborate.

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Gabe Mounce, director of the Space Force Accelerators program at AFRL, told the Journal that Q Station will help the Air Force collaborate with potential partners in Albuquerques growing commercial space sector, making connections with startup founders and venture capitalists in the space.

By being here too, companies get exposed to not just resources in New Mexico, but potential funding streams, to the venture capital community, Mounce said.

Q station, at 3225 Central NE, lacks traditional desk and office space. Instead, much of the space features an open floor plan, with a mix of tables, chairs and couches arranged throughout the front of the building. Posters and paintings that evoke the Space Age of the 1950s and 60s adorn the walls.

The back of the building houses multiple common areas with food and drink options, along with a series of booths that occupants can use for Zoom meetings and conference calls. Each room features a mock travel poster from a different celestial body.

Randy Trask, president of the New Mexico Trade Alliance, said the space will be open to partner organizations and members of the business community that are deemed to be an integral part of the communitys directed energy and commercial space ecosystems.

We dont want to compete with shared working spaces, we want our shared working spaces to thrive, Trask said. This is an enclosed membership to encourage collisions within this particular industry sector.

Trask said the expectation is that members will use the space for meetings, get-togethers and on a drop-in basis, forming organic partnerships with like-minded Burquenos.

We want that constant activity, Trask said.

Trask said people from partner organizations will be able to start working out of Q Station next week as screens and other technology elements are still being added. Other members can begin working at the space later in May, Trask said.

Mounce said the Air Force has focused on doing more outreach to the private sector in recent years, but added that bringing businesses to Kirtland Air Force Base for meetings can be a challenge.

Having the space in Nob Hill, rather than behind the fence, makes it easier to form connections organically and may appeal to out-of-state employees, who may be familiar with similar spaces in Austin, Boston and Los Angeles, Mounce said.

Were trying to create that same vibe here in Albuquerque, he said.

During a news conference associated with the ribbon-cutting, Mayor Tim Keller acknowledged that businesses in Nob Hill and elsewhere have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said this type of partnership will help the community build again as the pandemic abates.

This is part of creating those bridges between whats in the fence line to our community, Keller said. To have it right here in Nob Hill is so important.
It was a routine question at the front desk.

How was everything? the receptionist asked the repeat customer.

Not good, said the woman, a business owner who had just finished a 90-minute session at the Alden Bridge Massage Heights in The Woodlands. And, no, she did not want the gift cards shed purchased earlier that day in September 2017.

Amid sobs and bouts of nausea, she disclosed in a managers back office that while she was face up on the table, the massage therapist with the long ponytail had touched her breasts  which she thought was an accident  but then he lifted the sheet and stuck his fingers in her vagina, according to criminal court trial testimony. The Houston Chronicle does not name victims or alleged victims of sexual assault without their permission.

It turned out this location of the nationwide chain had received a customer report two months earlier about the same licensed massage therapist, Mario Rubio. Management of the franchise kept Rubio on staff after that earlier complaint that he touched a clients vagina but retrained him on how to tuck sheets around a customers body, according to testimony at his 2018 trial for the sexual assault of the second customer. He is now serving an 18-year prison term for that assault. He had his license revoked by the states regulatory agency.

His lawyer declined to comment about the case.

Based on state disciplinary records, sex offender registries, police, court and correctional records and interviews, the Houston Chronicle found at least 24 reports of Massage Heights therapists across the U.S. making sexual contact with clients since 2010, including at least nine accusations of unwanted contact at seven out of 24 franchises across the Houston area.

Allegations of customers sexually assaulting massage therapists have been in the news with the Deshaun Watson case, but the details of some cases at Massage Heights show there is also a risk of massage therapists assaulting customers. Clients who reported assaults at local franchises include a Harris County elected official and an undercover police officer.

Massage Heights Franchising said in a statement that it teaches franchise owners to screen and train therapists, but it does not get involved in day-to-day operations at sites, has limited control over its franchisees, and should not be held responsible for employees who dont follow the rules.

A changing business

Massage was once either a luxury or a seedy pursuit for those seeking sexual gratification. A new business model emerged two decades ago with mid-tier storefront massage outfits cropping up in affluent areas. Massage Heights and similar companies sell members batches of affordable massages.

Massage Heights Franchising is based in San Antonio with 111 locations open in the wake of the pandemic, including 51 in Texas and 24 in the Houston region.

Three men have been convicted of having sexual contact with four local customers since 2011 and another three men have pending cases in four alleged assaults.

Six Massage Heights therapists in Texas since 2012 have had their licenses revoked or have been fined by the states regulatory agency following allegations they made sexual contact with clients. Tela Mange, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation, didnt respond directly to the question of whether six is within the normal range for a chain, saying, The number of actions reflects that TDLR, local prosecutors and the massage therapy industry are taking this issue more seriously than perhaps happened in the past.

Another six Massage Heights employees have received disciplinary sanctions in other states since 2010 due to sexual contact with customers.

A spokesperson for Massage Heights Franchising, LLC said the company strongly believes that we play a role in assisting franchisees in ensuring the health and safety of the thousands of members and guests and the company has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is sexual in nature at franchisees retreats.

The company has made similar statements in the wake of various sexual assault charges against its massage therapists across the U.S., saying the company has a zero tolerance policy about inappropriate touching.

Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Massage Heights statement said franchises must offer training on safety procedures and sexual misconduct annually throughout their employment. Owners rely on the professionalism of the licensed massage therapist to follow federal, state, and local laws that apply to their practice, as well as their ethics training, to protect the guests they serve.

Sexual assault is a crime, regardless of where it occurs, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms, the statement said. It is up to franchise owners to recruit, hire, train and terminate employees.

But some hires have slipped in through the cracks.

Jeremiah Wilson denied that he had placed his penis in a clients hand while she was face down on the table during a massage in January 2020 at the Shadow Creek Massage Heights in Pearland. He told a Pearland detective hed previously worked at Massage Envy for years and no one had complained.

The detective followed up with his former employer in West University and learned Wilson had been fired by Massage Envy because of a customer complaint of inappropriate touching, according to the detectives statement in the pending misdemeanor indecent assault case against Wilson. Wilsons attorney declined to comment.

Similar concerns about employee screening arose in an unrelated Massage Heights incident in Encinitas, Calif. A customer there sued in 2016 saying her therapist touched her breasts and put his hands and mouth on her genitals during a massage. A witness called to testify in that suit said the same therapist, George Washington Lindsey III, had touched her vagina six times during a 2011 session when he was employed at a Massage Envy franchise. The Massage Heights franchise ultimately settled for $240,000 with the Encinitas victim. Lindsey was convicted of sexual battery and placed on a sex offender registry for life. Massage Heights Franchising was not a party to the suit.

Anjali Nigam, the attorney for the woman Rubio was convicted of assaulting at Alden Bridge in The Woodlands, said in her civil suit against the chain that legitimate massage businesses have a substantial and systemic problem with unwelcome attacks by staff.

They know that this silent danger exists, and theyre doing nothing to prevent that their customers are raped and assaulted, she said.

The company denies any liability for Rubios purported conduct and says the incident was not reported to Massage Heights Franchising.

The issue of sexual assault has come up at other businesses, including the largest budget massage chain. In a 2017 investigation of Massage Envy, BuzzFeed found 180 reports of sexual assault at the chains salons around the country.

Massage Envy said it is committed to promoting a safe environment for members, guests and service providers at each of the over 1,100 franchised locations nationwide and it urges anyone who experiences anything other than a safe, quality massage to report it immediately to the franchised location so that it can be investigated.

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While corporate executives may know that bad actors could crop up from time to time, customers are typically unaware of the danger of sexual assault when they book an appointment, according to criminal and civil lawyers who represented victims in these cases.

Assistant manager Ashley Brown testified at Rubios criminal trial that the victim, a mother of three, seemed shocked and confused and kept repeating to Brown, How could this happen to me? You know? Im an older lady. How does this happen?

Harris County lawsuits

The once gregarious 53-year-old now fears venturing out of her house alone. Her civil suit against the owner of the now-closed franchise and Massage Heights says its a dereliction of duty that the company failed to screen, train and supervise personnel, creating a dangerous environment where patrons lie naked in a dim, windowless room and trust that professional safeguards are in place.

Eric Oliver, identified in court documents as the owner of The Woodlands and Encintas franchises, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In early March, a Harris County judge declined the companys request to dismiss the case filed by Rubios victim. Its one of at least three civil actions by four customers who alleged Massage Heights employees made sexual contact at salons in the Houston region.

The suits over allegations of unwanted sexual contact include one that stems from back-to-back reports in August 2019 at a Massage Heights on West Holcombe near the Texas Medical Center.

First, the chief of staff at the Pct. 1 Constables office notified investigators at her office she had been assaulted during a massage at the salon, according to a spokesman for the constable. The next day an undercover officer participated in a sting operation at the same salon and reported that she, too, had been sexually assaulted by the same therapist who was licensed under the name James Jefferson.

The first woman, who subsequently reported her account to Houston police, revealed herself to the Houston Chronicle to be a 35-year-old elected official named Erica Davis, who serves on Harris Countys board of education and is a civilian staffer for Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen, the constables spokesman said.

Rosen explained that sending his undercover deputy to inspect the place is part of his regular work: Officers every day are put in situations that can be dangerous, yet these professionals do the job knowing of that danger.

Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The criminal charge against Jefferson, whose legal name is Wenjin Zhu, says he digitally penetrated her during a massage on Aug. 19, 2019. The attack took a huge emotional toll, altering the dynamics of her marriage and how she views herself, Davis said.

You walk around as if youve got victim written on your chest and have new skin made out of dirt that covers your body, she said.

Zhu remains in jail in lieu of $30,000 bail on criminal charges for two sexual assaults in the same week  of Davis and the undercover officer.

Davis and her husband are suing Massage Heights, the franchise owner Asif Hafiz and the therapist. Hafiz and Zhu declined through their attorneys to comment.

Davis lawyer, Nigam, grilled Shane Evans, the cofounder and CEO of Massage Heights Franchising, during a 2020 deposition about why she let the owner of The Woodlands branch continue operating franchises after she knew about sexual assaults at his franchises as early as one alleged incident in 2013 at one of his spas in Florida. Massage Heights settled a case involving that incident, according to court documents. An industry expert called by Rubios customer had called it unconscionable that the company hadnt terminated its relationship with the owner.

Oliver, the former owner, could not be reached for comment. But the company CEO said in response to Nigams questioning that corporate leaders accept no responsibility for what happened to The Woodlands client. She also does not hold Oliver responsible for the actions of a licensed therapist if that employee isnt following company rules.

You cant teach bad people not to do bad things, Evans said, according to a transcript. She said therapists who sexually assault customers are bad apples who disregard the principles of their training. She said she was terribly sorry for what happened to the victim in The Woodlands case and others assaulted during a massage.

We dont control what happens in those rooms, she testified.

In regard to the massage therapists accused in The Woodlands and near the Medical Center, the Massage Heights spokesperson said both had valid licenses and were in good standing. Both underwent background checks. The franchise owners in each case determined, without the involvement of Massage Heights Franchising, that the therapists were qualified to be hired, the official said.

Avoiding crises

But some in the industry question whether the parent company has done enough prevention. Larry Weatherford, a local franchise owner who served on an advisory board for Massage Heights, wrote the CEO in 2012 following an internal email alerting branches of a news story about a sexual assault the year prior in Parkway Village, near George Bush Park. Weatherford suggested he include a session at their yearly conference about how to avoid this type of problem in the future, according to a court document. Weatherford asked for background checks at all franchises through a reputable, centralized agency and called for true zero-tolerance, which he defined as we terminate anyone reasonably in question of an incident.

Instead of crisis-management, Weatherford wrote in an email, we need to avoid the crisis.

Nigam argues in a recent filing that nowhere in the companys 2015 training schedule  included in Olivers franchise agreement for the Alden Bridge spa  did employees receive training on sexual assault prevention.

A Massage Heights Franchising spokesperson said: Since 2012 we have implemented a number of changes, including that background checks are now required at least once per year, in addition to reference checks and state license disciplinary checks, amongst other proprietary operational implementations. We also provide ethics training opportunities and hired a massage educator at our national conference.

Massage Heights lawyers responded in court documents that there were several blatant misrepresentations in Nigams assessment. Rubio, who was convicted by a jury in the Woodlands case, had 54 hours of ethics training prior to being hired, they said, so the franchise faces no viable claim for negligent training and the company cannot be held liable for a franchises negligent hiring, lawyers said.

The number of actual therapist-on-client violations within the industry is likely higher than those reported, since the vast majority of sexual assaults are not reported, according to Justice Department statistics.

Training, followup

Ben Benjamin, author of The Ethics of Touch, reviewed Massage Heights training and testified as an expert in abuse prevention in The Woodlands victims lawsuit. He said the companys prevention planning fell short, according to court documents.

Benjamin said the company did not maintain basic communication with franchise owners.

They dont do enough training in sexual abuse prevention, ethics, he said. And when an incident of abuse was reported, he said, employees should automatically notify police.

A Massage Heights Franchising spokesperson said: Franchisees and their employees are required to offer assistance to report a crime to the police if they are made aware of an incident.

Lisa Stewart, who prosecuted Rubio and has undergone extensive training in victim responses to trauma, said, I think this company failed these women.

It doesnt surprise me that it keeps happening because its a professional relationship that has been diluted to a corner store, Stewart said.

Benjamin has worked with other businesses to add safeguards, including mandated checks of sex offender registries, targeted curriculum and role plays, emergency call buttons and supervision of therapists by a psychologist or social worker trained in the dynamics of sexual assault.

At Massage Heights, Benjamin said, Nothing is in place that is substantial to prevent and to weed out predator therapists.

Evans, the company CEO, challenged that assessment in testimony, stating that all therapists must be licensed, provide recommendations and pass background checks.

In a statement to the Chronicle, she said: As an industry, we put protocols in place to help ensure only qualified, licensed massage therapists who have current criminal background checks perform services. The industry spends hundreds of hours training therapists on massage therapy safety, ethics, and how to prevent sexual assault, and it is deplorable that any massage therapist would choose to betray the trust of a client.

The company called Mark C. Siebert, who testified he was not an expert in the ethics of massage or in sexual assault prevention but in the relationships between companies and franchise owners.

Siebert said there is a range of compliance with standards among franchisers and a company needs to do everything they reasonably can to protect the community.

Siebert disagrees with Benjamin that Massage Heights training was inadequate. He said the company spends more time training its staff than Massage Envy or other chains and that no training will train the predator out of the predator. He testified that he didnt believe the company was obligated to perform site visits and that a franchiser has limited control over franchisees.

Licensing in Texas requires 45 hours of training in massage therapy laws, rules, business practices and professional ethics standards. State exams include questions related to ethical practice, said Ron Precht, spokesman for the American Massage Therapy Association.

For Davis, who went for a massage near the Medical Center, sharing her story has been healing.

Even though this was a traumatic experience, she said, it is my prayer that when others see me, they see courage.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
In the wake of surge in the country, Prime Minister on Friday asked state governments to be strict with hoarding and black marketing of essential medicines and injections.

He was speaking while chairing a high-level meeting on Covid-19 situation with Chief Ministers of 11 states and Union Territories, which have reported maximum number of Covid cases recently.

Noting that the virus is affecting several states as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities at once, PM Modi called for working together to fight the pandemic with collective power. He said the biggest basis of Indias success during the first wave of the pandemic was "our united efforts and united strategy and reiterated that we will have to address this challenge in the same way", said Prime Minister's Office in a statement.



PM Modi assured Centres full support to all the states and in this fight. He added that the Ministry of Health is also in touch with the states and is monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advices to the states from time to time.

On oxygen supply, PM Modi took note of the points raised by the states. He said there is a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply. All the concerned departments and ministries of the government are also working together. Industrial oxygen has also been diverted to meet immediate requirements.

PM Modi urged all states to work together and coordinate with one another to fulfil requirements relating to medicines and oxygen. He urged the states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines. The PM said that every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded. The Prime Minister urged the states to set up a high-level co-ordination committee to carry oxygen to different hospitals of the state. This Coordination Committee should ensure that as soon as there is allotment of oxygen from the centre, it can deliver oxygen as per requirement in different hospitals of the state immediately. PM informed the Chief Ministers that yesterday he chaired a meeting on oxygen supply and will be attending one today to discuss all the options for increasing the oxygen supply.

PM Modi stated that the central government is working on all possible options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of oxygen tankers. For this, Railways has started Oxygen Express.Empty Oxygen tankers are also being transported by the Air-Force to reduce one way travel time.

The Prime Minister said that along with upgrading of resources, we have to focus on testing. He emphasized that widespread testing should be conducted so that people get the facility easily.

The PM remarked that country's vaccination programme should not slow down in this situation. PM Modi mentioned that India is running the worlds largest vaccination programme and so far, more than 13 crore vaccine doses have been provided free of cost to the states by the Government of India. The campaign launched by the Central Government to provide free vaccine to all citizens above 45 years as well has healthcare workers and frontline workers, will also continue in the same manner. From May 1, PM Modi added, the vaccine is going to be available to all citizens above 18 years of age. "We will also need to work in mission mode to get more and more people vaccinated," he added.

PM Modi said along with all measures for treatment of the patients, hospital safety is also very important. Expressing grief on recent incidents of oxygen leakage and fire at hospitals, PM Modi said the administrative staff of the hospital needs to be made more aware about the safety protocols.

PM Modi also urged the administration to continuously make people aware so that they do not indulge in panic buying. He said that with united efforts, we will be able to stop this second wave of the pandemic across the country.

Earlier, a presentation was given by Dr VK Paul, which highlighted the preparations being done to counter the new surge of infections. Dr Paul also presented the roadmap for increasing the medical facilities and targeted treatment of patients. He briefed everyone about Boosting of Medical infrastructure, teams and supplies; Clinical Management; Containment; Vaccination & Community engagement.

During the interaction, Chief Ministers of states briefed the PM about the steps being taken by respective State Governments in the current wave. They also noted that the directions given by the PM and the road map presented by NITI would help them plan their responses in a better way.
Without festivals, The War And Treaty, one of Americana musics most exciting recent bands, probably wouldnt exist.

Years ago, Michael Trotter and Tanya Blount first met backstage at a music festival in Maryland, back when they were both solo artists. They struck up a conversation about songwriting. They exchanged numbers and eventually connected musically and personally. Theyre now married, and Michael and Tonya Trotter also have a child together in addition to a blossoming music career.

Recording and performing as The War And Treaty since 2014, the Trotters piano-based classic-R&B-meets-vintage-rock sound is a refreshing break from Americanas standard issue Genericana, white-folks-strumming-guitars thing. Hey, Im a white dude who plays guitar, so not hating there. But theres more than one root to rootsy music, after all.

Both Michael and Tanya contribute passionate lead vocals on The War And Treaty songs. Crucial tracks include the sultry Are Your Ready to Love Me? from 2018 debut album Healing Tide; juke-joint jam Down to the River from a 2017 EP ; and the stirring Five More Minutes from 2020 sophomore LP Hearts Town.

The War And Treaty have worked with established stars like Emmylou Harris and Jason Isbell. The duo recently teamed with Dierks Bentley at this years Academy of Country Music Awards for a powerful cover of the U2 classic Pride (In the Name of Love).

Over the years theyve become a hot undercard booking at festivals including Bonnaroo. On Friday, The War And Treaty will headline the Panoply Arts Festival in Huntsville, Ala. with a 7:30 p.m. set.

Formerly based in Albion, Mich., the Trotters checked in from their current Nashville-area home on a recent morning for a Zoom video interview. Edited excerpts below.

Michael and Tanya, as musicians what do you like about performing at festivals and hows the energy different from a normal gig?

Tanya: When you do a festival, its just everybody out there - theyre free, its fun, they come to dance, they come to hear music. And it really is like a revival setting for those of us who do the festivals.

Michael: The root word, festive. Like my wife said, theyre definitely coming with the expectation of party versus the expectation of being entertained. Were just a soundtrack to their good time, versus being under the microscope of a show.

Theres also that thing with festivals, while youll have some of your own fans there, its also a chance to win over new people who dont know you or your music yet.

Michael. Thats super cool. We love festivals for that reason as well, to simply broaden the fan base and to share what we have with a part of the world that we hadnt ever been to. And were really looking forward to this festival.

Since you both have lead vocals on The War And Treaty songs, whats interesting about how you work out who sings what on a particular song?

Tanya: I think everything should have a lead - you know, anything that has more than one head I call a monster. [Laughs] I am also a lead as well. However, Michael is the driver of the band because because he sets up the songs with the keyboard and piano. But I do have a big voice in that. And when maybe something doesnt work for me, Ill say that doesnt work. Of if I feel his voice coming in will carry the song better, we can kind of agree on that. And its always about what serves the music and what serves the song better, on record and for live.

Michael: I like to think of it as a shared experience. I think the really cool thing about creating this music with the one you love is knowing when Im weak, shes strong, where shes weak, Im strong, and were strongest together. Its very easy to write when you write with that in mind. Tanya is limitless, so being able to write songs that fit her is a never ending story. She is the weapon of this band, and I just really love hearing her sing. But Ive loved taking direction from her. She is very, very wise, very smart, and she has a lot of experience in this industry.

This is a basic as hell question but  The War And Treaty is a cool and different band name. Whered it come from?

Michael: This is a rare moment where I was actually right. In 2014, after trying solo careers - me trying and Tanya actually having a very successful solo career - we decided to try to sing together. Unfortunately none of the band names were really sticking.

I think I changed the band name something like six times, and I was ready to change the name again for the seventh time, and this time Tanya was like, Hell no, we aint changing the name again. And we got into a little war, a disagreement, an argument.

I felt strongly about having a name that told both of our stories, and Tanya felt strongly about being consistent and not changing every five minutes or so. After she saw I was getting overly emotional about this conversation, Tanya said, Michael this is not the war. We need to come to some sort of a treaty.

I said, well, we just did because you just decided the band name: The War And Treaty, and she loved it. Ive been rambling for a little bit here, but just for those that dont know I am a two time Iraqi war veteran, I served in the United States Army, one six infantry, second brigade, first armed division.

And that was my side of the (band) name, the war. And I had a lot of wars on the inside and a lot of things that I needed to settle and I couldnt settle it until the treaty came into my life. She helped me come to an agreement with my past, my present and what would be my future. And thats The War And Treaty right there.

Beautiful. I loved the music video for your song Five More Minutes. The production has a classic 90s vibe, so I was wondering about videos from back in the day you love. Also, whats the story behind that song?

Tanya: Well, one of my favorite videos of all time is Remember The Time by Michael Jackson. I love the choreography, I love the costumes.

Michael: One of favorites of all-time is probably Crossroads by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

Tanya: That is a great one too. The song Five More Minutes came from a challenging place in our relationship. Michael, as he mentioned, is a two-time Iraqi war veteran who served in combat in war, and coming from that he has PTSD. So he was getting therapy at this time, were living in Maryland and we moved to Albion, Michigan, switching therapists there. And this particular day, he was just done with it.

He didnt come to me and say anything, but he made a decision that this was going to be the end of his life. And I knew that from some of the episodes weve had before, that he was at the end of his rope. And I said, I know youre ready to let go and youre tired. But just give me five more minutes to just talk to you. Talk me through it. Walk me through it.

At the same time, I was talking to his therapist and I called the Albion police department to help me because this wasnt like the normal, that you could talk him down. The Albion police came and his therapist instructed me to call them because you just dont take those kinds of things for granted, when youre dealing with anyone whos contemplating suicide, especially a combat veteran.

He heard us out. He heard the police asking him to just listen to your wife and people love you and just encouraging him, and he gave himself that five minutes. And as he says, hes still living in that five minutes, were still living in that five minutes today.

Wow. Tanya, well before The War And Treaty you sang a duet with Lauryn Hill ( on the song His Eye Is On the Sparrow from the 1993 comedy film Sister Act 2. Tanya and Hill also had onscreen roles in the film.) What was something cool you recall from the experience of working with Lauryn, who later became a music legend and kind of mysterious?

Tanya: Well we were teenagers, and the great Lauryn Hill, I think a lot what a lot of people dont know about her, even though shes very mysterious and very serious, is shes extremely funny. And shes a lot of fun in the studio. And one of the things I learned from Lauryn and the time we spent together during the film and then afterwards developing a friendship is to have fun with the music. And I think thats why the Miseducation record sold so many records and is still so very influential to generations now and generations to come, is thats who she really was and is: She shared what she thought the world should look like and how things should go. And the innocence on songs like Zion, about being young and pregnant and things like that.

Michael, weve been talking some about your experience serving our country in Iraq. I read that at one point you were stationed inside Saddam Husseins former palace and there was a piano youd occasionally play on. What was Saddams piano like? And what do you love about the piano just as an instrument?

Michael: Yes, Saddams piano was a black upright piano and it was extremely out of tune but it was a beautiful instrument. And I loved learning to play on that piano.

And the thing thats special to me about piano is theres white keys and theres black keys. One group of the keys represents the majority and one group of keys represents the minority, but they all represent the piano and when theyre played together certain emotions can be struck. You can get beautiful and happy. [Plays an uplifting sequence of chords on the piano] But if you want to tell the other side of it emotionally go ahead and add a minority key. [Plays a moody melancholic melody on the piano.]

Then you can start to tell the full spectrum of what the human experience is all about. Its about the highs, its about lows, the joys and sorrows, the smiles and the tears. I feel that is whats so uniquely special about the piano. With a guitar, all the strings look the same.

You just mentioned guitar. And Jason Isbell, a talented guy from in North Alabama, played guitar on The War And Treaty song Beautiful. What do you think Jason added to that track with his guitar?

Michael: Jason is a very interesting guitarist because Jason is a rocker at heart. Hes picked up the mantle of John Prine as far as being a prolific lyricist and his guitar lends to that kind of lyrical behavior. But I wanted to see Jason come undone. And I asked him to come play on the song Beautiful and he asked me, What do you want me to do? And my response to him was, whatever the hell you want to do, because youre Jason Isbell.

And he just shredded all over the place. He shredded so much that a lot of the stuff we didnt use, and I wouldve preferred to use but that a whole other topic. But the stuff he did on there was so prolific and hes just awesome. And then we made him sing. It was just a fun time and great experience for us.

Youre performing this weekend in Alabama, after the Derek Chauvin trial guilty verdict this week in Minnesota for the murder of George Floyd. The conviction was important but theres still a lot of bad stuff like this happening and a lot more work to be done. What it going to be like for you guys to perform after the Chauvin verdict and amid everything else going on this week?

Michael: I think for us, the main goal is to remind our country and our country men and women, that were stronger, were better, we are beautiful when we are together. As a white man, black man, white woman, black woman, Asian, Hispanic, Indian  it does not matter, when were together.

And God bless the Floyds. Rest in peace to George. And may God be with Chauvins family, because we cant ignore the fact that two families are affected. I think its very important to understand these are two Americans that got caught up in this situation. And if you say you love your country, you have to love your country men and women, even in correction.

I believe that we as artists have a strong position. Because we can point people to the unity, to the love and to the care of ourselves in this way. Now, theres a lot of folks who want us as black artists to stand up and be angry and to be outraged and shout and to say, the hell with white people. Theres a lot of white people that want us to be that way as well.

But Tanya and I refuse, because heres the thing: Were Americans. Thats who we are. We love this country, we are here to serve this country and we believe in justice. We believe in policing, we believe that there are a lot of things that should be done to prevent stuff like this. I feel that the officers training, that your main goal is to defuse any situation first.

But I also feel that is important for us to start repairing the relationships between local law enforcement and communities and neighborhoods. And not just between white communities and suburban communities, but also between underprivileged and underserved communities.

So thats the first step in start in rebuilding that. And people will start taking ownership, and not just cops taking ownership of the community but the community start to feel some sense of ownership and belonging to the local law enforcement as well. And if we can start moving those conversations into the picture, I believe that we can start seeing a dramatic change in our country.

Tanya: And just the basic value of human life. You know, I think weve lost that as a society, from the mass shootings, to the shootings of one another in communities, to the police executions of people out on the streets. Weve just lost a sense of love, love and life. Balance the basic things. And then all the things that we need to do to systemically get things back in order.

Michael: Loving each other and understanding that were all in this together. When the pandemic hit it didnt just choose a certain group of people to fall on. It fell on us all, and we all lost, didnt we? And we lost a lot of hope. But again, when you come to The War And Treaty show, were going to point you to love, point you to unity. And then were going to let you figure it out from there.

Tickets to attend Panoply on Friday, featuring musical performance from The Way And Treaty and local standouts Lamont Landers Band are $20, via artshuntsville.org. The festival is set for 5  9 p.m. April 23, 10 a.m.  9 p.m. April 24 and 11 a.m.  6 p.m. April 25 at Big Spring Park, address 420 Church St. N.W. More Panoply 2021 info and a preview of all the festivals musical acts available here.
While it is not yet clear exactly where all those millions ended up, the old adage, You have to act rich to be rich, was one Caddick took to heart. Using the initial proceeds of her crimes, she bought designer clothes, expensive jewellery, European cars and a fancy house, and took her family on luxury holidays several times a year. The ostentatious trappings of wealth cloaked her in a chic veneer of success. She made herself appear more exclusive by telling potential investors that her books were full. Shed call later to say they were in luck  a place had become available.

The case of Melissa Caddick and her missing millions has transfixed not just the eastern Sydney suburbs that was her milieu but the wider Australian population, ever since it emerged in November 2020 that the 49-year-old had been running a Ponzi scheme . Between 2012 and 2020, Caddick had convinced more than 60 people to entrust a combined $30 million of their savings to her sham wealth management business, Maliver, none of which she was actually investing on their behalf. Of the $30 million, only about $7 million was returned to clients, leaving as much as $23 million unaccounted for.

Caddick made a hasty departure, packing her personal belongings into her designer handbag. It was a clean exit, no lawyers, no police, no nothing, her former boss says. Shed stolen a petty amount, less than $2000. She didnt offer to repay it  and rather than going to the trouble of calling the police, the firm didnt ask her to. It was just happy to see the back of Melissa Caddick. That, with hindsight, was a crying shame: a criminal record might have forestalled what was to come.

After Caddick had been there about six months, someone from the firms interstate head office queried discrepancies showing up between invoices and payments. When copies of the cheques for the suspicious payments were located at a National Australia Bank branch in Pitt Street in Sydneys CBD, it became clear that Caddick had been forging her bosss signature. Shown the cheques, a look of Im done crossed the then 27-year-olds face. We can escalate it or you can leave immediately, he offered.

It was 1998, and Caddick had landed a job running the Sydney office of a recently opened boutique investment house via a friend shed worked with at the NRMA. Her boss recalls his assistant as being organised, efficient and reliable. Although there were only the two of them in the office, she dressed immaculately. Her manicured presentation seemed suited to a job she aspired to, rather than the job she had, says the former boss.

Is there anything else I need to know? the investment chief asked with cold fury. Before him stood his well-groomed office administrator, Melissa Caddick (then known by her maiden name of Grimley), who had just been confronted with the evidence of her crimes: four cheques on which shed forged his signature. Caddick shook her head.

Caddick knew it was illegal to operate without such a licence, which can attract a $22,000 fine and two years jail, and lacked the requisite qualifications to apply for one herself. Her solution had been to ask a former work friend if she could use hers. The friend said no but Caddick had gone ahead and used it anyway. Unaware that this was happening, the friend continued a working arrangement with Caddick in which Caddick referred clients to her friend for insurance broking services. Indeed, Caddicks own life insurance was done through this person.

The first thread in the unravelling of Melissa Caddicks world appeared in November 2019, when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) received an anonymous tip-off that a Melissa Caddick from Dover Heights in Sydneys east was operating a financial services business using someone elses Australian Financial Services Licence.

Most of her victims were her family and friends, many of whom lost their life savings. She cheated her doting parents Barb and Ted Grimley, her older brother Adam, her aunts, uncles and cousins. She ripped off friends shed had from childhood, along with their families, her personal trainer, her two employees and a group of Perth surgeons, one of whom was a university friend of her brother.

Using a cut-and-pasted CommSec logo, at the end of each month she emailed her investors a report. The shares in which she invested her clients funds never made a loss. Instead, they showed a dazzling return, sometimes up to 30 per cent a month. Buoyed by such returns, investors would put more money in and, via word of mouth, talk of Caddicks impressive returns spread.

Once accepted, investors deposited money into Malivers Commonwealth Bank account. For each new client, she then created a bogus CommSec share trading account, these fake accounts featuring six-digit numbers where the genuine CommSec account numbers have eight. Not only did she forge her clients signatures where required, but when a Justice of the Peace was needed to witness that other signatures were genuine, she also forged the signature of her father-in-law, Rodo Koletti, a JP.

Clients were sent a seven-page Maliver Financial Services Guide in which Caddick promised to maximise client outcomes while working within the law. Instead, she was breaking the law by operating a financial services business without a licence. Under the heading YOUR ADVIERS [sic] EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS, Caddick also lied about her achievements, including that she had a masters of business and was a certified member of the Financial Planning Association of Australia.

Great xx was the last thing her childhood friend heard from Caddick. At 6am on November 11, the Federal Police had shocked Caddick, her husband and her 14-year-old son when they arrived at their home bearing search warrants. Over the next 13 hours, she watched as an endless parade of her precious clothes, handbags, shoes and jewellery was taken away. Despite the tumultuous events, when Joanna texted her suggesting a lunch date with their mothers, Caddick had texted back the single-word reply and two kisses.

I remember being really happy that night, thinking how lucky I was to have a friend that I have known forever, Joanna says. Looking back, she was ripping off everyone at my party. Every single member of my family plus another couple I had invited. All up, Joannas family was stung for about $10 million.

Only a month prior, Caddick had invited herself to the 50th birthday party of one of her oldest friends, Joanna (not her real name). Because of COVID-19, it was a quiet affair, just family and a couple of friends, held at the St George Motor Boat Club at Sans Souci in Sydneys south. Caddicks vivid outfit at the low-key event was the subject of much discussion. Joanna and her daughter were shocked when they later discovered the Dolce & Gabbana dress shed worn had cost $2500. Caddick presented her friend with a bottle of expensive champagne and a Christian Dior scented bathroom deodoriser.

Seven months later, on June 3, 2020, another complaint arrived at ASIC  this time with more detail. With rising alarm, investigators realised they were dealing with something huge. Concerned that Caddick might get wind that they were on to her, they decided to make a pre-emptive strike. Thus on November 10, 2020, they made an urgent application to the Federal Court to freeze her assets and seize her passport. The application was granted, and the following day the Australian Federal Police raided Caddicks home in Wallangra Road, Dover Heights. In the 12 months since the initial, unheeded tip-off, Caddick had pocketed $7.8 million.

Whoever it was, with no mention of fraud or misappropriation, and hundreds of other complaints to assess each month, ASIC recorded this single, unsourced complaint about Caddick operating without her own licence, but took no action.

I found out when a potential client of Melissa did some due diligence on the documents they were provided, the friend says of her discovery that Caddick was using her licence. ASIC was immediately notified. When pushed as to the exact date this occurred, she replies: This is a question for ASIC. Its a question the corporate regulator also declines to answer, leaving open the issue of just who tipped them off in November 2019.

Her first job after secretarial college was in administration at NRMAs investment division. She would get very, very cranky if you said, Heres Melissa, shes a secretary,  Joanna recalls, noting that her friend tended to give herself a superior title. She always felt she was so much more than that.

To this day, PCA aims to help graduates land their perfect job, equipping them with Modern Business Etiquette and Deportment, Dress Sense, and overall Professional Prestige. Along with acquiring a dress sense for the life she wanted rather than the life she had, Caddick also seems to have taken the colleges Latin motto to heart: Aut Optimum Aut Nihil  Either the Best or Nothing.

After leaving school, Caddick enrolled in a secretarial and business administration course at Patricks College Australia (PCA) in the city. Established in 1923 by the Sisters of Mercy, the colleges original aim, according to its website, was to help young women gain employment in Sydneys corporate world by training them to be personal assistants and legal secretaries.

Caddick was an ordinary girl. At Lugarno Public and then Peakhurst High, there was nothing about her that stood out. Rather than being the numerical whizz she would later claim to be, she undertook the lowest level of maths for her Higher School Certificate. Her ambition to be a ballerina was stymied by her body type, which was short and stocky. She was conscious of fashion labels even back then, according to Joanna. She always had that desire to be better than she was  even from primary school. She always aspired to be in the coolest group.

Melissa Louise Grimley was born on April 21, 1971. Hers was a comfortable, middle-class family, with her father working in reinsurance and her mother, the driving force in the family, a secretary in a physiotherapy practice. Their house in Lugarno, in Sydneys south, was surrounded by bushland and backed onto the Georges River.

At 5.30 the next morning, Caddicks son heard the front door close. Shed left in her running gear, her husband told the police, but taken nothing with her. Melissa Caddick was never seen alive again. On February 21 this year, campers at a remote beach on the South Coast of NSW found a running shoe containing human remains which were later identified as those of Caddick. Although the NSW Coroner is yet to make a ruling on her fate, police believe that within hours of the raid, Caddick threw herself off the cliffs only 150 metres from her home.

The next time she featured in IFA, some 17 years later, it was for catastrophic breaches of her own advice. Melissa Caddick  the sole director of wealth management business Maliver  has been barred from removing assets held in Australia and from leaving the country as ASIC investigates concerns that she was providing financial services without an AFSL [Australian Financial Services Licence], had used another companys AFSL without authorisation, and had misappropriated investor funds, the magazine wrote in December 2020.

Melissa Caddick had found her niche. In 2003 she featured on the cover of trade magazine IFA (Independent Financial Adviser). Wearing a red jacket and her trademark fire-engine red Chanel lipstick, Caddick would have been thrilled with the headline: A Wise Choice: Australias best planning practice. Another magazine featured Caddicks eight golden rules for finding the right adviser. Like any profession, financial planning has unscrupulous operators, she warned in 2004. She cautioned against pyramid schemes and said no matter how great a deal might look, it was vital for potential investors to check that their financial adviser was accredited, qualified and ethical.

Caddick, he recalls, was bubbly [and] super-efficient. After a couple of years she did the requisite training to move into financial planning. She did brilliant work, the clients loved her, he says. In 2002 Caddick borrowed $750,000 to buy a 25 per cent stake in the business, which was majority owned by global banking giant ING.

A couple of years later, in 1998, she left the boutique investment house mentioned earlier after being caught forging her bosss signature on cheques. At this point Caddick turned her attention to losing weight and getting fit. Her personal trainer introduced her to another of his clients, a well-regarded financial adviser who was looking to train someone up as an office manager at Wise Financial Services.

Not long after, Melissa returned home. Hed maxed out her credit cards, Joanna says. Hed got what he wanted and didnt need her any more. Caddick was distraught and is believed to have suffered some kind of a breakdown. But while shed learnt a valuable lesson, it wasnt the one her friends and family imagined.

The private investigator hired by her parents discovered the man was a con artist who had previously preyed on naive young women. When they confronted Melissa with this, she went berserk, recalls Joanna. She didnt believe them and ran away with him. Her brother Adam rang Joanna begging her to try to talk some sense into Melissa. She thought it best to let her friend work things out.

In her early 20s, Caddick was left emotionally and financially devastated after a romance scam. She was still living at home in Lugarno when she began dating a man shed met at Friday night drinks in a pub in the city. Money and various things were going missing from the family home, recalls Joanna.

Back at Wise Financial, it was Caddicks failure to grasp the importance of compliance and ethics that would prove to be her undoing. Caddick wanted to be able to recommend property and shares in which her clients could invest. Due to strict compliance rules and concern that professional indemnity insurance would be voided if bad advice was given about shares or property plays, financial advisers could only recommend managed investment funds to clients.

Caddick lost the ensuing battle to be allowed to recommend shares to her clients. Leaving Wise in December 2004 amid tears and recriminations, she told friends she was done with the industry. Happily signing a five-year non-compete clause, she recouped her original $750,000 investment and left the firms St Leonards office in northern Sydney.

One of her subsequent victims, Cheryl Kraft Reid, recalls asking Caddick how a financial planner could possibly afford the extravagant life she led. Caddick spun a lie that shed departed Wise with $86 million for devising a program to manage superannuation funds and selling it to major financial institutions. Now that she was independently wealthy, she was offering her investment services to help people, she told Kraft Reid. Another friend, who knocked back Caddicks repeated offers to invest with her, was told a different falsehood: that shed received a massive payout from Wise Financial following a successful sexual harassment suit.

With first husband Tony Caddick, who she dumped and fleeced after cheating on him. Credit:

Before all this, on April 20, 2000, the eve of her 29th birthday, Melissa Grimley married British-born Tony Caddick, a builders labourer whod just turned 28. There was relief among the assembled guests at the Garrison Church in The Rocks when the bride, who blamed her hairdresser for her lateness, finally arrived, wearing a simple, full-length, white silk dress, a tulle veil and a single strand of pearls with matching earrings. The lavish reception was held at Taronga Zoo, the Grimleys showcasing the glorious Sydney Harbour backdrop to the grooms family, visiting from England.

One friend recalls going to dinner later at the newlyweds beautifully renovated Paddington terrace, which had luxury cars in the garage. Im thinking to myself, Fing hell, this just doesnt add up  She was a salaried financial planner and her husband was basically a backpacking Pom, the friend says. Caddick explained that her brother Adam was helping them out financially. Following his graduation from the University of NSW, Adam worked as a chemist at Esso and later moved to Singapore, where he became a partner specialising in chemicals and energy with global professional services company Accenture.

One thing that stunned Caddicks circle was her petty larceny. Wed be at dinner and she would say, Thats a beautiful butter knife, and shed steal it, says one long-term friend. At a meal at the Caddicks house one time, his wife remarked on the unusual salt and pepper shakers. Caddick replied that shed stolen them from a Paddington restaurant.

Caddick had ambitions for her husband, whod studied political science in England, and encouraged him to complete a law degree. In April 2006, Tony was admitted as a solicitor. Two months later, their son was born. One of the mothers from her Paddington baby group recalls Caddick being always immaculately groomed while everyone else was in jeans and leisurewear.

Wed be at dinner and Melissa would say, Thats a beautiful butter knife, and steal it.

While the other new mothers expressed their doubts and complained about lack of sleep, Melissa never let her guard down. She always looked dotingly at her son, whom she boasted was perfect and a dream baby who did everything by the book.

Curiously, the woman says she never once talked about her husband. Years later, she was surprised to run into Caddick at a private boys school in Sydneys east. Although their sons had been born only a couple of days apart, Caddicks son was now a year ahead. Amid the conversation, Caddick confided to this woman that the great job her husband told her hed secured in London had turned out to be a lie. It was a complete disaster. I got there, he didnt have a job, he completely lied to me, Caddick said.

The fiction that her husband was a controlling narcissist, and cheating on her, and that her brother Adam had to fly to England to rescue her and her son, was a tale she repeated widely. The reality was that Caddick wasnt working in England, and was bored and lonely. Tony commuted daily to London from Essex, to the citys north-east, where his family lived.

Telling her husband she needed to brush up on her financial skills, Caddick insisted on attending a conference in Switzerland. Tony was to later tell friends that Caddick was spotted by a mutual friend in a Paris bar canoodling with someone clearly not her husband. It was her Sydney hairdresser, Anthony Koletti. Tony later showed another friend dozens of WhatsApp messages between Koletti and his wife. The messages revealed shed been paying for her hairdresser to fly around the world for their assignations.

After confronting his wife with the evidence of her infidelity, there was a row and Tony went to stay with his family for a few days. He later told friends that when he returned, not only had Caddick cleaned out their house, shed also cleaned out their joint bank accounts.

In late January 2012, after 18 months in the UK, Caddick and her son flew back to Sydney without Tony. When she came back she bad-mouthed Tony to everyone, including her parents, says one friend. She claimed Tony had been domineering and abusive and that hed taken her to England to isolate her from her friends and family. Her friend, who was also a victim of Caddicks investment scam, now sees her claims in a different light.

I think Melissa deliberately severed our relationship with Tony so nobody would ever find out the truth.

Tony, by now working as a corporate lawyer, asked to be transferred to Sydney to be closer to his son. He drove a second-hand Hyundai and rented a small apartment in Alexandria. His estranged wife, meanwhile, had taken up residence in the Kensington home the couple had bought for $1.56 million in 2009. She later received the house in the divorce settlement, selling it for $1.67 million in late 2013. She and Koletti then rented a Rose Bay house with five bedrooms and five bathrooms.

It was a very, very difficult time for Tony, said another long-time friend of the couple, who recalls that Caddick, whod always been controlling, changed her phone number and unsuccessfully tried to block Tonys access to their son.

She would later tell friends she had a list of every country in the world that had non-extradition treaties with Australia and that Tony was never allowed to travel to any of them with their son. Years later, when their son would tell his dad about flying first class or in private jets with his mother, Tony and his friend would puzzle about where the money was coming from. Kolettis family must have the money, Tony would suggest.

He knew his former wife hadnt earned it, says his friend.

I cancelled my industry super and I gave her everything.

It wasnt long after Caddick arrived back from England that she set her sights on her first victim. According to court documents, her friend Joanna, a disability support worker and single mother, was the first to be targeted by Caddick.

Her pitch to Joanna was that since Caddick was already making money buying and selling shares, it was no trouble to do it for both of them. Why didnt Joanna hand over her superannuation for Caddick to manage? So I cancelled my industry super and I gave her everything, Joanna says of her initial investment on October 10, 2012. Caddick didnt stop at the super. She later convinced Joanna to liquidate her share portfolio and hand the proceeds to Caddick to invest for her, too. She subsequently ensnared the rest of Joannas family.

On New Years Eve 2013, Caddicks family and friends were invited to her surprise wedding to Koletti, then 31, whom shed met at Joh Baileys hair salon in Westfield, Bondi Junction. Koletti shared the same April birthday as his wife but was 11 years her junior. Behind his back, her friends referred to Koletti as The Handbag or the Toy Boy.

His father Rodo would later tell 60 Minutes, Anthony is a hairdresser. I dont believe he has the capacity to know what a financial scheme is. I dont think he could have been in it at all or known what was going on.

When Koletti took 30 hours to report to police that his wife was missing, Caddicks cousin offered that, due to the control she exerted in the relationship, Koletti would have been afraid of doing the wrong thing. So he did nothing.

On their wedding night, the guests werent to know the proceeds of her crimes were paying for the Moet to flow all night, and for the brides three outfit changes, including her white Gucci wedding dress, and for the $2900 weekly rental on the Rose Bay house which had panoramic views across the harbour. The next day Caddick, her son and her new husband jetted off to ski in Aspen for the entire month, with the estimated $80,000 cost of the holiday paid for by her victims.

On a skiing trip with her son and her second husband, Anthony Koletti.

The year 2014 was a good one for Melissa Caddick. Through her brother Adams university friend, she managed to tap in to a group of surgeons in Perth. In April, despite her actual net worth being only $600,000, she passed off her investors money as her own and was able to obtain a $4 million loan from the National Australia Bank to help purchase the house of her dreams.

Because her company hadnt been established for long, her brother had to help her get finance and was listed as owning 1 per cent of the house. According to the advertising brochure, the Dover Heights property was a breathtaking contemporary residence that enjoyed expansive harbour views and a heated swimming pool. Along with the five bedrooms and a home office, there was a no-expense-spared kitchen and a fabulous roof terrace.

Caddicks $6.2 million Dover Heights home. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Only four days after her $6.2 million purchase of the Wallangra Road house, the family jetted off to New York for Easter. They spent the July school holidays in Fiji, then it was back to Aspen for a month over Christmas. On one occasion when the snow was poor at Aspen, the avid skier spent $34,000 decamping the family to Whistler in Canada. It was five stars all the way and a pattern that was to be repeated year in, year out.

Along with the extravagant holidays, which sometimes involved private jets and limousines, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on European labels: Chanel, Dior, Valentino and Louis Vuitton. Caddick spent $54,000  more than the median Australian salary  at just one Double Bay shoe shop. More than $200,000 was spent on jewellery and in 2016 she used investors funds to buy Koletti a bright blue $390,000 Audi. The cars number plates, 2 PAWS, was a riff on his company, Paws Off Productions. Unfortunately, the pause button remained firmly depressed on his aspiring musical ambitions. Breeding prawns in his home aquarium also amounted to naught.

The $390,000 Audi Caddick bought Koletti. Credit:@supacarxposed/Instagram

After his wife vanished, Koletti revealed that he had only $1.95 in his bank account. He told the Federal Court that hed been employed part-time as a hairdresser until the COVID lockdown in late March, 2020. He said his wife, who was the primary breadwinner in our family, was worried about the health risk to the family so she wanted him to remain at home and to attend to household duties. In his December 2020 affidavit filed in court, he stated: I currently do not earn an income.

Caddick was constantly on the hunt for fresh prey. One victim, Faye Reid, recalls that whenever she and her wife Cheryl met Caddick at her home to go over their finances, Caddick repeatedly licked her lips. It was slow and constant. She would talk a little bit and then lick her lips, talk a little bit and then lick her lips  Im going, Oh god, whats wrong with this woman? 

Sydney forensic psychiatrist Olav Nielssen has dealt with many fraudsters who tell him they know very well that the end will come, but they keep going because its addictive and they cant stop. Caddick, he suggests, had a shopping addiction, which is known as compulsive buying disorder (CBD). Research suggests CBD mainly affects women, with the age of onset in the early 20s, which corresponds with leaving home and gaining financial independence.

In her book, I Shop Therefore I Am, April Lane Benson writes that perfectionism, dishonesty, insecurity and the need to gain control have been linked to the disorder. CBD sufferers report having negative emotions such as depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, with shopping providing feelings of relief or euphoria. CBD sufferers often have other obsessive-compulsive disorders such as skin picking or hair pulling.

Cheryl Kraft Reid (at rear) and her partner Faye Reid were both ripped off by Melissa Caddick. Credit:Ben Rushton

Caddick had a couple of close calls. In 2016, one of the Perth surgeons was going through a bitter divorce and asked Caddick about making alternative arrangements for the trustee of his self-managed super fund. Perhaps fearing that the surgeons ex-wife might hire a forensic accountant, Caddick abruptly liquidated all his assets without consulting him and returned his funds.

In September 2019 another Perth surgeon and his wife were about to invest with Caddick. When his wife starting raising concerns about Caddicks trust fund details and how the CommSec account would be run, her husband received a call from Caddick saying she was putting his possible investment on hold as her husbands cousin had died and she needed to attend his funeral. That was the last time the surgeon spoke to her. Meanwhile, his wife had contacted the Sydney woman whose financial services licence Caddick had been using without permission. It was not long after this that ASIC received the anonymous complaint.

One of the fake statements provided to Cheryl Kraft-Reid and her partner Faye Reid by Caddick. Credit:Ben Rushton

January 2020 was much like any other for Caddick. The family went to Aspen, where their three-bedroom apartment at North of Nell  rented, not owned as Caddick had told people  looked straight onto the mountain.

When a friend organised a lunch to introduce her to another owner in the building, Caddick begged off at the last minute, saying shed been hit by a snowboarder. On this same trip, Caddick met a woman from Woollahra in Sydney who expressed interest in investing. Caddick initially knocked her back, telling her the books were full. Once back in Sydney, however, a spot was found. The womans first investment of $1 million had made such a handsome return that by April shed invested a total of $2.5 million.

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In August 2020, while in a dentists waiting room, this investor struck up a conversation with a fellow patient, also from Sydneys east. When the patient told her she was a financial adviser, the investor mentioned her joy at having found Melissa Caddick. The other patient was horrified and confided that Caddick had been fraudulently using her licence  and that ASIC had been notified.

That same day, the investor rang Caddick wanting her money back, saying it was because shed suddenly found a house to buy. At 6.22am the following day, Caddick emailed her telling her she would make more money investing in shares with Caddick than in property. By mid-morning, Caddick had changed tack. Shed be happy to speak to the investors brother or could she refer one or two people to her business  now that you know what we do. The investor, who ignored her entreaties, was one of the lucky ones. She not only received her $2.5 million back but also her fake returns of $300,000.

One of Caddicks feet was found inside a shoe on Bournda Beach on the NSW South Coast in February. Credit:

Investors werent the only ones sucked in by Caddick. In late 2019, her brother Adam travelled to Australia from Singapore for a hip replacement. Due to COVID-19, he was stuck in Sydney when his familys close-knit world was upended. At first, the Grimleys refused to accept that their loved one had done anything wrong. But as the days stretched on and the pilfered amounts continued to rise, Adam struggled to deal with not just the public scandal but also the devastating private betrayal.

It really does hurt, says Joanna. If she had had a brain snap and stolen the money, I could cope with that better than knowing the number of times she looked me in the eye as I thanked her for making such a big difference to my life and to my children. Caddick would shrug off the gratitude saying, Thats just what I do.

But Joanna and her family are determined that Caddicks monstrous deception will not tear them apart. Nothing matters more than family. We are determined she wont ever take that.

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Unfortunately, none of this is new to Sydney forensic psychiatrist Julian Parmegiani. Fraudsters see themselves as the predator, the others being the prey, he says. The mindset of a lot of fraudsters is that if you are stupid enough to fall for my game, my trick, then you deserve what you get. The longer a fraudster gets away with it, he says, the more invincible they feel.

When the day of reckoning came for Caddick, Parmegiani speculates that she knew she was facing a lengthy period in jail. She had chosen a different lifestyle and it was either that or nothing.

If you or anyone you know needs support call Lifeline 131 114.

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The SEIS seismometer package from the Mars InSight lander has collected its first continuous Martian year of data, revealing some surprises among the more than 500 marsquakes detected so far.

At the Seismological Society of America (SSA)'s 2021 Annual Meeting, Savas Ceylan of ETH Zurich discussed some of the findings from The Marsquake Service, the part of the InSight ground team that detects marsquakes and curates the planet's seismicity catalog.

Marsquakes differ from earthquakes in a number of ways, Ceylan explained. To begin with, they are much smaller than earthquakes, with the largest event recorded at teleseismic distances around magnitude 3.6. SEIS is able to detect these small events because the background seismic noise on Mars can be much lower than on Earth, without the constant tremor produced by ocean waves.

"For much of a Martian year, from around sunset until early hours, the Martian atmosphere becomes very quiet, so there is no local noise either," he said. "Additionally, our sensors are optimized and shielded for operating under severe Martian conditions, such as extremely low temperatures and the extreme diurnal temperature fluctuations on the red planet."

Marsquakes also come in two distinct varieties: low-frequency events with seismic waves propagating at various depths in the planet's mantle, and high-frequency events with waves that appear to propagate through the crust. "In terms of how the seismic energy decays over time, the low-frequency events appear to be more like earthquakes" in which the shaking dies away relatively quickly, Ceylan said, "while the high-frequency events are resembling moonquakes" in persisting for longer periods.

The vast majority of the events are high-frequency and occur at hundreds of kilometers of distance from the lander. "It is not quite clear to us how these events could be confined to only high frequency energy while they occur at such large distances," he said. "On top of that, the frequency of those events seems to vary over the Martian year, which is a pattern that we do not know at all from Earth."

Only a handful of marsquakes have clear seismic phase arrivalsthe order in which the different types of seismic waves arrive at a locationwhich allows researchers to calculate the direction and distance the waves come from. All these marsquakes originate from a sunken area of the surface called Cerberus Fossae, about 1800 kilometers away from the InSight Lander.

Cerberus Fossae is one of the youngest geological structures on Mars, and may have formed from extensional faulting or subsidence due to dike emplacement. Recent studies suggest extension mechanism may be the source of the Cerberus Fossae quakes, Ceylan noted, "however, we have a long way in front of us to be able to explain the main tectonic mechanisms behind these quakes."

The biggest challenge for The Marsquake Service and InSight science team has been "adapting to unexpected signals in the data from a new planet," Ceylan said.

Although there were significant efforts to shield SEIS from non-seismic noise by covering it and placing it directly on the Martian surface, its data are still contaminated by weather and lander noise.

"We needed to understand the noise on Mars from scratch, discover how our seismometers behave, how the atmosphere of Mars affects seismic recordings, and find alternative methods to interpret the data properly," said Ceylan.

It took the Service a while to be "confident in identifying the different event types," he added, "discriminating these weak signals from the rich and varied background noise, and being able to characterize these novel signals in a systematic manner to provide a self-consistent catalog."

The InSight seismicity catalog and data are released to the public via IPG Paris, IRIS, and PDS on a three month schedule, with three month data delay.

Explore further NASA's InSight detects two sizable quakes on Mars
Brand new survey data suggest that corporations that cave to the left alienate more consumers than they attract  by a big margin. Glenn Reynolds's slogan "Get woke, go broke" turns out to be very true.

Yesterday, in discussing the departure of its general counsel, who mandated a (quite probably illegal) quota for law firms working for the Coca-Cola Company to have 30% of their billable hours performed by minorities and 15% by Blacks, I noted that the company "seems to be learning the hard way that signing up for the racialist agenda of the left has a downside." Today, we learn, via a Rasmussen poll, some of the sort of data that must have convinced the company to quietly retreat from so openly race-mongering.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 37% of American Adults the company's stand against the new Georgia law makes them less likely to purchase Coca-Cola products. Twenty-five percent (25%) say they are more likely to buy Coke, but 30% say the company's political stance doesn't make much difference. The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on April 15 and 18, 2021 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.



YouTube screen grab (cropped).

A net loss of inclination to purchase its products by twelve percent of the population (37% minus 25%) represents a lot of money. Try reporting a 12% sales decline in any major American corporation and see what happens to your career.

Of course, the minority lawyer quota was only part of Coke's antagonizing a large part of the public. There was the "try acting less white" training fiasco that got publicity, and the CEO's statement condemning Georgia's voting integrity law.

But the overall sign is that while a quarter of the public may favor your nationally branded products if you get woke, a much larger (roughly 50% larger) share of the public will be turned off.

Delta Airlines and American Airlines, both of which issued statements condemning the Georgia law, ought to take notice, too. Alas, United Airlines has announced hiring quotas for training pilots, so that leaves only Southwest Airlines as the only major carrier that is nonpolitical  and that's the airline that I will fly when possible. I used to favor Delta because its staff is generally more pleasant than the others, and because I have a lifetime membership in its airport lounges, but I am angry enough to skip it when possible.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Helen Page, 49, (pictured) a business teacher at the Aldine Ninth Grade School in Houston, Texas, was arrested and charged with felony improper relationship with a student

A Houston teacher has been accused of sending nude pictures and illicit messages to a 15-year-old boy student describing sexual acts she wanted to do with him.

Helen Page, 49, a business teacher at the Aldine Ninth Grade School in Houston, Texas, was arrested and charged with felony improper relationship with a student, the Aldine Independent School District announced Monday.

Investigators said Page began speaking to one of her former students on Snapchat last summer, sending him nude photos of herself and describing the sexual acts she wanted them to perform together.

It is unclear whether Page and the student ever had any physical encounters. She denied she engaging in any inappropriate behavior in court on Thursday, according to KRPC 2.

She said she never sent the student any inappropriate images, despite investigators with the Houston District Attorney's Office reportedly finding nude photos on her phone as part of their forensic investigation.

'This was a huge mistake,' she allegedly said in court, according to KRPC 2. 'I didn't mean to do it.'

Page was suspended from her job at the Aldine Ninth Grade School (pictured) in November, and resigned from her position as a business teacher in February

But another teacher at the school, who is unnamed in court documents, told investigators on January 2 that Page had revealed the relationship to them, and told them they were in love.

The teacher allegedly said Page told her via text that she and the student loved each other and that the student told his parents about the relationship.

Court documents state Page would often talk to her students through Snapchat, Instagram, emails, cellphone calls and text messages.

Page was suspended from her job in November after the Aldine Independent School District opened an internal investigation into the relationship, ABC 13 reported.

Public records show Page was earning $52,000-a-year when she resigned from her position on February 5.

District officials ultimately turned their probe over to investigators with the Houston District Attorney's Office, who found the nude photos she sent the former student in a forensic investigation of her phone.

'This district turned over the investigation to the Aldine Police Department and charges were filed,' school officials said in a statement, adding that they do not 'condone nor tolerate any employee who engages in inappropriate behavior.'



Page was released from jail on Tuesday, after a magistrate judge set her bail at $300,00. She has been ordered not to contact the student.
India and Pakistan: Small-scale fisheries can back food security efforts in Arabian Sea countries

by Valentina Ruiz-Leotaud

April 23,2021 | Source: Phys

Countries surrounding the Arabian Sea should empower well-managed artisanal and subsistence fisheries to back food security efforts, a new Sea Around Us study suggests. In a chapter titled "The Fisheries of the Arabian Sea Large Marine Ecosystem," included in the book The Arabian Seas: Biodiversity, Environmental Challenges and Conservation Measures published by Springer Nature, Sea Around Us researchers describe the fisheries in the exclusive economic zones of Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan and India's Malabar coast, as well as in the region's high seas. They point out how industrial operations are responsible for 44% of total catches in the 65-year period covered in the study (1950-2014), with most catches being taken from India's, Pakistan's and Yemen's EEZs. Although the industrial sector's catches grew steadily and peaked in 1997, from the early 2000s onwards, catches started declining and have stabilized at around 2.3 Mt per year. The decline is attributed to excessive fishing aided by poor fisheries regulations and often lack of enforcement, which has meant that over the last 20+ years, an increasing number of stocks in the Arabian Sea LME have started to dwindle. "We analyzed 298 fish stocks, and of those, over 50 percent are in the fully exploited category with fewif anywith potential for fisheries growth," said Deng Palomares, lead author of the chapter, and the Sea Around Us project manager at the University of British Columbia. "About 25 percent, on the other hand, are overexploited and the trend that we see is one of increasingly more overexploited, collapsed and fully exploited stocks, while stock rebuilding seems to be poor."



Palomares said that over time, catches in this ecosystem have increasingly consisted of species lower in the food web, which means that larger fishes such as tuna are being fished out and smaller organisms are becoming more prevalent. "This confirms the existence of "fishing down the food web" in this area," Palomares said. The small-scale sector also plays an important role in the Arabian Sea Large Marine Ecosystem, with combined catches of artisanal and subsistence fisheries reaching approximately 21.3 Mt in the 2010s. The analysis shows that, throughout the studied period, 56 percent of catches are taken by small-scale operators who either sell the fish on local markets and keep a small portion or keep the entire catch for their own and their families' consumption. "The high proportion of artisanal and subsistence fishers means that the majority of the fishing in this LME and thus the majority of catches occur within national EEZ waters," said Dirk Zeller, coauthor of the study and director of the Sea Around UsIndian Ocean at the University of Western Australia. "This means that national governments can manage the exploitation of marine resources, allowing for potentially better control compared to most fishing in the high seas waters."



Even though some progressive actions have been taken already, such as the 2011 trawl ban in Oman and the ban on driftnets in the UAE in the late 1980s, in both countries, as elsewhere in the region, the lack of control based on a strong and well-defined legal framework means that most regulatory measures are ignored. "Serious considerations ought to be given by all countries to policies that focus on reducing and tightly controlling industrial fishing, both domestic and foreign, and assisting well-managed small-scale fisheries for both national consumption and carefully controlled and monitored export fisheries," Zeller said. "This is the direction in which all fisheries around the world need to be heading, to ensure the survival of a blue economy."

 Phys.org 2003 - 2021
A Marine veteran is suing Colorado Springs and its police department over a 2019 incident where three cops accused him of child abuse then Tasered him, feet away from his daughter in her hospital room.

Carl Andersen Jr., 30, was arrested and charged with resisting arrest after the April 2019 incident. His daughter Charlotte was 19-months-old at the time and had 'run into' her mother's car while she backed out of their driveway in Woodland Park, according to his lawsuit.

She was airlifted to the hospital and put in a pediatric intensive care unit. She has since fully recovered. At the time, the family said they didn't know if she would live or die.

According to Andersen's lawsuit, when the police arrived, they were immediately aggressive.

Carl Andersen Jr, left, and his father, right, on April 17, 2019, inside Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs

Andersen's wife Carissa had accidentally hit their toddler daughter with her car. The toddler suffered severe injuries but has since recovered

Cops were immediately hostile towards Andersen and accused the couple of child abuse, according to his email

The officers held the Marine vet down while his family pleaded with them to get off of him

They demanded that he give them his wife Carissa Hiteshew's phone which they said contained 'casual' evidence of child abuse. It's unclear why they thought that.

Andersen refused, telling the police they'd need a warrant for the phone, and the situation became increasingly tense.

While Hiteshew lay in bed with their daughter, Andersen and his father - Carl Sr. - stood nearby, trying to talk to the officers.

His father called the sheriff, who he appeared to know personally, to ask for the officers to stand down because the situation was getting 'out of hand'.

But the cops pushed on and Tasered Anderson to the ground. They then took him into custody and charged him with resisting arrest.

A day before the trial, the charges were dropped by the district attorney.

Andersen and his wife Carissa. Neither has been charged with child abuse and the cops are yet to reveal what the 'evidence' was they said was on her phone

Andersen with the couple's children. His daughter made a full recovery from the accident

It's unclear exactly how long Andersen served in the Marines or when he left the military. Above, photos from his social media account

Anderson filed a lawsuit against the city last July claiming he was arrested without probable cause and the cop used excessive force.

The city has been fighting it ever since and in March, filed a motion to dismiss.

Andersen said the standoff with the cops was like being in combat. He is shown in an old military photo

Now, the Marine vet is speaking out publicly about the case in light of the conviction of George Floyd's killer, cop Derek Chauvin.

On Friday, he told local network KRDO: 'I would call it a traumatizing event for my family. Almost as if I was in a combat situation in Afghanistan, like OK. This is about to happen.

'I had nothing to hide but it was the aggression the officers came to us with, I decided to stand my ground.

'I have a right to retain my personal property. They did not have a right to take it.

'These officers need to be fired.'

His attorney David Lane said he believes the cops involved should be prosecuted. 'I am speaking out now because of the events that have been speaking out in Minnesota.

'They need to be prosecuted. Felony assault is what they did,' Lane said.
For the longest time, PlayStation Now has been limited to 720p resolution for streaming, with no option for 1080p in sight. Well it seems that changes today because Sony has finally pushed a big quality of life update to PlayStation Now.

Fans who subscribe to the service can finally stream games in 1080p. It was already possible to install games from PlayStation Now onto your PS4 in 1080p resolution. But Sony has only ever offered 720p for the streaming option.

Is this part of Sonys answer to competing with Microsoft and Xbox Game Pass? Who knows. But Game Pass lets you stream games in 1080p. Which means Sony did have some catching up to do. And this seems to be a step in that direction.

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Support for 1080p streaming is rolling out to PlayStation Now this week

Sony says the support is going to begin rolling out this week. Which could mean users are starting to see it as of today. Theres only a few days left in this week after all.

Support will continue to roll out over the next several weeks according to Sonys twitter post on the official PlayStation Now Twitter page. So that confirms that not everyone will get access to 1080p capable games right away.

Sony also notes that support will be hitting the US, Canada, Europe, and Japan where PlayStation Now is available. So if you subscribe to the service in one of those regions, then you should expect to see 1080p games in the near future if you dont already.

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The service still needs other improvements

1080p streams is a great addition especially for those who access PlayStation Now from devices connected to larger displays. Like the PS4, PS5, or PCs.

But the service still has a ways to go before it really is able to compete with the other similar services out there. Xbox Game Pass, Stadia, GeForce NOW, and Shadow all offer superior cloud gaming options. Mostly because they all allow for the capability to play a variety of new games mixed in with old ones.

But also just because theyre available on a wider set of devices. If Sony were to implement similar features, then it could bring PlayStation Now back to a more competitive state. Perhaps merging it with PlayStation Plus and then charging $15 a month could do the trick. Similar to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

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Or Sony could just offer more games. All that aside, if youve been enjoying PlayStation Now, games will soon look better thanks to the resolution uptick.

PlayStation Now will begin rolling out support for streaming 1080p capable games this week. Advertisement The rollout will occur over the next several weeks across Europe, US, Canada, and Japan, where PlayStation Now is available. pic.twitter.com/OEHWHtMTw8  PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 22, 2021
After a year of being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Huron Countys three lighthouses are working on plans to reopen to the public later this year, with the right precautions in place.

The Harbor Beach Lighthouse Preservation Society plans on having the lighthouse fully open for tours on the last Saturday of June, with plans to have the tours take place on every weekend until Labor Day weekend.

The tours will be altered to accommodate social distancing and mask requirements. Those tours also require riding a boat out to the lighthouse, so social distancing will be accommodated on the boats as much as possible.

The city of Harbor Beach owns the lighthouse, so whatever city officials decide with regard to the lighthouse opening up, the society will follow.

Skip Kadar, the president of the Harbor Beach Lighthouse Preservation Society, said tours start that late in the year because of the amount of work needed to get it ready. This time of year also still has some ice out on the lake, so they also put the work off until they can get out there.

If it were on shore, we could work on it year-round, but we are limited by the distance. Kadar said.

Kadar does imagine the number of people who come out to the lighthouse will be hampered because the pandemic is still ongoing, but there are still those willing to come out.

He also recommends getting tickets for tours in advance, with the best place to get them on the lighthouses website, at www.harborbeachlighthouse.org.

The Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse plans on opening on Memorial Day weekend, with its season continuing to the end of September.

The Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse Society hopes that the museum and gift shop will be open for guests, along with the regular lighthouse tours.

Marilyn Becker, wife of society President Larry Becker and a volunteer with the group, said that the society hopes to put on the Lighthouses Heritage Festival too, but officials are meeting to discuss that further.

It did cut into our funding because we didnt have people going through the gift shop, Becker said about being closed last year. Donations were down because nothing was open, so funding was tight.

Even with the pandemic continuing in the state, Becker hopes that people will still come out, as the lighthouse follows state guidelines to keep volunteers and guests safe.

Masks will be required in the gift shop, Becker said. There will be a limit for how many people are in the rooms because they are so small.

Becker advised those coming out to the lighthouse to monitor the groups Facebook page, where the calendar of events will be updated along with other special events.

The Port Austin Lighthouse will reopen for tours starting on Memorial Day weekend, and run on Saturdays until Labor Day weekend. The charter boats that take groups out to the lighthouse can hold as many as 12 people.

Lou Schillinger, the president of the Port Austin Reef Lighthouse Association, said that since the lighthouse is an offshore building that is occupied 24/7 by birds, there were already a limited number of things people could do there. The tour groups were already given plastic gloves to avoid touching any refuse in the lighthouse.

Mask wearing will be voluntary and hand sanitizer will be provided when entering and leaving the boat transporting the tour groups. The groups going out to the lighthouse will also be reduced in size.

Social distancing will not be possible on the boat, so it's up to the individual to make the decision on what to do, Schillinger said.

Schillinger also added that weather is normally the biggest issue tours have to deal with, since the lighthouse is out on open water and approximately 40% of trips are canceled due to bad weather. In some instances where the weather has cooperated, private tours have been offered through December.

Unlike the other lighthouses, the Port Austin Lighthouse received refurbishment work throughout the summer 2020, where volunteers continued to work when able to. This included finishing exterior ironwork with more exterior and interior work to continue through this year.

The lighthouse also applied for a $750,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation for continuing work through the fall of 2022. The association will hear from MDOT what the requirements are and how much they will receive sometime in May.

Schillinger said the goal of these renovations is to eventually set up a Lightkeeper Program, where people can stay at the lighthouse overnight to see how it was being a lighthouse keeper back when it was operational.

Our supporters are quite supportive, with donations and revenue continuing to come in unabated, Schillinger said. Were blessed to have a group of dedicated lighthouse aficionados, and I suspect that will continue.

Schillinger said he would be surprised if people do not come out to tour the lighthouse this year, since the association is leaving it up to common sense and an individuals preference.

We will adjust if we need to, Schillinger said. People will either come or dont come.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size As the cloud of dust in front of Senior Constable Brett Fortes four-wheel-drive cleared, it revealed a terrifying sight  a wanted violent offender standing beside his ute with an automatic rifle in hand, ready to open fire. Ricky Maddison filed 27 rounds into the police 4WD, six penetrated the cabin. Senior Constable Forte was hit twice. One bullet hit his right forearm and the second went through the footwell and hit his groin. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The frantic and, at times, panicked effort to escape Maddison was revealed in a video released by the coroner on Friday. Senior Constables Forte and Catherine Nielsen were in vehicle TW573, with a second crew following in TW269. TW269: Automatic gunfire. Automatic gunfire. Urgent, automatic gunfire. A police car has rolled. Automatic rifle, were getting out of here.

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TW269: Shots fired. Need urgent assistance, theres a vehicle, a police vehicle, that has rolled. Hes shooting automatic gunfire at us. Full automatic. Senior Constable Nielsen: Urgent. Urgent. Urgent. TW269: That vehicle is in a lot of trouble. Hes only about 50 metres away with full auto. TW269: Weve rolled as well. Weve got two vehicles rolled. Weve got to try and get out of here. Senior Constable Nielsen: Can someone help? Senior Constable Forte, the husband to fellow police officer Susan and father to her three children, died less than 15 minutes later as officers tried to free him from his overturned vehicle. As soon as he [Maddison] has started to fire, Brett yelled out hes out. [Senior Constable Forte] got it into reverse, got his foot down, that act essentially saved my life, Senior Constable Nielsen said.

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I got my gun out and started shooting through my windscreen. The car tipped onto Bretts side. I got the glass out of the way in case I had to shoot again. I couldnt lift Bretty, the car was a mess  it was like something out of the streets of Beirut. I realised there was a huge amount of blood and his arm was a mess. I wasnt sure if he had been shot or banged his head on the car, he was making groaning noises. Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen leaves the coronial inquest at Toowoomba Magistrates Court after giving evidence this week. Credit:Toby Crockford For the past two weeks, a coronial inquest has delved into Senior Constable Fortes death on May 29, 2017, and the demise of his killer, Maddison, who was shot dead by police after a 20-hour standoff. For two months before the fatal showdown, police had been searching for Maddison to interview him about domestic violence offences.

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But they had received public tip-offs about Maddisons hide-out and an arsenal of weapons in the four months leading up to the fatal chase that ended on Wallers Road near the rural town of Gatton about 80 kilometres west of Brisbane. Loading In February 2017, a female resident in the area reported hearing automatic gunfire and when she rang to follow up she was told by a police officer: It could not possibly be automatic gunfire. Other residents reported hearing the same thing in April 2017, the month before Senior Constable Forte was killed. One heard automatic gunfire coming from the Wallers Road area, where Forte was killed and Maddison had set up a hide-out. Another even recorded the sound on her phone and supplied the recording to police but was told by an officer it had limited evidentiary value. Detective Senior Sergeant Fiona Hinshelwood, involved in the police services internal investigation of Senior Constable Fortes death, conceded nothing was done in response to those reports and agreed police put it down to regular gunfire in the Gatton area for hunting. The police convoy - which featured motorbike, horses and dogs - during the final goodbye to Senior Constable Brett Forte in Toowoomba on June 7, 2017. Credit:Chris Hyde

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Toowoomba detectives who had hunted Maddison for two months only learnt about these residents reports a week before Senior Constable Fortes death. Detectives were also unaware that Gatton police had placed a motion-activated camera on a property beside Maddisons hide-out to monitor who was coming in and out of Wallers Road. These were some of the police communication breakdowns highlighted by the coronial inquest. Loading In fact, Senior Constable Forte told his wife just days before he was gunned down that he had been told zip about the search for his eventual killer, Maddison, because he was in the B-Team. On the day Senior Constable Forte died, he answered a phone call at Toowoomba police station. Maddison was on the other end of the line. He requested to speak to a more senior officer. That call went to Sergeant Peter Jenkins, who told the coronial inquest he kept Maddison talking while officers searched public phone boxes, because investigators believed he had called from one.

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SASKATOON - Nazeem Muhajarine says he feels a sense of relief after receiving his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine last week at a centre in Saskatoon.

Volunteers put on their personal protective equipment at a vaccination clinic run by the Saskatoon Tribal Council inside SaskTel centre in Saskatoon on Thursday, April 15, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis

SASKATOON - Nazeem Muhajarine says he feels a sense of relief after receiving his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine last week at a centre in Saskatoon.

"It was just so well-organized and run. I felt completely safe," Muhajarine said in an interview.

The professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan said the province is making great strides quickly getting shots into arms, but he's concerned some people are being left behind.

Premier Scott Moe touted during question period Wednesday that Saskatchewan is leading the country when it comes to administering first vaccinations.

"Our way through this pandemic, everyone's plan to get through this pandemic, is to get everyone vaccinated as quickly as possible," Moe said.

More than 365,000 doses of vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan. Health officials say 53 per cent of residents over the age of 40 have received their first shot.

It puts Saskatchewan  with a population of just under 1.18 million  ahead of other provinces when it comes to doses delivered per capita. Data from a COVID-19 vaccination tracker, run by University of Saskatchewan students using federal and provincial data, suggests the province in outpacing Ontario and Quebec.

Moe credits his Saskatchewan Partys "robust vaccination plan," which he says will be augmented in the coming days.Eligibility for all vaccines was lowered to 44 on Thursday, except for in the north where it went down to 40. Its expected to drop to 40 for the general population by Wednesday.

Muhajarine said there's much to applaud about the vaccine rollout. The choice, initially, to use age-based eligibility meant it was easy to understand and targeted those who were more likely to experience severe outcomes if infected, he said.

Drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinics have also been successful, said Muhajarine. One providing mass immunizations in Regina as the capital has became a hot spot for variants has expecially worked well.

Muhajarine said his own experience shows that organization at larger mass vaccination sites is also commendable.

However, the professor said now that vulnerable senior populations are immunized and there are highly contagious new strains, the province may be missing the mark.

Getting the most vaccinations out fastest is just part of a good public health response, he said, but surging infections and hospitalizations mean the response should now be targeted to those most affected.

"Workplace spreads and outbreaks have been quite prevalent," Muhajarine said. "That's been a huge contributor in Regina and has been a contributor in Saskatoon as well."

There were 254 new cases in Saskatchewan on Thursday and one additional death. There were 177 people in hospital, including 48 in intensive care.

Provincial public health orders were tightened recently as officials warned the more transmissible variant strains were becoming dominant.

Muhajarine said the recent deaths of influential Cree teacher Victor Thunderchild, 55, in Prince Albert and well-known chef Warren Montgomery, 42, in Regina are examples of people in high-risk work environments who werent able to get vaccinations under the age-eligibility plan.

He said Saskatchewan should consider following Ontario and Manitoba, which are pivoting vaccination plans to target neighbourhoods where people have a higher risk of contracting the virus.

It should also consider socio-economic factors, including how many residents are in a household and the type of jobs people have, he added.

One example would be neighbourhoods with multi-generational households and where many people work service jobs facing the public. Congregate living facilities such as shelters and correctional centres would be another, he said.

Muhajarine said teachers and other essential workers should also get priority.

Every region in the country is seeing benefits to targeting areas and occupations where the pandemic's third wave has taken hold, he suggested

"That is not something to be trivialized in this kind of complex and mass undertaking."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2021.

 By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Winnipeg
YEREVAN.  At the invitation of speaker Ararat Mirzoyan of the National Assembly (NA), a French delegation, headed by president Gerard Larcher of the Senate, will arrive in Armenia to attend the events dedicated to the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The leaders of all the political groups represented in the French Senate are part of this delegation, the NA informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Also, this French delegation will have meetings with NA president Ararat Mirzoyan, and representatives of NA factions and committees.

Meetings with the Prime Minister, the President, and the Catholicos of All Armenians are planned, too.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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Dolgeville, N.Y.  New York State police are searching for a man who left an envelope with a large amount of cash at a dollar store in Herkimer County.

The envelope was found by another customer on April 5 in a back aisle, troopers said. The customer turned the money over to a store employee, troopers said.

Troopers are attempting to identify the man in a photo taken from security video, according to state police.

Troopers ask anyone who recognizes the man or has information about the envelope full of cash to call the New York State Police Headquarters at 315-366-6000.

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.
The sister of murder victim Allison Baden-Clay is for calling a national overhaul of the criminal justice system after the death of a mother and baby in two separate tragedies this week, allegedly at the hands of perpetrators with histories of domestic violence.

South Australian father Henry Shepherdson is suspected of strapping his nine-month-old baby girl, Kobi, into a carrier and jumping off a dam wall in the Barossa Valley on Wednesday.

Allison Baden-Clay was 43 when she was murdered by her husband on April 19, 2012.

A police statement said early investigations showed a history of domestic violence between Mr Shepherdson and Kobis mother and Nine reported the father was in an intervention order hearing hours before the suspected murder-suicide.

The deaths came the day after the burnt body of Gold Coast mother Kelly Wilkinson was discovered in her backyard.
Social media users are ruthlessly mocking a 'ridiculous' miniature crystal-embellished chair on a chain that is being sold as a designer 'bag' for a whopping $895.

Called the 'crystal chair bag' by the fashion brand Area, the item's only similarity to a purse it that it features a chain-link shoulder strap, which can be worn over one shoulder or cross-body.

Otherwise, it is a 5.75" folding chair figurine covered in pave crystal embellishments, with no actual 'bag' to hold anything in.

Take a seat! Social media users are ruthlessly mocking a 'ridiculous' miniature crystal-embellished chair on a chain that is being sold as a designer 'bag' for a whopping $895

Furniture chic: Called 'crystal chair bag,' the item's only similarity to a purse it that it features a chain-link shoulder strap, which can be worn over one shoulder or cross-body

Totally useful! It is a 5.75" folding chair figurine covered in pave crystal embellishments, with no actual 'bag' to hold anything in

'Shown on the runway at New York Fashion Week, this bedazzled objet dart doesn't actually carry anything, except for a conversation,' read Nordstrom's description.

The chair bag was previously available on Nordstrom's website, but has since sold out  meaning is has actually been purchased by customers.

It is still available from the brand's website and Farfetch for $895, and on sale for $765.18 from Cettire.

According to Area's website, the chair measures 5.75" by 3.5" and comes with a detachable chain  theoretically so someone could simply carry the chair around in their hand.

The bag caught the attention of Minnesota-based Twitter user Lexi Brown, who shared a screenshot that has gone viral.

Wild: The bag caught the attention of Minnesota-based Twitter user Lexi Brown, who shared a screenshot that has gone viral, sparking jokes and memes

'A hobby of mine is finding ridiculous items for sale at Nordstroms. This might be my best find yet,' she wrote. 'If you wear this, you deserve to be robbed.'

'I am offended and insulted that they would classify this as a bag,' wrote a commenter. 'What can it possibly hold?'

'This is insane by itself, but the fact that they label this as a bag somehow just blows my mind,' said another.

'If you wear this you should be forced to sit on it for 8 hours,' suggested yet another.

Several people have shared memes with images of the chair, including one of Bernie Sanders sitting on it at the inauguration.

Unimpressed: Nordstrom's reviews for the item provide a treasure trove of jokes at its expense

Meanwhile, Nordstrom's reviews for the item provide a treasure trove of jokes at its expense.

'My chapstick keeps falling off the seat. Would be better with a seatbelt,' reads a one-star review, while a two-star review says: 'My teacup piglet seems comfortable on it while Im pouring her kombucha.'

'Finally, my long search for the perfect bag is over. Ive been using my mini purse to carry my chapstick around but decided I really dont want to carry something that carries something else,' wrote a five-star reviewer.

'The chair bag is perfect because it literally carries nothing but itself and thats the kind of bag Im looking for, the kind that doesnt carry anything and isnt actually a bag at all. I hope they make a matching table bag to go with this.'

'Stunning display of frivolity and practicality. I've been able to offer stylish, impromptu seating to tiny children and small pets. Suitable as a phone stand and for perching containers of dipping sauce,' said another.

It matches: Those interested in buying it may be pleased to know that the brand also sells a crystal-embellished chair earring for $380

Variety is the spice of life! The single earring is designed to look like another type of chair

One more quipped: 'Remarkably, this bag holds more than that of the brain of its typical buyer! Definitely worth the price of 4 monthly car payments.'

Another said she bought the chair 'for my friend Tinkerbell,' who 'absolutely loves it!'

'Honestly, this is the best investment Ive ever made,' another said. 'It is incredible how life changing a bag that I cant put anything into is. Definitely a conversation starter, but I am getting a lot of weird questions, like do you need help?, are you serious?, and suggestions that I learn how to budget and spend my money wisely. Not sure what all that means, but nonetheless, love the folding chair.'

Others said it's 'perfect if your imaginary friend or pet leprechaun wants to ride along with you' and a 'perfect display stand for my stuffed Bernie Sanders in mittens doll.'

Those interested in buying it may be pleased to know that the brand also sells a single crystal-embellished chair earring for $380.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Chip Roy called Senate Republicans utterly worthless and an absolute embarrassment for helping pass a bill aimed at quelling a growing number of hate crimes against Asian Americans during the pandemic.

The bill, which would create a position at the Justice Department to oversee prosecution of hate crimes related to the pandemic and expand avenues to report such incidents, drew the support of nearly every Republican in the Senate, including two of Roys former bosses  U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.
Recommendation based on positive results from the Phase 3 CheckMate -743 trial, in which Opdivo plus Yervoy demonstrated significantly superior overall survival vs. standard-of-care chemotherapy

CheckMate -743 represents the first Phase 3 trial to show benefit with immunotherapy in previously untreated malignant pleural mesothelioma

If approved, Opdivo plus Yervoy will be the first new treatment option authorized for European patients that has demonstrated improved survival in more than 15 years

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended approval of Opdivo (nivolumab) plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) for the first-line treatment of adults with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The European Commission (EC), which has the authority to approve medicines for the European Union (EU), will now review the CHMP recommendation.

"For more than 15 years, no new treatment options that can improve survival have been approved for malignant pleural mesothelioma, and today most patients only live for just over a year from the time of their diagnosis," said Abderrahim Oukessou, M.D., vice president, thoracic cancers development lead, Bristol Myers Squibb. "Now, with the positive CHMP opinion for Opdivo plus Yervoy, we are one step closer to helping address the pressing unmet need for effective, proven therapies for this aggressive cancer. We look forward to potentially bringing the first immunotherapy combination that may offer a chance for a longer life to patients in the EU."

The positive CHMP opinion is based on results from CheckMate -743, the first and only positive Phase 3 immunotherapy trial in first-line MPM. The trial met the primary endpoint of superior overall survival (OS) with Opdivo plus Yervoy versus chemotherapy (pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin) in all randomized patients. The safety profile for Opdivo plus Yervoy in first-line MPMwas manageable and consistent with previous studies of the combination in other tumor types. Results from CheckMate -743 were presented at the 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer Virtual Presidential Symposium, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, in August 2020 and published in The Lancet in January 2021.

To date, the dual immunotherapy combination of Opdivo and Yervoy has been approved for previously untreated, unresectable MPM in three countries, including the United States, and additional regulatory applications are under review by global health authorities. Opdivo plus Yervoy-based combinations have now received positive CHMP opinions in four different types of cancer: unresectable MPM, advanced melanoma, advanced renal cell carcinoma and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Bristol Myers Squibb thanks the patients and investigators involved in the CheckMate -743 clinical trial.

About CheckMate -743

CheckMate -743 is an open-label, multi-center, randomized Phase 3 trial evaluating Opdivo plus Yervoy compared to chemotherapy (pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin) in patients with previously untreated malignant pleural mesothelioma (n=605). Patients with interstitial lung disease, active autoimmune disease, medical conditions requiring systemic immunosuppression, or active brain metastasis were excluded from the trial. In the trial, 303 patients were randomized to receive Opdivo at 3 mg/kg every two weeks and Yervoy at 1 mg/kg every six weeks; 302 patients were randomized to receive cisplatin 75 mg/m2 or carboplatin AUC 5 plus pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 in 21-day cycles for six cycles. Treatment in both arms continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity or, in the Opdivo plus Yervoy arm, up to 24 months. The primary endpoint of the trial was OS in all randomized patients. Additional efficacy outcome measures included progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR) and duration of response (DOR), as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR) utilizing modified RECIST criteria. Exploratory endpoints included safety, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity and patient reported outcomes.

About Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive form of cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs. It is most frequently caused by exposure to asbestos. Diagnosis is often delayed, with the majority of patients presenting with advanced or metastatic disease. Prognosis is generally poor: in previously untreated patients with advanced or metastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma, median survival is between 12 and 14 months and the five-year survival rate is approximately 10%.

Bristol Myers Squibb: Creating a Better Future for People with Cancer

Bristol Myers Squibb is inspired by a single vision transforming patients' lives through science. The goal of the company's cancer research is to deliver medicines that offer each patient a better, healthier life and to make cure a possibility. Building on a legacy across a broad range of cancers that have changed survival expectations for many, Bristol Myers Squibb researchers are exploring new frontiers in personalized medicine, and through innovative digital platforms, are turning data into insights that sharpen their focus. Deep scientific expertise, cutting-edge capabilities and discovery platforms enable the company to look at cancer from every angle. Cancer can have a relentless grasp on many parts of a patient's life, and Bristol Myers Squibb is committed to taking actions to address all aspects of care, from diagnosis to survivorship. Because as a leader in cancer care, Bristol Myers Squibb is working to empower all people with cancer to have a better future.

About Opdivo

Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body's own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the body's own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers.

Opdivo's leading global development program is based on Bristol Myers Squibb's scientific expertise in the field of Immuno-Oncology, and includes a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including Phase 3, in a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has treated more than 35,000 patients. The Opdivo trials have contributed to gaining a deeper understanding of the potential role of biomarkers in patient care, particularly regarding how patients may benefit from Opdivo across the continuum of PD-L1 expression.

In July 2014, Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 65 countries, including the United States, the European Union, Japan and China. In October 2015, the Company's Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen was the first Immuno-Oncology combination to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and is currently approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union.

About Yervoy

Yervoy is a recombinant, human monoclonal antibody that binds to the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4). CTLA-4 is a negative regulator of T-cell activity. Yervoy binds to CTLA-4 and blocks the interaction of CTLA-4 with its ligands, CD80/CD86. Blockade of CTLA-4 has been shown to augment T-cell activation and proliferation, including the activation and proliferation of tumor infiltrating T-effector cells. Inhibition of CTLA-4 signaling can also reduce T-regulatory cell function, which may contribute to a general increase in T-cell responsiveness, including the anti-tumor immune response. On March 25, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Yervoy 3 mg/kg monotherapy for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Yervoy is approved for unresectable or metastatic melanoma in more than 50 countries. There is a broad, ongoing development program in place for Yervoy spanning multiple tumor types.

U.S. FDA-Approved Indications

OPDIVO (nivolumab), as a single agent, is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express PD-L1 (=1%) as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab) and 2 cycles of platinum-doublet chemotherapy, is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO.

OPDIVO(nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with intermediate or poor risk advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with cabozantinib, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and brentuximab vedotin or after 3 or more lines of systemic therapy that includes autologous HSCT. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), as a single agent, is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric (12 years and older) patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have been previously treated with sorafenib. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have been previously treated with sorafenib. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with involvement of lymph nodes or metastatic disease who have undergone complete resection.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after prior fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based chemotherapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy, is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Important Safety Information

Severe and Fatal Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions

Immune-mediated adverse reactions listed herein may not include all possible severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions.

Immune-mediated adverse reactions, which may be severe or fatal, can occur in any organ system or tissue. While immune-mediated adverse reactions usually manifest during treatment, they can also occur after discontinuation of OPDIVO or YERVOY Early identification and management are essential to ensure safe use of OPDIVO and YERVOY Monitor for signs and symptoms that may be clinical manifestations of underlying immune-mediated adverse reactions. Evaluate clinical chemistries including liver enzymes, creatinine, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function at baseline and periodically during treatment with OPDIVO and before each dose of YERVOY In cases of suspected immune-mediated adverse reactions, initiate appropriate workup to exclude alternative etiologies, including infection. Institute medical management promptly, including specialty consultation as appropriate.

Withhold or permanently discontinue OPDIVO and YERVOY depending on severity (please see section 2 Dosage and Administration in the accompanying Full Prescribing Information). In general, if OPDIVO or YERVOY interruption or discontinuation is required, administer systemic corticosteroid therapy (1 to 2 mg/kg/day prednisone or equivalent) until improvement to Grade 1 or less. Upon improvement to Grade 1 or less, initiate corticosteroid taper and continue to taper over at least 1 month. Consider administration of other systemic immunosuppressants in patients whose immune-mediated adverse reactions are not controlled with corticosteroid therapy. Toxicity management guidelines for adverse reactions that do not necessarily require systemic steroids (e.g., endocrinopathies and dermatologic reactions) are discussed below.

Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis

OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis. The incidence of pneumonitis is higher in patients who have received prior thoracic radiation. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.1% (61/1994) of patients, including Grade 4 (<0.1%), Grade 3 (0.9%), and Grade 2 (2.1%). In HCC patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 10% (5/49) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.9% (26/666) of patients, including Grade 3 (1.4%) and Grade 2 (2.6%). In NSCLC patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 6 weeks, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 9% (50/576) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.5%), Grade 3 (3.5%), and Grade 2 (4.0%). Four patients (0.7%) died due to pneumonitis.

In Checkmate 205 and 039, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 6.0% (16/266) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 4.9% (13/266) of patients receiving OPDIVO, including Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 2 (n=12).

Immune-Mediated Colitis

OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause immune-mediated colitis which may be fatal A common symptom included in the definition of colitis was diarrhea. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection/reactivation has been reported in patients with corticosteroid-refractory immune-mediated colitis. In cases of corticosteroid-refractory colitis, consider repeating infectious workup to exclude alternative etiologies. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.9% (58/1994) of patients, including Grade 3 (1.7%) and Grade 2 (1%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 25% (115/456) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.4%), Grade 3 (14%) and Grade 2 (8%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 9% (60/666) of patients, including Grade 3 (4.4%) and Grade 2 (3.7%).

In a separate Phase 3 trial of YERVOY 3 mg/kg monotherapy, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 12% (62/511) of patients, including Grade 3-5 (7%) and Grade 2 (5%).

Immune-Mediated Hepatitis and Hepatotoxicity

OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause immune-mediated hepatitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 1.8% (35/1994) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.2%), Grade 3 (1.3%), and Grade 2 (0.4%). In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy in Checkmate 040, immune-mediated hepatitis requiring systemic corticosteroids occurred in 5% (8/154) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/ kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 15% (70/456) of patients, including Grade 4 (2.4%), Grade 3 (11%), and Grade 2 (1.8%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 7% (48/666) of patients, including Grade 4 (1.2%), Grade 3 (4.9%), and Grade 2 (0.4%).

In a separate Phase 3 trial of YERVOY 3 mg/kg monotherapy, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 4.1% (21/511) of patients, including Grade 3-5 (1.6%) and Grade 2 (2.5%).

OPDIVO in combination with cabozantinib can cause hepatic toxicity with higher frequencies of Grade 3 and 4 ALT and AST elevations compared to OPDIVO alone. Consider more frequent monitoring of liver enzymes as compared to when the drugs are administered as single agents. In patients receiving OPDIVO and cabozantinib, Grades 3 and 4 increased ALT or AST were seen in 11% of patients.

Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies

OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency, immune-mediated hypophysitis, immune-mediated thyroid disorders, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus, which can present with diabetic ketoacidosis. Withhold OPDIVO and YERVOY depending on severity (please see section 2 Dosage and Administration in the accompanying Full Prescribing Information). For Grade 2 or higher adrenal insufficiency, initiate symptomatic treatment, including hormone replacement as clinically indicated. Hypophysitis can present with acute symptoms associated with mass effect such as headache, photophobia, or visual field defects. Hypophysitis can cause hypopituitarism; initiate hormone replacement as clinically indicated. Thyroiditis can present with or without endocrinopathy. Hypothyroidism can follow hyperthyroidism; initiate hormone replacement or medical management as clinically indicated. Monitor patients for hyperglycemia or other signs and symptoms of diabetes; initiate treatment with insulin as clinically indicated.

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (20/1994), including Grade 3 (0.4%) and Grade 2 (0.6%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 8% (35/456), including Grade 4 (0.2%), Grade 3 (2.4%), and Grade 2 (4.2%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 7% (48/666) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.3%), Grade 3 (2.5%), and Grade 2 (4.1%). In patients receiving OPDIVO and cabozantinib, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 4.7% (15/320) of patients, including Grade 3 (2.2%) and Grade 2 (1.9%).

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypophysitis occurred in 0.6% (12/1994) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.2%) and Grade 2 (0.3%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (42/456), including Grade 3 (2.4%) and Grade 2 (6%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, hypophysitis occurred in 4.4% (29/666) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.3%), Grade 3 (2.4%), and Grade 2 (0.9%).

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, thyroiditis occurred in 0.6% (12/1994) of patients, including Grade 2 (0.2%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, thyroiditis occurred in 2.7% (22/666) of patients, including Grade 3 (4.5%) and Grade 2 (2.2%).

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.7% (54/1994) of patients, including Grade 3 (<0.1%) and Grade 2 (1.2%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, hyperthyroidism occurred in 9% (42/456) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.9%) and Grade 2 (4.2%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, hyperthyroidism occurred in 12% (80/666) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.6%) and Grade 2 (4.5%).

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypothyroidism occurred in 8% (163/1994) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.2%) and Grade 2 (4.8%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, hypothyroidism occurred in 20% (91/456) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.4%) and Grade 2 (11%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, hypothyroidism occurred in 18% (122/666) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.6%) and Grade 2 (11%).

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, diabetes occurred in 0.9% (17/1994) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.4%) and Grade 2 (0.3%), and 2 cases of diabetic ketoacidosis. In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, diabetes occurred in 2.7% (15/666) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.6%), Grade 3 (0.3%), and Grade 2 (0.9%).

In a separate Phase 3 trial of YERVOY 3 mg/kg monotherapy, Grade 2-5 immune-mediated endocrinopathies occurred in 4% (21/511) of patients. Severe to life-threatening (Grade 3-4) endocrinopathies occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. Six of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies. Moderate (Grade 2) endocrinopathy occurred in 12 patients (2.3%), including hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, hypopituitarism, hyperthyroidism and Cushing's syndrome.

Immune-Mediated Nephritis with Renal Dysfunction

OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause immune-mediated nephritis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 1.2% (23/1994) of patients, including Grade 4 (<0.1%), Grade 3 (0.5%), and Grade 2 (0.6%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated nephritis with renal dysfunction occurred in 4.1% (27/666) of patients, including Grade 4 (0.6%), Grade 3 (1.1%), and Grade 2 (2.2%).

Immune-Mediated Dermatologic Adverse Reactions

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated rash or dermatitis. Exfoliative dermatitis, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), and drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) has occurred with PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. Topical emollients and/or topical corticosteroids may be adequate to treat mild to moderate nonexfoliative rashes.

YERVOY can cause immune-mediated rash or dermatitis, including bullous and exfoliative dermatitis, SJS, TEN, and DRESS. Topical emollients and/or topical corticosteroids may be adequate to treat mild to moderate non-bullous/ exfoliative rashes.

Withhold or permanently discontinue OPDIVO and YERVOY depending on severity (please see section 2 Dosage and Administration in the accompanying Full Prescribing Information).

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients, including Grade 3 (1.1%) and Grade 2 (2.2%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated rash occurred in 28% (127/456) of patients, including Grade 3 (4.8%) and Grade 2 (10%). In patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, immune-mediated rash occurred in 16% (108/666) of patients, including Grade 3 (3.5%) and Grade 2 (4.2%).

In a separate Phase 3 trial of YERVOY 3 mg/kg monotherapy, immune-mediated rash occurred in 15% (76/511) of patients, including Grade 3-5 (2.5%) and Grade 2 (12%).

Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions

The following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred at an incidence of <1% (unless otherwise noted) in patients who received OPDIVO monotherapy or OPDIVO in combination with YERVOY or were reported with the use of other PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. Severe or fatal cases have been reported for some of these adverse reactions: cardiac/vascular: myocarditis, pericarditis, vasculitis; nervous system: meningitis, encephalitis, myelitis and demyelination, myasthenic syndrome/myasthenia gravis (including exacerbation), Guillain-Barre syndrome, nerve paresis, autoimmune neuropathy; ocular: uveitis, iritis, and other ocular inflammatory toxicities can occur; gastrointestinal: pancreatitis to include increases in serum amylase and lipase levels, gastritis, duodenitis; musculoskeletal and connective tissue: myositis/polymyositis, rhabdomyolysis, and associated sequelae including renal failure, arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica; endocrine: hypoparathyroidism; other (hematologic/immune): hemolytic anemia, aplastic anemia, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), systemic inflammatory response syndrome, histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi lymphadenitis), sarcoidosis, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, solid organ transplant rejection.

In addition to the immune-mediated adverse reactions listed above, across clinical trials of YERVOY monotherapy or in combination with OPDIVO, the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions, some with fatal outcome, occurred in <1% of patients unless otherwise specified: nervous system: autoimmune neuropathy (2%), myasthenic syndrome/myasthenia gravis, motor dysfunction; cardiovascular: angiopathy, temporal arteritis; ocular: blepharitis, episcleritis, orbital myositis, scleritis; gastrointestinal: pancreatitis (1.3%); other (hematologic/immune): conjunctivitis, cytopenias (2.5%), eosinophilia (2.1%), erythema multiforme, hypersensitivity vasculitis, neurosensory hypoacusis, psoriasis.

Some ocular IMAR cases can be associated with retinal detachment. Various grades of visual impairment, including blindness, can occur. If uveitis occurs in combination with other immune-mediated adverse reactions, consider a Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada-like syndrome, which has been observed in patients receiving OPDIVO and YERVOY as this may require treatment with systemic corticosteroids to reduce the risk of permanent vision loss.

Infusion-Related Reactions

OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause severe infusion-related reactions. Discontinue OPDIVO and YERVOY in patients with severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) infusion-related reactions. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion in patients with mild (Grade 1) or moderate (Grade 2) infusion-related reactions. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy as a 60-minute infusion, infusion-related reactions occurred in 6.4% (127/1994) of patients. In a separate trial in which patients received OPDIVO monotherapy as a 60-minute infusion or a 30-minute infusion, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.2% (8/368) and 2.7% (10/369) of patients, respectively. Additionally, 0.5% (2/368) and 1.4% (5/369) of patients, respectively, experienced adverse reactions within 48 hours of infusion that led to dose delay, permanent discontinuation or withholding of OPDIVO. In melanoma patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.5% (10/407) of patients. In HCC patients receiving OPDIVO 1 mg/kg with YERVOY 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks, infusion-related reactions occurred in 8% (4/49) of patients. In RCC patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg, infusion-related reactions occurred in 5.1% (28/547) of patients. In MSI-H/dMMR mCRC patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, infusion-related reactions occurred in 4.2% (5/119) of patients. In MPM patients receiving OPDIVO 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks with YERVOY 1 mg/kg every 6 weeks, infusion-related reactions occurred in 12% (37/300) of patients.

In separate Phase 3 trials of YERVOY 3 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg monotherapy, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.9% (28/982) of patients.

Complications of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Fatal and other serious complications can occur in patients who receive allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) before or after being treated with OPDIVO or YERVOY Transplant-related complications include hyperacute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), acute GVHD, chronic GVHD, hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) after reduced intensity conditioning, and steroid-requiring febrile syndrome (without an identified infectious cause). These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between OPDIVO or YERVOY and allogeneic HSCT.

Follow patients closely for evidence of transplant-related complications and intervene promptly. Consider the benefit versus risks of treatment with OPDIVO and YERVOY prior to or after an allogeneic HSCT.

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity

Based on its mechanism of action and findings from animal studies, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. The effects of YERVOY are likely to be greater during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with OPDIVO and YERVOY and for at least 5 months after the last dose.

Increased Mortality in Patients with Multiple Myeloma when OPDIVO is Added to a Thalidomide Analogue and Dexamethasone

In randomized clinical trials in patients with multiple myeloma, the addition of OPDIVO to a thalidomide analogue plus dexamethasone resulted in increased mortality. Treatment of patients with multiple myeloma with a PD-1 or PD-L1 blocking antibody in combination with a thalidomide analogue plus dexamethasone is not recommended outside of controlled clinical trials.

Lactation

There are no data on the presence of OPDIVO or YERVOY in human milk, the effects on the breastfed child, or the effects on milk production. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed children, advise women not to breastfeed during treatment and for 5 months after the last dose.

Serious Adverse Reactions

In Checkmate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=268). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to <5% of patients receiving OPDIVO were abdominal pain, hyponatremia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased lipase. In Checkmate 066, serious adverse reactions occurred in 36% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=206). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (3.9%) and diarrhea (3.4%). In Checkmate 067, serious adverse reactions (74% and 44%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (47% and 18%) or to dosing delays (58% and 36%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 51%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) relative to the OPDIVO arm (n=313). The most frequent (=10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.2%), colitis (10% and 1.9%), and pyrexia (10% and 1.0%). In Checkmate 227, serious adverse reactions occurred in 58% of patients (n=576). The most frequent (=2%) serious adverse reactions were pneumonia, diarrhea/colitis, pneumonitis, hepatitis, pulmonary embolism, adrenal insufficiency, and hypophysitis. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 1.7% of patients; these included events of pneumonitis (4 patients), myocarditis, acute kidney injury, shock, hyperglycemia, multi-system organ failure, and renal failure. In Checkmate 9LA, serious adverse reactions occurred in 57% of patients (n=358). The most frequent (>2%) serious adverse reactions were pneumonia, diarrhea, febrile neutropenia, anemia, acute kidney injury, musculoskeletal pain, dyspnea, pneumonitis, and respiratory failure. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 7 (2%) patients, and included hepatic toxicity, acute renal failure, sepsis, pneumonitis, diarrhea with hypokalemia, and massive hemoptysis in the setting of thrombocytopenia. In Checkmate 017 and 057, serious adverse reactions occurred in 46% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, dyspnea, pyrexia, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and respiratory failure. In Checkmate 057, fatal adverse reactions occurred; these included events of infection (7 patients, including one case of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia), pulmonary embolism (4 patients), and limbic encephalitis (1 patient). In Checkmate 743, serious adverse reactions occurred in 54% of patients receiving OPDIVO plus YERVOY. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were pneumonia, pyrexia, diarrhea, pneumonitis, pleural effusion, dyspnea, acute kidney injury, infusion-related reaction, musculoskeletal pain, and pulmonary embolism. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 4 (1.3%) patients and included pneumonitis, acute heart failure, sepsis, and encephalitis. In Checkmate 214, serious adverse reactions occurred in 59% of patients receiving OPDIVO plus YERVOY (n=547). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were diarrhea, pyrexia, pneumonia, pneumonitis, hypophysitis, acute kidney injury, dyspnea, adrenal insufficiency, and colitis. In Checkmate 9ER, serious adverse reactions occurred in 48% of patients receiving OPDIVO and cabozantinib (n=320). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were diarrhea, pneumonia, pneumonitis, pulmonary embolism, urinary tract infection, and hyponatremia. Fatal intestinal perforations occurred in 3 (0.9%) patients. In Checkmate 025, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were acute kidney injury, pleural effusion, pneumonia, diarrhea, and hypercalcemia. In Checkmate 205 and 039, adverse reactions leading to discontinuation occurred in 7% and dose delays due to adverse reactions occurred in 34% of patients (n=266). Serious adverse reactions occurred in 26% of patients. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =1% of patients were pneumonia, infusion-related reaction, pyrexia, colitis or diarrhea, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and rash. Eleven patients died from causes other than disease progression: 3 from adverse reactions within 30 days of the last OPDIVO dose, 2 from infection 8 to 9 months after completing OPDIVO, and 6 from complications of allogeneic HSCT. In Checkmate 141, serious adverse reactions occurred in 49% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=236). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, dyspnea, respiratory failure, respiratory tract infection, and sepsis. In Checkmate 275, serious adverse reactions occurred in 54% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were urinary tract infection, sepsis, diarrhea, small intestine obstruction, and general physical health deterioration. In Checkmate 142 in MSI-H/dMMR mCRC patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (n=119), serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were colitis/diarrhea, hepatic events, abdominal pain, acute kidney injury, pyrexia, and dehydration. In Checkmate 040, serious adverse reactions occurred in 49% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=154). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were pyrexia, ascites, back pain, general physical health deterioration, abdominal pain, pneumonia, and anemia. In Checkmate 040, serious adverse reactions occurred in 59% of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (n=49). Serious adverse reactions reported in =4% of patients were pyrexia, diarrhea, anemia, increased AST, adrenal insufficiency, ascites, esophageal varices hemorrhage, hyponatremia, increased blood bilirubin, and pneumonitis. In Checkmate 238, serious adverse reactions occurred in 18% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=452). Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions occurred in 25% of OPDIVO-treated patients (n=452). The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of OPDIVO-treated patients were diarrhea and increased lipase and amylase. In Attraction-3, serious adverse reactions occurred in 38% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=209). Serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients who received OPDIVO were pneumonia, esophageal fistula, interstitial lung disease, and pyrexia. The following fatal adverse reactions occurred in patients who received OPDIVO: interstitial lung disease or pneumonitis (1.4%), pneumonia (1.0%), septic shock (0.5%), esophageal fistula (0.5%), gastrointestinal hemorrhage (0.5%), pulmonary embolism (0.5%), and sudden death (0.5%). In Checkmate 649, serious adverse reactions occurred in 52% of patients treated with OPDIVO in combination with chemotherapy (n=782). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in 2% of patients treated with OPDIVO in combination with chemotherapy were vomiting (3.7%), pneumonia (3.6%), anemia (3.6%), pyrexia (2.8%), diarrhea (2.7%), febrile neutropenia (2.6%), and pneumonitis (2.4%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 16 (2.0%) patients who were treated with OPDIVO in combination with chemotherapy; these included pneumonitis (4 patients), febrile neutropenia (2 patients), stroke (2 patients), gastrointestinal toxicity, intestinal mucositis, septic shock, pneumonia, infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, mesenteric vessel thrombosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Common Adverse Reactions

In Checkmate 037, the most common adverse reaction (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=268) was rash (21%). In Checkmate 066, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=206) vs dacarbazine (n=205) were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In Checkmate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) were fatigue (62%), diarrhea (54%), rash (53%), nausea (44%), pyrexia (40%), pruritus (39%), musculoskeletal pain (32%), vomiting (31%), decreased appetite (29%), cough (27%), headache (26%), dyspnea (24%), upper respiratory tract infection (23%), arthralgia (21%), and increased transaminases (25%). In Checkmate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO arm (n=313) were fatigue (59%), rash (40%), musculoskeletal pain (42%), diarrhea (36%), nausea (30%), cough (28%), pruritus (27%), upper respiratory tract infection (22%), decreased appetite (22%), headache (22%), constipation (21%), arthralgia (21%), and vomiting (20%). In Checkmate 227, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions were fatigue (44%), rash (34%), decreased appetite (31%), musculoskeletal pain (27%), diarrhea/colitis (26%), dyspnea (26%), cough (23%), hepatitis (21%), nausea (21%), and pruritus (21%). In Checkmate 9LA, the most common (>20%) adverse reactions were fatigue (49%), musculoskeletal pain (39%), nausea (32%), diarrhea (31%), rash (30%), decreased appetite (28%), constipation (21%), and pruritus (21%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cough, dyspnea, and decreased appetite. In Checkmate 743, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO plus YERVOY were fatigue (43%), musculoskeletal pain (38%), rash (34%), diarrhea (32%), dyspnea (27%), nausea (24%), decreased appetite (24%), cough (23%), and pruritus (21%). In Checkmate 214, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients treated with OPDIVO plus YERVOY (n=547) were fatigue (58%), rash (39%), diarrhea (38%), musculoskeletal pain (37%), pruritus (33%), nausea (30%), cough (28%), pyrexia (25%), arthralgia (23%), decreased appetite (21%), dyspnea (20%), and vomiting (20%). In Checkmate 9ER, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO and cabozantinib (n=320) were diarrhea (64%), fatigue (51%), hepatotoxicity (44%), palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia syndrome (40%), stomatitis (37%), rash (36%), hypertension (36%), hypothyroidism (34%), musculoskeletal pain (33%), decreased appetite (28%), nausea (27%), dysgeusia (24%), abdominal pain (22%), cough (20%) and upper respiratory tract infection (20%). In Checkmate 025, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406) vs everolimus (n=397) were fatigue (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%). In Checkmate 205 and 039, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=266) were upper respiratory tract infection (44%), fatigue (39%), cough (36%), diarrhea (33%), pyrexia (29%), musculoskeletal pain (26%), rash (24%), nausea (20%) and pruritus (20%). In Checkmate 141, the most common adverse reactions (=10%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=236) were cough (14%) and dyspnea (14%) at a higher incidence than investigator's choice. In Checkmate 275, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270) were fatigue (46%), musculoskeletal pain (30%), nausea (22%), and decreased appetite (22%). In Checkmate 142 in MSI-H/dMMR mCRC patients receiving OPDIVO as a single agent (n=74), the most common adverse reactions (=20%) were fatigue (54%), diarrhea (43%), abdominal pain (34%), nausea (34%), vomiting (28%), musculoskeletal pain (28%), cough (26%), pyrexia (24%), rash (23%), constipation (20%), and upper respiratory tract infection (20%). In Checkmate 142 in MSI-H/dMMR mCRC patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (n=119), the most common adverse reactions (=20%) were fatigue (49%), diarrhea (45%), pyrexia (36%), musculoskeletal pain (36%), abdominal pain (30%), pruritus (28%), nausea (26%), rash (25%), decreased appetite (20%), and vomiting (20%). In Checkmate 040, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=154) were fatigue (38%), musculoskeletal pain (36%), abdominal pain (34%), pruritus (27%), diarrhea (27%), rash (26%), cough (23%), and decreased appetite (22%). In Checkmate 040, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (n=49), were rash (53%), pruritus (53%), musculoskeletal pain (41%), diarrhea (39%), cough (37%), decreased appetite (35%), fatigue (27%), pyrexia (27%), abdominal pain (22%), headache (22%), nausea (20%), dizziness (20%), hypothyroidism (20%), and weight decreased (20%). In Checkmate 238, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in OPDIVO-treated patients (n=452) vs ipilimumab-treated patients (n=453) were fatigue (57% vs 55%), diarrhea (37% vs 55%), rash (35% vs 47%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 27%), pruritus (28% vs 37%), headache (23% vs 31%), nausea (23% vs 28%), upper respiratory infection (22% vs 15%), and abdominal pain (21% vs 23%). The most common immune-mediated adverse reactions were rash (16%), diarrhea/colitis (6%), and hepatitis (3%). In Attraction-3, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in OPDIVO-treated patients (n=209) were rash (22%) and decreased appetite (21%). In Checkmate 649, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients treated with OPDIVO in combination with chemotherapy (n=782) were peripheral neuropathy (53%), nausea (48%), fatigue (44%), diarrhea (39%), vomiting (31%), decreased appetite (29%), abdominal pain (27%), constipation (25%), and musculoskeletal pain (20%).

In a separate Phase 3 trial of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%).

Please see US Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO and YERVOY.

Clinical Trials and Patient Populations

Checkmate 037-previously treated metastatic melanoma; Checkmate 066-previously untreated metastatic melanoma; Checkmate 067-previously untreated metastatic melanoma, as a single agent or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 227-previously untreated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 9LA-previously untreated recurrent or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in combination with YERVOY and 2 cycles of platinum-doublet chemotherapy by histology; Checkmate 017-second-line treatment of metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer; Checkmate 057-second-line treatment of metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer; Checkmate 743-previously untreated unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma, in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 214-previously untreated renal cell carcinoma, in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 9ER-previously untreated renal cell carcinoma, in combination with cabozantinib; Checkmate 025-previously treated renal cell carcinoma; Checkmate 205/039-classical Hodgkin lymphoma; Checkmate 141-recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; Checkmate 275-urothelial carcinoma; Checkmate 142-MSI-H or dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer, as a single agent or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 040-hepatocellular carcinoma, as a single agent or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 238-adjuvant treatment of melanoma; Attraction-3-esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Checkmate 649-previously untreated advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction or esophageal adenocarcinoma

About the Bristol Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Collaboration

In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Bristol Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally, except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Ono and Bristol Myers Squibb further expanded the companies' strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies as single agents and combination regimens for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

About Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Celgene and Juno Therapeutics are wholly owned subsidiaries of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. In certain countries outside the U.S., due to local laws, Celgene and Juno Therapeutics are referred to as, Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb company and Juno Therapeutics, a Bristol Myers Squibb company.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding, among other things, the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. All statements that are not statements of historical facts are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on historical performance and current expectations and projections about our future financial results, goals, plans and objectives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including internal or external factors that could delay, divert or change any of them in the next several years, that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause our future financial results, goals, plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, that the CHMP opinion is not binding on the EC, that Opdivo plus Yervoy may not receive regulatory approval for the additional indication described in this release and, if approved, whether such combination treatment for such additional indication described in this release will be commercially successful. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect Bristol Myers Squibb's business and market, particularly those identified in the cautionary statement and risk factors discussion in Bristol Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as updated by our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and except as otherwise required by applicable law, Bristol Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

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Not just in real life, we have seen some cracking sibling chemistries on and off the big screen in Bollywood as well. While we all know of the famous siblings in Bollywood who either made appearances on screen together or do not shy away from letting the world know of their love, there are some actors whose siblings are not as well known as the others. Not from the film background, there are many siblings who stand behind their brothers or sisters, constantly making them look good. So heres celebrating Bollywoods lesser known siblings and their bond with out favourite celebrities.

1. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Shah Rukh Khans Sister Shahnaz Lalaukh

Shahnaz Lalarukh is Shah Rukh Khans elder sister. She sure does not make many public appearances but we get to hear of her sweet and innocent personality several times from her younger brother in his interviews.

2. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Ranveer Singh's Sister Ritika Bhavnani

Ranveers elder sister Ritika may keep her personal life away from the limelight, but the lovely lady sure cuts a glamorous picture for us all. We saw her step up for the shutterbugs during her baby brothers wedding last year and it spoke ample about the bond the two share.

3. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Ranbir Kapoor's Sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahni

She may not be in the limelight a lot but Ranbir Kapoors elder sister Riddhima is quite the social media sensation. A jewellery designer by profession, she lives in Delhi and is an avid yoga practitioner.

4. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Priyanka Chopra's Brother Siddharth Chopra

5. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Saif and Soha Ali Khan's Sister Saba Ali Khan

6. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Hrithik Roshans Sister Sunaina Roshan

7. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Aishwarya Rai Bachchans Brother Aditya Rai

8. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Anushka Sharmas Brother Karnesh Sharma

Karnesh Sharma is Anushkas brother who initially worked in the Indian Merchant Navy and later joined hands with his sister to start Clean Slate Productions. They produced

and Phillauri together.

9. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Akshay Kumars Sister Alka Bhatia

10. Famous Bollywood Siblings - Parineeti Chopras Brothers Shivang and Sahaj Chopra

A culinary expert by profession, Priyanka Chopras younger brother Siddharth is very close to her. He runs a restaurant and is also a partner in Priyankas production house Purple Pebble.Saif younger and Sohas elder sister, Saba stays away from the public eye. The beautiful lady is a fashion and jewellery designer and also the Chief Trustee of the Royal Trust established by the princely states of Bhopal.Hrithik Roshans elder sister Sunaina is an author and homemaker. She wrote a book To Dad with Love in 2014 for their father Rakesh Roshan.Aishwarya Rai Bachchans elder brother Aditya works with the Indian Merchant Navy. He is married to Shrima Rai who was the Mrs. India in 2009 and has two sons with her.A notorious duo, Akshay Kumars younger sister Alka hates the unnecessary limelight. She is married to Surendra Hiranandani who is the co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani groups.Very little is known about Parineetis brothers Shivang and Sahaj. The actress does take to her social media to express how close the siblings are. She also posted wishing her brother Sahaj a good luck for his new F&B venture in Ludhiana a couple of years back.
If people who test positive for



COVID-19 are in case asymptomatic, they should avoid rushing immediately to big hospitals, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner, G Prakash appealed to the public here on Friday.

When all positive people with no symptoms crowded big state-run facilities, it became hard for doctors to pay complete attention to patients who are in serious condition battling severe symptoms, he said.

Doctors were left with no time to concentrate on those who are serious and crowding deprived immediate, quality medical care to those who needed it the most, he said.

Hence, immediately rushing to large hospitals should be avoided, he told reporters here.

Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (Madras Medical College), Kilpauk, Stanley, Omandurar and ESIC are the five medical college hospitals in Chennai in the government sector.

Those with severe symptoms could visit such big hospitals and people with no symptoms could isolate themselves in their homes, the senior civic body official said.

About 80 to 85 per cent people who test positive for here do not have routine symptoms including fever and there was no need to panic just because someone has tested positive for the virus, the top official said.

People with mild symptoms could visit one of the twelve screening centres in the city and they shall be assisted by Corporation health officials, he said.

In such centres, after examining patients and running requisite diagnostic tests, doctors would on need basis refer people to COVID care centres where they shall be under medical observation.

Out of 3,700 people who tested positive on Thursday, about 1,200 people were brought to screening centres and the rest were either sent to state-run or private hospitals.

Categorising and screening COVID-19 patients and avoiding immediately sending all positive people to hospitals would help reduce burden on doctors and also aid them focus on those who needed immediate attention, he said.

Private hospitals have also been directed by the government to allot 50 per cent beds for COVID-19 patients and admit only those who are in serious condition.

Others, people with no symptoms and those with mild symptoms should either be home-quarantined or sent to Covid care centres following screening.

Over the next about 30 days, COVID-19 cases are likely to increase and a 'peak' is expected by end-May, Prakash said quoting opinions of experts and bodies like the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to US$65.61 a barrel on hopes of a fuel demand recovery in the US and Europe as economic growth picks up and lockdowns ease.

Gold gained 0.2% to US$1,787.11 per ounce on Friday and was poised for a third straight weekly rise.

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) fell 0.24% to 7,038.8 by 12.54 pm following losses on Wall Street overnight as investors reacted to news that US President Biden could almost double the capital gains tax rate for wealthier Americans.

Locally, consumer sectors fell the most while IT, materials and energy also added to broader losses.

AMP demerger

( ) gained 5% in early trading after announcing that it will end discussions with Ares Management regarding a potential sale of AMP Private Markets.

The company will instead pursue a demerger in which AMP Private Markets would become a stand-alone, global private markets investment manager, focussing on asset classes of infrastructure equity, infrastructure debt and real estate.

Capital gains tax increase

Bloomberg News reported that Biden is planning a capital gains tax hike to as high as 43.4% for wealthy Americans.

The proposal would hike the capital gains rate to 39.6% for those earning $1 million or more, up from 20% currently, according to Bloomberg.

Top gainers

Todays top gainers on the ASX include ( ) (+8.33%), ( ) (+8.57%), ( ) (+11.43%), ( ) (+19.44%), ( ) (+8.33%) and Platina Resources Limited ( ) (+14.81%).

Proactive news headlines:

Strategic Elements raises $3 million from institutional investors

( ) has strengthened its books through a successful $3 million placement to institutional investors.

Brookside Energy on cusp of spudding high-impact Jewell Well in world-class Anadarko Basin of US

( ) (OTCMKTS:RDFEF) is making strong progress on the high-impact Jewell 13-12-1S-3W Well in the SWISH area of interest within the Anadarko Basin of the US with the completion of pre-mobilisation inspection, testing and maintenance works on the contracted rig.

Elementos goes all out to capitalise on strong tin market and high prices

( ) ( ) (FRA:9EM) is taking big steps to capitalise on strong tin market fundamentals, including high prices, through exploration, development and production of high-grade tin projects in stable jurisdictions.

King River Resources makes progress with PFS into production of quality, high-value HPA at proposed Kwinana plant

( ) is making progress with test-work for a pre-feasibility study (PFS) into the production of high purity alumina (HPA) using its specially developed refining process at a proposed processing operation at Kwinana in Western Australia.

Tyranna Resources set to begin fieldwork on three target areas at Knight and Dragon Project in Western Australia

( ) (FRA:IRN) is set to take the next step in advancing the Dragon & Knight Project in Western Australias eastern Wheatbelt region with fieldwork about to begin.

Pharmaxis has multiple potential value inflection points with two drugs advancing in clinical trials

( ) (FRA:UUD) has multiple potential value inflection points over the next two years, with two drugs in clinical trials that are due to report meaningful efficacy and safety endpoints in patients by the end of 2022.

Cohiba Minerals confirms IOCG potential at Olympic Domain tenements, plans aggressive exploration

( ) has revealed that its tenement package in the Gawler Craton of South Australia contains strong potential for iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits and as a part of its 2021 strategy, plans to aggressively undertake exploration activities.
People in Queensland who have been in Perth or Peel since April 17 must get tested for COVID, self-isolate and comply with Western Australias lockdown restrictions from Friday night.

The states chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young issued health directions on Friday night saying those who had been in the WA region would have to self-isolate at home or in arranged accommodation to 2am, April 27, or otherwise announced by WA effective immediately.

The infected man travelled on a flight from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday. Credit:Getty

Those who have been in Perth of Peel on or since April 17, are required to get a COVID test.

WA Premier Mark McGowan announced on Friday the region will be entering a three-day lockdown from midnight.
Pfizer, which is currently in talks with Centre for the supply of its Covid-19 vaccine, may only restrict its sales to the government and not to private hospitals.

The company also said that during the pandemic phase, it will supply the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 mRNA vaccine only through government contracts.

As stated earlier, during this pandemic phase, Pfizer will prioritise supporting governments in their immunisation programmes and supply the Covid-19 vaccine only through government contracts based on agreements with respective government authorities and following regulatory authorisation or approvals, stated Pfizer.

"Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the Government towards making the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine available for use in the government's immunization programme in the country", a Pfizer spokesperson said in an email response to PTI.

Read | Pfizer in talks with India to supply Covid-19 vaccine

"For India, Pfizer has offered a not-for-profit price for its vaccine for the government immunization programme," Pfizer said. The company, however, did not reveal the 'not-for-profit' price that it has suggested to the government.

"... in all our agreements Pfizer has adopted a distinct pricing structure for high, middle, and low/lower-middle-income countries consistent with our commitment to work towards equitable and affordable access for our Covid-19 vaccine for people around the world," the statement said.

The company is committed to work for equitable and affordable access for its vaccine across the world, it added.

Also Read | Govt fast-tracks approval for foreign-produced Covid-19 vaccines cleared in other countries

The American drug giant, whose vaccine is being developed with BioNTech, is in line for bringing its vaccine to India as the country is advancing its immunisation programme at the back of a vaccine shortage.

Pfizer is yet to conduct local trials or bridging studies in India but may yet be shortlisted after the government said it would fast-track emergency approvals on internationally developed vaccines earlier this month.

On Wednesday, the Serum Institute of India fixed its price for the Covishield vaccine, developed in collaboration with AstraZeneca and Oxford University, at Rs 400 to state governments and Rs 600 to private hospitals. This comes as a big development as SII had supplied its vaccines to the central government at Rs 200 earlier and Rs 150 subsequently.

Read | SII fixes Covishield price at Rs 600 for private hospitals, Rs 400 for state governments

Allowing private hospitals to procure and distribute vaccines has drawn flak from several in the Opposition who believe this will led to profiteering by private players. It may also leave state governments in a fix because even at Rs 400, the price is very high, specially since many states have already promised free vaccines to all.

The Union government on Monday announced that everyone above 18 years of age would be eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19 from May 1 as it liberalised the vaccination drive to allow states, private hospitals and industrial establishments to procure the vaccine doses directly from manufacturers.

Under the third phase of the national vaccination drive commencing next month, the vaccine manufacturers would supply 50 per cent of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) released doses to the central government and would be free to supply the remaining 50 per cent doses to state governments and in the open markets.

(With inputs from PTI)
There was nothing unusual about the first time Anisah Ahmed first contacted Iqbal Mohammed via the professional networking site LinkedIn.

He was a successful commercial barrister with a top legal chambers in Birmingham who had starred in a 2008 BBC TV docuseries called The Barristers.

She was an ambitious young lawyer from Oxford trying to get a foot in the door. People sent him their CVs all the time, or messages asking for career advice.

Pushily, she followed up with an email to his work account requesting feedback and listing ten rather 'presumptuous' questions about his career path and salary among other things.

'She sounded a bit haughty and demanding, so I deleted it without replying,' says Mr Mohammed, 38, of that first 2010 contact from the woman who would later set out to destroy him.

But Ahmed was nothing, if not persistent. Three years later she invited him to connect on LinkedIn again. This time her simple 'Hi', and attractive profile picture ignited an exchange of friendly, rather flirty, messages leading to a coffee shop meeting.

Iqbal Mohammed was first contacted by Anisah Ahmed via the professional networking site LinkedIn

'She was very personable and there were no warning signs at all,' he says of that first ill-fated meeting. 'While I, flattered by her attention, was an idiot.'

Today, Mr Mohammed bitterly regrets not telling Ahmed he was engaged, when she showed more than a professional interest in him, and the ill-advised affair which followed lasting less than nine months.

He will never forgive himself for cheating on his wife  they wed in December 2013  who learned the devastating truth only when Ahmed, furious to discover from social media he was married, contacted her.

Mr Mohammed then ended the affair and apologised to his lover. But in doing so, he sparked an extraordinary real-life 'Fatal Attraction' campaign of revenge which ended only last week at Oxford Crown Court when Ahmed, 33, was finally jailed.

Indeed, all that seemed to be missing from this disturbing case was a bunny boiling in a pan on top of the stove  one of the most memorable scenes from the 1987 movie thriller starring Michael Douglas as an adulterous lawyer and Glenn Close as his deranged, spurned mistress.

Given a discretionary life sentence, with a minimum term of four years and six months, the court heard how Ahmed had relentlessly harassed Mr Mohammed and tried to destroy him with an 'evil' and 'malicious plot'.

'I felt very sad at this wasted life, this prison sentence that she'd brought on herself, but also a great sense of relief that the nightmare was finally over and, with justice done, we had closure,' says Mr Mohammed in his first interview.

'With Ahmed now in jail, for the first time in years I feel safe.

'I don't have to look over my shoulder, worrying about what she might do next. I truly believe she is dangerous and there are no lengths she will not go to in order to exact revenge. To be honest, I am still scared of her and the grudge she holds against me. I worry about the day she is released and whether she will come after me again.'

His fears would seem to be not without reason.

The court heard how Ahmed not only exposed his infidelity to his family, friends and colleagues, but tried to have him booted out of his chambers and disbarred. She forged emails from his work account, falsely claiming he was harassing her, and faked phone calls from him, lying to police that he wouldn't leave her alone and had threatened to post intimate pictures of her online.

When that failed and police launched a criminal investigation into her harassment campaign instead, she then falsely accused Mr Mohammed of rape. Arrested at his chambers in June 2015, handcuffed and locked in a cell for seven hours, Mr Mohammed was left feeling suicidal with his reputation in tatters.

In a final, desperate bid to frame her ex-lover, Ahmed then staged her own kidnap and stabbing  roping in an ex-boyfriend as an accomplice  who confessed to police she had ordered him to knife her three times.

When he refused, fearing he might accidentally kill her, Ahmed is believed to have stabbed herself  almost severing her femoral artery with a horrific injury to her thigh.

Ahmed not only exposed his infidelity to his family, friends and colleagues but forged emails falsely claiming he was harassing her, falsely accused Mr Mohammed of rape and later staged her own kidnap and stabbing

She told police Mr Mohammed had ordered the attack on her, later producing a forged confession from an imaginary hitman. Wiping away tears from eyes visible from her veiled face in court as the judge told her she was 'dangerous', Ahmed looked nothing like the fashionably dressed, Westernised career woman police believe deliberately targeted Mr Mohammed after seeing him on TV.

Today, he is aware that there are some who will think he received his just deserts for cheating with a woman who then felt used and betrayed. He agrees he has every reason to feel 'deeply ashamed of my actions and the hurt I caused'.

He is eternally grateful to his wife, also a lawyer, for giving him a second chance. They reconciled after a painful separation triggered by the discovery of his infidelity.

Mr Mohammed knows it would be easier to say nothing in such humiliating circumstances, but he is speaking out to warn that men can be genuine victims, too, and that not all women may be telling the truth when they make such damaging allegations.

Mohammed, a barrister at St Philips Barristers (above), has spoken about his ordeal

'If I'd been prosecuted, no one would have cared if I'd been acquitted. My career would have been over because I'd always be 'the barrister accused of rape'. Accusations like that stick  even if you are innocent,' he says. His message to other married men tempted to stray? 'Just don't do it.'

The son of a divorced school lunchtime supervisor, the Warwick University law graduate impressed when he featured on TV's The Barristers.

He was riding high when Ahmed sent him her CV, which he would later discover was embellished with lies. Listing a law degree from the University of Buckingham, a call to the Bar in 2012, a diploma in Forensic Medical Science from the London School of Medicine, a Master of Laws from Cardiff University, Ahmed  working as a paralegal in Oxford  was desperate for advice on how to emulate Mr Mohammed's success.

She claimed to have rescued ten prisoners from the death penalty while working pro bono for the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies in Lilongwe, Malawi, in 2012. This turned out to be a complete fabrication, along with her LLM from Cardiff, diploma in forensic medical science and other made-up qualifications, which would later result in her being disbarred by the Bar Standards Board in 2018.

Mr Mohammed says he will never understand why he risked everything in a moment of complete madness. 'After my marriage, I felt consumed with guilt, but I didn't have the courage to end it, so I started trying to put off meeting her, but she wouldn't leave me alone,' he says.

All hell broke loose when Ahmed saw a photo of Mr Mohammed and his wife on social media and realised he was married. He apologised, told her it was over, and repeatedly rebuffed her attempts to rekindle the affair, but she continued to bombard him with calls.

'In the end I snapped when she called me as I was driving and told her: 'I don't want to see you again,' ' he recalls. 'That's when she said: 'You need to be punished first.'

The 'manipulative' woman also attempted to frame Mohammed (above), 38, for rape, claiming he had sexually assaulted her on several occasions in a 'detailed and convincing' false report

'That night she sent messages to my wife, emails to my friends and sister and my wife's family. My wife was completely devastated and shocked. It was horrific to see her like that, and I felt so ashamed. My family and friends were really hurt and disappointed, too. My mum cried, she was so embarrassed. They couldn't believe I had done this; nor could I.

'My wife and I separated and I thought my marriage was over, but we both felt that someone was deliberately trying to destroy our relationship out of malice and we both felt we didn't want another person to make the decision for us.

'We still loved each other, and my wife felt we still had a chance to be happy if we worked on the issues between us and could overcome them. I didn't deserve a second chance, but my wife is the love of my life.'

At the same time, Ahmed was emailing the clerks at Mr Mohammed's chambers, telling them how he'd betrayed her, was ruining her life and threatening to stop referring clients from the solicitors' firm where she worked.

Ahmed was served with a harassment warning after Mr Mohammed complained to police.

'I'd changed my phone number to stop her calling me, so she posed as a new client to contact me. When I replied with my new phone number, she then went to the police claiming I was still harassing her.'

Ahmed also wrote to his chambers demanding that they investigate Mr Mohammed for his 'lack of integrity'. Demanding his suspension, she went to extraordinary lengths to convince them she was a vulnerable victim.

Ahmed, of Wilkens Road, Oxford, was given a discretionary life sentence with a minimum term of four years, six months and 10 days at Oxford Crown Court

She claimed to have threatening messages sent from Mr Mohammed's work email, with the chamber's logo on it, which she produced as proof of his harassment. An IT investigation found that the emails were forged and had been completely fabricated.

Ahmed then brazenly used those emails as evidence to secure a High Court injunction against Mr Mohammed.

'That was the first time she committed perjury,' he says. 'Sending those false emails to chambers is one thing, but relying on them in court is another. Police then arrested her, and though she admitted these emails were forged, she still claimed I was the one harassing her.

'They bailed her and seized her phone, and as a result she saw red. Something in her snapped, so she posted the injunction on LinkedIn saying 'This guy is a complete fraud and charlatan'  and things just went from bad to worse.'

Alerted by one of his friends, Mr Mohammed was forced to go to the High Court to seek his own permanent injunction against her in a civil action and have her case dismissed. He says had he not been able to represent himself as a qualified barrister, it would have cost more than 150,000 in the civil courts for justice.

It was in June 2015 that West Midlands police arrived at Mr Mohammed's chambers to arrest him on suspicion of rape, walking him out in front of shocked colleagues to a car where he was handcuffed and put in a cell for seven hours. 'I was so scared. I'd done nothing wrong my whole life. But when those police officers read out the allegations in front of my Head of Chambers, I was stunned and watched him go white with shock,' he recalls.

'At the police station they swabbed me, took fingerprints, emptied my pockets and put me in a cell for what seemed like for ever. I just wanted to die. I was looking up at the ceiling thinking: 'How can I hang myself?'

'I didn't know how to escape this nightmare. It was never-ending. I just couldn't get rid of this woman. I couldn't get through a day without having to deal with something she'd done or lies she'd told. It was the most awful experience of my whole life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

'While I was in custody, three officers went round to my flat and searched it. My wife was petrified. I'd not come home from work, she'd tried to call me and couldn't reach me and didn't know what was going on as they seized my computer and all my devices.

The harrowing ordeal sounds like a plot from classic 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close

'Anisah did all that because she wanted me to suffer.

'When I was finally interviewed, I brought a lever arch file with pages of incontrovertible evidence to prove the exact opposite of what she was claiming.

'She'd made sworn statements to the High Court, saying we had a lovely, happy relationship until she found out I was married. Someone who has the brass neck to go from that to then say 'he was raping me', it's quite extraordinary. There was nothing she wouldn't say or do to destroy me.

'Once I was released on bail, I went home and told my wife what had happened. She was absolutely flabbergasted, but she never once doubted me.

'She said to me: 'I am not that surprised it's come to this.' '

Mr Mohammed spent nine months on bail before police informed him there was no case to answer and he would not face charges, indicating that Ahmed instead would be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice.

Before then, in a last, desperate attempt to put him behind bars, Ahmed hatched a plan to frame Mr Mohammed for her abduction and grievous bodily harm.

Recruiting her ex-boyfriend Mustafa Hussain, 34, to buy a phone in Mr Mohammed's name, she persuaded him to send threatening phone calls from the handset. She also set up fake email accounts, using them to send herself emails threatening harm.

Planning the bogus attack in July 2015, the court would hear, she told Hussain to stab her three times as she sat in the driver's seat of her car, and if he wouldn't do it, she would, saying: 'This is the only way out of this s***  do it for love.' '

Suffering a 'horrific' wound to her thigh, she told police she'd been stopped by another vehicle, ordered to get out and stabbed in the leg by a man. In the ambulance, she deliberately named Mr Mohammed, accusing him of kidnapping her.

Later she produced a bogus letter from someone confessing to have stabbed her on the instructions of the barrister. Again, none of it was true.

Hussain, of Slough, Berkshire, was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years. He will also have to undertake 150 hours' unpaid work and pay 2,000 towards prosecution costs.

On the first day of her trial  which had been delayed due to her ill-health, then the Covid pandemic  Ahmed finally admitted her guilt and was remanded in custody pending pre-sentence psychiatric reports, which Judge Michael Gledhill described as 'extremely disturbing', telling Ahmed that her actions 'were malicious, even evil'.

Today, Mr Mohammed and his wife desperately hope they can now stop looking over their shoulders. 'We've had to move, change our cars, have CCTV installed and an alert system set up with the police where, if I rang 999, it would show up as a flagged call,' he says. 'It's had a huge impact on us, leaving us unable to trust anyone we meet.

'I came so close to losing my marriage, my career, my reputation  everything. I know what I did was wrong, and I sincerely apologised to her and my wife, but at every turn and junction there was this wicked woman trying to bring us back down.

'I didn't want her to go to prison, I just wanted her to leave me alone. But I agree with the judge that she is genuinely dangerous.

'I do feel really sad for her, but also scared because there is no limit to what she will do to get her revenge.'
Casanova Gelato

An institution in Cork at this stage, Casanova Gelato on Georges Quay has been serving freshly-made gelato in dozens of flavours for years. From simple vanilla to a more decadent Ferrero Rocher offering, there really is a flavour for everyone. You can even order a tasty gelato picnic pack on their website, perfect for an afternoon in the park.

Ginos Gelato

Gino's Gelato

A few Ginos Gelato shops have popped up around the city in recent years. Theyre clearly responding to customer demand and one look at their menu will explain the queues at each location. From cups to cones, there are an array of tasty ice creams to fill any preference, including Belgian chocolate, pistachio and Oreo.

Popsicle

Popsicle

Dont fancy an ice cream but want to keep cool? Head to Castle Streets latest addition and pick up an ice lolly from Popsicle. These arent the simple flavours from the corner shop you might have grown up with. Instead, they offer hand-crafted gourmet ice lollies packed with anything from fruits to biscuits and chocolate. Join the queue to see what the fuss is about.

Swoon

Swoon

On Oliver Plunkett Street, Swoon has become famous for its over-the-top Bubble Waffles, hot chocolates and ice cream creations. Their latest creation is a fully-loaded 99, complete with a customised box to catch any delicious debris and keep your hands clean. They describe this 99 with sauces and toppings as a game changer of a dessert and we think theyre right.

Yumm Cafe

Yumm Cafe

For anyone venturing outside the city, head to north Cork and stop in Kanturk to try one of Yumm Cafes extravagant ice cream options, from the Bubble Waffle pictured above to an absolute feast with a Malteaser and Toffee Popcorn Chimney with Nutella and Caramel sauce. Youll be saying 'Yumm' with every mouthful.
Odey Asset Management is betting against Deliveroo as the hedge fund industry circles the under-pressure takeaway delivery firm.

The Mayfair-based fund took a 'short' position on the day of the float, or initial public offering (IPO), meaning it would profit if shares fell.

In what has been dubbed 'the worst IPO in London's history', Deliveroo shares crashed by 30 per cent as investors turned their back on the business.

The Mayfair-based Odey Asset Management fund took a so-called 'short' position on the day of the float, or initial public offering (IPO), meaning it would profit if shares fell

Odey has not revealed why the position was taken, but confidence in Deliveroo was shredded before the float after big investors pulled out amid concerns about a high valuation, corporate governance and a gig economy business model.

Deliveroo took another hit last week when it was warned that sales could slow once lockdowns ease and people return to restaurants and bars.

Shares are now down by around 40 per cent from their listing price of 390p.

Odey Asset Management was founded by Crispin Odey in 1991, but he stepped down last November after he was charged with indecent assault.

Odey was alleged to have lunged at a junior female banker, then in her mid-20s, after inviting her to his house in Chelsea in 1998.

He was cleared of the charge last month.
Richard Glenn has been banned from teaching for three years (Social media image)

A teacher who got drunk with pupils and took them to a strip club while on a school trip to Costa Rica has been banned from teaching for three years.

Richard Glenn, who taught IT at Longridge Towers School, in Berwick-upon-Tweed, also threatened students and exposed himself to a woman in his hotel room.

Fees at the private school in Northumberland cost up to 4,850 a term for day pupils.

His behaviour was seemed to be so unacceptable that he was sent home early from the trip, the Teaching Regulation Agency heard.

Mr Glenn, 55, admitted to gross misconduct and was sacked from his job in August 2019, the BBC reported.

A misconduct panel heard how the teacher, who was also head of sixth form, was looking after a group of 16 to 18-year-olds when he got drunk with them and took them to a strip club.

On the same trip, the married father-of-two, threatened to kick one pupil in the head and kill another.

He was also accused of acting aggressively towards a female colleague who was leading the trip.

Mr Glenn also exposed himself to a woman in his hotel - although it was agreed this was not malicious or sexually motivated.

The panel concluded he put pupils in his care at risk during an alcohol-fuelled night on July 5, 2019.

The panels report read: Mr Glenn was, at various times during the school trip, under the influence of alcohol, and therefore not in a position to adequately take decisions or act in loco parentis should the need arise.

This was in circumstances where pupils under his care were in an unfamiliar country, far from home, and relying on him for guidance and protection.

Mr Glenn was an experienced teacher and pastoral leader who would have been expected to lead an overseas trip safely, and would have been well aware of the conduct expected of him.

It added there was "no malice or sexual intent" in taking the students to the lapdancing club.

Mr Glenn was so drunk he admitted that he was unable to remember the nights events, although he accepted the allegations of those who were there.

Story continues

After the three years have elapsed, Mr Glenn will need to apply for the ban to be lifted, the panel said.

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An upcoming true crime adaptation will focus on a woman who was branded with a hot iron by a 'sex maniac' as a teen and decades later tormented, kidnapped, and stabbed by a mysterious assailant known as 'The Poet.'

Netflix announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Corey Mead's article 'The Poet,' which details the shocking case that baffled investigators in Wichita, Kansas, from 1977 to 1981 while the city was being terrorized by the BTK serial killer.

Published by Greg Nichols and Matthew Pearls digital magazine, Truly*Adventurous, the longform piece is based on hundreds of pages of never-before-seen documents and newly discovered sources, according to Deadline.

The true story focuses on Ruth Finley, who escaped a murderer when she was 16 only to find herself running for her life yet again while being stalked by a menace who sent her threatening rhyming letters.

Thriller: Netflix is adapting Corey Mead's true crime article 'The Poet,' which details how Ruth Finley (pictured in 1994) was tormented by a menace after escaping a murderer as a teen

In October 1946, a teenage Ruth had returned to her home in Fort Scott, Kansas, when a man opened the screen door and grabbed her from behind. She shoved her thumbs into his eyes as he tore at her clothes, enraging him.

The last thing she remembered was the man heating a flat iron on the stove. She woke up with first-degree burns on both of her thighs. A blurb about Ruth being assaulted by a 'sex maniac' was published in the Fort Scott Tribune the next morning.

Three decades later, in June 1977, Ruth was reminded of the terrifying attack when she received a threatening phone call from someone who asked her if she still wore her 'brand.'

It had been a difficult day for the 47-year-old telephone company employee, whose husband Ed had suffered an apparent heart attack while working in their backyard. (It was later determined that Ed had collapsed due to an old injury from a car accident the year prior, not a heart attack.)

The mother of two grown sons was home by herself at night when the call came in. According to Ruth, the man told her that if she didn't give him money, he would draw attention to the branding attack, telling her he knew where she worked.

Ruth expected more phone calls to come after she hung up, but none did. However, later that summer, she was in her office at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, where she worked as a secretary, when she received an envelope containing a newspaper clipping of the Fort Scott Tribune article about her assault.

Scary: At the time, Wichita's first serial killer, BTK (Dennis Rader), was also sending threatening letters and there was speculation he was The Poet. Rader is pictured in police custody in 2005

On November 6, 1978, Ruth and Ed went to the Wichita Police Department headquarters to report that she was being harassed with letters and had been approached by a man on the street on two separate occasions.

The messages were of particular interest to Lieutenant Bernie Drowatzky as Wichita's first serial killer, BTK, was also sending threatening letters to police and newspapers three years into his gruesome crimes.

The serial killer, who was later revealed to be Dennis Rader, had given himself the nickname BTK, an initialism for 'bind, torture, kill' earlier that year. The Finleys' police report came a year after BTK claimed his second victim.

A few weeks after their meeting with Drowatzky, Ed reported his wife missing. When she reappeared hours later, she told investigators that she had been kidnapped by two men while she was out shopping.

Ruth said they drove her around for four hours before she could escape, but she was unable to give the police a description of either abductor. While her sweater and shoes were found at the park where she had escaped, there was no other evidence.

Amid concerns that her stalker could be the BTK Killer, she was protected by police surveillance for five weeks, but nothing happened during that time.

Ruth was still receiving letters from the menace, whom Ed dubbed 'The Poet' due because of the violent rhyming messages sent by the perpetrator. The Poet eventually started sending threatening letters to the police as well.

Mystery: From 1977 to 1981, Ruth received hundreds of letters from The Poet and found everything from a Molotov cocktail to a jar of feces on her front porch

Headlines: Ruth also reported being kidnapped and was stabbed three times. The Valentine's Day letter she received from The Poet in 1980 was published in The Wichita Eagle

On August 31, 1979, Ruth was admitted to the hospital with three stab wounds, one of which was nearly fatal. She told investigators that she was attacked by a man in a mall parking lot.

She continued to receive hundreds of letters threatening her harm and demanding money. The harassment continued to escalate in January 1980 when a 12-inch butcher knife wrapped in a red bandana was sent to her workplace.

The next month, she received a terrifying Valentine's message that read: 'Heres to you a tender valentine/ Red with blood and tied with twine/ Nothing too much for a valentine/ Gone from here by whim of mind.'

A strip of a red bandana, one of The Poet's signatures, was also found in the envelope.

In addition to the letters, the Finelys' phone lines were cut on Christmas Eve, their Christmas wreath was set on fire, and a Molotov cocktail, ice pick, bottle of urine, and a jar of feces were all left on their front porch on different occasions.

Copies of The Poet's letters were sent to psycholinguist Dr. Murray S. Miron, who stated the sender was 'clearly and severely psychotic,' 'virulently pathological,' 'schizophrenic,' ' extremely dangerous,' 'a wily and elusive quarry,' and 'a loner.'

Dr. Miron also noted that while The Poet and BTK Killer had 'highly similar' writing styles and pathology, he didn't believe they were the same person.

Investigators had interviewed more than 300 people, but they still didn't have any suspects. However, that changed in September 1981 when Chief Richard LaMunyon took over the case after The Poet threatened his wife in a letter.

Twist: It was eventually discovered that Ruth was The Poet, and she confessed to unknowingly tormenting and stabbing herself while suffering from psychosis

Diagnosis: A psychiatrist determined that she created The Poet to cope with the repressed sexual abuse she suffered as a child. She eventually shared her story on a local news program

LaMunyon soon came to the startling conclusion that Ruth was The Poet. He placed the Finleys under secret surveillance and Ruth was photographed mailing one of The Poet's letters to herself.

Ed was cleared of any involvement in the hoax after taking a voluntary polygraph test in October 1981. During interrogation, Ruth admitted to threatening, kidnapping, and stabbing herself under the guise of The Poet while suffering from apparent psychosis.

The three-year investigation cost the police department a whopping $370,000, but no charges were filed against Ruth after a psychiatric examination determined her actions were not malicious.

'Finley had unknowingly been tormenting herself as a result of psychiatric problems stemming from a childhood of horrific physical and sexual abuse,' The Wichita Eagle had reported at the time.

Ruth spent years seven in therapy with psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Pickens, who had her write poems to help understand behavior. He learned she was raped by a neighbor when she was three years old and repeatedly sexually abused while being bound with a red bandana like the ones sent by The Poet.

Both Ruth and Dr. Pickens believe that her repressed childhood trauma was what led to her creation of The Poet. However, she maintained that the branding attack she suffered as a teen in Fort Scott was real.

Her husband and children stood by her, and she eventually shared her story with a local news program in the hope of helping other survivors.

Ruth died on May 30, 2019, at age 89.
California is the largest producer of Almonds in the United States and the World. California produces about 80% of the Almonds in the world and 100% of the Almonds in the United States. https://www.almonds.com/sites/default/files/2016_almond_industry_factsheet.pdf . Most of the almonds produced in the United States are produced in Northern California. To make almond milk is not too complicated. Simply stated the almonds are soaked in water for up to two days. They are then drained and rinsed. The almonds are ground up with fresh water and the resulting liquid from the almond meal becomes Almond Milk. https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-almond-milk-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-189996 .

The question then arises if the final product of making a milky substance out of almonds can truly be called "milk" under the definition according to the FDA or Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (herin after called FDCA). The FDCA definition of milk is of a substance that is produced from a "lacteal secretion." The FDCA continues and describes the variations of such but never mentions any plant products such as Soy, Oat or almond as a milk. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=131.110. Yet in the Webster's dictionary a secondary definition from milk being defined as a lacteal secretion is "a liquid resembling milk in appearance." This includes the latex of a plant or the contents of an unripe kernel of grain. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milk .

Thus, there are two different definitions of milk according to the FDCA and Webster's dictionary. But does the fact that a company uses the words almond, soy or oat prior to the word milk defuse the argument that there may be some confusion about using the word milk in the almond beverage products name? There have been cases recently discussing this issue that need to be addressed. However, prior to that it would be important to listen to those who deal with this issue on a daily basis. Farmers have been a tight knit group that usually are on the same side of an argument supporting the farmer and farm life, however this issue pits farmers against farmers. Who is correct the Dairy Farmer or the Almond Farmer?

A FARMERS PERSPECTIVE

Recently I was able to talk to a third-generation farmer from Northern California. His perspective is ideal as his family has been in the dairy and cattle industry for three generations all over California and yet some of his family works for the almond industry. The family started their dairy farm in Needles, California. This 60-year-old third generation farmer has been a dairy farmer, beef cattle rancher and has family as of 2021 currently working in the almond industry. His friends include almond farmers, dairy farmers and other farmers that grow all types of crops. He has advised me that he is close to all that are involved in this dispute over whether the almond growers should be using the word milk in the labeling of their product. Because he is so close to both almond and dairy farmers, he has asked to have his name withheld.

Frederick Penney: Have you heard from dairy and almond farmers about the issue of whether almond farmers should be able to use the word milk in the sales of their products?

Farmer: Yes, I have heard several farmers talking about the controversy and find it very interesting.

Frederick Penney: What do you think about almond farmers using the word "almond milk" to advertise and promote their products? Should they be able to use milk in the name?

Farmer: I have a lot of friends in both industries and appreciate their hard work. First, I believe that those who have a dairy are some of the hardest working people in the United States. It is an unending process of work around the clock. I think using the word milk in conjunction with squeezing almonds into a milky looking substance is an infringement on what milk is. It is not milk; it is a process or way to develop something that looks like milk from an animal. This is not the same as a lactating animal that produces milk. Almond milk is simply a process and not a milk.

Frederick Penney: Do you believe the word "almond milk" is deceptive advertising?

Farmer: Well, I think it may be deceiving and not the correct term for milk. It reminds me when the fast-food companies started to call a plant-based hamburger a "veggie burger." It is not a burger; it is a vegetable. Again, I know farmers on both sides of this issue but a product that does not have meat from and animal in it is not a burger. This is the same with the almond milk, it does not have any milk in it from an animal so it is not a milk.

Frederick Penney: I know you have family working in the almond industry, have you heard their perspective?

Farmer: I really do not recall but I know that the belief that using the word almond before the word milk is what they feel justifies it being ok to use the word milk on their cartons. Maybe I am a traditionalist but milk that is sold in the stores is from an animal.

DAIRY MILK AND ALMOND MILK GO TO COURT

As is the case when people, businesses, countries, or industries have a dispute it ends up in court. This is no different for the dairy and almond farmers. On May 24, 2017, the United States District Court Central District of California decided on the Cynthia Cardarelli Painter et al., v. Blue Diamond Growers et al., case. https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2018/12/20/17-55901.pdf . This highly charged farmers dispute at the district court level was won by Blue Diamond Almond Growers, the court agreeing to dismiss the dairy milk industries representative Painter's case without prejudice (Painter cannot fix their complaint and re-file it). Painter then filed an appeal to United States Court of Appeals for The Ninth Circuit.

PAINTER'S ARGUMENT AGAINST BLUE DIAMOND USING THE WORD MILK

In sum, Painter argued that Blue Diamond Growers almond beverage mislabeled its almond beverage as milk and should have labeled it as "imitation milk". They argued that the almond beverage was nutritionally inferior and therefore must be labeled as imitation under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act rules and regulations. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=133.3. Second, they argued that calling the almond beverage milk was deceptive and not in any way related to milk as defined by the FDCA and that the practice of labeling almond beverages as milk was deceptive to the individual consumer who might believe that the almond beverage was a dairy product.

BLUE DIAMONDS ARGUMENT FOR USING THE WORD MILK FOR ITS ALMOND BEVERAGE

In sum, Blue Diamond argued that their product labeling was not deceptive because it clearly stated the word almond before milk and showed a picture of an almond on the front of its cartons. Second, they argued that the FDCA rules did not apply as this was not a product imitating another product, but a distinct and separate product not related to animal milk. In other words, almond milk is not a dairy milk but a nutritionally different plant-based milk which does not figuratively fall into the same category.

This interesting case drew attention to several organizations that decided to file amicus briefs (outside parties can file an opposition or for a side if they can generally show an interest in the case) including The Good Food Institute that supports plant-based foods which backed up Blue Diamond Grower's arguments. https://gfi.org/images/uploads/2018/03/GFIAmicusBriefPainter.pdf

NINTH CIRCUIT APPEALS COURT RULING

The case was argued before the Ninth Circuit on December 3, 2018, in Pasadena, California. The Court noted that its decision was not appropriate for publication which means that the citation of its ruling cannot be used as a reference for argument in subsequent cases except by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3, which in essence only allows the ruling to be used under certain circumstances before the Ninth Circuit. https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/uploads/rules/frap.pdf . The court held for Blue Diamond Growers agreeing with the lower district court that the case be dismissed. The court held that Painter's arguments under state law were pre-empted by federal law under the FDCA. The court held that State Law cannot impose food labelling requirements that are different from the FDCA. Second, the court held that the lower court properly dismissed the case on the grounds that Painter did not show that any reasonable consumer would have been deceived by the labeling of almond milk as similar to dairy milk. Remember Blue Diamond's almond milk uses the word almond before milk and has a picture of an almond on the carton. The court recognized this as an important factor to determine that an average consumer would not be deceived. Moreover, Blue Diamond's nutritional facts label was accurate and showed that it was different than dairy milk. Third, the appellate court found that Blue Diamond Growers almond milk was not considered an "imitation" of dairy milk, but a separate distinct plant-based product comprised of different nutritional components. Finally, the court upheld the district courts decision to not allow Painter to amend their complaint because it would be futile given the fact that changing their complaint would not affect the ruling.

WAS THE NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS RULING CORRECT

My knee jerk reaction about deceptive advertising or labeling of almond milk seems like the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals got it right. I see the main issue is the confusion of consumers thinking that the almond milk is somehow related to dairy milk. Given the fact that the word almond is used before the word milk, the fact that the carton has a picture of a big almond, Websters dictionary notes that a secondary definition of milk is a byproduct of a plant, and the fact that Blue Diamond Growers has an extensive amount of information about the product and its nutrition on its carton and on its website, it is time to move on to something else for the courts to decide. https://www.bluediamond.com/faqs#:~:text=Shelf%20stable%20Almond%20Breeze%C2%AE,as%20required%20by%20federal%20regulations . The final test will be the consumers taste test to see if they prefer dairy milk or almond milk when having chocolate milk or pouring milk over their morning cereal.

SOURCE Penney and Associates

Related Links

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Two UoC professors win the most prestigious European research grants

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded the two UoC researchers Professor Dr Michael Bollig and Professor Dr Stephan Schlemmer with an ERC Advanced Grant. Bollig is being funded with approximately 2.5 million euros for his REWILDING project. Schlemmer will also receive 2.5 million euros in funding for his project 'MissIons'. The ERC Advanced Grant is considered the most important funding award in the European research landscape.

ERC Advanced Grants are awarded to outstanding scholars and scientists for projects that are associated with uncertainties due to their innovative approach, but which may open up ground-breaking new paths in their respective fields. Funding is granted to researchers who have worked consistently and successfully at the highest level for many years.

Professor Dr Michael Bollig / Project: REWILDING

Michael Bollig is a professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology and spokesperson of the Global South Studies Center (GSSC). One focus of his research is human-environment relations. With his project REWILDING, Bollig aims to contribute to the increasingly important field of environmental anthropology in general, with a particular focus on the complex and ever-changing interactions among humans, flora, and fauna in the Kavango-Zambezi Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA, involving the states of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) in southern Africa. Established in 2011, the KAZA TFCA is the largest transboundary nature and landscape reserve in the world. The area, known around the world for its pioneering conservation, bears traces of the region's colonial and post-colonial past. Repressive colonial conservation efforts, large-scale (successful) control of insect-borne diseases, and extensive human resettlement structure current human-environment relations as well as conservation efforts.

REWILDING is a unique attempt to capture the changing socio-ecological relationships between humans and other species in one of the largest and most comprehensive conservation experiments in the world. REWILDING consists of six field studies, addressing, e.g., elephants, various carnivores, and also microbe-borne pathogens in their dynamic relationships with human-made environmental infrastructures and technologies, organizations, and also scientific activities against the backdrop of comprehensive conservation efforts.

REWILDING cooperates closely with Collaborative Research Centre TR228 - Future Rural Africa, which explores the impacts of changing land use, ecological dynamics, and changing societies in eastern and southern Africa. Together with the CRC's projects, REWILDING is interested in the socioeconomic impacts of the rapid commercialization of diverse flora and fauna and the social consequences of rapidly increasing tourism. REWILDING is uniquely positioned and was specially designed to provide new empirical insights for future monitoring and planning of large-scale conservation efforts.

Funding from the European Research Council (ERC) contributes to the further consolidation of the research area Environmental Humanities at the UoC's Faculty of Arts and Humanities, which focuses on human-environment research within cultural studies and the humanities. The Faculty has already strengthened this area by establishing a professorship at the interface of different disciplines conducting research on the topic in January 2021.

Michael Bollig studied social and cultural anthropology, history, African studies, and agricultural sociology at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne from 1981 to 1986. He received his doctorate from the Institute of Ethnology at the University of Tubingen in 1991. He then came to the University of Cologne, where he completed his Habilitation in 1999 and where he has been a professor of anthropology since 2000. He has also served as deputy speaker of the CRC TR - Future Rural Africa since 2018, and as spokesperson of the Cologne Global South Studies Center (GSSC) since 2020. In 2017, Bollig was awarded the Leo Spitzer Award, with which the University of Cologne recognizes excellent top researchers.

Professor Dr Stephan Schlemmer / Project: MissIons

Stephan Schlemmer is professor of experimental physics at the University of Cologne's Institute of Astrophysics. In his laboratories in Cologne, the colour spectra of molecules are recorded in high-precision measurements. These spectra are as clearly associated with the molecules as fingerprints can be uniquely assigned to a person. In this way, numerous molecules have already been found in space for the first time through laboratory investigations in Cologne. The ERC Advanced Grant for the 'MissIons' (= missing ions) project is being used to search for specific ionic molecules. These ions are missing keys to understanding the evolution of the interstellar medium, i.e., the space between stars. Thus, it is conceivable that building blocks of life are formed from precisely these ions in interstellar space.

Schlemmer's team is developing experimental and theoretical methods that make these studies possible in the first place. One challenge is to make these highly volatile substances available in sufficient quantities for those colour analysis. Here, the working group has already made some major breakthroughs in the past. Another challenge is that the spectral fingerprints for these special ions consist of thousands of snippets that must first be assembled into an image. This painstaking work not only produces the template for observation with telescopes. Rather, the fingerprints can also be used to infer the structure of the molecules. Until now, this was impossible for the molecules in question, but the MissIons project will make it possible for the first time. The project thus connects the world of the smallest (molecules) with the world of the largest (outer space), both of which still pose great mysteries.

Stephan Schlemmer studied physics at the universities of Wuppertal and Gottingen, where he earned his doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Flow Research, for which he was awarded the Otto-Hahn-Medal. He then held postdoc positions at the Universita degli Studi di Perugia (Italy) and at the University of California at Berkeley (USA). He completed his Habilitation at TU Chemnitz in 2001. In 2003, he joined the faculty of the Observatory of the Universiteit Leiden (Netherlands), and came to the University of Cologne in 2004. At the Institute of Astrophysics, he serves as speaker of Collaborative Research Centre 956. He heads the Molecular Physics Section of the German Physical Society. In 2009 and 2011, he was also a visiting professor at the Universite Paul Sabatier in Toulouse (France) and received the Gay-Lussac-Humboldt Prize from the French Ministry of Research in 2016 for his research.

###

Media Contacts:

Professor Dr Michael Bollig

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

+49 221 470-3501

michael.bollig@uni-koeln.de

Professor Dr Stephan Schlemmer

Institute of Astrophysics

+49 221 470-7880

schlemmer@ph1.uni-koeln.de

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Discovery has launched a custom COVID-19 Vaccination Portal and will unveil dedicated vaccination sites which will give its members a tailored journey to guide them through their vaccination.

South Africas Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Sisonke Vaccination Programme is set to resume shortly after it was suspended due to health concerns.

The government has also secured an additional 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine which means the country will now get 30 million Pfizer doses.

Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said this will enable South Africa to vaccinate 15 million people with the Pfizer vaccine instead of just 10 million.

In response to these and other announcements, Discovery has provided details to its members regarding the countrys vaccination programme.

The company said the SA Government has bought sufficient COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate all adults in South Africa.

Vaccines will be administered in phases according to a national prioritisation framework.

This phased approach ensures that those most vulnerable and at-risk in the South African population are vaccinated first.

Phase 1  It is currently underway and is focused on healthcare workers.

Phase 2  Set to start on 17 May 2021 and will focus on the elderly and other vulnerable sections of the population.

Phase 3  Set to start in October and will focus on the rest of the population.

Vaccines will be administered in accredited vaccination sites across the country, including pharmacies, GP practices, hospitals, and dedicated vaccination sites.

Discovery said it is setting up dedicated vaccination sites for its members convenience and will share the location details with them next month.

The cost of vaccinations at an accredited vaccination site will be covered in full if someone is a member of a medical scheme.

If you are not a member of a medical scheme, the cost of your vaccination will be covered by the government.

To get vaccinated, people must register on the national Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) as it is a requirement of the National Department of Health.

Registration on the EVDS provides people with a vaccination code that people must present on the day of their scheduled vaccination. This process is managed by the National Department of Health.

Discovery clients will also receive a personalised invitation to register on the Discovery COVID-19 Vaccination Portal.

This registration will give Discovery members access to a tailored journey to guide them through their COVID-19 vaccination, including:

Where they are in the queue to get vaccinated.

What to expect and how to prepare for their COVID-19 vaccination.

Notification of when they need to go for their second dose, if needed.

An internationally accredited COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

Discovery is taking a stepwise approach to registration on the Discovery COVID-19 Vaccination Portal.

They will send out personalised invitations over the course of the next few weeks as per the below groups, starting with Group A.

Group A  Registration of all clients older than 80 years.

Group B  Registration of all clients older than 60 years but younger than 80 years.

Group C  Registration of all clients younger than 60 years with underlying medical conditions.

Group D  Registration of all clients younger than 60 years with no pre-existing conditions or comorbidities.

Look out for your invitation to register on the Discovery Vaccination Portal, which will be sent to you over the next few weeks based on the phased approach, Discovery said.

Your registration on the Discovery Vaccination Portal is the start of your vaccination journey over the coming months.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, described the late activist, Yinka Odumakin, as a man of courage, integrity and truth.

Mr Gbajabiamila made this remark at the Lying-in-State, Service of Songs and Tributes for the late spokesman of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, in Lagos.

Mr Gbajabiamila, who said that he had a distant but good encounter with the deceased, eulogised the late activists stand against all odds.

My knowledge of him was based on admiration of his qualities, what he stood for and what he represent and of who he was.

I came to know from a distance, a man who had been through so much vicissitude of life, twists and turns but who in all of these stood straight.

When you talk about profile and courage, I am not sure like many others attested too today, that you can count on one hand any whose name will come before Yinka Odumakin.

There lies a man of courage, there lies a man of integrity, there lies a true democrat, a man who stood for truth, and nothing else.

A fighter

The former governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, said the late Mr Odumakin meant well for the people, as a friend of the masses and of Nigeria.

It does not matter how long one lived but the impact one made while alive matters. Yinka was a fighter who would pursue whatever he believed in day and night.

Yinka and I disagreed on so many things, but we cannot deny the fact that Yinka meant well for the good of the people.

I can assure you that all that Yinka fought for will come to pass one day. Yinka, Adieu, friend of the masses and friend of Nigeria, Mr Amosun said.

Also, Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra, said that the late Mr Odumakin was someone with a commitment to build a better society and nation.

Mr Obi urged all politicians to come together and agree to serve Nigeria for the betterment of all.

Yinka fought for the masses and justice. He is gone and all that we can do is to continue the fight. We, the politicians that are here, let us, for his sake, work and serve Nigeria truly, he said.

In his tribute, Olusegun Mimiko, the former governor of Ondo State, described the deceased as a compulsive networker and a true activist since his University days.

This is a glorious exit of a young man who has come and conquered. I pray that the restructuring which Yinka stood for will come to reality.

l urge all to recommit ourselves to Nigeria of our dreams. Let us re-dedicate and invest in it. Nigeria will be better for the struggle of Yinka Odumakin, he said.

For the leader of the Pan-Yoruba Socio-Cultural group, Afenifere, Ayo Adebanjo, getting a replacement for Mr Odumakin will be difficult.

ADVERTISEMENT

As human, it is difficult to replace Yinka, but l pray God replace him for Nigeria.

He was not a fake activist, but a true activist who believed in a good cause and true democracy. We are not gathered to mourn his age, but to celebrate what Yinka stood for.

He urged other Nigerian activists to emulate the selflessness of late Mr Odumakin.

The Afenifere leader, who said that he had long been standing for a united Nigeria and stood for it, called for a restructured Nigeria so that there could be unity.

According to him, those calling for restructuring are not calling for secession in the country.

Those of us talking about restructuring truly want Nigeria to stay and be united.

The suffering is much and if Nigeria is not restructured, we will continue to have more of Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu, he said.

The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, in his tribute, also described Mr Odumakin as an irreplaceable great man.

Yinka has created a vacuum which I dont think any other activist in Yorubaland can easily fill.

We are talking of someone who has never been a governor, senator, even chairman of local government talkless of local government councillor but have a glorious exit.

We have the number one citizen of Lagos State here (Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu), number four in Nigeria (Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila), elder statesmen, serving senators, former governors and others.

Mr Adams urged Nigerians to follow whatever good cause they believed in as Mr Odumakin did and died for.

When you are talking about true federalism, Yinka Odumakin was a great apostle. We have always been on the same page on ideology, he added.

NAN reports that the event was graced by a host of civil society and ethnic groups, political stalwarts, lawmakers, and many friends and acquaintances of the late Mr Odumakin.

(NAN)
DGAP-News: Global Fashion Group S.A. / Bekanntmachung der Einberufung zur Hauptversammlung

Global Fashion Group S.A.: Bekanntmachung der Einberufung zur Hauptversammlung am 26.05.2021 in ir.global-fashion-group.com/agm mit dem Ziel der europaweiten Verbreitung gema 121 AktG



23.04.2021 / 15:05

Bekanntmachung gema 121 AktG, ubermittelt durch DGAP

- ein Service der EQS Group AG.

Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich.





RCS Luxembourg B 190.907 Convening notice to the annual general meeting

of the shareholders of Global Fashion Group S.A. (the 'Company')

The annual general meeting of the shareholders of the Company is to be held via video conference initiated from Luxembourg at 10:00 CEST on Wednesday, 26 May 2021 to deliberate and vote on the below agenda (the 'Annual General Meeting'). In accordance with the law of 23 September 2020 relating to measures on the holding of meetings in companies and other legal entities, the Company will not hold a physical meeting. Shareholders may refer to the section D. 'Availability of the documentation, attendance and voting procedure' in this convening notice for further information. A. Agenda and Proposed Resolutions for the Annual General Meeting of the Company 1. Presentation of the combined consolidated management report of the management board of the Company (the 'Management Board') and of the report of the independent auditor (reviseur d'entreprises agree) on the Company's consolidated accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ('IFRS') and on the Company's annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 prepared in accordance with IFRS. 2. Approval of the Company's consolidated accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 3. Approval of the Company's annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 4. Allocation of results for the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 5. Granting of discharge to Christoph Barchewitz, member of the Management Board, for the exercise of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 6. Granting of discharge to Patrick Schmidt, member of the Management Board, for the exercise of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 7. Granting of discharge to Matthew Price, member of the Management Board, for the exercise of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 8. Granting of discharge to Alexis Babeau, member of the supervisory board of the Company (the 'Supervisory Board'), for the exercise of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 9. Granting of discharge to Georgi Ganev, member of the Supervisory Board, for the exercise of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 10. Granting of discharge to Cynthia Gordon, member of the Supervisory Board, for the exercise of her mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 11. Granting of discharge to Victor Herrero, member of the Supervisory Board, for the exercise of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 12. Granting of discharge to Carol Shen, member of the Supervisory Board, for the exercise of her mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 13. Granting of discharge to Laura Weil, member of the Supervisory Board, for the exercise of her mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. 14. Acknowledgment of the resignation of Alexis Babeau as member of the Supervisory Board and decision to appoint Philipp Povel as a member of the Supervisory Board for a period ending at the expiration of the general meeting of shareholders approving the annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ending 31 December 2021. 15. Renewal of the appointment of Ernst & Young as independent auditor for the financial year 2021. 16. Presentation of and advisory vote on the remuneration report for year ending 31 December 2020 for the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. 17. Presentation of and advisory vote on the revised remuneration policy for the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. 18. Approval and, to the extent necessary, ratification of the remuneration of the Supervisory Board for the financial year ending 31 December 2021. 19. Authorisation for the Management Board to repurchase up to 20% of the total number of common shares of the Company issued on the date of the Annual General Meeting within a period of five (5) years as from the date of the Annual General Meeting. 20. Presentation and acknowledgement of the special report of the Management Board with respect to (i) the restatement and renewal of the current authorised capital and the amendment of the Company's authorised capital and (ii) waiving the preferential subscription right of existing shareholders where expressly provided in the special report, and amendment of articles 6.1 and 6.2 of the articles of association of the Company. 21. Approval of the amendment of the term of office of members of the Management Board for new appointments and any renewals of existing appointments to the Management Board, and subsequent amendment of the article 15.2 of the articles of association of the Company. 22. Approval of the deletion of transitory provisions covering the conversion of common shares of the Company into dematerialised shares and subsequent deletion of article 7.5 as well as of articles 28.1 to 28.5 of the articles of association of the Company. B. Explanatory Notes to the Business of the Annual General Meeting Resolutions 1 to 4 - Approval of Financial Statements The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting, after having reviewed the management report of the Management Board and the report of the independent auditor, approve: - the consolidated accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 in their entirety, showing a consolidated net loss of EUR 112.4 million; - the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 in their entirety, showing a net loss of EUR 43.7 million; - allocation of the results of the Company based on the stand-alone annual accounts of the Company prepared in accordance with IFRS for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 as follows: - Results of the financial year 2020: EUR 43.7 million - Losses brought forward: EUR 2,273.2 million Resolutions 5 to 7 - Discharge of Members of the Management Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting approve that discharge be granted to each member of the Management Board, for the execution of their mandates during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. Resolutions 8 to 13 - Discharge of Members of the Supervisory Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting approve that discharge be granted to each member of the Supervisory Board, for the execution of their mandates during the financial year ended 31 December 2020. Resolution 14 - Acknowledgment of the resignation of Alexis Babeau as member of the Supervisory Board and appointment of Philipp Povel as a member of the Supervisory Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting appoint Philipp Povel as member of the Supervisory Board for a period ending at the expiration of the general meeting of shareholders approving the annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2021. Philipp Povel is a co-founder and the former Chief Executive Officer of dafiti, having served in this role for over ten years, and brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of the Company and its business. The biographical information of Philipp Povel is available on the Company's website at https://ir.global-fashion-group.com/agm The Management Board informs the Annual General Meeting of the resignation of Alexis Babeau, conditional upon the appointment of Philipp Povel to the Supervisory Board and effective from the end of this Annual General Meeting. Resolution 15 - Reappointment of Auditor The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting appoint the auditing firm Ernst & Young as independent auditor (reviseur d'entreprises agree) to perform the independent audit of the Company regarding the financial year 2021. Resolution 16 - Presentation of and advisory vote on the remuneration report for the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting pass an advisory vote on the remuneration report for the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. Resolution 17 - Presentation of and advisory vote on the revised remuneration policy for the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting pass an advisory vote on the remuneration policy for the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. The Company has revised its remuneration policy for the Management Board and the Supervisory Board, as previously approved by the shareholders on 26 June 2020, and submits it to the advisory vote of the Annual General Meeting as required by Article 7bis of the Luxembourg law of 1 August 2019 amending the Luxembourg law of 24 May 2011 on shareholders rights and which became effective on 24 August 2019 (the 'Shareholders Rights Law'). The proposed changes relate exclusively to the remuneration system of the members of the Management Board and take into consideration the revisions of the German Corporate Governance Code and consists of updates to certain aspects of the Company's remuneration system and administration. Resolution 18 - Remuneration of Members of the Supervisory Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting approve the remuneration for the members of the Supervisory Board for the 2021 financial year as follows: Supervisory Board: Supervisory

Board Audit Committee Sustainability

Committee Chairman EUR 45,000

(cumulative with Member fee) EUR 40,000

(cumulative with Member fee) EUR 35,000

(cumulative with Member fee) Vice Chairman EUR 25,000

(cumulative with Member fee) n/a n/a Member EUR 35,000 EUR 10,000 EUR 10,000 The Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board shall be entitled to their fee as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively, along with the fee for being a member of the Supervisory Board. Resolution 19 - Authorisation for the Management Board to repurchase up to 20% of the total number of common shares of the Company issued on the date of the Annual General Meeting within a period of five (5) years as from the date of the Annual General Meeting The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorise and delegate all necessary powers to the Management Board to acquire up to 20% of the total number of common shares of the Company issued on the date of the Annual General Meeting for a price which may not exceed by more than 15% the highest of: i. the volume weighted average price (VWAP) in Xetra trading (or a corresponding successor system) of the common shares of the Company over the three trading days in Frankfurt am Main preceding the day of the decision of the Management Board (or any one of its delegates) to repurchase; or ii. the opening trading price of the common shares of the Company in Xetra trading on the day of the decision of the Management Board (or any one of its delegates) to repurchase (the 'Buyback'). The Buyback shall occur in one or several transactions without cancellation of the acquired shares and without prejudice to i) the principle of equal treatment of all shareholders who are in the same position and ii) the applicable market abuse rules. The Annual General Meeting shall further authorise the Management Board to take all measures and execute any formalities which may be necessary in relation to the BuyBack. Resolution 20 - Restatement and renewal of the authorised capital of the Company, waiver of the preferential subscription right of existing shareholders where expressly provided in the special report of the Management Board and amendment of articles 6.1 and 6.2 of the articles of association of the Company The Management Board proposes that the Annual General meeting approve a restatement and renewal of the authorised capital of the Company. The Management Board has utilised some, but not all, of the previously authorised capital on a number of occasions, in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders and now wishes to restate and renew the Company's authorised capital. The Management Board would like to draw attention to the importance of the Company being able to act quickly and have flexibility in increasing the share capital of the Company, according to the needs of the Company. The protracted procedure of convening an extraordinary general meeting in order to offer shares to shareholders on a pre-emptive basis, as well as the resulting publicity and costs involved in convening such an extraordinary general meeting, may be incompatible with the Company's needs and could result in missed opportunities for the Company. As a result of the above, the Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting approves an increase of the Company's authorised capital to 215,000,000 common shares, with the authorised capital lasting for a period of five (5) years from the date of the Annual General Meeting with the possibility to issue up to 118,615,000 new common shares without reserving a preferential subscription rights to the existing shareholders of the Company. The Management Board also notes that the authorisation to issue up to 118,615,000 new common shares without reserving a preferential subscription rights to the shareholders will allow the Management Board to, among other things, convert or grant the right to convert any present or future convertible instruments, including the convertible bonds issued by the Company in March 2021, into shares issued by the Company, satisfy the Company's obligations under its management incentive plans and to use the authorised capital for general corporate purposes, including but not limited to, raising funds required to meet the Company's financing and refinancing needs without delay and seizing opportunities in potential merger & acquisition transactions by enabling the Company to acquire shares and other assets on the best possible terms at short notice. The proposed authorised capital shall apply to rights, options, warrants, convertible instruments and other securities, restricted stock units, or other equity-based awards or rights to subscribe to or receive shares issued prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting as well as apply, to the extent not used yet, to rights issued thereupon, notably under any existing management incentive scheme or other contractual documentation entered into by the Company. Finally, as a consequence of the above, articles 6.1 and 6.2 of the Company's articles of association shall be amended and shall read as follows: '6.1 The Company's authorised capital, excluding the issued share capital, is set at two million one hundred fifty thousand euro (EUR 2,150,000), represented by two hundred fifteen million (215,000,000) common shares having a nominal value of one cent (EUR 0.01) each. 6.2 During a period of five (5) years from the date of any resolutions to create, renew or increase the authorised capital pursuant to this article, the management board with the consent of the supervisory board, is hereby authorised to issue common shares, rights, options, warrants, convertible instruments and other securities, restricted stock units, or other equity-based awards or rights to subscribe to or receive shares or grant rights to convert instruments into shares (whether on a regulated or unregulated market), for contributions in cash and/or in kind, within the limits of the authorised capital to such persons and on such terms as set forth in the special report of the management board dated 20 April 2021 as may be amended from time to time on the authorised capital and specifically to proceed with the issue of up to one hundred eighteen million six hundred fifteen thousand (118,615,000) shares without reserving a preferential right to subscribe to the shares issued for the existing shareholders subject to the limitations set forth in the special report of the management board dated 20 April 2021 as may be amended from time to time and it being understood, that any issuance of such instruments will reduce the available authorised capital accordingly.' Resolution 21 - Approval of the amendment of article 15.2 of the articles of association of the Company to amend the term of office of members of the Management Board The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting pass a resolution to reduce the term of office of members of the Management Board from five (5) years to three (3) years, which will only apply to any new appointments to the Management Board and to any renewals of the terms of the current members of the Management Board. The current terms of office of the existing members of the Management Board will not be affected. The amendment is being proposed in accordance with the recommendations of the Federal German Government Commission in the revised German Corporate Governance Code which was published in March 2020, which the Company has voluntarily decided to comply with. The new article 15.2 will read as follows: '15.2 The term of office of a member of the management board may not exceed three (3) years, it being understood that the term of the mandate of the members of the management board appointed prior to 26 May 2021 may be up to five (5) years. Members of the management board may also be reappointed for successive terms.' Resolution 22 - Approval of the deletion of transitory provisions covering the conversion of common shares of the Company into dematerialised shares and subsequent deletion of article 7.5 and articles 28.1 to 28.5 of the articles of association of the Company The Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting pass a resolution to delete transitory provisions related to the conversion of common shares of the Company into dematerialised form. Considering that the entire outstanding share capital of the Company is now composed of dematerialised shares, the Management Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting approve the deletion of article 7.5 and articles 28.1 to 28.5 of the articles of association of the Company, the purpose of which was to cover the conversion of common shares of the Company from their initial registered form into dematerialised form and has now been fulfilled. C. Important Notes about the Annual General Meeting 1. Timing The Annual General Meeting will start promptly at 10:00 CEST. Shareholders wishing to attend are advised to dial into the video conference no later than 09:50 CEST. 2. No Physical Meeting In light of the ongoing exceptional circumstances due to SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic and in accordance with the law of 23 September 2020 relating to measures on the holding of meetings in companies and other legal entities, the Company has decided to hold the Annual General Meeting via video conference only, without any physical meeting that shareholders can attend. Shareholders are required to vote by means of a proxy designated by the Company or by correspondence. 3. Questions about the Annual General Meeting If you have any questions about the Annual General Meeting, please contact the Company's agent, LINK Market Services GmbH ('Agent'): Global Fashion Group S.A.

c/o LINK Market Services GmbH

Landshuter Allee 10

80637 Munich

Germany

Tel: + 49 (0) 89 21 027 222

E-mail: agm@linkmarketservices.de D. Availability of the documentation, attendance and voting procedure 1. Available information and documentation This convening notice is to be published in the RESA (Recueil Electronique des Societes et Associations), the Luxembourg newspaper, Tageblatt, and other media (which may reasonably be expected to be relied upon for the effective dissemination of information to the public throughout the European Economic Area, and which are accessible rapidly and on a non-discriminatory basis) as well as separately dispatched by regular mail or, if agreed with the respective addressee, by e-mail to (i) the members of the Management Board, (ii) the members of the Supervisory Board and (iii) the independent auditor. The following information is available until the ending of the Annual General Meeting on the Company's website at https://ir.global-fashion-group.com/agm on the day of publication of this convening notice in the Luxembourg official gazette (Recueil Electronique des Societes et Associations): - this convening notice for the Annual General Meeting 2021; - the total number of shares and voting rights at the date of the convening notice; - the full text of any document to be made available by the Company at the Annual General Meeting 2021 (i.e. inter alia the annual report containing the 2020 standalone and consolidated accounts); - the management report; - the independent auditor report on the Company's standalone and consolidated accounts; - the full text of the draft resolutions in relation to each of the items included in the agenda to be adopted at the Annual General Meeting; - the full text of the revised remuneration policy and the remuneration report; - a biography of Philipp Povel; - the Declaration of Participation Form (as defined below); - the Attestation Form (as defined below); - the Proxy Form and Voting Form (both as defined below) to be used to vote by proxy or to vote by post; and - the special report of the Management Board. Shareholders may obtain without charge a copy of the full text of any of the above documents, and copies of the Declaration of Participation Form, the Attestation Form, the Proxy Form and the Voting Form upon request to the Company's Agent at agm@linkmarketservices.de or download them from the Company's website https://ir.global-fashion-group.com/agm 2. Quorum and majority requirements There are no quorum requirements for the proposed resolutions 1 to 19 to be passed which are adopted by a simple majority of the voting rights duly present or represented except for agenda item 1, for which no vote is necessary. The resolutions 20 to 22 may be passed by a majority of two thirds of the votes validly cast at the Annual General Meeting provided that half of the share capital is present or represented. 3. Share capital and voting rights At the time of convening the Annual General Meeting, the Company's registered capital amounts to two million one hundred fifty thousand nine hundred ninety-three euro and nine cents (EUR 2,150,993.09), represented by two hundred fifteen million ninety-nine thousand three hundred nine (215,099,309) common shares of one cent (EUR 0.01) each. Each common share entitles the holder to one vote. 4. Requirements for participating in the Annual General Meeting and exercising voting rights 4.1. Record Date The rights of a shareholder to participate in the Annual General Meeting and to vote shall be determined with respect to the shares held by that shareholder on 12 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST (the 'Record Date'). Eligibility to participate in the Annual General Meeting is determined exclusively by share ownership on the Record Date. Any transferee having become owner of any shares after the Record Date has no right to vote at the Annual General Meeting. 4.2. Registration procedure and evidence of share ownership Shareholders who wish to participate in the Annual General Meeting and to vote the shares held by them on the Record Date (regardless the manner they wish to participate, either by representation through proxy or voting by post) shall submit: (i) a form declaring their intention to participate at the Annual General Meeting (the 'Declaration of Participation Form') at the latest by the Record Date; and (ii) a form evidencing their ownership of shares as at the Record Date (the 'Attestation Form') the latest by 19 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST. The right of the shareholder to participate and vote in the Annual General Meeting will only be completed and confirmed when both documents are provided before the deadlines established herein. As regards (i), the shareholders who wish to participate (either by voting through proxy or voting by correspondence) shall on or before the Record Date submit to the Company's Agent to a written declaration of their intention to participate at the Annual General Meeting (the 'Declaration of Participation Form') at the following e-mail address: agm@linkmarketservices.de The Declaration of Participation Form shall be submitted by the shareholders regardless of the manner they wish to participate (representation by proxy or voting by post). To be valid, the Declaration of Participation Form must be received by the Company's Agent by e-mail at the above address on the Record Date. As regards (ii), the shareholders who intend to participate at the Annual General Meeting (either via representation by proxy or by voting by correspondence) shall also submit an attestation from their depository bank or financial institution stating the number of shares held by that shareholder on the Record Date (the 'Attestation Form'). The Attestation Form must be received by the Company's Agent by e-mail, at the latest on 19 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST, at the following e-mail address: agm@linkmarketservices.de 4.3. Attendance by video conference Upon receipt of the Declaration of Participation Form and Attestation Form within the given deadlines, the Company will presume that such shareholder will attend by video conference and vote at the Annual General Meeting by means of the proxy designated by the Company or has voted in advance by correspondence. It is important to note that shareholders will not be able to express their vote directly during the video conference. For this reason, we strongly encourage shareholders to exercise their voting rights by casting their vote either by proxy or by correspondence. Shareholders wishing to attend the video conference will then receive the video conference details to enable them to attend the Annual General Meeting by video link. 4.4. Proxy voting representative To simplify the execution of their voting rights, the Company provides its shareholders the option of appointing a proxy voting representative named by the Company and bound by the instructions of the shareholder prior to the Annual General Meeting. Shareholders are not able to appoint a proxy voting representative other than that named by the Company. Shareholders who wish to vote via proxy must complete a proxy form (the 'Proxy Form'). To be valid, the Proxy Forms must be received by the Company's Agent by e-mail, on 19 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST, at the latest, at the following e-mail address: agm@linkmarketservices.de Exercise of voting rights of shares in connection with duly filled and signed Proxy Forms received after 19 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST, may not be admitted at the Annual General Meeting. 4.5. Voting by correspondence We strongly encourage all shareholders to exercise their voting rights by casting their votes by correspondence, using the forms provided by the Company to that effect (the 'Voting Forms'). To be valid, the Voting Forms must be received by the Company's Agent by e-mail, prior to 19 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST. Exercise of voting rights of shares in connection with duly filled and signed Voting Forms received after 19 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST, may not be admitted at the Annual General Meeting. 5. Shareholder Questions Shareholders that have correctly submitted their Attestation Forms and their Declaration of Participation Forms shall have the opportunity to submit questions to the Company. All questions must be submitted in writing in advance of the Annual General Meeting. Shareholders must submit questions, along with their full name, via e-mail to the following address: agm@linkmarketservices.de Questions submitted by the shareholders must be received in writing at the latest on 15 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST. Questions submitted after this deadline may not be answered and any questions submitted by other means will not be considered. The submitted questions will be answered at the reasonable discretion of the Company and the Company is not required to answer all questions. In particular, questions may be summarised, combined or separated. Reasonable questions may be selected in the interest of the other shareholders, and questions from shareholders' associations and institutional investors with significant voting interests may be given preference. 6. Submission of Revised Agenda Shareholders holding individually or collectively at least five per cent (5%) of issued share capital of the Company as at the Record Date are entitled to (i) request the addition of items to the agenda of the Annual General Meeting and (ii) to table draft resolutions for items included or to be included on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting. Such right must be exercised by sending such request by 4 May 2021 at 23:59 CEST at the latest to the e-mail address of the Company's Agent: agm@linkmarketservices.de Such request will only be accepted by the Company provided it includes (i) the wording of the new requested agenda item, and (ii) the justification or the wording of the proposed resolution pertaining to the items included or to be included, and (ii) an e-mail address or a postal address to which the Company may confirm receipt of the request. Where the requests entail a new item in the agenda for the Annual General Meeting already communicated to the shareholders, the Company will publish a revised agenda on or before 11 May 2021 at the latest. Subject to compliance with the threshold notification obligations provided for by the Luxembourg law of 11 January 2008 on transparency requirements for issuers of securities, as amended, there is no limit to the maximum number of votes that may be exercised by the same person, whether in its own name or by proxy. The results of the vote will be published on the Company's website within fifteen (15) days following the Annual General Meeting. 7. Contact details of Agent The contact details of the centralizing agent duly mandated by the Company to receive copies, followed by the original of the Declaration of Participation Form, the Attestation Form, the Proxy Form, the Voting Form, proposals of additional agenda items and proposed resolutions pursuant to this convening notice are as follows: LINK Market Services GmbH

Landshuter Allee 10

80637 Munich

Germany

Tel: + 49 (0) 89 21 027 222

E-mail: agm@linkmarketservices.de Luxembourg, 20 April 2021 For the Management Board, Christoph Barchewitz

Co-CEO & Member of the Management Board

23.04.2021 Die DGAP Distributionsservices umfassen gesetzliche Meldepflichten, Corporate News/Finanznachrichten und Pressemitteilungen.

Medienarchiv unter http://www.dgap.de


Hyderabad, April 23 : Nine empty oxygen tankers from Telangana were airlifted to Odisha on Friday to bring back oxygen faster to the state for supply to hospitals treating Covid patients.

Two C-17 planes of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were used to airlift the tankers from Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad to liquid oxygen plants in Odisha Health Minister E. Rajender and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar supervised the airlifting operation at the airport.

The minister said the tankers will return by road to bring 150 tonnes of oxygen to the state by April 27. He claimed that this is the first instance in the country where war planes were used to airlift oxygen tankers.

Rajender said the airlifting of the tankers to Angul and Rourkela steel plants in Odisha will save three days in transportation. He said the Telangana government was ready to spend any amount of money to save people's lives.

The minister said the government has installed liquid oxygen tanks in 22 government hospitals. This move will ensure that there is no shortage of oxygen at government hospitals.

The C17 aircraft deployed for airlifting were commanded by Wing Commander Chaitanya and Wing Commander Nijhawan.

Industry Minister K.T. Rama Rao took to Twitter to compliment the Health Minister and Chief Secretary for supervising the airlifting of oxygen tankers. He said this would save three days and many valuable lives.

This came a day after the Health Minister criticised the Centre for allocating oxygen to the state from Odisha as the tankers will have to cover a distance of over 1,300 km. He wanted the Centre to provide oxygen from manufacturing units in neighbouring states.

Rajender had said that the Centre would be responsible for any shortage of oxygen in the state.

He said though oxygen allocation to Telangana is 384 tonnes per day, the state is getting only 260-270 tonnes.

He, however, said there were no deaths of Covid patients in the state due to lack of oxygen as the authorities were effectively tackling the situation.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
In early April, about fifteen soldiers showed up at an outdoor market in the north of Myanmars main city of Yangon. The countrys military staged a coup on February 1, and its response to a massive popular uprising against its rule has been to try to terrorize the entire population into submission. The arrival of men in camo usually means civilians are about to be threatened, beaten, abducted, or murdered.

On this occasion the soldiers were there to patrol the market ahead of a visit by a CNN camera crew, led by the networks chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward. Her team, along with a journalist from the Southeast Asia Globe who also filed for Al Jazeera and the Washington Post, was being escorted everywhere by the military on a tightly-controlled media trip. As they shot footage of the market, plainclothes regime officials lurked nearby.

Word of CNNs visit to Myanmar had already spread across social media, sparking concerns that the junta would use the trip to present a false narrative to the world about the situation in the country.

It also divided opinion between those who hoped the trip would shine more light on the horrific crimes of the new junta, which has now murdered at least 739 people including dozens of children, and those who saw it as reckless parachute journalism thatregardless of what ended up being reportedwould help to legitimize the regime.

But the stakes of the debate got much higher after the journalists arrived at the market. When locals realized they were there, the area erupted in an impromptu protest as people flashed three-fingered Hunger Games salutes and banged pots and pans. Others approached the journalists to talk, eager to make sure the juntas narrative didnt dominate their coverage.

Are you scared to talk to me? Allegra Mendelson, the Southeast Asia Globe reporter, asked one woman, a witness who saw the encounter tells CJR on condition of anonymity. Yes, they are watching me, the woman responded. At this, a man in plainclothes pulled the woman away from the reporter and said the conversation was over.

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As soon as the journalists left, authorities came back to punish people for their disobedience, snatching two women and taking them to a military interrogation center. We didnt expect it to happen so fast, the witness said. After that, all the interviewees in the market moved out of their homes for their safety. The military later said it had detained a third person.

Another eight people were detained the same day after the journalists visited a second market. Two young women shouted for help as they were led away by a man with a gun, who responded by asking if any onlookers would dare to intervene. The detainees were kept for several nights and repeatedly asked what they had told CNN, according to someone who narrowly avoided being arrested at the second market. At least eight of the eleven have now been released, CNN reported.

Ward later told Jake Tapper on air that the eight people from the second market had been detained and released after a few days, but neglected to mention the other three, who appear to still be in detention.

The trip was arranged by controversial Israeli-Canadian lobbyist Ari Ben-Menashe, who is charging the junta two million dollars to help show the world the real situation in Myanmar, according to a Reuters report. None of the reports CNN broadcast mentioned this, but they all tried to make the case that Wards visit was in the public interest. Tell us why its so important for you to be there, anchor John Berman asked her during one segment.

We wanted to come here to report on the ground, Ward said, because, simply put John, no other journalists, international journalists, have been allowed into Myanmar since this coup happened.

After this aired, observers on Twitter pointed out that several foreign journalists, including BBC and Al Jazeera contributors, were already in the country when the military seized power and many local journalists are covering events.

In another segment Tapper asked Ward why the regime allowed her into the country. The military has its side of the story too, she said, and up until now theyve been largely tight-lipped about what that is.

But Aye Min Thant, a former Reuters reporter who was based in Yangon until fleeing the country recently, tells CJR they do not agree with that rationale. The Myanmar military produces four newspapers, one of which is entirely in English, and also controls the airwaves in Myanmar. The military is not lacking for platforms to tell their side of the story.

Amid increasing criticism, including from Burmese journalists and activists, Ward defended her trip on Twitter. Very striking that I am being absolutely inundated with positive, heartfelt messages from people in Myanmar, she said, while a handful of white male academics/commentators (none of them in the country) write endless screeds about how offensive my trip is to the people of Myanmar.

This is not the first time CNN has waded into ethically murky territory in Myanmar. In 2016 the network signed a deal with a broadcaster in the country called SkyNet to help it start a news channel and website. SkyNets owner, Kyaw Win, has long been linked to the military and in 2010 was accused of being heavily involved in land grabbing. The year after CNN signed the deal, Kyaw Wins company publically donated $70,000 to the military at the height of its mass killing campaign against the Rohingya. CNN continued doing business with SkyNet afterwards.

CNN did not respond to several detailed questions about the Myanmar trip, its subsequent coverage, and the current status of its partnership with SkyNet. Ward did not respond to requests for an interview sent via Twitter and Instagram.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Joshua Carroll and Tin Htet Paing are the authors. Joshua Carroll is a freelance journalist who was previously based in Myanmar. Follow him on Twitter @JershCarroll. Tin Htet Paing is a Burmese journalist working as an assistant news editor for Myanmar Now, an investigative news website.
Berkeley Lab researcher Hanna Breunig. Credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab

For new energy technologies, the time elapsed from when a breakthrough is made in a laboratory setting until when it is validated, scaled up, piloted, and then widely commercialized can be years or even decades. But in the race to avoid the most damaging impacts of climate warming, the need for negative emissions technologies is urgent.

Negative emission technologies, or NETsalso referred to as carbon removal technologiesremove carbon dioxide from the air or other sources or enhance natural carbon sinks, such as forests and soil. Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoiding the most catastrophic impacts of climate change will require the use of NETs by the middle of this century.

At the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), researchers like Hanna Breunig, who specializes in techno-economic analysis, have been working with scientists for years on energy technologies such as hydrogen and biofuels. Now they've rolled up their sleeves to dig in deep on emerging negative emissions technologies, helping the scientists to make their innovations more competitive and impactful.

Q. What is your background and expertise?

My doctorate is in civil and environmental engineering, and in my Ph.D. thesis I looked at CO 2 injection underground and CO 2 utilization in industry. I worked with [Berkeley Lab scientists] Thomas McKone, Jens Birkholzer, and Curt Oldenburg to understand the potential scale, cost, and impacts of CO 2 conversion and sequestration options.

At Berkeley Lab there's been a real push to couple the researchers working on fundamental science with people like myself who are familiar with market analysis, technology deployment, and scenario modeling. Integrating techno-economic analysis in the research and development can not only help the science to make a competitive impact, it can help in comparing technologies and deciding what to invest in. I don't just think about the costs. I also think about the lifecycle implications. You want to know that any negative emissions technology being deployed can lower CO 2 concentrations while not creating unacceptable impacts in other categories, such as the generation of criterial air pollutants.

Q. Can you give me an example of how your analysis might guide the R&D?

I've been working with [Berkeley Lab materials scientist] Jeff Long on his metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, for hydrogen storage. He's also looking at MOFs for direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The real thing he wanted to understand is how do you connect material discovery and design with very practical engineering principles to make an impact on the cost. It's takes sophisticated techno-economic analysis to connect and translate information among these different disciplines to guide the research and development.

For example, on the DAC technology, my research can determine the importance of having a system that releases the CO 2 very easily after capture at mild conditions, or having a system that can adsorb tons and tons of CO 2 in one cycle. There are often trade-offs between capital investment versus operation costs, but MOFs are famous for their tunability, and perhaps both challenges facing DAC can be overcome.

Q. Interesting. How would you evaluate those trade-offs? What kind of analyses do you do?

In a first pass, I create almost black-box process models, where I start at a very high level and model the novel technology component based on known material properties and fundamental engineering principles. This is a valuable exercise as we rarely have prototypes or pilot systems to guide us. From this black-box model we can understand the number of MOF-filled units needed for a given target capture of CO 2 , the energy needs, and all the necessary infrastructure around itthe compressors, the refrigeration units. Then, depending on where I assume the DAC systems is deployed in the United States, I can estimate the cost of the electricity or heat source and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with that energy. Comparing the cost and emissions from energy consumption with the capital cost of the system helps me reach some preliminary conclusions before doing a deeper dive on the DAC process models.

I also do a sensitivity analysis. I might tweak, for example, how would that material perform in theory if its adsorption looks like this; how does that affect costs compared to if its kinetics changed a little bit? And the scientists would help guide me in that sensitivity analysis to say, okay, here's a low and high number of what we see in our research or what's even theoretically possible. That way I'm tinkering with my model in very reasonable ways.

Q. At what point in their research do you start working with scientists?

If you're familiar with the "technology readiness level" scale, where TRL 1 is conceptual and TRL 9 is a system is launched and successful in real-world conditions, I can do techno-economic analysis for every single one of those. Even at TRL 10 there's troubleshooting, or you enter a new policy landscape and the developers want to understand their next decision. And at the concept level, it can be simply helping scientists start to assess the practicality of different designs or figure out what existing technologies their system would even be competing against. So, it's almost more like a market analysis and engineering design exercise at this stage.

Q. Are there any special considerations when doing techno-economic analysis for negative emissions technologies as opposed to other energy technologies?

Without systems analysis to guide deployment, a negative emissions technology could be very expensive or worse, very ineffective. There are a number of different negative emissions technologies beyond DAC, but I will focus on that since I've used that as my example. If you run DAC on an electricity grid that's powered by natural gas and coal, it's estimated that you're actually emitting more CO 2 that what is captured. But if you're running DAC using renewable electricity, then you will emit less CO 2 than what is captured. So, if you say your technology costs $500 to capture a ton of CO 2 , but a half ton is emitted due to energy consumption, we're actually only offsetting half a ton. So now it's $1,000 to offset a ton. That's the kind of discussions that I can help add real numbers to.

Secondly, what you do with that captured CO 2 is important. Converting it to another chemical product or storing it underground has an energy penalty associated with it. So, there's a host of issues around the lifecycle that can be case-specific and therefore very challenging to communicate.

Finally, we need to consider logistics. We need to know where the CO 2 is being captured. Without this piece, it is hard to model the supply chain and answer questions around whether it make sense to store it or convert it onsite or transport that CO 2 to a location where you can do something with it. We can't allocate all of our limited renewable energy resources to negative emissions technologies, so we will need to be prudent about where we deploy DAC based on those renewable energy resources, as well CO 2 sources and CO 2 sequestration options. So, I'm going to be thinking very critically about the supply and also the coupling of these systems. While a lot of these technologies are rising up in technology readiness level, the coupling of them is very early stage.

Explore further A sponge to soak up carbon dioxide in the air
National-security policy should be based on facts, not emotionally laden talking points, especially when the talking points bear little resemblance to reality. But this is precisely what we see in the unfolding effort to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Ignoring and, in some cases, distorting the facts, the Biden administration appears unwilling to change course and determined to repeat the mistakes of the past.

In part, this dangerous fixation results from the return to office of individuals previously associated with the negotiations conducted during the Obama years. The 2015 agreement, despite its fatal flaws and the almost certain rejection by the Senate if it had been submitted as a treaty, is considered by these newly reappointed officials to be the most significant foreign-policy achievement of the Obama-Biden tenure. They believed it then, and they believe it now, despite major changes in the security environment and despite actions taken by Iran that have totally undermined the arguments put forth originally to sell the nuclear agreement to the American public. For them, rejoining the JCPOA is more an article of faith than a calculated response to a national-security threat. Moreover, the single-minded rejection of all Iran-related decisions taken by the previous administration, inseparable from a palpable hatred of Trump, only reinforces their sense of righteousness. But facts, as our second president was fond of saying, are stubborn things.

The JCPOA was portrayed by President Obama and thenvice president Biden as an effective barrier preventing Iran from moving forward in its quest for a nuclear weapon. The principal talking point was that the agreement would block all pathways for Irans nuclear program. While it was apparent to many experts that this was not true, the talking point prevailed. Today, especially in light of the actions taken by Iran since the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, the failure of the JCPOA to block Irans path to a nuclear weapon is clear. All of these actions  retaining quantities of low-enriched uranium above the permitted level, enriching uranium to 60 percent, operating advanced centrifuges, producing uranium metal (which has only one purpose)  demonstrate that Tehran maintained the option under the agreement to break out whenever it chose to do so. Without any sense of irony or self-awareness, the Biden team now cites Irans actions as the most urgent reason to rejoin the agreement. In other words, Iran uses the very flaws of the agreement to gain leverage in the negotiations for the U.S. to rejoin and relieve sanctions.

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The JCPOA was also portrayed as a means to engineer positive change inside Iran by strengthening the so-called moderate faction, supposedly headed by President Rouhani, against the hard-liners. The thought was that the hundreds of billions of dollars Iran would receive from sanctions relief would be used to improve its economy, which in turn would lead to political moderation. Even putting aside the false premise that such a division exists in a governing elite selected under the rules of the religious dictatorship set by the supreme leader, we now know what actually happened to the windfall of cash delivered to the regime. The money that was not siphoned off through corruption was used to intimidate Irans neighbors, inflame SunniShiite divisions, and provoke instability throughout the region. The Revolutionary Guards and the military acquired even more deadly arsenals of missiles and other weapons used to support the murderous Assad regime, the Houthis, and others, including Irans terrorist proxies. None of this should come as a surprise. Following the conclusion of the negotiations, Irans supreme leader denounced the United States, making clear that Iran would continue to support its allies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, and reaffirming his support for Hezbollah and other terrorist groups dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Have no doubt that, when sanctions are lifted again, we will hear these same words.

In an effort to justify the decision to rejoin the JCPOA, and consistent with the notion that everything undertaken by the Trump administration must be undone, the Biden administration has disparaged the maximum-pressure campaign as a failure. Yet the policy was having exactly the intended effect. The imposition of broad sanctions on Iran, including restrictions on its ability to sell oil on the international market and use the global financial and banking systems, has had a devastating impact on the economy. Strikes in key sectors have broken out, along with large-scale demonstrations that have threatened the very foundation of the regime. This movement for change was met with barbarity. In late 2018 alone, over 1,500 demonstrators were murdered in the streets.

And while the Biden team rightly speaks out against Chinas genocide against the Uighurs and warns Russia that it will pay a high price if Alexei Navalny dies in prison, Americas voice is silent when it comes to Irans crimes against humanity. As was done in 2009, the Biden administration has chosen not to respond to the brutal repression of the Iranian people out of concern that speaking out would somehow derail the negotiations to rejoin the nuclear agreement. All potential leverage from economic sanctions has been abandoned, along with the principle of standing up for human rights. Appeasement carries a heavy price.

The administrations myopic focus on rejoining the JCPOA also ignores the fundamental changes in the security environment of the Gulf region since 2015. The growing collaboration between Israel and the Gulf states, reflected in the Abraham accords, has at its core the goal of containing Iran and deterring its aggression. American allies from Jerusalem to Riyadh understand the nature of the Tehran regime and are working together to confront the threat. The concessions that the Biden administration is reportedly willing to make to return to the nuclear agreement will directly undercut the position of our allies. With relief from sanctions and with tacit agreement from the United States that it will not support the democratic opposition to the religious dictatorship, the Biden policy will strengthen our adversary and undermine our allies, to the long-term strategic detriment of our national interests.

Biden administration officials will, of course. reject all the above criticisms. Their response is conveyed in yet another frequently heard talking point, stating that rejoining the JCPOA is only the first step  a step that will be followed by negotiations to address the agreements flaws, such as its failure to limit ballistic missiles, and curb Irans malign behavior in the region through armed interventions and support for terrorism. These are the same objectives that were sought in the original negotiations but abandoned when the supreme leader ruled them out. That position has not changed, and there is no indication that it will. When the U.S. lifts sanctions as a condition of rejoining the agreement, it will be the last step, not the first step. Iran will have again achieved its objectives. And the U.S. will have again paid a high price for a bad deal.

Finally, as for ending Irans involvement in acts of state terrorism, one need look no further than the city where the negotiations are currently taking place. In February, an Iranian agent assigned to Tehrans embassy in Vienna was convicted in a Belgian court of committing an act of state terrorism, for planning and supplying an explosive device intended to bomb a peaceful rally near Paris attended by tens of thousands seeking a democratic and secular Iran. Today that same embassy is providing support to the Iranian delegation in the JCPOA talks, and the reaction of the European host governments and the Biden administration: complete silence. But the message for Iran is loud and clear.

More from National Review
The Japanese government is now filling food banks with food that is no longer in use.

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Shinji Inoue, commented that, "there is a variety of staple food available such as rice and side dishes."

Food stockpiled by each ministry and agency for disasters is regularly replaced, amounting to about 200,000 meals a year.

Food that is no longer used had been discarded until now, but in the future will be handed over to food banks after confirming its safety.

Minister Inoue wants not only to reduce food loss, but also to help people who are suffering from the effects of COVID-19.

When and what kind of food will be offered will be announced on the ministry's website from next month.
World News: Womens Economic Empowerment in Fisheries in the Blue Economy of the Indian Ocean Rim: A Baseline Report

April 23,2021 | Source: UN Women

Women constitute nearly half of those employed in fisheries globally and are actively engaged in the industry in countries in the Indian Ocean Rim. Women fishers contribute significantly to household income and food security, and their economic contributions are often the mainstay of family and community sustenance. Fisheries, however, remains a traditionally male-dominated sector where womens contributions are greatly devalued. Furthermore, womens work in fisheries and aquaculture often lacks formal recognition, and women are vastly underrepresented in policy and decision-making. This report by UN Women, in partnership with the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), examines the roles of women in fisheries and aquaculture in the Indian Ocean Rim region and the challenges and opportunities for their economic empowerment. The report focuses on the 22 Member States of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and includes both marine and inland fisheries and aquaculture sectors.



In addition to establishing a baseline for the region, the report provides a set of recommendations for policymakers, the private sector, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders, to address gender equality issues in the following areas, among others:



employment and regulation;

occupational segregation and gender wage gaps;

social security;

unpaid care work;

climate change; and

womens organizations, collectives, and leadership.

The report also includes country profiles for each IORA Member State that collate a wide range of information on fisheries and aquaculture, with a focus on womens engagement in the sector.



Full report is available at: Womens Economic Empowerment in Fisheries in the Blue Economy of the Indian Ocean Rim: A Baseline Reporthttps://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/womens-economic-empowerment-in-fisheries-in-the-blue-economy-of-the-indian-ocean-rim-en.pdf?
It appears the department has been aware of its reliance on international doctors for many years, warning in a 2017 report of the risks that existed if that supply of workers was shut off. Over-reliance risks predicted The report by the Medical Workforce Branch of the WA Department of Health projected a shortfall of 1450 medical practitioners across all specialties in the state by 2025. The report found the number of trained specialists would not meet demand in 18 specialties by 2025 with the resulting risk of not being able to meet health service needs and compromising safety and quality of care. The report noted the state relied on international medical graduates to help cover this demand and said these overseas doctors would continue to address short to medium-term shortfalls unless policy changes or shortages disrupted recruitment.

It is important to understand the impact a reduction in recruitment of IMGs would have on our health system in the short-term with regard to junior doctor numbers and in our consultant staff in the medium to long-term, the report warned. Policy changes or shortages in countries that traditionally supply our IMGs could have the potential to move a specialty from having a small excess to a shortfall within a very short time period. Despite this, the number of international healthcare workers on visas continued to rise. Demand for overseas workers rises In the 2020 financial year, the number of healthcare workers granted visas in WA increased by 8.2 per cent, according to the most recent report on temporary skilled visas from the Department of Home Affairs.

A total of 530 applications were granted, up from 490 in 2018-19, an increase despite migration in the last three months of the year being all but stopped by border restrictions. Loading Junior doctors, referred to as resident medical officers, were the profession granted the most visas, ahead of mechanical engineering technicians and diesel motor mechanics. General practitioners came in fourth. AMA WA president Andrew Miller said international staff had become a critical part of the workforce. These doctors are a buffer  they are not a big group but they are incredibly important because if you dont fill that last percentage of roles then the system starts to fall apart, Dr Miller said.

We were already trying to make up for a shortage and then COVID happened, borders closed and we went a long way backwards. Thats how Fiona Stanley ended up about 65 junior medical staff short at one stage last year. Dr Miller said the staffing issues had created significant problems for the operation of the hospitals and the welfare of local staff. Government redirecting staff The Department of Health spokesperson said it had been focusing on ensuring high priority areas had enough junior medical doctors. This included starting a cohort of interns at Fiona Stanley Hospital in early November 2020. Additionally, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency opened its graduate registration processes earlier (from 14 September 2020) and developed supporting resources to encourage early applications from the entry level clinical workforce to assist with workforce supply across all jurisdictions, they said.

The spokesperson acknowledged some staff had been redirected to COVID-related activities and said the department was helping hospitals recruit more newly recently qualified nurses and move skilled nurses back to the acute care setting. In April, Health Minister Roger Cook also announced the launch of a national and international recruitment drive to bring more experienced nurses into the health system. However, Dr Miller said solutions offered to date lacked the visionary planning and action required for a staffing problem that had been developing for years and exacerbated by COVID-19 border restrictions. He said a co-ordinated response from state and federal governments was required to strip out bureaucracy and allow much-needed medical staff into the country. Migration crash predicted

In a July 2020 budget update, the federal government forecast overseas migration to Australia would fall from 232,000 in 2018-19 to 154,000 in 2019-20 and 31,000 in 2020-21 due to border and visa restrictions. Loading Since March 20 last year, travel restrictions capped the number of international arrivals into Australia and prevented foreign nationals from entering unless they met certain criteria or obtained an exemption. Exemptions are granted to people providing critical or specialist medical services, people with critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services, people delivering services in sectors critical to Australias economic recovery or people sponsored by an employer to work in Australia in a priority migration skilled occupation. Eleven of the 18 exempt occupations are in medical fields.

A spokesperson from the Australian Border Force said since March 20 last year, 90 per cent of applications relating to medical fields had been approved, equating to more than 1500 people. The spokesperson said there was no limit placed on the number of individual travel exemptions issued. Life and death issue However, Kalgoorlie GP April Armstrong said international doctors with secured work and approved visas were struggling to get into the country. Dr Armstrong is the only doctor at her clinic, and is relying on two east coast doctors attending to her clients via videolink after being unable to get overseas doctors in to help.

She said she had been advocating on behalf of international doctors seeking to get into the country but many could not get the exemptions they needed. It is not just a workforce issue, it affects peoples lives. We are talking about life and death because people cant be seen because they are sitting in a waiting room, she said. I can see the rollout of the vaccines will be further slowed from a smaller workforce, tragedies like we saw at PCH will happen more regularly  and there will be declines in long-term health outcomes for patients. Kalgoorlie is generally a good bellweather for medical workforce issues in WA  and like Kalgoorlie was a warning flag that there was something wrong in WA, WA is the warning flag there is something wrong in Australia. This is an urgent national issue. A spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, which oversees arrival caps, said they were based on state quarantine capacity.
Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell, said his caucus loves coal. Nonetheless, a House committee voted 11-1 on Wednesday to table a bill that purported to encourage coal-fired energy production at Colstrip.

Montana was built on coal. Many of us want to keep it, Skees said.

Chairman Skees said many Republicans want to find a way to help coal stay in the energy mix, but when he did due diligence on Senate Bill 379, he concluded its emotional appeal to the GOP was empty: This bill does not save Colstrip.

Rep. Geraldine Custer, R-Forsyth, was the only member of the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee to vote against tabling the bill. Last week, the Senate passed it 27-21.

Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, sponsored the legislation he argued was meant to encourage coal production at NorthWestern Energys plants in Colstrip. His father, John Fitzpatrick, worked as a lobbyist for NorthWestern before he retired in 2016.

The bill would have allowed NorthWestern to buy more shares of the facility it owns with several other companies without the standard evaluation and term setting by the Montana Public Service Commission. It also would have given NorthWestern a rate of return on power purchase agreements  a deal no other utility gets, Skees said. The PSC regulates the monopoly utility in Montana.

Rep. Denise Hayman, D-Bozeman, said she had looked at nearly 4,000 emails opposing the bill, and many people expressed concern their rates would go up without oversight by the Public Service Commission. The bill would have allowed NorthWestern to recover costs a utility normally doesnt get to recoup from customers, such as money from a shuttered plant and remediation costs a previous owner would normally be on the hook for  to the tune of millions.

In light of the mandates in this bill that will not protect the ratepayer, there is no way I can support this bill, Hayman said.

Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, said the bill never should have been brought to the Montana Legislature in the first place. It sought, inappropriately, she said, to force lawmakers to make an economic decision for the state that regulators are charged with making.

The PSC has the resources, the time and the responsibility to make an adequate decision about not just this particular acquisition, but all acquisitions, said Zolnikov, committee vice chair. Thats what they exist to do. Thats the purpose of that body.

But Rep. Larry Brewster, R-Billings, said the PSCs decisions can seem arbitrary, and it has an obligation to build trust with the public and give people an understanding of its rationale. At the same time, he said he lived through the negative energy deregulation results from 1997. Customer rates skyrocketed.

It was an utter disaster. And Im telling you, the whole thing smells the same to me, said Brewster, echoing a refrain among many former lawmakers and previous members of the Public Service Commission. (He voted sadly, yes, to table the bill.)

Rep. Neil Duram, R-Eureka, also voted to table the proposal because of the way it undercut the PSC. However, he said it was eye opening to hear about energy shortfalls on the grid this February, and he believes the energy market will only tighten. Montana is seeing more demand for power with population growth, he said, including wealthy people who use more energy.

Its my prediction theres going to be a greater shortfall next February, Duram said.

Skees, though, praised NorthWestern for a deal it announced this week that adds to its energy portfolio, including with battery storage and hydro, and does so at a rate he believes is excellent. The previous PSC had problems, he said, and the tension between the utility and its regulators is real.

We dont solve it by making NorthWestern Energy more powerful than the PSC, Skees said.

At the meeting, the committee also voted to table Senate Bill 86, which would have created a grant program to help workers in Colstrip with money from power companies.
Travelers from India are still able to fly into the US despite its soaring COVID-19 cases - while the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Dubai have all banned flights from the country.

The CDC issued new guidance Wednesday putting India on its highest level - level 4 - travel advisory, warning Americans to avoid all travel to the country.

'Because of the current situation in India even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to India,' the CDC said.

However this advisory is not an outright ban, with the CDC only strongly encouraging US citizens who must travel to India to get fully vaccinated before travel and to follow COVID-19 safety protocols including wearing a mask, practice social distancing and wash hands often.

Travelers from India are still able to fly into the US after the UK, Canada and Dubai all banned flights from the country where COVID-19 cases continue to soar. Travelers arriving into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

India has not been added to the list currently banning entry to the US if travelers have been in the UK, China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa or much of Europe in the last 14 days despite the nation grappling with the worst COVID-19 crisis worldwide. Miami International Airport above

The percentage change in daily Covid infections by Indian state today compared to at their peak, most of which were recorded last year. States which have surpassed their peak infection rates by more than 300 per cent include Ladakh in the far north, Gujurat and Rajsthan in the west, Uttar Pradesh in the northeast and Chhattisgarh in the central eastern part of the country. Andra Pradesh in the east and the cluster of states in the far northeast of the country remain below their peaks of the first wave, suggesting that they may yet have another wave to live through

In fact, India is just one of around 100 countries added to the US's 'do not travel' list this week, including the UK, Canada, France, Mexico and Germany.

But, while India is on the same travel advisory level as the likes of the UK, travel from the UK to the US is currently banned.

The UK along with China, Iran, the European Schengen area, Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa are impacted by presidential proclamations banning non-citizens from entering the US if they have been in any of these countries in the last 14 days.

The ban was first introduced by Donald Trump last March, and reinstated by Joe Biden when he took office in January.

It is not clear why India has not also been banned, given the nation is currently grappling with the worst COVID-19 crisis worldwide.

India recorded a staggering 332,730 cases in the last 24 hours, smashing a global record for the highest number of new cases in a single day in any country since the start of the pandemic.

By comparison, the UK recorded 2,678 new daily cases in the last 24 hours and cases, deaths and hospitalizations are all declining as the nation's vaccine rollout ramps up.

But while the UK ban rumbles on past the year mark, US citizens and Indian nationals with valid US visas can continue to fly directly into America.

This is a marked difference from the tight restrictions issued by other countries in recent days.

The UK added India to its 'red list' Friday, banning travelers from the country with the exception of British and Irish nationals who must isolate in a government-approved hotel on arrival.

Canada on Thursday banned all flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days, slashing around one fifth of the country's incoming air traffic.

The same day, Dubai announced it was stopping all flights from India for at least 10 days starting Sunday.

New Zealand, Hong Kong and Pakistan have also imposed new restrictions on India in recent days.

The tighter restrictions on travelers from India comes as the nation is rocked by a devastating second wave.

Daily infections hit 332,730 on Friday, up from 314,835 the previous day when India set a new record, surpassing one set by the United States in January of 297,430 new cases

The daily death toll also jumped to a record 2,263, though these fatalities could be at least ten times under-reported amid a second wave more than three times the size of the first. Delhi reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began

People wait to cremate victims who died due to COVID-19 at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India

Patients lie on stretchers outside a hospital in Delhi during a live TV broadcast. Sky TV said during its report that they saw dozens of dead bodies being wheeled out of the hospital while they were there, while others wait with oxygen tanks rigged up beside outdoor stretchers for those who are unable to get inside

People stand in a queue to refill oxygen in cylinders in Delhi on Friday. Police have been deployed at hospitals in the city to prevent oxygen from being looted as people are prepared to pay thousands of rupees to fill up cylinders

A patient, wearing an oxygen mask, sits outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India's largest facilities for coronavirus disease, in Delhi today

Daily infections hit 332,730, up from 314,835 on Thursday when India surpassed a grim record set by the United States in January. Another 2,263 deaths were reported - though the true figure is believed to be up to ten times higher.

Delhi recorded more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.

Doctors in the city of 29 million have no more beds left and police have been deployed around hospitals to prevent oxygen from being looted as infections stand at more than treble their peak last year.

Sky News captured images of dozens of people lying on stretchers outside one overcrowded hospital in the capital. In the minutes of the short live report, at least three dead bodies were seen being wheeled out of the front doors of the medical centre.

But while northern states like Gujurat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing coronavirus infection rates which are more than quadruple what they were in the first wave, others to the south, like Andrha Pradesh, and in the far northeast, like Assam, have not yet experienced a second wave and aren't under lockdown rules.

This suggests that though the overall numbers for India are colossal, they could still climb higher, putting further strain on the country's overwhelmed healthcare system which is running short of basic anti-viral medications.

Relatives carry the body of a man who died from coronavirus during his funeral in Delhi on Friday

Bodies of Covid victims are burned in funeral pyres at a cremation ground in Mumbai on Friday

Prof James Naismith, of the University of Oxford, told MailOnline: 'What is happening in India is stark illustration of the havoc that rapid spread of the virus does; healthcare overwhelmed and vulnerable people suffocating to death in ambulances waiting for help.

'This might be an appropriate point for those who so blithely advocated ending the UK lockdown in the autumn and winter to reconsider their analysis.

'The UK has avoided the fate that has befallen India (and many other countries who we do not see on our TV) because of the action of our governments and every one of us who wore a mask, distanced, washed our hands and isolated when sick. Vaccination now means that we will not ever see such scenes from Covid-19 here.'

It comes as a fire broke out at a packed hospital outside Mumbai on Friday, leaving 13 people dead.

Narendra Modi called it 'tragic' as he approved payouts for the victims' relatives, but the PM faces growing criticism for staging election rallies despite hospitals running out of beds and oxygen tankers being escorted by armed guards.

On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a previous hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26.

As well as a lack of oxygen and even basic medicines, free beds have become scarce, with major hospitals putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police being deployed to secure oxygen supplies.

Atul Gogia, a front line doctor in Delhi, told Radio 4 this morning: 'It's really, really very hectic, both physically mentally emotionally, it's a challenging day. Everything is full we are over-pressed, staff is catching the disease so we are short of staff as well.

'We do have oxygen but it's now on a day to day basis. We got some oxygen last night, so we have some oxygen now.

'There is such a huge surge we do not have places in the emergency room. We do not have enough oxygen points, patients are coming in with their own oxygen, others without, we want to help them but there are not enough beds or oxygen points, and not enough oxygen to supply them even if they are were.'

Saswati Sinha, an intensive care doctor in Kolkota, said the situation in the city was similar to Delhi, though perhaps lagging around two weeks behind.

'But we are already overwhelmed,' he told the BBC. 'All of our wards, all of our critical care beds are already at capacity.

'We are getting direct calls from our patients, from our friends, from our neighbours, pleading with us to make some space for their next of kin.

'In 20 years of working in intensive care I have never seen anything like this in the past. It is completely emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting.'

Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in northern and western India, posted an appeal on Twitter on Friday for emergency supplies of oxygen at its facility in Delhi.

'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi ... till oxygen supplies stabilise,' the company said.

Similar desperate calls from hospitals and ordinary people have been posted on social media for days this week across the country.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it was now as if there was no social safety net for Indians.

'Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones. This is hard to watch,' he said.

A policeman inspects a burnt-out room at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai

Health workers attend patient at a Covid-19 centre in Mumbai, India, on Thursday

The burnt out hospital in Virar, north of Mumbai, after a fire killed 13 Covid patients, in the latest accident in the country's overcrowded hospitals

A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease is evacuated from the hospital after it caught fire in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai

A man carries an oxygen tank as health workers move a suspected COVID-19 patient outside the Vijay Vallabh Covid care hospital in the aftermath of a fire, in Virar West, on the outskirts of Mumbai

In Delhi, people losing loved ones are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations because funeral services have been swamped.

Amid the despair, recriminations have begun.

Health experts say India became complacent in the winter - when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control - and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings.

'Indians let down their collective guard. Instead of being bombarded with messages exhorting us to be vigilant, we heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris,' wrote Zarir F Udwadia, a pulmonologist and a member of the Maharashtra state government's task force, in the Times of India.

Modi's government ordered an extensive lockdown last year in the early stages of the pandemic.

But it has been wary of the economic costs and upheaval to the lives of legions of migrant workers and day laborers of a reimposition of sweeping restrictions.

New more infectious variants of the virus, in particular a 'double mutant' variant that originated in India, may have helped accelerate the surge, experts said.

A man walks past burning funeral pyres of people, who died due to the coronavirus disease at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India, on Thursday

A mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease is seen at a crematorium ground in Delhi yesterday evening

A body lies on a gurney as funeral pyres burn at a mass cremation ground in Delhi on Wednesday evening

Britain said it found 55 more cases of the Indian variant, known as B.1.617, in its latest weekly figure, taking the total of confirmed and probable cases of the variant there to 132.

India, a major producer of vaccines, has begun a vaccination campaign but only a tiny fraction of the population has received a shot.

Authorities have announced vaccines will be available to anyone over 18 from May 1, but experts say there will not be enough for the 600million people who will become eligible.

'It is tragic, the mismanagement. For a country known to be the pharmacy of the world, to have less than 1.5% of the population vaccinated is a failure difficult to fathom,' Kaushik Basu, a professor at Cornell University and a former economic adviser to the Indian government, said on Twitter.

INDIA'S GROWING OXYGEN PROBLEMS Are hospitals running out of oxygen? The main problem is that medical oxygen is not reaching hospital beds in time. This delay is a product of where production units are located, a stretched distribution network, and what critics have said is bad planning. Several hospitals in Delhi, which has no significant oxygen production capacity, made frantic public calls this week seeking emergency supplies. With COVID-19 cases also swamping its neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, oxygen facilities there are over-stretched attempting to meet local demand. To fulfill Delhi's current needs, additional medical oxygen now has to be trucked in from industrial zones in eastern India. Why are oxygen deliveries getting delayed? The facilities from where Delhi will now receive oxygen are spread across seven states, some more than 625 miles (1,000km) away, according to a court document. Given the hazardous nature of the substance, all liquid oxygen must be transported in a limited number of specialised tankers, requiring advance planning to ensure deliveries are made on time, a gas industry source told Reuters. In recent days, as a scramble for oxygen among states worsened, local officials in some regions disrupted movement of tankers in a bid to keep supplies for themselves. In part due to such blockades, Delhi only received about 177 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday against its allocation of 378 tonnes, an official said. But the industry source said that Delhi had also dragged its feet on planning ahead, without factoring in the time it takes to move oxygen cross-country by road. "This problem wouldn't have happened if they had acted 2-3 weeks ago," the source said. Delhi's government did not respond to questions about the planning. Does India have enough oxygen? India has a daily production capacity of at least 7,100 tonnes of oxygen, including for industrial use, which appears to be enough to meet current demand. This week, the government allocated 6,822 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day to 20 of the country's worst-affected states, compared to their combined demand of 6,785 tonnes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said on Thursday. India's total medical oxygen demand was just 3,842 tonnes as of April 12, as the surge in cases really took hold. States are typically allocated supplies by an inter-ministerial group of bureaucrats mandated to monitor and facilitate the flow of essential medical kit during the pandemic. Modi's office has noted that the availability of liquid medical oxygen had increased by about 3,300 tonnes in the past few days, with steel plants and other industrial units diverting their production. What is India doing to solve the crisis? The federal government has activated the Indian railways to move multiple tankers from refilling plants to where it is most needed. Working with industrial gas major Linde India and others, the government is also using the Air Force's cargo planes to fly empty tankers to production hubs. Refilled oxygen tankers will then move back by road. The armed forces are importing 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany. Several other industries are offering oxygen to hospitals, while salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is importing 24 specialised containers to transport liquid oxygen. The government has issued orders to convert argon and nitrogen tankers into oxygen ones. But as some experts predict a trebling of daily infections in a few weeks, India will have to dramatically ramp up both oxygen production and distribution systems. Advertisement
Palghar, April 23 : At least 13 patients including 6 women perished in a major fire that broke out in a private Covid hospital in Virar town of Palghar district of Maharashtra, around 80 kms north of Mumbai, early on Friday, officials said.

President R. N. Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders have expressed grief over the tragedy.

The conflagration was noticed around 3.15 a.m. in the ICU ward located on the second floor of the 4-storeyed Vijay Vallabh hospital at Tirupati Nagar in Virar.

The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation immediately rushed fire-fighting teams and other rescue agencies to the spot to battle the blaze, believed to be caused by a suspected electrical short-circuit.

The fire was brought under control after two hours, around 5.50 a.m.

While 13 people perished in the burning ICU, around 4 others there were shifted and rushed to safety before the flames spread further.

Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ordered a probe into the tragedy and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of all deceased, besides Rs 100,000 to all the seriously injured.

Prime Minister Modi also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured.

Terming the fire as "a huge tragedy," Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the VVMC will give a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the victims.

Agriculture Minister and Palghar Guardian Minister Dada D. Bhuse, two local legislators of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) Hitendra Thakur and his son Kshitij Thakur, besides Leader of Opposition (Council) Pravin Darekar, top police and civic officials rushed to the site to review the rescue operations.

This is the second major Covid season tragedy in the past 48 hours after an oxygen gas leak in a Nashik Municipal Corporation hospital on April 21 claimed 29 lives so far.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text


President Joe Biden met Thursday with world leaders to discuss efforts to fight climate change.

He told the group that the world faces serious danger but also opportunity. And, he said the costs of not stopping the problem were growing.

At the meeting, the leaders of China and Russia promised their countries would work to reduce coal and oil based emissions.

Bidens own new commitment is to cut U.S. fossil fuel emissions up to 52 percent by 2030. His action marks a return by the U.S. to climate efforts after four years of withdrawal under President Donald Trump. Bidens administration wants to create a future United States where factories make batteries for export, the electricity grid is rebuilt and workers close up old-fashioned energy sources, like gas, oil and coal.

Japan, a heavy user of coal, announced its own new target of a 46 percent emissions decrease Thursday as the U.S. and its allies worked to build agreement at the meeting.

South Korea used the meeting to say it would stop investing money in coal-fired power plants. This is an important step that climate groups hope will help convince China and Japan to slow their own building and investing in coal power.



The coronavirus pandemic forced the meeting to play out as a livestream. It limited the chance for world leaders to talk and negotiate among themselves. The opening of the meeting had many technical problems.

The meeting was, however, an impressive gathering of the worlds most powerful leaders speaking on the single cause of climate change.

China is the worlds biggest emissions maker. Its president, Xi Jinping spoke first among the other world figures. He did not discuss non-climate arguments that had made it uncertain until Wednesday that he would even take part in the meeting. He said that China would work with America in cutting emissions.

To protect the environment is to protect productivity, and to boost the environment is to boost productivity. Its as simple as that, Xi said.

Russias leader, Vladimir Putin has been publicly angry since Biden called him a killer for Russias aggressive moves against its critics. But he did not say anything about this in his own climate remarks.

He said Russia was very interested in gathering international cooperation so as to look further for effective solutions to climate change as well as to all other vital challenges. Russia is often considered the worlds fourth-biggest emitter of climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.

The coronavirus pandemic made gathering world leaders for an in-person meeting too risky. White House staff built a small TV set in the East Room for Biden to use.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both spoke to the other leaders from separate areas before joining Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House climate expert John Kerry at a table set up to watch fellow leaders livestreamed speeches.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this is not bunny-hugging, this is about growth and jobs.

The Biden administrations promise would be the U.S.s strongest climate effort ever. It increases the Obama administrations target reductions by nearly 100 percent.

The two-day meeting comes as scientists say that climate change is already worsening droughts, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters. It appears, they say, that humans are running out of time to stop the extreme weather conditions caused by climate change.

Biden administration officials, however, did not lay out a strong plan, including budgets and possible legislation. Instead, they talked of hopes and fears for the future.

Biden left for other duties during the first morning meeting, but returned to join the following meeting later. It discussed ways to help poorer countries remake and protect their economies from climate change.

Promises from the United States, Japan, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom, more than 50 percent of the worlds economy, that plan to cut emissions are enough to keep the earths climate from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

As of 2019, the U.S. had reduced its emissions by 13 percent since 2005. That happened mostly because costs to produce sun, wind and natural gas power dropped, said climate scientist Niklas Hohne of Climate Action Tracker

Im Dan Friedell.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

opportunity  n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done 

emissions  n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

battery  n. a device that is placed inside a machine (such as a clock, toy, or car) to supply it with electricity

boost  v. help or encouragement

vital  adj. extremely important

bunny-hugger  n. someone who is pro-environmental concerns

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ALBANY  Protesters gathered again Friday evening outside Albany police's South Station following Thursday night's clash between social justice activists and law enforcement officers over the forcible removal of an encampment outside the station earlier Thursday.

A call went out on social media for activists to gather at the site at 7 p.m. Friday. By late afternoon a group of activists had set up a grill and were cooking food. As darkness fell about 75 activists had gathered for the event, advertised as a Community response to APD Siege on South Station Encampment. They were peacefully waiting for the speak-out to begin as music played and pizzas were delivered. Anywhere from a dozen to 20 police officers milled in the station parking lot across from the gathered demonstrators.

More than an two hours after the designated start time, the event continued to have the feel of a subdued block party, with people chatting in groups and the crowd beginning to thin.

"We are monitoring the situation. There are no plans to clear the street this evening," Albany police spokesman Officer Steve Smith said shortly before 9 p.m. Friday. "We support their right to peacefully protest, and we ask that they don't damage any property."

The scene was a stark contrast to Thursday night, when several protesters were arrested and one officer suffered a minor hand injury after a late-night clash outside South Station, hours after dozens of police officers forcibly removed about a dozen protesters who had refused to leave the area around the station because their demands to meet with officials had not been met.

Around 11 p.m. Thursday, protesters set wood pallets ablaze on Trinity Street near Arch Street. Police twice extinguished the fires. The second time, protesters began throwing objects at the officers; while clearing the fire, one officer was cut on his hand after a protester hit him with a makeshift shield, a department spokesman said.

Activists said the protesters who were forcefully cleared by police earlier that day were also injured.

Brandon Brown, 21, said an officer swung his baton at his wrist while trying to detain him, adding that an officer pulled his fingers so hard while in handcuffs, he thought they were going to break.

"They were just really vicious and rough with me. You could tell they were letting out their anger," he said.

At least eight people were arrested before nightfall on Thursday. Four more were taken into custody later that evening. Francis Magai, 23 of Troy, and Mehr Sharma, 21, of Albany, were both charged with felony riot, police said, but it wasn't clear what led to those charges.

Protesters who led Thursday's demonstration, including Jamaica Miles of the nonprofit All Of Us, said there were only around 20 protesters still outside the station at 11 p.m. About 10 of those  who had all been a part of the peaceful demonstrations since last week, Miles said  left around 11:30 p.m. Miles said she only saw less than a dozen people stay behind, still in front of South Station.

Watch: Police forcibly remove demonstrators from encampment

The remaining protesters charged Thursday face a variety of misdemeanor and violation charges, including disorderly conduct, obstruction of governmental administration and misdemeanor rioting. By Friday afternoon, most of them had been released. Police said some of the charges were related to the April 14 incident between police and protesters that led to the encampment.

One protester who was arrested was hospitalized after suffering an asthma attack spurred by the clash with police, the protester said. The portester was released from the hospital, placed in Schenectady jail stemming from a charge in that city related to an April 13 demonstration, then released early Friday morning.

The continued clashes between police and demonstrators drew mixed reactions from city officials on Friday.

City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs and one group of Common Council members released a statement calling the police departments decision to remove the protesters, disheartening and overly aggressive.

The police should have tried to de-escalate tensions and rely on community voices to help address the protesters concerns, the lawmakers said.

This event has served to fuel tension and further damaged the relationship between our police department and segments of our community, they said.

The statement was also signed by councilmembers Sonia Frederick, Joyce Love, Jahmel Robinson, Judy Doesschate, Owusu Anane and Alfredo Balarin.

Council President Corey Ellis and six other councilmembers released a separate statement hours later.

They called the police department's actions "not acceptable" but added that residents in the area had complained about the encampment.

"The tactics were not okay, but the need to respect the people who live by South Station was," they said, while calling for both sides to de-escalate.

The letter was signed by councilmembers Ginnie Farrell, Derek Johnson, Cathy Fahey, Alfredo Balarin, Michael OBrien and Thomas Hoey.

County Legislator Sam Fein, who represents the area, said he also believed police had used too much force in clearing the camp. He said the protesters wanted to see a more equitable criminal justice system.

They want police to treat everyone equally, he said.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan said Friday it came down to public safety. She said the protesters made their demands clear.

"This wasn't a hostage negotiation, the decision was made to provide the space for people to protest, to be heard, to not escalate the situation. And it became clear that it was becoming unsafe," she said.

The late-night clash came hours after a phalanx of police officers cleared an anti-police brutality encampment from outside of South Station, leading to a prolonged and tense face-off between police in riot gear and protesters at the intersection of Arch and Grand streets.

Police later pulled back after city Department of General Services employees cleared the camp. They extended a perimeter of fencing and barriers around South Station to include the area where the protesters had previously camped out.

Speaking late Thursday evening, Police Chief Eric Hawkins defended the police mobilization. The three objectives were to clear the area, do it safely and create a safe space, he said.

Law enforcement sources said the forcible clearing was dubbed "Operation Save South Station" by police. The police were concerned that protesters had brought in propane tanks in their efforts to stay warm and were afraid that the camp could become semi-permanent like one last year in Seattle or the 2011 Occupy Albany protest that took over Academy Park.

The police's decision to physically clear the camp Thursday came as pressure mounted on Hawkins and Sheehan to act. Officers passed around at least one photoshopped image of the movie poster for the 2013 action film "Olympus Has Fallen" with Hawkins' and his two deputy chiefs' images at the center and the title "South Station Has Fallen" written below. The president of the patrol officers union wrote a letter several days prior, accusing the city of viewing its officers as expendable.

Demonstrators had been at the encampment for days, a move they say was aimed at drawing attention to police brutality and the confrontation last week  which resulted in an officer pushing a light out of a protester's hand, and pushing the megaphone of another protester, which caused her to fall on the pavement. Hawkins said the officer became agitated after a protester broke a window in South Station.

Organizer Legacy Casanova said the city destroyed all of their belongings and that Thursday's events show why their struggle to stop police brutality is needed.

"They were vicious with our people," he said.

Times Union Senior Writer Steve Barnes contributed to this story.
Vietnam is willing to support Cambodias Covid-19 fight by sending medical experts, ventilators and masks, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said Thursday.

In an online meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Mam Buncheng, Long shared Vietnams experience in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected over 144 million and killed over three million people globally.

"One of Vietnams lessons in preventing and fighting the pandemic is to utilize the whole political system and population in the fight," said Long, adding that collaboration between all Covid-19 treatment facilities meant that doctors could discuss treatment of difficult cases with each other.

"Remote diagnosis was very effective and successful for Vietnam during the first and second Covid-19 waves. During the third wave in Hai Duong, there were many severely ill patients but we managed to treat and save them all," he added.

Vietnams first coronavirus wave began between January and February last year, with the epicenter being northern Vinh Phuc Province. The second wave began in central Da Nang City between July and August last year, and the third one was centered in the northern Hai Duong, Quang Ninh provinces and HCMC earlier this year.

Long said Vietnam was willing to connect the two countries' Covid-19 treatment facilities, allowing an exchange of experts from both sides if needed. Vietnam would also send Cambodia 800 ventilators, around 2.3 million medical masks and other equipment, he added, saying the batch would be Vietnam's largest aid package for foreign countries in the Covid-19 fight.

As Cambodia continues its coronavirus fight, special attention should be paid to its borders with Vietnam in light of recent complex situations that have developed because of illegal entrants, Long said.

Cambodia is grappling with its latest Covid-19 outbreak, which has infected nearly 7,000 people in the first quarter alone, while the country only recorded a little over 400 cases last year.

Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and the Ta Khmau Municipality have been placed under lockdowns.
She never fails to turn heads in stylish ensembles on her way into work.

And Kelly Brook put her best fashion foot forward as she arrived at Heart FM in London on Friday afternoon.

The broadcaster, 41, looked casually chic in a baby blue knitted jumper with trendy peplum sleeves as she strutted her stuff along the pavement.

Lovely: Kelly Brook put her best fashion foot forward as she arrived at Heart FM in London on Friday afternoon

She teamed the cosy knitwear with a pair of light blue skinny jeans that showed off her enviable curves and toned thighs.

The brunette beauty completed her look with a pair of nude leather mule heels and wore sunglasses on her head for her stylish arrival.

Kelly wore her dark tresses in loose waves over shoulders and opted for a natural makeup look to show off her pretty features.

Style: The broadcaster, 41, looked casually chic in a baby blue knitted jumper with trendy peplum sleeves as she strutted her stuff along the pavement

Stunning: She teamed the cosy knitwear with a pair of light blue skinny jeans that showed off her enviable curves and toned thighs

The TV and radio star recently revealed she's considered proposing to boyfriend of six-years Jeremy Parisi on the next leap year.

Tradition dictates that women propose on leap years, and specifically the leap day itself, with the next one set to fall on February 29, 2024.

And it seems the host has a plan in place if she isn't engaged by then as she'll take matters into her own hands.

Speaking to Hello! magazine about the last leap year - which they spent in Italy - she mused: 'I've missed that window so I'll just have to wait another four years!'

Fashion: The brunette beauty completed her look with a pair of nude leather mule heels and wore sunglasses on her head for her stylish arrival

The actress also cleared up any confusion surrounding the diamond band that she is often seen wearing on her ring finger.

Although the jewellery was a gift from Jeremy - which has their names and date engraved on the back - it isn't to symbol an engagement, with the businesswoman revealing: 'I wear the ring on that finger because it's the only one that fits!'

The honey-blonde beauty has been in a relationship with model Jeremy, 36, since April 2015, and said although she would love to get married and have children with him, neither are 'high on her list' of priorities right now.

Strutting her stuff: Kelly wore her dark tresses in loose waves over shoulders and opted for a natural makeup look to show off her pretty features

And late last year, Kelly revealed her weight crept up to size 16 during the first lockdown, but she has since dropped two dress sizes.

She also admitted to altering her social media pictures in the past to recreate 'the 20-year-old version' of herself after struggling to come to terms with her figure.

Kelly told MailOnline: 'I would make the 20-year-old version of myself. It's been a process for me to accept my new body and my new life. So now, pretty much what you see on my Instagram is what I am.

Arrival: Kelly looked great in her low-key outfit as she stepped out of her cab and headed into the studios

'Some of the selfies I take, even though I don't digitally enhance them, they're beautifully lit and I know how to take a nice picture of myself. That's kind of cheating as well.'

The model, who was accused of using Photoshop in 2018 when she appeared to make herself look slimmer in a picture with boyfriend Jeremy Parisi, 35, at Ascot, added: 'It's a terrible message to send out if I started altering pictures digitally.

'That's not fair, so I wouldn't do that. Not to say in the past I haven't done that! When I was a size 16, I was like 'that's not what I look like!'' she added.
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Doug Lawrence is always excited to perform onstage.

After a year of not setting foot on one, the legendary jazz musician is ready.

I havent been able to work, the tenor saxophonist says. This will be a fun event to get onstage with my friends.

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The Doug Lawrence Quartet will perform a drive-in concert at 2 p.m. Friday, April 30, at the Taos Center for the Arts backlot.

The event will adhere to all state health orders, organizers say.

After TCAs successful drive-in concerts in summer and fall 2020, the Taos Jazz Bebop Society returns with Lawrences concert, which will be broadcast over FM radio to audience members, who will park in the lot and remain in their vehicles for the duration of the concert.

The concert takes place on International Jazz Day, established by UNESCO in 2011 to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.

Its huge to be able to present live music here in Taos on International Jazz Day! says Judy Katzman, Taos Jazz Bebop Society president. Weve had a long year of musical deprivation. Partnering with TCA on this concert means these great players can finally  and safely  get back in front of a live audience (sitting in their cars!)  even though the shutdown still persists for all concert venues.

Lawrence, who grew up in New Mexico, has worked with artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Celia Cruz, Benny Goodman, Stevie Wonder, Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davis and Jimmy Cobb.

Lawrence will be joined onstage by three great New Mexico jazzmen: keyboardist Steve Figueroa, bassist Milo Jaramillo and drummer Pete Amahl. Figuero is a native of Laguna Pueblo, Jaramillo is from Isleta Pueblo, and Amahl has been a mainstay of the New Mexico jazz scene for more than 40 years.

Steve and I have been friends for years. I was friends with his father when I used to play with him in the 1970s, Lawrence says. Milo, I used to work with his father as well. Milo is a great bass player. And Pete Ive known since I was 18 or 19. Hes a staple in New Mexico since he got off tour with Natalie Coles band in the 1970s.

Lawrence says the audience can expect to hear, of course, jazz and Latin jazz.

These are all old friends that Ive known for a long time, Lawrence says. Were going to have a ball. Theres nothing better than a friendship that endures decades.
Chemists at Rice University and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany quantified the release of silver ions from gold-silver nanoparticle alloys. At top, transmission electron microscope images show the change in color as silver (in blue) leaches out of a nanoparticle over several hours, leaving gold atoms behind. The bottom hyperspectral images show how much a nanoparticle of silver and gold shrank over four hours as the silver leached away. Credit: Rice University

There's gold in them thar nanoparticles, and there used to be a lot of silver, too. But much of the silver has leached away, and researchers want to know how.

Gold-silver alloys are useful catalysts that degrade environmental pollutants, facilitate the production of plastics and chemicals and kill bacteria on surfaces, among other applications. In nanoparticle form, these alloys could be useful as optical sensors or to catalyze hydrogen evolution reactions.

But there's an issue: Silver doesn't always stay put.

A new study by scientists at Rice University and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, reveals a two-step mechanism behind silver's dissipation, a discovery that could help industry fine-tune nanoparticle alloys for specific uses.

The team led by Rice chemists Christy Landes and Stephan Link and graduate student Alexander Al-Zubeidi and Duisburg-Essen chemist Stephan Barcikowski employed sophisticated microscopy to show how gold might retain enough silver to stabilize the nanoparticle.

Their study appears in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano.

The researchers used a hyperspectral dark-field imaging microscope to study gold-silver alloy nanoparticles containing an excess of silver in an acidic solution. The technique allowed them to trigger plasmons, ripples of energy that flow across the surface of particles when lit. These plasmons scatter light that changes with the alloy's composition.

"The dependence of the plasmon on alloy composition allowed us to record silver ion leaching kinetics in real time," said Al-Zubeidi, lead author of the study.

Al-Zubeidi noted films of gold and silver alloy have been in use for decades, often as antibacterial coatings, because silver ions are toxic to bacteria. "I think the silver release mechanism has been implied from studies of alloy films, but it's never been proven in a quantitative way," he said.

Initially, silver ions leach quickly from nanoparticles, which literally shrink as a result. As the process continues, the gold lattice in most instances releases all the silver over time, but about 25% of particles behave differently and silver leaching is incomplete.

Al-Zubeidi said what they observed suggests gold could be manipulated to stabilize the alloy nanoparticles.

"Usually silver leaching would last about two hours under our conditions," he said. "Then in the second stage, the reaction no longer happens on the surface. Instead, as the gold lattice rearranges, the silver ions have to diffuse through this gold-rich lattice to reach the surface, where they can be oxidized. That slows the reaction rate a lot.

"At some point, the particles passivate and no more leaching can happen," Al-Zubeidi said. "The particles become stable. So far, we've only looked at particles with a silver content of 80%-90%, and we found that a lot of the particles stop leaching silver when they reach a silver content of about 50%.

"That could be an interesting composition for applications like catalysis and electrocatalysis," he said. "We'd like to find a sweet spot around 50%, where the particles are stable but still have a lot of their silver-like properties."

Understanding such reactions could help researchers build a library of gold-silver catalysts and electrocatalysts for various applications.

Link said the Rice team welcomed the opportunity to work with Barcikowski, a leader in the field of nanoparticle synthesis via laser ablation. "This makes it possible to create alloy nanoparticles with various compositions and free of stabilizing ligands," he said.

"From our end, we had the perfect technique to study the process of silver ion leaching from many single-alloy nanoparticles in parallel via hyperspectral imaging," Landes added. "Only a single-particle approach was able to resolve the intra- and interparticle geometry."

"This effort will enable a new approach to generate nanostructured catalysts and new materials with unique electrochemical, optical and electronic properties," said Robert Mantz, program manager for electrochemistry at the Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Command's Army Research Laboratory. "The ability to tailor catalysts is important to achieve the goal of reducing soldier-borne weight associated with power storage and generation and enable novel material synthesis."

Explore further Researchers develop first of its kind, simple test for identifying toxic silver ions

More information: Alexander Al-Zubeidi et al, Single-Particle Hyperspectral Imaging Reveals Kinetics of Silver Ion Leaching from Alloy Nanoparticles, ACS Nano (2021). Journal information: ACS Nano Alexander Al-Zubeidi et al, Single-Particle Hyperspectral Imaging Reveals Kinetics of Silver Ion Leaching from Alloy Nanoparticles,(2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c10150
With fresh paint, new carpet and a welcoming facade, many apartments and rental homes in coastal Texas welcome eager tenants, but they also could contain more than potential residents bargained for  cracked walls, hidden mold and a history of flooding. What can state leaders do to help these Texans?

Legislators should support SB 314 and HB 531, which give renters the right to know about the flooding history of their leased property.

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) answered this question in a report published after Hurricane Harvey capturing lessons learned from helping Texans rebuild, which made recommendations to improve response and resiliency in future disasters. We found one of the major issues facing renters in coastal areas is the lack of transparency regarding the flood history of the rental unit. Currently, state laws do not require a landlord to disclose to potential renters that a home was previously flooded or sits in a floodplain.

Many homes damaged by Hurricane Harvey in flood-prone neighborhoods along the Texas Coast are still on the market for families searching for rental options amid the lack of housing stock. As the Houston Chronicle noted, after the catastrophic storm, homes were bought at rock bottom prices and flipped at enormous discounts in search of higher returns without any mitigation or elevation to prevent future flooding. According to the Houston Chronicles analysis of Harris County data, of the 45,000 homes sold in the six months following the flood, at least 5,500, or one in eight, flooded during Harvey.

Last year marked the most active hurricane season in history. If the coming hurricane season is anything like the last, Texas renters could be at risk again unless flood-prone rental homes are taken off the market or elevated. At the very least, potential renters need to know the flood history of the properties so they can evaluate their own risk.

Texas should act boldly in enacting legislation to ensure renters know the propertys flood history. I strongly support legislative action and I commend Texas State Sen. Joan Huffman and Rep. Armando Walle for sponsoring bipartisan legislation to require landlords to disclose if a home is in a 100-year floodplain or has flooded in the previous five years. It is fiscally responsible and morally right for Texas.
WAs chief health officer recommended the Mercure Hotel Perth no longer operate as a quarantine facility around the same time a cross-corridor infection between separately isolating guests occurred.

Documents released by the state government on Thursday revealed ventilation within the 1970s hotel had been identified on April 8 as the riskiest among WAs 10 quarantine hotels.

WA Chief Health Officer, Andy Robertson. Credit:ABC Perth

An engineer who inspected the facility found the corridors had no independent airflow, with oxygen supply leaking from the adjoining rooms.

Given the degree of positive pressure, leakage likely between rooms and corridor, a table summary read.
[April 22, 2021] NexJ Systems to Report First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Financial Results on Thursday, April 29, 2021

TORONTO, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - NexJ Systems Inc. (TSX: NXJ), delivering intelligent customer management solutions to the financial services industry, today announced that financial results for the first quarter 2021 will be released on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. The Company's quarterly results will be disseminated via press release and made available on the Company's website (www.nexj.com) and SEDAR. As outlined in NexJ's press release on May 31, 2019, NexJ has ceased holding conference calls to discuss the Company's quarterly financial results. About NexJ Systems Inc. NexJ Systems provides Intelligent Customer Management to the financial services industry. Our awad-winning CRM is designed to help Wealth Management, Private Banking, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance firms revolutionize their business. Powered by artificial intelligence, our products help drive productivity, boost client engagement, and increase revenue. With users in over 60 countries, our customers benefit from our deep expertise across financial services verticals, strategic investment in innovation, and commitment to their success.



Based in Toronto, NexJ has clients throughout North America, Asia Pacific and in Europe. For more information about NexJ visit www.nexj.com, e-mail info@nexj.com, or call 416-222-5611. Join us on LinkedIn , follow us on Twitter , subscribe to our YouTube channel, or like us on Facebook . SOURCE NexJ Systems Inc.



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The Rutgers Hindu Students Council is hosting a virtual conference Friday to discuss the history of discrimination against Hindu people, and how that manifests itself in todays world.

It will feature Hindu scholars, community activists, students and administrators to educate participants on the Hindu religion, the most practiced religion in India, and on the types of discrimination Hindu people face.

The Understanding Hinduphobia Conference is free and open to all. It will begin at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony and wrap up at 6 p.m. So far, 800 people have registered.

Although discrimination against Hindu people is a long-simmering issue, its even more relevant now that #StopAsianHate has become a topic of conversation, organizers said.

During these times when theres hate crimes against the Asian community and then, you know these bigoted comments perpetuate Hindu-phobia and thats the last thing you want, especially during this time, Krishna Desai, a Rutgers freshman and a member of the Hindu Students Council, told NJ Advance Media.

The conference comes after accusations of discrimination against a white Rutgers professor of South-Asian studies, whom event organizers said made disparaging remarks about Hindu gods and sacred texts.

The university initially stood by the professor, while saying in a statement it supports the Hindu community. After pushback from Indian and Hindu student groups and a meeting with them, the university issued a second statement apologizing for the hurt those groups felt and saying it was committed to creating a welcoming environment.

Although Hinduism is the most widely practiced religion in India, few Americans know someone who practices Hinduism personally, Parth Parihar, Hindu Student Councils Director of Advocacy said. Even at a school like Rutgers, which has a large Indian and Hindu student population, this can create anti-Hindu sentiment.

Everything thats been happening at Rutgers is part of a larger phenomenon of Hindu-phobia, which is why we decided we wanted to discuss and analyze this phenomenon in totality, Parihar said of Fridays workshop.

The Rutgers Hindu Student Council is also calling on the university to recognize Hindu-phobia as a category of discrimination, and hire a practicing Hindu professor in its South Asian / Indian History studies program.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Former President Barack Obama is telling Ann Arborites to read, and he might stop by a popular downtown bookstore in the future.

Along with other book shops across the nation, Obama is supporting Literati Bookstore for Independent Bookstore Day, which is Saturday, April 24. He virtually met with owner Hilary Gustafson to discuss how reading affects his daily tasks, responsibilities and even how he carried out policies as president.

We have a typewriter that we have in our store that anyone can type on, Gustafson said in a Crown Publishing Group video, adding Literati now has an online typewriter. Thousands of people have left behind anonymous notes of love and loss, and everything in between. We share some of these notes in our store and online.

The store typewriter acts as an ongoing diary in our community as well as our ode to the written word.

Gustafson asked the former president what note he would leave, if he were to use the typewriter.

Read, Obama said.

When our daughters were growing up in Hyde Park, our independent bookstore was 57th Street Books, near the University of Chicago. Hyde Park is a little bit like Ann Arbor. And the memories I have taking Malia and Sasha into that bookstore, and us browsing, getting recommendations and occasionally going in for a reading -- that nourished the soul and sustained you in ways that I think changed my daughters lives for the better, because it taught them the power of words to connect.

At the end of the conversation, which is available on YouTube, Obama shared his appreciation for Gustafsons community contributions, suggesting he may stop into the bookstore one day.

And tell all your staff and crew that we appreciate what theyre doing, he said. And Vol. 2, hopefully Ill have a more conventional book tour, Ill be able to stop by the store.

Obama and Gustafson agreed that absorbing words of writers helps readers understand different experiences across the world. Obama used an example of a book he recently read, The Overstory, by Richard Powers. Its central theme is trees and his takeaway led him to look at trees differently by considering his responsibilities to preserve them, and even ways to communicate with his daughters about responsibilities, he said.

Thats what books can do, Obama told Gustafson.

Even the letters he received in office were formative in his policymaking, Obama said.

Letters were a form of storytelling. They were my lifeline, my connection to the people who would send me to the White House, and despite how isolated it could be, hearing their voices on the page was this constant motivator, Obama told Gustafson.

Watch the full conversation here.

More from MLive

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Ann Arbor to give away free trees to reach 10K goal

Muslims can expect some normalcy this Ramadan in Michigan

Ann Arbor restaurant owner urges emergency shutdown amid COVID-19 surge
India has reported another record high daily coronavirus cases and deaths on Friday. The number of daily new cases of infection jumped to 3.32 lakh and the number of deaths climbed to 2,263, as per the union health ministry data.

With this, the number of overall coronavirus cases has jumped to 1,62,63,695 and fatalities have climbed to 1,86,920.

Among the 2,263 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, ten states account for 81.79 per cent account for the new deaths. Maharashtra reported 568 deaths, Delhi 306; Chhattisgarh 207; Uttar Pradesh 195; Gujarat 137; Karnataka 123; Jharkhand 106; Punjab and Madhya Pradesh 75 each and Tamil Nadu 59 deaths in the past 24 hours.

On the other hand, seven states and union territories reported no deaths in the last 24 hours. These include Daman & Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The active caseload of the country reached 24,28,616 on Friday, comprising 14.93 per cent of the total positive cases. Five states ( Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Kerala) account for 59 per cent of total active cases in the country.

Meanwhile, on the vaccination front, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 13.54 crore. Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala are the top-eight vaccinating states in the country at present, as per the union health ministry data.

Also read: IRDAI asks hospitals to provide cashless treatment for COVID-19 to policyholders

Also read: Fitch sees India's FY22 GDP growth at 12.8%, affirms 'BBB-' rating
A full analysis of samples and a scrutiny of Pilar Gonzalezs medical history have ruled out the presence of any illness or disease that could have contributed to the massive haemorrhage she suffered two weeks after she had her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A clinical autopsy was carried out on 18 March, two days after the death, at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella. A group of specialists in pathological anatomy examined the body of the teacher and, after collecting different samples, issued a preliminary report which indicated that no links had been found between the death and the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The provisional result reflected in this preliminary report was based on the fact that no evidence of thrombus was detected in the body of the victim. Medical experts therefore opted for the hypothesis that she had suffered an aneurysm, the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, which would have triggered the massive haemorrhage that caused her death.

However, in recent days, pathologists have received the results of all the complementary tests to the autopsy. The teacher's medical history, the study of samples under the microscope and analysis carried out rule out the presence of previous conditions that predisposed Pilar Gonzalez to suffer a thrombus.

Consequently, the specialists in charge of the autopsy suggest in their new report that the teachers death may be related to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Very rare advserse reaction

Experts say that the teacher could have suffered an episode of what is known as VIPIT, a term recently coined by a group of German haematologists to define a vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia which is a very rare adverse reaction - with one case in a million people.

Experts from the University of Greifswald say there is an unusual combination of symptoms - generalised blood clots and a low platelet count, sometimes with bleeding - that is very similar to a rare side effect of the anticoagulant heparin.

After announcing the results of their study, German haematologists published articles in several prestigious scientific journals. The director of the investigation and specialist in coagulation, Andrea Greinacher, also assured that they have found both the cause and the way to treat it.

"When recognised early, it can be treated with immunoglobulins (nonspecific antibodies from blood donors) that help slow platelet activation. Heparin-free anticoagulants can help dissolve clots, therefore VIPIT should be treated in a similar way," explained the scientist.

Three hospital visits

Pilar Gonzalez had visited the Quiron Hospital in Marbella on three occasions after she was administered the AstraZeneca vaccine - the first time was on 4 March with a severe headache. She was discharged but continued having headaches and fever.

She went again on the 13 March and underwent a CT scan although nothing significant was found and she was discharged. She continued feeling unwell and returned the following day and when another CT scan was performed it revealed she was suffering from a brain haemorrhage. She died shortly afterwards.
The U.S. Air Force has grounded its B-1B Lancer bomber fleet for the third time in three years, this time over a fuel system issue.

Gen. Tim Ray, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, on Tuesday ordered an indefinite safety stand-down to conduct maintenance inspections on the fuel filter housing, according to a command statement.

"During the inspection process following a B-1B ground emergency on April 8 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, a discrepancy with an Augmenter Fuel Pump Filter Housing was discovered," Global Strike Command said Friday. The War Zone was first to report the news.

Read Next: Video Shows Black Soldiers Harassed at Virginia Restaurant

The Ellsworth-based B-1 began leaking fuel on the ground while taxiing to its parking area after landing, a command spokesperson told Military.com.

"As a precautionary measure, the commander directed one-time inspections on all B-1B aircraft to resolve this issue," the statement added. "After further analysis, the commander stood down the fleet because it was determined a more invasive inspection was needed to ensure the safety of aircrews."

Each aircraft will return to flight status when it is deemed safe, according to the statement. The command did not provide a timeline when all the bombers will return to normal operations; it is unknown how many might be affected by the fuel filter housing issue.

"There is zero operational impact providing bomber task force support to combatant commands across the globe," the spokesperson said. "Air Force Global Strike bombers will continue to support anytime, anywhere if called upon."

The inspection process will involve "disassembly of the Augmenter Fuel Pump Filter Housing and inspection using the latest X-ray and blue light techniques," the spokesperson said. "After it has been determined that the unit is free of defects, it will be reassembled, pressure checked, and returned to service."

The stand-down comes as the Air Force is working to retire some of its B-1s, reducing the active fleet to 45 aircraft in order to better sustain the most functional planes.

Congress authorized 17 bombers to be divested, used for test purposes or sent to a museum. To date, the service has sent four B-1s to the aircraft boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, bringing the current number of B-1s in the fleet to 57, the spokesperson said Friday. There's typically an aircraft in backup inventory status as well, used for testing.

The service plans to retire the entire fleet by 2036.

In September 2020, Ray touted the Lancer fleet's progress, stating that its recovery and maintenance were well ahead of schedule thanks to concentrated resources dedicated to bringing the workhorse airframe out of its previous abysmal state.

Due to heavy use in the Middle East over a decade as the only U.S. supersonic heavy-payload bomber, the B-1 fleet saw repeated breakdowns and required extensive maintenance. The frequent deployments caused the aircraft to deteriorate more quickly than expected, Ray said in 2019.

For example, the aircraft flew 46,889 flight hours for overseas operations alone between 2013 and 2016, according to data provided to Military.com that year. That does not include continuous bomber presence missions, or shorter rotations to Europe and the Pacific.

The bombers deployed back to the Middle East in 2018 after they left the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in early 2016.

But by the end of March 2019, Ray had ordered a stand-down, marking the second fleetwide pause in about a year, after a rigged "drogue chute" was incorrectly installed in an ejection seat egress system. The 62 bombers in the fleet at the time underwent a careful inspection process and slowly returned to flight lines starting that April.

The command had grounded the fleet the year before over another problem related to the Lancer's ejection seats. That stand-down lasted three weeks while the fleet was inspected.

"The Air Force takes all incidents seriously and works diligently to identify and correct potential causes," the command said Friday, adding that an investigation is underway. "More details may be released when available."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.

Related: The Air Force Just Retired the First B-1B Bomber
CLEVELAND, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 7, 2021 Solmax  the Canada-based leading global supplier of geosynthetics  announced that it had agreed to acquire Tencate Geosynthetics, a unit of Koninklijke Ten Cate (the Netherlands) and a top-five global supplier of geosynthetics. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021, pending regulatory and other approvals.

According to The Freedonia Group Analyst Nick Cunningham, "The motivation behind Solmax's big purchase is easy to understand, as it allows the company to significantly expand its production capacity, sales presence, research operations, and more by taking over such a big player in geosynthetics. This move will significantly expand the variety of geosynthetics products provided by Solmax, which in the past has focused primarily on geomembranes."

Prior to its acquisition, Tencate Geosynthetics was primarily a supplier of geotextiles, though the company also manufactured geocomposites and geogrids. The company's products were used in a variety of applications, including highways, roads, bridges, and landfills. Tencate Geosynthetics had sales subsidiaries all over the world, and major manufacturing operations in places such as the US, China, Malaysia, and parts of Western Europe that will now be under Solmax's control.

Cunningham noted, "While the merger of two giants of geosynthetics is big news, the global geosynthetics industry will remain fairly fragmented, with the vast majority of companies being small to medium sized firms with limited product lines and limited product reach. This is because barriers to geosynthetics production are fairly limited, as manufacturing requirements are generally low, requiring neither huge factories nor substantial workforces."

Global knowledge about the benefits of using geosynthetics remains relatively low. However, Solmax is working to change this, including by sponsoring educational organizations like the International Geosynthetics Society, which holds conferences and publishes information on the benefits of incorporating geosynthetics into infrastructure projects. Cunningham further noted, "Should these informational efforts be successful, this acquisition leaves no doubt that Solmax will be best positioned to take advantage."

For more information and analysis of opportunities, see The Freedonia Group's report Global Geosynthetics. Freedonia Custom Research is also available for questions requiring tailored market intelligence.

About the Freedonia Group

The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is the premier international industrial research division, providing our clients with product analyses, market forecasts, industry trends, and market share information. From one-person consulting firms to global conglomerates, our analysts provide companies with unbiased, reliable industry market research and analysis to help them make important business decisions. With over 100 studies published annually, we support over 90% of the industrial Fortune 500 companies. Find off-the-shelf studies at https://www.freedoniagroup.com/ or contact us for custom research: +1 440.842.2400.

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Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the top online programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 1,280 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Online Masters in Theology Degree Programs.

Intelligent.com analyzed 132 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 36 making it to the final list for Online Masters in Theology Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-online-masters-in-theology-degree-programs/

2021 Online Masters in Theology Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Abilene Christian University

Belhaven University

Biola University

Calvin Theological Seminary

Campbellsville University

Clarks Summit University

Columbia International University

Cornerstone University

Dallas Baptist University

Dallas Theological Seminary

Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan College

Fordham University

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Fuller Theological Seminary

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Hope International University

Iliff School of Theology

Liberty University

Lincoln Christian University

Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University New Orleans

Luther Rice College & Seminary

Marquette University

Moody Bible Institute

Multnomah University

Nazarene Theological Seminary

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Ohio Christian University

Regent University

Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Saint Leo University

Santa Clara University

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

St. Mary's University

United Theological Seminary

University of Dallas

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
One of the notable things that has changed over the years in terms of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges royal tours is the rhythm of them, post-children. Unlike the Queen, who was forced to leave a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne at home while she undertook a mammoth seven-month Commonwealth tour in the early 1950s, William and Kate have always insisted that family comes first.

They memorably took ten-month Prince George with them to Australia and New Zealand in 2014  he was so popular he was dubbed the Republican slayer  and Princess Charlotte came too when they went to Canada in 2016, and again to Poland and Germany the following year.

I have covered all of their tours  from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and America, to India, Bhutan, Pakistan and India, bar one  and I spoke to Kate, briefly, about how difficult it was to leave your children behind on these trips, which can often be several weeks end to end, when we were in the remote kingdom of Bhutan in 2016. George would have been two then, and Charlotte less than a year.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge dancing in Tuvalu on the royal tour in 2012

The duchess, who is always instinctively very private, really does come alive when she talks about her children and she mentioned how her two were being looked after by her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, at their Berkshire home. They are clearly doting grandparents, but the only thing, Kate said, was that every time she video-called home George seemed to be eating chips!

It was a story that struck a chord with me. I told her how after I had returned from their lengthy visit to Australia and New Zealand in 2014, I was driving with my then three-year-old son in the back of the car. I had never taken him to McDonalds before but as we passed those famous Golden Arches a little voice piped up, squeaking excitedly, Top Donalds!

Has Daddy taken you there? I sighed. Yes! Lots!

Kate giggled at that too.

Tours are a crucial part of royal working life. A chance to utilise the Royal Familys legendary soft diplomacy and sell Britain plc abroad. Theres been no better trailblazer for this than the Queen, who has charmed kings, queens, Communists, presidents, autocrats and benevolent dictators alike.

Kate at the As Syakirin Mosque in Kuala Lumpur in 2012

And with Williams support, Kate set about learning from the best. Night after night she would sit mugging up on the protocol, talking to the Queens ladies-in-waiting and picking the brains of her diplomatic advisors.

It was from the Queen that Kate learnt to pay a subtle tribute to her hosts: adding red maple leaves to a Lock & Co hat for Canada Day in Ottawa in 2011, for example, or wowing in a yellow Roksanda shift dress in Sydney in 2014, a nod to Australias national flower the golden wattle.

It was on that Canada trip that I first experienced the newly dubbed Kate Effect. The sun beat down as we waited, sweltering, behind a media barrier to see the newlyweds take Ottawa by storm.

They were on their first official tour as a married couple, and some 350,000 people had packed onto Parliament Hill to see them arrive in an open-topped landau carriage as part of the nations Canada Day celebrations.

The roar that erupted when they appeared, which rippled through the packed crowds like a Mexican wave, was enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end  journalistically speaking, that is. I was one of 1,300 British and worldwide media accredited for the trip. That, in a nutshell, encapsulated the full extent of Kates soaring popularity.

Dianas son and his beautiful bride were the Royal Familys new superstars and the world was agog. (In LA on that same trip, Nicole Kidman  yes, the Oscar-winning actress  was squealing with excitement at the prospect of meeting the royal couple. Thats the power of royalty.)

Prince William at the Western Wall in Jerusalem during his tour of the Middle East in 2018

Given such levels of adulation, it may come as a surprise to know that behind the scenes, this was still a couple feeling their way. One senior official who was on the trip tells me, I remember the duchess coming in on the second day and asking if she was doing OK.

'Wed just seen scenes akin to Beatlemania, and she was asking if she was doing OK. I think that tells you quite a lot. There was a humility about her, coupled with a desire to get it right. That was the hallmark of those early years. And she didnt put a foot wrong.

Her ability to charm a crowd is instinctive and should not be underestimated. Shaking hundreds of hands, making polite smalltalk and conjuring up an air of genuine interest day after day, for weeks on end, is not for the faint-hearted.

They used to call the late Queen Mother the steel marshmallow: soft on the outside, with a rod of metal running through her. And Kate is very much in the same vein.

I remember the moment this dawned on me as if it were yesterday. We were in Malaysia in 2012 when sadly news broke that a French publication had published pictures of Kate sunbathing topless on a private holiday with her husband in France. The story went nuclear, with the phones buzzing between London and Kuala Lumpur all through the night.

-Prince William with Nicole Kidman in Los Angeles during the North America tour in 2011

The next morning, William and Kate were visiting the As Syakirin Mosque and they went through the motions, charm personified. But it was at a tea party at the British High Commissioners residence later where I really saw the effect the incident had had on the pair.

Kate was cool as a cucumber, not the slightest hint that anything was wrong as she went round the room. William was the total opposite. Tired, angry, glowering, he could barely conceal his fury.

Later on the trip there was a drinks reception in the Solomon Islands. We were all under strict instruction not to mention the incident but, truthfully, just felt it would be dishonest not to address the elephant in the room. Im really sorry about whats happened, I said when William moved in my direction.

I spoke to my husband about it and he said if he were in your shoes he couldnt be held responsible for what he would do if he got his hands on those photographers. William smiled. It was strained, but not unfriendly. Thank you, he said emotionally. One day I will tell you how I really feel.

An aide later told me the prince actually felt like he had let Kate and her family down. I promised them I would protect her and I failed at the first hurdle, he said.

Despite moments such as this, William has also soared in confidence from the early tours. His solo trip to Israel and Palestine in 2018 was arguably the biggest test as a fledgling statesman hed ever faced.

All trips, particularly ones of such a sensitive nature, are carefully calibrated, and the Queen had lent her grandson one of her most seasoned diplomats, Sir David Manning, to guide him. But even the best laid plans had the potential to go awry on a spectacular scale when Williams newly soled brogues hit the ground.

In fact he managed to negotiate the diplomatic minefield of the Middle East with skill and tact. Not only did he scrupulously divide his time between sensitive sites in Jerusalem which are Holy to the three Abrahamic faiths, but when Israeli President Rivlin asked him to convey a message of peace to President Abbas of Palestine, William carefully expressed his own hopes for peace in the region that pleased everyone and offended no one.

As he left, the British embassy tweeted, Until we meet again, Prince Charming. But on our RAF Voyager plane trip home you could see his shoulders sink with relief.

Since the birth of Prince Louis in 2018, the way the couple have approached their tours has definitely changed. When we went to Pakistan the following year, the plane left after school drop-off on Monday and returned five days later, in time for them to put the children to bed.

An aide told me this was likely to become more the norm, although they did not rule out taking the children on short trips during the school holidays. For William and Kate, the business of state and the business of family will always go hand in hand.
STOCKHOLM, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweden's innovation authority Vinnova is investing in Lipidor's subsidiary Emollivet. The funding from Vinnova is for SEK 300,000 and will be used for a project in which Emollivet, through interaction with animal owners and others in the animal health market, will gather data for the upcoming launch.

Emollivet develops animal care products based on Lipidor's patented AKVANO technology. The company was funded in 2020 to focus on commercializing animal care products. Since Stina Linge was recruited as CEO last autumn, development in Emollivet has accelerated.

Through the open call "Innovative startups step 1", Vinnova finances start-ups in Sweden that want to contribute to sustainable growth in a global market, with scalable operations that are based on innovative products or services. In the spring round, 934 applications were submitted to Vinnova and Emollivet is one of the selected companies awarded funds through the open call.

Emollivet's CEO Stina Linge: "This shows that Vinnova sees potential in our growing business in the same way as we do ourselves. We're very much looking forward to being able to accelerate this work, and we encourage pet owners with skin problems to contact us for interaction during our test period".

The information was submitted for publication, through the office of the contact person, on 23 April 2021, at 8.15am CEST.

For more information, please contact

Ola Holmlund

CEO

Phone: +46 72 50 70 369

E-mail: [email protected]

Stina Linge

CEO

Emollivet AB

Telephone: +46 (0)70 224 75 44

Email: [email protected]

Certified Adviser

Erik Penser Bank AB

Telefon: +46 (0)8 463 83 00

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This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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More than 100 Broadway and theater actors, staff and workers marched in protest Thursday, calling the full resignation of Scott Rudin and demanded additional diversity in the industry. Rudin, an award-winning film, television and theater producer, is accused of bullying and harassing employees.

"We want to shut Scott Rudin out of the Broadway League," Nattalyee Randall, march co-organizer, told CBS New York, referring to theater's biggest union.

Rudin stepped back from his current and upcoming Broadway and film projects, including the highly-anticipated Broadway revival of "The Music Man" starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. This comes after accusations of bullying, harassment and abuse by current and former employees that were detailed in a recent expose published in the Hollywood Reporter.

Last week, Rudin announced his decision and apologized in a statement to CBS News. "After a period of reflection, I've made the decision to step back from active participation on our Broadway productions, effective immediately. My roles will be filled by others from the Broadway community and in a number of cases, from the roster of participants already in place on those shows," the statement said.

"Much has been written about my history of troubling interactions with colleagues, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain my behavior caused to individuals, directly and indirectly. I am now taking steps that I should have taken years ago to address this behavior."

Still, protestors on Thursday called for Rudin to be removed as a producer with the Broadway League. "Scott could still be a silent partner," said Courtney Daniels, who organized the march. "We want him banished from the Broadway League. We want him banished and put on the do-not-work list."

Demonstrators at the

In addition to Rudin's removal, the march listed five additional demands surrounding inclusion, safety, and visibility like a list of BIPOC and indigenous groups the Actors Equity Association is working with. They also demanded greater inclusion for transgender and nonbinary artists, diversity in the national actor's equity council, accessibility for deaf and disabled artists, and a report breaking down how the 2019-2020 actors dues were spent.

Story continues

Those attending the march filled Times Square and walked down Broadway with signs and posters highlighting their rallying cries.

"Disabled representation need not be only in shows that are about disability," a protestor told CBS New York. "We can play any role."

Health care workers burned out by the pandemic

U.S. lifts pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

Biden concludes second day of climate change summit
***World Intellectual Property Day***

Regulatory News:

For this year's World Intellectual Property Day, Groupe SEB (Paris:SK) recalls the essential role that industrial patent registration plays to foster and enrich innovation and creativity to enable innovative players to become stronger and more competitive. With some 250 million products manufactured each year, protecting innovation is a priority for the Group.

Protecting innovations to enhance their value

The mission of the Industrial Property Patent Department and the Legal Department Intellectual Property at Groupe SEB is to support R&D, design and marketing teams throughout the process of product creation by detecting the innovations to be protected. Products are covered by patents for technical inventions; and by designs and models to protect the products' aesthetic form. In 2020, Groupe SEB filed 443 patents, 312 models and 166 trademarks worldwide.

Industrial Property Patent also plays a crucial role in defending the group's interests by combatting brand, patent and model counterfeiting and copies. This approach consists of an active watch, notably in regions reputed to be at risk and on online channels (brand protection), as well as the technical and legal analysis of competing appliances relative to our patents. In the event of proven breaches or violations, the IP department asserts the Group's rights and implements anti-patent infringement actions in our key markets in the form of transactions, seizures, production stoppages or even destruction of molds and products.

Groupe SEB and its Chinese law firm WanHuida received the 2021 UNIFAB Award in the "Best court decision" category at the 25th European Intellectual Property Forum. This award is the culmination of several years of legal proceedings in China to protect one of Groupe SEB's most disruptive innovations, the Actifry fryer, which cooks fresh fries with just one spoonful of oil.

Patent monitoring is essential to accelerate innovation at Groupe SEB

Patents essentially play two roles: a legal role, as in intellectual property law, they enable the holder to protect and profit from their invention, and a role as catalysts of creativity and innovation, thanks to the technological information they contain. For several decades, our patent monitoring strategy within the Group has consisted in providing scientific and competitive knowledge to our innovation teams, using patent material including 90 million publications comprising 90% of scientific knowledge. The innovation community includes more than 1,500 employees in R&D, Marketing and Design. Beyond the products, Groupe SEB strives to enrich the consumer experience by developing services and solutions to respond to major societal and consumer trends.

In 2020, 3.5% of our turnover was invested in Innovation

Groupe SEB: a passion for innovation

Since Groupe SEB was founded in 1857, innovation has always been at the heart of its strategy and values. The Group's history includes a long list of innovations in disruptive concepts, new functionalities as well as ingenious discoveries. From the Super Cocotte pressure cooker (1953), to the Cookeo food processor and the Cuisine Companion; including the (almost) oil-free Actifry fryer (in 2006), and the nonstick frying pan (in 1956) or the self-cleaning iron (2008), this innovative spirit is part our Group's purpose: better daily living for our consumers throughout the world.

Innovations are supported by a globally recognized trademark portfolio (including names such as Tefal, Moulinex, WMF, Rowenta) or regionally (Seb or Calor). The Group has a portfolio of 31 major trademarks to protect, as well as product names such as Actifry, Companion, IXEO, etc. that have become references in their product categories. In total, Groupe SEB holds around 20,000 patents and over 20,000 trademarks and designs worldwide.

Geraldine Guery-Jacques, Vice President, Industrial Property Patent, commented: "Organizing a World Intellectual Property Day enables us to highlight the key role that patents play in innovation strategies. Patent strategies bring numerous benefits. They are a source of creativity for inventors, a means of monitoring and negotiating with rivals and partners and, above all, a legal means of protecting our competitive advantage via anti-counterfeiting actions. Filing a patent is always a risk, because we never know if the invention will be produced, nor if it will be a commercial success. Protecting our innovations also means recognizing the commitment of our teams in their projects to develop new products and services."

Next key dates 2021 May 20| 3:00 p.m. 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 service to clients. 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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Looks like Captain America is taking to the sky.

Marvel Studios has tapped The Falcon and the Winter Soldier head writer Malcolm Spellman to write the screenplay for a new Captain America movie, with FAWS staff writer Dalan Musson.

There are no further details about the possible project, but the news comes the same day that FAWS concludes its six-episode season on Disney Plus, which ends with several indications for where Spellman and Musson could be taking the franchise. (The next paragraph of this story will deal with spoilers for that episode.)

In the finale, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) finally accepts the mantle of Captain America, first handed to him by an elderly Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Brandishing Caps shield and sporting a new red-white-and-blue costume, Sam saves the day alongside Steves BFF Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and in the shows final credits, the title is updated to read Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Meanwhile, Caps disgraced replacement John Walker (Wyatt Russell) takes on the moniker of U.S. Agent  his title in many Marvel comics  at the behest of the mysterious operative Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). And former compatriot Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) reveals herself to be the nefarious underworld malefactor the Power Broker just as shes welcomed back into the U.S. government.

The three Captain America movies starring Evans  2011s The First Avenger, 2014s The Winter Soldier and 2016s Civil War  are among the best regarded films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially within a single hero franchise. Together, theyve grossed over $2.2 billion worldwide.

Prior to running the writers room on FAWS, Spellman was a writer and co-executive producer on Foxs Empire. Musson wrote the penultimate episode of FAWS; his only other produced credit is the 2019 Finnish-German feature Iron Sky: The Coming Race, a sci-fi action comedy largely set on the moon and featuring Adolf Hitler riding a Tyrannosaurus rex.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news of Spellman and Mussons involvement. Disney had no comment.

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Theres no espanol without n. Not to mention canas. N is the 15th letter in the Spanish alphabet and is used in more than 15,700 words. To mark April 23, the Day of the Book, which since 2003 has also been the Day of the Spanish Language, EL PAIS retraces the history of this special letter and examines how it has become an icon of the Spanish language.

The letter n was first included in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) in 1803. But its origins stretch to the Middle Ages. Indeed, the letter appears in a text dating back to 1176.

Neither the sound or the letter n existed in Latin, but as the Latin language evolved and romantic languages such as Spanish, French and Italian began to appear, so too did the palatal nasal sound, which is articulated with the back of the tongue raised to the hard palate.

In the Middle Ages, monks were the scholars of society and monasteries great centers of knowledge. The letter n is thought to have originated at this historic moment due to the shortage of scrolls, which were very costly, and in a bid to save time. It seemed the monks, who worked as scribes and clerks in the monasteries, were forced to abbreviate some double letters to fit more words in each line.

It was not until October 2, 2007, that the n, as well as other tildes, could appear in email addresses and web domains

According to this theory, the second repeated letter was represented as a tilde, known in Spanish as a virgulilla, over the first. In other words, what we know as the n is in fact a double n, so instead of donna, we have dona.

There is a separate theory about how the sound of the letter came about. According to this theory, the letter n emerged as a way to represent the new palatal nasal sounds that appeared in the ninth century  for example, the double n in Latin words such as annus (ano, or year). These words meant more work for the monks and so in their effort to save time, different adaptations began to emerge depending on the language. The letter n was used in Spanish and Gallego (Espana); the nh combination in Portuguese (Espanha); gn in French and Italian (Espagna); and ny in Catalan (Espanya).

These different forms continued to be used interchangeably until the 13th century, when King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon ordered a spelling reform as part of his policy of linguistic unification. The monarch, loyal to his reputation as a great reader, writer and intellectual of the times, introduced the letter n as the preferred option to the above combinations and in doing so set the first rules of the Spanish language. When the use of n became widespread across the Iberian peninsula, humanist Antonio de Nebrija included the letter in the first Spanish grammar book in 1492.

But it was not too long ago that the letter n was at risk of disappearing, at least from the written language. In the 1990s, the European Economic Community (EEC) proposed eliminating the n to make keyboards more uniform. The internet had also sidelined the letter. It was not until October 2, 2007, that the n, as well as other tildes, could appear in email addresses and web domains.

The letter is even starting to make more appearances in the English language in words with Spanish origin such as jalapeno, pina colada and El Nino

The proposal from the EEC sparked a fierce backlash in defense of n and Spanish, which is the second-most-spoken language in the world. Even Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez rushed to defend the letter. It is scandalous, to say the least, that the European Economic Community has dared to propose that Spain eliminate the letter n of our alphabet, and even worse, only for reasons of commercial convenience, he wrote in an op-ed for EL PAIS in 1991. The authors of such abuse and arrogance should know that the n is not an archaeological relic, but the reverse: a cultural leap by one Romance language that left the others behind, expressing with only one letter a sound that in other Romance languages continues to be expressed with two.

The controversy ended on April 23, 1993, when the Spanish government approved a royal decree that maintained the mandatory inclusion of the letter n on keyboards.

The letter is even starting to make more appearances in the English language in words with Spanish origin such as jalapeno, pina colada and El Nino. Until the middle of the 20th century, the n was more commonly written in English as the double n, as in the Battle of Corunna. But now the letter is almost always respected and there is even an association, the Society for the Advancement of Spanish Letters in the Anglo Americas, that is pushing for the n to be permanently adopted in the English language.

But it is important to note that neither the letter n nor the sound are exclusively Spanish. In the Iberian peninsula, it is used in Gallego and Asturian, and also to a limited degree in the Basque language Euskera. In Latin America, many indigenous languages also include the letter, such as Mapuche in Chile and Argentina, Zapotec in Mexico and Quechua in Ecuador. And it also appears in other languages of cultures that came into contact with Spanish, including Chabacano in the Philippines and Bube in Equatorial Guinea.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
Only one U.S. senator opposed passing a bill directed at fighting the surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic -- because it was "hugely broad."



The legislation, known as the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, was introduced by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) in March and directs the Justice Department to facilitate the expedited review of such crimes.



As part of a deal with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Hirono changed the language on what guidance should be offered by the administration from "best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language" to guidance "aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic," according to The Hill.



This resulted in a rare moment of bipartisan support Thursday, when the bill received an overwhelming 94-1 vote -- with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) being the lone voice of opposition.



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Nearly 3,800 anti-Asian incidents have been reported to national coalition Stop AAPI Hate from March 19, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021. Observers believe more cases in that period have never been reported, while official hate crime cases continue to rise.



Hawley was one of six other Republicans who -- for varying reasons -- voted against advancing the bill last week. Those include Sens. Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), Tom Cotton (Arkansas), Roger Marshall (Kansas), Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Ted Cruz (Texas).



Hawley maintained his stance against the bill on Thursday. In a statement after the vote, he said "its dangerous to simply give the federal government open-ended authority to define a whole new class of federal hate crime incidents."



Later that evening, the 41-year-old senator went on to tweet that the bill essentially "raises big free speech questions."



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Hawley's statement only drew further backlash. Many Twitter users accused him of racism.



"And you are the 'only' person who could see this? Is it possible you are looking through racist glasses?" one user asked.



Another pointed out, "There is a difference between free speech and hate speech."



Meanwhile, others raised the fact that Hawley supported the Capitol invasion of Jan. 6.



"Just like when you supported riots at the capital. You seem to love 'speech' so long as it involves Republicans committing violence," one wrote.



See more reactions below:



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However, Hawley might not have been the only Republican to go against the bill. While Sens. Tuberville, Cotton, Marshall and Cruz ultimately offered support, Sen. Paul missed the vote and might have gone with nay as well, according to CNN.



The House, which has created a similar version of Hironos bill, and the Senate must agree on a new bill to present to President Joe Biden to sign into law.



Feature Image Screenshot via The Hill

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Leading worldwide Air Cargo ULD equipment and logistics services provider to be acquired by Alinda Capital Partners, an investment firm focused on essential infrastructure

GREENVILLE, S.C. and GREENWICH, Conn., April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL Airshop, a global leader in air cargo Unit Load Device (ULD) logistics solutions to over 200 airlines, air cargo carriers, and other transportation clients, announced the closing of the acquisition of ACL Airshop by Alinda Capital Partners, an infrastructure fund manager.

Alinda is among the world's most successful investors in infrastructure, including transportation and logistics.

The transaction successfully concluded in April 2021. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Alinda is a global independent investment firm focused on mid-market infrastructure assets that provide essential services. Alinda has holdings in infrastructure businesses in all 50 US states, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Alinda-owned businesses serve over 100 million customers annually.

"Alinda is among the world's most successful investors in infrastructure, including transportation and logistics," said Steve Townes, president and chief executive officer of ACL Airshop. "Alinda also has a successful track record of investment in pooled and leased equipment, and is experienced in backing growth-oriented companies. They are committed to ACL Airshop's strategy of growing with its customers and share our vision for continued expansion in the coming years."

"ACL Airshop is a uniquely positioned business and is led by an exceptional management team," said Alinda Chairman Chris Beale. "We look forward to supporting their growth strategies."

Townes noted that ACL Airshop's current management and operations team will continue to lead the organization under its new ownership. He added that the acquisition will benefit ACL Airshop's employees, suppliers, partners, and customers through access to Alinda's resources and their proven strategies of helping essential infrastructure businesses grow profitably in their market. According to Townes, this experience will be of value to ACL Airshop as it continues to expand its ULD fleet and network of airport locations globally, while also deploying innovative new technologies.

Story continues

About ACL Airshop - ACL Airshop owns, maintains and leases more than 50,000 Unit Load Devices (ULDs), including air freight pallets and containers, issued from 55 airport hub locations across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. ACL Airshop's strong growth in recent years builds on the company's 38-year heritage as an air cargo equipment and logistics specialist. Its worldwide services network has expanded from 23 airport hub locations in 2016 to 55 at latest count. Today, the company maintains the largest independent inventory of lease-ready ULD assets in the industry for short-term solutions, and also has an array of longer-term ULD Management contracts. The company is deploying innovative logistics technologies such as "FindMyULD" which yield better fleet efficiencies and operational cost savings for customers. ACL Airshop was first-in-market among its competitive class to offer Bluetooth tracking & tracing of air cargo pallets and containers. For more information, please visit www.ACLairshop.com.

About Alinda Capital Partners  Alinda Capital Partners is a global investment firm that makes long-term investments in infrastructure assets that provide essential services. Alinda's investment partners are predominantly pension funds serving public sector and private sector workers and seeking steady investments over the long term to match their pension liabilities. They include some of the largest institutional investors in the world. Alinda has offices in Greenwich (Connecticut), Miami and London. See www.alinda.com.

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SOURCE ACL Airshop
Richwood, TX (77531)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 78F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The Manhattan District Attorneys Office will no longer prosecute cases against sex workers, while criminal cases against sex traffickers, pimps and those who pay for the service will continue.

The shift in policy is part of a growing movement across the U.S. to reform the way sex-for-money is policed.

Over the last decade weve learned from those with lived experience, and from our own experience on the ground: Criminally prosecuting prostitution does not make us safer, and too often, achieves the opposite result by further marginalizing vulnerable New Yorkers, Vance said in a statement.

POLICING THE SEX TRADE ON S.I.

Street prostitution is rare on Staten Island, though multiple cases involving alleged massage parlors and sex-trafficking have been pursued by law enforcement agencies in recent weeks.

A recent online search by the Advance/SILive.com found multiple websites soliciting massage parlors throughout the city, and dozens of profiles for sex workers.

When asked about the historic policy shift in Manhattan, along with efforts at the state level to decriminalize the act in some form, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said it must be done in a comprehensive and thoughtful manner.

McMahon said there has to be a focus on providing more resources to survivors while still permitting law enforcement to do its job and hold accountable those who exploit others for profit.

Ensuring sex traffickers, massage parlor operators, and pimps are fully prosecuted and held accountable for the pain and suffering they cause remains crucial to protecting victims of abuse and keeping Staten Islanders safe.

There have already been steps citywide to help sex workers obtain the necessary resources to make an escape from the profession, with the possibility of having the charges dismissed in the citys special Human Trafficking Intervention Court.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. As scary as the movies & TV shows seem, the reality of human trafficking is much more serious. Join us today and learn the truth about human trafficking with an expert panel ready to answer all your questions. pic.twitter.com/HOQlkP1746  Michael E. McMahon (@StatenIslandDA) January 28, 2021

SEX-WORKERS

Prostitution cases in the U.S. have uncovered a wide range of circumstances in how women and men become involved in the industry.

Some are brought to the country by a trafficker on false promises of a better life, then ushered and/or forced into sex work without a passport, other financial means to survive nor any family for support.

Some are homeless at a young age due to issues at home with drugs and/or abuse, and promised a place to stay in exchange for sex work.

Occasionally, they come from more stable and/or middle class backgrounds, seeking an alternative lifestyle and what can be a lucrative career.

If sex workers are not charged by law enforcement, it will embolden the traffickers to continue their operations, said Assemblyman Michael Tannousis, a former prosecutor on Staten Island. This bill would tie the hands for our law enforcement and will diminish our quality of life. (Staten Island Advance/ Alexandra Salmieri)Alexandra Salmieri

S.I. LAWMAKER WEIGHS IN

Vance asked a judge Wednesday morning to throw out 914 prostitution and unlicensed-massage cases, in addition to 5,080 cases involving charges of loitering for the purposes of prostitution  many of them dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.

Cases involving loitering for the purposes of prostitution are what activist groups and some legal experts referred to as the walking while trans law, arguing cops used it to harass and arrest law-abiding trans people.

In February, state legislators repealed the law, and McMahon dismissed all cases and warrants related specifically to the law on Staten Island.

Meanwhile, a bill introduced recently by state Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) would decriminalize prostitution for the person performing the work, while still holding clients, traffickers and pimps accountable.

Staten Island Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore) said he would vote the bill down.

If sex workers are not charged by law enforcement, it will embolden the traffickers to continue their operations, said Tannousis, a former prosecutor on Staten Island. This bill would tie the hands for our law enforcement and will diminish our quality of life.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama lawmakers are inching closer to approving a ban on so-called vaccine passports that require proof of coronavirus vaccination to access services from a business or state agency.

The House Health Committee on Wednesday voted to send the bill to House of Representatives for a vote. It has already cleared the Alabama Senate.

The bill contains a number of exceptions. Surgeons, dentists, medical institutions, hospitals and other health care providers are exempted.
OTTAWA - The woman at the heart of sexual misconduct allegations against Canada's former top military commander says retired Gen. Jonathan Vance believes he owns the military police that are investigating him.

Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance watches a news conference from the front row of seats Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Ottawa. The woman at the heart of sexual misconduct allegations against Canada's former top military commander says Gen. Jonathan Vance believes he is "untouchable. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - The woman at the heart of sexual misconduct allegations against Canada's former top military commander says retired Gen. Jonathan Vance believes he owns the military police that are investigating him.

Maj. Kellie Brennan told a House of Commons committee Thursday that the former chief of the defence staff believes he is "untouchable."

During bombshell testimony to the status of women committee, Brennan revealed that Vance fathered two children with her but has taken no responsibility for them.

She also said she has provided physical evidence of Vance's inappropriate relationship with her to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS). That includes, she said, audio recordings of Vance allegedly instructing her to lie about their relationship and threatening consequences if she didn't.

Despite that, she said she doesn't expect justice to be done in her case.

"I asked bluntly the CFNIS if they had the mandate to investigate and did they have the powers to lay charges and they would not answer me," Brennan testified.

"The answer was no because, as (Vance) told me, he was untouchable, he owned the CFNIS."

Brennan added: "I definitely feel that there will not be justice for me and, in all honesty, that's OK because if my speaking out can change everything for other women to come forward and change our policies, that's OK with me."

Brennan said she was questioned by the military police service for two days, six hours at a time, in February about her relationship with Vance.

She has told Global News that she had a sexual relationship with Vance starting in 2001 that continued after he became her superior officer, including after he was named defence chief in 2015.

Vance has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Canadian Press. He has acknowledged to Global News that he dated Brennan some 20 years ago but has denied any intimate relationship with her while she was under his command.

He is also being investigated for allegedly sending a lewd email to a junior officer before becoming chief of the defence staff.

Military police are also investigating Admiral Art McDonald, who temporarily stepped aside in February about a month after taking over from Vance as chief of the defence staff. The specifics of that allegation have not been revealed, and McDonald has not commented publicly.

Brennan told the committee Thursday that Vance directed her "what to say, what not to say, how to say it, what to exclude, to purge (sic) myself, to lie" to the CFNIS investigators.

Asked if he'd threatened her, she said: "A threat, meaning bodily harm? No ... Definitely he gave me very many consequences if I was not following his orders."

As an example, she said he told her she would be questioned by his wife, a lawyer, "that somehow she was going to come and see me and question me."

"The consequences were always the same, that I had to stay silent."

Brennan said she "didn't have the ability to say no. They were orders."

It was not clear why she would have taken orders from Vance after he was no longer the top military commander. He officially retired from the military in April.

Brennan said Vance has good reason to believe he's above the law.

"In my experience, in many different areas, the law does not apply to him," she said.

"On a personal note, he fathered two children with me. He's not responsible to pay or to have those children under his responsibility. It's all up to me ... So, I think that it's just become a habit with him."

"Oh my goodness," Conservative MP Leona Alleslev responded. "That must be very tough on you."

Brennan also suggested that Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is under Vance's control. She alleged that Sajjan was a special projects officer at Canadian Forces Base Downsview in Toronto, under Vance's command, while she was there between January 2006 and the spring of 2008.

"Gen. Vance told me he always had him under control," Brennan said of Sajjan.

However, Sajjan has testified that he was never posted in Toronto  a fact repeated by a spokesman after Brennan's testimony.

"As the Minister stated in committee, he did not serve in Toronto," said Todd Lane.

Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld, Sajjan's parliamentary secretary, pointed out the discrepancy between Brennan's testimony and Sajjan's but did not ask her to explain it.

Sajjan has been under fire for not having done more after then-military ombudsman Gary Walbourne first told him of an allegation of sexual misconduct involving Vance in March 2018.

Sajjan has said he referred the matter to the Privy Council Office, which was stymied in launching an investigation because Walbourne would not reveal the identity of the complainant.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.
Event

WTTC's Global Summit is the leading Travel & Tourism event, where high-level industry leaders meet with key government representatives to take action on the biggest and most important issues across the international agenda.

The 20th Global Summit will be held in Cancun, Mexico and is kindly hosted by Government of Quintana Roo.

Invitations to the Global Summit are restricted to WTTC Members and select heads of Government, Cabinet Ministers, Chairs and Chief Executives of global Travel & Tourism companies and other high profile guests.

WTTC 20th Global Summit is organized by WTTC
NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts are in orbit following their early morning launch bound for the International Space Station for the second commercial crew rotation mission aboard the microgravity laboratory.

The international crew of astronauts lifted off at 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, into orbit to begin a six-month science mission on the space station.

During Crew Dragon's flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May," said NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk. "This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA and JAXA, and for the future of scientific research on board the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program."\

The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, will dock autonomously to the forward port of the station's Harmony module about 5:10 a.m. Saturday, April 24. NASA Television, the NASA App, and the agency's website are providing ongoing live coverage through docking, hatch opening, and the ceremony to welcome the crew aboard the orbital outpost.

"I'm really proud of the SpaceX team and honored to be partnered with NASA and helping JAXA and ESA as well," said Elon Musk, Chief Engineer at SpaceX. "We're thrilled to be a part of advancing human spaceflight and looking forward to going beyond Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars and helping make humanity a space-faring civilization and a multi-planet species one day."

The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. This mission has several firsts, including:

First commercial crew mission to fly two international partners;

First commercial crew handover between astronauts on the space station as Crew-1 and Crew-2 astronauts will spend about five days together on station before Crew-1 returns to Earth;

First reuse of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket on a crew mission -Crew Dragon Endeavour flew the historic Demo-2 mission and the Falcon 9 flew astronauts on the Crew-1 mission; and,

First time two commercial crew spacecraft will be docked to station at the same time.

"When I see a launch I immediately think of what it took to reach this milestone and the dedication of all the people who made it happen," said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "There's obviously a long way to go, but now we can celebrate the Crew-2 launch and look forward to seeing them join their other Expedition 65 colleagues as we prepare to bring Crew-1 home next week."

Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet will join the Expedition 65 crew of Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, as well as Soichi Noguchi of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. For a short time, the number of crew on the space station will increase to 11 people until Crew-1 astronauts Walker, Hopkins, Glover, and Noguchi return a few days later.

The is the second commercial crew mission to fly a JAXA astronaut. When Hoshide joins astronaut Noguchi during the commercial crew handover period, it will mark the first time two JAXA astronauts are on station at the same time.

"I am extremely honored to witness the successful launch today. It is my utmost pleasure and also for Japan that Japanese astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Aki Hoshide boarded the operational spacecraft of Crew Dragon twice in a row," said Hiroshi Sasaki, Vice President for Human Spaceflight and Space Exploration. "I believe this is brought by the many years of close cooperation cultivated amongst the international partners, especially between U.S. and Japan through the ISS program. I hope Aki will play an integral role as the second Japanese ISS commander along with his colleague astronauts, creating fruitful outcomes and expanding the human frontier to the Lunar Gateway, the surface of the Moon and even beyond."

Crew-2 also is the first commercial crew mission to fly an ESA astronaut. Pesquet is the first of three ESA crew members assigned to fly to station on commercial crew spacecraft, kicking off a continuous stay of ESA astronauts on the space station for about a year and a half - in total - for the first time in more than 20 years.

"This is a thrilling time for human spaceflight and this new success of the Commercial Crew Program embodies it - congratulations once again to NASA and SpaceX," said David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA. "Starting with astronaut Thomas Pesquet, ESA is delighted to join this new space station chapter, paving the way to the future of exploration side by side with diverse partners. Six months of excellent science and state-of-the-art technology demonstrations now await him, and we know he cannot wait to start working."

Crew-2 Astronauts

Shane Kimbrough is commander of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Crew-2 mission. Kimbrough is responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. He also will serve as an Expedition 65 flight engineer aboard the station. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004, Kimbrough first launched aboard space shuttle Endeavour for a visit to the station on the STS-126 mission in 2008, and then aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for his first long-duration mission for Expedition 49/50 in 2016. He has spent a total of 189 days in space and performed six spacewalks. Kimbrough also is a retired U.S. Army colonel and earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a master's degree in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Megan McArthur is the pilot of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and second-in-command for the mission. McArthur is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. She also will be a long-duration space station crew member, making her first trip to the space station. Selected as an astronaut in 2000, McArthur launched on space shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, in 2009. McArthur operated the shuttle's robotic arm over the course of the 12 days, 21 hours she spent in space, capturing the telescope and moving crew members during the five spacewalks needed to repair and upgrade it. She holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and a doctorate in oceanography from the University of California, San Diego.

Akihiko Hoshide is a mission specialist for Crew-2. As a mission specialist, he will work closely with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Once aboard the station, Hoshide will become a flight engineer for Expedition 65. Hoshide joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, currently JAXA) in 1992 and was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999. Hoshide is a veteran of two spaceflights. In June 2008, he flew to the International Space Station on the STS-124 mission to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" to the station. From July to November 2012, he stayed on the space station for 124 days as a flight engineer for the Expedition 32/33 mission. The Crew Dragon will be the third spacecraft that Noguchi has flown to the orbiting laboratory.

Thomas Pesquet also will be a mission specialist for Crew-2, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Pesquet also will become a long-duration crew member aboard the space station. He was selected as an astronaut candidate by ESA in May 2009 and worked as a Eurocom, communicating with astronauts during spaceflights from the mission control center. He previously flew as part of Expeditions 50 and 51, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in October 2016 and spending 196 days in space, returning to Earth in June 2017. His mission also included two spacewalks to maintain the station: one to replace batteries on an electrical channel, and one to detect a cooling leak and service the robotic arm.

Mission Objectives

The Crew-2 members will conduct science and maintenance during a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return no earlier than Oct. 31. The Crew Dragon spacecraft can stay in orbit for at least 210 days, which is a NASA requirement.

Adding more crew members aboard the microgravity laboratory increases the time available for scientific activities. The November 2020 arrival of the Crew-1 astronauts more than doubled crew hours spent on scientific research and support activities, and Crew-2 will continue the important investigations and technology demonstrations that are preparing for future Artemis missions to the Moon, helping us improve our understanding of Earth's climate, and improving life on our home planet. An important scientific focus on this expedition is continuing a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies. Tissue chips are small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body. Another important element of Crew-2's mission is augmenting the station's solar power system by installing the first pair of six new ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays.

Crew Dragon also is delivering almost 250 pounds of cargo, new science hardware, and experiments, including a university student-led investigation to study possible causes for suppressed immune response in microgravity.

During their stay on the orbiting laboratory, Crew-2 astronauts expect to see a range of U.S. commercial spacecraft, including the Northrop Grumman Cygnus; SpaceX cargo Dragon; Boeing CST-100 Starliner, on its uncrewed flight to station; and NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon; which is targeted for launch no earlier than Oct. 23. During Crew-2, astronauts also will conduct a variety of spacewalks outside the space station, including the solar array installation.

At the conclusion of the mission, the Crew-2 astronauts will board Crew Dragon, which will then autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Crew Dragon also will return to Earth important and time-sensitive research. NASA and SpaceX are capable of supporting seven splashdown sites located off Florida's east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon splashdown, the SpaceX recovery ship will pick up the crew and return to shore.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is delivering on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through 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 more than 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 243 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.



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[April 22, 2021] NASA Statement on Nomination of Margaret Vo Schaus for Agency CFO

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk on Thursday's announcement of the intended nomination by President Joe Biden of Margaret Vo Schaus to serve as the agency's chief financial officer: "The chief financial officer is critical to the success of NASA's long-term missions. Through her past work in government, Margaret has demonstrated exceptional management skills and a commitment to lifting up and supporting a diverse workforce. If confirmed, I look forward to working with Margaret and the Biden administration to develop and execute NASA's more than $20 billion budget andensuring the agency remains a good and responsible steward of every tax dollar invested in NASA."



Schaus is a career member of the Senior Executive Service. Over the past decade, she has held numerous leadership roles with responsibility for the financial management and business operations of science and engineering organizations at the Departments of Energy and Defense. She currently serves as the director for business operations in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, where she is responsible for oversight of a multibillion-dollar budget. Schaus has been recognized with awards, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Exceptional Civilian Service Award, the Department of Energy's Distinguished Career Service Award, and the Secretary of Energy's Honor Award. Schaus is a first-generation Vietnamese American, born in Michigan and raised in Southern California. She received Bachelor of Arts degrees in science, technology, and society, as well as English from Stanford University, and a Master of Science in management science and engineering from Stanford University.

For information about NASA's missions, discoveries, and activities, visit: https://www.nasa.gov View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-statement-on-nomination-of-margaret-vo-schaus-for-agency-cfo-301275553.html SOURCE NASA

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"China has made cooperation in ecological civilization a priority of joint building Belt and Road and promoted a series of green initiatives," the president noted, adding that China will hold the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October.

Controlling and curbing coal consumption

Xi told the other world leaders attending the summit that concrete action was already being taken. "China has integrated the goal into the ecological civilization construction and an action plan for hitting the peak of carbon emissions by 2030 is underway."

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, we will strictly control the growth of coal consumption and gradually curb the consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan period," he added.

Coal-fired power remains a major energy source in China, and the country has vowed to bring the share of coal in total energy consumption to under 56 percent in 2021.

The 14th Five-Year Plan, a key policy document that will heavily influence the nation's economic development in the next decade and beyond, outlined that energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 13.5 percent and 18 percent over the period, respectively.

During China's annual Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2020, reducing carbon emissions was listed as one of China's eight key tasks to focus on in 2021.

Meanwhile, Xi noted that these are no easy tasks. "China's commitment is much shorter than that of developed countries."

The low-carbon commitment, it is estimated, requires China to make the transition from reaching its carbon peak to realizing carbon neutrality within 30 years, compared with the 60 years taken by most developed countries.

He stressed that countries should honor promises on addressing climate change.

The Copenhagen Summit in 2009 set China's 2020 target of non-fossil energy consumption at 15 percent and entailed a 40 to 45 percent reduction of carbon intensity compared to 2005. China's statistics for 2019 are 15.3 percent and 48.1 percent, respectively, meaning the country exceeded and fulfilled the targets ahead of schedule.

Compared with 2005, greenhouse emissions per unit of GDP had dropped 48 percent by 2019 in China, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, achieving ahead of schedule China's commitment to the 2020 targets.

Global cooperation vital

Xi also stressed the importance of global cooperation, calling for the international community to work together, instead of resorting to mutual accusation; to keep promises, instead of going back on them.

The president warned against fragmented and palliative approaches in conserving ecological environment.

Welcoming the returning of the United States to the multilateral governance on climate change, Xi said that China is looking forward to working with the international society, including the U.S., to advance global environmental governance.

Developed countries should make concrete efforts to help developing countries improve their abilities to cope with climate change, he added, stressing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in the process.

Xi has repeatedly stressed the importance of upholding multilateralism, unity and cooperation to tackle climate change.

China and European countries have been working closely on the global fight against climate change after former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration abandoned the Paris Agreement.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-04-22/President-Xi-attends-Leaders-Summit-on-Climate-via-video-link-ZFKPiQ9yCc/index.html

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YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of Security Council of Armenia of Armenia Armen Grigoryan says there is no final settlement to Nagorno Karabakh conflict, ARMENPRESS reports Grigoryan told Ria Novosti, answering the question if he thinks a peace treaty with Azerbaijan is possible.

Before speaking about a peace treaty, its necessary to record one simple truth. There is no final solution to Karabakh conflict. This conflict is impossible to solve by force or threat to use it. By initiating military aggression in September, 2020, the Azerbaijani leadership violated one of the three basic principles for the peaceful settlement of the conflict  the principle of non-use of force or the threat to use it. There are principles with their components that have been agreed during years, and the settlement of the conflict must be based on them. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries also agree with us in this issue, and their recent joint statement said that the conflict settlement should take place based on the principles and elements well known by the sides, Grigoryan said.

According to the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Aliyev not only denies the reality that the conflict is not settled, but also makes all attempts to deepen hatred between the two peoples.

For example, when he opens the so-called trophy park, makes insane announcements about Zangezur (Aliyev threatened to occupy Syunik Province of Armenia by force  edit.), destroys Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the occupied territories of Artsakh, desecrates not only the tombs of the victims of the 1st Artsakh war, but also the monuments dedicated to theheros of the Great Patriotic War, how is that possible to think about a peace treaty?'', Armen Grigoryan said.

He added that when Azerbaijan will show a reasonable approach, will take rational steps and will be ready for a constructive dialogue, then it will be possible to think about peace treaty.
Allegations that he groomed several former students at Lusher Middle School for sexual encounters when they were of age continue to mount for star literary biographer Blake Bailey, and the number of women accusing him of rape has doubled, with a fresh rape claim against him landing on the front page of The New York Times.

In an interview with The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, one of his former eighth-grade English students recounted Thursday that he offered himself up as her writing mentor, even leaving a note in her yearbook that the journal he assigned her to keep was one of few he would miss reading.

Blake Bailey publisher halts shipping, promotion of new book after ex-Lusher students' allegations The publisher of a bestselling biography about writer Philip Roth is pausing its promotion and shipping of the book after the former Lusher Mi

The woman, who spoke for the record on condition of anonymity, said Bailey kept in touch with her after she graduated from Lusher Middle in 2000 and he had moved away to pursue a career in writing. She said he was on a return visit to New Orleans and had invited her to lunch when he convinced her to accompany him to his hotel room because he needed to get something. Once there, he initiated sex, said the former Lusher student, who permitted the newspaper to share her name with Bailey and his attorney to request comment.

The woman said she didnt rebuff Bailey but said that was because she was overwhelmed at how quickly her former teacher had changed the nature of their encounter.

It was so fast, she said. I remember being grossed out.

The ex-student said she doesnt remember the exact date, but when she spoke with Bailey later, he insisted he had waited until she had reached the age of consent, which in Louisiana is 17. The former student turned 17 in late 2003. That would make her younger at the time of the encounter than any of the other women who have come forward thus far.

Who is Blake Bailey? Bestselling author with New Orleans ties accused of sexual misconduct Blake Bailey, a celebrated literary biographer, has come under fire this week due to several accusations of sexual misconduct stemming from th

She said her case appears to be a drastic example of what she called Baileys bait and wait modus operandi: gain the lasting trust of certain students in his classroom, meet with them when they were older, and then initiate sex.

Within the last 10 years, but long before any allegations about Bailey were public, the woman disclosed what happened with Bailey to a friend and former Lusher classmate named Marie Kerrin, Kerrin said in a separate interview. The woman said she didnt feel comfortable sharing her story more widely until this week, when three other former Lusher students whom Bailey taught in the 1990s went public with eerily similar claims.

One of those three women, Eve Crawford Peyton, accused Bailey of raping her. The other two stopped short of describing their encounters as rape, but said that Bailey moved quickly and unduly took advantage of his role as a trusted mentor. Yet another former Bailey student at Lusher, Elisha Diamond, said she fled after meeting him at a bar during her freshman year in college when he slid his hand up her thigh following a series of suggestive remarks.

I am speaking out because I see now he is a serial predator, and I wonder if there are others, said the former student who spoke out against Bailey most recently.

Bailey, who now is 57 and lives in Virginia, and his attorney in New Orleans, Billy Gibbens, declined to comment on the latest allegation. Earlier this week, In response to a request for comment on the allegations from Peyton, Diamond and the two others who spoke out previously, Gibbens said it was absurd to suggest that (Bailey) was grooming students for anticipated encounters as adults many years later.

Gibbens prepared statement added: The allegations  are false, hurtful descriptions of conduct between adults. Mr. Bailey has never treated a woman inappropriately and has never forced himself on a woman.

Baileys past at Lusher  where he taught for about eight years beginning in 1992  came under scrutiny as he was enjoying critical and commercial success for his newly released 900-page biography on writer Philip Roth. The women speaking out against him said it was difficult for them to watch as his reputation steadily rose in the wake of earlier successful biographies of authors John Cheever, Richard Yates and Charles Jackson.

The reaction to their coming forward was swift. The Roth biographys publisher, W.W. Norton and Company, announced Wednesday that it was pausing its promotion and shipping of the book. And, days before that, Baileys literary agency  the Story Factory  fired him as a client.

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Meanwhile, in an article in Thursdays New York Times, a publishing executive named Valentina Rice accused Bailey of raping her in 2015.

Author Blake Bailey accused of abusing ex-Lusher students' trust for sex; denies illegal conduct A celebrated literary biographer who taught eighth-grade English at New Orleans Lusher Middle School in the 1990s is now facing accusations t

Rice alleged that Bailey forced himself on her even as she repeatedly said no and stop while they were both overnight guests at the New Jersey home of a Times book critic. In around 2018, prompted by the #MeToo movement, Rice used an email address under a pseudonym to write to Nortons president and accused Bailey of rape, she told the Times.

The Times reported that, in response, Bailey wrote an email to Rice, saying his publisher had forwarded him her note.

In that email, Bailey denied ever having nonconsensual sex of any kind, with anybody, ever and pledged to defend his reputation and livelihood if necessary. The Times reported that he also told Rice such a rumor would destroy his adoring wife and daughter.

Before Rices story became public, at least two of the former Lusher students who spoke out against Bailey said he had asked them to consider how hurtful it would be to his wife and daughter if they publicly detailed their experiences.

According to The Times, Bailey issued a statement to that outlets reporters calling Rices allegations categorically false and libelous.

Rice didnt respond to messages from this newspaper. Regarding The Times reporting, a Norton spokesperson issued a statement saying the publisher took the allegations from Rice very seriously while respecting the accusers request for a guarantee of anonymity.

Bailey categorically denied the Rice accusations when questioned, said Nortons statement. Nortons statement said the publisher was also aware that the Rice allegations had been sent to other parties, including a reporter for The New York Times, a news organization that was well-equipped to look into the matter.

Lusher leaders, meanwhile, have faced questions from alumni  some posted on social media  about whether the school knew previously about the types of relationships Bailey was cultivating with his students.

Such questions prompted former Bailey student Jennifer Lee to go public about a complaint her mother filed against him after they say he made an off-color remark about an ankle bracelet Lee wore to Lusher one day.

Bailey said something to the effect that people living in the Renaissance knew a woman was a prostitute if she wore an ankle bracelet, according to Lee. After Lees mother, Dianne Massimini, learned of the comment, she complained to Lusher, which set up a meeting among the mom, daughter, Bailey and Lushers then-principal, Kathy Riedlinger.

Bailey was forced to apologize, Lee and Massimini recalled.

Asked about Lee and Massiminis recollections Thursday, a Lusher spokesperson issued a statement Thursday saying the school has no record of any complaint against Mr. Bailey involving alleged inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature on his part during his time (there) in the 1990s.

Riedlinger, the statement added, has no recollection of any complaint of sexual impropriety regarding Mr. Bailey while he was employed at Lusher  while she was principal.
General: Afghan Military Will Collapse Without Some US Help

WASHINGTONAfghanistans military will certainly collapse without some continued American support once all U.S. troops are withdrawn, the top U.S. general for the Middle East told Congress Thursday. Gen. Frank McKenzie also said he was very concerned about the Afghan governments ability to protect the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said that as the United States pulls out all forces, my concern is the Afghans ability to hold ground and whether they will able to continue to maintain and fly their aircraft without U.S. aid and financial support. Later, at a Pentagon news conference, McKenzie said the United States will look for some remote, televised way to help the Afghan security forces perform maintenance on their aircraft without having U.S. personnel in the country.

Were certainly going to try to do everything we can from distant locations to assist the Afghans as they maintain the aircraft and other platforms that will be essential for the fight ahead of them, the general said. He added later: Were going to try all kinds of innovate ways. The one thing I can tell you is, were not going to be there on the ground with them.

In his testimony, McKenzie said it will be paramount to protect the U.S. Embassy and it is a matter of great concern to me whether or not the future government of Afghanistan will be able to do that once we leave.

McKenzie has spent the week detailing to lawmakers the steep challenges facing the U.S. military as it moves to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, as ordered by President Joe Biden last week. Walking a careful line, the general has painted a dire picture of the road ahead, while also avoiding any pushback on Bidens decision.

U.S. officials have made it clear that military commanders did not recommend the full, unconditional withdrawal that Biden has ordered. Military leaders have consistently argued for a drawdown based on security conditions in the country, saying that pulling troops out by a certain date eliminates pressure on the Taliban and weakens U.S. leverage in the peace talks with the group.

Still, McKenzie said the Biden administrations deliberate and methodical withdrawal discussion was heartening, implicitly drawing a contrast with former President Donald Trumps penchant for making abrupt troop withdrawal decisions and announcing them by tweet.

In public and private sessions with lawmakers, McKenzie has been pressed about how the United States will maintain pressure on the Taliban and prevent terrorist groups from taking hold in Afghanistan again once the United States and its coalition partners leave. The United States has more than 2,500 troops in the country; the NATO coalition has said it will follow the same timetable for withdrawing the more than 7,000 allied forces.

He told the Senate Armed Service Committee on Thursday that once troops leave the country, it will take considerably longer than four hours to move armed drones or other aircraft in and out of Afghanistan to provide overhead surveillance or counterterrorism strikes. He said it will require far more aircraft than he is using now.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at NATO earlier this month, said the United States will continue to support the Afghans after the withdrawal. He said we will look to continue funding key capabilities such as the Afghan Air Force and Special Mission Wing, and we will seek to continue paying salaries for Afghan Security Forces.

Austin and others have said the United States will maintain the ability to counter terrorists in Afghanistan, but there are few details, and officials say they have not yet gotten any diplomatic agreements for basing with any of the surrounding nations.

McKenzie has declined to provide details during the public sessions.

He said there are no decisions yet on what size of diplomatic contingent will be left at the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital, and whether it will include a security cooperation office. Those decisions, he said, could reflect how the United States ensures the defense of the embassy. Marines often provide security at other embassies around the world.

Senators voiced divided views on the withdrawal, with comments crossing party lines. Several lawmakers questioned whether the United States will be able to prevent the Taliban from allowing a resurgence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan who are seeking to attack America. Others asked if the United States will be able to adequately account for how the Afghan government spends any American money.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said there are concerns that a U.S. withdrawal will create a vacuum in the country that China, Russian, or Iran will fill. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued that the United States presence in Afghanistan over the past 10 years has not led to much improvement. She said the government is still corrupt and the Taliban control a larger portion of the country than it did before.

The Pentagon has said its not clear yet whether any U.S. contractors will remain in the country. The Defense Department says the number of contractors in Afghanistan started to decline over the past year or so. According to the latest numbers, there are close to 17,000 Defense Department-funded contractors in Afghanistan and less than one-third of those were Americans.

The total included more than 2,800 armed and unarmed private security contractors, of which more than 1,500 are armed. Of those 1,500, about 600 are Americans.

AP National Security correspondent Robert Burns contributed to this report.

By Lolita C. Baldor
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YK) (OTC Pink: TRUFF) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Headland West Indies LLC in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to launch #SVGStrong, a campaign to raise funds, in-kind donations, and expertise to support response, recovery and rebuilding following the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano in the country.

"As Red Light Holland continues its productive talks with both the highest levels of the SVG government and members of the Vincentian business community in the emerging plant-based wellness industry, we are immediately doing our part to support them at this critical time by powering this initiative. Having spent a significant amount of time recently in SVG, I grew very fond of the beauty of this nation and its people. In the wake of this devastating volcano, we recognize the magnitude of the task facing the government, now and in the months ahead. SVGStrong allows us to rise together to help meet this challenge and help the people directly affected," said Todd Shapiro, CEO and Director of Red Light Holland. "I implore everyone to step up and join us in SVG's time of need and please go to www.SVGstrong.org for more info."

SVGStrong is powered by Red Light Holland and it is further supported by SVG Pioneer Licensees Mera Life Sciences, Ajori Health and Wellness, and SVG Biomed - the psychedelic subsidiary of Headland West Indies.

Donations will be administered by Headland West Indies' team in St. Vincent and the Grenadines under the supervision of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and with the facilitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade through its consulate in Toronto, Canada.

The companies' commitments include:

EC$53,000 (CDN $25,000) donation by Red Light Holland

An additional EC$32,000 donation from Mera Life Science, SVG Biomed, and Ajori Health and Wellness

Sourcing of much-needed items such as food, water, medicines, and testing supplies

Establishment and promotion of a special fundraising page for additional corporate donations

Execution of all logistics on the ground in St Vincent and The Grenadines by Headland West Indies, led by CEO, Cyril Campbell and their outreach team, with the support of the Metrocint General Insurance company, The Hairouna Media Group, and LMJ Law Chambers

"Thank you to Red Light Holland, Mera Life Sciences, Headland West Indies, and Ajori Health and Wellness. These pioneers of the nascent Competitive Modern Medicinal and Wellness Industries have come together to make this substantive and generous pledge to our country's emergency response efforts," said Hon. Saboto Caesar, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry, and Labour for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. "The Help SVG initiative signals their long-term investment, partnership, and commitment to the people and economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines."

Individuals or organizations interested in learning more or supporting through monetary or in-kind donations can visit SVGStrong.org.

About Red Light Holland Corp.

Red Light Holland is an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of a premium brand of magic truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands. The Company is an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale (through existing Smart Shops operators and an advanced e-commerce platform) of a premium brand of magic truffles to the legal market within the Netherlands, in accordance with the highest standards, in compliance with all applicable laws.

For additional information on Red Light Holland:

Todd Shapiro

Chief Executive Officer & Director

Tel: 647-204-7129

Email: todd@redlighttruffles.com

Website: https://redlighttruffles.com/

About Headland West Indies LLC

Based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Headland West Indies LLC (Headland) is a privately held company that harnesses the power of medicinal plants - from cultivation treatment. Headland's wholly-owned subsidiaries include Windican Health Inc, an emerging cultivator, processor and exporter of medicinal cannabis. Psychedelics licenses SVG Biomed Inc is a developer of pharmaceutical-grade entheogens and other nutraceuticals. The Company's clinical division, Headland Health Centres, will provide on-site treatments for patients in need of psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Red Light Holland. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to: references to the donations of cash and supplies, the establishment of a fundraising page, the partnership between Red Light Holland and Headland West Indies in providing emergency support and administering donations, and the intended outcomes of the SVG strong initiative.

Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions made by Red Light Holland, including without limitation: the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the Canadian economy and Red Light Holland's business, and the extent and duration of such impact; no change to laws or regulations that negatively affect Red Light Holland's business; no unanticipated expenses or costs arise that would affect Red Light Holland's ability to meet its donation commitments; and Red Light Holland's partnership with and operations in Saint Vincent remain operative and on favorable terms. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what the Company believes to be reasonable assumptions, it cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such information.

Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking information involves significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to: renewing federal, provincial, municipal, local or other licenses and any inability to obtain all necessary governmental approvals, licenses, and permits to operate and expand the Company's facilities; regulatory or political change such as changes in applicable laws and regulations, including federal and provincial legalization, due to inconsistent public opinion, perception of the medical-use and adult-use psilocybin industry, bureaucratic delays or inefficiencies or any other reasons; any other factors or developments which may hinder market growth; the Company's limited operating history; reliance on management; the Company's requirements for additional financing; and competition for mental health and wellness investments. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.

The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

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/81543
India is now being ravaged by a tsunami of COVID-19 cases and deaths. This surge threatens to dwarf anything yet seen in a global pandemic that has already officially infected 145 million people and killed almost 3.1 million.

Yesterday India reported a single-day world record of 314,644 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the countrys total new infections since Monday to well over 1.1 million, and an Indian record of 2,104 deaths.

People receive the COVAXIN vaccine for COVID-19 as others wait at an indoor stadium in Gauhati, India, Thursday, April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Both the infection and death totals are undoubtedly gross undercounts. Death and cremation statistics tabulated by journalists and health experts reveal a vast discrepancy between the actual number of fatalities and the official numbers provided by government officials. A Financial Times study of seven of Indias 718 districts concluded that the true death count could be 10 times higher than what is being officially reported.

Chilling reports are emerging from across the country of crematoriums and cemeteries engulfed by corpses. In Bhopal, Indias 16th largest city, crematoriums are said to be operating at their highest levels since the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak disaster, which killed more than 2,200 people in its first hours. In the western state of Gujarat, where crematoriums have been working 24 hours nonstop, their metal supports have reportedly begun to melt.

Indias ramshackle health care system is collapsing, as chronically understaffed hospitals run out of beds, oxygen, and anti-COVID 19 drugs like Remdesivir. News reports from Delhi and Mumbai, respectively the capital and financial centre, show crowds of COVID-19 victims and their relatives outside hospitals clamouring for help, only to be told none is available.

Yet Indias government and ruling elite are utterly indifferent and impervious to this mass suffering and death.

Prioritising corporate profits over working peoples health and lives, Indias national and state governments have adamantly refused to order a lockdown as COVID-19 infections cases rose with ever increasing speed for the past two months.

In an address to the nation Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proclaimed India must be saved not from the pandemic but from a lockdown aimed at halting the viruss advance and saving lives! In todays situation, we have to save the country from lockdown, he declared. He then went on to urge state governments to similarly forswear lockdowns.

Dire and harrowing as is the current situation, all evidence suggests that infections and deaths will continue to grow exponentially for weeks, even months, to come.

In the two weeks since April 8, the number of active cases in India rose more than 250 percent, from 910,000 to almost 2.3 million. This surge is being fueled by new, more infectious and lethal variants, including a double-mutant strain first identified in India that combines mutations in two different variants of concern.

All but a tiny fraction of the population remain at risk of infection. Just 8.4 percent of Indians have received a first vaccine dose, and only 1.4 percent are fully inoculated.

Moreover, hundreds of millions are desperately poor and malnourished, lack ready access to clean water, and live in one-room dwellings, meaning they cannot implement social distancing measures and, in many cases, are already in compromised health. If, as has been tragically demonstrated in recent days, hospitals in the countrys largest cities are being overwhelmed, the situation remains bleaker still in the large swaths of rural India, where public health facilities are all but nonexistent.

The catastrophe in India, it must be emphasized, is a global catastrophe in the face of a virus that respects no national borders and needs no passport. The decision of the worlds governments, led by the United States and the other imperialist powers, to abandon any systematic effort to halt the spread of the pandemic has created conditions in which COVID-19 has been able to mutate and develop more virulent, potentially vaccine-resistant strains. Unless and until there is a coordinated global, science-based effort to eradicate COVID-19 predicated on protecting peoples lives, not capitalist profit, this process will continue. Sparks from the current pandemic wildfire in India will cause blazes around the world. Indeed, cases of the Indian double-mutant variant are now being reported in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Furthermore, in a reactionary, panicked response to the disaster produced by its own actions, India, a major supplier of generic drugs and vaccines to middle- and low-income countries, has stopped the export of COVID-19 vaccines.

What stands in the way of mobilizing the worlds resources to fight the pandemic are the profit and predatory geopolitical interests of the rival national-based capitalist cliques.

Take the case of India. Not just Modi and his far-right Hindu supremacist BJP are responsible for the mass death that now stalks the worlds second most populous country. The entire ruling class and political establishment are responsible.

For decades, the Indian state, whether under governments led by the BJP or Congress Party, has spent a derisory 1.5 percent of GDP on health care. Although the World Health Organization, among many others, pointed to Indias great vulnerability in the face of COVID-19, due to its mass poverty and derelict heath care system, the Modi government took no substantive measures to fight the pandemic for the first two and a half months of 2020. Then on March 25, with no foreplanning and less than four hours notice, it imposed a calamitous nationwide lockdown that failed by every measure. Failed because it was not accompanied by mass testing and contact tracing, a vast infusion of resources into the health care system, and the provision of social support to the hundreds of millions whom the lockdown deprived of their livelihoods overnight.

Subsequently, spearheaded by the Modi government, but with the support of the state governments whether led by the BJP or the ostensible opposition parties, India embraced a policy of herd immunity. Beginning at the end of April, the government started reopening its economy and this continued, with one measure after another jettisoned over the next six months as infections and deaths soared.

Giving voice to the mindset of the ruling elite, Modi government health advisor and epidemiologist Jayaprakash Muliyi blithely declared that given the immense size of the countrys population, mass deaths on a scale not seen outside the world wars of the last century would be acceptable. With a substantial opening up of the lockdown, India may see at least two million deaths, said Muliyi. Mortality is low, let the young go out and work.

As Indias COVID-19 second wave gathered strength in late February and March, the political establishment in unison declaimed against lockdown measures. Taking their cue from Modi, they pronounced Indias supposedly world-beating vaccination campaign as the answer to the pandemic. In this they were acting at the behest of big business, whose media voices like the Times of India have been churning out editorial after editorial denouncing lockdowns as unaffordable.

To further this mercenary campaign, they have cynically pointed to the hundreds of millions whose livelihoods have been devastated by the pandemic. A recently published Pew Research study found the number of Indians earning less than 150 rupees per day (US $2) more than doubled during the pandemics first wave to 135 million, and that 32 million more had seen their income fall below $10 per day.

For the political and ideological representatives of the ruling class, it is, of course, unthinkable that even a fraction of the fortunes of Indias billionaireswhich, according to Forbes, nearly doubled to $596 billion in 2020be seized to provide social support to the population while the spread of the pandemic is halted.

The open economy, herd immunity policy of the Modi government is the cutting edge of an intensified assault on the working class and rural masses. In the name of reviving the economy, Modi has introduced a raft of pro-investor measures. These include a fire sale of public sector enterprises, a pro-agribusiness reform of farm laws, and changes to the labor code to further expand precarious contract employment, empower large employers to fire workers at will and outlaw most strikes.

At the same time, the BJP government has further integrated India into US imperialisms war drive against China, through the US-led Quad, and a growing web of bilateral and trilateral strategic ties with Washingtons principal Asia-Pacific allies, Japan and Australia. This is both to strengthen the India capitalist elites hand against the working class and pursue its own great power ambitions.

This class war assault and the Modi governments attempt to whip up communalism so as to divide the working class are encountering mass opposition. Strikes and protests have erupted across the country against speedup, poverty wages and the lack of PPE (personal protective equipment). Tens of millions joined a one-day nationwide strike last November 26 to oppose the governments pro-investor reforms and demand emergency support for the hundreds of millions whose incomes have been slashed by the pandemic. And for the past five months hundreds of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of Delhi to demand the repeal of Modis farm laws.

But as everywhere the striving of the working class to assert its class interests is immediately blocked by the organizations that claim to speak in its name: the procapitalist trade unions and the establishment left parties. Under conditions of the eruption of the greatest crisis of world capitalism since the Great Depression of 1930s the twin Stalinist partiesthe Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of Indiahave cemented their political alliance with the Congress Party. The traditional governing party of the Indian bourgeoisie, the Congress Party has focused much of its attack on Modi over the past year on the claim that he is soft on China.

The pandemic has starkly revealed the utter incompatibility of the capitalist profit system and the selfish class interests of the bourgeoisie with the most essential needs of society. At the same time, it has exacerbated all of the malignancies that have increasingly characterized capitalism for decadesever growing social inequality, intensifying interimperialist conflict and great power rivalry, the breakdown of bourgeois democracy and the ruling classs cultivation of far-right, fascist forces.

The pandemic is a global crisis that can only be brought under control through the coordinated independent action of the international working class to impose the public health measures and secure the social support needed to protect workers lives and livelihoods worldwide.

Likewise workers efforts to defend their social and democratic rights and oppose imperialist war and reaction is a global struggle that necessitates the building of new mass organizations. Against the transnational corporations, the rival capitalist governments, and the trade and military alliances through which they seek to advance their predatory global ambitions, the working class must mount a common and coordinated struggle on the basis of a socialist internationalist program.

It is to develop such a global movement animated by the great liberating ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky that the World Socialist Web Site and International Committee of the Fourth International are holding an online May Day rally on Saturday, May 1One year of the coronavirus: From global pandemic to global class struggle. We urge workers, youth and socialist-minded professionals in India and throughout the world to make plans to attend the event.
President Dr. Arif Alvi and Governor Sindh Imran Ismail on Friday discussed federal government supported development projects for Sindh, besides the situation of law and order

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :President Dr. Arif Alvi and Governor Sindh Imran Ismail on Friday discussed Federal government supported development projects for Sindh, besides the situation of law and order.

They met at Governor House here, said a spokesperson of the Governor's House.

The overall situation in the province including law and order, public welfare projects and other issues of mutual interest were also came under discussion during the meeting.

President Dr. Arif Alvi said that the elected representatives have to show responsibilities for resolving the problems of the people.

He further said that the federal government was taking all-out steps to resolve the problems of the people and several projects launched for the welfare of the people were proof of it.

The Governor Sindh said that the development and prosperity of the people were among the priorities of the Prime Minister Imran Khan and the solution of the problems of the province was being made possible through mutual cooperation and understanding.
Nineteen-year-old Mukhlisa Kadambaeva was found dead after what her parents said was brutal abuse by her husband's family. The in-laws of the victim said she had hanged herself. The case has called attention to domestic violence in Uzbekistan, where such crimes are often seen as private matters and are rarely prosecuted.
The Native Antigen Company, part of LGC Clinical Diagnostics and one of the worlds leading suppliers of reagents that enables research into diagnostics and vaccines for emerging and endemic infectious diseases, today announced the launch of its SARS-CoV-2 Neutralisation Assay Development Kit. The kit can be used to identify and qualitatively assess the ability of antibodies to neutralize SARS-CoV-2-receptor binding, to support research into variants and their effects on natural and vaccine-induced patient immunity.

SARS-CoV-2 Assay. Image Credit: The Native Antigen Company

The easy-to-use kit contains all the key reagents required to measure SARS-CoV-2-antibody binding, including the Spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the prototypic Wuhan-Hu-1 strain, labeled ACE2, and positive and negative monoclonal antibody controls. These reagents enable the assessment of neutralizing activity of patient and therapeutic antibodies and can be used alongside The Native Antigen Companys growing range of SARS-CoV-2 variant Spike proteins to assess differences in antibody/ACE2 affinities and competitive binding.

This marks The Native Antigen Companys first release of a dedicated kit for the development of neutralization assays. Our data demonstrates the SARS-CoV-2 Neutralisation Assay Development Kits effectiveness and we are confident in its ability to support vital research and development efforts for public health. Dr. Andy Lane, Commercial Director, The Native Antigen Company

The Native Antigen Companys in-house data shows that the COVID-19 patient sera is able to effectively neutralize the RBD and prevent it from binding to the human ACE2 cell surface receptor.

For further information about The Native Antigen Companys SARS-CoV-2 Neutralisation Assay Development Kit, please visit: https://thenativeantigencompany.com/sars-cov-2-neutralisation-assay-development-kit-now-available/
NORTH CHARLESTON  Fort Dorchester High School will soon be adding a media center and library to its arsenal thanks to a county and local school district partnership.

Dorchester County and Dorchester District 2 are joining forces to spend an estimated $6.2 million on a joint-use media center and North Charleston library.

For the county, the project comes as part of a larger voter-approved bond referendum where it's planning to use $30 million to develop new libraries across Dorchester.

With DD2, the project is an opportunity to expand media center resources for Fort Dorchester High.

During a recent County Council meeting, officials approved a memorandum of understanding between the district and county for the project.

A lot of people worked to get this accomplished," said County Councilman George Bailey.

The North Charleston library will be located on Patriot Boulevard west of the aquatic center in front of Fort Dorchester High School. It will consist of a 5,000-square-foot media center and 10,000-square-foot library.

The two spaces will function separately when required and as a single facility to benefit the community as a whole. The joint-use library will be designed in a way where high school students and the public will have access to the buildings during school hours.

During the County Council meeting, Chairman Bill Hearn said it's all part of a growing trend of collaboration. The county is also connecting with DD2 and the town of Summerville around the Oakbrook Tax Increment Financial District. That plan is a reinvestment strategy in the Oakbrook area in the hopes of sparking redevelopment.

With the North Charleston library, officials said they're excited to see it come together.

"This forward-thinking project is a great example of what is possible when multiple governing bodies collaborate to accomplish a single vision," Councilman Todd Friddle said.

District 2 Superintendent Joe Pye was unavailable for comment, but the district's spokeswoman, Pat Raynor, did reiterate DD2's excitement for the Fort Dorchester project. Some of the initial ideas for the media center include hosting classes for Fort Dorchester students.

While the Dorchester County Library Board isn't overseeing the creation of the library at Fort Dorchester, the group is managing the building of new libraries in the Oakbrook area, downtown Summerville and Ridgeville. The Ridgeville library is being planned near the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and S.C. Highway 27.

The next steps for the North Charleston library is to design the buildings.

Two representatives from the library, two from DD2 and two from the county will select a design team, and the project should be completed 18 months after construction starts, said county spokeswoman Tiffany Norton.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23) - Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario maintains that "standing up for our rights in the West Philippine Sea is not an act of war against China."

Del Rosario said that it's about time to put a stop to false claims that standing up for the nation's rights in the South China Sea is tantamount to a war against Beijing.

"We urge our people to reject this Chinese narrative of war because it is only intended to sow fear which is the trademark of a bully," Del Rosario said.

The former DFA chief that China itself will not wage a war against the Philippines due to such act's possible impact.

"Even as Foreign Minister Wang Yi believes that war would be self-injurious, President Xi Jinping's threat of war against the Philippines shows how their leadership perceives us," Del Rosario said further.

Pushing for a credible minimum defense posture

Del Rosario said that it is high time for the government to assert the country's rights by developing a credible minimum defense posture against any bully or attacker, whoever it might be.

"We are opposed to war as we should be. But if threatened by the use of force, we should be ready to inflict, at the very least, a bloody nose on any attacker who is out to harm us," he said.

Del Rosario also thanked the United States for clarifying the details of the Mutual Defense Treaty against China's incursion in Philippine waters.

"Any armed attack on any Philippine forces, aircraft, or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defense obligations underour Mutual Defense Treaty," Del Rosario said.

There's also a need to pursue a multilateral approach and join in the conduct of joint patrol and freedom of navigations in the South China Sea.

War is not only option vs. China

Del Rosario enumerated some of the plans the country can take when dealing with China.

First, Duterte should raise again the 2016 arbitral ruling at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021.

Second, the Philippines should also welcome the positions of the United States, Japan, EU, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia and Indonesia against China's claims in the South China Sea.

Chinese officials should also be "criminally accountable for inflicting the most massive devastation" in the marine wealth in the South China Sea, Del Rosario said.

"Making China pay monetarily for its crimes. China mercilessly destroyed the breeding grounds of fish and other marine life in the Spratlys," Del Rosario added.

The government, he said, must also strengthen the Navy and Air Force to build a minimum credible defense posture.

Del Rosario also urged Duterte to appoint retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio as government advisor for his knowledge in the South China Sea dispute.

"Exhausting all possible diplomatic, political and legal means in evaluating our options," said Del Rosario.

Distrust of China

The former DFA chief said that it's hard to trust China.

"Over the same period, we have not seen the change that we would have wanted from Beijing. Beijing's aggressive actions are not accidental; they are intentional, and they can be expected to continue into the future," he said.

"When China makes a declaration, one can almost be sure that it is not consistent with what is happening on the ground," Del Rosario added.
Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for the upcoming supernatural horror film  The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It  on Thursday.

This is the third installment in the successful franchise that sees the return of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga back as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Only this go-around, the movie is based on the real-life murder trial of Arne Johnson, the first person whose defense sought to prove his innocence based upon the defendant's claim of demonic possession.

First trailer: Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Johnson was accused of killing his landlord, Alan Bono, in Connecticut back in 1981.

The family of then 11-year-old David Glatzel would enlisted the aid of self-described demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, in a last ditch effort to save the boy.

According to testimony by the Glatzel family, David played host to the demon that forced Johnson to kill Bono.

The premise: The film is based on the real-life murder trial of Arne Johnson, the first person whose defense sought to prove his innocence based upon a claim of demonic possession

Tales of horror: In the teaser, there are references to the existence of the Devil and Satan and people inexplicably being lifted into the air

Chilling: The suspense and terror also includes a young boy being attacked by some sort of demonic killer spirit, or ghost, from a waterbed

In the teaser, there are references to the existence to the Devil and Satan, people inexplicably being lifted into the air, and some sort of demonic killer spirit, or ghost, wrecking terror from a waterbed.

The movie reveals a chilling story of terror, murder and unknown evil that even shocked the Warrens, despite their long history of with paranormal investigations.

Considered one of the most sensational cases from their files, the storyline starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, but then takes them beyond anything they had ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.

Demonic experts: The family of then 11-year-old David Glatzel would enlisted the aid of self-described demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, in a last ditch effort to save the boy

Chilling: Demonic possession becomes the defense's explanation for a chain of events

The real-life murder and subsequent took place in Connecticut back in 1981

Scary: The trailer includes a number of frightening scenes

Farmiga and Wilson star alongside Ruairi OConnor, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Julian Hilliard.

Michael Chaves takes over the directorial duties in the latest tale that was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and based on a story by Johnson-McGoldrick and James Wan, taken from the Warrens real-life files.

Wan, who directed the first two films in the lucrative series beginning in 2013, also returns as a producer with Peter Safran.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It was originally slated to be released in September 2020 but, like most films and television shows, it had to be pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is now set to debut both on the big screen in theaters and on HBO Max for one month on June 4.

Based on real events: Michael Chaves takes over the directorial duties in the latest tale that was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and based on a story by Johnson-McGoldrick and James Wan taken taken from the Warrens real-life files

Back! The director of the first two films in the franchise, James Wan, also returns as a producer
By Laila Kearney and Devika Krishna Kumar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday denied Dakota Access LLC's petition for a rehearing of a court decision that canceled a key permit for its oil pipeline and ordered an environmental review, court documents show.

The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia means the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) technically is still trespassing on federal land because it does not have a permit to cross under the Dakotas' Lake Oahe. The line is currently operating indefinitely but will be reassessed once the environmental review of the line is completed in March 2022.

The 570,000 barrel-per-day DAPL began operating in mid-2017 but drew controversy during construction as Native American tribes and activists protested its route under Oahe, a critical drinking water source for the tribes.

Last summer, a U.S. district court judge threw out a federal permit for the line to operate under the lake and ordered an environmental review for that section of the pipeline. A three-judge panel at the circuit court in January upheld the lower court's decision to vacate the permit and require the review.

The pipeline's operators wanted the circuit court to reconsider the panel's decision, but the court unanimously denied the request. The decision leaves only the U.S. Supreme Court for Dakota Access to oppose the environmental review and permit denial, but it's not certain the nation's highest court will take up the case.

"This is a pretty definitive statement that the legal issues in this case do not warrant attention from the Supreme Court," said Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman, who represents the Standing Rock Sioux in the case. "Here, not only didn't we see dissents, not a single judge called for a vote."

A spokeswoman for Energy Transfer LP, DAPL's majority owner, declined to comment on current or pending legal matters.

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DAPL is the largest pipeline out of the Bakken region, which produces about 1 million barrels of crude per day in North Dakota and Montana. If the pipeline were forced to close, the state of North Dakota estimates production could fall by 400,000 bpd temporarily.

Once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes its environmental review, a decision will be made on whether to issue a new permit for the pipeline.

On Friday, the Native American tribes that brought the lawsuit argued to the District Court that Dakota Access pipeline's operators exaggerated the economic impact from shutting down the pipeline and the pipelines safety has never been evaluated as the law requires.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney and Devika Krishna Kumar; Editing by Dan Grebler and Aurora Ellis)
Singapore health ministry said on Thursday it will not allow entry to long-term visa holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to India, which is battling a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

On Thursday, Singapore said it was investigating Covid-19 cases in a migrant workers' dormitory for the possibility of re-infection and is quarantining more than 1,100 of the facility's residents. So far, 17 recovered workers were found to be positive for Covid-19 at the dormitory.

The government said travel restrictions with India will help curb potential cases in the dormitories because many of the labourers arrive from the South Asian nation.
Teen Performs CPR, Saves Life When Bosss Baby Stopped Breathing and Turned Blue

A Florida high school student, who has ambitions to become a trauma nurse, put his CPR training to the test in a real-life crisis. Savion Harris, 16, kept a clear head and ultimately saved a life when his bosss 6-month-old infant stopped breathing and was turning blue.

While Harris and his coworkers were finishing a shift at the family-owned Thai restaurant where he works, the owner, a mom, flew down a flight of stairs with her baby son, Max, in her arms. Her partner by her side, she hysterically exclaimed that Max wasnt breathing.

Harris, a junior enrolled in CPR certification at Crestview High School, rushed to helpfirst calling a 911 operator and giving them the address of the restaurant. Then, laying Max on a table, Harris saw that the infant was turning blue.

While I was answering questions I was checking the brachial artery, Harris explained to Northwest Florida Daily News. I thought [I felt] a pulse  I was just gonna go straight into CPR.

Crediting the operator for keeping him calm, the 11th grader performed two deep, fast compressions on Maxs chest with his thumbs, and the baby started to cry. It was a very short but intense couple of minutes, Harris recalled, describing himself as so relieved when color returned to the babys face.

Harris, the hero of the hour, marveled at Maxs fast recovery and said his nerves were further calmed by the arrival of paramedics.

This isnt the first time a student has had to do CPR, said Dr. Tammy McKenzie, Harriss CPR instructor and head of Crestviews medical program. Unfortunately, past occurrences  they havent had a positive outcome, so obviously Im very proud to see one of my students be able to jump into action.

Crestview High School principal Dexter Day spoke on behalf of the faculty when he said Harriss bravery made him feel like a proud daddy.

(R) Savion Harris, 16, with Crestview High School principal Dexter Day. (Courtesy of Crestview High School)

The school shared Harriss heroic achievement on Facebook, amassing thousands of likes and shares. In a moment of critical need, he put into action his Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers training, staffers posted. Were so proud of him and the life-saving service he rendered!

Harris owes his training to Crestviews expanding Career Technical Education curriculum, said Day. In conjunction with Florida State Universitys SSTRIDE (Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity & Excellence) program, the course helps prepare students for jobs straight out of high school, and welcomes those who are interested to apply to the universitys medical program.

Far from scaring him off, Harriss experience has bolstered his confidence to be able to help again. I think I will be faster to step up next time, he told the news outlet. I dont know if the nerves will go away, but Ill be faster for sure.

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
Police secure the area where an attacker stabbed a woman, in Rambouillet - GONZALO FUENTES /REUTERS

A female police worker died after being stabbed twice in the throat at a police station in the Paris suburb of Rambouillet in what President Emmanuel Macron described as an act of "terrorism".

The attacker, a 36-year-old French resident of Tunisian origin, entered the lobby of the police station before stabbing the woman, a 49-year-old administrative worker with two children, twice in the throat.

He was shot and killed by police at the scene. The man who stabbed to death a police employee at a police station outside Paris on Friday shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) during the attack, a source close to the inquiry said.

"In our fight against Islamist terrorism, we will never give in," Mr Macron wrote on Twitter, naming the murdered woman as Stephanie.

France's anti-terror prosecutor said he was taking the lead in the investigation. The assailant, identified only as Jamel G, was not previously known to security agencies.

"They have tried to destabilise this country by coming here to attack the police force in this quiet town in the rural south of Ile-de-France," said Valerie Pecresse, the president of the Paris region.

Police officers secure the area where an attacker stabbed a female police administrative worker, in Rambouillet - GONZALO FUENTES /REUTERS

She added: "Police are symbols of the republic. They are France."

Three people have been detained following the attack, it was reported.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told reporters that his office took over the probe because the attacker had staked out the station, because of statements he made during the attack, and because he targeted a police official.

French prime minister Jean Castex and interior minister Gerald Darmanin traveled to the scene of the attack on Friday afternoon.

"France has lost one of its everyday heroines in a barbaric gesture of infinite cowardice," Mr Castex said. Rambouillet, a middle-class suburb populated by workers who commute to nearby Paris, is less than 50 miles south of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where the beheading of a history teacher last October left France reeling and sparked a nationwide debate on security and Islam in France.

Story continues

Samuel Paty was beheaded by an Islamist extremist in the street after suggesting Muslims could leave the class when he showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed during a debate on free speech and blasphemy.

The cartoons had previously been published in the Charlie Hebdo magazine, whose offices were attacked in 2015.

Since then, France has suffered a string of terror attacks by Islamist militants that have killed over 250 people.

Mr Macron's government is toughening its security policies amid voter concerns about crime and complaints from police that they face increasing danger.

The shift comes as France prepares for regional elections in June in which security is a big issue, and for a presidential election next year in which Macron's main challenger could be far-right leader Marine Le Pen, if he seeks a second term.
New Delhi, April 23 : The Supreme Court on Friday expressed its dissatisfaction with Tamil Nadu government's stand that the Vedanta's oxygen plant cannot be reopened due to potential law and order problem.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said: "When people are dying, Tamil Nadu cannot say it cannot open because of law-and-order issue. It is not about Vedanta or any other company. State government can't make such an argument." The bench also comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra said if Vedanta cannot be allowed to run the plant, then the Tamil Nadu government should take over it for oxygen production amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Senior Advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, representing Tamil Nadu government, submitted that reopening of the oxygen plant could lead to law and order problems since the locals have opposed the re-opening of the plant. "There was a shooting incident which killed 13 people, district administration will find it difficult to handle", contended Vaidyanathan.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted, "the country is in dire need of oxygen. Different states need it..law and order cannot be an excuse." Mehta supported the re-opening of Vedanta plant to meet the medical oxygen shortage. The top court asked the Tamil Nadu government to file an affidavit in the matter by Monday.

During the hearing, the top court suggested the Tamil Nadu government to take over and produce medical oxygen. The top court said "Why don't you fulfil your responsibility in manufacturing oxygen? Just because you have problem with Vedanta you will not manufacture oxygen. What kind of argument is this?" The bench emphasized it is not concerned who runs the plant, instead the court is interested in ensuring oxygen is produced at the plant.

A counsel in the matter said Tamil Nadu is not manufacturing oxygen because it is an oxygen surplus state, which was recorded in an order passed by Madras High Court on Thursday.

However, the bench responded that other states' need of oxygen and resources of the country should be distributed equally, which is a directive principle of state policy under the Constitution.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The location for the signing was deeply symbolic and designed to send a strong signal. Aachen was the capital of Charlemagne's Frankish empire, which encompassed the territory of most of the EU's six founding members. For commentators, the message was clear: with Britain's departure from the EU, the treaty was meant to underscore that France and Germany remained at the heart of the European project and its true leaders.

It is all a far cry from January 2019, when French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel signed a friendship treaty in Aachen, with the two leaders saying they would deepen cooperation in foreign affairs, defense, development and security.

Conservative magazine, Valuers Acteulles, last month dubbed Germany the "tyrant of Europe" and accused Berlin of always putting its own interests above those of the European Union as a whole. It identified Germany as the real driver behind the signing in December of an EU-China agreement that caused unease in Washington and attracted widespread criticism in France.

Marianne isn't alone in fulminating against Germany. French frustrations with Germany appear to be mounting, judging by French media criticism of its European neighbor.

"Thirty years of infidelity" is how France's current affairs magazine Marianne describes Germany's relationship with France. An issue this month was devoted to how Germany has been "fleecing France" for years.

A poll a year later found that Merkel was popular with 62 percent of the French. Eighty percent of respondents said they had a "good image" of Germany.

But since that show of unity the two countries have been increasingly at loggerheads on a range of key issues. Both Merkel and Macron and their officials are restrained in openly criticizing each other and have largely avoided public spats, say analysts. But that didn't stop Macron and German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer from clashing last year when the French leader sharply criticized her for an op-ed arguing "Europe still needs America."

Paris and Berlin have been at odds over the 2015 migrant crisis, the nearly completed Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany, and over how best to contain Turkey in its quarrel with Greece about the territorial status of eastern Mediterranean waters and the ownership of the oil and gas reserves beneath them.

Last year, France joined other Western powers in dispatching warships to the Mediterranean to assist Greece in standoff with Turkey. Germany held back, prompting Le Figaro newspaper to comment, "Germany is at once the captain and a player who scores against its own side when it's in its interest."

French officials also express privately their frustration with their irritation focused on Germany's reluctance to engage in military interventions or even consider doing so. "German reticence is less and less accepted and understood," according to analyst Paul Maurice of the French Institute of International Relations. "There are many reasons, including historical ones, for Germany's unease about military deployments abroad," he wrote in a recent report.

An appeal Tuesday by Kramp-Karrenbauer for closer bilateral security cooperation between Germany and France prompted irritation in Paris. Kramp-Karrenbauer said France and Germany needed to improve their coordination because of the Russian "threat," the rise of China and "Islamist terrorism" in the Sahel region.

"We have not dragged our feet on those threats," a French official told VOA. "We are the most active of all European states in the Sahel and have asked for more assistance from our European partners," he added. Since 2014 France has maintained an anti-insurgent operation, known as Operation Barkhane, involving a 5,000-strong French force, which is permanently headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.

Some of the French frustration is put down by analysts to jealousy and a widening economic divide between Germany and France. In 1980 France's GDP per capita was 5% lower than Germany's; now it is 13-percent lower. Marianne blames that partly on the euro, which has become, it says, a "lever of commercial domination in the service of Germany."

For Macron the EU-China deal is becoming a domestic political headache. He supported the agreement after strong German lobbying despite the qualms of Italy, Belgium, Spain and Poland.

The French leader has come under attack from figures on both the left and right of the French political spectrum for doing so. He is struggling to sell the deal to the French.

Critics say the deal will give China preferential access to European markets while Beijing continues to tamp down Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and maintain detention centers in Xinjiang province, where China's Communist government has interned more than a million Uighurs, according to rights groups.

Raphael Glucksmann, a Socialist lawmaker in the European Parliament, has criticized the deal, calling it rushed because of Berlin's determination "to please large companies that have relocated to China." Broader EU interests should have primacy "over that of the shareholders of Volkswagen and others," he tweeted.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has seen her poll ratings climb in recent weeks, is also questioning the deal.


EUGENE, Ore. -- A Youth Climate Rally gathered in downtown Eugene Thursday as part of Earth Day.

Ralliers demanded lawmakers start tackling the issue of climate change immediately. They want Congressman Peter DeFazio to sign onto a Good Jobs for All pledge that would commit him to green union jobs.

KEZI 9 News reached out to DeFazio's office about this pledge, and they said he hasn't heard of it. They said he's committed to fixing climate change and his action can be seen through co-authoring the Green New Deal.

Sophia Trotter is part of Sunrise Eugene, the group that organized the Thursday rally. She said lawmakers need to take climate change seriously.

"Our politicians need to know that this is what their people want. And people should have a say in whats going to happen in their lives," Trotter said.

Jean Murphy attended Thursday's rally and said she's noticed the climate change in Western Oregon since moving to Eugene in 1969.

"The main things are the glaciers are melting and of course its true the summers are getting warmer and warmer every year, the sting comes earlier," Murphy said.

Ralliers started at the Park Blocks in Eugene and marched to the Federal Courthouse.
Hackers who sought $40 million in ransom from a South Florida school district that refused to pay have now published nearly 26,000 stolen files.

Many of the files, dated from 2012 to March 2021, contain Broward School District accounting and other financial records, which include invoices, purchase orders, and travel and reimbursement forms, the South Florida SunSentinel reported. None of the files reviewed by the newspaper so far contained Social Security numbers.

The international malware group Conti posted the files Monday, the newspaper reported. Last month the hackers posted a transcript of a conversation with an unidentified Broward schools representative which offered to pay $500,000 to retrieve data. The hackers initially demanded $40 million but dropped the price to $10 million.

On March 31, the district announced it had no intention of paying a ransom.

Kathy Kochhe, the districts chief communications officer, said in a statement that officials are analyzing the content of the posted material to determine next steps, and will notify anyone whose personal information was shared.

Cybersecurity experts are continuing to investigate the incident and enhance measures system-wide, the statement said.

The district, which is the nations sixth largest with 271,000 students, has published questions and answers about the breach on its website at browardschools.com. The school district has an annual budget of about $4 billion  a fact the hackers kept returning to as they demanded $40 million, to be paid in cryptocurrency.

The published files includes more than 750 employee mileage reports, 36 employee travel reimbursement forms, more than 700 invoices for spring water, more than 1,000 invoices for school construction work, about 400 payments to Broward Sheriffs Office or local police departments for security, dozens of utility bills and several employee phone lists, the newspaper reported.

While the vast majority of the data appeared to be public records, some confidential material was shared, the report said. A March 2020 invoice for $14 from the state health department that includes the name and birthdate of a 9-year-old student who was being examined for a disability. Some invoices name bus drivers who visited urgent care centers. And several documents list employee benefits.

It doesnt sound like it was that big, Jorge Orchilles chief technology officer for the cybersecurity company Scythe, told the SunSentinel. It looks like they made the right decision not to pay ransom. At this point, theres no point in paying it because all the information is already out there.

The hackers said on their website they may have more information.

If you are a client who declined the deal and did not find your data on cartels website or did not find valuable files, this does not mean that we forgot about you, the website says. It only means that data was sold and only therefore it did not publish in free access!

Last week, the school districts chief information officer warned the Broward School Board that a new cyber-attack could affect the ability to pay employees and keep schools open. Phil Dunn requested $20 million to enhance the districts cyber-security efforts, and the board plans to make a final decision soon.

In 2021, there have already been at least 21 successful ransomware attacks in the U.S. education sector, disrupting 550 schools, Brett Callow, a threat analyst for the anti-malware company Emsisoft, told the newspaper.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cyber Florida Education K 12
Robert Morris urges church to vote in local elections, pray for Christian candidates

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Robert Morris, founder of the multi-campus Gateway Church in Texas, which draws some 36,000 worshipers weekly, urged his congregants on Sunday to get active in local government elections and vote to protect their communities while highlighting a raft of members running for office.

Im asking you, as your pastor, to vote. Its very important that we vote in these elections because theres a lot being decided for our communities and for our schools and for our children and grandchildren, Morris said during a broadcast of his church service on Facebook.

Morris told his congregants that he recently gathered with leaders of his church campuses in Southlake, Colleyville and Grapevine, along with a number of other local church leaders, to discuss mobilizing the church community to participate more effectively in the political process. During these meetings, they learned that several church members are running to become mayors, members of the local city council or positions at the school district.

We had pastors come together and pray and what we realized was, we had people running for these offices that are members of our churches, Morris said. Were not endorsing a candidate. Were not doing that. But we just thought that since theyre a member of the family of God, that you might want to know if someone in the family, in this family of churches, is running. I want you to pray for every person running for office.

He lamented that too many voters tend to forget about local elections after a general election when its the local elections that tend to impact their lives the most.

You know, we hear about something, some curriculum thats been approved by the school board sometimes and we get upset about it. But many of us didnt vote for the school board, nor do we pray for them on a daily basis or on a weekly basis. So Im asking us to change that. Im asking us to pray, to get informed and to vote in local elections, he said to applause.

We seem to get all stirred every four years about one election, and these other ones go by and we dont do a thing about it, he noted.

Jason Yates, CEO of My Faith Votes, told The Christian Post last summer that one of the reasons some Christians have shied away from the political process is the Johnson Amendment.

The Johnson Amendment, which has been in effect since 1954, is seen by supporters as a way to separate church and state in modern American life. It forces religious leaders to give up their 501(c) 3 tax-exempt status if they choose to give sermons endorsing specific candidates ahead of elections. It also prohibits churches, synagogues, mosques and other nonprofit institutions from raising money for political candidates.
Union officials called a Wednesday morning meeting at Australia Posts Alexandria facility in Sydney to provide federal Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese with a platform to falsely posture as an opponent of plans to privatise the national postal service and to promote him as a defender of its workers.

The event was a cynical attempt by the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to cover up their role over the past year in enforcing the deepest pro-business restructure at Australia Post (AP) in decades. The purpose was to damp-down mounting anger among workers over the intolerable conditions that have resulted, and to prevent them from breaking with the forces responsible, above all Labor and the unions.

Albanese addressing the meeting with Murphy to alongside him (Credit: WSWS)

The meeting also served to promote the unions latest maneuvers, including secret backroom talks with management for a new enterprise agreement, close collaboration with Labor and overtures to right-wing crossbench senators in the federal parliament. These sordid exercises, which will deepen the assault on jobs and conditions, were presented as a struggle for the interests of AP workers.

Speaking to around 70 workers, Shane Murphy, the CWU national president and CEPU vice-president, did not bother to explain why the meeting was being held. Despite sweeping changes at AP over the past year, only a handful of tightly-controlled meetings have been called by the unions.

Both Murphy and Albanese expressed shock and outrage over revelations that the Liberal-National Coalition government has considered proposals to privatise the postal service.

The issue came to the fore this month at Senate hearings over the ouster of former AP CEO Christine Holgate in a manufactured expenses scandal last October. Holgate revealed the contents of a secret review of AP, commissioned by the government in November 2019 and conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The report, which Holgate claimed to oppose, recommended that unprofitable sections of AP, including up to 190 post offices, be closed. It called for the government to investigate a full or partial divestiture of the parcels business. The general thrust was for AP to be broken up, its assets divested in a fire sale and its most lucrative section, the parcel division, privatised, in the interests of private equity firms and corporations in the delivery market.

Murphy condemned the fact that these plans had been kept hidden. He maintained that as part of its fight to ensure that AP remained publicly-owned, the unions were opposing any extension of the Alternative Delivery Model (ADM), under which restructuring has occurred over the past months. Murphy clearly indicated that the ADM was a step in the direction of the Coalitions secret plans to privatise and cut up AP.

Who does Murphy think he is kidding?

The CEPU and the CWU have worked hand-in-glove with the Coalition government and AP management to enforce the ADM. In July, under the pretext of the pandemic, the unions signed a Memorandum of Understanding with management, without any prior discussion with the workforce, committing them to implement the restructure and banning all industrial action for 12 months. Leading union bureaucrats have hectored and shouted down workers who denounced this collaboration and called for a fight against the ADM at the Alexandria facility itself.

Murphys claims that the union was blindsighted about the ADM being a preparation for secret privatisation are laughable. He only needed to read the World Socialist Web Site, which has been warning since April last year that the overhaul is aimed at preparing AP to be sold-off.

The measures undertaken in the ADM, including an end of daily-letter delivery, the transfer of 2000 posties into the lucrative parcel division, and the creation of a new class of workers, termed floaters, who can be shunted into any area of the business, clearly had nothing to do with the pandemic. These steps were outlined in other reviews into AP, which were not secret, including a 2018 report by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) financial firm, leaked to the press early last year.

Murphy, aware that he was on thin ice, insisted that the ADM was solely the product of government regulation passed last April, allowing for an end to daily letter-delivery and other changes. The solution, he indicated, was to align with Labor, which would vote against any extension of the regulation, and to lobby right-wing crossbenchers, including from Pauline Hansons xenophobic One Nation Party, to do the same.

This is an attempt to direct workers into the complete dead end of appealing to parties of big business, that are no less committed to a pro-business overhaul of the postal service than the Coalition. This was demonstrated by two aspects of the meeting: the promotion of Holgate and of Albanese.

Murphy hailed Holgates bravery. She had stood up to the government and provided a great service by making public the contents of the BCG report. But it was Holgate who oversaw the introduction of the ADM and also kept the BCG report secret until it suited her best interests to release some of it.

As the WSWS has explained, Holgates ouster reflected tactical divisions within the ruling elite, over the best methods to proceed with the privatisation of AP. While the BCG and Holgates opponents on the AP board favoured a rapid carve-up and a selling-off of the parcel division, Holgate advocated a more protracted pro-business restructure and an expansion of AP into financial services.

Holgates own proposals, outlined in 2018, were in some cases more far-reaching than those of the BCG. She called for a reduction in letter-delivery to one day a week. This would allow for a $124 million cut to annual labour costs for deliveries, as well as $60 million in processing through the consolidation of letter sorting centres into three or four regional facilities. In other words, she wanted mass job cuts and closures.

Holgates supporters in the financial press have explained that the aim is to prepare a privatisation of AP, without dividing it up, along the lines of the sell-offs of CSL, Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank. Holgates only opposition to the BCG recommendations was that splitting up AP prematurely could disrupt such a privatisation and cause difficulties for other sections of big business.

Murphy echoed these concerns. The way the ADM had been rolled out, he said, had had a negative effect on the community. Delivery issues meant that people wanting to buy shares in other businesses had in some cases not receiv[ed] their share notice until after the share event was over. Such are the concerns of the union bureaucracy.

Albanese also favourably referenced Holgate. He declared that a Labor government would not privatise AP and would respect it as an essential public service. This was almost the sum total of the Labor leaders policy statement. When a worker raised in a brief question period that he and his colleagues were already being compelled to work 14-hour days and rarely saw their families, Albanese said nothing about the conditions that a Labor government would introduce at AP.

His claims about opposing privatisation are not worth the paper they are written on. Albanese has pitched Labor to the corporate elite as a party that can deliver greater productivity and economic growth, code words for stepped-up assaults on workers jobs, wages and conditions to boost profits.

Albaneses claim, moreover, that Labor has fought the changes and cuts to Australia Post services up until now are a lie. The current restructure is the deepening of a decades-long undermining of the postal services, initiated by Labor governments.

This began in 1975, when the Whitlam Labor government abolished the Postmaster-Generals Department, splitting off postal and telecommunications.

The resulting entities, the Australian Postal Commission and Telecom (the predecessor of Telstra) were independent of the control of the Public Service Board and responsible for their own arrangements relating to staffing, wages and conditions. Combined with a requirement that they self-fund a portion of their activities, for instance 50 percent of their capital works programs, the overhaul was aimed at incentivising cost-cutting and moves to expand revenue.

In 1989, the Hawke Labor government fully corporatised the postal service. This effectively required it to operate as a private business, despite being government owned. It meant that Australia Post was compelled to be a fully self-funded concern that needed to continually boost its profits to sustain itself. This has been the basis for the endless union-enforced restructures and cost-cutting measures ever since, including the destruction of thousands of jobs.

The Hawke-Keating Labor governments similarly corporatised telecommunications, clearing the way for the privatisation of Telstra by the Howard government. In the 1990s, Labor, with the assistance of the unions, directly privatised Qantas, CSL, the Commonwealth Bank and the major airports. At the state level, Labor governments have sold-off electricity, gas and water supply networks, railways and other public transport facilities.

Albanese harked back to this record during Wednesdays meeting, declaring that a government he led would collaborate closely with both the unions and the employers. This was the model associated most with Hawke and Keating.

Moreover, the last Labor government, in which Albanese was a senior minister, carried out sweeping attacks on education and healthcare, belying his claims of a great commitment to the public sector.

Wednesdays meeting is a warning to AP workers. Over recent months, Albanese has visited the picket lines of the Coles Smeaton Grange dispute in Sydney and the McCormick strike in Melbourne. In both cases, his appearance had the character of a death knell, and was rapidly followed by union sell-outs.

The same is being prepared in the secret enterprise agreement negotiations between the postal unions and AP. In one form or other, the restructuring associated with the ADM, even if it goes by another name, will continue. All factions of the ruling elite, including Albanese and Holgate, with whom the unions have identified themselves, are committed to an overhaul aimed at driving up APs revenues and preparing for an eventual sell-off.

This underscores the importance of the appeal made by the Postal Workers Rank-And-File Committee. It has called for a break with the unions and an independent political and industrial struggle by workers around a clear set of demands, including a complete end to the ADM or any version of it, the restoration of all lost conditions, a ten percent per annum wage rise with no trade-offs, and no privatisation.

As the committee has explained, this struggle is inseparable from a rejection of the corporatised character of AP as it currently exists, which is fully supported by Labor and the unions. The committee insists that Australia Post must be transformed into a genuine public utility, under real public ownership and the democratic control of the working class, to meet the needs of society, including the basic social right to a secure and affordable postal service.

The Postal Workers Rank-And-File Committee can be contacted at auspostalworkers@gmail.com.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee is calling on Tauranga residents to get on board and help the nation show their support for the New Zealand Team as they gear up for the Tokyo Olympic Games by giving a name to an 800-kg skateboard.

The skateboard is travelling the length and breadth of Aotearoa for the Great Olympic Skate Roadshow and will be visiting Tauranga on Tuesday, May 18.

The giant 12-metre long board will visit 40 towns in 41 days starting in Kaikohe on Monday, May 10 but first, it needs a name.

The super-sized skateboard celebrates six newly added events at the Olympic Games, including skateboarding, surfing and three-on-three basketball. Set to break records by entering the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest fully operational skateboard in the world, the board is a symbol of the changing face of the Olympics.

People can enter their suggestion for a name through The NZ Team Facebook and Instagram Pages or via this link: https://woobox.com/egcwqg. Entries close on Wednesday, May 5.

The winner will receive a money-cant-buy New Zealand team experience which includes being flown to Auckland on Sunday, May 9 to attend a naming ceremony where Olympic gold medalist Barbara Kendall will announce the name.

She will also present the winner with a replica of the skateboard featuring the winning name.

Four runner-ups will receive a $200 voucher from Noel Leeming or The Warehouse.

Kendall is chairing the prestigious judging panel which includes Olympians and President of Skateboarding New Zealand Chris Curran.

Olympic weightlifting hopeful David Liti attempting to hold up the board. Photo. Supplied.

Kendall says the judges are looking for a uniquely New Zealand name, one that captures all the spirit, mana and pride of New Zealand.

Were looking for an inspiring name for the skateboard that gets Kiwis excited and makes them feel proud to be waving the New Zealand flag during the Games, says Kendall.

New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) CEO Kereyn Smith says with no international spectators allowed at the Tokyo Olympic Games, its more important than ever for our Olympians to feel support on their home turf by Kiwis naming and visiting the skateboard.

We cant wait to see the names that come in for this very special skateboard that carries the hopes of our Kiwi athletes, she says. During the Great Olympic Skate Roadshow, Kiwis will have the opportunity to meet the skateboard and have some fun by getting involved in some of the new sports on show.

Following the roadshow, the skateboard will be a centrepiece at the new New Zealand Team HQ Fan Zone where Kiwis can gather together to celebrate the 2020 Olympic Games, connect with the NZ Team live in Tokyo and show their support for the New Zealand Team.

More than 200 athletes are expected to represent New Zealand at the Games, which will run from July, 23 to August, 8.
Kildare-based start-up, The Naked Collective, has landed itself a place in the prestigious sought-after VIP goodie bags at this years Oscars main pre-event reception prior to the ceremony itself in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles this weekend.

The carbon neutral companys Mude range of drinks will take their place in the VIP goodie bags at the very exclusive pre-Oscars reception event in the Lux Hotel on Sunset Boulevard where all the nominees are expected to attend. This years Oscars awards will go ahead as a live show, unlike the virtual awards shows held so far this year.

The Kildare brands innovative immunity driven natural vitamin-boosted Mude drinks which are also vegan friendly, will be included in the reception goodie bag.

The Naked Collectives Leixlip based co-founder Niall Phelan said We are delighted that we will be present at this years Oscars celebrations in Los Angeles, a refreshing Mude drink will be gifted to a list of over 150 Oscar nominees and influencers attending the worlds most prestigious film awards event.

An LA based wellness magazine came across its drink and made the connections that led to it being included in this years Oscars gift bags.

Obviously it would be amazing if one of the nominees took an Instagram of themselves with our drink in their hands but even if that doesnt happen this is amazing in terms of getting the brand out there.

The Naked Collective, which was founded in late 2019 by Catherina Butler and Niall Phelan, has also just won a World Food Innovation Award for its no alcohol So.Beer. Mr Phelan formerly co-founded Kildare-based craft brewer Rye River, which makes the McGargles Irish craft beers.

The Naked Collectives Mude range of isotonic vegan friendly vitamin drinks are going to be stocked initially in over 1,000 stores across North America.

Listing deals have been signed for over 600 stores across Canada including rollout in Sobeys, the countrys second biggest retail chain, Fortinos Supermarket Ltd and UDG. The drinks will also be hitting 400 Natural and Premium stores in New York which kicks off their US rollout.

The companys drinks contain no added sugar and a clean label ethos means fewer simpler ingredients from natural sources all of which are key to a new generation of consumers who want to protect both the planet and their bodies.

In addition, the drinks are non-GMO, vegan, with no preservatives, no sweeteners and no stabilisers.

The company has already taken onboard well-known ambassadors to help shape its sustainability and wellness directions such as ultra-endurance athlete and charity-educational activist Mark Beaumont, who famously cycled around the world in 80 days and the well-known 360 creative music artist, climate change expert and environmentalist Elle L.

The Naked Collective is investing in initiatives that support the environments in which they operate. Investments include regeneration of bogland in Abbeyleix and a Galway City Urban Renewal project in partnership with Ark2030.

Internationally they are partnering with Hoja Nueva Sanctuary in Peru, a non-profit charity who work on the rewilding of endangered animals.

In addition, throughout the month of April, the company is committing 20% of proceeds from Mude drinks online sales to the the Hoja Nueva non-profit in celebration of Earth Day 2021.
Photo: Contributed

A B.C. Supreme Court Justice has dismissed a bid by a group of Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs to put the Coastal GasLink pipeline project through a new environmental review.

In a decision issued Tuesday, Justice Barbara Norell found the concerns raised by the chiefs, as as represented by the Wetsuweten Treaty Office Society, fell short of what would have been required to revoke CGL's environmental assessment certificate for the project.

The chiefs had taken issue with the way the provincial government's Environmental Assessment Office had dealt an application from CGL to extend the certificate for a further five years.

Originally awarded in October 2014, and following a two-year process, the certificate imposed 32 conditions for the project.

In April 2019, CGL had applied for the extension because it had failed to substantially start the work within the certificate's five-year life and seven months later, in October 2019, the extension was awarded.

However, the decision from the EAO was limited to a 1 1/2-page order and without any formal reasons, prompting the WTOS to claim the decision was procedurally unfair.

The WTOS also claimed the EAO failed to account for complaints of non-compliance by CGL on the work that had been conducted up to that point and failed to consider the findings of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry that "bear directly" on the project.

Norell dismissed all three claims.

On the lack of formal reasons, Norell noted that an evaluation report concerning CGL's application, as well as a supporting "tracking tables" and "response document" are posted on the same EAO website where the order is found.

"I find that to the extent there was a duty to provide an explanation for the Decision, this duty was fulfilled by those documents," Norell said.

On the complaints of non-compliance, Norell found they were adequately considered during the review and that there was "ample evidence" from EAO inspection reports that CGL was addressing the concerns raised.

On the MMIWG report, Norell said the EAO has requested that CGL consider the harms identified and noted CGL is required to provide semi-annual updates of its socio-economic effects management plan.

Now under construction, the 675-kilometre $6.6-billion project is to deliver natural gas from the B.C. Peace to the LNG Canada liquified natural gas plant in Kitimat, also currently under construction. Cost of that project has been put at $17.7 billion.

According to an April 22 update from CGL, 43 per cent of the project is completed with 26 per cent of the pipeline now in place and almost all of the route completely cleared.

However, for a 78-kilometre stretch south of Houston that has been at the centre of a dispute with the chiefs, 58 per cent has been cleared and no grading or pipeline construction has been completed.

It said site preparation will be ongoing until this summer, with clearing to resume at that time, and grading and pipeline assembly to start this fall.

On April 16, the provincial government said it will provide the Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chiefs with $7.22 million to "support work to implement Wet'suwet'en title and rights."

The step follows on a memorandum of understanding signed by the provincial and federal governments and the chiefs in May 2020, part of an apparent truce that ended a spate of nationwide blockades and protests.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Police are looking for two Albuquerque shoplifters who either threatened  or shot at  store employees in separate incidents since February, according to a Crime Stoppers release.

The release states that on Feb. 23 a man and woman shoplifted a tool bag and henna kit through the self-checkout at the Walmart near Rio Bravo and Coors SW.

When security intervened the man lifted his shirt to reveal a pistol and said, I am going to light you all up and the pair fled in a Jeep, according to the release.

Then the release states that, on April 17, the same pair robbed the Sams Club near Alameda and Coors NW, and the woman fired at the employees who tried to stop them.

Tips: Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP or visit their website at crimestoppersnm.com.

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General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC

Bern, 23.04.2021 - Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga today took part in a roundtable hosted by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. The meeting was part of the Leaders Summit on Climate to which US President Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders. The discussions centred on the enhanced climate ambitions of the major economies and the additional economic benefits of climate action. Ms Sommaruga welcomed the new climate goal announced by the US. At the roundtable, she also expressed Switzerland's hopes for effective market rules for international climate action projects at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP26, which will help to protect the environment and human rights.

Convened by US President Joe Biden, the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate was held on 22 and 23 April. Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga represented Switzerland at a roundtable meeting on 23 April chaired by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. A key topic of discussion was the economic benefits to be gained through stronger climate action. Many new jobs are being created through the shift away from oil, gas and other fossil fuels and the increased promotion of innovative technologies and renewable energies.

The US announced a new climate goal at the summit, pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5052% below 2005 levels by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Ms Sommaruga welcomed the move by the US to rejoin the Paris Agreement. She acknowledged their new climate goal and reiterated the importance for all countries to raise their climate ambitions. Switzerland intends to strengthen its climate action with the CO2 Act, which will come before the electorate on 13 June. Based on incentives, innovation and technological progress, this new legislation will stimulate output and jobs for the future.

Federal Councillor Sommaruga also spoke about the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP26. She stressed the need for strong rules for market mechanisms under the Paris Agreement to ensure that international climate action projects respect nature conservation and human rights and prevent double-counting of emission reductions. Last autumn Switzerland signed landmark climate protection agreements with Peru and Ghana which ensure compliance with these criteria.

The climate summit brought together 40 heads of state and government from countries with some of the largest greenhouse gas emissions as well as other countries demonstrating strong climate leadership or especially vulnerable to climate impacts.

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PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Watts Guerra LLP, Fears Nachawati PLLC, and Parker Waichman LLP, three national law firms that have long fought to protect the rights of victims injured by the wrongdoing of large corporations, filed a wrongful taking of property and private nuisance lawsuit on April 1, 2021 against Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. ("ERCOT"), CPS Energy, Calpine Corp., Luminant Generation Co., Vistra Corp., Duke Energy Corp., NRG Energy, Inc., Exelon Generation Co., LLC, Tenaska Gateway Partners, Ltd., and Tenaska, Inc, Inc.in District Court, Bexar County, Texas on behalf of Clara Flores, an individual residing in Bexar County, Texas. Clara Flores is the surviving spouse of Decedent Luis Flores. At the time of his death, Luis Flores resided in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. Mr. Flores died at home of liver failure as a direct result of the power outage.

The lawsuit alleges that failures by ERCOT CPS Energy, Calpine Corp., Luminant Generation Co., Vistra Corp., Duke Energy Corp., NRG Energy, Inc., Exelon Generation Co., LLC, Tenaska Gateway Partners, Ltd., and Tenaska, Inc. to anticipate increased energy demand during the storm and weatherize and update their facilities resulted in the rolling blackouts which left millions of Texans, including the Flores family, without power for days.

According to the Complaint, Mr. Flores was medically dependent on dialysis treatment he received at the Fresenius Kidney Care Northwest Bexar County. The facility lost power on February 15, 2021 and remained closed due to the power loss until February 19, 2021. As a result, two of Mr. Flores' dialysis appointments were cancelled. Mr. Flores' son made an appointment as soon as the facility re-opened on February 19, but it was too late. Mr. Flores collapsed and passed away in his driveway before he could receive necessary dialysis. The lawsuit seeks damages for Mr. Flores' physical pain and mental anguish before his death along with punitive damages and other damages on behalf of his surviving widow and children.

The lawsuit lays out a string of allegations. The action claims that ERCOT and the other companies involved in the management of power in Texas failed to anticipate increased energy demands and increase electric production capacity in Texas in advance of the February 2021 winter storm, though similar events have happened repeatedly in recent years. The Complaint also alleges that defendants should have weatherized and updated their generation, transmission, and distribution facilities in order to prevent cold-weather power failures such as this one, but consciously chose not to do so.

This cold weather event and its effects on the Texas energy grid were neither unprecedented, nor unexpected, nor unforeseen. Texas experienced disruptive cold weather events in 1983, 1989, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011. The events in 1989 and 2011, in particular, led to exactly the same type of rolling blackouts that have affected Texas residents and businesses. After the 2011 event, The Texas Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission both concluded that corrective actions taken after the 1989 event were inadequate  but the Defendants ignored these conclusions and failed to remedy the problem. Foreseeably, in February 2021, after Defendants chose not to implement the reasonable economical remedies recommended in 1989 and 2011, power failed across Texas, resulting in enormous losses, including deaths.

Mikal Watts, founding partner of Watts Guerra LLP, noted that "Mr. Flores died needlessly through no fault of anyone but Texas energy providers who consciously chose to save money by failing to winterize their equipment after being asked to do so after the 2011 freeze."

Bryan Fears, founding partner of Fears Nachawati, PLLC, who has decades of experience representing victims of corporate misconduct, called these companies have evaded accountability for too long. "These companies disregarded numerous warnings leading up to this tragedy," he said. "It's time for them to answer for their short-sighted actions."

Jerrold S. Parker, founding partner of Parker Waichman LLP, who has battled for victims of corporate greed over many decades and in many courtrooms throughout the United States, said that the extent of the neglect by the Texas power companies is some of the most significant he has ever seen. "The deaths of nearly 200 people are now linked to February's blackouts. Many of these deaths might have been avoided if the Texas energy industry had taken appropriate measures."

Filing a Texas Power Outage Lawsuit

Fears Nachawati, Parker Waichman and Watts Guerra have represented clients in injury lawsuits for decades. If you or someone you know is interested in filing a Texas Power Outage lawsuit, please call 1-800-800-4499 or visit the firms' Texas Power Outage website at https://www.texaspowerfailure2021lawsuit.com

SOURCE Parker Waichman LLP

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The demolition of Shannonbridge Power Station is looking likely, in spite of considerable opposition to the move at a local level.

Local councillors are fearful that the ESB has made up its mind to proceed with the destruction of the multi-million Euro, state of the art facility regardless of what anyone thinks.

Cllr John Clendennen told the April meeting of Birr Municipal District that the councillors and other interested parties have been waiting a long time for a positive response from the ESB but have so far heard nothing. "During the summer," commented Cllr Clendennen, "a number of councillors had a zoom meeting with the ESB, expressing our concern about the matter. The sound and visual quality of that zoom meeting was unfortunately very poor but we did receive the message loud and clear that the ESB took on board our concerns and would engage with us in a positive manner, and not simply press ahead with the demolition regardless of us. Unfortunately, since then we have heard nothing from them and several months have gone by.

"In the meantime we heard recently of an announcement of a 5 billion plan for an offshore wind farm at Moneypoint, County Clare, as part of the ESB's nationwide decarbonisation policy. This raises the question why ignore our state of the art 240 million 16 year old facility and invest their funds elsewhere? We feel like we are being unfairly overlooked and poorly treated once again in Offaly."

Cllr Eamon Dooley agreed with Cllr Clendennen. He said councillors during their summer Zoom meeting asked the ESB to extend the date of the decommissioning of the power station, but have yet received no response.

The councillors said it would be a waste of taxpayers' money to demolish Shannonbridge. They called for the carrying out of a feasibility study to look at alternative uses for the station and for a process of consultation with the local communities and local stakeholders.

"The ESB's mind seems to be made up," said Cllr Clendennen. "It seems they've decided to turn their backs on us. We are going to be left behind. This is far from acceptable. We need a better attitude from them. We need a positive plan for the future. We think the station could become a centre of excellence."

Cllr John Leahy agreed. "We are being left behind as usual," he said. "We once had a positive working relationship with the ESB, but that seems to be no longer the case."

Cllr Clendennen pointed out that there are a number of possible uses for the station. "It could have a number of uses, all operating at the same time. It could be a platform for connectivity to the Shannon via watersports. It could be a museum, focussing on the history of fuel production in Ireland. It could be a work hub; a tourism attraction; a renewable energy source."

Cllr Dooley called for a greater response from the general public. "So far everyone has been too quiet."
Tokyo, April 23: Scientists at Osaka University, in cooperation with JOANNEUM RESEARCH (Weiz, Austria), introduced wireless health monitoring patches that use embedded piezoelectric nanogenerators to power themselves with harvested biomechanical energy.

This work may lead to new autonomous health sensors as well as battery-less wearable electronic devices. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. Young Children With High Blood Pressure More Vulnerable to Eye Issues.

As wearable technology and smart sensors become increasingly popular, the problem of providing power to all of these devices become more relevant. While the energy requirements of each component may be modest, the need for wires or even batteries become burdensome and inconvenient. That is why new energy harvesting methods are needed. Also, the ability for integrated health monitors to use ambient motion to both powers and activate sensors will help accelerate their adoption in doctor's offices.

Now, an international team of researchers from Japan and Austria has invented new ultra-flexible patches with a ferroelectric polymer that can not only sense a patient's pulse and blood pressure but also power themselves from normal movements. The key was starting with a substrate just one micron thick. Using a strong electric field, ferroelectric crystalline domains in a copolymer were aligned so that the sample had a large electric dipole moment.

Based on the piezoelectric effect, which is very efficient in converting natural motion into small electric voltages, the device responds rapidly to strain or pressure changes. These voltages can be transduced either into signals for the medical sensors or to directly harvest the energy. "Our e-health patches may be employed as part of screening for lifestyle-related diseases such as heart disorders, signs of stress, and sleep apnea," said first-author Andreas Petritz.

The authors estimate that multilayer patches can harvest up to 200 millijoules per day from biomechanical motions if placed on joints, like knees or elbows. This is enough to monitor cardiovascular parameters several times a day. And the patches are so thin that they are barely perceptible thus making a necessary evil for many patients--daily health monitoring--less unpleasant.

"We expect that our findings will assist in the development of other sheet-type sensor systems that can perform precise biomonitoring when affixed to the skin surface," senior author Tsuyoshi Sekitani said. Additional modules allow other features, such as wireless communication with a smartphone or computer.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
President Joe Biden's administration will allow US embassies around the world to fly the gay Pride flag on the same flagpole as the American flag, reversing a Trump-era policy.

In 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blocked embassy requests to fly the symbol of support for LBGTQ people on the same pole as the Stars and Stripes.

But now Biden's Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has given approval to fly the flag at diplomatic outposts around the world, according to a confidential cable reviewed by Foreign Policy magazine.

The move comes before May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and before June, which many nations recognize as Gay Pride month.

Blinken's cable says the chiefs of mission who run the embassies and consulates can choose whether to fly the Pride flag or showcase other symbols of support for LGBTQ rights based on what is 'appropriate in light of local conditions.'

President Joe Biden's administration will allow US embassies around the world to fly the gay Pride flag on the same flagpole as the American flag, reversing a Trump-era policy - above the US national flag and an LGBT pride flag on the front facade of the US Embassy in Moscow

President Joe Biden has vowed to fight for LGBTQ rights; Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sent a cable to diplomatic outposts around the world giving them blanket permission to fly the flag

Embassies are required to get permission from the State Department when flying anything besides the American flag on their main flagpoles. Blinken's cable gives them carte blanche to fly the pride flag.

In February, Biden issued a presidential memorandum aimed at expanding protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people worldwide.

The memo directed U.S. agencies working abroad to work harder to combat the criminalization of LGBTQ people by foreign governments and ordered the State Department to include anti-LGBTQ violence, discrimination and laws in its annual human rights report.

Blinken, however, has yet to name a State Department special envoy for LGBTQ rights, a post that was left vacant for much of the Trump administration.

At least 69 countries around the world have laws that criminalize same-sex relations, according to Human Rights Watch.

Blinken's cable also noted that in some countries, a U.S. embassy flying the Pride flag, or discussing legalizing or decriminalizing same-sex relationships, could do more harm than good, causing a backlash, Foreign Policy magazine noted.

'Posts should support efforts to repeal [criminalization] legislation, while ensuring that 'do no harm' remains our overarching principle so U.S. efforts do not inadvertently result in backlash or further marginalization of the LGBTQI+ community,' the cable read.

Flying the Pride flag - with its distinctive rainbow stripes - became an issue during the Trump era, when diplomatic outposts were told they could not fly it with the American flag but could display it elsewhere; Above - Black Lives Matter banner, a United States national flag and a rainbow flag are hung on the facade of the US embassy building in Seoul

Flying the Pride flag - with its distinctive rainbow stripes - became an issue during the Trump era, when diplomatic outposts were told they could not do so but were allowed to display Pride symbols elsewhere in embassies.

Several embassies simply hung the flag on the building's facade to show support for LGBTQ rights.

Then Vice President Mike Pence defended the move in an June 2019 interview with NBC News, saying 'when it comes to the American flagpole, and American embassies, and capitals around the world, one American flag flies.'

Under the Obama administration, embassies were given permission to fly the flag.
After California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday he will use executive authority to force the state to stop issuing oil fracking permits by 2024 and end all drilling by 2045, some climate activists took exception to Newsom's timeline.

Fracking, or the practice of injecting liquid at a high pressure into underground rocks to force them open and extract oil, is widely considered to be harmful to the environment, and Newsom has faced pressure from climate activists to end the practice since taking office.

He stated in September that he "simply [doesn't] have that authority," instead calling on the state legislature to take action. Newsom did not specify Friday why his view on the scope of his executive authority has changed, and an oil industry spokesperson told CalMatters that companies intend to challenge the order in court.

Newsom's order drew praise from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and billionaire Tom Steyer, but some climate groups were less supportive.

"This tweet might look promising, but here's what we see: Fracking will continue in California for another three years [and] Drilling will continue in California for another twenty four years," wrote the Los Angeles chapter of the Sunrise Movement. "Nice promises, wildly inadequate timelines to meet the scale of the climate crisis."

"Fracking accounts for just 2% of the oil production in CA," tweeted Jackie Fielder, a former state senate candidate and prominent progressive activist. "A fracking ban is cool, but way too little. @GavinNewsom is also asking the CA Air Resources Board to analyze how to end all oil extraction in the state by 2045. 2045 is too late. 2030 is more like it."

Notable also is the reaction from investorJoe Sanberg, who tweeted, "Phasing out oil drilling by 2045 is not good enough." Sanberg has flirted with runs for public office in the past and is considered a possible threat to enter the likely recall election this fall.

According to a 2015 report from the California Council on Science and Technology, almost all of the state's fracking occurs in the San Joaquin Valley. Newsom temporarily halted fracking permits in 2019, but lifted the ban in 2020.
Tunisia: no-interest loans from EU to support country Union's ambassador Cornaro meets Premier Mechichi

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, APRIL 23 - European Union ambassador to Tunisia, Marcus Cornaro, has expressed the EU's full support to efforts made by the Tunisian government with its national program of economic reform.



During a meeting with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi at the government palace, Cornaro added that the EU has mechanisms of support and cooperation that will be made available to the Tunisian government, according to a statement released by Tunisia's cabinet. The EU - Cornaro also said - "will be the first to defend Tunisia with member countries through ambitious programs in the field of investments and employment".



The Union will give Tunisia loans and subsidies without interests in 2021, with the objective of supporting efforts by the country to mobilize financial resources and will work to coordinate and further unify efforts with Tunisia on European programs for the reconstruction of Libya, in particular in the sectors of transport, trade, logistics and immigration.



For his part, the Tunisian prime minister said that Tunisia is working to strengthen cooperation with the EU, especially because relations between the two sides are strategic and constructive. Mechichi added that Tunisia, now experiencing a difficult financial situation, will conduct negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a consensual economic program with all national organizations and stressed the Union's efforts and continued support to the success of the democratic process in Tunisia.



Mechichi's government plans to start negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the start of May in Washington to obtain a new funding plan. (ANSAmed)
The Central Election Commission has officially recognized the victory of representative of the Servant of the People party Vasyl Virastiuk in the by-election to parliament, the OPORA Civil Network reported on Thursday.

"Vasyl Virastiuk was officially elected MP. The CEC established the election results in constituency No. 87 and recognized the candidate from the Servant of the People party Vasyl Virastiuk as the elected MP of Ukraine," OPORA said on Twitter.

It notes that according to the protocol of the district election commission, he won 15,536 votes.

As reported, the representative of the Servant of the People party Vasyl Virastiuk won in constituency No. 87 in the by-election to parliament, gaining 31.25% of the vote. His rivals, representative of the For the Future party Oleksandr Shevchenko, and representative of the All-Ukrainian Association Svoboda Ruslan Koshulynsky, gained 29.69% and, accordingly, 28.86%. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine recognized the elections in the constituency as valid at a meeting on April 5.

Prior to that, Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Court considered several cases in relation to decisions on the recount of votes at 20 polling stations, which were made by district election commission 87 when establishing the voting results in the by-election to the Rada, held on March 28. All considered cases were opened on the claims of the candidate Shevchenko. In most cases (for six precincts), the decision of the court of first instance - the actions of the district election commission to be recognized as legitimate, the plaintiff to completely refuse to satisfy the claims. These decisions were appealed.

Subsequently, Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Administrative Court declared unlawful and canceled all resolutions of DEC No. 87 on recognizing voting at five polling stations as invalid. The civil network OPORA reported that on some of them, as a result of a recount of votes, a discrepancy was found in the number of ballots for candidate Shevchenko.

On April 16, the CEC accepted for processing the protocol of the district election commission No. 87 with the note "Updated". Head of the commission Oleh Didenko said, there are two court cases regarding the preparation of an updated protocol by the district commission.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 16:56:40|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand categorized India, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Pakistan as "very high-risk countries" to "significantly reduce the number of infected people flying to New Zealand," COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Friday.

In the latest stage of evolution at the border, the government has created a new "very high-risk country" category that will make the border stronger, Hipkins said in a statement.

"This is in response to rapidly increasing rates of infection in parts of the globe and based on what is happening in the country, the prevalence of COVID-19 variants of concern, the public health measures the country has in place and the risk to our border," he said.

The new category comes into force from 11:59 p.m. on April 28. Countries have initially been designated very high-risk where there have been more than 50 cases of COVID-19 per 1,000 arrivals to New Zealand from those countries in 2021, and where there are more than 15 travelers on average per month, he said.

India, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Pakistan are the countries that currently meet that threshold, and as a result, travelers from those countries will be temporarily restricted to New Zealand citizens, their partners and children, and parents of children who are New Zealand citizens, according to the minister.

"From India alone, this is expected to reduce the number of potential positive cases coming to New Zealand by an estimated 75 percent," Hipkins said.

All travelers from very high-risk countries will require evidence of a negative PCR test from an accredited laboratory within 72 hours prior to travel, he said.

"I want to stress this was not an easy decision. It was based entirely on current risk assessment and will be reviewed regularly," he said, adding there will be an exceptions process on humanitarian grounds. Enditem
Montana passes state Religious Freedom Restoration Act despite opposition from 250 companies

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Montana passed a state-level version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, joining nearly two dozen other states with similar religious freedom protections.

Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 215 on Thursday, requiring that state agencies will need to show a "compelling governmental interest" to interfere with a persons religious beliefs.

A spokesperson for the Governor's Office told the Montana Standard on Thursday that Gianforte signed the bill to protect the freedom of people of all faiths to exercise their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Montana joins 21 other states with RFRA laws, where it has historically been used to allow Native American children to wear braids in school, Sikhs to wear turbans in the military, and Christian employers to refuse to cover abortions under their health insurance policies, the spokesperson said.

Under the RFRA bill, state action should not burden exercise of religion without compelling justification and through the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

The bill is modeled off of the federal RFRA law passed by Congress in 1993 with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. That bill was signed into law by Democrat President Bill Clinton.

Matt Sharp, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which actively supported the legislation, celebrated the passage.

This law provides a sensible balancing test for courts to use when reviewing government policies that infringe upon the religious freedom rights of Montanans, said Sharp.

The law doesnt automatically decide who will win every disagreement, but it does ensure that every Montanan  regardless of belief system or political power  receives a fair hearing when government action forces a person to violate his or her religious beliefs.

Although the Montana RFRA makes no mention of sexual orientation or gender identity, many claimed that the legislation will lead to discrimination against the LGBT community and others.

In an action alert, the Montana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that the RFRA law would allow religious schools to fire unmarried pregnant teachers, businesses to deny insurance coverage for birth control products and bakeries to refuse catering gay weddings.

This measure could undermine non-discrimination, child welfare, public safety, and public health laws and set Montana up for a flood of expensive litigation from those who claim they have a religious right to violate these laws, the progressive legal nonprofit group stated.

In March, more than 250 national and Montana-based businesses, including Amazon, Google Molson Coors Beverage Co. and Verizon, signed a letter in protest against this and other pieces of legislation they argue will unnecessarily single out already marginalized groups for more mistreatment, harassment, and discrimination.
Hyderabad, April 23 : Telangana's Minister for information technology and industry K.T. Rama Rao has tested positive for Covid-19.

Rao tweeted on Friday that he had tested positive with mild symptoms.

"I've tested Covid positive with mild symptoms. Currently isolated at home Those of you who have met me last few days, kindly follow the covid protocol, get tested & take care," tweeted the Minister, popularly known as KTR.

This came five days after Rao's father and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao tested positive for coronavirus.

KTR had accompanied his father on Wednesday to a private hospital where the Chief Minister underwent CT Scan and other general medical tests.

Member of Parliament J. Santosh Kumar, who too had accompanied the Chief Minister during his visit to the hospital, tested positive on Thursday.

KTR tested positive with mild symptoms on Monday after which he isolated himself at his farmhouse. A team of doctors is monitoring his health.

Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday underwent tests at a private hospital under the supervision of the chief minister's personal physician M. V. Rao.

Doctors said that the Chief Minister's condition is stable and he will recover in a short time. According to them, his lungs are normal and there is no infection in them.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A Washington-based super PAC is spending more than $1 million during the congressional runoff to support Karen Carter Peterson and bash her opponent, Troy Carter, even though Carter has voted against anti-abortion legislation more often than Peterson during their tenure together in the Louisiana Senate.

Peterson probably would have recorded more votes against anti-abortion legislation than Carter over the last five years, but she missed 11 of the 24 abortion votes, according to a scorecard of the states leading anti-abortion group. No other senator missed as many abortion votes as she did, according to Louisiana Right to Life.

EMILYs List, through its super PAC, Women Vote!, is outspending Carter and Peterson during the overall campaign while acting as if Peterson had an unassailable advantage on abortion issues over Carter. And she has, in fact, been a much more outspoken advocate for abortion rights than her opponent.

But Carter has hardly been in the enemy camp. Yet the group is broadcasting a 30-second TV ad saying that Carter cant be trusted to defend womens health care because of his record on abortion. The group has also sent three mailers to voters attacking Carter.

In all, Peterson voted four times with Louisiana Right to Life and against them nine times, along with the 11 missed votes, according to the group.

Carter voted with the group nine times, against them 10 times and missed five votes.

Peterson missed two of the three votes that EMILYs List has cited in attacking Carter for voting against the groups position.

The two Democratic state senators from New Orleans face off in Saturdays runoff to represent Louisianas 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans and the west bank of Jefferson Parish and stretches up the Mississippi River corridor to north Baton Rouge. The winner will replace Cedric Richmond, who resigned in January to become an adviser to President Joe Biden.

EMILYs List also spent heavily in the March 20 primary, which Carter led with 36% of the vote followed by Petersons 23%. In the primary, the group nearly matched Petersons spending, pouring about $600,000 into the race while she spent about $800,000.

"EMILYs List exists to elect democratic pro-choice women," said Benjamin Ray, a spokesman for the group. "To do that, we use every tool we can, including early money, campaign staff support and independent expenditures."

During the runoff, EMILYs List has spent $705,000 attacking Carter in TV ads and mailers since the March 20 primary, according to the FEC, and has spent $495,000 supporting Peterson, for a total spending of $1.2 million during the runoff, or $1.8 million for the entire election.

Other outside groups have spent heavily on Peterson or Carter, but none has come close to matching EMILYs List.

The groups war chest is especially large given that only about 80,000 people will vote in the election, according to John Couvillon, a Baton Rouge-based pollster and demographer, who is projecting a 15% overall turnout.

Overall, Carter has voted with Louisiana Right to Life 47% of the time compared to 31% for Peterson during the 24 votes, but the group put an asterisk next to her name because she missed so many votes. Louisiana Right to Lifes scorecard covers the last five years, but it did not have any abortion votes to score in 2020 so all of the votes are for 2016 through 2019.

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To be sure, Peterson has been much more vocal in her support of abortion rights than has Carter.

In 2019, for example, Peterson tweeted her opposition to Senate Bill 184, which sought to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions even when the child was born from a rape or incest. In her tweet, she also asked people to call the governors office to ask Gov. John Bel Edwards to veto the bill. He did not, although a court challenge has prevented the measure from taking effect.

Her public challenge to the governor was extraordinary because she chaired the Louisiana Democratic Party at the time, a position that typically means backing the governor to the hilt.

Carter was among the five senators, along with Peterson, who voted against the bill.

Abortion foes clearly regard Peterson as a nemesis and Carter as a foe, but they see him as someone they can work with.

It is remarkable the number of times Senator Peterson has been absent on significant legislation that we have brought forth, said Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life. Peterson has been more vociferously and stridently pro-abortion. This can be seen in her aggressive floor speeches over the years that often squelch any meaningful debate on these abortion bills. Carters voting record is pro-abortion, but he is more willing to have reasonable conversations about issues, even though the difference between our positions remain clear.

Peterson has a history of missing votes overall. She missed more votes than any other senator in 2020 -- she said she felt unsafe because the legislative leadership would not mandate masks -- and missed 26% of the votes during the preceding four years. Only three senators missed more votes during that period.

The EMILYs List TV ad says Carter voted against womens health care. Asked to explain the anti-Carter statements, Ray cited his votes for House Bills 488, 386 and 606, all in 2016.

HB488 toughened the criteria to allow doctors to perform abortions. Peterson missed the vote.

HB386 extended the waiting period for abortion from 24-72 hours. Peterson voted no.

HB606 prohibited entities that perform abortions from receiving public funding. Peterson was absent.

In siding with Peterson over Carter, EMILYs List also cited a 2006 Times-Picayune article which reported that Carter supported a bill that would ban young mothers from circumventing a parental notification law by crossing state lines to get an abortion. Peterson opposed the bill. Both of them were candidates to Congress at the time.
(Natural News) The Centre territorial dInformation independante et dAvis pharmaceutiques (CTIAP), a regional independent drug assessment center in France, has published a report showing that none of the four Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccinations currently being administered are safe or effective because all of them received emergency use authorization (EUA) with insufficient clinical testing.

The jabs are all problematic because the manufacturing processes used are new, as are the excipients they contain, which a team of experts from the Cholet public hospital in the west of France say should be considered as new active substances.

Led by Dr. Catherine Frade, a pharmacist, the research team worked with public data released by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in relation to the injections released by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson). All four of these injections only have temporary authorization based on perceived need, as opposed to approval based on clinical evidence of safety and efficacy.

All of the jabs are also still subject to studies that extend out to 2024  three years from now  and beyond. Very little is known, at this point, about the long-term side effects of the injections, though we are seeing short-term side effects in the form of serious blood clots and death.

According to the CTIAP, all four Chinese Virus injections were released for public administration before proof of quality for the active substance and the finished product was verified. All of the labs where the jabs are produced also obtained future deadlines to submit associated studies.

What this means, of course, is that every person who takes a Wuhan Flu shot is a human guinea pig participating in a mass pharmaceutical experiment. How vaccine recipients fare moving forward remains to be seen.

In the coming months and years, the research team warns, variabilities, which impact the very core of the product, could even invalidate any clinical trials conducted.

Prudence would even dictate that, in all countries where these vaccines against COVID-19 have been marketed, all the batches thus released should be withdrawn immediately; and that these MAs that have been granted should be suspended, or even canceled, as a matter of urgency until further notice, they say.

Branch Covidians are cult members with a death wish

This is a far cry from the messaging coming from the White House, Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci and pretty much the entirety of mainstream medicine and even religion here in the United States.

While other countries would seem to be taking a more precautionary approach with this new experimental medicine, the establishment here in America is pushing everyone to get injected as quickly as possible in order to bring about a new normal.

Very little is being said here about the experimental nature of this whole campaign. Almost nobody, save for those in the independent media, are even bothering to address the fact that Big Pharmas Chinese Virus injections come with zero liability to their manufacturers  meaning if you get sick or die, there is no legal recourse.

This, combined with the fact that the jabs have never even undergone the normal testing and approval process, makes the whole thing a really bad bet in terms of public health. We expect a third wave of viral variants to result in mass death among the vaccinated. The only question is when this will happen, not if.

Be sure to check out the full report from the CTIAP to learn more about the dangers and ineffectiveness of Wuhan Flu shots.

To keep up with the latest news about Chinese Virus injections, be sure to check out ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Former Lusher Middle School student Caryn Blair never viewed her eighth-grade English teacher  literary biographer Blake Bailey  as a mentor, a distinction between her and most of a growing list of her former classmates who have accused him of grooming them for unwanted sex or rape years later.

Yet, Blair said this week, that didnt stop Bailey from trying to rape her during a chance encounter in the months following Hurricane Katrina, when she was in her early 20s, an assault she says she headed off with physical force.

Blairs account of that night adds troubling details to an emerging profile of Bailey, whose best-selling biography of writer Philip Roth was taken out of circulation by its publisher this week. The action came in the wake of two rape allegations and statements from several of his former students at Lusher in the 1990s that he groomed them for future sexual encounters.

More claims against Blake Bailey: Ex-Lusher student alleges author used 'bait and wait' to initiate sex Allegations that he groomed several former students at Lusher Middle School for sexual encounters when they were of age continue to mount for 

Four women who knew Bailey because he taught them as girls at Lusher have publicly recounted this week that he fostered close relationships with them over their mutual interest in writing, kept in contact after they left Lusher and then exploited their confidence to seek sex from them years later, with one of them accusing him of forcible rape.

Their accounts prompted a New York publishing executive to go public with a forcible rape accusation against Bailey dating to 2015. The executive reported the allegation privately to the books publisher at the time, but Bailey strongly denied it.

Baileys attorney in New Orleans, Billy Gibbens, didnt respond to a request for comment on Blairs recollections. Gibbens has previously denied any illegal conduct by Bailey, calling the allegations against him false and hurtful.

While most of the Lusher alums who reported sexual misconduct by Bailey had seen him as a key mentor, in Blairs case, our relationship was never like that, she said. I never wanted to be a writer. There was no interest in staying in touch with him.

And yet he moved aggressively after he happened to walk into the pizza restaurant where she was working during the early days of New Orleans rebuild, after Katrina struck in 2005, she said.

When she was a student, Bailey had given her some of the same type of attention other ex-students of his have reported, Blair said.

The year before he taught her, Bailey drew a picture of himself in her yearbook accompanied by a handwritten note calling her glamorous and gifted and telling her to behave herself.

Look away from the body + into the light of truth + beauty, he wrote.

When she was reluctant to go through with an assigned performance of the West Side Story tune I Feel Pretty, Bailey told her to not sing the piece, Blair recalled.

He took me out to the hallway and said  (to) rub my hands up my legs and say (the lyrics) in a sexy way, Blair recalled. Then, after she changed into her dress for the performance, she recalled that he had her stand at the top of some stairs while he sat on the landing, looking up.

Bailey left Blair another handwritten yearbook note after eighth grade.

What a shame that you content yourself with the sort of company you keep (out of school anyway), read one part. If she didnt change, the note added, Tomorrow + tomorrow + tomorrow will be a lot like today.

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Blair said she didnt speak much to Bailey after that, only running into him a couple of times in the ensuing years as he embarked on his career as an author. She was working at a Reginellis restaurant a few months after the storm when he walked in, recognized her, and invited her to get a drink when her shift ended.

Blair said they went to a nearby bar, where he asked her why she was serving pizza and not doing more with her life. They couldnt stay long because a curfew was still in effect in the badly damaged city.

She said Bailey invited her to the place where he was staying for a nightcap, and she went, wanting to keep her mind off what were then uncertain times in New Orleans.

Author Blake Bailey accused of abusing ex-Lusher students' trust for sex; denies illegal conduct A celebrated literary biographer who taught eighth-grade English at New Orleans Lusher Middle School in the 1990s is now facing accusations t

Blair said they drank wine while visiting in a sitting room outside of a bedroom. She said she found a bottle of anxiety pills in the bathroom, and they each took one. Her car had been destroyed during Katrina, and she told him she needed a ride home when she realized she had a series of missed cell phone calls from her boyfriend at the time, Alejandro Lurati.

As she got up, Blair said, Bailey pushed her into the bedroom and down on the bed, trying to kiss her and pawing at her breasts.

Those breasts, those breasts  Ive been wanting to touch those breasts since I met you, Blair recalled Bailey saying. Many of Baileys accusers have said that he would tell them he had desired them since he met them at Lusher.

Blair said she was able to push Bailey off her and the bed, and she thinks it may have only been because he was super intoxicated and on Valium. He had a confused and upset expression on his face when she again demanded that he take her home.

Blair said Bailey dropped her off after police pulled him over because it was past curfew, but officers let him go. She said she immediately broke down and told Lurati what had happened, an account Lurati backs up.

Lurati said he remembers fighting the urge to follow and kill the man who had dropped Blair off.

I hear that (those breasts) phrase in my nightmares, and he didnt even say it to me, Lurati said. So fk that guy.

Blair said she didnt speak more widely about the encounter for years in part out of sympathy for Bailey, who had talked about losing his home to Katrina.

I thought maybe it was a drunken, traumatic thing, she said.

But now, Blair said, she felt it important to speak in support of other women who couldnt get away from (Bailey) like I did.

This wasnt a one-off thing, she said.
The state has for the second time dragged former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Mr Ernest Thompson, and four others back to the Accra High Court for allegedly causing financial loss of $14.8 million to the state.



The Attorney General (A-G) amended the charge sheet in conformity with a ruling by the Supreme Court, which upheld a Court of Appeal decision that 10 out of 29 charges against the accused persons had no sufficient particulars as required by the 1992 Constitution.



The move followed a decision by the Supreme Court that the charge relating to causing financial loss to the state had no sufficient particulars of offence.



Mr Thompson, as well as a former Information Technology (IT) Manager at SSNIT, Mr John Hagan Mensah, a former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, Mr Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, the lawyer for SSNIT, Mr Peter Hayibor and the Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business Systems (PBS), Ms Juliet Hassana Kramer, were in July 2018, charged with willfully causing financial loss to the state, conspiracy to commit crime, defrauding by false pretence in contravention of the public procurement act and authoring of forged documents.



The new case came up for hearing at the High Court on Thursday.



Charges filed



Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports that a Principal State Attorney, Mr Richard Gyimbibi on Thursday, April 22, 2021 told the Accra High Court that the amended charge sheets were filed on April 20, 2021.



The case will be heard on May 20, 2021 where the accused persons are expected to enter their plea.



The 10 counts amended with further particulars relate to willfully causing financial loss to the state.



Thompson, a former Information Technology (IT) Manager at SSNIT, Mr John Hagan Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business Systems (PBS), Ms Juliet Hassana Kramer, and a former lawyer for SSNIT , Mr Peter Hayibor are those who have been charged with willfully causing financial loss to the state.



A former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, Mr Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, is facing charges relating to uttering of forged documents and possession of forged documents.

Source: graphiconline.com









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A borough in Susquehanna County is among three selected for a new state initiative aimed at improving health in communities.

Susquehanna Depot will be part of the state's WalkWorks program, a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania Downtown Center, according to a press release from the state Department of Health.

WalkWorks will provide technical assistance, promotional materials and signs to depot officials, who are working to identify potential routes.

Funding for WalkWorks is provided by the state Department of Health through the Preventative Health and Health Services Block Grant and the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, both from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For more information about WalkWorks, visit www.pawalkworks.com.
Honda Targets 100% EV and Fuel Cell Sales Plus Advanced Driver Safety Systems in North America by 2040







Honda will accelerate electrification and application of connected safety technologies toward the realization of carbon neutrality and zero traffic collision fatalities

Honda is targeting sales of 100% zero emission electrified vehicles in North America by 2040

New Honda EV models based on e:Architecture coming in North America starting from the second half of this decade, following first volume EVs in MY2024

Honda to add omnidirectional ADAS (advanced driver-assistance system) to Honda Sensing technologies, to all new automobile models by 2030, striving for zero auto and motorcycle collision fatalities involving Honda products globally by 2050

TORRANCE, Calif. April 23, 2021; Honda today announced key targets for sales of electrified vehicles in North America, with a plan to make battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles to represent 100% of its vehicle sales by 2040, progressing from sales of 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2035. Toward these targets, Honda also plans to launch a series of new EV models based on a new e:Architecture, beginning from the second half of the decade. These plans for North America are in line with Hondas new global and regional targets, which were announced today by Honda global president & CEO Toshihiro Mibe, as part of the companys renewed commitment to advances in safety and environmental technology.

Renewed Honda Commitment to the Environment and Safety

In making the announcement, Mibe said that Honda sees the reduction of the companys environmental impact and realization of safety advances to protect human lives as the two major challenges facing the company. Accordingly, Honda is formalizing its goals for achieving carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities by 2050, as well as zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda automobiles and motorcycles globally by 2050.

Following are key elements related to Hondas renewed commitment to the environment and safety. More details on the announcement can be found here https://global.honda/newsroom/news/2021/c210423eng.html

New Honda e:Architecture EV Platform

Starting from the second half of the 2020s, Honda will launch a series of new EV models which adopt e:Architecture, a completely new EV platform led by Honda. These EV models will first be introduced to the North American market, and then to other regions of the world. Moreover, Honda is jointly developing two large-sized EV models using GMs Ultium batteries, and we are planning to introduce these SUVs to the North American market as model year 2024 vehicles, one from Honda brand and the other from the Acura brand.

Global Electrified Vehicle Sales

Due to regional differences such as the level of customer acceptance, readiness of infrastructure and availability of renewable energy, it is difficult to adopt a singular approach to the popularization of electrified vehicles globally. In all major markets for electrification, Honda will strive to increase the ratio of battery-electric (EV) and fuel cell electric (FCV) vehicles within overall unit sales combined to 40% by 2030, to 80% by 2035, and then to 100% globally by 2040.

Advanced Battery Technology

In order to ensure the advanced competitiveness of future Honda EVs, Honda also announced the goal to make all-solid-state batteries available for new Honda EV models to be introduced in the second half of the 2020s. Honda is conducting independent research on all-solid-state batteries in order to increase the capacity and lower the cost of the next generation batteries for its electrified vehicles. Based on the success of this lab research, Honda will undertake the verification of production technology using a demonstration line, starting this fiscal year.

Fuel Cell Technology

Honda continues to view fuel cell technology as another pillar supporting the challenge toward carbon neutrality, with the expectation that hydrogen will become more widely accepted as a renewable energy source. Honda has a long history in the research, development and commercialization of fuel cell technologies, and while continuing its current collaboration with GM, Honda will strive to reduce costs and realize a hydrogen society by expanding its lineup of FCVs and by using fuel cell systems for a wide range of applications, including commercial trucks and stationary and movable power sources.

Energy Business

Honda also will be proactive in promoting the utilization of hydrogen in addition to electricity as various scenarios are possible for the further expansion of the use of renewable energy. Honda will strive to realize a "multi-pathway of energy" which is a concept of utilizing a wide variety of energy sources including carbon-neutral fuels that will be effective in all areas, including areas where application of electrification is difficult, such as with aircraft.

This concept will become the basis of energy use that supports a society with a zero environmental impact. Honda also will work to expand utilization of renewable energy by enabling infrastructure-linked smart power operations when charging these products.

Renewable Energy Efforts in North America

Honda further commits to supplying its operations with 100 % renewable energy and has begun taking significant steps to achieving this goal. Seeking to slash CO2 emissions from its North American manufacturing operations, Honda has entered into long-term virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for renewable wind and solar power that cover more than 60% of the electricity that Honda uses in North America. Honda's combined agreements for the output of 320 MW of renewable generation capacity result in the purchase of 1.012 million MWh of electricity per year, offsetting more than 800,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions annually, the equivalent of 100,000 U.S. households worth of CO2e emissions from household energy usage1. These VPPAs enable Honda to fully offset the remaining carbon intensive grid-supplied electricity being used in its Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama automobile manufacturing operations.2

In addition to the VPPAs, Honda has been a leader in the installation of onsite renewable energy, including multiple rooftop solar arrays generating 5,800 megawatt hours (MWh) annually at facilities in California and Connecticut, and two wind turbines producing 10,000 MWh per year at an auto transmission plant in Ohio.

Safety Initiatives

In the area of safety, Honda has determined to strive for zero automobile and motorcycle collision fatalities globally by 2050, involving Honda products.

Since many motorcycle collision fatalities involve automobiles, Honda will strive to apply its omnidirectional ADAS to all new automobile models the company introduces in major markets by 2030. The new omnidirectional ADAS is an advanced driver-assistance system envisioned beyond the current Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies. Honda is leveraging the knowledge and know-how amassed through research and development of its Level 3 automated driving technologies, which recently began sales in Japan, to further enhance the intelligence of ADAS technologies.

In addition, as a company that has markets both motorcycles and automobiles, Honda will continue to strengthen its research on safety technologies that enable motorcycles and automobiles to safely coexist. In this way, Honda will seek to continue to lead the way in realizing a collision-free society from the standpoint of both hardware and software.

Honda Commitment to the Environment & Safety

Hondas vision for a carbon-free society is leading to comprehensive efforts to address societys environmental and energy concerns across the companys products and business operations. Honda has the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO2 emissions of any full-line automaker in America, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Honda also is working to reduce the environmental impact of its business operations and promotes environmentally responsible business practices with its suppliers and retail dealer partners across North America.

Based on its vision for a collision-free society Honda is working to improve safety for everyone sharing the road. The company operates two of the worlds most sophisticated crash-test facilities, in Ohio and Japan, and is responsible for numerous pioneering efforts in the areas of crashworthiness, collision compatibility and pedestrian safety. Advanced safety and driver-assistive systems found in Honda Sensing and AcuraWatch technologies are now on over 5 million vehicles on U.S. roads, designed to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions while serving as a technological and perceptual bridge to the more highly automated vehicles of the future.

Learn more at https://csr.honda.com/environment/na-environmental-report/ .

# # #

1. Based on U.S. EPA carbon equivalencies calculator. Does not include emissions from transportation or household food consumption. ( https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator )

2. Honda products are made using domestic and globally sourced parts.
Imperial Valley News Center

Woman Pleads Guilty to Filing False Claims for Unclaimed Property

Sacramento, California - Marilyn Cook (aka Marilyn Powell and Marilyn Sunset), 58, of Alcoa, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in relation to a scheme to obtain unclaimed property held by the California State Controllers Office Unclaimed Property Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in August and September 2014, Cook, using the name Marilyn Sunset, committed a scheme to defraud by filing false claims with the Division of Unclaimed Property for properties belonging to the U.S. Marshal Service and others. These properties were being held pursuant to a California law that requires financial institutions, businesses, and other entities, to turnover financial assets to the State Controllers Office when an account has been inactive or there has been no contact with the property owner for a specified period of time. The properties are then safeguarded until they are returned to their rightful owner. The Unclaimed Property Division maintains a list of properties in their possession on a publicly available website and provides instructions on how to claim such properties.

In furtherance of the scheme, Cook identified properties belonging to others, including the U.S. Marshal Service, and falsely certified under penalty of perjury that she was entitled to claim the identified properties. Cook also used a Tennessee ID card that she obtained in the name Marilyn Sunset to have certain claim forms notarized, as was required by the Unclaimed Property Division for claims over a certain dollar amount. Finally, Cook submitted fictitious documents in support of her claims to show that she was authorized to claim the properties. These documents included a letter on Department of Justice letterhead that falsely purported to have been signed by a former Assistant Attorney General, authorizing Sunset to collect properties on behalf of the U.S. Marshal Service. In all, Cook falsely claimed 128 properties totaling $398,537. The Unclaimed Property Division identified the claims as fraudulent and did not disperse any property to Cook.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelley D. Weger is prosecuting the case.

Cook is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on July 15. Cook faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
BAGHDAD (AP)  At least three rockets hit near Baghdad international airport late Thursday, the Iraqi military said.

A total of eight missiles were fired and three landed near the airport complex, the statement said. It did not detail whether the attack caused casualties.

The rockets struck areas known to contain Iraqi security forces. One hit close to a central prison, the second near an academy of the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, and a third near the headquarters of the Rapid Response regiment.

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks. U.S. officials have previously blamed Iran-backed militia groups.

It is the latest in a string of rocket attacks that have primarily targeted American installations in Iraq in recent weeks. On Sunday, multiple rockets hit an Iraqi airbase just north of Baghdad, wounding two Iraqi security personnel.

Last month, a base in western Iraq housing U.S.-led coalition troops and contractors was hit by 10 rockets. One contractor was killed.

Calls from mainly Shiite leaders have grown to oust U.S. troops from Iraq after a U.S.-directed drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia leader in Baghdad in January 2020.

Strategic talks between the U.S. and Iraq have focused on the future of U.S. troop presence in the country.

Associated Press
Your April 4 article, Brewers were soaked by the pandemic, underscores the challenges Oregons brewery industry has faced during these unprecedented times, but I was also grateful that the piece spoke to the light at the end of this long COVID-19 tunnel. We are seeing promising signs for a robust rebound if we can get the virus under control and get back to some level of normalcy. We at Worthy Brewing remain hopeful that soon it will be safe to operate our pubs at full capacity.

We are seeing people come back, and we expect those trends to continue as the weather improves. After a hard winter, Oregonians and visitors are eager to get outside, and nothing beats an Oregon craft brew after a day on the river, a slope or a hiking and biking trail. As we think about ways to support the reemergence of craft breweries, we should also consider backing policies that support Oregons tourism and outdoor recreation economy.

Sen. Ron Wydens and Sen. Jeff Merkleys River Democracy Act is just such a policy. The bill would add more than 4,000 miles of rivers and streams to the Wild and Scenic River system, ensuring that the waterways where we paddle, fish, hike, bike and hunt are protected for future generations. Our industry will come back once the people come back, and there in an undeniable link between craft beer and the outdoors. Thats why so many in our industry are excited about the River Democracy Act.

Roger Worthington, Bend

Worthington owns Worthy Brewing.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  The Philippines filed two diplomatic protests against China this week as Chinese vessels continue to linger in the West Philippine Sea, the Foreign Affairs Department said on Friday.

It said the protests were filed on Wednesday against the nonstop deployment, continued presence, and persistent activities of Chinese vessels in the country's maritime zones.

"The presence of these vessels blatantly infringe upon Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction," the DFA said in a statement.

The two diplomatic notes were in addition to the daily protests being filed by the DFA against China for its vessels' continued presence at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef).

The statement said 160 Chinese fishing vessels and maritime militia were spotted by law enforcement agencies in Philippine waters as of April 20. The DFA said the vessels were observed within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. the Kalayaan Island Group, and in and around the territorial waters of Bajo de Masinloc. Five Chinese Coast Guard vessels with bow numbers 3103, 3301, 3305, 5101, and 5203 were also seen deployed within the vicinities of the Pag-asa Island, Bajo de Masinloc, and Ayungin Shoal.

The DFA demanded that Beijing adhere to international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

"The continued swarming and threatening presence of the Chinese vessels creates an atmosphere of instability and is a blatant disregard of the commitments by China to promote peace and stability in the region," the agency said.

The Philippine government has filed a number of diplomatic protests this month and issued repeated appeals for China to withdraw its vessels. It also earlier protested Beijing's "illegal" building of artificial islands and structures and aggressive moves within the Philippines' EEZ.
A couple accused of holding a woman captive as a slave for eight years can finally be revealed to be husband and wife Kandasamy and Kumuthini Kannan.

The evil couple, from Glen Waverley in Melbourne, were on Friday found guilty of committing crimes against humanity.

Their identities had been hidden for years after they successfully argued for a court-imposed gag order.

The husband and wife, whose home she was found at, are guilty of intentionally possessing the woman as a slave between July 2007 and July 2015

The wicked couple had wanted to protect their young children from the shame of being the spawn of devilish slavers.

Their mother, Kumunthini, had been painted as the evil slave keeper, who dominated over her pathetic husband and their slave.

The arrogant slaver had smiled broadly just minutes before learning her fate, still supremely confident that the jury had swallowed her lies.

The jury of 12 delivered its verdict in Melbourne on Friday after deliberating for just over a day.

Kumunthini had beaten her slave with a frozen chicken, tossed boiling water on her legs, splashed hot tea in her face and poured curries over her head.

It was still summer when the husband-and-wife slavers first faced the jury on February 10.

The Kannans now face 25 years in jail - their three 'special needs' children left orphans.

Kumunthini burst into tears upon hearing the guilty verdicts.

She held her head in her hands and slumped her head into her husband's shoulders as he too was found guilty.

Kumunthini had been a beacon of arrogance throughout the epic trial, often smiling while her elderly victim gave harrowing evidence.

On Friday, she was a shattered woman, placing her head onto the desk before her for the remainder of the hearing.

Despite the guilty verdict, the couple were granted bail until their sentence date at the end of June.

Kumuthini Kannan was found guilty of being a slave driver. She would slash her servant with a knife if she was not satisfied with her work, a jury heard

Police believed Kumuthini Kannan (pictured) had held her captive like 'Harry Potter'

The court heard the Kannans had been so confident they would walk free, they had not even discussed how their children might be cared for should they be immediately taken into custody.

So bold, they had not even told the children they had been attending court for the past three months.

The couple brought in forensic psychologist Dr Jeffrey Cummins in support of their bail application, who told Justice John Champion the Kannan children needed their parents despite one being aged 18 and the twins aged 16.

Dr Cummins said the children each had autism, with one of the twins being low functioning.

'Their activities are rather limited,' he said.

Dr Cummins told the court there would be 'chaos' if their parents did not return home from court tonight.

'I'm not exaggerating. There would be simply chaos at home,' he said.

In granting bail, Justice Champion said the Kannan's deserved a 'severe tongue lashing' for failing to prepare for the prospect of being found guilty, describing their behaviour as 'reprehensible'.

Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment QC said it was 'incredible' the Kannans had not contacted authorities in preparation of their potential jailing.

'Why that hasn't been done by somebody, I feel that difficult to put together,' he said.

Justice Champion said the couple had been in denial of reality that this day would come.

'It does Mr and Mrs Kannan no credit ... they have placed a gun at the court's head and they ought be condemned for that,' he said.

The jury had endured months of evidence, which included shocking allegations of abuse by the couple against their elderly 'slave'.

The couple had been accused of committing 'crimes against humanity' by keeping the woman captive and working her near to death.

The jury heard their slave had 'hot curries' poured over her head as punishment and lived off just an hour a sleep for years at a time.

The elderly woman was found by paramedics in 2015 in a pool of her own urine and weighing just 40kg.

The Kannans had pleaded not guilty to intentionally keeping the woman as a slave between July 2007 and July 2015.

The woman was discovered after she collapsed inside the couple's home and they called her an ambulance.

Traumatised and with serious medical conditions, she spent more than two months in hospital recovering - and for much of that time nobody knew her real identity.

In closing the Crown case, Mr Maidment said the couple's payments to the woman amounted to just $3.39 a day in exchange for childcare, washing, cleaning and preparing meals.

He told the court the pair had fudged their elderly captive's visa documents to allow her to stay in Australia illegally.

Police believed the slaver (pictured) had held her captive like 'Harry Potter'

Kumuthini Kannan had been accused of throwing things when unhappy with her slave

The Case Against The Kannan Slavers Kandasamy and Kumuthini Kannan had kept the Indian woman as a slave before she was discovered with no teeth and emaciated with sepsis. They had claimed she was treated 'like a king'. The couple were both charged with intentionally possessing a slave and intentionally exercising the right of ownership over a slave between 2007 and 2015. The pair claimed they had been framed and became embroiled in an elaborate extortion attempt. The Supreme Court of Victoria heard the couple had been heard by police discussing the allegations over phone taps. 'It seems the suggestion is a letter would be produced which would suggest an extortion attempt had been made to extort 10 laks, the equivalent of $18,000 or $19,000 in order to drop the allegations,' Prosecutor Richard Maidment told jurors. The court heard their victim had no teeth when found by police in 2015. When asked why by police, her keeper claimed she had pulled them out herself and ate only mash. The woman had been enslaved after two previous visits with the family. The slave was found after she became sick and Kumuthini called her an ambulance. Paramedics found her shivering in a pool of urine in the bathroom. Advertisement

The woman had hoped to earn enough money in Australia to help support her family in India, the jury was told.

'By 6 August 2007 she had become an unlawful non citizen with the full knowledge and connivance of (the couple),' Mr Maidment said.

Police believed they were dealing with a real-life Harry Potter when they rescued the woman, the jury heard.

Mr Maidment told the jury there was no need to ponder the motive why the couple would risk their reputations and liberty to keep the woman illegally for so long.

'The Crown says that is crystal clear. It was crystal clear that they wanted essentially to import a true, tried and tested child carer and domestic servant, knowing that they could pay her next to nothing so that they could continue to live and maintain a five-bedroom home, that they could maintain their lifestyle, that Kumuthini could contemplate a part-time job, three days a week, and also to afford family trips overseas pretty much every year and interstate also on a regular basis,' he said.

Mr Maidment said the couple made sure they had treated their slave well in front of the children she had been enslaved to raise.

'The children were very fond of her and the notion that they would always be unkind to her or that they wouldn't essentially treat her as part of the household, is ridiculous,' he said.

'Clearly, they were going to be concerned about her relationship with the children. Her willingness to work hard. It was important for them to treat her, in many respects, as a member of the household.'

But Mr Maidment said it didn't alter the level of control that they had for her.

'Or the deep down, disrespect they had for her situation, or their willingness to exploit her in terms of paying her so far below the appropriate remuneration as to amount to an indicator of slavery,' he said.

The jury heard the woman had been effectively stranded in her captive home, unable to even use a bus or call for help from her family back in India.

Kumuthini Kannan and her husband Kandasamy will leave their children orphans after being found guilty of slavery

'Her world, other than that which the (couple) exposed them to by actually taking her to places like Sydney, like Phillip Island, like Cape Woolamai ... was the immediate area of the house, Gillian Road Park and that's about it. So that was her world and the backyard,' Mr Maidment said.

'They effectively controlled every aspect of her life, where she went, who she met, controlled her work and her leisure to the extent that she had any and in every practical sense.'

Kumuthini, who was painted for weeks as the brains behind the atrocity, maintained the woman was a rotten liar.

Shad had smiled and sneered from behind a medical mask for much of the trial.

Last week, barrister Dr Gideon Boas - for Kumuthini - told the jury his client's accuser was 'not a witness of truth'.

Speaking to a federal agent, the victim outlined the allegations in six recorded interviews.

'Shell be drinking hot coffee and then she will just, you know, pour it on my face ... and then she will be grab the gravy and pour it on my head,' the woman said.

'She will say 'curries not nice' and then she will just throw it on me.'

Dr Boas told the jury the federal agents who interviewed his client had believed the alleged victim had been held like the fictional wizard, whom was famously imprisoned under the stairs of his captors in the J.K. Rowling hit books and movies.

'So, no doubt the police had in their minds at this stage they were dealing with somebody like Harry Potter being, you know, held under the stairs or something, right?' he told the jury.

Dr Boas dismissed the woman's claims the slave had been kept confined within the family home for years and insisted she had instead been treated like a beloved member of the family.

When the trial opened in February, Dr Boas made it clear the slave had cooked-up the story to avoid being deported back to India after overstaying her temporary visa.

Dr Boas told the jury his client actually considered the woman as family and referred to her affectionately as 'grandmother'.

He claimed the only crime his client had committed was harbouring the woman after her one-month travel visa had expired.

It was fear of prosecution over the visa violation that not only caused the woman to lie to authorities, but her to lie about her captivity, the court heard.

The jury disagreed.
Illustration showing how the three new species of fossil cloud rats might have looked. Credit:  Velizar Simeonovski, Field Museum.

Rats, by and large, aren't terribly popular animals. But while you don't want an infestation of common black rats living in your house, their distant cousins in the Philippines are downright cuddly. These "giant cloud rats" live in the treetops of misty mountain forests, and they fill an ecological role occupied by squirrels in the US. And, it turns out, we have new evidence that they've been living in the Philippines for a long timescientists have discovered the fossils of three new species of giant cloud rats that lived alongside ancient humans.

"Our previous studies have demonstrated that the Philippines has the greatest concentration of unique species of mammals of any country, most of which are small animals, less than half a pound, that live in the tropical forest," Larry Heaney, the Neguanee Curator of Mammals at Chicago's Field Museum and an author of a study in the Journal of Mammalogy describing the new species. "These recently extinct fossil species not only show that biodiversity was even greater in the very recent past, but that the two that became extinct just a few thousand years ago were giants among rodents, both weighing more than two pounds. Their abrupt disappearance just a few thousand years ago leaves us to wonder if they were big enough that it might have been worthwhile to hunt and eat them."

"We have had evidence of extinct large mammals on the Philippine island of Luzon for a long time, but there has been virtually no information about fossils of smaller-sized mammals. The reason is probably that research had focused on open-air sites where the large fossil mammal faunas were known to have been preserved, rather than the careful sieving of cave deposits that preserve a broader size-range of vertebrates including the teeth and bones of rodents," says Janine Ochoa, an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the University of the PhilippinesDiliman and the study's lead author.

At the outset of the study, Ochoa was examining the fossil assemblages from caves in the Callao limestone formation, where a couple of years ago, scientists discovered the remains of an ancient species of humans, Homo luzonensis. "We were looking at the fossil assemblages associated with that hominin, and we found teeth and fragments of bone that ended up belonging to these new species of cloud rats," says Ochoa.

Photograph of some of the cloud rat fossils. Credit: Lauren Nassef, Field Museum

The fossil fragments discovered by the excavation team in Callao Cave aren't the only traces of the cloud rats, thoughthey were able to add to them some other fossils in the collections of the National Museum of the Philippines. "Some of these fossils were actually excavated decades ago, in the 1970s and 1980s, and they were in the museum, waiting for someone to have time to do a detailed study. When we began to analyze the fossil material, we were expecting fossil records for known living species. To our surprise, we found that we were dealing with not just one but three buot, or giant cloud rat species that were previously unknown," said Marian Reyes, a zooarcheologist at the National Museum of the Philippines, one of the study's authors.

The researchers didn't have a ton of material to work with, thoughjust fifty or so fragments. "Normally, when we're looking at fossil assemblages, we're dealing with thousands and thousands of fragments before you find something rare and really nice," says Ochoa. "It's crazy that in these fifty fragments, we found three new species that haven't been recorded before."

The fragments that the researchers found were mostly teeth, which are covered in a hard enamel substance that makes them hardier than bone. From just a few dozen teeth and bits of bone, though, the researchers were able to put together a picture of what these animals were like in life, thanks to, in Heaney's words, "days and days and days staring through a microscope"

By comparing the fossils to the 18 living species of giant cloud rats, the researchers have a decent idea of what these three new fossil species would have looked like.

Callou Cave site where the fossils were found. Credit: Patricia Cabrera

"The bigger ones would have looked almost like a woodchuck with a squirrel tail," says Heaney. "Cloud rats eat plants, and they've got great big pot bellies that allow them to ferment the plants that they eat, kind of like cows. They have big fluffy or furry tails. They're really quite cute."

The newly recorded fossil species came from Callao Cave, where Homo luzonensis was discovered in 2019, and several adjacent smaller caves in Penablanca, Cagayan Province. Some specimens of all three of the new fossil rodents occurred in the same deep layer in the cave where Homo luzonensis was found, which has been dated at about 67,000 years ago. One of the new fossil rodents is known from only two specimens from that ancient layer, but the other two are represented by specimens from that early date all the way up to about 2000 years ago or later, which means that they were resilient and persistent for at least 60,000 years. "Our records demonstrate that these giant rodents were able to survive the profound climatic changes from the Ice Age to current humid tropics that have impacted the earth over tens of millennia. The question is what might have caused their final extinction?" adds Philip Piper, a coauthor based at the Australian National University.

Two of these giant rodents apparently disappeared about two thousand years ago, or soon after. "That seems significant, because that is roughly the same time that pottery and Neolithic stone tools first appear in the archeological record, and when dogs, domestic pigs, and probably monkeys were introduced to the Philippines, probably from Borneo. While we can't say for certain based on our current information, this implies that humans likely played some role in their extinction," says Armand Mijares, Professor in the Archaeological Studies Program at the University of the PhilippinesDiliman, who headed the excavations of Callao Cave.

"Our discoveries suggest that future studies that look specifically for fossils of small mammals may be very productive, and may tell us a great deal about how environmental changes and human activities have impacted the really exceptionally distinctive biodiversity of the Philippines," according to Ochoa. And such studies may also tell us a lot specifically about the impact of human activities, perhaps specifically including over-hunting, on biodiversity, notes Heaney. "This is something we need to understand if we are going to be effective in preventing extinction in the future."

Explore further Filipinos plan more diggings where new human species found
Following the Supreme Court of India allowed Queen's Counsel and Senior Advocate Harish Salve to recuse himself from amicus curiae for the suo motu case related to the COVID-19 pandemic people on social media have come in the support of the senior advocate. An amicus curiae (literally, "friend of the court"; plural: amici curiae) is someone who is not a party to a case who assists a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Harish Salve had sought permission to recuse himself as amicus curiae, saying his 'friendship with the CJI from school and college were being seen as a conflict of interest'.

People on social media came in support of Senior Advocate Harish Salve. Some asked 'why the heavens have fallen if the Supreme Court of India has appointed Salve who charged only Re 1 to fight the Kulbhushan case', others pointed out to a particular lobby behind this. People on social media also slammed senior advocate Dushyant Dave who had criticised the Supreme Court for allegedly taking over the COVID-19 related cases from the various High Courts of India.

Dave also raised questions on the Supreme Courts decision to appoint Harish Salve as the amicus curiae, stating that he lives in London and does not have an idea of the situation in India. Dave had also outlined that CJI SA Bobde and Harish Salve went to school together and he had been appointed as amicus curiae by CJI Bobde in every third case.

This is what netizens have to say:

Deep rooted jealousy and hate overlooks what is good for the nation. Mr Harish Salve is one of the giants and someone this country needs. Its a sad day when this man is abused and trolled. I hang my head in shame.  Neena Sen (@neena_sen) April 23, 2021

Did u ask this question when he fought for Kulbhushan Jadhav?   N M O L  (@i_am_anmol_p) April 23, 2021

It's indeed a pity that educated people behave this way at such critical times.  ASP (@AlkaPradhan13) April 23, 2021

All these year has Dave done any positive or constructive work???

He is best at doing such petty things all the time.  B Shharma (@shharma_b) April 23, 2021

Harish Salve's Exit From SC's COVID-19 hearing

The recusal comes a day after a bench comprising of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat took up the matter and appointed Salve as the amicus curiae to assist the Court. The decision of the Supreme Court to take cognizance of the issue even as High Courts across the country have issued various directions to combat the mismanagement of the pandemic was heavily criticised by senior members of the legal fraternity.

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to implement a "national plan" related to an oxygen supply, essential drugs and vaccination and issued notice to the Centre. It said six High Courts across India were hearing COVID-related petitions but there was confusion and diversion of resources.

This crucial development comes at a time when India has been reporting over 3 lakh cases every day. It is important to note here that besides SC, many COVID petitions have also been filed in other courts across the country regarding equitable distribution of oxygen, essential medicines, and preparation of a national plan to fight the pandemic.

(Image Credits: ANI/PTI)
New Delhi:

Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stayed the BJP-led central governments decision to pull out Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) troops from Darjeeling until October 27 in response to the West Bengal governments challenge to centres order for forces withdrawal.

The court has also asked the Centre to file an affidavit on the matter by October 23 and told the West Bengal government to submit reply on October 26.

The court will hear the case next on October 27.

West Bengal had earlier moved the High Court asking for the stay on the withdrawal of the forces to maintain law and order in the region.

The central home ministry had on Sunday ordered to pull out ten out of the 15 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) companies deployed in the hills. The home ministry had ordered the withdrawal of as many as 1000 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel including 300 women troopers deployed at Darjeeling hills to maintain law and order during the agitation for separate Gorkhaland state.

In an official communication, the ministry had ordered seven companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), including three women companies, and three companies of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel to be withdrawn from Darjeeling from Monday.

The West Government and Trinamool Congress welcomed the high courts decision.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday had accused the centre of conspiring to destablise the state in a press conference at the state secretariat in Kolkata after an all-party meeting on the Darjeeling situation.

Also read: West Bengal Chief Minister says BJP is allowing the Darjeeling Hills to burn for sake of seat



Banerjee then had told the media that she had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh not to pull out central forces from Darjeeling hills.

Also read| Gorkhaland stir: BJP leaders take shelter in police station after attack in Darjeeling



Agitations for separate Gorkhaland started in June after Banerjee announced her decision to make Bengali compulsory in state-run schools. Gorkhaland supporters had called for indefinite strike in the region which ended after intervention of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh recently.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) chat before a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee nomination hearing for former energy lobbyist David Bernhardt to be Interior secretary on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

Democrat Sen. Manchin Says He Would Endorse GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski

A moderate Democrat senator said he would endorse his GOP Senate colleague, who often breaks from her party on key issues, on Thursday during an interview with Politicos Playbook Deep Dive podcast. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he would endorse GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for reelection, in a heartbeat. Murkowski responded that she would welcome his endorsement.

Ive met a lot of good people in Alaska, they know when theyve got the real deal. And they see the person that basically is bringing both sides together, trying to look for the best interest, Manchin said. People understand they have a person that understands Alaska and has Alaska in her blood and in every part of her veins and every morsel of her body, he added.

Manchin and Murkowski have both supported legislation and issues that went against the trends in their parties.

Manchin has spoken out against Democrats going-it-alone attitude, with his partys call to end the Senate filibustera Senate rule that requires a minimum of 60 votes to pass most bills. The West Virginia senator has criticized President Joe Bidens canceling of the Keystone XL pipeline project, and he does not back D.C. statehood.

Murkowski was one of seven senators in her party to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol. She stood with Democrats to keep the Affordable Care Act during the Trump administration and recently was the only Republican to vote in favor of Bidens Justice Dept. nominee, Vanita Gupta.

The Alaskan senator is seeking her fourth term in 2022, but she will face opposition from within her own party. Former President Donald Trump has vowed to campaign against Murkowski on her home turf.

Great news for the Republican Party! Senator Lisa Murkowski said she is still weighing whether she will run again for the Senate in Alaska. In other words, there is a chance that she wont run! Wouldnt that be great? Trump said in a statement issued via his Save America political action committee.

Murkowski told reporters recently that she is still considering whether to run for reelection. She didnt provide a timeline for when she will make the final decision.

I have been doing everything that a good incumbent does in terms of preserving my options, visiting with Alaskans, spending a lot of time, as much time on the ground as I can, and raising money, Murkowski said, according to Roll Call.

Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka addresses reporters in Anchorage, Alaska, on Sept. 26, 2019. (Mark Thiessen/AP)

Two Republicans have announced their intention to challenge Murkowski: Kelly Tshibaka, the former commissioner of the states Department of Administration, and Bob Lochner, a mechanic who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016.

Meanwhile, Manchin faces his own challenges from Democrats who think he is not progressive enough and is obstructing their legislative agenda.

Founders of the progressive political action committee (PAC) Justice Democrats, which helped elect social-democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), launched a new progressive PAC called No Excuses, in Feb., to raise money for candidates to challenge incumbent Democrats who they think are too conservative for the Democratic Party.

In an email to supporters, left-wing strategist and former Ocasio-Cortez aide Corbin Trent wrote, Now we are launching a new campaign to replace conservative Democrats in the Senate who stand in the way of progress. Its called No Excuses, and we need your help immediately to run ads telling Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema that they will be primaried and replaced in 2024 if they join with Republicans to shrink their own partys pandemic, climate, and economic plans.

Despite the many challenges, Murkowski and Manchin say they feel a sense of responsibility to change what isnt working in the Senate. They both suggested more lawmakers should cultivate friendships and Murkowski praised her friend from the opposing party saying, Youve got somebody like Joe, who is motivated to do what he does for the right reasons and I think thats because he looks at his children and his grandchildren and thinks about their future.
Key equity barometers retraced to the day's low in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded fell below 14,350 level. Selling was triggered by concerns that the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country could derail the economic recovery.

At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 229.48 points or 0.48% at 47,840.07. The Nifty 50 index declined 75.85 points or 0.53% at 14,330.65.

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.33%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1,589 shares rose and 1,284 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on Friday revised down India's FY22 real GDP growth forecast to 10.1%, from earlier projection of 10.4%, citing the second wave of COVID-19 infections and slower pace of vaccination.

Ind-Ra said the impact of the second wave will not be as disruptive as the first one, despite the daily case load touching three times of the first wave's peak, as lockdowns are set to be localised ones.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index slipped 1.07% to 301.9, snapping its two day rising streak. The index rose 1.62% in two days.

DLF (down 2.23%), Brigade Enterprises (down 1.4%), Phoenix Mills (down 1.06%), Godrej Properties (down 0.88%) and Oberoi Realty (down 0.74%) were top losers in realty segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Alembic Pharma fell 0.98%. The drug maker has received final approval from the US drug regulator for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) doxepin hydrochloride capsules USP, 10 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg and 100 mg. The approved ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Sinequan capsules of Pfizer Inc. The drug is is used to treat mental/mood problems such as depression and anxiety. The capsules have an estimated market size of $41 million for twelve months ending December 2020 according to IQVIA.

LT Foods rose 0.56% to Rs 72.05 after the company announced the expansion of its premium rice-based snacks brand "Kari Kari" to Australia and UAE. The company said that its joint venture company with Kameda Seika, Japan's largest Rice Crackers Company, has started exporting Kari Kari in the markets of Australia & UAE.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 74.9850 compared with its previous closing of 74.94.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.051% as compared to its previous close of 6.050%.

MCX Gold futures for 4 June 2021 settlement slipped 0.1% to Rs 47,725.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.34% to 91.015.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2021 settlement rose 15 cents to $65.55 a barrel. The contract rose 0.12% to settle at $65.4 in the previous trading session.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kiichiro Tomoda and his colleagues use stem cells to generate synthetic mouse embryos containing the three fundamental cell types normally found in pre-implantation embryos. Credit: Gladstone Institutes

In their effort to understand the very earliest stages of life and how they can go wrong, scientists are confronted with ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryos. The use of animal embryos is also subject to restrictions rooted in ethical considerations. To overcome these limitations, scientists have been trying to recreate early embryos using stem cells.

One of the challenges in creating these so-called synthetic embryos is to generate all the cell types normally found in a young embryo before it implants into the wall of the uterus. Some of these cells eventually give rise to the placenta. Others become the amniotic sac in which the fetus grows. Both the placenta and the amniotic sac are crucial for the survival of the fetus, and defects in these embryo components are major causes of early pregnancy loss.

A group of scientists from Gladstone Institutes, the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) from Kyoto University, and the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Kobe, Japan, has now demonstrated the presence of precursors of the placenta and the amniotic sac in synthetic embryos they created from mouse stem cells.

"Our findings provide strong evidence that our system is a good model for studying the early, pre-implantation stages of embryo development," says Kiichiro Tomoda, Ph.D., research investigator at the recently opened iPS Cell Research Center at Gladstone and first author of the study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports. "Using this model, we will be able to dissect the molecular events that take place during these early stages, and the signals that the different embryonic cells send to each other."

Ultimately, this knowledge might help scientists develop strategies to decrease infertility due to early embryonic development gone awry.

The new findings could also shed light on a defining property of the earliest embryo cells that has been difficult to capture in the lab: their ability to produce all the cell types found in the embryo and, ultimately, the whole body. Scientists refer to this property as "totipotency."

"Totipotency is a very unique and short-lived property of early embryonic cells," says Cody Kime, Ph.D., an investigator at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research and the study's senior author.

"It has been much harder to harness in the lab than pluripotency," he adds, referring to the ability of some cells to give rise to severalbut not allcell types. "A very exciting prospect of our work is the ability to understand how we can reprogram cells in the lab to achieve totipotency."

Growing the Fundamental Components of Early Embryos in the Lab

To generate synthetic embryos, the scientists started from mouse pluripotent stem cells that normally give rise to the fetus onlynot the placenta or amniotic sac. They can grow these cells, called epiblast stem cells, and multiply them indefinitely in the lab.

In previous work, the team had discovered a combination of nutrients and chemicals that could make epiblast stem cells assemble into small cell structures that closely resemble pre-implantation embryos. In fact, the structures could even reach the implantation stage when transferred into female mice, though they degenerated shortly thereafter.

"This meant that we might successfully reprogram the epiblast cells to revert to an earlier stage, when embryonic cells are totipotent, and provided a clue to how we might generate both the fetus and the tissues that support its implantation," explains Tomoda, who is also a program-specific research center associate professor at CiRA.

To build on that work and better understand the reprogramming process, the scientists needed molecular resolution. In their new study, they turned to single-cell RNA sequencing, a technique that allows scientists to study individual cells based on the genes they turn on or off.

After analyzing thousands of individual cells reprogrammed from epiblast stem cells, and sifting the data through computer-powered analyses, they confirmed that, after 5 days of reprogramming, some cells closely resembled all three precursors of the fetus, the placenta, and the amniotic sac.

Moreover, as they were grown in the lab for a few more days, the three cell types displayed more distinct molecular profiles with striking similarity to real embryonic model cells. This is the same as would be expected during the growth of a normal embryo, when the three tissues acquire distinct physical properties and biological functions.

"Our single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis confirms the emergence in our synthetic embryo system of the cell types that lead to the three fundamental components of an early mammalian embryo," says Kime. "In addition, it unveils in amazing detail the genes and biological pathways involved in the development of these precursors and their maturation into specific tissues."

This knowledge provides a comprehensive backdrop against which to understand the mechanisms of early embryo development and the possible causes of its failure.

For now, the scientists plan to work on ways to increase the efficiency of their reprogramming process, so as to reliably produce large amounts of pre-implantation-like synthetic embryos for further studies. This would allow them to carry out experiments that were up to now unthinkable, such as large-scale screens for gene mutations that disrupt early embryos. And it may shed light on the causes of pregnancy loss due to early embryo failure.

They also want to better understand the molecular steps involved in reprogramming. In particular, they plan to look earlier than 5 days into the reprogramming process, with the hope of pinpointing truly totipotent cells at the origin of their synthetic embryos.

"The discovery that we could reprogram cells to adopt earlier, more pluripotent states revolutionized developmental biology 15 years ago," says Tomoda, referring to the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells by his and Kime's mentor, Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka.

"In the last few years, the field of synthetic embryology utilizing stem cells has seen a true explosion," he says. "Our method of generating synthetic embryos is simpler than others, and quite efficient. We think it will be a great resource for many labs."

Explore further Research gives new insight into formation of the human embryo

More information: Kiichiro Tomoda et al, Reprogramming epiblast stem cells into pre-implantation blastocyst cell-like cells, Stem Cell Reports (2021). Journal information: Stem Cell Reports Kiichiro Tomoda et al, Reprogramming epiblast stem cells into pre-implantation blastocyst cell-like cells,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.03.016
A new study by researchers from Nagoya University revealed that preoperative sarcopenia and exercise intolerance are associated with higher risks of medium-to-long-term mortality in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Credit: Shinya Tanaka and Naoki Ozeki from Nagoya University

Lung cancer is a major global cause of mortality, reportedly accounting for 1.7 million deaths each year. The most common form of lung cancer is non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and early-stage NSCLCs can often be surgically resected. Unfortunately, some patients still experience poor outcomes after surgical resection, prompting further research on the relationship between a patient's preoperative status and the likelihood of good postoperative outcomes.

Given this need for information, Dr. Shinya Tanaka from the Department of Rehabilitation and Prof. Naoki Ozeki from the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nagoya University, and their colleagues decided to investigate. Previous studies had identified some risk factors for mortality after NSCLC resection, including sarcopenia, which is defined as the progressive loss of muscle mass and strength and predominantly occurs in older individuals. Another known risk factor for unfavorable postoperative outcomes is poor physical performance as measured with the six-minute walking distance (6MWD) test, which involves measuring how far a patient can walk on a corridor in the span of six minutes.

To Dr. Tanaka and Prof. Ozeki, these past findings clearly pointed to "the importance of comprehensively assessing a patient's preoperative physical state in order to determine his or her risks of poor outcomes." However, no previous study of postoperative outcomes in patients with NSCLC had considered both sarcopenia and physical performance. Dr. Tanaka, Prof. Ozeki, and their colleagues therefore decided to conduct a study that addressed this gap in research. Their findings appear in a paper recently published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.

The researchers analyzed data from 587 patients with NSCLC who underwent resection surgeries at Nagoya University Hospital between 2014 and 2017. They focused their analyses on determining how preoperative sarcopenia and exercise intolerance (defined as the inability to walk further than 400 meters on the 6MWD) influenced a patient's risk of mortality during the postoperative follow-up period, which lasted for 3.1 years on average.

The researchers' analyses showed that patients with preoperative sarcopenia had a 1.78-fold higher likelihood of death during follow-up than their peers without preoperative sarcopenia and exercise intolerance. Furthermore, patients with preoperative exercise intolerance had a 2.26-fold higher risk of death than patients without preoperative sarcopenia and exercise intolerance. However, the strongest effects emerged when sarcopenia and exercise intolerance coincided: patients who had preoperative sarcopenia and preoperative exercise intolerance had a 3.38-fold higher likelihood of death than patients who were free of sarcopenia and exercise intolerance prior to surgery.

These findings have important implications for the preoperative assessment of patients with NSCLC. In short, when oncologists are attempting to predict postresection prognoses, they should comprehensively consider a patient's physical status because variables like sarcopenia and exercise intolerance interact with each other to increase a patient's risk of mortality.

Dr. Tanaka and Prof. Ozeki hope that their findings "may contribute to the establishment of intervention methods to improve the prognoses of patients with NSCLC." More broadly, they hope that "more people will realize the importance of nutrition and exercise and try to lead healthier lives."

Explore further Pumping iron could save your life

More information: Shinya Tanaka et al. Preoperative paraspinous muscle sarcopenia and physical performance as prognostic indicators in nonsmallcell lung cancer, Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (2021). Shinya Tanaka et al. Preoperative paraspinous muscle sarcopenia and physical performance as prognostic indicators in nonsmallcell lung cancer,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.12691
The Market Report with Katie Pilbeam FTSE 100 edged lower even though the widely followed Gfk retail survey showed an improvement in March with consumer confidence also improving. The blue-chip index shed 11 to 6,927.

Britains borrowing in March hit a new record of 28bn as the government continued to support the economy through the pandemic. Total borrowing so far this financial year is now 303bn or 250bn higher than twelve months ago.

Joe Biden, meanwhile, is looking to sort the US s growing debt by taxing the rich. Wealthy Americans face hikes in the top rate of income tax and on investment gains under proposals unveiled overnight by the US President.

PLC ( ) has agreed on the sale of its First Student and First Transit bus operations to infrastructure investor EQT for US$4.6bn (3.3bn). Shareholders will get a 30p special dividend with the group going forward to be just a UK bus and rail operator.

Among the small caps, ( ) said its HCV test was effective in an independent study evaluating real-world performance in low and middle-income countries. It was trialled on 426 participants in Georgia and Cameroon.

( ) has bought certain assets of Red Globe Press, the academic imprint, for 3.7mln. It specialises in books for higher education students, with over 7,000 titles on the backlist.

s ( ) antimicrobial film will cover seats and handles of buses of a city in Brazil. Over 400,000 passengers will be protected from coronavirus and other bacteria.
One of the countrys largest dredging companies faces new criminal charges for a 2016 oil spill in Barataria Bay, two months after a local equipment operator said the company directed him to cover up evidence and withhold information about the incident.

In charging documents released Thursday, the U.S. attorneys office in New Orleans alleges that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock violated the Clean Water Act when it negligently discharged a large amount of oil into Barataria Bay while working to restore Chenier Ronquille, a Plaquemines Parish barrier island that was itself damaged in 2010 by BPs Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

If convicted, the Houston-based company could be fined as much as $200,000 and face yet-to-be-determined penalties related to cleanup costs, pipeline replacement and environmental damage.

Great Lakes blamed the spill on the equipment operator who it said was performing unauthorized work.

"The accident, five years ago, was caused by a subcontractor performing work [Great Lakes] did not authorize," the company said in a statement Friday. "Since the incident in 2016, [Great Lakes] has cooperated fully with all relevant regulators and officials, and the company remains committed to operating efficiently, responsibly and in the publics interest."

The oil spill and criminal charges underscore the difficulty that Louisiana faces in working to restore a coast crisscrossed with thousands of miles of oil and gas pipelines, which themselves are blamed in part for decades of coastal erosion.

On Sept. 5, 2016, the operator of an excavator marsh buggy hired by Great Lakes ruptured an underground oil pipeline owned by Arrowhead Coast Pipeline, releasing an estimated 5,250 gallons of oil into Bay Long on the south edge of Barataria Bay. The U.S. Coast Guard said at the time that more than 20 boats, eight skimmers and 10,000 feet of boom were deployed to contain the spill. At least 200 birds were oiled before a large share of the oil was recovered, Coast Guard officials said.

The marsh buggy operator, James Tassin of Harvey, was charged with Clean Water Act violations in January. Tassin agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges in exchange for cooperating in the larger case against Great Lakes, said his attorney, Anthony Staines.

Tassin, who worked for Great Lakes subcontractor Shallow Water Equipment Co. of Morgan City, asserts that Great Lakes had directed him to dig a channel - not authorized by government regulators - near the pipeline. Tassin thinks digging the channel might have exposed the pipeline or compromised its buffer of sediment, allowing the buggys tread or heavy weight to damage the pipeline.

Great Lakes' site manager ordered Tassin to cover the channel so the work wouldnt be visible and instructed him to not tell anyone about digging in an unauthorized area, Staines said.

Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

The $36 million restoration of Chenier Ronquille Island was led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and partly funded with money BP spent on damages for the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

In 2016, shortly after the pipeline spill, Arrowhead and Harvest Pipeline Co., which operated the pipeline, sued the islands entire restoration team: Great Lakes, Tassin, Shallow Water Equipment and the government. They accused the restoration team of failing to give proper notice of the work, ignoring their warnings and site markings and not taking precautions to avoid a spill. The lawsuit remains unresolved.

A 2013 environmental assessment prepared for the restoration project warned of oil and natural gas infrastructure on and around the work sites. "Oil and gas pipelines lay throughout the proposed project vicinity as active or remnant conveyance of this industry," it said.

Great Lakes, which recently moved its corporate headquarters from Oak Brook, Illinois, to Houston, has been involved in several restoration projects on Louisianas coast. The company frequently uses dredge vessels to dig up offshore sand and pile it on islands and coastal headlands.

The thousands of miles of buried and underwater pipelines that crisscross the coast are a continuing challenge for the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which is carrying out a 50-year, $50 billion plan to restore Louisianas coastal marshes and islands.

This week, U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report showing that federal regulators rarely require pipeline companies to remove unused pipelines and have failed to monitor the integrity of almost 9,000 miles of active pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico.

The coastal authority abandoned plans to rebuild East Timbalier Island after determining that pipelines and other oil and gas infrastructure there had severely damaged the island and made it too expensive and dangerous for restoration work. Almost $20 million had been spent on East Timbaliers recovery before the plans were canceled last year.
The reasons are more than obvious, as airlines are still struggling to recover , although some of them already see the light at the end of the tunnel.Yet airlines themselves arent the only ones that got hit by the global health issue ; airports have been affected too, with new ACI figures revealing that Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the United States is no longer the worlds busiest airport.It is the first time in 22 years when Atlanta loses the top spot, and unsurprisingly, the one that secured the leading position is Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport in China.And its all because Guangzhous decline was smaller than Atlantas, as the ACI data show the number of passengers dropped by just 40.4 percent in the case of the Chinese airport. The number of passengers flying from Atlanta went down by no less than 61.2 percent last year.Overall, Guangzhou had 43.7 million passengers in 2020, while Atlanta came pretty close with 42.9 million. Chengdu secured third place in the charts with 40.7 million passengers after recording a drop of 27.1 percent.The Dallas/Fort Worth airport traffic went down 47.6 percent, but it still managed to grab fourth place with 39.3 million passengers.The airport that was hit the hardest by the global health issue last year is Beijing (PEK), whose number of passengers collapsed from over 100 million to just 34.5 million (down 65.5 percent).Theres also some good news, though. The Hongqiao International Airport in China managed to jump no less than 37 places in the charts, becoming the 9th busiest airport in the world after previously being ranked the 46th.Overall, 7 of the top 10 airports in this analysis are based in China, while the remaining 3 are located in the United States.
Some people will tell you the cover letter you submit with your resume doesnt really matter. Others will tell you that it definitely does. The truth is somewhere in-between: Your cover letter doesnt matter until it does.

What that means is, if your application makes it past the computers keyword search algorithm and into the hands of a human, it ends up there with potentially dozens of other candidates. Those job seekers also are qualified enough to make it past the first round. Only a select few will be interviewed. This is where the cover letter becomes important.

This is your opportunity to make a good impression, so toss out the Microsoft Word template, add your contact information, put your hair up (where applicable) and write something that will get you the interview.

Here are a few tips to help you do it.

1. Grab their attention.

What is the thing that would make you different from the other applicants? Do you speak another language, something that really would help them out in their industry? Did you work for the president of the United States? Is there something about your experience or education that would wow someone in your industry.

That should be in your first paragraph.

2. Include your soft skills.

As a veteran, you arent applying for the job fresh from high school or college. Youve been working as a team and interacting with customers for years. This has taught you skills that arent taught in schools, such as customer service, teamwork, group leadership and management. Thats not something everyone can bring, so be sure to note that you can.

One soft skill veterans easily can boast about that many other entry- or lower-level applicants probably cant is discipline. Consider talking about how military discipline has been instilled in everything you do.

3. Tell them why you want the job.

You dont want the job because youre leaving the military and need money. You dont want it as a steppingstone to another job or career. People hiring for positions are looking for candidates who will hold the job for a long time. They dont want to fill the position again after a year.

You want a chance to work and grow with a company whose mission is in line with your own. You want to work and grow in an organization that lets you use your past experience but also will challenge you with more responsibilities when the time comes.The correct answer will not be only about you, it will be about the company who might hire you.

4. Tell them why youre a strong applicant.

You fit all the requirements for education and experience. You have all the necessary skills. Maybe you even have all the desired skills. You also bring something no one who applied for the job is likely to have. Tell them this makes you a great fit for the job.

Dont tell them youre the only one or that no one else can do what you do. After all, theyre holding potentially dozens of other qualified resumes. So they know better. But it doesnt hurt to let them know you have everything theyre looking for.

5. Include something they cant get from your resume.

Maybe there was something you left off your resume, because it couldnt be explained in a bullet point, or even one line. Maybe you left off a less common program, computer language or other skill that wasnt exactly in the job description. Youre a veteran, so you might have relevant military experience that might interest them.

While you want to let them know you fit the requirements, dont rehash your resume line by line. They already read your education and experience. This is a chance to display the inside knowledge of your industry by mentioning relevant experience or skills that didnt make the resume cut.

6. Edit that letter. Twice.

Theres nothing more disappointing to a human resources professional than having a perfect candidates resume in hand and then reading a cover letter full of spelling, grammatical or usage errors. If theres one area that can get you disqualified in an instant, its here.

While youre reviewing your cover letter for those errors, be sure to make sure your contact info is correct, that the letter is addressed properly and that youre actually sending it to the right person.

7. Cut it down to one page.

A multi-page cover letter is pretty much unheard-of anywhere in the working world. People who have enough relevant work experience and education to fill multiple pages dont have to apply for jobs in their industry at their level.

Even though you may have done some incredible things in the military, very little of that will be relevant to the job, so keep it short and sweet.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 06:10:06|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will provide a key chance to boost the transition towards decarbonization, which should be "just" and leave no one behind, experts at a roundtable linked to Italy's G20 presidency said here on Thursday.

Themed as "Sustainable Recovery for a Green Future," the event was organized by the Institute for International Political Studies -- Italy's national coordinator of the Think20, the G20 body bringing together major think tanks -- and the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. A panel of experts addressed climate change, energy transition and sustainable growth.

"There is an opportunity (to boost decarbonization) associated with the recovery, because after any kind of crisis there is always a need for reallocation of capital and labor," said Luiz De Mello from the Economic Department of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In a well-planned recovery, countries could "afford to shift economic and financial resources from polluting, low-productivity sectors towards greener and high-productivity ones," he said.

The technology factor would be crucial in finding a balance between the strong urge to relaunch economies and the zero-emission target, said Jun Arima, senior policy fellow with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.

"Technology progress is very important in this perspective, and advanced countries should collaborate for developing such technologies as soon as possible and try to disseminate them," Arima said.

"It is true that renewable energies are becoming cheaper, but the resource endowment is different from country to country," said Arima, noting that the European Union has a certain advantage thanks to its interconnected transmission lines.

"But in Asia, for example, the grid connections across countries are not so strong, and the endowment of renewable sources is lower," he said.

Asian Development Bank chief of Energy Sector Group Yongping Zhai said the development needs of each region in the world should be considered.

"We need to ensure that energy transition works for all, making sure no one is left behind," Zhai said in the opening session of the roundtable.

"We need to go for a 'no-regrets' policy, which is good for our generation as well as for the future ones," he said. Enditem
Laddie: The Man Behind The Movies

Rating:

Verdict: Take a seat in the stalls

House Of Cardin

Rating:

Verdict: A perfect fit for fashionistas

Stray

Rating:

Verdict: Turkish delight

With Academy Awards weekend upon us, a timely documentary reaches our screens about Alan Ladd Jr, an astute, visionary producer whose films have secured more than 150 Oscar nominations, and won 50.

Really, his should be a household name among cinephiles, for without him, we might never have heard of Star Wars. Moreover, in an era when men occupied just about every position of power in Hollywood, he alone had the wisdom to routinely promote women.

He was gender-blind, recalls one of the many female studio executives whose careers he ignited. That was a rare virtue in the Seventies and Eighties.

Of course, his is a household name, but only because he shares it with his late father, the star of the classic 1953 western Shane, remembered now for his movies, for the fact that he stood only 5 ft 7 in on a really good day and reputedly had to climb onto a box to kiss his co-stars, and for drinking himself into an early grave.

Sarandon and Davis are pictured above in Thelma and Louise (1991). With Academy Awards weekend upon us, a timely documentary reaches our screens about Alan Ladd Jr, an astute, visionary producer whose films have secured more than 150 Oscar nominations, and won 50

Within the family he is also remembered for being a really poor father. Alan Jr had next to no relationship with him, yet was saddled with the burden of his name, which he feels robbed him of his own identity.

He was a quiet, introspective child who might have turned into a psychological basket case but found refuge from his loneliness in going to the movies 20 or more times a week.

He grew into a laconic, undemonstrative man, yet what could have broken him, instead made him. His movie-going forged an understanding of cinematic story-telling that later served him, and by extension the rest of us, wonderfully well.

It was Laddie who advised director Richard Donner not to kill off Damien at the end of The Omen (1976), yielding one of the most chilling film endings of all time.

And it was Laddie who recommended the opposite ending for Thelma And Louise (1991). They had to die, he said, but why not in freeze-frame, with their car in mid-air?

Laddie and his daddy are pictured above. He was a quiet, introspective child who might have turned into a psychological basket case but found refuge from his loneliness in going to the movies 20 or more times a week

The strength of this documentary, directed and narrated by the subjects daughter, Amanda Ladd-Jones, lies in the talking heads she has assembled. George Lucas explains how Laddie light-sabred the studio money men into submission when he needed millions more to complete Star Wars  and when his former employers Twentieth Century Fox declined to distribute Chariots Of Fire in the U.S. (they didnt understand the title, apparently), Laddie, who had just formed The Ladd Company, grabbed the baton.

Mel Brooks also pops up, recalling that the movers and shakers at Columbia Pictures liked his ideas for Young Frankenstein (1974) until he casually told them he wanted to make it in black and white. That was a deal-breaker, but Ladd took it on, remembering the monochrome horror films hed seen as a kid. It was a hit.

Then Brooks came to him with plans for Silent Movie (1976). The first movie you make for me is in black and white, now you want to take sound away, said Ladd. That, too, was a hit.

There is a slight whiff of hagiography about all this, and Ladd-Jones touches only fleetingly, right at the end, on something that could have made it a much better film.

Her father, she says, wasnt all that great a dad himself, being too immersed in his career to give much time to parenting. If the old man, now 83, had been producing, he might have told her to stick that up top, with the stuff about his own father. Still, its good to be reminded of some truly great films, given the worthy but decidedly drab selection fighting it out for this years Best Picture.

It was Laddie who recommended the opposite ending for Thelma And Louise (1991). They had to die, he said, but why not in freeze-frame, with their car in mid-air?

If fashion rather than film is your thing, then take a look at House Of Cardin, an affectionate portrait of the great designer Pierre Cardin, who died in December aged 98. Like Alan Ladd Jr, Cardin, who was himself mentored by Christian Dior, recognised and promoted young talent. Both Jean-Paul Gaultier and Philippe Starck began their careers under his wing, and in his thrall.

Also in common with Laddie, Cardin challenged industry conventions, putting black and male models on the catwalks for the first time, and making a muse of the Japanese model Hiroko Matsumoto. The film is enlightening on his genius as a couturier, but if there is a single reason to watch it then its for a particular glimpse of the brilliant French actress Jeanne Moreau.

Cardin was mostly gay but Moreau set out to seduce him, and succeeded; they had an intense four-year affair. There is a simply glorious clip, decades later, when the ageing Cardin steps up to a podium to give her an award, and recalls them making passionate love, our bodies enlaced, at Venices Hotel Danieli. In the audience, Moreaus face is an absolute picture.

Another intriguing documentary is Stray, inspired by the multitude of stray dogs in Istanbul but following just three of them.

A little fancifully, director Elizabeth Lo punctuates her film with dog-related quotes by Ancient Greek philosophers, but it has lots of quirky, rather wistful charm and one unforgettable image, for some reason held back until the end credits, of a handsome mutt called Zeytin howling along with the muezzins call to prayer.

All three documentaries are available on digital platforms from Monday.
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:
Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP), a subsidiary of Koch Investments Group, announced today it has signed an agreement for a strategic minority equity investment in Mavenir (the Company). Affiliates of Siris Capital Group, LLC (Siris), a leading technology focused private equity firm, will remain majority equity holders.

Mavenir is the only U.S. based provider of end-to-end, cloud-native software to meet the growing demand for 5G digital transformation by communication service providers (CSPs) and enterprises.

KSP, which focuses on growth equity through four thematic sectorscomputing and connectivity, industrial automation, energy transformation, and health careis a natural partner for Mavenirs 5G transformational efforts. KSP aims to be a partner beyond capital investment by leveraging the resources and capabilities of Koch Industries to accelerate growth for companies in which it invests, as well as identifying new platforms for Koch.

We have built a next-generation software platform that has driven, and will continue to drive, the digital transformation of mission-critical networks. Together with KSP and our service provider customers, we expect to bring innovation and 5G to revolutionize industries such as energy, industrial automation, and health care, said Pardeep Kohli, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mavenir. Not only do we have the only end-to-end, cloud-native, 5G software platform in the world, but we also have strong and extensive relationships with CSPs and proven deployments of our technology around the globe. With 5G here, Mavenir is well positioned to build the future of networks.

We are extremely proud of what Mavenir has achieved to date and excited about partnering with KSP to drive continued innovation, said Hubert de Pesquidoux, Siris Executive Partner and Executive Chairman of Mavenir. The combination of Mavenirs 5G software platform and Koch Industries presence in relevant industry verticals will accelerate the Companys participation in the massive digital transformation opportunity.

David Park, President of KSP, said, Were taking material minority equity positions in innovative, disruptive companies with strong management teams that operate in industries with significant tailwinds. We want to partner with companies that can transform Koch Industries for the future. Mavenir checks all the boxes.

Frank Baker, Co-Founder of Siris, said, We have been anticipating the transformation of mobile networks, and that time has arrived. Mavenir is uniquely positioned to lead the 5G transformation given its investment in disruptive products, like OpenRAN, and extensive relationship with over 250 CSPs. We are excited about the partnership with KSP and the strategic growth opportunities that we will tackle together.

Michael Hulslander, Managing Director at Siris, added, By strengthening Mavenirs balance sheet, this investment allows the Company to accelerate innovation in CSP and enterprise networks. We look forward to partnering with KSP to enhance Mavenirs already exciting trajectory.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Guggenheim Securities, LLC acted as financial advisors to Mavenir. Sidley Austin LLP provided legal counsel to Mavenir and Jones Day LLP provided legal counsel to KSP.

About Mavenir:

Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is focused on transforming the way the world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications Service Providers in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the worlds subscribers. For more information, visit www.mavenir.com

About Koch Strategic Platforms:

With offices in Atlanta and Wichita, KSP desires to be the preferred investment partner of growth focused, strategic companies who are innovating in "new economy" industries. Created in 2020, the KSP team pursues public and private investments with companies where long-term mutual benefit can be realized.

About Koch Industries, Inc.:

Based in Wichita, Kansas, Koch Industries, Inc. is one of the largest private companies in America, with estimated annual revenues as high as $115 billion, according to Forbes. It owns a diverse group of companies involved in refining, chemicals, and biofuels; forest and consumer products; fertilizers; polymers and fibers; process and pollution control systems; electronics, software and data analytics; minerals; glass; automotive components; ranching; commodity trading; and investments. Since 2003, Koch companies have invested nearly $133 billion in growth and improvements. For more news and information, visit www.KOCHind.com.

About Siris:

Siris is a leading private equity firm that invests primarily in technology companies with mission-critical products and services. Siris development of proprietary research to identify opportunities and its extensive collaboration with its Executive Partners are integral to its approach. Siris Executive Partners are experienced senior operating executives that actively participate in key aspects of the transaction lifecycle to help identify opportunities and drive strategic and operational value. Siris is based in New York and Silicon Valley and has raised nearly $6 billion in cumulative capital commitments. For more information, visit www.siris.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210421005355/en/
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrains highest court, the Cassation Court, yesterday turned down an appeal challenging the verdict issued in an apartment robbery case.

The defendants were given a seven-year jail term on charges of looting the apartment of a woman. With the latest verdict, the defendants, all Asian nationals, had also exhausted all their legal options.

They will have to complete their terms in jail. Court files say the men stole from the womans apartment after a break-in to exact revenge on the woman by the main suspect.

He is accusing the woman of arranging girls for having sex with him in exchange for BD900. However, the woman went back on her promise after taking the money, the man claims.

The other suspects told the court that they were at the place to have sex with the woman, as promised by the main suspect.

They, however, end up stealing two phones and BD1,500 from the apartment. The court also ordered the deportation of the defendants after their jail term expires.
WINONA, Miss. (WTVA) - After a year of job instability, a new company is looking to bring over a hundred jobs to a town in Montgomery County.

The company is Biewer Lumber. It broke ground on Wednesday afternoon preparing to provide 150 jobs for the area.



Biewer Lumber breaks ground on site in Winona. Biewer Lumber breaks ground on site in Winona.

People came out to watch the ground breaking for Biewer Lumber. People came out to watch the ground breaking for Biewer Lumber.

During the ceremony, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley announced the approval of natural gas line expansions for the sawmill.

Being able to get service to this mill is going to help them increase their productivity, lower their cost of doing business," said Presley. "Also were going to be able to help 90 houses and businesses along the route.

The impact on homes and businesses is possible because the approval allowed Atmos Energy to expand its certificate to a four-mile radius, costing nearly $4M.

Biewer Lumber owner, Tim Biewer, said the celebration made things feel a little more real.

Its another opportunity for the Biewer company to grow and our family of companies here," he said. "With all the help from the city and the state to make this all happen, its really special.

Biewer Lumber comes from Michigan.

Biewer said this business opportunity excites him because of the abundance of trees in the area, which makes for excited employees in Mississippi, like Bobby Morgan.

This just shows that Mississippis a really attractive place to do business. Its a really attractive place to have an investment," said Morgan. "Its a wonderful groundbreaking today. I think 150 jobs will mean a lot for this community in the years ahead.

The mill is scheduled to be completed by this December.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the statement runs as follows,

''Each year on April 24 the entire Armenian nation commemorates the victims of the Armenian Genocide that took place at the beginning of the 20th century. Unprecedented in its size, this organized crime targetted, forcefully deported and massacred the Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire. The government of the Young Turks and the subsequent governments that for years had been led by the ideology of pan-Turkism spread the policy of the Armenian Genocide also to the Eastern Armenia.

As a result of these actions, in the period of 1915-2023 1.5 million Armenians were killed, the fates of 100s of thousands were mutilated, an entire nation was deprived of its spiritual, educational, cultural and economic possession. Their right to live in the greater part of their historical homeland was taken away from them.

In 1878 Berlin Congress the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire had assumed a commitment to ensure the security of the population of the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. By planning and implementing the Armenian Genocide, the government of the Young Turks nullified the international security guarantees granted to Armenia and created a precedent of 'solving'' the human rights protection issue by subjecting an entire nation to death penalty.

These acts in the future served as bases for giving definition to the crime of the genocide and were reflected in the ''Prevention and punishment of the Crime of Genocide'' international convention. Anyway, the organizers of the Armenian Genocide never faced international justice.

Leaving the Armenian Genocide unpunished inspires those planning new international crimes. The last war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and the genocidal activities of the Azerbaijani-Turkish alliance during the war showed that the approaches of ''solving' international issues by force have not changed.

The crimes committed against the Armenian of Artsakh once again documented that the Armenian Genocide recognition is important not only in terms of historical justice and truth, but also for the security of the Armenian people.

The goal of the Armenian Genocide was the full extermination of the Armenian people. Thanks to the consolidated efforts of the Armenian people, the assistance to the genocide survivors in various parts of the world and peoples, the Armenian people was able to survive the greatest calamity of its history with dignity.

Today the Armenian people in Armenia and the Diaspora shows its resoluteness to struggle for justice and truth. That struggle once again proves that neither the brute force of the government of the Young Turks, nor the denialism of the subsequent Turkish Governments and the hostile actions against the Armenian people in the region are able to sink the 1st Genocide of the 20th century and its martyrs to oblivion.

That struggle will continue until Turkey finds strength to recognize Armenian Genocide and take measures for the elimination of its consequences'', reads the statement.
Yemen's Houthi movement launched an attack with a drone on an Aramco facility in the southwestern Saudi city of Jizan as well as targeting the King Khalid air base with two drones, the Houthi military spokesman said on Twitter.



Earlier on Friday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two Houthi explosives-laden drones fired at the kingdom's southern region and the city of Khamis Mushait, home to the air base, according to state television.



There was no immediate confirmation of the Jizan attack.



The military coalition led by intervened in against the Iran-aligned Houthis in 2015. The movement has stepped up cross-border drone and missile attacks on Saudi cities.

The coalition says it intercepts the majority of assaults.
Several weeks following the publication of the large real-world Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness study by the Clalit Research Institute in Collaboration with Harvard University in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), additional results focusing on vaccine effectiveness in specific sub-populations have now been published.

While the original publication demonstrated the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine in the general population, outstanding questions remained regarding vaccine effectiveness in specific sub-populations of interest, including the elderly, multi-morbid individuals, and individuals with specific prevalent chronic conditions.

The new study also took place in Israel and evaluated data on approximately 1,400,000 Clalit members, with extended follow-up time compared to the previous study, and additional subpopulations.

The advanced methodologies employed meticulous individual matching techniques to enable an as-clean-as-possible analysis of vaccine effectiveness, comparing vaccinated to unvaccinated (control) individuals. The increased sample size and increased follow up time enabled the assessment of vaccine effectiveness in additional sub-populations, which the original vaccine effectiveness study was unable to assess.

The results of the new study make clear that the vaccine is exceedingly effective, with 96% of symptomatic cases and 95% of severe cases prevented (compared with point estimates of 94% and 92% in the previous study). The results also demonstrate that the vaccine is highly effective across all age ranges, with 92% effectiveness in preventing symptomatic disease in individuals 70 years and older.

It is important to note that vaccine effectiveness in prevention of symptomatic disease is slightly lower amongst the multi-morbid population of all ages (88% effective amongst individuals with three or more chronic illnesses or risk factors).

Specifically, the effectiveness in preventing symptomatic illness varied in patients with different chronic illnesses: the vaccine was highly effective (96% and 93%) in overweight and obese patients, but slightly less effective in immunosuppressed individuals (84%), patients with heart disease (80%), chronic kidney disease (80%) and diabetes (86%). Effectiveness against severe disease was generally higher.

According to Professor Ran Balicer, Chief Innovation Officer for Clalit and Director of the Clalit Research Institute, "This publication is a direct continuation of the large study published in the New England Journal of Medicine several weeks ago.

The updated results based on a larger population with extended follow-up period show that the vaccine is even more effective than previously estimated, preventing 96% of cases and 95% of severe cases of covid-19 in all age groups - a 20 to 25-fold reduction of risk compared to the unvaccinated.

Severe disease is dramatically reduced even among patients with some specific chronic conditions, but as suggested in the original study, this protection is mildly reduced among patients with several co-morbidities.

These results are very encouraging, as they suggest that most COVID-19 cases will be prevented by vaccination even in the elderly and chronically ill, though there should be expected a somewhat higher rate of infection and severe illness in vaccinated individuals with several comorbidities or immune suppression, compared to the healthy fully vaccinated population.

The main conclusions as we see them: The study further supports the immediate need to vaccinate at any eligible age and especially among those suffering from chronic conditions that are most vulnerable to covid-19 compilations if not vaccinated.

But we also note that these chronically ill vaccinated patients should continue to practice caution in circumstances where a significant risk of infection exists, as they still have somewhat higher residual vulnerability after being vaccinated.

We are relieved to note that the risk for such circumstances has been consistently falling in Israel over the last few months, to unprecedented low rates of daily cases - a 50-fold decrease in cases to as low as 10 cases per million per day and less than 1 severe case per million per day - and the numbers are still dropping."
ACC and Ambuja partner to research sustainable solutions

23 April 2021

Indias ACC and Ambuja Cement (LafargeHolcim) has partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) to develop green and sustainable building solutions, according to a press release.



The research will look at the use of low-CO 2 binders, with a combination of alternative reinforcement, as a potential substitute for conventional steel rebar. This would reduce the CO 2 footprint of construction work. The collaborative research study will be financially aided by the LafargeHolcim Innovation Centre (LHIC), focusing on Binder Optimisation for Alternate Reinforcements.



"To accelerate our mission to become a net-zero company, we consistently work towards developing low carbon to carbon-neutral construction solutions in partnership with academia. Collaborating with IIT Madras is a step in that direction," said Neeraj Akhoury, CEO of LafargeHolcim India.

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The heroes of Gallipoli etched on the shores of the Dardanelles as well as in the nations hearts. This memorial opposite Canakkale urges the traveller to stop awhile and remember they tread land which witnessed the end of an era.

Turkey will join the world marking a pivotal moment in its history this weekend, with ceremonies marking the anniversary of the nations military victory at Gallipoli.

The Ottoman Empire was already in decline 105 years ago when allied forces led by troops from Australia and New Zealand landed on the northern shores of the Dardanelles in 1915.

Their mission was simple; to take Turkey out of the First World War by pushing inland along the Gelibolu Peninsula and then marching on to Constantinople  modern-day Istanbul  opening up the Black Sea to the navy and severing Germanys links with a well-resourced ally.

But a campaign that was meant to bring a swift end to the conflict took no account of the tenacity of soldiers fighting for the very survival of their homeland.

The battle descended into a bloody stalemate, with trench warfare every bit as brutal as Flanders fields claiming thousands of lives on both sides.

A famous victory

In the end, the allied forces could take no more punishment and withdrew. The decision allowed Lt Col Mustafa Kemal to claim a famous victory which was to influence his destiny to become the father of the modern Turkish Republic and, later, as its leader Ataturk (father of the Turks).

But it was a costly victory nonetheless  both for the Ottoman forces and for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)  who developed both respect for each other during the fighting and a sense of brotherhood in the years that followed.

But, despite the victory over the worlds most advanced armies at the time, Gallipoli didnt dictate the ultimate outcome of the Great War.

Under Ataturks influence, Turkey chose to surrender when it became increasingly evident that Germanys cause was lost and fighting on would simply further deplete Turkeys resources for no apparent gain.

National pride

Nevertheless, it did invoke a significant sense of national pride and came to represent the stoicism and determination of the Turkish people and helped to underpin Ataturks reputation as the true leader of a country on the brink of a new era.

Dawn ceremonies are now held on 25th April every year all over the world to remember the ANZAC fallen but perhaps the most significant event is held at the battle site itself, where thousands usually gather to honour the dead from all sides.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant ceremonies were more muted than usual in 2020 and its likely to be much the same this year.

But its more than likely that Ataturks own words will be remembered once again  not least because they have come to represent the sense of reconciliation between the nations which fought on both side during the devastating battle:

Those heroes that shed their blood

And lost their lives.

You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.

Therefore rest in peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies

And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side

Here in this country of ours.

You, the mothers,

Who sent their sons from far away countries

Wipe away your tears,

Your sons are now lying in our bosom

And are in peace

After having lost their lives on this land they have

Become our sons as well.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
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Dying coronavirus patients have been left to lie on stretchers outside Indian hospitals as doctors were today forced to turn patients away amid another record-breaking rise in cases and deaths.

Daily infections hit 332,730, up from 314,835 on Thursday when India surpassed a grim record set by the United States in January. Another 2,263 deaths were reported - though the true figure is believed to be up to ten times higher.

Delhi recorded more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.

Doctors in the city of 29 million have no more beds left and police have been deployed around hospitals to prevent oxygen from being looted as infections stand at more than treble their peak last year.

Sky News captured images of dozens of people lying on stretchers outside one overcrowded hospital in the capital. In the minutes of the short live report, at least three dead bodies were seen being wheeled out of the front doors of the medical centre.

But while northern states like Gujurat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing coronavirus infection rates which are more than quadruple what they were in the first wave, others to the south, like Andrha Pradesh, and in the far northeast, like Assam, have not yet experienced a second wave and aren't under lockdown rules.

This suggests that though the overall numbers for India are colossal, they could still climb higher, putting further strain on the country's overwhelmed healthcare system which is running short of basic anti-viral medications.

Britain banned travel from India today amid fears that a new variant is causing the virus to spread faster and hitting young people harder.

The percentage change in daily Covid infections by Indian state today compared to at their peak, most of which were recorded last year. States which have surpassed their peak infection rates by more than 300 per cent include Ladakh in the far north, Gujurat and Rajsthan in the west, Uttar Pradesh in the northeast and Chhattisgarh in the central eastern part of the country. Andra Pradesh in the east and the cluster of states in the far northeast of the country remain below their peaks of the first wave, suggesting that they may yet have another wave to live through

Patients lie on stretchers outside a hospital in Delhi during a live TV broadcast. Sky TV said during its report that they saw dozens of dead bodies being wheeled out of the hospital while they were there, while others wait with oxygen tanks rigged up beside outdoor stretchers for those who are unable to get inside

People stand in a queue to refill oxygen in cylinders in Delhi on Friday. Police have been deployed at hospitals in the city to prevent oxygen from being looted as people are prepared to pay thousands of rupees to fill up cylinders

A patient, wearing an oxygen mask, sits outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India's largest facilities for coronavirus disease, in Delhi today

Relatives carry the body of a man who died from coronavirus during his funeral in Delhi on Friday

Bodies of Covid victims are burned in funeral pyres at a cremation ground in Mumbai on Friday

A fire in a hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai treating Covid 19 patients killed 13 people on Friday, the latest accident in the overcrowded health system. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it 'tragic,' approving payouts for the victims' relatives (pictured: the ICU ward of the hospital is inspected after the blaze)

The burnt out inside of the intensive care ward at the hospital, which is just north of Mumbai, the latest accident in the country's overwhelmed hospitals amid a colossal second wave of Covid. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26.

Daily infections hit 332,730 on Friday, up from 314,835 the previous day when India set a new record, surpassing one set by the United States in January of 297,430 new cases

The daily death toll also jumped to a record 2,263, though these fatalities could be at least ten times under-reported amid a second wave more than three times the size of the first. Delhi reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began

Health workers shift a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh hospital in Virar, near Mumbai on Friday

Worshippers offer Friday prayers at a mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Amritsar in Punjab, northern India

Prof James Naismith, of the University of Oxford, told MailOnline: 'What is happening in India is stark illustration of the havoc that rapid spread of the virus does; healthcare overwhelmed and vulnerable people suffocating to death in ambulances waiting for help.

'This might be an appropriate point for those who so blithely advocated ending the UK lockdown in the autumn and winter to reconsider their analysis.

'The UK has avoided the fate that has befallen India (and many other countries who we do not see on our TV) because of the action of our governments and every one of us who wore a mask, distanced, washed our hands and isolated when sick. Vaccination now means that we will not ever see such scenes from Covid-19 here.'

It comes as a fire broke out at a packed hospital outside Mumbai on Friday, leaving 13 people dead.

Narendra Modi called it 'tragic' as he approved payouts for the victims' relatives, but the PM faces growing criticism for staging election rallies despite hospitals running out of beds and oxygen tankers being escorted by armed guards.

On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a previous hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26.

As well as a lack of oxygen and even basic medicines, free beds have become scarce, with major hospitals putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police being deployed to secure oxygen supplies.

Atul Gogia, a front line doctor in Delhi, told Radio 4 this morning: 'It's really, really very hectic, both physically mentally emotionally, it's a challenging day. Everything is full we are over-pressed, staff is catching the disease so we are short of staff as well.

'We do have oxygen but it's now on a day to day basis. We got some oxygen last night, so we have some oxygen now.

'There is such a huge surge we do not have places in the emergency room. We do not have enough oxygen points, patients are coming in with their own oxygen, others without, we want to help them but there are not enough beds or oxygen points, and not enough oxygen to supply them even if they are were.'

Saswati Sinha, an intensive care doctor in Kolkota, said the situation in the city was similar to Delhi, though perhaps lagging around two weeks behind.

'But we are already overwhelmed,' he told the BBC. 'All of our wards, all of our critical care beds are already at capacity.

'We are getting direct calls from our patients, from our friends, from our neighbours, pleading with us to make some space for their next of kin.

'In 20 years of working in intensive care I have never seen anything like this in the past. It is completely emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting.'

Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in northern and western India, posted an appeal on Twitter on Friday for emergency supplies of oxygen at its facility in Delhi.

'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi ... till oxygen supplies stabilise,' the company said.

Similar desperate calls from hospitals and ordinary people have been posted on social media for days this week across the country.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it was now as if there was no social safety net for Indians.

'Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones. This is hard to watch,' he said.

A policeman inspects a burnt-out room at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai

Health workers attend patient at a Covid-19 centre in Mumbai, India, on Thursday

The burnt out hospital in Virar, north of Mumbai, after a fire killed 13 Covid patients, in the latest accident in the country's overcrowded hospitals

A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease is evacuated from the hospital after it caught fire in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai

A man carries an oxygen tank as health workers move a suspected COVID-19 patient outside the Vijay Vallabh Covid care hospital in the aftermath of a fire, in Virar West, on the outskirts of Mumbai

In Delhi, people losing loved ones are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations because funeral services have been swamped.

Amid the despair, recriminations have begun.

Health experts say India became complacent in the winter - when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control - and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings.

'Indians let down their collective guard. Instead of being bombarded with messages exhorting us to be vigilant, we heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris,' wrote Zarir F Udwadia, a pulmonologist and a member of the Maharashtra state government's task force, in the Times of India.

Modi's government ordered an extensive lockdown last year in the early stages of the pandemic.

But it has been wary of the economic costs and upheaval to the lives of legions of migrant workers and day labourers of a reimposition of sweeping restrictions.

New more infectious variants of the virus, in particular a 'double mutant' variant that originated in India, may have helped accelerate the surge, experts said.

Canada has banned flights from India, joining Britain, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and New Zealand in blocking arrivals.

A man walks past burning funeral pyres of people, who died due to the coronavirus disease at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India, on Thursday

A mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease is seen at a crematorium ground in Delhi yesterday evening

A body lies on a gurney as funeral pyres burn at a mass cremation ground in Delhi on Wednesday evening

Britain said it found 55 more cases of the Indian variant, known as B.1.617, in its latest weekly figure, taking the total of confirmed and probable cases of the variant there to 132.

India, a major producer of vaccines, has begun a vaccination campaign but only a tiny fraction of the population has received a shot.

Authorities have announced vaccines will be available to anyone over 18 from May 1, but experts say there will not be enough for the 600million people who will become eligible.

'It is tragic, the mismanagement. For a country known to be the pharmacy of the world, to have less than 1.5% of the population vaccinated is a failure difficult to fathom,' Kaushik Basu, a professor at Cornell University and a former economic adviser to the Indian government, said on Twitter.

INDIA'S GROWING OXYGEN PROBLEMS Are hospitals running out of oxygen? The main problem is that medical oxygen is not reaching hospital beds in time. This delay is a product of where production units are located, a stretched distribution network, and what critics have said is bad planning. Several hospitals in Delhi, which has no significant oxygen production capacity, made frantic public calls this week seeking emergency supplies. With COVID-19 cases also swamping its neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, oxygen facilities there are over-stretched attempting to meet local demand. To fulfill Delhi's current needs, additional medical oxygen now has to be trucked in from industrial zones in eastern India. Why are oxygen deliveries getting delayed? The facilities from where Delhi will now receive oxygen are spread across seven states, some more than 625 miles (1,000km) away, according to a court document. Given the hazardous nature of the substance, all liquid oxygen must be transported in a limited number of specialised tankers, requiring advance planning to ensure deliveries are made on time, a gas industry source told Reuters. In recent days, as a scramble for oxygen among states worsened, local officials in some regions disrupted movement of tankers in a bid to keep supplies for themselves. In part due to such blockades, Delhi only received about 177 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday against its allocation of 378 tonnes, an official said. But the industry source said that Delhi had also dragged its feet on planning ahead, without factoring in the time it takes to move oxygen cross-country by road. "This problem wouldn't have happened if they had acted 2-3 weeks ago," the source said. Delhi's government did not respond to questions about the planning. Does India have enough oxygen? India has a daily production capacity of at least 7,100 tonnes of oxygen, including for industrial use, which appears to be enough to meet current demand. This week, the government allocated 6,822 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day to 20 of the country's worst-affected states, compared to their combined demand of 6,785 tonnes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said on Thursday. India's total medical oxygen demand was just 3,842 tonnes as of April 12, as the surge in cases really took hold. States are typically allocated supplies by an inter-ministerial group of bureaucrats mandated to monitor and facilitate the flow of essential medical kit during the pandemic. Modi's office has noted that the availability of liquid medical oxygen had increased by about 3,300 tonnes in the past few days, with steel plants and other industrial units diverting their production. What is India doing to solve the crisis? The federal government has activated the Indian railways to move multiple tankers from refilling plants to where it is most needed. Working with industrial gas major Linde India and others, the government is also using the Air Force's cargo planes to fly empty tankers to production hubs. Refilled oxygen tankers will then move back by road. The armed forces are importing 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany. Several other industries are offering oxygen to hospitals, while salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is importing 24 specialised containers to transport liquid oxygen. The government has issued orders to convert argon and nitrogen tankers into oxygen ones. But as some experts predict a trebling of daily infections in a few weeks, India will have to dramatically ramp up both oxygen production and distribution systems. Advertisement
The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the public to show 'forgiveness and compassion' to politicians amid growing sleaze allegations.

Justin Welby agreed it was wrong to 'help out your chums or lobby inappropriately'.

But he insisted moral standards are much higher in Westminster than they used to be.

It comes as a series of investigations have been launched into the role David Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Lex Greensill, whose firm Greensill Capital collapsed earlier this year, putting thousands of jobs at risk, particularly in the steel sector.

Justin Welby agreed it was wrong to 'help out your chums or lobby inappropriately'

It comes as a series of investigations have been launched into the role David Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Lex Greensill, whose firm Greensill Capital collapsed earlier this year, putting thousands of jobs at risk, particularly in the steel sector

The Archbishop, a former oil company executive, said: 'If you're going to raise standards, you need to have a strong ethic of forgiveness and compassion and understanding.

'We have raised our standards and raised our standards and of course it's not right to help out your chums or lobby inappropriately or whatever it happens to be. But the standards now are at a level that no 19th-century politician would have survived for one week.'

He told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast: 'So, it's not that morality has disappeared, it's that morality has got much more sting and bite than it ever used to.' He added: 'Let's not pretend that politicians are worse  if anything, they're better.'

The Archbishop said: 'If we want perfect politicians we won't have anyone sitting in the House of Commons.'

A series of investigations have been launched into the role Mr Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Lex Greensill (right). it emerged Mr Cameron sent text messages to the Chancellor (left) as he sought to gain access to Government-backed coronavirus loans.

Mr Cameron sent text messages to Chancellor Rishi Sunak as he sought to gain access to Government-backed coronavirus loans for his employer Greensill.

The Prime Minister has asked lawyer Nigel Boardman to investigate after it emerged that former government procurement chief Bill Crothers worked as an adviser for Greensill Capital while in his Whitehall job.

Greensill, which collapsed in March, also employed Mr Cameron, who lobbied ministers on behalf of the firm. He was cleared of any rule breaking earlier this month. The cross-party panel of MPs also want to question Mr Greensill.

The Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority and UK Government Investments also faced questions in the probe into the failure of Greensill and its attempts to lobby the Government.
Turkey furiously rejects the mass killings of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 as genocide, although it does acknowledge many were massacred.

With US President Joe Biden expected to formally recognise it as genocide on Sunday we look at how other countries have handled the painful issue.

 Genocide or massacres? 

It is estimated that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed during World War I by Ottoman troops or irregulars.

Turkey  which emerged from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1920  admits that 300,000 Armenians may have died in civil war and famine.

But it denies there was genocide.

Large numbers of Armenians had already been massacred between 1894 and 1896 under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, with some saying as many as 300,000 died.

Turkey says the Armenians collaborated with the Russian enemy during World War I, and that tens of thousands of Turks were killed at their hands.

On April 24, 1915 thousands of Armenians suspected of being hostile to Ottoman rule were rounded up.

The Armenian population of Anatolia and Cilicia was then deported into the Mesopotamian desert for reasons of internal security.

A large number died on the way or in detention camps. Many were shot, burned alive, drowned, poisoned or fell victim to disease, according to foreign diplomats and intelligence services at the time.

Turkeys defeat in the war led to the creation of a short-lived independent Armenian state in 1918.

 Growing recognition 

Armenians have long sought international recognition of the events as genocide, defined in a 1948 UN convention as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

In 1965 Uruguay became the first country to do so. The European Parliament recognised the killings as genocide in 1987 and France was the first major European country to apply the term in 2001.

Parliaments in nearly 30 countries have since passed laws, resolutions or motions recognising genocide.

In some cases, however, only one chamber has passed a vote or it has been defined as non-binding, allowing the government to keep some distance.

These include Russia, Germany, Brazil, Sweden, Argentina, Austria, Lebanon and The Netherlands.

Some countries go even further and punish genocide denial, such as Cyprus, Slovakia and Switzerland.

However, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2015 that Switzerlands 2007 conviction of a Turkish politician for calling the genocide a great international lie was an infringement of the right to free speech.

 Pope speaks out 

On the 100th anniversary of the killings in 2015, Pope Francis described them as the first genocide of the 20th century.

He was the first pontiff to speak out so clearly on the issue.

Germanys lower house recognised the killings as genocide a year later, although the government said the vote was not legally binding.

In February 2021 the Dutch parliament passed a motion urging the government to recognise the killings as genocide.

 Biden urged to be bold 

In 2019 the US Congress recognised the killings as genocide in a symbolic vote.

Former president Barack Obama had promised recognition but never did for fear of alienating Turkey, NATOs second largest military power after the US.

Shortly after his arrival in the White House, more than 100 Congress members pressed Joe Biden to make good on a campaign promise to formally recognise the genocide.

burs-eab/jmy/fg/wdb
Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Chris Boyle Published: April 23 2021

In response to information received from the community, a narcotics investigation was launched into at Channel Daycare by SCPD.

Suffolk County Police have arrested four people following a narcotics investigation into a residence that also serves as a daycare in Bay Shore and a second residence in Brentwood.

In response to information received from the community, a narcotics investigation into activity at Channel Daycare, located at 206 Delaware Ave., was initiated by the Suffolk County Police Third Squad Special Operations Team, in conjunction with the Long Island Heroin Task Force, the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office, and Criminal Intelligence Section detectives. The investigation revealed narcotics were being dealt out of the residence. A search warrant was executed at Channel Daycare at approximately 5:30 a.m. and detectives seized two loaded 9mm handguns with extended magazines, ammunition, approximately 600 grams of cocaine, 60 grams of fentanyl, packaging materials consistent with narcotic drug sales, and more than $173,000.

The day care owner, Magodeiry Landron, 50, of 206 Delaware Ave., was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia 2nd Degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Her son, Rafael Landron, 34, also a resident of the home, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, three counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia 2nd Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. A child related to both individuals was in the house at the time the warrant was executed and was released into the custody of a family member.

A short time later, detectives executed a second search warrant at the home of Magodeiry Landrons son, Anthony Dominguez, located at 4 Arbell Drive in Brentwood, and seized an additional $66,000, a 9 mm Glock with two extended magazines and ammunition. Dominguez, 29, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. His girlfriend, Crystal Rivera, 30, a resident of the home, was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Firearm, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Two children, who live in the residence, were released into the custody of family.

The Suffolk County Police Emergency Service and Canine Sections were on scene during the execution of both warrants. The New York State Office of Children and Family Services and Suffolk County Child Protective Services were both notified.

Magodeiry Landron and Rivera are being held overnight at the Fourth Precinct. Rafael Landron and Dominguez are being held overnight at the Third Precinct. All four are scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on April 18.
YEREVAN.  A criminal caseon charges of hooliganismhas been initiated in connection with the protests that took place Thursday outside the building of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia. This was reported to Armenian News-NEWS.am by the Police information department.

Fourteen people were apprehended Thursday from those staging a protest in front of the Prosecutor General's Officeand in defense of the Syunik Province residents who were detained.

Before that, there were clashes between police and protesters, which was preceded by the demonstrators throwing eggs at the building of the General Prosecutor's Office.
A Canadian chip designer is planning a 3billion float in London, which is a major vote of confidence in the Square Mile as a destination for technology firms.

Paying tribute to rivals such as Arm and Imagination Technologies, Alphawave IP said it chose the City because of the UKs incredible technology and semiconductor industry.

The firm is jointly headquartered in London and Toronto and is planning a research and development base in Cambridge, adding to the growing cluster of firms that have led the area to be dubbed Silicon Fen.

Tech triumph: Canadian chip designer Alphawave IP is planning a 3bn float in London

The decision represents a significant boost to Britains hopes of attracting more listings by leading tech companies after Brexit.

These ambitions were dealt a blow when Deliveroos float flopped  but they have been boosted more recently by the drama-free debut of savings app Pensionbee and the decision by cyber security firm Darktrace to press ahead with its own float.

Alphawave yesterday outlined its own plans to list in London. Backers, which include fund giants Blackrock and Janus Henderson, have pledged to buy shares worth 369million as part of the float, valuing the firm at 3.2billion.

The company creates designs for the high-end computer chips used to power infrastructure such as data centres, computers training artificial intelligence and antennae for 5G mobile networks.

It was founded by industry veterans Tony Pialis, Jonathan Rogers, Raj Mahadevan and John Lofton Holt in 2017 and generated revenues of 23.6million and an operating profit of 12.6million last year.

Industry veterans: Founders Tony Pialis, Jonathan Rogers, Raj Mahadevan and John Lofton Holt

Pialis, Alphawaves chief executive and president, said: We have chosen to come to the UK because of its incredible technology and semiconductor industry ecosystem.

The strong research base in the UK  and our new R&D headquarters in Cambridge  offers an excellent foundation for the next stage of our global growth.

Holt, Alphawaves executive chairman, added that there was a long track record in the UK of investors who understand the value of licensing semiconductor intellectual property. He paid tribute to great British companies Arm and Imagination.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Alphawaves decision to float came at an opportune moment when global demand for computer chips is booming and investors are on the lookout for hot technology stocks.

He said: Silicon chips  or semiconductors  are everywhere we look, from our mobile devices, to our computers, cars, washing machines and fridges.

Whether the proposed Alphawave IP float flies or flops will depend on the price investors are initially asked to pay and whether the company can live up to  or exceed  the expectations set by its price tag.

He also suggested many investors would already be familiar with Alphawaves business model, which is similar to Arms. Until it was sold to Japans Softbank in 2016, Arm was the UKs biggest listed technology firm.

It now being sold to US giant Nvidia for 29billion, but the deal faces scrutiny.
Yves here. Were a bit heavy on foreign policy today, if nothing else to make up for a bit of neglect. But at this post stresses, US policy on migration at its southern border is very much tied up with our interventions in Central America.admittedly with a lag. As this article mentions, theyve made things worse. Even rebuilding physical infrastructure wont change the fundamentals if elite families and gangs still call the shots.

The article focuses on the Costa Rica counterexample. I would love to know the ins and outs of how Costa Rica managed to have solidly left-leaning policies and yet not get the Guatemala-Chile treatment. Was it staying away from government seizure of assets?

By Luis Guillermo Solis, Distinguished Professor, Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University. Originally published at The Conversation

To stem migration from Central America, the Biden administration has a US$4 billion plan to build security and prosperity in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador  home to more than 85% of all Central American migrants who arrived in the U.S. over the last three years.

The U.S. seeks to address the factors pushing people to leave their countries  namely, violence, crime, chronic unemployment and lack of basic services  in a region of gross public corruption.

The Biden plan, which will be partially funded with money diverted from immigration detention and the border wall, is based on a sound analysis of Central Americas dismal socioeconomic conditions. As a former president of Costa Rica, I can attest to the dire situation facing people in neighboring nations.

As a historian of Central America, I also know money alone cannot build a viable democracy.

Failed Efforts

Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador comprise Central Americas Northern Triangle  a poor region with among the worlds highest murder rates.

These countries need education, housing and health systems that work. They need reliable economic structures that can attract foreign investment. And they need inclusive social systems and other crime-prevention strategies that allow people to live without fear.

No such transformation can happen without strong public institutions and politicians committed to the rule of law.

Bidens aid to Central America comes with strict conditions, requiring the leaders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to undertake significant, concrete and verifiable reforms, including with their own money.

But the U.S. has unsuccessfully tried to make change in Central America for decades. Every American president since the 1960s has launched initiatives there.

During the Cold War, the U.S. aimed to counter the spread of communism in the region, sometimes militarily. More recently U.S. aid has focused principally on strengthening democracy, by investing in everything from the judiciary reform and womens education to agriculture and small businesses.

The Obama administration also spent millions on initiatives to fight illegal drugs and weaken the street gangs, called maras, whose brutal control over urban neighborhoods is one reason migrants say they flee.

Such multibillion-dollar efforts have done little to improve the regions dysfunctions.

If anything, Central Americas problems have gotten worse. COVID-19 is raging across the region. Two Category 5 hurricanes hit Honduras within two weeks in late 2020, leaving more than 250,000 homeless.

Some experts have been calling for a mini-Marshall Plan to stabilize Central America, like the U.S. program that rebuilt Europe after World War II.

The Costa Rica Counterpoint

To imagine a way out of Central Americas problems, the history of Costa Rica  a democratic and stable Central American country is illustrative.

Costa Ricas path to success started soon after independence from Spain in 1821.

It developed a coffee economy that tied it early to the developing global capitalist economy. While other Central American countries fought prolonged civil wars, Costa Rica adopted a liberal constitution and invested in public education.

Costa Rican democracy strengthened in the 1940s with a constitutional amendment that established a minimum wage and protected women and children from labor abuses. It also established a national social security system, which today provides health care and pensions to all Costa Ricans.

These reforms triggered civil war. But the wars end brought about positive transformations. In 1948, Costa Rica abolished its military. No spending in defense allows Costa Rica to invest in human development.

The country also created a credible electoral system to ensure the legitimacy of elected governments.

Over the next seven decades, consecutive Costa Rican governments expanded this welfare state, developing a large urban and rural middle class. Already a trusted U.S. ally when the Cold War began, Costa Rica was able to maintain progressive policies of the sort that, in other countries, the American government viewed as suspiciously socialist.

Today, Costa Rica invests nearly 30% of its annual budget in public education, from kindergarten to college. Health care represents around 14.8% of the budget.

The U.S. is not a draw for Costa Ricans. Instead, my country has itself received hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants.

Predatory Elites and Authoritarian Politics

The migrants are fleeing political systems that are broadly repressive and prone to militarism, autocracy and corruption. In large part, thats because many Central American countries are dominated by small yet powerful economic and political elites, many dating back generations.

These elites benefit from the status quo. In the Northern Triangle, they have repeatedly proven unwilling to promote the structural transformations  from more equitable taxation and educational investment to agrarian reforms  that could end centuries of oppression and deprivation.

During the Cold War, they quashed popular revolutions pursuing such changes, often with U.S. support.

Bidens Central America plan requires the active participation of this predatory elite, in the words of Biden adviser Juan Gonzalez.

Gonzales told NPR in March that the administration would take a partnership-based approach in Central America, using both carrots and sticks to push powerful people who may not share the U.S.s goals to help their own people. The U.S. will also enlist local human rights organizations and pro-democracy groups to aid their cause.

Its too early to know if the expected partnerships with Central American leaders will materialize.

The Salvadoran president recently refused to meet with Bidens special envoy to the Northern Triangle. Honduras president is named in a U.S. criminal investigation into his brothers alleged drug-smuggling ring.

Still, without the U.S. resources being offered, Central Americas troubles will persist. Money alone wont solve them  but it is a necessary piece of an enormously complicated puzzle.
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A popular businessman was on Wednesday kidnapped by gunmen who attacked him and his aides in Oke-Onigbin, Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The man, popularly known as Alaga Olayemi, was ambushed by seven gunmen in the evening while returning home from his maize farm in the town.

According to sources in the community, Mr Olayemi was with two aides who escaped the attack with injuries.

Confirming the report, the spokesperson of the police in Kwara, Ajayi Okasanmi, said the police were making efforts to rescue the businessman.

One Alhaji Alaga Olayemi was reportedly kidnapped in his farm at Oke-Onigbin by seven unknown gunmen, intensive effort to rescue him has been activated by the Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Lawal Bagega, he told our correspondent on Friday.

READ ALSO:

Kidnapping for ransom has been on the rise in different parts of the country lately.

Despite several promises by security agencies and government officials to curb the menace, the situation has continued to worsen.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As Canada continues to grapple with a third wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the U.S. government is officially telling citizens to avoid all travel to the country.

Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department added more than 100 new countries, including Canada, to the Do Not Travel list in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Do not travel to Canada due to COVID-19, the U.S. travel advisory reads. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Canada due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country.

The CDC says that all travelers, even those who have been fully vaccinated, should avoid Canada due to the rising rates of the novel coronavirus.

Because of the current situation in Canada even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Canada, according to the CDC guidance.

The new advisory should have fairly minimal impact on Americans travel plans, as non-essential travel to Canada by U.S. residents has been banned since the start of the pandemic. Non-essential travel includes all travel that is recreational or tourism-based in nature, according to the U.S. Embassy.

Essential travel for U.S. citizens is still permitted, but only includes work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security, according to the embassy.

For those continuing to travel to Canada for essential purposes, the CDC advises that they be fully vaccinated and continue to adhere to the basic health and safety protocols that have been in place throughout the pandemic.

If you must travel to Canada, get fully vaccinated before travel. All travelers should wear a mask, stay 6 feet from others, avoid crowds, and wash their hands, according to the CDC.

The addition of Canada to the Do Not Travel list came during the same week that the U.S. and Canada announced that the countries land-border would remain closed to non-essential travel until at least May 21, making it 14 months since non-essential travel has been permitted between the two countries.

To deter the spread of #COVID19 and protect our citizens, the United States is continuing restrictions on non-essential travel at our land borders through May 21, while maintaining the flow of essential trade and travel as we have for over a year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
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Vindicated former postmasters shed tears of joy and opened bottles of champagne outside the Royal Courts of Justice today as 39 men and women had their convictions for stealing money from the Post Office quashed after hundreds were bankrupted, sacked or jailed in one of Britain's biggest miscarriages of justice.

Hundreds of innocent Post Office staff were blamed for losses in branch accounts caused by serious flaws in the Fujitsu-developed Horizon computer system which was in use between 1999 and 2015.

Rather than admit the IT system was defective, the Post Office concealed evidence of the glitches and instead forced its own staff to plead guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed, lawyers representing the 42 who sought to get their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal said.

Many postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting, while others were hounded out of work or forced to pay huge sums of 'missing' money. The scandal blighted their lives, as former staff lost their homes and marriages, and suffered ill health as a result.

One former postmaster, Martin Griffiths, killed himself after he was falsely suspected of stealing 60,000, while some have since died and 'gone to their graves' with convictions against their names.

In a landmark ruling at the Court of Appeal today, Lord Justice Holroyde said the Post Office 'knew there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon' but 'consistently asserted [it] was robust and reliable', and 'effectively steamrolled over any subpostmaster who sought to challenge its accuracy'.

Outside the courts, former postmasters and postmistresses and their friends and families celebrated the historic event. Noel Thomas, who spent nearly a year in jail in 2006 after being accused of stealing from the Post Office in Gaerwen on Anglesey, burst into tears as he was embraced by his daughter Sian.

'It has been a long, long time. It's a big weight off everyone's shoulders really,' he said.

Tom Hedges, who was convicted of theft and false accounting and given a seven-month suspended sentence in 2011, opened a bottle of prosecco and bellowed: 'It's a wonderful afternoon. When I told my mother, who's 93, I was coming to court she said 'get yourself down to Aldi and get some prosecco'. She said: 'Just remember your name is Hedges not Rothschild, so get prosecco, not Bollinger!''

Tracy Felstead, who was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in a young offender institution in 2002, when she was just 19, cried when she heard that her conviction was being overturned.

Ms Felstead, 38, said she was 'over the moon' by the ruling but remains 'angry that it even got this far and they have been allowed to do this'. She added that anyone who 'genuinely knew what was going on and they tried to cover it up' should face criminal prosecution themselves.

For others, the victory was bittersweet. Julian Wilson, who ran a post office in Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, died before his name was cleared. His widow Karen Wilson, 66, said: 'I promised him I would kept on fighting. And today those judges said he was right. I'm not brave but this was such a massive wrong.

'For 13 years I have lived and breathed it. We almost lost everything.' Mr Wilson's daughter, Emma Jones, 47, said: 'This is a bittersweet day for us. Very unjust, very unfair.'

Harjinder Butoy, subpostmaster in Nottingham who was convicted of theft and jailed for three years and four months in 2008, described the Post Office as 'a disgrace' after his conviction was overturned.He said his conviction and imprisonment 'destroyed my life for 14 years - that's not going to be replaced', and said those responsible for the scandal 'need to be punished, seriously punished'.

In a statement after the ruling, Post Office chairman Tim Parker issued a grovelling apology for 'the impact on the lives of these postmasters and their families that was caused by historical failures'.

The Post Office had spent 32million to deny any fault in Horizon before capitulating and has since paid a 58million settlement to 557 postmasters following an acrimonious High Court battle. It now faces a further 2,400 claims under a new compensation scheme.

But lawyers representing the former postmasters claimed the Post Office 'still appears to care little about the people whose lives it has destroyed' and called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce a 'judge-led public inquiry', with the power to summons witnesses, into the prosecutions of postmasters.

The Communication Workers Union called for criminal investigations into senior Post Office figures who 'oversaw the criminalisation of hundreds of postmasters' and called for former CEO Paula Vennells, who is said to have known that Horizon could cause money to appear to be missing, to be stripped of her CBE.

Former post office worker Noel Thomas, who was convicted of false accounting in 2006, celebrates with his daughter Sian outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Former post office worker Janet Skinner (centre), with her niece Hayley Adams (right) and her daughter Toni Sisson, celebrating outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Former post office worker Tom Hedges (centre) pops a bottle champagne in celebration outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Karen Wilson, widow of postmaster Julian Wilson who died in 2016, holds a photograph of her husband outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal

Postmaster Harjinder Butoy outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London after the landmark ruling today

Former Post Office sub-postmasters and supporters gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London

From wrongful imprisonment to strokes and even suicide: How the Horizon IT scandal devastated victims' lives Welsh postmaster jailed for nine months 'fell off the ladder' after conviction - before picking himself up and seeking challenge to Post Office prosecution Noel Thomas was jailed for nine months in 2006 after he was accused of stealing 48,000 Noel Thomas was jailed for nine months in 2006 after he was accused of stealing 48,000 while he was working for the Post Office in Gaerwen on Anglesey. He told the BBC that he admitted to the charge because he never reported discrepancies he noticed, but insisted he did not take the money and blamed the Horizon computer system. 'I want everyone to have their name cleared and to get to the bottom of what has happened and where the money has gone to,' Mr Thomas told BBC Newyddion 9. 'Thirteen years after jail, I must admit it was hard but I gradually got my confidence back through family, friends and work colleagues. 'Yes, I do feel bitter, and not just for myself - the Post Office have been coming and telling people that they have taken money, that they are a thief.' Family of postmaster who killed himself after being wrongly accused of theft demand Post Office bosses are held accountable Martin Griffiths, 59, took his own life in 2013 after he was falsely suspected of stealing money from Post Office Father-of-two Martin Griffiths, 59, took his own life in 2013 after he was falsely suspected of stealing money from a Post Office in Ellesmere Port, where he had worked for around 20 years. Mr Griffiths was one of hundreds of postmasters who were suspected of false accounting and theft, with some fired or wrongfully convicted, after amounts appeared to vanish from their tills. The family of Mr Griffiths said he delved into his own savings and those of his parents to pay back around 60,000 he was wrongly suspected of taking from the branch. The turmoil lasted for four years, between 2009 and 2013, and had a huge impact on the father-of-two's physical and mental health, his family said. In 2013, Mr Griffiths parked his car on the A41 in Ellesmere Port after leaving a note for his loved ones and took his own life. His family have called for a stricter line of review from the Government and asked for a judge-led enquiry to get to the bottom of the injustices behind the scandal. Postmaster caught up in major IT scandal which saw many falsely accused of accounting fraud suffered a STROKE after he was hounded for 65,000 Peter Murray said he suffered a series of breakdowns and a stroke after he was hounded for 65,000 Peter Murray said he suffered a series of breakdowns and a stroke after he was hounded for 65,000. The 53-year-old, from Wallasey in Merseyside, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he was suspended without pay and forced to take out loans and borrow from friends to make monthly repayments to the Post Office. He paid 1,000 a month before learning that he was among many sub-postmasters to face false accusations. 'It left me completely devastated,' added the father of three. 'It caused absolute havoc for my family, I have had several nervous breakdowns. It made me feel like a convict, but I'm not going to let it beat me.' Wife finally clears name of her postmaster husband after he died while still facing false Post Office claim he had stolen 46,000 Marion Holmes, 78, won justice for her late husband, Peter Holmes, who was a respected postmaster in Jesmond, Newcastle, before the Post Office Horizon scandal 'destroyed' his good name Marion Holmes, 78, won justice for her husband, Peter, who was a respected postmaster before the Post Office Horizon scandal 'destroyed' his good name. Ex-police officer Peter Holmes had successfully run a sub Post Office in Jesmond, Newcastle, for 13 years, before his world came crashing down due to issues with the Horizon computer system. When more than 46,000 went missing from his books in 2008, Peter found police at his door and shocking criminal accusations made against him. He was forced to admit four counts of false accounting in order to for prosecutors to drop charges of theft of the money, which could have seen him sent to prison. In fact, Peter was one of a number of people wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office over errors its own system had made. Family of one postmaster said he died a broken man after being forced to clean graves as punishment for a crime he did not commit Julian Wilson (pictured with his wife Karen) was shattered by injustice and exhausted by his attempts to clear his name Julian Wilson was shattered by injustice and exhausted by his attempts to clear his name, they said. He died in 2016, at the age of 67, of bowel cancer. His wife Karen says the disease had it roots in the trauma he endured and the all-consuming campaign for redemption. For years the Post Office had stubbornly insisted its IT systems  called Horizon and designed by a company called Fujitsu  never lied, calling them 'robust'. Last year, following a court case brought by 557 postmasters, Mr Justice Fraser branded Horizon not 'remotely robust'. He added: 'This approach by the Post Office has amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred. 'It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.' Advertisement

Ed Miliband, Labour's shadow business secretary, called for 'a proper inquiry with teeth to get the bottom of how this scandal can have happened and who was responsible - to deliver the justice those impacted need and deserve'.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, also encouraged any former employees to consider challenging their convictions following the ruling.

Mr Johnson said the wrongful convictions of the 39 former Post Office staff were clear evidence of an 'appalling justice' and called for lessons to be learnt to ensure 'this never happens again'.

Speaking on a visit to a farm in Stoney Middleton, Derbyshire, the Prime Minister told reporters said: 'I know the distress many subpostmasters and their families have felt for a very long time now through the Horizon scandal and I'm pleased that we've got the right judgment.

'Our thoughts are very much with the victims and we'll have to make sure that people get properly looked after because it's clear that an appalling justice has been done. Everybody in my profession knows somebody in the Post Office world who has suffered from this and it's very sad what has happened.

'I think the Horizon thing has been really terrible for many families and I'm really glad the judgment has come, in I think, the right way.

'I hope that that will now be some relief for those families and for those people who, I think, have been unfairly penalised and suffered in an appalling miscarriage and we've got to make sure we look after them.'

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the Post Office 'must continue to reform' after the Court of Appeal's ruling.

He tweeted: 'The court's decision to overturn 39 postmasters' convictions is welcome and marks another milestone for those affected by the Horizon IT scandal.

'The tragic impact this has had on postmasters and their families cannot be overstated. The Post Office must continue to reform.'

In a statement Mr Parker said: 'The Post Office is extremely sorry for the impact on the lives of these postmasters and their families that was caused by historical failures.

'Post Office stopped prosecutions soon after its separation from Royal Mail a decade ago and has throughout this appeals process supported the overturning of the vast majority of convictions.

'We are contacting other postmasters and Post Office workers with criminal convictions from past private Post Office prosecutions that may be affected, to assist them to appeal should they wish.

'Post Office continues to reform its operations and culture to ensure such events can never happen again.'

Nick Read, Post Office chief executive, said: 'The quashing of historical convictions is a vital milestone in fully and properly addressing the past as I work to put right these wrongs as swiftly as possible, and there must be compensation that reflects what has happened.'

In a statement, Helen Pitcher, chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - which referred the 42 subpostmasters' convictions to the Court of Appeal - said: 'This has been a serious miscarriage of justice which has had a devastating impact on these victims and their families.

'Every single one of these convictions has clearly had a profound and life-changing impact for those involved.

'Six convictions had already been quashed which had been referred to Southwark Crown Court.

'The Post Office has rightly acknowledged the failures that led to these cases and conceded that the prosecutions were an abuse of process.

'We sincerely hope that lessons will be learned from this to prevent anything similar happening elsewhere in the future.'

Neil Hudgell, from Hudgell Solicitors, who represented 29 of the former postmasters, said his clients were 'honest, hard-working people who served their communities but have had to live with the stigma of being branded criminals for many years, all the while knowing they have been innocent'.

He said in a statement: 'The Post Office still appears to care little about the people whose lives it has destroyed.

'Ultimately, it has been found to have been an organisation that not only turned a blind eye to the failings in its hugely expensive IT system, but positively promoted a culture of cover-up and subterfuge in the pursuit of reputation and profit.

'They readily accepted that loss of life, liberty and sanity for many ordinary people as a price worth paying in that pursuit.'

Mr Hudgell said the 'scandal' of the prosecution of subpostmasters 'will only deepen should those involved not now finally face a fiercely-run investigation into how these prosecutions were conducted, what exactly was known as to the unreliability of the Horizon system when it was being used to ruin people's lives, and whether people acted in a criminal manner'.

He called on Mr Johnson to announce a 'judge-led public inquiry', with the power to summons witnesses, into the prosecutions of subpostmasters.

Mr Hudgell added: 'The time has come now for people at the Post Office who were involved in any way relating to these unsafe convictions to feel the uncomfortable breath of the law on their necks as our clients did.

'If they are then found to have broken the law, they must then feel the full force of it too.'

The CCRC also said anyone who 'believes their criminal conviction may be unsafe because of the impact on their case of performance issues with the Horizon computer system' should consider challenging their conviction.

Andy Furey, CWU's national officer for postmasters, said: 'At long last, 39 innocent people have been exonerated for crimes they did not commit.

'This has been one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.

'For years, decent and upstanding members of the community have been vilified through no fault of their own.

'Their lives and the lives of their families have been devastated, and some have even died carrying the shame of unjust criminality on their shoulders.

'The CWU is so glad that this long legal struggle has been won. But this isn't the end of it.

'Alongside appropriate financial compensation for all the victims of this injustice, there must be acknowledgement of the aggressive, despicable way that senior Post Office directors treated their loyal employees.'

Mr Furey said the CWU wanted the Post Office's former CEO Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE.

Ms Vennells was the chief executive during the period where hundreds of postmasters were blamed for losses from branch accounts because of errors in the Horizon computer system.

An ordained priest, she joined the Post Office in 2007 and was promoted to CEO in 2012. She is said to have known that money could appear to be missing from the accounts.

After leaving the Post Office, she landed roles as an adviser to the Cabinet Office and chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. She was given a CBE in 2019 for services to the Post Office and to charity.

The married mother-of-two kept the 4.5million she earnt during her Post Office tenure, and receives 140,000 a year advising supermarket chain Morrisons and homeware retailer Dunelm.

In June last year, she was forced to step back from the Church of England's ethical investment advisory group due to the furore over the scandal.

In evidence to the Commons business committee she sought to shift the blame for the IT scandal, insisting she did not approve prosecutions of her staff and was misled by computer experts. She was accused of treating postmasters 'with contempt and derision'.

Mr Furey said: 'Our union is demanding that Paula Vennells, the former CEO, be stripped of her CBE - which was awarded to her for services to the Post Office in 2019 - for her part in this scandal.

'We also demand a criminal investigation against those who put loyal, decent workers in this diabolical situation.

'Many senior figures who are complicit in this scandal will now want to run from this situation, but we must not let that happen.

'Heads must roll for the humiliation and misery inflicted on decent, upstanding people who were simply providing much-needed local services and were pillars of their local communities.

'It will be only when justice is done that the suffering of so many can be mended and these decent, loyal postmasters can get real closure.'

Della Robinson, 53, had her conviction quashed after she was sentenced to 140 hours of community service for false accounting in 2013.

Standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice, she told the PA news agency: 'I feel we've achieved something, it's been a victory. We've not won anything to be honest, because we'll never get back what we lost, but it's just an achievement for everybody, it's so overwhelming.

'We've proved that we're innocent today, it's not a matter of winning, it's a matter of proving that we've done nothing wrong.'

She continued: 'We lost the post office, we lost the building, for no fault of ours, it was just them trying to recoup their losses. We lost everything, but it never changed us as who we are.'

Ms Robinson said the mood was 'ecstatic' in the courtroom as the judgment was delivered.

She added: 'We need a judicial inquiry and that is what we need to get forward now, to prosecute or whatever the people who have done this to us, because we still don't know, who was behind it in the Post Office that has actually done this to people, it's so cruel that you can't even believe somebody could do that.'

Seema Misra, 45, said outside court: 'The whole family is so grateful to the court for overturning my conviction ... It must never happen again.'

Her husband, Davinder, 49, added: 'We came here from India. We would never have believed this kind of injustice could happen in Britain.'

Alison Hall, 52, who ran a post office in West Yorkshire, told PA: 'It's been horrendous, Absolutely awful. My health has had so many issues I can't talk about it, I've just bottled it up for 11 years.'

Her partner Richard Walker said: 'People think there's no smoke without fire, we're born and bred in our community so for word to get out, people don't always see the nice side.

Former post office worker Seema Misra, who was jailed for a conviction of theft in 2010, celebrates with her husband Davinder outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London

Former post office worker Wendy Buffrey (left), from Cheltenham, is hugged outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after having her conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal

A former subpostmaster and supporter celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, on April 23, 2021, following a court ruling clearing subpostmasters of convictions for theft and false accounting

Emma Jones, the daughter of now deceased postmaster Julian Wilson, outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London

Former Post Office subpostmaster Noel Thomas (left) reacts to the verdict outside The High Court

What was the Horizon computer system and how did it go wrong? Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of postmasters were sacked or prosecuted after money appeared to go missing from their branch accounts (file image) Horizon, an IT system developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was rolled out by the Post Office from 1999. The system was used for tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking. However, subpostmasters complained about defects after it reported shortfalls - some of which amounted to thousands of pounds. Some subpostmasters attempted to plug the gap with their own money, even remortgaging their homes, in an attempt to correct an error. Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters were sacked or prosecuted due to the glitches. The ex-workers blamed flaws in the IT system, Horizon, but the Post Office denied there was a problem. In case after case the Post Office bullied postmasters into pleading guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed. Many others who were not convicted were hounded out of their jobs or forced to pay back thousands of pounds of 'missing' money. The Post Office spent 32million to deny any fault in their IT system, before capitulating. However, the postmasters and postmistresses said the scandal ruined their lives as they had to cope with the impact of a conviction and imprisonment, some while they had been pregnant or had young children. Marriages broke down, and courts have heard how some families believe the stress led to health conditions, addiction and premature deaths. Advertisement

'Our post office still operates and we live on the premises so you can imagine how difficult that is, every day we're reminded of what happened. It's been gruelling.'

Supporting calls for a public inquiry into the scandal, Ms Hall added: 'I would like a personal apology from the Post Office but I know I'm not going to get one. It all needs to come out.'

Speaking after her conviction was quashed, she said she felt 'Relief, massive relief now, it's the end of it all after 11 years of hell, now we're here now, the day has come. It was so nice listening to it especially when your name got called out and when he said that word, quashed, that was the word we could hear.'

Asked what she would do after the ruling, she said: 'We're going to go find a pub and have a glass of champagne.'

Ms Felstead also supported calls for a public inquiry into the Horizon scandal.

Asked what she was going to do now that her name had finally been cleared, she said: 'I'm going to travel home now and celebrate with my family, and try and digest that this has actually happened.'

Janet Skinner - who pleaded guilty to false accounting and was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2007 - left the Royal Courts of Justice in London to cheers from former subpostmasters and their supporters.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Ms Skinner said she was 'relieved' to have finally cleared her name.

She added that to win her case on both grounds of appeal was 'amazing'.

Asked what her message was to those responsible for the prosecutions of dozens of subpostmasters, Ms Skinner said: 'Watch your backs.'

Grandmother Jo Hamilton, who was given a 12-month supervision order and ran a post office in South Warnborough, Hampshire, said after the ruling: 'It's been a journey but I always imagined I would get here and I kept that focus.'

She added: 'I knew we would get here. I just didn't expect it to take this long.'

The court also allowed 39 of the appeals on the basis that their prosecutions were an affront to the public conscience.

Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Picken and Mrs Justice Farbey, said: 'Post Office Limited's failures of investigation and disclosure were so egregious as to make the prosecution of any of the 'Horizon cases' an affront to the conscience of the court.'

However, three of the former postmasters - Wendy Cousins, Stanley Fell and Neelam Hussain - had their appeals dismissed by the court.

Lord Justice Holroyde said the Court of Appeal had concluded that, in those three cases, 'the reliability of Horizon data was not essential to the prosecution case and that the convictions are safe'.

In the Court of Appeal's written ruling, Lord Justice Holroyde said Post Office Limited (POL) 'knew that there were problems with Horizon'.

The judge added: 'POL knew that subpostmasters around the country had complained of inexplicable discrepancies in the accounts.

'POL knew that different bugs, defects and errors had been detected well beyond anything which might be regarded as a period of initial teething problems.

'In short, POL knew that there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon.'

Lord Justice Holroyde continued: 'Yet it does not appear that POL adequately considered or made relevant disclosure of problems with or concerns about Horizon in any of the cases at any point during that period.

Protesters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, April 23, 2021 ahead of the ruling

Former post office worker Noel Thomas, who was convicted of false accounting in 2006, celebrates with his daughter Sian outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Former post office worker Janet Skinner (centre), with her niece Hayley Adams (right) and her daughter Toni Sisson, celebrating outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Former subpostmasters Janet Skinner, Seema Misra and Tracy Felstead outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, on March 23, 2021

Paula Vennells: Post Office boss who 'knew that Horizon could make money appear to be missing' as postmasters were blamed for losses - and who sought to shift blame for IT scandal Paula Vennells is said to have known that money could appear to be missing from branch accounts because of errors in the Horizon computer system Paula Vennells was the chief executive of the Post Office during the period where hundreds of postmasters were blamed for losses from branch accounts because of errors in the Horizon computer system. Mrs Vennells, an ordained priest, joined the Post Office in 2007 and was promoted to CEO in 2012. She is said to have known that money could appear to be missing from the accounts. Over two decades, hundreds of postmasters were bankrupted, sacked or jailed. After leaving the Post Office, she landed roles as an adviser to the Cabinet Office and chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. She was given a CBE in 2019 for services to the Post Office and to charity. The married mother-of-two kept the 4.5million she earnt during her Post Office tenure, and receives 140,000 a year advising supermarket chain Morrisons and homeware retailer Dunelm. In June last year, she was forced to step back from the Church of England's ethical investment advisory group due to the furore over the scandal. In evidence to the Commons business committee she sought to shift the blame for the IT scandal, insisting she did not approve prosecutions of her staff and was misled by computer experts. She was accused of treating postmasters 'with contempt and derision'. Advertisement

'On the contrary, it consistently asserted that Horizon was robust and reliable.

'Nor does it appear that any attempt was made to investigate the assertions of subpostmasters that there must be a problem with Horizon.

'The consistent failure of POL to be open and honest about the issues affecting Horizon can, in our view, only be explained by a strong reluctance to say or do anything which might lead to other subpostmasters knowing about those issues.'

The court's written ruling also said: 'These pervasive failures of investigation and disclosure went in each case to the very heart of the prosecution.

'Whatever charges were brought against an individual appellant, and whatever pleas may ultimately have been accepted, the whole basis of each prosecution was that money was missing from the branch account: there was an actual shortfall, which had been caused by theft on the part of the subpostmaster, or at best had been covered up by false accounting or fraud on the part of the subpostmaster.

'But in the 'Horizon cases', there was no evidence of a shortfall other than the Horizon data.

'If the Horizon data was not reliable, there was no basis for the prosecution.

'The failures of investigation and disclosure prevented the appellants from challenging, or challenging effectively, the reliability of the data.

'In short, POL as prosecutor brought serious criminal charges against the subpostmasters on the basis of Horizon data, and by its failures to discharge its clear duties it prevented them from having a fair trial on the issue of whether that data was reliable.'

Allowing 39 of the appeals on the grounds that those subpostmasters' prosecutions were 'an affront to the conscience of the court', Lord Justice Holroyde said: 'Throughout the period covered by these prosecutions POL's approach to investigation and disclosure was influenced by what was in the interests of POL, rather than by what the law required.'

The judge said there was 'clear evidence of systemic failures by POL over many years', with the same failures occurring in 'case after case, year after year'.

He added: 'POL as prosecutor knew that the consequences of conviction for a subpostmaster would be, and were, severe ... many of these appellants went to prison.'

The judge continued: 'Those that did not suffered other penalties imposed by the courts; all would have experienced the anxiety associated with what they went through; all suffered financial losses, in some cases resulting in bankruptcy; some suffered breakdowns in family relationships; some were unable to find or retain work as a result of their convictions - causing further financial and emotional burdens; some suffered breakdowns in health; all suffered the shame and humiliation of being reduced from a respected local figure to a convicted criminal; and three ... have gone to their graves carrying that burden.'

The Post Office conceded that 39 of the 42 appellants' appeals should be allowed, on the basis that 'they did not or could not have a fair trial'.

But it had opposed 35 of those 39 cases on a second ground of appeal, which is that the prosecutions were 'an affront to justice'.

At the hearing last month, Sam Stein QC - representing five of the former subpostmasters - said the Post Office's failure to investigate and disclose serious problems with Horizon was 'the longest and most extensive affront to the justice system in living memory'.

He said the Post Office 'has turned itself into the nation's most untrustworthy brand' by attempting to 'protect' Horizon from concerns about its reliability.

He also argued that the Post Office's 'lack of disclosure within criminal cases perverted the legal process', with many defendants pleading guilty 'without exculpatory facts being known or explored'.

Mr Stein told the court: 'The fall from grace by the Post Office cannot be ignored. It has gone from valued friend to devalued villain.

'Those responsible within the Post Office had the duty to maintain not only the high standards of those responsible for any prosecution, but also to maintain the high faith and trust we had for the Post Office.

'Instead, the Post Office failed in its simplest of duties - to act honestly and reliably.'

Former subpostmasters Janet Skinner (left) and Tracy Felstead (right) outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of their appeal against a conviction of theft, fraud and false accounting

Jo Hamilton outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, on March 22, 2021

EX-POST OFFICE WORKER WENT THROUGH 12 YEARS OF 'ABSOLUTE HELL' Former post office worker Vijay Parekh from Willesden, with his wife Gita (left) and daughter Bhavisha A former post office worker who was wrongly jailed because of the Horizon scandal has described his experience as 'absolute hell'. Vijay Parekh, 62, ran a post office in Willesden, north-west London and was given an 18-month jail term after being accused of stealing 78,000 and admitting theft. A court has now cleared the names of 39 former subpostmasters after the reliability of the Horizon accounting system was revealed to be defective. He said: 'The last 12 years have been absolute hell.' Mr Parekh said he had moved to a post office 14 years ago after working in the rail industry. 'Three years later this happened,' he said after the ruling. 'I was given 18 months and spent six months in prison. 'Then I had a tag. 'In prison you are in a room with one other person. 'You don't know what they've done. 'You cry, you cannot get to sleep. 'You ring home and everyone at home is crying. 'Afterwards you can't work because of the CRB check. 'And, of course, nobody listens in prison. 'Because in prison everyone in innocent.' His daughter Bhavisha, 38, is a barrister. 'I'd just qualified as a barrister when it happened - I work as an in-house lawyer now,' said Miss Parekh. 'I could see that my dad was innocent. 'You could see the gaps. 'But we couldn't get the Post Office evidence. 'I felt so frustrated because it's my trade. 'It disillusioned me about working in the law. 'I think it could happen again. 'The Post Office have investigation powers but they're not investigators. 'Why do they have those powers?' Miss Parekh said her father had not yet thought about compensation claims. 'It's not something we've out our minds to yet,' she said. 'We've really just been focusing on today. 'I think it's quite a complicated area - how many cases have there been like this? 'But going forward I think it is possibly something that we will think about.' Advertisement

Tim Moloney QC, representing the majority of the former subpostmasters, said the Post Office's failure to investigate the reliability of Horizon was 'shameful and culpable'.

He added: 'Those failures are rendered all the more egregious... by the inability of the defendants to make their own investigations of the reasons for the apparent discrepancies.'

Mr Moloney told the court there was 'an institutional imperative of acquitting Horizon and convicted subpostmasters... in order to protect Horizon and to protect their own commercial reputation'.

The CCRC referred the cases of 42 former subpostmasters to the Court of Appeal last year, following a landmark High Court case against the Post Office.

The Post Office ultimately settled the civil claim brought by more than 550 claimants for 57.75million, without admitting liability, in December 2019.

Mr Justice Fraser found Horizon contained 'bugs, errors and defects' and that there was a 'material risk' shortfalls in branch accounts were caused by the system.

As a result of the High Court's findings, the CCRC referred the 42 former subpostmasters' convictions to the Court of Appeal.

Speaking ahead of today's ruling, former postmaster Noel Thomas tearfully revealed how he was imprisoned after he was accused of stealing thousands of pounds.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that after his conviction he 'fell off the ladder', falling from grace within the Anglesey community.

The former council worker added that he believed he will cleared today and is seeking modest compensation from the Post Office after losing an estimated 250,000 as a result of the conviction.

'It's been hard, its been difficult, the last year's been very difficult,' he said. 'We lost our eldest son through cancer. He was 50. You know, it's not easy.

'I was accused of theft, my Post Office here in the village was found to be over 50,000 short. I had been in touch with the Post Office, they kept telling me: 'Carry on, we'll sort it out.'

'Then I had a knock on the door at half past seven in the morning from two auditors. I explained there was a shortage, they agreed with me when they finished, but in the meantime two investigating officers turned up.

'I was accused of theft and in about 12 months time the following year, 2006, I was sent to prison. But of course, you see, I found people, other people that were in the same situation, and gradually of course we started meeting one another, going to different parts of the country, getting to know other colleagues, and you know, the pattern was there.

'You're pretty respectable in your own village, people relied - I did about 16 years council work. I was involved in other different things and you know, I really fell off the ladder. You soon find who your friends are, if you know what I mean.

'I had very genuine friends, and working part-time in the garden centre and I've got fantastic colleagues, they've been behind me all the way.'

He went on: 'I've been told that I'm going to be cleared. There's four of us in a category A and B situation.

'We were supposed to be cleared last November but unfortunately that got cancelled and my solicitors did try to get the four of us acquitted straight away but unfortunately with the CCRC sending 46 of us to the High Courts the Law Lords said: 'No no, we want to deal with everybody together.''

Asked if he was seeking compensation, Mr Thomas said: 'Yes, I'll be honest with you, I don't want a load of money, all I want is my money back, the money I worked for.

'I reckon I lost about a quarter of a million in this, I was lucky to sell my house, I sold it very cheaply... my salary went which at the time was between 30 and 32,000 a year, and you know my council salary as well - so I was earning somewhere in the region of about 40-45,000 a year.'

Janet Skinner, 50, pleaded guilty to false accounting and was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2007. Ms Skinner, from Hull, told the PA news agency she was hoping to finally 'get my name cleared'.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Ms Skinner said there had been 'too many twists and turns in this case' for her to assume the Court of Appeal would overturn her conviction.

She added: 'When it all started for me in 2006, I never thought anyone would believe anything I said.'

Grandmother Jo Hamilton said before the hearing: 'I think this is the biggest miscarriage of justice.

'You think of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four - but there are hundreds of us. I was 45 when this started. It's taken up nearly a third of my life. You think it's never going to end.'

Mrs Hamilton said she admitted false accounting after being accused of stealing 36 000. 'I was given a 12-month supervision order and have a criminal record,' she said.

'But I did nothing wrong. I told them about the problem but they said I was the only one.'

Ms Shaheen was jailed in November 2010 and ultimately had to sell her home and was forced to live in a van.

She told the PA news agency: 'It made me feel very small, that I was a criminal when the judge said it, which I never was and I knew I hadn't done it.'

She served three months in prison, telling PA: 'It was terrible, really. I tried to keep my head down, keep out of everybody's way so I could do my time and just get out.'

Ms Shaheen said she was 'really excited but very anxious' to hear the Court of Appeal's decision.

'It would be nice to have a written apology off (the Post Office) and then everybody who dealt with our cases, who did this to us, to be put into the dock and pay for it,' she added.

In a statement ahead of today's ruling, a Post Office spokeswoman said: 'We sincerely apologise to the postmasters affected by our historical failures.

'Throughout this appeals process we have supported the quashing of the overwhelming majority of these convictions and the judgment tomorrow will be an important milestone in addressing the past.'
Credit Suisse has been forced to go cap in hand to its shareholders for 1.3billion of emergency funding after suffering a double blow from the implosion of hedge fund Archegos and the collapse of Greensill Capital.

On a bleak day for the Swiss banking giant, it confessed to racking up losses of 594million in the first three months of the year.

Bosses said it had been on course for its best performance for a decade, before the dual disasters struck.

Plea for help: On a bleak day for the Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, it confessed to racking up losses of 594m in the first three months of the year

But the Archegos scandal alone cost it 3.5billion, a hit that chief executive Thomas Gottstein described as unacceptable.

Shares ended the day down by 2 per cent. The investment bank has lost nearly a third of its market value since the beginning of March.

Credit Suisses reputation has suffered significant damage and the impact will become visible over the course of 2021 and the years to come, said Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Zurichs Vontobel bank.

The mounting crisis will be a headache for Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio who is due to take over as chairman next week.

Fallout from the scandals at Greensill and Archegos have led to a clearout of top executives and a series of internal investigations.

Switzerlands financial regulator Finma has also launched a probe into the bank over the Archegos affair. That is on top of the watchdogs probe into the banks involvement with Greensill Capital, which is already under way.

Archegos, which invested the family money of financier Bill Hwang, had taken bets on shares with borrowed money.

Credit Suisse was one of the most heavily exposed  leaving it nursing huge losses. Gottstein, 57, said the Archegos loss came as a big surprise adding that he hoped and thought it was an isolated incident.

Even so, he revealed that Credit Suisse would be cutting back its prime brokerage arm, the unit involved in the affair.

The Archegos headache came just weeks after the banks asset management division was rocked by Greensills downfall.

Departing Lloyds chief faces uphill battle at Swiss bank Antonio Horta-Osorio is set to join Credit Suisse as chairman next week as the investment bank battles through one of the toughest periods in its history. The Lloyds Bank chief executive, who will give up his role at the British lender at the end of the month before immediately joining Credit Suisse, will be tasked with getting the bank back on the straight and narrow following a series of scandals. Lloyds Bank chief exec Antonio Horta-Osorio will give up his role at the British lender at the end of the month before immediately joining Credit Suisse Credit Suisse is dealing with the fall-out from the collapse of Greensill Capital, the blow up of hedge fund Archegos Capital Management and a spying scandal which sent shock waves through the usually staid world of Swiss private banking. All three events have raised questions over Credit Suisses management and risk controls, and could leave chief executive Thomas Gottstein  who has been in his role for just over a year  fighting for his job. Already Credit Suisse has ousted its chief risk officer, Lara Warner, and its investment banking chief, Brian Chin, in the aftermath of the Archegos and Greensill disasters. It will be up to Horta-Osorio to decide Gottsteins future. Horta-Osorio has dealt with banks in crisis before  when he joined Lloyds, the lender had been beaten down by the financial crisis and was reeling from its disastrous takeover of HBOS. The 57-year-old was respected by colleagues who said that he made it his job to know ev

Greensill packaged up various supply chain loans and sold them to funds run by Credit Suisse. But Greensill went bust at the start of March, and borrowers including Sanjeev Guptas steel businesses are now unable or unwilling to pay their debts.

This is expected to cause a lengthy legal battle as investors, including Credit Suisse, attempt to get their money back.

The bank has currently returned about half of what was owed from its $10billion funds to clients, some of whom have already embarked on a possible lawsuit.

US legal firm Boies Schiller Flexner held its first meeting this week with investors burnt by the affair to discuss how to proceed.

Credit Suisse had also extended a separate 100million loan to Greensill. It is now predicting that 22million of this will not be repaid.

Analysts at JP Morgan said that even though the 1.3billion fund-raising would help to put the bank in a healthier position, we still see questions remaining in terms of strategy and risk management.

They added: We think there may be further risk from Greensill litigation costs as well as potential regulatory fines for Archegos risk management.

As it announced its probes into Credit Suisse, regulator Finma said that it had ordered various short-term measures to be put in place at the beleaguered bank.

These included measures to reduce risk and docking pay in some departments.

Wages and bonuses at the bank were down by 86million compared with the same time last year.
Prime Minister announced on Thursday that India and the US are launching an "agenda 2030" partnership on green collaborations as he pitched for concrete action at a "high speed" and on a "large scale" globally to combat

Addressing a virtual summit on convened by US President Joe Biden, Modi said a guiding philosophy of "back to basics" must be an important pillar of the economic strategy for the post-COVID era and asserted that India has taken "many bold steps" on clean energy, energy efficiency and bio-diversity, despite its development challenges.

The summit is being attended by some 40 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga.

"As a climate-responsible developing country, India welcomes partners to create templates of sustainable development in the country. These can also help other developing countries, who need affordable access to green finance and clean technologies.

"That is why, President Biden and I are launching the 'India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership'. Together, we will help mobilise investments, demonstrate clean technologies and enable green collaborations," Modi said.

In his remarks on the opening day of the two-day summit, the prime minister also recalled the words of Swami Vivekananda, saying he called on "us to 'arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached'".

On the Indo-US partnership, a joint statement by the two sides said it is aimed at demonstrating how the world can "align swift climate action" with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities".

"Led by Prime Minister Modi and President Biden, the partnership will represent one of the core venues for India-US collaboration and focus on driving urgent progress in this critical decade for climate action," it said.

"The partnership will aim to mobilise finance and speed clean energy deployment; demonstrate and scale innovative clean technologies needed to decarbonise sectors including industry, transportation, power and buildings; and build capacity to measure, manage and adapt to the risks of climate-related impacts," it added.

"Both India and the US have set ambitious 2030 targets for climate action and clean energy. In its new nationally determined contribution, the US has set an economy-wide target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 per cent below 2005 levels in 2030," the joint statement said.

In his address at the summit, Modi said India's per capita carbon footprint is 60 per cent lower than the global average.

"For humanity to combat climate change, concrete action is needed. We need such action at a high speed, on a large scale and with a global scope," he said.

"We, in India, are doing our part. Our ambitious renewable energy target of 450 Gigawatts by 2030 shows our commitment," the prime minister added.

He said humanity is battling a global pandemic right now and the climate summit is a timely reminder that the grave threat of has not disappeared.

"In fact, climate change is a lived reality for millions around the world. Their lives and livelihoods are already facing its adverse consequences," Modi said.

He said India is among the few countries whose "NDCs are two-degree-Celsius compatible".

Under the Paris agreement, each country has to set its own emission-reduction targets, known as national determined contributions (NDCs) and the pact's goal is to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius.

"Today, as we discuss global climate action, I want to leave one thought with you. India's per capita carbon footprint is 60 per cent lower than the global average. It is because our lifestyle is still rooted in sustainable traditional practices," Modi said.

He also emphasised the importance of a lifestyle change in climate action.

"Sustainable lifestyles and a guiding philosophy of 'back to basics' must be an important pillar of our economic strategy for the post-COVID era," Modi said.

He also mentioned that India is encouraging global initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, the LeadIT and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

The summit is being hosted by Biden, for whom climate change has been an area of focus.

After taking charge as the president, Biden on January 20 announced the return of the United States to the Paris climate accord.

The virtual summit is part of a series of global meetings focussing on climate issues, being held in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.

Earlier this month, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry visited India and discussed issues relating to climate, including the virtual summit, with Indian leaders.

The Indian leaders conveyed to him about the country's efforts to meet the commitments under the Paris climate agreement and reduce emissions.

(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.)
Eventually, it was decided that payments were going to be doled out to the relative in $500 installments over a period of eight weeks, according to the indictment filed against Doherty in February 2020. To hide the purpose of the bribes, the money would come from a company where Doherty was a manager, the indictment stated.
- Community event with over 1300 registered to discuss how "Going stateful on Kubernetes is fact, not fantasy"

BILBAO, Spain, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Data on Kubernetes (DoK) community today announced the first Data on Kubernetes Community Day, to be held at this year's KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2021. The DoK community was founded in June of 2020 to bring practitioners together to share their experiences in running Data on Kubernetes. Since then, the DoK has grown extremely quickly with more than 60 scheduled meet-ups in three languages and 550 registered members.

The Data on Kubernetes Community Day will be held on May 3rd as a free co-located event at KubeCon. Companies such as DataStax, Percona, MayaData / OpenEBS and Kubesphere will discuss the technical challenges around running databases and data management on Kubernetes, while end users like Digital Ocean, Flipkart and Yelp will be sharing their knowledge and experience around solving these problems in real-world environments.

The event will start at 10am CEST and will be co-chaired by the DoK Community's Visual Learning Coordinator Nellie Tobey and the community leader and CNCF Ambassador Bart Farrell. "The response to the community has been absolutely phenomenal. We're contagiously enthused by our growth, the quality of our speakers, our entry into the CNCF, and celebrating our first annual event," Farrell said.

The full schedule is available here and those interested in participating can register on the main KubeCon registration site here .

The community was started in July 2020 with the inaugural talk given by Patrick McFadin, Vice President of Developer Relations at DataStax, and has now hosted over 50 meetups in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Patrick will kick off this year's co-located event with a quick talk tracing the technical journey involved in going from a traditional Database Administrator (DBA) role to becoming a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE). DataStax is currently working with the CNCF, DoK and DoK founding sponsor MayaData to create learning resources that can make this journey simpler so more people can become SREs and fill skills gaps in their organisations.

There will be more than ten talks at the event, touching on the following:

Observability - Feynman Zhou, Kubesphere

Databases and Kubernetes operators Sergey Pronin , Percona

, Percona Running Kubernetes and Cassandra together with K8ssandra - Christopher Bradford , DataStax

, DataStax Container attached storage - Eric Zietlow , MayaData

, MayaData Running data on Kubernetes at scale - Neeraj Bisht and Praveen Kumar GT, Flipkart

and Praveen Kumar GT, Flipkart End user presentations from Digital Ocean, Yelp and others.

In the spirit of paying it forward, The Last Mile , an NGO that helps incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals learn programming, will also be featured in the event.

You can win an all-exclusive pass to KubeCon & attend the DoK Community Day as well by answering a few simple questions at https://go.mayadata.io/dokc .

About DoK.community

DoK.community is an openly governed and self-organizing group of curious and experienced operators and engineers concerned with running data-intensive workloads on Kubernetes. DoKC takes inspiration from the CNCF and Apache foundations and aims to be open, vendor-neutral, and extremely inclusive.

Registration- https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe/program/colocated-events/data-on-kubernetes-day

DoKC Homepage- http://dok.community

Schedule- https://dok.community/dokc-day-schedule/

Linkedin- https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-on-kubernetes-community

Twitter- https://twitter.com/DoKcommunity

Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnXJbHQ89R2uSfKsqQwGvQ/feature

Media and Analyst Contacts:



Data on Kubernetes Community (DoKc)

Bart Farrell

bart@dok.community



DataStax

Valerie Beaudett

valerie.beaudett@datastax.com



MayaData

Nisanta Sahoo

nisanta.sahoo@mayadata.io

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1495020/DoK_Logo.jpg
Chocolate hojicha croissants, Pocky cruffins, katsu danishes and other playfully nostalgic Asian American pastries will be on the menu at a new Oakland bakery from the pop-up Sunday Bakeshop.

Sunday Bakeshop, a pastry offshoot of chef Deuki Hongs Sunday Family group, will open in the coming weeks at 5931 College Ave. in the Rockridge neighborhood  next door to the former Dreyers Grand Ice Cream Parlor and Cafe space where Boba Guys, also a partner in the bakery, is slated to open. Inspired by the local Asian bakeries the owners grew up frequenting, it will offer customers trays to pile high with pastries and sweets.

The architect of Sunday Bakeshops pastries is Elaine Lau, who started her career working at Michelin-starred French bistro Nico in San Francisco and then spent time with popular Oakland Asian American pastry pop-up Bake Sum. Born and raised in Oakland, she grew up in her familys Chinese restaurants and went on to attend culinary school. Since joining the Sunday Family group, Lau has offered rotating pastry boxes for pickup in Oakland and San Francisco.

Laus pastry style melds Asian ingredients with French techniques, often employing popular childhood snacks for Asian Americans. The Pocky cruffin, for example, is a byproduct of the strawberry Pocky that her parents tucked into her lunches growing up. The pastry, made of laminated dough, is filled with strawberry curd, cream and topped with Pocky sticks, the biscuit covered in sweet coating. The flavor of White Rabbit  the classic chewy, milk-flavored Chinese candy  shows up in a matcha cookie. Lau is also working on her own line of White Rabbit-inspired candies for the bakery.

Then theres her interpretation of jian dui, the Chinese fried sesame balls: A tahini cookie gets dotted with sesame seeds and filled with sweet red bean paste. Recent Sunday Bakeshop boxes came with pandan mochi doughnuts, furikake Chex Mix and lemon-black tea Twinkies inspired by Hong Kong brand Vitasoys boxed lemon tea.

Sunday Bakeshop

Also look for Laus play on the palmiers her grandmother brought her as a child: Lau takes slices of house-made shokupan, or milk bread, brushes each side in salted butter, dusts them in sugar and bakes them low and slow until theyre caramelized. She chills them until they take on a crispy, flaky texture.

Asian American sweets seem to be having a moment in the Bay Area, with the success of established bakeries like Breadbelly in San Francisco and up-and-coming pop-ups like Bake Sum, Jina Bakes and Year of the Snake Foods. Hong, as a Korean American chef who long felt like he had to cook French or Italian food, said it feels like an inflection point in the industry.

Very rarely youd get a chef saying, Im going to incorporate my upbringing and my culture into the food. It was usually we conformed to whatever else, he said. I do think chefs in general, Asian or not, are starting to embrace and celebrate their own culture.

Their mission at Sunday Bakeshop is not to be authentic or pigeon-holed to a single cuisine, Hong said, but to reflect their own cultural and culinary multitudes. Its similar to Sunday Familys new Sundays Snacks & Convenience pop-up, which celebrates crossover food like a New Jersey sub-inspired chashu sandwich on Laus shokupan.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Were just trying to do food thats genuine to us and our culture, Hong said. Id rather be more genuine than try to be someone elses version of authentic.

5931 College Ave., Oakland. thesunday.family/sunday-bakeshop

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com
Just two days after being awarded a five-year restraining order against stalker Maik Bowker, Kendall Jenner was granted protection from another stalker.

The 25-year-old supermodel was granted yet another five-year restraining order against a 27-year-old man named Shaquan King, according to TMZ.

King was ordered by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday to stay more than 100 feet away from Jenner, along with her sister Kylie Jenner and mother Kris Jenner.

Restraining order: Just two days after being awarded a five-year restraining order against stalker Maik Bowker, Kendall Jenner was granted protection from another stalker

Security: The 25-year-old supermodel was granted yet another five-year restraining order against a 27-year-old man named Shaquan King, according to TMZ

King managed to get onto Kendall Jenner's property in late March, when he proceeded to get naked and jump in her pool.

He also banged on windows in her home before Jenner's private security apprehended him.

While King was arrested by Los Angeles police, his jail stay was brief, reportedly only six hours, due to COVID-19 protocols.

Stalker: King managed to get onto Kendall Jenner's property in late March, when he proceeded to get naked and jump in her pool

Security: He also banged on windows in her home before Jenner's private security apprehended him

Then just a day and a half after his release, he made his way to Kylie Jenner's gated community and was arrested for felony stalking.

King is now forbidden from contacting all three of the Jenner's, 'directly or indirectly, in any way, shape or form.'

He is also forbidden from getting near all of their homes, workplaces and vehicles for the next five years.

Stalking: Then just a day and a half after his release, he made his way to Kylie Jenner's gated community and was arrested for felony stalking

Forbidden: King is now forbidden from contacting all three of the Jenner's, 'directly or indirectly, in any way, shape or form'

King was not present at the hearing, with Jenner represented by her attorney, Kate Mangels.

Jenner's other stalker, Bowker, allegedly planned to drive across the country and buy an illegal firearm to kill both the supermodel, and himself.

She was tipped off to the plan by an LAPD detective and went to court to attain the restraining order, which she was granted.

Another stalker: Jenner's other stalker, Bowker, allegedly planned to drive across the country and buy an illegal firearm to kill both the supermodel, and himself

Jenner has considerably beefed up her security after both incidents, and has even moved out of her home.

It was reported in late March that she was packing up and leaving her Beverly Hills home because there was too much risk staying there, despite adding more security.

She has since moved to an 'safe location with armed security, and while she has no plans on returning to the home, it's unclear if she's selling it.

More security: Jenner has considerably beefed up her security after both incidents, and has even moved out of her home
UPDATE 6:15 p.m.: In a dizzying day, county exec forces sheriffs hand on body cams: Well pay for them

Syracuse, NY  After a Syracuse.com story Friday reported the Onondaga County Sheriff Office has no body cameras and no plans for them, Sheriff Gene Conway called a news conference to say he would welcome the cameras if the county provided money for them.

Conway said that he always supported the idea of body cameras, but hadnt asked for money to implement them since being rebuffed from a pilot program in 2017.

As of now, the sheriff said he has no projections for how much a body-camera program would cost or how many deputies it would take to run.

Still, the sheriff said he was pleased to see County Executive Ryan McMahon pledge money for body cameras, as first reported in Fridays story on Syracuse.com.

As evidence of my support of the concept of body cameras, Id like to see that money next week, Conway said at the news conference. I welcome that money next week. Could not wait to get started. But it will be money that fully funds a body camera program for the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office.

County Executive Ryan McMahon told Syracuse.com that hed offered to allocate money for a body-camera program in a letter to the sheriff in February. Conway said Friday that was news to him, and that he first read of McMahons offer in Fridays story.

McMahon told Syracuse.com that his February letter asked Conway to send his office a plan for outlining how the sheriffs office would make the program happen. Weeks after the letter was sent, county officials said Conway had yet to respond.

Even with McMahons pledge for money, a body-camera program couldnt get off the ground until April 2022 at the earliest, Conway said, unless his office got an infusion of money before the next budget cycle.

Thats why Conway said he would welcome that extra money now, so long as it was specially set aside to fully fund a body-camera program. He vowed to release incremental updates on a body-camera rollout as soon as money was approved.

But the sheriff wouldnt commit to putting general budget money toward cameras over other priorities, including hiring deputies to fill vacancies, buying more cars and replacing ballistic vests.

When asked directly where body cameras ranked on the list of expenditures, Conway did not give an answer.

After a Syracuse.com story reported Onondaga County Sheriff Office had no body cameras and no plans for them, Sheriff Gene Conway called a news conference to say he would welcome the cameras if the county provides the money. Here, Conway holds up the syracuse.com article to make his point on Friday, April 23, 2021.Katrina Tulloch

Conway said the reason deputies didnt have body-cameras was because there was not enough money in his budget. But deputies in Erie, Monroe and Albany counties -- three of the biggest Upstate counties -- wear body cameras. One of the three counties had them for six years. Conway said that Onondaga County has not had the money when those counties did.

The story by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard published Friday morning found that:

At least 10 of 15 Onondaga County law enforcement agencies including the Syracuse police and three of the four biggest Upstate counties sheriffs offices have body cameras.

New York State Police started equipping some troopers April 1 and plans to roll out the cameras to the rest of the officers this year.

The county executive, district attorney and head of the legislatures Public Safety Committee all want Onondaga County deputies to wear body cameras.

Conway did not reply to the request from County Executive Ryan McMahon to create a proposal for body cameras.

Body cameras are not a priority for the sheriffs office over other expenses, according to Conway, who did say the cameras are important but expensive.

Nearly half of the countrys more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies had body cameras as of 2016, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics , the most recent estimate available.

Conway said he hasnt asked for funding for the cameras since McMahon took office in 2018.

A Newark, N.J. police officer displays how a body cam is worn during a news conference unveiling the department's new cameras in 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)AP

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 21) -- The Philippines does not share overlapping claims with China alone.

This was according to National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon when he spoke at an online briefing on Wednesday. Contrary to popular belief, Esperon said China does not have the most claims.

Esperon highlighted the claims of other countries in the contested waters: Vietnam controls 21 islands and reefs in the South China Sea, 14 of which are within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone; Malaysia has five, Taiwan has one, while China controls seven -- most of which are artificial islands converted into military bases.

The Philippines, meanwhile occupies nine, including Pag-asa Island, the seat of the Kalayaan Island group. It is contesting all the other claims, calling the control of other nations illegal.

"We are not giving up on the EEZ because that has been granted to us by the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea so we have sovereign rights over the waters," Esperon emphasized.

"Then we have our arbitral ruling which defined features, like Pag-asa now, as they say, has a 12 nautical mile entitlement," he also said. "We used to say it has an EEZ but now because of the arbitral ruling, it's a 12 nautical mile territorial sea that it has."

Esperon is backing President Rodrigo Duterte, who said retaking the West Philippine Sea -- especially areas occupied by China -- could mean bloody war that would be difficult for the Philippines to win.

"When the President says we can only retake the West Philippine Sea with force, then that is very correct. if you want to retake Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross and Subi, then you have to use force. And if you do that, then, it will be a shooting war...that's what he says. It will be bloody and I'm sure it will be very difficult to win a war," he said.

Critics have repeatedly said no one was asking the Duterte administration to go to war. They just him to assert the country's claims, they said.

Meanwhile, Esperon is also encouraging fishermen to fish at Bajo de Masinloc as there were Coast guard assets deployed in the area to protect them from foreign harassments or threats.

A statement released by the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said more assets will be deployed in the WPS.

"To augment the vessels and aircraft currently under the control of the ATFs, the Government has also deployed four Philippine Coast Guard vessels, one PCG aircraft, five Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels for WPS maritime patrols, and Philippine National Police - Maritime Group high speed tactical watercraft and rubber boats for maritime law enforcement in the coastal areas," the statement read.

Detachments in the area also continuously being developed.

"The NTF-WPS is resolute in upholding Philippine sovereignty over our territory as mandated by the Constitution and protecting our sovereign rights over our EEZ in accordance with international law.," it added.

CNN Philippines senior correspondent David Santos and senior digital producer Pia Garcia contributed to this report.
The person fatally shot Monday night in Portlands Humboldt neighborhood has been identified as a 20-year-old father of two.

Portland police on Thursday identified the shooting victim as Calvin Jackson III. He died at the scene in the 800 block of North Webster Street, police said.

Police declined to say whether they have identified a suspect or made any arrests in the homicide. No information about the circumstances of the shooting has been released.

An online crowdfunding campaign started on behalf of Jacksons mother describes him as a father to two young boys, a loving son and one of 10 siblings.

Calvin had a contagious smile that lit up a room, he was always the life of the party and loved spending time with family, the message accompanying the fundraiser read.

Attempts to reach Jacksons family were not immediately successful.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
A construction company lobby group has been found to have breached Manitobas Election Financing Act.

Elections commissioner Bill Bowles ruled the Merit Contractors Association of Manitoba contravened the act when it spent more than $17,000 on advertising during the 2019 provincial election period without registering with Elections Manitoba.

The associations ads promoted legislation promised by the Progressive Conservative party that would allow non-union construction companies to bid and work on public projects.

Bowles investigated the matter after receiving a complaint from the Manitoba Building Trades.

In a four-page letter to the two parties, the commissioner rejected Merits argument that its advertising did not come under the purview of the act because no political party or candidate was named.

"I note that a number of Merits advertisements did contain direct references to the Progressive Conservative party. Several of Merits advertisements and other communications point out that the PC government had introduced Bill 4, which would allow non-union contractors to bid on government projects," Bowles said in the letter, dated April 20.

Bill 4 was among several government bills that died when Premier Brian Pallister called the Sept. 10, 2019, election. Last October, the PC government reintroduced the legislation. Bill 13, The Public Sector Construction Projects (Tendering) Act, has passed second reading in the legislature and undergone public hearings.

While he ruled that Merit violated the rules, Bowles said he didnt believe it did so intentionally.

"I have no reason to think Merit intended to breach the (law) and I accept that the breach was based on a good-faith interpretation of the relevant law," he wrote. "In my opinion, it would not be in the public interest for me to pursue this further."

Under the law, the commissioner of elections cannot levy fines, but it can initiate a prosecution. It would be up to a judge to impose a penalty.

Bowles noted in his ruling that the associations total advertising did not exceed the acts $25,000 limit for third-party organizations. Had the group registered with Elections Manitoba, it would have been permitted to run its ads, he wrote.

The Merit association represents about 200 "open shop" contractors  workplaces where membership in a union is not required.

Merits president, Yvette Milner, said Thursday the group did not think it was breaking the law when it failed to register with Elections Manitoba.

She said the organizations board reviewed the legislation before purchasing ads.

"We acted in good faith. Now that we know we were offside, we obviously wont do it again and have retroactively complied (by registering with Elections Manitoba after the fact)," she said.

Sudhir Sandhu, chief executive officer of the Manitoba Building Trades, said he would have liked to have seen more consequences for Merit than a slap on the wrist. He said a fine would have been more appropriate.

"It was a very clear finding. It was an unequivocal finding," Sandhu said.

He said Bowles could have used the ruling to demonstrate that the law should be taken seriously and when you flout it there will be consequences, but he didnt.

Sandhu said the process doesnt even involve a public disclosure that a group has violated the law.

The Building Trades CEO expressed frustration that "a very rich organization" can spend a lot of money on advertising, "claim ignorance (of the law) after the fact... and just walk away from it scot-free at the end of the day."

The commissioner of elections does not comment publicly on his rulings.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
A treasure hunter has helped a Massachusetts family find $46,000 trove of cash hidden under the floorboards in their home.

Keith Wille was hired by the family to find a cash box their grandfather was rumored to have hidden. They wanted to find it before they sold the house. Cash boxes had already been found in other homes owned by members of the family.

It isn't clear why the grandfather hid the cash box.

The family had tried hunting for the treasure for years and even hired a construction contractor to pull up some of the floorboards in the home's attic to find it. Family members suspected that it had been obscured by insulation.

It was ultimately found in a corner of the attic obscured by other pieces of wood, serving as a false bottom underneath the floorboards.

'The family was running out of time. They were wanting to sell the house for a few years but this rumored treasure was stopping them from doing so,' Wille said.

The family, which spoke to a television station, declined to be named beyond one member's first name, Karen.

Keith Wille was hired by the family to find a cash box their grandfather was rumored to have hidden so the family could sell the home

This is the moment Wille is seen opening the cash box for the first time in the video

He then counts the money, which is still marked with the straps from when it was withdrawn from the bank in 1958

Wille is seen fanning through a wad of cash that was tucked away in the attic of a Massachusetts home

Wille, a Connecticut-based metal detectorist who has been hunting treasure hunter for 10 years, called it his 'most exciting find to date' in a video he posted to YouTube.

'Most of the hints and clues we had turned out to not be true. I am constantly looking beyond the information I have, looking for small things that are slightly out of place, investigating, moving on to the next one,' he said.

It took Wille about an hour to find the hidden treasure, he says in the video. He started by reopening spots that had already been pulled up by others who had already searched for the treasure.

'I eventually got started and turned on my metal detector and started where the two windows intersected,' he says.

'There was a rumor that you can see light shine through the floorboard and it was reflecting off the box.'

Wille realized that every location in the attic where the metal detector pinged, the floor was already damaged indicating others had already tried searching those spots.

'Basically, my plan was to - if I got a good signal - mark it on the floor with a crayon and then come back, drill a hole, drop my endoscope camera down into the floor and check out what the signal was,' he says.

'But what I didn't want to do is pull up all this old pine, tongue-and-groove floorboards for nothing but wires and piping. So I thought maybe it would be less intrusive to drill some holes and use the endoscope camera.'

Eventually, Wille found his way to a corner of the attic where the signal indicated the treasure may be hidden. He then started to inspect that area closer with a flashlight and decided to get out his endoscope camera to look through some of the cracks.

'When I dropped it into probably the second or third hole, I saw something weird. It had letters and numbers on it,' he says.

'I realized after I focused on it, 'oh man this is a keyhole.' So I zoomed out a little bit and realized oh this is a box, this is a lock box.'

Wille was seen starting his search in the center of the attic where others had previously searched

Family rumors said that the treasure was buried where the light from the two windows meet

Wille eventually made his way to a corner of the room where his metal detector indicated the treasure may be

He then used an endoscope camera to look underneath the floor through a crack in the attic ceiling

The camera picked up the lock from the cash box hidden underneath the floor

A view from the video shows the lock box hidden underneath the floor of the attic

The woman then went and notified her family members that Wille was inspecting something 'of interest.'

Wille noted that he could see pry marks from where floorboards had been removed previously.

'So I have removed the lid, and that my friends is a lockbox hidden in the floorboards. Look at that. All these years, here it is,' he says.

Wille noted that the lockbox was heavier than he thought it would be as he removed it from the floorboards. He said that the box had been covered with wood 'so you couldn't look through the cracks and see it from above.'

'Whatever is in there, they didn't want it to be found,' Wille tells the homeowners in the video.

Wille said that the rumors about being able to see the treasure when light was shining through the windows was impossible because of the false flooring obscuring the lockbox.

He then shakes the box as the cash makes thudding noises inside.

'you know what i think it might be all cash you could hear you could feel it sort of moving around in there'

The family did not have a key for the box, but Wille used a hammer and punch on its hinges to open it instead of breaking the lock.

He opened it with the family watching.

'Oh look at that, I see 20s and I see 10s,' he says in the video.

He adds: 'They're $5,000 bricks. It's marked $5,000.'

Wille noted that he had to remove two of the floorboards in order to retrieve the treasure

The lockbox had been obscured by pieces of wood placed under the floor to serve as a false bottom

Wille is seen retrieving the treasure from underneath the attic floor, which he said was heavy

Wille poses with the treasure before removing it from the flooring

He then rifles through the box while the stunned family watches

Inside the box, Wille also found two $500 stacks of silver certificates from 1935  which can be worth a 'small premium above face value,' according to the Motley Fool.

'At least the house can be sold now,' the woman who owns the home says in the video.

She adds: 'Well I guess it wasn't a figment of anyone's imagination!'

In a post about the find to his website, Wille noted that 'cash was packed to the lid.'

'All denominations were in the bundles, and individual bills were dated 1934, 1935, and 1950. The date 'December 19, 1958,' along with the teller number, was stamped on each currency strap,' he wrote.

Besides cash, Wille also found two $500 stacks of silver certificates from 1935

The full treasure is seen on display in a shot from Wille's YouTube video about the hunt

He noted that 'the purchasing power of $46,000 in 1958 was equivalent to $421,603 in 2021.'

Wille and a member of the family, identified as Karen, spoke with WFSB about the incredible treasure hunt.

'I think it was shock. I think we were all in shock,' Wille said.

Channel 3 spoke to a family member over the phone.

Karen said: 'All this story you believe it's true, you don't know if it's true. I'm just glad it was finally found.' Her family has not decided what to do with the treasure.
The IYSSE at NYU will be hosting a meeting, A socialist perspective for Columbia and NYU graduate students, on Wednesday, April 28, at 7 p.m. We encourage graduate students, undergraduates and workers from the New York City area to attend.

More than 2,000 graduate student workers at New York University (NYU) are preparing to go on strike on Monday for living wages, proper health care coverage, safe working conditions, adequate child care benefits, and the demand NYPD off campus. Two weeks ago, over 96 percent of the members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) at NYU, which is affiliated with the UAW, voted in favor of a strike.

A sharp warning must be made: Before the strike has even begun, the UAW is doing everything to sell it out. During 10 months of negotiations, NYU has done nothing but stonewall workers demands while the GSOC has worked to prevent a strike, making ever-greater concessions to the university and repeatedly extending the 2015 contract that includes a no-strike clause.

New York University campus in Manhattan (Photo: nyu.edu)

Since the strike authorization vote, the GSOC has stepped up its efforts to create conditions that would allow them to call off any strike action at the last minute. The GSOC has made significant concessions to the university, including further lowering wage demands from $38 per hour to $32 per hour and lowering remission on combined tuition for working Masters students from 100 percent to 40 percent.

The lowering of these demands went against votes by the membership last week, and had not been communicated to GSOC members until after the proposals were presented to NYU.

The president of GSOC Local 2110, which also includes Columbia graduate workers, is Maida Rosenstein. Rosenstein spoke to the Bargaining Committee (BC) and a small group of rank-and-file workers between bargaining sessions with the university on Thursday. In the discussion, she strongly advocated for further lowering demands on compensation, stressing that $32 was unrealistic. She also peddled the lie that a strike by graduate workers could harm lower-paid workers at the university, actively discouraging graduate students from going on strike.

Then, after a whole day of bargaining, the BC offered to be available for further negotiations with NYU all weekend. There is a real danger that the strike will be called off at the last minute, with none of the major demands by graduate students met.

The experience of the strike at Columbia University offers important lessons for NYU graduate students and places the question of leadership front and center. The same UAW Local 2110 that the GSOC is affiliated with is working to shut down the strike of more than 3,000 graduate workers at Columbia University, just six miles north of the NYU campus. The UAW has kept the strike hidden from its nearly 400,000 members and has facilitated economic blackmail against the strikers by issuing a measly $275 a week in strike pay, despite sitting on a strike fund of almost $800 million. Rosenstein, the local president, has explicitly opposed uniting the Columbia University graduate workers strike with the strike at NYU.

As the strike was gaining momentum in its third week, the Bargaining Committee for the Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC) agreed to a strike pause, against the will of the rank-and-file. On Monday, a week before the NYU strike deadline, the GWC BC agreed to a tentative contract with the university that imposes a de facto pay cut in the first year and does not come close to meeting any of the original demands advanced by graduate workers. The tentative contract includes a no-strike clause and guarantees the deduction of 2 percent of workers wages for union dues payments to the UAW.

The Columbia strike clearly demonstrates that not one step forward can be taken while graduate workers are tied to the trade unions. The UAW is one of the most prominent examples of the degeneration of the trade unions over the last 40 years. Although originally formed by left-wing workers during the semi-insurrectionary class battles of the Great Depression that won significant gains for auto workers, the UAW ceased to be a workers organization decades ago.

With globalization, the rise of transnational corporations, and the ever-deepening crisis of US capitalism over the last 50 years, the trade unions, based on a national program and tied to the capitalist nation-state, have become integrated into corporate management and the state apparatus. Since the late 1970s, they have worked together with the ruling class to strangle workers struggles, increase profits, and line the pockets of a small layer of union executives.

Over the last year, the UAW has obediently carried out the dictates of the ruling class by keeping workers in contaminated factories and workplaces amid the pandemic to ensure the continued production of profits. For these services rendered, it has received an enormous payoff.

After over four decades of betrayals, large sections of workers no longer see a way forward within these rotten organizations and are entering into a rebellion against the unions. The rejection of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) by workers at Amazons Bessemer, Alabama, plant two weeks ago sharply exposed the extent of workers alienation from these organizations.

At Columbia University, anger within the rank-and-file about the blatant union betrayal is running high. A significant section of Columbia graduate workers are organizing to stop the union from ramming through the sellout contract.

However, the experience of all previous strugglesincluding the Columbia strike itselfshows that militancy from the rank-and-file alone is not enough. What is urgently required is a political perspective and new organizations.

The struggle of graduate workers will not succeed outside of the development of a political leadership oriented toward the struggles of the entire working class for its social rights. Fundamentally, this requires a socialist perspective and an understanding that, implicitly, what is involved is a struggle against the capitalist system.

When workers at NYU and Columbia enter into a fight against their universities, they are battling the powerful forces of Wall Street, the state and the Democratic Party. Both schools embody the subordination of academia to private profit and the state. NYU and Columbia are run by a collection of Wall Street and Democratic Party operatives and maintain deep ties to US imperialism.

Over the last month, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the youth and student wing of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), has powerfully intervened in the Columbia graduate strike. Basing itself on a Marxist perspective, the IYSSE has consistently warned of and exposed the treachery of the UAW. We have fought for the expansion of the strike to other campuses and, most importantly, into the broad sections of the working class in New York City and beyond that are now entering into struggle.

To take the control of these strikes out of the hands of the unions, we are calling for the formation of rank-and-file committees. In New York, across the US and internationally, such committees have already been formed among teachers as well as auto and Amazon workers. They are completely independent from the unions and the Democratic Party and answer to workers only. They advance demands based not on what the universities and corporations claim is affordable but what workers need.

Significant layers of graduate students, workers and undergraduates in New York have followed this coverage and our exposures. We now call upon all those who agree with this perspective to contact us, join the IYSSE, and take up the fight for socialism!
Returned Russian minors met with relatives  Childrens Ombudsman

 The press service of Russia's Child Rights Commissioner

17:00 23/04/2021

MOSCOW, April 23 (RAPSI)  Children, who had been earlier returned from Syria, met with their relatives, according to Russias Child Rights Commissioner Anna Kuznetsova.

The first aircraft of 2020 transferring 44 Russian children from Syria landed in the Moscow Region on April 19.

The minors aged from 2 to 16 years have been transported from refugee camps accompanied by the Minors Ombudsman.

The work on the childrens repatriation has been ongoing since 2018. Over 100 minors have been already returned to their homeland with the assistance of Kuznetsova.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Luz Martinez has caught malaria three times, the last of which was when she was six months pregnant with her fourth child. Like many Venezuelans, she fears malaria more than COVID-19.

In her dusty neighborhood on the outskirts of Barcelona, in the eastern state of Anzoategui, some people have contracted malaria up to 20 times.

"I gave it to my 12-year-old girl and also to my other child ... thankfully we've received treatment," said Martinez, 30, whose fourth child was born two months premature.

"There's quite a lot of malaria here," said Martinez, whose sand floor home is invaded by clouds of mosquitos every night at dusk.

Venezuela was the first country to eradicate malaria in 1961but the disease, carried by the Anopheles mosquito, has seen an alarming explosion over the last decade.

"Many people have come down with malaria in the last two months. Some people have had it 15 to 20 times," said Leonardo Vargas, a communal anti-malaria activist.

The government has not published figures on malaria since 2016, but according to the Venezuelan Society of Public Health NGOusing 2018-2020 World Health Organization datathe country has the highest number of malaria cases in the region.

In 2019 there were 400,000 cases of malaria in Venezuela, or more than half of the combined malaria cases of Brazil, Peru and Colombia, the NGO said.

Public health measures had pushed malaria into remote jungle regions, but during the last decade the disease "has moved from the jungle to the cites," said Jose Felix Oletta, Venezuela's health minister 1997-1999.

Oletta has hit out at the government "abandonment" of anti-malaria programs over the last 20 years.

"This has enabled the return of one of the horsemen of the Venezuelan health apocalypse," said Oletta, blaming the state for "underestimating" the malaria problem.

House to house search

Oletta, a member of the private sector Venezuelan Society of Public Health, says that many patients come from southern jungle mining regions where illegal mining has been growing.

In 2019 Venezuela had 400 active outbreaks that accounted for 73 percent of malaria deaths in all of South America, said Oletta.

That year, it affected more than 400,000 people.

According to the WHO, which has named April 25 as World Malaria Day, there were 229 million cases worldwide in 2019 and more than 400,000 deaths, mostly in Africa.

In Venezuela the situation is especially dire "due to the pandemic, which consumes all resources," said Oletta.

Venezuelan hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, and pandemic lockdowns have made reaching the worst affected regions more difficult.

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Venezuela's health ministry have launched operations in badly affected communities to try to reduce the number of malaria cases.

"We're going house to house ... actively looking for malaria cases," and fumigating, said Gustavo Liscano, the leader of an MSF team working in Anzoategui state.

There are eight groups working on the ground performing rapid blood tests on those feverish patients, delivering medicines to treat the disease, donating mosquito nets and diagnosing pregnant women.

MSF says these measures have greatly reduced cases in Anzoategui.

Luz Misel said she feared for her baby before receiving a mosquito net.

"I got malaria a year ago, it was horrible, I had a fever, a headache, shivers," said Misel, who said her baby used to wake up with red bite marks all over its body.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
BOSTON  The states highest court on Friday declined to overturn the first-degree murder conviction of Benjamin Martinez of Chicopee, who is serving a life sentence for the 2004 killing of a pregnant woman in her Springfield apartment.

In a 21-page decision, the Supreme Judicial Court turned aside Martinezs appeal of his conviction, and dismissed his arguments that errors by the trial judge regarding the admission of evidence and instructions to the jury contributed to a wrongful conviction.

Upon review of the entire record, we discern no error that resulted in a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice, Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd wrote in the ruling. It was supported by judges Frank M. Gaziano, David A. Lowy, Elspeth B. Cypher and Scott L. Kafker. There was no dissent.

Martinez, 52, was convicted on March 9, 2017, of first-degree murder with extreme atrocity or cruelty in the killing of Caridad Puente, 35.

She was found stabbed more than 30 times in her Taylor Street apartment. Puente was pregnant at the time of the killing, and when her sister found her body inside a closet, Puentes 11-month old son was sitting next to her, crying and covered in blood.

The case went unsolved for more than a decade until DNA evidence found in blood at the crime scene and under Puentes fingernails matched a sample from Martinez that was on file with a nationwide DNA database.

In appealing the conviction, Martinez argued that the trial judge, Richard J. Carey, erred by not letting his defense argue that others had motive for the murder, including a family friend of Puente, an unidentified man who lived with her known only as Monster, and an unknown group of men known only as the Dominican Brothers.

Carey would not allow the testimony during the trial after finding it to be third-party culprit evidence. A judge can allow such evidence at a trial but only if it is found to be of substantial probative value and will not tend to prejudice or confuse.

The ruling supported Careys decision to exclude that testimony from the trial, calling it little more than speculation and conjecture.

Martinez also argued Carey made a mistake by failing to instruct the jury that they could consider intoxication while considering the extreme cruelty in the crime.

The ruling on that point was in Martinezs favor, but found the error at the time of the trial was not enough to influence the outcome of jury deliberations. This was in part because evidence and testimony from Martinez at the trial did not suggest that (Martinez) was actually intoxicated or impaired.

Martinez testified that he had attempted to use heroin at the apartment but had been unsuccessful. Further, the defendant did not claim that the heroin he attempted to use had any affect on his mental capacity, the ruling notes.

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New Delhi:

Terrorists shot dead a special police officer (SPO) in Tral area of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said.

The ultras fired at SPO Haleem Gujjar at his residence in Gutroo village of Tral area, 36 kilometers from Srinagar, killing him on the spot, a police official said.

The militants escaped from the scene after carrying out the attack, he said, adding a manhunt has been launched for the assailants.

Earlier on Monday, militants shot dead a former sarpanch belonging to the ruling PDP party in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir while the deceaseds family members killed one of the assailants in a scuffle during the attack late evening.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Al Sharpton cried then praised God for Derek Chauvins conviction for George Floyds murder

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Surrounded by family, friends and colleagues like the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Pastor Jamal Bryant, longtime civil rights leader, the Rev. Al Sharpton, praised God and revealed that he broke down in tears moments after former Minneapolis police offer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd Tuesday.

We want to pray and thank God. Somehow God made a way. He had mercy. We believe in a God that can even get through the cracks of the jury room and bring conscience and bring truth, Sharpton said shortly after a jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyds death.

Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died in police custody on May 25, 2020, after he was restrained for several minutes by Minneapolis Police Department officers. Chauvin was caught on video kneeling into Floyds neck as he begged for his life until he stopped breathing.

The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement that officers had responded to a call about a man suspected of forgery. Authorities were told someone tried to pay with a fake $20 bill at Cup Foods. The video of Floyds death sparked international protests and calls for justice from many Christian leaders including Sharpton, who has for decades marched and pushed a racial justice agenda through his National Action Network.

Sharpton called Chauvins conviction in Minnesota, which comes less than a year after Floyds death, historic.

This is the first time in the history of this state that a white police officer has been convicted, less known, convicted of a murder. This is the first time in a long ring of fights that weve seen three counts, guilty on all three. We dont find pleasure in this. We dont celebrate a man going to jail. We would have rather George be alive, he said as Floyds family and friends shouted amen!

We celebrate because we, because young people, white and black, some castigated, many that are here tonight, marched and kept marching and kept going. Many of them looked down on, but they kept marching and wouldn't let this die, Sharpton continued.

This is an assurance to them, that if we dont give up, that we can win some rounds, he said, noting that they will fight until The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act becomes law.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would overhaul policing and eliminate qualified immunity for all local, state and federal law enforcement officers. Qualified immunity shields police officers performing discretionary functions from civil liability.

Sharpton, who eulogized Floyd at his funeral last year, is set to eulogize another man, Daunte Wright, 20, who is mixed-race on Thursday. Wright was shot dead by Kimberly Potter, a white Brooklyn Center police officer on April 11 after she mistook her gun for a Taser.

Wright was pulled over for expired license plates and resisted arrested and jumped back into his car when an officer attempted to handcuff him. He had an open warrant for his arrest for a misdemeanor firearms offense for aggravated robbery in 2019 in which he'd choked a woman and threatened to shoot her if she didn't hand over $820 she had stuffed in her bra to pay for rent.

Potter subsequently resigned on April 14 and was formally charged on that same day with second-degree manslaughter following days of protests and riots.

Speaking Tuesday about the Chauvin verdict, Sharpton added, Were going to have to deal with the funeral of Daunte Wright in this same county. This same area. We still have cases to fight but this gives us the energy to fight on.

He also praised the jury for allowing God to use them in Chauvins trial.

For the jury, we want to thank them for letting God give them the strength. Wherever they are tonight. We want them to know we broke down in tears when we heard the verdict. We had to hold each other and hug in tears because too many nights we cried, many of us for decades. Its been nights in jail but today we can wipe our tears away and fight on for another day, he said.

Bryant who was with Sharpton, Jackson and the Floyd family in Minneapolis, shared a video on Instagram Wednesday showing an emotional Sharpton and Jackson.

Sometimes you cry not out of pain or grief but out of relief.... this has been a long journey! Supremacist[s] paint us as savages, evangelicals as heathens, racist police as suspects but we are Gods children and we are human! @real_sharpton @revjjackson I didnt have the strength to cry from feeling drained, shocked and numb. Its a reminder that you cant be so use[d] to fighting that you lose capacity to feel, he said.
France said that it is ready to provide support to India in its fight against coronavirus. The European country's support comes as India reports record 3.32 lakh crore cases in the last 24 hours. French President Emmanuel Macron said that they stand in solidarity with Indian people.

"I want to send a message of solidarity to the Indian people, facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. France is with you in this struggle, which spares no-one. We stand ready to provide our support," French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain tweeted Macron's message.

I want to send a message of solidarity to the Indian people, facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. France is with you in this struggle, which spares no-one. We stand ready to provide our support.



 President Emmanuel Macron  Emmanuel Lenain (@FranceinIndia) April 23, 2021

India reported as many as 3,32,730 coronavirus cases on Friday morning with 2,263 fatalities. The death toll has reached 1,86,920, while the total caseload has crossed 1.62 crore.

France, on Wednesday, had announced 10-days mandatory quarantine for travellers coming from India to prevent spread of the Indian COVID-19 variant.

Not only France, UAE has banned travel from India for 10 days from Sunday too. Passengers who transited through India in the last 14 days are also not permitted to board from any other point to UAE. UK too put India on its 'red list' as a precautionary measure after it identified 103 cases of the Indian variant. Canada on Thursday said it is banning all flights from India for 30 days due to the growing wave of COVID-19. Health Minister Patty Hajdu said half the people who are testing positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Canada by airplane came from India. Singapore disallows all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have travelled to India within the last 14 days to enter or transit through Singapore. The US issued a "Level 4 (Very High)" warning asking people to "avoid all travel" to India even if they are fully vaccinated.

The coronavirus situation in the country has led to a shortage of oxygen, hospital beds and essential medicines.

Also read: Canada suspends flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days amid rising COVID-19 cases

Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Singapore bars long-term pass holders, visitors travelling from India
[April 23, 2021] UK-based fintech Revolut appoints Paroma Chatterjee as India CEO, as it kickstarts its entry into the country

MUMBAI, India, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the UK-based global fintech Revolut, valued at $5.5 billion last year, has announced the appointment of Paroma Chatterjee as its CEO in India, as the company continues to expand globally. Prior to joining Revolut, Ms Chatterjee held senior executive roles at Lendingkart, Via.com, Flipkart and Airtel Money. She is a renowned leader in the fintech and consumer tech industry, and was named as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Financial Technology of Asia for 2020. As the leader of the executive team in India, Ms Chatterjee will build and lead Revolut's subsidiary in India, define and implement the business strategy, hire the team and manage licence applications and any potential acquisitions in the market. Revolut is making a multi million pound investment in India over the next five years and has committed to the creation of 300 new jobs in the country to serve its global business operations. Revolut has recruited Heads of Operations and Legal for the country and is leveraging India's strong talent pool to recruit across multiple functions including HR, Finance, Growth, Marketing, Recruitment, Compliance, Risk and Technology. The Revolut India subsidiary will also serve as an operations hub for Revolut's global business, reflecting the skills and talent avaiable in the Indian market.



Globally, Revolut has established itself as an innovative alternative to traditional banking products through its suite of digitally-enabled products across banking and business accounts, cards and payments, foreign exchange transfers and remittances, investments and trading, insurance and other financial services. Revolut India will look to introduce those products in the country that will help Indians to significantly improve the experience that we currently face in accessing and managing our personal finances. Nik Storonsky, CEO and Founder at Revolut, said:

"With a wealth of experience in the fintech and consumer tech sectors and an outstanding track record, Paroma is an excellent fit for the role and her appointment is a major achievement in our continued mission to become the world's first truly global financial superapp. We're looking forward to transforming the way people in India access and manage their money as we bring our products and services to more people around the world. "India is a core market in our expansion strategy with a huge supply of talent, and we're excited to tap into that talent pool to help Revolut go from strength to strength." Paroma Chatterjee, CEO India at Revolut, said: "I couldn't be more excited to join Revolut and become a part of this phenomenal growth journey. It is an honour and a privilege to be asked to lead the business for such a world-class company, in a country that presents one of the largest opportunities globally for Revolut. I look forward to building an exceptionally talented team and working with them, as we continue to develop superlative financial solutions for millions of consumers in India." "We will build the bank of the future." Revolut will be one of the first UK fintechs to reach India and can further deepen trade relations between both countries. Its launch in India is the latest step in its international expansion plans, following successful launches in Singapore and Australia in 2019, and the US and Japan in 2020. Revolut has also stated its plans to launch in a number of markets across South America and deepen its existing presence in Asia-Pacific. NOTES TO EDITOR  The Top 25 Women Leaders in Financial Technology of Asia for 2020 ABOUT REVOLUT We are building the world's first truly global financial superapp. In 2015, Revolut launched in the UK offering money transfer and exchange. Today, 15 million customers around the world use dozens of Revolut's innovative products to make more than 100 million transactions a month. Across our personal and business accounts, we help customers improve their financial health, give them more control, and connect people seamlessly across the world. www.revolut.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1495056/Revolut_Paroma_Chatterjee_CEO.jpg

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Linda Stoltzfoos was strangled, suffocated and stabbed in the neck after disappearing on a walk home from church last year, the Lancaster County coroner said after a Friday morning autopsy.

The Coroners Office said the 18-year-old Stoltzfoos remains were identified with dental records. Deputy Chief Eric Bieber said her cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation and suffocation, with a knife wound to the neck serving as a contributing factor.

Bieber said he could not get into whether her body showed signs of any other trauma. Testing is underway and could take a couple weeks to process, he said.

Stoltzfoos was found Wednesday wrapped in a tarp and buried underground on a railroad property bordering the Gap-based Dutchland Inc., a water treatment plant at which homicide suspect Justo Smoker worked at the time of the 18-year-olds disappearance. Authorities declined to comment during a Thursday press conference on how the search around the Dutchland site came about.

Smoker, a Paradise resident, is being held at the Lancaster County Prison without bail. He was arrested in August 2020 and charged with kidnapping, but those charges were upped to homicide in December.

Stoltzfoos was reported missing Fathers Day, June 21, 2020, after leaving church and walking home to change clothes and grab a dessert for a youth group meeting. She never made it home and was last seen walking along Beechdale Road in Bird-in-Hand, authorities said.

District Attorney Heather Adams said they believe Smoker killed Stoltzfoos within hours of her kidnapping, while she was walking home from church. Smoker initially buried the body off Harvest Road, where police initially found the girls bra and stockings and a cut zip tie near some disturbed dirt, Adams said.

Adams said a break-through in the case came when they secured witness testimony and surveillance footage of Smoker and his red Kia Rio driving in Bird-in-Hand on the day she went missing. Witnesses testified to seeing an Amish woman with pleading eyes in church clothing riding in the front seat of a red car that day.

Prosecutors have not revealed a motive in Stoltzfoos kidnapping and murder.

READ: Victims uncle gives family perspective on apparent discovery of Linda Stoltzfooss remains
More than 100 migrants are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean after their rubber boat heading to Europe capsized off the coast of Libya.

Independent rescue groups said 130 people are now feared dead in the latest loss of life for migrants attempting to cross the sea.

Humanitarian organisations have accused the Libyan coast guard and European authorities of failing to meet their responsibilities to save lives.

A Libyan coast guard official today said that they searched for the boat but could not find it with their limited resources.

SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said their ship did not find any survivors at the wreckage site, but could see at least ten bodies nearby.

Debris from the dingy, which was carrying around 130 migrants, are seen floating in the Mediterranean sea on Thursday

SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said their ship did not find any survivors at the wreckage site, but could see at least ten bodies nearby. Pictured: The body of one of the victims of the capsized rubber boat

Wreckage from the capsized boat was found in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of Tripoli

The organisation said late on Thursday that the capsized rubber boat - which was initially carrying around 130 people - was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

'Today, after hours of search, our worst fear has come true,' said Louisa Alberta, Search and Rescue Coordinator on board the rescue vessel. 'The crew of the Ocean Viking had to witness the devastating aftermath of the shipwreck of a rubber boat north east of Tripoli.

'We think of the lives that have been lost and of the families who might never have certainty as to what happened to their loved ones.'

The migrant traffic has raised the question among European Union countries and Libya over who is responsible for saving those at sea.

The European humanitarian organisation said that those missing will likely join the 350 people who have drowned in the sea so far this year. It accused governments of failing to provide search and rescue operations.

The organisation said late Thursday that the capsized rubber boat (pictured: remains of the dinghy), which was initially carrying around 130 people, was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

In the years since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, war-torn Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route.

'These are the human consequences of policies which fail to uphold international law and the most basic of humanitarian imperatives,' tweeted Eugenio Ambrosi, Chief of Staff for the International Organization for Migration.

Alarm Phone, a crisis hotline for migrants in distress in the Mediterranean, said that it had been in contact with the boat in distress for nearly ten hours before it capsized.

The organisation said in a statement that it had notified European and Libyan authorities of the GPS position of the boat but only non-state rescue groups actively searched for it.

Alarm Phone accused European authorities of refusing to coordinate a search operation, leaving it solely in the hands of the Libyan Coast Guard.

Humanitarian organisations have accused the Libyan coast guard and European authorities of failing to meet their responsibilities to save lives. Pictured: The wreckage of the rubber boat can be seen from the SOS Mediterranean vessel

Libya Coast Guard spokesman Commander Masoud Ibrahim Masoud labelled allegations that they had been negligent as untrue.

'We coordinated the search operation,' he said. 'The ships kept searching in the sea for more than 24 hours but the waves were very rough.'

Masoud said that the Libyan coast guard had received around noon on Wednesday two rescue alerts from two different rubber boats in distress to the east of Tripoli.

A patrol vessel was immediately dispatched and rescued 106 migrants, including women and children, who were aboard one of the two boats.

Two bodies were also pulled out of the water near the capsized boat. He said the same vessel continued to search, but visibility was low and seas rough.

He said the vessel eventually returned to port so that the other migrants onboard could receive medical attention.

Parts of the rubber boat carrying around 130 migrants is seen floating in the sea

In the meantime, he said Libyan authorities asked three merchant ships and Ocean Viking to look for the missing rubber boat, until the Libyan patrol vessel could join them again.

In recent years, the European Union has partnered with Libya's coast guard and other local groups to stem such dangerous sea crossings. Rights groups, however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers rife with abuses.

'We are not as equipped as the US coast guard and the support we get from the EU does not meet our needs,' said Masoud.

Thousands of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean have died, the UN migration agency reports.

At least 41 people drowned when their boat capsized in February this year in the Mediterranean see after fleeing Libya, the IOM said.

'Did you see my baby? I lose my baby! Why me? Where is my baby?' The mother from Guinea shrieks in the harrowing footage

Last year in November, a mother was filmed crying out for her six-month-old son after being hauled onto a rescue ship after a dinghy capsized in the Mediterranean.

'Did you see my baby? I lose my baby! Why me? Where is my baby?' The woman from Guinea shrieks in the harrowing footage.

Her baby, Joseph, was eventually hauled from the waves by Spanish rescuers but died aboard their ship of respiratory arrest.

The infant was among five migrants who perished after an inflatable dinghy laden with 116 people sank after setting sail from Libya.

The vessel started to deflate within three hours of leaving the port city of Sabratah.
When the stakes are as high as the health of our family and friends, its understandable many people are keenly interested in accurate and complete COVID-19 information. Theyre not getting it in Manitoba, however, and the flow of information could become even more restricted if the provincial government gets its way.

When the stakes are as high as the health of our family and friends, its understandable many people are keenly interested in accurate and complete COVID-19 information. Theyre not getting it in Manitoba, however, and the flow of information could become even more restricted if the provincial government gets its way.

Manitobas ombudsman has written a letter to the Progressive Conservative government that pending legislation will make it more difficult for the public and the media to access government information.

Ombudsman concerned about access to information bill Click to Expand MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Provincial ombudsman Jill Perron has written a letter to Legislative and Public Affairs Minister Kelvin Goertzen stating her concern that Bill 49 (The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act) will have significant practical implications for the access and privacy rights of Manitobans. Posted: 4:00 AM Apr. 17, 2021 MANITOBAS ombudsman has written a six-page letter to the government expressing concern that pending legislation will make accessing information more difficult. In a letter to Legislative and Public Affairs Minister Kelvin Goertzen, ombudsman Jill Perron said Bill 49 (The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act) will have significant practical implications for the access and privacy rights of Manitobans. Read Full Story

The proposed changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act will increase the deadline for responses to requests for information to up to 90 days from the current limit of 30 days, which would be the longest wait allowed in Canada. Other changes would let the government disregard requests that are deemed too repetitive, too broad or  to use the proposals alarmingly vague wording  if the request is thought to "interfere with operations" or "legal privilege."

Information about the pandemic is only a small part of the wide range of information issues covered by Bill 49, but the governments close-fisted hold on pandemic information is illustrative. The proposal to further restrict information access is coming from a government that routinely dodges media questions about the pandemic as if it has an institutional allergy to transparency.

News conferences with health officials are frequent, and Premier Brian Pallister occasionally attends, but communication staff dictate the order and number of questions that can be asked, with journalists limited to a single question and follow-up. The answers  many would be more accurately called non-answers  often give only partial information or sidestep questions altogether.

For example, the government wont disclose whether people coming into Manitoba have been ticketed for breaking interprovincial travel restrictions and failing to isolate for 14 days, even though publicizing such information could help warn other incoming travellers they could be fined up to $1,296 if they dont quarantine.

The province has repeatedly refused to provide complete information on where people are getting COVID-19 in Manitoba and whether certain activities  perhaps going to church, work or hair salons  lead to more infections in comparison to other behaviours. Manitoba could learn from other jurisdictions, including Ottawa, that provide comprehensive transmission information.

The government of Manitoba has comprehensive modelling information, thought to be updated every three weeks, that projects different scenarios for the future path of COVID-19 transmission. Interested in how the transmission rate is expected to proceed in your region? The government wont tell the media, so the media cant tell the public.

What percentage of health-care workers has been vaccinated? What is the immunization rate by postal code? Good questions, asked by the media, not answered by the government.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Ombudsman Jill Perron opposes planned tightening of FIPPA legislation.

This is the information-hoarding pattern of a government that has already given second reading to a bill that will make it much tougher for the public, the media, lobbyists and opposition parties to pry out facts about a wide range of topics, including the pandemic.

No one suggests access to government information should be absolute. Freedom-of-information laws contain exemptions to withhold information that could undermine the operation of government or violate individuals privacy, such as releasing someones health records.

But the hush-it-up tendency of the sitting Manitoba government indicates an administration that has scant regard for the rights of citizens to access government information, which is a crucial pillar of a free and democratic society.

To be clear, government information is not owned by incumbent administrations to be used as a method of control for its political advantage. The information is owned by the citizens of Manitoba.

Mr. Pallisters administration is just the current gatekeeper of the information. The gate would be closed tighter under the proposed legislation, further hiding information Manitobans have a right to know.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 11:19:22|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Thursday expressed concern over the recent shutdown of a major oil port by the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

"The United Nations Support Mission in Libya expresses its concern regarding the recent shutdown in oil production at Marsa al-Hariga and indications that other shutdowns may be imminent. The uninterrupted production of oil as well as maintaining the independence and impartiality of the NOC remains a vital cornerstone to the economic, social and political stability of Libya," the UN agency said in a statement.

"It is incumbent on all parties to ensure that the NOC remains an independent, technocratic, well-resourced institution and to ensure the transparent and equitable management of resources, as set out in the LPDF (Libyan Political Dialogue Forum) Roadmap, to combat corruption. This is of critical importance for the Government that is requested to improve the delivery of basic services to the Libyan people," it said.

The NOC on Monday declared the state of force majeure in the port of al-Hariga as a result of the Central Bank of Libya's refusal to liquidate the oil budget for months.

Suspension of oil exports at Hariga port could cause daily losses of more than 118 million dinars (26 million U.S. dollars), the NOC said in a statement. Enditem
Kolkata, April 24 : The Election Commission of India has expressed concern over the lackadaisical attitude of the district administrations in implementing the Covid protocols during election rallies and meetings in West Bengal, where six of the eight phases of Assembly elections have been completed.

The poll panel, which held a virtual meeting on Friday with the District Election Officers (DEOs) for the seventh and eight phases of polling in the state, asked the officials to take strict action if Covid protocols are not followed.

Sources in the Commission said that it asked the DEOs why the high court had to intervene for not implementing the Covid protocols.

The poll panel also wanted to know why the district administrations are not taking enough steps to contain the candidates and party workers from ignoring the Covid guidelines laid down by the EC, the sources added.

The commission's reaction came after a division bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice T.B.N. Radhakrishnan and justice Arijit Banerjee came down heavily on the polling officials for not taking proper action to ensure that the Covid guidelines are followed during voting and campaigning in the state.

"The Commission has asked all the district officials to lodge FIRs against people not following the Covid guidelines and has asked them to send a compliance report to the poll panel," an official said.

Sources in the EC said that a total of 13 persons, including six candidates in Birbhum district, have been booked for not following the Covid guidelines.

Apart from that, another eight candidates in Malda district have been show-caused for ignoring the guidelines.

Earlier, the Commission had imposed a ban on roadshows and capped the attendance in public rallies to a maximum of 500 persons, that too with the availability of adequate space to maintain social distancing.

The poll panel had also disallowed any cycle/bike/vehicle rally for the purpose of campaigning.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Flower Expo is expected to receive 3 million visitors

By:Liu Xutong | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-04-23 13:19

The 10th China Flower Expo will open in Chongming in May.

The flower expo adopts "real-name appointment" to enter the park, so visitors need to make an appointment at least one day in advance. Self-driving vehicles cannot enter the core area of the Flower Expo Park if they do not make an appointment to park.

Zheng Yichuan, deputy district head of Chongming District, said that this Flower Expo is expected to receive 3 million visitors. He said that, We have set up a loop bus line with 7 stations, 2 battery car lines, and more than 120 passenger battery cars. In addition, at the tourist service center, we have equipped more than 200 wheelchairs for people with reduced mobility and more than 200 strollers for young children.




When "N", born in 1992 in Hanoi, was in high school, she realized that she was different from her peers.

The surgery

She was in the 12th grade but still had not had a menstrual period. After having medical examinations at hospitals, she was told that she had no uterus and no vagina, but the cause was unknown.

After finishing high school, N had a boyfriend. She could not have sex in the normal way because her "way in" was too narrow. She felt ashamed and the couple broke up after many years of being together.

In March, she had a medical examination at a central hospital and her problem was diagnosed as non-vaginal syndrome.

After she had a CT scan and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), physicians discovered that the patient did not have a uterus but had a mass in the ovary position which was suspected to be testicles, ovaries or a mix of both testicles and ovaries.

A chromosome test showed the result as XY, which meant the patient's genetic sex was male. Gene testing on the Y chromosome showed that the genes that differentiate testicles were working normally.

The patient was diagnosed with male pseudohermaphroditism. N was then referred to E Hospital for further examination and intervention.

Dr Nguyen Dinh Minh, head of the Department of Maxillofacial, Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery at E Hospital, said the patient has a completely feminine appearance with long hair, lovely face, chest and genitals that look like other women. The outward sex is similar to that of a woman. The patient's psychology and sexual orientation are also of a female. However, the patient's vagina was very narrow and shallow.

In pseudohermaphroditism, a person is born with the primary sex characteristics of one sex but develops secondary sex characteristics.

Normally, a human body has both male and female hormones. Of these, the AR gene is the main gene that determines the activity of androgen receptors, or the receptors of male hormones. This gene, if mutated, will make the body insensitive to androgens generated from testicles.

According to the doctor, pseudohermaphroditism should be detected as soon as possible so that the sex can be determined and medicines prescribed to increase hormones. However, the disorder is very difficult to detect unless patients are born with abnormalities in the genitals.

Though patients are born as a male with testicles, they can only receive female hormones from the adrenal glands and the body will develop with a female shape.

In the case of N, Minh said after the diagnosis, doctors carried out a psychological test.

The patient has a female mentality, tends to love men, and wishes to become a female. Therefore, we decided to conduct surgery to help the patient become female, Minh said.

The operation was done by surgeons from the Department of Maxillofacial, Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery and the department of Urology - Andrology and Obstetrics at E Hospital, with support from leading professors and experts, including Prof Tran Thiet Son, former head of the Plastic Surgery Department at Hanoi Medical University, Dr Tran Duc Phan, president of the Vietnam Medical Genetics Association, and Prof. Honorary Dang Van Duong, former head of the Pathology Department of Bach Mai Hospital.

Nguyen Dinh Lien, head of the Urology  Andrology Department at E Hospital, said during the operation, surgeons found a structural mass in the patients abdomen which looked like an oviduct embracing an ovary. However, they did not know if they were ovaries, testes or both ovaries and testes.

The team of surgeons stopped the operation and took a sample of tissue for a biopsy. The test showed that the mass was completely testicular, with a seminiferous tubule. The mass showed fibrosis and dysplasia that could easily lead to cancer.

Normally, testicles must be in the scrotum. The environment inside the abdomen is hotter than the outside environment, so the risk of testicular cancer is very high. We removed the testicles to eliminate this risk, Lien explained.

After surgery, the patient is in good condition. She is able to walk, and her vaginal cavity is spacious and stable. There is no pain in the abdomen.

The patient is expected to be discharged in the next few days.

Minh said the patient will be prescribed more drugs to enhance the female hormones which help the body become more feminine. Doctors have recommended abstaining from sex for three months after the date of discharge.

According to the doctor, pseudohermaphroditism should be detected as soon as possible so that the sex can be determined and medicines prescribed to increase hormones. However, the disorder is very difficult to detect unless patients are born with abnormalities in the genitals.

N, the patient, told VietNamNet that she had an inferiority complex for many years and she wanted to better understand herself.

N said she was shocked when she was told that she had male pseudohermaphroditism and questioned who she was. However, she pulled herself together after encouragement from the doctors.

I tell myself that I am always a girl who loves dresses and songs, and lives with the love of my relatives and friends, said the 29-year-old, adding that she has many plans for the future after she fully recovers.

Nguyen Lien
A COVID-19 patient waits inside an ambulance to be attended to and admitted into a dedicated COVID-19 government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, April 22, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. India reported another global record in daily infections for a second straight day Friday, adding 332,730 new cases. The surge already has driven its fragile health systems to the breaking point with understaffed hospitals overflowing with patients and critically short of supplies. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. More than a dozen people died when an oxygen-fed fire ripped through a coronavirus ward in a populous western state.

India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730.

India has confirmed 16 million cases so far, second only to the United States in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. India has recorded 2,263 deaths in the past 24 hours for a total of 186,920.

The fire in a hospital intensive care unit killed 13 COVID-19 patients in the Virar area on the outskirts of Mumbai early Friday.

The situation was worsening by the day with hospitals taking to social media pleading with the government to replenish their oxygen supplies and threatening to stop fresh admissions of patients.

A major private hospital chain in the capital, Max Hospital, tweeted that one of its facilities had one hour's oxygen supply in its system and was waiting for replenishment since early morning. Two days earlier, they had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court that they were running out of oxygen, endangering the lives of 400 patients, of which 262 were being treated with COVID-19.

A COVID-19 patient waits inside an ambulance to be attended to and admitted into a dedicated COVID-19 government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, April 22, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. India reported another global record in daily infections for a second straight day Friday, adding 332,730 new cases. The surge already has driven its fragile health systems to the breaking point with understaffed hospitals overflowing with patients and critically short of supplies. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

The government started running Oxygen Express trains with tankers to meet the scramble at hospitals, Railroad Minister Piyush Goyal said.

"We have surplus oxygen at plants which are far off from places where it is needed right now. Trucking oxygen is a challenge from these plants," said Saket Tiku, president of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association. "We have ramped up the production as oxygen consumption is rising through the roof. But we have limitations and the biggest challenge right now is transporting it to where its urgently needed. "

The Supreme Court told Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Thursday that it wanted a "national plan" on the supply of oxygen and essential drugs for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

The New Delhi government issued a list of a dozen government and private hospitals facing an acute shortage of oxygen supplies.

Health workers attend patient at jumbo Covid-19 centre in Mumbai, India, Thursday, April 22, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. India reported another global record in daily infections for a second straight day Friday, adding 332,730 new cases. The surge already has driven its fragile health systems to the breaking point with understaffed hospitals overflowing with patients and critically short of supplies. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

At another hospital in the capital, questions were raised about whether low oxygen supplies had caused deaths.

The Press Trust of India reported 25 COVID-19 patients died at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the past 24 hours and the lives of another 60 were at risk amid a serious oxygen supply crisis. The news agency quoted unnamed officials as saying "low pressure oxygen" could be the likely cause for their deaths.

However, Ajoy Sehgal, a hospital spokesperson, would not comment on whether the 25 patients died from a lack of oxygen. He said an oxygen tanker had just entered the hospital complex and hoped it would temporarily relieve the fast depleting supply.

The New Delhi Television channel later cited the hospital chairman as saying the deaths cannot be ascribed to a lack of oxygen.

On the outskirts of Mumbai, the fire early Friday was the second deadly incident at a hospital this week.

Flames rise from cremation pyres of victims of a fire that broke out in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital, at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

The fire on the second-floor ICU was extinguished and some patients requiring oxygen were moved to nearby hospitals, said Dilip Shah, CEO of Vijay Vallabh hospital. Shah said there are 90 patients in the hospital, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Mumbai, India's financial capital.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, he said. An explosion in the ICU air conditioning unit preceded the fire, PTI quoted government official Vivekanand Kadam as saying.

On Wednesday, 24 COVID-19 patients on ventilators died due to an oxygen leak in a hospital in Nashik, another city in Maharashtra state.

In New Delhi, Akhil Gupta was waiting for a bed for his 62-year-old mother, Suman. On April 2, she tested positive and was asymptomatic for 10 days. Then she developed a fever and started experiencing difficulty breathing.

A COVID-19 patient attended by a health worker inside a vehicle at a dedicated COVID-19 government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, April 22, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. India reported another global record in daily infections for a second straight day Friday, adding 332,730 new cases. The surge already has driven its fragile health systems to the breaking point with understaffed hospitals overflowing with patients and critically short of supplies. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

For the next two days, her other sons, Nikhil and Akhil, drove around the city, visiting every hospital in search of a bed. Sometimes they took their mother with them, sometimes they went on their own. They looked everywhere, to no avail.

On Friday, they got their mother into the emergency room at the Max Hospital in Patparganj, where she was put on oxygen temporarily as she waited in line for a bed to open up inside.

"Now the doctors are asking us to take her away because they don't have enough oxygen to keep her in the emergency room. But we're not even getting any ambulance with oxygen to transport her to some other facility," said Akhil Gupta.

The family decided to stay at Max and continue waiting for a bed.

"What else can we do?" said Akhil.

A year ago, India was able to avoid the shortages of medical oxygen that plagued Latin America and Africa after it converted industrial oxygen manufacturing systems into a medical-grade network.

Health workers shift a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

But many facilities went back to supplying oxygen to industries and now several Indian states face such shortages that the Health Ministry has urged hospitals to implement rationing.

The government in October began building new plants to produce medical oxygen, but now, some six months later, it remains unclear whether any have come on line, with the Health Ministry saying they were being "closely reviewed for early completion."

Tanks of oxygen are being shuttled across the country to hotspots to keep up with the demand, and several state governments have alleged that many have been intercepted by other states en route to be used for their needs.

Ashok Kumar Sharma, 62, was finally put on oxygen Monday in his home in West Delhi. It only happened after days of frantically searching for an oxygen cylinder from various hospitals, clinics and private distributors.

A COVID-19 patient attended inside a vehicle at a dedicated COVID-19 government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, April 22, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. India reported another global record in daily infections for a second straight day Friday, adding 332,730 new cases. The surge already has driven its fragile health systems to the breaking point with understaffed hospitals overflowing with patients and critically short of supplies. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Health workers carry a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Bodies of victims of a fire lie inside an ambulance in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo)

Health workers carry a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

People inspect an ICU ward after a fire broke out in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo)

Health workers shift a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. A fire killed 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India early Friday as an extreme surge in coronavirus infections leaves the nation short of medical care and oxygen. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

"I called at least 60 people looking for oxygen, but everyone's numbers were switched off," said Kunal, Sharma's son.

Kunal's father was diagnosed with pneumonia on April 14, and a few days later, tested positive for COVID-19. The doctors recommended he be put on oxygen immediately. When Kunal could not find any, he put out an SOS on social media.

"But there is so much black marketeering going on. People contacted me selling cylinders for 3 times, 4 times the original price," said Kunal. He finally acquired one from a personal contact.

"It's horrible how people are taking advantage of our helplessness," he said.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
CDC Looking At Whether Masks Are Still Needed Outdoors

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is looking at whether people should continue to wear masks outdoors amid the pandemic.

This is a question that were looking at, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on the Today show when asked about the matter. One of the things I think thats really important to understand is, while theres wonderful news and were getting more and more people vaccinated every single day, we still had 57,000 cases of COVID yesterday, we still had 733 deaths.

And so now, we are really trying to scale up vaccination. We have this complex message that we still have hot spots in this country. And we will be looking at the outdoor masking question but its also in the context of the fact that we still have people who are dying of COVID.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky speaks to reporters after visiting the Hynes Convention Center FEMA Mass Vaccination Site in Boston, Mass., on March 30, 2021. (Erin Clark/Pool/Getty Images)

Show host Samantha Guthrie then asked, I understand this is really complicated, but if people are getting vaccinated but they still have to wear maskstheyre outside in the fresh air and the warm weather but the CDC is still saying, Well you should probably wear your masksWhats the incentive? Isnt part of this part of a reward thing where, Do the right thing and youll be rewarded? Do you balance that at all when youre making these decisions about the guidance that you give?

Walensky responded, We absolutely do and as we look at the guidance to revivethe guidance of what you can do when youre vaccinated, that will be easier and easier to do as more and more people get vaccinated.

The CDCs guidance for wearing masks, updated on April 19, advises, Masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household. The guidance notes that some areas in the United States may have mask mandates while out in public.

The agency said it generally recommends that people should wear masks in public settings, at events and gatherings, and anywhere they will be around other people, as well as on any public transportation.

The CDC in another guidance updated April 2 noted that people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should keep taking precautions in public spaces, such as wearing a mask, staying six feet away from others, and avoiding crowds.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, is known to spread mainly via respiratory droplets that a person exhales. When the respiratory droplets are inhaled by another person, or is somehow deposited into the other persons mucous membranes that line the inside of the nose and mouth, infection may occur. The droplets can range in size, and small droplets can also form particles when they dry very quickly in the airstream, according to the CDC.

If the small droplets and particles manage to remain in the air for minutes to hours, COVID-19 can be spread via airborne transmission, and affect another person who is further than six feet away from the infected person. Only N95 masks protect against smaller particles.

The disease is less commonly spread through touching contaminated surfaces.

A review in the The Journal of Infectious Diseases published in November 2020 found that the likelihood of spreading the virus indoors was 18.7 times higher than outdoors, and that less than 10 percent of reported global CCP virus infections occurred outdoors.

Currently, 26 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, require people to wear masks in public. A total of 13 states have lifted their mask mandates.
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A collective bargaining agreement between an employer and a labor union that required certain grievances to be arbitrated did not prevent covered employees from suing for statutory violations, a California appeals court ruled. Employees were therefore not obligated to arbitrate their wage and hour claims against the employer, the court said.

The employer operates food, beverage and concessions services in airports around the country, including in California. The plaintiff worked as a dishwasher at the Los Angeles International Airport beginning in August 2018.

In December 2018, the employer and a labor union entered into a collective bargaining agreement covering certain employees including dishwashers at Los Angeles International Airport.

The collective bargaining agreement defines a "grievance" as any claim or dispute between the employee and the union or between an employee and the employer that involves interpretation, application or enforcement of the agreement.

The grievance procedure provided by the agreement contains a number of steps, beginning with the requirement that the employee discuss his complaint with his manager or supervisor. If the grievance is not settled in that initial meeting, the employee may appeal by filing a written grievance with the company's general manager. If the grievance is not resolved at this step, it is to be submitted to nonbinding arbitration, and if that does not settle the matter, to final and binding arbitration.

The plaintiff filed a class-action complaint against the employer on March 13, 2019, asserting that the employer failed to pay minimum wages and overtime and failed to provide proper meal and rest breaks.

On March 13, 2020, the employer filed a motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiff's claims. The employer argued that whether the plaintiff's claims were subject to arbitration was to be decided by an arbitrator, not the court, and that the collective bargaining agreement contained a clear and unmistakable agreement to arbitrate the plaintiff's individual claims.

The plaintiff opposed the motion, arguing that the parties had not agreed that an arbitrator would decide the issue of the arbitrability of the claims and that the collective bargaining agreement did not require arbitration of claims, like the plaintiff's, that alleged violations of California law, rather than violations of the collective bargaining agreement.

The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration. The court explained that the collective bargaining agreement did not contain a clear and unmistakable waiver of employees' rights to have the relevant issues decided by a court.

The employer appealed.

Waiving the Right to Sue

The court first noted that when a dispute arises between parties to an arbitration agreement, the parties may disagree about two issues that must be addressed prior to resolving the merits of the dispute. First, parties may disagree about whether their arbitration agreement applies to the particular dispute. Second, parties may disagree about whothe court or the arbitratorhas the power to decide whether the dispute is arbitrable.

The appeals court agreed with the trial court's holding that arbitrability was a question for the court, not the arbitrator. Courts presume that the parties intend courts, not arbitrators, to decide threshold issues of arbitrability. Therefore, the initial question of arbitrabilitywhether a collective bargaining agreement requires the parties to arbitrate the particular grievanceis an issue for judicial determination unless the parties clearly and unmistakably provide otherwise, the appeals court said.

And this agreement, the court said, does not clearly and unmistakably delegate the question of arbitrability to an arbitrator. To the contrary, the agreement limits the arbitrator's powers to only those issues the parties have specifically agreed to arbitrate, the court said.

The appeals court also ruled that the trial court was correct in concluding that the plaintiff's claims are not subject to arbitration. If a collective bargaining agreement contains an arbitration clause, courts will presume that the parties intended to arbitrate claims arising under the agreement itself. This presumption does not apply, however, when a dispute concerns the meaning of a statute rather than the application or interpretation of the agreement.

A collective bargaining agreement must contain a clear and unmistakable waiver of the covered employees' right to go to court over the statutory claims alleged in the complaint.

The "clear and unmistakable" standard has been applied to a variety of statutory claims, including those arising under California's wage and hour laws, the court said.

The court concluded that the language in the agreement did not contain a clear and unmistakable waiver of the plaintiff's right to litigate his statutory wage and hour claims in court. Therefore, the court affirmed the trial court's refusal to order arbitration of the plaintiff's claims.

Wilson-Davis v. SSP America Inc., Calif. Ct. App., No. B306781 (April 9, 2021).

Professional Pointer: A collective bargaining agreement may require the arbitration of statutory claims. However, its intent to do so must be clear and unmistakable. The court found that the proper standard was not met here.

Joanne Deschenaux, J.D., is a freelance writer in Annapolis, Md.
I began my journalism career in Nashville in 1990, with my current position with Nashville Post having evolved since October 2000 (when I was with the now-defunct The City Paper, a sister publication of the Post starting in 2008).

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In an effort to improve soil and water health, while preventing soil erosion, Illinois farmers are exploring the benefits of cover crops.

Cover crops are plants that are cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. The crops manage soil erosion and fertility, water quality, weeds pests, wildlife in an agroecosystem, an ecological system managed and shaped by humans.

The Illinois Farm Bureau, along with the Department of Natural Resources, is holding cover crop field days around the state. The events provide an opportunity to discuss cover crop strategies and water infiltration benefits.

Cover crop interest is growing in Illinois and has been for some time, said Leon McClerren, president of the Franklin County Farm Bureau, site of a cover crop pilot program. Our farmers are interested in learning how to be better stewards of our soil and natural resources.

In traditional corn or soybean rotations, overwintering with a cover crop is an attractive option for producers wanting to make improvements to field conditions or take advantage of forage potential for livestock.

We have livestock farmers across the state that look at some of these diverse mixes for a couple of different benefits including forage, said Lauren Lurkins, director of environmental policy at the Illinois Farm Bureau.

There is a cover crop pilot program at Wayne Fitzgerald State Recreation Area, which Lurkin said will involve a different blend of cover crops.

They are interested in not only the soil health benefits that can come whenever you have a crop between your corn and soybeans, but also the wildlife benefits because it is a state park, Lurkins said.

Some of the cover crops being used include crimson clover, sunflowers, hemp, cowpeas, rye and buckwheat.

Twenty-one projects are currently under way to support the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. The primary goals for the program include reducing nitrate-nitrogen losses in the soil by 15%, and reducing total phosphorus losses by 25% by the year 2025.

The Department of Natural Resources cover crop pilot is part of a USDA-NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program project. USDA awarded more than $8 million to the Illinois Working Lands, Water and Wildlife Conversation Partnership to protect working farmland, improve water quality and increase and enhance wildlife habitat.
Chennai, April 23 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send 20 lakh doses of vaccine for the state, as This is at least 10 days stock so that vaccination drive is not affected.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was released to media, he said that the state had administered 47.31 lakh doses of vaccine and is expected to continue 2 lakh doses of vaccine a day.

"An integrated vaccine complex at Chengalpet in Tamil Nadu was structurally and functionally ready and is awaiting commissioning and validation. I appeal to you to bring this facility to working condition at the earliest to augment the production of Covid vaccine at the earliest," he wrote.

Palaniswami, in his letter, also raised concern on certain individual suppliers prioritising supplies to certain states. He also pointed out that certain national regulators were restricting the sale of anti-viral drug Remdesivir only within the state where it is manufactured, and said that such restrictive orders should be barred.

He also sought the intervention of the Central government with the states where companies have manufacturing facilities.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on Monday, April 26, 2021.

The Central Committee meeting is a continuation of the meeting which was adjourned on March 31, 2021. Will be reconvened at 14.00hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure will be present.

The agenda point is:

The (financial) status of NV G.E.B.E. (IS/1135/2019-2020 dated August 18, 2020, and IS/ 169/2020-2021 dated November 16, 2020)

This meeting was requested by MP S.A. Wescot-Williams, MP M.D. Gumbs, MP C.A. Buncamper and MP G.S. Heyliger-Marten.

Due to measures taken to mitigate the coronavirus (COVID-19), the House of Parliament is only allowing persons with an appointment to enter the Parliament building.

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten
[April 23, 2021] Paritosh Jauhari Joins Successive Technologies as Chief Technology Officer

Former Director of Technology at Publicis Sapient, Paritosh Jauhari with over 17 years of engineering and digital transformation experience takes the helm of Successive Team NOIDA, India, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Successive Technologies, a next-gen (CMMI Level-3) technology consulting and services company headquartered in India, is proud to further strengthen its leadership team with the appointment of Paritosh Jauhari, as the Chief Technology Officer. With over 17 years of experience of delivering IT innovation and driving digital transformation programs, Paritosh will be responsible for creating new business models, enabling strategic engineering initiatives and supporting M&A & organization partnerships by working closely with multi-disciplinary teams across Successive Technologies. In addition to his CTO charter, Paritosh will contribute hands-on to expanding the enterprise consulting space, advising clients on how to harness & optimize their product investments, define roadmap prioritization, KPIs and archetypes for platform assessments. This will support the company's broader platform and infrastructure strategy, drive rapid innovation for customers and contributeto the company's ongoing leadership in the digital ecosystem.



Prior to joining Successive Technologies, Paritosh spent over 14 years at Publicis Sapient. During his tenure at Publicis Sapient, he focused on scaling complex omnichannel digital transformation enterprises in the Travel & Hospitality, Retail & Commerce, Energy & Commodities and Financial Services industries. Paritosh holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad. "I am looking forward to what the future holds. I am extremely impressed by the passion and values displayed by the leadership of the company," says Paritosh. "My vision for Successive is to bring in enterprise mindset & engineering maturity in our operations by leveraging modern and industry-focused engineering practices. We are in the midst of a digital revolution and using leading-edge innovation is the only way to sail through the current volatility in the business world. This mission at Successive really resonates with me."

Sid Pandey, CEO of Successive Technologies, comments: "We are extremely excited to bring Paritosh onboard. He has worked with several industry segments and has a profound understanding of the corporate landscape. We needed someone with exceptional knowledge of the technology ecosystem and significant leadership experience to offer a fresh outlook on our existing processes and accelerate our continued growth towards the transformation of our client's business." Gary Malik, Chief Strategy Officer at Successive Technologies, comments: "Onboarding a person like Paritosh Jauhari opens a lot of doors for Successive Technologies. He brings an incredible wealth of experience and knowledge which will surely be valuable for us as we continue to grow and scale globally. We are fortunate to have his perspective and leadership in the team." About Successive Technologies Founded in 2012, Successive is a next-gen technology consulting services company purpose-built for modern business speed. Our expertise includes digital transformation, enterprise cloud, mobility, application security, and application development solutions. We specialize in Cloud Consulting, Cloud Migration, DevOps Automation, DevSecOps & Enterprise Content Management. Our innovative approaches, thought process, and automation mindset help businesses build a strong business transformation foundation and customer satisfaction. For more information, please visit www.successive.tech Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1312400/Successive_Technologies_Logo.jpg

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We all salute your life of simplicity and kindness. A life of live-and-let-others-live, as a promoter of life more abundant for all. His Excellency, Isiaka Adeleke was an enigma who transited at Gods own appointment time, though we would have loved to have him with us for many more years.

As stated in the scripture, tell the righteous, it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruits of their deeds. On April 23, 2017, the eagle flew home in a blaze of glory and the world literarily stood still. Four years after his glorious transition, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adelekes spirit continues to enjoy peace of the Almighty God, and the unfailing and unalloyed loyalty of his well-wishers. His dreams and aspiration for selfless service to humanity remain undying and blossoming, as people of goodwill, who believe in his dignified personality and political acumen, are holding the front contended and keeping the flag flying high. Asia Isiaka Adeleke, lele lo nfe.

There is no dull moment for his sweet memory. Each passing day keeps him evergreen in the minds of his teaming admirers across the world. Why not, if not? He worked for such feat, while he was with us. Senator Isiaka Adelekes well-wishers are daily trying to outdo themselves to make his everlasting legacies endure and sweet memory to linger on. They are yet to come to terms with the reality of his transition. But the first executive governor of Osun State is resting peacefully in the bosom of Allah, his creator.

During his lifetime, he did not surround himself with pessimistic people or those who distrust Gods promises. He did not, when there were times of crises, which were very few and there was cause for worry, yield himself to entertaining fear. In such times, Senator Isiaka Adeleke turned to God in prayers, standing on the irrevocable promises of Almighty, that He will never abandon His own. The late Asiwaju of Edeland believed in the mighty power that changes every situation for the best. And he, in turn, gave the best of service to humanity. Isiaka Adeleke was one of the limited edition of human beings, with solid reputations, impeccable characters and without any scandal in his public and private lives.

In the last four years of his glorious transition, many people are still testifying to his good naturedness and how he brought hope into their lives, even when everything seemed hopeless. Such people are still trusting, that his illuminating spirit lives with them at this end.

A top traditional ruler in Osun State, whose domain bestowed a high ranking chieftaincy title on him many years ago, in a recent chat with me, described Asiwaju Isiaka Adeleke as an achiever in his own right, who was singularly lucky to have enjoyed Gods special grace and mercy in all his endeavours. The foremost monarch also described Senator Adeleke as a likeable and lovable personality, even at first sight. The voice of the people is the voice of God.

There is no denying the fact that so many highly and lowly placed people in the society were daily singing his praise when with us, yet Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke did not for once expose such people, even when he knew they were up to games. He tolerated every shortcoming of the different human beings that he came across.

Senator Isiaka Adeleke cherished friendship and comradeship. We will always remember his comforting and soothing words. His legacy of love, care and commitment to the people around him will always remain engraved in our hearts. The society at large will remember him as a virtous man, whose greatness impacted positively on their lives.

Though he primed himself to come back and serve the Osun people as their governor, that dream is not over yet and Senator Isiaka Adeleke will, by Gods grace, soon hear good news to that effect. His political spirit is fighting that cause, and in addition to Gods mercy, the unfailing loyalty and unflinching love of the people of Osun State for him, there will be a pay back time for all his selfless goodness to them when he was alive. Political activism is reigning supreme among his supporters. His political structure is waxing stronger on a daily basis.

Right now across Osun State, the Adeleke Dynasty is busy distributing thousands of bags of rice to members of the public (Muslims and Non-Muslim), who are currently observing the Holy Month of Ramadan. This rare humanitarian gesture has been the unique practice of the Adeleke Dynasty since your transition four years ago, in keeping faith with your life of philanthropy.

Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adelekes clear vision and ideology of others first, self last, should continue to be sustained by all and sundry. Not only in Nigeria is the memory of the first Executive Governor of Osun State being celebrated. Not long ago, his admirers in an Asian country conferred on him, posthumously, the title of Supreme Commander of politics without bitterness, while another Nigeria Society in Philippines, conferred on the Late Otunba of Ejigbo, the title of GENERALISMO of the down trodden people. That is the man of the people, fondly remembered in far-flung areas of the world, because he rose above petty political squabbles and gave his golden heart to his people.

We all salute your life of simplicity and kindness. A life of live-and-let-others-live, as a promoter of life more abundant for all. His Excellency, Isiaka Adeleke was an enigma who transited at Gods own appointment time, though we would have loved to have him with us for many more years. We feel the fragrance of his presence everyday. Senator Isiaka Adeleke gave us cause to believe that life without recourse to the upliftment of mankind is a worthless life. He taught us to give to charity, even if it is only with a flash of smile to the needy, the oppressed and the voiceless in the society, to uplift their spirit. These are qualities the first executive governor of Osun State amply demonstrated throughout his lifetime. We give glory to God for all the immeasurable good deeds that he put in place. They are simply indelible. We thank God that he lived an unblemished life and his good name was untainted. Senator Isiaka Adeleke was a man with the midas touch. A legend in life and in death. A statesman par excellence, who was shoulder high above his peers. A true son of late Balogun Raji Ayoola Adeleke and Mama Esther Adeleke, both of whom impacted positively on his life and their other amiable children.

The world at large is still missing you, iconic Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke. A man who shone like a lone star in the sky. A polished politician and unassailable humanitarian of no mean order. Senator Isiaka Adeleke was a total family man who was a father, not only to his biological children, but to many out there, whose lives he touched through scholarship awards and other silent philanthropic gestures.

The leader of leaders. Our leader yesterday, today and forever, continue to rest in perfect peace in Aljanat fridaus. Sweet is your memory, our fantastic friend, brother and boss. Evergreen is your memory.

Olumide Lawal was Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to late Senator Isiaka Adeleke.
Capital Gain EVAmerican Family Plan Psaki

the Dow is down about 350 points on reports that the Biden administration is going to propose doubling, essentially, the capital gains rate for high-income Americans. Can you tell us any more about that plan? And do you have any concerns that that would discourage long-term investing?

more details or full transcript can be found here

some user comments can be found here

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In another episode of this happens only in India, thieves who stole Covishield and Covaxin from a hospital in Haryana have now returned the vaccines after 12 hours.



According to the police officials, they said that the thieves left a note behind apologizing for stealing the vaccines when the states are struggling to cope with the demand of the coronavirus jab.

Yes, you read that right!

On Thursday, locals found 622 stolen doses of COVID-19 vaccines at a tea stall near the Civil Lines police station in Haryana's Jind.

The thieves also left a note saying, Sorry- I did not know it was Corona Vaccine.

Check out the post here-

The thief who stole 182 vials of Covishield Vaccine and 44O vials of Covaxine from Jind Civil Hospital in Haryana, left these at a tea stall outside Jind Civil Lines Police Station. A note saying, Sorry- I did not know it was Corona Vaccine, has been found inside. pic.twitter.com/IJXHVPWjvm  Man Aman Singh Chhina (@manaman_chhina) April 22, 2021

A journalist, Man Aman Singh Chinna took to Twitter and wrote, The thief who stole 182 vials of Covishield Vaccine and 44O vials of Covaxine from Jind Civil Hospital in Haryana, left these at a tea stall outside Jind Civil Lines Police Station. A note saying, Sorry- I did not know it was Corona Vaccine, has been found inside.



The police also said that around 182 doses of Covishield and around 440 doses of Covaxin were recovered.

The police officials also said that the police have also recovered some clues that may lead to the identities of the thieves.

Heres what people have to say about the bizarre incident-

Remdesivir Vials possibly, considering the stage of pandemic we are in..!  Prof. Q (@staribo) April 22, 2021

Looks like the thief has more conscience than our govt.  Zed (@zed_Capri) April 22, 2021

Chor bhi sensitive ho gaye hain, bas jin logon ko sensitive hona chahiye wo pathar hain  Arshdeep Sandhu (Raavi) (@arsh11kaur) April 22, 2021

Correction:



Small theif surrenders to small Chai wala



Big thief surrenders to Big Chai wala.



Aya bada.  Priyank PhD(Pool.Dead) (@ArmyKaFan) April 22, 2021

More humanity than our leaders  b e n z (@theunrealbenz) April 23, 2021

How long can they stay in room temperature  Curious (@devil_curious) April 22, 2021

Kharab ho gyi honi...ab tak to  Ashish Kumar (@13number) April 22, 2021

Earlier on Thursday, nearly 171 vials of Covid-19 vaccines, including 440 doses of Covaxin and 1,270 doses of Covishield were stolen from the storeroom of the PP Centre General Hospital in Jind. Initial reports indicated that the thieves left medicines and cash kept inside the storeroom untouched.

For the unversed, nearly 171 vials of Covid-19 vaccines were stolen, including 440 doses of Covaxin and 1270 doses of Covishield were stolen from the storeroom of the PP Centre General Hospital in Jind. The reports also said that the thieves left everything else including the cash untouched in the storeroom.
A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising 22,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) and 12,500 tonnes of a mixture of plate and structural (P&S) and HMS 1 at an average price of $429 per tonne cfr.Meanwhile, a steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a 27,000-28,000-tonne Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $427 per tonne, shredded at $432 per tonne and bonus at $437 per tonne cfr.These compared with the previous deep-sea bookings done on Friday April 16 at $416-417 per tonne cfr for Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20).As a result, the daily scrap indices went up on Wednesday April 21.Fastmarkets daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $425.52 per tonne on April 21, up by $9.27 per tonne day on day.And the daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey was $431.49 per tonne on Wednesday, also up by $9.27 per tonne day on day, leaving the premium for US material over European scrap at $5.97 per tonne.Market participants attributed the increase to the latest rebar and billet sales Turkish mills secured in Southeast Asia and Latin America.The Turkish mills were not willing to pay higher prices for scrap earlier. However, the demand in the Latin America and Southeast Asia encouraged them to pay more for scrap. I heard the mill in northern Turkey, who bought the Baltic Sea cargo, sold 20,000 tonnes of billet to Peru, a Turkish source said.Turkish local rebar market is very weak but the export market is comparatively stronger, another Turkish source said.Turkish rebar export offers were now standing at $650-660 per tonne fob on actual weight basis, compared with the $635 per tonne levels heard last week.Fastmarkets weekly price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey was $625-635 per tonne in the latest assessment on April 15, down from previous weeks $635-640 per tonne. The price will next be published on April 22.
Abu Tayyab, a senior television journalist, was arrested by police on April 20 under the controversial Digital Security Act (DSA) for writing social media posts about alleged corruption by Khulna City Corporation (KCC) mayor, Talukder Abdul Khaleque. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges the KCC mayor to drop all charges against the journalist.

Tayab, Khulna bureau chief of NTV, a private television channel, was arrested on April 20 following the filing of a case against the journalist under the DSA on April 19. Tayab is accused of spreading negative propaganda on his Facebook account and of defaming the KCC mayor, who is also the president of Awami League's city unit, by publishing false news stories regarding the mayors alleged corruption.

Following his arrest, Tayab faced Khulna Metropolitan Magistrates court on April 21. The court Magistrate, Tariqul Islam, rejected the bail petition filed by the journalists lawyer.

Bangladeshs DSA, adopted in October 2018, puts dangerous restrictions on freedom of expression and is regularly used by authorities to silence criticism. During 2020, arrests under the DSA increased significantly to crackdown on Covid-19 rumours. Bangladeshi writer, Mushtaq Ahmed, was detained under the DSA in May 2020 for posting criticism of the governments response to Covid-19 on Facebook; he died in police custody on February 25, 2021.

Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF) said: The BMSF strongly condemns the arrest of the journalist Abu Tayab and demands his release.

The IFJ said: False accusations towards journalists and the implementation of the draconian DSA has posed a serious threat to press freedom and freedom of expression in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh must scrap the DSA immediately.
BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua)-- China will announce the name of its first Mars rover on the Space Day of China, which falls on April 24, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, will host the main events marking this year's Space Day of China, Lyu Bo, a CNSA official, told a press conference on Monday.

The events include the opening ceremony, bilateral talks on the international lunar research station, and the fourth China Space Conference.

The name of China's first Mars rover will be announced at the opening ceremony on Saturday, Lyu said.

China launched Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2020. The spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, entered the parking orbit of Mars after performing an orbital maneuver on Feb. 24.

The global campaign of naming the rover kicked off last July. Netizens at home and abroad were invited to vote for their favorite among 10 candidates from Jan. 20 to Feb. 28.

Last month, three possible names emerged, with "Zhurong," a fire god in ancient Chinese mythology, topping the list.

In 2016, China set April 24 as the country's Space Day to mark the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970.

The various activities on Space Day have become a window for the Chinese public and the world to better understand China's aerospace progress.

This year, about 300 activities will be held across the country. The public will have the opportunity to visit several space pavilions, space facilities, labs and workshops. Academicians and experts will give speeches on space science on campus.

In Nanjing, lunar samples as well as the Chang'e-5 return capsule and parachute will be on display.

[ Editor: WXY ]
Some leaks on the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 have been circulating on the internet for these last few months, and a new one is added to the mix. This latest leak shows the interior designs along with some stolen pictures for the car model.

The Toyota Land Cruiser Series was first released in 1951, making it one of the longest-running series in the SUV Production line. The car series was iconic for offering off-road prowess and on-road comfort for eight passengers, making it the perfect choice for family adventure runs.

In 2019, Car and Driver reported that after reaching 60 years in the production line, Toyota celebrated the line-up with the Land Cruiser Heritage Edition. This limited edition brought up its core values on quality, dependability, and reliability in the driving experience and sold more than 10 million Land Cruisers worldwide.

In these last few months, Toyota is rumored to be upgrading the Land Cruiser Series with the coming of the new 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300.

2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 Exterior and Interior Design

Toyota did not make too many changes in the external design perspective of the car. Photographs from Autoevolution show the same large grille and slim headlights its predecessor had. The front is also complemented by the classical squared-off fenders. However, the new 300 series feature mirrors equipped on the doors instead of the pillars.

Some changes can be seen in the interior of the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300. A 7-inch digital instrument cluster is installed, along with a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

Some helpful features have also been added, such as autonomous emergency braking, two-speed transfer case, hill descent control and obvious locking differentials.

Read Also: Ferrari 812 Superfast Limited Edition Top Speed, Specs and More: New Car Boasts 819 Horsepower, New Exterior Design!

2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 Engine Specs and Performance

The 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 is reported to use the TNGA-F platform, per Auto Evolution. Its engine is said to be the F33A-FTV 3.3-liter turbo diesel V6 running at 304 hp and 687 Nm of torque. However, a second speculation claims that the new engine would be a V35A-FTS twin-turbo V6 gasoline engine running at 414 hp and 589 Nm of torque.

There are also rumors that the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 would come as a hybrid or plug-in hybrid option. Regardless, it is almost certain that the car would have a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Most of the numbers are rough estimates and is subject to change at any moment until Toyota makes their official release on the model. It is possible that further upgrades will be equipped, and an entirely new model might emerge as their final product. The wait is not long because leaks claim that the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 might officially announce sometime in September.

YouTuber Kirk Kreifels however, said that the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser J300 would not be available in the US. This might come from the fact that Toyota failed to make good sales since 2018 up to date. Enthusiasts might have to buy their units from countries such as Australia or Japan to avail of this specific model.



Related Article: 2023 Cadillac Lyriq Exterior Design, Specs and More: Futuristic Look, Special Self-Driving Features Teased!
KYIV, Ukraine  The Russian president went up to the brink  and then, with the eyes of the world upon him, stepped back from it.

State television images on Friday showed Russian forces that had massed near Ukraine, sparking fears of an imminent full-scale war in Europe, being loaded onto trains and ships to be pulled back. The same day, the imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny announced that he was ending his three-week hunger strike because his demands for independent medical care had, at last, sufficiently been met.

The performative blend of fear, suspense and force that President Vladimir V. Putin deploys to affirm his power crescendoed this week, illuminating the ever-harder-line tactics to which he is prepared to resort to cement and project his influence. Yet it also became clear by Friday that Mr. Putin saw the anxiety he was able to induce at home and abroad as a tool to be modulated depending on changing circumstances or in the service of a broader aim.

It was a distillation, in short, of Mr. Putins tactical, high-stakes rule that evokes his past as an officer in the K.G.B.: keeping the adversary guessing and off balance, while also being prepared to exercise restraint as long as he can save face.
Monday April 26, 2021

Job Title: Domestic Violence Case Manager City Ilion, NY

Full time for a charitable organization serving the Mohawk Valley. Duties: Provide victims of domestic violence support, advocacy, and referral to community services. Requirements: Bachelor's Degree preferred. Will consider candidates with a special interest in working with the population served. Drivers license and reliable transportation required.

Pay: Not specified. Benefits. Job Order # NY1366807

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Monday April 26, 2021

Job Title: Production Worker City Utica, NY

Full time for a local food manufacturer. Duties. Perform hand assembly and packaging of food products. Requirements: Must have a vehicle or reliable transportation. Must be able to lift 50 lbs. Must be able to work weekends, nights, and holidays as needed. There will be a Hiring Event for these and other positions tomorrow, Tuesday April 27th from 10 am to 3 pm at 2200 Bleecker St. Utica.

Pay: Not specified. Job Order # NY1366629

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Tuesday April 27, 2021

Job Title: Order Fillers and Stockers City Rome, NY

Full time for a new distribution center. Duties: Currently hiring Order Fillers, Stockers, Inventory Control Clerks, Drivers, Material Handlers and more. Requirements: There will be a Drive-Thru Job Fair at their facility at 1 Atlas Drive Rome on Friday April 30th from 12 noon to 4 pm. Stop by to check out the opportunities.

Pay: Varies by position and shift. Benefits. Job Order # NY1365412 ___________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday April 27, 2021

Job Title: Apprentice Carpenter City Utica, NY

Full time for a regional labor union. Duties: Learn to be a carpenter in commercial construction. There will be a virtual information session, the first step in the application process, on Monday May 3rd at 6:00 pm. Requirements: HS diploma or GED, a valid driver license and reliable transportation to and from statewide work sites. You must pre-register for the information session online by April 30th.

Pay: Not specified. Benefits Job Order # NY1364866

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Wednesday April 28, 2021

Job Title: Member Relationship Advisor City Rome, NY

Full time, for a local credit union. Duties: Provide member services in a call center, managing a high volume of inbound and outbound calls. Requirements: Associate's Degree preferred. Equivalent work experience will be considered. Must have at least one-year experience in a call center environment.

Pay: Starts at $17.07/hour. Benefits Job Order # DE9539564

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Wednesday April 28, 2021

Job Title: HR Generalist City Frankfort, NY

Full time for a distributor of safety equipment and industrial supplies. Duties: Perform general Human Resource administrative functions. Requirements: Associate's Degree or higher in Human Resources and 1-3 years of Corporate Talent Acquisition or Recruitment experience required. PHR certification is a plus.

Pay: Not specified. Benefits Job Order # NY1366953

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Thursday April 29, 2021

Job Title: Machinist City Canastota, NY

Full time for a local machine shop. Duties: Operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments. Candidate will be using Mazak equipment and MRP software. Requirements: Candidate must be able to walk and stand for periods of time and possess fine hand motor skills for working with small parts.

Pay: Competitive pay. Benefits Job Order # NY1367070

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Thursday April 29, 2021

Job Title: Saute Line Cook City Sylvan Beach, NY

Full time and part time positions with a busy local restaurant. Duties: Prepare dishes to order. Requirements: Must have at least 1 year of restaurant line cook experience.

Pay: $20.00-$22.00/hour based on experience. Job Order # NY1366919

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Friday April 30, 2021

Job Title: Inside Sales Representative City Utica, NY

Full time for a global manufacturing company. Duties: Meet sales targets in the artisan jewelry and precision investment casting marketplace. Territories include the US, Canada, Mexico and Central and South America. Requirements: Associate's Degree in a business-related field required, Bachelor's Degree preferred. Spanish fluency is highly desired. Should be proficient in Microsoft Office systems.

Pay: Not specified. Benefits Job Order # NY1360451

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Friday April 30, 2021

Job Title: Cashier/Receptionist City Oneida, NY

Full time for a local car dealership. Duties: Answering phones, assisting customers, and running a cash register. Requirements: High School diploma or the equivalent. Candidate must be able to accurately count money. Prior customer service experience is preferred. Ability to multi-task is essential.

Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1366997

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For more information, contact your local Working Solutions office, or visit working-solutions.org.

Herkimer County: 315-867-1400 | Madison County: 315-363-2400 | Oneida County-Utica: 315-793-2229 | Oneida County-Rome: 315-356-0662
One of the most respected dealers of her generation  a tribute to Doris Ammann

Friends and colleagues remember the esteemed Swiss gallerist, a familiar figure in salerooms around the world, who was known for her elegance, knowledge, friendliness and discretion

On 21 March, the eminent Swiss art dealer Doris Ammann passed away, aged 76. She was head of Zurichs Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG gallery, which shows major artists including Brice Marden, Robert Ryman, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol. It also helped publish the first two volumes of Andy Warhols catalogue raisonne: Paintings and Sculpture 1961-1963 and Paintings and Sculptures 1964-1969. Doris Ammann was much more than that, however. She was a constant presence at auctions around the world, making Seat 7 in the front row of Christies main New York saleroom in Rockefeller Plaza her own. Were talking about the loss of one of the most respected dealers of her generation, says Georg Frei, her partner at Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG. She was a mix of elegance, knowledge, friendliness and discretion  and her loyal core of international clients appreciated that. Born in 1944 in the village of Ermatingen in north-east Switzerland, Ammann was one of four siblings. She studied at business school before interning at a handful of first-class hotels (including Badrutts Palace in St. Moritz) and working at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The skills she developed early, in business and client engagement, would serve Ammann well in later life  as would a fluent command of several languages.

Doris stayed strong and always believed in herself, and in her direction for the gallery  Georg Frei, Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG

Her parents werent much interested in art, but her younger brother Thomas worked at Bruno Bischofbergers gallery in Zurich from the age of 18. In 1977 he and Doris opened Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG together in the picturesque hillside setting of Zurichberg. They were an excellent team, says Frei, who started work with the Ammanns in the late 1980s. Thomas was very much a front-of-house figure, while Doris worked more on the accounting and administrative side of things. Thomas swiftly developed a reputation as one of the boldest, snazziest figures in the art world. A Vanity Fair profile of him in 1988 was headlined Ammann of Style and mentioned that he skis with Valentino, dines with Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor and lives on Concorde. Working with private collectors and museums, the gallery dealt in top-tier works made mostly between 1870 and 1960, from the Impressionists to early Warhol. One of many important acquisitions it brokered was that of Vincent van Goghs Portrait of Joseph Roulin by New Yorks Museum of Modern Art in 1989. Four years later, however, Thomas passed away, aged just 43. That was a shock, says Frei, and suddenly Doris had to step from the background to the foreground [assuming sole control of the gallery]. In the beginning, there was little trust in her, because nobody knew her capabilities as a dealer. Many people saw her simply as Thomass sister. To her credit, Doris stayed strong and always believed in herself  and in her direction for the gallery.

Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, with works from the exhibition Cy Twombly, Anatomy out of Light and the Sea in 2017. Photo: Geyst AG, Zurich Switzerland

Doriss policy was broadly one of continuity, but she also changed with the times. She kept a focus on art from the same period and shared her brothers insistence on quality over quantity. Critically admired exhibitions continued, devoted to the likes of Picasso, the Italian Futurists and  in 2017, marking the gallerys 40th anniversary  Cy Twombly. Shows also continued to be accompanied by impressive, fully illustrated catalogues. One crucial innovation, however, was to begin participation in Art Basel. It is now the biggest art fair on the planet, but back in the early 1990s it was still relatively low-key.

She was delicious company and a smart conversationalist... friends could confide in her about anything  Valentino Garavani

Doris managed to maintain the [European and North American] clients from Thomass time, says Frei, but with the exposure at Art Basel she developed important new ones from other parts of the world, such as Japan, China and South America. One of her clients, who also counted himself a friend, was the fashion designer Valentino. She was delicious company and a smart conversationalist, he says  someone who never lost her smile or sense of humour, whatever was happening in the art world. All clients felt easy dealing with her, and friends could confide in her about anything, adds the designer. I will miss her. Across three decades, Ammann was a fixture at major auctions. She relied on an impeccable eye  some called it a sixth sense  for the works she thought her clients would like. She was a savvy buyer, says Jussi Pylkkanen, global president at Christies, who stood across the rostrum from Ammann at countless auctions. Shed never go in too early, much preferring to make her bids late Id always give her the final look before hammering down on a work I thought she might be interested in. In Christies sale of the collection of the late travel magnate Barney A. Ebsworth, in 2018, Ammann bought two masterpieces of American modernism: Jackson Pollocks Composition with Red Strokes (1950) and Alexander Calders sculpture, Hen (1943).

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The curve of the coronavirus epidemic in Spain is flattening. The ongoing fourth wave, which is much less pronounced than the first three, appears to be easing  or, at least, it is not sharply climbing. According to the Health Ministry, Spain is at the onset of stabilization in terms of the pandemic based on the latest figures.

The report released on Thursday by the ministry shows that the 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants for the country as a whole remains high, at 232.55. But it barely rose three points on the day before, after two days with no change. The experts attribute this to the vaccination campaign and the ongoing social restrictions in most of the country, but they also warn that the situation in Spain is far from good  seven regions and the two North African exclave cities, Ceuta and Melilla, are at extreme risk levels, with an incidence above 250, and one in every five intensive care unit (ICU) beds is occupied by Covid-19 patients. Thursdays report added 132 deaths to the official toll, which now stands at 77,496.

This wave cant be compared with the previous ones and it appears to be stabilizing now Jesus Molina Cabrillana, spokesperson for the Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene

Caution and prudence, insists Daniel Lopez-Acuna, a former director of emergencies at the World Health Organization (WHO). After more than a month that has seen the incidence rising  the curve started to go up on March 16  the 14-day cumulative incidence has plateaued for the last week. On Monday it came in at 230, and by Thursday it had gone up by 2.55 points. We are in a plateau phase, taking one step forward and one step back, explains Toni Trilla, head of preventive medicine at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona. Perhaps the health system will not suffer so much and I hope that there is a consolidated fall, but we are a bit confused because this wave has not followed the pattern of other waves.

Some epidemiologists point to the seven-day cumulative incidence, which also confirms the plateau. This data point has been hovering around 108 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days, less than 50% of the 14-day figure. If the seven-day incidence is below 50% of the 14-day incidence, that means that the curve is falling, explains Jesus Molina Cabrillana, spokesperson for the Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene. This wave cant be compared with the previous ones and it appears to be stabilizing now. In any case, if there is an uptick, it wont be a big one. More than a week has now passed since Easter, which is when there could have been an increase in infections, and it is not expected to rise further.

The speed of transmission of the virus in Spain  the R number, which measures on average how many people a person with the coronavirus infects  is also falling. On April 14, the last day for which there is data, the number had fallen below one for the first time in a month  that is the limit below which the health authorities say that the virus is under control. On that day, it came in at 0.98  thats to say, for every 100 positives, another 98 people will be infected. It is good for this to continue like this, explains Lopez-Acuna. But what should guide us is that, if we continue to have a plateau and incidences that are very high and intensive care units with such high occupation, we should be concerned.

What is clear from the data is that the epidemiological situation varies greatly from region to region. Valencia, for example, is below 40 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest level in Spain. Galicia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia are also under 100. Madrid and Navarre, however, are as high as 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants while the Basque Country exceeds 500 cases.

The overcrowding of people can have a big influence, explains epidemiologist Joan Cayla. The population density is not the same in Galicia as it is in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. In the case of the Valencia region, what they do very well there is contact tracing and that can be a determining factor for isolating cases and imposing quarantines.

The toughness of the measures in place  each region can decide its own restrictions  and compliance with the rules, the experts say, constitute another of the determining factors that are seeing the epidemiological curves fluctuate. Valencia, for example, has taken very strict measures and is deescalating very slowly  bars have to close at 6pm, a restriction that is due to be lifted on Monday. Madrid, meanwhile, with an incidence that is 10 times higher, has been a lot laxer with restrictions. Restaurants, for example, are staying open until 11pm.

The experts also assume that the vaccination campaign has also played a key role in the progress of this wave, but there are several nuances here. With just 21.4% of the population so far protected with one shot of the Covid-19 vaccines being used in Spain, above all in the older age groups, the epidemiologists agree that the vaccine has not had such an influence on the infection curve, given that most of the new cases are being registered among young people who have not had the chance to get their shots yet. The big effect, they say, is in terms of the fall in deaths and hospitalizations, where age is a key factor. Vaccination will have had an influence on the curve of infections, explains Molina Cabrillana, but where it has really contributed is with serious illness and mortality. There is currently not the kind of overloading [of hospitals] that we saw in November and January.

Spains ICUs were facing this fourth wave from a starting point of high hospital occupation. On March 16, for example, 20% of beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients, and healthcare professions feared a wave of new cases after Easter week. However, admissions have not, for now, shot up. On Thursday, there were 2,283 coronavirus patients in a critical condition  that is 22.6% of the available ICU beds.

Lopez-Acuna insists on the need for prudence in the current situation. It is likely that the magnitude of the wave is not so pronounced because there is less mobility than at Christmas, fewer crowds and a segment of the population is protected [by vaccines]. But there are a few worrying elements: community transmission is not under control, and there is an ongoing high occupation of ICUs, with the most severe cases linked to the British strain, which leads to longer hospital stays. This variant, which is more infectious and was first identified in England, has been predominant in Spain since March.

The experts all coincide with Lopez-Acuna and call for the social restrictions in place and protection measures to be respected, and for people not to drop their guard ahead of time. The impact on the healthcare system will have to fall if the speed of vaccination accelerates, but it will take time before we see this in terms of infections, explains Trilla. The European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) has issued a recommendation stating that two people should be able to remove their masks in a closed space if both of them are vaccinated, as well as calling for a relaxation of quarantine and testing requirements for travel for those who have had their vaccine shots. Molina Cabrillana sees this as feasible, but Trilla and Lopez-Acuna say that it is premature because it could convey a message of false security, and prompt an excessive relaxation.

As for the social restrictions, Trilla recommends asymmetrical measures that are adapted to the scale of each region at any given time. Molina Cabrillana is calling for people to hold on a little longer, until we are below 50 cases per 100,000 [inhabitants]. Lopez-Acuna, meanwhile, is insisting that restrictions continue in closed spaces. If there is one thing that all the experts consulted by EL PAIS agree on, it is the major pending task: Strict contact studies, Cayla states.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Minutes before the jury delivered their verdict convicting a former Minneapolis police officer for the murder of George Floyd, another police officer in Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant. MaKhia joins Adam Toledo (13), Anthony Thompson (17), Iremamber Sykap (16), and Anthony Bernal Cano (17) on the list of children who have been killed by the police since the new year began, which includes at least five in the past month alone. Add to that the dozens of children who have been killed by police in the past decade and we have reason to be concerned about the sanctity of American childhood.

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Executing children is considered barbaric, uncivilized, and inhumane all over the world. Four international agreements prohibit the practiceeven for children who are involved in violent crimes. Our own Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute children for crimes they committed before they were 18. With advances in developmental research, we now know more than ever about why teenagers make impulsive, irresponsible, and sometimes dangerous choices, like carrying a gun, riding in a stolen car, or grabbing a knife to ward off a potential threat. But since most of us believe that children can and will mature with time and support, we treat them with grace and forgiveness. We dont beat them, tase them, pepper-spray them, put them in chokeholds, body slam them, or sic dogs on them. We certainly dont kill them. But the persistent examples of police killing Black and brown children raises the question: Who is entitled to the grace of childhood?

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On Tuesday, MaKhia Bryant was shot to death by an officer who reportedly wanted to prevent her from stabbing another girl with a knife. The officers arrived on the scene with little information about how the altercation started, who was in danger, and who was at fault. Video released by the Columbus Police Department shows that the officer shot MaKhia within seconds of exiting his car. The scene appeared chaotic for everyone, including MaKhia, a distressed teenager who had little time to comprehend the officers inquiries, understand who he was talking to, and comply with his demands. The officer responded with lethal forcenot his Taser, pepper spray, or a tackle.

Of course, the facts in MaKhias case are still unfolding, and we only have a short clip of the incident. No doubt, the police want us to slow down, resist snap judgments, and evaluate this shooting independently of all the others. But this is exactly what the police should be doing every time they each encounter a child. Yes, every one of these shootings is different, but several themes emerge across them all, and it is not too early to conclude that most police killings involving children can be avoided.

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First, race matters. We dont have to rely on anecdotes and high-profile cases. Data confirms that a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic people experience police threats or use of force than white people. Black and Hispanic youth, in particular, are significantly more likely to experience force and die at the hands of police than white youth. These disparities may be explained by simulated experiments showing that the implicit dehumanization of Black people is a significant predictor of racial disparities in police use of force against children.

Age also matters. Police are more likely to use or threaten to use force in their interactions with younger people than adults. And they are significantly more likely to shoot an unarmed, nonattacking teenager than an adult. Unarmed teenagers are nearly five times more likely to be shot to death by police than similarly nonattacking middle-aged people. Unfortunately, far too many officers dont know how to engage with adolescents, and police departments rarely provide the right training for these encounters. Even school resources officers lack adequate training on the teen brain and childhood trauma.

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Third, speed matters. When police act under extreme time pressure, with limited information, in what appear to be risky situations, they are more likely to default to deeply embedded stereotypes and assumptions that associate Black people with crime. Police routinely rely on the split-second decision as a defense to all police shootings, but not every encounter is or has to involve a split-second decision. In Chicago, police pursued Adam Toledo because they saw him standing near a 21-year-old who fired a weapon at a passing car. When the officer chased him, he didnt know if Adam was an armed and active participant or an unwitting or coerced observer. I wonder if, when, and how long the officer needed to follow Adam through an alley in the dark of night. With the prevalence of body-worn cameras and public and private security equipment, I wonder how hard it would have been for the police to capture Adams image, gather more information, and locate him shortly thereafter without the immediate chase. Even with the pursuit, the prosecutors initial claim that Adam was holding a gun when he was shot proved false in the body camera footage. As is almost always the case when children are shot by police, the split-second decision was the wrong one.

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We have a lot of work to do to change the way we police children. That work must also include real policy changes that drastically limit the use of force with children and require police departments to collaborate with developmental experts to understand adolescence and learn how to deescalate their encounters with youth. Most important, this work must start by remembering that Black and Hispanic children are children too.

As politicians race to pass new voter suppression measures across the country, the fight for voting rights has never been more important. Slate Plus members allow us to cover this fight for the franchise with the urgency it deserves. We really couldnt devote the time and resources necessary to report out this monumental story were it not for your support. Mark Joseph Stern, staff writer
GOP lawmakers don't think the Chinese Regime's promise of support for climate change is convincing. But the Biden administration is willing to bet America's futurea stark change from Trump's China policy.

GOP lawmakers concerned over the Chinese pivot on climate change

Republican lawmakers advised President Joe Biden's administration about collaborating with China on climate change as Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first appearance at the White House's virtual global climate summit on April 22, reported the Epoch Times.

Chinese Consulate in Houston Closed After Suspicions of Harboring Spies

Republicans are arguing that the Chinese cannot be expected to follow through with any obligations to cut pollution, citing the regime's long history of broken promises. They also fear that the Biden administration will make sacrifices to Beijing in return for cooperation on climate change. This will likely come at the cost of critical issues on human rights and the regime's unfair trade practices.

During the summit, Xi said that he agrees to not increase the use of coal in the next five years, and after the fifth year his regime will limit its use for the following years.

But the Republicans shot back saying that China uses the most coal-fired power stations in its industrialization. Despite signing up for international agreements on climate change, Beijing has not complied.

Xi also agreed to mark the year 2060 for reaching zero emissions. As a way of amending its past transgressions, the Chinese regime said they are ready to work with other nations in affecting climate change with the US.

GOP Senators Push Bill Fighting Chinese Influence in US Colleges

At a conference with Biden administration officials in Alaska last month, the Chinese tone was in stark comparison to that of the regime's top two diplomats. After US officials challenged the regime on several topics, including human rights abuses, Ruling Party officials Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi completely shamed Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan.

A week ago, U.S. special envoy John Kerry went to Shanghai to discuss the environment, with Chinese officials. It is reminiscent of Obama-era dealings with the Chinese that ended in man-made islands in the South China Sea. Similarly, the new administration is hailing the first meeting a success.

Some Republicans call it a trip that did not pan out, Biden is repeating the error which allowed the Chinese headway, again with another Obama 2.0 approach.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is quoted in a tweet on April 14.

"Any climate deal will never be honored by communist China. These 'negotiations' make America appear weak, and they stifle debates about our core interests in national security and human rights."

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) described the visit as "sending the wrong signal."

Most of the GOP lawmakers are wary of the Chinese regime and whatever climate change deal that the administration wants out of it.

Chinese Diplomats Banned From Travel in the U.S. Without Clearance

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Columbus police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old girl armed with a knife on Tuesday may not have even had an Air Force marksmanship badge from prior service, despite news reports touting his military firearms training.

Nicholas Reardon is a staff sergeant in the Ohio Air National Guard assigned to the 121st Security Forces Squadron, part of the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base.

Reardon entered the Guard in 2015, according to career information provided to Military.com Thursday. The Daily Beast was first to report his military connection.

Read Next: Putting Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert Would Exhaust the Force, General Says

According to his record, his awards include a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal; the Ohio National Guard Basic Training Ribbon; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award; and National Defense Service Medal. None of these awards speak to the nature of his individual service; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal have been awarded to every service member since March 12, 2003.

The Daily Beast reported Reardon received an Air Force expert marksman badge with an M4 Carbine. The Beast cited tweets with photos of Reardon at technical training, which follows basic training, where he allegedly earned the ribbon. Photos of Reardon in his dress uniform on social media do appear to show him wearing it. However, the Guard could not verify Reardon received the badge, according to Lt. Col. Devin Robinson, spokesman for the Air National Guard.

"The records we received from the personnel section did not list any marksmanship ribbons or awards," Robinson said Thursday via email. "It is not immediately clear where the [Daily Beast] got their information, as it did not come from us."

Reardon deployed three times within the U.S. and once overseas, though no specific locations were listed.

The officer had been responding to a 9-11 domestic disturbance call Tuesday about an attempted stabbing at a home.

Body camera footage released by Columbus police shows Reardon, a white officer, exiting his vehicle and approaching several individuals engaged in a fight. Reardon then fatally shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, who could be seen in the video wielding a knife against another girl. It is unclear why Reardon did not attempt to use nonlethal force against the Black teen. Two other individuals in the video also were seen fighting.

Bryant died at the scene.

The incident took place hours after Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Chauvin pinned Floyd, a Black man, to the ground with his knee last year for more than nine minutes; Floyd's killing sparked protests around the country.

News of Bryant's death also prompted protests in Columbus on Tuesday.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.

Related: 'I Am George Floyd:' Top Enlisted Airman Voices Outrage, Calls for Justice Review
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Friday (April 23) said that it will ensure free food grain supply for the needy for the next two months. The government will provide free food grains to the poor people for the month of May and June under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana.

The poor and the needy will get 5 kg free food grains under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Scheme.

The free foodgrain scheme, is expected to be given to around 80 crore beneficiaries and the distribution will be on the same pattern as last years PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.

Government would spend over Rs 26,000 crore for the scheme. The current scheme is an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) under which the Government announced free food grains and cash payment to women and poor senior citizens and farmers last year.

Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana , 37.52 LMT of food grains has been distributed to 75.04 crore beneficiaries in April 20, 37.46 LMT distributed to 74.92 crore beneficiaries in May 20, and 36.62 LMT distributed to 73.24 crore beneficiaries in June 20. Scheme was further extended for 5 months till November. Since then, 98.31 LMT foodgrains has been lifted by States /UTs so far. In July 20 36.09 LMT food grains has been distributed to 72.18 crore beneficiaries, in August 20 30.22 LMT distributed to 60.44 crore beneficiaries, and in September 20 1.92 LMT distributed to 3.84 crore beneficiaries as on 7th September,2020.

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Germany's foreign minister on Friday called for the resumption of negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo on normalising the relations between the former foes whose unresolved territorial dispute has stalled Balkan stability, years after the wars of the 1990s.

Heiko Maas said during a visit to Belgrade, the Serbian capital, that now was the "right moment" to restart the European Union-mediated talks which have been blocked since last September, partly because of the new coronavirus pandemic.

"Both countries have held elections and formed governments with stable majority," Maas said at a news conference with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic.

The problem between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo is decades-old and stemming back to the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Serbia does not recognise.

The EU has told both nations that they must normalise relations in order to advance in their bids to join the bloc.

Germany and most EU countries and the U.S. have recognised Kosovo's independence while Serbia has had support from Russia and China in rejecting it.

Serbia's President Vucic said Friday that Belgrade is ready to "secure long lasting peace and stability" by reaching what he described as a "compromise solution" in the dispute.

He said both Serbs and Albanians, as the two most populous Balkan nations, need peace to achieve progress.

"We do not recognise Kosovo but we are ready to discuss the future of the entire region in a serious and responsible way," he said.

Some of past unofficial proposals floated in the local media in the Balkans have suggested that a redrawing of borders should be part of any deal, but this has been rejected by EU officials.

Most recently, an alleged unofficial document that media said was drafted by Slovenia's government proposed a division of Bosnia and uniting Kosovo with neighboring Albania.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Rights Group Pushes Back at Beijing-Run Media(April 22)

A Chinese state-run media is expanding its reach across the globe. But one group is putting a stop to its ambitions.

A sweeping bill thats just been approved by a U.S. Senate committee pushes for a harder stance against the Chinese Communist Party

An 11-year-old girl in China is begging for help. She says authorities have forcibly destroyed her home.

A car bomb at a hotel in Pakistan kills four people. Its the same hotel where the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan stayed. The building is home to billions of Chinese investment dollars, as part of Beijings Belt and Road Initiative.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
This is the moment a New York mother was led from a Queens police precinct after being charged with stabbing her six week-old twins to death.

Danezja Kilpatrick, 23, was pictured in a white hazmat suit and blue surgical face mask as she was taken out of the NYPD's 114th Precinct in Astoria, New York, on Friday night.

Kilpatrick could be seen giving a wide-eyed stare to cameras as she was taken to jail, less than 24 hours after allegedly killing son Dakota, who was found with a knife sticking out of his head, and daughter Dallas.

Police first found the infant boy, Dakota, inside a bedroom crib at Kilpatrick's home in Woodside, Queens, with the blade still inside his skull, the Daily News reported, citing police sources.

When asked about the second child, the young mother indicated that the girl, Dallas, was under the sink, which is where police found her wrapped in a pink blanket, sources said.

Danezja Kilpatrick, 23, pictured being escorted out of the 114th Precinct on Friday evening

The 23-year-old is being held on two counts of murder after her baby twins were found dead

Kilpatrick has been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child and one count of criminal possession of a weapon.

Pictures of the two babies have since emerged on social media.

Kilpatrick's sister had posted a picture of the babies when they were born in March with the caption: 'Huge congratulations to my Sister Danezja on her newborn twins Dallas and Dakota Kilpatrick. Im so happy for her'.

Twins Dallas and Dakota Kilpatrick were found dead at their mom's apartment

Kilpatrick's sister had posted pictures of the babies when they were born in March

The New York City's Medical Examiner unit rolled a gurney out of the apartment on Thursday afternoon after a grisly discovery of two infant twins were found in a housing complex

Police wheeled a gurney out of the housing complex; it's unclear if both infants were wrapped in the black cover; their mother has been taken into custody

Police rolled the gurney out of the apartment complex as the mother said she didn't want them

The Woodside Houses, where the bodies of the infants were found, is a public housing complex for low-income people

A relative had requested a wellness check to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) building in Woodside after the 23-year-old mother gave evasive answers when asked about the babies' whereabouts, according to a police source.

Sources said the mother appeared agitated when police arrived to the scene, the New York Post reported.

'I do not want them,' she reportedly told arriving officers, according to the New York Daily News.

'I can't take it anymore,' she told police, according to the Post.

'I do not want them,' the young mother reportedly told arriving officers

The Woodside Houses in Queens is a low-income community run by NYC's Housing Authority

An EMS paramedic pronounced both the both and the girl dead.

Police recovered a knife at the scene and brought Kilpatrick in for questioning.

The Administration for Children's Services is also investigating the death of the twins.

Neighbors said the woman had just moved into the apartment last month, according to the Post.

'I'm so sad. I'm shook. I'm heartbroken,' Janelis Perez, 31, told the Post.

A neighbor said she hadn't heard anything she considered suspicious.

Officers from the NYPD's Crime Scene Unit entered the apartment to search for clues
They welcomed their baby daughter Orla in May last year.

And Danielle Armstrong and her fiance Tommy Edney took their 11-month-old on a shopping trip to Selfridges in London on Thursday.

The TOWIE star, 32, looked every the yummy mummy in an oversized Burberry shirt and light blue mom jeans as she carried her little girl.

Big day out: Danielle Armstrong and her fiance Tommy Edney took their 11-month-old on a shopping trip to Selfridges in London on Thursday

Danielle paired the jeans with a pair of wedge heels and wore a white T-shirt under the open shirt that had red lettering along the bottom.

She wore her blonde tresses in loose waves falling around her face and completed the look with a pair of Ray-Ban sunglases.

The first-time mum carried her daughter Orla, who was dressed up for the day out in a cute outfit of a tan checked shirt, blue jeans and tiny trainers.

Stylish: The TOWIE star, 32, looked every the yummy mummy in an oversized Burberry shirt and light blue mom jeans as she carried her little girl

Designer baby: Her fiance Tommy was on hand to help with the baby as he carried the essentials in a Fendi baby changing bag as Danielle pushed the buggy across the street

Dressed up: Danielle paired the jeans with a pair of wedge heels and wore a white t-shirt under the open shirt that had red lettering along the bottom

Her fiance Tommy was on hand to help with the baby as he carried the essentials in a Fendi baby changing bag as Danielle pushed the buggy across the street.

He wore a cream shirt buttoned up over a black t-shirt and teamed it with black jeans.

Danielle and Tommy travelled to London from Essex after retail reopened in England last week.

The couple stopped for lunch before hitting the shops, making Selfridges their first destination.

Retail therapy: The couple stopped for lunch before hitting the shops, making Selfridges their first destination

Quick break: Over lunch, Danielle tended to her baby, giving her water to drink from a bottle on the sunny spring day as they dined al fresco

Over lunch, Danielle tended to her baby, giving her water to drink from a bottle on the sunny spring day as they dined al fresco.

The stylish pair then packed up their things and strapped their daughter back into her stroller before hitting the shops for some retail therapy.

The couple have been dating since September 2019 and two months after going official, they announced they were expecting their first child together.

Fashion sense: The first-time mum carried her daughter Orla, who was dressed up fro the day out in a cute outfit of a tan checked shirt, blue jeans and tiny trainers

Family: Tommy strapped their daughter into her buggy, as he wore a cream shirt buttoned up over a black t-shirt and black jeans

Danielle and Tommy had been friends for 22 years at the time they got together and had a fleeting relationship when they were younger.

The reality TV star was previously in a relationship with her ex-boyfriend of two-and-a-half years, Daniel Spiller, and businessman James Lock, 32, who she dated on and off from 2014 until 2016.

Tommy popped the question in March 2020 on a romantic boat trip during their Dubai babymoon when Danielle was pregnant with baby Orla.
Exploits Discovery Corps (CSE: NFLD- OTCQB: NFLDF) CEO Michael Collins joined Proactive's Steve Darling with news that the company has received full permits from the Newfoundland and Labrador Government for drilling the Quinlan Vein prospect at the Dog Bay Gold Project in Newfoundland.

Collins telling Proactive Exploits is fully funded for its 12,000m spring and summer drill programs and has received drill permits for True Grit, Schooner, Quinlan Veins, and Little Johanna. The company still has an application pending for the Jonathans Pond project.
Imperial Valley News Center

Former Chief Executive Officer of Publicly Traded Petrochemical Company Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribery and Securities Law Violations

New York - A Brazilian national who previously served as a chief executive officer (CEO) of Braskem S.A. (Braskem), a publicly traded Brazilian petrochemical company, pleaded guilty to conspiring to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from Braskem into a secret slush fund and to pay bribes to government officials, political parties, and others in Brazil to obtain and retain business.

According to court documents, between approximately 2002 and 2014, Jose Carlos Grubisich, 64, a citizen of Brazil  who served as the CEO and a member of the board of directors of Braskem as well as in various capacities for Braskems parent company, Odebrecht S.A. (Odebrecht) - engaged in a scheme to bribe Brazilian government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As part of the scheme, Grubisich and his co-conspirators diverted approximately $250 million from Braskem into a secret slush fund, which Grubisich and others had generated through fraudulent contracts and offshore shell companies secretly controlled by Braskem.

Grubisich admitted that while CEO of Braskem, he agreed to pay bribes to Brazilian government officials to ensure Braskems retention of a contract for a significant petrochemical project from Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), Brazils state-owned and state-controlled oil company. Grubisich also admitted that, as Braskems CEO, he falsified Braskems books and records by falsely recording the payments to Braskems offshore shell companies as payments for legitimate services. Grubisich also signed false Sarbanes-Oxley certifications submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that, among other things, attested that Braskems annual reports fairly and accurately represented Braskems financial condition, and that Grubisich, as Braskems principal officer, had disclosed all fraudulent conduct by Braskems management and other employees with control over Braskems financial reporting.

As CEO of a publicly traded company, Grubisich and other senior executives at Braskem engaged in a large-scale, sophisticated international bribery and fraud scheme and then lied to U.S. shareholders and authorities to conceal their criminal conduct, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Todays guilty plea demonstrates the Departments commitment to holding individuals accountable for corrupt and fraudulent conduct, including those at the highest corporate echelons.

Grubisich abused his position of trust as CEO of Braskem to both facilitate and conceal the payment of millions of dollars in bribes so that Braskem could increase its profits and its senior executives  including Grubisich himself  could personally benefit, said Acting U.S. Attorney Mark J. Lesko of the Eastern District of New York. This office is committed to the prosecution of corrupt gatekeepers, including officers and directors of public companies, who, like Grubisich, use the United States financial system to commit crimes.

Grubisich pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to violate the books and records provision of the FCPA and to fail to accurately certify Braskems financial reports. Grubisich has also agreed to pay approximately $2.2 million in forfeiture. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 5, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Any sentence will be determined after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In December 2016, Braskem and Odebrecht each pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to separate one-count criminal informations charging them with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Braskem settled with the SEC in related proceedings on the same day.

The FBIs International Corruption squad in New York is investigating the case. The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs also provided substantial assistance. The department also expresses its appreciation for the assistance provided by the SECs Division of Enforcement, Ministerio Publico Federal and the Departamento de Policia Federal in Brazil, the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, and the governments of Portugal, Andorra, United Kingdom, and Panama.

Assistant Chief Lorinda Laryea and Trial Attorney Leila Babaeva of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julia Nestor and Alixandra Smith of the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Mantell of the Eastern Districts Civil Division handling forfeiture matters.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. and MONTREAL, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. ("NGA") (NYSE: NGA), a U.S. publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company and The Lion Electric Company ("Lion"), a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, announced that today NGA's stockholders approved the previously announced business combination transaction with Lion, and each of the other proposals considered and voted upon at the meeting. NGA is expected to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") a Form 8-K disclosing the final voting results.

In light of the recent SEC statement regarding accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), NGA expects to file as soon as practicable an amendment to its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the "Amended Form 10-K") reflecting the reclassification of NGA's private placement and public warrants as a derivative liability, as further described in NGA's current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 20, 2021.

The closing of the business combination is expected to occur as soon as reasonably practicable after (i) the filing by NGA of its Amended Form 10-K, and (ii) satisfaction or waiver by Lion and NGA of all of the closing conditions set out in the definitive agreements related to the business combination transaction, including the obtaining by Lion of the clearance from the Autorite des Marches Financiers ("AMF"), the regulatory and oversight body for Quebec's financial sector, for the filing of its Canadian final non-offering prospectus.

Following the closing of the business combination transaction, the common shares of Lion will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") under the new symbol "LEV", and the warrants of Lion will trade on the NYSE under the new symbol "LEV WS" and on the TSX under the new symbol "LEV.WT."

ABOUT NORTHERN GENESIS ACQUISITION CORP.

Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: NGA) is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, stock exchange, acquisition, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Northern Genesis management team brings a unique entrepreneurial owner-operator mindset and a proven history of creating shareholder value across the sustainable power and energy value chain. Northern Genesis is committed to helping the next great public company find its path to success; a path which will most certainly recognize the growing sensitivity of customers, employees and investors to alignment with the principles underlying sustainability.

ABOUT LION ELECTRIC

Lion Electric is an innovative manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles. The company creates, designs and manufactures all-electric class 5 to class 8 commercial urban trucks and all-electric buses and minibuses for the school, paratransit and mass transit segments. Lion is a North American leader in electric transportation and designs, builds and assembles all its vehicles' components, including chassis, battery packs, truck cabins and bus bodies.

Always actively seeking new and reliable technologies, Lion vehicles have unique features that are specifically adapted to its users and their everyday needs. Lion believes that transitioning to all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our society, environment and overall quality of life.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" (which shall include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws) within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, including statements regarding the anticipated completion of the business combination transaction, NGA's amendment to its annual report on Form 10-K, the AMF's clearance for the filing of the Canadian final non-offering prospectus, and the listing of Lion's common shares and warrants on the NYSE and the TSX. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "may," "will," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "could," "plan," "potential," "future," "target" or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Lion's management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of assisting readers in understanding certain key elements of Lion's current objectives, goals, targets, strategic priorities, expectations and plans, and in obtaining a better understanding of Lion's business and anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes and is not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on, by any investor as a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Lion, and are based on a number of assumptions, as well as other factors that Lion believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances, but there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct or that Lion's vision, business, objectives, plans and strategies will be achieved. Many risks and uncertainties could cause Lion's actual results, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Lion's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. Lion anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Lion's assessments to change. However, while Lion may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Lion has no intention and undertakes no obligation to do so, except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Lion's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Lion's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The complete version of the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements as well as a description of the relevant assumptions and risk factors likely to affect Lion's actual results, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements are included in the registration statement on Form F-4 filed by Lion under its profile on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

SOURCE Lion Electric

Related Links

https://thelionelectric.com/


SPRINGFIELD  Deacon David Picard, a retired Agawam business owner, has been named director of the Springfield Dioceses Office of the Diaconate by the Most Rev. William D. Byrne, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.

Picard, who was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2017, will oversee candidates preparing for ordination as deacons in the diocese that covers the four counties of Western Massachusetts and currently has 73 active Roman Catholic deacons. The four-year program involves twice-weekly evening classes at the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, and prepares candidates for ordination to assist priests in both liturgical as well as administrative duties and serve where assigned as deacons by the diocesan bishop.

Picard succeeds Deacon Leo Coughlin, who retired from the paid, part-time position earlier this month after 18 years as diaconate director. In a statement, Byrne praised Coughlin, who lives in Hampden with his wife Maureen, for so many years of great and generous service, and welcomed Picard as a really excellent deacon to replace him.

Coughlin, who was ordained a deacon in 2001 and served at St. Michaels Cathedral, said in a 2017 interview that he helped facilitate the ordination of about 11 deacons every 24 months in recent years, and that many give between 12 to 15 hours or more of weekly service.

We cant consecrate the Eucharist; we cant anoint the sick and we cant absolve your sins, said Coughlin who called being a deacon rewarding and wonderful in its service to others. But we can perform weddings, do baptisms and serve at funerals.

Deacons visit hospitals, the jails and those who have lost loved ones, as well as teach religious education classes in doing whatever we can do to assist our priests, he said.

Picard called his appointment a great opportunity to get to know God and get to know the diocese a little better. He and his wife Sandra have been married 47 years and are members of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Agawam. They have two grown sons and three grand-children.

The Second Vatican Council restored the permanent diaconate to an active ministry as an option for bishops with a need for this vocation that is regarded as one of ordained service to them. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops cited a number of reasons for its authorization here including extending needed liturgical and charitable services to the faithful in both large urban and small rural communities.

The ministry has become an increasingly important one in dioceses where vocations to the priesthood have greatly declined as well controversial in terms of what deacons may do and that ordination to the ministry remains open only to men when it is believed deacons in the early Church were both men and women.

Formation programs for permanent deacons in diocese must adhere to certain guidelines and directives. Candidates must be 35 years or older. They may be married but are generally not allowed to remarry if their wife dies after they are ordained. A married candidate must also have the support of his wife in seeking ordination and wives are allowed to attend formation classes if interested in learning more about what ordination to the ministry involves.

While not allowed to celebrate the Eucharist or hear confessions, sacraments reserved to the role of ordained priests, permanent deacons can preach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct wake and funeral services. It is not a fulltime position in the Springfield Diocese and is unpaid.

Bishop Joseph F. Maguire ordained the dioceses first permanent deacons Jan. 15, 1983, and their overall number has declined in recent years in the diocese.

Seven members of the diaconate studies Class of 2021 are expected to be ordained this year for the diocese that has approximately six dozen parishes and missions, and the Class of 2024 began their first year of studies in January.

The Sacrament of Holy Orders, that is ordination to the diaconate, priesthood and episcopacy, is open only to men. The diaconate includes transitional deacons who are men so ordained a year before their ordination to the priesthood while permanent deacons are ordained permanently for that ministry of service.

There are more than 18,000 permanent deacons in the U.S. Catholic Church and more than 45,000 worldwide. Some 60 percent of U.S. Catholic women are said to support the ordination of women to the diaconate.

The number of priests in the Springfield Diocese has declined by more than half since the 1950s while the number of Catholics per priests in the diocese is estimated to have risen to about 1,202 Catholics per priest.

Last year, five men were ordained priests for the diocese. There are currently no seminarians preparing for the priesthood in the diocese.

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Beijing:

President Xi Jinping today assured jittery neighbours that China is ready to resolve its disputes through dialogue but not at the expense of Beijing's strategic interests, as he opened a key meeting of the ruling Communist party elite that will shore up his grip on power with a second term and even an unprecedented third innings at the helm.



Xi, the General Secretary of the CPC, also vowed make the Peoples Liberation Army a world class military during his over a three-and-a half hour speech at the once-in-a-five-year Congress which is set to confirm his second term and elect new leaders to work with him.



The 64-year-old spoke mostly of rebuilding of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) keeping its socialist structure intact.



At the opening session of CPCs 19th Congress at the Great Hall of the People, the party put up a united show with most of the top retired leaders including former presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao besides former Premiers Wen Jiabao and several other erstwhile leaders sharing the dais with Xi on the front row.



The week-long meeting will also amend the partys Constitution. Xi spoke at length of strengthening the military, need for continuation of his massive anti-corruption drive and bringing a "new era of socialism" and Chinese rejuvenation.

Also Read | India, China should start a new chapter: Chinese envoy



"China will never pursue development at the expense of others interests, nor will China ever give up its legitimate rights and interests. No one should expect China to swallow anything that undermines its interests," he said amid thumping applause from over 2,300 delegates who attended the meeting telecast live.



About the neighbours, Xi said China would "deepen relations its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership".



"We should commit to settling disputes through dialogue and resolving differences through discussion, coordinate responses to traditional and non-traditional threats and oppose terrorism in all its forms," Xi said.



China and India had been engaged in a standoff recently in the Dokalam area in Sikkim. China was engaged in a number of maritime disputes with the neighbours in the South and East China seas.



Xi spoke at length about his plans to make the 2.3 million strong PLA, the world?s largest military, into a world class force.



By the year 2020, mechanisation will be basically achieved, with IT application coming a long way and strategic capabilities seeing a big improvement, he said.



The modernisation of the national defence and armed forces should be basically completed by 2035, by which the "armed forces have been fully transformed into world-class military forces," he said.



The Chinese military, which underwent massive reform drive since Xi took over power in 2012, has over USD 141 billion annual budget next only to US military.



"A military is built to fight. Our military must regard combat capability as the criterion to meet in all its work and focus on how to win when it is called on ," he said, adding that all steps would be taken to ensure military preparedness to implement strategic doctrines.



The CPC will build a powerful and modernised army, navy, air force, rocket (missile) force, and strategic support force, develop strong and efficient joint operations commanding institutions for theatre commands, and create a modern combat system with distinctive Chinese characteristics, he said.



Unlike the militaries elsewhere, the Chinese military functions directly under the leadership of the party. Xi is the Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the PLA.



Xi also devoted his address titled "secure decisive victory in building moderately prosperous society in all its respects and strive for the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for new era" mostly to strengthening the CPC, which has ruled the country since 1949.



"We must unwaveringly uphold and improve Party leadership and make the Party still stronger," he said.



Xi, who in the past warned the party of going the way the Soviet Communist Party collapsed in 1991, said the defining feature of the party is socialism with Chinese characteristics.



"We must keep on strengthening the Partys ability to lead politically, to guide through theory, to organise the people, and to inspire society, thus ensuring that the Partys great vitality and strong ability are forever maintained," he said.



Founded in 1921, the CPC has about 89-million members with more than 4.5 million grassroots organisations.



The Party is striving to strengthen its long-term governance capacity amid "complex" governance environment, Xi said, warning of the dangers of a lack of drive, incompetence, disengagement from the people, inaction, and corruption.



The primary task of a political party building is to ensure that the whole party obeys the Central Committee and upholds its authority and centralised, unified leadership, Xi said.



Last year, Xi was endorsed as the core leader, a status bestowed on party founder Mao Zedong and his successor Deng Xiaoping.



By heading the party, presidency and the military, Xi has emerged as the most powerful leader in the country. His ideological teachings were expected to be made part of the amended CPC constitution during the Congress to ensure his legacy. Only the names of Mao and Deng were part of the CPC Constitution. Observers say with consolidation of power and having bulldozed the remnants of opposition in the party in his massive anti-corruption drive, Xi, 64 may be declared as Chairman of the party and may even have an unprecedented, third term after 2022. All Chinese leaders retire at the age of 68.



In his speech Xi also pledged to make a sweeping victory in its fight against corruption to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall.



Calling corruption "the greatest threat" the Party faces, Xi said the situation in the fight against corruption remains "grave and complex."



The CPC will prevent any interest groups from arising within the Party, Xi said.



Wherever offenders may flee, they shall be brought back and brought to justice, he added.



Since he took over power more than 280 centrally- administered officials were investigated and over 1.4 million official received punishments, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

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Amro M. Farid, associate professor of engineering at Dartmouth and research affiliate in the department of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been named a 2021 Fulbright Future Scholar to Australia.

Farid is specifically being recognized for his project, "Architecting Australia's Nexus Infrastructure of Energy, Water & Hydrogen (ANIEWH)," which is designed to contribute to the Australian government's 2022 National Hydrogen Infrastructure Assessment. The country's assessment is expected to examine energy supply chain needs in order to upgrade or provide new infrastructure for electricity and gas networks, water supply networks, refueling stations, roads, rails, and ports.

"Australia is one of the leading nations in the global sustainable energy transition. This project seeks to develop the methods to architect Australia's nexus infrastructure of energy, water, and hydrogen, presenting a formidable opportunity to 'plan it right' before billions of dollars of capital infrastructure are spent and the clock of global climate change has ticked beyond a tipping point," said Farid.

As a faculty member at Dartmouth, Farid leads the Laboratory for Intelligent Integrated Networks of Engineering Systems (LIINES), and has made active contributions to the MIT-Masdar Institute Collaborative Initiative, the MIT Future of the Electricity Grid Study, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) Vision for Smart Grid Controls.

Farid received his bachelor's and master's in mechanical engineering from MIT, and a PhD in engineering from the University of Cambridge. He is a senior member of IEEE, where he chairs several committees, and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's Dynamics Systems & Control Division. He has also co-authored three books.

The Fulbright Program, the largest and most diverse international educational exchange program, is the flagship program sponsored by the US government and is designed to forge lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, counter misunderstandings, and help people and nations work together toward common goals. The Fulbright Future Scholar award is designated for exemplary full and associate faculty whose work has made a tangible impact.

"I'm excited to collaborate with colleagues at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian National University to produce research foundations for the assessment," said Farid.

###
Let There Be Light: a potent examination of cultural change. Let There Be Light is the creation of published author, Pastor Raymond H. Vietmeier, a devoted Christian.

Pastor Raymond shares, Let There Be Light refers to the fact that the Bible teaches us to walk in the light and be children of light. We walk in the light when we try our best to do and say things as if Jesus was doing and saying them. The old saying What would Jesus do? is a perfect example. The beginning of the book teaches us what it means to live in the light and how to continue to strive to live in the light. The book then moves on to the problems facing Christians today. Christians are being persecuted both in other countries of the world and in our own country, the United States of America. In chapter 9, God directed the author to write based on a vision he received one night. It was about what will happen if we are not successful in changing our cultures direction. It is currently turning away from God and heading in the direction inspired by Satan. Satan preys on us by studying our weaknesses and our desires. He promises to give those to us just as he promised Eve things based on her desiresthat is, to be more like God. Jesus said that Satan is the father of lies and all that is evil. Please keep that in mind. It just may save you.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Vietmeiers new book calls upon Christians everywhere to walk tall in the light and reject the deceitfulness of the modern world.

With strong Scriptural references related to current events, Pastor Vietmeier provides readers with a strong argument for the importance of strengthening their faith.

View a synopsis of Let There Be Light on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Let There Be Light at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Let There Be Light, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Earlier in the day, the City Council in Elizabeth City unanimously voted to send a letter to the sheriff, local prosecutor and State Bureau of Investigation demanding release of body camera footage. The measure also directed city staff to petition a local court to release the footage if the sheriff denies the councils request. Wooten has confirmed that at least one deputy was wearing an active body camera but hasnt given a timetable for releasing it.
Britain is winning its war against Covid and the success of the vaccination campaign would have been 'unthinkable' a year ago, the Oxford vaccine chief said yesterday.

Professor Andrew Pollard predicted jabs to tackle new variants of the virus could be ready as early as September.

But even the existing vaccines would provide some protection against these strains, he said, emphasising that the pandemic simply would not be as 'hot' compared with the past few months.

In an interview marking the one-year anniversary of the first person in Europe being given a Covid jab as part of the Oxford trial, he said vaccines were 'the way out' of never-ending lockdowns.

Professor Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, also paid tribute to the public for the massive take-up of the jabs.

Professor Andrew Pollard predicted jabs to tackle new variants of the virus could be ready as early as September (file image)

'In the UK we're in a very good place,' he said. 'Over 90 per cent of all those offered have taken up the vaccine. That's astonishing. No one would have predicted that.'

He added: 'The last Public Health England data shows more than 10,000 deaths have been prevented and that's just 30million doses which have been administered in the UK.

'When you magnify that up to this global rollout of vaccines, the numbers of lives saved is astonishing.'

A year ago it was 'unthinkable that we would be here'.

Professor Pollard, who is married with three children, said: 'In March and April, the narrative was that it would probably take two years to get the first vaccines.

'We were reasonably optimistic but to be honest I think most people didn't think it was possible.'

He noted that while the UK was doing well, there were 'problems' in many parts of the world partly because of 'communication' around the safety of the jab.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been linked to rare blood clots and last month, several European countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands halted their rollouts amid concerns over the risks.

But Professor Pollard, who has received both doses, urged the public to 'balance the risks and the benefits', adding that clots were a 'very rare event'.

Professor Andrew J Pollard, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity at the University of Oxford, Honorary Consultant Paediatrician at Oxford Children's Hospital and Vice Master of St Cross College, Oxford

'The biggest risk to humanity is people not being vaccinated  the biggest risk is from the virus,' he said.

The professor of paediatric infection and immunity at Oxford University said the 'key question' now was whether the vaccines would work against variants such as the South African and Indian mutations.

'I don't imagine the vaccines will be 100 per cent effective but they may have a huge reduction in the risk of serious disease even with variants,' he added.

'We still have to plan for a worst-case scenario, which is when a new variant arrives and it's not controlled and we have to re-vaccinate.

'I think the reality will be some middle ground where the pandemic is not going to be as hot as it is at the moment.

'There remains uncertainty but it feels much more positive. There's a lot of immunity being built up in the population and the virus can't change its spots completely. Even with variants, there will be some immunity.'

Professor Pollard predicted 'updated' vaccines to protect against the South African and potentially other new variants would be available by September or October.

He said: 'They can certainly be available for the last quarter of this year. We are talking to the other developers and everyone is working towards that timeline to have updated vaccines available.

'The main thing is to change the sequence of the spike protein so it matches some of the new variants.'

The identity of the first person to receive the jab as part of the Oxford trial a year ago yesterday has not been disclosed.

Nearly 250million doses of all Covid vaccines have so far been administered around the world, including in developing countries such as Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Yemen.

Professor Pollard said: 'I'm optimistic in saying that the vaccines that have been studied well have at least six months of protection.

'Beyond a year, we don't really have any data. We've got very good data up to six months and it's unlikely to fall off a cliff after that. I'm optimistic that because the immune responses are so strong that it will last well beyond the six-month period.'
3 rockets land near Baghdad airport in Iraq

Xinhua) 09:07, April 23, 2021

BAGHDAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Three Katyusha rockets were fired at Baghdad International Airport area without causing casualties, the Iraqi military said on Thursday.

The attack took place around midnight when three rockets landed on the edges of the airport in southwestern Baghdad, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

One of the three rockets landed near Abu Ghraib Prison and the second one on an empty area near the Counter-Terrorism Academy, while the third one landed near an Iraqi military base, according to the statement.

It also said that the security forces spotted a rocket launcher left on the roof of an abandoned house in the al-Jihad neighborhood near the airport and defused five unfired rockets in the launcher, according to the statement.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops across Iraq, as well as the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone, have been frequently targeted by mortar and rocket attacks.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
Desron Lava Man Rodriquez braving the heightened elements during his most recent climb to the summit of the volcano.

Desron Rodriguez, the hiker commonly referred to as Lava Man and who became embroiled in controversy for his trips to the summit of the La Soufriere volcano during a period of explosive eruptions, was arrested on April 20.





Commissioner of Police Colin John confirmed in a telephone interview with THE VINCENTIAN on Wednesday, that Rodriguez had been detained by the police although up to the time of the interview he was yet to be charged.





According to the COP, Rodriguez could be charged under the National Emergency and Disaster Management Act of 2006.





Section 34 of the Act states: On the declaration of a disaster alert or disaster, the Director, a member of the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force or any person acting under the authority of the

Director, may, in order to limit the extent of the disaster, totally or partially prohibit or restrict public access, with or without vehicles, to any road or pathway within the State affected or likely to be affected by the disaster.





Section 38 states that a person commits an offence who with intent fails to comply with any prohibition or restriction imposed under Section 34; and penalties include a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.





Rodriquezs last known trek to the summit of the volcano, as evidenced by a video circulated on social media, was on April 18, the same day that there was another explosive eruption, at 4:49 p.m.





Professor Richard Robertson, head of the delegation of scientists and other personnel charged with monitoring the activity at La Soufriere, commented on the issue saying that it was absolutely foolish for persons to venture to the volcanos summit.





Rodriquez is known to be a frequent visitor to the La Soufriere volcano. He first came to the attention of the public when a video of him at the summit on the day before the first explosive eruption, was widely circulated on Facebook and moreso YouTube.





Up to midday on Thursday, Rodriquez was still in police custody.
Imagine what Princess Diana might have wanted to pass on to her future daughters-in-law had she lived to meet them. The intriguing possibility that she may have secretly recorded messages for her sons, their future wives and her grandchildren has long been rumoured, but is it true?

Dr James Colthurst, a close friend of Dianas who was the secret conduit between the princess and Andrew Morton for his book Diana: Her True Story, says he and Diana discussed the concept of taped messages.

I knew somebody whod made a video for his funeral to thank his chums, and Diana and I thought it would be fun to make some tapes for her grandchildren. The idea was to have advice on tape so that when children are older and grandparents die, its something to hand over.

Princess Diana with William and Harry at the VJ Day 50th anniversary celebrations in 1995

We talked about how little children arent necessarily able to assimilate advice given by grandparents when theyre alive, but it would be fun if grandparents left advice on tape for them for future years. It was a fleeting moment, but Diana always felt she wouldnt be an old lady.

The late princesss close friend and confidante, the healer Simone Simmons, claims that she knows of one tape recording Diana made for William and Harry. She was asked to safeguard it for Diana (last year the Mails Richard Kay revealed that hed been told Diana kept an uncut master tape of her Panorama interview hidden in a hat box at Kensington Palace in case she ever needed it as ammunition) after her high-profile trip to Angola campaigning against landmines shortly before her death.

I know of a tape Diana made for her boys after she returned from Angola in case anything should happen to her, says Simone, who met Diana in 1993. She told me that in it she told them to look after each other and remember the promises theyd made to her about always being best friends and not allowing anyone to come between them.

She told them to remember the good things shed done for the world so that they might follow suit. And very importantly, she said that they should appreciate the realities she had exposed them to and all the wonderful things the world has to offer.

Princess Diana sporting the engagement ring that would be worn by Kate 20 years later

She wanted me to keep the tape at home with me, but that was too high risk as I had nowhere safe to put it. She then gave it to the late Lady Bowker  a close and very wise friend of hers [Elsa Bowker was the widow of a diplomat].

'Elsa was the only person Diana knew who had a large safe where things could be kept discreetly and securely. On the tape Diana said to the boys, If you are listening to this tape, I may not be here Then went on to say, in essence, I hope you remember all the good times and what I taught you about life and people.

She was happy to have made the tape. She didnt want the boys to forget her. She said that if anything ever happened to her, they must not blame their father, nor his family. She had compiled a dossier about landmines and the fact they had killed innocent civilians and animals.

'She put the dossier in Elsas safe, and on another occasion she put the tape in there too. But when Elsa died the tape and the dossier apparently died with her.

Simone says she remembers Diana speaking to William and Harry about love and marriage. There was a little discussion when they were young. Diana said marrying someone you really liked would mean the lines of communication were always open and you would always love someone who was your best friend.

'William said his best friend was William van Cutsem and he wasnt going to marry him, which was very funny. Diana explained he would find a girl who over time would become his best friend.

And Diana would have been delighted that person turned out to be Kate, according to Simone. Shed have loved her because Kate is down to earth and she understands William inside out. When they look at each other you get the sense of a million words passing between them.

'Im sure Diana and Kate would have been firm friends. I can see them going out together, having a giggle and enjoying each others company. Like William, Kate has a great sense of humour.

Simone is convinced that Diana would have given Kate the benefit of her experience in The Firm.

Shed have explained that the Royal Family is not always easy to get along with and when it comes to protocols, she should do what she thought was right as well as what was expected of her. I believe thats what Kate has done.

Luxury handbag designer Lana Marks, the former US ambassador to South Africa, was a close confidante of Dianas, having met her in 1995. In terms of tapes theres been so much noise, the vast majority of which hasnt been accurate, she says.

And I know first-hand what is accurate. Diana had a feeling about who William would choose as a wife, even predicting shed have dark hair. Kate is everything Diana would have wanted in a daughter-in-law. Particularly coming from such a lovely family, thats what she wanted for William.

Diana talked to me about becoming a grandmother and she hoped she would have a little granddaughter as well. She hoped for a grandson too, of course, but she was so looking forward to dressing a little girl and doing girlish things with them.

Simone feels the same way. Diana would have been in seventh heaven having grandchildren. She would have been a doting grandma, giving her grandchildren a normal life just like shed wanted for her boys.
Businesses have been benefiting from high-quality opening-up in Anhui province.

Sinotrans Logistics upgraded its branch in the province's capital city of Hefei into its Central China headquarters in 2019.

The company took the decision to upgrade its branch after a top symposium was held in May 2019 in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, which focused on the rise of the central part of China.

The region includes the provinces of Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Shanxi.

"The central region's increasingly robust manufacturing sector has been bringing more opportunities for logistics companies, while Anhui could lead the growth," said Tang Na, general manager of Hefei-based Sinotrans Logistics Central China Ltd.

He said the company's 2020 operating revenue in Anhui alone reached about 200 million yuan ($30.6 million) and the performance in the first quarter of this year is expected to improve even more.

Currently using rented storage plants, Tang said his company is now building multiple facilities of its own across Hefei, which will see a total investment of 1.7 billion yuan.

Included in the country's ambitious blueprint for the rise of the central region, Anhui is also, even more often, regarded as a part of East China.

China has vowed to step up the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, which includes Shanghai along with the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

As a result of recent reforms and opening-up measures, cargo transported to and from the eastern coastal areas can now complete Customs clearance in Anhui conveniently, which means importers and exporters can save time and storage costs, Tang added.

Though not a customer of Tang's company, personal computer manufacturer LCFC (Hefei) Electronics Technology has been a major exporter.

In the last week of 2020, the Hefei-based manufacturer announced that its annual sales revenue had for the first time surpassed 100 billion yuan.

Founded in 2011 in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Area, LCFC is Lenovo's largest PC manufacturing base in China. With a foreign trade volume of $8.5 billion in 2020, LCFC had remained the province's largest company for imports and exports for seven consecutive years as of 2020, according to provincial government statistics.
STOCKHOLM, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

JANUARY 1  MARCH 31, 2021

(compared with the corresponding period a year ago)

Net sales declined 18.3% to SEK 27,528m (33,712)

Organic net sales declined 9.9% and was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions and lockdowns, and in comparison the stockpiling in the first quarter of the preceding year.

Market shares increased in many markets for the most recent 12-month period

E-commerce sales increased organically by 14% and accounted for approximately 13% of net sales

In emerging markets, which accounted for 39% of net sales, organic net sales increased 4.2%.

Operating profit before amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets (EBITA) decreased 31% to SEK 3,664m (5,316)

Adjusted EBITA decreased 32% to SEK 3,608m (5,333)

Adjusted EBITA margin decreased 2.7 percentage points to 13.1% (15.8)

Adjusted return on capital employed decreased 4.9 percentage points to 13.5% (18.4)

Profit for the period was SEK 2,552m (3,610)

Earnings per share were SEK 3.04 (4.61)

Adjusted earnings per share were SEK 3.14 (4.83)

Cash flow from current operations was SEK 695m (3,044)

Entered into agreement with Australian hygiene company Asaleo Care to acquire remaining shares

After the end of the quarter, Essity entered into agreement to acquire approximately 44% of the Colombian hygiene company Productos Familia S.A. Essity has also announced price increases due to higher raw material costs.

SUMMARY OF FIRST QUARTER OF 2021

Improved market conditions resulting from the ongoing vaccination programs are expected to result in increased demand for several of Essity's product categories. One example of this is the increase in demand in Professional Hygiene in North America in the first two weeks of April 2021. Another example is the recovery in China, where sales were significantly higher during the first quarter of 2021 compared with the first quarter of 2019.

During the first quarter, Essity has continued to position the company for future profitable growth, for example, by:

Entered into an agreement with the Australian hygiene company Asaleo Care to acquire the remaining 63.8% of the shares in the company. Essity is the largest shareholder with a holding of 36.2% of the shares. The acquisition of Asaleo Care will enable profitable growth in Australia , New Zealand and the Pacific region.

, and the Pacific region. Expanded the offering of reusable products through the launch of TENA Silhouette washable absorbent underwear within Incontinence Products, the Libresse  V-Cup menstrual cup within Feminine Care and the Tork microfiber cleaning cloth within Professional Hygiene.

V-Cup menstrual cup within Feminine Care and the Tork microfiber cleaning cloth within Professional Hygiene. Increased market shares in many markets over the most recent 12-month period.

E-commerce sales increased organically by 14% and accounted for about 13% of net sales.

After the end of the first quarter:

Entered into an agreement to acquire approximately 44% of the Colombian hygiene company Productos Familia S.A. After closing of the transaction Essity's ownership in Familia will amount to at least 94%. Essity has been an owner in Familia since 1985, and currently owns 50% of the company. The purchase price amounts to USD 1,540m (approximately SEK 13bn ) for 100% of the company on a debt free basis. With the acquisition Essity is building a stronger platform in Latin America .

(approximately ) for 100% of the company on a debt free basis. With the acquisition Essity is building a stronger platform in . Essity has also acquired the distribution rights to the wound care technology Sorbact  in Australia and New Zealand .

in and . The Manufacturing Roadmap program extends until 2025 and is expected to contribute to Essity's total annual cost savings of SEK 500 - 1,000m through the optimization of the production structure, productivity improvements and raw material and energy savings. These measures facilitate growth without investments increasing at the same pace. Working capital is expected to decrease by more than SEK 1,000m . The objective is to also utilize new production methods to reduce exposure to wood-based fresh-fiber pulp by approximately 10%, which will result in reduced volatility for the company's profitability. The program will also lead to that the company's sustainability targets within the Science Based Targets will be achieved faster.

- through the optimization of the production structure, productivity improvements and raw material and energy savings. These measures facilitate growth without investments increasing at the same pace. Working capital is expected to decrease by more than . The objective is to also utilize new production methods to reduce exposure to wood-based fresh-fiber pulp by approximately 10%, which will result in reduced volatility for the company's profitability. The program will also lead to that the company's sustainability targets within the Science Based Targets will be achieved faster. Announcement of price increases within Consumer Tissue due to higher raw material costs. These were announced in Essity's key markets and the percentage increases are on average in the mid to high single digits. Some effect from the price increases is expected already at the end of the second quarter of 2021 but with the main impact in the second half of 2021. Essity is preparing price increases in other product categories impacted by higher raw material costs.

The Group's organic net sales in the first quarter of 2021 declined by 9.9% compared with the corresponding period a year ago, of which volume accounted for -8.9% and price mix for -1.0%. The COVID-19 pandemic with the extensive restrictions and lockdowns had a negative impact on sales, primarily within Professional Hygiene and Medical Solutions. Furthermore, the comparative figures were affected by the strong sales growth that resulted from stockpiling in the first quarter of the preceding year by consumers and distributors. Stockpiling in the first quarter of the preceding year explains approximately half of the reduction in organic net sales. Organic net sales in mature markets declined 18.3%. In emerging markets, which accounted for 39% of net sales, organic net sales increased 4.2%.

The Group's adjusted gross margin for the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 0.6 of a percentage point year on year to 32.2%. The gross margin was positively impacted by lower raw material costs and an improved mix. Lower prices, lower volumes and higher distribution costs had a negative impact on the gross margin.

The Group's adjusted EBITA margin decreased 2.7 percentage points to 13.1%. The margin was negatively impacted by lower absorption of fixed costs as a result of lower sales. Sales costs decreased in absolute terms but increased as a share of net sales. Investments in growth increased marketing costs in absolute terms and as a percentage of net sales. Adjusted EBITA, excluding exchange rate effects, decreased 24%. Adjusted return on capital employed decreased 4.9 percentage points to 13.5%. Earnings per share amounted to SEK 3.04.FUTURE REPORTSIn 2021, interim reports will be published on July 16 and October 22. The 2021 Year-end report will be published on January 26, 2022.

INVITATION TO PRESENTATION OF THE INTERIM REPORT FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2021

In conjunction with publication, a telephone and web presentation will be held where President and CEO Magnus Groth will present the report and answer questions.

Presentation

Date: Friday, April 23, 2021

Time: 9:00 a.m. CET

Link to web presentation: https://essity.videosync.fi/2021-04-23-q1

To participate by telephone, call: +44 (0)207 192 80 00, +1 631 510 74 95 or +46 (0)8 506 921 80. Please call well in advance of the start of the presentation. Specify "Essity" or conference ID no. 8865436.Stockholm, April 23, 2021

Essity Aktiebolag (publ)

Magnus GrothPresident and CEO

For further information, please contact:

Fredrik Rystedt, CFO and Executive Vice President, +46 (0)8 788 51 31

Johan Karlsson, Vice President Investor Relations, Group Function Communications, +46 (0)8 788 51 30

Josephine Edwall Bjorklund, Senior Vice President, Group Function Communications, +46 (0)8 788 52 34

Per Lorentz, Vice President Corporate Communications, Group Function Communications, +46 (0)8 788 52 51

NB:

This information is such that Essity Aktiebolag (publ) is obligated to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. This report has been prepared in both Swedish and English versions. In case of variations in the content between the two versions, the Swedish version shall govern. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 7:00 a.m. CET on April 23, 2021. Karl Stoltz, Media Relations Manager, +46 (0)8 788 51 [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/essity/r/interim-report-first-quarter-2021,c3331986

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/15798/3331986/1406179.pdf The full report (PDF)

SOURCE Essity
When vaccines were still limited to essential workers and those who qualified because of their age or a health condition, a company didnt need to fall in the category considered essential to obtain them for eligible workers. Hedge fund Citadel worked with Innovative Express Care to vaccinate employees who qualified as part of a round of vaccinations the health clinic said it conducted for nonprofits, schools, factories and other local employers in February and March. Thats before Citadel would have been considered essential as a financial services company in phase 1c.
French President Emmanuel Macron has sent a letter to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian on the Armenian Genocide 106th anniversary, French Embassy in Armenia noted.

"In accordance with my commitment, since 2019, April 24 is celebrated in France as the Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. This day is celebrated throughout France, despite sanitary restrictions. On this day, more than on any other, our peoples are united," Macron noted.

According to the French leader, remembering the future and accepting the truth, bowing to the fallen and respecting the memory of the living, in order to block the path of oblivion and lies, is their common duty.

The French leader also noted that his country supports Armenia on its way to the future, when it will overcome such a difficult conflict in the region where so much blood has been shed.

An official delegation headed by the State Secretary of the French MFA Jean-Baptiste Lemoine and the special representative of the President of the Republic arrived from France to the commemoration events on April 24.
Honda announced new commitments to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality and zero traffic collision fatalities by 2050. Tweet this

In making the announcement, Mibe said that Honda sees the reduction of the company's environmental impact and realization of safety advances to protect human lives as the two major challenges facing the company. Accordingly, Honda is formalizing its goals for achieving carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities by 2050, as well as zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda automobiles and motorcycles globally by 2050.

Following are key elements related to Honda's renewed commitment to the environment and safety. More details on the announcement can be found here https://global.honda/newsroom/news/2021/c210423eng.html

New Honda e:Architecture EV Platform

Starting from the second half of the 2020s, Honda will launch a series of new EV models which adopt e:Architecture, a completely new EV platform led by Honda. These EV models will first be introduced to the North American market, and then to other regions of the world. Moreover, Honda is jointly developing two large-sized EV models using GM's Ultium batteries, and we are planning to introduce these SUVs to the North American market as model year 2024 vehicles, one from Honda brand and the other from the Acura brand.

Global Electrified Vehicle Sales

Due to regional differences such as the level of customer acceptance, readiness of infrastructure and availability of renewable energy, it is difficult to adopt a singular approach to the popularization of electrified vehicles globally. In all major markets for electrification, Honda will strive to increase the ratio of battery-electric (EV) and fuel cell electric (FCV) vehicles within overall unit sales combined to 40% by 2030, to 80% by 2035, and then to 100% globally by 2040.

Advanced Battery Technology

In order to ensure the advanced competitiveness of future Honda EVs, Honda also announced the goal to make all-solid-state batteries available for new Honda EV models to be introduced in the second half of the 2020s. Honda is conducting independent research on all-solid-state batteries in order to increase the capacity and lower the cost of the next generation batteries for its electrified vehicles. Based on the success of this lab research, Honda will undertake the verification of production technology using a demonstration line, starting this fiscal year.

Fuel Cell Technology

Honda continues to view fuel cell technology as another pillar supporting the challenge toward carbon neutrality, with the expectation that hydrogen will become more widely accepted as a renewable energy source. Honda has a long history in the research, development and commercialization of fuel cell technologies, and while continuing its current collaboration with GM, Honda will strive to reduce costs and realize a "hydrogen society" by expanding its lineup of FCVs and by using fuel cell systems for a wide range of applications, including commercial trucks and stationary and movable power sources.

Energy Business

Honda also will be proactive in promoting the utilization of hydrogen in addition to electricity as various scenarios are possible for the further expansion of the use of renewable energy. Honda will strive to realize a "multi-pathway of energy" which is a concept of utilizing a wide variety of energy sources including carbon-neutral fuels that will be effective in all areas, including areas where application of electrification is difficult, such as with aircraft.

This concept will become the basis of energy use that supports a society with a zero environmental impact. Honda also will work to expand utilization of renewable energy by enabling infrastructure-linked smart power operations when charging these products.

Renewable Energy Efforts in North America

Honda further commits to supplying its operations with 100 % renewable energy and has begun taking significant steps to achieving this goal. Seeking to slash CO2 emissions from its North American manufacturing operations, Honda has entered into long-term virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for renewable wind and solar power that cover more than 60% of the electricity that Honda uses in North America. Honda's combined agreements for the output of 320 MW of renewable generation capacity result in the purchase of 1.012 million MWh of electricity per year, offsetting more than 800,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions annually, the equivalent of 100,000 U.S. households worth of CO2e emissions from household energy usage1. These VPPAs enable Honda to fully offset the remaining carbon intensive grid-supplied electricity being used in its Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama automobile manufacturing operations.2

In addition to the VPPAs, Honda has been a leader in the installation of onsite renewable energy, including multiple rooftop solar arrays generating 5,800 megawatt hours (MWh) annually at facilities in California and Connecticut, and two wind turbines producing 10,000 MWh per year at an auto transmission plant in Ohio.

Safety Initiatives

In the area of safety, Honda has determined to strive for zero automobile and motorcycle collision fatalities globally by 2050, involving Honda products.

Since many motorcycle collision fatalities involve automobiles, Honda will strive to apply its omnidirectional ADAS to all new automobile models the company introduces in major markets by 2030. The new omnidirectional ADAS is an advanced driver-assistance system envisioned beyond the current Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies. Honda is leveraging the knowledge and know-how amassed through research and development of its Level 3 automated driving technologies, which recently began sales in Japan, to further enhance the intelligence of ADAS technologies.

In addition, as a company that has markets both motorcycles and automobiles, Honda will continue to strengthen its research on safety technologies that enable motorcycles and automobiles to safely coexist. In this way, Honda will seek to continue to lead the way in realizing a collision-free society from the standpoint of both hardware and software.

Honda Commitment to the Environment & Safety

Honda's vision for a carbon-free society is leading to comprehensive efforts to address society's environmental and energy concerns across the company's products and business operations. Honda has the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO 2 emissions of any full-line automaker in America, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Honda also is working to reduce the environmental impact of its business operations and promotes environmentally responsible business practices with its suppliers and retail dealer partners across North America.

Based on its vision for a collision-free society Honda is working to improve safety for everyone sharing the road. The company operates two of the world's most sophisticated crash-test facilities, in Ohio and Japan, and is responsible for numerous pioneering efforts in the areas of crashworthiness, collision compatibility and pedestrian safety. Advanced safety and driver-assistive systems found in Honda Sensing and AcuraWatch technologies are now on over

5 million vehicles on U.S. roads, designed to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions while serving as a technological and perceptual bridge to the more highly automated vehicles of the future.

Learn more at https://csr.honda.com/environment/na-environmental-report/.

1 Based on U.S. EPA carbon equivalencies calculator. Does not include emissions from transportation or household food consumption. (https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator)

2 Honda products are made using domestic and globally sourced parts.

SOURCE American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Bruce McDougal hoses down vegetation while working to save his home from the Bond Fire burning though the Silverado community in Orange County, Calif., on Dec. 3, 2020. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Mismanagement Contributes to Longer Fire Seasons, Researchers Say

Californias wildfire season is getting longer, according to University of CaliforniaIrvine (UCI) environmental engineers, who say poor fire-management practices contributed to the most wildfires.

In a study published April 22, UCI researchers analyzed California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) wildfire statistics from 2000 to 2019, comparing the data with the period of 1920 to 1999.

Researchers found that the annual burn season was becoming longer and more widespread.

CALFIRE data show that each new year of the 21st century has been a record breaker in terms of wildfire damage in California, Tirtha Banerjee, UCI assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, said in a press release.

We also have seen that about 80 percent of the total number of the states wildfires over the past few decades have been small, measuring less than 500 acres. But when fires get large, their deadliness greatly increases.

The researching team deduced that about 20 percent of overall wildfires accounted for 97 percent of the total burned area during the 2000 to 2020 period.

And more than nine-tenths of the casualties and property losses can be attributed to fires exceeding the 500-acre threshold, Banerjee said.

Banerjee said that in the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in extreme wildfires scorching more than 10,000 acres.

The study found that places with extreme fire risk, or hot spots, have higher temperatures, less moisture, more drought, and more chance of experiencing a forest fire in recent years.

The study also reported a rapid uptick in the frequency of small, human-caused blazes.

Wildfire hot spots have also expanded in Southern California, from Los Angeles County to other regions, such as Ventura County, and portions of Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties, according to the studys lead author, Shu Li, a PhD student in Banerjees laboratory.

Likewise with Northern California, newly emerging hot spots have appeared, displaying signs as high-density wildfire regions.

Before 2000, there were almost no human-caused wildfires along Californias Pacific coastline, but now nearly every coastal county is experiencing increased risk, and the San Benito-Monterey Unit and the San Luis Obispo Unit have even become new hot spots, Li said in a press release.

Many of the fires occurring in Northern California are ignited by lightning, however, the majority are a result of an expansion of wilderness-urban interface and bad fire management, according to the study.

The team also found that peak fire season has changed from August to July, in the past century.

Many of these fires are sparked by human causes, such as power lines igniting fallen trees, construction, campfires, transportation, and fireworks, the study found.

Banerjee said, Human-caused fire risk can be mitigated by better fire management practices by humans.

The findings were published in the Nature Scientific Reports journal.
I know what I did was wrong, she said when she entered her plea. Im truly sorry, Your Honor.

Through a spokesman, prosecutors declined to comment on the plea deal. But in a filing on Friday that was part of an effort to keep Ms. Cincinelli locked up until sentencing, they argued that the agreement did not, in any way, constitute an acknowledgment that they would have any trouble proving to a jury that she plotted to kill her husband and Mr. DiRubbas daughter.

The assertion was meant to counter the suggestion by Ms. Cincinellis lawyers that the hit man story had been fabricated by Mr. DiRubba  a scorned lover seeking revenge.

Mr. DiRubba, 56, disputed that characterization himself, citing recordings he had made for the F.B.I.

Its Valeries own words that got her arrested, he said in an interview.

By the time the two met, Ms. Cincinelli had been a police officer for a decade. She had spent much of her career at the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, Queens, where she worked in a domestic violence unit.

I love kids, she told her colleges alumni magazine in 2016. Theyre my soft spot.

She had two of her own: a daughter from an earlier relationship and a son with Isaiah Carvalho Jr., whom she married in 2015.

The marriage to Mr. Carvalho was troubled, court records show: She obtained orders of protection against him, and he was referred to an anger-management class. (His lawyer said that he was completely innocent of what Ms. Cincinelli had accused him of and that she had set him up to gain an advantage in the divorce.)

Then she met Mr. DiRubba.

Born in the Bronx and raised mostly in Westchester County, he was living in the section of Queens that local residents call Old Howard Beach. He was pleasant and talkative and mentioned having written a cookbook, according to a neighbor who expressed doubts about whether Mr. DiRubba had always been truthful.
Editors Note: The Reporter-Telegram looks at constitutional carry through the eyes of those who oppose current legislation. In a future edition, those who support the legislation provide their side.

The Texas Senate doesnt appear to currently have the votes to pass permitless carry of handguns  or constitutional carry, as it is known  and that is OK with some.

Midland Police Chief Seth Herman is one who will be fine if constitutional carry again fails to get through the legislature. He told the Reporter-Telegram this week his opposition is because constitutional carry doesnt consider the training needed to responsibly carry around a weapon and that the untrained then cant address threats to the populace.

Herman says there really isnt anything wrong with the status quo, which includes those who want to carry to obtain a concealed handgun permit. He said this week a person has to obtain a license to obtain a 2,000-pound bullet -- an automobile -- and that there should be a process in place to carry a weapon  one of the greatest responsibilities that he believes requires a more stringent process.

Herman said his stance on constitutional carry is his opinion is his and doesnt represent the stance of the Midland Police Department. He also is not for denying anyone their second amendment rights.

Hoss Duggar of Absolute Training in Odessa has held a Texas License to Carry since 2006, is Texas DPS Certified License to Carry (CHL) instructor and is a lifetime handgun and rifle shooter, hunter and gun rights advocate, according to the Absolute Training website. He told the Reporter-Telegram he has taken a lot of flak for his opposition to constitutional carry legislation. However, he says he sees the untrained in his weekly classes and that the general citizenry should prove they know how the thing works.

He referenced the church at a White Settlement where Jack Wilson hit a moving target at 50 feet because he was trained. He said he wants a person in a similar situation to hit the perpetrator and not the person next to him.

He stated that no matter the circumstance a person is responsible for the impact of the bullet fired from a weapon and that if a person misses, he or she is in deep do-do and that gun ownership is about safety, safety, safety.

Your good intentions can get you locked up, Duggar said.

Duggar has no appetite for intrusive gun laws, but he also said while the second amendment gives a person to bear arms, that the 10th amendment provides the right to states to govern how they are carried.

Herman also said you cant send the bullet back once fired and that other police chiefs believe constitutional carry is a big deal. And the discussion with Herman always came back to training, including that even with a weapon they are not adequately prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Television State KXAN out of Austin reported this week that several police associations met at the Texas Capitol to protest bills eliminating need for permits.

Citizens would not have to demonstrate proficiency with the firearm, or even basic awareness of firearms safety, said the Texas Police Chiefs Association in the KXAN report. At least with the license to carry permit, citizens must demonstrate basic knowledge and an awareness of the laws.

It is the element of the unknown and the untrained that concern us, Herman said. I dont see what is wrong with current laws.

Midland County Sheriff David Criner stated he respectfully declined to comment on the topic.  As a law enforcement officer, it is my duty
HRCHTMLField1

The Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in the implementation of the universal periodic review was established in 2009 pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 6/17 and further strengthened in 2011 by resolution 16/21. The Fund provides financial and technical assistance to help countries, in particular least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS), implement recommendations emanating from the universal periodic review in consultation with, and with the consent of, the country concerned.

As established in its TOR, the Fund provides support to a wide range of activities, including:

Co-funding of programs and projects aimed at implementing the UPR outcomes;

Development of national capacity and expertise for the implementation of the UPR outcomes;

Integration of UPR outcomes into United Nations common country programming documents, and coordination of United Nations, multilateral and bilateral action in support of the UPR outcomes.

Exchange of information and sharing of best practices, including through the organization of regional and sub-regional meetings, seminars, consultations and other interactions;

Policy guidance to the operationalization of the fund is provided by the Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund, composed of the members of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights. In accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 6/30 on integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system, the Voluntary Fund encourages proposal aimed at achieving gender equality and advancing women rights.

Achievements

Since its establishment, the Voluntary Fund has supported projects in 65 countries in all regions of the world, with a total disbursement of USD 5,793,303 as at 31 December 2020. All the projects supported by the Fund are implemented in coordination with the States concerned and benefit from the technical assistance provided by OHCHR, including through its field presences. They focus on five areas, which reflect the criteria that guide funding decisions in accordance with the TOR of the Voluntary Fund.



Support from the Voluntary Fund focuses on the implementation of key human rights recommendations, so that it can make a significant and lasting contribution to national change, in particular through their contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, using Voluntary Fund support, the OHCHR Country Office in Cambodia enhanced the capacity of local authorities to implement the complex and lengthy communal land titling process. In total, the project helped 2,000 indigenous persons to progress towards the legal recognition of their land by mitigating the risk of eviction and land grabbing. Indigenous communities were consulted during each step of the communal land registration process through committees selected by them ensuring gender parity.

Projects to establish or strengthen national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up aim at creating sustainable capacity for reporting on and implementation of international human rights recommendations. In Moldova, the Permanent Human Rights Secretariat developed, with OHCHR support, a guide on national mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of human rights recommendations. The Voluntary Fund also supported the development of a roadmap to link the National Human Rights Action Plan with the Sustainable Development Goals and the recommendations formulated to Moldova by international human rights mechanisms.

Development of recommendations implementation plans allow to cluster all recommendations from the international human rights mechanisms thematically, prioritize them, establish an implementation time-frame, assign implementation responsibilities, and define resources and indicators. In Mauritania, OHCHR supported the implementation of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the 2015 UPR recommendations, developed in 2018 by the Commissariat for Human Rights, Humanitarian Action and Relations with Civil Society, and strengthened the capacities of relevant State officials to monitor its progress.

Strengthening the role of parliaments in ensuring compliance with human rights obligations, through their oversight, legislative and budgetary functions, will increase implementation of the recommendations of human rights mechanisms In Brazil, the Voluntary Fund is supporting the establishment of a UPR Parliamentary Observatory with the aim of strengthening the engagement of the Brazilian legislative power with UN human rights mechanisms.

Strengthening the capacity of United Nations country teamsto integrateaccepted universal periodic review recommendations in common country-programming documents allows creating synergies between efforts to implement international human rights recommendations and initiatives to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In Uruguay, the Voluntary Fund supported the project Structural transformations needed for the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda, a joint endeavour (UN, Government, academia, private sector and civil society) aimed at positioning the 2030 Agenda as a key element in the country's development priorities. At the regional level, a regional consultation on the universal periodic review, looking at good practices, follow-up mechanisms and synergies with the 2030 Agenda was organized in 2019 in Panamawith the support of the Voluntary Fund and in partnership with the Development Coordination Office, the UNDP regional office and the office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator. The consultation aimed at facilitating the use of good practices at the various stages of the universal periodic review process, especially regarding the implementation of recommendations, and to identify challenges as well as opportunities to align initiatives to achieve human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.

Know more about our impact* Some news/web stories about UPR funded projects in:

Brazil  Bolivia - Mongolia - Panama - Paraguay Tajikistan

*Note: OHCHR is not responsible for the content of external links.

Funding

Contributions to the Voluntary Fund can be made by States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations or private institutions and individuals. Since the establishment of the Fund, 18 countries have made financial contributions:

Contributions to the Voluntary Fund for financial and technical assistance in the implementation of the universal periodic review 2008 - 2009 2010-2011 2012-2013 2014-2015 2016-2017 2018-2019 2020 USD 535,326 USD 981,855 USD 1,722,333 USD 938,465 USD 1,144,236 USD 1,044,893 USD 298,807 Colombia

Russian Federation

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Germany

Morocco

Russian Federation

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Australia

Germany

Kazakhstan

Norway Germany

Kazakhstan

Netherlands

Norway

Oman France

Germany

Kazakhstan

Norway

Paraguay

Republic of Korea

Saudi Arabia

Spain

United Arab Emirates France

Germany

Norway

Pakistan

Republic of Korea

Russian Federation

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Spain

France

India

Kazakhstan

Pakistan

Republic of Korea

Singapore

For a more detailed overview about the activities of the Voluntary Fund, please consult the latest Annual Reports on the operations of the Voluntary Fund:

For information please contact: UPRStates@ohchr.org
Iranian frigate IS Sahan after being hit with three Harpoon missiles and cluster bombs by aircraft from USS Enterprise, April 19, 1988. US Navy

In April 1988, the US attacked Iran in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a US ship.

Operation Praying Mantis, the largest US naval action since World War II, was brief but deadly.

Thirty-three years later, the weapons each side would use have only gotten more destructive.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Related: Inside the US military's $223 million 'doomsday plane'

Just before 8:00 a.m. on April 18, 1988, members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) stationed on the Sassan and Sirri oil platforms in the Persian Gulf received a warning from US Navy ships several thousand yards away.

"You have five minutes to abandon the platform. I intend to destroy it at 0800," the warning said.

Some Iranians boarded ships and fled, but others began manning gun emplacements. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., the platforms were hit with barrages of gunfire from US destroyers, frigates, and a guided-missile cruiser.

They were the opening shots of Operation Praying Mantis, retaliation for Iran's mining of the Persian Gulf, which had damaged the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts days earlier.

It would be the US's largest naval action since World War II and the first time warships engaged one another with anti-ship missiles.

A tense Gulf

A US Navy minesweeping helicopter leads the 12th US-reflagged Kuwaiti tanker convoy, October 22, 1987. NORBERT SCHILLER/AFP via Getty Images

Tensions were extremely high in the Persian Gulf in the late 1980s. Iran had been fighting a brutal war with Iraq since September 1980, and although Iran reclaimed territory lost early in the war, by 1983 it was a stalemate.

In 1984, Iraq began attacking Iranian oil tankers and facilities in an attempt to damage Iran's economy. Iran responded in kind, and eventually foreign vessels became targets in what is known as the Tanker War.

Iran was particularly aggressive, as Iraq was receiving financial and material support from other Gulf States, namely Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The IRGCN's swarms of Boghammers and other small, armed fast-attack boats, along with sea mines and attacks from Iranian Navy frigates, were taking their toll. (By the end of the war, Iran had attacked some 190 ships from 31 countries, killing at least 63 sailors.)

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At the request of Kuwait, the US Navy began escorting tankers, reflagged as American ships, through the Gulf. Unwilling to attack the US Navy directly, the IRGCN increased its mine-laying.

The US Navy tried to stop these efforts with a number of actions.

On September 21, 1987, the Navy forcibly seized the Iranian minelayer Iran Ajr while it was on a mission, killing five and capturing 26 sailors and 10 mines. In two engagements the following month, the Navy sank three IRGCN boats and destroyed two oil platforms used as IRGCN bases.

A military response

A heavy-lift ship transports USS Samuel B. Roberts after it hit an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf, July 31, 1988. US Navy

But the Iranians continued laying mines, and on April 14, 1988, the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck one. Ten sailors were injured, four with serious burns. The blast left a 15-foot hole in the hull and broke the keel of the warship.

Serial numbers from nearby unexploded mines matched those on mines captured aboard Iran Ajr. With this evidence, President Ronald Reagan ordered a military response, which was carried out by three Navy Surface Action Groups (SAGs) named Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.

Bravo, with two destroyers and an amphibious transport dock and four Sea Cobra and two UH-1 Iroquois attack helicopters, would attack the Sassan platform.

Charlie, with two frigates and a guided-missile cruiser, would attack the Sirri platform.

Delta, with a frigate and two destroyers, was tasked with sinking the Iranian frigate Sabalan - which was known for particularly aggressive attacks - or any other Iranian frigate it could find.

SAG Bravo and SAG Charlie would land a team of Marines and Navy SEALs on Sassan and Sirri, respectively, who would clear the platforms and collect anything of value before destroying them.

The ships of SAG Delta would operate in the Strait of Hormuz, waiting for Iranian frigates to leave Bandar Abbas naval base. They were supported by aircraft from the carrier USS Enterprise, which was sailing in the Gulf of Oman.

Operation Praying Mantis

The main building on the Sassan oil platform burns after being hit by a TOW missile fired by a US helicopter during Operation Praying Mantis, April 18, 1988. US Navy

At 8:04 a.m., SAG Bravo's ships opened fire on Sassan. Fifty airburst rounds from their 5-inch guns tore into the platform, and a ZSU-23 anti-aircraft was destroyed almost immediately after it tried to return fire. The US ships ceased fire to let more Iranians evacuate, then opened fire again with naval guns and from helicopters.

At 9:25 a.m., a team of Marines fast-roped onto the platform, securing it within 30 minutes. Two hours later they evacuated, destroying the platform with over 1,000 pounds of plastic explosives detonated remotely.

SAG Charlie opened fire on Sirri at 8:15 a.m. after its warning was sent and some Iranians evacuated. The platform erupted in flames, incinerating the remaining defenders. The fire was so intense that the SEAL Team landing was called off.

About three hours later, IRIS Joshan, an Iranian patrol vessel, approached SAG Charlie. Joshan ignored repeated warnings, the last of which said "Stop and abandon ship. I intend to sink you." The Iranian ship fired a single Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was defeated by US countermeasures.

Marines inspect a ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun on the Sassan oil platform during Operation Praying Mantis, April 18, 1988. US Marine Corps/Cpl. John Hyp

Joshan was then hit by five missiles from SAG Charlie, destroying it in what was the first missile duel between warships. Joshan's burnt hulk was then sunk by US gunfire. An Iranian F-4 fighter jet approached but withdrew after it was hit by an anti-aircraft missile from USS Wainwright.

SAG Delta, meanwhile, was looking for the IRIS Sabalan. Five IRGCN Boghammers had attacked the Mubarak offshore oil field in retaliation, damaging some tankers and drilling rigs. In response, aircraft from Enterprise, using coordinates from SAG Delta, attacked the boats, sinking one and damaging the other four.

IRIS Sahan, another Iranian frigate, was then detected heading toward Mubarak. After firing at Enterprise's aircraft, it was torn to shreds by bombs and missiles from A-6 attack aircraft and the guided-missile destroyer USS Joseph Strauss. Sahan sank later that night.

IRIS Sabalan finally showed up two hours later and was hit by a single 500-pound bomb that went directly into its smoke stack, seriously damaging it and bringing it to a halt.

SAG Delta requested permission to finish Sabalan off, but the Navy decided to de-escalate and allowed it to be towed back to Iran.

A different future

Four IRGCN vessels next to US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton in the Persian Gulf, April 15, 2020. Reuters

By the end of the day, the Navy had destroyed two IRGCN bases, sunk three Iranian vessels, and seriously damaged five more, killing over 50 IRGCN and Iranian Navy personnel in the process.

American casualties were one SeaCobra and its two-man crew, who crashed while on a reconnaissance mission.

Operation Praying Mantis provides a glimpse of what a future naval conflict with Iran in the Persian Gulf could look like.

The use of small armed speedboats to attack critical oil infrastructure and tankers, the fortification of offshore oil platforms, the mining of important trading lanes, and the use of Iranian Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman are widely expected to be the primary tactics.

But a future conflict is unlikely to go as smoothly for the US as Operation Praying Mantis did, mainly due to Iran's military modernization and expansion.

A satellite photo of a mock aircraft carrier built by Iran at Bandar Abbas, February 15, 2020. Maxar Technologies via AP

Iran's Navy has gotten larger and more capable, with more vessels able to launch anti-ship missiles and at least three Russian-built Kilo-class attack submarines in service.

Last year, an Iranian Navy exercise included an attack on a barge designed to look like a US aircraft carrier. In January, Iran unveiled the Makran, a "forward base ship" capable of carrying drones and helicopters.

The IRGCN has also been expanding its numbers and capabilities, including recent reports that it is building large missile-laden catamarans.

Iran's sea mines remain potent, but the biggest threat comes from Iran's missile arsenal, which is considerably larger and more advanced than it was in the 1980s.

In recent years, Iranian missiles have been used to attack Saudi oil facilities and civilian sites, as well as ships. In January 2020, Iranian cruise missiles hit US bases in Iraq, injuring over 100 service members.

Iran's missiles failed to hit their targets during Operation Praying Mantis, but things could be very different in the future.

Read the original article on Business Insider
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Schaeffler (SCFLF.OB) said the Annual General Meeting voted in favor of paying a dividend of 25 eurocents per common non-voting share. Effective at the end of the AGM, Sabrina Soussan stepped down as a member of the Supervisory Board in order to focus on her new role. The AGM selected Ulrike Hasbargen as a new member of the Supervisory Board. She has been elected for a term ending at the 2023 Annual General Meeting. Schaeffler will publish its interim report for the first quarter on May 12, 2021 as planned. 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.
Minneapolis  Moments after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in George Floyds death, copies of the original Minneapolis police statement began recirculating on social media. It attributed Floyds death to medical distress and made no mention that the Black man had been pinned to the ground at the neck by Chauvin, or that hed cried out that he couldnt breathe.

Many were posting the release to highlight the distance between the initial police narrative and the evidence that led to the conviction Tuesday, including excruciating video shot by a teenage bystander of Chauvin with his knee on Floyds neck, even after Floyd had stopped moving.

And while Chauvins conviction is a high-profile case of video rebutting initial police statements, criminal justice experts and police accountability advocates say the problem of inaccurate initial reports  especially in fatal police encounters  is widespread.

If it wasnt for this 17-year-old who took the video, Derek Chauvin would in all likelihood still be on the police force training officers, said Andre Johnson, a University of Memphis professor of communication studies. Sadly, this has been going on for a while, and its just now coming to light for a lot of Americans because of video evidence.

For their part, police officials say they give the most accurate information they can during fast-moving and complicated investigations. But the frequency with which misleading information is published cannot be ignored, critics say.

In 2014, the New York Police Departments narrative of Eric Garners death was that hed gone into cardiac arrest. It made no mention of an officers extended chokehold on Garner, shown in a bystander video that captured repeated pleas that he couldnt breathe. A grand jury declined to indict the since-fired officer Daniel Pantaleo, who said he was using a legal maneuver called a seat belt.

A year later, then-policeman Michael Slager said he shot Walter Scott because hed grabbed for the officers stun gun. But bystander video of the North Charleston, South Carolina, shooting showed Slager chase Scott after he fled a traffic stop and fatally shoot him in the back. Slager was charged with murder in state court, but released after a hung jury. He later pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations.

As the chorus of complaints about misinformation on such interactions grows, so do calls for body cameras for police. Roughly 80% of departments with 500 officers or more are now using cameras, but video storage can be costly.

Official police video is also increasingly showing discrepancies in initial police narratives, though generally the images are withheld for days or sometimes months during internal investigations.

Chicago police were ordered by a court to release dashcam video of the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald more than 13 months after the shooting. It was initially ruled a justified shooting based on an officer narrative that McDonald had approached police while refusing to drop a knife. The video showed then-officer Jason Van Dyke shooting the teen 16 times as he walked away. Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Johnson said it shouldnt take video evidence of Black Americans being mistreated or killed for people to support policing changes. He noted that when there is video evidence, its often scrutinized and still rejected by some as fake or deceptive.

Why does it have to take the video evidence, the activism, the testimony? asked Johnson, who is Black. It takes all that because since the inception of policing, we as Americans have taken the police at their word. But this is nothing new to communities of color.

The question is, Have police now begun to lose the default position that theyre truthful? he said. I think its beginning to erode.

Police and prosecutors in several cities have released body camera videos more quickly after recent fatal encounters. Some experts say thats in part to quell the potential for large-scale protests against racial injustice and police brutality that took place nationwide after Floyds death. Others say its a move to regain the trust of the community amid demands for transparency.

Officials in Columbus, Ohio, released initial body camera footage of the fatal police shooting of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant just hours after it happened Tuesday. More footage released Wednesday showed a chaotic scene where the teen charged at two people with a knife.

The release was a departure from the Columbus Division of Police protocol, and it came as the agency faces immense public scrutiny following two other high-profile killings by city police and one by the county sheriffs department in Columbus since Dec. 3.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, a district attorney came under fire for initially refusing to release body camera video after an officer shot and killed a student in a Knoxville high school April 12.

Activists, political leaders and media outlets had demanded that Knox County District Attorney Charme Allens office release the footage.

Just hours after Knoxville police officer Jonathon Clabough fatally shot 17-year-old Anthony J. Thompson Jr., Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the teen had fired shots as officers entered the bathroom, striking an officer.

But, after Allen released the video Wednesday to comply with a judges order, it showed Thompson was holding a handgun in his sweatshirt front pocket, fired only one shot and didnt strike any of the four officers. It was Clabough who accidentally shot fellow Officer Adam Wilson during the scuttle, officials said.

Allen told reporters she had spoken extensively with Thompsons family, who begged her not to release the video so close to his funeral.

My preference would be not to do this today, but Im under pressure from you (the media), from politicians and activist groups, she said. I get it. You should be able to see the video. I just think the timing, we have to come up with a better process.

In Minneapolis, police spokesperson John Elder previously told The Associated Press that he did not visit the scene on May 25, 2020, as he usually does after major events, and he was not able to review body camera footage of Floyds death for several hours. Elder released the initial description after being briefed by supervisors, who he learned later also had not been to the scene.

After the bystander video surfaced, the department realized the statement was inaccurate and immediately requested an FBI investigation, he said. By then, state investigators had taken over, and he was unable to issue a corrected statement.

I will never lie to cover up the actions of somebody else, Elder said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 03:38:16|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Friday 1,432 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 264,198.

The ministry also announced nine more fatalities, taking the death toll to 1,502, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,312 to 247,136. A total of 15,560 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment, including 222 in the intensive care units.

The Kuwaiti government has decided to extend the partial curfew, running from 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. local time, until the end of Ramadan as efforts to curb spread of COVID-19. Enditem
(Newser)  A California woman could face 10 years behind bars for an alleged years-long harassment campaign against three boys who dated a girl identified as her "co-conspirator." According to a DOJ press release, "In each case, after the relationship ended, [Ramajana Hidic] Demirovic engaged in a campaign to punish the victims." The first relationship reportedly lasted a few days in February 2016. Authorities allege Demirovic went to the 14-year-old boy's school that May and threatened to "rip [his] f---ing heart out," per the San Francisco Chronicle. Later that year, Demirovic allegedly targeted another boy whom the girl had dated for a couple months. Demirovic and the co-conspirator allegedly harassed the 15-year-old through online and text messages, calling him a "a sad piece of s--t" whose "daddy didn't want you"; threatened to sabotage his college applications; and filed false claims of physical abuse, drug use, and alcoholism with his school and employer. Court documents say the boy suffered panic attacks for the next four years.

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Following the end of a 10-month relationship in 2018, Demirovic allegedly started impersonating and harassing a third boy and his prom date using multiple Instagram accounts, authorities say. She allegedly contacted thousands of people to make lewd suggestions or circulate claims of "sexual predation" and drug use. She also filed a Title IX complaint with the boy's university that accused him of stalking women, authorities say. The teen was "traumatized," per the News & Observer. He changed his number, deleted his social media accounts, and sought therapy after suffering permanent damage to "his personal relationships and reputation," per court documents. Demirovic, 46, of Brentwood was charged Monday with two federal counts of conspiracy and cyberstalking. Each carries a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine. (Read more cyberstalking stories.)
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) awaits the State of the Union address in the chamber of the House of Representatives on February 4, 2020 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Federal investigators are looking into whether Matt Gaetz was illegally influenced to support loosening cannabis regulations, CNN reported.

They're specifically probing whether a 2018 Bahamas trip he took with several women was part of the illicit effort.

The focus is part of a broader inquiry into whether Gaetz broke federal sex-trafficking laws.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Federal investigators are looking into whether a 2018 trip Rep. Matt Gaetz took to the Bahamas with several women was part of an illegal effort to influence his platform on cannabis regulations, CNN reported. Specifically, the report said, the feds are investigating if Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and cannabis entrepreneur who went on the trip with Gaetz, tried to improperly get Gaetz to push for pro-cannabis legislation.

CBS News first reported on the Justice Department's scrutiny of the Bahamas trip, and sources told the news outlet that Pirozzolo footed the bill for travel expenses, hotel accommodations, and female escorts on the alleged trip, and that investigators are examining whether the women were trafficked illegally across state lines to have sex with Gaetz.

The Justice Department has been investigating since last year over whether he violated federal sex trafficking laws and engaged in a sexual relationship with a minor. The investigation into him stems from a broader inquiry into the former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, a close associate of Gaetz's who was indicted on 33 felony counts, including carrying out the sex trafficking of a minor between the ages of 14 and 17. Greenberg previously pleaded not guilty.

Both Gaetz and his father have confirmed the existence of the investigation. Greenberg, meanwhile, appears to be close to striking a plea deal with prosecutors, and The New York Times reported that he's been cooperating with investigators since last year.

Politico reported that the feds also obtained a search warrant and seized Gaetz's iPhone in December. The report said Gaetz changed his phone number last year and that investigators also seized his former girlfriend's phone in November.

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Gaetz has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and wrongdoing, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, CNN reported that Gaetz was a fixture at parties that frequently involved drug use and sex and after which money sometimes changed hands.

Two women who attended several of the parties told the news outlet that they took place in Florida and often featured men who were active in local Republican politics. The first thing some women were told to do was put their phones away because the men didn't want the parties to be documented on social media or in photos.

Partygoers would share drugs like ecstasy and cocaine, and "some had sex," the report said, adding that after some of the parties money was sent to some attendees. CNN said it had viewed digital receipts showing that Gaetz and Greenberg used payment apps "to send hundreds of dollars to at least one woman who attended the parties."

The payments were said to have been made between 2018 and 2019, and a label for at least one of them said it was for travel expenses.

Read the original article on Business Insider
COLUMBUS, Ohio  A bullet hole in a garage near her sisters house marks the place where Adrienne Hoods son, who was Black, was shot and killed by police officers in Columbus in 2016.

Ms. Hood said her sons death opened her eyes to a city and a Police Department that have been enveloped in controversy for years. The more she learns, she said, the more she feels disappointed.

Since the death of her 23-year-old son  killed after exchanging gunfire with two plainclothes police officers who, she said, did not identify themselves as officers  26 people have been shot to death by law enforcement in Columbus, according to Mapping Police Violence. Four of the deaths occurred in the past four months.

Its becoming more and more clear that there is no respect for Black bodies and Black communities, Ms. Hood said.
Apprehension is growing in Turkey that its tourism sector, a vital hard-currency earner, might fail to recuperate in 2021 amid a new peak in the coronavirus pandemic. Al-Monitor reports that an alarming surge in COVID-19 infections in Turkey, coupled with an ongoing gloom in the global travel industry, threatens to wreck hopes of recovery in the tourism sector, a vital source of hard-currency earnings for the crisis-hit country.

The Turkish government is under fire for mismanaging the pandemic, especially for holding crowded party conventions across the country in February and March. A sharp spike in infections led Ankara to reimpose partial lockdown measures last week, dampening hopes that major European countries, which provide the largest tourist flows to Turkey, could relax travel restrictions to the country ahead of the high tourism season. Ankaras political frictions with Moscow over Ukraine might prove an additional setback for Turkeys tourism industry, as it seeks to emerge from a terrible contraction last year. With little government support for the sector, tourism revenues plunged to $10 billion last year from about $30 billion in 2019, while revenues from air travel dropped by $8 billion to $3.5 billion.

Even before the COVID-19 upsurge in Turkey, the global prospects for a rebound in tourism were dimming. In January, an international survey among tourism experts, conducted by the UN World Tourism Organization, found that only 45% of respondents envisage better prospects for 2021 compared to last year, while 25% expect a similar performance and 30% foresee a worse outcome. International tourist arrivals plunged 74% in 2020, representing an estimated loss of $1.3 trillion in revenues  more than 11 times the loss during the 2009 global economic crisis, according to the organization. The pandemic torpedoed an upbeat trend in global tourism, which had seen tourist arrivals worldwide grow 4% in 2019 to reach 1.5 billion and had spurred forecasts of a similar increase in 2020.

After the unprecedented collapse of international travel last year, experts foresee growing demand for open-air and nature-based tourism activities, with domestic tourism and slow travel experiences gaining increasing interest, the organization said. Yet most experts remain pessimistic that the tourism industry could return to pre-pandemic levels before 2023. According to the survey, 43% of respondents point to 2023, while 41% expect a return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024 or later. The gradual rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine is expected to help restore consumer confidence, contribute to ease travel restrictions and slowly normalize travel during the year ahead, it said.

For Turkey, a return to the pre-pandemic level as soon as possible is of vital economic importance. Besides the direct revenues the tourism sector generates, it is crucial for the earnings of interrelated industries such as food, textiles and transport. Moreover, the loss of tourism revenues exacerbates Turkeys current account gap or foreign exchange deficit, which reached $37 billion in 2020. A similar loss cannot be ruled out this year. The industry has hoped to make headway from last years collapse and double its revenues to $20 billion, but even such a partial recovery could prove a tall order.

Above all, Ankaras much-criticized, opaque handling of the coronavirus contagion has produced alarming consequences, raising the specter of fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions just ahead of the prime tourist season. Not surprisingly, foreign countries, from which Turkey expects the largest flows of holidaymakers, are in a wait-and-see mode.

Russia, Germany and Britain are the top three sources of tourists to Turkey. Their nationals accounted for about a third of tourists visiting Turkey in the pre-pandemic era, decoupling from other foreign holidaymakers also in terms of spending per capita.

After the latest surge in COVID-19 cases, Germany and Britain as well as other European countries are expected to further tighten restrictions on travel to Turkey. And Russia, the biggest source of tourists to Turkey, last week suspended most air travel with Turkey until June 1. It cited the rise in COVID-19 cases, but many believe the decision was also politically motivated, given bilateral tensions over Turkeys support for Ukraine in its standoff with Russia.

Turkeys tourism industry hopes that Moscow will review its decision, which has disappointed many in Russia as well. Russian tour operators and thousands of Russians planning to vacation in Turkey are eager to see the flights resume. Turkish officials say Moscows flight restrictions could cost the country half a million tourists and expect a visit by a Russian delegation soon to observe pandemic measures at tourist destinations. The Mediterranean province of Antalya, dubbed the capital of Turkeys tourism sector, has become a top holiday spot for Russians in recent years.

If the tourism industry ends up with big losses this year, Turkeys hard-currency needs would only aggravate and touristic facilities would plunge into deeper dire straits, along with their employees and suppliers. The problem would bear also on banks. Many touristic enterprises have already defaulted on loan payments but have benefitted from a lengthened grace period as part of pandemic relief measures. Without a fresh extension of the measure, their financial troubles would grow, while an extended postponement would put further strain on banks.

As to how the government could help, it appears to have no lifebuoy to throw.
TEL AVIV - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed "firm condemnation" of incidents in East Jerusalem denouncing, already last night, that "settlers and far-right groups incite to kill Arabs" with the "protection of the Israeli army and police", Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The agency said the Palestinian presidency has stated that "East Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine and is a red line".



President Mahmoud Abbas, according to the same source, appealed "to the international community to protect the Palestinian population in Jerusalem from the oppression of settlers", considering "the Israeli government fully responsible for this grave deterioration".



Premier Mohammed Shtayyeh - quoted by Wafa - also spoke about the incidents in Jerusalem, describing them as "State terrorism aimed at making the holy city Jewish by imposing false facts".



Jordan on Twitter condemned the "incitement and provocations yesterday from Jewish extremist groups" in the Old City of Jerusalem. "As an occupying power - he added - Israeli authorities are fully responsible having consented to the entry of these groups in the Old City".



Meanwhile an appeal for calm was launched by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion. "We must end this situation", Lion told public radio Kan. "I am dialoguing with representatives of the Arab districts. We talk with anyone possible to stop this superfluous violence. We talk with moderates from both sides so that they influence extremists".



In Jerusalem Muslim worshippers are meanwhile going towards the holy site known to them as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount for the second Friday of Ramadan. Palestinian sources said that controls were tighter at roadblocks to enter the city and under the holy site which has already been reached by hundreds of worshippers.
The Oneida County Health Department has announced multiple COVID-19 vaccination clinics which are taking place around the county over the next few days. They include:

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Lee Center Fire Department Bingo Hall

5510 School St, Lee Center

(Moderna)

Remsen Jr/Sr High School

9733 Main St, Remsen

(Pfizer)

Whitesboro Fire Department

171 Oriskany Blvd, Whitesboro

(Moderna)

Tuesday April 27, 2021

Oneida County Health Dept. - Rome Clinic

300 West Dominick St, Rome

Walk-ins welcome

(Moderna)

Wednesday April 28, 2021

Oneida County Health Dept. - Utica Clinic

406 Elizabeth St, Utica

Walk-ins welcome

(Moderna)

Click here to visit the Oneida County Department of Health website for a link to register for an appointment.

These vaccines are for Oneida County residents only. The health department says not to arrive more than 30 minutes before your designated time of appointment. If you do, you will have to wait outside the POD site until your designated time of appointment before you will be allowed into the line to be vaccinated.
Most Asian American adults in the U.S. report an increase in violence against them, according to a new Pew Research Center study, and a third of the population fears they will be attacked or threatened.

The study, conducted earlier this month and released Wednesday, found that more Asian Americans fear violence than any other ethnic or racial group, according to the research center. Hate crimes targeting the population have soared in some cities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including a March shooting in which a gunman killed six Asian women at Atlanta-area spas.

The survey found that 81% of Asian adults say violence against their community is increasing, 32% fear someone may threaten or physically attack them and 45% have experienced offensive behavior or comments in the past year.

Locally, a woman was indicted last week by a Harris County grand jury on a hate crime charge that stemmed from an attack against the owners of a Korean beauty supply shop. Members of Houston's Asian American community have said discrimination and harassment are rampant and the brutal attacks elsewhere in the country have stoked fear.

As the country grapples with the wave of attacks, the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill aimed at tackling the rise in anti-Asian violence that garnered bipartisan support.

Nearly half of Asian adults said they have experienced at least one offensive incident since the pandemic began, the survey found.

Of the respondents, 27% said they were subject to slurs or jokes and the same percentage said people had acted uncomfortable around them. A small portion of people, 16% and 14% respectively, said someone told them to go back to their country or blamed them for coronavirus, the survey found.

Similar portions of Black and Hispanic adults reported that someone told them to go back home, the survey found. Compared to the Asian population, more Black Americans were subject to people acting uncomfortable around them, researchers said, and about the same portion were called slurs.

An open-ended survey question allowed respondents to identify reasons for the increase in violence. One-fifth of Asian American adults cited Donald Trump's rhetoric surrounding the pandemic, including his blame on China and frequent use of racist terms. Others said anti-Asian racism, the pandemic and the scapegoating of Asians have contributed to increasing violence. A few people cited ignorance and misinformation.

Discrimination against the Asian population in the U.S., which encompasses a vast and diverse group, was prevalent before the pandemic too. In this year's survey, 73% of Asian Americans said they were treated unfairly or discriminated against due to race or ethnicity. The number dipped from 76% in 2019, Pew said.




[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.]

Chesterfield, UK.  April 23rd, 2021  Funbox Media Ltd will take players on a trip down memory lane for a true Flashback Friday experience, with the physical release of Terra Trilogy for the PlayStation4 today and Nintendo Switch to follow in July. Terra Trilogy features three full games in one package that pay homage to the classic and retro arcade genre of the 1980s. While capturing the twitch gameplay of their predecessors, they're brought to you in glorious HD using vector graphics to provide clean, never pixelated graphics and advanced Newtonian physics. Terra Lander, Terra Lander II - Rockslide Rescue, and Terra Bomber each offer the familiar boops and beeps that will inspire fond memories in veteran players while newcomers will appreciate the improved graphics, visual effects, and controls they come to expect from current-gen games. Heres a rundown of each game included in Terra Trilogy: Terra Lander is a two-dimensional sideways scroller inspired by the classic arcade shooters of the 1980s. Navigate your ship to the landing pad through twenty increasingly difficult levels within the time limit and without running out of fuel. Avoid the moving doors and increasingly fiendish enemies, and find the switches for the doors that block your way. Movement and firing uses up fuel throughout the level, and running out means you lose controls and cannot fire. Replenish your tank by shooting the fuel dumps, and if all fuel dumps are destroyed on any given level the player's fuel tank capacity is doubled for the next level (except in practice mode.). Don't touch anything--that would be fatal! Terra Lander II - Rockslide Rescue is the sequel to Terra Lander in which players must rescue humanoids from various landing pads across the planet. Complete ten levels of increasing difficulty within the time limit by rescuing all of the humanoids and flying above the planet to escape. Once these 10 levels are complete you will start again from the level 1 but with greater difficulty and force of gravity. Movement and firing projectiles use up fuel, so keeping an eye on your fuel levels is highly encouraged. Replenishing fuel can be done by shooting fuel dumps, but if pilots find themselves with an empty gas tank, theyll lose control of their craft and be unable to fire missiles. In Terra Bomber pilot your craft across ten increasingly difficult terrains while avoiding the various gun positions, rockets and baddies with only one objective: to destroy the base and the end of the level! Use your guns and bombs which can be bolstered by collecting power ups, and maintain a sharp eye on your fuel levels, keeping them topped up by destroying the fuel dumps. Terra Trilogy is out today on PlayStation4 in physical form and will land on the Nintendo Switch in July 2021. Each of the 3 games can also be purchased individually on the PlayStation4 Store Now! Order your physical version now directly from us on this link -> https://www.funboxmedia.co.uk/terra-trilogy-ps4/ To download the media pack including packshot, screens, banners and videos etc, please click HERE //END// About Funbox Media Ltd Funbox Media, located in Chesterfield UK, is a third-party publisher and distributor for all video and mobile gaming platforms. Originally focusing on casual, affordable games, Funbox strengthened its catalogue by bringing to market established brands such as the hit TV game show The Cube, Super Street, Warhammer 40,000, MYST and Gem Smashers, alongside its existing impressive portfolio of titles. Distributing to all worldwide territories and with over 60 years of combined experience, Funbox Media Ltd is an established and reliable partner in the industry. For more information about Funbox Media Ltd and their products please visit www.funboxmedia.co.uk
( ) (FRA:UUD) has multiple potential value inflection points over the next two years, with two drugs in clinical trials that are due to report meaningful efficacy and safety endpoints in patients by the end of 2022.

The company has a platform technology that has delivered a pipeline of first in class or best in class clinical drugs for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The first of these drugs already has an IND approval from the FDA and is currently being trialled in myelofibrosis patients.

Its lead asset PXS-5505  with disease-modifying potential in myelofibrosis  is in Phase 1c/2 trial, with further collaborations to extend the value of PXS-5505 in a variety of other oncology indications where there is strong unmet need.

Its anti-scarring drug PXS-6302 is also moving into Phase 1c trial in patients and Pharmaxis has identified commercially important dermatology indications that the drug could be developed in.

Myelofibrosis

Pharmaxis lead asset PXS-5505 Phase 1c/2a proof-of-concept myelofibrosis study commenced recruitment in the first quarter of 2021 and is targeted to complete in the second half of 2022.

The drug, with disease-modifying potential, was patented in 2018, with long-term tox and Phase 1 studies completed in the first half of 2020.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) orphan status was granted in July 2020 and an IND-approved in August 2020.

Myelofibrosis is an orphan disease with high unmet need, with the market expected to exceed US$1 billion.

It affects 15 in 1 million people worldwide, with a five-years median survival and 11% transformation to leukemia.

Pharmaxis has research collaborations in other cancers:

Myelodysplastic syndrome (Germany);

Liver Cancer (Rochester, New York);

Pancreatic Cancer (Sydney, Rochester);

Melanoma and glioblastoma (Houston); and

Head and Neck Cancer (Boston).

Anti-scarring drug PXS-6302

Pharmaxis anti-scarring drug is in a Phase 1 trial, with PXS-6302 entering patient studies in 2H 2021, to stop scars forming after trauma, including following burn injuries.

The trial will investigate the potential of PXS6302 treatment to transform trauma recovery by blocking the underlying fibrosis causing scar tissue.

The worldfirst human trial will determine the safety and tolerability of the product in healthy volunteers, and proceed to patients with established scars and those with scarring subsequent to burn injury.

Distinguished surgeon and burns expert Professor Fiona Wood AM is leading a group of researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Fiona Stanley Hospital to progress the treatment through clinical trials.

The Pharmaxis discovery has shown promising preclinical results in inhibiting the enzymes that play a critical role in the development of scar tissue.

PXS6302 was discovered by the Pharmaxis research team at its Frenchs Forest laboratories

The new compound may potentially avoid the need for invasive procedures such as further surgery or laser procedures according to UWA Senior Research Fellow at the School of Biomedical Sciences Dr Kylie SandyHodgetts.

Mannitol respiratory

Pharmaxis exclusive US distributor, Chiesi USA Inc, has launched Bronchitol (mannitol), an addon maintenance therapy to improve pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients aged 18 years and older in the US.

Bronchitol, developed by Pharmaxis, is the first dry powder-inhaled mucoactive agent providing a compact, portable treatment option for CF patients.

Pharmaxis chief executive officer Gary Phillips said: We expect Bronchitol sales in the US to contribute strongly to the products global sales and profit growth, making the Pharmaxis mannitol respiratory business cash flow positive from FY 2021.

The company has so far received a total of US$10 million in Bronchitol milestone payments from Chiesi, triggered by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approval in October 2020 and the recent first shipment of stock to the US.

Mannitol respiratory sales are forecast to double by financial year 2022 with Bronchitol accounting for more than 75% of the sales.

The company sees strong longer term growth contribution from the US, and growth in ex-US markets, including Russia.

Bronchitol is manufactured and exported from the Pharmaxis manufacturing facility in Sydney. The product is marketed in Europe, Russia and several other countries and is PBS listed for the treatment of Australian adults and children.

CF is a debilitating genetic disease that causes progressive damage to the lungs and other organs.

Chiesi is responsible for the commercialisation of Bronchitol in the US.

Bronchitol joins Pharmaxis' first commercial product, Aridol, in being FDAapproved.

Aridol is a lung function test designed to help doctors diagnose and manage asthma by detecting active airway inflammation.

Russian deal for Bronchitol

In April 2021, the company further strengthened its balance sheet, with the sale of the distribution rights in Russia for Bronchitol to regional pharma specialty company GEN Ilac ve Saglk Urunleri San. ve Tic. A.S. (GEN) for A$2 million - effective May 1, 2021.

Key functions will be handled by GEN, a trusted Pharmaxis business partner in other territories for more than seven years.

Gary Phillips said: We have had a long and productive collaboration with GEN who have been our distributors in the Turkish market for many years.

Extending this relationship to encompass Russia and other related territories at this time will ensure that Bronchitol will be well supported by an experienced partner with a leading position in cystic fibrosis care.

The deal delivers ongoing annual savings of A$1m to Pharmaxis. The company will continue to manufacture and export Bronchitol to Russia from its factory in Sydney that also supplies the US, European and Australian markets

Promise in bone marrow cancer: study

Drugs from Pharmaxis lysyl oxidase inhibitor drug discovery program, have been found to be capable of slowing the progression of primary myelofibrosis (PMF), a relatively rare but painful type of bone marrow cancer, according to a new study by the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).

The study, led by corresponding author Professor Katya Ravid, DSc, and funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, were published online in the journal Archives of Stem Cell and Therapy.

Based on its own extensive pre-clinical program and the results from this study, Pharmaxis initiated Phase 1c/2 clinical trials in humans with its lead drug from this program, PXS-5505.

According to Ravid, Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at BUSM and Professor of Biology at Boston University, these drugs are unique because they are able to inhibit their target, a protein called lysyl oxidase (LOX), with a combination of specificity and potency not seen in previously tested drugs.

These current findings build upon previous discoveries and publications by Prof Ravid and her group, showing what specific proteins in the bone marrow cause the scaring effect observed in PMF.

These findings are significant because they represent a possible novel avenue of treatment for PMF, since there are currently no available drugs that tackle the diseased bone marrow matrix proteins in the way that the Pharmaxis LOX inhibitors can.

PMF disrupts the body's normal production of blood cells by causing extensive scarring in the bone marrow.

Currently, few treatment options are available, with most of them being palliative in nature.

The only curative treatment is a stem cell transplant, for which few patients are eligible.

Non-core pipeline

Pharmaxis also has further non-core pipeline opportunities in fibrosis and inflammation that will leverage on its global leadership position in amine oxidase enzymes to deliver targeted drugs.

Strengthened cash position

Also in April 2020, the company received commitments from sophisticated and institutional investors to subscribe for 54.6 million fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.08 per share to raise around A$4.4 million.

New shareholder Karst Peak invested A$3.2 million for an 8.9% stake and existing shareholder BVF Partners LP invested A$800,000 to maintain its holding at 19.5%.

Funds raised will be used to strengthen the balance sheet as the company conducts a Phase 1/2 study in myelofibrosis with its lead drug PXS-5505 (which is already recruiting) and a Phase 1c study in patients with problematic skin scarring with its topical drug PXS-6302.

The company will have a A$20 million pro-forma cash balance (as of March 31, 2021) post raising.

There are further opportunities to extend its cash runway ahead with the mannitol business to go from cash burn in financial year 2020 to cash flow positive from financial year onwards.

Phillips added: Further initiatives currently underway to generate non-dilutive cash and reduce operating expenses will be announced as they are completed.

Other opportunities include:
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday (April 23) demanded additional medical oxygen for the state, adequate supply of vaccines, and permission to import Remdesivir to tackle the surge in COVID-19 cases, during a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An official release here said that the Maharashtra CM also demanded that oxygen be airlifted if possible, as the state currently requires 1,550 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to treat coronavirus patients every day and about 300 to 350 metric tons is being procured from outside.

According to the release, the Chief Minister said that instead of distant states, if the supply could be arranged from neighbouring states, it would be available early, adding that empty oxygen tankers should be flown back to refilling plants to save on transportation time if it was not possible to airlift oxygen.

More than 60,000 patients in the state are on oxygen while there are 76,300 oxygen beds and over 25,000 additional oxygen beds were being arranged, the CM told the Prime Minister, adding Maharashtra should get 250 to 300 metric tons of additional oxygen, considering its requirement.

Speaking on Remdesivir shortages, Thackery is stated to have said, "It is not known how effective Remdesivir is but it surely reduces the period of hospitalisation. The state should get Remdesivir supply based on the number of patients it has."

He further said that Maharashtra needs 70,000vials of Remdesivir every day but is getting only27,000, and it should be allowed to import the medicine, adding that the state has about 5 lakh doses of vaccine in stock as of now.

The release quoted him as saying, "Maharashtra has 5.71 crore people in the 18 to44 age group. We will require 12 crore doses. Our vaccine manufacturers will not be able to produce the required doses in a short time. The corporate sector should also be given permission to purchase vaccines under their Corporate Social Responsibility obligation."

He said the Centre should provide 13,000 jumbo oxygen cylinders and 1,100 ventilators to Maharashtra, and expressed confidence that the state will succeed in containing the pandemic.

No response from Centre on uniform vaccine rate: Tope

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that there has been no firm response from the Centre to the demand for uniform pricing of coronavirus vaccines. He also said that the Serum Institute of India has informed that it can provide Covishield vaccine to the state only after May 24 as the Centre has booked all the production till that date.

Speaking to reporters after participating in a virtual meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the states worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the Health Minister said, "All the major states have demanded `one nation-one rate' for the vaccine, but received no firm response from the centre."

Tope said, "We have examples of Israel or the UK where vaccination was carried out at a large scale. If the rates are reduced, we could buy more vaccines," adding "If the demand is not met, the state will take responsibility for people under the poverty line only while others, as well as corporates, will have to take the vaccine on their own."

Notably, Opposition parties have questioned why the SII's Covishield vaccine was procured by the Centre at Rs 150 per dose but the states will have to shell out Rs 400 apiece.

(With Agency Inputs)
InsidePadua's Arena Chapel, a series of fabulous frescos by Renaissance painter Giotto adorn the walls. In one, banker Enrico Scrovegni can be seen kneeling in front of the Virgin Mary, begging for forgiveness.

He is said to have commissioned the entire set of works to atone for the great sin of charging interest on loans, which was then frowned upon by the Church. But while our attitudes to lending have changed, the symbiotic relationship between money and art continues.

The role of patronage may even be enjoying something of a renaissance for the digital age, thanks to new technology (depending on your point of view).

Mike Winkelmann's huge collage of images, called 'Everydays: The First 5000 Days', was sold as a computerised asset, for 50m

For with the spread of 'cryptomania', artworks are increasingly being tracked using digital ledgers and sold with tokens to ensure their authenticity.

So popular is this trend that a completely digital work by Mike Winkelmann, the graphic designer known as Beeple, recently sold for more than 50million when it was auctioned by Christie's.

The huge collage of images, called Everydays: The First 5000 Days, was sold as a computerised asset, to be downloaded into the digital 'wallet' of the successful bidder. It marked the first time Christie's had sold a completely digital piece of art in its 250-year history.

The auction house also accepted payment in ethereum, the second most popular digital currency after bitcoin.

Crucially, the Beeple artwork was tied to a so-called non-fungible token or NFT. This is a unique crypto-graphic token, essentially a computer file that demonstrates proof of authenticity.

Token art: Works such as Banksys Girl With A Balloon (left) can now be sold as a computerised asset

NFTs exist on the blockchain, the digital ledger system that can be viewed publicly, and traded freely.

Somewhat confusingly, the owner of an NFT does not hold the copyright to a work, but rather proof it is an original and the ability to sell it on.

That has not put off enthusiasts, though. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sold an NFT of the first ever tweet for 2.1million, while others have included the newest album by Kings of Leon and a host of artworks being sold on online marketplace Opensea.

But nothing has taken off quite like NFT art, which has generated sales of 140million in the past month, according to market tracker Nonfungible.com.

Supporters say the technology is a real breakthrough for the art world, allowing sellers and buyers irrefutably to prove authenticity, something that has long been a t ricky issue for an industry where famous works can disappear from view or reemerge sporadically.

Beeple - whose real name is Mike Winkelmann - sold his artwork tied to a so-called non-fungible token or NFT - essentially a computer file that demonstrates proof of authenticity

In the past week alone, a single piece of pixelated work that is part of a series called Cryptopunks  one of the more popular NFTs  sold for more than $1million.

Artists and collectors are also beginning to securitise collections of artworks and sell shares in the musing NFTs. One example is a collection being launched by London-based investment platform Artcels, featuring works by Banksy, Kaws, Damien Hirst, George Condo and Jeff Koons.

The price of a single share in the portfolio  called Millennials  is $1,000, with up to 250 shares being made available.

Buyers will be able to attend viewings of the artwork multiple times a year at galleries in London, Los Angeles, Mykonos in Greece and Shanghai. Artcels co-founder Elio D'Anna, of Mayfair-based House of Fine Art, said it is being aimed at young people who want to invest in high profile art but may previously have been priced out.

Buyers can fill out paperwork the old-fashioned way or simply obtain a share certificate digitally, in the form of an NFT, which is stored in a digital wallet.

This means they can be freely traded afterwards as well, with any transactions recorded on the blockchain.

D'Anna says NFT sales have 'exploded in the last few months', mostly for completely digital works  those you can never hold in your hands.

Artists and collectors are also beginning to securitise collections of artworks and sell shares in the musing NFTs

And although his gallery offers to send buyers high resolution, digital copies of the works they purchased, most people aren't even bothered. 'Some people do not care about that at all,' he explains.

They just want the tradable value of the token  they believe in owning digital assets, the collectible part.' He is convinced NFTs can be a force for good, because their ability to be written as digital contracts means artists can continue to receive royalties indefinitely, every time they are sold on.

Middle-men and other parties can also be written in.

'That is amazing and it is going to create huge liquidity for the art market, because the creator of the media will get an ongoing royalty forever,' D'Anna added.

However, even supporters have their doubts. Robert Norton, boss of digital art verification firm Verisart, has branded the NFTs craze 'a moment of collective hysteria'.

And after the Christie's auction, Beeple himself converted his haul of ethereum into cold hard cash, saying in an interview later: 'I think it's a bubble.'

He added: 'If it's not a bubble now, I do believe it probably will be a bubble at some point, because there's just so many people rushing into this space.'

Yet that has not put off artists around the globe  Damien Hirst among them  from gearing up to mint thousands of their own digital tokens. What Giotto would have made of all this is anyone's guess.
English French

20210422_Press Release Q1 2021 Revenue

PRESS RELEASE

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France  April 22, 2021

Good start to the year with strong organic revenue growth in Q1 2021

Q1 2021 Key Figures1

Revenue of EUR 1.155 billion in Q1 2021, up 6.6% organically, up 6.2% at constant currency and up 1.3% year on year (on a reported basis)

3 businesses delivered strong organic growth, Certification +21.6%, Consumer Products +18.7%, and Buildings & Infrastructure (B&I) +13.3%

Marine & Offshore maintained a solid 3.4% organic growth, against challenging comparables

Agri-Food & Commodities and Industry were down organically by 3.6% and 0.4%, respectively

The currency impact was negative by 4.9% mainly due to the depreciation of the USD and pegged currencies as well as some emerging countries currencies against the euro

Q1 2021 Highlights

58% of the Groups portfolio grew double-digit organically on average during the quarter

Continued strong rebound in the Certification business, benefiting from both catch-up of audits and strong momentum on CSR-related services across most geographies

Recovery of the Buildings & Infrastructure portfolio, primarily driven by the Chinese and the US platforms

Strong return to growth for Consumer Products fueled by Asia and helped by very favorable comparables

Solid growth in Marine & Offshore thanks to the Core In-service activity

Mixed environment for Agri-Food & Commodities (solid trends in Agri-Food and Metals & Minerals were largely offset by weak Oil markets) and Industry (where the dynamic Power & Utilities contracts were offset by subdued Oil & Gas Capex activities)

Acquisition of US-based Bradley Construction Management (EUR 11 million of annual revenue in 2020), accelerating growth in renewable energy market

2021 Outlook confirmed

The Group remains uniquely positioned with the diversity, the resilience of its portfolio and its numerous growth opportunities. Based on the current uncertainties around the Covid-19 pandemic and assuming no severe lockdowns in its main countries of operation, Bureau Veritas expects for the full year 2021 to:

Achieve solid organic revenue growth;

Improve the adjusted operating margin;

Generate sustained strong cash flow.





Didier Michaud-Daniel, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

Our first quarter performance demonstrated the strong recovery potential of our portfolio of activities, after five years of profound transformation that have led Bureau Veritas to become a more diverse company, perfectly positioned to take a new step forward in its development. Our 6.6% organic revenue was driven by an excellent performance in Certification, Consumer Products and Buildings & Infrastructure as well as a solid growth for Marine & Offshore.

In todays world focusing more than ever before on health, safety, quality and environmental stewardship, the Group is uniquely positioned to support its clients from all sectors, thanks to the breadth of its expertise, network and capabilities. In the long run, the growth opportunities related to Sustainability are very strong and we will continue to seize them through our BV Green Line of services and solutions. Short term wise, we acknowledge that the current environment remains volatile. We reiterate our 2021 outlook.

GROWTH IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Marine & Offshore 94.1 94.4 (0.3)% +3.4% - (3.7)% Agri-Food & Commodities 249.2 272.7 (8.6)% (3.6)% - (5.0)% Industry 232.5 253.3 (8.2)% (0.4)% (1.2)% (6.6)% Buildings & Infrastructure 347.2 318.2 +9.1% +13.3% (0.9)% (3.3)% Certification 91.9 76.6 +20.0% +21.6% +2.7% (4.3)% Consumer Products 139.8 124.3 +12.5% +18.7% - (6.2)% Total Group revenue 1,154.7 1,139.5 +1.3% +6.6% (0.4)% (4.9)%

Revenue in the first quarter of 2021 amounted to EUR 1,154.7 million, a 1.3% increase compared with Q1 2020. Organic increase was 6.6%, compared to a 2.0% decrease in the last quarter of 2020.

By geography, activities in Asia Pacific strongly recovered (30% of revenue; up 20.3% organically), led by a 46.2% increase in China (across all businesses) and to a lesser extent Australia (up 7.9% organically) led by the agri-food and commodities markets. Europe (39% of revenue; up 2.5% organically) was primarily led by solid activity levels in Southern Europe as well as France. Activity in the Americas (23% of revenue, up 0.6% organically), benefiting from robust growth in Latin America (led by Brazil) offset by declining revenue in North America dragged down by the energy sector. Finally, in Africa and the Middle East (8% of revenue), the business increased by 0.8% on an organic basis.

New bolt-on acquisitions since the start of 2021 (Secura and Zhejiang Jianchuang Testing Technology Services Company Limited) resulted in a positive scope impact on revenue, this being offset by the impact from the disposal of the Emissions Monitoring business unit in the US last year.

Currency fluctuations had a negative impact of 4.9%, mainly due to the depreciation of the USD and pegged currencies as well as some emerging countries currencies against the euro.

Resumption of disciplined bolt-on M&A in 2021

On April 22, the Group announced the acquisition of Bradley Construction Management, a US-based leading provider of construction management services for the renewable energy sector. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company today has 50 employees and posted revenues of EUR 11 million in 2020. The acquisition of Bradley Construction Management reinforces both Bureau Veritas diversification and growth in the renewable energy sector in the United States.

Earlier in the year, the Group completed the acquisition of Secura B.V. (starting with a majority stake), an independent service company specializing in cybersecurity services (around EUR 10 million of revenue in 2020). Secura will be a cornerstone in the cybersecurity strategy of Bureau Veritas. It also completed the acquisition of Zhejiang Jianchuang Testing Technology Services Company Limited, a softlines testing business focusing on domestic brands and e-shops in China (around EUR 1.5 million of revenue in 2020). This supports the Groups diversification within its Consumer Products division towards the Chinese domestic market and online brands.

Solid financial position

At the end of March 2021, the Group's adjusted net financial debt slightly decreased compared with the level at December 31, 2020. The Group has a solid financial structure with no maturities to refinance until 2023. At March 31, 2021, Bureau Veritas had EUR 1.1 billion in available cash and cash equivalents and EUR 600 million in undrawn committed credit lines.

Shareholders meeting

The Annual Shareholders Meeting of Bureau Veritas will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 25, 2021 at Studio Sonacom, 32 avenue Charles de Gaulle, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine (France), from where the Shareholders Meeting will be broadcast live.

Given the unique circumstances relating to Covid-19 pandemic and in accordance with government restrictions aiming to limit the spread of the virus, the Board of Directors has decided that the Combined Shareholders Meeting will take place behind closed doors, without the physical presence of the shareholders, to avoid exposing them to health risks and to guarantee equal access to the Meeting2. Shareholders will be able to follow the Meeting, which will be broadcast live on the Company website, and will have the opportunity to ask questions via a chat during the Meeting.

2021 outlook confirmed

The Group remains uniquely positioned with the diversity, the resilience of its portfolio and its numerous growth opportunities. Based on the current uncertainties around the Covid-19 pandemic and assuming no severe lockdowns in its main countries of operation, Bureau Veritas expects for the full year 2021 to:

Achieve solid organic revenue growth;

Improve the adjusted operating margin;

Generate sustained strong cash flow.





Q1 2021 business review

MARINE & OFFSHORE

IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Revenue 94.1 94.4 (0.3)% +3.4% - (3.7)%

The Marine & Offshore business demonstrated a solid 3.4% organic revenue growth in the first quarter of 2021 against challenging comparables. The Group continued to deliver essential services driving the organic performance as follows:

Low single-digit growth in New Construction (41% of divisional revenue) notably led by Northern Asia;

High single-digit growth for the Core In-service activity (45% of divisional revenue) which notably benefited from a favorable timing of inspections with a catch up of postponed surveys in 2020 alongside the fleets modest growth. The level of laid-up ships was stable and remained at a low level. The fleet classed by Bureau Veritas continued to grow in the quarter (up 0.3% on a yearly basis) led by all sectors, confirming the Group's operational excellence. At March end, it comprised 11,438 ships, representing 134.5 million of Gross Register Tonnage (GRT);

High single-digit decline was experienced for Services (14% of divisional revenue, including Offshore) as the Offshore business remained impacted by a lack of orders in the O&G market. In the quarter, the Group signed a partnership agreement with Nexans to reduce risk and promote best practices for deliveries of high voltage power cables used for connecting offshore wind farms to onshore grids. This partnership builds on Bureau Veritas's maritime expertise and extensive experience in risk management to help the offshore wind sector reduce operational risk.

New orders totaled 2.2 million gross tons at the end of March 2021 (from 1.6 million gross tons in the prior year period). The order book was down compared to December 2020 at 14.2 million gross tons at the end of the quarter. It remains well diversified and composed of LNG fueled ships, container ships and specialized vessels.

In 2021, the Group is working on several key projects and initiatives for sustainable shipping: alternative fuel (dredger propelled with methanol, propanol, butanol and DMF use as fuel), carbon intensity assessment and research projects such as the use of new fuels to support decarbonization on the next generation of cruise liners.

AGRI-FOOD & COMMODITIES

IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Revenue 249.2 272.7 (8.6)% (3.6)% - (5.0)%

The Agri-Food & Commodities business recorded an organic revenue decrease of 3.6% for the first quarter of 2021, with steady growth for both Agri-Food and Metal & Minerals, being largely offset by declining Oil & Petrochemicals markets and Government services.

Oil & Petrochemicals (O&P) segment (31% of divisional revenue) reported a double-digit organic decline due to the slowdown in demand for TIC services in the Groups main markets, as a result of lower fuel consumption (notably for aviation fuel/gasoline) and a high level of inventories. Competition in the O&P Trade market remained stiff. All regions were impacted apart from Asia. The activity was more severely hit in North America, as a result of volume and price reductions, the impact of the closure of some unprofitable locations as well as adverse weather conditions (Texas freeze in February 2021). Non-trade related activities performed above the divisional average, a segment where the Group continues its diversification.

Metals & Minerals segment (31% of divisional revenue) recorded high single-digit organic growth overall, led by a strong performance in upstream-related businesses (up 13.0% organically). Upstream (two-thirds of M&M) continued to record strong growth, primarily led by Americas (Chile and Peru essentially) and Asia Pacific regions. It benefited from the positive outlook for most metal prices on rising demand in most large economies. Copper demand was notably strong driven by electrification trends in several economies. Buoyant exploration and mining activity with new mine site outsourcing contract wins were significant growth drivers in the upstream minerals testing market. Trade activities declined low single-digit organically, with strong performances in Asia Pacific (with Australia continuing to benefit from market share gains), while weaker elsewhere.

Agri-Food (24% of divisional revenue) demonstrated a robust mid-single-digit organic increase in the quarter, led by both Food and Agricultural products. The agricultural inspection activities were well oriented benefiting from higher volumes in Brazil in both upstream (stronger harvest season) and downstream (increased soybean trading volumes), as well as strong grain and oilseeds demand in Asia. The Food business delivered a healthy 5.0% organic revenue growth primarily fueled by its platforms in Asia and North America.

Government services (14% of divisional revenue) recorded mid-single-digit organic decline in the quarter with mixed situations by geography. Robust growth was delivered in African countries led by the ramp up of VOC (Verification of Conformity) in Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Single Window (Togo) contracts. Conversely, the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iraq) remained impacted by reduced activity levels against unfavorable comparables in the prior-year period. The Group is capturing new opportunities such as fuel marking services in African countries.

INDUSTRY

IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Revenue 232.5 253.3 (8.2)% (0.4)% (1.2)% (6.6)%

Industry revenue eroded by 0.4% organically in the first quarter of 2021. The strategy of diversification towards Opex and Power & Utilities markets continued to bear fruit and cushioned the further decline observed in Oil & Gas markets.

By geography, this reflected various situations with strong growth in Asia, led by China, stable growth in Europe (with France and Spain offsetting the UK) while declining in Americas (dragged down by the US market alongside stable Latin America).

The Power & Utilities segment (13% of divisional revenue) remained a key growth driver of the portfolio with high single-digit organic performance achieved in the quarter. Growth came mainly from Latin America (Peru and Argentina) thanks to the ramp-up of large contract wins with various Power distribution clients, and increasing volumes of existing contracts, along with a solid momentum in Europe (led by Spain and Portugal related to power generation).

Renewables energies are providing tremendous long-term growth opportunities for the business. In April 2021, the Group made the acquisition of US based Bradley Construction Management (EUR 11 million of annual revenue) to position itself in the renewable energy sector. The company provides construction and site management assistance, owner's representation, and QA/QC technical services for wind, solar and energy storage projects. Across most geographies, Bureau Veritas has identified many opportunities and is currently bidding for several wind and solar power generation projects (in Europe, Asia and Americas). In the US, the Group has set up testing capabilities for hydrogen to support engineering teams of Oil & Gas clients.

Oil & Gas markets (26% of divisional revenue) further reduced, dragged down by double-digit organic decline for Capex activities, primarily led by the US, Middle East and in part of Latin America (Brazil and Colombia). Growth was however delivered in some countries such as Australia and China. The pipeline of O&G Capex opportunities has recently shown encouraging trends, notably in Asia and in North America. Resilient activity levels were achieved for Opex-related services compared to last year with a good performance in Latin America.

BUILDINGS & INFRASTRUCTURE

IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Revenue 347.2 318.2 +9.1% +13.3% (0.9)% (3.3)%

The Buildings & Infrastructure (B&I) business posted a strong double-digit organic revenue growth (up 13.3%) in Q1 2021, primarily fueled by both Asia (led by China) and the Americas (led by the US).

High single-digit organic growth was delivered in the Buildings In-service activities (49% of divisional revenue) while double-digit growth was achieved in Construction-related activities (51% of divisional revenue) as a consequence of the recovery in China.

The Group recorded a major organic growth increase in Asia Pacific (21% of divisional revenue) primarily led by the recovery of the Chinese operations (up 88.4% organically) which benefited from the restart of large infrastructure projects in the field of energy and transportation, against very favorable comparables (operations were severely impacted by restrictions on mobility in the prior year). Japan was however penalized by further lockdown restrictions.

In the Americas (19% of divisional revenue), double-digit growth was achieved thanks to a very strong performance in the United States (up 25.2% organically), where the Group benefited from a combination of improving market conditions and from a strong commercial development. Growth was essentially fueled by large project management assistance for Opex-related services across all sectors, and accelerating data center commissioning services to support the increase in remote workforces. In Latin America, the activity was mixed with the recovery of Brazil where it benefited from the conversion of a strong sales pipeline being offset by the end of contracts in both Chile and Columbia and frozen investments in Mexico.

In Europe (58% of divisional revenue), the Group recorded mid-single-digit organic revenue growth led by Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. France (46% of divisional revenue) delivered a solid growth benefiting from a strong commercial development and the catch up of regulatory driven inspections for Opex-related activities (around three-quarters of the French business). Capex-related works declined, although at a slower pace than the market. The pipeline of sales related to the Green deal in France is growing with opportunities mainly focused on energy efficiency programs.

CERTIFICATION

IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Revenue 91.9 76.6 +20.0% +21.6% +2.7% (4.3)%

The Certification business recorded a strong organic growth of 21.6% in the first quarter of 2021, in the continuity of the second half of 2020. The level of activity strongly recovered as it continued to benefit from a catch-up of 2020 postponed audits (notably for QHSE, Food and Transportation schemes) as well as from the success of new services developed including Restart Your Business with BV.

Almost all geographic areas experienced double-digit organic growth with the exception of a few countries (United Arab Emirates, Thailand and the United States). China recovered strongly as it was the most impacted in the prior year due to extreme restrictions on mobility.

Within the Groups portfolio, high double-digit growth was achieved in QHSE (all schemes but ISO 9001, which grew high single-digit), Sustainable development and CSR, Transportation and Customized audits.

During Q1, Bureau Veritas Sustainability & CSR services grew by more than 20%, driven by a strong demand for Greenhouse gas emission verification solutions and Wood Management Systems certification, following the stellar recovery experienced in Q4 2020.

Transportation benefited from the restart of the 3-year cycle (implying the delivery of the main audits) following the revision of standards (IATF) which occurred in 2018. Customized audits, which were the most hit by cancellation or postponements in Q1 2020 benefited a strong rebound in the activity.

The Groups portfolio diversification continued to be a key contributor to the growth, with new products development being up more than 15% during the first quarter, despite tough comparables (it was up by more than 10% in Q1 2020). This pattern of growth was particularly supported by Enterprise Risk, Business Continuity, Cybersecurity and IT management systems solutions.

In the meantime, Food continued to perform strongly with double-digit growth (for the reminder, it benefited from positive growth in Q1 2020), supported notably by Food Management Systems certification.

Conversely, despite the possibility of virtual sessions in some cases, Training & Personnel certification was the most impacted by cancellation or postponements from clients in geographies suffering from governmental lockdown measures during the first quarter of 2021.

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

IN EUR MILLIONS Q1 2021 Q1 2020 CHANGE ORGANIC SCOPE CURRENCY Revenue 139.8 124.3 +12.5% +18.7% - (6.2)%

The Consumer products business strongly recovered with an organic growth of 18.7% in the first quarter of 2021, benefiting from a large pickup of activity in China (up 38.2%), across all product categories. This reflected very favorable comparables in the prior year following the lockdown measures in China. Testing activities rebounded the most (up 22.5%) while the Inspection and Audit services grew low double-digit growth.

By geography, very high growth was achieved in Asia (led by China notably and South East Asia) whereas activity levels remained more muted elsewhere (Europe, Latin America and North America), still disrupted by lockdown measures and restrictions on mobility.

Softlines (36% of divisional revenue) performed above the divisional average, led by a stellar performance in China (helped by the comparables) and maintained strong momentum in South East Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand essentially), still benefiting from an accelerated sourcing shift out of China. The level of activity remained however below Q1 2019 level due to the limited product launches in a context of closed shops in some of the worlds economies. Some countries in Southern Asia (Bangladesh and India notably) continued to be impacted by the disruption caused by the lockdown measures.

Hardlines (29% of divisional revenue) performed above the divisional average led by all product categories (including small apparels and do-it-yourself products). Toys rebounded, and Cosmetics experienced high double-digit growth, both driven by the Groups Chinese operations. Luxury products contributed to the growth with Italy leading the way. The Inspection and Audit services grew double-digit organically during the quarter, as it continued to benefit from a strong demand for Social & CSR audits. The Group digital solution for chemical compliance (BVE3: online environmental emissions evaluator) that were developed few years ago is gaining strong traction amongst several of its large clients. It helps to reduce the apparel and footwear industrys hazardous chemical footprint for global brands since 2016.

Lastly, Electrical & Electronics (35% of divisional revenue) whilst slightly below the overall divisional average, was fueled by very strong performance in Automotive (reliability testing and homologation services) and to less extent by Mobile testing (wireless technologies/Internet of Things (IoT) products). Strong growth was achieved in China in particular. In Asia, 5G-related products/infrastructure continued to show strong momentum with the Groups test platforms (Taiwan, South Korea and China in particular) now running at full capacity; the business is supported by a strong backlog from Asian clients and will be supplemented by new testing equipment capacities to be added throughout 2021.

Overall, the strategy of diversification (by service, client and market) through capex and acquisition spends has continued in the quarter. The signing of a Chinese softlines testing business in February 2021 focusing on domestic brands and e-shops will support the Groups aim to accelerate its development in the Chinese market. In addition, the Group has started to operate a wireless testing lab to address the domestic market.

Presentation Q1 2021 revenue will be presented on Thursday, April 22, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. (Paris time - CEST) A video conference will be webcast live. Please connect to: Link to video conference The presentation slides will be available on: https://group.bureauveritas.com All supporting documents will be available on the website Live dial-in numbers:

France: +33 (0)1 70 37 71 66 UK: +44 (0)33 0551 0200 US: +1 212 999 6659 International: +44 (0)33 0551 0200 Password: Bureau Veritas



2021 Financial Calendar Shareholders Meeting: June 25, 2021 H1 2021 Results: July 28, 2021 Q3 2021 revenue: October 26, 2021 Digital Investor Day: Q4 2021



About Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has 75,000 employees located in more than 1,600 offices and laboratories around the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.

Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the Next 20 index.

Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock symbol: BVI.

For more information, visit www.bureauveritas.com, and follow us on Twitter (@bureauveritas) and LinkedIn.

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Check that this press release is genuine at www.wiztrust.com.





ANALYST/INVESTOR CONTACTS MEDIA CONTACTS Laurent Brunelle Veronique Gielec +33 (0)1 55 24 76 09 +33 (0)1 55 24 76 01 laurent.brunelle@bureauveritas.com veronique.gielec@bureauveritas.com Florent Chaix DGM Conseil +33 (0)1 55 24 77 80 +33 (0)1 40 70 11 89 florent.chaix@bureauveritas.com thomasdeclimens@dgm-conseil.fr

quentin.hua@dgm-conseil.fr

This press release (including the appendices) contains forward-looking statements, which are based on current plans and forecasts of Bureau Veritas management. Such forward-looking statements are by their nature subject to a number of important risk and uncertainty factors such as those described in the Universal Registration Document (Document denregistrement universel) filed by Bureau Veritas with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) that could cause actual results to differ from the plans, objectives and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Bureau Veritas undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, according to applicable regulations.

Appendix 1: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Key indicators

United Nations

SDGs Q1 2021 FY 2020 2025

target SOCIAL & HUMAN CAPITAL Total Accident Rate (TAR)3 #3 0.27 0.26 0.26 Proportion of women in leadership positions4 #5 19.9% 19.8% 35% Number of training hours per employee (per year)5 #8 3.1 23.9 35.0 ENVIRONMENT CO 2 emissions per employee (tons per year)6 #13 N/A 2.44 2.00 GOVERNANCE Proportion of employees trained to the Code of Ethics #16 98.5% 98.5% 99%

Appendix 2: Definition of alternative performance indicators and reconciliation with IFRS

The management process used by Bureau Veritas is based on a series of alternative performance indicators, as presented below. These indicators were defined for the purposes of preparing the Groups budgets and internal and external reporting. Bureau Veritas considers that these indicators provide additional useful information to financial statement users, enabling them to better understand the Groups performance, especially its operating performance. Some of these indicators represent benchmarks in the testing, inspection and certification (TIC) business and are commonly used and tracked by the financial community. These alternative performance indicators should be seen as a complement to IFRS-compliant indicators and the resulting changes.

GROWTH

Total revenue growth

The total revenue growth percentage measures changes in consolidated revenue between the previous year and the current year. Total revenue growth has three components:

organic growth;

impact of changes in the scope of consolidation (scope effect);

impact of changes in exchange rates (currency effect).





Organic growth

The Group internally monitors and publishes organic revenue growth, which it considers to be more representative of the Groups operating performance in each of its business sectors.

The main measure used to manage and track consolidated revenue growth is like-for-like, or organic growth. Determining organic growth enables the Group to monitor trends in its business excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, which are outside of Bureau Veritas control, as well as scope effects, which concern new businesses or businesses that no longer form part of the business portfolio. Organic growth is used to monitor the Groups performance internally.

Bureau Veritas considers that organic growth provides management and investors with a more comprehensive understanding of its underlying operating performance and current business trends, excluding the impact of acquisitions, divestments (outright divestments as well as the unplanned suspension of operations  in the event of international sanctions, for example) and changes in exchange rates for businesses exposed to foreign exchange volatility, which can mask underlying trends.

The Group also considers that separately presenting organic revenue generated by its businesses provides management and investors with useful information on trends in its industrial businesses, and enables a more direct comparison with other companies in its industry.

Organic revenue growth represents the percentage of revenue growth, presented at Group level and for each business, based on constant scope of consolidation and exchange rates over comparable periods:

constant scope of consolidation: data are restated for the impact of changes in the scope of consolidation over a 12-month period;

constant exchange rates: data for the current year are restated using exchange rates for the previous year.

Scope effect

To establish a meaningful comparison between reporting periods, the impact of changes in the scope of consolidation is determined:

for acquisitions carried out in the current year: by deducting from revenue for the current year revenue generated by the acquired businesses in the current year;

for acquisitions carried out in the previous year: by deducting from revenue for the current year revenue generated by the acquired businesses in the months in the previous year in which they were not consolidated;

for disposals and divestments carried out in the current year: by deducting from revenue for the previous year revenue generated by the disposed and divested businesses in the previous year in the months of the current year in which they were not part of the Group;

for disposals and divestments carried out in the previous year, by deducting from revenue for the previous year revenue generated by the disposed and divested businesses in the previous year prior to their disposal/divestment.

Currency effect

The currency effect is calculated by translating revenue for the current year at the exchange rates for the previous year.

1 Alternative performance indicators are presented, defined and reconciled with IFRS in appendix 2 of this press release.

2 This decision was taken in accordance with Ministerial Order 2020-321 of March 25, 2020 amending the rules governing shareholder meetings due to the Covid 19 pandemic, extended and amended by Ministerial Order 2020-1497 of December 2, 2020, Decree no. 2020-418 of April 10, 2020, extended and amended by Decree no. 2020-1614 of December 18, 2020 and Decree no. 2021-255 of March 9, 2021.

3 TAR: Total Accident Rate (number of accidents with and without lost time x 200,000/number of hours worked).

4 Proportion of women from the Executive Committee to Band III (internal grade corresponding to a management or executive management position) in the Group (number of women on a full-time equivalent basis in a leadership position/total number of full-time equivalents in leadership positions).

5 Indicator calculated over a 3-month period compared to a 12-month period for FY 2020 and 2025 target values.

6 Greenhouse gas emissions from offices and laboratories, tons of CO 2 equivalent per employee and per year for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 (emissions related to business travels).

Attachment
The sainted Mary Berry couldnt escape angry censure when she recommended sloshing double cream into her bolognese

Before I write another word, I must issue a trigger warning to all culinary purists, vegans, opponents of cultural appropriation and others of a sensitive, woke disposition who are inclined to take offence at just about anything.

Stop reading right now, the whole lot of you, because I intend to start this weeks column with my recipe for a delicious and comforting version of Hungarian goulash. If you read on, youll be enraged. Just dont say you havent been warned.

Right, here goes. For those who are not much bothered about authenticity or cultural integrity, these are the ingredients you will need:

1 knob butter

1lb (or 450g, if you insist) diced British or Irish beef

1 large Spanish onion, chopped

1 tin Italian chopped tomatoes

4 heaped teaspoons hot paprika (origin unimportant)

Salt and black pepper

1 pack tagliatelle

1 pot Greek-style yoghurt

Method: heat butter in thick pan; add the diced beef and turn until brown; throw in the onion and cook until soft-ish; sprinkle on the paprika, pour in the tomatoes; season generously; cover and leave to simmer on the hob for two hours. Dish up on a bed of tagliatelle with a dollop of the yoghurt. Serves four. Perfection guaranteed every time.

For the sake of variety, you may like occasionally to serve up spaghetti bolognese instead. What is so great about this is that the recipes for goulash and bolognese  my versions of them, anyway  are pretty well identical. Just dont tell the Hungarians or the Italians.

The only differences are that for the bolognese, youll need mince instead of diced beef, spag instead of tag and you can dispense with the paprika and yoghurt.

You may also care to add interest to the bol by throwing in some garlic, chopped mushrooms and peppers, a generous splash of red wine and a dash of Heinz tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.

Enough to say that these two dishes, which make up my entire culinary repertoire apart from beans on toast, have seen me triumphantly through those mercifully rare occasions in the course of 41 years of marriage, including 35 of fatherhood, when Ive been required to take my turn in the kitchen.

Anyway, I can already sense the purists and politically correct leaping to condemn me for my sacrilegious treatment of goulash and bolognese. For it seems theres nothing like an inauthentic recipe for a treasured national dish to excite the protective fury of those who see themselves as upholders of culinary truth.

Remember how Nigella Lawson provoked fury by adding cream to a carbonara instead of the traditional raw eggs? Or how Jamie Oliver got into trouble for putting chorizo into paella? As for Gordon Ramsay, those who like to take offence called him all sorts of unprintable names for daring to describe a London restaurant as an authentic Asian eating house, when it had no Asian chefs and hybrid dishes on the menu.

Even the sainted Mary Berry couldnt escape angry censure when she recommended sloshing double cream into her bolognese. And what about the time when the late Italian chef Antonio Carluccio laid into the British practice of adding herbs or garlic to the sauce?

Remember how Nigella Lawson provoked fury by adding cream to a carbonara instead of the traditional raw eggs?

He fumed that we shouldnt even serve spaghetti with bol, declaring that the dish doesnt exist in his native land. In Italy, its tagliatelle bolognese, he said.

Well, Im not sure about that, since I could almost swear I once had spaghetti bolognese in Florence, in those far-off days when we were allowed to travel abroad. But whatever the truth, somebody should have warned Prince William of the strong feelings he would excite when he innocently contributed his own spag bol recipe to a charity cookbook.

Not only did he use spaghetti instead of tagliatelle, but he committed the cardinal sin of sprinkling the finished product with parsley. Not at all right, proclaimed Carluccio.

All I can say is that Ive never had any complaints when Ive served up my version of spag bol or goulash to my wife and four sons (unless you count the occasional sarcastic comment: What a surprise, Dad! Youve made spag bol again  or is this goulash?)

Indeed, why should we care whether a dish is authentically prepared? All that matters, surely, is that it should smell nice, taste good and have the punters coming back for more.

I flatter myself that my two creations, barely distinguishable from each other though they may be, satisfy all three criteria with flying colours (even if that colour tends to be predominantly orange).

Now along comes a distinguished food critic, cultural thinker, writer and broadcaster to back me up. All right, I dare say that with his more discerning palate, Jonathan Meades  who was restaurant critic for The Times in the 1980s and 1990s  may be harder to please than my four greedy sons. It is even possible that he might identify shortcomings in my two signature dishes.

But we are in perfect accord when it comes to his insistence that in the kitchen, as in literature, excellence is more important than authenticity.

In an interview to promote his latest collection of essays, entitled Pedro And Ricky Come Again, the wordy wordsmith says without cultural appropriation there is only stagnation  and that unless customs are refreshed by external influence they will merely be passed down from one blinkered generation to the next.

If I read him aright  and thats not always easy with him, as viewers who have tried to follow his televised musings on architecture will testify  he is saying that inauthentic ingredients and cooking methods can often improve a dish. (Am I imagining it, or is this a clear reference to my advocacy of adding a dash of Lea & Perrins to bolognese sauce?)

Aged 74 and now living in France, Meades describes the cultural appropriation debate as essentially frivolous, arguing that British cooks should focus on ensuring that their French-style cassoulets taste good, rather than fretting about their faithfulness to the dishs origins, which are rather hard to pin down.

As he puts it himself, in his interview with the culture website Quietus: A cassoulet made in London ought not to worry the guardians of authenticity, because it is attempting the impossible.

The authentic cassoulet is made in Auch. No, its made in Toulouse. No, it comes from Carcassonne. Hang on, it comes from Au Trou Gascon in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. And what about Chez Philippe, near the Canal SaintMartin? Excellence is worth pursuing. Authenticity is a chimera.

Indeed, all sorts of dishes we think of as belonging to a particular nation turn out to have their origins elsewhere. For example, the Ancient Egyptians have a strong claim to have invented pizza, while the modern version of it took off in the U.S. long before it became popular in its Italian homeland.

As for the recipe for pasta, many credit the Ancient Chinese. Vindaloo? Portugal. Chicken tikka masala? Possibly Glasgow. And that quintessentially English dish, battered fish? Brought here by Sephardic Jews, apparently, after their expulsion from Spain in the 14th century.

Jamie Oliver got into trouble for putting chorizo into paella?

The truth is that since the dawn of international trading, mankind has been culturally appropriating recipes, fashion tips, words, religions, artistic genres, scientific discoveries and economic and political systems from foreign societies. Its only in this deranged modern world that fanatics have come to believe that adopting good ideas is a vile crime.

Well, let them rant for all theyre fit. Ill carry on adding Greek yoghurt to my goulash and Worcestershire sauce to my spaghetti bolognese, for the eminently sensible reason that I like the taste.
-- Themed "Restoring Our Earth," the 52nd Earth Day falls on Thursday, with countries worldwide making commitments addressing the common environmental challenges the planet faces. -- In its exploration to address the environmental challenges, China aims to work closely with its global partners, and honor its commitments while encouraging others to do so. -- To reach the country's climate pledge, China should further accelerate its energy transformation, and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix. Themed "Restoring Our Earth," the 52nd Earth Day falls on Thursday, with countries worldwide making commitments addressing the common environmental challenges the planet faces. China has taken steps toward a low-carbon transition, with progress made in tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity -- two urgent agendas that call for global collaboration, said Beate Trankmann, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in China. "As the world attempts to build back better from the pandemic, concerted global action is needed to address climate change and safeguard the capacity of the Earth to support life by protecting the balance of ecosystems," Trankmann said in an interview with Xinhua. In its exploration to address the environmental challenges, China aims to work closely with its global partners, and honor its commitments while encouraging others to do so. Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020 shows the Haizhu wetland and the Canton Tower in the distance in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo by Xie Huiqiang/Xinhua) ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE Facing the global climate problem, China has announced its goal to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060. The country has reaffirmed its climate commitment with clear targets in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the country's social and economic development roadmap. According to the plan, China aims to significantly lower the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and its carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 13.5 percent and 18 percent, respectively, during the 2021-2025 period. China's recent climate pledges could accelerate the global fight against climate change, and could set an example to other countries, encouraging them to step up their commitments, too, said Trankmann. Last year, an ultra-high-voltage (UHV) line that only transmits clean power, including wind, solar and hydro energy, from northwest China's Qinghai Province to Henan in central China went into operation. As the world's first UHV to transmit only carbon-free electricity, the line could offer as much as 40 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually to central China, reducing 29.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. "China is a driver of much of the technological innovation needed to fight climate change," said Trankmann, adding that the country is now a global leader in renewable energy. Last year, power generated by renewable energy sources hit 2.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 29.5 percent of the country's total electricity consumption, up by 9.5 percentage points from 2012. China has also carried out institutional innovations, from launching carbon-trading schemes to developing green finance. Since 2011, China has piloted the trading of carbon emissions in provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hubei, to draw on a market-based mechanism for greenhouse control. Looking ahead, China's investments into innovation and experimentation in the green economy certainly offer opportunities to make green growth more viable, said Trankmann. Aerial photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows facilities of a solar thermal electricity project in Gonghe County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan in northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang) PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY After a journey of over 5,000 km across mountains and rivers, the Siberian white cranes land at Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi Province, the place they call home, each winter. Rated as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, the Siberian white crane, also known as the snow crane, have seen their numbers dwindle to 4,000, with only a single migrating route left -- the east route to Poyang Lake. Thanks to sustained efforts to preserve the habitat for the birds, the country's largest freshwater lake saw an increasing number of feathery visitors, attracting more than 680,000 wintering birds in 2020, 11,000 more than the previous year. "The species and population of migratory birds have increased significantly in some important lakes and wetlands along the Yangtze River, which reflects an improvement in the local ecological environment," said Chen Jiakuan, a professor specializing in ecology with Fudan University. China has made significant progress in protecting its wetlands with the help of its global partners. Local governments have been working with international institutions such as the Global Environment Facility and UNDP to finance and implement environmental projects. As a result of UNDP-China cooperation, China's protected areas increased by 1.9 million hectares across six provincial regions, Trankmann noted. She said that biodiversity protection is very much related to the fight against climate change, as intact ecosystems help absorb carbon and maintain animal habitats and food security. As another attempt to draw global efforts to restore ecology on Earth, China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming of the southwest Yunnan Province this year. Countries are expected to work out concrete plans for post-2020 global biodiversity protection. "This needs to include taking environmental issues into the heart of economic and financial decision-making and rethinking how public and private finance can co-generate positive effects for biodiversity. As the host, China has an opportunity to push this agenda," Trankmann said. White cranes forage in a farmland by the Poyang Lake in Yugan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi) CHALLENGES AHEAD Coal-fired power remains a major energy source in China, and the country vows to bring the share of coal in total energy consumption to under 56 percent in 2021. To reach the country's climate pledge, Trankmann believes that China should further accelerate its energy transformation, and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix. According to an industrial report released by the China National Coal Association, the country's annual coal output will stand at no higher than 4.1 billion tonnes by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The annual coal consumption will be kept to around 4.2 billion tonnes at the end of 2025. "We look forward to more targets and strategies for how to achieve a reduction in total emissions in the five-year plans for different sectors later this year including curbing coal consumption," she said. In terms of addressing the challenges of protecting biodiversity, Trankmann said more could be done. "Policies for biodiversity protection should be strengthened and tailored to different ecological contexts along with integrated approaches to land and resource management, including coastal and river basin management," said Trankmann. Additionally, China can expand on its Grain for Green program, whereby people who live in ecologically fragile environments receive compensation for protecting ecosystems and conserving biodiversity. (Video reporters: Yu Gang, Liu Bin, Peng Jing; Video editor: Yang Zhixiang)
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In an empty courtroom in Rotterdam this week, broadcast by skype, because of covid-19 restrictions, a single judge explained that Ahmad al Y. was formerly a commander with the Ahrar al-Sham militia in Syria. In 2016 he took refuge first in Germany and then the Netherlands. While in Germany, he had shown a fellow asylum seeker a video, which later set off the Dutch police investigation into his case in 2019. On 21 April, based on that evidence, Al Y. was found guilty of putting his foot on a dead government soldier, kicking a corpse, and calling those he defeated dogs. The spread of the video via YouTube and other social media networks was detailed in the judgement. But because the faces of the corpses were not recognisable, his crime under international humanitarian law only earned him a two-year sentence, supplemented by an additional four years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist organisation. The prosecution had asked for 10 years.

Al Y. was the first Syrian asylum seeker to be convicted in The Netherlands of war crimes. All the Syria trials so far have been of returning Dutch who joined either Jabhat al Nusra or Islamic State, two organizations considered as terrorist by The Netherlands. But the trend is upwards on the investigations into Syrian refugees who have been here for several years. Two more Syrians are currently being prosecuted in The Netherlands for international crimes. Abdelaziz A. was recognised by Syrian activists in the Amsterdam debate centre De Balie. He was charged with membership of Jabhat al-Nusra and complicity in murder. Abu Khuder, another commander of Jabhat al-Nusra, is accused of summary execution.

One-sided prosecutions

All the Syria cases so far are related to armed rebel groups. The default is terrorism when it comes to charging, says Cyril Rosman, who follows all the trials for the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad. Rosman says that its only when theres video or photo evidence that the prosecutors try with war crimes. Like in all courts, dealing with social media evidence is relatively new for the Dutch, with considerable emphasis by prosecutors on the verification aspects to prove location and ownership. The terrorism charges however dont need a lot of evidence, notes Rosman. And, he says, its been rare that proof emerged of what exactly people did while in Syria: It almost never crops up. War crimes charges depend on the availability of the evidence, agrees Christophe Paulussen, senior researcher at the Asser Institute in The Hague. When it does exist Dutch prosecutors can go that one step further, says Rosman.

Hope Rikkelman of the Syria Legal Network says theres a lot of frustration among her Syrian colleagues from the fact that no one from the Syrian regime itself nor their accomplices have been arrested in The Netherlands. The pro-government militia were known as shabiha  ghosts  and researchers say many such ghosts arrived among the ten of thousands of Syrians who fled to the Netherlands and applied for asylum. The special police unit for international crimes told Rosman that it is trying to find people on Syrias president Assad side.

A list of obstacles

Many questions still arise though as to why such investigations have taken so long. The specialized police unit is small. Theyve taken some public criticisms over their (lack of) language skills and (lack of) relations with the community. Many asylum seekers dont know they can make reports nor where to voice their suspicions. The avenues are not clear at all, says Rikkelman.

Syrian refugees are hesitant to make statements against alleged perpetrators, the Netherlands is a small country and they fear not being taken seriously, adds Rikkelman. And people are very scared, she says, that information will be sent to Syria and threaten their familys safety. Some Syrians have also lost faith. Expectations are low as opposed to a few years ago, says Rikkelman, [its] a long term relationship that we and the Public Prosecutors office and the Team Internationale Misdrijven [the police special unit] have to work on.

Just finding out which trials are happening where, and attending the trials is also not always easy. Its not transparent at all, says Rikkelman, you have to either know via-via, or call the courts and simply ask if any cases are pending that week. Interest among the Dutch audience in these war crimes trials is not high: It happened far away, the people are not Dutch.

As a result, the overall picture is patchy, even for those who follow the trials closely. Rikkelman describes all the challenges to prosecution as a jigsaw where the pieces are not yet being put together by Dutch investigators. Its all about context she says; you need the whole picture, to understand the cases.

Why Syria is the new focus

The handful of international crimes cases tried and convicted in The Netherlands  some Afghans and Rwandans, one Congolese, one Ethiopian, a Dutch man who joined Islamic State and two Dutch businessmen connected war crimes in Iraq and Liberia  reflect how time-consuming and manpower intensive investigations can be. In principle, the commitment to strive for accountability has been there for quite a while says Christophe Paulussen, but its difficult to pursue that goal if the conflict is still raging and investigators have difficulty in securing evidence. Priorities like investigating the July 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines aircraft MH-17 that affected many Dutch people may also seep resources.

Syria is now a focus for the Dutch, due to a combination of factors, says Paulussen. More access to the crime scenes, more actors such as the Geneva-based UN Independent International Investigative Mechanism  which the Dutch has supported strongly  have contributed. NGOs also provide expert input : a report from the Syria Center for Media and Freedom of Expression was quoted in this weeks judgement. A battery of specialists has also helped. The Netherlands Forensic Institute has been deployed to verify online sources on social media. Such evidence  as in the success of the latest judgment  has been quite important in Syria cases, says Paulussen. It seems that its only when the suspects trip themselves up that the Dutch have been able to compensate for investigators lack of access.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 01:03:23|Editor: huaxia

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JOHANNESBURG, April 23 (Xinhua) -- South African's University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Friday welcomed being ranked the first for decent work and economic growth in Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2021.

"The release of the latest global University rankings reaffirmed our University's stature as the fastest growing institution of higher learning in South Africa and on the African continent," said UJ Vice-Chancellor and Principal Tshilidzi Marwala. "This is a remarkable feat given that these rankings are a pioneering initiative that recognizes universities across the world for their social and economic impact. They are designed to address the most serious and critical global challenges of our time. This demonstrates that we are not just a brick-and-mortar University but that we are actively striving to make a difference."

The Times Higher Education Impact released their rankings Wednesday showed that UJ is on top of other global higher learning institutions in decent work and economic growth.

Marwala said the rankings are important in contributing toward improving universities and enabling South Africa to meet its social, political and economic objectives.

"The University has invested heavily in the teaching and learning domain to make it possible for our students and academic staff to excel in research and academic work. Through these impact rankings the University is demonstrating its work in tackling global issues, and these endeavours have not gone unnoticed," he said.

More than 1,150 universities across the world participated in the rankings, which measures their contributions to society and the global knowledge economy. Enditem
Soon after the liberation of the Azerbaijani territories from the occupation, Baku announced that the settlements of the region would be rebuilt based on the concept of "smart village" using the most modern technologies, which, in particular, would eliminate the difference between city and countryside in matters of service, earnings and receiving public services. In an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, economist, professor of the Azerbaijan State Economic University UNEC Elshad Mammadov commented on the prospects for creating "smart villages" and implementing other projects in the liberated territories.

- Why was the concept of "smart village" chosen for the restoration of territories?

- This is a challenge of the time. The fact that settlements have to be rebuilt virtually from scratch even facilitates the task to some extent in terms of introducing innovations. The destruction of the existing infrastructure always creates problems for people, and here we are talking about building new infrastructure, planning jobs, employment of the population in these settlements. We must treat this issue systematically, combine different directions. On the one hand, of course, innovative projects should be developed (smart city, smart village), but at the same time the traditional activities of the rural population associated with the development of the agricultural sector should not be forgotten either.

If we want people to return to the liberated territories, we must provide them with work. Moreover, we need a qualified workforce that would work there. And these are questions for the education system, they are related to personnel training, which requires considerable investment. Who will bear these costs if not the state? Projects should rely on practical planning from the government and, at lower stages, indicative planning from the business side. But without the participation of the state in this process, it is impossible to achieve efficiency.

Urban and rural areas need to be combined with agricultural infrastructure projects. It is also necessary to develop animal husbandry and crop production. First, without this, it is impossible to achieve a mass resettlement of the population. Secondly, it is necessary to develop infrastructure in such a format that all categories of the population in terms of income level, in terms of qualifications could be provided with appropriate work.

- The experience of which countries can be used to reconstruct the liberated lands? During the recent visit of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to Baku, the discussion was about the construction of agricultural towns. How do you look at the prospects in this area?

- Blind adoption of the experience of other countries often leads to serious problems. For us, someone else's experience may actually turn out to be not applicable. I think, first of all, we should rely on our own developments. Now, however, it is not fashionable to talk about it, but Azerbaijan has a unique experience of both construction and development of agriculture, and regional development in the 1930s, in the post-war years, when we actually restored our the economy. Moreover, what is especially important, the village was restored, the regions were restored.If you look at the state of the economy, agriculture after the First World War and what we came to in the 1930s-1960s, then this is a huge leap forward. This experience must be used and the distribution of productive forces must be planned.

By the way, Belarus, which you mentioned, is very successfully adopting and repeating the positive trends that were in the Soviet economy. Today we can see that Belarus is actually the only country in the post-Soviet space that has preserved the village in the format in which it should be, which has preserved the agro-industrial complex, which has preserved the spheres associated with the processing of raw materials.

Azerbaijan is a rich country in terms of natural resources. We received huge profits from the exploitation of natural resources, from natural rent, from the fact that our raw export products - oil, gas - are currency-intensive. But today, when it comes to the territories liberated from the occupiers, when in general we are talking about new challenges in the economy, we must focus on the processing and processing areas in industry and agriculture. For this, it is necessary to send labor to the regions. Labor resources must be provided with appropriate work. No business can cope with this without the state.

With regard to international experience, I think the experience of the countries of Southeast Asia, which in recent years have shown explosive indicators of economic growth, should be taken into account; this is China and its neighboring countries. There is a lot to learn from them. First of all, this is due to the fact that at all levels of government it is necessary to introduce responsibility for the decisions made. Only in this way will we be able to achieve an outstripping growth in innovations and investments. I believe that this very experience is applicable for our country in the territories liberated from occupation.
Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing's expected presence at an ASEAN summit in Jakarta has angered activists and human rights groups

A weekend summit on the Myanmar coup crisis will be a test for ASEAN's credibility and unity, a senior Thai official said Thursday, amid an escalating death toll and violence across its western border.

Security forces in Myanmar have killed at least 739 people since a February 1 military coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a local monitoring group.

The Myanmar military has stepped up the use of lethal force as it seeks to quell mass protests against the junta, with an estimated 250,000 people now displaced, according to UN envoy Tom Andrews.

Leaders and foreign ministers from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to hold talks on the mounting Myanmar crisis in Jakarta on Saturday.

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing will travel to Indonesia for the summit, in his first overseas trip since the putsch, Nikkei Asia reported.

His involvement has angered activists, human rights groups and a shadow government of ousted Myanmar lawmakers, who on Thursday called on Interpol to arrest him.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha discussed the summit in a phone call on Thursday morning.

During the conversation, Prayut acknowledged that the situation in Myanmar is a challenging issue for peace and stability in the region, according to a press statement.

But Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat confirmed Prayut will send Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in his place because he must stay home to deal with the coronavirus situation gripping Thailand.

- Hunger and desperation -

ASEAN countries are aware of international expectations to deliver concrete outcomes from the talks, Tanee said.

"It is now up to ASEAN family members including Myanmar to safeguard ASEAN's unity and credibility," Tanee told an online press conference on Thursday.

There have been some calls for Myanmar to be expelled from the bloc, which generally has a hands-off approach when it comes to the internal affairs of its members.

Story continues

China, which is not a member of ASEAN but is a key ally of Myanmar's military, said the meeting should promote "political reconciliation" in the country.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China hoped the summit would aid a "soft landing" to end the crisis, in remarks reported by state news agency Xinhua.

United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, is expected to leave Bangkok for Jakarta for meetings on the sidelines of the gathering.

International condemnation of the coup and violence continues to build but the junta has so far largely weathered the backlash.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) warned Thursday that "hunger and desperation" were rising sharply across Myanmar, due to pre-existing poverty, Covid-19 and the political chaos.

"More and more poor people have lost their jobs and are unable to afford food," said WFP Myanmar country director Stephen Anderson. "A concerted response is required now to alleviate immediate suffering, and to prevent an alarming deterioration in food security."

The WFP said its new food assistance operation would target up to two million vulnerable people, but it estimates that up to 3.4 million more will be hungry within six months.

bur-lpm-aph/bgs/ft
CLICK HERE FOR MORE RECENT WEATHER UPDATES

9 Severe weather possible in Alabama

Forecasters are growing more confident that Alabama could see severe weather overnight and on Saturday.

NOAAs Storm Prediction Center has expanded its severe weather risk areas for both today and Saturday to include more of the state.

As of Friday afternoon, the SPC has added an enhanced risk of severe weather for Alabama for both today and Saturday, with storms potentially being more widespread on Saturday.

Saturdays severe weather outlook is above. Here is the outlook for later tonight (updated as of 3 p.m.):

The Storm Prediction Center has added an enhanced risk for severe weather for part of south Alabama for today. The rest of south Alabama has a slight risk, and areas to the north have a marginal risk.

The Storm Prediction Center has now added an enhanced risk, which is Level 3 out of 5, for part of south Alabama. An enhanced risk means numerous severe storms will be possible.

There is also a slight risk (Level 2) for areas in southwest and south-central Alabama. A slight risk means scattered severe storms will be possible. There will also be a marginal risk for parts of central and south Alabama (Level 1).

SPC forecasters said storms that develop over Texas this afternoon could evolve into long-lived storm complex and track eastward toward Alabama. Bowing segments and embedded supercells capable of damaging wind and a few tornadoes will be the main threats, the SPC said.

Forecasters left open the possibility that the tornado threat could increase in later updates.

On Saturday a larger part of the state has been upgraded to an enhanced risk.

Storms are expected starting later tonight and could last possibly into Saturday afternoon or evening. They could come in several rounds.

The strongest storms could bring damaging winds, hail and heavy rain. A few tornadoes will also be possible, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service in Mobile said a few strong (EF2+) tornadoes could be possible across southwest Alabama as well.

The first round of storms is expected to move into Alabama later tonight. Forecasters will be watching a warm front move northward into Alabama from the Gulf and possibly a complex of storms moving in from Mississippi.

Those storms are expected to mainly affect areas in south-central and south Alabama, according to forecasters. However rain will be possible across central and north Alabama as well.

The weather service thinks that wave of storms will move out by Saturday morning.

There could be a break (and maybe even peeks of sun) during the late morning as the warm front moves northward across the state.

Then the weather service said a second wave of rain and storms could form in the late morning or afternoon along the warm front while a cold front approaches from the west.

The afternoon activity is more uncertain and will depend on if the atmosphere can reload after the morning rain.

However, that second wave could also produce some strong to severe storms.

The afternoon storms may have a higher threat for large hail  possibly even significant hail, according to the weather service.

The rain is expected to move out by late Saturday, and drier weather is expected for a few days starting on Sunday.

The next chance for rain and storms could arrive by Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The Rev. R.A. Mathews is a faith columnist, seminary graduate doing leveling work toward a Ph.D. in Old Testament, and the author of Reaching to God. Contact her at Letters@RAMathews.com.

Essays on Faith may be submitted to amanda.gibson@hdmediallc.com. Find more Essays on Faith at www.wvgazettemail.com/life/religion.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 16, 2021 - 15:59 | World, All, Coronavirus

The Philippines will extend its travel ban on new entries for foreigners until April 30, as the number of reported coronavirus cases remains high, the government said Friday.

The ban, which started on March 22, was initially set to be lifted on April 21. But it will be prolonged by more than a week as the Southeast Asian country has seen on average around 10,000 new daily infections this week.

Under the ban issued by the national task force handling the measures against the pandemic, foreigners are prohibited from entering the Philippines, though there are several exceptions.

These include diplomats, foreigners engaged in medical services, foreign seafarers working for cargo ships, foreign spouses and children of Filipino citizens traveling with them, and others with humanitarian cases that have been approved by the task force.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement Friday the ban doesn't apply to foreign nationals with valid entry exemptions issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs prior to March 22.

The country has recorded 904,285 cases, including 15,594 deaths, as of Thursday.

Related coverage:

Philippines to ban foreigners for 1 month, cap entries as virus surges

Philippines' economy contracts 9.5% in 2020 amid pandemic

Philippines extends travel ban over new virus strain
GenX Canadians on Twitter shared several Astrazeneca stories which flooded the social media. After receiving eligibility to get the said vaccine, the viral trend has told the world of some cultural references which are popular to many.

Since many provinces in the country have implemented lowering ages for eligibility, the trend has taken the world by storm. The more people who are vaccinated means more people who could have access to COVID-19 protection.

GenX Are Now Allowed to Have Astrazeneca Shot

Global News Canada reported that federal health minister Patty Hajdu announced on Sunday, Apr. 18 that those who belong to the age bracket of 18 and above are now eligible to use AstraZeneca.

Despite the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) to never hand the vaccine to those below 55, Hajdu said that there was no way that Canadian provinces could halt using the vaccines.

Those residents who live in Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alberta are now allowed to get an AstraZeneca shot. However, they should be born in 1981 or earlier to be eligible.

Read Also: First Prescription Video Game Receives FDA Approval--A Post-COVID Treatment for Persons with ADHD

The decision came in connection to the vaccine's "current supply." This was also supported by the health officials.

With regards to the frustrations raised by the 41 to 51-year-old citizens, they finally found a sweet spot to vent out. On Twitter, they told the world how happy they are after receiving a vaccine.

#GenXZeneca Trends on Twitter

As a result, the famous hashtag #GenXZeneca has emerged on the platform. Mostly, the people used a cultural reference in their posts. Some posted their childhood movies, and some wrote about their experiences during their early days.

Josh Matlow, a councilor of Toronto City has spotted some nostalgia in some tweets. He saw that others had a throwback of the 80's and '90s shows. There was also a song that persuades Gen X people to get vaccinated.

"Whether you believe Family Matters, you're Married with Children or you care about Perfect Strangers, register to get your AstraZeneca shot! Yes, every pharmacy is a Full House now. But if you care about Family Ties, take the Quantum Leap & be part of the "A" Team!" Matlow posted on his Twitter.

There was also a post where the 1980 popular song of Pat Benatar is featured. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" could be a perfect description of what the GenXers experienced.

There are also Twitter users who scribbled posts about their childhood toys which suggest that having a vaccine shot is entirely safe.

Meanwhile, other GenXers used fashion to spread the #GenXZeneca vibes in social media. Some even wrote about musical milestones after receiving a vaccine jab.

For Margot Burnell, a teacher in Ontario, getting a vaccine shot is similar to grasping a Cabbage Patch doll. On top of these memes and hilarious posts, the utmost priority of getting a community vaccine is all nations should achieve to combat this COVID-19 pandemic.

Gen X may be the forgotten generation but today were the I believe the science generation. #AstraZeneca #GenX pic.twitter.com/DewBeR7Eck  Councillor Erin Stevenson (@ErinStevensonSG) April 19, 2021

About 6,500 appointments have been arranged on Tuesday, Apr.20 in Edmonton during the first hours of booking. In Calgary, 15,000 appointments were booked.

Kerry Williamson, the AHS spokesperson told CBC that 4,525 people already got their AstraZeneca shot. Meanwhile, 5,558 people received the vaccine between Apr. 12 and Apr. 18 in Calgary.

Related Article: Unvaccinated Worker at Nursing Home Causes Outbreak: 22 Fully-Vaccinated Individuals Infected, 1 Died

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Fewer than 2% of frail and elderly people admitted to hospital after a Covid-19 vaccine experienced coronavirus symptoms three weeks after a single dose of the jab, data shows.

The findings were described as very good news by Professor Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), who worked on the academic paper.

It comes as Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the UK should expect another wave of coronavirus cases this summer.

Describing the findings of the vaccine study, which was published in March, Prof Semple told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that there was a sharp drop off in the number of vaccinated people experiencing Covid symptoms 21 days after a single dose of a vaccine.

(PA Graphics)

This is the point at which experts believe maximum immunity from a single dose becomes apparent.

In the study, most vaccinated people who displayed symptoms of Covid and went to hospital had become infected before their immune system had a chance to respond to the jab.

The paper looked at more than 74,000 hospital admissions between September and early March, of which just under 2,000 people had received the vaccine.

Prof Semple said experts then looked at how many days there were between receiving the vaccine and the onset of their Covid symptoms.

Now if the vaccine didnt work, that number of days would stay relatively constant over time, but instead, what you see is most people who were admitted had caught their infection within a week of vaccination  either side of the vaccination  but then there was a really sharp drop off in numbers, he said.

Three weeks after being vaccinated, we could only count 32 people out of the 2,000 that had been vaccinated and thats a tiny, tiny number  thats less than 2%.

And thats just after the first vaccine, and thats in your frail, elderly population.

So this is really good real world data showing that this vaccine works and that one dose works really well.

I think the message here is that when you come away from clinical trials, we can still show that the vaccine is working in the real world.

Asked about the Governments road map and the next set of easing of restrictions on May 17, Prof Semple said that provided we get the vaccination rollout on time then I can see no reason why the road map isnt adhered to.

He added: The problem is if further sections of society choose not to be vaccinated and then we get a second outbreak perhaps later in the summer, which is what has been predicted.

(PA Graphics)

The size of that will be very much dependent on how many people dont get vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Professor Finn said the Prime Minister was right that the UK will see a further wave of Covid-19 cases.

He told BBC Breakfast: Im afraid he is right yes. The models that weve seen on JCVI clearly point to a summer surge in cases as the lockdown is relaxed, because there are still many people in the adult population whove not been immunised and who will therefore start to transmit the infection between each other.

He said there was quite a wide range of uncertainty over how big the wave will be because it depends on how quickly the vaccine rollout continues forward, the supplies of vaccine and so on, and how many people come forward to receive vaccination, and also it depends on how people behave as the lockdown is gradually relaxed.

If people move too far forward with that too fast, well see things start to come up earlier, he added.

The sense that the problem is all over, Im afraid is a flawed one, were still in a vulnerable situation, and there are still significant numbers of people who potentially could be harmed by this infection if this happens.

(PA Graphics)

Asked if the further easing planned for May 17 may need to be adjusted, Prof Finn said: This is a balancing act, isnt it?

People want to have some kind of certainty and businesses want to know how to plan, but on the other hand I think its always been presented as as a provisional timetable, based on what actually happens.

I think if we do start to see significant rises in cases in some parts of the country, they may need to adjust back those dates in order to avoid the situation coming into effect. Its a bit hard to be definite about this because, by definition, its uncertain.

The leading expert said he was somewhere in between on what he thought would happen with vaccines and their effectiveness against variants.

I dont think that were going to see a complete collapse and back to square one situation, he said.

I think that the immunity that weve got already from infection and vaccines will continue to be useful, but it will get eroded and there will come a point where we need to reformulate vaccines to keep up with changes in the virus.

He said real-world data from Israel and the UK where there are a lot of people whove been immunised will show whether jabs work against variants.

Experts will be looking very hard to see if there are any cases occurring among people whove been immunised and whether these particular variants are more likely to show up in that context, he added.
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Children as young as 12 will get their coronavirus vaccines from September as they government tries to avoid a third wave, reports say.

'Core planning' documents have been leaked showing schoolchildren will be given one dose when they go back to class after the summer.

There are also reportedly plans for Britons over 50 to be given booster jabs in the autumn amid fears over Covid variants sweeping Europe.

It comes as experts say vaccines should be able to control the pandemic as they published new real-world UK data showing jabs slash infection and cut transmission.

'Core planning' documents have been leaked showing schoolchildren will be given one dose when they go back to class after the summer (file photo)

A source told the Sun: 'Plans are in place to vaccinate children aged 12 upwards, and senior government officials have been briefed.

'Though controversial, it is deemed necessary to stop the UK regressing in its remarkable fight against Covid.'

Health officials are also said to be looking into jabbing children as young as five from July in a 'worst case scenario'.

The leaked report shows the government's contingency plan if the roadmap out of lockdown this summer leads to a surge in variants.

Children are less likely than the elderly to be severely impacted by the virus but can pass it on to those who are.

The Department of Health said no decision has been taken, adding: 'We will be guided by experts once clinical trials have concluded.'

Health officials are also said to be looking into jabbing children as young as five from July in a 'worst case scenario' (file photo)

Earlier experts said vaccines should be able to control the pandemic as they published new real-world UK data showing jabs slash infection and cut transmission.

Just one dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines leads to a two-thirds drop in coronavirus cases and is 74 per cent effective against symptomatic infection.

After two doses of Pfizer, there was a 70 per cent reduction in all cases and a 90 per cent drop in symptomatic cases - these are the people who are most likely to transmit coronavirus to others.

Experts are still collecting data on two doses of AstraZeneca but say their findings show that both vaccines work and are effective in the real world.

One of the new studies, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, is based on data from the national Covid-19 Infection Survey run by the University of Oxford and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It included a random sample of more than 373,000 adults from across the UK, who produced more than 1.6 million swab test results between December and April.

Professor Sarah Walker, from the University of Oxford and chief investigator for the survey, said the study suggested vaccines could reduce transmission and were also effective against the Kent variant of coronavirus.

She said: 'Showing that the benefits are greater both for people with high viral load and for people with symptoms, both of whom have probably got the greatest chance of onward transmission, was really not necessarily something I was expecting and... I was pleasantly surprised.'

The study found that there were significantly more coronavirus cases among people who hadn't been vaccinated (top two graphs) than there were in people who had been given jabs or who had had Covid before (bottom five graphs) The longer it had been since someone got their vaccine, less likely they were to catch coronavirus, the numbers suggest

The proportion of Covid-positive people who developed symptoms (orange dots) was significantly higher in unvaccinated people. For those who did have a vaccine or had natural immunity, most people didn't get any symptoms at all if they picked up the virus (black dots)

Blood testing showed that people's levels of virus-fighting antibodies rocketed after they got a vaccine, particularly if they had never had the virus, and they also rose substantially among people who already had natural immunity. The dotted line represents the threshold for testing positive for Covid-specific antibodies. The higher the number, the greater the protection, scientists believe

Only 900 people developing Covid-19 each day in England, symptom study says Fewer than 900 people in England are now developing Covid each day, according to a symptom-tracking app. It is the lowest level ever and below estimates from August when there were next to no restrictions. The Covid Symptom Study this week claims only 870 people suffered a symptomatic infection with the virus every day last week, based on reports from more than a million Britons. This was the lowest weekly number since estimates began in June and below the previous low point in mid-August before the 'rule of six' and a flurry of other restrictions came into force. For comparison, there were around 50,000 daily cases in the darkest days of January. Professor Tim Spector, the King's College London epidemiologist who leads the study, said the still-falling cases suggested that concerning fast-spreading and potentially vaccine-dodging variants were not having an impact. He added this was likely down to the successful vaccination programme  which has already jabbed three in every five Britons  social distancing, and warmer weather allowing people to spend more time outdoors. Other promising data today showed England's outbreak is still shrinking, as weekly Test and Trace figures showed positive tests fell by nine per cent in the seven days to April 14  despite a huge increase in testing. Advertisement

The data showed a 57 per cent drop in infections among people not experiencing symptoms after one vaccine dose.

Dr Koen Pouwels, senior researcher at Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Population Health, said the experts were 'fairly confident' that the vaccines reduced onward transmission of the virus.

'However, the fact that we saw smaller reductions in asymptomatic infections than infections with symptoms highlights the potential for vaccinated individuals to get Covid-19 again, and for limited ongoing transmission from vaccinated individuals, even if this is at a lower rate,' he said.

'This emphasises the need for everyone to continue to follow guidelines to reduce transmission risk, for example through social distancing and masks.'

Prof Walker said she was 'cautiously optimistic' that the pandemic could be controlled long term with vaccines.

She argued that 'lockdown isn't a viable solution' in the long term and vaccines are 'clearly going to be the only way that we are going to have a chance to control this long term.'

However, she said the 'virus is very good at throwing us curveballs' and 'we're always going to be one small step away from the potential for things to go wrong again'.

In a separate study published by the team also as a pre-print, just one dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer produced 'strong antibody responses' in 95% of people given a vaccine.

While the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs behave differently in the early stages, both vaccines produced antibody levels that were sustained for at least 10 weeks.

Professor David Eyre, from the University of Oxford, said this supported the UK's decision to delay second doses by up to 12 weeks.

Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were also found to offer similar levels of protection against Covid-19 as for people who had had Covid previously.

Furthermore, the data showed that vaccination was just as effective in people over 75 or with underlying health conditions, as it was in those without or who were under 75.

And while everyone showed at least some response to both vaccines, fewer than 5% of people had low responses to both vaccines.

Almost everyone who had never had Covid tested positive for immune system antibodies after just one dose of either the Pfizer (left) or AstraZeneca (right) vaccine. The size of the bar indicates the proportion of people showing signs of immunity. Each row of bars represents a different age group, with the youngest adults at the top and oldest at the bottom. The time series shows that immunity gets stronger as time goes on  more people tested positive the longer time went on

Blood testing of people who had already had Covid once and then got vaccinated showed immunity was still boosted by the jabs, regardless of whether they got Pfizer (left) or AstraZeneca (right). The size of the bar indicates the proportion of people showing signs of immunity. Each row of bars represents a different age group, with the youngest adults at the top and oldest at the bottom

The researchers said there was a need to monitor this group's response to a second vaccination.

Prof Eyre said: 'In older individuals, two vaccine doses are as effective as prior natural infection at generating antibodies to the virus that causes Covid-19 - in younger individuals a single dose achieves the same level of response.

'Our findings highlight the importance of individuals getting the second vaccine dose for increased protection.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'Vaccines work and today's findings from the ONS and Oxford University provide further evidence that both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are having a significant impact on reducing infections across the UK.

'With over 33 million first jabs already in arms, saving lives and cutting the risk of infection, it's vital everyone gets their second dose when invited, to protect you and your loved ones against this disease.

'The vaccine programme has shown what our country can achieve when working as one, it is our way out of the pandemic. When you get the call, get the jab.'

Health minister Lord Bethell said: 'These real-world findings are extremely promising and show our historic vaccination programme is having a significant impact across the UK by reducing infections among people of all ages, including those with underlying health conditions.

'I urge everyone to take up the offer of a free vaccine when invited and to make sure they get their second dose to gain maximum protection.

'It remains essential everyone continues to follow Covid-19 restrictions whether they have had the vaccine or not.'
We cannot give any guarantees that our borders are sufficiently protected. The second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, mentioned this during a meeting with his supporters. To note, this meeting took place on Wednesday.

According to him, in fact, first of all the borders should be protected by ones own army, armed forces; in general, by ones own security system.

"Now the [Armenian] authorities are talking about the fact that Russia has an obligationunder a bilateral treatyas our military-political ally to protect us. Yes, it does. But what does a military-political ally mean? It means that you have an army, it has an army, you [both] have a treaty, you create a military alliance in which you participate with your army, Russiawith its army. All member countries within the framework of the CSTO participate in this alliance, each with its own army. If in Armenia they think that they can disband the army, have an army with some incomprehensible gatherings every five years for three monthsyou cannot. For example, it is a mandatory norm for NATO member countries to spend 2% of the GDP on defense issues; this is a military-political alliance.

If your army is not combat-ready, if the state of your army is what we have today, it means that we [Armenia] need to say, We are not able to protect ourselves, Russia must protect [us.] So, you change your status, say, I am asking for a protectorate, sign another treaty, say, I do not need an army, or There is no such danger, or I do not have the strength, come and defend me," Kocharyan stated.

He expressed a conviction that Armenia must restore its capabilities and army at a very fast pace. "Otherwise, this military-political alliance is meaningless because one party does not invest enough to join this alliance. Six months have passed [since the recent Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)]. Have you heard any discussions in the National Assembly on our security issues? Have you seen any government decision regarding our armed forces? They are talking about some incomprehensible reforms," the ex-President said.

Kocharyan recalled that in the spring or summer of 2020 the concept for Armenias security was adopted, where the word Artsakh Republic does not exist. "This war took place a few months later, no changes have been made to that document. Nothing is being done about security issues today.

Yes, we [Armenia] have Russia, which has an obligation [to us] under the treaty. But if we do not fulfill our part of the obligation, then it is a big question whether or not our security is guaranteed. That is why the president of Azerbaijan makes such statements because he sees what is happening in the country [i.e., Armenia], sees our situation, and says whatever he wants, violates our dignity as he pleases."
(CNN)  No blood clots have been associated with coronavirus vaccines made by Moderna or Pfizer, a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert said Friday.

The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is meeting to discuss whether to change guidance for J&Js Janssen vaccine. The CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration recommended pausing its use after six reported cases of women who developed a rare blood clotting syndrome called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS, after receiving Johnson & Johnsons Janssen vaccine in the United States. But no cases have been firmly linked with other vaccines used in the US.

Currently, there is a lack of evidence of an association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and (Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis) with thrombocytopenia, the CDCs Dr. Tom Shimabukuro told members of the CDCs vaccine advisory group. J&Js vaccine is made using a common cold virus called an adenovirus, while Modernas and Pfizers vaccines are made using raw genetic material called messenger RNA.

Shimabukuro told ACIP that 2.7 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and 2.5 million doses of Modernas vaccine had been included in CDCs Vaccine Safety Database as of April 17. He said 10 cases of a rare type of brain blood clot called CVST were reported afterward but five were ruled out because of the medical histories of the patients, and five more were ruled out because patients did not develop a low level of platelets. Its the combination of blood clots and low platelet counts that is linked with the vaccines.

ACIP is expected to vote on any changes to its guidance for J&Js vaccine later Friday. If ACIP recommends changes to the vaccine label  such as a warning, or changes to who it recommends should get the vaccine  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will sign off and then the FDA will have to make any label changes.

Read more live updates here.
Passengers have returned to Charleston International and so have plans to expand the airport.

A year after the 96 percent plunge in travelers last spring forced deep spending cuts and halted preliminary engineering work to expand the terminal, officials have decided to go ahead with those plans.

The reason: They said they don't won't to be caught off guard when passenger growth returns to pre-pandemic levels within a couple of years.

A freeze on spending and hiring has been lifted as well.

For the next budget year beginning in July, though, officials aren't projecting a full return of air travelers.

Next year's revenue projections are based on 75 percent of pre-COVID flying patterns.

"We took a conservative approach," airport CEO Elliott Summey said. "We think we can beat that."

Officials believe the passenger tally before the virus outbreak was roughly equally divided between tourist and business travelers.

Locked down for a year, travel-starved vacationers are starting to fly again, according to most major airlines. It's less clear whether business travelers will book the same number of flights now that so many of them have learned to work remotely.

"We had to make our best presumptions," said Doug Boston, the airport's retiring finance director. "Everything looks great now, and there is a lot of pent-up demand. ... But business travel may never come back like it was."

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The proposed budget for the new fiscal year is $64 million, up by $7 million over the current spending plan, which was slashed by $25 million because of the sudden air-travel slowdown that began about 13 months ago.

In January 2020, the airport projected the number of passengers would surpass 5 million for the entire calendar year. The actual number came in at less than 2 million, a 10-year low.

The airport hasn't made traffic projections for 2021, but for the next fiscal year it's expecting to handle about 3.6 million passengers, which should will help boost the bottom line.

The budget resumes engineering work tied to a proposed terminal expansion to accommodate more airlines and a future third concourse for international flights.

"We are still preserving our cash and keeping an eye on our expenses," Boston said. "But we don't want to be caught flat-footed. We want to be ready when the growth comes."

The budget also includes about $12 million for paying down debt from the $200 million terminal expansion completed in 2016 and an $88 million parking deck that opened in November. The garage has sat mostly empty for the past six months, though part of the structure has been used for COVID-19 testing.

"It's nice to see cars in the new deck," said Helen Hill, chairwoman of the Charleston County Aviation Authority and CEO of tourism agency Explore Charleston.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden is heading to Georgia next week to mark his first 100 days in office and promote his infrastructure and jobs plan with a drive-in rally in Atlanta.

The White House said the president and his wife, Jill Biden, will travel to the state on April 29, a day after he delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress. In his address, hes expected to tout the accomplishments of his first 100 days in office and lay out his agenda for the rest of his term.

One of his next top priorities is a massive $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which provides funds to update the nations infrastructure, shift to green energy and expand caregiving options for older and disabled Americans.

It will mark Bidens second visit to the state since becoming president. His first visit was to promote his COVID-19 relief package, but those plans were derailed by a series of shootings at Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, including six Asian women. Biden instead spent his visit meeting with community leaders and state lawmakers from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to discuss the events, which came amid an outbreak of anti-Asian violence nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic.

His second visit comes as Georgia's controversial new voting law has put the state's election system in the spotlight. Biden has called the law Jim Crow in the 21st century and a blatant attack on the Constitution," and said the Justice Department is taking a look at it.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to stay at home, this hasn't stopped 808 Studio from giving fitness buffs and newbies alike their dose of exercise and fun amid the health crisis.

"Imagine a dance fitness party that really gives you a full-body workout and we have our 808 DJs that create exclusive mixes for each class. So no experience is the same and I think that's what people love about it so much," 808 Studio co-founder Sofia Coyiuto told CNN Philippines' The Exchange With Rico Hizon.

Gyms and fitness centers are among the industries forced to scale down on-site operations or even shut their doors in light of strict quarantine measures since the onset of the pandemic last year.

Luckily, the Manila-based boutique dance fitness studio is set to celebrate its first anniversary in a few days and is nothing but grateful for the huge member turnout in its virtual dance classes.

For one, co-founder Dorthee Li attributes this to the growing demand for "unique" fitness experiences online especially over the last year.

"We hold multiple classes daily. What happens now is we have classes which have more than 300 attendees in one class. That's really amazing because you know, we can never do that in a physical studio setting," she explained.

But more than the numbers, Li is amazed at how 808 Studio has gone beyond its classes and even led to the creation of a community among members.

"So what happens is people who don't know each other in person, they actually become friends and support each other not only inside the classes but also outside," Li said.

Ultimately, this reflects the studio co-founders' vision of creating something fun and inclusive for all, they added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-22 23:02:04|Editor: huaxia

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Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, meets with Tomasz Grodzki, speaker of the Polish Senate (upper house), via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Thursday met with Tomasz Grodzki, speaker of the Polish Senate (upper house), via video link, pledging to enhance friendly exchanges with Poland.

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, said China has attached great importance to China-Poland relations and prioritized the bilateral ties in its cooperation with Europe.

Wang called on both sides to implement the consensus and strategic guidance reached by the two heads of state on issues such as China-Poland relations and anti-epidemic cooperation, strengthen friendly exchanges and promote common development.

Wang also said the CPPCC is ready to enhance its ties with the Polish Senate and all sectors of Polish society to push the development of China-Poland comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

Grodzki said Poland is willing to play an active role in promoting the healthy and stable development of cooperation between central-eastern European countries and China and further strengthening EU-China relations.

Poland is willing to work together with China to continue to reinforce pragmatic cooperation in various fields and score new achievements in bilateral ties, Grodzki added. Enditem
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The N.M. Legislature just had a historic victory when it voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that will unlock funding for early education and K-12 programs across the state. What many dont know is that this win was one over 10 years in the making. In November of 2022, New Mexicos citizens can decide whats best for New Mexicos children, New Mexicos future.

If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would allow New Mexico to tap into its nearly $22 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to create a revenue stream for early education and K-12 programs, which would undoubtedly change the trajectory of New Mexicos kids  and New Mexico as a state  for the better. Education, especially early education, has transformational power. Its time New Mexico reaped the benefits from it.

We applaud the Legislature for its support of this issue, for putting aside politics in favor of New Mexicos youngest, and for letting the great people of New Mexico vote, for themselves, on this vital matter.

We continue to be encouraged by the dedication of New Mexicos policymakers when it comes to kids education and overall well-being. This includes Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has been an exceptional champion for children, one who has continually prioritized early education and care. It is undoubtedly the governors leadership that paved the way for this momentous opportunity. And for that, we applaud her, as well.

This recent victory is a testament to the tenacity and continued desire of New Mexicos leadership to prioritize New Mexicos children. There is still a long road ahead, but the path is now clear. Drawing from the Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for educational opportunity is an important step in the right direction.

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Research overwhelmingly shows that high-quality early childhood education lays the foundation for a childs cognitive, physical and socioemotional development. According to a recent study conducted by the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, the New Mexico high school graduation rate was 6.5 percentage points higher for kids who attended pre-K than the high school graduation rate of kids who did not attend pre-K.

Early education isnt just the key to the healthy growth and development of our children, but also to New Mexicos economic success. We must remember that early education and care programs are critical for parents, the workforce, the economy and, therefore, New Mexicos recovery from COVID-19. In fact, the LFC study also found that there is a $6 return per $1 invested in pre-K. This is an incredibly high return, one that New Mexicos voters cannot ignore at the ballot box in November 2022.

Seventy-five percent of New Mexico voters support tapping the Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for early childhood education programs, with overwhelming majority support found in both parties. While its clear that now is the time to make long-lasting and sustainable change for our children, we must keep the momentum going. We must continue to shed light on why early education and care is important. Big things are happening for New Mexicos kids, and this is only the beginning.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





An EDH employee shot and wounded

This Thursday, April 22, 2021, another employee of the EDH, Adelson Doresma was the victim of an armed attack and an attempted kidnapping in the city center of Port-au-Prince. Adelson Doresma was hit with 2 projectiles, one in the arm and the other in the leg. He was rushed to hospital. The kidnappers also took away important documents and equipment that were in the vehicle.



6 thugs arrested

In Saint-Raphael, 6 thugs were arrested with an MP15 semi-automatic assault rifle and ammunition seized.



235 Haitians intercepted at the Dominican border

Soldiers from the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (CESFRONT) intercepted in a few hours, during several operations, 234 Haitians who were trying to enter Dominican territory clandestinely. These interceptions were carried out following a work of the intelligence services supported by drones equipped with thermal cameras, buggies, motorcycles and other advanced technological equipment. Some Haitians said they were trying to enter Dominican territory to escape the situation of insecurity and poverty in Haiti.



6th edition of the Vive Haiti Books Festival

The National Book Directorate is proud to be associated with the 6th edition of the Vive Haiti Books Festival which will be organized around the theme : Literature meets tomorrow. She invites you to join in, on April 23, 24 and 25, 2021, at the Center for Reading and Cultural Animation of Saint-Marc, around the Guest of Honor, the poet Fouad Andre.



Elections : Storage of sensitive election material

Thursday morning, a strong delegation made up of the Minister of Defense, the Minister Delegate in charge of Electoral Matters, the Executive Director of the Provisional Electoral Council, the Director General of the PNH, the Electoral Security Unit, representatives of the United Nations Program for development and the United Nations Office for Project Services went to the former logistics base of MINUSTAH (Log base) in order to identify a national storage site for sensitive electoral material and not sensitive. This site will also house the operational base of Ouest 2. The chosen site is on the side of the PNH zone.



44 years of the RNH

Thursday the Prime Minister ai, Claude Joseph accompanied by the Minister of Culture Pradel Henriquez went to the National Radio of Haiti (RNH), on the occasion of the celebration of the 44th anniversary of this state station "In the name from the Haitian Government, I wish a happy birthday to the RNH which celebrates its 44 years. This State media, at the service of the Nation, deserves to be congratulated for its work of promotion, training, information and development of urban and rural populations," declared the Prime Minister.



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New Delhi: Amid the acute shortage of medical oxygen in several parts of the country, Roll On Roll Off Oxygen Express, with seven cryogenic tankers, arrived at Nagpur Junction Railway from Visakhapatnam on Friday (April 23) evening. The train arrived at Nagpur at 8.10 pm, bringing some relief to the state which is reeling under a surge in coronavirus cases and shortages of medical oxygen. According to ANI report, at least three of the seven tankers were unloaded at Nagpur Junction railway station. The train carrying the large oxygen tankers pulled out from a facility run by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) in Visakhapatnam on Thursday evening.

Each tanker is carrying 15 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen. "A joint effort by Waltair Division of East Coast Railways, and officials of RINL made the project a success. This will prove to be highly beneficial during the recent upsurge in COVID-19," the railways said in a statement on Thursday.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had tweeted a video of the train preparing to pull out from the RINL facility. The railways will run the "Oxygen Express" train from steel plants that produce oxygen to different parts of the country.

The train departed from Visakhapatnam on Thursday night. The flat-wagon goods train had left for Visakhapatnam from Kalamboli near Mumbai on April 19, around 8 pm. After more than 50 hours' journey, it reached the destination, passing through Vapi, Surat, Nandurbar, Bhusawal, Akole, Nagpur, Gondia, Raipur and Titagarh.

Last Sunday, the Railways had announced it will run "Oxygen Express" trains over the next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country. Empty tankers will be loaded with medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro, it had said.

Amid spiralling coronavirus cases in the country, the demand for medical oxygen has gone through the roof.

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New Delhi, April 23 : Jamaat-e-Islami Hind President, Syed Sadatullah Husaini has called upon the organisation's cadre to serve people during the second wave of the pandemic.

"As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hits us with all its ferocity, I call upon the cadre of Jamaat to dedicate themselves for the cause of helping and serving the people of our country. Our work shall mainly be on the three fronts: Creating awareness, serving people and reminding them of the spiritual and moral dimension of the pandemic," he said.

Noting that there are many myths and lies being spread around the pandemic and its treatment, he said that unfortunately, these have resulted in many problems and even loss of life.

"Misinterpreting the tenets of faith to justify violation of Covid appropriate behaviour is ignorance and must be avoided at all costs. Protecting life is one of the fundamental canons of Islam and it is not wise to endanger lives by ignoring the basic safety protocols related to wearing of masks and hand hygiene. At this juncture, everybody must wear masks in mosques and follow social distancing norms during congregational prayers," he said.

Husaini also said: "It is also important that we come forward to help the needy and the sick during this ongoing pandemic. Our service should be for all without any discrimination of caste, creed and religion. We firmly believe that this service to humanity is an Islamic obligation and shall receive divine succour and the highest reward. The Quran spells out clearly that the one who saves even one life is as if he saved the entire humanity. After following all safety protocols, please go out and help the sick and the needy. Do not leave them alone. Help them to get hospitalised and access to medical care if required. Arrange for oxygen and establish Covid Care Centres wherever resources permit." He appealed to convert automobiles to temporary ambulances and provide financial assistance to those needing it. "Dying a slow death due to lack of the provision of oxygen is an insult to the entire humanity. Do all you can to prevent such a situation," he said.

The Jamaat chief said: "We are indebted to our doctors and paramedic staff; our youth must come forward to help people under their guidance. Boost the morale of people and get people out of depression. This is a trial and tribulation from our Lord and we must face it with complete trust in Him."
Two brothers of an Abu Sayyaf commander were apparently killed Friday along with another militant during clashes in Sulu province in the far southern Philippines, ground commanders said.

The siblings were nephews of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the presumed late leader of the Islamic State extremist groups Philippine branch, and brothers of Abu Sayyaf Group sub-leader Mundi Sawadjaan. Mundi is wanted in connection with bombings in the south but he evaded the military dragnet during a firefight on Jolo Island and faded into the jungle, officials said.

Soldiers recovered the bodies of Mujafal Jhapz Sawadjaan and another ASG member identified as Muktihar Taha in jungle areas in Patikul, a remote town on the island, the military said. Mujafals younger brother, identified as Al-al Sawadjaan, was believed killed in a separate clash on Jolo, but his body was not recovered.

The clashes started in the morning and led to the casualties, said Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, head of the Joint Task Force Sulu.

One unit also spotted a fleeing Abu Sayyaf militant, which led to another firefight. One group, Gonzales said, was led by Mundi Sawadjaan, but he escaped capture.

We have received initial reports indicating that Mundis youngest brother Al-al Sawadjaan was neutralized during todays encounters, Gonzales said. All our forces are on high alert as we continue to hunt for Mundi Sawadjaan.

Mundi has been identified as the mastermind of twin suicide bombings that killed 14 people in August 2020 in Jolo town, the provincial capital.

Officials have said the bombings were in retaliation for the July 2020 death of Mundis uncle, Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, a senior Abu Sayyaf militant and the acknowledged head of the Islamic State in the region. The military has not publicly announced the elder Sawadjaans death because his body was not recovered.

Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan masterminded a January 2019 bombing at Jolos Catholic church, killing 23 people including an Indonesian couple blamed for the suicide attack, according to Philippine authorities.

The Sawadjaans are members of an Abu Sayyaf faction allied to Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the regions IS affiliate who led the siege of Marawi and died shortly before government troops regained control of the city in October 2017. The five-month siege resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 militants, security forces and civilians.

Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan succeeded Hapilon as the regions IS leader.

While Abu Sayyaf militants continue to mount attacks, the military believes it has fewer than 200 fighters concentrated in the parts of the Deep South. The group has been blamed for bombings and beheadings along with kidnappings for ransom.

Military officials have said foreign militants were believed to be involved with Abu Sayyaf, noting that an Egyptian militant and two Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed last week. In addition, authorities have reported arrests of foreigners in the past for suspected terror links.

Jeoffrey Maitem and Mark Navales in Cotabato, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Sanjeev Gupta faces a legal battle over his 100million takeover of a rival's speciality steel operations.

The embattled tycoon's empire bought the Rotherham-based business, which provides materials to automotive, aerospace and energy firms, from Tata in 2017.

But Tata is now suing Gupta over claims he missed payments related to the deal.

Missing payments: Sanjeev Gupta (pictured) bought a Rotherham-based steel business, which provides materials to automotive, aerospace and energy firms, from Tata in 2017

The move is another blow to Gupta as he fights to keep his conglomerate, GFG Alliance, afloat after the dramatic collapse of lender Greensill Capital.

Tata confirmed the legal action but said it could not comment on the proceedings.

When Gupta bought the speciality steel division from Tata, it was hailed as a job-saving rescue that would secure the future of 1,700 staff in Rotherham and Stocksbridge.

The business was folded into GFG's Liberty Steel and along with several other deals, it helped Gupta rapidly expand the firm into Britain's third-biggest steel maker. Greensill was the main source of funding for the tycoon's empire before it collapsed.

Tata has launched its case against Liberty Speciality Steels, Liberty House Group PTE and Speciality Steel UK, all of which are part of GFG.

Labour's Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, said the fresh threat had put 'the lives of thousands of people in a precarious position'. GFG did not comment.
In a unique press conference on Thursday, the leaders of the NDP official opposition parties in the three Prairie provinces appeared together to urge their respective Conservative premiers to support the federal governments proposed changes to the agricultural risk management program called AgriStability.

In a unique press conference on Thursday, the leaders of the NDP official opposition parties in the three Prairie provinces appeared together to urge their respective Conservative premiers to support the federal governments proposed changes to the agricultural risk management program called AgriStability.

All three Prairie province governments have been dragging their feet about signing on to the re-jigged cost sharing program that would only cost the three provinces in the neighbourhood of about $10 million each.

Late last month, the governments of the three Prairie provinces did agree to eliminate the so-called reference margin  the level after which compensation would kick in  but they continue to refuse to agree to increase the benefits from 70 per cent of losses to 80 per cent.

The program is cost-shared 60-40 between the federal and provincial governments and provides benefits to farmers and ranchers to cover losses due to thing like floods or international trade disputes.

The changes  both the elimination of the reference margin and the increased amount of losses that would be covered  would result in an annual increase in payouts of 50 per cent, or $170 million.

Of that increase, $100 million would come from Ottawa and the remaining $70 million from the provinces and territories.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili said he thinks it is political when it comes to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

"This premier (Moe) likes to point the finger at the federal government," he said. "He likes to distract from anything that is his own fault and try to put the blame on anyone else. Perhaps he does not want support from the federal government to be seen as a good thing."

Wab Kinew, leader of the Manitoba NDP, believes Manitoba Premier Brian Pallisters Conservative party is taking farm families and farm communities  who overwhelming vote Conservative  for granted.

"This will cost as much as what Pallister is spending sending cheques out as part of his latest political stunt (regarding) property tax rebates," Kinew said

Rachel Notley, the leader of the Alberta NDP, mocked the government of Alberta Premier Jason Kenneys $30 million energy "war room" relative to the $7-to-$10 million it would cost her province to sign on to the new AgriStability program.

Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have all signed on, but the agreement requires at least two of the three Prairie provinces to approve the changes for them to be enacted.

During the federal-provincial-territorial agricultural ministers meeting late last month, It was announced that the enrolment deadline of April 30, 2021, for farmers to join the program was extended to June 30, 2021.

Not surprisingly, there is solidarity among agricultural producer groups throughout the Prairies who are unanimous in their support for the changes. Last month, Bill Campbell, the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, the largest producer group in the province, said, "We have never had a clear indication of why this is not moving forward,"

Considering the relatively inexpensive cost to each of the provinces individually, it is still not clear.

Asked for some rationale, a spokesperson for Blaine Pedersen, Manitobas minister of agriculture and resource development, did not really provide one.

Instead, the spokesperson said, "We listened to producers express concerns that AgriStability is complicated and unpredictable and that is why at the March 25 federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers meeting we agreed to remove the reference margin limit. The Prairie provinces continue to encourage the federal government to commit their 60 per cent share of the proposed compensation rate change."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Prince Charles and Prince William are 'more united than ever' in their vision for the future of the Royal Family following the death of Prince Philip, a royal expert has claimed.

Katie Nicholl told this week's episode of True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat that the Duke of Edinburgh's passing marked 'the end of an era' and has 'opened up a conversation that would tiptoe around the big future issues about where the monarchy is going and that inevitable handing over of power'.

She said Charles, 72, and the Duke of Cambridge, 38, are leading this discussion and are 'more united in their vision for the future of the monarchy than they ever have been'.

'The sources I speak to say that the notion of "sovereign" is what has reunited them in the wake of Andrew and "Megxit" - that they are stronger now than ever and more focused,' she told host Kate Thornton.

Prince Charles and Prince William are 'more united than ever' in their vision for the future of the Royal Family following the death of Prince Philip, a royal expert has claimed.

Discussing how unified the Royal Family is, Nicholl went on: 'It's not a case of waving a magic wand and everything is okay. There is a lot of work to do.

'There are a lot of bridges that need to be built and trust that needs to be regained. It's not going to happen in a quick walk around Windsor Castle.

'Credit to the Prince of Wales, who instigated that meeting as an initial icebreaker, because no-one realises and appreciates more than Prince Charles that a divided Royal Family is not the unified monarchy that people want to see.'

She added that Prince Andrew's future role remains an unresolved issue, as is the continued lack of trust between Prince William and Prince Harry, 36, despite their conversation following Prince Philip's funeral on April 17.

Katie says no-one 'realises and appreciates more than Prince Charles (pictured at his father's funeral) that a divided Royal Family is not the unified monarchy that people want to see'

Nicholl said Charles and William both see 'potential for disaster' should they bring the Duke of York, 61, back into the royal fold.

Andrew stepped back from public life in 2019 'for the foreseeable future' as a result of his friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In May last year, The Sunday Times reported the Duke will not resume official duties.

MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton told the Royal Beat that Charles and William think it's 'absolutely ridiculous' to consider letting Andrew resume his royal duties.

He added: 'But remember while the Queen remains alive, she is incredibly close to Prince Andrew, and he is there as part of her life.

Nicholl said Charles and William both see 'potential for disaster' should they bring the Duke of York, 61, pictured at Prince Philip's funeral, back into the royal fold

'He is at Windsor and he visits her many days. The Queen is also close to Fergie and incredibly close to Eugenie and Beatrice so it's not complete harmony because that's a huge issue while the Queen is alive, Andrew remains an issue, but he wants to come back.'

Royal photographer, another guest on the episode, Arthur Edwards also observed that Her Majesty and her second son are 'quite close'.

'I've seen him [Prince Andrew] go to church with the Queen up at Sandringham,' he told the programme.

'They're quite close, and the Queen knows he's suffering. I think she will make every effort to get him back and I think it can happen.'

Arthur also shared his feeling that the Royal Family hope Prince Harry might one day return, 'in their heart of hearts'.

'He was a vital member, but he's chosen another life now and if he wants to talk to news and Netflix and all these different people for money, well let him, but you can't keep trashing the Royal Family Harry. He's trashing his own flesh and blood and he's got to stop it,' he added.

Wootton added that he believes it was 'very telling' that there was no further meeting between Charles, William and Harry following their conversation at the funeral.

Wootton added that he believes it was 'very telling' that there was no further meeting between Charles, William and Harry following their conversation at the funeral (pictured: the brothers, separated by Peter Phillips)

'Unfortunately nothing was significantly resolved,' he claimed. 'There was an opportunity on the Sunday and the Monday for Harry to come together with his relatives.

'We believe that he did see Eugenie, for example, and probably caught up with other relatives and the Queen too. Significantly to me, he didn't see - as far as we're aware - William, Charles or Kate and that is telling.'

He went on: 'As a result of that Oprah interview, and the leaks to Gayle King, William and Charles no longer trust that what they say to Harry will necessarily stay confidential, and that their words won't be twisted.

'So the idea is as long as we're there together there's another witness essentially, so if Harry or Meghan were to leak something to Gayle King it could be corrected.'

The Royal Beat is available on True Royalty TV.


A total of 102 pieces/sets of exhibits from 12 cultural and museum units are displayed in this exhibition, mainly Buddhist statues from Yizhou, Qingzhou, and Yecheng during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

On the one hand, it examines the Southern Dynasty statues in Chengdu from a new perspective and clarifies their presence in Chinese Buddhism Position in history; on the other hand, by comparing the Buddhist statues of Liangzhou, Jiankang, Qingzhou, and Yecheng in the same period, it shows the exchange and integration of Chinese and foreign cultures.

In 1996, more than 400 statues were unearthed from Longxing Temple in Qingzhou. These Buddhist artworks are large in number, diverse in variety, and exquisitely carved. They are one of the largest number of cellared Buddhist statues discovered in China. In addition to the foreign Qingzhou style, the most distinctive feature is that the faces of Buddhist statues are more smiling and subtle and quiet.



https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcerkM2fliKFIBZVHUvWBfA/featured?
SEYMOUR  Police on Friday identified the three people, including a young child, who were killed in a head-on accident Wednesday night.

The accident killed a female driver, a female passenger and a toddler in the backseat of a Hyundai Accent, Police Chief Paul Satkowski said Thursday. He said the female driver in the other vehicle was extricated and hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver was identified as 28-year-old West Haven resident Shanea Leary. Learys 4-year-old daughter, who was in the back seat, was also killed during the crash, police said. Police identified a front-seat passenger who was killed as 35-year-old Nicole Gibson of Ansonia.

The 33-year-old Brookfield woman behind the wheel of the Toyota was later extricated with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Satkowski wrote.

The vehicles collided on Route 34 near its intersection with Argonne Terrace, police said.

In update Friday afternoon, Satkowski said Leary was driving the Hyundai east on Roosevelt Drive toward Derby at an apparent high rate of speed when the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway.

The Hyundai crossed into the oncoming lane, where the driver of a Toyota Rav4 tried to take evasive action but was unable to completely do so, Satkowski wrote.

The two vehicles collided head-on near Argonne Terrace.

An initial report by police Thursday seemed to indicate the driver of the westbound Toyota had been speeding. But Satkowskis update Friday later clarified police believe it was Learys car was traveling at a high rate of speed.

Police said no other occupants were in the Toyota at the time of the crash.

Police, EMS and fire units were called to the scene around 10 p.m. Wednesday night. When first responders arrived, they found both vehicles with significant front end damage, Satkowski said.

The Toyota was found on its side and in an embankment, while the Hyundai was found in the eastbound lane of the road facing west.

The State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad is investigating the accident alongside Seymour Police, Satkowski said.

He said the investigation remains active and open, and encouraged anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or who was in the area before it occurred, to contact investigators.

The stretch of road, which runs along the Housatonic River from Derbys Lakeview Terrace to the Stevenson Dam Bridge, has been the location of hundreds of crashes in recent years, according to the University of Connecticut Crash Data Repository.

Anyone with information is asked to call lead investigator Dave Paratt at 203-915-2517, or the Seymour Police Department at 203-881-7600.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 13:45:22|Editor: huaxia

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Passengers arrive at Terminal 2 building of the Shanghai Pudong International Airport in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

SHANGHAI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported five imported COVID-19 cases and no domestically transmitted cases Thursday, the municipal health commission said Friday.

The five cases were all Chinese nationals departing from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, New Zealand and Slovenia, respectively. They have been sent to designated medical institutions for treatment.

A total of 165 people in close contact with the patients have been put under quarantine.

The municipal health commission said a total of 1,584 imported cases had been reported in Shanghai by Thursday. Among them, 1,525 patients were discharged from hospital after recovery, and 59 continued to receive treatment in hospitals.

By Thursday, the municipality had reported 371 locally transmitted confirmed cases, including seven deaths.
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Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists dumped fake coal outside Lloyd's of London's headquarters today in protest against the fossil fuel industry a day after the US committed to slashing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

Eco-warriors unfurled banners with slogans including 'Climate Criminals', 'fossil fuels = death' and 'insuring fossil fuels = ensuring climate breakdown' as they dumped fake coal outside the building on Lime Street in the City.

City of London Police arrested two protesters after safety barriers were placed around the rubble and placards stuck in the mound which read 'we are the dead canaries' and 'do not insure the West Cumbria coal mine'.

The group, which seeks to trigger political, economic and social revolution to avert climate change, accused Lloyd's of facilitating the fossil fuel industry by supporting the most polluting projects, such as tar sands and coal mines - including the highly controversial Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia.

It comes a day after XR activists smashed the window frontage of HSBC's headquarters in Canary Wharf, and two weeks after demonstrators shattered windows at Barclays in London.

A City of London Police spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Our officers attended a protest this morning on Lime Street, EC3M. Two people have been arrested for obstructing the highway.'

A Lloyd's spokesperson said the insurer is 'accelerating its transition towards a more sustainable insurance and reinsurance marketplace, and has set out specific actions and commitments to align with' the Paris accord.

'We are actively involved in constructive engagement on the issue of climate change and continue to explore the ways in which Lloyd's can support a responsible transition,' they added.

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, dump fake coal, made from rocks, into the street during a protest outside the Lloyd's building in London

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, stand next to fake coal, made from rocks, during a protest outside the Lloyd's building

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, hold a banner as they protest outside the Lloyd's building in London

Handout photo issued by Insurance Rebellion of a climate change activist from XR Insurance being detained by the City of London Police outside Lloyd's of London

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, hold a banner as they stand next to fake coal, made from rocks, during a protest outside the Lloyd's building

Police officers detain an activist from the Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, during a protest outside the Lloyd's building in London

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, hold banners as they stand next to fake coal, made from rocks, during a protest outside the Lloyd's building

Activists dump wheelbarrows full of MANURE outside the White House in protest that Joe Biden's climate plan is too little, too late Climate activists with Extinction Rebellion pushed wheelbarrows full of cow dung through the streets and emptied them in front of the White House A group of climate activists have dumped wheelbarrows full of cow manure outside the White House to protest President Joe Biden's climate plan. The protesters are said to be from Extinction Rebellion, a group that often performs stunt protests. Extinction Rebellion describe themselves as 'a global environmental movement with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse.' On Thursday, several protesters tipped over wheelbarrows in full view of the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. After dumping the cow manure in front of the White House, a sign was placed in the pile reading, 'Stop the bulls***.' Another sign held up read, 'Declare climate emergency now.' Members of the group also held banners that read, 'DECLARE A CLIMATE EMERGENCY NOW' and 'BIDEN'S 2030 PLAN = MASS DEATH.' The group say they want to bring attention to 'Biden's Bulls**t Climate Plan' and demand that President Biden declare a climate and ecological emergency under the National Emergencies Act and set a net-zero emissions target of 2025. Biden's has committed the U.S. fossil fuel emissions up to 52% by 2030 which is in line with pledges made by other countries. Advertisement

Hayley Sestokas, an organiser with Frontline Action on Coal in Australia, said: 'Adani is building its mine on stolen land. The Wangan and Jagalingou people have said no to Adani four times.

'Australia is already the world's biggest exporter of coal. If the Galilee Basin is opened up, this would double our output at a time when the world desperately needs to move away from coal to curb runaway climate change.

'That's why people from all over Australia are putting their bodies on the line to resist the building of this mine. Lloyd's need to stop insuring this deadly project. It's great to see people taking action in London today.'

In a statement, Harriet, 28, from Insurance Rebellion, said: 'Every day that Lloyd's continues to insure fossil fuel projects we move one step closer to climate breakdown.

'Fossil fuel companies are destroying our planet, causing millions of people's homes to be flooded, burnt to the ground in wildfires, and reclaimed by rising sea levels.

She added: 'We have to stop fossil fuels now before the climate emergency becomes any worse. Fossil fuel companies can't run without insurance, so let's stop insuring them.'

John, 41, who took part in the protest, said: 'Lloyd's of London continues to insure the world's biggest fossil fuel projects. After many polite requests, they've refused to rule out underwriting even the most controversial projects like Adani's mega coal mine in Australia or the West Cumbria coal mine in the UK.

'We're here today because we're not willing to accept any more excuses, delays or half measures.'

Lloyd's has asked members to stop providing new insurance cover for thermal coal, oil sands, or new Arctic energy exploration from January 1, 2022, with a target of 2030 to phase out the renewal of existing cover.

Some major Lloyd's insurers have ruled out insuring the Carmichael mine, from which Adani plans to start producing 10 million tonnes of coal per year from 2021.

Yesterday nine women smashed the windows of HSBC's London headquarters while wearing patches with the words 'better broken windows than broken promises' - a slogan used by the suffragettes during protests in the early 20th century.

Stickers reading '80billion into fossil fuels in the last five years' were stuck to the windows in London's Docklands, before the women hammered painted chisels through the glass.

All nine activists were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police confirmed.

The protest was staged to draw attention to HSBC's continuing links to the fossil fuel industry, with activists claiming the bank's climate plan allows it to finance coal power.

In a statement, the group said: 'Despite HSBCs pledge to shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050, their current climate plan still allows the bank to finance coal power, and provides no basis to turn away clients or cancel contracts based on links to the fossil fuel industry.'

HSBC told MailOnline it welcomes 'meaningful dialogue' on its climate strategy but it 'cannot condone vandalism or actions that put people and property at risk.' Contractors have estimated that the damage could cost 160,000 to repair.

The bank said it is 'committed to set out short and medium term transition targets, and to phase out the financing of coal-fired power and thermal coal mining by 2040 globally.'

A spokesperson added: 'We have an ambition to be net zero by 2030 and to bring our financed emissions to net zero by 2050. We remain committed to supporting our customers in their transition to net zero.'

'It's time to stand up and be counted,' said Gully Bujak, 28, from Extinction Rebellion. 'Doing this today may land us in prison but we're on the right side of history.'

Valerie Brown, 68, the London mayoral candidate for political party Burning Pink, addressed HSBC directly. She said: 'Investing in fossil fuels is murder. More and more people can see that clearly. Why can't you?

'We will not stand by whilst you invest in runaway greed, whilst people's lives are being shattered by the fossil fuel industries.'

It comes a day after Boris Johnson threw himself wholeheartedly behind Joe Biden as the US president tore up the Trump administration's antipathy towards tackling climate change.

Handout photo issued by Insurance Rebellion of climate change activists from XR Insurance being detained by the City of London Police outside Lloyd's of London

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, stand next to fake coal, made from rocks, during a protest outside the Lloyd's building

An activist from Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, stands next to fake coal, made from rocks, during a protest outside the Lloyd's building in London

Extinction Rebellion activists smashed at least 19 windows at HSBC's Canary Wharf headquarters

Several woman stuck fliers reading '80 billion into fossil fuels in the last five years' to the windows

All nine activists involved were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police confirmed today

Police officers detain an Extinction Rebellion activist outside Barclays Bank's London headquarters in Canary Wharf following a demonstration on April 7

An Extinction Rebellion protest at Barclays in Canary Wharf, where they used hammers and chisels to break windows on April 7

Mr Biden used a climate conference attended by 40 world leaders including Vladimir Putin to pledge to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in half compared to 2005 output within the next decade, a move the Prime Minister hailed as 'game-changing'.

The US reduction - estimated to be around a 41-44 per cent cut on 1990 levels - is part of a national climate plan, which it is submitting as part of its return to the Paris climate accord, the world's first comprehensive climate treaty which Donald Trump quit when he was president.

But the Prime Minister has already faced criticism over his own plans which go far further than those of the US. Mr Johnson has set out the UK's moves to cut greenhouse gases by 78 per cent of 1990 levels by 2035.

According to advice from the UK Government's advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC), delivering on Mr Johnson's target will mean radical changes including an end to heating homes with natural gas boilers, eating less meat and dairy produce, and switching to electric cars. Critics said it would cost 10,000 to upgrade homes and mean a cut in foreign holidays.

But Mr Johnson urged the world's richest nations to embrace climate action for the sake of growth and jobs - as he told them it was not just about 'bunny-hugging'.

'I'm not saying any of this is going to be easy and there is obviously going to be a political challenge,' the PM told assembled world leaders.

'It's vital for all of us to show that this is not all about some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging, or however you want to put it, there's nothing wrong with bunny hugging.

'What I'm driving at is this is about growth and jobs, and I think the President (Biden) was absolutely right to stress that. We can build back better from this pandemic by building back greener.'

The two-day US-led summit also heard from leaders of major economies including China, Japan, Russia, Canada, India and Australia.

The Prime Minister made the remarks as he addressed Joe Biden's virtual gathering of world leaders, at which the president vowed to halve US emissions by 2030.

What Boris Johnson's green targets mean for YOUR life and wallet Target - Cut meat and dairy consumption by a fifth over the next decade Impact - Someone who has meat for every three meals could only do this twice a week under the new plans. Similarly, the average Briton would need to shave a fifth of the average milk consumption down to 16ml a day - or roughly three teaspoons. Target - Ban new fossil-fuelled cars - including hybrids - by 2033 Impact - The average cost of buying a new electric car in the UK is 44,000, according to industry figures. Target - Ban the sale of oil-fired boilers by 2028 and gas boilers by 2033; require all homes to be insulated Impact - Energy efficiency measures - such as improving insulation and installing low carbon boilers - could cost 10,000 per home. Target - Stop expanding UK airport capacity and impose a frequent flyer levy with the aim of reducing the number of flights by 15% Impact - The average Briton currently takes 10 foreign holidays every five years, which would need to reduce to around 8. This is the equivalent of around three foreign holidays every two years. Advertisement

As part of diplomatic efforts in the lead up to the summit, the US and China issued a statement pledging to work together and with other countries on the issue.

Among the countries bringing forward new targets were Japan, whose prime minister Yoshihide Suga said its target would be a 46 per cent cut on 2013 levels, compared to an earlier 26 per cent goal, with efforts to push the reduction as high as 50 per cent.

Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his country's new target of slashing carbon emissions by 40 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, saying it was 'on track to blow past' the old target of a 30 per cent cut.

The European Union has agreed a new climate law which includes a goal to cut its emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 on 1990 levels.

Mr Johnson set out the UK's moves to cut greenhouse gases by 78 per cent by 2035.

'As host of Cop26 we want to see similar ambitions around the world, we are working with everybody from the smallest nations to the biggest emitters to secure commitments that will keep change to within 1.5C,' he said.

'I think we can do it, to do it we need scientists in all of our countries to work together to produce the technological solutions that humanity is going to need,' he said, pointing to technology to store carbon and cheap hydrogen.

He added: 'It will mean the richest nations coming together and exceeding the 100 billion US dollar commitment that they already made in 2009' to support developing countries, stressing how important that was.

It comes ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

President Biden told the summit it could help build a more prosperous, equitable society, stressing the jobs that could be created.

'The signs are unmistakeable, the science is undeniable. The cost of inaction keeps mounting.

'The United States isn't waiting, we are resolving to take action, not only our federal government but our cities and our states all across our country, small business, large corporations, American workers in every field,' he said.

He said the US only represented 15 per cent of the world's emissions and that no nation can solve the crisis on its own.

'All of us, particularly those who represent the world's largest economies, we have to step up.

'Those that do take action and make bold investments in their people, in clean energy futures, will win the good jobs of tomorrow and make their economies more resilient and more competitive.'

Countries have been expected to come forward with more ambitious plans up to 2030, known as nationally determined contributions (NDC) in the Paris deal, ahead of Cop26 in November.

That is because existing plans are not enough to meet countries' commitments under the Paris deal to curb global temperature rises to 'well below' 2C above pre-industrial levels - or 1.5C if possible - and avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has called for a 'people-centred' approach to the climate crisis.

President Xi said: 'We must treat nature as our root, respect it, protect it and follow its laws, we should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes.

'Second, we must be committed to green development - green mountains are gold mountains, to protect the environment is to protect productivity and to boost the environment is to boost productivity.

'The truth is as simple as that.'

He added: 'We must be committed to a people-centred approach, the environment concerns the wellbeing of people in all countries, we need to take into full account people's desire for a better quality of life and good environment as well as our responsibility for future generations.'
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The Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Bisi Fayemi, has said it might be difficult for a female president to emerge in Nigeria anytime soon owing to the countrys hostile political system.

Mrs Fayemi, however, added that the country is ripe enough to be governed by a female President because of the vast women resources at its disposal, reiterating that the operating system might impede this from being realised now.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Fayemi spoke in Ado Ekiti on Friday at an event organised by Above Whispers Media Foundation, in collaboration with the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) signposting the first public book reading of her latest book titled: Where Is Your Wrapper?, to mark the 2021 World Book Day.

Mrs Fayemi warned that the female gender should not misconstrue the phenomenon to mean fighting for women blindly, saying she would only defend and promote women who value dignity, self respect and walk on the path of truthfulness.

She said: Nigeria is ripe for a female presidency, but we wont have one anytime soon because those who are controlling power and in leadership positions have a way of keeping the female gender away from power.

Despite this treatment, we are proud that we have women like Okonjo-Iweala, who is the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, and others who are faces of respect to women.

So, technically, we are ready for it. We have the people with exposure and education, but we have to build a system that will allow them realise their full potentials within the political space, she stated.

Mrs Fayemi said feminism is gradually gaining ground in Nigeria owing to widespread belief that women should have rights, should not be battered, should have education, should be economically self-dependent, and it is important for them to be protected.

We must confront those issues that tend to undermine women. Women are entitled to live decent lives and that is why the government of Governor Kayode Fayemi is displaying that political will, to support us, to defend the female gender against abuses.

In my own understanding of feminism, I can defend women who are being battered by their husbands, women who are well mannered, but I cant defend those who are ill-mannered and rude. What I am fighting for is for them to achieve their full potentials.

I decided to be a feminist and defender of human rights because I was lucky to have married someone who is a governor and has executive powers. We believe that we can use the political will and instrument of democracy to change our perspective about some things concerning women emancipation.

She urged ANA and those who perceive themselves as writers to encourage and mentor young people into writing, saying creative writing in most cases starts at tender ages through parents conscious efforts on children.

My father mentored me on how to be self-confident, even in the midst of men. I appeal to fathers to always show love to their daughters and encourage them to face arduous tasks with an inspirational word that they can do anything.

(NAN)
The ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India may peak between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh total active' cases and decline steeply by the end of May, according to a mathematical module devised by IIT scientists.

On Friday, India saw a single-day rise of 3,32,730 (3.32 lakh) COVID-19 infections and 2,263 fatalities with 24,28,616 (24.28 lakh) active cases.

In predicting that the active cases would go up by about 10 lakh by mid-May before sliding, scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and Hyderabad applied the Susceptible, Undetected, Tested (positive), and Removed Approach' (SUTRA) model.

The scientists also said Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana may see a high of new cases by April 25-30, while Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh might already have reached their peak in new cases.

We have found that there is a reasonable chance that the active cases in India could peak sometime between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh cases. It is a sharp slope, but on the way down, it would likely be equally sharp, coming down very fast and by end of May may see a dramatic reduction, Manindra Agrawal,professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Kanpur,told PTI.

The scientists in the as yet unpublished study said there are several novel features in the SUTRA model.Whereas previous papers divided the patient population into asymptomatic and Infected, the new model also accounts for the fact that some fraction of asymptomatic patients could also be detected due to contact tracing and other such protocols.

Earlier this month, the mathematical modelling approach predicted that active infections in the country would peak by April 15 but this didn'tcome true.

The parameters in our model for the current phase are continuously drifting. So it is hard to get their value right, said Agrawal.

Even a little bit of change each day causes the peak numbers to change by several thousand, he explained.

The IIT Kanpur professor added that the SUTRA model's prediction of the new peak is sensitive to the daily new infections data.

Agrawal noted that the model uses three main parameters to predict the course of the pandemic.

The first is called beta, or contact rate, which measures how many people an infected person infects per day. It is related to the R0value, which is the number of people an infected person spreads the virus to over the course of their infection, Agrawal explained.

The other two parameters are reach', which is a measure of the exposure level of the population to the pandemic, and epsilon' which is the ratio of detected and undetected cases.

There are other mathematical modules as well.

Independent calculations by Gautam Menon and his team at Ashoka University in Haryana have predicted that the peak of the ongoing wave of infections could be between mid-April and mid-May.

Menon also cautioned that such projections of COVID-19 cases should really be trusted only in the short term.

Any excessively precise prediction, of a peak within just a five-day window would ignore the many uncertainties associated with the inputs to any such calculation, Menon, who was not involved in the modelling, had told PTI earlier.
Bicyclist taken to hospital after Friday crash with vehicle
Last Friday, SpaceX launched from the Kennedy Space Center (NASA) at 5:49 a.m., after extensive preparation to coordinate the mission to make it a success.

Space X launch from the Cape

On the Falcon 9 rocket, NASA and SpaceX will launch the Crew-2 flight, which will carry four astronauts to the International Space Station. It will light up the sky for those on the Space Coast, reported USA Today. After liftoff, Falcon 9's first stage will target a drone ship landing just northeast of Florida.

There are several things to know about the Crew-2 launch; it was set for 5:49 a.m. Friday from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, with an immediate launch window. The Falcon 9 rocket and its Crew Dragon capsule must depart on time or face a 24-hour delay in reaching the space station.

The members of the Crew-2 mission, of them, is Akihiko Hoshide. A Veteran astronaut, he will serve as a mission specialist for NASA and SpaceX's Crew-2 launch, serving his home country's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency during the six-month journey to the International Space Station.

In 2012, he worked on the International Space Station as an exploration flight engineer for over two months. He performed experiments in the Kibo module, went on three spacewalks, and assisted in capturing SpaceX's first working Dragon capsule with the station's robotic arm in October of that year.

Another astronaut on Space X is Thomas Pesquet. The mission to the International Space Station, the French engineer, pilot, and astronaut, will act as a mission specialist and delegate for the European Space Agency.

Sikorsky S-97 Raider: Next Generation Light Tactical Helicopter with X2 Technology

He will be the first European astronaut to fly in Crew Dragon, which is the only American spacecraft capable of transporting crews to the orbital outpost.

According to his official ESA profile, he enjoys physically challenging activities such as judo and mountain biking. He's also a saxophonist with a thirst for knowledge.

One of the members is a woman astronaut, Megan Arthur. She is an engineer, oceanographer, and former shuttle mission specialist who will pilot SpaceX's Crew-2 flight.

McArthur launched STS-125 from the same pad in 2009, so the launch of Crew-2 from pad 39A on Thursday will feel like a homecoming. She aided NASA's last mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope by carefully retrieving the 43-foot observatory using the shuttle's robotic arm over 12 days.

The last member is Shane Kimbrough. He will be part of NASA and SpaceX's Crew-2 flight to the International Space Station, a decorated Army aviator, and former space shuttle astronaut.

Kimbrough started working for NASA in 2000, but it took him four years to be selected as an astronaut. His first trip to space was on STS-126, a shuttle Endeavour mission to the International Space Station in 2008. Over 16 days, he completed nearly 13 hours of spacewalks.

SpaceX's Crew-2 launch is the company's second full-duration flight to the International Space Station and the third overall with astronauts. All four are veterans of the space shuttle or Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft.

From the launch to the flight of Space X to the International Space Station (ISS), the crew will be in for a six-month stay.

Futuristic 'Defiant X' Flies to Be the Next Generation Long-Range Assault Helicopter of the US Army

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The HBO Max true-crime docuseries Generation Hustle is shining new light on the unlikely story of how a conman bilked a range of Alabama investors, including a tech pioneer, out of $1.9 million.

The true crime docu-series, now streaming, bills itself as featuring outrageous and high-stakes new stories about brilliant and brazen young individuals, some of whom go too far by pulling off the most wildly inventive scams of our time.

Among its rogues gallery is Kyle Geoffrey Sandler, a Maryland transplant to Alabama who formed the Round House in Opelika as a launching pad for new tech companies in October 2014.

Sandler advertised the Roundhouse as a business incubator company to help develop new and startup companies by providing services such as venture capital, office space, 1-gigabit Internet and management training.

And though he told locals he was a former Google executive, Sandler had arrests for theft, forgery and check fraud, and convictions in two states for attempted theft and forgery.

This booking photograph provided by the Brazos County Sheriff's Office in Bryan, Texas, shows Kyle Sandler after his arrest on June 21, 2018. Sandler, who was charged with taking nearly $2 million from investors in his business startup company, the Round House, in Alabama, is scheduled for sentencing in federal court Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. (Brazos County Sheriff's Office via AP)AP

In all, authorities said, Sandler raked in investments totaling about $1.9 million from more than 50 investors, all the while diverting their money for his personal expenses such as child care, rent and cars.

Sandler also aligned himself with John McAfee, the antivirus software entrepreneur, and landed national media coverage for an Opelika teenager with an idea for a new kind of vending machine said to be worth millions.

Taylor Rosenthal, a 13-year-old at the time, had a plan for selling first-aid supplies, which morphed into a vending machine dispensing injury-specific products. Sandler led the teen to believe he had offers from Johnson & Johnson and Six Flags.

The Round House closed in December 2016. Sandler was arrested in Texas in June 2018, weeks after records show he and a young woman formed a startup media company in College Station with plans to sell as much as $650 million in shares with a minimum investment of $10,000.

He swindled an entire community, Amanda Senn, deputy director of the Alabama Securities Commission, said in an interview two years ago.

In the course of the story, McAfee, a self-described eccentric millionaire, launched a bid to run for President of the United States and set up an Opelika campaign headquarters.

Sandler eventually pleaded guilty in 2018 to one court of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud. He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, and ordered to return $1.9 million to investors.

McAfee also landed in other trouble.

Earlier this year, he was indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges, alleging that he and others made more than $13 million by fooling investors zealous over the emerging cryptocurrency market.
Iran's Lake Urmia -- a sister to Utah's Great Salt Lake -- has lost nearly 95 percent of its volume in the span of two decades. Credit: Somayeh Sima

In a rare exchange, scientists and water resources engineers from Iran and Utah are collaborating on a bold scientific study to restore one of the world's largest saline lakes.

Lake Urmiaa massive salt lake in Iran's northwest and a sister to Utah's Great Salt Lakehas lost nearly 95 percent of its volume over the last two decades. As water levels drop, salinity spikes, threatening the lake's brine shrimp population and the flamingos and other bird species that depend on the shrimp for food. Lake levels are so low that at some coastal resorts, tourism boats must be pulled a kilometer (0.6 mile) or more from shore by tractor before reaching suitable depths. In addition, new land bridges are forming in the drying lake bed which allows mainland predators to threaten endangered mammals living in the southern islands. The vast, dry lakebed imposes a growing dust problem for the five million residents who live in the Lake Urmia basin. What's more, the area's ecotourism industry has collapsed, and now experts fear an environmental disaster awaits if drastic changes are not made.

"We're at the tipping point," said professor and lead author Somayeh Sima of Tarbiat Modares University in Iran. "Every single step matters. We have to take action now." Sima's work will be used to update Iran's $1 billion Lake Urmia Restoration Program. In 2018, she traveled to Utah on a visiting scholarship from the Semnani Family Foundation to collaborate with Utah State University water resources professor David Rosenberg who studies integrated water management and water conservation in Western U.S. river basins, including rivers that feed the Great Salt Lake. Prof. Wayne Wurtsbaugh, Sarah Null, and Karin Kettenring from the USU Quinney College of Natural Resources also collaborated in the limnology and ecology parts of this multidisciplinary research.

The team synthesized 40 years of data to define eight metrics that define the health of Lake Urmia and its many ecosystems. Their findings were published in the latest edition of the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. One key finding shows that setting a target water level will not necessarily solve Lake Urmia's problems.

"We can't say that restoring the lake to some magic number will improve the overall situation," said Rosenberg. "Instead, we need to consider how the lake's ecosystem services are interconnected and how a varying lake level will impact those systems over time."

"We have to embrace lake level variability and focus our restoration efforts where it makes sense," Sima added. "Restoration is not an easy task. It is everyone's responsibility, and we'll need public support to make meaningful change."

The problems facing Lake Urmia are not unique to Iran. Water levels at the Great Salt Lake are also at their lowest in recent years, and similar problems of land bridges, dust, changes in salinity, and ecological damage have experts concerned.

To promote transparency and reproducibility in science and encourage further collaborations, the researchers published their article open access (free to readers) and shared their data and code on the HydroShare.org repository.

"This partnership between U.S. and Iranian researchers is valuable because we have so much in common on this topic, said Sima. "Only together can we begin to understand how to solve these problems."

More information: Somayeh Sima et al, Managing Lake Urmia, Iran for diverse restoration objectives: Moving beyond a uniform target lake level, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies (2021). Somayeh Sima et al, Managing Lake Urmia, Iran for diverse restoration objectives: Moving beyond a uniform target lake level,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100812
Head of Monitoring Unit at the Foresty Commission, Charles Owusu has called on Ghanaians to assist the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Abu Jinapor in his fight against illegal mining.



The Minister has had a stakeholder dialogue to find ways of addressing the menace of illegal mining and to ensure people operating in the mining sector do so with the right authorization.



He has also directed all persons and companies engaged in reconnaissance and/or prospecting in forest reserves, with or without legal authorization, to suspend such activities until further notice.



The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources hereby directs persons and/or companies engaged in reconnaissance and/or prospecting in Forest Reserves, with or without legal authorization, to suspend such activities until further notice . . .The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has further directed the Minerals Commission, with immediate effect, not to accept, process and/or recommend the grant, including the renewal and/or extension, of reconnaissance and prospecting licences in Forest Reserves, a statement issued by the Minister read.



Discussing the mining issues on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' programme, Charles Owusu called for a collective effort to nip the illegal mining (galamsey) in the bud.



He urged the citizenry and government to protect the country's waterbodies from pollution by illegal mining activities.



"Water is life. . . . If nothing, if we can't do anything at all, we should protect our waterbodies."



He noted that Ghana's minerals are expected to be a blessing to the economy, so ''let's protect it so as not to turn into a curse on us".



"God gave us the minerals to be a blessing."





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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Louis Lo is guilty of keeping highly explosive material. His sentence is the harshest imposed in connection to activities related to the 2019 government protests. For Judge Andrew Chan, the defendant sought to promote separation from China.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews)  The High Court today handed down a 12-year sentence against a member of a now-disbanded pro-independence group. This is the stiffest sentence imposed on anyone for activities related to the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

Louis Lo was found guilty of keeping a kilogram of high grade explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and 10 petrol bombs in a studio inside a factory building. The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to concealing the explosive material.

The Hong Kong National Front, the pro-independence organisation in which Lo was active, has always denied involvement in the affair.

According to Judge Andrew Chan, the defendant planned to use explosives to sow fear and terror among the people.

His aim was to promote the separation of the former British colony from the People's Republic of China during the 2019 anti-government protests. The offence falls under Chinas 2020 national security law.

Although prosecutors failed to establish a link between Lo and the protest movement, Judge Chan was satisfied that the pro-independence material found in Los industrial studio, flat and mobile phone were sufficient to establish motive.

Lo's sentencing comes a week after that of 10 pro-democracy activists, including media mogul Jimmy Lai, who were convicted of organising and taking part in anti-government protests in August 2019.
Imperial Valley News Center

California Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Falsely Claiming to Be an Attorney and Defrauding Couple

Sacramento, California - Derek Bluford, 34, of Sacramento, was sentenced to seven years in prison for wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of a federal investigation, and making false statements, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Bluford told a couple that he was an attorney and could represent them in a dispute they were having with their tenant. After the couple agreed, Bluford then told them that they had incurred numerous fines and court costs, as well as costs to repair their rental unit; he also told them he had negotiated a settlement agreement with the couples former tenant. Based on these representations, the couple paid Bluford over $500,000. Bluford, in fact, was not an attorney, and there were no fines or court costs imposed. Bluford laundered the proceeds from his scheme, obstructed a federal investigation, and made false statements to the FBI regarding the investigation.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Anderson and Christopher S. Hales prosecuted the case.
EUGENE  Oregon softball is adding to its incoming class via the transfer portal.

Kailee Luschar, who spent the fall with Arizona State, will join the Ducks in the fall of 2021.

Kailee is an extremely versatile athlete and will help us at numerous positions on the field, UO assistant Justin Shults said in a statement. She will add a strong left-handed bat and will provide power and speed for us.

Luschar was the Nevada Gatorade State Player of the Year for the shortened 2020 season. She had a career .510 average, 90 stolen bases, .580 on-base percentage and 11 home runs at Carson High School..

The Carson City, Nev. native was ranked No. 97 by Extra Inning Softball for the Class of 2020 and will be the fourth top-100 player from that class on Oregons roster, joining current freshmen Tehya Bird, Raegan Breedlove and Alyssa Brito. She will also join her younger sister, Kedre Luschar, as a part of the incoming group of Ducks next season as the younger Luschar signed in November and will be a freshman in the fall.
DANBURY  Democratic mayoral candidate Sedeaka Lawrence is facing an elections complaint after it was alleged he distributed a political mailer without the required disclaimer explaining who paid for it.

Lawrence said Thursday afternoon that he was not aware of the complaint and chuckled when learning about it.

People are so petty, said Lawrence, one of three Democratic candidates in the race. A Republican candidate has not been announced.

Danbury resident Tom Brown said he mailed the complaint to the State Elections Enforcement Commission a couple days ago and has not heard back. The commission will need to decide whether to investigate.

His complaint states he received campaign literature from Lawrence in the mail on March 24 and found one on the ground on April 10. The flyer did not include the legally required political advertising disclaimer for written and printed communications, the complaint says.

The material doesnt say who is behind it, said Brown, who filed the complaint and said he is not connected to any of the other candidates campaigns.

Connecticut state statutes requires candidates to include a paid for by disclaimer on printed communications. This is true for self-funded candidates, too, the State Elections Enforcement Commission said in a 2015 guide for municipal candidates.

Lawrence, who is a newcomer to Danbury politics, said he has spent about $6,000 to $7,000 of his own money on advertising through Facebook and printed materials. He eventually plans to raise money, he said.

He said the paid for by Sedeaka Lawrence disclaimer was not on the mailer.

Clearly...you can see its a political advertisement, he said.

Brown said he filed the complaint so that Lawrence would be aware of the rules.

All they need to do is warn this guy, he said.

Lawrence said he saw the complaint as an attempt to break his spirit, but that he plans to continue his campaign. He has sent out about 25,000 flyers to Danbury households and plans to mail out 25,000 to 30,000 more.

Let them file all the complaints they need, but that still wont deter me, Lawrence said.
New Delhi, April 23 : The situation in the national capital is constantly deteriorating due to the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases. Doctors are not admitting patients suffering from the virus due to lack of oxygen cylinders in the hospitals as well as due to the non-availability of beds.

Waiting for a bed, Covid-infected Ganga Devi (73) was forced to lie on the floor at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in Delhi. According to the family, she is suffering from the virus but the doctors in the hospital refused to admit her.

Jeevan Singh, a resident of Delhi's Patel Nagar area and son of Ganga Devi, wanted to admit his mother to the RML Hospital. She was forced to lie on the floor of the hospital for several hours, but could not find a bed.

Jeevan Singh told IANS, "My mother is infected with Covid-19. I received the Covid report in the morning and was referred to the RML Hospital. Now the hospital is asking me to get her admitted to another hospital." Hospitals are now resorting to the use of security personnel to scare away the families of Covid-infected patients.

Jeevan Singh was also asked not to speak to the media by the security personnel guarding the hospital. After moving out of the hospital, he told IANS, "The security personnel at the hospital told us that there is no use telling the truth. If you know anyone among the higher-ups in the hospital, you may get a bed. If not, then wherever you go, nothing is going to happen." Another family member accompanying Jeevan Singh told IANS, "The hospital has said there is no oxygen cylinder or beds available. Now we have no other way except to take our mother home." After waiting in vain for some more time to get a bed, Jeevan Singh finally took his infected mother back home from the hospital.

The Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, A.K. Rana, told IANS: "There is a sudden spike in the number of Covid cases, while the hospital's capacity is full. I have asked for 30 additional beds today." These 30 beds will increase the number of beds in the hospital to 260.

When asked about the woman who did not find a bed in the hospital, Rana said, "Delhi is not only just a city but a state too. A large section of people is getting infected with the virus, and in that case, there will always be a dearth of facilities.

On security personnel at the hospital allegedly warning patients against talking to the media, he said: "If any such news comes, I will stop them from doing so."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed CO2 GRO Inc. (OTCQB:BLONF) (TSXV:GROW) ("the Company"), a company whose proprietary CO2 Delivery Solutions technology is poised to revolutionize the global high value plant greenhouse industry. CEO of the Company, Aaron Archibald, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by asking about the Company's background. "We are a precision Ag-tech company; we have patent-protected CO2 systems for sealed and open-air protected growers. The benefits of our precision carbon application are profit maximization, which sometimes double the profits of our grower partners," explained Archibald. "Our mission is to naturally accelerate the growth of high value plants efficiently, safely, and profitably," he continued. "We are in an early commercial stage having sold 20 systems to date in both the US and Canada, and we have over a dozen commercial feasibilities underway."

"The global market opportunity in front of us is enormous, and we don't have any direct competition," said Archibald, before elaborating on the Company's management team and revenue totals over the past nine months. "We have also announced a number of sales since then."

"How does your technology work?", asked Jolly. "Our technology precisely delivers saturated CO2 gas by first dissolving CO2 into water and then misting onto plant canopy," explained Archibald, adding that the system intermittently mists for only a few minutes per day. "What that does is create a microenvironment around the plant that osmotically drives saturated CO2 through the plant surface and into the plant," he shared. "Every grower we talk to knows that plants need CO2 to create sugars from the additional carbon they can absorb, and we simply are a better delivery mechanism for that."

Jolly then asked about the Company's pricing for their CO2 systems moving forward. "We price systems on a per square foot basis," shared Archibald. "So, if you have a 2,000 square foot micro-grow with a high value plant, it could cost more per square foot than some of our potential customers and customers who have several million square feet of protected agriculture that we're servicing."

"How large is the potential market that you will try to service?", asked Jolly. "It's an absolutely huge market," said Archibald. "Initially, we looked at the market as being about 50 billion square feet of greenhouses with most of them not being able to utilize CO2 because of their heat venting requirements," he explained. "What we then learned is that it is over 600 billion square feet of global market for us and less than 1.5% of that market can utilize CO2 gassing right now."

Jolly then commented on the Company's numerous announcements over the last twelve months, including commercial feasibility studies around the world. "We're a global company and we recognize that although we're based in North America, we need to be doing business globally," said Archibald. "We announced a number of commercial feasibilities in large multi-million square foot facilities, so we're in a small percentage of their growth space that allows us the opportunity to expand that relationship."

"Lastly and maybe most importantly, we've been working very closely with the Canadian Trade Commission, and they have been plugging us into these foreign markets," continued Archibald. "They're a fantastic organization," he shared before elaborating on the advantages of this relationship.

"What can investors expect going forward and why should they take a look at your company?", asked Jolly. "I think we're definitely undervalued considering the market size available to us," said Archibald. "We're a new technology, we're a groundbreaking technology, and we're itching to get our sales team and marketing partners back travelling post COVID-19 vaccinations in countries where we have advanced customer discussions to accelerate commercial feasibility studies and sales," he continued. "While COVID-19 did slow down a number of commercial feasibility studies, we didn't actually lose any of those," said Archibald. "Frequent virtual meetings, like we're doing today, have really helped keep that sales momentum alive."

To close the interview, Archibald elaborated on the Company's strategic relationships such as with the largest shareholder Ospraie Ag Sciences LLC. and partnerships around the world, as well as their dedicated management team. "We're clean tech following ESG practices and something that people should consider putting in their early-stage sustainability investment portfolio."

To hear Aaron Archibald's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7851388-co2-gro-inc-discusses-global-expansion-of-their-revolutionary-co2-delivery-solutions-technology.

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/.

About CO2 GRO Inc.

GROW's proprietary CO2 Delivery Solutions technology is poised to revolutionize the global high value plant greenhouse industry. Its usage provides growers the opportunity to increase revenue by up to 30% and suppress the development of pathogens thereby reducing crop loss risks in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.

CO2 Delivery Solutions dissolves and saturates CO2 gas into water creating a bubble-less aqueous CO2 solution. When the solution is misted onto high value plants it increases revenue to greenhouse growers by up to 30% through a combination of larger plants and shorter crop grow time.

The worldwide markets for GROW's disruptive CO2 Delivery Solutions technology are the 50 billion square feet of greenhouses, 85% of which cannot economically or optimally employ CO2 gas to maximize revenue and the 600 billion square feet of open air protected ag, 100% of which cannot employ CO2gas. GROW's CO2 Delivery Solutions technology now enables all greenhouse growers everywhere to maximize revenue easily with low systems capital costs and ease of systems installation into overhead misting systems.

GROW's management is moving quickly to capitalize on this world-wide opportunity by establishing marketing partner relationships internationally. Currently marketing partnerships are in place covering 14 countries with quickly growing interest from multiple other potential partners. In North America, GROW maintains regional sales representatives and support teams. GROW's CO2 Delivery Solutions is protected by a suite of patents and patent pending applications.

GROW's high value plant data developed through scientific research and commercial feasibilities with multiple potential customers has demonstrated the beneficial effects of CO2 Delivery Solutions technology on many high value plants including peppers, lettuce, strawberries, microgreens, kale, medicinal plants, cannabis, hemp, roses and orchids.

GROW's CO2 Delivery Solutions technology is environmentally friendly, sustainable, provides for crops grown to be certified as organic and supports locally grown food minimizing the risk associated with extended global food chains.

Our organization is committed to fostering and maintaining an inclusive respectful environment providing equal opportunities at all levels to people of different genders, nationalities, and age and education background with a focus on values that align with our corporate culture.

GROW is conscious of the environment, our impact on it and also for the health and welfare of our staff, our clients, partners and stakeholders. We support the best practices for the COVID-19 pandemic and have revisited our previous procedures for sales and business development. Further, GROW's CO2 Delivery Solutions technology does not pose any health and safety risks to employees.

As a global organization, GROW is committed to good Environment, Social and Governance practices and we do so wherever possible to ensure we are an employer of choice and opportunity. Our mission is to accelerate the growth of all value plants safely, economically and naturally using our patented advanced CO2 Delivery Solutions.

We do well for the planet, the people we work with who benefit from our solutions and create profits for our shareholders, clients, partners and value in the long term.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities. Forward- looking information is often identified by the words "may," "would," "could," "should," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" or similar expressions and include information regarding: statements regarding the future direction of the Company; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business and financial objectives; plans for expansion and the ability of the Company to obtain, develop and foster its business relationships; and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect the Company's management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning the business of the Company's future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates that management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Such assumptions include but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions; the Company's ability to successfully execute its plans and intentions; the availability of financing on reasonable terms; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition; the products and technology offered by the Company's competitors; and that good relationships with business partners will be maintained. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; in particular, in the ability of the Company to raise debt and equity capital in the amounts and at the costs that it expects; adverse changes in applicable laws or adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws; the biotechnology industry and the greenhouse growers market are highly competitive, and technical advances in the industry will impact the success of the Company, and other risks described in the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable 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.

For more information, please visit www.co2gro.ca or contact Michael O'Connor, Investor Relations Manager at 604-317-6197 or michael.oconnor@co2gro.ca.

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America.

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To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81544
Craig Wright, the man claiming to be behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, is suing Bitcoin.org's operator and publisher known as Cobra, and the U.K courts allowed it.

The lawsuit, which accuses Cobra of copyright infringement, could pave the way to reveal who is the person behind the first and largest cryptocurrency in the world.

Craig Wright's Copyright Infringement Claim

On Jan. 21, Bitcoin.org shared that they have received allegations of copyright infringement from Wright, who claims that he owns the copyright to the Bitcoin name and the domain.

It added that Wright claimed that he, Satoshi Nakamoto, is the pseudonymous creator of the cryptocurrency, and he is asking the organization to take down the whitepaper that first introduced the concept of virtual currency.

Wright defended his actions against the cryptocurrency publisher and to all others who posted the Bitcoin whitepaper on their websites, and said that those who read the paper would understand why he chose his course of action.

"As the author of the white paper, I feel compelled to exercise my legal rights and to ensure that it cannot be marketed in such a way-not just so that Bitcoin can live up to its potential, but so that people are not misled into supporting a different endeavor, having been led to believe that they were supporting Bitcoin," he wrote.

However, Cobra downplayed the Australian computer scientist's allegations, saying that the claims are without merit and refused to take down the whitepaper.

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), the cryptocurrency industry group that focuses on patent laws, agreed to Cobra's statement and filed a countersuit on Apr. 9 in the U.K. High Court against Wright.

Today, COPA initiated a lawsuit asking the UK High Court to declare that Mr. Craig Wright does not have copyright ownership over the Bitcoin White Paper. We stand in support of the Bitcoin developer community and the many others who've been threatened for hosting the White Paper. pic.twitter.com/QNDEq3H6Oq  COPA (@opencryptoorg) April 12, 2021

The countersuit alleges that Wright does not have copyright ownership over the Bitcoin white paper, and wants the Intellectual Property List of the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England and Wales to rule over the matter.

On Apr. 23, Reuters reported that the U.K High Court allowed Wright to serve the copyright infringement lawsuit, forcing its judges to decide on who invented the cryptocurrency.

Cobra remained optimistic about the case and said that Wright was trying to abuse the U.K. court to censor the whitepaper and stop small businesses from providing educational content about cryptocurrency.

You're wrong if you think you can bully me you creepy loser. If I have to give up my pseudonymity to defend Satoshi's whitepaper, arguably the most important paper of the 21st century, then so be it. https://t.co/YpqXlD8DlP  Cbra (@CobraBitcoin) April 22, 2021

Also Read: Craig Wright Who Claims He Is Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto Ordered To Pay Billions From Cryptocurrency Haul

Craig Wright's Bitcoin Ownership Claim

Since 2015, Wright, who now works as the chief scientist at nChain Inc., had been claiming that he is no other than Satoshi Nakamoto, the elusive Bitcoin inventor.

He said that he was involved in Bitcoin's creation along with his now-deceased friend and computer security expert Dave Kleiman, and used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto for anonymity.

However, others are quick to dismiss the Australian computer scientist and instead point their fingers at tech CEO Elon Musk.

Critics and cryptography experts said that the only way for Craig to prove his ownership is to use Nakamoto's private key to either conduct a transaction using bitcoins or cryptographically "sign" a message.

Related Article: Australian Businessman Craig Wright Calls Off Promise To Transfer Bitcoin

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Leigh Mercer

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Former Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah says the ongoing erratic supply of power poses a serious risk to the safety of COVID-19 vaccines meant for inoculation against the virus in the country.



He is also of the view that the World Health Organizations (WHO) directive to African countries to keep expired vaccines should be a source of worry to Ghanas health sector and the fight against the pandemic.



In a social media post, Dr. Omane Bomah was sceptical about the development and called for assurances from the global international health agency that the lives of ordinary citizens are not at risk.



The World Health Organization (WHO) has good intentions here. Africa, do not get them wrong. But the normative deviates significantly from our lived reality.



For example, how are the vaccines faring in Dumsor in Ghana now? Ghanaians need to know, to be assured that the expired vaccines will be fit for purpose even if for theoretical reasons, he wrote on Facebook.



Dr. Omane who has, in the past, questioned Ghanas vaccination exercise strategy, also said the current situation evidently shows the countrys vaccine procurement plan was resting on wobbling feet.



The former Minister also added that Ghanaians need not panic but rather remain calm, adding that their surest bet of safeguarding themselves from the virus is to religiously adhere to the safety protocols.



Find below the full post:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has good intentions here. Africa, do not get them wrong. But the normative (what should) deviates significantly from our lived reality. For example, how are the vaccines faring in Dumsor in Ghana now?



Ghanaians need to know to be assured the expired vaccines will be fit for purpose even if for theoretical reasons.



Dear friend, do not panic.



This is why I said several months ago that, the best vaccine is to stick to the protocols: Handwashing with soap under running water, using face masks, applying alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and social distancing.



Any reasonable observer of the worldwide vaccine supply chain and the associated geopolitics knew Ghanas late vaccine strategy including the procurement plan was resting on wobbling feet.



I urge you to #staysafe because #covidisstillhere. #PureHealth

Source: citinewsroom/facebook









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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-22 22:21:45|Editor: huaxia

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A truck loads containers at Tangshan Port, north China's Hebei Province, April 16, 2021. (Photo by Li Lei/Xinhua)

As most countries in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations bloc are involved in China's supply chains, China's growth has been "a key external factor," said a report by the news magazine Nikkei Asia.



BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Southeast Asian countries, especially Singapore and Indonesia, have benefitted a great deal from China's post-pandemic rebound, which has brought high hope to the regional economic recovery, according to a recent report by the news magazine Nikkei Asia.

As most countries in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations bloc are involved in China's supply chains, China's growth has been "a key external factor," said the report, adding that "now China is providing a tailwind with its brisk growth and steady outlook."

In particular, Singapore's China-bound non-oil exports surged 46.4 percent in March year on year, far greater than the 17.3 percent increase in February, owing to rising machinery and petrochemicals, according to official data published last week.

In Indonesia, non-oil and gas exports to China rose about 63 percent during the first quarter (Q1) year on year, and over 80 percent in March, official data show. China remained the largest export destination in the Q1, said Indonesia's statistics authorities.

The report also said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has "raised hopes for greater trade momentum in the region."

The RCEP covers 15 signatories, including ASEAN countries, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. 
(CNN)  Food waste is a major contributor to the climate crisis. That's why one company, Too Good To Go, is hoping its mystery food bags can be part of the solution.

Uneaten food usually ends up in landfills and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. An estimated 30% to 40% of the US food supply is wasted, according to the US Department of Agriculture. New York City alone generates close to half a million tons of food waste per year  enough to fill up more than 100 subway cars per day  according to the city's official website.

A group of engineering, tech and law entrepreneurs in Copenhagen founded Too Good To Go in 2016 to connect customers hungry for discounted grub with restaurants that have extra food. The company says it has more than 36 million global users and nearly 87,000 restaurant partners worldwide.

The catch: you get what you get. Customers can place an order at a restaurant on the app  usually between $4 and $6  and pick up a mystery bag of food at the location. The goods can include anything left over (and not eaten) from that day. Items vary by restaurant  you could wind up with bagels and pastries or a full-blown fajita bowl.

"I've been surprised by places," Alex Bush, a 28-year-old Too Good To Go user in New York, told CNN Business. "I reached outside my comfort zone and have fallen in love with it," he added.

Too Good To Go launched in Manhattan and Brooklyn in September, with 200 restaurant location partners. It has expanded to more than 1,100 New York locations in all five boroughs. The company now has a presence in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and several cities in New Jersey. In January, the company raised $31 million to expand to more US locations.

While mystery bags alone won't solve the food waste problem, the business sets an example for other companies, showing that solutions for the issue don't need to be complicated. The app gives restaurants flexibility, so if a location has surplus food available for pickup only on Mondays and Tuesdays, the owners can put that in the system.

"If I don't have any food waste  which has definitely happened for us before  we just turn it off so people don't inadvertently purchase a bag that doesn't exist," said Judy Ni, owner and founder of baology, a Taiwanese restaurant in Philadelphia. "It's nice to be able to recoup a little bit of your food costs back and labor costs back that you wouldn't normally have the opportunity to do in any time," she added.

Every Too Good To Go partner has access to a dashboard that outlines their individual impact made by selling food that would otherwise be tossed. Stats on the platform's dashboard include the number of meals the specific restaurant saved and the amount of carbon dioxide that is not emitted as a result.

"Fighting food waste is a problem I think we're always going to be battling," Brandon Issa, regional manager at New York-based grocery store Brooklyn Fare, told CNN Business. Brooklyn Fare started partnering with Too Good To Go in September 2020, when the platform officially went live in New York City. "This is just one step closer to getting to where we need to be," he said.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'This company is selling mystery bags of food to combat restaurant waste'
A runner passes by a lightly-travelled road in Toronto during rush hour on the first working day of the new Ontario COVID-19 lockdown on Monday, April 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
LONDON (AP)  Noah Thomas saw his name in lights, and then the lights went out.

The young actor was still in drama school when he was cast to play the lead role in the London West End musical Everybodys Talking About Jamie. Thomas made his professional debut in early 2020. Weeks later, as the coronavirus pandemic washed over Britain, the city's theaters closed.

It was a bit of a rude awakening, Thomas said. As the months ticked on  month one, month two, month three  you think, This is a lot bigger than any of us could have anticipated.

More than a year on, the West End is preparing, with hope and apprehension, to welcome audiences back.

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Plagues, fires, war  London has survived them all. But it has never had a year like this. The coronavirus has killed more than 15,000 Londoners and shaken the foundations of one of the worlds great cities. As a fast-moving mass vaccination campaign holds the promise of reopening, The Associated Press looks at the pandemics impact on Londons people and institutions and asks what the future might hold.

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The pandemic has devastated British theater, a world-renowned cultural export and major economic force.

The stages that collectively employ 300,000 people were ordered shut a week before the country went into full lockdown in March 2020. They have remained closed for most of the last 13 months, endangering thousands more related jobs in bars, restaurants and hotels that cater to theater-goers.

We were the first to be closed, producer Nica Burns said. And we were the last to come back.

One of those sidelined when theaters went dark was Neil Maxfield, who turned his love of musicals into a job leading walking tours of Londons West End, the district that is home to more than three dozen theaters and long-running juggernaut shows including Les Miserables, The Lion King, Hamilton and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

I just love the West End, said the energetic Maxfield, sporting the top hat that he wears on tours. I love how vibrant it is, I love how versatile it is  that mixture of not just musical theater but plays as well, and new things coming in all the time.

Story continues

But for most of the past year, the West End has been spookily deserted, the streets resounding to road crews and construction work rather than nighttime crowds.

Some wonder if its energy will ever return. When lockdown froze much of the economy, the British government stepped in to support jobs. Many theater workers fell through the cracks; as freelancers, they weren't eligible for the payments given to furloughed employees. Many took jobs as delivery drivers or retail workers; some were forced to leave London because of sky-high rents.

When you get told that you dont apply for such and such government funding or benefit schemes, you sort of think, Oh wow, OK. So I really didnt get into this for the money,' said Thomas, whose face still adorns the Apollo Theatre marquee as Jamie, a working-class teenager who dreams of being a drag queen.

But actors, the 22-year-old said, stand our ground."

Were coming back to do our jobs. Were not going to give up what we do, what weve trained to do, he said.

Everybodys Talking About Jamie is set to reopen on May 20, one of the first West End shows to return once the government allows indoor venues to admit limited audiences on May 17.

Burns, who owns the Apollo and five other London theaters, has invested in hand sanitizer stations, one-way arrows and an electronic ticketing system. She has had seats removed so mask-wearing, temperature-checked audience members can keep a distance from one another. Cast and crew members will be tested every 48 hours and kept apart from audiences and front-of-house staff.

The producer says reopening is a leap into the dark, but shes encouraged by what she observed during a brief period in December when theaters opened up  only to close days later for another national lockdown.

I watched audiences leave the theaters much, much happier than when they arrived, Burns said.

About a third of West End theaters plan to reopen in the coming weeks, but it will be a long way from normality. Big, expensive shows cant afford to run at the half-capacity limit demanded by social distancing requirements. The government is aiming to remove attendance limits on June 21, but may keep them in place if the virus starts to surge again.

Although two-thirds of British adults have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the government is nervous about new virus variants that may resist existing shots.

Even if British audiences return, U.K. theaters will have to do without international tourists for the foreseeable future. Theater and music businesses have also lobbied, so far unsuccessfully, for a government-backed insurance program in case live events have to be canceled because of COVID-19.

Julian Bird, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre, an umbrella group, said the industry is crying out for certainty that the government will follow the reopening road map it created earlier this year.

People are risking money, theyre spending actual money, Bird said. And that is all at risk if the government changes its mind now.

Those working in the industry are confident theaters and other cultural institutions will survive. Artists are resilient, and the government, after strong criticism, has handed out more than 1.2 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) in grants and loans to arts and culture organizations.

But many worry about the damage already done. Nickie Miles-Wildin, associate director of Graeae Theatre Company, which is run by deaf and disabled artists, fears a setback for hard-won diversity in the theater.

My fear with that is that its potentially going to be those more diverse voices that weve lost along the way, she said. That, for me, is what is potentially going to be incredibly sad  it will still feel like a very white, non-disabled, straight middle-class thing.

For its millions of fans, Londons West End has a special magic, an energy rivaled only by its New York competitor, Broadway. London-born actor Hiba Elchikhe, 28, who plays the title characters best friend in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, is confident that will endure.

Honestly, there is nothing like it, she said. Ive worked overseas. Ive worked in other places. And for me, theres nothing like playing your hometown. The kind of buzz  leaving the theater, seeing posters everywhere, the buses having the theater posters. It really is electric.

And I dont believe that this (pandemic) is going to hinder it in any way. I think people are really craving to be back in theaters.

___

Read other installments in the APs London: Beyond the Pandemic series:

https://apnews.com/hub/london-beyond-the-pandemic
Ma'Khia Bryant's foster mother has revealed the 16-year-old and two other girls had a brawl over a messy house and an unmade bed before the teen was shot dead by police.

Angela Moore said two of her former foster children came to Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday for her birthday when the argument between the youngsters broke out.

She said the fight over the housework started before she had arrived home from work.

Police were called to a chaotic scene at the foster home where they saw Ma'Khia lunging at two girls with a knife before she was shot dead by officer Nicholas Reardon.

Moore told CNN: 'It was over keeping the house clean. The older one told them to clean up the house because "Mom doesn't like the house dirty."

'So that's how it all started.'

Moore said she was told that Ma'Khia had told the older girl: 'You're not the guardian of me.'

Moore said the girls argued 'all the time' since Ma'Khia moved into the home a few months ago and she was told by one of those involved in the brawl how it broke out.

'I never thought it would escalate like that,' Moore said.

Police bodycam footage shows the fateful moment a police officer shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday

Ma'Khia Bryant's foster mother has revealed the 16-year-old and two other girls had a brawl over a messy house and an unmade bed before she was shot dead

Angela Moore said two of her former foster children came to Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday for her birthday when the argument between the youngsters broke out. Pictured: investigators at the scene

She received a frantic phone call from one of the former foster children who is seen in the fateful police bodycam video wearing pink as Ma'Khia lunged at her with a knife before being gunned down by Reardon.

Moore said the young girl in pink told her: '"Mom, get home. Where are you? They're going crazy." She said they shot Ma'Kiah and I said, "Huh?" It was just crazy.'

The foster mother started to pray and received text messages from people sending their condolences before she had even arrived home to find the teenager dead.

Moore paid tribute to Ma'Khia as a 'fun' girl who loved to dance and help around the house, while her birth mother Paula said she loved music, cooking and making TikTok videos.

The revelations come after one of her neighbors, a military veteran, said his home security camera proves the Columbus Police officer had no choice but to shoot the teenager because more people could have been killed.

Donavon Brinson told Fox News Thursday morning he believes Bryant could have fatally stabbed the young woman she was seen lunging at with a knife if the cop hadn't opened fire.

'He could have either not fired and the young lady in pink could have been stabbed in the neck and brutally or fatally injured and then he could have shot [Bryant] and we could have had two [young women] dead - or he could have responded in the way that he did and one young lady lost her life,' he said.

Home security footage has captured a new angle of the shooting as a neighbor said he believes more people could have been killed if the officer hadn't shot the 16-year-old girl

Neighbor Donavon Brinson (pictured) who handed the home security footage to police said, after viewing it, he believes more people could have died if the cop hadn't shot Bryant. The incident 'was violent and all just happened so fast', he said

A second neighbor also said he believes police bodycam footage shows Bryant was in 'full attack mode' and 'needed to be stopped' because a 'young lady's life was at stake'.

Reardon shot Bryant four times at around 4.45pm on Tuesday on the 3100 block of Legion Lane while responding to a 911 call about an attempted stabbing.

New footage has emerged from a security camera on the garage of Brinson's home across the street from the foster home where Bryant was staying and where the incident unfolded out front.

It captured a new angle of the shooting, giving a glimpse into the moments leading up to the fatal incident.

The 26-second video shows a girl - now known to be Bryant - walking down a driveway toward other people at the very same moment that a police car pulls up outside the home.

Neighbor Ira Graham III (on right), said he believes the police bodycam footage shows Bryant was in 'full attack mode' and 'needed to be stopped'

The Columbus cop who fatally shot Ma'Khia Bryant has been identified as a member of the Air National Guard. Nicholas Reardon reportedly received the 'expert marksman' badge while in training

Bryant then appears to suddenly charge at another person in the driveway. What happened next was caught on police body camera footage released Wednesday.

Questions continue to mount over the shooting and the events leading up to it, as cops released a 911 call thought to have been made by the 16-year-old minutes before she died, in which she asks the dispatcher to send a police officer 'now' as some girls are 'trying to stab us.'

Bryant's family say she made the 911 call after a group of other girls were threatening violence, but Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods told reporters 'we do not know yet' if it is the teen's voice on the call.

Columbus Police released three body camera videos in a press conference Wednesday as the cop who fired the four shots that killed the 16-year-old was identified.

Paula Bryant on Thursday night spoke to CNN in a face mask bearing her daughter's name

Reardon had been on the force a little over a year, joining in December 2019 after serving in the Air National Guard as a military policeman.

Ma'Khia's mother Paula has since compared herself to the mother of Breonna Taylor, saying: 'Now I know what it is like to lose a child.'

Bryant, asked by CNN's Chris Cuomo what his daughter would want, replied: 'The killing must stop'.

It's not clear why her daughter had been in foster care, and it wasn't addressed in the interview.

She described her daughter as 'peaceful and loving'.

'I've always had sympathy for the Breonna Taylor story, and the family and her friends and her situation - and now I know what it feels like to lose a child,' she said.

Paula Bryant, whose daughter Ma'Khia was killed on Tuesday, pleaded for an end to bloodshed

The killing needs to stop. There's been too many killingsI want the killing to stop, says Paula Bryant, mother of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant, shot and killed by police.



"That's what MaKhia would want. MaKhia was peaceful and loving. She wanted everyone to get along." pic.twitter.com/DdAMwuckSJ  Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 23, 2021

Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville police in March 2020

Ma'Khia Bryant (left) with her mother Paula, in a Facebook photo posted by Paula

Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, was fatally shot in her own home in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 13, 2020, when police stormed in during the night.

Bryant added: 'I'm a single mother of five kids and, you know, now Ma'Khia is gone and I only have four kids.'

Fighting back tears, she added: 'That is so hard for me to say.'

Bryant's daughter was in foster care, but she hoped to be reunited with her soon. The last time she saw her was last Thursday, when the teenager told her mother she had made honor roll at school.

She said: 'I was at the dentist's office in Columbus, Ohio. I said hello, and I got the disturbing news that Ma'Khia was shot.

'I said - what? The dentist's assistant helped me off the chair.

'My heart was beating fast, and I didn't know what to think.

'No parent should have to go through this. This is so unreal. I'm devastated.'

She added: 'She was peaceful, she was loving, she wanted everybody to get along.

'She was a Christian.'

She said she wanted to remember the good things about her daughter.

Bryant told Cuomo that she had watched the video of her daughter's killing, and called for an end to the loss of life.

Columbus police released bodycam footage showing Ma'Khia with a knife (circled)

A woman writes Ma'Khia's name in chalk in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday

'The killing needs to stop. There's been too many killings in the world. I want the killing to stop,' she said.

'Ma'Khia is gone. And I want the killing in the world to stop, and that's what Ma'Khia would want.'

She said: 'Ma'Khia is in God's hands. I have faith in God.'

Her daughter was named after a male prophet in the Bible.

Officials with the Columbus Division of Police had released initial footage of the shooting Tuesday night just hours after it happened, which was a departure from protocol as the force faces immense scrutiny from the public following a series of recent high-profile police killings that have led to clashes.

'The fact that I see what I saw on that video is not how I know my Ma'Khia,' said her grandmother, Debra Wilcox.

She told The Associated Press on Wednesday: 'I don't know what happened there unless she was fearful for her life.'

Paula Bryant has said she wants answers in her daughter's killing

The incident has caused an outcry in the community and nationwide as Bryant's killing is the second high-profile fatal shooting of a teenager by police in the last month. Body camera footage released last week showed an officer shoot and kill 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago.

'It's a tragedy. There's no other way to say it. It's a 16-year-old. I'm a father,' said Michael Woods, interim Columbus Police Chief.

'Her family is grieving. Regardless of the circumstances associated with this, a 16-year-old lost her life yesterday.'

He added: 'I sure as hell wish it wouldn't have happened.'

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the Columbus shooting 'tragic' and said President Joe Biden has been briefed on it.

'She was a child. We're thinking of her friends and family and the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss,' Psaki said in a statement.

Protesters in Columbus took to the streets on Wednesday to demand justice for Ma'Khia

The 10-second body camera clip begins with the officer, identified Wednesday as Nicholas Reardon, getting out of his car at a house where police had been dispatched after someone had called 911 saying they were being physically threatened, Woods said.

It remains unclear who called the police.

A spokesperson for the Air National Guard in Ohio confirmed to DailyMail.com that Reardon is a Staff Sergeant assigned to the 121st Security Forces Squadron and has served with the National Guard since 2015.

His alma mater's Twitter account said he earned the expert marksman badge for the M4A1 Carbine fully automatic assault rifle used by the military.

Reardon, who was hired by the force in December 2019, is seen taking a few steps toward a group of people in the driveway when Bryant starts swinging a knife wildly at another girl or woman, who falls backward.

The officer shouts several times to get down.

Bryant then charges at another girl or woman, who is pinned against a car.

From a few feet away, with people on either side of him, the officer fires four shots, and Bryant slumps to the ground. A black-handled blade similar to a kitchen knife or steak knife lies on the sidewalk next to her.

Officer Nicholas Reardon is seen standing on the scene after shooting and killing Bryant. He has been on the force since December 2019

A man immediately yells at the officer: 'You didn't have to shoot her! She's just a kid, man!'

The officer responds: 'She had a knife. She just went at her.'

The officer has been taken off patrolling the streets for the time being.

Bryant was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Police did not say if anyone else was injured.

In the moments after the shooting, people living or visiting the street filmed as police roped off the area with yellow tape in front of the house where the shooting took place.

A neighbor's video shows an officer performing CPR on the teenager while a man can be heard yelling: 'You all just jumped out of the (expletive) car and shot her!'

People listen as friends of Ma'Khia Bryant speak about her at a community vigil, on Wednesday, at Douglas Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio

Neighbors stood in open doorways filming and behind cars shaking their heads, eyewitness footage showed.

Woods said state law allows police to use deadly force to protect themselves or others, and investigators will determine whether this shooting was such an instance.

Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation is now reviewing the killing following a recent agreement with the city.

The shooting happened about 25 minutes before a judge read the verdict convicting former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd.

It also took place less than five miles from where the funeral for Andre Hill, who was killed by another Columbus police officer in December, was held earlier this year.

The officer in Hill's case, Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran of the force, is now facing trial for murder, with the next hearing scheduled for April 28.

Less than three weeks before Hill was killed, a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy fatally shot 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. in Columbus. The case remains under federal investigation.

Last week, Columbus police shot and killed a man who was in a hospital emergency room with a gun on him. Officials are continuing an investigation into that shooting.

Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio, said on Wednesday that he watched the footage of Bryant's killing and called it a 'horrible tragedy.'

He added that while the public has the video evidence, 'we need to let the investigation play out.'
TAIPEI, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2021 Edison Awards gala was held in Florida on Thursday, April 22. Solid-state battery maker ProLogium has been awarded a bronze award. ProLogium has been selected as a finalist for the category of Critical Human Infrastructure and is chosen for its proprietary ASM technology designed for battery safety.

Founded in 1987, the Edison Awards is an annual celebration of innovative technology highlighting excellent inventions for the betterment of human life. ProLogium is the only solid-state battery company in the world that has been recognized two times in the Awards' over 100 years of history. Back in 2019, ProLogium won its first Edison Gold Award for its patented BiPolar+ technology. The BiPolar+ technology took solid-state battery performance to a whole new level, while the ASM technology guarantees absolute safety. This signifies another major step forward for the application of solid-state battery in EV cars.

Why did ProLogium want to develop the ASM technology for the market?

Absolute safety can only be achieved when battery safety is assured at the cell level. Unsafe cells can lead to risk of thermal runaway even when the module is well protected. Solid-state battery is intrinsically safe because of its use of solid-state electrolyte. This means passive safety is guaranteed. However, when large quantities of electrodes and cells are densely packed and stacked, innovative technology is needed to enable active safety.

The ASM, or Active Safety Mechanism, is a technology developed by ProLogium that actively terminates the thermal runaway reaction and ensures the safety of battery cells. The ASM is unlike any other active safety mechanism that came before it. We have seen mechanisms using flame retardant to reduce combustion, or adding additives to slow down the electrochemistry and delay thermal runaway. However, these methods will inevitably hinder battery performance. That is why ProLogium decided to take a more fundamental approach and develop a mechanism that reduces energy and prevents thermal runaway.

As stated by Martin Eberhard, co-founder, original CEO and chairman of Tesla, "ProLogium's solid-state electrolyte battery technology is the most exciting new development I have seen in this field. The combination of safety, aging characteristics, fast charge rate, and bipolar packaging, all without sacrifice energy density, and at a competitive price, make ProLogium cells the best I have seen for automotive applications."
Turkish police detained 62 people as part of an investigation related to a cryptocurrency trading platform provider after thousands of Turks complained of deception, Anadolu reported.

Cryptocurrency trading platform Thodex, which has traded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies, announced on its website on Thursday that it would be closed for four to five days. But users who were unable to withdraw money or access their accounts expressed concern on Twitter that they might have been scammed.

According to Anadolu, the prosecutor's office issued arrest warrants for 78 people, 62 of whom were detained in an operation centered in Istanbul but covering eight provinces.

Istanbul police said the company's founder and CEO Faruk Fatih Ozer flew to the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday.

The Istanbul prosecutor's office said it has launched an investigation into Thodex.

According to Coinmarketcap, the 24-hour trading volume on Thodex was $ 538 million on the last trading day.

Turkey banned the use of crypto assets for payments last week. The central bank of Turkey cited irreparable damage and operational risks as the reason for the ban.
The Fossils To Falls Road Trip Is An Eight-stop Itinerary Highlighting Madera County's Best Attractions

OAKHURST, Calif., April 23, 2021 -- The official Welcoming Committee of Visit Yosemite | Madera County has been known to act like animals, that's because they are a wild cast of characters. A red fox, a black bear, and more  oh my! Meet them all on The Fossils to Falls Road Trip, an itinerary designed to help visitors maximize their explorations in the region, learn a little along the way, and (hopefully) return on an all-expenses-paid adventure vacation.



Watch the Video

"Our visitors have a blast collecting animal trading cards from the most popular attractions along with the Fossils to Falls Road Trip," explains Visit Yosemite | Madera County CEO Rhonda Salisbury. "This year, there are eight cards to collect, and that includes a brand new character, Art E. Fox to represent our vibrant art scene. We are proud to continue the fun times that this contest affords and very excited that (unlike last year) all of the locations will be open and accessible to travelers."







One such location is the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County. The site is home to one of the most extensive Middle-Pleistocene era excavations in North America. In fact, at the nearby Fairmead landfill, massive mammoth bones and tusks continue to be discovered. After a 12-month closure, the doors to the Fossil Discovery Center are open once again.

Rediscover an ancient landscape on your road trip through the farmlands of California's central valley to the towering trees of the Sierra Nevada and collecting trading cards along the way.

About Visit Yosemite | Madera County

Formed in 1985, Visit Yosemite | Madera County's mission is to draw the millions of visitors of Yosemite National Park to the many businesses and attractions in its gateway. We invite visitors to take a journey from the Fossil Discovery Center to the Madera Wine Trail and onward into the High Sierra. Along the way, discover incredible dining, talented tradespersons, four seasons of water sports at Bass Lake, the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, and mighty adventures right up to the massive Giant Sequoia trees. Madera County is the gateway to so much more.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  Two of the country's largest banks are eyeing to absorb the consumer banking business of Citi Philippines, as the American investment bank has decided to end its operations in several markets.

A top official of Sy-led Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. on Friday said the group may explore opportunities and pursue the retail and consumer business of Citi Philippines.

"We will likely take a look at it," BDO president and chief executive officer Nestor Tan said during the lender's virtual annual stockholders meeting.

"It's a good business franchise that any bank will be interested to look at so it's not something you can ignore," he added.

The BDO executive, however, stressed they have to be "cognizant" due to the group's size, which may trigger possible overlaps with its business.

READ: Bangko Sentral wants Citi Philippines to ensure consumer banking exit is orderly

The foreign banking giant last week bared the move to exit from its consumer franchises in the Philippines and 12 other markets as it seeks to focus its resources on four wealth centers: Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and London.

The local unit clarified in a statement that the process will not happen overnight, assuring customers that its ATMs, call centers, and offices, will continue to be operational for the time being.

Meanwhile, Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands confirmed to the local bourse on Friday that its president and chief executive officer, Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, expressed an interest to acquire the local retail business of Citigroup.

Ocampo said they "like" the quality of Citi Philippines' portfolio.

"On a combined basis, if you put BPI and Citibank portfolio, we will almost double the BPI business. So yes, we're very keen on looking at the Citibank business," Ocampo was quoted as saying in a report by Philstar.com.

Sought about a potential impact in the banking sector once the largest banks absorb Citi's operations, Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said there will be "a good chance for continuity in the business."

"[This may be] similar to M&A (mergers and acquisitions) transactions in recent years, especially whenever foreign/global banks sell the Philippine units...as has been seen over the past 10 to 20 years," he told CNN Philippines in a mobile message.

"There is just a chance that some banks may be on the lookout/prowl and ready to take some of the market share, through outright acquisition or through increased competition in terms of improved service offering/proposition to clients," Ricafort added.

As Citi Philippines entices more suitors, its parent bank could witness competitive bids, Ricafort said. "[It is] good for the seller, in terms of getting a higher price for its Philippine business."
New Delhi, April 23 : Alarmed by the rate of Covid-19 spread across the country, the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Delhi Capitals (DC) launched a campaign on Friday for people, who have recovered from the disease, to come forward and donate their blood plasma.

The therapy is one of the several treatments given to critically-ill patients where the plasma is extracted from the blood of fully-recovered Covid-19 survivors and injected into the bloodstream of infected patients.

Doctors and scientists are of the opinion that the antibodies in the plasma of recovered patients when injected into the bloodstream of critically-ill patients help them recover from the dreaded diseases faster.

With the second wave of Covind-19 having gripped Delhi and the country registering more than three lakh cases daily, DC launched a campaign in partnership with Fever FM to encourage 'Covid-19 survivors to donate their plasma in the fight against the pandemic'.

Delhi Capitals tweeted: "#ProjectPlasma -- A joint initiative by #DelhiCapitals & @FeverFMOfficial encourages COVID-19 survivors to donate their plasma in the fight against this pandemic." The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise also tweeted a poster, saying, "Project Plasma, let's save every life. You are a superhero if you have recovered from Covid-19 because you have the power to save life." One of the DC followers wrote, "It's time to think of each other and work for a greater cause. All the Covid recovered patients pls do donate your plasma to the ones who really need it now." DC last played Mumbai Indians on April 20 where they won by six wickets with five ball remaining.

Latest updates on IPL 2021

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
In this Wednesday, April 14, 2021 file photo, a box with vials of AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 were taken out of a fridge for a few seconds during a vaccination campaign in Amsterdam, Netherlands, . The European Medicines Agency is expected to provide updated guidance Friday April 23, 2021, on how countries across Europe should use the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

The European Medicines Agency is expected to provide updated guidance Friday on how countries across Europe should use the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.

Earlier this month, the Amsterdam-based drug regulator for the 27-nation European Union said there was a "possible link" between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clotting disorders, but that the benefits of getting the shots outweighed the risks.

The agency's experts have since been considering related issues, including whether people who received a first AstraZeneca dose should be offered a second shot, and if there are specific risk factors that might make some people more vulnerable to developing the unusual blood clots.

The EMA previously described the clots as "very rare" side effects and said the vaccine labels should be modified so doctors and patients are aware of that.

It's still unclear exactly how frequently the rare blood clots occur. According to data from the U.K., which has administered more AZ vaccines than any other country, there were 30 such cases among 18 million inoculations, as of late March.

Last month, more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, suspended their use of the AstraZeneca jab over the blood clot issue. Most restartedsome with age restrictionsafter the EMA said countries should continue using the vaccine.

The agency this week identified a similar possible link between blood clots and the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson. As with the AstraZeneca product, the EMA recommended labeling changes but said the benefits of getting vaccinated outweighed the risks.

Both the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines are made using similar technology, and it's still unclear whether that might be partly responsible for the rare clotting disorders.

On Thursday, EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said she was expecting the EMA to issue guidance on whether people who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should get a second dose, based on their sex or age.

To date, most of the rare clotting disorders have been reported in women aged under 60.

Although a research study began in the U.K. earlier this year to test whether it's safe and effective to mix and match different vaccines, including those made by AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech, no results are yet available.

Some scientists say it's too early to tell whether mixing vaccines is a wise strategy.

"We are at the limits of where science can give us reliable answers on that," said Stephen Evans, a vaccines expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He said the data published so far on the AstraZeneca vaccine prove it is helping to stop COVID-19 and that there is no evidence suggesting it shouldn't be used.

Any restrictions to limit the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine could be disastrous for the global immunization campaign. The U.N.-backed campaign known as COVAX, which is aiming to distribute coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries worldwide, is heavily dependent on the AstraZeneca shot.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A three way partnership is resulting in a very special beer release this weekend. Brewed as part of the Support Black Businesses beer initiative, the beer, called Saldanha, reflects the African heritage of the brewer, while also raising money for charity.

In December of 2020, I kept thinking, how can we support black owned businesses? Barb Baker, known as the Siren of Stout, said. Baker is a beer connoisseur, and Vice President of the womens brewing collective Fermenta. I patronize a lot of black owned businesses, and I kept hearing that they werent getting the PPP or the PPE, and they were just struggling. Baker was hearing first hand about how these businesses just werent getting the help that they needed. So I came up with the Support Black Businesses beer initiative, and the first person I thought of was Matt at Five Shores Brewing.

Demorest, who co-owns Five Shores Brewing with Oliver Roberts, and Baker had hit it off over beers when they first met, finding they had everything from politics to a desire to lift others up in common. I explained the idea to him, and he immediately said Im in, lets do it, Baker said. It was awesome.

One thing that is really important for our business is to put a bit of our money where our mouth is, Demorest said. Its one thing to say we support a cause, and its another thing to say we support something tangible, and something that is lasting.

As a business owner himself, Demorest believes that investment in small businesses can be one of the greatest catalysts to create change. For us, we have the brewing equipment, and we want to partner with businesses that are like minded and that we care about. The whole idea for the collaborative brews came about because Five Shores really believes in sharing the spotlight we have with others.

For this brew, the second offering of the series, the duo turned to Kuma Ofori-Mensa to both create the beer recipe, and be the black owned business that they support.

Weve been a long time fan of Kumas, since back when he worked Cultivate, Demorest said. He knows beer really well, and he has a goal of launching his own beer related business.

Ofori-Mensa has been a part of the brewing scene in Michigan for a while now, having spent time at Glasshouse Brewing, Cultivate Taphouse, and Batch Brewing. He recently left the brewing world to become a full-time mortgage lender, actually working for Demorest. Ive got a long history of doing random stuff, Ofori-Mensa said.

Ofori-Mensa been busy putting together his plan for his own business, Kuma Brews, over the last few months. Baker, in fact, was the one to push Ofori-Mensa to work on creating a business. She told him that he WAS the business. I just wasnt quite there yet, Ofori-Mensa said. Im not a business, I just have a business idea. It was an idea that was coming together. He first thought of it back in 2019, and This would be fun to do this full time for myself, but why would brewers do a beer with me? I thought that what I could offer is release events.

Beer releases have become very popular events, even more so over the last year during the pandemic shutdowns.

People just flood a place when there is a release, Ofori-Mensa said. There is a real energy around beer events. What if what I can offer is that I can go collaborate, with the experience to do that. Were going to make a great product, and an event around the release of the product. And what that event has to offer is a culturally, I dont want to say diverse, but immersive experience. Have it be a place that feels very welcoming, inviting, but have it also be something that can be informative, and have it be the type of place that makes all people feel welcome, Ofori-Mensa said of his plan for special beer releases.

The label from the collaborative beer Saldanha, made by Five Shores Brewing, along with Kuma Brews and the Siren of Stout. The beer will be released on April 24.Photo provided by Siren of Stout, used with permission

Saldanha, the beer that Ofori-Mensa created the recipe for, and helped brew the beer at Five Shores along with assistant brewer Ellie Maddelein, and head brewer Roberts. It was kind of an excuse to get back into the brewery, Ofori-Mensa said. We all have a creative outlet that we really love, whether we do it for a job or not. And I just need to create.

I wanted to make something that was representative of me, Ofori-Mensa said. His family is from Ghana, and growing up, that was very much my cultural experience at home. It was a Ghanian home. I went to American public schools, but at home it was very much a Ghanian family, and a Ghanian experience.

I wanted to share that, its something that is unique to me, Ofori-Mensa said, so he decided to create a beer that has distinct African ties. He researched ingredients, and how he could incorporate them into the beer. One of the unique ingredients he settled on was sorghum. Its a grain that grows readily in African soils, across most of the continent, he explained. It grows better than the usual grains, like barley or wheat, that are usually used in beer. There is a long tradition of brewing beer with sorghum in different African countries.

Ofori-Mensa calls Saldanha a West Coast IPA, reflecting not the usual California, but instead where Ghana is located on the West Coast of Africa. Typically, sorghum beers are light, refreshing, and considered every day beers. Saldanha came out a bit stronger than planned, as it clocks in at a robust 8.5% ABV. Ofori-Mensa had been wanting to try some of the new South African hops for a while, so he included African Queen and Southern Star in the beer.

The beer is excellent, a little bit of a bitter West Coast IPA with a little bit of juiciness that is popular now, Demorest said. I would call it a hopheads beer.

Ofori-Mensa gave credit to Maddelein for helping get the beer from concept to glass. Shes one of the most brilliant young brewers that Ive encountered in a while, he said. Shes been professionally brewing for just over a year, but I could converse with her like a seasoned, experienced brewer. She really understands the process.

Saldanha is a special collaboration between Five Shores Brewing, Kuma Brews and the Siren of Stout.Photo provided by the Siren of Stout, used with permission

Saldanha will be released on Saturday April 24. You have to preorder the beer online, and you can then pick up at the brewery in Beulah, or at locations in Ypsilanti, Ferndale and Rockford. There is a special party planned at Cultivate in Ypsilanti to celebrate the beer, with a menu of African food to enjoy as well. You can order food ahead of time as well.

This is the second beer in the series. The first project between Baker and Five Shores was her own beer, Siren of Pastry Stout. I came up with the base recipe, and Oliver, of course, came up with the real recipe, with the malts, the hops, the formula that goes into that, Baker said.

She chose to support her favorite bakery, 24th Cheesecakerie, which is owned by Chef Sean Brezzell and has locations in Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor, by purchasing an ingredient for her beer from him. They added 24 of his sweet potato pies into the kettle, and then aged the beer on pecans, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. What resulted was a big, flavorful brew that clocked in at a hearty 9% ABV. It sold out in 48 hours.

Heres what I love about that particular beer release, Baker explained. I just spoke to Sean not too long ago, and he told me that hes gotten ten new accounts, because of this beer release, people who had never heard of him before. Chef Sean told Baker that he has been literally overwhelmed with business since the beer release. That is exactly what we wanted to see happen, said Baker.

Baker said that this partnership between the brewery and Black owned businesses is a way to shine a light on places that might not be on peoples radar, and sharing their story and products with a whole new group of people. The beer does have a charity aspect to it, with 10% of the sales going towards a local Black organization from Five Shores. Baker chose Take One Community Program in Pontiac, and for Sandhala, the Detroit chapter of the NAACP will be the recipient.

Right now, the plan is to release a collaborative beer about once a quarter. I dont want to do it too much, Baker said. You want things to stay fresh for people. And we want you to buy it.

The Siren of Stout Barb Baker adds a pie to her beer "Siren of Pastry Stout".Photo provided by Siren of Stout, used with permission

If youd like to try Saldhana, you can pre-order it from Five Shores at the link here. Beers that are ordered can be picked up at the brewery in Beulah, at Cultivate in Ypsilanti, the Corner Bar in Rockford, and at a TBD location in Ferndale. You can select your location when you check out your cart for your order.

Interested in Celebrating the release of Saldanha with African food, music, & poetry? Swing by Cultivate in Ypsilanti on Saturday, April 24th. You must order food ahead of time, click here to do so.

Five Shores Brewing

163 S Benzie Blvd, Beulah, MI 49617

(231) 383-4400

More info: https://www.fiveshoresbrewing.com/ or Facebook

Kuma Brews

More info: https://www.instagram.com/kumabrews/

The Siren of Stout

More info: https://sirenofstout.com/ or Facebook

Beers at Five Shores Brewing Company in Beulah, Michigan.John Gonzalez

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Stocks fell on news of the potential capital gains tax change, but futures are up today. Some in Washington believe any tax proposals will get watered down, particularly given Democrats slim margin of control in Congress. And the potential changes to the capital gains tax would affect only the 0.3 percent of Americans who reported annual incomes of $1 million or more, according to the latest IRS data.

Several Republican senators suggested they may be on board with eliminating some business tax loopholes. The White House wants that tax revenue to fund the infrastructure bill it unveiled last month. But another group of Republican senators yesterday proposed a much smaller infrastructure bill  $568 billion, versus Mr. Bidens $2.3 trillion  that would do away with any corporate tax increases.

Image

HERES WHATS HAPPENING

U.S. health officials may soon lift the pause on Johnson & Johnsons vaccine. A committee of outside experts will meet today to discuss whether to resume giving the shot; theyre expected to vote in favor. But the damage may be done: The Biden administration has reportedly written off the J&J shots importance to U.S. vaccination efforts.

President Biden sets a new climate goal. At the first day of a climate summit that the U.S. convened, he pledged to cut Americas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, and offered more funding for developing countries to help them meet their targets. Swiss Re estimated that climate change could cost the global economy as much as $23 trillion in the coming decades.

Airlines see clearer skies ahead. Carriers expect travel to return almost to normal levels by the summer, with the largest airlines expected to offer as many seats this July as they did in July 2019, by one estimate. The industry plans to call back thousands of employees and hire hundreds of pilots.

Scrutiny over a fatal Tesla crash intensifies. Two senators asked regulators to create recommendations for autonomous vehicle software, following the deaths of two men in a Tesla, in which police said no one was behind the wheel. Consumer Reports said it was able to trick Teslas Autopilot into operating without anyone in the drivers seat.

AT&T gains ground in the streaming race. The company added 2.7 million subscribers to HBO and HBO Max in the first quarter. Also worth noting: AT&T collects nearly three times more revenue per streaming user than Disney, and trails only Netflix by that measure.
TAMPA, Fla., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Widget, the manufacturer and distributor of iconic CBD brands Hemp Bombs, Nature's Script and Perfect Paws Hemp, is returning to trade shows to showcase its top-selling CBD products and new product offerings, starting with the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE). The in-person event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, May 12-14, in Las Vegas, NV. Global Widget will be featured in booth 2097.

"We are really looking forward to in-person meetings with retailers, wholesalers and distributors," said Global Widget's Vice President of Sales, Vince Gillen. "In addition to bringing our popular CBD products from Hemp Bombs, we will be showcasing products from our newest brands Mystic Labs and Black Diamond."

According to IRI and SPINS data, Hemp Bombs currently owns a CBD category share of 67% in the convenience channel. Global Widget will look to capitalize on that success in other tobacco retail channels with our latest brands and products from Mystic Labs and Black Diamond.

"As the retail space continues to evolve when it comes to health and wellness alternative product options, we are excited to offer the latest trending products that consumers and retailers have been asking for," Gillen said.

Mystic Labs offers hemp-derived gummies, tinctures, and vape cartridges. For more information on partnering with Mystic Labs, visit https://mysticlabsd8.com/wholesale/.

Black Diamond Kratom products include tinctures, gummies and capsules. Wholesalers can visit https://www.blackdiamondkratom.com/ to inquire about partnerships. Both brands were launched in late 2020 and made available to our distribution and retail partners.

For more information on TPE, visit https://tobaccoplusexpo.com/. Retailers, wholesalers and distributors can learn more about partnering with Global Widget and its brands by visiting www.hempbombs.com, www.mysticlabsd8.com and www.blackdiamondkratom.com.

About Us

Global Widget, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor and marketer of CBD and health and wellness products, and a leader in gummy production and packaging. The company is the trusted powerhouse behind the iconic CBD brands Hemp Bombs, Nature's Script and Perfect Paws Hemp for pets. With more than 110,000 square feet of facility space and more than 200 employees, Global Widget is one of the nation's largest CBD companies and a leading contract manufacturer providing quality products and support services to retailers and distributors worldwide. www.globalwidget.com.

Media Contact:

Joe Agostinelli, PR Manager

813.497.5752 | [email protected]

SOURCE Global Widget

Related Links

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Support lifesaving screenings

Regarding COVID disruption impacting early detection of colorectal cancer, (April 20): Youve likely heard about the important role screening plays in preventing colorectal cancer, particularly this year as many individuals have canceled or postponed their regular screenings due to the pandemic. While this message is crucial, what doesnt get talked about enough is access to such lifesaving screenings.

I am a stage 2 colorectal cancer survivor, diagnosed at the age of 32. I was able to catch my cancer early thanks to a screening I received coverage for because I was considered high-risk. Still, too many Texans dont have the same opportunity and avoid receiving their recommended colorectal screenings due to a major financial barrier.

As a colorectal cancer survivor, I recently shared my story with the numerous Texas senators citing the important role SB 1028 could play in saving lives by simply updating our policy to meet recommended screening guidelines to ensure early detection.

For some, the passage of this legislation could be the difference between life and death.

This year alone, nearly 11,280 Texans will be diagnosed with cancer, no doubt due in part to financial barriers. Compounding this tragedy is the fact that colorectal cancer can be completely preventable if screened.

Im asking all Texans to join me in asking lawmakers to cosponsor SB 1028/HB 3588 by visiting fightcancer.org/TX. Lets help prevent Texans from hearing those three life-changing words I myself have had to face.

Allison Rosen, Houston

Hopeful for answered prayers

Regarding Floyd got justice, but what about my son? (A19, April 21): Thanks for publishing the article by Wilhelmena Beary whose son, like George Floyd, was also killed by the police last year.

Maybe as a result of her and her husbands efforts, and her article being published just a day after the Floyd verdict, she will get her prayer answered for the truth to be told and for justice to be served.

If so, this could well be an early indication that the prediction of the 6-year-old daughter of Floyd that he would change the world may be right on.

Richard W. King, Pasadena
WASHINGTON  Connecticuts commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services will soon depart the agency to lead mental health and substance abuse work for the federal government.

President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Miriam Delphin-Rittmon to serve as assistant secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday.

I am truly humbled and honored to have been nominated to serve in this role and thank President Biden and Vice President Harris for this privilege, Delphin-Rittmon said. If confirmed, I look forward to joining the Biden-Harris administration to address the behavioral health of the nation during this challenging and transformative time.

Delphin-Rittmon, 54, is the second state agency leader to depart for the Biden administration. Former Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona now serves as Bidens Secretary of Education. Both Delphin-Rittmon and Cardona are from Meriden.

Commissioner Delphin-Rittmon has been a trusted advisor on some of the leading issues of our time, especially when it comes to the national impact of the opioid crisis and the growing mental health needs of our community following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Ned Lamont said. That is why it comes as no surprise that President Biden has selected her to bring her expertise to the national level.

For Delphin-Rittmon, the appointment will mark a return to Washington, D.C. In 2014, she completed a two-year appointment as the senior adviser to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration with HHS.

Delphin-Rittmon has served as Connecticuts commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services since 2015. The agency serves more than 110,000 adults. She has a 20-year career in behavioral health and masters and post-doctorate degrees in clinical psychology.

Delphin-Rittmon is currently an associate adjunct professor in Yale University Psychiatry department. She previously was an assistant professor there and director of Cultural Competence and Health Disparities Research and Consultation with the Program for Recovery and Community Health.

I have seen first-hand her combination of deep compassion, clear-eyed conviction, and consistent couragewith countless different people whose lives she has touched, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
One of my ancestors should have been stopped. Because he and others like him werent, those fighting voter suppression have a more difficult battle, and one of the worst chapters in U.S. history seems to be repeating itself.

In 1865, Gen. Robert Toombs, former senator from Georgia and the first secretary of state for the Confederacy, went into political exile in Europe, unrepentant and unwilling to accept the outcome of the war. Like many Confederates, he still clung to a false belief that President Abraham Lincolns victory at the polls had been stolen. Toombs had distinguished himself on the Civil War battlefield and as a Confederate firebrand, but his most lasting legacy came after the war, when he did all he could to restrict voting rights in Georgia.

The myth of the Lost Cause gave us not just Civil War monuments but also hagiographies of so-called Confederate heroes. One published in 1892 by a sycophant named Pleasant Stovall was passed down to me. By my generation, Toombs was a persona non grata in our family. I remember my grandmother cringing at the mention of his name. She was a well-educated Southern white who supported civil rights in the 60s. And yet, half a century earlier, she and my grandfather had clung to Toombs prestige when they saddled my mother with the compound first name of Mary Toombs, the second half of which she jettisoned as soon as she moved up North as a young woman.

On his return to America in 1867, Robert Toombs was granted, as Stovall writes, a long interview with his old senatorial colleague, President Andrew Johnson. He went home from Washington and was never again molested.

Never brought to court, never held fully accountable, never stopped. Like other Confederate leaders, Toombs was stripped of his U.S. citizenship and barred from seeking public office, but wasnt shunned or silenced.

Writer Virginia Pye is the great-great-great-great-grand-niece of Robert Toombs.

Instead, he became more emboldened than ever. In 1875, when Republicans in Congress put forward a General Amnesty Act with a single provision excluding Jefferson Davis and Robert Toombs, the Democrats refused to accept the amendment and the bill was never passed. When asked why he didnt seek a pardon, Toombs replied, Pardon for what? I havent pardoned you all yet.

He continued to fight for white supremacy and in July 1868, Stovall writes, a memorable meeting was held in Atlanta. It was the first real rally of the white people under the new order of things. There was much enthusiasm, and crowds gathered from every part of Georgia. The rally was reported to be the largest in state history and Toombs its most rousing orator. Leaders deprecated his extreme views, but the hustings rang with his ruthless candor, Stovall reports.

Toombs populist Jim Crow rhetoric appealed to white farmers and workers afraid of a changing society and who were harboring a deep resentment of federal authority. But Toombs was respected at the highest levels of society, too. In 1872, the University of Georgia invited him to deliver the commencement address. Far from being ostracized, he had multiple platforms from which to rail against the rights and rules put in place during Reconstruction, declaring, Stovall writes, that they were the product of aliens and usurpers, and that he would have none of it.

At the Georgia constitutional convention of 1877, Toombs argued that a new and ignorant element had been thrown in among the people as voters, and as Stovall quotes Toombs, We must not only protect ourselves against them but in behalf of the poor African, I would save him from himself ... [since] their previous condition ... was such as to disqualify them from exercising the right of self-government.

The racist views of Robert Toombs and others like him continue today in Donald Trump and those Republicans desperate to limit voting rights in order to hold onto power.

We must do all we can to prove the late American writer William Faulkner wrong when he wrote, The past is never dead. It isnt even past. We must make it past. We must not allow our eras Robert Toombses to dominate. He belongs in the dustbin of history and with him those who are trying to take our country backwards instead of forward into a fairer and more equitable future.

Award-wining novelist and short-story author Virginia Pye has published essays in The New York Times, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She is the great-great-great-great-half-niece of Robert Toombs. This was written for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. Visit her at: www.virginiapye.com.

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* 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 opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Another 89 deaths of Ohio residents with COVID-19 were reported Friday, bringing the total to 19,122, since the last fatality report earlier in the week.

The Ohio Department of Health also reported 1,788 more cases since Thursday, bringing the total to 1.06 million since the beginning of the pandemic, with just over 1 million of those presumed to be people who are recovered. Fridays total was below the 21-day rolling average of 1,914 cases.

The state reports cases daily, following the federal Centers for Disease Control and Preventions definition of a case, which includes those diagnosed through genetic PCR or antigen tests, or people diagnosed in a clinical setting -- experiencing symptoms who are linked to a confirmed COVID-19 case, among other criteria.

The state stopped reporting deaths daily. Now it relies on twice weekly federal government reports. The previous time the federal government provided a death tally was Tuesday, when 19,033 Ohioans had lost their lives.

Another 82,696 people completed the vaccine between Thursday and Friday mornings. This brings the total number of people who have received a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson to 3.38 million Ohioans, representing 28.98% of the states total population.

Another 31,613 coronavirus vaccines were started since Thursday morning, and 38.65% of the state now has some immunity.

The Ohio Hospital Association said 1,250 people were hospitalized in the state with COVID-19, a net increase of nine since Thursday, when considering admissions and discharges.

More coverage:

Ohio reports 1,724 new coronavirus cases: Thursday update

Gov. Mike DeWine looking at changing metric for ending public health orders from case levels to vaccine levels

Wolstein Center mass vaccination clinic may stay open for an extra 4 weeks

State board votes to increase Ohio medical marijuana dispensaries to 130 from current 57
KWizCom, a leading developer of SharePoint Forms and Workflows, as well as various other SharePoint web parts, addons and apps for Microsoft 365 announced they will be airing a new webinar entitled Leave Request Management and Approval in M365 The Easy Way. The webinar will be led by SharePoint Consultant and Solutions Architect from Australia, Ishai Sagi.

Leave request and approval is one of the most common use-cases, yet it can be very different from company to company. In this live session, Ishai will demonstrate how by using KWizCom modern apps for SharePoint Online & Microsoft Teams, SharePoint users can implement this and other business solutions quickly without requiring development or power-user skills.

In this live session Ishai Sagi will walk attendees through the implementation process, demonstrating a complete and flexible leave request and approval solution, using KWizCom modern apps.

Below are some of the key concepts that will be demonstrated during the webinar:



Custom wizard-style time off request form

Approval workflow by manager(s)

Automated email notifications

Admin dashboard with reporting

Personalized "My time off" dashboard

Integration with Microsoft Teams

The webinar will air live on Thursday, May 27th at 5pm EST. The recording will be available to all the registrants after the webinar. To register for the above-mentioned webinar, please visit https://kwizcom.com/upcoming-webinars/.

Ishai Sagi has been working in SharePoint since its initial release in 2001. Ishai is a SharePoint Consultant, Solutions Architect and a Developer, and is leading the Canberra SharePoint user group. Ishai has trained numerous end users, administrators and developers in SharePoint, and has been awarded Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SharePoint from 2007 to 2015.

For more information on KWizCom Corporation and the companys 70+ SharePoint add-ons and apps for Microsoft 365, visit the companys website indicated below.

Follow KWizCom on Twitter @KWizCom

Become a fan of KWizCom on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KWizCom

Join KWizCom on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/kwizcom

Contact a KWizCom Account Specialist at +1-905-370-0333/+1-855-KWIZCOM or info@kwizcom.com

About KWizCom Corporation

Since 2005, KWizCom has provided innovative solutions and services to make SharePoint even better for over 10,000 companies worldwide. KWizCom's solutions and services expand Microsoft SharePoint out-of-the-box capabilities, streamline workflow, maximize efficiency and enhance over-all productivity for hundreds of thousands of users. KWizCom, a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Please visit http://www.kwizcom.com to find out more about KWizCom's clients, people, partners and solutions.
Singapore: Australia, India and the United States have joined Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in the multinational search for the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine that disappeared off the coast of Bali on Wednesday.

On Friday evening, the Indonesian navy said two Australians ships on separate deployments in the region - HMAS Ballarat and Sirius - had arrived at the search area to assist with the rescue effort.

Crew board the MV Swift Rescue, a submarine support and rescue vessel, before being dispatched to Indonesia from Singapore. Credit:AP

The Indonesian navy lost contact with the 42-year-old German-built vessel at 3am on Wednesday local time [6am AEST] after it set off on a dive while taking part in a training exercise.

Australias Anzac class frigate Ballarat has sonar capability and a helicopter, according to the Defence Department, and the support ship Sirius can replenish ships with fuel, water and stores by day and night.
A kitten had to be put down after catching Covid from its owner during the UK's first wave, scientists have revealed.

The cat was a four-month-old Ragdoll that got taken to the vet in April 2020 because it was struggling to breathe.

Its condition got worse in the following days and the kitten had to be put down, with post-mortem tests revealing it had lung damage from viral pneumonia and signs of infection with coronavirus, which causes the condition.

The owner suffered from Covid symptoms the month before but couldn't get tested, and scientists concluded they had passed the virus to their pet.

A second case, both of them reported by experts at the University of Glasgow, saw a six-year-old Siamese cat also contract the illness from its owner in May but then go on to recover.

The scientists said there is no evidence that pets can spread the virus to humans but the connection needs investigating so it doesn't trigger future outbreaks.

In South Korea officials have even developed a testing and quarantine system for pets that develop symptoms of the virus.

Animals are known to be susceptible to the virus  it is believed to have emerged in bats and other small mammals, and caused outbreaks on Danish mink farms  but it's unclear how sick it makes them.

The cat that died was a Ragdoll kitten (left) that developed pneumonia after its owner had Covid, and the Glasgow researchers also reported that a Siamese cat (right) developed mild Covid but recovered (both are stock images, not the cats that got infected)

University of Glasgow researchers tested swab samples from nearly 400 sick cats across the UK (shown map right) but only two were positive for coronavirus, in April and May 2020. One of the cats even lived in a household with another cat that tested negative, suggesting the cases are rare

'These two cases of human-to-animal transmission, found in the feline population in the UK, demonstrate why it is important that we improve our understanding of animal SARS-CoV-2 infection,' said Glasgow's Professor Margaret Hosie.

Professor Hosie led the study and said cases of the coronavirus have been found in various types of cat as well as dogs, hamsters and ferrets.

CATS AND COVID: WHAT WE KNOW How do cats catch coronavirus? Cats become infected in the same way as humans do, by inhaling droplets carrying the virus. There have been numerous cases around the world and almost all appear to have caught it off their owners. Animals appear to be far less susceptible to infection and less likely to get severely ill. Cats of all sizes have been affected, with Nadia, a four-year-old Malayan tiger at New Yorks Bronx Zoo, catching the bug but making a full recovery. Could dogs and other animals get it too? Yes, there have been cases in dogs and other pets around the world, with infections confirmed in dogs, hamsters, ferrets and minks. The virus is thought to have emerged in a bat in China and to have infected a pangolin before spreading to people. Can humans catch Covid from infected pets? There is no evidence that animals transmit it to humans, with research suggesting they do not shed enough virus to be infectious to people. However, scientists have warned that animals could transport the virus around in the same way that it can be picked up from door handles or tables. What about animals spreading it to each other? There is evidence that cats can spread coronavirus to other cats. In May, researchers at the University of Wisconsin conducted an experiment when they infected three cats with the virus, then put three Covid-free felines in with them. The three newcomers went on to test positive after catching it from the infected animals. How bad are the symptoms of the virus in cats? Covid-19 seems to be far less deadly in animals than in humans. The first British cat to test positive showed mild symptoms but made a full recovery. Many other felines which have tested positive displayed no symptoms at all. But there has been at least one case of a cat having to be put down after it developed severe pneumonia. It's not clear if it would have died naturally. I have tested positive  how can I protect my pet? Public Health England has urged pet owners to wash their hands before and after contact with animals. The British Veterinary Association advises infected people to restrict contact with animals. Owners who test positive should also keep cats indoors if possible. Advertisement

Her research found Covid cases in cats had been found in at least 15 countries during the pandemic, including the UK, US, France, Spain and Germany.

Both the animals in her study had symptoms of the infection  the Ragdoll developed pneumonia and struggled to breathe, while the Siamese cat had a runny nose and conjunctivitis in its eyes. Both their owners had Covid symptoms, too.

They were found in a batch of 387 tests done on cats that had similar symptoms, of which 19 were estimated to have come from homes where people had Covid.

The two were the only positive results, suggesting the cases are rare, and the Siamese cat even lived in the same house as another cat that tested negative.

The Siamese cat is believed to have been the one announced by the UK Government in July last year as the first case of an infected pet  that test was processed at a lab in Weybridge, Surrey. The location of the Ragdoll is unknown.

England's chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss, said at the time: 'This is a very rare event with infected animals detected to date only showing mild clinical signs and recovering within in a few days.'

Professor Hosie said it was vital to know whether creatures could spread the virus back to people.

It's possible they act as a 'reservoir' for the virus without being noticeably sick, meaning they carry it around, but not clear if it can be transmitted to people.

Her concern was that, if pet-to-owner transmission is possible, it could be a source of future outbreaks.

'Currently, animal-to-human transmission represents a relatively low risk to public health in areas where human-to-human transmission remains high,' Professor Hosie said.

'However, as human cases decrease, the prospect of transmission among animals becomes increasingly important as a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 reintroduction to humans.

'It is therefore important to improve our understanding of whether exposed animals could play any role in transmission.'

Governments have generally not done much to investigate or prevent Covid transmission among animals because human-to-human transmissions is such a big problem.

The biggest incident was when Denmark culled around 17million mink on its fur farms because a new variant of the virus emerged in the animals. There were suspected cases of it spreading to farmers but these were unconfirmed.

South Korea has taken action to prevent the virus spreading between pets and their owners, and has a quarantine system set up for animals that test positive.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in February it had developed a testing and quarantine protocol for pets suspected of carrying the virus.

Its announcement came after a cat living in a missionary centre in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, tested positive for coronavirus on January 24.

Just like humans, cats and dogs will be required to quarantine for 14 days if they are positive for Covid, but a health ministry official said at the time: 'There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus infections spreading from pets to humans.'
HARTFORD  The state Appellate Court on Friday upheld the conviction of a 42-year-old Stamford cook who fatally stabbed his wife and wounded her best friend in their Bridgeport home then led a chase to Pennsylvania with his young daughter in the car.

Oscar Hernandez, who had illegally returned into this country after being deported to his native El Salvador for choking an ex-wife, is serving a 75-year prison term after a Bridgeport jury convicted him in December 2018 of murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault and risk of injury to a child.

This case demonstrates how truly dangerous domestic violence is, said Bridgeport States Attorney Joseph Corradino, who prosecuted Hernandez. A young womans life is cut short, anothers is changed forever, a man will spend the rest of his life in prison and a young child will grow up without her parents. Justice has been served, due process has prevailed but there are no winners in a case like this.

Hernandezs trial lawyer, Senior Assistant Public Defender Jonathan Demirjian, declined comment.

According to trial testimony, in the early morning of Feb. 24, 2017, Hernandez fatally stabbed his girlfriend, 26-year-old Nidia Yubi Gonzalez, multiple times in the neck and then stabbed her friend Brenda Castellanos multiple times, nearly running her through with a large knife in his Greenwood Street home following an argument.

He then fled with his and Gonzalezs 6-year-old daughter. He was captured following a high-speed chase in central Pennsylvania.

Hernandez claimed at trial that Gonzalez and Castellanos stabbed each other following a drunken argument over a cell phone.

This was an incident of intense and unimaginable domestic violence, Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo stated in sentencing Hernandez. While in this country we address our marital problems through therapy and if necessary, the courts, you addressed your problems with the point of a dagger. You produced a crime scene so gory a movie producer would have difficulty reproducing it.

In his appeal, Hernandezs lawyer claimed the trial judge erroneously allowed the video deposition of Castellanos to be played for the jury rather than requiring her to return to Bridgeport from her native Guatemala where she had gone after healing from her wounds.

But the appeals court ruled the prosecutor had done everything he could to try and convince Castellanos to return and that the deposition, where the woman was questioned by the defense lawyer, satisfied the defendants right to confront witnesses against him.

We reject the defendants claim that the court improperly admitted (the witnesss) prior deposition testimony into evidence in violation of our rules of evidence and his constitutional rights to confrontation and due process, the Appellate Court ruled.
An international team of researchers searched for pieces of a small asteroid tracked in space and then observed to impact Botswana on June 2, 2018.

Guided by SETI Institute meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens, they found 23 meteorites deep inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and now have published their findings online in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.



"Combining the observations of the small asteroid in space with information gleaned from the meteorites shows it likely came from Vesta, second largest asteroid in our Solar System and target of NASA's DAWN mission," said Jenniskens. "Billions of years ago, two giant impacts on Vesta created a family of larger, more dangerous asteroids. The newly recovered meteorites gave us a clue on when those impacts might have happened."



The asteroid



The small asteroid that impacted Botswana, called 2018 LA, was first spotted by the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey as a faint point of light moving among the stars. The Catalina Sky Survey searches for Earth-crossing asteroids as part of NASA's Planetary Defense program.



"Small meter-sized asteroids are no danger to us, but they hone our skills in detecting approaching asteroids," said Eric Christensen, director of the Catalina Sky Survey program.



The team recovered archival data from the SkyMapper Southern Survey program in Australia that showed the asteroid spinning in space, rotating once every 4 minutes, alternatingly presenting a broad and a narrow side to us while reflecting the sunlight.



On its journey to Earth, cosmic rays bombarded the asteroid and created radioactive isotopes. By analyzing those isotopes, the researchers determined that 2018 LA was a solid rock about 1.5 m in size, which reflected about 25% of sunlight.



The recovery



"This is only the second time we have spotted an asteroid in space before it hit Earth over land," said Jenniskens. "The first was asteroid 2008 TC3 in Sudan ten years earlier." Jenniskens also guided the search for fragments of 2008 TC3.



This time, fewer observations led to more uncertainty in the asteroid's position in its orbit. Davide Farnocchia of NASA JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies combined astronomical observations of the asteroid with US Government Satellite data of the fireball to calculate the fall area. Esko Lyytinen of the Ursa Finnish Fireball Network made a parallel effort.



"When Jenniskens first arrived in Maun, he needed our help narrowing down the fall area," says Oliver Moses of the Okavango Research Institute. "We subsequently tracked down more video records in Rakops and Maun and were able to triangulate the position of the fireball."



After confirming the fall area, Moses and Jenniskens joined geologist Alexander Proyer of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) in Palapye and geoscientist Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe of the Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI) in Lobatse and their colleagues to search for the meteorites.



"On the fifth day, our last day of searching, Lesedi Seitshiro of BIUST found the first meteorite only 30 meters from camp," said Jenniskens. "It was 18 grams and about 3 cm in size."



The search area was in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, home to diverse wildlife, including leopards and lions. Researchers were kept safe by the staff of the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks. BGI coordinated the search with the Department of National Museum and Monuments in Botswana.



"The meteorite is named 'Motopi Pan' after a local watering hole," said Gabadirwe, now the curator of this rare sample of an asteroid observed in space before impacting Earth. "This meteorite is a national treasure of Botswana."



The meteorite type



Non-destructive analysis at the University of Helsinki, Finland, showed that Motopi Pan belongs to the group of Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) meteorites, known to have likely originated from the giant asteroid Vesta, which was recently studied in detail by NASA's DAWN mission.



"We managed to measure metal content as well as secure a reflectance spectrum and X-ray elemental analysis from a thinly crusted part of the exposed meteorite interior," said Tomas Kohout of the University of Helsinki. "All the measurements added well together and pointed to values typical for HED type meteorites."



Dynamical studies show that the orbit of 2018 LA is consistent with an origin from the inner part of the asteroid belt where Vesta is located. The asteroid was delivered into an Earth-impacting orbit via the resonance situated in the asteroid belt's inner side.



"Another HED meteorite fall we investigated in Turkey in 2015, called Saricicek, impacted on a similarly short orbit and produced mostly smallish 2 to 5-gram meteorites," said Jenniskens.



When Jenniskens returned to Botswana in October of 2018, the team found 22 more small meteorites. Gabadirwe was the first to spot another out-of-this-world rock. Surprisingly, subsequent meteorite finds showed a lot of diversity in their outward appearance.



"We studied the petrography and mineral chemistry of five of these meteorites and confirmed that they belong to the HED group," said Roger Gibson of Witts University in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Overall, we classified the material that asteroid 2018 LA contained as being Howardite, but some individual fragments had more affinity to Diogenites and Eucrites."



Other studies also confirmed the surprising diversity of the team's finds, such as reflection spectroscopy and the content of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the sample. The asteroid was a breccia, a mixture of cemented rock pieces from different parts on Vesta.



Origin of the meteorites



A previous hypothesis proposed that Saricicek originated from Vesta in the collision that created the Antonia impact crater imaged by DAWN. Still showing a visible ejecta blanket, that young crater was formed about 22 million years ago. One-third of all HED meteorites that fall on Earth were ejected 22 million years ago. Did Motopi Pan originate from the same crater?



"Noble gas isotopes measurements at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and radioactive isotopes measured at Purdue University showed that this meteorite too had been in space as a small object for about 23 million years," said Kees Welten of UC Berkeley, "but give or take 4 million years, so it could be from the same source crater on Vesta."



Researchers found Motopi Pan and Saricicek to be similar in some ways but different in others. Like Motopi Pan, Saricicek exploded at 27.8 km altitude, but produced less light in that breakup.



"The infrasound shockwave measured in South Africa was not as strong as expected from US Government sensor detections of the bright light," said Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario, Canada.



From lead isotopes in zircon minerals, researchers found that both Saricicek and Motopi Pan solidified at Vesta's surface about 4563 million years ago. But phosphate grains in Motopi Pan experienced another melting event more recently. Saricicek did not.



"About 4234 million years ago, the material in Motopi Pan was close to the center of a large impact event," said Qing-zhu Yin of UC Davis, "Saricicek was not."



Vesta experienced two significant impact events that created the Rheasilvia impact basin and the underlying, and therefore older, Veneneia impact basin.



"We now suspect that Motopi Pan was heated by the Veneneia impact, while the subsequent Rheasilvia impact scattered this material around," said Jenniskens. " If so, that would date the Veneneia impact to about 4234 million years ago. On top of Rheasilvia impact ejecta is the 10.3-km diameter Rubria impact crater, slightly smaller than the 16.7-km Antonia crater, and slightly younger at 19 +/- 3 million years, but a good candidate for the origin crater of Motopi Pan."



In November 2020, an expedition led by Fulvio Franchi from BIUST discovered one more Motopi Pan meteorite. This 92-gram meteorite is now the largest fragment of asteroid 2018 LA recovered to date and another small piece of the giant asteroid Vesta.





Links:

The manuscript is available at:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19455100



Link to pdf of poster:



2018 report on the first meteorite find:

https://www.seti.org/press-release/fragment-impacting-asteroid-recovered-botswana-0



About the SETI Institute

Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the Universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
New York, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "North America Yeast Extract Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis By Technology ; Form ; Application" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06065030/?utm_source=GNW

However, the availability of yeast extract substitutes hinders the market growth.



There has been an increasing demand for natural food additives in the food & beverages industry in the recent years owing to the changing food preferences and healthy lifestyle adoption among the younger population across North America.People suffering from health conditions are recommended to consume food items made from natural sources.



As a result of environmental awareness, as well as the growing trends of healthy food consumption led by young population, the consumers are demanding transparency regarding the source of raw materials and ingredients used for making a particular product while purchasing the same.



Yeast extract is one of the key aromatic natural ingredients used for the designing of flavorful dishes and drinks by various food & beverages companies and restaurants.The extract also helps in enhancing the taste and texture of food items such as sauces, soups, seasonings, ready meals, snacks, and meat products.



Furthermore, the yeast extract is considered as a safe and clean label ingredient by majority of the federal regulatory bodies.Therefore, its adoption is rising in end users such as pharmaceutical companies, restaurants, home bakers, brewing companies, and cosmetic product manufacturers.



Thus, the advantages offered by natural yeast extracts combined with the increasing demand for natural ingredients in food products drive the growth of the North America yeast extract market.



North America has been experiencing the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases since its outbreak.The food & beverages industry experienced profound disruption as the manufacturing plants were shut and there was the shortage of human resources.



The COVID-19 pandemic created a massive disruption in supply chains and acted as a major restraint to food and beverages companies in the North American markets.Trade restrictions and imposition of lockdown by government led to halt of a large number of obstacles to manufacturers and distributors operating in the food and beverages market, as there was a limited supply of raw materials and special ingredients.



Furthermore, the bakery and liquor manufacturing companies developed robust safety programs to stridently work under the pandemic conditions and keep the operations functional as food and beverages production come under the category of essential businesses.The safety programs helped to offer maximum protection while minimizing the downtime of the machines.



Thus, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the food and beverages industry across North America.



Based on technology, the North America yeast extract market is bifurcated into autolyzed and hydrolyzed. The autolyzed segment held a larger market share in 2019, whereas the hydrolyzed segment is anticipated to register a higher CAGR in the market during the forecast period.



The North America yeast extract market, based on form, is segmented into powder, paste, and liquid. The powder segment held the largest market share in 2019, also the same segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during 20202027.



By application, the North America yeast extract market is segmented into food and beverages, animal feed, pharmaceuticals, and others. The food and beverages segment held the largest market share in 2019, whereas the animal feed segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period.



A few of the primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the North America yeast extract market are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Single Platform 2020 (US).

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06065030/?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.



__________________________
ROGUE VALLEY, Ore. -- Local law enforcement is now committing to racial awareness and working with Black Alliance and Social Empowerment, also known as BASE, to hire a liaison between officers and community members to build a trusting relationship.

Vance Beach of BASE tells Newswatch12 only one signature is left before law enforcement across the Rogue Valley is fully on board to support funding of hiring a liaison.

That signature is expected to come from the Central Point police chief by Monday.

Beach says civil rights protests last year prompted the Ashland Police Department to involve BASE in discussions around hiring someone.

Since then, BASE has stepped up to get all local police departments involved in the effort to fill the gaps between the community and the institution for a more inclusive and prosperous community.

The multi-cultural liaison position has existed for over 20 years with the Medford Police department and the person Lilia Caballero says she has assumed the role for 13 1/2 of those years.

Before signatures in support of hiring a liaison were collected, leaders of the Black community hosted two Southern Oregon Black Community Policing forums establishing expectations from law enforcement, and what committing to improving racial issues would mean for the community.

Beach says with proper funding, the program could start as soon as July 2021.
OTTAWA, ON, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Budget 2021 is the Government of Canada's plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery that is inclusive of all Canadians.

Today, on Earth Day 2021, Minister of Northern Affairs, the Honourable Daniel Vandal, held a virtual roundtable in Yukon to discuss climate change and clean energy investments from Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.

The COVID-19 recession is the steepest and fastest economic contraction since the Great Depression. It has disproportionately affected low-wage workers, young people, women, and racialized Canadians. For businesses, it has been a two-speed recession, with some finding ways to prosper and grow, but with many businessesespecially small businessesfighting to survive. Budget 2021 is an historic investment to address the specific wounds of the COVID-19 recession, put people first, create jobs, grow the middle class, set businesses on a track for long-term growth, and ensure that Canada's future will be healthier, more equitable, greener, and more prosperous.

As we have learned through COVID, global challenges require immediate and urgent action. Canada's North is warming at three times the global rate, with significant impacts on shoreline erosion, wildfire risk, and permafrost stability. Indigenous peoples are experiencing its impact on their way of life, which is closely tied to the land and waters. Many communities in the North continue to rely on diesel or other emissions-intensive sources of energy, which not only contribute to climate change but are also costly and polluting.

To help these communities transition to clean energy, Budget 2021 proposes to invest $40.4 million over three years, starting in 202122, to support the feasibility and planning of hydroelectricity and grid interconnection projects in the North. This funding could advance projects such as the Atlin Hydro Expansion Project in Yukon. Such projects will provide clean power to northern communities and help reduce emissions from mining projects.

Hydroelectricity and grid interconnection projects across the North will play an important role in reducing reliance on diesel for electricity and heating, and reducing energy costs. In the longer term, providing cleaner energy will yield positive health and environmental outcomes for all members of northern and Indigenous communities.

In addition, Budget 2021 proposes to provide $25 million in 202122 to the Government of Yukon to support its climate change priorities, in collaboration with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada.These investments will support northern and Indigenous partners to advance important projects to enhance community resilience and participate in a clean energy transition.

The Government of Canada's top priority remains protecting Canadians' health and safety, particularly during this third, aggressive wave of the virus and its variants. Vaccine rollout is underway across Canada, with federal government support in every province and territory. Budget 2021 invests in Canada's bio-manufacturing and life sciences sector to rebuild domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity, and has a plan to put in place national standards for long-term care and mental health services.

Budget 2021 is a plan to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through the crisis and towards a robust recovery. It proposes to extend business and income support measures through to the fall and to make investments to create jobs and help businesses across the economy come roaring back. It will support almost 500,000 new training and work opportunities, including 215,000 opportunities for youth; help businesses in our most affected sectors, such as tourism and arts and culture; and accelerate investment and digital transformation at small and medium-sized businesses. Budget 2021 is a plan that puts Canada on track to meet its commitment to create 1 million jobs by the end of the year.

Canada entered the pandemic in a strong fiscal position. This allowed the government to take quick and decisive action, supporting people and businesses, and put it in the position to make historic investments in the recovery.

Quotes

"The impacts of climate change are being felt across Canada and are having significant social, cultural, ecological, and economic impacts across the North and the Arctic. Indigenous and northern communities are among the most affected by climate change because of their relationship with the natural world, traditional lifestyles, and geographic location. Budget 2021 is making significant investments to help Indigenous and northern communities transition to clean energy, create jobs, and enhance resilience."

The Honourable Daniel Vandal, P.C., M.P.

Minister of Northern Affairs



"The new investments proposed in Budget 2021 will directly support Yukon's strategy to combat climate change, create opportunities for Yukoners, and grow the economy. This budget is a reflection of the federal government's partnership with Yukon to advance the priorities of northerners and support locally led, innovative solutions to climate change."

The Honourable Larry Bagnell

Member of Parliament for Yukon and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency)

Quick Facts

Budget 2021 also proposes to invest $36 million over three years, starting in 202122, through the Strategic Partnerships Initiative, to build capacity for local, economically sustainable clean energy projects in First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities, and support economic development opportunities.

over three years, starting in 202122, through the Strategic Partnerships Initiative, to build capacity for local, economically sustainable clean energy projects in First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities, and support economic development opportunities. Budget 2021 includes $101.4 billion over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of Canada's growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key measures include

over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key measures include investing $17.6 billion in a green recovery that will help Canada reach its target to conserve 25 per cent of Canada's lands and oceans by 2025, exceed its Paris climate targets and reduce emissions by 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and move forward on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

in a green recovery that will help reach its target to conserve 25 per cent of lands and oceans by 2025, exceed its climate targets and reduce emissions by 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and move forward on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

closing the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples; supporting healthy, safe, and prosperous Indigenous communities; and advancing meaningful reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and the Metis Nation through an historic investment of over $18 billion .

Related Links

Associated Links

Stay connected

Join the conversation about the North:

Twitter: GovCan_North

Facebook: GovCan  North

You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.cirnac.gc.ca/RSS.

SOURCE Indigenous Services Canada

For further information: For more information, media may contact: Antoine Tremblay, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, 819-953-1153; Media Relations, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, 819-934-2302, [email protected]

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In less than 3 weeks, people will be heading to Toyota Field for the Trash Pandas' first home game. The now former CEO of the Pandas, Ralph Nelson, has been pushing for it to open by their May 11 deadline.

A spokesman from the construction company, Joey Ceci, said they found out Thursday afternoon that there's still some minor work that needs to be done.

Ceci said the recent rain created a spot they needed to shore up. Starting Friday, they're going to start the work to prevent erosion. It will then have to get approved by the Federal Highway Administration and Alabama Department of Transportation.

Ceci said they expect everything to get approved early next week, and then, the opening of the ramp will follow soon after.
Actor Jamie Kennedy said his role in the movie "Roe. v. Wade" as Lawrence "Larry" Lader, the abortion on demand proponent and co-founder of NARAL, gave him a greater respect for women.

Lader, who died in 2006, was known as the "father of abortion" and successfully used deceptive tactics to change the media's narrative about the controversial issue. The U.S. Supreme Court even cited his book, Abortion, seven times in its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

I respect women more since filming Roe v. Wade, the actor told The New York Post. For a woman, [abortion] has to be the most, hardest decision in a womans life. But it should be hard for a man as well. Its a two-party thing but at the end of the day, the woman has to carry that to fruition.

Roe v. Wade, was shot three years ago in New Orleans, Louisiana, and along with Kennedy the film also features Hollywood actors Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Corbin Bernsen, John Schneider, Stacey Dash and Nick Loeb, who also directed the film.

Source:The Christian Post
Phuket arrivals in Phang Nga staying overnight face quarantine, no rapid tests

PHUKET: People from Phuket travelling to Phang Nga must now prove they are fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arriving  or else face 14 days Home Quarantine in Phang Nga.

COVID-19CoronavirushealthtourismVaccine

By The Phuket News

Friday 23 April 2021, 01:33PM

The new requirements for entering Phang Nga came into effect yesterday (Apr 22). Image: PR Phang Nga

The new requirements for entering Phang Nga came into effect yesterday (Apr 22). Image: PR Phang Nga

The new requirements for entering Phang Nga came into effect yesterday (Apr 22). Image: PR Phang Nga

So far Phang Nga has had 29 confirmed infections during the current outbreak. Image: PR Phang Nga

UPDATE: People who enter Phang Nga on day trips and who are not staying overnight are not required to present any evidence that they are not infected with COVID-19 and will not be required to observe any quarantine.

They may enter the province freely, but must follow the disease control measures, including wearing a face mask, wash their hands as often as possible, keep social distancing, avoid touching or going to places where crowd gather, and they must install MorChana app and scan their entry to any public venue through the ThaiChana app.

The requirement follows Phang Nga Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada issuing a revised order yesterday (Apr 22).

The order was marked in effect as of yesterday.

Under the new order, Phang Nga is now using the same documentary requirements as Phuket to determine whether or not people from the 18 red zone provinces for COVID infections will be allowed to enter the province.

Arrivals from red zone provinces must now prove that they are fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arriving.

If arrivals cannot prove either of the two requirements, they will be required to observe Home Quarantine, as the order calls it, for 14 days or for the duration of their stay in Phang Nga.

People who have been released from a quarantine facility within three days of arriving are exempt from the quarantine measure, the order noted.

As of yesterday, according to the Phang Nga Provincial Public Health Office, Phang Nga had accumulated 29 officially recognised infections of COVID-19 during the current outbreak. Among them is an 8-year-old boy.

Of the 29 cases, 14 were asymptomatic, 12 patients suffered only mild symptoms of infection, and three had developed pneumonia, said the official report.

So far 6,060 people have received their first injection of the Sinovac vaccine. None have received their second.
To the Editor:

Re Biden Commits U.S. to Emissions Cuts as Allies Join Vow (front page, April 23):

On Earth Day, PBS aired a documentary about Greta Thunberg. She has a simple message: How dare you? How dare we who are older and have the power to decide and to influence not care about the future of our children? Not care about our beautiful world?

I dont quite know why, but when I see Greta, sometimes I am brought to tears. She is completely sincere and truthful. In her words to Congress in 2019: I dont want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists.

My youngest child is 27, and my youngest grandchild is 2 months old. Greta is now 18. How dare we disregard their future? The science is clear. The solutions are available, and not even so inconvenient. What stands in the way is greed and corruption. We must not, cannot tolerate this abuse.

Floods, dust bowls, massive fires, famine  all of this is taking place already. All our fault! I pray that it is not true that we are doomed. We must listen to Greta and her generation. Already the damage is massive, but our civilization might survive if we listen.
Harrowing footage released at an inquest into the death of a hero cop shows a crazed gunman opening fire at the police car after an off-road low-speed car chase.

Senior Constable Brett Forte died after his vehicle was peppered with 27 bullets from an automatic weapon fired by Ricky Maddison in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, on May 29, 2017.

Maddison, 40, was shot dead by police the following day after being asked to surrender more than 80 times during a 20-hour siege.

He had been wanted for domestic violence offences and had led officers on the half-hour police chase just minutes after having a lengthy phone call with Sergeant Peter Jenkins where he refused to hand himself in.

Footage of the shooting and chilling audio from the call was released by the state coroner on Friday as part of an inquest into Constable Forte and Maddison's deaths.

Senior Constable Brett Forte (pictured left with his family) was shot dead by Ricky Maddison in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, on May 29, 2017

Brett Forte's killer Ricky Maddison (pictured) was later gunned down by police after a 20-hour siege the following day

The video shows Maddison jumping out of his car to point a rifle at Forte and his partner.

The gunman had been driving his Nissan Navara when police spotted him just before 2pm on May 29, 2017.

Officers trailed him for 26 minutes with sirens blaring and lights flashing as he headed off road down a dirt track.

Constable Forte and his partner Cath Nielsen quickly joined the pursuit and became the main police vehicle chasing Maddison.

'Just be aware that he was involved in firearms-related offences so any takedown be careful,' Constable Forte is heard saying to other officers mid pursuit.

As Maddison comes to a stop on the dirt road, he is seen jumping out of his car and suddenly opening fire on the two police officers.

As they tried to flee the area and reverse down the road, their car rolled leaving Constable Forte and Nielsen as 'sitting ducks'.

Maddison is seen pointing a gun at Constable Forte and Nielsen before opening fire on the officers

Constable Nielsen is then heard screaming for help.

'Can someone help? We need help here. We need help here,' she said.

'We are sitting ducks. Fortie's injured. Fortie's injured. There's blood. We need a hand here.'

Constable Forte died after being shot in the groin and arm while Maddison fled to a nearby stronghold where he too was later killed.

Constable Forte died after being shot in the groin and arm while Maddison fled to a nearby stronghold where he too was later killed

Before the car chase unfolded, Maddison had phoned his local police station with the 35-minute expletive ridden call being played at the inquest this week.

The call allowed police to track down the wanted man in Toowoomba.

Constable Forte had answered the phone before handing it over to Sergeant Jenkins, the Courier Mail reported.

Maddison argued back and forth with Jenkins about his case, repeatedly refusing to hand himself in.

'Youse (sic) have ostracised me from society. So therefore I don't live by your motherf***ing rules no more,' Maddison is heard saying in the call.

'I don't have anywhere to live, I haven't seen my f**king family all year. I don't get to see my niece or f**king newphew. I don't get to see my friends, I don't have a f**king life.

'You've broken me and I don't have anywhere else to turn.'

At the end of the call when Sergeant Jenkins asks Maddison to tell him where he is, the gunman is heard laughing and says 'you'd like that wouldn't you'.
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan held a meeting with Canadian Ambassador to Armenia Alison LeClaire.

Kerobyan and LeClaire both attached importance to the Armenian-Canadian cooperation and outlined potential directions for cooperation.

They pointed out the following directions: trade and investments, industry, high technologies, education and tourism. Kerobyan expressed certainty that the Armenian-Canadian economic relations have big potential to bolster and develop.

The possibilities of exporting Armenian production, namely solar panels and alcoholic drinks, into Canada were discussed.

The minister attached importance to the opportunities of establishing business ties with leading Canadian companies engaged in the production of cannabis and emphasized that Armenia has an attractive environment for business activities, given the countrys climate conditions and high quality workforce. In addition, Canadian investors can use the opportunities of the industrial zones which are currently being built in Armenia, to facilitate the process of moving their industrial branches to Armenia, as well as entering the EEU market without obstacles, the ministry of economy said in a news release.

Highlighting education for economic development, Kerobyan and the ambassador attached importance to implementing joint educational and specialized development programs.

The discussion also addressed exchange of experience programs in rendering financial services and agriculture.

Kerobyan expressed readiness to support Canadian financial institutions, banks, namely venture funds, to get established in Armenia, noting that Armenia has one of the most transparent and trusted financial systems in the region, thanks to which several leading international banks are operating in Armenia for already many years.

Issues of organizing business meetings with participation of private sector representatives of the two countries were discussed. On this occasion the minister proposed to hold an Armenian-Canadian business forum in the second half of 2021.
A war medal lost by a soldier at a beach in Melbournes south-east in 1925 has been returned to the mans descendants almost a century later in the lead-up to Anzac Day.

The British Victory medal was owned by Private Robert Stanley Gordon Smith, who served in France during the First World War, and was lost on Chelsea beach in 1925.

In 1980, this WW1 British Victory medal was located at Beaumaris beach. Credit:Victoria Police

It was found by a man at Beaumaris Beach, about 12 kilometres north, in 1980.

The man who found the medal died but his widow and her second husband became members of the Upwey Belgrave RSL where they met Sergeant Vaughan Atherton from Lilydale police station, a former army reservist for nine years.
In the time of corona crisis that the world and India in particular are going through, it is certainly true that visual medias role has been more negative than positive.

by N.S.Venkataraman

There are hundreds of television media stations in India , both in English and vernacular languages. This is so in several countries.

It is generally known that the visual media has far more impact than the print media in influencing the thoughts and creating positive feelings or fear and despair amongst the viewers.

Of course, visual media can be a big source of strength for the country by contributing to keep the morale of the people at high level and spreading the sense of calmness around in the present carona time. The question is whether they are really doing so.

The role of visual media in the present corona time calls for detailed scrutiny, particularly since they are mostly highlighting the negatives and counterproductive and sometimes unsubstantiated claims and views of those which are preconceived and motivated

In the time of corona crisis that the world and India in particular are going through, it is certainly true that visual medias role has been more negative than positive.

Of course, there are number of issues that every country and the government is struggling to cope with.

To some extent , it is true that crematoriums and burial grounds are unable to handle the number of bodies arriving and the bodies are in the queue in some places. Should the visual media highlight this , with dramatic scenes of relatives waiting patiently with the dead bodies in the crematoriums / burial grounds? Some television channels have even shown number of bodies being burnt together.

It is true that there is some shortage of vaccine in some places due to supply chain issues and the shortages are quickly being resolved. Should the media focus on the fact that the shortage issues are being sorted out or should be highlighting the temporary shortage issue?

Migrants are feeling panicky and want to rush back to their native place. The government has been repeatedly telling the migrants that there is no need for fear and the government would take care of them. But, the visual media is more keen to show the scenes of migrants walking on the rail track carrying bags and sitting in railway stations and bus stations forming a big crowd. Certainly, such scenes have persuaded more migrants to think that they should run away from their work spots.

Several doctors have been debating the issues relating to the COVID 19 and the appropriate treatment in the TV discussion. But, it is seen that there is considerable divergence in the views between the different doctors, which many times do not provide clarity to the viewers as to which is the desirable practice and which is not. The anchors who conduct the discussions in the TV often do not have particular expertise to conduct discussions on the subject relating to medical science .which is extremely complicated and rapidly developing.

It is shocking that every sad and depressing news in the corona time is being shown as breaking news and what is even more shocking is that many media say that they are the first to break the news.

There are thousands of individuals, social groups and non government organisations who are silently working to help the COVID patients , counseling them and extending even financial support to the poor people affected by the lockdown. Very rarely there is mention about their laudable services in the visual media.

It is agreed that visual media has to provide the news to the viewers. But, certainly , it should not be done in such a way to cause sensation or with the self centred aim of spreading the viewership.

In the present time of COVID crisis, it is high time that the editors and anchors in the visual media should meet and evolve a code of standards about the way that news should be covered , with focus on maintaining the morale of the people at high level, highlighting the positives rather than the negatives.

Finally, one has to admit that the government owned TV channels are far more balanced and responsible than the private TV channels.
Apr. 23It's been an unusual spring so far, with waves of record warmth and sunshine followed by blasts of winterlike cold and even some snow.

But the general consensus is that Northland lakes lost their ice 2-3 weeks earlier than average and have been warming up ahead of schedule, pushing fish to spawn a little earlier than usual if not over a longer period of time.

That should help dictate where folks go fishing for the Wisconsin opener May 1. Despite being the earliest possible opening date, the fish should be well into their post-spawn patterns.

"The spawning has really been drawn out as the weather fluctuates," said Paul Piszczek, fisheries biologist for the Wisconsin DNR in Superior. "But it's probably earlier" than average.

Fishing and keeping walleyes, largemouth bass and pike begins at 12:01 a.m. May 1 in the Badger State. Musky season in the north of the state doesn't start until May 29 and you can't keep smallmouth bass in the north until June 19.

Don't forget your 2021 fishing license (online at gowild.wi.gov). While kids 15 and under fish free every day, so do anglers born before 1927 and active-duty military on furlough or leave who are Wisconsin residents. A reminder that the St. Louis River estuary, even on the Wisconsin side, remains closed to walleye and pike fishing until May 15.

No boat? No problem!

The Wisconsin DNR has offered a collection of fish-from-shore sites across the state that offer surprisingly good fishing possibilities without a boat and are good places to take kids just learning how to fish.

That means some room for kids to run around, along with amenities like bathrooms and piers to fish from.

Here are some of their suggestions for Northwestern Wisconsin counties:

Douglas County

Arrowhead Fishing Pier

 Location: On the St. Louis River at the extreme western end of Belknap Street in Superior.

 Notes: Amenities include restrooms, benches and picnic tables. Protective railings.

Story continues

 Species: Yellow perch and crappies on the opener; walleyes and pike become legal game on May 15 on the St. Louis River.

Barkers Island

 Location: Just west of the entrance road to Barkers Island which is visible to traffic passing by on U.S. Highway 2.

 Notes: Amenities include benches and protective railings. Bathrooms are found a short distance away at the tourism center.

 Species: Yellow perch and crappies on the opener; walleyes and pike become legal in the harbor on May 15.

Bayfield County

City Park Fishing Pier

 Location: Bayfield.

 Notes: Playground equipment available. Good place to watch boats: sailboats, ferries, fish tugs, pleasure boats, etc. Chance of catching coho Salmon, splake, perch, brown and lake trout.

Port Wing breakwall

 Location: Along Lake Superior in Port Wing.

 Notes: Chance of catching steelhead, coho salmon, brown and lake trout. Also a nice place to build sand castles and look for driftwood.

Washburn Coal Dock

 Location: In Washburn.

 Notes: Chance of catching splake, northern pike, coho salmon, brown and lake trout. Good place to watch boats and gulls.

Washburn West End Campground Fishing Pier

 Location: In Washburn.

 Notes: Could catch perch, northern pike, pumpkin seeds. Playground equipment nearby. Good place to swim and bird watch.

Burnett County

Crooked Lake Fishing Pier

 Location: In Siren, adjacent to boat landing.

 Notes: Panfish and bass. Picnic and beach area.

Ashland County

Ashland Fishing Pier

 Location: In Ashland off U.S. Highway 2, across from Pamida Discount Store.

 Notes: Playground equipment nearby. Could catch perch, northern pike, walleye and pumpkin seeds.

Washburn County

Minong Kids Pond

 Location: Located at the Minong Ranger Station on Highway 77, on the east side of the Minong.

 Notes: Pond is stocked with trout and panfish for kids only. Adults may assist small children. Catch and release is encouraged, but kids may keep a few to eat. Best fishing is in May to early June.

Totogatic Fishing Pier

 Location: Located at Washburn County Campground on Minong Flowage. Northeast of Minong off County Highway I.

 Notes: Panfish, bass, northern pike and carp most frequent catches. Picnic, beach and boat landing facilities.

Yellow River Flowage Pier and shoreline

 Location: On the west-side of Spooner on the south side of Highway 70 at the Governor Thompson Hatchery grounds.

 Notes: Fish for panfish, trout, bass, northern, walleye and other species from the bank or several fishing piers on the flowage or the river below the dam. Also see fish in the show pond. Check out the Hatchery Visitor Center or take in a guided hatchery tour. Hatchery visitor center is generally not open on weekends.

Sawyer County

Shue's Pond park

 Location: One block north of the county courthouse in Hayward.

 Notes: Picnic tables, playground, panfish fishing.

Hayward City Beach

 Location: One block north of National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, off of County Highway B.

 Notes: Picnic and day use facilities including swimming area and a handicap accessible fishing pier.

Hayward Canoe Launch

 Location: Across from DNR Ranger Station, off State Highway 27.

 Notes: Picnic area, canoe launch, fishing pier on Namekagon River.

Lake Winter Causeway

 Location: East of Winter along Lake Winter Road.

 Notes: Road parallels lake creating good shore fishing areas for panfishing.

Pig Pond

 Location: Walk-in trail off Larsen Road in Town of Seeley, approximately 0.1 miles north of bridge over Namekagon River.

 Notes: Shore fishing for rainbow trout.

Hatchery Creek Park

 Location: County park off State Highway 77, 2 miles east of Hayward.

 Notes: Day-use pavilion, ski trails, picnic and restroom facility. Fish for wild brook trout in a small, but accessible, stream.

Lake Chetac at Squaw Creek culvert

 Location: About 3 miles northeast of Birchwood. Shore fishing off County Highway "E" R.O.W.

 Notes: Good panfishing.

Silverthorne Lake Park

 Location: 1/2 mile north of Seeley off of state Highway 63.

 Notes: Fish off pier at beach when swimmers are not present. Trout, bass, and panfish. Picnic area, swimming beach, ball diamond, tennis court, restroom facilities.

For more information on other counties go to dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Fishing/anglereducation/takekidsfishing.
Kristin Smart's parents are suing the father of the man charged with killing their daughter nearly 25 years ago after he allegedly buried the California college student's body in his backyard and later moved it.

Ruben Flores, 80, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory after the murder for hiding Smart's body. His son is accused of killing her in 1996 during an attempted rape in his California Polytechnic State University dorm room.

They were arrested last week after investigators said they found 'biological evidence' indicating Smart had once been buried under Ruben's deck in nearby Arroyo Grande but was recently moved, prosecutors revealed in a court filing this week.

Smart's family have since filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court claiming her body was buried in Ruben's yard but he moved it 'under the cover of darkness' to another location a few days after investigators searched his property in February 2020.

The lawsuit says Smart's remains were moved to ensure they 'would not be found should another search warrant be executed'.

Ruben Flores, 80, (left) has pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory after the murder for hiding Kristin Smart's body after his son Paul Flores (right) allegedly killed her in 1996 during an attempted rape in his California Polytechnic State University dorm room

Investigators had returned to Ruben's home just last month to use ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs to search the property. They searched the home again last week following the arrests and could be seen dismantling the deck that leads underneath the house.

Authorities have not disclosed what was found during that search.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Ruben for intentionally causing emotional distress by helping his son cover up the crime.

Kristin Smart was last seen on May 25, 1996, with Paul Flores while returning to her dorm at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo after an off-campus party

It said Flores got help moving the body from two unnamed accomplices who will later be added as defendants in the case.

'Had Kristin's remains not been hidden, re-hidden and then moved yet again, it is reasonably likely (her parents) could have been reunited with the remains of their daughter and would have been permitted the opportunity to conduct a burial service at which their daughter could be laid to rest in a place of honor and dignity, as opposed to the present circumstances where their daughters body was discarded like human garbage,' the lawsuit said.

The Smart family's attorney James Murphy Jr. did not say how he learned about the the body being moved.

There is currently a gag order in the criminal case, which prevents lawyers, investigators, witnesses and others from speaking about the case or releasing any court documents.

Ruben was released on Wednesday on $50,000 bail.

Prosecutors had argued he shouldn't be released because he had spent nearly a quarter century helping his son cover up the crime and was likely to continue to hide Smart's remains.

Her body has never been found.

Smart's family have since filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court claiming her body was buried in Ruben's yard but he moved it 'under the cover of darkness'. They searched the home again last week following the arrests and could be seen dismantling the deck that leads underneath the house

The Smart family's lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Ruben for intentionally causing emotional distress by helping his son cover up the crime. Denise and Stan Smart sued Paul Flores back in 1996 over their daughter's disappearance. A judge has put that case on indefinite hold because the investigation into her death has been ongoing since she vanished

Defense lawyers have criticized evidence against the father and son as flimsy and based on hearsay and speculation.

The defense attorney has previously questioned why investigators needed to keep searching for evidence after making arrests. At the time of the April 13 arrests, the sheriff said he believed that had enough evidence to win convictions.

The attorney argued there were many innocent explanations why soil had previously been dug up in the yard. He said a backhoe had excavated a trench to dump soil that was removed to lay a nearby foundation.

Paul is being held without bail.

Denise and Stan Smart, who live in Stockton, sued Paul Flores back in 1996 over their daughter's disappearance.

A judge has put that case on indefinite hold because the investigation into her death has been ongoing since she vanished.

They also sued Cal Poly, though that lawsuit fizzled because the university had immunity as a government entity.

Murphy, who has been on the case for more than half of his 46-year legal career, said he was in tears over the arrests and savoring the idea of being able to witness the outcome after so many years.

'To still be practicing and watch the final chapter unfold is the greatest reward for me,' Murphy said.

The arrests last week followed significant developments in the case in recent years as new witnesses came forward, investigators monitored Paul's cellphone and text messages, and searches were conducted at separate homes where Flores, his father, mother and sister live.

Despite being a suspect from day one, investigators say they never had enough evidence to charge Paul Flores over Kristin Smart's disappearance until last week when he was taken into custody (above) on suspicion of murdering the 19-year-old

The case dates back to May 25, 1996 when Smart was last seen returning to her dorm at the Cal Poly University campus at about 2am after an off-campus party.

A then-19-year-old Flores, who was a fellow freshman at the school, had offered to walk her home from the party.

The younger Flores, who has long been a suspect in Smart's 1996 disappearance, was a former classmate and the last known person to see Smart the night she vanished. He has never been charged over her disappearance

Smart was not reported missing to the Cal Poly Police Department until three days after she was last seen.

Her dorm mate at the time said police were initially reluctant to take a missing persons report because it was Memorial Day weekend and she might have left the campus.

As the last person to see Smart alive, Flores was under suspicion from the start.

During the investigation, four different search dogs trained to pick up the smell of human remains led police to Flores' dorm room. No evidence was ever found in Flores' room.

Smart was officially declared dead in 2002.

Various search efforts have been carried out over the years, including the excavation of three different hillside locations near the campus in 2016.

Investigators served over 40 search warrants at 16 locations over the years, collected nearly 200 new items of evidence and used modern DNA techniques to test more than three dozen older pieces of evidence.

Flores has remained silent over the decades-long investigation.

He has previously invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions before a grand jury and in a deposition for a lawsuit that was brought against him in relation to the investigation.
Atlantic Portugal will further expand the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Global Footprint

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, one of the world's fastest-growing residential real estate brokerage franchise networks, is pleased to announce that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal has joined its worldwide network. The startup company will add one additional office and eight agents to the global network. The brokerage will service Cascais, Lisbon, Porto, Comporta, Algarve and all over Portugal.

"In Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices we have found a network that truly recognizes that real estate is more than a transaction, but a relationship," says Patricia Salgueiro, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal. "The network aligns seamlessly with our values and I am looking forward to continuing the promise of trust, integrity, stability and longevity of work due to our tailor-made services within our brokerage. The Clients are my priority and I want to leave an unforgettable memory of the beginning of a great relationship!"

Patricia Salgueiro brings years of valuable experience to her role. With a background immersed in the luxury market, she has acquired the necessary skills designed to persevere in a competitive market and create strong relationships all across the globe.

With their brand transition, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal gains access to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices' active referral and relocation networks, and its "FOREVER Cloud" technology suite, a powerful source for lead generation, marketing support, social media, video production/distribution and more. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has aligned with best-in-class technology platforms to deliver world-class support to its network members far into the future.

The brand also provides global listing syndication, professional training and ongoing education and the exclusive Luxury Collection marketing program for premier listings. Its Prestige Magazine showcases network members' premium listings with a strong lineup of feature stories covering topics that appeal to high-end real estate consumers.

"We're proud to welcome Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal," said Chris Stuart, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. "Patricia is a skilled and seasoned leader who will effortlessly lead, guide and inspire her team of real estate professionals."

The new brokerage will also leverage the strength and reliability of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Luxury Collection division, which utilizes an elite network of experienced, service-oriented professionals that combines local expertise with vast global connections, together with marketing resources to deliver the best-in-class results.

Gino Blefari, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, also welcomed the company to the network, "We're thrilled to have Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal join the network. Patricia and her team share our vision to create long-lasting relationships with their clients and truly become Forever Agents."

To learn more visit: bhhsatlanticportugal.com

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Atlantic Portugal is dedicated to helping its clients through the entire experience of the homebuying process and establishing connections all over the world. Its first-class service in supporting people to find their forever home in Portugal turns dreams into a reality. Serving the region in Cascais, Lisbon, Porto and Comporta, Portugal the company prides its reputation on providing excellence to its customers through professional advisory and support teams. Its elite clientele has entrusted Atlantic Portugal with Portugal's most unique properties.

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is one of the world's fastest-growing residential real estate brokerage franchise networks, with more than 50,000 real estate professionals, nearly 1,500 offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East, and more than $138 billion in real estate sales volume. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability, and longevity.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005110/en/

Contacts:

Chelsea Freeman

PR Communications

+1 949 241 5239

chelseafreeman@hsfranchise.com
TORONTO, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - The UBC Canadian District met with the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health on Thursday, April 22, to discuss tax fraud, health care and the underground economy in the Canadian construction industry, and ways to partner together on this issue.

As stated by Jason Rowe, Canadian District Vice President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters "The underground economy is thriving in Canada and especially in the construction industry, stealing billions of dollars every year. Tax fraud is robbing honest and hardworking Canadians and their families of the services they have worked for and deserve."

Health care is in significant demand, and we need all resources. Tax fraud affects the entire construction industry, shrinks public budgets, and even increases health care costs. Canada's universal, publicly funded health care systems are a source of pride for Canadians.

According to Health Canada, the Government of Canada is working closely with provincial and territorial governments to support them to respond to the challenges of delivering health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Imagine what we could do if we had more revenue and reined in the underground economy.

"This activity negatively affects economic growth in Canada and reduces tax revenues for all levels of government, putting pressure on the government's ability to provide the services and benefits that Canadians enjoy and expect" said Ed Spence, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Millwright Regional Council of Ontario.

Statistics Canada estimated gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices for underground economic activity in Canada reached $61.2 billion, or 2.7% of total GDP, in 2018.

Statistics Canada points out that residential construction remains the top contributor to underground activity. In 2018, four industries accounted for more than half of underground economic activity with residential construction accounting for a massive 26.2% of the underground economy.

"There continues to be a widespread misclassification of workers as 'independent operators.' The reason for this misclassification is to avoid the payroll costs and other obligations associated with hiring workers as employees" said Tony Iannuzzi, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Carpenters District Council of Ontario.

We are encouraged by the Honourable Patty Hajdu's support to end construction industry tax fraud and working together towards solutions that rein in the underground economy.

The UBC Tax Fraud Days of Action took place across Canada and the United States April 14-17, 2021 to bring awareness to the issues of tax fraud and the underground economy. Learn more www.stoptaxfraud.net www.stopthefraud.ca www.notaxfraud.com

About the Millwright Regional Council of Ontario (MRCO)

The Millwright Regional Council of Ontario (MRCO) is composed of eight affiliated Local Unions of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) across the Province of Ontario. We represent thousands of woman and men working as progressive cross-trained construction and maintenance professionals with exceptional skills to install, maintain, diagnose, and repair precision machinery, UBC millwrights are vital partners in industries as diverse as energy, automotive, aerospace, food processing, pharmaceuticals and more.

SOURCE Millwright Regional Council of Ontario (MRCO)

For further information: For media inquiries, please contact Duncan McIntosh, Director of Communications, [email protected]
DeRionne Pollard, president of Montgomery College, a three-campus community college in Maryland, said that use of the SwiftStudent tool was invisible to financial aid officials but that it helped students craft a clear, comprehensive appeal.

Join Michael Barbaro and The Daily team as they celebrate the students and teachers finishing a year like no other with a special live event. Catch up with students from Odessa High School, which was the subject of a Times audio documentary series. We will even get loud with a performance by the drum line of Odessas award-winning marching band, and a special celebrity commencement speech.

It allows and empowers students to advocate for themselves, Dr. Pollard said.

In a survey last fall, college financial aid counselors reported notable increases in requests for professional judgment reviews, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The group will conduct another survey next month to update its findings.

Here are some questions and answers about financial aid:

Im confused by my aid letters. How can I make sure I am correctly comparing offers?

Colleges are encouraged to use standard formats for aid letters and avoid jargon, but not all do. Be careful to distinguish between gift aid, like grants and scholarships, which doesnt have to be repaid, and loans, which do. Subtract the gift aid from the colleges cost of attendance  the total cost of tuition, housing, meals, books and supplies  to get a net price. Do this for each school before considering how much of the cost you can cover from savings and earnings, and how much you would have to borrow to cover any shortfall.

A nonprofit group that works to help students afford college with less debt, uAspire, created a free online cost calculator to help applicants make apples to apples comparisons of aid offers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also offers an online tool to compare offers, and the Institute for College Access & Success offers a tip sheet.

And remember: You arent obligated to borrow all, or any, of the loans that are included in your aid letter, said Jessica Thompson, associate vice president at the institute. On the other hand, some colleges may not include the maximum amount of federal student loans for which you are eligible. So if you think you may need to borrow more, call the financial aid office to discuss your situation, she said.

What documentation do I need when making a financial aid appeal?

Colleges vary in how they evaluate an appeal. But gather anything that shows reduced hours or wages, like letters from employers, pay stubs or unemployment records, as well as medical bills, to help make your case, Ms. Warick said.

Can I make an enrollment deposit at more than one college?

Colleges frown on this practice since you ultimately cant attend more than one college, and making two deposits means another student  one on the wait list, or a late applicant  wont be offered a spot, Mr. Hawkins said. It also works against less affluent applicants, who may be unable to afford more than one deposit. So members of the admission counseling association advise against it, he said.
Today, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman, TD, launched the COVISION research project to help children and their communities around the world adjust to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

Funded by the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council, the project will explore the creative and innovative ways children have been responding to changes during the pandemic, and how their initiatives may help other children, particularly addressing their sense of safety, calm, hope, self-belief and connectedness.

The research team - which includes academics from UCD, Monash University, Australia, Ming Chuan University, Taiwan, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil, and the Universities of Alberta (Canada), Auckland (New Zealand), Edinburgh (Scotland), Maryland (US) and Melbourne (Australia), as well as national partners Children's Health Ireland and the office of the Ombudsman for Children - will explore strategies in the home and community, where children's creative and innovative responses have helped them and their friends and families adjust to changes caused by the pandemic.

It will also look at how children's actions may affect the ability of others in their community to adjust to changes, thereby allowing children to contribute to building community resilience during the pandemic and beyond.

For example, in countries around the world, children have impacted their local communities with public art displays including chalk pictures on pavements, paintings on stones in public parks, and poems, drawings and messages in the windows of their homes.

I am delighted to launch this significant initiative which aims not only to enhance the wellbeing of children and young people in the face of pandemic, but which also recognises the important contribution they make in their communities and families in helping to adjust to these challenges. This project will benefit children and their communities all over the world and it is heartening to see children and young people considered partners in the research, using the benefit of their creativity to co-design the research outputs, just as their creativity impacts and benefits society." Roderic O'Gorman, TD, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Also speaking at the launch and partner on the project, Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon said: "The Ombudsman for Children's Office encourages and promotes the inclusion of children at all levels. We want to hear from children and we want their views to be considered by decision makers. The COVISION Research Project is an embodiment of this approach, exploring how children have coped, or in many cases not coped, with the Covid-19 pandemic. The importance of their words and their input to this project will be wide-reaching and is something every adult in power should pay heed to.

"The initiative to bring together such a wide range of partners, and to gather the views and opinions of the children from every corner of the globe, is vital to helping each nation plan better and to dream bigger for our children. There is phenomenal expertise from Ireland, Brazil, Australia, US, Canada, Scotland, Taiwan and New Zealand and that means that what comes out of this research will represent a United Nations of opinions from children."

Leading the international collaboration, Dr Suja Somanadhan from UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems said: "The COVISION project seeks toenhance the wellbeing of children during and after the pandemic and promote a range of positive community responses.By recognising childrenas a group withrightsof equalvalue to those of adults and agents for promoting change, the COVISION project willharness their creative and innovative expertise to co-design and co-producepractical interventions."

The global project is the first of its kind to investigate children and young people's perspective through the collection of their reflections on creative outlets and processes as a result of and related to Covid-19 experiences. Children and young people aged 10-17 years of age from anywhere in the world are eligible to participate in the study.

All of the outputs from the project will be co-designed with the children and young people through participatory workshops to reflect their needs and priorities and to create accessible communications, including video, animation and comic strips.

Findings from the project will be made available through a website and a range of dissemination strategies coordinated through national and international research partners and networks so that children and communities around the world can benefit, particularly in economically disadvantaged regions.
On Thursday, the Belgian authorities reportedly said that the COVID-19 variant that is currently contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been detected in Belgium in a group of Indian students. These students arrived in Belgium from Paris.

As per media reports, in mid-April twenty nursing students have tested positive for the variant-- who arrived in Belgium from the French capital's Charles de Gaulle Airport. At present these students have been placed in quarantine centre in northern Belgium's Aalst and Leuven as they had been due to begin a training course.

According to several experts, the students must have been the victims of a "super-spreader". Either a member of their group or another passenger on the bus who brought them to Belgium from Paris might be the spreader.

A microbiologist Emmanuel Andre of the Catholic University of Leuven took to Twitter and said, "these students have been respecting strict isolation since their arrival. Currently, 20 students out of the 43 students are infected by the 'Indian variant."

The B.1.617 variant has already appeared elsewhere, including in the United States, Australia, Israel and Singapore. Concern about it has led some countries, including the UK, to slap travel restrictions on India.

Triple Mutation Strain Detected In 4 Indian States

An extremely potent triple mutation strain of Coronavirus is being detected across various states in the country. As per reports, the COVID-19 triple mutation strain also known as the B.1.618 has been detected across 4 states in India namely-- Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh. Triple mutation occurs when three different strains combine together to form a new variant. It is important to mention that the COVID-19 triple mutation strain is plasma therapy ineffective.

Triple Mutant COVID-19 Strain

As the virus gets more ground to replicate, often it experiences genetic mutations to become more immune to the environment and escape medicines to enable its spread. Even though most mutations dont cause any additional harm and dont show significant changes, others are. Triple mutant has three different strains that have combined together to form a fresh variant. One of the variants in triple mutation is E484K which is also identified as a major immune escape variant.

(Image Credits: PTI/PIXABAY/REPRESENTATIVEIMAGE)
E

very morning I receive a notification on my phone informing me of the number of Covid positive cases in India. Today it was 314,644  the worlds biggest-ever daily spike since the start of the pandemic last year.

I scroll through the numbers, latest news updates, take my dog for a walk and start my day. Its been like this for the last year now. My mind is unable to process the human tragedy that is unfolding all around us.

But it does make me angry  angry at the sheer incompetence and apathy of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Covid has devastated the country and exposed the governments hypocrisy. They carry on with their election rallies and hollow speeches when the entire health infrastructure is crumbling right in front of their eyes.

They invited hundreds of thousands of devotees to Maha Kumbh, one of the biggest religious Hindu festivals, even when the second wave was raging across India. And even when the health ministry had warned that it could become a superspreader event. We saw thousands of maskless people gathered together with no social distancing. Even today the union home minister, Mr Amit Shah is holding rallies across West Bengal. It is clear what their priority is: votes.

On my social media, I see desperate pleas for help from families of Covid positive patients looking for hospital beds, of dead bodies laying around crematoriums and graveyards, of people scrambling for oxygen cylinders. People, gasping literally, waiting outside hospitals for medicines. I saw a video of a couple on the news this week, the husband crying and begging outside a government-run hospital: My wife will die. I will hold your feet but please admit her. I beg you.

The 43 year old had already been turned away from three hospitals in Delhi. It is hard to watch news these days without feeling helpless. And angry.

Four of my very close friends are battling Covid-19 at this very moment. One has been hospitalised and her entire family has tested positive. She has a five year old who has nowhere to go. Three of my colleagues are also battling Covid.

Another friend lost both her parents to the virus recently, within 10 days of each other. She texted me: Dude, this new wave is really triggering me. Im losing my mind. I didnt have any words of encouragement for her. I told her, stay away from news if you can, and continued doom-scrolling myself.

On my Instagram, too, there are frantic calls for help from strangers being shared widely. Even influencers who continued making money throughout the pandemic last year, thanks to their shout outs to brands, are now posting stories highlighting Covid resources. It is a shame that in a country like India, which is considered an economic superpower, citizens have to rely on strangers on the internet rather than the government.

I wish we didnt live in a world where the prime minister of the country refuses to take any press conferences and hence refuses any real accountability. In his recent address to the nation, which was just full of platitudes, Modi urged youngsters baal mitre he called them  to make sure that their family members stay indoors during the pandemic.

In a parallel universe, probably unknown to him, people lost their lives to the deadly virus and were left to fend for themselves. While the prime minister must have had his dinner post speech, I shudder to think how many must have gone looking for cremation wood and burial space. The grief is unimaginable.

People who lost their loved ones to Covid have gone silent. And are watching the terrible human cost of poor policies of the government and collapsed infrastructure. A 65-year-old journalist recently lost his life waiting for help as he live-tweeted about his deteriorating health due to Covid. No one came to his rescue. No is coming to our rescue. As I write this, Mr Shah is addressing an election rally in West Bengal.

The situation in smaller cities and towns is possibly even worse. The numbers we hear everyday are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Recent reports also suggested that there is massive under reporting of Covid deaths in the country. A news report I read recently said that in Gujarat in western India, the gas and firewood furnaces [used for cremations] have been running non-stop during the pandemic, so much so that their metal parts have started melting.

We have not even begun to talk about the mental and emotional toll this pandemic has taken on the people who work in the funeral services.

However, sometimes I feel a flicker of hope in spite of apathy of the government. I feel like it has all come down to the youth of the country. They are making toolkits for families of Covid patients. Others have started going for grocery runs for their Covid-positive neighbours.

Communities are helping each other. Strangers are amplifying pleas for help. But in spite of the mutual aid and solidarity we are seeing in action, it is sadly not enough. It is a shame that people have to do this for their fellow citizens. We already pay taxes. It is the prime ministers job.

Meanwhile, a certain ennui has set in. No news is uplifting these days. Oxygen cylinder leaks in Maharashtra killing 22. There is a shortage of oxygen in hospitals. Pregnant women have nowhere to go. Covid patients are dying in hospital parking spaces.

I read the news and think of pre-Covid normal mornings. I eat my breakfast of tasteless toast and omelette, while my dog sits at my feet. I throw her the crumbs and half of that omelette. And make myself another cup of coffee.
GREENVILLE  The property management company for a long-established subsidized apartment complex is being sued after residents claim discriminatory background checks that in multiple cases involved inaccurate or incomplete information.

The legal action involves the Belle Meade apartment community, which until recently was known as Fleetwood Manor, in a predominantly low-income area of southern Greenville County.

The lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in Greenville by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of five residents who claim that, after an ownership change, background checks once meant to screen new residents began to apply to residents who in some cases lived there for years.

The suit asks for an injunction against the complex's screening process and for damages on behalf of plaintiffs affected by the policy, which is alleged to be in violation of federal housing guidelines.

The property management company named in the action, Denver-based Monroe Property Group, did not respond to requests on April 22 by The Post and Courier for comment.

According to the lawsuit, the actions began soon after a new company bought the complex in summer 2019 and applied for $11 million in federal money to complete renovations of the residences that were first built in 1979.

The background checks involved a software program that created something called a "LeasingDesk Screening" report.

The report set aside a blank space to denote how a criminal charge was disposed, but in the cases listed in the suit the space remained blank and no effort made to determine if a conviction occurred. In some of the cases, the charges were dismissed or greatly reduced.

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According to the suit, the criminal-charge policy applied to any family member living in the apartment unit to ever be convicted of a crime, no matter how long ago. That policy led to one case where a resident was told to leave because a child with a criminal history had lived there; that child had since moved out.

The policy allowed a resident to dispute the eviction action, but the only ones to prevail, the suit alleges, were those who secured legal counsel. In multiple cases, the complex management wouldn't provide complete details of the screening report, according to the lawsuit. This meant that during a pandemic that created a crisis in paying rent and finding employment, disproportionately Black and underprivileged residents were told they had to move.

These policies would deny housing to people who were never convicted of a crime or were convicted of a minor offense long before they lived at Belle Meade, said Adam Protheroe, a litigation attorney with S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Screening policies of this kind arent based on facts or research about who would be a good tenant. Theyre based on fear, misunderstanding and prejudice.

The suit comes as Greenville County faces an affordable housing crisis, where the median cost for rent is $918 a month even as more than 41 percent of 62,747 renter households have income below $35,000 per year.

That means a household with income based on minimum wage can afford housing costs of $378 monthly, and if based on disability, $231 per month.

A 2018 study conducted by Greenville County found a shortage of more than 9,000 affordable units and the need to add more than 500 units each year to keep pace with demand.

The Belle Meade owners have a contract with the federal government through 2039.
(JTA)  In the years following the reckonings with sexual harassment and assault prompted by the #MeToo movement, there has been debate over the correct communal response to those accused of sexual misconduct and whether perpetrators should be pushed to the edges of a community.

Questions of sin, quarantine and repentance are central to this weeks Torah portion, Tazria-Metzora, prompted by the rules surrounding the metzora, a person afflicted with tzaarat. Sometimes translated as leprosy, tzaraat is a skin disease that, per the description in this weeks portion, can also aff...
Spouses of troops killed in the duty often face a grim penalty if they remarry: they lose their government-granted survivor benefits. Two veterans serving in Congress say that needs to change.

Under current law, "Gold Star" spouses lose their Survivor Benefit Plan benefits if they remarry before turning 55. They also lose their Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits if they remarry before turning 57.

But a new bill, the Captain James C. Edge Gold Star Spouse Equity Act, introduced Thursday by Reps. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., would remove such age limits.

Waltz is a National Guard colonel and Green Beret who served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. Moulton is a Marine veteran who led an infantry platoon during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and served four tours there.

Read Next: Monument Honoring US Soldiers Lost in 1962 Plane Crash to Be Unveiled in Maine

"These arbitrary age limits are completely nonsensical and only punishes those who forever mourn the loss of their spouse," Waltz said Friday in a news release.

Moulton said the nation owes a debt to Gold Star families that cannot be repaid, and the remarriage penalty must be eliminated.

"When Americans sign up to serve in the military, they should know the American people have their backs," Moulton said. "If they sacrifice their lives for our country, the least our country can do is take care of their families."

The Survivor Benefit Plan pays the surviving spouse of a service member who dies on active duty 55% of what the service member's retirement pay would have been, if he or she had retired at 100% disability at the time of death.

Surviving spouses of retirees could still lose SBP benefits if they remarry before age 55, as they are not covered under the legislation.

The Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefit is a monthly payment of $1,357.56 that the Department of Veterans Affairs pays to eligible survivors of active-duty service members who died in the line of duty, and survivors of veterans whose deaths are deemed service-related.

The advocacy group Gold Star Wives of America supports the bill.

"Making it possible for these surviving spouses to be able to move forward without losing financial benefits honors the commitment that we have to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice," Nancy Menagh, president of Gold Star Wives of America, said in the release.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: New Law Will Give Gold Star Families Free Park Access
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- FirstEnergy Corp. officials are discussing cutting a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid possible criminal charges as part of the ongoing House Bill 6 bribery probe, the company disclosed on Thursday in a new regulatory filing.

The company wrote that its begun discussing whats called a deferred prosecution agreement, through which a company can take actions, like paying a fine and cooperating with an investigation, to avoid being criminally charged.

The company wrote that since the talks are preliminary, FirstEnergy cannot currently predict the timing, the outcome, or the impact of a possible resolution of this ongoing investigation.

A company spokeswoman declined to comment. FirstEnergy disclosed its talks with the feds in its 2021 first-quarter financial report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Company executives are expected to field questions from financial analysts in a conference call on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Ohio, which is leading the prosecution, declined to comment.

Its not uncommon for corporations facing criminal charges to enter into deferred prosecution agreements to avoid being charged. Commonwealth Edison Company, an Illinois utility, entered into one in 2020 to settle bribery allegations, agreeing to pay a $200 million fine. Simultaneously, the DOJ filed a single criminal charge against ComEd, agreeing to dismiss it after three years if the company fully cooperated with its investigation.

FirstEnergy has not been charged or officially accused of wrongdoing so far in the HB6 bribery probe. But federal prosecutors in court filings have made clear they think the company and its affiliates paid $61 million in bribes to former House Speaker Larry Householder and his allies. The money, paid through a political group prosecutors said Householder secretly controlled, was spent to help Householder gain his leadership position and to help push the bill into law.

In exchange, Householder agreed to help the company pass HB6, which was to have sent more than $1 billion to two Ohio nuclear plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary.

As part of the federal investigation, Householder and four others who helped with a campaign to pass House Bill 6 were arrested and charged with racketeering.

Householder has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Two others charged in the probe -- Jeff Longstreth, who was Householders top political aide, and Juan Cespedes, a lobbyist hired by Energy Harbor, the former FirstEnergy subsidiary that owns the nuclear plants, have pleaded guilty. Generation Now, a pro-Householder political group, also pleaded guilty.

In a chain of events triggered by the HB6 probe, FirstEnergy in October fired its then-CEO, Chuck Jones, and two other top company executives after the company said it discovered a more than $4 million payment made to an entity associated with someone who shortly thereafter became a state energy regulator.

Ohio officials have said that person matches the description of Sam Randazzo, whom Gov. Mike DeWIne hired in January 2019 to run the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Randazzo quit in November, shortly after FirstEnergy disclosed the payment and days after the FBI raided his house in Columbus.

The company has said in disclosures that the $4 million payment led to that regulator acting at the request or for the benefit of FirstEnergy as a consequence of receiving such payment.

FirstEnergy also has said its reviewing what it called improper expenditures that were charged to its customers, including the $4 million payment to the state regulator.

Ohio lawmakers have acted this year to dismantle key components of HB6, including rescinding the $1 billion payment after Energy Harbor, the former FirstEnergy subsidiary, said it didnt need the money anymore.
TikTok users have criticised a new trend on the platform for being antisemitic.

The trend uses the Expressify filter to exaggerate their facial features, while also singing If I Were A Rich Man from the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

One TikTok user said the combination reminded them of the infamous, antisemitic Jew-bwa-ha-ha.gif.

A lot of [people] are making jokes about money and greed, and  one person [was] calling themselves a goblin, another said.

People have been using the sound to mock nigun, which is a Jewish traditional form of singing that usually uses repetitive sounds rather than traditional lyrics.

On another video, a user had posted the caption: Hey, maybe stop mocking traditional Jewish forms of musical expression! Thanks.

The song seems to have risen in popularity on TikTok recently due to its sampling by Gwen Stefani in her songRich Girl. To a lot of people, the only palatable version of the song is [this version], where they take out all cultural references to Judaism  and makes the entire song about capitalism, another user explained.

When you are making fun of how this song sounds, you are making fun of Jewish culture.

The Expressify filter has been used on 85,000 videos, according to TikTok. The ifiwerearichman hashtag has been used on 4.5 million videos, while the fiddlerontheroof hashtag has been used 8.9 million videos.

"TikTok's mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy and we do not tolerate content, including trends, that promote anti-semitism and hateful behavior. We are committed to promoting a safe community environment and remove content that violates our Community Guidelines, the company told The Independent. It also said the trend went against the companys community guidelines and that it had removed the trend since it was first reported in this newspaper.

This is not the only instance where TikTok has been used to spread antisemitic content. A report from The Independent showed that conspiracy theories about George Soros and the Rothschilds received millions of views despite the companys restrictions.

TikTok challenges have also had consequences for users, ranging from the relatively inconsequential to the gravely serious.

The Dont search this up trend saw users sharing innocuous videos where they tell views not to look up a specific TikTok user  as their profile image is revealed to have pornographic or gory content in it.

A 12-year-old boy also died after taking part in the "blackout challenge" on TikTok that calls for people to choke themselves until they become unconscious.
Thirteen COVID-19 patients died in a blaze at the intensive care unit of a private in Palghar district of on Friday, police said.

There were 90 patients in the hospital, 18 of them in ICU when the fire broke out after a blast in the AC unit, an official said. The dead include five women and eight men.

TV visuals showed the smoke-filled ICU in a disarray after the blaze, with the ceiling falling off in some places, beds and other furniture strewn around and kin of the deceased wailing outside the

The fire broke out in the ICU on the second floor of the four-storeyed Vijay Vallabh at Virar shortly after 3 am, an official said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at 5.20 am, he added.

There were 18 patients in the ICU when the fire broke out, the official said. Five patients were rescued and shifted to other hospitals in the area, he added.

The other patients in the hospital were not affected as the damage was confined to the ICU, he added.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered a probe into the tragedy, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said.

Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya said authorities should check if there was a fire safety audit of the hospital, which is over 50 km from

The tragedy comes two days after 22 COVID-19 patients who were either on ventilator or oxygen support, suffocated to death when their oxygen supply stopped suddenly due to a malfunction in the main storage at a civic hospital in Nashik.

District Disaster Control Cell chief Vivekanand Kadam told PTI that the Virar hospital fire was preceded by an explosion in the AC unit of the intensive care unit.

Relatives of the deceased reached the hospital soon after hearing of the incident and demanded that stringent action be taken against those responsible for the tragedy.

Ten infants were killed in a fire that broke out at a special newborn care unit of the Bhandara district hospital in on January 9. Seventeen infants, aged one to three months, were admitted to the ward at the time of the tragedy.

A fire broke out in Mumbai's Dreams Mall, which housed a Covid-designated hospital on its third floor, in the intervening night of March 25-26. The fire, which raged for over 40 hours, claimed nine lives, including those of patients on ventilator support.
YEREVAN.  At the invitation of National Assembly (NA) speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, a Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) delegation, led by PARLACEN president Fanny Carolina Salinas Fernandez, has arrived in Armenia to attend the commemoration ceremonies for the Armenian Genocide victims.

Also, the aforesaid delegation will also have meetings with representatives of the legislative and executive bodies of Armenia, the NA informed NEWS.am.

Within the framework of thus visit, it is planned to also sign an agreement on interparliamentary cooperation between the National Assembly and the Central American Parliament.
Becki Gray, writing at the Carolina Journal reports:

We are a generous and giving people. We exercise our First Amendment rights to support causes and ideas we believe in by donating our hard-earned money. But some actions by the federal government threaten those rights and state lawmakers are prepared to act now to protect North Carolinians freedom of speech.

Americans gave $449 Billion to charities in 2019, 69% from individual donors.

As you would expect, wealthy people give but the vast majority of giving comes from average folks with moderate incomes, just like you and me. Sixty percent of American households support causes they believe in, giving between $2,000  $3,000 each year.

North Carolina ranks 14th in charitable giving according to WalletHubs Most Charitable States for 2021. North Carolinians gave $45 million to nearly 40,000 charities in our state last year, according to the 2019-20 NC Charitable Solicitation Licensing Annual Report. Keep in mind that is more than the previous year and during the early, and economically uncertain days of the pandemic.

Donating to charities is a way many of us support causes we believe in. Non-profit organizations play an important role in advocating, educating, and leading discussions on ideas to promote a civil society, whether its groups like The John Locke Foundation, ACLU, Sierra Club, or the National Rifle Association. Charities serve their communities special needs, often supplementing what government does or filling needs it cant do; everything from the faith-based community to the Humane Society, to Toys for Tots, Food Banks to the arts. Non-profits give voice to the communities they serve and allow us to lend greater influence through a collective voice of supporters. We are all richer when those who chose to, give.

Giving is a way to exercise freedom of speech and that freedom is protected under the First Amendment of our Constitution.

Or is it?

During the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s, Alabama tried to force the NAACP to report the names and addresses of its supporters. The NAACP feared that should their donors information be disclosed, they would be subject to harassment, intimidation, and violence. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed and ruled that donations to private organizations can remain private to protect those donors safety.

But lately and in these times when everything seems politcized, those protections are at risk.

In 2015 in Colorado Springs CO, a Planned Parenthood clinic was the site of a shooting that killed three people and wounded nine others. The shooter was against womens reproductive rights. Imagine if the law in Colorado had required Planned Parenthood to publish the names and addresses of their supports and that man had known who they were and where they lived.

Margie Christoffen was a waitress in California. As a private citizen, she gave $100 to a group that supported a ballot initiative to ban gay marriage. She never made her politics or religious views public, but her donation showed up on a government list and her name was made public. The restaurant where she worked was picketed and boycotted, protestors caused disruption to the restaurants business. She lost her job. Others on the list reported harassing calls, emails, and mailings. One email threatened to contact the parents of students where a supporter worked. Others received death threats, were forced to resign their jobs, lost customers, and found their businesses boycotted. California has disclosure laws that have subjected citizens to harassment and targeted threats simply for exercising their First Amendment rights.

The Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter in Atlanta houses more than 600 men, women, and children each night. They provide a wide range of services, including finding permanent shelter for homeless individuals and families. Atlanta officials had targeted the shelter for closure, planning to seize the land to build a police/fire station on the site. In 2014, the shelter fell behind on its water bill and several anonymous donors contributed enough towards the $580,000 bill to pay it off. The shelters director explained why the donors wished to remain anonymous: Any time a donor appears and is public with us, that donor gets attacked.

Would you be as likely to give if your name and donation were disclosed without your knowledge?

Should a donation to something you believe in subject you to harassment, job loss, being canceled, or even threatening you and your familys safety and well-being?

H.R. 1, a lengthy bill introduced in Congress would force disclosure of donors to a nonprofit organization. Across the country, 200 bills have been introduced in state legislatures that would violate citizen privacy by forcing disclosure of small-dollar donors. NC should enact protections against donor disclosure now.

Your donation should be kept private, and your First Amendment rights should be protected. Thats what a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the General Assembly are trying to do  protect citizen privacy. Senate Bill 636 would make non-profit donor information confidential and prohibit public servants, legislators, and state employees from disclosing confidential information gained in the course of their official activities.

In a national poll, people agreed, donor privacy is important. Seventy-three percent of registered voters agree the government has no right to know what groups or organizations they decide to support. SB636 has bipartisan support because this is not a partisan issue. Eighty-one percent of Republicans and 93% of Democrats believe we must protect the ability of all Americans to come together in support of each others right to donor privacy.

The Bottom Line

With donor privacy, people are able to give to causes they believe in without the threat that their personal beliefs will be made public without their consent. They ought not to live in fear of harassment or intimidation just because they exercise their freedom of speech. People should not be discouraged from giving and the important work that non-profits do should not be discouraged or hampered.

The role of government is to protect freedom, not take it away. Every American and every North Carolinian has the right to support causes they believe in without fear of retribution, intimidation, threats, or harassment. Freedom of speech and First Amendment rights should be protected regardless of perspective or background. We are fortunate to have leaders who recognize the need for citizen privacy and are working this legislative session to protect our rights. We are all richer for it.
International

ASEAN to address Myanmars post-coup crisis

Anti-coup protesters march on a street with banner read  What we are? We are Yangon! People!, during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP/PTI)

Bangkok, Apr 23 (AP) | Publish Date: 4/23/2021 12:26:34 PM IST

When the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations holds a special summit Saturday to discuss Myanmar, the regional body will be under as much scrutiny as the general who led the February coup ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Opponents of the junta are furious that ASEAN is welcoming its chief, Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, to its meeting in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, arguing that because he seized power by force, he is not Myanmars legitimate leader. Also weighing heavily against him is the lethal violence perpetrated by the security forces he commands, responsible for killing hundreds of largely peaceful protesters and bystanders.

Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international sanctions for his role in military atrocities and the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, should not be welcomed at an intergovernmental gathering to address a crisis he created, said Brad Adams, Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

ASEAN members should instead take this opportunity to impose targeted, economic sanctions on junta leaders and on businesses that fund the junta, and press the junta to release political detainees, end abuses, and restore the countrys democratically elected government.

The juntas foes have promoted the idea that the oppositions parallel National Unity Government, recently established by the elected lawmakers the army barred from being seated, should represent Myanmar, or at least have some role in the Jakarta meeting. It has not been invited.

Its unacceptable that they invite this murderer-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, who has just killed more than 730 people in Myanmar, and I think it is very unfortunate that they, again and again, talk to the military generals and not to the civilian government of Myanmar, which is the NUG, says the parallel governments Minister of International Cooperation, Dr Sasa, who uses one name.

Evan Laksmana, a researcher for Indonesias Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank with close government ties, told The Associated Press there is a very practical reason for engaging Min Aung Hlaing face to face.

ASEAN recognises the reality is that one party is doing the violence, which is the military, and therefore thats why the military is being called to the meeting. So this is not in any way conferring legitimacy to the military regime, he said.

By talking to the general, ASEAN hopes to initiate a longer term framework process, starting with ending the violence, that will hopefully help facilitate dialogue among all the stakeholders in Myanmar, not just (with) the military regime.

Skeptics feel ASEAN faces more basic problems in seeking to resolve Myanmars crisis. They point to the divergent interests of the groups members, its longstanding conventions of seeking consensus and avoiding interference in each others affairs, and the historic obstinacy of Myanmars generals.

One faction in the group, comprising Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, believes the instability engendered by the coup threatens the entire region as well as ASEANs credibility as a group powerful enough to act independently of big power influence.

They also point out that the ASEAN Charter  adopted in 2007, 40 years after the groups founding  includes democracy, human rights, good governance and rule of law as guiding principles.

Now is a grave time for ASEANs much-touted centrality, the idea that ASEAN is a central regional platform for regional dialogue, for promoting peace and stability in the region, said Prof. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkoks Chulalongkorn University. He said that conception of ASEAN is now facing its most severe, grave challenge in 53 years of existence.

Member countries with more authoritarian regimes  Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam  see little benefit in paying more than lip service to such principles, and have treated Myanmars crisis as its own internal matter.

The Jakarta meeting is a hybrid one, with onsite attendance encouraged but virtual participation by video an option because of the coronavirus pandemic. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte both announced they will stay home and send their foreign ministers in their stead, but they are dealing with serious COVID-19 outbreaks, obscuring any political message in their decisions.

It is more difficult to communicate on a personal level between the leaders without the leaders being present fully, particularly with regards to the prime minister of Thailand, whom we believe to have the best relationship with the current senior general from Myanmar, observed Indonesias Laksmana.

He believes ASEAN has a unique opportunity to engage productively with Myanmars ruling junta because right now there is no other option on the table.

We havent seen any progress from the UN Security Council, for example. There is no collective effort by other countries. This is it. This is the first potential breakthrough for the current crisis, he told The Associated Press.
The healthcare industry remains a prime target for cybercriminals. In 2020, more than 29 million healthcare records were breacheda 25% increase over 2019, according to the HIPAA Journal.

These sorts of statistics keep healthcare security leaders awake at night.

Like all healthcare institutions, we are particularly vulnerable because medical records go for a premium price on the dark web, says Dr. Sam Amirfar, CIO of the Brooklyn Hospital Center.

Ever since Bitcoin took off and there became a way to anonymously pay ransoms, it has been much more difficult to secure our data, he adds.

Thats why the hospital center turned to Cisco for help.

Threat response in action

The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York has been serving its community for more than 175 years. In addition to primary and specialized care, it is a teaching institution and is still growing.

Were in the middle of a major transformation that includes a new emergency department, dialysis clinic, and state-of-the-art facility that will help us meet the needs of our community for many years to come, Amirfar says.

In addition, theyre connecting imaging technology and Internet of Things (IoT) devices to improve and speed patient care. Amid this growth, change, and the coronavirus pandemic, the last thing the hospital needed to worry about was data security.

Because the stakes are so high and threats are more sophisticated than ever, we need constant monitoring of our systems, Amirfar says.

The hospital deployed Cisco Managed Detection and Response (MDR), a managed security service that monitors and detects threats in the network, cloud, and endpoints. MDR combines an elite team of researchers, investigators, and responders with integrated threat intelligence. It also includes the latest threat research from Cisco Talos.

One of the best things about the Cisco MDR service is that it does a lot of the heavy lifting for us, so we can concentrate on our mission and innovation versus trying to be the best at security, Amirfar says.

The implementation took about two weeks and was seamless, with immediate results.

We got to see the accelerated threat response in action one Saturday night, he says, when we received an alert for what appeared to be a legitimate breach. It turned out to be a false alarm, but he says it was reassuring to know that Cisco MDR caught it so quickly.

In one month the hospitals security operations center (SOC) logged 148 million raw security events. Of those, 248 were identified by Cisco analysts as warranting further investigation, but less than one-third were passed along with expert guidance to Amirfars team for final resolution.

A safe and healthy future

The Brooklyn Hospital Centers CTO, James Safonov, also cites greater visibility as a significant benefit. The institution has 30,000 IP addresses and endpoints on its network every day.

Before, it was a constant struggle to keep up, Safonov says. Now we have greater visibility across the network, cloud, and endpoints and can respond to attacks faster than ever.

Now we can focus on what matters most: Keeping Brooklyn Healthy, Amirfar says.

Learn more about Cisco MDR.
The defence ministry has decided to airlift 23 mobile oxygen generating plants from Germany as several states reeled under an acute shortage of medical oxygen due to a massive surge in cases, officials said Friday.

They said each plant will have a capacity to produce 40 litres of oxygen per minute and 2,400 litres every hour.

Principal Spokesperson in the Defence Ministry A Bharat Bhushan Babu said the plants will be deployed in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

The decision by the ministry came four days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced granting emergency financial powers to the three services and other defence agencies to make necessary procurement to enhance medical infrastructure in view of the pandemic.

"Twenty-three mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany. These will be deployed in AFMS hospitals catering to the COVID patients," Babu said.

He said the oxygen generating plants are expected to be airlifted within a week.

Another official said the Indian Air Force has been told to remain ready to keep its transport aircraft ready to bring the plants from Germany once required paper works are completed.

The official said more oxygen generation plants may be procured from abroad.

"The advantage of these plants is that they are easily portable," said Babu.

India is struggling with a second wave of infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under shortage of medical oxygen and beds in view of rising COVID-19 cases.

India recorded a one-day tally of 3.32 lakh new cases and 2,263 new fatalities, according to official data released on Friday.

(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.)
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) The European Union and Switzerland should be able to find the required compromises to conclude an institutional framework agreement aimed at simplifying ties between Brussels and Bern, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Friday.

Ahead of a day of talks with Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Brussels, von der Leyen said that negotiating teams from both sides had been in talks since January.

"I'm very much looking forward to taking stock today with President Parmelin on the basis of the discussions which our teams have been conducting since January," von der Leyen said in a press statement.

The president of the European Commission noted that Swiss officials had asked for clarification on the rules governing the free movement of persons, state aid, and pay rules, adding that both parties would need to be flexible to get the deal over the line.

"The European Union has listened very closely to the Swiss position on these subjects. In any negotiations, the last lap is the most difficult to complete. I do, however, think that it should be possible to find compromises and conclude our institutional framework agreement, we just need some flexibility on both sides," von der Leyen added.

Currently, relations between the EU and Switzerland are guided by a series of bilateral accords, which Brussels wishes to replace with a single overarching framework.

A draft framework deal was negotiated between 2014 and 2018, although Brussels and Bern have been locked in a stalemate over the final terms of the agreement following Swiss domestic criticism of the draft deal.
Destinations



Riviera Nayarit Committed to Visitors' Health & Safety



In light of Riviera Nayarit's upgrade to green on Mexico's Traffic Light COVID-19 monitoring system, all businesses are currently operating at 70 percent, which includes the destination's hotels, tours and beaches. UPDATE: Due to an uptick in cases, on April 26, the State of Nayarit moved from green (low risk) to yellow (medium risk) in Mexico's Traffic Light COVID-19 monitoring system.



Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico - In the wake of the U.S. State Department's decision to expand the



"This update does not imply a reassessment of current health situations in the countries but is an adjustment in the State Department's travel advisory system to better align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the Riviera Nayarit Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) said.



The state of Nayarit was recently upgraded to green in Mexico's Traffic Light COVID-19 monitoring system, "which reflects the great improvement in the management of the virus in the destination," the CVB said, emphasizing that the "State Department update is not a travel restriction."



In light of Riviera Nayarit's upgrade to green, all businesses and organizations are currently operating at 70 percent, which includes the destination's hotels, beaches and tours.



"We are proud of the progress made in the destination in regard to the management of containing the virus," said Marc Murphy, managing director for the Riviera Nayarit CVB. "We want to reassure travelers that their wellbeing, health and safety remains our top priority and all rigorous safety measures are in place to do so."



The Riviera Nayarit is a safe destination. Hotels, restaurants, and tourist establishments follow all the health protocols established by the Federal Government's Ministry of Health and operate at the allowed capacities. Access to the beaches is limited. Be a responsible tourist: wear your mask and keep your distance.



Original article Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico - In the wake of the U.S. State Department's decision to expand the Do Not Travel list to 80 percent of countries, Riviera Nayarit is underscoring its commitment to the health and safety of its visitors."This update does not imply a reassessment of current health situations in the countries but is an adjustment in the State Department's travel advisory system to better align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the Riviera Nayarit Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) said.The state of Nayarit was recently upgraded to green in Mexico's Traffic Light COVID-19 monitoring system, "which reflects the great improvement in the management of the virus in the destination," the CVB said, emphasizing that the "State Department update is not a travel restriction."In light of Riviera Nayarit's upgrade to green, all businesses and organizations are currently operating at 70 percent, which includes the destination's hotels, beaches and tours."We are proud of the progress made in the destination in regard to the management of containing the virus," said Marc Murphy, managing director for the Riviera Nayarit CVB. "We want to reassure travelers that their wellbeing, health and safety remains our top priority and all rigorous safety measures are in place to do so."The Riviera Nayarit is a safe destination. Hotels, restaurants, and tourist establishments follow all the health protocols established by the Federal Government's Ministry of Health and operate at the allowed capacities. Access to the beaches is limited. Be a responsible tourist: wear your mask and keep your distance.



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Arizona News

Tucson, Arizona - Donald Hugh Nichols, 62, of Coolidge, Arizona, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson to 41 months in prison. Nichols previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Between 2013 and August 2017, Nichols, with the help of his son, engaged in a scheme to steal cattle from the Marana Stockyards and Livestock Market, an entity which hosts weekly livestock auctions for Arizona ranchers. As a cattle broker for third-party buyers, Nichols also illegally bid on his own cattle without the buyers knowledge or consent. Some of the cattle that Nichols purchased on behalf of third-party buyers were stolen from Marana Stockyards. As a result of these fraud schemes, Marana Stockyards suffered over $1 million in losses.

Nichols son, Seth Nichols, previously pleaded guilty for his role, and was sentenced in December 2018 to 60 months in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. The U.S. Attorneys Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER: CR18-01684-CKJ-BGM

RELEASE NUMBER: 2021-028_Nichols
As states expand covid-19 vaccine eligibility to allow shots for 16- and 17-year-olds, teens in rural America may have trouble getting them.

Of the three vaccines authorized in the U.S., currently only one can go to that age group: the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. That vaccine comes in 1,170-dose packages at minimum and expires after five days in a fridge, meaning too many doses on too tight a deadline for many rural communities to manage.

"We're still trying to get people to accept the vaccine," said Aurelia Jones-Taylor, CEO of Aaron E. Henry Community Health Services Center, which serves remote regions of the Mississippi Delta. "If we have to race to give out 1,100 doses in five days, thats untenable."

Some health experts say vaccinating children  more than a fifth of the nation's population  is key to ending the pandemic. In the meantime, pressure is mounting to get vaccines out as health officials flag more surges of cases, this time with more contagious variants that seem to affect kids more than the initial virus strain that coursed through the U.S.

"The infection can continue to spread until we get everyone in the population vaccinated, and that includes younger individuals," said Gypsyamber DSouza, an epidemiologist with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The logistical challenges of eventually getting the shots to rural kids of all ages will likely continue, at least in the short term. That's because the companies behind the sole vaccine with approval for 16- and 17-year-olds, Pfizer and BioNTech, have also been the first to seek federal approval to vaccinate younger ages after a trial showed the vaccine was effective in kids 12 through 15 years old. Pfizer spokesperson Steve Danehy said the company hopes to win regulatory approval for that age group before the start of the next school year.

For some families, the shots are so coveted that they'll travel whatever distance it takes. Dr. Jeannette Wagner Waldron, 45, of Park County, Montana, said the closest place she was able to find a vaccine for her 17-year-old daughter, Julie Waldron, was Billings, which meant a nearly four-hour round trip to a CVS pharmacy there for the teen's first shot.

"Im more than willing to drive two hours to get my kiddos vaccinated," Wagner Waldron said. "They've given up a lot, from their activities and seeing their friends, in order to protect people from the virus."

Not everyone can travel that far for vaccines once, let alone twice to get both doses. Compound that with some reluctance in rural communities to get vaccinated at all. A recent KFF survey showed a larger share of rural residents  21%  said they wouldn't get a covid vaccine compared with urban and suburban respondents. That could mean not enough remaining demand for vaccines to use up a 1,170-dose Pfizer package in rural communities. Even if the demand exists, rural health departments may not have enough workers to administer the doses fast enough.

Karen Sullivan, health officer for the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department, said Butte will serve as the main vaccine base for 16- and 17-year-olds across five counties in southwestern Montana that together cover as much area as all of Maryland. She said she's worried that delivering Pfizer shots to each community could risk wasting doses, but her department may make a new plan if too many people can't get to Butte.

Health officials there have been trying to convince teenagers and their guardians the shots are safe and worth traveling for since Montana opened covid vaccines to everyone 16 and older April 1. Butte-Silver Bow's new vaccine campaign includes sharing photos of the area's school mascots getting the jab and raffle prizes for those who get vaccines.

"What were trying to do is get ahead of the variants," Sullivan said. "We can't get our 16- and 17-year-olds vaccinated fast enough, in my mind."

Finding Pfizer vaccines can be challenging even in cities, which serve as medical hubs for rural communities. To help with that, some providers have set up online covid vaccine registration systems specifically for 16- and 17-year-olds, such as one through Stanford Children's Health for clinics around San Jose, California.

In Mississippi, Jones-Taylor said her center hopes to reach kids through school-based and mobile outreach clinics. But she said that depends on either the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine, each of which have minimum shipments of 100 doses, gaining regulatory approval for minors. Both manufacturers are testing how their shots work in children.

The Children's Health Fund, a national nonprofit, has advocated for the "continued urgent inclusion of children of all ages in vaccine trials" and for prioritizing a single-dose, easy-to-store vaccine.

Dr. Cody Meissner, a pediatrician on the vaccine advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration, questions the rush to extend the vaccines to younger ages without more time to study potential impacts, adding that children so far have been less likely to transmit the virus or die from an infection.

The debate over whether to vaccinate younger kids as a means to end the pandemic may soon be moot, though, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco. She pointed to a recent study out of Israel  a nation ahead of the rest of the world in its vaccine effort  which showed that infection rates declined even without immunizing children younger than 16. That study has yet to be peer-reviewed.

"We may get to herd immunity without vaccinating all kids," Gandhi said. "But as long as it's a safe vaccine, the more people that get it, the more people that develop immunity, the better."

Back in Park County, which has a population of fewer than 17,000, health officials have seen an increase in covid cases among younger people in recent weeks, some tied to middle and high school sports.

Dr. Laurel Desnick, county health officer, said the county set up vaccine clinics in high schools by working with the state and neighboring counties to split up a shipment of Pfizer vaccines, though that took time to organize. Until mid-April, the county directed 16- and 17-year-olds like Julie Waldron to a county more than 100 miles away for a shot.

"Some of our kids could do it, but not all," Desnick said. "The further you are from a big center, the harder this gets. We're rural, but were also not as remote as many of the central or eastern Montana counties, and I feel for them."

For Ava Braham, who turned 16 two days before Montana expanded eligibility to her age, a vaccine clinic in her Park County school means she missed only 20 minutes of class to get her shotthis month instead of having to drive more than 50 miles round trip over a mountain pass.

"The biggest thing for me with the vaccine is being able to see my family more often. Both of my grandparents have already gotten the shot, but I will feel more comfortable visiting them," Braham said. "It's sort of a moral obligation to help the whole country and the world to just get the shot."
US President Joe Biden will embark on his first overseas trip in office in June, the White House has announced, with the aim of demonstrating his administrations commitment to the transatlantic alliance and re-engagement with key allies.

Mr Biden will attend the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, England, set for June 11-13, followed by a visit to Brussels, where he will hold meetings with the European Union leadership and attend the June 14 summit of leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

Earlier this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that while other stops may be added to the President's itinerary, there are no plans currently in place for him to visit Ireland.

The meetings with the United States closest allies come as Mr Biden has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit in the coming months in a third country, though no date has yet been set.

Most recent American presidents have selected North American neighbours for their first cross-border trips, though former president Donald Trump, whose penchant for unilateral action and open scepticism of the Nato alliance unsettled American allies, made his first overseas stop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

For Mr Biden, the first trip is meant to turn the page from Mr Trumps approach to alliances.

Its both a practical chance to connect with key allies and partners on shared opportunities and challenges, said Yohannes Abraham, the chief of staff and executive secretary of the National Security Council, in an interview with the AP.

But also its an illustration of something that the president has been clear about that the transatlantic alliance is back, that revitalising it is a key priority of his, and that the transatlantic relationship is a strong foundation on which our collective security and shared prosperity are built.

Mr Biden, for his part, held virtual bilateral meetings with the leaders of Canada and Mexico in February and March respectively.

The June trip will follow after Mr Bidens first in-person bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the White House last week and next months planned visit by President Moon Jae-in of South Korea.

In Cornwall, Mr Biden will hold bilateral meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other leaders.

He will hold additional one-on-one meetings in Brussels with Nato allies, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

This trip will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalising the transatlantic relationship, and working in close co-operation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure Americas interests, she said in a statement.

President Joe Biden with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in the Rose Garden of the White House (Andrew Harnik/AP)

The announcement comes shortly after the conclusion of Mr Bidens two-day virtual climate summit, in which he received praise from leaders, particularly those in Europe, for returning the US to the Paris Climate Agreement and re-engaging on a host of other issues of shared concern.

The trip will mark the most ambitious travel schedule yet for Mr Biden since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as the president has sought to model safe behaviour for the nation.

It comes as the US has stepped up its travel warnings for much of the world due to the virus.

Both the UK and Belgium are listed by the State Department under level four, the highest, do not travel advisory, and are the subject of specific prohibitions preventing most travel to the US by non-citizens.

Theres going to be components of this trip that probably look and feel different than they did in the past because we are taking the health of all involved very seriously as we plan this, said Mr Abraham.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention last month lifted quarantine guidance for international travel for those fully vaccinated for Covid-19, but still recommends that vaccinated individuals returning from overseas monitor their symptoms and take a test three to five days after returning to the US.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Rochester school board is returning to in-person meetings on April 27 but the public will still have to stay outside.

Board members will participate in-person if possible but members of the public will have to watch via YouTube. The public are permitted to enter the School Board room to address the Board in person and 30 minutes will be set aside at the beginning of regular meetings for such comments.

Opinions and ideas contributed by students, parents/guardians, staff, and other citizens are valuable to the School Board. They have set aside thirty minutes at the beginning of regular meetings for Comments from the Public under the following guidelines:

If you wish to address the School Board, it is recommended that you call the Superintendents Office at (507) 328-4256 before 3 pm. on the day of the meeting. You will be asked to provide your name and home address, as well as the topic of your comments.

Walk-ins are welcome, but there may not be time to hear from everyone in the time allotted. Walk-ins will be required to sign in with their name, phone number, and home address.

All individuals addressing the School Board during Comments from the Public will be required to wear masks and remained socially distanced in the hallway outside of the School Board Room until called to the podium. Individuals will enter through one door, marked with Enter Here, will clean the podium table after comments with sanitizing wipes provided by the District, and exit through an external door to the parking lot, labeled Exit Here.

Individuals addressing the School Board during Comments from the Public are not permitted to remain in the School Board room to watch the meeting in person and must exit the building at the conclusion of their comments. If you are not able to speak due to a lack of time, you will exit the building at the conclusion of Comments from the Public and will be scheduled to present at the beginning of the next regular Board meeting.

All individuals are required to home-screen for COVID-19 symptoms before attending the School Board Comments from the Public. Individuals who have symptoms or have been exposed to a positive COVID-19 case within the past 14 days are not permitted to address the School Board in-person.

Please limit comments to three to five (3-5) minutes. Written statements may be distributed to School Board members.

Groups wishing to address the Board should do so through a single speaker and may be asked to do so if there are several speakers on a given night.

Matters currently under negotiation or litigation, or related to personnel, will not be discussed in public.

Personal attacks are not permitted.

You should use the appropriate administrative channels for addressing operational matters and address such concerns to the Board only if they go unresolved.

The Board may respond or clarify immediately following a speaker. However, this time is provided as an opportunity for community members to speak, not for Board members to engage in conversation. If a full response is desired, particularly for complex issues, a letter of request to the Board is recommended with questions or concerns clearly stated.

The next Rochester Public School Board meeting will start at 5:30 pm Tuesday at the Edison Administration Building.
New Delhi, Apr 23 (UNI) China on Friday said it is in communication with India and is ready to provide help to the country to combat the surge in Coronavirus infection.

"The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the coronavirus. China is ready to provide support and help according to India's need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this," said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

She was replying to a question from Shenzhen TV whether China is having communications with India on providing help And what kind of help on offer.

Without giving any details, Zhao said, "China expresses sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently," according to the transcript of the presser accessed here.

"We believe that the Indian people will defeat the virus at an early date," she said.

On Thursday, China said it has taken note of the shortage of medical supplies.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "The COVID-19 pandemic is a common enemy of all mankind that necessitates international solidarity and mutual assistance. China takes note of the recent grave situation in India with a temporary shortage of anti-epidemic medical supplies.

We stand ready to provide India with necessary support and assistance to get the epidemic under control."

UNI SRJ PS1928


TRADING SYMBOL: TSX: AW.UN

VANCOUVER, BC, April 23, 2021 /CNW/ - A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. ("Food Services") announced today that it has board of directors approval and has reached terms with its senior lender to increase the available capacity of its operating line credit facility from $25 million to $40 million. The credit facility will continue to be used to fund working capital and for general corporate purposes and is secured solely by Food Services' indirect interest in A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (the "Fund"), as permitted under the existing agreements between Food Services and the Fund.

A&W Food Services of Canada Inc.  A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is a corporation amalgamated under the laws of Canada and is 100 per cent Canadian owned and is one of the strongest brand names in the Canadian foodservice industry. A&W is the nation's second largest hamburger restaurant company with over 1,000 locations coast-to-coast. A&W Restaurants feature famous trade-marked menu items such as The Burger Family, Chubby Chicken, and A&W Root Beer. For more information, please visit www.aw.ca.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada (forward-looking information). The words "anticipates", "believes", "budgets", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "may", "might", "plans", "projects", "schedule", "should", "will", "would" and similar expressions are often intended to identify forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information contains these identifying words. Specific forward-looking statements include statements with respect to: the expectation that the credit facility will be used to fund working capital and for general corporate purposes.

The forward-looking information is based on assumptions that management considered reasonable at the time it was prepared. The forward-looking information is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by the forward-looking information.

SOURCE A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund

For further information: Kelly Blankstein, Chief Financial Officer, 604-988-2141, 300 - 171 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 3K9, The head office of the Fund and Food Services is also located at the address noted above.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Despite numerous requests, the Grand Rapids Police Department has not provided the citys police oversight office with documentation regarding potential officer misconduct, the offices director is alleging.

Since our inception, the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability has requested access to documents and evidence associated with internal affairs files in order to increase accountability and transparency and properly monitor internal affairs cases, Brandon Davis, the offices director, said in a statement Thursday, April 22.

Despite numerous requests, the police department has not provided OPA with any internal affairs documents -- redacted or otherwise -- on any case (with exception of documents provided to the Civilian Appeal Board).

Davis statement appears in response to recently surfaced body camera footage that shows a Grand Rapids police officer punching a man seven times in the head while he struggled during an arrest on March 26. Community leaders have called for disciplinary action in the case.

Related: Its very, very disturbing: Community leaders call for discipline after police officer punches man 7 times

Davis, who said his office first learned of the incident via social media and then a media release from the police department, called the conduct in the video concerning.

This is a perfect example of an incident that should be closely monitored and evaluated by OPA. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control, OPA is not certain that monitoring will occur in this case, Davis wrote. Although I cannot guarantee that OPA will be granted access, I can guarantee that I will request information regarding this incident with the intent of thoroughly reviewing this matter.

Created in August 2019, one of the OPAs charges is to monitor and review the internal affairs investigations of every GRPD and Grand Rapids Fire Department complaint as an office independent from those institutions.

The failure to provide OPA with police records, Davis said, has prevented his office from fully doing our job.

The Grand Rapids Police Departments Internal Affairs Unit investigates allegations of wrongdoing by police officers after a person files a complaint with the unit.

Grand Rapids police spokesperson Sgt. Dan Adams said the department shares all material that is allowed under law with the OPA.

The GRPD values the role that OPA plays in police accountability and provides all material that is allowed under the law, he said.

The disclosure of alleged record withholding comes as City Manager Mark Washington on Thursday distributed a new administrative order outlining how the police department will share its internal affairs records with the OPA, as well as how the OPA can request additional records.

Washington called access to internal affairs documents a complex topic governed by various laws at the state and federal levels, and said staff needed to develop necessary internal policies that ensure OPA has access but also abides by the law.

While it has taken time to do this in an appropriate way that balances the desires of the community for greater transparency with the need to appropriately protect these sensitive materials, I believe the city will be well served by this new policy in the long run, he said.

The guidelines mandate the Grand Rapids Police Departments Internal Affairs Unit share a report every week with the OPA summarizing all complaints received by the unit the week before.

These summary reports must contain information to identify when the complaint was brought, the nature of the complaint and, with some exceptions, who the complainant is.

Police officials said the force used in the March 26 traffic stop was necessary. They said the man was allegedly reaching for an officers gun.

A Kent County elected official told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press he believes that narrative is contradicted by the video, as well as a statement in the video from another officer.

Like all use of force incidents, what happened during the traffic stop was reviewed by supervisors and members of the departments training unit, police officials previously said.

However, no complaints about the incident have been filed with the police departments Internal Affairs Unit.

Adams said he cant speculate on what may happen in regard to Davis request for more information in the March 26 case but added the department is committed to being transparent and providing what it can under law.

Davis said the residents of Grand Rapids deserve the accountability and transparency that they have been promised.

The unfortunate reality is that GRPD controls access to its records and they have chosen to withhold those records which prevents OPA from fully doing our job, he said. OPA will continue to push GRPD to stand behind the values stated in their strategic plan, and fully embrace accountability by providing OPA with lawful access to evidence and information.

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What just happened? The day before it halted all transactions, Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex handled a volume of around $538 million. Now its CEO is the subject of an international manhunt and is suspected of stealing $2 billion worth of crypto assets from Thodex users.

Cryptocurrencies have had a tumultuous evolution, but over the last few years they've reached important milestones towards their validation as a legitimate fiat alternative. A notable example is the public listing of Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, as is the adoption of certain cryptocurrencies as a payment option for platforms like PayPal.

However, most people are still put off by the lack of governmental safeties and controls, as well as the greed-fueled enthusiasts that have turned them into speculative assets and continue to bite into consumer hardware availability in their quest to make a profit on mineable coins such as Ethereum.

It also doesn't help that fraudsters and scammers are flocking to crypto for a feeding frenzy. This week, a Turkish exchange called Thodex was abruptly taken offline and its CEO, Faruk Fatih Ozer, had reportedly gone missing, an event that has left 400,000 users worried that they won't be able to recover their funds, totaling over $2 billion.

A lawyer immediately filed a criminal complaint against Ozer, alleging the latter has fled to Albania and left Thodex users without the ability to access their digital assets. Today, Turkish police conducted raids with warrants to arrest no less than 78 suspects, after previously searching the company's offices in Istanbul.

Ozer denied the accusations on Twitter, and promised that user access to funds on Thodex would be restored as soon as possible. He explained the reason for halting trading and withdrawals on the platform was that the company has to investigate a large suspicious transaction involving 30,000 accounts. The executive also noted the company is still recovering from several cyberattacks, one of which burnt a $6 million hole in its coffers.

Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) is currently investigating the matter, and Istanbul police have requested the extradition of Ozer from Albania.
Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha Kovalev has revealed he chased Caroline Flack to get his glitterball back after she took the coveted trophy from his bag.

The professional dancer, 41, took home the top prize alongside the late star when they competed together on the BBC ballroom show back in 2014.

And during an appearance on ITV's This Morning on Friday, the Russian star revealed that he was left thinking his trophy had been stolen during the show's wrap party.

Glitterball: Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha Kovalev has revealed he chased Caroline Flack to get his glitterball back after she took the coveted trophy from his bag. Pictured in 2014

Speaking while promoting his new dance show Here Come The Boys alongside Aljaz Skorjanec, he took time out to remember the good times with the late Love Island host, who took her life in February 2020.

He said: 'We had a great time together on Strictly, and obviously you just remember the best things. She was absolutely bubbly, absolutely fantastic to be around.

'We found our chemistry and our dancing together. That actually took us to the very top to getting that glitterball.

'But I remember, she stole my glitterball! At the party after the final, I looked at my bag and it was gone. I thought someone stole it. I just got it!'

Winner: The professional dancer, 41, took home the top prize alongside the late star when they competed together on the BBC ballroom show back in 2014

On the promotional trail: He shared the memory while appearing on ITV's This Morning to promote his new dance show Here Come The Boys alongside Aljaz Skorjanec

However, things turned to be far more innocent, as Pasha explained: 'Actually, she took both, thinking they were hers. I had to go and chase her to grab it off her!'

This Morning host Dermot OLeary then chimed in to speak of his old pal's time on the hit show, revealing that she was particularly overjoyed to be a part of it.

He said: 'I'd known her for many years. We started out together and we had the same agent for a very long time. And I never, ever saw her happier than when she was doing that show. It was just her happy place.'

Pasha, who is married to Rachel Riley, added: 'I think she got a lot of confidence at that time and that boost obviously carried her through.'

Friends: This Morning hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond also remembered Caroline

Good sport: Alison revealed that Caroline was rooting for her when they competed against one another during 2014's series of Strictly Come Dancing

And This Morning co-host Alison Hammond also shared her own memories of Caroline, as she and Aljaz danced together on the show in the same year.

She said: 'I never forget when me and Aljaz went up against you and Caroline, and Caroline was like, "I want you to get through, Alison." I'll never forget it. It was horrible, because we just wanted each other to go through.'

Caroline, 40, tragically took her own life at her London home on February 15, 2020  one day after learning the CPS would be pursuing a case of assault against her following a row with boyfriend Lewis Burton at her home in December.

Her funeral took place on March 10 at Greenacres at Colney, near Norwich, a ceremonial park set in a 16-acre forest.

Overjoyed: Dermot chimed in to speak of his old pal's time on the hit show, revealing that she was particularly overjoyed to be a part of it. Pictured together in 2015

The star's mother Christine revealed details of the private funeral held for the star last year.

She told The Eastern Daily Press: 'There were lots of memories, smiles but mostly tears as we all remembered Carrie and the joy she had brought to all of our lives.

'All the family would like to say thank you so much to all Carrie's friends who travelled from all over the world to be there that day and who appreciated why we wanted to bring her back home to Norfolk.

'Friends included all the old pals she had either worked alongside or presented with on Fash FC, I'm A Celebrity, Xtra Factor, Love Island, friends old and new from the world of Strictly, the Bake Off and many many more.'

If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.
A thieving emu that ate a woman's $550 Tiffany & Co earring when she took a selfie has an extensive history of pinching jewellery from unsuspecting zoo visitors.

The flightless bird named Bert took the earring from mother-of-two Ashna Ali during a trip to Sydney Zoo in the city's west - with attempts to retrieve it from the emu's droppings proving fruitless.

The emu could even be seen eyeing up the hoop earring in a selfie moments before making its move.

More of Bert's victims have since come forward with videos of his antics filmed just weeks before the encounter with Ms Ali.

Bert the emu (left) ate Ashna Ali's (right) Tiffany earring right after she took a selfie with him

Bert has an extensive history of pinching jewellery from unsuspecting zoo visitors - pictured here swiping another visitor's earring as she posed in a video

One video showed the emu closing in on a zoo visitor called Kate as her boyfriend filmed her smiling in front of the mischievous bird, A Current Affair reported.

Her partner cut the video off at the moment the emu leaned in to steal the jewellery.

Photographs from January meanwhile showed witnesses in fits of laughter as the emu held a woman's earring in his beak.

'No, I know you like my black backpack, but this is ridiculous,' the victim said.

Bert has since been confined to his pen to stop any further cases of stolen property.

Ms Ali's 'fun day out' was ruined by the brazen burglary, but luckily the 'offender' was easily identifiable as Ms Ali had taken several pictures to show zoo staff.

Photographs from January meanwhile showed witnesses in fits of laughter as the emu held a woman's earring in his beak

'I thought I better get a full body shot in case I needed it,' she said.

Ms Ali reported the attack to the zoo who asked for a week to obtain the earring.

'We said look, give us seven days, we'll try and locate it,' said Sydney Zoo manager Chris Rivett.

'We're hoping that sh*t happens,' Ms Ali confessed.

Bert failed to poop out Ms Ali's hoop, with Sydney Zoo in the city's west now paying for a replacement

Over the next week, an unnamed zoo staff member sifted through Bert's poo to try and locate the hoop but was unsuccessful.

'It will actually digest the earring, and that's why it hasn't turned up,' said Mr Rivett.

'Rest assured the bird's fine, in the wild they would eat rocks and all sorts of material.'

The zoo contacted Tiffany's and is paying for a replacement earring for Ms Ali.
Allmyxsliventexas, who has captured eight of his 10 starts this year, and Frewil Dakota Sven, who upset him in last weeks Open Pace, head the cast for Saturday nights (April 24) featured $10,000 Lloyd Arnold Pace at Cal-Expo.

Watch and Wager LLC will present nine races with first post set for 5:45 p.m. PT.

Allmyxsliventexas has been burdened with the assigned No. 10 post position in three of his last four starts, including last weeks foray, but does his work from the No. 5 slot on Saturday for owners and breeders Wayne and Rod Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson, and pilot Nick Roland.

Allmyxliventexas comes into this assignment with 50 wins from his 146 starts, $275,000 in his bank account, and a 1:50 mark that was established three years ago at Harrah's Hoosier Park.

He captured the Don Arnstine Pace on March 27, then carved out all the fractions in last weeks Open after being hard used to the lead, but ultimately losing by a head to Frewil Dakota Sven.

The latter is a six-year-old son of Up Front Brad who is owned by Vikki Pfeilstocker, Brian Mort and Louie Mitteco, takes his lessons from Rick Bertand, and will once again have Cordarius Stewart at the controls.

Sent off at 8-1 last week while departing from the rail, Frewil Dakota Sven tracked early, came first-over with Stewart at the half and gamely wore down the favourite in a lifetime best 1:52 clocking. It was his fifth snapshot from his last seven outings.

Taking on this pair are Buddys Hope, who will leave from the rail with Jake Cutting at the controls; Hoo Nien A for Gerry Longo; Pecorino, who will have the services of Luke Plano; Queenace Blue Chip and Royale Big Guy.

Saturdays main event is named for famed harness owner and track operator Lloyd Arnold, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 83. Mr. Arnold raced such outstanding performers as Warm Breeze, who set an all-age world record over the Sacramento track when it was known as Golden Bear Raceway; the brilliant distaffer Sanabelle Island; Bagel Beach Boy, Chevie Duramax and Quik Pulse Mindale.

In addition to being a prominent Standardbred owner, Mr. Arnold operated Golden Bear Raceway and also bought Los Alamitos in the 1980s, eventually selling the track to his partner, Ed Allred.

Driver, trainer races going down to wire

With just two programs remaining at Cal-Expo, Nick Roland holds a five-race lead over Jake Cutting in the drivers' race while Rick Bertrand and Gordie Graham are tied atop the trainer standings.

Roland and Cutting have been putting on a great battle among the pilots, with Roland returning to the charmed circle after 101 of his 470 drives, while Cutting has almost identical numbers with 96 victories from his 461 trips to the post.

Meanwhile, Bertrand and Graham have each sent out 47 winners, and it will be up to the closing weekend to see if they remain in a deadlock or one of them comes away with a clear-cut victory.

With this being closing weekend, Sunday will find mandatory payouts in all wagers. There are three bets offered each night that come with a reduced 16 per cent takeout rate: the 20-cent early and late Pick-5 and the 20-cent Pick-4, with the latter featuring a $25,000 guaranteed gross pool.

(Cal-Expo)
President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Friday, April 23, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

World leaders joined President Joe Biden at the virtual climate summit Friday to share their stories how nations can break free of climate-damaging fossil fuelsfrom Kenyans leapfrogging from kerosene lamps to geothermal power and Israeli start-ups scrambling to improve battery storage.

"We cannot win this fight against climate change unless we go globally to fight it together," declared President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta of Kenya.

He spoke as the White House devoted the second and final day of Biden's 40-leader summit to arguing for massive investment now to switch the United States and the rest of the world to cleaner and more prosperous economies for the long term.

Compared with the United States and other wealthy but carbon-dependent nations, Kenya stands out as a poorer nation closing the technology gap despite limited financial resources. It has moved within decades from dirty-burning coal, kerosene and wood fires to become a leading user and producer of geothermal energy, wind and solar power.

Biden has used the virtual summitplagued by intermittent electronic echoes and other glitchesto showcase the U.S. return to international climate efforts after President Donald Trump's resolute withdrawal from the mission.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the summit into its virtual format, with Cabinet secretaries stepping in as emcees to keep the livestreamed action moving.

World leaders are shown on a screen as President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Friday, April 23, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden also used the summit to make the case for his $2.3 trillion proposal to scrap crumbling U.S. infrastructure and rebuild with efficient, climate-friendly transport systems, electric grids and buildings.

"This is a moment for all of us to build better economies for our children, our grandchildren," Biden said Friday, standing at a lectern in the White House and facing a Zoom-style screen of listening leaders from around the world.

"We must ensure that workers who thrived in yesterday's and today's industries have as bright a tomorrow in the new industries, Biden said.

While technological development and wider use has helped make wind and solar power strongly competitive against coal and natural gas in the U.S., Biden said investment also would bring forward thriving, clean-energy fields "in things we haven't even thought of so far."

In this image from video, Michael Bloomberg speaks during the White House Climate Leaders Summit, Friday, April 23, 2021. The White House is bringing out the billionaires, the CEOs and the union executives Friday to help sell President Joe Biden's climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy at his virtual summit of world leaders. (AP Photo)

It's all in service of an argument U.S. officials say will make or break Biden's climate vision: Pouring trillions of dollars into clean-energy technology, research and infrastructure will speed a competitive U.S. economy into the future and create jobs, while saving the planet.

Republicans are sticking to the arguments that Trump made in pulling the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate accord. They point to China as the world's worst climate polluterthe U.S. is No. 2and say any transition to clean energy hurts American oil, natural gas and coal workers.

It means "putting good-paying American jobs into the shredder," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Thursday in a speech in which he dismissed the administration's plans as costly and ineffective.

Much of the proposed spending to address climate change is included in Biden's infrastructure bill, which would pay for new roads, safe bridges and reliable public transit, while boosting electric vehicles, clean drinking water and investments in clean energy such as solar and wind power.

Activists from the environmental group Fridays for Future demonstrated in Invalidenpark with a banner reading "No more empty summits" in Berlin, Germany, Friday, April 23, 2021. On the occasion of the US climate summit with 40 invited countries, the climate activists demand immediate action against climate change. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

Biden's plan faces a steep road in the closely divided Senate, where Republicans led by McConnell have objected strongly to the idea of paying for much of it with tax increases on corporations.

The White House says administration officials will continue to reach out to Republicans and will remind them that the proposal's ideas are widely popular with Americans of all political persuasions.

The closing day of the summit also featured billionaires Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, steelworker and electrical union leaders and executives for solar and other renewable energy.

"We can't beat climate change without a historic amount of new investment," Bloomberg said.

"We have to do more, faster to cut emissions," said Bloomberg, who's donated millions to promote replacing dirty-burning coal-fired power plants with increasingly cheaper renewable energy.

In this image from video, Bill Gates speaks during the White House Climate Leaders Summit, Friday, April 23, 2021. The White House is bringing out the billionaires, the CEOs and the union executives Friday to help sell President Joe Biden's climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy at his virtual summit of world leaders. (AP Photo)

Biden envoy John Kerry stressed the political selling point that the president's call for retrofitting creaky U.S. infrastructure to run more cleanly would put the U.S. on a better economic footing long-term. "No one is being asked for a sacrifice," Kerry said. "This is an opportunity."

Presidents and prime ministers from around the world joined in to describe their own investments and commitments to break away from reliance on climate-damaging petroleum and coal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described scientists at hundreds of Israeli start-ups working hard to improve crucial battery storage for solar, wind and other renewable energy.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen renewed Denmark's pledge to end oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, switching from offshore oil and gas rigs to wind farms.

President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry listens as President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Black smoke is emitted from the chimneys of a factory on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, April 23, 2021. World leaders from around the globe attended a virtual climate summit to raise global ambition on climate change and talked about their goals for reducing carbon emissions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Friday, April 23, 2021, in Washington, as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, looks on.

On the summit's opening day Thursday, Biden pledged the U.S. will cut fossil fuel emissions as much as 52% by 2030. South Korea, Japan, Canada and South Africa also joined in specific new emissions efforts timed to the summit.

Biden's new goal puts the United States among the most ambitious nations in curbing climate change, the Rhodium Group, an independent research organization, announced overnight.

Different nations use different base years for their emission cuts so comparisons are difficult and can look different based on baseline years. The Rhodium Group said using the U.S.-preferred 2005 baseline, America is behind the United Kingdom but right with the European Union. It's ahead of a second tier of countries that include Canada, Japan, Iceland and Norway.

Explore further Biden doubles US emissions cut target as summit lifts climate hopes

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Chennai: The Chennai authorities quoted estimates and said that the second wave of COVID-19 is expected to reach its peak by mid-May or May end.

The capital of Tamil Nadu is nearing 4,000 daily coronavirus cases while the state is witnessing over 12,000 cases.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash told the media that over the next 30 days when the cases would further increase, the major tasks at hand are field preventive measures and patient management.

He added that unless it was an emergency or severe case, infected persons need not rush to hospitals or medical colleges. In Emergency cases, dialing 108 to avail the Government ambulance service for immediate hospitalization is advised. The civic body chief also shared the following set of guidelines for those who suspect COVID-19 and also for those who have already tested positive.

For Covid-19 suspects:

Inform the door-to-door screening/survey staff about symptoms and they will guide to the nearest Fever Camp (can go by own vehicle)

Perform health check at fever camp and proceed to COVID-19 sample collection centre for testing (can go by own vehicle)

For Covid-19 positive patients:

Isolate yourself and visit the nearest Covid-19 screening center (there are 12 in Chennai city) and get checked for severity of disease (Can go by own vehicle or Corporation vehicle)

Based on the Blood profile, CT Scan, Pulse oximeter reading Home quarantine, Covid-19 care facility (large non-hospital facilities where beds are laid out and doctors monitor regularly) or hospital will be suggested.

Prakash said that this method of screening and segregation was being done to ensure that severe and emergency cases get the hospital beds and best quality care, in order to save lives and minimize damage. Allaying fears about Covid-19 and its severity, he said that upto 85% of the patients testing positive in the city had no major symptoms and did not have to rush to the hospital.

Of the nearly 3700 daily new cases in Chennai, only 1200 persons were visiting screening centers to check for the severity of infection, the others are visiting hospitals. Our aim is to ensure that at least half of those testing positive visit screening centers rather than rushing to hospitals. This can help avoid the unfortunate situation that is prevailing in other big cities he appealed.

Prakash also emphasized how the relevant authorities had instructed Private hospitals in the city to allocate 50% of their beds for Covid-19 patients and admit only those who were infected severely or in Emergency conditions. Those who approach big hospitals with mild cases will be redirected to Covid-19 care centers or home quarantine, he added.

Regarding the daily testing in Chennai, it was said that an increase of 5,000 tests is planned from the current 20,000-odd daily tests. As per the current testing, tracking protocols, about 8 immediate contacts including those from home, close colleagues, drivers etc. were being screened, whenever a positive case is detected.

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An Italian socialite who ordered a hit on her Gucci heir ex-husband has been scammed out of 2.5 million by friends, prosecutors say.

Patrizia Reggiani, 72, who will be played by Lady Gaga in an upcoming film about her life, was sentenced to 29 years, reduced to 26 on appeal, in 1998 for ordering the assassination of Maurizio Gucci.

The couple fell out over Gucci's decision to sell the family fashion house before leaving Reggiani for another woman. She paid a pizzeria owner 240,000 to shoot Gucci in the head in 1995.

The Black Widow was released in 2016, proudly posing for the paparazzi on Milan's Monte Napoleone shopping street and later telling the press that she had her husband killed because he 'irritated her'.

The quote inspired Hollywood director Ridley Scott to make a movie about her life, which is currently filming in Italy with Adam Driver as Gucci and Gaga as Reggiani.

But in another extraordinary twist in Reggiani's life, it yesterday emerged that her confidantes were under investigation over claims they swindled from her 3million (2.6m).

Patrizia Reggiani, 72, (right) was sentenced to 29 years in 1998 for ordering the assassination of Maurizio Gucci (left). The sentence was reduced on appeal to 26 years and she was finally freed in 2016

Adam Driver plays Gucci in the death scene on set in Italy earlier this month. Debt-ridden pizzeria owner Benedetto Ceraulo was hired by Reggiani for 240,000 to shoot her ex-husband as he entered his Milan offices in 1995

Adam Driver playing Gucci. The real Gucci was left lying on the cold marble stairs of his Milan offices after being shot in the head by the hitman

Lady Gaga is playing Reggiani in an upcoming Ridley Scott movie about her life that is filming in Rome

Adam Driver filming on location in Italy for the new movie House of Gucci

According to local media police raided the home of Loredana Cano, Reggiani's former prison cellmate who she hired as her personal assistant when they were freed.

The papers say Cano introduced Reggiani to asset manager Daniele Pizzi, who helped manage her Milan real estate worth 14million (12.1m) and 4million (3.5m) in cash.

Pizzi's office was also searched by officers. He denies wrongdoing.

Reggiani comes from a wealthy family and inherited millions from her mother when she died two years ago.

Gucci's money went to his daughters by Reggiani when he was killed.

It is their daughters' complaint which triggered the police investigation, explained their lawyer Antonio Golino.

Mr Golino told The Times: 'Reggiani had nothing when she left jail and suddenly ran into millions when her mother died in 2019.'

He claims that Cano and others 'formed a protective circle' around Reggiani and prevented her from 'having contact with the outside world.'

'A court has already found that she was incapable of managing her own finances and was easily influenced,' he added.

The Gucci empire The fashion empire of Gucci was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, a Florentine leather merchant whose business of selling leather travel bags prospered after the Depression and World War Two. Guccio's son Aldo expanded the business into Paris, New York and Tokyo as the 'twin Gs' of the family name became a worldwide fashion icon. By 1974, the Gucci empire numbered 14 stores and 46 franchised boutiques around the world. At around the same time, celebrities like Jackie Kennedy were helping establish Gucci as the world's leading fashion brand by embracing its products. Maurizio Gucci, Guccio's grandson and Aldo's nephew, took control of the company from the board of directors after Aldo, who was sent to prison for tax evasion in 1986 aged 81. However, Maurizio would be the last member of the family to head the Gucci business. By 1989, nearly 50 per cent of the business had been bought out by Investcorp, a group of investment bankers angling for shares of the business. In 1993, Maurizio sold his holding for $170m to a Bahrain-based investment company. Advertisement

Mr Golino said that the police are probing claims that money was siphoned off by 'charging her real estate companies dubious consultancy fees.'

In 1998, Reggiani was found guilty of paying a hitman to kill the 46-year-old grandson of fashion founder Guccio Gucci.

Gucci had left Reggiani for another woman 10 years previously after telling her he was going on a short business trip, from which he never returned.

She was also said to be furious her former husband had started seeing other women, and feared her daughters' $170 million inheritance was at risk if he remarried before ordering the hit.

She also wanted more than the $650,000 she had been offered in a divorce settlement, the court heard.

Reggiani eventually hired hitman Benedetto Ceraulo, a debt-ridden pizzeria owner who shot Gucci dead on the steps of his office in Milan as he arrived for work.

Ceraulo was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

She was convicted after her clairvoyant and confidante Pina Auriemma turned informer and told police about the plot.

During the murder trial, which transfixed Italy, Reggiani arrived each day wearing head-to-toe Gucci clothes and accessories.

The court heard how she had ordered the murder of her husband after he offered her $650,000 in a divorce settlement.

She was initially sentenced to 29 years in 1998, which was reduced to 26 on appeal. She served 18  with her pet ferret Bambi as a companion for some of the time - before being released in October 2016.

Having Bambi by her side was a special privilege negotiated by her lawyers - however he was to suffer an unfortunate demise when a fellow inmate accidentally sat on him.

Well-known for her luxury lifestyle, Reggiani once said: 'I'd rather cry in a Rolls Royce than be happy on a bicycle,' and turned down the offer of day release while in prison because it would have meant doing 'menial' work.

High profile: During the murder trial, which transfixed Italy, Reggiani arrived each day wearing head-to-toe Gucci clothes and accessories. She was sentenced in 1998 (pictured)

Reggiani (pictured) was said to be furious that Gucci had started seeing other women and was frustrated with how he managed his $170million fortune

In 2017, a court ruled Reggiani was entitled to receive 900,000 a year from her ex-husband's fortune and she was given a lump sum of 16 million for her time in prison.

'The court decided the fact she was jailed for murdering him is irrelevant  a deal is a deal and the maintenance agreement still stands,' said Reggiani's laywer, Danilo Buongiorno, at the time.

Maurizio Gucci was the grandson of Guccio Gucci, founder of the fashion company made famous with its double G logo.

In the early 1990s it was hit by problems and he sold the label for $120 million, just two years before his death.

The great-grandchildren of Guccio Gucci have appealed to filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott to respect their family's legacy in the new movie that focuses on a sensational murder.

The new film is scheduled to go on general release from November 24.
A 21-year-old Jersey City man pleaded guilty to acting as a lookout in a 2019 Union City bank robbery with a criminal who has made a career out of getting caught.

Juan Rojas Hernandez faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after Thursdays guilty plea to one count of bank robbery, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 26.

Rojas Hernandez served as a lookout outside a Union City bank on Nov. 5, 2019 while co-defendant William Tedeschi entered the bank and handed a note to a bank teller demanding money.

Rojas Hernandez and his co-defendants then fled with approximately $10,200 and split the proceeds of the robbery. They were captured within hours of the robbery.

Tedeschi is well known to law enforcement in Hudson County, having been arrested dozens of the times and convicted of at least 10 felonies dating back to 1996. Tedeschi, 49, faces 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines when he is sentenced on Oct. 7, officials said.

He pleaded guilty last May to one count each of bank robbery, attempted bank robbery and impersonating a federal law enforcement official. The latter count stem from an incident two months prior to the bank robbery when Tedeschi entered a Jersey City business and purported to be an FBI agent to solicit donations for a fictitious charity benefitting law enforcement.

The serial con man has been arrested at least four previous times for impersonating law enforcement  in Jersey City in 2010, Hoboken in 2016, West New York in May 2017 and Bayonne in August 2017, according to Jersey Journal reporting.

In some instances, Tedeschi claimed he was a police officer. Other times he said he was a firefighter or federal agent, police have said.
At the event, which was jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium and Luxembourg, the Vietnamese delegation to the EU, the Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT), and the Belgian  Vietnamese Alliance (BVA), the firms highlighted advantages and challenges brought about by the EU  Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and several trade deals that Vietnam has clinched. Besides, they talked about Vietnams efforts to better its business climate, incentives for Belgian firms who land investment in Vietnam, as well as Vietnams entry procedures for Belgian experts and businesspeople during COVID-19.

At the talk held in Brussels on April 22 (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Anh Quang updated the participants on the outcomes of the 13th National Party Congress, implementation of the EVFTA, and the Vietnam  Belgium trade ties.

He called on the Belgian businesses to help push for the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) in their country, helping better serve benefits of companies of both nations.

According to Duong Minh Tri, a representative from the BVA, there is an increasing number of Belgian firms wishing to invest in Vietnam, particularly after the EVFTA came into force.

Charles Vanderstraeten from DSV Solutions, which has already set up a branch in Vietnam, told Vietnam News Agencys correspondent that the trade pact facilitates Belgian firms operation in Vietnam, adding his business will have more opportunities to develop in this Southeast Asian nation.

Meanwhile, Eric Franssen, trade and development director at John Cockerill, said that his firm is carrying out several energy and environment projects in Vietnam, and the company has had more chances to develop its business thanks to the EVFTA.

Belgium currently registers 1.1 billion USD in 78 projects in Vietnam, becoming the 23rd largest investor among 131 countries and territories landing investment in the nation. Most of the investments are in sea port, infrastructure, logistics, real estate, sewage treatment, processing and manufacturing, power generation and distribution, among others./.
SpaceX Crew-2 aboard the Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket will do its second journey to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. All of the pre-launch necessities and checks have been done and the astronauts are ready for take-off for another historic partnership between NASA and SpaceX, toningt, April 22.

This mission is bound for the ISS, as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's rotation for the astronauts to perform their duties and responsibilities, as well as their research above ground. It has been almost five months since the last launch and is bound for a rotation as directed by NASA for this program.

The Commercial Crew Program initially flew out with SpaceX with the Crew Dragon spacecraft that has flown, docked, and returned to Earth from the ISS in a successful run for the company. NASA has opened its doors to a private company such as SpaceX to take bids and help the country's space agency in bringing astronauts towards the thermosphere.

Read Also: NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Successfully Completes Second Flight, Aims to Fly Faster

SpaceX Crew-2 Mission

In this historic flight, two astronauts from NASA including Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will join the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency's (ESA) Thomas Pesquet. The mission would feature what has transpired last November where it would launch and dock autonomously on the ISS.

The mission would be an almost six-month stay, which is approximately the same time as the previous Crew-1 that have completed their mission and even spent the holidays in space. The crew is slated to stay there until October 31 and no later than the said date, with them going back to the Earth with a splash to the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX Crew-2 Mission: How to Watch Live

SpaceX and NASA are offering their YouTube channels and live streaming websites to broadcast the mission, from pre-launch to actual launch, along with the ISS docking maneuver for the upcoming Saturday. The launch schedule would be early later at 1:30 AM EDT (April 23) or 10:30 PM PST (April 22).

Users can catch the flight by visiting either SpaceX's live streaming website or NASA to catch the historic flight of Crew-2 aboard the Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket launcher. Alternatively, users can check out the company's YouTube live stream video below that is already set up and awaiting the start of its broadcast.

Related Article: SpaceX, Elon Musk Gets a Mocking Billboard Connected to Earth Day

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Richard

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Ottawa, 23 April 2021 (SPS) - The UN peace process in Western Sahara failed to achieve its goals as Morocco's allies, namely France, Spain and the United States, put their interests ahead of the Sahrawis' right to independence, said Vivan Solana, anthropology professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada.



"The systematic ineffectiveness of the United Nations peace process in Western Sahara can be explained by examining what Morocco's allies (especially France, Spain and the United States) see as opportunities and benefits to be derived from the occupation of Western Sahara," said the scholar in a column recently published on the website of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), a research group which studies conflicts in the Middle East region.



According to her, North American and European firms have invested in Western Sahara, as part of economic agreements with Morocco, to exploit the resources of the occupied territories despite the illegality of this kind of investment. Phosphate, fishery resources, agricultural products, petroleum are all resources which interest Morocco's western allies.



Many motivations "push Westerners to give priority to their relations with Morocco rather than to the political rights of the Sahrawi people, in violation to international law".



According to Vivian Solana, France has several times vetoed, UN (United Nations Organization) resolutions proposing to endow the Minurso (United Nations Mission for the organization of a referendum in Sahara Western) with a mandate to monitor human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories.



The academic also added that the United Nations peace process in Western Sahara has provided Morocco with a number of advantages to consolidate its presence in the occupied territories. Morocco also gained time while waiting to obtain political support from its allies, which came with the statement made by former US President Donald Trump on December 10, 2020 recognizing the so-called Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. (SPS)



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The MV Swift Rescue leaving Changi Naval Base to join the search operations for the missing Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala 402. (PHOTO: Facebook/Ng Eng Hen)

SINGAPORE  The Singapore navy has dispatched its submarine rescue vessel to Indonesia to help in the search for the missing Indonesian navy submarine KRI Nanggala 402.

In a Facebook post on Thursday (22 April), Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the MV Swift Rescue was dispatched expeditiously on Wednesday afternoon, after the Chief of Navy received a request for assistance from his Indonesian counterpart.

The KRI Naggala 402, with 53 crew on board, went missing in the early hours of Wednesday during regular exercises off the coast of Bali, more than 1,500km away from Singapore and in deep waters.

An Indonesian navy spokesman on Thursday reportedly said search teams were focused on an area around an oil slick, but the exact location of the missing vessel remains unknown.

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In his Facebook post, Dr Ng said Singapore's military ties with Indonesia are very close and built up over years of bilateral exercises and engagements.

"It is only natural that we do whatever we can to assist in times like this," he said.

Aside from the regular crew on board the MV Swift Rescue, a medical team was also deployed in case hyperbaric care  in relation to greater than normal gas pressure  would be needed.

Dr Ng added that "our fervent prayers and hopes go out to the crew of KRI Nanggala, for their safety and resilience and also to the search and locate teams of the Indonesian Navy currently on site."

In a separate Facebook post, Singapore's Ministry of Defence said, "We continue to pray for the safety of the crew on board the missing submarine and our RSN crew assisting with the search ops."

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It was reminiscent of the 1984 Kevin Bacon classic film, Footloose, in which town rules and a strict preacher originally prohibited kids from having a high school dance.

Last week, Las Cruces Public Schools District abruptly halted in-person classes at one of its high schools and threatened students with disciplinary actions following a reported secret prom.

Mayfield High School reverted to remote learning April 16 after a complaint was filed with the Governors Office alleging hundreds of students attended an off-campus prom April 10. After initially ordering all Mayfield High students to stay home until April 26 while the event was investigated, officials recalculated the quarantine time from the date of the event, not the complaint. That allowed the high school of 1,400 students to return to in-person classes Tuesday.

Mayfield High School Principal Eric Fraass says he learned of the event after being forwarded photos from social media posts. In a Snapchat/Instagram world, so much for anything, much less a prom, being secret.

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A spokeswoman for the school district had said students who attended could face disciplinary actions ranging from academic suspensions to being barred from school events like graduation. After a yearlong pandemic in one of the most restrictive states in the union, one has to wonder how many students, especially graduating seniors, would have said it was worth it.

Thankfully  just as in the movie  cooler heads ultimately prevailed.

Faced with backlash from elected officials over the districts actions, Las Cruces Public Schools Interim Superintendent Ralph Ramos said this week student organizers wont face punishment. We have not disciplined anybody, he said.

Ramos said state education and health officials began the investigation April 14 and found the prom had 200 to 500 students not wearing face masks. A DJ for the event said attendees wore masks but many didnt keep them on the whole time. He said the prom included about 20 adult supervisors who worked to ensure social distancing, and the kids had such a good time, you could just tell.

Ramos said school officials also discovered at least one other large student party billed as a secret prom, though with greater adherence to COVID-19 safe practices.

The good news is other Las Cruces high schools are in the process of planning socially distanced proms  lets hope these become reality. Under the current emergency orders, outdoor events do seem possible, welcome news for students who have had little to look forward to these past 13 months.

We are not advocating ignoring the governors emergency orders, which the unsanctioned dances appear to have done. But to discipline some and penalize all students for an unsanctioned, off-school event  which was obviously approved by some adults  would have gained nothing.

So kudos to school district officials for keeping open minds and backing off their original statements.

Because robbing the entire student body of even more of the small amount of in-person learning these students will get this school year and disciplining those who dared to dance (with adult supervision) would have just been silly. Almost as silly as banning rock music and dancing.

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.
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After last years cancellation, the Cannes Film Festival is expected to be back with a bang in July. Even with a small supply of U.S. films, the 2021 edition should be in no shortage of major auteurs, female directors and glamorous stars.

In addition to the already announced fest opener Annette, Leos Caraxs musical romance with Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, two other titles strongly tipped for Cannes are Wes Andersons The French Dispatch and Official Competition, a comedy reuniting Spanish stars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz. The Spanish-language film is directed by the Argentinian duo Mariano Cohn and Gaston Duprat.

Among the several films that were in the running for last years festival and are either confirmed or nearly confirmed for the 2021 edition are Nanni Morettis Three Floors, a Rome-set adaptation of Israeli writer Eshkol Nevos novel with Anna Bonaiuto, Riccardo Scamarcio and Alba Rohrwacher; Kirill Serebrennikovs (Leto) Petrovs Flu, about a day in the life of a comicbook artist and his family in post-Soviet Russia; and Paul Verhoevens Benedetta with Virginie Efira starring as a lesbian nun in Renaissance-era Italy. Theres also Apichatpong Weerasethakuls English-language debut Memoria with Tilda Swinton starring as an orchid farmer visiting her ill sister in Bogota where she is bothered by increasingly loud bangs that prevent her from getting any sleep.

After a year of subdued festival activity, Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux has a bounty of other anticipated movies from big-name auteurs to choose from.

Weerasethakul could be one of a handful of Palme dOr-winning directors in the pipeline for a comeback on the French Riviera, along with Ruben Ostlund with Triangle of Sadness, a contemporary satire with Woody Harrelson starring as a rabid Marxist who is the captain of a cruise for the super-rich that sinks, leaving survivors, including a fashion model celebrity couple, marooned on an island; Jacques Audiards black-and-white film Paris, 13th District, based on New Yorker cartoonist Adrian Tomines Killing and Dying, and revolving around four young adults who are friends, sometimes lovers, and often both; and two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadis Farsi-language drama A Hero, whose plot is kept secret. All of these films are being presented to Cannes selection committee.

As in 2019, which saw Mati Diop and Celine Sciamma shine in competition, the 2021 competition roster could include several strong French female helmers, notably Julia Ducournau with the horror drama Titane, her follow-up to Raw, with Vincent Lindon starring as a father whose son resurfaces at an airport after having disappeared for 10 years; Claire Denis with Feu, which stars Juliette Binoche as a woman caught between two men  her long-time partner (Lindon) and his best friend; Mia Hansen-Lve with Bergman Island, a a supernatural melodrama with Mia Wasikowska, Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps, about a couple of American filmmakers who travel to the Swedish island of Faro to write their respective films; and Emmanuelle Bercot (Standing Tall) with De Son Vivant, a drama spanning a year in the lives of a terminally ill man, a grieving mother, a doctor and a nurse, starring Catherine Deneuve, Benoit Magimel and Cecile de France.

This years official selection, or even the competition, could also boast Where Is Anne Frank, a long-gestated animated feature by Ari Folman, whose 2008 doc Waltz With Bashir debuted in competition. Folmans team was granted access to the Frank family archives. The film follows the story of Kitty, Anne Franks imaginary friend, who wakes up today in Amsterdam after a miracle, and travels across Europe to find out what happened to Anne during the last seven months of her life.

Other movies from renowned filmmakers that are well-positioned to world premiere at Cannes 2021 include Joachim Triers The Worst Person in the World; Bruno Dumonts On a Clear Half Morning with Lea Seydoux and Blanche Gardin, about a celebrity journalist whose life is turned upside down by a freak car accident; and Francois Ozons (Summer of 85) Tout sest bien passe, a euthanasia-themed film based on Emmanuelle Bernheims book by the same name, with Sophie Marceau.

Cannes Film Festivals official selection will be unveiled on May 27. The festival, which is scheduled to run July 6-17, said it was planning its next edition with confidence and determination while being mindful of the evolution of the public health situation in Europe and across the world, and the reopening of cultural venues mid-May.

While the country is currently on semi-lockdown with a curfew set at 7 p.m., President Emmanuel Macron recently said during a televised address that some cultural venues could reopen in mid-May. According to several sources, cinemas could potentially reopen between May 15-20 with a seating capacity limited to 35%. The limitation would be gradually lifted to 65% and 100% depending on the evolution of the pandemic. Cannes is a traditional launchpad for movies, and some theatrical releases are already being planned by distributors, notably UGC with Annette set for a simultaneous release on July 6.

After a very slow start, the pace of the vaccine roll out has gotten much quicker in recent weeks, which is bringing some optimism throughout the country. As of April 22, 20.1% of people in France have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to Bloomberg.

The festival is working hand-in-hand with Cannes authorities to hammer out health protocols. Some health measures being studied include setting up testing stations throughout the city, as well as around the Palais des Festivals, the main moviegoing hub.

As previously announced, Spike Lee will preside over the competition jury.

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Days after a Tesla owner's protest at the Shanghai Auto Show went viral, where she slammed the electric car manufacturer for faulty brakes and its apathy towards her complaints, the US-based EV maker has finally shared details about the crash that led to the whole fiasco during the event.

The protester, who was sent to detention for five days, owns a Tesla Model 3 car. She claimed the car was involved in a crash due to brake malfunction and could have killed four members of her family.
OKOLONA, Miss. (WTVA) - Police reported one victim in an overnight shooting in Okolona.

Town Marshal Tommie Ivy Sr. said the shooting happened around midnight on North East Street.

He described the incident as a drug-deal-gone-bad.

The victim was shot multiple times and transported to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

No arrests have been made as of Friday afternoon.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) largely remedies Superfund sites containing asbestos by capping them with soil to lock the buried toxin in place. But new research suggests that this may actually increase the likelihood of human exposure to the cancer-causing mineral.

"People have this idea that asbestos is all covered up and taken care of," said Jane Willenbring, who is an associate professor of geological sciences at Stanford University's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "But this is still a lingering legacy pollutant and might be dribbling out pollution, little by little."

Willenbring has published several studies about asbestos behavior and, most recently, turned her attention to the lack of information about how asbestos may move through the soils where it is stored. Through lab experiments with asbestos fibers, which were detailed in a paper published Jan. 27 in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, she and colleagues determined that the soil's organic material actually enables the asbestos to move through the ground and potentially into nearby water supplies.

They found that dissolved organic matter changes the electric charge on asbestos particles and makes them less sticky, thereby enabling them to move faster through soil. The work disproves the prevailing theory that asbestos fibers cannot easily move through soil - an assumption that has been made in part because of the mineral's hair-like shape.

"It's surprising that even though these little fibers are so long, because their shortest diameter is small enough, they can wind their way through these soil pores," said Willenbring, who is senior author on the study.

Inhalation of asbestos increases the risk of developing lung disease and lung cancer, and exposure could occur through irrigation, taking showers, using humidifiers or other unfiltered sources that disperse water into the air.

A legacy pollutant

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that mainly forms in the subsurface, at the boundary of Earth's oceanic and continental crusts. For much of the 20th century, it was revered as a miracle building material for its high heat capacity and insulation properties, and mining and production boomed worldwide. Following widespread evidence of its link to cancer, including a rare and aggressive form called mesothelioma, production of asbestos in the U.S. declined dramatically starting in the 1970s.

In addition to thinking that the shape of the fibers would inhibit transport, the scientific community has been influenced by a 1977 EPA report that minimized the threat of asbestos moving through soil. Since then, new findings about the role of colloids - microscopic particles that remain dispersed within solutions rather than settling to the bottom - have led researchers to challenge the assumption that asbestos stays fixed in soil.

"Now we can show that exactly the thing that they do, which is add manure or other organic sludge to the asbestos piles that creates the production of dissolved organic matter, is exactly what causes the liberation of asbestos," Willenbring said. "It's actually facilitating the transport of asbestos fibers."

In some ways, the team's breakthrough about asbestos is not surprising because it aligns so closely with recent findings about the transport of colloids in soil, Willenbring said. But she was stunned by the scale of the problem: Millions of people in the U.S. are living near thousands of sites contaminated with asbestos.

At least 16 Superfund sites contain asbestos and areas where the mineral naturally occurs can also pose a risk.

Improving remediation

As part of the lab experiments, Willenbring and her team sampled soil from the BoRit Superfund Site in Ambler, Pennsylvania before it was capped in 2008. The waste dump is located next to a reservoir, as well as a stream that feeds water to the city of Philadelphia.

However, there is a silver lining to the team's discovery.

"Not all types of dissolved organic matter have the same effect on asbestos mobility," said lead study author Sanjay Mohanty, an assistant professor at UCLA's Civil and Environmental Engineering who collaborated with Willenbring on the experiments. "Thus, by identifying the types that have the worst effect, the remediation design could exclude those organic amendments."

As part of the remediation strategy, some sites include vegetation planted on top of the soil to prevent erosion. Willenbring's ongoing research involves figuring out how fungal-vegetation associations may be able to extract iron and make the asbestos fibers less toxic to people.

"It's not just inflammation in the lungs that's a problem - there's a process by which iron contained in the asbestos fiber is actually responsible for causing DNA damage, which can lead to cancer or mesothelioma," Willenbring said.

###

The study was co-authored by a researcher from Midwestern University.

The research was supported by the University of Pennsylvania's SRP Center Grant (P42 ES027320), "Asbestos fate, exposure, remediation, and adverse health effects" from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
GENEVA (AP)  France on Friday became the first rich country to donate COVID-19 vaccines to a developing nation through the U.N.'s jab rollout program for low- and middle-income countries, shipping more than 100,000 doses to Mauritania.

Leaders of the COVAX program hailed the French donation, which was announced by President Emmanuel Macron, and called on other rich countries to follow suit at a time of intense competition for short supplies of vaccines  as coronavirus infection counts are on the rise.

We generally have the means to accelerate our solidarity by donating vaccines, Macron told a World Health Organization event, announcing the donation to COVAX. "These AstraZeneca vaccines, as I am speaking to you, on their way to West Africa.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which helps run COVAX, hailed the first batch provided without charge to the program, which amounted to 105,600 doses for Mauritania. It said France will ramp up its commitment (to COVAX) to at least 5% of its total doses by the end of 2021.

Macron said France would donate at least 500,000 doses through mid-June to the program.

Gavi, a Geneva-based public-private partnership, said other countries have expressed interest in donations through COVAX.
Horror, thriller and supernatural streaming service Shudder has acquired the exclusive rights to The Boy Behind the Door for release in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

The first feature from co-writers and directors Justin Powell and David Charbonier, the suspense thriller tells a powerful tale of survival and friendship in the face of evil. It stars Lonnie (This Is Us, White Famous), and Ezra Dewey (The Djinn, Criminal Minds).

Craig Engler, general manager of Shudder said, From its first frame, The Boy Behind the Door ratchets up the tension in a way that seems to never let up. Justin and David have tapped into what true evil lurking around in our world today looks like, and I can think of no better place for audiences to experience this unrelenting thrill ride than Shudder.

We are excited to partner with Shudder, the leading voice in the horror space, for the release of The Boy Behind the Door, said filmmakers David Charbonier and Justin Powell. Its not every day we get to see stories centered on such strong, diverse leads, which Lonnie and Ezra masterfully craft with honest and authentic performances. We hope audiences worldwide will have as much fun watching the film as we did making it.

The case also includes Kristin Bauer van Straten (True Blood, Nocturnal Animals), Scott Michael Foster (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Once Upon A Time) and Micah Hauptman (Homeland, Rust Creek).

In The Boy Behind the Door, a night of unimaginable terror awaits twelve-year-old Bobby (Lonnie Chavis) and his best friend, Kevin (Ezra Dewey), when they are abducted on their way home from school. Managing to escape his confines, Bobby navigates the dark halls, praying his presence goes unnoticed as he avoids his captor at every turn. Even worse is the arrival of another stranger, whose mysterious arrangement with the kidnapper may spell certain doom for Kevin. With no means of calling for help and miles of dark country in every direction, Bobby embarks on a rescue mission, determined to get himself and Kevin out alive or die trying.

The Boy Behind the Door had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest before playing AFI Fest, receiving rave reviews at both festivals. The film was produced by Rick Rosenthal of Whitewater Films, Ryan Scaringe of Kinogo Pictures, Jim Hart, John Hermann and Ryan Lewis. Bert Kern, Nick Morton, and Howard Barish executive produce.

Thursday, July 29 on Shudder.

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Salman Khans foundation Being Human has taken the initiative to take care of police and other frontline workers at many places in Mumbai amid lockdown and surging cases of COVID-19.

A mini food truck by the name of Being Haangryy has been providing food to frontline workers and policemen who trying to keep the people safe from the new wave of Coronavirus.

They are providing different kinds of snacks, tea, and bottled water every evening.

According to ABP News, the truck was seen delivering packaged food in a paper bag to policemen from Bandra to Juhu on the north side and Bandra to Worli on the south.

Check out the video here-

Rahul Kanal, who is looking after the NGOs initiative, said, Last time in Mumbai, our focus was to reach more and more needy, poor, and hungry people. But this time, along with the Mumbai Police, we are trying to provide relief to the medical staff and BMC employees through breakfast and tea.

Rahul further added, Salman got the idea of delivering breakfast to the policemen from his father Salim Khan and mother Salma Khan. The police who are performing their duty near Salman's house 'Galaxy Apartment' in Bandra, are being delivered daily food by Salim and Salma Khan. Salman Khan thought why not provide breakfast to all the policemen and frontline workers of Mumbai daily. This is just the result of that.

Senior Police Inspector Ganore said, 'Being Human Foundation' is taking special care of the policemen in this way. Policemen are struggling day and night on the streets to strictly implement the guidelines of Corona. In such a situation, we thank Salman and Rahul wholeheartedly for this unique initiative of providing breakfast, tea, and water to the hungry thirsty policemen.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
The most telling fact in the sad demise of the Catholic Church in Auburn was a number: 150.

In a church built to hold 610  Auburns largest  only 150 people showed up last Monday night at St. Hyacinth Church to finally hear the verdict on which parishes would live or die. More people used to be in one grade at most Catholic schools. Its not that those faithful 150 were the only ones who cared. Lots of people cared, and lots of people shook their heads in dismay as the Catholic Churchs global self-destruction finally hit home. Its just that everyone else knew this day was inevitable. And they knew they were helpless to stop it.

Ask any accountant. Numbers dont lie. Ordinations to the priesthood  especially from Auburn  have been nonexistent for decades. The last two pastors of one of Auburns largest congregations (the cluster of St. Alphonsus, Sacred Heart, St. Ann, and Holy Family) have been imported from Kenya. We dont even have altar servers at most Masses anymore. Mass attendance is nearly half of what it was only 20 years ago, and donations are dwindling as church properties slide further into disrepair. The future is even bleaker. The diocese shuttered Auburns last remaining Catholic school in 2020, and baptisms and confirmations have plummeted about 50% since 2011, according to the committee recommending the church closures.
Chinese drug lords are investing in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative to launder tens of millions of dollars made from trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin in Australia, classified intelligence documents reveal.

Three of Australia's biggest organised crime kingpins have taken illicit drug-trade cash and washed it through Beijing-backed infrastructure projects across Africa and the Middle East.

News Corp reported that joint investigations by the Australian Federal Police and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission have uncovered these 'investment' deals are often made in terms 'favourable to the host', who are ignorant of the source of the funds.

The revelation comes two days after Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the federal government would use its veto power to tear up the Victorian state government's 2018 Belt and Road deal with China - sparking a backlash from Beijing and threats of legal action.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton returned fire on Friday saying Australia would not 'surrender' to threats of retaliation.

'We're not going to have our values compromised, we aren't going to surrender our sovereignty,' he said.

AFP officers are pictured after seizing the record quantity of meth in Western Australia in 2017

AFP officers display bundles of cash confiscated from a drug syndicate operating across South East Asia

Two of the Triad bosses heavily invested in the Belt and Road initiative are Asian-Australian businessmen.

One of which is based in Hong Kong and runs a drug smuggling operation with the help of Australian outlaw bikie gangs.

Another figure named as a Australian Priority Organisation Target by authorities has been linked to large-scale drug trafficking across the Asia Pacific.

Authorities have traced their drug money to as far away as Chinese development projects in Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Oman and Myanmar.

The Australian-linked drug lords are not the first organised crime figures from China to use the Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature trade policy for nefarious reasons.

In the US and elsewhere, Triad groups have piled their ill-gotten gains into Belt and Road projects, investigations by the US Department of Homeland Security have alleged.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews signed a memorandum of understanding with China in 2018 and then signed a 'framework agreement' with Beijing in 2019.

The Belt and Road Initiative is the signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping and aims to boost regional trade with trillions of dollars in development projects across land, sea and air corridors

What is the Belt and Road Initiative? Unveiled in 2013 in Kazakhstan and Indonesia by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Belt and Road Initiative is the most ambitious infrastructure project in modern world history. The multitrillion-dollar initiative involves hundreds of projects, most of them built by Chinese contractors and financed by loans from Chinese state-owned banks, across an arc of 65 countries from the South Pacific through Asia to Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping put their palms on a screen during a gas pipeline launching ceremony in Astana in 2013 The Belt and Road Initiative, essentially a Modern Silk Road, is made up of a 'belt' of six overland corridors that direct trade to and from China and a maritime 'road' of shipping routes and seaports from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean. The initiative countries account for 40 per cent of global gross domestic product growth and 44 per cent of the world's population, according to an analysis from Morgan Stanley. As of July 2018, more than 100 countries and international organisations had signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, extending the initiative's scope from the Eurasian continent to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the South Pacific region. The Chinese government calls the initiative 'a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future'. Other observes and critics, however, see it as a push for the country's position as a global economic power with a China-centered trading network while burying some countries under massive debt. Advertisement

Areas of cooperation included increasing participation of Chinese companies in Victoria's infrastructure program and promoting Victorian businesses in China.

It also allowed Victoria's engineering and design firms to bid for Belt and Road contracts around the world.

Mr Andrews has previously said he made the secret deal to shore up jobs in the state.

But with China's increasingly confrontational stance toward Australia, Senator Payne said such arrangements do not align with Australia's foreign policy goals.

'I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations,' she said in a statement.

The Belt and Road Initiative is the signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping and aims to use development projects to assert global power.

Critics have labeled the intiative 'debt trap diplomacy' under which China loads up impoverished nations with mountains of debt which it then forgives in exchange for control over their foreign policy.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne (pictured) announced the cancelation on Wednesday night

A sea of methamphetamine is sprawled out after a drug operation was shut down in Myanmar in 2018

Australia's decision to scrap the deal infuriated the Communist Party who voiced their anger through the Chinese Embassy in Australia.

'It further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations,' the statement said.

'It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself.'

Australia's relationship with its largest trading partner has been on the rocks since April last year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's call for an independent inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic - which first appeared in Wuhan at the end of 2019 - was the tipping point which inflamed tensions.

The plea for transparency infuriated Beijing who retaliated by imposing arbitrary bans and tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Australian goods including barley, wine, cotton, seafood, beef, copper, and coal.

Ecstasy was seized after being hidden in tins of tomatoes and shipped from Italy to Australia

Ecstasy pills are pictured hidden in tins of tomatoes after being shipped from Italy to Australia
India is witnessing the second wave of coronavirus and its impact is quite evident. India's COVID-19 caseload has tripled in the last 17 days and the situation is severe. In the wake of the COVID-19 resurge in India, the newly formed country Kailasa has banned the entry of Indians.

Nithyananda, the absconding godman founded his own country Kailasa and in the current situation has closed the borders to travellers from Brazil, Malaysia and the European Union.

The order issued by Kailasa mentions that the second and third waves of coronavirus, all embassies of Kailasa from these nations were sealed. The borders will remain shut to these travellers until further notice.

Indians will not be able to visit the island of Kailasa located off the coast of Ecuador for now, Nithyananda said in a statement.

Accused of sexual assault, Nithyananda has been hiding on the island off the coast of Ecuador since the year 2019. Nithyananda described Kailasa as a Hindu sovereign nation.

It is interesting to note that, this remote island which he claims to be a spiritual nation has its own cabinet, prime minister and a dedicated website. Nithyananda has even launched its own Reserve Bank of Kailasa in August 2020 to print Kailashian dollars.

Despite his repeated application, the United Nations (UN) has refused to recognize Kailasa as a separate country.

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Lucknow, April 23 : Four persons, including two doctors, were arrested in Uttar Pradesh for black marketing and hoarding of Remdesivir, a key drug used in the treatment of Covid patients.

The four were arrested from Thakurganj area in Lucknow on Thursday night from near the Era Medical College where they had planned to deliver the consignment.

The police have also seized 34 vials and Rs 4.90 lakh from their possession.

Two accused were identified as Athar Rashid and Samrat Pandey, who have done Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery (BAMS), while the other two, Tehzeeb Hasan and Vipin Kumar, worked as their aides.

ACP, Chowk, IP Singh said acting on a tip off about black marketing of Remdesivir drug in Thakurganj.

"We have trapped a member of the gang by posing as a customer and after meeting the gang, the price of one vial was fixed at Rs 20,000," said the officer.

"The gang members revealed they used to receive the consignment from Kanpur," added Singh. Police are now tracing the main supplier in Kanpur.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
With the aim to reduce the risk of drowning, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued the drowning prevention plan amongst children in 2021 in which the Ministry encouraged schools to organize swimming classes to reduce the risk of drowning.

Illustrative image. -- VNA/VNS Photo

The plan will be carried out from now to the end of November 2021.

The plan aims to raise teachers, students and parents awareness of drowning accident to actively prevent accidents, injuries and drowning in daily activities. Additionally, swimming is a great way to keep fit.

The Ministry of Education and Training will develop an action program on the prevention and control of injuries in children and students in the period of 2021-2030in the education sector according to the government program. Local administrators and schools should encourage people to learn water safety skills and swimming to combat the risk of drowning and injuries on mass media and social networks.

The Ministry will review documents on safe swimming skills for the prevention of accidents, injuries, and drowning. Preschool and high school teachers will be forced to take part in refresher courses of water safety skills and drowning prevention. The Ministry will strengthen the inspection, supervision and evaluation of the results of the implementation of injury prevention and drowning activities at educational facilities.

Schools were instructed to incorporate water survival skills and swimming skills in extra-activities and physical education classes. Moreover, schools were encouraged to call for parents contribution for swimming classes inside and outside the school.

The Ministry of Education and Training required departments, branches and local administrations to provide water survival skills training and swim lessons to reduce drowning risk for children.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, every year more than 2,000 children die from unintentional drowning in Vietnam. The rate of child drowning in Vietnam is higher than other Southeast Asian countries and 10 times higher than that of developed countries. Roughly 53 percent of children lost their lives by drowning when they play near streams, rivers, lakes, canals, ditches without adults supervision.

More children die during school holidays.

SGGP
Officers rest outside the detention center at the headquarters of Mobile Brigade, the elite police unit, in Depok, Indonesia, May 10, 2018.

An Indonesian court has sentenced to death six terrorism convicts for their involvement in a prison riot in 2018 during which five police officers were killed, a court official said Thursday.

Judges at the East Jakarta District Court delivered the sentences against Wawan Kurniawan, 45, Syawaludin Pakpahan, 46, Anang Rahman, 55, Handoko, 36, Suyanto, 44, and Suparman, 38, on Wednesday in an online session attended remotely by the defendants, said the official, Alex Adam.

All the defendants stated that they accepted the verdicts and would not appeal, Alex told reporters.

They were found guilty of planning and carrying out the riot at the prison run by the police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Depok, south of Jakarta, on May 8, 2018. The riot involved 155 prisoners and lasted 40 hours.

In delivering the verdicts, a judge called the six mens actions sadistic and inhumane, Alex said. The judges agreed with the prosecutors, who recommended that the defendants be sentenced to death.

Police had said the riot started after a quarrel between a guard and an inmate over food. Officials said rioters attacked guards, seized their weapons and held an officer hostage.

Police said the five dead officers had been tortured, with most suffering deep neck wounds and other injuries. Four other officers were injured, including an officer who was taken hostage.

IS claimed responsibility

Prosecutors said the defendants began meeting in January 2018 to plan a terrorist act in the prison where they were being detained or serving sentences for terrorism-related offenses.

Authorities said the inmates had armed themselves with about 30 weapons taken from an area where the prison stored contraband seized during police operations. Other preparations for the riot included physical training and creating duplicate keys, authorities said.

To help end the standoff, police allowed the inmates to meet with cleric Aman Abdurrahman, the de facto leader of Indonesian supporters of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, who was being held at a nearby building in the compound.

Abdurrahman was sentenced to death a month later following his conviction on charges linked to ordering terror attacks beginning in 2016.

IS claimed that its fighters were responsible for the riot, and called supporters to storm the compound to help free Abdurrahman, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based website that monitors extremist activity and communications on social media.

In 2019, a court in Jakarta sentenced Dita Siska Millenia, 18, to two years and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of trying to assist the rioters in the wake of the riot.

Police arrested Dita and seven others for allegedly trying to storm the prison after the riot. A man who stabbed an officer guarding a post outside the Brimob headquarters was shot and killed.

Police also killed another suspect as he allegedly tried to strangle officers who were arresting him in the nearby city of Bekasi on suspicion that he and others were heading toward the detention center to assist the inmates.

Death sentences criticized

The death sentences were unlikely to trigger retaliation from other militants, said Sidney Jones, director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).

I think the possibility is not that big because if we look at it, there was no reaction after the death sentence against Aman Abdurrahman, Jones told BenarNews.

Jones said the defendants should have been sentenced to life in prison instead of death.

I dont agree with the death penalty for anyone. It's inhuman punishment, she said.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International said death sentences handed out by Indonesian courts increased by 46 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.

At least 117 people were sentenced to death in 2020 for drug trafficking and murder, compared to 80 in the previous year.

At a time when the state should be saving as many lives as possible from the coronavirus, it has handed out death sentences to more people, Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said in a statement.

This will undermine Indonesia's credibility in the eyes of the international community.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23)  The House of Representatives should begin investigations next week on how an anti-communist task force uses its funds, a lawmaker proposed on Friday.

"The rampant unlawful profiling and obvious red-tagging of organizers of community pantries by officials of the NTF-ELCAC are simply too wicked to be ignored by the Members of this august chamber," said 1-PACMAN party-list Rep. Mikee Romero, adding that the probe should begin before Congress resumes session on May 17.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict or NTF-ELCAC is in hot water again for accusing private citizens of colluding with communists, also known as red-tagging. The recent target was Ana Patricia Non, organizer of the Maginhawa Street community pantry in Quezon City that pioneered the trend of donating and giving basic items for free amid the pandemic.

Misamis Oriental 2nd District Rep. Juliette Uy also pushed for the Commission on Audit and the National Privacy Commission to conduct a special audit on NTF-ELCAC's budget.

"The audits are fact-finding measures consistent with the oversight authority of Congress as provided in the 1987 Constitution, said Uy.

A number of senators earlier called for defunding the task force or realigning its 19-billion budget which includes 16 billion to support infrastructure in barangays "cleared" of insurgency. The amount was previously questioned over the spate of red-tagging aimed at progressive lawmakers and even celebrities.

Some activists that were also reportedly red-tagged were killed.

On April 20, Non was forced to pause operations for a day over safety concers after police reportedly sought her personal details. The Quezon City government said it supports community pantries and vowed to look into the incident.
A unarmed black man was shot 10 times by the same Virginia sheriff deputy who had given him a ride home an hour earlier after his car broke down.

Isaiah Brown, 32, was driven home from by a Spotsylvania County deputy at around 2:30am Wednesday after his car broke broke down at a gas station on Route 3, his siblings told NBC 4 Washington.

Brown's brother Tazmon says he spoke to the deputy, who said he wasn't in trouble and had just needed a ride home. The deputy then left.

But less than an hour later at 3:18am Brown dialed 911, with the sheriff's office marked the call as a 'domestic' situation.

A police source told NBC 4 that he was complaining about his brother.

The same deputy returned and encountered Isaiah Brown walking away from his home.

After a confrontation, which the sheriff's department did not elaborate on, the officer opened fire.

Brown, who was unarmed, was shot multiple times.

Isaiah Brown, 32, was unarmed when he was shot 10 times by a deputy in the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's office in Virginia, said his family, who still haven't been given a reason why.

Isaiah Brown, 32, was driven home from by a Spotsylvania County deputy at around 2:30am Wednesday

Virginia State Police said in a statement on Wednesday, 'The sheriffs deputy attempted to verbally engage Brown, and it was during this encounter that the deputy discharged his service weapon.'

Brown survived the shooting and is in intensive care in an area hospital.

The encounter was recorded by the deputy's body camera, but state police haven't released it, despite loud public outcry for them to do so.

But the Spotsylvania Branch of the NAACP said on Facebook that they have arranged the footage to be released by police once the family have had a chance to view it.

Brown's brother and sister, Tazmon and Yolanda, said they still don't know why Isaiah was shot.

'I'm just still trying to figure out where he felt the threat at, to feel the need to shoot,' Yolanda Brown told the station.

Brown's brother, Tazmon, and sister, Yolanda, want to know why the officer opened fire.

Despite the sheriff's claim of a 'domestic disturbance' call, Tazmon told NBC 4 Washington that he thinks his brother just wanted a ride back to his car so that it wouldn't be towed.

'The officer just started shooting at him for no reason. I didnt hear a warning shot. All I heard was "Hands up!" one time. And all he had was his phone, so I know he put his hands up,' Tazmon told NBC 4.

Actress Gabrielle Union, who was among those who called for accountability, retweeted a post about the story and commenting: 'He called them for help and was shot 10x?!?!?!?'
An Italian burglar known as 'The Pink Panther' is facing jail after admitting his role in a 25million jewellery raid at F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone's Kensington mansion.

Alessandro Maltese, 45, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to burgle properties between November 29 and December 18 2019.

He appeared at Isleworth Crown Court today alongside an Italian interpreter and spoke only to confirm his identity, before entering his plea.

The charge relates to burglaries including a raid on Ms Ecclestone's London home in December 2019 in which thieves allegedly stole 25 million of jewellery and cash.

Ms Ecclestone, the socialite daughter of ex-Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, was on holiday in Lapland with her husband, art gallery owner Jay Rutland, their daughter and their dog at the time.

Socialite Tamara Ecclestone with her husband Jay Rutland at Nobu Berkeley in London

Other alleged victims of the conspiracy included former Chelsea FC player and manager Frank Lampard and his television presenter wife Christine, as well as late Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Maltese was charged with the conspiracy alongside Alessandro Donati, 43, who pleaded guilty on April 13 and was remanded in custody.

Both men originally denied the charge before entering guilty pleas.

Maltese was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at a later date.

Timothy Cray QC, prosecuting, said: 'Your honour the prosecution was aware this plea was likely to be entered, in fact Mr Maltese pleaded not guilty on the 16 March.

'But at the last hearing two weeks ago before the Recorder of Kensington, it was indicated that this plea was likely to be made today.

Alessandro Maltese, 45, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to burgle properties between November 29 and December 18 2019. Pictured: Ecclestone's home in London

'The next hearing is on the 7 May where the other linked defendant is appearing for his plea and case management hearing.

'So your honour could we ask that this case is adjourned to that date - that is when we intend to fix a date for sentence and also to review confiscation proceedings.'

Another man, Jugaslav Jovanovic, 23, has already made two court appearances in relation to the raid after he was extradited and arrested at Heathrow Airport.

He has not yet entered a plea but used the word 'innocente' when asked to confirm his date of birth and address.

Jovanovic is due back in court on May 7.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The zone beneath the Ural Mountains taken over by projects related to the New Silk Road. The local population revolts but the authorities bargain in secret. The Council of Europe and the UN Commissioner for Human Rights criticize the conditions imposed on workers.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - A large-scale Chinese initiative is underway to integrate into the economy of the area beyond the Volga River, close to the Ural Mountains. The attempt is part of the Belt and Road Initiative, the "New Silk Road" which is continuously being reformulated according because of the often harsh reactions of local populations.

On April 20, in the House of Culture of the agricultural village of Ryndinsk, in the province of Tsivilsk in Chuvash, a Russian region close to the European side of the Urals a vote was held among operators in the sector to transfer the territories of the area into the industrial" category.

The goal was the realization of agricultural projects with a high rate of investment. In reality, the discussion showed that neither the investors nor the Chuvash authorities had any plans ready: they were instead trying to pass the "Udmurtia project", another Russian region on the Asian side of the Urals, where investors are Chinese companies.

Already a year ago, local authorities had tried to rent large agricultural plots in the Tsivilsk province to Chinese investors, but the local inhabitants had declared their opposition, and the issue had run aground. Many fear that the Chinese will make the land available to people who are beyond control. In fact, the authorities have not shed any light on the ownership of the companies funded by money from Beijing investors.

In a comment to Idel.Realii, Oleg Semenov, communist deputy of the provincial council of Tsivilsk, observes that to date no deputy is aware of the details of the project, which is presented as "a state plan, inserted in the republican budget of Chuvashia". "We only know that the plan is called the 'Udmurtia Agricultural Complex', but we don't know who thought it up, what it contains, or how it applies to the Chuvashians," Semenov emphasized.

The chairman of the Tsivilsk council, Veronika Fedorova, assured that "only local Chuvash investors will be involved in the project presented, who have no relationship with Chinese investors". In reality, for some years the Chuvash authorities have been collaborating in secret with the Chinese, clashing with suspicious locals.

Some Chinese investors have already left the region, which is considered "toxic" for investment, and moved to adjacent regions, such as the republic of Tatarstan. The president of Chuvashia himself, Oleg Nikolaev, defined the development prospects of "Chinese projects" as "somewhat nebulous".

The Chinese attempts have already aroused reactions from the Council of Europe and the UN Commissioner for Human Rights for the conditions imposed on workers in the Samara region, also beyond the Volga. However, the projects seem destined to expand, as a result of the agreements between President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Xi Jinping.
DALLAS, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall , the leading provider of next-generation broker services, today announced the launch of a partnership with Horizon Health Services Inc. (Horizon), New Jersey's largest health insurance provider to integrate Horizon submissions through its Online Enrollment platform. BenefitMall has completed the first integration in New Jersey.

Through this Horizon integration, group applications, employee elections and documents can now be directly submitted online, which allows brokers to enroll businesses to the carrier in a more efficient manner.

"We are thrilled to introduce to our clients the integration of Horizon with our Online Enrollment platform," said Michelle Sheffield, CIO of BenefitMall. "Streamlining processes, reducing paperwork, and eliminating steps between our brokers and carriers is what we strive for every day. With more integrations like this one with Horizon, we can help our clients to better serve their customers and, ultimately, their workforces."

With a direct API connection to Horizon, brokers will enjoy enhanced:

Security  with this integration, transmitting of data is done through the highest level of security between BenefitMall to Horizon, which is critical when collecting and sharing personally identifiable information.

Accuracy  now enrollment information will transmit from one system to the other without manual steps in between.

Time  this connectivity creates efficiency in the enrollment submissions process, allowing for quicker processing and turnaround times.

"We always want to provide mutually beneficial solutions for not only our brokers, but our carrier partners as well," said Tiffany Stiller, BenefitMall's vice president of carrier relations. "We are proud to now have a solution to assist Horizon with processing online enrollments more efficiently from the broker community through this Horizon integration."

About BenefitMall

Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall is the largest general agency partnering with a network of 20,000 Brokers to deliver employee benefits to more than 140,000 small and medium-sized businesses. BenefitMall uniquely leverages innovative technology backed by human expertise to provide the fastest, easiest, and most secure benefits selling experience for carriers, brokers, and their clients. Owned by Management and The Carlyle Group, BenefitMall also operates HealthCareExchange.com, the leading online community for health care reform and compliance. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com .

SOURCE BenefitMall

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(Newser)  Alexei Navalny says he'll start a 24-day process of ending his hunger strike in a Russian penal colony, a day after doctors said he would die otherwise. The Russian opposition leader announced the move through lawyers on Instagram Friday, noting his goal of receiving care from outside doctors was achieved. Navalnywhose team had described him as at imminent risk of kidney failure and cardiac arrest after he stopped eating on March 31referred to two visits with civilian doctors, per CNN. Anastasia Vasilieva, head of the Doctors Alliance union, a group of doctors who describe themselves as Navalny's attending physicians, tells Reuters that Navalny was taken to a civilian hospital on Tuesday to be seen by the head kidney specialist, neurologist, and neurosurgeon.

story continues below

Thanks to the huge support of good people across the country and around the world, we have made huge progress, Navalny said in his message, per the AP. "Two months ago, my requests for medical help were prompting smirks. I wasnt given any medications. ... Thanks to you, now I have been examined by a panel of civilian doctors twice. But one demand is not yet met. The Kremlin critic says he has yet to see a specialist who can explain the loss of sensitivity in his arms and legs. Navalny began the hunger strike because he said he wasn't receiving proper treatment for back and leg pain. He also said his left leg was going numb. Navalny, who'd described himself as "a walking skeleton" on Tuesday, said it would take 24 days to gradually end the hunger strike, per CNBC. (Read more Alexei Navalny stories.)
San Francisco, April 23 : Facebook-owned short video-making app Instagram Reels is bringing ads to Reels in few countries, including India.

The full-screen ads will be arriving first in India, Germany, Brazil and Australia before landing in more countries "in the coming months." According to an Engadget report, the spots are similar to Instagram's ads for Stories.

Ads can run up to 30 seconds and users can interact with them the way they would with organic posts (including skipping them altogether).

Ads can also include "shop now" buttons, according to screenshots shared by the company, the report said.

Facebook is also experimenting with a new ad format for Stories -- sticker ads, it added.

Meant for influencers, the ads "allow creators to monetize their Facebook Stories with ads that look like stickers and receive a portion of the resulting revenue." The brand-created stickers will allow influencers to link to specific products their followers can buy.

A spokesperson noted that it's the first time Facebook has experimented with a feature within Stories but declined to provide details of the arrangements.

The feature will be available to a "select" group of advertisers and creators. Sticker ads are the latest of several monetization tools Instagram has explored.

It also allows creators to sell badges and products in live streams and shares revenue with creators who run ads in IGTV.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis looks on during a joint news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, in Berlin, Germany, on March 17, 2021. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool/Reuters)

Baltic States Join NATO Allies in Kicking out Russians for Spying

PRAGUE/VILNIUS/MOSCOWLithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on Friday joined a fast-growing list of NATO and EU members demanding the removal of Russian diplomats for alleged spying, in actions that have infuriated Moscow and look certain to provoke further retaliation.

A spate of tit-for-tat expulsions has plunged ties between Russia and countries of the former Soviet bloc to their lowest point since the fall of communism, prompting Moscow to accuse at least two of them of deliberately wrecking relations.

Lithuania said it was sending two diplomats home and Latvia and Estonia one each. The EU should have less undercover Russian spies, Lithuanian foreign affairs minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters.

Three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow maintains imposing and generously staffed embassies across central and eastern Europe, which the host countries say provide convenient cover for espionage.

The Baltic statestogether with Slovakia, which ordered out three Russians on Thursdayappeared to be responding to an appeal this week from the Czech Republic for European Union and NATO allies to show solidarity in removing Russian spies.

In addition, Bulgaria and Poland have expelled two and three Russians respectively, prompting Moscow to show the door to two Bulgarians and five Poles.

The Czechs are embroiled in the biggest row of all, which looks set to involve the departure of dozens of Czech and Russian diplomats and was prompted by Czech allegations that Russian intelligence was behind a deadly explosion at an ammunition depot in 2014.

Daniel Milo, senior adviser at Bratislava-based policy institute GLOBSEC, said the combined moves suggested greater self-confidence on the part of the Central Europeans and could have implications for areas such as energy cooperation, where the region has until now been heavily dependent on Russia.

Russia perhaps needs to see this is not an isolated act of a small country of 10 million people (the Czech Republic) but that there is a true sense of solidarity across the EU or NATO, he said.

If that happens, it might serve as a strong deterrent to any future attempts to carry out such (spying) activities, as they did with the feeling of impunity previously.

Mass Psychosis

The spy rows have come at a time of acute tensions between Russia and the West, including over Ukraine and over the fate of opposition Russian leader Alexei Navalny, who on Friday announced he was ending a three-week hunger strike in jail.

The Kremlin this week complained of mass anti-Russian psychosis and President Vladimir Putin threatened foreign powers with an asymmetric, fast and harsh response if they crossed what Russia regards as its red lines.

Such rhetoric makes it appear unlikely that Russiawhich has yet to announce its response to the Slovak and Baltic moveswill allow the disputes to quietly subside.

The depth of Russias bitterness over its treatment by former allies was reflected in a foreign ministry statement on Friday after Moscow had summoned the Polish ambassador for a dressing-down.

Through the efforts of the Polish authorities in recent years, contacts with Russia have been virtually frozen, a shameful war with Soviet monuments has been launched, attempts are being made to torpedo Russian energy projects, a large-scale anti-Russian information campaign is being carried out, history is being falsified, and anti-Russian sanctions by the West are endlessly prolonged, it said.

By Jason Hovet, Andrius Sytas, and Mark Trevelyan
NPP stalwart, Sam Pyne has charged the Police to arrest persons who report cases of them swindled by money doublers.



Persons claiming to double money for individuals who want quick money have flooded TV screens in the country, despite their actions being illegal.



It has become very disturbing to see various TV channels showing these money doublers as they are believed to stimulate money rituals.



The murder of a teenage boy at Kasoa weeks ago has provoked discussions about the influx of TV stations showing fetish activities.



Two teenagers murdered an 11-year old boy at Kasoa, attempted to export his body parts to a fetish priest but were arrested before they could carry out their premeditated plan.



The murder suspects are said to have committed their crime in hope to enrich themselves.



In order to set an example and also clamp down on money-doubling and fetish contents, a popular fetish priest Nana Agradaa, a couple of days ago, was arrested and her two TV stations, Thunder TV and Ice TV, were shut down.



The National Communication Authority (NCA) has also embarked on a move to shut down forty-nine (49) TV stations.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo" programme, Sam Pyne told the Police to arrest both the money doubler and their complainants because, to him, those who engage the services of money doublers are as guilty as the money doublers.



"If it is illegal to engage in money doubling, then it is equally illegal for any person to seek their help."



He believed should this be done, it will serve as deterrent to others who may attempt to engage in such illegality.



"They both should be arrested . . . If indeed the law doesn't permit me to double money, when I come to file a report, you the Police must arrest me and the money doubler," he emphasized.





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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The cover of "With the Century," a memoir of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung / Courtesy of Minjok Sarangbang



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Controversy is rising over the publication of the memoir of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung here, as it was ruled anti-state material by the Supreme Court back in 2011.



While the eight-volume series "With the Century" hit bookshelves in South Korea in early April, the Ministry of Unification said it would look into how the books are being sold and whether this violates the National Security Law.



Local publisher Minjok Sarangbang, operated by a private organization promoting inter-Korean exchanges, released the memoir in early April. The books are unabridged, according to the publisher.



The eight-part memoir covers Kim's early life from his birth in 1912 to armed struggles against Japan before Korea was liberated in 1945. The first volume was published in 1992 on the occasion of Kim's 80th birthday  four more were released during Kim's lifetime and three posthumously through 1998.



The book series has been known for glorifying Kim's life with the fabrication of details as well.



There were attempts to publish the memoir in South Korea back in the 1990s, but they failed due to the potential violation of the National Security Law.



In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that "With the Century" fell into the category of anti-state material and thus banned it in South Korea, while upholding a one year jail term on a man who visited North Korea without government approval and obtained a copy of the books.





North Koreans visit a photo exhibition in Pyongyang to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the birth of the late North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, April 14. Yonhap
The Florida House resoundingly approved a consumer privacy bill on Wednesday, giving the public an opportunity to regain ownership of the personal data collected by companies and the right to sue companies for mishandling information in a marketplace where consumers themselves have become lucrative commodities.

The state Senate is expected to soon take up the House bill, as part of a package of proposals sought by Gov. Ron DeSantis meant to reign in Big Tech firms. The Republican governor is also seeking to redress concerns, particularly among conservatives, about how social media companies handle unpopular views.

Florida, the countrys third most populous state, would be the latest to enact consumer protections against Big Datas ability to harvest personal information about how people conduct their day-to-day lives, including where they shop and eat, what they read and what they share online.

The resulting dossier is often bought and sold in a lucrative marketplace that has become an important element of modern commerce.

Its clear we all agree that we need to do something about data privacy, said Rep. Fiona McFarland, the Republican who was tapped to carry the bill in the House, adding that the tech world has perhaps gone just a little bit too far without us knowing whats going on.

Business interests have lobbied heavily against the proposal. McFarland noted that more than 300 lobbyists had registered to speak on the bill as it wound through legislative committees.

Despite intense lobbying from business interests, the House version retains a provision that would allow individual consumers to sue companies that do not comply with the law, including selling information when a consumer has asked that a company does not do so.

The personal cause of action had been removed from the Senate version, and could be a sticking point as the full Senate decides whether to take up the House version, not its own, when it considers the matter.

Some estimates put the cost of compliance at billions of dollars, and it is unclear how quickly businesses can put in place the necessary infrastructure and protocols to comply.

We should be doing the important work to protect consumer privacy. Other states have started this work, and we should be a part of that, said Rep. Ben Diamond, who supported the bill but nevertheless expressed reservations shared from the business community about the logistical and financial cost to comply.

Scores of so-called techlash bills have sprung up in statehouses across the country, propelled by concerns that Big Tech companies have become too powerful and that the federal government has not moved quickly enough to protect consumers from the intrusions of Big Data.

The Florida bill would require companies to reveal what data they are gathering, force them to delete it upon consumer request and make them liable for selling it when told not to.

It creates one of the single largest regulatory burdens on Florida businesses, said Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican who was the lone House member to vote against the measure. I support data privacy but this big government bill takes a terrible approach.

Support for the bill was a rare show of bipartisanship on a high-profile initiative pushed by Gov. DeSantis as he prepares to launch his bid for reelection.

DeSantis is also urging lawmakers to pass a measure aimed at social media companies who critics claim stifle conservative voices on their platforms. The proposals before Florida lawmakers would authorize hefty fines against social media companies that remove the accounts of those seeking public office.

The bill was filed days after Twitter suspended the account of then-President Donald Trump after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. It would also punish the companies for deplatforming political candidates, including fines of up to $100,000 daily when a statewide office seeker is suspended from a social media site. Twitter booted Trump following the insurrection, after concluding that a close review of his tweets could lead to a further incitement of violence.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida Privacy
Frustrated parents and students pleaded with Lawrence Township Board of Education members and officials to increase the amount of in-person learning during an in-person monthly meeting Wednesday night.

The district is offering all students the option of in-person learning five days a week with an early dismissal time starting Monday, April 26. Full days of instruction and a lunch period wont be offered the remainder of the year, Superintendent Ross Kasun said.

As of this week, middle and high school students have been going to school on a hybrid schedule with eight hours of morning in-person learning per week. Afternoons involve remote learning and Fridays are asynchronous learning days.

But more than a dozen parents and students expressed concerns that the districts plan for the remainder of the school year is inadequate, saying students are experiencing a decline in their mental health, loss of education, and other negative ramifications due to less in-person learning.

Amy Davis, a parent of two kids in the district and co-founder of the group Return to Learn, said the risk to COVID-19 is minuscule for increased in-person learning.

And when I weigh that minuscule risk against the benefit of my children receiving a better, in-person quality education and preserving their mental health and overall wellbeing, I choose to have my children in school, Davis said during the meeting. Every parent deserves that right.

An online petition Davis and other parents in the group launched urging the board and administrators to restore full time, in-person learning has garnered more than 200 signatures.

Kim Lehrfeld, a parent of a middle schooler and high schooler, said hours of live instruction are drastically cut when the district operates on an early dismissal schedule, with a 50% decrease in some cases.

Students have physically learned in the school building less than two dozen times this school year, she said. Despite roughly 40 days left in the school year, she urged the board to immediately increase the in-person learning.

But I find it sad, frustrating, and so disappointing to watch our district let an opportunity like this slip away, she said, and not give the students what they need between now and the last day of school.

Mahek Malik, a senior at Lawrence High School, said remote learning has been detrimental to her and her friends mental wellbeing and learning.

Every single one of my friends Ive talked to, their mental health has deteriorated so much just from this year, including mine, she said, adding the monotony of online school and lack of socializing has greatly affected her as an only child.

Its literally the worst school experience you could have, ever, she added.

At the start of the meeting, Kasun outlined the districts reasoning for maintaining its current schedule of in-person learning. Increasing time in schools would create challenges for providing lunch, maintaining the same teacher and student schedules, and staffing issues, he said.

With moving to a full day in-person learning, we would absolutely struggle to effectively staff and supervise and we would have to change our students and our teachers schedules which have already been changed many times, he said.

With only approximately 40 days left of teaching and learning, it is not time to disrupt our schedule, it is not time to make staffing changes, to increase the health risks for our students and our staff, for the minimal gains that we gain by having kids for lunch, Kasun added.

The district fully expects and plans for full day instruction starting next school year, Kasun said. As vaccinations increase and other aspects improve, many of the current challenges the district faces will be eliminated in September, he said.

We are set for a better school year with a full day of in person instruction for all students five days a week, Kasun said. It is just not practical nor is it wise to do right now.

Other districts in New Jersey have been facing challenges and grappling with reopening as the end of the school year draws near. As of this week, 23% of schools offer fully in-person education.

The number of hybrid schools have increased 35% since September and the number of schools offering virtual-only learning has dropped by 71%.

Lawrence is not a unicorn, said Mike Horan, a father of a high school junior and eighth grade daughter in the district, noting other districts in Mercer County and throughout the state have increased in-person learning time. We are not the unicorn district.

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Growing up, Brenda Vilchis says that she always loved a good picnic. As a young adult her taste gravitated toward something a little more upscale.

I wanted to turn the traditional picnic into something fancy. And combine my marketing skills with event planning, said the Mexico City native.

At age 22, Vilchis, then a sophomore studying hospitality management at University of Houstons Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, launched Fancy Picnics on Instagram. Her idea to create luxury picnic experiences around town took off almost immediately. Model and fellow University of Houston student Sophie Grace Johnson became Fancy Picnics first client.

She reached out to me when I started my company, she found me on Instagram, Vilchis recalled. I had a vision of what I wanted to create. There was a Tiki vibe, we even served poke bowls for her food. It was when I realized the joy I felt creating experiences for my clients.

Fancy Picnics received dozens of event requests after photos from the inaugural setup spread on social media. Vilchis says that shes been booked every since.

There hasnt been a single weekend that we havent had requests, she said.

Fast forward two years. She now creates between 30-35 picnics each week and has a six-person team.

Vilchis estimates that at least 90-percent of her business is generated from Instagram. Special occasions requests range from birthday parties and bridal showers to date nights and proposals. Kara McCullers, wife of Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, is a repeat client.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first swept through Houston in March 2020, Vilchis worried that Fancy Picnics might not survive. She didnt want to risk the health or safety of her employees or clients, so the company pivoted to picnic basket deliveries with meal kits packed inside. Recipients kept all of decor and tableware items to reduce interaction and potential transmission. Basket deliveries kept Fancy Picnics afloat for a few months until it resumed outdoor setups in May.

MORE PICNICS IDEAS: Houston's hosts with the most embrace luxury, high-end picnics

Were still taking extreme measures. Extreme sanitation is performed every week. Nothing is reused without a deep cleaning in-between, Vilchis said.

Last winter she came up with a few new ideas and trends  2020 saw smores take off, 2021 is all about the tea party. Fancy Picnics now incorporates more interactive elements, too; updated add-on offerings include yoga classes or full brunch service.

Vilchis graduates from UH next month. Her post-college plans include two big projects: expanding her business to Austin and opening a new restaurant. La Matinna by Fancy Picnics is slated to open sometime this year.

Its going to be a venue for picnics, she shared. Its going to be so pretty. And so pink.

In the meantime, fellow picnic fans can celebrate National Picnic Day with a discounted rate: $99 for two guests, $149 for up to four. For more information, check out @FancyPicnics on Instagram.

amber.elliott@chron.com
Indonesia has sentenced scores of prisoners to death over Zoom and other video apps during the pandemic in what critics say is an "inhumane" insult to those facing the firing squad.

The Southeast Asian nation turned to virtual court hearings as Covid-19 restrictions shut down most in-person trials, including murder and drug trafficking cases, which can carry the death penalty.

Since early last year, almost 100 inmates have been condemned to die in Indonesia by judges they could only see on a television monitor, according to Amnesty International.

The Muslim-majority nation has some of the world's toughest drug laws and both Indonesian and foreign traffickers have been executed, including the masterminds of Australia's Bali Nine heroin gang.

This month, 13 members of a trafficking ring, including three Iranians and a Pakistani, learned via video that they would be shot for smuggling 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of methamphetamine into Indonesia.

And on Wednesday a Jakarta court sentenced six Islamist militants to death using a video app over their role in a 2018 prison riot that left five members of Indonesia's counter-terror squad dead.

"Virtual hearings degrade the rights of defendants facing death sentences -- it's about someone's life and death," said Amnesty International Indonesia director Usman Hamid.

"The death penalty has always been a cruel punishment. But this online trend adds to the injustice and inhumanity," he added.

- 'Clear disadvantage' -

Indonesia has pressed on with the virtual hearings even as the number of executions and death sentences dropped globally last year, with Covid-19 disrupting many criminal proceedings, Amnesty said in its annual capital punishment report this week.

Virtual hearings leave defendants unable to fully participate in cases that are sometimes interrupted in countries with poor internet connections, including Indonesia, critics say.

Story continues

"Virtual platforms... can expose the defendant to significant violations of their fair trial rights and impinge on the quality of the defence," NGO Harm Reduction International said in a recent report on the death penalty for drug offences.

Lawyers have complained about being unable to consult with clients due to virus restrictions.

And families of the accused have sometimes been barred from accessing hearings that would normally be open to the public.

"These virtual hearings present a clear disadvantage for defendants," said Indonesian lawyer Dedi Setiadi.

Setiadi, who defended several men sentenced to die in the methamphetamine case this month, said he would appeal their case on the grounds that virtual hearings were unfair.

Relatives of the defendants were not given full access, the lawyer said.

Death penalty cases are often reduced to long jail terms in Indonesia and an in-person trial might have brought about a less severe verdict, according to Setiadi, who described his clients as low-level players in the smuggling ring.

"The verdict could have been different if the judges had talked directly with the defendants and seen their expressions," he said.

"A Zoom hearing is less personal."

- 'Heaviest sentence possible' -

Indonesia's supreme court, which ordered online hearings during the pandemic, did not reply to requests for comment.

But the country's judicial commission told AFP that it has asked the top court to consider returning to in-person trials for serious offences, including capital cases.

Indonesia appears to be an outlier in holding virtual trials for death penalty cases, although reliable data can be hard to come by in some nations that impose executions.

Neighbouring Singapore, which executes convicted murderers and drug traffickers, has sentenced at least one person to hang via video since the global health crisis began.

There are nearly 500 people, including scores of foreigners, awaiting execution in Indonesia, where condemned prisoners are marched to a jungle clearing, tied to a stake and shot.

Indonesia has not carried out executions for several years. But its courts have continued to sentence defendants to death on the back of strong public backing for the ultimate punishment -- support that may have been bolstered by the pandemic.

"Advocates think that these criminals are continuing to commit crimes even during a time of crisis when everyone is suffering," Amnesty's Hamid said.

"So they must be given the heaviest sentence possible."

hrl/pb/axn
To Act on Climate, Biden Must Protect Forests President Biden has promised to take bold action to confront the climate crisis. But at least one agency  the Forest Service  is dragging its feet. This arm of the Department of Agriculture manages 193 million acres of forest and grasslands, including millions of acres of old trees. Study after study has shown that large, old trees are champions of carbon storage. One of the best ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is to leave these giants standing. But the Forest Service may soon approve proposals to chainsaw thousands of acres of mature trees in Alaska and northwest Montana. Those plans should be halted, and the Service can do far more to prevent other climate-destroying activities on our heritage public lands. It should say no to converting forests into wood pellets  and no to oil drilling and coal mining, too. Tell the Forest Service: It's time to be part of the solution.
LONDON (Reuters) -British engineering company Rolls-Royce said it was in constructive talks with Spain over the sale of its Spanish unit ITP Aero, after a media report said Madrid could block the deal.

Rolls-Royce is hoping to secure up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) from the sale of turbine blade-maker ITP Aero, which it has put on the block as part of a 2-billion-pound ($2.8 billion) asset sale to help repair its balance sheet after the pandemic.

Bloomberg reported earlier on Friday that the disposal could be blocked by Spain unless the buyer could offer reassurances about ITP's future, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Rolls-Royce said the relevant Spanish authorities - ITP is headquartered in the Basque region of Spain - were involved in the process and talks were positive.

"The Spanish and Basque governments are important stakeholders and there is an ongoing and constructive dialogue with them," a Rolls-Royce spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Asked about ITP, the Spanish industry ministry declined to comment.

Rolls-Royce said there were multiple interested parties in the sale process, adding that ITP would also continue to be a supplier to Rolls-Royce for many decades to come.

"As a result, it is obviously very important to us that a new owner is able to continue to invest in ITP Aero's technology, innovation and workforce," the spokesman said.

Last month, Rolls-Royce's disposal plan suffered a setback when Norway halted the sale of its maritime engine maker to a Russian company on national security grounds.

Shares in Rolls-Royce traded down 1.7% at 101 pence at 1356 GMT.

A source close to the matter said Rolls-Royce was well aware that any deal for ITP would need to include assurances from the buyer.

Bloomberg said Spain was concerned Rolls-Royce could sell ITP to a private equity fund, naming KKR, Bain Capital and TowerBrook Capital as being in the running, and the financial buyers would not have an industrial plan for the unit.

Story continues

($1 = 0.8292 euros)

($1 = 0.7220 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young, additional reporting by Belen Carreno; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Edmund Blair)
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.
BONN, April 22 (NYT). Your Teddy Kennedy is a rube, a senior protocol officer of the Bonn government said recently to an American acquaintance. The word he used means turnip in Germany. But it is also the slang equivalent of rapscallion. He did not mean it kindly.

The diplomat was referring to the happenings last week when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D., Mass., and his wife, Joan, descended on the federal capital with an entourage of more than 100, including the Boston Pops Orchestra.

What annoyed the protocol official and nearly everyone else who had anything to do with the Kennedys here was their habit of showing up late for every appointment.

The Germans in this century have not enjoyed a reputation abroad for good manners but one point of etiquette that they carefully observe is punctuality.
For more than eleven years, Vantagepoint has been recognized for its company culture and positive workplace

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / On April 21, Vantagepoint AI was recognized as #4 in the Best Places to Work, Large Workplace category. Moving up the ranks over the years, Vantagepoint AI, the first company in the world to give independent traders the power of artificial intelligence to power their trading on their home computers, was recognized alongside many national firms doing business in the Tampa Bay Area.

"We've held this honor more than eleven times," said company president Lane Mendelsohn, "but this year's win is especially meaningful to us. COVID-19's impact on our community and the challenge of maintaining our company culture while our team was deployed to working from home required creativity, ingenuity and innovation. That my team was able to flourish amid these unusual conditions speaks volumes about our Vantagepoint family bond and our exceptional leadership team."

The Tampa Bay Business Journal surveys employees of local companies. Those companies that meet the thresholds set by the Journal are then ranked by employee feedback.

"Tampa Bay is an up and coming, dynamic market in the country and we are proud to be a part of the foundation of our community," noted Mendelsohn, "as a local, small business I'm honored to be recognized for our care of our team and our culture alongside some of the titans of business in our country. Honoring the people who are part of our family is an "investment" with high returns!"

About Vantagepoint AI, LLC. Headquartered in Wesley Chapel, Florida, VantagePoint software forecasts Stocks, Futures, Forex, Options, Cryptocurrencies, and ETFs with proven accuracy of up to 87.4%. VantagePoint's patented artificial intelligence processes predict changes in market trend direction up to three days in advance, giving traders insight into optimal times to make their trades.

Founded over 40 years ago, Vantagepoint AI is a second-generation family-owned business that employs over 90 team members and has traders in more than 160 countries. The company is actively committed to giving back in the Tampa Bay community, regularly donating a portion of revenue to Shriners Hospitals for Children and The Children's Cancer Center as well as other small charities. To see how artificial intelligence can help traders trade smarter, schedule a demonstration at www.vantagepointsoftware.com/demo

Media Contact: Lisa Moretti, lisam@vantagepointsoftware.com

SOURCE: VantagePoint Software

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641878/Vantagepoint-AI-Named-a-Best-Place-to-Work-AGAIN-By-The-Tampa-Bay-Business-Journal
BEIJING, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- China, the world's largest developing country, has reaffirmed that its CO2 emissions will peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality will be achieved before 2060.

The promise was reiterated by President Xi Jinping at Thursday's Leaders Summit on Climate, an important juncture in the global climate political process before the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in the UK's Glasgow in November.

"China has made cooperation in ecological civilization a priority of joint building Belt and Road and promoted a series of green initiatives," the president noted, adding that China will hold the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October.

Controlling and curbing coal consumption

Xi told the other world leaders attending the summit that concrete action was already being taken. "China has integrated the goal into the ecological civilization construction and an action plan for hitting the peak of carbon emissions by 2030 is underway."

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, we will strictly control the growth of coal consumption and gradually curb the consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan period," he added.

Coal-fired power remains a major energy source in China, and the country has vowed to bring the share of coal in total energy consumption to under 56 percent in 2021.

The 14th Five-Year Plan, a key policy document that will heavily influence the nation's economic development in the next decade and beyond, outlined that energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 13.5 percent and 18 percent over the period, respectively.

During China's annual Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2020, reducing carbon emissions was listed as one of China's eight key tasks to focus on in 2021.

Meanwhile, Xi noted that these are no easy tasks. "China's commitment is much shorter than that of developed countries."

The low-carbon commitment, it is estimated, requires China to make the transition from reaching its carbon peak to realizing carbon neutrality within 30 years, compared with the 60 years taken by most developed countries.

He stressed that countries should honor promises on addressing climate change.

The Copenhagen Summit in 2009 set China's 2020 target of non-fossil energy consumption at 15 percent and entailed a 40 to 45 percent reduction of carbon intensity compared to 2005. China's statistics for 2019 are 15.3 percent and 48.1 percent, respectively, meaning the country exceeded and fulfilled the targets ahead of schedule.

Compared with 2005, greenhouse emissions per unit of GDP had dropped 48 percent by 2019 in China, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, achieving ahead of schedule China's commitment to the 2020 targets.

Global cooperation vital

Xi also stressed the importance of global cooperation, calling for the international community to work together, instead of resorting to mutual accusation; to keep promises, instead of going back on them.

The president warned against fragmented and palliative approaches in conserving ecological environment.

Welcoming the returning of the United States to the multilateral governance on climate change, Xi said that China is looking forward to working with the international society, including the U.S., to advance global environmental governance.

Developed countries should make concrete efforts to help developing countries improve their abilities to cope with climate change, he added, stressing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in the process.

Xi has repeatedly stressed the importance of upholding multilateralism, unity and cooperation to tackle climate change.

China and European countries have been working closely on the global fight against climate change after former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration abandoned the Paris Agreement.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-04-22/President-Xi-attends-Leaders-Summit-on-Climate-via-video-link-ZFKPiQ9yCc/index.html

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih5SJ9GaY2w
Watertown, NY (13601)

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A mix of clouds and sun. High 84F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

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She is famed for her diva behaviour.

And Madonna seemed to give a nod to her notoriety in her latest Instagram post, in which she was seen exclaiming to one of her producers that the time in the studio, to made The Sound Mix for Madame X, was 'so stressful'.

The Me Against The Music hitmaker, 62, was showing off her incredibly smooth complexion in the video, in which she said: 'I was angry, I was tired, I was in pain, I was probably taking pain medication, I was just a mess of things.'

Here she is: Madonna seemed to give a nod to her notoriety in her latest Instagram post, in which she was seen exclaiming to one of her producers that the time in the studio, to made The Sound Mix for Madame X, was 'so stressful'

In the caption alongside the video, Madonna penned: 'Starting The Sound Mix for Madame. We are almost at the end of the journey!!!...

'In the Stu with @therealmikedean. Who just dropped a record today! Its great to be back with the E-Z riders #gang. @seansolymar @laurendelia @onlysageskolfield'.

Speaking to the surrounding producers in the artfully shot clip, she said: 'Whats up? I want it rough baby', before she was seen discussing a piece of music and saying: 'I like it! No, I just like what I like. Eugh this is so stressful.'

The clip then cut away to more exultation, when she said: 'My god I'm so excited. Thanks for coming, you can go now.'

Uh oh! She is famed for her diva behaviour

A mess? The Me Against The Music hitmaker, 62, was showing off her incredibly smooth complexion in the video, in which she said: 'I was angry, I was tired, I was in pain, I was probably taking pain medication, I was just a mess of things'

While she did not reference what she was talking about, she went on to say her piece about how she was feeling, saying: 'I was angry, I was tired, I was in pain, I was probably taking pain medication, I was just a mess of things.'

As well as showing off her work ethic and an insight into her ailments, Madonna was also showing off her remarkably smooth complexion.

Despite being casually-clad in a jumper, her face was flawlessly made-up with skin that far defied her sexagenarian status.

Discussion: As well as showing off her work ethic and an insight into her ailments, Madonna was also showing off her remarkably smooth complexion

Her latest post comes after her daughter Lourdes Leon, 24, appears to be ready to step into the spotlight in spectacular fashion.

Despite launching a clothing line for Macy's at age 13 and more recently appearing in select fashion campaigns, 'Lola' as she is known, has kept a relatively low-profile considering her mother is Madonna.

But in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Lourdes finally gave the world a glimpse into her ambitions - saying that one of her goals is to act on the big screen - as well as confirming that her 'first boyfriend' was Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet.

Born Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon to Madonna, 62, and former personal trainer Carlos Leon, 54, she attended the elite Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan alongside Timothee, 25, who she dated.

'I respect him a lot, we were a little item. My first boyfriend,' Leon says of her romance with the actor, in a surprisingly frank interview.

She may even be set to follow in his footsteps, as she told the publication that she would love to play the role of Mother Theresa on the big screen.

Hinting that the Queen of Pop had somewhat of a 'stage mom' persona growing up, Leon admits she was pushed hard when training for ballet.

Stepping in: Despite being casually-clad in a jumper, her face was flawlessly made-up with skin that far defied her sexagenarian status
I had been wandering the liquor store for some minutes when the clerk approached and asked if I needed help. I considered presenting my situation.

Hello, I would say. Im wine shopping for dinner with my boyfriend and his two partners, whom Ill be meeting for the first time. You wouldnt happen to stock a white wine that says, Im sorry, please like me?

Instead, I said, Im just looking.

The clerk smiled and ambled away.

Dating someone who was already in established romantic relationships did have its perks. Having already navigated the tricky terrain of polyamory for years, Juhana was an excellent communicator and emotionally literate  a stark contrast to monoamorous men I had dated before. Also, I didnt want to surrender time from my projects or friends, so it was a relief to have the relationship constrained to specific days of the week: Mondays and Thursdays, when Juhanas live-in partner had regular plans.

On these days I would sometimes visit the apartment they shared, an airy flat in a woodsy suburb of Helsinki, where the windows overlooked a sea of trees. There, Juhana would cook for me. He was the type who shopped for flavored salts at specialty stores and sharpened his own knives, which he would use to mince and crush garlic into paste.
A man's body was found on the banks of Bayou St. John next to the Wisner Trail Friday morning, and New Orleans police say they are investigating the death as homicide.

A cyclist saw the body around 7:30 a.m. between the sidewalk and the water in the 5700 block of Wisner Boulevard, according to NOPD spokesperson Aaron Looney.

The body appeared to have multiple stab wounds, Looney said. Homicide investigators are working to determine whether the man was killed at the location or brought there later.

"Investigators have to figure out, basically, how he got there," he said.

The Orleans Parish Coroner's Office will release the man's name and cause of death, Looney said.

A heavy police presence was visible Friday on Wisner between Robert E. Lee Boulevard and Filmore Avenue. At least a dozen evidence markers were on the sidewalk and the grass near the bayou.

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As of 9:30 a.m., people were exercising in the area and walking by the crime scene tape as authorities processed the scene.

BREAKING: New Orleans Police are on the scene of a body of a man found in Bayou St. John. According to police a cyclist spotted the body in the water around 8 this morning. The location is near Robert E. Lee and Wisner. @WWLTV pic.twitter.com/NBJ2aiq3zG  Paul Murphy (@PMurphyWWL) April 23, 2021

Robert DeViney, the CEO of nearby City Park, was on the scene. He said the area is "active with joggers and bicyclists, pretty much all day, every day."

"It's tragic when something like this happens in our city," DeViney said.

Anyone with any information about the crime can call NOPD Homicide Detective Miles Guirreri at 504-658-5300 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
Britons are booking month-long holidays at villas with Wi-Fi and a desk so they can continue to work while spending time abroad this summer, travel firms have revealed.

This comes as Downing Street last night said the ban on foreign holidays is on track to be lifted on May 17, with travel opened up to as many as 30 countries.

Travel consultancy The PC Agency told MailOnline it had seen a spike in bookings for luxury villas in Greece, Portugal and Mallorca after the Greek Tourism Minister announced the plan to welcome British tourists from mid-May.

The agency revealed holidaymakers are booking month-long trips, asking for WiFi and a desk and are taking the whole family so they can get paid to work from home while abroad.

The PC Agency said it had seen double the amount of requests for Greek villas compared to previous years, with demand for fully serviced villas with a chef, butler and housekeeper so tourists can stay away from busy restaurants.

Popular islands Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu and Crete are already getting booked up, with most bookings from 2020 rolled over into this year.

Brits are also looking for properties on smaller islands including Hydra, Paxos and Syros, which are off the beaten track and away from the crowds, according to The PC Agency.

Popular islands Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu and Crete are already booking up fast, with most bookings from 2020 rolled over into this year.

Travel consultancy The PC Agency told MailOnline it had seen a spike in bookings for luxury villas in Greece, Portugal and Mallorca after the Greek Tourism Minister announced the plan to welcome British tourists from mid-May (file image)

Pictured, an aerial view over the southern Skiathos Island in Greece, featuring modern hotels and luxurious villas

Popular islands Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu and Crete are already booking up fast, with most bookings from 2020 rolled over into this year. Pictured, holidaymakers in Chalkidiki in Northern Greece last summer

Meanwhile, Turkey today announced British tourists will be welcome in the country this summer without having to show a vaccination certificate.

Visitors to Turkey from the UK will not need to produce a Covid vaccine passport, but will need to show proof of a negative PCR test.

The country also promises to provide testing for tourists before they return to the UK, with tests at hotels or airports costing around 25. Until now PCR tests for a family of four can cost as much as 500.

Tui, the world's largest tour operator, said it had seen a surge in bookings to popular Turkish coastal resorts even before today's announcement.

Turkey's tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the 'successful vaccination programmes in the UK and Turkey will ensure this season is even safer than last year'.

Turkey has announced today that British tourists will be welcome in the country this summer without having to show a vaccination certificate (pictured, Antalya)

Travel consultancy The PC Agency told MailOnline it had seen a spike in bookings for luxury villas in Greece, Portugal (pictured) and Mallorca in recent days

Tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the 'successful vaccination programmes ongoing in both the UK and Turkey will ensure this season is even safer than last year'.

Which countries are currently accepting international tourists or will do soon? Croatia: Open to international tourists, anyone arriving there will need to show proof of either a vaccination, negative PCR or antigen test result, or confirmation of recovery from Covid within the last 180 days. Iceland: Open to anyone who has been vaccinated against Covid. Those who can provide proof of prior infection will also be exempt from quarantine rules. Cyprus: Open from May 1 to UK travellers who have received both doses of their Covid vaccine. France: UK visitors can enter if they have a negative PCR test carried out 72 hours before departure, but they must self-isolate for seven days before taking a second test. Greece: Reopening to foreign tourists from May 14, with arrivals either having to have been vaccinated or have a negative Covid test within 72 hours before travel. Malta: Fully vaccinated UK travellers will be welcomed from June 1, with tourists receiving 87 if they book a hotel for at least three nights as part of a bonus scheme. Portugal: Plans to reopen to Britons from May 17, provided arrivals can show evidence they have been vaccinated, have a recent negative test, or have antibodies. Spain: It wants to open 'as soon as possible' but is currently in a tight lockdown. Turkey: The country has said it plans to welcome Britons in the summer even if they don't have proof of a vaccination or negative test. Maldives: Open to tourists provided they can show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 96 hours of travel. Seychelles: Open to travellers under the same terms as the Maldives. Mexico: The country is welcoming international tourists with no need for proof of a vaccine or testing. Dubai: Tourists must have a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before leaving. However, direct flights between Britain and Dubai are currently banned. Anguilla: Welcoming back holidaymakers from July 1 provided they have been vaccinated and can show proof of a negative test. Barbados: The island will require international tourists who have been vaccinated and can show proof of a negative test to quarantine for two days from May 8, or five for non-vaccinated people, who will also have to take a second test to be released. Thailand: Arrivals currently have to quarantine for 14 days, but these rules will be waived from July 1 for vaccinated tourists in Phuket. Advertisement

Mr Ersoy added: 'We are looking forward to welcoming British tourists with open arms, as we did safely last summer.

'We have world-class border processes in place for ensuring travel will be low-risk throughout Turkey.

'We are working with the British authorities to ensure these necessary processes are world-class and as up-to-date as possible.

'We will not require vaccination passports from international travellers when entering the country.'

A priority vaccination program is already underway for employees at hotels and other tourist facilities to receive a jab before the start of the summer season.

Some 20,775,790 million vaccination doses have been administered in Turkey as of 22 April.

Tourists visiting Turkey are also being offered a special insurance package, from 12, which covers Covid related expenses such as treatment, medication and emergency care costs that may be incurred if visitors are taken to a state-owned or private hospital during their stay in the country.

A TUI spokesman said: 'This is great news because our bookings to Turkey have been incredibly strong, second only to Greece.

'We're committed to working closely with the Government so our customers can look forward to a much-needed holiday abroad this summer.'

And Bulgaria, eager to encourage holiday-makers to its Black Sea resorts, has also announced it will ease rules for entry to the Balkan country from May 1.

The country's outgoing health minister Kostadin Angelov said entry will be allowed for tourists who show a vaccination certificate, with a negative test result from a PCR or an antigen test.

Tourists can alternatively show proof that they have recovered from the coronavirus infection in the past six months.

Earlier this week, Greece lifted quarantine restrictions for British travellers, raising the prospect of holidays to the Mediterranean country in less than a month if ministers lift the ban on foreign travel on May 17 - although tourists could face quarantine after flying home.

It is extremely unlikely Greece would qualify as a green list destination not requiring quarantine, because its current Covid prevalence of 271 cases per million is far higher than the level considered acceptable, which is around 50.

Covid laws mean anyone caught taking a foreign holiday before the end of June currently faces a 5,000 fine.

But No10 said ministers were now confident the ban will be lifted on May 17  the most optimistic date set out in Boris Johnson's roadmap for easing the lockdown.

There has so far been no sign of the feared spike in Covid cases since the reopening of shops, gyms, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality last week  which could have derailed the roadmap.

Asked about the May 17 target, the PM's official spokesman said: 'There is nothing in the data that suggests we need to change the dates.'

A final decision will be made early next month.

But Paul Charles, boss of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said he expected up to 30 countries to be considered 'green' destinations  not requiring travellers to quarantine upon return.

The ban on foreign holidays is on track to be lifted on May 17, Downing Street said last night, with travel opened up to as many as 30 countries. Pictured: Saint Lucia in the Caribbean

Israel (pictured is the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem) and some Caribbean islands are among the countries most likely to be named on the initial 'green list'

Iceland (blue lagoon in Iceland) is also among the countries that is most likely to be named on the list

Hopes of an early return for foreign holidays were boosted after the EU indicated UK residents would be exempt from a travel ban because of this country's high vaccination rate.

Israel, Iceland and some Caribbean islands are among the countries most likely to be named on the initial 'green list' next month.

The Commons transport committee yesterday urged ministers to name the 'green list' by May 1 to give firms and families time to plan.

Where is the best bet for a foreign holiday this summer? Spain wants to welcome British tourists but is set to miss out on the 'green list' - however Portugal, Dubai and Barbados could be on

By Jack Elsom for MailOnline

Millions of lockdown-weary Britons are waiting with baited breath for ministers to reveal their 'green list' of countries ahead of holidays resuming from May 17.

The Government is expected to unveil its traffic light system on May 7, when destinations will be categorised by varying degrees of quarantine restrictions.

Those awarded green list status, where returning travellers will not have to self-isolate, will automatically become prime getaway locations.

But despite craving tourists to revive their flagging economy, typical British favourites such as France and Spain could be set to miss out.

Paul Charles, boss of the PC Travel Agency, said today the green list will instead likely include countries Israel, Barbados, Morocco, Maldives, Seychelles, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and the British Overseas Territories of Bermuda.

Portugal could also be a rare European addition to the green list after wrestling cases right down.

Vaccine passports have been hailed as key to unlocking foreign travel this summer, with many countries ready to welcome people who've had both doses without tests.

Experts from the PC Agency believe most of Europe will be amber not green (data from April 15)

Yet it is the toughened UK self-isolation restrictions facing returning holidaymakers that will likely sway their choice of destination.

One Government source said: 'You've got countries saying we will welcome you. But it depends what the precautions on return are.

'We will have that green, amber, red system. It is about what you face when you come back to the UK. Can you isolate for 10 days?'

Below MailOnline drills down into the countries that are likely to receive green status - and the holidaymaker favourites that will likely be overlooked.

THE COUNTRIES EXPECTED TO GO ON THE 'GREEN LIST'

Portugal

Vaccinated: 20% Daily cases: 4.7/100,000 Weekly change: -11%

Border controls: None currently, expect to be asked for proof of vaccinations or negative test

Portugal is steadily resuming normal life after weeks of restrictions has successfully brought cases right down.

In January the country locked down in the jaws of then the world's worst surge in cases that at its peak saw 12,000 people - of its 10million population - catching the virus at day.

Daily cases have now plateaued at around 500 - 47 per million - while deaths are in single digits.

A fifth of the population has now also been vaccinated, and the most vulnerable seven per cent have received both doses.

Restaurants, museums, shops, gyms and malls have all now reopened after months starved of income.

Such a hit to the economy means Portugal is enthusiastic about welcoming back British tourists, who typically flock to the Algarve by the thousands each summer.

Portugal is enthusiastic about welcoming back British tourists, who typically flock to the Algarve by the thousands each summer (Alvor beach pictured)

Tourism minister Rita Marquez said she looked forward to Britons flying over from May 17, provided they show proof they've been vaccinated or have tested negative.

She told the Today programme: 'We hope to welcome all British holidaymakers from May 17.

'Holidaymakers can present to Portuguese authorities a certification that testifies they are vaccinated or have immunisation to the virus of they have a negative Covid test. It will be very straightforward process.'

Last month the country was removed from the red list, which was greeted by Portuguese officials.

Tui is currently advertising package holidays to a host of seaside resorts in the Algarve from as early as May 17.

Dubai

Vaccinated: 51% Daily cases: 19.2/100,000 Weekly change : -1.3%

Border controls: Must arrive with proof of negative test within 72 hours

The United Arab Emirates is one of the world leading countries by vaccination rates, having jabbed more than half of its population.

Cases are also declining and daily deaths - which have been kept remarkably low, totalling 1,561 during the entire pandemic - have dropped to an average of around three per day.

Dubai, the UAE's biggest city, is expected to allow British tourists to return when they are given the green light to travel from the UK government, given how relaxed it was about Love Island influences flying there during the winter wave.

In February Dubai closed all bars, clubs and lounges for a month to tackle a spike in cases, but they have since reopened.

The city has been open for tourists since July 2020, with visitors required to take a PCR test 72 hours before arrival, and again on arrival in Dubai.

Industry chiefs are confident British tourists will be able to book holidays in the gulf shortly.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, told an event last month: 'The progress that's being made in the US, Israel (and) the UK gives us hope that life will start to assume some sort of normality.

'I think there are some strong indications that over the next few weeks, things will move very quickly.'

Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Travel Agency, reckons Dubai will be open for travel by July 31, along with neighboring Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Malta

Vaccinated: 44% Daily cases: 9.2/100,000 Weekly change: -22%

Border controls: Expected to open 1 June. Currently 14 day quarantine, arrive with negative PCR test and be retested on arrival

All the numbers are trending in the right direction Malta, paving the way for summer holidays in one of the Queen and the late Prince Philip's treasured island bolthole.

The archipelago with a population of only half a million people has indicated it will allow fully vaccinated Britons to fly there from June 1.

A negative PCR test certificate 72 hours prior to, or on arrival, is also likely to be accepteable.

Last month Malta Tourism Authority UK and Ireland director Tolene Van Der Merwe said: 'Malta is a very popular destination for British holidaymakers and is a key contributor to Malta's economy, so we are excited to welcome back fully vaccinated travellers from the United Kingdom from 1 June 2021.

'The people of Malta are looking forward to tourists returning who have loved our sunshine, culture, food and warm spirit year in year out.

'Malta has implemented its 'Sunny and Safe' Covid protocols, so visitors can be reassured that all restaurants, accommodation and service providers must comply with the highest levels of cleanliness and safety.'

And Malta's tourism and consumer protection minister Clayton Bartolo added: 'The health and safety of Maltese citizens and tourists will always be our top priority, and with the continued rollout of the vaccine here in Malta, this focused reopening plan is designed to slowly and safely reopen tourism to fully vaccinated Britons.'

Barbados

Vaccinated: 24% Daily cases: 2.6/100,000 Weekly change: 8%

Border controls: Visitors tested on arrival and must quarantine for 5 days

Stringent rules for overseas arrivals have helped keep overall cases below 4,000 in Barbados.

But from May 8 restrictions will be eased for visitors to the Caribbean holiday favourite with both doses of Covid vaccines.

They will still have to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test result three days prior to travel, a vaccination certificate, and have a PCR test completed at arrival at the airport.

However they will not have to spend at least five days self-isolating in approved accommodation, as per non-vaccinated tourists.

Barbados Tourism Marketing said these measures 'are likely to change' as the pandemic wanes.

But Such strict measures could deter holidaymakers who have not had both doses.

Nevertheless, an infection rate of just 2.6 per 100,000 should see Barbados make the green list.

Moreover Barbados has had a successful vaccine programme, with nearly a quarter of the population having received a first dose of the AstraZeneca jab.

Seychelles

Vaccinated: 68% Daily cases: 55/100,000 Weekly change: 21%

Border controls: Arrive with proof of negative PCR test taken with 72 hours

With a tiny island population of less than 100,000, the Seychelles have strode ahead with vaccinations and jabbed more than two-thirds of its citizens.

Currently there are an average 54 cases a day on the island, and the country has not recorded any deaths in some days.

It's small population means that its cases per 100,000 can appear worrying, but that's because just a handful of cases can have a sizeable shift in the numbers.

The Seychelles boasts some of the world's most idyllic beauty spots, with golden sands and clear blue seas

Last month the Seychelles opened its borders for tourists, with foreign affairs and tourism minister Sylvestre Radegonde citing the country's 'aggressive' inoculation drive as the key to unlocking.

He said: 'Our borders further is the next step to allow for our economic recovery. The measures being announced reflect broadly the recommendation of our tourism partners and have been done in full consultation with and the endorsement of our health authorities.'

The Seychelles boasts some of the world's most idyllic beauty spots, with golden sands and clear blue seas.

Holiday favourites that hang in the balance...

France

Vaccinated: 19% Daily cases 47/100,000 Weekly change: -27%

Border controls: Seven-day quarantine, arrive with proof of negative test

After falling foul of the EU's bungled jab rollout - and President Macron's scepticism of the AstraZeneca vaccine - France is now making headway and has nearly inoculated a fifth of its population.

Like much of Europe it recently grappled with a devastating third wave, and although it appears to be past the peak, it is unlikely to make the UK's green list at first.

Paul Charles predicts it will be on the amber list under the UK's traffic light system.

It means travellers would require proof of a negative PCR test before arriving in Britain, take two further tests after returning and undergo a 10-day quarantine at home.

While this could pave the way for cross-Channel getaways, Macron this week appeared to suggest millions of vaccinated UK holidaymakers could be prevented from visiting France this summer.

A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks past cafe terrace with chairs stacked outside a restaurant, in Paris

Unveiling France's travel strategy, the President said that Americans and Europeans could come if they have been jabbed or have proof of a negative coronavirus test result - without specifying if Britons would be included in the continental passport regime.

Responding to the announcement, travel bosses slammed Macron's 'incredibly disappointing' move and said it made 'no sense' to cut off vaccinated Britons while allowing unvaccinated Americans and Europeans to visit.

Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Steven Freudmann, Chairman of the Institute of Travel & Tourism and former President of ABTA, suggested the ploy is 'politically motivated and not guided by the scientific reality'.

He also pointed out that UK tourism is an incredible boon to the French economy, with statistics showing that British holidaymakers spent more than 5billion while visiting the country during 2017.

Spain

Vaccinated: 21% Daily cases: 18/100,000 Weekly change: -2%

Border controls: Hopes to open this summer. Currently closed to non-residents

Spain's tourism minister today said the country is 'desperate to welcome' UK visitors this summer.

Fernando Valdes told Sky News: 'I think we will be ready here in Spain. We also think that the vaccination scheme in the UK is going pretty well, so hopefully we'll be seeing this summer the restart of holidays.'

He added that certificates enabling holidaymakers to prove they have been vaccinated or recently tested are 'going to help us'.

Tourism in Spain - the world's second-most visited country before the pandemic - fell 80 per cent last year and the country wants visitors back fast.

November: Spanish beaches are typically crammed with tourists soaking up the sun (Barcelona pictured)

March: But like much of Europe it has grappled with a third wave (Magaluf pictured)

But Spain's chances of being on the British government's green list hangs in the balance, with Paul Charles predicting it will probably be amber.

While the country has now given vaccines to 21 per cent of its population, its case rate is still much higher than the UK's.

The rolling seven-day average for daily cases was yesterday more than 8,000, compared with around 2,000 for Britain.

However it is understood that Spain's Canary Islands - a holiday hotspot - could be included on the green list because of the low level of cases.

Croatia

Vaccinated: 15% Daily cases 53/100,000 Weekly change: 10%

Border controls: Negative test taken within 48 hours

Croatia is one of a clutch of countries to have mooted using vaccine passports as a way to save foreign travel this summer.

But with a low vaccination rate and cases rising rapidly, the European holiday favourite will likely be overlooked for green list status.

After a huge spike in January, the country is in the teeth of an aftershock and yesterday recorded 2,000 more cases.

The R rate is also estimated to be at 1.18, meaning infections are rising.

However the country is still hoping to lure visitors to its beautiful beaches and vibrant tourist spots this summer.

Arrivals who have been vaccinated, recovered from Covid or had a negative PCR test will be able to go to Croatia for holidays.

Nikolina Brnjac, the country's tourism minister, said: 'EU citizens, as well as non-EU citizens, who have either recovered or been vaccinated or have a negative PCR or EU-approved antigen test, will be able to enter Croatia for tourist reasons.

'We have intensified preparations for the upcoming tourist year; we are arranging additional points for testing in tourist places in order to make our tourists' stay in the Republic of Croatia as pleasant and safe as possible.'
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 22:59:06|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on Friday sacked a senior military official from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces after he smuggled people across provinces amid a government ban on inter-provincial travel to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to a royal decree.

Major General Sum Pov, deputy chief of the Military Strategic Research Team, was arrested early Thursday for involving in the smuggling of 28 people from capital Phnom Penh to Svay Rieng province.

Pov had earlier received a travel permit issued by Lieutenant General Meas Vanna, chief of the Military Strategic Research Team, authorizing him to travel through the capital and provinces from April 1 to May 30, 2021.

After getting the travel permit, he had used it to smuggle the people from Phnom Penh to Svay Rieng province, which shares border with Vietnam.

Authorities said Pov had violated the government's inter-provincial travel ban, which has been imposed from April 6 to 28.

His dismissal was made at the request of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, according to the royal decree.

Pov will also be prosecuted under the kingdom's Anti-COVID-19 Law.

Cambodia has been suffering from the third community COVID-19 outbreak since Feb. 20. The Southeast Asian nation registered 655 new cases on Friday, pushing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 8,848 so far, with 61 deaths, the Ministry of Health said, adding that there are currently 5,633 active cases in the country. Enditem
New Delhi: Former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday (April 23), in an official statement asked what the hurry was to report her death without confirmation.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had tweeted condolences but later deleted his tweet after Mahajans niece and BJP leaders revealed that she was still alive and healthy.

While speaking to the media, she said, How could news channels run a report on my so called demise without even cross checking with the Indore administration? My niece refuted Mr. Tharoor on Twitter but what was the urgency in announcing without confirmation?

The former Lok Sabha speaker's son Mandar put out a video clip, saying his mother is perfectly fine and urging people not to reply on false news being spread about her.

"My mother is perfectly fine. Please do not rely on false news being spread about her. Her COVID report is negative. I met her only in the evening and she is healthy," he said in the video.

BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya tweeted back to Tharoor, informing him that Mahajan is perfectly healthy.

"Thanks @kailashOnline. I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra ji's health and long life," the Congress leader said in another tweet.

Thanks @kailashOnline. I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra jis health and long life.  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2021

"Mahajan was admitted to the Bombay hospital in Indore on Wednesday after she had mild fever. She is fine now and does not have fever. She was also tested for COVID and her RT-PCR report has come negative," Rajesh Aggarwal, a close aide of the former Lok Sabha speaker, told PTI.

Mahajan (78) was the Lok Sabha speaker from 2014 to 2019. She had earlier represented the Indore Lok Sabha constituency in Parliament for eight terms.

(With agency inputs)

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The 10 members of the ASEAN meets on Saturday to address Myanmar crisis. The regional body will be scrutinized as much as the general who led the February coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.

Opponents of the junta are enraged that ASEAN is inviting the junta's leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to its meeting in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, claiming that he is not Myanmar's rightful leader since he took power by force. The deadly brutality committed by the armed forces he oversees, who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of mostly unarmed protestors and civilians, also weighs heavily against him.

ASEAN leaders to address Myanmar crisis

Opponents of the junta also supported the proposal that Myanmar should be represented at the Jakarta meeting by the opposition's parallel National Unity Government, which was newly formed by elected legislators who were banned from taking office by the army. However, it has not received an invitation.

Myanmar Security Forces Shoot Protesting Medical Workers

There is a very practical explanation for engaging Min Aung Hlaing face to face, according to Evan Laksmana, a researcher for Indonesia's Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank with strong government ties. ASEAN admits that the irony is that one side is perpetrating the violence, and that is why the military has been called to the event. "As a result, the military dictatorship does not have any legitimacy," he said.

By speaking with the general, ASEAN hopes to start a longer-term structure process, beginning with ending the violence, ABC reported. That will hopefully help promote dialogue among all stakeholders in Myanmar, not just with the military regime.

Skeptics believe ASEAN faces more fundamental issues in resolving Myanmar's crisis. They point to the group's members' differing interests, long-standing conventions of finding unity and not interfering with each other's affairs, and Myanmar's generals' historic obstinacy.

Myanmar Death Toll Reaches 550 Since Military Coup

Amid Military coup, Myanmar citizens suffer hunger

According to the United Nations, food insecurity and hunger are on the rise in Myanmar as a result of the military coup and worsening financial crisis, with millions of more people likely to go hungry in the coming months. The World Food Program (WFP) report indicated up to 3.4 million more people will struggle to afford food in the next three to six months, with urban areas being the hardest hit as employment losses in production, construction, and utilities increase and food costs spike.

Myanmar's army defeated the democratically elected civilian government on February 1, plunging the Southeast Asian country into chaos and brutally suppressing mass protests and a national civil disobedience campaign, according to a monitoring agency. The financial sector has come to a halt as a result of the recession, with several banks closing and companies struggling to make payments, and consumers unable to withdraw cash, as per Astro Awani.

Many people depend on remittances from families abroad. The majority of imports and exports have ceased, and factories have shut down, SCMP reported. Myanmar's GDP is expected to contract 10 percent in 2021, reversing historically optimistic developments, according to the World Bank.

Prior to the coup, the World Food Program estimated that 2.8 million people in Myanmar were food insecure. The coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy, which had been recovering from decades of isolation and financial mismanagement under former military administrations.

Myanmar Post-Coup Protests Records Over 700 Fatalities

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) -- President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 24, his spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday, over COVID-19 pandemic concerns.

I think yung issue lang po talaga is yung could it be face-to-face, or could it be virtual? Marami rin pong mga hindi makakarating na heads of state from ASEAN personally, Roque said in a Palace media briefing.

[Translation: I think the only issue is could it be face-to-face, or could it be virtual? Several others heads of state from ASEAN will also not be able to attend personally.]

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. was designated as Duterte's representative to the leaders' meeting, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. In a statement, it explained the President decided to skip the meeting to attend pressing domestic concerns in light of the surge in infections.

"The Philippines strongly supported the convening of the meeting even without the full attendance of all ASEAN leaders, the DFA said.

The President, through Secretary Locsin, will convey the Philippines' commitment to ASEAN's collective efforts in addressing threats and challenges to peace and stability in the region, it added.

ASEAN heads of state will convene to discuss urgent regional matters such as the political crisis in Myanmar. Other discussion points include pandemic recovery efforts, community building measures, the DFA said.

READ: PH to 'strongly support' efforts to resolve Myanmar crisis in ASEAN summit  DFA
Dominic Cummings told Boris Johnson he could be breaking the law if he went ahead with plans to get Tory donors to pay for new decor for his Downing Street flat.

The Prime Minister's former No 10 chief of staff said he warned the proposal was 'unethical, foolish and possibly illegal' and he had refused to help arrange any such payments.

As a result of him expressing his opposition to the idea, Mr Cummings claimed, Mr Johnson stopped discussing moves with him to get donors to fund the flat refurbishment.

Boris Johnson, pictured with Carrie Symonds, was told by Dominic Cummings the proposal was 'possibly illegal'

His comments came in a statement issued on his website immediately after the Government revealed yesterday that Mr Johnson had finally been forced to pay from his own pocket towards the cost of the apartment refit.

The PM's U-turn followed a series of revelations in the Daily Mail since February detailing how the Tory party paid 58,000 towards the refurbishment of the No 11 flat and then tried to disguise it.

The total cost of the work is believed to be a five-figure sum.

Mr Cummings claimed Mr Johnson's newly appointed director of communications, Jack Doyle, had 'made accusations' about him yesterday regarding 'leaks concerning the PM's renovation of his flat.'

In a fierce counter-attack, Mr Cummings stated: 'The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended.

'I refused to help him organise these payments. My knowledge about them is therefore limited.' Mr Cummings added he was willing to share his information about the matter with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case or the Electoral Commission watchdog which monitors party funding.

The total cost of the work on the Downing Street flat overhaul is believed to be a five-figure sum

This newspaper disclosed on March 20 that the Electoral Commission had asked Conservative chairman Ben Elliot if the party had complied with strict electoral laws on political donations.

According to well-placed sources, the Prime Minister agreed to pay up himself after he was told it is not permissible for a political party to use its funds to refurbish the Prime Minister's official home; nor is it acceptable for a Tory donor pay for it privately. In a third blow, it is understood the plan to channel the money to the flat via a proposed 'Downing Street Trust' has also been ruled out.

Cabinet Office Minister Lord True confirmed yesterday that plans for such a trust to preserve Downing Street as a whole are still under consideration.

However, insiders revealed one of the main reasons Mr Johnson has pursued the idea of a trust so vigorously since the cost of the flat soared  to recoup the 58,000  has also been thrown out.

Officials are believed to have advised that the trust can be used for the Downing Street rooms, where receptions for visiting dignitaries and charitable functions are hosted, but they cannot be used for new wallpaper for the flat  either now or in the future.

Mr Cummings claimed Mr Johnson's newly appointed director of communications, Jack Doyle, had 'made accusations' about him yesterday

Together with Mr Johnson's agreement to pay towards the flat from his own income, it would suggest Mr Cummings's instincts were right all along.

A No 10 spokesman said last night: 'At all times, the Government and ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed.

'All reportable donations are transparently declared and published  either by the Electoral Commission or the House of Commons registrar, in line with the requirements set out in electoral law.

'Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in transparency returns.'
Israel and Bahrain have reached an agreement on the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates against coronavirus, which will allow travelers between countries to waive quarantine and other restrictions, AP reported.

The deal builds on the US-brokered normalization agreement reached last year and marks a further improvement in relations between Israel and Bahrain.

Bahrain's foreign ministry said in a statement that the latest deal constitutes a global precedent for a bilateral agreement on the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates.

Israel Tourism Minister Orit Farkash Hacohen hailed the agreement in a tweet, calling it an important step in opening Israel up to tourists. She noted that she was looking forward to welcoming her Bahraini counterpart again and invited him to go diving in Eilat on the Red Sea.
People that young, suffering from diabetes for the rest of their lives, deserve a better chance.  Richard Peterson, MD, bariatric surgeon

First patient to receive fat extraction surgery has improved health

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (also referred to as UT Health San Antonio), University Health and Texas Biomedical Research Institute are reporting promising results following a minimally invasive procedure that dissolved abdominal fat in two patients. The goal of the novel procedure is to improve the patients health and minimize or reverse the adverse health effects of their Type 2 diabetes.

Abdominal fat, the proverbial tire around the middle of so many Americans, is unhealthy. It is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, hypertension, poor lipid profile and more.

The mesenteric visceral lipectomy technique, or MVL, extracts fat from the mesentery, a sheet of tissue that is attached to the intestines. The surgeon makes a small abdominal incision and uses a patented, proprietary medical device to dissolve the glycoproteins (or glucose) that hold the fat together. The same device suctions out the fat without affecting the blood vessels or surrounding tissues.

This is important because the fat in our abdomen contains numerous blood vessels, Richard Peterson, MD, said. This technique allows the fat to be removed surgically without significant bleeding. Once the fat is loose, it is suctioned out.

Dr. Peterson is chief of metabolic and bariatric surgery at UT Health San Antonio and a bariatric surgeon practicing at University Hospital. He performed the first procedure of this kind in University Hospital in November 2019, launching a 10-person, first-in-human clinical trial of MVL. World-renowned endocrinologist Ralph DeFronzo, MD, chief of diabetes at UT Health San Antonio and deputy director of University Healths Texas Diabetes Institute, is the trials principal investigator.

First MVL patients

A man in his mid-30s with diabetes was the first patient anywhere to receive the MVL procedure. The medical team at the Texas Diabetes Institute identified him as a good candidate.

Because he was the first subject, we only removed 30% of the visceral fat, Dr. DeFronzo said, explaining that the goal with future patients is the removal of as much as 90% of the fat. Nonetheless, he had a modest improvement in insulin sensitivity. His glucose tolerance and HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c) did not change, but he required less diabetes medication.

People that young, suffering from diabetes for the rest of their lives, deserve a better chance, Dr. Peterson said. At the time of the first surgery, it came to me that he was our Neil Armstrong, if you will. No one in the world had ever had this done, and he was leading the way for the rest of the world.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic delayed this and other elective surgeries, Dr. Peterson and his team have now performed a second MVL procedure on a female patient at Foundation Surgical Hospital of San Antonio, and are observing the effects it will have on her health.

The MVL studies

Following surgery, the patients remain overnight in the hospital for observation. Follow-up studies are performed at the Texas Diabetes Institute. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an Investigational Device Exemption in authorizing the clinical trial.

The MVL technology was originally developed to remove eye cataracts, and was adapted for this new purpose by Mark Andrew, MD, an ophthalmologist in Pennsylvania and the inventor of the device. Dr. Andrew selected San Antonio collaborators to test the concept because of Dr. Petersons reputation in metabolic and bariatric weight loss surgery, and the expertise of Dr. DeFronzo.

The doctors then enlisted the Southwest National Primate Research Center at Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) as the site of large-animal studies that the FDA required before authorizing the clinical trial in people.

Dr. Peterson, working with co-investigators Raul Bastarrachea, MD, and Patrice Frost, DVM, of Texas Biomed, proved the techniques safety and efficacy in baboons, greatly benefiting the animals.

The baboon study was exciting. All four animals treated with MVL surgery survived without any complications, and all had remission of Type 2 diabetes.

I do bariatric and metabolic surgery to treat Type 2 diabetes patients, and I was surprised to see such a dramatic effect on lowering the blood glucose, Dr. Peterson said, referring to a drop in blood sugar levels. That gave us enough momentum to push this forward to the FDA and design a clinical trial in people with Dr. DeFronzo and his team.

The team hypothesizes that by removing the visceral fat, diabetes will improve, and the inflammation produced by the abdominal fat will be reduced, which will slow down arterial disease.

Fat releases hormones and other substances that cause damage to the liver, the arterial system and beta cells that produce insulin, Dr. DeFronzo said. When people get fat, they get fat everywhere in their body, but the fat that is really dangerous is the fat that is within the abdomen.

The MVL surgery is for obese patients whose body mass index, BMI, is between 30 and 40.

To ask about study eligibility, call the Texas Diabetes Institutes research line at 210-358-7200 and ask for Mary Samano.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also referred to as UT Health San Antonio, is one of the countrys leading health sciences universities and is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. With missions of teaching, research, patient care and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have graduated more than 37,000 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields, and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways We make lives better, visit http://www.uthscsa.edu.

University Health is the only locally owned health system in San Antonio. For more than 100 years, University Health has been here to heal, to improve health, to train the next generation of medical professionals and to ensure the people of San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas have access to high quality and compassionate primary and advanced specialty care, close to home. In partnership with UT Health San Antonio, University Health is a hub of innovation and discovery, helping to create tomorrows best practices today, as the regions only academic health system. To learn more about our mission, visit http://www.universityhealthsystem.com.

Texas Biomed is one of the worlds leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to eradicating infection and advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Texas Biomed partners with researchers and institutions around the world to develop vaccines and therapeutics against viral pathogens causing AIDS, hepatitis, hemorrhagic fever, tuberculosis and parasitic diseases responsible for malaria and schistosomiasis disease. The Institute has programs in host-pathogen interaction, disease intervention and prevention and population health to understand the links between infectious diseases and other diseases such as aging, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. For more information on Texas Biomed, go to http://www.TxBiomed.org.

Contact: Will Sansom, 210-567-2579, sansom@uthscsa.edu

Shelley Kofler, 512-294-5224, shelley.kofler@uhs-sa.com

Lisa Cruz, 210-724-1691, lcruz@txbiomed.org
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Vietnam is now paying a high price for the "tube house" culture and the boom in matchbox house construction.

Tube houses in Hanoi

The head of the residential group rang my door repeatedly with a threat. I will hire workers to build an iron fence to cover the back door of your house. I cannot see the good effects of the door. I just see that it brings misfortune. Misfortune here means burglars.

Unfinished houses with no people living inside them in my residential quarter are ideal places for burglars and addicts to gather. When they need drugs, they climb through the emergency exit behind our houses, break into these houses and steal things.

Night watchmen work every evening, and cameras in front of every house are turned on all the time. However, a family still became the victim of burglars last year.

The camera showed images of a man breaking into the house, rummaging through things, and then escaping through the exit. The victim reported the case to the police, but the culprits have not been found.

Local residents are worried about burglars and are filling up their back doors. They have installed iron frames on their balconies and windows to protect the houses from criminals.

The residential quarter was built by a real estate firm. It meets standards in fire prevention with balconies, and a land area is reserved for emergencies.

However, houseowners use the land area in different ways. Some people use it to grow vegetables or raise dogs and fowl. Many people use the space behind houses for accommodations.

A meeting was held soon after following the burglary, and participants agreed that all families have to contribute money to block the doors of unfinished houses and each family has to install an iron frame around their house.

I did not want to install the iron frame as requested, because I feared there would be no way out in case of fire. But under pressure from the head of the residential group, I had to implement the request.

I called a friend of mine who is a construction engineer and runs a large firm specializing in design and construction of civil and industrial buildings.

In Hanoi and HCM City, an inch of soil is an inch of gold. The strong population migration to large cities has put pressure on urban planning, architecture, construction and local authorities management capability.

He was not surprised when hearing my complaints. He said a lot of his technical drawings with open spaces and emergency exits were rejected by his clients who want to take full advantage of all of the space and land area.

Construction standards

My friend, who has been doing civil construction work for 20 years, is aware that there are national technical standards on fire safety for buildings and construction works stipulated in QCVN 06:2010/BXD.

The regulation includes requirements on the housing design and execution process, which must be followed when building "tube" houses in order to reduce risks.

Clause 3 of Article 51 of the Construction Law stipulates that investors in construction works must ensure fire prevention and environmental protection. Clause 1 of Article 6 states that "construction investment activities must comply with national technical standards".

However, QCVN 06:2010/BXD states that for detached houses with six floors or less and no more than one basement, these standards are not compulsory, and that only "specific regulations" will be applied.

This means that low-rise tube houses dont have to follow these standards. But the "specific regulation" has not been promulgated yet.

Clause 3, Article 91 of the Construction Law on "conditions for granting construction licenses for works in urban areas" also stipulates that construction works must satisfy "requirements for environmental protection, fire and explosion prevention and fighting".

Most of the regulations on fire prevention are general and qualitative standards are difficult to apply. Therefore, most authorities, when considering licensing, only check the exterior structure and the size of the houses to find out whether the works suit urban planning.

Migrant population

The 2019 population and housing census found that 12 provinces and cities under central government management have positive migration rates, meaning that incoming people outnumber the outgoing ones.

Of 88.4 million people aged five and over, 6.4 million are migrants, accounting for 7.3 percent. The population in cities is predicted to continue to increase, reaching 42.04 million by 2025, and 47.25 million by 2030.

The urbanization rate is also increasing, expected to reach 40.91 percent by 2025 and 44.45 percent by 2030.

In Hanoi and HCM City, an inch of soil is an inch of gold. The strong population migration to large cities has put pressure on urban planning, architecture, construction and local authorities management capability.

Many residential quarters have arisen which do not follow planning and do not observe the laws, but these have not been settled by local authorities.

Experts, expressing concern about the chaotic development, have asked local authorities to reject construction work projects that dont meet safety standards.

However, more importantly, the urban master development plan must be reasonable. Tube houses need to be placed in harmonization with social services and there must be enough space for residents to live and breathe and for fire trucks to access during emergencies.

Vu Ngoc Bao

Three workers killed in Bac Ninh factory fire The deadly factory fire accident in the Northern Province of Bac Ninh killed three workers, said police investigators on April 17.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Washington: Thirty years later, Jud Kilgore still cant get the video out of his mind. In March 1991 Rodney King - a black man on parole for robbery - led police on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles. The police officers eventually stopped him and ordered King out of the car. A group of officers proceeded to kick the 25-year-old repeatedly and club him with batons for around 15 minutes as colleagues watched. The beating left King with a fractured skull, broken bones and permanent brain damage. A bystander with a home video camera filmed the assault. The tape horrified Kilgore, then in his early 30s and living in Los Angeles, when it was aired on television. I still have images of that in my head, he says. To viewers around the world, the police officers behaviour appeared indefensible. But when four officers were charged with excessive force, three were acquitted and a jury could not reach a verdict on the fourth.

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Within hours, Los Angeles erupted into riots that left 63 people dead, thousands injured and caused over $1 billion in property damage. It was a terrifying time in the city, Kilgore remembers. The 52-year-old bartender now lives in Minneapolis with his Australian-born wife Katrina Mitchell and 10-year-old daughter Luna. After trading the California coast for Midwestern Minnesota, Kilgore again found himself living at the centre of a national maelstrom over race and policing last May. The Minneapolis Police Departments initial report, titled Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction, made George Floyds death sound unremarkable. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress, the report said. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later. In this frame from video provided by Darnella Frazier, then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneels on the neck of George Floyd. Credit:Darnella Frazier It was only because 17-year-old Darnella Frazier filmed the incident on her phone that the world learnt what really happened. Floyd had, in fact, died after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee into the black mans neck for almost 10 minutes.

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Just like Los Angeles in 1992, Minneapolis descended into rioting: a police station was set ablaze, businesses across the city were ransacked. It seemed like history was repeating itself. The only question was whether there would be a different outcome when a 12-person jury met this week to decide Chauvins guilt or innocence. Pessimism born of experience Samuel Myers jnr, a professor in the University of Minnesotas school of public affairs, calls it the Minnesota paradox. The term describes how Minnesota is simultaneously one of the most progressive states in the country, as well as one of the worst places for a black person to live. African-Americans are worse off in Minnesota than they are in virtually every other state in the nation, Myers wrote last year, pointing to enormous racial gaps in wages, employment rates, home ownership levels, incarceration rates and school test scores. Minneapolis man Jud Kilgore with wife Katrina and daughter Luna in George Floyd Square. Credit:Matthew Knott After living in the states biggest city for 11 years, Kilgore puts it this way: Minneapolis is a great city to live in if youre white.

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He says he was shocked when, only days after moving into a new home in the city, a suspicious white neighbour called the police on him for walking down the street. Kilgore expected Chauvin to be found guilty of the lesser two charges he faced: third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But he expected the jury to find him not guilty of the most serious charge: second-degree murder. Others were far more dubious. I dont feel hopeful we will get justice, said Paul Johnson, a black man who used to regularly shop at the grocery store where Floyd was killed, as the jury began its deliberations. Minneapolis man Paul Johnson was not optimistic before the verdict was handed down. Credit:Matthew Knott Thousands of National Guard troops had been called into Minneapolis and businesses across the city were boarded up in anticipation of riots following an acquittal. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz this week said there had been vastly different expectations in his state about the trial outcome. White people were far more confident of a guilty verdict while black Minnesotans feared Chauvin would walk free.

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Adriane Lentz-Smith, an expert in African-American history at Duke University, explains: Black people have a pessimism born of experience while white people have faith in a system that has, by and large, served them well. She also draws a connection between Floyds death and the beating of Rodney King. There was video, we all saw it, and yet those officers were acquitted. If that was possible then, there was nothing to guarantee it wasnt possible now. There were even more recent parallels to give people pause. Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, who died after a police officer used a choke hold to subdue him in 2014 in New York. Credit:The New York Times In 2014 black man Eric Garner died on New Yorks Staten Island after a police officer held him in a prohibited choke-hold. Before dying, Garner exclaimed I cant breathe 11 times. A grand jury decided not to bring charges against the officer. Two years later black man Philando Castile died just outside Minneapolis when a police officer shot him during a traffic stop. The officer was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. After five days of deliberation, a jury acquitted the officer of all charges. A giant step forward

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UPDATE: The children have been located and are safe, police say

MANISTEE COUNTY, MI  Police are asking for the publics help in locating three young children whom they believe are with their mother, despite a court order removing them from her care.

The Michigan State Police issued an Endangered Missing Advisory for 12-year-old Trevor Edens, Talissa Berrentine, 8, and Tallyn Smith, 6, on Friday, April 23.

All three children were last seen in the 100 block of Taylor Street in Manistee, according to police.

The children are believed to be with their mother, Kimberly Berrentine, who allegedly fled to an unknown location shortly after a court ordered the children removed from her care on Thursday, Michigan State Police said.

Child Protective Services and the Manistee Police Department learned of her actions when they went to pick up the kids.

A fourth child was located at a residence in Midland on Friday, police said.

Berrentine was reported to be driving erratically in her silver 2008 Chevy Malibu, which has no license plate and damage to the rear passenger door, according to police.

Anyone with information should contact the Manistee Police Department by calling 231-723-2533.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23) Actress Angel Locsin and the Quezon City government on Friday vowed to extend help to the family of a man who died while waiting in line at a crowded community pantry in Barangay Holy Spirit.

In a statement, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said the LGU will shoulder the burial expenses and hand out financial assistance to the family of the 67-year-old man, who police reported went to the pantry organized by Locsin.

An initial investigation showed the victim fainted Friday while waiting for his turn at the pantry. He was rushed to the hospital, but was declared dead on arrival, police said.

Belmonte said while officials will continue to support these kinds of initiatives, the incident "should serve as an important reminder" for pantry organizers to coordinate with barangay and LGU officials.

"Advanced coordination will allow all stakeholders to be proactive, rather than reactive," Belmonte said.

Locsin, for her part, apologized to the victim's relatives, and vowed to prioritize them.

"I will prioritize helping the family and I will make it my responsibility to help them get through this," Locsin wrote on her Instagram page. "I am very very sorry."

Lack of social distancing

The actress' community pantry which she rolled out on her birthday drew crowds eagerly waiting for their turn to receive goods from the viral initiative. Clips taken in the area showed lack of social distancing among the attendees.

Locsin acknowledged the lapses in health protocols, and admitted that even authorities had a hard time enforcing distancing rules.

"Hindi po ito ang gusto ko," Locsin said in a separate social media video. "Nagkataon lang po talaga na siguro gutom lang po talaga 'yung tao, na kahit wala po sa pila, sumingit na po sila."

"Sa mga nagambala ko po dito, pasensya na po, hindi po ito ang intensyon ko," she added.

[Translation: This was not what I wanted. Maybe it was just the people were hungry, that even if they weren't lined up, they jumped the queue. To all those affected by this, I'm sorry, this was not my intention.]

The Quezon City government held a meeting later in the day to discuss future guidelines for community pantries.

PNP asked to probe incident

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano meanwhile urged the Philippine National Police to investigate the incident.

"Since somebody died, the PNP has to conduct an investigation. We cannot ascertain yet who could be liable until the completion of the investigation," Ano said in a statement.

He also advised organizers of community pantries to coordinate with local officials and the police to help in controlling crowds.
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Irv Anglin, 29, of Tempe, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 8 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Anglin previously pleaded guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact of a Ward. Anglin will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Anglin worked as a Correctional Officer at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Phoenix, Arizona. Between January 1, 2019, and November 30, 2019, Anglin engaged in sexual contact with an inmate he supervised at the facility.

Sexual abuse of inmates is never tolerated. Todays sentencing shows that those who abuse inmates will be held accountable, said Douglas B. Bruce, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Denver Field Office.

This officer abused his position of authority by harming an inmate and betrayed the trust of the federal government. Instead of providing safe imprisonment, Anglin violated his oath and the rights of this individual, said Sean Kaul, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. The FBI is committed to strengthening trust in law enforcement by holding those who abuse their privileges and abandon their responsibilities accountable.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General (Denver office) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Gayle Helart, William G. Voit, and Christine D. Keller, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER: 2020-CR-00625-JJT

RELEASE NUMBER: 2021- 027_Anglin
Desperate refugees and migrants attempt to reach Europe in dangerous boats like these in Libya.  UNHCR/ F. Noy

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply disturbed by reports of a tragic shipwreck off the coast of Libya. Fears are that this latest incident could have claimed the lives of up to 130 people.

The rubber boat, which reportedly embarked from the Al Khoms area east of Tripoli, is said to have capsized due to bad weather and stormy seas.

The NGO SOS Mediterranee reported that the first distress call was received by authorities on Wednesday morning. SOS Mediterranee and commercial vessels searched the area on Thursday only to discover several bodies floating around the deflated rubber dinghy but no survivors.

This would be the largest loss of life recorded in the Central Mediterranean since the beginning of the year. So far in 2021 alone, at least 300 other people have drowned or gone missing in the Central Mediterranean. This is a significant increase compared to the same period last year when some 150 people drowned or went missing along the same route.

IOM and UNHCR warn that more migrants and refugees may attempt this dangerous crossing as weather and sea conditions improve and living conditions in Libya deteriorate.

In Libya, migrants and refugees continue to be subjected to arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, exploitation and violence, conditions that push them to take risky journeys especially sea crossings that may end up with fatal consequences. Legal pathways to safety, though, are limited and often fraught with challenges.

UNHCR and IOM reiterate their call on the international community to take urgent steps to end avoidable loss of lives at sea. This includes the reactivation of search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, enhanced coordination with all rescue actors, ending returns to unsafe ports, and establishing a safe and predictable disembarkation mechanism.

For more information please contact:

For UNHCR:

In Geneva, Aikaterini Kitidi, [email protected] , +41 79 580 8334

, +41 79 580 8334 For Libya, Tarik Argaz, [email protected] , +216 29 961295

For IOM:
The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), the sole copyright society representing the authors, composers, and publishers of music, has been supporting its members, with relentless efforts put in to safeguard their right to fair compensation for their creation. On the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day this year, The Indian Performing Right Society Limited - IPRS (representing nearly 6500 authors, composers, and publishers from all over India) launches the IPRS for Fair Music campaign to boost a healthy ecosystem for music in India. Fair Trade Music is about supporting, acknowledging, and celebrating businesses that seek to create an equal trade system through respect and transparency.

To commemorate the occasion, IPRS is collaborating with its members, partners, industry insiders, business leaders, and music creators from across India. The campaign will witness activities in the form of a panel discussion, virtual knowledge sessions, felicitation of fair music partners, and much more spread over the WIPD week from April 26th to 30th. The key activities mentioned below have been conceived to uphold the role IP plays in supporting creativity in music and helping to flourish music and its creators.

I} World IP Day Panel  IPRS in partnership with Indiantelevision.com and Iprmentlaw will host a panel discussion featuring stalwarts from the Indian music industry. The discussion will entail a conversation on the current scenario around licensing and paid consumption of music, the challenges and opportunities spurring over the past year, and the need to build a healthy ecosystem for music in India. Further, it will throw light on how intellectual property helps to fuel the creative and business processes.

II} Know Your Rights  a virtual knowledge session for creators and music right holders on IP and Copyright Laws on 28th April, 4pm: An informative session for Music Publishers and Creators to safeguard their rights. Mr. Ameet Datta, eminent Lawyer  IP/TMT/Trade Compliance, will be discussing the key things that a music creator needs to know regarding Copyright and IP Laws related to his/her creation. The session will benefit all IP right holders in the music industry who are interested to know how they may best protect and preserve their intellectual property.

III} Session on Music Licensing & Fair Pay for Music: IPRS will host an online session on Music Licensing  Why & How? on 30th April 4pm, to address the frequently asked questions about different licensing options based on usage and platform, and the impact of licensing, has on supporting creators and the creator community.

IV} Felicitating Fair Music Partners  IPRS is glad to felicitate its Fair Music Partners on the occasion of WIPD, who have extended their support in endorsing fair trade music for a transparent and ethical value chain for authors, composers, and all music right holders. Their partnerships have helped original creators of music earn fair remuneration for their work with well-deserved royalties.

On the launch of the campaign Mr. Rakesh Nigam, CEO of IPRS commented, "Over the past few years, digital technology and the penetration of internet has created a global marketplace for music which is very encouraging for music creators all over the world. However, the rights of the music right holders need to be also protected simultaneously. We are pleased to launch this campaign along with our partners and leaders from the music industry to spread this message across platforms. Fairtrade music is a practice that needs to be accepted and followed in India. At IPRS, we strongly advocate why fair trade of music is critical and how it will help the original creators. Technological advancements have always played an important role in shaping the music industry, creating new opportunities and challenges. While digitization has empowered creators and taken the music far and near, the creator stands a higher risk of his/her creative ideas getting copied and snags in enforcing his/her rights.

Hence, our strategic alliances with prominent OTT platforms, DSPs and national and international players like YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, Apple Music, Hungama Music, Alt Balaji, Ola, McDonald's, Sharechat, PlayNetwork is a significant step towards building an ecosystem to encourage creativity and uphold the rights of creators and publishers of music. We congratulate our Fair Music Partners for coming on board to support the cause we stand for, added Mr. Nigam.

Talking on the initiative Mr. Aditya Gupta, Director at Aditya Music and IPRS Board Member said, I am glad to be part of this campaign as we always have supported and worked in the interest of music and its stakeholders. We can expect a huge boost in the music business and reap the real benefits, only when we have everyones support for fair usage and fair pay. In an ecosystem where the motivating factor of fair pay is absent, the industry will fail to encourage innovation to gain a competitive edge. It is important that we value all those behind the creation and grow together for a viable future in music.

Music is a universal language and creators give every bit to create a piece of music or song. Unfortunately, the creation of many is at stake in the rapidly growing music landscape with easy access, mass consumption, and declining appreciation for musical assets, and a lack of credit & equitable pay given to its creators. We are glad to have organization like IPRS, standing up for a cause like this. The exploitation of any creative work is entitled to be duly credited and remunerated. We need to build more awareness about fair pay and fair play of music, said acclaimed lyricist, poet & screenwriter Mr. Manoj Muntashir.


Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annual state of the nation address, focusing primarily on domestic issues. While many expected the Russian leader to make important announcements on the future of the Russia-Belarus Union State, as well as on the conflict in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region, his focal points were related to the social sphere, economics, and healthcare. But what did he say about the country's security and foreign policy?

Prior to Putin's speech, there was speculation that the Russian president could call on the Federal Assembly to formally recognize the independence of the Donbass self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in case the conflict in the region escalates and turns into a "hot war." Instead, Putin told the West that Moscow's response to crossing Russia's "red line" will be "asymmetric, fast and hard."

"Whoever threatens our core security interests will regret it like they've never regretted anything before," said the Russian leader.

Putin already spoke about Russia's "asymmetric response" to Western actions years ago, but this time he went one step further by mentioning red lines. Given that he rarely speaks directly about Russia's intentions, it is not surprising that he did not specifically say what Moscow's red lines are. Such a position leaves room for various political maneuvers. If the West does not know what Russia's red lines are, how can the United States, NATO and the European Union show any restraint in their relations with Moscow? On the other hand, without a clear definition of Russia's point of no return, the Kremlin can always save its face and avoid confrontations in the global arena, claiming that the "red line" was not crossed.

Still, there are indications that Russia could gradually take a slightly harder approach towards Western actions. For instance, in response to the recent expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats from Czech Republic, Moscow decided to expel 20 Czech diplomats. It is worth noting that in the past the Russian Federation adhered to the line of purely retaliatory measures, sending home an identical number of diplomats. Such a practice could change now. Still, if the West continues imposing sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin's responses will likely remain rather calculated and limited, although in some situations could show its teeth, which the case of the Czech diplomats clearly demonstrates.



During his speech, the Russian president also pointed out that Russia will always act for its interests within international law. Reading between lines, Moscow is expected to continue supporting its allies aboard, especially Belarus and its President Alexander Lukashenko.

Meanwhile, he will have to find a way to resolve various domestic problems. As he said, the Russia's main focus will be on domestic development and improving every aspect of society and the economy. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Putin, businesses are set to make record profits in Russia this year. Moreover, he announced major housing plans: to build every year 120 million square meters of housing. Given that Russia has been faced with Western sanctions, it remains highly uncertain if Moscow will be able to achieve such ambitious goals. Priority of domestic issues demands calmer external environment, and it is unlikely that the West will stop imposing sanctions on the Russian Federation any time soon.

Hours after Putin's speech, protesters all over Russia came out to the streets demanding the release of the Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny who was jailed over violations of his 2014 suspended prison sentence for embezzlement. The United States already informed Russia that there will be "consequences" if Navalny  who was hospitalized weeks after beginning a hunger strike  dies in prison. He decided to start a hunger strike because he was denied to receive treatment by his own doctor instead of the prison medical team. Indeed, nowhere in the world are prisoners are entitled to see their private doctors, but the West will likely keep using the case of Navalny as another instrument against Russia.

Moscow, on its part, tends to avoid any confrontation with the United States and its allies, and that is what Putin's state of the nation address clearly suggests. Sooner or later, however, Russia may be in a position to decisively respond to what the he called "blatant rudeness" and "unfriendly efforts." Alternatively, a passive approach and non-action could be interpreted as a sign of weakness.



By Nikola Mikovic a freelance journalist based in Serbia. (Source: CGTN




????????  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2021

Your research as a private individual is better than professionals @WSJ!



Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD.



Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2021

First, some context: the Texas crash killed both occupants, and police statements say that neither of them was in the drivers seat when it happened. In other words, one of them engaged Autopilot on the Model S and slipped out of the drivers seat. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that data logs show Autopilot wasnt engaged on the car. Moreover, the car couldnt be driving itself since Autopilot has safeguards in place, preventing this from happening.Specifically, Musk was referring to the fact that Autopilot disengages if hand pressure on the wheel is not detected every 10 seconds, if the seat is unbuckled, or if theres no body weight detected in the seat. He also said that Autopilot wouldnt work in a residential area like where the crash occurred because streets did not have lane markings.Consumer Reports put some of Musks claims to the test and was able to prove that, indeed, you can trick a Tesla on Autopilot into driving itself while you casually slip out of the drivers seat and chill on the passenger side. The video at the bottom of the page shows how.Jake Fisher, CRs senior director of auto testing, took a Model Y to a test track in Connecticut, started it, and then engaged Autopilot. He then added a weighted chain on the steering wheel, set the speed to zero, and slipped out of the seat, leaving the seat belt buckled. He increased the speed again and got the car to drive itself without anyone at the wheel.The car drove up and down the half-mile lane of our track, repeatedly, never noting that no one was in the drivers seat, never noting that there was no one touching the steering wheel, never noting there was no weight on the seat, Fisher says. It was a bit frightening when we realized how easy it was to defeat the safeguards, which we proved were clearly insufficient.Fishers conclusion is that Tesla needs to do better in terms of these safeguards. As with GM and Ford, it should use technology to monitor the driver actively and ensure that they are paying attention to the road.On social media, Tesla supporters are comparing Fishers experiment to when you place a brick on the gas pedal and send a car off a cliffmeaning, you cant blame a carmaker for the operators stupidity or recklessness. Musk seems to echo the sentiment, replying with laughing emojis to one such comparison.
The Columbus, Ohio police officer who fatally shot 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant on Tuesday, Nicholas Reardon, is an active duty US Air National Guardsmen trained as an expert marksman, it was revealed Thursday.

Police quickly released body cam footage of the incident earlier this week which shows Reardon approaching an altercation between a group of young people in a driveway. Bryant, facing away from the officer, can be seen pushing another female to the ground before Reardon drew his weapon and repeatedly shouted get down. After Bryant, armed with knife, turned to fight another woman, Reardon fired four times into Bryant. She died shortly after.

Nicholas Reardon (Photo: Twitter)

Social media users discovered that Reardon is a US Air National Guardsman and received an expert marksman badge with an M4 Carbine, the standard issue rifle for most US military units.

After police identified Reardon, Twitter users discovered he graduated from Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus in 2016. Reardon was a part of the schools wrestling team, which occasionally tweeted updates about his progress during basic training.

One tweet with an image of Reardon in military garb read, Alumni Update: Nick Reardon 16 Rickenbacker AF Base Columbus, OH. While at Tech School earned expert marksman for M4A1

Air National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Devin T. Robinson confirmed to the Daily Beast that Reardon joined in the force in 2015 and has been assigned to the 121st Security Forces Squadron for the Ohio Air National Guard. In addition to domestic deployments, He spent six months in an overseas operation.

The fact that Reardon received military training and is an active duty guardsmen raises questions about the militarization of police in America. Although military veterans only make up about 6 percent of the population, almost 20 percent of police officers are veterans, according to The Marshall Project.

A combination of state laws, federal laws, and hiring practices are partially responsible for the strong military presence in police forces. States like New Jersey and Massachusetts have laws that require departments to select veterans over those without military backgrounds. Furthermore, disabled veterans, such as those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)a mental health condition many acquired during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistanare favored over veterans without health concerns.

Interestingly, police departments and the state are fully conscious of the potential danger in hiring veterans. In 2009, the Justice Department and the International Association of Chiefs of Police issued a guide offering advice to departments seeking veterans. The guide stated: Sustained operations under combat circumstances may cause returning officers to mistakenly blur the lines between military combat situations and civilian crime situations, resulting in inappropriate decisions and actionsparticularly in the use of less lethal or lethal force.

Data from police departments confirm this warning. In Boston, for every 100 officers with military service, officials received more than 28 complaints of excessive use of force from 2010 to 2015. The complaint rate for officers without military service was 17 complaints for every 100 cops. In 2017, a Pew Research Center poll discovered 32 percent of veterans admitted that they had fired their weapon while on duty as a police officer, compared to 24 percent of non-veterans.

The federal government is deeply involved in ensuring the youth they damaged in imperialist wars in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia can easily transition into law enforcement at home. Because of the Americans With Disabilities Act, police departments cannot deny a job candidate for having a PTSD diagnosis. Additionally, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act prohibits police officers from being required to take a mental health evaluation after they return to work after a military deployment.

In 2012, the Obama administration provided tens of millions in funding to departments to incentivize the hiring of veterans. More than $111 million was awarded to law enforcement agencies across the US. In exchange, approximately 800 jobs were created or reserved for veterans who served at least 180 days of active duty since September 11, 2001.

Over the last two decades an absurd amount of military-grade equipment has been gifted to police departments by the federal government. In 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report exposing the federal governments role in transforming domestic law enforcement into a paramilitary police. The report noted the that the government actively facilitated the militarization of US law enforcement through federal military surplus programs.

The Department of Defenses 1033 Program is one such program. The program is operated by the Law Enforcement Support Office, whose motto is from warfighter to crimefighter. This program has transferred more than $5.1 billion in property from the military to local police departments since 1997. More than a third of the arms provided through the program are brand new, going from arms manufacturers directly to police departments.

The ACLU report found that the amount of equipment sent to local departments expanded rapidly over the years. The Defense Department transferred $1 million of property in 1990, $324 million in 1995, and nearly $450 million in 2013. Police departments receive the military surplus for free but are required to use the equipment within a year. This all but ensures that officers use military equipment on citizens.

A 2020 CNN analysis discovered the Pentagon sent at least $760 million worth of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies since August 2017. That included $5.3 million of crowd control gear, such as riot shields, gas masks, tasers, and other materials. Furthermore, 500 departments acquired Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles that cost up to $1 million each. American police are touted as peacekeepers but are armed for war against the working class.

The militarization of police forces in the United States is intricately linked with the growth of authoritarianism in the US. Concerned with the growth of social opposition, the ruling class arms police to the teeth and gives them near-free rein to murder and terrorize workers.

Most recently, Charme Allen, Tennessees Attorney General, announced that the officer who shot and killed a teenager in a high school bathroom would not face criminal charges. Anthony J. Thompson was shot by Knoxville police officer Jonathon Clabough as he was being arrested at Austin-East Magnet High School.

Police were responding to a domestic abuse call from the mother of Thompsons former girlfriend. Four officers entered a bathroom where Thompson was hiding. A handgun Thompson was carrying in his sweatshirt pocket, which police were not aware of, accidently went off and struck a trash can. Clabough drew his weapon and shot Thompson in the shoulder. Thompson fell to the ground and officers surrounded him.

Officers said they did not know Thompson had been shot until two minutes after he was handcuffed. When officers turned over Thompsons body, they saw a large amount of blood. The school nurse was called to provide medical assistance, but a medical examiner later reported that Thompson could not have been saved.
Miramax CEO Bill Block's Russian model wife started working in Siberia when she was a baby - and is now dubbed Hollywood's hardest-working mom.

When she's not raising the 67 year-old movie mogul's three children and entertaining A-list celebrities at their Los Angeles mansion, Eugenia Kuzmina is jetting to Turkey filming Guy Ritchie's latest blockbuster Five Eyes with Hugh Grant and Jason Statham, modelling for Chanel, Dior and Hermes, and even impersonating Melania Trump on stage as a stand-up comedian.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, the Russian model, who was the first woman to have two side by side ad campaigns displayed in New York City's Times Square, revealed how she had her first photo shoot just hours after she was born.

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Triple threat: At 33, Eugenia Kuzmina is dubbed Hollywood's hardest-working mom, modeling, starring in films, and performing stand-up comedy all while raising her husband's three children

Speaking to DailyMailTV from her Los Angeles mansion, Eugenia lifted the lid on her humble beginnings in Soviet Russia where she and her family had to wait for hours every day in food lines

The model-actress is now married to Miramax CEO Bill Block, after meeting him when she was 21. The couple share three children together

'In Russia they separate mom and child from the moment you're born for about a week,' the 33-year-old said.

'The medical staff took me from the hospital in Ekaterinburg, Siberia, to do a shoot about babies for a Soviet Union newspaper.

'My mom came looking for me and had no idea they took me for the shoot. So that's when I started modeling  without consent.'

Kuzmina's father Igor was a senior nuclear scientist and right-hand-man to Valery Legasov, who led the investigation into the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and was immortalized in the HBO 2019 series named after it.

But despite his importance in Soviet Russia, Kuzmina and her mother, also a scientist, had to wait for hours every day in food lines.

She said they were so unfamiliar with western luxuries that when her father returned once from a conference abroad with a can of some exotic treat, they all began tucking in before realizing that it was dog food.

'I remember seeing American exchange students, which was really rare. We would run after them chasing just to get a piece of gum and chew it for a week,' Kuzmina told DailyMailTV.

'We'd literally put this gum in a glass container because it was such a huge thing.'

After being scouted at 13, Eugenia began landing modeling gigs for L'Oreal and M&Ms. She later got her first big break with Yves Saint Laurent as a teen

Eugenia was born in Moscow, Soviet Union, where her father Igor (pictured) was a senior nuclear scientist and right-hand-man to Valery Legasov, who led the probe into the Chernobyl disaster in 1986

So it was no surprise Kuzmina leapt at the chance for success when she was spotted by a modeling scout on the street at age 13.

Russian designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev took her under his wing and she began appearing in commercials for L'Oreal and M&Ms.

She was even scouted for a movie with action legend Chuck Norris  but was unable to film abroad because of government fears she could reveal her father's cold war-era nuclear state secrets.

But when her father died in 2003, 15-year-old Kuzmina was forced to become the breadwinner for her mother and sister, and moved to Paris to become a full-time model.

'My plan was to come back each summer and do it as a hobby. But when my dad died there was a choice. I knew I couldn't pursue higher education in Russia. I knew I had a much better chance of supporting my family by pursuing modelling,' she said.

'It was my responsibility to be the breadwinner for my family. I had a younger sister who I wanted to help get through college.'

The shy teenager struggled at first in the cut-throat industry, but got her first big break when she inspired legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent in a casting for one of his retrospectives.

Though she could have sat back and enjoyed her husband's success after his 2017 promotion to CEO, Eugenia said her hard upbringing and struggle to support her family in Russia left her with an internal dynamo

Eugenia, husband Bill Block, and their two sons and daughter celebrate Father's Day last June

Eugenia was signed to Ford Models when she became pregnant with her first child with Block (pictured). Though the agency said it would end her career, the Russian model carried on working through her pregnancy

'I walked into this dim lit, smoked room. And behind the smoke appears this gentleman, who's also very introverted and shy. I think we really related on that. He's extremely creative, and that sensitivity really resonated,' she said.

'He hired me, and I did the show with Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni, all the biggest models of the time. It was almost like being a rock star.'

Catapulted into the intensely competitive heights of the supermodel era of the early 2000s, Kuzmina quickly discovered how mean things could get.

At one show for Thierry Mugler where she was walking with top models including Ivanka Trump, a jealous rival put broken glass in Gisele Bundchen's shoes.

'On the second run, when Gisele was changing she stepped into her shoes very fast. There was a lot of scattered glass in her shoes and she couldn't walk,' Kuzmina said.

'I heard people screaming and saying, "she can't walk the second look." It was very chaotic.

'Gisele always had so much light and personality and energy and always attracted people to her. It's easy for somebody to get jealous of that.'

Her next big break was signing with Luis Mattos, a top agent who made the careers of Gigi and Bella Hadid and is now head of IMG Models, and moving to New York.

Holed up in a penthouse on Wall Street sharing bunk beds with about 15 other models, Kuzmina said she ignored Leonardo DiCaprio's ever-present limousines waiting to ferry the girls to join him at nightclub VIP tables, instead focusing on her career.

Hollywood actor Jason Statham (pictured in Istanbul with Bill Block and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in February) is a close friend of the couple

Block is set to produce Guy Ritchie's latest blockbuster Five Eyes with Hugh Grant and Jason Statham, which was shot in Turkey

But there was one man who caught her eye: her future husband, Miramax CEO Bill Block.

'I was 21, and wasn't looking for a husband at the time,' she said. 'But my boss [former Ford Models CEO] Katie Ford introduced me to Bill. He was extremely charming, he was a producer at the time. He had all these intellectual ideas about movie making.

'He had to pursue me for quite a while. He would fly to our shoots in Hawaii, show up there and take care of the whole crew and photographers and take us for dinners. He was such a gentleman.'

After a whirlwind romance Kuzmina became pregnant. Though Ford said it would end her career, the Russian model carried on toiling.

'I made a commitment. Katie Ford was telling me it's the worst decision of my life to have kids in the middle of my career. But I said I can do it, if I did it before for myself, I can take care of me and my baby,' she said.

'I worked through the whole pregnancy, did all the Gap campaigns and Target.

The workaholic mother of three also decided to add a third career on top: stand-up comedy, including impersonations of Melania Trump

'I went straight back to work after four weeks because I had a contract with L'Oreal. So I was flying back and forth from Los Angeles to New York with a baby on the red eye.'

Though Kuzmina fit right in entertaining A-listers including Jason Statham, Zac Efron and Arnold Schwarznegger at Block's LA mansion, her mother had trouble adjusting.

'Jason Statham is one of the best friends of my husband. They've been doing real estate for a long time, he lives next door as well,' Kuzmina said.

'When my baby was born he used to come over sometimes to say hi. One time he came over, it was dark, my husband was away and then my mom was there.

'She doesn't know anybody in Hollywood. She thought "who is this very intimidating man who is here without announcement?"

'And she literally grabbed something to smack him. We had to explain he's OK, he's actually not an intruder.'

After moving to Hollywood, Kuzmina launched her acting career and has starred in movies alongside Elle Fanning, Bill Murray, Orlando Bloom and Mila Kunis.

The workaholic mother of three also decided to add a third career on top: stand-up comedy, including impersonations of Melania Trump.

Eugenia eventually launched her acting career after moving to Hollywood, and has starred in movies alongside Elle Fanning, Bill Murray, Orlando Bloom and Mila Kunis

The idea came when discussing the former First Lady with Kuzmina's close friend, photographer Antoine Verglas, who introduced Melania to Donald, traveled the world with her and took the controversial nude photos of the former model.

'We were talking about it and it came to me that Melania is such a mystery, nobody knows who she is,' Kuzmina said.

'She's a model, she's married to a powerful man. My husband is very different from Trump, but he has a certain weight to his work.

'I know Melania's first agent as well. She said Melania's only skill is waving from private jets. I thought it's such an interesting and funny skill. This is definitely comedy writing itself.'

Though she could have sat back and enjoyed her husband's success after his 2017 promotion to CEO, Kuzmina said her hard upbringing and struggle to support her family has left her with an internal dynamo.

'After losing my dad I realized we really didn't have anybody to count on,' she said.

'At some points while modeling I couldn't survive, I had to steal food from backstage at a fashion show. I think I kept that habit for a long time,' she said.

'One time I was with my husband and he said, "Why are you putting the rest of that breakfast in your Prada bag?" Old habits die hard they say.

'Just looking at my mom how much she struggled not working, my goal was always to be self-sufficient and continue working no matter what.'
Experienced team of gold developers with access to capital

On a big exploration drive

Over 3.5 million ounces of gold across its development platform

What does:

Ltd ( ) (NYSEAMERICAN:FURY) is a newly established explorer focused on three prolific mining regions in Canada, which aims to advance its multi-million-ounce gold platform.

It came into being following the completion of the deal which saw junior Auryn Resources Inc (TSE:AUG) reorganize, spin out its Peruvian assets (NYSEAMERICAN:AUG) and acquire Eastmain Resources Inc (TSS:ER).

Shares in Fury Gold began trading on the NYSE American on October 12 last year and on the Toronto Stock Exchange on October 13 - following the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.

Under the transaction, which required shareholder approval, Auryn bought Eastmain after spinning out its assets in Peru into two new companies and distributing the shares of those firms to Auryn shareholders.

The group said it was fully funded to carry out over 50,000 metres (m) of drilling at its Eau Claire project in Quebec and has working capital for 12 months after closing a C$23 million bought-deal financing.

Sitting in around 113,00 hectares in James Bay, Eau Claire boasts 853,000 ounces at a high grade of 6.18 grams per ton (g/t) gold in the measured and indicated (M&I) category. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in 2018 showed an after-tax net present value (NPV) of C$397 million at a gold price of US$1,500 and total capex of US$283 million.

Last year the firm said that, over the next 18 months, it also plans to drill over 20,000m at the 7,500 hectare Homestake Ridge in British Columbia, which has 166,000 ounces at 7.02 g/t gold and 1.8 million ounces at 74.8 g/t silver. In 2020, a PEA showed an NPV for Homestake of US$108 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) after tax of 23.6% at US$1,350 per ounce of gold.

Elsewhere, Fury's Committee Bay property in Nunavut has indicated resources of 524,000 ounces at 7.85 g/t gold and 720,000 inferred ounces at 7.64 g/t gold. More than 10,000m of drilling is planned there.

How is it doing:

is aiming to advance the efforts of those firms who have gone before it, and exploration has been the order of the day so far in 2021.

On April 20, Fury released additional results from its drill program at its Eau Claire deposit in Quebec that showed good potential to expand the resource area. The company intersected 59.3 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 1 metre (m) and 8.9 g/t gold over 3m just east of the current resource.

Fury is hoping to expand the resource by drilling outside of known resource blocks in the lower eastern region of the deposit, which is located in the James Bay region. The current 25,000m drill program is part of a larger 50,000m program at Eau Claire.

A week earlier, Fury said it had identified two compelling target areas on the western limit of the Eau Claire project that may significantly expand the deposit. The targets are located below an area called the 850 zone and were developed through an increased understanding of the structural and lithological controls on mineralization within the deposit, said the company.

And in February, Fury said it aimed to explore the Percival trend in the James Bay region of Quebec this summer, which sits 14 kilometres km east of the Eau Claire deposit. A discovery was made in the area in 2018, including a drill assay of 78.5m at 1.46 g/t gold, and the company reckons the trend is home to a second style of mineralization at Eau Claire, which has largely been underexplored.

Elsewhere, in February, Fury outlined summer exploration plans for its Committee Bay gold project in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut - one of the largest unexplored greenstone belts left in North America.

Planned are between 5,000m and 10,000m of drilling with three goals, one of which is to expand the existing resource at the Three Bluffs deposit, which already boasts 525,000 ounces (oz) at 7.85 grams per ton (g/t) gold in the indicated category and 720,000 oz at 7.64 g/t gold in inferred.

The company also aims to drill the underexplored Raven high-grade vein target, which sits around 80 kilometers (km) west of the Three Bluffs deposit. Fury reckons the Raven target has the highest probability of becoming a major discovery and plans aggressive step-out holes to demonstrate the scale of the system and to explore, via mapping and sampling, the entire length of the 8km shear zone to define new targets. Only 1.2km of the 8km shear zone has been systematically explored to date.

And in the same month, Fury told investors it aimed to kick off a 25,000m drill program at its high-grade Homestake Ridge gold-silver project in British Columbia, 15,000m of which is aimed at extending the Homestake ridge deposit to depth and along strike,

A further 10,000m of infill drilling will be carried out at the Homestake silver deposit to upgrade a portion of the resource to the indicated category from inferred and demonstrate the continuity of mineralization.

In the boardroom, in March Fury outlined some changes as it positions for "the next phase" of its growth. It said Tim Clark, an experienced capital markets executive, had become an independent director, while board member Jeffrey Mason was named lead director. Blair Schultz, who was instrumental in the formation of Fury in 2020, and served as a board director and member of Fury's audit committee, has resigned from the board, the company added.

Clark boasts 23 years of global capital markets experience with numerous US, European and Canadian banks, including Barclays Capital, National Bank Financial, Merrill Lynch, and most recently .

Mason joined the Fury board upon its formation in October 2020 and brought with him extensive experience in exploration, development, construction and operation of precious and base metals projects in the Americas, Asia and Africa, including 15 years as a principal, board director and chief financial officer at the Hunter Dickinson group of companies. He is currently an independent director of Inc, Tier One Silver Inc and Sombrero Resources Inc.

Inflection points:

Further drilling and exploration results

Precious metals moves

What the broker says:

Roth Capital Partners recently repeated a 'Buy' on Fury shares with a US$2.70 share price target (current price: $1.41)

Roth analyst Joe Reagor highlighted the results of the first five drill holes at Eau Claire.

"We note the drill holes included significant intercepts of high-grade gold. If FURY is able to continue this drilling success, it is likely it could lead to a meaningful resource increase, in our view," he said.

The analyst also pointed out that these assays made up only a small fraction of the planned drilling at Eau Claire for 2021.

What the boss says:

In April's Eau Claire drilling update, Fury Mike Timmins said: "Our deposit drilling continues to yield high-grade results as we intersect new areas of mineralization outside of the defined resource, demonstrating a strong potential to expand the resource east.

"In addition to this progress, we are highly encouraged with the newly identified Snake Lake structure, where we have recently completed drilling and are eagerly awaiting assay results. Our ongoing exploration program will now focus on the western extensions of Eau Claire, the previously announced Fold Hinge and Limb target areas."

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
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English Finnish

Fingrid Oyj

Stock Exchange Release 23 April 2021 at 11:00 EET



Fingrid Group  Managements Review 1 January - 31 March 2021

Fingrid follows a six-month reporting period as referred to in the Securities Markets Act and publishes Management Reviews for the first three and nine months of the year; the Management Reviews contain key information illustrating the companys financial and other development.

The information presented in the Managements Review relates to the Fingrid Groups performance in January-March 2021 and the corresponding period of 2020, unless otherwise indicated. The figures presented here have been drawn up in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Managements Review is not an interim report in accordance with the IAS 34 standard. The figures are unaudited.

The temperatures from January through March matched long-term averages. Increased cross-border transmission of electricity from Russia and higher consumption due to lengthy cold spells increased the companys turnover and result as compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

Turnover during the period under review amounted to EUR 277.9 (199.6) million and operating profit, excluding the change in the fair value of derivatives, amounted to EUR 85.6 (65.2) million.

The companys profitability and liquidity remained at a good level.





Review by the President & CEO: Grid vision paves the way for grid investments worth EUR 2 billion during this decade

The weather conditions during the first quarter were normal. Long spells of below-zero temperatures increased the of electricity consumption, and also the hydrological situation throughout the Nordic countries has returned closer to normal from last years exceptionally high level. The consumption of electricity increased during the period under review compared to the corresponding period last year, which was marked by exceptionally warm weather. As a result, the companys turnover and result improved compared to the previous review period. Turnover growth came from the volume, as our grid service fees will remain unchanged from 2020 to 2021.

The increased consumption of electricity, coupled with transmission restrictions, resulted in significant area price disparities in the Nordic countries. The imports from Sweden to Finland were high and often reached the maximum level during daytime. This caused major price differences between Finland and particularly northern Sweden. The price differences resulted in significant congestion income for Fingrid, which will be used for future investments to improve the operation of the markets. Electricity imports from Russia increased due to the higher electricity prices in Finland, generating more cross-border transmission income.

We are building transmission lines and substations at dozens of sites. Based on our long-term grid vision, we estimate that the main grid will require at least EUR 2 billion in grid investments during this decade to cover the tremendous increase in capex needed for electricity consumption and production, to enable the ongoing electrification of Finland. Along with this, we will develop the electricity market and our grid operations to meet future needs.



Key figures

M 13/21 13/20 change % 112/20 Turnover 277.9 199.6 39.2 682.5 Operating profit* 85.6 65.2 31.3 115.4 Profit before taxes 70.7 38.9 81.8 113.3 Profit for the period 56.6 32.9 72.3 94.0 Capital expenditure, gross 36.6 30.6 19.6 169.7 Net cash flow from operations** 112.3 68.5 64.0 139.9 Interest-bearing net debt 940.4 1,066.4 -11.8 1,049.0 Balance sheet total 2,274.6 2,133.2 6.6 2,306.8 Equity ratio % 30.3 29.0 27.4 * Operating profit excluding the change in the fair value of derivatives ** Net cash flow from operations, after capital expenditure

Operating profit excluding the change in the fair value of derivatives was EUR 85.6 (65.2) million. The improvement in operating profit was attributable to the increase in grid service income and cross-border transmission income.

Congestion income from cross-border transmission connections amounted to EUR 25.6 (24.6) million. This income will be fully used in the next few years for investments aimed at improving the transmission connections to prevent any congestion.

Net cash flow from operations has gained in strength, mainly thanks to a better financial result.





Main business events

During JanuaryMarch, the system security of Fingrids main grid was at a very high level and there were no significant grid disturbances affecting the electricity market.

In JanuaryMarch, electricity consumption in Finland totalled 24.7 (23.2) terawatt hours. In the same period, Fingrid transmitted a total of 19.4 (18.4) terawatt hours in its grid, representing 73.7 (73.9) per cent of the total electricity transmission in Finland. During this period, the electricity Fingrid transmitted to its customers amounted to 17.8 (16.6) terawatt hours, which represents 71.9 (71.6) per cent of Finlands total consumption.

Peak demand was reached on 18 February 2021, when the hourly average load reached 14,267 megawatts between 9 and 10 am. During this hour, the average power generation in Finland amounted to 11,191 megawatts and the remaining 3,076 megawatts of the average load was imported from Sweden, Russia and Estonia. The electricity supply was not in jeopardy during the peak consumption hour.

Fingrid published a vision of the long-term development needs and solutions of the main grid. This grid vision is based on scenarios of the future electricity production and consumption structure. The vision indicates that, in order for Finland to reach its carbon neutrality target, grid investments amounting to billions of euros will be necessary over the next ten years.

Fingrid is currently building 36 power system substations and 580 kilometres of transmission lines. An investment decision was made on the construction of the Valkeus substation in Northern Ostrobothnia to promote wind power investments. The total costs of the substation, due for completion in 2023, are estimated at roughly EUR 30 million.

Fingrids operations continued according to plan, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Fingrid applied for a derogation period extending to 22 May 2023 for the adoption of the 15-min imbalance settlement period (ISP), and the Energy Authority granted the derogation.





Events after the review period

On 7 April 2021, Fingrid Oyjs Annual General Meeting approved the financial statements for 2020 and decided on the dividend payment. The first instalment of the dividend, totalling EUR 89,980,000.00, was paid on 12 April 2021. Juhani Jarvi continues as Chair of the Board of Directors, and Paivi Nerg continues as Vice Chair of the Board. The other Board members are Hannu Linna, Sanna Syri and Esko Torsti.

The company has not changed its earnings guidance from what was stated in the Financial Statements Bulletin on 5 March 2021.



Further information:

Jukka Ruusunen, Fingrid Oyj, President & CEO

+358 30 395 5140 or +358 40 593 8428

Jan Montell, Fingrid Oyj, Chief Financial Officer

+358 30 395 5213 or +358 40 592 4419

Fingrid is Finlands transmission system operator. We secure reliable electricity for our customers and society and we shape the clean and market-oriented electricity system of the future.

Fingrid delivers. Responsibly.

www.fingrid.fi

Attachment
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne on April 23. French Ambassador to Armenia Jonathan Lacote was also present at the meeting.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan noted that this is the 3rd visit of the French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to Armenia in the last five months and Armenia highly appreciates President Macron's resolve and persistent steps to stand with the Armenian people at the difficult period. PM Pashinyan emphasized that visit of the French delegation to Armenia on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is the evidence of the firm friendly relations between Armenia and France, which is based on historical, cultural and political ties and values. ''France had and now has a key role in the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. January this year marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the law on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by France. A very important milestone was the commemoration of April 24 as the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the French state calendar at an official level, initiated by President Emanuel Macron. The Armenian people are grateful to friendly France for solidarity'', the PM said.

Thanking for the warm words, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said that it's an honor for him to stand with Armenia and the Armenian people tomorrow, on April 24 as the special representative of the French President and participate in the commemoration events. The Secretary of State informed that commemoration events will be held in France as well.

The Armenian PM and the French Secretary of State exchanged views on the situation resulted by the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the efforts aimed at the NK conflict settlement and unblocking regional communications.

PM Pashinyan mentioned preservation of the regional stability, the return of the Armenian POWs kept in Azerbaijan and the resumption of the negotiation process in the sidelines of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs' format as priorities. According to Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan continues its overt aggressive anti-Armenian rhetoric and makes claims towards Armenia's internationally recognized territories. The PM said that the opening of the so-called ''trophy park'' in Baku is condemnable and emphasized that this policy of hatred of Armenians is the greatest ground for applying ''remedial cessation'' principle for Artsakh.

At the request of the French Secretary of State Pm Pashinyan also referred to the upcoming early parliamentary elections in Armenia and the constitutional procedures. Pashinyan emphasized that preserving the democratic quality of the elections is the priority issue, adding that during the post-war crisis period Armenia was able to preserve the democratic nature of the developments.

The interlocutors also discussed bilateral economic issues and the implementation process of the previous agreements.

PM Pashinyan asked Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne to convey to President Macron the invitation to pay a visit to Armenia at a time convenient for him.
QUEENSTOWN, July 14, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 13, 2020 shows New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook, at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in the South Island of New Zealand. The Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park consists of 19 peak Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, April 24 : A glacier burst near India-China border in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday night, authorities said adding that there has been no loss of life or damage reported yet.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said water level in the Rishi Ganga river has risen by two feet.

The Central government is monitoring the situation and has alerted all the stakeholders for rescue operations.

Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar said, "We are trying to gather information whether any loss of life has occurred in the glacier burst. Due to bad weather in the region, we are unable to know the exact situation. Teams have been sent to take stock of the situation. The ITBP personnel deployed in the area are safe." The glacier burst took place because of heavy snowfall in the region. Border Road Organisation (BRO) are trying to establish contact with workers who were involved in road-construction activities in the area.

The burst took place in Sumna village. The Central Army Command is carrying out rescue operations. Colonel Manish Kapil, Commander, Border Road Task Force (BRTF) told media persons, a glacier has burst in Uttarakhand's Joshimath on India-China border.

Soon after hearing about the glacier burst, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said, "I have received news about a glacier burst in the Sumna village in Niti Valley. I have issued an alert, and I am in regular touch with the BRTO and district administration." He further stated that the district administration has been asked to get details of the incident. "We have issued instructions to stop work at NTPC and other hydroelectric plants at night in order to avert any untoward incident."
The global wallpaper design contest invites its users and young people, especially design students, to co-create wallpapers for the latest Realme 8 5G phone. Winners are set to receive a cash prize up to US$10, 000.

Chinese mobile brand Realme has kicked off its second Global Wallpaper Design Contest, inviting users, designers and design school students globally to co-create wallpapers for the latest Realme 8 5G phone under the theme Designing Infinity.

According to Realme, the winners will be able to see their work reach Realme users worldwide.

They will also receive a cash prize of up to US$10,000, and be invited to work alongside Realme designers worldwide or virtually as part of a three-month internship.

The global contest is open for online submissions until June 21, 2021, and Realme users around the world are invited to cast their votes on their favourite designs throughout this period.

The top 200 designs favoured by users will then be reviewed by a Realme executives: Naoto Fukasawa (pictured), Special Product Design Director; GRAFFLEX, a Korean graphic designer and Art Director of Realme Design Studio; Paco Xiao, Design Director; Chase Xu, Chief Marketing Officer; Derek Wang, Chief Products Officer; and Madhav Sheth, CEO of India & Europe.

All entries will be judged based on their creativity and storytelling around the core theme, and their aesthetics and reflection of realmes Dare to Leap spirit. A total of 53 final winners and their work will be announced on July 12, 2021. Further details on submission entries, voting rules and prizes can be found on the competition webpage.

According to Realme, the annual Global Wallpaper Design Competition provides a platform for users and young people around the world to unleash their imagination and co-create with Realme to bring trend-setting designs to the global community.

The mobile brand says the inaugural competition in 2020 attracted over 7,500 quality wallpaper designs from more than 5,500 participants in China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Spain. Over 138,000 Realme users around the world participated in the voting process.

Chase Xu, Realme CMO, commented: We aim to empower our young users and the community by giving them a voice in Realmes next new creation. The contest is the latest of our many initiatives to co-create with them, and bring to life their boldest ideas and creative spirit.

Realme encourages people to explore their visual environment and unleash their artistic potential, similar to how we empower the younger generation to embrace their unlimited abilities and dreams, he said.

Through this contest, we hope to celebrate the young and creative minds of the world, providing them with a global platform to flex their creative muscles and bring designs loved by our users to the community, he concluded.
Harry Styles has once again shown he cares little for gender conventions as he took centre stage in Gucci's latest campaign.

The former One Direction star, 27, who previously sparked backlash by posing for a Vogue cover in a dress, was a guest on the mock talk show The Beloved Show alongside pal James Corden with one of the brand's most iconic pieces.

Harry has previously defended his decision to embrace his feminine side in an array of flamboyant looks, insisting in a previous interview the lines of gender are becoming 'more and more blurred.'

Fashion icon: Harry Styles, 27, has once again shown he cares little for gender conventions as he posed with a handbag for Gucci's latest campaign

For the campaign Harry brandished the iconic Jackie 1961 handbag, which was originally designed as a unisex piece back in the 1950s but has been a staple for many female stars.

The hitmaker appeared on a mock talk show with the iconic accessory, and continued to display his eye-catching fashion sense in a huge brown fur coat.

Harry's ensemble was completed with blue flared jeans, and a multicoloured floral shirt for his interview with longtime friend James.

Star-studded: The former One Direction star was a guest on the mock talk show The Beloved Show alongside pal James Corden with one of the brand's most iconic pieces

Famous: For the campaign Harry brandished the iconic Jackie 1961 handbag, which was designed as a unisex piece back in the 1950s but has been a staple for many female stars

He joined a star-studded lineup posing Gucci's latest campaign to showcase their array of handbags, including Dakota Johnson, Awkwafina, Sienna Miller and Diane Keaton.

Harry had previously mocked the controversy around his historic Vogue shoot which saw him don a ballgown after being the first male solo cover star of the magazine's American version.

He even poked fun at comments made by conservative commentator Candace Owens, who claimed that 'no society can survive without strong men.'

Fashion forward: The hitmaker appeared on a mock talk show with the iconic accessory, and continued to display his eye-catching fashion sense in a huge brown fur coat

Looking good! Harry's ensemble was completed with blue flared jeans, and a multicoloured floral shirt for his interview with longtime friend James

Posing for Variety magazine's 2020 Hitmakers Issue late last year, Harry posted one of the shoot's images on Instagram along with the caption: 'bring back manly men.'

Speaking to Variety in an interview accompanying the striking new images, Harry said: 'To not wear [something] because it's females' clothing, you shut off a whole world of great clothes.

'And I think what's exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn't have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.'

Stylish: Harry has previously defended his decision to embrace his feminine side in an array of flamboyant looks, after facing backlash for donning a dress in a Vogue cover shoot

Harry also previously spoke to Vogue about his love of bending the rules when it comes to gender and fashion.

He said: 'Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with. What's really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away.

'When you take away, ''There's clothes for men and there's clothes for women,'' once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play.

'There's so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I've never really thought too much about what it meansit just becomes this extended part of creating something.'
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reportedly reversed a policy- enacted under former President Trump - meant to halt all research using aborted fetal tissue.

In 2019, the said policy halted new research using fetal tissue of aborted babies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) facilities. This was applied to both new and ongoing research which require new fetal tissue from elective abortions, reports Liberty Counsel.

In August 2020, the Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory board recommended in their report to withhold funding for research proposals that would use the body parts of aborted babies. The report was presented to the Secretary of HHS and to Congress.

Now that HHS is under Xavier Becerra and with the Trump-era policy reversed, research using fetal tissue will now proceed and with funding from the taxpayers' money.

"As expected, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, a fanatical advocate for abortion, announced the Biden administration will now force American taxpayers to pay for barbaric experiments using the body parts of aborted babies," commented Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.

"Instead of using ethical and effective alternatives, Biden is choosing to reinstate a policy that traffics in the grizzly remains of what would have been our next generation."

"The Biden administration is making it once again clear that it places no value on the inherent dignity of human life. Their actions deny the truth that every human life, born and unborn, possesses inherent dignity and deserves to be treated with respect," Perkins added.

In agreement, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver said that it is "unconscionable" to use taxpayers' dollars to fund "human genocide."

"People should never be forced to violate their conscience and sincerely-held religious beliefs to pad the pockets of those who profit from trafficking baby body parts," he added.

Connor Semelsberger, Director of Federal Affairs for Life and Human Dignity at Family Research Council, was saddened that President Biden seems to be promoting the condemnable practice of using remains from aborted babies for research.

"Proponents of aborted fetal tissue research willingly compromise ethics in the name of 'science.' However, the ends do not always justify the means," he said.

According to FRC's Fetal Dignity State Policy Map, twenty-three states are working to defund abortion providers using taxpayer dollars. As of August 2020, Texas is the only state that have attempted to defund abortions and abortion providers in Medicaid, Title X and state appropriations. Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, and Mississippi have good laws in place to also defund abortion. Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin have only partial defunding laws.

Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming merely enacted a state Hyde Amendment. FRC assessed that these have not taken any significant step to defund abortion providers.

The remaining 13 states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have reportedly taken steps to directly fund abortions and abortion providers using taxpayers' money.

The trafficking of baby body parts was first exposed by Sandra Merritt who did an undercover journalism work at Planned Parenthood. She was criminally charged and prosecuted for exposing Planned Parenthood's sickening trade.
The Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI) has described as fake a document linking communications minister Isa Pantami to the planned murder of former Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa.

The group also urged security agencies to investigate the alleged plot and the source of the document.

The said document, which first surfaced online in 2010, alleged that in a July 2010 meeting convened by the JNI and presided over by Mr Pantami, there were plots to, among other things, eliminate Mr Yakowa.

The secretary-general of the group, Khalid Aliyu, said in a statement Friday that the allegations were disheartening and disgusting and wondered how an assassination plot could be written and kept.

Mr Aliyu said Mr Pantami was not at any point JNIs leader both at national or state level.

What could have necessitated the combination of Bauchi, Plateau, Niger and Kaduna states from different geo political zones in the meeting? his statement noted.

If Yakowa was vehemently hated by the Muslims and were desperately trying to get rid of him. How did he win the 2011 elections in a Muslim dominated state of Kaduna where a Muslim-Muslim ticket recently sailed through? Who voted him in?

He added that the document was shared by the media to confuse and manipulate an average Nigerians mind in order to disrupt the countrys peace.

Nigerians have torn into Mr Pantami, an Islamic cleric, in the past few days after some video and audio recordings of his past incendiary sermons where he espoused extremists views became public.

The minister said he has amended some of the views he held in the past and has been working hard to dissuade young people from embracing extremism.

But his critics would have none of this. Calls for his resignation or sack from office have increased over the last few days. Some have meanwhile defended the minister, saying the attacks against him were politically motivated.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) have also rejected the controversial document, describing it as fake.

Mr Pantami has also denied the allegation that he attended the meeting in question. The presidency has also pulled its weight behind the minister, much to the chagrin of critics.

Read the full JNI statement below:

23rd April, 2021

11th Ramadan, 1442

PRESS RELEASE: ALLEDGED YAKOWAS ASSASSINATION PLOT: EXCESSIVE, CONVULSIVE SMEAR CAMPAIGN TAKEN TOO FAR!

The JNI under the leadership of His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar, CFR, mni, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the JNI, was taken aback by the desperation of some disgruntled elements who in their desperate attempt to smear the image of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy drag the name of the JNI as being part of an alleged plot to assassinate the late Governor Yakowa of Kaduna state.

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To start with, how could Sheikh Pantami chair a JNI meeting while he was not one of its leaders either at the National or state levels? What could have necessitated the combination of Bauchi, Plateau, Niger and Kaduna states from different geo political zones in the meeting? If Yakowa was vehemently hated by the Muslims and were desperately trying to get rid of him. How did he win the 2011 elections in a Muslim dominated state of Kaduna where a Muslim-Muslim ticket recently sailed through? Who voted him in?

The so-called pieces of minutes shared by the media to further confuse and manipulate an average Nigerians mind into believing this orchestrated lie has further confirmed the desperation of the perpetrators. It is very perplexing and heart-rending that minutes of an assassination plot could be written and kept. How disheartening and disgusting!

We thought the plot against Sheikh Pantami is politically motivated, but surprisingly it is assuming to be a more sinister dimension born out of a well thought-out scheme designed to smear and tarnish the image and the good name of the JNI and other Muslim organizations.

Considering the various concerns raised by many citizens, vis-a- vis the attendant consequence of the scandalous allegation, we wish to place on record and for posterity that such never occurred and the JNI does not operate in such a dubious manner. We are at loss as to why is this allegation coming up just now, many years after the demise of Mr Yakowa? This should be seriously investigated.

The JNI therefore condemned unreservedly this ill-conceived, unprofessionally prepared and cunning but futile attempt to drag its hard earned reputation in the mud. We call on the security agencies to immediately swing into action and fish out the perpetrators of this heinous act and subject them to the wrath of the law before their foot soldiers disturb the modicum of tranquility in the country. This should be treated with utmost urgency and the JNI is ready to fully cooperate with the security agencies in this regard.

If these agents of darkness had travelled down the history lane, they would have known that they would woefully fail in their every attempt to project Islam and Muslims in bad light. This is a proven fact. Powers more ferocious, more determined, more sophisticated and more devilish than them have tried several times and failed. What makes them think that they can succeed now? It is obvious that they have utterly crashed even before they took off!

We appreciate the many calls put through to the JNI on the matter hence we implore all Muslims to continue to maximize the blessings of this Ramadan to intensify prayers for Allah to bless Nigeria and peace loving Nigerians. We also call on all Nigerian citizens, Muslims and non-Muslims to be wary of the diabolical plan by some people to destabilize Nigeria. Finally, we pray to Allah to continue to elevate Islam and Muslims to greater heights, to bring peace to troubled areas, to assist Nigerian leaders at all levels and to continue to unite the Muslims under the umbrella of the Kalimatush-Shahadah. Aamin

Sheikh Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu

Secretary-General, JNI
Presently, Earths orbit holds only one habitable construction of this kind, the International Space Station . By the end of the decade, though, the Russians are planning to start assembling their own orbital laboratory, the Chinese are eyeing a similar endeavor in the not so distant future, and many private companies are already at work designing what can only be described as space hotels for the worlds rich and adventurous.As far as the plans of the Chinese go, things are not yet entirely clear. The Asian nation makes no secrets of its plans of building a space station, but it might get involved with the Russians as well for its project.As far as its own hardware is concerned, the country might launch the first module, Tianhe, as soon as next month, thus setting in motion a construction process that would end with the world having two stations in orbit at the same time.Tianhe is the main living quarters for the taikonauts, and it will be capable of hosting up to three people for as long as six months at a time. But believe it or not, the Tianhe is not the most exciting part of the Chinese space laboratory.That would be the so-called Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), a piece of hardware set to launch in 2024. Equipped with a massive camera, the telescope should be capable of looking at up to 40 percent of the sky in ten years, according to Space.com But the most interesting part about it is that, although designed to orbit separated from the Chinese space station, it will have the capability of docking with it for refueling and upgrades.If that will happen, the capability will eliminate the need for spacewalks and dedicated space missions while also making repair times shorter.
Along with the Mi 11 Ultra and the Mi 11X series, Xiaomi also launched the Mi QLED TV 75, its top-end QLED 4K TV with 75-inch edge-to-edge display with quantum dot technology, 100% NTSC color range with 1.07 billion color variations and 1,024 different color shades, 192 zones of full array dynamic local dimming and has support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It has 97% screen-to-body ratio, thanks to minimal bezels. The TV has a vivid picture engine for an ultra-bright display even in dimly-lit rooms.

It has 120Hz refresh rate, HDMI 2.1 port with eARC and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), 30W stereo speaker system that includes two tweeters and four woofers, supports Dolby Audio and DTS-HD. The TV runs Android TV 10, comes in Mi Home app and the Mi Voice remote with dedicated buttons for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

It has dedicated microphones for far-field voice control (up to 3 meters), and a physical switch at the bottom of the screen panel to mute the microphone. In addition to Google Assistant, the TV also supports Amazon Alexa which will arrive soon via update. It has an aluminium frame, carbon fiber film on the back and a premium stand.

Mi TV Q1 / Mi QLED TV (75) specifications

75-inch (3840  2160 pixels) 4K display with MEMC 120Hz refresh rate, 178-degree viewing angle, 100% NTSC Color Gamut, 95% DCI-P3 color gamut, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)

Quad core MediaTek MT9611 (A55) processor with Mali G52 MP2 GPU

2GB RAM, 32GB storage

Android 10

WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz) (22 MIMO), Bluetooth 5.0, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x USB, S/PDIF, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack, Ethernet

AV1, H.265, H.264, H.263, VP8/VP9/VC1, MPEG1/2/4, etc.

Far-field microphones in TV support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa

30W ( 2 x 15W) 6 speaker system (4 woofers, 2 tweeters), Dolby Audio, DTS-HD

The Mi QLED TV 75 is priced at Rs. 1,19,999 and will be available from Flipkart, Mi.com and Mi Home stores starting from April 27th.

Launch offer

Up to Rs. 7500 discount with HDFC cards and EMI
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

A coalition of environmental and consumer advocacy groups signed on Friday to an agreement to support the proposed merger between Public Service Company of New Mexico and Connecticut-based energy giant Avangrid.

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PNM and Avangrid filed an initial stipulation agreement last Tuesday with the state Public Regulation Commission that committed the Attorney Generals Office and six environmental and indigenous community groups to support the merger in public hearings at the PRC, scheduled for early May. In that initial agreement, the companies added a lot more public benefits to its merger proposal to win broader community support, after many organizations participating in the case criticized the original deal for minimizing rate relief and other assistance for PNM customers and local communities.

Many parties, however, didnt sign that initial stipulation, prompting the companies to continue negotiating with more groups to possibly amend the agreement with added benefits to attract more support.

As a result, the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy  which includes 11 different organizations  has now joined an amended stipulation that PNM and Avangrid filed with the PRC on Friday. The revised agreement adds significant new commitments, beginning with an extra $10 million for energy efficiency programs to help low-income households cut consumption and reduce their electric bills.

That would increase total spending on those programs to $15 million, up from $5 million promised in the initial stipulation. Under the new commitment, Avangrid now promises to invest $5 million in the first year after the merger deal closes, and then $2.5 million annually for another four years.

CCAE and some of its member organizations, such as the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, have advocated for years for more utility investment in those programs, said CCAE attorney Stephanie Dzur.

Thats really important to us, Dzur told the Journal. Low-income customers can save a lot from those programs, and $15 million can go a long way. It was critical for us that the companies show they understand local needs here and that they open up their hearts and wallet to help meet those needs.

Two other amendments will also help the Natural Resources Defense Council, another CCAE member, to now back the stipulation agreement, said Noah Long, NRDC western director for climate and energy.

That includes a promise to strive for 100% non-carbon generation by 2035, five years sooner than PNMs current goal of carbon-free electricity by 2040. In the initial stipulation, Avangrid promised to not only meet, but exceed PNMs zero-emissions goals without setting a new target date.

Avangrid and PNM now also promise to triple utility spending on transportation electrification programs, assuming the PRC approves such investments.

Those two new commitments are very meaningful in my view, Long told the Journal. Its enough to sway us to get on board.

The amendments come on top of many other benefits already written into the initial stipulation, such as $50 million in rate relief for PNM customers, amounting to roughly a $2.62 credit on consumers monthly bills for three years. It also includes:

 $6 million to forgive past-due residential consumer debt accumulated during the pandemic.

 $2 million to extend electric service to more people in remote areas.

 $7.5 million in economic development funding.

 $12.5 million to assist local indigenous communities impacted by the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

More negotiations

PNM and Avangrid say they will continue negotiating with more organizations that have yet to support the stipulation agreement, since about two dozen parties are directly intervening in the merger case at the PRC. That includes some groups that are CCAE members but are intervening independently in the hearings, such as the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter.

Were still analyzing the situation to decide what to do, Rio Grande Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman told the Journal. We havent taken a position yet.

For its part, Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy has already stated its opposition to the agreement. Among other things, it criticizes the $50 million in rate relief as far too little, advocating instead for a potential rate freeze.

But stipulation supporters say they expect more groups to join as negotiations continue.

Im hoping what Avangrid is offering will only get better as they talk with other groups to meet community needs, Dzur said. There are a lot of clashing interests and its not an easy task.

Many do support the merger in principle, given Avangrids reputation as a renewable energy leader that could help accelerate the states transition to a clean energy grid.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, for example, praised the efforts to reach an agreement.

Im glad the parties have come together to provide additional relief for New Mexico ratepayers while continuing to transition to a clean energy future for all New Mexicans, the governor said in a statement.
The peak of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in France "appears to be behind us", Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday, announcing that travel restrictions will be relaxed from early next month

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Apr, 2021 ) :The peak of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in France "appears to be behind us", Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday, announcing that travel restrictions will be relaxed from early next month.

He told reporters there had been a "genuine fall in the circulation of the virus over the last 10 days", confirming that restrictions confining people to a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius of their homes would be dropped from May 3.

France is currently under its third lockdown to stem the coronavirus but this time it has been considerably more relaxed than the previous ones, with outdoor activities encouraged to promote mental health.

Most non-essential shops have been closed, however, along with cafes, restaurants and also cultural venues, with players in many sectors piling pressure on the government for a reopening after months of closure.

Castex said "shops, certain cultural and sporting activities and the cafe terraces" could reopen "around mid-May", depending on the evolution of the health situation.

He emphasised that the government could also allow reopenings on a regional basis starting with those areas with lower virus prevalence.

A nationwide 7:00 pm curfew would remain in place until further notice, he said, adding that while the measure would be reviewed in mid-May there was no promise over when it would be relaxed.

There were 5,981 people with coronavirus in intensive care in France on Thursday, official data showed, with the figure to the relief of the authorities flattening out below 6,000 over the last days.

At total of 102,164 people have died in France from the pandemic but, after a slow start, the vaccine campaign is gaining pace with over 13 million people now given at least a first dose.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said that France would begin offering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only a single shot, from Saturday to people aged 55 and over.

It will be the fourth vaccine being offered by France after Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Europe's medicines regulator said Tuesday that blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine, but that the benefits of the shot still outweighed the risks.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin meanwhile said that in order to keep potentially dangerous Covid-19 variants out of the country, all passengers arriving from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India and South Africa would need to observe at their residence a 10-day quarantine which will be monitored by police.
Unsurprisingly, a models official presentation doesnt mean virtual artists around the world suddenly lose interest in that particular vehicle. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes people want to know if something could have been done better.Lets take the 2022 Honda Civic, for example, to keep the CGIs on the American continent. The Japanese presented just one picture with the sedan (full reveal coming on April 28th), and already the internet gave it family hauler high-performance credentials.Thus, its no wonder Hyundais Santa Cruz compact truck had people wondering what could have been if the South Koreans went for a midsize attack (not necessarily of the high-performance N variety) instead of contending for the upcoming brawl with the 2022 Ford Maverick One of them is pixel master Oscar Vargas (a.k.a. wb.artist20 on social media), who decided to address two of the most common complaints hes heard since the Santa Cruz introduction. Those would be the lack of an aggressive off-roading/rock crawling appearance and the fact it comes with a smallish 4.3-foot (1.31-meter) cargo box.According to user comments, the changes are definitely for the better; after all, they do include the traditional suspension lift kit, larger wheels shod in chunky all-terrain rubber, as well as the necessary front protection and additional lighting technology.By all accounts, we feel these updates will probably come sooner or later from the aftermarket sector, so owners will probably achieve the look in a real-world environment as well. The same might happen with the bolder color choices (after all, a wrap is just a professional shop away from just about anyone these days), but were not so sure about the cab extension, though.Still, we have seen odder six-door 6x6 things just waiting to happen, so whats a cab extension for a good fabricator, anyways?
A murder investigation has been launched after a 14-year-old boy was knifed to death outside a pizza shop in east London in broad daylight.

Emergency services were called to Barking Road in East Ham, Newham, shortly before 4pm on Friday to reports of a stabbing at a Zzetta restaurant.

Despite the efforts of paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London Air Ambulance, the victim was pronounced dead shortly after 4.30pm.

The Metropolitan Police said efforts were under way to inform the victim's next of kin

Anyone with information is urged to contact the force on 101 quoting reference CAD 5134/23Apr. Alternatively witnesses can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

Emergency services were called to Barking Road in East Ham, Newham, shortly before 4pm on Friday to reports of a stabbing

The Metropolitan Police said efforts were under way to inform the victim's next of kin.

The victim is the eleventh and youngest teenager to be knifed to death in the capital this year.

Police say patrols are being stepped up in the area.

A Met Police spokesman said: 'A murder investigation has been launched following a fatal stabbing in Newham.

'Police were called at 3.56pm to reports of an assault in Barking Road.

'Officers attended with medics from the London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance. They found a 14-year-old male who had been stabbed.

'Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, he was pronounced dead shortly after 4.30pm. Efforts are under way to inform the victim's next of kin.'

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was 'deeply saddened' by the killing, adding: 'I am in touch with the Deputy Met Commissioner and my thoughts are with the victim's family and friends.'

He urged witnesses to come forward, saying: 'This appalling incident happened on a busy street in broad daylight, so if you saw or know anything then please don't stay silent.'

Anyone with information is urged to contact the force on 101 quoting reference CAD 5134/23Apr.

Alternatively witnesses can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

It was revealed in February that knife crime offences have doubled in just six years to go above 50,000 for the first time since records began.

The victim is the eleventh and youngest teenager to be knifed to death in the capital this year

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said offences involving knives or sharp instruments rose by six per cent from 47,388 to 50,019 in England and Wales in the year before the first Covid-19 lockdown was imposed.

Of these offences, 22,012 (44 per cent) were for assault with injury or assault with intent to cause serious harm, and 21,961 (44 per cent) were used in a robbery.

Recent figures also show that knife crime soared by 25 per cent after the first lockdown was eased last summer and have sparked concerns of an 'eruption' of violence once current Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

According to figures released earlier this year, the Metropolitan Police investigated 126 homicides in London, compared with 150 in 2019 and 133 in 2018.

However, NHS hospitals in England reported an eight per cent fall in admissions for assault by a sharp object between April 2019 and March 2020.
Netflixs Shadow and Bone is an epic fantasy series based on Leigh Bardugos Grisha novels. It takes place in a magical war-torn world and features epic landscapes and interiors.

The shows rich backdrop effortlessly brings the authors fictional lands of Kerch and Ravka to life. Heres what we know about the real-life filming locations for Shadow and Bone.

Where was Shadow and Bone filmed?

L-R JESSIE MEI LI as ALINA STARKOV and KEVIN ELDON as THE APPARAT in SHADOW AND BONE | ATTILA SZVACSEK/NETFLIX

Most of Netflixs Shadow and Bone was filmed in and around Budapest, the gorgeous capital city of Hungary. Budapests sprawling movie production complex, Origo Studios, served as the base for the series.

In Bardugos books, the fictional nations of Ketterdam and Ravka feel similar to the Netherlands and Russia. So showrunners likely chose to film in Budapest because of the European citys diverse aesthetic, including its Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture.

Can finally boast about this SHADOW AND BONE @netflix cast! Filming here in Budapest is underway and we are bringing this amazing material from @LBardugo & @HIGHzurrer to life! #SHADOWANDBONE #SIXOFCROWS pic.twitter.com/irp5pSBejS  Josh Barry (@JoshBarryLA) October 2, 2019

RELATED: 10 Action Movies on Netflix to Give You the Adrenaline Jolt Youre Craving

The series was filmed in Budapest from October 2019 to February 2020. Due to the pandemic, some post-production scenes were shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Shadow and Bone star Ben Barnes describes Budapest as czar punk

In Shadow and Bone, Ben Barnes plays General Kirigan, the Darkling. The actor recalled shooting in Budapest and said he fell in love with the city and its unique vibe.

For me, by the end, I loved Budapest, Barnes told The Fandom. Budapest is really beautiful. We describe it as czar punk, like steampunk but with a Russian element to it.

The sun has risen on the Grishaverse. She's real. Shadow & Bone premieres April 23, only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/DacJu6WMyF  Shadow And Bone (@shadowandbone_) March 30, 2021

Budapest feels like this very exotic place, in some ways, in terms of the architecture and the palaces and the statues, and that kind of stuff, he added. So it felt like the right place to be making it.

Despite filming in freezing temps, the cast enjoyed their time in Budapest

Shadow and Bone was filmed in Budapests chilly winter months. And according to series star Archie Renauz, who plays Malyen Mal Oretsev, some days felt grueling to film.

I always found the cold days quite challenging, Renaux said in a recent interview with Wonderland Magazine. Sometimes there would have been a really long week and then youd just be outside in the elements.

But Renaux said that the cast stuck it out together. And while filming, they still managed to enjoy each others company, along with the citys restaurant and bars.

Are you brave enough to enter the Fold? See the  magical ways the creators and cast are bringing this story to life. pic.twitter.com/z3kWpEt49n  Shadow And Bone (@shadowandbone_) April 15, 2021

Ive been so lucky on all the films and TV that Ive done where Ive loved everyone that Ive worked with  especially on Shadow and Bone, Renaux recalled. We were spending so much time with each other. You sort of do become a little family when youre thrown into a foreign country, and you work together and then socially, you go out together after work  go out for meals, go out for drinks.

The actor added, We got these lovely apartments that we got to stay in, everyone would host a night every now and then. I loved it.

Shadow and Bone is currently streaming on Netflix.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Zbigniew Rau declared on Friday, after the plenary session of the Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral Meeting on security issues, that the regular meetings among the three countries give a unique perspective on NATO's role in these "turbulent times", when there are "traditional and new threats" affecting the transatlantic community.

Regular meetings among our countries give a unique perspective on NATO's role in these turbulent times, when we face traditional and new threats affecting our transatlantic community. Today and yesterday we discussed several aspects of our security, in particular what we can do together to strengthen NATO's response to current challenges and what we can do to strengthen our common cooperation in this regard. First of all, I am pleased that we have confirmed our firm position in several postures, in making NATO the strongest military alliance. It is very important, especially in the context of the NATO Summit in June. We also agreed that we will continue to support, maintain and strengthen the transatlantic tie that remains key to NATO and is crucial to our common defense and international security. In addition, we reaffirmed our strong commitment to stability and security in the region, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. I am glad that our three countries have the same strong position on maintaining NATO readiness on the eastern flank, said Zbigniew Rau.

He noted that the trilateral has not only a political dimension, "but also a military one" and announced that "a military contingent will soon be operational in Turkey".

In a few minutes we will resume our meetings with two very important NATO partners - Georgia and Ukraine, both of which stand by the challenges facing NATO today. Russia's extraordinary military activities on the border with Ukraine and Crimea are of concern to us. These are part of a wider pattern of destabilizing activities by Russia in the region. Let's hope they stop soon. We hope to take advantage of our meeting to voice our solidarity and support for Ukraine and Georgia. We also talked about potential actions aimed at strengthening NATO's activity and their resilience to help bring them even closer to NATO's aspirations, Poland's foreign minister further affirmed.

The Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting, at the level of the Foreign Ministers, started on Friday in Bucharest with a plenary session.
There has long been a close aerospace research partnership between NASA (and its forebear, the N.A.C.A.) and the U.S. military. This association is perhaps best exemplified by their co-located facilities in Californias Mojave Desert centered around what was once known as Muroc Dry Lake Bed (now known as Rogers Dry Lake) an ancient, long-evaporated lake, with an extremely flat and hard-packed floor; it was perfect terrain for a natural runway of extreme length. Muroc was where many of Americas first experimental jet and rocket planes took flight, including the Bell XS-1, the rocket-plane which first broke the speed of sound back in October, 1947. Back then, most people simply referred to the place as Muroc it was a deeply inhospitable location; arid, dusty, and bleached incessantly by the searing heat of the sun during much of the year (and icy cold without it). There were no amenities to speak of either, during those early days, so no one but the hardiest and most daring of pilots would want a posting to Muroc. Today, of course, the facility is encompassed within the massive Edwards Air Force Base, the worlds premiere aerospace testing facility. As intimated earlier, NASA has a strong presence at Edwards AFB. Its Armstrong Flight Research Center has a fleet of diverse airframes, many of them on bailment from the U.S. military, to conduct a variety of research aims, for both civilian and military-oriented cutting-edge projects.

The Armstrong Flight Research Center has had many names over the years, starting out as the N.A.C.A. Muroc Flight Test Unit in 1946. The facility only gained its current name in 2014, a year or so after the legendary NASA astronaut, Neil Armstrongs death, but for the previous two decades, the world knew NASAs Mojave Desert paradise as the Dryden Flight Research Center, named after an earlier NASA/N.A.C.A. great, Hugh Dryden. So many fascinating projects took place here over the years that we thought our readers might occasionally enjoy learning about some of them. We thought wed name this series Flight Test Files, to repflect NACA/NASA programs.

One such project involved North American Aviations A-5 Vigilante the U.S. Navys first carrier-borne supersonic nuclear bomber







A North American Aviation A-5A Vigilante jet aircraft was used for simulation studies regarding a proposed supersonic transport in 1963. These flights followed two flight plans based upon earlier NASA Flight Research Center studies, one for a variable-sweep wing configuration and the other for a delta-wing configuration. NASA Flight Research Center test pilot William H. Dana made approximately 21 flights along federal airways that entered Los Angeles.

North American Aviation A-5A Vigilante (Navy serial number 147858/NASA tail number 858) arrived from the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD, on December 19, 1962, at the NASA Flight Research Center (now, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA). The Center flew the A-5A in a year-long series of flights in support of the U.S. supersonic transport program. The Center flew the aircraft to determine the let-down and approach conditions of a supersonic transport flying into a dense air traffic network. With the completion of the research flights, the Center sent the A-5A back to the Navy on December 20, 1963.







Photos and historical information by Armstrong Flight Research Center
- By GF Value





The stock of CommVault Systems (NAS:CVLT, 30-year Financials) is believed to be significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $70.7 per share and the market cap of $3.3 billion, CommVault Systems stock gives every indication of being significantly overvalued. GF Value for CommVault Systems is shown in the chart below.





CommVault Systems Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Because CommVault Systems is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 0.5% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 2.90% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Investing in companies with poor financial strength has a higher risk of permanent loss of capital. Thus, it is important to carefully review the financial strength of a company before deciding whether to buy its stock. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great starting point for understanding the financial strength of a company. CommVault Systems has a cash-to-debt ratio of 14.99, which is better than 70% of the companies in Software industry. GuruFocus ranks the overall financial strength of CommVault Systems at 6 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of CommVault Systems is fair. This is the debt and cash of CommVault Systems over the past years:

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CommVault Systems Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Companies that have been consistently profitable over the long term offer less risk for investors who may want to purchase shares. Higher profit margins usually dictate a better investment compared to a company with lower profit margins. CommVault Systems has been profitable 7 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $696.9 million and loss of $0.62 a share. Its operating margin is 3.48%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Software industry. Overall, the profitability of CommVault Systems is ranked 6 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of CommVault Systems over the past years:

CommVault Systems Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

One of the most important factors in the valuation of a company is growth. Long-term stock performance is closely correlated with growth according to GuruFocus research. Companies that grow faster create more value for shareholders, especially if that growth is profitable. The average annual revenue growth of CommVault Systems is 0.5%, which ranks worse than 67% of the companies in Software industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth is 22%, which ranks better than 67% of the companies in Software industry.

Another way to look at the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital and the weighted cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. We want to have the return on invested capital higher than the weighted cost of capital. For the past 12 months, CommVault Systems's return on invested capital is 3.60, and its cost of capital is 6.17. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of CommVault Systems is shown below:

CommVault Systems Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Overall, the stock of CommVault Systems (NAS:CVLT, 30-year Financials) is estimated to be significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks better than 67% of the companies in Software industry. To learn more about CommVault Systems 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.


Seoul urged to take more proactive steps to cope with climate crisis



Saving the Earth from the crisis of climate change has become the most essential and pressing task facing humankind. Carbon emissions reduction, in particular, has been the key to sustainability for each country amid the rapid paradigm shift toward new growth and industrial models. Against this backdrop, we welcome the recent Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden.



The April 22 to 23 virtual summit has drawn together heads of state and representatives from 40 major countries from around the globe, who came with their own nationally determined contribution (NDC) goals toward much-needed carbon neutrality. During his speech Thursday, President Moon Jae-in said that Seoul will present to the United Nations its commitment to raising its previous target sometime this year.



Yet Seoul has drawn criticism for failing to provide specific target figures compared to other participating countries that have submitted ambitious plans to cope with climate change. For instance, the United States unveiled a plan to curtail its carbon emissions by 50 percent to 52 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The United Kingdom pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 78 percent from 1990 levels by 2035. The European Union also raised its reduction target from 40 percent to 55 percent during the same period.



Japan said that it will reduce its carbon emissions by 43 percent from 2013 levels by 2030. The Korean government last year summited a plan to decrease its carbon emissions by 24.4 percent from 2017 levels by 2030, according to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The target was the same as it offered five years ago. Given this context, Seoul was included in the list of 75 "inactive" countries and again failed to submit concrete plans toward carbon neutrality.



Moon also vowed to stop financing the construction of coal power plants overseas. Coal power has been regarded as an outmoded industry and the main cause of environmental degradation. Eleven countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, have terminated their financial support for the sector. The Moon administration deserves criticism for its "belated plan," regarding envisioning the termination of coal power projects. Worse still, Moon said Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)'s ongoing projects in Indonesia, the Java 9 and 10 plants, will proceed as planned.



Biden has put climate change at the center of his foreign affairs and security policies since he took office in January. He has been eager to recover the U.S.'s global leadership in coping with climate change while creating decent jobs through more investment in environment-friendly industries and technologies. The recent virtual summit also attracted Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who showed their strong determination to maintain leading roles in the global efforts toward resolving the climate crisis.



The Moon administration should take more proactive measures to catch up with the rapid shift toward global carbon neutrality. A lack of proper policies in South Korea will weaken the competitiveness of domestic companies. The government should properly grasp the fast-changing trend in the global climate regime and come up with concrete and comprehensive measures to prepare for the overall transformation, as these will have a far-flung impact upon both the national economy and society.


Texas largest oil and gas trade group said power outages and a communications breakdown between producers, pipeline operators and electric utilities were to blame for the catastrophic grid failure during the February winter storm.

The Texas Oil and Gas Association, however, stopped short of mandating that its members apply for special designations that would exempt them from rolling power outages during emergencies. The association said it supports broader efforts to improve coordination and communication between the natural gas and electric industries, as well as identifying critical gas facilities that should be prioritized for power.

Although equipment freeze-offs forced wells to be shut down, very clearly we see this would have only been a temporary problem if electricity had been available to power their equipment, TXOGA President Todd Staples said Thursday.

The oil and gas industry has come under scrutiny following the power grid failure that resulted in nearly 200 deaths and billions of dollars of property damage. Since the storm, TXOGA has launched a public relations campaign to deflect blame away from the industry.

In its latest efforts, the trade group commissioned Austin-based energy research firm Enverus to conduct an exhaustive review of the challenges facing Texas energy producers. The 41-page report, released Thursday, found the sharp drop in natural gas production during the storm was likely caused by power outages to producers and pipeline operators.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Regulators knew of freeze risk to Texas' natural gas system. It still crippled power generation.

Natural gas production fell by nearly half to a low of 11.8 billion cubic feet per day during the storm, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

An Enverus survey of producers and pipeline companies found that power outages represented most of the challenges they faced during the winter storm. Enverus and TXOGA did not say how many companies were surveyed or responded, but said they represented more than half of the states natural gas production.

Based on our assessment of available data and the timing of outages, it is likely the issues started at power generation units, Enverus report stated. Once power outages began, natural gas production was impacted because surface facilities and infrastructure rely heavily on electricity for operations, which then exacerbated the ability for power generators to receive natural gas supplies.

Enverus also noted that natural gas production started to drop on Friday, Feb. 12, a day before the first natural gas power plant failed and two days before ERCOT ordered rolling power outages early Monday morning. Natural gas production fell by 200 million cubic feet on Friday, 700 million cubic feet on Saturday and more than 2 billion cubic feet on Sunday, before plunging significantly during the worst of the winter storm. Texas produced 21.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily in the week before the February storm, according to the Energy Department.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas natural gas production fell by almost half during storm

Bernadette Johnson, Enverus senior vice president of power and renewables, said the production decline on Friday and Saturday were within the typical amount of fluctuation seen during the winter season. Some natural gas customers also declined to take the product, given prices had skyrocketed to $385 per million British thermal units, up from 5 cents per million British thermal units before the storm, she added.

When we look at seasonally or during an event, its fairly typical that you get a fair amount of fluctuation day to day with production, Johnson said. There's a significant amount of production in Texas, so that for us is not a red flag.

Power generators have pushed back against natural gas producers, saying they share the burden of responsibility for the power grid collapse. Power plants said inadequate natural gas supplies caused some of their plants to shut down during the storm.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which managed the states power grid, earlier said natural gas shortages accounted for a quarter of the outages at natural gas power plants.

Natural gas provided the majority of the power generation during the winter storm, Enervus said, but it also represented the largest share of outages. TXOGA said Texas natural gas supply from the oil field and storage never fell below demand during the storm.

Some industry analysts have called for natural gas producers and pipeline operators to weatherize their equipment and ensure backup power generators to prevent natural gas power plants from tripping offline during the next freeze. Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan this week reported that it earned $1 billion after it was able to keep its natural gas pipelines flowing during the winter storm, in large part because it had invested in winterization.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Kinder Morgan posts first quarter profit

Just as a lot of power plants need a steady supply of natural gas, gas facilities need to ensure theyre properly registered as critical to grid operation, and that theyre weatherized, J.P. Urban, the acting chief executive of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, said in an email.

TXOGA said there are more efficient and effective ways to ensure reliability in the states natural gas supply.

Typically, we dont have harsh winters, Staples said. Consumers are looking for the best deal and they want the lowest prices, and thats what our system is designed to provide to them. Any additional factors that have a cost that doesnt result in increased reliability is really a disservice to consumers.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Perfect storm: Energy supply chain slashed by extreme weather

Ed Hirs, an economics fellow at the University of Houston, said the winter storm underscored the need for the natural gas and electricity industries to coordinate better. Political and industry leaders need to stop blaming each other, he said, and work together to solve the problems.

No one wants to stand up and shoulder the blame because weve got almost 200 people dead and tens of billions of dollars of damage, Hirs said. Thats whats so distressing about it. They appear to be trying to repair potholes on a bridge thats falling down.

paul.takahashi@chron.com

twitter.com/paultakahashi
The evolving meaning of words

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Words change meaning over time, usually measured in decades or generations. It is important that we notice the shifting nuances of vocabulary to avoid serious misunderstanding and miscommunication.

For example, equality and equity are not synonyms and it is imperative that we understand the fundamental difference. Equality seeks to level the playing field for opportunities to get ahead in our society by being evaluated equally for admission to the most prestigious schools and job opportunities, applying such time-tested tools as bringing ethnic and societal background into the equation. The 1960s attempts to promote such equality often involved racial or ethnic quotas and set asides, which were labeled by many as reverse discrimination.

Another word that has experienced radical redefinition over the past half century is the word diversity.

In September 1965 (can it really be 55 years ago?), when I arrived on the Princeton campus as a newly-minted member of the Class of 1969, we were heralded as the first class in the history of the university to have more public school graduates (of which I was one) than prep school alumni. Approximately 51% of the class were from public high schools. Princeton is truly a national and international university. As a consequence, there were approximately as many Texans (of which I was one) and Californians in the class as there were students from New Jersey, New York, and Illinois.

And back then, prep school very often meant boarding schools that were quite distinguished in their own right. When I say preppy in the class of 1969, think of someone who remarkably resembled Fox News Tucker Carlson who is a virtual stereotype of the 1960s Ivy League, WASP, boarding school preppy  at least in manner and appearance.

Princetons Class of 1969 was celebrated as the most diverse class in school history, with more ethnic diversity as well as diverse education background. Looking back on it, most of the ethnic diversity came from the public school half of the class. It was still an all-male class, but that would change four years later when we became the last all-male class to graduate from Old Nassau. (Once the majority of the classes came from coed high schools, Princeton going coed was only a matter of time). I know that single sex education and all male teachers were the things I disliked the most about my Princeton experience.

However, diversity as a concept has changed radically in the intervening half-century.

Now diversity has taken on an entirely new, dangerous and divisive definition.

In the late 1960s, when I was an undergraduate, college campuses across the nation were roiled by violence perhaps even worse and more disruptive than todays demonstrations.

In the 1960s, however, the protests were against the war, and for more freedom from administrative supervision (at Princeton the term of art was in loco parentis, which was official school policy when I arrived in 1965 and was relegated to a distant memory by 1968).

Todays diversity means diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.



In the Fall of 2019, a new book was published that has caused quite a controversy, in all the right places in academia. The book by Anthony Kronman, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale and a former dean of Yale Law School, is written from the perspective of 40 years experience at the most elite levels of American higher education. The books title more than hints at its premise: The Assault on American Excellence.



As Kronman puts it, Diversity is not an academic value. Its origins and aspirations are political. And todays campus grievances are political. At Yale they protested the continued use of the word Master for that role as it was reminiscent of slave masters.

The level of diversity in education meant that real education took place when your part, people from differing backgrounds of ideas, come together and then you debated ideas, iron sharpening iron, testing and challenging each other in pursuit of truth.

The new diversity, and inclusion leads to a grievous diminution of academic excellence.

Dr. Kronman once again lays out in summary the catastrophic impact of this kind of thinking.

What is new and discouraging about todays academic culture is the unprecedented weight that these grievances are given by teachers, students, and administrators alike. Even to raise them puts one on high moral ground that requires all other considerations to be put aside until the grievance has been assuaged by an appropriate act of apology or reform. Raising it amounts to a demand, it brings conversation to a halt. It converts the classroom from an open space for the free exchange of ideas into a political battleground.

Kronman, a liberal himself, concludes: The damage to the academy is obvious. But even greater is the damage to a democratic way of life, which needs all the independent-mindedness its citizens and leaders can summon.

In all, it is a recipe for disaster and a catastrophic retreat from academic excellence.

In conclusion, dont expect the professoriate to pick up the slack.

John Ellis in his new book, The Breakdown of Higher Education. How It Happened, the Damage It Does, and What Can Be Done, points out that in 1969 there were approximately 3 liberal for every 2 conservative professors (the proportion of liberals to conservatives was higher than that during my tenure at Princeton). According to Ellis, by 1999 the ratio was 5 to 1. Now it is estimated to be 48 to 1. So much for iron sharpening iron.
Jaipur, April 23 : Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to adopt a uniform policy for vaccinating people above 18, 45 and 60 years of age.

In his letter, he also asked him that the central government should bear the expenses of vaccinating people above 18 years of age.

The demand that the central government should bear the expenses of vaccinating people above 18 years was also endorsed in the cabinet meeting held on Thursday night.

Gehlot in his letter said that the same medical staff shall vaccinate people of 18, 45 and 60 years of age. So it will be unfair that youths be charged for vaccines while other category citizens are given free of cost, he added.

He also raised questions on different costs of vaccines fixed in the country. "It is not worthy to fix different prices for one vaccine at central and state level," he said, adding that the state government's development work shall take a halt during pandemic for they will have to shell out extra funds for vaccination. This shall leave common people in troubles, he added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Apr 22 (UNI) The Centre on Thursday issued an order directing all the State governments and the Union Territories (UT) administrations to ensure the uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen across the country for management of COVID-19 patients.

The order, issued by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla in the capacity of the Chairperson of the National Executive Committee (NEC) under the Disaster Management Act, has given direction to ensure that 'no restriction shall be imposed on the movement of Medical Oxygen between the states and asked them that transport authorities 'shall be instructed to accordingly to allow free inter-state movement of such vehicles'.

'No authority shall attach the oxygen carrying vehicles passing through the districts or areas for making supplies specific to any particular district or area,' the order reads further.

The Chairman of NEC also directed the authorities to ensure that 'no restriction shall be imposed on oxygen manufacturers and suppliers 'to limit the oxygen supply only to the hospitals of the states and UTs in which they are located'.

It has also asked the states and UTs to ensure that there shall be free movement of oxygen carrying vehicles passing into the cities without any restriction of timing, while also enabling inter-city supply without any restriction.

For uninterrupted and smooth supply of medical oxygen, the order said, 'The District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police/ Deputy Commissioner of Police will be personally liable for the implementation of the directions issued.'

It also reiterated its earlier order saying supply of oxygen for industrial purposes, except those exempted by the government, 'is prohibited with effect from April 22, 2021 and till further orders.'

UNI AKS SV 1655
Coffee drinkers, pet owners and home bakers helped to drive the biggest rise in quarterly sales at Nestle for 10 years, as the world's biggest food group outshone Danone and set a high bar for Unilever. The Swiss group has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic well so far, as consumers have bought more packaged foods and tried to brighten up lockdowns with Starbucks at-home coffee or making treats with Carnation evaporated milk.

Nestle's ecommerce business also fared well in the first quarter, with sales up 40%, and its health science business benefitted as people bought more vitamins and supplements. Demand for fortified milks boosted dairy too. "What a blow out - the strongest quarterly number since 2011," Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Jon Cox said, pointing to a recovery in emerging markets, while Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne described the figures as an "amazing beat".

Shares in Nestle, up just over 2% so far this year, were 3.2% higher at 0857 GMT, outperforming the European food sector. The maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nespresso coffee confirmed its full-year and medium-term sales guidance.

The company expects organic sales growth, which strips out currency swings and acquisitions/divestments, to increase this year versus the 3.6% achieved in 2020. Organic sales leapt 7.7% in the first quarter versus 4.3% in the same period last year, easily beating a forecast for 3.3% growth in a company-compiled consensus and a 3.3% drop in sales posted by peer Danone this week.

Unilever is due to post its first-quarter update on April 29. The Americas, and also Asia where the pandemic struck first last year, showed particularly strong growth, while Europe saw a 4.4% rise. Coffee was the largest contributor to growth, with Nespresso portioned coffee up more than 17%, dairy rising almost 16% and petcare around 9%, Nestle said.

The group's out-of-home business, which sells food and drinks to restaurants, hotels and cafeterias, struggled, although not as badly as earlier in the pandemic. Sales were down 11.6% in the quarter, after falling over 30% last year. The infant nutrition business returned to growth in China, but was under pressure elsewhere as birth rates fell.

Nestle said it had made further progress in reshaping its portfolio, as it expands in health and wellness foods and pulls out of underperforming businesses. It recently sold its North American water brands to One Rock Capital Partners for $4.3 billion and also offloaded its Yinlu peanut milk business in China.

Schneider has said the focus will be more on acquisitions this year. The group recently bought premium water brand Essentia in the United States.

Also read: Nestle net profit rises 14.62% to Rs 602.25 crore in Mar quarter
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gov. Andrew Cuomos office wont reveal what it told the U.S. Justice Department about COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes.

Federal investigators asked the state last year to turn over basic statistics related to deaths and infections inside nursing homes.

Cuomos office said it began sending records to federal authorities in the fall. But in response to an open records request from The Associated Press, the governors office said it would not share those same documents with the public now. It said doing so would be an invasion of personal privacy."

It also said disclosing the records would interfere with law enforcement investigations."

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
GET THE niggers, was their slogan, / Kill them, burn, them, set the pace. / Let them know that we are white men. /Teach them how to keep their place. AJ Smitherman, The Tulsa Race Riot and Massacre (1922).

I had just left Harvard University as an assistant professor and was doing Time to Talk, a series of interviews for T&T Television.
"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
Tom Stoppards play Leopoldstadt will resume performances in Londons West End in August.

The production will reopen at Wyndhams Theatre on 7 August and run to 30 October 2021 with tickets on sale now.

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Tickets will go on sale from 30 April after current ticket holders are given an opportunity to rebook.

A synopsis of the play shares: At the beginning of the 20th Century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna. But Hermann Merz, a manufacturer and baptised Jew married to Catholic Gretl, has moved up in the world. Gathered in the Merz apartment in a fashionable part of the city, Hermanns extended family are at the heart of Tom Stoppards epic yet intimate drama.

By the time we have taken leave of them, Austria has passed through the convulsions of war, revolution, impoverishment, annexation by Nazi Germany and  for Austrian Jews  the Holocaust in which 65,000 of them were murdered. It is for the survivors to pass on a story which hasnt ended yet.

Producer Sonia Friedman said: I am deeply relieved that after a year of immense loss and struggle for so many, including the unthinkable shutdown of our theatre industry, to announce the new dates for the return of Toms astonishing play to the West End.

Book Leopoldstadt tickets here 

Leopoldstadt is a passionate drama of enduring love and familial bonds that asks us to bear witness to our pasts, no matter how painful that may be. The audience response throughout our seven weeks of sold-out performances before the pandemic struck in March 2020 was incredibly moving and humbling to witness.

Over a year later and now having won the 2020 Olivier Award for Best New Play, Leopoldstadt could not be more pertinent. I so look forward to returning to the Wyndhams Theatre, to welcome back our very special audiences as we continue to share this epic, truly great new play.

Directed by Patrick Marber, the play features costume designs by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, casting by Amy Ball CDG, childrens casting by Verity Naughton, lighting design by Neil Austin, set design by Richard Hudson, sound and original music by Adam Cork, and movement by EJ Boyle.
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WASHINGTON  The leaders of Russia and China put aside disputes with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday long enough to pledge international cooperation on cutting climate-wrecking coal and petroleum emissions in a livestreamed summit showcasing Americas return to the fight against global warming.

Neither Vladimir Putin nor Xi Jinping immediately followed the United States and some of its developed allies in making specific new pledges to reduce damaging fossil fuel pollution on the first day of the two-day U.S.-hosted summit. But climate advocates hoped the high-profile  if glitch-ridden  virtual gathering would kick-start new action by major polluters, paving the way for a November U.N. meeting in Glasgow critical to drastically slowing climate change over the next decade.

The entire world faces a moment of peril, but also a moment of opportunity, Biden declared from the TV-style chrome-blue set for the virtual summit of 40 world leaders. Participants appeared one after the other on screen for what appeared to be a mix of live and recorded addresses.

The signs are unmistakable, Biden said. The science is undeniable. The cost of inaction keeps mounting.

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was the only U.S. governor to take part in the Earth Day climate summit, though several mayors also participated.

The Democratic governor, speaking remotely from New Mexico, touted the states efforts to curb methane gas emissions, while still collaborating with oil industry officials.

While Lujan Grisham has drawn praise from environmental groups for her administrations actions, she has also been criticized by some youthful climate change activists for voicing concern about the state-level impact of a recent federal pause on oil and gas drilling leases on public lands.

Bidens new U.S. commitment, timed to the summit, would cut Americas fossil fuel emissions as much as 52% by 2030. It comes after four years of international withdrawal from the issue under President Donald Trump, who mocked the science of climate change and pulled the U.S. out of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord.

Bidens administration this week is sketching out a vision of a prosperous, clean-energy U.S. where factories produce cutting-edge batteries and electric cars for export, line workers re-lay an efficient national electrical grid, and crews cap abandoned oil and gas rigs, and coal mines.

But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the administrations plans. This is quite the one-two punch, McConnell said in a Senate speech Thursday. Toothless requests of our foreign adversaries  and maximum pain for American citizens.

At the summit, Japan announced its new 46% emissions reduction target and South Korea said it would stop public financing of new coal-fired power plants, potentially an important step in persuading China and other coal-reliant nations also to curb the building and funding of new ones.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one of the leaders shown watching summit proceedings in the multibox conference screen, said his nation would up its fossil fuel pollution cuts from 30% to at least 40%.

Travel precautions compelled the summit to play out on a livestream, limiting opportunities for spontaneous interaction and negotiation. Its opening hours were sometimes marked by electronic echoes, random beeps and off-screen voices.

But the summit also marshaled an impressive display of the worlds most powerful leaders speaking on the single issue of climate change.

Chinas Xi, whose country is the worlds biggest emissions culprit, followed by the U.S., spoke first among the other global figures. He made no reference to disputes over territorial claims, trade and other matters that made it uncertain until Wednesday that he would even take part in the U.S. summit. And he said China would work with America in cutting emissions.

To protect the environment is to protect productivity, and to boost the environment is to boost productivity. Its as simple as that, Xi said.

Putin and his government have been irate over Bidens characterization of him as a killer for Russias aggressive moves against opponents, and he is under pressure this week over the declining health of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny. But he made no mention of those disputes in his climate remarks.

Russia is genuinely interested in galvanizing international cooperation so as to look further for effective solutions to climate change, as well as to all other vital challenges, Putin said. Russia by some measures is the worlds fourth-biggest emitter of fossil fuel fumes.

Climate efforts in recent years have proved a forum where even rival world leaders want to be seen as putting aside disputes to serve as international statesmen and women, even though the cumulative output of fossil fuel emissions is still hurtling the Earth toward disastrous temperature rises.

The Journals Capitol Bureau Chief Dan Boyd contributed to this report.
As coronavirus cases continue to increase at a breakneck pace, banks have decided to shorten working hours and cut staff attendance to 50 per cent. The decision was taken by the Indian Banks' Association in a meeting and subsequently conveyed to banks. The association observed that the infection rate among banks is 'alarming'.

As per the new guidelines, bank branches could operate from 10am to 2pm, the bank body said in a communication. "Working hours (business hours) of the banks could be restricted to 10am-2pm. Doorstep banking activities should be encouraged," the IBA said in a letter to the banks.

Accepting deposits, cash withdrawals, remittances and government businesses are the four mandatory functions that will be provided by the banks.

The managing committee of the IBA also stated that since there is no nationwide lockdown and states are imposing their own guidelines, the State Level Bankers' Committees (SLBC) could modify the SOPs as per the situation in the state, as mentioned in a report by Business Standard.

The guidelines stated that bank employees could be called on rotational basis or allowed to work from home, depending on the nature of their work. "...ideally 50 per cent of the employees may be called for 'in person' duty and on rotation basis," it said.

The association has asked bank employees to take vaccination for themselves as well as their family members. The IBA has also asked banks to explore arrangements with hospitals to provide all emergency medical facilities required for the staff as well as intensive medical attention. The letter stated that all SOPs regarding social distancing, management of customers, health and sanitation etc that were highlighted in their previous guidelines should be followed.

"Infection rates among the bank employees is quite alarming," it said, further adding that banking activities were in a reviving mode but the resurgence of the mutant coronavirus has impacted banking and bank employees.

The guidelines come after bank employees' unions wrote to IBA requesting fresh SOPs amid the second wave of COVID-19 in the country.

Also read: Bank holiday today: Banking services closed in these cities, regions; check out full list

Also read: Piramal Capital mobilises Rs 2,500 crore to integrate Dewan Housing acquisition
COVID-19 restrictions 'harmed' religious minorities, violated freedom to practice faith: USCIRF report

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warned Wednesday that some countries have used COVID-19 restrictions to discriminate against religious minorities or blame them for the spread of the virus.

USCIRF, a bipartisan commission tasked with informing Congress and the federal government about global religious freedom concerns, released its 2021 annual report detailing the international religious freedom conditions in a year plagued by a pandemic.

The cover of this years report, which details where religious freedom is improving or in peril, features a globe shrouded in a face mask, showing the worldwide implications the pandemic had.

USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin said at a press conference that though public health measures in most countries to slow the spread of COVID-19 complied with international human rights standards, some countries used these measures to discriminate against religious minorities.

Unfortunately, it had a negative impact in many ways , she said. What we found to be unacceptable were where minorities were targeted in much stricter fashion, and their activities were restricted much more harshly than other religions across the country, and thats where the problem arose.

Also, there were countries that literally blamed the COVID-19 virus on a particular religion, [claiming] that they were responsible for the spread of that virus across their country, she continued.

Some countries used the pandemic as an excuse to punish and penalize minority religious groups.

While many of these restrictions were justifiable under public health exceptions defined in international law, some restrictions harmed religious minorities or otherwise violated freedom of religion or belief, the report reads.

Where certain religions were targeted or blamed for causing the spread of the virus, there was a greater risk of being arrested and placed in prison or deplorable conditions.

As the restrictions are lifted, we will be watching very closely to make sure that those restrictions are being lifted fairly across the country to all religions, Manchin said.

One example is Malaysia, where non-Muslim houses of worship, including Hindu temples and Christian churches, were not prioritized for reopening and faced different reopening times than mosques. Additionally, the country banned refugees and migrants from entering mosques.

In Turkey, an individual attempted to set fire to an Armenian church for bringing the coronavirus.

USCIRF noted that in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, government authorities indicated Shia religious communities were responsible for the spread of coronavirus and subjected some neighborhoods and localities to stricter lockdown measures.

In Pakistan, Sunni extremist groups blamed Shia Muslims for bringing coronavirus to Pakistan, calling it the Shia virus. According to the report, these extremists were egged on by government and media claims that the virus came from pilgrims returning from Iran.

USCIRF also reported that Muslims in India and Cambodia faced increased stigmatization because some of the earliest patients to test positive for COVID-19 in those countries came from these communities. In India, Muslims were accused of spreading COVID-19, leading to a reported increase in attacks on members of the community.

In Sri Lanka, authorities insisted on the cremation of those who died from COVID-19, including Muslims for whom the practice is religiously prohibited, the report notes. However, the World Health Organization cites a lack of evidence that cremation of COVID-19 victims is necessary for public health reasons. USCIRF expressed concern about this requirement, and welcomed its lifting in early 2021.

The commission reported that the pandemic also fostered a wave of misinformation targeting religious minorities.

The annual report assesses the religious liberty standards in 26 countries to provide policy recommendations to the U.S. government.

USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department recognize over half of the countries analyzed as countries of particular concern. The CPC designation is for the worst of the worst countries whose governments engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. The designation carries with it the possibility of sanctions.

USCIRF named 14 countries to be designated CPCs. These include 10 countries already recognized by the State Department as CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The remaining four of the commissions CPC list include India, Russia, Syria and Vietnam, which are designated as CPCs by the U.S. State Department.

The Indian government and its allies have reportedly pressured USCIRF to reverse its recommendation to label India as a CPC.

The commission also noted how China continues to be an egregious violator of human rights, specifically toward Christians and Uyghur Muslims.

Tony Perkins, USCIRF vice chair and president of the conservative Christian organization Family Research Council, said China was one of the most troubling developments in this years report.

China is engaged in mass internment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Province, which was declared a genocide and crime against humanity by the U.S. government under the Trump administration in January.

The U.S. was the first country to adopt such terms to describe the CCPs human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims.

USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore noted that the USCIRF first highlighted Uyghur persecution in its first report 25 years ago. But he said the world largely ignored the situation. Over two decades later, the plight of Uyghur Muslims in China has only exacerbated.

This is not the time to give the Chinese Communist Party one inch. , Moore, an evangelical author and public relations executive, said. This issue is an issue that sits alone in its severity and its impact, and we speak with one concerted voice on it.

North Korea, another CPC, is an oppressive abuser of human rights and forbids all competing ideologies outside of the deification of its leaders, USCIRF Commissioner Frederick Davie shared.

North Korea treats religion as an existential threat, considering religious believers as hostile enemies of the state, resulting in intense persecution, Davie added.

Nigeria, a CPC, is plagued with Islamic extremist violence in the northeast, communal violence in the Middle Belt and mass kidnappings. James Carr, a USCIRF commissioner, called Nigeria Africas "diamond in the rough."

Nigeria is a country of 200 million-plus citizens, a standing military of 300,000, and reserves of 100,000, and they tell us they cant stop the kidnappings, the rapes, the murders of schoolchildren as well as adults? Let me quote President Biden, Give me a break, man, Carr said.

Another development in this years report the committee raised is the rise of anti-Semitism globally.

USCIRF released a report earlier this month on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, which focused on findings in 11 European countries.

We saw, all over the world, the Jewish community, in particular, targeted every way you can imagine as the virus spread, including the appropriation of some of the most obvious, egregious, unconscionable anti-Semitic tropes that should be relegated to the ash heap of history, yet they were almost ever-present in parts of Europe and in other places around the world as COVID-19 spread, Moore explained.

Despite the pandemic and the overall worsening of religious freedom worldwide, the commission noted improvement of religious freedom conditions in some countries over the past year, which led to the removal of three countries from the USCIRF Special Watch List.

Bahrain, Central African Republic and Sudan are no longer recommended for the SWL designation since their conditions had improved and no longer met the requirements for that second-tier State Department classification.

Religious liberty in Sudan began improving after its dictator was ousted in 2019, a new constitutional declaration was issued and the transitional government took steps to improve freedom and human rights.

Bahrain, a small Muslim-majority country, has improved by becoming increasingly tolerant of minority religions in recent years.

Perkins said another positive that came from the past year was religious liberty prioritization in U.S. foreign policy.

In June 2020, the Trump administration administered an executive order on advancing international religious freedom, which established religious freedom worldwide as a political priority of the United States."

The USCIRF report includes recommendations for how the U.S. government should respond to religious freedom grievances for each country included in the report.

The report also included a new section detailing how USCIRF recommendations were implemented in 2020 and early 2021, following the release of last year's report.
Pay row: Pearsons chairman Sidney Taurel is stepping down

Pearsons chairman is leaving after clashing with shareholders over the lavish pay packet handed to its chief executive.

Sidney Taurels decision to quit comes after the education publisher suffered an embarrassing shareholder revolt over its decision to give boss Andy Bird  who was appointed last year  up to 5.9million in annual pay, a golden hello worth 7million and another 185,000 to go towards the rent of an apartment in New York.

The package provoked a backlash among shareholders, who said it was too generous and complained of being held to ransom by the company.

Taurel said he planned to quit no later than the companys 2022 annual general meeting.

The 72-year-old said it had long been his intention to step down and that it was the right time to conduct a search for a new chair.

Advisory services ISS and Glass Lewis both urged shareholders to oppose Birds package.
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At least 120 have been injured in clashes between Palestinians and ultranationalist Jews in Jerusalem on Thursday night.

The violence broke out outside one of the entrances to the walled Old City where far-right Jews had completed a march, during which participants harassed Palestinians and chanted 'death to Arabs'.

Palestinian counter-protesters also joined the fray in which stones were thrown at police and fires set across roads, leaving over 100 Palestinians and 20 Israeli police wounded.

Dozens were injured in clashes between Palestinians and ultranationalist Jews in Jerusalem on Thursday night

Hundreds of Jews chanting 'Death to Arabs' confronted Palestinians outside Damascus Gate in the holy city, sparking the clashes

At least 120 people were injured, including 21 who were taken to hospital for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent

Israeli mounted police charged on protesters in an attempt to disperse the crowds during clashes on Thursday night

The clashes come amid heightened tensions Jerusalem during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, despite having a period of relative calm in the city in the past few months

Palestinian counter-protesters built barricades and set fires along roads near Damascus gate in Jerusalem on Thursday night

Israeli police stepped in with stun grenades and water cannons to break up the violence.

Over 120 people were injured, including 21 who were taken to hospital for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Israeli police said 20 officers were wounded, three of whom were taken to hospital.

At least 50 people, both Palestinians and ultranationalist Jews, were arrested and will face a remand hearing in court on Friday morning.

Tensions were high in Jerusalem after a series of videos posted in recent days showed young Arabs attacking ultra-Orthodox Jews, with Jewish extremists taking to the street targeting Arabs in nightly confrontations.

On Thursday night, the Israeli extreme-right group Lehava organised a march ending opposite the Old City attended by hundreds to protest the anti-Jewish violence.

Videos on social media also showed Palestinians attacking ultra-Orthodox Jews in the early hours of Friday.

Thursday's protest, organised by far-right anti-Arab group Lehava, comes after a week of escalating violence between Palestinians and Israelis in the holy city

Hundreds of members of far-right group Lehava took part in anti-Arab protests, chanting 'Death to Arabs' on Thursday night

Palestinian counter-protesters also joined the fray in which stones were thrown at police and fires set across roads

Israeli border police stepped in to break up clashes between far-right group Lehava and Palestinian counter-protesters amid heightened tensions in the holy city

Nightly clashes and other violent incidents between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem during Ramadan have laid bare simmering tensions in the holy city.

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police amid a dispute over evening gatherings at Damascus Gate after iftar, the breaking of the daytime fast during the Muslim holy month.

A video on social media app TikTok purporting to show a Palestinian slapping an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man on Jerusalem's light rail train has drawn protests by Israelis and calls by some right-wing politicians for tougher police action.

The incidents, which followed the start of Ramadan on April 13, threaten to break a sustained period of relative quiet in a contested city at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At least 50 people, both Palestinians and ultranationalist Jews, were arrested after the clashes outside Damascus gate on Thursday

At least 21 people were hospitalised with injuries after the clashes, including this Palestinian who received treatment from medics outside Damascus gate before going to hospital

An injured Palestinian protester is taken to hospital after being hit during clashes with ultranationalist Jewish group Lehava on Thursday

Palestinian counter-protesters built barricades and set fires near Damascus gate during clashes late on Thursday

Israeli border police stepped into break up the violence (Pictured: police arrest an Israeli youth member of Lehava)

Palestinians say police have tried to prevent them from holding their usual Ramadan evening gatherings outside Damascus Gate, an historic landmark on the north side of Jerusalem's walled Old City.

Israeli police have fired stun grenades and sprayed foul-smelling skunk water to disperse the Palestinians, who in turn have discharged fireworks towards them.

'Palestinians love to relax in this area after evening prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the occupation (Israel) doesn't like it. It's a matter of sovereignty,' said Jerusalem resident Mohammad Abu Al-Homus, pointing to metal barricades thrown up by police in the area outside Damascus Gate in recent weeks.

Israeli police stepped in with stun grenades and water cannons to break up the violence in Jerusalem on Thursday

Streets around Jerusalem's Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the old city, were set ablaze during the clashes on Thursday night

Damascus Gate (pictured) is the main entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem and is often a focus point for violent clashes

Israeli border police fire a stun grenade in an effort to disperse Palestinian counter-protesters and the Jewish far-right group Lehava

Israeli police were deployed in force to break up violence between the warring factions in Jerusalem on Thursday

Palestinians say police have tried to prevent them from holding their usual Ramadan evening gatherings outside Damascus Gate, an historic landmark on the north side of Jerusalem's walled Old City

An Israeli police spokesperson said his officers will 'act firmly against violence and riots of all kinds' to preserve public safety

The measure, according to Israeli police, is part of its efforts to ensure that tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers have safe access to the main Islamic prayer site in the Old City, known as the Noble Sanctuary.

'Since Damascus Gate is the main way to reach and enter the Old City, police forces carry out field activities using various means to prevent friction, violence and confrontation, and to maintain order and security in the area,' said a police spokesman.

He also said they will 'act firmly against violence and riots of all kinds' to preserve public safety.

Israeli police have fired stun grenades and sprayed foul-smelling skunk water to disperse the Palestinians, who in turn have discharged fireworks towards them

Israeli border police blocked the path of members of the ultranationalist Jewish group Lehava as they approached Damascus gate on Thursday night

Israeli border police detained at least 50 people from both sides of the clashes, including this Palestinian man

Israeli police deployed water canons to disperse Jewish and Palestinian protests near Damascus gate last night

The skirmishes come amid heightened tensions during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan

There have been some street skirmishes between Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

Police arrested four people in one such fight on Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem on Wednesday night, Israeli media reported.

'Jews won't be scared to walk around Jerusalem!,' said a leaflet distributed on WhatsApp calling for Jewish protests at Damascus Gate on Thursday night.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem, including the eastern sector captured in the 1967 Middle East war, as its capital.

Palestinians seek to make East Jerusalem, including its Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, capital of a future state.

Several clashes have taken place in recent weeks. Police arrested four people in one such fight on Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem on Wednesday night, Israeli media reported

Palestinians seek to make East Jerusalem, including its Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, capital of a future state

Members of the Israeli security forces were deployed on horses during the protests outside Jerusalem's old city on Thursday night

Israeli border police said 20 officers were wounded during the clashes in Jerusalem, three of whom were taken to hospital on Thursday night

Palestinians flee from Israeli border police at Damascus gate in Jerusalem during clashes with far-right anti-Arab group Lehava on Thursday night

Palestinians joined the fray after ultranationalist group Lehava marched on the Old City to protest over violence against Jews and Israelis

Stun grenades were fired by Israeli border police during the clashes in Jerusalem on Thursday night in a attempt to force protesters to disperse
There is some flexibility for states to adapt the program, but in general, the federal relief money is available to those who earn 80% or less of the area median income in their area and have experienced some sort of COVID-related hardship. Preference is given to those with 50% or less of median income for their area.
RTHK: Xi, Biden pledge climate action at Earth Day summit

Presiden Xi Jinping has reiterated at a a virtual Earth Day summit his pledge that China  by far the world's largest emitter  would reach carbon neutral by 2060.

"China has committed to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries, and that requires extraordinarily hard efforts from China," Xi said.

He said China would "strictly control" coal-powered plants.

But environmentalists have voiced alarm at the lack of immediate action to curb coal, which is the dirtiest form of energy but politically sensitive due to mining jobs.

Earlier, USPresident Joe Biden on Thursday doubledambitions on slashing greenhouse gas emissions, leading Japan and Canada at the summit in making new commitments that bring the world closer to limiting the worst climate change.

Putting the United States back at the forefront on climate, Biden said that the world's largest economy will cut emissions blamed for climate change by 50 to 52 percent by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.

"The cost of inaction keeps mounting. The United States isn't waiting," Biden told a two-day summit of 40 leaders.

"We have to step up," Biden said. "We have to take action - all of us."

Biden's early and aggressive environmental push marks a drastic shift from his predecessor Donald Trump  but quickly raised questions on whether the United States can keep promises if another climate-sceptic president is elected in the future.

John Kerry, the former secretary of state who has become Biden's globe-trotting climate envoy, said that with the new pledges, more than half the world's economy has committed to action to keep the planet's temperature within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, the aspiration set in the Paris Agreement to avoid the most severe effects of climate change.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who discussed climate last week when he was Biden's first foreign guest, significantly raised the goals of the world's second largest developed economy to cutting emissions by 46 percent in 2030 compared with 2013.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, another early ally of Biden, boosted ambitions of his energy-exporting country to reductions of 40-45 percent below 2005 levels, compared with an earlier target of 30 percent.

"We must take action now. Because there's no vaccine against a polluted planet," Trudeau said.

The European Union this week confirmed its own ambitious goals and former bloc member Britain on the eve of Biden's summit released the most far-reaching targets of any major economy with 78 percent cuts from 1990 levels by 2035.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Biden's pledge "a game-changer" that will "have a transformative impact in the global fight against climate change."

Britain in November will host a UN conference in Glasgow that aims to upgrade the Paris Agreement. (AFP)

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Last updated: 2021-04-23 HKT 08:47

This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Tanner Foust, professional racer and Volkswagen brand ambassador, and Rhys Millen took on the task of modifying and testing the ID.4 for an extreme environment.The main thing that needed to be modified was the suspension. Millen and Foust did that by adding rally-style coil-over struts at the wheels, for better shock absorption. Also, 18-inch wheels were used to replace the 19-inch ones, while the 255/70 R 18 tires help with cushioning and wheel travel.The next step was to add 3/8-inch steel skid plates to the undercarriage and raise the radiator a few inches, for faster cooling and better approach angles.The interior also had to be modified for racing and that meant replacing the heat, air conditioning and ventilation system with a roll-cage for protection. Safety racing seats and extra screens for important indicators such as battery temperature were added.Aside from these modifications, the ID.4 will keep its standard 201-horsepower electric motor, drive systems and 82battery pack. According to Foust, thedid best when it was left in its regular drive modes, with traction control. This way, the modified ID.4 proved able to maintain a good speed on different types of terrain.Charging the SUV throughout the competition is another important aspect the had to be considered. A 50-portable fast charger that is powered by a portable biofuel generator was the solution.The Volkswagen teams objective is to complete almost 98% of the stages in the loop race without having to recharge. This will demonstrate ID.4 s performance in an extreme environment.We worked closely with Volkswagen engineers to find the right driving style for various types of terrain that could hit the balance of speed and battery consumption. Its early days for competing with electric vehicles, but we already have several ideas of what wed like to do next year., said Foust.The NORRA race will take place on April 25-29, in Baja, Mexico.
President Joe Biden will roll out a plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, including the largest-ever increase in levies on investment gains, to fund about $1 trillion in childcare, universal pre-kindergarten education and paid leave for workers, sources familiar with the proposal said.

The plan is part of the White House's push for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax system to make rich people and big companies pay more and help foot the bill for Biden's ambitious economic agenda. The proposal calls for increasing the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6% from 37%, the sources said this week. It would also nearly double taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for people earning more than $1 million.

That would be the highest tax rate on investment gains, which are mostly paid by the wealthiest Americans, since the 1920s. The rate has not exceeded 33.8% in the post-World War Two era. News of the proposal - which was a staple of Biden's presidential campaign platform - triggered sharp declines on Wall Street, with the benchmark S&P 500 index down 1% in early afternoon, its steepest drop in more than a month.

Any such hike would need to go through Congress, where Biden's Democratic Party holds narrow majorities and is unlikely to win support from Republicans. It is also unclear if it would have the unanimous backing of congressional Democrats, which would be essential in the Senate where each party holds 50 seats.

"If it had a chance of passing, we'd be down 2,000 points," said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member at hedge fund Great Hill Capital LLC, referring to stock market indexes.

Sources said details would be released next week before Biden's address to Congress on Wednesday. Details of the plan may change in coming days. White House officials are debating other possible tax increases that could ultimately be included such as capping deductions for wealthy taxpayers or increasing the estate tax, sources told Reuters.

Biden has promised not to raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000. Tax details related to the plan, which has been in the works for months, were first reported by the New York Times on Thursday morning. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president would discuss his "American Families Plan" during his speech to Congress but declined to comment on any details.

She said the administration had not yet finalized funding plans but stressed Biden's determination to make the wealthy and companies pay for new programs. "His view is that that should be on the backs ... of the wealthiest Americans who can afford it and corporations and businesses who can afford it," Psaki said.

She said Biden and his economic team did not believe the measures would have a negative impact on investment in the United States. Yields on Treasuries, which move in the opposite direction to their price, fell to the day's low.

CAPITAL GAINS

Biden's new plan, likely to generate about $1 trillion, comes after a $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure proposal that has already run into stiff opposition from Republicans. They generally support funding infrastructure projects but oppose Biden's inclusion of priorities like expanding eldercare and asking corporate America to pay the tab.

Tax hikes on the wealthy could harden Republicans' resistance against Biden's latest "human" infrastructure plan, forcing Democrats to consider pushing it - or least some of the measures - through Congress using a party-line budget vote known as reconciliation. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who wields outsize power due to the party's slim majority, said recently said he was wary of expanding the use of reconciliation.

Biden's proposal should be viewed as an aggressive negotiating tactic, said Steve Chiavarone, a portfolio manager and equity strategist at Federated Hermes.

"You should expect that you will get at least initially the biggest, baddest, most progressive policy proposals with the understanding that they won't get everything they want but define the scope of the negotiation. Maybe Biden doesn't get 39%, he will get 29%" tax rate, he said.

Wealthy Americans could face an overall federal capital gains tax rate of 43.4% including the 3.8% net investment tax on individuals with income of $200,000 or more ($250,000 married filing jointly). The latter helps fund the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

Currently, those earning more than $200,000 pay a capital gains rate of about 23.8% including the Obamacare net investment tax instituted as part of that law. For tax year 2021, the top marginal tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $523,600 and $628,300 for married couples filing jointly.

Erica York, an economist at the Tax Foundation, said the proposal would put U.S. capital gains taxes at the top of the global charts. Average capital gains taxes in Europe are around 19.3%, and the highest rate there is in Denmark, which collects 42%. France and Finland charge 34%.

For residents of some states and cities that assess their own capital gains levy, Biden's plan would push the total capital gains rate to more than 50%, York said. The rate would rise to 56.7% in California, 68.2% in New York City and 57.3% in Portland, Oregon, York said.

Also read: Japan PM Yoshihide Suga cancels trip to India, Philippines amid recent COVID-19 surge
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musks rapidly expanding company.

The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceXs debut crew last May. Theyll spend six months at the orbiting lab.

It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA, after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the companys second astronaut flight.

Embracing the trend, spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew weeks ago wrote their initials in the rockets soot, hoping to start a tradition.

If you have rapid and complete reusability, then that is the gateway to the heavens. Thats what were trying to get done, and the support of NASA makes a huge difference, Musk said after the launch.

Just a week ago, NASA awarded SpaceX a nearly $3 billion contract to provide the lunar lander that will deliver astronauts to the surface of the moon  Musk's Starship, intended to be fully reusable to attain his ultimate prize of carrying astronauts to Mars and building a city there.

Flying in a recycled capsule Friday provided a bit of deja vu for NASA astronaut Megan McArthur. She launched in the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did during SpaceXs first crew flight. This time, it was Behnken and their 7-year-old son waving goodbye. McArthur blew kisses and offered virtual hugs.

Also flying SpaceX on Friday: Japans Akihiko Hoshide and Frances Thomas Pesquet, the first European to launch in a commercial crew capsule.

It was a stunning scene: The launch plume glowed against the dark sky, reflecting the sunlight at high altitude.

Despite the early hour, spectators lined surrounding roads to watch the Falcon take flight an hour before sunrise. Liftoff was delayed a day to take advantage of better weather along the East Coast in case of a launch abort and emergency splashdown.

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Youre seeing a piece of history happening here, said Lance Bryan, visiting from Burnsville, Minnesota. Its, in this case, good history versus some other things that can happen that have been in our backyard practically.

Hours after liftoff, SpaceX was notified of a piece of space junk that might come dangerously close to the capsule. So flight controllers ordered the astronauts to put on their spacesuits and lower their visors just in case. There was no danger, and the unidentified debris turned out to be farther than initially thought, passing about 28 miles (45 kilometers) from the vehicle.

We dont know what the object was or how big it was, but it did not come close to Dragon, said NASA spokesman Rob Navias.

A masked Musk met briefly with the astronauts at NASAs Kennedy Space Center before they boarded white gull-winged Teslas from his electric car company. The astronauts spouses and children huddled around the cars for one last love you before the caravan pulled away and headed to the pad in the predawn darkness.

From now on, Ill see you on a screen! tweeted Pesquets partner, Anne Mottet.

Visibly weary, Musk later said he doesn't sleep the night before a crew launch and this one was no exception.

It gets a little bit easier, but still pretty intense, I have to say," said Musk, who started his space company in 2002.

NASA limited the number of launch guests because of COVID-19, but passengers for SpaceXs first privately purchased flight made the cut. Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, whos bought a three-day flight, watched the Falcon soar with the three people who will accompany him. Their capsule is still at the space station and due back on Earth with four astronauts next Wednesday. It will be refurbished in time for a September liftoff. Another crew flight for NASA will follow in October.

For Fridays automated flight, SpaceX replaced some valves and thermal shielding, and installed new parachutes on the capsule, named Endeavour after NASAs retired space shuttle. Otherwise, the spacecraft is the same vehicle that flew before.

Were thrilled to have a crew on board Endeavour once again," SpaceX Launch Control radioed just before liftoff.

All four astronauts clasped hands as Kimbrough noted it was the first time in more than 20 years that U.S., European and Japanese astronauts had launched together.

The first-stage booster touched down on an ocean platform nine minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX picked up the station slack for NASA after the space agencys shuttles retired in 2011, starting with supply runs the following year. The big draw was last years return of astronaut launches to Florida, after years of relying on Russia for rides.

Its awesome to have this regular cadence again, said Kennedys director Robert Cabana, a former shuttle commander.

Boeing, NASAs other contracted crew transporter, isnt expected to start launching NASA astronauts until early next year. First, it needs to repeat a test flight of an empty Starliner capsule, possibly in late summer, to make up for its software-plagued debut in December 2019.

Last Friday, SpaceX beat out two other companies, including Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, to land astronauts on the moon for NASA in three or more years. Theyll descend to the lunar surface in Starship, the shiny, bullet-shaped rocketship that Musk is testing in the skies over southeast Texas, near the Mexican border.

Musk said Starship should be ready to carry people in a couple years, although he expects to smash more of them before getting there. The 2024 deadline for putting astronauts on the moon, which was set by the Trump administration, is doable, he added.

Its a great time to be here, and were very excited, said the European Space Agencys Frank De Winne, an astronaut turned manager. The space station eventually will come to an end, he noted, but the partnership will continue amid hopes of European astronauts one day walking on the surface of the moon.

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AP videojournalist Cody Jackson contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Dhaka, Apr 23 (PTI) At least four people, including a woman, were killed and 23 others injured after a fire broke out at a chemical warehouse here in the Bangladeshi capital early on Friday, according to media reports.

The fire started at the ground floor of the building in Old Dhaka's Armanitola area after 3 am, Mahfuz Riben, an official at the Fire Service and Civil Defence department, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said the ground floor stored a number of inflammable substances.

The fire was brought under control by 6 am, as 20 fire tenders were rushed to the scene.

Officials are yet to identify all the deceased, though it is said the building's security guard is among the dead, the newspaper reported. Three of the dead were men, while one was a woman.

Many of the fire service personnel sustained injuries during the rescue operations.

In total, 23 people were said to be injured in the incident, with many admitted at the Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, The Daily Star reported.

Director General of Bangladesh Fire Services Md Sazzad Hussain said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire. PTI IND

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Rep. Annette Glenn has announced her support for a comprehensive plan that would provide more help to Michigan families and communities struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $13 billion plan also strengthens Michigans foundation as it emerges from the pandemic by investing in schools, families, roads, broadband and other critical infrastructure while taking steps to improve future state finances.

This has been a long, agonizing time for so many in our community and all across Michigan, Glenn stated in a news release. We have an important opportunity to get real help to the people who need it most  families, kids and workers who have had their lives and livelihoods upended because of this terrible pandemic.

Also, we are at the stage of the pandemic where we must look ahead and determine what Michigan needs to thrive and recover in the future  including better roads, water and sewer systems, and improved internet access in rural areas, she added. This plan will strengthen our state in countless ways.

Glenn is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which considered details of the new plan this week. Votes are expected to begin in the near future.

The House supplemental budget plan includes $11.8 billion in federal relief aid and $1.3 billion in state general fund resources.

Highlights include:

 Relief for families including $743 million for food assistance and $481 million to assist with rent, utility and energy bills. Additional support will strengthen Meals on Wheels and other senior programs, mental health and community health initiatives, foster care and many other efforts.

 Support for students and schools totaling about $4.8 billion. This includes support to help kids catch up on academics after missing in-person classes over the past year, COVID testing, and school ventilation improvements. About $1.4 billion is provided for early childhood care.

 Support for communities including $400 million to help people move off unemployment and return to work, $686 million for local governments, and $205 million for renovations at mental health facilities. Other support includes hazard pay for state employees working on the front lines of COVID response, local road sheriffs patrols, transit programs, agricultural processing and more.

 Investments in infrastructure with $1.2 billion for roads (including $700 million to pay down bond debt), $250 million for water and sewer replacement grants, and $150 million for rural broadband. Other support goes to airports, PFAS and pollution cleanup, and addressing high lake levels.

Fighting the virus with $180 million for vaccine distribution and more than $550 million for additional COVID testing.

Glenn noted several steps are included in the plan to ensure money is spent as intended and improve government accountability.

Steps would be taken to pay off state debt, return $350 million to the states rainy day fund, and provide $50 million to right-size state government and accelerate the states consolidation of office space. The vast majority of state employees have been working remotely during the pandemic, which indicates the state does not need all of its existing office space moving forward, Glenn said. In a separate proposal for next fiscal years state budget, Glenn has advocated reducing office space funding by ten percent.

The House plan also provides money to investigate the governors nursing home policies related to COVID, and to study the effects of pandemic orders.

After all the suffering so many Michigan families have endured, we need answers on the states pandemic response, Glenn said. Studying the effects of these decisions will hold government accountable and also could shape future decision-making in our state.

Proposals to improve dam safety in Michigan

Also this week, Glenn reported the advancement of proposals to improve dam safety in Michigan, save taxpayer money, and make state government more accountable by cracking down on hush money and employee severance deals.

Glenn chairs the Michigan House Appropriations subcommittee for the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. The committee recently approved a budget proposal for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, advancing it to the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

The plan includes $15 million for a dam safety emergency fund, with a reporting requirement so the public will know how the money is used. The House plan also reallocates $1 million to a new dam safety grant program, which would help address significant risks or imminent threats for public or private dams.

Our communities are still coping with the devastation of last years dam failures, and were taking steps to help ensure it doesnt happen again anywhere in Michigan, Glenn said. Supporting the Dam Safety Emergency Fund is just the latest example of this commitment.

Previously, Glenn secured $6 million in disaster relief funding for Clare and Midland counties after the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams and personally lobbied former Vice President Mike Pence for a federal disaster declaration, which was made. Shes also fought to strengthen Michigans dam inspection program.

The new DEGLE budget plan also includes $25 million in additional one-time funding to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants, including grants to drinking water systems for PFAS remediation. The House plan also includes resources for cleanup of contaminants at gas stations and other locations.

Glenns subcommittee budget does not include any of the new fee increases proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration.

This budget proposal sends the message loud and clear that we can protect our environment and improve our state without raising fees or taxes, Glenn said.

Glenn said the House proposal reduces DEGLE funding for office space by 10%, noting that the vast majority of state employees have been working remotely during the pandemic, which indicates the state does not need all of its existing office space moving forward. The House plan also reduces the number of unclassified DEGLE employees, who typically are political appointees.

Addressing hush money payments

Glenns budget proposal also follows through on her commitment last month to crack down on hush money severance packages for former state employees. The new DEGLE budget proposal includes language requiring the agency to report severance pay details to the Legislature as a matter of public record. Other House budgets are expected to have similar protections.

Glenn has also introduced separate legislation  House Bill 4588  which would allow confidentiality agreements only in extremely rare cases such as solely to prohibit disclosure of trade secrets in information technology or other areas and would work in unison with related measures to limit use of golden parachute severance agreements in general.

Hush money deals and big money severance payments waste taxpayer money and erode public trust in government, Glenn said. My proposals are a key step toward reining in such abuses and, in the process, restoring public faith in state government among the people of Michigan who pay for it and rely on its services.
MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that Minsk and Moscow have managed to agree 26-27 roadmaps on integration at the government level, there are 2-3 serious programs left including taxation. We are actively moving forward in union programs. Remember, we started with the maps [integration roadmaps], very serious programs. We have probably already agreed 26 or 27 at the government level. A few are left, 2 or 3 serious programs of economic nature, including taxation, a well-known program which we have already made a decision on in Minsk, he said Thursday during his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Source: Lukashenko says Minsk and Moscow agreed 26-27 roadmaps on integration  World  TASS

This was caused by the antics of the US/EU

This is what Ukraine should be doing

Oh Well!

WtR
Two drivers were killed in a crash Wednesday night in West Linn, police say.

West Linn police said 52-year-old Stephanie Chambers of Molalla and 21-year-old Blaise McGuire of West Linn died at the scene of the crash on Willamette Falls Drive.

A juvenile sibling who was traveling with McGuire was taken to a hospital for observation, according to police.

Police said no other cars were involved in the crash, which remains under investigation. Police did not detail the circumstances of the crash in a news release Thursday.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
The stellar trailer of Salman Khan's much-awaited movie Radhey: Your Most Wanted Bhai has been released. Like every time, this movie of Salman is also creating an atmosphere of tremendous enthusiasm among the fans. Movie trailer Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda, Jackie Shroff, and Gautam Gulati are going to be seen. But the most special thing in this trailer is that in which scene Salman is seen kissing his co-star Disha Patani. This scene has been shot in a very special way.

After the release of this trailer, now Disha Patani's boyfriend Tiger Shroff has shared several screenshots from the trailer. Tiger shared the photos of the first father Jackie Shroff, still the most handsome hero. While sharing the photo of Disha, written wishes for the trailer.

Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani left for the Maldives for vacation a few days ago. Pictures of the duo were also revealed from the airport. However, Salman's movie is slated to hit the theatres on May 13. It remains to be seen how much love the audience give to Salman's movie this time.

Markets decline for third consecutive week; Sensex slips 202 pts

IPL 2021: Good news for Delhi Capitals, this all-rounder recovers from Corona and returns

Metro rail services to remain closed on weekend curfew in the state, ban on many things
As I have an Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account, I have stopped contributing to Public Provident Fund (except to maintain it at 1,000 per year). Should I contribute to both EPF as well as PPF so that I dont miss the Section 80C deduction in case my EPF becomes taxable?

Name withheld on request

These are two different aspects. An employees contribution to provident fund (PF) is considered as part of Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. And this has got no relevance to the fact of whether the EPF is taxable or not. And the contribution to PPF is also considered for the purpose of Section 80C deduction.

The total contribution of PF and PPF is capped at 1.5 lakh for deduction under Section 80C. Your contribution to PPF can be considered both for the purpose of tax saving under Section 80C as well as a good investment avenue.

You need to evaluate your overall investment portfolio to determine the asset allocation and accordingly decide your contribution to PPF.

I have two different provident fund passbooks under one Universal Account Number (UAN). Will the interest on the previous passbook become taxable since I have switched to a different company? Also, am I missing the chance to earn more compounded interest since I havent merged both accounts?

Name withheld on request

You need to merge the two PF accounts. The advantage of having a UAN is that you can log in to the Employees Provident Fund Organisation website and consolidate the two accounts together, provided your KYC (know our customer) and Aadhaar details are updated.

You can also ask your current employer to get the consolidation done.

Surya Bhatia is managing partner of Asset Managers.

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A black librarian has filed a federal lawsuit claiming white cops in used excessive force by pulling her from her car by her hair during a traffic stop in North Carolina.

Stephanie Bottom, of Atlanta, Georgia, was driving to the funeral of her great aunt in May 2019 when she was seen by police allegedly going 80mph in a 70mph zone.

The 68-year-old says initially did not realize that cops were trying to stop her, and that their aggressive actions when she pulled over left her with injuries including a torn rotator cuff.

Bodycam footage from the incident shows officers approach Bottom's vehicle with guns drawn.

Within seconds of the stop, cops are seen dragged her out of the car by her hair, and pulling her arm behind her back to handcuff her, all while she screams out in pain.

In the suit filed on Wednesday, Brown - who was 66 at the time of the incident - claims she posed no threat to the officers from the Salisbury Police Department and the Rowan County Sheriff's Office.

But officers approached her vehicle with guns drawn and later violated her rights by using excessive force, the lawsuit said.

Stephanie Bottom is suing the police over her arrest in May 2019 which left her with a torn rotator cuff

Body cam footage shows that in a matter of a few seconds, Bottom appears to be taken out of the car by force and pinned to the ground, with her face down and officers pushing on her arm.

Another angle appears to show an officer grabbing Bottom by her hair when yanking her from the car.

'Within five seconds of arriving at her drivers side door with guns drawn, Defendants Benfield and Barkalow grabbed Plaintiff by her arm and hair and threw her from her Toyota Sequoia to the ground,' the lawsuit says.

The officers are then seen pinning both of her arms behind her back to put handcuffs on Bottom.

'Why are you doing this to me,' she asks.

Bottom begins crying and asks what she's done wrong as officers tell her she is under arrest, although it turns out she was never formally arrested.

After allegedly pulling her out of her car by her hair, Bottom was left on the ground

As officers search the car - which Bottom alleges she did not consent to - one explains that three police cars have been following her for around 10 miles, which Bottom agreed with, as officers explain how she was speeding.

The officers also say it could've been a simple traffic stop before putting the onus of the current incident on her.

Bottom claims at this point she was on her way to a funeral before saying that officers were hurting her shoulder.

At one point, she begged for medical attention, as well for an opportunity to call her family.

'Thats good police work, baby,' an officer involved in the stop can be heard saying later on the body camera footage

After the arrest, Bottom claimed she was listening to music loudly in her car and did not realize she was being pulled over, according to the lawsuit, a claim that can be heard in the video.

Meanwhile, officers search her car, which Bottom alleges she didn't consent for

Officers are then seen using their force to get Bottom to put her arms behind her back

She also admits to going 10 miles over the speed limit, which was 70mph, meaning she was driving around 80mph.

When she realized officers were following her, she tried to pull over 'somewhere safe where Id be around lights and people,' but she alleges spike strips were used to stop her car instead.

The lawsuit alleges that two officers grabbed Bottom by her arm and her hair, later throwing her out of the vehicle and onto the ground.

Once on the ground, officers twisted Bottom's arm behind her back, causing her 'shoulder to 'pop,' tearing her rotator cuff and causing severe injury,' the lawsuit said.

A Salisbury police officer involved in the stop, allegedly Devin Barkalow, 'bragged about "grabbing a handful of dreads", and said "at that point she earned it",' the lawsuit said, citing footage from the officer's body camera.

The lawsuit alleges that earlier in the stop, Barkalow also said Bottom was a 'f*****g retard' and a 'douche bag.'

Bottom said all of the arresting officers were white.

When she asked for medical assistance, she estimated that an hour elapsed before officers called for help, the lawsuit stated.

According to the Charlotte Observer, video shows an officer telling Bottom that EMS would look at her approximately 11 minutes after the stop, after which she was taken to a local hospital.

Bottom had surgery to repair the tear but the injury prevents her from raising her left arm above her head, according to the suit.

She was also unable to work for eight months following the injuries she suffered and still primarily uses her right arm to stack bookshelves, as she struggles to raise her left hand over her head.

'I was shaking in fear,' Bottom said to the Observer. 'I was getting ready to die. ... When they grabbed me and threw me to the ground, thats when the real terror struck me that I was going to die.'

One of the officers named in the lawsuit, Barkalow, declined to comment, but said he no longer works for the police department. He took a job with federal law enforcement in February 2020, according to Linda McElroy, a spokesperson for the city of Salisbury.

The other officers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. McElroy also declined to comment on the pending litigation.

McElroy told the newspaper that 'the Salisbury Police always strives for positive interactions with our residents and visitors, including in cases where we may suspect criminal activity.'

Bottom pleaded guilty to failing to heed blue lights. She also was charged with speeding and resisting arrest but those were dismissed.

She is now suing the police officers who were involved in her arrest

Bottom complains repeatedly during the arrest about the cops hurting her

'Ms. Bottom was peaceful at all times, and officers knew they were dealing with an elderly woman,' said Ian Mance, a lawyer with EmancipateNC who represents Bottom. 'Our complaint alleges these officers had no reason to use any force, much less the level of force they employed. Ms. Bottom wasn't even arrested.'

In her lawsuit, Bottom alleges two separate violations of the 4th and 14th Amendments, as well as assault and battery.

Bottom wants punitive damages, compensatory damages, attorneys fees and other costs.

She also wants to make sure that other people are not treated the way she was during her May 2019 arrest.

Her lawsuit was immediately referred to mediation due to local court rules, according to Law & Crime.
Gore Street expects to conclude an 80Mw acquisition in coming weeks

( ) has raised 135mln from a placing of new shares at 102p.

The fundraise, which doubles the industrial battery specialists market value, has been earmarked for the acquisition of an 80Mw project and expanding capacity at its Republic of Ireland assets to 90Mw.

Alex O'Cinneide, chief executive of the company's investment manager, said: "We are delighted that we once again have had such strong demand for our fundraising from both institutional and retail investors, the scale of which almost doubles our market capitalisation.

We believe this reflects the widespread understanding of energy storage's ever-increasing role in national energy security and Gore Street Capital's role as the leading investment manager in this unique sector at a time when there has never been a more attractive macro environment for investment in the asset class.

As we approach our third anniversary, we are very proud of the growth of the company. Gore Street has grown its portfolio from 6MW to 440MW, now the largest energy storage portfolio available to a financial investor and in parallel we have delivered on our promises to investors on a sector-leading dividend, portfolio returns and diversification.
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Beauce Gold Fields (TSXV: BGF) (Champs D'Or en Beauce) ("BGF"), is pleased to announce the results of its soil sampling survey completed on the Bergeron section of its Megantic placer to hardrock exploration property located in southern Quebec. The survey revealed an overburden gold anomaly along strike the Bella Fault line.

Patrick Levasseur, President and CEO of Beauce Gold Fields said, "This gold anomaly, along with the Chesham 10 grams per ton sample announce last week, supports the potential of the Bella Fault line being another major gold bearing structure in Southern Quebec." Mr. Levasseur added: "The Megantic property holds a similar geological model to the company's flagship Saint-Simon-les-Mines Beauce Gold property whereby a major geological fault line follows along strike the historical placer gold deposit. We look forward to investigating these anomalies further later this summer."





Bella Fault line crossing the Megantic property. right side inset soil gold anomaly contour map Top left inset BGF Chesham sample 798541 10g/t (BGF PR April 12, 2021)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6198/81538_2a18c657145d0a30_001full.jpg

RESULTS BERGERON SECTOR:

The Bergeron sector forms the northern part of the Megantic property and is mostly situated on Crown land and forestry land owned by Domtar. It was first explored for placer gold deposits in 1987 (GM 45387). A large quantity of "delicate" fine gold was noted in old excavations along the Bergeron river, thus suggesting a proximal primary source. The bedrock of the Bergeron river is made up of the components of the Frontenac formation, that is to say slate schists, bands of basic metavolcanites and gabbro-dioritic sills. The property is crossed by the Bella fault in the middle trending SW to NE.

Between 1993-1995, Noranda Mines and Exploration carried out a soil geochemistry survey for zinc, copper, lead and silver on a 5km2 grid (GM 53498) Their soil sampling established copper, zinc and silver soil anomalies that appear to be continuous over significant distances. One of these anomalies is over 1.8 km in length.

Between October and December 2020, the Company collected eighty four 250g soil samples (B-horizon) for gold and silver plus base metals (Pb-Zn and Cu). 14 samples per line was collected following Noranda's old exploration grid of six 100 metre lines (Numbered 27E to 34E). The objective was to confirm past anomalous values and to assay for new gold values (Noranda did not assay for gold). Samples were sent to Activation Labs for geochemical analysis.

Results showed a gold anomaly (+28 and +30 ppb Au) on 2 lines. This anomaly is open on both sides of the grid either SW of 27E and NE of 30E. We note that the anomaly follows along strike the Bella fault to the NW. Lines 33E and 34E showed significant anomalous zinc (33E 21 to 123 ppm Zn averaging 66 ppm, 34E 14 to 121 ppm Zn averaging 58 ppm) The Company intends to expand the soil geochemistry surveys later in the summer.

Jean Bernard, B,Sc. Geo., is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information presented in this release





Bergeron sector soil gold anomaly in PPB

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6198/81538_2a18c657145d0a30_002full.jpg

About the Megantic Property

The Megantic property extends southwest to the USA border of New Hampshire and to the northeast to Lac Megantic. The property extends for at least 30 km along the axis of the Bella Fault. It is divided into four areas: the Ditton, the Mining Brook, the Chesham and Bergeron rivers.

The Megantic property is located at the foot of the granite intrusion of Mont Megantic. It partly occupies the Compton Formation composed of graphitic and pelitic metasedimentary rocks of Siluro-Devonian age. These sedimentary rocks are in discordant contact in the center of the terrain with the volcanic sequence (basalts, andesites and dacites) of the Siluro-Devonian Formation of the Frontenac Formation. The Bella fault, which is the major structural element of the Megantic property, is in contact between the Compton and Frontenac Formations.

About Beauce Gold Fields

Beauce Gold Fields is a gold exploration company focused on placer to hard rock exploration in the Beauce region of Southern Quebec. The Company's flagship property is the St-Simon-les-Mines Gold project site of Canada's first gold rush that pre-dates the Yukon Klondike. The Beauce region hosted some of the largest historical placer gold mines in Eastern North America that were active from 1860s to the 1960s It produced some of the largest gold nuggets in Canadian mining history (50oz to 71oz). The intent of Beauce Gold Fields is to trace the placer gold workings back to the bedrock source and uncover economic bedrock gold mineralization.

Comprising 152 contiguous claims and 7 real estate lots, the project area contains a six kilometer long placer channel consisting of unconsolidated gold-bearing auriferous units of a lower saprolite and an upper brown diamictite.

The Company has identified a major Fault Line in bedrock that coincides with geophysical findings of an interpreted fault structure across the property. Evidence suggests the erosion of the Fault Line or related fractures as a probable source of the historical placer gold channel, and has conducted bedrock sampling and geophysics outside the expression of the placer gold channel.

Beauce Gold Fields website www.beaucegold.com

Disclaimers:

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding mineral exploration. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's on-going filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, 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.

For further information contact

Patrick Levasseur, President and CEO Tel: (514) 262-9239

Bernard J. Tourillon, Chairman and COO Tel (514) 907-1011

www.beaucegold.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81538
The new panel has a nominal power of 395 W and a claimed temperature coefficient of 0.28% degrees Celsius.Russian PV panel manufacturer Hevel Solar has launched a heterojunction solar module for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) with a nominal power of 395 W. The panel has a power conversion efficiency of 22.3% and a claimed temperature coefficient of 0.28% degrees Celsius. "The price of 1m2 of Hevel BIPV is comparable to that of middle-range hinged ventilated facades," a company's spokesperson told pv magazine. "However its PV-generation capacity allows for an investment return in several ...

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.
Votes are counted by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 5, 2020. (Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images)

Arizona Democrats File Last Minute Lawsuit Seeking to Block 2020 Election Audit

The Arizona Democratic Party filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to stop the states Senate from carrying out an audit of the 2020 election results in Maricopa County.

The complaint (pdf), filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, comes just before the audit is set to begin on Friday. In preparation, 2.1 million ballots, as well as voting equipment that includes 385 tabulators, were delivered to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, the site of the planned audit.

An emergency court hearing has been scheduled for the case, CV2021-006646, at 11 a.m. on Friday.

The Arizona Democratic Party and Steve Gallardo, the sole Democrat on the five-member Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, argue in the lawsuit that the planned audit is in violation of various statutory and Election Procedures Manual provisions. They allege that the planned audit lacks various safeguards and requirements to be secure and reliable, and as such, it would undermines the integrity and security of the states elections and voter information.

Plaintiffs are seeking a restraining order and a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the audit requested by the Republican-majority Senate leadership.

The lawsuit comes as Republicans introduced a bill late January to address legal issues outlined in the Democrats lawsuit. The bill is currently with the House after passing the state Senate in February.

The latest auditing efforts come after the Senate leadership issued subpoenas in mid-January to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors seeking materials for a full audit of the 2020 general election. In response, county officials asked a court to declare that the subpoenas were unlawful and unenforceable. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason ruled in February that the subpoenas are valid, and that the Senate has broad constitutional oversight powers that allow it to carry out whatever election review it chooses.

Fight Over Disclosure

Democrats in the latest lawsuit argued that the private auditors and their agents are not authorized to review confidential voter registration records and are not authorized to gain possession or control of voted early ballots, citing state law.

In particular, the complaint notes that certain parts of a voters registration records, including date of birth, signature, and country of birth, may not be viewed, accessed, reproduced, or disclosed to a member of the public who is not an authorized government official. It also notes that only election officials, postal workers, and certain family members and other authorized individuals may gain possession or control of voted early ballots.

The Democrats also allege that the private auditors have not been appointed in writing or taken an oath required under [Elections Procedures Manual Chapter 10 Section 1A (pdf)] and thus are not authorized to touch any ballot, computer, or counting device. They also allege that the private auditors are not properly trained in signature verification.

In a brief comment, Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican, said that the ballots are protected by bonded and certified 24-hour security forces, kept in locked cages and a public live stream is on 24 hours a day, reported The Associated Press.

The Democrats lawsuit comes at the same time that Republicans are trying to pass a bill that would address similar legal issues surrounding confidentiality and disclosure to facilitate the elections auditing process.

On Feb. 18, the state Senate passed a bill that would amend a portion of the state law such that county election equipment, systems and records, and other information that is under the control of county personnel may not be deemed privileged information, confidential information, or other information protected from disclosure.

It also subjects such records to a subpoena and stipulates that they must be produced and the legislatures authority to conduct related probes may not be infringed by any other law.

The bill is currently held in the state House.

Back and Forth Allegations

Maricopa County Supervisor Gallardo wrote on Twitter late Thursday, The sole reason for this lawsuit and injunctions is to protect the sanctity of the ballots, and more importantly, to preserve voters privacy from a sham audit that has been corrupted by agitators and conspiracy theorists.

This corrupted process will not be transparent, dark money influencers have handed picked the folks to observe and witness the audit that will be conducted by an uncertified and unqualified group, Gallardo alleged.

The Arizona Senate Democrats released a statement in support of the suit. Its clear that this audit is no more than a temper tantrum from those still upset that they lost the election and it is deeply damaging to the integrity of our elections and our democracy, their statement reads, in part.

President Joe Biden was the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, in decades.

Kelli Ward, Chair of the Arizona Republican Party, questioned the Democrats move in a statement on Thursday. The Democrats are STILL trying to stop the Maricopa County audit and defy the AZ Senate subpoena. What are they hiding? Hearing tomorrow on this ridiculous temporary restraining order, she wrote on Twitter.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Senate President Fann for comment. Last month, she asserted that the audit would reassure voters that the 2020 results were accurate.

Need for Senate Audit?

Two separate forensic audits of the 2020 general election have been conducted by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. But Arizona state Sen. Warren Peterson, the Republican Chair of the Judiciary Committee, told Fox 10 in January that the countys audit will not prevent the Senate from doing their own audit.

My concern with the county audit is that the scope of the audit is an inch deep. With the limited scope they have asked to be audited, they are guaranteed to find nothing, he said.

The Arizona Senate has hired four out-of-state firms to carry out the audit, which are Wake Technology Services, CyFIR, Digital Discovery, and Cyber Ninjas. Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based cybersecurity company, was arranged to lead the audit.

The Arizona Senate said that its broad and detailed audit will validate every area of the voting process and includes, but is not limited to, scanning all the ballots, a full hand recount, auditing the voter registration and votes cast, the vote counts, and the electronic voting system.

The Senate said that its leadership will not be directly involved in the audit process to maintain integrity and transparency. A report of all the findings is expected after about 60 days.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors had previously resisted the Senate subpoenas and repeatedly maintained that there were no issues with the conduct of the 2020 election.

The GOP concerns come after controversy in December 2020, when former state Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Eddie Farnsworth, a Republican, issued two subpoenas after former President Donald Trumps team presented allegations of fraud and other irregularities before members of the Arizona Legislature at an election integrity hearing on Nov. 30, 2020. One major allegation on the day came from Maricopa County GOP chairwoman Linda Brickman, who alleged that she personally observed votes for Trump being tallied as votes for Biden when input into the voting machines.

Farnworths subpoenas called for a scanned ballot audit and a full forensic audit of voting equipment and software used in the 2020 general election. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors days later voted to file a complaint over the subpoenas.

The court later found the dispute was moot in light of the fact that the 2020 subpoenas were no longer enforceable. But the latest auditing efforts came as a result of new subpoenas issued in mid-January by Petersen and Fann.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-23 21:16:02|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong addresses the main event of the National Intellectual Property Publicity Week 2021 in Beijing, capital of China, April 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong on Friday stressed efforts to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to inject strong impetus into high-quality economic and social development.

Wang made the remarks while addressing the main event of the National Intellectual Property Publicity Week 2021, which is scheduled to last from April 20 to 26.

Wang urged strengthened whole-chain protection on IPRs, implementation of punitive damages and joint punishment, and improved quality and efficiency of IPR examination.

He also called for efforts to deepen international IPR cooperation and exchanges, and actively participate in global intellectual property governance. Enditem
Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty Friday to two sex trafficking charges that were added to her indictment by prosecutors last month.

Maxwell spoke just 12 words in the arraignment, telling the judge she was aware of the new charges and waiving the public reading of them before her lawyers entered the not guilty plea.

The two counts  sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy  are for allegedly recruiting an unidentified underage girl for the late financial adviser and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.

Epstein and Maxwell recruited Minor Victim-4 to engage in sex acts with Epstein at the Palm Beach Residence, after which Epstein and, at times, Maxwell provided Minor Victim-4 with hundreds of dollars in cash for each encounter, the indictment states.

Epstein killed himself in 2019 in jail as he awaited trial.

It was Maxwells first appearance inside a Manhattan federal court since she was arrested by federal agents last year for allegedly procuring underage girls for Epstein. Her last court appearance, which was done via video remote, was illegally streamed on YouTube by QAnon supporters.

Federal charges against Ghislaine Maxwell are announced at a press conference in New York City on July 2, 2020. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

The 59-year-old British socialite has been held without bail in Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center since her arrest at a New Hampshire estate last year. She has been repeatedly denied bail, which her lawyers have appealed, citing poor conditions inside the facility. A hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the judges order denying bail is set for Monday.

[Maxwell] is in very, very, very difficult conditions, conditions none of us would wish on our worst enemies, David Markus, an attorney for Maxwells family, told reporters outside the courthouse following Fridays arraignment. Its the Epstein effect. Shes being treated horribly because of the negligence of what happened. Shes not suicidal. She shouldnt be treated like this. And its not fair and its not right.

Story continues

Her trial is tentatively set for July 12, though her lawyers have argued it will take months of additional preparation because of the new charges. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said she is still considering a motion to delay the trial until fall.

[Maxwell] is looking forward to that trial, Markus said. Shes looking forward to fighting and she will fight.

____

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A Wawa employee is being credited for his heroism in connection with Wednesday mornings shooting spree that killed a truck driver pumping gas outside the convenience stores Upper Macungie Township location. The employee was taking out the trash when he heard gunfire and ushered two people into the store. He told employees to shelter in place and locked the convenience store doors. These actions, which give new meaning to the phrase above and beyond, possibly saved lives and showed that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things in the face of an imminent threat. Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin appropriately made it a point to highlight the employees actions during his news conference on the shooting spree. Wawa also expressed gratitude for his actions. The company ought to consider giving this guy a large bonus or a raise. Its well deserved.

It shouldnt be controversial, but Lehigh University is likely to face some pushback on its requirement that all students coming to the campus in the fall semester be vaccinated against COVID-19. Lehigh is the first local institute of higher education to announce the requirement, and should be commended for doing it. The university earlier this year was the site of a COVID-19 outbreak that briefly made Northampton County the top hotspot in the state for new case counts. Vaccinations will prevent that from happening again. And for the naysayers, consider this: It is not unusual for a college to require its students to receive other vaccinations for TDap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), meningitis, and hepatitis. Theres no reason why COVID-19 shouldnt be on the list, provided exemptions are in place for legitimate medical or religious reasons.

TURKEYS

Would you rather have an eyesore or another warehouse that puts more tractor trailers on the Lehigh Valleys roads? Those seem to be the options in Wilson Borough. Neither are good. A sketch plan recently filed in the borough calls for razing a closed-down pigment plant thats rusting off Route 22 and replacing it with a 1-million-square-foot warehouse and business center. NorthPoint Development of Kansas City, Missouri, is proposing the project, which would be near the beautiful Simon Silk Mill redevelopment that has helped revitalize the neighborhood. We dont expect every brownfield to become home to a development comparable to the Silk Mill, but cant we find a reuse thats a better fit for an urban area thats striving for improvements to quality-of-life issues such as walkability? The pigment plan needs to come down, and thats no easy task considering the required environmental remediation. The boroughs solicitor says NorthPoint has a track record of working well with municipalities and the project wouldnt generate as much truck traffic as expected, but theres got to be a better use for such a high-profile site.

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Marine Bourbon has joined as Head of Marketing from Tesco PLC where she was Head of Brand for Tesco Finest

Bourbon commented: I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at SDG at such a pivotal time for the business"

Skinny Tonic ( (PRIVATE:SKTON), the company behind the first zero-calorie, zero sugar, and 100% natural mixer to launch nationwide in the UK, is changing its name and has appointed a new Head of Marketing as it branches out into other brands and private label contracts.

The company, now known as SDG - The  - is currently creating its new bespoke manufacturing facility in Liverpool and with its new capabilities plans to launch its childrens drink in association with the iconic Emoji brand and a soda range which will see the firm expand into the impulse purchase market.

SDG said both drinks will be 100% natural with the same core values as Skinny Tonic - no calories, no sugar, no compromise!

Steve Wilkinson, the companys co-founder and COO commented: Our brands are key to our company's success. They drive our growth by setting us apart from the competition, enabling us to build memorable and meaningful connections with our consumers and encourage long-lasting loyalty.

The drinks firm also introduced the latest member of its team, Marine Bourbon, who has joined as Head of Marketing from where she was Head of Brand for Tesco Finest.

Wilkinson said: Im delighted to welcome Marine to the team at such an exciting time. For SDG to attract staff of the calibre of Marine highlights how fast we are growing with more key hires to follow.

Over the following months, our key focus will be to establish a coherent approach across our brand portfolio that drives brand awareness and places our products in new consumers' hands, he added.

Bourbon commented: I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at SDG at such a pivotal time for the business. I wanted my next move to be anything but play it safe so when the opportunity to push boundaries through innovation, disrupt a largely stagnant category and meet the needs of increasingly health-conscious consumers came up ... I was all in!

The Skinny Tonic brand was created in 2014 by company co-founder Ian Minton  a sufferer of type 1 diabetes - as a tonic water that allowed him to enjoy a G&T without the fear of his blood sugars spiking.
WASHINGTON D.C. - Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher and Governor Brad Little are working in conjunction to push back against a specific provision in the Biden Administrations American Rescue Plan Act, the massive spending bill signed into law earlier this year. Their focus is on a specific stipulation preventing reductions in state taxes through 2024.

Congressman Fulcher is working with his colleagues in Congress to overcome the restriction which removes Idahos ability to determine its own tax relief. First, cosponsoring the Let States Cut Taxes Act to immediately suspend a portion of the American Rescue Plan Act that restricts net tax revenue changes to state budgets. Under President Bidens plan, A State or territory shall not use the funds provided under this section or transferred...to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue.

Congressman Fulcher said, Idaho took prescriptive action to ensure positive growth out of the most dire economic downturn since the Great Depression-- and simultaneously ensure Idahoans receive every available tool to build back a stronger Idaho. The American Rescue Plan Act disregards these prudent budgetary actions taken by Governor Little and state legislators, and prevents Idahoans from reaping the benefits of living in a fiscally-responsible state.

Governor Little joined this effort by publishing an editorial on the impact of President Bidens American Rescue Plan Act, and this specific provision, on Idahoans.

Governor Little commented, Idaho should not have to subsidize poorly managed states simply because we are using our record budget surplus to pursue historic tax relief for our citizens. We achieved our record budget surplus after years of responsible, conservative governing and quick action during the pandemic. Simply put, any future federal relief funds directed to states should be allocated fairly.

In addition, Congressman Fulcher joined a letter to President Biden requesting termination of any further federal imposition upon unlawful state tax authority. The letter is similarly centered around the Administration's overreach on well-run states.

Successful states with healthy, vibrant, and growing economies should not be restricted from letting taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned money, added Congressman Fulcher. There is a stark difference between Idahos balanced budget amendment and the budgets of liberal, poorly managed states that cant control their own spending.

Congressman Russ Fulcher and Governor Brad Little say they plan to diligently work together on this effort to preserve Idahos state sovereignty.
The countries of NATO's eastern flank  Romania, Poland and Turkey  support Ukraine and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

According to the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, being on a working visit to Bucharest on Friday, Kuleba took part in consultations between Ukraine and Georgia with the partners of NATO's eastern flank  Romania, Poland and Turkey.

In particular, the ministers of the five countries discussed issues of regional security in the context of the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation, the prospects for NATO expansion and the support of the Alliance partners. The parties also discussed ways to deepen interaction with NATO in the context of implementing the course of Ukraine and Georgia towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

The allies of NATO's eastern flank  Romania, Poland and Turkey  reaffirmed the need to maintain a stable and secure space in the NATO's closest neighborhood and noted the importance of dialogue with Ukraine and Georgia, in particular on security issues in the Black Sea.

"NATO's key partners Ukraine and Georgia make a significant contribution to strengthening NATO's eastern flank and maintaining stability in the Black Sea region. I am convinced that our unity is the most effective factor in containing Russia and its deeply destructive actions in the region," Kuleba said.

The minister drew the partners' attention to the fact that the current escalation on the part of the Russian Federation is systemic and the largest in recent years, posing a threat to the European security system and the Black Sea region.

He expressed gratitude to the partners for the decisive and timely response to Moscow's heightened tensions.
Highlights Xiaomi will launch three Mi 11 smartphones today.

Mi 11 Ultra will be the most premium of three.

Mi 11 Ultra features a flagship Snapdragon 888 SoC.

Xiaomi is set to launch a number of devices in India on Friday afternoon, during one of its biggest launches in the country till date. The smartphone will introduce its flagship Mi 11 Ultra in the country along with the Mi 11X series which has two smartphones Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro. The three Mi 11 smartphones will target customers at different price points. Xiaomi is expected to launch more smartphones under the Mi line-up in the future.

Both Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11X Pro are confirmed to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC while the Mi 11X will pack Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset. The latter is designed for affordable flagship smartphones of 2021 and has been used on OnePlus 9R and Vivo X60 before this. Apart from the three smartphones, Xiaomi will also launch its biggest smart TV in India. The Mi QLED TV 75 will launch in 75-inch screen size in the country with a 120Hz panel and Dolby Vision support.

Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro: Livestream

Xiaomi is calling Friday's launch event Mi Mega Launch Event: Into the Future. It will be an online launch event and will start at 12noon on April 23. The livestream of Mi Mega Launch event will be available on Xiaomi's official YouTube channel. The updates will also be available on Mi India Facebook and Twitter pages. You can read all features, specifications and prices of Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro on India Today Tech, after the launch.

Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro: Price in India

The Mi 11 Ultra is expected to cost over Rs 70,000 in India for all variants. It will compete against Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, OnePlus 9 Pro and Vivo X60 Pro+, among others. The price will be higher than the China variant as Xiaomi is importing the Mi 11 Ultra from China which will add extra charges.

The base variant of Mi 11 Ultra with 8GB of RAM and 256GB internal storage costs RMB 5999 (roughly Rs 67,000) in China, the 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage costs RMB 6,499 (roughly Rs 72,500) while the 12GB RAM and 512GB internal storage variant is priced at RMB 6,999 (roughly Rs 78,100).

The MI 11X Pro is expected to be priced between Rs 40,000 and Rs 45,000 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage model and 8GB RAM and 256GB storage model. This will be less than OnePlus 9. Meanwhile, the Mi 11X is expected to cost between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 which will place it below OnePlus 9R.

Mi 11 Ultra features and specifications

Mi 11 Ultra features a 6.81-inch sAMOLED display with QHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and 512GB of UFS 3.1 fast storage. It packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast wired as well as wireless charging, but Xiaomi may ship the phone with another charger in India.

In terms of optics, Mi 11 Ultra comes with a triple rear camera setup including a primary 50-megapixel Samsung GN2 sensor with OIS, a secondary 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 periscope telephoto lens with OIS, and a 48-megapixel Sony ultra-wide unit. On the front, there is a 20-megapixel camera.

Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro features and specifications

Xiaomi has basically re-branded the Redmi K40 series for the Indian market as the Mi 11X line-up. They also have a lot of similarities, apart from the chipset and primary lens. Both phones have the same 6.67-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED screen with a peak brightness of 1300 nits and 120Hz refresh rate.

Mi 11X Pro will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset while the Mi 11X will pack Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC. The Pro model will have a 108-megapixel primary sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 5-megapixel macro lens. The Mi regular 11X is likely to come with a 48-megapixel primary sensor while the other two lenses will remain the same.

They should pack the same 4,250mAh batteries with support for 33W fast-charging. The smartphones will also share the 20-megapixel selfie camera and side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
When the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty this week of murdering George Floyd, the Democrats running for mayor of New York City, unsurprisingly, offered a unanimous chorus of support.

The two leading moderates in the race  Andrew Yang and Eric Adams  said that justice had been delivered, but that the verdict was only the first step toward real police accountability. Maya Wiley and Scott Stringer, two left-leaning candidates, seized the moment more overtly, appearing with other mayoral hopefuls at a rally at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the site of many of last years Black Lives Matter protests.

For once, we got a little bit of what we deserve  to be seen as people who deserve to breathe, Ms. Wiley said to a crowd, within hours of the verdict.

But the candidates unanimity disappears when it comes to their approaches to running the New York Police Department, the nations largest. From the size of the police budget to disciplining rogue officers, the candidates offer starkly different visions.
The life of actor John Bowersox will be honored with a historical marker in Garrett. He was born and raised in Garrett and lived with his family at 117 S. Cowen St.
New Delhi: Amid reports of shortage of oxygen in the hospitals during the second wave of Covid across the country, India will be importing oxygen generation plants and containers from Germany to cater for the shortage.

Government sources said that 23 mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany. These will be deployed in static hospitals and provide adequate oxygen to the needy.

Further, sources said that India is procuring a large number of oxygen containers for an adequate supply of oxygen in Delhi and other states.

The government planned to assign the Indian Air Force to airlift in oxygen containers and equipment from friendly nations.

The problem India, in importing oxygen, facing is transportation due to an acute deficiency of containers to carry. The government is in talks with all the stakeholders to get the containers.

The government had roped in the air force to airlift oxygen cylinders, regulators, and essential medicines as the national capital region faces shortage of oxygen cylinders and medicines.

The IAF started airlifting personnel, doctors and nursing staff to help the government battle the pandemic.

So far IAF has airlifted doctors and nursing staff from Kochi, Mumbai, Vizag and Bengaluru for setting up a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Covid hospital at Delhi. The force had also airlifted oxygen containers of DRDO from Bengaluru for Covid centres at Delhi.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh directed all the defence establishments to set up more Covid-19 hospitals, use emergency powers and bring in retired personnel to tackle the crisis.

A roadmap on how military infrastructure can be used to ramp up the fight against Covid-19 was also discussed in a Covid preparedness review meeting chaired by the Minister.

Further after the directions of the government, Army hospital at Delhi Cantonment area has been converted into Covid facility for people infected with the virus in Delhi.

The DRDO had stated that they have set up a Covid hospital in Delhi with 250 beds, and the capacity will be increased to 500 and then 1,000 if required.

Rajnath Singh instructed more fully functional Covid hospitals to be set up in Lucknow, Patna, Varanasi and Ahmedabad within 8-10 days and also in other places where required.

He said that the ESIC Hospital, which was converted to Covid hospital in Patna, has started functioning with 500 beds. He added that work is on war footing to set up a 450-bed hospital in Lucknow, a 750-bed hospital in Varanasi and a 900-bed hospital in Ahmedabad.

There was also discussion on roping in retired military doctors and nursing staff for assistance if they volunteer.

The minister also had suggested utilising the services of vaccinated retired armed forces personnel to assist the civil administration and state governments to deal with the current situation.

(With inputs from IANS)

Live TV
The family of Cole Cannon is anxiously awaiting a decision from a Lawrence County judge on whether or not their father's killer will be given life with parole or without it.

Evan Miller and Colby Smith were both convicted of killing Cole Cannon in his Lawrence County home in 2003. Miller was 14 when he committed the murder. His case went before the Supreme Court in 2012, and the court ruled that juveniles sentenced to life without parole had to be re-sentenced.

Miller's re-sentencing hearing was 4 years ago, and since then, Cannon's family has been waiting for a verdict.

Cole Cannon's family said while they've waited for the judge's decision, it also brings up so many emotions for the family as they continue to fight for justice for their dad. Miller will either get life with the possibility of parole or life without next Tuesday, Apr. 27.

"Of course we want the same sentence, but it's a 50/50 decision that can go either way," said Cole Cannon's daughter, Candy Cheatham.

Cheatham and her siblings have plans of all being together and watching the judge's decision on what Evan Miller will serve for killing their dad.

"It's been 18 years. My dad was murdered July 16th of 2003, and it feels like a constant. It's always what happened is in the back of your mind," said Cheatham.

Cheatham said what's helping her family face another milestone in her dad's case and their fight for justice is their faith.

"Trying to not let my emotions override the truth that God has already given me, and he's already been faithful in getting us through this. Already, I know that he will get us through this again," said Cheatham.

Cheatham and her family had to petition the parole board last year to keep Cole's other killer, Colby Smith, behind bars. He will come up for parole again in 5 years. This is the fight they want to avoid. Fighting to keep two men in prison who murdered their dad.
The Telegraph

He says it felt like an earthquake. For three days in a row, Ruslan Zakharov was taken to the basement of a prison that does not technically exist, where his captors would take a field telephone, attach electrodes to his limbs and send electric shocks through his body. It shakes you all up so hard: half of your body goes numb, Mr Zakharov, 31, recalls. You think theyre going to kill you: you feel helpless. You think youre alone and no one will come to your rescue. Mr Zakharov, who used to
MIAMI, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) has scheduled a conference call for 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, April 29, 2021, to provide a business update and discuss first quarter 2021 financial results. The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations website, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

You are encouraged to dial-in/register at least 15 minutes prior to start time to ensure your participation.

About Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) is the operating business name for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean Group is the owner and operator of three global cruise vacation brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea. Royal Caribbean Group is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, our brands operate 59 ships with an additional 14 on order as of March 31, 2021. Learn more at www.royalcaribbeangroup.com or www.rclinvestor.com.

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Group

Related Links

http://www.rclcorporate.com


As the government of India implementing curfew and lockdown situations in many states due to surging COVID-19 cases, it becomes of utmost importance to ensure the continuity of telecom tower operations 24 x7.

The industry body Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has requested the telecom department (DoT) to ensure continued connectivity during the lockdown period.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted TAIPA Director-General T R Dua urging the Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash to instruct relevant central ministries, authorities, circles, and the state/union territory governments to offer full support to the telecom infrastructure providers to enable them to carry out uninterrupted installation, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure, and ensure 24X7 availability of services.

The association emphasised that there should be no coercive action or sealing of telecom infrastructure and telecom towers in the country, as it sought urgent de-sealing of all the telecom tower sites.

The industry body has requested DoT to direct all the concerned ministries and authorities along with the state governments for extending support to the Telecom Infrastructure Providers (IP-1) during the ongoing lockdown. It wants the DoT to get permission for field staff and technicians to move unrestrictedly for routine tasks and maintenance on the telecom tower sites, which includes refuelling of diesel and more.

Terming telecom services as "pivotal" for enabling e-services, online applications, and remote working, Dua stressed that ensuring the continuity of telecom tower operations around-the-clock during curfew and lockdown situations is of utmost importance.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is today expected to announce a ban on new hydraulic fracturing permits, Politico reports, citing unnamed sources in the know.

The move follows the state Senate rejecting a bill that would have banned not only hydraulic fracturing but most conventional oil and gas drilling, too.

The sponsors of the bill that enjoyed strong support from environmentalist organizations said, as quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle, they were extremely disappointed.

While popular among environmentalists and climate change advocates, however, the anti-fracking bill was the opposite of popular among other groups, including labor unions and legislators who were worried about its negative effect on employment in Californias oil industry. The state is the nations seventh-largest producer of crude oil.

Now, Politicos sources say that Newsoms plan is to ban new fracking permits by 2024. To do this, he could use his emergency powers or order state regulators to implement the ban.

The states oil industry has substantial influence over Central Valley legislators, the Los Angeles Times noted in a report on the failed bill. At the same time, trade unions are a force to be reckoned with in the Democratic Party. The daily also noted Governor Newsoms vocal support for the bill, which was basically a more aggressive version of an anti-frack proposal he had. Newsoms proposal envisaged a ban on hydraulic fracturing and the establishment of buffer zones around conventional wells to protect nearby communities.

Newsom is facing an almost certain recall election in the fall and is finding himself between a rock and a hard place, according to the Politico report. On the one hand, he needs to please environmentally conscious Californias so they would vote for him. On the other, the oil industry has the means to sponsor his challengers generously and threaten his re-election.

Fracking constitutes only a minuscule part of Californias total oil production but has become the preferred target for environmentalists during the U.S. fracking revolution.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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